Category: Adventure

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The Bozz Chronicles


By David Michelinie & Bret Blevins, with John Ridgway, Al Williamson & various (Dover Comics & Graphic Novels)
ISBN: 978-0-486-79851-6 (TPB/Digital edition)

During the 1980s the American comics scene experienced an astounding proliferation of new titles and companies in the wake of the creation of the Direct Sales Market. With publishers now able to firm-sale straight to specialised, dedicated-retail outlets rather than overprint and accept returned copies from general magazine vendors, the industry was able to risk and support less generic titles whilst authors, artists and publishers could experiment without losing their shirts.

At the height of the subsequent publishing explosion and in response to a wave of upstart innovators, Marvel developed its own line of creator-owned properties: launching a host of idiosyncratic, impressive series in a variety of formats under the watchful, benevolent and exceptionally canny eye of Editor Archie Goodwin. The delightfully disparate line was dubbed Epic Comics and reshaped the industry.

One of the most significant hits was a winsomely engaging blend of fantasy, criminology and urban myth with a beautifully simple core concept: “Sherlock Holmes from Outer Space”. Even that painfully broad pitch-line does the series it became an unforgivable disservice…

The Bozz Chronicles was – and is – so much more. It became one of Epic’s earliest hits and sensations, and the reasons it never continued beyond its initial 6-issue run (December 1985 to November 1986) had nothing to do with poor sales…

The mesmerising mix of Victoriana, super-science and sorcery might even be considered as an early precursor if not progenitor of the visual form of the literary genre K. W. Jeter dubbed “steampunk” in 1987…

Preceded with a Foreword from Brandon Graham, Dave Michelinie’s self-deprecating Introduction ‘Blame it on Spielberg’, and fond reminiscences from originating illustrator Bret Blevins, an amazing moment in comics history repeats itself as ‘The Bozz Chronicles’ opens on Mandy Flynn. She is a fiercely independent young woman plying her trade – described then and now as the World’s Oldest – in the sooty, sordid environs of London in the last quarter of the 19th century.

Saucy, sassy, sensitive and lovely, she is bringing her latest “brief acquaintance” up to her attic abode when the incipient physical transaction is suddenly curtailed by discovery of a strange-looking foreigner trying to commit suicide in her rooms…

As her toff flees in terror, Mandy tries to talk down the intruder and realises just how strange he truly is: eight feet tall, pale yellow in complexion, with a hairless, pointy head. He is also gentle, exceptionally well-spoken, has a long tail and can fly…

Six months pass. Mandy and the creature she calls Bozz are doing exceptionally well. He still claims to be from another world and certainly acts like no human she has ever met: he cannot tell lies, communicates with animals, constantly wanders around naked and absorbs like a sponge every scrap of knowledge she can provide for him through books and journal and newspapers.

Bozz misses his home: a far-distant world of benevolent intelligences he has no chance of ever returning to: so much so that he was trying to end himself as much through boredom as loneliness. Mandy’s brilliant idea to keep him alive was to engage his prodigious intellect in puzzles. She set them up as consulting detectives based in the less than fashionable Maracot Road, using the proceeds to better her own hand-to-mouth existence in the process. The only problem is that when no challenging cases manifest, Bozz’s thoughts instantly return to ending it all…

Thankfully, just as she is preparing to hide all the sharp objects again, a truly unique mystery knocks on the door and the secretary of Lord Giles Morgan requests their help. According to the Press, Pamela Grieves’ employer – and prospective Prime Minister – recently escaped an assassination attempt. However, the loyal amanuensis was with him when it happened and claims he did not survive. In fact, after having made further discreet inquiries, Miss Grieves found her master had in fact been dead for some three years prior to the attack…

As Bozz excitedly accepts the commission, Mandy is convinced they are dealing with a madwoman, but when their client is destroyed by a bolt of lightning as soon as she leaves their office the retired demimondaine is forced to think again…

Naturally the inquiry agents’ first step is to interview Lord Giles and although the shady politician proves no help at all, Bozz gleans much useful information from the caged bird in Morgan’s study. Soon they are on the trail of an aristocratic secret society utilising vast funds and weird science to resurrect the dead in pursuit of a deadly and regressive political and economic agenda (so hard not to comment satirically here!)…

Sadly, even the alien outcast’s uncanny powers prove insufficient to stop the schemers, but Mandy has gifts of her own and beguiles a rowdy American former prize-fighter she finds in a bar to assist in the climactic final confrontation.

Besotted, punch-drunk Salem Hawkshaw then joins the detectives to handle any future physical exigencies that might occur, but despite everything he sees is never convinced his big, bemused boss is anything other than a crazy circus freak…

The new colleagues are all painfully aware that their sudden success has brought them to the attention of Scotland Yard’s most privileged operative and the notorious trio have barely caught their breath before Inspector Colin Fitzroy comes calling, deviously offering them a case the police have no interest in.

Apparently a drunk has seen demons in Park Lane…

As the shamefully-employed scion of Britain’s richest family continues trying to impress the ravishing Miss Flynn, further arcane incidents occur, ‘Raising Hell’ in the capital’s swankiest district. Before long the consulting detectives find troubled Samantha Townes, whose husband has fallen foul of the vilest black magic and his own gullibility…

Wealthy Inspector Fitzroy has more pressing problems. A rash of exceedingly orderly murders has turned up odd artefacts defying explanation by any expert Scotland Yard can muster: things that cannot possibly have been built by any craftsman on Earth…

In ‘The Tomorrow Man’ (inked by Al Williamson) a trip to the funfair does little to alleviate Bozz’s boredom, but does lead to the genteel gullible giant being gulled: lured away by a wily pack of street children who use his powers and naivety to perpetrate a crime spree.

Later, when the shady show’s owner tries to kidnap Bozz for his freak attractions, the ultimately unsuccessful attack leaves the alien blind. The kids’ ringleader Oliver brings him to underworld surgeon Dr. Paine – who runs a subterranean clinic as a sideline to pay for his researches into time travel. He sees in the stranger a perfect opportunity to advance the causes of science…

Redeemed by Bozz’s unflagging trust, Oliver at last realises the enormity of his betrayal and fetches Mandy and Salem to effect a rescue, but by the time they arrive, chronal chaos is erupting everywhere…

As engaging and enthusiastic as the tales have been until this point, ‘Were-Town!’ is (at least for history-buffs and especially Londoners) a truly stand-out moment in the series, as the ineffably marvellous British veteran John Ridgway stepped in to illustrate a pithy, punchy deep midwinter tale disclosing a hint of Mandy’s past whilst introducing her reprehensible absentee father Egan Thorpe.

We’ve always whined in Britain about how Us and Ours are represented in American productions and, despite the obviously strenuous and diligent researches Michelinie & Blevins undertook, frequently the tone of their Bozz Chronicles often smacks more of Hollywood than Cricklewood. It’s not something non-Brits will even notice, but for us aging “Cockerney Sparrers” the differences are there to be seen… and felt.

Such is not the case (as gratefully acknowledged by the creators themselves in the respective, respectful Introductions) when Ridgway applied his meticulous line and copious pictorial acumen – gleaned from decades drawing a variety of British strips for everything from Commando Picture Library to Warrior to 2000AD or Doctor Who and The Famous Five – to a genuinely spooky, photographically authentic tale of deranged artists, dastardly squires and infernal paintings coming to unholy life in snow-capped rural wilds of Southeast England…

Michelinie & Blevins reunited for ‘The Cobblestone Jungle’ as Inspector Fitzroy again calls upon Bozz & Co: impelled as much by his lusty fascination with Amanda as the demands of an African king who needs the assistance of the British Empire if he is to guarantee a steady flow of diamonds from his equatorial satrapy…

Apparently, a white man had stolen the tribe’s sacred jewel and brought it to his hidden jungle playground in London. Thanks to some canny legwork from little Oliver, the detective trio track the bounder, but nobody anticipated the filched gewgaw emitting destructive death-rays…

After a spectacular battle high above the city, Bozz ends the threat, but his biggest surprise comes when the grateful king asks to thank him personally and reveals a millennia-old connection to Bozz’s extraterrestrial race…

For Mandy, Bozz, Salem and Fitzroy it all culminates in a desperate trek to the Dark Continent in search of ‘King Solomon’s Spaceship’ and the achievement of the marooned alien’s most fervent desires… until a gang of German raiders and Mandy’s own cynical self-interest ruins everything…

Rounded out by sketches and preliminary designs in a superb ‘Bonus Artwork and Cover Gallery’ from Blevins and closing with an effusive ‘Afterword by John Ridgway’, this is a magnificent moment in comics collaboration which will soon hopefully reclaim its place at the forefront of fantasy fables.
The Bozz Chronicles © 1985, 1986, 2015 David Michelinie. Introduction © 2015 David Michelinie. Foreword © 2015 Brandon Graham. Afterword © 2015 John Ridgway. All rights reserved.

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Captain Midnight Archive volume 1: Captain Midnight Battles the Nazis


By Dave Gormley, Leonard Frank, Carl Pfeufer, Dan Barry & anonymous & various (Dark Horse Comics)
ISBN: 78-1-61655-242-8 (HB) eISBN: 978-1-62115-884-4

Captain Midnight began his bombastic life as a radio serial star in the days when two-fisted, troubleshooting aviators were the acme of adventure genre heroes. Created by broadcast writers Wilfred G. Moore and Robert M. Burtt, the show was conceived by Chicago ad-men to promote Skelly Oil in the American Midwest.

