Posts

Posted on

The Silver Surfer

The Silver Surfer 

By Stan Lee & Jack Kirby (Fireside Books/Simon & Schuster 1978)
ISBN: 0-6712-4225-3

This possibly ranks as Marvel’s first ever graphic novel proper, and it’s no surprise that the old creative team supreme would reserve such treatment for their critically beloved but commercially disastrous Christ allegory from the stars.

In reworking the character for the “real-world” market place Lee and Kirby eschewed the hip and fabulous Marvel Universe continuity in favour of a stand-alone tale in many ways a prototype for the Lee/Moebius collaboration Parable nearly a decade later.

All the key elements are there. The Silver Surfer is the herald of the planet-devouring Galactus, charged with finding him worlds to eat. When he finds us, despite being appalled at our behaviour he rebels against his God and Master to save us all.

Sadly here is where it all falls apart. Despite defeating his traitorous minion, Galactus decides not to eat us after all but goes off to find his own lunch, then resolves to get the Surfer back by building him a perfect mate. Meanwhile the Surfer is trapped on Earth alternately avoiding humans and trying to become one. It’s a sorry admission to make but the story swiftly becomes a blithering mess, and the dialogue is some of the worst Lee has ever penned.

So why is this book being reviewed at all? Simple.

Comics are a visual medium, and this story comprises some of the greatest artwork ever produced by one of its greatest artists, and inked by Joe Sinnott, one of his greatest inkers. Ignore the word balloons after page 25 and just feast your eyes on graphic majesty.

© 1978 Stan Lee & Jack Kirby. All Rights Reserved.
The Silver Surfer is a Trademark of Marvel Characters Inc.

Posted on

Shaun of the Dead

Shaun of the Dead 

By Chris Ryall & Zach Howard (Titan Books)
ISBN: 1-84576-160-X

This eminently readable adaptation of the surprise hit ROMantic ZOMbie COMedy movie is remarkably faithful to the source material, both in staging and in its prodigiously four-letter expletive enhanced script – so parents take note – and is therefore a sharp, blackly humorous horror tale about the bonds of friendship and the deep love of a man for his local (that’s a favoured public house, for overseas readers or natives of restricted social cognizance).

Funny, thrilling and spooky by turns, Ryall’s dialogue adapted from Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright’s original script, is complimented by Howard’s stylish pictures which never overwhelm the wit with gore and action.

A book well worth hunting down.

© 2005 Universal Studios Licensing LLLP. Shaun Of The Dead is © & ™ Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Runaways: Teenage Wasteland

Runaways: Teenage Wasteland 

By Brian K. Vaughan, Adrian Alphona & Takeshi Miyazawa (Marvel Comics)
ISBN: 0-7851-1415-7

With the second collected edition (issues #7-12 — see the archives for previous tome) this title more readily shuffles into what’s left of the traditional Marvel Universe.

By way of recap: Six young kids who have nothing in common except that their parents hang out together are suddenly bosom buddies once they discover that those same adults are, in fact, a team of super-villains intent on world conquest. As all parents can’t be trusted anyway, the kids have no problem banding together to use the powers they didn’t know they had to bring them to justice. The evil adults have manipulative fingers in every pie, however. As the De Facto owners of the city of Los Angeles its takes little more than a phone call to perfectly frame the Runaways for kidnapping each other and for a particularly grisly murder.

As the kids find themselves a cool abandoned hide-out they rescue another boy with evil parents, only to fall foul of a timeless monster, and then do the classic Marvel Hero Dance, as super-heroes Cloak and Dagger first hunt (recruited by a cop in the pay of those ol’ evil parents to catch them), and then team up with them to stop said villains. Naturally, the parents brain-wipe the heroes as they go for reinforcements, otherwise the angst, soul searching, burgeoning hormones and infidelities, both real and imagined would promptly come to a premature close.

The teen market this is cynically aimed at doesn’t do solutions, it’s all about maintaining a constant level of social, sexual and physical tension, not to say jeopardy. This isn’t for you (possibly) or me (definitely), it’s for the same audiences that watch Neighbours, OC, Smallville and Hollyoaks, chockfull of whiny, precocious brats taking the puberty equals alienation theme to unequalled levels. The trick is simply to keep on going until you’re cancelled.

This isn’t to say that the series is without merit. Although the art is still too bland and nondescript for my tastes and the characters and plots seem pedestrian to me, maybe some of this is genuinely fresh to younger readers. Vaughan’s scripting is good, with some of the best dialogue I’ve seen outside of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the TV show, not comic, cartoon or movie) and there actually is potential for improvement. It just needs to escape its own ghetto and say something original.

© 2003 Marvel Characters Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Superman: The Man of Steel

Superman: The Man of Steel 

By John Byrne & Dick Giordano (DC Comics)
ISBN: 1-84576-128-6

When DC Comics decided to rationalise and reconstruct their continuity with Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985 (ISBN: 1-84023-267-6) they used the event to regenerate their key properties at the same time. The biggest gun they had was Superman and it’s hard to argued that the change was not before time.

