Category: Horror Stories

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The Jack Kirby Omnibus volume 2 – starring The Super Powers


By Jack Kirby, with Mike Royer, D. Bruce Berry, Wally Wood, Pablo Marcos, Adrian Gonzalez, Greg Theakston, Alex Toth, Vince Colletta, Joe Simon, Denny O’Neil, Martin Pasko, Steve Sherman, Michael Fleisher, Joey Cavalieri, Paul & Alan Kupperberg, Bob Rozakis & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-3833-9 (HB)

Famed for larger-than-life characters and gigantic, cosmic imaginings, Jack Kirby was an astute, imaginative, spiritual man who lived through poverty, gangsterism, the Depression, Post-War optimism, Cold War paranoia, political cynicism and the birth and death of peace-seeking counter-cultures. He was open-minded and utterly wedded to the making of comics stories on every imaginable subject. He always believed that sequential narrative was worthy of being published as real books beside mankind’s other literary art forms.

History has proved him right, and showed us just how ahead of the times he always was.

There’s a magnificent abundance of Kirby commemorative collections around these days (though still not all of it, so I remain a partially disgruntled dedicated fan). This particular magnificent hardback compendium re-presents most of the miscellaneous oddments of the “King’s DC Canon”; or at least those the company still retains rights for. The licenses on stuff like his run on pulp adaptation Justice Inc. (and indeed Marvel’s 2001: A Space Odyssey comic) will not be forthcoming any time soon…

Some of the material here is also available in 2019’s absolutely monster DC Universe Bronze Age Omnibus by Jack Kirby, but since it isn’t available digitally either (yet), you’d best have strong wrists and a sturdy desk at hand for that one.

Happily, this less massive tome from 2013 is less of a strain physically or financially. It opens with pages of hyper-kinetic Kirby pencil pages and a moving ‘Introduction by John Morrow’ before hurtling straight into moody mystery with a range of twice told tales.

On returning from WWII, Kirby reconnected with long-term creative partner Joe Simon. National Comics/DC was no longer a welcoming place for the reunited dream team supreme and by 1947 they had formed their own studio. Subsequently enjoying a long and productive relationship with Harvey Comics (Stuntman, Boy’s Ranch, Captain 3-D, Lancelot Strong, The Shield, The Fly, Three Rocketeers and more) the duo generated a stunning variety of genre features for Crestwood/Pines supplied by their “Essankay”/ “Mainline” studio shop.

Triumphs included Justice Traps the Guilty, Fighting American, Bullseye, Police Trap, Foxhole, Headline Comics and especially Young Romance amongst many more: a veritable mountain of mature, challenging strip material in a variety of popular genres.

One was mystery and horror, and amongst the dynamic duo’s Prize Comics concoctions was noir-informed, psychologically-underpinned supernatural anthology Black Magic – and latterly, short-lived yet fascinating companion title Strange World of Your Dreams.

These comics anthologies eschewed traditional gory, heavy-handed morality plays and simplistic cautionary tales for deeper, stranger fare, and – until the EC comics line hit their peak – were far and away the best mystery titles on the market.

When the King quit Marvel for DC in 1970, his new bosses accepted suggestions for a supernatural-themed mature-reading magazine. Spirit World was a superb but poorly received and largely undistributed monochrome magazine. Issue #1 – and only – appeared in the summer of 1971, but editorial cowardice and backsliding scuppered the project before it could get going.

Material from a second, unpublished issue eventually appeared in colour comic books Weird Mystery Tales and Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion, but with his ideas misunderstood, ignored or side-lined by the company, Kirby reverted to more traditional fare. Never truly defeated though, he cannily blended his belief in the marketability of the supernatural with flamboyant superheroics to create another unique and lasting mainstay for the DC universe. The Demon only ran a couple of years but was a concept later talents would make a pivotal figure of the company’s continuity.

Jack’s collaborations with fellow industry pioneer Joe Simon always produced dynamite concepts, unforgettable characters, astounding stories and huge sales, no matter what genre avenues they pursued, blazing trails for so many others to follow and always reshaping the very nature of American comics with their innovations and sheer quality.

As with all their endeavours, Simon & Kirby offered stories shaped by their own sensibilities. Identifying a “mature market” gap in the line of magazines they autonomously packaged for publishers Crestwood and Prize, they realised the sales potential of high-quality spooky material. Thus superb, eerily seminal Black Magic debuted with an October/November 1950 cover-date; supplemented in 1952 by boldly obscure psychological drama anthology The Strange World of Your Dreams. This title was inspired by studio-mate Mort Meskin’s vivid and punishing night terrors: dealing with fantastic situations and – too frequently for comfort – unable or unwilling to provide pat conclusions or happy endings. There was no cosmic justice or calming explanations available to avid readers. Sometimes The Unknown just blew up in your face and you survived – or didn’t. No one escaped whole or unchanged…

Thus, this colossal compendium of cult cartoon capers commences with DC’s revival of Black Magic as a cheap, modified and toned down reprint title.

The second #1 launched with an October/November 1973 cover-date, offering crudely re-mastered versions of some astounding classics. Benefitting from far better reproduction technology here is ‘Maniac!’ (originating in Black Magic #32 September/October 1973): an artistic tour de force and a tale much “homaged” by others in later years, detailing how and why a loving brother stops villagers taking his simple-minded sibling away. This is followed by ‘The Head of the Family!’ (BM #30 May/June 1954, by Kirby & Bruno Premiani) exposing the appalling secret shame of a most inbred clan…

DC’s premier outing ended with a disturbing tale first seen in Black Magic #29 (March-April 1954). Specifically cited in 1954’s anti-comic book Senate Hearings, ‘The Greatest Horror of them All!’ told a tragic tale of a freak hiding amongst lesser freaks…

Cover-dated December 1973/January 1974, DC’s second shot opened with ‘Fool’s Paradise!’ (BM #26, September/October 1953) as a petty thug stumbles into a Mephistophelean deal and reveals how ‘The Cat People’ (#27 November/December 1953) mesmerised and forever marked an unwary tourist in rural Spain before ‘Birth After Death’ (#20 January 1953) retold the true tale of how Sir Walter Scott’s mother survived premature burial, and ‘Those Who Are About to Die!’ (#23 April 1953) sketched out how a painter could predict imminent doom…

‘Nasty Little Man!’ (#18 November 1952) fronted DC’s third foray and gets my vote for creepiest horror art job of all time. Here three hobos discover to their everlasting regret why you shouldn’t pick on short old men with Irish accents. ‘The Angel of Death!’ (#15 August 1952) then details an horrific medical mystery far darker than mere mystic menace…

In the 1950s, as their efforts grew in popularity, S & K were stretched thin. Utilising a staff of assistants and crafting fewer stories themselves meant they could keep all their deadlines.

The ‘Cover art for Black Magic #4, June/July 1974’ swiftly segues into ‘Last Second of Life!’(Black Magic volume 1 #1, October-November 1950 and their only narrative contribution to that particular DC issue) wherein a rich man, obsessed over what the dying see at their final breath, soon regrets the unsavoury lengths he went to in finding out…

There were two in the next issue. ‘Strange Old Bird!’(courtesy of Black Magic #25 June/July 1953) is a gently eerie thriller of a little old lady who gets the gift of renewed life from her tatty and extremely flammable feathered old friend and ‘Up There!’ from the landmark 13th issue (June 1952) – the saga of a beguiling siren stalking the upper stratosphere and scaring the bejabbers out of a cool test pilot…

DC issue #6 reprises ‘The Girl Who Walked on Water!’ (BM #11 April 1952), exposing the immense but fragile power of self-belief whilst the ‘Cover art for Black Magic #7, December 1974/January 1975’ (originally #17 October 1952) provides a chilling report on satanic vestment ‘The Cloak!’ (BM #2 December 1950/January 1951) and ‘Freak!’ (also from #17) shares a country doctor’s deepest shame…

DC’s #8 revisited The Strange World of Your Dreams, beginning with “typical insecurity nightmare” ‘The Girl in the Grave!’ (#2, September/October 1952). The Meskin-inspired anthology of oneiric apparitions eschewed cheap shocks, mindless gore and goofy pun-inspired twist-ending yarns in favour of dark, oppressive suspense, soaked in psychological unease and tension over teasing…

Following up with ‘Send Us Your Dreams’ from the same source (requesting readers’ ideas for spokes-parapsychologist Richard Temple to analyse), DC’s vintage fear-fest concludes with # 9 (April/May 1975) and ‘The Woman in the Tower!’ as originally seen in SWoYD #3, (November/December 1952) detailing the symbolism of oppressive illness…

When his Fourth World Saga stalled, Kirby continued creating new material with Kamandi – his only long-running DC success – and explored WWII in The Losers whilst creating the radical, scarily prophetic, utterly magnificent Omac: One Man Army Corps, but still could not achieve the all-important sales the company demanded. Eventually he was lured back to Marvel and new challenges like Black Panther, Captain America, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Devil Dinosaur, Machine Man and especially The Eternals.

