Category: Adventure

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Vixen: Return of the Lion


By G. Willow Wilson & CAFU, with Bit, Josh Middleton & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2512-4 (TPB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Welcome to Black History Month UK 2025. The theme this year is “Standing Firm in Power and Pride” and nobody ever accused us of being subtle…

In 1978 fashion model Mari Jiwe McCabe nearly became the first black woman to star in her own American comic book. Sadly, the infamous “DC Implosion” of that year saw the Vixen series cancelled before release. She eventually premiered three years later in Action Comics #521’s ‘The Deadly Rampage of the Lady Fox’ (by creator Gerry Conway and Superman mainstays Curt Swan & Frank Chiaramonte) and thereafter remained, lurking around the DC Universe until she joined a re-booted JLA (latterly dubbed “JLA Detroit”) in Justice League of America Annual #2.

A classic team-player, over intervening decades working within assorted JLA rosters, Suicide Squad, Ultramarine Corps, Checkmate and the Birds of Prey, Vixen’s origin has changed a lot less than most. It even remained mostly un-meddled-with when she made the jump to TV as part of the DC Legends of Tomorrow show.

Mari Jiwe comes from a line of warriors blessed by animist Trickster god Kwaku Anansi. The mythical creator of all stories claims to have designed her abilities – and those of fellow bestial hero Animal Man – allowing Vixen, through use of an arcane artefact dubbed the Tantu Totem, to channel the attributes and signature abilities of every animal that has ever lived.

As a child in M’Changa Province, Zambesi, Mari’s mother was killed by poachers and her missionary father murdered by his own brother over possession of the Totem. To thwart her uncle, the orphan moved to America, eventually becoming a fashion model to provide funding and cover for her mission of revenge…

At first a reluctant superhero, Vixen became one of the most effective crusaders on the international scene and was a key member of the Justice League (the one just before the New 52 Reboot). Previously, when her powers began to malfunction she was forced to confront Anansi himself (for which tales see Justice League of America: Sanctuary and Justice League of America: Second Coming).

Scripted by author, essayist, journalist and comics scribe G. Willow Wilson (Cairo, Air, Ms. Marvel, Wonder Woman) and illustrated by Carlos Alberto Fernandez Urbano AKA CAFU (Action Comics, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, Imperium, Unity), Vixen: Return of the Lion was originally seen as a 5-part miniseries in 2009. We open here with ‘Predators’ wherein a League operation uncovers a plot by techno-thugs Intergang to fund a revolution in troubled African nation Zambesi.

Amongst impounded files is a record “proving” that 15 years earlier, Vixen’s mother was actually killed by Aku Kwesi, a local warlord working with the American criminal organisation. When Mari learns this truth, not even Superman can stop her from heading straight to her old village to find the man responsible. Africa is not America, however, and the lawless settlement has no time for a woman who does not know her place – even if she does have superpowers. When Kwesi appears, Vixen’s abilities are useless against him and she escapes with her life only because the warlord’s lieutenant Sia intervenes…

In ‘Prey’, broken, gravely wounded Mari is dumped in the veldt by Sia and staggers her way across the war-ravaged plain, battling beasts and hallucinating – or maybe meeting real ghosts – until she is attacked by a young lion and rescued by a holy man.

Alarmed at Vixen’s disappearance and further discoveries connecting Kwesi to Intergang, the JLA mobilise in ‘Sanctuary’ as lost Vixen slowly recuperates in a place where the constant conflicts of fang & claw survival are suspended. Here, saintly Brother Tabo offers Mari new perspective and greater understanding of her abilities. Her JLA colleagues, meanwhile, have exposed Intergang’s infiltration but fallen to a power even Superman could not resist…

As the League struggles against overwhelming odds, ‘Risen’ sees a transcendent Vixen flying to the rescue, and picking up some unexpected allies before facing her greatest challenge in shocking conclusion ‘Idols’, wherein more hidden truths are revealed and a greater mystery begins to unfold…

Featuring a gallery of stunning covers by Josh Middleton, this is an exceptional and moodily exotic piece of Fights ‘n’ Tights fluff to delight devotees of the genre and casual readers alike, and one long overdue for re-release and inclusion in the growing library of environmentally-beneficial digital comics and books. This gem isn’t even available digitally and that’s just a crime against comics consuming nature…
© 2006, 2009 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Today in 1940 was the birthday of groundbreaking comics auteur Richard Corben, creator of Den, although we rather liked his Haunt of Horror: Lovecraft. It also marks the first appearance of Zack Mosely’s Smilin’ Jack newspaper strip, and the passing of Golden Age great Bob Powell, who we most recently lauded via Bob Powell’s Complete Cave Girl.

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The Shadow 1941: Hitler’s Astrologer


By Dennis O’Neil, Michael William Kaluta & Russ Heath with Mike Kelleher, Mark Chiarello, Nick Jainschigg, John Wellington, Phil Felix & various (Dynamite Entertainment)
ISBN: 978-1-60690-429-9 (HB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content included for dramatic effect.

Russ Heath would have been 99 years old today: a master comics craftsman so few have ever heard of. I don’t think there’s even a definitive collection or a signature title to his name. He did his job masterfully and always moved on, and remains almost practically unknown. The pages of Sgt Rock original art I own are among my most treasured possessions, and every baby boomer who read US comics knew his work because of this and others like it.

Russell Heath Jr. was born in New York City on September 29th 1926 and raised in New Jersey. Influenced by cowboy artist Will James and others, Heath was self-taught and fiercely diligent, demanding authenticity of himself in all his work. This helped him break into comic books while still at High School (episodes of naval strip Hammerhead Hawley for Captain Aero Comics beginning with vol. 2, #2 in September 1942).

Eager to serve his country, Heath left Montclair High School early in 1945 for the Air Force. Whilst in the military he contributed cartoons to the Camp newspaper before shipping out. When peace broke out, he worked briefly as an ad agency gofer until in 1947 he landed a regular job with Timely Comics. Now married, Heath started working from home, drawing Kid Colt and Two Gun Kid, offerings for the dwindling superhero market and sundry horror stories and covers. He hit an early peak in the 1950s, with a wealth of western and horror features as well as co-creating Marvel Boy, limning Venus and The Human Torch during the abortive attempt to revive superheroes in 1953, whilst mostly crafting crime and romance tales,

He branched out: trying his hand on EC’s Mad and Frontline Combat, 3D comics for St. John’s and earned a reputation for gritty veracity in war and straight adventure stories (such as Robin Hood and Golden Gladiator for DC’s The Brave and the Bold). Heath started contributing to DC’s war line in early 1954, with strips in Our Army at War #23 and Star Spangled War Stories #22. It was good fit and he spent the next 15 years working with writer/editor Robert Kanigher, with whom he co-created The Haunted Tank, Losers and Sea Devils. All along he remained a stalwart of anthological compact combat yarns, but increasingly guested on and eventually took over full time illustrating prestigious Sgt. Rock.

Infamously and unjustly, many of his panels were co-opted by pop artist Roy Lichtenstein as the basis of his paintings (specifically Whaam!, Blam, Okay Hot-Shot, Okay!, and Brattata). Heath’s other contributions to American pop culture include those iconic ads for toy soldiers and a stint on Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder’s ubiquitous Playboy satire strip Little Annie Fanny. Later landmarks include launching a new Lone Ranger newspaper strip with Cary Bates in 1981, and illustrating Michael Fleisher’s infamous Death of Jonah Hex story. Eventually he moved into animation and out to the west coast, but remained in contact with his comics roots, providing occasional returns on titles such as Planet of the Vampires, Mister Miracle, Ka-Zar, The Punisher, Shadowmasters, G.I. Joe and Immortal Iron Fist among others. Having been awarded almost every award going, Heath was in semi-retirement when he died on the 23rd August 2018.

Despite adoring all that apparently unhip war and western stuff, we’re being contrary as ever and highlighting something a little different, but as it’s a special occasion you might want to also track down Hearts and Minds: A Vietnam War Story please link to 29th August 2018. Not our review, the actual book. It’s a Lost Treasure…

Here and now though let’s pop back to the early 1930s, when The Shadow gave thrill-starved Americans their measured doses of extraordinary excitement via cheaply produced pulp periodical novels and over the mood-drenched airwaves via his own radio show. Like comics once upon a time, “Pulps” were published in every style and genre in their hundreds every month, ranging from the truly excellent to the pitifully dire, but for exotic or esoteric adventure-lovers there were two stars who outshone all others. The Superman of his day was Doc Savage, whilst the premier dark, relentless creature of the night dispensing terrifying grim justice was the putative hero featured here…

Radio series Detective Story Hour (based on stand-alone yarns from Street & Smith publication Detective Story Magazine) used a spooky-toned narrator (variously Orson Welles, James LaCurto or Frank Readick Jr.) to introduce each tale. He was dubbed “the Shadow” and from the very start on July 31st 1930 was more popular than the stories he related. The Shadow rapidly evolved into a hands-on hero, solving instead of sharing mysteries and, on April 1st 1931, started starring in his own printed adventures. These were written by astonishingly prolific Walter Gibson under house pseudonym Maxwell Grant. On September 26th 1937 the radio show officially became The Shadow with the eerie mantra “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of Men? The Shadow knows!” unforgettably ringing out over the airwaves.

Over the next 18 years 325 novels were published, usually at two a month. The creepy crusader spawned comic books, movies, a newspaper strip and all the merchandising paraphernalia you’d expect of a smash-hit superstar brand. The pulp series officially ended in 1949, although Gibson and others added to the canon during the 1960s when a pulp/fantasy revival gripped the world, generating reprinted classic yarns and a run of new stories as paperback novels. There are also new yarns turning up to this day…

In graphic terms The Shadow was a major player. His national newspaper strip by Vernon Greene launched on June 17th 1940, and when comic books really took off, the Man of Mystery had a four-colour title; running March 1940 to September 1949. Thanks to Robert Bernstein, Jerry Siegel, John Rosenberger & Paul Reinman, Archie Comics published a controversial contemporary reworking in 1964-1965 for their Radio/Mighty Comics imprint.

In 1973 DC acquired rights to produce a captivating, brief but definitive series of classic comics unlike any other superhero title then on the stands. DC periodically revived the venerable vigilante and after the runaway success of Crisis on Infinite Earths, The Dark Knight Returns and Watchman, Howard Chaykin was allowed to utterly overhaul the vintage feature for an audience finally recognised as grown-up enough to handle more sophisticated fare. This led to further, adult-oriented iterations and one cracking outing from Marvel before Dark Horse assumed the license of the quintessential grim avenger for the latter half of the 1990s and beyond.

Dynamite Entertainment secured that option in 2011 and, whilst reissuing much of those earlier efforts, began a series of new monthly Shadow comics. A year after Chaykin and DC catapulted The Shadow into the grim ‘n’ grungy contemporary consumer arena, the dream-team that had first returned him to comics prominence reunited for a larger-than-life grand romp, ably abetted by the inking skills of master artist Russ Heath.

In the early 1970s Denny O’Neil & Michael Kaluta had produced a superb series of adventures (collected as The Private Files of the Shadow plee link to January 19th 2009), set in the mad scientist/spy/gangster-ridden ‘thirties. When they reunited to produce a Marvel Graphic novel, expectations were high, and in many ways that complex, devious yarn was the final chapter of that astounding graphic procession. Dynamite’s 2013 re-release of Hitler’s Astrologer saw the entire affair re-mastered by Mike Kelleher, finally doing justice to the colouring of Mark Chiarello, Nick Jainschigg and John Wellington – as well as letterer Phil Felix – which had not fared well under Marvel’s production processes of that earlier time.

