Comics
Reading 'Blog'
(Comics that I have recently read.)
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(Credits note: Covers are assumed to be by interior artist/s unless otherwise noted.)
December 31, 2005 --
Alter Ego (magazine) #13 (2002)
Comic Book Marketplace (magazine) #89 (2002)
The O'Neil Observer (fanzine) #4 (2002)
Okay, I'm going to do one last entry for 2005. It's going to be an unusally long one as I'm going to be covering three comics related magazines, all of which I read several months ago but just haven't gotten around to doing an blog entry for. (Also, I'm going to stray from my usual format a bit and put the credits at the end of each issue instead of lumping them all together at the end of the entry to try to make things a bit more readable. If you clicked a link for the Comic Book Marketplace or O'Neil Observer issues you will need to scroll down a bit to find them.)
First up is Alter Ego #13 (March 2002). The cover on the "Golden Age Section" (side) is a previously unused image of Captain America drawn by Cap co-creator Joe Simon. The caption inside says that it was drawn originally for a proposed Marvel coffee-table book that never came to pass. Flip the magazine over and you've got the "Silver Age Section", the cover of which is the "Heroes League of America #1" re-creation of the cover of Justice League of America #1 substituting Marvel's Avengers for DC's JLA members that Murphy Anderson drew for the 2001 North Carolina Heroes Con[vention] program book (this piece was seen as well just a few months prior to the release of this issue in the color section of Comic Book Marketplace #88 [see blog entry]).
This issue's contents ("Golden Age Section"):
• Editor Roy Thomas's editorial, "O.K., Axis, Here We Come--Yet Again!" (leading into this issue's Marvel/Timely focused Golden Age Section) •
• "Power Luncheon--1974: Joe Simon, Stan Lee, Frank Robbins, & Roy Thomas at a Mid-’70s Seulingcon" (transcript of panel discussion featuring the above persons at 1974 New York City comic convention run by "comics entrepreneur" Phil Seuling; panel hosted by Seuling) •
• "A Long Glance at Dave Gantz--A Conversation with One of Comics' Top Golden Age Humor Artists--about the Timely/Marvel Bullpen and Other Oddities!" (by Jim Amash; interview with Dave Gantz, whose works include various work for Timely Comics--humor, adventure, filler work on superhero books--from circa 1940 to circa 1952, as well as--over the years--Victor Fox, Famous Funnies, St. John [Little Audrey], Ziff-Davis [which was edited by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel], Toby Press ["Al Capp's comic company"], Gilberton [Classics Illustrated], Dell [including Peanuts]; also the newspaper comic strips "Dudley D" [1962-1964] and "Don Q" [1975-1981], work for Mad Magazine ["for two years", no dates given], political cartoons, and various books--including 2002's Jews in America--and children’s books) •
• "A Close-Up Look at Timely Comics: A Pair of Pieces on Timely/Marvel Humor Mags of the 1940s" ("Part I, Vince Fago & the Timely/Marvel Funny Animal Dept (1942-1945)" by Dr. Michael J. Vassallo; "Part II, Those Krazy Karicatures" by Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr.) •
• "A Timely Talk with Daniel Keyes--Charly, Stan, and Psychoanalysis" (by Will Murray; an interview with Flowers for Algernon author, Daniel Keyes, who also worked for Timely/Marvel from 1952 to 1955) •
"Silver Age Section" contents:
• another Roy Thomas editorial, "Avengers Re-Assemble!" (leading into the section focusing on Silver Age Marvel Comics) •• "'Avengers Is Mine!'--A Personal Look Back at (Some of) the World’s Greatest Heroes by The Avengers’ Second Scripter: Part I" (by Roy Thomas, a look back at Thomas's time writing The Avengers starting with #35 [December 1966]; covers period up through Avengers #50 [March 1968]) •
• "One Heck of a Professional--An Appreciation of Marvel Artist Don Heck" (by William Cain; Don Heck, artist on titles such as Tales of Suspense ["Iron Man"] and The Avengers for Marvel, "Batgirl", Hawkman, and Wonder Woman for DC, and Night Glider, part of "Jack Kirby’s Secret City Saga" line of books published by Topps Comics in the early 1990s) •
• "An Avengers Interview--Sort of--With John Buscema" (by Roy Thomas; an interview with Buscema, longtime Marvel Comics artist; artist on The Avengers from #41 [June 1967] to #85 [February 1971] and again from #255 [May 1985] to #300 [February 1989]; interview focuses on Buscema's first run on Avengers, while Thomas was also scripting it; sidebar at start of article by Thomas tells of how Thomas was just in the final stages of proofreading this issue of Alter Ego when he learned of Buscema's death on January 10, 2002) •
• Michael T. Gilbert's "Mr. Monster's Comic Crypt" regular feature (this issue: "Stan Lee's Double Date!!", an interview conducted in 1964 with Stan Lee--one of the earliest Lee interviews known to exist from the early 1960s Marvel period--conducted by three young fans [David Castronuovo, Pete Ricciardi, and Frank Colletta] for their Crusader fanzine) •
• Bill Schelly's "Comic Fandom Archive" feature (this issue: "The Eye Is Still Watching You!"; a look at the "bizarre" hero created by Bill J. "Biljo" White and Richard "Grass" Green that appeared in various comics fanzines between 1964 and 1969 [in titles such as Star-Studded Comics #3, Fighting Hero Comics #10, and The Eye #1-2], and again in 1977 [Comic Crusader Storybook] and comics written by Schelly starting in 1999 [The Eye--Special Edition #1]) •
• three one page obituary articles ("Johnny Craig (1926-2001)", noted EC crime and horror comics artist, by Roger Hill ; "Gray Morrow (1934-2001)", long time comic book artist, by Jim Amash; and "Seymour Reit (1918-2001)", Golden Age comic book artist and creator of Casper the Friendly Ghost, by William Woolfolk ) •
Also: P.C. Hammerlinck's FCA: Fawcett Collector's of America #72:
• Marc Swayze's regular "We Didn't Know... It Was the Golden Age!" column (this issue Swayze talks about several of his concepts that he tried to get made into syndicated newspaper comic strips circa 1944-1947) •• "It's Really Hard to Be Simple!" (an interview with Power of Shazam! artist Mike Manley conducted by Hammerlinck) •
• and "Why Things Never Get Better" (an essay by late Captain Marvel co-creator C.C. Beck; edited by Hammerlinck) •
As always, a very enjoyable issue. Although, truth to tell, since it's been a few months between my reading the issue and now writing this blog entry, that's about all I can really say about it at this time.
(Credits info for Alter Ego #13: Roy Thomas (editor)/Bill Schelly, Jim Amash (associate editors)/Roy Thomas, Jim Amash, Dr. Michael J. Vassallo, Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., Will Murray, William Cain, Michael T. Gilbert, Bill Schelly, Roger Hill, William Woolfolk (columnists/contributors)/P.C. Hammerlinck (FCA editor)/Marc Swayze, P.C. Hammerlinck, C.C. Beck [essay] (FCA columnists/contributors)/Joe Simon ("Golden Age Section" cover artist)/Murphy Anderson ("Silver Age Section" cover artist).)
*****
Next we have Comic Book Marketplace #89 (March 2002). Under either a Frank Cho "Liberty Meadows" or a Hal Foster "Prince Valiant" cover (depending on which version you have; I have the Cho version) is another enjoyable issue of Marketplace.
Contents:
• a brief obituary notice for John Buscema (1927-2002) and a "Hal Foster hometown honor" news brief announcing plans for a statue of Foster to be built in his hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia (both appearing on the table of contents page) •• "Letter from the Editor" editorial by Russ Cochran ("Mugwumps and Apes") •
• Pat Calhoun's "Adventures Into Weird Words" columns (this issue: "Horror Hall of Fame--Beware! Terror Tales"; a look at Fawcett Comics' Beware! Terror Tales #1 [May 1952], #2 [July 1952], and #3 [September 1952]) •
• Michelle Nolan's "Nolan's Notebook" column (this issue: "Still Worthy, But Not Financially Worthwhile--How Collectors Have Never Fully Appreciated Prince Valiant"; a look at what was once considered a prize possession by Golden Age comic book collectors, David McKay Publishing's Feature Book #26, the Prince Valiant issue and "the only comic book with an original Hal Foster cover!") •
• two book reviews of Brian M. Kane’s Hal Foster, Prince of Illustrators--Father of the Adventure Strip book ("Hal Foster: Noblesse Oblige in the Funnies" by Robert R. Barrett, and "Hal Foster in the Spotlight" by Dave Winiewicz) •
• "The Making of Hal Foster: Prince of Illustrators--Father of the Adventure Strip” (by Brian M. Kane; the author gives the behind the scenes history of how he became interested in Foster and how he came to write the book, as well as general information on Foster's life and career) •
• "Frank Cho, Liberty Meadows--Splitting from Newspapers, Together at Last" (interview with Cho by Bill Baker; discussion on Cho's "Liberty Meadows" comic strip, his decision to end the strip at the end of December 2001 in favor of releasing it exclusively in comic book format, and some other projects he was working on at the time) •
• "ACTOR Auction at MegaCon 2002 Adds Items Straight from the Persian Gulf" (a comics industry news article about a pair of "massive art prints" once sent by [now defunct comics publisher] CrossGeneration ["CrossGen"] Comics to the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt, stationed in the Persian Gulf, being auctioned off to benefit ACTOR [A Commitment To Our Roots], "a non-profit organization dedicated to helping older comic creators in need" the weekend of February 22-24 at the Orlando MegaCon comics convention) •
• "The Best of All Worlds: George Pérez Interview--Part Two of Three" (by Bill Baker; focuses on Pérez's work on The New Teen Titans and Crisis on Infinite Earths for DC Comics in the 1980s) •
• David Winiewicz's semi-regular Frank Frazetta feature (this issue: "Frazetta and Foster: Some Thoughts") •
• Scott Shaw's! "Oddball Comics" column (this issue a look at Harvey's Fruitman Special #1 [December 1969]) •
• R.C. Harvey's "Funnies Farrago" column (this issue: "Fostering the Adventure Strip", another piece about Hal Foster and his work on the "Tarzan" and "Prince Valiant" newspaper comic strips) •
• and a "Color Gallery" featuring painted work by Hal Foster and three Sunday "Tarzan" comic strip pages by Foster (dated 12/27/31, 1/3/32, and 1/24/32) •
Obviously this issue was mostly about famed comic strip artist Hal Foster. I found it to be very interesting as I knew very little about Foster. I also enjoyed reading the regularly featured columns (as usual) and found the other interviews to be pretty interesting as well.
(Credits info for Comic Book Marketplace #89: Russ Cochran (editor/publisher)/J.C. Vaughn (executive editor/associate publisher)/Pat Calhoun, Michelle Nolan, Robert R. Barrett, Dave Winiewicz ["Dr. David Winiewicz" on Frazetta piece], Brian M. Kane, Bill Baker, Scott Shaw!, R.C. Harvey (columnists/contributors)/Hal Foster ["Prince Valiant" cover], Frank Cho ["Liberty Meadows" cover] (cover artists).)
*****
Finally (for this blog entry), I have a fanzine that at this time seems to be either on another long "hiatus" between issues or is out and out defunct: The O'Neil Observer. Started by Bob Brodsky with a Summer 1999 cover date, the slogan/purpose of the fanzine is "Dedicated to the Art [later issues, "Storytelling"] of Denny O'Neil and the Craft of Comic Book Writing". Issue #2 ran as a section within Comic Book Marketplace #83 (November 2000), followed by a return to its own fanzine with #3 (Summer 2001), #4 (Winter 2002), and #5 (Spring 2004). Issue #5 is the most recent issue released at this time.
The issue that I'm looking at today (having read a few months ago) is #4 (Winter 2002). Things changed a bit as it merged as of this issue with another fanzine titled Destination Cool!, "a previously privately circulated fanzine written and edited by John Wells" (from Brodsky's editorial in this issue), and "an ongoing celebration of some of those fictional constructs, specifically those published by DC Comics over the years" (from Wells' editorial). So this issue's title on the cover (under a "Stop! This is the new…" slogan) is the rather unwieldy O’Neil Observer Co-Starring Destination Cool! (“Two Great Fanzines: Together at Last!”). The title in the indicia is a more manageable The O’Neil Observer/Destination Cool! And, as it turned out, the merger between these two fanzines turned out to be short lived as with the very next issue (#5, Spring 2004) the fanzine is back to simply The O’Neil Observer (what's described in the editorial of that issue as "#4's semi-merger with John Wells' great Destination Cool! 'zine" having lasted exactly one issue).
Contents of this issue:
• editorials by both Brodsky ("O'Notes--Winter 2002") and Wells ("Medium Cool, Winter 2002") •• "Where Are They Now?--Mike W. Barr, Max Allan Collins" by John Wells •
• "From the CyberDen" (this issue: "A New Metaphor: America's Rite of Passage" by Leslie Klein Pilder; a general post-9/11 essay) •
• "Richard Morrissey: Man of Letters--A Compilation of Letters Written by Richard Morrissey, Part Two" (compiled by John Wells; letters written by well known and much loved comics fan Richard Morrissey to various comic book letters columns; includes letters published in Shazam! #9 [January 1974], Batman #259 [November 1974], Shazam! #17 [March 1975], and Superman #286 [April 1975]) •
• "The Hope of Crime Alley: The Leslie Thompkins Story" (by John Wells; a review of the Batman supporting character created by Denny O’Neil and artist Dick Giordano in Detective Comics #457's "There Is No Hope in Crime Alley" [March 1976]; looks at appearances from her first appearance up through recently published appearances) •
• "Factual Files #3: Kryptonite!" (by John Wells, a history of the use of the Superman plot element, Kryptonite, and how during O'Neil's run on Superman in 1970 Superman temporarily became immune to the radioactive element [Superman #233, January 1971, "Superman Breaks Loose!"]) •
• "Reader’s Copy: Daredevil #215" (by Jeff Clem; a review of the issue mentioned, which was written by Denny O'Neil and drawn by David Mazzuchelli [February 1985]) •
• "Real World Top Five" (by Bob Brodsky; a column reviewing Bob Dylan's Love and Theft and Keith Richards' Apartment Number Nine albums, St. Augustine's City of God, and Scott Saavedra's Comic Book Heaven [fanzine], and a few comments on the joy Brodsky still gets out of comic books) •
• "Writer’s Workshop" (a section dedicated to fan fiction; in this issue: a House of Mystery type story [actually, a sample comic book script] by Brodsky titled "Bigger Than Life" and a "Shazam!" fan fiction story titled "Here There Be Monsters: Part 1" by "DarkMark") •
• "Factual File #4: The Kid Who…" (by John Wells, a review of "The Kid Who..." stories ["The Kid Who Saved Superman", Superman #253; "The Kid Who Stole Superman's Powers", Superman #254, and "The Kid Who Struck Out Superman", Superman #259], written by Denny O'Neil [Superman #259 by Cary Bates] and featuring the young character of Billy Anders) •
• "Fireman Farrell" (by John Wells; a look at the character of Fireman Farrell, feature character in DC Comics' Showcase #1 [March-April 1956], written by Arnold Drake, drawn by John Prentice) •
• "A Box of Stan" (by Bob Brodsky; brief excerpt from interview Brodsky had with Stan Lee in 1998 for an article in Comic Book Marketplace) •
• and "Gangbusters!" (by John Wells; a look at DC Comics' Gang Busters series which ran from 1947-1958) •
As you can tell from looking over the list of contents, most of the material in this issue was written by Wells. And most of what Wells wrote is pretty interesting. He has a nice style in reviewing the old DC comic books. On the other hand, the sole really significant contribution by Brodsky (the actual editor of The O’Neil Observer), the column/essay reviewing various non-related items, had little to do with O'Neil or comics (a somewhat ironic thought when you consider that Brodsky states in the next issue that he's decided to drop Wells' Destination Cool! to "narrow our focus back to square one")! And I didn't even read the fan fiction stuff (I'm just not into that sort of thing). Overall, while I enjoyed the first three issues of this fanzine, I'd have to say that this fourth issue is a rather weak issue, although, as I said, the stuff by Wells is worth reading. (Wells remains as a contributor to the magazine with the following issue even though Destination Cool! is dropped again as of that issue.)