Before that though, he unleashed new concepts and even filled in on established titles. As previously moaned about, however, his 3-issue run on Justice Inc. – adapting 1930s’ licensed pulp star The Avenger – is not included here, but at least his frankly astounding all-action dalliance with martial arts heroics is…

Inked by D. Bruce Berry and debuting in all-new try-out title 1st Issue Special #1 (April 1975), ‘Atlas the Great!’ harked back to the dawn of human civilisation and followed the blockbusting trail of mankind’s first super-powered champion in a blazing Sword & Sorcery yarn.

1st Issue Special #5 (August 1975, Berry) highlighted the passing of a torch as a devout evil-crusher working for an ancient justice-cult retired and tipped his nephew – Public Defender Mark Shaw – to become the latest super-powered ‘Manhunter’, after which a rare but welcome digression into comedy manifested as ‘The Dingbats of Danger Street (1st Issue Special #6, September 1975). With Mike Royer inking, Kirby unleashed a bizarre and hilarious revival of his Kid Gang genre, starring four multi-racial street urchins united for survival and to battle surreal super threats…

Kirby – and Berry – limned the third issue of troubled martial arts series Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter (August/September 1975). Scripted by Denny O’Neil, the savage shocker pits the lone warrior against an army of assassins in ‘Claws of the Dragon!’…

‘Fangs of the Kobra!’ comes from Kobra #1, released with a February/March 1976 cover-date. The tale is strange in both execution and delivery, with Kirby’s original updating of Dumas’ tale The Corsican Brothers reworked by Martin Pasko, Steve Sherman and artists Pablo Marcos & Berry.

It introduces brothers separated at birth. Jason Burr grew up a normal American kid whilst his twin – stolen by an Indian death cult – was reared as Kobra, the most dangerous man alive. Sadly for the super-criminal, young adult Jason is recruited by the authorities because of a psychic connection to the snake lord: a link allowing them to track each other and also feel and experience any harm or hurt the other experiences…

When Simon & Kirby came to National/DC in 1942 one of their earliest projects was revitalising the moribund Sandman strip in Adventure Comics. Their unique blend of atmosphere and dynamism made it one of the most memorable, moody and action-packed series of the period (as you can see by reading their companion volume The Sandman by Simon & Kirby).

The band was brought back together for The Sandman #1 (cover-dated Winter 1974): a one-shot project which kept the name but created a whole new mythology. Scripted by Simon and inked by Royer, ‘General Electric’ revealed how the realm of dreams was policed by a scarlet-&-gold super-crusader dedicated to preventing nightmares escaping into the physical world. With unwilling assistants Glob and Brute, the Sandman also battled real world villains exploiting the unconscious Great Unknown. The heady mix was completed by frail orphan Jed, whose active sleeping imagination seemed to draw trouble to him.

The proposed one-off was a minor hit at a tenuous time in comics publishing, and DC kept it going, even though the originators were not interested. Kirby & Royer did produce the ‘Cover art Sandman #2, April/May 1975’ and ‘Cover art Sandman #3, June/July 1975’ before the King returned to the series with #4.

‘Panic in the Dream Stream’ – August/September 1975 – was scripted by Michael Fleisher, and revealed how a sleepless alien race attempted to conquer Earth through Jed’s fervent dreams: a traumatic channel that also allowed them to invade Sandman’s Dream Realm. The next issue (October/November 1975) heralded an ‘Invasion of the Frog Men!’ into an idyllic parallel dimension whilst the next reunited a classic art team. Wally Wood inked Jack for Fleisher’s ‘The Plot to Destroy Washington D.C.!’. Here mind-bending cyborg Doctor Spider subverted and enslaved Glob and Brute in his eccentric ambition to take over America…

Although Sandman #6 (December 1975/January 1976) was the last published issue, another tale was already completed. It finally appeared in reprint digest Best of DC #22 (March 1982). ‘The Seal Men’s War on Santa Claus’ with Fleisher scripting and Royer handling the brushwork was a sinister seasonal romp with Jed’s wicked foster-family abusing him in classic Scrooge style before the Weaver of Dreams summons him to help save Christmas from bellicose well-armed aquatic mammals…

During the 1980s costumed heroes stopped being an exclusively print cash cow. Many toy companies licensed Fights ‘n’ Tights titans and reaped the benefits of ready-made comic book spin-offs. DC’s most recognizable characters morphed into a top-selling action figure line and were inevitably hived off into a brisk and breezy, fight-frenzied miniseries.

Super Powers launched in July 1984 as a 5-issue miniseries with Kirby covers and his signature characters prominently represented. Jack also plotted the stellar saga with scripter Joey Cavalieri providing dialogue, and Adrian Gonzales & Pablo Marcos illustrating a heady cosmic quest comprising numerous inconclusive battles between agents of Good and Evil.

In ‘Power Beyond Price!’, ultimate nemesis Darkseid despatches four Emissaries of Doom to destroy Earth’s superheroes. Sponsoring Lex Luthor, The Penguin, Brainiac and The Joker the monsters jointly target Superman, Batman & Robin, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman and Hawkman…

The combat escalates in #2’s ‘Clash Against Chaos’ with the Man of Steel and Scarlet Speedster tackling Luthor, whilst Aquaman and Green Lantern pummel the Penguin as Dark Knight and Winged Wonder confront a cosmically-enhanced Harlequin of Hate…

With Alan Kupperberg inking, an inconclusive outcome leads to a regrouping of evil and an attack by Brainiac on Paradise Island. With the ‘Amazons at War’ the Justice League rally until Superman is devolved into a brutal beast who attacks his former allies. All-out battle ensues in ‘Earth’s Last Stand’, before Kirby stepped up to write and illustrate the fateful finale: cosmos-shaking conclusion ‘Spaceship Earth – We’re All on It!’  (November 1984, with Greg Theakston suppling inks)…

A bombastic Super Powers Promotional Poster leads into a nostalgic reunion as DC Comics Presents #84 (August 1985) reunited Jack with his first “Fantastic Four”. ‘Give Me Power… Give Me Your World!’ – written by Bob Rozakis, Kirby & Theakston (with additional art by the legendary Alex Toth) – pits Superman and the Challengers of The Unknown against mind-bending Kryptonian villain Zo-Mar, after which the ‘Cover art for Super DC Giant S-25, July/ August 1971’ (inked by Vince Colletta) segues into the Super Powers miniseries, spanning September 1985 to February 1986.

Scripted by Paul Kupperberg the Kirby/Theakston saga ‘Seeds of Doom!’ recounts how deadly Darkseid despatches techno-organic bombs to destroy Earth, requiring practically every DC hero to unite to end the threat.

With squads of Super Powers travelling to England, Rome, New York, Easter Island and Arizona the danger is magnified ‘When Past and Present Meet!’ as the seeds warp time and send Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter back to days of King Arthur…

Issue #3 (November 1985) finds Red Tornado, Hawkman and Green Arrow plunged back 75 million years in ‘Time Upon Time Upon Time!’ even as Doctor Fate, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman are trapped in 1087 AD, battling stony-faced giant aliens on Easter Island.

Superman and Firestorm discover ‘There’s No Place Like Rome!’as they battle Darkseid’s agent Steppenwolf in the first century whilst Batman, Robin and Flash visit a future where Earth is the new Apokolips for #5’s ‘Once Upon Tomorrow’, before Earth’s scattered champions converge on Luna to spectacularly squash the schemes-within-schemes of ‘Darkseid of the Moon!’ …

Rounding out the astounding cavalcade of wonders is a selection of Kirby-crafted Profiles pages from Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe 1985-1987: specifically, Ben Boxer, the Boy Commandos, Challengers of the Unknown, Crazy Quilt, Etrigan the Demon, Kamandi, The Newsboy Legion, Sandman (the Dream Stream version from 1974), Sandy, the Golden Boy and Witchboy Klarion.

Kirby was and remains unique and uncompromising. His words and pictures comprise an unparalleled, hearts-and-minds grabbing delight no comics lover can possibly resist. If you’re not a fan or simply not prepared to see for yourself what all the fuss has been about then no words of mine will change your mind.

That doesn’t alter the fact that his life’s work from 1937 to his death in 1994 shaped the entire American comics scene – and indeed the entire comics planet – affecting the lives of billions of readers and thousands of creators in all areas of artistic endeavour for generations and is still winning new fans and apostles every day, from the young and naive to the most cerebral of intellectuals. His work is instantly accessible, irresistibly visceral, deceptively deep and simultaneously mythic and human.

