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The Fires of Pele


By Hollace and Paul Davids & Sergio Aragonés, assisted by Lee Mishkin, with SFX by M.D. Wolf (Paul Davids Productions/Pictorial Legends)
ISBN: 978-0-93903-100-9

Here’s an intriguing and thoroughly fabulous photo-novel oddity from the 1980s – or as it should be known, the days before Photoshopâ„¢ – that still holds the power to enchant and delight even in an era where recordings of fan-favourite shows can be bought, bartered or downloaded at the click of a mouse.

For all you youngsters: photo-novels were paperback adaptations of movies or episodes of popular TV shows which used text and film-stills instead of drawn art to reproduce the story. Inexplicably popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s, they fell from favour with the rise of video, and latterly, laser-discs, DVD and other methods of actually owning the full-sensorium original material.

Cinema releases included Alien, Grease, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the 1978 Lord of the Rings and many others whilst TV editions included Dr. Who, The Incredible Hulk and an even dozen episodes of the Original Star Trek.

A few photo-novels such as Star Wars and Charlie’s Angels are still produced these days.

At the end of 1986 husband and wife screen writers Hollace and Paul Davids produced this excessively impressive and clever faux-fable blending the mythology of Hawaii and the Sandwich Islands with the peripatetic but well-documented wanderings of reporter-at-large Samuel Langhorne Clemens AKA Mark Twain.

An oversized 247x305mm, glossy 56 page modern fairytale, the illustrations here are original full-colour special effects cinematic plates (no cheap computer graphics packages or Photoshop, remember?) with a cast of actors creating the scenes in the manner of Fumetti/photo picture stories, further enhanced with designs and painted illustrations by Sergio Aragonés and Lee Mishkin – and the pen and ink maestro also provides a wealth of merry monochrome “marginals” of the Great Raconteur himself…

The story is beguilingly simple: whilst reporting on the Sandwich Islands for his employers the Sacramento Union newspaper in 1866, the adventuresome author encountered a race of magical Polynesian pixies known as Melehulas and was drawn into a battle between bold heroes and spiteful gods…

The great Prince Lakekua was to wed the foundling princess Analike, but the comely warrior had caught the eye of dreadful Pele, Goddess of Fire, Lightning, Wind and Volcanoes. After first trying unsuccessfully to seduce and compel the doughty warrior, Pele sent her malign kin, such as The Shark God, Moho the steam god and Earth-giant Kona to imprison the brave girl beyond the reach of man and destroy all who tried to find her.

Luckily for Lakekua, his trusty young friend Kakipoto knew such benevolent spirit creatures as the Menehulas, bestial master craftsman Kakamora and a host of other advantageous allies such as a fast-thinking, smooth talking visiting white traveller from distant shores…

Crammed with exotic scenarios, lush, incredible scenery, mighty battles, true love, talking fish, shape-shifting wizards, Demon Owls, Lizard-Ladies and the unjust wrath of the gods this is a marvellous romp in the grand Ray Harryhausen Bank Holiday movie manner and a splendid yarn long overdue for a modern revisitation.

Until then however, the original large slim tome is still readily available should you desperately need to explore the dark side of Paradise…
© 1986 Hollace & Paul Davids. All right reserved. Menehulas Photos © 1985 The Menehunes Group. All other photos © 1983 Paul Davids and Mark Wolf.

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Essential Hulk volume 4


By Roy Thomas, Archie Goodwin, Steve Englehart, Herb Trimpe, John Severin & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-1-7851-2193-5

By the close of the 1960s the Incredible Hulk had settled into a comfortable niche and satisfyingly effective formula as the tragic Bruce Banner sought cures for his gamma-transformative curse, alternately aided or hunted by prospective father-in-law US General “Thunderbolt” Ross and a variety of guest-star heroes and villains.

Herb Trimpe made the character his own, the “house” Jack Kirby-based art-style quickly evolving into often startlingly abstract mannerism, augmented by an unmatched facility for drawing technology and especially honking great ordnance and vehicles – all of which looks especially great in the crisp black and white of these magically affordable Essentials volumes. And of course no one can deny the cathartic reader-release of a great big “Hulk Smash!” moment…

This chronologically complete monochrome treat contains issues #143-170, spanning September 1971 – December 1973, and opens with an inevitable but long-delayed clash as the Jade Juggernaut battled Doctor Doom in the Roy Thomas, Dick Ayers & John Severin epics wherein the hunted Bruce Banner found ‘Sanctuary!’ in the New York Latverian Embassy. The deal was a bad one as the Iron Dictator proceeded to enslave the Gamma scientist for his bomb-making knowledge in an attempt to make his awesome alter ego into an unstoppable war machine…

The scheme went awry in ‘The Monster and the Madman!’ (Thomas, Gary Friedrich, Ayers & Severin) as the brainwashed Banner broke free of his conditioning thanks to Doom’s conflicted consort Valeria just in time for the Hulk to deliver a salutary lesson in mayhem throughout the dictator’s domain.

Incredible Hulk #145 found the monster invading a film-set in Egypt and accidentally awakening a prehistoric alien war-weapon in ‘Godspawn’, by Thomas, Len Wein, Herb Trimpe & Severin, whilst in America the military, in the form of Thunderbolt Ross, opened a dedicated anti-Hulk base named “Project Greenskin” after which Gerry Conway scripted Thomas’ plot for ‘And the Measure of a Man is… Death!’ wherein the Hulk faced sandstorms, bitter memories and the Israeli army in the deserts of Northern Egypt whilst in America the Hulkbuster base was already being infiltrated by android facsimiles constructed by the Jade Giant’s greatest foe.

As the Hulk headed instinctively homeward the infiltration threatened the US President himself and led to a catastrophic clash between Old Greenskin and The Leader as well as ‘The End of Doc Samson!’. That issue (#147) also included a moving and powerful vignette ‘Heaven is a Very Small Place!’ wherein Thomas, Trimpe & Severin took the tormented titan to the very edge of paradise before horrifying reality once more reasserted itself…

Archie Goodwin debuted as scripter – with a little plotting assistance from a very junior Chris Claremont – in ‘But Tomorrow… the Sun Shall Die!’ as the monster’s lost love Jarella travelled to Earth and a longed for reunion just as Banner was apparently cured of his curse by radical solar-energy experimentation. Unfortunately, the princess from the micro-verse accidentally brought with her a super-assassin determined to end her life at all costs and somehow triggered the sun into going nova…

Forced to become the monster once again to save his beloved, the Hulk was captured by Ross’s forces only to escape when an ancient threat returned to Earth in #149, hungry for radiation to survive in ‘… And Who Shall Claim This Earth His Own? The Inheritor!’

After dispatching that threat the Gamma Goliath wandered into the wilderness where he encountered on-sabbatical X-Man Alec Summers who had banished himself – with girlfriend Lorna Dane – to the deserts of New Mexico, terrified of his uncontrollable cosmic power in ‘Cry Hulk, Cry Havok!’ (#150 April 1972).

When Lorna encountered a menacing biker gang and an Emerald Giant violently protective of his privacy, Summers finally proved himself against the rampaging but easily distracted titan…

‘When Monsters Meet!’ pitted the Hulk against a radioactive horror resulting from a disastrous cancer-cure derived from Banner’s blood after which Friedrich, Ayers & Frank Giacoia asked ‘But Who Will Judge the Hulk?’ as the helpless Bruce Banner was sent to trial for the destruction wrought by his emerald alter ego: a guest-star studded two-parter which concluded in #153 ‘My World, My Jury!’ with additional art from Trimpe & Severin.

After explosively escaping the kangaroo court, the fugitive fury discovered ‘Hell is a Very Small Hulk!’ (Goodwin, Trimpe & Severin) when he swallowed a defective shrinking formula, created by the Astonishing Ant-Man, in a forlorn attempt to rejoin Jarella in her subatomic world. Snatched up by the face-shifting Chameleon and the assembled hordes of Hydra, the diminished brute still managed to quash their treasonous schemes – at the apparent cost of his life.

In actuality, the Hulk was shrinking in sporadic bursts, propelled into a succession of micro-worlds, including an impossible “Earth” where Nazis had won WWII in ‘Destination: Nightmare!’ before a cosmic entity named Shaper of Worlds tempted the Green Gargantuan with an empty paradise, before another shrinking spasm happily deposited him on Jarella’s world in time for ‘Holocaust at the Heart of the Atom!’ (inked by Sal Trapani) to pit him against his worst nightmare – himself – before again losing his true love to the vicissitudes of cruel fate,

Returned to Earth and normal size the Jade Goliath battled a brace of old enemies in ‘Name My Vengeance: Rhino!’ before being dispatched to the far side of the Sun and a clash on Counter-Earth with the messianic Adam Warlock in ‘Frenzy on a Far-Away World’, courtesy of Roy Thomas, Steve Gerber, Trimpe & Trapani. Meanwhile on our planet, heartbroken Betty Ross, believing her one true love was forever gone, married the over-attentive, ever present Major Glenn Talbot…

Steve Englehart took over the scripting chores with #159 and ‘Two Years Before the Abomination!’ as Banner and the Rhino returned to our embattled globe only to again be attacked by General Ross’ Hulkbuster forces; determined to kill Banner and safeguard America – and preserve his unsuspecting daughter’s new marriage…

However, the resulting conflagration awoke a comatose Gamma monster even more deadly than the Hulk…

‘Nightmare in Niagara!’ saw the misunderstood man-brute instinctively drawn to the honeymooning couple only to encounter amphibian outcast Tiger Shark in another blockbusting battle issue, after which his Northerly rampage took the Green Goliath to Canada and ‘Beyond the Border Lurks Death!’ wherein the Hulk became a reluctant ally of the recently hyper-mutated Hank McCoy – better known as the Bludgeoning Beast – in a battle against the Mimic, an old X-foe whose ability to absorb the attributes of others had gone tragically, catastrophically haywire and threatened to consume the entire Earth.

