Category: Nostalgia

Posted on

Tales of the Batman: Archie Goodwin


By Archie Goodwin with Jim Aparo, Sal Amendola, Howard Chaykin, Alex Toth, Walter Simonson, Dan Jurgens, Dick Giordano, Gene Ha, José Muñoz, Gary Gianni, James Robinson, Marshall Rogers, Bob Wiacek, John C. Cebollero, Scott Hampton & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-3829-2 (HB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: A Knight in Darkness Forever Missed… 9/10

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Cartoonist and writer Archie Goodwin (September 8th 1937 – March 1st 1998) was working as an assistant art director at Redbook magazine when his comics career truly began. A passionate EC fan, he had sold a speculative script to Warren Publishing that appeared in Creepy #1. He was the editor by #4, and, despite writing non-stop for some of the greatest artists in comics at that time, was offered a similar leading role on Warren’s latest brainstorm: the astonishing and legendary Blazing Combat. All while officiating and writing for Eerie and Vampirella too.

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Goodwin grew up in a succession of small towns, hunting down old EC comics and contributing to comics’ earliest fanzines. From the University of Oklahoma, he transferred to what became the School of Visual Arts in New York City, went freelance in 1960, and occasionally assisted Leonard Starr on newspaper strip Mary Perkins on Stage. In later life his own strip contributions (on Star Wars, Captain Kate, Flash Gordon, Secret Agent X-9 and Star Hawks) would make him popular with an entirely separate sort of comics fans. After leaving Warren in 1967, Archie wrote for Marvel (Iron Man, Fantastic Four, Luke Cage, Hero for Hire, Tomb of Dracula, Spider-Woman, Spider-Man, Dazzler, The Hulk, Star Wars and many more), had several stints as group editor and co-created its New Universe. He scripted landmark early graphic novels Blackmark and His Name is Savage with Gil Kane and adapted the movie Alien for Heavy Metal , one of the first best-seller graphic novels. An astute editor and sublime nurturer of new talent, he was Editor in Chief of Marvel, its Epic imprint, and twice at DC. The second run began in 1989, overseeing innovative titles like Starman shine. The assorted Batman titles under his aegis included The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. These and the regular boutique of Bat-books cemented the Dark Knight’s position as the industry’s top star, but it was very much an encore performance.

He was bloody marvellous and never once let me pay for lunch.

Obviously, I’m not at all neutral on this matter, but that doesn’t stop this collection of all the Batman stories Archie wrote being something every fan should see. The compilation gathers material from Detective Comics #437-438, 440-443, Manhunter Special Edition, Detective Comics Annual #3, Showcase ‘95 #11, Batman: Black and White #1 & 4, Legends of the Dark Knight #132-136 and Original Graphic Novel Batman Night Cries, spanning November 1973 through August 1992. Back in the early1970s Archie had been a writer/editor who set the company on fire. His tenure on War titles G.I. Combat, Our Fighting Forces and Star Spangled War Stories generated tales – and sales – still talked about today. However it was his astounding recreation of Batman in Detective Comics that is most remembered and revered.

After taking over the editor’s desk from Julie Schwartz, Archie became writer/editor of Detective Comics with his first style-shattering tale coming in #437 (November 1973). He devised a stunning run of experimental yarns, beginning with a brace of gripping thrillers magnificently depicted by Jim Aparo (The Phantom, The Phantom Stranger, Aquaman). ‘Deathmask!’ is a brilliant murder-mystery featuring glittering social soirees, tough cop chatter, Aztec curses, supernatural overtones and an apparently unstoppable killer. Following that, the same team made ‘A Monster Walks Wayne Manor!’, wherein the abandoned stately pile – Batman having relocated to a bunker under the Wayne Foundation building – briefly becomes home to a warped and dangerous old adversary…

Editor Goodwin started Steve Engelhart’s Bat-folio in #339 (for which see elsewhere) before writing DC #440, as Sal Amendola (Phoenix, Archie Comics, Tarzan) & Dick Giordano (Sarge Steel, Rose and the Thorn, Human Target) limned a creepy tale of weaponised superstition and cruel, cunning criminality as the Dark Detective survives a ‘Ghost Mountain Midnight!’ after tracking hillbilly kidnappers to a murderous mountain-folk enclave, whilst Howard Chaykin (American Flagg, Star Wars, The Stars My Destination) illustrates a manic game of cat-&-mouse in #441’s ‘Judgment Day!’ Here a deranged judge kidnaps Robin and lays down his own brand of law until hard stopped, after which a stylistic masterpiece confirmed Alex Toth (Zorro, Green Lantern, The Witching Hour, Space Ghost, Bravo for Adventure, Torpedo, Johnny Thunder, Eclipso, X-Men) as one of the most unique stylists in American comics. With Goodwin’s collaboration, ‘Death Flies the Haunted Skies!’ (Detective Comics #442, September 1974) is a magnificent barnstorming thriller of aviators seemingly picked off by an assassin and a high point in an era of landmark tales.

While reshaping Batman and war comics, Goodwin was making history with a relative newcomer on a mere backup strip: Manhunter. Now one of the most celebrated superhero series in comics history, it catapulted fresh-faced Walt Simonson (Metal Men, Thor, Star Slammers, X-Factor, Ragnarök, Fantastic Four) to the front rank of creators, revolutionised the way dramatic adventures were told and remains one of the most lauded strips ever produced. Concocted by genial genius Goodwin as a supporting strand for Detective Comics (#437-443 (October/November 1973 to October/November 1974) the seven episodes – 68 serialised pages – garnered six Academy of Comic Book Arts Awards during its one year run. If you’re wondering they were: Best Writer of the Year 1973 – Goodwin; Best Short Story of the Year 1973 for ‘The Himalayan Incident’; Outstanding New Talent of the Year 1973 – Walter Simonson; Best Short Story of the Year 1974 for ‘Cathedral Perilous’; Best Feature Length Story of the Year 1974 for the conclusion ‘Götterdämmerung’ and Best Writer of the Year 1974 – Goodwin.

Paul Kirk was a big game hunter and part-time costumed mystery man before and during WWII. As a dirty jobs specialist for the Allies, he lost all love of life and died in a hunting accident in 1946. Decades later, he seemingly resurfaces, coming to the attention of Interpol agent Christine St. Clair. Thinking him no more than an identity thief, she soon uncovers an incredible plot by a cadre of the World’s greatest scientists who combined over decades into an organisation to assume control of the planet after realising humanity had the means to destroy it.

Since WWII’s end The Council infiltrated every corridor of power, made technological advances (such as stealing the hero’s individuality by cloning him into an army of enhanced, rapid-healing soldiers), gradually achieving their goals with no one the wiser. The returned Paul Kirk, however, had upset their plans and was intent on thwarting their ultimate goals…

Coloured by Klaus Janson and lettered by Ben Oda, Joe Letterese, Alan Kupperberg & Annette Kawecki, it tells of St. Clair and Kirk’s first meeting in ‘The Himalayan Incident’, her realisation that all is not as it seems in ‘The Manhunter File’ and their revelatory alliance beginning with ‘The Resurrection of Paul Kirk.’ Now fully part of Kirk’s crusade, St. Clair discovers just how wide and deep the Council’s influence runs in ‘Rebellion!’ before opening the endgame in the incredible ‘Cathedral Perilous’, and gathering one last ally in ‘To Duel the Master’. With all the pieces in play for a cataclysmic confrontation, events take a strange misstep as Batman stumbles into the plot, inadvertently threatening to hand the Council ultimate victory. ‘Götterdämmerung’ fully lives up to its title, wrapping up the saga of Paul Kirk with consummate flair and high emotion. It was a superb triumph and perplexing conundrum for decades to come…

In an industry notorious for putting profit before aesthetics, quality or sentiment, the pressure to revive such a well-beloved character was enormous, but Goodwin & Simonson were adamant that unless they could come up with an idea that remained true to the spirit and conclusion of the original, Manhunter would not be seen again. Although the creators were as good as their word DC weakened a few times. Rogue Kirk clones featured in Secret Society of Super-Villains and The Power Company, but were mere shabby exploitations of the original. Eventually, however, an idea occurred and the old conspirators concocted something feasible and didn’t debase the original conclusion. Archie provided a plot, and Walter began to prepare the strip. After years of valiant struggle, the master plotter finally succumbed to the cancer that had been killing him. Anybody who had ever met Archie will understand the void his death created. He was irreplaceable. Without a script the project seemed doomed until Simonson’s wife Louise suggested that it be drawn and run without words: a silent tribute and last hurrah for a true hero. Manhunter: the Final Chapter reunites the characters and brings the masterpiece to a solid, sound resolution. As that final wordless word appeared in Manhunter: The Special Edition (1999), it really was all over…

A subtle strand neatly added to Batman’s origin shapes ‘Obligation’ (illustrated by Dan Jurgens (Superman, Sun Devils, Thor, Captain America) & Giordano from Detective Comics Annual #3 1990), as the hero meets a man whose life was also shaped by the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne. However, the grim story, crimebusting career and bloody redemption of Mark Cord and his estranged children also draws Bruce Wayne and Batman into all-out war with the Yakuza before any honour can be truly satisfied…

Next, Gene Ha (Top 10, Mae, The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix) draws whilst Ted & Debbie McKeever colour chilling short shocker ‘Escape’ (Showcase ’95 #11, November 1995) as an Arkham inmate finds the only way to survive the madness, bolstered by a brace of tales from Batman: Black and White (#1 June 1996 and #4 September 1996). The first offers eerily memorable Jazz murder thriller ‘The Devil’s Trumpet’ – as rendered by astounding stylist José Muñoz (Alack Sinner) – before Gary Gianni (MonsterMen) pulls out all the period stops for his pulp-era paean period piece ‘Heroes’…

Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths, new Bat-title Legends of the Dark Knight employed star guest creators to reimagine the hero’s history and past cases for modern audiences. Devised by Goodwin, James Robinson (Starman, Earth 2), Marshall Rogers (Demon With a Glass Hand, G.I. Joe, I Am Coyote, Doctor Strange, Detectives Inc.), Bob Wiacek & John C. Cebollero, issues #132-136 (August-December 2000) explore Wayne family history in story arc ‘Siege’ as an elderly mercenary and his elite entourage return to Gotham in ‘Assembly’. Colonel Brass has a multi-layered plan for profit and personal gratification that harks back to the old days when he was a trusted aide and virtual son to Bruce’s grandfather Jack Wayne. Regrettably, as seen in ‘Assault’, ‘Breach’, ‘Battle’ and ‘Defense’, that involves not only duping business woman Silver St. Cloud and plundering the city, but also taking over Wayne Mansion, and digging down to some old hidden caves (now fully-inhabited and packed with Bat paraphernalia).

Of course, if that entails wiping out any surviving Waynes who might keep Brass from his long-awaited revenge and reward, that’s just a well-deserved bonus…

This titanic tribute closes with what might not be Archie’s best story but certainly ranks as his most important: opening a mature conversation on a terrifyingly pervasive social atrocity we’re all still trying to come to terms with even now. Released in August 1992, Batman: Night Cries addressed a social issue that very much plagues us still, but was then becoming a ubiquitous plot maguffin, poorly handled by contemporary creators in all narrative arts media that it threatened to become just another fashionable story device, and a weakened, trite one at that.

That issue was child abuse and, despite being at first glance a horror fantasy, Night Cries is one of the most effective stories to maturely tackle it that comics has ever produced. This is not a polemical or attention-seeking tale. The subject is key to the narrative, affects characters fundamentally, and is dealt with accordingly. There is no neat and tidy solution. This isn’t a soap-box subject and neither victims nor perpetrators are paraded as single-faceted ciphers. This is a serious attempt to tell a story in which child abuse is an integral factor and not cause nor excuse for violence and pain. It is illustrated by prestigious painter Scott Hampton (Silverheels, Simon Dark, The Upturned Stone, Star Trek, Black Widow, Hellraiser, American Gods, Wicked) who had crafted other high end, mature-themed DC projects such as Batman: Gotham County Line and Sandman Presents: Lucifer. Hampton also contributed heavily to the final script.

