Category: Crime Comics

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Fall Guy for Murder and Other Stories


By Johnny Craig, with Ray Bradbury, Bill Gaines & Al Feldstein (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-60699-658-4 (HB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Forgotten giant Johnny Craig died today in 2001. He was a graphic titan and should be remembered for more than a stellar run on Iron Man in the 1960s – although that alone is worth your attention…

From 1950-1954 EC was the most innovative and influential comic book publisher in America, dominating the genres of crime, horror, adventure, war and science fiction. They even originated an entirely new beast: the satirical funnybook. After a shaky start, following the death of his father (who actually created the modern comic book in 1933), new head honcho William Gaines and his trusty master-of-all-comics trades Al Feldstein turned a slavishly derivative minor venture into a pioneering, groundbreaking enterprise which completely altered the perception of the industry and art form.

As they began co-plotting the bulk of EC’s output together, intent on creating a “New Trend” of stories aimed at older and more discerning readers – and not the mythical 8-year-old comic books ostensibly targeted – they shifted the ailing company’s emphasis towards dark, funny, socially aware and absolutely more adult fare. Their publishing strategy also included hiring some the most gifted writers and artists in the field. One of the very best, most undervalued and least remembered today was writer, artist, editor John Thomas Alexis “Johnny” Craig (1925-2001).

This lavish and eternally appealing monochrome hardcover/digital volume is part of Fantagraphics’ EC Library. It gathers a chilling collection of Craig’s supernatural suspense and especially his superbly Noir-drenched crime stories in a wonderful primer of peril packed with supplementary interviews, features and dissertations, beginning with the informative and picture-packed ‘Brilliant Good Guys, Even More Brilliant Bad Guys’ by lecturer Bill Mason. A parade of classic genre tales begins with ‘One Last Fling!’ from Vault of Horror #21 October/November 1951. Craig was a sublime master of pen-&-ink illustration, and his scripting was just as slick and deceptively, hilariously seductive.

In his initial yarn here, a circus knife-thrower refuses to let the fact that his beloved assistant has become a vampire drive them apart, whilst from Crime SuspenStories #8 (December 1951/January 1952), ‘Out of the Frying Pan…’ is a wry gem of deception and misdirection, with a temporarily blind killer allowing the wrong little old man to plan his escape from hospital for him…

Originating in Vault of Horror #22 (December 1951/January 1952), ‘Fountains of Youth!’ is a straightforward supernatural thriller about a vitality-leeching monster, but ‘Understudy to a Corpse!’ (Crime SuspenStories #9, February/March 1952) offers a brilliantly twisty murder-plot involving a penniless actor who kills his uncle and diverts subsequent police attention by impersonating the victim post mortem. It does not go according to plan…

‘A Stitch in Time!’ (Vault of Horror #23, February/March 1952) is a grotesque classic in which a tyrannical sweatshop boss pays a ghastly price for abusing desperate seamstresses in his employ, before ‘…Rocks in His Head!’ (Crime SuspenStories #10, April/May of the same year) sees a harassed, hard-pressed surgeon with a greedy young wife making a disastrous choice when faced with a jewel-bedecked corpse to autopsy. In that same month prolific Craig graced Vault of Horror #24 with ‘A Bloody Undertaking!’, taking the same theme into supernatural territory when a pretty young thing turns the head of an old country doctor… who really should know better…

Regarded as one of the company’s slowest creators, Craig nevertheless found time to illustrate scripts by Gaines & Feldstein such as ‘…On a Dead Man’s Chest!’ (Haunt of Fear #12, March/April 1952) wherein, after a sordid affair and brutal murder, retribution from beyond the grave seeks out the victim’s wife and philandering brother…

Cover-dated June/July 1952, Crime SuspenStories #11’s ‘Stiff Punishment!’ is all Craig, and again dealt with avaricious ingenues who wed staid old doctors. This time, though, when the medical lecturer finally snaps, his assumption that he’d found the perfect way to hide the body proved utterly erroneous. In ‘Séance!’ (Vault of Horror #25, June/July) a couple of conmen kill a mark who learns too much, but are ultimately undone when his widow consults their own spiritualist for answers, after which Gaines & Feldstein script a shocking tale of gluttony and a vengeful sword-swallower in gloriously macabre fable ‘Fed Up!’ from Haunt of Fear #13 May/June.

The riveting tension of ‘The Execution!’ (Crime SuspenStories #12 August/September 1952) – wherein a death row inmate waits for the witness who could save him from the chair – came from one simple shocking fact. In Craig’s stories the good guys didn’t always win, and justice was frequently derailed and even cheated. ‘Two of a Kind!’ (Vault of Horror #26 August/September 1952) offered a sexually charged love story of the most extreme kind of sacrifice, whilst in ‘Silver Threads Among the Mold!’ (VoH #27 October/November 1952) an avaricious model regrets making a fool of a sculptor who adores and supports her, and ‘Sweet Dreams!’ (CSS #14, December 1952/January 1953) reveals the dire lengths an insomniac will stoop to in search of a little rest.

As first seen in VoH #28 (December 1952/January 1953) ‘Till Death…’ is, for many fans, the ultimate zombie story, as a besotted plantation owner loses his new bride to disease and soon learns to regret using voodoo to restore her to his side, whereas ‘When the Cat’s Away…’ (CSS #15 February/March 1953) is pure undiluted Crime Noir. Here a cuckolded husband attends to his wife and best friend with finesse and grim finality, whilst ‘The Mausoleum!’ (VoH #29, in the same month) sees an English landowner sell his family castle to a ghost-crazy American; lock, stock and damning evidence of the murder he committed to inherit everything…

‘Rendezvous!’ (Crime SuspenStories #16, April/May 1953) brilliantly outlines the sheer dumb luck that scotched a perfect murder/insurance scam, before ‘Split Personality!’ (VoH #30 April/May) details the incredible lengths to which a con artist strives to deprive identical twin sisters of their fortunes. Then, ‘Touch and Go!’ (CSS #17 June/July) delivers Craig’s sublimely paranoiac and compulsive adaptation of the Ray Bradbury vignette about a killer who leaves damning fingerprints whilst in the same month romantic obsession underpins the tragic tale of an artist-turned-mugger who only stole to pay for true love’s medical bills in ‘Easel Kill Ya!’ (VoH #31).

This awesomely addictive compilation concludes with the devilishly convoluted tale of a Private Eye set up to take the blame for a perfect crime. Written by Gaines & Feldstein, eponymous epic ‘Fall Guy for Murder!’ comes from Crime SuspenStories #18 (August/ September 1953) and is the quintessential 1950s crime story: smart, scary, devious and utterly morally ambiguous…

The comics classics are followed by more background revelations via S.C. Ringgenberg’s in-depth personal history in ‘Johnny Craig’ – complete with a stunning selection of Craig’s most eye-catching and controversial covers – and a general heads-up on the short-lived but world-shaking phenomenon in ‘The Ups and Downs of EC Comics: A Short History’ courtesy of author/editor/critic/comics fan Ted White. Also Educating Consumers is comprehensively illuminating feature ‘Behind the Panels: Creator Biographies’ by Mason, Tom Spurgeon & Janice Lee.

The short, sweet but severely limited comics output of EC has been reprinted ad infinitum in the decades since the company died (or was it murdered?). These titanic tales revolutionised not just our industry but also impacted the greater world through film and television and via the millions of dedicated devotees still addicted to New Trend tales.

Fall Guy for Murder was the fifth Fantagraphics compendium highlighting contributions of individual creators, adding a new dimension to aficionados’ enjoyment whilst providing a sound introduction for those lucky souls encountering the material for the very first time.

Whether an aged EC Fan-Addict or the merest neophyte convert, this is a book no comics lover or crime-caper victim should miss…

Fall Guy for Murder and Other Stories © 2013 Fantagraphics Books, Inc. All comics stories © 2013 William M. Gaines Agent, Inc., reprinted with permission. All other material © 2013 the respective creators and owners.

Also today in 1982 the legendary Reed Crandall passed away. His presence was seen all over the Golden and Silver Age of Comics, but some of his finest work appeared in Piracy: The Complete Series 1-7 (The EC Archives Library).

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Jack Staff: Everything Used to Be Black and White


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Or does he? The Spider never shot anybody before…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection volume 11: Nine Lives Has the Black Cat (1978-1980)


By Marv Wolfman, Bill Mantlo, Roger Stern, David Michelinie, Jim Starlin, Keith Pollard, John Byrne, Rich Buckler, Sal Buscema, Al Milgrom, Jim Mooney, Mike Esposito, Frank Giacoia, Terry Austin, Gene Day, Pablo Marcos, Bob McLeod, Frank Springer, Marie Severin, Alan Kupperberg & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-5641-7 (TPB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Spectacular Seasonal Spider Sensationalism … 8/10

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Peter Parker was a smart yet alienated kid when he was bitten by a radioactive spider during a school science trip. Developing astonishing arachnid abilities – which he augmented with his own natural chemistry, physics and engineering genius – the boy did what any lonely, geeky nerd would do with such newfound prowess: he tried to cash in for girls, fame and money.

Making a costume to hide his identity in case he made a fool of himself, Parker became a minor media celebrity – and a criminally self-important one. To his eternal regret, when a thief fled past him one night, the cocky teen didn’t lift a finger to stop him. When Parker returned home he learned that his beloved guardian uncle Ben Parker had been murdered.

Crazed with a need for vengeance, Peter hunted the assailant who had made his beloved Aunt May a widow and killed the only father he had ever known, finding, to his horror, that it was the self-same felon he had neglected to stop. His irresponsibility had resulted in the death of the man who raised him, and the traumatised boy swore to forevermore use his powers to help others…

Since that night he has tirelessly battled miscreants, monsters and madmen, with a fickle, ungrateful public usually baying for his blood even as he perpetually saves them, and by the time of the tales in this full-colour compendium of web-spinning adventures the wondrous wallcrawler was a global figure and prime contender for the title of the World’s Most Misunderstood Hero. Spanning November 1978 to July 1980, chronologically re-presenting Amazing Spider-Man #186-206, Annual #13 & Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #1 the transformative tales are an attempt to reconcile the tragic, ill-fated young man with the changing world of the fast-approaching, take-no-prisoners 1980s; and regrettably they don’t always succeed in our hindsight-equipped 21st century eyes…

Previously: old girlfriend and current neurotic stranger Betty Brant-Leeds returned after fleeing a dying marriage. She was absorbed with nostalgic notions to rekindle old flames with first love Peter Parker, but that mature-&-moved-on, almost-college-graduate’s social life was already deeply out of control. For his arachnid alter ego life involved constant attacks especially from increasing out-of-whack J. Jonah Jameson who funds yet another fringe science secret scheme to trap Spider-Man…

At this time a star of (1970s) television, the webslinger’s adventures were downplaying traditional fantasy elements as Keith Pollard became penciller for #186. Now, ‘Chaos is… the Chameleon!’ sees the devious disguise artist seeking to discredit the webslinger, even as District Attorney Blake Tower works to dismiss all charges against him, and is followed by a moody tale of lockdowns and plague as Spider-Man and Captain America unite to stop a voltaic villain inadvertently using ‘The Power of Electro!’ (Marv Wolfman, Jim Starlin & Bob McLeod) to trigger a biological time bomb…

