Batman: Nine Lives

Batman: Nine Lives
Batman: Nine Lives

By Dean Motter, Michael Lark and Matt Hollingsworth (DC Comics)
ISBN: 1-56389-979-5

The depictions and narrative signatures of the post-war genre “Film Noir” are powerful and evocative, celebrating a certain weary worldliness as much as stark lighting and visual moodiness. As such this murky world would seem a natural milieu for Batman tales, but there are precious few that make the effort, and so very few of those successfully carry it off.

This superb alternative adventure published under DC’s Elseworlds imprint (wherein the company’s key characters are translated out-of-continuity for adventures that don’t really count) is a magnificent exception, combining the hard-boiled detective yarn with the icons of gangster movies.

1946: Selina Kyle was a woman everybody wanted, and who exploited that fact fully. When The Batman finds her ravaged corpse in the sewers, there’s no shortage of suspects. Was she murdered by a high society big-shot like Oliver Queen, Harvey Dent or Bruce Wayne, desperate to keep her quiet or was one of her more sinister consorts to blame?

Gangsters like jilted embezzler Eddie Nigma, mob-boss ‘Clayface’ Hagen, The Poker Joker, ‘The Penguin’ or even the stone-cold hit-man ‘Mr Freeze’ would have snuffed her in a instant if expedient, and seedy gumshoe Dick Grayson knows that he’d be just as expendable if he digs too deep into the private affairs of the Highest and Lowest denizens of Gotham. But somehow he just can’t let go…

Reconfiguring key figures of the Batman mythos as such recognisable archetypes, although perhaps obvious, is still a wonderfully effective way to revitalize them. The plot is as engrossing as any movie masterpiece and the human analogues of the bizarre and baroque Batman cast are just as menacing even without outlandish powers and costumes. And through it all lurks a vigilante dressed as a bat, once again the mad element of chaos that he can no longer be in his regular comic outings…

Although a pastiche of many things, Nine Lives is nonetheless a brilliant and engrossing read, blending mystery, crime-caper and sophisticated suspense thriller with moody visuals and a cynical tone that will show any naysayer that comics have as much to offer as any other creative medium. Hunt this down and make it yours!

© 2002 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

A Treasury of Victorian Murder

A Treasury of Victorian Murder

By Rick Geary (NBM/Comics Lit)
ISBN13: 978-1-56163-309-8

This stylish and bookshelf-friendly reissue was first released in 1987 as a broad, slim volume and led to the eccentric ongoing series of books (nine so far) that have captivated so many people around the globe. Geary’s fascination with his subject is irresistibly infectious and his unique cartooning style is a perfect medium to convey the starkly factual narrative in a memorable and undeniably enjoyable manner.

The basic premise is simple. The age of Queen Victoria is ingrained in the psyche of the contemporary world, and this first outpost of modern society invested Murder with a whole new style and morbid popular appeal. Each of the cases the author adapts was big news at the time and still generates familiar stirrings in readers of a later century.

This volume recounts the unsolved case known as ‘The Ryan Mystery’, wherein a brother and sister were brutally slain in New York in 1873, before outlining the fraudulent career and just deserts of a very nasty physician in ‘The Crimes of Dr. E.W. Pritchard’, and concludes with that now-common miscreant, the child-killer (and more besides) in the tale of ‘The Abominable Mrs. Pearcy’.

With the inclusion of highly informative pictorial essays for background this very readable successor to the ‘Penny-Dreadfuls’ is a startling yet accessible read that will engross the fan of graphic narrative and entice the follower of ‘True-Crime’ thrillers.

© 1987, 2007 Rick Geary. All Rights Reserved.

DC Archive: The Flash, Vol 1

DC Archive: The Flash, Vol 1

By Bob Kanigher, John Broome, Carmine Infantino & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 1-56389-139-5

No matter which way you look at it, the Silver Age of the American comic book began with The Flash. It’s an unjust but true fact that being first is not enough; it also helps to be best and people have to notice. The Shield beat Captain America to the news-stands by over a year but the former is all but forgotten today.

