Category: Mature Reading

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Modesty Blaise: The Murder Frame


By Peter O’Donnell & Enric Badia Romero (Titan Books)
ISBN: 978-1-78329-859-4

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Blockbuster Derring-do and the Perfect Postprandial Tonic… 9/10

Infallible super-criminals Modesty Blaise and her lethally adept, knife-throwing, compulsively platonic partner Willie Garvin gained fearsome reputations heading underworld gang The Network. They then retired young, rich and healthy.

With honour intact and their hands relatively clean, they cut themselves off completely from careers where they made all the money they would ever need and far too many enemies: a situation exacerbated by their heartfelt conviction that killing was only ever to be used as a last resort.

When devious British Spymaster Sir Gerald Tarrant sought them out, they were slowly dying of boredom in England. The wily old bird offered them a chance to have fun, get back into harness and do a bit of good in the world. They jumped at his offer and have been cleaning up the dregs of society in their own unique manner ever since …

From that tenuous beginning in ‘La Machine’ (see Modesty Blaise: the Gabriel Set-Up) the dynamic duo went on to crush the world’s vilest villains and most macabre monsters in a never-ending succession of tense suspense and inspirational action for more than half a century…

The inseparable associates debuted in The Evening Standard on 13th May 1963 and over the passing decades went on to star in some of the world’s most memorable crime fiction, all in approximately three panels a day.

Creators Peter O’Donnell & Jim Holdaway (who had previously collaborated on Romeo Brown – a lost strip classic equally deserving of its own archive albums) produced a timeless treasure trove of brilliant graphic escapades until the illustrator’s tragic early death in 1970, whereupon Spanish artist Enric Badia Romero (and occasionally John Burns, Neville Colvin and Pat Wright) assumed the art reins, taking the partners-in-peril to even greater heights.

The series has been syndicated world-wide and Modesty has starred in numerous prose novels and short-story collections, several films, a TV pilot, a radio play, an original American graphic novel from DC and nearly one hundred comic strip adventures until the strip’s conclusion in 2001.

The serial exploits are a broad blend of hip adventuring lifestyle and cool capers; combining espionage, crime, intrigue and even – now and again – plausibly intriguing sci fi and supernaturally tinged horror genre fare, with ever-competent Modesty and Willie canny, deadly, yet all-too-fallibly human defenders of the helpless and avengers of the wronged…

Reproduced in stark and stunning monochrome – as is only right and fitting – Titan Books’ superb and scrupulously chronological serial re-presentations of the ultimate cool trouble-shooters resume here, with O’Donnell & Romero offering four more masterpieces of mood, mystery and mayhem only pausing for effusive Introduction ‘Meeting Modesty’: from crime author Rebecca Chance (AKA Lauren Henderson; Bad Brides, Killer Heels, Jane Austin’s Guide to Dating) who compares the prose perils with the aforementioned strip sagas.

With Chance adding a prologue to each of the stunning strips which follow, the pictorial perils premiere with ‘The Murder Frame’ (originally seen in The Evening Standard from January 6th to June 6th 1997), wherein Modesty and Willie are drawn into a Machiavellian war of wits with a psychopathic old adversary who turns Garvin’s very public minor spat with a local property developer into an unassailable case of murder most foul.

Happily, Willie has lots of friends on both sides of the law and the stitch-up unravels after Modesty teams up with police Chief Inspector Brook to see justice done and the real killer caught…

The tone shifts to electrifying espionage and bloody vengeance for ‘Fraser’s Story’ (9th June – November 3rd) as Tarrant’s placidly, unflappable aide goes off the grid in pursuit of a British traitor-turned-Russian Mafia boss hiding out in Panama.

Victor Randle sold out his country and caused the death of 107 British agents – including Fraser’s only love – and is smart enough to know that Fraser is on his trail. In fact he’s counting on it and has creepy brainwashing genius Dr. Yago ready to pick the would-be avenger’s mind dry of every profitable secret it contains – especially as Victor currently possesses the only other thing the British agent still cares about…

He’s also smart enough to have Fraser’s friends Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin murdered before they can interfere, but tragically not efficient enough to double check that his attempts have actually succeeded…

A startling glimpse into Modesty’s childhood days underpins ‘Tribute of the Pharaohs’ (November 4th 1997 to April 3rd 1998), also revealing Willie’s ultimate nemesis as the strident martinet who ran the orphanage he grew up in. Their reunion on the burning sands of the Bayouda desert near Khartoum also involves brutal bandit lord Mr. J who believes the draconian Miss Prendergast has knowledge of a vast horde of Egyptian gold…

When he kidnaps and tortures the old biddy, Willie and Modesty teach the sadistic thug a lasting lesson before uncovering a treasure and laying a ghost that has haunted Blaise for most of her life…

Wrapping up this trove of titanic tales is a traumatic exploration of the modern slave trade which sees Willie’s teen protégé Sam head out to Thailand as part of a mixed judo team. Sadly her youth, looks and bearing make her the perfect target for human traffickers Rosie Ling and Mr. Nagle-Green who boldly fake her death in broad daylight before stashing her on their ship full of ‘The Special Orders’ (April 6th to September 4th 1998) for rich and ruthless men…

Having been schooled by Garvin and Modesty, Sam is savvy enough to get off a message to the already suspicious (and en route) duo and takes matters into her own hands to rescue the girls. All she has to do is get them all off the ship, hole up in a suitable defensible position and keep safe until the enraged and remorseless cavalry arrives…

These are incomparable capers crafted by brilliant creators at the peak of their powers; revelling in the sheer perfection of an iconic creation. Startling shock and suspense-stuffed escapades packed with sleek sex appeal, dry wit, terrific tension and explosive action, these stories grow more appealing with every rereading and never fail to deliver maximum impact and total enjoyment.
Modesty Blaise © 2016 Associated Newspapers/Solo Syndication.

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Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash


By Dave McKean & various (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN: 978-1-50670-108-0

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Magnificent and thought-provoking… 9/10

After years of being sidelined and despised, sequential narrative has finally been acknowledged as one of humanity’s immortal and intrinsic art forms. That’s never been more apparent than in this astounding biographical examination of celebrated surrealist, landscape painter and war artist Paul Nash, as conceived, designed and created here by modern master of many disciplines Dave McKean.

Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash was commissioned to supplement a major retrospective exhibition of Nash’s work, running at London’s Tate Gallery from October 26th 2016 to March 5th 2017, as part of 14-18 Now; the Arts plank of Britain’s national centenary commemoration of the Great War.

The project was set in motion as a result of the wonderful Lakes International Comic Art Festival (so you should also look them up, send an effusive thank you and book early for next year’s shindig) and also comes in a limited edition run of 400 signed hardbacks…

Rendered as a stunning melange of styles whilst alternatively racing and meandering through Nash’s nightmares and memories – as distilled from his works, correspondence and writings – this huge (280 x 219 mm) comics chronicle examines the artist’s thoughts and reactions in dreamlike snippets as he comes to terms with a troubled family life, the staggering shocks of war and his lifelong striving for a clear artistic vision.

These visions are all filtered through a lens of mud, blood and unremitting horror which didn’t diminish after surviving life in the trenches.

Potent and evocative, this is a compelling visual poem not meant as a primer, biographical introduction or hagiography. It’s a celebration of Nash’s art and ethos, and a reminder of the pointless futility of throwing away people’s lives, delivered in styles and imagery deftly chosen for emotional impact.

As such it might require you to consult a favourite search engine to grasp the subtler nuances.

Trust me, it’s definitely worth the effort.
Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash ™ & © Dave McKean. All rights reserved.