Ruthlessly violent thugs are on the rampage next as ASM #188 depicts ‘The Jigsaw is Up!’ (illustrated by Pollard & Mike Esposito) after the river party cruise Peter, his pals and increasingly insistent Betty are enjoying is hijacked. Jameson’s secret then gets out to inflict ‘Mayhem by Moonlight!’ in a sharp two-part shocker limned by John Byrne & Jim Mooney. Exploited by malign and dying science rogue Spencer Smythe, Jonah is abducted by his own monster-marked son John leaving the wallcrawler ‘In Search of the Man-Wolf!’ Forced to witness the (presumed) death of his child at his worst enemy’s hands leads to a savage confrontation with Smythe’s Spider-Slayer robots in ‘Wanted for Murder: Spider-Man!’ (#191 by Pollard & Esposito) before all Jonah’s debts are paid and another death results after Spidey & Jonah are bound to the same bomb and given ‘24 hours Till Doomsday!’ …

Eluding doom by the skin of their shackled wrists, a new phase in the Jonah’s psychotic enmity begins in ASM #193’s ‘The Wings of the Fearsome Fly!’ with Wolfman, penciller Keith Pollard and inker Jim Mooney recapping how would-be Spider-Slayer Spencer Smythe had handcuffed JJJ to his despised bête noir Spider-Man in an explosive deathtrap and how that drew mutual old enemy The Fly as well as causing the death of John Jameson in his monster form of the ferociously feral Man-Wolf…

Peter is most disturbed by a half-remembered moment. In that clash Jonah might have peeked under the arachnid’s mask whilst the wallcrawler was briefly unconscious, and not knowing is driving Parker crazy. The loss of his son has absolutely unhinged the publisher, however, and, after firing Peter, Jonah swears to destroy Spider-Man, even as Peter dutifully hunts down the Fly. He finally finds him robbing the Metropolitan Museum of Art and succumbs to an opportunity to release his pent-up anger. It ends badly…

In the aftermath, another plot strand resurfaces as Ned Leeds show up and punches Parker out. The incensed reporter thinks its justifiable as his (recently estranged) wife Betty has been nostalgically and aggressively pursuing old flame Peter. Meanwhile at May Parker’s empty house, a strangely familiar figure is tearing walls down hunting for something. After eventually giving up, he moves on to the Restwell Nursing Home where the widow Parker currently resides… and finds a situation he can readily exploit…

With life in turmoil Peter is poorly prepared for the major change that begins in #194, painfully learning ‘Never Let the Black Cat Cross Your Path!’ after encountering a svelte femme fatale costumed jewel thief with luck always on her side. However, she seems to have forsaken profit for a new, darker agenda. Inked by Frank Giacoia, the tale sees her recruit a crew to break someone out of jail, and – despite an obvious (and mutual) attraction to sexy Spidey – she will let nothing stop her…

Now working as a photographer for rival paper the Daily Globe where he immediately sparks the curiosity of reporter April Maye, Peter continues to pursue the feline felon in a chase to disaster, quickly realising ‘Nine Lives Has the Black Cat!’ (collectively inked by “M. Hands” Mooney, Mike Esposito & Al Milgrom). This affords an origin for the curvaceous crook and culminates in shocking news for Peter…

I’d normally give lip service here to “spoilers” and indeed back then, the death of Aunt May was – for a brief moment – a big deal, but it wasn’t real and didn’t last long. In-world though, Peter is crushed by the loss of his last relative and only family, with ‘Requiem!’ – limned by Milgrom, Mooney & Frank Giacoia – seeing him shattered by her “peaceful passing” whilst he was elsewhere, and at this moment still blithely unaware of a plot by unctuous home director Dr. Rinehart. Many older fans had already clocked who he really was…

Dazed and reeling, the hero is just starting to suspect something isn’t right as he’s ambushed by thugs and dragged to ‘The Kingpin’s Midnight Massacre!’ in ASM #197. Here Wolfman, Pollard & Mooney show the soon-to-be-retired crime lord packing to leave and up against an immovable deadline. To please his beloved wife Vanessa, the villain will cease his illegal activities at the witching hour. All that’s left on his to-do list is to kill Spider-Man, but the clock’s ticking and the wallcrawler just won’t die…

Building up to the anniversary spectacular and illustrated by Sal Buscema & Mooney, most dangling plot threads start cleaving together when Peter realises who Rinehart actually is and bursts into the Restwell Home in ‘Mysterio is Deadlier by the Dozen!’ to find the master of illusion preying on sundowning oldsters and teamed up with the burglar who shot Uncle Ben. Out of jail and desperate to retrieve something long hidden in the Parker house, the long-discarded thug has hijacked Mysterio’s comfortably risk-free scam and attracted the wrath of a really, really angry Spider-Man…

Despite fighting back fiercely in ‘Now You See Me! Now You Die!’ the writing is truly on the wall for the now-at-odds bad guys who meet their fates in The Amazing Spider-Man #200’s extra-length conclusion ‘The Spider and the Burglar… A Sequel!’ – cover dated January 1980 and courtesy of Wolfman, Pollard & Mooney.

With the truth out and May restored, Peter is ready for whatever the future holds as we segue into The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #13 where Wolfman, Byrne & Terry Austin occupy ‘The Arms of Doctor Octopus’ with a murderous scheme to regain his underworld reputation and dominance. The plot is brought to Spider-Man’s attention by murdered federal agent Kent Blake, who blackmails the hero into going undercover in the gang to recover stolen plans and ends with a catastrophic clash that sees the villain maimed…

Although momentarily defeated, Ock isn’t finished with New York or Spider-Man, and the saga continues and concludes in the first annual of a companion Spider-title. Before that, though, Annual traditions are upheld by additions to ongoing feature ‘A Gallery of Spider-Man’s Most Famous Foes’. Rendered by Pollard, the roster expands for The Molten Man, The Looter, The Rhino, The Shocker, The Kingpin, Silverman and Man-Mountain Marko, The Prowler and The Kangaroo before ending on ‘A Mighty Marvel Bonus’ offering updated locations and floorplans for ‘Peter Parker’s Pad!’, The Daily Bugle & Daily Globe offices and Empire State University Campus – and Peter’s colleagues.

The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #1 details the denouement in ‘And Men Shall Call Him… Octopus!’ as Bill Mantlo, Rich Buckler & Mooney follow a furious and confused webslinger who uses Ock’s severed metal tentacle to lure the near-insane-with-pain-&-shock villain into a cataclysmic showdown aboard a ship’s graveyard in the East River and apparently final clash in an undersea base…

Dried out and back to business basics, the hero’s journey resumes in ASM 201’s ‘Man-Hunt!’ as Wolfman, Pollard & Mooney reunite the hero with The Punisher, whose hunt for a gang boss turns up a suspicious connection between photo seller Parker and his star subject Spider-Man…

Further muddying the waters is the latest woe to befall Jonah, whose nervous collapse devolves into pure mania, prompting his escape into delusion and the city’s back alleys. Guilt-ridden Parker can’t do much for his favourite gadfly, but can send Frank Castle on an identity-saving wild goose chase, before helping to deal with his latest target in concluding chapter ‘One For Those Long Gone!’

More infomercial than adventure – and probably a deadline-busting fill-in – Amazing Spider-Man #203 is one huge plug for Marvel’s disco sensation as Wolfman, Pollard, Esposito & Friends introduce Spider-Man to mutant musician Dazzler. The siren songstress is being hunted by old arachnid foe Lightmaster who needs her energies to bust him free of the light dimension that holds him captive but fails again in ‘Bewitched, Bothered and B-Dazzled!’

Another strong independent woman (re)appears in Pablo Marcos inked #204, as Wolfman signs off with ‘The Black Cat Always Lands on her Feet!’ Here the presumed-dead super thief returns to steal a selection of romance-themed art, and Spidey’s pursuit is the bandit’s actual goal. As seen in #205’s David Michelinie, Pollard & Mooney conclusion ‘…In Love and War!’, second generation purloiner Felicia Hardy has become fixated on the enigmatic masked man and stealing these items is her way of wooing the wallcrawler. Just for a change, this is a challenge requiring Parker’s mind and empathy, not Spider-Man’s might…

With an increasingly angry and unstable Joe Robertson replacing a lost amnesiac Jameson at the Daily Bugle, ASM #206 sees Roger Stern, John Byrne & Gene Day resolve the saga of his breakdown in closing inclusion ‘A Method in his Madness!’ Here it’s revealed that rogue scientist Dr. Jonas Harrow (who remade sundry second-rate thugs into super-foes like Will-O’the-Wisp, Kangaroo and Hammerhead) had turned the publisher’s office into a testing ground for his fringe science. Now that his Mental Attitude-Response Variator ray has driven Jonah to the edge of madness, Harrow plans to turn it on Spider-Man himself, but one last test on the entire Bugle staff gives our hero a heads-up and leads to the devil doctor’s defeat…

With covers throughout from Milgrom, Pollard, John Romita Sr., Buckler, McLeod & Josef Rubinstein, this tome also offers a selection of original art by Pollard with Mooney, Frank Giacoia and Byrne & Austin; Carmine Infantino & Steve Leialoha’s unused cover to Spider-Woman #9 where Wolfman originally intended Black Cat to debut, and Dave Cockrum’s revamped design for her as well as an unused Pollard & McLeod cover for ASM #194 and Cockrum’s rough for the cover they finally used. Completing the extras are House ads for forthcoming landmark ASM #200.

These yarns confirmed Spider-Man’s growth into a global multi-media brand. Blending cultural veracity with superb art, and making a dramatic virtue of the awkwardness, confusion and imputed powerlessness most of the readership experienced daily, resulted in an irresistibly intoxicating read, especially when delivered in addictive soap-styled instalments, but none of that would be relevant if Spider-Man’s stories weren’t so utterly entertaining. This action-packed collection relives many momentous and crucial periods in the wallcrawler’s astounding life and is one all Fights ‘n’ Tights fanatics must see…
© 2025 MARVEL.

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The Amazing Spider-Man Marvel Masterworks volume 19



By Marv Wolfman, Bill Mantlo, Keith Pollard, Al Milgrom, Sal Buscema, John Byrne, Rich Buckler, Jim Mooney, Frank Giacoia, Marie Severin, Mike Esposito, Terry Austin, & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-0339-8 (HB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Peter Parker was a smart yet alienated kid when he was bitten by a radioactive spider during a school science trip. Developing astonishing arachnid abilities – which he augmented with his own natural chemistry, physics and engineering genius – the boy did what any lonely, geeky nerd would do with such newfound prowess: he tried to cash in for girls, fame and money.

Making a costume to hide his identity in case he made a fool of himself, Parker became a minor media celebrity – and a criminally self-important one. To his eternal regret, when a thief fled past him one night, the cocky teen didn’t lift a finger to stop him. When Parker returned home he learned that his beloved guardian uncle Ben Parker had been murdered.

