Category: Graphic Novels

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The Batman Annuals volume 2 – DC Comics Classic Library


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

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus volume 2


By Stan Lee & John Romita, with Don Heck, Larry Lieber, Jim Mooney, Marie Severin, Mike Esposito, Bill Everett, Frank Giacoia, Gary Friedrich, Arnold Drake, John Tartaglione, Art Simek, Sam Rosen, Jerry Feldmann & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-2794-3 (HB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Marvel is often termed “the House that Jack Built” and King Kirby’s contributions are undeniable and inescapable in the creation of a new kind of comic book storytelling. However, there was another unique visionary toiling at Atlas-Comics-as-was: one whose creativity and philosophy seemed diametrically opposed to the bludgeoning power, vast imaginative scope and clean, gleaming futurism that resulted from Kirby’s ever-expanding search for the external and infinite.

Steve Ditko was quiet and unassuming, diffident to the point of invisibility, but his work was both subtle and striking: innovative and meticulously polished. Always questing for affirming detail, he ever explored the man within. He saw heroism and humour and ultimate evil all contained within the frail but noble confines of humanity. His drawing could be oddly disquieting… and, when he wanted, decidedly creepy. Crafting extremely well-received monster and mystery tales for and with Stan Lee, Ditko had been rewarded with his own title. Amazing Adventures/Amazing Adult Fantasy featured a subtler brand of yarn than Rampaging Aliens and Furry Underpants Monsters: an ilk which, though individually entertaining, had been slowly losing traction in the world of comics ever since National/DC had successfully reintroduced costumed heroes. Lee & Kirby had responded with The Fantastic Four and so-ahead-of-its-time Incredible Hulk, but there was no indication of the renaissance ahead when officially just-cancelled Amazing Fantasy featured a brand new and rather eerie adventure character…

This compelling compilation confirms the superstar status of the wallcrawler as originally seen in The Amazing Spider-Man #39-67, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #3-5 and The Spectacular Spider-Man #1-2, collectively spanning cover-dates August 1966 to December 1968 plus material from Not Brand Echh #2, 6 & 11 (September 1967, February and December 1968), heralding the start of a brand new era for the Astonishing Arachnid with Peter and his ever-expanding cast of cohorts well on the way to being household names as well as the darlings of college campuses and the media intelligentsia.

It is lettered throughout by unsung superstars Sam Rosen, Art Simek, and Jerry Feldman and sadly an anonymous band of colourists. As well as a monolithic assortment of nostalgic treats at the back, this mammoth tome is dotted throughout with recycled Introductions from Lee & Romita, taken from Marvel Masterworks editions (5-7). There’s also other editorial snippets scattered throughout such as editorial announcements and the ‘Spider’s Web’ newsletter pages for each original issue to enhance that wayback machine experience…

Outcast, geeky high school kid Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider and, after attempting to cash in on the astonishing abilities he’d developed, suffered an irreconcilable personal tragedy. Due to the teenager’s arrogant neglect, his beloved guardian Uncle Ben was murdered and the traumatised boy determined henceforward to always use his powers to help those in dire need. For years the brilliant young hero suffered privation and travail in his domestic situation, whilst his heroic alter ego endured public condemnation and mistrust as he valiantly battled all manner of threat and foe…

Although co-authors of the wonderment, by 1966 Stan Lee and Steve Ditko could no longer work together on their greatest creation. After increasingly fraught months the artist simply resigned, leaving Spider-Man without an illustrator. In the coincidental meantime John Romita had been lured away from DC’s romance line and given odd assignments before assuming the artistic reins of Daredevil, the Man Without Fear. Before long, Romita was co-piloting the company’s biggest property and expected to run with it. After a period where traditional crime/gangsterism predominated, science fiction themes and costumed crazies began to predominate. The world went gaga for superheroes and creators experimented with longer storylines and protracted subplots. When Ditko abruptly left, the company feared a drastic loss in quality and sales but it didn’t happen. For the first time since the Marvel miracle began, Lee was largely left to his own narrative devices on a major feature, without the experimental visual inspiration or plotting acumen of twin comics geniuses Kirby and Ditko. What occurred heralded a new kind of superhero storytelling…

John Romita (senior) considered himself a mere “safe pair of hands” keeping the momentum going until a better artist could be found but instead he blossomed into a major talent in his own right. The wallcrawler continued his unstoppable rise at an accelerated pace, with the scene set and following Lee’s essay ‘Unflagging Efforts’ the new era dawns…

When Amazing Spider-Man #39 appeared, it was as the first of a 2-part adventure declaiming the ultimate victory of the hero’s greatest foe. Ditko was gone and no reader knew what had happened – and no one told them. ‘How Green Was My Goblin!’ and ‘Spidey Saves the Day! Featuring: the End of the Green Goblin!’ calamitously changed everything whilst describing how the arch-foes learned each other’s true identities before the Goblin “perished” in a climactic showdown. It would have been memorable even if the tale didn’t feature the debut of a new artist and a whole new manner of storytelling. The issues were a turning point in many ways, and – inked by old DC colleague Mike Esposito (under the pseudonym Mickey DeMeo) – they still stand as one of the greatest Spider-Man yarns of all time, heralding a run of classic tales from the Lee/Romita team that saw sales rise and rise, even without Ditko. In #41 and on ‘The Horns of the Rhino!’, Romita began inking his pencils. The debuting super-strong criminal spy proved a mere diversion, but his intended target J. Jonah Jameson’s astronaut son was a far harder proposition in the next issue. Amazing Spider-Man #42 heralded ‘The Birth of a Super-Hero!’, wherein John Jameson is mutated by space-spores and goes on a Manhattan rampage: a solid, entertaining yarn that is only really remembered for the last panel of the final page.

Mary Jane Watson had been a running gag in the series for years: a prospective blind-date arranged by Aunt May who Peter had avoided – and Ditko skilfully not depicted – for the duration of time that our hero had been involved with Betty Brant, Liz Allen, and latterly Gwen Stacy. Now, in that last frame the gobsmacked young man finally realises that for two years he’s been ducking the hottest date in New York! ‘Rhino on the Rampage!’ gave the leathery villain one more crack at Jameson and Spidey, but the emphasis was solidly on foreshadowing future foes and building Pete and MJ’s relationship.

