Category: Crime Comics

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Scorchy Smith: Partners in Danger


By Noel Sickles (Nostalgia Press)
ISBN10: 0-87897-029-0 (TPB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced during less enlightened times.

This is a big year for comics and strip anniversaries. Here’s one of the very best; but good luck and deep pockets to you if you decide to act on my fervent recommendations…

For one of the most influential and well-regarded comics strips of all time, aviation feature Scorchy Smith is also one of the most enigmatic and unreachable. A surprisingly long-lived proposition running in total from March 17th 1930 to December 30th 1961, the strip took off in the heyday of adventure comics and employed a pretty impressive roster of story-makers – officially ten in total including Bert Christman (The Sandman), Frank Robbins (Johnny Hazard) and George Tuska (Buck Rogers). However, it achieved its zenith in the mere three years pioneering cartoon visionary Noel Sickles steered its course.

Noel Douglas Sickles (January 24, 1910-October 3, 1982) had a very short and barely acknowledged career as a newspaper cartoonist. He worked as a jobbing illustrator in the features department of the Associated Press – an organisation that provided top-rated news items but only cheap (if high-quality) filler material such as cartoons, ads, comic strips, recipes, horoscopes, puzzles: All the pages a local newspaper might need but couldn’t afford to produce themselves…

In 1934 Sickles took over the inexplicably popular aviation strip Scorchy Smith from animator & political cartoonist John Terry, after the creator/originator contracted rapid-acting terminal tuberculosis. The publishers required Sickles to emulate Terry’s style, which Sickles diligently did (with his first credited strip on April 2nd 1934) until Terry’s death. At that point he was invited to make the strip his own and – a driven experimenter – he replaced Terry’s scratchy, cross-hatched, intensely feathered methods with a moody impressionism that used volume, solid blacks and a careful manipulation of light sources to tell his tales. He also traded standard proscenium arch layouts for impressionistically styled (if not actually expressionistic), cinematic composition which made backgrounds and scenery an integral part of the story-telling process.

An exceedingly straight action/drama serial about a pilot for hire based on the public persona of Charles Lindbergh, the high-flying exploits of named star Scorchy Smith catalogue the travels of a stout hearted, valiant Knight of the Skies, complete with trusty sidekick, “Heinie”, flying about and Doing Good. That’s it.

Sickles famously never worked to a plan when writing the strip, he just made it up as he went along to avoid boring himself. For an extended exploration of his chimeric art process you should read R C Harvey’s Meanwhile…: a superb biography of Sickles’s friend and studio-mate Milton Caniff, who sat across from the innovator taking notes and making his own inspired style revolutions…

Stories abound that the two frequently collaborated. Certainly, Caniff admitted to helping out with deadlines and story-polishing, but the bold visuals were always the product of a driven and dedicated seeker of artistic truths. The Chiaroscurist style developed by Sickles was adopted by Caniff, although he largely eschewed the lavish use of photomechanical dot-screens Sickles applied to create different flavours of Black in his monochrome masterpieces.

Reprinted in this slim tome are three thrillers from that brief period. ‘Lafarge’s Gold’ (10th October 1935 – January 30th 1936), ‘New York, N. Y.’ (January 31st 1936 – March 18th 1936) and ‘Desert Escape’ (March 19th 1936 – August 14th 1936) all come from the very end of Sickles’ strip career, with a pretty girl swindled out of a goldmine, big-city conmen, and Tuaregs and the Foreign Legion providing admittedly lacklustre narrative maguffins. However, the bravura vivacity and artistic flair employed by Sickles to tell these tales elevate the B-movie plots into breathtaking high art drama by the sheer magnificence of the drawing and design.

Over his tenure, the great experimenter pushed the minor strip’s syndication to over 250 papers, so he asked for a raise. When he was refused, he quit, with his last episode published on October 24th 1936. Noel Sickles left the restricted and drudge-work world of newspaper strips, chasing the greater challenge of higher education. He eventually settled into the more appreciative and challenging magazine illustration field, making new fans in the Saturday Evening Post, Life and Readers Digest. His few months in narrative story-telling changed our entire industry, not so much with what he did, but by the way he did it and who he shared his discoveries with. He is an unsung immortal, and his brief output deserves a commemorative, retrospective collection more than any other creator that I can think of. Until the precious few previous collections are rereleased – and preferably in digitised formats – lost gems like this will have to suffice.
© 1936 The A. P.

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Showcase Presents Blue Beetle


By Len Wein, Joey Cavalieri, Paris Cullins, Gil Kane, Ross Andru, Don Heck & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-5147-5 (TPB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

The Blue Beetle premiered in Mystery Men Comics #1, released by Fox Comics and dated August 1939. The pulp-inspired hero was created by Charles Nicholas and possibly initially scripted by Will Eisner. “Charles Nicholas” was a shared pseudonym used by Chuck Cuidera (Blackhawk), Jack Kirby (everything) and Charles Wojtkowski (Blonde Phantom, Young Allies, Nyoka, Iron Corporal) with that last one generally attributed with inventing our remarkably resilient Azure Avenger.

The Cobalt Crimecrusher was inexplicably popular from the start: translating his comics venues into merchandise, a radio show and even a newspaper comic strip. Constantly traded and acquired by numerous publishers, BB survived the extinction of most of them: blithely undergoing many revisions to his origins and powers. By the mid-1950s he ended up at Charlton Comics, appearing sporadically in a few long-inventoried tales before seemingly fading away. However, that was only until the superhero resurgence of the early 1960s when Joe Gill, Bill Fraccio, Tony Tallarico and, latterly, neophyte scripter/devoted Golden Age acolyte Roy Thomas revised and revived the character. Technically, it resulted in a 10-issue run cover-dated June 1964 to 1966 (actually two separate 5-issue runs), but if you also check out our Action Heroes Archive review you’ll see that it wasn’t quite that simple…

Pulling together many disparate strands from previous incarnations, former cop and valiant troubleshooter Dan Garrett was reshaped into an archaeologist gifted with a mysterious and magical ancient Egyptian scarab recovered from lost tomb. This trinket would transform him into a lightning-throwing, flying superman whenever he touched the scarab and uttered the trigger phrase “Khaji Dha!”

After another brief sojourn in comic book limbo, Garret (note the different spelling, it varies from issue to issue, but we’ll stick to double “r”, double “t”, okay?) resurfaced as Steve Ditko took on the concept, tweaking it to construct a fresh new, retooled hero. This one started as a back-up feature in Captain Atom #83 (November 1966) before graduating to his own solo title. Ted Kord was a troubled scientist with mystery and undisclosed tragedy in his past, as well as an unspecified connection to Garrett. In fact, he was the police’s prime suspect in the academic’s disappearance and possible murder…

The Ditko version was sublime but short-lived: an early casualty when the Sixties Superhero boom reversed and horror again ruled the newsstands, Charlton’s “Action Hero” experiment was gone by the close of 1968, leading a long line of costumed champions into limbo and clearing the decks for a horror renaissance.

Time passed and reading tastes changed again. After the cosmos-consuming Crisis on Infinite Earths re-sculpted DC’s universes in 1986, a host of stars and even second stringers got floor-up rebuilds to fit them for a tougher, uncompromising, straight-shooting, no-nonsense New American readership of the Reagan era. In the intervening years, DC had pursued an old policy: acquiring characters and properties of defunct publishers. A handful of Charlton buy-outs had featured in Crisis and now Captain Atom, The Question and two Blue Beetles seamlessly slotted into the new DCU, ahead of the rest of the lost contingent…

Primarily scripted and steered by Len Wein (Swamp Thing, New X-Men, Batman, almost everything else), this massive monochrome compilation gathers the entire 24-issue run of Blue Beetle volume 6 (cover-dates June 1986 through May 1988) plus a superb crossover origin/restated backstory from Secret Origins (volume 2) #2, originally released as a vanguard to the series. Sans preamble, a steady diet of light-hearted swashbuckling begins with Len Wein, Paris Cullins & Bruce D, Patterson’s ‘Out from the Ashes!’ wherein a Chicago office building burns down. Suddenly, above the roaring flames a giant mechanical bug floats into view and from it plunges rookie hero Blue Beetle. He is desperate but determined to help the beleaguered firefighters… but not with the conflagration. His target is deranged super-arsonist Firefist, but the glorified acrobat’s tricky gadgets seem to be no match for the heavily armoured foe’s ferocious firepower. Barely escaping with his life, Beetle takes some comfort from the fact that even if he didn’t stop the bad guy or save the skyscraper, he has rescued an imperilled fireman…

In the aftermath, the masked man heads back to work: revealed to us as junior genius Ted Kord who has just (most reluctantly) assumed control of his tyrannical father’s technological innovations and manufacturing business. Ted doesn’t like business but loves inventing, which is why he spends as much time as possible with the company’s quirky thinktank geniuses Jeremiah Duncan, Melody Case and Murray Takamoto. Now he learns the company is sitting on a discovery of Earth-shattering importance. What Ted doesn’t know is that someone nefarious and extremely close wants it, or that far, far away someone has broken into the crypt on Pago Island where Ted’s mad scientist uncle Jarvis Kord killed Dan Garrett – the original Blue Beetle. An archaeological rival, Conrad Carapax is seeking the fabled something that cost his competitor his life…

Suddenly, Firefist attacks again and the neophyte hero rushes off to challenge him. The woefully one-sided battle gets serious in ‘This City’s Not for Burning!’ as the arsonist almost kills our hero again, forcing Ted to get smart and investigate where and why; not how. Despite catastrophic collateral their final clash leads to victory of sorts but leaves the hero open to betrayal from within his trust circle and targeted by a major supervillain seeking the modified wonder element Promethium undergoing modifications in Kord Inc’s labs…

Also adding to Ted’s woes and generally amping up tensions is slowly circling – and rapidly spiralling – cop Lt. Max Fisher who cannot shake the conviction that the glib scientist in his sights knows something about the Garret disappearance…

With Firefist apparently dead, two separate evil masterminds amp up their plans with the disguised janitor at affiliate/partner S.T.A.R. Labs convincing career criminal Farley Fleeter to revive his old gang The Madmen to attack Kord Inc. in BB #3’s ‘If This Be Madness…!’ As the melee is interrupted by the handily close-by Blue Beetle, corporate machinations and untrustworthy trusted friends all further their own treacherous schemes against Ted, allowing one of those villains in the shadows to make a move, revealing ‘The Answer is Alchemy!’ Here old Flash-foe Al Desmond/Mr. Element/Doctor Alchemy steals the hotly contested Promethium sample to reenergise his failing, matter-reshaping Philosopher’s Stone, but the battle to reclaim it is wild and violent, and against all odds the Beetle triumphs…

With a plethora of soap opera subplots in place, the tales assume a more action-driven shape and pace in the Azure Avenger’s first team up. ‘Ask the Right Question!’ introduces DC’s remodelled iteration of Ditko’s other, Other, OTHER immortal creation – albeit prior to his reinvention by Denny O’Neil & Denys Cowan. As up-&-coming masked mobster The Muse organises Chicago’s disparate gangs into an army a well-dressed but faceless vigilante in a powerplay to seize control from reigning Don Vincent Perignon. After the customary introductory confusion-clash Beetle and Question (AKA investigative journalist Vic Sage) set about dismantling the organisation and usurpation in ‘Face-Off!’ (BB #6) and blockbusting, Dell Barras-inked conclusion ‘Gang War!’

