Now Read This!

By Darwyn Cooke with J. Bone and Dave Stewart (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-84576-687-0

Some people are just hard to please. The Spirit is one of the greatest and most influential comics creations of all time and Darwyn Cooke is unarguably one of the best writer/artists in the industry today, but I still find it difficult to wholeheartedly praise his first efforts on DC’s acquisition and revival of the character, as seen in this compilation collecting the first six issues of comic book and the one-shot Batman/The Spirit.

Although I’m sure the impending movie has had a lot to do with this enterprise, The Spirit has always been a fundamentally Graphic and Design icon and Cooke has maintained the visual innovations as well as the racy, tongue-in-cheek comedy and breathtaking action. Perhaps my objections stem mostly from the facts that it’s set in a more-or-less contemporary world rather than the fabled forties and fifties. The ingenuous, camouflaged sexuality of Will Eisner’s work is missing from modern “in-your-face” liberated relationships, and that passionate tension is sorely missed. Or perhaps I’m just too churlish to accept anybody else’s interpretation of the character.

I certainly can’t fault the work on its own terms. Starting at full tilt with “Ice Ginger Coffee”, which introduces the masked vigilante-detective who fights crime in Central City with the covert approval of Police Commissioner Dolan in a barn-storming tale of abduction, extortion and gangsterism, Cooke tells captivating adventure stories that will appeal to much wider audiences than the average super-hero comic. “The Maneater” introduces P’Gell, – a sultry vixen whose greatest weapon is ruthless allure – and the mostly comedic bit-player Hussein to the cast, as well as filling in some blanks from the hero’s past, when he was merely Private Eye Denny Colt, and the boyfriend of Dolan’s daughter Ellen.

A bloody gang-massacre is only the beginning in “Resurrection”, which reveals the origin of The Spirit and introduces the gruesome Alvarro Mortez, who will return to bedevil Central City in future issues. “Hard like Satin” pits the outlaw detective against the indomitable CIA agent Silk Satin in a gruelling test of wills that brings Eisner’s ultimate villain The Octopus into the modern continuity, and the hysterically funny and chilling “Media Man” reintroduces Mister Carrion and his beloved vulture Miss Julia. The final solo adventure “Almost Blue” is a fantastical tale of rock ‘n ‘roll excess and extraterrestrial addiction with a poignant undercurrent which sits a little uncomfortably with the book’s final chapter.

“Crime Convention” adds Jeph Loeb to the regular team of Cooke, inker J. Bone and colourist Dave Stewart, to recount a frantic, funny tale of The Spirit and Batman’s first meeting whilst safeguarding a Police Commissioners convention from the amassed hordes of their respective Rogues Galleries. Originally released as a prelude to the ongoing Spirit series, this is oddly out of place both stylistically and thematically but is enjoyable nevertheless.

This is by any standard a truly great comics read and you shouldn’t let my reluctance influence you. If you haven’t seen Eisner’s originals you must read them, no argument there. But even though this volume isn’t MY Spirit, it is a damned good one. Go on, read them both. Please yourselves…

© 2007 DC Comics and Will Eisner Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Darryl Cunningham & Simon Gane (Slab-O-Concrete)
ISBN: 1-899866-16-7

Here’s another cool cure for the seemingly endless homogeneity of mainstream comic books from the sorely missed Slab-O-Concrete outfit. John Dark is a secret agent who quits his job seconds before being fired. He becomes an enforcer for a gang boss because criminals are less corrupt and evil than any spy or politician and proceeds to cause as much mayhem and carnage as any post-modern thriller fan could ever want.

Brilliantly mordant black humour, solid dialogue and just enough deep-seated respect and admiration for its antecedents to cheer up the jaded fan, this slim book, which also contains “Underworld” a bleak, black tale a gangster’s final vengeance, was released just ahead of the wave of Cool, Retro British gangster movies such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and to my mind is infinitely superior to them simply because of the stylish and eccentric artwork of Simon Gane.

You should hunt it down and make it your own!

© 1998 Darryl Cunningham & Simon Gane. All Rights Reserved.

By Roger Stern, John Byrne & Joe Rubenstein (Marvel)
ISBN: 0-87135-657-0

Captain America was the first patriotic superhero to hit big with the public and over the years a vast number of talented artists and writers have crafted his adventures. It is therefore quite odd to realise how few of them are truly memorable. I’ll leave you to compile your own top ten, but I’ll wager that this all too brief run by Roger Stern, John Byrne and Joe Rubenstein will provide at least one of them.

