Category: Mystery

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Yoko Tsuno volume 19: The Astrologist of Bruges


By Roger Leloup, coloured by Beatrice of Studio Leonardo & translated by Jerome Saincantin (Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-1-80044-130-9 (Album PB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

On September 24th 1970, “electronics engineer” Yoko Tsuno began her troubleshooting career as an indomitable intellectual adventurer. Her debut in Le Journal de Spirou was realised in “Marcinelle style” cartoonish 8 page short ‘Hold-up en hi-fi’ but although she is still delighting readers and making new fans to this day, her action-packed, astonishing, astoundingly accessible exploits quickly evolved into a highpoint of pseudo-realistic fantasies numbering amongst the most intoxicating, absorbing and broad-ranging comics thrillers ever created. Her globe-girdling mystery cases and space-&-time-spanning epics are the brainchild of Belgian maestro Roger Leloup who launched his own solo career in 1953 after working as studio assistant/technical artist on Hergé’s Adventures of Tintin.

Compellingly told, sublimely imaginative and – no matter how implausible the premise of an individual yarn – always firmly grounded in hyper-authentic settings underpinned by solidly-constructed, unshakably believable technology and unswerving scientific principles, Leloup’s illustrated escapades were at the vanguard of a wave of strips revolutionising European comics. Very early in the process, he switched from loose illustration to a mesmerising nigh-photo realistic style that is a series signature. That long-overdue sea-change in gender roles and stereotyping heralded a torrent of clever, competent, brave and formidable women protagonists taking their rightful places as heroic ideals and not romantic lures, consequently elevating Continental comics in the process. Such endeavours are as engaging and empowering now as they ever were, none more so than the travails of Miss Tsuno.

Her first outings (the aforementioned, STILL unavailable Hold-up en hi-fi, and co-sequels La belle et la bête and Cap 351) were mere introductory vignettes prior to epic authenticity taking a firm grip in 1971 when the unflappable problem solver met valiant but lesser (male) pals Pol Paris and Vic Van Steen. Instantly hitting her stride in premier full-length saga Le trio de l’étrange (in LJdS’s May 13th edition), from then on, Yoko’s efforts encompassed explosive exploits in exotic corners of our world, sinister deep-space sagas and even time-travelling jaunts. There are 31 European bande dessinée albums to date, with 19 translated into English thus far, albeit – and ironically – none of them available in digital formats…

Initially serialised in LJdS #2923 to 2943 and spanning April 20th to September 7th 1994, L’astrologue de Bruges became the 20th collected Yoko Tsuno album that same year. Following chronologically on from The Rhine Gold, it weaves a tale of Earth-bound archaic mystery as our tireless troubleshooter visits a living historical treasure trove for answers to a contemporary conundrum…

Walking the scenic canals of Bruges – “the Venice of the North” – Yoko strikes up a fortuitous conversation with a painter who is actually a very open-minded archaeologist and imaginative historian. Tsuno is there to meet another artist; one who has painted her portrait in local period dress. She thinks it’s from magazine photos of her, but Mr. Jos knows much of the confounding Jan Van Laet who has contacted Yoko, and none of what he knows is good…

Jos shows her the quiet passages and waterways of a renaissance city barely altered since the 16th century and offers to stay close during her interview with Van Laet: a man he seriously considers to be in league with the Devil…

Soon after her interview with the extremely off-kilter portraitist begins, Tsuno begins to agree with that assessment as Van Laet seeks to convince her that he captured her image from life, not photos, and that she had posed for him in 1545 Anno Domini. Her doubts take a hard knock when he also reveals ancient pictures and sketches of her with her friend Monya and foster daughter Morning Dew.

That’s when Van Laet’s patron and master the Marquis of Torcello joins the interview, claiming Yoko has lived since those Renaissance days afflicted by amnesia. Incensed and threatening, he also accuses her of holding his property: a vial containing an elixir of youth and another carrying the secret of a deadly biological super-weapon bottled by legendary, infamous natural philosopher, astrologer and alchemist Zacharius..

Escaping by hurling herself out of a window to be plucked from a canal by Mr. Jos, Yoko is pretty sure she knows the How if not Why of this situation. After all, Monya is a cherished comrade who was born in the far future and possesses a working time machine…

Resolved to learn everything and foil Torcello & Van Laet’s scheme to reintroduce the Black Death to the modern world, Yoko recruits steadfast comrades Pol & Vic to join her, Monya and Dew in an era of pestilence, intrigue, Inquisitions and ongoing Wars of Religion. She has no choice over the child… the painting already incontrovertibly proves Dew was present and in just as much danger as everyone else…

Mr Jos is vital in the planning and reconnaissance stages of the proposed mission. He now owns the fantastic house occupied by the undying villain in 16th century and allows Yoko access to all its many levels of subterranean cellars and workshops, and provides access to clothing of the era. Monya delivers everything else needed and during a terrific storm the party nervously head back to a time of terror and travail…

Befriending poverty-stricken flower seller Mieke on arrival, the time travellers are soon embroiled in an ongoing and escalating calamity involving Zacharius’ deranged-but-brilliant apprentice Balthazar, a scheme stripping churches of gold and portraitist Van Laet’s insidious human trafficking business selling his poor but honest models to the rich men who purchase his paintings. The true threat though is always Torcello who wants to spread doom and destruction in every era and gets his big chance after capturing Monya and stealing her Time Shifter…

The monster’s fate is someone else’s boon, however, as the doomed brief encounter of flirtatious Pol and meek Mieke suddenly grows into something much greater and happier ever after…

As ever, the most assured assets of these edgy endeavours are astonishingly authentic settings, benefitting from Leloup’s diligent research and meticulous attention to detail. A magnificently complex twisty thriller with doomsday overtones, displaying our valiant troubleshooter and her team triumphant in a taut, tense thriller of time bending terror, The Astrologist of Bruges is tense, moody, slow-burning, deviously twisted and potently plausible: a fable confirming how smarts and combat savvy are pointless without compassion, integrity and a sense of moral responsibility.
Original edition © Dupuis, 1994 by Roger Leloup. All rights reserved. English translation 2024 © Cinebook Ltd.

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The Marquis of Anaon volume 4: The Beast


By Vehlmann & Bonhomme: coloured by Delf and translated by Mark Bence (Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-1-84918-278-2 (PB Album/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content employed for dramatic effect.

In 1972 Fabien Vehlmann entered the world in Mont-de-Marsan. Raised in Savoie, he grew up to study business management before taking a job with a theatre group. His prodigious canon of pro comics work began in 1998 and soon earned him the soubriquet of “Goscinny of the 21st Century”. In 1996, after entering a writing contest in Le Journal de Spirou, he caught the comics bug and two years later – with illustrative collaborator Denis Bodart – crafted mordantly quirky, sophisticated portmanteau period crime comedy Green Manor. From there his triumphs grew to include amongst many others Célestin Speculoos for Circus, Nicotine Goudron in L’Écho des Savanes and a noteworthy stint on major property Spirou and Fantasio…

Scion of an artistic family, Matthieu Bonhomme received his degree in Applied Arts in 1992, before learning the comics trade working in the atelier of western & historical strip specialist Christian Rossi. Published between 2002 and 2008, Le Marquis d’Anaon was Bonhomme’s first regular series, after which he began writing as well as illustrating a variety of tales, from L’Age de Raison, Le Voyage d’Esteban, The Man Who Shot Lucky Luke and much more.

Now, where were we? Imagine The X-Files unfolding in Age of Enlightenment Europe (circa 1720-1730), but played as a solo piece by a young hero reluctantly growing to accept the role of crusading troubleshooter.

With potent overtones of Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, The Fall of the House of Usher and similar gothic romances, it all began in 2001’s L’Isle de Brac: first of 5 albums (available in English-language/digital formats) tracing the development of a true champion of humanity against darkness and venality.

Under-employed middle class merchant’s son Jean-Baptiste Poulain is a scholar, pragmatic philosopher, ardent disciple of Cartesian logic and former medical student. Smart and well educated but impoverished, he accepted a post to tutor the son of the mysterious Baron of Brac. It was a career decision that reshaped the course of his life…

On the storm-battered, isolated island off the Brittany Coast, Poulain experienced fear and outrage, superstition and suspicion before ultimately exposing the appalling secret of the island overlord serfs called “the Ogre”, and bringing justice, finality and closure to all concerned. In the bitter aftermath, Poulain left, but could never outrun the obnoxious title the islanders bestowed upon him in their Bretagne argot: Le Marquis d’Anaon – “the Marquis of Lost Souls”…

Two years later Poulain caught a presumed demonic (but actually faith-based) serial killer (The Black Virgin) before tackling ship-borne plague that demanded the most draconian treatment to save all Europe from annihilation (The Providence) – all without recompense or even enhanced renown or esteem…

La Bête tackles a most traditional challenge from the unknown, as still-struggling, nigh-starveling Poulain is convinced by his beloved cousin Xavier to assist and consult for a company of French Dragoons. A monster is ravaging mountain villages along the border with the Kingdom of Savoy and these doughty non-nonsense warriors have been sent to sort it out.