A delightful sentiment-soaked divertissement comes in BB #8 as ‘Henchman!’ sees Ted Kord reject job applicant and former criminal minion Ed Buckley, inadvertently driving him back to lawlessness and a position with evil genius The Calculator: a tragic mistake that the hero is happy to pay for when reformed-&-honest Ed subsequently saves the Beetle’s life…

The other lurking super-villain reveals himself at last in #9 & 10 as ‘Timepiece!’ (Cullins & Barras art) and sequel ‘Time on his Hands!’ (Chuck Patton & Barras) – both tie-ins to crossover event Legends. They see America’s superheroes outlawed by Presidential decree as part of New God Darkseid’s plan to destroy the very concept of heroism. As Ted’s conscience and desire to save innocents compete, another close friend falls foul of time bandit Chronos, and he suits up to settle the matter with the villain, law or no law. Meanwhile elsewhere, the Kord Promethium project has advanced to a point where it’s ready to be stolen by more lurking fiends, whilst on Pago Island, Carapax has uncovered a terrifying menace…

Guest-starring the New Teen Titans (Nightwing, Cyborg, Wonder Girl, Starfire, Jericho & Changeling/Beast Boy) ‘Havoc is… the Hybrid’ (#11, Cullins & Barras) sees deranged former Doom Patrol member Mento (Steve Dayton) unleash a personal pack of Promethium-mutated villains against the super-team with Blue Beetle caught as ‘Man in the Middle’ (co-scripted by Joey Cavalieri) before Wein, Cullins & Barras reveal the final fate of another unlucky unfaithful Kord collaborator in ‘Prometheus Unbound!’

Simultaneously, Carapax finally recovers and is subsumed by the maverick tech he accidentally unleashed. In BB #14 to Ted makes a momentous decision. Set on finally confronting Max Fisher about the death of Garrett, Ted is unaware that the cop is already facing ‘The Phantom of Pago Island!’ after travelling to the atoll and meeting a monster which promptly slaughters his entire party. Resolved to deal with Fisher, Blue Beetle arrives in time to join him ‘In Combat with… Carapax!’ (pencilled by Ross Andru) with both escaping believing the killer robot gone for good. As they form a tenuous new relationship with Fisher increasingly exploiting the fact that he knows Kord is a superhero, another manic supervillain (Catalyst) and megalomaniacal business competitor (Klaus Cornelius) lurk in the wings, kidnapping Jeremiah Duncan for info on Kord’s business secrets…

In ‘Anywhere I Hang my Head is Home!’ – art by Andru & Danny Bulanadi – cop and vigilante unite to catch a ruthless “Skid Row Slasher”, before Fisher oversteps by picking targets for the Beetle, even as the gallant hero is battling new masked menace Overthrow in #17’s ‘The Way the Brawl Bounces!’ (Cullins & Bulanadi) before and inevitably the original Blue Beetle returns to reclaim his mantle in ‘…And Death Shall Have No Dominion’ (all Cullins art): a grim and brutal clash with a shocking sting in the tale.

Exposing criminality and deceptions at S.T.A.R. Labs, Ted hunts a potential heir of Dan Garrett and clashes with a bizarre mechanoid organism in #19’s ‘A Matter of Animus!’ (as Andru & Bulanadi begin a sustained run), prompting a trip to Kord’s middle east facility as ‘Iran Scam!’ (another company crossover event component – this time for Millennium) reveals how a close enemy is actually an agent for ancient alien cabal the Manhunters, in a sly cover for a worthy pop at how women are oppressed under the Ayatollahs. It’s counterbalanced and leavened by purer superheroics in follow-up Millennium chapter ‘If This Works, It’ll Be a Miracle!’ (BB #21) wherein Ted and Justice League International take on a nest of Manhunters.

Crisis successfully averted, Ted is blindsided by vengeful Chronos who traps the Blue Beetle millions of years in the past before Kord turns the tables on him in #22’s ‘A Question of Time!’ (Andru, Gil Kane & Bulanadi art) before returning to now and a second episode with the Madmen in ‘Don’t Get Mad, Get Even!’ (Don Heck & Bulanadi). Now the series abruptly terminates on a cliffhanger as – in the midst of battling Carapax again – Ted’s dad Thomas Kord reclaims “his” company from the son and heir who’s ruining it in ‘If At first, You Don’t Succeed…!’

With the solo series ended, Ted made a welcome home as a beloved but underestimated comedy foil in various Justice League iterations, whilst this book closes on that promised origin yarn ,as seen in Secret Origins #2. Crafted by Wein & Kane, ‘Echoes of Future Past!’ spectacularly traces valiant Dan Garrett’s life, career and ultimate sacrifice in a bravura masterclass on superheroism as a humble college professor becomes a divinely chosen wonder man saving Earth from undead giant mummies, corrupt governments, scientific madmen, supervillains and worse before paying the final price and inspiring a lineage of heroes…

With covers by Cullins Patterson, Barras, Terry Austin, Patton, Andru, Bulanadi, Steve Bové, Dick Giordano, Mike Mignola, Chris Wozniak, Keith S. Wilson, Garry Leach, Gil Kane & Ricardo Villagran this bold bonanza of Fights ‘n’ Tights delights is a book no superhero lover should miss – unless DC finally get around to giving one of comics’ grandest brands the archive treatment he/they deserve…
© DC 1986, 1987, 1988, 2015, DC Comics All Rights Reserved.

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Mac Raboy’s Flash Gordon volume 4


By Mac Raboy & Don Moore, Dan Barry & various (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN: 978-156971-979-9 (TPB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

By almost every metric, Flash Gordon is the most influential comic strip in the world. When the hero debuted on Sunday January 7th 1934 (Happy Birthday Flash!) with equally superb Jungle Jim running as a supplementary “topper” strip, it was a slick, sophisticated answer to Philip Nolan & Dick Calkins’ revolutionary, ideas-packed, inspirational, but quirkily clunky Buck Rogers (which also launched on January 7th – albeit in 1929) with two fresh elements added to the wonderment: Classical Lyricism and Poetic Dynamism. The newcomer became a weekly invitation to stunningly exotic glamour and astonishing beauty.

Where Buck merged traditional adventure with groundbreaking science concepts, Flash reinterpreted fairy tales, hero epics and mythology, draping them in the spectacular trappings of contemporary futurism, with the varying “rays”, “engines” and “motors” of modern pulp sci fi substituting for trusty swords and lances. There were also plenty of those too – and exotic craft and contraptions stood in for galleons, chariots and magic carpets. Look closely, though, and you’ll see cowboys, gangsters and of course, contemporary flying saucer fetishes adding flourish to the fanciful fables. The narrative trick made the far-fetched satisfactorily familiar – and was continued with contemporary trends and innovations by Austin Briggs and Don Moore before Mac Raboy (with Moore and Robert Rogers) took over the Sunday strips for a groundbreakingly modern yet comfortably familiar tenure lasting from 1948 to 1967.

The sheer artistic talent of Raymond, his compositional skills, fine linework, eye for clean, concise detail and just plain genius for drawing beautiful people and things, swiftly made this the strip that all young artists swiped from literally all over the world. When original material comic books began a few years later, many talented kids used Gordon as their model and ticket to future success in the field of adventure strips. Almost all the others went with Raymond’s stylistic polar opposite: emulating Milton Caniff’s expressionist masterwork Terry and the Pirates (and to see one of his better disciples check out Beyond Mars, limned by the wonderful Lee Elias).

Flash Gordon began on present-day Earth (which was 1934, remember?) with a wandering world about to smash into our planet. As global panic ensued, polo player Flash and fellow passenger Dale Arden narrowly escaped disaster when a meteor fragment downed their airliner. They landed on the estate of tormented genius Dr. Hans Zarkov, who imprisoned them in the rocket-ship he had built. His plan? To fly the ship directly at the astral invader and deflect it from Earth by crashing into it! Thus began a decade of sheer escapist magic in a Ruritanian Neverland: a blend of Camelot, Oz, John Carter of Mars and a hundred other fantasy realms promising paradise yet concealing vipers, ogres and demons, all cloaked in a glimmering sheen of sleek scientific speculation. Worthy adversaries such as utterly evil yet magnetic Ming, emperor of the fantastic wandering planet; myriad exotic races and shattering conflicts offered a fantastic alternative to drab and dangerous reality for millions of avid readers around the world.

With Moore handling the bulk of scripts, Alex Raymond’s ‘On the Planet Mongo’ ran every Sunday until 1944, when the artist joined the Marines. On his return, he forsook wild imaginings for sober reality by introducing gentleman gumshoe Rip Kirby. The public’s unmissable weekly appointment with wonderment perforce continued under the artistic auspices of Austin Briggs – who had drawn the monochrome daily instalments since 1940.

In 1948, eight years after beginning his career drawing for the Harry A. Chesler production “shop”, comic book artist Emmanuel “Mac” Raboy took over illustrating the Sunday page. Moore remained as scripter and began co-writing with the new artist. Raboy’s sleek, fine-line brush style – heavily influenced by his idol Raymond – had made his work on Captain Marvel Jr., Kid Eternity and especially Green Lama a pinnacle of artistic quality in the early days of the proliferating superhero genre. His seemingly inevitable assumption of Flash Gordon’s extraordinary exploits led to a renaissance of the strip and in a rapidly evolving post-war world, it became once more a benchmark of timeless, hyper-realistic quality escapism which only Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant could match.