Next comes Amazing Spider-Man Annual # 3 and ‘…To Become an Avenger!’ as the World’s Mightiest Heroes offer the webspinner membership if he can capture The Hulk. As usual, all is not as it seems, but the action-drenched epic, courtesy of Lee, Romita (on layouts), Don Heck & Esposito is the kind of guest-heavy power-punching package that made these summer specials a child’s delight. The monthly Marvel merriment marches on with the return of a tragedy-drenched old foe as Lee & Romita reintroduce biologist Curt Conners in ASM #44’s ‘Where Crawls the Lizard!’ The deadly reptilian marauder threatens Humanity itself and it takes all of the wallcrawler’s resourcefulness to stop him in the concluding ‘Spidey Smashes Out!’ Issue #46 introduced an all-new menace in the form of seismic super-thief ‘The Sinister Shocker!’ whilst ‘In the Hands of the Hunter!’ brought back a fighting-mad Kraven the Hunter to menace the family of Parker’s pal Harry Osborn. Apparently, the obsessive big-game hunter had entered into a contract with Harry’s father (Green Goblin, until a psychotic break turned him into a traumatised amnesiac). Now, though, the hunter wants paying off…
Luckily, Spider-Man is on hand to dissuade him, but it’s interesting to note that at this time the student life and soap-opera sub-plots became increasingly important to the mix, with glamour girls Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy (both superbly delineated by the masterful Romita) as well as former bully Flash Thompson and the Osborns getting as much – or more – page-time as Aunt May or the Daily Bugle staff, who had previously monopolised the non-costumed portions of the ongoing saga. Amazing Spider-Man #48 launched Blackie Drago; a ruthless thug who shared a prison cell with one of the wall-crawler’s oldest foes. At death’s door, the ailing and elderly super-villain reveals his technological secrets, enabling Drago to escape and master ‘The Wings of the Vulture!’ Younger, faster, tougher, the new Vulture defeats Spider-Man and in #49’s ‘From the Depths of Defeat!’ battles Kraven until a reinvigorated arachnid can step in to thrash them both.

Landmark issue #50 featured the debut of one of Marvel’s greatest villains in the first of a 3-part yarn that saw the beginnings of romance between Parker and Gwen. It also contained the death of a cast regular, re-established Spidey’s war on cheap thugs and common criminals (a key component of the hero’s appeal was that no criminal was too small for him to bother with) and saw a crisis of conscience force him to quit in ‘Spider-Man No More!’. Pausing to review Romita’s introduction ‘Just One Step Ahead’ the vintage drama picks up again as, life being what it is, Peter’s sense of responsibility forces his return only to be trapped ‘In the Clutches of… the Kingpin!’ until he ultimately and tragically triumphs in ‘To Die a Hero!’ A solid and engrossing change of pace the extended gangbusting triptych saw Romita relinquish the inking to Esposito once more.

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #4 follows as Lee – with his brother Larry Lieber & Esposito handling the art – crafts an blockbusting battle-saga wherein Spidey and the Human Torch are tricked into appearing in a movie. Sadly ‘The Web and the Flame!’ is just a deviously diabolical scheme to kill them both, devilishly orchestrated by old enemies The Wizard and Mysterio, but the titanic teens are up to the task of trashing their attackers…

From the same issue – and all courtesy of Lieber – come pictorial fact-features ‘The Coffee Bean Barn!’ – face-checking then-current Spider-Man regulars – while sartorial secrets are exposed in ‘What the Well-Dressed Spider-Man Will Wear’ and his superpowers scrutinised in ‘Spidey’s Greatest Talent’. Also included are big pin-ups of our hero testing his strength against Marvel’s mightiest good guys, a double-page spread ‘Say Hello to Spidey’s Favorite Foes!’ plus another 2-page treat as we enjoy ‘A Visit to Peter’s Pad!’

The Amazing Spider-Man was always a comic book that matured with – or perhaps just slightly ahead – of its fan-base. Increasingly, the World’s Most Misunderstood Hero became a quirky, charming, thrillingly action-packed soap-opera: a model for an entire generation of younger heroes impatiently elbowing aside the staid, (relatively) old thirty-something mystery-men of previous publications and hallowed tradition. As the feature underwent a rocky period of transformation, the second great era of Amazing Arachnid artists moved inevitably to a close. Although (the elder) John Romita would remain closely connected to the wallcrawler’s adventures for some time yet, these tales would be amongst his last sustained run as lead illustrator on the series. The rise and rise of the webspinner increased pace as the Swinging Sixties drew to a close, and Peter and his ever-expanding supporting cast were on the way to being household names as well as the darlings of college campuses and the media intelligentsia. Stan Lee’s scripts were completely in tune with the times – as understood by most kids’ parents at least – and increasingly melodramatic plot devices kept older readers glued to the series if the bombastic battle sequences didn’t.

Thematically, there’s still a large percentage of old-fashioned crime and gangsterism and an increasing use of mystery plots. Dependence on costumed super-foes as antagonists was finely balanced with the usual suspect-pool of thugs, hoods and mob-bosses, but these were not the individual gangs of the Ditko days. Now Organised Crime and Mafia analogue The Maggia were the big criminal-cultural touchstone as comics caught up with modern movies and daily headlines. A multipart saga began in #53 with ‘Enter: Dr. Octopus’, as the many-tentacled madman changes tactics and seeks to steal a devastating new technology. After being soundly routed, Otto Octavius goes into hiding as a lodger at Aunt May’s house in ‘The Tentacles and the Trap!’, before regrouping and triumphing in ‘Doc Ock Wins!’: even convincing a mind-wiped wallcrawler to join him. before the astonishing conclusion in ‘Disaster!’ as, despite being bereft of memory, the wallcrawler turns on his sinister subjugator and saves the day…

Shell-shocked and amnesiac in #57, Spider-Man roams lost in New York until he clashes with Marvel’s own Tarzan analogue in ‘The Coming of Ka-Zar!’ (with layouts by Romita and pencils from the reassuringly reliable Don Heck), whilst in the follow-up ‘To Kill a Spider-Man!’, vengeance-crazed roboticist Professor Smythe once more makes J. Jonah Jameson finance his murderous mechanical Spider-Slayer’s hunt of his personal bête noir…

With Heck still in the artist’s chair, ASM #59 has the hero regain his memory and turn his attention to a wave of street-crime in ‘The Brand of the Brainwasher!’ Here a new mob-mastermind starts taking control of the city by mind-controlling city leaders and prominent cops – including Police Captain George Stacy, father of Peter Parker’s girlfriend Gwen. The tension builds as the schemer is revealed to be one of Spidey’s old foes in ‘O, Bitter Victory!’ This revelation creates even bigger problems for Peter and Gwen before concluding chapter ‘What a Tangled Web We Weave…!’ sees our hero save the day but still stagger away more victim than victor…

After more Romita recollections in Intro essay ‘A Challenge and a Gamble’ comic fun resumes as Amazing Spider-Man #62 declaims ‘Make Way for… Medusa!’ as Lee, Romita, Heck & Esposito supply a change-of-pace yarn with the hero stumbling into combat with the formidable Inhuman due to the machinations of a Madison Avenue ad man.

Spider-Man’s popularity led to Marvel attempting to expand his reach to older readers via the magazine market. In 1968, the company finally broke free of a restrictive distribution deal and exponentially expanded. These converging factors combined to prompt a foray into the world of oversized mainstream magazines (as successfully developed by James Warren with Eerie, Creepy and Vampirella) which could be higher priced and produced without restrictive oversight from the Comics Code Authority. The result was quarterly Spectacular Spider-Man #1 (of 2, and cover-dated July/November 1968): a genuinely wonder-filled thrill for 9-year-old me, but clearly not the mainstream mass of Marvel Mavens.

