Wolverine/Ghost Rider: In Acts of Vengeance


By Howard Mackie, Mark Texeira & Harry Candelario (Marvel)
ISBN: 0-7851-0022-9

From that dubious period of “Grim ‘n’ Gritty” super-heroics in the early 1990s comes this slight but entertaining fast-paced pairing of Marvel’s (then) most savage champions which originally ran as the lead series in the fortnightly anthology Marvel Comics Presents #64-70, although dyed-in-the-wool continuity buffs should be warned that the connection to the company’s crossover event Acts of Vengeance is oblique – if not downright tenuous.

From his insalubrious bar on the pirate stronghold of Madripoor the globe-trotting mutant Wolverine is lured back to New York by a blatantly inept attack carried out by ninjas belonging to vampiric super-villain Deathwatch. Meanwhile Dan Ketch, human host of the fearsome Ghost Rider, finds one of his oldest friends also the target of similar ninjas.

The heroes’ paths cross with a karate instructor whose family also has a grudge against the criminal mastermind and all converge on the life-leech’s skyscraper headquarters for a surprise or two and a climactic showdown…

This yarn is just a stylish excuse for a big chase and huge fight – and that’s not necessarily a bad thing – so on those terms, this is a visceral, vicarious, effective use of the creators’ talents, with the added bonus of the introduction of yet another mutant superstar-in-waiting (I think he’s still waiting, even now) in the form of the unstoppable martial arts manhunter code-named Brass.

Sometimes no-frills cathartic comics combat is all you want from graphic narrative, and if you ever get that feeling this might be the book to buy…
© 1990, 1991, 1993 Marvel Entertainment Group. All rights reserved.

The Comics Journal 298


By various (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-60699-146-6

This is a bit of a departure for me as I’m usually banging on about all aspects of sequential and graphic narrative in assorted book forms, and tend to shy away from actual periodicals, but this just arrived and on the principle that if it looks like a book (quacks like a book, floats like a book…?)

The Comics Journal is without doubt the foremost English-language publication dedicated to the capital A art of comics; highlighting events domestic and global, interviewing creators, disseminating facts and even advertising product. They’ve done it competently, passionately and proudly for decades. You may not always agree with the opinions expressed – editorial or from the many insiders who have been featured – but you’d be an idiot to ignore or dismiss them if you care at all about the industry or the medium.

This latest offering, in a comfortingly substantial square-bound format, black and white with lots of colour (where necessary and not just as a glossy, shiny lure for the easily distracted) features a short chat with Peter Bagge delivered in cartoon form by Noah Van Sciver, and an extensive interview (wrangled by Diego Assis) with Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá; Brazilian artists most notable here thus far for the superbly innovative The Umbrella Academy.

Web-comics maestro Nicholas Gurewitch talks at length to Shaenon Garrity about his life and astonishingly impressive body of work whilst Michel Fiffe lets the hugely underrated Trevor Von Eeden tell his story his way as he describes where he’s been and what he’s now up to (and very tempting it looks, too), whilst Bill Randall previews Jiro Taniguchi’s upcoming manga A Distant Neighborhood (including a beautiful 12 page translated extract.

Also included are reviews of Jules Feiffer’s Explainers (and for our take just click here: Explainers), The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite, Gilbert Hernandez’s Speak of the Devil, Jim Woodring’s The Portable Frank, The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation by Jonathan Hennessey & Aaron McConnell and Ron Regé Jr.’s Against Pain as well as mini-reviews of Seth Tobocman’s Disaster and Resistance: Comics and Landscapes for the 21st Century and Alex Bones/Chris Bones’ Waldo’s Hawaiian Holiday.

The highlight (at least for this old coot) is Jared Gardner’s retrospective Percy Crosby and Skippy, a copiously illustrated examination of the seminal newspaper cartoonist and illustrator which includes 31 pages of rollicking, rambunctious hi-jinks from the Great Depression era strip itself, although R.C. Harvey’s fascinating exploration of the quandary facing America’s political cartoonists, The Inevitable Racism: Obama and Caricature and Freedom of Speech comes close by confronting an issue that many journalists and commentators seemingly won’t: does the President’s ethnicity buy him an easy time in the press and especially from the politico/satirical media?

With features on foreign publications, cultural overviews, coming comics and the ever-entrancing news section Journal Datebook this is a cracking edition that will inform and enflame every serious devotee.

Heck, even the adverts are entertaining and compellingly readable…
www.tcj.com
© 2009 Fantagraphics Books, Inc. All images/photos/text © their respective copyright holders.

John Ryan 1921-2009

I’m saddened to learn of the death of master story-teller John Ryan.  For my own potted biography of this gentle genius you can check out our review of Eagle Classics: Harris Tweed although I’m sure the papers and news services will be full of fulsome obituaries for a man who was a pioneer of British comics, children’s books and television animation.

Typically, I’ve been intending to review his Captain Pugwash children’s books for some time now but never quite got around to it.