This fourth and final 276-page paperback volume – printed in stark monochrome, landscape format and still criminally out-of-print/long overdue for a fresh edition – spans December 16th 1962 through December 31st 1967 – by which time successor Dan Barry was already adding his artistic contributions to the final chapter (from December 24th). After one last informative appraisal of Raboy in Bruce Jones’ Introduction ‘Walking with Giants’ it’s time for one last blast-off as the adventure resumes with already-in-progress thriller ‘Sons of Saturn’… Sequence SO91 had begun on October 21st 1962 and cliffhangerly closed the previous volume barely weeks in. It resumes here with the episode for December 16th and carries on until January 20th 1963 revealing how the hitherto unsuspected super-civilisation thriving in the clouds of the Sixth Planet is revealed when an Earth probe provokes its current overlord to determine human nature and resource by sending super-criminal outcast Baldr to plague, punish and test them. That results in the indestructible giant breaking into Flash’s ship and going on a rampage, but ultimately alien force proves no match for human – i.e. Flash Gordon’s – ingenuity and the embattled visitors accidentally initiate a sudden and very permanent regime change…

Running from January 27th to April 14th pure cold war paranoia shapes sequence S092. ‘The Force Dome’ sees well-meaning Professor Howe build a perfectly impenetrable protective energy barrier and convince the authorities to let him run a live test by shielding all of Metropole City. When Howe dies suddenly the experiment goes awry and the generators can’t be switched off. Thankfully, Flash and Zarkov are on site and able to avert the crisis before all the air under the city-sized bubble is used up…

It’s back to the beyond next as (S093: 21/4/63 – 14/7/63) finds our hero further testing the bounds of Earth’s recently-developed Faster-Than-Light technologies, with Flash despatched to a far star system to discover what happened to an off-line ‘Star Beacon’ that has stopped providing subspace navigation data. That all sounds quite technical, but it’s just a plot device to enable Flash & Co to wryly clash with cunning alien primitives after which it’s back to Earth and the Himalayas to rescue explorer Bill Penrose from fabled monsters (S094: 21/7/63-17/11/63). However, as Flash digs deeper, he learns these ‘Yeti’ are actually robots employed by extraterrestrial resource bandits to steal uranium, resulting in an epic battle beneath the Earth, before returning to space and a new station orbiting Jupiter. Set on Earth’s newly-constructed interstellar transit station, sequence S095 (24/11/63 to 15/3/1964) sees Dale and Flash accidentally in loco parentis to Miki – an extremely impulsive ‘Boy From Another World’ …and his disruptively radioactive pet Zhlubb…

The furore builds as the star waifs suddenly go missing just as interplanetary bandit trio the Breen Brothers invade the station whilst Flash is testing Zarkov’s latest super-ship, triggering a monumental and manic battle beyond the stars. When the shooting stops and with Miki restored to his parents, Flash finally boosts off in the new FTL vessel, destined for a colony world that has called for help by sending back all its women and children. In truth, the castaways’ return is a bid by aliens on a dying world who seek to inveigle tribute and rations for their starving civilisation by holding the male human colonists hostage.

Backed up by colonist Kitty Corum and rash, overconfident Star Patrol Special Service recruit Dino, Flash’s test ride becomes a rescue/diplomatic mission to the ‘Dark Sun of Dragor’ (S096: 22/3/ to 7/19/64): a most unconventional confrontation that culminates in the death of a star system, followed by a brief diversion. Spanning 26th July to November 8th, sequence S097 sees a family of giant, shapeshifting aliens crash on Earth and their colossal child faces typical panic and bigotry until Dale steps in to salve tensions and save ‘The Chameleon’, prior to sheer arrogance almost destroying the world’s hopes of halting chaotic storms caused by solar flares and securing reliable ‘Man-Made Weather’ (S098: 15/11/64 – 2/14/February 65). The problem is a clash of wills between abrasive Dr Franz Graf and Zarkov, but eventually the meteorological fireworks spark a world-saving inspiration…

Another mountaintop yarn finds Flash and junior shuttle pilot Wally Green captive of the ‘Lost Tribe of the Andes’ (S099: February 21st to 13th June), facing the bellicose descendants of Spanish conquistadors shielded from progress for hundreds of years and ultimately duelling dastardly power-hungry despot-in-waiting El Mono, before a return to modern civilisation brings the first Moon’s Fair and a transport nightmare when the best pilot in space gets involved in transporting Michelangelo’s David to the exhibition site. It all results in ‘The Greatest Art Theft’ (SI00: June 20th – October 10th) as petty tyrant/organised crime overlord Baron Borgaz purloins the masterpiece for his private orbital fiefdom and is vain enough to allow Flash entrance to search his sinister, thug-&-monster-stuffed citadel…

Next comes a yarn older British fans might recognise as part of the 1967 digest series World Adventure Library: a line that also included Mandrake the Magician, The Phantom, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Batman. Here Flash plays space cop in pursuit of devious disguise artist/thief Merlyn, who swindles his way across the solar system and even escapes Gordon’s justice… but not his fate or just deserts in year spanning comedic change-of-pace ‘Con Man in Space’ (SI01: 17/10/1965 to 30/01/1966). It’s followed by ‘A Visit From Mercury’ (February 6th to June 5th ’66 and another tale reprinted in the UK) as a trip to erupting volcano Vesuvius allows “impervium”-clad Flash, Dale & Zarkov to enter a undiscovered base deep in the magma, where visitors fleeing the first rock from the sun are hiding. Sheltered from geological upheaval and basking in Earth’s warmth, they’re ultimately restored to their point of origin with Earth’s aid, but only after Gordon deals with flaming recidivist usurper Janj…

Old-style mystery and monster hunting shapes survival saga ‘Death World’ (SI03: 12/06 – 23/10/66) as Flash and a Space Agency Survival Corps squad led by Sikh commander Singh are despatched to learn what caused the disappearance of an entire human colony and rise of a swathe of killer beasts. What they discover changes lives and the annals of bio-science, before Flash tangles with another low-orbit lowlife when ‘The Duke of Naples’ (SI04: 30th October 1966 – April 2nd 1967) reinstitutes privateering, slave-taking and gladiatorial combat on his private space station in his passionately plutocratic desire to return humanity to feudalism, after which big science engineering finds Flash and Zarkov mediating war between grudge-bearing Madame Mimi Duclos and martinet Godfrey Ledge as each attempts to seize control and complete construction of ‘The Moon Launcher’ (April 9th to July 16th). The ion launch platform is an obvious and permanent boon to human space expansion, but the project takes on desperate urgency after explorers on Pluto encounter trouble and the acceleration launcher offers the only possibility of getting a rescue ship to them in time.

The bitter war between the project chiefs sparks industrial strife, worker mutiny and even criminal changes against Flash’s new best pal Pancho, but sooner rather than later the job is done and Gordon (plus fugitive stowaway Pancho) are rocketing into infernal darkness and Raboy’s last adventure.  Sequence SI06 spans 23/7/1967 to 7/1/1968 (with Dan Barry taking over on December 24th) as the voyagers find the lost explorers but are ‘Captured on Pluto’ by super-advanced aliens playing mindgames and conjuring fantastic worlds and beings in a cosmic scaled romp deeply redolent of 1964 Star Trek pilot episode The Cage…

To Be Continued… by other hands

Each week as he toiled on the strip, Raboy produced ever-more expansive artwork filled with distressed damsels, deadly monsters, incredible civilisations, increasingly authentic space hardware and locales, and all sorts of outrageous adventure that continued until the illustrator’s untimely death in 1967. Perhaps it was a kindness. He was the last great Golden Age romanticist illustrator and his lushly lavish, freely-flowing adoration of perfected human form was beginning to stale in popular taste. The Daily feature had already switched to the solid, chunky, He-Manly burly realism of Dan Barry and Frank Frazetta, but here at least the last outpost of ethereally beautiful heroism and pretty perils still prevailed: a dream realm you can visit as easily and often as Flash, Dale & Zarkov popped between planets, just by tracking down this book and the one which preceded it…
© 2003 King Features Syndicate Inc. ™ & © Hearst Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.

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The Batman Annuals volume 2 – DC Comics Classic Library


By Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Edmond Hamilton, Ed France Herron, Jerry Coleman, David Wood, Sheldon Moldoff, Lew Sayre Schwartz, Dick Sprang, Curt Swan, Charles Paris, Stan Kaye, Ray Burnley & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2791-3 (HB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

There’s a lot of truly splendid 1940s and 1950s comics material around these days in a lot of impressive formats. DC’s Classics Comics Library hardbacks were a remarkably accessible, collectible range of products – inexplicably still not available in digital editions! – and one of the best is this wonderful aggregation of four of the most influential and beloved comic books of the Silver Age of American comic books.

Batman Annual #1 was released in June 1961, a year after the phenomenally successful Superman Annual #1. The big, bold anthology format was hugely popular with readers. The Man of Steel’s second Annual was rushed out before Christmas and the third came out a mere year after the first. That same month a Secret Origins compilation and the aforementioned Batman Blockbuster all arrived in shops and on newsstands. It’s probably hard to appreciate now but those huge comics – 80 pages instead of 32 with practically no advertising except other comics – were a magical resource with a colossal impact on kids who loved comics. I don’t mean the ubiquitous scruffs, oiks, scofflaws and scallywags of school days who read casually before chucking them away (most kids were comics consumers in the days before computer games) but rather those quiet, secretive few of us who treasured and kept them, constantly re-reading, listing, discussing, pondering, and even making our own. Only posh kids with wicked parents read no comics at all: those prissy, starchy types who were beaten up by the scruffs, oiks and scallywags even more than us bookworms. But I digress…

For budding collectors the Annuals were a gateway to a fabulous lost past. Just Imagine!: adventures your heroes had from before you were even born…

Those fantastic innovative aggregations in the early 1960s changed comics publishing. Soon Marvel, Charlton, and Archie were also releasing giant books of old stories, then came new ones, crossovers, continued stories. Annuals proved two things to publishers: that there was a dedicated, long-term appetite for more material – and that punters were willing to pay a little bit more for it. This hardback compendium completes a set by gathering Batman Annuals #4-7 (from 1963-1966) in their mythic entirety: 33 terrific complete stories, stunning pin-ups and especially all those magnificently iconic compartmentalized covers. Also included are original publication details and credits (the only bad thing about those big books of magic was never knowing “Who” and “Where”); creator biographies and another reminiscing Introduction from Michael Uslan, putting the entire nostalgic experience into perspective.

Way back then editors sagely packaged Annuals as themed collections, the first here being The Secret Adventures of Batman and Robin (released November 8th 1962) which started the ball rolling with ‘The First Batman’ (by Bill Finger & Sheldon Moldoff as originally seen in Detective Comics #235, September 1956): a key story of this period, introducing a strong psychological component to Batman’s origins by disclosing how, when Bruce Wayne was still a toddler, his father had clashed with gangsters whilst clad in a fancy dress bat costume…

‘Am I Really Batman?’ (Finger, Moldoff & Charles Paris; Batman #112, December 1957) saw bona fide mad scientist Professor Milo poison the hero with a rare plant, forcing Robin and Alfred to put the Masked Manhunter through a baffling psychological ordeal to counteract the toxin…

Today fans are pretty used to a vast battalion of bat-themed champions haunting Gotham City and its troubled environs, but for the longest time it was just Bruce, Dick Grayson and occasionally borrowed dog Ace keeping crime on the run. However, with Detective #233 (July 1956, and 3 months before The Flash’s debut officially ushered in the Silver Age) editorial powers-that-be introduced vivacious heiress Kathy Kane who – for the next eight years – incessantly suited-up in chiropteran red & yellow. Edmond Hamilton, Moldoff & Paris premiered ‘Origin of the Batwoman’ with a former circus acrobat bursting into Batman’s life, challenging him to discover her secret identity at the risk of exposing his own…

