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May 26, 2011May 26, 2011

Captain America: Man out of Time

By Mark Waid, Jorge Molina, Karl Kesel & Scott Hanna (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-487-4

One of the pivotal moments in Marvel Comics history occurred when the Mighty Avengers recovered a tattered body floating in a block of ice (issue #4, March 1964) and resurrected the World War II hero Captain America. With this act bridging the years to Timely and Atlas Comics begun with the return of the Sub-Mariner in Fantastic Four #4, Marvel confirmed and consolidated a solid, concrete, potential-packed history and created an enticing sense of mythic continuance for the fledgling company that instantly gave it the same cachet and enduring grandeur of market leader National/DC

In 2010, after years of conflicting continuity (and with a movie in the offing) Marvel tasked fan-favourite writer Mark Waid (see Captain America: Operation Rebirth) with updating those pivotal events and early future-shocked days in the contemporary world. Of course that modern milieu is the year 2000, not 1964â€¦

This captivating re-interpretation and updating (collecting the 5 issue miniseries Captain America: Man Out of Time from November 2010-April 2011) opens in the dying days of the war as Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes are sent from the European frontline to England and an appointment with doom-laden destiny, before seamlessly segueing into the Sentinel of Liberty’s stunned awakening in tomorrow’s world and a meeting with the World’s Mightiest Heroes.

Waid, perfectly complimented by artists Jorge Molina, Karl Kesel & Scott Hanna, wisely leaves the classic adventures largely unchanged, to concentrate on the missing, contemplative moments and personal crises confronting the uncomprehending Steve Rogers, which means that readers completely unaware of the character’s history and exploits might experience a little confusion in places. However, the narrative, although superficially disjointed, is clear-cut enough to counter this and interested new fans can easily fill in the gaps by perusing one of the many available reprint collections, such as Essential Avengers volume 1, which covers the entire period featured hereâ€¦

In chapter 2 the reeling hero meets ex- Hulk sidekick Rick Jones (an absurdly close double for the departed Bucky), gets a rapid reality check on his new home and finally accepts that there’s no way home for this Old Soldierâ€¦

But that’s not strictly trueâ€¦

Among the many technological miracles his new allies introduce him to is the embryonic science of time-travel and even while battling such threats as the Lava Men and Masters of Evil the unhappy warrior can only think of returning to his proper place and saving his best friend from deathâ€¦

The old adage â€œbe careful what you wish forâ€ never proved more true than when the time-ravaging Kang the Conqueror attacks: utterly overwhelming the 21^st century heroes and casually dispatching Captain America back to 1945. However, his sense of duty, the threat to his new allies and the unpalatable things he had forgotten about â€œthe Good Old Daysâ€ prompt Cap into brilliantly escaping his honeyed time-trap and returning to the place where he is most needed before once more saving the dayâ€¦

Resolved and ready to tackle his Brave New World Captain America is now ready to carve out a whole new legendâ€¦

I’m generally less than sanguine about updates and reboots of classic comics material but I will admit that such things are a necessary evil as the years go by, so when the deed is done with sensitivity and imagination (not to mention dynamic, bravura flamboyance) I can only applaud and commend the effort.

Thrilling, superbly entertaining, compelling and genuinely moving Captain America: Man out of Time is a wonderful confection that will delight old aficionados, impress new readers and should serve to make many fresh fans for the immortal Star-Spangled Avenger.

May 25, 2011May 26, 2011

Showcase Presents Booster Gold

By Dan Jurgens & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84576-852-2

After the cosmos-crunching Crisis on Infinite Earths re-sculpted the DC Universe in the mid-1980s, a host of characters got floor-up rebuilds for the tougher, no-nonsense, straight-shooting New American readership of the Reagan-era and a number of corporate buy-outs such as Blue Beetle, Captain Atom and The Question joined the DC roster with their own much-hyped solo titles. There were even a couple of all-new big launches for the altered sensibilities of the Decade of Excess such as Suicide Squad and a Shiny, Happy Hero named Booster Gold.

This economical black and white edition (released to coincide with the hero’s relaunch as a time-roving chronal cop) features the entire 25 issue run of Booster Gold volume 1 (from February 1986 to February 1988), plus a crossover appearance from Action Comics #594 and his redefined backstory from Secret Origins #35 (December 1988).

The blue and yellow paladin appeared amidst plenty of hoopla in his own title cover-dated February 1986 (the first post-Crisis premiere of the freshly integrated superhero line) and presented a wholly different approach to the traditional DC costumed boy-scout.Â Created, written and drawn by Dan Jurgens with inks by Mike DeCarlo ‘The Big Fall’ introduced a brash, cocky, mysterious metahuman golden-boy jock who had set up his stall as a superhero in Metropolis, actively seeking corporate sponsorships, selling endorsements and with a management team in place to maximise the profit potential of his crusading celebrity.

Accompanied everywhere by a sentient flying-football-shapedÂ robot Skeets, the glitzy showboat soon encountered high-tech criminal gang The 1000 and their super-enforcer Blackguard, earning the ire of sinister mastermind The Director and the shallow approbation of models, actresses, headline-hungry journalists, politicians and the ever fickle publicâ€¦

In issue #2’s ‘Cold Redemption’ Blackguard was assisted by thought-casting mercenary Mindancer as the Director’s campaign of malice led to another close call for Booster. Meanwhile his highly public private life took a tawdry turn in ‘The Night Has a Thousand Eyes’ when opportunistic starlet Monica Lake began briefing the media on her â€œrelationshipâ€ with the Man of Gold. He was unable to refute the claims since he was knee-deep in hired thugs and super-villains at the timeâ€¦

That cataclysmic combat in #4 resulted in a tremendous ‘Crash’ when urban vigilante The Thorn dropped in to help scuttle the 1000’s latest scheme, but once the dust settled Booster found himself in real trouble as business manager Dirk Davis was so busy licensing his boss for a comicbook that he failed to head off an IRS auditâ€¦

It appeared Booster Gold had no official record and had never paid a penny in taxesâ€¦

In ‘Face Off’, our hero saved an entire stadium of ice hockey fans from avaricious terrorist Mr. Twister, earning himself a reprieve from the Federal authorities, after which an alien refugee crashed in Metropolis’ Centennial Park in #6’s ‘To Cross the Rubicon’, just as Man of Gold met Man of Steel for the long-awaited origin saga.

Michael Jon â€œBoosterâ€ Carter was a rising sports star in the 25^th century who fell in with a gambling syndicate and began fixing games for cash pay-outs. When he was caught and banned from competition he could only find menial work as a night-watchman in The Space Museum. Whilst there he struck up a friendship with automated tour-guide and security-bot Skeets, embarking on a bold plan to redeem himself.

Stealing a mysterious flight ring and force-field belt plus energy-rods, an alien super-suit and wrist-blasters, Booster used the Museum’s prize exhibit, Rip Hunter’s time machine, to travel to 20^th Century Age of Heroes and earn all the fame and glory his mistakes had cost him in his own timeâ€¦

Superman, already antagonistic because of Booster’s attitude, is ready to arrest him for theft when the almost forgotten alien attacksâ€¦

They all awaken on a distant world embroiled in a vicious civil war and still at odds. As a result of ‘The Lesson’ and a vicious battle Superman and Booster Gold both learned some uncomfortable truths and agreed to tolerate each other when they returned home. Meanwhile, back in Metropolis, Dirk Davis and company PA Trixie Collins hired hotshot scientist Jack Soo to build a super-suit that would enable Booster to hire a camera-friendly, eye-candy, girly sidekickâ€¦

More questions were answered in the two-part ‘Time Bridge’ when the 30^th century Legion of Super-Heroes discovered evidence that their flight-rings and forcefield technology were being used by a temporal fugitive named Michael Carter. Dispatched to 1985 by the Time Institute, Ultra Boy, Chameleon Boy and Brainiac 5 arrived soon after the fugitive Carter and became involved in his very first case. The Director and shape-shifting assassin Chiller were planning to murder and replace Ronald Reagan but in the best superhero tradition Carter and the Legionnaires misunderstood each other’s intentions and butted headsâ€¦The plot might have succeeded had not Skeets intervened, allowing Carter to save the day and get official Presidential approval. Ronnie even got to name the new heroâ€¦