The big guy was in a bit of a slump, but he’d weathered those before. So how could a root and branch retooling be anything but a pathetic marketing ploy that would alienate the real fans for a few fly-by-night Johnny-come-latelies who would jump ship as soon as the next fad surfaced? This new Superman was going to suck.

He didn’t. All the Superman titles were cancelled or suspended for three months, and yes, that did make the real world media sit-up and take notice of the character for the first time in decades. But there was method in this corporate madness.

Beginning with the six part miniseries Man of Steel, written and drawn by mainstream superstar John Byrne, and inked by venerated veteran Dick Giordano, the experiment was a huge and instant success. So much so that when it was first collected as a stand-alone graphic novel in the 1980s (now redesigned and re-released as volume 1 of an ongoing series) it became one of the industry’s premiere ‘break-out’ hits. From this overwhelming start the character returned to his suspended comic-book homes with the addition of a third monthly title premiering that same month.

Superman, Adventures of Superman, and Action Comics (which acted as a fan-pleasing team-up book that guest-starred other favourites of the DC Universe) were instant best-sellers. So successful was the relaunch that by the early 1990’s Superman would be able to sustain four monthly titles as well as Specials, Annuals guest shots and his regular appearances in titles such as Justice League. Quite a turnaround from the earlier heydays of the Man of Steel when editors were frantic about not over-exposing their meal-ticket.

The collection itself tells six stories from key points in Superman’s career, newly reconstructed in the wake of the aforementioned Crisis. Starting with his escape from Krypton, his years in Smallville and his first recorded exploit, then his first meeting with Lois Lane and joining the Daily Planet, we get a rapid re-education of what is and isn’t canon.

The third chapter recounts his first meeting with Batman, and the fourth introduces the new Lex Luthor. By the fifth issues Luthor was his greatest foe and this story deals with the creation of Bizarro as well as introducing Lois’ sister Lucy. The final chapter reveals to us and the Man of Steel himself, the secrets of his Kryptonian origin and affirms his dedication and connection to humanity.

John Byrne was a controversial choice at the time, but he magnificently recreated the exciting and visually compelling, contemporary and even socially aware slices of sheer exuberant, four-colour fantasy that was the original Superman, and made it possible to be a fan again, no matter your age or prejudice. Superman had always been great, but Byrne had once again made him thrilling. Rivetingly so. These stories are well worth your time and your money. A must have for any serious collector and reader.

© 1987, 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

CSI: Bad Rap

CSI: Bad Rap 

By Max Allan Collins, Gabriel Rodriguez & Ashley Wood (Titan Books)
ISBN: 1-84023-799-6

The real world Sin City of Las Vegas is as much about show biz as it is gambling, so when a hot new Rap star kills a kid, but is himself murdered before he can be arrested, it’s a criminal matter, but is it also all about money and prestige?

The creative team once again puts the ensemble cast through its paces in an intriguing plot-driven whodunit, rife with twists and turns and, of course a mounting pile of fresh corpses. Fan of the TV show will welcome the cool efficiency of the protagonists, as do I, since it’s a welcome antidote to the overly emotive histrionics prevalent in many comics today.

Good to see crime comics in such a healthy condition, and this is a sharp argument for more licensed properties going the four-colour route.

© 2004 CBS Broadcasting Inc. and Alliance Atlantis Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Chronicles of Conan vol 9: Riders of the River Dragons

Chronicles of Conan vol 9: Riders of the River Dragons 

By Roy Thomas & John Buscema, Val Mayerik and others (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN: 1-84576-138-3

This collection of classic Conan reprints features tales from the lusty barbarian’s time as a buccaneer on Robert E. Howard’s analogue of the coasts of Africa. First up is the extended Tarzan pastiche ‘Riders of the River-Dragons’ (originally published in Marvel’s Conan #60-63) in which our hero and his first true love, the Pirate Queen Bélit, battle savage natives and a knowing knock-off of the Jungle-Lord called Amra of the Lions.

This is followed by ‘Fiends of the Feathered Serpent,’ loosely based on one of the author’s non-Conan tales “The Thunder-Rider,” and features more blood-thirsty natives and hellish magic on a mist-shrouded isle. The next story is adapted from Howard’s horror short “Out of the Deep,” illustrated by then-newcomer Val Mayerik and a score of deadline-busting inkers, as Conan recounts a truly chilling account of his younger days when a coastal village was invaded by an monstrous interloper from the briny depths.

‘The City in the Storm’ and ‘The Secret of Ashtoreth’, adapted from the novella Marchers of Valhalla, delve into the murky arenas of politics and religion to close the book, as John Buscema returns to illustrate a classic tale of lost cities and scurrilous priests. As always the guiding principle is breakneck action, beautifully drawn and engagingly written. Dark Horse’s new colouring techniques add incalculable value to the art and as always, Roy Thomas’s fascinating and informative Afterwords are an eye-opener for historians and fans alike.