The Boy Wonder began very publicly working solo after ‘The Vanished Batman’ (Hamilton, Moldoff & Stan Kaye, (Batman #101, August 1956) saw the Gotham Gangbuster declared dead and presumed gone by the underworld whilst ‘The Phantom of the Bat-Cave’ (Hamilton, Moldoff & Paris, Batman #99, April 1956) offered a genuine mystery as persons unknown began somehow stealing/replacing items from the heroes’ sacrosanct trophy room. ‘Batman’s College Days’ (Finger, Moldoff & Paris, Batman #96, December 1955) saw Bruce Wayne on a sea cruise with three fellow alumni, one of whom planned murder and had deduced his alter ego, after which ‘The Marriage of Batman and Batwoman’ (Finger, Moldoff & Ray Burnley, Batman #122, March 1959) depicted Robin’s nightmares should such a nuptial event occur whereas ‘The Second Boy Wonder’ (France Herron, Moldoff & Burnley, Batman #105, February 1957) was all too real as a stranger apparently infiltrated the Batcave by impersonating the kid crimebuster. The Annual ended with ‘The Man who Ended Batman’s Career’ (Finger, Moldoff & Paris; Detective #247, September 1957) presenting a significantly different-looking Professor Milo using psychological warfare and scientific mind-control to attack the Dark Knight by inducing a fear of bats…

The next Annual, released in summer 1963, highlighted The Strange Lives of Batman and Robin, opening with ‘The Power that Doomed Batman’ (Finger, Moldoff & Paris, DC #268 June 1959) as exposure to a comet gifts the Dark Knight with super-strength. Sadly, the effect is also cumulatively fatal, forcing them into a desperate hunt for a missing man possessing a cure. The same creative team dredged up ‘The Merman Batman’ (Batman #118, September 1958) wherein an lightning strike transforms the Caped Crimebuster into a water-breather, aroused ‘Rip Van Batman’ (Batman #119, October 1958) who fell into a plant-induced coma to seemingly awake in the future and corralled ‘The Zebra Batman’ (Detective Comics #275, January 1960) when the hero becomes an uncontrollable human magnet…

‘The Grown-Up Boy Wonder’ (Finger, Moldoff & Kaye, Batman #107, April 1957) details what happens when space gas turns the likely lad into a strapping young man – but only in body, not mind – after which World’s Finest Comics #109 (May 1960) reveals Robin & Superman’s tense race to save Gotham’s Guardian from an ancient curse in ‘The Bewitched Batman’ by Jerry Coleman, Curt Swan & Moldoff. ‘The Phantom Batman’ (Hamilton, Dick Sprang & Paris, Batman #110, September 1957) shows how an electrical mishap reverses the polarity of the Caped Crusader’s atoms, relegating him to helpless intangibility, before the uncanny yarns end with ‘The Giant Batman’ (DC #243 May 1957, by the same team and originally entitled ‘Batman the Giant!’). Here our hero is exposed to a well-meaning scientist’s “Maximizer” ray and grows too large to catch the thieves who stole it and the antidote…

Six months later Batman Annual #6 (Winter 1963-1964) featured Batman and Robin’s Most Thrilling Mystery Cases, kicking off with ‘Murder at Mystery Castle’ (Finger, Moldoff & Paris, Detective #246 August 1957) as visitors – Batman & Robin included – to a reconstructed medieval fortress witness a devilish remote control killing and must deduce who set the fiendish trap…

‘The Gotham City Safari’ (Finger, Moldoff & Paris; Batman #111, October 1957) saw the Dynamic Duo hunting a hidden killer through a fabulous theme-park of exotic locales whilst ‘The Mystery of the Sky Museum’ (Hamilton, Moldoff & Paris; Batman #94, September 1955) finds them at an aviation museum on the trail of sinister smugglers. Next, Hamilton, Sprang & Paris’ ‘The Mystery of the Four Batmen’ (Batman #88, December 1954) is a seagoing enigma with the Partners in Peril seeking a mysterious smuggler with a tenuous connection to bats in one form or another, after which a movie monster makes trouble on location, compelling the crimebusting champions to tackle ‘The Creature from the Green Lagoon’ (David Wood, Moldoff & Paris; D C #252 February 1958)…

A stunning chase to expose a killer searching for a lost golden hoard involved solving ‘The Map of Mystery’ (Hamilton, Sprang & Paris; Batman #91, April 1955), before a disgruntled family member seemingly threatens to kill every member of ‘The Danger Club’ (Hamilton, Lew Sayre Schwartz & Paris; Batman #76, April/May 1953). The astounding sleuthing only ceases after uncovering ‘Doom in Dinosaur Hall’ (Finger, Moldoff & Paris, Detective Comics #255 May 1958) where the curator’s murder at Gotham’s Mechanical Museum of Natural History led to a fantastic chase and a surprise culprit…

Summer 1964 spawned Batman Annual #7 and Thrilling Adventures of the Whole Batman Family: beginning by introducing the hero’s most controversial “partner” – a pestiferous, prank-playing extra-dimensional elf – in ‘Batman Meets Bat-Mite’ (Finger, Moldoff & Paris; Detective #267 May 1959), after which eponymous masked dog Ace narrates ‘The Secret Life of Bat-Hound’ (Finger, Moldoff & Paris; Batman #125, August 1959) and his part in capturing the nefarious Midas Gang. Finger, Moldoff & Paris enlarge the clan in Batman #139 (April 1961), ‘Introducing Bat-Girl’ as Kathy Kane’s niece Betty starts dressing up and acting out as an unwanted assistant, eventually proving adults and boys wrong by taking down the deadly King Cobra and his crew, before Hamilton delivers the only adventure of ‘The Dynamic Trio’ (DC #245 July 1957), with a very old friend donning cape and cowl as Mysteryman to help combat a smuggling ring facilitating the escape of Gotham’s fugitives. Courtesy of Finger, Moldoff & Paris, faithful manservant Alfred personally reveals an early failure and shocking resolution in ‘The Secret of Batman’s Butler’ (Batman #110; September 1957) before ‘The New Team of Superman and Robin’ (Finger, Swan & Moldoff; WFC # 75, March/April 1955) depicts how disabled Batman can only fret and fume as his erstwhile assistant seemingly dumps him for a better man…

When Bat-Mite elects himself ‘Batwoman’s Publicity Agent’ (Finger & Moldoff; Batman #133, August 1960), the result is chaos and unbridled craziness, but not as much as an “Imaginary Story” devised by Alfred debuting ‘The Second Batman and Robin Team’ (Finger, Moldoff & Paris: Batman #131, April 1960) which would inevitably emerge after Bruce and Kathy wed and Dick assumes the mantle of the bat…

Moldoff’s unforgettable back page pin-up ‘Greetings from the Batman Family’ wraps up this final glimpse at simpler but wilder times. Strange, addictive and still potently engrossing, these weird wonder tales typify a lost era of gentler danger, more wholesome evil and irresistible fun. They’re also impossibly compelling, incredibly illustrated and undeniably influential. A perfect treat for young and old alike and anyone who came to the characters via Saturday morning cartoons…
© 1962, 1963, 2010 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Buster Book 1974


By many and various (IPC)
No ISBN: ASIN: 85037-054X

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

The 1950s ushered in a revolution in British comics. With wartime restrictions on printing and paper lifted, a steady stream of new titles emerged from many companies, and when Hulton Press launched The Eagle in April 1950, the very idea of what weeklies could be altered forever. Fleetway was an adjunct of IPC (at that time the world’s largest publishing company) and had, by the early 1970s, swallowed or out-competed all other English companies producing mass-market comics except the exclusively television-themed Polystyle Publications. As it always had been, the megalith was locked in a death-struggle with Dundee’s DC Thomson for the hearts and minds of their assorted juvenile markets – a battle the publishers of The Beano and The Dandy would finally win when Fleetway sold off its diminishing comics line to Egmont publishing and Rebellion Studios in 2002.

At first glance, British comics prior to Action and 2000 AD seem to fall into fairly ironclad categories. Back then, you had genial and/or fantastic preschool fantasy; a large selection of licensed entertainment properties; action; adventure; war; school dramas, sports and straight comedy strands. Closer looks would confirm that there was always a subversive merging, mixing undertone, especially in such antihero series as Dennis the Menace or our rather strained interpretation of superheroes. Until the 1980s, UK periodicals employed a traditional anthological model, offering variety of genre, theme and character on a weekly – sometimes fortnightly – basis. Primarily humorous comics like The Beano were leavened by action-heroes like The Q-Bikes or General Jumbo whilst adventure papers like Smash, Lion or Valiant always carried palate-cleansing gagsters like The Cloak, Grimly Feendish, Mowser and other laugh treats. Buster offered the best of all worlds.

Accomplishing 1902 issues from May 28th 1960 to 4th January 2000,(plus specials, spin-offs and annuals), Buster juggled drama, mystery, action and comedy, with its earliest days – thanks to absorbing Radio Fun and Film Fun – heavily spiced with celebrity-licensed material starring popular media mavens like Charlie Drake, Bruce Forsyth and Benny Hill backing up the eponymous cover star who was billed as “the son of Andy Capp” – cartoonist Reg Smyth’s drunken, cheating, skiving, wife-beating global newspaper strip star. The comic became the final resting place of many, many companion papers in its lifetime, including The Big One, Giggle, Jet, Cor!, Monster Fun, Jackpot, School Fun, Nipper, Oink! and Whizzer and Chips, so its cumulative strip content was always wide, wild and usually pretty wacky…

From 1973 (all UK annuals are forward-dated to next year), just as Marvel UK was making inroads with its own brand of comics madness, comes this experimental collation. Fleetway’s hidebound, autocratic bureaucracy still ruled the roost, even though sales had been steadily declining in all sectors of the industry – Pre-school, Juvenile, Boys and Girls, Educational – since the 1960s closed, and increasingly the company were sanctioning niche products to shore up sales rather than expand or experimental endeavours like the Buster Book of Scary Stories and others.

That’s all reflected here in the oversized, soft-card covered Buster Book 1974 which opens with a sporty fishy visit to Buster’s Dream-World (probably scripted by editor Nobby Clark and illustrated by Spanish mainstay Ángel Nadal Quirch) wherein our lad conflates rugby with angling, before dipping into drama with a tale of Fishboy – Denizen of the Deep: a kind of undersea teen Tarzan mostly produced by Scott Goodall & John Stokes but is here limned by possibly Fred Holmes or an overseas artist unknown to me. Here the briny boy hero scuppers the schemes of sinister, polluting, illegal uranium prospectors, before we segue to spooky nonsense in Rent-A-Ghost Ltd., courtesy of Reg Parlett, as the haunts for hire discourage someone’s noisy neighbour, whilst domestic sitcom clones The Happy Family endure a nosy noisome aunt’s visit and The Kids of Stalag 41 (by Jimmy Hansen or Mike Lacey?) face another cold Christmas outwitting Colonel Schtink and his oafish Nazi guards whilst Clever Dick – by Leo Baxendale – builds another labour-intensifying manic invention.

Drifter Long – The Football Wanderer finds his superstitious nature works to his advantage in a short tale by someone doing a passing impression of Tony Harding, as a selection of cartoon gags offer Fun Time! apre Parlett’s Dim Dan the Film Stunt Man and idiot pet shop pooch Bonehead leading into a dentist dodging caper for Face Ache (possibly by Ken Reid but more likely unsung substitute hero Ian Mennell), before fish out of water drama ‘The Laird of Lazy Q’ sees kilt-wearing Scottish highlander Duncan MacGregor inherit a ranch in Kansas and face hostility, gunfighters, fake “injuns” and murderous gold-stealing owlhoots before making the place his home. The tale was a reformatted serial from companion comic Knockout in 1967 which originally ran as ‘McTavish of Red Rock’.

