Category: Graphic Novels

Posted on

Ghost Rider Marvel Masterworks volume 4


By Michael Fleischer, Don Perlin, Carmine Infantino, Ricardo Villamonte & Tom Sutton, with Bob Budiansky, Bob Wiacek, Al Gordon, Jack Abel, Al Milgrom, Bob McLeod, Joe Rubinstein, Gil Kane & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-3322-7 (HB), 978-1-3029-4371-4 (Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

At the end of the 1960s the US comic book industry was in turmoil, much like the youth of the nation. Superheroes had dominated for much of the previous decade, peaking globally before explosively falling to ennui and overkill. Established genres including teen humour, war, science fiction and particularly westerns and horror came back in a big way, presumably stoked by contemporary events and radical trends in movie-making. On that Big Screen, another new(ish) wrinkle had emerged: a post-hippie, pre-Grunge motorcycle chic idolising disenchanted, rebellious, unchained Youth on Wheels singly and in packs seeking a different way forward…

Robin, the Teen Wonder, O’Neil & Adams’ Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Kirby’s Jimmy Olsen, Captain America and so many others all followed the Easy Rider option to boost flagging sales (and if you’re interested, the very best of that gang was Mike Sekowsky’s tragically unfinished mini-masterpiece of cool Jason’s Quest in Showcase). Over at Marvel – a company still reeling from Kirby’s defection to DC/National in 1970 – canny Roy Thomas green-lit a new character who combined the freewheeling, adolescent-friendly biker-theme with the all-pervasive supernatural furore gripping the entertainment fields.

Back in 1967, Marvel had published a western-era masked hero dubbed Ghost Rider: a whole-hearted appropriation of the cowboy star creation of Vince Sullivan, Ray Krank & Dick Ayers (for Magazine Enterprises from 1949 to 1955), who utilised magician’s tricks to fight bandits by pretending to be an avenging phantom of justice. Scant years later, with the Comics Code prohibition against horror hastily recently revised – amazing how plunging sales can affect morality – scary comics came back in a big way. A new crop of supernatural superheroes and monsters began to appear on newsstands to supplement the revitalised anthology titles filled with ghosts, ghoulies and goblins (but NOT Zombies!) already slowly infiltrating the once science-only scenarios of the surviving superhero titles. In fact, softening the Code ban resulted in such an avalanche of horror titles (new material and especially reprints from the first fear boom in the 1950s), in response to the industry-wide down-turn in costumed crusaders, that it probably caused an even more venerable mystery man to – albeit temporarily – bite the dust.

Almost overnight, nasty monsters became acceptable fare for four-colour pages and whilst a parade of pre-Code reprints made sound business sense, the creative aspects of the fascination in supernatural themes was catered to by embracing trends as much as adapting popular cultural icons before risking whole new concepts on an untested public. As always in mass entertainment, the watchword was fashion: what was big outside comics was incorporated into the mix as soon as possible. When proto-monster Morbius, the Living Vampire debuted in Amazing Spider-Man #101 (cover-dated October 1971) and no one too official spoke up, Marvel moved ahead with a line of shocking superstars beginning with classical tropes – a werewolf and a vampire – before broadening the scope with a haunted biker tapping into both Easy Rider’s freewheeling motorcycling chic and a prevailing supernatural zeitgeist.

Preceded by western hero Red Wolf in #1 and the aforementioned Werewolf by Night in #2-4, an all-new Ghost Rider debuted in Marvel Spotlight #5 (August 1972) and took off like a bat out of… well, you know. Soon he was a solidly steadfast part of an all-inclusive Marvel Universe – although admittedly a bit off to one side! This sturdy hardback (or equivalent digital) compendium collects a ferocious fourth helping of his flame-filled early exploits as our haunted outsider hero began his own search for somewhere safe and something special, as specifically seen in Ghost Rider volume 2, #36-50, spanning cover-dates June 1979 to November 1980. As ever the times, tone and context are pre-explained in a forthright essay conveyed here by Jim Salicrup in his Introduction ‘Please Allow Me to Introduce Myself…’

What Has Gone Before: Carnival stunt cyclist Johnny Blaze sold his soul to the devil in an attempt to save his foster-father Crash Simpson from cancer. As is the way of such things, Satan follows the letter but not spirit of the contract and Simpson dies anyway. When the Dark Lord later comes for his prize, Blaze’s beloved virginal girlfriend Roxanne Simpson intervenes. Her purity prevents the Devil from claiming his due and, temporarily thwarted, Satan spitefully afflicts Johnny with a skeletal form that burns with the fires of Hell every time the sun goes down…

After dancing with the Devil and assorted demons for months, Johnny headed to Hollywood and worked as a cinematic double and stuntman: a hazardous gig that brought him into a romantic dalliance with starlet Karen Page, and team-ups with many superheroes and even more clashes with supervillains. He even dabbled with team superheroics as one of The Champions, but the regular paying gig trapped Blaze in a slow but pitiless war with aspiring super-mobster The Enforcer. Moreover, the infernal taint of his curse increasingly brought the Rider (who increasingly presented as an entirely different personality to Blaze) into conflict with misguided heroes like Doctor Strange, Doctor Druid, Hawkeye & Two-Gun Kid… so Johnny ultimately dropped everything to hit the road again…

He consistently found trouble – mundane and supernal – everywhere. Battling human thugs, mutants, magical demons. monsters and aliens the ride almost ended after a deadly race against the personification of death, but Blaze rode ever on…

Now primarily crafted by Michael Fleischer (November 1st 1942 – February 2nd 2018) & Don Perlin (August 27th 1929 – May 14th 2024), Blaze’s trail resumes here as we roar at top speed down among the dead men for GR #36’s ‘A Demon in Denver!’ Fleischer (Jonah Hex, The Spectre, Conan, Junker) & Perlin (Werewolf By Night, The Defenders, Bloodshot, Solar Man of the Atom) were consolidating a new kind of storytelling style for their hellbound lone star: a nonstop trouble-finding ride across middle America that affected dissolute cycle-bum Blaze as much as his increasingly uncontrollable arcane alter ego…

It brings aimless, penniless Johnny into the mountain metropolis and to a bar where he catches the approving gaze of waitress/dancer Debbie. Tragically, her kindly attentions trigger the brutal, bullying xenophobic and manically possessive local patrons. When their intended beating/lynching of the stranger arouses a diabolical walking hell-storm, Blaze is hard-pressed to divert it and save his attackers from themselves and the city from the enraged, unleashed Ghost Rider…

With their personalities both at war and apparently merging, the flaming demon is then drawn to a circus where stunt cyclists attempting to smash Johnny Blaze’s world car-jumping record. However, his arrival on the ‘Night of the Flame Cycles!’ is also when mobster Dirk Varden sabotages the attempt to extort money out of show owner Farley. In the aftermath, with both his parents dead, the stunt-bikers’ son Davey is offered a way to resurrect them by a satanic cultist…

The cruel temptation is observed by Blaze, who reveals his spectral alter ego to stop the boy repeating his own mistake. As Ghost Rider races away to inflict vengeance on the guilty, the grief-wracked kid follows, witnessing what hell holds as the baleful biker invades Varden’s palatial estate and destroys dozens of mobsters and hangers-on in his drive to punish a killer, subsequently scaring Davey straight when he seeks to shoot Varden, before delivering his own infernal death sentence…

Ever moving on, Blaze faces motorcycle death worshippers ‘The Cult of Doom’ – a growing force in the region but ones who cannot stop him saving the kidnapped daughter of the state Senator Sterling from their acolytes. This noble act makes him a prime target as the disciples of Death and their secret leader turn their full attentions to the Flaming Menace. Blaze finds a job and new friend in mechanic “Harley” Baggs, even agreeing to participate in his dirt bike rally, but when suicidal cult bikers again try to seize Karen Sterling as she also races across the desert, everything turns sour. Johnny again comes to Karen’s rescue, an act that puts him, Baggs and the Brimstone Biker at the top of the Cult’s hit list…

Their next murderous assault unleashes Ghost Rider’s full fury, but only directs the demon into a lethal ambush as ‘Into the Abyss!’ (GR #39, December 1979) reveals his foes are programmed to die rather than fail, and live close to home.

Barely surviving the death riders’ ambush, Johnny joins Senator Sterling’s campaign to end the cult, only to discover vipers at the heart of that project and even more tragedy after briefly growing closer to Karen. In the end, after the demon on wheels confronts the true villains, all Blaze can do is move on and try to forget…

A swift change of pace comes after Johnny reaches the Wichita-Karcinoma Nuclear Plant only to be struck by a hit-&-run driver. Given shelter by disgraced atomic scientist Thurgood Vance and his daughter Angela, Blaze is on hand when gangsters seek to use the boffin’s comeback project – an atom-powered armoured supersuit – to get rich. When their abduction of Angela goes tragically wrong and Thurgood goes berserk, ‘The Menace of the Nuclear Man!’ ultimately pits magical hellfire against atomic fury after Thurgood seeks to assuage his grief by destroying the power plant and everyone in detonation range…

After the Revenant Rider spectacularly foils a truck robbery by notorious bandits The Jackal Gang, exhausted mortal Johnny Blaze hops ‘The Freight Train to Oblivion!’ where fellow freeloaders savagely assault him, thereby stealing not only his wallet and I.D. but also his memories. His befuddled wandering in the desert leads him to an isolated racetrack where race driver Gina Langtree is having car troubles. Whoever the amnesiac is he’s good with engines and soon after she names him Frank Ryder, the wounded wanderer is adopted into the pit crew, provoking an instant attack by pit boss Carl Travis. Thumped by Frank and bollocked by Gina, Travis is put in place and the new couple start some mild canoodling.

Frank ends his very busy day in the bunkhouse. Sadly that’s when the dormant Ghost Rider awakens seeking vengeance on the jackal Gang and roars off into the night of a bike formed from infernal fire…

The lost weekend stops in #42’s ‘The Lonesome Death of Johnny Blaze!’ as Frank awakens in the Langtree Motors bunkhouse, troubled by odd recollections but otherwise unaware of what the Brimstone Biker has done to the robbers he so easily found. Ryder’s second day is his last however as, after saving Gina from a crash, Frank is knocked unconscious by Travis and left to burn in the wreck. Sadly for Carl, Gina sees it all and mourns her new beau even as Travis is arrested. Sadly for what remains of the Jackals, the immolation has reactivated the Ghost Rider who roars off unseen by all to finish what was started the night before. When it is done and humanity returns, a baffled Johnny Blaze is miles from where he last was and taunted by flashes of memories that he can’t explain…

Guest artists Carmine Infantino & Ricardo Villamonte join Fleischer for ‘Night of the Crimson Mage!’ as the Brimstone Biker’s pursuit of robbers traps him into the clutches of scheming sorcerer Azaziah Hornsby. The mystic succeeds in separating the Rider from Blaze, leaving the human to slowly perish whilst the unfettered demon mercilessly rages against all humanity. The tirade one that only pauses after Johnny leaves his deathbed to fight him. In the Tom Sutton inked conclusion ‘Cloak of Crimson – Soul of Dust!’ the unequal contest continues until the unchecked demon notices he also is losing power. The Crimson Mage wants to absorb the hellish force to fuel another thousand years of life, but foiled by Blaze who (despite being hunted by cops) invades the magical citadel and steals paraphernalia to restore the demon to its imprisonment inside him…

Perlin returns for #45 with an overarching plot strand that begins in ‘To Banish a Ghost!’ Downing a beer in Big Herbie’s Tavern, Blaze is infuriated to see swaggering braggart Flagg Fargo on TV, boasting that he will soon take all fabled Johnny Blaze’s stunt records. The clientele soon recognise a star in their midst and drunkenly swear to sponsor him if he will ride against Fargo…

On a new bike with fresh leathers and kit, Johnny starts his comeback duel but his luck runs true and he is hit by a car as he practises. His decline accomplished, his fall comes in ‘The End of a Champion!’ as, despite all his efforts – and in front of the entire world – his boastful opponent proves too much for him. This time even the Ghost Rider cannot help him…

Branding himself a loser, Blaze starts drinking and is targeted by a biker gang, who merciless stalk him. Despite finding some solace with bar server Amy, the relentless bullying and beatings almost break his spirit. In one weak moment he allows ‘The Demon Within!’ to emerge and solve his problems Hell’s way, before finally getting a grip. Blaze recalls his flaming passenger and flees before Amy is harmed, heading into the wastes where more horror awaits. That ride ends as he is attacked by colossal vampire bats in ‘Wind of the Undead!’ before being accused by unfriendly townsfolk of causing trouble and targeted by terrorist Transylvanian émigrés Tabitha Arcanne and Dalton Cartwright. They not only control the winged beasts but also have a medallion that can command the Ghost Rider. It’s not quite enough to save them, though…

As much a lone rider as any cowboy hero, Blaze inevitably met his western cowboy-era prototype predecessor The Night Rider (renamed for convenience and a western reprint title running seven issues from October 1974 to August 1975) as part of his 50th issue celebration. To facilitate that, the modern, devil-tainted Ghost Rider was subject to ‘The Wrath of the Manitou!’ in #49 after failing to stop dam-bombing saboteurs inundating the region and despoiling sacred Indian burial grounds…

The failure hurled the haunted hero back to the 1870s where Bison Bend school teacher Carter Slade battled injustice as Night Rider, blessed by the spirits and employing legerdemain to bamboozle the wicked. Blaze’s arrival converges with a full-scale attack by a masked supervillain/bandit but as ‘Manitou’s Anger… Tarantula’s Sting!’ shows, valour and hellfire are a formidable force that cannot be overcome. Having proved himself to the Spirits and saved history, Johnny is returned to the now just before that bomb detonates and enjoys a second chance to make things right…

To Be Continued…

Big bold bonanza #50 also included a pin-up selection of ‘Ghost Rider’s Gallery of Guest Stars!’ – namely The Son of Satan by Infantino & Wiacek, Incredible Hulk by Gil Kane & Klaus Janson and Phantom Eagle by Herb Trimpe – as well as a comprehensive Index of all his far-flung fearsome appearances. This titanic turbo-charged tome with covers throughout by Bob Budiansky and inkers Bob Wiacek, Al Gordon, Jack Abel, Al Milgrom, Bob McLeod, Joe Rubinstein, then concludes with the original cover art to #50 and a copious Creator Biographies section.

These tales return Ghost Rider to his roaming roots, and imminent threat of the real-deal Infernal Realm: showing a good man struggling to save his soul from the worst of all bargains – as much as the revised Comics Code would allow – so brace yourself, hold steady and accept no supernatural substitutes…
© 2022 MARVEL.

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Fast ‘n’ Loose Spooky Truths… 8/10

Posted on

Green Lantern Sector 2814 volume 2


By Len Wein, Paul Kupperberg, Steven Englehart, Dave Gibbons, Bill Willingham, Joe Staton, Bruce Patterson, Mark Farmer, Rich Rankin & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-4078-3 (TPB), 978-1-4012-4812-3 Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

When mortally wounded alien cop Abin Sur crashed on Earth, he commanded his power ring – a device which could materialise thoughts – to seek out a replacement officer, honest and without fear. Scanning the planet, it selected brash young test pilot Hal Jordan in nearby Coast City, California and brought him to the crash-site. The dying alien then bequeathed his ring, the lantern-shaped Battery of Power and his professional vocation to the astonished Earthman.

Over many traumatic wonder-packed years, Jordan grew into one of the greatest members of a serried band of indomitable law-enforcers. The Green Lantern Corps protected the cosmos from evil and disaster for billions of years, policing vast numbers of sentient beings under the severe but benevolent auspices of immortal superbeings who appointed and considered themselves Guardians of the Universe. These undying patrons of Order were one of the first races to evolve and dwelt in sublime, emotionless security and tranquillity on the world of Oa at the very centre of creation.

Green Lanterns are chosen for their capacity to overcome fear and are equipped with a ring that creates solid constructs out of emerald light and offers other informational, procedural defensive, communicative and administrative facilities. The miracle weapon is fuelled by the strength of the user’s willpower, making it one of the mightiest tools imaginable.

