Category: Graphic Novels

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Vixen: Return of the Lion


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

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

A classic team-player, over decades working within assorted JLA rosters, the Suicide Squad, Ultramarine Corps, Checkmate and the Birds of Prey, Vixen’s origin has changed a lot less than most.

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

As a child in M’Changa Province, Zambesi, her mother was killed by poachers and her missionary father was murdered by his own brother over possession of the Totem.

To thwart her uncle, the orphan moves to America, eventually becoming a model to provide funding and cover for her mission of revenge…

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

Vixen: Return of the Lion originally appeared as a 5-part miniseries in 2009 and opens with ‘Predators’ as a League operation uncovers a plot by techno-thugs Intergang to fund a revolution in troubled African nation Zambesi. Amongst the impounded files is a record which proves that fifteen years earlier, Vixen’s mother was actually killed by Aku Kwesi, a local warlord working with the American criminals…

When Mari learns the truth, not even Superman can stop her from heading straight to her old village to find the man responsible. Africa is not America however, and the lawless settlement has no time for a woman who does not know her place – even if she does have superpowers…

When Kwesi appears, Vixen’s powers are useless against him and she escapes with her life only because the warlord’s lieutenant Sia intervenes…

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

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

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

Also featuring a gallery of stunning covers by Josh Middleton this is an exceptional and moodily exotic piece of Fights ‘n’ Tights fluff from scripter G. Willow Wilson and artists Cafu & Bit that will delight devotees of the genre and casual readers alike.
© 2006, 2009 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Fangbone!: Third Grade Barbarian and Fangbone! 2: The Egg of Misery


By Michael Rex (G.P. Putnam’s Sons/Penguin)
ISBNs: 978-0-2-399-25521-2 and 978-0-2-399-25522-9

When I was a kid (mere weeks ago according to those who know me best) comics were cheap, plentiful and published in cognitive strands: Pre-school stuff read to you, kindergarten magazines read with someone, “Juvenile” stories for boys and girls together and “Post-juvenile” material you bought for yourself, generally divided by both genre and gender.

Irrespective of quality, quantity or historical significance, this wealth and riot of affordable private entertainment taught kids of all ages how to absorb and enjoy illustrated narratives, but in latter times the sheer cost of these items have all but killed the market and if younger kids read printed comics at all it’s most likely as graphic novels.

So it’s a good thing that there are so many good ones around.

Case in point: the new series of original cartoon yarns by best-selling children’s author Michael Rex whose latest wry and raucous concoction looks well set to keep the next generation of fans eager, adept and giggling…

In another universe on Skullbania, a world of gleaming swords and foul-smelling sorcery, little Fangbone of the Lizard Tribe is the lowest oik on his barbarian horde’s totem pole. The fierce, valiant but undervalued lad always gets the boring, disgusting jobs while the grown-ups get to do all the fighting and hero-ing.

The world is in constant peril: wicked forces are slowing reassembling the scattered body-parts of the vile villain Venomous Drool. Once the demon-king is complete the rise of eldritch evil will be complete and unwashed humanity doomed…

When a dying messenger arrives bearing the last body-part – the ghastly Big Toe of Drool – the elders and wise-men know a quest is necessary. However no true warrior will go; preferring to stay and battle the encroaching army of malignant Drool worshippers…

Seeing his chance to win glory and a little respect, Fangbone volunteers, carrying the dire digit to the Sorcerer of Ribcage Rock where the clearly disappointed Druid resignedly opens a passageway to another cosmos and, bidding the boy to protect the Toe at all costs from all who might seek it, sends the half-pint hero to a garbage dump in New Jersey…

Bred to adapt to every situation and overcome all odds, the culture-shocked and bewildered Fangbone soon makes an ally of happily hyperactive third-grader Bill, blending in by joining Ms. Gillian‘s remedial class at Eastwood Elementary School. The unkempt, unruly visitor quickly becomes the most popular kid in the “Losers” group, even though he is surly, ignorant, won’t wash and won’t play school games or sports even to save his classmates from humiliation and bullying…

Fangbone has more pressing needs: the necromantic Drool worshippers are unshakeable and constantly send a plethora of magic menaces to retrieve the toe, and moreover the barbarian boy is determined to recruit an army and return to save Skullbania.

But as he slowly acclimatises Fangbone begins to realise that friends make the best allies and with his odd comrades in class 3-G beside him no menace is unbeatable…

Fangbone: the Egg of Misery finds the strangest kid in New Jersey adapting and fitting in – more or less – when his clan send him a new and potentially powerful ally: a White Titan Razor Dragon. Unfortunately it’s in the form of an egg and the dutiful lad must play hookey to constantly sit on it until it hatches.

When Bill suggests that 3-G can share the nesting duties, Fangbone returns to school and immediately joins the class’ latest assignment: building a Dodo and performing a skit about it for the school’s Extinction Pageant. Bill knows it’s going to be a disaster and is convinced everyone will laugh at the “Losers” again, and because he’s so passionate about it all Ms. Gillian makes him project leader…

When Bill and his mum show Fangbone how to shop, another Drool-demon attacks and in the aftermath Bill discovers that his barbarian chum has a secret weapon: feet which have never been washed…

As the egg grows and pageant day approaches, Bill and Fangbone research how to care for and train dragons, but all is not well. The demonic incursions continue apace and when at last the shell cracks it becomes perilously clear that the Egg didn’t come from the Lizard Tribe but is another dastardly Drool device…

Luckily the stalwart comrades of class 3-G are all as valiant as Fangbone and Bill…

These slickly savvy, lampooning tales are fast-paced, funny, action-packed, immensely imaginative and grossly engrossing in the way kids have always adored: there’s hitting, chasing, fighting, bullies beaten and friendships forged, and adults learn that us kids can take care of ourselves. Moreover, the jokes are innocently naughty, the scenarios seldom stray from the ickily silly and the moral messages are all subtle enough that they don’t get in the way.