Crazed with a need for vengeance, Peter hunted the assailant who had made his beloved Aunt May a widow and killed the only father he had ever known, finding, to his horror, that it was the self-same felon he had neglected to stop. His irresponsibility had resulted in the death of the man who raised him, and the traumatised boy swore to forevermore use his powers to help others…

Since that night he has tirelessly battled miscreants, monsters and madmen, with a fickle, ungrateful public usually baying for his blood even as he perpetually saves them…

A newly-minted star of live action television, Spider-Man’s adventures generally still downplayed traditional fantasy elements at the time of the yarns packing this 19th fabulous collection of web-spinning wonderment. The wondrous wallcrawler was a global figure and prime contender for the title of the World’s Most Misunderstood Hero and here, covering June 1979 to March 1980, are the chronologically re-presented contents of Amazing Spider-Man #193-202, and a combined story that spanned Amazing Spider-Man Annual #13 and The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #1. The transformative tales are preceded by an appreciative appraisal and reminiscence from writer/editor Marv Wolfman in his Introduction.

The graphic action kicks off with #193’s ‘The Wings of the Fearsome Fly!’ with Wolfman, penciller Keith Pollard and inker Jim Mooney recapping how would-be Spider-Slayer Spencer Smythe had handcuffed J. Jonah Jameson and his despised Bête noir Spider-Man together in an explosive deathtrap that drew old enemy the Fly and resulted in the death of Jonah’s son John, albeit in his monster form as the ferociously feral Man-Wolf…

In that clash Jonah might have peeked under the arachnid’s mask whilst the wallcrawler was unconscious, and the not knowing is driving Parker crazy. The loss of his son has absolutely unhinged the publisher, however, and after firing Peter, he swears to destroy Spider-Man, even as Peter dutifully hunts down the Fly and finally finds him robbing the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It’s an opportunity to release his pent-up anger but ends badly…

In the aftermath, another plot strand resurfaces as Ned Leeds returns and punches Parker out. The reporter thinks its justifiable as his (recently estranged) wife – the former Betty Brant –has been nostalgically and aggressively pursuing old flame Peter, making Parker’s social life even more deeply complicated and exhausting…

Meanwhile at May Parker’s empty house, a strangely familiar figure is tearing the walls down hunting for something. After eventually giving up he then moves on to the Restwell Nursing Home where the widow Parker currently resides… and finds a situation he can readily exploit…

With life in turmoil Peter is poorly prepared for the major change that begins in #194 as he painfully learns ‘Never Let the Black Cat Cross Your Path!’ after encountering a svelte femme fatale costumed jewel thief with luck always on her side. Sadly, she seems to have forsaken profit for a new darker agenda. Inked by Frank Giacoia, the tale sees her recruit a crew to break someone out of jail, and – despite an obvious and mutual attraction – she will let nothing, not even sexy Spidey – stop her…

Now working as a photographer for rival paper the Daily Globe and immediately sparking the curiosity of reporter April Maye, Peter continues to pursue the feline felon in a chase to disaster, but soon realises ‘Nine Lives Has the Black Cat!’ (collectively inked by “M. Hands” Mooney, Mike Esposito & Al Milgrom) thereby affording an origin for the curvaceous crook and culminating in shocking news for Peter…

I’d normally give lip service here to “spoilers” and indeed back then, the death of Aunt May was a big deal for a brief moment, but it wasn’t real and didn’t last long. In-world however, Peter is crushed by the death of his last relative and only family, with ‘Requiem!’ – limned by Milgrom, Mooney & Frank Giacoia – finding him shattered by her “peaceful passing” whilst he was elsewhere, and blithely unaware of a plot by unctuous home director Dr. Rinehart. Many older fans had already clocked who he really was…

Dazed and reeling, the hero is just starting to suspect something isn’t right as he’s ambushed by thugs and dragged to ‘The Kingpin’s Midnight Massacre!’ in ASM #197. Here Wolfman, Pollard & Mooney show the soon-to-be-retired crime lord packing to leave and up against an immovable deadline. To please his beloved wife Vanessa, the villain will cease all his illegal activities at the witching hour. All that’s left on his to-do list is to kill Spider-Man, but the clock’s ticking and the wallcrawler just won’t die…

Building up to the anniversary spectacular and illustrated by Sal Buscema & Mooney, most dangling plot threads begin cleaving together as Peter realises who Rinehart actually is and bursts into the Restwell Home in ‘Mysterio is Deadlier by the Dozen!’ to find the master of illusion preying on sundowning oldsters and teamed up with the burglar who shot Uncle Ben. Out of jail and desperate to retrieve something long hidden in the Parker house, the long-discarded thug has hijacked Mysterio’s comfortable scam and attracted the wrath of a really, really angry Spider-Man…

Despite fighting back fiercely in ‘Now You See Me! Now You Die!’ the writing is truly on the wall for the now-at-odds bad guys who meet their fates in The Amazing Spider-Man #200’s extra-length conclusion ‘The Spider and the Burglar… A Sequel!’ cover dated January 1980 and courtesy of Wolfman, Pollard & Mooney.

With the truth out and May restored, Peter Parker is ready for whatever the future holds as we segue into The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #13 where Wolfman, John Byrne & Terry Austin occupy ‘The Arms of Doctor Octopus’ with a murderous scheme to regain his underworld reputation and dominance. The plot is brought to Spider-Man’s attention by murdered federal agent Kent Blake, who blackmails the hero into going undercover in the gang to recover stolen plans and ends with a catastrophic clash that sees the villain maimed…

Although momentarily defeated, Ock isn’t finished with New York or Spiderman, and the saga continues and concludes in the first annual of the companion Spider-title.

Before that though, the Annual traditions are upheld by additions to the ongoing feature ‘A Gallery of Spider-Man’s Most Famous Foes’. Rendered by Pollard, the roster adds here The Molten Man, The Looter, The Rhino, The Shocker, The Kingpin, Silverman and Man-Mountain Marko, The Prowler and The Kangaroo before ending on ‘A Mighty Marvel Bonus’ offering updated locations and floorplans for ‘Peter Parker’s Pad!’, The Daily Bugle & Daily Globe offices and Empire State University Campus – and Peter’s colleagues.

The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #1 details the denouement in ‘And Men Shall Call Him… Octopus!’ with Bill Mantlo, Rich Buckler & Mooney following the furious and confused webslinger who uses a severed metal tentacle to lure the near-insane-with-pain-&-shock Doc Ock into a cataclysmic showdown aboard a ship’s graveyard in the East River and apparently final clash in an undersea base…

Dried out and back to business basics, the hero’s journey resumes in ASM 201’s ‘Man-Hunt!’ as Wolfman, Pollard & Mooney reunite the wallcrawler with The Punisher whose hunt for a gang boss turns up a suspicious connection between photo seller Parker and his star subject Spider-Man…

Further muddying the waters is the latest woe to befall Jonah, whose nervous collapse now devolves into pure mania, prompting his escape into delusion and the streets of the city. Guilt-ridden Parker can’t do much for his favourite gadfly, but at least he can send Frank Castle on an identity-saving wild goose chase. And help deal with his latest target in concluding chapter ‘One For Those Long Gone!’

To Be Continued…

With covers by Milgrom, Pollard, John Romita Sr., Buckler, Bob McLeod & Josef Rubinstein, this tome also offers a selection of original art by Pollard with Mooney, Frank Giacoia and Byrne & Austin; Carmine Infantino & Steve Leialoha’s unused cover to Spider-Woman #9 where Wolfman originally intended Black Cat to debut, and Dave Cockrum’s revamped design for her as well as an unused Pollard & McLeod cover for ASM #194 and Cockrum’s rough for the cover they finally used. Completing the extras are House ads for forthcoming landmark ASM #200.

These yarns confirmed Spider-Man’s growth into a global multi-media brand. Blending cultural veracity with superb art, and making a dramatic virtue of the awkwardness, confusion and imputed powerlessness most of the readership experienced daily resulted in an irresistibly intoxicating read, especially when delivered in addictive soap-styled instalments, but none of that would be relevant if Spider-Man’s stories weren’t so utterly entertaining. This action-packed collection relives many momentous and crucial periods in the wallcrawler’s astounding life and is one all Fights ‘n’ Tights fanatics must see…
© 2017 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

22nd George Herriman was born today in 1880. If you also want to learn about him, our most recent review of his magic can be found here.

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DC Finest: Hawkman volume 1 – Wings Across Time


By Gardner F. Fox, Bob Haney, Joe Kubert, Gil Kane, Murphy Anderson, Howard Purcell, Carmine Infantino & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-79950-250-0 (TPB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Here’s another stunning compilation from the DC Finest line: full colour chronolgically curated collections delivering “affordably priced, large-size (generally around 600 pages) paperback collections” of past glories. Whilst concentrating on the superhero pantheon, there are and will also be assorted genre selections like horror and war books, and themed compendia.  

Sadly, none of these comics classics are available digitally, as were the last decade’s Bronze, Silver and Golden Age collections, but we live in hope and keep on whining…

Not all passions are romantic: mine is to finally have all old comics forever available in curated editions. These astoundingly engaging Silver Age tales are another joyous moment of past glories revisited highlighting one of the most effective and enduring romantic crime-busting, world-saving partnerships in comics…

With a superhero revival in full swing by 1961, Editorial mastermind Julius Schwartz turned to resurrecting one of DC’s most visually arresting and iconic Golden Age characters. Once again eschewing mysticism for science fiction (the original Hawkman was a reincarnated Egyptian prince murdered by a villainous priest who just kept coming back…), Schwartz picked scripter Gardner F. Fox who had created the Golden Age great and matched him with artist Joe Kubert to construct a new and contemporary hero for the Jet/Space Age.

This titanic tome at last gathers in full colour the works and deeds of the Winged Wonders as first seen in The Brave and the Bold #34-36 & 42-44 & 51; The Atom #7; Mystery in Space #87-90 and Hawkman #1-11: cumulatively spanning February/March 1961 to December 1965/January 1966.

Katar Hol and Shayera Thal are police officers on their own planet of Thanagar. The married couple have travelled to Earth from the star system Polaris in pursuit of a spree-thief named Byth who assaulted a scientist and stole a drug bestowing the ability to change into anything. Thus the scene was set in ‘Creature of a Thousand Shapes!’ which graced The Brave and the Bold #34 (cover-dated February/March 1961) back when the title was a try-out vehicle like Showcase. Disappointments aside, the origin yarn is a spectacular work of graphic magic, with the otherworldly nature of the premise rendered captivatingly human by the passionately emphatic, moody expressiveness of Kubert’s art. It is a minor masterpiece of comic storytelling, and still a darned good read.

The high-flying heroes returned in the next issue, now “temporarily” stationed on Earth to study Terran police methods. In ‘Menace of the Matter Master’ they defeat a plundering scientist who has discovered a means to control elements and indulge in super-larceny, before ‘Valley of Vanishing Men’ takes our fully-integrated visitors from another world to the Himalayas to unlock the astounding and ironic secret of the Abominable Snowmen. Last shot in the try-out session, B&B #36 sees them defeat modern day wizard Konrad Kazlak in ‘Strange Spells of the Sorcerer!’ and, soon after, save Earth from another Ice Age whilst outwitting ‘The Shadow Thief of Midway City!’