Gotham City is a pit of everyday horrors but when a serial killer is identified who apparently targets entire families even Batman and Police Commissioner James Gordon are troubled by unacknowledged, long-suppressed feelings the killings dredge up within themselves. Suspecting a link between the killings and a new child abuse clinic funded by Bruce Wayne, detectives harshly interview a traumatised little girl, a sole survivor who saw the killer in action. She identifies The Batman…

Moody, dark and chilling, this examination of family ties and group responsibilities exposes a complex web of betrayals and shirked duties that weave and cut all through contemporary American culture. When a connection to US servicemen, used, abused and betrayed by their own government is revealed, the metaphor for a system that prefers to ignore its problems rather than deal with them is powerfully completed…

With Covers by Aparo, Michaela Kaluta, Simonson, George Pratt, Jim Lee & Scott Williams, Toth, Rogers & Cebollero, and Hampton, the brilliant Bat-tales in this magnificent compilation confirm the compelling primal force and charisma of the Dark Night and cap a stunning career by an irreplaceable creator. Tales of the Batman: Archie Goodwin is an unmissable time capsule of comics mastery no fan of the medium or lover of stories can do without.
© DC Comics 1973, 1974, 1992, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2013. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Superman: The Dailies volume III: 1941-1942


By Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster & the Superman Studio (Kitchen Sink Press/DC)
ISBN: 978-1-56389-462-9 (TPB)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Up, Up And Forever Away …10/10

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

The American comic book industry – if it existed at all – would be utterly unrecognisable without Superman. Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster’s unprecedented invention was fervidly adopted by a desperate and joy-starved generation and quite literally gave birth to a genre if not an actual art form. Spawning an army of imitators and variations within three years of his 1938 debut, the intoxicating blend of breakneck, breathtaking action and wish-fulfilment which epitomised the early Man of Steel grew to encompass cops-&-robbers crimebusting, socially reforming dramas, sci fi fantasy, whimsical comedy and, once the war in Europe and the East sucked in America, patriotic relevance for a host of gods, heroes and monsters, all dedicated to profit through exuberant, eye-popping excess and vigorous dashing derring-do.

From the outset, in comic book terms Superman was master of the world. Moreover, whilst transforming the shape of the fledgling funnybook biz, the Man of Tomorrow irresistibly expanded into all areas of the entertainment media. Although we all think of the Cleveland boys’ iconic invention as epitome and acme of comics creation, the truth is that very soon after his springtime debut in Action Comics #1 the Man of Steel was a fictional multimedia monolith in the same league as Popeye, Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes and Mickey Mouse.

We parochial and possessive comics fans too often regard our purest and most powerful icons in purely graphic narrative terms, but the likes of Batman, Spider-Man, Avengers and their hyperkinetic kind long ago outgrew four-colour origins to become fully mythologized modern media creatures familiar in mass markets, across all platforms and age ranges…

Far more people have seen and heard the Man of Steel than have ever read his comic books. His globally syndicated newspaper strips alone were enjoyed by countless millions, and by the time his 20th anniversary rolled around, at the very start of what we call the Silver Age of Comics, he had been a thrice-weekly radio serial star, headlined a series of astounding animated cartoons, become a novel attraction (written by George Lowther) and helmed two films and his first smash, 8-season live-action television show. Superman was a perennial sure-fire success for toy, game, puzzle and apparel manufacturers all over the planet.

Although pretty much a spent force these days, for the majority of the previous century the newspaper comic strip was the Holy Grail that all American cartoonists and graphic narrative storytellers hungered for. Syndicated across the country – and often the planet – it was seen by millions, if not billions, of readers and generally accepted as a more mature and sophisticated form of literature than comic-books. It also paid better, and rightly so. Some of the most enduring and entertaining characters and concepts of all time were created to lure readers from one particular paper to another and many of them grew to be part of a global culture. Mutt and Jeff, Flash Gordon, Dick Tracy, Buck Rogers, Charlie Brown and so many more escaped their humble tawdry newsprint origins to become meta-real: existing in the minds of earthlings from Albuquerque to Zanzibar. Most still do…

The daily Superman newspaper strip launched on 16th January 1939, augmented by a full-colour Sunday page from November 5th of that year. Originally crafted by luminaries like Siegel & Shuster and their studio (Paul Cassidy, Leo Nowak, Dennis Neville, John Sikela, Ed Dobrotka, Paul J. Lauretta & Wayne Boring), the mammoth task required additional talents like strip veteran Jack Burnley and writers including Whitney Ellsworth, Jack Schiff & Alvin Schwartz. The McClure Syndicate feature ran continuously until May 1966, appearing, at its peak, in over 300 daily and 90 Sunday newspapers; a combined readership of more than 20 million. Eventually, Win Mortimer and Curt Swan joined the unflagging Boring & Stan Kaye whilst Bill Finger and Siegel provided stories, telling serial tales largely divorced from comic book continuity throughout years when superheroes were scarcely seen.

This superb, long overdue for re-release collection comes from 1999, re-presents strips #673-866 (episodes 20-28) and is preceded by Steve Vance’s informative, picture and photo-packed introduction ‘Superman Goes Hollywood’, focussing on the hero’s spectacular early triumphs on the big screen in animated and live action formats. If I live long enough, next year I’ll move on to the IDW American classics volumes…

The never-ending battle resumes with Siegel & Shuster attempting something quite spectacular. Although daily strips were never meant to be packaged as units of entertainment but rather present an ongoing, non-stop reading experience, all funnies features incorporated an internal “beginning-middle-end” structure that allowed new readers (preferably in new client regions) to hop aboard the adventure bus. With these tales, however, the creators built in a serial within a serial motif as one deadly enemy enlisted a horde of foes to face the Man of tomorrow, each in his/their own tale…

The saga began on March 10th 1941, as sequence #20, with the initial chapter playing out until April 19th by launching ‘The League to Destroy Superman’ (episodes #673-708). It begins as Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent investigates shady property tycoon Ralph Roland and uncovers a viper’s nest of thugs and bandits resulting in the news hound’s attempted murder. However, after applying his usual heavy-handed solutions, Superman is accused of the manslaughter of one of Roland’s staff – the honest, “nice guy” partner Horace Danvers…

Shocked by the accusation and now doubting himself, the Man of Steel is unaware outraged, affronted, arrogant Roland has convened a forum of crime bosses, enemy spies, mad scientists and professional killers, offering $1,000,000 to anyone who can eradicate the vigilante riff-raff…

First to try is Spanish self-proclaimed “super-scientist” Carlos who – with ferocious flunky Rolf – unleashes a wave of diabolical inventions between April 21st and May 22nd in ‘The Scientists of Sudden Death’ (#709-736), all based around luring the caped champion into lethal traps baited with abducted person of interest Lois Lane…

The League had also agreed to a gentlemanly running order of attempts, but fiery murderess the Blond Tigress keeps jumping the gun due to her hidden personal stake in the contest…

After epically failing, Carlos is readily replaced by overconfident technologist Block whose weapon can derail trains and shoot planes from the sky but also falls short in ‘The Death Ray’ (#737-774 May 23rd – July 5th).

While the Action Ace is drawing fire, Lois and the Tigress individually and jointly address the bigger mystery of who killed Danvers, and why organised crime is seemingly acting on some hidden mastermind’s agenda: an investigation that keeps both fully in harm’s way all year long…

Evil engineer Coker comes next, but although confident his electro-dart gun can do the job, its short range requires an extra effort and employment of deadly doppelganger ‘The Pseudo-Superman’ (#775-798, July 7th – August 2nd) to get his high-flying target into range. Cue a confusing comedy of errors, twisty twin tumult, and sudden deaths before next contender Slag – AKA ‘The Deadly Dwarf’ – (#799-840 August 4th – September 20th) tries his shaky old hand by deploying his incredible gift for hypnotism. Despite provoking a wave of suicides, terrorism and destruction, Slag too fails to collect the bounty, prompting chemist Fant to modify his plans to kill the hero via a hyper-capsule ‘Explosion’ (#841- 854 September 22nd – October 7th). However, even recruiting Blond Tigress to vamp and distract the caped wonder has no appreciable effect, and last genius standing Sleez orchestrates a crimewave and employs lethal ultimate weapon ‘The Electric Rod’ (#855-876 October 8th – November 1st) with as little success as all his competitors. With the field clear the deeply conflicted final contestant at last officially strikes, but ‘The Blond Tigress Regrets’ (#877-888, November 3rd – November 15th) that she might be playing on the wrong team. That’s confirmed when Lois solves the murder mystery and exposes the big shot behind Superman’s frame up…

The compendium concludes with a slice of justified infomercial bragging as – in loose conjunction with the Man of Tomorrow’s screen triumphs – ‘Superman’s Hollywood Debut’ (#889-966, November 17th 1941 – February 14th 1942) follows Lois & Clark to Lala Land where an impending movie biopic is being hampered by a dearth of suitable leading men. Even after that problem is fixed when klutzy Kent takes off his glasses, a rash of weird accidents seems to indicate someone doesn’t want this Super-flick released…

Cue lights! Action! Cartoonists….

Offering timeless wonders and mesmerising excitement for lovers of action and fantasy, the early Superman is beyond compare. If you love the era or just crave simpler stories from less angst-wracked times, these are perfect comics reading, and this a book you simply must see.
Superman: The Dailies volume III co-published by DC Comics and Kitchen Sink Press. Covers, introduction and all related names, characters and elements are ™ & © DC Comics 1998, 1999. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

The Mighty Thor Omnibus volume 2


By Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, Vince Colletta, Bill Everett, Frank Giacoia,  & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-6813-3 (HB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: A Epic Jewel of Historic Import… 10/10

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Even more than Fantastic Four, The Mighty Thor was the arena in which Jack Kirby’s restless fascination with all things Cosmic was honed and refined through dazzling graphics and captivating concepts. The King’s string of power-packed signature pantheons began in a modest little fantasy/monster title called Journey into Mystery where – in the summer of 1962 – a tried-and-tested comic book concept (feeble mortal transformed into god-like hero) was revived by the fledgling Marvel Comics to add a Superman analogue to their growing roster of costumed adventurers.

This monumental tome re-presents pioneering Asgardian exploits from JiM #121-125 and The Mighty Thor #126- 152, plus The Mighty Thor Annual #2, and a clod-ly godly gift parcel from Not Brand Echh #3, altogether spanning cover-dates November 1965 to May 1968 in a blazing blur of innovation and seat-of-the-pants myth-revising and universe-building. It is lettered throughout by unsung superstars Art Simek and Sam Rosen, and an unjustly anonymous band of colourists. As well as a monolithic assortment of nostalgic treats at the back, this mammoth tome is dotted throughout with recycled Introductions – ‘So Utterly Godlike’ & ‘The Spectacle and Excitement’ by Stan Lee, and Mark Evanier’s ‘The Best at Their Best’ – taken from earlier Marvel Masterworks editions, and also includes editorial announcements and ‘The Hammer Strikes!’ newsletter pages for each original issue to enhance overall historical experience…

Once upon a time, lonely, lamed American doctor Donald Blake took a vacation in Norway and encountered the vanguard of an alien invasion. Trapped in a cave, Blake found a gnarled old walking stick, which when struck against the ground, turned him into the Norse God of Thunder! Within moments he was defending the weak and smiting the wicked. As months swiftly passed, rapacious extraterrestrials, Commie tyrants, costumed crazies and cheap thugs gradually gave way to a vast panoply of fantastic worlds and incredible, mythic menaces.

From JiM #110, the magnificent warrior’s ever-expanding world of Asgard was a regular feature and mesmerising milieu for the hero’s earlier adventures, heralding a fresh era of cosmic fantasy to run beside the company’s signature superhero sagas.

Every issue also carried a spectacular back-up series that grew to be a solid fan-favourite. Tales of Asgard – Home of the Mighty Norse Gods gave Kirby space to indulge his fascination with legends and allowed both complete vignettes and longer epics – in every sense of the word. Initially adapted myths, these little yarns grew into sagas unique to the Marvel universe where Kirby built his own cosmos and mythology, underpinning the company’s entire continuity.

Here we resume mid-melee as Thor, having defeated The Destroyer and Loki, returns to America only to clash once more with the awesome Absorbing Man. The Thunderer’s attack intensifies in ‘The Power! The Passion! The Pride!’ but soon seemingly sees the end of Thor: a cliffhanger somewhat assuaged by ‘Maelstrom!’ wherein Asgardian Argonauts epically encounter an uncanny storm. This Tales of Asgard serial formed part of “the Quest” which further unfolds as a band of hand-picked warriors on Thor’s flying longship endure further hardship in their bold bid to forestall Ragnarok…

In JiM #122’s ‘Where Mortals Fear to Tread!’ triumphant Crusher Creel is abducted by Loki to attack Asgard and Odin himself: an astounding clash capped by cataclysmic conclusion ‘While a Universe Trembles!’ Meanwhile, ‘The Grim Specter of Mutiny!’ invoked by seditious young Loki is quashed in time for valiant Balder to save the Argonauts from ‘The Jaws of the Dragon!’ in the ever-escalating Ragnarok Quest.