On Easter Sunday 1941 a beautiful woman is pursued through the teeming crowds of Times Square theatre-goers by sinister thugs until rescued in the nick of time by agents of The Shadow. She is Gretchen Baur, personally despatched to America by Josef Goebbels to gather astrological data for the Reich’s Ministry of Propaganda. However, now the confused fräulein cannot understand why agents of her own government have tried to abduct her… until The Shadow reveals that she is an unwitting pawn in a deadly battle for supremacy within the Nazi Party. It all revolves around her father, Der Führer’s personal astrologer…

And thus begins a tense, intricate conspiracy thriller ranging from the bloody streets of New York through the shell-pocked skies of Europe to the very steps of Hitler’s palace in Berlin, as a desperate plan to subvert the course of the war comes up hard against a twisted, thwarted love and a decades-long hunt for vengeance…

Deliciously deranged and suitably Wagnerian in style, this action-packed mystery drama exudes period charm. Nobody has ever realised The Shadow and his cohorts as well as Kaluta, whilst Russ Heath’s sleek mastery adds weight and volume to the cataclysmic proceedings.

This sinister saga of the man in the black slouch hat with the girasol ring is another superb addition to the annals of the original Dark Knight, and one no one addicted to action and mystery should miss.

The Shadow ® & © 2013 Advance Magazine Publishers Inc. ® ™ & © Conde Nast. All Rights Reserved.

Today in 1916 was born Britain’s master of mordant wit Carl Giles. Last time we shared a laugh with him was Giles: the Collection 2014, whilst in 1947 underground legend Greg Irons first checked in. Our proudest moment is reviewing his outrageous The Wyf of Bath (The Wife of Bath) please link to March 9th 2018. Good luck finding that, but his other stuff is darn good too!

In 1988 utterly urbane arcane cartoonist Charles Addams went to his – or at least somebody’s – grave. You can check him out just by scrolling back to yesterday…

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DC Finest: The Spectre – The Wrath of the Spectre


By Gardner F. Fox, Bob Haney, Mike Friedrich, Steve Skeates, Dennis J. O’Neil, Mark Hanerfeld, Jack Miller, Michael L. Fleisher, Paul Kupperberg, Mike W. Barr, Roy Thomas, Murphy Anderson, Carmine Infantino, Ross Andru & Mike Esposito, Neal Adams, Jerry Grandenetti, Jack Sparling, Bernie Wrightson, José Delbo, Jim Aparo, Frank Thorne, Ernie Chan, Michael R. Adams, Rick Hoberg, Jerry Ordway, Richard Howell, Larry Houston, Gerald Forton & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-3417-1 (TPB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times

This stunning compilation is another long-awaited full colour chronolgically curated compilation delivering “affordably priced, large- paperback collections” highlighting DC’s past glories. Sadly, none are yet available digitally, as were the last decade’s Bronze, Silver and Golden Age collections, but we live in hope…

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Sublime Seasonal Spookfest for Comics Addicts… 10/10

Created by Jerry Siegel & Bernard Baily in 1940 and debuting via a 2-part origin epic in More Fun Comics #52 & 53, The Spectre is one of the oldest characters in DC’s vast character stable. Crucially, just like Siegel’s other iconic creation, the Ghostly Guardian soon began suffering from a basic design flaw: he was just too darn powerful. However, unlike Superman this relentless champion of justice is already dead, so he can’t really be logically or dramatically imperilled. Moreover, in those far off early days that wasn’t nearly as important as sheer spectacle: forcibly grabbing the reader’s utter attention and keeping it stoked to a fantastic fever pitch.

Starting as a virtually omnipotent phantom, the Astral Avenger evolved over various revivals, refits and reboots into a tormented mortal soul bonded inescapably to the actual embodiment of the biblical Wrath of God…

The story is a genuinely gruesome one: police detective Jim Corrigan is callously executed by gangsters before being called back to the land of the living. Commanded to fight crime and evil by a glowing light and disembodied voice, he was indisputably the most formidable hero of the Golden Age. He has been revamped many times, and in the 1990s was revealed to be God’s own Spirit of Vengeance wedded to a human conscience. When Corrigan was finally laid to rest, Hal (Green Lantern) Jordan and murdered Gotham City cop Crispus Allen replaced him as the mitigating conscience of the unstoppable, easily irked force of Divine Retribution. Last time I looked, Corrigan had the job again…

However, the true start of that radically revitalised career began in the superhero-saturated mid-1960s when, hot on the heels of feverish fan-interest in the alternate world of the Justice Society of America and Earth-2 (where all their WWII heroes retroactively resided), DC began trying out solo revivals of 1940’s characters, as a counterpoint to such wildly successful Silver Age reconfigurations as Flash, Green Lantern, Atom and Hawkman…

This colossal compilation documents the almighty Man of Darkness’ resurrection in the Swinging Sixties, his landmark reinterpretation in the horror-soaked, brutalised 1970s and even finds room for some later appearances before the character was fully de-powered and retrofitted for the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths DC Universe. As such, this Spectre-acular tome of terror (660 subtly sinister peril-packed pages!) re-presents material from Showcase #60, 61 & 64; team-up tales from The Brave and the Bold #72, 75, 116, 180 & 199; The Spectre #1-10; lead strips from Adventure Comics #431-440: a tryptich serial from horror-anthology Ghosts #97-99 and a wartime-set saga from JSA retro hit All-Star Squadron #27-28: cumulatively channelling January/February 1966 to December 1983.

Back in the Sixties DC had attempted a number of Earth-2 team-iterations (Starman & Black Canary – with Wildcat – in The Brave and the Bold #61-62, whilst Showcase #55 & 56 spotlighted Doctor Fate & Hourman, with a cameo from the original Green Lantern), but inspirational editor Julie Schwartz & scripter Gardner F. Fox only finally achieved their ambition to relaunch a Golden Age hero into his own title with the revival of the Ghostly Guardian in Showcase. It had been hard going and perhaps ultimately happened only thanks to a growing general public taste for supernatural stories…

After three full length appearances and many guest-shots, The Spectre won his own solo series at the end of 1967, just as the superhero craze went into steep decline, but arguably Showcase #60 (cover-dated January/February 1966 but actually on sale from Novenember 25th 1965) anticipated the rise of supernatural comics by re-introducing Corrigan and his phantom passenger in ‘War That Shook the Universe’ by Earth-2 team supreme Fox & illustrator Murphy Anderson. This spectacular saga reveals why the Heroic Haunt had vanished two decades previously, leaving fundamentally human (but dead) Corrigan to pursue his war against evil on merely mortal terms – until a chance encounter with a psychic investigator frees the spirit buried deep within him. A diligent search reveals that, 20 years previously, a supernal astral invader broke into the Earth plane and possessed a mortal, but was so inimical to our laws of reality that both it and the Grim Ghost were locked into their meat shells until now…

Thus began a truly Spectre-acular (feel free to groan, but that’s what they called it back then) clash with devilish diabolical Azmodus that spans all creation and blew the minds of us gobsmacked kids…

Showcase #61 (March/April) upped the ante as even more satanic Shathan the Eternal subsequently insinuates himself into our realm from ‘Beyond the Sinister Barrier’: stealing mortal men’s shadows until he is powerful enough to conquer the physical universe. This time The Spectre treats us to an exploration of the universe’s creation before narrowly defeating the source of all evil…

The Sentinel Spirit paused before re-manifesting in Showcase #64 (September/October 1966) for a marginally more mundane but no less thrilling case after ‘The Ghost of Ace Chance’ takes up residence in Jim’s body. By this time, it was established that ghosts need a mortal anchor to recharge their ectoplasmic “batteries”, with this unscrupulous crooked gambler determined to inhabit the best frame available…

Try-out run concluded, the editors sat back and waited for sales figures to dictate the next move. When they proved inconclusive, Schwartz orchestrated a concerted publicity campaign to further promote Earth-2’s Ethereal Adventurer. Thus The Brave and the Bold #72 (June/ July 1967) saw the Sentinel Spook clash with Earth-1’s Scarlet Speedster in ‘Phantom Flash, Cosmic Traitor’ (by Bob Haney, Carmine Infantino & Charles “Chuck” Cuidera). This sinister saga sees the mortal meteor arcanely transformed into a sinister spirit-force and power-focus for expired but unquiet American aviator Luther Jarvis who returns from his death in 1918 to wreak vengeance on the survivors of his squadron – until the Spectre intervenes…

Due to the vagaries of comic book scheduling, B&B #75 (December 1967/January 1968) appeared at around the same time as The Spectre #1, although the latter had a cover-date of November/December 1967. In this edition it follows the debut of the haunted hero in his own title…

‘The Sinister Lives of Captain Skull’, by Fox & Anderson, divulges how the botched assassination of American Ambassador Joseph Clanton and an experimental surgical procedure allows one of the diplomat’s earlier incarnations to seize control of his body and, armed with mysterious eldritch energies, run amok on Earth. These “megacyclic energy” abilities enable the revenant to harm and potentially destroy the Grim Ghost, compelling the Spectre to pursue the piratical Skull through a line of previous lives until he can find their source and purge the peril from all time and space. Meanwhile over in the Batman team-up tale – scripted by Haney and limned by Ross Andru & Mike Esposito – Ghostly Guardian joins Dark Knight to liberate Earth-One Gotham City’s Chinatown from ‘The Grasp of Shahn-Zi!’: an ancient oriental sorcerer determined to prolong his reign of terror at the expense of an entire community and through the sacrifice of an innocent child, after which the Astral Avenger proceeded on Earth-Two in his own title…

With #2 (January/February 1968) artistic iconoclast Neal Adams came aboard for Fox-scripted mystery ‘Die Spectre – Again’ wherein crooked magician Dirk Rawley accidentally manifests his etheric self and severely tests both Corrigan and his phantom lodger as they seek to end the double-menace’s string of crimes, mundane and magical. At this time, the first inklings of a distinct separation and individual identities began. The two halves of the formerly sole soul of Corrigan were beginning to disagree and even squabble…

Neophyte scripter Mike Friedrich joined Adams for #3’s ‘Menace of the Mystic Mastermind’ wherein pugilistic paragon Wildcat faces the inevitable prospect of age and infirmity even as an inconceivable force from another universe possesses petty thug Sad Jack Dold, turning him into a nigh-unstoppable force of cosmic chaos.

Next, ‘Stop that Kid… Before He Wrecks the World’ was written & illustrated by Adams with a similar trans-universal malignity deliberately empowering a young boy as a prelude to its ultimate conquest, whilst #5’s ‘The Spectre Means Death?’ (all Adams again) appears to show the Astral Adept transformed into a pariah and deadly menace to society, until Corrigan’s investigations uncover emotion-controlling villain Psycho Pirate at the root of the Heroic Haunt’s problems…

Despite the incredible talent and effort lavished upon it, The Spectre simply wasn’t finding a big enough audience. Adams left for superhero glory elsewhere and a hint of changing tastes emerged as veteran horror comics illustrator Jerry Grandenetti came aboard. Issue #6 (September/October 1968) saw his eccentric, manic cartooning adding raw wildness to the returning Fox’s moody thriller ‘Pilgrims of Peril!’ Anderson also re-enlisted, applying a solid ink grounding to the story of a sinister quartet of phantom Puritans who invade the slums of Gateway City, driving out the poor and hopeless as they hunt long-lost arcane treasures. These would allow demon lord Nawor of Giempo access to Earth unless Spectre can win his unlife or death duel with the trans-dimensional horror…

As the back of #7 was dedicated to a solo strip starring Hourman (not included here), The Spectre saga here – by Fox, Grandenetti & Anderson – was a half-length tale following the drastic steps necessary to convince the soul of bank-robber Frankie Barron to move on. As he was killed during a heist, the astral form of aversion therapy used to cure ‘The Ghost That Haunted Money!’ proves not only ectoplasmically effective but outrageously entertaining…

Issue #8 (January/February 1969) was scripted by Steve Skeates and began a last-ditch and obviously desperate attempt to turn The Spectre into something the new wave of anthology horror readers would buy.

