Month: October 2007

By Robert C Harvey (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-56097-782-7

It’s nice to see a biography that has something nice rather than something scurrilous or scandalous to say about its subject, and this wonderful, colossal tome (just shy of a thousand pages – if you’re planning to give this as a Christmas gift best use a festive steel woollen stocking and bolt it to the fireplace) is both erudite and recondite in covering the life, times and career of arguably the most influential cartoonist in the history of the medium.

Combining education with sheer charm, the text describes the history and philosophy of making comics. With a broad, deep understanding of the comic business, Harvey traces Caniff’s life and career and uses it to tell the story of the medium in the 20th century, and in many ways of the ‘American Century’ itself.

By way of his childhood fascinations, developing work ethic and early struggles, we see Caniff become the man who produced a daily and Sunday comic strip for fifty-five years. From early successes such as Dickie Dare, through the Depression and War years of Terry and the Pirates, (never neglecting his patriotic pick-me-up Male Call and its immortal star ‘Miss Lace’) through to the post-war icon Steve Canyon who was in many ways his most successful creation – though not without some regret as the character’s abiding integrity grew increasingly out of step with the America of Viet Nam and Watergate. The strip ran from 1947 to Caniff’s death in 1988. Steve Canyon died with him.

As an accomplished cartoonist himself, Harvey is able to clearly explain technique and creative rationale as he critiques the many illustrations throughout the book, both in terms of artistic virtuosity and narrative brilliance, and the chance of seeing, even vicariously, through the eyes of the artform’s greatest journeyman is a great blessing for any serious fan or historian. Harvey worked for twenty-five years on this book, and had unlimited access to not just records but to Milton Caniff himself. The result is a complete feeling of having known the “Rembrandt of the Comics” personally.

If you love comics and can stand the thought of missing someone you’ve never met, you’ll want this wonderful book.

© 2007 Robert C Harvey. All Rights Reserved.

By David Collier (Drawn & Quarterly Publications)
ISBN: 1-896597-25-4

Just The Facts is a compilation of strips produced over a number of years by David Collier, compellingly crafted in the manners of Robert Crumb and Harvey Pekar. The subjects range from autobiography through cultural and popular history to just, plain “cool stuff you should know”.

With deceptive wit and subtle skill Collier acts as teacher and philosopher on a hugely diverse range of topics divided into the categories The Military, Music, Comics, Sports, Newspapers, Travel and Nostalgia. Particularly memorable are such epics as ‘Harry Smith and the Precursory Seattle Scene’, ‘Amazing Heroes’, ‘The Critic’, ‘The United Colors of the Impending Apocalypse!’ and ‘The Great Paperback Book Glut!’.

Collier is that type of wonderful creator who would still work, still produce to the best of his ability even if he were the only person left alive. His dedication, ability to engross and willingness to attempt new styles for every tale mark this lost gem as a book well worth pursuing for every grown-up who’s fed-up with mainstream packages.

© 1986, 1989-1991, 1993-1997, 1998 David Collier. All Rights Reserved.

By Yasushi Suzuki (DrMaster Publications)
ISBN 13: 978-1-59796-069-4

Powerfully impressive picture making from one of the design world’s most respected young illustrators. This collection is launched on the eve of the release of the artist’s first foray into the field of graphic narrative. If you don’t play computer games (I’m sure I can’t be the only one) he might not be that familiar a name, but fans of ‘Ikaruga’, ‘Sin & Punishment’ and ‘Radiant Silver Gun’, not to mention his many book jackets, can attest to his sublime skill with colour and line. And now so can I.

With the impending release of Purgatory Kabuki, one of the most eagerly anticipated debuts in manga history, publisher DrMaster have produced this glorious commemorative artbook, utilising the most modern of print techniques and processes to highlight Suzuki’s personal favourite works from the last decade, as well as ten new pieces and a lot of informational extras such as sketches, a checklist, and interviews.

This is lovely work from a major artistic talent, and a good omen for his entry into the world of graphic narrative.

© 2007 Yasushi Suzuki. © 2007 DGN Production Inc.

By Samuel Taylor Coleridge & Hunt Emerson (Knockabout)
ISBN 0-86166-065-X

Hunt Emerson’s tactic of using Literature’s (please note the Big ‘L’) most despised form – the comic strip – to popularise some of literature’s greatest works once again scores a palpable hit in his manic and surreal adaptation of the 18th century poem penned by that imaginative old lotus-eater and opium addict Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Like Gilbert Shelton recounts in his informative introduction, I too had to study the poem in school, and although some of the thing seemed pretty cool a lot of it slid past the nascent proto-punk rocker that was I, but the verve and glee, the mind-bending terror, and of course, the side-splitting visual gags that Emerson customises the text with make his adaptation an absolute joy to read and reread.

Now in its fifth edition this joyous delight which informs without undermining the text is an absolute necessity for fans and desperate English teachers alike. I hope that there are some brave and wise enough to use it.

© 1989, 2007 Knockabout Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Complete Covers of the Second 25 Years

by Mark Waid (Author) and various (Abbeville Press Inc.1994)
ISBN: 1-5585-9609-7

This second quarter century of alluring covers from Action Comics (featuring #301, June 1963 to #600, May 1988) is a microcosmic representation of the comic industry itself, as the changing mores of society and the rise of fan culture take hold. From a cheap mass-market entertainment medium for kids, comic-books gradually became a relatively high-cost niche industry pandering to and dictated by the ever more vocal desires of a core fan-base.

The charm, humour and whimsy that sat side by side with wonderment, adventure, mystery and conflict slowly disappeared from the stories as well as the covers in favour of threat and even covert sexuality, and innocent thrills became a minor consideration. This was not necessarily a bad thing, just a sad thing and a practical thing. Adults read comics too and even kids weren’t as innocent as they apparently used to be.

So it’s no small relief to see that at least the quality of art and design of those shiny attention grabbers never diminished or altered. For that we can thank Editors like Mort Weisinger and Julius Schwartz and of course the artists.

Curt Swan, Jack Abel, Neal Adams, Murphy Anderson, Ross Andru, Eduardo Barreto, Howard Bender, Brian Bolland, Wayne Boring, Pat Broderick, Rich Buckler, John Byrne, Nick Cardy, Ernie Chua, Denys Cowan, Mike DeCarlo, Mike Esposito, John Forte, José Luis García-López, Frank Giacoia, Keith Giffen, Dick Giordano, Mike Grell, Ed Hannigan, Carmine Infantino, Klaus Janson, Gil Kane, Karl Kesel, George Klein, Mike Mignola, Sheldon Moldoff, Jim Mooney, Bob Oksner, Jerry Ordway, George Pérez, Marshall Rogers, Alex Saviuk and Kurt Schaffenberger were – and are – indelibly imprinted on my life and probably yours too.

This little book is true childhood dream and a gloriously guilty pleasure.

© 1994 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.