Now Read This!

 

By Frank Miller (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN: 1-84576-045-X

To coincide with the release of the film, Dark Horse released all seven of Frank Miller’s quintessential noir thrillers in a new, more compact format. Whilst reviewing the first of these I noticed something that had utterly escaped me in the past. Maybe I’m simply the last one to notice, but as the brutal Marv rampages through the wickedest city in the world, hunting for the murderers of the hooker he woke up beside, dodging cops, kicking butt and leaping from tall buildings, it seemed to me that over and above the starkly reductionist art style he was rendered in something else was going on.

In what was heralded as a breaking away from the genre morass of superhero fare Miller had produced in artistic staging a purely superheroic visual lexicon. The poses, the leaps and fights, and especially the way that coat billows in the breeze are all pure spandex iconography.

You probably all noticed that already. Which means that you already knew this dark adult, crime comic is a breakneck thrill-ride tour-de-force. And that they originally appeared in short bursts in the anthology comic Dark Horse Presents #51-62, plus a tale from the Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special.

Still worth picking up though. No?

© 1991, 1992, 1993, 2001, 2005, Frank Miller Inc. All Rights Reserved.

 

By Noa Abarbanel & Amitai Sandy (Dimona Comix Group)
No ISBN: go to www.dimonacomix.com for details

This odd little book crossed my desk recently, so I thought I’d share it with you — although I genuinely don’t really know if I got it or not. I ought to warn you now though, that if frank discussion of sexual topics gives you the screaming Heebie-Jeebies, you might want to stop reading any second now. The book is both frank and graphically uncompromising, although this is an earthily humorous story rendered in full colour illustrations by Amitai Sandy in the loose and stylish manner of alternative cartoonist Lee Marrs.

Shirley Marchevsky is a progressive young woman in present day Israel with a full life, many friends and lots to do. She is also a girl on a mission.

As a sexual libertarian, she has lots of intimate partners but she is still looking for her own special Mr Right. Would that be a certain type? A specific ethnicity? A certain form of physicality, perhaps? Not really.

Shirley’s difficulties stem from her heart-felt belief that sex is good and should, above all other things, be fun. Sadly she often expresses that belief in inappropriate if not outright off-putting behaviour such as wilfully breaking wind at the most intimate of moments, substituting a pet’s mouth for her own when her partner is unable to focus his eyes, and generally laughing at the most intense moments. There can’t be a man alive who can keep … concentrating… when his partner is chortling, guffawing and doing an uncanny impression of a Whooppee Cushion. Talk about performance anxiety!

What she wants is a guy who also believes that mutual punch-lines are much more important than mutual climaxes. She’s tried it without the clown act but it’s just not as good. Somewhere out there must be a man who thinks and feels as she does. Does she find him? Well, I’ve been pretty explicit thus far but I even I have my limits. Best if you find out for yourself.

Presumably© 2005 Noa Abarbanel & Amitai Sandy. All Rights Reserved.

1. RAMOR’S CONCH (ISBN 0-918348-30-7)
2. THE TEMPLE OF OBLIVION (ISBN 0-918348-34-X)
3. THE REIGE MASTER (ISBN 0-918348-47-1)
4. THE EGG OF DARKNESS (ISBN 0-918348-56-0)
By Loisel & Le Tendre (NBM)

Like much French art and culture, French language comic material (I’m controversially including Belgium in this half-baked, nigh-racist, sweeping statement) usually seems to be a triumph of style over content. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, simply that sometimes the writing and plotting isn’t as important to the readers as the way it looks on a page, and deep, complex characterisation isn’t often given the same amount of room that scenery, fighting or sex gets. When you combine that with their reading public’s total inability to be shocked by nudity or profanity, it becomes clear why so little of these beautiful rendered strips ever get translated into English. Confidentially, I also think they think that super-heroes are silly!

Beginning in the mid-1980s, there was a concerted effort to bring a selection of European comics to an American audience, with mixed results, and there have been a number of recurring, abortive attempts since. One of the best was the fairly innocuous if splendidly fanciful fantasy Roxanna and the Quest for the Time Bird, which combined sword-and sorcery in the manner of Jim Henson’s Dark Crystal with the sly raciness of the Carry On films.

