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Daredevil: Marked for Death


By Roger McKenzie, Frank Miller & Klaus Janson (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-087135-351-1

Matt Murdock is a blind lawyer whose remaining senses hyper-compensate, making him an astonishing acrobat, formidable fighter and living lie-detector. Very much a second-string hero for most of his early years, Daredevil was nonetheless a striking and popular one, due in large part to the captivatingly humanistic art of Gene Colan. He fought gangsters, a variety of super-villains and even the occasional monster or alien invasion. He quipped and wise-cracked his way through life and life-threatening combat, but under the auspices of Jim Shooter, Roger McKenzie and finally Frank Miller himself, the character transformed into a dark, moody avenger and grim, quasi-religious metaphor of justice and retribution…

Here’s another slim, sleek and sublimely enticing lost treasure from the early days of graphic novel compilations that will undoubtedly enthral fans of hard-bitten, high-calibre Masked Manhunter melees.

Released in 1990, this full-colour 96-page compendium first collected the landmark stories which so quickly confirmed the Man Without Fear as the new face of comics action.

Daredevil #159-161 and 163-164 from July 1979 – May 1980 completed the gradual transformation of DD – begun by Marv Wolfman and Jim Shooter – from bold, apparently carefree Scarlet Swashbuckler to driven, terrifying urban avenger: a Demon dipped in blood. What Roger McKenzie began here Miller would finish in an audacious groundbreaking run of shocking, compelling dark masterpieces… a momentous, unmissable, “must-read” series.

The groundbreaking adventure begins with ‘Marked for Murder!’ (McKenzie, Miller & Klaus Janson) as infallible assassin Mr. Slaughter is brought out of retirement for a very special hit on the Sightless Superhero. Meanwhile veteran Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich starts to slowly piece together snippets which indicate that blind attorney Matt Murdock might be far more than he seems…

The spectacular showdown between the Crimson Crimebuster and Slaughter’s army of killers compels the mysterious client to do his own dirty work and, after brutally abducting DD’s old girlfriend the Black Widow, the hero has no choice but to put himself ‘In the Hands of Bullseye!’, culminating in a devastating duel and ultimate defeat for the psychopathic villain in ‘To Dare the Devil!’

Issue #162 featured a fill-in tale by Michael Fleisher & Steve Ditko and is not included here – although Miller’s rejected cover for that issue is part of the gallery section – so after a one-page info-feature on ‘Daredevil’s Billy Club!’ the stunning David and Goliath action resumes as the merely mortal Man Without Fear battled the Incredible Hulk in ‘Blind Alley’ (inked by Josef Rubenstein & Janson) in a desperate and ultimately hopeless attempt to save his beloved city…

This superb compilation concludes with an evocative retelling of his origin in ‘Exposé’ as the meticulous and dogged Urich confronts the hospitalised hero with the inescapable conclusions of his research…

Tense, tough, dramatic, disturbing, clever, beautiful and astoundingly visceral, these stories turned a popular costumed hero into an icon of the modern comics industry and are still amongst the best tales in the character’s long history.

Available in a number of collections these epics should be compulsory reading for any action fan or comics aficionado.
© 1990 Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Showcase Presents Superman volume 2


By Otto Binder, Jerry Siegel, Jerry Coleman, Bill Finger, Wayne Boring, Al Plastino, Curt Swan & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-1041-0

Although we all think of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s iconic creation as the epitome of comicbook creation, the truth is that very soon after his launch in Action Comics #1 Superman became a fictional multimedia star in the same league as Mickey Mouse, Popeye, Tarzan and Sherlock Holmes.

Far more people have seen or heard the Man of Steel than have ever read him – and yes, that does include the globally syndicated newspaper strips. By the time his 20th anniversary rolled around he had been a regular on radio, starred in a series of astounding animated cartoons, a novel by George Lowther and two movies, He was a perennial success for toy and puzzle manufacturers and had just ended his first smash live-action television serial. In his future were three more (Superboy, Lois & Clark and Smallville), a stage musical, a franchise of stellar movies and an almost seamless succession of games, bubblegum cards and TV cartoons beginning with The New Adventures of Superman in 1966 and continuing ever since. Even Krypto got in on the small-screen act…

However, that’s not all there is to these gloriously engaging super-sagas culled from the Metropolis Marvel’s lead feature in Action Comics #258-277 and the all-star sagas from Superman #134-145 (reliving the period November 1959 to May 1961 and including selected snippets from Superman Annuals #1& 2) presented in crisp, clean black and white for this sterling second Showcase Presents collection.

During the 1950s, even as his back-story was expanded and elaborated, Superman had settled into an ordered existence. Nothing could really hurt him, nothing ever changed, and pure thrills seemed in short supply. With the TV show concentrating on the action, the Comics-Code-hamstrung funnybook writers increasingly concentrated on supplying wonder, intrigue, imagination and, whenever possible, a few laughs as well…

The wholesome intrigue and breathtaking fantasy commence here with Action Comics #258’s ‘The Menace of Cosmic Man’ a sharp mystery written by Bill Finger and illustrated by Wayne Boring & Stan Kaye, wherein an impoverished European dictatorship suddenly announced it had its own all-powerful costumed champion; drawing Lois Lane and Clark Kent into a potentially deadly investigation, whilst #259 featured the hallucinogenic thriller ‘The Revenge of Luthor!’ by Jerry Siegel & Al Plastino with a seemingly impossible clash between the Man of Tomorrow and his own younger self which almost led to certain death for Lois and school sweetheart Lana Lang…

Superman #134 (January 1960) was a full-length epic from Binder, Boring & Kaye as ‘The Super-Menace of Metropolis’ saw the Caped Kryptonian apparently undertake a concerted attack upon humanity, leading to shocking revelations in ‘The Revenge Against Jor-El!’ before a blockbusting final battle against an unsuspected Kandorian foe in ‘Duel of the Supermen!’

There was the usual heartbreak for Lois when Superman and Supergirl perpetrated a romantic hoax on the world to thwart a potential alien attack in ‘Mighty Maid!’ (Action #260, Binder & Plastino), whilst Superman #135 offered three Siegel stories beginning with the Untold Tale ‘When Lois First Suspected Clark was Superman!’, illustrated by Plastino, after which ‘Superman’s Mermaid Sweetheart!’ (Boring & Kaye) reintroduced Clark Kent’s college love Lori Lemaris in another superbly effective, bittersweet tear-jerker and ‘The Trio of Steel!’ found the Man of Steel again battling his most impossible foe in a classy conundrum (art by Plastino again).