Following a painted cover – Marvel’s first – by Romita & illustrator Harry Rosenbaum, the main feature of was ‘Lo, This Monster!’ by Lee, Romita & Jim Mooney: an extended, political thriller with charismatic reformer Richard Raleigh tirelessly campaigning to become Mayor, yet targeted and hunted by a brutish titan seemingly determined to keep the old political machine in place at all costs…

Rendered in moody wash tones, the drama soon disclosed a sinister plotter directing the monster’s campaign of terror… but his identity was the last one Spidey expected to expose. Also included in the magazine and here is a retelling of the hallowed origin tale: ‘In the Beginning…’ Scripted by Lee, Larry Lieber’s pencils are elevated by inks-&-tones by Bill Everett. Rounding out the experience is a tantalising ‘Next issue’ ad which neatly segues back to the four-colour world, as ASM #63 returns the original elderly Vulture, back from the grave to crush his youthful usurper in ‘Wings in the Night!’ before taking on Spidey for dessert as the awesome aerial assaults concludes with carnage atop the city’s highest buildings in ‘The Vultures Prey’. This leads to another art-change (with Mooney’s sumptuous heavy linework briefly replacing workmanlike Heck & Esposito) in #65 as a wounded Spider-Man is arrested and has to engineer ‘The Impossible Escape!’ from a Manhattan prison, incidentally foiling a mass jailbreak along the way.

A psychotic special-effects mastermind returns seeking loot and vengeance in #66’s ‘The Madness of Mysterio!’ (Romita, Heck & DeMeo) as the illusionist master of FX engineers his most outlandish stunt, whilst in the background amnesiac Norman Osborn slowly regains his memory. Although the wallcrawler suffers from a bizarre form of mind-bending, the net result is an all-out action-packed brawl (rendered by Romita & Mooney) entitled ‘To Squash a Spider!’ Perhaps more interestingly, this yarn introduces Randy Robertson, college student son of the Daily Bugle’s city editor and one of the first young black regular roles in Silver Age comics.

At this time Lee and Marvel were increasingly making a stand on Civil Rights, and stories reflecting the social unrest would blaze a trail for African American and other minority characters in their titles. There would also be a growth of student and college issues during a period when American campuses were coming under intense media scrutiny…

However that not the case as The Spectacular Spider-Man #2 arrived, radically different from its predecessor. To offset disappointing sales, Marvel had swiftly switched to a smaller size and added comic book colour. The book also sported a Comics Code symbol. A proposed third issue which would have debuted the Prowler never appeared. It was to be the last attempt to secure ostensibly older-reader shelf-space until the mid-1970s. At least the story in #2 was top-rate. Behind an all-Romita painted cover and following monochrome recap ‘The Spider-Man Saga’, Lee, Romita & Mooney dealt with months of foreshadowing in the monthly series by finally revealing how Norman Osborn had shaken off selective amnesia and returned to full-on super-villainy in ‘The Goblin Lives!’ Steeped in his former madness and remembering Parker was Spider-Man, Osborn plays cat and mouse with his foe, threatening the hero’s loved ones until a climactic closing battle utilising hallucinogenic weapons again erases the Green Goblin persona… for the moment…

Following the magazine’s text feature ‘Sock it to…Spider-Man’ and a full colour teaser for never-seen #3’s ‘The Mystery of the TV Terror!’ we return to regulation comic bookery and close with Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5, by Lee, Lieber & Esposito – still in his clandestine “Mickey DeMeo” guise. The lead tale clears up a huge mystery in the by exposing the secret behind the deaths of ‘The Parents of Peter Parker!’. Played as an exotic spy-thriller, it sees Spider-Man voyage to the Algerian Casbah to confront the Red Skull. Nit-pickers and continuity-mavens will no doubt be relieved to hear the villain was in fact retconned later and designated as the second (Soviet) master-villain – who featured in the 1953-1954 Captain America revival, not the Nazi original Lee & Co had clearly forgotten was in suspended animation throughout that decade when writing this otherwise perfect action romp and heartstring-tugging melodrama.

The annual also provided a nifty Daily Bugle cast pin-up, a speculative sports feature displaying the advantages of Spider-powers, a NYC street-map of various locations where the Spidey saga unfolded, plus a spoof section displaying how the Wallcrawler would look if published by Disney/Gold Key, DC or Archie Comics, or drawn by Al “Li’l Abner” Capp, Chester “Dick Tracy” Gould and Charles “Peanuts” Schulz. It all wraps up with ‘Here We Go A-Plotting!’: a comedic glimpse at work in the Marvel Bullpen, uncredited but unmistakably drawn by marvellous Marie Severin.

With the action over there’s still time for some hearty ha has and more Marie-mirth in a selection of tales from Not Brand Echh. In #2 (September 1967), an outrageous comedy caper by Lee, Severin & Frank Giacoia starred the Aging Spidey-Man! as ‘Peter Pooper vs. Gnatman and Rotten’ and showed how rival comics icons duked it out for the hearts and minds of fandom in a wry jab at the era’s Batmania craze. It’s followed by ‘The Wedding of Spidey-Man, or …With This Ring I Thee Web!’ (written by Gary Friedrich, February 1968) as the hero pursues his destined true love only to suffer a tragic loss, whilst December’s #11 provided a trenchant fable decrying success and merchandising in Arnold Drake, Severin & John Tartaglione’s ‘Fame is a Cross-Eyed Blind Date with B-a-a-a-d Breath!’

Also on view are 13 gems of original art – including unused pages and pencil art from Lieber – sketches and painted magazine covers by Harry Rosenbaum & Romita; house ads; character sketches and notes including Romita’s first sketch of Mary Jane. A run of covers featuring Romita reprints (Marvel Tales #29-50 & Ka-Zar volume 1 #3) leads to Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man (volumes #1-7, 2009), covers by Kirby, Ditko, Romita & Dean White, and a recent cover tribute by Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado.

Spider-Man became a permanent and unmissable part of countless teenagers’ lives at this time and did so by living a life as close to theirs as social mores and the Comics Code would allow. Blending cultural authenticity with glorious narrative art, and making a dramatic virtue of awkwardness, confusion and a sense of powerlessness most of the readership experienced daily resulted in an irresistibly intoxicating read, delivered in addictive soap-opera slices, but none of that would be relevant if the stories weren’t so compellingly entertaining.

This book is Marvel and Spider-Man at their peak. Come and see why.
© 2022 MARVEL.

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Merry Christmas Every One!

Once again thanks to our Holidays tradition, here’s another pick of British Annuals selected not just for nostalgia’s sake but because it’s my wife’s house and my rules…

After decades when only US comics and memorabilia were considered collectable or noteworthy, a well-deserved resurgence of interest in home-grown material means there’s lots more of this stuff available. So, if you’re lucky enough to stumble across a vintage volume, modern facsimile or even one of many digital reproductions increasingly cropping up, I hope my words can convince you to expand your comfort zone and try something old…

Great writing and art is rotting in attics or the archives of publishing houses, when it needs to be back in the hands of readers once again. As the tastes of the reading public have never been broader and since a selective sampling of our popular heritage will always appeal to some part of the mass consumer base, let’s all continue rewarding publishers for their efforts and prove that there’s money to be made from these glorious examples of our communal childhood.