With the contemporary threat to Asgard ended and Creel banished, Thor returns to Earth to defeat the Demon, a “witchdoctor” empowered by a magical Norn Stone left behind after the Thunder God’s Vietnamese venture. Whilst the Storm Lord is away Hercules is dispatched to Earth on a reconnaissance mission for Zeus. ‘The Grandeur and the Glory!’ opens another extended story-arc and action extravaganza, bouncing the Thunderer from bruising battle to brutal defeat to ascendant triumph…

Previously, in Journey into Mystery Annual #1, in undisclosed ages past the God of Thunder fell into the realm of the Greek Gods for landmark heroic hullabaloo ‘When Titans Clash! Thor vs. Hercules!’ and now with the Greek godling clearly popular with readers, he properly enters the growing Mavel Universe.

Issue #125 – ‘When Meet the Immortals!’ – was the last Journey into Mystery: with next month’s ‘Whom the Gods Would Destroy!’ the comic was re-titled The Mighty Thor and the drama amped up, culminating with ‘The Hammer and the Holocaust!’ In short order Thor crushes the Demon, seemingly loses beloved Jane to Hercules, is deprived of his powers and is subsequently thrashed by the Prince of Power, yet still manages to save Asgard from unscrupulous traitor Seidring the Merciless who had usurped Odin’s mystic might…

Meanwhile Tales of Asgard instalments see the Questers home in on the cause of all their woes. ‘Closer Comes the Swarm’ pits them against the flying trolls of Thryheim, whilst ‘The Queen Commands’ sees Loki captured until Thor answers ‘The Summons!’, promptly returning the Argonauts to Asgard to be shown ‘The Meaning of Ragnarok!’ In truth, these mini-eddas were, although still magnificent in visual excitement, becoming rather rambling in plot, so the narrative reset was neither unexpected nor unwelcome…

Instead of ending, the grandiose saga grew in scope with Thor #128 as ‘The Power of Pluto!’ introduced another major foe. The Greek god of the Underworld tricks Hercules into replacing him as ruler of his dread, dead domain, just as the recuperated Thunder God is looking for a rematch, whilst in Tales of Asgard Kirby pulls out all the creative stops to depict the ‘Aftermath!’ of Ragnarok – for many fans the first indication of what was to come in the King’s landmark Fourth World tales half a decade later…

‘The Verdict of Zeus!’ condemns Hercules to the Underworld unless he can find a proxy to fight for him, even as at the back of the comic, assembled Asgardians face ‘The Hordes of Harokin’ as another multi-chapter classic begins. However, for once the cosmic scope of the lead feature eclipses the serialised odysseys.  ‘Thunder in the Netherworld!’ depicts Thor and Hercules carving a swathe of destruction through an unbelievably alien landscape; the beginning of a gradual sidelining of Earthly matters and mere crime-fighting in this series. Thor and Kirby were increasingly expending their efforts in greater realms than ours…

‘The Fateful Change!’ then reveals how a younger Thunder God trades places with Genghis Khan-like Harokin – leaving the drama on a tense cliff hanger mimicked in this epic omnibus by Lee’s recycled essay ‘The Spectacle and Excitement’.

Cosmic calamity recommences with the Thunderer and his Olympian rival returning triumphant from Hades. Thor even secures a pledge from his terrifyingly inconsistent father Odin that he may wed mortal love Jane Foster, but, hurtling back to Earth finds her long gone and erstwhile roommate Tana Nile exposed as a superpowered Rigellian Colonizer who has just taken possession of Earth. ‘They Strike from Space!’ was mere prologue for a fantastic voyage to the depths of space and a unique universal threat…

In Tales of Asgard the assembled Asgardians face different dramas as young Thor impersonates dynamic reiver Harokin until exposed, even as colossal companion Volstagg steals the enemy’s apocalyptic wizard-weapon ‘The Warlock’s Eye!’ before the next instalment sees ‘The Dark Horse of Death!’ arrive, looking for its next doomed rider…

Thor #132 also reveals the Thunderer explosively laying down the law on ‘Rigel: Where Gods May Fear to Tread!’ and single-handedly liberating Earth. The following issue is a certified Kirby Classic, as ‘Behold… the Living Planet!’ introduces malevolent Ego: a sentient world ruling a living Bio-verse and a stunning visual tour de force that piled one High Concept after another upon Thor, his new artificial ally The Recorder and the reeling readership, whilst Harokin’s tale terminated in one last ride to ‘Valhalla!’

The invasion threat ended, Thor returns to Earth in search of Jane, and after diligent efforts finds her with ‘The People Breeders!’ – a hidden Balkan enclave wherein pioneering geneticist The High Evolutionary is instantly evolving animals into men. His latest experiment creates a lupine future-nightmare – ‘The Maddening Menace of the Super-Beast!’ so it’s just as well the Thunder God was on hand.

Back in Asgard and an undefinable time agone, ‘When Speaks the Dragon!’ and ‘The Fiery Breath of Fafnir!’ pit Thor and his Warriors Three comrades Fandral, Hogun and Volstagg against a staggering reptilian monstrosity: a threat finally quashed in #136’s ‘There Shall Come a Miracle!’

The lead story in that issue is a turning point in the history of the Storm Lord. ‘To Become an Immortal!’ has Odin transform Jane into an Asgardian goddess and relocate her to Asgard, but her frail human mind cannot cope with the Realm Eternal’s wonders and perils and she is mindwiped(!), mercifully restored to mortality and all but written out of the series.

Luckily for the despondent Thunder God beauteous warrior-maiden Sif is on hand to lend an understanding ear and shoulder to cry on…

With this story, Thor’s closest link to Earth was neatly severed: from now on adventures on Midgard are as a tourist or beneficent guest, not a resident. Asgard and infinity were now his true home, a situation quickly proved by the bombastic clash ‘If Asgard Falls…’ Set in the Gleaming City during the annual Tourney of Heroes (and originally published in The Mighty Thor Annual #2, 1966) this a martial spectacular of outlandish armours and exotic weaponry that turns decidedly serious when the deadly Destroyer is unleashed amidst wildly warring warriors in full competition mode…

Although Thor had lost his human paramour, he rediscovered a childhood sweetheart, now all grown up and a fierce warrior maid to boot. A good thing too, as ‘The Thunder God and the Troll!’ (#137) debuts bestial menace super-troll Ulik and depicts open warfare between the Asgardians and their implacable, monstrous foes. During the spectacular carnage and combat Sif is captured and Thor rushes to Earth to rescue her, whilst legions of deadly subterranean troglodytes attack the very heart of the eternal kingdom…

Tales of Asgard feature was gradually wrapping up, but still offered Kirby somewhere to stretch his creative muscles. ‘The Tragedy of Hogun!’ shares gripping revelations of the dour warrior in an Arabian Nights pastiche also introducing sinister sorcerer Mogul of the Mystic Mountain. In ‘The Flames of Battle!’ Thor reunites with Sif but is deprived of magical mallet Mjolnir courtesy of exotic technology the trolls have mysteriously developed. Do the malign invaders have a potent new ally or a terrifyingly powerful slave? Trapped on Earth, the hammerless hero has no means of returning to the realm beyond the Rainbow Bridge whilst in Asgard, the war goes badly and the gods are close to final defeat…

In Tales of Asgard, ‘The Quest for the Mystic Mountain!’ finds Hogun and his comrades edging closer to victory and vengeance, culminating in a truly stunning Kirby spectacle in #139 as the wandering warriors discover ‘The Secret of the Mystic Mountain!’ In the lead story of that issue, ‘To Die Like a God!’ wraps up the Troll War in eye-popping style as Thor and Sif invade the bowels of the Earth to save humanity and Asgardians alike…

With Mighty Thor #140, extended epics give way to a short run of compete, single episode tales heavy on action, starting with ‘The Growing Man!’ as Thor heads to Earth and discovers New York under attack by a synthetic warrior who grows larger and stronger with every blow struck against him. Time-travelling tyrant Kang the Conqueror is behind the Brobdingnagian brute, whilst in back-up ‘The Battle Begins!’, Hogun & Co are menaced by a terrifying genie.

Mark Evanier’s ‘The Best at Their Best’ precedes Thor #141, where the Storm Lord faces ‘The Wrath of Replicus’ – a bombastic, bludgeoning epic involving gangsters, aliens and super-robots, counter-pointed by stunning fantasy as the wandering Asgardians meet ‘Alibar and the Forty Demons!’ ‘The Scourge of the Super Skrull!’ then pits Thunderer against an alien with all the powers of the Fantastic Four, even as, in Asgard, a new menace is investigated by Sif and indomitable Balder the Brave. The back-up tale sees Kirby’s seamless melange of myth and legend leap into overdrive as ‘We, Who are About to Die…!’ depicts young Thor and the Warriors Three confounding all the mystic menaces of Mogul. Thor #143 returns to extended epics with ‘…And, Soon Shall Come: the Enchanters!’ (inked by magnificent Bill Everett) as Sif and Balder encounter a trio of wizards plotting to overthrow All-Father Odin, only to fall prey to their power. Escaping to Earth they link up with Thor, but they have been followed…

Everett also inked Tales of Asgard instalment ‘To the Death!’ as comic relief colossus Volstagg takes centre-stage to seduce Mogul’s sinister sister…

Colletta returns for ‘This Battleground Earth!’, as two Enchanters attack the warriors on Midgard whilst the third duels directly with Odin in the home of the gods. At the back, Mogul declares ‘The Beginning of the End!’ At the height of the battle in the previous issue Odin had withdrawn all the powers of his Asgardian followers, leaving Sif, Balder and Thor ‘Abandoned on Earth!’ Now victorious, the All-Father wants his subjects home, but again his wayward son opts to stay with mortals, driving Odin into a fury. Stripped of magical abilities, alone, hungry and in need of a job, the former god becomes embroiled with the Circus of Crime and is hypnotised into committing an audacious theft…

Tales of Asgard wrapped up in spectacular fashion with ‘The End!’, to be replaced in the next issue with The Inhumans – but as that’s a subject of a separate volume, the remainder of this chronicle is all-Aesir action, beginning in #146’s ‘…If the Thunder Be Gone!’ Deprived of all power except his natural super-strength, Thor is helpless against the mesmerism of the nefarious Ringmaster, and steals a life-sized, solid gold bull at the villain’s command. When the police interrupt the raid, our hero awakens to find himself an outlaw and a moving target. Things get worse when he is arrested in ‘The Wrath of Odin!’: left a sitting duck for the vengeance of malign brother Loki. However, the god of Evil’s scheme is thwarted when Sif and Balder rush to Thor’s rescue, provoking Odin to de-power and banish them all in ‘Let There be… Chaos!’

As all this high-powered frenzy occurs, a brutal burglar is terrorising Manhattan. When Public Enemy #1 The Wrecker breaks into the house where Loki is hiding, the cheap thug achieves his greatest score – intercepting a magic spell from the formidable Norn Queen intended to restore the mischief maker’s evil energies. Now charged with Asgardian forces, the Wrecker goes on a rampage with only the weakened Thor to challenge him…

Thor #149 enters new territory ‘When Falls a Hero!’ as – after a catastrophic clash – the Wrecker kills the Thunderer. ‘Even in Death…’ has the departed deity facing Hela, Goddess of Death, as Balder and Sif hunt the Norn Queen and Loki. Hoping to save her beloved, Sif enters into a devil’s bargain, surrendering her soul to animate unstoppable war-machine the Destroyer, unaware her lover has already convinced Death to release him. In ‘…To Rise Again!’ the Destroyer, fresh from crushing the Wrecker, turns on a resurrected Thor as Sif is unable to communicate with or overrule the death-machine’s pre-programmed hunger to kill. The situation is further muddled when Odin arbitrarily restores Thor’s godly might, leading the Destroyer to go into lethal overdrive…

Meanwhile in the wilds of Asgard, Ulik the Troll attacks Karnilla, Queen of the Norns and Balder offers to be her champion if Sif is freed from the Destroyer. An astounding turning point comes in ‘The Dilemma of Dr. Blake!’ as Thor joins his lost companions against Ulik, only to lose his newly re-energised hammer to Loki, who flees to Earth with it…

To Be Continued…

However there’s one last reading treat in store as Marvel’s superhero spoof title Not Brand Echh #3 provides a barbed and pitiless pastiche of “Jazzgardian” life in ‘The Origin of Sore, Son of Shmodin!’ by Lee, Kirby & Giacoia. It’s followed by artistic and historical treasure including original and unused cover art and pencil pages, editorial Marvel Bullpen Bulletins and Thor Kirby covers from reprint titles Special Marvel Edition (#3 & 4) and Marvel Spectacular #1-19, plus Maximum Security: Thor vs Ego (2000).