Their initial scepticism rapidly adjusts to the repeated scenes of carnage and consumption, and Poulain is impressed by the way they can reconstruct events from observing the scattered, battered remains. The accounts of panicked surviving villagers are unreliable, and as the company tracks the animal ever higher into mountainous snowlines, their suppositions begin to affect the soldiers, Soon they too are debating the existence of giant bears and werewolves…

What they do indisputably know is that it’s huge, attacks at dusk, kills wantonly and is unnaturally choosy in what it then eats. One survivor claims it has bulging red, almost human eyes…

After just missing it again Captain Xavier is officially stymied when it crosses into Savoy, before opting to surrender his commission and uniform – but not his gun, shot and powder – to pursue it without creating a diplomatic incident. His most devoted men are just as determined and follow without regimental colours, whilst actual civilian Poulain cannot abandon his hunt for what seems to be malignant proof of supernatural forces…

Sadly, monsters are not the only peril and a clash with smugglers soon makes the hunters into fugitives, allowing Xavier to complete Jean-Baptiste’s schooling by teaching him to shoot…

It’s a wise and fortunate tactic as attrition by weather, environment and the ever-taunting, never seen but constantly heard monster winnows the comrades down to a weary handful. At last a scrap of useful information comes to them in an alpine village where the dwindling populace know well the haunts and tactics of what they call “the Shadow Beast”…

Armed with knowledge, Poulain and Xavier follow the horror higher and higher into its mountain top lair and final battle is joined with truly terrible costs to all…

This gritty derivation of the tales of grendel, krakens and dragons comes to us as another tautly authentic compellingly scripted saga from Vehlmann, depicted via Bonhomme’s densely informative but never obtrusive illustrated realism. As such, it adds a moody, ingenious, utterly enthralling tale of primal endurance to the literary legacy of Man against Monster, perfectly poised on the cusp of societal change from an era of superstition, class separation, burgeoning natural wonder, to one where reason should be ascendant and belief must be verified.

This chilling conundrum of a self-doubting quester barely holding at bay the crippling notion that all his knowledge might be trumped one night by the ever-lurking unknown is utterly compulsive entertainment, making the travails of The Marquis of Anaon mystery milestones no thinking fear fan should miss, and exploits deserving a much greater audience.
Original edition © Dargaud Paris 2006 by Vehlmann & Bonhomme. All rights reserved. English translations © 2016 by Cinebook Ltd.

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Jamie Smart’s Max & Chaffy: What a Delicious Discovery!


By Jamie Smart, and coloured by Emily Kimbell (David Fickling Books)
ISBN: 978-1-78845-345-5 (PB)

Laced with cheerful welcoming charm by cartoonist, comics artist and novelist Jamie Smart, Max & Chaffy books for younger readers (five when this one comes out and augmented online by www.findchaffy.com) hark back to more traditional times and fare. Initially introduced in Welcome to Animal Island, little Max moved to a new home in a lighthouse and made many amazing friends like Orlando, Crumbs, Moose, Pedalo and especially a strange little creature called Chaffy.

The tiny fluffbundle has mismatched ears and was easily confused: constantly getting lost and needing Max and the reader’s help to be where it belongs. The reason for getting misplaced so much was and is a desire to locate other unique-unto-themselves Chaffys (as seen in follow-up fables The Great Cupcake Mystery!, Search for the Ice Chaffy! and Hunt for the Pirate’s Gold!): a desire magnified once the soon-to-be-inseparable pair joined the Official Chaffy Finding Club…

Unlike Smart’s multi award-winning comics offerings (Bunny vs. Monkey, Looshkin – the Adventures of the Maddest Cat in the World!!, Fish Head Steve!, Corporate Skull, Space Raoul, and many brilliant strips for The Beano, Dandy and others) or his illustrated kids novels like the Flember quartet, Max & Chaffy adventures are crafted for early readers, offering strong directed stories laced with interactive pages, with participation an integral part of the storytelling. The most engaging of these page games are recurring Search & Find tableaux – just like Where’s Wally? – cunningly combined with grouping/collecting moments as they search for new specimens of Chaffy, all offering flavours of Pokémon and echoes of Mr. Men whenever they find and befriend one.

Joyous, inclusive, accepting and particularly appetising, this outing sees our tiny tot stars initially doing something other than seeking new Chaffys – all with a list of identifying characteristics – a bit later, but opens with them soundly asleep in the Lighthouse… until a colossal explosion wakes them up in a hurry!

The detonation is at the bakery where Crumbles’ lives; caused by her latest recipe going awfully wrong. In fact, all the Chaffy’s efforts at cooking are misfiring, and have never really been right ever since she left baking school. Crumbles also really misses her old baking partner Sprinkles…

Max sincerely wants to help and is even more determined once he learns Sprinkles now lives on another island…

Resolved to reunite the cookery champions, Max asks grumpy Captain Foghorn to ferry them over, and when he reuses gets a lift in Orlando Pig’s new Hot Air Balloon. Scarily, it almost doesn’t make it, but eventually everyone alights safely on ‘Food Island’, eager for fun, tasty treats and possibly new Chaffies for Max’s book. Sadly, as Mayor Chomp Chomp explains, they have arrived in the middle of a culinary crisis. The Grand Food Festival has just begun, but in every specialised region, recipes are going wrong and all the new dishes devised are inedible!

Max naturally offers to investigate as he, Crumbles and Chaffy search for Sprinkles, and soon their trek takes them to ‘Pasta Hills!’ where very upset Pasta Pete explains how nothing has the right texture or taste anymore. This sends Chaffy into a finding frenzy that only ends when he finds an undiscovered Burger Chaffy adrift in the land of spaghettis, cheesy sauces and meatballs…

Gradually the pattern repeats across the island, with our explorers locating never-before-catalogued Chaffy pals in ‘Burger Valley!’, ‘Veggie Park!’, ‘Sushi Land’ and ‘Bakersville’, inspiring brand new taste and flavour combinations before ultimately reuniting and similarly reinvigorating the baking partnership of Sprinkles and Crumbles. Max can’t decide what’s best: wonderful new food or more Chaffies for his book. Actually, of course he can…

The fun is followed by a round of exotic fusion foods for all, and supplemented by more things to do, beginning with a bonus feature where Sprinkles asks readers to search for his misplaced ingredients (with answers kindly provided…)

Exuberant, enticing, eminently palatable and remarkably re-readable, this is another must-have treat of no kid of any age could possibly resist.

Text and illustrations © Fumboo Ltd. 2025. All rights reserved.
Max & Chaffy: What a Delicious Discovery! will be released on August 14th 2025 and is available for pre-order now.

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Fantastic Four: Behold… Galactus! (Marvel Select Edition)


By Stan Lee, Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott; Lee, John Buscema & Sinnott; and John Byrne & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-1887-3 (HB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

With today’s World Premier of the latest cinematic interpretation of the “World’s Greatest Comics Magazine” (Phew!!), here’s a cool collected assemblage of the stuff we comics geeks tuned into seven decades ago – and with sequels! – to prove that it’s never too late to catch up to the really good stuff…

Cautiously bi-monthly, cover-dated November 1961, and hiding timidly amidst the company’s standard monster ‘n’ aliens fare, Fantastic Four #1 – by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, George Klein & Christopher Rule – was crude and rough-hewn, but concealed on its pages a revolution of raw passion and uncontrolled excitement. Thrill-hungry readers pounced on it and the raw storytelling caught a wave of change starting to build in America. It and the succeeding issues changed comic books forever.

In eight short years FF became the indisputable core and most consistently groundbreaking series of Marvel’s ever-unfolding ridiculously enthralling web of creation, bombarding readers with ceaseless salvos of fresh concepts and new characters. Kirby was in his conceptual prime, unleashing his vast imagination on plot after spectacular plot. Clearly inspired, Lee scripted some of the most passionate superhero sagas that Marvel – or any publisher – had or has ever seen. Both were on an unstoppable roll, at the height of their creative powers, and full of the confidence only success brings. The King was particularly eager to see how far the genre and medium could be pushed. A forge of stunning creativity and endless excitement, Fantastic Four was the proving ground for dozens of future stars and mesmerising concepts, none more timely or apt than freewheeling cosmic wanderer and moral barometer The Silver Surfer.

Collecting every cosmic crumb of pertinent material from Fantastic Four #48-50, 120-123, and #242-244, this compendium reprints a trilogy of landmark sagas of a morally ambiguous Stellar Sentinel, his globe-gobbling master and the greatest Explorers in Humanity’s history, spanning March 1966 to July 1982. The epic opens with elucidation as Ralph Macchio offers background and appreciation in his Introduction to one the greatest comics sagas ever made prior to the tale again being told…

Although pretty much a last-minute addition to Fantastic Four #48-50’s Galactus Trilogy, Kirby’s scintillating creation quickly became a watchword for depth and subtext in Marvel’s Universe, one Stan Lee kept as his own personal toy for many years to come. The debut was a creative highlight from a period where the Lee/Kirby partnership was utterly on fire. The tale is all power and epic grandeur and has never been surpassed for drama, thrills and sheer entertainment, so you should really read it in all its glory.

