Category: Science Fiction

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The Steel Claw: Reign of the Brain!


By Tom Tully, Jesús Blasco & various (Rebellion)
ISBN: 978-1-78108-681-2 (TPB/Digital Edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Vivid Visions of Wonderful Weirdness… 9/10

One of the most fondly-remembered British strips of all time is the startlingly beautiful Steel Claw. From 1962 to 1973, the stunningly gifted Jesús Blasco and his small studio of family members thrilled the nation’s children, illustrating the angst-filled adventures of scientist, adventurer, secret agent and even costumed superhero Louis Crandell.

The majority of the character’s career was scripted by prolific and versatile comics veteran Tom Tully (Roy of the Rovers, Heros the Spartan, Dan Dare, House of Dolmann, Master of the Marsh, Janus Stark, Mytek the Mighty, The Wild Wonders, Nipper, Adam Eterno, The Mind of Wolfie Smith, Johnny Red, Harlem Heroes, Mean Arena, Inferno, The Robo Machines, Football Family Robinson, Buster’s Ghost and many more).

He followed the precepts of H.G. Wells’ original unseen adversary which had been laid out by science fiction novelist Ken Bulmer who had devised the strip, presenting some modern spin on Victorian classic The Invisible Man.

In the 1960s, however, our protagonist acted with evil intent as soon as he fell out of sight of his fellow humans, not through innate poor character but because of wild technology accidentally unleashed …

Another stunning salvo of graphic wonderment from Rebellion’s Treasury of British Comics strand, this second collection is available in paperback and digital editions. The Steel Claw: The Reign of the Brain gathers material from timeless weekly anthology Valiant, spanning 28th September 1963 to 19th September 1964 and is accompanied by an Introduction from writer and editor John Freeman (treat yourself to his downthetubes.net site for all your nostalgia and comics needs!)

What has gone before: Louis Crandell was an embittered man, probably due to having lost his right hand in a lab accident. After his recovery and its replacement with a steel prosthetic, he returned to work as (a rather surly) assistant to venerable boffin Professor Barringer, who was attempting to create a germ-destroying ray.

When that device exploded, Crandell received a monumental electric shock and was bathed in radiation from the ray-device. Rather than killing him, the incident rendered him totally transparent and changed his body chemistry. Although he couldn’t stay unseen forever, the bodily mutation permanently affected him, and subsequent electric shocks caused all but his metal hand to disappear.

These were simpler times and there was far less SCIENCE around so please – Kids Of All Ages – do not try this at home!

Whether venal at heart or temporarily deranged, Crandell went on a rampage of terror, even attempting to blow up New York City before finally coming to his senses. Throughout Crandell’s outrages, guilt-fuelled Barringer was in pursuit, resolved to save or stop his former friend…

After his cure, the invisible man was so globally notorious and well known that he was framed by his own therapist. Whilst treating Crandell Dr. Deutz was also traumatically exposed to Barringer’s ray but instead of invisibility, he gained the power to transform into a bestial ape-man and turned to crime for fun. He malevolently placed the blame for his own spectacular robberies and assaults on his infamous patient…

On the run but innocent this time, Crandell was saved by the intervention of Barringer’s niece Terry Gray. After weeks of beast-triggered catastrophe and panic in the streets, the Steel Claw was vindicated and proved himself a hero. Despite that, a quiet life was clearly beyond the unseen celebrity, and while seeking anonymity in the Bahamas, he was embroiled in a modern-day pirate’s attempt to hijack an undersea super-weapon and plunder cruise ships…

With this volume, Crandell continues his gradually shift from victim to reluctant hero: accepting his powers and an elite if danger-ridden role at the fringe of society. During the first saga reprinted here, he made a decision that would affect the rest of his life.

Taking stock at a time when super-spies and science fiction were globally ascendent, Tully began with Crandell still courting obscurity. Building a life in San Lemo, capital of South American republic Curacos, Crandell is again recognised and chased by sensation-hungry mobs. The frantic pursuit drives him to a power station where someone takes a shot at him, and he is given a message by a dying man. The victim warns of the end of the world and gives Crandell a phone number, but the real convincer that it’s all deadly serious is the assassin with an electric raygun who starts shooting at him…

Caught up in a sea of lethal intrigue, the Steel Claw falls into an ongoing operation by British Intelligence group “Shadow Squad” and becomes point man in their investigation of a deranged super-genius dubbed ‘The Brain’ (running from 28th September 1963 – 4th April 11th 1964).

Amidst an increasing tide of man-made disasters and thanks to his uncanny gifts, angry determination and sheer dumb luck, Crandell infiltrates the Brain’s cult, invading his booby-trapped tropical island and exposing a scheme to destroy all life on Earth.

Anticipating our modern era’s huge surplus of spoiled, homely, insecure, self-confessed billionaire man-children petulantly making trouble, this duel of wills leads to global unrest and devastation, culminating in a spectacular war of Inventions against Invisibility & Ingenuity. In the end the Claw ultimately emerges – far from unscathed but at least alive – ready for more adventure…

The mission had already paid off big for Crandell: the first thing Shadow Squad did was to fake his death and proclaim that the Steel Claw was gone forever…

As ever, the series is made unmissable by the astounding art of Blasco – although the master is supplanted for a few episodes in the first story by fill-in artists who might or might not be Eric Bradbury & Mike Western…

The Claw’s clash of powers against the Brain is protracted, suspenseful, action-packed and in the end a close-run thing, but inevitably results in victory for the reluctant good guy who becomes a very special agent of the Shadow Squad and an operative of British Intelligence. Those connections next lead him into a secret war on home soil, as he faces the uncanny, barely-perceived threat of ‘The Lactians’ (11th April – 19th September 1964)…

The tense drama opens with our eventual hero back in London. Britain is reeling under twin crises: a plague of fireballs in the night sky over Cornwall and a rising toll of missing persons, and as Crandell rendezvous with his handler, they are ambushed by what appear to be ordinary citizens with bizarre intentions…

When “Shadow Five” dies, Crandell’s frantic fightback exposes the attackers as not of this world: sparking a one-man war against an alien race able to possess bodies and attempting to infiltrate and subjugate mankind via its isolated rural communities – a classic theme of cold war science fiction of the era.

Even with other artists again stepping in to counter the problems of weekly deadlines and international postal deliveries in a pre-digital age, the tenson and terror never relent as the Invisible Man slowly works his way through an all-but indetectable army of enemies to the thing at the top: risking everything on one final desperate counterstrike…

This potent thriller tome also comes with a teaser excerpt from the forthcoming Steel Claw Super Picture Library collection, again highlighting the work of Tully & Blasco…

More than any other comics character, the Steel Claw was a barometer for reading fashions. Starting out as a Quatermass-style science fiction cautionary tale, the strip mimicked the trends of the greater world, evolving into a James Bond-style super-spy strip – with Crandell eventually tricked out with outrageous gadgets – and latterly, even a masked and costumed super-doer after TV-triggered “Batmania” gripped the nation and the world.

When that bubble burst, he resorted to becoming a freelance adventurer, combating eerie menaces and vicious criminals.

The thrills of the writing are engrossing enough, but the real star of this feature is the artwork: captivating classicist drawing, moody staging and the sheer pristine beauty of all participants making this an absolute pleasure to look at.

Jesús Monterde Blasco was born in Barcelona in 1919 and began his phenomenal career in 1935, drawing for Mickey magazine. Barely known now in the English-speaking world, his vastly varied output included Cuto, Anita Diminuta, Los Tres Inseperables, Los Guerilleros, Paul Foran, Tom Berry, Tex Willer, Tallafero, Capitán Trueno and Une Bible en Bande Dessinée for continental and South American audiences. His many UK strips include the lush and lavish Buffalo Bill, sci-fi chiller The Indestructible Man, Billy the Kid and the first Invasion! serial (2000 AD from #1, 1977). He died in October 1995.

This is sheer addictive nostalgia for my generation, but the stories also hold up against anything made for today’s marketplace. Buy it for the kids and read it too; this is a glorious book, and steel yourself for even better yet to come…
© 1963, 1964 & 2022 Rebellion Publishing IP Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

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Spirou & Fantasio volume 18: Attack of the Zordolts


By Yoann & Vehlmann, designed by Fred Blanchard, colored by Hubert & translated by Jerome Saincantin (Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-1-80044-022-7 (Album PB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Manic Mirth and Mad Melodrama… 9/10

Spirou (which translates as both “squirrel” and “mischievous” in the Walloon language) was created by French cartoonist Françoise Robert Velter AKA Rob-Vel for Belgian publisher Éditions Dupuis in response to the phenomenal success of Hergé’s Tintin at rival outfit Casterman.

Soon-to-be legendary weekly comic Le Journal de Spirou launched on April 21st 1938 with a rival red-headed lad as lead feature in an anthology which bears his name to this day. The eponymous hero was a plucky bellboy/lift operator employed in the Moustique Hotel – a sly reference to the publisher’s premier periodical Le Moustique. His improbable adventures with pet squirrel Spip gradually evolved into far-reaching, surreal comedy dramas.

Spirou and his chums have spearheaded the magazine for most of its life, with a phalanx of truly impressive creators carrying on Velter’s work, beginning with his wife Blanche “Davine” Dumoulin who took over the strip when her husband enlisted in 1939. She was assisted by Belgian artist Luc Lafnet until 1943, when Dupuis purchased all rights to the property, after which comic-strip prodigy Joseph Gillain (Jijé) took the helm.