(Credits info for The O’Neil Observer/Destination Cool! #4: Bob Brodsky (editor, The O’Neil Observer)/John Wells (editor, Destination Cool!.)/Scott McCullar (contributing editor, webmaster, art director)/Brodsky, Wells, Leslie Klein Pilder, Richard Morrissey [letters to DC Comics], Jeff Clemm, “DarkMark” (columnists/contributors)/Scott McCullar (cover artist).)
December 25, 2005 --
Ultimate Fantastic Four #19-20 (2005)
Next up we have a couple of issues of Ultimate Fantastic Four. These two issues (#19 and #20) are a two-part filler story, "Think Tank", that ran between the last issue of one creative team (Warren Ellis-Adam Kubert-John Dell) and the first issue of the following one (Mike Millar-Greg Land) starting in #21.
"Think Tank", while building upon earlier events, does feel pretty much like a "filler" story. At the beginning of issue #19 the team is on their way back to the Baxter Building following their battle in Las Vegas with the N-Zone alien, Nihil (in the previous issue). Their cover is now blown. We don’t really get into that new plot element, however, as just as soon as they arrive back home they realize that the building has been taken over by a hostile force.
Rhona Burchill, a young woman whom was once rejected by the Baxter Building think tank, is the one behind the attack. She blames Reed because she believes that they chose him over her (when in reality it was her already unstable temperament that caused them to reject her, not their choosing Reed). She later performed grotesque medical procedures upon herself to increase her intelligence and abilities even further and is now seeking revenge upon the think tank and Reed and his friends.
She succeeds in issue #19 in incapacitating Sue, Johnny, and Ben, leaving only Reed to stop her. In issue #20 ("Think Tank: Part 2"), we (and Reed) are given a deeper look into Rhona's sad early life and how she became what she is today. Following which Reed manages to free his teammates and they put up enough of a fight that Rhona retreats from the scene, swearing that next time she will "remove the other variables" (Sue, Johnny, and Ben) and then it will be just her and Reed. "And I will kill you myself" are her final words before disappearing.
An okay filler story, nothing more. I don’t really care much for Jae Lee's art style on these characters. Then again, over half of the story arc he's drawing the repulsive looking Rhona Burchill anyway. And the story does really seem to stop everything that has been building up in the series so far (the team's secret existence now no longer a secret) in favor of a story that could probably happen at pretty much any time in the series (a disgruntled reject of the think tank taking the building hostage to attack Reed and company). So, it’s okay but nothing special. As I said earlier, just a quick "filler" between the change in regular creative teams.
(Credits for Ultimate Fantastic Four #19-20, Mike Carey (writer)/Jae Lee (artist)/Bryan Hitch [#19], Jae Lee [#20] (cover artists).)
December 24, 2005 --
Fantastic Four #527-532 (2005)
Next up I return to the main Fantastic Four series. Fantastic Four #527 marks the beginning of the next regular creative team on the title: J. Michael Straczynski (writer), Mike McKone (pencils), and Andy Lanning (inks). Issues #527 through #532 contain the team's first six-part story arc.
In issue #527 Stracynzski starts out by showing us that Reed has been observing alien planets at super accelerated speed, watching them literally from creation to eventual destruction in just a few days. He is interrupted this time by a visit from the family's accountant who informs the group that their finances (Reed's, Sue's, and Johnny's, at least) will still be tied up for quite some time to make up for recent events (such as Reed's taking control of Latveria despite the U.S. government's opposition) and, furthermore, that Reed is being audited. Surprisingly, however, Ben (the Thing) discovers that he has been collecting money himself all this time and has become quite rich.
Later, Reed accepts a secret government project to help raise some cash. The project, he discovers, is an attempt to recreate the conditions that created the Fantastic Four in the first place. Cosmic rays identical to the ones that gave the team their powers years earlier are once again approaching Earth and this team of scientists needs Reed's help in creating a spaceship identical to the one that the team rode in the first time. The goal--to recreate the transformation process, this time with a contingent of U.S. military personnel.
Issue #528, in addition to continuing the storyline with Reed, also adds a new plotline that will be recurring in following issues. Namely, a New York City Child Welfare investigator named Simone Debouvier begins an investigation into whether or not living with the Fantastic Four is a safe living environment for young Franklin and Valeria. Meanwhile, Ben is enjoying his new found wealth while at the same time is wondering to himself just how genuine his money bought "happiness" really might be. And, mysteriously, the fuel core of the replica spacecraft that Reed is aiding the government in building suddenly explodes. Right away the evidence seems to point towards Reed as a saboteur.
In issue #529, Reed--who has indeed sabotaged the government project--escapes capture and returns to the Baxter Building. He learns of the issue of the Child Welfare Department's investigation but has to put that issue aside for the moment. He gathers the team and informs them that he has discovered that the cosmic rays that gave them their powers were in actuality a form of communication. He tells them that the new wave of cosmic rays approaching Earth is again someone attempting to communicate and that they must all four return to space to intersect the rays and try to answer the call. They do just that and this issue ends as the cosmic rays are about to reach them.
Issue #530 begins where the previous issue left off. The cosmic rays this time pass through the four heroes with seemingly no effect. The rays then give way, however, to a larger cosmic phenomenon looking somewhat like a strange comet which strikes the ship and drives them back down to Earth. Once safely down they discover that they are now joined by a large alien creature. Though before they can react they realize that they have crash landed in the middle of an Army training area and are confronted by soldiers. Shots are fired and the alien creature strikes back, seemingly killing several soldiers. Ben (whom the alien has been communicating with telepathically) tells them that the soldiers have merely been teleported elsewhere, and the alien teleports them back home to the Baxter Building before more soldiers can arrive at the scene.
Back in New York, the alien communicates his story to the group, telling how he once was an ordinary human-like alien on another world who thirsted for "truth" but was attacked for being different by his own people. An experiment gone awry by his attackers caused him to be transformed into what he is today, a creature able to ride and manipulate various forms of universal energy (including cosmic rays). As he finishes his story, an alien ship arrives carrying the people from his planet still out to destroy him.
In issue #531, Sue, Ben, and Johnny fend off the attacks of the alien forces (more ships show us just as they seem to be winning, of course). Meanwhile, Reed and the alien work to send the alien into the Negative Zone to escape. An explosion causes things to go awry however and both Reed and the alien are sent back as some form of energy (while at the same time retaining their general forms and consciousnesses) back to the beginning of time, before the creation of the universe.
Issue #532 begins with the creation of the universe breaking down due to the alien's inability to control it (the alien's thirst for truth now backfiring on him in a major way). He requires the balance of Reed's rational analytical mind to bring things back together and the two succeed in doing just that. Everything is created again just as it should be. Furthermore, Reed discovers that he himself has (or "had") influenced the wave of cosmic radiation that centuries later will give him and his family their Fantastic Four powers. He, it turns out, is the "random factor" that causes each of them (Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben) to receive completely different abilities because he now (centuries earlier due to he and the alien traveling back in time) "programs" those rays by contemplating on each of their individual personalities at just the right moment as the rays pass through him again. Reed then has the choice of remaining as a creature purely of universal energy all the way until the end of time but (of course) chooses to return to his family. He returns to a point in time part way through the second issue of this story arc (#528) prior to his sabotaging the government project. Instead of once again having to somehow derail the project, this time the cosmic rays themselves mysteriously change. They must abort the project and Reed returns home to his family.
All in all a decent start to the Straczynski-McKone run. Obviously, Straczynski decided to start out with a rather heavy science-fiction type story. If anything, things drag a bit as pages and pages of science fiction exposition are laid out. And much of what Reed is undergoing is very cerebral. There are moments of action but likely not enough to keep some regular FF readers from feeling that the story drags at times. Also, as often happens with series as long as the Fantastic Four, earlier treatments of the whole “cosmic rays” thing are ignored. (See my entry concerning the X-Men/Fantastic Four limited series for one such story, for instance. Also, a letter printed in issue #530 points back to Fantastic Four #197 when Reed simulated the cosmic rays to give him back his superpowers after having lost them.) Furthermore, some long time fans may question the need to revisit the whys and hows of the teams origin yet again.
In general, however, Straczynski seems to have a pretty good handle of the four main characters. He does a good job with each (especially Ben and his sense of humor). He also has begun an interesting sub-plot with the investigation into the well being of Franklin and Valeria and whether or not the Child Welfare department will ultimately attempt to remove them from Reed and Sue. And Mike McKone has developed into a very good artist. So this initial story arc has me looking forward to what is to come from the Straczynski-McKone team. (Note: The Ben-as-a-millionaire story line will be explored further not only in following issues of Fantastic Four but also in the new ongoing Thing series [#1, January 2006, shipped November 2005, same month as Fantastic Four #533.)
(Credits for Fantastic Four #527-532, J. Michael Straczynski (writer)/Mike McKone (penciler)/Andy Lanning (inker).)
December 23, 2005 --
Spider-Man/Human Torch #1-5 (2005)
Spider-Man Team-Up Special #1 (2005)
Today we have two more Fantastic Four related titles released to coincide with the release of the movie. First, we have Spider-Man/Human Torch, a five issue limited series. Written by Dan Slott and drawn (penciled) by Ty Templeton, this mini-series is a real delight for long time Spider-Man and/or Fantastic Four fans.
Each issue takes place during a different period of the Spider-Man-Human Torch relationship. Issue #1 takes place "ten years ago", while the relationship between Spider-Man (Peter) and the Human Torch (Johnny) is really more of a rivalry than a friendship. During this period Johnny is still dating Dorrie Evans and living in Glenville (as he did in his 1960s feature in Strange Tales) and Peter still has a thing for Betty Brant while at the same time is avoiding meeting a girl that his aunt has been trying to set him up with named Mary Jane Watson. The story told here reveals that for a brief time Johnny hired Peter to be his personal photographer because Johnny felt that Spider-Man was hogging all of the headlines. In an attempt to do something grand enough to make the newspaper front pages, Johnny recklessly confronts Dr. Doom and Spider-Man has to swing in to save the day.
In issue #2, a few years have passed. Peter is now dating Gwen Stacy and Johnny is dating Crystal of the Inhumans. Peter (as Spider-Man) and Johnny, after declaring how they each could easily do what the other does, actually switch assignments. Spider-Man travels into the Negative Zone with the rest of the Fantastic Four on a scientific mission. Meanwhile, Johnny works with Captain Stacy in trying to discover the source of a Maggia run drug ring in Manhattan. In this case the Torch comes out on top, bringing in Kraven the Hunter. Spidey, on the other hand, accidentally ruins the entire mission, much to the ire of Mr. Fantastic.
Issue #3 picks up a few years later still, not long after the death of Gwen Stacy and during the relatively short time period when Spider-Man had his "Spider-Mobile". Johnny gives Spider-Man a driving lesson. The Red Ghost (and his "Super Apes") attack. Hilarity ensues. (Oh yeah, and a few not-so-oblique references to the Hostess fruit pie ads that used to run way back when.)
Issue #4 brings us up to the 1980s (well, the comics of the 1980s, that is). Spider-Man is still wearing his black and white alien symbiote costume (not aware of what it truly is yet) and dating the Black Cat. When he thinks that the Cat is about to go back to her criminal ways, Spider-Man want no part of it. So Black Cat instead enlists the aid of the Human Torch in helping her carry out her scheme. Namely, to sneak into the Wakandan embassy and steal back her father’s lucky lock pick. The one he had accidentally left in a rare tribal mask which he tried to steal years earlier. Spider-Man is embarrassed to learn that he has misjudged Felicia (the Black Cat) once again (he thought that she was after the mask itself). And, yes, the Black Panther appears in this issue and tussles briefly with Spider-Man. She-Hulk--then a member of the Fantastic Four--also appears briefly.
Finally, issue #5 brings us up to the present day. Once again the Human Torch is making an appearance at local high school, P.S. 108. When he first visited the school years earlier Peter was a student. Now, Peter is a teacher there. In the middle of Johnny's demonstration, men with guns take everyone hostage. The leader of the group is the father of a boy Johnny had a hand in sending to prison. His son was later killed while trying to escape prison. So now the man is out for revenge against Johnny and the district attorney who sent his boy to prison in the first place. The D.A.'s son attends the high school and the man intends on killing him. Peter and Johnny must find a way to disarm the men and the only way to do so requires Peter to finally reveal to Johnny that Peter Parker and Spider-Man are the same man.
After defeating the men holding the students hostage, Peter and Johnny discuss their long and sometimes tense relationship. The mini-series ends with their relationship entering yet another stage, with Peter and his family (Mary Jane and Aunt May) eating dinner with Johnny's (Reed, Sue, Ben, Franklin, and Valeria), and with a montage of photos showing many friendly get-togethers to follow.
As I said, this is an enjoyable mini-series, especially for those fans who have followed these characters for many years (or who have gone back and read the back issues and/or reprint collections). I would definitely recommend this one. Some younger fans might feel that they don’t know what's going on at times but they should be able to catch on relatively quickly. (Reprint availability note: There is a digest sized trade paperback collection available of this limited series that is titled Spider-Man/Human Torch: I'm With Stupid.)
Before finishing up this entry I'd like to go ahead and mention another book read recently. It is the somewhat strangely titled Spider-Man Team-Up Special #1. An "all ages" one-shot starring Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four, this issue seems to have been designed as yet another FF related comic put out to hopefully cash in on the release of the Fantastic Four movie. Not in any way connected with the above Spider-Man/Human Torch limited series, this one-shot is a rather simple tale of the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man preventing the Mole Man from seeking vengeance against surface men who are polluting the waters around his Monster Isle. Environmental themes are quite obvious (and described in such a way that the book's intended younger audience might understand). The FF and Spidey easily defeat the Mole Man's monsters. A pretty average story. Definitely nothing "Special" about it. Has kind of a "filler" type of feeling to it. Or kind of like a story intended for one of those promotional giveaways they do from time to time or maybe for one of Marvel's more recent younger reader "Marvel Age/Marvel Adventures" titles.
(Credits for above issues: Spider-Man/Human Torch #1-5, Dan Slott (writer)/Ty Templeton (penciler)/Nelson [#1], Nelson and Tom Palmer [#2-3], Tom Palmer and Drew Geraci [#4], Drew Geraci and Greg Adams [#5] (inkers)/Paul Smith (cover artist); Spider-Man Team-Up Special #1, Todd Dezago (writer)/Shane Davis (penciler)/Lary Stucker (inker)/Randy Green and Rick Ketcham (cover artists).)
December 22, 2005 --
Fantastic Four: Foes #1-6 (2005)
Yep, another huge break in entries. I haven't been finding the time to read my comics (or much of anything) as much lately. I hope to get back to reading more again in 2006.