Still under Northern Lights, the Hulk encountered a terrifying horror called the Wendigo in ‘Spawn of the Flesh-Eater!’ but the maniacal man-eater harboured a tragically shattering secret which made it as much victim as villain…

Pushing ever Pole-ward the Hulk reached the top of world but could not elude Ross’ relentless pursuit. After a cataclysmic arctic clash both man-monster and his stalker fell into the clutches of Soviet prodigy the Gremlin (mutant offspring of the Hulk’s very first foe the Gargoyle: see Essential Hulk volume 1 for details) in ‘Trackdown’ and although the Gamma Giant broke free easily the American General became a highly embarrassing political prisoner…

Shambling into Polar seas the Hulk encountered a fantastic sub-sea colony of human aquatic nomads in #164’s ‘The Phantom from 5,000 Fathoms!’ and became a slave of egomaniacal Captain Omen who had created his own mobile submarine nation and roamed the ocean beds at will.

The draconian martinet had no idea how his dissatisfied clan hungered for freedom, fresh air and sunlight and would disastrously rebel to follow ‘The Green-Skinned God!’ to their doom…

Incredible Hulk #166 finally saw the Green Goliath return to New York just in time to encounter Battling Bowman Hawkeye and a brain-eating electrical monster dubbed Zzzax in ‘The Destroyer From the Dynamo!’ whilst in the sub-plot section, a bold bid to rescue Thunderbolt Ross from the Commies succeeded, but seemingly cost the life of his new son-in-law…

Jack Abel took over the inking duties in #167 with ‘To Destroy the Monster!’ as grieving widow Betty Ross-Talbot suffered a nervous breakdown and was targeted by intellectual murder mutant Modok and his agents of Advanced Idea Mechanics who needed an infallible weapon to break the Hulk.

Just as black ghetto kid Jim Wilson reconnected with the Emerald Behemoth the Hulk easily destroyed Modok’s giant Robot body but failed to prevent Betty’s abduction, but she retuned in the next issue as a Gamma-spawned avian horror programmed to destroy her former lover in ‘The Hate of the Harpy!’

Issue #169 saw the temporarily triumphant Harpy and her verdant victim trapped aboard an ancient floating fortress in the sky in ‘Calamity in the Clouds!’ and battling together against a monstrous Bi-Beast until Modok attacked and destroyed the last vestige of the sky-citadel, propelling the now human Banner and Betty onto a lost tropical island inhabited by incredible alien creatures in the Englehart, Chris Claremont, Trimpe & Abel ‘Death from on High!’ which cataclysmically concludes this fourth fabulous Essential Hulk extravaganza in tried and true bombastic style.

Before it all ends though, there’s one last treat in the form of an unused alternative cover to Hulk #166…

The Incredible Hulk is one of the most well-known comic characters on Earth, and these stories, as much as the movies, cartoons, TV shows, games, toys and action figures are the reason why. For an uncomplicated, honestly vicarious experience of Might actually being Right, you can’t do better than these yarns so why not Go Green – even if its only in monochrome and your own delirious head?
© 1971, 1972, 1973, 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Swords of the Swashbucklers – Marvel Graphic Novel #14


By Bill Mantlo & Jackson Guice; lettered by Ken Bruzenak & coloured by Alfred Ramirez (Marvel)
ISBN: 0-87135-002-5

During the 1980s the American comics scene experienced a magical proliferation of new titles and companies following the creation of the Direct Sales Market. With publishers now able to firm-sale straight to retail outlets rather than overprint and accept returned copies from non-specialised shops, the industry was able to support less generic titles and creators were able to experiment without losing their shirts.

In response Marvel developed its own line of creator-owned properties during the height of the creative explosion, generating a number of supremely impressive, idiosyncratic series on better quality paper in a variety of formats under the watchful, canny eye of Editor Archie Goodwin. The delightfully disparate line was called Epic Comics and the results reshaped the industry.

One of their earliest hits was a sparkling, rambunctious science fantasy serial with a delightfully familiar core concept: Pirates in Space.

Swords of the Swashbucklers debuted in a premiere Marvel Graphic Novel before graduating to an on-going Epic series in March 1985; created by the much missed Bill Mantlo and ‘Jackson “Butch” Guice, whose collaborative efforts had made the latter days of the Marvel Micronauts comicbook such a vibrant joy (and there’s another series simply gasping for an Essential Edition, should the arcane gods of Trademark and Licensing ever get their acts together…)

The oversized process-colour format had been a great success for the company: a venue for a variety of “big stories” told on larger than normal pages (285 x 220mm rather than the now customary 258 x 168mm, similar to the standard European albums of the times) featuring not only proprietary characters such as Iron Man or the New Mutants, but also licensed assets like Conan, media tie-ins such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and creator-owned properties including Jim Starlin’s Dreadstar, Cholly and Flytrap and many more.

Although little more than a prelude for the series that followed this scintillating romp is still a compelling rollercoaster adventure in its own right which begins on the South Carolina coastline the morning after a terrific storm had battered those isolated dunes.

Thirteen year old Domino Blackthorne Drake, descendent of a genuine buccaneer queen, is happily beach-combing with her cat Cap’n Kidd when they find an incredible alien device uncovered by the gales.

Although clearly centuries old, the thing is still active and, as her distracted parents discuss their marital problems, the bold little girl gets too close and the artefact unleashes a torrent of impossible energy into the helpless lass…

As the authorities take over and place the now comatose waif and bizarre device into government quarantine, across the universe a solar-sailed marauder attacks a colossal slave ship of the rapacious Colonizer Empire. In command of the freebooter “Starshadow” is charismatic, ruthless half-breed Raader – the scourge of intergalactic civilisation…

A merciless conglomeration of greedy knaves and pitiless cutthroats, the Swashbucklers are still more welcome on many worlds than the resource-plundering, slave-taking Colonizers and, after freeing the captives (whilst keeping all their treasures and possessions) the Starshadow heads for safe-harbour on the hidden world Haven.

Here, amidst fair-weather friends and openly hostile rivals, the pirate princess clashes and carouses before awakening in her mother’s house – a citadel the mysterious “Earthling” Bonnie Blackthorne has maintained for over two hundred years…

When the pirates intercept a signal from a long-lost Colonizer probe coming from beyond the cosmic phenomena dubbed the Cloudwall, the race is on to secure the riches of the new world hidden there…

Daring the intergalactic unknown and expansion-obsessed Colonizer ships, the Starshadow arrives on the legendary planet Earth only hours ahead of the Imperial survey forces. The primitive human forces swiftly fall between attacks from both pirates and invading alien conquerors, whilst the somnolent Domino slumbers on.

When the Surveyors seize the sleeper and her family, the girl snaps awake, filled with irresistible, uncanny energies and routs the raiding party, but not before her mother and father are taken aboard the Imperial flagship, which retreats back beyond the Cloudwall to report a new world to conquer.

Rescued by Raader Domino discovers an impossible shared heritage with the alien privateer and determines to join her on the other side of the sky, both to rescue her parents and possibly save her own unsuspecting world…

Straightforward, fast-paced adventure in the grand manner, supplemented by a ‘Saga of the Swashbucklers’ additional feature, this is a fine fun book well worthy of rediscovery, preferably with the entirety of the comicbook run that followed in one deluxe collection.

Until then, though all these items are readily available through many internet retailers, so dig deep, me thrill-starved Hearties…
© 1984 Bill Mantlo & Jackson Guice. All rights reserved. Swords of the Swashbucklers is ™ Bill Mantlo & Jackson Guice.

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Showcase Presents Sgt. Rock volume 1


By Robert Kanigher, Joe Kubert, Bob Haney, Ross Andru & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-1713-6

Sgt Rock and the “combat-happy Joes” of Easy Company are one of the great and enduring creations of the American comic-book industry. The gritty meta-realism of Robert Kanigher’s ordinary guys in life-or-death situations captured the imaginations of generations of readers, young and old. So pervasive is this icon of comicbook combat, that’s it’s hard to grasp that Rock is not an immortal industry prototype like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman – with us since the earliest moments of the industry – but is in fact a late addition to and child of the Silver Age of Comics.

This initial compendium collects in stunning black and white the tentative first steps in the character’s evolution from G.I. Combat #68 and Our Army at War #81-82 to the first full barrage of battle blockbusters from OAAW #83-117, covering January 1959 to April 1962, a period wherein all American comics were undergoing a staggering revolution in style, theme and quality.

Behind the stunning Jerry Grandenetti cover (the first of many in this impressive tome) from G.I. Combat #68, January 1959, lurks a quiet, unassuming story (by Kanigher & Joe Kubert) of an anonymous boxer who wasn’t particularly skilled but simply refused to be beaten. When ‘The Rock!’ enlisted in the US Army, however, that same Horatian quality attained mythic proportions as he held back an overwhelming Nazi attack by sheer grit and determination, remaining bloody but unbowed on a field littered with dead and broken men.