These Thor tales show the development not only of one of Marvel’s fundamental continuity concepts but more importantly the creative evolution of the greatest imagination in comics. Set your common sense on pause and simply wallow in the glorious imagery and power of these classic adventures for the true secret of what makes graphic narrative a unique experience.
© 2022 MARVEL.

Posted on

Christmas Comes to Moominvalley


By Tove Jansson, adapted by Alex Haridi & Cecilia Davidsson, illustrated by Filippa Widlund, translated by A. A. Prime (Macmillan Children’s Books)
ISBN: 978-1-5290-0362-8 (HB) 978-1-5290-0363-5 (HB) eISBN: 978-1-5290-5762-1

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: All the Christmas You Ever Wanted… 9/10

Tove Jansson was one of the greatest literary innovators and narrative pioneers of the 20th century: equally inspired in shaping words and making images to create whole worlds of wonder. She was especially expressive with basic components like pen and ink, manipulating slim economical lines and patterns to realise sublime realms of fascination, whilst her dexterity made simple forms into incredibly expressive and potent symbols and as this collection shows, so was her brother…

Tove Marika Jansson was born into an artistic, intellectual and rather bohemian Swedish family in Helsinki, Finland on August 9th 1914. Patriarch Viktor was a sculptor and mother Signe Hammarsten-Jansson a successful illustrator, graphic designer and commercial artist. Tove’s brothers Lars – AKA “Lasse” – and Per Olov became – respectively – an author, cartoonist and art photographer. The family and its close intellectual, eccentric circle of friends seems to have been cast rather than born, with a witty play or challenging sitcom as the piece they were all destined to inhabit.

After extensive intensive study (from 1930-1938 at the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design, Stockholm, the Graphic School of the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts and L’Ecole d’Adrien Holy and L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris), Tove became a successful exhibiting artist through the troubled period of the Second World War. Brilliantly creative across many fields, she published the first fantastic Moomins adventure in 1945. Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen (The Little Trolls and the Great Flood or latterly and much more euphoniously The Moomins and the Great Flood) was a whimsical epic of gently inclusive, acceptingly understanding, bohemian misfit trolls and their rather odd friends…

A youthful over-achiever, from 1930-1953 Tove had worked as an illustrator and cartoonist for the Swedish satirical magazine Garm: achieving some measure of notoriety with an infamous political sketch of Hitler in nappies that lampooned the Appeasement policies of European leaders in the build-up to WWII. She was also an in-demand illustrator for many magazines and children’s books, and had started selling comic strips as early as 1929.

Moomintroll was her signature character. Literally.

The lumpy, gently adventurous big-eyed romantic goof began life as a spindly sigil next to her name in her political works. She called him “Snork” and claimed she had designed him in a fit of pique as a child – the ugliest thing a precocious little girl could imagine – as a response to losing an argument with her brother about Immanuel Kant.

The term “Moomin” originated with her maternal uncle Einar Hammarsten who attempted to stop her pilfering food when she visited, by warning her that a Moomintroll guarded the kitchen, creeping up on trespassers and breathing cold air down their necks. Over time Snork/Moomin plumped up, filled out and became timidly nicer – if a little clingy and insecure. He became a placid therapy-tool to counteract the grimness of the post-war world. The Moomins and the Great Flood didn’t make much of an initial impact but Jansson persisted, probably as much for her own edification as any other reason, and in 1946 published second book Kometjakten (Comet in Moominland).

Many commentators believe the terrifying tale a skilfully compelling allegory of Nuclear Armageddon. In truth, an undercurrent of bleak anxiety and the dangers of imminent unwanted change underpins all of her Moomin tales, subtly addressing the fact that the world is a wonderful but also scary, dangerous place beyond our control, and why we should value friends and family and always welcome the needy and all strangers. You should read it now… while you still can.

When it and third illustrated novel Trollkarlens hatt (1948, Finn Family Moomintroll AKA sometimes The Happy Moomins) were translated – to great acclaim – into English in 1952, it prompted British publishing giant Associated Press to commission a newspaper strip about her seductively sweet and sensibly surreal creations. Jansson had no misgivings or prejudices about strip cartoons and had already adapted Comet in Moominland for Swedish/Finnish paper Ny Tid. Mumintrollet och jordens undergäng. Moomintrolls and the End of the World was a popular feature so Jansson readily accepted the chance to extend her eclectic family across the world. In 1953, The London Evening News began the first of 21 Moomin strip sagas which promptly captivated readers of all ages. Jansson’s involvement in the cartoon feature ended in 1959, a casualty of its own success and a punishing publication schedule. So great was the strain that towards the end she recruited brother Lars to help. He took over, continuing the feature until its end in 1975.

Liberated from the strip’s pressures, she returned to painting, writing and her other creative pursuits, generating plays, murals, public art, stage designs, costumes for dramas and ballets, a Moomin opera and nine more Moomin-related picture-books and novels, as well as 13 books and short-story collections strictly for grown-ups. Tove Jansson died on June 27th 2001. Her awards are too numerous to mention, but consider this: how many artists get their faces on the national currency?

Whenever such a creative force passes on, the greatest tragedy is that there will be no more marvels and masterpieces. Happily, so tirelessly prolific was Tove that her apparently endless bounty bequeathed plenty of material for later creators and collaborators to pick over. One such example is this glorious picture book, part of a series using her characters and adapted from her short story The Fir Tree. Like previously recommended picture book The Invisible Guest in Moominvalley, this moving, thought-provoking yarn was a short story in 1962’s Det osynliga barnet (Tales from Moominvalley) and has been reprinted many times in a bunch of varying formats. It’s been adapted to television too, if you have one of those…

Moomintrolls are easy-going free spirits: rounded modern bohemians untroubled by domestic mores and unwelcome or intrusive societal pressures. Moominmama is warm, kindly tolerant and capable, if perhaps too concerned with propriety and appearances, whilst devoted spouse Moominpappa spends most of his time trying to rekindle his adventurous youth or dreaming of fantastic journeys. Their son Moomin is a meek, dreamy boy with confusing ambitions. He adores and moons over permanent houseguest the Snorkmaiden – although that flighty gamin prefers to play things slowly whilst waiting for somebody potentially better…

Heartwarming with a hidden edge and packing plenty of impact to balance the fun and charm, this beguiling picture tale is adapted by Alex Haridi & Cecilia Davidsson with Jansson’s unique imagery translated by prolific comics star/book illustrator Filippa Widlund.

Here the adaptors have sustained the shocking wonder of a close, loving family, who, due to the Moomintroll habit of hibernation, have never heard of Christmas… until a Hemulen digs down to their snowcapped attic to loudly warn them that Christmas is coming…

Awakened, aroused and much afeared, the family frantically canvas the neighbours – and everyone else rushing about – and hear of the bizarre litany of tasks they must accomplish before it’s all too late! With fading hopes of doing all that catching up and tree decorating and tribute wrapping and food finding necessary to appease the clearly savage and utterly unreasonable beast that is Christmas, the family set to and do their very best…

However, as they all pitch in and do as the neighbours do, fear fades a bit and a little miracle happens…

Witty, engaging, sentimental and deeply moving, every youngster’s perfect introduction to sequential narratives, and a beguiling reminder to oldsters why we love them…
© Moomin Characters™. All rights reserved.

Posted on

Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan: The Jesse Marsh Years Omnibus volume two


By Gaylord DuBois & Jesse Marsh (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN: 978-1-59582-294-9 (HB)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Dynamic Days-Gone-By Derring Do … 8/10

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

I don’t know an awful lot about Jesse Marsh, other than that he was born on 27th July 1907 and died far too young: on April 28th 1966 from diabetic complications at the height of a TV Tarzan revival he was in large part responsible for. What I do know, however, is that to my unformed, pre-fanboy, kid’s mentality, his drawings were somehow better than most of the other artists and that every other kid who read comics in my school disagreed with me.

There’s a phrase we used to use at 2000 AD that summed it up: “Artist’s artist”, which usually meant someone whose fan-mail divided equally into fanatical raves and bile-filled hate-mail. It seems there are some makers of comic strips that many readers simply don’t get.

It isn’t about the basic principles or artistic quality or even anything tangible – although you’ll hear some cracking justifications: “I don’t like his feet” (presumably the way he draws them) and “it just creeps me out” being my two favourites. Never forget in the 1980s DC were told by the Comics Code Authority that Kevin O’Neill’s entire style and manner of Drawing was unacceptable to American readers!

I got Jesse Marsh.

Like many Western Publishing stalwarts Jesse Mace Marsh originally worked for Disney Studios (1939-1948) as an animator on projects including Pinocchio and Fantasia. His first comics work appeared in 1945, and he continued as a staff artist until his death in 1966. In addition to his Tarzan contributions, he illustrated Gene Autry, Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett and more, as well as John Carter of Mars: three 4-Color series issues. In this second compilation, hyper-prolific Gaylord McIlvaine Du Bois (August 24th 1899 – October 20th 1993) is scripter as – nourished by a burgeoning movie franchise, radio, newspaper and new novels – the comic book Ape-Man phenomenon grew and steadied for the long haul. The editor/scripter (for ALL the Tarzan titles and spin-offs, Lone Ranger, Lost in Space, Turok, Son of Stone, Brothers of the Spear, Lassie, Andy Panda, Red Ryder, Tom and Jerry, Bonanza and so many more) would be Marsh’s creative collaborator for the next 19 years.

Situated on the West Coast, Western’s Dell/Gold Key imprints rivalled DC and Marvel at the height of their powers, and the licensee famously never capitulated to the wave of anti-comics hysteria that resulted in the crippling self-censorship of the 1950s. No Dell Comics ever displayed a Comics Code Authority symbol on the cover – they never needed to…

Marsh jobbed around adapted movie properties – mostly westerns – until 1948 when Dell introduced the first all-new Tarzan comic book. The newspaper strip had been running since January 1929 and all previous collections and funnybook releases had featured expurgated and modified reprints of those exploits. Everything changed with Dell Four Color Comic #134 (February 1947) which offered a lengthy, captivating tale of the Ape-Man, scripted by Robert P. Thompson. He had also written both the Tarzan radio show and the aforementioned syndicated strip. link to Tarzan and the Adventurers please.

‘Tarzan and the Devil Ogre’ was very much in the Burroughs tradition: John Clayton, Lord Greystoke and his friend Paul D’Arnot aid a young woman in rescuing her lost father from a hidden tribe ruled over by a monster. The engrossing yarn was made magical by the simple, underplayed magic of a heavy brush line and absolutely unmatched design sense. Marsh was unique in the way he positioned characters in space, employing primitivist forms and hidden shapes to augment his backgrounds. He was a fanatical researcher: his trees, rocks, and constructions were 100% accurate. His animals and natives, especially children and women, were all distinct and recognisable; not the badly-shaded stock figures in grass skirts that even the greatest artists so often resorted to.

Marsh also knew when to draw big and draw small: the internal dynamism of his work is spellbinding. His Africa became mine, and as the try-out comic book was an instant hit he stuck around for decades. Dell never messed with something that was already working. Marsh and Thompson’s Tarzan returned with two tales in Dell Four Color Comic #161, cover-dated August 1947. That was remarkable: Four Colour was a catch-all title showcasing literally hundreds of different licensed properties in rotation, often as many as ten separate and stunningly diverse issues per month. So rapid a return engagement meant pretty solid sales figures…

Following a gracious and wondering Foreword by Gilbert Hernandez discussing the sheer ubiquity of Tarzan comics in households – particularly Latino ones – we return to distant days of rampaging fantasy, garnished by yet another warning from me. In past reviews I’ve described how this character comes with lots of inbuilt colonial baggage and an unhealthy side-order of appalling white supremacy for those readers pre-sensitised pro or con. What I haven’t addressed is the sheerly shocking death toll of animals, killed for food, for sport or because someone needs an action scene proving how cruel villains are or how mighty the hero is. This is not a book for vegans or animal activists, okay?