Action #261 revealed the secret history of ‘Superman’s Fortress of Solitude!‘ by unravelling a cunning criminal plot against the indomitable hero in a clever yarn from Siegel, Boring & Kaye after which ‘When Superman Lost his Powers!’ (#262, Robert Bernstein, Boring & Kaye) saw the Daily Planet staff trapped in another dimension where the Man of Tomorrow was merely mortal and Lois’ suspicions were again aroused…

Superman #136 began with ‘The Man who Married Lois Lane!’ by Bernstein, Boring & Kaye wherein the frustrated reporter finally gave in and settled for a superman from the future – with tragic results – after which another Untold Tale revealed how the World first learned ‘The Secret of Kryptonite!’ (Jerry Coleman & Plastino) and how, as ‘The Super-Clown of Metropolis!’, Superman was blackmailed into attempting to make a millionaire misanthrope laugh in a smart character-driven yarn from Siegel & Plastino.

Action #263 introduced ‘The World of Bizarros!’ (Binder, Boring & Kaye) wherein the ghastly doppelganger used an imperfect duplicator machine to create an entire race in his broken image, whilst Superman #137, ‘The Super-Brat from Krypton!’, (Siegel, Curt Swan & John Forte) revealed how an energy duplicate of baby Kal-El was raised by criminals to become ‘The Young Super-Bully’ before finally confronting his noble counterpart in ‘Superman vs. Super-Menace!’

In Action Comics #264 a clash with the newly-minted artificial race culminated in the Caped Kryptonian almost becoming ‘The Superman Bizarro!’ in a tense thriller from Binder, Boring & Kaye whilst ‘The “Superman” from Outer Space!’ in #265 (Binder, Swan & Forte) recounted the tragically short career of Hyper-Man, planetary champion of Earth-like world Oceania, after which Superman #138 debuted ‘Titano the Super-Ape!’: a chimpanzee mutated into a Kryptonite-empowered King Kong clone with a devotion to Lois and big hatred for the Man of Steel: a beloved masterpiece by Binder, Boring & Kaye combining action, pathos and drama to superb effect.

‘Superman’s Black Magic!’ (Siegel & Plastino) balanced that epic tear-jerker with a clever yarn wherein the Action Ace instigated a devilish sting to catch superstitious crooks whilst ‘The Mermaid from Atlantis!’ by Siegel Boring & Kaye, saw the newlywed Lori Lemaris attempt to trick Superman into finally proposing to Lois.

Action #266 found the heroic hunk trapped on another world, ‘The Captive of the Amazons.’ Their queen wanted the Man of Tomorrow for her sixth husband and was prepared to destroy Earth to make her dreams come true…

Superman #139 began with ‘The New Life of Super-Merman!’ as the Caped Kryptonian and Lori schemed to marry Lois off to a nice, safe multi-millionaire who really loved her in a rather dated and potentially offensive tale from Siegel, Boring & Kaye, whereas ‘The Jolly Jailhouse!’ (Coleman & Plastino) is safe and solid entertainment, providing a light-hearted clash between a would-be dictator and the World’s Most Uncooperative political prisoner Clark Kent; after which ‘The Untold Story of Red Kryptonite!’ (Binder, Boring & Kaye) offered a dramatic dilemma, a redefinition of the parameters of the deadly crimson mineral, and plenty of thrills with the Man of Steel forced to risk deadly danger and lots of informative flashbacks to rescue a sunken submarine…

Binder, Boring & Kaye produced the spectacular two-part clash ‘Hercules in the 20th Century!’ and ‘Superman’s Battle with Hercules!’ (Action #267-268, and separated here by the cover of Superman Annual #1) as Luthor brought the Hellenic demi-god to Metropolis to battle the “evil king” Superman. Events turned even more serious when the legendary warrior fell for Lois and marshalled all the magical powers of the Olympians to destroy his unwitting rival…

Although later played for laughs, most of the earlier appearances of Superman‘s warped double were generally moving comi-tragedies, such as issue #140 which featured Binder, Boring & Kaye’s ‘The Son of Bizarro!’ wherein the fractured facsimile and his wife Bizarro-Lois had a perfect, human baby. The fast growing tyke had super-powers but was shunned by the populace of the world of monsters.

His simple-minded, heartbroken father had no choice but to exile his son in space where chance brought the lad crashing to Earth as ‘The Orphan Bizarro!’. Sent to the same institution where Supergirl resided, “Baby Buster” soon became a permanent headache for the Girl of Steel until a tragic accident seemingly mutated him and his distraught father came looking for him at the head of an angry army of enraged Superman duplicates. A devastating battle was narrowly avoided and a happy ending only materialised with the introduction of ‘The Bizarro Supergirl!’…

Action Comics #269 told a clever tale of identity-saving when Lois tricked Clark into standing before ‘The Truth Mirror!’ (Siegel, Swan & George Klein), whilst Superman #141 again showed the writer’s winning form in ‘Superman’s Return to Krypton!’ Illustrated by Boring & Kaye the epic Grand Tragedy revealed in ‘Superman Meets Jor-El and Lara Again!’ how an accident marooned the adoptive Earth hero in the past on his doomed home-world. Reconciled to dying there with his people, in ‘Superman’s Kryptonian Romance’ Kal-El found love with his ideal soul-mate Lyla Lerrol, only to be torn from her side and returned to Earth against his will in concluding chapter ‘The Surprise of Fate!’

This bold saga was a fan favourite for decades thereafter, and remains one of the very best stories of the period.

In Action #270 Binder, Swan, Forte provided a whimsical interlude in ‘The Old Man of Metropolis!’ as the Metropolis Marvel glimpsed his own twilight years whilst ‘Voyage to Dimension X!’ by Binder & Plastino in #271 saw him narrowly escape his greatest foe’s latest diabolical plot.

Superman #142 opened with ‘Lois Lane’s Secret Helper!’ by Binder & Kurt Schaffenberger, as faithful Krypto tried to play matchmaker whereas ‘Superman Meets Al Capone!’ saw the time-lost Man of Tomorrow clash with the legendary mobster (Binder, Boring & Kaye) before battling a wandering ‘Flame-Dragon from Krypton!’ with some helpful assistance from his best super-buddies in a sharp yarn from Siegel, Boring & Kaye.