Ramor’s Conch introduces us to a world of many races, species and magics via the astonishing Roxanna, sent on a mission to recruit Bragon, the Greatest Knight in the World (and quite possibly her father) to capture the legendary Time-Bird and prevent the destruction of the planet at the hands of the mad god imprisoned within the Conch. Bragon, old and crotchety, takes a lot of persuading, even though he loved the Witch-Princess Mara who is Roxanna’s mother and the only thing currently holding back immanent Armageddon.

Of course he does accept the mission, but is unable to prevent the girl from accompanying him. Whether it’s because she may be his daughter or simply because this plain faced girl has the sexiest body on the planet and the mind of a young girl (which here translates as a devastating blend of ingénue maiden and scrubber-in-training), he decides to keep her with him as they set out on their desperate quest, the first part of which is to steal the Conch itself from a city of religious maniacs who haven’t even seen a woman in months. After much derring-do and snide asides they succeed, picking up a relentless foe in the shape of the deadly Bulrog, and a breast-obsessed (Roxanna’s chest is unfeasibly large and inviting), inept young warrior in the process. The first book closes with the trio setting off for their next stage with only eight days remaining until the end of the world and the revenge crazed psychopath Bulrog hot on their heels.

The Temple of Oblivion sees the reunion of Bragon and Mara as he deposits the Conch and takes a party to the aforementioned temple to translate runes that will lead to the Time-Bird itself. With the Bird they can literally stop the clock until Mara can devise a way to re-imprison the mad god Ramor. Their journey pushes them to emotional and physical limits, and a dark edge creeps into tale, as they again succeed but only at the cost of all but Bragon, Roxanna and her young warrior. As they head to their next destination, only seven days remain.

The Reige Master finds them slogging through jungles strikingly similar to French Indo-China, nearing their goal, but being stalked by weird vulture-like beings led by an old warrior who has become an obsessive hunter, dedicated to dealing out death as a spiritual experience. Over the course of four days much is revealed about Bragon, and Bulrog as well as the confirmation that everything is not as it seems with the irresistible and so off-limits Roxanna. Without ever feeling like the creators are just marking time, the volume closes with three days until doomsday, all four travellers uncomfortably united and the path to the Time-Bird open before them.

The Egg of Darkness opens many years after the events of the previous books, with an old man relating the adventures as a bed time story for his grandchildren. The fantastic action is overtaken by a metaphysical detour and explosive revelations about the quest and the participants that provide a spectacular shock ending. As with all great myth tales the heroes triumph and fade but still leave some mystery, as well as wiggle-room for a return, if called for.

Although simplistically plotted, the stylish worldliness of Loisel and Le Tendre both in the sparse and evocative script and the frankly phenomenal illustration, and the sheer inventiveness of the locales and inhabitants of the alien world of Akbar are irresistible lures into a special world of reading magic that more US/UK fans should experience. It’s not Tin Tin, it’s not Asterix, it is foreign and it is good. Go questing for it.

© 1983-1987 by Dargaud Editeur.
English language edition © 1987-1989 NBM.

 

By Neil Gaiman & various (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-84023-784-8

The Sandman has become one of the lasting successes of the comic industry and a new offering has the cache of a media event. Each new work therefore seems intent on being just a little bit “more” than the last, presumably as a way of distancing it from the plethora of ordinary comic-book spin-offs that grew into a sub-imprint once the regular periodical series concluded. Following the prose ‘The Dream Hunters’ (with painted illustration by Yoshitaka Amano) Gaiman returned to the series’ graphic roots with seven short stories, each focussing on one of the Endless, and each pictured by a major international star.

Death is drawn by P Craig Russell, Desire by Milo Manara, Dream himself by Miguelanxo Prado and Despair is a highly stylized collaboration between Barron Storey and Dave McKean. Bill Sienkiewicz delineates Despair, Destruction is rendered by Glenn Fabry and Destiny is left for Frank Quitely.

There’s no point in summarising the stories themselves. The art is all you’d expect from such a prestigious assemblage. The writing is what you’d hope for from a creator who’s moved on and come back for a visit. If you’re a fan or a convert you’ll be delighted, and if you don’t like the Sandman you won’t want to read it anyway. But if you wanted to see what all the fuss was about and can appreciate beautifully told stories beautifully pictured this could be your personal introduction into a whole new, wonderful world.

© 2003 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

 

By Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Don Heck, & various (Marvel)
ISBN 0-7851-0822-X

Marvel Comics built its fan base through strong and contemporarily relevant stories and art, but most importantly, by creating a shared continuity that closely followed the characters through not just their own titles but also through the many guest appearances in other comics. Such an interweaving meant that even today completists and fans seek out extraneous stories to get a fuller picture of their favourite’s adventures. In such an environment, series such as Marvel’s Essential… and DC’s …Showcase are an economical and valuable product that approaches the status of a public service for collectors.