The Captain Midnight Program soldiered on from 1938 to 1940 until the Wander Company acquired the sponsorship rights to promote their top product: Ovaltine. From there on, not even the sky was the limit: national radio syndication led to a newspaper comic strip (by Erwin L. Hess, running from June 29th 1942 until the end of the decade); a movie serial (1942) and – later – two TV serials (1953 and 1954-1956 – but syndicated as “Jet Jackson, Flying Commando” well into the 1960s). There was also a mountain of merchandise such as the legendary Captain Midnight Secret Decoder Ring…

There was also a comic book franchise or more accurately two…

The core premise was that after World War One ended, pilot/aviation inventor Captain Jim Albright  returned home having earned the sobriquet “Captain Midnight” after a particularly harrowing mission that concluded successfully at the witching hour. Founding a paramilitary “Secret Squadron” of like-minded pilots, he did good deeds – often at the covert behest of the President – employing guts and gadgets to foil spies, catch crooks and defend the nation.

Captain Midnight really hit his stride after the attack at Pearl Harbor, becoming an early Home Front media sensation. However, his already fluid backstory and appearance underwent a radical makeover when he switched comic book horses in mid-stream.

This stunningly engaging full-colour collection gathers tantalising snippets from the vast comicbook canon of the “Sovereign of the Skies”, rather arbitrarily collected from Dell Comics anthologies The Funnies #59 (September 1941) and Popular Comics 76 & 78 (June and August 1942) as well as Fawcett Comics’ Captain Midnight #4-6, 9, 12, 31, 44, 47, 58 and 61, released between January 1943 and March 1948. The solo title was initially released fortnightly with #1 bearing a September 30th 1942 cover-date.

Much of this material is unattributed but amongst the regular writers were Joseph J. “Joe” Millard, Wilford Hamilton Fawcett, Bill Woolfolk and Otto Binder whilst artists included Jack Binder and his art stable, as well as the engagingly workmanlike Leonard Frank, Carl Pfeufer, Ken Bald, Jack Keller, Sheldon Moldoff and – latterly – young but constantly improving legends-to-be Leonard Starr and Dan Barry.

Following a fond appreciation and passionate reminiscences from David Scroggy in his effusive Introduction, the cartoon classics begin with an action-packed but confusing chapter from The Funnies #59. Here Dave Gormley depicts the Captain – still clad in regulation leather jacket, aviator flight cap and goggles – and his Secret Squadron in pursuit of nefarious archenemy Ivan Shark before Popular Comics #76 finds them battling to prevent the insidious Ivan’s airborne conquest of America.

Popular Comics #78 (with art by Bob Jenney) renews and continues that titanic struggle as Shark’s henchman Gardo rushes to his master with information that could destroy democracy forever…

When Fawcett took over the comic book license in 1942, they gave Albright a stripped-down operation, flashier gimmicks and a rather striking superhero costume. They also abandoned continued serials in favour of short complete adventures as the Sky Sovereign added Nazi and Japanese villains to his macabre rogue’s gallery.

The initial Fawcett offering comes from Captain Midnight #4 (January 8th 1943) as the sabotaging ‘Gremlins of Graham Field’– possibly illustrated by Frank? – are exposed as malevolent Nazi dwarves whilst #5 sees Albright and his ward Chuck Ramsay overseas in Alexandria proving that ‘The Beasts That Flew Like Birds’ (Pfeufer) were not ancient vampires but far more insidious and dangerous modern monsters…

Plucky mechanic and comedy stooge Icky was one of three regular holdovers from the radio roster of the Secret Squadron and eventually won his own back-up strip and codename: Sergeant Twilight.

A brace of tales from #6 begins with ‘Presenting Ichabod Mudd, Cowboy!’ wherein the homely oaf accidentally exposes Nazis masquerading as cattle rustlers in Nevada, and intent on preventing the government feeding its troops, after which ‘Broadcast of Death’ sees other Nazis jamming shortwave radio communications and morale-lifting programs… until the Captain and his crew step in.

Three tales from Captain Midnight #9 (June 1943) opens with ‘Silent Wings of Destruction’ as the Monarch of the Skies tracks down undetectable planes bombing US war production plants and discovers an astounding Nazi aviation advancement. In ‘Black Tornadoes’ a German inventor unleashes all the fury of nature against the Midwest until the Captain tracks him down, and Albright’s robotic ‘Samson the Mechanical Man’ proves a major asset after uncovering enemy agents in the lab…

Three more classics come from #12 (September 1943). ‘The Puzzle of the Flying Houses’ spots spies using cloud-cover and dwelling-shaped zeppelins to photograph military secrets whilst ‘Buy War Bonds!’ offers a breathtaking ad of the period before ‘The Sinister Angels’ suborning South American peasants and fomenting rebellion are ultimately exposed by our heroes as craftily disguised foreign agents.

A big jump to Captain Midnight #31 (April 1945) opens post-war proceedings with ‘Sgt. Twilight’s Flying School’ as lovably bumbling goof Icky is gulled into teaching a gang of wily thugs how to commit seemingly impossible crimes with aircraft… before finally wising up and lowering the boom…

Issue #44 (September 1946) heralds the resurrection of a deadly foe as ‘Return of the Shark’ sees the villain copying Albright’s latest invention to facilitate robbing planes in mid-air before a literally mad scientist forces Captain Midnight to participate in a deadly ‘Invention Duel to the Death’…

December 1946’s CM #47 tangentially addresses growing public interest in horror stories as ‘Fangs of the Werewolf’ (Frank art) sees Midnight hunt an amnesiac GI in the US Sector of newly-partitioned Germany. Here he meets maniacal Nazi holdout Storm von Cloud planning a wave of terror with his sinister Werewolf Corps commandos.

As the 1940s drew to a close technological advancement, science fiction and crime became the most popular topics for action tales, and from #58 (December 1947) ‘Test Tunnel’ uses all those elements to great effect as Shark discovers Midnight’s true identity and lays a lethal trap in Albright’s latest plane-proving system…

Wrapping up this glorious grab-bag of Golden Age goodies is a tale of dogged endurance as ‘Captain Midnight Masters Glacier Peak’ (#61, March 1948; credited to Leonard Starr, but it looks like Dan Barry to me) sees Albright embroiled in a brutal struggle between rival Arctic expeditions to claim acclaim and vast riches at the top of the world…

With an eye-popping gallery of covers by Gormley, Binder, Mac Raboy and Frank, plus mesmerising period ads and mini-features such as ‘Captain Marvel Secret Messages’, ‘Captain Midnight’s Air Quiz’, ‘Captain Midnight’s Air Insignia’ and ‘Fawcett Comix Cards’ this is a superbly engaging feast of comics history and timeless thrills.
Captain Midnight Archives volume 1: Captain Midnight Battles the Nazis ® and © Dark Horse Comics 2013. All rights reserved.

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Devil Dinosaur by Jack Kirby: The Complete Collection


By Jack Kirby, Mike Royer & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9037-0 (TPB/Digital edition)

Jack Kirby remains the most important single influence in the history of American comics. There are millions of words about what the man has done and meant, and you should read those if you are at all interested in our medium.

I could point out what you probably already know: Kirby was a man of vast imagination who translated big concepts into astoundingly potent and accessible symbols for generations of fantasy fans. If you were exposed to Kirby as an impressionable kid you were his for life. To be honest, the same probably applies whatever age you jump aboard the “Kirby Express”…

For those of us who grew up with Jack, his are the images which furnish and clutter our interior mindsets. Close your eyes and think “robot” and the first thing that pops up is a Kirby creation. Every fantastic, futuristic city in our heads is crammed with his chunky, towering spires. Because of Jack we all know what the bodies beneath those stony-head statues on Easter Island look like, we are all viscerally aware that you can never trust great big aliens parading around in their underpants and, most importantly, we know how cavemen dressed and carnosaurs clashed…

In the late 1930s it took a remarkably short time for Kirby and his creative partner Joe Simon to become the wonder-kid dream-team of the new-born comic book industry. Together they produced a year’s worth of the influential monthly Blue Bolt, rushed out Captain Marvel Adventures (#1) for overstretched Fawcett and – when Martin Goodman appointed Simon editor at Timely Comics – co-created a host of iconic characters such as Red Raven, the original Marvel Boy, Mercury, Hurricane, The Vision, Young Allies and million-selling mega-hit Captain America.

When Goodman failed to make good on his financial obligations, Simon & Kirby were snapped up by National/DC, who welcomed them with open arms and a balanced chequebook. Bursting with ideas the staid company were never really comfortable with, the duo were initially an uneasy fit, and given two moribund strips to play with until they found their creative feet: Sandman and Manhunter.

They turned both around virtually overnight and, once established and left to their own devices, switched to the “Kid Gang” genre they had pioneered at Timely. Joe & Jack launched wartime sales sensation Boy Commandos and a Homefront iteration dubbed the Newsboy Legion before being called up to serve in the war they had been fighting on comic book pages since 1940.

Once safely demobbed, they returned to a very different funnybook business and soon left National to create their own little empire…

Simon & Kirby heralded and manufactured the first American age of mature comics – not just by inventing the Romance genre, but with all manner of challenging modern material about real people in extraordinary situations – before seeing it all disappear again in less than eight years.

Their small stable of magazines – generated for the association of companies known as Prize, Crestwood, Pines, Essenkay and/or Mainline Comics – blossomed and as quickly wilted when the industry abruptly contracted throughout the 1950s thanks to public scare-campaigns and the growth of television

After years of working for others, Simon & Kirby had finally established their own publishing house, producing comics for a far more sophisticated audience, only to find themselves in a sales downturn and awash in hysteria generated by an anti-comic book pogrom.

