Category: Science Fiction

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Mandrake the Magician: Fred Fredericks Sundays volume 1 – The Meeting of Mandrake and Lothar


By Lee Falk & Fred Fredericks (Titan Books)
ISBN: 978-1-78276-692-6 (HB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced during less enlightened times.

Time for another Birthday briefing as we exploit the month of mystery and imagination to celebrate 90 glorious years for another Golden Age stalwart…

Regarded by many as comics’ first superhero, Mandrake the Magician debuted as a daily newspaper strip on 11th June 1934 – although creator Lee Falk had sold the strip almost a decade previously. Initially drawing it too, Falk replaced himself as soon as feasible, allowing the early wonderment to materialise through the effective understatement of sublimely solid draughtsman Phil Davis. An instant hit, Mandrake was quickly supplemented by a full-colour Sunday companion page from February 3rd 1935.

Falk – as 19-year-old college student Leon Harrison Gross – had sold the strip to King Features Syndicate years earlier, but asked the monolithic company to let him finish his studies before dedicating himself to it full time. Schooling done, the 23-year-old born raconteur settled into his life’s work, entertaining millions with astounding tales. Falk also created the first costumed superhero in moodily magnificent generational manhunter The Phantom, going on to spawn an entire comic book subgenre with his first creation. Most Golden Age publishers boasted at least one (and usually many) nattily attired wizards in their gaudily-garbed pantheons: all roaming the world(s) making miracles and crushing injustice with varying degrees of stage legerdemain or actual sorcery.

Characters like Mr. Mystic, Ibis the Invincible, Sargon the Sorcerer, and an assortment of  “…the Magician”’s like Zatara, Zanzibar, Kardak proliferated ad infinitum: all borrowing heavily and shamelessly from the uncanny exploits of the elegant, enigmatic man of mystery gracing the world’s newspapers and magazines. In the Antipodes, Mandrake was a suave and stalwart regular of Australian Women’s Weekly and became a cherished icon of adventure in the UK, Australia, Italy, Brazil, Germany, Spain, France, Turkey and across Scandinavia: a major star of page and screen, pervading every aspect of global consciousness.

Over many decades he has been a star of radio, movie chapter-serials, a theatrical play, television and animation (as part of series Defenders of the Earth). With that has come the usual merchandising bonanza of games, toys (including magic trick kits), books, comics and more…

Falk worked on Mandrake and “The Ghost who Walks” until his death in 1999 (even on his deathbed, he was laying out one last story), but also found a few quiet moments to become a renowned playwright, theatre producer and impresario, as well as an inveterate world-traveller. After drawing those first few strips Falk united with sublimely polished cartoonist Phil Davis, whose sleekly understated renditions took the daily strip, and especially the expansive full-page Sunday pages (collected in companion volume The Hidden Kingdom of Murderers), to unparalleled heights of sophistication. Davis’ steadfast, assured realism was the perfect tool to render the Magician’s mounting catalogue of spectacular miracles. Soon the Magician was a major star of page & screen, pervading all aspects of global consciousness as hinted at in a furore of fact features and massed memorabilia treats, beginning with introductory essay ‘The Real Mandrake the Magician’. This discusses real-life stage magician Leon Mandrake – who shared the evocative sobriquet in the mid-20th century – as revealed courtesy of his son Lon. Next on the bill is an appreciation of Davis’ inspired replacement as illustrator, in ‘Fred Fredericks – My Mandrake Artist’ by Andreas Erikson, with incisive exploration of Harold “Fred” Fredericks, who took over art production when Davis died and who ultimately assumed full creative duties when Falk himself passed on in 1999. This briefing covers that his tenure and includes his prodigious pre- and post-Mandrake comics work.

Those in the know are well aware that Mandrake was educated at the fabled College of Magic in Tibet, thereafter becoming a suave globe-trotting troubleshooter. Always and everywhere he was accompanied by African partner-in-crimefighting Lothar and, from early on, capable companion (eventually, in 1997, bride) Princess Narda of Cockaigne. Together they solved mysteries and fought evil. Those exploits took the close-knit team literally everywhere, and the strips section of this luxury monochrome landscape hardback opens on ‘Traveler’s Tale’ which ran from March 21st to August 22nd 1965 and saw the last episodes illustrated by Davis, before his death in 1964 from a heart attack.

The saga sees Mandrake in the arctic, where iceberg-watching leads to the recovery of an apparent alien in a survival capsule. A physical and mental marvel, while slowly awakening Opolo deduces not just the English language but also that he’s been in hibernation for 60,000 years. He goes on to reveal that he’s actually from Earth, albeit part of a space-faring race that preceded Homo Sapiens. He’s also pining for his estranged true love Adrana, and Mandrake is happy to help him find her and the long buried civilisation they both came from and are the last survivors of…

Incredibly, along the way, the magician also solves an ancient murder mystery and plays cupid to the reunited survivors, before seeing them abandon their birthworld for the stars…

Always well in tune with contemporary zeitgeists – like sci fi and spy fi – Falk dipped into the growing well of supervillains monopolizing book shelves and airwaves by next reviving Mandrake’s personal arch-nemesis as ‘The Cobra Returns’ (August 29th 1965 – April 3rd 1966). The sinister savant was once Mandrake’s tutor at The College of Magic and here begins a globally destabilising assassination spree, provoking crime busting agency Inter-Intel to call in the Magician and his crew to consult. Sadly, the ploy only makes the perfidious plotter turn his full murderous attentions on our heroes, in an escalating series of attacks that ultimately end in a spectacular showdown and apparent end of the evil one…

With global stability secured, organised crime goes wild, and the miracle trio are kept busy helping the good guys crack down on mobsters in ‘The Underworld vs. Inter-Intel’ (April 10th – August 7th 1966), after which ‘The Astro Pirates’ (August 14th – December 25th 1966) highlights a modern spin on an old racket…

When bold bandits begin holding up airliners in the stratosphere they foolishly pick a jet carrying Narda, and a fully-engaged Mandrake and Lothar spare no effort to end the sinister sky-jinks, after which – inspired by the “Great Northeast Blackout” of November 5th 1965 – Falk & Fredericks fill us in on ‘The Blackout Caper’ (January 1st – April 23rd 1967), as a mad scientist teams up with mobsters to use darkness and chaos to get rich quick and fulfil even nastier nuclear ambitions but underestimate the power of the mighty magician…

Fredericks was a liberal and civil rights proponent, and had for months been subtly changing the “happy, loyal native” appearance of the African globetrotter to match the acts and character Falk had been crafting for years. The process was completed with a reboot of their first adventure together spanning April 30th – September 24th. ‘The Meeting of Mandrake and Lothar’ relates how the practically superhuman prince of reclusive kingdom “the 12 Nations” joins Mandrake in stopping crazed fugitive Mad Dog Dill, before abdicating all monarchical responsibilities to fight evil everywhere. However, returning to the present, shocks abound as Lothar agrees to helm his people’s transition to democracy by becoming their president, just as Mandrake and Narda are targeted by a manic gambler turned master-villain.

‘The Game of Chance’ (October 1st 1967 – February 11th 1968) soon sees Lothar return to aid in the comeuppance of devious blackmailer, kidnapper and influence-peddler Baron Chance and, prior to a resurgence of full-on fantasy, returns in ‘Invasion of the Babu’ (February 18th – July 21st 1968). No stranger to space adventure, Mandrake and Co are best friends with Magnon and Carola, Emperor and Empress of the Central Galaxy and benign rulers of one million worlds. The humans were there when the potentates had their baby Nardraka, and, as dutiful “godparents”, pull out all the stops when the toddler princess is abducted by barbaric invaders the Baboos.

Sadly for them, the apelike alien aggressors make a string of mistakes, beginning with hiding the hostage on even more barbaric Earth, continuing with trying to outsmart Mandrake and closing with believing Nardraka is “just” a stupid little female…

With one crisis resolved, Mandrake barely survives the renewed attentions of the Baron as ‘Second Chance’ (July 28th – November 3rd 1968) sees the magician and Inter-Intel hunt the murderous malefactor to his hidden island fortress and strike a major blow against organised crime, after which ‘The All or Nothing Hunt’ (November 10th 1968 – March 30th 1969), heralds the arrival of alien gamblers Alpha and Beta, who have made the mage their next obsession. Hiding a planet-eradicating bomb on Earth, the wagerers expect the wonder wizard to traverse the globe, deciphering clues to deactivate it. Of course, the extraterrestrials don’t play fair, but Mandrake isn’t playing at all…

No good deed goes unpunished, however, and ‘The Galactic Rumble’ (April 6th – September 7th 1969) reveals that Alpha and Beta are intergalactic crime lords with millions of thugs now indulging in an intergalactic gang war Magnon’s military and peacekeepers are helpless to stop. Isn’t it time to call in some consultants with the know-how to fight them on their own terms?

Yes it is, and not even exploding stars and marauding star dragons can long slow them down…

Ending the show are ‘The Fred Fredericks Mandrake the Magician Complete Sunday Checklist (1965-2002)’, plus full biographies of Fred Fredericks and Lee Falk. This thrilling tome offers exotic locales, thrilling action, bold belly laughs, cunning crime action and sheer wonder in equal measure. Paramount taleteller Falk instinctively knew from the start that the secret of success was strong and, crucially, recurring villains to test and challenge his heroes, and make Mandrake an unmissable treat for every strip addict. These stories have lost none of their impact and only need you reading them to concoct a perfect cure for the 21st century glums.
Mandrake the Magician © 2018 King Features Syndicate. All Rights Reserved. All other material © 2018 the respective authors or owners.

