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Marvels (25th Anniversary Edition)


By Kurt Busiek & Alex Ross, with Steve Darnall, Mark Braun, Richard Starkings, John Roshell & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-4286-7 (TPB) 978-0-7851-1388-1(HC/Digital edition)

Every so often in mainstream comics something comes along that irrevocably alters the landscape of our art-form, if not the business itself. After each such event the medium is never quite the same again. One such work was 4-issue Prestige Format Limited Series Marvels by jobbing scripter Kurt Busiek and just-breaking illustrator Alex Ross. This year that landmark game-changing graphic collection turns 30…

I’m usually quite reticent in suggesting people read stuff I know damn well they’ve almost certainly already seen, but apparently every day is somebody’s first, and as years pile up and more stuff gets made, even certified bona fide “unmissables” get shuffled into touch and forgotten…

This tale is all about history and human perspective, following the working life of photo-journalist Phil Sheldon, whose career paralleled the double dawning of the heroic era; when science, magic, courage and overwhelming super-nature give birth to an Age of Marvels…

The saga opens with Alex Ross’ brief, preliminary retelling of the origin of the Golden Age Human Torch as first seen in Marvels #0 (co-written by Steve Darnall and produced in classicist pic-&-text block format) before the story proper opens in ‘A Time of Marvels’. In 1939 a gaggle of ambitious young newspapermen discuss the “War in Europe”. Brash up-and-comer J. Jonah Jameson is trying to dissuade his shutterbug pal Phil from heading overseas, claiming there’s plenty of news to snap in New York…

Unconvinced, Sheldon heads to his next assignment: a press conference with scientific crackpot Professor Phineas T. Horton. The photographer’s head is filled with thoughts of journalistic fame and glory on distant battlefields and he almost misses the moment Horton unveils his artificial man: a creature that bursts into flame like a Human Torch…

From that moment on Sheldon’s life is transformed forever. His love-hate fascination with the fantastic miracles which rapidly, unceasingly follow in the inflammatory inhumanoid’s fiery wake is used to trace the rise of superhumanity and monstrous menace which comprises the entire canon of what we know as the Marvel Universe….

Soon the android is accepted as a true hero, frequently battling aquatic invader Sub-Mariner like elemental gods in the skies above the city whilst seemingly-human vigilante supermen like The Angel constantly ignore the law and daily diminish Phil’s confidence and self-worth. It’s as if by their well-meaning actions these creatures are showing that mere men are obsolete and insignificant…

Feelings of ineffectuality and inadequacy having crushed the camera jockey’s spirit, Phil turns down a War Correspondent assignment and descends into a funk. He even splits up with fiancée Doris Jaquet. After all, what kind of man brings children into a world with such inhuman horrors in it? Nevertheless, Sheldon cannot stop following the exploits of the singular human phenomena he’s collectively dubbed “Marvels”…

Everything changes with the arrival of patriotic icon Captain America. With the Land of Liberty in World War II at long last, many once-terrifying titans have become the nation’s allies and secret weapons, turning their awesome power against the Axis foe and winning the fickle approval of a grateful public. However, some were always less dutiful than others. When tempestuous Sub-Mariner again battles the Torch, Prince Namor of Atlantis petulantly unleashes a tidal wave against Manhattan. Phil is critically injured snapping the event…

Even after losing an eye, Phil’s newfound belief in Marvels never wavers and he rededicates himself to his job and Doris; going to Europe where his pictures of America’s superhuman Invaders crushing the Nazi threat become part of the fabric of history…

The second chapter jumps to the 1960s where Sheldon, wife Doris and daughters Jenny and Beth are – like most New Yorkers – at the epicentre of another outbreak of metahumanity… a second Age of Marvels…

Two new bands of costumed champions operate openly: A Fantastic Four-some comprising famous scientist Reed Richards and test pilot Ben Grimm plus Sue and Johnny Storm. Another anonymous team who hide their identities call themselves The Avengers. There are also numerous independent mystery men streaking across the skies and hogging headlines, which Jonah Jameson – now owner/publisher of the newspaper he once wrote for – is none too happy about. After all, he has never trusted masks and is violently opposed to this new crop of masked mystery-men. Phil is still an in-demand freelancer, but has a novel idea, signing a deal for a book of his photos just as the first flush of popular fancy wanes and increasing anxiety about humanoid mutants begins to choke and terrify the man in the street…

When the mysterious X-Men are spotted, Sheldon is caught up in a spontaneous anti-mutant race riot: appalled to find himself throwing bricks with the rest of a deranged mob. He’s even close enough to hear their leader dismissively claim “They’re not worth it”…

Shocked and dazed, Sheldon goes home to his nice, normal family, but the incident won’t leave him, even as he throws himself into work and his book. He worries that his daughters seem to idolise Marvels. “Normal” people seem bizarrely conflicted, dazzled and besotted by the celebrity status of the likes of Reed Richards and Sue Storm as they prepare for their upcoming wedding, yet prowl the streets in vigilante packs lest some ghastly “Homo Superior” abomination show its disgusting face…

Events come to a head when Phil finds his own children harbouring a mutant in the cellar. During WWII, Phil photographed the liberation of Auschwitz, and looking into the huge deformed orbs of “Maggie” he sees what he saw in the faces of those pitiful survivors. His innate humanity wins out and Phil lets her stay, but can’t help dreading what friends and neighbours might do if they find such a creature mere yards from their own precious families…

Hysteria keeps growing and the showbiz glitz of the Richards/Storm wedding is almost immediately overshadowed by the catastrophic launch of anthropologist Bolivar Trask’s Sentinels. At first the mutant-hunting robots behave like humanity’s boon but when they override their programming and attempt to take over Earth, it is despised and dreaded mutants who save mankind.

Naturally, the man in the street knows nothing of this and all Phil sees is more panicked mobs rioting and destroying their own homes. In fear for his family, he rushes back to Doris and the girls, only to find Maggie has vanished: the unlovely little child had realised how much her presence had endangered her benefactors. They never see her again…

The third chapter focuses on the global trauma of ‘Judgement Day’ as the shine truly starts coming off the apple. Even though crises come thick and fast and are as quickly dealt with, vapid, venal humanity becomes jaded with the ever-expanding metahuman community and once-revered heroes are plagued by scandal after scandal. Exhausted, disappointed and dejected, Phil shelves his book project, but fate takes a hand when the skies catch fire and an incredible shiny alien on a skyborne surfboard announces the end of life on Earth…

Planet-devouring Galactus seems unstoppable and the valiant, rapidly-responding Fantastic Four are humiliatingly defeated. Phil, along with the rest of Earth, embraces the end and wearily walks home to be with his loved ones, repeatedly encountering humanity at its best and nauseating, petty, defeated worst. However, with the last-minute assistance of the Silver Surfer – who betrays his puissant master and suffers an horrific fate – Richards saves the world, but within days is accused of faking the entire episode. Disgusted with his fellow men, Sheldon explodes in moral revulsion…

Phil’s photobook is finally released in concluding instalment ‘The Day She Died’. Now an avowed and passionate proponent of masked heroes, humanity’s hair-trigger ambivalence and institutionalised rushes to judgement constantly aggravate Phil even as he meets the public and signs countless copies of “Marvels”.