Here, without further preamble, the wonderment commences with ideas just exploding from The King. Despite being only halfway through one storyline, FF #48 trumpeted ‘The Coming of Galactus!’ with the Inhumans’ saga swiftly but satisfyingly wrapped up (by page 6!) as the entire clandestine race were sealed behind an impenetrable dome called the Negative Zone (later retitled Negative Barrier to avoid confusion with the subspace gateway Reed worked on for years). Meanwhile, a cosmic entity approaches Earth, preceded by a gleaming herald on a board of pure cosmic energy…

I suspect this experimental – and vaguely uncomfortable – approach to narrative mechanics was calculated and deliberate, mirroring how TV soap operas increasingly delivered their interwoven, overlapped storylines, and used here as a means to keep readers glued to the series. They needn’t have bothered. The stories and concepts were more than enough…

‘If this be Doomsday!’ sees planet-eating Galactus setting up shop on top of the Baxter Building despite the FF’s best efforts, whilst his coldly gleaming herald has his humanity accidentally rekindled by simply conversing with The Thing’s blind girlfriend Alicia Masters. Issue #50’s ‘The Startling Saga of the Silver Surfer!’ climaxes the epic in grand manner as the Surfer’s reawakened ethical core and FF’s sheer heroism buy enough time for supergenius leader Reed Richards – Mister Fantastic – to literally save the world with a boldly-borrowed Deus ex Machina gadget…

Once again, the tale ends in the middle of the issue, with the remaining half concentrating on the team getting back to “normal”. To that extent, Human Torch Johnny Storm finally enrols at Metro College, desperate to forget Inhuman lost love Crystal and his unnerving jaunts to the ends of the universe. On his first day, the lad meets imposing and enigmatic Native American Wyatt Wingfoot, who is destined to become his greatest friend…

Jumping to 1972 long after Kirby had moved to DC to create his New Gods saga, revamp Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen and create new wonders such as Kamandi and The Demon, the Fantastic Four had carried on under Lee and a succession of more traditional illustrators. The Surfer had briefly enjoyed his own critically acclaimed but financially unhealthy title and been relegated to guest star status, especially if allegorical metaphors were required…

Joined by inker Joe Sinnott, Fantastic Four #120-123 (cover-dated March-June of that year) rather overplayed the biblical allusions for a blockbuster 4-parter. The ‘The Horror that Walks on Air!’ heralded the bellicose arrival of a seemingly omnipotent invader claiming to be an angel sent to scour and scourge Earth. Utterly unstoppable, this he does before revealing himself as the new herald of Galactus and declaring humanity doomed.

The tale vividly yet laboriously continues in ‘The Mysterious Mind-Blowing Secret of Gabriel!’ with the recently divided but now reunited quartet utterly overmatched in their resistance and only saved by the late-arriving Silver Surfer, before facing off against world-devouring ‘Galactus Unleashed’, who rampages like Godzilla through the city’s streets before an unexpected end comes and humanity survives another day thanks to Reed Richards who again outsmarts the cosmic god and prevents the consumption of ‘This World Enslaved!’

A lot can happen – and did – in ten years, and the last story here (from #242-244, May-July 1982) is another spectacular and rather revolutionary epic, as crafted by John Byrne soon after he took total creative control of the Quirky Quartet.

‘Terrax Untamed’ sees the team and Johnny’s new girlfriend Frankie Raye (who has fire powers mimicking his own) attacked by Galactus’ most recent herald – someone who quite justifiably bears them a grudge as the FF formerly dethroned him from the world he had conquered before handing him over to the Planet Devourer to use as his cosmic food-finder. Now, still possessing the “Power Cosmic” all heralds share, Terrax hits Earth like an extinction event and, after causing immense destruction across the city, uproots and maroons Manhattan Island 100 miles above the rest of the planet…

Terrax’s demand is simple and clear cut. Galactus is currently starving and depleted, so unless the FF kill him, the fugitive tyrant will drop the most populated rock on Earth with catastrophic effect…

The crisis takes a crazy turn next as the reluctant assault leads to the defeat and downfall of Terrax instead of Galactus and a surprise restoration of New York. Events evolve and go bad quickly however as the cosmic consumer runs out of power and seeks to refuel by eating the world to save himself. The question ‘Shall Earth Endure?’ is shockingly answered when an army of superheroes topple Galactus and watch aghast as the space god begins to expire…

They are even more astounded when Richards and Captain America successfully argue that they must all save his life and allow him to continue predating planets – if not necessarily civilisations – leading to triumph and, for Johnny, more tragedy in ‘Beginnings and Endings’ and a raft of star-borne consequences to come…

A perfect primer for beginners and welcome reminder for the faithful, this bombastic breviary comes equipped with plenty of art extras including cover reproductions for 1972 reprint title Marvel’s Greatest Comics #33-37 by John & Sal Buscema, Gil Kane, Frank Giacoia & Sinnott; back over art from Essential Fantastic Four vol. 3 (2007 by Kirby & Ian Hannin) and Essential Fantastic Four vol. 6 (2007 by John B & Hannin); composite cover art for 2002’s Wizard Ace Edition: Fantastic Four #48 (Mike Wieringo, Karl Kesel, Paul Mounts); the wraparound cover for 1992’s Silver Surfer: The Coming of Galactus! (Ron Lim, Dan Panosian & Mounts); Kirby & Dean White’s painted cover based on FF #49 (from Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four vol. 5) and José Ladrönn’s cover for The Fantastic Four Omnibus vol. 2 HC (2007).

Completing the iconic art odyssey are the covers from Marvel Treasury Editions #21 by Bobs Budiansky & McLeod and Byrne’s cover for 1989’s Fantastic Four: The Trial of Galactus TPB.

Epic, revolutionary and unutterably unmissable, these stories made Marvel the unassailable leaders in fantasy entertainment and remain some of the most important superhero comics ever crafted. The verve, conceptual scope and sheer enthusiasm shines through on every page and the wonder is there for you to share. If you’ve never thrilled to these spectacular sagas then this book of marvels is the perfect key to another – far brighter – world and time.
© 2019 MARVEL. All rights reserved.

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Shazam! Family Archives volume 1


By William Woolfolk, Otto Binder, Joe Millard and many unknown authors, C.C. Beck, George Tuska, Mac Raboy, Al Carreño, Mark Swayze & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-0779-3 (HB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

One of the most venerated and beloved characters of America’s Golden Age of comic books, Captain Marvel was created in 1940: part of the wave of opportunistic creativity which followed the stunning success of Superman in 1938 and Batman one year later. Although there were many notable similarities in the early months, Fawcett’s champion quickly moved squarely into arenas of light entertainment and even pure comedy, whilst as the years passed the Man of Steel increasingly left whimsy behind in favour of action, drama and suspense.

Homeless orphan and all-around decent kid Billy Batson was selected by an ancient wizard named Shazam to utilise the powers of six ancient gods and heroes in a never-ending battle against injustice. Thereafter he could transform from scrawny, precocious kid to brawny (adult) hero Captain Marvel by speaking aloud the wizard’s acronymic name – invoking the powers of legendary patrons Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury.

Publishing house Fawcett had first gained prominence through an immensely well-received magazine for WWI veterans entitled Captain Billy’s Whiz-Bang, before branching out into books and general interest magazines. Their most successful publication – at least until the Good Captain hit his stride – was the ubiquitous boy’s building bible Mechanix Illustrated and, as the comicbook decade unfolded, the scientific and engineering discipline and “can-do” demeanour underpinning MI suffused and informed both the art and plots of the Marvel Family titles.

Captain Marvel was the brainchild of writer/editor Bill Parker and brilliant illustrator Charles Clarence Beck who, with his assistant Pete Costanza, handled most of the art for the series throughout its stellar but too brief run. Before eventually evolving his own affable personality the Captain was serious, bluff and taciturn: a rather charmless powerhouse. Always, junior alter ego Billy was the true star: a Horatio Alger archetype of impoverished, boldly self-reliant and resourceful youth overcoming impossible odds through gumption, grit and sheer determination…

After homeless orphan newsboy Billy was granted access to the power of legendary gods and heroes, he won a job as a roaming radio reporter for Amalgamated Broadcasting and first defeated demonic Doctor Thaddeus Bodog Sivana, setting a pattern that would captivate readers for the next 14 years…

At the height of his immense popularity Captain Marvel – and many of his fellow Shazam!-powered pals – were published twice monthly and outsold Superman, but as the Furious Forties closed, tastes changed, sales slowed and Fawcett saw the way the wind was blowing. In 1953, they settled an infamous, long-running copyright infringement suit begun by National Comics in 1940 and the “Big Red Cheese” vanished – like so many other superheroes – becoming no more than a fond memory for older fans. Fawcett in full bloom, however, was a true publishing innovator and marketing dynamo – now regarded as inventor of many established comic book sales tactics we all take for granted today. This stunning, lavishly sturdy full-colour hardback compendium gathers magnificent examples of the most effective strategy: spin-off characters linked to the primary star. Fawcett was the company responsible for creating crossover-events and in 1942 they devised a truly unforgettable villain and set him simultaneously loose on their stable of costumed champions whilst using his (temporary) defeat to introduce a new hero to their colourful pantheon.