Volume Two gathers the pertinent material from Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan #5-10, spanning September/October 1948 through July/August 1949) and includes (line art) covers and back covers by eventual painter/illustrator Morris Gollub. Most issues also include two colour frontispieces and endpieces offering lessons in ‘Tarzan’s Ape-English Dictionary’, prompting millions of kids everywhere to shout “Kreegah! Bundolo!” and “Tantor, ho!” in the playground and look like complete loons trying to talk to baboons and monkeys every time we visited a zoo…

The dramas resume with Tarzan #5 (September/October 1948) with harsh morality play ‘Tarzan and the Men of Greed’. Here, wife Jane and son Boy (latterly “Korak”) are kidnapped by American gangsters and a bandit sheikh as a means of forcing Tarzan to bring them and their army of African bandits to the lost treasure vaults of Opar. After an arduous trek, and terrifying ascent of an ancient escarpment, the thieves learn to their eternal cost why it’s not healthy to antagonise the legendary Ape-Man…

As well as the epic 33 page saga and the opportunity to practise primate patois “Mangani to Paco” there’s a stunning back cover pinup of the forest family before – cover dated November/December 1948 – we dig deep into the novels’ mythology for #6 as ‘Tarzan and the Outlaws of Pal-ul-don’ sees Jane abducted (again!). This time it’s raiders from a primordial enclave first introduced in eighth novel Tarzan the Terrible (1921), necessitating man and boy chasing the perfidious primitives all the way back to their lost realm. This is a huge oasis of jungles, mountains, dinosaurs and evolutionary dead-ends at the centre of a vast desert and results in reunion with old Waz-don ally Om-At and war with bandit nation Ho-Don, using Triceratops as tanks…

Following another pin-up, Tarzan #7 (January/February 1949) finds the family back home, and bored Tarzan making a hot air balloon. His efforts lead to more trouble when Boy and his Waziri friend Dombie are accidentally caught when it breaks loose and transported to a land of terrors. ‘Tarzan and the Valley of the Monsters’ sees the Jungle Lord and his ally Muviro (Dombie’s dad) give chase in a plane until brought down by Pterodactyls. From there it’s all fight and flight from giant lizard and volcanoes until the humans are reunited and heading home again.

Morris Gollub takes over covers and pin-up duties with #8 (March/April 1949) as the lost quartet continue the trek home. Traversing mountains and deserts, they almost fail until meeting a strange albino tribe in ‘Tarzan and the White Pygmies’, and in return for aid when they need it most teach their benefactors modern warfare by introducing them to archery, and saving them from predation by legions of giant vultures…

Cover-dated May/June 1949, issue #9 returns to Pal-ul-don as ‘Tarzan and the Men of A-lur’ sees King Ja-Don usurped by surly vassal Dak-Lot, propelling Tarzan, Boy and even Jane into a full-scale civil war (with lots of comparatively shocking violence for a Golden Age comic book!) as humans, pre-men, cave bears, dinosaurs and modern elephants clash to decide the fate of the kingdom time forgot…

This second time-wracked voyage to the past pauses with Tarzan #10 (July/August 1949) as the epic page counts drop to allow side stories and a greater range of fun. Main event ‘Tarzan and the Treasure of the Bolgani’ is a pure sci fi romp as the Ape-man and his Waziri subjects are captured by intelligent gorillas who shrink them to half size so that they can mine gems for them. When the process goes awry, Tarzan becomes a hyper-dense (Must you? Really?) tiny titan who leads a revolt and ends a threat to all of Africa, after which DuBois and Marsh begin years of light-hearted backup tales as Boy tries to avoid his chores and learns to regret running off to become ‘The Baboons’ King’…

Although these are tales from a far-off, simpler time they have lost none of their passion, inclusivity and charm, whilst the artistic virtuosity of Marsh looks better than ever. Perhaps this time a few more people will “get” him, especially if the rest of this series finally makes the jump to digital editions as Volume One has…
Edgar Rice Burroughs® Tarzan®: The Jesse Marsh Years Omnibus Volume Two © 1948, 1949, 2009, Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. Tarzan ® Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. All rights reserved.

Posted on

The Leopard From Lime Street Book Three: Rise of the Snow Beast!


By Tom Tully, Mike Western, Eric Bradbury & various (Rebellion Studios)
ISBN: 978-1-78618-830-4 (TPB/Digital edition) 978-1-83786-036-4 (HB)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Traditional True Brit Comic Treats …8/10

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Other than lawyers, most people claim imitation as the sincerest form of flattery. You can make your own mind up on that score when seeking out these quirky and remarkable vintage treats offering a wonderfully downbeat, quintessentially British spin on a very familiar story. UK comics always enjoyed a strange, extended love affair with what can only be described as “unconventional” (for which feel free to substitute “weird” or “creepy”) heroes. So many stars and putative role models of our serials and strips have been outrageous or just plain “off”: self-righteous voyeurs-vigilantes like Jason Hyde, sinister masterminds in the manner of The Dwarf, self-absorbed outsiders like Robot Archie, arrogant former criminals like The Spider or outright racist supermen such as Captain Hurricane…

Joking aside, British comics were unlike any other kind: having to be seen to be believed and enjoyed – especially if “homaging” such uniquely American fare as costumed crimefighters…

Until the 1980s, UK periodicals employed an anthological model, offering variety of genre, theme and character on a weekly – sometimes fortnightly – basis. Humorous comics like The Beano were leavened by action-heroes like The Q-Bikes or General Jumbo whilst adventure papers like Smash, Lion or Valiant always carried palate-cleansing gagsters like The Cloak, Grimly Feendish, Mowser and other laugh treats. Buster offered the best of all worlds.

Running 1902 issues from May 28th 1960 to 4th January 2000, it juggled drama, mystery, action and comedy, with its earliest days – thanks to absorbing Radio Fun and Film Fun – heavily spiced with celebrity-licensed material starring media mavens like Charlie Drake, Bruce Forsyth and Benny Hill backing up the eponymous cover star who was billed as “the son of (newspaper strip star) Andy Capp”. The comic became the final resting place of many, many companion papers in its lifetime, including The Big One, Giggle, Jet, Cor!, Monster Fun, Jackpot, School Fun, Nipper, Oink! and Whizzer & Chips, so its cumulative strip content is wide, wild and usually pretty wacky…

At first glance, British comics prior to the advent of 2000AD -seem to fall into fairly ironclad categories. Back then, you had genial and/or fantastic preschool fantasy; a large selection of licensed entertainment properties; action; adventure; war; school dramas, sports and straight comedy strands. Closer looks would confirm that there was always a subversive merging, mixing undertone, especially in such antihero series as Dennis the Menace or our rather strained interpretation of superheroes. Just check out The Phantom Viking, Kelly’s Eye or early Steel Claw. We had dabbled with the classic form in the early Marvel and Batman-influenced 1960s (and slightly before and beyond), but Tri-Man, Black Sapper, Red Star Robinson, Gadgetman & Gimmick Kid, Thunderbolt Jaxon and Johnny Future remained off-kilter oddities. In the March 27th 1976 edition of Buster everything changed…

Part of Rebellion Publishing’s British Comics Classics line, The Leopard from Lime Street originally ran 470 episodes (50 adventures) until May 18th 1985 – and even later as colorized reprints and in a wealth of foreign-language and overseas editions. For most of that time it was a barely-legal knock-off of Marvel’s Spider-Man – with hints of DC Thomson’s Billy the Cat – as viewed through a superbly time-stamped English lens of life in a Northern Town. It was utterly unmissable reading…

This third compilation volume gathers Buster and Buster & Monster Fun strips spanning July 22nd 1978 through September 29th 1979: a period of intense political and social change, and one barely touching the residents of a typical British small city…

What you need to know: Somewhere in middle(ish) England lies Selbridge, where scrawny 13-year-old Billy Farmer was constantly bullied, by kids at school and especially his Uncle Charlie. Billy’s abiding interests were journalism and photography. He started a school newspaper (Farmer’s World) all by himself, probably to compensate for his home life. He lived with loving but frail Aunt Joan and her vicious, indolent, physically abusive partner Charlie Farmer who avoided honest work like the plague, but was always ready to deliver a memorable life-lesson with fist, boot or belt to those under his shoddy roof…

Billy’s life forever changed after visiting the Jarman Zoological Institute where he was accidentally scratched by Sheba, an escaped leopard being treated with radioactive chemicals for an unspecified disease. In the days before Health and Safety regulations or a culture of litigation, Billy was given a rapid once-over by the boffins in charge, declared fine and sent home. When Uncle Charlie tried to hit him. he was casually chucked into the dustbins and the lad realised he had developed the strength, speed, stamina and agility of a jungle cat, as well as enhanced senses, empathic feelings, a paralysing roar and a predator’s “danger-sense”…

Soon, clad in a modified pantomime costume, Billy prowled Selbridge’s dark streets and low rooftops, incurring the curiosity and animosity of Thaddeus Clegg: editor of local rag The Selbridge Sun. Soon the ever-more confidant Billy was selling exclusive photos of burglars, crooks and kidnappers preyed upon by the vigilante “leopardman”. Somehow, the raw kid could also get candid shots of secluded celebrities no adult journo could get near…

Moreover, the lad’s earnings – grudgingly paid by Clegg – started making life easier for Aunt Joan, whilst the Beast’s constant proximity to Lime Street ensured Charlie kept his outbursts verbal and his drunken fists unclenched. School remained a nightmare of bullies and almost-exposure of Billy’s secret, but home life improved further once police identified Billy as an official confidante of the vigilante. They even noted how Charlie was regularly brutalised by the feral fury in defence of his “friend”…

Over months the leopard man caught many criminals, was implicated – and cleared – of arson and theft, was abducted by a crooked circus owner, caught child abductors, battled a fame-obsessed masked wrestler and circus acrobat mimicking his abilities to frame the catman for crimes. On a school trip to a Safari Park, Billy was reunited with his accidental creator Sheba and his powers seemed to exponentially increase beyond his ability to control them…

The costumed melodramas resume now as author Tom Tully scripts for unknown (presumably Spanish or South American) fill-in artists as a mysterious new headmaster acts up at Billy’s school before being ultimately and spectacularly exposed as a crime boss with a need for a nice flat playing field. Artists extraordinaire Mike Western & Eric Bradbury pick up the pace for the next saga as a simple game of cricket exposes Billy’s secret to thuggish motorcycle bullies who try – and fail – to trap the leopardman and cash in, just as the local police adjust to a manic new boss with an animal hunting agenda and a gung-ho firearms unit. Eventually. even brutal Bulldog Brady will admit when he’s beaten, but that’s many episodes down the line…

Billy meanwhile, has dusted off an old makeup kit and cobbled together a cunning scheme to fool the bikers once and for all…

Billy’s occasional exhibitions of extreme sporting prowess get in him trouble with teachers who can’t understand why he can’t repeat his feats while in school teams (it’s unfair and cheating!), but he has no such compunctions in his clashes with a fame-seeking punk rock band. As impostor leopard men the brutes almost kill aunty Joan during one of their attention seeking stunts and, again needing money to support her, Billy pulls out all the stops and even start working with Clegg again. His good intentions only make his alter ego a bigger pariah, as shutting them down scuppers a forthcoming local musical festival. Vilified in public, guilty again and resolved to fix things, Billy explores how he can make the leopardman a paying proposition for bored music fans…

After a rare moment of popular triumph and well-deserved acclaim, it’s back to being wanted as a minor cold snap sees an icy, gem-swiping supervillain hit Selbridge, with the leopard blamed for the Snow Beast’s depredations… until Billy outsmarts the bad guy and cops too…

Another stint by fill-in artists sees Billy’s masked other save a classmate’s farm from crooked property speculators (is that a thing?) prior to Western & Bradbury detailing how the media arrives in force to solve the mystery of the Leopard From Lime Street, sparking greed, panic and mob madness in equal amounts. With a high profile reward on offer, madness grips Selbridge – especially uncle Charlie – and as a friend of the fugitive Billy is tortured by school bullies and stalked by opportunists looking for tips…

The situation spirals into pure insanity when another leopardman impostor shows up, hunting Billy and threatening his family. Facing someone who is his physical equal and totally ruthless, there’s is only one thing the real deal can do…

Beguilingly scripted by British comics superstar Tully (Roy of the Rovers; Heros the Spartan; Janus Stark; Mytek the Mighty; Adam Eterno; Johnny Red; Harlem Heroes and many of the strips cited above) these tales are magnificently illustrated. Working collaboratively British comics royalty Mike Western (Lucky Logan; No Hiding Place; The Avenger; Biggles; The Wild Wonders; Darkie’s Mob; The Sarge; HMS Nightshade; Jack O’Justice; Billy’s Boots; Roy of the Rovers) shared pencilling and inking with mood master Eric Bradbury (Mytek the Mighty; Maxwell Hawke; Cursitor Doom; Von Hoffman’s Invasion; House of Dolmann; Death Squad; Hook Jaw; Rogue Trooper; Doomlord; Invasion; Mean Arena; Tharg the Mighty and more) to craft a pre-modern masterwork affording a fascinating insight into the slant a different culture can bring to a genre.