With the 3-issue audition over, the publishers sat back and waited for the fan letters and sales figures… and something odd happened: fans were vocal and enthusiastic, but the huge sales figures that previously accompanied such reactions just weren’t there. It was inexplicable. The quality of the work was plain to see on every page, but somehow not enough people had plunked down their dimes to justify an ongoing Hawkman series.

A year later DC tried again. The Brave and the Bold #42 (June/July 1962) featured ‘The Menace of the Dragonfly Raiders’ which found Katar & Shayera returning to Thanagar just in time to encounter a bizarre band of alien thieves and the sinister hand of their oldest foe. Here was superhero action in a fabulous alien locale and the next issue maintained the exoticism – at least initially – before Hawkman and Hawkgirl returned to Midway City to defeat a threat to both worlds – ‘The Masked Marauders of Earth!’.

One last B&B issue followed (#44, October/November 1962) with two splendid and delightful short tales. ‘Earth’s Impossible Day!’ focused on Shayera’s desire to celebrate a holiday tradition of Thanagar before eerie doomsday thriller ‘The Men who Moved the World’ unearthed a lost civilisation and the return of Earth’s original occupiers seeking to move back again…

And then the Hawks vanished again. It certainly looked like this time the Schwartz magic had stumbled if not faltered. It was not, however, the end of the saga. Convinced he was right, Schwartz retrenched. Enjoying some success with his latest revival and mindful of the response when he had teamed Flash with Green Lantern in the summer of 1962, the editor had writer Fox include the Winged Wonder in The Atom #7 (cover-dated June/July 1963). An interplanetary thriller illustrated by Gil Kane & Murphy Anderson, ‘The Case of the Cosmic Camera!’ is a rocket-paced invasion rollercoaster ranging from the depths of space to Earth’s most distant past, where this new, clean-limbed version of the Avian Avenger clearly found fan-favour. In 1963 Hawkman returned! Again!

Mere months later, and dated November, Mystery in Space #87 had the Pinioned Paladin in action on the cover. The anthologogical sci fi standard had been the home of interstellar adventurer Adam Strange since #53, so now Schwartz moved his Winged Wonders into a plausible back-up slot and even bestowed occasional cover-privileges. Still beguilingly written by Fox, Kubert’s dark gritty art was superseded by the clean, graceful illustration of Anderson. Crime caper ‘The Amazing Thefts of the I.Q. Gang!’ dealt with a unexpected repercussion of an Adam Strange thriller and was followed a month later by ‘Topsy-Turvy Day in Midway City!’… a whimsical flourish as the cosmic couple’s devotion and Thangarian wedding customs lead to the capture of Terran bank bandits…

With the management now on board, guest appearances to maximise profile were easier to find. Hawkman returned to The Brave and the Bold with #51 (December 1963/January 1964) to team with Aquaman and face the ‘Fury of the Exiled Creature’ in a quirky tale of monsters, magic and mayhem in sunken Atlantis written by Bob Haney and illustrated by the criminally neglected Howard Purcell. Back in Mystery in Space #89 the ‘Super-Motorized Menace!’ proved the highest tech motor cycle is still no match for ancient weapons and alien  advantages…

These brief, engaging action pieces paled before the majesty and ambition of MiS #90 which delivered a full length epic uniting teaming the Hawks and Adam Strange in a legendary End-of the-World(s) epic. Illustrated by Carmine Infantino & Anderson, ‘Planets in Peril!’ was the last Hawkman back-up. From the next month, and after three years of trying, Hawkman soared into his own title.

Cover-dated April/May 1964, Hawkman #1 is a gem by Fox & Anderson. Two of the most visually arresting chracters in comics, the Hawks also boasted one of the most subtle and sophisticated relationships in the business. Like Sue & Ralph Dibney (Elongated Man and wife) Katar & Shayera are equal partners, and both couples were influenced by the Nick & Nora Charles characters of the Thin Man movies. Like those progenitors, the interplay of the Hols at home or at work is always rich in humour and warmth. In ‘Rivalry of the Winged Wonders’ – and whilst accommodatingly recapping their origins for newcomers, the couple decide to turn their latest case into a contest – Hawkgirl (eventually more appropriately called Hawkwoman) will use Thanagarian super-science to track and catch a band of thieves, whilst Hawkman limits himself to Earth techniques and tools to solving the crime.

This charmingly witty yarn is balanced by action thriller ‘Master of the Sky Weapons’ as recentlt resurrected ancient Mayan warrior Chac threatens Earth with disinterred alien super weapons. The the second issue stuck with star-stuff as the ‘Secret of the Sizzling Sparklers!’ offered an action-packed thriller of transdimensional invasion before closing with ‘Wings across Time!’: a mystery revolving around the discovery of the flying harness of legendary figure Icarus.

With “Carter & Shiera Hall” established as archeologists at Midway City Museum and Earth’s crypto-history & -zoology offering constant story-inspiration, another criminal brain-teaser opened the third issue. However, scientific bandits proved less of a menace than ‘The Fear that Haunted Hawkman’ with inexplicable panic attacks, before ordinary thugs and an extraordinary alien owl converged to make our heroes ‘Birds in a Gilded Cage’. Hawkman #4 then opened with a tale destined to revolutionise DC comics. ‘The Girl who Split in Two!’ introduced legacy hero Zatanna, daughter of a magician who fought crime in the 1940s only to “mysteriously disappear”…

From the very first issue, and for over a decade, Zatarra was a hero in the Mandrake mould who fought evil in the pages of Action Comics. During the Silver Age, Gardner Fox had Zatarra’s young, equally gifted daughter search for the missing mage, systematcally teaming up with superheroes he was currently scripting (if you’re counting, those tales appeared in Hawkman #4, The Atom #19, Green Lantern #42, and the Elongated Man strip from Detective Comics #355). A very slick piece of backwriting latterly included the high-profile Caped Crusader via Detective #336 – ‘Batman’s Bewitched Nightmare!’. The saga concluded in Justice League of America #51’s ‘Z… As in Zatanna… and Zero Hour!’). The collected saga Zatanna’s Search is currently out of print but you can go here for our take on it…

This wide, long-running experiment in continuity proved there was a dedicated fanbase with a voracious appetite for experimentation and relatively deep pockets. Most importantly, it finally signalled an end of the period where DC heroes largely lived and battled in self-imposed worlds of their own.

Hawkman #4 back-up ‘The Machine that Magnetized Men!’ is another enthalling howdunnit  tale as the Pinioned Paladins use reason and deduction to defeat thieves who are impossible to touch. For the next issue ‘Steal, Shadow… Steal!’ was the first full-length thriller, wherein ruthless Shadow Thief Carl Sands returns seeking revenge, believing causing Earth’s next Ice Age to be an acceptable consequence of his schemes, whilst in #6, publishing fashion caught up with the Hawks…

Another epic, and one that turned DC’s peculiar obsession with gorillas into a classic adventure, ‘World Where Evolution Ran Wild!’ lures our heroes to fabled Illoral, where a scientist’s explorations and interventions have stretched Natural Selection to un-natural limits. Bold, brash and daft in equal amounts, this is a fabulous romp and seeing again the cover where Hawkman struggles for his life against a winged gorilla makes the adult me realise those DC chaps might have known what they were doing with all those anthropoid covers!

By issue #7 (April/May 1965) the world was gripped in secret agent fever as the likes of James Bond, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and a host of others snuck and sashayed across our screens. Comics were not immune,  even though spies had been a staple threat there for decades. Before Hawkman joined the gang, however, he had to deal with the rather mediocre threat posed by solar ray inspired criminal genius Ira Quimby and ‘The Amazing Return of the I.Q. Gang!’ As they were quickly returned to prison the Hawks faced the ‘Attack of the Crocodile-Men!’: a high-octane super-science thriller introducing C.A.W. – the Criminal Alliance of the World…

Another supremely captivating cover adorned #8, as the Hawks fought an ancient Roman Artificial Intelligence, built by not-so-mythical metalsmith Vulcan in ‘Giant in the Golden Mask!’, before defeating an alien Harpy who’d been buried for half a million years and promptly triggered a ‘Battle of the Bird-Man Bandits!’ as soon as she woke up…

Hawkman #9 saw The Atom as guest star when an old villain returned with a seemingly perfect revenge plan. Full-length super-thriller ‘Master Trap of the Matter Master!’ offered sheer superhero hi-jinks, after which #10 saw a playful Fox at his best in both ‘Hawkman Clips the Claws of C.A.W!’ This was another espionage drama with a delicious subplot as the Winged Wonder aids a sexy CIA agent with a big secret of her own – before solving ‘The Magic Mirror Mystery!’: a fair-play brainteaser with lots of high-flying action to balance the smart stuff.

This glorious volume closes with another superb full-length epic. Clearly designed as a so-fashionable “player on the other side”, ‘The Shrike Strikes at Midnight!’ leaving our heroes trailing a super-powered, winged bandit all over the world and on to the star system Mizar, in a gripping tale of crime, super-villainy, aliens, revolutions and even dinosaurs…

Although never the major player of his 1940s ancestor, Hawkman grew to be one of the most iconic characters of the second superhero boom, not just for the superb art but also because of a brilliantly sly, whimsically subtle writer with a huge imagination. These tales are comfortably familiar but also grippingly timeless. Thankfully, comics are a funny business; circumstances, tastes and fashions often mean that wonderful works are missed and unappreciated, but it aso means revivals are never too late. Don’t make the same mistake readers did in the 1960s. Whatever your age, read these astounding adventures and become a fan. It’s never too late.
© 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 2025 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Eagle Classics: Harris Tweed – Extra Special Agent


By John Ryan (Hawk Books -1990)
ISBN: 978-0-94824-822-1 (album TPB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Happy anniversary Eagle!

The son of a diplomat and irrefutably a died-in-wool True Gent, John Ryan was born in 1921, served in Burma and India during WWII and – after attending the Regent Street Polytechnic (1946-48) – took up a teaching post as assistant Art Master at Harrow School from 1948 to 1955. It was during this time that he began contributing strips to comics such as Girl and a newfangled but soon to be legendary weekly comic…

On April 14th 1950, Britain’s grey, post-war gloom was partially lifted with the first issue of a glossy new comic that literally shone with light and colour. Mesmerised children were soon understandably enraptured with the gloss and dazzle of Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future, a charismatic star-turn venerated to this day, as well as a plethora of strips illustrating some of their favourite radio shows.

Eagle was a tabloid sized paper with full photogravure colour inserts alternating with text and a range of other comic features. Tabloid is a big page and you can get a lot of material onto each one. Deep within, on the bottom third of a monochrome folio was an 8-panel strip entitled Captain Pugwash, the story of a Bad Buccaneer and the many sticky ends which nearly befell him. Ryan’s quirky, spiky style also lent itself to the numerous spot illustrations required every week. Pugwash, his harridan of a wife and the useless, lazy crew of the Black Pig ran until issue #19 when the feature disappeared. This was no real hardship as Ryan had already begun writing and illustrating new feature Harris Tweed – Extra Special Agent which began as a full page (tabloid, remember – an average of 20 panels a page, per week) since #16 (cover-dated July 28th 1950).