Back in 1986 the long-building final clash with the Director began in #10 with ‘Death Grip of the 1000’ when Dirk’s daughter was kidnapped and he was coerced into betraying Booster, just as the nefarious super-mob unleashed a horde of robotic terrors on Metropolis to wear out the Man of Gold and assess his weaknessesâ€¦

After Trixie was also abducted in ‘When Glass Houses Shatter’ the 1000 increased the pressure by setting blockbusting thug Shockwave on Booster, resulting in the utter destruction of the hero’s corporate headquarters and home before a frenzied and frenetic final clash in ‘War’â€¦

With the threat of the 1000 ended ‘The Tomorrow Run’ (inked by Gary Martin) found Booster at death’s door, not because of his numerous injuries but because his 25^th century body had succumbed to 20^th century diseases. Set during the Legends publishing event, which saw the public turn violently against costumed heroes, the dying Carter was rescued from a mob by Trixie wearing Jack Soo’s completed super-suit after which the cast resolve to take Michael back to the future where he can be properly treated, even though Booster’s offences carried a mandatory death penalty in his home eraâ€¦

Recruiting young Rip Hunter (destined to become the Master of Time) Trixie and Dr. Soo accompanied the distressed hero to a time where ruthless Darwinian capitalism ruled and everything Michael Carter once dreamed of had turned to bitter ashesâ€¦

‘A Future Lost’ (inked by DeCarlo) followed Booster and Trixie as they searched for a cure (and his missing twin sister Michelle) whilst Hunter and Soo attempted to find a way to return them all to 1986.

Booster’s illness was only cured after they were arrested: the authorities believing it barbaric to execute anybody too sick to stand up, before ‘Runback’ (inked by Bruce D. Patterson) concluded the saga in fine style with the missing Carter twin saving the day and retreating to the 20^th century with the time-lost travellers.

Booster Gold’s close call had a salutary effect on his attitudes and character. ‘Fresh Start’ (inked by Bob Lewis) saw a kinder, gentler corporate entrepreneur begin to re-establish his heroic credentials with the celebrity-crazed public of Metropolis, to the extent that Maxwell Lord even offered him membership in the newly re-formed Justice League, just as sultry assassin Cheshire began raiding a biotech company recently acquired by Booster Gold Internationalâ€¦

‘Dream of Terror’ (inked by Arne Starr) revealed all as new owner Booster discovered that his latest corporate asset had been making bio-toxins designed to eradicate all â€œundeservingâ€ individuals (for which read non-white and poor) and that its creator was currently loose in Mexico City with the lethal bug. Moreover, the deranged biochemist had bamboozled militant hero the Hawk into acting as bodyguard while his plans to â€œsave humanity from itselfâ€ took effectâ€¦

Decarlo returned to ink ‘Showdown’ in #18, as a relentless lawman from Booster’s home-time tracked him down through history, determined to render final judgement before ‘Revenge of the Rainbow Raider’ (inked by Al Vey) pitted the Man of Gold against the colour-blind and utterly demented Flash villain in a two-part revenge thriller that saw our hero rendered sightless and his future shocked sister go native amongst the 20^th century primitives.

The tale concluded with ‘The Colors of Justice’ as Dr. Soo came to Booster’s rescue whilst Michelle was being kidnapped by extra-dimensional invadersâ€¦

Up until this moment the art in this volume, whilst always competent, had been suffering an annoying hindrance, designed as it was for high quality, full-colour comicbooks, not stark, black and white reproduction. Although legible, discernable and adequate, much of the earlier art is fine-lined, lacking contrasting dark areas and often giving the impression that the illustrations lack solidity and definition.

With Booster Gold #21 the marvellous Ty Templeton became regular inker and his bold, luscious brush-strokes brought a reassuring firmness and texture to the proceedings. As if to affirm the artistic redirection the stories became a tad darker tooâ€¦

‘Invasion From Dimension X’ has Booster’s search for his missing sister impinge on a covert intrusion by belligerent aliens first encountered and defeated by the Teen Titans (see Showcase Presents Teen Titans volume 2). To make matters worse the extra-dimensionals are using Michelle as a power-source to fuel their invasion, resulting in ‘Tortured Options’ for Booster who had to decide between saving Michelle or the city of Minneapolis when the invaders opened their assault with a colossal monster attackâ€¦

Guest-starring Justice League International, the astounding battle climaxed in public triumph and personal tragedy after which the heart-broken, embittered Booster seemingly attacked Superman in ‘All That Glisters’ (Action Comics #594, November 1987, by John Byrne & Keith Williams); a terse, brutal confrontation that concluded in Booster Gold #23 and ‘Blind Obsession’ (Jurgens & Roy Richardson) as the real Man of Gold crushed a Kryptonite-powered facsimile android designed by the world’s most unscrupulous businessman to kill Superman and frame his closest commercial rivalâ€¦

If only they had known that at that very moment Booster Gold International was being bankrupted by a traitor at the heart of the companyâ€¦

After Crisis on Infinite Earths and Legends, DC’s third company-wide crossover Millennium saw Steve Englehart describe how robotic peacekeepers called Manhunters had infiltrated Earth to abort the next stage in human evolution. Built by the Guardians of the Universe billions of years ago, the automated peacekeepers had rebelled against their creators and now planned to thwart their makers’ latest project, destroying or suborning Earth’s costumed defenders in the process.

In its original form each weekly instalment of Millennium acted as a catalyst for events which played out in the rest of the DC Universe’s comics. In addition to the miniseries itself, Millennium spread across 21 titles for two months – another 37 issues – for a grand total of 44 comic-books. Issues #24 and 25 of Booster Gold were two of them.

‘Betrayal’ revealed that one of Michael Carter’s inner circle had been a Manhunter agent all along and had bankrupted the hero at the most propitious moment simply so that the robots could buy his loyalty during their assault on humanityâ€¦

The series came to a shocking climax in ‘The End’ as the scheme worked and Booster actually switched sidesâ€¦ or did he?

After the surprisingly satisfying and upbeat denouement Booster became a perennial star of Justice League International where, with fellow homeless hero Blue Beetle, he became half of the one of funniest double-acts in comics. As â€œBlue and Goldâ€ the hapless, cash-strapped odd couple were always at the heart of the action – pecuniary or otherwise – and the final tale here ‘From the Depths’ (by Jurgens & Tim Dzon, originally presented in Secret Origins #35, December 1988) reprised the early tragic days of Michael Jon Carter in a brief and exceedingly impressive tale played as much to tug the heartstrings as tickle the funny-boneâ€¦

As a frontrunner of the new DC, Booster Gold was a radical experiment in character that didn’t always succeed, but which definitely and exponentially improved as the months rolled by. The early episodes are a necessary chore but by the time the volume ends it’s a real shame that the now thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable ride is over. Perhaps not to every Fights ‘n’ Tights fan’s taste; these formative fictions are absolutely vital to your understanding of the later classics. Cheap and fun this book is worth the investment simply because of what follows in such comics gems as Justice League International volume 1 and 2 and Booster Gold: Blue and Gold.

May 24, 2011May 24, 2011

Marvel Platinum: The Definitive Thor

By Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, John Buscema, Walter Simonson, John Romita Jr., J. Michael Straczynski & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-1- 84653-481-2

As the new Thor film screened across the world, Marvel quite understandably released a batch of tie-in books and trade paperback collections to maximise exposure and cater to movie fans wanting to follow up with a comics experience. Under the Marvel Platinum/Definitive Editions umbrella this treasury of tales reprints some obvious landmarks from Journey into Mystery #83, Thor #159, 200, 337-339, Thor Volume 2, # 1-2, 84-85 and Volume 3, #3 which, whilst not all being the absolute â€œdefinitiveâ€ sagas, do provide a snapshot of just how very well the hoary mere-mortal-into-godlike gladiator concept can work.

And just in case you think I’m kidding about the metamorphic riff, remember Billy Batson first became Captain Marvel in 1940, Tommy Preston regularly powered up into Golden Lad from 1945, Tommy Troy began changing into The Fly in 1959 and Nathaniel Adam initially transformed into Captain Atom in 1960 and that’s just the first few I could think ofâ€¦

In addition to a Stan Lee introduction, this compendium contains an extensive 23 page text features section detailing career overviews, secret origins and technical trivia, maps, and character profile pages culled from assorted issues of the encyclopaedic Marvel Universe Handbook.