As a twisted, time-lost apprentice wizard struggles to return to Earth after murdering his master and stealing cosmic might from the void, on our mundane plane an exhausted Ghostly Guardian neglects his duties and is taken to task by his celestial creator. As a reminder of his error, the Penitent Phantasm is burdened by a fluctuating weakness – which would change without warning – to keep him honest and earnest. What a moment then, for desperate disciple Narkran to return, determined to secure an elevated god-like existence by securing ‘The Parchment of Power Perilous!’…

The Spectre #9 completed the transition, opening with an untitled short from Friedrich (illustrated by Grandenetti & Bill Draut) finding the Man of Darkness again overstepping his bounds by executing a criminal. This prompts Corrigan to refuse the weary wraith the shelter of his reinvigorating form and when the Grim Ghost then assaults his own host form, the Heavenly Voice punishes the spirit by chaining him to the dreadful Journal of Judgment: demanding he atone by investigating the lives inscribed therein in a trial designed to teach him again the value of mercy.

The now anthologised issue continued with ‘Abraca-Doom!’ (Dennis J. O’Neil & Bernie Wrightson) as The Spectre attempts to stop a greedy carnival conjurer signing a contract with the Devil, whilst ‘Shadow Show’ – by Mark Hanerfeld & Jack Sparling – details the fate of a cheap mugger who thinks he can outrun the consequences of a capital crime. The Spectre gave up the ghost, folding with #10 (May/June 1969), but not before a quartet of tantalising tales shows what might have been. ‘Footsteps of Disaster’ (Friedrich, Grandenetti & George Roussos) follow a man from cradle to early grave, revealing the true wages of sin, whilst ‘Hit and Run’ (Steve Skeates & Jose Delbo) proves again that the Spirit of Judgment is not infallible and even human scum might be redeemed. Jacks Miller & Sparling asked ‘How Much Can a Guy Take?’ with a shoeshine boy pushed almost too far by an arrogant mobster before the series closed with a cunning murder mystery involving what appeared to be a killer ventriloquist’s doll in Miller, Grandenetti & Roussos’ ‘Will the Real Killer Please Rise?’ With that the Astral Avenger returned to comic book limbo for nearly half a decade until changing tastes and another liberalising of the Comics Code saw him arise as lead feature in Adventure Comics #431 (January/February 1974) for a shocking run of macabre, ultra-violent tales from Michael L. Fleisher, Jim Aparo and friends

‘The Wrath of… The Spectre’ offered a far more stark, unforgiving take on the Sentinel Spirit; reflecting the increasingly violent tone of the times. Here, a gang of murderous thieves slaughter the crew of a security truck and are tracked down by a harsh, uncompromising police lieutenant named Corrigan. When the bandits are exposed, the cop unleashes a horrific green and white apparition from his body which inflicts ghastly punishments horrendously fitting their crimes.

With art continuity (and no, I’m not sure what that means either) from Russell Carley, the draconian encounters continue in #432 as in ‘The Anguish of… The Spectre’ assassins murder millionaire Adrian Sterling and Corrigan meets the victim’s daughter. Although the now-infallible Wrathful Wraith soon exposes and excises the culprits, the dead detective has to reveal his true nature to grieving Gwen. Moreover, Corrigan begins to feel the stirring of impossible, unattainable yearnings…

Adventure #433 exposed ‘The Swami and… The Spectre’ with Gwen seeking spiritual guidance from a ruthless charlatan who promptly pays an appalling price when he finally encounters an actual ghost, whilst #434’s ‘The Nightmare Dummies and… The Spectre’ (with additional pencils by Frank Thorne), reveals a plague of department store mannequins running wild in a killing spree at the behest of a crazed artisan who believes in magic – but cannot imagine the cost of his dabbling. AC #435 introduces journalist Earl Crawford who tracks ghastly fallout of the vengeful spirit’s anti-crime campaign in ‘The Man Who Stalked The Spectre!’ Of course, once he sees the ghost in grisly action, Crawford realises the impossibility of publishing this scoop…

Adventure #436 finds Crawford still trying to sell his implausible story as ‘The Gasmen and… The Spectre’ sets the Spectral Slaughterman on the trail of a gang who kill everyone at a car show as a simple demonstration of intent before blackmailing the city. Their gorily inescapable fate only puts Crawford closer to exposing Corrigan…

Meanwhile elsewhere, Haney & Aparo reunite Batman, Detective Corrigan and a far kinder Spectre for Brave and the Bold #116’s ‘Grasp of the Killer Cult’, as the heroes hunt WWII veterans targetted by the spirits of dead Kali worshippers on a murder spree to generate enough arcane energy to resurrect their goddess, before Adventure #437’s ‘The Human Bombs and… The Spectre’ (pencilled by Ernie Chan with Aparo inks) sees a kidnapper abduct prominent persons – including Gwen – to further a mad scheme to amass untold wealth… until the Astral Avenger ends both financial aspirations and deadly depredations forever.

Despite critical acclaim – and popular controversy – the weird writing was on the wall for the grimmest ghost ever and AC #438 heralded the beginning of the end in Fleischer, Chan & Aparo’s ‘The Spectre Haunts the Museum of Fear’. Here a deranged taxidermist turns people into unique dioramas until the original spirit of vengeance intervenes. The end was in sight again for the Savage Shade and #439’s ‘The Voice that Doomed… The Spectre’ (all Aparo art) turns the wheel of death full circle, as the Heavenly Presence who created him allows Corrigan to fully live again so that he can marry Gwen. Sadly, it’s only to have the joyous hero succumb to ‘The Second Death of The… Spectre’ in the next, last issue (#440, July/ August 1975) before tragically resuming his never-ending mission. This milestone serial set a stunning new tone and style for the Ghostly Guardian which has informed each iteration ever since…

By the early 1980s, the latest horror boom had exhausted itself and DC’s anthology comics were disappearing. As part of the effort to keep them alive, Ghosts featured a 3-part serial starring “Ghost-Breaker” and inveterate sceptic Dr. Terry 13 who at last encounters ‘The Spectre’ in issue #97 (February 1981, by Paul Kupperberg, Michael R. Adams & Tex Blaisdell). Here, terrorists invade a high society séance and are summarily dispatched by the inhuman poetic justice of a freshly-manifested Astral Avenger. Resolved to destroy the sadistic revenant vigilante, recently converted true beliver Dr. 13 returns in #98 when‘The Haunted House and The Spectre’ finds the Ghost-Breaker interviewing Earl Crawford and subsequently discovering the long-sought killer of his own father. Before 13 can act, however, the Spectre appears to hijack his justifiable retribution…

The drama ends in Ghosts #99 as ‘Death… and The Spectre’ (inked by Tony DeZuñiga) sees scientist and spirit locked in one final furious confrontation. Then more team-up classics from Brave and the Bold follow, beginning with ‘The Scepter of the Dragon God’ (by Fleisher & Aparo from #180, November 1980). Although Chinese wizard Wa’an-Zen steals enough mystic artefacts to conquer Earth and destroy The Spectre, he gravely underestimates the skill and bravery of merely mortal Batman, before #199’s ‘The Body-napping of Jim Corrigan’ (June 1983 by Mike W. Barr, Andru & Rick Hoberg), depicts the undead investigator baffled by the abduction and disappearance of his mortal host. Even though he cannot trace his own body, the Spectre knows where the World’s Greatest Detective hangs out…

This staggering compendium of supernatural thrillers concludes with a two-part saga from revivalist treat All-Star Squadron #27 & 28 as Roy Thomas, Jerry Ordway, Richard Howell, Larry Houston & Gerald Forton take us back to embattled 1942 where America’s greatest superheroes strive against the last outbreak of fascist tendencies.

Here the Golden Age Superman, Batman and Robin join Doctor Fate, Tarantula, Firebrand, The Atom, Hawkman, Phantom Lady, Amazing Man, Commander Steel, Dr. Mid-nite, Starman, Sandman, Flash, The Guardian, Johnny Thunder, Green Lantern, Johnny Quick, Liberty Belle and Wonder Woman go in search of a missing ghostly Guardian only to learn ‘A Spectre is Hanting the Multiverse!’ with the mightiest being in creation enslaved to pan-dimensional tyrant Kulak, High Priest of Brztal and facilitating a long-anticipated scheme to eradicate Earth, it’s no small mercy that humanity has other uncanny defenders – such as Sargon the Sorceror – to call upon…

Although an incongruously superhero-heavy tale to end on this compilation covers much of the darlest corners of DC legend and fable. With covers by Anderson, Infantino, Jack Adler, Adams, Grandenetti, Nick Cardy, Aparo, Tatjana Wood, George Tuska, Anthony Tollin & Jerry Ordway, and ranging from fabulously fantastical to darkly, violently enthralling, these comic masterpieces perfectly encapsulate the way superheroes changed over a brief 20-year span, but remain throughout some of the most beguiling and exciting tales of the company’s canon. If you love comic books you’d be crazy to ignore this one.
© 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1974, 1975, 1981, 1983, 2012 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

On this day in 1867 strip pioneer Winsor McCay was born. Check out Daydreams and Nightmares – The Fantastic Visions of Winsor McCay for more.

Today in 1938 Belgian giant Raoul Cauvin was born. Bluecoats volume 18: Duel in the Channel was the last book of his we covered, whilst in 1946, the first issue of Le Journal de Tintin went on sale. Stuff from there like Blake and Mortimer is all over this site. Just use the search box and see…

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Yoko Tsuno volume 20: The Gate of Souls


By Roger Leloup, coloured by Studio Leonardo & translated by Jerome Saincantin (Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-1-80044-160-6 (Album PB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

On September 24th 1970, “electronics engineer” Yoko Tsuno first began her troubleshooting career as an indomitable intellectual adventurer. Bon anniversaire, ma brave cherie!

Her debut in Le Journal de Spirou was realised in “Marcinelle style” cartoonish 8 page short ‘Hold-up en hi-fi’ and although she is still delighting readers and making new fans to this day, for a while it looked as if she wasn’t going anywhere soon. Thankfully, her astonishing, astoundingly accessible exploits were revised and she quickly evolved into a paragon of peril: helming a highpoint of pseudo-realistic fantasies numbering amongst the most intoxicating, absorbing and broad-ranging comics thrillers ever created. Her globe-girdling mystery cases and space-&-time-spanning epics are the brainchild of Belgian maestro Roger Leloup who launched his own solo career in 1953 whilst working as studio assistant/technical artist on Hergé’s Adventures of Tintin.