Another prototype team-up featured in Action #272’s ‘Superman’s Rival, Mental Man!’ a clever criminal-sting caper by Siegel, Swan & Kaye, which centred around Lois’ unsuspected talents as comic strip creator, whilst over in Superman #143 ‘The Great Superman Hoax!’ (Bernstein, Boring & Kaye) saw a criminal try to convince Lois that he was actually the Man of Might. ‘Lois Lane’s Lucky Day!’ (Siegel & Forte) found the daring reporter busting a crooked carnival – with a little covert Kryptonian help – before ‘Bizarro Meets Frankenstein!’ by Binder, Boring & Kaye saw the befuddled duplicate invade Earth to prove he was the scariest monster of all time…

Action #273 had Superman turn the table on the pestiferous 5th Dimensional pixie by invading ‘The World of Mxyzptlk!’ in a light-hearted romp from Siegel & Plastino and next issue lose his abilities to Lois in ‘The Reversed Super-Powers!’ (Siegel & Schaffenberger.

Superman #144 led with the combative thriller ‘The Super-Weapon!’ by Siegel, Swan & Kaye, after which Siegel & Plastino revealed the Untold Tale of ‘Superboy’s First Public Appearance!’ before going on to describe the terrifying plight of Superman, Supergirl and Krypto as ‘The Orphans of Space!’

Action #275 saw a classic clash with alien marauder Brainiac whose latest weapon was ‘The Menace of Red-Green Kryptonite!’ (Coleman, Boring & Kaye) after which Superman #145 opened with a salutary fable by Siegel, Swan & Kaye proving why Lois couldn’t be trusted with ‘The Secret Identity of Superman!’ ‘The Interplanetary Circus!’, by Bernstein & Plastino, then held Earth hostage until the Man of Steel agreed to join them, but even after outwitting those scoundrels Superman was utterly flummoxed by the incredible events of ‘The Night of March 31st!’ – a deliciously surreal, whimsical and bizarre mystery-puzzle from Siegel, Swan & Sheldon Moldoff.

This second superb collection concludes with the stirring cover of Superman Annual #2 and the scintillating double-page Map of Krypton by Siegel & Plastino which enflamed the imagination of every kid who ever saw it…

Superman has proven to be all things to all fans over his decades of existence, and with the character undergoing another radical overhaul at this time, these timeless tales of charm and joy and wholesome wit are more necessary than ever: not just as a reminder of great tales of the past but as an all-ages primer of the wonders still to come…

© 1959, 1960, 1961, 2006 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Outsiders volume 1: Looking for Trouble


By Judd Winick, Tom Raney, ChrisCross, Ivan Reis, & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-0211-8

Once upon a time superheroes sat around their assorted lairs or went about their civilian pursuits until the call of duty summoned them like firemen – or Thunderbirds – to deal with a breaking emergency. In the grim and gritty world after Crisis on Infinite Earths, the concept changed with a number of costumed adventurers evolving into pre-emptive strikers – as best exemplified by the covert penal battalion the Suicide Squad. Soon the philosophy had spread far and wide…

Following the break-up of Young Justice and the – temporary – death of founding Teen Titan Donna Troy (see Teen Titans/Outsiders: The Death and Return of Donna Troy) a number of her grief-stricken comrades also changed from First Responders to dedicated if morally dubious hunters tracking down threats and menaces before they attacked – or indeed committed crimes at all…

This volume collects the initial storyline which introduced Judd Winick’s aggressive new take on edgy team-concept the Outsiders, compiling material from Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files 2003 and issues #1-7 of the compelling and much-missed monthly comicbook.

In the aftermath of a deadly battle wherein a sexy robot arrived from the future and precipitated a mini robot rebellion, costing the lives of psychic heroine Omen and the much beloved Troy, the surviving champions reformed the Teen Titans as a group dedicated to better training the heroes of tomorrow.

However, CIA trained ex-Green Arrow sidekick Arsenal felt that it was not enough and convinced the heartbroken Nightwing to help devise a covert and pre-emptive pack of professions to take out perceived threats before innocent lives were endangered. ‘A Day After…’ by Winick, Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis & Mark Campos set the scene, after which the series proper began with the three-part ‘Roll Call’ illustrated by Tom Raney & Scott Hanna.

‘Opening Offers’ introduced new characters Thunder (daughter of original Outsider Black Lightning) and enigmatic super girl Grace, established player Jade, recently resurrected and amnesiac Rex Metamorpho Mason and, in a not particularly welcome, wise or team-building move, the futuristic fem-bot who had started the whole mess. With her memory-banks scrubbed and keen to redeem herself, Indigo added eagerness and innocence to an embittered but highly motivated and very determined team…

Their first mission caught them off-guard and began when a cruise ship was hijacked and an army of talking gorillas invaded New York under the command of super-ape Grodd, but the devastating action of ‘Lawyers, Guns and Monkeys’ was quickly revealed to be no more than a sinister diversion as the Joker used the chaos to abduct new American President Lex Luthor, leaving the team with the unwelcome task of rescuing one of the people they would most like to take out…

ChrisCross & Sean Parsons depicted the Outsiders’ first true hunting party in ‘Brothers in Blood’: part 1 ‘Small Potatoes’ as, after a series of small time busts (acting on information from a mysterious and secret source), the squad uncovered a diabolical scheme by religious maniac Brother Blood to steal one million babies…

The cult leader activated hypnotised deep-cover agents in ‘Finders Sleepers’ and almost murdered Arsenal, but even as the hero was undergoing life-saving surgery the Outsiders, assisted by two vengeful generations of Green Arrow, rocketed to Antarctica where Blood was attempting to free and recruit 1,600 metahuman villains incarcerated in the maximum security super-prison the Slab.

As the battle raged and casualties mounted, Nightwing was forced to choose between saving the infants or allowing Blood and an army of criminals to escape…

This first collection ends on a powerfully poignant and personal note as Metamorpho at last discovered the shocking reason for his lack of memories and faced ultimate dissolution in the superbly downbeat ‘Oedipus Rex’ (Raney & Hanna)…

Fast-paced, action-packed, cynically sharp and edgily effective Outsiders was one of the very best series pursuing the “take-’em out first” concept and resulted in some of the very best Fights ‘n’ Tights action of the last ten years. Still punchy, evocative and highly effective, these thrillers will delight older fans of the genre.
© 2003, 2004 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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The Inhumans – A Marvel Graphic Novel


By Anne Nocenti, Brett Blevins & Al Williamson (Marvel)
ISBN: 0-87135-435-7

Conceived as another fantastic lost civilisation and debuting in 1965 (Fantastic Four #44-48) during Stan Lee & Jack Kirby’s most fertile and productive creative period, The Inhumans are a race of incredibly disparate (generally) humanoid beings genetically altered by aliens in Earth’s pre-history, consequently becoming technologically advanced far ahead of emergent Homo Sapiens.