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B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs volume 3


By Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Guy Davis, Dave Stewart & Clem Robbins (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN: 978-1-59582-860-6 (HC):       978-1616556228 (PB)

Hellboy is a creature of vast depth and innate mystery; a demonic baby summoned to Earth by Nazi occultists at the end of Word War II but subsequently raised, educated and trained by parapsychologist Professor Trevor “Broom” Bruttenholm to destroy unnatural threats and supernatural monsters as the lead field-agent for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense.

After decades of unfailing, faithful service, in 2001 he became mortally tired and resigned. Itinerantly roaming the world, he still managed to constantly encounter weird happenstances, never escaping trouble or his own sense of duty. He’s only a momentary guest star in this book.

This particular massive tome – available in hardback, paperback and digital formats – in fact stars his trusty comrades: valiant champions of varying shades of human-ness who police those occult occasions which typically fall under the remit of the Enhanced Talents task force of the B.P.R.D.

If you’re having trouble with the concept, think of a government-sanctioned and internationally co-sponsored Ghostbusters dealing with Buffy-style threats to humanity.

The B.P.R.D. rapidly established itself as a viable publishing premise in its own right through a succession of interlinked miniseries; confronting an ancient, arcane amphibian menace to humanity in an immense epic which spanned eight years of comicbook releases.

Previously collected as a series of trade paperbacks during that time, the entire supernatural saga – latterly dubbed Plague of Frogs – was remastered as a quartet of monumental full-colour volumes, of which this is the twisted third.

Gathering material from B.P.R.D. The Universal Machine; Garden of Souls and Killing Ground – volumes 6 through 8 respectively – this macabre masterpiece opens with a handy recap page identifying key personnel of the B.P.R.D.

Then an equally informative Introduction from series editor Scott Allie provides context and background in the organisation’s struggle against the eons-old supernal force mutating humans into terrifying frog-monsters as well as few behind-the-scenes production secrets…

At the end of the previous collection, the team had narrowly avoided the end of the world by finding the Frog citadel and defeating marauding Elder God-made-grisly-flesh Katha-Hem… but at great and tragic cost…

Crafted throughout by writers Mignola and John Arcudi, illustrated by Guy Davis, lettered by Clem Robins and coloured from Dave Stewart, ‘The Universal Machine’ (originally a 5-part miniseries spanning April to August 2006) takes up the story as amphibious Abe Sapien and undead marine Benjamin Daimio oversee the sterilising carpet-bombing of the city the Frog destroyed to summon their archaic eidolon.

Back at their new Colorado base, pyrokinetic Liz Sherman and disembodied psychic Johann Krauss discuss with historian Dr. Kate Corrigan how to resurrect their fallen comrade Roger the Homunculus from the pile of broken rubble he was reduced to…

Despite Roger’s mystical origins that prospect seems unlikely until the B.P.R.D. are offered a copy of legendary alchemical tome “A True Record of the Workings of the Universal Machine” by an enigmatic bookseller in France…

Soon Corrigan and trainee researcher Andrew Devon are in the picturesque village of Ableben, discussing the unnatural events of 1491 which shattered the castle of local lord Marquis Adoet de Fabre and scattered his celebrated collection of monsters, grotesques and magical artefacts…

The bookseller is a weird and difficult cove, clearly more intent on teasing his customers than selling his wares, and when Devon steps outside to report in, Corrigan’s suspicions are proved right.

The vendor is de Fabre himself, laying a trap to abduct her. Whisking Kate back in time, the sinister savant has the book she needs but what he wants in return is a price that cannot be paid…

As Devon quails in the present and in the clutches of a werewolf pack acting as the mage’s 21st century negotiators, back in Colorado the Enhanced Talents squad are sharing coffee and stories. Former Green Beret Daimio at last reveals how he came back from the dead three days after dying in the line of duty…

A covert mission in Central America resulted in the slaughter of him and his team by a jaguar monster. They stayed dead and he didn’t…

Moved by the confession, Johann shares a moment of his former, corporeal, life as a spirit medium: one that only emphasises his own loneliness and moral weakness whilst deeply harming both the living and dead clients he was striving to help…

Liz doesn’t share anything. She’s been acting strange for quite a while now and doesn’t want anyone to know that she’s seeing visions and getting messages from a mystery mage only she can see…

The late night chinwag moves on to pensive Abe, but rather than share his recent life-altering news he prefers to relate the old and sad tale of a family man lost in the Canadian wilderness. By the time he and Hellboy had found Daryl Tynon, the poor slob was well on the way to losing his mind. He had already tasted human flesh and physically transformed into a Wendigo…

Back in the past, the magical collector boasts, brags and bullies. Convinced he has the upper hand, de Fabre shares many of his secrets and displays his greatest prizes, but has grievously underestimated the perspicacity and sheer guts of his merely human hostage…

Victorious but without her prize, Corrigan survives the destruction of de Fabre’s castle and is unceremoniously dumped back in her own time. Although she has failed to find a way to restore Roger, the departed Homunculus has a message for them all, to be delivered by Krauss…

The next volume also started as a 5-issue miniseries. ‘Garden of Souls’ (March to July 2007) concentrates on Abe’s recently uncovered origins and opens in 1859 with psychical researcher Dr. Langdon Everett Caul as part of a group of like-minded men fascinated with arcane secrets. He is present when an Egyptian mummy is unwrapped at a grand soiree. Incredibly, the withered husk was still alive so he and his closest associates in the Oannes Society stole the astonished, outraged ancient Panya, convinced she is the sea goddess Naunet…

More than a century later Abe was found by the B.P.R.D. in a tank; a bizarre fish-human hybrid with no memory of his past. It’s all started coming back to him now, however, especially after being sent Caul’s old cigar case with a map neatly tucked inside…

With Daimio as back-up but still sharing nothing, Abe heads to Balikpapan, Indonesia, unaware that his taciturn companion is concealing a few secrets of his own or that best friend Liz is slowly succumbing to the poisonous whispers of someone no one can see and being driven insane by visions of impending Armageddon…

Despite the passage of time the men of the Oannes Society are still alive. Sustaining themselves through steampunk biomechanics, the sages have been building bio-mechanical monsters whilst growing themselves new superhuman flesh bodies to hold their corrupted minds. They have also been waiting for Caul to return and cannot understand his odd new notions of morality…

They have no idea why he should be so upset at what they did to his original body or their current scheme to catastrophically inundate all of South East Asia and harvest the souls of the millions who will drown.

Happily, Ben is on hand to help defuse the plot, assisted by the astounding psychic powers of the still-captive and extremely resentful living mummy Panya…

This all-action adventure then gives way to suspense and revelation in ‘Killing Ground’ (5 issues once spanning August-December 2007) with change in the air at B.P.R.D.’s Colorado HQ.  Johann has taken possession of the last super-body built by the Oannes Society and is becoming increasingly intoxicated by the fleshly sensations he believed denied him forever.

Daimyo is reeling from public revelations that his grandmother was a WWII war criminal, but has managed to keep secret the wizard he periodically sneaks into the base to deal with horrific body changes he doesn’t want his comrades to know about.

Liz is particularly happy. Without being told, new inductee Panya has confirmed the reality of the stranger haunting the harassed pyrokinetic and even offered some suggestions to counter his constant poisonous whispers.

