| Profil von JasonObsessed With ComicsFotosBlogListen |  Extras  Hilfe |
Savage Dragon #125 (2006)
It completely snuck up on me, but I think I have a new favorite comic. I've gone a while without one. I suppose by default my favorite lately has been Steve Gerber's amazing Hard Time, but while that comic inspires me to think and re-examine it every issue, that's not the sort of comic to make me smile every month when I see it at the comic shop. But Savage Dragon is that sort of comic.
There's something absolutely wonderful about the way that Erik Larsen's art and storytelling have evolved. This comic started as a typical Image comic - full of mindless action and adventure. Somewhere around its third year, the comic evolved into a manic cleverness, full of energy and cleverness but still falling short of greatness. I started reading the comic regularly around the beginning of the "Savage World" arc, when the Dragon's comic briefly took on the feel of a mid-'70s Marvel comic gone mad. There were standard old school page layouts and Kirbyesque action and thought balloons, and it was tremendous fun, but somewhere along the way, the comic lost a bit of its freshness for me and I stopped buying it.
Recently, though, I've been picking up the series regularly, starting roughly with Larsen's return to the comic about six months ago. And it seems like Savage Dragon is in yet another new phase. Larsen took a sabbatical from the comic for a few months while assuming the role of publisher at Image; since his return, this has been an absolutely wonderful series.
One thing that's added charm to the comic is that Larsen's art has gotten looser. Anyone familiar with his old style will be surprised that a style like Erik Larsen's could get even looser, but Larsen's art has become even looser than it was, even more sketchy and light. It might sound like a complaint on the surface that Larsen's art has become sketchier, but exactly the opposite is true here. The looseness of Larsen's art adds an odd feel to the stories. On one hand, it makes the stories in the comic seem less serious, which has the odd effect of making a threat like Mister Bug's in this issue seem even less worrisome than it might have been. So when Mister Bug proves to be extremely dangerous, it's shocking both to the Dragon and to readers.
It seems like time constraints have loosened Larsen's writing as well. He's always been a master at the unexpected, but in this issue, his story "The Fly", basically 24 pages of an unchanging, static scene, is surprising and funny and interesting all the way through. The random craziness of Larsen's world is carried beautifully through Larsen's loose writing.
I can't tell you this is the greatest comic ever. There are rewards for catching up with the series, as I did recently, and it's fun knowing the back stories of Mister Glum, Angel and Jennifer. The comic has a loose feeling, which has the potential for edging close to laziness. But thus far the comic hasn't gotten lazy. Quite the contrary: the busier Erik Larsen gets, the better this comic gets.
I have a new favorite comic. Ladies and gentlemen, it's the Savage Dragon. Uncle $crooge Adventures #33 (1995, reprinting a story from 1952)Yeah, it's a double-shot today, since I ddin't post yesterday and since a lot of you only want to read about comics.
This issue reprints "Only A Poor Old Man," the classic first Carl Barks Uncle $crooge story from 1952. Now I've never been a Barks fan, never really read his comics at all, really. Instead, I always viewed his legacy with a kind of detached interest. I've known that people adore the man's work in the same way that I know people enjoy the work of certain painters or sculptors, as someone really great at something I don't really enjoy.
But my friends have insisted for years that Barks is one of the greatest cartoonists of all tim, and that I was really missing out by not reading his work. So finally at last month's Emerald City Comicon, I asked John Shaner, a Seattle convention fixture, to pick the cream of the crop from their 7/$10 selection of Disney comics. And John picked this issue, which reprints that famous classic story.
Well, I'm not a huge fan yet, but this is great comics. In every way, this is a crisp, nicely plotted, extremely enertaining story. It zips along with a charming plot that implies future and past adventures. It has time for each of the characters to have their scenes, and shows why each character is wonderful. It has some priceless character bits with Scrooge swimming through his money pit. And it's charming as can be.
In other words, it's the perfect first issue. "Only a Poor Old Man" introduces characters and themes that Barks would explore for many years, and does so in such a graceful and charming way that it works on two levels: for kids, the comic is breezy fun. For an adult who's obsessed with comics, the comic has a brightness and charm impossible to resist.
I definitely want to read more by "the good duck artist." Doctor Who (2006): "Tooth and Claw"Oh yeah, this is the good stuff. This was a wonderful episode of the new Doctor Who, in which the Doctor and Rose travel to 1878 Scotland and meet Queen Victoria, get involved in stopping a werewolf (or an alien, of course) on the Moors, and generally galavant around and have a great time.
It's clear that it's all about the characters having a great time. This Doctor and companion aren't dour or act like they're on a great mission. Instead, the pair are out to have fun and enjoy themselves. So the Doctor turns on the CD player and listens to Ian Dury and the Blockheads, and the pair decide spontaneously to travel back to 1978. But the Doctor overshoots and they go to 1878, and the Doctor and Rose just shrug their shoulders and enjoy spending time there. No angst, no worry about things, the pair just goes along, having a great time, defeating evil aliens but never really seeming too much in danger because, after all, he's the Doctor and he's done this sort of thing before.