Subsequently they isolated themselves from the world and the barbarous dawn-age humans, first on an island and latterly in a hidden valley in the Himalayas in a fabulous city named Attilan. After untold centuries in hiding, increasing global pollution levels began to attack their elevated biological systems and the Inhumans relocated their entire city-civilisation to the Moon. This bold act exposed them to military scrutiny and they became known at last to the ordinary citizens of Earth.

The Attilan mark of citizenship is immersion in the mutative Terrigen Mists which further enhance and transform individuals into radically unique and generally super-powered beings. The Inhumans are necessarily obsessed with genetic structure and heritage, worshipping the ruling Royal Family as the rationalist equivalent of mortal gods.

In this controversial tale from 1988, scripter Anne Nocenti and artists Brett Blevins & Al Williamson (with letters from Jim Novak & Gaspar Saladino and colours by Mike Higgins) took a hard look at the underbelly of the concept in a stark examination of personal rights vs. civic responsibility…

With such an unstable potential breeding pool, the right to have children has been taken away from individuals and delegated to a Genetic Council. If, on occasion their mandates break hearts or even lead the desperate and lovelorn to commit suicide, that’s sad but just a price the race must pay…

After witnessing one such tragic demise on the day of the annual pronouncement of who may and may not sire offspring, bellicose, passionate and deeply conservative Gorgon has much to ponder upon. Even his own cousin Karnak sympathises with the growing public movement to abolish the Council and let citizens choose their own breeding partners, and the princes have, as usual, come to blows over their always opposing views…

It all becomes agonisingly personal when their cousin Medusa, wife and voice of the mighty but voluntarily mute King Blackbolt (whose softest syllable could shatter a mountain) announces she is already pregnant and the Council summarily decree the unsanctioned and potentially ultra-destructive fetus must be destroyed…

Horrified when her shocked but resigned family agrees to the horrifying Eugenics dictat, Medusa flees Attilan with the unsuspected aid of deranged psychopathic genius (and brother-in-law) Maximus. She hides on Earth, preferring to risk death by pollution rather than the arbitrary murder of unborn child.

Amongst the Inhumans the rebellious act divides both royal and commoner families and looks certain to foment civil war. Blithely unaware, on Earth Medusa and faithful companion Minxi are sequestered in a deserted garbage dump on the outskirts of Las Vegas where her soon-to-be-born baby begins to increasingly make its presence – and power – felt…

In Attilan, Blackbolt is crushed and paralysed by the weight of duty and his own indecision whilst Maximus schemes to win Medusa for himself. At last united but still bickering, the Royal Family, Gorgon, Karnak, Triton and Medusa’s sister Crystal travel to Earth to stand by the defiant mother-to-be. The elemental Crystal uses her ability to collect and banish all the toxins in the air to produce a thirty-mile wide “clean-zone” for Medusa, but as her time nears, strange, unnatural phenomena begin to occur throughout the region…

At last Blackbolt comes to a shattering decision and Maximus makes his final sinister move, Medusa goes into labour and the tortured, twisted environment comes to ghastly unnatural life just as and the full extent of the newborn’s abilities are revealed…

Even after all the horror, death and disaster, there is one last shock and betrayal when the Inhumans return to the Moon under a dubious amnesty…

Evocative, challenging and powerfully unsettling, this dark and impressive yarn goes far beyond the normal parameters of cosmic Fights ‘n’ Tights shenanigans; forcing readers to think as well as feel.

Marvel don’t generally publish original material graphic novel anymore but once they were market leader in the field with a range of “big stories” told on larger pages emulating the long-established European Album (285 x 220mm rather than the standard 258 x 168mm of today’s books) featuring not only proprietary characters in out-of-the-ordinary adventures but also licensed assets like Conan, creator-owned properties like Alien Legion and new character debuts.

This extended experiment with big-ticket storytelling in the 1980s and 1990s produced many exciting results that the company has never come close to repeating since. Most of the stories still stand out today – or would if they were still in print. The Inhumans is a beautiful, extremely uncompromising and occasionally explicit tale delivering action, tension and soul-searching drama and is something no unabashed older fan of superhero sagas should miss….
© 1988 Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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100 Bullets: Decayed


By Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso (Vertigo)
ISBN: 978-1-84576-384-8

Not long after Columbus landed in America, thirteen ancient European crime-families migrated to the New World and clandestinely carved up the continent in perpetuity between them. As the country grew cultured and a new nation was born the Trust embedded itself within every aspect of it.

To prevent their own greed and ambition from destroying the sweetest deal in history the Families created an extraordinary police force to mediate and act when any Trust member or faction acted against the unity and best interests of the whole. They were called the Minutemen and were always led by the kind of peacekeeper needed to keep them honest and actively cooperating – a man uniquely honest, dedicated, smart and remorseless.

Not too long ago though, some of The Trust’s current leaders decided they no longer needed overseers and acted with characteristic ruthlessness to remove them.

Betrayed Minutemen captain Agent Graves didn’t take his dismissal well and has been slowly enacting a plan to rectify that casual injustice. For years he has been appearing to various betrayed and defeated people as a “Court of Last Resort” offering answers, secrets, an untraceable handgun and 100 Bullets …

Some of those tragic beneficiaries have been revealed as Minutemen with their personalities hypnotically submerged in cover identities to hide and protect them from the Trust. Gradually they have been reawakened by Graves as he confidentially proceeds with his long range strategy… although no-one really knows what the end-game and ultimate goals are.

With this tenth volume (collecting issues #68-75 of the Vertigo comicbook and the three quarter mark of the stunning adult saga) comes another stunning ratcheting-up of suspense as even more players are removed from the game and the increasingly wary survivors consolidate their positions for the fast approaching apocalyptic finale.

Pay attention when perusing: the uncompromising co-creators have never been accused of underestimating their audience’s intelligence – or appetite for blood, sex, intrigue and ultra-violent action – and these stories need to be carefully studied: both the delightfully sparse words and the shockingly slick pictures…

After an introduction from Darwyn Cooke the ongoing drama re-opens with ‘Sleep, Walker’ and a flashback to 1962 as Axel, leader of House Nagel, is informed by young Augustus Medici that the Minuteman leader Neil Walker has died…

To replace him Medici and Javier Vasco favour the coolly capable Philip Graves, but the junior Minuteman is not so certain he will win the position or the Trust’s full acceptance…

In the present Nagel is a tired old man carried along on Medici’s ambitions and sadly realising his own time has, at last, run out…

As new Trust Warlord Lono targets death-obsessed street-fighter Jack Daw and finally reactivates the next hidden sleeper agent by almost beating him to death, another flashback reveals that some Trust members fear Graves’ Holy Grail has always been a House of his own…

The extended saga ‘A Wake’ reintroduces another capable and nefarious character as low-level enforcer Ronnie Rome hunts for the suicidal mook crazy enough to steal from his gangster boss Mimo. If only all the evidence didn’t point to Ronnie’s wild younger brother Remi…

Meanwhile Axel’s funeral points out a minor problem: as the nine remaining Trust Families swear new allegiance and solidarity to each other a contentious point of order crops up.