Dubbed “Rocky” the character returned as a sergeant in the April Our Army at War (#81) again facing superior German forces as ‘The Rock of Easy Co.!’ in a brief but telling vignette by Bob Haney, Ross Andru & Mike Esposito and finally won a personal identity as Sgt. Rock next issue, in the Mort Drucker illustrated ‘Hold Up Easy!’: another harsh and declarative mini-epic from Kanigher which saw hard-luck heroes Easy Company delayed and then saved by callow replacements who eventually came good…

Our Army at War #83 (June 1959) saw the true launch of the immortal everyman hero in ‘The Rock and the Wall!’ by Kanigher & Kubert: a tough-love, battlefield tutor shepherding his men to competence and survival amidst the constant perils of war. Here he met a rival for his men’s admiration in the equally impressive Joe Wall…

Irv Novick illustrated ‘Laughter on Snakehead Hill!’ as the embattled dog-faces of Easy fought to take a heavily fortified citadel whilst OAAW #85 introduced the first continuing cast member in the Kubert limned ‘Ice Cream Soldier!’ as Rock assuaged a fearful replacement’s jangled nerves with tales of another hopeless “green apple” who grew into his job.

This ploy of incorporating brief past-action episodes into a baptism of fire scenario would play over and over again and never got old…

Haney returned in #86 to script ‘Tank 711’ for Kubert as the terse top-kick educated another newbie in combat etiquette. Kanigher returned to describe the taking of “No-Return-Hill” and the initiation of four more raw recruits in ‘Calling Easy Co.!’ after which Grandenetti illustrated a brace of tales in #88 and 89; ‘The Hard Way’ in which Rock suffered a shocking crisis of confidence and ‘No Shot from Easy!’ wherein the indomitable sergeant was forced to give his toughest ever order…

Issue#90 holds classic Kubert as ‘Three Stripes Hill!’ revealed the story of how Rock won his stripes and the traditionally anthological Our Army at War offered three complete Sgt. Rock stories in #91, beginning with ‘No Answer From Sarge!’ as the NCO risked everything to drag a recruit out of a crippling funk, ‘Old Soldiers Never Run!’ where he had to weigh an old man’s pride against Easy’s continued existence, and the Haney scripted tragic fable of a sole-surviving Scottish soldier in ‘The Silent Piper!’

Issue #92 saw Kanigher and Kubert tackle battlefield superstitions in ‘Luck of Easy!’, ‘Deliver One Airfield!’ introduced Zack Nolan, a son of privilege who had to learn teamwork the hard way and #94’s ‘Target… Easy Company’ pitted the company against a German General determined to eradicate the high-profile heroes.

OAAW #95 debuted the charismatic and ambitious Bulldozer Nichols who wanted Rock’s rank and position in ‘Battle of the Stripes!’, after which ‘Last Stand for Easy!’ saw the still in-charge top-kick compelled to relinquish his lead-from-the-front position and ‘What Makes a Sergeant Run?’ found him again sharing his war wisdom with the young and the hapless.

Haney penned ‘Soldiers Never Die!’ in #98 with Rock forced to overcome his team’s trauma at losing a beloved comrade whilst Kanigher described ‘Easy’s Hardest Battle!’ in #99 as the weary warrior recalled a number of instances which all qualified, before once more triumphing over insurmountable odds.

The Stalwart Sergeant risked everything to save a broken replacement in #100’s ‘No Exit For Easy!’ and repeated the task in ‘End of Easy!’ when a parachute drop went tragically awry, before #102’s ‘The Big Star!’ saw the consequences of depending on a young man utterly unsuited for combat…

‘Easy’s Had It!’ in #103 was another Haney contribution, exploring what happened when Rock was wounded and the company had to fight without their guiding light and lucky talisman, after which Kanigher assumed full script duties beginning with #104 and ‘A New Kind of War!’ with the grizzled vet totally outgunned by a valiant nurse who refused to retreat and never surrendered.

‘TNT Birthday!’ in #105 had Rock worried about the underage kid who had somehow got past all the instructors to join Easy under terrifying fire and ‘Meet Lt. Rock!’ (illustrated by Novick) saw the inveterate non-com forcibly promoted until he managed to undo the horrify prospect and #107’s ‘Doom Over Easy!’ again saw the savvy soldiers afflicted by crippling superstition.

The superb Russ Heath drew his first Rock strip in OAAW #108: ‘The Unknown Sergeant!’ found the Combat-Happy Joes passing through a French village with a statue of a WWI Yank “doughboy” bearing an uncanny resemblance to their own indomitable leader – provoking some very uncomfortable historical hallucinations – whilst Kubert’s return in #109’s ‘Roll Call of Heroes!’ signalled a dose of grim reality when Rock recalled his own deadly baptism of fire and lost comrades, after which a green Lieutenant almost caused mutiny and murder until he learned the rules of Combat Arithmetic in ‘That’s An Order!’

‘What’s the Price of a Dogtag?’ was painfully answered in the occupied streets and on seemingly deserted beaches in #111 whilst ‘Battle Shadow!’ focused on the burgeoning supporting cast in a blistering explosive extravaganza and African American soldier Jackie Johnson took centre stage (in a bold early example of comicbook affirmative action) for a memorable last-stand moment in ‘Eyes of a Blind Gunner’ in #113 (December 1961).

The incessant toll of lost comrades hit hard in ‘Killer Sergeant!’, whilst the civilian survivors and partisans who comprised ‘Rock’s Battle Family!’ helped him survive the worst the war could throw at him and featured a cameo from French Resistance star Mademoiselle Marie, but the ragged warrior was all alone when he answered #116’s ‘S.O.S. Sgt. Rock!’ to save lost comrade Ice Cream Soldier…

This inaugural battle-book concludes with a dramatic tale of three hopelessly square pegs who finally found their deep, round holes in #117’s traumatic saga of ‘The Snafu Squad!’

Robert Kanigher at his worst was a declarative, heavy-handed and formulaic writer, but when writing his best stuff – as he does here – an imaginative, evocative, iconoclastic and heart-rending reporter and observer of the warrior’s way and the unchanging condition of the dedicated and so very human ordinary foot-slogging G.I.

With superb combat covers from Kubert, Grandenetti, and Heath fronting each episode this battle-book is a visually perfect compendium and is a lost delight for any jaded comics fan looking for something more than flash and dazzle.

A perfect example of true Shock and Awe; these are stories every fan should see.
© 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Requiem Vampire Knight Tome 5: The City of Pirates and Blood Bath


By Pat Mills & Ledroit (Panini Books UK)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-496-6

As is so often the case Europe is the last and most beneficial arena for the arts and untrammelled creativity, and none more so than comics and sequential narrative. Mercifully the Continent cherishes the best of the world’s past as well as nurturing the fresh and new, without too much concern for historical bugbears of political correctness, transient social impropriety and contemporary censoriousness – which is why so many established English language strip creators produce their best work there.

Perhaps it’s simply that they revere not revile the popular arts as much as all those hoity-toity classical ones….

Requiem Vampire Knight is an impressive example of self-publishing done right, and happily with commensurate rewards. For years writer Pat Mills wanted to break into the European market and in 2000 he did so by setting up Nickel Editions with publisher Jacques Collin (whose Zenda Editions produced some of the nicest looking albums of the 1980s) and artist Olivier Ledroit who illustrated the first four books of the incredibly popular Chroniques de la Lune Noire (Black Moon Chronicles) for Zenda before the series transferred to Dargaud. Mills and Ledroit were already old comrades having previously worked on the impressive Sha.

Mills is well known to readers of this blog (see for example Marshal Law: Fear and Loathing and his incontestable masterpiece Charley’s War) but perhaps Ledroit is not so familiar. After studying Applied Arts he began his career as an illustrator for games magazines and broke into Bandes Dessinee (that’s comics to us Anglaise) in 1989 with the aforementioned Black Moon Chronicles, written by François Marcela Froideval.

Specialising in fantasy art Ledroit drew Thomas Mosdi’s Xoco (1994) before teaming with Pat Mills on the acerbic, futurist thriller Sha, set in an ultra-religious fascistic USA (1996-1999 and thematically in the real world any minute now).

His lush painterly style was adapted to fairytales in 2003 with L’Univers Féerique d’Olivier Ledroit, and he is credited as one of the founding fathers of the darkly baroque fantasy sub-genre BD Gothique.

From a financially shaky start Requiem Vampire Knight quickly proved that quality will always find an audience and Nickel swiftly expanded whilst continuing the excessively adult adventures of deceased warrior Heinrich Augsburg. The saga is released as annual albums in France and has been serialized in Germany as Requiem Der Vampirritter and in America’s Heavy Metal (beginning in Volume 27 #1, March 2003).

Two years ago Panini UK brought this evocative series to Britain in superb oversized, A4 format, double-editions presenting two albums per volume and the fifth compendium is here just in time to assault the Christmas market. The City of Pirates and Blood Bath continues the hell-bent saga of a conflicted Nazi doomed to unlive his life as a vampire warrior in a macabre inverse world of evil, which began in Requiem Vampire Knight Tome 1: Resurrection and Danse Macabre.

