One Year Affair

One Year Affair

By Byron Preiss & Ralph Reese (Workman Publishing Co.)
ISBN: 0-911104-86-0

Before beginning his own attempts to invent the Graphic Novel, Byron Preiss worked on a number of projects including a comic strip for the American humour magazine National Lampoon. With celebrated cartoonist and illustrator Ralph Reese he produced a wry, charming and oddly engaging examination of the contemporary dating scene, circa 1973.

Steve is just some guy and his casual meeting with the so-with-it, so-sexy Jill over a dropped feminine hygiene product leads to a funny, quirky and thoroughly readable modern romance of the type we’d call a RomCom nowadays. From one-night stands to open relationships, through engagements to the ending (and I’m not telling you just in case you find a copy) this little treat shows with warmth and superb artwork (like Mort Drucker meeting Jack Davis with Wally Wood and Dick Giordano doing the catering) how human mating rituals have never really changed since men eschewed Big Wooden Clubs and tried to grow “A Good Sense of Humour” instead.

© 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 Byron Preiss Visual Publications, Inc., by arrangement with Ralph Reese & Byron Preiss. All Rights Reserved.

Night Raven: House of Cards

Night Raven: House of Cards

By Jamie Delano & David Lloyd (Marvel)
ISBN13: 978-1-85400-288-4

This (regrettably!) one-off sequel to Night Raven: The Collected Stories (ISBN13: 978-1-85400-557-3), although the second comic-strip adventure, actually followed a long and impressive run of prose tales that appeared in a huge variety of Marvel UK titles throughout the 1980s, written by such luminaries as Alan Moore and Jamie Delano, and eerily illustrated by some of Britain’s top artists. This utilisation of such a pulp-fiction style character in a modern equivalent of the originating genre was very fitting and those stories will hopefully be gathered together in a collection one day.

House of Cards is set in those fabled gangster days and tells a complex tale of tragic love and futile vengeance. Night Raven – who gets an origin of sorts here – is fascinated by the nearly-fallen-flower Inez Pearl. In the Depression-era Big City a girl does whatever she has to, but although in love with Soldier Jack, a charismatic Trigger-man for Tall Saul’s mob, she has remained mostly clean. That’s all going to change once she sings in Tall Saul’s Speakeasy, though…

When corrupt Congressman Harry Chase decides he wants Inez, Tall Saul orders Soldier Jack to lend the politician his girlfriend, precipitating a savage clash that devastates the underworld and leaves no winners, and even the enigmatic Night Raven is helpless to affect the outcome of this star-crossed melodrama.

Night Raven: House of Cards

The writing of Jamie Delano is in the modern florid, faux-poetic style and as such seems almost untrue to its pulp origins, which worked on a staccato rhythm of tough, clipped prose. Nevertheless it does work and the subtly washed-out, painted artwork by David Lloyd more than compensates for any perceived failing. The dreamy, muted tones belie the intensity of the events and make the action and the sad, still moments all the more powerful. This is a beautiful book to look at and one you should own.

A Prestige-format, comic-book sized edition was also released in 1992.

© 1991, 2008 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Night Raven: The Collected Stories

Night Raven: The Collected Stories

By Steve Parkhouse, David Lloyd & John Bolton (Marvel)
ISBN13: 978-1-85400-557-3

In the good old days comic stories were pithy and punchy, (like the all-but-dead and much-missed prose short-story) relying on mood and action rather than excessive exposition and breast-beating pseudo-poetry to enthral their readers. A perfect example would be the three page instalments of pulp-noir magic created by Steve Parkhouse and David Lloyd for the weekly Hulk comic produced by Marvel UK in 1979.

Gathered in this volume and coloured (the originals were captivating in stark, moody black and white) they outline the earliest adventures of Night Raven, a helmeted, trench-coating wearing vigilante who stalked the grimy streets and alleys of Prohibition-era America dealing out fearsome personal justice to a succession of low-life hoods and thugs. Lloyd masterfully illustrated Night-Time in the City, Blind Justice, Gang Rule, In the Frame, The Assassin and Scoop before leaving the strip, but his replacement was another British star on the rise.

The Dragon is an eerie drama of the mythic Chinese Tongs that resonates with Parkhouse’s long fascination with all subjects Oriental, powerfully realised by John Bolton, in the days just before he made it big with King Kull, Marada the She-Wolf and Classic X-Men.

Clean, simple and irresistibly compelling these action vignettes serve to show how far we’ve come since the 1970’s, and sadly just how much we’ve lost in telling comic stories. But at least we can still see how it should be done…

©1979, 1990, 2008 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Star Trek: Who Killed Captain Kirk?