These hearty slices of derring-do are classy and undemanding servings of good old-fashioned fantasy fun, always worth re-reading and a superb treat for first-time readers.

©1975, 2005 Conan Properties International, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Comics Creators on X-Men

Comics Creators on X-Men 

By Tom DeFalco (Titan Books)
ISBN: 1-84576-173-1

This concoction of pop-cultural history from ex-Marvel Editor-In-Chief Tom DeFalco gathers together the reminiscences of a broad band of those creative types that turned the X-Men from a quirky cult-comic into the multi-media branding juggernaut of today. From Lee and Kirby, via Roy Thomas and Neal Adams, through the Cockrum, Claremont and Byrne years, and beyond to the dramatic re-thinkings of Grant Morrison and Mark Millar, the articles are peppered with personal anecdotes, and a frank bewilderment at what the franchise now means.

This is a thoroughly readable, heavily illustrated companion tome that doesn’t really add anything to the collecting of X-Men comics, but does give some salutary insights into working on a major comic book title. Released to coincide with the release of the third X-Movie, it nonetheless still has interesting meat for the dedicated fan.

© 2006 Tom DeFalco. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Comics Creators on Fantastic Four

Comics Creators on Fantastic Four 

By Tom DeFalco (Titan Books)
ISBN: 1-84576-053-0

There’s something of a misunderstanding inherent in this line of products that give the inside skinny on the process of creating some of most popular comic characters. Many people I’ve spoken to will eventually admit that a big factor in these books’ appeal is the slim possibility that the reader might stumble onto The Secret.

I think it’s fair to suggest that most people reading comics harbour strong desires to actually work in comics, and after twenty-five years teaching comics skills to a variety of ages, I can reveal the answer to those hungry urges is work hard to improve, persist — and be very, very lucky.

So why buy this book? If it can’t teach you how to write like Warren Ellis or Mark Waid, or draw like Jack Kirby or Jim Lee what use is it? If it doesn’t teach you a secret hand shake or how to get a submissions editor to answer your letter, what’s the point?

The point is certainly knowledge. But that answered question is not “how”, it’s “why”.

Why has a certainly unoriginal concept lasted so long and generated so much good work from so varied a band of creators as Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Joe Sinnott, Roy Thomas, Keith Pollard, John Byrne, Doug Moench, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Walter Simonson, Ralph Macchio, Mike Wieringo, Warren Ellis, Jim Lee, Paul Ryan and Mark Waid among so many others?

Why devote so much time and energy and zeal to something so ultimately transient? That is a question all would-be creators should be asking themselves.

As a jolly, nostalgic cultural coffee-morning reminiscence this book is a welcome slice of approachable documentary. We comic fans will read, and nod or demur at someone’s opinion, and ponder sagely at the minutiae revealed by this stellar list of comic makers.

I know I did.

© 2005 Tom DeFaco. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Catwoman: When in Rome

Catwoman: When in Rome 

By Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale (DC Comics)
ISBN: 1-4012-0432-5

Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale continue their continuity reworking shenanigans with this vivid, if lightweight, piece of eye-candy that discloses what Selina Kyle got up to between the end of Batman: The Long Halloween (ISBN: 1-5389-469-6) and Batman: Dark Victory (ISBN: 1-56389-738-5).

Confused, and on the run, Catwoman and the Riddler fly to Italy to escape the wrath of the Gotham City Mob and to track down a new lead into the secret of the slinky one’s (and that would be Selina, OK?) lost and anonymous parentage, only to find themselves co-opted into a major heist whilst trying to avoid being killed by what seems to be Batman’s (other) worst villains.

It’s a stylish homage to Film Noir and Gangster chic, with the odd overtone of late Hitchcock, and readable enough, but lacks the strength and vivacity of the regular Catwoman books, especially those by Brubaker and Stewart, and is not a patch on The Long Halloween.

Such a long-lived and well-rounded character is worthy of more than tinsel and whips, surely?

© 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Crescent Moon vol 1

Crescent Moon vol 1 

By Haruko Iida – story by Red Entertainment/Takamura Matsuda (TokyoPop)
ISBN: 1-59182-792-2

This slight fantasy manga features the trials and tribulations of Mahiru Shiraishi, a young girl who seems to have the peculiar ability to lend luck to whoever asks for it. Perhaps as a consequence of this, she leads a sad unlucky life herself.

All this changes when she meets the mystical ‘Lunar Race’ – kids who are actually demons in the shapes of Werewolves, Vampires, Foxes and Bats. They reveal that she is the descendent of a human princess who once loved and betrayed a demon boy, and enlist her aid to recover the source of all their power – the “Teardrops of the Moon” which have been stolen. Can she help these wonderful beings and expiate the sins of her ancestors and race before it’s too late?

Gently blending schoolgirl drama, romance, real world adventure and high fantasy, this is a charming fairytale in the traditional manner, and suitable for older kids of all ages.

© 2000 Haruko Iida. © RED 2000. English text © 2004 TokyoPop Inc.