Tweed ran for three years as a full page. Then in 1953 it dropped to a half-page strip and deftly repositioned as a purely comedic venture. For our purposes and those of the book under review, it’s those first three years we’re thinking of even if the only decent illustration I could find comes from the 1959 Eagle Annual…

Harris Tweed was a bluff and blundering caricature of the military “Big Brass” Ryan had encountered during The War. In gentler times, the bumbler with a young, never-to-be-named assistant known only as “Boy” solved mysteries and captured villains to general popular acclaim. Thrilling – and often eerily macabre – adventure blended seamlessly with sly yet cheerful schoolboy low comedy in these strips, since Tweed was in fact that most British of archetypes: a bit of a twit and a bit of a sham stumbling through a world of Thud & Blunder…

His totally undeserved reputation as detective and crime fighter par excellence, and his good-hearted yet smug arrogance – as demonstrated elsewhere by the likes of Bulldog Drummond, Dick Barton – Special Agent, or Sexton Blake – somehow endeared the arrogant, posturing buffoon to a young and impressionable public which would in later years take to its heart Captain Mainwaring in Dad’s Army and, more pointedly perhaps, Peter Sellers’ numerous film outings as Inspector Clouseau. Maybe most of those enthralled kids had an uncle or dad who buffaloed on about the war in just the same way…

Ryan’s art here is particularly noteworthy. Deep moody blacks and intense, sharp, edgy inking creates a constant mood of fever-dream intensity. There are anachronistic echoes and nuances of underground cartoons of more than a decade later, and much of the inevitable ‘brooding, lurking horror’ atmosphere found in the best works of Basil Wolverton. Ryan knew what kids liked and he delivered it by the cartload.

This too-slim, oversized (324 x 234mm x) paperback compilation is all that’s readily available these days, but surely in the era of electronic publishing, some enterprising fan with a complete Eagle collection can link up with a perspicacious publisher someway, somehow and produce a comprehensive compilation of the nation’s most self-lauded sleuth? I simply KNOW today’s TV crowd and dwindling but still-potent ancient 10-year-olds and their grandchildren would just lap him up….
Harris Tweed © 1990 Fleetway Publications. Compilation © 1990 Hawk Books.

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Helter Skelter Fashion Unfriendly


By Kyoko Okazaki (Vertical)
ISBN: 978-1-93565-483-4 (Tankōbon PB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Following her 1983 debut as a producer of erotic material for the men’s markets, Kyoko Okazaki established a reputation for challenging, controversial, contemporary manga tales before gradually shifting her focus to produce stories specifically for and about women (such as Pink, Happy House and River’s Edge), focusing with unflinching intensity on their social issues and the overwhelming pressures of popular culture in modern Japan.

You can find out more about this pioneering creator here.

From 1994-1995, and following her immensely successful strip Tokyo Girls Bravo in mainstream fashion magazine CUTIE, Okazaki created a biting expose of the industry and its casualties for Shodensha’s Feel Young anthology. Heruta Sukeruta took the author’s concerns, inclinations and observations into realms tinged with dark speculation, but individual episodes never seemed too far-fetched or distant from what we all believed models and managers and clients actually experienced…

Liliko is the undisputed top model in Japan. The face and body of “The Lily” are everywhere, selling products and lifestyle to men, women and especially young girls. She is an iconic, unchanging paragon of look & style and has been so for absolutely ages.

In fact, nobody seems to know quite how long… except ruthless model agency president Mama Tada. Moreover, only Liliko’s long-suffering gofer/manager Hada and make-up artist Kin Sawanabe have any inkling of the real person under the gloss, glitz and glamour…

Despite this stellar star status, Lily is incredibly unhappy: bored, paranoid, burned out and increasingly obsessed with her inevitable usurpation by some fresh young “Next Year’s Model”. Knowing her days are numbered, the fragile but hard-as-nails supermodel is frantically chasing singing and acting gigs, and capitalising on her celebrity. Sadly, lacking discernible talent, she’s only getting ahead by sleeping with all the money-men involved…

When not drugged up, stressed out or screaming, Liliko finds a measure of contentment in the arms of Takao, handsome, spoiled heir to the Nanbu department store fortune (and the man she plans to marry) or in degrading and debauching the obsessively devoted Hada. Liliko’s biggest problem is an incredible secret that could shake the nation. All her beauty and success come from a series of cosmetic procedures carried out by a renegade plastic surgeon at an exclusive clinic that caters to the most powerful and influential people in the world.

Long ago a desperate girl with a sordid past met Mama and agreed to a complete, full-body series of operations. Now only her bones and some meat is her – all that glittering skin and surface is fabrication, maintained by constant use of addictive drugs supplied by the dowdy doctor in charge to fight implacable tissue rejection. Now, after years of use even these experimental remedies aren’t as efficient as before and Liliko’s look is breaking down and fragmenting…

She is by no means the clinic’s only client, and following a spate of suspicious deaths and the trail of illegal aborted foetal organ traffickers, police prosecutor Asada has begun putting pieces together. Sadly, even he is not completely immune to the Lily’s allure…

In the face of increasing breakdown, Mama brings Kin up to date and makes him part of the conspiracy, whilst arranging with “The Doctor” to perform still more operations on her fragile star. Liliko’s damaged psyche endures even greater shocks when her fat, dumpy little sister turns up. Having impossibly tracked down her sublime sibling, little Chikako is sent away with stars in her eyes, a dream in her heart and newfound determination to be beautiful too, whatever the cost.

Chemically deranged, paranoid and alternately wildly uncontrollable and practically catatonic, Lily goes off the deep end when Takao admits that he’s marrying an heiress for dynastic reasons but will still, of course, have sex with her in secret…

Having already seduced Hada and her boyfriend in a moment of malicious boredom, Liliko induces them to take revenge for her bruised pride and events soon spiral into an inescapable crescendo of catastrophe that extends far beyond the intangible arenas of image and illusion into the very bedrock of Japanese society…

Harsh, raw, brutal and relentlessly revelatory, the author’s forensic examination of the power of sex, temptations of fame and commoditisation of beauty is a multi-layered, shockingly effective – if occasionally surreal – tale that should alarm every parent who reads it. It is also a superb adult melodrama, tense political thriller and effective crime mystery to delight all broad-minded fans of comics entertainment looking to expand their horizons beyond capes, ghosts and ray-guns…

This cautionary tale was collected into a tankōbon edition in 2003, winning a number of awards including the 2004 Osamu Tezuka Culture Prize, and subsequently adapted into a film shown in Cannes.

Grim, existential and explicit, this is not a book for kids or the squeamish, but it is a dark marvel of graphic narrative and one well deserving of your attention.
© 2003 Kyoko Okazaki. All rights reserved.

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Omaha the Cat Dancer volumes 1-7


By Reed Waller & Kate Worley with James M. Vance (NBM/Amerotic)
Set I ISBN: 978-1-56163-601-3
Vol. 1 ISBN: 978-1-56163-451-4, vol. 2 ISBN: 978-1-56163-457-3, vol. 3 ISBN: 978-1-56163-474-3
Set II ISBN: 978-1-56163-601-3
Vol. 4 ISBN: 978-1-56163-451-4, vol. 5 ISBN: 978-1-56163-451-4, vol. 6 ISBN: 978-1-56163-451-4, vol. 7 ISBN: 978-1-56163-451-4

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced for dramatic and satirical effect.

Just for a change I thought I’d celebrate an astounding creator while they’re still alive, and morbid leanings aside, in a world both wide and awash with unique stylists, I can honestly say there has never been anyone like Reed Waller (born today in 1949)…

And in case the covers didn’t give it away…

These books are intended to make adults laugh and think and occasionally feel frisky. If the cover images haven’t clued you in, please be warned that these items contain nudity, images of sexual intimacy – both hetero and homosexual – and language commonly used in the privacy of the bedroom and school playgrounds whenever supervising adults aren’t present. If that sort of thing offends you, read no further and don’t get these books. The rest of us will enjoy one of the best graphic novel experiences ever created without you.

Omaha the Cat Dancer began during the 1970s as an “Underground” venture and over torturous decades grew into a brilliant but controversial drama of human fallibility with all the characters played by funny animals. What most people noticed was a matter-of-fact, constant inclusion of graphic sex acts. Over the years, the series was subject to many obscenity seizures by various muddle-headed stickybeaks, inspiring the formation of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. One classic case apparently involved the local defenders of morality raiding a comics store because Omaha promoted bestiality…

As there’s only so much excitement a man of my advanced years and proclivities can endure (and probably only so much me you can stand) I’ll review these in one hit, but if you can locate the whole saucy saga in its original supremely economical shrink-wrapped gift set, you’d  be crazy to not take advantage of that but please, pace yourselves…

Following an introduction by late-coming co-scripter James Vance, and Reed Waller’s original intro from a1987 collected edition, The Complete Omaha the Cat Dancer Volume 1 gathers the short story appearances from a number of Counter-culture Commix as well as some out-of-continuity infilling short pieces so readers can enjoy what can best be described as the official Directors Cut of the tale.

The wicked wonderment begins with the very first ‘Adventures of Omaha’ from Vootie in 1978. Vootie started in 1976 as a self-published fanzine founded by Waller and like-minded artistic friends who bemoaned the loss of anthropomorphic comics – once a mainstay of US comicbooks. When contributors also griped that there wasn’t much sex in comics either, Waller, taking inspiration from R. Crumb’s Fritz the Cat and responding to recent intensification of local “Blue Laws”, created the evocative, erotic dancer and compared her free and easy lifestyle to a typical, un-elected, interfering know-it-all moral guardian busybody. Blue Laws were – and probably still are – particularly odious anti-fun statutes usually instigated by religious factions designed to keep the Sabbath holy by dictating shop-opening hours and generally limiting or banning adult entertainments like clubs and pubs (but not gun clubs!) and their repressive use (in fact and fiction) became a major narrative engine for the series.

‘Why they Call Her Omaha’ introduces young stripper Susie Jensen who hits the metropolis of Mipple City, Minnesota (a barely concealed Minneapolis) and signs up with a modelling agency where she meets fellow dancer Shelley Hine. Over lunch they bond and pick a better stage name for the gorgeous but naive newcomer, whilst ‘Kitten of the Month’ & ‘Omaha centrefold’ reveal the first glorious results of her management’s efforts. No-holds-barred sexual action returns in ‘Shelley and Omaha’ with the girls, now popular erotic dancers, meeting some guys who will play a big part in the unfolding drama to come.