Compellingly told, sublimely imaginative and – no matter how implausible the premise of an individual yarn – always firmly grounded in hyper-authentic settings underpinned by solidly-constructed, unshakably believable technology and unswerving scientific principles, Leloup’s illustrated escapades were at the vanguard of a wave of strips revolutionising European comics. Early in the journey, he switched from loose illustration to a mesmerising, nigh-photo realistic style that is a series signature. The long-overdue sea-change in gender roles and stereotyping he led heralded a torrent of clever, competent, brave and formidable women protagonists taking their rightful places as heroic ideals and not romantic lures. That consequently elevated Continental comics in the process. Such endeavours are as engaging and empowering now as they ever were, none more so than the travails of masterful Miss Tsuno.

Her first outings (oft-aforementioned, STILL unavailable Hold-up en hi-fi, and co-sequels La belle et la bête and Cap 351) were introductory vignettes prior to epic authenticity taking a firm grip in 1971 when the unflappable problem solver met valiant but lesser (male) pals Pol Paris and Vic Van Steen. Instantly hitting her stride in premier full-length saga Le trio de l’étrange (in LJdS’s May 13th edition), from then on, Yoko’s efforts encompassed explosive exploits in exotic corners of our world, spy and crime capers, time-travelling jaunts and sinister deep-space sagas such as this one. There are 31 European bande dessinée albums to date, with 21 translated into English thus far, albeit – and ironically – none of them available in digital formats…

Initially serialised in LJdS #3033 to 3044, spanning May 29th to 14th August 1996, La Porte des âmes became Europe’s 21st collected Yoko Tsuno album at year’s end. Following chronologically from The Astrologer of Bruges, it returns our terrestrial troubleshooters to their friends in the sky with another momentous visit with the prodigiously reconstructing Vineans.

In a disturbingly philosophical, metaphysically-tinged caper the Earthlings – including Yoko’s adopted daughter Morning Dew and Mieke (Pol’s fiancée from the 16th century) – all toil in deep space beside the disaster-prone lethally pragmatic alien colonists with their most trusted ally when another echo from the distant past changes lives and destines once again.

Their constant guide and companion is Khany: the competent, commanding single mother who combines parenting her toddler Poky and the humans with saving worlds, leading her people, averting continual cosmic catastrophe and – with Yoko – recovering lost knowledge. Frequently that stems from attempts to restore a moral compass to those ancient survivors ruthlessly rebuilding their fallen civilisation and permanently undermining and gaslighting the upstarts who slept out the apocalypse on another planet. Progress is slow and regularly results in uncovered, long forgotten threats that might end the racial resurrection in flaming instants…

In their initial adventure together, Yoko, Vic and Pol had discovered an enclave of dormant aliens hibernating for eons in Earth’s depths. After saving the sleepers from robotic/AI subjugation, the humans occasionally helped the refugees (who had fled their planet two million years previously) to rebuild their lost sciences. Ultimately, the humans accompanied the Vineans on their return to their natal star system and (wrongly presumed) long-dead homeworld. In the years Vineans slept, primary civilisation collapsed, and the world they strive to reclaim is much changed, with isolated pockets of inhabitants evolved beyond recognition. As the re-migrants gradually restore a decadent, much-debased civilisation and culture, the human trio become regular guests and helpers against sabotage, political intrigue and simple skulduggery…

And as seen here, it’s not just people they must beware of…

On a previous visit Yoko had established a unique psychic link with ancient mech-intellect Queen Hegora: one granting her certain technophilic abilities. A later excursion saw her bonded with an equally antediluvian child-rearing toy robot. “Myna” and her kind were constant sentient companions to young children – until parents abruptly deemed them all too smart and dangerous, before subsequently banishing them to distant asteroid. Now that last relic is hastily consulted as another time-lost probe soars back into Vinean territory from out of history and the (currently) unknown…

A constant cause of contemporary strife is piecemeal rediscovery of ancient beings who have endured due to the Vinean practise of digitally encoding living persons into automatons. Now a space salvage effort is interrupted by a probe from the deep past, and the excited explorers confront the possibility of being able to finally penetrate the fabled mysteries of occluded and forbidden lost colony Ultima. Their actions precipitate shocking and tragic discoveries which expose the downside of immortality.

Deadly strife begins as the discoverers plunge down to the revealed world and find another survivor outpost divided into factions indulging in an unending war of technologies and philosophies. An imminent crash and collision makes allies of advance scout Yoko and a bold indigenous pilot named Litsy, and soon the human learns that here vassals are forced to carry the personalities of other deceased servants. Servitude is eternal with useful, knowledgeable “souls” digitally impressed upon successive bodies. All the lower orders can anticipate is forced reincarnation and losing themselves bit by bit to someone else’s soul’s past history…

In a society where biology and mechanisms are less valuable than knowledge and experience, the newcomers are soon caught up in a devilish scheme challenging and undermining the very nature and fine print definition of life on Ultima, as they expose a long unfolding plot by rebel Isora who currently inhabits a menial flying droid. She illicitly made copies of her soul before committing suicide and now she ruthlessly seeks to recover and reunite her fractured personalities in a fresh – and stolen – body. This is over and despite violent objections of its original occupier Ethera, and once morally-outraged Yoko fully grasps the complexities of the situation she is prepared to do whatever is necessary to end this ghastly refinement of intellectual slavery…

Ultimately, overwhelming institutionalised digital malevolence proves inadequate in the face of Yoko Tsuno’s passionate humanity, bold imagination and quick thinking, but her success comes at great cost and cannot truly be called a triumph. Moreover, as the weary explorers return to established Vinean borders, Isora delivers a chilling message revealing nothing is settled yet…

Blending rocket-paced action with shattering suspense and byzantine twists, this deviously twisted, terrifying plausible battle with bigotry is superbly mesmerising, proving once more how smarts and combat savvy are pointless without compassion. As always, the most potent asset of this edgy outer space dramas is its astonishingly authentic setting, as ever benefitting from Leloup’s diligent research and meticulous attention to detail.

The Gate of Souls is a magnificently tense all-action psycho- thriller, taut and compelling, and surely appealing as much to fans of blockbuster space opera as ordinary general purpose comic addicts.

Original edition © Dupuis, 1996 by Roger Leloup. All rights reserved. English translation © 2025 Cinebook Ltd.

Today in 1972, talented wee nipper Jock was born. You can remind yourself how good an artist he is by looking at Green Arrow Year One – The Deluxe Edition.

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Captain Pugwash: A Pirate Story


By John Ryan (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books/Picture Puffin Story Books)
ISBN: 978-0140554533 (Puffin PB) 978-1-84507-821-8 (F Lincoln HB)
Ha-HA-HHARRRR! The time be here, Shipmaties! ‘Tis International Talk Like a Pirate Day again!

John Ryan was an artist and storyteller who straddled three distinct disciplines of graphic narrative, with equal qualitative if not financial success.

The son of a diplomat, Ryan was born in Edinburgh on March 4th 1921, served in Burma and India and – after attending the Regent Street Polytechnic (1946-48) – took a post as assistant Art Master at Harrow School from 1948 to 1955. It was during this time that he first began contributing strips to Fulton Press publications, for the company’s glossy distaff alternative Girl, but most especially in the pages of the legendary “boys’ paper” Eagle.

On April 14th 1950, Britain’s grey, postwar gloom was partially lifted by the premiere issue of a new comic that literally shone with light and colour. Avid children were understandably enraptured with the gloss and dazzle of Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future, a charismatic star-turn venerated to this day and by a host of cannily incorporated licensed features such as radio star turns P.C. 49 and Riders of the Range. Eagle was a tabloid-sized paper with full-colour inserts alternating with text and a range of various other comic features. Tabloid is a big page and one can get a lot of material onto each one. Ryan’s quirky, spiky style lent itself to the numerous spot illustrations required throughout the comic every week but he also offered little strip serials. Deep within, on the bottom third of a monochrome page was an 8-panel strip entitled Captain Pugwash – The story of a Bad Buccaneer and the many Sticky Ends which nearly befell him…

Pugwash, his harridan of a wife and the useless, lazy crew of the Black Pig ran (or more accurately capered and fell about) until issue #19 when the feature disappeared – sunk without trace! This was no real hardship for Ryan who had been writing & illustrating Harris Tweed – Extra Special Agent as a full-page (tabloid, remember – an average of 20 panels per page, per week!) from Eagle #16. (I really must reinvestigate the solidly stolid sleuth too sometime soon…) Tweed ran for three years as a full page until 1953 after which it dropped to a half-page strip and was carefully repositioned as a purely comedic venture.

In 1956 the indefatigable old sea-dog (I mean old Horatio Pugwash but it could so easily be applied to Ryan) made the jump to children’s picture books. The artist was an unceasing story-peddler with a big family, and somehow he also found time to be head cartoonist for The Catholic Herald – a side gig that lasted for 40 years.

A Pirate Story was first published by Bodley Head before switching to children’s publishing specialist Puffin for further editions and more adventures. It was the first foray of a vast (sorry, got away with myself there!) run of children’s books on a number of different subjects. Pugwash himself starred in 21 tomes; there were a dozen books based on the animated TV series Ark Stories, plus Sir Prancelot and a number of other creations. Ryan worked whenever he wanted to in the comics world and eventually the books and the strips began to cross-fertilise.

The primary Pugwash is traditional in format, with blocks of text and single illustrations to illuminate a particular moment. But by the publication of Pugwash the Smuggler (1982) entire sequences were lavishly painted comic strips, with as many as eight panels per page, and including word balloons. A fitting circularity to his careers and a nice treat for us old-fashioned comic drones.

After A Pirate Story was released in 1957 the BBC pounced on the property, commissioning Ryan to produce 5-minute episodes (86 in all from 1957 to 1968, all later reformatted in full colour and rebroadcast in 1976). In the budding 1950s arena of animated television cartoons, Ryan developed a new system for producing cheap, high quality animations to a tight deadline. He began with Pugwash, keeping the adventure milieu, but replaced the shrewish wife with a tried-and-true boy assistant. Tom the Cabin Boy is the only capable member of a crew which included such visual archetypes as Willy, Barnabas and Master Mate (fat, thin and tall – and all dim), instantly affirming to the rapt, young audience that grown-ups are fools and kids do, in fact, rule.

Ryan also drew a weekly Captain Pugwash strip for The Radio Times – lasting eight years – before going on to produce other animated series including Mary, Mungo and Midge, The Friendly Giant and the aforementioned Sir Prancelot. There were also adaptations of some of his many other children’s books. In 1997, an all-new CGI-based Pugwash animated TV series began. I don’t need to tell that we’re about due another go-round…

This first story sets the scene with a delightful clown’s romp as the so-very-motley crew of the Black Pig sail in search of buried treasure, only to fall into a cunning trap set by truly nasty Cut-Throat Jake. Luckily, Tom is as smart as his shipmates and Captain are not…

Ryan returned to pirate life in the 1980s, drawing three new Pugwash storybooks: The Secret of the San Fiasco, The Battle of Bunkum Bay & The Quest for the Golden Handshake, as well as thematic prequel Admiral Fatso Fitzpugwash, in which it’s revealed that the not-so-salty seadog had a medieval ancestor who became First Sea Lord, despite being terrified of water…

The 2008 edition of A Pirate Story (from Frances Lincoln Children’s Books) came with a free audio CD, and just in case I’ve tempted you beyond endurance here’s a full list (I think) of the good(ish) Captain’s exploits that you should make it your remaining life’s work to unearth: Captain Pugwash: A Pirate Story (1957), Pugwash Aloft (1960), Pugwash and the Ghost Ship (1962), Pugwash in the Pacific (1963), Pugwash and the Sea Monster (1976), Captain Pugwash and the Ruby (1976), Captain Pugwash and the Treasure Chest (1976), Captain Pugwash and the New Ship (1976), Captain Pugwash and the Elephant (1976), The Captain Pugwash Cartoon Book (1977), Pugwash and the Buried Treasure (1980), Pugwash the Smuggler (1982), Captain Pugwash and the Fancy Dress Party (1982), Captain Pugwash and the Mutiny (1982), Pugwash and the Wreckers (1984), Pugwash and the Midnight Feast (1984), The Battle of Bunkum Bay (1985), The Quest of the Golden Handshake (1985), The Secret of the San Fiasco (1985), Captain Pugwash and the Pigwig (1991) and Captain Pugwash and the Huge Reward (1991). All pearls beyond price and a true treasure of graphic excellence.