The adventure begins with a modest little fantasy tale from one of the company’s ubiquitous mystery anthologies, where, in the summer of 1962 that tried-and-true comicbook concept (feeble mortal into God-like hero) was employed to add a Superman analogue to their growing roster of costumed adventurers.

Journey into Mystery #83 (cover-dated August 1962) featured the debut of crippled American doctor Donald Blake who took a vacation in Norway only to encounter the vanguard of an alien invasion. Fleeing in terror he was trapped in a cave where lay an old, gnarled walking stick. When in his frustration, he smashed the cane into a huge boulder obstructing his escape; his puny frame was transformed into the Norse God of Thunder, the Mighty Thor!

Plotted by Stan Lee, scripted by Larry Leiber and illustrated by Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott ‘The Stone Men of Saturn’ is pure early Marvel; bombastic, fast-paced, gloriously illogical and captivatingly action-packed. The hugely under-appreciated Art Simek was the letterer and logo designer.

The character grew from that formulaic beginning into a vast, breathtaking cosmic playground for Kirby’s burgeoning imagination with Journey into Mystery inevitably becoming the Mighty Thor (with #126) but in this collection we skip to issue #159 (December 1968) where the peculiarities and inconsistencies of the Don Blake/Thor relationship were re-examined and finally clarified.

In the comic series it began with a framing sequence by Lee, Kirby & Colletta that book-ended a reprint of ‘The Stone Men of Saturn’ in #158, but here ‘The Answer at Last!’ alone suffices to explain how the immortal godling was locked within the frail body of Don Blake: an epic saga which took the immortal hero back to his long-distant youth and finally revealed that the mortal surgeon was no more than an Odinian construct designed to teach the Thunder God humility and compassionâ€¦

Next follows ‘Beware! If This beâ€¦ Ragnarok!’ (#200, June 1972) by Lee, John Buscema & JohnÂ Verpoorten, which interrupted an ongoing battle between Thor and Grecian death-god Pluto to adapt the classical Norse myth of the inevitable fall of the Aesir gods; a stunning graphic prophecy which would inform and shape the next few hundred issues of the series.

Thor settled into an uninspired creative lethargy after the departure of Kirby’s imaginative power and subsequently suffered a qualitative drop after Buscema moved on, leaving the series in the doldrums until a new visionary was found to expand the mythology once againâ€¦

Or, more accurately, returned as Walter Simonson had for a brief while been one of those artists slavishly soldiering to rekindle Kirby’s easy synthesis of mythology, science fiction and meta-humanist philosophy, but with as little success as any other.

When Simonson assumed the writing and drawing of the title in November1983 with issue #337 – deeply invested in Kirby’s exploratory, radical visionary process – free to let loose and brave enough to bring his own unique sensibilities to the character, the result was an enchanting and groundbreaking body of work (#337-382 plus the Balder the Brave miniseries) that actually moved beyond Kirby’s Canon and dragged the title out of a creative rut which allowed Simonson’s own successors to sunsequently introduce genuine change to a property that had stagnated for 13 years.

This first iconic story-arc ‘Doom!’, ‘A Fool and his Hammerâ€¦’ and ‘Something Old, Something Newâ€¦’from The Mighty Thor #337-339 shook everything up and made the Thunder God a collectible sensation for the first time in a decade. Moreover the entire tale is but the prologue to a stupendous larger epic which actively addressed the over-used dramatic device of the Doom of the Gods that had haunted this series since the mid-1960sâ€¦

The story evolves out of a spell inscribed on Thor’s hammer and seen in the character’s very first appearance. When crippled Don Blake was first transformed into the Thunder God he saw on the magic mallet Mjolnir the legend â€œWhosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thorâ€¦â€

The saga begins when Blake is asked by super-spy outfit S.H.I.E.L.D. to intercept an Earth-bound fleet of starships which refuel themselves by absorbing suns! Hurtling off into deep space the Storm God boarded one vessel only to be defeated in combat by its alien protector, an artificially augmented warrior named Beta Ray Bill. Moreover, as they crashed to Earth the alien somehow co-opted the mystic mallet’s magic and transformed himself into a warped duplicate of Thor, after which Odin mistook Bill for his son and heir, whisking him to Asgard to defend the Realm Eternal from another monstrous threat! And thenâ€¦

Enough tomfoolery: suffice to say that the action and surprises pile one upon another as the alien revealed that he was the appointed protector of his Korbinite race, the survivors of which are fleeing a horde of demons who destroyed their civilisation and are determined to hunt them to extinction.

And now they’re all heading towards Earthâ€¦

After the mandatory big fight Thor and Bill – each with his own hammer – teamed-up to investigate the demons, with confused love-interest Lady Sif along for the rollercoaster ride, discovering in the process a threat to the entire universe. That tale is not included here, resulting in a rather disappointing letdown as the narrative leaps ahead fifteen years to July 1998 and the relaunch of the thunder god in Mighty Thor Volume 2.

‘In Search of the Gods’ and its sequel ‘Deal with the Devil!’ (by Dan Jurgens, John Romita Jr. & Klaus Janson, Volume 2, #1-2) featured the return of Thor and the Avengers after more than a year way from the Marvel Universe, subcontracted out to Image creators Jim Lee and Rob Liefield in a desperate attempt to improve sales after the apocalyptic Onslaught publishing event.

In a spectacular and visually compelling two-parter, the Thunderer was reinstated into the â€œrealâ€ world just in time to fall in battle against the devastating Asgardian artefact known as the Destroyer. As the Avengers struggled on against the unstoppable creature, the godling’s spirit was melded with an innocent killed during the struggle, only to emerge once more with a human alter-ego and a new lease on lifeâ€¦

The second volume concluded with issues #84-85 (November-December 2004, written by Daniel Berman & Michael Avon Oeming, illustrated by Andrea Divito and colourist Laura Villari) which once and for all depicted the Really, Truly, We Mean It End of the Gods and Day of Ragnarok as Thor himself instigated the final fall to end an ceaseless cycle of suffering and destruction, ultimately defeating the ruthless beings who have manipulated the inhabitants of Asgard since time beganâ€¦

For the full story you’ll need to seek out Avengers Disassembled: Thor whereas this volume’s cosmic comic sagas conclude with the third issue of Thor Volume 3 and ‘Everything Old is New Again’ by J. Michael Straczynski, Olivier Coipel & Mark Morales (November 2007) with the Storm Lord back from the dead, conjoined once more with Don Blake and looking for the displaced citizens of a restored but empty Asgard, which now floats a few dozen feet above the barren flats of Brockton, Oklahoma.

This all-action tale details the clash between Thor and once best-friend Iron Man in a world that has radically changed since the new lord of Asgard’s demise and resurrectionâ€¦

As a primer or introductory collection for readers unfamiliar with the stentorian Thunderer this book has a lot to recommend it. I’m also keenly aware of the need for newcomers to have his centuries-long saga presented in some form of chronological order, but in all honesty the final result is a little choppy and very much a one-trick pony. With the staggering breadth of characters and variety of adventures that have been generated during Thor’s long career there’s an inescapable aura of missed opportunity to the tome in question.

However, I cannot deny that what does appear is of great quality and thematically an obvious and thoroughly entertaining accompaniment to the cinema spectacle. Most importantly this is a well-tailored device to turn curious movie-goers into fans of the comic incarnation too. If there’s a film sequel, let’s hope that Marvel has plans to include some of the great material by a vast range of creators omitted from this book in a second, more imaginative volumeâ€¦.

May 23, 2011June 7, 2011

Asterix the Gladiator, Asterix and the Banquet, Asterix and Cleopatra

By RenÃ© Goscinny & Albert Uderzo, translated by Anthea Bell & Derek Hockridge (Orion and others)
ISBNs: 978-0-7528-6611-6, 978-0-7528-6609-3 and 978-0-7528-6607-9

Asterix the Gaul is probably France’s greatest literary export: a wily wee warrior who resisted the iniquities, experienced the absurdities and observed the myriad wonders of Julius Caesar’s Roman Empire with brains, bravery and a magic potion which bestowed incredible strength, speed and vitality.

