Month: November 2007

By Scott Peterson, Kelley Puckett, Damion Scott & Robert Campenella (DC Comics)
ISBN: 1-84023-266-8

After Gotham City was devastated in an earthquake (Batman: Cataclysm ISBN13: 978-1-56389-527-2) it was abandoned by the US government in a spookily prescient foretaste of what would happen to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005 (see Batman: No Man’s Land Volumes 1-3, ISBN 13’s: 978-1-56389-564-7, 978-1-56389-599-9, and 978-1-56389-634-7 respectively). In the rubble, a number of heroes struggled to protect the innocent. One of these was a brand new incarnation of Batgirl.

As the crisis ended and a semblance of normality returned to the battered metropolis, the new heroine got her own series and a mentor in the form of Babs Gordon, the wheelchair-bound crime-fighter called Oracle, who was also the first Batgirl.

The current holder of the title is an enigmatic problem. Raised as an experiment by martial arts super-assassin David Cain, she cannot communicate since her language centres have been over-ridden in an experiment to make combat her only communication tool. An apparent runaway, she has been adopted by the Batman as a weapon in his never-ending battle, but the more humane Oracle has become her guardian and teacher.

In this first volume (collecting issues #1-6 of the monthly comic-book) the new Batgirl is trying to find her way, bereft even of the ability to learn, whilst revelling in the role of defender of the helpless, but her development as a human being threatens to diminish her capacity as a weapon, and the mystery of her past would indicate that she is possibly a two-edged sword in Batman’s arsenal…

Spellbinding, overwhelmingly fast-paced and with very little dialogue, these tales are a breakneck, supercharged thrill-ride that concentrates on non-stop action yet still manages to be heavily plot-based with genuine empathy and emotional impact. This is superb comic story-telling and should be on every fan’s wish-list or bookshelf.

© 2000, 2001 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

By Bob Montana & various (Archie Comics)
ISBN 1-879794-00-4

When you mention comic books in conversation most people’s thoughts turn to buff men in garish tights hitting each other and lobbing trees or cars about, and indeed that has been the prolific norm of late. Throughout the years though, other forms and genres have waxed and waned in the comics consumers attention. One that has held its ground over the years is the teen comedy genre begun by and synonymous with a carrot topped, homely (at first just plain ugly) kid named Archie Andrews.

MLJ were a small comics publisher who jumped on the “mystery-man” bandwagon following the debut of Superman. In November 1939 Maurice Coyne, Louis Silberkleit and John L. Goldwater launched Blue Ribbon Comics, promptly following with Top-Notch and Pep Comics. The content was the common blend of funny-book costumed heroes and two-fisted adventure strips, although Pep did make some history with its lead feature The Shield, who was the industry’s first super-hero to be clad in the flag (see America’s 1st Patriotic Hero: The Shield, ISBN1-879794-08-X).

Although successful enough, the publishers felt that they were missing some markets (most particularly girls) with their thriller fare, so taking a lead from the phenomenally popular teen movies series Andy Hardy, Goldwater developed a wholesome ordinary hero concept, tasking writer Vic Bloom and artist Bob Montana with the job of making it work. Pep Comics #22 (December 1941) had an innocuous six-page tale entitled ‘Archie’ which introduced a big-eared, gap-toothed, freckle-faced, red-headed goof showing off to the pretty blonde girl moving in next door. Betty Cooper and Archie’s unconventional best friend Jughead Jones debuted in that first story as did the small-town utopia of Riverdale.

The strip was an instant hit and by the winter of 1942 had graduated to its own title. Archie Comics #1 was the company’s first non-anthology magazine and with it began the slow transformation of the entire company. With the introduction of rich, black-haired Veronica Lodge, all the pieces were in play for the creation of a phenomenon. In May 1946 the kid had taken over, so the company renamed itself Archie Comics. The company also phased out its heroic characters becoming to all intents and purposes and family comedy publisher.

Archie is a well-meaning boy but lacks common sense. Betty is the pretty, sensible girl next door, with all that entails, and she loves Archie. Veronica is rich, exotic and glamorous; she only settles for our boy if there’s nobody better around. She might actually love him, though. Archie can’t decide who he wants…

This wholesome eternal triangle has been the basis of more than sixty-five years of charming, raucous, gentle, frenetic, chiding and even heart-rending comedy ranging from surreal wit to frantic slapstick, as the kids and an increasing cast of friends grew into an American institution. So pervasive is the imagery that it’s a part of Americana itself. Adapting seamlessly to every trend and fad of the growing youth culture, the battalion of writers and artists who’ve crafted the stories over the decades have made the “everyteen” characters of Riverdale a benchmark for youth and a visual barometer of growing up.

This vast and distinctive back-catalogue is therefore ideal for compilations, as in this series of decade by decade commemorations. This first volume covers the formative work from the 1940s with a criminally insufficient 128 pages of glorious fun and frolicsome mayhem, beginning with that initial appearance, the first meeting with Veronica (from Pep #26) plus 14 other gems, cover reproductions, feature pages and even an introduction from long-time fan Stephen King.

So successful was this genre innovation that within two years every other comic-book publisher had their own coterie of Archie clones and knock-offs. But it’s clear from reading this volume that the original was, and still is, the best. Accept no substitutes…

© 1941-1949, 1991, 2007 Archie Publications Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Geoffrey Chaucer, illustrated by Greg Irons (Bellerophon Books)
ISBN: 0-88388-023-7

I’m just showing off now, but this lost treasure, published in conjunction with a colouring book (The Chaucer Coloring Book, which collected the original woodcut illustrations from Caxton’s 1484 edition of The Canterbury Tales) is a terrific and logical blending of High Art and Our Art and one so very worthy of being republished.

Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, as well as being a venerable and lauded landmark of English literature, was a ribald, earthy, popular classic, full of humanity’s every foible and peccadillo. It was rude, crude, action packed, and even had talking animals. Thematically, how much closer can you get to the general opinion and popular conception of the comic book?

Marry that with the art of the irreverent, subversive art and attitude of the San Francisco underground movement of the early 1970’s and you have a brilliant piece of pop-art history that actually has lasting social relevance and educational value.

The text of the Wife of Bath is typeset and in the original continental accentual-syllabic metre which Chaucer used to champion the London-dialect dominance of Middle English. So this will make a lot more sense if read aloud phonetically (the book not my review). Or you could simply look at the stonkingly brilliant and funny, ribald pictures drawn by the astounding Greg Irons.

Some college or publishing house simply has to get this book back into print, ASAP!

Artwork © 1973 Greg Irons. All Rights Reserved.