The average American’s ungrateful, ungracious attitudes rankle particularly since the mighty Avengers are currently lost in another galaxy defending Earth from collateral destruction in a war between rival galactic empires – the Kree and the Skrulls – but the most constant bugbear is old associate Jameson’s obsessive pillorying of Spider-Man. Phil particularly despises a grovelling, ethically-deprived young freelance photographer named Peter Parker who constantly curries favour with the Daily Bugle’s boss by selling pictures deliberately making the wallcrawler look bad…

Phil’s book brings a measure of success, and when the aging photographer hires young Marcia Hardesty as a PA/assistant whilst he works on a follow-up, he finds a passionate kindred spirit. Still, everywhere Sheldon looks costumed champions are being harried, harassed and hunted by hypocritical citizens and corrupt demagogues, although even he has to admit some of the newer heroes are hard to like…

Ex-Russian spy Black Widow is being tried for murder, protesting students are wounded by a Stark Industries super-armoured thug and in Times Square a guy with a shady past is touting himself as a Hero for Hire. When respected Police Captain George Stacy is killed during a battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus, Jameson is frantic to pin the death on the webspinner, but hero-worshipping Phil digs deeper. Interviewing many witnesses – including the murderously malign, multi-limed loon himself – Phil consequently strikes up a friendship with Stacy’s daughter Gwen, a truly sublime young lady who is inexplicably dating that unscrupulous weasel Parker…

One evening, hoping for another innocuous chat with the vivacious lass, Phil sees her abduction by the Green Goblin and, desperately giving chase, watches as his vaunted hero Spider-Man utterly fails to save her from death. Her murder doesn’t even rate a headline; that’s saved for industrialist Norman Osborn who is found mysteriously slain that same night…

Gutted, worn out and somehow betrayed, Sheldon chucks it all in, but seeing Marcia still has the fire in her belly and wonder in her eyes, leaves her his camera and his mission…

Although this titanic tale traces the arc of Marvel continuity, the sensitive and evocative journey of Phil Sheldon is crafted in such a way that no knowledge of the mythology is necessary to follow the plot; and would indeed be a hindrance to sharing the feelings of an ordinary man in extraordinary times.

One of Marvel’s – and indeed the genre’s – greatest tales (but you probably already know that and if you don’t what are you waiting for?), I count at least four separate versions available currently and suggest if you have any money left you opt for the 25th Anniversary edition that comes heavily annotated with numerous articles and extras. These include aforementioned prequel ‘Marvels Book Zero’, and the ‘Marvels Epilogue’ short story. The bonus section comprises a 39-page, panel-by-panel comparison of original 1960s Marvel material with the reinterpretations of #0-4 compiled by Jess Harrold: followed by ‘Marvels: The Proposals’ as Ross & Busiek pitched their big idea: four shots to get it just right, aided by an abundance of glorious ‘character studies’ incorporating a vast cast, and supplemented by text articles on the finished product from November 1993’s Marvel Age #130.

Busiek’s full scripts for #1-4 and a wealth of ‘layouts, pencils & Original Art’ (11 pages) follow, before diving deeper in with a 6-page peek ‘Inside Alex Ross’ Marvels Epilogue Sketchbook’. More commentary follows with recovered Introductions, Busiek’s in-story prose pieces ‘Marvels: The Articles’; 8 pages of Ross’ contribution via ‘Marvels: The Artistic Process’, and Harrold’s popular press features courtesy of ‘The Story of Marvels’, ‘Modern-Day Marvels’, ‘Understanding Marvels by Scott McCloud’, ‘McLaurin’s Mark on Marvels’.

Next comes a ‘Mahvels Parody’ by Darnall, Busiek, Ross & artist Mark Braun, accompanied by ‘Posters, Art & Homage Covers’, Ross’ ‘Marvels Collected-Edition Cover Gallery’, and material seen in previous collections, including an ‘Annotated Cover Gallery’; a selection of ‘Marvels 25th Anniversary Variants’, ‘Marvels 25th Anniversary Tributes Variants’ and ‘Marvels Epilogue Variants’: with 5- full page contributions from Paolo Rivera, Michael Cho, Gabriele Dell’Otto, Stephanie Hans, Daniel Acuña, Mark Brooks, David Mack, Julian Totino Tedesco, Mico Suayan & Brian Reber, Inhyuk Lee, Carlos Pacheco, Leinil Francis Yu & Sunny Cho, Adi Granov, Alan Davis, Mark farmer & Matt Hollingsworth, Nick Bradshaw, Gerlad Parel, Greg Smallwood, Marcos Martin, Tomm Coker, Yasmine Putri, Clayton Crain, Phil Noto, Simone Bianchi, Dave Johnson, Ron Lim & Dean White, Remsy Atassi, Dave Cockrum & Edgar Delgado, Fred Hembeck & Felipe Sobreiro, Skottie Young and more.

The epic history lesson ends with a list of ‘Marvels Sources’, citing where each re-envisioned scene first appeared in comics continuity before closing with Stan Lee’s Marvels TPB (1994) Introduction, full Acknowledgements and a final Afterword from Kurt Busiek & Alex Ross.

A truly groundbreaking achievement, Marvels – in whatever form you see it – is a comics tale you must not miss.
© 2020 MARVEL.

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Batman: Cover to Cover


By Neal Adams, Chip Kidd, Rian Hughes and more, with art by Bob Kane, Sheldon Moldoff, Jerry Robinson, George Roussos, Charles Paris, Stan Kaye, Fred Ray, Jack Burnley, Dick Sprang, Lew Sayre Schwartz, Win Mortimer, Jim Mooney, Curt Swan, Carmine Infantino, Joe Giella, Murphy Anderson, Nick Cardy, Joe Kubert, Gil Kane, Ross Andru, Mike Esposito, Irv Novick, Jack Abel, Bernie Wrightson, Alex Toth, Ernie Chan, Dick Giordano, Marshall Rogers, Terry Austin, Walter Simonson, Michael Golden, José Luis García-López, Frank Miller, David Mazzucchelli, Brian Bolland, Alan Davis, Paul Neary, Eduardo Barreto, George Pérez, Bill Sienkiewicz, Edward Hannigan, Paul Gulacy, Gene Colan, Graham Nolan, Brian Stelfreeze, Kelley Jones, Dexter Vines, Drew Geraci, Bruce Timm, Bret Blevins, Kevin Nowlan, Lee Weeks, Adam Hughes, Jon Bogdanove, Denis Janke, John Beatty, Michael T. Gilbert, Mike Mignola, P. Craig Russell, Mike Zeck, Norm Breyfogle, James Hodgkins, Matt Wagner, Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Tony Salmons, Damion Scott, Tom Palmer, Ty Templeton, Terry Beatty, Carl Critchlow, Jason Pearson, Daniel Brereton, John Van Fleet, John Wells, Karl Story, Hugh Fleming, Kelsey Shannon, Paul Pope, Jae Lee, Cully Hamner, John McCrea, Robert Smith, Scott McDaniel, Howard Porter, Joe Quesada, Jimmy Palmiotti, Alex Maleev, Sean Phillips, Doug Mahnke, Phil Winslade, Quique Alcatena, Tom Nguyen, Scott Hampton, Ed McGuiness, Michael Lark, Paul Johnson, Tim Sale, Darwyn Cooke, Lee Bermejo, Dave Johnson, J. G. Jones, Robert John Cassaday, Campanella, The Iguana & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-0659-8 (HB)

This year marks Batman’s 85th Anniversary and we’ll be covering many old and new books about the Dark Knight over the year. Let’s start gently with a pictorial treat long overdue for revision and rerelease but also one readily available through the usual digital vendors…

Although not strictly a graphic novel, Batman: Cover to Cover is a giant collection of the best comic covers featuring the Caped Crusader since his first appearance in Detective Comics #27 (May 1939). This is a nostalgic delight for old timers, newcomers and casually passersby alike, concocted and compiled by many of the countless people who worked on Batman over the past decades.

Each was were polled on their own favourite cover and what seems like an impossible task at first glance was smartly subdivided into easy to digest, themed subject-headings including Fearsome Foes, Welcome to Fun City, The Dynamic Duo, Batman by Design, Death Traps, Guilty!, The Batman Family, Bizarre Batman, Secrets of the Batcave, Covers from Around the World, A Death in the Family, Milestones and World’s Finest (pairing the Gotham Guardian with other heroes from the DCU).

Additional features include a thorough examination and critique of the globally recognised logo by designer extraordinaire Rian Hughes; discussions on cover construction by Jerry Robinson, Neal Adams and Bob Schreck and a poll on the greatest cover ever with contributions from the likes of Alex Ross, Chip Kidd, Neil Gaiman, Brad Meltzer, Mark Waid, Jeph Loeb, Brian Bolland, Paul Levitz and movie mavens like Christopher Nolan and Mark Hamill.