For eons, a single individual from each of 3600 arbitrary sub-divisions – “sectors” – of known space was selected to patrol his, her or its own beat, but being cautious, methodical and meticulous masters, the Guardians laid contingency plans, such as appointing designated reserve officers.

Jordan’s substitute was a nice quiet (white) PE teacher named Guy Gardner, but when he was critically injured the Oans’ fallback option was a little worrying to staid, by-the-book Hal. In Green Lantern/Green Arrow #87 (December 1971/January 1972) ‘Beware My Power!’ a bold, new and painfully contemporaneous character was introduced to the DCU. Back then John Stewart was an unemployed architect and full-time radical activist: an angry black man always spoiling for a fight and prepared to take guff from no-one.

Jordan was convinced the Guardians had grievously erred when selecting rash, impetuous Stewart as Sector 2814’s official GL stand-in, but after seeing how his proposed pinch-hitter handled a white supremacist US presidential candidate trying to foment race war, the established and entrenched Emerald Gladiator was delighted to change his tune…

As time progressed Stewart popped up occasionally, even as the Guardians’ motives and ineffability increasingly came into question from many of their once-devoted operatives and peacekeepers. All too frequently, the grunts saw their formerly infallible little blue gods exposed as venal, ruthless, doctrinaire and even capricious…

As his repute grew, headstrong Hal enjoyed an extremely tempestuous relationship with his bosses which eventually resulted in them accusing him of neglecting his space sector – 2814 – to concentrate on Earth’s problems and criminals. When he couldn’t reconcile his love for Carol Ferris and duty to the Corps, Jordan quit…

This second stellar Fight’s ‘n’ Tights compilation gathers Green Lantern #182-183 and 185-193, comprising cover-dates November 1984 through October 1985: a period of radical change and increasing cosmic calamity as the DCU counted inexorably down to a reality-altering Crisis on Infinite Earths…

Without preamble, Len Wein, Dave Gibbons & Mark Farmer continue their groundbreaking reshaping of the legend in ‘It’s a Dirty Job, But…’ wherein the now merely mortal Jordan second-guesses his decision as he revisits Abin Sur’s remote resting place. Meanwhile, across the universe, the Guardians moved swiftly, promoting Stewart to the peacekeeping position in his sector. At this time, the architect is working on rebuilding the shattered Ferris Aircraft complex (a regular collateral casualty of Green Lantern’s complex lifestyle) and had no idea that Hal Jordan was the alter ego of his abruptly “retired” predecessor, nor that GL Jordan’s old enemy Major Disaster had returned and was looking for a fight…

Further complicating matters, Dr. Bruce Gordon – currently employed building a solar engine for Ferris – was being stalked and harassed by his own inner demon made manifest. Before Green Lantern Jordan had helped cure him, Gordon was the unwilling host to a demonic hate-filled energy spirit called Eclipso. Now, that monster was apparently back and seeking to steal the almost-completed solar engine for his own dark designs…

Calamitously, when Major Disaster furiously threatens to destroy a massive hydroelectric dam and flood the entire state, the Emerald Gladiator he stridently demands a rematch with is not the one who turns up…

Refusing to accept any substitute, the madman tectonically triggers a ‘Day of Disaster’… and learns to his sorrow that the masked black man is every inch as competent and formidable as his despised archfoe.

Green Lantern #184 reprinted the origin of Guy Gardner from #59 (1968) and was omitted from this collection but Wein & Gibbons (inking himself) return for #185 as ‘In Blackest Day…!’ sees the new ringbearer for Sector 2814 fully acclimate to his responsibilities. An overnight celebrity and media sensation, Stewart is courted by TV reporter Tawny Young but earns her enmity after refusing to divulge the circumstances of his origin and promotion.

On a more mundane level, Hal still frets over his decision and loss of power, even as his supposedly free-&-clear romance with Carol hits a new snag. Unknown to either of them, she has acquired a super-powered stalker determined to protect her from anything he perceives as a threat…

With Eclipso still secretly beleaguering Gordon, Hal prepares to test-fly the prototype Ferris solar jet, but is ambushed by his old pal and mentor Rich Davis. That medically-disqualified pilot wants one last flight of glory and takes Hal’s place, only to become a hostage when Eclipso snatches the jet out of the sky from his fantastic landscape-rending moon satellite…

‘In Brightest Night…!’ Wein & Gibbons (with plotting input from Paul Kupperberg) sees the new GL rush to the rescue as Hal can only look on helplessly. Then, Carol’s mystery suitor The Predator also boards the moon globe and the situation flares beyond control, resulting in victory at a terrible cost…

Kupperberg, Bill Willingham & Rich Rankin provide a rapid fill-in for #187 (April 1985) as ‘A Day in His Life…’ finds Carol confronted by the Predator who declares his amorous intentions by beating up her current boyfriend Hal, even as John Stewart tackles his first space catastrophe and narrowly escapes destroying the malfunctioning space shuttle he was trying to save. Thankfully, the all-wise Guardians have anticipated teething troubles and despatched veteran GL Katma Tui be his training officer…

The next issue heralded a changing of the guard as writer Steve Englehart and illustrators Joe Staton & Bruce Patterson signed on with ‘Decent Exposure’, wherein Tawny Young outs Stewart on national TV, and he – after some early frustration – decides “so what?”

With Predator proving to be far more than a mere abusive, controlling maniac, proud but pounded Hal swears revenge, even as European ultra-nationalist Sonar returns to destroy the new Green Lantern in his obsessive campaign to prove the superiority of his postage-stamp principality Modora…

After Stewart proves his worth with a uniquely elegant solution to the villain’s sound weapons, ‘Echoes!’ sees Sonar bounce back, escaping from custody with enhanced allies Blindside & Throttle, despite the assistance of Katma Tui. Hal and Carol’s search for Predator lead them to a much-delayed visit with practically-braindead shut-in Guy Gardner, which inadvertently starts those long-dormant cogs clicking again…

Even as Stewart at last apprehends his fugitive foes, a new crisis breaks. ‘Time Out of Mind!’ starts with Tawny Young re-entering the picture, touting years-old video-tape interviews she carried out with Green Arrow, Black Canary, the previous GL, Carol and Stewart himself. Disturbingly, nobody on Earth remembers these meetings and if the journalist hadn’t been raiding the archives, never would have…

As she shows the tapes to the astounded superheroes, Predator nonchalantly ambles in to steal the records and is stunned to realise that the gimmick he’s used to make everyone unable to see him doesn’t work on alien Katma…

A back-up tale – ‘Mind Out of Time!’ – focuses on Hal’s hunt for Predator and furious confrontation in a theatre in front of a bizarre alien musical organ. That preliminary bout becomes the main event in GL #191 as ‘Macho!’ sends John & Katma off-earth to work with Dalor of Timron – Green Lantern of neighbouring Sector 2813 – whilst Hal’s final confrontation with Predator reveals an uncanny, impossible connection to Carol which revives her own darkest and most suppressed secret…

Green Lantern #192 sees the separate storylines converge in ‘First Star I See Tonight!’ with the off-world Emerald officers tackling the immortal amazon warriors of Zamaron, whilst on Earth, Carol reverts to sometime-alter ego Star Sapphire, a murderous monster now finally purged of the annoying, pitiful humanity that held her back from operating as the dominating tyrant and chosen queen of those self-same Zamarons…

Utterly dominating powerless Hal, she reveals the decades-long machinations that have led to this moment of terrible triumph… before teleporting home where three furious Green Lanterns are waiting…

This volume concludes with the return of another Hal villain in ‘Dead Ringer’, but where Jordan defeated the tragic alien Replikon through brute force and guile, Stewart proves his worth through innovation and compassion: building a solution which makes friend out of foe and corrects a grave cosmic injustice…

Way back then, many fans and critics felt the substitution of Jordan with John Stewart was little more than a PC stunt, but time and the quality of the stories proved the decision to be a brilliant one. It certainly offered a cruelly under-served portion of the readership another solid role model, but as time progressed and the different personalities and approaches coalesced, the move led to a huge expansion and re-evaluation the nature of being a DC hero.

And the best was still to come…
© 1984, 1985, 2013 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Marvel Zombies Vs. Army of Darkness


By John Layman, Fabiano Neves, Fernando Blanco, Sean Phillips & Arthur Suydam with John Byrne, Terry Austin, Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, Carmine Infantino, Ross Andru, Dick Giordano, Jim Lee, Jim Starlin, Frank Miller & various (MARVEL/Dynamite Entertainment)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-4243-0 (TPB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Swiftly catching a cultural wave to become one of turn-of-the-century Marvel’s most popular niche-franchises, a canny blend of gratuitous violence, sharp wit and arrant buffoonery led to the Marvel Zombies taking the comics-reading world by storm in the mid-2000s. So big was the concept that, like a flesh-eating infection, it even escaped the confines of corporate continuity to engender an inter-company crossover with another hugely popular horror franchise. The result was carnage, mayhem, buckets of blood, macabre laughs via a 5-issue miniseries that mutated into this hard-to-find but fab-to-read treat…

You will need not nets, swords or shotguns but cold hard currency in various formats…

In one of so many Marvel universes an intruder from beyond brought an extra-dimensional curse to that tragic reality: a pestilence that without exception turned the infected (for which read “bitten” and “chewed on”) victims into ravenous, undead eating machines.

Confronted by wave after wave of valiant superheroes, “patient zero” defeated them all and his contagion spread exponentially as defenders fell to rise again as voracious monsters. Before a day was out, a chain-reaction of hungry terror devastated the world, leaving its costumed champions as no less than the apex predators atop a rapidly diminishing food source…

Ash Williams – as played on-screen by actor Bruce Campbell (and who wrote the eerily  excellent DC Horror Presents: Sgt. Rock vs. the Army of the Dead) is the implausible demon-killing star of the Evil Dead/Army of Darkness movies devised by Sam Raimi. A horny, misogynistic oaf and utterly charmless goon, he is nonetheless chosen by fate to destroy all “deadites”: ravening evil ghosts intent on ending all life, and originally spawned by a malignant, malevolent sentient tome known as The Necronomicon.

For a total butthole, Ash is surprisingly competent at his job…

Dark Horse Comics produced the first Evil Dead comic book series in 1992 before Dynamite Entertainment picked up the license in 2004, opening with dark ‘n’ daft miniseries Army of Darkness: Ashes 2 Ashes. That led to 2005’s Army of Darkness: Shop Till You Drop (Dead) and Army of Darkness vs. Re-Animator before an on-going series was finally commissioned in 2006. Considering his predilection for gory, sardonic splatter-tainment, the dimension-hopping, time-jumping Ash was a dead cert to visit Marvel’s funerary fun house…

This slim, sinister inter-company chronicle collects Marvel Zombies Vs. Army of Darkness #1-5 (May – September 2007), by scripter John Layman and illustrator Fabiano Neves, with Fernando Blanco, Sean Phillips and colourist June Chung all contributing to the moody mix.

Unusual for such intersecting universe imbroglios, the events of this yarn are “in-continuity”, occurring during, contiguous with and ultimately affecting the tragic happenings seen in ‘Marvel Zombies: Dead Days’. It even offers key story points not revealed in the exclusively Marvel tales, so completists be warned…

It all begins after Ash arrives on (an) Earth in the hours before the infection first hits. A no-nonsense blue-collar kind of guy, the Deadite Destroyer can take demonic monsters and time-travel in his stride but is flabbergasted to see grown men in tights beating each other up.

Watching Daredevil battle supervillain Thunderball, the nonplussed necromantic nomad is unable to discern who is good and who evil, but his amazement is suspended after the wicked spirit of the Necronomicon appears to taunt him with a prophecy… “this world will die and an army of the dead will rise”…

Stuck in a la la land of costumed clowns, Ash opts to go straight to the top, seeking out Avengers Mansion, where the assembled heroes refuse to believe his warnings of doom. Being dumped in a lake by The Scarlet Witch only serves to jog his memory, however, and he recalls his last moments before arriving in this fruity, steroid-infested madhouse…

He was happily dead and about to enter Heaven when a costumed maniac attacked, biting the deceased, turning them into flesh-eating horrors and wrecking the entire Afterlife. Ash escaped back to the lands of the living, but the creature followed him…

The superheroes are leaving to investigate reports of a monster when Ash finds them again, and Colonel America orders Spider-Man to take the raving lunatic away for his own safety. By the time the traveller convinces the Wallcrawler that he isn’t crazy, the damage has been done. Almost all of the World’s Mightiest Heroes are now ravening undead horrors and Ash is ‘Earth’s Mightiest Zero’…

Stunned, the late-arriving webspinner is easy meat for the Star-Spangled zombie, leaving Ash helpless before a hungry rabble of former heroes. Events kick into grisly top gear in ‘Marvel Team-Ups’ as Spider-Man, frantically fighting the hunger that’s killing him, whisks Ash to temporary safety before fleeing, leaving the extra-dimensional demon killer all alone …until seeming kindred spirit The Punisher shows up.

The man with the skull on his chest doesn’t care about undead monsters: he’s busy killing a few living ones like The Kingpin, Hammerhead and The Owl. However, once his current task is completed, he comes around to Ash’s way of thinking, but his confrontational manner of only dealing with things head on soon ends his usefulness. The vigilante does leave Ash with a lot of serious ordnance, though which cocky Mr. Williams uses to save hot babe Dazzler from imminent death by superhero bite…

Ash is convinced the Necronomicon is summoning Deadites to this Earth and – after informing the mutant musical transducer that an evil magic book is behind all the grief – Dazzler takes him to the home of Doctor Strange, reasoning that if the chronicle of chaos is to be found anywhere it will be in the library of Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme…

They are far too late: ‘Night of the Livid Dead’ finds Ash reunite with Scarlet Witch (now the only still-breathing Avenger) and encounters his Marvel Earth counterpart as well as a flesh-eating humanoid duck named Howard, but the mystic they’re seeking is long gone. Ash and his new team do however convince other tormented tomes in the library to tell them where the Necronomicon is currently located and, leaving scenes of escalating horror behind them, the mortals fly to Latveria to confront a foreigner with the unlikely name of Doctor Doom…

By the time they get there the plague has gone global and the Balkan kingdom is under siege: possibly the only place on Earth where humans still live – and only then behind the straining forcefields of Castle Doomstadt.

‘The Book of Doom’ opens with the Iron Dictator disregarding Ash’s warnings of infernal invasion in favour his own conclusions of a simple pan-dimensional virus, before dumping him in the pens where a breeding stock of humans is cached, ready to repopulate Earth after Doom inevitably destroys the zombie hordes.

Unconvinced by his captor’s arrogant assurances, Ash busts out and meets Scarlet Witch on her way to the dictator’s library. Soon they are interrogating the Devil Doctor’s copy of the Necronomicon and Ash discovers he been played from page one…

Reeling with despair and defeat he then releases a hot chick in a glass tube who calls herself Amora the Enchantress, blissfully unaware that she is both an evil goddess and a plague-carrying zombie Doom has been experimenting on…

The tale and the world comes to an explosive, blood-drenched end in concluding chapter ‘The Stalking Dead’ wherein an army of undead heroes converge on Latveria, but not before Ash and Doom pull a minor rabbit out of their combined hats, ferrying the last humans to a place of other-dimensional safety. The hapless Haunt Hunter, however, is less lucky and lands in a dimension with a monster problem even he hasn’t encountered before…

Fast-paced, irreverent, raucous and gorily outrageous, this laugh-out-loud saga of no-guts-&-less-glory will sit well with readers hungry for immature entertainment and all comic book completists, and comes with a splendid gallery of covers-&-variants by Arthur Suydam, recreating eight classic scenes from Marvel history. Also included are inspirational originals by John Byrne, Terry Austin, Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, Carmine Infantino, Ross Andru, Dick Giordano, Jim Lee, Jim Starlin and Frank Miller.
© 2007, 2009 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved. All Marvel characters, names and distinctive likenesses are trademarks of Marvel Characters, Inc. Army of Darkness and all characters, names and distinctive likenesses are trademarks of Orion Pictures™ & © 1993-2009 Orion Pictures Corporation, Inc. All rights reserved. Licensed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. to Dynamic Forces Inc. Dynamite, Dynamic Entertainment & its logo ™

& © & Dynamic Forces Inc. Inc. All rights reserved.