Anyway, here we have Fantastic Four: Foes, a six issue mini-series released in early to mid-2005 to be part of the big media push surrounding the Fantastic Four movie release. Robert Kirkman had been receiving very good reviews for his writing on the relaunched (once again) Marvel Team-Up title so many were looking forward also to Foes. What they got, however, was a pretty average FF tale (and some reviews have been even worse than “average”).
The overall plot involves a scheme by the Mad Thinker and the Puppet Master. In issue #1, they gather pretty much all of the FF’s foes into one big room to pitch another grand plan to destroy the Fantastic Four. Every one of the villains gathered turns them down but the Mad Thinker and the Puppet Master’s true goal is a success. Namely, to secretly acquire DNA samples from each of the FF foes so that they can use the samples in a new method of mind control (more modern than the Puppet Master’s traditional “radioactive clay” routine). They plan to be able to control the other villains with these samples and the Mad Thinker’s technology.
At the end of issue #1, however, the FF capture the Puppet Master and the DNA samples. Reed deduces what the two’s plan. Furthermore, he comes to the rather disturbing conclusion that if the FF doesn’t act fast they are headed down a path of eventual destruction.
In issue #2, the FF captures the Mad Thinker, seemingly averting the Thinker and Puppet Master’s plan. However, Reed has come to the conclusion that the only way to avert disaster for his team is to use the DNA samples themselves to search out their various foes and capture them, and to construct a new, inescapable prison to house them in. He leads the team on another visit to the Negative Zone to scope out things there for a possible location of this new prison and (of course) the team ends up fighting Annihilus.
Also in issue #2 (prior to their Negative Zone excursion), Reed hires the designer of the original “Vault” super prison to design Reed’s new prison. This man, Andrew Lewis, has a mystery of his own. His wife has been replaced by a hideous alien creature and he’s totally unaware of it.
I’m not going to go into all of the details of issues #3 through #6, but suffice it to say that 1) the FF battle an assortment of their foes (including the Super-Skrull in issue #3, the Mole Man in issue #4, and the Red Ghost and his “Super Apes” in issue #5), and 2) that there is more going on than Reed surmises, leading to a massive “jail break” at Reed’s new prison in the Negative Zone that he and his team (including guest appearances by She-Hulk and Hercules) must quell.
There are the obligatory character bits in this mini that you would expect to find in any FF story. However the level of quality never does really rise above “average” at best, rather mediocre at worst. For one thing, as much as I hate to slam an artist, Cliff Rathburn would not be my choice for this project. Even beyond the art, however, this story is a bit thin (although it does set the stage for a new future FF opponent if the writers of the regular FF books decide to follow up on it).
(Credits for Fantastic Four: Foes #1-6, Robert Kirkman (writer)/Cliff Rathburn (artist)/Jim Cheung (cover artist).)
July 28, 2005 --
Starman Annual #1 (1996)
Starman #28-29 (1997)
The Shade #1-4 (1997)
Okay, back to Starman. This entry will discuss various “odds and ends” items which all came out around roughly the same time, late 1996-early 1997, and which all fit rather nicely between the “Hell and Back” story arc in Starman #24-26 (and the Christmas story in #27) and the “Infernal Devices” story arc in #30-33.
First off we have Starman Annual #1. Part of the “Legends of the Dead Earth” theme which ran through all of DC annuals in 1996, we are shown the immortal Shade, still alive many centuries into the far future--long after the Earth is nothing but a memory--regaling small children with tales of the Starmen of the past. He starts out telling the children--and us, the readers--the tale of the alien Prince Gavyn (the fourth man to go by the name “Starman”--including the 1951 Starman retroactively that this series adds to the list--and who first appeared in Adventure Comics #467 [January 1980]). We--and the children--are briefly told of Gavyn’s origin and history before seeing in more detail his final hours with his beloved wife and his valiantly heading off to confront an unstoppable wave of anti-matter energy approaching their world (as originally seen in Crisis on Infinite Earths #10 [January 1986]). The Shade then tells a tale of the original Starman, Ted Knight. The Shade’s story, which apparently takes place circa the early 1940s (and prior to the Starman-Sandman flashbacks in the “Sand and Stars” story arc in Starman #20-23), shows us Starman’s first teaming up with a young cop named Billy O’Dare, in this case to stop the Prairie Witch and her “gang of ghouls”.
Next we have Starman #28 and #29. Issue #28 is a “Times Past” story, “1976: Super Freaks and Backstabbers”. It focuses on Mikaal Tomas (the blue-skinned alien third Starman). At this point in his life (following upon his betraying his own people in favor of staving off their invasion plans for Earth, as seen in First Issue Special #12 [March 1976]), he has become apathetic to any sort of fight for justice, choosing to spend his nights in various dance clubs, often on various drugs. While in one such disco dance club, Mikaal is confronted by the last surviving fellow member of his own alien race, a man named Komak. Komak’s mission, before dying, is to kill Mikaal in revenge for Mikaal’s betraying their race. To do so, Komak and Mikaal make use of a device used to simulate fight training on a mental plain. Combined with certain Earth drugs, the physical effects of the battle are quite real and potentially lethal. Mikaal and Komak fight in this other plain and Mikaal is triumphant. Leaving the dead Komak behind the dance club, Mikaal is then kidnapped. He is not heard from again until Jack Knight discovers him in Bliss’ traveling freak show. (The Shade makes his obligatory cameo in the end, showing that this story is yet another entry in his journal, one that Jack Knight is now reading.)
Starman #29 was a special issue, released during a “Starman Month” promotion, designed as a good jumping on point for readers who missed the first twenty-eight issues. It starts with a seven page entry from The Shade’s Journal catching readers up on what has transpired so far. This is followed by a done-in-one story titled, “The Return of Bobo”. Jake “Bobo” Benetti, former “super-villain” who fought the original Dr. Mid-Nite, Human Bomb, and Starman (according to Bobo) back in the day, is now out of prison and back in Opal. Everyone--including Jack, Ted, and the O’Dares--are convinced that he plans on hitting a bank. While the O’Dares are keeping Bobo under surveillance, Jack receives a letter from Nash (the Mist 2) providing him with the shocking news that she has delivered their baby--a baby boy--while in hiding and that she plans on raising the boy to hate his father as revenge for the death of her brother at Jack’s hands. Later, Bobo makes his move on a bank, only to find that the Royal Flush Gang is hitting the exact same bank as he is that day. So, instead, Bobo decides to help Jack in apprehending the Royal Flush Gang.
And finally (for this blog entry) we have the best of the bunch, The Shade #1-4. Not to be confused with the 1977-78 or 1990-96 Shade, the Changing Man series, this four issue mini (also launched during the April 1997 “Starman Month” promotion) reveals a very important aspect of the Shade’s background. Namely, that an entire family line has been trying to kill him for over 100 years. In The Shade #1, we see the story of how it all started. Back in 1838, in London, the Ludlow family takes a weak, amnesiac Shade--although he does not go by that name as of yet--into their home. They seem to be nursing him back to health out of the kindness of their hearts. Soon, however, they turn on him. Their plan is to blame the murder of a very rich man on the Shade. When they try to kill the Shade himself, however, they unwittingly unleash the dark shadow powers welling up within him. None of the Ludlow family survive the assault. All that remain are the two youngest, the Ludlow twins. (Also included in this issue is a two page “From the Shade’s Journal” entry detailing his encounter with a Ludlow trying to kill him on a train crossing Europe in 1912.)
In issue #2, we see several encounters between the Shade and various members of the Ludlow clan, from Rupert Ludlow (the male twin left behind after the initial confrontation between the Shade and the Ludlows in 1838) in London in 1865, to Marguerite Croft (Ludlow) in Paris in 1931, and several Ludlows in the years in between. Marguerite was the hardest for the Shade, however, as he had truly come to love her and to save himself, like all of the Ludlows after his blood, he has to kill her. (This issue also contains a two page “From the Shade’s Journal”, a continuation of the previous issue’s entry.)
In The Shade #3, we jump to 1951 and Keystone City. By this point, the Shade has been enjoying his role as villainous foil for the original Flash, Jay Garrick, for many years. Garrick, however, announces his retirement to spend more time (and be less of a danger to) his wife. Immediately a replacement shows up to replace the Flash as the city’s champion, a heroic archer named “the Spider”. The Spider, however, turns out to be another Ludlow in hiding. This time, instead of simply attempting to murder the Shade, this Ludlow’s plan is to frame the Shade for the murder of the Flash and his wife. The Shade, however, manages to defeat the Spider and prevent the Spider’s paid assassin from succeeding in his mission. In the end, the Shade and the Flash shake hands, although they know that the next time they meet it will be as enemies. (The “From the Shade’s Journal” entries from this issue and the next tell the tale of yet another encounter between the Shade and a Ludlow descendent.)
Finally, in issue #4, we jump to the present (1997). (There is a reference to Jack Knight‘s having fought the Royal Flash Gang, presumably referring to the events in Starman #29.) The Shade has received a letter from the wife of one of the last two Ludlows, Craig Ludlow (the other is Craig’s brother, Gary). She pleads with the Shade to make peace with Craig because Craig is a good man. So the Shade travels to the mid-west farmland where the last two Ludlows live in an attempt to grant Blair Ludlow her wish. Gary proves too determined to fulfill the Ludlow vendetta so the Shade kills him. Craig, however, he is able to reason with, and ultimately the feud between the Shade and the Ludlows ends with Craig.
Wow. This turned into a rather long entry didn’t it? I should have figured that it would be, what with me trying to cram this much stuff into one entry. Still, like I said, although not all of the individual stories mentioned above occur chronologically between the “Hell and Back” and “Infernal Devices” (actually, now that I think about it, all but the Starman Annual #1 contain at least a framing sequence that takes place in that gap), it is a perfect gap between stories to read all of this “miscellaneous” stuff. And, again, while I liked all of them, The Shade mini is definitely the best of the bunch. Each issue of the mini, by the way, has a different artist. The art in the first three issues (by Gene Ha, J.H. Williams & Mick Gray, and Bret Blevins) is quite good. The art in the final issue, by Michael Zulli, I don’t care for quite as much, but I think that’s merely a question of personal style. (Ha’s issue is my favorite by far of the bunch, art wise.)
Reprint availability: Starman Annual #1 and Starman #28 are both reprinted in the Starman: Times Past trade paperback. Starman #29 is reprinted in the Starman: Infernal Devices trade paperback. And, unfortunately, The Shade mini-series has not been reprinted in trade paperback format as of this time.
(Credits info for issues mentioned above: Starman Annual #1: James Robinson (writer)/Craig Hamilton, Bret Blevins, and J.H. Williams III (pencillers)/Ray Snyder, Blevins, and Mick Gray (inkers)/Tony Harris (cover artist); Starman #28: James Robinson (writer)/Craig Hamilton (artist)/Tony Harris (cover artist); Starman #29: James Robinson (writer)/Tony Harris (penciller)/Wade von Grawbadger (inker), Harris (cover artist); The Shade #1-4: James Robinson (writer)/Gene Ha [#1], Brett Blevins [#3], Michael Zulli [#4] (artists)/J.H. Williams [#2] (pencils)/Mick Gray [#2] (inks)/Tony Harris (cover artist).)
July 27, 2005 --
What If Doctor Doom Had Become the Thing? #1 (2005)
X-Men/Fantastic Four #1-5 (2005)
All right, I've been lax again here lately. It's been awhile since my last entry. So I'm going to jump right into this one. Here are a couple of things that I actually read a little while back but that have been sitting here on my desk waiting to get "blogified". First up is What If Doctor Doom Had Become the Thing? #1, one of six What If...? one-shots released by Marvel in December of 2004 (February 2005 indicia dates). (Other titles: What If Jessica Jones Had Joined the Avengers?, which I also purchased at the time, and What If Aunt May Had Died Instead of Uncle Ben?, What If General Ross Had Become the Hulk?, What If Karen Page Had Lived?, and What If Magneto Had Formed the X-Men with Professor X?, all of which I decided to take a pass on.) The Doctor Doom issue is pretty good in a retro sort of way. There are some pretty corny moments, and the biggest stretch is not Doom ending up becoming Reed's colleague and taking Ben's place on the rocket trip so that Doom becomes the Thing but that Ben then just happens to become involved in the simultaneous (in this reality) gamma bomb test that (again, in this reality), due to the interference of Doom and Reed, results in Ben's transforming into the Hulk. But it's a fun--if at times predictable--little story, especially due to Paul Smith's nice, clean, almost retro art style on this issue.
Next up is X-Men/Fantastic Four #1-5 (the 2005 mini-series; not to be confused with the Fantastic Four vs. the X-Men 1987 mini-series). This one was not quite as enjoyable. The story brings the FF and the X-Men together on a mission to rescue astronauts and scientists perhaps trapped on an orbiting space station. While a boarding party composed of members of both teams is aboard the station, two things happen. First, they discover that the X-Men's old alien foe, the Brood, are behind the troubles aboard the space station and have to fight them off. Second, a sudden cosmic phenomenon--one that recreates the conditions that gave the Fantastic Four their powers--strikes the station. The Thing and Invisible Woman are not effected, but the four X-Men in the boarding party (Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Gambit, and Emma Frost [the White Queen]) each end up with one of the FF's powers. (The initial battle with the Brood takes place in issue #2, as does the bombardment by cosmic rays, although the transformed X-Men are only seen in a last page cameo shot leading into the following issue.)
In #3 and #4 we see the remaining FF and X-Men working to restrain the affected four X-Men who go on a rampage due to the shock and pain of their sudden transformations. Meanwhile, Reed and the Beast work quickly to come up with a cure for their conditions. In the midst of this, a space shuttle unexpectedly launches from the space station and heads straight for New York City. Aboard it? The Brood.
In #5, of course, Reed and the Beast find the cure. The rest of the issue deals primarily with the combined might of the X-Men and the Fantastic Four against an army of Brood wrecking havoc in New York City.
The story was pretty average. The idea of the X-Men and the FF teaming up and encountering the Brood is actually not a bad one. The thing about a sudden "cosmic storm" giving four of the X-Men the exact same powers as the FF... Well, that I have a harder time swallowing. Particularly the theory that it seems to support that the powers the FF received were not random but were somehow tied to the four elements (earth, air, fire, and water) and the personalities of the four persons being effected (instead of being a more random occurrence, who got what powers). And the manga style art of penciler Pat Lee (combined with various of his fellow "Dreamwave Studios" artists) is very uneven. Okay at times, rather rough and ugly looking at others. As I understand it, this mini-series was pretty routinely panned on the 'net by various reviewers, and I myself can give it nothing more than an "average" (if not slightly "below average"). Which is unfortunate because I was looking forward to enjoying the teaming up of these two teams again.
(Credits for What If Doctor Doom Had Become the Thing?, Karl Kesel (writer), Paul Smith (artist); X-Men/Fantastic Four #1-5, Akira Yoshida (writer)/"Pat Lee's Dreamwave Studios" (art*).) (* Individual art credits, #1-5: Nick Kilislian [layout assists, #1 only], Pat Lee [pencils], Edwin Garcia [backgrounds], Rob Armstrong [inks])
May 30, 2005 --
Ultimate Fantastic Four #13-18 (2005)
Ultimate Fantastic Four #13-18 features the six-part "N-Zone" (as in Negative Zone) story arc. In it, we see the "Ultimate" universe versions of Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny first enter a strange parallel dimension that scientists have nicknamed the "N-Zone" (they don't actually call the "Negative Zone" in this series but it's obviously the "Ultimate" version of the mainstream Marvel Universe's Negative Zone, especially considering who the team bumps into in this story arc).