This coffee table book is exciting, emphatically lovely to look at and will provide hours of debate as we all dip in, reminisce and ultimately disagree on what should and shouldn’t be included. Enjoy, Art-lovers and Bat-Fans!
© 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Avengers versus X-Men Compendium


By Jason Aaron, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Jonathan Hickman, John Romita Jr., Olivier Coipel, Adam Kubert, Frank Cho & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-84653-518-5 (B/Digital edition)

Despite all of us being sick as dogs, can we let this anniversary year end without revisiting Marvel’s one big idea in perfect execution? Enjoy this prime example of what made Marvel great – heroes pummelling other heroes…

The mainstream comics industry is now irretrievably wedded to blockbuster continuity-sharing mega-crossover events: rashly doling them out like epi-pens to Snickers addicts with peanut allergies, but at least these days, however, if we have to endure a constant cosmic Sturm and extra-dimensional Drang, the publishers take great pains to ensure that the resulting comics chaos is suitably engrossing and always superbly illustrated…

Marvel’s big thing was always extended clashes between mega-franchises such as The Avengers and X-Men, and this one began in Avengers: X Sanction when time-lost mutant Cable attempted to pre-emptively murder a select roster of the World’s Greatest Heroes to prevent an even greater cosmic tragedy.

Hope Spalding-Summers was the first mutant born on Earth after the temporarily insane Avenger Scarlet Witch used her reality-warping powers to eradicate almost all mutants in existence. Considered a mutant messiah, Hope was raised in the future before inevitably finding her way back to the present where she was adopted by X-Men supremo Scott Summers AKA Cyclops. Innumerable signs and portents had indicated that Hope was a reincarnated receptacle for the devastating cosmic entity dubbed The Phoenix…

This mammoth collection gathers the core 12-issue fortnightly miniseries (April – October 2012) which saw humanity and Homo Superior go to war to possess this celestial chosen one, and also includes prequel Avengers vs. X-Men #0 which laid the plot groundwork for the whole blockbusting Brouhaha.

Necessarily preceded by a double-page scorecard of the 78(!) major players, the story begins with a pair of Prologues (by Brian Michael Bendis, Jason Aaron & Frank Cho) as now-sane and desperately repentant Scarlet Witch Wanda Maximoff tries to make amends and restore her links with the Avengers she betrayed and attacked. However, even after defeating an attack by manic mutate MODOK, and a personal invitation from Ms. Marvel to come back, the penitent mutant is sent packing by her ex-husband The Vision and other male heroes she manipulated.

Meanwhile in Utopia – the West Coast island fortress housing the last 200 mutants on Earth – an increasingly driven Cyclops is administering brutally tough love to adopted daughter Hope. She is determined to defy her apparently inescapable destiny as eventual host for the omnipotent Phoenix force on some far future day by regularly moonlighting as a superhero. Sadly, she’s well out of her depth when she tackles the sinister Serpent Society and daddy humiliatingly comes to her rescue.

… And in the depths of space a ghastly firebird of life and death comes ever closer to Earth…

In the first chapter (by Bendis, John Romita Jr. & Scott Hanna) the catastrophically powerful force of destruction and rebirth nears our world and the perfect mortal host it hungers for and needs to guide it, frantically preceded by desperate harbinger of doom Nova, who almost dies delivering a warning of its proximity and intent. Soon, The Avengers and the US government are laying plans, whilst in Utopia Scott Summers pushes Hope harder than ever. If The Phoenix cannot be avoided, perhaps he can make his daughter strong enough to resist being overwhelmed by its promise of infinite power…

At The Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, ex X-Man and current Avenger Wolverine is approached by Captain America and regretfully leaves his position as teacher to once again battle a force that cannot be imagined…

With even his fellow mutants questioning his tactics and brutal pushing of Hope, Cyclops meets Captain America for a parley. On behalf of the world, the Sentinel of Liberty wants to take Hope into protective custody but the mutants’ leader – distrustful of human bigotry and past duplicity – reacts violently to the far-from-diplomatic overtures…

Jason Aaron scripts the second instalment as frayed tempers lead to all-out battle on the shores of Utopia, with past personal grudges fuelling a brutal conflict. As the metahuman war rages, Wolverine and Spider-Man surreptitiously go after hidden Hope, but – even far off in deep space – The Phoenix force has infected her and she blasts them…

Meanwhile in the extra-solar void Thor, Vision, War Machine and a select team of Secret Avengers confront the mindlessly onrushing energy construct…

Scripted by Ed Brubaker, Chapter 3 begins with the recovering Wolverine and Wallcrawler considering how to catch missing hyper-powerful Hope with both Avengers and recently departed X-Men chasing her. When the feral mutant clashes over tactics with Captain America, the resulting fight further divides Avenger forces. In episode 4 (authored by Jonathan Hickman) as the easily defeated space defenders limp back to Earth, Hope and Wolverine meet at the bottom of the world and devise their own plans for her future…

All over Earth heroes are hunting the reluctant chosen one, and clashes between mutants and superhumans are steadily intensifying in ferocity, but the fugitive pair evade all pursuit by stealing a rocket and heading to the ancient “Blue Area of the Moon” where revered mutant Jean Grey first died to save the universe from The Phoenix.

When the former Marvel Girl was originally possessed by the fiery force she became a hero of infinite puissance and a cataclysmic champion of Life, before the power corrupted her and she devolved into Dark Phoenix: a rapacious wanton god of planet-killing appetites…

In a valiant act of contrition, Jean permitted the X-Men to kill her before her rapacious need completely consumed her in the oxygen-rich ancient city on the lunar surface (of course that’s just the tip of an outrageously long and overly-complicated iceberg not germane or necessary to us here: just search-engine the tale afterwards, OK?… or just buy one of many collections of The Dark Pheonix Saga).

When Hope finally reaches the spot of her predecessor’s sacrifice she finds that she’s been betrayed and that the Avengers are waiting – and so are mutants Cyclops, Emma Frost, Colossus, Magik and Namor the Sub-Mariner. With battle set to begin again, the battered body of Thor crashes into the lunar dust and the sky is lit by the blazing arrival of the Phoenix avatar…

Matt Fraction scripts the 5th chapter as the appalling firebird attempts to possess Hope, who realises she has completely overestimated her ability to handle the ultimate force, even as Avengers and X-Men again come to blistering blows.

Some distance away super-scientists Tony Stark and Henry Pym deploy a last-ditch anti-Phoenix invention but it doesn’t work as planned, and when the furious light finally dies down, infernal energy has possessed not Hope but the five elder mutants who turn their blazing eyes towards Earth and begin to plan how best to remake it…

Olivier Coipel & Mark Morales begin a stint as illustrators with the 6th – Hickman scripted – instalment as, 10 days after, old comrades Magneto and Charles Xavier meet to discuss the paradise Earth has become – especially for mutants. Violence, disease, hunger and want are gone but Cyclops, Emma, Sub-Mariner, Magic and Colossus are distant, aloof saviours at best and the power they share incessantly demands to be used more and more and more…

Myriad dimensions away in the mystical city of K’un Lun, kung fu overlord Lei Kung is warned an ancient disaster is repeating itself on Earth and dispatches the city’s greatest hero Iron Fist to avert overwhelming disaster, even as fearful humanity is advised their old bad ways will no longer be allowed to despoil the world. Naturally the decree of a draconian “Pax Utopia” does not sit well with humanity, and soon the Avengers are again at war with the last few hundreds of mutantkind. This time, however, the advantage is overwhelmingly with the underdogs and their five godlike leaders…

A desperate raid to snatch Hope from Utopia goes catastrophically wrong until the long-reviled Scarlet Witch intervenes and rescues the Avengers and Hope. Astounded to realise Wanda’s probability-altering gifts can harm them, the “Phoenix Five” declare all-out, total war on the human heroes…

In the 7th, Fraction-scripted, chapter Avengers are hunted all over the planet and the individual personalities of the possessed X-Men start clashing with each other. As Iron Fist, Lei Kung and Stark seek a marriage of spiritual and technological disciplines, Sub-Mariner defies the Phoenix consensus to attack the African nation of Wakanda…

Adam Kubert & John Dell handle the art from issue #8 with Bendis’ script revealing how an army of Avengers and the power of Wanda and Xavier turn the tide of battle… but not before a nation dies. Moreover, with Namor beaten, his portion of Phoenix-power passes on to the remaining four, inspiring greedy notions of sole control amongst the possessed…