Posted on

The Complete Peanuts volume 11: 1971-1972


By Charles M. Schulz & various (Fantagraphics Books/Canongate Books UK)
ISBN: 978-1-60699-1456-9 (US HB/Digital edition), 978-0857864079 (UK HB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Peanuts is unequivocally the most important comic strip in the history of graphic narrative. It is also the most deeply personal. Cartoonist Charles M Schulz crafted his moodily hilarious, hysterically introspective, shockingly surreal philosophical epic for half a century: 17,897 strips spanning October 2nd 1950 to February 13th 2000. He died – from complications of cancer and in suitably mythopoeaic manner – the day before his last strip was printed.

At its height, Peanuts ran in 2,600 newspapers, in 21 languages and 75 countries. Many of those venues still run it in perpetual reprints, as they have ever since his death. During his lifetime, book collections, a merchandising mountain and television spin-offs had made the publicity-shy doodler an actual billionaire at a time when that really meant something…

None of that matters. Peanuts – a title Schulz loathed, but one the Syndicate forced upon him – changed the way comics strips were received and perceived: proving cartoon comedy could have edges and nuance and meaning as well as soon-forgotten pratfalls and punchlines.

For this 11th compendium we begin with a photo-portait of the man at work followed by an effusive Foreword from film & theatre star Kristin Chenoweth, recalling her time (1998-1999) as part of the gang. This is thanks to her stage triumph as Sally in musical phenomenon You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and here she shares memories and thoughts on Schultz; and thoughts on what makes the little sister tick on stage and on page…

As always, however, our pictorial focus and primary point of contact remains quintessential loser Charlie Brown who, alongside and yet simultaneously far behind fanciful, increasingly multi-personalitied, high-maintenance mutt Snoopy, remains squarely at odds with a mercurial supporting cast. They all timelessly hang out, doing what at first sight looks like Kids Stuff in an ever-more complex and adverse universe of perverse happenstance. But remember now, with this collecton it’s the socially aware, all-change era of “the Seventies”, when lots of untouchable notions were being deconstructed and reconsidered everywhere… even on the funny pages.

Individual strip slices focus on play and copious leisure time; varying degrees of musicality; childish pranks; interpersonal alignments; mounting pressures of evermore oppressive education and mass media lensed through wide (but often squinty) young eyes that witness it all with unguarded openess. These moments come pre-leavened by agonised teasing, aroused and/or crushed hope, naïve, baffled generalisations and observations with our little tots occasionally acting a bit too much like grown-ups.

With this tome’s tales, themes and tropes defining the series (especially in the wake of so many animated TV specials) became mantra-like and endlessly variable for the growing radership. Focus now is less on Charlie Brown and more on those around him but this time everybody’s hunger for acceptance has been subsumed into a deliciously overarching environmental constant that grows more abundant in its fallout… everyone is growing aware  of relationships and LOVE…

Of course, most human interactions still find our boy a pitiable outlier who only really understands sports – or so he thinks. People come and go but although Mean Girl Violet and Pig-Pen might be fading into the background, a core grpup consisting of musical prodigy Schroeder, self-taught psychoanalyst/dictator-in-waiting Lucy van Pelt, her brilliant but off-kilter little brother Linus and Charlie’s sister Sally are all abundantly on view, but regularly ensnared in the sundry traps of romance and attraction, and seem to be leaving our boy behind…

Snoopy, by strutting his many and varied imaginry selves – such as a predatory vulture waiting to pick off frozen kids in the snow – plays many key roles. These include the savvy sports-beagle; the pronosticating owner of an eerily insightful “Beagle Board”; a reputed war hero/author and so many more, but he too has a dubious, inexplicable relationship. His time with his secretary – a tiny, ditzy bird called Woodstock – is open to frequent comment, much of it from the beagle himself…

Our titular star still pines for the unattainable  “Little Red-haired Girl” who so tragically moved away before he could summon the nerve to speak to her…

The kids and critters are primarily fixtures honed to generate joke-routines and gag-sequences around signature foibles, but some (like African American Franklin and even author-Snoopy) enjoy more serious roles too and have become signposts for specific cntemporary themes. In this book one extended instance is when Snoopy’s favourite writer (Helen Sweetstory of The Six Bunny-Wunnies fame) is removed from the school library, as the strip homed in on the then-growing real-world crime of parentally-steered book-banning…

Another star on the rise is Patricia Reichardt AKA tomboy Peppermint Patty (who had debuted four years earlier on August 22nd 1966). She had been a strong, opinionated female achetype and a counsellor to younger girls, when not inadvertantly outshining Charlie Brown in sporting endeavours, but here gains far greater feminist prominence. Her key moments include making a stand for personal female individuality after School introduces more feminine dress codes (but only for half the students); struggling with learning issues and slowly, painfully finding herself falling for utterly oblivious, deeply lonely “Chuck” Brown.

That overstrained relationship is agony to watch unfold (…crash, burn and then begin all over again) with Patty growing increasingly upset and unnerved by new kid Marcie (she of the bottle-specs and 1000-yard stare) who tags along, calling her “Sir”…

Sally Brown has grown from frail infant to needy complainer, and just enough to become another trigger for Charlie’s relentless self-excoriation. As she ages (a rare event in a strip about eternal tots) and forms her own anxieties, she declaims loud opinions and propounds steadfastly misinformed views, with him relegated to being her dumber, protective but outgunned and baffled big brother. Sally now gets all the best lines yet still struggles with school in many strips depicting her attitudes to study and homework, which reveal the contest is pretty even and not at all one-sided…

Resigned to – but far from uncomplaining about – life as a loser in the gunsights of cruel and capricious fate, the boy Brown is still helpless in the clutches of openly sadistic Lucy. When not sabotaging his efforts to fly a kite or kick a football or while endlessly sabotaging his beloved baseball games, she monetises his discomfort with spiteful verve via a 5¢ walk-in psychoanalysis booth, ensuring that whether at play, in competition, in despair, allowing hope to flower or just brooding, the round-headed kid truly endures the character-building trials of the damned.

In this era, the beagle is the true star of our show, with his primary quest for fame or at least more and better food playing out against a magnificently baroque inner life. There are wild encounters with birds, skateboarding, dance-offs, ice skating and snow-sport trysts, philosophical ruminations, martial assignations and ever-more-popular catchphrases to learn. As burgeoning whimsy and dreams of writing bestsellers blossom, we catch constant glimpses of the dog’s WWI other life, but also acknowledge the the world’s growing teen scene with his reinvention in new personas like college frat boy Joe Cool and cosmopolitan rake Joe French.

Perhaps his most momentous new alter ego is The Attorney who so often steps in to lend legal sagacity to the kids in times of growing litigiousness and political protest…

Naturally all of these shadow-dogs harbour fondness for little Woodstock and abiding animus for natural enemy Lucy, whose life is also plagued by mounting hurdles. Paramount are her weirdo brother Linus (who has become obsessed with undiscovered cryptids like Gully Cats and Queen snakes)  and his comfort blanket; that dog; failure to boss everyone around enough, that dog and piano-boy Schroeder’s utter inability to realise that he loves her…

Timeless episodes of play, peril, peewee psychoanalysis, philosophical ponderings, anxiously anticipatory cinema-visits and personal recrimination are cunning beards for some heavy topics. Always realised in stark monochrome are more new characters, more plot developments (like the threatened return of Snoopy’s childhood nemesis Lila!) and the founding of even more traditions we all revere to this day.

As suggested, the beagle is the only force capable of challenging – if not fully countering -Lucy. Over these two years, her campaign to curb the weird dog; cure her brother of comfort blanket dependency; seduce Schroeder and generally reorder reality to her preferences reach astounding heights and appalling depths, but Snoopy keeps trying and scores many minor victories. In the main, though, Lucy continues to consistently suck all the joy out of the white wonder stuff, green summers, fallen leaves, refreshing rain, hobbies, sports, music and anthing else other people like. Except skipping. Playing with a jump rope is still acceptable…

Hilariously, her reality takes a solid knock when Mr & Mrs Van Pelt announce the imminent arrival of a new baby sister, an intruder shellshocked Lucy instantly names “Rerun”…

From the start Schulz established way points in his year: formally celebrating certain calendar occasions – real or invented – as perennial shared events: St. Valentine’s Day, Mothers & Fathers’ Days, Fourth of July strips and the like are accompanied in their turn by yearly milestones lincluding Christmas, Easter, Halloween/Great Pumpkin Day and Beethoven’s Birthday.

Here they are augmneted by another American ritual as many of the cast return to (and are dismissed from) summer camp. This results in fresh heartbreak for all after Patty finally meets the nigh-legendary Little Red-haired Girl and realises all hope is lost. There’s even more endless heartbreak heading for Charlie Brown too, as he looks on and can do nothing. The poor oaf still has no idea how to begin to respond to closer ties with his dream girl or why even Patty cares…

Sports fun looms large and terrifying as ever, but star athlete-turned-coach/manager Snoopy is more interested in new passions than boring old baseball, hockey, tennis and football. These include fishing, swimming, skiing, skating and new sensation Frisbee-ing, as well as embracing the ups and downs of perilous passtime “Ha-Ha, Herman!” and watching Lucy learn some hard truths while rollerskating…

Even she finds far more absorbing pastimes but still revels in crushing the spirits of her teammates in whatever endeavour they are failing at. Linus endures more disappointment in two Great Pumpkin seasons as well as his rare-animal searches, and before you know it, there’s the traditional countdown to Christmas and another year filled with weird, woolly and wonderful moments…

Neatly interspersed with the daily doses of gloom, the Sunday page debuted on January 6th 1952: a half-page slot offering more measured fare than 4-panel dailies. Thwarted ambition, sporting failures, crushing frustration – much of it psychoanalysis or sport related – abound, alternating with Snoopy’s inner life of aviation, war stories, star gazing, shooting the breeze with bird buddies, weather woes, fame and food fiascos. These and other signature sorties across the sabbath indulgences afforded Schulz room to be his most imaginative, whimsical and provocative… or just plain jokey…

Tentpole moments to relish this time include intensification of the magnificently barbed romantic triangle involving Lucy, Schroeder & Beethoven; Linus kicking the blanket habit only to be dragged back in under again; more Snoopy v Lucy deathmatches as well as a claws & paws clash of our dog and the despised cat-next-door. Charlie Brown’s food feud with the beagle continues, as do assorted night terrors, Lucy’s unique solutions to complex questions; Valentines’ card coup counting, doggy dreams; sporting endeavours,  all counterpointed by Snoopy’s latest top secret mission for the Head Beagle and the paving over of his puphood home…

To Be Continued…

To wrap it all up, Gary Groth celebrates and deconstructs the man and his work in ‘Charles M. Schulz: 1922 to 2000’, preceded by a copious ‘Index’ offering instant access to favourite scenes you’d like to see again…

Readily available in many formats, this volume guarantees total enjoyment: comedy gold and social glue metamorphosing into an epic of spellbinding graphic mastery that still adds joy to billions of lives, and continues to make new fans and devotees long after its maker’s passing.
The Complete Peanuts: 1971-1972 (Volume Eleven) © 2009 Peanuts Worldwide, LLC. “Charles M. Schulz: 1922 to 2000” © 2009 Gary Groth. All rights reserved.

Posted on

Batman: Scarecrow Tales


By Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Jerry Robinson & George Roussos, Gardner F. Fox, Dennis O’Neil, Elliot S! Maggin, Gerry Conway, Mike W Barr, Peter Milligan, Devin Grayson, Sheldon Moldoff, Joe Giella, Ernie Chan & Dick Giordano, Irv Novick & Tex Blaisdell, Don Newton & Dan Adkins, Alan Davis & Paul Neary, Duncan Fegredo & Bjarne Hansen, Roger Robinson & John Floyd, with Paul Gulacy, Carmine Infantino, George Pratt, Mike Mignola, Arthur Adams, Dermot Power, Mark Stutzman, Jim Balent & Bill Sienkiewicz & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-0443-3 (TPB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

As is only sensible, when filmmakers unleash a comic book villain of any vintage, savvy publishers collate, curate and commercialise. Thus in 2007 when The Scarecrow was named a villain du jour on Batman Begins DC dashed out a fine volume of reprints featuring a few key and generally accessible comic book appearances. Although having a much shallower well to draw from, there are some wonderful tales on offer (and the occasional dog, it must be admitted) with various pin-up pages and a cover gallery closeted here in this out of print and begging for resurrection tome…

The obvious kick-off is the first appearance by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson & George Roussos. Alternatively entitled ‘The Riddle of the Human Scarecrow’ or simply ‘The Scarecrow’ from World’s Finest #3 (1941), it spookily introduced rather odd, painfully poor and book-obsessed college psychology professor Dr. Jonathan Crane (no relation to any comedy shrink). His ill-considered classroom antics forced him out of the teaching profession and started him pursuing his nefarious dreams by making his wealthy victims afraid… at least until Batman & Robin stepped in and stepped up…

Crane only appeared once more in the Golden Age and here is reintroduced in the Silver one, after patiently serving his time in jail, in ‘Fright of the Scarecrow’ (Batman #189, cover-dated February 1967) wherein scripter Gardner Fox – despite being rather handcuffed by the overwhelming popularity of the comedic TV show – introduced the Master of Terror’s abiding modern Modus Operandi of chemically or artificially inducing anxiety, fear and screaming heebie-jeebies. This has ever since stayed the way as Crane followed the twisting path of a deranged mad scientist rather the greedy crime bandit style which consisted mostly of shooting at you until you wet yourself and coughed up the valuables…

The spooky sage’s resumed rampage through Gotham was ultimately quashed here by the daredevil Dynamic Duo as fabulously finessed by illustrators Sheldon Moldoff & Joe Giella.

Then from a far less frightening but more carefully inclusive era come a brace of arguably lesser and decidedly off-kilter efforts. From Batman #262 (April 1975), Denny O’Neil, Ernie Chan & Dick Giordano ‘The Scarecrow’s Trail of Fear!’ finds the hero victim of a fear inducer machine whilst racing to uncover hidden loot squirreled away by a crook literally scared to his death. Then comes a frankly bizarre duel with Gotham’s other contender for Most Scary Villain (not counting Batman!). In The Joker #8 (August 1976). Gotham’s self-acclaimed Master of Terror instigates ‘The Scarecrow’s Fearsome Face-Off!’ by stealing from his rival and reaping the revolting results in a weird war tale crafted by Elliot S! Maggin, Irv Novick & Tex Blaisdell…

For Detective #503 (June 1981) Gerry Conway wrote ‘The 6 Days of the Scarecrow’, beautifully illustrated by sorely missed Don Newton, and inked by Dan Adkins, wherein The Deacon of Dread turns Batman into a being who can literally scare those around him to death. However, Crane foolishly discounts the fact that his foe has allies such as Robin & Batgirl willing to do anything to save him… not that the Gotham Gangbuster needs them to…

Then, in a revitalised new world stemming out of Crisis on Infinite Earths, a fresher Dynamic Duo (with young, callow Jason Todd as the second Robin), Mike W. Barr, Alan Davis & Paul Neary pursue lighter, more liberating tales but still convincingly convey the tragedy of ‘Fear For Sale’ in Detective #571 (February 1987), after Scarecrow charges desperate sports stars to remove their caution and ability to fear consequences and triggers a storm of callous carnage…

Next is ‘Mistress of Fear’ by Peter Milligan & Duncan Fegredo from one-shot New Year’s Evil: Scarecrow #1 (February, 1998): a truly exceptional low key, high-octane psychological thriller wherein Crane kidnaps law student Becky Albright. She had previously testified against him and still isn’t afraid, even after he begins the torturous process of converting her into his sidekick and accomplice…

Devin Grayson, Roger Robinson & John Floyd then display ‘Fear of Success’ (Gotham Knights #23, January 2002) to round out these scary stories with a swipe at corporate greed, as Dr. Crane is paroled from Arkham Asylum to lecture Gotham’s Movers & Shakers thanks to the sponsorship of business paragon Mulitigon. Thankfully, Bruce Wayne (and his new bodyguard Sasha Bordeaux) are invited as Scarecrow again unleashes his Fear Toxins just to see what happens. Although Batman quickly ends the threat, he is not quick enough to avoid a potentially deadly dose of the hallucinogenic horrors…

Also on show are a moody cover gallery and bonus material including pages from Who’s Who – The Definitive Directory of The DC Universe #20 (1986) & Who’s Who in the DC Universe #21 (1990) by Art Adams and George Pratt respectively; Mike Mignola’s Saga of the Dark Knight trading card (#51); Batman: Masterpieces (1998) by Dermot Power and an original pin-up by Mark Stutzman.