In ‘Chuck and Omaha’, which officially heralded the beginning of scripter Kate Worley’s (16th March, 1958 – 6th June, 2004) stunning and crucial contribution to the series, Jerry – one of those aforementioned pick-up guys – introduces Omaha to Chuck Katt, a shy artist who will become the great love of her life. ‘Adventures of Omaha’ sees a budding relationship progress whilst ‘Tip of the Iceberg’ moves the grander story arc along when Mipple bans nipples in the opening shot of a political power-grab using Christian/Family-morality pressure groups as unwitting, if fervent, patsies…

Although comprising less than 50 pages, all that material took nearly 15 years to produce. For the longest time, Omaha had no fixed abode; peripatetically wandering from magazine to Indie book, and even guest-shots in the occasional mainstream publication. From Kitchen Sink’s Bizarre Sex #9-10 in 1981-2; a pastiche page in E-Man (1983 and included in vol. 2); Dope Comix #5 (1984), she even starred in a story from Munden’s Bar Annual #2 in 1991. Often stalled for creative, when not censorship, reasons Omaha finally won her own title in 1984 thanks to SteelDragon Press, before vanishing again until 1986, when Kitchen Sink Press took over publication. For further details I strongly advise CAUTIOUSLY checking the internet…

Volume 1 switches to high gear and addictive narrative mode with ‘Omaha #0’: a single page recap followed by a powerfully compelling yarn wherein forces of decency make life difficult for the adult entertainment industry. With stripper bars closing, Omaha is recruited to dance for “The Underground”: an exclusive, ultra-secret, high-class bordello catering to the darkest desires of America’s ultra-elite of businessmen and politicians… many of whom are actively leading the Decency campaign. Shelley is involved too, recruiting contacts from her old profession for more hands-on roles. Chuck meanwhile has reapplied for his old advertising job where old girlfriend Joanne makes life uncomfortable. She has other problems too, as powerful forces draw Omaha & Chuck into a far-reaching, sinister scheme…

On opening night all elements for disaster converge as the Movers and Shakers get more debauchery than even they can handle as someone dopes the entire proceedings, leading to a violent, destructive orgy that previously set up cameras record for blackmail purposes. As they flee the club, hitmen try to kill Chuck but shoot Shelley instead. Believing her dead, Omaha & Chuck run for their lives. Heading for Joanne’s house, Chuck reveals he is the son of Charles Tabey: monomaniacal millionaire businessman, undisputed ruler of Mipple City and the probable true target of the assassination…

Narrowly escaping another murder attempt, they find Tabey and Joanne are intimately involved, and are horrified to find Chuck’s pa was behind the whole thing, intending to mould the wastrel into the kind of son he needs. The sire is also clearly stark, raving mad…

Traumatised and terrified, the young lovers jump into their car and head for California in the short ‘Adventures of Omaha’ quickie with the initial volume concluding with the contents of ‘Omaha #1’ as they reach San Francisco tired, hungry and broke. Grateful for the kindness of strangers, they soon discover Joanne waiting for them and find that Tabey is not their only persecutor. During a drunken three-way another hired killer almost ends them all. From a well-intentioned, joyous celebration of open living free-loving modernity Omaha had evolved into a captivating adult soap opera and conspiracy thriller of mesmerising intensity and complexity…

With an introduction by Worley, Volume 2 eases into the enticing adult entertainment with a ‘Hotziss Twonkies’ parody from E-Man #5 prior to Omaha #2-5 enlarging the saga. In the aftermath of another close shave, Chuck & Joanne bitterly spar whilst an increasingly traumatised cat dancer wanders the streets of San Francisco. When Tabey abducts her whilst moving against all his old enemies, Chuck & Joanne fall into bed…

Meanwhile Jerry, who also works for Tabey, is busying sorting fallout from the club riot/shooting. In a secluded palatial beach-house Omaha discovers Chuck’s dad has been watching over them for some time and soon discovers another shocking secret…

Omaha was utterly groundbreaking in its mature treatment of gay and disabled relationships: offering the sound, common sense opinion that this is what all people think and do. After all, “it’s just sex”…

Paralysed but not deceased, Shelley is also sequestered in the house. She is a long-term Tabey employee and slowly developing a relationship with her nurse Kurt Huddle, and the manic tycoon has convinced Omaha to stay and help care for her. Back in ’Frisco, Chuck rekindles his old relationship with Joanne, utterly unaware she has film and photos taken at the club on that terrible night. That’s where gay photographer and old friend of Joanne Rob Shaw enters the picture as developer and guardian of the contentious materials…

Chuck misses Omaha and tension leads to his splitting with Joanne and moving in with Rob. The cat dancer too is lonely, finding brief and unsatisfactory solace with Jerry again, so when Tabey goes off his meds Jerry arranges for Chuck & Omaha’s reunion, leading to a dreadful confrontation between father and long-estranged son, the apparent result of which is Tabey taking his own life…

Together again after so long, Omaha & Chuck comfort each other as repercussions of Charles Tabey Sr.’s demise shake the country and the cast. The close-knit group endure loss, guilt and outrageous press scrutiny as the matter of inheritance crops up. Against his wishes, Chuck might be incredibly rich and saddled with unwanted responsibilities, but there are some unspecified problems with the will. The plots thicken when Joanne and Rob have a falling out and as all this is going on, back in Mipple City, a powerful new threat makes his move. Senator Calvin Bonner was one of the patrons at the Underground that fateful night, but now he’s making his move for total power, stirring up a wave of fundamentalist hatred and anti-smut indignation with his “Crusade for Decency”…

Covering issues #6-9, and with an introduction by Trina Robbins, Volume 3 follows the action back to Minnesota, but things are difficult for Chuck & Omaha – who can’t seem to re-establish that earlier, innocent rapport. As they go house-hunting, in San Francisco Rob Shaw is visited by thugs after the photos of The Underground riot. His shop destroyed, the photographer narrowly escapes burning in it…

Mipple City’s Blue Laws are more draconian than ever. When Omaha and Shelley – who has moved into the ground floor of the Cat Dancer’s new house – visit old workplace the Kitty Korner, and discover performers must now dance behind plate glass… which makes taking punter’s tips really tricky…

When old friend Shawn turns up, he warns Chuck & Omaha of the plan to redevelop A Block – the part of town where all the artists, musicians and strip clubs are. Something needs to be done to stop it and now Chuck might just be the richest, most influential degenerate in town…

As the lovers go furniture shopping, Shelley and Kurt look for a suitable physical therapy clinic – preferably a non-religious, non-judgemental un-condescending one – and later, whilst Omaha helps Shelley move in, Chuck and Jerry make plans to fight the A Block development. As ever, there is far more going on than the lovers can imagine…

Omaha wants to get back into dancing and, as Chuck becomes increasingly mired in running his father’s many businesses, Kurt learns (some) of Shelley’s murky history even as Joanne and Jerry compare notes and make plans. Rob turns up in Mipple after more attempts on his life, convinced he needs to find his attackers’ boss before his luck runs out. The book ends on a shocking note for Chuck when he discovers his long-dead mother isn’t…

The stunning, addictive saga of the erotic dancer, her bone-headed boyfriend and animalistic extended ensemble takes a dark and dreadful turn with Volume 4 – re-presenting the Kitchen Sink Omaha #10-13 (plus one-page gag strip ‘Alterations’ from Fire Sale #1, 1988-1989) – as the death of Charles Tabey Sr., increasing violence and oppression of the Campaign for Decency and a seemingly constant stream of personal revelations strain Omaha & Chuck’s relationship to the breaking point.

The story resumes after an introduction from writer James Vance who married Worley after her break-up with Waller. He then worked with the artist to finish the saga from her notes after her untimely death from cancer in 2004. Tense and suspenseful, the drama kicks into high gear as Chuck comes to terms with the shocking knowledge that his mother didn’t die decades ago.

The pressure seems to be affecting him badly – or perhaps the thought of all the wealth and responsibility – and our decent young rebel is becoming as exploitative, abusive and creepy as his manic dad ever was, but even though he’s acting paranoid, it doesn’t mean he’s hasn’t got real and deadly enemies…

The situation isn’t helped by learning that somewhere his beloved Omaha has a husband she hasn’t quite divorced and never ever mentioned…

Slyly sinister Senator Bonner is ratchetting up the pressure of his anti-smut campaign and even close ally Jerry is working to his own agenda, with the assistance of avaricious partner Althea. Confused, lonely and neglected, Omaha devotes her energies to dancing for the upcoming video for Shawn’s band, whilst Rob confronts Shelley – whom he believes ordered the attempt on his life and torching of his studio…

When Tabey’s will is read, Chuck does indeed inherit the bulk of his father’s holdings as well, apparently, as many of Tabey Sr.’s deranged obsessions. Far more intriguing than she seems, Shelley acts on Rob’s misperceived accusations whilst lover/carer Kurt finds part-time employment with mysterious Mr. Lopez – the last major player in an increasingly complex game. Meanwhile, high-powered call-girl, blackmailer and Keeper of Secrets Joanne re-insinuates herself with Jerry – and Chuck… and Bonner(!) in a terrifying confrontation that threatens to destroy Omaha and crush Chuck in his own blackmail scheme…

During the video shoot, Omaha & Joanne compare notes on Bonner, after which the capable callgirl enlists Rob’s aid in a scheme to get the goods on the hypocritical Senator, with whom she shares a highly secret and extremely specialised professional relationship. Sadly, whilst both Joanne and Rob practice their unique personal skills, the senator is murdered in the most compromising of all positions and the story moves effortlessly from passionate drama to dark murder mystery. Abandoned, bewildered, angry and very hurt, Omaha leaves town, unaware that both she and Joanne are suspects in the Bonner murder case…

As she heads for a new life in rural Wisconsin, Chuck relearns some long-forgotten personal history from his mother, but no matter how she disguises her appearance, an increasingly popular video means the cat dancer will never be truly safe or unseen…

Volume 5 is introduced by Neil Gaiman, after which issues #14-17 (1990-1992) find the lovers painfully adapting to life apart, with Omaha’s old friends wondering where she’s gone. Meanwhile in Lawrenceville, Wisconsin, after an abortive stab at office work for an all-too-typical, male-dominated factory, “Susan Johnson” goes back to honest work, dancing in the town’s only strip joint, making reliable new friends and meeting a young man who will become far more…

Back in Mipple, Joanne’s lawyer finally clears her of suspicion in Bonner’s demise, Jerry plans to reopen infamous bordello The Underground as a legitimate nightclub and Chuck is making new friends and intimate acquaintances whilst spending his days trying to save the Bohemian A Block district from redevelopment. However, he inadvertently gets far closer to the heart of all the various intrigues threatening the players in the drama, and Jerry’s business partner Althea reveals her true colours… and allies. At Bonner’s funeral, Lopez reveals an unsuspected connection to the venomous politician…

Shelley has made new friends too – in a scathing, utterly delightful episode exposing unexpected biases held by certain sorts of feminists and do-gooders. Joanne is increasingly at odds with Rob regarding films of Bonner’s last moments and when Jerry invites Chuck to become partner in his nightclub venture Althea seeks to secure the deal by offering herself as a sweetener… Or does she actually have another reason for her bold advances?

Kurt & Shelley’s relationship starts showing signs of strain, but in Lawrenceville Susan is relaxed and happy, with the strength to contact the friends she ran out on. In Mipple, the cops slowly uncover uncomfortable facts about everybody in the Bonner case when the Senator’s private secretary comes forward with new information, and Joanne secures the final weapon necessary to expedite her plans…

The final Kitchen Sink issues – #18-20 (1993-1994) – comprise the major part of Volume 6. Following an introduction from Terry Moore, there’s a brief discourse on the large cast’s other appearances, accompanied by short pieces from diverse places. First, there’s the delightful foray into mainstream comics culled from Munden’s Bar Annual #2 in 1991. ‘A Strip in Time’ sees the exotic kitty visit the legendary pan-dimensional hostelry after which come two short ‘n’ sexy vignettes originally produced for The Erotic Art of Reed Waller: one untitled and the other graced with the subtly informative designation ‘Waking Up Under a Tent’, to somewhat offset the angst and drama of the main event hoving into view…

Here, Rob learns what Shelley’s actual role was in the arson attack on his shop, Joanne takes a live-in position with Mr. Lopez and – after many abortive attempts – Chuck & Omaha finally speak. As Thanksgiving dawns, many of Omaha’s friends gather for a momentous dinner and things start to unravel for the bad guys trying to destroy A Block.