Augsburg was a German officer killed on the Eastern Front in 1944. As he died all he could think of was his guilt over a doomed affair with the Jewess Rebecca whom he chose not to save when the Gestapo came for her…

Resurrection is a brooding, blood-drenched world of eternal strife and warfare: a grim, fantastic, necromantic mirror of Earth with the seas and land-masses reversed, where time runs backwards and denizens grow younger day by day – if they’re not “expired” first by any of a billion-and-one friends, allies, total strangers or archest enemies.

The charnel realm is populated by all the worst sinners of Earth reincarnated as monsters of myth in a damned domain where the dead mortals are reborn in ranks and hierarchies determined by their sins on Earth. Their only purpose is to expiate or exacerbate the sins of their former lives…

Heinrich (now called Requiem) is a Vampire: one of the top predators in this bloody post-existence reality, pinnacle of Hell’s pyramid of puissance and a full knight at the court of Dracula.

Requiem and his blood-draining kin are trapped in a spiral of bloodletting, debauchery and intrigue and his position is far from secure. Not only has he earned the enmity of the treacherous faction of elite Nosferatu led by Lady Claudia Demona, Lord Mortis and Baron Samedi, but it appears that he may be a returned soul…

Long before Augsberg died on a frozen battlefield, killed by a Russian he was trying to rape, the Templar Heinrich Barbarossa had committed such atrocities in the name of Christianity that he was guaranteed a place in Dracula’s inner circle when he inevitably reached Resurrection.

However the remade Barbarossa/Vampire Knight Thurim committed such an unpardonable crime that he and it were excised from the court and Resurrection itself.

But in this volume, Requiem, plagued by memories of a doomed affair with a proscribed Jewess named Rebecca, is in the midst of a cataclysmic all-out war involving every ghastly inhabitant of the blazing inferno they’re pent within…

Amidst the factions of Vampires, Gods, arcane Archaeologists, Lamias, Werewolves, Ghouls and so many others, Rebecca too has reconstituted in Resurrection. Her only chance of eternal rest is to expire the one responsible for her being there…

I’d strongly advise picking up the previous chronicles before this one if back-story means much too you, since Mills & Ledroit don’t waste any time or space on catching up, but storm straight into the unfolding epic with a staggering climax to the all-encompassing war between the unruly desperadoes of Aerophagia, The City of Pirates and Dark Harbour, capital and stronghold of the Vampire Court of Draconia.

Along the breakneck way we discover that the second most important man in post-War America was the earthly identity and hideous soul reconstituted as the deadly Buccaneer Queen Lady Mitra, who has been trading with the living world of Earth for holy weaponry capable of destroying Nosferatu, whilst the conflicted and irresolute warrior Requiem makes an unlikely conquest who will again divert him from his quest for Rebecca.

Also drawing attention is the samurai vampire Dragon, bound to the pirate cause by his ancient – and therefore baby-like – sensei Tengu, but whose own unholy dream is to find and expire the man who caused the atomic death of Hiroshima…

As the conflict escalates to a bloody, burning climax all of Resurrection is embroiled in the constant carnage and even the most exalted monsters begin to falter and finally “die”…

With everything in uproar Dracula begins his final moves in the bloody game as Requiem, torn between desire, duty and despair faces off against his martial and spiritual counterpart Dragon…

Blood Bath combines the incredible end of the war with Mills’ signature blackly mordant bad-taste humour, as a peerless duel between the Vampire Knights devolves into murderous slapstick as demon-infant Tengu battles his own master (Requiem’s teacher and sponsor Cryptos – an even younger baby-thing) whilst a euphoric Lady Mitra invades the Vampire sanctum intent of sealing her victory in the ichor of undead elite Lady Zarkov and Queen Bathory.

Tragically for her, Mitra succeeds and learns a horrifying ultimate truth…

Meanwhile, in a far corner of the realm the race of dragons who once were England’s greatest champions are moving against their once-ally Draconia…

Unrelentingly hard and heavy, this spectacularly decadent, opulent, Machiavellian dalliance with the wildest dreams – and grim, black wit – of a new De Sade, this book ends on yet another cliffhanger as the Vampire Lord prepares to make his endgame move, but that a blood-drenched spectacle for a later day…

For any fan of Mills’ work there nothing truly new here to be shocked by, but the liberating license to explore his favourite themes guided only by his own conscience and creative integrity has resulted in a complex, intensely compelling epic of revenge and regret on the most uncompromising of worlds where there is literally no justice and no good deed ever goes unpunished.

Blending cosmic warfare with sardonic deadpan humour, wrapped in the ludicrously OTT trappings of sadomasochistic fetishism, this is a truly epic saga of Gothic hopelessness perfect for the post-punk, post-revisionary, lavishly anti-reductionist fantasy fan.

But it’s probably best if you don’t show your gran or the vicar and certainly not your – or anybody else’s – kids. They’ve probably got their own copies anyway…

Ledroit’s illustration is utterly astonishing. In places delightfully reminiscent of Druillet’s startlingly visual and deceptively vast panel-scapes from such lost masterpieces as Yragael: Urm as well the paradoxically nihilistic energy of such decadent Michael Moorcock civilisations as Granbretan or Melniboné, he has created a truly unique scenario with his vibrant palette. Never has the horrific outer darkness been so colourfully captured and the sheer scope of the numerous ambulatory nightmares and eye-popping battles is utterly mind-boggling.

A darkly grim and mordantly cynical secularist dream, this is a fabulously realized adult fantasy of blood and thunder both beguiling and addictive.

Dark, dark magic!

© 2009, 2010, 2011 Nickel/Mills/Ledroit.  All rights Reserved.

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Showcase Presents Legion of Super-Heroes volume 1


By Otto Binder, Jerry Siegel, Edmond Hamilton, Curt Swan, John Forte & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1- 4012-1382-4

Once upon a time, in the far future, a band of super-powered kids from dozens of alien civilisations took inspiration from the greatest legend of all time and formed a club of heroes. One day those Children of Tomorrow came back in time and invited that legend to join them…

And thus began the vast and epic saga of the Legion of Super-Heroes, as first envisioned by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino in early 1958, just as the revived comicbook genre of superheroes was gathering an inexorable head of steam. Since that time the fortunes and popularity of the Legion have perpetually waxed and waned, with their future history tweaked and rebooted, retconned and overwritten again and again to comply with editorial diktat and popular whim.

This glorious, far-and-wide ranging monochrome collection assembles the many preliminary appearances of these valiant Tomorrow People and their inevitable progress towards and attainment of their own feature; including all pertinent material from Adventure Comics #247, 267, 282, 290, 293, and 300-321, Action Comics #267, 276, 287 and 289, Superboy #86, 89, 98, Superman #147, Superman Annual #4 and Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #72 and 76.

The many-handed mob of juvenile universe-savers debuted in Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958) in a Superboy tale wherein three mysterious kids invited the Boy of Steel to the 30th century to join a team of metahuman champions all inspired by his historic career. Created by Otto Binder & Al Plastino, the throwaway concept inflamed public imagination and after a slew of further appearances throughout Superman Family titles, the LSH eventually took over Superboy’s lead spot in Adventure for their own far-flung, quirky escapades, with the Caped Kid Kryptonian reduced to “one of the in-crowd”…

However here the excitement was still gradually building as the kids returned more than a 18 months later in Adventure #267 (December 1959) for Jerry Siegel & George Papp to play with. In ‘Prisoner of the Super-Heroes!‘ the teen wonders turned up to attack and incarcerate the Boy of Steel because of a misunderstood ancient record…

The following summer Supergirl met the Legion in Action Comics #267 (August 1960, by Siegel & Jim Mooney) as Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy secretly travelled to “modern day” America to invite the Maid of Might to join the team, in a repetition of their offer to Superboy 15 years previously (in nit-picking fact they claimed to be the children of the original team – a fact glossed over and forgotten these days: don’t time-travel stories make your head hurt…?).

Due to a dubious technicality, young and eager Kara Zor-El failed her initiation at the hands of ‘The Three Super-Heroes’ and was asked to reapply later – but at least we got to meet a few more Legionnaires, including Chameleon Boy, Invisible Kid and Colossal Boy…

With the editors still cautiously testing the waters, it was Superboy #86 (January 1961) before the ‘The Army of Living Kryptonite Men!’ by Siegel & Papp turned the LSH into a last-minute Deus ex Machina to save the Smallville Sentinel from juvenile delinquent Lex Luthor’s most insidious assault. Two months later in Adventure #282, Binder & Papp introduced Star Boy as a romantic rival for the Krypton Kid in ‘Lana Lang and the Legion of Super-Heroes!’