The epic creation of Captain Marvel Jr. and his originating antithesis Captain Nazi were fully covered in Shazam! Archives volume 4 so feel free to go there first…

This subsidiary collection gathers his subsequent appearances as brand new headliner in Master Comics #23-32 (February to November 4th 1942) plus the first issue of his own solo title (Captain Marvel Jr. #1, cover-dated 18th November 1942) and also includes the debut appearance of mighty Miss Mary Marvel who premiered in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 (December 11th 1942). All that and the stunning covers by Beck & Raboy are preceded by an erudite and incisive Foreword from artist, editor, historian – and former student of C.C. Beck – P.C. Hammerlinck, who reveals many secrets of the original comics’ production before the classics commence.

Sadly, although the artists involved are easily recognisable, the identities of these tales’ writers are lost to us but strong possibilities include primarily Rod Reed and Ed “France” Herron (both early editors of Fawcett’s comics line) as well as Bill Parker, Manly Wade Wellman, Joe Millard, Otto Binder and William Woolfolk.

Before the advent of the World’s Mightiest Boy, Bulletman – ably assisted by his companion Bulletgirl – was undoubtedly Fawcett’s runner-up star turn; hogging the covers in monthly Master Comics and carrying his own solo comic title. That all changed with the 21st issue and murderous arrival of Captain Nazi. Hitler’s Übermensch made manifest, the monstrous villain was despatched to America to spread terror and destruction and kill all its superheroes.

The Horrendous Hun stormed in, taking on Bulletman and Captain Marvel who united to stop the Fascist Fiend wrecking New York City. The battle ended inconclusively but restarted when the Nazi nemesis tried to wreck a hydroelectric dam. Foiled again, the monster sought to smash a new fighter plane prototype before Captain Marvel countered him, but was not quick enough to prevent the killer murdering an old man and brutally crushing a young boy.

Freddy Freeman seemed destined to follow his grandfather into eternity, but guilt-plagued Billy brought the dying lad to Shazam’s mystic citadel where the wizard saved his life by granting Freddy access to the power of the ancient gods and heroes. Physically cured – except for a permanently maimed leg – there was a secondary effect: whenever he uttered the phrase “Captain Marvel” Freeman transformed into a superpowered, invulnerable version of his mortal self.

The prototype crossover epic concluded in Master Comics #22 when the teen titan joined Bulletman & Bulletgirl in stopping a string of Captain Nazi-sponsored murders, victoriously concluding with a bold announcement that from the very next issue he would be starring in his own solo adventures. That parade of epic exploits begins in this tome with ‘Captain Nazi’s Assassination Plot’ (Master Comics #23), immaculately rendered by the Alex Raymond-inspired Raboy who would produce for the feature some of the most iconic art of his illustrious career. Sadly, that meant struggling constantly with punishing deadlines and his own impossibly harsh standards. Moreover, the legend abounds that Raboy would rewrite scripts he wasn’t happy with…

Earning a living selling newspapers on street corners, young Freddie spots Captain Nazi again and dogs his corpse-strewn trail as the fascist kills a British agent and attempts to murder President Roosevelt. Then ‘Death by Radio’ introduces sinister serial killer Mr. Macabre who brazenly broadcasts his intention to assassinate former business partners until the young Marvel confronts him. Master Comics #25 sees Freddie investigate a little lad’s broken balloon in Woolfolk & Raboy’s ‘The Case of the Face in the Dark!’, only to stumble upon a cunning plot by the Japanese to invade Alaska. Whereas his senior partner’s tales were always laced with whimsy, Junior’s beautifully depicted exploits were always drenched in angst, tension and explosive action. The climax, which involved the bombastic boy-warrior shredding wave after wave of bombers, is possibly one of the most staggering printed spectacles of the Golden Age…

On a smaller scale, the next issue featured Otto Binder’s ‘The Return of Mr. Macabre!’ as the killer, turned sickly green after a failed suicide attempt, kidnaps a US inventor ferrying vital plans to England. The plot goes well until Macabre’s rendezvous with Captain Nazi in mid-Atlantic is interrupted by Junior, who saves the day by ripping their battleship apart with his bare hands! In a rare display of close continuity, Freddie then carries on to London in MC #27 to counter ‘Captain Nazi and the Blackout Terror’, with the malign master of disguise setting out to neutralise the city’s anti-Blitz protocols. For his service, Freddie is made a special agent for Winston Churchill…

Never captive for long, in the next issue the Hunnish Hauptman spearheads an Atlantic reign of terror and kidnaps America’s chief of War Production, until Junior single-handedly invades ‘Hitler’s Headquarters of Horror’, linking up with a German Resistance movement to free the crucial captive. After such smashing successes it was no surprise that in #29 British Intelligence tapped innocuous Freddie Freeman to infiltrate Hitler’s Fortress Europa and prepare the enslaved populations under ‘The Iron Heel of the Huns’ to rise when the inevitable Allied counterattack came…

MC #30 saw the wonder boy back in the USA, stopping Captain Nazi’s plan to poison an entire military base in ‘Captain Marvel Jr. Saves the Doomed Army’, before malignant Mr. Macabre joins the Japanese to abduct a crucially-placed diplomat in ‘The Case of the Missing Ambassador’ but inevitably tasting frustrating defeat and receiving the sound thrashing he so richly deserves…

With #32, Master Comics became a fortnightly publication, but Freddie barely noticed since he was embroiled in a decidedly domestic atrocity wherein corrupt orphanage officials collected and abused disabled kids to turn a profit in ‘The Cripple Crimes’…

A blockbuster hit, “The Most Sensational Boy in the World” promptly won his own title as 1942 drew to a close, but with Raboy already hard-pressed to draw 14 pages a month to his own exacting standards, Captain Marvel Jr. #1 was illustrated by reliable Al Carreño – a Fawcett regular who had covered almost every character in the company’s stable.

The bumper book – probably scripted by Binder & Joe Millard – began by briefly reprising ‘The Origin of Captain Marvel Jr.’ before depicting ‘Wings of Dazaggar!’ wherein Junior follows Captain Nazi to an occupied West African colony and uncovers a flight of secret super-planes intended to bomb America to dust. After scotching that scheme Freddie is drawn into an eerie murder-mystery as a succession of gangsters and investigative reporters fall victim to ‘The Shadow that Walked!’…

Then, thugs snatching beggars off the street to fuel a fantastically callous insurance scam make their biggest mistake by grabbing lame Freddie Freeman as their next patsy in ‘The Case of the Cripple Kidnappers’, before the soaring sagas conclude on a redemptive note as Captain Marvel Jr. “encourages” ‘The Cracked Safecracker’ to renounce his criminal ways and look after his elderly, ailing and extremely gullible parents…

This superb graphic grab-bag concludes with a landmark from ‘Captain Marvel Introduces Mary Marvel’, as capably rendered by Otto Bonder and Fawcett illustration mainstay Mark Swayze as first seen in Captain Marvel Adventures #18 (cover-dated December 11th, 1942). Preceded by a glorious painted cover from Beck of what would become known as The Marvel Family, the story saw boy broadcaster Billy Batson hosting a radio quiz show and finding himself drawn to sweet rich kid Mary Bromfield. During the course of the show – which also includes Freddie Freeman amongst the contestants – Billy is made shockingly aware that Mary is in fact a long-lost twin sister he never knew he had (take that, Luke Skywalker!), but before he can share the knowledge with her, gangsters kidnap her for a hefty ransom. Although Captain Marvel & Junior rescue Mary, they foolishly fall under the sway of the crooks and are astounded when she idly mutters the word “Shazam!”, transforms into the World’s Mightiest Girl and rescues them all…

Crisis over, the trio then quiz the old wizard and learn the secret of Mary’s powers – gifts of a group of goddesses who have endowed the plucky lass with the grace of Selene, strength of Hippolyta, skill of Ariadne, fleetness of Zephyrus, beauty of Aurora (always crucial when battling thugs, brutes and beasts!) and wisdom of Minerva – before welcoming their new companion to a life of unending adventure…

Notwithstanding the acute implied sexism of Mary’s talents coming from goddesses rather the same source as the boys’, her creation was a milestone of progress adding a formidable, unbeatable female role model to the ranks of the almost universally male mystery-man population of comic books.