And, back in Wisconsin, just as she’s becoming reconciled with Chuck, her fling with appreciative punter Jack intensifies to a crisis point. Meanwhile elsewhere, someone with an intimate knowledge of her recognises the hot dancer in a rock video and begins making fevered inquiries…

When Shawn’s touring band reaches Lawrenceville and discover Susie is Omaha, the scene is set for her return to Mipple City, where – after being arrested in connection with Bonner’s murder – Chuck’s mother reveals the whole story of her past, the sordid truth of Bonner’s obsessive depravity and Charles Tabey’s bi-polar affliction. In light of horrific revelations, Chuck seems to go completely off the deep end and, far too late, his friends and family realise money and looks might not be the only things the son inherited from the father…

Next, just a smidge out of chronological order, comes ‘Tales of Mipple City: Rob Steps Out’: a charming first date sidebar tale from Gay Comics #22 (1994), after which revelations resume as the cops release Maria Elandos Tabey, and her boy is sectioned. In Lawrenceville, Susie gets an unforgettable farewell from before she returns to her true love… who has never needed her more…

The last volume in this magnificent sequence features the final four issues published by Fantagraphics as Omaha the Cat Dancer volume 2, #1-4 (1994-1995). The series at times seemed truly accursed: plagued by illness, delays and creative problems which took a cruel toll on all the creators. Waller & Worley ended their relationships in spectacular fashion at this time and only began working together again in 2002. Two years later Worley died from cancer and it seemed the saga was destined to remain an unfinished masterpiece, but in 2006 Waller and Worley’s husband James Vance began to finish the job from her notes, with the concluding chapters serialised in the magazine Sizzle. When those final instalments were finally collected the completed Omaha the Cat Dancer became a contender for possibly the finest adult comics tale in history*

Here and now, however, the compulsive obsessive yarn reaches a kind of conclusion as – after an introduction from honorary Mipple City citizen Denis Kitchen, and a stunning cartoon recap – Omaha & Chuck renew their relationship, Jerry & Shelley and Rob & Joanne reach workable détente agreements and that tantalising missing husband tracks the cat dancer to her new home. Set over Christmas and New Year’s period, various plot threads come together during an unforgettable party at Chuck’s palatial new house, although a hung-over aftermath promises there are still stories to be told and loose ends to be knotted off once and for all…

Even if the saga had stopped here, Omaha the Cat Dancer would be an incredible narrative achievement and groundbreaking landmark of comics creation, but with the promise of a final resolution still to come, it’s likely to become an icon of our industry, celebrated forever for moving beyond simple titillation and happy, innocent prurience to become a fully matured work of Art. Captivating, intense, deeply moving and addictively engrossing, Omaha never forgets to be also fun, funny, fabulous and utterly inclusive: full of astonishingly well drawn, folk (admittedly largely furry or feathered folk) happily naked and joyously guilt-free… at least about sex.

Monochrome tomes printed at 220 x 280mm (much larger than the original comic books), these books also contain copious full page illustrations – many taken from companion book The Erotic Art of Reed Waller. This saga is one of those true turning points in comics history – a moment we could all provably say “this is socially relevant, capital ‘A’ Art” – as viable and important as the best play or film or symphony: don’t miss any opportunity to make yourself familiar with the whole marvellous classic…

No cats, dogs, chickens, moose, ferrets or anything else living (well maybe some trees) were harmed, abused, distressed or disagreeably surprised in the making of these stories, so if you’re open-minded, fun-loving and ready for the perfect grown-up adventure please take advantage of this unmissable opportunity. You won’t regret it…
© 1978, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987-1996 Reed Waller & Kate Worley. Contents of these editions © 2005-2007 NBM. All Rights Reserved. © 1987-1996 Reed Waller & Kate Worley. Contents of these editions © 2005-2008 NBM. All Rights Reserved.

*A slight footnote (pawnote?). That eighth volume was finally released in 2013, to complete the saga, and we’ll be tackling that in its own post and on its own merits in the fullness of time. Keep ’em peeled, folks…

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The Order of the Black Dragon – a Bob Wilson Adventure


By Griffo & Marcus (Deligne)
ISBN: 978-2-87135-023-1 (Album PB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Here’s another oddity from the experimental 1980s when many European publishing houses had a concerted go at cracking the highly resistant US comic book market. The Bob Wilson in question is not the revered nigh-sainted Arsenal and England goalkeeper, nor the character in the old Fatal Fury videogame, but rather a traditional two-fisted adventurer/Soldier of Fortune of the sort that fed so much popular fiction of the last century and a half…

Back in 1982 the series debuted in Le Journal Illustré le plus Grand du Monde as ‘L’Ordre du Dragon Noir’, written by “Marcus” (nom de plume of relative mystery-man Danny de Laet) and drawn by the esteemed Werner “Griffo” Goelen, whose other works include Modeste et Pompon, S.O.S. Bonheur, Munro and – with Jean Dufaux – Béatifica Blues, Samba Bugatti and Giacomo C, amongst so many others, all of which really should be available in a language I’m actually conversant with or fluent in.

Bob Wilson is a period thriller, with this volume, set during the days of US Prohibition, following him and his pal Dashiel Hammett as they battle Chinatown Tongs to thwart the plans of insidious oriental mastermind Black Dragon, prior to our hero tracking the eponymous fiend all the way back to his lair in civil war-torn China.

Wilson can count on the support of a grand line of brothers-in-arms as his protracted war takes him across the globe alongside such historical figures as Aristotle Onassis, John Flanders (one of many pen-names for Belgian writer Jean Ray) and Chiang Kai-shek, as well as the odd fictional character like Buddy Longway – a Western hero very popular au continent…

It’s an infectious blend of all-action, grittily excessive adult pulp fiction, highly cinematic, fabulously exotic and very, very stylish in the manner those darned Europeans made all their own for the longest time. I would dearly love to see some publisher give this franchise another go in these days of digital accessibility and global, not national, market-places…
© 1885 Editions Michel Deligne S.A. and Griffo & Marcus. All rights reserved.

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DC Finest: Superman – The First Superhero


By Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, Paul Cassidy, Paul Lauretta, Wayne Boring, Dennis Neville, Creig Flessel, Bernard Baily, Bob Kane, Leo O’Mealia, Jack Burnley, Fred Guardineer & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-77952-833-9 (TPB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times

Here’s another stunning and timely compilation comprising the best of vintage comics in another astounding and epic DC Finest edition. These full colour treasure troves are chronologically curated themed tomes highlighting past glories from the company that invented superheroes and so much more. Sadly, they’re not yet available digitally, as were the last decade’s Bronze, Silver and Golden Age collections, but we live in hope…

Just over 87 years ago, Superman rebooted planetary mythology and kickstarted the whole modern era of fantasy heroes. Outlandish, flamboyant, indomitable, infallible and unconquerable, he also saved a foundering industry by birthing an entirely new genre of storytelling: the Super Hero. Since April 18th 1938 (the generally agreed day copies of Action Comics #1 first went on sale) he has grown into a mighty presence in all aspects of art, culture and commerce, even as his natal comic book universe organically grew and expanded. Within three years of that debut, the intoxicating blend of eye-popping action and social wish-fulfilment that had hallmarked the early exploits of the Man of Tomorrow had grown: encompassing crime-busting, reforming dramas, science fiction, fantasy and even whimsical comedy. However, once the war in Europe and the East seized America’s communal consciousness, combat themes and patriotic imagery dominated most comic book covers, if not interiors.

In comic book terms alone Superman was soon a true master of the world, utterly changing the shape of the fledgling industry as easily as he could a mighty river. There was a popular newspaper strip, a thrice-weekly radio serial, games, toys, foreign and overseas syndication and as the decade turned, the Fleischer studio’s astounding animated cartoons.

Moreover, the quality of the source material was increasing with every four-colour release as the energy and enthusiasm of originators Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster went on to inform and infect the burgeoning studio which grew around them to cope with the relentless demand.

These tales have been reprinted many times, but this latest compilation might arguably be the best yet, offering the original stories in reading – if not strictly chronological publishing – order and spanning cover-dates June 1938 to December 1939. It features the groundbreaking sagas from Action Comics #1-25 and Superman #1-5, plus his pivotal first appearance in New York’s World Fair No. 1. Although most early tales were untitled, here, for everyone’s convenience, they have been given descriptive appellations by the editors.

Thus – after describing the foundling’s escape from exploding planet Krypton and offering a scientific rationale for his incredible abilities and astonishing powers in 9 panels – with absolutely no preamble the wonderment begins with Action #1’s primal thriller ‘Superman: Champion of the Oppressed!’ Here, an enigmatic oddly-clad caped crusader – who secretly masquerades by day as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent – begins publicly averting numerous tragedies and righting injustices…

As well as saving an innocent woman from the Electric Chair and roughing up an abusive “wife beater”, the tireless paragon works over racketeer Butch Matson and consequently saves feisty colleague Lois Lane from abduction and worse at his hands. Then he exposes a lobbyist for the armaments industry bribing Senators on behalf of the greedy munitions interests fomenting the war in Europe…

One month later Action #2 offered the next breathtaking instalment wherein the mercurial mysteryman travels to that benighted war-zone to spectacularly dampen down hostilities already in progress in ‘Revolution in San Monte Part 2’ before it’s back to the US where ‘The Blakely Mine Disaster’ finds the Man of Steel responding to a coal-mine cave-in and landing the blame squarely on corrupt corporate practises, before cleaning up gamblers ruthlessly fixing games and players in #4’s ‘Superman Plays Football’.

The Action Ace’s untapped physical potential is explored in AC #5 as ‘Superman and the Dam’ pits the human dynamo against the power of a devastating natural disaster, after which #6 sees canny chiseller Nick Williams attempting to monetise the hero – without asking first. ‘Superman’s Phony Manager’ (with Paul Lauretta adding inks to increasingly overworked Shuster’s art) even seeks to replace the real thing with a cheap knock-off, but quickly learns a most painful and memorable lesson in ethics…

Although Superman starred on the first cover, National’s cautious editors were initially dubious about the alien strongman’s lasting appeal and fell back upon more traditional genre scenes for the following issues (all by Leo E. O’Mealia and all included here). The Man of Tomorrow’s – and Joe Shuster’s – second cover graced Action Comics #7 (on sale from October 25th but cover-dated December 1938) and sparked a big jump in sales, even as the riotous romp inside revealed why ‘Superman Joins the Circus’ – with the mystery man crushing racketeers taking over the Big Top and illustrated by new kid Wayne Boring. Fred Guardineer produced genre covers for #8 & 9 whilst their interiors saw Siegel, Shuster & Lauretta’s ‘Superman in the Slums’ working to save young delinquents from a future life of crime and depravity before latterly detailing how city cops’ disastrous decision to stop the costumed vigilante’s unsanctioned interference plays out in the Boring-inked ‘Wanted: Superman’. That manhunt ended in an uncomfortable stalemate and ambiguous relationship with the authorities that endured for years…

Action Comics #7 had been one of the publisher’s highest-selling issues ever, so #10 again sported a stunning Shuster shot, whilst Siegel’s smart story ‘Superman Goes to Prison’ limned by Shuster, Lauretta & Boring struck another telling blow against institutionalised injustice and stacked odds, as the Man of Tomorrow infiltrated a penitentiary to expose the brutal horrors of State Chain Gangs. The next month saw a maritime cover by Guardineer whilst inside heartless conmen driving investors to penury and suicide rued the Metropolis Marvel intercession in ‘Superman and the “Black Gold” Swindle’ as illustrated by Paul Cassidy.