However, let’s please remember that these materials were created long ago in a very different society for a vastly different – and presumed uniform and conforming – audience. As such much material is inadvertently funny, blatantly racist, classist and sexist… and pretty much guaranteed to offend somebody somewhere sooner rather than later. Think of it as having to have that talk with your grandparents about “back when everything was better”…

If you don’t think you can tolerate – let alone enjoy – what’s being discussed here, maybe these are not the books you need today. Why not look at something else or play a game instead? Or eat some more roast beast?

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Batman Annual 1967


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

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Walt Disney’s Donald Duck volume 21: Christmas in Duckburg (The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library)


By Carl Barks, with Bob Gregory & Vic Lockman, Rich Tommaso, Digikore, Gary Leach, Erik Rosengarten, Donald Ault & various (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-68396-239-7 (HB) eISBN: 978-1-68396-299-1

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Utter Acme of All-Ages Entertainment… 10/10

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Carl Barks was born in Merrill, Oregon in 1901, and raised in the rural areas of the West during some of the leanest times in US history. He tried his hand at many jobs before settling into the profession that chose him. His early life is well-documented elsewhere if you need detail, but briefly, Barks worked as an animator at Disney’s studio before quitting in 1942 to work in the new-fangled field of comic books. With cartoon studio partner Jack Hannah (another occasional strip illustrator) Barks adapted a Bob Karp script for an animated cartoon short into the comic book Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold. It was published as Dell Four Color Comics Series II #9 in October of that year and – although not his first published comics work – it was the story that shaped the rest of Barks’ career.

From then until his official retirement in the mid-1960s, Barks worked in self-imposed seclusion, writing and drawing and devising a vast array of adventure comedies, gags, yarns and covers that gelled into a Duck Universe of memorable and highly bankable characters. These included Gladstone Gander (1948), Gyro Gearloose (1952), Magica De Spell (1961) and the legendarily nefarious Beagle Boys (1951) to supplement Disney’s stable of cartoon actors. His greatest creation was undoubtedly crusty, energetic, paternalistic, money-mad giga-gazillionaire Scrooge McDuck: the World’s wealthiest winged septuagenarian and the harassed, hard-pressed not-so-silent co-star of this show.

Whilst producing that landmark, material Barks regarded himself as just a simple working guy: generating cover art, illustrating other people’s scripts when required, and contributing characters and stories to the burgeoning canon of Duck Lore. Once Gladstone Publishing began re-packaging his efforts – and other selected Disney strips – in the 1980s, Barks discovered a well-earned appreciation he never imagined existed. So potent were his creations that they even fed back into the conglomerate’s animation output, although all his brilliant comic work was done for licensing company Dell/Gold Key, and not directly for the studio. The greatest tribute was undoubtedly animated series Duck Tales, heavily based on his comics output. Throughout his working life Barks was blissfully unaware that his work – uncredited by official policy, as was all Disney’s cartoon and comic book output – had been singled out by a rabid and discerning public as being by “the Good Duck Artist”. When some of his most dedicated fans finally tracked him down, a belated celebrity began.

Barks was a fan of wholesome action, unsolved mysteries and epics of exploration, which led to him perfecting the art and technique of the comics blockbuster: blending history, plucky bravado, wit and sheer wide-eyed wonder into rollicking rollercoaster romps which utterly captivated readers of every age and vintage. Without the Barks expeditions, there would never have been Indiana Jones…

In 2013 Fantagraphics Books began collecting Barks’ Duck stuff in carefully curated archival volumes, tracing his year-by-year output in hardback tomes and digital editions that finally did justice to the quiet imagineer. These will comprise the Complete Carl Barks Disney Library. Physical copies are sturdy and luxurious albums – 193 x 261 mm – that would grace any bookshelf, with volume 5 – Walt Disney’s Donald Duck: “Christmas on Bear Mountain” (for reasons irrelevant here) acting as debut release and re-presenting works from 1947 – albeit not in strictly chronological release order. Today however, it’s seasonal yarn ‘Christmas in Duckburg’ that lends its title to volume 21 of this unmissable publishing event.

It begins with the eponymous full-length Holidays thriller (from Walt Disney’s Christmas Parade #9; cover-dated December 1958 and scripted by Bob Gregory) as Barks’ most enduring creation Scrooge McDuck pressures Donald Duck and his miracle working nephews Huey, Louie & Dewey to head north and bring back a 100ft fir tree for Duckburg City square. This is not some aberrant act of civic largesse, but simply in response to being publicly joshed and barracked all year by obnoxious business rival “Jolly” Ollie Eiderduck who provided the previous prodigious record-breaking pine for the city’s seasonal blowout. Incensed and outraged, Scrooge gets the boys cheaply, since Donald has made another so-typical financial blunder and must find some way to pay for an entire Ferris wheel…

However, there’s no love lost between the turbulent tycoons, and as the poor young ducks head to a Canadian logging camp, enflamed ire turns to ridiculous wagers, and Jolly Ollie hires the nefarious Beagle Boys to sabotage the expedition. Nevertheless, despite their every spectacular attempt, most of the massive living monument makes it back to Duckburg, where the insidious Eiderduck has one last card to play… but so too do the ingenious nephews…

Undoubtedly, the greatest cartoon creation of legendary magnificent story showman Barks, Downy Dodecadillionaire Scrooge McDuck quickly took on a life of his own after appearing as simple throwaway miserly villain. The old coot was crusty, energetic, menacing, money-mad and yet honest and brave by his own standards and oddly lovable  and thus far too potentially valuable to be misspent. He returned often and eventually expanded to fill all available space in tales from scenic metropolis Duckburg, either as star or as a motivating engine for Donald and the boys.

Another sterling creation – and ideal story cog – was super-lucky butthead Gladstone Gander: eternal foil for Donald and rival for Daisy Duck’s attentions. In ‘Dramatic Donald’ (Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #217, October 1958) the fortunate one gleefully tramples all over Donald’s thespian aspirations and efforts to score a leading role in Daisy’s Halloween play, bringing out our hero’s dark side and inciting a stage catastrophe. Then, Donald’s hunt for rare and valuable marine creatures sparks a manic sea hunt and nautical chaos only curtailed by a large pod of ‘Noble Porpoises’ (WDC&S #218 November 1958).

Cover-dated February 1959, the duck tale in Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #221 reveals exactly how parsimonious Scrooge was made to pay for Duckburg’s magnificent new Junior Woodchucks of the World Hall of Science in ‘Tracking Sandy’: a tale of mystery, masked and masquerading gold miners, canny nephews, investigations and a dynamic detective deduction, whilst WDC&S #219 (December 1958) offers a rare moment of failure as Donald, Huey, Louie & Dewey and even wise old Grandma Duck all fail to tame an orphan coyote in ‘The Littlest Chicken Thief’.