The original Captain Marvel is a key factor in the development of American comics history and a brilliantly conceived superhero for all ages. These enchanting, compelling tales show why “The Big Red Cheese” and his oddly extended family was such an icon of the industry and proves that such timeless, sublime graphic masterpieces are an ideal introduction to the world of superhero fiction: tales that cannot help but appeal to readers of every age and temperament.
© 1942, 2006 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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The Phantom: The Complete Sunday Archive volume Five 1953-1956


By Lee Falk & Wilson McCoy, & various (Hermes Press)
ISBN: 978-1-61345-169-4 (HB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Born Leon Harrison Gross, “Lee Falk” created the Ghost Who Walks at the request of his King Features Syndicate employers who were already making history, public headway and loads of money with his first strip sensation Mandrake the Magician. Although technically not the first ever costumed champion in comics, The Phantom was the prototype paladin to wear a skin-tight body-stocking and the first to have a mask with opaque eye-slits…

The generational champion debuted on February 17th 1936, in an extended sequence pitting him against an ancient global confederation of pirates called the Singh Brotherhood. Falk wrote and drew the daily strip for the first fortnight before handing over illustration to artist Ray Moore. The spectacular and hugely influential Sunday feature began in May 1939.

For such a long-lived, influential series, in terms of compendia or graphic collections, The Phantom was quite poorly served in the English language market (except for the Antipodes, where he’s always been accorded the status of a pop culture god). Many companies have sought to collect strips from one of the longest continually running adventure serials in publishing history, but in no systematic or chronological order and never with any sustained success. That began to be rectified when archival specialists Hermes Press launched their curated collections…

This fifth fabulous festival of rain forest romances and jungle action is a landscape hardback (or digital) tome, displaying alternately complete full colour Sunday episodes or crisp monochrome instalments shot from press proofs and digitally remastered. Released in December 2018, its 208 pages are stuffed with sumptuous visual goodies and documentary materials like panel and logo close-ups, comics covers and original art, and opens with publisher Daniel Herman’s Introduction ‘The Phantom Sundays Continue…’.

This recaps all you need to know about the ongoing feature and discloses how reproduction of such an ancient and venerated features offers its own unique problems…

For those who came in late: 400 years ago, a British mariner survived an attack by pirates, and – after washing ashore on the African coast – swore on the skull of his father’s murderer to dedicate his life and that of his descendants to destroying all pirates and criminals. The Phantom fights evil and injustice from his fabulous lair deep in the jungles of Bengali, revered and feared throughout Africa and Asia as the “Ghost Who Walks”…

His unchanging appearance and unswerving war against injustice led to his being considered an immortal avenger by the uneducated, credulous and wicked. Down the decades, one heroic son after another has inherited the task, fought and died in an unbroken family line, with the latest wearer of the mask indistinguishable from the first and proudly continuing the never-ending battle. In his first published exploit, the Phantom met and fell for wealthy American sophisticate Diane Palmer. His passion for her was soon reciprocated and returned and she became a continuing presence in both iterations of the series as ally, partner, sounding board, a means of reader identification and naturally a plot pawn and perennial hostage to fortune. She was also a handy conduit as the hero occasionally shared four centuries of Phantom history, hearing tales of ancestral Ghosts Who Walked in earlier eras. As was the fashion of the feature almost every saga included powerful, capable and remarkably attractive women as both heroes and villains.

However as the ultra-conservative 1950s unfolded, that femme fatale policy was increasingly downplayed. For Falk & Wilson McCoy’s opening tale ‘Madcap Miriam’ (running from (May 31st to October 18th, 1953), that results in a bored multi-millionairess deciding only the “most romantic man of Earth” is good enough for her and sends faithful personal secretary Steve to scour the globe for him. When he at last returns with a photo of the Ghost Who Walks all Miriam’s wealth and wiles are turned upon him…to no effect.

When everything else fails, Miss Miriam tracks him to the jungle and hires thugs to abduct him, before The Phantom loses his patience, crushes her brute squad and makes Miriam his skivvy in the Skull Cave. The miracle of honest toil, being relentlessly bullied and close proximity soon works its unique romantic magic on the captive when Steve arrives to rescue her…

Running October 25th 1953 to January 31st 1954, ‘The Imaginary Playmate’ sees the Jungle Guardian befriend a lonely lad stuck alone on a busy plantation. With his parents too preoccupied to pay attention, Conley Wright is happy to find a fantastic adult willing to indulge in his games and stories. However, as Dad grows more concerned about his boy being lost in fantasy, a gang intent on acquiring the plantation offer incontrovertible proof that the kid’s playmate is all too real and very protective…

February 7th to June 6th 1954 encompassed an epic tale of vengeance as the current Ghost Who Walks finally faced the traitor who betrayed his father when that worthy sought to end the Singh Brotherhood and returned without his equipment, only to die. Now at last The Phantom’s justice lands on mini-tyrant Rama: the villain who killed his father and stole ‘The Belt’. A decade later this yarn was retooled for Gold Key’s Phantom comic book.

The same is true for ‘The Master Spy’ (June 13th – October 10th 1954) which focuses on the Jungle Patrol: a peacekeeping paramilitary force secretly established and run by the Phantom to police the many tribes and intruders seeking to exploit them. When they are approached by “historian” Dr. Heg they have no idea that he is employed by a colonising totalitarian state to undermine the stable society. He benefits greatly from the covert nature of the force, as “The Patrol” are worthy soldiers have truly no idea who their mysterious “Commander” is. When Heg subverts an ambitious but well-meaning new recruit the efficient system goes awry and chaos almost destroys everything until the Phantom takes a firm grip of the situation…

Contemporary politics gives way to timeless fantasy next as ‘Alexander’s Cup’ (October 17th 1954 – February 27th 1955) reveals how History’s greatest treasures are stored in the fabulous Skull Cave. After saving fever-wracked explorer Wells, the Phantom foolishly shows him The Diamond Cup of Alexander the Great (also owned by Xerxes, Jules Caesar and other great men before vanishing from public gaze) and accidentally triggers a greed-fuelled rampage by eager criminals and ambitious chancers like Wells’ explorer colleague Lorgen. Eventually, however, the stolen chalice is restored, but only after one of the most spectacular recovery operations the Ghost Who Walks has ever attempted…

A brief, palate-cleansing all action clash with protection racketeers ‘The Gibs Brothers’ (March 6th – April 3rd) segues into extended warfare against a society of murderers as ‘The Crescent Cult’ sees the Jungle Ghost crushing an assassination gang determined to murder their country’s new Maharani. The assaults are constant and the cult of Kratan is riddled deep in every stratum of the kingdom, so the Phantom’s first move is to kidnap and hold prisoner the intended victim. From there it’s just mopping up, really…

The USA’s rapidly growing dose of UFO fever manifested next as from August 14th through November 6th, a tribal headman teaches the village children of the time when the Ghost Who Walks repelled ‘The Horned Star Demons’. What follows is a wry spin on a classic plot as alien scouts pick The Phantom as the “typical earthling” to test their prowess and superior technology on, prior to deciding to invade or not…

An always fruitful recurring subplot involved Diana Palmer’s stinking rich family continually seeking to discredit her true love and get her married off to money. Now her grandfather had his shot at ending the romance by finding her ‘A Proper Husband’ (November 13th 1955 – February 13th 1956). Bigwig H.H. Palmer’s grand idea is to apply business methods and interview an army of tough guy types, but of course no one measures up and are completely useless when kidnappers join the festivities. Lucky The Phantom and Good Boi Devil aren’t too far away…

Penultimate peril ‘The Jungle Tourneys’ (February 19th – May 20th) then reminds readers that tribal rivalries are settled by Phantom-instituted combat sports days, which culminate with the African last man standing allowed the honour of battling the Ghost Who Walks. Sadly this year an unlucky prison escapee who finds the Phantom’s clothes is stuck fighting a native gladiator in a centuries-old grudge match… and loses.

With legends shattered, the prestige of victory goes to the head of Woban of the Wambesi whose triumph sparks chaos and disruption until the real Phantom restores the status quo of The Phantom’s Peace…

Closing this graphic safari, ‘Pirate Day’ (May 27th – August 19th 1956) finds the port city of Bengali-Town celebrating its own version of trick or treat. Unfortunately, as adults, citizens and kids pick up swag sacks and go marauding like jolly corsairs and buccaneers, real crooks use the festivities to rob a swank ball. When they villains are separated all the loot goes into one sack, and that one is accidentally confused with a candy-stuffed satchel that passed around with astounding frequency, before the Ghost Who Walks settles the matter to everyone’s satisfaction. Well, not the robbers, of course. The Phantom hates pirates…

If the kind of fare you’d encounter in a 1940s Tarzan movie or noir thriller might offend, you should consider carefully before starting this book, but if you’re open to oldies with inherent but honest historical and cultural challenges there’s a lot to be said for these straightforward pioneering thrillers. Finally rediscovered in this hemisphere, these lost gems are especially rewarding as the material is still fresh, entertaining and addictively compelling. However, even if it were only of historical value (or just printed for Australians – manic devotees of the implacable champion from the get-go) surely the Ghost Who Walks and fiancée/wife-who-waits is worthy of a little of your time?