Well-travelled veteran strip kid Smiler (by Eric Roberts, as also seen in Whoopee and Knockout) loses a pin next, whilst Sam Sunn – the Strongest Boy in the World finds circus life profitable, after which classic monster yarn Galaxus – The Thing from Outer Space finds the size-shifting alien ape and his human pals Jim & Danny Jones still hunted by humanity but finding time to save an explorer from lost Inca tribesmen in a cracking tale from the Solano Lopez studio.

More Clever Dick by Baxendale precedes car crash yarn Buster Tells a Tale before Eric Bradbury shines in a short tale of evil hypnotist Zarga – Man of Mystery and Face Ache visits a haunted house whilst Hobby Hoss – He knows it all!– sees the smug mansplainer prove his lack of equestrian expertise in advance of more gags in Linger for a laugh and fresh jungle hijinks for old Valiant expat/lion lag Tatty-Mane – King of the Jungle (Nadal again?)

Baxendale cowboy spoof Pest of the West segues into more mirthful magical mystery with Rent-A-Ghost Ltd., and Dim Dan the Film Stunt Man prior to clueless cub scout Bob-A-Job wrecking a jumble sale before western drama The Laird of Lazy Q (drawn by Mike Western?) concludes and Baxendale’s anarchic pachyderm Nellyphant debuts, just as The Happy Family go treasure hunting even as Another Tale from Buster reveals bath night woes with a guest appearance by Andy Capp’s long suffering “missus” – AKA Buster’s mum – Flo…

Willpower Willy – The Coward who Turned Tough details how a bullied schoolboy turns the tables after becoming a boffin’s human guinea pig, and model plane enthusiasts fail to benefit from their lecture by Hobby Hoss (who still knows it all!) before more Bonehead antics, Sam Sunn exertions and Smiler capers bring us to time travelling thievery courtesy of Jack Pamby whose rendition of The Astounding Adventures of Charley Peace find the old rogue on the right side of the law for once…

Animal fun and frolics then wrap up festivities with Tatty-Mane – King of the Jungle facing imminent usurpation and Nellyphant learning to fly…

Eclectic, eccentric, egalitarian  and always packed with surprises, Buster offered variety in all forms for any palate, and could well be a still-accessible treat you should seek out and share.
© IPC Magazines Ltd., 1973 All rights reserved throughout the world.

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Batman Annual 1967


By Bill Finger, Jack Miller, Sheldon Moldoff, Joe Certa, Dick Sprang, Henry Boltinoff & various (Atlas Publishing & Distributing Co. Ltd/K. G. Murray Publishing)
No ISBN: ASIN: B000SBX0N0

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

As stated below, before DC Comics and other US publishers exported directly into Britain, our exposure to their unique brand of fantasy fun came from licensed reprints. As well as monochrome anthologies from UK publishers and/or printers like Miller, Class & Co, Australian outfit K. G. Murray there were  many sturdy Annual compilations.

Britain saw hardcover Atlas Batman Annuals from 1960 but, due to vagaries of licensing, once the 1966 TV series started were soon inundated with a wealth of choices as World Distributors’ released their own collections – Batman Story Book Annuals – between 1967 and 1970. Since then a variety of publishers have carried on the tradition but only one at a time…

This particular tome – Batman Annual 1967 – was the eighth UK-targeted US comics compilation, released the same year as the other Bat-book seen here today and possibly offering grandparents and other elders a moment of agonised total recall as they flash back to the moment at the start of that Batman phenomenon when they stood arguing with equally harassed and panicked shopkeepers over which was the right book “from the telly”…

Printed in the cheap and quirky mix of alternatively monochrome, dual-hued and full-colour pages which made Christmas books such bizarrely beloved treats, and re-presenting material from before all Earth went Camp-Crazed and Bat-Manic, this book delivers a delightfully eclectic mix of material crafted just before Julie Schwartz’s 1964 stripped-down relaunch of the character. Here crimebusting mixes with alien fighting and idle daydreaming, as the world’s greatest crime-fighters indulge in a comfortably strange, masked madness that was the norm in the Caped Crusader’s world.

The sublime suspense and joyous adventuring begins with ‘The Return of the Second Batman and Robin Team’ (by Bill Finger & Sheldon Moldoff from Batman #135, October 1960): a sequel to a tale within a tale wherein faithful butler Alfred postulated a time when Bruce Wayne married Batwoman Kathy Kane and retired to let their son join grown-up Dick Grayson as a second-generation Dynamic Duo. Here the originals are forced to don the bat mantles one last time when an old enemy captures the new kids on the block…

British books always preferred to alternate action with short gag strips and the Murray export publications depended heavily on the amazing output of DC cartoonist Henry Boltinoff. Delivery man ‘Homer’ then suffers a canine interruption before Batman invades ‘The Lair of the Sea Fox’ (Batman #132; June 1960, by Finger, Moldoff & Charles Paris). The nefarious underwater brigand’s scheme to use Gotham City’s watery substructure to facilitate his plundering soon founders when the Caped Crusaders break out the Bat-Sub…

Boltinoff’s crystal-gazing ‘Moolah the Mystic’ clears up the ether his way as a prelude to the introduction of this Annual’s engaging co-star. John Jones, Manhunter from Mars debuted at the height of American Flying Saucer fever in Detective Comics #225. He was created by Joe Samachson, and is now generally accepted as the first superhero of the Silver Age, beating by a year the new Flash (in Showcase #4. cover-dated October 1956). The eccentric, often formulaic but never disappointing B-feature strip depicted the clandestine adventures of stranded alien J’onn J’onzz. Hardly evolving at all – except for finally going public as a superhero in issue #273 (November 1959) – the police-centred strip ran in Detective until #326 (1955- 1964 and almost exclusively written by Jack Miller from issue #229 and illustrated from inception by Joe Certa), before shifting over to The House of Mystery (#143 where he continued until #173) and a whole new modus vivendi. J’onzz temporarily faded away during the Great Superhero Cull of 1968-70 but is back in full fettle these days.

His origins were simple: reclusive genius scientist Dr. Erdel built a robot-brain which could access Time, Space and the Fourth Dimension, accidentally plucking an alien scientist from his home on Mars. After a brief conversation with his unfortunate guest, Erdel died of a heart attack whilst attempting to return J’onzz to his point of origin. Marooned on Earth, the Martian discovered that his new home was riddled with the ancient and primitive cancer of Crime and – being decent and right-thinking – determined to use his natural abilities (telepathy, psychokinesis, super-strength, speed, flight, vision, super-breath, shape-shifting, invisibility, intangibility, invulnerability and more) to eradicate evil, working clandestinely disguised as a human policeman. His only concern was the commonplace chemical reaction of fire which sapped Martians of all their mighty powers…

With his name Americanised to John Jones he enlisted as a Middletown Police Detective: working tirelessly to improve his new home; fighting evil secretly using inherent powers and advanced knowledge with no human even aware of his existence. Here in a thriller from Detective #299 (January 1962) Miller & Certa’s ‘Bodyguard for a Spy’ sees the mighty Manhunter almost fail in his mission, because his human assistant Diane Meade is jealous of the beautiful Princess in his charge…

The magnificent Dick Sprang – with Paris inking – astoundingly illustrated Finger’s script for ‘Crimes of the Kite Man’ (Batman #133, August 1960): a full-colour extravaganza with the Caped Crusader hunting an audacious thief plundering the skyscrapers of Gotham whilst ‘The Deadly Dummy’ (Finger, Moldoff & Paris; Batman #134, September 1960) pitted the heroes against a diminutive showman-turned-bandit fed up with being laughed at.

Reverting to monochrome, ‘The Martian Show-Off’ (Detective #295, September 1961) poses a confusing conundrum as the eerie extraterrestrial connives to inexplicably deprive a fellow cop of his prestigious 1000th arrest after which ‘Batman’s Interplanetary Rival’ (Detective Comics #282, August 1960) by Finger, Moldoff & Paris finds the human heroes constantly upstaged by an alien lawman hungry for fame and concealing a hidden agenda before the interplanetary intrigue – and the Annual action – ends with ‘The Mystery of the Martian Marauders’ (Detective Comics #301, March 1962) as deranged scientist Alvin Reeves fixes Erdel’s robot brain and accidentally brings Martian criminal invaders to Earth. After battling impossible odds, the Manhunter triumphs and wins the ability to return at any time to his birthworld…

Cheap, cheerful and deliriously engaging, this is a fantasy masterwork and nostalgic treat no baby-boomer could possibly resist.
© National Periodicals Publications Inc., New York 1967. Published by arrangement with the K. G. Murray Publishing Company, Pty. Ltd., Sydney.

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Tales of the Batman: Archie Goodwin


By Archie Goodwin with Jim Aparo, Sal Amendola, Howard Chaykin, Alex Toth, Walter Simonson, Dan Jurgens, Dick Giordano, Gene Ha, José Muñoz, Gary Gianni, James Robinson, Marshall Rogers, Bob Wiacek, John C. Cebollero, Scott Hampton & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-3829-2 (HB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: A Knight in Darkness Forever Missed… 9/10

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Cartoonist and writer Archie Goodwin (September 8th 1937 – March 1st 1998) was working as an assistant art director at Redbook magazine when his comics career truly began. A passionate EC fan, he had sold a speculative script to Warren Publishing that appeared in Creepy #1. He was the editor by #4, and, despite writing non-stop for some of the greatest artists in comics at that time, was offered a similar leading role on Warren’s latest brainstorm: the astonishing and legendary Blazing Combat. All while officiating and writing for Eerie and Vampirella too.

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Goodwin grew up in a succession of small towns, hunting down old EC comics and contributing to comics’ earliest fanzines. From the University of Oklahoma, he transferred to what became the School of Visual Arts in New York City, went freelance in 1960, and occasionally assisted Leonard Starr on newspaper strip Mary Perkins on Stage. In later life his own strip contributions (on Star Wars, Captain Kate, Flash Gordon, Secret Agent X-9 and Star Hawks) would make him popular with an entirely separate sort of comics fans. After leaving Warren in 1967, Archie wrote for Marvel (Iron Man, Fantastic Four, Luke Cage, Hero for Hire, Tomb of Dracula, Spider-Woman, Spider-Man, Dazzler, The Hulk, Star Wars and many more), had several stints as group editor and co-created its New Universe. He scripted landmark early graphic novels Blackmark and His Name is Savage with Gil Kane and adapted the movie Alien for Heavy Metal , one of the first best-seller graphic novels. An astute editor and sublime nurturer of new talent, he was Editor in Chief of Marvel, its Epic imprint, and twice at DC. The second run began in 1989, overseeing innovative titles like Starman shine. The assorted Batman titles under his aegis included The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. These and the regular boutique of Bat-books cemented the Dark Knight’s position as the industry’s top star, but it was very much an encore performance.