In #9 (by Aaron, Kubert & Dell) as the hunt for heroes continues on Earth, in K’un Lun Hope is being trained in martial arts discipline by the city’s immortal master, and schooled in sheer guts and humanity by Spider-Man. When Thor is captured, the Avengers stage an all-out assault and by a miracle defeat both Magik and Colossus. Tragically, that only makes Scott Summers stronger still and he comes looking for his wayward daughter…

Brubaker writes the 10th chapter as Cyclops invades K’un Lun with horrific consequences whilst on Earth Emma Frost succumbs to the worst aspects of her nature: enslaving friends and foes with her half of the infinite Phoenix force. Simultaneously, Captain America and Xavier lay plans for one last “Hail Mary” assault…

And in the mystic city, Hope finally comes into her power – blasting Cyclops out of that other reality and back to the moon where the tragedy began…

Bendis, Coipel & Morales craft the penultimate instalment as Phoenix’s rapacious destructive hunger causes Cyclops to battle Frost, even as the unifying figure of Xavier unites X-Men and Avengers against the true threat, as with issue #12 (Aaron, Kubert & Dell) Cyclops finally descends into the same hell as his beloved, long-lost Jean by becoming a seemingly unstoppable, insatiable Dark Phoenix with only the assembled heroes and the poor, resigned Hope prepared to stop him from consuming the Earth…

The series generated a host of variant covers (I lost count at 87) by Cho, Jason Keith, Jim Cheung, Laura Martin, Stephanie Hans, Romita Jr., Ryan Stegman, Carlo Barberi, Olivier Coipel, Morales, Skott Young, Arthur Adams, Nick Bradshaw, Carlo Pagulayan, Sara Pichelli, J. Scott Campbell, Jerome Opeña, Mark Bagley, Dale Keown, Esad Ribic, Adam Kubert, Alan Davis, Humberto Ramos, Leinil Francis Yu, Adi Granov and Billy Tan which will undoubtedly delight and astound the artistically adroit amongst you…

Fast, furious and utterly absorbing – if short on plot – this ideal summer blockbuster (don’t you wish movie lawyers moved as fast as comics folk and this was screen ready by now?) remains an extreme Fights ‘n’ Tights funnybook extravaganza that delivers a mighty punch without any real necessity to study beforehand: a comics-continuity both veterans and film-fed fanboys alike can relish.
© 2012 Marvel.

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The Dandy Monster Comic (Dandy Annual 1939 Special Facsimile Edition)


By Many and various (DC Thomson & Co/Aurum Press)
ISBN: 978-1- 84513-217-0 (Boxed slipcase HB)

This one’s actually older than me – at least in its original incarnation – and a true anniversary wonder.

Until it folded and was reborn as a digital publication on 4th December 2012, The Dandy was the third longest running comic in the world (behind Italy’s Il Giornalino – launched in 1924 – and America’s Detective Comics in March 1937).

Premiering on December 4th 1937, The Dandy broke the mould of British predecessors by using word balloons and captions rather than narrative blocks of text under sequential picture frames. A colossal success, it was followed eight months later (on July 30th 1938) by The Beano, and together they revolutionised the way children’s publications looked and, most importantly, how they were read.

Over the decades the “terrible twins” spawned a bevy of unforgettable, beloved household names who delighted generations of avidly devoted readers, and end of year celebrations were graced with bumper bonanzas of the weekly stars in extended stories in magnificent hardback annuals. As WWII progressed, rationed paper and ink forced the “children’s papers” into an alternating fortnightly schedule: on September 6th 1941 only The Dandy was published. A week later just The Beano appeared. They only returned to normal weekly editions on 30th July 1949…

However, as of this grand festive feast that’s all in the future. Here, masterfully restored, is a treasure trove of joyous pranks and all-ages adventure to delight and enthral. It should be noted however, that all this buffoonery and jolly japery was crafted at a time socially far-removed from ours, and there are terms and racial depictions that wouldn’t be given houseroom in today’s world. That was then, this is now, and that’s another thing you can be grateful for…

It opens in classis DCT manner with the entire cast chowing down to a monumental feast – a staple reward of those leaner, impoverished times – before James Crichton’s ‘Korky the Cat’ kicks things off with spot of calamitous dockside fishing, after which ‘Jimmy and his Grockle’ – a kind of Doberman dragon – foil a dognapping ring. Illustrated by James Clark, the strip was recycled from prose “Boys Paper” The Rover where it was “Jimmy Johnson’s Grockle” (1932).

Most pages come with riddles, jokes or single panel gags and many of the strips are delivered in the signature two colour process that typifies British Annuals and as usual no writers are named and precious few of the artists are credited. As always, I’ve offered a best guess as to whom we should thank, and of course I would be so very happy if anybody could confirm or deny my suppositions…

Prolific Allan Morley details how ‘Keyhole Kate’ falls foul of a burglar and cowboy superman, ‘Desperate Dan’ – by key man Dudley D. Watkins – braves harsh winter climes, before Morley’s ‘Freddy the Fearless Fly’ thwarts a human bully and thrashes a predatory spider.

These colossal tomes were all about variety and value for money and next up is a heavily-illustrated prose story detailing the feudal adventure of young shepherd-boy Gingan’s dragon-slaying quest with magical weapon ‘The Sword of Crad’ before wandering tramp ‘Barney Boko’ comes a-cropper after defacing public property in a wordless strip from John R. Mason.

As depicted by the superb Eric Roberts, ‘Podge’s Frame-Up’ sees the junior entrepreneur confusing art galleries with glaziers whilst nattily-dressed ‘Archie the Ape’ deals with a hungry lion and ‘Smarty Grandpa’ (by Watkins and a double for strip veteran Pa Broon) has a racially-charged moment at a minstrel show before anthropomorphic tortoise ‘Dan the Night-watchman’ confronts a gang of thieving rats…

‘The Boy that Beat the Band’ is another prose drama (illustrated by Fred Sturrock?) with a young orphan acrobat saving a disabled boy and thereafter rewarded with his heart’s desire – a job – after which Jack Glass’ text-block & pic strip ‘The Daring Deeds of Buck Wilson’ sees the singing cowboy battling kidnappers before the animal antics in ‘Bamboo Town’ find daring duo Bongo and Pongo organising a therapeutic gymnasium in a typically busy romp limned by Charlie Gordon.

Sam Fair’s ‘Wig and Wam the Skookum Kids’ were prank-playing “Red Indian” lads who here trick the Big Chief into baiting a bear before ‘Flippy the Sea Serpent’ – by Frank Minnitt – settles the hash of a snooty octopus whilst Smarty Grandpa fails to steal a pie…

Boneless Bill was a long-running but sadly anonymous strip starring an affable contortionist. Here he astounds an army recruiting officer before ‘Marmaduke Mean the Miser’ pays painfully for stealing a little lad’s Dandy comic. Then ‘Hungry Horace’ (Morley) finds his appetite briefly diminished after illicitly tapping the wrong barrel and a cunning old codger prevents a mugging in ‘Old Beaver’s Brainwaves’.

‘Wee Tusky’ was a long-running prose feature and here the baby elephant’s propensity for trouble leads to deadly danger but secures him a human friend in the end, after which Roberts’ ‘Helpful Henry’ adjusts seating arrangements despite a history of calamitous consequences, just as pompous (idiot) detective ‘Trackem Down’ botches another “case”…

Korky the Cat masters the fundamentals of golf whilst Jimmy and his Grockle find fun – and bananas – at the docks, after which Keyhole Kate’s snooping drenches a helpful bystander and Desperate Dan proves building sites can be dangerous places… for other people…

After another get-rich-quick scheme from Podge, sausage-snaffling ‘Dipper the Dodger’ falls foul of the law. Probably drawn by James Jewell, Dipper is a dead ringer for Beano and The People’s Journal cartoon stalwart Wee Peem (“He’s a Proper Scream”), so there might have been some cross-pollination back then.