He is the King and will never be supplanted.
© 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 2013 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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(The Tragedie of) Macbeth


By William Shakespeare, adapted by K. Briggs (Avery Hill Publishing)
ISBN: 978-1-910395-73-8 (HB)

Depending on how you liken it, William Shakespeare may be one of the most prolific comic scripters in the business. His mighty works have been staged and adapted as graphic narratives for decades in every language you might consider, and frequently allow contemporary artistic collaborators opportunity to be bold, experimental and vibrantly daring.

This is certainly the case with the lovingly crafted vision of American illustrator, performer and educator K. Briggs (Resistance, The New Chapter Tarot) who opts for colour-blind and gender-balanced casting to recount a visually striking and vivid interpretation which makes Scotland itself a player in the mix. Combining the full text with an abundance of mixed media including collage, paints, markers and pure linework, in a procession of nature-informed, magically-motif-ed page designs referencing ancient charts and maps, Illuminated manuscripts, tapestries, Tarot iconography, medical grimoires, nigh-abstract mood-enhancing tableaux and found historical artworks. These function as a moving backdrop to the actors unfolding the tale before your eyes.

What you already know: valiant general Macbeth meets three witches after saving the kingdom of his liege lord Duncan, and comes away with the notion that he will be King instead. Egged on by greed, ambition and his wife, the Thane of Cawdor personally kills the King whilst the monarch graces them with a visit. The red trail includes framing the guards and heirs and then progressively removing all threats to his reign.

However, both he and his Lady cannot escape their own consciences and the witches’ prophecy leads to delusion, disaster, derangement and death, but never glory…

As far as we can tell, Macbeth was first performed in 1606, written for Shakespeare’s patron King James I of England/VI of Scotland. It is an epic tragedy of ill-starred political ambition, the psychological costs of guilt, the consequences of betrayal and inevitability of tyranny, all wrapped up in veneer of supernatural horror.

The story is one of the greatest in world literature, but also a studied hatchet job, with the Bard shamelessly currying favour by ignoring facts and bigging up James’ distant ancestor and antecedent Macduff. The text first appeared in print in the Folio of 1623, but there have been plenty of editions since then.

The immortal story has frequently made it into comics form. If you’re one of the precious few people unfamiliar with the tale in its intended format (firstly, shame on you and secondly, go watch it right now; there are many excellent filmed versions in every possible language), this imaginatively welcoming rendition is extremely enthralling and powerful…

Moreover, the plot lends itself to many eras and milieux. You may even have already enjoyed it in epics as varied as Joe MacBeth (UK 1951), Throne of Blood (Japan 1957), Teenage Gang Debs (USA 1966), Men of Respect (USA 1991), and Mandaar (India 2021), amongst so many more interpretations – or even thematically as Blackadder Season 1…

Maybe you have seen it all before, but this is better….

Or if you will permit, “By the pricking of my thumbs, Something Wicked your way comes…”
© K. Briggs, 2023. All rights reserved.

Macbeth will be published on 23rd July 2023 and is available for pre-order now.

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Pet Peeves


By Nicole Goux (Avery Hill Publishing)
ISBN: 978-1-910395-72-1 (PB)

Since college, Bobbie has just coasted. Saddled with massive debt, she lives with her lifelong friend and co Ohio U alumnus Clara. She pays her – far less than fair – share of the rent by tending bar in crappy booze-&-music dive The Pig’s Knuckles: beguiled by a lack of professional impetus, and the (constantly never-materialising) promise of a performance slot, someday. There’s late starts and free drinks to offset being harassed by the frat-boy clientele. At least there’s no pressure and plenty of time to work on her songs and it keeps her away from Clara’s ghastly cat Poptart and obnoxious new girlfriend…

Just getting by is bad enough, with manager Richard always stalling her and customers being jerks, but it all gets too much when her ex Carlos comes in with his new trophy trollop and deliberately tries to spoil Bobbie’s day. In response all she can do is drink on the job.

Too smashed to drive – or even hold her keys – Bobbie staggers home and is adopted by the ugliest dog she has ever seen…

She wakes up at home after the strangest dreams, with the mutt happily ensconced and already making trouble.

She calls him Barkley, and he’s an instant wedge between her and Clara, creating utter chaos and revolting messes, tormenting Poptart and somehow taking up so much time that Bobbie even stops writing music. At least he cares about her and always helps alleviate the drudgery and misery of her life…

What Bobbie doesn’t see is how that life is spiralling: slowly changing into something even more petty and desperate…

Eschewing her regular digital process, Eisner-award nominee Nicole Goux (for illustrating DC’s Shadow of the Batgirl) goes old-school and back to pen &-ink basics in Pet Peeves. Unleashing her own narrative notions in a boldly experimental, creepily compelling, itchily abrasive yet understated urban horror story trading marauding monsters for animosity, angst, disappointment and despair, the author presents here a youthful cast who aren’t shallow morons and slasher-fodder in a beastly fable where the protagonist is the victim and the secondary characters slowly turn on each other in a most engaging and appetising way because of an unwelcome new addition to the group…

Deploying imaginative page layouts reminiscent of Ditko’s Mr A and Avenging World, Goux (Forest Hills Bootleg Society, Everyone is Tulip, F*ck Off Squad at Silver Sprocket Bicycle Club) delivers a charming edgy fable about surrendering your dreams that conceals a wicked and chilling shock ending to die for…
© Nicole Goux, 2023. All rights reserved.

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Marvel Visionaries: John Romita, Sr.


By John Romita Sr., with Stan Lee, Roger Stern & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-1806-4 (TPB/Digital edition)

We lost one of last giants of the industry this week when John Romita died on Monday. He was 93 and his work is inextricably woven into the Marvel canon: permeating and supporting the entire company’s output from top to tail and from the Sixties to right now… and even before the beginning of the House of Ideas actually began. 

One of the industry’s most polished stylists and a true cornerstone of the Marvel Comics phenomenon, the elder John Romita began his comics career in the late 1940s (ghosting for other artists) before striking out under his own colours. eventually illustrating horror and other anthology tales for Stan Lee at Timely/Atlas.

John Victor Romita was born and bred in Brooklyn, entering the world on January 24th 1930. From Brooklyn Junior High School he moved to the famed Manhattan School of Industrial Art, graduating in 1947. After spending six months creating a medical exhibit for Manhattan General Hospital he moved into comics, in 1949, with work for Famous Funnies. A “day job” working with Forbes Lithograph was abandoned when a friend found him inking and ghosting assignments, until he was drafted in 1951. Showing his portfolio to a US army art director, after boot camp at Fort Dix New Jersey, Romita was promoted to corporal, stationed on Governors Island in New York Bay doing recruitment posters and allowed to live off-base… in Brooklyn. During that period he started doing the rounds and struck up a freelancing acquaintance with Stan Lee at Atlas Comics…

He illustrated horror, science fiction, war stories, westerns, Waku, Prince of the Bantu (in Jungle Tales), a fine run of cowboy adventures starring The Western Kid and 1954’s abortive revival of Captain America, and more, before an industry implosion derailed his – and many other – budding careers. Romita eventually found himself trapped in DC’s romance comics division – a job he hated – before making the reluctant jump again to the resurgent House of Ideas in 1965. As well as steering the career of the wallcrawler and so many other Marvel stars, his greatest influence was felt when he became Art Director in 197. He had a definitive hand in creating or shaping many key characters, such as Mary Jane Watson, Peggy Carter, The Kingpin, The Punisher, Luke Cage, Wolverine, Satana ad infinitum.

This celebratory volume from 2019 re-presents Amazing Spider-Man #39, 40, 42, 50, 108, 109, 365; Captain America & The Falcon #138; Daredevil #16-17; Fantastic Four #105-106; Untold Tales Of Spider-Man #-1; Vampire Tales #2; and material from Strange Tales #4; Menace #6, #11; Young Men #24, 26; Western Kid 12; Tales To Astonish #77; Tales Of Suspense #77 spanning cover-dates December 1951 to July 1997. It opens with a loving Introduction from John Romita Jr., sharing the golden days and anecdotal insights on the “family business”. Not only the second son but also his mother Virginia Romita were key Marvel employees: she was the highly efficient and utterly adored company Traffic Manager for decades.

A chronological cavalcade of wonders begins with official first Marvel masterwork ‘It!’. Possibly scripted by Lee and taken from Strange Tales #4 (December 1951), we share a moment of sheer terror as an alien presence tales over the newest member of a typical suburban family…

Next is verifiable Lee & Romita shocker ‘Flying Saucer!’ (Menace #6, August 1953) and a sneaky invasion attack preceding the first Romita superhero saga as seen in Young Men #24, December 1953.

In the mid-1950s Atlas tried to revive their Timely-era “Big Three” (and super-hero comics in general) on the back of a putative Sub-Mariner television series intended to cash in on the success of The Adventures of Superman show. This led to some impressively creative comics, but no appreciable results or rival in costumed dramas.