The industry had never really stopped trying to revive the superhero genre when Showcase #4 was released in late summer of 1956, with such recent precursors as The Avenger (February-September 1955), Captain Flash (November 1954-July 1955), Marvel’s Human Torch, Sub-Mariner and the aforementioned Sentinel of Liberty (December 1953 – October 1955) and even DC’s own Captain Comet (December 1953 – October 1955) and Manhunter from Mars (November 1955 until the end of the 1960’s and almost the end of superheroes again!) still turning up in second-hand-stores and “Five-and-Dime” half-price bins. What made the new Fastest Man Alive stand out and stick was … well, everything!

Once the DC powers-that-be decided to try superheroes once more, they moved pretty fast themselves. Editor Julie Schwartz asked office partner and Golden-Age Flash scripter Robert Kanigher to recreate a speedster for the Space Age, aided and abetted by Carmine Infantino and Joe Kubert, who had also worked on the previous incarnation. The new Flash was Barry Allen, a forensic scientist simultaneously struck by lightning and bathed in the exploding chemicals of his lab. Supercharged by the accident, Barry took his superhero identity from a comic book featuring his predecessor (a scientist named Jay Garrick who was exposed to the mutagenic fumes of “Hard Water”). Designing a sleek, streamlined bodysuit (courtesy of Infantino – a major talent who was just coming to his creative peak) Barry became the point man for the spectacular revival of a genre and an entire industry.

This lovely collection features not only all four Showcase tryout issues and the first four issues of his own title, but also kicks off with the very last Golden Age adventure from Flash Comics #104 (February 1949). In ‘The Rival Flash’ Kanigher, Infantino and inker Frank Giacoia re-examine that character’s origin when an evil scientist recreates the secret of his speed. Exuberant and avuncular, and very entertaining in its own right, it’s nonetheless a dated, clunky tale in comparison to its descendents.

In sharp counter-point ‘Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt’ (scripted by Kanigher) and ‘The Man Who Broke the Time Barrier’ (written by the superb John Broome) are polished, coolly sophisticated short stories that introduce the charmingly suburban new superhero and firmly establish the broad parameters of his universe. Whether defeating bizarre criminal masterminds such as The Turtle or returning the criminal exile Mazdan to his own century the new Flash was a protagonist of keen insight and sharp wits as well as overwhelming power.

Showcase #8 (June 1957) led with another Kanigher tale. ‘The Secret of the Empty Box’, a perplexing but pedestrian mystery, saw Frank Giacoia return as inker, but the real landmark is the Broome thriller ‘The Coldest Man on Earth’. With this yarn the author clinched the new phenomenon by introducing the first of a Rogues Gallery of outlandish super-villains. Unlike the Golden Age the new super-heroes would face predominantly costumed foes rather than thugs and spies. Bad guys would henceforth be as memorable as the champions of justice. Captain Cold would return time and again. Moreover, every single member of Flash’s pantheon of super-foes would be created by John Broome.

Joe Giella inked the two adventures in Showcase #13 (April 1958) ‘Around the World in 80 Minutes’, written by Kanigher and Broome’s ‘Master of the Elements’ which introduced the outlandish Mr Element, who returned in Showcase#14 (June 1958) with a new M.O. and identity — Doctor Alchemy. ‘The Man who Changed the Earth!’ is a great crime-caper, but Kanigher’s eerie ‘Giants of the Time-World!’ is a masterful fantasy thriller and a worthy effort to bow out on. When the Scarlet Speedster graduated to his own title John Broome was the main writer, supplemented eventually by Gardner Fox. Kanigher would return briefly in the mid-1960s and would later write a number of tales during DC’s ‘Relevancy’ period.

The Flash #105 launched with a February-March 1959 cover-date (so it was out for Christmas 1958) and featured Broome, Infantino and Giella’s Sci-Fi chiller ‘Conqueror From 8 Million B.C.!’ and introduced yet another super-villain in ‘The Master of Mirrors!’. The next issue introduced one of the most charismatic and memorable baddies in comics history. Gorilla Grodd and his hidden race of super-simians debuted in ‘Menace of the Super-Gorilla!’, promptly returning for the next two issues in ‘Return of the Super-Gorilla!’ (#107) and ‘The Super-Gorilla’s Secret Identity!’ (#108). Arguably this early confidence was fuelled by DC’s inexplicable pro-Gorilla editorial stance (for some reason any comic with a big monkey in it markedly outsold those that didn’t in those far-ago days) but these tales are also packed with tension, action and engagingly challenging fantasy concepts.