Hysterical censorship-fever spearheaded by US Senator Estes Kefauver and opportunistic pop psychologist Dr. Frederic Wertham led to witch-hunting Senate hearings. Caving in, publishers adopted a castrating straitjacket of draconian self-regulatory rules. Horror titles produced under the aegis and emblem of the Comics Code Authority were sanitised and anodyne affairs in terms of shock and gore, even though the market’s appetite for suspense and the uncanny was still high. Crime comics vanished and mature themes challenging an increasingly stratified and oppressive society were simply suppressed…

Simon quit the business for advertising, but Jack soldiered on, taking his skills and ideas to a number of safer, if less experimental, companies. As the panic abated, Kirby returned briefly to DC Comics where he worked on mystery tales and Green Arrow (at that time only a back-up page-filler in Adventure Comics and World’s Finest Comics) whilst concentrating on his long-dreamed-of newspaper strip Sky Masters of the Space Force.

During that period Kirby also re-packaged an original super-team concept that had been kicking around in his head since he and Joe Simon had closed their innovative, ill-timed ventures. At the end of 1956 Showcase #6 premiered the Challengers of the Unknown…

After three further test issues they won their own title with Kirby in command for the first eight. Then a legal dispute with Editor Jack Schiff exploded and the King was gone…

He found fresh fields and an equally hungry new partner in Stan Lee at ailing Atlas Comics (which had once been mighty Timely). There he created a revolution in superhero comics storytelling…

After a decade of never-ending innovation and crowd-pleasing wonderment, Kirby felt increasingly stifled. His efforts had transformed the little publisher into industry-pioneer Marvel but now felt trapped in a rut. Thus he moved back to DC for another burst of sheer imagination and pure invention.

Kirby instinctively understood the fundamentals of pleasing his audience and strived diligently to combat the appalling state of prejudice about the comics medium – especially from industry insiders and professionals who despised the “kiddies world” they felt trapped in. After his controversial, grandiose Fourth World titles were cancelled, Jack looked for other concepts which would stimulate his own vast creativity yet still appeal to a market growing ever more fickle. His follow-ups included dystopian science fiction themed heroes Kamandi and OMAC; supernatural stalwart The Demon; a run of war stories starring The Losers, and even a new Sandman -co-created with old Joe Simon – but although ideas kept coming (Atlas, Kobra, Dingbats of Danger Street), yet again editorial disputes ended up with him leaving for promises of more creative freedom elsewhere…

Kirby’s return to Marvel in 1976 was much hyped at the time but again turned out to be controversial. His new works and creations (2001: A Space Odyssey, The Eternals, Machine Man, Devil Dinosaur) found friends rapidly, but his return to earlier creations Captain America and Black Panther divided the fanbase.

Kirby was never slavishly wedded to tight continuity, and preferred, in many ways, to treat his stints on titles as another “Day One”: a policy increasing at odds with the close-continuity demanded by a strident faction of the readership and many younger editorial staff…

Until his?/her? recent rehabilitation, Devil Dinosaur was possibly his most divisive creation: sheer anathema to those fans who scrupulously policed the Marvel Universe, perpetually seeking out infractions to the holy writ and demanding “does this fit in?” They were apparently blind to the unfettered, joyous freedom of imagination run wild, the majesty of pulse-pounding thrills and electrifyingly galvanising BIG ART!

For 25 years I taught comics-creation skills and techniques to pre-schoolers through to college graduates and let me tell you, nothing caused more heated debate amongst the adults and generated greater sheer, open-eyed, awestruck glee from the kids.

It’s a monkey man, riding a big red dinosaur, fighting monsters and aliens, for Pete’s sake!

And that is the reason this collection is so enthralling. Jack’s commitment to wholesome adventure, breakneck action and breathless wonderment combined with his absolute mastery of the comic page and unceasing quest for the Next Big Thrill makes for a captivating read. His comics should be on every School Curriculum if we want youngsters to get into Graphic Narrative…

Collecting the entire 9-issue run cover-dated April-December 1978, this sleek chronicle opens with ‘Devil Dinosaur and Moon-Boy’ as we go back to an unspecified time in prehistory where various emergent species of hominids eke out a perilous existence beside the last of the great lizards and other primordial giants…

In that perilous world, a wide-eyed innocent of the timid but clever Small Folk rescues a baby tyrannosaur from humanoid hunters known as the Killer-Folk. These hairy thugs have already slaughtered its mother and siblings with cunning snares, and now torture the little lizard with blazing firebrands which turn its scorched hide a livid, blazing scarlet…

Under the roaring light of a blazing volcano, Moon Boy and Devil bond; becoming inseparable companions wandering the vast lush valley which is their home.

The scarlet saurian is no ordinary beast. Blessed with uncanny intelligence and unmatchable ferocity, it soon becomes an equal partner in a relationship never before seen in the world. That does not, however, prevent the duo being targets for the Killer-Folk’s ambitious new chief.

Arrogant Seven-Scars wants to be undisputed master of the valley and has devised a lethal scheme with deadly traps to destroy the red terror and its feeble pet…

Sadly, the Killer-Folks’ schemes ensnare trusting Moon Boy but his scaly brother is not fooled and ‘Devil’s War!’ soon proves who truly rules the dawn age…

DD #3 concentrates on the sheer variety of humanoid life as ‘Giant’ pits our heroes against a monumental man-thing frenziedly hunting for his missing offspring, after which terror descends upon all when bizarre, merciless strangers erupt out of an ‘Object from the Sky’

We’d call them robotic aliens but the only certainty the assorted Earth creatures know is that these monsters are coldly hostile butchers. When the newcomers snatch up Moon Boy amongst many specimens, the wily crimson colossus strikes up a tenuous alliance with Hill Folk survivors Stone-Hand and his aging mentor White Hairs before leading them in a terrifying ‘Journey to the Center of the Ants!’

Intent on using giant termites to invade the alien ship, our strange bedfellows encounter yet another frantic fugitive in the form of furious female ‘Eev!’; allowing Kirby to set up a telling biblical pastiche of the Garden of Eden…

After a termite-wave eradicates the invading ship, all that remains is a semi-autonomous computer system the natives deem a ‘Demon-Tree!’ The fancy-speaking thing seduces Stone-Hand, White Hairs and Eev into an idyllic preserve where it grants their every wish, but its increasingly harsh mandates soon make the hominids realise they are prisoners, not guests. Happily, Devil and freshly-liberated Moon Boy are on hand to offer some assertive assistance…

Having gone back to their inquisitive wanderings, mammal and reptile soon find more peril when Devil is targeted by anthropoid ‘Dino-Riders!’ who want the looming lizard for their greatest beast of burden. This time it’s Moon doing the saving, but only after convincing his meek Small Folk kin to unite against their mutual beast-piloting oppressors…

The last issue is certainly the most intriguing as ‘The Witch and the Warp’ sees Devil fall into a naturally-occurring space-time fault seemingly controlled by a peculiar hag and her quirky disciple.

It takes all Moon Boy’s persuasiveness to get her to bring Devil home again, and even after the friends are reunited the voyager has no means of relating the details of his shocking adventure in Nevada, circa 1978 AD…

With extras including a complete cover gallery by Kirby and inkers Royer, Frank Giacoia, Dan Green, Joe Sinnott, Steve Leialoha, Walter Simonson and John Byrne, plus house ads, editorials by Kirby and ‘Dinosaur Dispatches’ letters columns of the period (the late 1970s not the Jurassic), this compilation is a dose of bombastic, uncomplicated comics magic: bold, brash and utterly compelling. How can you possibly resist the clarion call of this astounding,  eccentric escapism?
© 1978, 2014 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Superman Sunday Classics Strips 1-183 (1939-1943)


By Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster & the Superman Studio (DC/Kitchen Sink Press: Sterling Publishing Co. Inc.)
ISBN: 978-1-40273-786-2 (Sterling) 978-1-56389-472-5(DC/KS)

It’s indisputable that the American comic book industry – if it existed at all – would have been an utterly unrecognisable thing without Superman. Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster’s unprecedented invention was rapturously adopted by a desperate and joy-starved generation, quite literally giving birth to a genre if not an actual art form.

Within three years of his 1938 debut, the intoxicating blend of breakneck, breathtaking action and wish-fulfilment that epitomised the early Man of Tomorrow spawned an impossible army of imitators. The original’s antics and variations grew to encompass cops-and-robbers crime-busting, socially reforming dramas, science fiction fantasies, and whimsical comedy. Once the war in Europe and the East ensnared America, patriotic relevance for a host of gods, heroes and monsters exploded: all dedicated to exuberant, eye-popping excess and vigorous dashing derring-do.

In comicbook terms Superman was master of the world. Moreover, whilst transforming the shape of the fledgling funnybook industry, the Metropolis Marvel relentlessly expanded into all areas of the entertainment media. Although we all think of the Cleveland boys’ iconic invention as the epitome and acme of comicbook creation, the truth is that very soon after his debut in Action Comics #1, the Man of Steel became a fictional multimedia monolith in the same league as Popeye, Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes and Mickey Mouse.

We parochial and possessive comics fans too often regard our purest, most powerful icons in purely graphic narrative terms, but the likes of Batman, Spider-Man, The Avengers and their hyperkinetic kind long ago outgrew four-colour origins and are now fully mythologized media creatures instantly familiar in mass markets, across all platforms and age ranges…

Far more people have seen or heard an actor as Superman than have ever read his comicbooks. The globally syndicated newspaper strips alone reached untold millions, and by the time his 20th anniversary rolled around at the very start of what we know as the Silver Age of Comics, Superman was a thrice-weekly radio serial regular and starred in an astounding animated cartoon series, two films, on TV and a prose novel by George Lowther.