In 1946, his assistant André Franquin assumed the creative reins, gradually ditching the well-seasoned short gag vignettes in favour of epic adventure serials. He also expanded the cast, introducing a broad band of engaging regulars and eventually creating phenomenally popular magic animal Marsupilami.

Franquin was followed by Jean-Claude Fournier who updated the feature over nine stirring adventures tapping into the rebellious, relevant zeitgeist of the times: offering tales of environmental concern, nuclear energy, drug cartels and repressive regimes.

By the 1980s the series seemed outdated and lacked direction. Three different creative teams alternated on the feature, until it was overhauled and revitalised by Philippe Vandevelde (writing as Tome) and artist Jean-Richard Geurts AKA Janry. They adapted, referenced and in many ways returned to the beloved Franquin era.

Their sterling efforts revived the floundering feature’s fortunes, generating 14 wonderful albums between 1984 and1998. As the strip diversified into parallel strands (Spirou’s Childhood/Little Spirou and guest-creator specials A Spirou Story By…), the team on the core feature were succeeded by Jean-David Morvan & José-Luis Munuera. Then Yoann & Vehlmann took over the never-ending procession of amazing adventures…

Multi-award-winning French comics author Fabien Vehlman was born in 1972, began his comics career in 1996 and has been favourably likened to René Goscinny. He’s best known for Green Manor (illustrated by Denis Bodart), Seven Psychopaths with Sean Phillips, Seuls (drawn by Bruno Gazzotti and available in English as Alone), Wondertown with Benoit Feroumont and Isle of 1000,000 Graves with Jason.

He assumed the writing reins on Spirou and Fantasio in collaboration with Yoann. beginning with the book on review here – 2010’s Spirou et Fantasio – Alerte aux Zorkons.

Yoann Chivard was born in October 1971 and was drawing non-stop by the age of five. With qualifications in Plastic Arts and a degree in Communication from the Academy of Fine Arts in Angers, he became a poster and advertising artist whilst dabbling in comics. His creations include Phil Kaos and Dark Boris for British Indie publications Deadline and Inkling, Toto l’Ornithorynque, Nini Rezergoude, La Voleuse de Pere-Fauteuil, Ether Glister and Bob Marone and he has contributed to Trondheim & Sfar’s Donjon. In 2006, Yoann was the first artist to produce a Spirou et Fantasio one shot Special. It was scripted by Vehlmann…

Cinebook have been publishing Spirou & Fantasio’s exploits since 2009, alternating between the various superb reinterpretations of Franquin and earlier efforts from the great man himself. When Jijé handed Franquin all responsibilities for the strip part-way through Spirou et la maison préfabriqué (LJdS #427, June 20th 1946), the new guy ran with it for two decades; enlarging the scope and horizons until it became purely his own. Almost every week fans would meet startling new characters such as staunch comrade and rival Fantasio or crackpot inventor and Merlin of mushroom mechanics Pacôme Hégésippe Adélard Ladislas de Champignac – The Count of Champignac…

Spirou and Fantasio became globe-trotting journalists, travelling to dangerously exotic places, uncovering crimes, exploring the fantastic and clashing with a coterie of exotic arch-enemies such as Fantasio’s deranged and wicked cousin Zantafio and that maddest of scientists, Zorglub.

This old school chum and implacable rival of Champignac is an outrageous Bond movie-flavoured villain who constantly targets the Count. A brilliant engineer, his incredible machines are far less dangerous than his mesmerising mind-controlling “Zorglwave” and an apparently unshakable desire to conquer Earth and dominate the solar system from a base on the Moon…

This tale opens with the seemingly reformed plotter stealing some of Champignac’s most incredible mushroom-based miracles and triggering a massive mutational event in and around the bucolic generally placid hamlet of Champignac-in-the-Sticks.

The first Spirou and Fantasio hear of it is a desperate cell phone call from Pacôme, who has just reappeared after weeks amnesiac and missing. Driving back from a promotional tour, our heroes race across country only to find the placid region is now an armed camp, with soldiers in biohazard gear brutally decontaminating villagers.

The little valley has become a monstrous alien jungle dominated and transformed by weird and incredible plant/animal/fungus creatures, but neither they nor the military – who are keen on immediately nuking the geographical atrocity – can stop our dedicated reporters sneaking in to find their friends.

On locating the Count and his two new chums – hot Swedish science students Astrid and Lena – the lads learn that the brave new world is an accident and hideous side effect of Zorglub’s latest scheme, and that he’s sorrier than anyone at the state of the local environment.

He’s certainly keen enough on fixing the problem…

Other than the fact that everything wants to eat everything else, and that many of the human locals seem comfortable and accustomed to the changes, the main problem seems to be a rapidly proliferating and aggressive form of beast man. The jungle is now a superfast evolutionary Petri dish with everything in it part of an arms race to out-compete all rivals. These brutish bipeds have for some reason evolved immunity to Zorglub’s Zorglwave by having oodles of aggression and not enough intellect. They are ravening, unstoppable Zordolts…

Not sure what’s happening, but resolved to stop the Army bombing the village before foiling Zorglub, everybody works frantically together and succeeds in part one of the plan, but when the jests are repelled and the Zordolts stopped by Champignac’s newly-liberated dinosaur they find the villain vanished.

By the time Champignac has worked his mushroom magic in reverse and restored most of the status quo, the Master of the Z ray is long gone. If our heroes could look up high enough, they might see him well on his way to the moon with Astrid in Lena in tow and about to set his Great Masterwork in motion…

To be Continued…

Rocket-paced, action-packed, compellingly convoluted and with just the right blend of perfectly blending helter-skelter excitement and sheer daftness, Attack of the Zordolts is a terrific romp to delight devotees of easy-going adventure.

Stuffed with an astounding array of astonishing hi-tech spoofery, riotous chases and gazillions of sight gags and verbal ripostes, this exultant escapade is a fabulous fiesta of angst-free action and thrills. Readily accessible to readers of all ages and drawn with beguiling style and seductive energy and wit, this is pure cartoon gold, truly deserving of reaching the widest audience possible.

Buy it for you, get another for the kids and give copies to all your friends…
Original edition © Dupuis, 2010 by Vehlmann, Yoann, Blanchard & Hubert. All rights reserved. English translation 2021 © Cinebook Ltd.

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Justice Society of America: The Demise of Justice


By Len Strazewski, John Broome, Paul Levitz, Rick Burchett, Grant Miehm, Mike Parobeck, Tom Artis, Frank McLaughlin, Frank Giacoia, Arthur Peddy, Bernard Sachs, Joe Staton & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-7795-0744-0 (HB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Golden Ageist Evergreen Enjoyment… 8/10

Released in 2021 to celebrate their 80th anniversary, here’s yet another DC core concept given fresh wings by a modern movie. If you can find it, this hardback/digital delight is good old fashioned fun and will make a perfect present for you or yours…

After the actual invention of the comic book superhero – the Action Comics debut of Superman in 1938 – the most significant event in the industry’s history was the combination of individual sales-points into a group.

Thus what seems blindingly obvious to us with the benefit of four-colour hindsight was proven: consumers couldn’t get enough of garishly-hued mystery men, and combining many characters inevitably increased readership. Plus, of course, a mob of superheroes is just so much cooler than one – or one-and-a-half if there’s a sidekick involved…

The creation of the Justice Society of America utterly changed the shape of the budding business and – technically – All Star Comics #3 (cover-dated Winter 1940-1941, released in December 1940) was the kick-off. However, in that landmark, the assembled heroes merely had dinner whilst recounting recent cases and didn’t actually go on a mission together until #4 (cover-dated April 1941).

With the simple notion that mighty mystery men hung out together, history was made and it wasn’t long before they started working together…

However, when WWII ended, superheroes gradually declined, and most companies had shelved them by 1950. The plunge in popularity led to a revival in genre-themed titles and characters, and it was a stripped-down team (Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, The Atom, Black Canary, Dr. Mid-Nite and Wonder Woman) who battled on in contemporarily tailored crime and science fiction sagas before the title abruptly changed into All Star Western with #58.

It would take a second age of superheroes to revive them, this time as the champions of a parallel universe dubbed Earth Two…

Gathered here is a near-forgotten limited series concerning the latter days of the team’s Golden Age that originally ran in Justice Society of America #1-8 (April to November 1991), augmented by the last tale of the original era as seen in All-Star Comics #57, (February/March 1951), plus a turning point tale from Adventures Comics #466 (December 1979). They are preceded a sparkling, informative and appreciative Foreword by Golden Age aficionado and super scripter Mark Waid.