I first met him whilst teaching at the London Cartoon Centre where he was a rapturously received guest-speaker one evening. Afterwards, while chatting with the delighted fans of four generations who had come to see and hear him, he very kindly showed me the actual cut-out and props (painted in black and white wash tones) he had produced for the very first 1950s Pugwash TV episodes, whilst simultaneously drawing a freehand biro sketch of Mary, Mungo and Midge for my bemused and overwhelmed wife.

He was a prince among men and we’re all the poorer for his passing, but at least his unique accomplishments will live in the legacy of brilliant tales he leaves behind.

SHOWCASE presents Bat Lash


By Sergio Aragonés, Denny O’Neil, Nick Cardy & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2295-6

By 1968 the glory-days of comic-books as a cheap mass-market entertainment were over. Spiralling costs, “free” alternatives like television and an increasing inability to connect with the mainstream markets were leaving the industry at the mercy of dedicated fan-groups with specialised, even limited, interests and worse yet, dependent on genre-trends to bolster sales.

Editorial Director Carmine Infantino, a thirty-year veteran, looked for ways to bolster DC business (already suffering a concerted attack by the seemingly unstoppable rise of Marvel Comics) and clearly remembered the old publisher’s maxim “do something old, and make it look new”. Although traditional cowboy yarns (which had ruled both TV and cinema screens since the 1950s) were also in decline, novel alternatives such as Wild, Wild West and Italian “Spaghetti Westerns” were popular, and would be a lot easier to transform into comics material than the burgeoning Supernatural craze that would come to dominate the next half-decade – but only after the repressive and self-inflicted Comics Code was re-written.

Thus Spanish/Mexican cartoonist and actor Sergio Aragonés was asked by Infantino and Editor Joe Orlando to add some unique contemporary twists to a cowboy hero they had concocted with the aid of the legendary Sheldon Mayer. Although many hands had stirred the plot, Aragonés, with dialogue provider Denny O’Neil, rendered the world-weary lonely saddle-tramp archetype into a completely fresh and original character – at least in comic-book terms – by making him a seemingly amoral wanderer with an aesthete’s sensibilities, a pacifist’s good intentions, and the hair-trigger capabilities of a top gun-for-hire. …And they played him for sardonic, tongue-in-cheek laughs.

Roguish, sexually promiscuous and always getting into trouble because his heart was bigger than his charlatan’s façade; Bat Lash caroused, cavorted and killed his way across the West – and Mexico – in one Showcase try-out (#76, August 1968) and seven bi-monthly issues (October/November 1968 – October/November 1969) before poor sales and a changing marketplace finally brought him low. Now this slim black and white tome (only 240 pages) collects those ahead-of-their-times adventures and also includes later revivals from DC Special Series #16 and a short run from the back of rival and fellow controversial cowboy Jonah Hex.

None of the Bat Lash stories had a title – which makes reviewing them a mite harder – but their strength was always that they took traditional plots and added a sardonic spin and breakneck pace to keep them fairly rattling along. It also didn’t hurt that the majority of the art was produced by that unsung genius Nick Cardy, whose light touch and unparalleled ability to draw beautiful women kept young male readers (those who bothered to try the comic) glued to the pages.

The drama begins with the Showcase introduction in which the flower-loving nomad wanders into the town of Welcome in search of a fancy feed only to find a gang of thugs and a mystery poisoner in the process of driving out the entire populace. Bat Lash #1 carried on the episodic hi-jinks as the laconic Lothario narrowly escaped a lynching only to stumble into the murder of a monk carrying part of a treasure map. Was it his finer instincts seeking retribution for the holy man, the monk’s stunning niece or the glittering temptation of Spanish gold that prompted the rootin’ tootin’ action that followed?

Issue #2 began with a shotgun wedding, ensued as the drifter became unwilling guardian to a little girl orphaned by gun-runners and brilliantly climaxed with unexpected poignancy – and calamitous gunplay…

A radical departure – even for this series – occurred in #3 when the easy Epicurean – whilst trying out the temporary role of Deputy Sheriff – encountered a hanging judge who thought he was a Roman Emperor, before Lash crossed the border into revolutionary Mexico in issue #4 to become embroiled in an assassination plot; a tale as much gritty as witty which displayed the emotional depths of the rambling man.

Still in Mexico for #5 the creative team pitted the dashing rogue against his near-equal in raffish charm and gunplay when he met the deadly bandito Sergio Aragones. Of course they were both outmatched by the delightfully deadly Senorita Maribel…

Mike Sekowsky pencilled most of issue #6 for Cardy to ink: a dark, tragic origin tale which revealed the anger and tears behind the laughter, whilst Bat Lash #7 set the far-from-heroic wanderer on the trail of a younger brother he had believed dead for ten years…

And that’s where it was left for nearly a decade. In 1978 the giant sized anthology comic DC Special Series (#16) produced a Western-themed issue for which O’Neil and artist George Moliterni crafted a slick, sly murder-mystery set in San Francisco where an older Bat Lash was a professional gambler enveloped in a deadly war between Irish gangs and Chinese immigrant workers. This compelling, enjoyable yarn eventually led to a four-issue run as back-up in Jonah Hex #49-52 (June-September 1981) wherein the charming chancer won a New Orleans bordello in a river-boat card game and despite numerous attempts to kill him took possession of the Bourbon Street Social Club.