He was a perennial sure-fire success for toy, game, puzzle and apparel manufacturers and had just ended that first smash live-action television presence. In his future were three more shows (Superboy, Lois & Clark and Smallville), a stage musical, a string of blockbuster movie franchises and an almost seamless succession of games, bubble gum cards and TV cartoons beginning with The New Adventures of Superman in 1966 and continuing ever since. Even his superdog Krypto got in on the small-screen act…

Although pretty much a spent force these days, for the majority of the last century the newspaper comic strip was the Holy Grail that all American cartoonists and graphic narrative storytellers hungered for. Syndicated across the country – and often the planet – it was seen by millions, if not billions, of readers and generally accepted as a more mature and sophisticated form of literature than comic-books. It also paid better.

And rightly so: some of the most enduring and entertaining characters and concepts of all time were created to lure readers from one particular paper to another and many of them grew to be part of a global culture.

Mutt and Jeff, Flash Gordon, Dick Tracy, Buck Rogers, Charlie Brown and so many more escaped their humble tawdry newsprint origins to become meta-real: existing in the minds of earthlings from Albuquerque to Zanzibar. Most of them still do…

However it was considered something of a risky double-edged sword when a comicbook character became so popular that it swam against the tide (after all, weren’t the funny-books invented just to reprint the strips in cheap accessible form?) to become a genuinely mass-entertainment syndicated serial strip.

Superman was the first comic book star to make that leap – six months after exploding out of Action Comics – with only a few ever successfully following. Wonder Woman, Batman (eventually) and teen icon Archie Andrews made the jump in the 1940s with only a handful like Spider-Man, Howard the Duck and Conan the Barbarian doing so since.

The Superman daily newspaper comic strip launched on 16th January 1939, supplemented by a full-colour Sunday page from November 5th of that year. Originally crafted by Siegel & Shuster – whose primary focus switched immediately from comic books to the more prestigious and lucrative tabloid iteration – and their hand-picked studio (Paul Cassidy, Leo Nowak, Dennis Neville, John Sikela, Ed Dobrotka, Paul J. Lauretta & Wayne Boring), the mammoth daily grind soon required the additional talents of Jack Burnley and supplementary writers including Whitney Ellsworth, Jack Schiff & Alvin Schwartz.

This superb collection – doubly out-of-print and still not available digitally, despite its superb quality and sublime content – opens with an Introduction by contemporary Super-Scribe Roger Stern. He effusively recaps the sensation and spotlights his creators, before we see the first 19 complete tales of the primal powerhouse in stunning full colour stupendously unfold.

Whether in pamphlet or local periodical, these tales of the modern Hercules exploded into the consciousness of the world. No one had ever seen a fictionalised hero throw all the rules of physics away and burst into unstoppable, improbable action on every page. In fact, editors and publishers’ greatest concern was that the implausible antics would turn off audiences. Clearly, they could not have been more wrong…

Thus early episodes simply establish the set-up of an Alien Wonder among us, masquerading as an extremely puny human at a “great metropolitan newspaper”… when not crushing evil as his flamboyant alter-ego. These stories are all about constant action and escalating spectacle, displaying the incredible power of a bombastic, heroic man of the people…

On the first Sunday in November 1939 the parade of marvels commenced with a single introductory page describing Superman’s origins in ‘The Man of Tomorrow’ followed seven days later by initial adventure ‘Twenty-Four Hours to Ruin’ which found the Action Ace in a non-stop rush of blood and thunder, saving a logging concern from sabotage and hostile takeover by gangsters.

Crime segued into scientific fantasy when Superman saved ‘The Mindless Slaves of Dr. Grout’ from forced labour as the villain fomented a coup against America…

Inklings of true comic book themes and more complex storylines arrived as Clark Kent and Lois Lane were despatched to investigate the ‘Giants of Doom Valley’: discovering a race of hostile subterranean invaders for Superman to discourage, before ‘Assassins and Spies’ took them into the most pressing concern of the era after agents of a foreign power spread sedition and terror on America’s shores to bolster a European war.

A mysterious mastermind then employed super-science, coercion, abduction and giant insects to ensure ‘The Chosen’ carried out his plans of global financial dominance before a more bucolic tale saw Superman helping Lois escape fatal consequences as ‘The Dangerous Inheritance’ left her with 5,000 acres of seemingly worthless scrubland. Not everyone agreed with the assessment and the Man of Steel was never busier…

Woe in the wilderness gave way to big city bombast as ‘The Bandit Robots of Metropolis’ caused carnage in search of cash, pushing the Man of Steel to his physical and intellectual limits and priming him for a landmark clash against ‘Luthor, Master of Evil’ who turns the weather into a weapon in his escalating war against mankind.

A cunning murderer sought to frame a professional automobile driver in ‘Death Race’ whilst a high-tech propaganda campaign almost destabilised the city when ‘The Committee for a New Order’ pirated the airwaves. Crushing their campaign of terror, Superman was embroiled in a blistering battle against vile enemy agents who knew Lois was his Achilles’ Heel…

Another corporate assault on trade is exposed when freight drivers are poisoned by crooks trying to ‘Destroy All Trucks’ of a businessman’s rivals, after which a mirage-making super-villain pillages Metropolis until her galvanic guardian saw through ‘The Image’…

When Clark’s ‘Arson Evidence’ convicts an innocent man, his other self moves Heaven and Earth to exonerate the jailbird and ferret out the true fire-fiend, after which – it being almost three years since his debut – Superman spent two weeks reminding old readers and informing new ones why and how he was ‘The Champion of Democracy’.

To a large extent mention of World War II was kept to a minimum on the Action Ace’s funny pages, but now ‘The Superman Truck’ – detailing how a prototype military transport was relentlessly targeted by saboteurs – plunged right in to conflict with a subplot about a reluctant taxi driver enlisting in the Army Transport Corps. Tracing his induction and training, this yarn was a cunningly-conceived weekly ad and plea for appropriately patriotic readers to enlist…

Military motifs continued as a ship full of diplomats and war correspondents was set afire by an incendiary madman allied to in-over-their-heads Fifth Columnists. It’s not long before ‘The Blaze’ is in critical timberland, acting on his own deranged impulses and leaving the Metropolis Marvel with the huge job of saving America’s war effort…

Showbiz raised its glamorous head when Clark and Lois were sent to cover the morale-boosting ‘Hollywood Victory Caravan’ tour, only to stumble into backbiting, sabotage, intrigue and murder at the hands of Nazi infiltrators.

Wrapping up the vintage spills and thrills is another fervent comics call to arms as Superman – and Clark – take a well-intentioned but lazy and perpetually backsliding wastrel in hand. How he is shepherded through aviator ‘Cadet Training’ to a useful existence as a warrior of Democracy is a rousing wonder to behold.

Supplementing the gloriously rip-roaring, pell-mell adventure are spellbinding extra features including ‘How Superman Would End World War II’ (first seen in the February 27th 1940 issue of mainstream icon Look magazine), promo ads and a 1942 ‘Superman Pinup’.

This specific Sterling Publishing volume is a reissue of the 1999 DC/Kitchen Sink co-production, but either edition offers timeless wonders and mesmerising excitement for lovers of action and fantasy. If you love the era or just crave simpler stories from less angst-wracked times, these yarns are perfect comics reading, and this a book you simply must have.
Superman and all related names, characters and elements are ™ & © DC Comics © 2006. All rights reserved.

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Bunny vs Monkey: Machine Mayhem!


By Jamie Smart, with Sammy Borras (David Fickling Books)
ISBN: 978-1-78845-297-7 (TPB)

Bunny vs. Monkey has been a staple of The Phoenix since the very first issue in 2012: recounting a madcap vendetta gripping animal arch-enemies set amidst an idyllic arcadia masquerading as more-or-less mundane but critically endangered English woodlands.

Concocted with gleefully gentle mania by cartoonist, comics artist and novelist Jamie Smart (Fish Head Steve!; Looshkin; Flember), these trendsetting, mind-bending yarns have been wisely retooled as graphic albums available in remastered, double-length digest editions such as this one. Now brilliantly beach-ready comes a handy pocket paperback edition to consult when the surf’s all unsanitary and there’s sand or sandwiches in the Gameboy…

The tail-biting tension and animal argy-bargy began yonks ago after an obnoxious little anthropoid plopped down after a disastrous British space shot. Crashlanding in Crinkle Woods – scant miles from his launch site – lab specimen Monkey believed himself the rightful owner of his strange new world, despite all efforts from reasonable, sensible, contemplative resident Bunny to dissuade him. For all his patience, propriety and genteel good breeding, the laid-back lepine just could not contain the incorrigible idiot ape, who was – and still is – a rude, noise-loving, chaos-creating troublemaker…

Problems are exacerbated by other unconventional Crinkle creatures, particularly a skunk called Skunky who has a mad scientist’s attitude to life and a gift for building robots and super-weapons…

With artistic assistance from design deputy Sammy Borras, the saga resumes with the war of nerves and mega-ordnances apparently over. The unruly assortment of critters cluttering up the bucolic paradise had finally picked sides and the battles at last ended. They even seemingly forgot the ever-encroaching Hyoomanz…

Following a double-page pin-up of the ever-expanding cast, this archive of anarchic insanity opens in the traditional manner: divided into seasonal outbursts, and starting with a querulous teaser tale as Spring begins in ‘D.I.Whyyyy?’