One of the most popular comics in the world, the chronicles have been translated into more than 100 languages; 8 animated and 3 live-action movies, assorted games and even into a theme park (Parc AstÃ©rix, near Paris). More than 325 million copies of 34 Asterix books have been sold worldwide, making Goscinny & Uderzo France’s bestselling international authors.

The diminutive, doughty hero was created as the transformative 1960s began by two of the art-form’s greatest masters, RenÃ© Goscinny & Albert Uderzo and even though their perfect partnership ended in 1977 the creative wonderment still continues – albeit at a slightly reduced rate of rapidity.

When Pilote launched in 1959 was Asterix was a massive hit from the start. For a while Uderzo continued working with Charlier on Michel Tanguy, (Les Aventures de Tanguy et Laverdure), but soon after the first epic escapade was collected as AstÃ©rix le gaulois in 1961 it became clear that the series would demand most of his time – especially as the incredible Goscinny never seemed to require rest or run out of ideas (after the writer’s death the publication rate dropped from two books per year to one volume every three to five).

By 1967 the strip occupied all Uderzo’s time and attention. In 1974 the partners formed IdÃ©fix Studios to fully exploit their inimitable creation and when Goscinny passed away three years later Uderzo was convinced to continue the adventures as writer and artist, producing a further ten volumes since then.

Like all great literary classics the premise works on two levels: for younger readers as an action-packed comedic romp of sneaky, bullying baddies regularly getting their just deserts and as a pun-filled, sly and witty satire for older, wiser heads, enhanced here by the brilliantly light touch of master translators Anthea Bell & Derek Hockridge who played no small part in making the indomitable Gaul so very palatable to the English tongue.

Launched in Pilote #1 (29^th October 1959, with the first page appearing a week earlier in a promotional issue #0, June 1^st 1959), the stories was set on the tip of Uderzo’s beloved Brittany coast in the year 50BC, where a small village of redoubtable warriors and their families resisted every effort of the all-conquering Roman Empire to complete their conquest of Gaul. Unable to defeat these Horatian hold-outs, the Empire resorted to a policy of containment and the little seaside hamlet is perpetually hemmed in by the heavily fortified garrisons of Totorum, Aquarium, Laudanum and Compendium.

The Gauls don’t care: they daily defy the world’s greatest military machine by just going about their everyday affairs, protected by a magic potion provided by the resident druid and the shrewd wits of a rather diminutive dynamo and his simplistic best friendâ€¦

With these volumes a key pattern was established: the adventures would henceforth- like a football match – alternate between Home and Away, with each globe-trotting escapade balanced by an epic set in and around he happily beleaguered Gaulish village (if you’re counting, home tales were odd numbered volumes and travelling exploits even-numberedâ€¦)

Asterix the Gladiator debuted in Pilote #126-168 in 1963 and saw the canny rebel and his increasingly show-stealing pal Obelix (who had fallen into a vat of potion as a baby and was a genial, permanently superhuman, eternally hungry foil to the smart little hero) despatched to the heart of the Roman Empire on an ill-conceived mission of mercyâ€¦

When Prefect Odius Asparagus wanted to give Julius Caesar a unique gift he decided upon one of the indomitable Gauls who had been giving his occupying forces such a hard time.

Thus he had village Bard Cacofonix abducted and bundled off to Rome. Although in two minds about losing the raucous harpist, pride won out and the villagers mounted a rescue attempt, but after thrashing the Romans again they discovered that their lost comrade was already en route for the Eternal Cityâ€¦

Asterix and Obelix were despatched to retrieve the missing musician and hitched a ride on a Phoenician galley operated under a bold new business plan by captain/general manager Ekonomikrisis. On the way to Italy the heroes first encountered a band of pirates who would become frequent guest-stars and perennial gadflies.

The pirates were a creative in-joke between the close-knit comics creative community: Barbe-Rouge or Redbeard was a buccaneering strip created by Charlier and Victor Hubinon that also ran in Pilote at the time.

As Asterix and Obelix made friends among the cosmopolitan crowds of Rome, Caesar had already received his latest gift. Underwhelmed by his new Bard, the Emperor sent Cacofonix to the Circus Maximus to be thrown to the lions just as his chief of Gladiators Caius Fatuous was â€œtalent-spottingâ€ two incredibly tough strangers who would make ideal arena fightersâ€¦

Since it was the best way to get to Cacofonix our heroes joined the Imperial Gladiatorial school; promptly introducing a little Gallic intransigence to the tightly disciplined proceedings. When the great day arrived the lions had the shock of their lives and the entertainment-starved citizens of Rome got a show they would never forgetâ€¦

As always the good-natured, comedic situations and sheer finesse of the yarn rattles along, delivering barrages of puns, oodles of insane situations and loads of low-trauma slapstick action, marvellously rendered in Uderzo’s expansive, authentic and continually improving big-foot art-style.

Asterix and the Banquet originated in Pilote #172-213 (1963) and was inspired by the Tour de France cycle race.

After being continually humiliated by the intractable Gauls coming and going as they pleased, Roman Inspector General Overanxius instigated a policy of exclusion and built a huge wall around the little village, determined to shut them off from their country and the world.

Incensed, Asterix bet the smug Prefect that Gauls could go wherever they pleased and to prove it invited the Romans to a magnificent feast where they could sample the culinary delights of the various regions. Breaking out of the stockade and through the barricades, Asterix and Obelix went gathering produce from as far afield as Rotomagus (Rouen), Lutetia (Paris, where they also picked up a determined little mutt who would eventually become a star cast-member), Camaracum (Cambrai) and Durocortorum (Rheims), easily evading or overcoming the assembled patrols and legions of man-hunting soldiers. However, they didn’t reckon on the corrupting power of the huge – and growing – bounty on their headsâ€¦

Some Gauls were apparently more greedy than patriotic…

Even with Asterix held captive and all the might of the Empire ranged against them, Gaulish honour was upheld and Overanxius, after some spectacular fights, chases and close calls eventually was made to eat his words – and a few choice Gallic morsels – in this delightful, bombastic and exceedingly clever celebration of pride and whimsy.

Asterix and Cleopatra ran from 1963-1963 in issues #215-257 and although deriving its title from Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, is actually a broad visual spoof of the 1963 movie blockbuster Cleopatra (the original collected album cover was patterned on the film poster).

Rome was a big empire to run but Caesar always had time to spare for the fascinating Queen of Egypt – even though she could be a little overbearing at times…

When Caesar called her people decadent, Cleopatra announced that her Egyptians would build a magnificent palace within three months to prove their continued ingenuity and vitality.

Her architect Edifis was less confidant and subcontracted the job, recruiting his old friend Getafix the Druid to help, with Asterix, Obelix and faithful pooch Dogmatix coming along to keep him out of troubleâ€¦

After another short, sharp visit with the pirates, the voyagers reached the Black Lands only to find the building site a shambles. Edifis’ arch rival Artifis had jealously stirred up unrest among the labourers and consequently sabotaged the supply-chain, entombed the visitors in a deadly tourist-trap and even framed Edifis by attempting to poison the Queen.

For all these tactics the ingenious Gauls had a ready solution and the Palace construction continued apace, but when Caesar, determined not to lose face to his tempestuous paramour, sent his Legions to destroy the almost-completed complex, it was up to the two smallest, smartest warriors to come up with a solution to save the day, the Palace and the pride of two nationsâ€¦

Outrageously fast-paced and funny and magnificently illustrated by a supreme artist at the very peak of his form, Asterix and Cleopatra is one of the very best epics from a series that has nothing but brilliant hits.

These albums are available in a wealth of differing formats and earlier editions going all the way back to the 1969 Brockhampton editions are still readily available from a variety of retail and internet vendors – or even your local charity shop and jumble sale.

Be warned though, that if pure continuity matters only Orion, the current British publisher, has released the nearly 40 albums in chronological order – and are in the process of re-releasing the tales in Omnibus editions; three tales per tome.