Eschewing here the Human Torch and Sub-Mariner segments – and with additional art from Mort Lawrence – ‘Captain America: Back From the Dead’ features a communist Red Skull attacking the UN, with school teacher Steve Rogers and top student Bucky coming out of retirement to tackle the crisis. The Star-Spangled Avenger gets another bite of the cherry in ‘Captain America Turns Traitor’ (Young Men Comics #26, March 1954) with guest shots for Subby and the Torch as the Sentinel of Liberty apparently goes from True Blue to a deadly shade of Red…

Latterly reimagined as one of the modern Agents of Atlas, ‘I, the Robot!’ began as a deadly threat to humanity in Menace #11, and is followed here by a yarn from Romita’s first residency as the wandering hero Tex Dawson and his dauntless dog Lightning and super steed Whirlwind survive sudden stampedes and tackle vile horse butchering killers in a tale from his own eponymous title (Western Kid #12, October 1956)…

Atlas collapsed soon after, due to market conditions when a disastrous distribution decision resulted in their output being reduced to 16 titles per month, distributed by arch rival National Comics/DC. Under those harsh conditions the Marvel revolution started small but soon snowballed, drawing Romita back from ad work and drawing romances for DC.

Romita’s return began with inking and a few short pencilling jobs for the little powerhouse publisher’s split books. Tales To Astonish #77 revealed ‘Bruce Banner is the Hulk!’ (March 1966, written by Lee, laid out by Jack Kirby and finished by the returning prodigal) with the gamma goliath trapped in the future and battling the Asgardian Executioner, whilst in his home era, Rick Jones is pressured into revealing his awful secret…

The Captain America story for May 1966’s Tales of Suspense # 77 added inker Frank Giacoia/Frank Ray to the creative mix for ‘If a Hostage Should Die!’: recounting a moment from the hero’s wartime exploits with a woman he loved and lost. These days we know her as Captain Peggy Carter…

After a brief stint in his preferred role as inker, Romita took over illustrating Daredevil with #12, following a stunning run by Wally Wood & Bob Powell. Initially Kirby provided page layouts to help Romita assimilate the style and pacing of Marvel tales, but soon “Jazzy Johnny” was in full control of his pages. He drew DD until #19, by which time he had been handed the assignment of a lifetime… The Amazing Spider-Man!

A backdoor pilot for that jump came in Daredevil #16-17 (May and June 1996) with ‘Enter… Spider-Man’ wherein criminal mastermind Masked Marauder manipulates the amazing arachnid into attacking the Man Without Fear. The schemer had big plans, the first of which was having DD and the wallcrawler kill each other, but after Spidey almost exposes Matt Murdock’s secret in ‘None are so Blind!’ they mend fences and go after the real foe…

By 1966 Stan Lee and Steve Ditko could no longer work together on their greatest creation. After increasingly fraught months Ditko resigned, leaving Marvel’s second best-selling title without an illustrator. Nervous new guy Romita was handed the ball and told to run. ‘How Green Was My Goblin!’ and ‘Spidey Saves the Day!’ – “Featuring the End of the Green Goblin!” – as it so dubiously proclaimed) was the climactic battle fans had been clamouring for since the viridian villain’s debut. It didn’t disappoint – and still doesn’t today.

Reprinted from issues #39 and 40 (August & September 1966 and inked by old DC colleague Mike Esposito as “Mickey Demeo”), this remains one of the best Spider-Man yarns ever, and heralded a run of classic sagas from the Lee/Romita team that actually saw sales rise, even after the departure of the seemingly irreplaceable Ditko. If you need further convincing, it sees the villain learn Peter Parker’s identity, capture and torture our hero and share his own origins before falling in the first of many final clashes…

Amazing Spider-Man #42 heralded ‘The Birth of a Super-Hero!’, with John Jameson (Jonah’s astronaut son) mutated by space-spores and going on a Manhattan rampage. It’s 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 never 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 years he’s been ducking the “hottest chick in New York”! I’m sure we all know how MJ has built her place in the Marvel Universe…

Issue #50 (July 1967) featured the debut of one of Marvel’s greatest villains in the first chapter of a 3-part yarn that saw the first stirrings of romance between Parker and Gwen, the death of a cast regular, and re-established the webslinger’s war on cheap thugs and common criminals. Here it all begins with a crisis of conscience that compels him to quit in ‘Spider-Man No More!’

Romita was clearly considered a safe pair of hands and “go-to-guy” by Stan Lee. When Jack Kirby left to create his incredible Fourth World for DC, Romita was handed the company’s other flagship title – in the middle of an on-going storyline. Here we focus on Fantastic Four #105-106 (December 1970 and January 1971 and both inked with angular, brittle brilliance by John Verpoorten). and ‘The Monster’s Secret’.

Scripted by Lee, they comprise a low-key yet extremely effective suspense thriller played against a resuming subplot of Johnny Storm’s failing romance. When his Inhuman girlfriend Crystal is taken ill – preparatory to writing her out of the series – Reed Richards’ diligent examination reveals a potential method of curing the misshapen Thing of his rocky curse.

Tragically, as Ben Grimm is prepped for the radical process in ‘The Monster in the Streets!’ a mysterious energy-beast begins tearing up Manhattan. By the time ‘The Monster’s Secret!’ is exposed, the team strongman is almost dead and Crystal is gone… seemingly forever.

Romita briefly and regularly returned to the Star-Spangled Avenger in the 1970s and June 1971’s Captain America & The Falcon #138 reveals how ‘It Happens in Harlem!’ sporting a full art job by Romita, Lee’s tale sees new hero The Falcon foolishly try to prove himself by capturing the outlaw Spider-Man, only to be himself kidnapped by gang lord Stoneface. Cue a spectacular three-way team up and just desserts all round…

The Amazing Spider-Man was never far from Romita’s drawing board and in #108 the secret of high school bully Flash Thompson – freshly returned from the ongoing war in Indochina – finally unfolds ‘Vengeance from Vietnam!’ With Romita inking his own pencils, it details how our troubled war hero was connected to an American war atrocity that left a peaceful village devastated and a benign wise man comatose and near-dead. The events consequently set a vengeful cult upon the saddened soldier’s guilt-ridden heels, which all the Arachnid’s best efforts could not deflect or deter.

The campaign of terror is only concluded in #109 as ‘Enter: Dr. Strange!’ sees the Master of the Mystic Arts divine the truth and set things right… but only after an extraordinary amount of unnecessary violence…

Marvel was expanding and experimenting as always and a horror boom saw them move into mature reader monochrome magazines. In Vampire Tales #2 (October 1973), Roy Thomas scripted a short vignette of a woman apparently imperilled who turned out to be anything but. Delivered in moody line and wash, Devil’s Daughter Satana began her predations via Romita before joining the Macabre Marvel Universe. Her debut is supplanted by a house ad…

Commemorating the hero’s 30th anniversary, Amazing Spider-Man 365 (August 1992) carried a bunch of extras including sentimental reverie ‘I Remember Gwen’ (Tom DeFalco, Lee & Romita) before we close with a wild ride from Roger Stern, inked by Al Milgrom.

‘There’s a Man Who Leads a Life of Danger’ comes from July 1997’s Untold Tales Of Spider-Man #minus 1: an adventure of Peter Parker’s parents and part of the Flashback publishing event. It pits the married secret agents against deadly Baroness Adelicia von Krupp and guest-stars a pre-Weapon-X Logan/Wolverine in a delightful spy-romp.

Added extras here include Romita’s unused splash page from Young Men Comics #24, character designs for Robbie Robertson, Mary Jane, Captain Stacy and his daughter Gwen, John Jameson, The Prowler, Wolverine and The Punisher; Fan sketches and doodles; an Amazing Spider-Man poster (painted); the covers of Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine #1 & 2 (ditto) plus original proposal art for the Amazing Spider-Man newspaper strip. There are also covers for F.O.O.M. #18, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 (1987), New Avengers #8 and Mighty Marvel Heroes & Villains (with Alex Ross) and a vintage self-portrait.

This is absolutely one of the most cohesive and satisfactory career compilations available and one no fan should miss.
© 2019 MARVEL.

For a slightly different selection, I’d advise also tracking down Marvel Masters: The art of John Romita Sr (ISBN: 978-1-84653-403-4), although that’s not available in digital formats.