In part one (#13), Reed and Sue continue their experiments in transferring organic material from their dimension into the N-Zone. Successful, Reed announces that he wishes to actually travel into the N-Zone to explore it (and hopefully gather scientific information that will enable him to change Ben and himself back into their pre-cosmic ray altered selves). In part two (#14), Reed and company convert a decommissioned space shuttle--that Johnny renames the Awesome--to serve as their vehicle for exploring the N-Zone. Part two ends with the team actually entering the N-Zone and beginning their exploration of it. (Meanwhile, in parts one and two you also have character bits about how Sue and Johnny do not wish to be "cured" of their powers, and how Johnny's powers might actually be hurting him physically.)
In part three (#15), the team discovers that there is intelligent life in the N-Zone, and decide to make contact with it, docking at a large space station orbiting very closely to a dying sun. In part four (#16), they enter the station and encounter a rather creepy alien whose name Reed's translator translates as "I annihilate", "I am Nihilist", and "Annihil Us" (in other words, the "Ultimate" version of the Marvel Universe FF Negative Zone villain, Annihilus). Calling himself "Nihil", the alien briefly plays host to the team, but they are interrupted by Johnny suddenly collapsing. Rushing him back to the ship, they discover that he is apparently dying from his own powers (as they were afraid might be happening). Reed and Ben travel back into the station to inform Nihil that they must be returning to their own dimension immediately. Nihil, however, has other plans, revealing his true intentions. The N-Zone is actually cooling off, dying. It will be a dead universe in half a million years or so. Nihil, on the other hand, has a natural life span of up to one million years, and he doesn't wish to be in the N-Zone when it dies. So his plan is to steal the team's ship and travel to their home dimension, a "young universe" for him to conquer. He then shatters the face plates on Reed's and Ben's space suits.
In part five (#17), however, Reed quickly seals his face plate by stretching his rubbery hand over the opening, and--surprisingly enough--Ben realizes that he can actually breathe the acid-like atmosphere present in the space station. The two fight their way back to the Awesome and take off for the portal which will return them to their own dimension. Nihil pursues them however in one of his ships (actually the carcass of a huge space beast). And in part six (#18), the team makes it back through the portal to Earth, but with Nihil right behind them. They all end up crash-landing in Las Vegas, where the team makes their stand against Nihil and his alien followers. In the midst of the battle, Johnny recovers--they later realize that his sickness was merely him going through a hibernation-like state while he shed a layer of his fire-protecting skin cells--and joins the fight. Defeating Nihil, the story ends with the team realizing that they are now no longer a secret. One of them remarks, "Well, Johnny. I got to tell you, Ross is right. They can't keep us under wraps anymore." Another, "I think we're all going to get to be super heroes now."
My thoughts: A pretty good six-part story. While Ultimate Fantastic Four might--like most of the "Ultimate" titles, with the possible exception of The Ultimates--indeed be a bit guilty of "stretching things out" (no pun for Reed's powers intended there), the strength of the title remains in the fun characterizations of these young, "Ultimate" versions of the Fantastic Four characters. Also, Ellis puts a cool new spin on the old Annihilus-Negative Zone story here.
(Credits for Ultimate Fantastic Four #13-18, Warren Ellis (writer)/Adam Kubert* (penciler)/John Dell [#13-16], Mark Morales [#15], Nelson [#16], Lary Stucker [#16], Scott Hanna* [#17-18] (inkers)/Kubert, Dell (cover artists).) (* Kubert credited with "breakdowns" and Hanna with "finishes" on #18)
May 28, 2005 --
Marvel Knights 4 #13-18 (2005)
Marvel Knights 4 #13-14 features the two-part "Eyes Without a Face" story arc. In it, Alicia's stepfather, the Puppet Master, returns. At first, his return seems benign, at least to Alicia, because he promises that he is now able to return her sight to her. He takes her to Governor's Island and, with the aid of a surgeon named Saunders, provides Alicia with new, transplanted, eyes. She indeed is able to see again, but only temporarily as her new eyes are not strong enough to last. Over the course of the first issue (#13), we learn the grisly truth, that the Puppet Master has been blackmailing Saunders to conduct repeated surgeries on Alicia, and that the eyes have been coming from young women that the Puppet Master has killed (with cameo appearances in both issues by Daredevil, who is investigating the murders). While this is going on, the Fantastic Four are very publicly resuming their normal lives, their corporation back in the black and the four able to move once again back into the Baxter Building. In the end of part one, however, as Reed, Ben, and Johnny are away in another dimension, the Puppet Master uses his special clay to take control of Sue, leading her to Governor's Island with plans to use Sue's eyes in Alicia's next transplant attempt (because's Sue's eyes are stronger than ordinary ones). In part two (#14), Alicia discovers her stepfather's plan and frees Sue. The two attempt to escape but are forced to take refuge in the room where the Puppet Master keeps his special clay. Using her own skills as a sculpter, Alicia is forced to use her stepfather's own clay against him in the end.
Marvel Knights 4 #15-18 then brings us the four-part "Divine Time" story arc. In part one (#15), following one of Franklin's Little League baseball games, the Fantastic Four travel back in time to discover the root of a temporal crisis that has suddenly spread throughout the world. Reed leaves a newly rebuilt H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot in charge of looking after Franklin while they are gone. In part two (#16), however, Reed, Sue, and Ben find themselves stuck in ancient Egypt (again), while Johnny has been transported somewhere else entirely, a place and time where Dr. Doom rules all. Meanwhile, in the present, a powerful Egyptian prince has emerged from the past (via Reed's time platform) and with his complete control over time quickly takes control over all of the nations of the world. In the past, Reed, Sue, and Ben learn that it is not Kang who is behind all of this (as Reed had speculated), but Kang's illegitimate son, Ramades. And Johnny quickly learns from an adult Valeria (Reed and Sue's infant daughter) that he is not in Latveria but in the New York City of an alternate dimension/timeline where Doom rules and the Fantastic Four never existed to stop him.
Marvel Knights 4 #17 (part three) features the arrival of Reed's father, Nathaniel Richards (although, really, he shows up on the last page of #16). While Sue doesn't trust Nathaniel Richards, they are still in need of his assistance in returning to the present to defeat Ramades. Meanwhile, Johnny and the adult Valeria of the alternate dimension/timeline that he's now in stage an assault on Dr. Doom's stronghold in hopes that Johnny can reach Doom's time machine and return to his proper dimension/timeline.
Finally, in part four (#18), the reunited Fantastic Four, and Nathaniel Richards, confront Ramades and his forces. They seem unable to defeat Ramades until Nathaniel Richards leaves and returns with their unlikely (if somewhat frequent) savior: Franklin Richards (and eight minutes of displaced time that were stolen by Ramades back in the beginning of this four-part story, eight minutes of time now able to defeat Ramades and return everything to normal). In the end, once the dust has settled, Reed invites his father to stay with them, but Nathaniel Richards remarks that some things can never be undone and leaves again.
My thoughts: The two-part "Eyes Without a Face" is a rather unsettling story. Well written and illustrated, but kinda freaky once you realize just where the new eyes Alicia's stepfather has been using in her surgeries have been really coming from. The tension is then stepped up a notch when the Puppet Master decides to kidnap Sue so that he can use her eyes next! The whole two-parter has an unusally serious tone, making it an effective--if disconcerting--story. The following four-part "Divine Time" is more along the lines of the typical Fantastic Four story, and I don't mean anything bad by that. To the contrary, it's a rather enjoyable four-parter, what with the team (once again) split up into different time periods/alternate dimensions and a seemingly unstoppable villain at the root of their problems. Appearances by Nathaniel Richards, the alternate dimension/timeline adult Valeria and Dr. Doom, and, yes, even, a new H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot make this a fun story. Writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, while I had my doubts at one point, has improved over the course of this series. He's shown moments of brilliance prior to this, but "Divine Time" is probably his best FF story as of yet.
(Credits for above issues: Marvel Knights 4 #13-14, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (writer)/Jim Muniz (penciler)/Scott Hanna [#13], Jim Royal [#14] (inkers)/Frank Cho [#13], Greg Land [#14] (cover artists); Marvel Knights 4 #15-18, Aguirre-Sacasa (writer)/Muniz (penciler)/Royal [#15-17], Derek Fridolfs [#16-18] (inkers)/Steve McNiven [#15-17], Mike Deodato [#18] (cover artists).)
May 27, 2005 --
Fantastic Four #520-526 (2005)
Fantastic Four #520-523 feature the four-part "Rising Storm" story arc, building upon the events of the previous issues (when Reed temporarily switched Sue's and Johnny's powers to trick aliens who were afraid that Galactus would catch on that Sue's abilities could potentially be used by the world-eater to circumvent their planets' invisibility screens; the plan worked but then suddenly Galactus showed up and took Johnny--still with Sue's invisibility powers--as his new herald).
In #520 ("Rising Storm" part one), Johnny discovers that he now sees things from an entirely different perspective thanks to his now having Sue's invisibility powers (combined with the "power cosmic" he has received from Galactus). Meanwhile, Sue is discovering that keeping control of her new "Human Torch" powers is a lot harder than she realized. She comes to realize just how much self discipline her brother really has to have been able to control his volatile powers for so long.
In part two (#521), Johnny searches for an uninhabited planet for Galactus to consume while continuing to discover just how powerful his combined invisibility-power cosmic powers have made him. Meanwhile, with the aid of Quasar, Reed, Sue, and Ben start out in search of Johnny.
In part three (#522), Johnny's new abilities reveal to him the true origin of Galactus. That, plus the rest of the team arrives and together with Johnny confronts the world-eater. With no real way of defeating Galactus directly, Johnny and Reed use Reed's device that had earlier switched Sue's and Johnny's powers upon Galactus, resulting in the (temporary) return of Galen, the man who long ago had become Galactus.
In #523 (part four), the team takes Galen around New York City in hopes of revealing to the once again human-like alien that beings such as themselves are worthy of sparing (once Galen reverts back to Galactus). Galen at first isn't the least bit impressed by humanity, but is convinced in the end to banish himself with the aid of one of Reed's devices to an alternate dimension. And, Reed attempts to switch Sue's and Johnny's powers back to their rightful owners but ends up sending all four of the team's cosmic powers on to unsuspecting folks throughout the city.
The following issue, Fantastic Four #524, is a coda of sorts for the "Rising Storm" story arc, and is also the final issue by the creative team of Mark Waid, Mike Wieringo, and Karl Kesel. In it, the team races around the city to try to catch up with their powers, which have been jumping from host to host. One by the one, they reclaim them. Reed attempts to save his friend, Ben, the pain of reclaiming his "the Thing" powers (by taking them on himself), but Ben catches on and refuses to allow it.
Fantastic Four #525-526 is a two-part "fill-in" story (titled "Dream Fever") by writer Karl Kesel and artists Tom Grummett and Lary Stucker (before the new regular creative team of J. Michael Straczynski, Mike McKone, and Andy Lanning begin with issue #527). In "Dream Fever", we see the return of Diablo. Diablo threatens to cause chaos in the city by turning buildings into solid gold if Reed doesn't take Diablo back in time with Reed's time machine so that Diablo can seek revenge against those who tormented him centuries ago during the Spanish Inquisition. Refusing to give in to Diablo (because of the effects messing with time will have on the time stream), the team makes plans to defeat Diablo. Meanwhile, however, they realize that they are each having each other's dreams, and the effect is disrupting their normal sleep patterns. Reed realizes that they must solve this particular dilemma before dealing with Diablo (who's also been effected).
A pretty good run of FF issues, if not spectacular. The "Rising Storm"-Galactus story was interesting mainly for getting to see how Sue and Johnny switching powers temporarily effects their personalities, as does Johnny's receiving a bit of the "power cosmic". And seeing the return of Galactus as "Galen", walking around New York City observing folks is a bit humorous (if totally forgettable). The two-part "Dream Fever" fill-in has its moments but is also not particularly memorable (although it does have some pretty good Tom Grummett artwork).
(Credits for above issues: Fantastic Four #520-524, Mark Waid (writer)/Mike Wieringo (penciler)/Karl Kesel (inker); Fantastic Four #525-526, Karl Kesel (writer)/Tom Grummett (penciler)/Lary Stucker (inker)/Jim Cheung (cover artist).)
April 30, 2005 --
Comic Book Artist (magazine) #17 (2002)
Comic Book Artist #17 (January 2002) starts out with a brand new cover by Arthur Adams, and a 38-page interview with him is obviously intended as the lead feature of this issue. There is much more that this issue has to offer in addition to the Adams interview, however.