We don’t have that many multi-discipline successes in comics, so why don’t you go and find out why we should celebrate one who did it all, did it first and did it well? Your kids will thank you and if you’ve any life left in your old and weary soul, you will too

The quintessential pirate king appears to be generally out of print and long, long overdue for revival, so it might mean a bit of digging around to unearth copies but on this day and in the anniversary year of Eagle, surely a little effort and skulduggery is not beyond us?

© 1957, 2009 John Ryan and (presumably) the Estate of John Ryan. All rights reserved.

On this day in 1953, Paddy Brennan’s General Jumbo first appeared in The Beano, and one year later my old flatmate and artist par excellence Garry Leach was born. Both went away far too soon and are still so very much missed.

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Showcase Presents Sea Devils volume 1


By Robert Kanigher, Bob Haney, France E. Herron, Hank P. Chapman, Russ Heath, Irv Novick, Joe Kubert, Gene Colan, Ross Andru & Mike Esposito, Jack Abel, Bruno Premiani, Sheldon Moldoff, Howard Purcel & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-3522-2

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Robert Kanigher (18th June 1915 – 7th May 2002) was one of the most distinctive authorial voices in US comics, blending rugged realism with fantastic fantasy and outrageous imagination in his signature war comics, as well as for the wealth of horror stories, romance yarns, “straight” adventure, westerns and superhero titles such as Wonder Woman, Teen Titans, Hawkman, Metal Men, Flash, Batman (plus other characters and genres far too numerous to cover here) at which he also excelled.

He sold his first stories and poetry in 1932, wrote for theatre, film and radio, and joined Fox Features’ “shop” at the beginning of the comic book phenomenon where he created The Bouncer, Steel Sterling and The Web, whilst providing scripts for established features like Blue Beetle and Captain Marvel (who we all call “Shazam!” these days). In 1945 he settled at All-American Comics as both writer & editor, staying put when the company amalgamated with National Comics to become the forerunner of today’s DC.

Bob wrote the Golden Age Flash and Hawkman, created Black Canary and many more sexily memorable villainesses such as Harlequin and (Rose and) the Thorn. This last temptress he redesigned in the early 1970s relevancy period: originating a schizophrenic crimebusting superheroine to haunt the back of Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane – which he also scripted at the time.

When mystery-men faded at the end of the 1940s, Kanigher moved easily into other genres like spy thrillers, westerns and war stories. In 1952 he became chief writer/editor of the company’s combat line: All-American War Stories, Star Spangled War Stories and Our Army at War. He launched Our Fighting Forces in 1954 and added G.I. Combat to his packed portfolio when Quality Comics sold their dwindling line of titles to National/DC in 1956. A year earlier, Kanigher had devised historical adventure anthology The Brave and the Bold and its stalwart stars Silent Knight, Golden Gladiator and Viking Prince whilst still scripting Wonder Woman, Johnny Thunder, Rex the Wonder Dog and a host of others.

In 1956, for Julius Schwartz he scripted ‘Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt’: the first story of the Silver Age, introducing new Flash Barry Allen to hero-hungry kids of the world.

Kanigher was restlessly creative, frequently using his uncanny if formulaic action arenas as a testing ground for future series concepts. Among the many epochal war features he created were Sgt. Rock, Enemy Ace, The War that Time Forgot, The Haunted Tank and The Losers. However, he always kept an eye on contemporary trends too. When supernatural comics took over the industry as the 1960s closed, he was a mainstay at House of Mystery, House of Secrets and Phantom Stranger. In 1975 he created gritty human interest crime feature Lady Cop. Fifteen years earlier he had caught a similar wave (Oh, ha ha, hee hee…) by cashing in on the popularity of TV show Sea Hunt. His entry into a sudden subgenre deluge of scuba-diver comics featured the traditional contemporary adventure formula of a heroic quartet (Smart Guy, Tough Guy, Young Guy and A Girl) to indulge in all manner of (undersea) escapades from logical to implausible, topical to fantastical. He dubbed his team The Sea Devils…

These classy yarns still haven’t made it into modern full-colour editions but they are magnificent examples of comics storytelling, and if you have to read these lost treasures in mere monochrome, at least that’s better than nothing…

Re-presenting the turbulent, terrific try-out stories from Showcase #27-29 (July/August to November/December 1960) and Sea Devils #1-16 – spanning cover-dates September/October 1961 – March/April 1964 – this mammoth black-&-white paperback blends bizarre fantasy, sinister spy stories, shocking science fiction and two-fisted aquatic action with larger-than-life yet strictly human heroes who carved their own unique niche in comics history…

In almost every conceivable way, “try-out title” Showcase created the Silver Age of US comic books and is responsible for the multi-million-dollar industry and art form we all enjoy today. The comic book was a printed periodical Petri dish designed to launch new series and concepts with minimal commitment of publishing resources. If a new character sold well initially a regular series would follow. The process had been proved with Frogmen, Lois Lane, Challengers of the Unknown, The Flash, Green Lantern and many, many more. The principle was a sound one which paid huge dividends. Editors at National were apparently bombarded with readers’ suggestions for new titles and concepts and the only possible way to feasibly prove which would be popular was to offer test runs and assess fan – and most crucially sales – reactions.

Showcase #27 followed a particularly fruitful run of successful non-superhero debuts including Space Ranger, Adam Strange and Rip Hunter…Time Master. At a time when costumed characters seemed unstoppably ascendant, memories of genre implosions remained fresh, but it seemed the premiering publication could do no wrong. Moreover, it wasn’t Kanigher and illustrator Russ Heath’s first dip in this particular pool. Showcase #3 had launched war feature The Frogmen in an extended single tale following candidates for a WWII US Underwater Demolitions Team as they perilously graduated from students to fully-fledged underwater warriors. The feature, if not the actual characters, became a semi-regular strip in All-American Men of War #44 (April #1957) and other Kanigher-edited war comics: making Frogmen the first success of the try-out system. Now, with tales of underwater action appearing in comics, books, film and TV, the time was right for a civilian iteration to make some waves…

The drama here begins in Kanigher & Heath’s ‘The Golden Monster’ as lonely skin-diver Dane Dorrance reminisces about his WWII frogman father and that senior’s trusty buddies before being saved from a sneaky shark by a mysterious golden-haired scuba-girl. Judy Walton is an aspiring actress who, seeking to raise her Hollywood profile, has entered the same underwater treasure hunt Dane is engaged in, but as they join forces, they have no idea of the dangers awaiting them…

Locating the sunken galleon they’ve been hunting, both are trapped when seismic shifts and a gigantic octopus bury them inside the derelict. Happily, hulking third contestant Biff Bailey is on hand and his tremendous strength tips the scales and allows the trio to escape. Now things take a typical Kanigher twist as the action switches from tense realistic drama to riotous fantasy, with the explosive awakening of a colossal reptilian sea-monster who chases the divers until Judy’s little brother Nicky races in to distract the beast…

Temporarily safe, the relative strangers unite to destroy the thing – with the help of a handy floating mine left over from the war – before deciding to form a professional freelance diving team. They take their name from the proposed movie Judy wanted to audition for, becoming forever “The Sea Devils”. In Showcase #28 Dane’s dad again offers his boy ‘The Prize Flippers’ papa won for war exploits, but Dane feels his entire team should be allowed to compete for them. Of course, each diver successively outdoes the rest, but in the end a spectacular stunt with a rampaging whale leaves the trophy in the hands of a most unlikely competitor…

A second story sees the new team set up shop as “underwater trouble-shooters” and stumbling into a mystery as pretty Mona Moray begs them to find her missing dad. Professor Moray was lost when his rocket crashed into the ocean, but as our scuba stalwarts diligently search the crash site, they are ambushed by underwater aborigines and join the scientist in an uncanny ‘Undersea Prison’. Only when their captors reveal themselves as invading aliens do the team finally pull together, escape the trap and bring the house down on the insidious aquatic horrors.

Showcase #29 also offered a brace of briny tales, casting off with ‘The Last Dive of the Sea Devils’, wherein a recently-imprisoned dictator from Venus escapes to Earth and battles the astounded team to a standstill from his giant war-seahorse. The blockbusting bust-up costs them their beloved vessel The Sea Witch, before the crew make use of a handy leftover torpedo to end the interplanetary tyrant. Sea-born giants also abound in ‘Undersea Scavenger Hunt’ wherein the cash-strapped troubleshooters compete in a contest to win a new boat. Incredible creatures and fantastic treasure traps are no real problem, but the actions of rival divers The Black Mantas almost cost our heroes their lives…

Everything works out though, and nine months later Sea Devils #1 hit the stands with Kanigher & Heath leading the way. In ‘The Sea Devils vs. the Octopus Man’ our watery quartet are now stars of a monster movie, but when the lead beastie comes to lethal life and attacks them, all thoughts of fame and wealth sink without trace. The second tale was scripted by superbly inventive Bob Haney who riffed on Moby Dick’s plot in a tale of how Vikings hunted a mythical orca with a magic harpoon, before latter-day fanatical whaler Captain Shark mercilessly seeks out the ‘Secret of the Emerald Whale’ with our desperate Devils dragged along for the ride…

Haney wrote both yarns in the next issue, beginning with ‘A Bottleful of Sea Devils’ as mad scientist Mr. Neptune employs a shrinking device to steal a US Navy weapon prototype. With the aquatic investigators hard on his flippered heels, the felon is soon caught, after which ‘Star of the Sea’ introduces implausibly brilliant performing seal Pappy who repeatedly saves the sea squad before finding freedom and true love in the wild waters of the Atlantic. Kanigher returned for #3’s ‘Underwater Crime Wave’ as the Devils clashed with a modern Roman Emperor who derives incredible wealth from smuggling and traps the team in his undersea arena. Judy then finds herself the only one immune to the allure of ‘The Ghost of the Deep’ as subsea siren Circe makes the boys her latest playthings with her mortal rival compelled to pull out all the stops to save her friends…

Sea Devils #4 led with ‘The Sea of Sorcery’ as the team investigate – but fail to debunk – incredible myths of a supposedly haunted region of ocean, after which Haney details how the squad travel into the heart of South America to liberate a tribe of lost, pre-Columbian Condor Indians from a tyrannical witch doctor to solve ‘The Secret of Volcano Lake!’ Then ‘The Creature Who Stole the 7 Seas’ (Kanigher) opens SD #5 as a particularly dry period for the troubleshooters ends with a crashing UFO disgorging a sea giant intent on transferring Earth’s oceans to his own arid world. Oddly for the times, here mutual cooperation and a smart counter-plan save the day for two panicked planets.