If you’re of a particularly finicky nature – and what true comic fan isn’t? – you could consider the Astonishing Ant-Man to be one of the earliest heroes of the Marvel Age of Comics. He first appeared in Tales To Astonish #27 (cover-dated January 1962), one of the monster anthology titles that proliferated in those heady days of Science Fiction Double-Feature B-Movies. The 7 page short introduced Dr Henry Pym, a maverick scientist who discovered a shrinking potion and became ‘The Man in the Anthill!’ This engaging piece of fluff, which owed more than a little to the classic film The Incredible Shrinking Man was plotted by Stan Lee, scripted by Larry Lieber and beautifully illustrated by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers.

Obviously the character struck a chord with someone, since as the superhero boom expanded he was rapidly retooled and returned as a full-fledged costumed do-gooder in issue #35 (September 1962). His brand new origin involved Communist agents (this was at the height of Marvel’s ‘Commie-Buster’ period when every other villain was a Red somebody or other) and fairly rips along with our hero thwarting his evil abductors and developing his powers on the run. ‘Return of the Ant-Man’ was crafted by the original team of creators, as were the succeeding four adventures: ‘The Challenge of Comrade X!’, ‘Trapped by the Protector!’ (crook, not spy, this time), ‘Betrayed by the Ants!’ (the debut of his arch-foe Egghead – ah, simpler times, eh?) and the wonderfully primal monster menace of ‘The Vengeance of the Scarlet Beetle!’.

Sol Brodsky replaces Ayers as inker for ‘The Day that Ant-Man Failed!’ (Tales To Astonish #40), and Kirby himself gives way to Don Heck on ‘Prisoner of the Slave World!’ from TTA #41 and ‘The Voice of Doom’ (TTA #42), the King’s lavishly experimental perspectival flamboyance deferring to the comfortingly humanistic passion of Heck. The following issue H. E. Huntley replaces Lieber as scripter.

‘Versus the Mad Master of Time’ is a run-of-the-mill mad scientist tale but the next issue (TTA #44) is significant for a number of reasons. ‘The Creature from Kosmos’ has Kirby pencil for Heck’s inks and introduces The Wasp - Pym’s bon vivant crime-fighting partner – in a tale that features alien invaders and the secret origin of Ant-Man. In a rare and uncharacteristic display of depth we learn that Pym’s first wife Maria was murdered by Communists, changing the scientist from a scholar into the man of action he is now.

‘The Terrible Traps of Egghead’, ‘When Cyclops Walks the Earth!’, ‘Music to Scream By’ and ‘The Porcupine!’ are all unremarkable, if competent adventures from Lee, Huntley and Heck, but the next big change comes with TTA #49’s ‘The Birth of Giant-Man!’. Lee writes and Kirby and Heck illustrate a tale where Henry Pym learns to enlarge, as well as reduce, his size and mass just in time to tackle the threat of an extra-dimensional kidnapper. Steve Ditko inks Kirby in ‘The Human Top’, a two-part tale that shows our hero struggling to adapt to his new abilities. The concluding chapter is inked by Dick Ayers who would draw the bulk of the stories until the series’ demise. Also with this issue (TTA #51) a back-up feature starring the Wasp begins, and the combination of fact-features and horror vignettes narrated by the heroine are included in the volume.

The super-hero adventures settle into a pattern now as a succession of menaces are promptly dealt with in tales of variable quality. The Black Knight, the returning Porcupine, South American commie agent El Toro (drawn by Heck) and that pesky Human Top all come and go without too much trouble. A stage charlatan called The Magician is less trouble than TTA #57’s big guest-star when the size-changing duo battle Spider-Man, a sign of the increasing interconnectivity that Lee was developing. Captain America has a cameo in the battle with the giant alien Colossus, and issue #59 has all the Avengers visit before Giant-Man squares off against the Incredible Hulk.

Although the Human Top engineered that battle, Lee was the real mastermind as with the next issue (TTA #60 if you’re still counting) The Hulk becomes a co-star and Giant-Man’s adventures shrink back to 14 pages. ‘The Beasts of Berlin’ is a throwback in many ways as the duo must battle Commie Apes – no, really! – behind the Iron Curtain.

