Author: Now Read This

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Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross

Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross 

By Chip Kidd & Geoff Spear (Titan Books)
ISBN: 1-84023-941-7

Re-issued to tie-in with the publication of Ross’s latest DC project, Justice, this superb coffee-table art-book reproduces in spectacular detail the works and working secrets of a genuine comics phenomenon.

To sweeten the pot there’s also an eight page painted strip featuring Superman and Batman, a brand new cover and thirty new pages of material. Of particular interest to budding superstars of tomorrow are the hundreds of working drawings and thumbnail sketches that illuminate the manner in which the artist approaches a story.

Designer/historian Chip Kidd and photographer Geoff Spear are responsible for yet another high-quality package that will appeal to the general public just as much as to the dedicated fan.

© 2003, 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Modesty Blaise: The Inca Trail

Modesty Blaise: The Inca Trail 

By Peter O’Donnell & Enric Badia Romero (Titan Books)
ISBN 10: 1-84576-417-X

The greatest heroine in English comics returns in another superb collection from Titan Books. First reprinting this time is ‘The Reluctant Chaperone’. As a vacationing Modesty is pressured into babysitting the teen-aged daughter of a CIA acquaintance in Malta. As if young girls aren’t trouble enough, the involvement of Mafia thugs trying to take over the island make for an explosive combination. Kidnapping is wicked, but snatching a kid with an “Aunt Modesty” proves to be suicidal for the unfortunate mobsters.

‘The Greenwood Maid’ is a somewhat more traditional escapade as Modesty and Willie do a favour for one of their old criminal gang and find themselves reliving the gory glory of Robin Hood whilst on the trail of hidden loot in a Mediaeval castle.

A deranged and dying playboy millionaire seeks a bizarre and final revenge on our heroine in ‘Those About to Die’, and all her skill and cunning are needed to rescue Willie from an ancient bloody doom, whilst ‘The Inca Trail’ tests the minds as much as the mettle of the duo as a South American revolution makes them and their juvenile charges the targets of death squads whilst holidaying in the mountains.

O’Donnell and Romero were at the top of their game during this period (1975-1976) and the continuing exploits of this unique character simply got better with every episode. In this edition, as well as an interview with the writer, are four black and white crackers no comic fan or adventure-lover can afford to miss.

© 2007 Associated Newspapers/Solo Syndication.

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Bus Gamer 1999-2001 The Pilot Edition

Bus Gamer 1999-2001 The Pilot Edition 

By Kazuya Minekura (TokyoPop)
ISBN 1-59816-327-2

This is an intriguing and fast-paced action adventure that best displays the – to western eyes – oddly skewed sensibilities of Japanese storytelling.

Toki, Nobuto and Kazuo are three young men with exceptional abilities and a desperate need for money. So when these strangers are recruited to compete as a unit in an illicit and covert competition called the “Biz” Game they jump at the opportunity, without really considering the consequences.

The game is played by Japanese corporations, which pit their teams in secret, no-holds-barred duels involving espionage, strategy and combat. The stakes are the industrial secrets of the parent company. Losing a match could mean the life of a contestant, but the destruction of a mainstay of the Japanese economy.

As the neophytes score success after success, with increasing awareness of just how dangerous their lives have become they realise that perhaps some things are more important than winning.

Kazuya Minekura has mixed Mission: Impossible and Wall Street to captivating effect and this is a great little read. The series was originally serialized in Japan, but scheduling changes prevented its completion. The creator has resorted to radical measures, however.

Adding three unpublished chapters, he has released this story without an ending (although the narrative end is crafted to culminate a prologue rather than just leave the reader hanging) in the hopes that this will generate enough money and interest to complete the tale. I hope he succeeds, because he certainly has mine.

This book is printed in the ‘read-from-back-to-front’ manga format.

© 2003 Kazuya Minekura. All Rights Reserved. English text © 2006 TOKYOPOP Inc.

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Akira Club

Akira Club 

By Katsuhiro Otomo (Titan Books)
ISBN: 1-84576-612-1

Originally published in Japan to commemorate the completion of the landmark graphic epic Akira, this spectacular art book collects every ancillary image that Katsuhiro Otomo created for the serial that didn’t make it into the trade paperback compilations.