The miniseries – subtitled Vengeance from the Stars! – that comprises the majority of this tome was scripted by journalist and educator Len Strazewski (Speed Racer, The Flash, Phantom Lady, Starman, The Fly, The Web, Prime, Prototype, Elven) and illustrated by a rotating team of artists, opening as Rick Burchett illustrates ‘Beware the Savage Skies’. Here recently-retired mystery man Ted Knight – AKA Starman – is attacked in his private New Mexico observatory by incredible astral energy beings. Broken and dispirited, he is then enslaved by an old enemy who purloins his wondrous gravity rod before luring Jay (Flash) Garrick into a deathtrap that results in power outages across America…

The plot thickens with ‘The Sack of Gotham’ (art by Grant Miehm) as radio and television executive Alan Scott seeks to keep the lights on in his city whilst Black Canary prowls the darkened streets deterring looters and career criminals. Distracted by a museum break-in, she finds herself punching way, way up as undead monster/moron Solomon Grundy and a gang of determined bandits help themselves to ancient Egyptian artefacts at the behest of a hidden client. By the time Scott arrives as Green Lantern, the Canary has been thrashed and captured, leaving him to battle an animated star constellation dubbed Sagittarius…

Burchett inks the astoundingly talented Mike Parobeck in #3’s ‘Dead Air’, as the star thing blacks out Gotham and Scott struggles to stop it. Complications occur when Grundy – afflicted with an obsessive hatred of Green Lantern – forgets the orders from the mystery Machiavelli to attack his emerald enemy. Far away, Ted Knight learns that his gleeful foe intends to conquer Earth by eradicating modern technologies and attitudes and replace them with primordial magic and tyranny…

Tom Artis & Frank McLaughlin limn #4 as ‘Evil of the Ancients’ sees reincarnating Egyptian warrior Hawkman uncovering star-themed neolithic treasures in his day job as archaeologist Carter Hall. These findings expose the history and provenance of the constellation creatures, but also trigger the arrival of another…

Despite aerial valour and the US Army’s best efforts, deadly colossus Andromeda storms off with a clutch of atom bombs and only the sudden arrival of The Flash prevents utter disaster. The clash resumes in ‘Double Star Rising!’ by Parobeck & Burchett, as arcane knowledge and modern tech savvy combine to trace the stellar plunderer and the incredible pyramid of power it is constructing. When the heroes try to destroy it they are confronted with a second energy horror but find a way to defeat both at once, compelling the man behind the plot to finally take a personal hand in the fight…

Far across the country the Lantern and the Canary escape captivity in ‘Danger Flies the Skies’ (Artis & McLaughlin), thanks to some timely aid from valiant sidekick Doiby Dickles, and track west after the museum artefacts in time to reinforce Flash and Hawkman in ‘The Return of the Justice Society’ (art by Miehm & Burchett). Redeemed and reinspired, Knight once more takes up his costumed identity to end the villain’s plot in ‘Battle of the Stars!’

In the heady aftermath, the JSA ponder what the next decade will bring, unaware that political conspiracies, public paranoia and a wave of intolerance masquerading as social conformity was waiting to change the world in ways no one could anticipate…

In continuity terms, this was technically the antepenultimate adventure of the JSA, with the rousing romp slyly heralding mood swings in the heartland of Democracy. It is thus smartly supplemented by the team’s final appearance of the Golden Age (in All-Star Comics #57) and a chilling, thematically-aligned codicil from Adventures Comics #466.

Written by John Broome and illustrated by Frank Giacoia, Arthur Peddy & Bernard Sachs, All-Star Comics #57 was the JSA’s last hurrah as ‘The Mystery of the Vanishing Detectives!’ pitted them against criminal mastermind The Key. When he abducted Earth’s greatest criminologists in advance of a spectacular robbery spree, the superheroes were called in to solve the case and prevent an impending catastrophe. It took a lot of time and effort, but the JSA never fail…

The fallow period and gradual return of the JSA was a major success of fan power in the 1960s, but that decade too ended with superheroes on the wane. During the torrid and turbulent 1970s, many of the comics industry’s oldest publishing ideas were finally laid to rest. The belief that characters could be “over-exposed” was one of the most pernicious and long-lasting (although it never hurt Superman, Batman or the original Captain Marvel), garnered from years of experience in an industry which lived or died on that fractional portion of pennies derived each month from the pocket-money and allowances of children which wasn’t spent on candy, toys or movies.

By the end of the 1960s, comic book costs and retail prices were inexorably rising and a proportion of titles – especially the newly revived horror stories – were consciously being produced for older readerships. Nearly a decade of organised fan publications and letter writing crusades had finally convinced publishing bean-counters what editors already knew: grown-ups avidly read comics too. Moreover, they happily spent more than kids and craved more, more, more of what they loved.

Explicitly: If one appearance per month was popular, extras, specials and second series would be more so. By the time Marvel Comics Wunderkind Gerry Conway left The House of Ideas, DC was willing and ready to expand its variegated line-up with some oft-requested fan-favourite characters. Paramount among these was the Justice Society of America, the first comic book super-team and a perennial gem whose annual guest-appearances in the Justice League of America and other superhero titles had become a beloved tradition and treat.

Thus in 1976 writer/editor Conway marked his second DC tenure (he had first broken into the game writing horror shorts for Joe Orlando) by reviving All Star Comics with #58.

In 1951, the original title transformed overnight into All Star Western with the numbering running for a further decade for the home of cowboy crusaders like Strong Bow, The Trigger Twins, Johnny Thunder and Super-Chief. Now, set on Earth-Two, and in keeping with the editorial sense of ensuring a series be relevant to young readers too, Conway reintroduced the veteran team, leavened with a smattering of teen heroes forming a contentious, generation gap-fuelled “Super Squad”…

Augmented by Robin (a JSA-er since the mid-1960s in Justice League of America #55), Sylvester Pemberton/Star-Spangled Kid and a busty young thing who rapidly became the feisty favourite of a generation of growing boys: Kara Zor-L – Power Girl. Closing this collection is a short piece as she and fellow newcomer Huntress discuss how the Golden Age ended…

Taken from massive 68-page anthology title Adventure Comics 466 where Paul Levitz & Joe Staton delivered a pithy history lesson exposing the reason why the team vanished at the beginning of the 1950s, ‘The Defeat of the Justice Society!’ shows how the American Government cravenly betrayed their greatest champions. Set during early days of the McCarthy era anti-communist witch-hunts, a sham trial provoked the mystery men into voluntarily withdrawing from public, heroic life. There they stayed until the costumed stalwarts of Earth-One started the whole Fights ‘n’ Tights scene all over again…

These exuberant, rapid-paced and imaginative yarns perfectly blend the naive charm of Golden Age derring-do with cynically hopeful modern sensibilities. Here you will be reassured that no matter what, in the end our heroes will always find a way to save the day. These are classic tales from simpler times and a glorious example of traditional superhero storytelling at its finest: fun, furious and ferociously engaging, excitingly written and beguilingly illustrated. No Fights ‘n’ Tights fan should miss these marvellous sagas.
© 1951, 1979,1991, 2020 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Ultimate Comics Thor


By Jonathan Hickman, Carlos Pacheco & Dexter Vines & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-5187-6 (HB/Digital edition)

Distressing times never come singly. Yet again I’m spreading unhappy news as another comics great leaves us way too young. Our condolences go out to his family and we share the sadness of the millions of devoted fans now deprived of future glories. Now let’s look again at one of his most remarkable, influential and neglected works and ponder what’s gone… 

Carlos Pacheco Perujo (14th November 1961 – 9th November 2022) was born in Spain but found his greatest fame in the USA drawing the cream of the superhero crop.

After learning his craft creating covers, pin-ups, posters and transition art for Spanish reprints of Marvel Comics – and inventing his own Spanish superheroes – Pacheco got his big break illustrating Dark Guard for Marvel UK in 1992. Before long, his cleanly effective, realistic visualisations graced numerous Ultimate Comics and X-Men titles and spin-offs; The Fantastic Four; Captain America; The Inhumans; Superman; Superman/Batman; Flash; Green Lantern and Justice Society of America.

Despite indie triumphs such as Arrowsmith and Astro City, the writer/artist will always be remembered for his mainstream superhero virtuosity and landmark limited series like Final Crisis and Avengers Forever, and Original Graphic Novels such as JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice.

In 2000, when Marvel retooled their traditional continuity into a separate, darker, grittier universe more relevant to the video game-playing, movie-watching 21st century readers, they started with the most popular characters and only gradually added analogues for the established characters and trademarks.

Even when the Avengers finally appeared in this continuity – as the Ultimates – readers were only sparingly brought up to speed on the assorted back-stories of these alternative heroes and villains – especially a wild, hammer-wielding warrior who couldn’t decide if he was Thorlief Golmen, mental patient, psychiatric nurse and anti-American radical protester or Thor, ancient Norse god of Thunder and battle.

After many struggles against his malicious, reality-warping brother Loki, incalculably mighty Thor is found here as a patient under the care of the European Union Super Soldier program. When their doctors call in linguistic expert/psychotherapist Donald Blake, the true and fantastic story of the patient’s origins unfold…

Eons ago, Asgard was a fantastic place of adventure and glory; an ideal paradise for the young warrior-brothers Balder, Thor and Loki to fight, carouse and enjoy life. But even gods grow older and apart…

The time was just prior to the start of World War II. Nazi Occult scientist Baron Zemo leads an army against Asgard, having already allied himself with the gods’ greatest enemies: Frost Giants…

All is not as it seems, however, and Zemo is no mortal invader. Moreover, his intention is to end all gods and bring about Ragnarok. Despite the magnificent heroics of the Norse deities, he eventually succeeds. But now it is revealed that the brothers did not die, but were reborn in mortal form on Earth.

Now as an Age of Supermen begins, the brothers awaken… and one of them is mad…

Compellingly scripted by Jonathan Hickman and beautifully illustrated by Pacheco with inks from Dexter Vines, Jason Paz, Jeff Het and colors by Edgar Delgado, J. Aburtov & Jorge Gonzalez, this spectacular yarn (originally released as a 4-issue miniseries) might be a mite confusing for readers unfamiliar with Thor’s other Ultimate appearances, or taking their cues from the movie iteration this version inspired.