The writing was on the wall by issue #61. With the Hulk most prominent on the covers, substandard stories and a rapid rotation of artists, it was obvious Giant-Man was waning. ‘Now Walks the Android’ is illustrated by Ditko and George (Roussos) Bell, ‘Versus the Wasp’ is by Carl Burgos and Ayers, ‘The Gangsters and the Giant’ by Burgos and Chic Stone and ‘When Attuma Strikes’ by Burgos and Paul Reinman. This last was scripted by the mysterious and timid “Leon Lazarus”.

One final attempt to resuscitate the series came with the addition of Golden-Age legend Bob Powell (inked by Heck) as artist for issue #65’s ‘Presenting the New Giant-Man’. With a new costume and powers, these last five issues are actually some of the best tales in the run, but it was clearly too late. Frank (Giacoia) Ray inked Powell for ‘The Menace of Madam Macabre’, Chic Stone inked ‘The Mystery of the Hidden Man and his Rays of Doom!’ and the series concludes with a powerful two-parter (TTA #68 and 69) ‘Peril from the Long-Dead Past’ and ‘Oh, Wasp, Where is Thy Sting?’, inked by Vince Colletta and John Giunta. So far along is the decline that Al Hartley finishes what Stan Lee started, i.e. concluding the tense tale of the Wasp’s abduction by the Top and the retirement of the heroes at the story’s end.

Ant-Man did not die, but joined that vast cast of characters that Marvel kept in play in team books, in guest shots and in the occasional re-launch and mini-series. Despite variable quality and treatment he remains an intriguing and engaging reminder that the House of Ideas didn’t always get it right.

© 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 2002, 2007 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

 

By Matt Groening and various (Titan Books)
ISBN: 1-84023-846-1

Now that the kids are on their summer holidays, it’s the perfect time to kick ’em out of the house and finally read all those great graphic novels you bought them in a vain attempt to get some peace and quiet.

One such book worth a look is the compilation of Bongo Comics’ Bart Simpson (reprinting comic-book issues #9 – 12). The twenty-two complete stories feature the talents of such comic luminaries as Mike and Dan DeCarlo, Andrew Pepoy, Earl Kress, George Gladir and Gail Simone, as well as many newer talents combining to provide a riot of quickfire humour vignettes, in many cases sharper than the award winning cartoon show itself.

Especially noteworthy are the “origin” of Itchy & Scratchy in ‘Of Mice and Menace’ and the gloriously bad taste fable ‘From Lichtenslava With Love’. Excellent entertainment.

© 2005 Bongo Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

By Various (Titan Books)
ISBN: 1-84576-010-7

Another hilarious section of tales from the Bongo Comics series (issues 57-61 and 63), this volume features a prime selection of surreal and poor taste gags and strips from the World’s foremost dysfunctional family.

Joining the veritable production line of able creators whose output this time includes Bart and Lisa as superheroes Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl and a truly wicked assault on the Boy Band phenomenon is none other than Grand Poohbah Matt Groening himself who contributes a spiffy one-pager on the history of Golf via the mangled mouthings of professional Scotisher Willie the Janitor.

Sharp entertaining comics for all ages, and should keep ’em quiet until the DVD of the movie is released.

© 2005 Bongo Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

By Various (Titan Books)
ISBN: 1-84023-945-X

This follow-up edition once again features the cream of Marvel’s early 1980s talent pool in a pithy series of adventures featuring the last vestiges of stellar humanity and their flight for survival. The main body of the volume features a drama of political intrigue as the charismatic leader Adama submits to a memory recall device in search of clues to a safe harbour for his refugee fleet. Sadly this device traps him in a debilitating coma, and whilst incapacitated, members of his ruling council attempt a coup. Only his faithful warriors can save him from murder.

Reprinting issues #6-13 of the Marvel series, Roger McKenzie’s script zooms along (even with fill-in tales from Bill Mantlo – ‘Shuttle-Diplomacy’, and Tom DeFalco – ‘This Planet Hungers’ breaking the narrative thread). The illustration, by Rich Buckler and Klaus Janson, Sal Buscema, Pat Broderick and Walter Simonson ranges from efficient and creditable to just plain pretty.

Undemanding yet tremendously readable, the only quibble must be that the modern TV series that made this stuff eligible for republishing bears so little resemblance to the characters and scenarios collected here. Still, that’s this contemporary world of ‘Branding’ for you.

© 2005 Universal Studios Licensing LLLP. All Rights Reserved.