Was he that hungry for lazy luxury and female companionship, or was it perhaps that he knew a million dollars in Confederate gold was hidden there in the dying days of the Civil War – and never found?

Scripter Len Wein and the incomparable Dan Spiegle concluded this criminally under-appreciated character’s solo exploits in fine style; which only leaves it to you to buy this brash and bedazzling book to convince DC’s powers-that-be to give the foppishly reluctant gunslinger another crack at the big time – and no, I’m not forgetting the recent, ill-conceived make-over miniseries…

Enchanting, exciting, wry and wonderful, this is a book for all readers of fun fiction and a superb example of comics’ outreach potential.

© 1968, 1969, 1978, 2006 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Century 21 volume 1: Adventure in the 21st Century


By various (Reynolds and Hearn)
ISBN: 978-1-905287-93-2

After years of subtle manoeuvring and outright begging, some of the greatest strips in British comics history are finally available in glossy high-quality colour compilations selected by dedicated devotee Chris Bentley and with the blessing of Gerry Anderson (who provides a fascinating and informative introduction) himself.

TV Century 21 (the unwieldy “Century” was eventually dropped) was modeled after a newspaper – albeit from 100 years into the future – and this shared conceit carried the avid readers into a multimedia wonderland as television and reading matter fed off each other. The incredible comics adventures were supplemented with stills taken from the TV shows (and later, films) and photos also graced the text features and fillers which added to the unity of one of the industry’s first “Shared Universe” products,

Number #1 launched on January 23rd 1965, instantly capturing the hearts and minds of millions of children in the 1960s, and further proving to British comics editors the unfailingly profitable relationship between television shows and healthy sales.

Filled with high quality art and features, printed in gleaming photogravure, TV21 featured such strips as Fireball XL5, Supercar and Stingray. In a bizarre attempt to be topical the allegorically Soviet state of Bereznik constantly plotted against the World Government (for which read “The West”) in a futuristic Cold War to augment the aliens, aquatic civilizations and common crooks and disasters that threatened the general well-being of the populace. Even the BBC’s TV “tomorrows” were represented by a full-colour strip starring The Daleks.

Although Thunderbirds did not premiere on TV until September (with Frank Bellamy’s incredible strip joining the line-up in January 1966) Lady Penelope and Parker had an earlier debut to set the scene, and eventually the aristocratic super-spy won her own top-class photogravure magazine in January 1996. And as Anderson’s newest creations launched into super-marionated life, their comics exploits filtered into TV21 and even their own titles.

A complete and chronological archive would be unfeasible so this book has gathered a variety of complete adventures from the various serials, beginning with the Fireball XL5 epic ‘The Astran Assassination’, by Alan Fennell, Mike Noble, Eric Eden and Ron Embleton which originally appeared in issues #15-26 (May-July 2065) wherein an alien envoy attempting to forestall an intergalactic border war was murdered on Earth and Steve Zodiac of the World Space Patrol, aided by Lady Penelope and Troy Tempest (ooh! Crossover!) must find the killer before Earth is sucked into disaster!

Next up is a classic Thundebirds romp from Scott Goodall and Frank Bellamy. ‘Chain’ Reaction’ ran in TV21 and TV Tornado #227-234, May -July 2069) wherein the Tracy boys had to stop an out of control 50,000 ton space freighter from impacting in the middle of San Francisco – and that’s just the start of an epic calamity that threatened to destroy the entire Pacific Rim!

Anderson’s stalwart submarine heroes from the Good Ship Stingray were pitted against a bizarre and malevolent spectre in the eerie mystery ‘The Haunting of Station 17’ by Fennell and Embleton (from issues #23-30, June-August 2065) whilst Captain Scarlet is represented here by the beautiful if unconventional ‘The Football King’ by Howard Elson and Mike Noble from TV21 and TV Tornado #194-195 (October 2068). This full colour cover story reverted to monochrome grey-tones for its interior pages, but the real oddity was the genre blending as the indestructible Spectrum agent had to protect a soccer-mad Bedouin potentate by joining his personal football team.

Lady Penelope foiled a Bereznik plot to destroy Unity City from a secret Australian base in ‘The Luveniam Affair’ (by Fennel and Frank Langford from issues #36-42 of her own magazine, September-November 1966) whilst her pals from International Rescue had to conquer ‘The Devil’s Crag’ to rescue a lost schoolboy (Fennell and Bellamy, TV21 #184-187, July-August 2068); a spectacular visual extravaganza that belies its deceptively simple plot.

Developed from the 1966 film Thunderbirds Are Go! the crew of Space Exploration vehicle Zero X had an auspicious and entertaining run of their own adventures in TV21, as this superb yarn by Angus P Allan and Mike Noble demonstrates. ‘Planet of Bones’ (TV21 and TV Tornado #218-224, March-May 2069) found the team in rip-roaring action on a world of deadly skeletal dinosaurs!

‘Superjunk’ from TV Century 21 #72-81(June-August 2066) pitted the Stingray team against futuristic Chinese pirates in a cracking tale by Dennis Hopper and Ron’s brother Gerry Embleton, whilst unsung genius Brian Lewis illustrated ‘Starburst’; a classy black and white thriller by Alan Fennell (from Thunderbirds Extra, March 1966) that found the heroes ranging from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean to the icy depths of interplanetary space to save a pair of dying astronauts.