This issue's contents:
• "Editor's Rant" ("The Question of Character" by editor Jon B. Cooke, sub-titled "The murder of icons and the time for character assassination"; Cooke bemoans the state of superhero comics today and "that genre's stifling prominence in the [comics] industry") • Whew! An issue just chocked full of interesting features about noted artists. Sure the cover feature is the Arthur Adams piece. While I enjoyed that piece, my favorites were the ones on Morrow, Roussos, Evans, and Kinstler. (Credits info for Comic Book Artist #17: Jon B. Cooke (editor/designer)/John R. Cochran, Larry Ivie, Michelle Nolan, Alex Toth, Jon B. Cooke, Vilmar Vogelaar, Chris Irving, Alan Kupperberg, Mark Wheatley, Michael T. Gilbert, and Paul Wardle (columnists/contributors), Fred Hembeck ("Dateline@!!?*" comic feature writer/artist)/Arthur Adams (cover artist).) April 21, 2005 -- Countdown to Infinite Crisis #1 (2005) Countdown to Infinite Crisis #1 (titled DC Countdown #1 in the issue's indicia) caused quite a bit of hubbub online when the early pre-solication ads started popping up, complete with the painted cover (Alex Ross paints over Jim Lee pencils) of Batman holding a dead body, the body's identity obscurred. (Let this be a SPOILERS warning. I will be discussing who dies in this issue below.) First off, however, what exactly is Countdown to Infinite Crisis (besides a rather poorly chosen title--many have commented on how it seems more appropriate for a parody of DC's earlier crossover events rather than a serious event itself)? This one-shot, building upon events (and more importantly, fan buzz) from the Identity Crisis limited series, is a prelude to an even larger crossover event later on in the year, Infinite Crisis itself. It (Countdown to Infinite Crisis) also leads immediately into four separate tie-in limited series: The OMAC Project, Villains United, Day of Vengeance, and The Rann-Thanagar War. Now, as for Countdown #1, the story itself. The main character here is the Blue Beetle. Apparently things have gotten bad for Beetle as no one--aside from his best friend, Booster Gold--seems to want to listen to him and he's fallen on financial bad times. He is convinced, however, that there is a conspiracy afoot. Someone is laundering money through his company. Blue Beetle, a former member of the Justice League (from the late 1980s-1990s Justice League/Justice League International/Justice League America title), seeks aid from current members of the League and other old allies and is ultimately rebuffed by them all. Most consider him to be a hero who's best days are behind him, and, while some (Superman, Wonder Woman) listen to him, most (Batman, Martian Manhunter, Oracle, various members of the Justice Society, New Teen Titans, and the Outsiders) do not take him seriously. An attack is made on Blue Beetle at his home, seriously injuring Booster Gold. This leads to Beetle seeking out answers from Shazam, the wizard benefactor of Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel, Jr. (in a scene teasing the Day of Vengeance tie-in limited series). Following this, Beetle narrowly avoids yet another attack (which destroys his "Bug" airship). Finally putting all of the clues together, Blue Beetle infiltrates a castle in the Swiss Alps to confont the mastermind behind it all. That mastermind? Beetle's old ally from his League days, Maxwell Lord. Lord, who offers Beetle the opportunity to join him, is now leading the covert group, Checkmate. Their mission: to monitor Earth's "metahumans" (including the superheroes) and make plans to take them down should it come to that. Beetle refuses Lord's offer and Lord shoots him in the head, killing him instantly. End of story. Depressing? Like all get out. And of course, like I said earlier, this is all build-up for the various follow-up limited series, including Infinite Crisis, which is touted as "the sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths. Like Identity Crisis, Countdown to Infinite Crisis is a relatively well written, well illustrated comic book. The mystery elements are handled well, and by the end the "shocker" ending--for those who were lucky enough to avoid the spoilers on the Internet--is pretty powerful. On the downside, some characters seem to act rather out of character. People who would normally treat Beetle with at least a modicum of respect are awfully quick to rebuff him in this issue. And, of course, many of those fans of the 1980s-1990s Justice League titles (and the recent Formerly Known as the Justice League and "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League!" [in JLA Classified] are fuming not only at the murder of Blue Beetle but at the hands of Maxwell Lord! All of this goes completely against the humorous tone J.M. DeMatteis, Keith Giffen, and Kevin Maguire established in those earlier Justice League books with these characters. And Countdown to Infinite Crisis is yet another example of the overall "darkening" of comics in general. Sure, there are still some relatively light comics out there, and both DC and Marvel still make a few (too few) comics specifically for kids, but most of the commercial successes of the past year or so (such as DC's Identity Crisis and Countdown, Marvel's New X-Men (when Grant Morrison was writing the title), "Avengers Dissassembled" [in Avengers] and "Sins Past" [in Amazing Spider-Man]) have gone the darker route (characters dieing, dark secrets revealed, etc.). Now, admitedly, I enjoyed those stories [well, I haven't actually read "Avengers Dissassembled" yet]. Still, the increasingly dark tone in mainsteam comics is worthy of some concern. If the main comics publishers (DC and Marvel) continue to have success with these darker comics, they will (of course) continue to produce them, and there's a danger that they will carry this dark tone over into most of their comic books. These things have proven to be cyclical in comics. The "grim and gritty" comics of the 1980s were replaced by the next fad style in the 1990s. This new dark phase will turn out to be just that I'm sure, a phase. However, certain phases can have a negative impact on the comics industry. Hopefully, this dark phase will not in the long run. And parents need to be aware that many of these comics have become too dark and violent again for their younger children (in this issue Blue Beetle is shot in the head!). Of course, very few children read comics anymore--compared to in the past, that is--but still, parents need to be aware. In conclusion, I enjoyed Countdown to Infinite Crisis well enough (probably enjoyed Identity Crisis a bit more, aside from the ending of Identity Crisis). But I have to say that I will miss Blue Beetle--a character first created by Steve Ditko for Charlton Comics (in the pages of Captain Atom) in 1966, based loosely on the original Golden Age Blue Beetle who first appeared in 1939 in Fox Feature Syndicate's Mystery Men #1 [he had a radio show, too!]). The current (second) Blue Beetle later went on to star in his own comic book from DC Comics in 1986-1988 and the aforementioned late 1980s-1990s Justice League titles. So he's a pretty long-term (if second or third-tier) character. Yes, I will miss Blue Beetle. I'll probably miss "fun" comics, even more (even as at the same time I'm being drawn into these darker, more "adult", comics). Oh well, that's what all those older issues filling up one of the rooms in my house (and the excellent vintage reprint projects that DC and Marvel are currently releasing) are for! (Credits info for Countdown to Infinite Crisis #1: Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, Judd Winick (writers)/Rags Morales, Ed Benes, Jesus Saiz, Ivan Reis, Phil Jimenez (pencillers)/Michael Bair, Ed Benes, Jim Palmiotti, Marc Campos, and Andy Lanning (inkers)/Jim Lee [pencils], Alex Ross [painting over Lee's pencils] (cover artists*).) (* a second printing of this issue was released very soon after the first printing was released and immediately sold out; the second printing has a variant cover, Jim Lee's penciled cover minus the Alex Ross paints [and revealing Blue Beetle's identity on the cover]) April 19, 2005 -- Comic Book Marketplace (magazine) #88 (2001) Comic Book Marketplace #88 (December 2001). This issue, like many of the CBMs from this period, was released with two variant covers. The version I have ("cover A" as listed inside) reprints the art from Hawkman #1 (April/May 1964) by Murphy Anderson. The issue is also available with "cover B", a recreation of the cover of Plastic Man #1 (Summer 1943), also by Anderson. This issue's contents:
• Obituary notice for Dan DeCarlo (1919-2001), longtime Archie comics artist and creator of Josie & the Pussycats, and Russ Cochran's editorial, "Should comics be 'cartoony' or 'representational'?" • An enjoyable issue. Then again, I'm likely to say that about every issue of Comic Book Marketplace. Aside from the regular columns (which are almost always of at least some interest, especially Pat Calhoun's and Michelle Nolan's), the big draws of this issue are (perhaps obviously) the Murphy Anderson interviews. I also really liked the Rudolph article and the rare 1957 Lloyd Jacquet essay about Major Nicholson and the publishing of Fun #1. (Credits info for Comic Book Marketplace #88: Russ Cochran (editor/publisher)/J.C. Vaughn (executive editor/associate publisher)/Pat Calhoun, Michelle Nolan, Will Murray, S.C. Ringgenberg, Dan Owens, Dave Winiewicz, Bill Baker, R.C. Harvey, Lloyd Jacquet [1957 essay], Bob Beerbohm, Scott Shaw!, J.C. Vaughn, Mike Wilbur (columnists/contributors)/Murphy Anderson (cover art*).) (* both Hawkman #1 and Plastic Man #1 versions) March 26, 2005 -- Starman #17, 19-27 (1996-1997) Starman #17 ("Encounters") picks up immediately following Nash's (the Mist 2) crime wave in "Sins of the Child", and catches the reader up on the status of many of the Starman supporting cast. First, a ragged looking ghost of a pirate rescues a young woman from two of Nash's henchmen. He claims to be the ghost of Jon Valor, the Black Pirate (a character DC published as a back up feature in titles such as Action Comics, Sensation Comics, and All-American Comics from 1940 until 1948). Then we see Jack dumped by an old girlfriend (after briefly having hooked up again; we only see "the morning after"), Ted Knight wrestling with whether or not the Solomon Grundy now staying with him and Mikaal is the same creature mentally as the one that once murdered Sylvester Pemberton (the hero who went by the names of the Star Spangled Kid and Skyman), Mikaal recovering his ability to speak (though not his memory), Jack meeting again with Charity who continues to give Jack clues of events to come, Jack unexpectedly brushing into Sadie again, Clarence O'Dare getting promoted to a position of liason between the police and Starman (and any other "superheroes" Opal City might pick up), and the rest of the O'Dare clan joining with the Shade in an attempt to confront Merritt, the immortal man with the magical poster that has been snatching innocents and that is a gateway to the underworld ("Hell"). Matt O'Dare and the Shade become trapped in the poster and the dark realm it is a channel to. Whew! That was all in Starman #17! #18, "First Joust", is another "Times Past" story. In it, we see the story of Ted Knight's (the original Starman) first confrontation with the original Mist back circa 1939. (It should be noted, however, that this story is quite a bit different from their first encounter as first told in Adventure Comics #67 (October 1941).) We also learn the full significance of the people Nash murdered in "Sins of the Child", as they were involved in this past case.
Starman #19 gives us "Talking with David, '96", the second of Jack's annual encounters with his dead brother David. This time, the two play pirate on a ghostly pirate ship. David cryptically tells Jack that what he learns on this little adventure about pirates will be useful to Jack later on. Jack also gets to spend time with his dead mother (mostly off panel at the end of the story).
Next, we have Starman #20-23, the four part "Sand and Stars" story arc. This, in my opinion, is where Robinson and company really start getting good. In part one (#20), Jack travels to New York City to visit one of his father's old golden age superhero teammates, Wesley Dodds, the Sandman. His purpose in visiting Dodds is to discover if Dodds might know the whereabouts of the original Mist's Victorian Cross medal, the medal that Nash killed all those people to try to retrieve for her father. Jack goes to Dodds because Jack learns from his father that Dodds had actually matched wits with the Mist before Ted Knight had as Starman. When he gets to New York, Jack meets Dodds and Dian Belmont, Dodd's companion of many decades (since Dodd's earliest days as the Sandman). Jack, Dodds, and Belmont are suddenly drawn, however, into the mystery of the murder of a man living in Dodds's building. Parts two through four of "Sand and Stars" (#21-23) detail their investigation into the murder. They soon make the connection to a project the man was a partner in, a project to create a new airship (similar to the dirigibles of the past). Without going into all of the details of this mystery, I'll just say that Jack is captured by the bad guys, and the elderly Wesley Dodds must once again don the gasmask of the Sandman to attempt a rescue. While doing so, he recalls a time back in 1944 when he had to do the same for Jack's father, Ted (when Ted, as Starman, had been captured by the golden age Green Lantern's foe, the Gambler). The sequence showing this 1944 adventure is in part three (Starman #22) and is drawn by Sandman Mystery Theatre regular artist, Guy Davis. Once rescued by Dodds, in part four (#23), Jack must prevent the bad guys from intentionally crashing their airship into the crowd of spectators below. "Sand and Stars" is an excellent story arc in pretty much all aspects, combining elements of action, mystery, and good old golden age comic book history. I very much recommend it. Following "Sand and Stars" is the three part "Hell and Back" storyline in Starman #24-26. #24 is actually titled, "Sand and Stars: An Epilogue / Hell and Back: A Prologue", and begins with Jack returning the original Mist's Victorian Cross medal (which Dodds still had) to him in an attempt to prove to Nash that he (Jack) and Nash are nothing alike, despite what she told him earlier (in "Sins of the Child"). "Hell and Back" then deals with Jack and the O'Dares searching for Merritt, the man behind the magical poster that has trapped Matt O'Dare and the Shade in "Hell". Interspersed amongst the scenes of their search are excerpts from the Shade's journal telling the back story of Merritt and the demon that granted him immortality in 1879 in exchange for Merritt's taking this poster places around the world so the demon could snatch innocent souls off the streets via the poster. Jack and the O'Dares arrange for a confrontation with Merritt and his men at the police precinct house (spreading word that the poster is to be moved to S.T.A.R Labs in Metropolis for analysis in two days; Merritt has a good line when asked by a henchman about taking on Starman: "Which would you prefer to fight? A man of steel or a boy with a glowing toy and scant experience?"). While this is happening, Mason O'Dare is sent to protect Charity, who for some reason is considered to be a threat by the demon using Merritt. The confrontation at the precinct house happens (in part two, Starman #25). In the battle, Jack flies into the poster. Part three (#26) picks up immediately after this and finds Jack in a "Western [version of] Hell". Soon, he, Matt, and the Shade are in a more traditional fire and brimstone type setting, however, and are being confronted by a very devilish looking demon. This demon separates the three and then plays on each one's particular fears and desires. For the Jack, the demon takes the form of Jack's mother and two meet on a beach. For the Shade, he takes the form of Merritt and the two are on a wintery London street. And for Matt O'Dare, the demon takes the form of Scalphunter, the man Matt is a modern reincarnation of. In each case, Jack, the Shade, and Matt are given the opportunity to sacrifice their own souls for those of the hundreds of innocents the demon has taken over the years via his poster. By choosing to do so, all three men defeat the demon's plans as he can not take the soul of one who willingly sacrifices himself for innocent unknowns. Jack, Matt, and the Shade are set free, as are all of the other souls. Hundreds of people from all different time periods (from 1879 to the present) flood into the streets of Opal City, something that will definitely be a major plot element for quite awhile (I'd suppose). Finally, Starman #27 presents a one-issue Christmas tale, "Christmas Knight". In it, while the O'Dares, Ted Knight, Mikaal (Michael), and Charity gather for a Christmas dinner (and wait for Jack to arrive), Jack befriends a homeless man dressed in a Santa Claus suit who has been robbed of a locket with the very last picture he has of his dead wife and child (the man was working as a department store Santa when his clothes and the locket were stolen). Jack aids him in retrieving his locket. In the meantime, the various Starman supporting cast members meet and converse at the dinner party and grow impatient for Jack's arrival. Ultimately, he does arrive in time for dinner with his new friend in the Santa suit in tow. A word about the reprints. Again, the "Times Past" story in Starman #18 is reprinted in the Starman: Times Past trade paperback, while the rest of the issues discussed above (#17, and #19-27) are reprinted in the Starman: A Wicked Inclination... trade paperback. These are the last of the Starman issues that I will be reading from the trade paperbacks. From here on out I have the actual issues. Just for information sake, however, the following stories are also available in the Starman: Times Past trade paperback: Starman #28, "1971: Super Freaks and Backstabbers", a tale from Mikaal's time as Starman; the first story in Starman Secret Files #1, "Talking with Ted.../Talking with Jack...", a look back at the lives of Jack Knight and his father Ted, the history of their relationship, and the impact the Starman legacy has had on that relationship over time; and Starman Annual #1, "Legends of the Dead Earth", which shows us the Shade in the far future telling little children tales of the Prince Gavyn Starman and the original Ted Knight Starman. (Credits info for issues mentioned above: Starman #17, 19-21, 23, 25: James Robinson (writer)/Tony Harris (pencils)/Wade von Grawbadger (inks)/Tony Harris (original cover artist); Starman #18: James Robinson (writer)/John Watkiss (pencils & inks)/Tony Harris (original cover artist); Starman #22: James Robinson (writer)/Tony Harris (pencils)/Wade von Grawbadger (inks)/Guy Davis (pencils and inks, 1944 Sandman and Starman sequence)/Tony Harris (original cover artist); Starman #24: James Robinson (writer)/Tony Harris and Chris Sprouse (pencils)/Wade von Grawbadger and Ray Snyder (inks)/Tony Harris (original cover artist); Starman #26: James Robinson (writer)/Tony Harris, J.H. Williams, and Gary Erskine (pencils)/Wade von Grawbadger, Mick Gray, and Gary Erskine (inks)/Tony Harris (original cover artist); Starman #27: James Robinson (writer)/Steve Yowell (pencils)/Wade von Grawbadger (inks)/Tony Harris (original cover artist); Starman: A Wicked Inclination... paperback: Don Murphy (introduction)/Tony Harris and Brian Frey (cover artists); Starman: Times Past paperback: David S. Goyer (introduction)/Frey (cover artist).) March 20, 2005 -- Starman #7-10, 12-16 (1995-1996) Continuing on with Starman (second series), we come first to issues #7-8. In this two-issue story, "A (K)night at the Circus", Jack meets Michael (Mikaal Thomas, the third man to carry the name Starman in DC continuity [including the mysterious 1950s "second" Starman that was not actually a character DC published in the 1950s but one Robinson created specially for this series; more on him later on in the series]). Mikaal Thomas, a blue-skinned human looking alien, first appeared in First Issue Special #12 (1976). In "A (K)night at the Circus", Jack Knight (our current Starman) discovers Mikaal Thomas (from here on referred as "Michael") held captive as part of a circus freakshow. Jack confronts Bliss, the man overseeing the circus and holding Michael and his friends captive (Bliss turns out to be a demon, naturally, that feeds off of the energy of others) and with the help of Michael defeats Bliss. Starman #9, "Shards", shows us bits of various plot threads that will be picked up again in future issues. Ted Knight (the original Starman) tells Jack (his son) the story of how Ted (as Starman), the original Flash (Jay Garrick), and original Green Lantern (Alan Scott) had to once confront the golden age villain, Ragdoll, who had gone on a bloody rampage. The heroes were forced to kill Ragdoll. Jack promises to his father never to wear a Ragdoll t-shirt anymore, which has been troubling Ted. Other plot threads touched upon are a mysterious street poster that has been violently abducting people at night, drawing them right into the poster. The Shade turns up to investigate it. We also see the depths of corruption that Matt O'Dare has fallen into and Nash's (daughter of the Mist) escape from prison.