It’s also quite choppy in delivery as it in-fills the missing portions of those stories but even so this is still a hugely engaging adventure that could easily act as an introduction to those other epics and is well worth your attention. And it is so very beautiful to look upon…
© 2020 MARVEL

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The Spider: Crime Unlimited


By Jerry Siegel, Donne Avenell, Aldo Marculeta, Giorgio Trevisan & various (Rebellion Studios)
ISBN: 978-1-78618-465-8 (HB/Digital)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Bizarrely Bombastic Action Adventure… 8/10

Part of Rebellion’s Treasury of British Comics strand, The Spider: Crime Unlimited is a sublimely cool hardback collection celebrating an all-but forgotten sub-strand of the 1960s comics experience.

Until the 1980s, comics in the UK were based on an anthological model, offering variety of genre, theme and character on a weekly – or sometimes fortnightly – basis. Humorous periodicals like DC Thomson’s The Beano were leavened by thrillers like Billy the Cat or General Jumbo and adventure papers like Amalgamated Press/Fleetway’s Lion or Valiant always included gag strips such as The Nutts, Grimly Feendish, Mowser and a wealth of similar quick laugh treats. And yes, both rival companies had equivalents in those categories too…

They also produced Seasonal specials, hardcover Annuals and digest-sized anthology publications. DCT still publishes Commando Picture Library and used to have romance and science fiction titles such as Starblazer, matched by their London competitors with titles like Super Picture Library, War Picture Library, Air Ace Picture Library and Action Picture Library. These were half-sized, 64 page monochrome booklets with glossy soft-paper covers, but between 1967 and 1968 – at the height of the sixties Spy and Superhero booms – were supplemented by a deluxe, card-cover, 132 page version – The Fleetway Super Library.

As well as the always-popular war option of “Front Line” (starring by turn Maddock’s Marauders or Top-Sergeant Ironside), this line offered a “Secret Agent Series” – alternating cool spy operatives Johnny Nero and Barracuda – and the “Stupendous” (formerly and briefly “Fantastic”) series: delivering lengthy complete sagas starring either The Steel Claw or The Spider. These extra adventures came twice a month and ran 13 tales for each, and this spiffy hardback tome (245x177mm) re-presents the second and fourth releases, both starring the eerie webspinning master of crime…

British comics had a strange and extended love affair with what can only be described as “unconventional” (for which feel free to substitute “creepy”) heroes. So many of the stars and potential role models of our serials and strips were just plain “off”: self-righteous, moody voyeurs-turned vigilantes like Jason Hyde, sinister masterminds like The Dwarf, deranged geniuses like Eric Dolmann, jingoistic, racist supermen like Captain Hurricane and more often than not reformed criminals or menaces like Charlie Peace, The Steel Claw or The Spider…

…And don’t get me started on our legion of lethally anarchic comedy icons or that our most successful symbol of justice is an Eagle-bedecked, anonymously-helmeted, jack-booted poster boy for a fascist state. Perhaps that explains why these days we can’t even imagine or envision what a proper leader looks like and keep on electing clowns, crooks and obliviously blinkered over-privileged simpletons…

All joking aside, British comics are unlike any other kind and simply have to be seen to be believed and enjoyed. One of the most revered stars of the medium has finally begun to be collected in various archival editions, and perfectly encapsulates our odd relationship with heroism, villainy and particularly the murky grey area bridging them…

Mystery criminal genius and eventual superhero The Spider launched in peerless weekly anthology Lion with the June 26th 1965 issue. He would reign supreme until April 26th 1969, and periodically return in reprint form (in Vulcan) and occasionally new stories ever since.

As first introduced by Ted Cowan (Ginger Nutt, Paddy Payne, Adam Eterno, Robot Archie) & Reg Bunn (Robin Hood, Buck Jones, Captain Kid, Clip McCord), the moody malcontent is an enigmatic super-scientist whose goal is to be acclaimed the greatest criminal of all time. The flamboyantly wicked narcissist began his public career by recruiting crime specialists: safecracker Roy Ordini and genteelly evil inventor Professor Pelham before attempting a massive gem-theft from America’s greatest city. He was foiled by cruel luck and resolute cops Gilmore and Trask: crack detectives cursed with the task of capturing the arachnid arch-villain.

Cowan scripted the first two serialised sagas before handing over to comics royalty: Jerry Siegel (Superman, Superboy, The Spectre, Doctor Occult, Slam Bradley, Funnyman, The Mighty Crusaders, Starling), who was forced to look elsewhere for work after an infamous dispute with DC Comics over the rights to the Man of Steel.

Here his unique approach and astounding imagination results in a truly bizarre outing for Aldo Marculeta – who draws like Massimo Bellardinelli – to illustrate in 2 panels per page as Super Picture Library #2 heralds the menace of ‘The Professor of Power’…

It begins as The Spider crashes a fancy party to mock retiring Police Chief Brady whilst abusively reminding his minions who is boss, but has unexpected repercussions as outraged scientist Aldo Cummings creates a process to counteract the evil of such villainy by removing wickedness from living beings. Sadly, his ray machine malfunctions and utterly alters his own personality whilst also bestowing other arcane gifts…

Although completely evil now, the shapeshifter is still obsessed with The Spider and sets out to humiliate and destroy him through a campaign of terror that sees his opponent beaten and jailed whilst the Professor disrupts global peace and even sacrifices humanity to alien body snatchers from an extradimensional realm. With human beings inhabited by the evil entitoids, the maniac deems his duels with the webspinner over, but he has underestimated the cunning and resolve of his foe, who finds himself in the strange position of being Earth’s saviour…

Following is ‘Crime Unlimited’ from SPL #4, illustrated by Italian multinational star turn Giorgio Trevisan (Cherry Brandy, War Picture Library, Battler Britton, HMS Outcast, Trelawney of the Guards, The Flying Fortress, Bob Pepper, Silver Arrow, Ken Parker, Sherlock Holmes and so much more) with a terse, gritty script from British legend Donne Avenell.

Staring his career before WWII, Avenell cut his teeth on many British comics icons like Radio Fun, War Picture Library, The Phantom Viking, Adam Eterno and Dr. Mesmer’s Revenge, major international features line Nigeria’s Powerman, Buffalo Bill, The Phantom and assorted Disney strips. He was equally at home with newspaper strips such as Tiffany Jones, Axa and Eartha novels and TV screenwriting on shows like The Saint). Here he pits the swaggering arrogant super-criminal against a brilliant and ruthless inventor who applies Henry Ford’s business practices to organised crime: using vast engineering talents and mass-production techniques with the view to getting rich by stealing The Spider’s title as Emperor of Crime…

Mr. Mass begins with a wealth magnet to snatch the proceeds of a Florida heist right out of the Spider’s bony fingers, builds an unstoppable mole machine and ultimately unleashes an army of plundering doppelganger thanks to his Mass-Replicator, with neither Pelham & Ordini nor Trask & Gilmore able to slow the warring masterminds down.

Implacable foes conducting industrial warfare, the duelling geniuses hurtle towards a spectacular final accounting after Mass reduces an entire city to mental infancy, but fails to stop his webspinning nemesis tracking him down to a catastrophic clash in an automated factory…

These retro/camp masterpiece of arcane dialogue, insane devices and rollercoaster antics are augmented by Extras including original covers, biographies of the writers and ads for even more uncanny UK comics collections, both available and forthcoming…

This titanic tome reaffirms that the Emperor is back at last and should find a home in every kid’s heart and mind, no matter how young they might be, or threaten to remain. Batty, baroque and often simply bonkers, The Spider proves that although crime does not pay, it always provides a huge amount of white-knuckle fun…
© 1967 & 2022 Rebellion Publishing IP Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

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Metalzoic – DC Graphic Novel #6


By Pat Mills & Kevin O’Neill and various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-0-93028-910-2 (Album TPB)

Once again sad news comes to us that another comics great – and brilliantly entertaining convention companion – has gone too soon. We use the word unique far too often in our hyperbole-ridden industry, but I can honestly say there was never anyone quite like Kevin O’Neill, so – rightfully shamed by guilt – I’ll be reviewing a bunch of his best stuff that I never-quite-got-around-to in the weeks and months to come, but for now let’s look again at one of his most remarkable and neglected manic masterpieces… 

In the years immediately following the release of Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC Comics was a paragon of experimentation and quality, as this decidedly post-punk, English-flavoured offering from 2000 AD mainstays and certified “British Invaders” Pat Mills & Kevin O’Neill proves.

Not long after this book was published. illustrator O’Neill won the singular accolade of having his entire style of drawing – not a panel, not a story, but every single mark he left on paper – banned by the dried-up-but-not-quite-dead Comics Code Authority!

Not that it stopped the rise of his remarkable and truly unique talent in later triumphs such as Marshal Law, Serial Killer and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

“Kev” was born in 1953 and, at age 16, began work as an office boy/art corrector for British weekly Buster. He worked in every aspect of the compartmentalised industry: lettering, art paste-up, logo design, colouring and more. He even apparently self-published a fanzine – Just Imagine: The Journal of Film and Television Special Effects…

As the kids stuff began to pale, life changed in 1977, when author/editor Pat Mills transferred him to a forthcoming, iconoclastic new science fiction comic.

O’Neill became a mainstay: producing covers, pinups and Future Shock short stories, whilst contributing to serials like Ro-Busters, satirical super parody Captain Klep, ABC Warriors and breakthrough character Nemesis the Warlock.