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Misery City


By K. I. Zachopoulos & Vassilis Gogtzilas (Markosia)
ISBN: 978-1-905692-81-1 (TPB)

For purists every literary genre is sacrosanct – unless you can come up with a way to mix or blend them with such style, verve and panache that something new is born which feels like it’s always been one of the gang…

Lurking in the shadows since first released in 2013, Misery City is a dark, bleak and ferociously introspective tale that relates the cases of Max Murray. He’s a dowdy, down-at-heel private eye stalking the meanest streets imaginable, in a vast and ever-changing metropolis situated on the outskirts of Hell – and, no, that’s not poetic license or flowery prose, it’s a satnav instruction…

Following an effusive Foreword from arch-stylist Sam Keith and Introduction from writer J. M. DeMatteis, the first 5 issues of the original comics series unfold in this pocket novel package: a stark, unrelenting procession of grimly trenchant case-files starring a shabby, unshockable shamus just trying to get by uncovering other people’s secrets whilst making some sense of the most pitiless town in creation.

Of course, Max has a few secrets of his own…

The black parade begins on the ‘Night of the Corpse’ when the world-weary peeper is attacked by a giant skeleton and must employ his beloved and handy handgun Fat Betty to end the undead animate. Times are both tough and weird, so he doesn’t give it much thought before retiring to his dingy office to await a new client and case…

When the phone rings it’s that sexy waitress Pakita from The Bar. Max has suffered the serious hots for the hot totty simply forever, but his rising hopes take a dive when the mercurial Mexican only hires him to check up on her cheating boyfriend.

With heavy heart and azure cojones, the gumshoe goes looking, utterly unaware that an old enemy has returned seeking vengeance. Professor Ego was penned in unimaginable torment because of Murray, and now he’s out and wasting no time in sending a plague of devils to secure some payback…

As a host of demonic clowns hunt the private detective, Max finds Pakita’s man. However, catching the faithless dog with another woman drives the PI crazy, and Murray goes ballistic, beating the cheating Dick to a pulp. Appalled and repentant, he then heads over to Pakita’s place to apologise but finds her gone, snatched by his long-forgotten foe.

Answering the ‘Call of Ego’, Max heads for the horror’s Tower hideout and a brutal showdown…

Despite his shoddy appearance, this detective is no dumb palooka. His secret vice is reading, and Max’s unceasing internal monologue is peppered with quotes and allusions from poets like Dante and Tennyson. They’re the only thing comforting him as ‘A Wooden Coffin for Max Murray part I’ sees him taking the Hell train to a surveillance job in the worst part of Misery City.

Horny as always, Max is disappointed to discover what the owner of that so-sexy French voice on the phone really looks like, but nevertheless agrees to check out the abandoned timber-framed family house the tearful widow fears property developers crave…

Maybe he should have been more suspicious, but the client’s stunning daughter Josephine had turned his head and all points south…

Upon entering the ramshackle old pile, a colossal zombie fiend attacks and before he can react, the entire house explodes out of the ground and rockets into orbit. Lost in space and out of options, the gumshoe reveals a few of his own incredible survival secrets, destroying the monster (said client’s vengeful and very angry husband) in ‘A Wooden Coffin for Max Murray part II’ before escaping the timber trap to settle scores with the murderous she-devils. It appears Max is on a first name basis with the Big Boss of the Inferno, and the head man is keen on renewing a satanic acquaintance with the understandably reluctant detective…

These malign mystery yarns conclude with a stunning surprise in ‘The Last Drag of a Pocket God’ with Max dogging a phantom with astounding delusions of grandeur. However, after sending Marty “The Voice” Coronado to his final rest, an uncomfortable conversation with Pakita forces the shamus to confront his own long-suppressed thoughts: examining the illusions that keep him going on the pitiless streets of Misery City…

Potently targeted vulgarity and a brusque, verbally confrontational narrative style gives Kostas (Mister Universe, The Fang, The Cloud) Zachopoulos’ manic scripts a supremely savage edge, whilst the freakish, surreal Horror-Noir milieu is perfectly captured by frequent collaborator/illustrator Vassilis (The Biggest Bang) Gogtzilas’ astoundingly frenetic art, delivered in a melange of assorted styles.

This mean, moody and menacing chronicle is topped off with a host of powerful pin-ups and a cover art gallery to further disquiet and beguile the unwary reader.
Misery City ™ & © 2013 Kostas Zachopoulos, Vassilis Gogtzilas and Markosia Enterprises, Ltd. All rights reserved.

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The Wild Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Volume Two


By Will Murray, illustrated by Gary Carbon, Joe DeVito, Jason C. Eckhardt (Odyssey Publications)
ISBN: 979-8-379327-44-6 (PB/Digital edition)

I’m always saying it, in fact we all are: Something Strange is Going On. Let’s address that situation with a week of detective-themed reviews…

Way back in the days when even the shabbiest waif or emphysema-riddled ragamuffin could read, story periodicals for young and old ruled. Countless stories recounted the exploits of adventurers, do-gooders and especially detectives. None ever matched the cachet and pulling power of Sherlock Holmes. Even today the meta-real household name continues and thrives, both in countless reworkings and adaptations of canonical classics and in new material by and for devoted and dedicated admirers ever-hungry for more…

Holmes wasn’t the first but he is most assuredly the most popular and well known. His success spawned a storm of imitators and tribute acts – some even going on to immortality of their own. In1893, just as The Strand Magazine published the “last Sherlock Holmes story” (The Adventure of the Final Problem – and it nearly was as Conan Doyle held out against incredible pressure from fans, editors and bankers until 1901 when The Hound of the Baskervilles began serialisation) another profoundly British criminologist was beginning his own spectacular multimedia career: Sexton Blake…

As described by physician Arthur Conan Doyle via the narratives of companion and stalwart factotum Dr. John Watson, Sherlock Holmes’ fictional exploits (54 short stories and 4 novels beginning in 1887) popularised and formulated detective fiction: mythologising the processes of observation, deduction, logical reasoning and forensic science. Britain became a nation of crime fans and Holmes went on to repeat the process for most of the planet…

The first exploit was A Study in Scarlet, published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual 1887, with the majority of stories thereafter in The Strand Magazine. Inevitably, the character soon escaped the page to appear in countless, stories, plays, films, television shows, adverts and anything else canny entrepreneurs could think of.

Although graphic adaptations are plentiful, original English language comics have not excelled with regard to the Great Detective: a trio of newspapers strips, brief comic book runs by Charlton (1955) and DC Comics (1975) and some few later miniseries by independent publishers such as Caliber and Moonstone. Holmes is, however, an evergreen guest collaborator: popping up to aid everyone from Batman to The Muppets to The Shadow himself.

If you can find them, Scarlet in Gaslight: An Adventure in Terror and A Case of Blind Fear by Martin Powell & Seppo Makinen would provide resolute pictorialist devotees with a rare and worthwhile treat: showing the Master Ratiocinator testing himself against other literary touchstones of the period – specifically Bram Stoker’s Lord of the Undead in alliance with the truly evil Professor Moriarty and then H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man…

He has also faced such contemporary challengers as The Phantom of the Opera and Mr Hyde in the company of Henry Jekyll, Toulouse L’Autrec and Oscar Wilde…

Writers and fans alike share an oddly perverse but clearly overwhelming desire to “mix and match” favourite literary figures: especially from the Victorian Era, that birthplace of so many facets of popular culture. Holmes is so much a household name that his inclusion in any venture is a virtual guarantee of commercial success, but regrettably often no guarantee of quality. Of course, no one can get too much of a good thing and happily Holmes and Watson have thrived under the aegis of many creative stars ever since Doyle’s death. Writers adding to the oeuvre include Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Anthony Burgess, A.A. Milne, P.G. Wodehouse, John Dickson Carr, Anthony Horowitz and so many more, and today I’m sharing the efforts of another with a well-earned reputation in the field….

Will Murray is something of a classic fiction force of nature. Journalist, editor and author, he produces scholarly histories and critiques on cult characters in the Will Murray Pulp History Series (as seen in today’s other posting) and celebrates the pulp experience in general and especially fading genres via new prose stories for the canon of so many landmark literary characters and concepts. Through print, audio and eBooks, Murray has extended the legends and shelf life of The Shadow, Doc Savage (and Pat Savage), The Spider, King Kong, The Green Lama, The Bat, The Avenger, The Destroyer (Remo Williams), Tarzan and The C’thulu mythos, He is especially adept at crafting combinations: teaming individual stars and concepts in team -up tales such as King Kong vs Tarzan…

You’ll probably want to see – or may already enjoy – Murray’s comics too: gems like prose novel Nick Fury, Agent of S.H. I.E.L.D.: Empyre, and visual delights like The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (co-created with Steve Ditko), Spider-Man, Hulk, Secret Six, The Destroyer, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Spider, The Gray Seal, Ant-Man, Green Hornet, Zorro, The Phantom and more…

These stories were originally published in magazines and books from MX Publishing, Thrilling Adventure Yarns and Belanger Books, and are set in various periods of the consulting Detective’s long and prestigious career. This tome is the second and latest of two volumes and I’m happy to confide that I enjoyed it so much when my comp copy arrived that I actually paid with my own money to get the first one too…

Following an effusive and informative ‘Introduction’ discussing how this collection concentrates on stories challenging Holmes’ rational mindset and non-rationalistic encounters, the casebook reopens with ‘The Singular Problem of the Extinguished Wicks’ as the investigator reveals his fascination with Spontaneous Human Combustion and its effect on a particularly gruesome demise, after which ‘The Mystery of the Spectral Shelter’ sees Holmes approached by a Hansom cab driver who has had a decidedly close call with a vanishing café used by his professional compatriots…

The irascible ratiocinator’s perennial problem with mind-numbing boredom is highlighted in ‘The Problem of the Surrey Samson’ and assuaged by a theatrical turn whose seemingly miraculous strength does not endure Holmes’ close scrutiny, whilst ‘The Uncanny Adventure of the Hammersmith Wonder’ exposes a body in incredible circumstance and – once properly pondered – sees the detective solve a long-hidden generational crime…

Weird – but still plausible – science and a truly grotesque murder inform ‘The Repulsive Matter of the Bloodless Banker’ before Murray adds his own choice pick to that army of previously established associates.