Starman #10, "The Day Before the Day to Come", is a bit of a prologue to the following "Sins of the Child" storyline (although that actually begins in issue #12). The issue begins with a discussion between Jack and the Shade. The Shade tells Jack of the soul-snatching poster that is now in Opal City. Other things we see: Ted working with Michael to help Michael regain his memory, Jack meeting with Charity (a woman he met in "Sins of the Father") and being introduced to Sadie Falk (a woman who will end up being very important later on in the series), and Nash (the Mist 2) making preparations. The rest of the issue deals with Jack receiving a phone call from Jade (the daughter of Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern, and a superhero herself) informing Jack that the creature, Solomon Grundy, is in Opal, and with Jack fighting with Grundy in the sewers beneath the city. Starman #11, "13 Years Ago: Five Friends", is a "Times Past" story showing us the events Ted Knight told Jack about in issue #9: how the villain Ragdoll once went on a bloody rampage throughout Opal City, and how Ted (as Starman), Jay Garrick (the Flash), and Alan Scott (Green Lantern) ultimately confronted him. Also assisting the three in this mission were fellow Justice Society of America members Hourman and Dr. Mid-Nite. Finally, Starman #12-16 presents the next longer length storyline, "Sins of the Child". Nash, now calling herself the Mist, puts an elaborate plan into motion. First, she starts murdering people all over town, apparently at random. She then draws Jack into a trap by kidnapping Michael and Solomon Grundy (Grundy became pals with Jack in the end of issue #10). Stripped of his clothes and weapon, Jack is forced to begin his way through a gauntlet to regain them. This all happens in Starman #12. Starman #13-15 all begin at the same point in time as issue #12, the morning Jack is cleared of all wrong doing by an Opal City court in the death of the Mist's son, Kyle (in "Sins of the Father"). Each issue then progress from there focusing on a different Starman supporting character. #12 focuses on Ted Knight, who finds himself being attacked by a supervillain named Dr. Phosphorus (hired by Nash to kill Ted). Ted manages to defeat Phosphorus. #13 is about the O'Dare clan. The police family is caught up in the crime wave Nash has started. In the meantime, while her henchmen are causing chaos citywide, Nash continues to murder people herself while searching for something. Matt O'Dare, the corrupt O'Dare, sees a vision of his ancestor, Brian Savage (the old DC western character, Scalphunter), and changes his ways. And Hope O'Dare has an unexpected meeting with the Shade. #15 presents the day from Michael's and Grundy's perpective. The two were kidnapped by Nash's men and roughed up (pretty violently) by her men and a man named Frankie Soul, son of Louie Soul, a man Michael once fought and killed when Michael was Starman. Ok, Starman #16 then takes us back to Jack, who has to fight his way hand-to-hand through several of Nash's goons just to find Nash waiting for him, apparently about to renege on her deal and blow him away. She does not, however, deciding that neither she nor Jack are yet at the peaks. She wishes to wait until each has become the hero and villain their fathers once were before she returns to confront Jack again and finally kill him for the death of her brother. All in all, a good run of stories. Writer James Robinson had a very structured plan in mind for Starman and it makes learning about Jack and his development as a hero more interesting. Robinson also drops in little plot bits here and there all the time that will later develop into full storylines. One thing I should probably mention is that Starman is definitely a "PG-13" type comic. The violence can be pretty graphic, the themes mature. (Although, truthfully, some parents will probably have more of a reaction to novelist/film director Roger Avery's introduction in the Starman: Night and Day collection, where he makes an allusion to, ahem, self-gratification.) As indicated at the beginning of this entry, issues #7-10 and #12-16 are reprinted in the Starman: Night and Day trade paperback collection, while the "Times Past" story in issue #11 is once again reprinted in the Starman: Time Past trade paperback. (Credits info for issues mentioned above: Starman #7-10, 12-13, 15-16: James Robinson (writer)/Tony Harris (pencils)/Wade von Grawbadger (inks)/Tony Harris (original cover artist); Starman #11: James Robinson (writer)/Matt Smith (pencils & inks)/Tony Harris (original cover artist); Starman #14: James Robinson (writer)/Tony Harris, Tommy Lee Edwards, Stuart Immonen, Chris Sprouse, Andrew Robinson, Gary Erskine, Amanda Conner (pencils)/Wade von Grawbadger and Gary Erskine (inks)/Tony Harris (original cover artist); Starman: Night and Day paperback: Roger Avery (introduction)/Brian Frey (cover artist); Starman: Times Past paperback: David S. Goyer (introduction)/Brian Frey (cover artist).) March 12, 2005 -- Starman #0, 1-5 (1994-1995) All right, back to some actual comics! I was going to pick up from where I had left off with my JSA (Justice Society of America) related books still in my many "to be read" boxes (yikes!) when I realized that the next thing I'd be reading would be one of the last issues of Starman. Since I hadn't read any Starman issues in quite a while and didn't want to pick up again partway through one of the final story arcs (plus, I had never read the early issues), I decided to go back and start reading Starman from the beginning. Starman (second series; there was an earlier series also published by DC starring the Will Payton Starman character that ran from 1988 to 1992--Will Payton not to be confused with the original Golden Age Starman, Ted Knight, or any of the many other heroes to use the name over the years, all of which eventually are brought to tie in to this second ongoing series at some time or another) was one of several titles spinning out of DC's "big event" crossover series of 1994, Zero Hour: Crisis in Time. Written by James Robinson and initially illustrated by penciller Tony Harris and inker Wade Von Grawbadger, Starman was the only Zero Hour spin-off series to prove successful, the rest all being cancelled one to two years after ZH. Starman #0 (all of the DC Comics cover date October 1994, released in August of that year, were special number zero issues; for existing titles the zero issues told mostly flashback stories, while for new titles such as Starman they served as first issues) and #1-3 tell the story ("Sins of the Father") of how Jack Knight, second son of former Starman Ted Knight, is forced to reluctantly take up the role of Starman after the murder of his older brother, David. David, already serving as his father's successor, costume and all, is murdered very early in the first issue, and several attacks on Jack and his father Ted immediately follow. Jack, never having been interested in his father's heroic legacy, has always been the more rebellious of Ted Knight's sons. Ironically, he now must step into the role he was perfectly willing to allow his brother David to carry in order to stop his father's old foe, the Mist, who along with the Mist's two children are behind these attacks. Allies Jack finds he has in this mission include the O'Dare family (a family of Opal City cops whose line has been in the city's law enforcement since 1889) and the immortal former foe of the Golden Age Flash, the Shade. At the end of "Sins of the Father", Jack agrees to continue on as Starman (on a part-time basis) if his father agrees to devote his time and energies to more productive scientific research. Following "Sins" are three single issue stories, all of which produce plot threads which I'm sure will continue on in later stories. Starman #4 picks up with Jack trying to find a place to reopen his curio shop (destroyed in "Sins of the Father") and to replenish his stock. He receives another visit from the the Shade, who reassures Jack that he is not Jack's enemy, and provides Jack with the first volume in his journal to read (first entry dated "from the 1800s"). He is also confronted by an agent sent by an eccentric millionaire to retrieve a "magical, mystical Hawaiian shirt" Jack has quite unknowingly picked up for his shop. Unwilling to allow this agent to rob him, Jack (thinking the man and his rich employer to be crazy) does agree to sell him the shirt. Upon receiving the shirt, with its painting of "a gateway to Heaven" on it, the millionaire mysteriously disappears. Starman #5 presents the first of Jack's yearly visitations with his dead brother David. Not really knowing if he's dreaming, hallucinating, or what, Jack finds himself in a mysterious black and white realm (everything in black and white except for David), conversing (and at times fighting) with David in a cemetary. More is learned about Jack's true feelings for his brother in this first of several "Talking with David" segments. Finally, Starman #6 presents the first of another regularly featured segment, this one entitled "Times Past". Each "Times Past" story features a member of the Starman supporting cast in some tale of the past. The story in #6 features a story of the Shade in Opal City in 1882, when he took on the job of rescuing a young woman from a circus mesmerist who had taken her into his spell. The Shade also spent some time then with his old friend, Oscar Wilde A word on the reprint sources I used to read these issues. Starman: Sins of the Father trade paperback reprints Starman #0 and 1-5, while Starman: Times Past reprints Starman #6. A semi-regular text feature in the monthly comic book series was entries "From the Shade's Journal". These journals that the Shade kept ever since first getting his powers in 1832 supposedly provide the basis for the "Times Past" tales (Jack is seen reading the entry in Starman #6). They also appeared from time to time as a text feature in the comics (in lieu of the letters page). The Sins of the Father trade paperback does not include any journal entries (I don't believe the issues reprinted therein originally contained any), but the Times Past trade paperback does reprint several entries related to the stories reprinted, such as an entrie discussing another meeting with Oscar Wilde in London, England in 1891. (Credits info for issues mentioned above: Starman #0-5: James Robinson (writer)/Tony Harris (pencils)/Wade von Grawbadger (inks)/Tony Harris (original cover artist); Starman #6: James Robinson (writer)/Teddy H. Kristiansen (layouts & inks)/Teddy H. Kristiansen, Christian Højgaard, Bjarne Hansen, Kim Hagen (pencils)/Tony Harris (original cover artist); Starman: Sins of the Father paperback: Mike Allred (introduction)/Tony Harris, Brian Frey (cover artists); Starman: Times Past paperback: David S. Goyer (introduction)/Brian Frey (cover artist).) March 9, 2005 -- Alter Ego (magazine) #12 (2002) Next up we have another comics related magazine, the current incarnation of Alter Ego. First though, a brief history of Alter Ego. The first "fanzine" (fan produced magazine) about comic books, it (then Alter-Ego, with a hyphen) began in 1961 under the editorship of Dr. Jerry Bails, an associate professor of natural history at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan (and a long-time comics fan). After four issues (1961-1962), the editorship of the fanzine passed to Ronn Foss (#5-6, 1963-1964), Roy Thomas (#7-9, 1964-1965, and #10, 1969), and Thomas and Mike Friedrich (co-editors, #11, 1978). Alter Ego returned (again edited by Roy Thomas) in 1998 as a regularly featured section in Comic Book Artist magazine, published by TwoMorrows (this version was called Alter Ego "volume two"). It ran in Comic Book Artist until issue CBA number five, after which the current series ("volume three") began, once again as a separately published magazine, in 1999. Ok, enough history! Here we are looking briefly at Alter Ego #12 (January 2002). This issue's front cover (actually, Alter Ego is published in a "flip-book" format, so designating one cover the "front cover" and the other the "back cover" is a bit problematic; I'm making my arbitrary decision based on the placement of the inside cover ads since the "TwoMorrows News Today" page is normally on the inside front cover, not the back) is a recreation of the cover of Comics Cavalcade #6 (Spring 1944) by Paul Reinman (the original artist of CC #6 is unknown, unless it was perhaps some combination of Green Lantern artist Reinman, Wonder Woman artist H.G. Peter, and Flash artist Martin Naydel, the artists then working on those characters' titles). The back cover is a recreation of the Blackhawk cover of Military Comics #29 (May 1944) (the artist of the original MC #29 cover is not identified in this issue [or if it is, I couldn't find it], but the Grand Comics Database identifies him as Alex Kotzky). And this issue's contents: Side "A" (with the Comics Cavalcade cover): Side "B" (Blackhawk Military Comics cover): Also: P.C. Hammerlinck's FCA: Fawcett Collector's of America #71: A very enjoyable issue. My favorite: The long Gill Fox interview! I also found it interesting to learn a bit more about Ronn Foss, the "lost" Golden Age Green Lantern story by Reinman, the 1965 Newsweek article and the accompanying interview transcript, and C.C. Beck's On Top of Ol' Lympos. And I always find Marc Swayze's column and Roy Thomas's "All-Star Squadron Chronicles" installments to be very interesting (All-Star Squadron remains one of my favorite 1980s comics titles). (Credits info for Alter Ego #12: Roy Thomas (editor)/Bill Schelly, Jim Amash (associate editors)/Roy Thomas, Bill Schelly, Jim Amash, Michael T. Gilbert (columnists/contributors)/P.C. Hammerlinck (FCA editor)/Marc Swayze, Ron Frantz (FCA columnists/contributors)/Paul Reinman ("front" cover artist)/Bill Ward ("back" cover artist).) March 4, 2005 -- The Jack Kirby Collector (magazine) #33 (2001) The Jack Kirby Collector #33 (November 2001) is a special all Fantastic Four issue celebrating the 40th anniversary of Fantastic Four #1. It is by far my favorite issue of the Collector since the switch to the tabloid format (with #31). Why? Because the comics genre I like the most is the superheroes and the Jack Kirby and Stan Lee FF is one of the all time classics! This issue's front cover is a previously unpublished piece pencilled by Kirby for the cover of Fantastic Four #64 (July 1967), inked for the front cover here by Erik Larsen. The back cover is "from a pencil piece [by Kirby] first published in the Kirby Masterworks portfolio [1979]." Artist Bruce Timm provided new inks and colors for the back cover here. And this issue's contents: • Editor John Morrow's "Opening Shot" editorial: "Fantastic Forty" (why an all Fantastic Four issue was chosen for this issue [an earlier "FF theme issue" was done in the Collector #9 (February 1996)]) • Again, this is an excellent issue, particularly for Fantastic Four fans! I highly recommend it! Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that throughout the magazine are scattered little mini-interviews with the following creators, all answering the questions, "What Lee/Kirby issue of Fantastic Four is your favorite and why?", and "How would you say the Lee/Kirby issues influenced your work on the FF?": John Romita [Sr.], John Buscema, Roger Stern, Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler, Gerry Conway, Len Wein, George Pérez, John Byrne, Walter Simonson, Bill Sienkiewicz, Paul Ryan, Carlos Pacheco, Doug Moench, Alan Davis, Jim Lee, Art Adams, Jerry Ordway, Marv Wolfman, Steve Englehart, and Tom DeFalco. (Credits info for The Jack Kirby Collector #33: John Morrow (editor)/Pamela Morrow (asst. editor)/Eric Nolen-Weathington (production asst.)/John Morrow, Mark Alexander, Mark Evanier, Robert L. Bryant, Jr., Mike Gartland, Glen Gold, Adam McGovern, Jon B. Cooke, Tom Bierbaum, Mark Lerer, Shane Foley, and George Khoury (columnists/contributors)/Jack Kirby [pencils] & Erik Larsen [inks] (front cover artists)/Jack Kirby [pencils] & Bruce Timm [inks] (back cover artists).) February 25, 2005 -- The Jack Kirby Collector (magazine) #32 (2001) Next up, we have The Jack Kirby Collector #32 (July 2001). This issue's theme is "Kirby's least known works". Because of this, while I liked the issue and found many of the subjects covered to be interesting, there was very little in it that really excited me. First off, we have the issue's two covers. Both are based on the exact same piece of artwork by Kirby. The piece, that of an unused character of Kirby's named "Sundance of Mars", was apparently drawn by Kirby in the early 1970s (according to the accompanying article). For this issue's front cover, editor Morrow enlisted artist Jose Ladronn to ink and color the piece. The product is a rather dark cover piece. While Ladronn's inks are quite faithful to Kirby's pencils (as shown in the article), his choice of darker, more "earthy" colors makes it somewhat muddy in my personal opinion (although it does seem appropriate for a character supposedly standing on the surface of Mars!). The issue's back cover is the same piece as inked by David Roach and colored by Tom Ziuko, an earlier version received by Morrow along with the pencils. (This version is a bit more typical of the coloring approach to Kirby's work at the time, more of a clean, "cartoony", approach.) This issue's contents are as follows: • Editor John Morrow's "Opening Shot" editorial: "Challenges of the Unknown" (a discussion of the value of Kirby's lesser known [and, in many cases, less well received] works) • While I didn't enjoy this issue quite as much as the previous one, I did very much enjoy the article on Kirby's Marvel Comics western titles by Hammond. I also found the "lost" 1978 interview with Kirby to be interesting, and I found learning more about some of Kirby's unpublished works (such as the "Teen-Agent" collage project and The Horde novel) to be interesting as well. (Oh, and another real highlight of the issue is reading the comments in the letters column that disagree quite strongly with John P. Alexander's "Graffiti on the Monolith" article from the previous issue!) (Credits info for The Jack Kirby Collector #32: John Morrow (editor)/Pamela Morrow (asst. editor)/Eric Nolen-Weathington (production asst.)/John Morrow, Mark Evanier, Eric Nolen-Weathington, Annie Baron-Carvais, Richard Kolkman, Mark Alexander, Adam McGovern, Jean Depelley, Keith Hammond (columnists/contributors)/Jack Kirby [pencils] & Jose Ladronn [inks] (front cover artists)/Jack Kirby [pencils] & David Roach [inks] (back cover artists).) February 5, 2005 -- The Jack Kirby Collector (magazine) #31 (2001) Begun in 1994, The Jack Kirby Collector started out very much in the same vein as that of the old style comic book fanzines. Here was a regularly produced mag created and published by a fan (John Morrow, along with his wife Pamela) focused specifically on that legendary creator of comics, Jack Kirby. Now, arguably since the success of the Collector led to John and Pam Morrow's "TwoMorrows Publishing", a company overseeing the publication of several comics nostalgia based magazines (Comic Book Artist [vol. 1], Alter Ego [vol. 3], Comicology [vol. 2], Back Issue!, Draw!, and Write Now!) (not to mention several books per year on the same subject), and since the Jack Kirby Collector itself soon became a slicker, more professional looking, magazine, it's debatable as to whether or not it can still be referred to legitimately as a "fanzine". Regardless, it is an excellent magazine for fans of the hobby and especially for fans of the life and work of Jack Kirby. I begin here with The Jack Kirby Collector #31 (March 2001), the issue with which the magazine went to its large tabloid format. The size of an old Life magazine (10 x 14"), while not the easiest format to hold (or store), it definitely presents Kirby's art (oftentimes full page copies of original finished art and/or pencils) in a very nice, large fashion. And while not exactly cheap ($9.95), I believe that it is ultimately worth every penny (although it does often stray from its "quarterly" schedule). Under a very nice Superman wraparound cover pencilled by Kirby and newly inked by fan favorite artist Neal Adams, we have in this issue (its overall theme that of Kirby's "bigger" ideas, concepts, and creations--one very much appropriate for this first big tabloid sized issue): • Editor John Morrow's "Opening Shot" editorial: "What's the Big Idea?" (the editor's personal top ten list of Kirby's "biggest" ideas/creations) • Whew! After that, there's not much room to say anything else here! An very good issue. I'd recommend it, as well as pretty much any issue of the Collector! (Credits info for The Jack Kirby Collector #31: John Morrow (editor)/Pamela Morrow (asst. editor)/Eric Nolen-Weathington (production asst.)/John Morrow, Bill Field, Mark Evanier, Eric Nolen-Weathington, Mike Gartland, Stan Taylor, Patrick A. Price, Adam McGovern, George Khoury, John P. Alexander, Robert L. Bryant, Jr. (columnists/contributors)/Jack Kirby [pencils] & Neal Adams [inks] (cover artists).) January 14, 2005 -- Ok, it took me a bit longer than I expected to get to it, but I finally got around to moving all of the 2004 entries over to an archive page. My plan is to add a new archive page each year (so next year there will be three pages: the main [2006] page and separate archive pages for 2005 and 2004). I plan to continue using the current title index style as currently found to the left side of your screen. (It might eventually end up continuing over on the right side, however, as the title list gets longer.) The title search index will be on all of the pages (including the archives ones) to enable you to navigate from one page to the next.