Abe, now officially in charge of the Enhanced team, is overseeing the transfer of now-completely feral Daryl to a newly fortified cell, but cannot help noticing the affect the savage beast has on Daimio…

Trouble is never far away. Soon the base has been infiltrated by a deadly silent intruder whose actions kick off a cascade of disasters, beginning with the escape of Daryl and evisceration of Daimio’s secret wizard. With the base on lockdown and bodies piling up, it’s a time for all hands on deck, but super-strong Johann has vanished.

And then the blizzard hits…

As chaos mounts, the silent intruder finally provides some answers in the most agonising manner imaginable, two separate carnosaurs rip their way through the embattled soldiers on site, another Enhanced team member perishes, a ghostly hero returns and the truth about Daimyo’s death and resurrection are horrifically revealed, leading to a major changing of the guard…

Moreover, even though the War on Frogs seems to be over, the best and worst is yet to come…

Following an Afterword by Arcudi, a wealth of Bonus Features included here comprise comprehensive Sketchbook sections on The Universal Machine, Garden of Souls and Killing Ground – all dutifully annotated by Davis – offering roughs, designs and preliminary artwork from Davis and Mignola

With spectacular supernatural fantasy now a staple of TV and movie genre, these unlikely heroes must be a top pick for every production company out there. Until then, why not stay ahead of the rush by reading these chillingly compelling yarns?
B.P.R.D. ™: Plague of Frogs volume 3 © 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2015 Mike Mignola. Abe Sapien™, Liz Sherman™, Hellboy™, Johann™, Lobster Johnson™ and all other prominently featured characters ™ Mike Mignola. All rights reserved.

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Pigeons from Hell


By Joe R. Lansdale, Nathan Fox & various (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN: 978-1-59582-237-6

Robert Ervin Howard is justly celebrated for his burly, barbarian sword-&-sorcery creations such as Conan, Kull, Bran Mak Morn and others, but he was a successful jobbing writer in the heyday of pulp fiction and also turned his blazing typewriter to most of the other popular genres of the era.

Moreover, as aficionados of his blistering fantasy fiction are well aware, he was a dab hand at inculcating tension, suspense and moody macabre horror.

During the too-brief time of his creative peak he crafted a number of chilling supernatural stories set in the evocative southern milieu known as ArkLaTex – a doom-shrouded, Deep South meeting-point of the darkest corners of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and his beloved Texas.

Inspired by old stories heard at his grandmother’s knee, Howard transformed oft-told anecdotes into masterpieces of terror such as ‘The Shadow of the Beast’, ‘Moon of Zambebwie’, ‘Black Hound of Death’, ‘Black Canaan’ and the particular masterpiece under scrutiny here: a creation described by Stephen King as “one of the finest horror stories of our century”…

The tirelessly prolific Howard committed suicide in 1936 and the prose Pigeons from Hell (unsold since its drafting in 1932) was published posthumously in the May 1938 edition of premier pulp Weird Tales.

It has become a classic not just of the genre but also a notional inclusion into the prestigious literary canon of the Southern Gothic movement of writers such as William Faulkner, Erskine Caldwell, Thomas Wolfe, Tennessee Williams and others.

In 1988 the original prose short story was incorporated into a stunning, lavishly painted adaptation by Scott Hampton, released by West Coast maverick publishers Eclipse, which remains one of the best graphic novels ever produced.

You should do your damnedest to track down and heartily absorb both it and the original text versions.

In 2008, Dark Horse – current holders of the license for Howard comic adaptations – approached esteemed author, occasional comics scripter and devout REH fan Joe R. Lansdale to adapt and update the story, crafting a notional sequel: first as a 4-issue miniseries and then as this sterling terror tome which is every bit as potent and gripping as the Eclipse release.

Illustrated by Nathan Fox with colours by Dave Stewart and letters from Richard Starkings & Comicraft, the story is translated to contemporary times but still centres on the desolate, dilapidated, dank and doom-laden Blassenville House and the swamp-encircled former plantation grounds it festers in.

As the sun sets a car with five forthright youngsters pulls up at the ravaged mansion deep in the Acadiana boondocks. Scaring away an army of fluttering pigeons, the deeply disappointed travellers are far from impressed with the inheritance sisters Janet and Claire have come from Texas to view.

Risking their lives on the shaky stairs the curious, disgusted kids reach the attic and find a mountain of dead birds. For all their tough talk and brave fronts the place is getting to them and their bold bravura starts to fade. Going back down, the first casualty occurs and the horrified friends head straight for the car and anywhere but here…

They don’t get far and the survivors are soon forced to return to the house where something vile and uncanny continues to pick them off…

Faced with appalling events and now certain that Grandmas’s crazy old horror stories were not just true but toned down for the kids, the Blassenville girls resolve to save who they can and then get the hell out.

They’re true believers now; having been separated from their friends and barely escaped a bloody shambling horror in the house. A vast sea of anxious spirits congregated in the fields around it also add veracity to everything the old lady once spooked them with. When these amorphous shades chase them into the sceptical arms of a local sheriff the sisters agree to go back inside but it’s not long before the lawman is also fully aware that ghosts are real and extremely dangerous…

Escorting them into the woods he takes the Blassenvilles to a crazy old witchman (he once thought…) who clues them all in on the history of the house before giving them vital clues they need to fight the thing inside and perhaps end the horror at long last…

Blending compulsive suspense with riotous splatter-action and a wry undertone of trenchant sassiness, this ferociously effective homage includes context and commentary in Lansdale’s ‘Notes from the Writer’, critique and historical background from Howard scholar Mark Finn in his ‘Afterword: The Brothers Gothic’ and a full Cover Gallery from the comic books.

Adding to the informational overload is a stunning picture-packed treasure trove as ‘The Sketchbook from Hell, with commentary from artist Nathan Fox’ reveals secrets of the creative process whilst guest artists Tomer Hanuka, Hector Casanova, Greg Ruth, Guy Davis, Paul Maybury, Jim Mahfood, Brandon Graham, David Crosland, Paul Chatem and Nathan Fox offer alternative outlooks in a copious ‘Bonus Pinups’ section.

Not only is the original prose work one of the best pieces of horror fiction ever written, but in this rare instance the follow-up – like the movie Alien and its gung-ho sequel Aliens – slips sneakily from one classic genre to another and makes both the better for it. This is a coming classic of graphic narrative; something every fright fan should see – but only with all the lights on…
Pigeons from Hell © 2008, 2009 Robert E. Howard Properties Inc. (“REHP”). All rights reserved.

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Private Beach


By David Hahn (Dover Comics & Graphic Novels)
ISBN: 978-0-486-80749-2

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Epic and Intriguing… 8/10

Most of these reviews follow a strict formula. Say something to prove how clever I am, offer a smidgen of background and context, list the contents, précis the story in the book and then urge you to buy it.

That’s not just going to work with this astoundingly beguiling collection, gathering a cherished personal project from Montana-based artist and writer David Hanh, who first came to mass popular attention with Bite Club, Robin, Fables, Batman: The Ultimate Training Guide and Lucifer; before gaining more acclaim and career traction on Ultimate X-Men, The Escapist, Marvel Adventures: The Fantastic Four and Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, as well as his 2011 creator-owned series All Nighter.

His most recent successes include Erfworld and Batman ’66 Meets the Man From UNCLE…

In 1995 at Antarctic Comics, Hahn had begun an oddly quirky, semi-surreal slice-of-life drama with distinct overtones of Twin Peaks and the witty, sleek flavours of Love and Rockets. It was entitled Fun and Perils in the Trudyverse but became Private Beach when the increasingly overworked creator transferred the series to Slave Labor Graphics. That latter revision comprises the seven issues (released between February 2001 to December 2002) collected and reprinted in this splendid monochrome tome. Of course, the pot is infinitely sweetened for long-term devotees with an all-new 30-page concluding chapter plus many pages of pictorial and text extras.