This episode is just so damn fun. There are shaolin priests and space alien werewolves and wonderful old music and a very wonderful Queen Victoria. David Tennant is settling in as the Doctor, and he and Rose have even more chemistry than they did last season. It's got energy and verve and enthusiasm, and, you know, I just had a grand old time of it watching this episode. This may not be the most thoughtful post ever do on this blog, but you know, I just had fun watching this.
Next week's episode is "Old School", featuring the return of Sarah Jane Smith and K9. Can the Brigadier be far behind? Daredevil #68 (1970)Way back in the old days, my old haunting grounds Amazing Heroes used to run what we called "silly covers." The idea was exactly what you might think it was: goofy and silly fake covers of super-heroes. My favorite cover was of "Baredevil, the man without clothes". As Baredevil, ahem, freely swung through Manhattan (with a discretely placed leg), only his face covered with a mask, a man and woman observed our hero. And both think the same thing, "Gasp! Matt Murdock is really... Baredevil" Okay, I was like 13 at the time, and the mere mention of nudity was exciting for me. And the gag is kind of amusing.
Anyway, I thought of that silly cover because I recently picked up this comic. Wacky cover, there, huh? We have a boxer lying in a locker room floor, apparently knocked out. We have the man without fear (who is also the man without nipples, apparently) standing in trunks, boots and a mask - clearly the stupidest hero outfit ever - and what does the bearded bad guy notice? The gloves and the mask? As if this sort of thing happens every day. Now I do realize that the chunky blonde guy looks extremely happy to get so close to this virile and scantly-dressed man, but what kind of reaction is that, anyway?
Inside? Oh yeah, some typically gorgeous artwork by Gene Colan and Syd Shores, a great team of the time. I go crazy for Colan, who did not draw the cover - Gene the Dean has class - and the comic has some typically stunning art. How is Colan not thought of in the same breath as Kirby, Ditko or Adams? Buja's Diary (2005)Take a virtual tour of Korea through the pages of Buja's Diary, the first translated non-genre "manhwa", or Korean manga, to arrive in the English-speaking world. From the pen of Seyeong O, one of Korea's leading cartoonists, comes this collection of thirteen stories that brings readers to different places in times in Korea. O's incisive viewpoint and intelligent style helps to create an especially memorable book.
Seyeong O is a terrific short story writer, with a great eye for important details, and for the intelligent use of symbolism as the way to drive stories. Take the title story, for instance. "Buja" is a Korean word meaning "rich", but the Buja of "Buja's Picture Diary", is a poor girl from a poor family who doesn't fit in well at school. Where all her classmates can buy nice clothes for the school celebration, Buja's mother just scrapes by, at the edges of the society. O draws a complex and interesting view of this family's life, with fully rendered pages of wordless text placed next to a child's diary. Readers get a great feel for what life is like for these characters, and presents a thoughtful look at his home country. Or see "The Secret of the Old Leather Pouch," where the leather pouch of the story symbolizes several different things: generational conflict, the split of North and South Korea, the conflict between an individual father and son.
This book is filled with gems like that. "Horse" is a short story about small town life after the end of the Japanese occupation: "Why is the horse in that shape? It looks shabby and has no spirit, just like me. So that's it. The horse must be me. We're both freed from the Japs, but with neither happiness nor hope..." "Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Bang" tells the story of a young man who just can't get over his experiences at war. "The Little Alley Watcher" tells the story of the last family on a lonely and deserted island.
Not all the stories are dark, though. "Observe" tells the story of a very vain man who loves to smack his chewing gum, and how his vanity only goes so far. "Escape" tells the story of a bored office worker who escapes his job through an apocalyptic fantasy. "The Snake Catcher Brothers' Dream" tells a universal story about greed.
Seyeong O's art is wonderful. His style is rich and evocative, and changes to suit each story. He's a wonderful observer of people and human nature - his people are subtle and unique and full of life.
My only complaint about the book is that there are a few elements of it that are a bit obscure to readers not versed in Korean society. But those are few and far between. Overall, "Buja's Diary" is a fascinating travelogue to an interesting country that, in the end, isn't very different from the USA. Panic #7 (1955)The ad on the inside front cover of this EC Comic cheerfully reads "It's true I bought the last MAD on the news-stand, but they still have a copy of Panic which is practially the same as MAD!" And that's pretty much true, as far as I can tell: the mid-'50s comic book size MAD was a revelation, a spectacularly silly parody of the comics and TV shows of the time. It may not have boasted the unique comic genius of Harvey Kurtzman , but Panic featued many of the same artists - Wally Wood, Joe Orlando, Jack Davis and the incomparable Will Elder.