As the animals gather to help Bunny repair his much-abused house, universal innocents Pig Piggerton and Weenie squirrel – more keen than skilled – realise that cheese is not a suitable substitute for wallpaper paste, plaster or cement…

Despite the subsequent collapse, times are good and very peaceful since the awful ape went away and Ai (an Aye-aye) acts quickly to keep it that way when Bunny feels nostalgic for the old days. Sadly, somebody’s listening and brings in a ‘Makeshift Monkey!’ – until the real deal returns in ‘The Little Monkey Who Cried…’

Before long Skunky is back too and everyone’s fleeing for their lives from deadly underground tentacles, but life quickly slips into its old pattern… until obsolescence rears its ugly head and cyborg gator Metal Steve is pronounced ‘Out of Warranty’: left to wither on Skunky’s scrapheap…

Back and still bad, Monkey briefly inflicts himself on Bunny and wrecks the joint again in ‘The Housemate’ after which our mercurial monochrome megamind constructs a replacement for the gone gator: triggering ‘Robot Rampage’ when infinitely superior mechanoid Metal E.V.E. lay down her own law…

Falling foul of another near-lethal prank the silly simian is scientifically resurrected and evolved in ‘Curse of the Monkey’ only to trip on his own incompetence and barely escape a fishy final fate in ‘Toilet Run!’

A close call with humans in ‘Bunny vs Monkey Jellybeans!’ precedes piratical pretenders Weenie and Pig’s ‘A Dangerous Voyage’, before Monkey endures his own Journey into the Unknown. As “The Most Brilliant Animal in the Woods” Skunky convinces his erstwhile ally to shrink down and explore the inner cerebellum of brain-battered, bewildered ex-stuntman Action Beaver for ‘The Lost Memory’ of a misplaced ultimate weapon, which is what probably inspires him to make his own, after entering a competition and prematurely unleashing his ‘Winning Entry’…

Metal E.V.E. is forming her own plans but they have to wait a bit as she’s ‘Keepin’ Busy’ with some domestic chores in Skunky’s lab, but it’s not long until Summer begins and the woods are imperilled by subterranean invasion from new menace ‘Roland T. Mole’…

Hijinks in parallel dimensions herald the arrival of doomsayer ‘Skunky?’ as the forgotten stuntman stumbles with catastrophic consequences into his ancestral homeland in ‘Beaverville’. Monkey meanwhile creates unexpected carnage but precious little terror with super-cute kaiju ‘Rofl Axolotl’ before being painfully reminded how dangerous the woods can be in ‘So Beautiful’…

After a brief and deceptive flirtation with ‘The Dark Arts’, the hairy halfwit returns to science by creating little golden minions, but his ‘Gloobs’ prove too smart for servitude, so instead embraces high fashion in ‘C’est Chic!’ Utterly uncaring, Weenie and Pig go about their business until a ‘A New Friend’ almost breaks up the partnership. The swiftly-developing relationship of ‘Weenie and Winnie’ seems set to end the good old days, but another robotic invasion sets the world to rights in ‘Just Checking’…

A reality-altering beast threatens in ‘Wishful Thinking’ and the entire woods go all French just as aliens invade in ‘L’Honk Honk’ before Monkey & Skunky explore artisanal dining in ‘Eat Up!’, with appalling consequences for their customers, after which Ai and Monkey discover uncanny ‘Night Lights’ in the deep dark woods…

The season concludes with Metal E.V.E. getting ahead by installing crucial ‘Upgrades’ and inadvertently making contact with an unsuspected predecessor just as Autumn opens with ‘Bumblesnatch’ and pig & squirrel enjoying super-powers-inducing chewing gum whilst Crinkle Woods is catapulted into a different kind of chaos when broached by pet pooch ‘Fluffy’…

When ‘The Summoning’ invokes some pretty indifferent forest gods, Skunky lodges with over-accommodating Bunny, who is soon sucked into unwanted adventure ‘Down Below’ and unearths E.V.E.’s brave new world. Hopeless old ally Metal Steve then runs amok with nano-bots and spawns unlikely armageddon beast ‘Pig-Kira!’

Once that menace vanishes into vapour, the mostly organic animals unite to formulate ‘Some Kind of Plan’ for fighting E.V.E. – all except ‘Nurse Monkey’ who’s keen to explore other lifestyles – before reenlisting in ‘Roll Up! Roll Up!’ with a barmy spinning machine. It has no chance of easing their plight but will probably end their lives before she does…

The crusade pauses for Weenie’s birthday and the hunt for ‘The Best Present in the World’, but restarts again when E.V.E. crashes the party with ‘Something to Say’ about the “rise of the machines” and end of all flesh…

Skunky’s response is yet another monster, but giant mecha-hedgehog ‘Thunderball!’ is easily overcome, and as so-distractable Monkey goes wild among the fallen leaves in ‘Leaf it Alone’, the machine rise begins in ‘Nahhhhh!’…

Sadly, Metal E.V.E. makes a big mistake then, spilling Monkey’s drink and kicking the conflict to an unprecedented new level…

Pausing for Weenie, Pig, Ai and Bunny to share some ‘Scary Stories’ around a nighttime campfire, the constant crisis enters a new phase when the ghost of local legend Fantastic Le Fox manifests, even as our ape oaf is transformed into E.V.E.’s ‘Metal Monkey’…

Le Fox is ‘An Old Friend’ resolved to help the animals survive and his strategic advice is welcome, but the turning point comes in ‘Clash of the Robots’ as Metal Monkey and Steve duel, even as their mecha-mistress takes full charge, unleashing DNA-altering microbots that put the fleshy freedom fighters to flight in ‘Uh-Oh-Nano!’

Winter sets in and hostilities suddenly cease as all concerned succumb to the temptation of chucking ‘Snowballs’ and the end gets nigher in a wave of robotic attacks triggered by ‘Metal Mania’. Yet again, everything pauses as Christmas provides a moment to unwrap ‘Presents’ but – drenched in seasonal spirit – ‘An Unlikely Hero’ dares to bring the message of the moment right to the robot queen. The act unwittingly changes the course of history in the woods, leaving only some ‘Tidying Up’ to restore everything to what passes for normal…

The animal anarchy might have ended for now, but there’s more secrets to share thanks to detailed instructions on ‘How to Draw Metal Steve’ and ‘How to Draw Metal E.V.E.’ to wind down from all that angsty furore…

The zany zenith of absurdist adventure, Bunny vs Monkey is weird wit, brilliant invention, potent sentiment and superb cartooning all crammed into one eccentrically excellent package. These tails never fail to deliver jubilant joy for grown-ups of every vintage, even those who claim they only get it for their kids. This is the kind of comic parents beg kids to read to them. Shouldn’t that be you?
Text and illustrations © Jamie Smart 2022. All rights reserved.

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Last of the Dragons


By Carl Potts, Denny O’Neil, Terry Austin, Marie Severin & various (Dover Comics & Graphic Novels)
ISBN: 978-0-486-80357-9 (TPB/Digital edition)

The creative renaissance in comics during the 1980s resulted in some utterly wonderful stand-alone sagas which shone briefly and brightly – within what was still a largely niche industry – before passing from view as the business and art form battled spiralling costs, declining readerships and the perverse and pervasive attitude in the wider world that comic books were a ghetto and the natural province of mutants, morons and farm animals (I’m paraphrasing).

Unlike today, way back then the majority of grown-ups considered superheroes adolescent power fantasies or idle wish-fulfilment for the uneducated or disenfranchised, so an entertainment industry perceived as largely made up of men in tights hitting each other got very little notice in the wider world of popular fiction.

That all changed with the rise of comics’ Direct Sales Market. With its carefully targeted approach to selling, specialist vendors in dedicated emporia had leeway to allow frustrated creators to cut loose and experiment with other genres – and even formats.

All the innovation back then led inexorably to today’s high-end, thoroughly respectable graphic novel market which – with suitable and fitting circularity – is now gathering and re-circulating many breakthrough tales from those times, and not as poorly distributed serials but in satisfyingly complete stand-alone proper books.

Marvel was the unassailable front-runner in purveying pamphlet fiction back then, outselling all rivals and monopolising the lucrative licensed properties market (like Star Wars and Indiana Jones) which had once been the preserve of the Whitman/Dell/Gold Key colossus. This boosted a zeitgeist which proved that for open-minded readers, superheroes were not the only fruit…

As the Direct Sales market hit an early peak, Marvel unleashed its own rights-friendly creator-owned fantasy periodical in response to overwhelming success amongst older readers of Heavy Metal magazine. Lush, slick and lavish, HM had even brought a new, music-&- literature based audience to graphic narratives…

That response was Epic Illustrated: an anthological magazine offering stunning art and an anything-goes attitude – unhindered by the censorious Comics Code Authority – which saw everything from adaptations of Moorcock’s Elric and Harlan Ellison novellas to ‘The Last Galactus Story’, the debuts of comic book stars-in-the-making like Vanth Dreadstar and Cholly and Flytrap, plus numerous close-ended sagas which would become forerunners of today’s graphic novel industry.

These serialised yarns of finite duration included Rick Veitch’s Abraxas and the Earthman, Claremont & Bolton’s Marada the She-Wolf and a fabulously enchanting East-meets-West period fantasy entitled Last of the Dragons…

The fable was conceived by then-newcomer Carl Potts, who plotted and pencilled a globe-trotting drama for Denny O’Neil to script, before inker Terry Austin and colourist Marie Severin finished the art for Jim Novak to inscribe with a flourish of typographical verve.

The stylish opus ran intermittently in Epic Illustrated #15 through #20 (October 1982 to the end of 1983) and was collected in 1988 as a Marvel Graphic Novel under the Epic Comics aegis in the expansively extravagant, oversized European Album format: a square, high-gloss package which delivered so much more bang-per-buck than a standard comic.