Following an Introduction from Jeff Parker and Preface by Hahn we are ushered into the beguiling life of affably ordinary but enchantingly engaging wage-slave Trudy Honeyvan and her interesting pal Sharona Cupkey – but that’s only after a brief scene-setting aside from God…

‘Slappy’ opens in 1978 where teen Trudy sees something strange in the night sky, and thereafter begins a lifelong relationship with the numeral 8. Moving to now, forthright adult and crappily employed clerical drone Miss Honeyvan heads to the beach with Sharona to acerbically pass judgement on movies, culture and the other sun-worshippers whilst watching a celebrity seal being returned to the wild.

It is a memorable moment for all the wrong reasons…

Everyday weirdness begins to mount in ‘Doors Opening’ as strangers and old friends all uniformly take on a fresh significance and Trudy is offered a bizarre second job in new nightclub Heaven’s Rift. Then there are the visions and the impossible messages on Trudy’s cherished Magic Eightball…

‘Land of Sam’ focuses on outer entourage Siobhan Cupkey, Sam Murphy and Junior Watkins as a succession of petty, minor and increasingly bizarre events threaten Trudy’s coolly cynical, socially-aware mellow, after which ‘Three Wishes’ finds our increasingly off-kilter star moving towards making a life-altering decision…

The pressures of Sharona’s soul-crushing nursing job, Sam’s disability and Junior’s lack of direction are explored in ‘Wednesday as Usual’ whilst Trudy adds to her growing collection of tension-boosting written warnings from persons unknown before breaking down in ‘Gears Shifting’; destroying her eightball, enduring a mind-altering experience and surviving a life-threatening criminal encounter…

When her dire clerical job abruptly ends, Trudy surrenders to whatever the universe is trying to tell her and hires out to drive a classic car across America to its new owner. All geared up to start ‘Counting Horizons’, she nervously agrees to turn the job into a road trip by inviting Sharona and Siobhan to share the tedium. Before too long all the encircling oddity and ominous events converge in bloody tragedy and a confrontation with something incredible…

It was 14 years before fans and addicts were to receive the incredible answers to the sly parade of astounding events which are shared here in ‘CHAPTER 8’. Happily, it was worth every moment as a horrifying confrontation explains what has been going on around Trudy since 1978 and sets her on a most unique and dangerous path.

I, for one, couldn’t be more content and if you are reading these adventures for the first time you are in for the ride of your life…

Supplementing the grand progression is a collection of Beach Shorts from Hanh and his friends, starting with a traumatic formative moment ‘Alone’, after which Trudy and Sharona suffer traffic jams and introspection in ‘Boxed’.

‘Mall Watching in the Trudyverse with Trudy and Sharona’ dates from 1994 and depicts the friends in gobby, declarative mode whilst ‘Faithless’ – illustrated by Mike Worley in a delightful Archie Comics pastiche – displays the abiding patience Sharona applies to her patients every day.

The perils of casual encounters are explored in Hahn’s experimental vignette ‘Inklings’ before the author shares ‘7 Things About the Movies That Make Me Want to Vomit’, and invites David Membiela, John Kissee & Ray Villarosa to show Sam Murphy’s contemplative mood in ‘Footwork’.

Trudy and Sharona then blend pop-cultural hot-dogging with the ancient art of shopping in ‘Mabel & Gloria’ before this marvellous confection concludes with a ‘“Sharona and Trudy” Pin-up’ by Kerry Callan and a ‘“Pie Fan” Pin-up’ from Hahn & Chad Smith.

Blending the easy female camaraderie of Walking and Talking with the existentialist unease of Blue Velvet or the latest iteration of Westworld – sweetened by stunning black-&-white art and breathtakingly smart dialogue – Private Beach is a captivating tale to ponder and savour over and over again.
© 2016 by David J. Hahn. Foreword © 2016 by Jeff Parker. All rights reserved.

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Shame


By Lovern Kindzierski, John Bolton & Todd Klein (Renegade Arts Entertainment)
ISBN: 978-1-987825-04-6

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: An adult Fairy Tale for when the kids have all passed out… 10/10

Life is full of folk-loric warnings:

  • Red Sun at Morning: Sailor take Warning.
  • Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow.
  • Appearances can be Deceiving.

A cliché is a truth repeated so often you get bored and stop listening to the message…

It’s an unshakable adage that comics are a visual medium and that’s never been more clearly demonstrated than in this seductive and bewitching allegorical fable for full-sized folk from writer Lovern Kindzierski, painter John Bolton and letterer Todd Klein. Originally released as a 3-part prestige format miniseries between 2011 and 2013 the saga has now been collected in a lavish and sublime full-colour hardback garnished with a selection of beguiling bonus features.

Once upon a time in ‘Conception’ a benevolent but painfully unprepossessing witch named Mother Virtue spent all her days doing grand good deeds for the unfortunate, and for these kind actions she was beloved by all. Spiritually, she was probably the most perfect woman in the world…

She lived life well and grew old and content, but one day a selfish thought flashed idly through her mind. Momentarily she longed for a daughter and wished for it to be true: that she be a mother in fact as well as name…

It was just the opening malign Shadow of Ignorance Slur needed. Employing dark magics he instantly impregnates the champion of Good with a malign evil seed and in gloating triumph brags to the wise-woman that her daughter will be a diabolical demon deserving of the name Shame…

Deeply repenting that selfish whim and now dreading the horrors yet to come, Mother Virtue methodically transforms her idyllic cottage into a floral prison dubbed Cradle; repurposed to eventually isolate and contain the thing cruelly growing in her belly.

The miserable mother-to-be also assembles a contingent of Dryads to care for and guard the baby. Once Virtue finally births Shame, she quickly abandons the devil’s burden to be reared in the mystic compound, where it grows strong and cruel but so very beautiful…

Eventually, however, slavish minions of Shame’s sire breach the green ramparts and begin schooling the child in vile necromancy and her dire, sordid inheritance. Armed with malefic potency, Shame slowly refashions her garden guardians into something more pliable and appropriately monstrous…

As she physically ripens, Slur himself comes to his evil child and through him Shame learns the power of sex. With the aid of an infernal incubus which has stolen seed from many men, she quickens a child in her own belly and births a baby girl.

Into that infant Slur pours Mother Virtue’s soul; gorily ripped from the despondent dotard’s aging carcase at the moment of delivery. Even the nunnery Virtue had locked herself within was no proof against the marauding Shadow of Ignorance…

And with her despised mother now her own child, securely bound within the selfsame floral penitentiary, Shame goes out into the world to make her mark…

‘Pursuit’ takes up the story sixteen years later. The Virtue infant has grown strong and lovely, despite every effort of the malformed and mystically mutated Dryads and Shame’s diabolical sorcery which have toiled mightily and made every day of her young life a savage test of survival.

This daily failure makes Shame – now queen of a mortal kingdom – furious beyond belief. When not burning witches and wise women who might threaten her absolute domination or having her unconquerable armies ravage neighbouring realms, the haughty hell-spawn spies upon her mother/child with infernal devices, but is always disappointed….