Some of these scurrilous scare-sagas made it into the 2015 compilation Batman: Arkham – Scarecrow but that book has enough different and darkly desirable material to warrant its own review… possibly even before the month is out…

As a trawl through the changing nature of the industry, Batman: Scarecrow Tales is quite illuminating although one glaring omission is the utter shunning of the numerous exploits featuring the creepy character that appeared in assorted issues of the TV cartoon based Batman Adventures comic book. Now those were thrilling…

Absolutely worth re-issuing with a few of the newer tales (especially those sublime all-ages versions Batman Animated franchise), perhaps DC could award the other, OTHER Dr Crane his own 85-year Celebration album, like all those other A-lister Bat-villains. Now that’s a scarily comforting thought…
© 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Deadman: Book Three


By Cary Bates, Gerry Conway, Arnold Drake, Bob Haney, Paul Levitz, Martin Pasko, Dick Dillin, Jim Aparo, Fred Carillo, Mike Grell, Kurt Scaffenberger, Romeo Tanghal, Tex Blaisdell, Vince Colletta, Dick Giordano, Bob Layton & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-3728-8 (TPB), 978-1-4012-4198-8 (Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced during less enlightened times.

Deadman debuted in Strange Adventures #205 cover-dated October 1967 and on sale from August 29th. He heralded a new kind of superhero comic at a time when costumed crusaders were in their second decline in 20 years, and edgy if not actually scary supernatural stories were increasingly attracting the attention of the entire world.

In his wake TV introduced Dark Shadows, sci fi anthologies Outer Limits and Twilight Zone segued into Rod Serling’s Night Gallery whilst movies like Rosemary’s Baby revolutionised scary cinema. In literature, a revival of Gothic romance set pulses racing and hearts fluttering once more. However, in many ways it was business as usual as horror stories had been a top seller since books began and plays, comics, radio, and TV since its earliest incarnations had dwelt heavily upon tales of the unknown…

As the 1960s ended, its colossal superhero boom became a slow but certain bust, with formerly major successes no longer able to find enough readers to keep them alive. The appetite for costumed clowns was paling in favour of a resurgence of more traditional genres, and one rational editorial response was to reshape comic characters to fit evolving contemporary tastes.

Publishers swiftly changed gears and even staid, cautious DC reacted rapidly, making masked heroes fit the new landscape. Newly revised and revived costumed features included roving mystic troubleshooter The Phantom Stranger and golden age colossus The Spectre, whilst resurgent traditional genres spawned atrocity-faced WWII spy Unknown Soldier and cowboy bounty hunter Jonah Hex, spectral western avenger El Diablo and game-changing monster hero Swamp Thing, spearheading a wave of new formats, anthologies and concepts.

Moreover, supernatural themes and horror-tinged plots were shoehorned into those superhero titles that weathered the trend-storm. Arguably, the moment of surrender and change had already arrived with the creation of Boston Brand in the autumn of 1967, when venerable science fiction anthology Strange Adventures was abruptly retooled as the haunted home of an angry ghost…

This third Deadman collection (of five) again proves that changing times and tastes demand different heroes, with pertinent material from World’s Finest Comics #223 & 227: The Phantom Stranger #33, 39-41; Brave and the Bold #133, Superman Family #183 and DC Super-Stars #18, cumulatively spanning cover-dates May/June 1974 to Winter 1978, and confirming that as tastes vacillate, the valiant dead can keep on going simply by changing a bit of perspective…

High wire acrobat Boston Brand was a rough, tough, jaded performer who had seen everything and masked his decent human heart behind an obnoxious exterior and cynical demeanour. As “Deadman”, Brand had been the star attraction of Hills Circus and lover of its reluctant owner Lorna Carling. He also acted as a secret guardian for the misfits it employed and sheltered. One fateful night, Brand almost missed his cue because he had to stop a local cop harassing circus mystic Vashnu. It would have better if Brand had been late, because as soon as he started his act – 40 feet up and without a net – someone put a rifle slug into his heart. Despite being dead before he hit the ground, Brand was scared and furious. Nobody could see or hear him screaming, and Vashnu kept babbling on that he was the chosen of Rama Kushna – “the spirit of the universe”. The hokum all proved horribly true when that entity astonishingly made contact, telling Boston that he would walk among men until he found his killer.

The gig came with some advantages. He was invisible, untouchable, immune to physical laws and able to take possession of the living and drive them like meat cars. His only clue was witnesses in the audience who claimed that a man with a hook had shot him…

Brand’s hunt brought him into contact with killer mystic The Sensei – a master murderer who has dealt with ghosts before – and helplessly, frustratingly, experienced the end of the Hook. When the Sensei executed Boston’s quarry, Rama Kushna asked if a balance has been struck and capitalised on Brand’s furious negative response. Brand demanded true justice for everyone and inadvertently elected himself the agent of its enactment…

The search had brought him into contact with Batman (and other superheroes) and together they saved a Tibetan spiritual paradise on Earth. Sensei’s League of Assassins deemed benevolent Shangri La Nanda Parbat bad for the business of murder, and Deadman’s efforts to save the city from invasion were coloured by the fact that within its boundaries he becomes a living, breathing person again…

By the time of this outing, and thanks to a rapprochement with his aerialist twin brother Cleveland Brand, Deadman has found his killer, but only uncovered infinitely more injustice and innate rottenness at the heart of the world. Now he roams aimlessly, despondent and nearly mad…

Opening in World’s Finest Comics #223, Superman & Batman recruit Brand to help in their search for a serial killer. Shocks abound when all evidence points to the culprit being the brain-damaged, secretly institutionalised, unsuspected older brother of Bruce Wayne! When the whole truth emerges in ‘Wipe the Blood Off My Name’ (Bob Haney, Dick Dillin & Vince Colletta), the lonely, isolated ghost goes off the rails and decides to keep on possessing mentally vacant Thomas Wayne Jr.

Batman has other ideas though…

Apparently ignoring these events, Deadman then clashes with The Phantom Stranger (#33, November 1974 by Drake & Mike Grell) during the Man with No Name’s war against spiritual mad scientist Dr Zorn. In ‘Deadman’s Bluff!’, the ghost’s protracted, and apparently obsessively pointless hunt for his own murderer is exploited by the villain. As ever, the chase ends in frustration and fury for Boston, even though Zorn fails to spark war between the ethereal avengers, and instead causes an antagonistic partnership to be formed between them. After months of relentless manhunting, Batman’s search for Thomas Wayne culminates in ‘Death Flaunts its Golden Grin’ (WFC #227, February 1975 by Haney, Dillin & Tex Blaisdell), as the caped crusaders accidentally find the fugitives whilst tracking global smugglers. That moment of triumph is brief and ends in tragedy for all concerned, after which the guy in the hat gets reacquainted with the spectre in skin-tights for Phantom Stranger #39’s ‘Death Calls Twice for a Deadman’: a last-ditch effort to revive dwindling sales as horror stories faced their own decline.

Guest-starring The Sensei, it signalled a belated return to the company’s over-arching continuity, but was too little, too late. Deadman similarly co-starred in PS #40’s ‘In the Kingdom of the Blind’ and #41’s concluding chapter ‘A Time for Endings’(February-March 1976 and both by Paul Levitz & Fred Carillo). Now modern mage Dr Nathan Seine sought to bring Elder Gods to Earth using blind psychic Cassandra Craft as a medium…

With that tale’s finish, his series ended and the Phantom Stranger all-but-vanished until the winter of 1978 and a giant-sized Deadman team-up tale from DC Super-Stars #18 that is happily forthcoming.

First, though, Deadman – by Haney & Jim Aparo – remanifests in Brave and the Bold #133 to deliver ‘Another Kind of Justice!’ to aging rum-runner Turk Bannion when his heir and murderer turns to a more modern form of smuggling with Dark Knight & Wandering Wraith objecting. Uncanny events hit a lighter note next as Cary Bates, Kurt Schaffenberger & Colletta explore inexplicable somnolent excursions on ‘The Day Lois Lane Walked All Over Superman!’ (Superman Family #183, May June 1977). Here, though, Brand invisibly aids all concerned as a monomaniacal psychic messes with mind-control and body-borrowing…

Closing this grimoire of the dead-&-gone is that epic clash from DC Super-Stars #18. Concocted by Gerry Conway, Marty Pasko, Romeo Tanghal, Dick Giordano & Bob Layton, ‘Phantom Stranger and Deadman’ was an extended Halloween extravaganza seeing the moribund supernatural champions – with venerable vintage ghost-breaker Dr. Terrence Thirteen and necromantic nemesis Tala, Goddess of Evil in attendance – attempting to eradicate an infestation of demons lethally infiltrating the comic book Mecca of the season: Rutland, Vermont (long associated in both Marvel and DC titles as the only place to be on the Eve of All Hallows). The war was for humanity’s survival and no-one escaped unscathed…

With covers by Aparo & Neal Adams, this graphic grimoire perfectly captures the echoes of an era in transition through a delirious run of comics classics no ardent art lover or fanatical fear aficionado can do without.
© 1964, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 2012 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Superman: The Amazing Transformations of Jimmy Olsen


By Otto Binder, Alvin Schwartz, Robert Bernstein, Jerry Siegel, Leo Dorfman, E. Nelson Bridwell, Cary Bates, Curt Swan, John Forte, Kurt Schaffenberger, Pete Costanza, Ray Burnley, Creig Flessel, Stan Kaye, George Klein & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-1369-5 (TPB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Over nearly nine decades, Superman has provided excitement, imagination and fun in more or less equal amounts; albeit admittedly not so much of that last one in recent times! This lost and longed for compilation relies heavily on the last two categories and offers the kind of reading experience we just don’t get enough of these days…

Although unnamed, a red-headed, be-freckled plucky kid worked alongside Clark Kent and Lois Lane from Action Comics #6 (cover-dated November 1938 and on sale from September 26th). He was called by his first name from Superman #13 (November-December 1941) onwards, but only after unlikely input from an even more ubiquitous mass entertainment. That lad was James Bartholemew AKA “Jimmy” Olsen who was a major player in The Adventures of Superman radio show from its debut on April 15th 1940; somebody for the hero to explain stuff to for the listener’s benefit, and the closest thing to a sidekick the Man of Tomorrow ever needed.

When the similarly titled TV show launched in the Fall of 1952 it became a monolithic hit and National Periodicals began cautiously expanding their valuable and precious franchise with new characters and titles. First up were gloriously charming, light-hearted escapades of a rash, capable but naïve photographer and “cub reporter” from the Daily Planet and titular star of Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, which launched in 1954 with a September/October cover date. The title was popular for over two decades, blending action, adventure, broad, wacky comedy, fantasy and science fiction in the gentle manner initial scripter Otto Binder had perfected a decade previously at Fawcett Comics on the magnificent Captain Marvel. As the feature progressed, one of the most popular plot-themes (and most fondly remembered and referenced today by most Baby-Boomer fans) was the unlucky lad’s appalling talent for being warped, mutated and physically manipulated by fate, aliens and even his friends.

The Amazing Transformations of Jimmy Olsen gathers some of the very best and most iconic tales from the series; as they originally appeared in issues #22, 28, 31-33, 41-42, 44, 49, 53, 59, 65, 72, 77, 80, 85 & 105 of the weirdly popular comic book, plus the lead story from giant-size anthology Superman Family #173, into which SPJO evolved when times got tough for Superhero publishers in the 1970s.

The spellbinding wonderment opens with a selection of beautifully reconfigured covers (from #22, 44, 59 & 105) acting as contents/credit pages, after which the stories commence with Binder, Curt Swan & Ray Burnley’s ‘The Super-Brain of Jimmy Olsen’ wherein resident crackpot inventor Professor Phineas Potter evolves the boy of today into a man from 1,000,000AD. This apparently benevolent being seems to have a hidden agenda, however, and is even capable of bending the Man of Steel to his towering will…

The same creative team crafted ‘The Human Skyscraper’, with another Potter production enlarging Jimmy to monumental size, whilst in ‘The E-L-A-S-T-I-C Lad’ Superman is inadvertently responsible for the boy reporter gaining stretching powers after leaving a chest of alien artefacts with the nosy, accident-prone kid…

Alvin Schwartz, Swan & Burnley’s ‘The Jimmy Olsen from Jupiter’ then sees aliens mutate him into one of their scaly selves, complete with mind reading powers, before Binder’s ‘The Human Flame-Thrower!’ depicts how Potter’s latest experiment causes the worst case of high-octane halitosis in history, after which Robert Bernstein, Swan & John Forte highlight the lad’s negligent idiocy as Jimmy eats alien fruit and becomes ‘The Human Octopus!’

Creig Flessel inked the hilariously ingenious ‘Jimmy the Genie!’ in which boy and magical sprite exchange roles, prior to Binder, Swan & Stan Kaye delivering a gleeful masterpiece. ‘The Wolf-Man of Metropolis!’ is a beloved, oft-reprinted classic blending horror, mystery, romance and heart-warming charm into a cautionary tale impossible to ignore or forget.

Next, Professor Potter is blamed for – but entirely innocent of – turning Jimmy into ‘The Fat Boy of Metropolis!’ – a nonsensical but clever crime caper from Swan & Forte – whilst sheer mischance results in scripter Jerry Siegel’s now-legendary if not culturally significant saga of ‘The Giant Turtle Man!’ and his oddly casualty-free rampage…

Leo Dorfman, Swan & George Klein then contribute a sparkling tale of alien love gone amiss, which results in our boy temporarily becoming ‘Jimmy Olsen, Freak!’, a frequent consequence of Jimmy’s remarkable love life. Thanks to Siegel, Swan & Klein, when Jimmy spurns amorous attentions of surrealistic Fifth Dimensional hottie Miss Gzptlsnz, she quite understandably turns him into ‘The Human Porcupine’ in a wild and possibly thematically influential precursor to vengeance sagas like Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct or What’s Opera, Doc? The self-same creators also crafted intriguing enigma ‘The World of Doomed Olsens!’ wherein the Olsen boy is aggressively confronted by manifestations of his most memorable metamorphoses… a dilemma that was nothing like what it seemed…

‘The Colossus of Metropolis!’ finds Jimmy deliberately and daringly grown to giant size to tackle rampaging Super-Ape Titano before Siegel, Forte & Klein’s ‘Jimmy Olsen, the Bizarro Boy!’ poses a parlous comedy of errors with Potter’s cure for those backwards-living un-beings going painfully awry, resulting in the poor warped lad being ‘Exiled on the Bizarro World!’ The immensely popular Legion of Super-Heroes guest-star in many of these tales and play a pivotal part in ‘The Adventures of Chameleon-Head Olsen!’, a madcap mirth spree as only Siegel, Forte & Klein could make ’em, whilst the far more menacing account of ‘The World of 1,000 Olsens! (Binder, E. Nelson Bridwell & Pete Costanza) was a product of changing times and darker tastes; with an actual archenemy trapping Jimmy on a murderous alien world where everybody looks like yet hates the cub reporter…

This fabulously strange and cruelly out of print brew concludes with a smart thriller set in the Bottled City of Kandor where Jimmy resumes occasional costumed-hero identity Flamebird beside Superman (AKA the original Nightwing), hoping to save the last of Kryptonian civilisation from the ‘Menace of the Micro-Monster!’ This sharp terrorism-tinged action-shocker by Cary Bates & Kurt Schaffenberger satisfyingly closes a magically engaging tome by proving that even the silliest ass can sometimes be the hero and not the goat…

As well as reliving some of the most delightful episodes of DC’s pre-angst-drenched, cosmically catastrophic days, these stories also perfectly frame the changing mores and tastes which reshaped comics from the safe 1950s to the seditious, rebellious 1970s, all the while keeping to the prime directive of the industry: keep them entertained and keep them wanting more.