Thankfully Dover retained those generous visual proportions for their glorious 2016 edition which begins with ‘The Sundering’: opening in grudgingly-changing feudal Japan of the late 19th century where aged master swordsman Masanobu peacefully meditates in the wilderness…

His Zen-like calm and solemn contemplation are callously shattered by a callow, arrogantly aggressive warrior who rudely attacks a beautiful dragon basking nearby in the sun. These magnificent reptiles are gentle, noble creatures, but the foolish samurai is hungry for glory and soon takes his bloody trophy…

After the arrogant victor has left, Masonobu meets Ho-Kan, a priestly caretaker of Dragons. The youth is overcome with horror and misery at such brutal sacrilege, but worse is to come. When the tearful cleric heads back to his temple home, he stumbles upon a corrupt faction of his brother monks covertly conditioning young forest Wyrms; shockingly brutalising them to deny their true natures and kill on (human) command…

‘The Vision’ sees traumatised Ho-Kan returned to the temple too late: ambitious, reactionary monk Shonin has returned from a journey to the outer world gripped by an appalling revelation. He has divined that the quiescent Dragons must be used to preserve Japan from outside influence – especially the insidious changes threatened by the encroaching white man’s world. In fact he has already been training the creatures to be his shock-troops…

When the elders object, Shonin’s zealots slaughter all the protesting monks before embarking for the barbarous wilds of America where they will breed and train an army of killer lizards in the lap of and under the very noses of the enemy. Ho-Kan is one of precious few of the pious to escape the butchery and vows to stop the madness somehow…

A meditative vision shows him Takashi: a half-breed boy whose Christian sailor father abandoned him. The juvenile outcast was eventually adopted by the Iga ninja clan and became a great fighter. Somehow he holds the key to defeating Shonin…

‘The Departure’ sees Ho-Kan hire the Iga to stop the corrupted monks but, when he tries to enlist Masanobu, Shonin’s acolytes capture him. Under torture all is revealed, and the debauched clerics trick the sword-master into fighting the ninjas for them. After despatching all but Takashi, the monks “invite” Masanobu to join them in the West. The elderly swordsman has no idea the saurian beasts he guards are hopelessly degraded monsters now.

‘The Arrival’ sees the monks and their hidden cargo sailing for California, unaware that an enigmatic “half-breed” has enlisted on a ship closely following. Sole surviving Iga ninja Takashi is bound in his duty and hungry for vengeance. He will not be denied…

When the priests disembark on a remote bay on the American coast their plan to slaughter the sailors and Masanobu goes badly awry after a baby dragon escapes. In the ensuing melee the aged warrior realises the true state of play and flees into the forests.

The First Nation tribes of the Californian forests are helpless before the martial arts and war-dragons of Shonin, until – in ‘The Meeting’ – they meet vengeful Takashi hot on the dragon-lords’ trail. After proving his prowess in combat by defeating the indigenous fighters, he joins with the braves, stalking the monks until they encounter Masanobu who is also determined to end this dishonourable travesty once and for all…

All of which results in a tumultuous and breathtakingly spectacular climax in ‘The Decision’ as the disparate factions collide, clashing one last time to forever decide the fate of a nation, the nature of a species and the future of heroes…

Rounding out this superb resurrection is a splendid and informative treasure trove of extra features comprising creator biographies, sample script pages, art breakdowns layouts, pencilled pages, promo art and portfolio illustrations and an effulgent, fondly reminiscent, informative Afterword from Potts – then embroiled in the laborious process of transferring Last of the Dragons from page to screen…

In its small way, this sublimely engaging pioneering prototype martial arts fantasy did much to popularise and normalise the Japanese cultural idiom at a time of great tumult and transition in the comics business but more important than that, it still reads superbly well today.

This is a magically compelling tale for fantasy fans and mature readers: an utterly delightful cross-genre romp to entice newcomers and comics neophytes whilst simultaneously beguiling dedicated connoisseurs and aficionados renewing an old acquaintance.
© 1982, 1988, 2015 Carl Potts. All rights reserved.

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Superman: The Dailies 1939-1940


By Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster with Paul Cassidy (DC/Kitchen Sink Press)
ISBN: 978-1-56389-460-2 (TPB)

It’s indisputable that the American comic book industry – if it existed at all – would have been an utterly unrecognisable thing without Superman. Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster’s unprecedented invention was rapturously adopted by a desperate and joy-starved generation, quite literally giving birth to a genre if not an actual art form.

Within three years of his 1938 debut, the intoxicating blend of breakneck, breathtaking action and wish-fulfilment that epitomised the early Man of Tomorrow spawned an impossible army of imitators. The original’s antics and variations grew to encompass cops-and-robbers crime-busting, socially reforming dramas, science fiction fantasies, and whimsical comedy. Once the war in Europe and the East ensnared America, patriotic relevance for a host of gods, heroes and monsters exploded: all dedicated to exuberant, eye-popping excess and vigorous dashing derring-do.

In comic book terms Superman was master of the world. Moreover, whilst transforming the shape of the fledgling funnybook industry, the Metropolis Marvel relentlessly expanded into all areas of the entertainment media. Although we all think of the Cleveland boys’ iconic invention as the epitome and acme of comicbook creation, the truth is that very soon after his debut in Action Comics #1, the Man of Steel became a fictional multimedia monolith in the same league as Popeye, Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes and Mickey Mouse.

We parochial and possessive comics fans too often regard our purest, most powerful icons in purely graphic narrative terms, but the likes of Batman, Spider-Man, The Avengers and their hyperkinetic kind long ago outgrew four-colour origins and are now fully mythologized media creatures instantly recognisable globally across all platforms and age ranges…

Far more people have seen or heard an actor as Superman than have ever read his comic books. The globally syndicated newspaper strips alone reached untold millions, and by the time his 20th anniversary rolled around, Superman was a thrice-weekly radio serial regular and starred in an astounding animated cartoon series, two films, on TV and a prose novel by George Lowther.

He was a perennial sure-fire success for toy, game, puzzle and apparel manufacturers and had just ended that first smash live-action television presence. In his future were three more shows (Superboy, Lois & Clark and Smallville), a stage musical, a string of blockbuster movie franchises and an almost seamless succession of games, bubble gum cards and TV cartoons beginning with The New Adventures of Superman in 1966 and continuing ever since. Even his super-dog Krypto got in on the small-screen act…

Although pretty much a spent force these days, for the majority of the last century the newspaper comic strip was the Holy Grail that all American cartoonists and graphic narrative storytellers hungered for. Syndicated across the country – and often the planet – it was seen by millions, if not billions, of readers and generally accepted as a more mature and sophisticated form of literature than comic books. It also paid better.

And rightly so: some of the most enduring and entertaining characters and concepts of all time were created to lure readers from one particular paper to another and many of them grew to be part of a global culture.

Mutt and Jeff, Flash Gordon, Dick Tracy, Buck Rogers, Charlie Brown and so many more escaped their humble tawdry newsprint origins to become meta-real: existing in the minds of earthlings from Albuquerque to Zanzibar. Most of them still do…

However it was considered something of a risky double-edged sword when a comicbook character became so popular that it swam against the tide (after all, weren’t the funny-books invented just to reprint the strips in cheap accessible form?) to become a genuinely mass-entertainment syndicated serial strip.

Superman was the first comic book star to make that leap – six months after exploding out of Action Comics – with only a few ever successfully following. Wonder Woman, Batman (eventually) and teen icon Archie Andrews made the jump in the 1940s with only a handful like Spider-Man, Howard the Duck and Conan the Barbarian doing so since.

The Superman daily newspaper strip launched on 16th January 1939, and was eventually supplemented by a full-colour Sunday page from November 5th of that so momentous year. Originally crafted by Siegel & Shuster – whose primary focus switched immediately from comic books to the more prestigious and lucrative tabloid iteration – and their hand-picked studio (including Paul Cassidy, Leo Nowak, Dennis Neville, John Sikela, Ed Dobrotka, Paul J. Lauretta & Wayne Boring), the mammoth grind soon required the additional talents of Jack Burnley and even co-writers like Whitney Ellsworth, Jack Schiff & Alvin Schwartz.

This superb collection from 1999 – long overdue for re-release, especially in this anniversary year! – opens with an Introduction by James Vance, declaring ‘A Job for Superman’ before effusively recapping the overnight sensation conception, reviewing his antecedents and regaling us with the acts of his creators (and assistants like Cassidy).