There are sketches, colour roughs, promotional posters and tee shirts, opening pages for the original Japanese serial episodes, various designs for characters and the tech that played such a pervasive part in the story, and every other thing you could think of to satisfy the dreams of fanatics.

There are even recreations of some of the promotional gimmicks such as the Akira News Kiosk that have to be seen to be believed.

If you love the series, or are fascinated by the secrets of the creative process, or are a sucker for minutiae, you will adore this lavish coffee table tome.

English language translation © 2007 Dark Horse Comics, Inc.

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Showcase Presents: Batman Vol 2

Showcase Presents: Batman Vol 2 

By various (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-84576-661-X

No matter how much we might squeal and foam about it, to a huge portion of this planet’s population Batman is always going to be that “Zap!” “Pow!” caped boy scout and buffoon of the 1960s television show. It was just that popular and all-consuming.

Regrettably that has meant that the comic stories from Batman and Detective Comics published during that period have been similarly excoriated and maligned by most Batfans ever since. It is true that some tales were crafted with overtones of the “camp” fad, presumably to accommodate newer readers seduced by the arch silliness and coy irony of the show, but no editor of Julius Schwartz’s calibre would ever deviate far from the characterisation that had sustained the Batman for nearly thirty years, or the recent re-launch that had revitalised him enough for television to take an interest at all. Nor would such brilliant writers as John Broome, Bill Finger, Gardner Fox and Robert Kanigher ever produce work that didn’t resonate on all the Batman’s intricate levels just for a quick laugh and a cheap thrill.

This volume from the wonderfully cheap and cheerful ‘Showcase Presents…’ imprint re-presents all thirty-six Batman stories from September 1965 to December 1966 (which originally appeared in Batman #175-188 and Detective Comics #343-358) in beautiful, crisp black and white. The artists include such greats as Carmine Infantino, Sheldon Moldoff, Chic Stone, Joe Giella, Murphy Anderson and Sid Greene, as well as covers from Gil Kane and Joe Kubert supplementing the stunning and trend-setting, fine-line masterpieces of Infantino.

Most of the stories reflect the gentles times and stated editorial policy of spotlighting Batman’s reputation as “The World’s Greatest Detective”, so the colourful, psychotic costumed super-villains are in a minority, but there’s still the first two appearances of Poison Ivy and Blockbuster, as well as debuts for The Cluemaster and Doctor Tzin-Tzin, and second stringers such as The Bouncer, The Birdmaster, Monarch of Menace, and even the Flash’s nemesis The Weather Wizard.

The Riddler and the Joker (in possibly his most innocuous exploit ‘The Joker’s Original Robberies’) are included, and there are a couple of guest appearances from the super-stretchy Elongated Man (a sleuth in the manner of Nick “Thin Man” Charles, and the long running back-up feature in Detective Comics), in the tense thriller the ‘Secret War of the Phantom General’, and again in ‘Two Batmen Too Many!’ with the Atom thrown in for good measure.

The bulk of the stories here are thefts, capers, plots and schemes by world conquerors, heist men, would-be murderers and mad scientists, and I must say it is a joy to see these once-staples of comic books again. You can have too much psycho-killing, I say, and just how many alien races really, really want our poxy planet – or even our women?

And yes there are one or two dafter tales but overall this is a window to a simpler time but not simpler fare. These Batman adventures are tense, thrilling, engrossing and engaging, and I’d have no qualms giving these to my niece or my granny.

Stay tuned and become a Bat-fan.

© 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Alan Moore: Wild Worlds

Alan Moore: Wild Worlds 

By Alan Moore & various (WildStorm)
ISBN 1-84576-661-X

New collections of the work of Alan Moore are few and far between these days and most of his previous output found its way between stiffened covers eventually (didn’t he do some stuff for Marvel UK’s Star Wars comic? I don’t think that’s been strip-mined yet…), so it’s high time his brushes with Image Comics got the treatment. I honestly wish I could say it’s been worth the wait, though.