Donald and Gladstone clash again at ‘The Beachcombers’ Picnic’ (WDC&S #224, May 1959) where a concatenation of bizarre events and fervent scavenger hunting antics result in a rare victory for “unca Donald” after which the loco parental displays an uncanny ability to transport anything anywhere in WDC&S #222 (March 1959). Typically, however, ‘The Master Mover’ goes too far only to come a crushing cropper after guaranteeing to shift an entire zoo to a mountaintop in one afternoon! A facility for lucky accidents and the nephews’ chemistry set results in a major step forward in ballistic science… until US military intransigence and Donald’s stubbornness reduce the race for space to a ‘Rocket-Roasted Christmas Turkey’ (WDC&S #220, January 1959), in advance of the accidental savant succumbing to ‘Spring Fever’ (WDC&S #223, April). With the sun out and flowers blooming, Donald craves a quiet day’s fishing, but his rush to relax causes chaos for the kids and makes him the target of a ticket-happy game warden…

Volunteer firefighter Donald finds respect, his happy place and victory over gloating Gladstone in all-action romp ‘The Lovelorn Fireman’ (WDC&S #225 June), before Scrooge resurfaces to fall foul of satellite technology after spotting and appropriating ‘The Floating Island’ (#226, July). It turns out to be a rare bad gamble and brutally depreciating asset, after which Donald becomes proxy prey for the Junior Woodchucks in fieldcraft test ‘The Black Forest Rescue’ (#227 August), again learning the kids know their stuff and that nature abhors a smug git…

Anthology Walt Disney’s Summer Fun #2 (August 1959) provides anthropological hilarity as Donald attempts to emulate explorer-documentarians’ ‘Jungle Hi-Jinks’ without leaving the house, only to end up lost, out of his depth and impersonating a caveman in Africa before a quartet of tales bucolic pastoral tales sees Barks as illustrator only. Scripted by Vic Lockman, ‘The Flying Farmhand’, ‘A Honey of a Hen’, ‘The Weather Watchers’ & ‘The Sheepish Cowboys’ all originated in Four Color #1010 (July-September 1959): a themed anthology entitled Walt Disney’s Grandma Duck’s Farm Friends.

With movie star guests such as Dumbo, Big Bad Wolf and Gus Goose augmenting Barks regulars Gyro Gearloose, Daisy, the nephews, Grandma, Scrooge and Donald, the vignettes detail how thieving Zeke Wolf fails to impress as a stand-in scarecrow, what Scrooge learns of the true cost of buying vegetables wholesale, why goats can derange meteorological predictions and where nephews seek size-appropriate steeds for their cowboy games…

With the visual verve done with again, we move on to a cover gallery and validation as ‘Story Notes’ provides erudite commentary for each Duck tale and Donald Ault details ‘Carl Barks: Life Among the Ducks’ before ‘Biographies’ reveals why he and ‘Contributors’ Alberto Beccatini, Craig Fischer, Leonardo Gori, Thad Komorowski, Rich Kreiner, Ken Parille, Stefano Priarone, Francesco “Franky” Stajano, Mattias Wivel and Daniel F. Yezbick are saying all those nice and informative things. We close for Christmas – and the meanwhile – with an examination of provenance with ‘Where Did These Duck Stories First Appear?’ explaining the somewhat byzantine publishing schedules of Dell Comics and origin points of all the fun we’ve just had…

Carl Barks was one of the greatest exponents of comic art the world has ever seen, and almost all his work featured Disney’s characters: reaching and affecting untold millions of readers across the world and he all too belatedly won far-reaching recognition. You might be late to the party but it’s never too soon to climb aboard the Barks Express.
Walt Disney’s Donald Duck “Christmas in Duckberg” © 2020 Disney Enterprises, Inc. “Story Notes” texts © 2020 the respective authors. “Carl Barks: Life Among the Ducks” © 2020 Donald Ault. Other text © 2020 Fantagraphics Books, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Batman Returns One Dark Christmas Eve – The Illustrated Holiday Classic


By Ivan Cohen & JJ Harrison & various (Insight Editions)
ISBN: 978-1-64722-754-8 (HB)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Mirthful Movie Moments… 9/10

The Holiday Season means many things to most people. For comics fans – legendarily the sappiest and most sentimental people on Earth – it has always delivered delightful festive tales that break hearts, gladden spirits and thrill the pants off you. Batman has owned Christmas in comics since the Golden Age – and where’s my archive collection of those stories, huh?

In 1992 Tim Burton and his talented cinematic cohort perfectly addressed all that Holiday Heritage in the blockbuster Batman Returns – the first X-Mas Superhero movie. You’ve either seen it or not, but its legacy looms large in this (practically) all-ages treat from author, graphic novelist, journalist and TV writer Ivan Cohen (Space Jam: A New Legacy, Star Wars, Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries, Teen Titans GO!) with gallery artist/illustrator JJ Harrison (A Die Hard Christmas, Ninja Boy Goes to School, Gremlins: The Illustrated Storybook) making the pictures.

Batman Returns One Dark Christmas Eve whimsically revisits the film milieu in a deviously approachable spoof based on Daniel Waters and Sam Hamm’s original screenplay: a strange attractor taking plot and dialogue from the film, setting it to a familiar Christmas carol and somehow succinctly synthesising the epic into a wry, wittily hilarious picture book with batarang-sharp edges. This Bat-bauble highlights the fun side of heroes and villains, perfectly capturing the charms of Bruce Wayne/Batman and Alfred as they contest The Penguin, Catwoman and killer capitalist Max Shreck whilst ensuring a “Merry Christmas, and to all a Dark Knight”…
© 2022 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Namor, the Sub-Mariner Epic Collection volume 4: Titans Three (1970-1972)


By Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, Allyn Brodsky, Sal Buscema, Gene Colan, Ross Andru, George Tuska, Marie Severin, Frank Springer, Mike Esposito, Jim Mooney, Bernie Wrightson, John Severin, Sam Grainger, Tom Palmer, Dick Ayers & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-5539-7 (TPB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Salty Stalwart Superhero Action… 8/10

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

In his most primal incarnation (other origins are available but may differ due to timeslips, circumstance and screen dimensions) Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner is the proud, noble but exceedingly bellicose offspring of the union of a water-breathing Atlantean princess and an American polar explorer. That doomed romance resulted in a hybrid being of immense strength and extreme resistance to physical harm, able to fly and thrive above and below the waves. Over decades, a wealth of creators have played with the fishy tale and today’s Namor is often hailed as Marvel’s First Mutant. What remains unchallenged is that he was created by young, talented Bill Everett, for abortive cinema premium Motion Picture Weekly Funnies: #1 (October 1939) so – technically – Namor predates Marvel, Atlas & Timely Comics.

The Marine Miracleman first caught the public’s avid attention as part of an elementally appealing fire vs. water headlining team-up in the October 1939 Marvel Comics #1 (which renamed itself Marvel Mystery Comics from #2 onwards. The amphibian antihero shared honours and top billing with The Human Torch, having debuted (albeit in a truncated, monochrome version) in the aforementioned promotional booklet which had been designed to be handed out to moviegoers earlier in the year. The late-starter antihero rapidly emerged as one of the industry’s biggest draws, and won his own title at the end of 1940 (cover-dated Spring 1941). His appeal was baffling but solid and he was one of the last super-characters to vanish at the end of the first heroic age.

In 1954, when Atlas (as the company then was) briefly revived its “Big Three” – the Torch and Captain America being the other two – Everett returned for an extended run of superbly dark, mordantly timely fantasy fables. However, even his input wasn’t sufficient to keep the title afloat and eventually Sub-Mariner sank again. Seven years later as Stan Lee & Jack Kirby were reinventing superheroes with landmark title Fantastic Four, they revived the awesome, all-but-forgotten aquanaut as a troubled, semi-amnesiac antihero. Decidedly more bombastic, regal and grandiose, this returnee despised humanity: embittered by the loss of his subsea kingdom – seemingly destroyed by atomic testing. His rightful revenge was infinitely complicated after he became utterly besotted with the FF’s Susan Storm.