Action #276 (May 1961) introduced ‘Supergirl’s Three Super Girl-Friends’ by Siegel & Mooney, which finally saw the her crack the plasti-glass ceiling and join the team, sponsored by Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl and Triplicate Girl. We also met for the first time Bouncing Boy, Shrinking Violet, Sun Boy and potential bad-boy love-interest Brainiac 5 (well at least his distant ancestor Brainiac was a very bad boy…)

Next comes a pivotal two-part tale ‘Superboy’s Big Brother’ (by Robert Bernstein & Papp from Superboy #89, June 1961) in which an amnesiac, super-powered space traveller crashes in Smallville, speaking Kryptonese and carrying star-maps written by the Boy of Steel’s long-dead father…

Jubilant, baffled and suspicious in equal amounts the Superboy eventually, tragically discovered ‘The Secret of Mon-El’ by accidentally exposing the stranger to a lingering, inexorable death, before desperately providing critical life-support by depositing the dying alien in the Phantom Zone until a cure could be found…

With an August 1961 cover-date Superman #147 unleashed ‘The Legion of Super-Villains’ (Siegel, Curt Swan & Sheldon Moldoff): a stand-out thriller featuring Lex Luthor and the adult Legion coming far too close to destroying the Action Ace until the temporal cavalry arrived…

Adventure #290 (November) by Bernstein & Papp seemingly gave Sun Boy a starring role in ‘The Secret of the Seventh Super-Hero!’ – a clever tale of redemption and second chances, followed in #293 (February 1962) by a gripping thriller from Siegel, Swan & George Klein: ‘The Legion of Super-Traitors’ wherein the future heroes were turned evil, prompting Saturn Girl to recruit a Legion of Super-Pets including Krypto, Streaky the Super Cat, Beppo, the monkey from Krypton and Comet the magical Super-horse to save the world – and yes, I typed all that with a reasonably straight face…

‘Supergirl’s Greatest Challenge!’ by Siegel & Mooney (Action #287 April 1962) saw her visit the Legion (quibblers be warned: for some reason it was mis-determined as the 21st century in this story) and saved future Earth from invasion. She also met a telepathic descendent of her cat Streaky. His name was Whizzy (I could have omitted that fact but chose not to – once more for smug, comedic effect and in sympathy with cat owners everywhere)…

Action #289 featured ‘Superman’s Super-Courtship!’ wherein the Girl of Steel scoured the universe for an ideal mate for her cousin. One highly possible candidate was the adult Saturn Woman, but her husband Lightning Man objected… Perhaps charming at the time, but modern sensibilities might quail at the conclusion that his perfect match was a doppelganger of Supergirl herself, but thankfully a bit older…

By the release of Superboy #98 (July 1962), the decision had been made. The buying public wanted more Legion stories and after ‘The Boy With Ultra-Powers’ by Siegel, Swan & Klein introduced a mysterious lad with greater powers than the Boy of Steel, focus shifted to Adventure Comics #300 (cover dated September 1962) where the futuristic super-squad finally landed their own gig; even occasionally taking an alternating cover-spot from the still top-featured Superboy.

Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes opened its stellar run with ‘The Face Behind the Lead Mask!’ by Siegel, John Forte & Plastino; a fast-paced premier which pitted Superboy and the 30th century champions against an impossibly unbeatable foe until Mon-El, long-trapped in the Phantom Zone, briefly escaped a millennium of confinement and saved the day…

In those halcyon days humour was as important as action, imagination and drama, so many of the early exploits were light-hearted and moralistic. Issue #301 offered hope to fat kids everywhere with ‘The Secret Origin of Bouncing Boy!’ by regular creative team Siegel & Forte, wherein the process of open auditions was instigated (providing devoted fans with loads of truly bizarre and memorable applicants over the years) whilst allowing the rebounding human rotunda to give a salutary pep talk and inspirational recount of heroism persevering over adversity.

Adventure #302 featured ‘Sun Boy’s Lost Power!’ as the golden boy was forced to resign until fortune and boldness restored his abilities whilst ‘The Fantastic Spy!’ in #303 provided a tense tale of espionage and possible betrayal by new member Matter-Eater Lad.

The happy readership was stunned by the events of #304 when Saturn Girl engineered ‘The Stolen Super-Powers!’ to make herself a one-woman Legion. Of course it was for the best possible reasons, but still didn’t prevent the shocking murder of Lightning Lad…

With comfortable complacency utterly destroyed #305 further shook everything up with ‘The Secret of the Mystery Legionnaire!’ who turned out to be the long-suffering Mon-El finally cured and freed from his Phantom Zone prison.

Normally I’d try to be more obscure about story details – after all my intention is to get new people reading old comics – but these “spoiler” revelations are crucial to further understanding here and besides you all know these characters are still around, don’t you?

Pulp science fiction writer Edmond Hamilton took over the major scripting role with Adventure #306 and introduced ‘The Legion of Substitute Heroes!’ (still quirkily, perfectly illustrated by John Forte): a group of rejected applicants who selflessly banded together to clandestinely assist the champions who had spurned them, after which transmuting orphan Element Lad joined the team, seeking vengeance of the space pirates who had wiped out his entire species in ‘The Secret Power of the Mystery Super-Hero!’ and #308 seemingly saw ‘The Return of Lightning Lad!’

Spoiler Warning: skip to the next paragraph NOW!!! if you don’t want to know it was actually his similarly empowered sister who once unmasked – and unmanned – took her brother’s place as Lightning Lass…

‘The Legion of Super-Monsters!’ was a straightforward clash with embittered applicant Jungle King who took his rejection far too personally and gathered a deadly clutch of space beasts to wreak havoc and vengeance whilst ‘The Doom of the Super-Heroes!’ in #310 was a frantic battle for survival against an impossible foe and Adventure #311 saw ‘The War Between the Substitute Heroes and the Legionnaires!’ begin with a cease-and-desist order from the A-Team which turned into secret salvation as the plucky, stubborn outcasts carried on anyway under the very noses of the blithely oblivious LSH…

Issue #312 (September 1963) saw the ‘The Super-Sacrifice of the Legionnaires!’ and the inevitable resurrection of Lightning Lad – but only after the harrowing sacrifice of one devoted team-member – whilst in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #72 (October) ‘The World of Doomed Olsens!’ (Siegel, Swan & Klein) depicted an intriguing enigma wherein the cub-reporter was confronted by materialisations of his most memorable metamorphoses (see the Superman: the Amazing Transformations of Jimmy Olsen for further details), only to deduce it was all a prank by those naughty Legion scamps… but one with a serious purpose behind the jolly japery…

In #313’s ‘The Condemned Legionnaires!’ (Hamilton, Swan, Klein & Forte) Supergirl played a starring role when the mysterious Satan Girl infected the team with a deadly plague and forced them all into perpetual quarantine whilst ‘The Super-Villains of All Ages!’ (illustrated by Forte) had a manic mastermind steal a Legion Time-Bubble to recruit the greatest monsters and malcontents of history – Nero, Hitler and John Dillinger – as his irresistible army of crime.

Why he was surprised when they double-crossed him and took over the bodies of Superboy, Mon-El and Ultra Boy is beyond me… Happily, the lesser legionnaires still proved more a match for the brain-switched rogues.

‘The Legionnaires Super-Contest!’ in #315 finally saw the Substitute heroes go public, for which the primary team offered to allow one of them to join the big boys. Which one? That’s the contest part…

Issue #316’s ‘The Renegade Super-Hero!’ saw one trusted team-mate revealed as a career criminal and go on the run, but of course there was more to the tale than first appeared, after which the heroes were introduced to ‘The Menace of Dream Girl!’ a ravishing clairvoyant who beguiled her way into the Legion for her own obscure, arcane reasons. In her well-meaning way she presaged the coming of deadly threat The Time Trapper and also found a moment to convert the electrically redundant sister of the revived Lightning Lad into the gravity-defying Light Lass.

Adventure #318 featured ‘The Mutiny of the Legionnaires!’ wherein Sun Boy succumbed to battle fatigue and became a draconian Captain Bligh during an extended rescue mission, whilst in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #76 (April 1964) Siegel & Forte described ‘Elastic Lad Jimmy and his Legion Romances!’ wherein the plucky journalist was inveigled into the future and found himself inexplicably irresistible to the comely costumed champions of Tomorrow. It wasn’t his primitive charm, though…

Hamilton & Forte began a strong run of grittier tales from #319 on, beginning with ‘The Legion’s Suicide Squad!’ as the Science Police asked the team to destroy, at all costs, a monolithic space fortress, whilst #320 debuted a daring new character in Dev-Em, a forgotten survivor of Superman’s dead homeworld who was little more than a petty thug when Superboy first defeated him.

Now in ‘The Revenge of the Knave From Krypton!’ by Siegel, Forte, Papp, Moldoff & Plastino, the rapscallion returned as either a reformed undercover cop or the greatest traitor in history…

The story portion of this wonderful tome concludes with Adventure #321 and ‘The Code of the Legion!’ by Hamilton, Forte & Plastino which revealed the team’s underlying Articles of Procedure during a dire espionage flap, whilst testing one Legionnaire to the limits of his honour and ingenuity and actually ending another’s service forever.

Perhaps.

This is followed by an appropriate extra from Superman Annual #4 which featured a two-page informational guide illustrated and pictorial check-list of the team by Swan & Klein which was amended and supplemented in Adventure #316 with an additional two pages of stunning micro-pin-ups, all faithfully included here. This fabulously innocent and imaginative chronicle also includes every cover the team starred on: mostly the work of honorary Legionnaire Curt Swan and inkers George Klein, Stan Kaye, and Sheldon Moldoff.

The Legion is undoubtedly one of the most beloved and bewildering creations in American comicbook history and largely responsible for the growth of the groundswell movement that became Comics Fandom. Moreover, these sparkling, simplistic and devastatingly addictive stories as much as the legendary Julie Schwartz Justice League fired up the interest and imaginations of a generation of young readers and built the industry we all know today.

These naive, silly, joyous, stirring and utterly compelling yarns are precious and fun beyond any ability to explain – even if we old lags gently mock them to ourselves and one another. If you love comics and haven’t read this stuff, you are the poorer for it and need to enrich your future life as soon as possible.