Elsewhere a valiant knight lies dying and bids his simple, ugly son Merritt farewell. Even with his last breaths, the father dreads how his foolish, naive boy will fare in a world ruled by the Queen who has ended him…

The hopeless dreaming youth is stubborn if nothing else, and when Merritt discovers the vegetable hell-mound of Cradle, stories his mother told him run again through his head. A strange, inexplicable yearning compels him to overcome the appalling arcane odds to break in and liberate the beautiful prisoner… although she actually does most of the work…

Free of the mound, all Virtue’s mystic powers return and, far away, Shame’s world reels. Mocking Slur cares little for his daughter but much for his plans and thus reveals Merritt is Destiny’s wild card: a Sword of Fate who might reshape the future of humanity. Of course it all depends on whose side he joins…

As the young heroes near the capital they are ambushed. After a tremendous mystic clash, Merritt awakens in a palace with a dark-haired angel ministering to his every need and desire. Far below in a rank, eldritch dungeon Virtue languishes and patiently adjusts her plans…

This eldritch erotic epic concludes in classic fashion with ‘Redemption’ as Merritt falls deeper under the sultry sway of the dark queen. As he slowly devolves into her tool of human subjugation, in a fetid subterranean stinkhole, Virtue – under the very noses of her tormentors – weaves her magic with the paltry materials at hand…

Even cradled in the Queen’s arms Merritt is still a child shaped by his mother’s bedtime stories and when Virtue contacts him he readily sneaks down to her cell, dreams of nobility and valiant deeds filling his slow, addled head…

Now the scene is set for a final fraught confrontation between mother and daughter, but first Virtue sends Merritt straight to Hell on a vital quest to recover the Hope of the World…

The narrative core of all fairytales is unchanging and ever powerful, so tone and treatment make all the difference between tired rehashing and something bold, fresh and unforgettable.

Moreover, the photo-based hyper-realised expressionism of John Bolton’s lush painting transforms the familiar settings of fantasy standards and set-pierces into something truly bleak and bizarre to match the grim, earthily seedy meta-reality of Kindzierski’s script.

Bracketed with a Foreword by Colleen Doran and Preface from author Kindzierski at the front and creator commentary courtesy of ‘From the Imagination of John Bolton and Lovern Kindzierski’ at the back – featuring an in-depth interview adjudicated by publisher Alexander Finbow and supplemented with a stunning treasure trove of pre-production art, designs and sketches – this astounding tale also includes a tantalising glimpse of things to come in the shape of an 8-page preview of forthcoming sequel Tales of Hope…

Dark, nasty and packed with sumptuous seductions of every stripe, the salutary saga of Shame is every adult fantasist’s desire made real and every comic fan’s most fervent anticipation in one irresistible package…
Shame the story, characters, world and designs are © Lovern Kindzierski, John Bolton and Renegade Arts Canmore Ltd.

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Vampirella Archives volume One


By Forrest J. Ackerman, Don Glut, Nicola Cuti, Tom Sutton, Neal Adams, Ernie Colon, Billy Graham, Jeff Jones, Dan Adkins, Frank Frazetta & various (Dynamite Entertainment)
ISBN: 978-1-60690-175-5

After years of stifling restriction, the American comic book industry finally started to break out of a self-imposed straitjacket in the mid 1960s. The kids of the Counterculture had begun creating and disseminating material relevant to their lives in largely self-produced “Underground Commix” whilst other publishers sought other ways around the draconian Comics Code applied to comic books.

The most elegant solution was the one chosen by Jim Warren, who had originally established himself with black and white B-Movie fan periodical Famous Monsters of Filmland and satire magazine Help!

In 1965 he took his deep admiration of the legendary 1950s EC Comics to its logical conclusion: reviving the concept of anthology horror short stories and pitching them at older fans. Creepy was stuffed with clever, sardonic, tongue-in-cheek strip chillers illustrated by the top artists in the field (many of them ex-EC stars). Warren circumvented the all-powerful Comics Code Authority – which had ended EC’s glory days and eventually their entire comics line – by publishing his new venture as a newsstand magazine.

It was a no-lose proposition. Older readers didn’t care to be associated with “kid’s stuff” comic-books whilst magazines had tempting cachet (i.e. mild nudity and a little more explicit violence) for readers of a transitional age; moreover the standard monochrome format was a quarter of the costs of colour periodicals.

Creepy was a huge and influential hit, especially among the increasingly rebellious, Rock ‘n’ Roll crazed teen market; often cited as a source of inspiration for the nascent underground commix movement and now furiously feeding on the growing renewed public interest in the supernatural.

In true Darwinian “Grow or Die” mode, Warren looked around for new projects, following up with companion shocker Eerie and the controversial war title Blazing Combat.

As the decade closed he launched a third horror anthology, but Vampirella was a little bit different. Although it featured the now traditional “host” to introduce and comment on the stories, this narrator was a sexy starlet who occasionally participated in the stories. Before too long she actually became the hero and crowd-pulling star of her own regular feature, but that’s material for a later volume…

The other big change was that here female characters played a far more active role. They were still victims and target but increasingly, whether name stars or bit players, they were as likely to be the big menace or save the day. Whatever their role, though, they were still pretty much naked throughout. Some traditions must be protected at all costs…

Another beguiling Warren staple was the eye-catching painted cover on every issue. Here they are the only full colour pages in an otherwise magnificently monochrome or duo-toned tome, crafted by Frank Frazetta, Bill Hughes, Larry Todd & Vaughn Bodé, Jeff Jones & Bodé and Ken Kelly. However to be fair I must say that the reproduction on some black-&-white pages leaves a lot to be desired…

This massive magazine-size (216 x 32 x 279 mm) hardback collection gathers – in their entirety – the contents of the first seven issues (spanning September 1969 to September 1970). This was a crucial transitional period which saw superheroes dying out at every publishing company; replaced by a genre revival and spearheaded by a tidal wave of horror titles after the Comics Code was frantically rewritten to combat plunging sales.

This volume begins with Vampirella #1, that aforementioned painted cover and a black-&-red Frazetta frontispiece – probably scripted by Editor Bill Parente – setting the blackly humorous tone for a fearsome fangtastic fun fest.

The original contents page follows – as do they all in their appropriate place. This compendium also includes every letters page and fan feature – and even the nostalgia-triggering ads of the era. If you are a modern monster fan or kit collector you’ll probably simultaneously weep and drool at the sight of these lost treasures…

The strip sensationalism begins with ‘Vampirella of Drakulon’ by Forrest J. Ackerman & Tom Sutton; introducing a planet where the rivers ran with blood and life evolved to drink it.

However, following a withering drought Drakulon was dying. Happily for the sultry starving vampire a ship from Earth arrives, full of people with food in their veins and a ship that can take her to where there’s plenty more.

Vampi’s role from the outset was to be another story host and for the rest of this collection that’s what she mostly is. Her role as an active adventurer didn’t properly begin for quite awhile…

So here the chills continue with ‘Death Boat!’ by Don Glut & Billy Graham with the survivors of a shipwreck being picked off one by one by a bloodsucker in their midst. They perish one per night but when the mortals number just two both are still wrong about who the killer is…

Glut & master draughtsman Reed Crandall conspired on ‘Two Silver Bullets!’ as a trapper fights to save his daughter from a werewolf after which ‘Goddess from the Sea’ by Glut and Neal Adams offers a splendid treat for art-lovers: the story of a man seduced by a sea-siren was shot directly from the illustrator’s incredible pencil art.

Glut & Mike Royer offer a timely Halloween warning in ‘Last Act: October!’ whilst ‘Spaced-Out Girls!’ (Glut & Tony Tallarico) sees a saucer full of extraterrestrial honeys come shopping for husbands before the premier package closes with Nicola Cuti & Ernie Colon’s mindbending magical murder mystery ‘A Room Full of Changes’.