Lars and Anna, twins with an unhealthy affection for each other, are the heirs to House Nagel, but since there can be only one undisputed head and the twins are reluctant to choose they must be prodded at all costs into making an irrevocable decision…

Elsewhere, with all the angles weighed, Ronnie readies himself to settle with Remi, but the snotty sibling has found the case, gun and 100 bullets Graves left with the older leg-breaker…

Things turn very nasty when the real thieves are exposed, but the horrific bloodbath that results there is as nothing compared to what happens after one of the Rome boys is revealed as another dormant Minuteman…

And at the highest level of society, Lono works things out with the two potential heirs of Axel Nagel. When he’s done there’s one less House in the Trust…

This volume ends with ‘Amorality Play’ as Graves plays his game in San Francisco, offering young grill-chef and washed-up medical student Dustin his usual deal and briefcase while Lono revels in his growing clout with the Trust and messes with assorted street-punks, predators and lowlifes – just to keep his hand in and to prove what really makes humanity tick…

Wicked, clever, blackly funny and gloriously, gratuitously vicarious, this ultra-violent, sex-stuffed, profanity-packed, utterly addictive thrill ride always delivers maximum punch and every beautiful panel on every thrilling page might hold the final clue  to the grand saga unfolding before your eyes. Moreover even whilst playing scrupulously fair the creators are doing their best to shock, mislead and set you up….

Beginning as one of the best crime-comics ever produced, the series developed into a staggeringly plausible and painfully visceral conspiracy thriller of vast scope and dazzling, intricate detail. Over the months and years Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso slowly and carefully planted many seeds which grew into a tangle of disparate shoots simultaneously entwining and growing off at tangents before coming together into a perfect mosaic of mood, mayhem and murder.

If there are still any of you rush-starved story fans – grown-up, paid-up, immured to harsh language and unshaken by nudity, rudity and very violent behaviour – who haven’t seen this compulsive classic yet, get out there and grab every one of these graphic novels at all costs! You need them all and the very best is yet to come…
© 2006 Brian Azzarello, Eduardo Risso & DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Explorer – The Mystery Boxes


By various, edited by Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet)
ISBNs: HB 978-1-4197-0010-1   PB 978-1-4197-0009-5

Here’s another superb entry into the burgeoning Young Adults graphic novel market that offers a wonderful alternative to Fights ‘n’ Tights furores and interminable extended storylines that will appeal to fans of the art form and fantasy freaks alike.

Edited by Kazu Kibuishi who created the impressive sorcerous saga Amulet, this captivating anthology collection offers seven thought-provoking and decidedly different tales by a coterie of animators and comics-creators all turning their fertile imaginations and illustrative talents to expanding and elucidating upon the core concept of an enigmatic container…

The wonderment begins with a spooky fable by Emily Carroll wherein a solitary and much put-upon girl discovers a very special doll and far more than she bargained for ‘Under the Floorboards’…

‘Spring Cleaning’ by Dave Roman & Raina Telgemeier is a wry and jolly escapade with lazy Oliver finally picking up his toys and discovering a puzzle box he didn’t know he owned. When he tries to sell the thing online all manner of very strange and insistent people start making outrageous and impossible offers…

Jason Caffoe follows a more tradition route as his young warrior overcomes all manner of fantastic odds to win ‘The Keeper’s Treasure’. Of course not everybody agrees on what constitutes fabulous wealth…

‘The Butter Thief’ by Rad Sechrist sees a little girl discover her grandmother’s ineffable wisdom and magical practicality after freeing a thieving spirit from a kitchen trap and undergoing a startling metamorphosis whilst ‘The Soldier’s Daughter’ (by Stuart Livingston with Stephanie Ramirez) reveals the true cost of vengeance as young Clara picks up her murdered father’s sword and mission. Mercifully a mysterious stranger shows her another path in his enthralling cask of wonders…

Johane Matte & Saymone Phanekham display stunning comic timing and astounding fast-paced imagination in the wicked tale of ‘Deet’; a much-maligned junior intergalactic shipping clerk dealing with workplace bullying in the most effective manner conceivable after which editor Kazu Kibuishi brings the perplexing odyssey of a spectacular close with ‘The Escape Option’ as a troubled boy finds an incredible artefact and is presented with an impossible, life-changing, world altering choice…

These dark, beguiling, funny and enticing adventures blend traditional story elements with an inspired eye for the contemporary kid’s broad spectrum of fascinations: warriors, aliens, robots, cartoon animals, rocket-ships, monsters, isolation, alienation, magical quests and glorious battles; all delivered with sly wit and breathtaking exuberance to create a splendid portmanteau rollercoaster ride of laughter, tears, terrors and triumphs.

This a perfect introduction or reintroduction to comics for kids of all ages looking for something beyond the ordinary and hopefully the start of a long line of thematic sequels…

Explorers is scheduled for a March 2012 release in the UK but available for pre-order now in both hardback and paperback editions.

Cover and The Escape Option © 2012 Kazu Kibuishi. Under the Floorboards © 2012 Emily Carroll. Spring Cleaning © 2012 Dave Roman & Raina Telgemeier. The Keeper’s Treasure © 2012 Jason Caffoe. The Butter Thief © 2012 Rad Sechrist. The Soldier’s Daughter © 2012 Stuart Livingston. Whatzit © 2012 Johane Matte. Published by Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams. All rights reserved.

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Earthling!


By Mark Fearing, with Tim Rummel; coloured by Ken Min (Chronicle Books)
ISBNs: HB 978-0-81187-106-8   PB 978-1-45210-906-0

In the past I’ve banged on about the dearth of good comics for kids – as opposed to the vibrant and thriving children’s prose book markets or the slavish and impenetrable dead-end niche-genres and daunting cross-marketing of contemporary comicbooks – and at last, some interesting developments in strip-book publishing look like setting that imbalance to rights…

Earthling! is the first graphic novel by animator Mark Fearing (with some initial creative input from TV producer Tim Rummel) and tells the tale of solitary, nerdy lad Bud, dragged by his astronomer dad to the literal middle of nowhere to take up residence at the vast Von Lunar Radio Telescope Array in the dry wilds of New Mexico.