Freddy the Fearless Fly turns arsonist to escape a spider’s trap before Helpful Henry learns the perils of electricity, and Jimmy Denton tries rodeo riding to save the ranch with the invaluable assistance of ‘White Star’s Star Turn’, in a prose thriller that seamlessly segues to Podge setting up his own postal service whilst ‘Bobby, the Boy Scout’ goes too far in his scheme to help a hobo…

Boneless Bill artfully apprehends a thief and Archie the Ape find busking hazardous to health, whilst Hungry Horace loses his lunch to a quick-witted sprinter, but savvy navies ‘Nick & Nack’ find a smart way to keep the cops from confiscating their grub.

Interfering busybodies Bobby, the Boy Scout and Helpful Henry both get it wrong again, after which we head west to see Wig and Wam the Skookum Kids prank their dad yet again even as Desperate Dan falls asleep in the park but still causes chaos…

‘Willing Willie and his Pa’ experience decorating woes before we revisit the days of the Raj in prose thriller ‘Pam the Peace-Maker’ wherein a little girl prevents an outbreak of war after which Helpful Henry confuses radio and electric irons and Korky triumphs over a tiger when he goes on safari.

Jimmy and his Grockle clash violently with shopkeepers and Old Beaver’s Brainwaves sees the gamey geezer getting back at the thug who pinched his job as itinerant Barney Boko pays through the nose for watching football without a ticket.

Dipper the Dodger meets a theatrical strongman and the Bamboo-Town boys convene a swimming class that would certainly have benefitted ‘Sandy Starfish, the Shipwrecked Sailor’ before Fred Sturrock illustrates a prose battle of wits between stubborn old men in ‘The House that Jack the Joker Built’.

More musical mayhem from Archie the Ape precedes Hungry Horace outwitting municipal bylaws in search of a big scoff, even as Podge dupes another crowd of sensation hungry oafs and Helpful Henry wrecks a house before it’s even built: a trick even Desperate Dan can’t match, even if he wasn’t so thirsty…

Mini vignettes for Podge, Barney Boko and Boneless Bill presage a riotous schoolboy romp in prose – probably illustrated by George Ramsbottom – that I need you to be grown up about. ‘Invisible Dick Spoofs the Spoofer’ is a smart tale from a venerable feature that ran in The Rover for years and when he turns the tables on a cruel stage magician humiliating his school chums you should be proud and not titter or snigger…

A rapid-fire tranche of cartoon antics, starring Bobby the Boy Scout, Podge, Marmaduke Mean the Miser, Flippy the Sea Serpent, Boneless Bill and Willing Willie and his Pa, lead to another text tale as animal-raised orphan ‘Buffalo Boy’ discovers toffee and begins his slow march back to civilisation…

From here it’s cartoon strip all the way with Korky, Keyhole Kate, Freddy the Fearless Fly, Helpful Henry, Wig and Wam the Skookum Kids, Smarty Grandpa and Dipper the Dodger all doing what they do best before Bamboo-Town brings down the curtain when Bongo and Pongo build an all-animal skating rink…

A marvel of nostalgia and timeless comics wonder, the true magic of this facsimile edition is the brilliant art and stories by a host of talents that have literally made Britons who they are today, and bravo to DC Thomson for letting them out for a half-day to run amok once again.
The DANDY is a trademark of and © D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. 2006. Associated characters, text and artwork © D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. 2006. All rights reserved.

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Flash Gordon Annual 1969


By anonymous staff of the Mick Anglo Studio, Dick Wood, Al Williamson, Don Heck & various (World Distributor’s [Manchester] Ltd.)
No ISBN – B06WGZR1KX

By most lights, Flash Gordon is the most influential comic strip in the world. When the hero debuted on Sunday January 7th 1934 (with the superb if now-dated Jungle Jim running as a supplementary “topper”) in response to revolutionary, inspirational, but clunky Buck Rogers (by Philip Nolan & Dick Calkins and which had also began on January 7th but back in 1929), a new element was added to the realm of fantasy wonderment: Classical Lyricism.

Where Rogers had traditional adventures and high science concepts, this new feature reinterpreted Fairy Tales, Heroic Epics and Mythology. It did so by spectacularly draping them in the trappings of the contemporary future, with varying esoteric “Rays”, “Engine” and “Motors” substituting for trusty swords and lances – although there were also plenty of those – and exotic flying craft and contraptions standing in for Galleons, Chariots and Magic Carpets.

Most important of all, the sheer artistic talent of Raymond, his compositional skills, fine line-work, eye for concise, elegant detail and just plain genius for drawing beautiful people and things, swiftly made this the strip all young artists swiped from.

When all-original comic books began a few years later, literally dozens of talented kids used the clean lined Romanticism of Gordon as their model and ticket to future success in the field of adventure strips. Most of the others went with Milton Caniff’s expressionistic masterpiece Terry and the Pirates (which also began in 1934 – and he’ll get his go another day).

At the time of this annual a bunch of Gold Key and King Features Syndicate licenses were held by Mick Anglo, who provide strip and prose material for UK weekly TV Tornado. It combined British-generated material with US comic book reprints in an era when the television influence of shows like Tarzan and Batman, and veteran features like Flash Gordon – who had a small screen presence thanks to frequent re-runs of his cinema chapter plays. The project was extremely popular, even though not always of the highest quality…

In 1966, newspaper monolith King Features Syndicate briefly got into comic book publishing again: releasing a wave of titles based on their biggest stars. These were an ideal source of material for British publishers, whose regular audiences were profoundly addicted to TV and movie properties. Moreover, thematically they fitted with World Distributors’ other licensed properties, which repackaged Western’s comics material like Star Trek, Beverly Hillbillies and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea with domestically generated material – generally by Mick Anglo’s packaging company Gower Studios.

This Anglo-American (tee-hee!) partnership fulfilled our Christmas needs for decades, generating a wealth of UK Annuals, comics and the occasional Special, mixing full-colour US reprints with prose stories, puzzles, games and fact-features on related themes.

Flash Gordon Annuals appeared sporadically over the next few decades with this release from 1968 (and forward-dated for 1969) being the second. Like the previous book it leaned heavily on generic space opera adventure in prose-based illustrated vignettes leavened with some truly stunning comics tales recasting Flash, Dale Arden and Dr. Hans Zarkov as generalised space explorers undertaking non-stop voyages to the unknown by saving lesser civilizations from mischance, misfortune and monsters sentient and not.

The action opens with a prose return to last year’s main comic feature. Sporting full-colour illustrations peppered with mini general knowledge/science factoids, ‘The Terror of Krenkelium’ sees Flash and Zarkov head back underground to a subterranean kingdom where first-timer Dale meets her rival for Flash’s attention. Happily, Princess Darla regains her equilibrium and common sense when usurper Mogulari tries to kill the court and take over only to meet stern and fatal resistance from the upworlders…

‘Plague of the Underground Forest’ then finds our heroes revisiting a formerly idyllic aboriginal paradise planet whose deeply spiritual people are now racked with famine thanks to an invasion of super-rats. The problem is not destroying the immediate menace but convincing the despondent survivors to leave their ancestral lands for somewhere that can actually support them in the solution’s aftermath…

Astronautics quiz ‘Space Probe’ and a page of ‘Fun Time’ cartoons presage a switch to 2-colour illustration as prose thriller ‘The Idol of Zatamandoo’ sees the star travellers uncover the dark underbelly of another apparent paradise planet where a godlike being trades peace and perfection for the occasional human sacrifice. After a traditional quiz – ‘Know Your Sport’ – Flash, Dale and Zarkov return to Mongo to save Earth from being drowned by ‘The Floating Desert’ before prose pauses and this year’s strip quotient begins. Originating in US comic book Flash Gordon #6 (cover-dated July 1967) as ‘Cragmen of the Lost Continent’, here Bill Pearson & Reed Crandall’s sublime romp becomes ‘Flash Gordon meets the Cragmen of the Lost Continent’ as a trek through unknown regions of Mongo sees Dale in charge and kicking alien butt when Flash is swallowed by a monster and the old doctor breaks his leg.

Striving against uncredible beasts and hostile conditions she eventually rescues her captive hero from sinister mountain dwellers and is bringing him to safety when…

An abrupt return to words follows a full-colour board game delivering ‘Danger in Space’ (as long as you can find dice and counters) after which diversion our dynamic trio scotch ‘The Micro-Men Plot’: an invasion scheme by a despot able to shrink his all-conquering forces.