The spooky story-bonanza resumes in issue #2, opening with coming attraction featurette ‘Vampi’s Feary Tales…’ – courtesy of Sutton – after which Vampi’s putative cousin ‘Evily’ is introduced by Bill Parente & veteran horror-meister Jerry Grandenetti. Here Drakulonian émigré and Earthly sorceress climactically clash over star-billing and bragging rights…

‘Montezuma’s Monster’ is scripted by R. Michael Rosen (incorrectly credited to Glut) and illustrated by Bill Fraccio & Tallarico in their composite identity of Tony Williamsune, detailing the fate of a treasure-hungry explorer who doesn’t believe in feathered serpents whilst ‘Down to Earth!’ by Ackerman & Royer leaves the hosting to Vampirella’s blonde counterpart Draculine as our star auditions for a film role…

That theme continues in ‘Queen of Horror!’ (Glut & Dick Piscopo) wherein a B-Movie starlet uses unique and uncanny advantages to get everything she deserves whilst Cuti & William Barry reveal the tragedy of two brothers who discover a new predatory species of inland cephalopod in ‘The Octopus’.

Cuti & Colon’s ‘One, Two, Three’ then explores the power of love in a world of robots and Glut & Graham render a ‘Rhapsody in Red!’ with a weary travellers fetching up at a lonely house to deliver a big surprise to the resident vampire…

The third issue augmented ‘Vampi’s Feary Tales…’ with correspondence section ‘Vampi’s Scarlet Letters’ before ‘Wicked is Who Wicked Does’ features the return of Evily in a short shocking battle against ogres by Parente & Sutton.

Al Hewetson & Jack Sparling count ‘4- 3- 2- 1- Blast Off! To a Nightmare!’ in the tale of a spaceship full of 24-hour party people who end up as hors d’oeuvres for something very nasty even as ‘Eleven Steps to Lucy Fuhr’ (by Terri Abrahms [story]; Nick Beal [adaptation] and art by Ed Robbins) sees many men drawn to a bizarre bordello and a sinister fate… until the unlikeliest of saviours takes a hand…

‘I Wake up… Screaming!’ is an all Billy Graham affair as a frightened girl is made aware of her true nature in a sci fi chiller whilst Cuti & Piscopo plunder mythology to deliver a salutary tale of fairy tale oppression and bloody liberation in ‘The Calegia!’

A cunning vampire meets his lethal match in Graham’s ‘Didn’t I See You on Television?’ after which Rosen & Sparling close the issue detailing the downfall of a vicious spoiled brat caught in ‘A Slimy Situation!’

Vampirella #4 opened with Sutton revealing past episodes of witch killing in ‘Vampi’s Feary Tales: Burned at the Stake!’ before Parente & David StClair reach psychedelic heights in a tale of alien amazons and their deadly ‘Forgotten Kingdom’ whilst Cuti & Royer combine murder and time travel in ‘Closer than Sisters’…

A city-slicker falls for a hillbilly hottie and gets sucked into a transformative shocker after trying ‘Moonshine!’ (Glut & Barry), Bill Warren & Sparling reveal the fate of a beautiful and obsessive scientist who bends the laws of God and Man ‘For the Love of Frankenstein’ and a very modern black widow asks a controlling stalker to ‘Come Into My Parlor!’ in a wry yarn by Rosen & Piscopo.

Richard Carnell (story); Jack Erman (adaptation) & Sparling then close the show with a weird and nasty tale of a nobleman auditioning women for marriage in ‘Run for Your Wife!’

The fifth issue begins with the usual ‘Vampi’s Feary Tales…’ as Sutton exposes ‘The Satanic Sisterhood of Stonehenge!’ before Glut, Fraccio & Tallarico see a greedily impatient heir speed his benefactress to her ultimate end, unheeding of her beloved pets and ‘The Craft of a Cat’s Eye’.

Cavemen battle dinosaurs in an arena of ‘Scaly Death’ in a visceral treat from Glut & Graham whilst the astounding Jeff Jones lends fine art sensibilities to the murderous saga of a girl, a guy and ‘An Axe to Grind’ after which Parente & Sutton detail the crimes of a sadistic Duke whose fate is sealed by an aggrieved astrologer and astrally ‘Avenged by Aurora’…

Glut, Fraccio & Tallarico see graves robbed and corpses consumed in neat bait-&-switch thriller Ghoul Girl’ whilst T. Casey Brennan & Royer reveal the solution of a bereaved husband who finds an ‘Escape Route!’ back to his dead beloved before Glut & Sparling end it all again via an implausible invasion from the moon in ‘Luna’.

Vampi’s Feary Tales…’ in Vampirella #6 features Dan Adkins’ graphic discourse on centaurs acting as a prelude to romantic tragedy the ‘Curse of Circe!’ as Gardner Fox & Grandenetti combine to relate how a strange sea creature offers the witch’s latest conquest his only certain method of escape.

Cuti & Sparling then share a story of civil war in the land of ghosts and how love toppled ‘The Brothers of Death’ whilst ‘Darkworth!’ by Cuti & Royer shows how a stripper graduates to murdered assistant of a stage magician and pulls off her own amazing trick in the name of vengeance after which Fox & Adkins explore the lives of the recently dead with ‘New Girl in Town!’ and Vern Burnett & Frank Bolle return to gothic roots to depict embattled humans outwitting nocturnal predators by volunteering a ‘Victim of the Vampyre!’

Larry Herndon, Fraccio & Tallarico (as Tony Williamsune) get creepily contemporary as a doctor tries to fix an overdosed patient and sends him way, way out on a ‘One Way Trip!’ before Buddy Saunders & Bolle combine adultery and attempted murder in ‘The Wolf-Man’: a wickedly scientific shocker about a very different kind of feral killer…

Vampirella #7 saw Archie Goodwin join as Associate Editor and perhaps his influence can be seen as the issue experiments with a connected theme and extended tale scripted by Nicola Cuti. Graham and Frazetta start the ball rolling by explaining ‘Why a Witch Trilogy’ and Vampirella introduces ‘Prologue: The Three Witches’ before Sutton to segues into the sad story of ‘The White Witch’ who could never feel the sunlight.

Ernie Colon picks up the experimental progression as ‘The Mind Witch’ trades magic for science to expose the fate of a psychic predator, after which Graham closes the deal with ‘The Black Witch’ who thought she could conquer love but failed to realise its appalling power…

After Cuti & Sutton’s palate-cleansing ‘Epilogue: The Three Witches’, Doug Moench graduates from letter writer in #3 to scripter as ‘Plague of the Wolf’ – illustrated by Bolle – tracks a bloody serial killer’s progress under the full moon and ‘Terror Test’ offers a shocking psychological thriller by Rosen & “Williamsune” with more than one sting in the tail.

In ‘The Survivor’, Saunders & Colon unite to explore a post-apocalyptic world where dedicated archaeologists still struggle to escape their bestial natures and this mammoth first compilation concludes with Rosen & Grandenetti viewing ‘The Collection Creation’ with an artist who finds the wrong kind of immortality…

Stark, surprisingly shocking and packed with clever ideas beautifully rendered, this epic tome (narrowly) escapes and transcends its admittedly exploitative roots to deliver loads of laughs and lots of shocks: a tried and true terror treat for fans of spooky doings and guiltily glamorous games.
© 2012 DFL. All rights reserved.

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Heart of the Beast – A Love Story


By Dean Motter, Judith Dupré & Sean Phillips (Dynamite Entertainment)
ISBN: 978-1-60690-491-6

What is art? Does it have anything to do with creativity? What is its value and what is the cost?