The concept of a “real-life” superhero has never been more clearly and cleverly explored than in these low-key tales of the cat kid who survives not supervillains but a hard-knock life…
The Leopard from Lime Street and all related elements featured ™ & © 1978, 1979, 2023, Rebellion Publishing Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Roy Rogers King of the Cowboys: The Collected Dailies and Sundays


By Albert Laws Stoffel, Mike Arens, Hy Mankin, Al, Bob, Chuck & Tom McKimson, John Ushler, Pete Alvarado, Alex Toth & various (Hermes Press)
ISBN: 978-1-932563-51-1 (HB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Classic Holiday Fare & Your Granddad’s Delight … 8/10

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

If you live long enough, you will either calcify into a barking reactionary nightmare-to-know or possibly spend your last days wracked with shame and guilt: an apologist for your life and loves. It’s especially true in film and comics, where suspect or devalued prior cultural modes and mores can slap happily-woke, proudly re-informed You right in the face as soon as you start.

A conscience is a wonderful thing but so is the ability to realise how components of your idealised past were not so golden and glorious for everyone. It may be hard to admit, but lots of great old stuff had ethical sell-by dates and now can’t be more than purely historical or aesthetic artefacts but not comprehensively accepted popular entertainment. So BIG NOs to race/ethnic/religious humour, sexist attitudes and exploitation, gender suppression, white/male supremacy, cultural appropriation in all forms, anything claiming to be “just banter”, and everything else I’ve missed. You literally know what I mean.

If you have a fondness or connection to any kind of cross-generational entertainment you are at risk of this phenomenon. Take a good hard listen to almost any pop song lyric from 1956  onwards and think “stalker?” And just how rapey do leading men need to be before they are seen as villains?

As an ancient Briton, I personally suffer from a nostalgic sin. I love so many comic strips where casual and pointless female nudity is a given, and periodical comics tales where chicks put on skimpy costumes just to serve sandwiches, get held captive or be told “no dear”. I have argued art-appreciation and acknowledged sublime illustrative talent but it’s still gratification via nudity…

And yet there are still comics, films, shows, records, posters and books that I will ask you to exempt, accept and explore for what I consider worthwhile reasons.

One of the most tricky subsets of this quandary is westerns. In almost every aspect and platform this overwhelmingly popular genre just can’t be defended without a raft of caveats and picky exemptions. Root and branch, westerns are a shoddy defence and inadequate alibi for brutal colonialism, constructed by victors to whitewash and justify their sins. But again, there are so, so many really entertaining ones…

If any fellow shameful hypocrites are still with me, I’m not saying some things deserve a pass because of exculpatory artistic merits, but only asking that if you admire such wonderful “guilty-pleasure” arts and stories, keep foremost in mind that what you see is not the same as what others may. The same of course applies to anyone I’ve offended with the previous pontificating paragraphs. Yes, it is your childhood, and yes it was great and did you no appreciable harm, but you are not the only past and potential consumer of such material, whether Cowboys & Indians yarns, husbands & boyfriends who’ll “be watching you” or the latest Irish or poof joke…

Moving on…

Born Leonard Franklin Slye on November 5th 1911, American – and for a while, global – cultural touchstone Roy Rogers was a hugely popular entertainer who started as a rodeo performer and singing cowboy and built an empire on a folksy yet heroic image and fictionalised life. As a singer and actor (live shows, 90 movies, radio serials and more) he was a household name even before conquering the new medium of television. From 1951-1957, Roy, wife Dale Evans, horse Trigger and faithful dog Bullet were weekly invited into everybody’s home and enjoyed a mini-empire of comic books, strips. Rogers died on July 8th 1998. Unlike many contemporary media icons, he has not sustained his celebrity much beyond his generation of fans even though his name – and Trigger’s – remain an aspect of colloquial folklore.

While at his acme, however, Roy Rogers merchandise was exemplary. Artists such as John Buscema and Nat Edson drew his comic books (which sold north of 2 million copies per issue in the late 1950s), and his personalised toy guns, archery gear and cowboy/cowgirl playsets topped Christmas shopping lists. As seen in this curated compilation, the syndicated strip drew upon gifted but usually uncredited journeymen artists like Mike Arens, Hy Mankin, Al, Bob, Chuck & Tom McKimson, John Ushler and Pete Alvarado, and employed gifted ghosts and part-timers like Alex Toth.

Running seven days a week for 12 years, Roy Rogers King of the Cowboys graced 186 papers across America. As with all Hermes volumes, the vintage material is supplemented by picture-packed essays and editorial additions. Here that begins with Foreword ‘Roy Rogers and waiting at the Newsstand’, penned by his son Roy “Dusty” Rogers Jr., and precedes Tim Lasiuta’s Introduction ‘Roy Rogers, the 1950s, and the Funnies’ offering background, context and artist biographical data amidst many glorious illustrations including painted comic book covers, candid photos, panel details, and fabulous merch items such as fan club cards, movie posters, lunchboxes, press stills, original art and more.

The storytelling (by journalist Albert Laws Stoffel), and art are exemplary, and it’s a shame this is a commemorative celebratory selection rather than complete collection. Unlike many similar western strips of the era, the Rogers experience was vaguely contemporary, and family oriented, with action and violence taking a backseat to domestic drama, humour and mysteries suitable to children.

Opening the comics section and spanning January 2nd to February 17th 1950, ‘The Shasta Valley Dam’ details daily how a local irrigation project is almost scuttled by a selfish landowner, putting ranch owner Roy and old pal/travelling salesman Willie Dooley through a gauntlet of pacy perils, promptly followed by ‘Jack Spratt’ (January 2nd to February 17th), wherein our hero helps the sheriff of Jericho capture ghostly bandit “The Stick”…

Portly but astonishingly spry and astute “Zumaho Medicine Man” ‘Two Shadow’ (April 17th – June 10th) requests the Rogers touch when his tribe are framed for crimes and dangerous recidivism next, tumultuously causing chaos all around before leading to the exposure of a rich white man’s plot to deprive the tribe of oil deposits beneath their lands.

Pausing briefly to enjoy original art for a Roy Rogers Colouring Book, comics fun resumes with ‘Chili’ (June 12th – August 5th) as Willie Dooley discovers his dream of settling down endangered when hydraulic engineers divert all the region’s waters for illicit mining. Thankfully a sharp little Mexican kid is on hand to point out a solution, but not before an uncharacteristic and violent protracted shooting battle breaks out…

More colouring book art carries us into ‘The Sheep-Cattle War’ (August 7th – September 30th) as Roy is made deputy marshal of Peace City to quell a manufactured crisis that only benefits enigmatic bandit chief The Shroud, but also somehow helps a local business casualty get even richer, after which 1950’s daily dilemmas conclude with ‘The Stagecoach Race’ (October 2nd – November 25th). The stories all very much mirror the plots of the movie and TV serials that inspired them, and this was no doubt exactly what the franchise holders and reading public wanted as in this much-told tale of rival businesses competing for a stagecoach contract with Roy in the middle of sassy, gun-totin’ owners’ daughters and evil entrepreneurs…

As with many strips of the era, Roy Rogers Dailies and Sunday strips told separate stories. Here credited to Al McKimson and in full colour is ‘The Charity Carnival’ (August 21st – November 20th 1955) as Roy ends the cheating ways of a bunch of fairground folk before joining little Chili – from March 4th to 27th May 1956 – in stopping the ‘Attempted Murder’ of a man who’s been dead for 50 years…

Covering 26th May to September 1st 1957, ‘Bride By Mail’ offers a comedy break when a woman contracted to marry a man she’s never met expresses her anger that the hubby sent her a picture of Roy instead for his own far less attractive face. Cue a disgruntled wedding party and much gun-waving until the real sender of the picture is exposed as well as his greedy reason…

The storytelling concludes with Roy exposing scuba divers mimicking sea monsters for nefarious purposes in ‘Underwater Mystery’ (24th August to November 23rd 1958) before we return to academia with Daniel Herman’s copiously illustrated essay ‘Roy Rogers and the Art of Alex Toth’, revealing the graphic maestro’s previously unheralded contributions, before ending with another tranche of ‘Memorabilia’…

A treasure very much of its time, but with enough intrinsic charm and artistic merit to be worth a cautious modern revisit, Roy Rogers King of the Cowboys: The Collected Dailies and Sundays is an acquired taste that might just make a select comeback.
© 2011 The Roy Rogers Family Entertainment Corporation, reprinted with permission.  Publishing IP Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Invincible Iron Man Omnibus volume 2


By Stan Lee, Archie Goodwin, Roy Thomas, Gene Colan, George Tuska, Johnny Craig, Don Heck, Frank Giacoia, Dan Adkins, Mike Esposito, Sam Grainger & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-5899-2 (HB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Solid Gold, Sterling Silver so-Shiny Wonders … 9/10

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Super-rich supergenius inventor Tony Stark moonlights as a superhero: wearing a formidable, ever-evolving suit of armour stuffed with his own ingenious creations. An arch-technologist who hates to lose and constantly upgrades his gear, Stark continually re-makes Iron Man one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe. There are a number of ways to interpret his creation and early years: glamorous playboy, super-rich industrialist, inventor, philanthropist – even when not operating in his armoured alter-ego.

Created in the immediate aftermath of the 1960s Cuban Missile Crisis at a time when “Red-baiting” and “Commie-bashing” were American national obsessions, the emergence of a brilliant new Thomas Edison employing Yankee ingenuity and invention to safeguard and better the World seemed inevitable. Combining that era’s all-pervasive belief that technology could solve any problem with the universal imagery of noble knights battling tangible and easily recognisable Evil, the proposition almost becomes a certainty. Of course, it might simply be that we kids thought it both great fun and very, very cool…

This fabulous full-colour compendium revisits the dawn days of Marvel’s rise to ascendancy via the Steel Shod Sentinel’s early days: chronologically re-presenting all his solo exploits, feature, letters & editorial pages, pin-ups and pertinent sections from Tales of Suspense #84-99; interim attraction Iron Man and the Sub-Mariner #1 and thereafter Iron Man #1-25, spanning December 1966 to May 1970, as well as essays and Introductions from previous, less lengthy collections that were so important in establishing rapport and building a unified comics fandom…

This period under review saw the much-diminished and almost-bankrupt former comics colossus finally surpass DC Comics’ preeminent pole position and become darling of the student counter-culture. In these tales, Stark is still very much a gung-ho, patriotic armaments manufacturer, and not the enlightened capitalist liberal dissenter he would become…

Marvel’s dominance of the US comic book was confirmed in 1968 when most of their characters finally got their own titles. Prior to that – due to a highly restrictive distribution deal – the company had been limited to 16 publications per month. To circumvent this drawback, Marvel developed “split-books” with two features per title, such as Tales of Suspense where Iron Man originally solo-starred before being joined by patriotic cohort Captain America in issue #59 (cover-dated November 1964). Marvel’s fortunes prospered; thanks in large part to Stan Lee’s gift for promotion, but primarily because of superbly engaging stories such as the ones collected in this enticing hardback/eBook edition.

With the new distributor came demand for more product, and the split book stars all won their own titles. When the division came, the Armoured Avenger started afresh with a “Collector’s Item First Issue” – but only after a shared one-shot with The Sub-Mariner that squared divergent schedules. Of course, Cap retained the numbering of the original title; thereby premiering in number #100.

Following a critique by critic and historian Arlen Schumer in his Introduction (from Marvel Masterworks Iron Man volume 5) the sterling adventures – all-Gene Colan illustrated – resume with the shiny portion of ToS #84 picking up soap opera style with Stark submitting to months of governmental pressure and testifying to a Congressional Committee hungry for the secrets of his greatest creation. However. at the critical moment, the inventor keels over…

Stark’s controversial reputation is finally restored as the public at last learns that his life is only preserved by a metallic chest-plate keeping his maimed heart beating in ‘The Other Iron Man!’ (scripted by Lee and inked by Frank Giacoia). Somehow, nobody at all connects that hunk of steel to the identical one his Avenging “bodyguard” wears…

With the hero stuck in a hospital bed, best friend Happy Hogan foolishly dons the suit to preserve that precious secret, only to be abducted by the insidious Mandarin in another extended assault that begins with ‘Into the Jaws of Death’. Prior to that, readers are whisked back to so-different days by the first letters page offering Mails of Suspense…

Propelled by guilt and fuelled by fear, still-ailing Stark breaks into his own Congressionally-closed factory to create new, more powerful armour and flies to the rescue in ‘Death Duel for the Life of Happy Hogan!’ The cataclysmic clash rattles the “bamboo curtain” but is soon successfully concluded, and the Americans return home just in time for #87 and #88 to host the merciless Mole Man who attacks from below, prompting a ‘Crisis… at the Earth’s Core!’ Sadly, the villain has no idea who hostage Stark really is, believing hottie assistant Pepper Potts and her boss ‘Beyond all Rescue!’, but is soon proved very wrong, after which another old B-List bad-guy takes his shot in ‘The Monstrous Menace of the Mysterious Melter!’ and tense, terse sequel ‘The Golden Ghost!’ which fabulously feature a glorious reprise of Iron Man’s original bulky battle suit and a wonderfully twisty conclusion, before ‘The Uncanny Challenge of the Crusher!’ offers an all-action tale – possibly marred for modern audiences by a painful Commie-bustin’ sub-plot featuring a thinly disguised Fidel Castro…

Also somewhat dated but still gripping are references to then then-ongoing “Police Action” in Indo-China which look a little gung-ho (if completely understandable) as Iron Man goes hunting for Red Menace Half-Face ‘Within the Vastness of Viet Nam!’ The urgent insertion results in another clash with incorrigible old foe Titanium Man in ‘The Golden Gladiator and… the Giant!’ before our hero at last snatches victory from the mechanical jaws of defeat in ‘The Tragedy and the Triumph!’ (this last inked by Dan Adkins). Giacoia returns and a new cast member then debuts in #95 as eager-beaver adult boy scout S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jasper Sitwell is assigned as security advisor to America’s most prominent weapons maker. It coincides with Thor villain Grey Gargoyle attacking in ‘If a Man be Stone!’, but he utterly mismatched and overpowered maniac is summarily defeated in ‘The Deadly Victory!’ in anticipation of Tales of Suspense #97 launching an extended story-arc to carry the series into the solo series and beyond, as criminal cartel the Maggia seeks to move in on Stark’s company.