© 1958-1964, 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Showcase Presents Green Arrow volume 1


By France Herron, Dave Wood, Jack Kirby, George Papp, Lee Elias & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-0785-4

Green Arrow is one of DC’s Golden All-Stars: a fixture of the company’s landscape, in many instances for no discernable reason, more or less continually since his debut in 1941. He was originally created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp for More Fun Comics # 73 as an attempt to expand the company’s superhero portfolio, and in the early years proved quite successful. The bowman and boy partner Speedy were two of the few costumed heroes to survive the end of the Golden Age.

His blatant recombination of Batman and Robin Hood seemed to have very little going for itself but the Emerald Archer has somehow always managed to keep himself in vogue. He carried on adventuring in the back of other heroes’ comicbooks, joined the Justice League of America at the peak of their fame and became the spokes-hero of the anti-establishment generation during the 1960’s “Relevancy Comics” trend, courtesy of Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams.

Under Mike Grell’s stewardship and thanks to the epic miniseries Green Arrow: the Longbow Hunters (DC’s second ‘Prestige Format Mini-Series’ after the groundbreaking success of Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns) he at last became a headliner: an urban predator dealing with corporate thugs and serial killers rather than costumed goof-balls.

After his long career and a few venue changes, by the time Julie Schwartz’s revivification of the Superhero genre the Emerald Archer was solid second feature in both Adventure and World’s Finest Comics where, as part of the wave of retcons, reworkings and spruce-ups the company administered to all their remaining costumed old soldiers, a fresh start began in the summer of 1958…

This splendidly eclectic collection of the peripatetic Bowman’s perennial second string exploits gathers the pertinent material from Adventure Comics #250-269, World’s Finest Comics #95-140, Justice League of America #4 and his guest-shots in Brave and the Bold #50, 71 and 85, covering the period July 1958 to September 1969.

Part of that revival happily coincided with the return to National Comics of Jack Kirby after the collapse of Mainline: the comics company he and partner Joe Simon had created as part of the Crestwood/Prize publishing combine.

Not long after that groundbreaking move the industry was hit by the Comics Code censorship controversy and a sales downturn that hit many creators very, very hard…

This stunning monochrome compendium opens with ‘The Green Arrows of the World’ (by scripter Dave Wood and Jack with wife Roz inking) wherein heroic masked archers from many nations attended a conference in Star City unaware that a fugitive criminal was lurking within their midst, whilst that same month George Papp illustrated the anonymously scripted ‘Green Arrow vs Red Dart’ in World’s Finest Comics #95, a dashing tale of the Ace Archer’s potential criminal counterpart and his inevitable downfall.

Adventure #251 took a welcome turn to fantastic science fiction as Ed Herron & the Kirbys resolved ‘The Case of the Super-Arrows’ wherein the heroes took possession of high-tech trick shafts from 3000AD, whilst WFC #96 (writer unknown) revealed ‘Five Clues to Danger’ – a classic kidnap mystery made even more impressive by Kirby’s lean, raw illustration.

A rare continued case spanned Adventure‘s #252 and 253 as Wood, Jack & Roz revealed ‘The Mystery of the Giant Arrows’ before Green Arrow and Speedy temporarily became ‘Prisoners of Dimension Zero’ – a spectacular riot of giant aliens and incredible exotic otherworlds, followed in WF #97 with a grand old-school crime-caper in Herron’s ‘The Mystery of the Mechanical Octopus’.

Kirby was going from strength to strength and Adventure #254’s ‘The Green Arrow’s Last Stand’, written by Wood, is a particularly fine example as the Bold Bowmen crashed into a hidden valley where Sioux braves had thrived unchanged since the time of Custer whilst the next issue saw them battle a battalion of Japanese soldiers who refused to surrender their island bunker in ‘The War That Never Ended’ (also by Wood).

World’s Finest #98 almost ended the heroes’ careers in Herron’s ‘The Unmasked Archers’ wherein a practical joke caused the pair to expose themselves to public scrutiny and deadly danger…

During those heady days origins weren’t as important as imaginative situations, storytelling and just plain getting on with it, so co-creators Weisinger & Papp never bothered to provide one, leaving later workmen Herron, Jack & Roz (in Kirby’s penultimate tale before devoting all his energies to the fabulous newspaper strip Sky Masters) to fill in the blanks with ‘The Green Arrow’s First Case’ as the Silver Age superhero revival hit its stride in Adventure Comics #256 (January 1959).

Here we learned how wealthy wastrel Oliver Queen was cast away on a deserted island and learned to use a hand-made bow simply to survive. When a band of scurvy mutineers fetched up on his desolate shores Queen used his newfound skills to defeat them and returned to civilisation with a new career and secret purpose…

Adventure #257’s ‘The Arrows That Failed’ saw a criminal mastermind tamper with the archer’s equipment in a low-key but intriguing yarn by an unknown scripter, most memorable for being the first artistic outing for golden-age great Lee Elias who would become the strip’s sole artist until its demise after Kirby’s spectacular swan-song in WF #99. ‘Crimes Under Glass’ was written by Robert Bernstein and found the GA and Speedy battling cunning criminals with a canny clutch of optical armaments.

Adventure Comics #258 (March 1959) featured a rare cover appearance for the Emerald Archer as he guest-starred in the lead feature ‘Superboy Meets the Young Green Arrow’ by Jerry Coleman & Papp, after which inspiring boyhood on-the-job training the mature bowman then schooled a lost patrol of soldiers in Toxophily (that’s posh talk for archery, folks), desert survival and crime-busting in ‘The Arrow Platoon’: another anonymously scripted yarn limned by Elias.

The same month in WF #100 the Emerald Avenger faced light-hearted lampoonery and sinister larcenists in ‘The Case of the Green Error Clown’ by Herron and the now-firmly entrenched Elias, whilst Adventure #259 showed that ‘The Green Arrow’s Mystery Pupil’ had ulterior and sinister motives for his studies whilst #260 revealed ‘Green Arrow’s New Partner’ to be only a passing worry for Speedy in a clever drama by Bernstein.

World’s Finest #101 introduced a crook who bought or stole outlandish ideas for malevolent purposes in ‘The Battle of the Useless Inventions’ by lead writer Herron, whereas Adventure #261 and the uncredited fable ‘The Curse of the Wizard’s Arrow!’ used bad luck and spurious sorcery to test the Archers’ ingenuity.

WF #102 featured Herron’s snazzy crime-caper ‘The Case of the Camouflage King!’ whilst in Adventure #262 ‘The World’s Worst Archer!’, by Bernstein, finally gave Boy Bowman Speedy an origin of his own and explained how just how narrowly the part-Native American boy Roy Harper came to not being adopted by Oliver Queen, after which #263 ‘Have Arrow – Will Travel’ (Bernstein) saw the independent lad sell his skills to buy a boat… a solid lesson in thrift and good parenting if not reference-checking….

World’s Finest #103 offered a Bob Haney mystery-thriller ‘Challenge of the Phantom Bandit’ after which an anonymous scripter finally bowed to the obvious and dispatched the Emerald Archer to feudal Sherwood Forest in ‘The Green Arrow Robin Hood’ (Adventure #264, September 1959) and WF #104 found GA undercover on a modern Native American Reservation ‘Alias Chief Magic Bow’ (by Herron).

‘The Amateur Arrows!’ (by Bernstein in Adventure #265) had the Battling Bowmen act as Summer Camp tutors on a perilously perfidious Dude Ranch for kids, #266 again saw their trick-shot kit malfunction in a clever conundrum with a surprise mystery guest-star in Bernstein’s ‘The Case of the Vanished Arrows!’ and WF #105 introduced deceptively deadly toy-making terror ‘The Mighty Mr. Miniature’ (Herron).

In Adventure Comics #267 the editors tried another novel experiment in closer continuity. At this time the title starred Superboy with two back-up features following. The first of these starred equally perennial B-list survivor Aquaman who in that tale ‘The Manhunt on Land’ (but not this volume: you’ll need to scoop up Showcase Presents Aquaman volume 1 for the full saga) saw villainous Shark Norton trade territories with Green Arrow’s foe The Wizard. In a rare crossover, both parts of which were written by Bernstein, the two heroes worked the same case with Aquaman fighting on dry land whilst the Emerald Archer pursued his enemy beneath the waves in his impressively innovative strip ‘The Underwater Archers’.

‘The Crimes of the Pneumatic Man’ by Herron, (WF #106) debuted a rather daft balloon-based bandit, whilst Adventure #268 saw another time-trip result in ‘The Green Arrow in King Arthur’s Court!’ by Bernstein who also scripted the February 1960 issue #269 wherein ‘The Comic Book Archer!’ saw the pair aid a cartoonist in need of inspiration and salvation.

That was the hero’s last appearance in Adventure. From then on the Amazing Archers’ only home was World’s Finest Comics, beginning a lengthy and enthralling run from Herron & Elias in #107-112, systematically defeating ‘The Menace of the Mole Men’ – who weren’t what they seemed – and ‘The Creature from the Crater’ – which also wasn’t – before becoming ‘Prisoners of the Giant Bubble’, a clever crime caper loaded with action.

WF 110 introduced photonic pillager ‘The Sinister Spectrum Man’ with a far more memorable menace challenging the heroes in ‘The Crimes of the Clock King’ before a lucky felon discovered their hidden lair and became ‘The Spy in the Arrow-Cave’ a tale that starts weakly but ends on a powerfully poignant high note.