The place is weird and a little spooky, but with his Mum gone and his father preoccupied with work Bud’s getting used to coping on his own…

The real trouble starts the next morning when he dashes for the school bus. Late and in the middle of a storm Bud inadvertently stumbles into the wrong vehicle and finds himself stuck on a malfunctioning intergalactic shuttle taking a bunch of alien students to Cosmos Academy where all the kids in the Galactic Alliance are educated.

Being the new kid in school is always bad news, but when you’re the only one of your species…

Luckily geeky pariah Gort GortGort McGortGort takes Bud under his wing and steers him through the worst of the culture shock, but the human’s urgent desire to go home is countered by one overwhelming fact: Earth is the most feared planet in the Galaxy, its inhabitants are despised and reviled by every sentient race in creation and its spatial coordinates are a closely guarded secret…

Thinly disguised as a sporty, athletic Tenarian, Bud tries desperately to fit in and luckily fellow outcast Gort is determined to help him return home, but the Academy is almost as dangerous as an Earth school.

There are jocks and bullies and cliques everywhere, the cool sapients run everything and snarky sarcasm is a deadly threat at all times. Although there are some decent and friendly teachers, the robots, rogue or escaped science experiments and especially the cafeteria make daily life an incredible and potentially lethal prospect.

Moreover, Principal Lepton and his administration are brutal bureaucrats with an excessive punishment regime (this is one deep-space satellite school you do not want to be “expelled” from) who have a pretty cavalier attitude to student safety – or even survival – and a hidden agenda which involves using Academy resources to build super-weapons for use against Bud’s lost or hidden home-world…

Gradually though, the boy adjusts, even finding an unexpected flair for the terrifying null-gravity sport of ZeroBall, which is lucky as Gort has deduced that the immensely prestigious championship Tournament is being held tantalisingly close to the diabolical Planet Earth – close enough that a stolen space-pod could reach it, if by some miracle Bud’s team qualified for the finals…

Funny, thrilling, wildly imaginative and utterly engrossing, Earthling! blends elements of Tom Brown’s Schooldays with Joe Dante’s Explorers and Harry Potter’s best bits with the anarchic wit of Rocko’s Modern Life or Camp Lazlo to produce a delightfully compelling adventure yarn with endearing characters and a big, big payoff.

This is a book any sharp, fun-loving kid can – and should – read… and so should the rest of you…

Earthling! is scheduled for release in the UK February 2012 but available for pre-order right now in both hardback and paperback editions.

© 2012 by Mark Fearing. All rights reserved.

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Axa Adult Fantasy Color Album


By Enrique Badia Romero & Donne Avenell (Ken Pierce Books/Eclipse Comics)
ISBN: 0-912277-27-0

Axa ran in The Sun Monday to Saturday from 1978 to her abrupt cancellation in 1986 – a victim of political and editorial intrigue which saw the strip cancelled in the middle of a story – and other than the First American Edition series from strip historian Ken Pierce and this colour collection, has never been graced with a definitive collection. It should be noted also that at the time of these books she was still being published with great success and to popular acclaim.

In those days in Britain it often appeared that the only place where truly affirmative female role-models appeared to be taken seriously were the cartoon sections, but even there the likes of Modesty Blaise, Danielle, Scarth, Amanda and all the other capable ladies who walked all over the oppressor gender, both humorously and in straight adventure scenarios, lost clothes and shed undies repeatedly, continuously, frivolously and in the manner they always had…

Nobody complained (no one important or who was ever taken seriously): it was just tradition and the idiom of the medium… and besides, artists have always liked to draw bare-naked ladies as much as blokes liked to see them and it was even “educational” for the kiddies – who could buy any newspaper in any shop without interference, even if they couldn’t get into cinemas to view Staying Alive, Octopussy or Return of the Jedi without an accompanying adult…

Enrique Badía Romero’s career began in his native Spain in 1953, where he produced everything from westerns, sports, war stories and trading cards, mostly in conjunction with his brother Jorge, eventually forming his own publishing house. “Enric” began working for the higher-paying UK market in the 1960s on strips such as ‘Cathy and Wendy’, ‘Isometrics’ and ‘Cassius Clay’ before successfully assuming the drawing duties on the high-profile Modesty Blaise adventure-serial in 1970 (see Modesty Blaise: The Hell Makers and Modesty Blaise: The Green Eyed Monster), only leaving when this enticing new prospect appeared.

Tough’n’sexy take-charge chicks were a comic-strip standard by the time the Star Wars phenomenon reinvigorated interest in science fiction and the infallible old standby of scantily-clad, curvy amazons in post-apocalyptic wonderlands never had greater sales-appeal than when The Sun – Britain’s best-selling tabloid – hired Romero and Donne Avenell to produce a new fantasy feature for their already well-stacked cartoon section.

This beautifully illustrated but oddly out of kilter collection doesn’t bear much similarity in terms of tone or format to the (ostensibly) family-oriented daily strip, and features none of the regular supporting cast such as long-suffering lover Matt or robotic companion Mark 10, which leads me to suspect it was created independently for the European market, perhaps as a Sunday page in Romero’s homeland of Spain or elsewhere where attitudes and mores are more liberal.

Certainly in the early 1980s Axa appeared in the French adult bande dessinee magazine Charlie Mensuel which reprinted many classic newspaper strips from around the world and after that closed in the Swedish publication Magnum.

Whatever their origin the tales collected here are far stronger and more explicitly sexual in nature; occasionally coming close to being mere macho rape-fantasies, so please be warned if such content, no matter how winningly illustrated, might offend…

The eponymous heroine was raised in a stultifying, antiseptic and emotionless domed city: a bastion of technological advancement in a world destroyed by war, pollution and far worse. Chafing at the constricting life of the loveless living dead, Axa broke out and, ancient sword in hand, chose to roam the shattered Earth searching for something real and true and free…

This slim oversized tome opens with Axa crossing a trackless wasteland under a scorching sun until she finds a hidden grotto beneath a ruined building. The coolly sensual hidden pool is a welcome delight but harbours a ghastly monster and mutant voyeur…

Captured by the hideously scarred human degenerate Axa discovers his gentle nature but is soon abducted by his far-less sympathetic brethren who attempt to use her as a brood mare for their next generation, until fate, her newfound friend and that ever-present long-sword combine to effect her escape…

Resuming her aimless explorations, Axa then encounters a coastal village but is almost killed by a pack of wild dogs. Her desperate flight takes her to a lighthouse on the promontory above the deserted town where ruggedly handsome Juame and his teenaged daughter Maria have been trapped for months.