A ghost story – or is it? – bringing mysteries of ancient Egypt to Edwardian England, ‘The Adventure of the Abominable Adder’ is set in 1903 and introduces the champion of rational thought to his equally estimable but operationally opposite number. This tale sees Algernon Blackwood’s spiritual detective John Silence – Physician Extraordinary also consulted by a terrified client with both valiant advocates needed to solve the mystery.

Silence was among the best of a wave of “ghost-breaker” heroes from that death-obsessed era, appearing in six stories by the prolific Blackwood (1869-1951), beginning with ‘A Psychical Invasion’ (1908).

A genteel and refined war of world-views having been declared, Mind and Soul met again in ‘The Adventure of the Sorrowing Mudlark’ as Dr. Silence asks the esteemed logician to assist a dead woman trapped in an eternal search, before a mythological mystery manifests when a green-hued lad long ago abducted by fairies abruptly returns to a rustic village in ‘The Adventure of the Emerald Urchin’, with Silence again offering unique insights…

With Holmes assuming the narrator’s role, 1908-set conundrum ‘The Adventure of the Expelled Master’ details how he deduced the manner in which a maths teacher was actually murdered despite his body being observed flying up a chimney and rocketing across the heavens, before this embassage into eerie esoterica concludes with Watson’s already crucial role in the stories expanded. It’s 1915 and whilst involved in the war effort the military doctor seeks to drag his old comrade out of retirement to verify the provenance of an unearthed hoard seemingly minted in fabled Atlantis in ‘The Conundrum of the Questionable Coins’…

Wrapping up the investigations are fulsome biographical dossiers on Murray in ‘About the Author’ and artist Gary Carbon in ‘About the Artist’.

Compelling, rewarding and just plain fun to read, these tales are a delight and a must for any Holmesian follower.
© 2023 by Will Murray. All rights reserved. Front cover image & frontispiece © 2023 by Gary Carbon. All rights reserved. Back cover image © 2023 by Joe DeVito. All rights reserved.

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Shrine of the Morning Mist volume 1


By Hiroki Ugawa, translated & adapted by Jeremiah Bourque & Hope Donovan (TokyoPop)
ISBN: 978-1-59816-343-8 (Tank?bon TPB)

Much manga may be characterised by a fast, raucous and even occasionally choppy style and manner of delivery but the first volume of Hiroki Ugawa’s atmospheric supernatural thriller -a moody saga of young love – takes its time to get all the elements in play rather than simply steaming in all guns blazing.

Set in Hiroshima Prefecture (noted for shrines and beautiful mist-draped landscapes) and specifically the city of Miyoshi, Asagiri no Miko or Shrine of the Morning Mist first appeared serialised in monthly periodical Young King OURS between Match 2000 and April 2013: running eventually to 9 volumes of eerie mystery, romance comedy and demonic action.

The saga opens in traditionally portentous manner and carefully unfolds the story of young Yuzu Hieda, one of 3 sisters who are hereditary “Miko” (a combination of shaman, spirit medium and priestess attached to Shinto shrines and temples) who attend to local places of worship. The siblings are particularly gifted with special powers to combat all the supernatural threats menacing the region.

Little more than a teenager herself, schoolgirl Yuzu is troubled by the reappearance of childhood sweetheart – and cousin – Tadahiro Amatsu. After 5 years away, he has come home only to be immediately targeted by evil forces. Despite being teased by sisters Tama and Kurako, Yuzu accompanies them to the railway station just in time to save the prodigal from a sinister, sorcerous old man obsessed with the boy’s blood.

Invited to stay with the Miko in their home, the withdrawn youngster is disquieted by the teasing and references to his past relationship with Yuzu, even though the father of the house proves to be a far-more unforgiving prospect…

Mystic forces are gathering round the introspective, solitary kid – with repercussions felt as far away as Tokyo – and over their dad’s objections Tadahiro is pressured into staying at the Hieda home where he can be properly safeguarded. However, next morning when the girls are at school, a monolithic, cyclopean demon attacks the house. The assault is instantly perceived by Yuzu who dashes back to save him, only to find her long-absent mother already there, having driven off the dark “kami”. Well, one of them, at least…

Typically even Mother Miyuki thinks Tadahiro and Yuzu are a perfect, predestined couple…

With questions swirling about him, such as “why is everybody so interested in my blood?” and “whatever happened to my parents?”, shell-shocked Tadahiro is blissfully unaware that the Miko are forming a protective Council around him, but even he knows something is up when dark newcomer Koma introduces herself and reveals she knew his long-departed father. Intimately…

To Be Continued…

This uncharacteristically slow-paced, contemplative and almost elegiac tale mystery was partially inspired by a classical tale recorded on the historic Inu Mononoke scroll and Hiroki Ugawa’s beautiful illustration perfectly captures a sense of brooding ancient powers at war, even during the most juvenile set-piece moments of awkward young romance and generational embarrassment comedy.

A slightly off-beat but intriguing tale for older readers, this monochrome volume is currently unavailable in digital editions but still readily available through online vendors.
© 2001 Hiroki Ugawa. All rights reserved. English text © 2006 TokyoPop inc.

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Resurrectionists: Near Death Experienced


By Fred Van Lente, Maurizio Rosenzweig & Moreno DiNisio (Dark Horse)
ISBN: 978-1-61655-760-7 (TPB/Digital edition)

Surely everybody loves a cool crime caper yarn? If so, and yet still seeking a little something extra, here scripter Fred Van Lente (Action Philosophers, Archer & Armstrong, Cowboys & Aliens, X-Men: Noir, Brainboy, MODOK’s 11) delivers another riotously rewarding, big-picture concept to astound fans of films and funnybooks alike.

Illustrated by Italian team Maurizio Rosenzweig (Frontiersman, Laida Odius, Davide Golia, Clown Fatale) and colourist Moreno DiNisio (The Scumbag, Black Science, Dead Body Road), the tale is both frighteningly simple and terrifyingly complex…

Once upon a time 3000 years ago in ancient Egypt, an architect named Tao finished a tomb for a dangerously ambitious priest. Unfortunately, august cleric Herihor yearned to be Pharaoh instead of the Pharaoh (yeah, that’s an utterly unconnected Iznogoud reference!) and felt that the necessary precautions to ensure his ambitions in this life and the next should include killing everyone who worked on the project, …even Tao’s pregnant wife Maya…

Meanwhile in the present day, major thief Jericho Way is stealing relics to order for a mysterious client with big pockets and extremely fixed tastes. The disgraced former architect has no idea why the mystery man only wants Egyptian stuff, or that the so-shy client is technically someone he’s known for many centuries…

With brother-thief Mac, Jericho is planning to boost some scrolls from a museum, but has become aggravatingly distracted by dreams of himself in another time and place. The master planner is blithely unaware that a lot of very strange and dangerous people are somehow cognizant of the changes he’s going through – after all they’ve been there before innumerable times – and are now extremely concerned about the life-decisions he’s going to make over the next few days…

The first inkling that something is up comes after a particularly intense “dream” as Jericho realises that he can now read the ancient Egyptian scrawl on the scroll he’s just swiped…

Simultaneously, long ago, in Herihor’s tomb, Tao – having escaped his pursuers but now hopelessly lost – settles down to die. Soon he is shocked and astounded to see another face…

Tomb robbers – also called “Resurrectionists” – have already broken into his impregnable design but their triumph now offers him a way out …and opportunity for revenge…

And as Jericho shares his memories of those robbers with Mac, he notes the recurring resemblances to recent acquaintances, and it all becomes clear that he and his new co-crew have been working on that revenge and this robbery for a very long time indeed…

Revealing a mystic vendetta than spans millennia and an undying love affair, this supremely engaging supernatural saga sees a gang of archetypal thieves locked in an eternal duel of wits and wills against a monster who has co-opted the Afterlife through the most devious and patient methods ever conceived. However, since the ragtag band of rogues can call upon the experiences of every person they have ever been, maybe this time they’re going to pull off the Crime of the Ages and at last obtain vengeance and peace in equal measure…

A delicious melange of spooky reincarnation yarn, edgy conspiracy-thriller and all-action buddy-movie come heist-caper, this is a brilliantly conceived and executed tale with plenty of plot twists you don’t want me to reveal, but which will intoxicate and astound all lovers of devious and deranged dark fantasy.