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Strange Suspense: The Steve Ditko Archives volume 1


By Steve Ditko, Joe Gill, and various (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-60669-289-0 (HB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: A Timely Tome of Terrors … 9/10

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Steve Ditko (November 2nd 1927 -c. June 29th 2018) was one of our industry’s greatest talents and probably America’s least lauded. His fervent desire was to just get on with his job telling stories the best way he could. Whilst the noblest of aspirations, that dream was always a minor consideration and frequently a stumbling block for the commercial interests which for so long controlled all comics production and still exert an overwhelming influence upon the mainstream bulk of Funnybook output.

Before his time at Marvel, the young Ditko mastered his craft creating short stories for a variety of companies, and it’s an undeniable joy to look at this work from such an innocent time. At this time he was just breaking into the industry: tirelessly honing his craft with genre tales for whichever publisher would have him, free from the interference of intrusive editors.

This first fantastic full-colour deluxe hardback – and potently punchy digital treasure trove – reprints his early works (all from the period 1953-1955), comprising stories produced before the draconian, self-inflicted Comics Code Authority sanitised the industry, and although most are wonderfully baroque and bizarre horror stories there are also examples of Romance, Westerns, Crime, Humour and of course his utterly unique Science Fiction tales, cunningly presented in the order he sold them and not the more logical, albeit far less instructive chronological release dates. Sadly, there’s no indication of how many (if any) were actually written by moody master Ditko either.  If guessing authors, I’d plump for editor Pat Masulli and/or the astoundingly prolific Joe Gill (who was churning out hundreds of stories per year) as the strongest suspects…

And, whilst we’re being technically accurate, it’s also important to note eventual publication dates of the stories in this collection don’t have a lot to do with when Ditko rendered these mini-masterpieces: Charlton paid so little, the cheap, anthologically astute outfit had no problem buying material it could leave on a shelf for months – if not years – until the right moment arrived to print. All tales and covers here are uniformly wonderfully baroque and bizarre fantasies, suspense and science fiction yarns, helpfully annotated with a purchase number to indicate approximately when they were actually drawn.

Ditko’s first strip sale was held for a few months and printed in Fantastic Fears #5 (an Ajax/Farrell publication cover-dated January/February 1954): a creepy, pithy tale entitled ‘Stretching Things’, followed here by ‘Paper Romance’ – an eye-catching if anodyne tale from Daring Love #1 (September 1953, Gilmor). A couple of captivating chillers from Simon and Kirby’s Prize Comics hot horror hit Black Magic come next. ‘A Hole in his Head’ (#27, November/December 1953) combines psycho-drama and time travel whilst more traditional tale ‘Buried Alive’ (#28 January-February 1954) is a self-explanatory gothic drama.

Stylish cowboy hero Utah Kid stopped a ‘Range War’ in Blazing Western #1 (January 1954, Timor Press), and Ditko’s long association with Charlton Comics properly began with the cover and vampire shocker ‘Cinderella’ from The Thing #12 (February 1954). The remainder of the work here was published by Charlton, a small company with few demands.

Their diffident attitude to work was ignore creative staff as long as they delivered on time: a huge bonus for Ditko, still studiously perfecting his craft and never happy to play office politics. They gave him all the work he could handle and let him do it his way…

After the cover for This Magazine is Haunted #16 (March 1954) comes ‘Killer on the Loose’: a cop story from Crime and Justice #18 (April 1954), and the same month saw him produce cover and three stories for The Thing #13: ‘Library of Horror’, ‘Die Laughing’ and ‘Avery and the Goblins’. Space Adventures #10 (Spring 1954) first framed the next cover and the witty cautionary tale ‘Homecoming’, followed by three yarns and a cover from the succeeding issue – ‘You are the Jury’, ‘Moment of Decision’ and the sublimely manic ‘Dead Reckoning’…

This Magazine is Haunted #17, (May 1954), featured a Ditko cover and three more moody missives: ‘3-D Disaster, Doom, Death’, ‘Triple Header’ and intriguingly experimental ‘The Night People.’ That same month he drew the cover and both ‘What was in Sam Dora’s Box?’ and ‘Dead Right’ for mystery title Strange Suspense Stories #18. He had another shot at gangsters in licensed title Racket Squad in Action (#11, May-June 1954), producing the cover and stylish caper thriller ‘Botticelli of the Bangtails’ and honed his scaring skills with the cover and four yarns for The Thing #14 (June 1954): ‘Rumpelstiltskin’, ‘The Evil Eye’, the utterly macabre ‘Doom in the Air’ and grisly shocker ‘Inheritance!’

He produced another incredible cover and five stories in the next issue, and, as always was clearly still searching for the ultimate in storytelling perfection. ‘The Worm Turns’, ‘Day of Reckoning’, ‘Come Back’, ‘If Looks could Kill’ and ‘Family Mix-up’ range from giant monster yarn to period ghost story to modern murder black comedies , but throughout, although all clearly by the same artist, no two tales are rendered the same way. Here is a true creator pushing himself to the limit.

Steve drew the cover and ‘Bridegroom, Come Back’ for This Magazine is Haunted #18, (July 1954), ‘A Nice Quiet Place’ and the cover of Strange Suspense Stories #19, plus the incredible covers of Space Adventures #12 and Racket Squad in Action #11, as well as cover and two stories in Strange Suspense Stories #20 (August 1954) – ‘The Payoff’ and ‘Von Mohl Vs. The Ants’ – but it was clear that his astonishing virtuosity was almost wasted on interior storytelling.

His incredible cover art was compelling and powerful and even the normally laissez-faire Charlton management must have exerted some pressure to keep him producing eye-catching visuals to sell their weakest titles. Presented next are mind-boggling covers for This Magazine is Haunted #19 (August 1954), Strange Suspense Stories #22 and The Thing #17 (both November 1954) as well as This Magazine is Haunted #21, (December1954).

The Comics Code Authority began judging comics material from October 26th 1954, by which time Ditko’s output had practically halted. He had contracted tuberculosis and was forced to return to his family in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, until the middle of 1955. From that return to work come the final Ditko Delights in this volume: the cover and a story which originally appeared in Charlton’s Mad Magazine knockoff From Here to Insanity (#10, June 1955). A trifle wordy by modern standards, ‘Car Show’ nevertheless displays the sharp, cynical wit and contained comedic energy that made so many Spider-Man/Jonah Jameson confrontations an unforgettable treat a decade later…

This is a cracking collection in its own right but as an examination of one of the art form’s greatest stylists it is also an invaluable insight into the very nature of comics. This is a book true fans would happily kill or die for.
This edition © 2009 Fantagraphics Books. All Rights Reserved

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Bunny vs Monkey Book 10: The Great Big Glitch!


By Jamie Smart, with Sammy Borras & Paul Duffield (David Fickling Books)
ISBN: 978-1-78845-308-0 (Digest HB)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Because… Just Because… 10/10

Bunny vs Monkey has been the inspirationally bonkers breakout star of The Phoenix since the first issue in 2012: recounting a madcap vendetta gripping animal archenemies set amidst an idyllic arcadia, masquerading as more-or-less mundane but critically endangered English woodlands. Concocted with gleefully gusto – but increasingly with cerebral cosmic crescendo in mind – by cartoonist/comics artist/novelist Jamie Smart (Fish Head Steve!; Looshkin; Max and Chaffy, Flember), these trendsetting, mind-bending yarns have been wisely retooled as best-selling, graphic albums available in remastered, double-length digest softcover and hardback editions such as this one. All the tail-biting tension and animal argy-bargy began yonks ago after an obnoxious little beast plopped down in after a disastrous British space shot. OR DID IT?

Crashlanding in Crinkle Woods – scant miles from his launch site – lab animal Monkey believed himself the rightful owner of a strange new world, despite every effort of genteel, contemplative, reasonably sensible forest resident Bunny to dissuade him. For all his patience, propriety and good breeding, the laid-back lepine could not contain or control the incorrigible idiot ape, who to this moment remains a rude, troublemaking, chaos-creating, noise-loving lout intent on building his perfect “Monkeyopia” and/or being a robot, with or without the aid of evil supergenius Skunky or “henches” Metal Steve and Action Beaver…

Daily wonders and catastrophes were exacerbated by a broad band of unconventional Crinkle creatures, none more so than monochrome mad scientist Skunky, whose intellect and cavalier attitude to life presents as a propensity for building dangerous robots, bio-beasts and sundry other super-weapons. He is, at his core, a dangerously inquisitive thinker and tinkerer…

Here – with artistic assistance from design deputy Sammy Borras – the war of nerves and mega-ordnances resumes and culminates, even though everybody thought all the battles had already ended. We even seemingly explain the odd behaviour of intermittently encroaching Hoo-mans…

Once again divided into seasonal outbursts – OR IS IT? – this tenth magnificent hardback archive asylum of weirdness opens in traditional manner: with our lop-eared protagonist snug at home amidst winter snows as incurable innocent Pig Piggerton comes frantically calling. It appears his woodlouse pet ‘Mister Bum Bum’ is in dire need of it to be warm and summery.

Thankfully, after a recent return from the Puddle of Eternity (thanks to a fluke of the Molecular Stream) Bunny is now completely connected to nature and able to manifest a small patch of magic sunshine. When Monkey turns up in another death-machine, it is Pig who actually saves the day…

The hairy halfwit (I’m being generous here) is mad and manic as ever, unleashing ICBM ‘Wieners!’, and ‘Shark Attack’ cannonades the largely shellshocked populace (superfast Aye-aye Ai, Weenie Squirrel, Metal E.V.E., Lucky the Red Panda, mysterious Le Fox and the rest) all try to ignore, but as ‘Doctor Pig’ seeks to help the hopeless with a brand new therapy recently discovered, deep underground Monkey & Skunky experience something strange and start to suspect every they know might be wrong after feeling the force of ‘The Glitch’…

The skunk knows all about “Simulation Theory” even if you and I don’t, and makes some plans. Elsewhere, Hoo-man Toby and faithful assistant Alice finally admit there’s something deeply wrong in their system and start looking for answers by resetting the year back to January again – OR DO THEY…?