‘The Pied Piper of Peril!’ in #106 introduced another criminal menace, whilst the lead story in #107 ‘The Amazing Race Against Time!’ has our hero save the entire universe for the first time. With other superheroes breaking out, the Flash upped the stakes and stayed streets ahead of his competition. Issue #108’s non-gorilla story was another Sci-Fi thriller as extra-dimensional aliens try to kill our hero with ‘The Speed of Doom’ (inked by Frank Giacoia).

These early tales are historically vital to the development of our industry, but, quite frankly, so what? The first exploits The Flash should be judged solely on their merit, and on those terms they are punchy, awe-inspiring, beautifully illustrated and captivating thrillers that amuse, amaze and enthral both new readers and old devotees. This lovely volume is a must-read item for anybody in love with our art-form.

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

Thunderbirds… To the Rescue!

(THUNDERBIRDS COMIC ALBUM VOLUME 1)

Thunderbirds… To the Rescue!

By Frank Bellamy, with Steve Kite & Graham Bleathman, edited and compiled by Alan Fennel (Ravette Books/Egmont)
ISBN: 1-85304-406-7

Growing up in 1960’s England was the best of all possible worlds for a comic lover. As well as US imports you were treated to some frankly incredible weekly publications, and market bookstalls sold second-hand comics for at least a third of their cover price. We also had some of the greatest artists in the world working on some of the best licensed properties around. A perfect example is the TV – and especially Gerry Anderson properties – anthology comic TV Century 21.

This slim volume from the 1990s reprints three of the best adventures of the Band of Brothers from Tracy Island, illustrated by the incredible Frank Bellamy, and although the reproduction is rather poor (nothing available to modern printers seems able to fully reproduce the magical and luxuriant quality of photogravure printing, alas) ‘The Earthquake Maker’, ‘The Revolution’ and ‘The Big Freeze’ are Thunderbirds adventures in the classic manner.

Despite the colour inadequacies, the astounding design skill and sheer bravura of Bellamy’s rendering makes these tales of unnatural disasters, tensely written by Alan Fennell, as absorbing now as they were then. A collection was released in 2002, but we’re long overdue for a major treatment by a major publisher. Let’s hope it’s soon…

© 1991 ITC Entertainment Group Ltd. Licensed by Copyright Promotions Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Avengers: The Korvac Saga

Avengers: The Korvac Saga

By various (Marvel)
ISBN13: 978-0-8713-5760-1

In the 1960s Jim Shooter was a child-prodigy of comics scripting who was writing the Legion of Superheroes and Superman before he’d finished High School. After college, when he returned to the industry and gravitated to Marvel Comics it seemed natural to find him working on a comic with just as many characters as that fabled future super-team.

His connection to The Avengers, although episodic, was long-lived and produced some of that series’ best tales, and none more so than the cosmic epic collected here. This sprawling tale of time-travel and universal conquest originally ran in The Avengers issues #167-168 and 170-177.

In the Gods-and-Monsters filled Marvel Universe there are entrenched Hierarchies of Power, so when a new player mysteriously arrives in the 20th Century the very Fabric of Reality is threatened. It all begins when the star-spanning Guardians of the Galaxy, 31st Century Superheroes, arrive in Earth orbit in hot pursuit of a Cyborg despot named Korvac. Even after teaming with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes they are unable to find their quarry, but a new and unique being named Michael is lurking in the background, subtly altering events as he gathers strength in secret preparation for a sneak attack on those aforementioned Hierarchies. His entire plan revolves around his not being noticed before he is ready…

Spread through a series of lesser adventures with such long-term foes as Ultron and The Collector, lesser luminaries like Tyrak the Treacherous and even Federal Watchdog-come-Gadfly Henry Gyrich, the larger story ponderously and ominously unfolds before finally exploding into a devastating and tragic Battle Royale that is the epitome of superhero comics. This is pure escapist fantasy at its finest.

Despite being somewhat let down by the artwork when the magnificent George Perez gave way to less enthusiastic hands such as Sal Buscema, David Wenzel and Tom Morgan, and cursed by the inability to keep a regular inker (Pablo Marcos, Klaus Janson Ricardo Villamonte and Tom Morgan all pitched in), the sheer scope of the plot nevertheless carries this story through to its cataclysmic and fulfilling conclusion. Even Shooter’s reluctant replacing by scripters Dave Michelinie and Bill Mantlo (as his editorial career advanced) couldn’t derail this juggernaut of adventure.