Soon the sexual tension between Axa and Jaume culminates in the only way it can and Maria is driven mad by a jealousy she can barely comprehend. When a roving band of vicious post-apocalyptic Hell’s Angels hits town hungry for slaughter and kicks, the conflicted teen opens the tower doors for them…

The brutes casually murder her father and are intent on adding her and Axa to their string of human playthings, but when a terrific storm hits Axa breaks loose and becomes the bloody tool of harsh, uncompromising and final fate…

This incarnation of the warrior wanderer is certainly harder-hitting and more visceral than the British strip version and has little of the feature’s sly, dry humour, but art-lovers cannot fail to be impressed by Romero’s vibrant mixed-media illustration and imaginative, liberating page compositions.

Lush, lavish, luxurious and strictly for adventure-loving adults, there’s still a tantalising promise of a major motion picture and above all else Axa is long overdue for a definitive collection. Where is that bold publisher looking for the next big thing…?
Axa ©1985 Enrique Badía Romero. Previously ©1983, 1984 in Spanish.  Express Newspapers, Ltd.

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Showcase Presents World’s Finest volume 2


By Jerry Coleman, Bill Finger, Edmond Hamilton, Jim Mooney, Curt Swan, Dick Sprang & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84856-053-6

For decades Superman and Batman were the quintessential superhero partners: the “World’s Finest” team. They were friends as well as colleagues and the pairing made sound financial sense since DC’s top heroes could cross-pollinate and cross-sell their combined readerships.

This most inevitable of Paladin Pairings first occurred on the Superman radio show in the early 1940s, whilst in comics the pair had only briefly met whilst on a Justice Society of America adventure in All-Star Comics #36 (August-September 1947) – and perhaps even there they missed each other in the gaudy hubbub…

Of course they had shared the covers on World’s Finest Comics from the outset, but never crossed paths inside; sticking firmly to their specified solo adventures within. However once that Rubicon was crossed thanks to spiralling costs and dwindling page-counts the industry never looked back…

This second blockbusting black and white chronicle gathers their cataclysmic collaborations from World’s Finest Comics #112-145, spanning September 1960 to November 1964, just as the entire planet was about to go superhero crazy and especially Batman mad…

Issue #112 by Jerry Coleman, Dick Sprang & Sheldon Moldoff featured a unique and tragic warning in ‘The Menace of Superman’s Pet’ as a phenomenally cute teddy bear from space proved to be an unbelievably dangerous menace and unforgettable true friend. Bring tissues you big baby…

In an era when disturbing menace was frowned upon, many tales featured intellectual dilemmas and unavoidable pests. Both Gotham Guardian and Man of Steel had their own magical 5th dimensional gadflies and it was therefore only a matter of time until ‘Bat-Mite Meets Mr. Mxyzptlk’ in a madcap duel to see whose hero was best… with America caught in the metamorphic middle.

WF #114 found Superman, Batman and Robin shanghaied to the distant world of Zoron as ‘Captives of the Space Globes’ where their abilities were reversed but justice was still served in the end, after which ‘The Curse that Doomed Superman’ saw the Action Ace consistently outfoxed by a scurrilous Swami with Batman helpless to assist him…

Curt Swan & Stan Kaye illustrated #116’s thrilling monster mash ‘The Creature From Beyond’ as a criminal alien out-powered Superman whilst concealing an incredible secret, and all the formula bases were covered as Lex Luthor used ‘Super-Batwoman and the Super-Creature’ to execute his most sinister scheme against the World’s Finest heroes.

In #118 Sprang & Moldoff illustrated ‘The Creature that was Exchanged for Superman’ as the Man of Tomorrow was hijacked to another world so that a transplanted monster could undertake a sinister search and leaving the Dynamic Duo to fight a desperate holding action whilst ‘The Secret of Tigerman’ in #119 (and inked by Stan Kaye) found a dashing new hero in charge as the valiant trio attempted to outwit a sinister new criminal mastermind.

Veteran artist Jim Mooney began illustrating Coleman’s scripts in #120 starting with ‘The Challenge of the Faceless Creatures’ as amorphous monsters repeatedly siphoned off Superman’s powers for nefarious purposes after which the Gotham Gangbuster was eerily transformed into a destructive horror in the trans-dimensional thriller ‘The Mirror Batman’ and #122 (inked by Kaye) saw an alien lawman cause a seeming betrayal by the Dark Knight, leading to ‘The Capture of Superman’…

Zany frustration and magical pranks were the order of the day in #123 as ‘The Incredible Team of Bat-Mite and Mr. Mxyzptlk’ (Sprang & Moldoff) returned to again determine whose hero was greatest, whilst ‘The Mystery of the Alien Super-Boy’ (#124, illustrated by Swan & Moldoff) pitted the heroes against a titanic teenager with awesome powers and a deadly hidden agenda whilst ‘The Hostages of the Island of Doom’ (Mooney & John Forte) saw Batman & Robin used as pawns to compel Superman’s assistance in a fantastic criminal’s play for ultimate power…

Luthor’s eternal vendetta inadvertently created an immensely destructive threat in ‘The Negative Superman’ (#126, scripted by Ed Herron for Mooney & Moldoff) which stretched Batman and Robin’s ingenuity to the limit before ‘The Sorcerer From the Stars’ (by Coleman) challenged the heroes to stop his plundering of Earth’s mystic secrets whilst ‘The Power that Transformed Batman’ (#128, Coleman & Mooney) temporarily made the Caped Crusader an unstoppable menace.

Dave Wood, Mooney & Moldoff pitted the World’s Finest team against their greatest enemies in #129’s ‘Joker-Luthor, Incorporated!’ whilst Coleman & Mooney posed an intergalactic puzzle with devastating consequences for the heroes in ‘Riddle of the Four Planets!’ and Bill Finger, Sprang & Moldoff presented a stirring action thriller when the team inexplicably added a surplus and incompetent fourth hero to the partnership in ‘The Mystery of the Crimson Avenger’ from #131.