…And where’s the movie of this masterpiece?
Resurrectionists © 2014, 2015 Fred Van Lente and Maurizio Rosenzweig. All rights reserved.

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Doc Savage® Archives volume One: The Curtis Magazine Era


By Doug Moench, John Warner, John Whitmore, illustrated by John Buscema, Tony DeZuñiga, John Romita, Rico Rival, Marie Severin, Neal Adams, Marshall Rogers, Val Mayerik, Rich Buckler, Klaus Janson, Ed Davis, Tom Sutton, Ernie Chan, Bob Layton, Dick Giordano & various (Dynamite Entertainment)
ISBN: 978-1-60690-514-2 (HB/Digital edition)

Before comic books, thrill-starved readers endured the travails of the Great Depression by regular doses of extraordinary excitement derived from cheaply produced periodical novels dubbed – due to the low-grade paper they were printed on – “pulps”. There were hundreds published every month, ranging from the truly excellent to the pitifully dire: seemingly catering to every conceivable style, taste and genre.

The process spawned a new type of star and kind of story: damaged modern knights who were mysterious, implacable and extraordinary to the point of superhumanity, confronting uncanny overwhelming evil. In this fresh adventure medium, two-star characters outshone all others. The first was The Shadow – a true trendsetter who pioneered and beta-tested most of the methodology and mystique later mastered by Batman and most superheroes. Soon after him came the Superman of his day: Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze…

In the early 1930s, The Shadow was a dark, relentless, unstoppable and much-imitated creature of the night preying on the wicked and dispensing his own terrifying justice (and for more about him check out the Dark Avenger review). A true game changer tailor-made by a committee of wise heads and a superb scripter, Street & Smith Publications’ The Shadow set the world on fire, and those savvy savants sensibly sought to repeat the miracle. The result was a modern Hercules, Plato, Hippocrates, King Arthur, Sherlock Holmes and Einstein rolled into one gleaming, oversized paragon of physical perfection.

The big man and his team of globe-trotting war-buddy science specialists had been cobbled together by publisher Henry W. Ralston, editor John L. Naonvic and writer Lester Dent, using the same gameplan that had materialised The Shadow. Editorial notions and sale points of the bosses were fleshed out, filled in and made to work by Dent, who – under house pen-name Kenneth Robeson – wrote 159 of the 181 original novels released between March 1933 (Happy Birthday Doc!) and Fall 1949. The other exploits were handled in whole or in part by ghost writers and assistants Harold A. Davis, Ryerson Johnson, Laurence Donavan, Martin E. Baker, William G. Bogart and Alan Hathway.

The core premise is delicious and instantly engaging. Clark Savage Jr. had been trained from infancy in all arts and sciences, even as he underwent a carefully-devised program and regimen of physical training and sensory stimulation to make him impossibly fast, strong, hardy, acute, astute and – to be honest – pretty smug.

The perfect “Competent Man” was forever solving manic mysteries and protecting the helpless – when not quietly puttering away improving the lot of humanity with his inventions and pioneering medical procedures. However, this self-appointed hero and champion was what we’d probably now call an overachieving abuse survivor. For example, his unique viewpoint deemed it sound and reasonable to cure “evil tendencies” with brain surgery…

Despite such caveats (different times, right?) “Doc” Savage and his militarily-distinguished apex troubleshooters, Renny, Johnny, Long Tom, Ham and Monk were hugely popular in prose, print, radio and comics: a fascinating prototype example of a superhero team.

They regularly aided the oppressed and exploited: battling mad geniuses, would-be world conquerors, scary monsters, weird forces, dictators and uncommon criminals, before fading from view as the 1940s closed. They stormed back into popular culture during the 1960s, revived as part of global fantasy boom which also resurrected The Shadow, Conan, the C’thulu mythos and so many other pulp stars and craftsmen. Doc was particularly memorable thanks to such magazine exploits being reprinted in iconic Bantam Books paperbacks sporting stunning covers by James Bama…

Savage and his “fabulous five” had been funnybook stars since 1940: firstly in Street & Smith’s own The Shadow #1-3, and then in their own Doc Savage Comics (1940-1943). He thereafter appeared intermittently in The Shadow and Supersnipe Comics until 1948.

In November 1966, an abortive movie of The Thousand-Headed Man came to nothing, but did result in a one-shot tie-in from Gold Key Comics by Leo Dorfman & Jack Sparling. It also sported a lovely cover by Bama…

During an era of nostalgia, Marvel secured rights to publish Doc Savage comics: adapting the novels Man of Bronze, Brand of the Werewolf, Death in Silver and The Monsters over 8 regular issues between October 1972 and January 1974. There was also a giant-sized special and Doc entered Marvel continuity by teaming with Spider-Man and The Thing.

George Pal’s movie Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze was released in June 1975. Heavily hyped but an eventual flop, it nevertheless prompted Marvel to revive their license: creating a monochrome magazine version combining interviews and articles with darker, more mature comics adventures. The movie was fun but misunderstood and underappreciated, but it allowed true fans to see how their hero should always have been handled…

This hefty compilation re-presents all the material originally included in Doc Savage Magazine #1-8, spanning cover-dates August 1975 to Spring 1977. It is called the “Curtis Magazine Era” because that’s the name of the affiliated distribution company Marvel were part of at the time, and indicated a separate imprint producing comics outside the remit of the restrictive Comics Code Authority rules.

Thus, following Roger Kastel’s stunning full-colour painted cover (based on a movie poster) and a publicity photo frontispiece of actor Ron Ely beside an iconic Bama cover painting, Doc Savage #1 opens with Marv Wolfman’s ‘An Editorial in Bronze’ and John Romita (Sr.) & Tony DeZuñiga’s potent ‘Pin-up art’. This is mere prelude to an extra-long, peril-packed period drama by writer Doug Moench and illustrators John Buscema, Romita & DeZuñiga whose cunning comics chills commence with ‘The Doom on Thunder Isle!’.

When a Manhattan skyscraper is razed to rubble by lightning, Doc and his team are drawn into a missing persons case involving socialite Angelica Tremaine, her architect brother Winston and fiancé Thomas J. Bolt…

A complex plot rapidly unfolds, involving her, them and a suicidally fanatical kidnap gang seemingly based in the clouds, before Doc deduces the actual tropical island location of the foe. Deploying his many signature war-machines and leading his team in a brief but brutal clash against mutant beasts, super-science weapons and ancient madness, Doc learns even he cannot foil or fix all the cruel experiments of the insane Silver Ziggurat…

Following a contemporary body building ad (!), Jim Harmon & Chris Claremont interview director/producer ‘George Pal… The Man Who Made Doc Savage’ to end the first foray…

Scots artist Ken Barr painted the other covers, the first of which precedes Marv Wolfman’s editorial in #2 asking ‘Why Couldn’t Ron Ely Be Short and Ugly?’ (augmented by Marie Severin cartoons) before dark doom and destruction arrives in another extravagant mystery in Moench & DeZuñiga’s ‘Hell-Reapers at the Heart of Paradise’…

Here a property tycoon’s abduction by an apparently crazed and definitely radioactive Viking pitches Savage and Co. into a lethal and terrifying treasure hunt for a galleon lost since 1504. The search expands to include a flotilla of missing ships vanished over centuries in the Arctic, and concludes spectacularly with civil war in a lost paradise packed with monsters…

More hilariously outdated macho ads bracket a ‘Ron Ely: the Man of Bronze!’ interview conducted by John Warner with photos by Michelle Wolfman…

Doc Savage Magazine #3 sees another Barr cover, frontispiece ‘Pin-up art’ by Rich Buckler & Klaus Janson and letters page ‘Mail of Bronze’ preface Moench, Buscema & DeZuñiga’s  titanic 45-page tale ‘The Inferno Scheme!’ When robot beasts plunder gems all across New York City, enigmatic, enticing Contessa De Chabrol points the finger at her brother, hoping Savage and his “brothers in arms” can keep the police out of the affair and save her deranged sibling from himself. With utterly smitten engineer Renny suitably distracted, they head upstate to Chabrol’s fortress to find the villain has mastered the science of lasers as well as robotics…

Well, almost. He still needs Renny to fine-tune his death ray cannon, but even as the captive’s comrades render a rescue mission, one last tragic betrayal awaits them…