Namor knocked around the budding Marvel universe for a few years, squabbling with other star turns such as The Hulk, Avengers, X-Men and Daredevil before securing his own series as one half of Tales to Astonish, and duly graduating in 1968 to his own solo title. This fourth subsea selection collects Namor, the Sub-Mariner #28-49, Daredevil #77 and material from Ka-Zar #1 covering August 1970 to May 1972, and sees the sea lord as a recently self-appointed guardian of the safety and ecology of all Earth’s oceans. As we open the Prince of Atlantis furtively returns to the surface world, to recover from wounds earned in service of ungrateful humanity in the company of human Diane Arliss. Wandering Manhattan streets Namor is incensed by the actions of an unrepentant industrial polluter and joins teen protestors fighting developer Sam Westman’s thugs and mega machines in ‘Youthquake!’ before we pause for a little diversion…

Beginning as a Tarzan tribute act relocated to a lost world in a sub-polar realm of swamp-men and dinosaurs, Ka-Zar eventually evolved into one of Marvel’s more complex and mercurial characters. Wealthy heir to one of Britain’s oldest noble families, his best friend is Zabu the “sabretooth tiger”, his wife is feisty environmental-crusader Shanna the She-Devil and his brother is a homicidal super-scientific bandit. Kevin Reginald, Lord Plunder is perpetually torn between the clean life-or-death simplicity of the jungle and the bewildering constant compromises of modern civilisation. The primordial paragon even outranks Namor in terms of longevity, having begun as a prose pulp star, boasting three issues of his own magazine between October 1936 and June 1937. They were authored by Bob Byrd – pseudonym for publisher Martin Goodman or one of a fleet of writers on his staff – and he was latterly shoehorned into a speculative new-fangled comic book venture Marvel Comics #1. There he roamed alongside another pulp mag graduate: The Angel, plus Masked Raider, the Human Torch and Sub-Mariner…

When Ka-Zar reappeared all rowdy and renovated in 1965’s X-Men #10, it was clear the Sovereign of the Savage Land was destined for bigger things. However, for years all he got was guest shots as misunderstood foe du jour for Daredevil, Sub-Mariner, Spider-Man, and the Hulk. In 1969, he took his shot with a solo saga in Marvel Super-Heroes and later that year – after Roy Thomas & Neal Adams used him so effectively in their X-Men run (i#62-63) – was awarded a giant-sized solo title reprinting previous appearances. The title also incongruously offered all-new stories of Hercules and the second, mutant X-Man Angel. That same month, Ka-Zar’s first regular series began in Astonishing Tales. That aforementioned Hercules back up from Ka-Zar #1 (August 1970 by Allyn Brodsky, Frank Springer & Dick Ayers) is reprinted here as prelude to Namor’s next exploits…

‘In his Footsteps… The Huntsman of Zeus!’ sees the Prince of Power on the run from an Olympian agent despatched by the King of the Gods. Following another bitter dispute with his sire, Hercules returns to Earth leaving Ares to foment trouble and prompt Zeus to set his terror-inducing Huntsman on the godling’s trail. After fruitlessly seeking sanctuary with the Avengers, Hercules sees his mortal friends brutally beaten and flees once again…

The panicked rush takes him to Sub-Mariner #29 and the distant Mediterranean where the Huntsman ensorcells Namor and pits him against the fugitive. Although Hercules soon breaks the hypnotic spell, ‘Fear is the Hunter!’ readily revealing why the pursuer is so dreaded as he sends mythical terrors Scylla, Charybdis and Polyphemus against the outcast heroes and pitiful mortals of the region, until a valiant breakthrough ends the threat and forces a paternal reconciliation…

Another guest star treat materialises in #30 as ‘Calling Captain Marvel!’ finds Namor again reduced to a mesmerised puppet: attacking the Kree warrior and human host Rick Jones. This time the condition is due to the amphibian’s falling in battle against toxic terrorist Mr. Markham currently trying to blackmail Earth by threatening to poison the seas with his molecular polluter. Once Mar-Vell batters Namor back to his right mind, they make quick work of the maniac in a concerted twin assault…

Fallout from his recent actions have unsettled Namor’s old friend Triton, and the Inhuman goes looking for the prince in #31, just as apparent Atlantean attacks on surface shipping mounts. Meeting equally concerned human Walt Newell (who operates as undersea Avenger Stingray) they finally find – and fight – Sub-Mariner, only to learn the crisis has been manufactured by his old enemy who is now ‘Attuma Triumphant!’ The barbarian’s plans include destroying human civilisation, but he still has time to pit his captives against each other in a gladiatorial battle to the death; which of course is Attuma’s undoing…

Jim Mooney comes aboard as inker with #32 as a new and deadly enemy debuts in ‘Call Her Llyra… Call Her Legend!’ when fresh human atomic tests prompt Namor to voyage to the Pacific and renew political alliance with the undersea state of Lemuria. However, on arrival he finds noble ruler Karthon replaced by a sinister seductress who lusts for war and harbours a tragic Jekyll & Hyde secret. By the time the prince reaches Atlantis again the Sunken City is being ravaged by seaquakes and old political enemy Byrrah is seizing control from Namor’s deputies and devoted partner Lady Dorma. ‘Come the Cataclysm’ sees him first accuse surface-worlders before locating and defeating the true culprits – an alliance of Byrrah with failed usurper Warlord Krang and malign human mastermind Dr. Dorcas. In the throes of triumph, Namor announces his imminent marriage to Dorma…

Antihero super-nonteam The Defenders officially begin with Sub-Mariner #34-35 (cover-dated February & March 1971). As previously stated, the Prince of Atlantis had become an early and ardent activist and advocate of the ecology movement, and here takes radical steps to save Earth by fractiously recruiting The Hulk and Silver Surfer to help him destroy an American Nuclear Weather-Control station. In ‘Titans Three!’ and concluding chapter ‘Confrontation!’ (Thomas, Sal B & Jim Mooney) the always-misunderstood outcasts unite to battle a despotic dictator’s legions, the US Army, UN defence forces and Avengers to prevent the malfunctioning station vaporising half the planet…

Inked by Berni Wrightson, Sub-Mariner #36 heralds a huge sea change in Namor’s fortunes that begins with time-honoured holy preparations for a happy event as ‘What Gods Have Joined Together!’ Elsewhere, arcane enemy Llyra is resurrected and seeks to steal the throne by abducting and replacing the bride-to-be, whilst Namor is distracted by an invasion of Attuma’s hordes. Ross Andru & Esposito take over illustration with #37 as an era ends and tragedy triumphs, leading to a catastrophic battle on ‘The Way to Dusty Death!’ Betrayed by one of his closest friends and ultimately unable to save his beloved, the heartbroken prince thinks long and hard before abdicating in #38 ‘Namor Agonistes!’ (inked by John Severin): reprising his origins and life choices before choosing to henceforth pursue the human half of his hybrid heritage as a surface dweller…

Despite his abdicating the throne and pursuing the human half of his hybrid heritage as a surface dweller, Namor’s tragic tribulations instantly intensify in Sub-Mariner #39 as seasoned scripter Roy Thomas bows out with ‘…And Here I’ll Stand!’ Illustrated by Andru & Mooney, it sees the former royal arrive in New York City and move onto abandoned, desolate Prison Island. Intrusion is taken for invasion by curmudgeonly human authorities who mobilise the military to drive him out. A tense stand-off soon escalates and a typically bombastic response all round reduces Sub-Mariner’s sanctuary to shards and rubble.