The Phantom® © 1953-1956 and 2018 King Features Syndicate, Inc. ® Hearst Holdings, Inc. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

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New Crusaders Legacy


By Rich Buckler, Ian Flynn, Robert Kanigher, Marty Griem, Lou Manna, Rex Lindsey, Stan Timmons, Bill DuBay, Jr., Rich Margopoulos, David M. Singer, Alex Toth, Carmine Infantino, Steve Ditko, Dick Ayers, Gray Morrow, Alec Niño, Tony DeZuñiga, Louis Barreto, Adrian Gonzales, Ricardo Villagran, Frank Giacoia, Alan Kupperberg, Jerry Gaylord, Ben Bates, Alitha Martinez & many more (Red Circle/Archie Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-936975-22-8 (TPB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

In the dawning days of the comic book business, just after Superman and Batman pioneered a new genre of storytelling, many publishers jumped onto the bandwagon and made their own bids for cash and glory. Many thrived and many more didn’t; now relished only as trivia by sad old blokes like me. Some few made it to an amorphous middle-ground: not forgotten, but certainly not household names either.

MLJ were one of the quickest publishers to jump on the Mystery-Man bandwagon, following the spectacular successes of the Man of Tomorrow with their own small yet inspirational pantheon of gaudily clad costumed crusaders, beginning in November 1939 with Blue Ribbon Comics. Soon followed by Top-Notch and Pep Comics, their content was the standard blend of two-fisted adventure strips, prose pieces and gag panels and, from #2 on, superheroes. However, after only a few years Maurice Coyne, Louis Silberkleit and John Goldwater spotted a gap in the blossoming market and in December 1941 nudged aside their masked heroes and action strips to make room for a far less imposing hero; an “average teen” who would have ordinary adventures like the readers, but with triumphs, romance and slapstick emphasised. The teen phenomenon was pure gold and by 1946 the kids had taken over, so MLJ renamed itself Archie Comics; retiring its heroic characters years before the end of the Golden Age and becoming, to all intents and purposes, a publisher of family comedies. Its success, like Superman’s, changed the content of every other publisher’s titles, and led to a multi-media industry including TV shows, movies, a chain of restaurants and even a global pop hit Sugar, Sugar (a tune from their animated show).

By this stage the company had blazed through an impressive pantheon of mystery-men who would form the backbone of numerous future superhero revivals, most notably in the High-Camp/Marvel Explosion/Batman TV show-frenzied mid-60’s era. The heroes impressively resurfaced under the company’s Red Circle imprint during the early days of the Direct Sales revolution of the 1980s, but after a strong initial showing, again failed to sustain the public’s attention.

Archie let them lie fallow (except for occasional revivals and intermittent guest-shots in Archie titles) until 1991, when the company licensed its heroes to superhero specialists DC for a magically fun, all-ages iteration (and where’s that star-studded trade paperback collection, huh?!). Impact Comics was a vibrant, engaging and fun all-ages rethink that really should have been a huge hit but was again cruelly unsuccessful. When the line folded in 1993 the characters returned to limbo. DC had one more crack at them in 2008, incorporating The Mighty Crusaders & Co into their own maturely angst-ridden and stridently dark continuity – with the usual overwhelming lack of success.

Over the last decade the wanderers returned home to Archie in superbly simplistic and winningly straightforward revivals aimed squarely at old nostalgics and young kids reared on action/adventure TV cartoons: brimming with all the exuberant verve and wide-eyed honest ingenuity you’d expect from an outfit which has been pleasing kids for over 80 years.

Released initially online in May 2012 – followed by a traditional monthly print version that September – the first story-arc made it to full legitimacy with a thrill-packed trade paperback collection, equally welcoming to inveterate fanboys and eager newcomers alike. The series introduced a new generation of legacy heroes rising from the ashes of their parents/guardians’ murders to become a team of teenaged gladiators carrying on the fight as New Crusaders.

This collection supplements and follows on from that magical makeover: with mentor The Shield training the potential-filled juniors with the records of their predecessors. The stories included here come from those aforementioned 1980s Red Circle episodes; culled from the

Mighty Crusaders #1, 8, 9; The Fly #2, 4, 6; Blue Ribbon (vol 2) #3, 8, 14; The Comet #1 and Black Hood #2, collectively spanning 1983-1985.

Following an engaging reintroduction and recap, contemporary creative team Ian Flynn, Jerry Gaylord, Ben Bates & Alitha Martinez reveal how the grizzled, flag-draped veteran has trouble reaching his teenaged students until he begins treating them as individuals, and sharing past Crusaders’ cases. Starting with personal recollections of his own early days as America’s first Patriotic superhero in ‘The Shield’ (Mighty Crusaders #8, by Marty Greim, Dick Ayers & Rich Buckler), Joe Higgins explains his active presence in the 21st century, leading into a recapitulation of the first Red Circle yarn.

‘Atlantis Rising’ is from Mighty Crusaders #1, by Buckler & Frank Giacoia, which saw psionic plunderer Brain Emperor and immortal antediluvian Eterno the Conqueror launching a multi-pronged attack on the world. They are countered by an army of costumed champions including the Golden Age Shield, Lancelot Strong – the (other) Shield – and for a while there were three different ones active at once – Fly and Fly-Girl, The Jaguar, The Web, Black Hood and The Comet, who communally countered a global crimewave and clobbered the villains’ giant killer robots…

This is followed by a modern interlude plus pin-up and data pages on Ralph Hardy AKA ‘The Jaguar’ before a potent vignette by Chas Ward & Carlos Vicat. ‘The Web’ offers the same data-page update for masked detective/criminologist John Raymond before ‘The Killing Hour’ (Blue Ribbon #14, by Stan Timmons, Lou Manna, Rex Lindsey & Chic Stone) sees the merely mortal manhunter join his brother-in-law The Jaguar in foiling nuclear terrorism.

Modern pin-ups and data-pages reintroduce ‘The Comet’ before Bill DuBay, Jr., Carmine Infantino & Alec Niño reworked the original 1940’s origin tale by Jack Cole from Pep Comics #1 in (1940). Reproduced from 1984’s The Comet #1, this chilling yarn detailed how an idealistic scientist became the most bloodthirsty hero of the Golden Age, with a body-count which made The Punisher look like a social worker.

The infomercial for ‘Steel Sterling’ precedes a wild and whimsical origin-retelling of the star-struck, super-strong “Man of Steel” by his 1940s scripter Robert Kanigher, illustrated with superb style by Louis Barreto & Tony DeZuñiga from Blue Ribbon #3, after which ‘Fly Girl’ gets star treatment in a brace of tales, augmented as always by the ubiquitous fact-folio.

Buckler, Timmons, Adrian Gonzales & Ricardo Villagran’s ‘A Woman’s Place’ (The Fly #2) clears up an exceedingly sexist old-school extortion ring whilst ‘Faithfully Yours’ (Fly #6) sees her movie-star alter ego Kim Brand subjected to a chilling campaign of terror from a fan. Timmons, Buckler, Steve Ditko & Alan Kupperberg take just the right tone in what might be the first incidence of stalking in US comics…

‘Black Hood’ has no modern iteration in the New Crusaders. Still active in contemporary times, he encountered the kids during their debut exploit and is phenomenally cool, so he gets a place here. Following the customary introductory lesson he appears in a gritty, Dirty Harry styled caper (from Blue Ribbon #8 by Gray Morrow) as undercover cop – and latest convert – Kip Burland, who sidesteps Due Process to save a kidnapped girl and ensure the conviction of crooks hiding behind the law. The gripping yarn also discloses the centuries-long justice-seeking tradition of “The Man of Mystery”…

That’s followed by a snippet from Rich Margopoulos, Kupperberg & Giacoia’s ‘A Hero’s Rage’ wherein Kip discovers his uncle Matt (the Golden Age Black Hood) has been murdered. Ditching his leather jacket and ski-mask in favour of the traditional costume, the bereaved hero suits up and joins the Mighty Crusaders…

Without doubt the most engaging reprint in this collection and by itself well worth the price of admission is ‘The Fox’ from Black Hood #2. Written and drawn by the inimitable Alex Toth, this scintillating light-hearted period comedy-drama finds the devilish do-gooder in Morocco in 1948 and embroiled with wealthy expatriate ex-boxer Cosmo Gilly, who has no idea he’s become the target for assassination…

The recondite recollections surge to a climax with ‘Old Legends Never Die’ (MC#9, by David M. Singer, Buckler & Ayers) as the first Shield is accused of excessive force and manslaughter when his 1940’s crime-fighting style seemingly results in the death of a thief he apprehended. With Joe Higgins’ costumed friends in support but out of their depth in a courtroom, the convoluted history of the three heroes bearing his codename is unpicked during ‘The Trial of the Shield’ before the uncannily sinister truth is exposed…

Supplemented by a plentiful cover gallery and packed with the kind of ephemera that sends old Fights ‘n’ Tights fans into paroxysms of delight, I fear this is probably a book only the wide-eyed young and dedicated still ambulatory old fart nostalgists could handle, but it is such a perfect artefact of the superhero genre I strongly urge anyone with a hankering for masked adventure and craving Costumed Dramas to give it a long look.
NEW CRUSADERS and RED CIRCLE COMICS ® ACP, Inc. © 2013 Archie Comics Publications. All rights reserved.