From there on, America came calling in the form of DC Comics…

In the far, far future robotic animals have evolved on the declining planet to fill the vacated niches once populated with specialised organic creatures. Civilised humanity has absconded to the stars and Mek-Animals roam the savage Earth. Armageddon is the ruler of the ape-like Mekaka, proud and ambitious, but his tribe are losing faith. They live on scavenged power and the mammoth-like Wheeled Beasts have not been seen for five years…

But this season they will return, led by the terrible God-Beast Amok, and the Mekaka will kill him and rule the world. Sadly, complications arise when joy-riding humans Jool and Ngila crash on this desolate dying world: one which most humans have forgotten ever existed. They have knowledge, but no survival instincts at all…

After US publication, the story was later serialised in 2000 AD #483-942, where it found a more welcoming audience before tragically vanishing from sight and memory. However, it remains purely primal savage satire: a fantastic fantasy; that remains an incontrovertible highpoint in DC’s abortive 1980s Graphic Novel line. Its scope and power are mesmerising and its return to print long, long overdue. Let’s hope someone gets the message…
© 1986 DC Comics Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Popeye Classics volume 8: I Hates Bullies and More


By Bud Sagendorf, edited and designed by Craig Yoe (Yoe Books/IDW Publishing)
ISBN: 978-1-63140-676-8 (HB) eISBN: 978-1-68406-044-3

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Sweet & Sour Salty Sailor Celebrations… 9/10

How many cartoon classics can you think of still going after a century? Here’s one…

There are a few fictional personages to enter communal world consciousness – and fewer still from comics – but this grizzled, bluff, uneducated, visually impaired old tar with a speech impediment is possibly the most well-known of that august bunch.

Elzie Crisler Segar was born in Chester, Illinois on 8th December 1894. His father was a general handyman, and the boy’s early life was filled with the solid, dependable blue-collar jobs that typified the formative years of his generation of cartoonists. Segar was a decorator, house-painter and also played drums; accompanying vaudeville acts at the local theatre.

When the town got a movie-house, Elzie played silent films, absorbing all the staging, timing and narrative tricks from keen observation of the screen. Those lessons would become his greatest assets as a cartoonist. It was while working as the film projectionist, at age 18, that he decided to become a cartoonist and tell his own stories.

Like so many others in those hard times, he studied art via mail – W.L. Evans’ cartooning correspondence course out of Cleveland, Ohio – before gravitating to Chicago where he was “discovered” by Richard F. Outcault: regarded by most in the know today as the inventor of modern newspaper comic strips with The Yellow Kid and Buster Brown. The celebrated pioneer introduced Segar around at the prestigious Chicago Herald. Still wet behind the ears, the kid’s first strip, Charley Chaplin’s Comedy Capers, debuted on 12th March 1916.

In 1918, Segar married Myrtle Johnson and moved to William Randolph Hearst’s Chicago Evening American to create Looping the Loop, where Managing Editor William Curley foresaw a big future for Segar and promptly packed the newlyweds off to New York: HQ of the mighty King Features Syndicate. Within a year Segar was producing Thimble Theatre, (launching December 19th 1919) in the New York Journal: a smart pastiche of cinema and knock-off of movie-inspired features like Hairbreadth Harry and Midget Movies, with a repertory of stock players acting out comedies, melodramas, comedies, crime-stories, chases and especially comedies for vast daily audiences. It didn’t stay that way for long…

The core cartoon cast included parental pillars Nana & Cole Oyl; their lanky, cranky, highly-strung daughter Olive; diminutive-but-pushy son Castor and the homely ingenue’s plain and (so very) simple occasional boyfriend Horace Hamgravy (latterly, plain Ham Gravy).

Thimble Theatre had already run for a decade when, on January 17th 1929, a brusque, vulgar “sailor man” shambled into the daily ongoing saga of hapless halfwits. Nobody dreamed the giddy heights that stubbornly cantankerous walk-on would reach…

In 1924, Segar created a second daily strip. Surreal domestic comedy The 5:15 starred weedy commuter and would-be inventor John Sappo and his formidable spouse Myrtle. This strip endured – in one form or another – as a topper/footer-feature to accompany the main Sunday page throughout the author’s career, and even survived his untimely death, eventually becoming the trainee-playground of Popeye’s second great humour stylist – Bud Sagendorf.

After Segar’s premature passing in 1938, Doc Winner, Tom Sims, Ralph Stein and Bela Zambouly all took on the strip as the Fleischer Studio’s animated features brought Popeye to the entire world, albeit a slightly variant vision of the old salt of the funny pages. Sadly, none had the eccentric flair and raw inventiveness that had put Thimble Theatre at the forefront of cartoon entertainments. And then, finally, Bud arrived…

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

With Sagendorf as main man, 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. Bud wrote and drew Popeye in every graphic arena for 24 years. When he died in 1994, his successor was controversial “Underground” cartoonist Bobby London.

Bud had been Segar’s assistant and apprentice, and in 1948 became exclusive writer/artist of Popeye’s comic book exploits. That venture launched in February of that year: a regular title published by America’s unassailable king of periodical licensing, Dell Comics.

On his debut, Popeye was a rude, crude brawler: a gambling, cheating, uncivilised ne’er-do-well, but was soon revered as the ultimate working-class hero. Raw and rough-hewn, he was also practical, with an innate, unshakable sense of what’s fair and what’s not: a joker who wanted kids to be themselves – but not necessarily “good”. Above all else he was someone who took no guff from anyone…

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… except not in Sagendorf’s yarns…

Collected in this superb full-colour hardback/digital edition are Popeye #35-39, crafted by irrepressible “Bud”: collectively spanning January-March 1956 to January-March 1957.

Stunning, nigh stream-of-consciousness slapstick sagas are preceded by an effusively appreciative ‘Society of Sagendorks’ briefing by inspired aficionado, historian and publisher Craig Yoe, offering a mirthful mission statement, and enhanced by another tantalising display of ephemera and merchandise in ‘A Bud Sagendorf Scrapbook’. This time we focus on the 1980 Robert Altman movie with candid cast photos, Sagendorf illustrated tie-in magazine articles, and multi-lingual cartoon iterations.

We rejoin the ceaseless parade of laughs, surreal imagination and thrills with quarterly comic book #35, opening with a monochrome inside front cover gag concerning the latest hobby of the sailor’s ward after which ‘Thimble Theatre presents Popeye and Swee’Pea in “Wishing” or Spinach is Still King!”’, wherein the bored “infink” shambles upon an alien incursion and tricks the haughty invaders out of their irresistible, unbeatable Wish-o-Matic machine…

Soon the impressionable kid is king of the world and Popeye is forced into drastic action…

The family is afloat for follow-up bedtime tale ‘I Hates Bullies!’ as the mariner, Olive and Wimpy are lured to an exotic island and seduced into liberating its people from enslaving Boss Black Allen…

Back-up feature Sappo was by now reduced to gullible foil and hapless landlord to the world’s worst lodger. Professor O.G. Wotasnozzle – The Professor with the Atomic Brain would callously inflict the brunt of his genius on the poor schmuck. Here that means inventing super-fast growing redwoods but being too self-absorbed to keep the seeds out of the rain…

The issue ends with an endpaper prose fable about a scientist who regretted getting cats to chase his lab mice and a back cover gag of bath night for Swee’Pea…

Issue #36 (April-June) began with ‘King Popeye of Popilania!’ as the sailor man sets out to create the perfect country, but soon finds kinging it is a lot of work, especially if your friends are all ambitious traitors and other nations think they can push you around…

For a while things look bleak for the Popilania, until the desperate King unleashes secret weapon General Wimpy…

An engaging Micawber-like coward, cad and conman, the insatiably ravenous J. Wellington Wimpy debuted in the newspaper strip on May 3rd 1931 as an unnamed, decidedly partisan referee in one of Popeye’s pugilistic bouts. Scurrilous, aggressively humble and scrupulously polite, the devious oaf struck a chord and Segar made him a fixture. Preternaturally hungry, ever-keen to solicit 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 the perfect foil for our straight-shooting action hero and increasingly stole the entire show… and anything else unless it was very heavy or extremely well nailed down. He proved to be the ultimate deterrent in an extended war that depended on keeping troops fed…

Popeye an’ Swee’Pea then turn the tables on villainous reprobate Poopdeck Pappy after the sailor’s crooked father fakes his own death in ‘Pappy’s Spook’, before Professor O.G. Wotasnozzle – The Atomic Brain! conjures fresh chaos with his terrifying reducing pills in advance of another text tale. ‘Canned Nuts’ details the downfall of a prudent squirrel who had a plan (but no tin-opener) in advance of a back cover gag of Popeye and Wimpy fishing…

Cover-dated July-September, Popeye #37 opens with a monochrome inside cover about Swee’Pea’s garden before main event ‘The Search for the Spinach Icebox’ sees our well-travelled hero targeted by secret society WAFPOM (World Association For Prevention Of Muscles) after he buys two million tons of the miraculous mineral rich vegetable. With attacks mounting, he needs someplace safe to store his leafy treasure and on Wimpy’s suggestion heads to Antarctica, where WAFPOM and even stranger foes are waiting…

‘Amateur Inventor!’ Sappo gives O.G. Wotasnozzle a taste of his own medicine next, before ‘The Big Sting’ heralds the end of another issue with the prose history of a bullying bee…

Issue #38 opens with a monochrome pet gag and an extended colour epic as Popeye and The Gang meet ‘The Dog Who Wore A Crown” – or – Going To the Dogs!’ A quick visit with King Blozo finds the scatty ruler absent and his dog ruling in his stead. Most annoyingly, the monarch has appointed Popeye Royal Dog Sitter. As the dutiful sailor surrenders to the inevitable, things get more complicated when the moody pooch – AKA “Birdseed” – decides Swee’Pea should be in charge…

‘Bottle Fish!’ sees the text fixture shift to the comic’s centre with the tale of a mean bully stuck behind glass, after which Wotasnozzle and Sappo both go overboard in a fishing contest augmented by weird science and the chaos concludes with another black-&-white inner cover pet prank, preceding a new year of fun and frolic as #39 (January-March 1957) feature more monochrome madness for Swee’Pea’s pooch…

The gang are rattled in lead story ‘The Mountain that Talked Back!’ as Olive’s deteriorating nerves prompt a vacation on ominously named “Thunder Island” and a badly-timed stay on a volcano in full eruption mode…

Everything changes once Popeye realise the shakes are fakes and a gang of criminals are making them patsies in a plot and our hero breaks out the spinach…

Prose parable ‘Cow?’ reveals how bovine Mildred briefly lived her dream to be a horse, after which Wotasnozzle seeks to improve communication by reinventing words in ‘What Did He Say?’ before Swee’Pea and Birdseed monopolise interior monochrome and exterior color gags with devasting effect.