In the aftermath, human friends Diane Arliss and Walt Newell bring the twice-exiled Prince staggering news. Meanwhile in Manhattan – and depicted in Daredevil #77 – Gerry Conway, Gene Colan & Tom Palmer embroil Namor in a 3-way clash after a strange vehicle materialises in Central Park. Irresistibly summoned by telepathic force, Namor arrives just in time for the Sightless Swashbuckler to jump to a wrong conclusion and attack… Then a late-arriving third hero butts in…

Guest stars abound in ‘…And So Enters the Amazing Spider-Man!’ and when the uncanny alien artefact explodes, a mysterious woman ominously invites DD, the webspinner and Namor to participate in a fantastic battle in a far-flung, dimensionally-adrift lost world. Exhausted by the traditional misunderstanding and subsequent fight, Daredevil begs off and goes home, leaving the wallcrawler to join now-nomadic Namor on a fantastic voyage and bizarre adventure that concludes in the Atlantean’s own comic…

Sub-Mariner #40 sees Conway, Colan & Sam Grainger detail how Spider-Man and Namor are compelled ‘…Under the Name of Ritual…’ to save The People of the Black Sea from murderous usurper Turalla. The telepathic subspecies has undisclosed links to Atlantis and a claim on Namor’s honour: demanding he fight on their behalf since their true king has been missing for decades. In distant Boston, angry, reclusive elder Stephan Tuval is psionically aware of what’s transpiring and – just when arachnid and amphibian are about to fall in the brutal duel – strikes with all the terrifying power of his mind…

Returned to Manhattan, the heroes part, and Sub-Mariner #41 reveals Namor following up revelations shared by Diane and Walt. Illustrated by George Tuska & Grainger, ‘Whom the Sky Would Destroy!’ sees the sea lord struck down over rural New York state by mutants artificially created by deranged scientist Aunt Serr. Her son Rock is terrifying, but the real threat is meek, gentle, deceptive Lucile, and before long Namor has fallen to the demonic clan. Considered raw material, the former prince barely escapes destruction in #42’s ‘…And a House Whose Name…is Death!’ as Conway, Tuska & Mooney briskly build to larger epic featuring Tuval. If you’re completist, this issue offers a brief Mr. Kline interlude, as Conway continued an early experiment in close-linked crossover continuity. Issue #42 contributes to the convoluted storyline involving a mystery mastermind from the future, twisting human lives and events. For the full story you should see contemporaneous Iron Man and Daredevil collections: you won’t be any the wiser, but at least you’ll have a complete set…

For one month, Marvel experimented with double-sized comic books (whereas DC’s switch to 52-page issues lasted nearly a year: August 1971 to June 1972 cover-dates). November’s Sub-Mariner #43 held an immense, 3-chapter blockbuster beginning with ‘Mindquake!’ as Namor reaches Boston, still searching for his father Leonard McKenzie, whom he believed had been killed by Atlanteans in the 1920s. Instead, he finds Tuval driven mad by his re-emerging psychic abilities and now a danger to all. Crafted throughout by Conway, Colan & Esposito, the tale of the aged tele-potent reveals how he has built a cult around himself ‘…And the Power of the Mind!’, before his increasingly belligerent acts trigger ‘The Changeling War!’ and cause his downfall…

Cruelly unaware how near he is to his dad, Sub-Mariner is distracted by the return of Llyra and new consort Tiger Shark in #44’s ‘Namor Betrayed!’ Illustrated by magnificent Marie Severin & Mooney, the story reviews the antihero’s love-hate relationship with Human Torch Johnny Storm, just in time for the sultry shapeshifter to orchestrate a heated clash with the teen hero. The blistering battle concludes in #45 with McKenzie’s abduction, as ‘…And Fire Stalks the Skies!’ sees Namor surrender himself to save his sire…

Conway, Colan & Esposito pile on the trauma in #46 in ‘And Always Men Will Cry: Even the Noble Die!’ with the son’s quest ending in death and disaster, despite the best – if badly mismanaged – interventions and intentions of the Torch and Stingray. Doubly orphaned and traumatised, Namor loses his memory again, and is easily gulled by ultimate manipulator Victor Von Doom in #47’s ‘Doomsmasque!’: duly deployed as cannon fodder in the Demon

Doctor’s duel with M.O.D.O.K. and A.I.M. to control a reality-warping Cosmic Cube.

The war is dirty and many-sided, with a frontal assault in #48’s ‘Twilight of the Hunted!’ leaving Namor to a pyrrhic triumph in concluding chapter ‘The Dream Stone!’ (Frank Giacoia inks) before retrenching in confusion to ponder his obscured future…

To Be Continued…

Sunken treasures salvaged here include Buscema’s cover to all-reprint Sub-Mariner Annual #1 (January 1971, reprising the underwater portions of Tales to Astonish #70-75); Bill Everett’s similar job on Sub-Mariner Annual #2 plus an Everett pinup of the Golden Age iteration, house ads, glorious Marie Severin cover sketches and a vast gallery of original art by Sal B, Tuska, Gil Kane & Giacoia; Andru & Mooney.

Many early Marvel Comics are more exuberant than qualitative, but this volume, especially from an art-lover’s point of view, is a wonderful exception: historical treasures with narrative bite that fans will delight in forever. Moreover, as the Prince of Atlantis is now a bona fide big screen sensation, now might be the time to get wise and impress your friends with a sunken treasure…
© 2024 MARVEL.

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Fantastic Four – Full Circle


By Alex Ross, with Josh Johnson & Ariana Maher (MARVEL Arts)
ISBN: 978-1-4197-6167-6 (HB) eISBN: 978-1-64700-781-2

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Irresistibly Pure, Primal Pandering Nonsense… 8/10

Jacob Kurtzberg – AKA Jack Curtiss, Curt Davis, Lance Kirby, Ted Grey, Charles Nicholas, Fred Sande, Teddy, The King and others – did lots of stuff but most significantly inspired millions if not billions of people by drawing his ideas. This book is one of the most impressive examples of how that all worked out…

Fantastic Four #1 is the third most important comic book ever, behind Action Comics #1 – which introduced Superman and formalised the subgenre we call superheroes – and All Star Comics #3, which invented superhero teams via the debut of The Justice Society of America. Feel free to disagree.