Elder was the real genius of the artists for this type of work, obsessively filling each panel in his stories with wacky humor and off-center bits. Elder illustrates "Mel Padooka," a parody of the old "Joe Palooka" comic strip, and does do in an incredibly manic style. We get Marily Monroe jokes, jokes about other comic strips, silly comments about ghost artists (Palooka artist Ham Fisher was famous for his use of ghosts), and a slew of other targets. Elder's humor comics always basically followed the lines of satire of the comics they were lampooning, but the real humor, and manic thrill, of his work was in the absurd detail and intense wackiness of Elder's panels. There's literally been nobody like him in comics history.
There really is a stright line between comics like this and silly humor like Monty Python and Leslie Nielson movies. It's nothing but pure wacky, fun, silly humor. And it's great for that. House of Mystery #196 (1971)I was thrilled when DC released their recent 500-page collection of House of Mystery because many issues of that comic had been on my wantlist for a long time, and I had pretty much tought they would never be reprinted. After all, superheroes rule the roost these days, even in reprints, and it's rare to see non-hero material reprinted. I hope that DC can continue with their horror reprints because it's damn exciting to see some of this great material back in print.
That collection runs to HoM 194, so I recently picked up issue 196. Like many issues from the prime run of this series, this issue features a bunch of fine artists: Gray Morrow, Gil Kane, Nick Cardy and the sublime Alex Toth. Okay, so the stories aren't nearly up to the level of quality of the art. At least they're not complete losses. Even the story writen by Gerry Conway in this issue isn't all that bad. Conway was a horrible comic writer, but was well known for his science fiction novels he wrote in the early '70s. His story here, "A Girl and Her Dog," might have been one of his first comic scripts. And really it's not terrible, depicting the story of a young girl orphaned by World War II who finds a horrible curse below her orphanage. The story takes some really pointless twists and turns, but the wonderful Morrow art saves it.
These stories were kind of limited by the constraints of the comics code. At that time, zombies, mummies and vampires were all forbidden in comics. So companies had to make due with threats like the benign alien in Toth's story and the leprechans of Kane's story. I don't think that constraint made the stories better, but it did force some the creators to use some inventiveness, rather than have to fall back to the same old evil critters.
Of course, within a few years, the code relaxed and Marvel could have a comic featuring the Son of Satan as a lead character. And comics never looked back. Fear Agent #3 (2006)It's another all-action issue, as Heath the Fear Agent and Mara escape the Elder ship, only to see their sabotaged ship blow up. The pair crash-lands on "some post-apocalyptic, lifeless ice-turd," where they immediately find themselves under attack from some very nasty robots. Yeah, it's all-out action, but what glorious action. The story speeds along at an insane clip. It's all action and reaction, no time to sit back and take things in. Instead, the reader, like the characters, has no choice but to accept what's going on. And, since writer Remender and artist Moore are so convincing in their setting, it all makes total sense in context. There's a feeling that there's a greater story going on here, part of a fully-formed cosmos where Fear Agents are the badass heroes of the galaxy, and many civilizations have risen and fallen. Tony Moore's art is spectacular, all exciting angles and intense action. The intense attention to detail heightens the drama, especially on the post-apocalyptic planet, where the detail in the setting makes things tremendously exciting. The comic is full of humor, too: Heath's swig of booze before launch, Mara punching out Heath as she wakes up after the crash, Heath's disgusting space-ship. Fear Agent is one thrill after another. It's a shame this comic comes out so slowly; every thrill-packed issue leaves the reader wanting another. Tales of Colossus (2006)Well, this is an unexpected gem. In the middle ages, Orlant is a great knight on the losing side of a major battle. Imprisoned and facing death, Orlant fights back. For his trouble, Orlant is exiled to a middle-eastern kingdom where his soul is trapped forever inside a great metal colossus. Orlant breaks away and, inevitably, seeks his revenge on those who have imprisoned him. The depraved Grimon, who has amazing powers of his own, leads the forces of evil. And, of course, the story all leads to a tremendous climactic battle. Mark Andrews does a masterful job of creating this story, giving its unique tale an amazing sense of atmosphere. Like a great animated film, Andrews creates setting though use of complex and lush backgrounds and great character designs. The character of Colossus boasts a wonderfully striking design. The creature looks like something that could have been created in that era, as if a great blacksmith had worked on the armor. Sir Grimon, on the other hand, has an utterly depraved and untrustworthy look from the moment he first appears. Readers can tell as soon as Grimon appears on the page that he is utterly without morality, both from Grimon's words and actions. He's a truly evil man, and Andrews creates Grimon character well. Comparing this graphic novel to an animated film is especially appropriate when discussing Mark Andrews. Andrews worked at Pixar studios, working as a script supervisor on The Incredibles before moving on to Samurai Jack and Clone Wars. If there's one thing that each of those three works share, it's a deep and abiding feel for the history of their characters. In all three, there's a sense that the characters have a full history that happened before we meet them, and that's definitely the case here. Between the beginning of this graphic novel, rich in historical depth, and the ending of this graphic novel, a rich description of the main character's life, Orlant really feels like a man who might have walked the Earth several hundred years ago. The only real weakness of this terrific novel is that I was thirsty to see what Andrews could do with this story if it were in color. The black-and-white rendering is lush and wonderful, but if it were in color, this could have been another Rocketo. But that's a minor quibble. Tales of Colossus is a thoroughly satisfying epic from the pen of a tremendously talented creator. Waterwise GN (2005)Last summer, I was in a comics shop run by my pal Carr. Carr and I have been friends for a long time, and if anyone knows my taste in comics, he does. I asked Carr to recommend something different for me to read, something with a story or theme that's a bit off the beaten path. He recommended I check out Waterwise. "Give it a try," he said, "it will put you in an interesting mood." I looked through the book. It was a bit slim for its $14.95 cover price, but the art was pleasantly unique and after all Carr recommended it to me. What the heck, right?