• John Cochran's "Cochran's Corner" column, "There There Were Giants--John Cochran gets the view from Rick 'Comicon.com' Veitch" (Cochran speaks with Rick Veitch, writer/artist of America's Best Comics' [DC/Wildstorm] Greyshirt: Indigo Sunset and, before that, the "Greyshirt" feature in Tomorrow Stories, and co-creator/founder of Comicon.com, which was beginning its fourth year when this issue hit the stands in January 2002) •
• "Atlas/Seaboard: The French Connection" (a half-page feature detailing several French editions of Atlas/Seaboard material published in 1976, included--at the end of this issue's letters column--as an addendum piece to the previous issue's Atlas/Seaboard theme) •
• "Larry Ivie talks about CBA #14--An in-depth letter from the artist/writer on his Tower Days" (a "CBA Commentary" piece) •
• Michelle Nolan's "Michelle's Meanderings" column, "Why Capt. Video Comics Didn't Fly--The hard landing of the 1950s television science-fiction hero" (first installment of a new column by Nolan--see also Comic Book Marketplace issues for her "Nolan's Notebook" columns, and later, in the monthly version of Comic Book Marketplace for her "Who Was Who in the Four-Color Funnies" column [starting in #1605, June 2005]; in this issue, Nolan looks at Captain Video, a television hit with the kids who appeared on TV from 1949 to 1955 on the now defunct Dumont TV network, and why Captain Video comics were not successful, producing only six bi-monthly issues of Captain Video comics from Fawcett Comics in 1951, art by the outstanding George Evans and Al Williamson) •
• Alex Toth's 'Before I Forget' column/feature (in this issue Toth speaks of his time working for Hanna Barbera in the 1970s--working on such projects as the "Super Friends" animated series) •
• Fred Hembeck's "Dateline: @!!?*" comic strip/feature (cartoon Hembeck shares the stage with Iron Man--sort of--while reviewing the career of Johnny Craig, artist on features such as EC Comics' horror stories--including ones in Tales from the Crypt--and early issues of Marvel's Iron Man series) •
• next comes the aforementioned "The Art of Arthur Adams--A career-spanning chat with the celebrated artist/writer on his comics" (conducted by Jon B. Cooke; the two discuss how Adams got into comics, and the many projects he's drawn over the years, including: Longshot [1985-86] and Fantastic Four #347-349 [1990-91; the popular "new" Fantastic Four story, starring Spider-Man, Wolverine, the Hulk, and Ghost Rider] for Marvel Comics, Gumby [Gumby's Summer Fun Special 1987, Gumby's Winter Fun Special 1988] for Comico, The Creature from the Black Lagoon [1993] for Dark Horse Comics, Monkeyman and O'Brien [1994-1996; creator-owned title] for Dark Horse [for their now defunct "Legends" imprint], and The Authority [2001-02] and the "Jonni Future" back-up series in Tom Strong's Terrific Tales [2001-04] for DC/Wildstorm; also includes 4-page "Arthur Adams Comic Art Checklist"--a CBA "Hero Index" feature--compiled by Vilmaar Vogelaar for his "Unofficial Arthur Adams Web Site") •
• "'This Was a Man!'--A journey to discover the artist who was Gray Morrow" (an essay by Chris Irving on the loss of long-time comics artist, Gray Morrow [1934-2001], whose projects included, among many other notable things, 18 years on the "Tarzan" newspaper comic strip) •
• "Farewell to the Master--His peers & friends discuss Gray Morrow: The man & his artistry" (a CBA "Professional Courtesies" feature, compiled by Alan Kupperberg & Mark Wheatley, with contribuations by Michael Netzer, Dick Giordano, Alan Weiss, Don Kraar [Morrow's writer on the "Tarzan" strip], Alan Kupperberg, Dave Gibbons, Allan Gross, Sal Amendola, and Ray Cuthbert [art collector]) •
• "The Sorcerer Supreme--Gray Morrow on the glorious--if short-lived--Red Circle line" (from an interview conducted by Jon B. Cooke in March 2001; also includes a 2-page "Red Circle Comics Checklist--The complete index to the 1970s Gray Morrow-edited titles", a CBA "Horror Index" feature) •
• "The Great "Inky" Roussos--The late artist's final interview on his 50 years in comics" (conducted in 1997 by Jon B. Cooke with Roussos [1915-2000], who worked in comics for six decades, from the 1940s, doing work in Bob Kane's studio on the Batman comics, to the 1990s, at Marvel Comics; a wonderful 15-page interview with the artist about his career in comics) •
• "Evans in the Heavens--A final, glorious interview with the great EC aviation artist" (conducted by Jon B. Cooke in January 2001, just months before the artist passed away in June 2001; Evans is known for his pulp magazine illustrations in the 1940s and his horror and war/aviation stories for EC Comics in the 1950s [including Tales from the Crypt and Aces High, a title custom made by EC to showcase Evans's WWI aviation art skills]; Evans also worked for many other companies, including Fiction House [1940s], Fawcett [1940s-50s], Dell/Western [early 1960s, Twilight Zone], ghosting on the "Terry and the Pirates" newspaper strip for 13 years [1960s-1970s?], Gilberton [early 1960s, Classics Illustrated], Warren [1960s, Creepy, Blazing Combat], and DC Comics [1970s, Sgt. Rock) •
• "Evans Remembered--Michael T. Gilbert on the life & loves of the former EC artist" (a CBA "Tribute" feature written by Gilbert on the life and career of George Evans) •
• "In Praise of Geo. Evans--Testimonials on the work & life of the artist extraordinare" (another CBA "Professional Courtesies" feature, compiled by Michael T. Gilbert, with contributions by Ray Cuthbert, Bud Plant, George Pratt, Ronn Sutton, Bob Horvath, Jyrki Vainio, Tim Truman, Karl Waller, and Evans's daughter, Carol Petersen [her eulogy for her father])
[Note: See also Comic Book Marketplace #87 (November 2001) for more articles on the life and career of George Evans.]
• and "The Kinstler Panache--Paul Wardle talks to the legendary artist on his comics art" (interview with 1940s-50s pulp and comic book artist--and esteemed potrait artist--Everett Raymond Kinstler; some of his works: numerous pulp magazines [including The Shadow in the 1940s], Zorro and Silvertip comics for Dell/Western [1950s], work for Avon Comics [1950s, Strange Worlds], Gilberton [late 1950s, Classics Illustrated, The World Around Us], and--starting in the late 1950s--professional portraits, including ones of actors John Barrymore and John Wayne, playwright Tennessee Williams, illustrator/painter James Montgomery Flagg, and President Gerald R. Ford) •
• Pat Calhoun's "Adventures Into Weird Words" column, "Gargoyle Gallery!" (looks at ACG's Out of the Night #5 [1952], Ace's The Beyond #24 [1954], and [Timely]/Atlas's Marvel Tales #127 [1954], all of which feature gargolye covers) •
• Michelle Nolan's "Nolan's Notebook" column, "Flash Facts and Fancy: The Adventures of Collecting Flash Gordon" (a look at the Flash Gordon comics books published between 1941 [publisher David McKay's Feature Books #25] and 1995 [Marvel's Flash Gordon series]; also includes lists of: Flash Gordon comic strip reprint books, books about the "Flash Gordon" movie serials, books about the comic strips and comic books, magazines and fanzines with articles about Flash Gordon, and Flash Gordon paperback novels) •
• "Through Time and Space" (an interview by Will Murray with Murphy Anderson and Julius Schwartz, originally conducted on July 11, 1987; Anderson is the focus of the interview, his long career in comics illustration, from his first comics work at Fiction House circa 1944-45 to P.S. Magazine [the preventative maintenance magazine begun by Will Eisner for the U.S. Army] from the mid-1960s through 1980s; highlights in between: providing art for the "Buck Rogers" newspaper strip circa 1947-1950, inking Carmine Infantino's "Adam Strange" [in Strange Adventures] at DC Comics in the 1960s, penciling the "Atomic Knights" [also in Strange Adventures], and many years of covers on DC's 1950s-1960s science fiction titles, Strange Adventures and Mystery in Space) •
• "Murphy Anderson on Science Fiction Art" (another interview with Anderson, run as a sidebar with the Murray interview, by S.C. Ringgenberg [no date is given within the article, but Mr. Ringgenberg was kind enough to provide me with some info via email: the interview was conducted in 1994 for an article intended for the now defunct Hero Illustrated magazine]; Anderson speaks of his work at Fiction House ["Star Pirate", "Suicide Smith", "Life on Other Worlds", filler work in Wings Comics and Planet], the "Buck Rogers" newspaper strip, DC Comics ["Captain Comet", "Chris KL-99", "The Atomic Knights", "Hawkman", and "Adam Strange"], and Eisner's P.S. Magazine, as well as comments on some of his favorite writers and artists that he worked with over the years) •
• Comics industry news report: "Steve Geppi sells 'Pay Copy' of Marvel Comics #1 to Jay Parrino for $350,000" (considered so valuable because, "...[I]t came from the files of Funnies, Inc. and features hand written notations of the payments to Sub-Mariner creator Bill Everett and other contributors") •
• "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (article by Dan Owens about DC Comics' series of annual Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer comics, twenty-one issues of which were released between 1950 and 1980, and a complete checklist of those issues [later issues--1975-1978--were in the "treasury-sized" Limited Collector's Edition/All New Collector's Edition series, and 1980's "Rudolph" issue was the digest-sized Best of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #4]) •
• Dave Winiewicz takes a look at "Frazetta's Fine Lines" (examining several pieces of Frank Frazetta's sketch work) •
• "Inspiration Central" ("All American Monkey Boy: Frank Cho on His Influences"; a two-page interview of Cho ["Liberty Meadows"] by Bill Baker) •
• R.C. Harvey's "Funnies Farrago" column ("Another Parlor Game of Record Setting and Unsetting"; a look at the newspaper comic strip creators who have had the longest continually running strips) •
• "The Coming of the Comic Book" (an essay written by comic book pioneer Lloyd Jacquet in 1957 with a new introduction by Bob Beerbohm; the subject of Jacquet's essay is Major William Malcolm Nicholson, one of the key figures in early comic book history; Nicholson published the first monthly comic book magazine featuring original material--instead of reprints of the newspaper comic strips--Fun #1 [1935]; Fun became New Fun and, later, More Fun Comics, and Nicholson's publishing company became Detective Comics, later National Periodical Publications/DC Comics) •
• Scott Shaw's! "Oddball Comics" column (a look at Charlton Comics' [via "Capital Stories, Inc."] Space Western Comics #43 [1953]) •
• "New & Noteworthy" (an interview by J.C. Vaughn with Nowheresville creator, Mark Ricketts) •
• Mike Wilbur's "Collectible Character Statues" column (a look at Japan based X-Plus Company Limited's Ray Harryhausen and Godzilla statues) •
• various comics retailer market reports •
• and a "Color Gallery" featuring eleven Murphy Anderson covers of P.S. Magazine from 1973 to 1983, "Heroes League of America #1" (a re-creation of the cover of Justice League of America #1 substituting Marvel's Avengers for DC's JLA members that Anderson drew for the 2001 North Carolina Heroes Con[vention] program book), and covers from DC's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer from 1950 to 1978 (31 covers shown, including 10 back cover images) [Note added, December 31, 2005: The "Heroes League of America #1" piece was used again just a few months later as one of the covers of Alter Ego #13 (see blog entry).]•
(As reprinted in: Starman: A Wicked Inclination... (1998))
Starman #18 (1996)
(As reprinted in: Starman: Times Past (1999))
(As reprinted in: Starman: Night and Day (1997))
Starman #11 (1995)
(As reprinted in: Starman: Times Past (1999))
(As reprinted in: Starman: Sins of the Father (1996))
Starman #6 (1995)
(As reprinted in: Starman: Times Past (1999))
• Editor Roy Thomas's editorial, "Don't You Know There's a War On" (ruminations on September 11th, 2001; this issue was the first to "be assembled" post 9-11) •
• "Written Off - 9-30-49, Part II: Reconstructing Reinman" (by Roy Thomas; the reconstructing of a Golden Age Green Lantern story [art by Paul Reinman, writer unknown] never published and "written off" in 1949 [presumably for a one-time tax break], pieced together from what of the original artwork that is known to still exist today) •
• "That 1965 Newsweek Article: A Triptych in Prose" (a reprint of the "Superfans and Batmaniacs" article that originally ran in the February 15, 1965 issue of Newsweek focusing on the growing phenomenon known as comics fandom, and a transcription of one of the interviews conducted between Newsweek reporter Hugh McCann and Jerry Bails [founder of Alter Ego and other fanzines in the early 1960s] and several other fans on January 15, 1965 in preparation for the article, and a spoof of the Newsweek article written by Roy Thomas that originally ran in the apa-zine CAPA-Alpha #6 [July 1966]; includes a new introduction and brief comments by Bill Schelly) •
• "The All-Star Squadron Chronicles, Part III: Hail, Hail, Now the Gang's Really All Here!" (by Roy Thomas; continuing Thomas's look back at the creation of his 1980s DC series, All-Star Squadron, including how Len Wein ended up being the editor on the project, Thomas's philosophy at the time as to the book's tone and who would make up its primary cast of characters, and how Rich Buckler and a young Jerry Ordway ended up being the first penciller and inker on the book) •