Star Trek: Who Killed Captain Kirk?

By Peter David, Tom Sutton & Ricardo Villagran (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-563890-96-3

Here’s another comfortingly superior comic adventure of the most venerable science-fiction franchise in history seamlessly blending spectacular drama, subtle character interplay and good old fashioned thrills, with the added ingredient of madcap whimsy thanks to the strip debut of Peter David as scripter. This tense, swashbuckling space-opera (originally printed in issues #49-55 of DC’s monthly Star Trek comic-book) pulls together many old plotlines (but in an easily accessible manner for newcomers) in a fantastic whodunit liberally sprinkled with in-jokes and TV references for the über-fans to wallow in.

In the aftermath of a drunken stag-night near-riot (caused by three very senior officers separately spiking the punch) The Enterprise crew discover a rogue Federation ship is destroying remote colonies in an apparent attempt to provoke all-out war with the Klingons. At one decimated site they find a stunted, albino Klingon child who holds the secrets of the marauders, but his traumatised mind will need special care to coax them out.

Things are no easier aboard ship. Not only is the big wedding of two officers suffering last-minute problems, and a promising ensign must be cashiered for the High Crime of Species Bigotry, but a telepathic crew-member contracts Le Guin’s Disease (that’s one of those in-jokes I mentioned earlier) endangering the entire ship as Kirk is fighting for his life after being stabbed…

This inter-galactic murder-mystery masterfully weaves a compelling web of elements into a fabulous yarn of great and small moments, capped for the faithful by the “return” of Kirk’s Starfleet Academy nemesis Sean Finnegan (who first appeared in the classic TV episode Shore Leave – written by the legendary Theodore “Ted” Sturgeon) as the investigating officer dispatched to solve the case.

Seductively understated art from Tom Sutton and Ricardo Villagran perfectly augments this magically compelling script to produce one of the greatest Star Trek stories in any medium, which will please fans of the franchise and any readers who just love quality comics.

© 1988, 1993 Paramount Pictures Corporation. All rights reserved.

Dungeon Parade Vol 2: Day of the Toads

Dungeon Parade Vol 2: Day of the Toads

By Joann Sfar, Lewis Trondheim & Manu Larcenet (NBM)
ISBN: 978-1-56163-507-8

This slim tome is part of an eccentric, raucous and addictively wacky franchise that it’s best to experience rather than read about. As well as Parade, Dungeon also features in Zenith, Early Years and Twilight. There’s this magic castle, right, and it’s got a dungeon…

The inhabitants of this weirdly surreal universe include a duck with a magic sword that forces him to channel dead heroes and monsters, an ibis who knows everything, assorted talking animals, monsters, demons and smart-alecs. There’s always something happening and it’s usually quite strange…

In this volume, an invasion of vampires leads inevitably to an infestation of venomous flying toads, whilst later the castle cess-pit is jammed and our stalwarts discover that taking a school-party along when trying to dislodge decades of backed-up ordure isn’t very smart. Moreover any civilisation and eco-system that might develop in such a situation doesn’t take kindly to being flushed away…

Surreal, earthy, sharp and even poignant, this fantasy comedy is subtly addictive to read and the vibrant, wildly eccentric cartooning is an absolute marvel of wild, graphic style. Perhaps a little advanced for younger kids, Dungeon is the kind of near-the-knuckle, illicit read that older kids will love.

© 1949, 1956-1959, 1996, 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Criminal — Book 2: Lawless

Criminal — Book 2: Lawless

By Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips (Titan Books)
ISBN13: 978-1-84576-611-5

This follow-up to the first volume (Criminal: Coward ISBN: 1-84576-610-5) utilises the classic plot of a man returning to his home town after his brother is murdered. But when that man is Tracy Lawless, son of a legendary bad-guy, and his dead brother appears to have been nothing like he seemed, the scene is set for another superbly dark and brooding thriller in a world where nobody is redeemable and everyone has an angle.

Our relentless protagonist lies, cheats and steals his way to what he thinks he wants but as is usually the case in this seamy, seedy world what you want and what you get are never going to make for a happy ending.

Collecting issues #6-10 of the monthly comic book this nihilistic, brutal tale is wickedly mesmerising, masterfully underplayed and powerfully addictive. The shadowy world has never been more alluring or frightening.

© 2007 Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips. All Rights Reserved.

Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle

Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle

By David Michelinie and John Romita Jr. & various (Marvel)
ISBN13: 978-0-7851-2043-8

This light, breezy thriller magically turns itself into one of the best super-hero sagas of the 1980s with its powerfully redemptive last chapter, but even before that the run of issues (reprinting Iron Man #120-128) from David Michelinie, John Romita Jr., Carmine Infantino and Bob Layton combine to make the epic battle of Good and Evil relevant to the modern reader.