After reading Waterwise, I felt I was in Carr's debt. Waterwise is a lyrical and moody graphic novel of hope and joy and passion for life. It tells the story of Jim, an unemployed artist who finds himself hitchhiking around, pretty much directionless in his life after some earlier frustrations. Returning to his family's cabin to reflect on things, Jim runs into his old neighbor Emily out of dumb luck. Emily used to live near the cabin and is Jim's age. At one time Jim had a deep crush on Emily, who has since grown to experience troubles of her own. Divorced and with a young daughter, Emily has also returned to the cabin to find some peace in her life. What follows their meeting is the stuff of this wonderful book.
Joel Orff tells a wonderfully impressionistic tale of these two people who find a short moment of pure idyllic joy in the midst of their challenging lives. In their small adventures, both characters begin to find the peace they crave, embracing the pleasant joys of the past to resurrect real pleasures in their lives. Orff's art is as impressionistic as his story. The book seems to be suffused with black. Not a mysterious noir black or a foreboding black, but a black that's somehow warm and comforting, peaceful and calming. The art takes its time to reveal its mysteries, but it does so because sometimes life is best experienced slowly, languidly. Sometimes it's better to let things come to you instead of going after things. The art is the perfect companion for Orff's languid and calm story.
The art starts out feeling awkward, but it's striking how much subtlety it begins to take on. Jim's unrequited love for Emily becomes clear as a reader studies Jim's face, and the ending is mysteriously subtle, a Mona Lisa smile of sorts.
Rereading the book closely, there's even an extra level of subtle story revealed, I think. I don't want to ruin the book for anyone, but if you do read it, pay attention to the lines that parallel the beginning and end of the book. Is there a subtle twist that's implied there?
This is a wonderfully unique and personal graphic novel from the pen and brush of Joel Orff. Thanks again, Carr. Tom Strong #36 (2006)It's Alan Moore's farewell to the ABC Universe. That means that this is a comic that Alan Moore has invested real passion into, a comic he really cares about. Which means, of course, that it's sensational. Listen, I could analyze this comic and look at what specifically makes it so great. And it's certainly great, with an absolutely gorgeous script by Alan Moore and strikingly amazing artwork by Chris Sprouse and Karl Story. But with a really great Moore script, you just want to sit back and glory in the poetry and beauty of Moore's words and thoughts. Like: "And then Millennium's diva Quinta Desrault let that magnificent voice soar over the multitudes. Ridiculously, the song was 'She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain.' Just as ridiculously, everyone started weeping without really understanding why. People...living and dead people...started to sing along in a chorus that was like jubilant thunder." Jubilant thunder. Only from the pen of Alan Moore. Or: "And then the whole fantastic weave of life and existence that she's spinning seems to turn to the most wonderful bedtime story... and it's like the room gets gradually dimmer... and your mom's voice just gets softer and softer... it all gets further, further away..." Or there's the wonderfully quiet way he sums up the lives and futures of his characters in very small bits and pieces and vignettes that seem to sum up the totality of his characters. Or the sweet and clever revelation in this issue. It makes sense in part because of the characters, but more because it just fits the archetype of the characters. Or the very sweet scene when everyone's walking to Promethea's house and Tom Strong meets an ordinary family. In some ways, this issue can be seen as Moore's counterpart to the Infinite Crisis. Or, what if the Infinite Crisis were written by the greatest comic book writer in the English language. And the answer is that Tom Strong #36 does the Infinite Crisis in a wonderfully graceful, intelligent, majestic way that very few writers can approach. One lament about the America's Best Comics line has been that the Alan Moore who brought us Watchmen, Miracleman, From Hell and V For Vendetta was slumming and doing good work but not his typical brilliant work. But in this issue, Moore rises back to his classic level of work. This is a majestic comic that only Alan Moore could write. The Hawk and the Dove #6 (1969)The Hawk and the Dove was so very, very 1968. Created by Steve Ditko as a kind of social satire on the two sides of the Vietnam War conflict, Hawk and Dove were two brothers granted great powers by some bizarre otherworldly spirit. Hank Hall was the Hawk, the pro-war guy who was angry and headstrong and ready with his fists. Don Hall was the Dove, who preached non-violence and that everyone should live in peace together, la la la la all over this land.