The campaign opens with the hero’s capture as ‘The Coming of… Whiplash!’ reveals the Golden Avenger cut to steely ribbons, drawn out in ‘The Warrior and the Whip!’ and – as the magnificent Archie Goodwin assumed scripting duties and EC legend Johnny Craig came aboard as inker – trapped on a sinking submarine ‘At the Mercy of the Maggia’, just as the venerable Tales of Suspense ends with the 99th issue…

Of course, it was just changing title to Captain America as Tales to Astonish seamlessly morphed into The Incredible Hulk, but – due to a scheduling snafu – neither of the split-book co-stars had a home that month (April 1968). This situation led to the one-&-only Iron Man and the Sub-Mariner #1 to carry concluding episode ‘The Torrent Without… The Tumult Within!’, wherein sinister super-scientists of A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics, acronym-fans) snatch the Armoured Avenger from the Maggia’s swiftly sinking submarine, intent on stealing the hero’s technical secrets. Invincible Iron Man #1 finally appeared with a May 1968 cover-date, triumphantly ending the extended subsea-saga as our hero stands ‘Alone against A.I.M.!’: a thrilling roller-coaster ride supplemented by ‘The Origin of Iron Man’ offering a revitalised re-telling to conclude Colan’s impressive tenure on the character.

Breaking briefly for an educational Introduction from comics historian Dewey Cassell, running down the stellar career and achievements of debuting artist George Tuska, the action accelerates into a bold new era with Invincible Iron Man #2. Entrenched illustrator Colan moved on and ‘The Day of the Demolisher!’ found EC megastar Johnny Craig tackling the art-chores. His first job was a cracker, as scripter Goodwin lays down years of useful groundwork by introducing Janice Cord as a romantic interest for the playboy inventor. The real problem is a monolithic killer robot built by her deranged father and the start of a running plot-thread examining the effects of the munitions business and the kind of inventors who work for it. Also from this point on the letters page became ‘Sock it to Shell-Head’. No comment.

Goodwin & Craig brought back Stark’s bodyguard Happy Hogan in time to help rebuild the now-obsolete Iron Man armour and consequently devolve into a marauding monstrous menace in ‘My Friend, My Foe… the Freak!’ for #3, and retooled a long-forgotten Soviet super-villain into a major threat in ‘Unconquered is the Unicorn!’ in #4. This particular tech-enhanced maniac is dying from his own powers and thinks Tony will be able – if not exactly willing – to fix him…

With Iron Man #5, another Golden Age veteran joined the creative team. George Tuska – who had worked on huge hits such as the original (Fawcett) Captain Marvel and Crime Does Not Pay, plus newspaper strips like The Spirit and Buck Rogers – would illustrate the majority of Iron Man’s adventures for the next decade, becoming synonymous with the Armoured Avenger…

Inked by Craig, ‘Frenzy in a Far-Flung Future!’ is an intriguing time-paradox tale wherein Stark is kidnapped by the last survivors of humanity, determined to kill him before he can build the super-computer that eradicated mankind. Did somebody say “Terminator”?

A super-dense (by which I mean strong and heavy) Cuban Commie threat returned – but not for long – in ‘Vengeance… Cries the Crusher!’ Next, the sinister scheme begun way back in ToS #97 finally bears brutal – and for preppie S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jasper Sitwell – painful fruit in 2-part thriller ‘The Maggia Strikes!’ and ‘A Duel Must End!’ Here former Daredevil foe the Gladiator leads a savage attack on Stark’s factory, friends and would-be new love. The saga also reveals the tragic history of mystery woman Whitney Frost and lays the seeds of her evolution into one of Iron Man’s most implacable foes…

A 3-part saga follows as The Mandarin resurfaces with a cunning plan and the certain conviction that Stark and Iron Man are the same person. Beginning with a seeming Hulk guest-shot in #9’s ‘There Lives a Green Goliath!’, proceeding through the revelatory and explosive Nick Fury team-up ‘Once More… The Mandarin!’ before climaxing in spectacular “saves-the-day” fashion as our hero is ‘Unmasked!’ This epic by Goodwin, Tuska & Craig offers astounding thrills and potent drama with dozens of devious twists, just as the first inklings of the social upheaval America was experiencing began to seep into Marvel’s publications. As the core audience started to grow into the Flower Power generation, future tales would take arch-capitalist weapon-smith Stark in many unexpected and often peculiar directions. All of a sudden maybe that money and fancy gadgetry weren’t quite so fun or cool anymore?

Goodwin, Tuska & Craig build on a sterling run of solid science-flavoured action epics with the introduction of a new sinister super-foe in #12 as ‘The Coming of the Controller’ sees a twisted genius using life-energy stolen from mind-slaved citizens to power a cybernetic exo-skeleton. Along the way he and his brother embezzle the fortune of Stark’s girlfriend Janice Cord to pay for it all. Of course, Iron Man is ready and able to overcome the scheming maniac, culminating in a cataclysmic climax ‘Captives of the Controller!’ as the mind-bending terror attempts to extend his mesmeric, parasitic sway over the entire populace of New York City…

Another educational and fascinating Introduction – The Tony Stark/Iron Man Dilemma – by dynamic draughtsman George Tuska, detailing his stellar career and achievements, leads us into an era of constant change. Originally, combining then-sacrosanct belief that technology and business could solve any problem with the universal imagery of noble knights battling evil made the concept behind the Invincible Iron Man an infallibly successful proposition.

Of course where once Tony Stark was the acceptable face of Capitalism, the tumultuous tone of the closing decade soon resigned his suave image to the dustbin of history. With ecological disasters and social catastrophe from the abuse of industry and technology the new mantras of the young, the Golden Avenger and Stark International were soon confronting some tricky questions from the increasingly socially conscious readership. All of a sudden maybe that money and fancy gadgetry weren’t quite so fun or cool anymore?

With an Iron Clad promise of stunning action and compelling intrigue this iconic hardback (and digital) chronological compendium covers Iron Man #14-25, spanning June 1969 – May 1970, and opens with an educational and fascinating Introduction from dynamic draughtsman George Tuska, detailing the stellar career and achievements of the veteran artist.

Writer Archie Goodwin and illustrious illustrators Tuska & Johnny Craig continued a sterling run of genre-flavoured action epics as IM #14 depicts ‘The Night Phantom Walks!’ with the scripter craftily paying tribute to Craig’s past history drawing EC’s landmark horror comics. Here the artist pencilled & inked the tale of a zombie-like monster prowling a Caribbean island, destroying Stark Industry installations. As well as being a terse, moody thriller, the story marks the first indications of a different attitude as the menace’s ecologically inspired reign of terror includes some pretty fair arguments about the downsides of “Progress” and rapacious globalisation…

With Craig back inking, Tuska returned with #15 and ‘Said the Unicorn to the Ghost…!’ as the demented former superspy allies himself with Fantastic Four foe The Red Ghost in a desperate bid to find a cure for his drastically shortened lifespan. Attempting to kidnap Stark, the Ghost betrays the Unicorn and retrenches to an African Cosmic Ray research facility in concluding instalment ‘Of Beasts and Men!’, where it takes a fraught alliance of hero and villain to thwart the ethereal mastermind’s ill-conceived plans…

A suspenseful extended epic opened in IM #17 after an advanced android designed to protect Stark’s secret identity achieves sinister sentience and sneakily replaces him. ‘The Beginning of the End!’ also introduces enigmatic Madame Masque and her malevolent master Midas, who plans to take over America’s greatest technology company… as hostilely as possible…

Dispossessed and on the run, Stark is abducted and aligns with Masque and Midas to reclaim his identity, only to suffer a fatal heart-attack in ‘Even Heroes Die!’ (guest-starring The Avengers) before a ground-breaking transplant – still practically science fiction in those distant days – offers renewed hope in ‘What Price Life?’ When the ruthlessly opportunistic Midas instantly strikes again, Madame Masque switches sides and all hell breaks loose…

The X-Men’s dimensionally displaced alien nemesis attacks the restored and recuperating hero in ‘Who Serves Lucifer?’ (inked by Joe Gaudioso – AKA Mike Esposito) before being rudely returned to his personal dungeon dimension, after which African-American boxer Eddie March becomes the new Iron Man in #21’s ‘The Replacement!’ as Stark – free from the heart-stimulating chest-plate which had preserved his life for years – is briefly tempted by a life without strife. Unfortunately, and unknown to all, Eddie has a little health problem of his own…

When Soviet-sponsored armoured archenemy Titanium Man resurfaces, it’s in conjunction – if not union – with another old Cold War warrior in the form of a newly-upgraded Crimson Dynamo in #22’s chilling classic confrontation ‘From this Conflict… Death!’ With a loved one murdered, a vengeance-crazed Iron Man then goes ballistic in innovative action-thriller ‘The Man Who Killed Tony Stark!!’ before ultimately finding solace in the open arms of Madame Masque as Craig returns to fully illustrate superb mythological monster-mash ‘My Son… The Minotaur!’ and stays on as imminently departing scripter Goodwin pins Iron Man’s new Green colours to the comic’s mast in #25’s stunning eco-parable ‘This Doomed Land… This Dying Sea!’ Ably aided and abetted by Craig – whose slick understated mastery adds a sheen of terrifying authenticity to proceedings – the Armoured Avenger clashes and ultimately teams with veteran antihero Namor the Sub-Mariner. Ultimately the turbulent rivals must destroy Stark’s own hyper-polluting facility, consequently overruling and abandoning his company’s previous position and business model. Tragically, his attempts to convince other industry leaders to do likewise meets with the kind of reaction that tragically then (and again now) typified America’s response to the real-world situation…

Although the action ends here, there are many fantastic extras to enjoy, beginning with a comedy short gleaned from Marvel’s contemporaneous comedy pastiche magazine Not Brand Echh #2 (September 1967). Here Roy Thomas, Don Heck & Dan Adkins pit clunky 20th century crusader The Unrinseable Ironed Man against a parody-prone 40th century stalwart old fans will surely – if not surlily – recognise, even if here he’s called ‘Magnut, Robot Biter!’…

With covers throughout by Kirby, Colan, Gil Kane, Bill Everett, Craig, Tuska, Marie Severin, Giacoia, John Romita, Esposito, Larry Lieber, & John Verpoorten, other art treats include a character-packed Colan self-portrait from 1970; 15 pages of interior page and cover art, and the covers of Marvel Double Feature Classics #1-19 and Marvel Super-Heroes #31; plus the text-free art for this collection by Salvador Larocca & Frank D’Amata.

On show here is a fantastic period in the Golden Gladiator’s career, one that perfectly encapsulates the changes Marvel and America went through and some of the best and most memorable efforts of a simply stellar band of creators. These are epic exploits, still charged with all the urgency and potency of a time of crisis and a nation in tumult, so what better time than now to finally tune in, switch on or return to the Power of Iron Man?
© 2024 MARVEL.

Posted on

The Outer Space Spirit: 1952


By Will Eisner, Jules Feiffer & Wally Wood & various (Kitchen Sink Press)
ISBN: 978-0-87816-007-5 (HB) 978-0-87816-012-9 (TPB)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: A Lost Classic …10/10

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced during less enlightened times.

In keeping with the dolorous nature of this time of year I’m concentrating on a few missed opportunities so here’s a graphic novel that was let slip by and rests in some nebulous limbo waiting for someone like me to say: why don’t we reprint this?

