Category: Science Fiction

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Dear DC Super-Villains


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Dear Justice League


By Michael Northrop & Gustavo Duarte, coloured by Ma Maiolo & lettered by Wes Abbott (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-8413-8 (PB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Comic Perfection and Ideal Stocking Stuffer… 10/10

Keystone of the DC Universe, the Justice League of America is the reason we have a comics industry today. After the actual invention of the comic book superhero – for which read the launch of Superman in June 1938 – the most significant event in the industry’s progress was the combination of individual sales-points into a group. Thus, what seems blindingly obvious to everyone blessed with four-colour hindsight was irrefutably proven: a number of popular characters combining forces can multiply readership. Plus of course, a whole bunch of superheroes is a lot cooler than just one – or even one and a sidekick…

The Justice Society of America is rightly revered as a landmark in industry development but faded and failed after tastes changed at the end of the 1940s. When Julius Schwartz began reviving and revitalising the nigh-defunct superhero genre in 1956 the true turning point came a few years later with the (inevitable?) teaming of his freshly reconfigured mystery men. When wedded to relatively unchanged costumed big guns who had weathered the first fall of the Superhero, the result was a new, modern, Space-Age version of the JSA and the birth of a new mythology.

The moment that changed everything for us baby-boomers came with The Brave and the Bold #28 (cover dated March 1960): a classical adventure title recently retooled as a try-out magazine like Showcase. Just in time for Christmas 1959, ads began running…

“Just Imagine! The mightiest heroes of our time… have banded together as the Justice League of America to stamp out the forces of evil wherever and whenever they appear!”

When the JLA launched it cemented the growth and validity of the genre, triggering an explosion of new characters at every company producing comics in America and even spread to the rest of the world as the 1960s progressed. Superheroics have waned since, but never gone away, and remain a trigger point for all us kids. However, comics have grown serious and mature, and we increasingly left the kids out of the equation, letting TV cartoons pick up the slack. Even the roster in this tale is informed as much by animation adventures as potent printed page-turners…

Well, superheroes are still kids’ stuff as this superb book – and its sequel – attest. An early entry in DC’s project to bring their characters back to young readers, Dear Justice League takes all the iconic riffs and paraphernalia attached to the team and comedically runs wild with a core conceit: the heroes individually answering emails – or other, older, lesser communications – from young fans with problems to share or questions needing answers.

Played strictly for laughs by Brazilian illustrator/slapstick maestro Gustavo Duarte (Bizarro, Monsters! and Other Stories link both please), the segmented saga is composed by author and journalist Michael Northrop (Trapped, Plunked, Gentlemen, TombQuest) who blends charm with wit and a great deal of heart for maximum effects.

It begins as long-suffering little Ben Silsby gets under some steel-hard skin by texting ‘Dear Superman’, whilst ‘Dear Hawkgirl’ distracts the winged wonder so much during an alien bug battle that she neglects her beloved hamster. Although old foe Black Manta is no problem, the Sea King reads a ‘Dear Aquaman’ question and must ponder hygiene issues to the point of upsetting Hall of Justice roommate Purdey (his goldfish)…

As the team convene to discuss big bug activity, a ‘Dear Wonder Woman’ direct message send the Amazing Amazon off on an embarrassing memory moment whilst ‘Dear Flash’ takes on bullies, poor concentration and bad parenting, ‘Dear Green Lantern’ trades fashion tips and colour swatches with grade school diva-to-be Shalene and ‘Dear Cyborg’ finds a different kind of opponent online and ready to rock…

Ultimate paranoid the Dark Knight doesn’t do email and must find another way to respond to a ‘Dear Batman’ that sets his sentimental heart and brutal boyhood into perspective, which all sets the scene for ET extermination excitement as the bug subplot rattling through all the vignettes boils over into all-ages cartoon action in blockbuster finale ‘Dear Justice League’…

Pure comics nostalgia writ large and hard hitting. Enjoy all you oldster kids…

Extra material includes creator biographies, the ‘Hall of Justice Top Secret Files (No Peeking!)’ of our heroes, and their animal ‘Auxiliary Members!’ before concluding with come-hither extracts from other kid-friendly books in the line (specifically the sequel plugged next) and Superman of Smallville by Art Baltazar & Franco.

Fun, deceptively thrilling and infinitely re-readable, this old school treat is a must have item for anyone who loves superheroes.
© 2019, DC Comics All Rights Reserved.