This would have been utter crap in the hands of a lessor creator than the great Steve Ditko. But the cocreator of Spider-Man was up for the job, producing a comic that is admittedly dated, but still has some resonance today, if for no other reason than that Ditko was an amazing artists.
Ditko, unfortunately, only lasted for six issues - the boys' tryout in Showcase and the first five issues of their solo series. However, DC produced a sixth issue of their solo series and it's not nearly as decent. Illustrated by the great Gil Kane, and apparently written by him, the whole thing feels a bit slapdash and rushed, as if Kane's need to meet a deadline was more important than doing an interesting comic. In the story, the Hall brothers' father, a judge, is kidnapped by a man who feels he was done wrong in court. The Hawk and the Dove spend the whole issue trying to find the man, and in the end Hawk beats the crap out of the bad guy. The end. Not too exciting, huh?
The best part of the issue is the final panel:
Hank: Maybe the whole idea of the Hawk and the Dove was a big mistake. Maybe we oughta give the whole thing up!
Don: Yeah... maybe you're right...
Caption: Is this the end of the Hawk and the Dove??
I guess so, because that was the end of their comic book. Blitzkrieg #3 (1976)"Searing battle sagas of World War II as seen through the enemy eyes!" That's what the cover of this comic promises. I'd never actually seen an issue of this comic until last month, but I always found it intriguing when advertised in the pages of DC's other comics. I always wanted to try this comic, even though I was never really a war comics fan. So I was excited to pick this issue up for a dollar, even if it was beat to crap.
Basically I was hoping to find something that portrayed what life was probably like for the Nazis. I'm a Jew, so I hjave an instinctive hatred of anything with the Swastika on it, but I'm also interested in how propaganda and indoctrination affected the Germans of that era. Unfortunately, however, this comic just still shows the Nazis as evil.
They commit two massacres in this comic, one of a group of children, and while some of the German soldiers feel remorse, there's nothing like the intelligence and internal conflicts of some of the best war comics. I wanted something different, but this is just average. Nextwave #3 (2006)So there's a really bad cop who's about to retire. He's the scourge of his neighborhood, stealing from mugging victims and skimming off the top of the money earned by prostitutes. The guy's known as Office Mangel, and we get to know him really well in the course of this comic. Really well. As in, seven long pages of this comic are devoted to the various crimes of this nasty police officer. Seven long pages of nastiness and pointlessness in a comic that's supposed to be both funny and compressed.
This issue is pretty much unfunny and decompressed. There's a cute scene where Boom-Boom discusses a night out clubbing, and another where Bloodstone is driving around chasing the cop, who's become some sort of nasty robot cyborg police officer dude. But even there it's not really hilarious, just sort of funny. "Death Race 2000! I am President Frankenstein!" she screams at the beginning of the scene, as if the mere mention of a cult film from the 1970s (and the subject of an indy comic in the '80s) is supposed to raise a chuckle. Overall this story just crawls along in a dull manner until it kind of stops.
Don't blame Immonen and van Grawbadger for this, though. Their art is as immaculate and wonderful as you might expect it to be. Their approach to scene setting and character is fantastic. They consistently make the story more interesting and exciting through their powerful presentation.
I thought the text page earned a chuckle, an inspired blog-like review of a crappy '80s song that delivers the cleverness and humor that I'd expected after the first two wonderful issues of this series. But in the end, my disappointment with Ellis wins out. This is a two-bullet issue of what has been a clever and funny comic. I hope it bounces back. Mr. Ellis, can you please deliver us less nasty cop and more wacky super-hero action in the next issue? The Comic Reader #108 (1974)It seems to be a theme in this blog lately that the '70s weren't a great era for comics. If you don't believe me, look at this issue of The Comic Reader, the TV Guide of comics. In this summer month, when sales were highest, DC Comics released a grand total of 25 comics (twenty-five!) while Marvel released 53 - but as we'll see in a minute, they weren't the most exciting of titles.
Of DC's comics, here's the breakdown by genre (and yeah, I'm calling reprints a genre because they kind of stand alone to me.
Superheroes:
Wonder Woman
Superman
The Brave and the Bold
The Superman Family
Detective Comics
Action Comics
Reprints:
Famous First Edition #F-4 (Whiz Comics)
Limited Collectors Edition #C-31 (Superman)
Black Magic
Secret Origins
Horror:
Ghosts
The Phantom Stranger
House of Mystery
The Witching Hour
House of Secrets
Weird Mystery Tales
War:
Our Army At War
Our Fighting Forces
Weird War Tales
Romance:
Young Love
Adventure:
Kamandi
Rima, the Jungle Girl
The Shadow
Weird Worlds
Tarzan
Now, you can draw your own conclusions from this list, but it's striking that there were only six super-hero comics published that month - three with Superman, two with Batman and one with Wonder Woman. No Flash, no Green Lantern or Hawkman or anything else. There were five adventure and five horror comics. Looks like 32 years ago, in the era of Watergate and the end of Vietnam, heroes didn't resonate like they used to.