An activity page of conjuring tricks shares the how-to of ‘Magic by Illusion’ before strip thrills blast back with a short spy story also taken from Flash Gordon #6. Written by Gary Poole and limned by either Mike Roy and/or Frank Springer, it tells of Secret Agent X-9 in Japan to obtain at all costs ‘The Third Key of Power’.

It’s back to 2-tone visions and peerless prose as our heroes endure the strangest case of their lives after encountering an advanced culture of ants. ‘The Swarming Peril’ proves so fearsome Flash has his brain inserted into an insect’s skull to complete his mission…

‘Time For a Laugh’ affords more cartoon buffoonery before The Mazzlins try to eradicate humankind in a ‘Deluge!’, after which thrills pause for general knowledge and testing in ‘Flash Puzzles’ and ‘Strange But True’.

Prose poser ‘Return to Krenkelium’ finds the human heroes again going underground, with Princess Darla’s embattled people invaded by The Snakemen of Syndromeda – beings from even deeper in the planet’s core…

Crossword ‘Out of This World’ segues into comics and the conclusion of the Cragmen crisis as Flash faces ‘The Totem Master!’ before this slice of Christmas past fades away with another board game situated in a ‘City Under the Sea.’

Once upon a time this type of uncomplicated done-in-one media-tasty package was the basic unit of Yule fuel, entertaining millions of British kids, and still holds much rewarding fun for those looking for a simple and straightforward nostalgic escape.
MCMLXVII, MCMLXVIII by King Features Syndicate, Inc. All rights reserved throughout the world. The Amalgamated Press.

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Superman Annual 1965-1966


By Jerry Siegel, Otto Binder, Jerry Coleman, Robert Bernstein, Wayne Boring, Curt Swan, Dick Sprang, Al Plastino & various (Atlas Publishing/K.G. Murray)
No ISBN: B008IIHI92

Before 1959, when DC Comics and other American publishers began exporting directly into the UK, our exposure to their unique brand of fantasy fun came from licensed reprints. British publisher/printers like Len Miller and Alan Class bought material from the USA – and occasionally, Canada – to fill 68-page monochrome anthologies, many of which recycled the same stories for decades.

Less common were (strangely) coloured pamphlets from Australian outfit K.G. Murray, exported here in a rather sporadic manner. The company also produced sturdy and substantial Christmas Annuals which had a huge impact on my earliest years (I strongly suspect my adoration of black-&-white artwork stems from seeing supreme stylists like Curt Swan, Carmine Infantino, Al Plastino, Wayne Boring, Gil Kane or Murphy Anderson uncluttered by flat, limited colour palettes). This particular tome comes from the period when those US imports were steadily proliferating, prompting some rash, rushed experiments with full colour – but not as we knew it…

Also generally unknown was who did what, but I’m here to tell you Otto Binder, Boring & Stan Kaye produced the spectacular 2-chapter clash opening this Annual as ‘Hercules in the 20th Century!’ and ‘Superman’s Battle with Hercules!’ (taken from Action Comics #267-268, August and September 1960) sees Luthor bring the Hellenic demi-god to Metropolis to battle “evil king” Superman. Events turn even more serious when the legendary warrior “goes native” and in human guise woos Lois Lane. When spurned, he marshals the mighty magical powers of his fellow Olympians to destroy his unwitting rival!

Pausing to refresh with a fact-feature look at ‘Giants of the Telescope – Nicholas-Louise de Lacaille (1713-1762)’, the eternal cat-&-mouse game of Lois trying to unmask Superman next prompts a clever bout of identity-saving when she tricks Clark Kent into standing before ‘The Truth Mirror!’ (by Jerry Siegel, Swan & George Klein from Action #269).

For decades Superman and Batman were quintessential superhero partners: the “World’s Finest” team. They were friends as well as colleagues and their pairing made sound financial sense since DC’s top heroes could cross-pollinate and cross-sell their combined readerships. Here World’s Finest Comics #112 (September 1960) sees Jerry Coleman, Dick Sprang & Sheldon Moldoff’s unique and tragic saga of ‘The Menace of Superman’s Pet’ as a phenomenally cute teddy bear from space proves to be an unbelievably dangerous menace and unforgettable true friend. The ending is killer so bring tissues you big babies…

Although later played for laughs, most of the earlier appearances of The Man of Steel’s warped double were generally moving comic-tragedies. That’s absolutely the case in ‘The Son of Bizarro!’ (Superman #140, Binder, Boring & Kaye) as the fractured facsimile and wife Bizarro-Lois have a human baby. The fast growing but physically perfect tyke is super-powered but utterly shamed and shunned by the populace of the world of monsters.

His simple-minded, heartbroken father has no choice but to exile his son to space, where chance (and narrativium) bring the lad crashing to Earth as ‘The Orphan Bizarro!’. Housed in the same institution where Supergirl resides, “Baby Buster” is soon a permanent headache for the Girl of Steel until a tragic accident apparently mutates him. Eventually, his distraught father comes looking for the kid leading an angry army of enraged imperfect Superman duplicates. A devastating battle is narrowly avoided and a happy ending only materialises due to the creation of ‘The Bizarro Supergirl!’…

More knowledge is pictorially shared in ‘Amazing Ratios!’ before we head to the end with a devious story of the Action Ace’s shock retirement, as first seen in Superman #90 (July 1954) wherein Coleman & Plastino deliver ‘Superman’s Last Job!’ Naturally, there’s a hidden agenda and crime to be crushed behind all his twilight years hobby sampling…

Superman has proven to be all things to all fans over his decades of existence, and these timeless tales of joyous charm and wholesome wit are more necessary than ever: not just as a reminder of great times past but as an all-ages primer of wonders still to come…
Published by arrangement with the K.G. Murray Publishing Company, Pty. Ltd., Sydney. © National Periodical Publications, Inc. New York.

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Superman: the Atomic Age Sundays volume 2: 1953-1956


By Alvin Schwartz, Wayne Boring & Stan Kaye (IDW/DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-63140-537-2 (HB)

It’s indisputable that today’s comic book industry – if it existed at all – would have been an utterly unrecognisable thing without Superman. Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster’s bold and unprecedented invention was fervidly adopted by a desperate and joy-starved generation and quite literally gave birth to a genre… if not an actual art form.

He was shamelessly copied and adapted by many inspired writers and artists for numerous publishers, spawning an incomprehensible army of imitators and variations within three years of his summer 1938 debut. 85 YEARS… and counting!

An intoxicating blend of breakneck, breathtaking action and triumphal wish-fulfilment which epitomised the early Man of Steel soon grew to encompass cops-and-robbers crime-busting, socially reforming dramas, science fiction, fantasy, whimsical comedy and, once the war in Europe and the East also engulfed America, patriotic relevance for a host of gods, heroes and monsters, all dedicated to profit through exuberant, eye-popping excess and vigorous dashing derring-do.

Superman was master of the world and whilst transforming and dictating the shape of the fledgling funnybook industry, the Man of Tomorrow relentlessly expanded into all areas of the entertainment media. Although we all think of the Cleveland boys’ iconic invention as the epitome and acme of cartoon creation, the truth is that very soon after his debut in Action Comics #1 the Man of Steel became a fictional multimedia monolith in the same league as Popeye, Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes and Mickey Mouse. Diehard comics fans regard our purest and most enduring icons in primarily graphic narrative terms, but the likes of Batman, Spider-Man, Black Panther, The Avengers and their hyperkinetic ilk long ago outgrew four-colour origins to become fully mythologized modern media creatures, instantly recognised in mass markets across all platforms and age ranges…

Far more people have viewed or heard the Man of Steel than have ever read his comics. His globally syndicated newspaper strips alone reached untold millions, and by the time his 20th anniversary rolled around at the very start of what we know as the Silver Age of Comics, he had been a thrice-weekly radio serial regular and starred in a series of astounding animated cartoons, as well as two films and a novel by George Lowther.