This first incredible volume concludes with ‘Leviathan’, a glorious Captain Scarlet saga by writers Allan and Goodall with black-and-white and colour art from Mike Noble, Don Harley and Frank Bellamy (from TV21 #185-189, August 2068) which sees Cloudbase crashing into the sea, Mysteron agent Captain Black captured and the World Navy’s greatest super-ship threatened by resurrected Nazi U-Boats!

Crisp, imaginative writing, great characters and some of the very best science-fiction art of all time make this a must-have book for just about anybody with a sense of adventure and love of comics. It doesn’t get better than this.

Artwork © A.P. Films (Merchandising) Ltd/Century 21 Publishing Ltd 1965-1969. Published under license from Anderson Entertainment Ltd 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Paper Dolls from the California Girls


By Trina Robbins (Eclipse Books)
ISBN: 0-913035-57-2

I haven’t looked at anything for the sheer fun of it for awhile so here’s a delightful peculiarity from the 1980s: an example of an old hobby that’s just crying out to become the next big fad. As a follow-up to her wacky, wise and wonderful Paper Dolls from the Comics (ISBN: 0-913035-20-3) cartoonist Trina Robbins turned her designing eye on her own strip: California Girls.

One of the last serious attempts at creating a fun comicbook for young girls, the series featured the everyday lives of Maxine and Maureen Muldoon, twins who attend Hollyhock High School with their gal-pals. While not to every fan’s taste the strip consisted of fashion, comedy and everyday adventure, carried out with Robbins’ slick wit and accessible style.

The newspaper comic strip was a powerful and ubiquitous tool used to raise circulation and promote customer loyalty in the first half of the twentieth century, and as well as laughs, thrills and escapism creators frequently added games, cut-out collectible premiums and paper toys to their output in their efforts to win and keep an audience that consisted of the entire family, not just adolescent males of all ages.

One of the most popular and effective – even to this day (don’t take my word for it, crank up that search engine and see for yourself), was the addition of favourite characters in their underwear, with additional clothes you could “dress” them in. You could even design your own outfits for them. The common belief was that young children and girls loved this kind of “dress-up” play, but I suspect many young men also joined in the fun.

This practise migrated to comicbooks, and every youngster and girl friendly title from Sugar and Spike to Millie the Model had their own paper-doll pages. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, even my exceptionally smart and utterly sensible wife is not immune to the seditious allure of these things.

So grab your crayons to decorate the monochrome pages (there’s a glorious full-colour centre section too), snag some scissors – don’t run! – and revel in the modes and fashions of the 1980s West Coast. And remember if you do come across a copy of this joyous little gem, with today’s scanning and reprographic advances you can easily duplicate all the pages and go mad without destroying this fun and funky little package…
© 1988 Trina Robbins. All Rights Reserved.

Fred Basset 2008


By Michael Martin with Arran Graham (Orion Books)
ISBN: 978-0-7528-9385-3

What’s your favourite biscuit? Do you only eat one sort or do you find that different occasions, different beverages or times of day dictate a little variety: some situation-appropriate flavours?

Graphic narrative is like that. The terrifying realties of We3 (ISBN: 1-84576-159-6), the social significance of Pride of Baghdad (ISBN: 1-84576-242-8) or Maus (978-0-14101-408-1), the flamboyant adventure of Bucky O’Hare (ASIN: B000E4SUCM), gently acerbic political radicalism of Donald Rooum’s Wildcat (ISBN: 0-900384-30-1) or pure fantasy of Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 (ISBN: 1-84576-660-1) all have their place but sometimes all you want or need is a quiet reassuring smile.

Fred Basset began in the Daily Mail on July 8th 1963, the brainchild of professional cartoonist Alexander S. Graham, and soon found a solid fan-base among the generally middle-class readership, many of whom must have identified with the minor daily tribulations of an unnamed young married couple and their avuncular if amusingly haughty pet dog, whose gallery-playing internal monologues – or chats with we observers behind the forth wall – amounted to a daily confirmation of what most pet-owners believed their hairy charges were capable of. Eventually the strip became a regular weekend delight too in the Mail on Sunday. How odd that such a quintessentially English Strip is based on the life-style of the Scottish middle class – or perhaps not…

Alex Graham was born in Scotland in 19 and educated at Dumfries Academy. His first professional sales occurred during World War II, and he thereafter created the strip Wee Hughie for the Dundee Weekly News in 1945, continuing it until 1970. In 1946 he also originated Our Bill and Briggs the Butler, before hitting the global big time with his four-footed raconteur, whom he based in large part upon his own faithful furry companion Frieda. Graham died in December 1991, having drawn over 9,000 strips, black and white and colour, and the strip was continued by his daughter Arran and cartoonist Michael Martin.