How about Marvel?
Superheroes:
Daredevil
Hulk
Amazing Spider-Man
Captain America
Thor
Doctor Strange
Giant-Size Defenders
The Avengers
The Defenders
Fantastic Four
Marvel Team-Up
Giant-Size Spider-Man
Reprints:
Kid Colt Outlaw
Marvel Tales
Marvel Spectacular
Marvel Super-Heroes
Where Monsters Dwell
Two-Gun Kid
Monsters On the Prowl
The Outlaw Kid
Weird Wonder Tales
Crypt of Shadows
Western Gunfighters
Marvel's Greatest Comics
Marvel Triple Action
The X-Men
Dead of Night
Marvel Double Feature
Night Rider
The Mighty Marvel Western
Sgt. Fury
Our Love Story
Uncanny Tales
Horror:
Tomb of Dracula
Dracula Lives
The Ghost Rider
Tales of the Zombie
Man-Thing
Marvel Spotlight (Son of Satan)
Supernatural Thrillers
Fear
Giant-Size Werewolf
The Haunt of Horror
Werewolf by Night
Astonishing Tales (It! The Living Colossus)
Strange Tales (The Golem)
War:
War Is Hell
Adventure/Kung Fu:
Master of Kung Fu
Conan the Barbarian
Marvel Premiere (Iron Fist)
Kung Fu Special
Savage Tales
Little Kid Stuff:
Spidey Super Stories
And again this is really interesting 12 new superhero titles, but 13 new horror titles and 21 reprint titles of all genres. There are a few really interesting trends here. First, again, heroes are out of fashion and monsters are in fashion. At the same time, Marvel was busy plumbing their archives for stories that could be reprinted. Even there, six reprints were of horror comics (if you include giant monster stories are horror stories) and seven were of superhero books.
What does that say about the era? Lots of moral uncertanty. Heroes out of fashion, perhaps feeling out of step with the times. Lots of horror predominating, perhaps a reflection of the fear that people felt. And a lot of signs that comic books weren't the most popular artform around. Man-Bat #1 (1984)In the early 1980s, the paper that comics were printed on was a big deal. A really big deal. Maybe it was because for so many years the paper quality was so low, but comic companies made a big deal about their paper quality. Mando paper was good, Hudson paper was slick, but the prestige paper stock, the one that got the headlines and made the fanboys cry out in passion, was Baxter paper. Mention Baxter paper to a fan who read the direct market books in '82, '83, '84, and their eyes will glaze over with a kind of wistful passion as they list off some of the comics on that gorgeous Baxter paper: Teen Titans, Thriller, Nexus, and all of those Marvel and DC reprints of classic comics from the late '60s.
In fact, the Baxter paper reprints represented the beginning of a sea change that kind of parallels the difference between syndicated TV shows and seasons on DVD. In the '60s and '70s, scenes were cut out of reprint comics. As reprint books like Marvel's Greatest Comics shrunk to 18-page monthly comics, they still reprinted twenty-page issues of Fantastic Four. So it was the job of some poor editor to decide which two pages of pure Stan Lee- Jack Kirby goodness needed to be edited out for space. But when the Baxter reprints started, space was much more open. The books were 48 or even 64 pages long, and often recolored and remastered. Sometimes the books had additional commentary as well.
Looking back, it was a golden age for reprints and a kind of transitional time between the traditional single comic and the eventual TPB collections that are all over the market these days. Great series were reprinted on nice paper, and fans could pick up cool stuff easily.
So in '84, DC put out a one-shot collection of Man-Bat stories written by Frank Robbins and illustrated by Neal Adams. Robbins is really well-known - almost notorious - for his bizarre, hyperkinetic art style, but around 1970 or so, he was a writer on Batman and created one of ol' pointy ears's greatest nemesises, the odd Man-Bat, a demented researcher who somehow turns himself into a bat. It sounds goofy, but something about the passion of Robbins's story and Adams's wonderful art gives the story real energy. The pathos of a man who turns himself into a monster and who tries to keep control of his life is pretty cool.