It is pretty much accepted today that Will Eisner was one of those pivotal creators who shaped America’s comic book industry, with most of his graphic works more or less permanently in print – as they should be. However, although the story can be found as part of the also ultra-rare Spirit Archive volume 24, this classy monochrome volume from much-missed independent publisher Kitchen Sink in 1983, released in both hardback and softcover, is by far a better reading experience.

Sometimes the Medium is the Message, especially when the artefact is a substantially solid tome delivering magical artwork in crisp, breathtaking black & white which details – not only in the reprinted strips but also sketches, incidental artwork and author’s breakdown layouts – the last and most striking saga of one of the world’s greatest fantasy characters. From 1936 to 1938, Eisner worked as a jobbing cartoonist in the comics production firm known as the Eisner-Eiger Shop, creating strips for both domestic US and foreign markets. Under pen-name Willis B. Rensie, he created and drew opening instalments for a huge variety of characters ranging from funny animal to historical sagas, Westerns, Detectives, aviation action thrillers… and superheroes… lots of superheroes…

In 1940, Everett “Busy” Arnold, head honcho of the superbly impressive Quality Comics outfit, invited Eisner to take on a new challenge. The Register-Tribune newspaper syndicate wanted a 16-page weekly comic book insert to be given away with the Sunday editions. Eisner jumped at the opportunity, creating three strips which would initially be handled by him before two of them were handed off to his talented assistants. Bob Powell inherited Mr. Mystic and distaff detective Lady Luck fell into the capable hands of Nick Cardy (then still Nicholas Viscardi) and later, the inimitable Klaus Nordling.

Eisner kept the lead feature for his own playground and over the next 12 years The Spirit became the most impressive, innovative, imitated and talked-about strip in the business. However, by 1952 he had more or less abandoned it for more challenging and decidely more profitable commercial, instructional and educational strips, working extensively for the US military in manuals and magazines like P*S, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly, and generally leaving comics books behind. Gathered here are last newspaper sections (July 27th through October 5th 1952), plus scripts for what would have been the final three sections of The Outer Space Spirit.

For that final year or so, the bulk of Spirit tales were produced by other hands with assistant Jules Feiffer handling the majority of scripts and diverse artists producing the art. Feiffer preferred to map out his episodes in rough pencil with word balloons and captions fully scripted: once approved by Eisner, the roughs would then be interpreted by an assigned artist for the individual episodes. The long-term plan was not to cancel The Spirit but redefine it for a new decade and expand the Eisner studio/company beyond and around it – but that’s not quite how it played out.

As seen in the scholarly introduction by Cat Yronwoode and Eisner’s own director’s commentary ‘Reminiscence’, the plans to reposition The Spirit were not welcomed by the client papers buying the strip; the creators handling the feature had different creative goals and drives and Eisner himself couldn’t quite let go of his precious baby. Even though society and comic books were wildly in love with the bold new genre of space opera/science fiction and Eisner had previously dabbled with the form in a few previous tales, a large number of Spirit clients and readers did not want any “flying saucer spacey stuff” in their Sunday funnies. Moreover, the brilliantly sardonic, existentialist and sensitively satirical Feiffer was approaching the stories in a bleak, nigh-nihilistic manner, emphasising existentialist isolation, human frailty and the passing of an era, rather than rugged he-men with hot babes in bikinis and fishbowl helmets…

After a succession of fill-in draughtsmen, Wally Wood was selected as artist: a stunningly gifted imagineer reaching unparalleled heights with his work for EC and other comic book Sci Fi publishers. Wood actually began his professional career on The Spirit in the 1940s (as a letterer) and was fantastically keen on the new project, but merciless deadlines and his overwhelming desire to surmount his own high standards soon had the saga experiencing deadline problems on top of everything else.

After text features, the first episode ‘Outer Space’ begins, preceded – as are most of strips here – by Feiffer’s meticulous and detailed script layouts. First appearing on Sunday, July 27th 1952, we see Denny Colt, The Spirit, managing a crew of convict volunteers on an American rocketship to the moon, at the insistent request of eminent space scientist Professor Hartley Skol. However, this was a new hero for an uncertain age. The tough, fun-loving, crime-fighting daredevil had become a cautious, introspective leader, feeling fully the weight of his mission and the burden of unwelcome responsibilities.

‘Mission: the Moon’ (August 3rd 1952), follows Colt, Skol and the pardoned felons onto the satellite’s barren surface and recounts the Spirit’s first victory as he heads off potential mutiny with reason, not force, before ‘A DP on the Moon’ reveals how closely Eisner still monitored the series. DP’s were “Displaced Persons” a common term in the post-war world, and when the explorers find a diary in the lunar dust, it reveals how the world’s greatest dictator and his inner circle fled to the moon to escape Allied justice. Unfortunately, they could not outrun their own paranoia and madness…

In the original script and finished art the diarist is Adolf Hitler, but the grim fate that befell his fellow Nazis was altered at the very last moment by Eisner, who felt the plot was already old hat. Swift retouching transformed Der Fuehrer into fictitious Latin American dictator Francisco Rivera and the revised version ran on August 10th 1952. It still reads pretty well, but if you look carefully, those uniforms in the background flashbacks are hauntingly familiar.

With ‘Heat on the Moon’ the deadline crunch hit, and 1½ pages of spectacular Lunar exploration by Wood abruptly segues to a “meanwhile back on Earth” scene from Eisner, featuring Chief Dolan, daughter Ellen and a criminal with a vested interest in assuring that at least one of the moon volunteers isn’t pardoned. Following their first fatality, the mission goes swiftly awry and ‘Rescue’ (the instalments now cut to only 4 pages in an attempt to fight the deadline doom) sees another body-blow to the expedition. Defeated and demoralised, Spirit decided to return the survivors to Earth…

‘The Last Man on the Moon’ depicts the launch from the moon as, on Earth, another gangster attempts to scotch the return trip. Clearly cursed, the mission suffers one more disaster as a convict sneaks away before take-off, becoming, with the September 7th episode ‘The Man in the Moon’. On September 14th the inevitable occurred and the feature was forced to run a modified reprint (‘The Amulet of Osiris’ from the late 1940s) before Wood resurfaced to illustrate the philosophically barbed ‘Return from the Moon’ on September 21st. Here Denny Colt and the remaining lunar-nauts debate the nature of reality, as Eisner steps in with the help of Al Wenzel to produce ‘The Return’, a hasty wrap-up that still found room for a close encounter with a flying saucer.

A scheduling blip saw an alternate version of the return a week later (sadly not included here) and final episode ‘Denny Colt, UFO Investigator’ ran on October 5th 1952: an inconclusive new beginning illustrated by Klaus Nordling. The strip died with that episode as Eisner, increasingly occupied with military work, and bleeding client-papers, terminated the feature.

But that isn’t quite the end: this book also includes – in various forms – what would have been the next three chapters, discovered in Eisner’s extensive file vault in the early 1980s. First is a fully lettered Feiffer layout, followed by a sequence of lettered pages prior to the art being drawn and the first (and only) typed script from assigned new creator Nordling.

Tense, suspenseful, dark and fearsomely compelling, these are the stories that signified the Spirit demise for nearly two decades, but today they stand as a mini-masterpiece of comics storytelling that was, quite simply, too far advanced for its audience. For we survivors of Cold War, Space Race and Budget-cut scientific exploration, they are a chilling and intensely prophetic examination of human nature in a Brave New World rendered with all the skill and frantic passion of some of comics’ greatest talents.

What wonders could have followed if the readers had come along with them? I don’t know, but at least we still have these tales – as soon as someone reprints them again…
© 1983 Kitchen Sink Press. © Art and stories 1983 Will Eisner. All rights reserved.

Posted on

Basil Wolverton’s The Culture Corner


By Basil Wolverton (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-60699-308-8 (HB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Because it’s Still Funny… 9/10

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced during less enlightened times.

Basil Wolverton was one of a kind; a cartoonist and wordsmith of unique skills and imagination and one whose controversial works inspired and delighted many whilst utterly revolting others. Born in Central Point, Oregon on July 9th 1909, Wolverton worked as a Vaudeville performer, reporter and cartoonist, and – unlike most cartoonists of his time – preferred to stay far away from the big city. For most of his life he mailed in work from the rural wilderness of Vancouver, Washington State.

He made his first national cartoon sale at age 16 and began pitching newspaper strips in the late 1920s. A great fan of fantastic fiction and the swiftly-developing science fiction genre, Wolverton sold Marco of Mars to the Independent Syndicate of New York in 1929 but the company then declined to publish it, citing its similarity to the popular Buck Rogers feature.

Equally at home with comedy, horror and adventure fantasy material the young creative dynamo adapted easily to the concept of superheroes, and began working extensively in the new medium of comicbooks, where he produced such gems as Spacehawks and Disk-Eyes the Detective for Circus Comics, plus a brace of minor hits and unabashed classics: the grimly imaginative (but unrelated) sci fi cosmic avenger Spacehawk for Target Comics and Rockman – Underground Secret Agent for Timely/Marvel’s USA Comics.

Seemingly tireless, Wolverton produced an apparently endless supply of comedy features too, ranging from extended series like Superman/boxing parody Powerhouse Pepper to double, single and half-page gag fillers such as ‘Bedtime Bunk’, ‘Culture Quickie’ and ‘Bedtime Banter’. In 1946 he infamously won a national competition held by Al Capp of Li’l Abner fame to visualise Lena the Hyena, that strip’s “ugliest woman in the world”, and during the 1950s space and horror boom crafted some of the most imaginative short stories comics have ever seen. Of course, he also worked for Mad Magazine.

Wolverton had been a member of Herbert W. Armstrong’s (prototype televangelist of a burgeoning Christian fundamentalist movement) Radio Church of God since 1941. In 1956, he illustrated the founder’s pamphlet ‘1975 in Prophecy’ and two years later produced a stunning illustrative interpretation of The Book of Revelation Unveiled at Last. Soon after he began writing and drawing an illustrated six-volume adaptation of the Old Testament entitled ‘The Bible Story: the Story of Man’ serialised in the sect’s journal The Plain Truth. In many ways, these religious works are his most moving and powerful.

In 1973, Wolverton returned to comic books, illustrating more of his memorably comedic grotesques for DC’s Plop!, but the aging artist suffered a stroke the next year. Basil Wolverton died on December 31st 1978.

In 2010 Fantagraphics collected a spectacular haul of Wolverton’s very best gag features in a uniquely informative hardback also available in a fancy-shmancy sci fi digital edition.

Culture Corner ran as a surreal, sublimely screwball half-page “advice column” in Whiz Comics, as well as The Marvel Family and The Daisy Handbook from 1946 to 1955, when publisher Fawcett sold off its comic division to Charlton Comics – including the very last unpublished strips. The hermit-cartoonist was clearly a meticulous creator, and his extensive files have bequeathed us a once-in-a-lifetime insight into his working practice and the editorial exigencies of the period.

Wolverton sent a fully pencilled rough of each proposed episode to Will Lieberson and Virginia Provisiaro (Executive editor and Whiz Comic’s editor respectively) who would comment, then commission or reject. The returned pencils would then form the skeleton of the instalment. This marvellously madcap tome re-presents the full-colour strips with (almost) all of the original pencil roughs – diligently stored by Wolverton for decades – as counterpoint and accompaniment, revealing the depth not only of Wolverton’s imagination at play but also his deft facility with design and inking.

Also included are many extra roughs and all the extent rejected ideas – still some of the most outrageous tomfoolery ever unleashed even after all these years.

Basil Wolverton was something of an inventor and DIY maestro, according to his son Monte’s illuminating introduction, turned the family home into a dream-house Rube Goldberg or our own Professor Brainstawm would be proud of. That febrile ingenuity is clearly seen in the advisements of Croucher K. Conk Q.O.C. (Queer Old Coot) as with awesome alliteration and pre-Rap rhyming riffs, the surly savant suggests solutions for some of life’s least tiresome troubles.

Among the welter of whacky wisdoms here, some of the most timelessly true are ‘How to Raise Your Eyebrows’, ‘How to Eat your Spaghetti without Getting Wetty’, ‘How to Clap without Mishap’, ‘How to Stop Brooding if your Ears are Protruding’, ‘How to Bow’ and ‘How to Grope for Bathtub Soap’: prominent amongst more than a hundred other sage prescriptions, so whatever your age, alignment or species this crazy chronicle has something that will change your life – and often for the better!

Graphically grotesque, inveterately un-sane and scrupulously screwball, this lexicon of lost laughs is still a must have item for anyone in need of certifiably classy cheering up.
© 2010 Fantagraphics Books. All rights reserved.