By Keith Giffen, Alan Grant, Simon Bisley and various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 1-56389-049-6
Lobo roughly translates as “he who devours your entrails and enjoys itâ€, and is an incredibly powerful bounty-hunting, drunken thug. This unstoppable, anarchic force-of-nature exploded in popularity in the decade that followed his premiere, despite being petty much a one trick pony and increasingly an exercise in outrageous graphic excess. All that being said, however, if you’re in the right mood, his kind of gratuitous mayhem can be wonderfully entertaining.
At the height of his popularity the Main Man of Mayhem was a publisher’s dream. There was an actual baying from fans and speculators for more product and a largely new and receptive audience that hadn’t seen the plethora of previous appearances in a hugely diverse range of titles.
So the powers that be sanctioned this odd item in 1990. The Collection is a boxed set of three graphic novels and includes a set of eight original postcards by a stellar cast of artists.
The intergalactic bounty hunter debuted in Omega Men #3 in 1982, and popped up throughout the DC universe, even becoming a regular cast-member in the popular L.E.G.I.O.N. series for years before starring in his own breakthrough miniseries.
The first of these is Lobo: the Last Czarnian (ISBN: 0-930289-99-4; just in case you fancy pick ‘n’ mixing rather than hunting for the entire package) which collects the first Giffen, Grant and Bisley miniseries (which I’ve reviewed elsewhere as part of the new Lobo: Portrait of a Bastich trade paperback – ISBN: 978-1-84576-889-8), although this older version does have a Robert Sheckley introduction and six pages of extra art and sketches that aren’t included in the latest version.
Next is a very intriguing variation of an old TV standby: the “Cheesy Clip Showâ€, but given an original spin. Lobo’s Greatest Hits (ISBN: 0-56389-013-5) takes excerpts from many of the aforementioned guest appearances and assembles them with an ingenious framing sequence into a role-playing book. When Lobo is trapped in a black-hole time-warp he has to relive many previous experiences before he can escape. By following the instructions at the bottom of some pages the reader can direct the way the story unfolds.
The reprinted material is taken from Omega Men #3, 10 and 20, Justice League International #18-19 and 21, L.E.G.I.O.N. #3-4, 7-10, 13 and 16-18, Superman #41 and Adventures of Superman #464, which all appeared between 1983 and 1990.
The creator list includes (skip ahead if you’re daunted, bored or need to catch the last bus home) Simon Bisley, Norm Breyfogle, Mark Bright, Robert Campanella, John Costanza, Paris Cullins, Gene D’Angelo, Albert Deguzman, Mike DeCarlo, J.M. DeMatteis, Keiron Dwyer, Jim Fern, Robert Loren Fleming, Keith Giffen, Dick Giordano, Al Gordon, Alan Grant, Matt Hollingsworth, Nansi Hoolahan, Dennis Janke, Dan Jurgens, Lovern Kindzierski, Barry Kitson, Bob Lappan, Erik Larsen, Kevin Maguire, Rick Magyar, Jose Marzan Jr., Tom Mc Craw, Mark McKenna, Doug Moench, Kevin O’Neill, Jerry Ordway, Bruce D. Patterson, Mark Pennington, Joe Phillips, Adrienne Roy, Joe Rubinstein, Gaspar Saladino, Javiar Saltares, Bart Sears, Val Semeiks, Roger Slifer, Tod Smith, Chris Sprouse, Ty Templeton, Art Thibert, Anthony Tollin, Tim Truman, Matt Wagner, Len Wein and Glenn Whitmore.
The third book The Wisdom of Lobo has no ISBN and is one big, old joke. I’ll say no more…
The eight original postcards are by Garry Leach, Sergio Aragones, Mike Mignola, Kevin Maguire, Mark McKone & Jan Harps, Walt Simonson, P. Craig Russell and Keith Giffen.
Manic, blackly comedic, ironic, and excessively graphic, this won’t appeal to everybody, but has a lot to recommend it if vicious, sardonic slapstick pushes your buttons. Comics excess at its finest.
© 1990, 1992, 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.