Tony Stark is a millionaire inventor who moonlights as a super-hero by wearing a suit of armour stuffed with his ingenious creations, making Iron Man is one of the most powerful heroes in the Marvel Universe. The unrelenting pressure of running a multi-national corporation and saving the world has, by this point started to show itself in the subtle increase in Tony Stark’s partying – and drinking.

When a cascade of battles (against not only a vast array of super-villains but also amphibian superman and sometime ally the Sub-Mariner) prove to be caused by unscrupulous business rival Justin Hammer there is a mighty confrontation and resolution in grand comic-book style. But then Hammer plays his trump card…

Taking control of Iron Man’s armour, the evil plutocrat makes Stark the unwilling accomplice to a monstrous crime, pushing the hero over the edge and into a spiral of despair…

The fall and rise of a hero is a classic plot, and it’s seldom been better used in the graphic narrative medium and never bettered in the super-hero field. An adult and very mature tale for kids of all ages, it is an unforgettable instance of Triumph and Tragedy perfectly told. If you’ve never read Demon in a Bottle, and with the Iron Man movie release impending, there has never been a better time to seek out this superb adventure.

©1984, 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The Daily Mirror Book of Garth

(GARTH ANNUAL 1975)

The Daily Mirror Book of Garth

By Jim Edgar & Frank Bellamy (IPC)
No ISBN

This wonderful Softcover book was released whilst the amazing Frank Bellamy was still alive and astounding fans with his phenomenal illustration and design on the Mirror’s long-running time-travelling adventure strip (for fuller background you could Google ‘Garth’ or even check out our own archives for Garth: The Cloud of Balthus – ISBN: 0-90761-034-X or The Mirror Classic Cartoon Collection – ISBN: 0-948248-06-8).

This large tome is printed on thick newsprint and if you’re at all moved by the physical nature of comics as artefact, as well as the power of the work itself, the texture and even smell of such an item is as effective a time travel method as any used by our burly hero. Also, for some reason the art just seems to look better on off-white, gritty paper rather than the admittedly more durable slick and shiny stock favoured these days.

So if you can track down this book – and there are still a few out there – you can luxuriate in the majesty of Bellamy and Jim Edgar’s masterful, sexy thrillers with the first collection of The Orb of Trimandias, Ghost Town, The Cloud of Balthus, Women of Galba, Sundance (which Bellamy inherited from artist John Allard three weeks in) and Wolfman of Ausensee. I will digress and admit that the all-original cover created for this last story was a major factor in reviewing this annual. It’s a sight every comic art fan ought to be familiar with.

© IPC Magazines 1974.

Teen Titans/Outsiders: The Death and Return of Donna Troy

Teen Titans/Outsiders: The Death and Return of Donna Troy

By Phil Jimenez, Judd Winick & various (DC Comics)
ISBN12: 978-1-84576-248-3

For the continuity conscious comic reader, Wonder Girl – or Donna Troy, or Troia, or whatever — has always been a problem. From the very first moment that she joined the rest of the DC Universe in Brave and the Bold #60 (a Teen Titans tryout issue) she was a vital part of the team, despite actually only being a projection of the adult Wonder Woman in her home comic. Over the years a succession of writers has tried to retrofit the character into a semblance of logic without much success. Best then to just accept that she’s there and leave it at that, if you can.

This volume collects the latest attempt to validate her existences, reprinting her last major stories just prior to the DC Infinite Crisis storyline which reset everything. Featured here are Teen Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day #1-3, Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files 2003 and DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy #1-4; a series of specials that attempted to reposition some of the company’s core titles in advance of that looming mega event.

‘Graduation Day’ saw a sexy robot arrive from the future as the juvenile superhero team Young Justice was breaking up. Her confused actions inadvertently release a deadly android stored at S.T.A.R. Labs, which neither the child heroes nor the Teen Titans can stop. In a cataclysmic battle both Omen and Donna Troy are killed. These tragedies lead to the dissolution of Young Justice, the formation of the covert and pre-emptive Outsiders and the reformation of a new Titans group dedicated to better training the heroes of tomorrow. Even though a frightfully contrived ploy to launch some new titles, this tale is still a punchy and effective thriller from writer Judd Winick, penciller Alé Garcia and inkers Trevor Scott, Larry Stucker and Marlo Alquiza.

‘Who was Donna Troy’, written and drawn by Phil Jimenez, with inks by Andy Lanning is a short but moving eulogy for the character set at her funeral with friends and guest-stars discussing her life and career.