He was bloody marvellous and never once let me pay for lunch.

Obviously, I’m not at all neutral on this matter, but that doesn’t stop this collection of all the Batman stories Archie wrote being something every fan should see. The compilation gathers material from Detective Comics #437-438, 440-443, Manhunter Special Edition, Detective Comics Annual #3, Showcase ‘95 #11, Batman: Black and White #1 & 4, Legends of the Dark Knight #132-136 and Original Graphic Novel Batman Night Cries, spanning November 1973 through August 1992. Back in the early1970s Archie had been a writer/editor who set the company on fire. His tenure on War titles G.I. Combat, Our Fighting Forces and Star Spangled War Stories generated tales – and sales – still talked about today. However it was his astounding recreation of Batman in Detective Comics that is most remembered and revered.

After taking over the editor’s desk from Julie Schwartz, Archie became writer/editor of Detective Comics with his first style-shattering tale coming in #437 (November 1973). He devised a stunning run of experimental yarns, beginning with a brace of gripping thrillers magnificently depicted by Jim Aparo (The Phantom, The Phantom Stranger, Aquaman). ‘Deathmask!’ is a brilliant murder-mystery featuring glittering social soirees, tough cop chatter, Aztec curses, supernatural overtones and an apparently unstoppable killer. Following that, the same team made ‘A Monster Walks Wayne Manor!’, wherein the abandoned stately pile – Batman having relocated to a bunker under the Wayne Foundation building – briefly becomes home to a warped and dangerous old adversary…

Editor Goodwin started Steve Engelhart’s Bat-folio in #339 (for which see elsewhere) before writing DC #440, as Sal Amendola (Phoenix, Archie Comics, Tarzan) & Dick Giordano (Sarge Steel, Rose and the Thorn, Human Target) limned a creepy tale of weaponised superstition and cruel, cunning criminality as the Dark Detective survives a ‘Ghost Mountain Midnight!’ after tracking hillbilly kidnappers to a murderous mountain-folk enclave, whilst Howard Chaykin (American Flagg, Star Wars, The Stars My Destination) illustrates a manic game of cat-&-mouse in #441’s ‘Judgment Day!’ Here a deranged judge kidnaps Robin and lays down his own brand of law until hard stopped, after which a stylistic masterpiece confirmed Alex Toth (Zorro, Green Lantern, The Witching Hour, Space Ghost, Bravo for Adventure, Torpedo, Johnny Thunder, Eclipso, X-Men) as one of the most unique stylists in American comics. With Goodwin’s collaboration, ‘Death Flies the Haunted Skies!’ (Detective Comics #442, September 1974) is a magnificent barnstorming thriller of aviators seemingly picked off by an assassin and a high point in an era of landmark tales.

While reshaping Batman and war comics, Goodwin was making history with a relative newcomer on a mere backup strip: Manhunter. Now one of the most celebrated superhero series in comics history, it catapulted fresh-faced Walt Simonson (Metal Men, Thor, Star Slammers, X-Factor, Ragnarök, Fantastic Four) to the front rank of creators, revolutionised the way dramatic adventures were told and remains one of the most lauded strips ever produced. Concocted by genial genius Goodwin as a supporting strand for Detective Comics (#437-443 (October/November 1973 to October/November 1974) the seven episodes – 68 serialised pages – garnered six Academy of Comic Book Arts Awards during its one year run. If you’re wondering they were: Best Writer of the Year 1973 – Goodwin; Best Short Story of the Year 1973 for ‘The Himalayan Incident’; Outstanding New Talent of the Year 1973 – Walter Simonson; Best Short Story of the Year 1974 for ‘Cathedral Perilous’; Best Feature Length Story of the Year 1974 for the conclusion ‘Götterdämmerung’ and Best Writer of the Year 1974 – Goodwin.

Paul Kirk was a big game hunter and part-time costumed mystery man before and during WWII. As a dirty jobs specialist for the Allies, he lost all love of life and died in a hunting accident in 1946. Decades later, he seemingly resurfaces, coming to the attention of Interpol agent Christine St. Clair. Thinking him no more than an identity thief, she soon uncovers an incredible plot by a cadre of the World’s greatest scientists who combined over decades into an organisation to assume control of the planet after realising humanity had the means to destroy it.

Since WWII’s end The Council infiltrated every corridor of power, made technological advances (such as stealing the hero’s individuality by cloning him into an army of enhanced, rapid-healing soldiers), gradually achieving their goals with no one the wiser. The returned Paul Kirk, however, had upset their plans and was intent on thwarting their ultimate goals…

Coloured by Klaus Janson and lettered by Ben Oda, Joe Letterese, Alan Kupperberg & Annette Kawecki, it tells of St. Clair and Kirk’s first meeting in ‘The Himalayan Incident’, her realisation that all is not as it seems in ‘The Manhunter File’ and their revelatory alliance beginning with ‘The Resurrection of Paul Kirk.’ Now fully part of Kirk’s crusade, St. Clair discovers just how wide and deep the Council’s influence runs in ‘Rebellion!’ before opening the endgame in the incredible ‘Cathedral Perilous’, and gathering one last ally in ‘To Duel the Master’. With all the pieces in play for a cataclysmic confrontation, events take a strange misstep as Batman stumbles into the plot, inadvertently threatening to hand the Council ultimate victory. ‘Götterdämmerung’ fully lives up to its title, wrapping up the saga of Paul Kirk with consummate flair and high emotion. It was a superb triumph and perplexing conundrum for decades to come…

In an industry notorious for putting profit before aesthetics, quality or sentiment, the pressure to revive such a well-beloved character was enormous, but Goodwin & Simonson were adamant that unless they could come up with an idea that remained true to the spirit and conclusion of the original, Manhunter would not be seen again. Although the creators were as good as their word DC weakened a few times. Rogue Kirk clones featured in Secret Society of Super-Villains and The Power Company, but were mere shabby exploitations of the original. Eventually, however, an idea occurred and the old conspirators concocted something feasible and didn’t debase the original conclusion. Archie provided a plot, and Walter began to prepare the strip. After years of valiant struggle, the master plotter finally succumbed to the cancer that had been killing him. Anybody who had ever met Archie will understand the void his death created. He was irreplaceable. Without a script the project seemed doomed until Simonson’s wife Louise suggested that it be drawn and run without words: a silent tribute and last hurrah for a true hero. Manhunter: the Final Chapter reunites the characters and brings the masterpiece to a solid, sound resolution. As that final wordless word appeared in Manhunter: The Special Edition (1999), it really was all over…

A subtle strand neatly added to Batman’s origin shapes ‘Obligation’ (illustrated by Dan Jurgens (Superman, Sun Devils, Thor, Captain America) & Giordano from Detective Comics Annual #3 1990), as the hero meets a man whose life was also shaped by the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne. However, the grim story, crimebusting career and bloody redemption of Mark Cord and his estranged children also draws Bruce Wayne and Batman into all-out war with the Yakuza before any honour can be truly satisfied…

Next, Gene Ha (Top 10, Mae, The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix) draws whilst Ted & Debbie McKeever colour chilling short shocker ‘Escape’ (Showcase ’95 #11, November 1995) as an Arkham inmate finds the only way to survive the madness, bolstered by a brace of tales from Batman: Black and White (#1 June 1996 and #4 September 1996). The first offers eerily memorable Jazz murder thriller ‘The Devil’s Trumpet’ – as rendered by astounding stylist José Muñoz (Alack Sinner) – before Gary Gianni (MonsterMen) pulls out all the period stops for his pulp-era paean period piece ‘Heroes’…

Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths, new Bat-title Legends of the Dark Knight employed star guest creators to reimagine the hero’s history and past cases for modern audiences. Devised by Goodwin, James Robinson (Starman, Earth 2), Marshall Rogers (Demon With a Glass Hand, G.I. Joe, I Am Coyote, Doctor Strange, Detectives Inc.), Bob Wiacek & John C. Cebollero, issues #132-136 (August-December 2000) explore Wayne family history in story arc ‘Siege’ as an elderly mercenary and his elite entourage return to Gotham in ‘Assembly’. Colonel Brass has a multi-layered plan for profit and personal gratification that harks back to the old days when he was a trusted aide and virtual son to Bruce’s grandfather Jack Wayne. Regrettably, as seen in ‘Assault’, ‘Breach’, ‘Battle’ and ‘Defense’, that involves not only duping business woman Silver St. Cloud and plundering the city, but also taking over Wayne Mansion, and digging down to some old hidden caves (now fully-inhabited and packed with Bat paraphernalia).

Of course, if that entails wiping out any surviving Waynes who might keep Brass from his long-awaited revenge and reward, that’s just a well-deserved bonus…

This titanic tribute closes with what might not be Archie’s best story but certainly ranks as his most important: opening a mature conversation on a terrifyingly pervasive social atrocity we’re all still trying to come to terms with even now. Released in August 1992, Batman: Night Cries addressed a social issue that very much plagues us still, but was then becoming a ubiquitous plot maguffin, poorly handled by contemporary creators in all narrative arts media that it threatened to become just another fashionable story device, and a weakened, trite one at that.

That issue was child abuse and, despite being at first glance a horror fantasy, Night Cries is one of the most effective stories to maturely tackle it that comics has ever produced. This is not a polemical or attention-seeking tale. The subject is key to the narrative, affects characters fundamentally, and is dealt with accordingly. There is no neat and tidy solution. This isn’t a soap-box subject and neither victims nor perpetrators are paraded as single-faceted ciphers. This is a serious attempt to tell a story in which child abuse is an integral factor and not cause nor excuse for violence and pain. It is illustrated by prestigious painter Scott Hampton (Silverheels, Simon Dark, The Upturned Stone, Star Trek, Black Widow, Hellraiser, American Gods, Wicked) who had crafted other high end, mature-themed DC projects such as Batman: Gotham County Line and Sandman Presents: Lucifer. Hampton also contributed heavily to the final script.

Gotham City is a pit of everyday horrors but when a serial killer is identified who apparently targets entire families even Batman and Police Commissioner James Gordon are troubled by unacknowledged, long-suppressed feelings the killings dredge up within themselves. Suspecting a link between the killings and a new child abuse clinic funded by Bruce Wayne, detectives harshly interview a traumatised little girl, a sole survivor who saw the killer in action. She identifies The Batman…

Moody, dark and chilling, this examination of family ties and group responsibilities exposes a complex web of betrayals and shirked duties that weave and cut all through contemporary American culture. When a connection to US servicemen, used, abused and betrayed by their own government is revealed, the metaphor for a system that prefers to ignore its problems rather than deal with them is powerfully completed…

With Covers by Aparo, Michaela Kaluta, Simonson, George Pratt, Jim Lee & Scott Williams, Toth, Rogers & Cebollero, and Hampton, the brilliant Bat-tales in this magnificent compilation confirm the compelling primal force and charisma of the Dark Night and cap a stunning career by an irreplaceable creator. Tales of the Batman: Archie Goodwin is an unmissable time capsule of comics mastery no fan of the medium or lover of stories can do without.
© DC Comics 1973, 1974, 1992, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2013. All Rights Reserved.