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Predator vs Wolverine


By Benjamin Percy, Andrea Di Vito, Greg Land & Jay Leisten, Ken Lashley, Hayden Sherman, Kei Zama, Gavin Guidry, Frank D’Armata, Juan Fernandez, Alex Guimarães, Matthew Wilson & various  (20th Century Studios/MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-302955045 (TPB/Digital edition)

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

Although I’ve striven long and hard(ish) to validate and popularise comics as a true art form here and elsewhere, it’s quite hard to escape one’s roots, and every so often the urge to revel in well-made, all-out mindless violence and crass commercialism masquerading as what the reader wants just takes me over. If there’s a similar little kid inside you, this unchallenging, arty no-brainer team-up property might just clear the palate for the next worthy treat I’ll be boosting…

Predator was first seen in the eponymous 1987 movie and started appearing in comic book extensions and continuations published by Dark Horse with the 4-issue miniseries Predator: Concrete Jungle spanning June 1989 to March 1990. It was followed by 39 further self-contained outings and (by my count thus far) 14 crossover clashes ranging from Batman and Superman to Judge Dredd, Archie Andrews and Tarzan, keeping the franchise alive and kicking whilst movie iterations waxed and waned. Two of the most recent involve stalwart movie sensations the Black Panther and Wolverine.

That latter has been remarkable restrained in intercompany outreach projects thus far.

Wolverine is all things to most people and in his long life has worn many hats: Comrade, Ally, Avenger, Father Figure, Teacher, Protector, Punisher. He first saw print in a tantalising teaser-glimpse at the end of Incredible Hulk #180 (cover-dated October 1974 – So Happy 50th, Eyy?). That peek devolved into a full-on if inconclusive scrap with the Green Goliath and accursed cannibal critter Wendigo in the next issue. Canada’s super-agent was just one more throwaway foe for Marvel’s mightiest monster-star and subsequently vanished until All-New, All Different X-Men launched the following year.

The semi/occasionally feral mutant with fearsome claws and killer attitude rode – or perhaps fuelled – the meteoric rise of those rebooted outcast heroes. He inevitably won a miniseries try-out and his own series: two in fact, in fortnightly anthology Marvel Comics Presents and an eponymous monthly book (of which more later and elsewhere). In guest shots across the MU plus myriad cartoons (beginning with Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends in 1982) and movies (from X-Men in 2000) – he has carved out a unique slice of superstar status and never looked back.

Over those years many untold tales of the aged agent explored his erased exploits in ever-increasing intensity and detail. Gradually, many secret origins and revelatory disclosures regarding his extended, self-obscured life slowly seeped out. Afflicted with periodic bouts of amnesia, mind-wiped ad nauseum by sinister foes or well-meaning associates, the lethal lost boy clocked up a lot of adventurous living – but didn’t remember much of it. This permanently unploughed field conveniently resulted in a crop of dramatically mysterious, undisclosed back-histories. Over the course of his X-Men outings, many clues to his early years manifested, such as an inexplicable familiarity with Japanese culture and history, but these turned out to be only steps back, not the true story…

In this co-production those lost days neatly plug into a saga of vengeance and vendetta spanning more than a century, but which, I strongly suspect, will not play a large part in mainstream Marvel continuity for all the guest stars involved…

The teeth-tightly-clenched tale by Bejamin Percy sees the embattled mutant fleeing across contemporary frozen Canada pursued by an invisible killer with death rays and sharp projectiles and definitely on the losing end of this tussle. As he flees, lashes out and howls at bay his much-abused mind flicks back to previous encounters with this particular hunter, who has seemingly stalked its prey for over a century…

Brutal and uncompromising, the savage close calls are revisited in flashbacks by a tag team of artists – Ken Lashley handling the present day; Greg Land & Jay Leisten depicting young James Howlett circa 1900 in Alaska, and Andrea Di Vito limning a covert South American mission beside Sabretooth, Maverick, Jackson and Kruel when Codename Wolverine was a memory-edited spy with Team X. Every incident ended with an alien attack and the mutant barely escaping…

Other key moments are included, as when the relentless monster invaded the Weapon X facility in Alberta, just as the burned-out secret agent is being forcibly infused with Adamantium (illustrated by Hayden Sherman), Kei Zama’s lyrical rendition of Logan and swordsmaster Muramasa battling Hand ninjas and the remorseless invisible hunter, and Gavin Guidry depicting the early Westchester Mansion era where even a full X-Men team are helpless against the single-minded space invader. In case you were wondering, each section is collaboratively coloured by Juan Fernandez, Frank D’Armata, Alex Guimarães & Matthew Wilson and lettered by VC’s Cory Petit. Ultimately by returning to today the chase comes to a cataclysmic close…

Like the films, what’s on offer is a thinly disguised excuse for mindless, cathartic violence and rollercoaster thrills and chills, and it’s all accomplished with compelling style and dedication.