Superman was a perennial sure-fire success for toy, game, puzzle and apparel manufacturers and had just ended his first smash live-action television serial. In his future were many more shows (Superboy, Lois & Clark, Smallville, Superman & Lois and even spin-offs like Supergirl), a stage musical, a franchise of blockbuster movies and an almost seamless succession of games, bubble gum cards and TV cartoons beginning with The New Adventures of Superman in 1966 and continuing ever since. Even his superdog Krypto got in on the small-screen act…

However, during his formative years the small screen was simply an expensive novelty so the Action Ace achieved true mass market fame through a different medium: one not that far removed from his print origins.

Although pretty much a spent force these days, for the majority of the last century the newspaper comic strip was the Holy Grail that all American cartoonists and graphic narrative storytellers hungered for. Syndicated across the country – and frequently the planet – it was seen by millions, if not billions, of readers and generally accepted as a more mature and sophisticated form of literature than comic-books. It also paid far better.

And rightly so: some of the most enduring and entertaining characters and concepts of all time were created to lure readers from one particular paper to another and many of them grew to be part of a global culture. Flash Gordon, Dick Tracy, Buck Rogers, Charlie Brown and so many more escaped humble and tawdry newsprint origins to become meta-real: existing in the minds of earthlings from Albuquerque to Zanzibar.

Some still do…

Superman was the first original comic book character to make that leap – about 6 months after he exploded out of Action Comics – but precious few ever successfully followed. Wonder Woman, Batman (eventually) and trailblazing teen icon Archie Andrews made the jump in the 1940s with only a handful such as Spider-Man, Howard the Duck and Conan the Barbarian having done so since.

The daily Superman newspaper comic strip launched on 16th January 1939, supplemented by a full-colour Sunday page from November 5th of that year. Originally crafted by such luminaries as Siegel & Shuster and their studio (Paul Cassidy, Leo Nowak, Dennis Neville, John Sikela, Ed Dobrotka, Paul J. Lauretta & Wayne Boring), the mammoth task soon required the additional talents of Jack Burnley and writers Whitney Ellsworth, Jack Schiff & Alvin Schwartz.

The McClure Syndicate Superman feature ran continuously from 1939 until May 1966, appearing at its peak in more than 300 daily and 90 Sunday newspapers; boasting a combined readership of more than 20 million. For most of the post war years Boring & Stan Kaye illustrated these spectacular Sundays (eventually supplemented by artists Win Mortimer and Curt Swan). The majority of the strips – from 1944 to 1958 – were written by Alvin Schwartz.

Born in 1916, he was an early maestro of comic books, writing for Batman, Superman, Captain Marvel and many other titles and companies. Whilst handling the Superman strip he also freelanced on Wonder Woman and the dwindling superhero pantheon as well as genre titles like Tomahawk, Buzzy, A Date with Judy and House of Mystery. After numerous clashes with new Superman Editor Mort Weisinger, Schwartz quit comics for commercial writing, selling novels and essays, and latterly documentaries and docudramas for the National Film Board of Canada.

He also worked miracles in advertising and market research, developing selling techniques such as psychographics and typological identification. He was a member of the advisory committee to the American Association of Advertising Agencies. He died in 2011.

After years wallowing in obscurity most of Superman’s newspaper strip exploits are at last available to aficionados and the curious newcomer in tomes such as this one, compiled under the auspices of the Library of American Comics. Showcasing Schwartz and artist Wayne Boring in their purest prime, these Sundays (numbered as pages #699 to #869 and collectively spanning March 22nd 1953 to June 24th 1956) feature a nigh-omnipotent Man of Steel in domestically-framed and curated tales of emotional dilemmas and pedestrian criminality rather than muscle-flexing bombast, utilising mystery, fashion, wit and satire as substitutes for bludgeoning action.

Following an affable appreciation of the creators and overview of the era in ‘An Introduction’ by Mark Waid, ‘A Wayne Boring Gallery’ provides a tantalising selection of Superman and Action Comics covers from the period before weekly wonderment commences in all its vibrant glory. Sadly, individual serial stories are untitled, so you’ll just have to manage with my meagre synopses of the individual yarns…

It begins with another prime example of Superman gaslighting his girlfriend – one of the sharpest journalists on Earth – in what I keep telling myself is just an example of how different attitudes were back then…

When Lois Lane catches Superman mid-change from Clark Kent, he manages to obscure his face long enough to claim her “victory” was through luck not skill or ingenuity, and challenge her to actually deduce his alter ego in a test through time. Angry, prideful and apparently a real sucker, she agrees and – relocated to ancient Troy, on the pilgrim ship Mayflower and Massechusetts colony and in 1907 San Francisco – promptly fails to spot the new identities the Man of Steel establishes. Apart from the appalling patriarchal premise and treatment it’s a beautiful tale with Lois meeting and/or replacing Helen of Troy, Priscilla Mullins (look her up or read The Courtship of Miles Standish by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) and celebrity performer Lillian Russell with Trojan battles, pioneering dangers and the Great San Francisco Earthquake giving Superman plenty to do before she concedes defeat…

Dated July 5th 1953 (strip #714), the next exploit is far less upsetting as a dying millionaire convinces the Man of Tomorrow to find a decent purpose and inheritor for his vast riches. Operating clandestinely at first Superman vets artists, inventors, simple scammers, country doctors (thereby diverging long enough to become embroiled in a decades-long hillbilly feud) and battles crooks before finally completing his mission…

Strip #725 opened a thrilling new chapter on September 20th as the Action Ace intercepts an alien vehicle crashing to Earth and finds it carries two convicts from his long-dead homeworld. At first Arno and Tolas are content to use their new superpowers to scam, steal and swindle the puny humans before eventually realising they’re strong enough to take anything want. Superman’s attempts to restrain their crimes are never enough and he only saves his adopted homeworld by adopting his enemies’ preferred tactics…

December 13th (strip #737) saw a new yarn begin as an extremely determined young woman threw herself off a building to get Superman’s attention. Alice Talbot was a lawyer working as process server for her sexist uncle. He believed Law was man’s work and had his associates give her impossible jobs to discourage her: a situation that needed all the Man of Steel’s discretion as Alice took on ever-more difficult serving jobs and succeeded – even if with some secret assistance…

Few Superman foes transferred from funnybooks to the Funnies section, but murderously ridiculous criminal The Prankster was perfect for whimsy-minded readers. Strip #747 (February 21st 1954) began an extend campaign of confusion and carnage as the diabolically devious bandit began attacking modern art, plundering vaults and raiding stores after finding a way to exploit one of Superman’s powers and use it against him…

Clark took centre stage in a clever quandary running from April 25th to July 4th (#756-766) as a publicity stunt gone awry leaves him handcuffed to a starlet and accompanied everywhere by her wily manager, requiring many clever tricks over a very busy weekend to go into action as the Man of Tomorrow before he can legitimately shuck the shackles…

The “Atomic Age” title gets full milage in the next story (#767-777, July 11th – September 19th) as a purse-snatcher fleeing Superman is dosed with radiation and acquires the unwelcome and uncontrollable power to become intangible. Happily he’s not smart enough to capitalise on the scary gift… but his even shadier pal Al is…

When a strange man starts following Superman, it leads to crazy contests and another shifty conman mystic who has convinced wrestler Mop-up Moby that he can beat the Man of Steel in the ring. Incredibly that proves true in the comedy romp running from September 26th – November 7th (#778-784), after which a science experiment gives Superman amnesia and leaves him lost and confused on a desert island (#785-793, November 14th 1954 to January 9th 1955). At least “Roger” has lazy drop-out beach-bums Horace and Mike to guide him and manage his strange abilities: they even help the simple islanders appreciate the mod-cons of 20th century living Roger provides – whether they want him to or not…

Restored and returned to Metropolis for strip #794 (November 14th), Superman is swamped with petty requests from the authorities, unaware they are keeping him distracted from preparations for a major television event. The “Your Story” episode detailing his life is a great honour, but a huge risk too as he’s supposed to appear live with all his friends: Lois, Perry White, Jimmy Olsen and… Clark Kent…

Another secret identity dilemma follows (#801-805, March 6th – April 3rd) as Clark exhibits superstrength and allows observers to believe it comes from a mutant apple he ate. It might have been the end of it, but two other apples were eaten and he has to spend all his time faking the same powers for their eaters or risk exposure of his alter ego…

When Lois and Clark investigate a mystery millionaire (#806-813, April 10th – May 29th) they go undercover as domestics and encounter the most appalling children ever reared. Soon though a heartbreaking story emerges and the hardboiled reporters become matchmaking homemakers, after which epic action and humour return as an amazing archaeological discovery sends Superman back to ancient Greece to dispel many myths around Hercules before helping the rather hapless legend-in-waiting accomplish his labours (#814-824, June 5th – August 14th)…

Atom Age fantasy follows as a genuine flying horse baffles and bamboozles Metropolitans from scientists to thieves to circus showmen (#825-833, August 21st – October 16th). When Superman discovers the facts, his greatest concern is to reunite the modern Pegasus with the boy who loves him, before heading to the Himalayas (#834-844, October 23rd 1955 – January 1st 1956) and foiling a devilish plotter seeking to seize control of a lost colony of French musketeers and cavaliers!