Originally released as an original hardback graphic novel in 1994 as one of the early experimental triumphs of DC’s Vertigo imprint, this evocatively disturbing reworking – or more accurately contemporary sequel – to one of literature’s greatest stories of mystery and gothic imagination features a tragic, doomed love triangle and carefully unravelled mystery.

In August 2014 this remastered 20th Anniversary commemorative hardcover edition was released by Dynamite, re-presenting the tale in all its subtly sinister glory, bolstered with a few textual extras for the inquiring, bonus-hungry minds of post-Millennials.

The first of those is ‘Circa Soho’: an atmospheric mood-enhancing and memory-intensive reminiscence from co-scripter Judith Dupré; now a globally celebrated author, commentator and critic on The Arts, but back then a fully active participant and observer in the scene.

As a self-confessed “Gallerina” making a living amongst the wild creatives and greedy lampreys attached to the arena of contemporary art burgeoning in the former no-go areas of New York City she was the perfect partner for writer, illustrator and designer Dean Motter.

Having worked on Mr. X, The Prisoner: Shattered Visage, Batman: Black and White, Electropolis and many more projects for young and old, Dean Motter is a creator with a singularly unique voice and style. Here his collaboration with Dupré on this striking addendum to a classic literary marvel and social critique of the price of creation adds chilling edges to a fantasy suitably sub-titled “a love story”…

The saga tells of Sandra, who spends a fateful night tending bar at a so-fashionable Gallery opening paid for by the rich but creepy celebrity plastic surgeon Dr. Andrew Wright. Even in the supremely decadent world of the Art Glitterati the surgeon is infamous, with dubious connections to both the high and mighty and the down and dirty. His patronage of bellicose wunderkind Jacob Sistine is fraught with haughty tension, pompous one-upmanship and barely suppressed loathing…

Drowning in the self-serving, pretentious pontificating of this week’s models, Sandra is surprised when she meets beautiful, sensitive Victor, a poetic rose among crass, wealthy thorns. Despite herself, she is drawn to the mysterious paragon who seems so much more than just Dr. Wright’s factotum and dogsbody.

A man of many secrets, Victor is almost the ideal (and – most frustratingly – reluctant and still largely prospective) lover, but his devotion to the shadier side of the doctor’s dealings with gangsters, fame-chasing poseurs and art forgers augers nothing but disaster for their budding relationship. Furthermore, there is some hideous secret Victor is keeping from her – an undisclosed past and unmoving obstacle not even the truest love or most forgiving nature can overcome…

I’ve endeavoured to obscure the originating source work since the unfolding secret is cleverly handled and the growing realisation adds to the dawning horror of the situation. The love-story spirals to its tragic conclusion, helped in no small part by the beguiling painted art of young Sean Phillips evoking the distant past and spotlighting the harsh modern world with equal skill and sensitivity.

In the intervening years the illustrator has risen to a position of revered prominence in the comics business and this collection closes with a fascinating ‘Codex’ with Phillips plundering his files and wracking his memory in an interview and commentary section packed with photos, layouts, roughs and sketches detailing the development of the project, whilst Motter enthusiastically shares his childhood obsession with scary movies and horror tales in a picture-packed Afterword ‘Frankenstein & Me’…

This cunning yarn failed to find its proper audience when first released, but is a solid story superbly told for all that and might well be the treat that turns your film freak into a comicbook zombie…
Heart of the Beast – A Love Story © 2014 Dean Motter, Judith Dupré & Sean Phillips. All Rights Reserved.

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White Collar – a Novel in Linocuts


By Giacomo Patri (Dover Comics & Graphic Novels)
ISBN: 978-0-486-80591-7

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: An Epic Reminder that not everyone enjoys the same joys and benefits we do… 10/10

We tend to think of graphic novels as being a late 20th century phenomenon – and one that had to fight long and hard for legitimacy and a sense of worth – but as this stunning over-sized (286 x 218 mm) two-colour hardback reveals, the format was known much earlier in the century… and utilised for the most solemn and serious of purposes.

White Collar was created by jobbing illustrator, artist, educator and activist Giacomo Patri in 1937: encapsulating the tenor of the times as America endured the Great Depression with a view to inspiring his fellow creatives…

Unable to find a publisher for his shocking and controversial pictorial polemic, Patri and his wife Stella self-published their first edition, but happily found publishers for subsequent releases, if not the huge, hungry, underprivileged and angry audience it deserved…

Patri (1898-1978) was born in Italy but raised in America. Living in San Francisco from 1916 he overcame the handicap of polio and worked at many menial jobs until his interest in art carried him through the California School of Fine Arts. Thereafter he became an illustrator for the San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Chronicle and other newspapers.

Patri had been interested in social justice and labour issues since the late 1920s and once the Depression struck those beliefs only crystallised. Manual or “blue collar” workers had long organised and unionised to secure their bargaining rights and fair wages and Patri saw that office workers like himself were as likely to need such power and autonomy too. This book was his way of convincing them…

A compelling Introduction by his descendents Tito Patri & Georges Rey offers context, historical background and technical information on the production of linocut art as well as revealing how the creation of such cheap, language-transcending visual tracts became a relatively common method of dissemination.

Also included is the story of the artist/author’s troubles during the repressive, red-baiting Joe McCarthy years and beyond…

Following the salutary lesson is the Original Introduction by fellow artistic agitator and creative pioneer Rockwell Kent before Patri senior’s endeavours to arouse his fellow illustrators and clerical staff unfold in 128 bold images of stark metaphor and rousing symbology: an astounding visual record and call to arms tracing one family’s struggle between 1929 and 1933, delivered with beguiling subtlety and shocking silent potency in plates of deepest black or startling orange.

The ‘Novel in Linocuts by Tito Patri’ is dedicated “To the great progressive Labor Movement, the Congress of Industrial Organisations” and remained both obscure and controversial for years not just for its left leaning content but due to its uncompromising depiction of the abortion catch-22: a truly heart-rending depiction of a family too poor to survive another mouth to feed but without the cash to pay a back street quack for an [illegal] termination…

Stirring, evocative and still movingly inspirational as the world staggers closer and closer to replicating those dark days of Haves, Have-Nots and Why-Should-I-Cares?; this magnificent rediscovery closes with a final assessment and plea from cartoonist, designer and contemporary activist Peter Kuper in his trenchant Afterword and the Original Epilogue by John L. Lewis…

Inventive, ferocious in its dramatic effects, instantly engaging and enraging, this is a book long overdue for revival and reassessment and one every callous “I’m All Right” Jackass and “Why Should I Pay For Your…” social misanthrope needs to see or be struck with…
© 1987 by Tamara Rey Patri. Introduction © 2016 by Tito Patri. Afterword © 2016 by Peter Kuper. All rights reserved.

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Dreadstar – The Beginning

By Jim Starlin (Dynamite Entertainment)
ISBN: 978-1-60690-119-9

The creative renaissance in comics during the 1980s resulted in some utterly wonderful strip sagas which shone briefly and brightly within what was still a largely niche industry before passing from view as the business and art form battled spiralling costs, declining readerships and the perverse and pervasive attitude in the wider world that comicbooks were the natural province of mutants, morons and farm animals (I’m paraphrasing).

Unlike today, way back then most grown-ups considered superheroes as adolescent power fantasies or idle wish-fulfilment for the uneducated or disenfranchised, so an entertainment industry which was perceived as largely made up of men in tights hitting each other got very little approval – or even notice – in the wider world of popular fiction.

All that changed with the advent of the comic book Direct Sales Market. With its more targeted approach to selling, specialist vendors in dedicated emporia had leeway to allow frustrated creators to cut loose and experiment with other genres – and even formats.