• another Roy Thomas editorial, "A Matter of Quality" (discussing the theme of this side of the issue, Quality Comics, and addressing the death of former Alter Ego [volume one, #5-6, 1963-1964] editor/publisher Ronn Foss) •
• "Quality Control: A Conversation with Gill Fox, Artist, Writer, and Editor (1940-1943) of Quality Comics Group" (by Jim Amash, the title says it all; a very lengthy interview [34 pages!!!] with Gill, covering his early career in comics at Fleisher's cartoon studio and comics publishers such as DC [then National Comics], Harry "A" Chesler's art shop, and Centaur Publications, his time with Quality Comics [1938-1943, 1940-1943 as editor] and the various artists (Jack Cole, Lou Fine, etc.), writers, and other comics personnel who he worked with there over the years, his experiences in World War II, and his various work experiences after the war, including more comics work for Quality Comics and working at the esteemed Johnstone and Cushing advertising agency from 1951 to 1956; [Note added, April 30, 2005: Gill Fox passed away in May 2004, at the age of 88]) •
• "A Tribute to Ron Foss (1939-2001): Fan-artist Extraordinaire and Editor Emeritus of Alter Ego" (by Bill Schelly) •
• "Mr. Monster's Comic Crypt" (this issue: "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Wood!", by Michael T. Gilbert; a look by legendary comics artist Wallace "Wally" Wood's work for Mad magazine, specifically the parody strips he supposedly drew in 1964 that were rejected by his editor, leading Wood to quit Mad and his editor to have cartoonist Bob Clarke redraw; included here are several of both the original Wood and redrawn Clarke versions) •
• Marc Swayze's regular "We Didn't Know... It Was the Golden Age!" column (this issue Swayze talks about his work on Fawcett's romance titles from 1948 to 1953) •
• and "A Twilight of the Gods: C.C. Beck's On Top of Ol' Lympos" (by Ron Frantz; a look at an illustrated novel Beck wrote and drew titled On Top of Ol' Lympos, and how Frantz, through his Ace Comics company, tried to publish it in 1987 but was unsuccessful due to Ace going belly-up that same year; also includes epilogue by FCA editor, P.C. Hammerlinck) •
• "Under the Covers" (discussing the two FF pieces used for this issue's front and back covers, including looks at the pencils for both and the cover ultimately used for FF #64 instead of this issue's front cover piece) •
• "Comparisons": "Progressing to a Tangent (5 Years On)" (a look by Mark Alexander at the cover of Marvel Collector's Item Classics #19 [February 1969], a reprint of FF #27 [June 1964] that for some reason Kirby drew a new cover for [instead of merely reusing the original FF #27 cover as all other issues of MCIC did]; in this case Kirby recreated the design from the earlier cover, and one can see how Kirby's style had evolved in just the five years since he drew the first cover) •
• Mark Evanier's "Jack F.A.Q.s" column (this issue, Evanier discusses the 1967-1968 Hanna-Barbera and 1977 DePatie-Freleng "Fantastic Four" cartoons, including numerous examples of storyboards drawn by Kirby for latter series) •
• "Casting Call": "Lights! Camera! Action!" (a look by Robert L. Bryant, Jr. at why a major Fantastic Four motion picture was so slow in coming [I found it a bit ironic to be reading this in 2004 when an FF movie is just months away from being released]) •
• "The 'Other' FF (or, Not-So-Strange-Tales)" (an in-depth look by Mike Gartland at the Human Torch feature that ran in Strange Tales #101-134 [1962-1965]; the Torch was the first member of the FF to get his own solo series, although the rest of the team made numerous appearances in the Torch's ST run) •
• "Retrospective": "The (Un-?) Forgettable FF #15" (a look by Glen Gold at FF #15 [June 1963], the issue that introduced the Mad Thinker and his "Awesome Android") •
• Adam McGovern's "Kirby as a Genre" column (this issue: the then recent Fantastic Four: The World's Greatest Comics Magazine twelve-issue limited series published by Marvel Comics and spear-headed by Erik Larsen [including an interview with Larsen], and a look at Larsen's own Savage Dragon series published by Image Comics; Larsen also discusses why he was leaving the then current version of The Defenders Marvel was publishing at the time [in a "Last Line of Defense" sidebar]) •
• "Collaborators": "Stan Lee Interview" (a new interview by Jon B. Cooke with Lee regarding Kirby and the way the two worked together at Marvel [pretty routine of other interviews with Lee on the subject], and a "Giving Credit Where It's Due" sidebar article featuring short snippets from an earlier interview with Lee from the "mid-1980s" with Tom Bierbaum for Daily Variety magazine, and from the 1977 issue of Oui magazine) •
• "Analysis": "The Final Family Reunion" (an look by Mark Lerer at Kirby's "Inhumans" series in Amazing Adventures #1-4 [1970], how this short series might be looked at as a sign of what Kirby's Fourth World saga might have looked like had he done it at Marvel under Stan Lee as editor [Kirby provided plot, pencils, and script all three for the "Inhumans"], and similarities between the Inhumans and Kirby's later creation, the Forever People) •
• "Technique": "Kracklin' Kirby" (a look by Shane Foley at the development of Kirby's signature "Kirby Krackle" effect, including examples from mid-1960s and 1970s issues of FF, Journey Into Mystery, and Thor) •
• "Tribute": "An Ode to Joe Sinnott" (compiled by George Khoury, brief comments from fellow inkers Tom Palmer, Al Gordon, and Terry Austin regarding the longtime FF inker [and whom many feel to be Kirby's best inker], Joe Sinnott) •
• and a 26-page "Gallery" (including Kirby artwork from FF #44 [November 1965], FF #76 [July 1968], FF #78 [September 1968], FF Annual #5 [November 1967], FF #89 [August 1969], FF #91 [October 1969], FF #164 [November 1975], FF #173 [August 1976], FF #176 [November 1976], and FF #177 [December 1976], plus many large and full page illustrations throughout the magazine) •
• "Under the Covers" (discussing the "Sundance of Mars" piece used for this issue's front and back covers, as detailed above) •
• Mark Evanier's "Jack F.A.Q.s" column (this issue, Evanier attempts to answer a series of questions regarding Kirby's sweeping Fourth World saga) •
• "Animated Gestures": "Behind the Planet of the Apes" (a look by Eric Nolen-Weathington at a few pieces of artwork Kirby did in the 1980s as part of a proposal for a Planet of the Apes television cartoon series [not the one actually produced by DePatie-Freleng that aired in 1978 on NBC]) •
• "In His Own Words": "The Lost Kirby Interview" (an interview with Kirby conducted by Annie Baron-Carvais in November 1978, first published in the French comic book DC Spécial #7 [March 2000]) •
• "Credit Check" (a nine page update to the 1998 Jack Kirby Checklist [also released by TwoMorrows] designed to be cut out [or photocopied] and inserted in the publication; also "Kirby Sets New Record", a brief article by Mark Alexander discussing how Kirby apparently had a record number of 146 pages of comic art released in the month of September 1963 [which saw the release of Avengers #1, Fantastic Four #18, Fantastic Four Annual #1, Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #3, and X-Men #1], plus the covers of six other titles that month, the most Kirby pages released in any single month of his career) •
• Adam McGovern's "Kirby as a Genre" column (this issue: Bill Harvey's late 1980s Dangerworld series, Alan Moore's 1963 from Image Comics, Italian comics creator Leo Ortolani's Kirby-inspired body of work, the recently released Superman and Batman: World's Funnest one-shot from DC Comics, and a follow-up to the previous issue's mention in this column of Jack Kirby being identified as the "creator of Captain America and the Incredible Hulk" in the September issue of the New York Times Book Review [lawyers for Captain America co-creator Joe Simon took a slight issue with that statement]) •
• "Internationalities": "He Who Pays His Debt Becomes Richer" (an interview by Jean Depelley with French artist, Jean-Marie Arnon ["Dinosaur Bop" series, Les furies, and L'invasion]) •
• "Trivia": "The 'You Don't Know Jack' Quiz" (a copy of the questions given at the 2000 San Diego Comicon's annual Fan vs. Pro Trivia Quiz, this year's quiz being comprised entirely of Kirby-related questions) •
• "Retrospective": "Mighty Marvel Western Gunfighters" (an in-depth look by Keith Hammond at the western comics Kirby worked on for Marvel from 1957 through 1963, including The Black Rider Rides Again; Wyatt Earp; The Rawhide Kid; Kid Colt, Outlaw; Gunsmoke Western; and the Two-Gun Kid, plus a two page "Jack Kirby Marvel Western Index") •
• "Unearthed": "The Original Teen Agent" (a look by John Morrow at two photo collage covers discovered among Kirby's things produced by Kirby in the mid-1960s as part of a proposal for an entire photo-collage story or book [never published] titled "Teen-Agent", including comments from Jack Kirby's son Neal Kirby [Kirby would later reuse the title of this project for "the characters that became Jack Kirby's TeenAgents, the 1990s Topps Comics series"]) •
• "Novelty": "The Horde Is Coming, and It Can't Be Stopped!" (a look by John Morrow at The Horde, a novel Kirby wrote, and continued to rewrite, from 1969 through 1977, and how others [Janet Berliner, Ray Wyman, and Peter Burke] became involved over the following years in tring to get The Horde published) •
• and a twelve-page "Gallery" (including artwork from Kirby's In the Days of the Mob #2, his adaptation of television's The Prisoner, and True Divorce Cases, all projects Kirby worked on that were never published, and art from the Black Hole newspaper comic strip, both Kirby's original pencils to his first Sunday strip of the series and the final product as inked by Mike Royer, plus many large and full page illustrations throughout the magazine) •
• "Under the Covers" (a look at Kirby's original pencils for the cover illustration and Adams's repenciled version, plus Bill Field's "My Excellent Jack Kirby Story", the story of how he and a friend of his spent the evening with Jack Kirby, Neal Adams, and their wives at the December 1975 Miami comic book convention) •
• Mark Evanier's "Jack F.A.Q.s" column (this issue, Evanier fields questions concerning the identity of the mystery inker on Fantastic Four #1 (November 1961)) •
• "View from the Whiz Wagon": "Is Kirby Universal?" (a look at Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park by John Morrow) •
• "Kurt Busiek: Getting to the Bottom of Topps Comics" (an interview by John Morrow and Eric Nolen-Weathington with writer Kurt Busiek, who worked on Topps Comics's 1990s "Secret City Saga" titles, which were based on Kirby creations) •
• "Giant-Man: Big Fish in a Bigger Pond" (a character study of Lee and Kirby's Hank Pym character (Ant-Man/Giant-Man/Goliath/Yellowjacket) and his run in Tales to Astonish and early issue of The Avengers) •
• "Why Did the Fourth World Fail?" (an essay by Stan Taylor) •
• "An Annual Tradition" (a look at the first six Fantastic Four Annuals (1963-1968) by Patrick A. Price) •
• Adam McGovern's "Kirby as a Genre" column ("A regular feature examining (recent) Kirby-inspired work"; this issue: "New Jack City" and the Supreme: The Return limited series from Awesome Entertainment, Image's Big Bang Comics series, Erik Larson's homage to Kirby by duplicating the opening page of Kirby's Thor #143 (August 1967) in Larsen's (then) recent Thor #28 (vol. 2, August 2000), and kudos to novelist Michael Chabon (The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay) for pro-Kirby comments he made in a September 24, 2000, interview in the New York Times Book Review) •
• "Internationalities": "Ladronn: A Kindred Spirit" (an interview by George Khoury with artist, Jose Ladronn (Cable, The Inhumans, Thor 2000 Annual) •
• "Graffiti on the Monolith" (a rather scathing review of Kirby's adaptation of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey film (in Marvel's 1976 treasury sized special) by John P. Alexander (Marvel followed up on the adaptation with a ten issue 2001 series by Kirby which ran from 1976 to 1977)) •
• "Old Genesis": "Kirby's Morning of the Gods" (a look of Kirby's use of mythology in his New Gods and Eternals series by Adam McGovern, and "Making the Connections", and a look at the relationships between Kirby's various mythologically based characters by Nolen-Weathington) •
• "2000 Kirby Tribute Panel" (a transcribing of the panel discussion, attended by moderator Mark Evanier, artist Gene Colan, writer and former Marvel editor and editor-in-chief Roy Thomas, Kirby grandchildren (and overseers of the Kirby estate) Tracy Kirby and Jeremy Kirby, and artist and former Marvel production assistant Marie Severin; transcribed by Nolen-Weathington) •
• "Credit Check": "Extra Credit" (an essay by Robert L. Bryant, Jr. decrying the lack of credit Kirby received in the press leading up to the 2000 X-Men movie) •
• "Flashback": "My Country, 'Tis of Thee..." (a look at Kirby's Captain America's Bicentennial Battles treasury sized special (1976) by Nolen-Weathington) •
• and an eight-page "Gallery" of four of Kirby's full two-page spreads (from New Gods #6 (DC 1984 reprint series), Captain Victory #3 (March 1982), Black Panther #1 (January 1977), and Kamandi #1 (October 1972)), plus many large and full page illustrations throughout the magazine) •
(Spider-Man is © 2007 by Marvel Comics)
(Batman is © 2007 by DC Comics)