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Second Shift


By Kit Anderson (Avery Hill Publishing)
ISBN: 978-1-917355-20-9 (TPB)

The world has gone to crap and work sucks. This is the eternal verity wherever and whenever you are. Not much can be done about the world – except maybe make or find another one – but here’s a way to at least handle the work part of that equation…

Grand Master of short form graphic narratives – you can just call them comics if you want – Kit Anderson (Safer Places) originated in Boulder, Colorado but now lives near Zürich. Ceaselessly making graphic stories long before earning an MFA from The Center for Cartoon Studies in 2022 – Anderson’s earlier stuff – can be seen at Parsifal Press and The Rumpus and for greater elucidation and edification you could get check out Comics — Kit Anderson…

Here Anderson dives deep into the contemporary by employing a future setting, exploring our increasingly uncertain/presumed/predicted fate in terms of the proverbial Human Condition – especially our self-destructive, double edged sword capacity to simultaneously doubt and trust – in a tale also exploring memory, imagination, inner worlds, nature, secrets, self-help solutions and isolation…

Pensive, genteel and quietly suspenseful, with action reduced to the participants’ downtime entertainment, Second Shift takes its emotional lead from contemplative classic science fiction movies like Silent Running and Soylent Green by tracing the revelations of live-in labourer Birdie Doran. At a time where human beings are pragmatically honed into useful components for megacorporations, she – like a few “lucky” others – toils for Terracorp, living on a hostile planet shepherding complex machines as they terraform the environment when not harvesting cometary material in mind-numbingly repetitive tasks that one day others will benefit from. It’s a living…

She spends her downtime in ‘Dropout’, indulging in the rich fantasy life provided and recommended by Company Exclusive DreamSpace: an engaging VR/AI environment replacing mundane travails with immersive escape routes (wizard’s worlds, haunted houses, cyber-realities, Knights & Ladies, alien mindscapes, fresh starts). Even when not suspended in economically sensible life stasis, Birdie hardly ever interacts with her human workers, like her brother Heck and standoffish Porter. Most of her conversations are with avatars of monitoring AI algorithm Station… and those are about work and her operating efficiency…

Toil and rest don’t leave much room for stimulating conversation and playing in the Station provided ‘Ruined Castle’ leaves Heck and Birdie increasingly bored and anxious. So, when he picks up an inexplicable ‘Signal’ Station cannot convince Heck to ignore it, and soon Birdie must trek out into the ever-changing icy wilds to fetch him back…

Her trudging trek eventually finds him staring at another – abandoned – station outpost, similar to but also utterly different to the cloying womb they live in. Unable to resist exploring, they discover wonders and eventually the VR menu of whoever worked there. What particularly grips then is something labelled “Wildlife”…

Torn over whether to report what they’ve found, and almost killed on their return journey by an inexplicable and highly suspicious event, the Dorans’ discovery increasingly divides whilst intellectually invigorating the siblings. Soon the shared secret is disrupting their efficiency and they clandestinely ‘Return’ to the lost outpost. It soon it becomes apparent that life for them has forever changed and nothing can stop what lies ahead…

Revelations and realisations come quietly but inescapably as the mystery intensifies in ‘Debris’, ‘Drop-In’ and ‘Payload’ before resolution arrives in ‘Museum Hall’, but can even enhanced awareness and growing knowledge help change this world? Whatever the outcome, it’s one only Birdie alone can achieve…

Beguiling, subversive, intensely absorbing and asking all the right questions on where the world or work is taking us – how do you feel about trading up to guaranteed food, lodging and being coddled and coshed by VR babysitters in return for surrendering liberty and your own opinions and questions? – Second Shift is socially-charged speculative fiction in the grand manner and a sublime, layered read you’ll return to over and again.
© Kit Anderson 2025. All rights reserved.

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The Spider’s Syndicate of Crime vs The Crime Genie (volume 3)


By Jerry Siegel & Reg Bunn, with Geoff Campion, David Sque, Jesús Blasco & various (Rebellion)
ISBN 978-1-83786-173-6 (TPB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

I once again find myself in a quandary. When seriously reviewing something you must always keep a weather eye on your critical criteria. For me, the biggest danger when looking at comic collections is to ensure the removal of the nostalgia-tinted spectacles of the excitable, uncritical scruffy little kid who adored and devoured the source material every week in the long ago and long-missed.

However, after thoroughly scrutinising myself – no pleasant task, as you can imagine – I can honestly say that not only are the adventures of the macabre and malevolent Spider as engrossing and enjoyable as I remember, but will also provide the newest, most contemporary reader with a huge hit of superb artwork, compelling, caper-style cops ‘n’ robbers fantasy and thrill-a-minute adventure. After all, the strip usually ran two (later three) pages per episode, so a lot had to happen in pretty short order.

A triumphant beacon of Rebellion’s Treasury of British Comics line, The Spider’s Syndicate of Crime vs. The Crime Genie is the latest offering in what I hope will be a complete revival of the UK’s most marvellous vintage comics fantasies (bring on Smoke Man, Tri Man, Gadget Man & Gimmick Kid – we can take it!). Gathering material from peerless weekly anthology Lion and Champion spanning February 4th 1967- May 20th 1967, plus pertinent extracts from Lion Annual 1968 and 1969.

Mystery criminal genius and eventual superhero The Spider debuted on June 26th 1965 and reigned supreme until April 26th 1969. He has periodically returned in reprint form and occasional new stories ever since. As first introduced by Ted Cowan (Ginger Nutt, Paddy Payne, Adam Eterno, Robot Archie) & Reg Bunn (Robin Hood, Buck Jones, Captain Kid, Clip McCord), the moody malcontent was an enigmatic super-scientist whose goal was to be acclaimed the greatest criminal of all time. The flamboyantly wicked narcissist began his public career by recruiting crime specialists – safecracker Roy Ordini and genteelly evil genius inventor Professor Pelham – prior to a massive gem-theft from America’s greatest city. He was foiled by cruel luck and resolute cops Gilmore and Trask: crack detectives cursed with the task of capturing the arachnid arch-villain.

Cowan scripted the first two serialised sagas before handing over to comics royalty: Jerry Siegel (Superman, Superboy, The Spectre, Doctor Occult, Slam Bradley, Funnyman, The Mighty Crusaders, Starling), who had been forced to look elsewhere for work after an infamous dispute with DC Comics over the rights to the Man of Steel. His supervision of UK arachnid amazement began just as Britain and the entire, but less fab & groovy world succumbed to “Batmania”. In case you’re not old, the term covers a period of global hysteria sparked by the 1966 Batman TV show, as the planet went crazy for superheroes and an era dubbed “camp” saw humour, satire, and fantastic psychedelic whimsy infect all categories of entertainment. It was a time of peace, love, wild music and radical change, and I believe there were lots of drugs being experimented with at the time…

British comics were not immune, and a host of more conventional costumed crusaders sprang up in our traditionally unconventional pages. Scripted by the godfather of the genre – and an inveterate humourist – The Spider skilfully shifted gears without a squeak and became a superhero, battling in rapid succession The Exterminator, Crime Incorporated, The Silhouette, Dr. Mysterioso, The Android Emperor, The Infernal Gadgeteer, and The Crook From Outer Space…

Played out for months at breakneck rollercoaster pace, each monochrome story positively bulged with imaginative ingenuity, manic combats and crazy inventions peppering wide-eyed British kids with a bizarre conception of the USA. The strip grew ever more popular and by the time of this epic encounter demanded a full 5 pagers per episode, in a periodical where one or two pages a week was the norm. At the height of its creativity The Spider embraced full on surrealism in the tale as petty convict and recently escaped fugitive from a chain gang Steve Gurko finds a bottle with a djinn inside and strikes the deal of a lifetime…

Gifted with unlimited wishes, Gurko and the Genie go on a crime rampage and draw The Spider’s attention, leading to a protracted war of fantastic creatures against the arrogant hero’s ingenuity and inventions. A masterpiece of illustrative wonderment displaying Reg Bunn’s incredible gift for visualisation, the lengthy campaign finds The Spider, Pelham & Ordini facing hyper-enlarged insects, banishment to other eras, ancient warriors, terrible titans, wicked wizards, an army of modern mobsters, monstrous disembodied limbs, legions of trolls and giants, swarms of flying “stingers”, invading transdimensional “monstrogs”, erupting volcanoes, rampaging dinosaurs, missing links and Gurko himself willingly transformed into a super-heated “Sun-Man”…

Eventually, when he’s fed up with Gurko’s insipid uninspired ideas, the immortal genie turns on his Master and sets out to punish the infernal humans who have constantly escaped and humiliated him, and then the war gets really wild. Ultimately however, The Spider’s brain proves too much for ancient mystical brawn, especially after the increasing incensed apparition angers fellow mystical immortal Queen Lana of Valley of the Doomed…

It could have all ended there, but for the haughty Spider rebuffing her amorous advances and offers of alliance…

The climax comes when the retrenching genie mind controls the police as his new army and sets colossal arachnids on the hero, only to fall for a slick piece of conceptual sleight of hand and return to his own specialised “glass house”…