Veteran writer Hank P. Chapman joined an ever-expanding team with a smart yarn of submerged Mayan treasure and deadly traps imperilling the team whilst solving the ‘Secret of the Plumed Serpent’, before Kanigher comes back with a book-length thriller for #6 and the Devils seemingly ensorcelled by ancient parchments which depict them battling incredible menaces in centuries past. Biff battles undersea knights for Queen Cleopatra, Judy saves Ulysses from Sirens, Nicky rescues a teenage mermaid from a monstrous fishman and Dane clashes with ‘The Flame-Headed Watchman!’, but is wise enough to realise the true threat comes from the mysterious stranger who has brought them such dire documents…

The switch to longer epics was wise and productive, followed up in #7 with ‘The Human Tidal Wave!’ as the heroes spectacularly battle an alien made of roaring water to stop a proposed invasion, whilst SD #8 sees them strive to help a fish transformed into a grieving merman by the ‘Curse of Neptune’s Giant!’ The malignant horror’s mutative touch briefly makes monsters of the heroes too, but ultimately Sea Devil daring trumps eldritch cruelty…

More monster madness followed in #9’s ‘The Secret of the Coral Creature!’ as the team become paragliding US Naval medics to rescue an astronaut. That’s mere prelude to the oceanic atomic bomb test which blasts them to a sea beneath the sea that imprisons an ancient alien for eons of crushing solitude, and who had no intention of ever letting the newly-arrived air-breathers go…

A concatenation of crazy circumstances creates the manic madness of #10’s ‘4 Mysteries of the Sea!’ as godly King Neptune decrees that on this day every wild story of the sea will come true, just as the Sea Devils are competing in a “Deep Six Tall Tales” contest. Soon the incredulous squad are battling pirates in an underwater ghost town, rescued from captivity by a giant octopus thanks to a friendly seal (Good old Pappy!), facing off against aliens of the Martian Canals Liars Club and saving Neptune himself from a depth-charge attack…

The hugely underrated Irv Novick took over as primary illustrator with #11, as the Devils agree to test human underwater endurance limits in an ocean-floor habitat. Soon, however, Dane is near breaking point, seeing a succession of monsters from the ‘Sea of Nightmares!’

Kanigher then relinquished writing to fellow golden age alumnus France E. Herron, who kicked off in rip-roaring form with a classy sci fi romp. Here Nicky’s growing feelings of inadequacy are quashed after he saves his comrades – and the world – from the ‘Threat of the Magnetic Menace!’

Always experimental and rightfully disrespectful of the fourth wall, editors Kanigher and George Kashdan turned issue #13 over to the fans for ‘The Secrets of 3 Sunken Ships’, as successive chapters of Herron’s script were illustrated by Joe Kubert (whose 99th birthday would be today if he was still with us), Gene Colan and Ross Andru & Mike Esposito for the audience to judge who was the best. The artists all appear in-world, conducting interviews and researching our heroes as they tackle a reincarnated sea captain, travel to an ancient sea battle between Greece and Persia and meet the alien who kidnapped the crew of the Marie Celeste! The gag continued in Sea Devils #14 as illustrator Novick comes along for the ride when the amazing aquanauts try to end the catastrophic ‘War of the Underwater Giants’ This finds aging deities Neptune and Hercules clashing for supremacy in Earth’s oceans.

Jack Abel was artistic substitute in supplementary yarn ‘Challenge of the Fish Champions!’, as our heroes enter a cash prize competition to buy scuba equipment for a junior diving club. Unfortunately, crazy devious scientist Karpas also wants the loot and so fields a team of his own technologically augmented minions. Before long, the human skindivers are facing off against a sea lion, a manta ray, a squid and a merman. Nobody specified contestants had to be human…

Novick got back into the act illustrating #15 as author Herron revealed Judy & Nicky’s relationship to the ‘Secret of the Sunken Sub!’ When inventor Professor Walton vanishes whilst testing his latest submersible, it’s only a matter of time before his children drag the rest of the Sea Devils to the bottom of every ocean to find him and his lost crew. The uncanny trail takes them through shoals of monsters, astounding flora and into the lair of an incredible sea spider before the mission is successfully accomplished…

Events regained a semblance of narrative normality with the final issue in this compilation with Chapman contributing two high adventure yarns beginning with ‘The Strange Reign of Queen Judy and King Biff’, superbly rendered by the wonderful Bruno Premiani & Sheldon Moldoff. When a massive wave capsizes the Sea Witch, only Dane & Nicky seemingly survive, but the determined explorers persevere, eventually finding their friends as bewitched captives on the island of an immortal wizard. All they have to do is kidnap their ferociously resisting comrades, escape an army of angry guards and penetrate the island’s mystic defences a second time to restore everything to normal. No problem…

This eccentric and exciting voyage of discovery concludes with ‘Sentinel of the Golden Head’ – illustrated by always impressive Howard Purcell & Moldoff – as the restored aquatic quartet stumble onto the lost island of Blisspotamia in time to witness a beautiful maiden trying to sacrifice herself to the sea gods. By interfering, they incur the wrath of a legion of mythological horrors and have no choice but to defy the gods to free the terrified islanders from ignorance and tyranny…

These capacious monochrome compendia were superb value and provided a vital service by bringing older, less flashy (but still astonishingly expensive in their original issues) tales to a readership which might otherwise be denied them. However, this is probably the only series which I can honestly say suffers in the slightest from the lack of colour. Whilst the line-art story illustrations are actually improved by the loss of hue, the original covers – by Heath & Novick as supervised and inked by production ace Jack Adler – used all the clever technical print effects and smart ingenuity of the period to add a superb extra layer of depth to the underwater scenes which tragically cannot be appreciated in simple line & tone reproduction. Just go to any online cover browser site and you’ll see what I mean…

Nevertheless, the amazing art and astounding stories are as good as they ever were and Showcase Presents Sea Devils is stuffed with incredible ideas, strange situations and non-stop action. These underwater wonders are a superb slice of the engaging fantasy thrillers which were once the backbone of US comic books. Perhaps a little whacky in places, they are remarkably similar to many tongue-in-cheek, anarchic Saturday morning kids’ animation shows and will certainly provide jaded fiction fans with hours of unmatchable entertainment. Let’s hope the editors of the DC Finest line are casting about for some rarer salvage to preserve…
© 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 2012 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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JSA vs. Kobra


By Eric S. Trautmann, Don Kramer & Michael Babinski, with Neil Edwards & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84856-955-3 (TPB)

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

After the actual invention of the comic book superhero – for which read Superman’s debut in 1938 – the most significant event in the genre – and indeed industry’s – progress was the combination of individual attention-getters into a group. Thus what seems blindingly obvious to us with the benefit of four-colour hindsight was proven: a number of popular characters could multiply readership by combining forces and readerships. Plus of course, a whole bunch of superheroes is a lot cooler than just one – or even one and a sidekick.

The Justice Society of America was created in the third issue (Winter 1940/1941) of All-Star Comics, an anthology title featuring established characters from various All-American Comics publications. The magic was instigated by the simple expedient of having the assorted heroes gather around a table and tell each other their latest adventure. From this low-key collaborative conference it wasn’t long before the guys – and they were all white guys (except Red Tornado who merely pretended to be one) – regularly joined forces to defeat the greatest villains and social ills of their generation. Within months the concept had spread far and wide…

And so the Justice Society of America is rightly revered as a landmark in the development of comic books and, when Julius Schwartz revived the superhero genre in the late 1950s, the game-changing moment came with the inevitable teaming of the reconfigured mystery men into a Justice League of America. From there it wasn’t long until the original and genuine article returned. There were many attempts to formally revive the team’s fortunes but it wasn’t until 1999, on the back of both a highly successful reboot of the JLA by Grant Morrison & Howard Porter, and a seminal but critically favoured new Starman by Golden Age devotee James Robinson, that the multi-generational team found a concept and fanbase big enough to support them. In 1999, the original super-team returned and have been with us in one form or another ever since. In this anniversary year there have numerous excellent efforts to revamp the original OG, and we’ll be getting to those in the months to come…

On sale from November 13th 1975 but cover-dated February 1976, Kobra originated in his own short-lived title during a period of desperate experimentation, whilst traditional superhero sales were plummeting and the industry feared its inevitable extinction. Credited to Martin Pasko, Steve Sherman, Jack Kirby & Pablo Marcos, the saga was a radical updating of Alexandre Dumas’ 1844 novel Les Frères Corses – The Corsican Brothers…

When conjoined twins Jeffrey and Jason Burr were surgically separated soon after birth, Jeffrey was abducted by disciples of the Cult of Kobra and raised to be their Dark Messiah: a deadly warrior, scientist and strategist dedicated to bringing about the end of civilisation and initiating a cleansing “Age of Chaos”. The peculiar circumstances of their birth meant that Jeffrey and Jason maintained an uncanny psychic connection wherein one would experience the hurts and harms inflicted upon the other. Over the years this led Jason to become the ultimate weapon in a war waged by numerous DC heroes against his serpentine terrorist sibling.

Eventually Jason was safely murdered by Kobra, but later resurrected as an even greater evil, assuming his brother’s position as head of the World’s most dangerous death-cult. The new Kobra was an utterly dedicated fanatic who wedded the cult’s technological resources to hideous, sacrificial blood-magic and preferred faith-driven disciples to the disaffected proto-thugs employed by his predecessor (for further details you should see Checkmate: Pawn Breaks or wait for me to finally review the new edition or just buy the book and take a chance…)

The JSA battled the first Kobra many times (most notably in JSA: Darkness Falls and JSA: Savage Times) but were utterly unprepared for the sheer horrors in store when they swung into action against the inheritor of the Snake cult…

This terse, tense collection re-presents 6-issue JSA vs. Kobra ‘Engines of Faith’ miniseries which, informed by the actions of real-world terrorism of fundamentalist factions around the globe, finally elevated Kobra to the first rank of villains: the deadly herald of the World’s End who plays a lethal game of cat-&-mouse with the Planet’s Smartest Man and some of the most experienced heroes of all time…

The Serpent Lord begins his campaign of terror in ‘Bad Religion’, dispatching suicide bombers to destroy the Justice Society in their own home and thereby confronting logic and superpowers with pure faith and high-tech explosives. Caught off guard by foes actually happy to die if they can strike a blow against their master’s enemies, the JSA are further wrong-footed by seemingly random attacks against civilians and institutions, all orchestrated by field commander and fanatical bride of death Ariadne Persakis.

The sheer scale of the bloodletting and illogical nature of the attacks soon has our heroes fighting amongst themselves as they strive to find some rhyme or reason behind such senseless, murderous assaults… so why then does Persakis abruptly surrender herself to their custody?