Also, on a purely aesthetic note some of the Hodder-Dargaud editions have a rather exuberant approach to colour that might require you to don sunglasses but could save you a fortune on lighting your houseâ€¦ and possibly heating it tooâ€¦

This is supremely enjoyable comics storytelling and if you’re still not au fait with these Village People you must be as Crazy as the Romans ever wereâ€¦

May 23, 2011May 21, 2011

Showcase Presents the Unknown Soldier volume 1

By Joe Kubert, Bob Haney, Archie Goodwin & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-1090-2

After the death of EC Comics in the mid-1950’s and prior to the game-changing Blazing Combat, the only certain place to find powerful, controversial, challenging and entertaining American war comics was DC. In fact, even whilst Archie Goodwin’s stunning but tragically mis-marketed quartet of classics were waking up a generation, the home of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman was a veritable cornucopia of gritty, intriguing and beautifully illustrated battle tales presenting war on a variety of fronts and from many differing points of view .

After the Vietnam War escalated, 1960’s America entered a homefront death-struggle pitting deeply-ingrained establishment social attitudes against a youth-oriented generation with a radical new sensibility. In response DC’s (or rather National Periodical Publishing, as it then was) war books became even more bold and innovativeâ€¦

This stunning black and white compendium, collecting the lead feature from issues #151-188 (June-July 1970 to June 1975) of the truly venerable Star-Spangled War Stories anthology features one of the very best concepts ever devised for a war comic: a faceless, nameless hero perpetually in the right place at the right time, ready, willing and oh, so able to turn the tideâ€¦

The Unknown Soldier was actually a spin-off – having first appeared as a one-off in a Sgt Rock story in Our Army at War #168 (June 1966, by Robert Kanigher & Joe Kubert) – but in 1970 the artist had become editor of the company’s war division and was looking for a new (American) cover/lead character to follow the critically acclaimed â€œEnemy Aceâ€ (tales of a WWI German fighter pilot) who had been summarily bounced to the back of the book after issue #150).

Written and drawn by Kubert ‘They Came Back From Shangri-La!’ introduced a faceless super-spy and master-of-disguise whose forebears had fought and died in every American conflict since the birth of the nation. Here he took on the identity of B-25 pilot Capt. Shales in 1942 as he participated in vital, morale-building retaliatory bombing raids on Japanese cities. When their plane is shot down over occupied China, â€œShalesâ€ led his crew through enemy-infested territory to the safety of the Chinese resistance.

From this no-nonsense start the feature grew to be one of DC’s most popular and long-lived: Star-Spangled became The Unknown Soldier in 1977 with #205 and the comic only folded in 1982 with issue #268.

One intriguing factor in the tales is that there is very little internal chronology: the individual adventures take place anytime and anywhere between the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the surrender of Germany and later Japan. This picaresque approach adds a powerful sense of both timelessness and infallible, unflinching continuity.

The Unknown Soldier has always and will always be where he is most neededâ€¦

His second adventure ‘Instant Glory!’ found a US patrol captured by the SS as they entered a German city in 1944. An excoriating examination of brutality, heroism and philosophy, the story set the hard-bitten, bitter-edged tone for the rest of the series.

Always economy-conscious and clever with scissors and glue, DC reformatted a number of old stories at this time, particularly old westerns and mystery stories (and even the Phantom Stranger in his first appearances since the 1950s) so it should be no surprise that they would try the same thing with their newest star.

‘Everybody Dies’ was retooled into a new offering by a framing sequence by Kubert, but the body of the tale was originally seen as ‘A GI Passed Here’ (by Irv Novick in Star-Spangled War Stories #36). In its revamped form the saga recounted a grim day in the life of anonymous Eddie Gray as he survived just one more day in the deserts of Nazi-held Africa.

The Unknown Soldier got a full origin in #154’s ‘I’ll Never Die!’ recounting how two inseparable brothers joined up in the days before America was attacked and were posted to the Philippines just as the Japanese began their seemingly unstoppable Pacific Campaign. Overwhelmed by a tidal wave of enemy soldiers the brothers held their jungle posts to the last and when relief came only one had survived, his face a tattered mess of raw flesh and boneâ€¦

As the US forces retreated from the islands the indomitable survivor was evacuated to a state-side hospital. Refusing medals, honours and retirement the recuperating warrior dedicated his remaining years to his lost brother Harry and desperately retrained as a one man-army intelligence unit. His unsalvageable face swathed in bandages, the nameless fighter learned the arts of make-up, disguise and mimicry and offered himself to the State Department as an expendable resource that could go anywhere and do anythingâ€¦

All DC’s titles were actively tackling the issue of race at this time and #155’s ‘Invasion Game!’ (written by Bob Haney) saw the Soldier parachuted into France in Spring 1944 to connect with the Underground’s mysterious leader â€œChat Noirâ€. Sent to finalise the plans for D-Day he was horrified to discover the enigmatic commander was a disgraced black US Army sergeant with a grudge against his old country. Chat Noir was too good a character to waste and became a semi-regular cast memberâ€¦

Haney was on top form for the next epic too. ‘Assassination’ detailed the Immortal G.I.’s boldest mission and greatest failure as he impersonated but could not destroy Hitler himself, after which that aforementioned Sgt Rock classic by Kanigher & Kubert was recycled as an untitled but deeply moving yarn for Star-Spangled War Stories #157.

Haney & Kubert reunited for ‘Totentanz!’ as the faceless warrior broke into a top security concentration camp to rescue a captured resistance leader.

General Patton was the thinly-veiled subject of ‘Man of War’ as the Unknown Soldier was dispatched to investigate a charismatic general who had pushed his own troops to the brink of mutiny, whilst ‘Blood is the Code!’ found him captured and tortured by a Japanese Colonel until he broke to reveal every secret America wanted the enemy to knowâ€¦

Doug Wildey illustrated Haney’s superb ‘The Long Jump’ as the Soldier infiltrated occupied Holland only to meet more resistance from a stubborn, misguided Dutchman than all the Nazis hunting for the faceless spy, ‘Take My Coward’s Hand’ recycled the 1960 Sgt. Rock story ‘No Answer from Sarge’ (by Kanigher & Kubert from Our Army at War #91) and ‘Kill the General!’ by Haney & Dan Spiegle pitted the Man of a Thousand Faces against Nazi infiltrators determined to assassinate General Eisenhower at the height of the Battle of the Bulge.

‘Remittance Man!’ in #164 saw the anonymous hero replace a legendary spotter on an occupied Pacific island, directing Allied attacks on Japanese strongholds, after which Jack Sparling came aboard as artist in ‘Witness For a Coward’ as a US tank commander sentenced to death for desertion is saved by the testimony of a Nazi Officer – but only after he was abducted from his HQ by the immortal G.I. after which a debt of honour had to be repaidâ€¦

Bill Mauldin’s legendary wartime dogfaces â€œWillie and Joeâ€ (see the superb Up Front for further details) paid an unannounced visit in #166 ‘The True Glory’ as the Unknown Soldier travelled to Italy to find out what was holding up the advance in Haney’s last offering, after which Archie Goodwin steps in to script ‘Three Targets for the Viper!’ wherein the faceless man hunted an assassin set on killing Churchill, Roosevelt and De Gaulle during a conference in 1943 Morocco before jumping to France in 1944 and a close encounter with an American officer determined to make a name for himself at any cost in ‘The Glory Hound!’

Godwin’s tenure saw a stronger concentration on espionage drama, as with issue #169 which found the Immortal G.I. infiltrating the compound where Hitler’s latest secret weapon was being built in ‘Destroy the Devil’s Broomstick!’ after which the Soldier had to stand in for an irreplaceable Marine Major and capture an impregnable island fortress in ‘Legends Don’t Die!’

‘Appointment in Prague!’ offered a rare and tragic glimpse into the Unknown Soldier’s past as he followed the aged actor who taught him the mastery of make-up and impersonation into Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to rescue a grandson thought long dead, after which scripter Frank Robbins took over and moved the action to the Eastern Front in ‘A Cocktail For Molotov!’ where the Nazis pulled out all the stops to destroy Russia’s charismatic foreign Minister before he could conclude a treaty with the Allies.