The painfully parochial and patronising tone of the times seeped into the saga of ‘The Amazing Miss Arrowette’ (scripted by Wood) in WF #113 as a hopeful, ambitious Ladies’ Archery competitor tried her very best to become Green Arrow’s main helpmeet. Moreover, in a series famed for absurd gimmick shafts, nothing ever came close to surpassing the Hair-Pin, Needle-and-Thread, Powder-Puff or Lotion Arrows in Bonnie King’s fetching and stylish little quiver…

The times were changing in other aspects, however, and fantasy elements were again popular at the end of 1960, as evidenced by Herron’s teaser in WF #114. ‘Green Arrow’s Alien Ally’ neatly segued into ‘The Mighty Arrow Army’ as the Ace Archers battled a South American dictator and then encountered a sharp-shooting circus chimp in #116’s ‘The Ape Archer’.

A jump to the big time occurred in Justice League of America #4 (April 1961) when Green Arrow was invited to join the world’s Greatest Super-Heroes just in time to save them all – and the Earth for good measure in Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky & Bernard Sachs’ epic sci fi extravaganza ‘Doom of the Star Diamond’ before returning to quirkiness and mere crime-crushing in WF #117 and ‘The Cartoon Archer’ by Wood & Elias, wherein a kidnapped cartoonist used caricature as a deadly weapon and desperate life-line…

World’s Finest #118 featured ‘The Return of Miss Arrowette’ (more Wood); a far less cringeworthy effort which nonetheless still managed to make the Bow Babe both competent and imbecilic at the same time, before Herron penned ‘The Man with the Magic Bow’ in #119, with an actual sorcerous antique falling into the greedy hands of a career criminal whilst Oliver Queen and Roy Harper became victims of ‘The Deadly Trophy Hunt’ in #120 and needed a little Arrow action to save the day and their secret identities.

Master scribe John Broome provided a taut and impressive tale of despair and redemption in #121 with ‘The Cop Who Lost his Nerve’ and WF #122 saw ‘The Booby-Trap Bandits’ (Haney) almost destroy our heroes in a tense suspense thriller and Wood wrote one of his very best GA yarns in #123 ‘The Man Who Foretold Disaster’. Herron rose to the challenge in WF 124-125: a brace of bold and grittily terse mini-epics beginning with a breathtaking gang-busting yarn ‘The Case of the Crime Specialists’ and the taut human drama of ‘The Man Who Defied Death’ to pay his son’s medical bills…

‘Dupe of the Decoy Bandits’ by Wood in #126 was another sharp game of cops and robbers whilst George Kashdan revealed the heart-warming identity of ‘Green Arrow’s Secret Partner’ in #127 after which Wood successfully tried his hand at human-scaled melodrama as a retiring cop proved himself ‘The Too-Old Hero’ in #128.

Oddly – perhaps typically – just as the quality of Green Arrow’s adventures steadily improved, his days as a solo star were finally ending. Herron scripted all but one of remaining year’s World’s Finest exploits, beginning with #129’s robotic renegade ‘The Iron Archer’, after which an author unknown contributed ‘The Human Sharks’ as the Bold Bowmen returned to battle crime beneath the seas.

A despondent boy was boosted out of a dire depression by joining his heroes in #131 and ‘A Cure for Billy Jones’ whilst ‘The Green Arrow Dummy’ was an identity-saver and unexpected crook catcher in its own right.

Subterranean thugs accidentally invaded and became ‘The Thing in the Arrowcave’ in #133, whilst ‘The Mystery of the Missing Inventors’ saw a final appearance and proper treatment of Arrowette, but the writing was on the wall. Green Arrow became an alternating feature and didn’t work again until WF #136 and the exotic mystery of ‘The Magician Boss of the Incas’ (September 1963).

A month later Brave and the Bold #50 saw the Ace Archer team-up in a book length adventure with the Martian Manhunter. ‘Wanted – the Capsule Master!’ pitted the newly minted Green Team in a furious fight with marauding extraterrestrial menace Vulkor; a fast-paced thriller by Bob Haney & George Roussos followed by WF #138’s ‘The Secret Face of Funny-Arrow!’ wherein a formerly positive and good natured spoof-performer took a sudden turn into darker and nastier “jokes” and World’s Finest #140 (March 1964) aptly presented ‘The Land of No Return’ by Bill Finger, with the Battling Bowmen falling into a time-locked limbo where heroes from history perpetually strove against deadly beasts and monsters…

The heroes’ decades-long careers ended there and they became nothing more than bit-players in JLA and Teen Titans exploits until Brave and the Bold #71 (April-May 1967) written by Haney and drawn by his Golden Age co-creator George Papp, wherein Green Arrow helped Batman survive ‘The Wrath of the Thunderbird!’ and crush a criminal entrepreneur determined to take over the wealth and resources of the Kijowa Indian Nation.

This volume ends with the first cathartic and thoroughly modern re-imagining of the character which paved the way for the rebellious, riotous, passionately socially-aware avenger of modern times.

Brave and the Bold #85 is arguably the best of an incredible run of team-ups in that title’s prestigious history and certainly the best yarn in this collection. ‘The Senator’s Been Shot!’ reunited Batman and Green Arrow in a superb multi-layered thriller of politics, corruption and cast-iron integrity, wherein Bruce Wayne became a stand-in for a law-maker and the Emerald Archer got a radical make-over that turned him into the fiery liberal gadfly champion of the relevancy generation – and every one since.

Ranging from calamitously repetitive and formulaic – but in a very good and entertaining way – to moments of sublime wonder and excitement, this is genuine mixed bag of Fights ‘n’ Tights swashbuckling with something for everyone and certainly bound to annoy as much as delight. All ages superhero action that’s unmissable. Even if you won’t love it all you’ll hate yourself for missing this spot-on selection.

© 1958-1964, 1967, 1969, 2006 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Marvel Masterworks volume 27 The Avengers 21-30


By Stan Lee, Don Heck & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 0-87135-993-6

After first launching the Avengers with the venerable concept of putting all your star eggs in one basket, narrative and scheduling problems prompted Stan Lee to downplay Marvel’s most popular stars in favour of lesser lights with les crowded schedules, allowing the title to develop healthy emotionally character-driven sub-plots that were necessarily missing for decades from its thematic precursor and rival Justice League of America.

By the time of this stellar third deluxe collection (re-presenting Avengers #21-30 from October 1965 to July 1966) the policy was paying big dividends as the team became another hotbed of stewing passions and brewing internal conflicts with veteran campaigner Captain America constantly at war with and doubting himself whilst wrangling young, unruly and ambitious newcomers – and ex-criminals – Hawkeye, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch in the tried and true, soapily operatic Marvel Manner.

Avengers #21 (by Stan Lee, Don Heck & Wally Wood) launched another big-name villain in Power Man, created by the evil Enchantress in ‘The Bitter Dregs of Defeat!’ as part of a diabolical plan to discredit and displace the heroic ideals. Her scheme succeeded in splitting up and outlawing the team, but after a clash with the Circus of Evil in #22 the plot was foiled by the indomitable Captain America in ‘The Road Back.’

A two-part Kang tale followed as the team was shanghaied into the far-flung future to battle against and latterly beside the Tyrant of Time. Avengers #23 (incidentally, my vote for the best Marvel cover Jack Kirby ever drew) ‘Once an Avenger…’ was superbly inked by the elder John Romita before the yarn spectacularly concludes with the epic ‘From the Ashes of Defeat!’ by Heck & Dick Ayers.

The underrated team faced their greatest test yet when they were cunningly captured, magnificently survived and easily escaped the deadliest man alive in #25′s ‘Enter… Dr. Doom!’ but, as change was ever the watchword for this series, the following two issues combined a threat to drown the world with the return of an old comrade.

‘The Voice of the Wasp!’ and ‘Four Against the Floodtide!’ (Lee, Heck & Frank Giacoia) made for a superlative action-romp as the undersea barbarian Attuma attempted to raise the world’s sea-level to destroy humanity. Notified by the long-retired Wasp the Avengers dashed to the depths to stop the marine maniac, but that saga was simply a prelude to the main event…

Issue #28 featured the return of Giant-Man in a new guise. ‘Among us Walks a Goliath!’ was an instant classic which introduced the villainous Collector and extended the company’s pet theme of alienation by tragically trapping the size-changing hero at a freakish ten-foot height, seemingly forever.

Avengers #29, ‘This Power Unleashed!’ then brought back Hawkeye’s lost love Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow and a brainwashed Soviet agent in an unlikely attempt to destroy the team using fearsome foes Power Man and Swordsman as cannon-fodder before this delightful diversion annoying ends on a classy cliffhanger with ‘Frenzy in a Far-Off Land!’ as the dispirited colossus desperately sought a cure to his colossal condition.

Seeking expert aid the grim giant became embroiled in a civil war amongst a lost South American civilisation: a two-part yarn that threatened to end in global incineration – but one that concludes in another volume…

Riveting tales of action and adventure, a charismatic blend of established and new characters and some of the best illustrated narrative in Marvel’s history makes this tome both utterly enticing and aggravatingly frustrating, but as the next book is also stuffed with brilliant adventure tales I suppose dedicated fans will be content  to buy that one too.