The strip has a huge worldwide following, especially in comics-friendly America, Australia and the Scandinavian countries. Known by such varied names as Wurzel in Germany, Lillo il Cane Saggio (Lillo the wise dog) in Italy, Lorang in Norway, Laban in Sweden in Sweden and bafflingly Retu, Pitko and Koiraskoira in Finland, the not-so humble hound even had his own animated TV show in 1976, produced by Bill Melendez Productions (famed for both the Peanuts/Charlie Brown and the Perishers cartoon shows) perfectly voiced by Lionel Jeffries.

Although Fred and his doggie comrades Jock, (a small black Scottish Terrier), Yorky (a Yorkshire Terrier) and, in latter years, Fifi (a saucy Poodle) are obviously immortal, the humans have gradually advanced into middle-ish age. By this year’s collection (the first Fred Basset Book was released in 1963, and ran to #45 in 1993 before becoming annuals such as the one nominally under discussion here, supplemented by a children’s book, a 25-year retrospective and a Bumper Book) they seem quite world-weary, but the situations remain comfortingly constant although a signature of Martin’s tenure is an increasing insertion of the annoyances of contemporary life such as sat navs, catch-phrases and celebrity culture.

So what’s the appeal?

The regular re-application of surreal whimsy to a stable environment has its own subtle satisfaction; and often the panel gags don’t even have a recognisable punch-line – what’s happening on a daily basis is often the cartoon equivalent of old cronies having a bit of a chinwag over the garden wall, a sharing of mutual experience with a dash of hyperbole and a smidgen of one-upmanship… You seldom burst out in a loud guffaw (although that’s not unknown) but you frequently think “Yes! Just like when…”

To those passionate intellectuals among us that might belittle the gag-features that run for decades delighting untold millions of readers I have one last suggestion. If this isn’t your cup of tea – don’t buy it.

There’s plenty who will, including those members of your own family who wouldn’t be caught dead reading your suggestions (and think you’re a trifle odd, besides)…

So, Fred Basset: Comic Strip Positive Reinforcement refreshingly unchanging and amusing. Who’s for a Custard Cream?
© Associated Newspapers plc 2008.

Showcase Presents Phantom Stranger volume 2


By various (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-4012-1722-8

By the end of 1972 the horror and mystery boom had stabilized into a key component of both DC and Marvel’s core output, with fantasy and sword and sorcery adventurers also scoring well with fans, but the glory days of huge comic-book print-runs were gone forever. However, although a depleted force, superhero comics did not disappear as some older heads suspected they might, and an initially unwieldy amalgam, the horror-hero, soon became a useful crossover sales tool.

Never as common as Marvel’s burgeoning pantheon of spooky crusaders, the most successful of the DC stalwarts were Swamp Thing and the 1950’s revival Phantom Stranger. This volume concludes his impressive second run of tales (see also Showcase Presents the Phantom Stranger volume 1 (ISBN: 978-1-4012-1088-5) and includes not only his crossover trips into the greater DC Universe, but also includes the rare final appearances that seemingly ended his career until revived in the post Crisis on Infinite Earths 1980s.

The monochrome magic begins with an impressive chiller from Bob Haney, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito that originally appeared in the Batman team-up vehicle the Brave and the Bold (#89, April/May 1970). ‘Arise Ye Ghosts of Gotham’ saw a religious sect return to the city that had driven them out two centuries previously, only to awaken the vengeful spirits of their banished ancestors until pacified by our initially squabbling heroes.

The Stranger’s return to Brave and the Bold (#98, October/November 1971), was a much more traditional tale, superbly crafted by Haney and Jim Aparo. ‘Mansion of the Misbegotten!’ was a twist-ridden mystery of demon-cults and possession that fully exploited the world-wide obsession with Satanism that began with Rosemary’s Baby and peaked with The Exorcist, as the Gotham Guardian found himself outwitted, outmatched and in dire need of assistance to foil a seemingly diabolical force threatening the life of his godson.

Following on is ‘A Stranger Walks Among Us!’ by Len Wein, Dick Dillin and Dick Giordano, as the haunted hero saved Halloween and the World’s Greatest Superheroes from a magical murder plot and consequently joined the Justice League of America (in issue #103 of their own comic, December 1972).

From the same month the Stranger’s own solo adventures featured ‘Circle of Evil’ (Phantom Stranger #22) by Wein and Aparo, wherein the coalition of evil calling itself the Dark Circle initiated its master plan by attacking the hero through blind psychic – and nominal love-interest – Cassandra Craft, whilst Ghost-Breaker Dr. Thirteen exposed another hoary hoax in ‘Creatures of the Night’ by Steve Skeates and Tony DeZuniga. These counterpoints to eldritch adventure, although usually excellent, were rapidly reaching their sell-by date, and very soon Thirteen would be battling real monsters he couldn’t rationalize away…

‘Panic in the Night!’ from #23 saw the Stranger and Cassandra in Paris battling analogues of the Phantom of the Opera and Hunchback of Notre Dame as they gathered an unlikely ally for their imminent final clash with the Dark Circle. However, great as this yarn is, the real gem is the back-up feature which transformed Terry Thirteen.