‘The Return of Donna Troy’, scripted by Jimenez and illustrated by José Luis Garcia-López and George Pérez, reveals that Donna Troy’s soul was intercepted by the Titans, the mythical progenitors of the Greek Gods who reanimated her body and elevated her to their ranks. The backstory of this is much too complicated for this review, but if you’ll just accept that in one of her previous refits Troy was revealed as an adopted child of these morally ambivalent deities and they have returned to exploit her you’ll be fine.

These Gods are using her to further a plot to conquer a planet with a cosmic secret, but Troy’s near seduction to the Dark Side is thwarted when her old superhero comrades get involved. However, although beautifully drawn this tale menders and waffles way too much to be anything more than eye-candy for the faithful and a big headache for any fool brave enough to try it without a degree in Teen Titans continuity.

© 2005, 2006 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Marvel Masters: The Art of John Romita Jr

Marvel Masters: The Art of John Romita Jr
Marvel Masters: The Art of John Romita Jr

By various & John Romita Jr (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN: 978-1-905239-73-3 (A BRITISH EDITION BY PANINI UK LTD)

The latest in Marvel’s line of laudatory collections featuring the work of a star creator focuses on the career of a legend who is the son of a legend. John Jr was working as an in-house junior when he got his first chance to draw a story. The six-page ‘Chaos at the Coffee Bean’ is actually a rather bland filler from Amazing Spider-Man Annual #11 (1977), written by Scott Edelman and inked by Al Milgrom and instantly highlights the twin problems of books like this.

Firstly, the early efforts of many creators, although perhaps instructive, are simply not that good, and doubly so in a case like the junior Romita’s, where the artist experienced such a radical stylistic epiphany that “then” and “now” look like the work of two completely different people. Secondly, as revealed in ‘Betrayal’, his first full length tale, from Iron Man #115 (1978 – scripted by Bill Mantlo and inked by Dan Green), despite the high quality of this tale and immensely improved artwork only the first part is by our subject, so the latter parts are excluded, leaving readers with an incomplete story.

Amazing Spider-Man #208 is reprinted next. Denny O’Neil wrote ‘Fusion’, which Romita Jr only laid out (very rough preliminary drawings) with the majority of the art completed by Al Milgrom and Brett Breeding. In that same year (1980) the artist drew ‘Nightcrawler’s Inferno’ for X-Men Annual # 4, from a Chris Claremont script, and Bob McLeod was a much more sympathetic inker for this pan-dimensional epic guest-starring Dr. Strange.

Inexplicably the editors have chosen Dazzler #1 and 2 to follow. The Disco Sensation premiered as Marvel’s first Direct Sales Only title and was by most lights pretty appalling. You can judge for yourself or take a hint from the fact that ‘So Bright This Star’ was “conceived by Alice Donenfeld, John Romita Jr and Jim Shooter with some help from Stan Lee, Al Milgrom, Roger Stern and Tom DeFalco”, scripted by DeFalco, and the pencils were swamped by the lush but inappropriate inks of Alfredo Alcala. The second part ‘Where Demons Fear to Dwell’ had less cooks stirring the broth but was still an inept use of all the creator’s abilities.

In 1986 Romita Jr drew the first issue of Starbrand, the flagship New Universe title written by Jim Shooter as part of the company’s attempt to develop a continuity more relevant to its modern readership. (There are a million stories as to why Marvel actually instituted the New Universe project but that’s a debate for another time and place). With it he developed a more individualistic, raw yet streamlined graphic style that would evolve into his current grandly monolithic manner of storytelling. ‘The Starbrand’ is a compelling and thoroughly readable origin tale, sparse and gripping, moodily inked by comics legend Al Williamson. As is ‘Typhoid’, originally released in Daredevil #254, (1988), this is a powerful, visceral psychodrama scripted by Anne Nocenti, and taken from their groundbreaking run on The Man Without Fear.

This volume concludes with a superb two-part epic from Incredible Hulk #24-25 (Volume III, 2001) that fully displays the brutal power of Romita Jr’s drawing. Paul Jenkins scripted the brooding and poignant ‘Dear Betty…’ (inked by Dick Giordano) and ‘Always on My Mind’ (inked by Tom Palmer) which perfectly display the artist’s contemporary style and inevitably leads to the question, “why is there so little of his later output?”

Despite these qualms and queries this is still an instructive compendium of the artist’s output, and if the early work is not as representative or effective as it could be it is at least composed of rare and less known material. And that just means that there’s lots of great stuff left for a second volume…

© 1977, 1978, 1981, 1986, 1988, 2001, 2007 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.