Wry, sly, irreverent and, crucially, spoofing contemporary sources and situations just as in the glory days of Beano, Dandy, Buster, Whizzer & Chips and all the fabled rest, these anarchically enthralling cartoon chronicles will certainly turn any kid onto comics and are sure to delight fantasy readers of any age …
© 2012 Michael Rex. All rights reserved.

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Avengers Origins


By Roberto Aguirre-Sarcasa, Mike Benson, Adam Glass, Sean McKeever,
Kathryn Immonen, Kyle Higgins, Alex Siegel & various (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-508-6

One of the most momentous events in Marvel Comics history occurred in 1963 when a disparate array of individual heroes banded together to stop the Incredible Hulk. The Mighty Avengers combined most of the company’s fledgling superhero line in one bright, shiny and highly commercial package and over the years the roster has waxed and waned until almost every character in their universe has appeared within those hallowed pages.

Now fifty years later with a blockbuster live-action movie about to bust wide open and the franchise set to go global, the classic backstories of five of the Assembled Avengers get a 21st century make-over to compliment those already afforded to film favourites Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man and the Hulk.

These captivating re-interpretations and updatings originally appeared as 5 individual one-shots at the end of 2011 and are collected here as a superb primer and introduction to the deluge of Avengers material still to come…

The revelations begin with ‘Ant-Man & the Wasp’ (by writer Roberto Aguirre-Sarcasa and artist Stephanie Hans) as, with the murder of his wife still fresh in mind, research scientist Henry Pym discovers how to shrink and is befriended by a very special ant. Soon the fringe theorist is expiating his grief by battling crooks and monsters as the Astonishing Ant-Man until flighty design student Janet Van Dyne sets her cap for him. When her father is killed by a horror from space she finally understands Pym and forces him to use his technological wizardry to transform her into an avenging human Wasp…

‘The Vision’ – scripted by Kyle Higgins & Alex Siegel with art by Stephane Perger – is set a few years later when the Avengers are fully established and follows the moral struggle of the eerie android who believes he was built by robotic tyrant Ultron to destroy the World’s Mightiest Heroes. That programming only lasted until his first clash with his targets after which something uniquely human grips the artificial assassin…

Mike Benson, Adam Glass and artist Dalibor Talajic retell the formative events which turned young gangsta Carl Lucas into ‘Luke Cage’: how the street punk was framed for drug running by his best friend, sent to federal lock-up, and survived an unsanctioned medical experiment which turned him into a human tank. Adding to the classic origin tale of vengeance that saw the fugitive con become a Hero for Hire is the pivotal life-changing tragedy which turned that desperate bad-man into a true champion of justice…

‘Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver’ by Sean McKeever & Mirco Pierfederici follows the teen-aged gypsy twins as they flee human superstition and bigotry and fall into the hands of mutant terrorist Magneto. When their interminable battles against the X-Men and the increasing instability of their terrifying master proves too much they make a bold jump and apply for membership with a true band of brothers…

This captivating chronicle concludes with the boyhood of ‘Thor’ (by Kathryn Immonen & Al Barrionuevo, with additional art by Michel Lancombe & Jeff Huet) as the wild and unruly heir of Odin is drawn into constant mischief by his half-brother Loki. Their treatment of child-goddess Sif finally prompts the All-Father to take steps and Thor’s life changes forever when he is charged with overseeing the creation of the Hammer Mjolnir.

Once he proves worthy of wielding it the Thunderer-to-be immediately oversteps his bounds and Odin is compelled to teach his arrogant first-born a lesson that will change the destiny of Asgard and Earth forever…

By wisely leaving the established canon largely unchanged, concentrating on infilling moments and addressing only the most glaringly outdated attitudes of the originals, these new stories successfully tread that fine line which means that readers completely unaware of the characters’ histories can enjoy the fundamental core of the Avengers appeal without old-timers like me feeling too alienated or patronised.

And of course, should you want to, all of those original masterpieces are readily available to enjoy in numerous reprint collections, such as the relevant Essential Editions or Marvel Masterworks series, and I strongly urge you to read those too…

As a rule I’m always cautious about updates and reboots of classic comics material but I must admit that such things are a necessary evil as the years roll on, and when the deed is done with sensitivity and imagination (not to mention dynamic, spectacular aplomb) I can only applaud and commend the effort.
™ & © 2012 Marvel & subs. Licensed by Marvel Characters B.V. through Panini S.p.A, Italy. All Rights Reserved. A British edition published by Panini UK, Ltd.

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Outsiders volume 3: Wanted


By Judd Winick, Carlos D’Anda, Shawn Moll, Dan Jurgens, Karl Kerschl & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-0460-0

Once upon a time superheroes, like firemen, sat around their assorted lairs or went about their civilian pursuits until the call of duty summoned them to deal with a breaking emergency. In the grim and gritty world after Crisis on Infinite Earths, that precept was challenged with a number of costumed adventurers evolving into pre-emptive strikers…

After the deaths of two Teen Titan comrades, Arsenal convinced the heartbroken Nightwing to run a covert and pre-emptive pack of self-professed “hunters”: seeking out and taking down metahuman threats and extraordinary criminals before they could do harm …

This third edgy chronicle eschews individual issue titles but for your convenience and mine I’ve again supplied them from the original issues (#16-23) of Judd Winick’s grim and gritty Outsiders comicbook, with the barely-functioning team facing their most disturbing cases yet and by the end of it all nothing will ever be the same…

The action opens quietly with ‘A Change of Plans’, illustrated by Dan Jurgens & Nelson, with the battered team recuperating after their battle with the Fearsome Five. Soon however recriminations lead to violence and, with co-founders Arsenal and Robin literally at each others’ throats, Jade takes charge, bringing in alien powerhouse and veteran Teen Titan Starfire to bolster the ranks and her position.