These stories set the tone for Marvel’s superheroes: the group dynamics, the themes and even the kinds of menaces they faced. Where the Fantastic Four were as much explorers as champions; a family with the same passions, the Avengers were disparate individuals called together to get a job done. How well these adventures still read is testament to how well the creators succeeded in their craft…
© 1965, 1966, 1993 Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Animal Land book 1


By Makoto Raiku, translated and adapted by Stephen Paul (Kondansha USA)
ISBN: 978-1-935429-13-5

Here’s a sly and rather subtle allegory from relative manga newcomer Makoto Raiuku (Newtown Heroes, Genmai Blade, and the enormously popular Konjiki no Gash!! which hit American TV screens as Zatch Bell!!).

Dōbutsu no Kuni or “Animal Country” began in 2009 and follows the incredible life of a seemingly human baby abandoned and cast adrift on a river only to wash up in the land of animals: a dog-eat-dog, literally bestial world of raw savagery where the weak always die and only the strong are able to survive.

‘Word 1: Hello, Baby’ opens proceedings with little Monoko, an orphan Tanuki (a sort of tiny raccoon dog indigenous to Japan). Since her parents were eaten by wild cats she’s been unable to pull her weight in the hard-pressed Tanuki community; all rushing to store enough for the rapidly approaching winter. It doesn’t look like she’s going to make it…

Her world and existence change forever when she adopts the strange hairless monkey cub which washes up on the river bank one cold day. This is a very strange baby and Monoko insanely decides to become its new mother against all the advice of the village.

In Animal Land all creatures are at odds and cannot understand other species cries, but Monoko decides to risk everything – including being eaten by cats such as the fearsome Kurokagi – to steal some milk for the foundling to drink.

Despite a horrifying but successful mission the baby is cold and dying: it has no will to live and the Tanuki elders brusquely tell her to stop wasting everybody’s time and resources.

Desperate Monoko cuddles it with her body, sharing her warmth in a desperate, lonely struggle to keep it alive one more night. When she awakes she discovers something miraculous and staggering game-changing…

The initial episodes ends with another huge shock: the baby can speak Tanuki…

The mystery increases in the second instalment ‘Word 2: Baby’s Power’ when the infant reveals that he can converse and understand the speech of all animals – even the ultimate predator Kurokagi – thereby discovering the dire marauder’s tragic secret and further reshaping the nature and destiny of the savage domain, whilst the third and final chapter ‘Word 3: Baby Cries Over His Name’ sees Monoko’s first maternal crisis as she finds a keepsake from the baby’s biological mother and fears her joyous new world is crumbling around her until once more the wonder baby comes to her emotional and physical rescue…

Despite what the publishers would have you believe this isn’t just another cute kiddie-book. For starters it’s filled with scatological asides and the audience advisory is 13 and older. Moreover, despite being filled with action, adventure and slapstick/social gaffe humour in the grand manga manner, this is a tale filled with scary moments, brutal situations and heartbreaking poignancy, with a lot to say about family, community, integration, unity and understanding through plain-talking and communication.

Also included in this initial monochrome volume are translator’s notes, a guide to Japanese honorifics, Omake pages (“extra” or “bonus”) of short cartoon strips and a longer piece wherein Makuto Raiku lets us in on the background of and inspiration for the strip: sharing the bittersweet story of his and wife’s best friend Riku – an abandoned wounded puppy…

More Animal Farm than The Gruffalo, this is a brilliant piece and impressive slice of social fantasy for kids, and would make a great gift for older children getting too big for traditional kids stuff.

This volume is printed in the traditional front-to-back, right-to-left reading manner.

© 2010 Makoto Raiku. English translation © 2011 Makoto Raiku. All rights reserved.

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Marvel Masterworks: All-Winners 1-4

New Expanded Review

By Joe Simon & Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Carl Burgos, Bill Everett & others (Marvel)
ISBN: 0-7851-1884-5

Unlike their Distinguished Competition, Marvel Comics took quite a while to get into producing expensive hardbound volumes of their earliest comic adventures. In the cold hard light of day it’s fairly clear to see why. The sad truth is that a lot of Golden Age Marvel material is not only pretty offensive by modern standards but is also of rather poor quality. One welcome exception, however, is this collection of the quarterly super-hero anthology All Winners Comics.

Over the course of the first year’s publication (from Summer 1941 to Spring 1942) the stories and art varied wildly but in terms of sheer variety the tales and characters excelled in exploring every avenue of patriotic thrill that might enthral ten year old boys of all ages. As well as Simon and Kirby, Lee, Bill Everett and Carl Burgos, the early work of Mike Sekowsky, Jack Binder, George Klein, Paul Gustavson, Al Avison, Al Gabriele and many others can be found as the budding superstars dashed out the supplemental adventures of Captain America, Sub-Mariner, The Human Torch, Black Marvel, The Angel, Mighty Destroyer, and The Whizzer.

This spectacular deluxe full-colour hardback compendium opens with a fulsome and informative introduction from Roy Thomas – architect of Marvel’s Golden Age revival – ably abetted by Greg Theakston, after which  All Winners Comics #1 commences with Carl Burgos’ Human Torch adventure ‘Carnival of Fiends’ as Japanese agent Matsu terrorises the peaceful pro-American Orientals of Chinatown whilst the physically perfect specimen dubbed the Black Marvel crushes a sinister secret society known as ‘The Order of the Hood’ in a riotous action romp by Stan Lee, Al Avison & Al Gabriele after which Joe Simon & Jack Kirby contributed a magnificent Captain America thriller-chiller in ‘The Case of the Hollow Men’ as ghastly artificial zombies rampaged through the streets of New York…

Stripling Stan Lee scripted the prose teaser ‘All Winners’ – an affable chat between the four-colour stars – after which an untitled Bill Everett Sub-Mariner yarn saw the errant Prince of Atlantis uncover and promptly scupper a nest of saboteurs on the Virginia coastline whilst the inexplicably ubiquitous Angel travelled to the deep dark jungle to solve ‘The Case of the Mad Gargoyle’ with typical ruthless efficiency in an engaging end-piece by Paul Gustavson.

Issue #2 (Fall 1941) began with the Torch and incendiary sidekick Toro tackling the ‘Carnival of Death!’ – a winter jamboree this time rather than a circus of itinerant killers – in a passable murder-mystery with less than stellar art, after which Simon & Kirby delivered another stunning suspense shocker in the exotic action masterpiece ‘The Strange Case of the Malay Idol’.

Lee graduated to full comic strips in ‘Bombs of Doom!’ as Jack Binder illustrated the All Winners debut of charismatic behind-enemy-lines hero The Destroyer; the text feature ‘Winners All’ saw a Lee puff-piece embellished with a Kirby group shot of the anthology’s cast and second new guy The Whizzer kicked off a long run in an untitled, uncredited tale about spies and society murderers on the home-front. After a page of believe-it-or-not ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ a ghost artist produced ‘The Ghost Fleet’ to end the issue with another Sub-Mariner versus Nazi submariners action romp.

All Winners #3 pitted the Torch against Japanese terrorists in ‘The Case of the Black Dragon Society’, a rather over-the-top slice of cartoon jingoism credited to Burgos but perhaps produced by another anonymous ghost squad. Simon and Kirby had moved to National Comics by this issue and Avison was drawing Captain America now, with scripts by the mysterious S.T. Anley (geddit?) but ‘The Canvas of Doom!’ still rockets along with plenty of dynamite punch in a manic yarn about a painter who predicts murders in his paintings, whilst The Whizzer busted up corruption and slaughter in ‘Terror Prison’ in a rip-roarer from Lee, Mike Sekowsky & George Klein.

‘Jungle Drums’ was standard genre filler-fare after which Everett triumphed with a spectacular maritime mystery as ‘Sub-Mariner visits the Ship of Horrors’ and The Destroyer turned the Fatherland upside down by wrecking ‘The Secret Tunnel of Death!’

The final issue in this compendium was cover-dated Spring 1942 and with enough lead time following the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, the patriotic frenzy mill was clearly in full swing.

A word of warning: though modern readers might well blanche at the racial and sexual stereotyping of the (presumably) well-intentioned propaganda machines which generated tales such as ‘Death to Nazi Scourge’ and ‘The Terror of the Slimy Japs’, please try to remember the tone of those times and recall that these contents obviously need to be read in an historical rather than purely entertainment context.

The aforementioned ‘Terror of the Slimy Japs’ found the Human Torch and Toro routing Moppino, High Priest of the Rising Sun Temple and saboteur extraordinaire from his lair beneath New York, whilst Cap and Bucky contented themselves with solving ‘The Sorcerer’s Sinister Secret!’ and foiling another Japanese sneak attack before The Whizzer stamped out ‘Crime on the Rampage’ in a breakneck campaign by Howard “Johns” nee James.

‘Miser’s Gold’ was just one more genre text tale followed by Everett’s take on the other war as ‘Sub-Mariner Combats the Sinister Horde!’ …of Nazis, this time, after which the Destroyer brought down the final curtain by hunting down a sadistic Gestapo chief in ‘Death to Nazi Scourge’.

Augmented by covers, house ads and other original ephemera, this is a collection of patriotic populist publishing from the dawn of a new and cut-throat industry, working under war-time conditions in a much less enlightened time. That these nascent efforts grew into the legendary characters and brands of today attests to their intrinsic attraction and fundamental appeal, but this is a book of much more than simple historical interest. Make no mistake, there’s still much here that any modern fan can and will enjoy.
© 1941, 1942, 2003 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.