Star-Spangled War Stories #173 saw the G.I. infiltrating a Japanese Submarine base disguised as a Nazi wrestler invited to an exhibition match against a Sumo master. Unfortunately ‘No Holds Barred!’ proved that although allies, Japanese and Germans weren’t exactly friendsâ€¦

‘Operation Snafu!’ began an extended storyline as it found him impersonating a German tank-commander and forced to sacrifice his own Resistance allies in order to complete a mission vital to the Allied advance, whilst ‘A Slow Burnâ€¦ From Both Ends!’ gave him the chance to make amends and #176’s ‘Target: the Unknown Soldier!’ ramped up the tension as the Nazis discovered a way to identify the faceless warrior no matter how he was disguisedâ€¦

With Von Sturm, his deadly Nazi counterpart, on his trail, the Unknown Soldier had stirred up ‘The Hornet’s Nest!’ and was hunted and hounded towards a concentration camp where inmates work as slaves to construct V1 rockets. Trapped, with the net closing around him, he replaced one of the jailers but Von Sturm was determined to deliver ‘The Sting of Death!’ in the spectacular climactic duel to the deathâ€¦

In Star-Spangled War Stories #179 in the aftermath of his close escape the Immortal G.I. stumbled into ‘A Town Called Hate!’ where racial tensions between white and black American soldiers had devolved into tit-for-tat murders. Unfortunately, whilst disguised as a member of an SS infiltration squad, the Soldier could only exacerbate the situation. With the Germans about to deliver a devastating counter-attack it was a good thing the long-missing Chat Noir was also on handâ€¦

‘The Doomsday Heroes!’ despatched the anonymous agent to the Leyte Gulf where Japanese suicide attacks had stopped the US advance. However before he could begin his mission he was shot down and forced to work with a failed Kamikaze pilot to survive the cruel Pacific seasâ€¦

After that tragedy of honour the mission continued with ‘One Guy in the Right Placeâ€¦’ as the Soldier linked up with natives fighting the Japanese invaders. Disturbingly they are led by an unseen American who sounded like the brother he had lost in the first days of the war. Could Harry have survived all those yearsâ€¦?

Robbins and Sparling bowed out with a classy mini-classic in Star-Spangled War Stories #182, set in Tunisia where ‘A Thirst for Death!’ set the Soldier and a crew of veterans on the sandy trail of Rommel’s hidden petrol reserves, after which new kids David Michelinie & Gerry Talaoc heralded a change of direction with ‘8,000 to One’.

The horror boom in comics was at its peak in 1974 and new editor Joe Orlando capitalised on that fascination with a few startling changes – the most controversial being to regularly reveal the Unknown Soldier’s grotesque, scar-ravaged face – presumably to draw in monster-hungry fear fansâ€¦

The story itself went back to the Immortal G.I.’s earliest days as an American agent and saw him sent to Denmark to rescue a ship full of Danish Jews destined for Hitler’s death camps. Disguised as SS Captain Max Shreik, the Soldier was forced to make an unconscionable choice to safeguard his mission. The degree and manner of graphic violence was also exponentially increased to accommodate the more mature readership as the Soldier took a very personal revenge…

‘A Sense of Obligation’ found the now cold, remorseless warrior in France tasked with infiltrating a Special Kommando Training Centre and destroying it from within. However, as with all undercover work, the risk of going too deep and making friends who you might have to kill later inevitably led to another tragic life or death decision for the increasingly grim and soulless Soldier, whilst ‘The Hero’ saw the faceless man invade neutral Switzerland to kidnap a British scientist held by the Nazis. This time his lethal final judgement cost him no sleep at allâ€¦

In ‘Man of Godâ€¦ Man of War’ (#186) a Catholic Priest duped into working with the Nazis in Italy became the Soldier’s latest target, but the plan was forestalled and the true situation revealed and rectified after ‘A Death in the Chapel’.

This imposing, impressive and thoroughly entertaining first volume concludes with Star-Spangled War Stories #188 and ‘Encounter’ as the Unknown Soldier strove to prevent the scuttling of a hospital ship by Nazis, unaware that his only ally was in love with the enemy commanderâ€¦

Dark, powerful, moving and overwhelmingly ingenious, The Unknown Soldier is a magnificent addition to the ranks of extraordinary mortal warriors in an industry far too heavy with implausible and incredible heroes. These tales will appeal to not just comics readers but all fans of action fiction.
Â© 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 2006 DC Comics. All rights reserved.

May 22, 2011May 21, 2011

Shorts

By Milo Manara, translated by Tom Leighton (Catalan Communications)
ISBN: 978-087416-060-4

For some folks the graphic novel under review here will be unacceptably dirty. If that’s you, please stop here and come back tomorrow when there will something you’ll approve of but which will surely offend somebody else.

I’m in a mature and contemplative mood today, so here’s a review of a rather quirky and philosophical confection by one of the world’s greatest graphic eroticists. Originally translated into English from the French edition Courts Má»‡trages by Catalan in 1989, it’s another inexplicably Out-of-Print graphic gem desperately in need of a English language releaseâ€¦

Maurilio Manara (born September 12th 1945) is an intellectual, whimsical craftsman with a dazzling array of artistic skills ranging from architecture, product design, painting and of course an elegant, refined, clear-clean line style with pen and ink. He is best known for his wry and always controversial sexually explicit material – although that’s more an indicator of our comics market than any artistic obsession.

His training was in the classical arts of painting and architecture before succumbing to the lure of comics. In 1969, he started his career with the Fumetti Neri series Genius, worked on the magazine Terror and in 1971 began his adult career (see what I did there?) illustrating Francisco Rubino’s Jolanda de Almaviva. In 1975 his first major work, a reworking of the Chinese tales of the Monkey King was released as Lo Scimmiotto (The Ape).

By the end of the seventies he was working for Franco-Belgian markets where he is still regarded as an A-list creator. It was while creating material for Charlie Mensuel, Pilote and L’Ã‰cho des savanes that he created his signature series HP and Giuseppe Bergman for A Suivre.

As the 80’s staggered to a close he wrote and drew, in his characteristic blend of bawdy burlesque and saucy slapstick, the eccentric selection of satirical, baroque tales gathered here as a wry and penetrating assault on modern media and bastardized popular cultural which were increasingly being used to cloak capitalist intrusions and commercial seductions.

In these absurdist, voyeuristic, fourth-wall breaking, intellectually-challenging and exceedingly sexy black and white vignettes Manara highlights the diminishing divisions between Art and Selling, with tales intended to make your head throb as much as your nether regionsâ€¦

The sensorial incursion commences with ‘Commercial’, as couch-potato is inexorably drawn into the Casanovan drama he is watching and the drama’s TV-contained characters are impeded in their roles by the intrusive presence of the sponsor’s unsavoury product – adult diapers.

All of these tales are visually influenced by icons of the Great Arts, such as Luciano Pavarotti and Fellini, whilst ‘Blue Period’ details the ruthless nature of commercialism as a photographic director goes to extraordinary lengths to reproduce a Picasso painting for an album cover. Sadly, under normal conditions, the human body just doesn’t bend that wayâ€¦

‘X3’ offers to reveal your sex-portrait with a brief questionnaire survey carried out by aliens well-versed in the techniques of abduction and probing whilst ‘John Lennon’ delightfully describes what happened after the master musician got to Heaven and ‘Acherontia Atropos’ plays a very dark prank on a cameraman who signs up to film a genuine snuff-movieâ€¦

‘Untitled’ returns to the role of unsatisfied Casanova as the legendary lover suffers a unquantifiable loss and surreal challenge to his life-style, but ‘The Last Tragic Day of Gori Bau & the Callipygian Sister’ sinisterly shows the dark-side of underage explorations as a trio of kids invoke feelings and powers they are not equipped to cope withâ€¦

The allegorical ambuscade concludes with the calamitously comedic surreal science fiction yarn ‘And’ as an Earthman and an Arturian escape from a dying planet thanks to the power of a book which writes itself and predicts the future. If only the incredible chronicle had a spell-checker tooâ€¦

Described in Manara’s beautifully rendered, lavish line-work this explicit, daringly deep and sexually charged selection makes intriguing points of social and creative commentary in an utterly seductive and fascinating manner, but even at its most raunchy, funny and challenging this tome is first and foremost a work of sublime pictorial entertainment desperately worthy of a new edition.
Â© 1989 Milo Manara/Staletti, agent, Paris. English Language edition Â© 1989 Catalan Communications. All rights reserved.