The three-part shocker ‘Most Wanted’ (with art from Carlos D’Anda) featured a guest-role for real-life TV criminologist and manhunter John Walsh, whose America’s Most Wanted programme hunts down actual criminals and human monsters with people power and video appeals.

The tale begins when a regular gun-bust also uncovers a child-sex slave ring where all the victims bear the same brand mystery Amazon Grace Choi bears on her back…

With her ghastly past back to haunt her, Grace goes ballistic whilst tracking down the human filth she only barely escaped from when she was twelve, and knowing the elusive slave-master Tanner is still operating drives her crazy…

Pitted against the kind of criminal superheroes almost never encounter, Nightwing calls in an expert to help them find and stop …

With boys and girls being abducted almost weekly John Walsh and the Outsiders pool resources to hunt the predators: going public on America’s Most Wanted where a viewer tip brings the outraged heroes to Tanner’s latest human warehouse a full hour before the police.

The operation is dismantled with uncharacteristic but justified excessive force, but Tanner escapes. Later Arsenal discovers his babysitter has been murdered and his four-year old daughter Lian has been abducted…

Terrified and ballistic with rage, the full force of the Outsiders comes into play as the team smash through the city’s criminal element in a frantic race to save Lian from Tanner, and when Grace finally gets her hands on the beast who has haunted her nightmares for a decade, the result isn’t pretty…

‘Back to Normal’ (Karl Kerschl art) finds the heroes winding down with elemental metamorph Shift and sexy-future android Indigo planning an exotically amorous night in, until exploding villain Shrapnel somehow invades their super-secure HQ. Meanwhile evidence is found that shows the team is being secretly bankrolled by Bruce Wayne, against Nightwing’s express wishes…

The inevitable confrontation between Nightwing and his dark mentor is further exacerbated when Arsenal admits that all their intelligence and target-tips have been supplied by Batman in ‘Silent Partner’ (D’Anda again), but during the heated clash the Dark Knight reveals that although he interfered and provided funds he hasn’t spoken to Arsenal for over a year…

‘Deep Throat’ (illustrated by Shawn Moll & Kevin Conrad) discloses the shocking answer when Arsenal confronts his source and finds that his bat-winged benefactor has been a mere disguise for the Teen Titan’s most implacable enemy: a man who has ruthlessly used the Outsiders to further his own ends almost from day one.

In the ensuing battle the still-recuperating hero quickly realises just how pitifully over-matched he actually is…

The book but not the saga ends on a spectacular cliffhanger in ‘Lockdown’ (Moll & Conrad again) as the Outsiders are sealed within their own citadel by the battered, bruised but unbowed Arsenal. The ex-leader is determined to unmask the mole in the team who has compromised, betrayed and endangered them all. The revelation and brutal dispatch of the traitor will stun you all… and the worst is yet to come in the next volume…

Wickedly barbed, action-packed and sometimes distressingly hard-hitting, Outsiders was one of the very best series pursuing that “hunting heroes” concept, resulting in some of the most exciting superhero sagas of the last decade. Still gripping, evocative and extremely readable, these bleakly powerful stories will astound and amaze older fans of the genre.
© 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Batman: Prey


By Doug Moench, Paul Gulacy & Terry Austin (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-0-93028-968-3

When DC found the World had gone completely Bat-crazy for the second time in twenty-five years, they quickly supplemented the Gotham Guardian’s stable of comicbooks with a new title designed to reveal the early days and cases of the Batman.

Three years earlier in 1985-1986, the publisher had boldly retconned their entire ponderous continuity via the landmark maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths; rejecting the entire concept of a vast multiverse and re-knitting time so that there had only ever been one Earth. For readers, the sole DC world provided a perfect place to jump on at the start: a planet literally festooned with iconic heroes and villains draped in a clear and cogent backstory that was still fresh and unfolding.

Many of their greatest properties were graced with a unique restart, employing the tacit conceit that all the characters had been around for years and the readership were simply tuning in on just another working day.

Batman’s popularity was at an intoxicating peak and as DC was still in the throes of re-jigging the entire narrative continuity, the new title presented multi-part epics refining and infilling the history of the post-Crisis hero and his entourage. The added fillip was a fluid cast of premiere and up-and-coming creators.

Most of those early story-arcs were collected as trade paperbacks, helping to jump-start the graphic novel sector of the comics industry, and the careful re-imagining of the hero’s early career gave fans a wholly modern insight into the highly malleable core-concept.

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #11-15 (September 1990-February 1991) featured the official re-debut of one of Batman’s oldest foes: mad scientist Professor Hugo Strange (who had initially appeared in Detective Comics #36 in February 1940, Batman #1 and elsewhere) transformed into a contemporary pop psychologist at a time when the Caped Crimebuster was still an urban vigilante hunted by Gotham’s corrupt cops…

Batman: Prey added more background detail, psychological refinements and further expanded the mythos as the Dark Knight established a working relationship with Captain James Gordon – the only honest cop on the force – and built his first Batmobile…

‘Prey’ begins with the mysterious Batman again stealing the Police Department’s thunder, forcing Mayor Klass to succumb to public pressure drummed up by TV psychiatrist Hugo Strange by setting up a task force to take the masked vigilante off the streets.

Appointed to head the team is Captain James Gordon who has been promised every resource he needs and no interference…

Bruce Wayne isn’t worried by that: he and Gordon have a clandestine understanding and the mystery man is far more interested in his side-project – building a suitable vehicle to get him around Gotham quickly and safely.