In Crinkle Woods, life manically meanders on with mad inventions and fantastically odd food fomenting foolishness in ‘Un-Lucky’, ‘Pug of Dooom!’, ‘Piggy Pog Pog’, on a culinary ‘Journey for the Wobbleberries’, and in clash of escalating titans ‘Big Me’. Anarchy reigns when Monkey’s ‘Bloblems’ and ravaging ‘Jelly Plops’ threaten, but no one really grasps what it all means until ‘The Second Glitch’…

With Toby now fatally intwined and connected to the Crinkle critters in ways he cannot fathom, and which restarting the year won’t fix, a rash of irrationality – even by Woodland standards – ensues in ‘Roll ‘em Up!’ and ‘Mine’. Toby’s fate is sealed when he inserts himself into the world of ‘Weirdos’ and he gets stuck there – OR DOES HE?

Even sensible, naïve robot Metal E.V.E. doesn’t believe the Hoo-Man is just a park warden and all too soon he is both appalled spectator and collateral casualty in spiralling strangeness as seen in ‘When in Rome’, ‘Extreeeeme!’ (debuting social media manipulator/teen Hyee-Hee-Heena Pootle B. Thunderbum to the menagerie) or ‘And Now, a Special Presentation’. Such ‘Warning Signs’ are useful to Skunky who instinctively understands what’s really going on. As Toby continues searching for his glitch – only stopping for ‘Biscuits’ – our lax lepine steps up as a problem-solving ‘Magic Bunny’, prompting a woodlands ‘Pause!’ as Skunky takes control.

Experiencing rather disturbing ‘Deja Vu’, some sort of truth unfolds in ‘The Story So Far’, delivering revelation and ‘An Escape’ as Skunky crafts a figurative shark just to jump it and enter the fabled ‘Land of the Hoo-Mans’, bringing the rest with him to help and hinder his acquiring ‘Stolen Tech’.

…and then all the critters get ‘Upgrades’…

With Bunny a magical Guardian of the Woodlands, Monkey a robot and his chief hench turned into an Action Cow, ‘Beefy Squirrel’ uses her new physique and superstrength to save Pig as metamorphic ‘Module Madness’ grips the critter cast. She needn’t have fussed, as her pal becomes super-secret agent ‘Codename P.I.G.’ to counter the chaos.

Deep below Crinkle Woods, the King of the Undercreatures craves ‘Yum Yums’ and strikes a shady deal with one stalwart supposed hero, sparking a fearsome clash with terror-beast Boggoth on ‘Fight Night’, and another between upgraded stars in ‘Bunny vs Monkey’. It swiftly draws in Beefy Squirrell for ‘Surf’s Up!’, before cosmically unfortunate red panda Lucky is convinced to try ‘Just One Wish’ on the troublesome upgrade module.

Metal E.V.E. evaluates the merits of change in ‘Transform!’, leading to Skunky’s ascension as ‘The Architect’ of reality and rueful admission ‘That Escalated Quickly’. Finally, magic Bunny and compelling, morally ambiguous outsider refusenik Le Fox unite to confront ‘The Omnipresent Skunky’ and battle beside everyone left ‘All in This Together’, before even greater revelations are exposed and calm(ish) order is restored with all ‘Finally Happy’, despite it being – just for a bit – ‘Metal Steve’s World’ and an ephemeral plane of ‘The Endless’ only truly sorted and made wonderfully again thanks to Bunny in ‘The Release’.

There’s also ‘An Epilogue’ with Le Fox explaining things, but unless you’re as smart and fun-loving as your kids, it won’t do you adults any good…

The agonised, anxiety-addled animal anarchy might have ended for now, but there’s a few more secrets to expose, thanks to detailed instructions on ‘How to Draw Wizard Bunny!’, ‘…Buff Weinie!’ and ‘…Action Cow!’, as well as previews of other treats and wonders available in The Phoenix to wind down from all that cosmic furore…

Another book for your kids to explain to you, the zany zenith of absurdist adventure, Bunny vs Monkey is weird wit, brilliant invention, potent sentiment and superb cartooning all crammed into one eccentrically excellent package. These tails never fail to deliver jubilant joy for grown-ups of every vintage, even those who claim they only get it for their kids. Is that you?

Text and illustrations © Fumboo Ltd. 2024. All rights reserved.
Bunny vs Monkey: The Great Big Glitch! is published on October 10th 2024 and available for pre-order now.

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Bunny vs Monkey: The Gigantic Joke Fight!


By Jamie Smart, with Sammy Borras (David Fickling Books)
ISBN: 978-1-78845-334-9 (Digest HB)

Bunny vs Monkey has been the hairy/fuzzy backbone of The Phoenix since the very first issue back in 2012: recounting a madcap vendetta gripping animal arch-enemies in an idyllic arcadia masquerading as more-or-less mundane but critically endangered English woodlands.

Concocted with gleefully gentle mania by cartoonist, comics artist and novelist Jamie Smart (Fish Head Steve!; Looshkin; Max and Chaffy, Flember), his trendsetting, mindbending multi award-winning yarns have been wisely retooled as graphic albums available in digest editions such as this one.

All the tail-biting tension and animal argy-bargy began yonks ago after an obnoxious little anthropoid plopped down in some serene British woodland, in the wake of a disastrous local space shot. Crashlanded in Crinkle Woods, scant miles from his launch site, lab animal Monkey reckoned himself the rightful owner of a strange new world… despite every effort to dissuade him by reasonable, rational, sensible, genteel, contemplative forest resident Bunny. No amount of patience, propriety or good breeding on the part of the laid-back lepine could curtail, contain or control the incorrigible idiot ape, who to this day remains a rude, noise-loving, chaos-creating, troublemaking lout…

A keen rivalry arose between them, as the ape intruder crudely made himself at home, and to this day Monkey remains a rude, noise-loving, chaos-creating, troublemaking lout intent on building his perfect “Monkeyopia” – with or without the aid of evil supergenius ally Skunky or their “henches” Metal Steve and Action Beaver…

Problems are exacerbated by other unconventional Crinkle creatures, like Pig, Weenie, Ai, Lucky, Le Fox and especially mad scientist Skunky whose intellect and cavalier attitude to life presents as a propensity for building extremely dangerous robots, Brobdingnagian bio-beasts and sundry other super-weapons…

Here the mundane multi-coloured manic war of nerves and mega-munitions is temporarily terminated for a twits & giggles diversion in magnificent monochrome as the entire cast are embroiled in a mysterious competition to determine who knows the best jokes – a cunning ploy to resurrect the subgenre of cartoon joke books that made the 1960s, Seventies and Eighties such a tedious, ear-bending chore for teachers and parents and so much fun for us…

The search to determine “The Funniest Creature in the Woods” grips everybody and over ‘Welcome to the Woods’, ‘Bunny Makes a Funny’, ‘Monkey’s Merciless Mirth!’, ‘Skunky’s Genius Jokes!’, ‘Weenie and Pig’s First Go at Telling Jokes!’, ‘Lights. Camera. Action Beaver!’, ‘Metal Steve and Metal E.V.E.’s Joke Processing’, ‘Le Fox is Far Too Cunning’, ‘Ai is So Fast’, ‘A Very Lucky Joke!’, ‘Weenie and Pig Return!’, ‘Readers’ Jokes – You Make the Laughs!’ and ‘And Now, the Conclusion!’, deliver themed and specialised chapter collections of Dad Jokes, Bum Jokes, Fart Jokes, Poo Jokes, Food Jokes, Baby Jokes, Knock-Knock Jokes and Pirate Jokes, as well as jests & japes about Genius, Robots, Computers, School, Experiments, Monsters, Ghosts, Chickens and Road Crossing, whilst also offering some riddles, brain-teasers and even tips on what Jokes are and How To Tell Them…

Daft, compulsively addictive, dangerously read-out-loud-able and fearfully unputdownable, this cutting edge retro-treat is the perfect gift… for someone else’s kids…
Text and illustrations © Fumboo Ltd. 2024. All rights reserved.

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Because You’re Only Young Once, unless you’re a Guy… 8/10

Bunny vs Monkey: The Gigantic Joke Fight! Will be published on October 10th 2024 and is available for pre-order now.

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Superman – The Silver Age Dailies volume 2:1961-1963


By Jerry Siegel, Wayne Boring, Curt Swan & Stan Kaye with Otto Binder, Leo Dorfman, Edmond Hamilton, Bill Finger & Robert Bernstein (IDW Publishing Library of American Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-6137-7923-1 (HB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

The American comic book industry – if it existed at all – would be an utterly unrecognisable thing 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, X-Men, Avengers and their hyperkinetic kind long ago outgrew their four-colour origins and are now fully mythologized modern media creatures instantly 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 know as 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. He was a perennial sure-fire success for toy, game, puzzle and apparel manufacturers and in his future were even more shows (Superboy, Lois & Clark, Smallville, Superman & Lois), a stage musical, franchise of blockbuster movies and almost seamless succession of games, bubble gum cards and TV cartoons. These started with The New Adventures of Superman in 1966 and have continued ever since. Even superdog Krypto got in on the small-screen act…

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…

So it was always something of a risky double-edged sword when a comicbook character became so popular that it swam against the tide (after all, weren’t the funny-books invented just to reprint the strips in cheap accessible form?) to became a genuinely mass-entertainment syndicated serial strip. Superman was the first original comic book character to make that leap – about six months after he burst out of Action Comics – but only a few successfully followed. Wonder Woman, Batman (eventually) and groundbreaking teen icon Archie Andrews made the jump in the 1940s and only a handful like Spider-Man, Howard the Duck and Conan the Barbarian have done so since.