Though it does get a bit silly by the end. Man-Bat's alter ego is Kirk Landstrom, and he's engaged to be married before he transforms into a monster. So in the third story in this comic, his fiancee herself transforms into a She-Bat because she wants to be as close to Kirk as she can be. Aww, ain't that sweet? She loves a monster, so she becomes a monster. If that's not true love, I don't know what is. Infinite Crisis #6 (2006)Yeah, it took eleven artists to draw this comic. But it only took one writer, and he’s delivered a huge, widescreen experience, literally spanning the stars to deliver an enormous, omniverse-spanning adventure. If it has some aspects of it that are dull or frustrating, and it does for me, this comic still delivers on what it was intended to deliver. This comic’s big, it’s fun, and it’s got a whole bunch of characters in colorful costumes all doing various different things. It’s the “various different things” that I’m sure will draw the dislike of many readers. There are scenes all over the place in this comic - from Stonehenge to several alternate earths, from the OMAC satellite to wherever the hell the Monitor’s tower is (Antarctica? the comic never actually says). And I can appreciate that criticism. I’m still not really clear on whose tower Superboy has been staying, nor why the Spectre singles out Star Sapphire out for destruction instead of helping the supernatural heroes, or, really, why the Earth-Prime Superboy is on the rampage in the first place. Those plot points might bother some people, and those are valid criticisms. But, what can I say, I liked the comic. I liked it in part because of its lack of coherence. Okay, not the lack of coherence as much as the feeling that everything was thrown into this comic, including the kitchen sink. This issue presents Klarion the Witch Boy, and Steve Ditko’s the Odd Man, and the Legion of Super-Heroes of Earth-247 (clever in-joke there for Legion fans) and Earth-97, where DC’s long-forgotten Tangent comics heroes live, and dozens if not hundreds of obscure and wonderful characters in the margins. We see giant ghostly hands rearrange the Earths like so many puzzle pieces, and more shocked reactions than may have ever appeared in a comic book in history. Sure, you can compare this comic with Crisis on Infinite Earths and find this comic lacking. Of course, the first Crisis has passed into the realm of being a legendary comic, and its flaws are pretty much ignored today. Does anyone remember how stupid the idea is of an Anti-Monitor, or remember the villain war that was big and flashy but never really went anywhere in the first Crisis? The first Crisis is a wonderful comic, but it was not without its flaws. Infinite Crisis is a big, giant, incoherent, wonderful, silly mess. I can’t help myself, my fanboy passion kicks in whenever I look at this comic. It needed eleven artists because this comic would have killed only one. Infinite Crisis is truly the spectacle so large that even George Perez, the Hercules of crowd scenes, needs ten collaborators to illustrate this book. I love InC for that. Hard Time Season Two #5 (2006)Yeah, I know Hard Time is cancelled (again), but I'll keep praising this comic right up till its final issue. I've really enjoyed Hard Time since its first issue came out, due to writers Gerber and Skrenes's ability to produce moral complexity in unique and compelling ways. Ethan Harrow and his world are a compelling place, an intriguingly unique world for comics, where the traditional aspects of good and evil don't really apply. It's not just that Ethan's in a prison and has to deal with racists and jerks of all ethnic and personal backgrounds. It's also because what happens around Ethan is also unique. What is the role of his mother in this? How does the odd being who lives inside Ethan affect his life? Was Ethan in some way destined to go to prison in order to confront his dark side (embodied in the evil Cutter) and become a wiser man in the process? Issue #5 is another intriguing chapter that delves deeper into the Cutter/Ethan dichotomy while also spending time exploring the world of Ethan's family, friends and acquaintences. In fact, Ethan spends the whole issue comatose from his bizarre connection with Cutter. The issue starts by showing the affects of Cindy's rape on his life and the life of the rest of his family. Gerber and Skrenes are effective at keeping these scenes from feeling like Lifetime movies while still showing the drama and intensity of the young man's life. For the first time, we see what exactly caused Cindy to go to prison, and though it feels a bit sanitized (no drug use is involved?); the scene is still quite dramatic. We also see stress of a different sort when the issue drops in on a party held by Julius and Truth Rosenberg, two very wealthy lawyers who are working to get Ethan a new trial. Readers see the awkwardness of the relationship of Ethan's parents, seeing how their relationship has suffered since Ethan has been in jail, and get a ray of hope when Julius and Truth come up with a scheme to get Ethan freed. The scene at the Rosenbergs' house is quite curious: we see the awkward class relationship between Ethan's middle class family and the affluent Rosenbergs, see the manipulative and inaccurate way that the Rosenbergs will campaign to free Ethan, and generally somehow have the feeling that the Rosenbergs are just using Ethan for their own particular ends. Manipulating Ethan. That's a theme that's run throughout the series. First his friend manipulated Ethan into committing his crime in the first place. Then the media and a judge up for election manipulated Ethan into getting life in prison. Now the Rosenbergs are manipulating Ethan's imprisonment for their own ends. Nobody seems to care about Ethan as an individual throughout the series. Even his mother only has a moment of hesitation before signing off on the half-truths and misrepresentations that the Rosenbergs are advocating, lies that Ethan would despise. As readers, we start to wonder if the ends justify the means: in this case, if Ethan's freedom is worth all the lies that are necessary to make it happen. And if Ethan's case is full of lies, what does that say about other cases that are up in the real media? We all see every day how stories like the Natalie Holloway disappearance and the Terri Schiavo coma are used for gain by media members. It's a terrible trend, one that removes privacy and truth from our system and replacing them with manipulation and publicity. The issue of how to balance privacy and the drive to find truth is a complex question, one difficult to wrestle with. And, not surprisingly, the most provocative comic on the market brings it up. I will miss this comic terribly when it's gone. Avengers #104 (1972)Oh lordy, a comic written by Roy Thomas. I used to love Roy Thomas's comic. On Avengers and Invaders and Conan I loved his writing. But maybe I've become sensitized to "the Boy", and now I just find his stuff unreadable.