‘The Spawn of Frankenstein!’ saw the discovery of an ice-entombed man-monster lead to dark tragedy. When Victor Adams, a colleague of Dr. Thirteen, attempted to revive the beast it resulted in his death and Thirteen’s wife Marie being crippled and hurled into a coma. The vengeance-crazed Ghost-Breaker resolved to hunt down and destroy the unthinking monster, utterly unaware – and perhaps uncaring – that the beast was both rational and wholly innocent of any misdeed.

Written by Marv Wolfman and illustrated by the unique talent of Michael Kaluta, this debut promised much, but the feature was plagued by inconsistency. Phantom Stranger #24 (March/April 1973) saw the epic conclusion of the long war against the Dark Circle as the hero and Cassandra battled the ‘Apocalypse!’ in the shadow of Mount Corcovado (that’s the one with the Jesus statue “Christo Redentor” overlooking Rio de Janeiro) with old foes Tannarak and Tala, Queen of Darkness along for the spectacular and long-overdue ride.’The Spawn of Frankenstein continued by Wolfman and Kaluta as the revived monster decided to revenge itself upon Victor Adams for dragging him back to cruel, unwanted life (by returning the favour…) by resurrecting the dead scientist in return…

A new tone and a resumption of episodic, supernatural triage marked issue #25 as the mysterious wanderer pitted himself against a voodoo cult in ‘Dance of the Serpent’ (by Wein – from an idea by Michael J Pellowski – and Aparo) whilst Kaluta ended his run on Frankenstein with another untitled tale wherein Rachel Adams (wife of the departed Doctor) was kidnapped by Satanists before being rescued by the monster; a tale that led into #26’s crossover ‘From Dust Thou Art…’ by Wein, Wolfman and Aparo, which teamed the monster and the Stranger against demons in need of earthly bodies.

The radical change was completed with the next issue as innovative horror-anthology artist Gerry Talaoc replaced the sleek, realistic Aparo (who moved on to the Brave and the Bold and a long career illustrating Batman), whilst journeyman mainstay Arnold Drake assumed the writer’s seat. Together they introduced another long-term nemesis for the Stranger in the deeply disturbed psychiatrist and parapsychologist ‘Dr. Zorn: Soul-Master!’

Eschewing the Gothic trappings that had carried the series thus far this driven meddler, callously warping his patients and performing illicit experiments for the US Military-Industrialist Complex, was a far more insidious and freshly contemporary threat in tune with the times. Thwarted but seldom defeated he returned to bedevil the Stranger many times.

Frankenstein was taken over by Steve Skeates and the legendary Bernard Baily (Golden Age co-creator of Hourman and the Spectre) and ‘The Terror and the Compassion’ saw the misunderstood beast stumble into a commune that was actually a demonic coven intent on blood sacrifice and raising the devil…

‘The Counterfeit Madman!’ by the new regular team saw the Stranger explore the mind of mad-dog killer Johnny Ganz. Was the young offender a true psychopath or a cunning crook pretending to be a multiple-personality sufferer? Was there another innocent victim trapped inside the killer’s skull with him? An element of moral ambiguity had been added by Drake that layered the later adventures with enticing and challenging dilemmas absent from most comic fiction and only matched by Steve Gerber’s challenging work on Man-Thing. The back-up,‘Night of the Snake God’ however, was a more traditional tale which continued the Spawn of Frankenstein’s battle against the hippie cult in a solid if undemanding manner.

Zorn returned to his unscrupulous scientific explorations of the supernatural in Phantom Stranger #29’s ‘The Devil Dolls of Dr. Z!’ whilst matters hardly progressed at all in ‘The Snake-God Revealed!’, which saw the Spawn of Frankenstein lose momentum – and story-space – as his strip was reduced to six pages. The next issue led with another contemporary terror in ‘The Children’s Crusade!’ as a modern Pied Piper seduces a town’s young into his charismatic cult whilst ‘Turn-about!’ concludes – and not before time – the exploits of the Spawn of Frankenstein.

Issue #31 (June-July 1974) is an exotic yarn dealing with the aftermath of the Vietnam war as a disgraced US “general” smuggling drugs for a local warlord awakens a slumbering demon in ‘Sacred is the Monster Kang!’ The Stranger tales were usually 12 pages long at this period, but the back-up feature that originally filled up the comics – The Black Orchid – is not included in this volume.

Bill Draut, one of the Stranger’s earliest illustrators returned in #32’s ‘It Takes a Witch…!’ an old-fashioned spooky whodunit, whilst superstar-in-waiting Mike Grell illustrated another Dr. Zorn vehicle that guest-starred the ghost of Boston Brand. In ‘Deadman’s Bluff!’ the ghost’s protracted hunt for his murderer ended as usual in frustration, but an antagonistic partnership was established for the future…

Talaoc returned for ‘A Death in the Family!’ in #34 where a “clean” brother was compelled to assume control of the family’s business – running a crime mob. His guilt was further compounded when his dead sibling returned from the grave to give him a few pointers. Increasingly the Stranger was becoming a mere witness to supernatural events in his own series, so perhaps it’s no coincidence that this issue featured a return for the more hands-on Dr. Thirteen (wife Marie cured and both of them ignoring their brief stint of Frankensteinian tragedy). ‘…And the Dog Howls Through the Night!’ was another straightforward yet gripping adventure from Skeates and Tony Dezuniga, which I suspect had been waiting a few years in a drawer before publication.