The daily Superman newspaper comic strip launched on 16th January 1939, supplemented 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 the additional talents of Jack Burnley and writers like 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.

Then in 1956 Julie Schwartz kicked off the Silver Age with a new Flash in Showcase #4 and before long costumed crusaders began returning en masse to thrill a new generation. As the trend grew, many publishers began to cautiously dabble with the mystery man tradition and Superman’s newspaper strip began to slowly adapt: drawing closer to the revolution on the comicbook pages. As Jet-Age gave way to Space-Age, the Last Son of Krypton was a comfortably familiar icon of domestic America: particularly in the constantly evolving, ever-more dramatic and imaginative comic book stories which had received such a terrific creative boost when superheroes began to proliferate once more. The franchise had been cautiously expanding since 1954 and by 1961 Superman was seen not only in Golden Age survivors Action Comics, Superman, Adventure Comics, World’s Finest Comics and Superboy, but also in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane and Justice League of America. Such increased attention naturally filtered through to the more widely-read newspaper strip and resulted in a rather strange and commercially sound evolution…

This second expansive hardback collection (spanning August 1961 to November 1963) opens with a detailed Introduction from Sidney Friedfertig, explaining the provenance of the strips; how and why Jerry Siegel was tasked with retuning recently published yarns from comic books; making them into daily 3-&-4 panel black-&-white continuities for an apparently more sophisticated and discerning newspaper audience. This frequently required major rewrites, subtle changes in plot, direction and tone and – on occasion – merging more than one funnybook story into a seamless new exploit to excite and amuse sensible, mature grown-ups.

If you’re a veteran fan, don’t be fooled: the tales retold here might seem familiar, but they are not simple rehashes: they’re variations and deviations on an idea for a readership perceived as completely separate from kids’ comics. Even if you are familiar with the original source material, the adventures here will read as brand new, especially as they’re gloriously illustrated by Boring (with a little occasional assistance from Swan) at the very peak of his artistic powers. After years away from the feature Boring had replaced his replacement Swan at the end of 1961, regaining his position as premiere Superman strip illustrator to see the series to its eventual conclusion. As an added bonus the covers of the issues the adapted stories came from have been included as a full, nostalgia-inducing colour gallery…

The astounding everyday entertainments by Siegel & Boring commence with Episode #123 from August 14th to September 16th, 1961 revealing how meek Clark Kent mysteriously excels as a policeman whilst wearing a legendary old cop’s lucky tin star in ‘The Super Luck of Badge 77!’: based on one of the same name by Otto Binder & Al Plastino from Superman #133 (November 1959). Running in papers from September 18th to 5th November and first seen in Superman #126 (January 1959 by Binder, Boring & Stan Kaye) ‘Superman’s Hunt for Clark Kent’ details how a Kryptonite mishap deprives the hero of his memories, leaving him lost in Metropolis and trying to ferret out the secret of his other identity, before Episode #125 – November 6th to December 23rd – finds a restored Clark as ‘The Reporter of Steel’ (once a Binder, Boring & Kaye yarn from Action Comics #257, October 1959), wherein Lex Luthor very publicly inflicts the mild-mannered journalist with unwanted superpowers, setting Lois Lane off on another quest to prove her colleague is actually a Caped Kryptonian.

‘The 20th Century Achilles’ ran from Christmas Day 1961 through January 20th 1962, adapted from an Edmond Hamilton, Curt Swan & Kaye thriller in Superman #148 (October 1961). It detailed how a cunning crook holds the city hostage to his apparent magical invulnerability whilst ‘The Man No Prison Could Hold’ (January 22nd – February 24th by Finger, Boring & Kaye from Action Comics #248, in January 1959) sees Clark and Jimmy Olsen captured by a Nazi war criminal using slave labour to construct a mighty vengeance weapon. Unbeknownst to all, the Man of Steel has good reason to foil every escape attempt and stay locked up…

An old-fashioned hard lesson informs the Kryptonian Crimebuster’s short, sharp shock treatment of ‘The Three Tough Teenagers’ (February 26th to March 31st and based on a Siegel & Plastino collaboration contemporaneously appearing in Superman #151 (February 1962)). Perhaps the headline-grabbing nature of youth in revolt was too immediate to resist? Usually timing discrepancies in publication dates could be explained by the fact that submitted comic book yarns often appeared months after completion, but here it feels like neither iteration of the franchise was willing to surrender sales-garnering topicality…

Swan illustrated portions of the Siegel/Boring strip version of ‘The Day Superman Broke the Law’ (2nd to 28th April), derived from the original by Finger & Plastino in Superman #153, May 1962. Here, the hero falls foul of a corrupt city councilman rewriting ordinances to hamper him, after which the Kryptonian became ‘The Man with the Zero Eyes’ (30th April to June 2nd from an uncredited tale in Superman #117, November 1957 and first limned by Plastino) as a space virus causes super-freezing rays to uncontrollably erupt from his eyes.

Spanning 4th – 23rd June, ‘Lois Lane’s Revenge on Superman’ grew out of a comedy tale by Siegel, Swan & George Klein in Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane #32 (April 1962). For adults, however, there’s a dark edge apparent as the frustrated journalist revels in humiliating her ideal man when a magic potion turns him into a baby…

‘When Superman Defended his Arch-Enemy’ – published from 25th June to August 4th as adapted from Action Comics #292 (September 1962 by writer unknown & Plastino) – sees the Metropolis Marvel acting as defence Counsel for ungrateful mad scientist Luthor after the fleeing maniac dismantles a sentient mechanoid on a world of machine intelligences…

Daily from 6th August to September 8th,‘Lois Lane’s Other Life’ retold Siegel, Swan & Klein’s tale from Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane #35 (August 1962) as the dauntless reporter changes her appearance to go undercover but subsequently loses her memory, after which ‘The Feud Between Superman and Clark Kent’ – September 10th to 27th October, and originally crafted by Hamilton & Plastino for Action Comics #292, with a cover-date of October 1962) depicts the two halves of the hero separated by Red Kryptonite. Sadly, the goodness and nobility are all in the merely human Clark part and he must avoid his merciless alternative fraction’s murderous clutches until the effect wears off…

First conceived by Siegel, Swan & Klein (in Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane #38, January 1963), ‘The Invisible Lois Lane’ was more comedy than drama, but here filled newspaper pages between October 29th and December 1st as the undetectable investigator quickly sees her quarry switch from Clark to Superman. It takes super-ingenuity to convince her otherwise…

‘The Man Who Hunted Superman’ (December 3rd 1962 to January 19th 1963) originally appeared as Leo Dorfman & George Papp’s Boy of Steel blockbuster ‘The Man Who Hunted Superboy’ in Adventure Comics #303 (December 1962), finding Clark subbing for a prince in a Ruritanian kingdom, complete with adoring and compliant princess bride, until the Action Ace could topple a highly-placed usurper and save the kingdom. Then ‘Superman Goes to War’ (January 21st to February 23rd, initiated by Hamilton, Swan & Klein in Superman #161, May 1963) as Lois and Clark visit a film-set sponsored by the US military and are inadvertently caught up in a real, but unconventional, alien invasion…

From February 25th to April 20th Red K stripped our hero of his powers, leaving ‘The Mortal Superman’ forced to fake it due to an unavoidable prior engagement in a terse reinterpretation of the Dorfman & Plastino yarn seen in Superman #160, April 1963. The Man of Steel, for good and sound patriotic reasons, allows himself to be locked up for the alleged murder of Clark Kent in ‘The Trial of Superman’ (22nd April -May 25th), seen later in its original format as Hamilton & Plastino’s thriller in Action Comics #301, June 1963.

Hardworking, obsessive editor Perry White loses his memory and falls into the clutches of criminals who use his investigative instincts to uncover Earth’s greatest secret in ‘The Man who Betrayed Superman’s Identity’ between 27th May and July 6th (adapted from Dorfman, Swan & Klein’s suspenseful romp in Action Comics #297, February 1963) whilst, with adult sensibilities fully addressed, genuine tragedy and pathos pushes Siegel & Boring’s reworking of ‘The Sweetheart that Superman Forgot’ – running 8th July to August 17th – to the heady heights of pure melodrama as Superman loses his powers, memories, and use of his legs; but meets, falls in love and loses a girl who only wants him for himself. In one of the most adult of stories of his canon, the hero recovers his astounding gifts and faculties but has no notion of what he’s lost and who waits for him forever alone: a depth of emotion the author could only dream of approaching in the Plastino-illustrated original version appearing in Superman #165 (November 1963).

Painfully locked into un-PC, sexist comedy tropes of the era, from August 19th to September 14th comes ‘Superman, Please Marry Me’ wherein a novelty record of Lois purportedly begging her ideal man to give in makes the reporter’s life a living hell in a “tweaked-for-married-readers” yarn based on Siegel, Swan & Klein’s ‘The Superman-Lois Hit Record’ in Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane #45 (November 1963). From the same issue, ‘Dear Dr. Cupid’ by Siegel & Kurt Schaffenberger is a light-hearted turn running from September 14th to October 12th detailing how the “news-hen’s” surprising and unsuspected gift for doling out advice as an Agony Auntie leads to a series of disturbing gifts from an unexpected admirer…

The epic escapades conclude with October 14th -November 23rd 1963’s ‘The Great Superman Impersonation’ (based on Robert Bernstein & Plastino’s Action Comics #306, November 1963) with Clark kidnapped by foreign agents who pass him off as the Man of Tomorrow to facilitate the takeover of a Central American republic: big mistake, especially as Superman is in a playful mood…

Superman: – The Silver Age Dailies 1961-1963 is the second of three huge (305 x 236 mm), lavish, high-end hardback collections starring the Action Ace and a welcome addition to the superb commemorative series of Library of American Comics which has preserved and re-presented in luxurious splendour such landmark strips as Li’l Abner, Tarzan, Rip Kirby, Polly and her Pals and many of the abovementioned cartoon icons.