The real problems only start after the Professor is attached to the task force and Strange’s public deductions and suppositions hit painfully home. Soon the Batman starts to doubt his own motivations and sanity…

Gordon picks Sergeant Max Cort as his number two, unaware that the brutal, old-school cop is riddled with jealousy and dangerously unstable – much like Strange himself, who spends his evenings pontificating, wining and dining a lingerie mannequin, and dressing up as the Batman in an effort to get into his head…

As the real hero stalks deadly drug-baron Manny the Fish and high-profile thief Catwoman begins to prowl the rooftops of the wealthy, Cort’s squad closes in, but the dope-peddler escapes the raid because some of his men, bought and paid for by the gang-boss, warn the Fish in advance.

In the resulting melee Batman again physically humiliates Cort before escaping, pushing the Sergeant far over the edge…

‘Dark Sides’ sees Wayne’s self-doubt increase and confusion mount as the task force accuses Batman and Catwoman of being partners-in-crime and Cort begins to investigate his own boss Gordon, who he correctly suspects of aiding the Dark Knight…

After Batman spectacularly takes down The Fish, Gordon devises a method of secretly contacting Batman by placing a bat-silhouette over the Police HQ spotlight, before disclosing to his silent partner how Strange and the Mayor are working closely together. The situation goes from bad to worse when Cort becomes the psychiatrist’s latest patient and is turned into a mesmerised uber-vigilante to literally show Batman how it should be done…

When the Mayor’s daughter belittles Strange and defends Batman, the Professor unleashes Cort as the ‘Night Scourge!’ – going on a savage rampage through the underworld, maiming and killing petty thugs and bikers. The Professor then accuses Batman of insanity, threatening the social order and inspiring dangerous copycats…

When Cort almost kills Catwoman, Batman intervenes and the hypnotised cop barely escapes, after which Strange has his perfect pawn impersonate the Dark Knight; attacking Mayor Klass before kidnapping his daughter Catherine.

The real Batman is blithely unaware: when he turned his back on her, Catwoman bashed his brains in…

Tensions escalate in ‘The Nightmare’ as the increasingly crazed Strange drugs and almost murders the wounded Batman before seeking to replace him, whilst the death-hungry Cort ups his own campaign of bloodletting and terror.

When the psychiatrist finally deduces his target’s true identity he turns Wayne Manor into a colossal psychological death-trap for Batman’s soul and sanity resulting in a staggering three-way showdown and bitter triumph for the Dark Knight in ‘The Kill’…

This five-part epic by Doug Moench, Paul Gulacy and Terry Austin established a new and grimly sexy aesthetic for Batman’s adventures, setting the scene for the next decade as it depicted the orphan billionaire’s growing obsession and mistrust of even his own intentions: a world of technological wonders where Batman became real and Bruce Wayne faded into a mere bit-part…

Fast-paced, action-packed and deviously compelling, this frantic caper is a breathtaking Fights ‘n’ Tights fiesta for fans and casual readers alike, further redefining the Caped Crusader’s previously shiny innocuous Gotham as a truly scary world of urban decay, corrupt authority, all-pervasive criminal violence and nightmarish insanity.

This is another superb modern Batman yarn: dark, intense, cunning and superbly understated. If you haven’t seen this supremely engaging tale – criminally out of print but well worth hunting down in the DC or British Titan Book edition – then you don’t really know the Dark Knight at all…

© 1990, 1992 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Bishop: The Mountjoy Crisis


By John Ostrander, Carlos Pacheco & Cam Smith (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-0211-3

The Uncanny X-Men draw their members from a wide variety of places but none more striking than the home of moody, monolithic Bishop, an energy-manipulating mutant super-cop who fell into our world from a dystopian alternate future.

He and his partners Randall and Malcolm first came to this era to eradicate a band of time-hopping evil mutants led by the malevolent maniac Fitzroy. In a cataclysmic final clash his comrades sacrificed themselves to stop the future-marauders and now only Bishop remains; trapped, traumatised and continually questioning his current status as a member of the mythical team of champions who inspired his own era’s “Xavier’s Security Enforcers”.

Whilst desperate to fit in, Bishop carries a lot of baggage. He is particularly obsessed with his failure to save Malcolm and Randall, haunted by the death of his sister Shard and conflicted about the historical knowledge he cannot share: how the X-Men are fated to be betrayed and murdered by one of their own…

This gripping and fast-paced thriller (originally released as a four-issue miniseries from December 1994 to March 1995) opens with ‘Escape from Tomorrow’ as the brooding émigré from Eternity constantly and fruitlessly runs through Danger Room simulations, looking for the mistake that cost his friends’ lives.

Eventually convinced by Professor X to let it go for one night, the bluff giant accompanies Storm into the city and is accosted by the only survivor of Fitzroy’s band – an inconsequential little nothing named Bantam.

The cowering future fugitive has been hiding a terrible secret: on the fateful night of the trip back to now, Bantam had been the unwilling vessel of lethal mutant parasite Mountjoy, a psychotic predator who merges with, absorbs and eventually consumes his victims. Now Mountjoy is loose and keen on tying up loose ends – such as anyone who knows of his existence…

Ambushed by the leech, Storm is taken over and Bishop is forced to beat the beast out of her before total absorption occurs…

When the life-jacker critically wounds the XSE man, ‘One-Man Posse’ finds Bishop fighting for survival whilst plagued by memories and hallucinations as he chases Mountjoy from body to body and battle to battle, his only advantage an interactive hologram of Shard.