The months-long miracle war concluded, there’s still space for some extras, beginning with comic romp ‘The Spider and the Stone of Venus’. Illustrated by David Sque (The Skid Kids, Roy of the Rovers, Scorer) for Lion Annual 1968 and set when the Spider was seeking to shed his villainous, past it sees rival arch fiend Mister Mastermind frame him for a jewel theft and regret his folly very much indeed…

A year later an untitled Spider text story – lavishly adorned with Geoff (Battler Britton, Captain Condor, Typhoon Tracy, The Spellbinder, Captain Hurricane, D-Day Dawson) Campion illustrations – revealed how an army of assassins play on their enemy’s immense ego and successfully invade his castle as a film crew seeking to record his greatness for history. Sadly for them, even the Spider isn’t that vain…

Also from Lion Annual 1969, a second treat sees comics master Jesús Blasco (Steel Claw, Tex Willer, Buffalo Bill, Cuto, Capitán Trueno) limn a brutal war of wills and inventions as a fascistic tyrant threatens civilisation with his super weapons only to fall to the Spider’s boldness and amazing arachnid arsenal…

Completing the vintage treats is a full colour cover gallery, a Crime Syndicate pinup by Campion from Lion Summer Special 1968 and creator biographies. This compilation of retro/camp masterpieces is jam-packed with arcane dialogue, insane devices and outrageous antics that are perhaps an acquired taste. However, no one with functioning eyes can fail to be astounded by the artwork of Reg “crosshatch king” Bunn which handles mood, spectacle, action and Siegel’s frankly unbelievable script demands with captivating aplomb.

This titanic tome confirms that the King is back at last and should find a home in every kid’s heart and mind, no matter how young they might be, or threaten to remain. Batty, baroque and often simply bonkers, The Spider proves that although crime does not pay, it always provides a huge amount of white-knuckle fun…
© 1967, 1968, 1969, 2024 Rebellion Publishing IP Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

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The Man Who Shot Lucky Luke


By Matthieu Bonhomme: and translated by Montana Kane/Jerome Saincantin (Europe Comics/Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-1-80044-063-0 (Cinebook PB Album/Digital edition)

Lucky Luke was created in 1946 by Belgian animator, illustrator and cartoonist Maurice de Bévère (AKA “Morris”), first riding out in Le Journal de Spirou that summer sans any title or banner, and only in the French-language edition. His official launch came with Christmas Annual L’Almanach Spirou 1947, before beginning his first weekly serial adventure – ‘Arizona 1880’ – in December 7th 1946’s multinational weekly issue.

Doughty, rangy, and dashingly dependable, the cowboy is an implacably even-tempered do-gooder who can “draw faster than his own shadow”, amiably ambling around a mythic, cinematically realised Old West on his petulant, stingingly sarcastic wonder-horse Jolly Jumper in light-hearted adventures. Ever since that natal moment, his exploits in LJdS – and, from 1967, in rival periodical Pilote – have made the sharpshooter a legend of stories across all media and monument of merchandising.

Working solo with occasional script assistance from his brother Louis, Morris produced 10 albums worth of affectionate and thrilling sagebrush parody before formally uniting with René Goscinny, who became regular wordslinger with Des rails sur la Prairie (Rails on the Prairie), which commenced in LJdS on August 25th 1955. They literarily rode together on another 44 albums whilst Luke attained dizzying heights of superstardom. The partnership continued when the six-gun straight-shooter switched teams, transferring to Goscinny’s own magazine Pilote with La Diligence (The Stagecoach). When Goscinny died, Morris continued both singly and with fresh collaborators. The dream team’s last ride was 1986’s La Ballade des Dalton et autres histoires/The Ballad Of The Daltons and Other Stories.

Ultimately the grand originator invited an inspiring passel of legacy creators to step in: luminaries like Achdé & Laurent Gerra, Benacquista & Pennac, Xavier Fauche, Jean Léturgie, Jacques Pessis and more, who all took their own shots at the lovable lone rider. Morris died in 2001, having drawn fully 70 adventures, plus an assortment of sidebar and spin-off sagebrush sagas such as the one we’re scrutinising today. Since 2016 Julien Berjeaut, AKA Jul (Silex and the City) has handled the tall tale telling…

Lucky is one of the top-ranked comic characters in the world, having generated 94 albums (if you count spin-off series like Kid Lucky and Ran-Tan-Plan, and artist’s specials) with sales well north of 300 million in 33 languages. That renown has translated into a mountain of merchandise, toys, games, animated cartoons, TV shows and live-action movies and even commemorative exhibitions. No theme park yet, but you never know…

Our taciturn trailblazer’s travails draw on western history as much as movie mythology and regularly interact with historical and legendary figures as well as even odder fictional folk as he re-explores and refines key themes of classic cowboy films – as well as some uniquely European notions and interpretations. As previously hinted, the happy wanderer is not averse to being a figure of political change and Weapon of Mass Satire …but not in this primal, purely-classic-western-influenced outing. Here the entire premise is played dead straight…

We Brits first encountered Lucky Luke in the late 1950s, syndicated to weekly comic Film Fun, and again in 1967 in Giggle, where he blazed trails as Buck Bingo. In all these venues – as well as in numerous attempts to capitalise on the English-language success of Tintin and Asterix albums from Brockhampton and Knight Books – Luke had a trademark cigarette hanging insouciantly from his lip. In 1983 Morris – no doubt amidst both pained howls and muted mutterings of political correctness gone mad – substituted a piece of straw for the much-travelled dog-end, which garnered him an official tip of the hat from the World Health Organization. The classic snout is notionally back here and plays a large part in how an uncharacteristically grim saga unfolds…

Scion of an artistic family, Matthieu Bonhomme received his degree in Applied Arts in 1992, before learning the comics trade working in the atelier of western and historical comics specialist Christian Rossi. Le Marquis d’Anaon was Bonhomme’s first regular series, running from 2002-2008, after which he began writing as well as illustrating a variety of tales from L’Age de Raison, Le Voyage d’Esteban, and others.

When invited to craft his own take on a comics megastar, in 2016 he delivered L’Homme qui tua Lucky Luke: a wry but strictly serious pastiche of the parody western pioneer that successfully answered the question “what if they dropped all the funny bits and (mostly) played the hero as straight as the classic cinema fare he’s usually spoofing?” The gimmick clearly hit a cord as he was asked back and in 2022 released second shot Wanted: Lucky Luke, which we’ll get to another day…

The result was first translated in 2016 by digital-only comics collective Europe Comics (which I’m referencing here today) but the tale is also available as part of the Cinebook Lucky Luke Library available both on paper and in pixel pictures. The Man Who Shot Lucky Luke is a deliciously enticing drama with notes and references to many US western movies anyone over 40 has seen – usually beside a parent or grandparent – that tips its Stetson to the glory days of shoot-‘em-ups. You can play spot the movie reference on your own time, but yes, it’s notionally based on The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, with hints of The Big Country, 1957’s Gunfight at the OK Corral and more…

One cold, wet night, a lone rider ambles into sleazy, dying mining outpost Froggy Town. The dank muddy dump is hardly welcoming, as it still reels from a recent robbery that took away the last of the gold the mines seem to contain, Moreover, the taking of those few nuggets by a mysterious Indian left beloved stagecoach driver Bob dead in the dust…

Tired, hungry and desperate for a smoke, the legendary good-guy gunslinger is inexplicably provoked by incompetent sheriff James Bone and his lethal, brooding brother Anton, and only coughing, slowly expiring veteran shootist Doc Wednesday is able to defuse what might have become another tragedy.

Fed and watered, Luke’s luck seems to be turning, but even the little metropolis can’t supply all his needs. There’s no tobacco to be had at any price since the robbery…

Moreover, the dogged, reputation-obsessed brothers conspire to get Lucky out of the way and Luke, still thwarted in every attempt to get some tobacco, tetchily starts to feel the Bone boys aren’t quite right in the head… and he hasn’t even met big brother Steve yet…

In that diagnosis he’s not wrong, and the assessment is even more true of their miner father. Big shot Pa Bone founded Froggy Town with his first big strike, runs roughshod over the townsfolk, literally rules his sons with a rod of iron and is desperate to save the place from fading away as the precious ore peters out…

Luke’s reputation prompts a citizens committee to appoint him to investigate the robbery/ murder, hoping to catch the enigmatic Indian and recover the gold, but the Bone boys sabotage his every effort, even confiscating his gun and Jolly Jumper and “losing” them… and that’s before old flame Laura Legs shows up, betrothed to Anton…

Distracted, jonesing for a smoke and outwitted at every turn, Luke is even framed for the crime after Pa Bone suddenly saves the town by “finding” more gold, but the tissue of lies is starting to tear. When the old man shoots Luke – in the back – the tragedy sparks a lynch mob and the true finally emerges, but far too late for some…

Not without humour – but not the raucous slapstick Luke’s readers are used to – this is a beguiling tribute to traditional western tales, asking Europe’s most famous cowboy to play against type and the trick works perfectly. If you ever wondered what Lucky would be like as a straight Gallic-framed hero like Blueberry or Red Dust (in Comanche) this is the book for you…
© 2016 – LUCKY COMICS – Bonhomme. All rights reserved. English translation © 2021 Cinebook Ltd.