I know I certainly do…
© 1957-1965, 1967, 1975, 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

The Adventures of Blake and Mortimer: The Complete Collection volume 1


By Edgar P. Jacobs, coloured by Philippe Biermé & Luce Daniels, with material by Brieg F. Haslé & Nicolas Thibaudin, translated by Jerome Saincantin (Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-1-80044-147-7 (Album HB), 978-1-80044-776-9 (Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced during less enlightened times.

Today in 1946, the European post war comics revolution began with the release of multi-national anthology periodical Le Journal de Tintin. This strip was the Other big draw of those early years and remains one of my all-time favourites…

Le Journal de Tintin launched on 26th September 1946, and evolved through the post-war Years to become a benchmark of quality comics storytelling. Initially “the magazine for the Youth from 7 to 77” was intended to create longform stories for later book publication by serialising stories in increments – a method still used to this day. It sold in a number of countries and regions in their own languages, initially combining new material with recycled and modified episodes of previous Tintin tales, before moving to all new material. Publication ceased in 1993, with the 29th June edition.

For the first three years LJdT was home to an astounding unfolding epic that enthralled the readership. The first of so many, The Adventures of Blake and Mortimer were converted into books which been tweaked over decades and are presented complete in this single volume, which gathers The Secret of the Swordfish part 1 The incredible Chase; Part 2 Mortimer’s Escape; and Part 3 SX1 Strikes Back, and includes fascinating background features by Brieg F Haslé and Nicholas Thibaudin…

Belgian Edgard Félix Pierre Jacobs (1904-1987) is rightly regarded as one of the founding fathers of the Continental comics industry. Although his output was relatively scant compared to some of his contemporaries, the iconic series he created formed the basis and foundation of the art form in Europe, and his splendidly adroit, roguish yet impeccably British adventurers Blake and Mortimer – from the premiere issue of Le Journal de Tintin onwards – became a staple of post-war European kids’ life, the way Dan Dare would in Britain across the 1950s.

E.P. Jacobs was born in Brussels, a precocious child who began feverishly drawing from an early age but was even more obsessed with music and the performing arts – especially opera. He attended a commercial school but, determined never to work in an office, pursued art and drama following his graduation in 1919. A succession of odd jobs at opera-houses; scene-painting, set decoration, acting and singing as an Extra supplemented his private performance studies, and in 1929 Jacobs won a Government award for classical singing. Sadly, his proposed career as an opera baritone was ended by the Great Depression, as the Arts sector took a nosedive following the stock market crash.

Picking up whatever stage work was going (including singing and performing) Jacobs segued into commercial illustration in 1940 and regular employment came from the magazine Bravo. While illustrating short stories and novels, Jacobs famously took over the syndicated Flash Gordon strip after occupying German authorities banned Alex Raymond’s quintessentially All-American Hero. This left the publishers desperately seeking someone to satisfactorily complete the saga., but Jacobs’ Stormer Gordon lasted less than a month before being similarly sanctioned by the Nazis. Thus Jacobs created his own epic science-fantasy feature in the legendary Le Rayon U: a milestone in both Belgian comics and science fiction adventure. The U Ray was a huge hit in 1943 and scored big all over again a generation later when Jacobs reformatted the original “text-block & picture” material to incorporate speech balloons before re-running the serial in Le Journal de Tintin, with subsequent releases forming a trio of graphic albums in 1974.

There are conflicting accounts of how Jacobs and Tintin creator Hergé got together and why they parted ways professionally, if not socially, but as to the whys and wherefores of the split, I frankly don’t care. What is known is this: whilst crafting the weekly U Ray, one of Jacob’s other jobs was scene-painting, and during the staging of a theatrical version of Tintin and the Cigars of the Pharaoh, Hergé and Jacobs met and became friends. If the comics maestro was unaware of Jacob’s comics output before then, he was certainly made aware of it soon after. Jacobs began working on Tintin, colouring the original monochrome strips of The Shooting Star from newspaper Le Soir for a forthcoming album collection. By 1944, Jacobs was performing similar service for Tintin in the Congo, Tintin in America, King Ottokar’s Sceptre and The Blue Lotus. By now, he was also contributing to the illustration as well, on extended epic The Seven Crystal Balls/Prisoners of the Sun.

Jacob’s love of opera made it into the feature as Hergé (who loathed the stuff) teasingly created bombastic Bianca Castafiore as a comedy foil and based numerous bit players (like Jacobini in The Calculus Affair) on his long-suffering assistant. After the war and liberation, publisher Raymond Leblanc convinced Hergé, Jacobs and other creatives to work for his new venture. Launching publishing house Le Lombard, he also started Le Journal de Tintin, an anthology comic. Edited by Hergé, with various language editions in Belgium, France and Holland starring the intrepid boy reporter plus a host of newer heroes.

Beside Hergé, Jacobs and writer Jacques van Melkebeke, the comic also featured Paul Cuvelier’s Corentin and Jacques Laudy’s ‘The Legend of the Four Aymon Brothers’. Laudy had been a friend of Jacobs’ since they worked together on Bravo, and the first instalment of foreboding epic thriller serial Le secret de l’Espadon starred a bluff, gruff British scientist Professor Philip Mortimer as well as an English Military Intelligence officer who was closely modelled on Laudy: Captain Francis Blake.

The complete serialised saga ran from issue #1 (26th September 1946 to September 8th 1949): and confirmed Jacobs’ status as a star in his own right. In 1950, with the first 18 pages slightly redrawn, Le secret de l’espladon V1 (The Secret of the Swordfish – The Incredible Chase) became Le Lombard’s first album release; with the concluding part published 3 years later. Those volumes were reprinted nine more times between 1955 – 1982, with an additional single complete deluxe edition released in 1964. In 1984 the story was reformatted and repackaged in English translation as 3 volumes with additional material (mostly covers from the weekly Tintin added to the story as splash pages). It was part of a European push to win some of Britain’s lucrative love of Tintin & Asterix, but ended after seven volumes, having failed to find an audience. Happily, Cinebook successfully reintroduced us to the dashing duo – albeit after publishing later adventures first – and you can revel in their wonderment in either paperback album or eBook formats. Or in this Complete edition…

Hergé & Jacobs purportedly suffered a split in 1947 when the former refused to grant the latter a by-line on new Tintin material, but since they remained friends for life and Jacob’s continued to produce Blake and Mortimer for the Belgian weekly, I think it’s fair to say that if such was the case it was a pretty minor spat. I suspect The Secret of the Swordfish was simply taking up more and more of the brilliant, diligent artist’s time and attention…

The U Ray also provided early visual inspiration for Blake, Mortimer and implacable nemesis Colonel Olrik, who bear more than passing resemblances to heroic Lord Calder, Norlandian boffin Marduk and viperous villain Dagon.

One minor word of warning: by having the overarching enemies of mankind be a secret Asiatic “Yellow Peril” empire of evil, there’s potential for offence – unless one actually reads the text and finds that the presumed implicit racism is countered throughout by plenty of “good” ethnic characters and “evil” white folk. And remember the ultimate enemy Olrik could pass for a British stockbroker or political party candidate any day of the week…

This complete edition offers the entire epic in one almighty go and is sublimely supplemented by factual and contextual gold, mined by Brieg F. Haslé and Nicolas Thibaudin.

Delivered as The Secret Notebooks of Blake, Jacobs, and Mortimer, fun facts are broken down into engaging preparatory dossiers, divided by year and packed with candid preparatory material, designs and sketches. For 1946 we see a Synopsis of the first book; meet Jacobs ‘In his own words’; share ‘Mortimer’s Confidences’ and go ‘Behind the Scenes’ to examine extraordinary ‘Jacobsian Machines’ with ‘The Golden Rocket’. Then ‘Emblematic Characters’ reviews Olrik and we see ‘What Lies Behind a page’ with narrative techniques deconstructed in ‘The Third Word War Live… on Radio!’ before the initial episode begins…

The Secret of the Swordfish Part 1 – The Incredible Chase

Humanity’s next world war begins with ‘The Incredible Chase’ as a unknown army hidden in the Himalayas prepares to launch a global Blitzkrieg on a world slowly recovering from its second planetary conflagration. Wicked Basam Damdu, Emperor of Tibet, has assembled an arsenal of technological super-weapons and the world’s worst rogues such as insidious Colonel Olrik in a bid to seize control of Earth. However, a bold British-Asian spy has infiltrated the hidden fortress and surrenders his life to get off a warning message.

In England, physicist and engineer Philip Mortimer and MI5 Captain Francis Blake discuss the worsening situation at an industrial installation where the boffin’s radical new aircraft engine is being completed. When warning comes that the war begins that night, the old friends swing into immediate action. As super-bombers rain destruction down on all the world’s cities, Mortimer’s dedicated team prepares his own prototype, the Golden Rocket, for immediate launch, lifting off just as Olrik’s bombers appear over the desolate compound. Despite heavy fire, the Rocket easily outdistances rapacious Imperial forces, leaving ruined homes in its wake and the fleeing Britons flying into a hostile world now controlled by brutal maniac Basam…

Whilst attempting to join British Middle East resistance forces who possess another prototype super-plane, teething troubles and combat damage create tense moments in the fugitives’ flight. When the Rocket encounters a flight of jets, the test ship’s superior firepower enables it to fight free, but only at the cost of more structural deterioration. Fully failing now, the Rocket goes down in the rocky wilds between Iran and Afghanistan. Parachuting free of the doomed ship, Blake, Mortimer and the crew are machine-gunned by pursuing Empire jets…

Only three men make it to the ground safely and after days of struggle Blake, Mortimer and the indomitable Jim are cornered by Iranian troops who have joined Olrik’s forces. Sensing disaster, the Britons hide the plans to Mortimer’s super-plane, but one of the Iranians sees the furtive act. When no one is looking – especially his superiors – Lieutenant Ismail hurriedly scoops up the documents. Somehow, he misses one…

Under lock & key and awaiting Olrik’s arrival, the prisoners are accosted by Ismail, who sees opportunity for personal advancement which the Englishmen turn to their own advantage. Denouncing him, Blake instigates a savage fight between Ismail and his captain. During the brief struggle Jim sacrifices himself, allowing Blake & Mortimer’s escape with the recovered plans. Stealing a lorry, the desperate duo drive out into the dark desert night.

Followed by tanks into mountain passes, the wily pair trap their pursuers in a ravine just as hill partisans attack. The Imperial collaborators are wiped out and – upon trading information with the freedom fighters – the Englishmen take a captured vehicles to a distant rendezvous with the second Golden Rocket. Lack of fuel forces them to stop at a supply dump where they are quickly discovered, but by setting the dump ablaze, the heroes escape again. In the desert Olrik has arrived and found a sheet of notes left behind by Ismail. The cunning villain is instantly aware of what it means…

Fighting off aerial assaults from Empire jets and streaking for the mountains, Blake & Mortimer abandon their tank. Forced to travel on foot, they at last reach the meeting point where British-trained Sergeant Ahmed Nasir awaits them. The Indian served with Blake during the last war and is delighted to see him again, but as the trio make their way to the target site, they become aware that Olrik has already captured their last hope…

Only temporarily disheartened, the trio use commando tactics to infiltrate Olrik’s camp, stealing not the heavily-guarded prototype but the villainous Colonel’s own Red-Wing super-jet. Back on course to the British resistance forces, the seemingly-cursed fugitives are shot down by friendly fire: rebels perceiving the stolen plane as another enemy target.

Surviving this crash too, they are ferried in relative safety by apologetic tribesmen to enemy-occupied town Turbat. Whilst hiding, a spy of the Empire’s newly-appointed Wazir recognises the Englishmen. When Nasir realises they are in trouble, he dashes to the rescue but is too late to prevent Mortimer from being drugged. Sending the loyal Sergeant on ahead, Blake fights frantically to revive his comrade, even as Imperial troopers rapidly mount the stairs to their exposed upper room…

To Be Continued…

But only after Section 1947 offers more bonus material infilling the making of the tale. Here The Secret Notebooks… contribute another volume Synopsis while ‘In his own words’ concentrates on successor scripter Jean Van Hamme before Mortimer’s confidences reviews pertinent covers. ‘Behind the scenes’ focuses on the wide-ranging locations of the tale; Jacobsian Machines highlights ‘The Red Wing’ and Emblematic Characters explores the antecedents of arch villain Basam Damdu, whilst What Lies Behind a page and Setting The Mood delve into how Mortimer’s imprisonment is expressed, prior to the saga resuming…

 

The Secret of the Swordfish Part 2 – Mortimer’s Escape

This second instalment escalates the tale to another epic level, as the frantic action resumes with soldiers bursting into an empty chamber before being themselves attacked by the Khan. After a bloody firefight our heroes emerge from their cunning hiding place and flee Turbat, which has been seized by a furious spur-of-the-moment rebellion. Unknown to the fugitives, devious spy Bezendjas is hard on their heels and soon finds an opportunity to inform Olrik.

With the city in flames and fighting in every street, the callous colonel abandons his own troops to pursue Nasir, Blake & Mortimer into the wastes beyond the walls. On stolen horses the heroes endure all the ferocious hardships of the desert, but cannot outdistance Olrik’s staff-car. After days of relentless pursuit, they reach the rocky coastline and almost stumble into another Empire patrol. Whilst ducking them, Blake nearly falls to his doom…

Narrowly escaping death, the trio continue to climb steep escarpments and it is dusk before the Intelligence Officer realises that he has lost the precious plans and documents they have been carrying since fleeing England. Realising that someone must reach British resistance forces at their hidden Eastern base, the valiant comrades split up. Blake and Nasir continue onwards whilst Mortimer returns to the accident site. Finding the plans is a stroke of sheer good fortune, immediately countered by an ambush from Olrik’s troops. Despite a Herculean last stand, the scientist is taken prisoner, but only after successfully hiding the lost plans…

Three months later, Olrik is called to account in the exotic city-fortress of Lhasa. Basam-Damdu’s ruling council are unhappy with the Colonel’s lack of progress in breaking the captive British scientist, and even more infuriated by a tidal-wave of sabotage and armed rebellion throughout their newly-conquered territories. Even Olrik’s own spies are warning that his days as an agent of the Yellow Empire are numbered…

Given two days to make Mortimer talk, the Colonel returns to his base in Karachi just as another rebel raid allows Nasir to infiltrate the Empire’s HQ. Blake is also abroad in the city, having joined British forces in the area…

With less than a day to act, the MI5 officer rendezvous with a British submarine and travels to a vast atomic-powered secret installation under the Straits of Hormuz. Here, the Royal Navy are stoically preparing for a massive counter-attack on the Empire. With raids liberating interned soldiers all the time, ranks of scientists, technicians and soldiers are swelling daily.

Meanwhile, Nasir has his own desperate plan to free Mortimer, still adamantly refusing to talk of the mysterious “Swordfish” Olrik’s agents continually hear of…

Aware of his danger and the Sergeant’s efforts, Mortimer instead cunningly informs Nasir of the lost plans’ location, even as the impatient Emperor’s personal torturer arrives from Lhasa.