Outrageous and side-splitting, these universally-appealing yarns are evergreen examples of narrative cartooning at its most surreal and inspirational. Over the last nine decades Thimble Theatre’s most successful son has delighted readers and viewers around the world. This book is simply one of many, but each is sure-fire, top-tier entertainment for all those who love lunacy, laughter, frantic fantasy and rollicking adventure. If that’s you, add this compendium of wonder to your collection.
Popeye Classics volume 8 © 2016 Gussoni-Yoe Studio, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Popeye © 2016 King Features Syndicate. ™ Heart Holdings Inc.

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Bunny vs Monkey: Machine Mayhem!


By Jamie Smart, with Sammy Borras (David Fickling Books)
ISBN: 978-1-78845-285-4 (Digest HB)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Madcap Mega-Meta Magnificence… 10/10

Bunny vs. Monkey has been a staple of The Phoenix since the very first issue in 2012: recounting a madcap vendetta gripping animal arch-enemies set amidst 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; Flember), his trendsetting, mind-bending yarns have been wisely retooled as graphic albums available in remastered, double-length digest 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 the wake of a disastrous British space shot. Crashlanding in Crinkle Woods – scant miles from his launch site – lab animal Monkey believed himself the rightful owner of a strange new world, despite all efforts from reasonable, sensible, genteel, contemplative forest resident Bunny to dissuade him. For all his patience, propriety and good breeding, the laid-back lepine just could not contain the incorrigible idiot ape, who was – and is – a rude, noise-loving, chaos-creating loutish troublemaker…

Problems are exacerbated by the other unconventional Crinkle creatures, particularly a skunk called Skunky who has a mad scientist’s attitude to life and a propensity to build extremely dangerous robots and super-weapons…

Here – with artistic assistance from design deputy Sammy Borras – the war of nerves and mega-ordnances appears to be over. The unruly assortment of odd critters cluttering up the bucolic paradise had finally picked sides and the battles ended. They even seemingly forgot the ever-encroaching Hyoomanz…

Following a double-page pin-up of our odd and ever-expanding cast, this magnificent hardback archive of insanity opens in the traditional manner: divided into seasonal outbursts, and starting slowly with a querulous teaser tale as the cold retreats and Spring begins in ‘D.I.Whyyyy?’

As the animals all gather to help Bunny repair his much-abused house, universal innocents Weenie squirrel and Pig Piggerton are more keen than skilled, with no idea that cheese is not a suitable substitute for wallpaper paste, plaster or cement…

Despite the subsequent collapse, times are good and very peaceful since the anarchic ape went away and Ai acts quickly to keep it that way when Bunny feels nostalgic for the old days. Sadly, somebody’s listening and brings in a ‘Makeshift Monkey!’ – until the real deal returns in ‘The Little Monkey Who Cried…’

It isn’t long before Skunky is back too and everyone’s fleeing for their lives from deadly underground tentacles, but life quickly resumes its old pattern until obsolescence rears its ugly head and cyborg gator Metal Steve is pronounced ‘Out of Warranty’ and left to wither on Skunky’s scrapheap…

Back and still bad, Monkey briefly inflicts himself on Bunny and wrecks the joint again in ‘The Housemate’ after which the mercurial monochrome megamind constructs a replacement for the gone gator and triggers a ‘Robot Rampage’ when infinitely superior mechanoid Metal E.V.E. decides to lay down her law…

Falling foul of another near-lethal prank the silly simian is scientifically resurrected and evolved in ‘Curse of the Monkey’ only to trip on his own incompetence and barely escape a fishy final fate in ‘Toilet Run!’

A close call with humans in ‘Bunny vs Monkey Jellybeans!’ precedes Weenie and Pig going on ‘A Dangerous Voyage’ as pirates, before Monkey endures his own Fantastic Voyage. Skunky is “The Most Brilliant Animal in the Woods” and convinces his erstwhile ally to shrink down and explore the inner cerebellum of brain-battered, bewildered former stuntman Action Beaver in search of ‘The Lost Memory’ of a misplaced ultimate weapon, which is what probably inspires him to make his own after entering a competition and prematurely unleashing his ‘Winning Entry’…

Metal E.V.E. is forming her own plans but they have to wait a bit as she’s ‘Keepin’ Busy’ with some domestic chores in Skunky’s lab, but’s not long until Summer begins and the woods are imperilled by subterranean invasion from new menace ‘Roland T. Mole’…

Hijinks in parallel dimensions herald the arrival of doomsayer ‘Skunky?’ whilst the forgotten stuntman stumbles onto his ancestral homeland in ‘Beaverville’ with catastrophic consequences even as Monkey creates unexpected carnage but precious little terror with super-cute kaiju ‘Rofl Axolotl’ before being painfully reminded how dangerous the woods can be in ‘So Beautiful’…

After a brief and deceptive flirtation with ‘The Dark Arts’ the hairy halfwit returns to science and creates little golden minions, but his ‘Gloobs’ prove too smart for servitude, so he instead embraces high fashion in ‘C’est Chic!’ Utterly uncaring, Weenie and Pig go about their business until a ‘A New Friend’ almost breaks up the partnership. The swiftly-developing relationship of ‘Weenie and Winnie’ seems set to end the good old days but another robotic invasion sets the world to rights in ‘Just Checking’…

A reality-altering beast threatens in ‘Wishful Thinking’ and the entire woods go all French just as aliens invade in ‘L’Honk Honk’ before Monkey and Skunky explore artisanal dining in ‘Eat Up!’ with appalling consequences for their customers, after which Ai and Monkey discover uncanny ‘Night Lights’ in the deep dark woods…

The eventful season concludes as Metal E.V.E. gets ahead by installing some crucial ‘Upgrades’ and inadvertently making contact with an unsuspected predecessor just as Autumn opens with ‘Bumblesnatch’ as the pig and squirrel enjoy some super-powers-inducing chewing gum and Crinkle Woods is catapulted into a different kind of chaos when broached by pet dog ‘Fluffy’…

When ‘The Summoning’ invokes some pretty indifferent forest gods, Skunky lodges with over-accommodating Bunny who is soon sucked into unwanted adventure ‘Down Below’ and unearths E.V.E.’s brave new world and hopeless old ally as Metal Steve runs amok with nano-bots and spawns the unlikely armageddon beast ‘Pig-Kira!’

Once that menace vanishes into vapour, the mostly organic animals unite and formulate ‘Some Kind of Plan’ to fight E.V.E. – except ‘Nurse Monkey’ who’s keen to explore other lifestyles – until reenlisting in ‘Roll Up! Roll Up!’ with a barmy spinning machine which has no chance of easing their plight but will probably end their lives before she does…

The crusade pauses for Weenie’s birthday and the hunt for ‘The Best Present in the World’ but starts again when E.V.E. crashes the party with ‘Something to Say’ about the “rise of the machines” and end of all flesh…

Skunky’s obvious response is another monster, but giant mecha-hedgehog ‘Thunderball!’ is easily overcome, and as so-distractable Monkey goes wild among the fallen leaves in ‘Leaf it Alone’, the machine rise begins in ‘Nahhhhh!’ Sadly, Metal E.V.E. makes a big mistake then, spilling Monkey’s drink and kicking the conflict to an unprecedented new level…

Pausing for Weenie, Pig, Ai and Bunny to share some ‘Scary Stories’ around a night time campfire, the crisis enters a new phase when the ghost of local legend Fantastic Le Fox, manifests, even as the manic simian is captured and transformed into E.V.E.’s ‘Metal Monkey’…

Le Fox is ‘An Old Friend’ resolved to help the animals survive, and his strategic advice is welcome, but the turning point comes in ‘Clash of the Robots’ as Metal Monkey and Steve duel, even as their mecha-mistress takes charge, unleashing DNA-altering microbots that put the fleshy freedom fighters to flight in ‘Uh-Oh-Nano!’

Winter sets in and hostilities suddenly cease as all concerned succumb to the temptation of chucking ‘Snowballs’ after which the end gets nigher in a wave of robotic attacks triggered by ‘Metal Mania’. Yet again everything pauses as Christmas gives the heroes a moment to unwrap ‘Presents’ but, drenched in seasonal spirit, ‘An Unlikely Hero’ dares to bring the message of the moment right to the robot queen: unwittingly changing the course of history in the woods, and leaving only some ‘Tidying Up’ to restore everything to what passes for normal in the sylvan glade…

The animal anarchy might have ended for now there’s more secrets to share thanks to detailed instructions on ‘How to Draw Metal Steve’ and ‘How to Draw Metal E.V.E.’ to wind down from all that angsty furore…

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. This is the kind of comic parents beg kids to read to them. Shouldn’t that be you?
Text and illustrations © Jamie Smart 2022. All rights reserved.