After the parasite kills a number of cops and civilians in spectacular but inconclusive clashes, the tension escalates in ‘Future Intense’ as Mountjoy attacks the X-Men, stealing the bodies and powers of Gambit, Psylocke, Archangel and Bishop himself; intending to destroy his most hated enemy’s soul by making him the long-dreaded betrayer of his life-long heroes in the climactic ‘Final Reckonings’…

Mercifully there’s far more to the hologram of Shard than anybody suspected…

Affording tantalising glimpses of the charismatic Bishop’s secret history whilst delivering a fast and furious, scary action-epic The Mountjoy Crisis offers a full-on frantic Fights ‘n’ Tights experience no dedicated devotee of Costumed Dramas can afford to miss.
© 1996 Marvel Characters Inc. All rights reserved.

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Spider-Man: Revelations


By Todd DeZago, J.M. DeMatteis, Tom DeFalco, Howard Mackie, Luke Ross, Mike Wieringo, Steve Skroce, John Romita Jr. & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 0-7851-0560-3

There was a time in the mid 1990s where, to all intents and purposes, the corporate monolith known as Marvel Comics seemed to have completely lost the plot. An awful lot of stories from that period will hopefully never be reprinted, but some of them at least weren’t completely beyond redemption.

If you mention “the Clone Saga” to an older Spider-Man fan you’ll probably see a shudder of horror pass through the poor sap, although if pushed, many will secretly profess to have liked some parts of it.

For the uninitiated: Peter Parker was cloned by his old biology teacher Miles Warren AKA the Jackal, and the Amazing Arachnid had to defeat his alchemical double in a grim identity-duel, resulting in the copy’s death. Years later the hero discovered that he was in fact the doppelganger and a grungy nomadic biker calling himself Ben Reilly was the true, non-artificial man.

As the convoluted drama interminably played out, Parker – who had married Mary Jane Watson during those intervening years when he had battled in mask and webs – eventually surrendered the Spider-Man persona and whilst Reilly swung across the city battling a host of foes, the happy couple settled down to await the birth of their first child…

This slim collection, re-presenting Spectacular Spider-Man #240, Sensational Spider-Man #11, Amazing Spider-Man #418 and an extended Peter Parker, Spider-Man #75 – which included 14 extra pages to the conclusion – shook up the status quo all over again and set up a whole new deadly undercurrent and milieu for the World’s Most Misunderstood Superhero…

The game-changing drama began in Spectacular Spider-Man #240’s ‘Walking into Spiderwebs’ (November 1996, by Todd DeZago, J.M. DeMatteis, Luke Ross & John Stanisci) wherein Reilly’s best friend Dr. Seward Trainer revealed his true colours after curing one of the Wall-crawler’s greatest enemies and discovered that he had been secretly serving another for all the time Ben had known him.

Meanwhile the happy couple eagerly prepared for the imminent birth of their firstborn unaware that the most incomprehensible danger was closing in on them…

‘Deadly Diversions’ by DeZago, Mike Wieringo & Richard Case from Sensational Spider-Man #11 (December 1996) found Peter and Ben discussing the memories they shared but only which only one of them had actually experienced when a deadly robot attacked and Parker was forced to resume the super-heroic life he’d missed so much – if only briefly – alongside the new/old Spider-Man.

Across town Mary Jane had gone into labour but there were complications: the most notable being that she was blithely unaware that the doctors attending her were in the pay of the malicious mastermind who had waited years and moved mountains to get revenge on everyone with the name “Parker” and all the people who knew them…

Tom DeFalco, Steve Skroce & Bud LaRosa crafted the stunning blockbusting shocker ‘Torment’ from Amazing Spider-Man #418 (December 1996) as Ben and Peter tackled a host of deadly automatons and Mary Jane endured every expectant mother’s greatest nightmare, before the staggering extended climax of ‘Night of the Goblin’ by Howard Mackie, John Romita Jr. & Scott Hanna from Peter Parker, Spider-Man #75 (December 1996) revealed the hidden history of the hero and his greatest foe.

With nothing but vengeance on the agenda, the clash between good and evil escalated into a cataclysmic Armageddon which would leave only one Arachnoid Avenger alive and victory a bitter taste in the Web-spinner’s mouth…

Irrespective of how the Clone Saga played out, was retro-fitted, ignored, reworked and re-imagined since; at the time this classy little book was released, Revelations shook up the Marvel Universe all over again and annoyed as many fans as it delighted.

With the benefit of a little distance however the tale reads exceptionally well and works exceedingly hard to set the ever-unfolding epic of Spider-Man back onto a solid dramatic footing: one that stripped the character back down to its effective essentials and cleared the scene for even bigger and bolder efforts.

Gripping and beautifully executed, this is a Fights ‘n’ Tights treat for all action and adventure fans.
© 1996, 1997 Marvel Characters. Inc. All rights reserved.

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New Teen Titans: the Judas Contract


By Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Romeo Tanghal, Dick Giordano & Mike DeCarlo (DC Comics)
ISBN: 0-930289-3A-X   (2004) ISBN: 978-0-93028-934-8

Deathstroke the Terminator is a flamboyant cover identity for mercenary/assassin Slade Wilson who underwent an experimental procedure whilst an American Special Forces soldier. He was invalided out but later developed fantastic physical abilities that augmented his military capabilities.

He debuted in the second issue of the New Teen Titans in 1980, assuming a contract that had been forfeited when neophyte costumed assassin The Ravager died trying to destroy the kid heroes. The deceased would-be killer was actually Grant Wilson, a very troubled young man desperately trying to impress his dad. Slade’s other children would also be the cause of much heartache and bloodshed over the years…

That venerable squad of sterling sidekicks had first debuted in the Swinging Sixties, battling all manner of outlandish threats and menaces (see Showcase Presents the Teen Titans volumes 1 and 2 for just how “out there” they were) but had been cancelled a number of times before writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez found just the right tone and brought them back to become one of DC’s biggest sensations.

The New Teen Titans went from strength to strength, with its close continuity, tight character interaction and stupendous action quickly winning a loyal and dedicated following and this controversial extended storyline proved it to be one of the most innovative and daring superhero series of the decade.