Ape-shaped chemist/comedic relief Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Blodgett Mayfair then stars in a solo tale when Monk! experiences ‘A Most Singular Writ of Habeas Corpus’ by Moench & Rico Rival. When his eternal rivalry with lawyer Ham (Brigadier General Theodore Marly Brooks) leads to the legal fashion plate losing his latest suit to the Monk’s pet pig, it results in everyone being abducted by a ruthless racketeer seeking to ace out the competition through clever chemistry…

More classic ads neatly segue into a stripped-down DSM #4 wherein Moench, Marie Severin & DeZuñiga detail how ‘Ghost-Pirates from the Beyond!’ imperil the world. It begins in February 1936 as assassins kill high-ranking police officers in Casablanca before targeting Clark Savage Jr.’s friend Charles Villiers in the Big Apple. Seemingly murdered by a ghostly sheik, the criminologist’s demise is forensically deconstructed by Doc, who brings his team to Morocco and scotches a scheme to garner millions in lost treasure and foment rebellion in the fractious French Protectorate…

Another ‘Mail of Bronze’ section and more ads (where did I put those X-ray Spex?) takes us #5 where ‘The Doc Savage Oath’ is illustrated by Neal Adams and more ‘Mail of Bronze’ sets up a colossal comics clash with ‘The Earth Wreckers!’. Here Moench & DeZuñiga see our planet in peril in summer 1933, as Doc Savage traverses the globe, raiding lairs on six continents to ruthlessly secure the components for a device intended to end humanity. This tale introduces Doc’s formidable cousin Pat Savage who is dragged into the impending calamity by shy, retiring whistle-blower Hiram Meeker. As usual, there’s more going on than first appears and the climactic battle against maniac super-extortionist Iron Mask beneath Loch Ness affords many shocks before order is finally restored…

Pin-up art’ of Doc and the gang by Marshall Rodgers bisects Bob Sampson’s comprehensive feature on ‘The Pulp Doc Savage!’ and David Anthony Kraft’s photo-feature ‘An Interview with: Mrs. Lester Dent’ before more daft ads herald Doc Savage Magazine #6.

Another Barr classic cover, supported by anonymous ‘Pin-up art’ (that looks like early Mike Zeck to me) and editorial ‘Onward, the Man of Bronze’ written by John Warner & limned by Keith Pollard springs directly into wild action into Moench & DeZuñiga’s main feature ‘The Sky-Stealers!’ as supposed Egyptian gods employ astounding super science to wipe out the mining town of Plainville, Utah. When Doc investigates, he leans that not only was the bank looted, but all the freshly-procured uranium is also gone…

As neighbouring town Union is also eradicated, lawyer Ham and archaeologist Johnny strike gold: uncovering maverick savant Professor Johnathan Wilde whose theories on “pyramid power” led to his ostracization and eventual disappearance. The hunt inexorably leads the squad to the New York Museum of Natural History, the pyramid of Cheops in Giza and repeated clashes with beast-headed supermen before deranged mastermind Horus and his armies finally fall to Doc’s strategies and sheer determination to punish the unjust…

Bob Sampson’s prose biography of ‘Renny’ is supported by illustrations from art prodigies Frank Cirocco & Brent Anderson, ‘Mail of Bronze’ and ‘Pin-up art’ by Ron Wilson (?).

Penultimate issue DSM #7 offers ‘Pin-up art’ by Ed Davis, before storming straight into a monster-mash masterpiece with Moench, Val Mayerik & DeZuñiga detailing how ‘The Mayan Mutations!’ unleash giant terrors in Peru. It’s June 1941 and America is still officially neutral whilst most of the world is at war, but when missionary Vesper Hope seeks the team’s aid on behalf of her native companion Myrrana, the quest takes them back to south America’s rain forests where white men have enslaved the indigenous people and created devils to destroy everything.

The champions don’t even leave New York before the terrors target them, too…

Ultimately, our heroes clean up the green hell and uncover the shocking truth of the monsters, but this time not all the damage can be fixed…

More ‘Pin-up art’ by Ed Davis leads to Sampson’s article on ‘Johnny’ before the historical heroic hijinks halt with issue #8. Tom Sutton’s ‘Pin-up art’ frontispiece precedes Warner’s farewell in ‘Editorializing on the Bronze Side in Two Parts’ before he, John Whitmore, Moench & Ernie Chan unleash ‘The Crimson Plague’.

When Doc leads the team to Acapulco in search of an old medical colleague, they uncover an uncanny monster leaving brain-addled victims and corpses. The octopoid horror follows them back north and haunts Brooklyn before Savage uncovers human agency behind the scarlet death “disappearing” scientists and threatening the world’s greatest cities. The imminent crisis demands the Fabulous Five split up, but when that ploy fails it falls to Doc to save the day and destroy the ghastly culprit behind the plot…

Wrapping up the issues – and this epic collection – is one last ‘Mail of Bronze’ feature, and more ‘Pin-up art’: Long Tom and friends’ courtesy of Davis and Savage by Bob Layton & Dick Giordano, all tantalising bolstered by a tantalising promo for a new collected serial (stay tuned for that later in this Savage anniversary year!)…

Bold, bombastic and truly beloved, these yarns have been published by Marvel, DC and Dynamite: truly timeless tales of the perfect and prototypical man of wonders. These are stories no action-loving, monster-hunting, crime-busting armchair hero can be without.

So, is that you?
® and © 2014 Conde Nast. Used under license.

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The Complete Love Hurts – Horrifying Tales of Romance


By Kim W. Andersson with Sara B. Elfgren & various (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN: 978-1-61655-859-8 (TPB) eISBN: 978-1-63008-152-2

Internationally acclaimed and award-winning, Kim W. Andersson began his comics career in fanzines, and after studying at the Serieskolan School of Art in Malmö began his professional life with contributions to Sweden’s broad and varied comics industry. His first hit series was Love Hurts which began in 2009.

Wry, creepy, mordant and ironically funny, the series appeared in numerous venues before serialisation in anthology series Dark Horse Presents, for us English speakers. In 2015 Dark Horse Books re-presented the entire shebang in one titanic, trenchant tome…

Collecting Love Hurts #1-22, Love Hurts: Anastasia from Nemi, and #23-32 as seen in Utopi Magasin, also included here is one-shot Love Hurts: Dead End courtesy of Johnossi Comics – which you would already know if you read more stuff published in Scandinavia…

Since then, Andersson has returned to school thematically in chiller Alena (made into a movie) and Astrid: Cult of the Volcanic Moon. When not lecturing, creating gallery shows or making comics, the auteur works as an illustrator of book, magazines and for TV.

Following Peter Snejbjerg’s barbed Introduction ‘It was a Dark and Stormy Night’, what follows is a rapid-fire, smartly sarcastic and cunningly pilfered and plundered tribute to all aspects of mass entertainment and popular fiction from EC Comics to slasher movies, manipulating relationships as a trigger for jabs, pokes and broadsides at how and why people (and related beings) want, need and use other people…

The result is a nonstop procession of gags and incidents starring serial killers, domestic abusers, needy girlfriends, procurers, and wayward teens all encountering endings they might not deserve but certainly should have been expecting…

Sexy, gory yet remarkably not salacious, pastiches of screen shockers are supplemented by surreal and metaphysical moments, historical fantasies, ghostly encounters or sci fi and monster moments: all leavened by a darkly childish sense of the absurd and all illustrated with fetching style…

From spoofs starring 50-foot girlfriends to perplexing prom night pranks; from western showdowns and manga cautionary tales to lovingly irreverent myths mauled and manipulated, the marriage of amour and peril is dissected, with demons, devils, doctors, dweebs and dolly-birds re-examined via a puckish contemporary lens. There’s even a murky nod to superheroes and – just when you’re off guard – genuine tragedy amidst the crimson-spattered comedy…

Here love comes in all sizes, shapes and kinds with nothing barred or forbidden but with precious little in the way of happy endings…

The short punchy vignettes are bolstered by two longer tales: frenzied fairy tale Love Hurts: Anastasia darkly riffs on the tale of Bluebeard and 1001 Arabian Nights by way of Puss in Boots and Night of the Living Dead whilst Love Hurts: Dead End depicts a deadly pan-dimensional trip to the bad places and a celebrity La-la-land after one poor guy “wins” ‘The Lottery’…

Scary, hilarious, mordant, and in wickedly Bad Taste, these tales for culturally savvy appetites are augmented by a bonus section of Sketches and Extras offering ‘Happy Valentine’s Day!’ cards; working sketches of the models used to create the strips; cover designs; previous collection covers; layouts; original pages in various stages of completion, tattoo art and a biography.

Dark, doom-swept, daft, deranged and delightful, this may be the most appropriate appreciation of the annual emotional event yet conceived…
Love Hurts™ © 2015 Kim W. Andersson. All rights reserved.