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Superman: The Dailies volume III: 1941-1942


By Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster & the Superman Studio (Kitchen Sink Press/DC)
ISBN: 978-1-56389-462-9 (TPB)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Up, Up And Forever Away …10/10

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

The American comic book industry – if it existed at all – would be utterly unrecognisable without Superman. Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster’s unprecedented invention was fervidly adopted by a desperate and joy-starved generation and quite literally gave birth to a genre if not an actual art form. Spawning an army of imitators and variations within three years of his 1938 debut, the intoxicating blend of breakneck, breathtaking action and wish-fulfilment which epitomised the early Man of Steel grew to encompass cops-&-robbers crimebusting, socially reforming dramas, sci fi fantasy, whimsical comedy and, once the war in Europe and the East sucked in America, patriotic relevance for a host of gods, heroes and monsters, all dedicated to profit through exuberant, eye-popping excess and vigorous dashing derring-do.

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

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

Far more people have seen and heard the Man of Steel than have ever read his comic books. His globally syndicated newspaper strips alone were enjoyed by countless millions, and by the time his 20th anniversary rolled around, at the very start of what we call the Silver Age of Comics, he had been a thrice-weekly radio serial star, headlined a series of astounding animated cartoons, become a novel attraction (written by George Lowther) and helmed two films and his first smash, 8-season live-action television show. Superman was a perennial sure-fire success for toy, game, puzzle and apparel manufacturers all over the planet.

Although pretty much a spent force these days, for the majority of the previous century the newspaper comic strip was the Holy Grail that all American cartoonists and graphic narrative storytellers hungered for. Syndicated across the country – and often the planet – it was seen by millions, if not billions, of readers and generally accepted as a more mature and sophisticated form of literature than comic-books. It also paid better, and rightly so. Some of the most enduring and entertaining characters and concepts of all time were created to lure readers from one particular paper to another and many of them grew to be part of a global culture. Mutt and Jeff, Flash Gordon, Dick Tracy, Buck Rogers, Charlie Brown and so many more escaped their humble tawdry newsprint origins to become meta-real: existing in the minds of earthlings from Albuquerque to Zanzibar. Most still do…

The daily Superman newspaper strip launched on 16th January 1939, augmented by a full-colour Sunday page from November 5th of that year. Originally crafted by luminaries like Siegel & Shuster and their studio (Paul Cassidy, Leo Nowak, Dennis Neville, John Sikela, Ed Dobrotka, Paul J. Lauretta & Wayne Boring), the mammoth task required additional talents like strip veteran Jack Burnley and writers including Whitney Ellsworth, Jack Schiff & Alvin Schwartz. The McClure Syndicate feature ran continuously until May 1966, appearing, at its peak, in over 300 daily and 90 Sunday newspapers; a combined readership of more than 20 million. Eventually, Win Mortimer and Curt Swan joined the unflagging Boring & Stan Kaye whilst Bill Finger and Siegel provided stories, telling serial tales largely divorced from comic book continuity throughout years when superheroes were scarcely seen.

This superb, long overdue for re-release collection comes from 1999, re-presents strips #673-866 (episodes 20-28) and is preceded by Steve Vance’s informative, picture and photo-packed introduction ‘Superman Goes Hollywood’, focussing on the hero’s spectacular early triumphs on the big screen in animated and live action formats. If I live long enough, next year I’ll move on to the IDW American classics volumes…

The never-ending battle resumes with Siegel & Shuster attempting something quite spectacular. Although daily strips were never meant to be packaged as units of entertainment but rather present an ongoing, non-stop reading experience, all funnies features incorporated an internal “beginning-middle-end” structure that allowed new readers (preferably in new client regions) to hop aboard the adventure bus. With these tales, however, the creators built in a serial within a serial motif as one deadly enemy enlisted a horde of foes to face the Man of tomorrow, each in his/their own tale…

The saga began on March 10th 1941, as sequence #20, with the initial chapter playing out until April 19th by launching ‘The League to Destroy Superman’ (episodes #673-708). It begins as Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent investigates shady property tycoon Ralph Roland and uncovers a viper’s nest of thugs and bandits resulting in the news hound’s attempted murder. However, after applying his usual heavy-handed solutions, Superman is accused of the manslaughter of one of Roland’s staff – the honest, “nice guy” partner Horace Danvers…

Shocked by the accusation and now doubting himself, the Man of Steel is unaware outraged, affronted, arrogant Roland has convened a forum of crime bosses, enemy spies, mad scientists and professional killers, offering $1,000,000 to anyone who can eradicate the vigilante riff-raff…

First to try is Spanish self-proclaimed “super-scientist” Carlos who – with ferocious flunky Rolf – unleashes a wave of diabolical inventions between April 21st and May 22nd in ‘The Scientists of Sudden Death’ (#709-736), all based around luring the caped champion into lethal traps baited with abducted person of interest Lois Lane…

The League had also agreed to a gentlemanly running order of attempts, but fiery murderess the Blond Tigress keeps jumping the gun due to her hidden personal stake in the contest…

After epically failing, Carlos is readily replaced by overconfident technologist Block whose weapon can derail trains and shoot planes from the sky but also falls short in ‘The Death Ray’ (#737-774 May 23rd – July 5th).

While the Action Ace is drawing fire, Lois and the Tigress individually and jointly address the bigger mystery of who killed Danvers, and why organised crime is seemingly acting on some hidden mastermind’s agenda: an investigation that keeps both fully in harm’s way all year long…

Evil engineer Coker comes next, but although confident his electro-dart gun can do the job, its short range requires an extra effort and employment of deadly doppelganger ‘The Pseudo-Superman’ (#775-798, July 7th – August 2nd) to get his high-flying target into range. Cue a confusing comedy of errors, twisty twin tumult, and sudden deaths before next contender Slag – AKA ‘The Deadly Dwarf’ – (#799-840 August 4th – September 20th) tries his shaky old hand by deploying his incredible gift for hypnotism. Despite provoking a wave of suicides, terrorism and destruction, Slag too fails to collect the bounty, prompting chemist Fant to modify his plans to kill the hero via a hyper-capsule ‘Explosion’ (#841- 854 September 22nd – October 7th). However, even recruiting Blond Tigress to vamp and distract the caped wonder has no appreciable effect, and last genius standing Sleez orchestrates a crimewave and employs lethal ultimate weapon ‘The Electric Rod’ (#855-876 October 8th – November 1st) with as little success as all his competitors. With the field clear the deeply conflicted final contestant at last officially strikes, but ‘The Blond Tigress Regrets’ (#877-888, November 3rd – November 15th) that she might be playing on the wrong team. That’s confirmed when Lois solves the murder mystery and exposes the big shot behind Superman’s frame up…

The compendium concludes with a slice of justified infomercial bragging as – in loose conjunction with the Man of Tomorrow’s screen triumphs – ‘Superman’s Hollywood Debut’ (#889-966, November 17th 1941 – February 14th 1942) follows Lois & Clark to Lala Land where an impending movie biopic is being hampered by a dearth of suitable leading men. Even after that problem is fixed when klutzy Kent takes off his glasses, a rash of weird accidents seems to indicate someone doesn’t want this Super-flick released…

Cue lights! Action! Cartoonists….

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

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Batman: Harley and Ivy The Deluxe Edition


By Paul Dini, Bruce Timm, Ty Templeton, Shane Glines, Dan DeCarlo, Ronnie Del Carmen, Rick Burchett, Stéphane Roux & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-6080-4 (HB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Psychosis and Spice and Everything Nice… 9/10

This book includes Discriminatory Content included for comedic effect.

Created by Paul Dini & Bruce Timm, Batman: The Animated Series aired in the US from September 5th 1992 to September 15th 1995. Ostensibly for kids, the breakthrough TV animation series revolutionised everybody’s image of the Dark Knight and immediately began feeding back into the print iteration, leading to some of the absolute best comicbook tales in the hero’s many decades of existence.

Employing a timeless visual style dubbed “Dark Deco”, the show mixed elements from all iterations of the character and, without diluting the power, tone or mood of the premise, reshaped the grim avenger and his extended team into a wholly accessible, thematically memorable form that the youngest of readers could enjoy, whilst adding shades of exuberance and panache that only most devout and obsessive Batmaniac could possibly object to. In fact, so many didn’t object over the years that in August 2024 we got a fresh bite of the cherry. If you love Batman, are steeped in the vast mythology of Gotham City and adore stylish animated wonderment, you owe it to yourself to watch the Reinvented-But-Just-As-Good show Batman: Caped Crusader…

Thirty-plus years ago (!) the original TV series offered a superbly innovative retro makeover for many classic supervillains and even added one unexpected candidate to the Rogues Gallery. Harley Quinn wasn’t supposed to be a star – or even an actual comic book character. As soon become apparent, however, the manic minx had her own off-kilter ideas on the matter…

Harley was first seen as the Clown Prince of Crime’s slavishly adoring, abuse-enduring assistant in Joker’s Favor (airing September 11th,1992) where she instantly captured the hearts and minds of millions of viewers. From there on she began popping up in the licensed comic book and – always stealing the show – infiltrated mainstream DC comicbook continuity and into her own title. Along the way a flash of inspired brilliance led to her forming a unique relationship with toxic floral siren and plant-manipulating eco-terrorist Poison Ivy – a working partnership that delivered a bounty of fabulously funny-sexy yarns, and has brought the pair film and TV fame as a romantic power couple…

Collecting the eponymous 3-issue miniseries from 2004 plus cool stuff from Batman Adventures Annual #1 (1994), Batman Adventures Holiday Special #1 (1995), Batman and Robin Adventures #8 (July 1996), Batgirl Adventures #1 (1998) and material from Batman: Gotham Knights #14 (April 2001) and Batman Black and White #3 (2014), this spiffy deluxe hardback/eBook is an amazing cornucopia of comic treasures to delight young and old alike, and a perfect reminder why Batman & Co. remain so popular even after 85 years (and counting…).