If a comic book story garners death-threats you know you’re doing something right, right?

In 1988 The Judas Contract (re-presenting The New Teen Titans #39-40, Tales of the New Teen Titans #41-44 and Annual #3 from February-July1984) was one of DC’s earliest and most successful trade paperback collections and remains so to this day.

The compendium opens with ‘Clash of the Titans’ a contextual explanatory introduction from author Wolfman and an insightful remembrance from Pérez entitled ‘The Contract Begins…’ before the comicbook wizardry started to unfold.

By the time of ‘Crossroads’ (inked by Romeo Tanghal) the youthful superteam were involved in a life or death battle with Brother Blood, a seemingly immortal and diabolically subtle cult-leader who used media manipulation and religious zealotry to supplement his awesome power and fanatical army of followers to run rings around the politically naive heroes.

Moreover they had just admitted as a probationary member Tara Markov, a 14 year old metahuman girl who had been the captive of terrorist kidnappers for years. Terra was slowly being accepted by the team when a turning point arrived and founder member Kid Flash decided to retire. Moreover, team leader Robin was facing a crisis of conscience and had decided to abandon the costumed identity he had employed since he was nine years old…

The war against the cult continued in ‘Lifeblood’ as Dick Grayson went undercover in the Rogue nation of Zandia where the Brotherhood was engaged in a cold war with the Island’s ruler. When the rest of the Titans invaded the villain’s temple sanctum they were overcome and the concluding ‘Baptism of Blood’ found them fighting for their lives and souls before Terra’s earth-moving geo-powers turned the tide…

The Judas Contract proper began in issue #42 with ‘The Eyes of Tara Markov’ (inked by Dick Giordano) wherein the irascible temperament and short temper of the newest member was finally explained. As the novice was granted full security access and learned the secret identities of her team-mates, Tara was exposed – to the readers at least – as the lover and pawn of the Titan’s greatest enemy Deathstroke: planted as a deep cover agent within the team and tasked with learning all their weaknesses before the Terminator’s final assault…

‘Betrayal’ (inked by Mike DeCarlo Giordano) opened with Dick Grayson narrowly escaping an ambush in his apartment and learning too late that all his friends were gone. On the run from Deathstroke, the heir of Batman deduced what had happened to his team just as he was approached by Wilson’s ex-wife Adeline and her mute son Joe who revealed the truth about Terra and her horrifyingly psychotic true nature.

With the Titans at last in the hands of criminal cabal The HIVE, who had originally commissioned the doomed Ravager, Adeline also revealed the astonishing origins of Slade and Joe before ‘There Shall Come a Titan’ in #44 introduced Grayson’s new costumed persona as he became Nightwing for the first time.

With Joe Wilson, in his own new heroic identity of Jericho, Nightwing invaded the organisation’s stronghold and in ‘Finale’ (Tales of the New Teen Titans Annual #3 and inked exclusively by Giordano) freed the helpless heroes only to fall foul of the terrifyingly insane Tara Markov who wouldn’t let the Titans, HIVE or even her lover Slade stop her from getting what she wanted…

Stirring, imaginative, controversial and immensely entertaining, this stunning Fights ‘n’ Tights extravaganza set a new standard for superhero storytelling and stills ranks as one of the best Costume Dramas ever crafted.
© 1983, 1984, 1988 DC Comics Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told


By various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 0-932289-36-6

When the very concept of high priced graphic novels was just being tested in the late 1980s DC Comics produced a line of glorious full-colour hardback compilations spotlighting star characters and celebrating standout stories from the company’s illustrious and varied history decade by decade.

They then branched out into themed collections which shaped the output of the industry to this day, such as this fabulous congregation of yarns which offered equal billing and star status to one of the most enduring arch-foes in fiction: the Monarch of Malignant Mirth known only as the Joker.

Devised as a bookend and supplementary edition to the Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told and devised in the run-up to the launch of the immensely anticipated 1989 Batman movie, this glorious comedy of terrors features an eclectic and absorbing selection of stories (co)starring the Clown Prince of Crime which followed him through the then five decades of his comicbook existence.

Edited by Mike Gold with associates Brian Augustyn and Mark Waid, this splendid tome opens with ‘The Joker’s Dozen’ by Gold, describing the history and selection process involved in choosing from the literally hundreds of eligible stories, and also includes an end-piece essay ‘Stacking the Deck: The other Joker Stories’ by Waid, expansive biographies on the creators involved, and a fabulous gallery of the striking covers from tales which didn’t make the final cut.

However, fascinating and informative as those features are, the real literary largesse is to be found in the 19 stirring tales which comprise the bulk of this tome…

One note of advisement: when this collection was released many of the stories’ creative details were lost, but have been rediscovered since. Many of the credits are mistaken or just plain wrong, so wherever possible I’ve substituted the current attributions.

The suspenseful entertainment opens with ‘Batman vs. The Joker from Batman #1 (Spring 1940 by Bill Finger, Bob Kane & Jerry Robinson) which introduced the greatest villain in the Dark Knight’s rogues’ gallery via a stunning tale of brazen extortion and wilful wanton murder.

A year later ‘The Case of the Joker’s Crime Circus’ (Batman #4, Winter 1941) saw the Mountebank of Menace plunged into depressive madness before recruiting a gang from the worst that the entertainment industry and carnival trade could offer; setting off on a renewed course of plunder, mayhem and death…

‘The Joker and the Sparrow’ comes from the Sunday section of the short-lived Batman syndicated newspaper strip (from October 28th – December 9th 1945, but misattributed to 1946 in this volume) wherein Alvin Schwartz, Hardin “Jack” Burnley & Charles Paris recount the gripping and often hilarious war between the Deadly Jester and a mysterious new contender for the title of “Gotham’s Cleverest Criminal”…

‘The Man Behind the Red Hood’ (Detective Comics #168, February 1951) finally gave the Joker an origin in a brilliantly engrossing mystery by Finger, Lew Sayre Schwartz & Win Mortimer, which all began when the Caped Crusader regaled criminology students with the story of “the one who got away”…

‘The Joker’s Crime Costumes’ comes from Batman #63 (February/March 1951, by Finger, Dick Sprang & Charles Paris), recounting how the Laughing Larcenist impersonated famous historical comedy figures and clowns such as Falstaff, Mr. Pickwick and Old King “Coal” to commit modern day mayhem.