May 21, 2011May 21, 2011

Love From the Shadows

By Gilbert Hernandez (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-60699-406-1
There’s fiction, there’s Meta-fiction and then there is Gilbert Hernandez. In addition to being part of the graphic and literary revolution of Love and Rockets (where his astonishingly accessible and captivating tales of rural Palomar first garnered overwhelming critical acclaim) he has produced stand-alone books such as Sloth, Grip, Birdland and Girl Crazy, all marked by his bold, instinctive, compellingly simplified artwork and a mature, sensitive adoption of the literary techniques of Magical Realist writers like Carlos Fuentes and Gabriel GarcÃa MÃ¡rquez: techniques which he has amplified and, visually at least, made his own.

Then he acknowledged such influences as Roger Corman, John Cassavetes, Elmore Leonard and Jim Thompson as he broke new ground and reprocessed the cultural influences that shaped all us baby-boomers.

In Luba we glimpsed the troubled life of the lead character’s half-sister Rosalba â€œFritzâ€ Martinez: a brilliant, troubled woman, speech-impaired psychotherapist, sex-worker, belly-dancer and â€œB-movieâ€ starlet of such faux screen gems as We Love Alone, Seven Bullets to Hell, Chest Fever, Blood is the Drug and Lie Down in the Dark.

Fritzi has an irresistible or incredibly annoying lisp and unfeasibly large breasts.

In 2007 Hernandez â€œadaptedâ€ one of those trashy movies as the graphic novel Chance in Hell – although Fritzi only had a bit part in it – and repeated the story-within-a-story- within-a-story trick in 2009 with The Troublemakers – a frantic, hell-bent pulp fiction crime thriller.

Now he returns to his eccentric sideline to translate the wildly experimental independent/exploitation/sexploitation tale Love From the Shadows into a stunning graphic rollercoaster ride of broken families, counter-culture angst, embezzlement, greed madness, obsession, charlatanry, psychics and mysterious aliens in possibly the greatest tribute to scurrilous lowbrow movie maestro Russ Meyer ever seenâ€¦

â€œPlayingâ€ three different roles in this dubious epic, Fritzi is mostly Dolores, the estranged and distractedly promiscuous daughter of a successful author.Â In a world much like ours she meanders her solitary way, only occasionally impeded by the ubiquitous, mysterious Monitors who perpetually pester normal citizens with their oddly intrusive and brusque personal questionsâ€¦

With her equally neglected and emotionally abused gay brother Sonny, she visits the old reprobate, daydreaming of either a heartfelt reconciliation or bloody patricide, but the stay is filled with the usual mind-games and confrontations.

When they all visit the beach the old man wanders into a cave and is lost. When he is eventually found daddy dearest’s razor-like mind is utterly shatteredâ€¦

Since he is clearly a far better and more friendly father whilst deranged, the siblings move in to the palatial home to look after him, but one day after a swim Dolores is inexplicably drawn away to the city where she joins a trio of conmen scamming old men and widowers. Wistful, dreamy, always looking for love, she becomes their stooge, playing dead wives and ghostly daughters till her sexually charged presence splits the gang with fatal consequencesâ€¦

Meanwhile, her own father has died and Sonny is horrified to discover that the entire multi-million dollar estate has been left to his vanished sister. Hurt, outcast and permanently ostracized, Sonny uses his own small bequest to pay for sex-change surgery and becomes â€œDoloresâ€, beginning an oddly gratifying affair with a psychic named Anton who seemingly discerned all his/her secrets with one telling glance.

Impossible, surreal tragedy strikes when against all logic Sonny’s body repairs all the surgeries and rejects the hormone treatments, reverting to full masculinity, just as the real Dolores returnsâ€¦

Missing his beloved Sonny, Anton meets Dolores and takes her to the Cavern where her father died. He convinces her to replace Sonny just as her brother had impersonated herâ€¦

Now rich and contented, Dolores is drawn into a world of cults, continuing her lifetime obsession with a certain type of man, but the liaison inevitably leads to heartbreak and bloody deathâ€¦ and always the evocative imagery and subtly dangerous attraction of The Cave impinges and threatensâ€¦

As the Monitors inexplicably vanish from the streets, Dolores dyes her hair and hopes she’s finally free, but she’s only heading into the shadows of that ever-calling cavernâ€¦

Beguiling and absolutely mesmerising, this perfect pastiche of the genre is stuffed with Hernandez’s raw sexuality, trippy, mind-warping tension and sly elements of filmic surrealism which carry the reader through the deliberately obfuscative, intentionally challenging narrative, whilst his superbly primitivist cartooning seduces the eye as much as his glandular heroine ever could. These books are truly movies so bad and different they ought to be madeâ€¦

Every adult who loved Up!, Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens or Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! should snap this up immediately and revel in the graphic insanity, and open-minded comics fans should take a look beyond the costumes and chains of continuity to take a true walk on the Wild Side.

May 20, 2011May 19, 2011

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

Adapted by Shiro Amano translated by (TokyoPop)
ISBN: 978-1-59816-67-37-8

Regular readers (if any of you are still alive out there and not bored to death by my pithy ramblings) will already know that I am utterly immune to computer and video games. Nevertheless the industry has generated some intriguing comics material and occasionally I’ll take a peek at what you youngsters are spending your cash onâ€¦

Kingdom Hearts is a series of games which stars a new young hero named Sora working in combination with characters and scenarios from Disney’s globe-girdling cinematic canon and elements of the Fighting Fantasy electronic franchise.

This plucky lad travelled to different realms trying to rescue his two best friends Riku and Kairi who had fallen into the cracks between worlds after a wave of Darkness enveloped all the myriad worlds of creation and wicked creatures named The Heartless were unleashed on the kid’s idyllic land of Destiny Islands.

Once the many Realms were separate; barred to each other by Dark Doorways, with a single Chosen One who carried an ultimate key to all locks, able to pass easily between them.

In his quest Sora was joined by Donald Duck, Goofy and Jiminy Cricket who were similarly searching for their lost King Mickey. During the saga Sora came into possession of the fabled Keyblade which can hurl back the Heartless and unlock all doorsâ€¦

The comic tie-in Kingudamu HÄtsu began in 2003 as a serial in Square Enix’s Japanese Monthly ShÅnen Gangan before making the inevitable jump to book collections. Subsequent game releases have been similarly incorporated into the print adventures.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memory – which bridges the gap between the first and second games – opens with Riku and Mickey having sacrificed themselves to keep Ansem, the mastermind behind the chaos, sealed behind the Â Doorway to Darkness (trapping themselves there as well) and Sora, Jiminy, Donald and Goofy still searching for a way to rescue them.

In their travels the questers encounter a mysterious stranger who directs them to the Castle Oblivion, but on entering they find that the eerie citadel is stealing their memories, making the shadowy stranger’s confusing predictions and warnings even harder to decipherâ€¦

Unaware that they are being manipulated by a shady cabal called Organization XIII, the assembled heroes travel to more incredible worlds with the aid of â€œMemory Cardsâ€ arriving in seedy Traverse Town where the heroic Leon helps them defeat a marauding band of Heartless, after which they are accosted and tested by the sinister Axel before arriving in the Arabian town of Agrabah just in time to assist Aladdin and Princess Jasmine in their struggle against the nefarious Jaffarâ€¦

Meanwhile on the other side of the Dark Divide Riku is being tempted and tested by the forces of Evil, but at least he has the indomitable strength of the ghostly King Mickey to help him resist the terrors and seductions of the Disney witch Maleficent and the charismatic Ansemâ€¦

Fast-paced and engaging, this tale offers some fascinating moments for fans of classic Disney movies and the Fighting Fantasy universe, but generally it reads like a computer game (probably, to be fair,Â Shiro Amano’s intention and brief) so if you’re a narrative purist the ride is likely to feel confused, bumpy and little information-intense in all the wrong places.

If you’re open-minded and clear-headed there’s joy to be gleaned from this peculiar all-ages tome but I rather suspect that more traditional fans might prefer to leave their assorted media unalloyed and sedately separatedâ€¦
Original manga by Shiro Amano/Enterbrain Inc. Â© Disney. Characters from Final Fantasy Â© 2005 Square Enix Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved. English translation Â© 2006 TokyoPop Ltd.