The big draw at the time of publishing (1996) must have been as much the teaming of Todd McFarlane’s Spawn and Jim Lee’s WildC.A.T.s as the chance to see one of the world’s greatest comics creators turn his hand to superheroes once again. If so, they must have been pretty disappointed.

‘Devil’s Day’, illustrated by Scott Clark and Sal Regla, is a mediocre time-travel story wherein the heroes must travel forward in time to defeat their evil future selves. It’s all actually rather dull and dreary, and lacking any of the clear humanity that Moore excels in capturing. I wonder how much editorial freedom was allowed in combining two creator-owned properties under a third creator’s control?

Much more enjoyable is ‘The Big Chill’ taken from Wildstorm Spotlight #1 (1997). It features the Superman analogue Majestic in a moody, contemplative light as one of the nine beings at the end of time, when entropy is finally shutting the universe down. Carlos D’Anda and Richard Friend provide lovely pictures for the kind of cosmically metaphysical yet intimate wonderment that Moore does best, peeking inside invulnerable skin and behind glittery masks.

The Voodoo miniseries ‘Dancing in the Dark’ saw the exotic dancer and superhero become a pole-dancer in New Orleans and the tool of the all-powerful Loa to prevent a hideous monster from resurrecting its ancient evils in a modern city. Produced during the height of the “Bad Girls” craze (1997-1998), there are lots of gravity-defying, implausible curves and much sweaty skin on display to off-set all the gore, courtesy of pencillers Al Rio and Michael Lopez, and a host of inkers. The combination of crime-thriller, voodoo magic and skintight melodrama makes for an easy if predictable read.

Super-soldier Deathblow is more or less the star of ‘Deathblow: Byblows’ as a mysterious quest through a fantastic land answers questions about the seekers that perhaps they shouldn’t have asked. Moore and Jim Baikie create a mood reminiscent of Patrick McGoohan’s The Prisoner as well as loads of action to carry the mystery along.

The final tale is from WildC.A.T.s #50, and is beautifully drawn by Travis Charest. Sadly however, I don’t really feel able to comment beyond that because ‘Reincarnation’ is a little eight page tale that recounts events and features commentary from some previous story that I haven’t read, isn’t explained, and features a bunch of characters I’m unfamiliar with. Couched as banter whilst dealing with a monster in their headquarters, it is surely very sharp and no doubt very witty, but I don’t know what is going on and that makes me confused and grumpy.

Surely a page of explanation wouldn’t have been too much trouble if this story had to be included? Or perhaps the editors should have printed the story in a WildC.A.T.s trade edition where it would make more sense, and more rightly belongs?

The name of the author always guarantees sales, but every writer has stories he’s less pleased with. I’m guessing these aren’t any of Mr. Moore’s favourites and they do him a disservice being cobbled together in this manner.

I wonder if they even asked him?

© 2007 WildStorm Production, an imprint of DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.
Spawn and related characters are ®, ™ and © Todd McFarlane, Inc.

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The World of Pont

(Nadder Books 1983)
ISBN 0-90654-038-0

Graham Laidler trained as an architect but became a cartoonist due to ill-health (a tubercular kidney). From 1932 until his death in 1940, aged 32, he travelled the world and drew funny pictures, mostly of The English both at home and abroad, under exclusive contract to Punch – a hitherto unique arrangement.

His humorous observations were simultaneously incisive and gentle, baroque and subtle. His work was collected into a number of books during his lifetime and since, and his influence as humorist and draughtsman can still be felt.

The World of Pont

He mastered telling a complete story in a single drawing although he also worked in the strip cartoon format for The Women’s Pictorial. His cartoons exemplified the British to the world at large. The Nazis, with typical sinister efficiency, used his drawings as the basis of their anti-British propaganda when they invaded Holland, further confirming to the world the belief that Germans Have No Sense of Humour.

As “Pont”, and for eight too-brief years, Graham Laidler became an icon of English life, and you would be doing yourself an immense favour in tracking down his work. If you like Ealing comedies, Alistair Sim or Margaret Rutherford, St Trinians and the Molesworth books, or the works of Thelwell or Ronald Searle, you won’t regret the search.