‘The Demon Gate’ was the debut tale for writer David Michelinie who made the Stranger a target for the derivative Dr. Nathan Seine who wanted to siphon off the hero’s mystic energy and soul to cure his dying wife, and like ‘Crimson Gold’, a deadly African treasure hunt for Nazi treasure in #36, it briefly betokened a more active role for the immortal wanderer. Drake and Paul Levitz scripted ‘Images of the Dead’ in Phantom Stranger #37, another highly charged moral quandary wherein a young artist was forced to commit reprehensible crimes to earn money for his wife’s hospital bills…

Talaoc made way for fellow Philippino artist Fred Carrillo with issue #38 as Nathan Seine returned to extract a bitter revenge in Levitz’s ‘The Curse of the Stalking Skull’ and this new creative team brought back Boston Brand for ‘Death Calls Twice for a Deadman’ in a last-ditch effort to revive dwindling sales. Including the sometime Batman villain the Sensei signaled a belated return to the company’s over-arching continuity, but it was too little, too late.

Deadman also co-starred in #40’s ‘In the Kingdom of the Blind’ and #41’s concluding chapter (February-March 1976) ‘A Time for Endings’ as Dr. Seine tried to bring Elder Gods to Earth using the long-absent Cassandra Craft as a medium. With the tale’s finish the series ended and the Stranger all-but vanished until the winter of 1978 and a giant-sized tale from DC Super-Stars #18.

‘Phantom Stranger and Deadman’ (by Gerry Conway, Marty Pasko, Romeo Tanghal, Dick Giordano and Bob Layton) was an extended Halloween extravaganza as the mystic champions, with Dr. Thirteen and Tala in attendance, attempted to stamp out an infestation of demons that had infiltrated the comicbook Mecca of the season: Rutland, Vermont (long associated in both Marvel and DC titles as the only place to be on the Eve of All Hallows).

One final tale appeared a few months later in the 150th issue of House of Secrets (February-March 1978) as Conway and Talaoc related a generational tale of restless evil in ‘A God by any Other Name.’ The Stranger and Dr. Thirteen united to complete the work of Rabbi Samuel Shulman and Father John Christian who in the dire environs of London, 1892, joined spiritual forces to destroy the World’s first malignant machine intellect Molloch. But those Satanic Mills have a habit of being rebuilt by greedy men…

More than most the Phantom Stranger is a strong character and concept at the mercy of pitiless fashion. Revived at the end pf the 1960s on a wave of interest in the supernatural, and seemingly immune to harm, he struggled to find an audience in the general marketplace before direct sales techniques made publishing a less hit-or-miss proposition. Blessed with a vast cohort of talented creators, however, the stories themselves have proved to be of lasting quality, and would so easily transfer to today’s television screens that I wonder why they haven’t yet. Mystery, exotic locales, forbidden monsters spectacular effects and a cool hat: C’mon, you know you’d watch it…

But until then you’ll have to thrill and scare yourselves with these fantastic tales.

© 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 2006 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Iznogoud volume 2: The Caliph’s Vacation


By Goscinny & Tabary, translated by Anthea Bell & Derek Hockridge (Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-905460-61-8

During his lifetime (1926-1977) René Goscinny was one of the most prolific, and is still one of the most read, writers of comic strips the world has ever seen. Among his most popular series are Lucky Luke, Le Petit Nicolas and of course Asterix the Gaul. In 1962, scant years after the Suez crisis, the French returned to the deserts when he teamed with Jean Tabary to produce imbecilic Arabian potentate Haroun el-Poussah but it was the villainous foil, power-hungry vizier Iznogoud that stole the show – possibly the conniving little devil’s only successful scheme.

Les Aventures du Calife Haroun el Poussah was created for Record with the first instalment appearing in the January 15th issue in1962. A modest success, it was transferred to Pilot: a magazine created and edited by Goscinny where it was redeveloped to give more emphasis to the scurrilous little weasel who had increasingly stolen the show.

With the emphasis shifted to the shifty shrimp the revamped series, retitled Iznogoud, commenced in Pilote in 1968, becoming a huge favourite, with 27 albums to date, a long-running TV cartoon show and even a live action movie in 2005. When Goscinny died in 1977 Tabary took over writing the strip as well, moving to book-length complete tales, rather than the compilations of short punchy stories that typified their collaborations.

Like all the best storytelling, Iznogoud works on two levels: as a comedic romp of sneaky baddies coming a cropper for younger readers, and as a pun-filled, witty satire for older, wiser heads, much like its more famous cousin Asterix – and also translated here by the master translators Anthea Bell & Derek Hockridge who made the indomitable little Gaul so very palatable to the English tongue. Here their famed skills conjure up the best – and least salacious – bits of the legendary “Carry On films”…

Iznogoud is Grand Vizier to Haroun Al Plassid, Caliph of Ancient Baghdad, but the sneaky little toad has loftier ambitions, or as he is always shouting “I want to be Caliph instead of the Caliph!”