Always concerned with the greater good, Blake and a commando team secure the concealed plans and are met by Nasir who has been forced from Karachi after realising Bezendjas has recognised him. It appears that time has run out for their scholarly comrade…

Mortimer, however, has taken fate into his own hands. When the devious doctor Sun Fo begins his interrogation, the Professor breaks free and escapes into the fortress grounds during an earth-shattering storm. Trapped in a tower with only a handgun, he is determined to sell his life dearly, but is rescued by Blake and Nasir in a Navy Helicopter. Using the storm for cover, the heroes evade jet pursuit and an enemy naval sweep to link up with a British sub and escape into the night…

To Be Concluded…


Haslé & Thibaudin conclude The Secret Notebooks of Blake, Jacobs, and Mortimer with 1949 providing more bonus material reconstructing the embattled world. A Synopsis and overview includes In his own words spotlighting Philippe Biermé (President of the Edgar P. Jacobs Foundation) and successor artist Ted Benoit before Mortimer’s confidences considers more historical inspirations for story characters, Behind the scenes reviews more iconic covers and reformatting the serial for book publication; Jacobsian Machines shares design secrets of The Swordfish and Emblematic Characters denounces Razul the Bezendjas. What Lies Behind a page and Setting The Mood concludes the briefing with a closer look at key scene The Spider Crab Pit before the saga concludes with The Secret of the Swordfish Part 3 – SX1 Strikes Back!

After three years of stunning intrigue, mystery and action, E.P. Jacobs’ groundbreaking saga of a battle for global peace and universal liberty concluded in a spectacular duel beneath the Earth and all-out war in the skies of the embattled world. SX1 Strikes Back sees a tension-drenched race against time as Blake, Mortimer and the shattered dregs of Britain’s military forces prepare for a last-ditch strike using the Professor’s greatest inventions to win freedom for the oppressed peoples of Earth…

It opens with a stunning reprise of past events – cunningly compiled from six full-page illustrations (original covers from weekly Le Journal de Tintin), before a bold commando raid liberates a trainload of British prisoners. Brought to a fabulous subterranean fortress, the assorted scientists and engineers discover an underground railway, factory, armaments-facilities and even an atomic pile, all furiously toiling to complete the mysterious super-weapon dubbed “Swordfish”. The P.O.W.s readily join the volunteers, blithely unaware that supremely capable scoundrel Olrik is amongst them in devilish disguise…

Days pass and as preparations for the Big Push produce satisfactory results, a slew of disastrous accidents lead to one inescapable conclusion: there is a saboteur in the citadel…

Eventually Olrik grows overconfident and Mortimer exposes the infiltrator in a crafty trap. However, in a fraught confrontation the Colonel escapes after almost causing a nuclear catastrophe. Fleeing across the seabed, the harried spy narrowly avoids capture by diver teams and a hungry giant octopus! The flight takes its toll upon Olrik and he barely reaches land alive. Luckily for him, Bezendjas has been checking out that region of coastline and finds the exhausted scoundrel trapped in his stolen deep-sea suit. After a lengthy period, the dazed desperado recovers and delivers his hard-won information. All too soon, Imperial forces are converging on the British bastion.

As air and sea forces bombard the rocky island and sea-floor citadel, Olrik dispatches crack troops to break in via a concealed land entrance, resulting in a staggering clash in the depths of the Earth.

They were almost in time…

After months of desperate struggle, Mortimer and his colleagues have rushed to complete the incredible Swordfish: a hypersonic attack jet with uncanny manoeuvrability and appallingly destructive armament. Astoundingly launched from beneath the sea, a sleekly sinister plane single-handedly shoots the Empire jets out of the skies before sinking dozens of attacking ships. Ruthlessly piloting SX1 is Francis Blake; and even as he wreaks havoc upon the invading force, he is joined by SX2: a second, equally unstoppable super-jet…

Before long the Yellow Empire is in full retreat. A squadron of Swordfish is completed and with the once-occupied planet in full revolt, Lhasa soon tastes the flaming death it callously inflicted upon a peaceful, unsuspecting and now extremely vengeful world. They are only just in time: the insane and malignant Emperor is mere moments away from launching a doomsday flight of atomic missiles to every corner of the planet he so briefly owned…

This Cinebook Complete edition also includes fascinating illustrated essay ‘Jacobs: 1946, The Swordfish, starting point of a masterful work’, first seen in The World of Edgar P. Jacobs, plus a biographical feature and chronological publication chart of Jacobs’ and his successors’ efforts.

Gripping and fantastic in the truest tradition of pulp sci-fi and Boy’s Own Adventures, Blake and Mortimer are the very epitome of dogged determination; always delivering grand, old-fashioned heroic Blood-&-Thunder thrills & spills in timeless fashion and with astonishing visual punch. Despite an epic body count and dated milieu, any kid able to suspend modern mores and cultural disbelief (call it alternate Earth history or Bakelite-Punk if you want) will experience the adventure of their lives – and so will their children.

Original editions © Éditions BLAKE & MORTIMER/Studio Jacobs (Dargaud – Lombard S.A.) 1984, 1985, 1986 by E.P. Jacobs. Cahier Hachette© Éditions BLAKE & MORTIMER/Studio Jacobs (Dargaud – Lombard S.A.) 2012, Brieg F. Haslé et Nicolas Thibaudin. All rights reserved. English translation © 2024 Cinebook Ltd.
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Spot On Epic Retro-Wonderment… 10/10

Posted on

Brother Voodoo Marvel Masterworks volume 1


By Len Wein, Doug Moench, Roy Thomas, Marv Wolfman, David Anthony Kraft, Roger Slifer, Roger Stern, Scott Lobdell, Jean-Marc Lofficier, Randy Lofficier, Gene Colan, Don Perlin, Jim Mooney, Tony DeZuñiga, Ron Wilson, Marshall Rogers, Vicente Alcazar, Fred Hembeck, Geoff Isherwood. Gil Kane, John Romita Sr., & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-2923-7 (HB), 978-1-3029-3804-8 (Digital edition)

This book includes some Discriminatory Content produced during less enlightened times.

It’s Black History Month soon as well as US Midterm elections. Here’s some excellent reading matter to get you through it all…

In 1968 the consciousness-raising demonstration of Black Power at the Olympic Games politicised a generation of youngsters. By this time a few comics companies had already made tentative but concerted efforts to address what were national and socio-political iniquities. Nevertheless, issues of race and ethnicity took a bloody long time to filter through to still-impressionable young minds avidly absorbing knowledge and attitudes via four-colour pages that couldn’t even approximate the skin tones of African-Americans.

As with TV and films, breakthroughs were small, incremental and too often reduced to a cold war of daringly liberal “firsts.” Excluding characters in 1940s-1950s jungle themed comic books, Marvel clearly led the field with a recurring character: historically impossible Gabe Jones, a black soldier in Sgt. Fury’s Howling Commandos; debuting in #1 (May 1963).

Technically, he was beaten to that dubious honour by DC’s Jackie Johnson. Created by Robert Kanigher & Joe Kubert, the “negro prizefighter” joined Sgt Rock’s Easy Company in late 1961 (Our Army at War #113), but it was years before he became a regular character…

By the way, so unlikely a character was ol’ Gabe in 1963 that he was – without consulting editor Stan Lee – helpfully re-coloured as Caucasian at the printers, who didn’t realise his ethnicity but just knew that he just couldn’t be non-white.

Jones was eventually followed by actual black superheroes Black Panther in Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966), and The Falcon in Captain America #117 (September 1969). America’s first hero of colour to helm his own title had come and gone largely unnoticed in a little remembered or regarded title from Dell Comics. Debuting December 1965 and created by artist Tony Tallarico & scripter D.J. Arneson, Lobo was a wild west gunslinger battling injustice just like any cowboy would.

Arguably the greater funnybook breakthrough was Joe Robertson, City Editor of the Daily Bugle: an erudite, brave, proudly ordinary mortal distinguished by his sterling character, not costume or skin tone. He debuted in Amazing Spider-Man # 51 (August 1967), proving in every panel thereafter that the world would not end if black folk and white folk shared the same spaces…

This big change slowly grew out of raised public awareness during a terrible time in US history: even worse than today’s festering social wounds and agonisingly commonplace occurrences of cops claiming to misjudge immediate life-or-death situations, perilous racial pressures and a seemingly constant, officially policy of Black Lives Not Mattering and Hispanic-looking ones not counting. These tragedies occur unpardonably often in the UK too, so we’ve nothing to be smug about, and should in fact be calling out and shaming more politicians and rabble-rousers on an hourly basis…

Britain has been afflicted with race riots since the Sixties, leaving simmering scars that only comedians and openly racist power-seekers dare talk about – and even then they aren’t seeking debate but just yanking chains and blowing dogwhistles. Things today don’t seem all that different, except the bile and growing taste for violence is turned towards European accents, or health workers as well as brown skins, and now includes non-white sectarian aggravation too…

As the 1960s gave way to a newer, darker decade, more positive and inclusive incidences of ethnic characters appeared in the US, with DC finally getting an African-America hero in John Stewart (Green Lantern #87 December 1971/January 1972) – although his designation as a replacement Green Lantern might be construed as more conciliatory and insulting than revolutionary.

The first DC hero with his own title was Black Lightning. He didn’t debut until April 1977, although Jack Kirby had introduced Vykin in Forever People #1, the Black Racer in New Gods #3 (March and July 1971) and Shilo Norman as Scott Free’s apprentice (and eventual successor) in Mister Miracle #15 (August 1973). One month later there was Dr. Jericho Drumm AKA Brother Voodoo…

It was a turbulent time culturally, but it was also a life-or-death moment for comics. The American industry was in turmoil if not meltdown, much like the youth of the nation they courted. With costs of production skyrocketing, every title had to be a success and no one seemed clear on what audiences wanted…

Superheroes had dominated the 1960s: peaking globally before explosively falling to ennui and overkill. Traditional genres like horror, westerns, romance and science fiction returned, fed by radical trends in movie-making where another wrinkle had emerged: films by and for African-American audiences. Most called them “Blacksploitation” films…

As previously stated, Marvel was already a pioneer in diversity. As well as a plethora of white Christian males there were pagan gods, female characters (a few but not for long), Atlanteans, extraterrestrials, native Americans and monsters spearheading their own features. Why not another black lead with roots addressing multiple genres at once? Contemporary cinema and prose novel Blaxsploitation had fired up commercial interests throughout America, and in that miasma of outlandish dialogue, daft outfits and barely concealed – and justified – outrage, an angry black man with a shady past and questionable morals must have felt like a surefire hit to Marvel’s bosses. Luke Cage, Hero for Hire launched in the summer of 1972. A year later, Black Panther finally got his own series in Jungle Action #5, with Blade: Vampire Hunter debuting in Tomb of Dracula #10 (July 19730. Surely there was room for more?

Astonishingly soon after, with the Comics Code prohibition against horror hastily rewritten (amazing how plunging sales affects morality), macabre scary comics returned in force and a fresh crop of supernatural superheroes and monsters began appearing on newsstands to supplement those ghosts, ghoulies and goblins already infiltrating the once science-only scenarios of embattled but surviving Fights ‘n’ Tights titles. In fact, tinkering with the Code ban resulted in such an avalanche of horror titles in response to the industry-wide downturn in superhero sales, that it probably caused a few more venerable costumed crusaders to – albeit temporarily – bite the dust.

Almost overnight nasty monsters – both new and reprinted from the1950s – (and narcotics; but that’s another story) became acceptable fare on four-colour pages. Whilst a parade of pre-code reprints made sound business sense, the creative aspect of the latest fascination with supernatural themes was catered to by adapting popular cultural icons, before risking whole new concepts on an untested public. Oddly the last Code-embargoed genre – Crime comics – never figured in this particular populist revival…

As always in entertainment, the watchword was fashion: what was hitting big outside comics was incorporated into the mix as soon as possible. When proto-horror Morbius debuted in Amazing Spider-Man #101 (cover-dated October 1971) and the sky failed to fall in, Marvel moved ahead with a line of shocking superstars. They began with a traditional werewolf and a vampire before chancing something new: a haunted biker tapping into both Easy Rider’s freewheeling motorcycling chic and the prevailing supernatural zeitgeist. Recycling an old western title, the all-new Ghost Rider debuted in Marvel Spotlight #5, August 1972. He’d been preceded by Native American/western hero Red Wolf in #1 and the aforementioned Werewolf by Night in #2-4. From these cautious beginnings spooky floodgates opened to such an extent that there was even room for non-white stars like The Living Mummy and today’s star turn…

This quirky compendium collects Brother Voodoo’s earliest exploits from a time when he was equal parts tragic outsider/in-joke laughing stock and long before he was reclaimed as a major hero and rebooted as Doctor Voodoo. The adventures from Strange Tales #169-173, Tales of the Zombie #6 &10, Marvel Team-Up #24, Werewolf by Night #38-41, Marvel Two-in-One #41, Doctor Strange #48, Moon Knight #21, Marvel Super-Heroes #1 and Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #16, 17, & 20 are supplemented by extracts from Tomb of Dracula #34-37. They epically span cover-dates September 1973 to August 1990 and are preceded by an informative Introduction from illustrator Ron Wilson detailing how the series came to be.

Built from an idea by then Editor-in-Chief Roy Thomas, with defining input from Stan Lee, John Romita and eventually assigned to creators Len Wein & Gene Colan, the end result was a complex, convoluted affair spread out over many issues. It’s also painfully fair to say that there’s a lot of dialogue and some notions that haven’t fared well as we’ve become a more inclusive society. If you can’t temper your modern sensibilities in the face of well-meaning but outdated attitudes, it might be best to look elsewhere for early evidence of role models for young black readers…

Brother Voodoo was a series that took its time to tell a tale, and we need to remember that the idea was to create a hero who could have lots of adventures for as long as possible: a new Doctor Strange, Spider-Man or Daredevil created at a moment when society and the comic industry were in total turmoil. Lots of good ideas debuted and died unfulfilled, only to blossom again in years to come. With their hero ready to launch, Marvel capitalised on the zeitgeist as much as possible. The company had launched a wave of titles (many of them cost-effective reprint anthologies) and restored defunct titles to crowd rival publishers off newsstands.

Cover dated May 1968, Strange Tales #168 was officially the final issue of a prestigious horror book that had run from 1951 before becoming a vehicle for The Human Torch, Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Doctor Strange in the 1960s. When Marvel became a top-selling brand in 1968, its numbering had carried on for Doctor Strange’s first solo title. Then, cover dated September 1973, the book was revived after a 5-year hiatus as a try-out title, kicking off with Brother Voodoo. He occupied #169-174, after which The Golem, classic horror reprints and Jim Starlin’s landmark reinterpretation of Adam Warlock took the magazine to its ultimate oblivion in 1975.

Enough background now: let’s get down among the dead men…

The drama commences in the eponymous ‘Brother Voodoo!’ (Wein, Gene Colan & Dan Adkins), as a UN special investigator lands in Haiti and is suddenly saved from murderous ambush by an oddly-garbed man with incredible powers, emerging from clouds of smoke amidst thunderous frenetic drum beats. Accompanied by elderly aide Bambu, the stranger escorts Dr Maitland to safety even as his mind flashes back to how it all began…

Years ago, Jericho Drumm abandoned his brother Daniel and family heritage as voodoo priests for rationalism, wealth and acclaim of the USA. Almost 20 years later, celebrated psychologist Dr. Drumm returned to Haiti to witness his brother’s murder by magic. Daniel had taken his brother’s preordained place as houngan (voodoo priest) of his people but was dying from a curse laid by evil loa (spirit)/serpent god Damballah. Utterly disbelieving, Jericho was helpless to prevent his brother’s death and his own subsequent humiliation by Damballah, but after swallowing his civilised pride, sought out Daniel’s teacher Papa Jambo. Accepting his fate, Jericho learned the lore and accepted the onerous responsibilities of protecting the world from evil magic.