Batman #73, (October/November 1952, by pulp sci fi writer David Vern, Sprang & Paris) described a classic clash with the Dynamic Duo temporarily stymied by ‘The Joker’s Utility Belt’ as the Harlequin of Hate created his own uniquely perverse iteration of the heroes’ greatest weapon and accessory whilst, almost simultaneously over in World’s Finest Comics #61 (November 1952), ‘The Crimes of Batman’ by Vern, Kane & Paris found Robin a hostage and the Gotham Gangbuster compelled to commit a string of felonies to preserve the lad’s life. Or so the Joker vainly hoped…

From a period when the Joker appeared almost once a month in one Bat-title or other, Alvin Schwartz, Sprang & Paris concocted something extra-special for Batman #74 (December 1952-January 1953). ‘The Crazy Crime Clown’ had the exotic but strictly larcenous Baroque Bandit apparently go bonkers and end up committed to the Gotham Institute for the Insane. Of course, there was method in the seeming madness as Batman discovered when he infiltrated the worthy asylum in disguise…

By the time of World’s Finest Comics #88 (May/June 1957) the solo strips of the Man of Steel and Caped Crusader therein had amalgamated into a series of shared adventures, and ‘Superman and Batman’s Greatest Foes (by Edmond Hamilton, Sprang & Stan Kaye) offered a clever mystery as “reformed” villains Lex Luthor and the Joker set up in the commercial robot business as a blind for their most audacious scheme whilst in Batman #110 (September 1957), the ‘Crime-of-the-Month Club’ by Dave Wood, Sprang & Paris, a series of seemingly unconnected but brilliant robberies proved to be the Joker’s latest scheme: selling his felonious plans to other thieves while he worked on a much grander scheme…

‘The Great Clayface-Joker Feud’ (Batman #159 November 1963) was a bright moment at the otherwise uninspired tail-end of a bad period in Batman’s history. Bill Finger, Jim Mooney & Sheldon Moldoff produced a big story where two arch-rivals first competed and then became allies to almost overwhelm the Dynamic Duo and the original Batwoman and Bat-Girl too, whilst ‘The Joker Jury’ (Batman #163, May 1964 by Finger, Moldoff & Paris) found Robin and his mentor trapped in the criminal enclave of Jokerville, where every citizen was a criminal dressed up as the Clown Prince and where all lawmen were outlaws.

This was the very last old guard story: with the next issue Julie Schwartz ushered in his streamlined, more down-to-Earth “New Look” Batman and super-villains all but disappeared from the scene…

At least until the Batman TV show took the world by storm. Up next is a rarely seen and quite lovely tale by E. Nelson Bridwell, Carmine Infantino & Murphy Anderson which appeared in the Premium promotional giveaway Batman Kelloggs Special 1966.

‘The Joker’s Happy Victims’ is sheer graphic poetry in motion as the Dynamic Duo were forced to extraordinary measures when all the victims of the Riotous Rogue’s latest rash of robberies refused to press charges…

During the late 1960s superheroes experienced a rapid decline in popularity – possibly in reaction to the mass-media’s crass and crushing over-exposure – and the Batman books sought to escape their zany, “camp” image by methodically re-branding the character and returning to the original 1930s concept of a grim and driven Dark Avenger.

Such a hero demanded far deadlier villains and with one breakthrough tale Denny O’Neil, Neal Adams & Dick Giordano also reinstated the psychotic, diabolically unpredictable Killer Clown who scared the short pants off the readers of the Golden Age Dark Knight.

‘The Joker’s Five-Way Revenge’ (Batman #251, September 1973) is a genuine classic that totally redefined the Joker for our age as the Mirthful Maniac stalked his old gang, determined to eradicate them all as the hard-pressed Gotham Guardian desperately played catch-up. As the crooks died in all manner of Byzantine and bizarre ways, Batman realised his arch-foe has gone irrevocably off the deep end. Terrifying and beautiful, for many fans this is the definitive Batman/Joker story.

Brave and the Bold #111 (February/March 1974) boasted “the strangest team-up in history” as Batman joined forces with his greatest enemy for a brilliantly complex tale of cross and double cross in ‘Death has the Last Laugh!’ – by Bob Haney & Jim Aparo – which may well have lead to the Harlequin of Hate’s own short-run series a year later.

‘The Last Ha Ha’ came from The Joker # 3 (September 1975, written by O’Neil with art from Ernie Chan/Chua & José Luis García-López) wherein a robbery and the kidnap of star cartoonist Sandy Saturn, by a green-haired, laughing loon, led the cops to the ludicrous conclusion that The Creeper was the culprit. Cue lots of eerie cackling, mistaken identity shenanigans and explosive action…

When Steve Englehart, Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin took over the Batman feature in Detective Comics their landmark retro-styled collaboration utterly revitalised the character for a new generation of readers.

Their undoubted peak in a short but stellar run naturally starred the Dark Knight’s nemesis as his most chaotic beginning with ‘The Laughing Fish’ in #475 (February 1978) and spectacularly culminating a month later in ‘The Sign of the Joker!’, comprising one of the most reprinted Bat-tales ever concocted, and even adapted as an episode of the award-winning Batman: The Animated Adventures TV show in the 1990s. In fact you’ve probably already read it. But if you haven’t… what a treat you have awaiting you!