The World of Pont

If you love good drawing and sharp observational wit you’ll thank me. If you just want a damn good laugh, you’ll reward yourself with the assorted works of Pont.

Unbelievably, despite his woefully small output (around 400 cartoons) there doesn’t seem to be a definitive collection of the work of Pont. If there’s a publisher reading this I pray you take the hint. For the rest of us there’s the thrill of the hunt and the promised bounty in seeking out “The British Character”, “The British at Home”, “The British Carry On”, “Most of us are Absurd”, “Pont” and “The World of Pont”.

The World of Pont

© 1983, 2007 the estate of Graham Laidler.

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True Story Swear to God 2: This One Goes to 11

True Story Swear to God 2: This One Goes to 11 

By Tom Beland (ait/planet lar)
ISBN: 1-9320-5132-1

Tom Beland is a man in love. At his time of life and looking like he does, he finds that hard enough to believe. That his One True Love lives three thousand miles away, in Puerto Rico, is pretty much incomprehensible to him. And that she’s stuck there without him during the most humungous hurricane he’s ever heard of is not a situation that is going to happen twice.

This second collection of the charming, true, modern romance sees creator and protagonist Beland accept that he and his beloved Lily cannot be apart any more. Matching the comedy and drama of outrageous weather systems with the irresistibly opposing forces of two mature people who are each settled in their own space can only mean that something has to give. Who’s going to move or who’s going to quit?

This One Goes to 11 combines charm, gentleness and real-life trials as old as humanity and wraps them in a warm deceptively subtle cartoon style to tell a story we’ve all featured in and can’t help but empathise with. Well worth seeking out.

© 2005 Tom Beland. All Rights Reserved.

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Star Trek: The Next Generation — Maelstrom

Star Trek: The Next Generation — Maelstrom 

By Michael Jan Friedman & Pablo Marcos (Titan Books)
ISBN 1-94576- 318-1

Titan’s reprinting (issues #13-18 of the DC series from the 1990s) of the venerable TV phenomenon continues with Michael Jan Friedman scripting capable if uninspiring comics tales illustrated by veteran Pablo Marcos, and guest artists and writers Dave Stern, Mike O’Brien, Ken Penders, Mike Manley and Robert Campanella also contributing to the licensed fun.

Friedman’s adventures involve an elaborate plot by telepaths to use the crew to assassinate delegates at a peace conference, a plot by the Ferengi to illegally strip-mine a resort world, starring Riker and LaForge, and a stellar phenomenon that draws the Enterprise into a confrontation with the Romulans just as a plague of madness grips the crew. The fill-in is another “time-traveller back to fix the continuum” tale as Wesley Crusher’s attempts to improve the Transporter system go awry.

Although not the best work these creators have produced, the stories are honest entertainment that should be a welcome treat for fans and they are easily accessible to anyone who has seen the TV show

™ & © 2006 CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Chronicles of Conan vol 8: Brothers of the Blade

Chronicles of Conan vol 8: Brothers of the Blade 

By Roy Thomas, John Buscema, Mike Ploog & various (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN: 1-84576-137-5

The eighth volume of reprinted Marvel Conan stories is a true treat, as it features not just the magnificently recoloured artwork of John Buscema partnered with some of his most gifted inkers – Tom Palmer, Frank Springer, Pablo Marcos and Steve Gan – but also reprints one of the last comic stories of the tragically under-rated Mike Ploog. The book ends with Buscema, though, who returns to begin the epic “Queen of the Black Coast” story line that ran from issues #58 – 100 of the monthly comic book. Parts one and two can be found here along with issues #52 through 57.

Conan is undergoing something of a revival at the moment, both as prose and comic book character, not to mention all those figurines that could find homes on the shelves of the faithful, and there’s always the promise of another movie. Still and all, and whilst admitting my bias, if you can’t actually have more Robert E. Howard, you can’t do much better than these thumping good yarns that kept the legend alive in the long-ago, hip again 1970s.

© 1975, 2005 Conan Properties International, LLC. All Rights Reserved.