Now Read This!

By Martin Powell & Patrick Olliffe (Malibu Graphics, Inc.)
ISBN: 0-944735-39-8

Mary Wollstonecroft Shelley’s gothic classic The Modern Prometheus was first published in 1818 and is probably one of the most influential novels of popular fiction ever written, and it is the book rather than the many cinematic interpretations that best informs this impressive lost graphic gem from 1990.

Originally released as a three issue miniseries from Eternity Comics, it followed the success of author Powell’s Sherlock Holmes pastiches Scarlet in Gaslight and A Case of Blind Fear (most recently collected by Moonstone in Sherlock Homes Mysteries Volume 1, ISBN: 978-0-97216-686-7), but rather than extrapolation he aimed for a more straightforward adaptation of the source material.

Although no true and faithful version yet exists – since most of the novel deals with the agonies, travails and travels of Victor Frankenstein and his interactions with his creation are relatively few (albeit torturous and telling) – this is an effective and often chilling interpretation made starkly memorable by Patrick Olliffe.

The Chiaroscuric art-in-transition of the young artist perfectly establishes a mood of tortured humanism, with resonances of Roy G. Krenkel and solid echoes of Berni Wrightson – but oddly not that latter’s own impressive treatment of Shelley’s text. Of the many, many versions of the tale, this ranks closest to the superb Mike Ploog version put out by Marvel in the early 1970’s (see Essential Monster of Frankenstein ISBN: 0-7851-1634-6).

This is not a replacement for the novel – so read that too – but a well-crafted addendum that deserves a larger audience. Oddly enough the Spanish already agree with me as editions in that language have been available for over a year now.

¿Que?

Script © 1990 Martin Powell. Artwork © 2006 Patrick Olliffe. All Rights Reserved.

A MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL

By Stan Lee & John Buscema, with Tom DeFalco (Marvel)
ISBN: 0- 87135-427-6

Here’s a fine example of an all-too common problem in graphic novel production, in the form of a high class product that I can half-heartedly recommend – and no, I didn’t mistype that.

The Silver Surfer was always a pristine and iconic character when handled well – and sparingly – yet once he gained and sustained a regular comic book presence he became somewhat diminished; less… special. After a strong start his adventures became formulaic and even dull. In reworking the character for the modern market, a huge amount of the mystique that made the critically beloved but commercially disastrous Christ allegory from the Stars a 1960’s cause celebré was lost.

On paper a reuniting of Stan Lee and John Buscema on their most revered character collaboration must have seemed a win-win proposition, and the production values of a hardcover album with the most up to date repro and colouring techniques promised delights to warm even the most jaded fan’s heart. The artistic bravery of making each of the 62 pages one full panel of Buscema artwork was a fan-boy’s dream.

So why am I less than whole-heartedly enthusiastic?

Comics are a synthesis of art and story. When both are at their peak no other creative medium in the world can match them for imagination, delight and wonderment. John Buscema rose to the challenge, producing some of the best superhero drawing of his long and impressive career, ably assisted by the colouring of Max Scheele.

And the story sucked.

Even though plotted by Tom DeFalco and scripted by Stan Lee, the tale of the satanic tempter Mephisto’s seduction of Nova, the comely herald of the world-devouring Galactus, the self-sacrifice of the Surfer and the battle between the mystical Lord of Hell and Galactus, the ultimate Force of Science, should have been a high-point of sequential fiction.

But it isn’t. The dialogue is rushed, overblown, occasionally moronic and often downright embarrassing. But it is so very, very lovely to look at…

There’s the painful paradox. Every fan should have this book, but it might be best to find a copy translated into a language you can’t read…

A softcover edition (ISBN13: 978-0-87135-663-5) is also available.

© 1988 Marvel Entertainment Group/Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Keith Giffen, Alan Grant & Simon Bisley (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84576-889-8

The intergalactic bounty hunter was first seen in Omega Men #3 in 1982, and cropped up all over the DC universe, even becoming a mainstay of the popular L.E.G.I.O.N. series. He had his own monthly title for a few years as well as many miniseries and specials, and was a popular candidate for inter- and cross-company team-ups.

Lobo roughly translates as “he who devours your entrails and enjoys it”. This unstoppable, anarchic force-of-nature exploded in popularity in the decade that followed his premiere, despite being petty much a one trick pony and increasingly an exercise in outrageous graphic excess. He was exactly what a lot of fans wanted.

This new trade paperback collection reprints his the two breakthrough miniseries from 1990, the first of which details an unwelcome mission whilst indentured to the service of L.E.G.I.O.N., an intergalactic commercial police force run by Vril Dox, “son” of the villainous super-villain Brainiac.

Lobo always prided himself on being final survivor of his planet, but in ‘The Last Czarnian’ to his horror he finds that he missed someone when he slaughtered his entire race, that she’s his old grade-school teacher, and that moreover she’s written an unauthorized biography of the Main Man. Forbidden by his own honour-code from killing her, he must escort her to L.E.G.I.O.N. headquarters as all the nut-jobs in the universe pursue them, hell-bent on killing one or other of them.

“Lobo’s Back” from 1992 details his return to the private sector and how he dies trying to bring in the infamous Loo, the most dangerous being in the universe. What follows is an outrageous, darkly hilarious, blood-soaked spin on a venerable old tale (you’ve probably seen the Bugs Bunny cartoon classic) as Lobo makes himself persona non grata in the afterlife.

When both Heaven and Hell discover that the Main Man is too much to handle there’s only once place he go and that’s back here, but nobody said it had to be in his original body…

Brutally, blackly comedic, ironic, sardonic and manic, these tales for older readers aren’t to everybody’s taste, but Giffen and Grant’s sharp, wicked scripts gave Simon Bisley (assisted by Christian Alamy) scope for a multitude of breathtaking and memorable art sequences and sometimes just going wild can be as rewarding as the most intricately balanced craftwork and plot-building.

Pay yer money and take yer choice, ya feeb!.

© 1990, 1992, 2008 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.