If you love the era, these stories are great comics reading, and this is a book you simply must have – especially as there’s still no sign of any digital editions yet.
Superman ™ & © 2014 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Popeye: The Great Comic Book Tales by Bud Sagendorf


By Bud Sagendorf, edited & designed by Craig Yoe (Yoe Books/IDW)
ISBN: 978-1-60010-747-4 (HB) eISBN: 978-1-68406-381-9

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Forest Cowles Sagendorf (March 22nd 1915 – September 22nd 1994) died 30 years ago today. He was a master of cartoon comedy adventure only known for one stellar character.

There are few comic stars to have entered communal world consciousness, but a grizzled, bluff, uneducated, visually impaired old sailor with a speech impediment is possibly the most well-known of that select bunch. He’s a true global icon but today we’re talking about and celebrating the second genius who crafted his salty exploits…

Elzie Segar had been producing Thimble Theatre since December 19th 1919, but when he introduced a coarse, brusque “sailor man” into the saga of vaudevillian archetypes Ham Gravy and Castor Oyl on January 17th 1929, nobody suspected the giddy heights the scrappy walk-on would reach. Once old swab Popeye appeared, he wouldn’t go and he’s still going strong under the aegis of cartoonist R. K. Milholland (Something Positive, New Gold Dreams, Midnight Macabre, Classically Positive, Super Stupor) who took over from Hy Eisman (Kerry Drake, Little Iodine, Bunny, Little Lulu, The Katzenjammer Kids) in 2022.

Way back in 1924 Segar created second daily strip The 5:15: a surreal domestic comedy featuring weedy commuter and would-be inventor John Sappo and his formidable wife Myrtle which endured in one form or another as a topper/footer-feature accompanying the main Popeye Sunday page throughout the author’s career. It even survived Segar’s untimely death, eventually becoming the trainee-playground of Popeye’s second super stylist Bud Sagendorf…

After Segar’s demise in 1938, Doc Winner, Tom Sims, Ralph Stein and Bela Zambouly all worked on the newspaper strip even as animated short features brought “The Sailor Man” to the entire world via the magic of movies. Sadly, none of the films had the eccentric flair and raw inventiveness which had rocketed Thimble Theatre to the forefront of cartoon entertainment…

Born in 1915, Forrest “Bud” Sagendorf was barely 17 when his sister – who worked in the Santa Monica art store where Segar bought his supplies – introduced the star struck kid to the master who became his teacher and employer as well as a father-figure. In 1958, Sagendorf took over the strip and ALL merchandise design, becoming Popeye’s prime originator…

When he did, his loose, rangy style and breezy scripts brought the strip itself back to the forefront of popularity and made reading it cool and fun all over again. He wrote and drew Popeye in every graphic arena – including the majority of licensed merchandise – for 24 years. When Sagendorf retired in 1986, Underground cartoonist Bobby London took over the sailor-man’s voyages until his death in 1994.

Bud had been Segar’s assistant and apprentice and learned the ropes from a master. When Dell Comics – America’s king of licensed periodicals – asked him to write and illustrate Popeye’s comic book adventures, the title began in 1948 and carried on for three decades.

When Popeye first appeared, he was a rude, crude brawler: a gambling, cheating, uncivilised ne’er-do-well. He was embraced as the ultimate working-class hero: raw and rough-hewn, practical, but with an innate, unshakable sense of what’s fair and what’s not; a joker who wants kids to be themselves – but not necessarily “good” – and someone taking guff from no one. Naturally, as his popularity grew, Popeye mellowed somewhat. He was still ready to defend the weak and had absolutely no pretensions or aspirations to rise above his fellows but the shocking sense of dangerous unpredictability and comedic anarchy he initially provided was sorely missed – but not in Sagendorf’s comicbook yarns…

Collected in this enchanting full-colour edition is an admittedly arbitrary, far from definitive selection of the Young Master’s compelling Dell funnybook canon, spanning February/April 1948 to September 1957. The many other yarns are available in IDW’s Popeye Classics series and if you like this you’ll be wanting those in the fullness of time.

Stunning, seemingly stream-of-consciousness stories are preceded here by an effusively appreciative Introduction by Jerry Beck before ‘Ahoy, Ya Swabs!’ relays official history and private recollections from inspired aficionado and historian/publisher Craig Yoe, augmented by a fabulous collation of candid photos, original comic book art and more. Especial gems are Bud’s 1956 lessons on backgrounds from the Famous Artists Cartoon Course, series of postcards and the Red Cross booklet produced for sailors.

Popeye’s fantastic first issue launched cover-dated February 1948, with no ads and offering duo-coloured (black & red) single page strips on the inside front and back covers. From that premiere a full-coloured crisis comes as ‘Shame on You! or Gentlemen Do Not Fight! or You’re a Ruffian, Sir!’ sees our salty swab earning a lucrative living as an occasional prize-fighter. That all ends when upcoming contender Kid Kabagge and his cunning manager Mr. Tillbox use a barrage of psychological tricks to put Popeye off his game. The key component is electing his sweetie Olive Oyl President of a fictitious Anti-Fisticuff Society to convince her man to stop being such a beastly ruffian and to abandon violence. It works… but only until the fiery frail learns that she has also been gulled…

Next up is the lead tale from #9, (October/November) as ‘Misermites! or I’d Rather Have Termites!’ details how peaceful coastal town Seawet is plagued by an invasion of plundering dwarves. When the pixie-ish petty pilferers vanish back to their island with “orphink kid” Swee’ Pea as part of the spoils, Popeye and Wimpy give chase and end up battling a really, really big secret weapon…

‘Witch Whistle’ comes from Popeye #12 (April/May 1950) and sees the swabbie revisit embattled kingdom Spinachovia where old King Blozo is plagued by a rash of vanishing farmers. The cause is nefarious old nemesis The Sea Witch whose vast army of giant vultures seem unbeatable until Popeye intervenes…

Popeye #21’s (July-September 1952) ‘Interplanetary Battle’ taps into a growing fascination with UFOs as Wimpy innocently seeks to aid his old pal. When no prize fighter on Earth will box with Popeye, the helpful vagabond moocher broadcasts a message to the universe. What answers the call is a bizarre shapeshifting swab with sneaky magic powers…

An engaging Micawber-like coward, cad and conman, incorrigible insatiable J. Wellington Wimpy debuted in the newspaper strip on May 3rd 1931: an unnamed and decidedly partisan referee in one of Popeye’s pugilistic bouts. The scurrilous but so-polite oaf struck a chord and Segar gradually made him a fixture. Always hungry, eagerly soliciting bribes and a cunning coiner of many immortal catchphrases – such as “I would gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today” and “Let’s you and him fight” – Wimpy was a perfect foil for the simple action hero and increasingly stole the entire show… and anything else unless it was extremely well nailed down…

From Popeye #25 (July-September 1953), ‘Shrink Weed’ details how some “wild spinach” reduces the old salt and baby Swee’ Pea to the size of insects with outrageous and potentially dire consequences before the entire cast visit ‘The Happy Little Island’ (#27, January-March 1954) and confront subsurface creatures doing their darndest to spoil that jolly atmosphere.

An epic thrill-fest manifests in ‘Alone! or Hey! Where is Everybody? or Peoples is All Gone!’ (#32, April-June 1955) as humans are abducted from all over the coast, leading Popeye into another ferocious battle with evil machines and his most persistent enemy, after which another family sea voyage results in the cast being castaway on an island of irascible invisible folk in ‘Nothing!’ (#34, October-December 1955). The fun concludes in sheer surreal strife as Popeye #41 (July-September 1957) displays capitalism at its finest when Olive gets a new boyfriend: one with a regular job and prospects. Stung to retaliate, Popeye devises ‘Spinach Soap!’ to secure his own fortune, but being an un-ejjikated, rough-&-ready sort, appoints Wimpy as his boss and administrator. Big mistake…

There was only one Segar and only one Sagendorf but there has always been more than one Popeye. Most of them are pretty good, and some are truly excellent. The one in this book is definitely one of the latter and if you love lunacy, laughter and rollicking adventure you must now read this.
Popeye: The Great Comic Book Tales by Bud Sagendorf © 2018 Gussoni-Yoe Studio, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Popeye © 2018 King Features Syndicate. ™ & © Heart Holdings Inc.

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Namor, the Sub-Mariner Epic Collection volume 3: Who Strikes for Atlantis? (1968-1970)


By Roy Thomas, Marie Severin, John Buscema, Gene Colan, Sal Buscema, Jack Katz, Dan Adkins, Mike Esposito, Johnny Craig, Frank Giacoia, George Klein, Joe Sinnott, Vince Colletta, Jim Mooney & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: ?978-1-3029-4974-7 (TPB/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner is the offspring of a water-breathing Atlantean princess and an American polar explorer; a hybrid being of immense strength, highly resistant to physical harm, able to fly, and thrive above and below the waves. Created by young, talented Bill Everett, Namor technically predates Marvel/Atlas/Timely Comics, and this is his 85th year of fictive existence.