Wildly implausible, edgily daft and thoroughly entertaining, the original 2023 4-part miniseries came with a variety of cover choices. Capping the furious fun is an extended gallery included here courtesy of Peach Momoko, Mike McKone & Rachelle Rosenberg, Alex Maleev, Skottie Young, Inhyuk Lee, Stephen Segovia & Romulo Fajardo Jr., Steven McNiven & D’Amarta, Gary Frank & Brad Anderson, Javi Fernández & Wilson, Sam De La Rosa & Chris Sotomayor, Cory Smith & Federico Blee, Whilce Portacio & Alex Sinclair, Adam Kubert & Wilson, Dan Jurgen, Breet Breeding & Sinclair, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Joshua Cassara & Dean White.

Track this down for simple fun and pure escapist shocks and shudders.
© 20th Century Studios. Marvel, its characters and its logos are ™ Marvel Characters, Inc.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Yoko Tsuno volume 16: The Cannon of Kra


By Roger Leloup, translated by Jerome Saincantin (Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-1-80044-019-7 (Album PB)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Affirmative, Inclusive & Bursting with Blockbuster Thrills… 8/10

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

On 24th September 1970, indomitable intellectual adventurer and “electronics engineer” Yoko Tsuno began her career in Le Journal de Spirou via a cartoony “Marcinelle style” 8 page short entitled ‘Hold-up en hi-fi’. She is still delighting readers and making new fans to this day in astonishing, action-packed, astoundingly accessible adventures numbering amongst the most intoxicating, absorbing and broad-ranging comics thrillers ever created.

Her globe-girdling mysteries and space-&-time-spanning epics were devised by multitalented Belgian maestro Roger Leloup who – from 1953 – truly started his own solo career after working as a studio assistant and technical artist on Hergé’s Adventures of Tintin.

Compellingly told, superbly imaginative and – no matter how implausible the premise of any individual yarn may seem – always firmly grounded in hyper-realistic settings underpinned by authentic, unshakably believable technology and scientific principles, Leloup’s illustrated escapades were at the vanguard of a wave of strips revolutionising European comics. Very early in the process, he switched from loose illustration to the mesmerising nigh-photo realistic Ligne Claire style that is a series signature.

That long-overdue sea-change in gender roles and stereotyping heralded a wave of clever, competent, brave and formidably capable female protagonists taking their rightful places as heroic ideals and not romantic lures; elevating Continental comics in the process. Such endeavours are as engaging and empowering now as they ever were, none more so than the exploits of Miss Tsuno.

Her first outings (the aforementioned but STILL unavailable Hold-up en hi-fi, and sequels La belle et la bête and Cap 351) were mere introductory vignettes before epic authenticism took hold in 1971 when the unflappable troubleshooter met valiant but lesser (male) pals Pol Paris and Vic Van Steen, properly hitting her stride in premier full-length saga Le trio de l’étrange starting in LJdS’s May 13th edition. From that point, Yoko’s cases would include explosive exploits in exotic corners of our world, sinister deep-space sagas and even time-travelling jaunts. There are 31 European bande dessinée albums to date, with 19 translated into English thus far, albeit – and ironically – none of them available in digital formats…

First serialised in LJdS #2452-2455, Le canon de Kra was first released in 1985: a gripping war-tinged thriller and sublimely understated espionage epic. Laced with solid hard-science foundations and stark historical and geopolitical overtones, it was the 20th album, reaching us Brits as Cinebook’s 16th outing, exploring a heritage of hate and destruction and forcing the troubleshooter to ponder a recent time of madness in her country’s long and proud history…

It opens as Miss Tsuno – a supremely gifted aviation and glider pilot – finishes testing super-compact jet the Hummingbird for a mystery millionaire. After regretfully signing off on the nippy craft, she is reintroduced to old friends Colonel Tagashi (Daughter of the Wind) and benevolent billionaire/tech entrepreneur/German security agent Peter Hertzel (Wotan’s Fire)  who reveal they have been secretly prepping her for a critical and deadly mission.

The intelligence men have uncovered a diabolical plot to use a reconstructed rail-mounted super gun to fire 500mm shells into South Asia. In 1942, these mobile artillery pieces were abandoned on the Isthmus of Kra in the Malay Peninsula. Rebuilt, ready, and situated in oil-rich new nation Kampong, the bombardments could reach Indonesia, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand and more.

Moreover, the former Japanese pilot masterminding the scheme has become the world’s most successful criminal arms dealer since WWII ended. Sakamoto plans to enact revenge for the shame of defeat by filling those shells with explosives and stolen radioactive waste in equal measure…

With a week until their counterattack can begin, Yoko goes undercover as a photojournalist in Kampong, infiltrating warlord Sakamoto’s palatial fortress but bringing devastating retaliation upon herself and Kampong’s vastly overmatched police force. Nevertheless, Tsuno divines the fine detail of Sakamoto’s scheme and, with police captain Onago, heads to where the super-gun and his appalling ammo await the madman’s orders to fire. Revenge is not the villain’s only goal. By backing anti-government rebels, the warlords intend to be Kampong’s king…