After a troubled period at DC Comics (National Periodicals as it then was) and a creatively productive but disheartening time on the poisoned chalice of the Sky Masters newspaper strip (see Complete Sky Masters of the Space Force), Kirby settled into a presumed temp job at the dying outfit that was once publishing powerhouse Timely/Atlas Comics. There he churned out high quality mystery, monster, war, romance and western material in a market he feared was ultimately doomed, as always doing the best job possible. That generic fare is regarded as the best of its kind ever seen. His soaring imagination couldn’t be suppressed for long, however, and when the Justice League of America caught the public’s collective attention, it gave him and writer/editor Stan Lee opportunity to change our industry forever by creating an opportunistic cash-in called The Fantastic Four.

The result took those same fans by storm. It wasn’t the powers: they’d all been seen since the beginning of the medium. It wasn’t the costumes because they didn’t have any until the third issue. It was Kirby’s compelling art and the fact that these characters weren’t anodyne cardboard cut-outs. In a real and recognizable location – New York City – imperfect, raw-nerved, touchy outsider people banded together out of tragedy, disaster and necessity to face the incredible. In many ways, The Challengers of the Unknown (Jack’s prototype partners-in-peril for National/DC) had already laid all the groundwork for the wonders to come, but staid, nigh-hidebound editorial strictures of the market leader would never have allowed the undiluted energy of the concept to run all-but-unregulated.

Concocted by “Lee & Kirby”, with inks by George Klein & Christopher Rule, FF #1 (bi-monthly and cover-dated November 1961) saw maverick scientist Dr. Reed Richards summon fiancée Sue Storm, their close friend Ben Grimm and Sue’s teenaged brother before heading off on their first mission. They are all survivors of a private space-shot that went horribly wrong when Cosmic Rays penetrated their ship’s inadequate shielding and mutated them all. Richards’ body became elastic, Sue gained the power to turn invisible, Johnny Storm could turn into living flame and tragic Ben devolved into a shambling, rocky freak. It was crude, rough, passionate and uncontrolled excitement unlike anything young fans had ever seen before. Thrill-hungry kids pounced on it and the raw storytelling caught a wave of change starting to build in America. It and succeeding issues changed comic books forever.

So much so that this slim yet epic arts extravaganza by uberfan/creator Alex Ross (Marvels, Kingdom Come, Astro City, Project Superpowers) dipped into one specific issue and the era encompassing it to create his next leap in sequential graphic storytelling.

Co-produced by Marvel and Abrams ComicArts, Fantastic Four: Full Circle is a vividly vibrant pastiche of and thematic sequel to what many fans consider the greatest single FF story ever. Illustrated by Kirby and inked by Joe Sinnott, ‘This Man… This Monster!’ saw Ben Grimm’s grotesque body usurped and stolen by a vengeful, petty-minded scientist harbouring a grudge against Reed. The anonymous boffin subsequently discovered the true measure of his unsuspecting intellectual rival and willingly paid a fateful price for his envy…

By this time the monthly title was the most consistently groundbreaking publication in Marvel’s stable: the indisputable core of its ever-unfolding web of cosmic creation. As the forge for fresh concepts and characters at a time when Kirby was in his conceptual prime and unleashing his vast imagination, Fantastic Four was the most passionate superhero comic series fans had ever seen, and here Ross combines his own response to that: incorporating other milestones of those moments into a visually stunning tale set amidst that marvellous milieu.

Although this hark-back to halcyon days is literally all about the visual verve, fanboys like me can also be assured that continuity and characterisation are also faithful extrapolations – albeit with the painful sixties gender stereotyping given a thorough going over – of what has gone before, augmenting a spectacular tribute to those glory days…

The initial release in a proposed range of high end experimental graphic narratives, Full Circle opens with someone the first family never thought they’d see again almost unleashing an insectile invasion from the Negative Zone. Saddling up, Sue, Reed, Ben and Johnny return to the antimatter universe in search of answers and uncover a deadly plot, a miraculous revelation, an unsuspected new world to explore and a series of shocking surprises, as well as more mischief in the making from former foes Annihilus and Janus the Nega-Man…

As “the first longform work” written and illustrated by Ross, this is an explosion of colour, wild layouts, narrative sallies and retro psychedelia, with additional colour input from Josh Johnson and Ariana Maher putting the words in to get as close to reviving the long gone past as any incurable nostalgic could ever want.
© 2022 MARVEL.

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Dear DC Super-Villains


By Michael Northrop & Gustavo Duarte, coloured by Cris Peter & lettered by Wes Abbott (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1779500540 (PB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Ideal to Steal Stocking Stuffer… 9/10 (just give it back after reading, okay?)

Superheroes are purely iconic embodiments if not “perfectualisations” of a whole bunch of deep things about humans. Ask any psychologist or modern philosopher. Sadly, such pristine intellectualisations don’t cut much ice (just ask Captain Cold) in the stories-for-money racket; and every hero from Gilgamesh to the Scarlet Pimpernel and every sleuth and super-doer since mass entertainment began owes a huge recurring debt to the bad lurking in the shadows or monster rampaging down main street.

DC have a particularly fine stable of misguided miscreants, justifiable revengers and thieving psychotic loons – just look at how many have their own titles, shows and films – and their antics as much as the heroes we’re supposed to admire are part of children’s awareness and maturing processes (even boys, who I’m forced to admit frequently grow up by a different set of metrics to girls or other flavours of kids).

Reprising or rather expanding their 2019 hit, Michael Northrop (Trapped, Plunked, Gentlemen, TombQuest) and Gustavo Duarte (Bizarro, Monsters! and Other Stories link both please), turn their delightful comedic eyes on the bad guys who might well be a Legion of Doom but still have it in them to answer a few salient questions from some curious kids with a really good search engines…

In Cairo, a major heist is capped by a relaxing moment of downtime as Selina Kyle responds to a ‘Dear Catwoman’ query about getting caught, whilst Earth’s most maximumly imprisoned mad scientist accepts a rash challenge from a heckler who thinks he’s safely anonymous in ‘Dear Lex Luthor’ and ‘Dear Harley Quinn’ shares her experiences of stand-up comedy and chaotic behaviour…

All these messages come courtesy of the Legion of Doom forwarding service but the would-be world conquerors are generally fretful and bad tempered while trying to find a new leader. Those tensions a painfully apparent in ‘Dear Gorilla Grodd’ as the Super-Ape shares school memories – but never bananas – even as ‘Dear Giganta’ offers advice on bullies and being the tallest girl in class.

When a disabled girl challenges ‘Dear Sinestro’ to examine his motivations, it sparks an unexpected sentimental response, and even ruthless hardcase rogue ronin ‘Dear Katana’ also reassesses her life after opening a succinctly sharp email question, whereas the modern-day pirate king only gets “fished” after clicking on ‘Dear Black Manta’, leading to a long-awaited calamitous convergence, supervillain showdown and inevitable big battle with the JLA in concluding chapter ‘Dear DC Super-Villains’…

Big, bold, daft and deliriously addictive, this in another superb all-ages action romp packed with laughs and delivering a grand experience for any who red it. Extra material includes ‘Who’s Who in the Legion of Doom’ of the heroes, and creator biographies in ‘Auxiliary Members!’ plus an extract from Metropolis Grove by Drew Brockington. If you love comics and want others to as well you couldn’t do more that point potential fans this way. Actually, just show, tell, or email them: pointing is rude…
© 2021 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.