Then we see the first 10 tales (nine and a half actually) of the primal powerhouse in all-action monochrome. Wisely and boldly, the first serial – ‘Superman Comes to Earth’ (16th – 28th January 1939) only depicts the Man of Tomorrow on the last of the 12 daily episodes. Instead, Siegel & Shuster took readers to doomed planet Krypton for the first time and revealed how desperate scientist Jor-L and wife Lora were thwarted in their attempts to save the population from their own indifference and ignorance and compelled in desperation to save their newborn son by sending him away in a prototype test rocket aimed at planet Earth. Almost as an afterthought, the last strip reveals how the infant was found, adopted, raised and now operates in secret as vigilante do-gooder Superman…

Whether in pamphlet or local periodical, these tales of the modern Hercules exploded into the consciousness of the world. No one had ever seen a fictionalised hero throw all the rules of physics away and burst into unstoppable, improbable action on every page and panel. In fact, editors and publishers’ greatest concern was that the implausible antics would turn off audiences. Clearly, they could not have been more wrong…

That’s only one reason why the indomitable champion confronted problems and issues every reader was familiar with. Second adventure ‘War on Crime’ (30th January – 18th February) combined social activism and civic corruption as the mighty Man of Tomorrow begins his crusading career by rescuing ten men trapped in a vault. In fact he only saves eight and realises that he needs to be in a place where information can reach him instantly. Thus Clark Kent applies for a job at The Daily Star and stumbles into a deadly case of graft, gangsterism and high-level corruption ferreted out by dynamic reporter Lois Lane. After Superman cleans up the racketeers, the shy unassuming new guy confirms his position by scooping Lois to the first interview with the mysterious costumed vigilante…

A boxing drama follows as the Man of Steel saves a derelict from suicide and uncovers a tragic case of match-fixing and shattered dreams. ‘The Comeback of Larry Trent’ (20th February – 18th March) begins with Superman masquerading as the supposedly finished former heavyweight champion in a whirlwind tour of spectacular bouts, whilst training and rehabilitating the stumblebum to reclaim his title personally in the big championship match. Of course, the Action Ace is on hand when Trent’s crooked manager tries to dope him a second time…

Lois begins her own rise to stardom when she’s relegated to the lonely hearts and lovelorn section, turning up a sinister case of a blackmailed husband entrapped by ‘Jewel Smugglers’ (20th March – April 1st) victimising refugees fleeing war in Europe. Naturally, Superman is lurking in the shadows, ready to handle any necessary roughness required…

A string of fatalities on a construction site takes the hero into the sordid depths of capitalism in ‘Skyscraper of Death’ (3rd – 29th April) as he tackles a saboteur and exposes a ruthless businessman happy to kill innocent workers to destroy a rival, after which ‘The Most Deadly Weapon’ (1st May – 10th June) reflects the tone of the times in a chilling tale of espionage and realpolitik. When Kent interviews Professor Runyan about his deadly new poison gas, the chemist is kidnapped and murdered by spies from a foreign nation. In hot pursuit, Kent discovers the plot was instigated by an arms dealer profiteering from an ongoing civil war and calls in his other – true – self to recover (and ultimately destroy) the formula, punish the perpetrators and even spectacularly force both sides to make peace…

Early episodes never stinted on action and increasingly ingenious ways of displaying Superman’s miraculous abilities. The plan was to simply establish the set-up of an Alien Wonder among us, masquerading as an extremely puny human at a “great metropolitan newspaper” when not crushing evil as his flamboyant alter-ego. These stories are all about constant action and escalating spectacle, displaying the incredible power of a bombastic, heroic man of the people…

Heralding longer stories and more evocative plots, Siegel returned to social crusading for ‘Superman and the Runaway’ (12th June – 22nd July), as the Man of Steel recues orphan Frankie Dennis from imminent destruction and discovers a tale of shocking corruption and abuse at the State Orphanage the boy would rather die than return to. Realising this is no job for Superman, Kent enlists Lois and Frankie to expose monstrous, murderous Superintendent Lyman, but severely underestimates the grafter’s ruthlessness…

Romance taints the air next as ‘Royal Deathplot’ (24th July – 11th November) finds Superman foiling a plan to literally torpedo the diplomatic mission of visiting dignitaries King Boru and Princess Tania of Rangoria. His epic and breathtaking sea battle against a submarine is only the tip of an iceberg of trouble as Superman – and even briefly Kent – find favour in the eyes of the princess, even as elements in the royals’ own embassage continually seek their destruction. Far from impressed, but hot on a scoop, Lois sticks close and plays fifth wheel and rival to super-smitten Tania until the Man of Steel can foil the plot, crush the sinister mad scientist behind it and stabilise the political situation at home and abroad…

Historians might be interested to know that during this yarn, the use of art assistant Cassidy became markedly more noticeable. Other than handling character faces himself, Shuster was happy for the other artists to express themselves in how Siegel’s scripts were interpreted…

Major events were in store both for the hero and the whole of humanity and ‘Underworld Politics’ (13th November – 16th December) signalled the closing of a chapter. Simple cathartic super-deeds would soon take a back seat to grander designs, but only after the tale of how Superman – and especially Lois – destroyed the seemingly impregnable party machine of crooked political boss Mike Hennessey. That well-connected unworthy thought he could terrorise and even murder a crusading new District Attorney, but he was so very wrong…

After his fall Lois thought she had the front page sewed up, but didn’t figure on World War being declared in Europe…

This initial volume of pioneering paper perils begins a saga of sabotage and ‘Unnatural Disasters’ (18th December 1939 – January 6th 1940) as a mysterious gang blow up a dam and then poison the reservoir. Moments too late in each instance, all Superman can do is save what lives he can and determine to avenge the dead…

To Be Continued…

Offering timeless wonders and mesmerising excitement for lovers of action and fantasy, the early Superman is beyond compare. If you love the era or just crave simpler stories from less angst-wracked times, these yarns are perfect comics reading, and this a book you simply must see.
Superman: The Dailies volume 1 copublished by DC Comics and Kitchen Sink Press. Covers, introduction and all related names, characters and elements are ™ & © DC Comics 1998, 1999. All Rights Reserved.

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Beowulf – First Comics Graphic Novel #1


By Jerry Bingham, with Ken Bruzenak (First Comics)
ISBN: 978-0-915419-00-5 (Album PB)

The mid-1980s were a great time for comics creators. It was as if an entire new industry had opened up with the proliferation of the Direct Sales market and dedicated specialist retail outlets; new companies were experimenting with format and content, and punters had a bit of spare cash to play with. Moreover, much of the “kid’s stuff” stigma had finally abated and the US was catching up to the rest of the world in acknowledging that sequential narrative might just be an actual art-form…

Many new companies began competing for the attention and cash of punters who had grown accustomed – or resigned – to getting their four-colour kicks from DC, Marvel Archie and/or Harvey Comics. European and Japanese styled material had been creeping in but by 1983 a host of young companies such as WaRP Graphics, Pacific, Eclipse, Capital, Now, Comico, Dark Horse, First and many others had established themselves and were making impressive inroads.

New talent, established stars and fresh ideas all found a thriving forum to try something a little different both in terms of content and format. Chicago based First Comics was an early frontrunner, with Frank Brunner’s Warp, Mike Grell’s Starslayer and Jon Sable, Freelance and Howard Chaykin’s landmark American Flagg!, as well as an impressive line of titles targeting a more sophisticated audience.

In 1984 they followed Marvel and DC’s lead with a line of impressive, European-styled over-sized graphic albums featuring new and out-of-the-ordinary comics sagas (see Time Beavers, Mazinger and two volumes of Time2 to see just how bold, broad and innovative the material could be). The premier release was a stunning – subsequently award-winning (1985 Kirby Award for Best Graphic Album) – fantasy epic by Jerry Bingham.

Beowulf is a thrilling, compulsive and intensely visceral visualisation of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem committed to parchment sometime between the 8th and 11th century AD, and recently the subject of numerous screen iterations and re-interpretations.

Need a plot summary? Long ago in the far North, noble King Hrothgar built a mighty mead-hall for heroes, thereby incurring the malignant enmity of the monster Grendel. This beast ruthlessly and relentlessly raided the citadel, slaughtering many noble warriors every night. After a dozen years of horror, a valiant band of heroes led by Beowulf, Prince of the Geats, came to their aid, seeking glory and fame through battle…

The clash of Beowulf and Grendel is spectacularly handled as is the succeeding exploit wherein the stalking horror’s demonic mother comes seeking revenge and drags the warrior prince to her hideous lair beneath an icy lake, but the most effective and moving chapter is the very human-scaled Twilight of the Gods as, after 50 years ruling his Geatish kingdom, worn and elderly Beowulf goes to his final glorious battle, dying heroically whilst destroying a ravening firedrake which threatens to eradicate his people: the only proper end for a Northman Hero…

Bingham’s raw, fiercely realistic art-style perfectly captures the implacable sense of doom and by employing Prince Valiant’s text block-&-picture format he endows the tale with a grandeur frequently as mythic as Hal Foster’s strip masterpiece, whilst leaving the art gloriously free of distracting word-balloons.

Letterer/calligrapher Ken Bruzenak’s particular facility perfectly enhances the artistic mood by carefully integrating captions filled with Bingham’s free-verse transliterations of the original 3182-lines-long poem into a classic interpretation of the epic. This is a wonderful and worthy piece of work that will delight any fan of the medium. Let’s bring it back pretty please?

And for a perfect all-ages prose telling of the timeless tale I also heartily recommend Rosemary Sutcliff’s magnificent Beowulf: Dragonslayer: first released in 1961 and captivatingly illustrated by Charles Keeping. It is still readily available and one of the books that changed my life.
© 1984 First Comics, Inc. All rights reserved.

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The Mercenary – The Definitive Editions volume 1 & 2



By Vicente Segrelles, translated by Mary McKee (NBM)
ISBN: 978-1-68112-124-6 (HB/Digital edition vol 1) ISBN: 978-1-68112-124-6 (HB/Digital edition vol 2)

Born in Barcelona in 1940, Vicente Segrelles Sacristán is a renowned illustrator of magazines and book covers on three continents and the creator of one of the world’s most popular graphic novel series. His first comics album El Mercenario (The Mercenary) was released in 1982: introducing an itinerant knight-for-hire fighting his way through a fantastic world of science and sorcery, usually on the back of a flying dragon.

Rendered initially in lush oil-paints (before graduating to creating art digitally from 1998 onwards), these epic tales blend visual realism and accuracy with fable, myth, historical weaponry, contemporary technology and classical science fiction themes. These fantastic scenes are screened through the visual lens of a trained architect and engineer. Fourteen albums were released between 1982-2003, most of them seen by English-language readers through the auspices of publisher NBM.