May 19, 2011May 18, 2011

Green Lantern: Agent Orange (Prelude to Blackest Night)

By Geoff Johns, Philip Tan & Jonathan Glapion (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2420-2

Hal Jordan was a young test pilot in California when an alien policeman crashed on Earth. Mortally wounded, Abin Sur commanded his ring, a device which could materialise thoughts and fuelled by willpower, to seek out a replacement ring-bearer, honest and without fear. Scanning the planet it selected Jordan and brought him to the crash-site. The dying alien bequeathed his ring, the lantern-shaped Battery of Power and his profession to the astonished Earthman.

Over the years Jordan became one of the greatest members of that serried band of law-enforcers, The Green Lantern Corps, which had protected the cosmos from evil for millennia under the auspices of immortal super-beings who dubbed themselves the Guardians of the Universe. These undying patrons of Order were one of the first races in creation and currently dwell in sublime emotionless security on the world of Oa at the very centre of creation.

If all this is new to you then this book should absolutely not be your introduction to the series. Go read (at least) Green Lantern: Secret Origin and preferably all the other collections of this monumental fixture in the comicbook firmament before attempting to decipher the compulsive, compelling, pell-mell onslaught of characters and concepts scripter Geoff Johns throws at the reader as his extended epic thoroughly reshapes the DC Universe.

Following the bombastic, blockbusting Sinestro Corps War the entire cosmos was in turmoil at the revelation that Green was not the only colour and an entire emotional spectrum of puissant energies underpinned and operated upon reality. In increasingly ambitious storylines, Johns began exploring the adherents and disciples of each hue and the forces transformed by or seeking to control themâ€¦a situation which led inexorably into DC’s major crossover events Blackest Night and its sequel Brightest Day.

This volume (collecting Green Lantern #39-42 and portions of Blackest Night #0), illustrated by Philip Tan & Jonathan Glapion, Eddy Barrows, Ruy JosÃ© & Julio Ferreira, opens with a band of Controllers (a splinter group who split from the Guardians eons ago) encountering the possessor of the Orange light of Avarice.

The resultant slaughter precipitates another crisis when its sole user – a bestial, undying monstrosity named Larfleeze – abrogates an ancient secret treaty with the Oans and explodes out of his exile in the Vega system to take whatever takes his voracious fancyâ€¦

The very first thing he espies is Hal Jordan, currently overloaded by the exponentially increased power of a Blue Lantern ring overwhelming his own emerald weapon with the azure energy of Hope.

As revelations of the Guardians’ duplicitous past intrigues come to light, the vengeance-crazed, Green Lantern-hunting Fatality is overtaken by the Violet power of Love and becomes a Zamaron Star Sapphire (another dissident faction formed when the female Guardians also abandoned Oa) and attempts an uncomfortable rapprochement with her arch-enemy Green Lantern John Stewartâ€¦

Due to the Guardians’ ancient treaty with Larfleeze Vega had always been outside GL Corps jurisdiction and subsequently became a stellar sinkhole and safe-haven for the very worst scum of universe. With nothing left to hide anymore the remaining, still-squabbling Guardians lead a phalanx of their best peacekeepers in a punitive mission to clean out the sector of intergalactic criminals now that the Avatar of Greed has goneâ€¦

Sadly Larfleeze has left unique defences and the sortie ends badly. With the Orange Obsessive still hungry for Jordan’s Blue ring (which refuses to leave Hal’s hand and resists all efforts at removal) the Oans are forced to resort to a further deal with the devilâ€¦

Meanwhile Sinestro, controlling the Yellow light of Fear, and the diabolical Atrocitus, wielding the corrupting Red light of Rage, are jockeying into position for their own assaults on the embattled Guardiansâ€¦

Jordan finally overcomes the paralysing burden of too much power and acts decisively to temporarily end the threat of Larfleeze, but not before the Guardians are betrayed from within and the Black light of Death resurrects the greatest threat to life there has ever beenâ€¦

â€¦Which will only become clear in the next volume.

Feeling uncomfortably like entering a play late and leaving before the end, the spectacle and action here will impress and bewilder in equal amounts, but at least there’s a selection of short complete vignettes included to afford the briefest modicum of narrative closure; beginning with ‘Origins and Omens’ (illustrated by Ivan Reis & Oclair Albert) which explores the history of the Star Sapphires and the salutary ‘Tales of the Orange Lanterns: Weed Killer’ with art by Rafael Albuquerque, which reveals the rise to power of the ravenous Orange subordinate Agent Glomulousâ€¦

After a gallery of variant covers and a fascinating design, commentary and sketch section from Philip Tan and Doug Mahnke, the book closes with informational pages on the eight colours of the Emotional Spectrum by Mahnke, Christian Alamy & Tom Nguyen

Combining big-picture theatrics with solid characterization, Green Lantern is an ideal contemporary superhero series, vast in scope, superb in execution and blending just the right amounts of angst, gloss and action in the storytelling mix – but a basic familiarity with DC/Green Lantern history is more necessary than advisable.

Impressive, exciting enticing and engrossing: all terms you’ll happily apply to Green Lantern: Agent Orange – but only after doing your homework and reading the other stuff firstâ€¦
Â© 2009 DC Comics. All rights reserved.

May 18, 2011May 18, 2011

Shrine of the Morning Mist volume 1

By Hiroki Ugawa, translated and adapted by Jeremiah Bourque & Hope Donovan(TokyoPop)
ISBN: 978-1-59816-343-4

Most manga can be characterised by a fast, raucous and even occasionally choppy style and manner of delivery but the first volume of Hiroki Ugawa’s atmospheric supernatural thriller and moody saga of young love takes its time to get all the elements in play rather than simply steaming in all guns blazing.

Set in the city of Miyoshi in Hiroshima Prefecture (noted for its shrines and beautiful mist-draped landscapes) Asagiri no Miko or Shrine of the Morning Mist first appeared as a serial in the monthly periodical Young King Ours, running eventually to five volumes of eerie mystery, romance comedy and demonic action.

The saga opens here in traditional portentous manner and carefully unfolds the story of young Yuzu Hieda, one of three sisters who are hereditary Miko (a combination of shamans, mediums and priestesses attached to Shinto shrines and temples) attending to the local places of worship.

The sisters are especially gifted with special powers to combat the supernatural threats that menace the locality.

Little more than a teenager herself, schoolgirl Yuzu is troubled by the return of her childhood sweetheart and cousin Tadahiro Amatsu who, after five years away, has come home only to be targeted by evil forces. Despite being teased by sisters Tama and Kurako Yuzu accompanies them to the railway station just in time to save the lad from a sinister, sorcerous old man obsessed with the boy’s blood.

Invited to stay in the Miko’s home the withdrawn boy is disquieted by the teasing and references to his past relationship with Yuzu, but the father of the house proves to be a far-more unforgiving prospectâ€¦

Mystic forces are gathering round the introspective, solitary boy – with repercussions felt as far away as Tokyo – and over their dad’s objections Tadahiro is pressured into staying at the Hieda home where he can be properly protected. However next morning when the girls are at school a monolithic, cyclopean demon attacks the house. The assault is instantly perceived by Yuzu who dashes back to save him only to find her long-absent mother already there, having driven off the dark â€œkamiâ€.

Well, one of them, at leastâ€¦

Typically even Mother Miyuki thinks Tadahiro and Yuzu are a perfect, predestined coupleâ€¦

With questions swirling about him, such as â€œwhy is everybody so interested in his bloodâ€ and â€œwhatever happened to his own parentsâ€ the shell-shocked Tadahiro is blissfully unaware that the Miko are forming a protective Council around him, but even he knows something is up when the dark newcomer Koma introduces herself and reveals that she intimately knew his long-departed fatherâ€¦

To be continuedâ€¦

This uncharacteristically slow-paced, contemplative and almost elegiac tale mystery was partially inspired by a classical tale recorded on the InÅ Mononoke scroll and Hiroki Ugawa’s beautiful illustration perfectly captures a sense of brooding ancient powers at war, even during the most juvenile set-piece moments of awkward young romance and generational embarrassment comedy.

A slightly off-beat but intriguing tale for older readers, this black and white volume is printed in the Japanese right-to-left, back to front format.
Â© 2001 Hiroki Ugawa. All rights reserved. English text Â© 2006 TokyoPop inc.

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