With Finger the new regular scripter, tense mysteries played a stronger part in the dramas, such as when Superman was forced to travel back in time to rescue ‘Batman and Robin, Medieval Bandits’ (art by Mooney) and clear their names of historical ignominy, whilst #133 found ‘The Beasts of the Supernatural’ (Mooney & Moldoff) leeching the Man of Steel’s power and the Gotham Guardians hard-pressed to fool the mastermind behind the attacks after which the heroes battled for their lives against an alien dictator and ‘The Band of Super-Villains’ (Mooney)

World’s Finest Comics #135 (August 1963, inked by Moldoff) was Dick Sprang’s last pencil job on the series and a great swansong as ‘Menace of the Future Man’ saw the heroes valiantly and vainly battling a time-tossed foe who knew their every tactic and secret, after which ‘The Batman Nobody Remembered’ (Mooney & Moldoff) offered a paranoid nightmare wherein the Dark Detective faced a hostile world which thought him mad, whilst ‘Superman’s Secret Master!’ (#137, Finger & Mooney) seemingly turned the Action Ace into a servant of crime until Batman deduced the true state of affairs…

Finger bowed out in #138 with ‘Secret of the Captive Cavemen’ as an alien spy’s suicide led the heroes back 50,000 years to stop a plot to conquer Earth after which Dave Wood provided an eerie sci fi thriller in ‘The Ghost of Batman’ (Mooney & Moldoff) and a classic clash of powers in #140’s ‘The Clayface Superman!’ (Mooney) as the shape-shifting bandit duplicated the Metropolis Marvel’s unstoppable abilities…

A new era dawned in World’s Finest Comics #141 (May 1964) as author Edmond Hamilton and artists Curt Swan & George Klein ushered in a more realistic and less whimsical tone in ‘The Olsen-Robin Team vs. “the Superman-Batman Team!”’ wherein the junior partners rebelled and set up their own crime-fighting enterprise: however there was a hidden meaning to their increasingly wild escapades…

In #142 an embittered janitor suddenly gained all the powers of the Legion of Super-Heroes and attacked the heroes out of frustration and jealousy in ‘The Composite Superman!’ after which the Dark Knight suffered a near fatal wound and nervous breakdown in ‘The Feud Between Batman and Superman!’ a condition cured only after a deadly and disastrous recuperative trip to the Bottle City of Kandor.

Super-villains were becoming more popular and #144 highlighted two of the worst when ‘The 1,000 Tricks of Clayface and Brainiac!’ almost destroyed the World’s Finest team forever and this stellar second collection ends on an enthralling high note when Batman was press-ganged to an alien ‘Prison For Heroes!’: not as a cell-mate for Superman and other interplanetary champions, but as their sadistic jailer…

These are gloriously clever yet uncomplicated tales whose dazzling style has returned to inform if not dictate the form for much of DC’s modern television animation – especially the fabulous Batman: the Brave and the Bold series – and the contents of this tome are a veritable feast of witty, charming thrillers packing as much punch and wonder now as they always have.
© 1960-1964, 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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The Bodyssey


By Richard Corben & Simon Revelstroke (Catalan Communications/Fantagor Press)
ISBNs: Signed/numbered Limited Edition 0-8741 603-2-4, softcover 978-0-8741 603-2-1
1993 Fantagor edition 978-0-96238-418-9

Richard Corben is one of America’s greatest proponents of graphic narrative: an animator, illustrator, publisher and cartoonist, springing from the tumultuous wave of independent counterculture commix of the 1960s and 1970s to become a major force in comics storytelling with his own unmistakable style and vision. He is renowned for his mastery of airbrush and captivatingly excessive anatomical stylisation and infamous for delightfully wicked, darkly comedic horror and beguiling eroticism in his fantasy and science fiction tales.

Always garnering huge support and acclaim in Europe, he was regularly collected in luxurious albums even as he fell out of favour – and print – in his own country. This particular hilarious adult saga developed in response to a stunning 8-plate art portfolio ‘Scenes from the Magic Planet’ from 1979. After serialisation in Heavy Metal #97-102 in 1985, the complete scandalous graphic novel epic was first released in December 1986 and re-published by the artist’s own Fantagor Press company in 1993.

The necromancer Hunghoul has run off (flown actually in a fantastic cloud machine) with Pilgor the Barbarian’s faithless wife Smegmella and the obliviously cuckolded hero is hunting them through the skies but their inevitable death duel doesn’t go well and the hero is dumped into the oceans far below.

Washed ashore in a strange country the massively-thewed champion becomes an object of imminent affection for an undulating Pudenda Beast until rescued by a reptile man named Ytgna – a scurrilous creature with plans of his own which sorely need a mighty muscled dupe and puissant fighter…

The wily lizard enlists the lovelorn hero in his own a quest to locate and liberate the amply pulchritudinous Ammora, and soon their search brings them to the fleshpot quarter of cesspit city Foulmouth where Pilgor catches the eye and steamier regions of androgynous Succulus Agripper, the Brothel Queen of the degenerate metropolis. Being a healthy upstanding chap Pilgor violently refuses the unwholesome unwelcome advances, effecting a spectacular escape and making another implacable, powerful and unforgiving enemy…

Eventually Ytgna and Pilgor locate their quarry – or so they think – but she proves to be far more than they bargained for and the searchers find themselves unwelcome guests of the formidable Amazons of Tumeschia and about to lose their he-man standings until a giant comatose goddess awakes and an extremely phallic giant titan invades. And that’s when the still most-piqued Agripper and his army turn up…

Meanwhile at Castle Bilious the first bloom of love is fading for Hunghoul and Smegmella so the wizard is happy to turn his attention back to Pilgor – who is still keen on exercising bloody vengeance upon them.

With the Amazons and Agripper hard on his heels and the nasty necromancer waiting for him the witless warrior is heading inexorably for a spectacular, eye-popping climax…

I’ve only got the signed and numbered limited edition so the remaining pages might not be in either of the softcover editions, but if you can, ensure you find a copy which ends the saucy fantasy extravaganza with the original portfolio plates from 1979.

In magnificent textured monochrome grey-tones and washes ‘Pilgor Discusses Politics with his Friends’, ‘Hunghoul’s Guards’, ‘Ytgna and his Faithful Ammora’, ‘Machola Seeks a Remembrance’, ‘Uncle Hunghoul Collects a Titbit’, ‘Pilgor Works his Work’, ‘Pilgor drops in at Dinnertime’ and ‘Pilgor’s and Ammora’s Happy Ending’ cap off the wry and whimsically debauched fantasy in a wave of sheer artistic excellence.

Like the cross between the World’s smuttiest Conan story and “Carry On, Barbarian!” this tale perfectly epitomises Corben’s unique visual style, love of the dark and scathingly sharp sense of humour. Combine that with humanity’s apparently insatiable hunger for sex, nudity, monsters and magic and this book becomes another utterly unmissable indulgence…
© 1986, 1993 Richard Corben. All rights reserved.