If you want to see what makes Superhero fiction work, and can keep track of nearly two dozen flamboyant characters, this is a fine example of how to make such an unwieldy proposition easily accessible to the new and returning reader.

©1977, 1978 Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Outrageous Tales from the Old Testament

Outrageous Tales from the Old Testament

By various (Knockabout)
ISBN: 0-86166-054-4

This cracking all-star oddment is actually still in print, unlike so many of the graphic novels and collections I recommend, but if you’re a devout Christian you be best advised to just jump to the next review. Originally released in 1987, it features a varied band of British creators adapting – with tongues firmly in cheeks – a selection of Biblical episodes, and the results are earnest, bitter and darkly funny.

‘Creation’ is the preserve of Arthur Ranson, whilst Donald Rooum explores Eden in ‘Gandalf’s Garden’ and Dave Gibbons puts a decidedly modernistic top-spin to the saga of ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’. Alan Moore and Hunt Emerson examine ‘Leviticus’ (that would be the one with all those Commandments) whilst Neil Gaiman tackles ‘The Book of Judges’ accompanied by Mike Matthews (both the introduction and ‘The Tribe of Benjamin’), Julie Hollings (‘Jael and Sisera’), Peter Rigg (‘Jephthah and His Daughter’), Graham Higgins (‘Samson’) and Steve Gibson (‘Journey to Bethlehem’) and even finds time to produce ‘The Prophet Who Came to Dinner’ (From the Book of Kings) with long-time collaborator Dave McKean.

Closing the volume are Kim Deitch with ‘The Story of Job’, ‘Daddy Dear’ (from Ecclesiastes) by Carol Bennett and Julie Hollings and the incredibly graphic ‘A Miracle of Elisha’ (also from the Book of Kings) by the magnificent Brian Bolland.

Powerful and memorable, these interpretations won’t win any praise from Christian Fundamentalists but they are fierce, subtle and scholarly examinations of the Old Testament from passionate creators with something to say and an unholy desire to instruct. As free thinking adults you owe it to yourself to read these stories, but only in the spirit in which they were made.

© 1987 Knockabout Publications and the Artists and Writers. All Rights Reserved.

Empire

Empire

By Samuel R .Delaney, illustrated by Howard Chaykin (Berkley/Putnam)
SBN: 399-12245-1

There was a time when Howard Chaykin was about more than lewdness, and potty-mouthed confrontation (not that I’m opposed in any way to those highly entertaining facets of his work): Once he was the darling of the swashbuckling science fiction crowd, both in comics like Monark Starstalker (Marvel) or his own Cody Starbuck, and in the superb paperback covers he produced. In 1976, before he began adapting Star Wars for Marvel, he started a project for Byron Priess Visual Publications with acclaimed author Samuel R .Delaney. It took nearly three years but when it was released Empire was an instant classic and a genuine contender for the title “First Graphic Novel”.

Vast, lush and expansive, this is the story of Wyrn, a young archaeologist who becomes embroiled in a race to recover the separated segments of an artefact that will bring down the dictatorship of the Information-Barons of the Kūndūke. Seduced as much by the charismatic rebel leader Qrelon as by the thirst for adventure and knowledge, the search takes him across the universe and into the heart of corruption in a non-stop thrill-ride of fantastic, exotic adventure.

Perhaps a little simplistic by modern standards, this high-speed, high-concept romp is magnificently illustrated in an engagingly painterly manner whilst Delaney’s poetic style creates a seductive blend of action and political thriller richly steeped in technological philosophy. Whilst the elements of young rebels and sprawling evil dictatorships has now become common currency, the sheer style of this book keeps it a high point of the genre and a worthwhile read for any fan.

© 1978 Byron Preiss Visual Publications Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Night and the Enemy

limited edition hardcover

Night and the Enemy

By Harlan Ellison & Ken Steacy (Comico)
ISBN: 0-936211-07-5

Harlan Ellison’s dark and chilling space war tales are always eminently readable. This volume sees five of the best – all taken from the long-running sequence of novellas and short-stories detailing Mankind’s last-ditch struggle against star-spanning conquerors – adapted in a variety of visual formats by air-brush wizard Ken Steacy, together with a new prose framing-sequence from the author.