He first caught the public’s avid attention as part of an elementally appealing fire vs. water headlining team-up in the October 1939 Marvel Comics #1 (which renamed itself Marvel Mystery Comics from #2 onwards). The amphibian antihero shared honours and top billing with The Human Torch, but was first seen (albeit in a truncated, monochrome version) in Motion Picture Funnies: a promotional booklet handed out to moviegoers earlier in the year. Rapidly emerging as one of the industry’s biggest draws, Namor won his own title at the end of 1940 (cover-dated Spring 1941) and was one of the last super-characters to vanish at the end of the first heroic age.

In 1954, when Atlas (as the company then was) briefly revived its “Big Three” line-up – the Torch and Captain America being the other two – Everett returned for an extended run of superbly dark, mordantly timely fantasy fables. However, even his input wasn’t sufficient to keep the title afloat and eventually Sub-Mariner sank again.

In 1961, as Stan Lee & Jack Kirby were reinventing superheroes with landmark title Fantastic Four, they revived the awesome, all-but-forgotten aquanaut as a troubled, semi-amnesiac antihero. Decidedly more bombastic, regal and grandiose, this returnee despised humanity: embittered by the loss of his subsea kingdom which had been (seemingly) destroyed by American atomic testing. His rightful revenge became infinitely complicated after he became utterly besotted with the FF’s Susan Storm.

Namor knocked around the budding Marvel universe for a few years, squabbling with other star turns such as The Hulk, Avengers, X-Men and Daredevil before securing his own series as one half of Tales to Astonish, and from there graduating in 1968 to his own solo title. This third subsea selection collects The Sub-Mariner #4-27, spanning August 1968 to July 1979

Previously, the hero’s recapitulated origins and some plot seeding had introduced malign super-telepath Destiny (who was responsible for those memory-deficient years), and the Prince had begun a search for the villain which led to his meeting undersea Inhuman courtier Triton. This volume resumes with Namor still hunting Destiny, and falling into the sadistic clutches of subsea barbarian Attuma after the merciless warlord attacks displaced, wandering Atlanteans. Although he triumphs in ‘Who Strikes for Atlantis?’ (by Roy Thomas, John Buscema & Frank Giacoia) and liberates his people, the Sub-Mariner swims on alone, believing his beloved Lady Dorma to have perished in the battle…

Twin nemeses debut next, in the forms of deranged bio-engineer Dr. Dorcas and disabled ex-Olympic swimmer Todd Arliss, who is mutated by mad science and Namor’s own hybrid powers into a ravening amphibian killer in ‘Watch Out for… Tiger Shark!’ As Dorcas’s blind ambition and lust for power unleash an aquatic horror he cannot control, Lady Dorma stumbles into Tiger Shark’s clutches after he seemingly kills Namor. The man-monster parlays the situation into an attempt to seize the throne of Atlantis (once it’s rebuilt) in ‘…And to the Vanquished… Death!’ (inked by Dan Adkins).

Namor is rescued by Arliss’ sister Diane (another beautiful surface-dweller who will be a romantic distraction for Sub-Mariner for years to come) but has no time for gratitude as he tracks the mutated human and defeats him in personal combat. Restored to his throne, people and beloved, the Sub-Mariner is immediately called away when his greatest enemy is located. The tyrant telepath is about to seal his plans by taking control of America in ‘For President… the Man Called Destiny!’ (we all know there have been far worse choices) but as Namor and Dorma challenge him in Manhattan, the villain’s own pride proves to be his downfall (Destiny, that is…)

An epic clash in #8 pits arrogant, impetuous Sub-Mariner against the Fantastic Four’s Ben Grimm – AKA The Thing – for possession of the eerie helmet which furnished Destiny’s mental powers. However, such pointless devastation ‘In the Rage of Battle!’ is almost irrelevant: what is truly significant is the reintroduction of a woman from Namor’s past who can reason with him with as no other human can…

Penciller Marie Severin joins writer Thomas and inker Adkins for a landmark moment as the helmet of power metamorphoses into an arcane artefact that will shape the history of the Marvel Universe. In ‘The Spell of the Serpent!’ the helm is exposed as a seductive supernatural crown that seizes the minds of the citizenry in Namor’s absence, recreating an antediluvian empire ruled by elder god Set. On his return, Namor confiscates the corrupting crown and is granted a glimpse of Earth’s secret history as well as a vision of a lost Pacific undersea race – the Lemurians.

There’s no such thing as coincidence though, so when their emissary Karthon the Quester attempts to take the serpentine totem, Namor is ready to resist in the Gene Colan limned modern-day pirate yarn ‘Never Bother a Barracuda!’ As a tale of dawn age skulduggery unfolds involving demonic immortal priest Naga and valiant Lemurian heroes who saved the world by stealing his crown, the water-breathers are ambushed by airbreathing pirate Cap’n Barracuda and forced to assist his scheme of nuclear blackmail…

Seizing his chance, Karthon swipes the crown and flees, leaving Namor to face ‘The Choice and the Challenge!’ (George Klein inks), and eventually scuttle the atomic armageddon agenda, before making the perilous journey to Lemuria to challenge the mystic might and deadly illusions of Naga in ‘A World Against Me!’ – gloriously pencilled, inked and coloured by Severin. The epic encounter concludes as Joe Sinnott inks ‘Death, Thou Shalt Die!’ with Naga overreaching and losing the world, the crown and everything else…

Next, innovative action and shameless nostalgia vie for attention as Thomas, Severin & Mike Esposito (moonlighting as Joe Gaudioso) decree ‘Burn, Namor… Burn!’ in Sub-Mariner #14, as the Mad Thinker apparently resurrects the original – android – Human Torch and sets him to destroy the monarch of Atlantis. This epic clash was one prong of an early experiment in multi-part cross-overs (Captain Marvel #14 and Avengers #64 being the other episodes of the triptych).

Inked by Vince Colletta, ‘The Day of the Dragon!’ finds Namor back in Atlantis after months away, only to find his beloved Dorma has been abducted by Dr. Dorcas. The trail leads above the waves and to Empire State University, culminating in brutal battle against mighty android Dragon Man…

“Gaudioso” inked Namor’s voyage to a timeless phenomenon in search of Tiger Shark who had already conquered ‘The Sea that Time Forgot!’, after which the Avenging Son contends with an alien intent on draining Earth’s oceans in ‘From the Stars… the Stalker!’, pencilled in tandem by Severin and Golden Age Great Jack Katz, under nom de plume Jay Hawk.

The saga ends calamitously in ‘Side by Side with… Triton!’ (Thomas, Severin & Gaudioso) as, with the help of the aquatic Inhuman, Namor repels the extraterrestrial assault, but is stripped of his ability to breathe water. Forced to dwell on the surface, the despised Atlantean then crushingly clashes with an old friend in the livery of a new superhero in ‘Support Your Local Sting-Ray!’ This bombastic battle yarn also delivers a delicious peek at the Marvel Bullpen, courtesy of Severin & inker Johnny Craig’s deft caricaturing skills…

John Buscema resurfaces in #20, with Thomas scripting and Craig inking a chilling dose of realpolitik. ‘In the Darkness Dwells… Doom!’ sees Namor lured by the promise of a cure to his breathing difficulties into the exploitative clutches of the Monarch of Latveria. Trapping Sub-Mariner and keeping him, however, are two wildly differing prospects…

Informed of Namor’s condition, ‘Invasion from the Ocean Floor!’ (Severin & Craig art) features the armies of Atlantis marshalled by Dorma and disgraced Warlord Seth and besieging New York City. The clash almost invokes a new age of monsters…

As Namor’s malady is treated by Atlantean super-science, a key component of a new Superhero concept begins…

Last of the big star conglomerate super-groups, The Defenders would eventually count amongst its membership almost every hero – and many villains – of the Marvel Universe. No surprise there, as initially they were composed of the company’s bad-boys: misunderstood, outcast and often actually dangerous to know. The genesis of the team in fact derived from their status as distrusted “villains”. Before all that latterday inventive approbation, three linked tales of enigmatic antiheroes – Prince Namor, Incredible Hulk and Doctor Strange and stemming from the industry downturn in costumed superheroics started the ball rolling…

Dr. Strange #183 (November 1969 and not included here) introduced infernal elder demon race the Undying Ones, hungry to reconquer the Earth before that title folded. Now – cover-dated February 1970 – Sub-Mariner #22 tells what came next in ‘The Monarch and the Mystic!’ luring the Prince of Atlantis into the macabre mix, as Thomas, Severin & Craig’s moody tale of sacrifice has the Master of the Mystic Arts apparently die to hold the gates of Hell shut with the Undying Ones pent behind them…

In case you’re curious, the saga concludes on an upbeat note in Incredible Hulk #126 (April 1970). You might want to track down that too..

Even restored to full capacity, there’s no peace for the regal, and Sub-Mariner #23 finds Namor contending archvillain Warlord Krang after he and Dr. Dorcas use the power-transfer process to create an Atlantean wonder possessing the might of killer whales (if not their intellects!) in ‘The Coming of… Orka!’ The slow-witted psycho subsequently sets an army of enraged cetaceans against the sunken city as John Buscema & Jim Mooney step in artistically to depict how ‘The Lady and the Tiger Shark!’ finds Namor enslaved and Dorma making Faustian pacts to save Atlantis.

A landmark tale follows as – restored to rule and ready to be riled – Namor becomes an early and strident environmental activist after surface world pollution slaughters some of his subjects. Crafted by Thomas, Sal Buscema & Mooney, ‘A World My Enemy!’ follows Sub-Mariner’s bellicose confrontation with the UN as he puts humanity on notice: clean up your mess or I will. From this point on the antihero would become a minor icon and strident advocate of the issues, even if only to young comics readers.

Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner #26 offers more of Marvel’s secret history as the recently self-appointed relentless guardian of the safety and ecology of all Earth’s oceans, furtively returns to the surface world. In ‘“Kill!” Cried the Raven!’ (art by Sal B & Gaudioso/ Esposito) the Sub-Mariner comes topside to investigate reports of comatose superhuman Red Raven. He was the human emissary of a legendary race of sky-dwelling Birdmen recently encountered by The Angel (X-Men #44) in their last clash with Magneto. With the covert assistance of Diane Arliss, Namor seeks to forge an alliance with the Avian race, but shocks, surprises and the Raven’s trauma-induced madness all conspire to sink the plan…

Concluding this vintage voyage is another buccaneering bonanza as, back brooding in Atlantis in the wake of another failure, Namor’s mood is further poisoned when a surface pirate uses his giant monster-vessel to attack shipping, leaving Atlantis bearing the brunt of blame ‘When Wakes the Kraken!’.

Namor’s hunt for bizarre bandit Commander Kraken again involves Diane and ends only when the Sub-Mariner demonstrates what a real sea monster looks like…

With covers by John and Sal Buscema, Giacoia, Adkins, Herb Trimpe, Marie Severin, Colan, John Romita, Esposito, Sinnott, Frank Brunner & Craig; plus six pages of original story and cover art by the Buscemas, Giacoia, Severin, Craig, Colan, Adkins, and a magnificent Marie self-portrait print from 1970 this is a treat to savour. Many early Marvel Comics are more exuberant than qualitative, but this volume – especially from an art-lover’s point of view – is a wonderful exception: a historical treasure trove with narrative bite that fans can delight in forever. With the Prince of Atlantis now a bona fide big screen sensation (albeit one nobody’s ever heard of) this might be the time to get wise and impress your friends with the depth of your comics knowledge…
© 2023 MARVEL.

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Teen Titans: The Silver Age Volume Two


By Bob Haney, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, Nick Cardy, Irv Novick, Bill Draut, Gil Kane, Wally Wood, Neal Adams, Sal Amendola & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-8517-3 (TPB/Digital edition)

In the 1960s the hallowed concept of kid hero teams was already ancient when the impending Batman TV show prompted DC to trust their big heroes’ assorted sidekicks with their own regular outlet of expression. The outcome was a fab, hip and groovy ensemble as dedicated to helping kids as they were to stamping out insidious evil. Happy 60th anniversary, youngsters!

The biggest difference between the creation of the Teen Titans and wartime groups like The Young Allies, Newsboy Legion and Boy Commandos or even 1950s holdovers that included The Little Wise Guys or Boys Ranch was quite simply that burgeoning phenomena “The Teenager”: a discrete social and commercial force that had been born in the forties but ran wild in the following decade. These were kids who could – and should – be allowed to do things themselves, without constant adult help or supervision…

This quirkily eclectic compilation re-presents the rapidly-evolving –- ending – Swinging Sixties exploits from Teen Titans #12-24, plus a guest-shot from The Brave and the Bold #83, collectively spanning November/December 1967 to November/December 1969, with originating writer Bob Haney still scripting and the accent heavily on fun. The action resumes here with twin contemporary hot-topics “The Space-Race” and “Disc Jockeys” informing whacky sci fi thriller ‘Large Trouble in Space-Ville!’ as illustrated by Irv Novick (The Shield, Batman, The Flash) & Nick Cardy (Lady Luck, Aquaman, Batman) with the gang thwarting aliens stealing Earth’s monuments.

Cardy flies solo for TT #13, producing a seasonal comics masterpiece in ‘The TT’s Swingin’ Christmas Carol!’, a stylish retelling that’s one of the most reprinted Titans tales ever. At this time Cardy’s art really opened up as he grasped the experimental flavour of the times. The cover of #14, as well as interior illustration for the grim psycho-thriller ‘Requiem for a Titan’, are unforgettable. The tale introduces the team’s first serious returning villain The Gargoyle (Mad Mod does not count!): mesmerising, memorable and madly menacing. Although Cardy only inked Lee Elias’s pencils for #15’s eccentric tryst with Hippie counter-culture, ‘Captain Rumble Blasts the Scene!’ is another genuinely unique crime-thriller from a time when nobody over age 25 understood what the youth of the world was doing…

Teen Titans #16 returned to more solid ground with superb, scene-setting thriller ‘The Dimensional Caper!’, wherein rapacious sinister aliens infiltrate a rural high-school (and how many times have you seen that plot used since this 1968 epic?). Cardy’s art reached dizzying heights of innovation both here and in the next issue’s waggish jaunt to London ‘Holy Thimbles, It’s the Mad Mod!’ (alternatively and uninspiringly retitled ‘The Return of the Mad Mod’ here). The frantic criminal chase through the first and best Cool Britannia era which unfolds even includes a command performance from Her Majesty, the Queen…

Next up is a fandom landmark – and hint of things to come – as novice writers Len Wein & Marv Wolfman got their big break with a tale introducing (Soviet) Russian superhero Starfire (latterly redubbed Red Star for the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths generation) which set them firmly on a path of teen super-team writing. ‘Eye of the Beholder’ is a cool cat-burglar/super heist yarn set in trendy Stockholm, drawn with superb understatement by comics stalwart Bill Draut (Black Magic, Girls’ Love Stories, House of Secrets, Phantom Stranger), acting as a perfect indicator of the changing style and attitude that would imminently become part of the Teen Titans and comics industry…

Maintaining the experiments with youthful authorial voices, the entertainment continues with a beautifully realised comedy-thriller as boy Bowman Speedy joins the team full-time. ‘Teen Titans: Stepping Stones for a Giant Killer!’ (#19, January/February 1969) is written by Mike Friedrich with stunning art from Gil Kane (Green Lantern, Spider-Man, Rex the Wonder Dog, Star Hawks) & Wally Wood (Cannon, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, All-Star Comics, Daredevil), pitting the team against youthful criminal mastermind Punch. He intends killing the Justice League of America, and sagely reasons that a trial run against the junior division can’t hurt…

TT #20 took the long-brewing plot-thread of extra-dimensional invaders and gave it a counterculture twist in ‘Titans Fit the Battle of Jericho’: a spectacular rollercoaster romp deftly blending teen revolt, organised crime, anti-capitalist activism, bug-eyed monsters and cruelly cunning creepy conquerors, written by Neal Adams, pencilled by him and Sal (Phoenix, Archie Comics, Batman, Star Trek) Amendola, with inks by brush-maestro Cardy – one of the all-out prettiest illustration jobs of that decade.

Cover-dated April-May 1969, team-up vehicle The Brave and the Bold # 83 then took a radical turn as, in Haney & Adams’ ‘Punish Not my Evil Son!’, the Titans (sans Aqualad, who was dropped to appear more prominently in Aquaman and because there just ain’t that much subsea malfeasance) strive to save Bruce Wayne’s latest foster-son from his own inner demons in a tense thriller about trust and betrayal…

Symbolic super-teens Hawk and Dove briefly join proceedings for #21’s ‘Citadel of Fear’ (Adams & Cardy): chasing smugglers, finding aliens and ramping up the surly teen rebel quotient whilst moving the invasion story-arc towards its stunning conclusion. ‘Halfway to Holocaust’ is only half of #22, with the alien abduction of Kid Flash and Robin leading to a cross-planar climax where Wonder Girl, Speedy and a radical new ally quash the creeps’ ambitions forever, which still left enough room for a long overdue makeover in ‘The Origin of Wonder Girl’ by Wolfman, Kane & Cardy.

For years the series – and DC in general – had fudged the fact that their younger Amazon Princess was not actually human, a sidekick, or even a person, but rather an incarnation of the adult Wonder Woman as a child. As continuity backwriting strengthened its stranglehold on the industry, it was felt that the team’s token “chick” needed a fuller background, so this moving tale reveals she is in fact a human foundling rescued by Wonder Woman and raised on Paradise Island where their super-science gave her all the powers of a true Amazon.

They even found her a name – Donna Troy – and an apartment, complete with hot roommate. All Donna has to do was sew herself a glitzy, figure-hugging new costume…

Now thoroughly grounded in “reality”, the team jet south in #23’s fast-paced yarn ‘The Rock ‘n’ Roll Rogue’ (Haney, Kane & Cardy), seeking to rescue musical rebel Sammy Soul from his grasping family and subsequently, his missing dad from Amazonian headhunters.

This volume, and an era of relative innocence, ends on ‘Skis of Death!’ by the same creators, seeing the adventurous quartet vacationing in the mountains and uncovering a scam to defraud Native Americans of their tribal lands. It’s a terrific old-style tale but with the next issue the most radical change in DC’s cautious publishing history made Teen Titans a comic which had thrown out the rulebook… and maybe one day the company will get around to compiling it and the issues that followed into a third Titan-ish Tome in this sadly unfinished sequence….

Although perhaps dated in delivery, these tales were a liberating experience for kids when first released and remain a highly entertaining experience even now. They truly betokened a new empathy with independent youth and tried to address problems that were more relevant to and generated by that specific audience. That they are so captivating in execution is a wonderful bonus. This is absolute escapism and absolutely delightful.
© 1967, 1968, 1969, 2018 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Gomer Goof volume 10: Gomers Goons


By Franquin, translated byJerome Saincantin (Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-1-80044-092-0 (PB Album/Digital edition)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

André Franquin was born in Etterbeek, Belgium on January 3rd 1924 and began his astonishing comics career in a golden age of European cartooning. Beginning as assistant to Joseph “Jijé” Gillain on the strip Spirou, he inherited sole control of the keynote feature in 1946, and went on to create countless unforgettable new characters like Fantasio and The Marsupilami.