‘Strange Days’ finds the team seething but still unable to fathom the terrorist’s game plan… until Ariadne breaks free of Checkmate custody. Apparently the covert international spy-force has been hopelessly infiltrated and compromised. The senseless death-toll mounts exponentially and as, the team narrowly thwart an assault on a giant particle accelerator that could split the Earth in two, masked genius Mr. Terrific begins to discern a pattern to the random madness in ‘Misdirection’…

Brutal attacks intensify and, although it appears the good guys are slowly gaining the upper hand, Terrific perceives the hidden agenda behind the unceasing ghastly blows against decency and civilisation. ‘Lightning in a Bottle’ sees Kobra make his ultimate move and apparently fail, leading to a gathering of champions ‘Beating the Grass’ and taking the war to the relentless foe, but even after stunning climax ‘Shedding Skin’ the weary heroes cannot be sure if they have won the day or somehow lost the war entirely…

This is a stunning piece of Fights ‘n’ Tights fiction: dark, dramatic and intensely compelling. Writer Eric S. Trautmann melded shiny superheroics, grim realpolitik and genuine cultural zeitgeists into a splendidly mature costumed drama, and the effective underplayed art of Don Kramer, Neil Edwards and inker Michael Babinski is chillingly effective at capturing the tone as well as the events.

If you think you’ve grown beyond gaudy mystery men and “goodies” against “baddies” this graphic novel is more than likely to make you think again.
© 2009, 2010 DC Comics. All rights reserved.

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Lucky Luke volume 9: The Wagon Train


By Morris& Goscinny translated by Luke Spear (Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-1-90546-040-3 (Album PB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

One could quite convincingly argue that the USA’s greatest cultural export has been the Western. Everybody everywhere thinks they know what Cowboys and Indians are and do, but the genre has long migrated and informed every aspect or art and literature all over the planet. Comics particularly have benefited from the form, with Europe continuing to produce magnificent works even in these latter years when sagebrush sagas are barely visible in American entertainment and instead play out on the streets and in the courts…

This side of the pond, cowboys were a key component in all nooks & crannies of popular fiction from the earliest days. Newspapers were packed with astoundingly high-quality strips ranging from straight dramas such as Gun Law and Matt Marriott to uniquely British takes like Bud Neill’s outrageous spoof Lobey Dosser, whilst weekly kids comics anthologically abounded with episodic exploits of Texas Jack, Desperate Dan, Colorado Kid, Davy Crockett, Kid Dynamite, Buffalo Jack and more.

As previously mentioned, Europe especially embraced the medium and expanded the boundaries of the genre. In Italy Tex (Willer) remains as vital as ever, far outdistancing later revered and much-exported series such as Captain Miki, Il Grande Blek, Zagor, Larry Yuma, Ken Parker, Magico Vento and Djustine. The Franco-Belgian wing also has a long tradition of variety with true immortals amongst its ponderosa Pantheon: from all ages-comedic treats such as Yakari, OumPah-Pah, Chick Bill or The Bluecoats to monolithic and monumental mature-reader sagas like Jerry Spring, Comanche, Sergeant Kirk, La Grande Saga Indienne, Buddy Longway or the legendary Blueberry…

Topping them all in terms of sales and fame, however, is a certain laconic lone rider…

A precocious, westerns-addicted, art-mad kid, well off and educated by Jesuits, Maurice de Bevere was born on December 1st 1923 in Kortrijk, Belgium. A far from illustrious or noteworthy scholar – except in all the ways teachers despise – Maurice later sought artistic expression in his early working life via forays into film animation before settling into his true vocation. While working at the CBA (Compagnie Belge d’Actualitiés) animation studio, “Morris” met future comics superstars Franquin & Peyo, and worked for weekly magazine Le Moustique as a caricaturist. Morris quickly became one of la Bande des quatre – The Gang of Four – comprising Jijé, Will and old comrade Franquin: leading proponents of a loose, free-wheeling artistic style known as the “Marcinelle School” which dominated Le journal de Spirou in aesthetic contention with the “Ligne Claire” style favoured by Hergé, EP Jacobs and other artists in Le Journal de Tintin.

In 1948, said Gang (all but Will) visited America, befriending many US comics creators and sightseeing. Morris stayed for six years, meeting fellow traveller René Goscinny, scoring some work from newly-formed EC sensation Mad and making copious notes and countless sketches of the swiftly vanishing Old West. That research would resonate on every page of his life’s work.

Working solo, albeit with occasional script assistance from his brother Louis De Bevere until 1955, Morris produced nine albums of affectionate sagebrush parody and comedic cinematic homage before formally uniting with Goscinny, who became the regular wordsmith as Luke attained the dizzying heights of superstardom, commencing with Des rails sur la Prairie which began in weekly LJd S from August 25th 1955. The collected album was first released for Christmas in 1957, the ninth in the series, and was followed by Morris’ final solo tale Alerte aux Pieds Bleus/The Bluefeet are Coming! in 1958.

Doughty, rangy, and dashingly dependable Lucky Luke is the likable, imperturbable, implacably even-tempered cowboy do-gooder who can “draw faster than his own shadow”. He amiably ambles around a mythic, cinematically informed Old West, having light-hearted adventures on his petulant, stingingly sarcastic wonder-horse Jolly Jumper. Over nearly nine decades, his exploits in LJdS (and from 1967, in rival periodical Pilote) made the sharp shooter a legend of stories across all media and monument of merchandising.

His exploits have made him one of the bestselling comic characters in Europe (83 collected albums plus around a dozen spin-offs and specials – totalling over 300 million books in at least 33 languages), with all the spin-off toys, computer games, puzzles, animated cartoons, TV shows and live-action movies that come with that kind of popularity.

The rapid pace and seeming simplicity of these spoof tales means older stories can generally sit quite comfortably alongside newer material crafted for a more modern readership.

In 1962 Morris & Goscinny’s 15th collaboration was serialised in LJdS #1281 – 1302 before arriving as 24th European album collection Lucky Luke et La Caravane; The Wagon Train to us…

It’s one of their most traditional tales; playing joyously with tropes and memes of the genre and clearly having as much fun as future readers were going to, and begins in dusty Nothing Gulch as a bedraggled procession of “Prairie Schooners” limp into town. Expedition head Andrew Boston is arguing with unscrupulous guide Frank Malone who’s demanding even more money before completing his commission to bring the hopeful settlers to California. When heated words are replaced with gunplay, a dusty observer ends the fracas before blood is shed…

Boston has heard a lot about Lucky Luke and promptly starts a multi-pronged charm offensive to have the Sagebrush Stalwart take over guiding the party to the fabled Golden State. Our hero is flattered but not interested… until Boston wheels out his big guns and has the kids ask in their own unique ways. Despite being prepared to use children to emotionally twist the cowboy’s arm, the twenty or so wagon-loads of pioneers are an affable if odd bunch from all over the world, and soon Luke is leading them across prairies and through deserts and mountains.

However, as days pass an extraordinarily large number of accidents and mishaps occur, and before long it cannot be denied that somebody is clearly attempting to sabotage the expedition…

With close calls and near-death escapes mounting, Lucky splits his attention between blazing a trail and playing detective but the suspect pool is just too large. Anybody from the undertaker in his hearse to the inventor in his constantly evolving horseless converter-car (there’s more than a passing similarity to TV’s Whacky Races here!); the suspiciously French Barber/Surgeon, creatively foul-mouthed mule driver or even the no-nonsense School Marm could be the culprit. But then again, there are so many others who act out of the ordinary…

Nevertheless, the voyage proceeds and as the would-be homesteaders survive the temptations of bad towns and other dens of vice and iniquity, bad food, and inclement weather a sense of community builds. Sadly, that’s soon tested to the limit when word comes that Sioux Chief Rabid Dog is on the warpath…

Despite all these traditional trials and tribulations Luke persists, and before long the Promised Land is reached and a vile villain finally exposed.

Cleverly barbed, wickedly ironic and joyously packed with classic cowboy set-pieces, this splendidly slapstick spoof of a crucial strand of the genre is another grand old hoot superbly executed by master storytellers for any kids who might have missed the romantic allure of an all-pervasive Wild West that never was…

And in case you’re worried, even though the interior art still has our hero chawin’ on that ol’ nicotine stick, trust me, there’s very little chance of anyone craving a quick snout, but quite a strong probability that they’ll be addicted to Lucky Luke Albums…
© Dargaud Editeur Paris 1971 by Goscinny & Morris. © Lucky Comics. English translation © 2007 Cinebook.

Today in 1930: French comics pioneer Jean-Claude Forest – creator of Barbarella – was born.

Today in 1954 the premier issue of Tiger went on sale. After 1555 issues and seven decades, its top star remains Roy of the Rovers (see The Bumper Book of Roy of the Rovers ).

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Jack Staff: Everything Used to Be Black and White


By Paul Grist (Dancing Elephant/Image Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-5824-0335-9 (TPB/Digital edition)

Just like many aging Brits & gits, I forget things and yesterday I missed a birthday. September 9th 1960 should be best known as the natal debut of cartoon paragon Paul Grist. Read this – and absolutely the book and its three sequels – to learn why.

Growing up a comic fan in 1960s -1970s Britain was an oddly schizophrenic situation. Not only were we bombarded and enthralled by our own weirdly eclectic mix of TV stars, Dying Empire jingoism and military bluster, fantastic anti-establishment fantasy, science-fiction and sport yarns – all augmented by the sheerly inspired, madcap anarchy of gag strips that always accompanied such adventure serials in our anthology weeklies – but from 1959 on, we also had unfettered access to exotic worlds and thinly veiled cultural imperialism of US comic books, bulk-imported as ballast in cargo ships and readily available in glorious full colour…

And don’t even get me started on the precious few, but always exotic and classy European wonders like Tintin, Lucky Luke and Asterix, simultaneously filtering into the funnybook gestalt constantly brewing in our fevered little heads. All this pictorial wonderment tended to make us young strips disciples a tad epicurean in our tastes and broad-minded, eccentric synthesists about our influences…

I’ve followed Paul Grist’s work since the small press days of Burglar Bill and St. Swithin’s Day, and his brilliantly refined design sense and incisive visual grasp of character made his interpretations of Grendel, Judge Dredd and other commercial properties excellent examples of why individuality always trumps house style. However, when he writes his own material, he steps into a creator class few can touch, always blending and refining key elements of genre and shared public consciousness into a stunningly inviting new nostalgia. For another perfect example check out what he accomplished with hard-boiled detective archetypes in his splendid Kane (see Kane: Welcome to New Eden among others)…

Grist established his own company, Dancing Elephant Press, to produce the kind of works big-time publishers lacked the imagination to support and in 2002 returned to the childhood delights of superhero comics with the creation of Jack Staff, who began life as a proposed Union Jack story for Marvel.

When they pulled the plug, Grist, unable to let a good idea go and now freed of the usual creative restraints that come from playing with other people’s toys, went wild and produced a purely British take on the superhero phenomenon that is simultaneously charming, gripping and devilishly clever. I usually go into laborious (most would say tedious) detail about the events in these graphic novel reviews but this first Jack Staff collection (gathering the first 12 issues) will be an exception as Grist’s captivating style here (based on and mimicking the anthology format of British Weeklies such as Lion and Valiant) means each issue feels like seven stories in one. As my intention is to convince to buy this book I’m sacrificing detail for brevity… you lucky people.

In a nondescript British city Becky Burdock is a feisty girl reporter for trashy newspaper The World’s Press. Opening gambit ‘Yesterday’s Heroes’ finds her hunting down a serial killer scoop on the “Castletown Slasher”, when she accidentally stumbles onto the identity of Jack Staff (Britain’s greatest costumed hero since WWII, and a man missing since the 1980s).

It happens when local builder John Smith saves her from a collapsing billboard, precipitating memories of wartime international superhero team The Freedom Fighters and a battle against a centuries-old vampire. It also strangely involves British Q Branch (investigating un-rational or weird crimes) and US superhuman Sgt. States, Jack Staff’s opposite number and another seemingly immortal patriotic hero.