All the innovation back then led inescapably to today’s high-end, thoroughly respectable graphic novel market which, with suitable and fitting circularity, is now gathering and re-circulating many of the breakthrough tales from those times; not as poorly distributed serials and sequences, but in satisfyingly complete stand-alone books.

Marvel was the unassailable front-runner in purveying pamphlet fiction back then, outselling all its rivals and monopolising the lucrative licensed properties market (like Star Wars and Indiana Jones) which once been the preserve of the Whitman/Dell/Gold Key colossus. This added to a zeitgeist which proved that for open-minded readers, superheroes were not the only fruit…

As independently published titles hit an early peak, Marvel instigated its own creator-owned, rights-friendly fantasy periodical in response to the overwhelming success amongst older readers of Heavy Metal magazine. Lush, slick and lavish, HM had even brought a fresh, music-&-literature based audience to graphic narratives…

That response was Epic Illustrated: an anthological magazine offering stunning art and an anything-goes attitude – unhindered by the censorious Comics Code Authority – which saw everything from adaptations of Moorcock’s Elric and Harlan Ellison novellas to ‘The Last Galactus Story’, plus numerous stories which would become compelling forerunners of today’s graphic novel industry.

The first issue also discretely started a very gradual introduction to one of the era’s biggest Indie sensations: Vanth Dreadstar…

This collection gathers a number of stories originally culled from an assortment of different places. The saga started in Epic Illustrated (#1-9, 12 and 15, spanning Spring 1980 to December 1982), whilst tangentially diverting in 1981 to Eclipse Graphic Album Series #5 (The Price) and then 1982’s Marvel Graphic Novel #3: Dreadstar: all laying the groundwork for one of the most successful independently-owned comic book characters of the era, and one of the most long-lived…

This stellar hardback re-presents those tales in the original monochrome or painted full-colour, with writer/artist Starlin aided and abetted by letterer by Tom Orzechowski. For this edition the art has been remastered by Jerron Quality Color, Mike Kelleher and Digikiore Studios.

Already a big gun thanks to his run on Captain Marvel, the engendering of mad Titan Thanos and the reinvention of Adam Warlock, Starlin cemented his cosmic creator credentials and seeming preoccupation with death and nihilism through the grandiose saga Metamorphosis Odyssey.

Delivered in painted grey-tones, the serialised tale began with the introduction of mighty alien wizard ‘Aknaton’: savant of ancient and benevolent race the Osirosians. These masters of the cosmos were perturbed by the advent of rapacious barbarian species the Zygoteans who were slowly and inexorably conquering planets and eradicating all life in the Milky Way galaxy.

Aknaton’s people fought back on behalf of all creation, but knew that their resistance was numbered in mere millennia before the predators would win.

Unsettled by the prognostication, Aknaton set out on a desperate tour of the galaxy, planting life seeds weaving a web of possibility and even depositing an incredible sword of power in a last-ditch plan which would take a million years to complete…

The first seed flowered in the form of spiritually advanced intellectual monster ‘Za!’, whilst another blossomed into 15-year old ‘Juliet’, taken by Aknaton from Earth in 1980 just as the Zygoteans arrived to eradicate the rest of her species.

The mage’s last living puzzle component was butterfly winged psychic ‘Whis’par’ whose gifts and sensitivities easily divined the dark underpinnings of Aknaton’s ambitions…

During this chapter the artwork transitioned into full-painted colour, and by the time the wizard reached war-torn ice-world Byfrexia to recruit ‘Vanth’ the cosmic conflict was in full phantasmagorical flow. This emotionless resistance leader battling the Zygoteans was a man with incredible physical powers, bequeathed by a magic sword he had found: the very weapon Aknaton has planted eons previously…

‘The Meeting’ between Vanth and his notional maker was interrupted by Zygotean killers, affording the wizard opportunity to assess his handiwork in action. He quickly realised the hero was far more powerful than he had intended….

Nevertheless the quest moved on to a recently-razed paradise, but ‘Delloran Revisited’ was merely a step tin a search for an ultimate weapon so long lost, so well hidden that Aknaton had no clue to its current location…

Appraising his unique team of one final push, Aknaton enjoyed ‘Sunrise on Lartorez’ before absenting himself to meet God and discuss ‘Absolution’, after which a ‘Requiem’ sounded for life as the Zygoteans found them and lit the skies with ‘Nightfire’.

Forced into precipitate action, ‘Dreamsend’ turned into ‘Doomsday!’ as Aknaton’s plan finally came into play… with cataclysmic effect…

A million years later, an energy bubble bursts in another galaxy and sole survivors Aknaton and Vanth find themselves on a rural world not much different from any other. They still have business to settle and only one will walk away from the ‘Aftermath’ of what they’ve done…

With the illustration reverting to painted monochrome, The Price is set in that new Empirical Galaxy: one riven by an unending war between intergalactic robber barons the Monarchy and omnipresent mystico-political religious order the Instrumentality. Over 200 years these instinctive enemies have taken half a galaxy each and now battle to maintain a permanent stalemate. The economies of both factions depend on constant slaughter but no outright victory…

At the heart of that strained environment, rising Instrumentality bishop Syzygy Darklock is drawn by arcane forces and the diabolical plotting of terrorist mage Taurus Killgaren onto a path of inescapable doom and destruction.

It begins with the demonic assassination of Darklock’s brother; leading the outraged cleric on a path of damnation and revelation, gaining immense mystic power and wisdom but only at the cost of sacrificing everything he ever loved.

He also is forced to share Killgaren’s infallible vision of the fearful future and the role a man named Dreadstar will play in the fate of the universe…

After the huge success of ‘The Death of Captain Marvel’ (Marvel Graphic Novel #1), Starlin was eagerly welcomed back for the third release. Here he finally launched Dreadstar as a creator-owned property that would kickstart the Epic Comics line into life.

The full-colour painted story focused on Vanth the man, as the immortal Cold Warrior abandoned his sword and warlike ways, settling down to decades of farming on isolated agri-world Caldor with retired Instrumentality researcher Delilah.

Toiling beside the gentle gengineered cat-people operating the farm planet, Vanth found a kind of contentment, which was only slightly spoiled when a bizarre creature named Syzygy Darklock set up his tent in the mountain wilderness and began tempting the old soldier with tales of the outer world and veiled promises of great knowledge and understanding .

Vanth was with the savant when Monarchy ships found Delilah and the cat-people. In the wake of their casual atrocities he renounced his vow of peace and resolved to end the stupid, commercially expedient war his way…

The drama concludes with ‘Epilogue’: one last black-&-white tale first seen in Epic Illustrated #15, and designed as bridging introduction to the hero’s comic book debut. Vanth and his cat-man ally Oedi are trying to quietly get off Instrumentality mining colony the Rock, but Dreadstar is nigh-fatally distracted by a worker who is the very image of his dearly departed Delilah.

Before he can do anything really stupid however the mine roof caves in and threatens all his ambitious plans to bring peace and stability to the Empirical Galaxy…

Bold, bombastic and potently cathartic, this is no-nonsense space opera with the just the right amount of deep thought, comforting cynicism and welcoming pop philosophy added to flavour the action and spice up the celestial grandeur. Above all this is smart, trenchant, uncomplicated fun for grown-up space freaks and well worth a few moments of your time…
© 2010 James Starlin. All rights reserved. Dreadstar is a registered trademark of James Starlin, and the Dreadstar logo and all characters and content herein and the likenesses thereof are also trademarks of James Starlin unless otherwise expressly noted.