Franquin – with Jijé, Morris (Lucky Luke) and Willy “Will” (Tif et Tondu) Maltaite – was co-founder of creative powerhouse La bande des quatre: “the Gang of Four” who reshaped and revolutionised Belgian comics and all European cartooning with their prolific and engaging “Marcinelle school” graphic style.

Over two decades Franquin made the strip purely his, expanding Spirou & Fantasio’s scope and horizons, as they became globetrotting journalists who visited exotic places, exposed crimes, explored the incredible and clashed with bizarre, exotic arch-enemies. Throughout, Fantasio remained a full-fledged – albeit entirely fictional – reporter for Le Journal de Spirou, popping back to base between assignments. Sadly, ensconced there was an arrogant, accident-prone office junior tasked with minor jobs and general dogs-bodying. This was Gaston Lagaffe – Franquin’s second immortal invention…

There’s a long tradition of comics personalising fictitiously back-office creatives and the arcane processes they indulge in, whether it’s Marvel’s Bullpen or DC Thomson’s lugubrious Editor and underlings at The Beano and Dandy – it’s a truly international practise. Somehow though after debuting in Le Journal de Spirou #985 (February 28th 1957), the affable dimwit grew beyond control to become one of the most popular and ubiquitous components of the comic, whether as a guest in Spirou’s adventures or his own comedy strips and/or faux reports on the editorial pages he was supposed to paste up. Initial cameos in Spirou yarns or occasional asides on text pages featured well-meaning foul-up and ostensible gofer Gaston lurking and lounging amidst a crowd of diligent toilers: a workshy slacker employed as a general assistant at Le Journal de Spirou’s head office. The scruffy bit-player eventually and inevitably shambled into his own star feature…

In terms of schtick and delivery, older readers will recognise favourite beats and elements of well-intentioned helpfulness wedded to irrepressible self-delusion as seen in Benny Hill or Jacques Tati vehicles and recognise recurring riffs from Some Mothers Do Have ’Em and Mr Bean. It’s all blunt-force slapstick, paralysing puns, fantastic ingenuity and inspired invention, compiled to mug smugness, puncture pomposity, lampoon the status quoi? (that there’s some British punning, see?) and ensure no good deed goes noticed, rewarded or unpunished…

As previously stated, Gaston/Gomer obtains a regular salary – let’s not dignify what he does as “earning” a living – from Spirou’s editorial offices: initially reporting to top journalist Fantasio, and latterly complicating the lives of office manager Léon Prunelle and the other staffers, all whilst effectively ignoring any tasks he’s paid to actually handle. These include page paste-up, posting packages, filing, clean-up, collecting stuff inbound from off-site and editing readers’ letters (the real reason fans requests and suggestions are never acknowledged or answered)…

Gomer is lazy, hyperkinetic, over-opinionated, ever-ravenous, impetuous, underfed, forgetful and eternally hungry: a passionate sports fan and animal lover with his most manic moments all stemming from cutting work corners, stashing or consuming contraband nosh in the office or inventing the Next Big Thing. It leads to constant clashes with colleagues and draws in notionally unaffiliated bystanders like traffic cop Longsnoot and fireman Captain Morwater, as well as ordinary passers-by who should know by now to keep away from this street.

Through it all the office oaf remains affable, easy-going and incorrigible. Only three questions really matter: why everyone keeps giving him one last chance, what does gentle, lovelorn Miss Jeanne see in the self-opinionated idiot and will perpetually-outraged capitalist financier De Mesmaeker ever get his perennial, pestiferous contracts signed?

In 1974 Gaston – Le gang des gaffeurs was the 12th collected album and in 2023 became Cinebook’s 10th translated compilation, offering single page bursts and some half-page sight gags: non-stop all-Franquin comics jabs and japes, with a few ideas and contributions from colleagues Joop, Degotte and Yvan (The Smurfs, Steve Severin, Idées noires) Delporte.

The assistants were necessary as Franquin’s mental health was increasingly being affected by stress. After this album the frequency of Gaston collections reduced by 50%…

Here an increased spotlight falls upon distressed in-house staff artist Yves (occasionally called Yvon) Lebrac who often acted as unwilling, inadvertent beta tester for our well-meaning, overly-helpful, know-it-all office hindrance. This tome is packed with innovations that make Lebrac’s life increasingly annoying and unnecessarily hazardous, such as super-amped central heating so workers can make toast on radiators, a retractable, ceiling-mounted eraser, assorted games, further experiments with (light-repelling) aerosol air-fresheners and paste-up adhesives that just should not be allowed under the Geneva Convention…

Crucially, Gomer’s pets regard Lebrac’s desk and drawing board as their playground but are always ready to have him join in their games…

Whilst concentrating on avoiding his job, The Goof always seeks to improve life for his animal pals. The adopted feral cat and black-headed gull still accompany illicit studio companions Cheese the mouse in many destructive romps but it’s studio goldfish Bubelle who really benefits this time as Gomer installs several solutions to improve mobility and grant the water-dweller FULL access to the building…

When not pursuing illicit culinary dreams – like lighter-than-air pancakes made on a desktop crêpe fryer – Gomer is quick to solve pressing problems such as a cat very stridently trapped in a bass tuba, but even that paralysing din is as nothing to the near-lethal advent of ultrasonic violin tuning, A.I. cup-&-ball machine, casual/office-wear robot suits, self-emptying pedal bins, recycling Soviet components for airplane models, the most wonderful couch on Earth, Inter-Office ski-lift systems and accidentally perfecting the most volatile motion-sensitive explosive ever to grace an art kit…

The installation of roller towels in the toilets sparks a wave of (dangerous) inspiration and innovation and when Gomer’s like-minded chum, opposite number and born accomplice Jules-from-Smith’s-across-the-street joins him in moonlighting as advertising prop makers, the resulting giant shoe fiasco sets the entire city panicking. Ever-eager to slope off for a chat, Jules is also a confirmed devotee of Gomer’s sporting methods for passing the time at work and complicit in seducing the office redecorators: turning hard-working diligent toilers to their laggardly ways, and introducing them to the joys of adventure cooking, citizen chemistry and colossally big bangs…

Semi-regular burglar Freddy falls foul of Gomer’s lethal filing system – something Prunelle also suffers from often – but both are mercifully absent when the inventor’s inquiries into aural animal attractant whistles (affecting owls, mosquitos, moles, and a certain (uniformed) species of “Pig”) make an extended camping trip to “Gus’s farm” a weird nightmare…

Also on view are more skirmishes in the ongoing car-parking war with Longsnoot and a succession of sporting gags including a clash with a karate master, snow paddleball and swamp football, but in the end even our recumbent genius has no cure for peasouper fog – although his quick work-around does get the city moving… in the wrong direction…

Far better enjoyed than précised or described, these strips allowed Franquin and his occasional co-scenarists to flex whimsical muscles, subversively sneak in satirical support for their beliefs in pacifism, environmentalism and animal rights and sometimes even appear in person…

These are sublime examples of all-ages comedy: wholesome, barbed, daft and incrementally funnier with every re-reading. Why haven’t you got your Goof on yet?
© Dupuis, Dargaud-Lombard s.a. 2009 by Franquin. All rights reserved. English translation © 2023 Cinebook Ltd.

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Astonishing X-Men volume 1: Gifted


By Joss Whedon, John Cassaday & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-0785146957 (HB/Digital Edition)

The loss of John Cassaday is sudden and shocking but at least we have his wonderful work to console ourselves with. Here’s one of his best, that you should see or revisit…

Joss Whedon turned his inimitable skills with choreographing ensemble casts to the ultimate team-book when he started writing the high-profile Astonishing X-Men (the first six issues of which are collected in this volume). With the supremely talented John Cassaday (Hellboy, Just Imagine, Lone Ranger, Flash) as artist the comic was always going to look great and sell well, but the ease with which Whedon slips into the characters and lifts them out of the mire of decades of convoluted clichés and continuity was a joy to behold.

You’re either aware or not of mutant continuity, so I’ll forego the usual précis and simply state that new readers can jump on with the minimum of confusion, and – aided by a skilful use of banter – be brought up to speed as the team of Cyclops, Emma “White Queen” Frost, Wolverine, Kitty Pryde and The Beast re-unite as proactive mutant do-gooders, but with a new and rather subversive mission statement.

In a world that hates and fears mutants, these heroes have traditionally fought secretive, furtive battles to save the day, with humanity despising them all the while. Their new agenda is simple: do the battling and saving, but in a public-relations savvy society, do it in such a way that the entire world knows who to thank. They will become public heroes and saviours, changing public opinion by doing good publicly.

The plan to alter those perceptions begins by ending a hostage situation where anti-mutant terrorists led by an alien named Ord of the Breakworld crash a swanky High Society function. Even as hungry paparazzi are mobbing the victorious heroes, however, word comes that the media blitz may be unnecessary. An announcement has been made that science has found a cure for the mutant gene…

That news divides not just the mutant community, but even the team itself. Is “mutant-ness” even a disease? Is it better to conform or be unique? Where did the cure come from and who actually benefits? What role does Ord play in these earth-shattering events and is he working alone? None of these deep issues get in the way of a rollercoaster-ride of action and genuine suspense that’s been missing since the earliest days of these characters.

Combining breathtaking illustration and stunning action with superb characterisation in a mystery/conspiracy tale is a Whedon trademark. Adding alienation metaphors that have been such a strong part of the X-Men mystique and fan psychology made this a powerful yet entertaining read that appealed to almost everybody. Having it rendered shockingly realistic and authentic-seeming by a modern comics master made it unmissable.
© 2004 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.