Now it’s the present and he divides his time between his Caribbean homeland and a medical practice in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Occasional physician Dr. Jericho Drumm ministers to the world’s unknown ailments and hidden horrors…

The origin flashback extended to a second issue ‘Baptism of Fire!’ tracing Jericho’s accelerated course of study and triumphant battle against the loa lord. Amongst his many new gifts, the power that tipped the balance of battle was his eerie ability to channel his dead brother’s power and soul – a chilling tactic only possible because Daniel now lived within him…

With ST #171 we finally learn why the UN is under attack in Haiti when ‘March of the Dead!’ (with Frank Giacoia inking Colan’s gloriously beautiful, increasingly eerie pencils) sees Drumm attacked by the walking dead.

Thanks to the Comics Code, at this time the literal word “zombie” was banned in newsstand publications, compelling writers and editors to take torturous steps to do their job. Marvel’s monochrome magazines used the term with impunity and without sanction, but for the mainstream colour titles, Wein had to coin a new appellation, which is why Brother Voodoo here clashes with “zuvembies” in a graveyard. You couldn’t make it up, could you?

These specific “soulless ones” prowl at the command of sinister Baron Samedi, sabotaging much-needed industry providing jobs for the impoverished nation. This tale catapults BV into the heart of Marvel continuity as the true perpetrators are exposed as far-from-supernatural assailants and one of the MU’s greatest threats to life and liberty – Advanced Idea Mechanics.

Dick Giordano inked #172 & 173 as our hero returns to Louisiana. Seeking to assist a woman targeted by mystic malevolence in ‘Fiend in the Fog!’ Police chief’s daughter Loralee Tate is singled out by voodoo villain and cult leader Black Talon with Drumm inexorably drawn into a massive conspiracy demanding a ‘Sacrifice Play!’ and the (initially) unwelcome aid of local legend Mama Limbo. The spooky thrills culminate in a do-or-die battle with Talon’s tribe, Drumm’s defeat and capture, all resulting in a painful cliffhanger as the series ceased here with the April 1974 episode.

Mere months later, the already drawn conclusion resurfaced in one of those aforementioned mature Marvel magazines. Black Talon’s tale concluded in July’s Tales of the Zombie #6, with Doug Moench scripting Wein’s plot and Frank Chiaramonte inking Colan – who always worked best in monochrome. ‘End of a Legend!’ exposed devious duplicity and reaped a rich harvest of destruction after Drumm broke loose and unleashed all the forces at his command…

Brother Voodoo next appeared in New York City, joining Spider-Man in Marvel Team-Up #24 (August 1974) in a Wein yarn illustrated by Jim Mooney & Sal Trapani: a decidedly offbeat hero haunting the Big Apple to quash a Manhattan killer cult in ‘Moondog is Another Name for Murder!’ Almost one year later, BV returned as Tales of the Zombie #10 delivered ‘The Resurrection of Papa Jambo!’ (March 1975, by Moench & Tony DeZuñiga) wherein Drumm’s long-departed tutor is forcibly resurrected by malign Dramabu, the Death-Lord. As the revered savant stalks shanty towns in Haiti, claiming sacrificial fodder for his power-hungry new master, the houngan hero & Bambu return to their roots to make some hard decisions and save their people…

Following that, Voodoo joined Marvel’s own ranks of the living dead: reduced to occasional cameos and guests shots in other series. Represented here in excerpts from The Tomb of Dracula #34-37 (July to October 1975 as crafted by Marv Wolfman, Colan & Tom Palmer), he visits the Brazilian Amazon, rescuing vampire hunter Frank Drake from a “zuvembi” army unleashed by the Transylvanian terror. Increasingly though, times & tastes were changing, with superheroes again ascendent as the horror fad faded. Soon, only The Tomb of Dracula would remain…

Lovingly realised by Moench & Don Perlin, furry former phenomenon Werewolf by Night had ridden the storm longer than most: deftly adapting to new trends and ideas by allowing character and not plot to dictate the course. An earlier arc depicting Haiti holding a cure for lycanthrope Raymond Coker was revisited and the extract here from WBN #38 (May 1976) set up an epic intervention and unfolding wonder as Coker requests the aid of Brother Voodoo. Cover-dated July, Werewolf by Night #39 reveals how – after being visited by a trinity of infinite beings who threaten to alter his existence forever – wild werewolf Jack Russell is propelled into a lifechanging crisis. His celestial visitants are also in touch with Coker as he squats in a hut in far off Haiti, and they even appear to Russell’s sister Lissa and girlfriend Topaz.

The “Three Who Are All” are manoeuvring players into a game of cosmic consequences and when Jack gets home, he finds Coker and Drumm waiting. No sooner are introductions made than another army of zuvembies attack and Russell learns that ‘Some are Born to the Night!’ Portentous proclamations of unfulfilled destinies push the adventurers and Topaz back to Haiti where they are abducted and brought to an infernal pit nurturing a shocking travesty of life, with Jack’s old enemy Dr. Glitternight in charge of ‘Souls in Darkness’.

Revealed in WBN #41 as an ex-member of the gestalt once called “Five Who Are All”, the villain’s obsessive monster-making is explained before his attempts to dominate reality are spectacularly thwarted through the return of a missing fourth being and the indomitable resistance of Jack and Brother Voodoo in ‘…And Death Shall Be the Change’…

Key to their eventual triumph is the moment when Russell discovers how to transform into a werewolf fully in control of his mental faculties day or night. Returning to the US, the Werewolf-by-Choice naturally became a superhero and moved to New York, but for Jericho Drumm it was time to fade into the shadows once more. As such he was prime fodder for guest vehicle Marvel Two-in-One, and #41 (July 1978) sees David Anthony Kraft, Ron Wilson & Pablo Marcos close an open case where The Black Panther had vanished whilst fighting a “zombie-vampire” stalking New York’s streets and abducting prominent African Americans. Here, concluding chapter ‘Voodoo and Valor!’ sees Drumm volunteer his specialised services to The Thing to save T’Challa, and end the crisis. The trail takes them to Uganda for a confrontation with African supervillain Doctor Spectrum and a far deadlier crazed killer… Idi Amin.

For August 1981’s Doctor Strange #48, Roger Stern, Marshall Rogers & Terry Austin reveal how the voodoo vigilante and his passenger Daniel are possessed by minor god Damballah and require ‘The Power of Dr. Strange’ to restore them to sanity and safety, after which Moon Knight #21 (July 1982) is paid a visit by ‘The Master of Night Earth!’ Crafted by Moench, Vicente Alcazar, John Tartaglione & Bob Camp, this dark delight sees the Fist of Khonshu join Brother Voodoo in Haitian port city Mirebalais. Battling gunrunners before colliding with a thug possessed by Daniel Drumm, the lunar avenger is soon helping head off a revolution: one fought by zuvembies on zombie alligators fighting for a greedy politician with voodoo training…

May 1990 brought giant anthology Marvel Super-Heroes (Spring Special) #1where, buried deep inside, Scott Lobdell, Fred Hembeck & Dell Barras detailed short done-in-one saga ‘Don’t Do that Voodoo You Do So Well’ with Jericho saving hurricane victims, encountering again a lost love from his youth. Contemporaneously, he scored a short back-up series in Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme (April-August 1990) seen here as ‘The Book of the Vishanti: The Mark of the Vodû! Part I-III’ as featured in issues #16-17 & 20. A way to reinvent the hero whilst revisiting and revising his origins, the serial (by Roy Thomas, Randy & Jean-Marc Lofficier and illustrators Geoff Isherwood & Mickey Ritter) reprised Voodoo’s career & legacy, whilst laying out how the origins, history and practise of voodoo slotted into Marvel’s cosmology and continuity.

With covers by Romita, Gil Kane, Giordano, Giacoia, Rich Buckler, Ernie Chan, Earl Norem, Palmer, Keith Pollard, Rogers & Austin, Bill Sienkiewicz & Jim Lee; pages of original art by Colan, Kane and a host of forementioned inkers, this tome also offers contemporary house ads; pertinent info pages (Brother Voodoo & Black Talon) from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe and 2008’s cover of Essential Marvel Horror volume 2. These are augmented by creator biographies; ‘Introducing Brother Voodoo!’ – an illustrated feature by Tony Isabella from Tales of the Zombie #2 in anticipation of his imminent debut in Strange Tales #169. and ‘Brother Voodoo Lives Again’ from TotZ #5 – discussing his move out of colour comics.

Definitely not everybody’s role model or anyone’s “Great White Hope”, Brother Voodoo remains a noble experiment and intriguing concept that still offers great enjoyment and astounding art for those who like their fun challenging and off centre.

Don’t let other people’s prejudice make up your mind or you might miss out on something special.
© 2021 MARVEL.

Posted on

Batman: A Celebration of 75 Years


By Bob Kane & Bill Finger, Gardner F. Fox, Don Cameron, Edmond Hamilton, John Broome, Bob Kanigher, Dennis J. O’Neil, Archie Goodwin, Steve Englehart, Mike W. Barr, Peter Milligan, Doug Moench, Chuck Dixon, Greg Rucka, Paul Dini, Scott Snyder, Brad Metzer, Jack Burnley, Sheldon Moldoff, Jerry Robinson, Dick Sprang, Lew Sayre Schwartz, Win Mortimer, Carmine Infantino, George Roussos, Charles Paris, Murphy Anderson, Joe Giella, Sid Greene, Neal Adams, Dick Giordano, Alex Toth, Marshall Rogers & Terry Austin, Frank Miller & Steve Mitchell, Michael Golden & Mike DeCarlo, Alan Davis & Paul Neary, Tom Mandrake, Jim Aparo, Graham Nolan & Cam Smith, Rick Burchett & Rodney Ramos, J.H. Williams III, Simone Bianchi, Greg Capullo & Jonathan Glapion, Chip Kidd & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-4758-4 (HB) 978-1-4012-5186-4 (Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Somehow, I never got around to covering many of the best anthologised DC “Celebration” collections, and with another (possibly last!) Christmas coming, what better time to explore the delights of genuinely guaranteed comic book good times? This one’s a cracker too…

Batman is a creature of the night. Batman is the world’s greatest detective, escapologist and master of disguise. Batman fights criminals, madmen and bad women, aliens and monsters. Batman is all that and more. He apparently sees in black-&-white in world of fabulous hues and constantly shifting blinding colour – mostly red.

Batman is in many ways the ideal superhero: uniquely adaptable and able to work in any type or genre of story, as is clearly evident from the dazzling plethora of vintage tales collected in so many captivating volumes over the years. These vie equally with immediately recent tales collected into albums scant moment after going off-sale as periodical comic books.

Launching a year after Superman, “The Bat-Man” (and latterly Robin, the Boy Wonder) cemented DC/National Comics as market frontrunner and conceptual leader of a burgeoning new publishing industry: comic books.

Having established the fantastic parameters of metahumans with their Man of Tomorrow, the strictly mortal physical perfection and dashing derring-do of DC’s Dynamic Duo became the swashbuckling benchmark by which all other four-colour crimebusters were measured. The epitome of swashbuckling, Batman bloomed at this time and the impetus enabled him to endure and survive the decline of superheroes at the end of the 1940s.

Although he’s frequently played second fiddle to his pioneering predecessor Superman (who debuted in Action Comics #1, June 1938), the Dark Knight has, over his 87 years, grown to become the planet’s most popular superhero. He does have some bragging rights to longevity, however, as he debuted in the company’s most prestigious – and arguably premiere – comics title.

Detective Comics #1 had a March 1937 cover-date and was the third and last anthology title devised by luckless pioneer Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson. In 1935, the entrepreneur had seen the potential in Max Gaines’ new invention (comic books) and quickly conceived and released packages of all-new material entitled New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine and follow-up New Fun/New Adventure (which ultimately became Adventure Comics) under the banner of National Allied Publications. March 30th 1939 saw Batman‘s debut in May cover-dated Detective Comics #27. About one year after that dynamic debut Batman’s resounding growth in popularity resulted in a bombastic bold boy sidekick and the launch of Batman #1 (cover-dated “Spring” 1940 and released on April 25th of that year). At that time, only precursor/stablemate Superman was more successful…

This book was compiled in 2014 to celebrate The Dark Knight’s 75th Anniversary and still only scratched the surface. Imagine the page count in 13 years’ time when it’s a centenary! Seen here are contents and extracts from Detective Comics #27, 33, 83, 211, 216, 327, 359, 395, 442, 474, 574, 633, 711, 757 & 821; Batman #1, 49, 181, 497, 608; Batman (vol. 2) #2; World’s Finest Comics #94, DC Series #21, Batman Special #1 plus Detective Comics #27 – an all-new vintage treat that we’ll get to in due course…

Divided into category-chapters preceded by a text overview, we begin Part I (1939-1954): The Dynamic Duo with originating escapade ‘The Case of the Chemical Syndicate’ by Bob Kane and as yet still anonymous close collaborator/co-originator Bill Finger. A spartan, understated yarn introduced dilettante playboy criminologist Bruce Wayne, drawn into a straightforward murder-mystery as a cabal of industrialists were successively murdered. The killings stop when an eerie figure dubbed “The Bat-Man” intrudes on Police Commissioner Gordon’s stalled investigation, ruthlessly exposing and dealing with the hidden killer.

Following on, Batman’s first ever origin moment. It came in Detective Comics #33 (November 1939, on sale from September 30th), scripted by Gardner F. Fox and Finger in lead story ‘The Batman Wars Against the Dirigible of Doom’ . This cunningly included 2-page prologue ‘The Legend of the Batman – Who He Is and How He Came to Be’ and revealed how a young boy witnessed his parents’ hold-up and murder by a petty thug, consequently dedicating his life to becoming a perfect human specimen to avenge them and punish all criminals. Those 12 panels were reprinted at the beginning of Batman #1 (Spring 1940 and included here) and, with occasional minor tweaking, stayed the official version for 50 years.

Next – and taking as read years of baroque villain debuts and the heroes’ war efforts – we jump to Detective Comics #83 (January 1944) when the team supreme are growing comfortable in their endeavours and the mysteries are often cosy and gently humorous. Here, courtesy of Don Cameron, Kane & George Roussos, Wayne’s portly British butler Alfred augments his diet regime with exercise and an abrupt disappearance, leading the Gotham Guardians to a murderous mesmerising medic and criminal insurance scam in ‘Accidentally on Purpose!’, after which we close-up on two debuts in one sitting as seen in Batman #49, (October 1948, by Finger, Kane & Lew Sayre Schwartz). When a madman called the Mad Hatter goes on a crime spree, newly arrived press photographer Vicki Vale is on scene to capture evidence that the mighty hero might also be socialite Bruce Wayne… and nothing our heroes can do will dissuade her from enjoying ‘The Scoop of the Century!’

The archest of archfoes briefly gains the upper hand in ‘The Jungle Cat-Queen!’ (Detective #211, September 1954 and written by Edmond Hamilton) when the Caped Crusaders are trapped on a wild atoll without their modern tools and must face wild beasts and furious feline felon Catwoman. Thanks to artists Dick Sprang & Charles Paris, she never looked better…

Dick Sprang (July 28th 1915 – May 10th 2000) began earning money from art and narrative as a designer and illustrator in Ohio whilst still in high school. He edited and contributed art to magazines and pulps from the early 1930s onwards. On graduation in 1934 Sprang joined the bullpen of Toledo, Ohio publishing chain Scripps-Howard delivering deadline-busting ads, editorial cartoons and illustrations. Working with the company engravers Sprang mastered every aspect of print technology before moving to New York City in 1936 to illustrate pulps; everything from westerns to detective to general adventure yarns. Regular clients included Popular Detective, Popular Western, Phantom Detective, G-Men, Detective Novels Magazine, Crack Detective & Black Hood Detective/Hooded Detective, for which he also wrote stories. In 1937, Sprang began ghosting/assisting on newspaper strips including Secret Agent X-9 and The Lone Ranger, which led to his writing episodes of the latter’s radio show.