Hugely in demand for his painted covers since the 1970s, Segrelles has created book covers for the works of H. Rider Haggard, Poul Anderson, Roger Zelazny, Alistair McLean, G. F. Unger, Desmond Bagley, Andre Norton, Joel Rosenberg, Charles DeLint, C.H. Guenter, Jason Dark, Terry Pratchett and a host of others. European prose readers may also know him as the cover artist of Italian science fiction magazine Urania.

Volume 1 – The Cult of the Sacred Fire

Segrelles came to comics relatively late in his career and the reasons for that can be learned in a prodigious “behind-the-scenes” section at the back of this stunning remastered reissue.

Originally serialised in Spanish magazine Cimoc in 1980, El Mercenario was one of the earliest European series NBM published in English and to celebrate 40 years in business the company rereleased the series in fabulous oversized (314 x 236 mm) remastered hardcover albums to once more set the world alight. If you prefer, you could instead pick up a thoroughly modern digital edition.

What’s it about?: in the mediaeval world, a region of Central Asia lies all but undiscovered. The Land of Eternal Clouds is an isolate region where life has taken a different turn at the highest mountain levels. Here bat-like reptilian fliers – “dragons” – abound and humans have made them beasts of burden. This setting is the backdrop to introduce a nameless action hero and problem-solver who is engaged in this premier tome by the puissant potentate of one super-cumulus city-state to rescue his queen from vile abductors…

Riding a gigantic bat-winged lizard, the nameless Mercenary plucks the unfortunate lady from peril and defeats the dragon-riding guards who give chase… but only at great personal and financial cost.

Happily, the wary warrior has made contingency plans and – even after they go awry following a clash with a predatory beast – is smart enough to build a mechanical flyer to replace the ones he has lost to this ill-fated mission…

This initial yarn is actually a triptych of three interrelated vignettes, and the second begins once the hero-for-hire returns the comely bride to her rich but old and flabby husband. Safely re-ensconced in the lap of luxury, she repays her dutiful saviour for spurning her amorous attentions by accusing him of assaulting her…

Despite escaping to his hastily-constructed contraption, it is not enough to keep him airborne and slowly the sell-sword plunges into the swirling cloud mass from which no man has ever returned…

Crashing to earth, he finds a wholly undiscovered world, where an old sage with a handy potion soothes his wounds and allows him to breathe better in air that cloys and clogs his lungs like soup. The Mercenary soon returns the favour after the oldster shares his woes, revealing that the family have also suffered a recent kidnapping. This time a young woman has been taken by a mystery group demanding a strange  ransom: all the alcohol the village contains…

Soon, the tireless adventurer has broached the cage in which the latest abductee hangs above certain death, only to find himself also a captive. This time it’s inside a colossal and all-but-invisible floating city ruled by mysterious cloaked figures claiming to be the Cult of the Sacred Fire…

Before long the doughty champion has discerned the incredible – but rational – secret behind all the seemingly supernatural phenomena and set the city on a course of appalling destruction and personal vengeance using all the strength, training and raw ingenuity he’s blessed with…

Fascinating background and behind-the-scenes delights abound in ‘Meet Vicente Segrelles’, relating his life and career and breaking down his working methodology. That includes how this volume and The Mercenary series came into being, liberally augmented with a wealth of illustrations from the artist’s early days, discarded paintings and drawings and a wealth of detail-shots taken from the story that precedes it.

Volume 2: The Formula

The second volume of The Mercenary’s majestic exploits begins to build an internal continuity with the introduction of a recurring villain. Requiring an aerial escort to The Great Plain, Claust the alchemist hires our soldier of fortune as bodyguard. The savant is petty and obnoxious and utter discretion is expected and enforced…

The reason becomes clear after the perilous journey leads to a hidden monastery where the Great Master shames the celebrated sage in front of his hireling. Apparently, all Claust’s great scientific discoveries were actually purchased from the hidden citadel and his glittering reputation is an unearned sham. Moreover, the cult leader now knows what kind of tyrant the alchemist is and cuts him off from any new wonders…

Shamed and enraged, Claust attacks the Great Master, steals the sage society’s most prized formula and flees for his life…

Clearly an honourable man and complete patsy, The Mercenary is then hired by the aggrieved wise men and despatched to retrieve the formula, accompanied by the enclave’s top lawkeeper: mysterious metal-shod knight Nan-Tay…

Instantly and instinctively over-competitive, the pursuers slowly bond as they stalk the fugitive carrying the most dangerous and deadly weapon in the world. Edging ever closer, they learn with horror why no one has ever exposed Claust before, and what fate the manic mage intended for his latest bodyguard…

Ambushed and overwhelmed, the hunters are eventually imprisoned in Claust’s keep whilst he rashly and too-rapidly combines the elements of the weapon he has stolen. He is unaware that Nan-Tay’s all-encompassing armour encloses an incredible secret and is utterly unprepared when the hunters break free. It’s only by sheerest chance that the alchemist escapes the cataclysm his theft and their liberation triggers…

Epic and enthralling, the adventure is augmented by a hefty, fact-&-picture-packed ‘Making of…’ feature, which opens with ‘Meet Vicente Segrelles’ before ‘Beginning the Hard Work’ shares character profiles and sumptuous preparatory paintings and story studies.

The creator’s thinking in devising distanced weaponry to be used by dragon-riders and its connections to WWI ordnance also features, as do sections on crossbow and armour designs, ancient artillery and the the role of gunpowder in The Mercenary’s world.

Although sometimes considered a little static, Segrelles’ vibrant, classical realism set a benchmark for illustrative narrative that has inspired generations of artists and millions of readers. This landmark series is a long overdue and welcome returnee to our bookshelves and seems certain to garner a whole new legion of fans and admirers.
© 2015 Vicente Segrelles. English Translation © 2017 NBM for the English Translation.

For more information and other great reads see http://www.nbmpub.com/

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Viking Glory: The Viking Prince


By Lee Marrs & Bo Hampton, lettered by Tracey Hampton-Munsey (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-56389-001-7 (HB) 978-1-56389-007-9 (TPB)

During the intentionally anodyne mid-1950s, when superheroes languished in a seemingly inescapable trough, comic book companies looked to different forms of leading men for their action heroes. Following movie trends, in 1955 writer/editor Robert Kanigher devised an adventure comic entitled The Brave and the Bold featuring historical action strips.

Illustrated by Russ Heath, The Golden Gladiator was set in the declining days of Imperial Rome. Courtesy of veteran draughtsman Irv Novick, Silent Knight fought injustice in post-Norman Invasion Britain and the already-legendary Joe Kubert limned the increasingly astounding and uncanny exploits of a valiant young Norseman dubbed the Viking Prince.

This last strip appeared in all but one issue (#6), before eventually taking over the entire comic, until the burgeoning superhero resurgence of the Silver Age saw B&B metamorphose into a try-out title from its 25th issue.

Those fanciful, “Hollywood-styled” Viking sagas are some of the finest fantasy comics of all time and long overdue for a definitive archival collection of their own. Star character Jon has long been a fan-favourite, regularly returning in DC’s war titles and guest-starring in such varied venues as Sgt. Rock and Justice League of America.

This beautiful, vital and enchanting tale was released to very little fanfare or editorial support in 1991, yet remains a worthy sequel to those early strips and is also long overdue for revival and re-issue…

Scripter Lee Marrs (Pudge: Girl Blimp, Wimmen’s Comix, Wonder Woman, Zatanna, Pre-teen, Dirty-Gene Kung Fu Kangaroos, Indiana Jones) took all the advances in our historical knowledge since the 1950s and blended them with the timeless basics of a Classical Edda to entrancing effect. Amidst a culture vibrantly brought to full life by her words and hyper-realist Bo Hampton’s awesome skill with a paintbrush, Marrs took a passionate but reserved traditional archetype and remade him as a fiery young hero of devastating charm, brimming with the boisterous vigour of his mythic breed, before confronting him with his worst nightmare.

In 10th century Scandinavia, Jon Rolloson – heir to Jarl Rollo of Gallund – is an ideal Northman’s son: fast, tough, fearless and irresistible to all the village maidens. However, the greatest horror of his 16 years has finally come for him: an arranged marriage for political advantage. He must leave his home and the Viking life to wed a “Civilised” princess. His joyous days are all done…

Princess Asa of Hedeby is a young beauty every inch his match in vigour and vitality, but also as composed and smart as he is coarse and oafish. Sadly, someone is stealthily seeking to thwart the match, even though Jon’s boorishness is enough to give both fathers cause to reconsider. Following the first meeting, only the Viking Prince’s rash vow to recover a lost rune treasure and slay a fearsome dragon preserves the bargain. The wedding will proceed… once he has found and killed Ansgar, the vilest of all Fire-Wyrms, and not perished in the process…

As well as being a superb scripter of comics, Marrs is an underground cartoonist legend, animator and computer artist who assisted Hal Foster on that other sword-wielding epic Prince Valiant. Her grasp of human character – especially comedically – elevates this classic tale of romantic endeavour into a multi-faceted gem of captivating quality. Hampton has created some of the best drawn or painted comics in the medium (like Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Verdilak, Swamp Thing, Moon Knight, Greylore, Demons of Sherwood, Batman: Castle of the Bat, The Once and Future Tarzan) and this book is probably still the very best of them.

One of the most accomplished and enjoyable historical romances ever produced in comic form, Viking Glory deserves to be on every fan’s bookshelf. Let’s hope that it’s on DC’s shortlist for a swift re-release in both printed parchment and aetheric electrons…
© 1991 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.