As fish with the Joker’s horrific smile began turning up in sea-catches all over the Eastern Seaboard the Clown Prince attempted to trademark them. When patent officials foolishly told him it can’t be done, they start dying… publicly, impossibly and incredibly painfully…

The story then culminated in a spectacular apocalyptic clash which shaped and informed the Batman mythos for the next two decades…

This terrific tome then concludes with ‘Dreadful Birthday, Dear Joker…!’ from Batman #321 (March 1980), by Len Wein, Walt Simonson & Giordano, wherein the Malevolent Mummer planned to celebrate his anniversary in grand style: kidnapping a bunch of old friends like Robin, Jim Gordon, Alfred, Catwoman and others to be the exploding candles on his giant birthday cake…

The Joker has the rare distinction of being perhaps the most iconic villain in comics and can claim that title in whatever era you choose to concentrate on; Noir-ish Golden Age, sanitised Silver Age or malignant modern and Post-Modern milieus. This book captures just a fraction of all those superb stories and with the benefit of another two and a half decades of material since the release of this compendium, just think of what a couple of equally well-considered sequels might offer…

Slightly differing versions of this initial hardback volume have been released as the paperback editions Stacked Deck: The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told in 1990 and The Joker: Greatest Stories Ever Told in 2008.
© 1939-1983, 1988 DC Comics Inc. All rights reserved.

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X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills – Marvel Graphic Novel #5


By Chris Claremont & Brent Eric Anderson (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-93976-620-8   1994 edition 0-939766-20-5   2011: 978-0785157267

Following hard on the heels of their X-line expansion with The New Mutants, Marvel capitalised on the buzz by releasing a hard-hitting graphic novel which emphasised and cemented the aspects of alienation and bigotry which underpinned relations between Homo Sapiens and Superior with a stunningly effective modern parable starring the Uncanny X-Men in a landmark tale worthy of the company’s hot new format as a Marvel Graphic Novel.

At that time Marvel led the field of high-quality original graphic novels: offering big event tales set in the tight continuity of the Marvel Universe, as well as series launches, creator-owned properties, movie adaptations and licensed assets in lavishly expansive packages based on the well-established European Album format.

With bigger, almost square pages (285x220mm rather than the customary 258x168mm) which felt and looked instantly superior to the gaudily standard flimsy comicbook pamphlets, the line did much to improve the overall poor, shoddy and especially cheap image of comics, paving the way for today’s ubiquitous market where anything pictorial between two covers can be so designated, irrespective of how good, bad or incomprehensible the contents might be.

After the immensely successful in-House epic The Death of Captain Marvel, licensed properties Elric: the Dreaming City and Dreadstar set the seal on Marvel’s dedication to experimentation. The New Mutants then proved the growing power of the burgeoning Comicbook Direct Sales Market when the introductory graphic novel (only available in those still-scarce and widely scattered emporia) led directly into a nationally distributed new monthly series. Some fans had to jump through incredible hoops to pick up that all-important initial adventure…

God Loves, Man Kills repeated the furore for rabid X-Fans as the grim cautionary tale unfolded only for those fans near a comic store or prepared to buy through the mail…

The story itself is one of the most disturbingly true to life in the entire canon and opens with the murder of two children. The “Purifiers” responsible then proudly display the bodies in the playground where they died with the placard “muties” around their necks.

When mutant terrorist Magneto finds the bodies the stage is set for one of the X-Men’s darkest cases…

Fundamentalist preacher Reverend William Stryker is the demagogue of the hour: his evangelical crusade against unholy, ungodly mutants has made him rich and powerful whilst his sinister secret death-squads have enabled him to undertake the latest stage of his mission in the full, controversial glare of the public eye. He even has powerful friends and allies within the Government…

Stryker’s divinely-inspired mission is to incite a race-war and eradicate the entire sub-species of Homo Superior, using not only his television ministries to whip up public fear and hatred, but with a private army of merciless mutant-hating racist killers.

The next phase involves taking out the X-Men and begins when Professor Xavier, Cyclops and Storm are ambushed after participating in a TV debate.

When news of their deaths reaches the test of the team, Colossus, Wolverine and Nightcrawler track down the assailants and discover that their friends are only captives of Stryker’s Purifiers, just as old enemy Magneto appears, proposing a temporary truce…

Meanwhile Colossus’s sister Illyana and Kitty Pryde have stumbled upon the captives’ fate and been attacked too. Kitty escapes and goes on the run with murderous Purifiers hot on her trail…

Stryker has been busy: whilst happily torturing his captives he has devised a way to use Xavier’s telepathic abilities to destroy mutants and all those with latent mutant genes at one genocidal stroke.

As the hate-peddler’s plans enter the final stage Magneto and the remaining X-Men prepare for their most important battle, but the showdown on live TV from Madison Square Gardens offers many surprises and reversals of fortune as Stryker, in his paranoid hubris, overestimates the power of blind prejudice and the underestimates the basic humanity of the common man …

This tale is perhaps the most plainspoken and shocking example of mutants as metaphors for racial abuse in society and the stark message herein, savagely delivered by author Chris Claremont and artist Brent Anderson at the very top of their game, made explicit the power of bigotry and the ghastly repercussions of allowing it to bloom uncontested…

A slightly re-proportioned and reformatted edition was released in 1994, reduced in size to approximate standard comicbook size and the tale has also been reprinted, in similarly reduced circumstances in 2006 and 2011.

Moving, scary and immensely influential, God Loves, Man Kills is the comicbook X-Men at their most effective and movie-going readers will recognise much of the tale as it formed the basis for the X-Men film sequel X2.
© 1982, 1994, 2006, 2011 Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. All rights reserved.