As pulps declined and comic books proliferated, he capitalised on the trend, forming a studio shop with Ed Kressy (Fact Finders, The Lone Ranger, Power Nelson) & Norman Fallon (Speed Comics, Shock Gibson, World’s Finest Comics). In 1941 they were hired by DC supremo Whitney Ellsworth who anticipated with dread Bob Kane being drafted. The trio began crafting inventory material to offset that inevitable day, which gradually slipped out over the course of the conflict. His first newsstand appearance was on part of the cover for Batman #18 (August/September 1943) whilst his first full outing was the next issue.

For Batman #19, he pencilled all four stories and the cover, but only inked the first three (!) leaving Fallon to embellish the fourth yarn. By 1946, and although utterly uncredited, Sprang was the leading artist on Batman comic book material, which marrying and moving to Sedona, Arizona barely impacted. In fact, he taught commercial photographer/new bride Lora Ann Neusiis to letter and colour his pages and, as “Pat Gordon”, she took off some of the load until their divorce in 1951. Gordon carried on working for DC until around 1961…

In 1955, despite still being unknown to fans, Sprang took on the Superman/Batman team-up feature in World Finest Comics and soldiered on with it, as well as newspaper strips, countless covers and more. His astounding artistry enhanced DC titles for 20 years, including Real Fact Comics #1-3, 18, Strange Adventures #1, Superman, Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane & Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen, and he fully recreated Batman’s look for the forward-facing 1950s, with a new Batplane, Batmobile and other paraphernalia. Sprang’s Joker was definitive and he co-created the Riddler and prototype of Supergirl.

That all ended on his retirement in 1963. When he wasn’t beguiling sedentary adventure fans, Sprang had become a noted explorer and historian of Arizona, Utah and Colorado, and happily commenced a career that brought him the fame comics hadn’t. His many celebrated discoveries and contributions are on show at Northern Arizona Universities Cline Library Special Collections in Flagstaff and the Utah Historical Society in Salt Lake City.

More of his wonders adorn Part II (1955-1969): The Caped Crusader which assesses that evolution via further fascinating examples. Next comes Hamilton, Sprang & Paris’ sold gold sci fi crime masterwork. ‘The Batman of Tomorrow!’ (DC #216, February 1955) visits the 20th century from his home in 3054 to save injured Bruce Wayne from Vicki Vale’s latest exposé and catch a cunning crook in a fast paced and fantastical romp.

‘The Origin of the Superman-Batman Team’ was seen in original team up title World’s Finest Comics (#94 by Hamilton, Sprang & Stan Kaye, June 1958) showing how the Man of Tomorrow seemingly replaces the Caped Crusader with a new partner, thereby provoking a close review of facts and a startling revelation for all concerned…

The Silver Age of US comic books utterly revolutionised a flagging medium, bringing a modicum of sophistication to the returning sub-genre of masked mystery men. However, for quite some time, changes instigated by Julius Schwartz in Showcase #4, which rippled out to affect all National/DC Comics’ superhero characters, generally passed Batman & Robin by. Fans buying Batman, Detective Comics, World’s Finest Comics and even Justice League of America would read adventures that in look and tone were largely unchanged from the safely anodyne fantasies that had turned the grim Darknight Detective into a mystery-solving, alien-fighting costumed boy scout as the 1940s became the largely non-superhero 1950s.

Although individual yarns could still amaze, the Gotham Gangbusters were in a perilous rut and risked being forgotten, even as they were being readied for small screen stardom. Change was needed and stolid, stable Batman scripter-turned-editor Jack Schiff was moving on to more amenable pastures and editorial environs.

By the end of 1963 Schwartz had revived much of DC’s superhero line – and the entire industry – with his modernized masked champions and costumed characters. Now he was tasked to work his magic with the Caped Crusader.

Bringing his usual team of creators with him, he stripped down the trappings and returned to the core-concept, bringing a modern take to the capture of criminals, whilst downplaying all the aliens, outlandish villains and daft transformation tales. He even oversaw a streamlining and rationalisation of the art style itself. The most apparent change to us kids was a yellow circle around the Bat-symbol, but more fundamentally the stories themselves changed. Subtle menace re-entered the comfortable and abstract world of Gotham City. The revolution began with Detective Comics #327 (May 1964, by John Broome, Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella) as ‘The Mystery of the Menacing Mask!’ presented a baffling “Howdunnit?” steeped in action and suspense.

Tracking an underground pipeline of missing crooks and encountering a wise guy who was literally untouchable underlined the renewed intention to emphasise the “Detective” part of the title for the foreseeable future. This comic was to be a brain-teaser from now on, and the advent of the Batman TV show soon followed… and the world went Bat-manic. The series inevitably influenced the comics and, as well as a lightening of tone, threw up new characters. The next new villain was not one of them…

‘Beware of… Poison Ivy!’ in Batman #181 (June 1966) introduced a deadly damsel seeking to be top banana in the ladies criminal ranks and an addition to the Caped Crusader’s Rogues Gallery that owed much to her appearance in the Batman syndicated newspaper strip of the era. However, in this tale she’s only a criminal boss using sex appeal and hallucinogenic perfumes as her tools to split up the Dynamic Duo and defeat rival villainesses in a sly tale from Robert Kanigher, Moldoff & Joe Giella.

The TV show had premiered on January 12th 1966 and ran for 3 seasons (120 episodes in total), airing twice weekly for its first two seasons. It was a monumental worldwide hit sparking a wave of trendy imitation. Resultant media hysteria and fan frenzy generated an insane amount of Bat-awareness, no end of spin-offs and merchandise (including a still-fabulously watchable movie) while introducing us all to the phenomenon of overkill. Batmania exploded across the world and then as almost as quickly turned toxic and vanished. To this day, no matter how much we might squeal and foam about it, or what has occurred since in terms of comics, games or movies, to a huge portion of this planet’s population Batman is always going to be that “Zap! Biff! Pow!” costumed buffoon…

This next innovation was the biggest change in Bat-lore for decades. ‘The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl!’ (Detective Comics, #359, cover-dated January 1967, by Fox, Infantino & Sid Greene) introduced Barbara Gordon, mousy librarian and daughter of the venerable Police Commissioner into the superhero limelight. By the time the third TV season began on September 14, 1967, she was well-established.

A previous different Batgirl (Betty Kane, niece of the 1950s Batwoman), was already a comics fixture, but for reasons far too complex and irrelevant to mention, was conveniently forgotten to make room for the new, empowered woman in the fresh tradition of Emma Peel, Honey West and the Girl from U.N.C.L.E. She was pretty hot too, which is always a plus for television…

Whereas she fought the Penguin on the small screen, Batgirl’s paper premiere features the no less ludicrous but at least visually forbidding Killer Moth in a clever yarn that still stands up today. The Lethal Lepidopteran was about to kidnap Bruce Wayne until Babs – dressed up for a fancy dress party – stumbles in and busts up his scheme…

Part III (1970-1986): Creature of the Night shows how – in purely comic book terms – after the TV show did terrible things to Batman’s reputation, the efforts to return respect, awe and majesty to the character begam almost as soon as the show stopped. The efforts were greatly aided by another phenomenon beyond editorial control.

When superheroes waned in the 1950s reader tastes turned to traditional genres like westerns, war, science fiction, romance and especially horror. That cycle repeated again as the 1960s closed, with supernatural themes primary piquing the interests of jaded readerships. It took very little effort to shift Batman back into the gothic shadows of his own early days…

Dennis O’Neil’s script for Detective #395’s ‘The Secret of the Waiting Graves’ (January 1970, limned by Neal Adams & Dick Giordano and recoloured for this edition by Cory Adams) instituted a far more mature – even sinister and almost gothic – take on the Caped Crusader here. In central Mexico the hero finally tracks down and barely survives confrontation with psychotic, nigh-immortal lovers Juan and Delores Muerto… whose passion for each other was fuelled by deadly drugs and sustained by a century of murder…

Adams’ captivating dynamic hyperrealism was a key cog in the reconstruction of the epic Batman edifice but it was also an irresistibly compelling one, and worked well against eerie backdrops of the resurgent horror boom, but all trends tail off. Now confirmed as a truly scary mortal manhunter, Batman’s scope widened and straight crime and adventure sagas also featured heavily. When Archie Goodwin became writer/editor of Detective Comics he generated a string of top tales (for the rest, check out Tales of the Batman: Archie Goodwin) of which the next item is indisputably the best. A stylistic masterpiece, Goodwin’s ‘Death Flies the Haunted Skies!’ (DC #442, September 1974) is a magnificent barnstorming thriller of aviators apparently picked off by a random assassin and a high point in an era of landmark tales. It is illumined by the unique Alex Toth (Zorro, Green Lantern, The Witching Hour, Space Ghost, Bravo for Adventure, Torpedo, Johnny Thunder, Eclipso, X-Men) and is as potent today as it ever was.

With the supernatural fading for fans, action-adventure and retro were the next big deal and ‘The Deadshot Ricochet!’ (DC #474, December 1977) was the penultimate exploit of dream team Steve Englehart, Marshall Rogers & Terry Austin, who had utterly revitalised the Batman mythos with a string of sharp thrillers reinventing the hero’s classic rogue’s gallery.

The single-issue saga updates an old loser for the second ever appearance of a murderous high society dilettante sniper (after his initial outing in Batman #59, 1950). The tale so reinvigorated third-rate trick-shooter Floyd Lawton that he’s seldom been missing from the DC Universe since, starring in series such as Suicide Squad and Secret Six: in a couple of eponymous miniseries and on both silver and small screens.

The tradition of Batman Christmas Miracle tales (maybe we should say “mystery plays”?) is seen next in a short punchy redemption yarn about a bad man who sees the light in ‘Wanted: Santa Claus – Dead or Alive’ by O’Neil, Frank Miller & Steve Mitchell from DC Special Series #2/Super-Star Holiday Special (April 1980) after which Mike W. Barr, Michael Golden & Mike DeCarlo deliver an epic stand-alone saga via Batman Special #1 (April 1984) by introducing the hero’s ultimate antithesis in ‘…The Player on the Other Side!’

The night Bruce Wayne’s parents died, elsewhere two career criminals were killed by police patrolman Jim Gordon. As young Bruce trained himself to be the enemy of all crime, so too did the son of those thieves, becoming over decades the exact equivalent and moral opposite of the hero who would one day safeguard Gotham. Now, as assassin and nemesis of decency and lawmen everywhere, the greatest criminal on Earth comes for Commissioner Gordon. The Wrath will let nothing and no-one get in the way of his vengeance and only Batman even knows he exists…

After fifty years, DC rewrote and reinvented itself with a company-wide reboot. Landmark maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths streamlined and retconned the entire ponderous continuity; rejecting the concept of a vast multiverse and re-knitting timelines so that there had only EVER been one Earth. For new readers, this solitary DC world provided a perfect place to jump on at a notional starting point: a planet literally festooned with iconic heroes and villains draped in a clear and cogent backstory that was now fresh and newly unfolding. Many of their greatest properties got a reboot, all enjoying the tacit conceit that the characters had been around for years and the readership were simply tuning in on just another working day.

As witnessed in Part IV (1986-2011): The Dark Knight with Batman’s popularity at an intoxicating peak, Crisis on Infinite Earths transformed the entire DC Universe and reinvented big guns like Superman and Wonder Woman, but left the Bat corners of it all largely untouched apart from some careful tweaking. Robin Dick Grayson had still been followed by new recruit Jason Todd, but this new kid was now a troubled runaway plucked off the streets and a true wild card. His exploits were seen as way to imbue verve and a bit of fun into the mythology as well as revive the classic villains, primarily in a strand from Detective Comics by Barr and “British Invaders” Alan Davis & Paul Neary.

From DC #574 (May 1987) the introspective ‘…My Beginning… and My Probable End.’ sees Batman on deathwatch and pondering so many bad decisions as his confidante Dr. Leslie Thomkins struggles to save Todd from his own bravado, prior to Peter Milligan & Tom Mandrake detailing a case of duplication, deception and impossible substitution in ‘Identity Crisis’ Detective #633 (August 1991).

The Nineties were filled with eye-catching publishing stunts and in 1992 DC began their epic Death of Superman story-arc, and its instant success led to a similar tradition-shaking, continuity-shattering epic for their other iconic household-name property. Groundwork had already been laid with the introduction of steroid-pumped archvillain Bane and Jean-Paul Valley, a mild-mannered student programmed since birth by an ancient warrior-cult to be their hereditary instrument of assassination, so all that was needed was to sort creative personnel and decide just how best to shake up the life of the Gotham Guardian. KnightFall and the subsequent arcs KnightQuest and KnightsEnd follow the brutal fall, replacement and inevitable return of Bruce Wayne as the indomitable, infallible Batman and was another spectacular success from the old guard which showed all the comic book upstarts and Young Turks the true value of proper storytelling. It also proved the unshakable power of established characters, as the world was gripped by the Dark Knight’s horrific defeat at the hands of a blatantly superior nemesis.

The crossover publishing event impacted many comics outside the usual Bat-book suspects, spawned a bunch of toys, three novelisations, many (necessarily incomplete) trade paperback collections and even jumped the pond to Britain’s staid BBC who turned it into a serialised audio-play on Radio One. You can find the saga in its own triptych of collections, but here we sample the shock and awe through 11th chapter ‘Broken Bat’ (Batman #497, July 1993, courtesy of Doug Moench, Jim Aparo & Giordano) wherein the brutal Bane utterly defeats and destroys the overmatched hero…

Returned reinvigorated, Batman blossomed in many directions thereafter and next Chuck Dixon, Graham Nolan & Cam Smith reveal a relatively peaceful party-going Bruce enjoying a clandestine ‘Knight Out’ (Detective #711 (July 1997), tackling opportunistic thieves without breaking out the batsuit, whilst DC #757 (2001, by Greg Rucka, Rick Burchett & Rodney Ramos) sees the hero under pressure to catch murdering bandits and rescue a family trapped at the bottom of the river in ‘Air Time’.

Paul Dini & J.H. Williams spectacularly expose ‘The Beautiful People’ (DC #821, September 2006) working for merciless, murderous identity-stealing maniac Facade as the High Society predator overreaches himself facing the Dark Knight…

Bringing us up nearly to date, Part V (2011 and Beyond): Rebirth focuses on 2011 and DC’s New 52: a second continuity-wide reboot revising the opposing forces into even grimmer, Darker Knight and sundry. The Batman of this hellish vision debuted in Detective Comics volume 2 #1 with what might then have been assumed to be the last Joker story, whilst here from Batman (vol. 2 #2 December 2011) ‘Trust Fall’ by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo & Jonathan Glapion sees Bruce Wayne meeting Gotham’s Mayor (who will turn out to be hugely significant to his family life) and discovering his beloved city is actually ruled by a secret society dubbed “The Court of Owls”…

Adapted from 2014’s anniversary release Detective Comics (vol. 2 #27) this book concludes with a tasty treat as Brad Metzer adapts his own updated script for the tribute to the original Kane & Finger tale. Here, however, thanks to super-designer Chip Kidd, ‘The Case of the Chemical Syndicate’ weds the modern words to the original pictures for a truly stunning marriage of old and new: the spartan, understated yarn introducing again dilettante playboy criminologist Bruce Wayne, drawn into a crime-caper as a cabal of industrialists are successively murdered. The killings only stop when eerie figure “The Bat-Man” intrudes on Police Commissioner Gordon’s stalled investigation to ruthlessly expose and deal with the hidden killer.

Augmented by covers by Kane, Burnley, Win Mortimer, Moldoff, Curt Swan, Stan Kaye, Infantino, Anderson, Giella, Adams, Aparo, Rogers & Austin, Davis & Neary, Golden, Jones, Nolan, Tom Palmer, Dave Johnson, Simone Bianchi, Capullo & Glapion, this crime compendium is a true wonder of wit and wild times and you should not be without it.
© 1939, 1940, 1944, 1942, 1948, 1945, 1954, 1955, 1858, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1984, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2011, 2014 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Timeless Ever-Evolving Wonderment… 9/10