Guardineer’s spectacular cover of magician hero Zatara for issue #12 was a shared affair, incorporating another landmark as the Man of Steel was given a cameo badge declaring his presence inside each and every issue. Between those covers, Siegel, Shuster & Cassidy revealed how ‘Superman Declares War on Reckless Drivers’ – a hardhitting tale of joy-riders, cost-cutting automobile manufacturers, corrupt lawmakers and dodgy car salesmen who all feel the wrath of the human dynamo after a friend of Clark Kent dies in a hit-&-run incident…

By now, the editors had realised Superman had propelled National Comics to the forefront of the new industry, and in 1939 the company won a license to create a commemorative comic book edition celebrating the opening of the New York World’s Fair. The Man of Tomorrow naturally topped the bill on the appropriately titled New York World’s Fair Comics at the forefront of such early DC four-colour stars as Zatara, Butch the Pup, Gingersnap and gas-masked vigilante The Sandman.

Following an inspirational cover by Sheldon Mayer, Siegel & Shuster’s ‘Superman at the World’s Fair’ describes how Lois and Clark are dispatched to cover the event, giving our hero an opportunity to contribute his own exhibit and bag a bunch of brutal bandits to boot…

Back in Action Comics #13 (June 1939 and another Shuster cover) the road-rage theme of the previous issue continued with Cassidy-rendered ‘Superman vs. the Cab Protective League’ as the tireless foe of felons faces murderous racketeers trying to take over the city’s taxi companies. The tale also introduces – in almost invisibly low key – The Man of Steel’s first recurring nemesis The Ultra-Humanite…

Next follows a truncated version of Superman #1. This is because the industry’s first solo-starring comic book simply reprinted the earliest tales from Action, albeit supplemented with new and recovered material – which is all that’s featured at this point.

Behind the truly iconic and much recycled Shuster & O’Mealia cover, the first episode was at last printed in full as ‘Origin of Superman’, describing the alien foundling’s escape from doomed planet Krypton, his childhood with unnamed Earthling foster parents and eventual journey to the big city…

Also included in those 6 pages (cut from Action #1, and restored to the solo vehicle entitled ‘Prelude to ‘Superman, Champion of the Oppressed’) is the Man of Steel’s routing of a lynch mob and capture of the actual killer which preceded his spectacular saving of the accused murderess that started the legend. Rounding off the unseen treasures is the solo page ‘A Scientific Explanation of Superman’s Amazing Strength!’, a 2-page ‘Superman text story’, and ‘Meet the Creators’ – a biographical feature on Siegel & Shuster. The landmark closed with a pinup of Superman breaking chains by breathing out: an image the tuned in will recognise as the basis of DC Studios’ animation ident…

Sporting another Guardineer Zatara cover, Superman in Action #14 (as realised by Cassidy) featured the return of a manic, money-mad supergenius deranged scientist in ‘Superman Meets the Ultra-Humanite’ as the mercenary malcontent switches his incredible intellect from incessant graft, corruption and murder to an obsessive campaign to destroy the Man of Steel. Whilst Cassidy concentrated on interior epic ‘Superman on the High Seas’ – wherein the hero tackles subsea pirates and dry land gangsters – Guardineer then made some history as illustrator of an aquatic Superman cover for #15. He also produced the Foreign Legion cover on #16, wherein ‘Superman and the Numbers Racket’ by Siegel, Shuster & Cassidy sees the hero save an embezzler from suicide before wrecking another wicked gambling cabal.

Superman’s rise was meteoric and inexorable. He was the indisputable star of Action, with his own dedicated solo title. Moreover, a daily newspaper strip had begun on 16th January 1939, with a separate Sunday strip following from November 5th of that year. The fictive Man of Tomorrow was the actual Man of the Hour and was swiftly garnering millions of new fans. A thrice-weekly radio serial was in the offing, and would launch on February 12th 1940. With games, toys, and a growing international media presence, Superman was swiftly becoming everybody’s favourite hero…

Inked by Cassidy, overworked Siegel & Shuster’s second issue of Superman opened with ‘The Comeback of Larry Trent’ – a stirring human drama wherein the Action Ace clears the name of the broken heavyweight boxer, and coincidentally cleans all the scum out of the fight game, followed by ‘Superman’s Tips for Super-Health’, as ‘Superman Champions Universal Peace!’ depicts the hero once more tackling unscrupulous munitions manufacturers and crushing a gang who had stolen the world’s deadliest poison gas. The pictorial dramas end with ‘Superman and the Skyscrapers’ which finds newshound Kent investigating suspicious deaths in the construction industry, before committing his alter ego to conflict with mindless thugs and their fat-cat corporate boss, after which a contemporary ad and a ‘Superman Text Story’ bring the issue to a close…

Action #17 declared ‘The Return of the Ultra-Humanite’ in a vicious and bloody caper realised by Shuster & Cassidy, involving extortion and the wanton sinking of US ships, and featured their classic Super-cover as the Man of Steel was awarded all the odd-numbered issues for his attention-grabbing playground. That didn’t last long: after Guardineer’s final adventure cover – a bi-plane dog fight on #18, which fronted the Cassidy-limned ‘Superman’s Super-Campaign’ with both Kent and the Caped Kryptonian determinedly crushing a merciless blackmailer, Superman monopolised every cover from #19 onwards. That issue disclosed the peril of ‘Superman and the Purple Plague’ as the city reeled in the grip of a deadly epidemic created by Ultra-Humanite.

The truncated contents of Superman #3 offer only the first and last strips originally contained therein, as the other two were reprints of Action Comics #5 and 6. “The Superman Studio” was constantly expanding to meet spiralling demand and Dennis Nevillie inked Shuster on ‘Superman and the Runaway’ – a gripping, shockingly uncompromising exposé of corrupt orphanages, after which – following a cartoon briefing on ‘Attaining Super-Health: a Few Hints from Superman!’ – Lois finally goes out on a date with hapless Clark – but only because she needs to get close to a gang of murderous smugglers. Happily, Kent’s hidden alter ego is on hand to rescue her in bombastic gang-busting style in ‘Superman and the Jewel Smugglers’ by Shuster & Cassidy…

Cover dated January 1940 and on sale from November 24th 1939, Action Comics #20 notionally opened a new decade and, although Siegel & Shuster had very much settled into the character by now, the buzz of success still fired them, Innovation still sparked and crackled amidst the exuberance and drudgery of churning out more and more material. Moreover, Shuster’s eyesight was failing, demanding his sure signature touch be parcelled out parsimoniously and judiciouly. Collabotative creativity was the order of the day in the Superman Studio …

This conveyor belt process was absent in ‘Superman and the Screen Siren’ as Cassidy pencilled and inked a moving masterpiece wherein beautiful actress Delores Winters is revealed not as another sinister super-scientific megalomaniac but the latest tragic victim – and organic ambulatory hideout – of aged male menace Ultra-Humanite who perfected his greatest horror… brain transplant surgery!

This is followed with an immediate sequel from Shuster & Cassidy as “Delores” seeks to steal another scientist’s breakthrough and oblierate the Action Ace with ‘The Atomic Disintegrator’ before #22 loudly declares ‘Europe at War (Part One)’: a tense, thinly disguised call to arms to a still neutral USA. It too was a continued story – almost unheard of in those early days of funnybook publishing and spectacularly concluded in #23 with ‘Europe at War (Part Two)’.

Cover-dated Spring 1940, Superman #4 featured four big new adventures, and the debut of more creative stars in the making, beginning with a succession of futuristic assassination attempts in ‘Superman versus Luthor’ by omnipresent author Siegel, Shuster & Bernard (The Spectre) Baily. After an educational cartoon vignette on ‘Attaining Super-Strength’, the original Man of Might battles dinosaurs and bandits in ‘Luthor’s Undersea City’, by Shuster, Cassidy & Creig (The Sandman) Flessel, before saving the whole world from financial and literal carnage by ferreting out ‘The Economic Enemy’: a prophetic espionage yarn about commercial sabotage instigated by an unspecified foreign power and artistically crafted by Shuster, Cassidy and Bob Kane – yes, that Bob Kane…

The issue closed with a tale of gangsters intimidating Teamsters and union workers in Siegel, Shuster & Cassidy’s‘Terror in the Trucker’s Union’.

Simultaneously, in Action Comics #24,‘Carnahan’s Heir’ (Shuster & Cassidy) becomes Superman’s latest social reclamation project when the Metropolis Marvel promises to turn a drunken wastrel into a useful citizen, whilst in #25 Cassidy rendered the tale of ‘Amnesiac Robbers’ compelled to crime by an evil hypnotist, before this initial DC Finest compilation closes with the contents of Superman #5: a superb combination of human drama, crime and wickedly warped science augmented by a flurry of gag cartoons by the burgeoning Superman Studio.

As ever scripted throughout by Siegel, it begins with our crimebusting hero crushing ‘The Slot Machine Racket’ (Cassidy, Boring & Lauretta) before pausing to promote health and exercise, via feaurette ‘Super-Strength: Rules for Summer Living’. Without pausing for breath he then – couertsy of Cassidy – foils a rival newspaper’s ‘Campaign Against the Planet’. Limned by Shuster & Boring, the awesome, insidious threat of ‘Luthor’s Incense Machine’ is similarly scuttled, before finally Big Business chicanery is exposed and severly punished whilst a decent simple chemist is cleared of a felonius frame-up in Cassidy’s ‘The Wonder Drug Racket’.

Re-presenting the epochal run of raw, unpolished but viscerally vibrant stories by Siegel & Shuster and their merry band who collectively and until now largely anonymously set the funnybook world on fire, this chronicle compellingly recaptures the sheer thrill of those pioneering days. As fresh and absorbingly addictive now as they ever were, these endlessly re-readable epics perfectly display the savage intensity and sly wit of Siegel’s stories – which literally defined what being a Superhero means – whilst Shuster formulated the basic iconography for all others to follow.

The crude, rough, uncontrollable wish-fulfilling, cathartically exuberant exploits of The First Superhero reveals a righteous, superior champion of the helpless and outmatched dispensing summary justice equally to social malcontents, exploitative capitalists, thugs and ne’er-do-wells that initially captured the imagination of a generation. Although the gaudy burlesque of monsters and super-villains lay years ahead of Superman, these primitive, raw, captivating tales of corruption, disaster, moral deviancy and social injustice are just as engrossing and speak as powerfully of the tenor of the times then and now. Such Golden Age tales are priceless enjoyment. What comics fan could possibly resist them?
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