As Pol and Vic move in to assist at an pre-arranged rendezvous point, the grand plan is shot down – literally – and Yoko and Onago find themselves accidentally allied to the anti-government rebels Sakamoto had backed but now betrays. As the villain spirals into madness, the resistance target his rail installation, leading to an epic battle to sabotage the rail cannon and defeat the deranged warlord’s plans of atomic armageddon…

Drenched in intrigue and packed with breathtaking air-combat and jungle war set pieces, The Cannon of Kra thunders along, inexorably building to a shattering climax and blistering conclusion. This epic again confirms Yoko Tsuno as a multi-faceted adventurer, at home in every manner of scenario, holding her own against the likes of James Bond, Modesty Blaise, Tintin and other genre-busting super-stars, triumphantly facing spies and maniacs as well as aliens, weird science or unchecked forces of nature…

As always the most effective asset in these breathtaking tales is the astonishingly authentic and staggeringly detailed draughtsmanship and storytelling, which superbly benefits from Leloup’s diligent research and meticulous attention to detail, honed through years of working on Tintin. The Cannon of Kra is a magnificently wide-screen thriller, tense, complex and evocative, appealing to any fan of blockbuster action fantasy or devious derring-do.
Original edition © Dupuis, 1985 by Roger Leloup. All rights reserved. English translation 2021 © Cinebook Ltd.

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Teen Titans: Year One (New Edition)


By Amy Wolfram, Karl Kerschl & Serge Lapointe, coloured by Stéphane Péru & John Rausch, lettered by Nick J. Napolitano (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-6724-7 (TPB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: How Growing-Up-Super Really Feels… 9/10

This book includes Discriminatory Content included for dramatic effect.

The concept of kid hero teams was not a new one when DC finally entrusted their big heroes’ assorted sidekicks with their own regular comic:  resulting in a fab, hip and groovy ensemble as dedicated to helping kids as they were to stamping out insidious evil.

The biggest difference between juvenile wartime groups such as The Young Allies, Newsboy Legion and Boy Commandos or 1950s holdovers like The Little Wise Guys or Boy Explorers and the creation of the Teen Titans was quite simply the burgeoning phenomena of “the Teenager” as a discrete social and commercial force. These were kids who could – and should – be allowed to do things themselves without constant adult “help” or supervision. As early as The Brave and the Bold #54 (June/July 1964), DC’s Powers-That-Be tested the waters in a gripping tale by Bob Haney & Bruno Premiani teaming Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad.

The wild punt was a huge hit and the kids – supplemented by Wonder Girl and Speedy – got their own title, offering teen tinged tales crafted by old(ish) white guys. To be fair, the sagas were certainly unlike anything else DC was concurrently producing and have certainly withstood the test of time as a peek at Teen Titans The Silver Age volumes 1 & 2 will confirm.

However, ways in which society relates to kids – and vice versa – has changed radically since the hazy crazy, shimmery sixties, and this delicious dose of post-modern retro-revelation details how a new century and fresh thinking can reevaluate the trials and costs of growing up super. Originally released in 2008 as 6-part miniseries Teen Titans: Year One, this coming of ages yarn is packed with humour and pathos as well as action, making many memorable points whilst delivering a wonderful superhero romp. It was crafted by animation screen writer/comics writer Amy Wolfram (Sym-Bionic Titan, Teen Titans, Teen Titans Go!, The Secret Saturdays, Supergirl, Legion of Super-Heroes) and Karl Kerschl (Adventures of Superman, Gotham Academy, All-Flash, Majestic) with the assistance of inker Serge Lapointe, colourists Stéphane Péru & John Rausch and letterer Nick J. Napolitano.

Offering a compelling reinterpretation of those classic quirkily eclectic Silver Age sagas, there’s a heavy emphasis on the kind of adults who would expose kids to violent thugs, murderers and psychopaths on a nightly basis… including the pressures involved all around and the coping mechanisms evolved to manage that kind of life…

It begins with the Boy Wonder distracted and painfully not meeting Batman’s expectations, wasting time with some costumed sidekicks he’s recently met. Soon the kids are trading stories and covertly working together against the likes of The Ant and Ding Dong Daddy, becoming overnight sensations as in the background, psionic monster the Antithesis is making its move.

It all gets crazy serious when the super-juniors realize their guardians and mentors are going off the rails and becoming increasingly dangerous to the world and themselves, and it’s now up to them to save the day and the world…

Despite how heavy that all sounds, the epic exploit – originally entitled “In the Beginning…’, ‘Flash in the Pan’, ‘Young Heroes in Love’ and ‘Awakening’ – is actually bright, breezy, inspiring and frequently hilarious, but it does pull no punches.

Fast paced, funny, compelling and captivating, this is absolute escapism and absolutely delightful and you absolutely should get this book, Absolutely.
© 2008, 2024 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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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.