It begins with a global-spanning romp written by Dini, illustrated by Timm & Shane Glines from Batman: Harley & Ivy #1-3 as the ‘Bosom Buddies’ have a spat that wrecks half of Gotham before escaping to the Amazon together to take over a small country responsible for much of the region’s deforestation and spreading a heady dose of ‘Jungle Fever!’. Once Batman gets involved the story suddenly shifts to Hollywood and the very last word in creative commentary on Superheroes in the movie business. ‘Hooray for Harleywood!’ delivers showbiz a devastating body blow Tinseltown will never recover from…

As we all know, Harley is (certifiably) insanely besotted with killer clown The Joker and next up Dini, Dan DeCarlo & Timm wordlessly expose her profound weakness for that so very bad boy when she’s released from Arkham Asylum only to be seduced back into committing crazy crimes and stuck back in the pokey again, all in just ‘24 Hours’…

‘The Harley and the Ivy’ comes from Batman Adventures Holiday Special #1 wherein Dini & Ronnie Del Carmen depict the larcenous ladies on an illicit shopping spree thanks to a dose of Ivy’s mind-warping kisses and up-close-and-personal close encounter with Bruce Wayne…

‘Harley and Ivy and… Robin’ (Batman and Robin Adventures #8, by Dini, Ty Templeton & illustrator Rick Burchett) features more of the same, except here the bamboozled sidekick becomes an ideal BoyToy Wonder: planning their crimes, giving soothing foot-rubs and bashing Batman until a little moment of green-eyed jealously spoils the perfect set-up…

Batgirl Adventures #1 was the original seasonal setting of ‘Oy to the World’ (Dini & Burchett) as plucky teen Babs Gordon chases thieving, thrill-seeking Harley through Gotham’s festive streets and alleys only to eventually team up with the jaunty jester to save Ivy from murderous Yakuza super-assassins. Next up, Batman: Gotham Knights #14 gifts us brilliantly dark yet saucily amusing tale ‘The Bet’ (Dini & Del Carmen). Incarcerated once more in Arkham, the Joker’s frustrated paramour and irresistible, intoxicatingly lethal Ivy indulge in a small wager to pass the time: namely, who can kiss the most men whilst in custody. This razor-sharp little tale manages to combine “innocent sexiness” with genuine sentiment, and packs a killer punch-line after the Harlequin of Hate unexpectedly pops in…

The madcap glamour-fest finishes with a late arriving moment of monochrome suspense (from Batman Black and White #3, by Dini & Stéphane Roux) as ‘Role Models’ sees a little girl escape her manic kidnapper and find sanctuary of a sort with the pilfering odd couple…

For years DC sat on a goldmine of quality product before finally unleashing a blizzard of all-ages collections and graphic novels such as this one: child-friendly iterations (and others not-so-much) of key characters stemming from the Paul Dini/Bruce Timm Batman series. These adventures are consistently some of the best comics produced of the last four decades and should be eternally permanently in print, if only as a way of attracting new readers to the medium.

Now a bone fide Christmas tradition – just like arguing about Die Hard or pondering what to do with brussels sprouts (eat them if you like them, pass if you don’t?), Batman: Harley and Ivy is a frantic, laugh-packed hoot that manages to be daring and demure by turns. An absolute delight and an irresistible seasonal treasure to be enjoyed over and over again.
© 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2014, 2016 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan: The Jesse Marsh Years Omnibus volume two


By Gaylord DuBois & Jesse Marsh (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN: 978-1-59582-294-9 (HB)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Dynamic Days-Gone-By Derring Do … 8/10

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

I don’t know an awful lot about Jesse Marsh, other than that he was born on 27th July 1907 and died far too young: on April 28th 1966 from diabetic complications at the height of a TV Tarzan revival he was in large part responsible for. What I do know, however, is that to my unformed, pre-fanboy, kid’s mentality, his drawings were somehow better than most of the other artists and that every other kid who read comics in my school disagreed with me.

There’s a phrase we used to use at 2000 AD that summed it up: “Artist’s artist”, which usually meant someone whose fan-mail divided equally into fanatical raves and bile-filled hate-mail. It seems there are some makers of comic strips that many readers simply don’t get.

It isn’t about the basic principles or artistic quality or even anything tangible – although you’ll hear some cracking justifications: “I don’t like his feet” (presumably the way he draws them) and “it just creeps me out” being my two favourites. Never forget in the 1980s DC were told by the Comics Code Authority that Kevin O’Neill’s entire style and manner of Drawing was unacceptable to American readers!

I got Jesse Marsh.

Like many Western Publishing stalwarts Jesse Mace Marsh originally worked for Disney Studios (1939-1948) as an animator on projects including Pinocchio and Fantasia. His first comics work appeared in 1945, and he continued as a staff artist until his death in 1966. In addition to his Tarzan contributions, he illustrated Gene Autry, Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett and more, as well as John Carter of Mars: three 4-Color series issues. In this second compilation, hyper-prolific Gaylord McIlvaine Du Bois (August 24th 1899 – October 20th 1993) is scripter as – nourished by a burgeoning movie franchise, radio, newspaper and new novels – the comic book Ape-Man phenomenon grew and steadied for the long haul. The editor/scripter (for ALL the Tarzan titles and spin-offs, Lone Ranger, Lost in Space, Turok, Son of Stone, Brothers of the Spear, Lassie, Andy Panda, Red Ryder, Tom and Jerry, Bonanza and so many more) would be Marsh’s creative collaborator for the next 19 years.

Situated on the West Coast, Western’s Dell/Gold Key imprints rivalled DC and Marvel at the height of their powers, and the licensee famously never capitulated to the wave of anti-comics hysteria that resulted in the crippling self-censorship of the 1950s. No Dell Comics ever displayed a Comics Code Authority symbol on the cover – they never needed to…

Marsh jobbed around adapted movie properties – mostly westerns – until 1948 when Dell introduced the first all-new Tarzan comic book. The newspaper strip had been running since January 1929 and all previous collections and funnybook releases had featured expurgated and modified reprints of those exploits. Everything changed with Dell Four Color Comic #134 (February 1947) which offered a lengthy, captivating tale of the Ape-Man, scripted by Robert P. Thompson. He had also written both the Tarzan radio show and the aforementioned syndicated strip. link to Tarzan and the Adventurers please.

‘Tarzan and the Devil Ogre’ was very much in the Burroughs tradition: John Clayton, Lord Greystoke and his friend Paul D’Arnot aid a young woman in rescuing her lost father from a hidden tribe ruled over by a monster. The engrossing yarn was made magical by the simple, underplayed magic of a heavy brush line and absolutely unmatched design sense. Marsh was unique in the way he positioned characters in space, employing primitivist forms and hidden shapes to augment his backgrounds. He was a fanatical researcher: his trees, rocks, and constructions were 100% accurate. His animals and natives, especially children and women, were all distinct and recognisable; not the badly-shaded stock figures in grass skirts that even the greatest artists so often resorted to.

Marsh also knew when to draw big and draw small: the internal dynamism of his work is spellbinding. His Africa became mine, and as the try-out comic book was an instant hit he stuck around for decades. Dell never messed with something that was already working. Marsh and Thompson’s Tarzan returned with two tales in Dell Four Color Comic #161, cover-dated August 1947. That was remarkable: Four Colour was a catch-all title showcasing literally hundreds of different licensed properties in rotation, often as many as ten separate and stunningly diverse issues per month. So rapid a return engagement meant pretty solid sales figures…

Following a gracious and wondering Foreword by Gilbert Hernandez discussing the sheer ubiquity of Tarzan comics in households – particularly Latino ones – we return to distant days of rampaging fantasy, garnished by yet another warning from me. In past reviews I’ve described how this character comes with lots of inbuilt colonial baggage and an unhealthy side-order of appalling white supremacy for those readers pre-sensitised pro or con. What I haven’t addressed is the sheerly shocking death toll of animals, killed for food, for sport or because someone needs an action scene proving how cruel villains are or how mighty the hero is. This is not a book for vegans or animal activists, okay?

Volume Two gathers the pertinent material from Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan #5-10, spanning September/October 1948 through July/August 1949) and includes (line art) covers and back covers by eventual painter/illustrator Morris Gollub. Most issues also include two colour frontispieces and endpieces offering lessons in ‘Tarzan’s Ape-English Dictionary’, prompting millions of kids everywhere to shout “Kreegah! Bundolo!” and “Tantor, ho!” in the playground and look like complete loons trying to talk to baboons and monkeys every time we visited a zoo…

The dramas resume with Tarzan #5 (September/October 1948) with harsh morality play ‘Tarzan and the Men of Greed’. Here, wife Jane and son Boy (latterly “Korak”) are kidnapped by American gangsters and a bandit sheikh as a means of forcing Tarzan to bring them and their army of African bandits to the lost treasure vaults of Opar. After an arduous trek, and terrifying ascent of an ancient escarpment, the thieves learn to their eternal cost why it’s not healthy to antagonise the legendary Ape-Man…

As well as the epic 33 page saga and the opportunity to practise primate patois “Mangani to Paco” there’s a stunning back cover pinup of the forest family before – cover dated November/December 1948 – we dig deep into the novels’ mythology for #6 as ‘Tarzan and the Outlaws of Pal-ul-don’ sees Jane abducted (again!). This time it’s raiders from a primordial enclave first introduced in eighth novel Tarzan the Terrible (1921), necessitating man and boy chasing the perfidious primitives all the way back to their lost realm. This is a huge oasis of jungles, mountains, dinosaurs and evolutionary dead-ends at the centre of a vast desert and results in reunion with old Waz-don ally Om-At and war with bandit nation Ho-Don, using Triceratops as tanks…

Following another pin-up, Tarzan #7 (January/February 1949) finds the family back home, and bored Tarzan making a hot air balloon. His efforts lead to more trouble when Boy and his Waziri friend Dombie are accidentally caught when it breaks loose and transported to a land of terrors. ‘Tarzan and the Valley of the Monsters’ sees the Jungle Lord and his ally Muviro (Dombie’s dad) give chase in a plane until brought down by Pterodactyls. From there it’s all fight and flight from giant lizard and volcanoes until the humans are reunited and heading home again.

Morris Gollub takes over covers and pin-up duties with #8 (March/April 1949) as the lost quartet continue the trek home. Traversing mountains and deserts, they almost fail until meeting a strange albino tribe in ‘Tarzan and the White Pygmies’, and in return for aid when they need it most teach their benefactors modern warfare by introducing them to archery, and saving them from predation by legions of giant vultures…

Cover-dated May/June 1949, issue #9 returns to Pal-ul-don as ‘Tarzan and the Men of A-lur’ sees King Ja-Don usurped by surly vassal Dak-Lot, propelling Tarzan, Boy and even Jane into a full-scale civil war (with lots of comparatively shocking violence for a Golden Age comic book!) as humans, pre-men, cave bears, dinosaurs and modern elephants clash to decide the fate of the kingdom time forgot…

This second time-wracked voyage to the past pauses with Tarzan #10 (July/August 1949) as the epic page counts drop to allow side stories and a greater range of fun. Main event ‘Tarzan and the Treasure of the Bolgani’ is a pure sci fi romp as the Ape-man and his Waziri subjects are captured by intelligent gorillas who shrink them to half size so that they can mine gems for them. When the process goes awry, Tarzan becomes a hyper-dense (Must you? Really?) tiny titan who leads a revolt and ends a threat to all of Africa, after which DuBois and Marsh begin years of light-hearted backup tales as Boy tries to avoid his chores and learns to regret running off to become ‘The Baboons’ King’…

Although these are tales from a far-off, simpler time they have lost none of their passion, inclusivity and charm, whilst the artistic virtuosity of Marsh looks better than ever. Perhaps this time a few more people will “get” him, especially if the rest of this series finally makes the jump to digital editions as Volume One has…
Edgar Rice Burroughs® Tarzan®: The Jesse Marsh Years Omnibus Volume Two © 1948, 1949, 2009, Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. Tarzan ® Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. All rights reserved.