Marvel Zombies will rightly identify this tale has echoes of the Roy Thomas & Frank Robbins Baron Blood storyline from 1970s title The Invaders, and if Marvel had been more accommodating this would indeed have been a classy sequel to that saga. However they missed their chance and this magically tongue-in-cheek pastiche is the magnificent result and our gain.

There are still superhumans in this world such as heroic Tom Tom, the Robot Man and villainous Doc Tempest, and even mortal champions like Albert Bramble and his son Harold who battle dark forces as vampire hunters, but even they cannot prevent Becky becoming a victim of the killer stalking the city. John Smith is clearly reluctant to rejoin the masked hero community but events keep pushing him until he uncovers an international conspiracy of sanctioned atrocity that naturally gets hushed up by the powers that be…

These stories are rife with references and cameos from 50 years of popular culture, and not just comics. Us Brits love television and thinly disguised TV icons such as Steptoe and Son, Dad’s Army and The Sweeney ferociously jostle alongside purely comic stars such as Captain America and Dr. Strange and members of our own uniquely bizarre periodical pantheon including Robot Archie, Zip Nolan, Kelly’s Eye, Jason Hyde, Adam Eterno and even relatively real people such as Alan Moore and Neal Gaiman.

A far larger part is played by incomparable poacher turned gamekeeper The Spider in second story-arc ‘Secrets, Shadows and the Spider!’ as things go quirkily cosmic after Becky Burdock, Vampire Reporter and the increasingly intriguing Q cops stumble into real X Files territory and we get some welcome background into recent history when a 1960s super-criminal starts stealing again.

Or does he? The Spider never shot anybody before…

The mystery is cleared up when elderly Alfred Chinard (it’s a partial anagram – work it out…) hires builder John Smith and springs a trap on his old foe before they notionally team up to stop the real thief. Of course, it doesn’t really go Jack’s way and he’s literally left holding the bag. After a full-length Q adventure ‘Quotations’ involving a meta-fictional serial killer, ‘Out of Time’ rounds out the book (and don’t forget there are three sequels…).

Here, Victorian showman and escapologist Charlie Raven (a canny reworking of period masterpiece Janus Stark) enters the picture, encountering a Dorian Gray-like mystery and losing a battle to a foe who consumes time itself. As a result, charismatic Raven endures an Adam Adamant moment and ends up in 21st century Castletown, where his enemy is still predating the human populace. Also causing trouble is Ben Kulmer – the invisible bandit known as The Claw (and lovingly homaging Ken Bulmer, Tom Tully & Jesús Blasco’s astounding antihero The Steel Claw).

When that nice Mr. Chinard turns up again the stage is set for a spectacular time-rending chronal clash involving the entire expansive cast that is spectacular, boldly bewildering and superbly satisfying.

The stark yet inviting monochrome design, refined, honed and pared down to minimalist approachability has an inescapable feeling of Europe about it. If ever anyone was to create a new TinTin adventure, Grist would be the ideal choice to draw it. Not because he draws like Hergé, but because he knows his craft as well as Hergé did. However, I’m deliriously happy that he has so brilliantly assimilated the essences of cherished keystones of my beloved comics-consuming past and given them such a vital and compelling fresh lease of life.

Thrilling, funny, fabulous. Buy this Book!
™ & © Paul Grist. All rights reserved.

Today in 1952 writer Gerry Conway was born, as was Alison Bechdel in 1960. We’ve done some but hardly all of their many works and we’ll be adding to that list soon.

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Star Trek: Gold Key Archives volume 1


By Dick Wood, Nevio Zaccara, Alfredo Giolitti & various (IDW)
ISBN: 978-1-61377-922-4 (HB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Star Trek debuted on American televisions on September 8th 1966 and ran until June 3rd 1969: three seasons comprising 79 episodes. A moderate success, it only really became popular after going into syndication, running constantly throughout the 1970s. It was also sold all over the world, popping up seemingly everywhere and developing quite a devoted fanbase.

Being a third world country, Britain didn’t see the show until July 12th 1969 during the rocket fever surrounding the Apollo moon landings, when BBC One screened “Where No Man Has Gone Before” in black-&-white before proceeding to broadcast the rest of the series in the wrong order. “Arena” was the first episode screened in colour (November 15th 1969), but viewers didn’t care. We were all hooked anyway and many of the show’s catchphrases – many erroneous and some entirely fictitious – quickly entered the popular lexicon of the nation.

The series spawned a licensed, British-originated comic strip which ran in Joe 90, TV21 and TV21 and Valiant from the late 1960s into the 1970s. These have also been collected and I’ll get to them in the fullness of time and space.

In the USA, although there was some merchandising, things were a little less enthusiastically embraced. Even though there was a comic book – from “properties magnate” Gold Key and running for almost a decade after the show’s cancellation – authenticity at the start wasn’t really a watchword. Nor was immediacy or urgency an issue. In fact, only six issues were released during the show’s entire three-season run. Published between July 1967 and December 1968, they are all gathered in this first archive Star Trek…

Printing giant Whitman Publishing had been producing their own books and comics for decades through their Dell and Gold Key imprints, rivalling and often surpassing DC and Timely/Marvel at the height of their powers in sales and popularity. Famously Whitman never capitulated to the wave of anti-comics hysteria resulting in the crippling self-censorship of the 1950s and Dell Comics never displayed a Comics Code Authority symbol on their covers.

They never needed to: their canny blend of media and entertainment licensed titles were always produced with a family market in mind and the creative staff took their editorial stance from the mores of the filmic Hayes Code and the burgeoning television industry.

Just like the big and little screen, the product enticed but never shocked and kept contentious social issues implicit instead of tacit. It was a case of “violence and murder are fine, but never titillate”…

Moreover, the vast majority of their adventure comics’ covers were high quality photos or paintings – adding a stunning degree of veracity and verisimilitude to even the most outlandish of concepts for us wide-eyed waifs in need of awesome entertainment. The company seemed the only logical choice for a licensed comic book, and to be honest, these stories are cracking space opera yarns, even if they occupy an odd position in the hearts of older screen-dominant fans. In the UK, distribution of US comics was haphazard at best, but Gold Key Trek yarns were reprinted in our beloved and trusted hardback Christmas annuals. Nevertheless, the earliest ones bore little resemblance to what we’d seen on TV.

Our little minds were perplexed and we did wonder, but as the tales offered plenty of action and big sci fi concepts we just enjoyed them anyway.

Original British Star Trek yarns came in serialised comic-strip form, superbly illustrated and bearing a close resemblance to the source material. The feature only appeared as 2 or 3-page instalments in weekly anthologies, but was at least instantly familiar to TV viewers.

I discovered the answer to the jarring discrepancy, years later. Apparently scripter Dick Wood (a veteran writer who had worked on hundreds of series from Batman and the original Daredevil to Crime Does Not Pay and Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom) had not seen the show when commissioned to write the comic book iteration, and both he and Italian artists Nevio Zaccara – and latterly Alberto Giolitti – received only the briefest of outlines and scant reference materials from the show’s producers. They were working almost in the dark…

When you read these stories, you’ll see some strange sights and apparent contradictions to Trek canon lore, but they were all derived from sensible assumptions by creators doing the very best with what meagre information they had. If you’re likely to have your nostalgic fun spoiled by wrong-coloured shirts or Lasers rather than Phasers, think alternate universe or read something else. Ultimately, you are the only one missing out…

That’s enough unnecessary apologising. These splendidly conceived all-ages tales don’t deserve or need it, and even the TV wellspring was a constantly developing work-in-progress, as fan and occasional Trek scripter Tony Isabella reveals in his Introduction ‘These Are the Voyages…’

Accompanied by the stunning photo-collage covers and endpapers (an expensive rarity at the time outside Gold Key titles) the quirky collation of cosmic questing commences with ‘The Planet of No Return’ (by Wood & Zaccaria, from #1, July 1967) as the Enterprise enters a region of space oddly devoid of life and encounters predatory spores from a planet designated Kelly-Green. This is a world of horror where vegetative life contaminates and transforms flesh whilst mindlessly seeking to constantly consume and conquer. After the survivors of the landing party escape deadly doom and return to the safety of space, there is only one course of action Captain Kirk can take…

‘The Devil’s Isle of Space’ was released with a March 1968 cover-date and found the ever-advancing Enterprise trapped in a space-wide electronic net. The technology was part of a system used by an alien race to pen death-row criminals on asteroids, where they would be (eventually) executed in a truly barbarous manner. Sadly, it’s hard not to interfere in a sovereign culture’s private affairs when the doomed criminals hold Federation citizens hostage and want Kirk to hand his ship over to them…

Bombastic. beguiling and spectacular, ‘Invasion of the City Builders’ (#3, December 1968) saw legendary Alberto Giolitti take the artistic reigns. Prolific, gifted and truly international, his work and the studio he founded produced a wealth of material for three continents; everything from Le Avventure di Italo Nurago, Tarzan, The Phantom, Mandrake, Flash Gordon, Zorro, Cisco Kid, Turok, Gunsmoke, King Kong, Cinque anni dopo, Tex Willer and dozens more. In England, the Giolitti effect enhanced many magazines and age ranges; everything from Flame of the Forest in Lion to Enchanted Isle in Tammy. His textural adeptness and gritty line-work added visual terseness and tension to the mix, as seen in his first outing here, as Enterprise crewmembers land on a planet where automated machines originally programmed to build new homes and roads have been out of control for a century. Forcing the organic population to the edge of extinction, the mechs build cities no one can live in over the soil they need to grow food. The machines seem utterly indestructible, but Mr. Spock has an idea…

Social commentary gave way to action and suspense when ‘The Peril of Planet Quick Change’ (June 1969) finds the explorers investigating a world of chimerical geological instability, only to see Spock possessed by beings made of light. These creatures use him to finally stabilise their unruly world, but once the crisis is averted, one of the luminous spirits refuses to exit the Vulcan and plans to make the body its own…

‘The Ghost Planet’ (September 1969) was fast approaching parity with the TV incarnation as Enterprise reaches a world ravaged by radiation rings. Its twin rulers are eager for the star men’s help in removing the rings, but don’t want them hanging around to help rebuild the devastated civilisation. A little quiet investigation reveals that most of the carnage is due to eternal warfare which the devious despots plan to resume as soon as the Federation ship destroys the radiation rings and leaves…

Wrapping up this initial TV treasure-trove is ‘When Planets Collide’ (December 1969): a classic conundrum involving two runaway worlds inexorably drawn to each other and mutual destruction. What might have been a simple observable astronomical event becomes fraught with peril when the Enterprise’s crew discover civilisations within each world: both of which would rather die than evacuate their ancient homes…

With time running out and lives at stake there’s only one incredible chance to save both worlds, but it will take all Spock’s brains and Kirk’s piloting skill to avert cosmic catastrophe…

Bold, expansive and epic, these are great stories to delight young and old alike and well worth making time and space for. Why not explore lost worlds and sagas of guaranteed merit via the comics wayback machine? You know the one: it’s the comic shop located on the Edge of Forever?

® and © 2014 CBS Studios, Inc. Star Trek and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Today Finnish cartoonist Lars Jansson was born today in 1926. You can see his work in Moomin Volume 9.

Today in 1937, Archie Goodwin was born: a gentle genius and still the Nicest Man in Comics, of whom you can learn more and appreciate his subtle mastery by checking Tales of the Batman: Archie Goodwin.