This volume collects issues #247-255 of the Star-Spangled Avenger’s own comic and seamlessly blends epic adventure with spectacular superhero art for a fan’s delight that is also readily accessible to the newcomer or casual reader.

“By the Dawn’s Early Light” gives an insight into Cap’s World War II career, uncovers a mystery involving leftover Nazi mastermind Baron Strucker and even sets up a new threat from a deadly robotic villain Machinesmith, leading directly into the two-part “Dragon Man” and “Death, Where is Thy Sting?”, which combines all-out action with a genuine moral dilemma that perfectly illuminates the character of this American Dream. Cap is always at his best when overcoming overwhelming opposition.

These stories were first released in an election year and the truly uplifting “Cap For President!” is still a wonderful antidote for sleaze and politicking whilst confirming the honesty and idealism of the decent person within us all. It’s back to basics after that as Cap teams up with long-time foe Batroc the Leaper to save New York City from flaming Armageddon in the two-part “The Mercenary and the Madman” and “Cold Fire”, a classic thriller that returned Mr. Hyde to the first rank of Marvel villains.

A short infomercial follows which reveals “The Life and Times of Captain America” in a funny, classy way before the drama resumes with “Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot” wherein the hero is called to England and the deathbed of WWII comrade Lord Falsworth who battled Nazis as the legendary Union Jack. He finds a brooding menace, family turmoil and a returned supernatural horror in the concluding “Blood on the Moors”, which even now is still one of the best handled Heroic Death stories in comics history.

The story portion of the book concludes with a brilliant retelling of Captain America’s origin, which is where the creative team, for unspecified reasons, called it a day, but this book also reproduces six pages from an unfinished tenth tale, a tantalising glimpse of missed magic.

This is a sheer escapist thrill-ride, endlessly gratifying and tremendously satisfying. After Jack Kirby, these are probably the purest evocation of this American Icon that you could ever read.

© 1980, 1990, Marvel Entertainment Group. © 2008 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Marcel Proust, adapted by Stéphane Heuet (NBM)
ISBN: 978-1-56163-513-9

I love comics, both in form and function, and wouldn’t ever be without them. I also read the odd book or two.

Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust, although perhaps an acquired taste, wrote what is considered by many to be one of the better ones (actually a bunch of them classed as one) and even though there are no robots or alien invasions and precious few fist-fights, the incredibly brave and ambitious Stéphane Heuet has undertaken to adapt Á la recherché du temps perdu, and is going about it in a most satisfying manner.

This graphic narrative is using “Remembrance of Things Past” for its title – which is what it was called when originally translated by C. F. Scott-Moncrieff, who turned the six volumes (3200 pages) of French into English between 1922 and 1931, although, when Penguin’s 1995 edition was released, the complete reworking by scholars from three countries settled upon “In Search of Lost Time” as a more fitting title.

What’s it about? In broad short form it considers the huge social changes that occurred in France and the world, especially the diminution of aristocracy and the advancement of the Middle Classes from the Troisième République (French Third Republic -1870 until the Nazis installed the Vichy Government in 1940) to the fin de siècle or turn of the 20th century. It’s about memory and nostalgia and how the senses can become doorways into our pasts. It’s about a guy recalling the village where he grew up. It is a vast achievement with over 2000 characters and is an acknowledged masterpiece of the written word. You should try it some time.

We are talking about Heuet’s adaptation now though, and in this volume vain, self-absorbed gentleman-about-town Swann falls in with an aggressively social-climbing crowd only to find his savoir-faire and savoir-vivre lost when he accidentally falls in love with his perception of the lovely Odette. That’s all you get. The artist has produced a sweet and subtle, marvellously European confection that is both beguiling and oddly fulfilling. The stylish, muted palette and heavy dependence on talking head-shots will deter many potential readers, so I’m going to do nothing to mar the soft pleasures of this wonderful book from any who are willing to let this dreamy tale unravel for them…

Classics Illustrated used to adapt books into comic form and they became a short-cut for school cheats who couldn’t be bothered to read great literature or were to busy to study for exams. This superb tome – and all its companion volumes – is far more than a précis in pictures; this worshipful adaptation is a companion to, not a substitute for; and thus is another brilliant example of the range of our art-form, and well worthy of your serious attention.

© 2006 Guy Delcourt Productions. Translation © 2007 NBM. All Rights Reserved.