Roy Thomas's writing at this point was just so damn verbose. Page three of this comic, for instance, is simply overwhelmed by captions and word balloons, where Quicksilver goes on and on and on ad nauseum about the mission that they're on, how the Sentinels have gotten stronger, how the Sentinels live in deep tunnels, and how hard it is finding good hair gel to give his hair that cool wave thing that he wears in his hair.
Has anyone ever done a dissertation on Quicksilver's hair? I'm kind of fascinated by it. Has he always been white-haired? Whence came his cool wave thing he wears? Is this something that was taught to him by his adoptive mother that cow woman (no, really, a cow brought Pietro up. Well, she was a cow that walked on two legs and talked, but she was a cow. That says moo.)
Anyway, like I said, Roy Thomas loved to write lots of words at that time, and he brings us such deathless chatter as "I am older than when you Sentinels last walked the Earth-- older -- and perhaps a wee bit faster." Imagine that, Pietro grew older. It's kind of cool that he decided to trash-talk a giant sentient robot, because heaven knows that giant sentient robots really get thrown off their games when you trash talk them. I'd also love to hear Allen Iverson use that sort of trash-talking in an NBA game. "I am older than when you Miami Heat last came to our arena -- older -- and perhaps a wee bit better jumper." That's just classic stuff, you know! Never gets old, never gets less useful.
The art on this thing is by Rich Buckler and the great Joe Sinnott. Sinnott has always been Mr. Stability, inking Fantastic Fourfor something like ten years and continually doing a thoroughly professional and positive job of it. Here, he takes an obviously raw Rich Buckler and does a great job of making Riotous Rich's work look professional. Yeah, Sinnott was always a pro.
Oh, and the Scarlet Witch is wearing a different costume in this issue, one I've never seen before. Anyone know if this was a temporary thing, or if she was just captured in a short dress and mid-calf boots? It's not a bad suit, but it's not the usual suit she wears, which was shown on the cover.
Oh yeah, and the cover was from the era where every comic had word balloons. This one is a funny one.
Wanda: No! Stay back! You won't destroy the Avengers -- unless you first kill the Scarlet Witch!
Hawkeye: Lady -- I think you just said the magic words!
Now wtf does that mean? "Kill me before you kill my friends"? "Yeah, kill her first"? Maybe this cover is why she went crazy in House of M. Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes #197 (1973)The Legion of Super-Heroes was one of the coolest groups of heroes when I was a kid. They were super-powered teen heroes with flashy costumes and amazing artwork who would fight bad guys while falling in and out of love with each other. Kind of like a super-powered Dawson's Creek in space, except that it was set in the 30th century, and the nickname Lightning Lad had nothing to do with one's sexual prowess.
When I read the Legion, it was in this very comic, with the very odd title of Superboy starring the Legion of Super-Heroes. Obviously, the old Superboy comic had its series taken over by the Legion, but how odd a title was it for Superboy to star its friends? Didn 't make much sense, but then it was the 1970s and Superboy was hopelessly out of step with the times.
Of course, it didn't help that Superboy was a dork. As shown in both the lead story and the backup story, Clark Kent was an incredibly geeky adolescent, wearing a cardigan sweater and bow tie to a picnic with the beautiful Lana Lang, and then trying so hard not to kiss her that he made an apple fall on Lana's head, rendering her unconscious. Did Clark have some sort of performance anxiety around Lana? Some fear that if he took her in his planet-crushing arms, he would squeeze the life out of his squeeze?
Once he travels to the future, though, Superboy is one of many dorks, albeit one who who has a super-stretchy invulnerable cape (is that the kind of thing that the Infinite Crisis Superboy wants to have return to comics?). His super-powered pal Mon-El is a jerk who doesn't trust his friends, and Timber Wolf tries to kill the President of Earth.
Ovedrall, it's kind of a let-down reading this comic. SATLSH 197 was the first issue of the series that I came to love, and it has some gorgeously slick are by the great Dave Cockrum. But in my mind this comic had always been some sort of landmark issue, a spectacular spectacular of phantasmagorical adventure and spectacular heroism. Instead, it just feels kind of ordinary, a blah Cary Bates-written adventure where heroes are dicks and Superboy still needs to discover the joy of having a girlfriend. |
|
|