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Rayguns & Rocketships: Vintage Science Fiction Book Cover Art


By many and various: edited and compiled by Rian Hughes (Korero Press)
ISBN: 978-1-91274-004-8 (HB)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Eyepopping, Mind-blowing Vintage Visions… 9/10

Very often the books we write about our comics and other related passions can be better than the stories and pictures themselves: memorable, intensely evocative and infused with that debilitating nostalgic joy only passing years and selective memory can bestow. It’s not only true of our childhood comics but also the toys and books we encountered and invested so much time in…

For much of Britain’s Baby Boomer population, much of that unharnessed energy went into the wealth of science fiction book and pulp magazines that began popping up around the same time as the Nazis. As hostilities ensued, the genre kept pace, before spectacularly increasing in the post-war years, when prose science fiction became a welcome refuge for millions with an eye on a better tomorrow… and unlike rationed food or sweets or a new wave of weekly comics, books were comparatively cheap and sturdily re-readable…

That in in no way meant to denigrate or decry the superb efforts of countless – usually unrecognised and generally unlauded – creators who briefly brightened the lives of generations (and created quite a few harmless hobbyist/obsessive collectors) with fantastic adventures and brain-bursting images on flimsy, easily damaged pulp tomes but rather because of an added factor inherent in them – sheer mystery. Who made this stuff?…

No kid buying or shoplifting these items had any idea of who did what and only a few even cared: the stories and their covers worked on a primal, visceral connection or not at all, and always promised spectacular escape from the here and now…

As seen in era-expert Steve (read his Bear Alley blog) Holland’s impassioned and informative Foreword ‘Cruisers of the Void (Flying Factories and Hand-Crafted Spaceships)’ the genre and market was a tricky one, with publishers uncertain if they were selling pap to kids or at the sharp end of a new literary movement. What mattered was catching punters’ eyes and separating them from their cash…

Nevertheless from such confused, humble – and often shady – beginnings, a renaissance in speculative fiction emerged to change society and the world…

The conceptual main course of this menu of miracles follows as designer, author and comics creator Rian Hughes (Dare, Typodiscography, I Am a Number, The Science Service) further deconstructs the context and marketplace: sharing his own experiences as a wide-eyed wonder-boy gradually morphing into a Serious Collector and Expert finding favourite stories by falling for captivating cover images in every possible place from specialist emporium to local jumble sale…

Detail-packed Introduction ‘His Raygun Spat Atomic Fire…’ is a splendidly expansive overview, taking us through the evolving epoch. Tracing the genre’s development. he lists writers, publishers imprints and especially those artists who spun their visual webs and caught so many of us before the superb and delicious dessert we came for is served up…

As beguiling and educational as finally knowing the names behind so many icons of an unsuspected communal past, the real joy here comes from the thousands of reprinted covers on books you have seen and those you have not: an exhausting compendium of lost treasures that adolescent minds must have boiled over to first encounter. Although concentrating mainly on the British market, there are also foreign editions and original US mainstream titles and their licensed reprints. At all times the guidance is watch and wonder!

Spanning decades, numerous nations and the infinite gulfs of space and time, this gallery of marvels is as much love story as detective mystery as forensic analysis of a phenomenon, but in the end what you’ll remember most is the astounding, amazing art of Stanley Nicholson, Ed Emshwiller, Ray Theobald, Gordon C. Davies, Norman Light, Ron Embleton, Ron Turner, Denis McLoughlin, Brian Lewis, Henry Fox, Chesley Bonestell, Everett Kinstler, Josh Kirby, Art Sussman, Robert A. Osbourne, Enrich, and so many more, known and unknown.

Welcome attention is also paid to games, magazines, comics and British Annuals, with Turner, Ron Forbes, Terry Maloney, David Williams, Ron Jobsen and more well represented through absolutely mouth-watering merchandise and publications.

This copious chronicle concludes with appreciatively fond Afterword ‘Mushroom Cloud Fallout’ by author, archivist, historian and literary agent Philip J Harbottle who revisits that time of changes and era of scientific fantasy via his connection to a stalwart of both worlds: artist and die-hard fan Ron Turner, who rode the mushroom cloud of sci fi illustration until the mid-1950s before moving primarily into comics such as Lion’s Rick Random and TV21’s The Daleks…

Perhaps short on depth but gloriously addictive in terms of breadth, variety and wide-eyed nostalgic wonderment, Rayguns & Rocketships is a compendium and catalogue of cover artwork encapsulating Britain’s golden age of science fiction. It will reduce oldsters to tears but should also be offered to younger generations before they get permanently locked into frantically planning their careers (so before they’re five is best) in hopes of reminding them that there’s so much more out there…

The only thing that could make it better is if there was also a tabloid sized poster-book version of all these rousing, evocative, inspirational and occasionally just plain silly images for us to enjoy. Maybe the global interwebs umbrella, some digit-y micro-technologies and these modern electronic calculator contraptions could all be deployed to facilitate that – eh Professor?

First published in 2022 © Rian Hughes/Korero Press Limited/Original Artists & Publishers. All rights reserved.

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Walt’ Disney’s Donald Duck by Carl Barks volume 13: Trick or Treat


By Carl Barks & various (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-60699-874-8 (HB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: The Utter Acme of All-Ages Entertainment… 10/10

Donald Duck ranks among a small group of fictional characters to have transcended the bounds of reality and become – like Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, Popeye and James Bond -meta-real. As such, his origins are complex and convoluted. His official birthday is June 9th 1934: a dancing, nautically-themed bit-player in the Silly Symphony cartoon short The Wise Little Hen.

The animated cartoon was adapted by Ted Osborne & Al Taliaferro for the Silly Symphonies Sunday newspaper strip and thus classified by historians as Donald’s official debut in Disney comics. Controversially, he was also reported to have originated in The Adventures of Mickey Mouse strip which began 1931. Thus the Duck has more “birthdays” than he knows what to do with, which presumably explains why he’s such a bad-tempered cuss.

Visually, Donald Fauntleroy Duck was largely the result of animator Dick Lundy’s efforts, and, with partner-in-fun Mickey Mouse, is one of TV Guide’s 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time. The Duck has his own star on the Hollywood walk of fame and has appeared in more films than any other Disney player.

Throughout the 1930s, his screen career grew from background and supporting roles via a team act with Mickey and Goofy to a series of solo cartoons which began with 1937’s Don Donald. That one also introduced love interest Daisy Duck and the irrepressible nephews Huey, Louie and Dewey…

By 1938 Donald was officially more popular than corporate icon Mickey Mouse, and even more so after his national service as a propaganda warrior in a series of animated morale boosters and information features during WWII. The merely magnificent Der Fuehrer’s Face garnered the 1942 Academy Award for Animated Short Film…

Crucially for our purposes, Donald is also planet Earth’s most-published non-superhero comics character, and has been blessed with some of the greatest writers and illustrators ever to punch a keyboard or pick up a pen or brush. A publishing phenomenon and megastar across Europe – particularly Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Greece, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland – Donald (& Co) have spawned countless original stories and many immortal characters. Sales are stratospheric across all age groups there and in upwards of 45 other countries they export to. Japan’s manga publishers have their own iteration too…

The aforementioned Silly Symphonies adaptation and Mickey strip guest shots were trumped in 1937 when Italian publisher Mondadori launched an 18-page comic book story crafted by Federico Pedrocchi. It was quickly followed by a regular serial in Britain’s Mickey Mouse Weekly (a comic produced under license by Willbank Publications/Odhams Press that ran from 8th February 1936 to 28th December 1957).

Issue #67 (May 15th 1937) premiered Donald and Donna – a prototype Daisy Duck girlfriend – drawn by William A. Ward. Running for 15 weeks, it was followed by Donald and Mac before ultimately settling as Donald Duck – a fixture until the magazine folded. The feature inspired similar Disney-themed publications across Europe, with Donald regularly appearing beside company mascot Mickey…

In the USA, a daily Donald Duck newspaper strip launched on February 2nd 1938, with a colour Sunday strip added in 1939. Writer Ted Karp joined Taliaferro in expanding the duck cast and history: adding a signature automobile, pet dog Bolivar, goofy cousin Gus Goose, grandmother Elvira Coot whilst expanding the roles of both Donna and Daisy…

In 1942, his comic book life began with October cover-dated Dell Four Color Comics Series II #9: AKA Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold. It was conceived by Homer Brightman & Harry Reeves, scripted by Karp with the illustration by Disney Studios employees Carl Barks & Jack Hannah. That was the moment everything changed…

Carl Barks was born in Merrill, Oregon in 1901, and raised in rural areas of the West during some of the leanest times in American history. He tried his hand at many jobs before settling into the profession that chose him. His early life is well-documented elsewhere if you need detail, but briefly, Barks was a cartoonist, then an animator before quitting the Studio in 1942 to work in the new-fangled field of comic books.

From then until his retirement in the mid-1960s (he officially downed tools in 1966 but was cajoled into scripting stories well into 1968), Barks operated in self-imposed seclusion: writing, drawing and devising a vast array of adventure comedies, gags, yarns and covers that gelled into a Duck Universe of memorable and highly bankable characters like Gladstone Gander (1948), Gyro Gearloose (1952), Magica De Spell (1961) and the nefarious Beagle Boys (1951) to supplement the Studio’s stable of cartoon actors.