The vile vizier is “aided” – that’s sarcasm, that is – in his schemes by bumbling and reluctant assistant Wa’at Alahf, and in this second delightful translation from CineBook (which was originally the third album Les vacances du calife (1968, Dargaud), they begin their latest campaign of insurrections with ‘Summer Vacation or Never Say Die.’ As the holidays come round again the vizier persuades the Caliph to forego his usual Summer Palace in favour of a quiet bed-sit by the seaside, where an unwary ruler could easily drown or be buried in the sand or lost at sea or be eaten by sharks or…

As usual the plans go painfully awry and it’s back to Baghdad for ‘Good Sports in the Caliphate’ as a hapless magician/weatherman accidentally creates enough snow in the desert to open a ski resort. It doesn’t take much – it never does – to convince Haroun to sample the chilly thrills of skiing, snowboarding, crevasses and avalanches but as usual it’s not the Big Chief who sustains any crippling injuries.

The vacation theme continues with ‘The Caliph’s Cruise’ but after booking passage for Haroun with the unluckiest sea captain alive, the vile vizier doesn’t get off the ship quickly enough and the selection of cannibals, monsters, savages and sea creatures the voyagers encounter find him a far more suitable subject for their unique attentions, whilst in the concluding tale ‘Lihkwid’s Bottle or the Bottle of Lihkwid’ a travelling merchant provides an infallible elixir that will transform the affable potentate into a louse – but only if Iznogoud can trick him into drinking all three gallons of the foul-tasting stuff…

Snappy, fast-paced slapstick and painfully punny word-play abound in these mirthfully infectious tales, and this series is a household name in France; where the name has even entered common usage as a term for a certain type of politician: over-ambitious, unscrupulous – and often of diminutive stature.

When first released here in the 1970s, Iznogoud made little impression but hopefully this snazzy new incarnation of gloriously readable and wonderfully affordable comedy vignettes can finally find an audience among today’s more internationally aware comics-and-cartoon savvy British Kids Of All Ages.

I’m already one of them: How about you…?

© 1968 Dargaud Editeur Paris by Goscinny & Tabary. All Rights Reserved.

Legends: the Collection


By John Ostrander, Len Wein, John Byrne & Karl Kesel (DC Comics)
ISBN: 1-56389-095-X

With the success of Crisis on Infinite Earths (ISBN: 978-1-5638-9750-4) and Marvel’s Secret Wars (ISBN: 978-1-90415-983-4) comicbook publishers had dreams of regular, spectacular sales boosts, but a section of the cantankerous buying public muttered about gimmicks to make them spend more and voiced concerns about keeping the quality high.

At DC fan-interest was still fresh and keen as so many of their major properties – and indeed the entire continuity – was open for radical change, innovation and renewal. So, how best to follow the previous years cosmic catastrophe? Why not a much smaller and more personal Great Disaster, spotlighting those strangers wearing familiar costumes and a bunch of beginnings rather than the deaths and endings of Crisis?

Darkseid of Apokolips decides to attack humanity’s spirit by destroying the very concept of heroism and individuality. To this end he sends the hyper-charismatic New God Glorious Godfrey to America to lead a common man’s crusade against extraordinary heroes, while the God of Evil initiates individual plans intended to demoralize and destroy key champions of Earth. The rampant civil unrest prompts President Ronald Reagan to outlaw costumed crime-busters.

Some comply and many rebel, but as world-wide chaos ensues Darkseid amps up the pressure by adding monstrous artificial threats such as Macro-Man and Brimstone, a sentient mountain of super-heated plasma. With the world in tumult and Godfrey making a power grab using Apokoliptian Warhounds, the destructive anarchy forces the heroes to act: coming together to prevent the conquest of Mankind…

The enthralling core tale contained here can comfortably be read without the assorted spin-offs, crossovers and tie-ins, and it still feels like a magnificent mission statement for that new DC Universe, gritty, witty cohesive and contemporary. This collection also includes covers reproductions of each out-rider installment of the greater story, should you feel like tracking down those missing components…

John Ostrander was new to DC, lured from Chicago’s First Comics with editor Mike Gold where their work on Starslayer, Munden’s Bar and especially Grimjack had made those independent minnows some of the most readable series of the decade. Paired with veteran Len Wein, whose familiarity with the DC stable ensured the scripts would have the right company flavour, they concocted a bold and controversial tale for super-star Superman re-creator John Byrne to draw and the immensely talented Karl Kesel to ink.

Possibly the best and certainly the most cohesive of the company-wide braided mega-series, Legends launched as a six issue miniseries cover-dated November 1986 to April 1987. Like its predecessor the major narrative thread spread out into other DC series, but unlike Crisis each tie-in was consecutively numbered and every pertinent cover was labeled. If you got ’em all you couldn’t help but read them in the right order! The miniseries crossed into 22 other comics and miniseries and premiered three new series, Justice League, Flash and the superb and long neglected Suicide Squad. It even led to another new treatment for Billy Batson in a Shazam! miniseries and a sneak peek at the newly re-minted Wonder Woman.

If anything was ever destined for a complete Absolute Edition…

Until then however you can look for this little cracker and wonder why DC ever let it fall out of print.
© 1986, 1987, 1993 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.