The battle against the Kyben lasted ten generations and involved all manner of technologies including time travel. Probably the most famous of these is the award-winning Demon with a Glass Hand, adapted as both an episode of The Outer Limits (1964) and as a DC Graphic Novel (ISBN13: 978-0-9302-8909-6), but that’s a book for another time.

Here we have some of the earliest tales in that epic conflict, beginning with the apocalyptic ‘Run for the Stars’, a traditional panels and balloons strip, followed by ‘Life Hutch’, a grim survival tale combining blocks of text with large images in both lavish colour and stark monochrome.

‘The Untouchable Adolescents’ is a bright and breezy art job disguising a tragic and powerful parable of good intentions gone awry, whilst the sardonic two-pager ‘Trojan Hearse’ rates just one powerful, lonely illustration. ‘Sleeping Dogs’ is a moody epic that fitting concludes the adaptations but fans will be delighted to find this volume carries an original entry in the annals of the Earth-Kyba conflict with the prose and picture ‘The Few… The Proud’: Ellison’s first new story for the series in fifteen years.

This spectacular book is an innovative and compelling treat for both old-time fans of the writer and comic readers in general.

Run for the Stars, Life Hutch, The Untouchable Adolescents, Trojan Hearse, Sleeping Dogs and all additional text © 1987 The Kilimanjaro Corporation.
Art and cover © 1987 Ken Steacy. All Rights Reserved.

Popeye: The First Fifty Years

Popeye: The First Fifty Years

By Bud Sagendorf (Virgin Books)
ISBN: 0-907080-16-2

There are few comic characters that have entered world consciousness, but a grizzled, bluff, uneducated, visually impaired old sailor with a speech-impediment is possibly the most well known of that select bunch. Elzie Segar had been producing Thimble Theatre since December 19th, 1919, but when he introduced a coarse, brusque “Sailor man” into the saga of Ham Gravy and Castor Oyl on January 29th, 1929 nobody suspected the heights that walk-on would reach.

Rather than explore the genius of Segar here, let’s concentrate on a general overview of Popeye in this anniversary book from 1981. Compiled and written by his assistant Bud Sagendorf (who took over the strip, the comic book and the merchandise design in 1958) it is a glorious primer into the huge, rich history and vast cast of the strip, with lavishly illustrated features on everything Popeye from Spinach to Collectibles, Notable Quotes to Maps and diagrams of the wild world the Sailor roams.

After Segar’s tragic death in 1938, Doc Winner, Tom Sims, Ralph Stein and Bela Zambouly all worked on the strip as the animated features brought Popeye to the World. When Sagendorf took over in 1958 his loose, rangy style and breezy scripts brought the strip itself back to the forefront of popularity and made reading it cool again. He wrote and drew Popeye until Bobby London took over in 1994.

This book is a gem for fans and casual readers alike. I’m hoping that with the 80th Anniversary so close now that King Features are planning something as good if not better for that landmark event.

©1981 King Features Syndicate, Inc. and Virgin Books, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Firkin Collection

Firkin Collection

By Hunt Emerson & Tym Manley (Knockabout)
ISBN: 0-861661443

Once again the adult magazine industry has provided a comic strip classic, and this time it’s in the scraggy form of a black and white cat. Running for more than twenty years in the top-selling Fiesta, Firkin (more correctly “that Firkin Cat…”) has observed and commentated, advised and mocked the frankly insane mating habits of Homo (not so very) Sapiens.

In two page instalments the wise and ignoble Moggy has lectured the horny and lovelorn, touching upon every aspect of sexuality in an unbroken string of hilarious, grotesque, bawdy and baroque strips from the fevered minds of writer Tym Manley and cartoon Renaissance Man Hunt Emerson.

For the detail-minded, Firkin is the office mouser of adult photographers and has therefore seen it all – although he’s also been a secret agent, superhero and everything else in between, too. Rude, crude, unbelievably vulgar and pant-wettingly funny, these strips are an international hit too, being translated into eight languages. If you’re an open-minded and amusable grown-up these cat’s tales are an addictive treat and hold the secret of the truest love of all…

© 1981-2000, 2007 Hunt Emerson & Tym Manley. All Rights Reserved.