His greatest creation was undoubtedly crusty, energetic, paternalistic, money-mad giga-gazillionaire Scrooge McDuck: the World’s wealthiest winged nonagenarian and frequent spur/gadfly and reluctant sugar daddy to the adventuresome youngsters…

Whilst producing all that landmark material Barks was also just a working guy, generating cover art, illustrating other people’s scripts when asked, adding stories to a burgeoning international canon of Duck Lore. Only after Gladstone Publishing began re-packaging Barks material in the 1980s, did he discover the well-earned appreciation he never imagined existed. Media Historian Leonard Maltin called Barks “the most popular and widely read artist/writer in the world”…

So potent were Barks’ creations that they fed back into Disney’s overarching animation output, despite all his brilliant comic work being for Dell/Gold Key and not the studio. The greatest tribute was undoubtedly animated series Duck Tales, based on his classic Uncle Scrooge adventures.

Barks was a fan of wholesome action, unsolved mysteries and epics of exploration, and this led to him perfecting the art and technique of the blockbuster tale: blending wit, history, plucky bravado and sheer wide-eyed wonder into rollicking rollercoaster romps that utterly captivated readers of every age and vintage. Without the Barks expeditions there would never have been an Indiana Jones…

During his working life Barks was utterly unaware that his work – uncredited due to company policy, as was all Disney’s comics output – had been recognised by a rabid and discerning public as “the Good Duck Artist”. When some of his most dedicated fans finally tracked him down, belated celebrity began.

In 2013, Fantagraphics Books began chronologically collecting Barks’ Duck stuff in curated archival volumes, tracing his output year-by-year in hardback tomes and digital editions that finally did justice to the quiet creator. These will eventually comprise the Complete Carl Barks Disney Library. Physical copies are sturdy and luxurious albums – 193 x 260 mm – to grace any bookshelf, with volume 13 here resurrecting works spanning May 1952-November 1953 which includes a wealth of material from a landmark spooky seasonal release…

Everything here is written and drawn by Barks, but these comics inclusions come from a quite distant and very different time, so please be aware that – despite his diligent research and sensitive storytelling – some modern readers might be upset by occasionally outdated depictions and characterisations originally and innocently intended to generate thrills and laughs…

I should also not that the contents are not re-presented in strictly chronological order, but honestly do you really care as long they’re good?

It begins eponymously with ‘Trick or Treat’, which was the lead story in Donald Duck #26. Cover-dated November 1952, it was an unofficial Halloween special that proved quite controversial in its own way.

The story was an adaptation of a current cinema release, and Barks’ faithful interpretation of what was clearly acceptable to moviegoers surprisingly fell foul of his comics editor, who had him cut, excise and redraw much of the saga to make it less scary and more palatable. The full story of the story and its repercussions for the artist are discussed in the text sections of this collection and both Bark’s versions of ‘Trick or Treat’ are re-presented here so readers can judge for themselves…

The tale as Barks intended opens with a witch flying over a spooky old graveyard. Hazel is up for mischief and finds plenty when she teams up with Donald’s nephews who are seeking candied loot in the time-honoured tradition. However, when Donald meanly refuses to play along, it sparks a war of pranks, that escalates into a mystical duel that unleashes a most animated parade of ghosts and terrifying multi-limbed magical monster Smorgasdbord…

From the same issue ‘Hobblin’ Goblins’ sees The Nephews embroiled in inventor Gyro Gearloose’s latest crisis, with his highly dubious “Goblin Foiler” setting them on a catastrophic path of zany stunts to save Halloween whilst all the other kids are having fun with pumpkins and fancy dress, after which ‘A Prank Above’ sees the canny Junior Woodchucks actually outsmarted in their tricking by a crafty antiques dealer…

Barks was as adept with single-image and quick-fire gag vignettes as epic adventures: easily blending humour with drama and charm with action and captivating ideas. This book sees many of his best. At this time, Barks’ main gig was covers and mid-length (10 page) Donald yarns in flagship monthly anthology Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories. The following duck tales come from WDC&S #145 through #158 (October 1952-November 1953): a sequence of rapid fire romps that begin with ‘The Hypno-Gun’, as the Loco parentis confiscates an annoying toy and manages to self-delude himself into a “mesmerised” state. Believing himself tough and forceful, he’s easy prey for Uncle Scrooge, who makes him his bad debt collector…

WDC&S ##146 (November 1952) then reveals the story of scenic town ‘Omelet’ as Donald explains to Daisy how he once dabbled in chicken rearing – with outlandishly catastrophic consequences for the entire area…

This surreal disaster saga was purportedly based on Barks’ own recent attempts to make a little extra cash through some backyard farming, but I doubt similar origins sparked the tale that follows as super-lucky Gladstone Gander becomes an undeserving recipient of a social program run by Daisy. The worst part is that Donald is burdened with helping his smarmy cousin in ‘A Charitable Chore’…

Christmas hit hard in WDC&S 148 (cover-dated January 1953) as ultra-organised Donald sorted everything early only to find he’d forgotten to arrange his own seasonal feast. Determined not to do without he resolves to fool Uncle Scrooge to pay for it in ‘Turkey with All the Schemings’ but has not factored in his opponent’s mean nature and determination to save a penny…

A month later ‘Flip Decision’ saw Donald fall for a flim-flam man’s hokum and begin making every life decision on the basis of a coin-toss, whilst ‘My Lucky Valentine’ follows Donald’s heroic exploits as mailman in a major blizzard. His valiant record is only threatened once he realises his last delivery a romantic missive from Gladstone Gander to Daisy…

Issue #151 celebrated another seasonal highpoint as Donald is shortlisted for Grand Marshal of the forthcoming big parade. With Gladstone as the only other contender much politicking chicanery and bribery ensues but when he shockingly wins ‘The Easter Election’, Donald realises too late that no one can beat his rival’s supernatural fortune…

The May 1953 WDC&S (#152) is a vicious lampoon of gameshows as Donald tries many manic stunts to get on one and make a thousand bucks, even as the Nephews badger, pester and eventually provide a potential solution to his money worries by adopting ‘The Talking Dog’…

A big fishing contest descends into chaos when Donald switches to bait created by Gyro. In ‘Worm Weary’, the entire angling community is outraged and terrified by Don’s powerfully programmed and cooperative wrigglers who dive in and extract all the fish without human intervention, and soon our star is facing a fishy lynch mob…

Working as a realtor, Donald alienates everyone by seeking to sell an old pile currently used by the Nephews as a clubhouse in ‘Much Ado About Quackly Hall’, after which Scrooge adapts the Parable of the Talents to his succession planning and tests Donald, Gladstone and Huey, Dewey & Louie to determine who will eventually inherit and safeguard his money in ‘Some Heir Over the Rainbow’

The Brittle Master series is the name fans use to describe an occasionally-occurring group of stories wherein the perennially self-sabotaging, fiery-tempered and eternally put-upon everyman Duck displayed an astounding excellence in some unique skill, winning the approval and veneration of all and sundry – only to have his own smug hubris bring about ultimate humiliation and downfall.

It began with this tale from Walt Disney Comics & Stories #156 (September 1953) which showed Donald as ‘The Master Rainmaker’: a crop-dusting pilot and cloud-sculpting artiste delivering nigh-magical service to farmers and event-organisers. However, increasingly outrageous requests from his adoring public and his own bellicose nature lead Donald inevitably to disaster when jealousy over Gladstone’s monopoly of Daisy leads to the weather wizard’s accidental creation of a full-blown, devastating ice-storm.

A quirky change of pace came in the October issue where ‘The Money Stairs’ pitted Donald’s youth, fitness and determination against Scrooge’s limitless wealth in an escalating series of physical tasks that seemed too much to believe before #158 (November 1953) pauses the run for now with a manic moment as the boys build an apiary in the backyard that soon shuts down all of Duckburg in ‘Bee Bumbles’…

We end as we began with another strip from that contentious Halloween issue – DD #26 – as Barks successfully recycles a very old gag with Donald trying to scare Daisy in ‘Frightful Face’…

The comics are augmented by a sublime ‘Carl Barks Cover Gallery’ proving the Master’s gift for visual one-liners with a selection of frontages from Four Color (volume II) 394 & 450, Donald Duck #26-30 and Walt Disney Comics & Stories #145-158.

The visual verve over, we move on to validation with ‘Story Notes’ offering context and commentary for each Duck tale here, including the background battle of ‘Trick or Treat’ which is re-visited by Jared Gardner and expanded upon in ‘The Cutting Room Floor’, after which Donald Ault details ‘Carl Barks: Life Among the Ducks’.

‘Contributors’ introduces the commentators Ault, Alberto Beccatini, James Robert Cowles, R, Fiore, Craig Fischer, Gardner, Leonardo Gori, Thad Komorowski, Rich Kreiner, Bill Mason, Stefano Priarone and Francesco “Frank” Stajano and why they’re saying all those nice and informative things. We close as ever with an examination of provenance as ‘Where Did These Duck Stories First Appear?’ clarify the rather byzantine publishing schedules of Dell Comics and the chronology of this collection’s treats. No tricks, honest!

Carl Barks was one of the greatest exponents of comic art the world has ever seen, with almost all his work featuring Disney’s Duck characters: reaching and affecting untold billions across the world. You might be late to the party but don’t be scared: it’s never too late to climb aboard the Barks Express.
Walt Disney’s Donald Duck Trick or Treat © 2015 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All contents © 2015 Disney Enterprises, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.