The new year opened with science fiction in the driving seat as downtrodden despondent travelling salesman/inventor Edgar Weems makes contact with a scientist on a dying world. Benevolent Bel Neth Ka of Kadath is happy to share his secrets – like antigravity ointment and superstrength serum – but when innocent Edgar starts selling them his instant success naturally causes chaos. That was a big and very funny job for Superman running from January 8th to March 25th over Strips #845-856, and leads to the concluding tale in this second Atomic Age collection, as Lois goes on quiz show “The $88,000 Jackpot”. Her specialist subject is Superman and her answers are astonishingly accurate. As the days pass (April 1st to June 24th 1953 and strips#857-869), audience attention makes life hell for the Action Ace, reminding viewers of his weaknesses and who he might be in civilian life…

The Atomic Age Superman: – Sunday Pages 1953-1956 is the second of three huge (312 x 245mm), lavish, high-end hardback collections starring the Man of Tomorrow. It’s an inexpressible joy to see these “lost” stories again, offering a far more measured, domesticated and comforting side of America’s most unique contribution to world culture. It’s also a pure delight to see some of the hero’s most engaging yesterdays. Join me and see for yourself…
© 2016 DC Comics. All rights reserved. SUPERMAN and all related characters and elements are trademarks of DC Comics.

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The Juggler of Our Lady – The Classic Christmas Story


By R. O. Blechman with a Foreword by Jules Feiffer and Introduction by Maurice Sendak (Dover Comics & Graphic Novels/Dover Children’s)
ISBN: 978-0-486-80030-1 (HB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: An Immaculate Confection… 10/10

Christmas is not just about shiny new toys and sparkly knitwear. It’s also about unearthing or revisiting old, beloved and – in this case – almost totally forgotten treasures like a magnificent hardback picture-perfect gift that’s still readily available; thanks to the perspicacious souls at Dover Books.

Oscar Robert Blechman is a glittering star in America’s graphic arts firmament and an international superstar. Brooklyn-born in 1930, he has excelled as cartoonist, illustrator, author, animator & director, editorial cartoonist, Editorial Director and ad-man.

He won awards for his commercials and TV specials and been venerated in an exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art. His anti-Vietnam cartoons graced The Village Voice through the early 1970s whilst his cartoons and illustrations appeared in such prestigious vehicles as Punch, The New Yorker, Trump, Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire, Show, Theater Arts and Humbug. He’s also produced fascinating graphic narratives such as Franklin the Fly, Talking Lines and Georgie and can reasonably claim to have produced one of the very first English-language Graphic Novels – and thus beginneth today’s lesson…

In 1952 Blechman used his groundbreaking and soon-to-be phenomenally influential minimalist line-style – deftly augmented with judicious watercolours – to make a much-told tale all his own. The Juggler of Our Lady was his first book: initially published by Henry Holt, and superbly fetishized and commemorated through brother-cartoonist Maurice Sendak’s fondly emotional Introduction in this sublime pocket edition. The slim tome became a landmark in graphic narrative and is beloved by generations.

Anatole France’s 1892 tale Le Jongleur de Notre Dame is probably the most widely accepted version of the original medieval religious-miracle myth but there have been so many others the story is as much part of most people’s seasonal landscape as Santa Claus or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Blechman’s reinvigoration retains all the awe and wonder, whilst adding such a potent blend of wry humour, pitiful humility and gentle hope to the mix that it can make a grown man weep. In 1958 his book became an animated Terrytoons TV short with a huge impact when it was adapted by Al Kouzel & Gene Deitch and narrated by that legendary Spirit of Christmas Past Boris Karloff…

You surely know the story: Cantalbert is an itinerant juggler who loves his work. He feels that if more people juggled there would less time for war and misery and folk would act better, feel better and be better. Nobody, however, will listen and the despondent performer – hungry for spirituality – joins a monastery. Even here he does not fit in and is saddened by his lack of suitable talents to venerate The Lord and especially his mother The Virgin Mary…

Everything comes to a head on Christmas Eve when the monks all display the magnificent presents they have made for the Madonna and poor Cantalbert has nothing worthy to give.

Later, when all is quiet, the sad juggler offers the only thing he knows and loves to the statue of The Virgin and something wonderful happens…

Deftly deconstructed and wondrously appreciated in a Foreword by comics and cartooning Titan Jules Feiffer, The Juggler of Our Lady is a masterpiece of graphic dexterity and an utterly beguiling experience no lover of the storytelling arts should be without.

Text and illustrations © 1997 R. O. Blechman. Foreword © 1997 2015 Jules Feiffer. Introduction © 1980 Maurice Sendak. All rights reserved.

Check out www.doverpublications.com, internet retailers or local comic or bookshop.

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The X-Men Omnibus volume 1


By Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, Roy Thomas, Werner Roth, Alex Toth, Jack Sparling, Paul Reinman, Dick Ayers, John Tartaglione, & various (MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-3289-3 (HB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Incomparable Strangers Bearing Gifts … 9/10

In 1963 things really took off for the budding Marvel Comics as Stan Lee & Jack Kirby expanded their diminutive line of action titles, putting a bunch of relatively new super-heroes (including hot-off-the-presses Iron Man) together as the Avengers, launching a decidedly different war comic in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos and creating a group of alienated heroic teenagers who gathered together to fight a rather specific, previously unperceived threat to humanity.

Those halcyon days are revisited in this splendid but weighty compilation: gathering from September 1963 to April 1967, the contents of X-Men #1-31, pertinent letters pages, sundry historically pertinent extras and a trio of Introductions by Lee and Roy Thomas culled from previous Marvel Masterworks collections.

Issue #1 introduced Cyclops, Iceman, Angel and the Beast: very special students of wheelchair-bound telepath Professor Charles Xavier who has dedicated his life to brokering peace and integration between the masses of humanity and the emergent off-shoot race of mutants dubbed Homo Superior. The story opens as the students welcome newest classmate Jean Grey, a young woman with the ability to move objects with her mind. No sooner has the Professor explained their mission than an actual Evil Mutant, Magneto, single-handedly takes over American missile base Cape Citadel. Seemingly unbeatable, the master of magnetism is nonetheless driven off – in under 15 minutes – by the young heroes on their first mission…

It doesn’t sound like much, but the gritty dynamic power of Kirby’s art, solidly inked by veteran Paul Reinman, imparted a raw energy to the tale which carried the bi-monthly book irresistibly forward. With issue #2, a Federal connection was established in the form of FBI Special Agent Fred Duncan, who requests the teen team’s assistance in capturing a mutant who threatens to steal US military secrets in ‘No One Can Stop the Vanisher!’.

These days, young heroes are ten-a-penny, but it should be noted that these were Marvel’s first juvenile super-doers since the end of the Golden Age, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that in this tale of a terrifying teleporter the outmatched youngsters need a little adult supervision…

Issue #3’s ‘Beware of the Blob!’ displays a rare lapse of judgement as proselytising Professor X invites a sideshow freak into the team only to be rebuffed by the fully felonious mutant. Impervious to mortal harm, The Blob incites his carnival cronies to attack the hidden heroes before they can come after him, and once again it’s up to teacher to save the day…

With X-Men #4 (March 1964) a thematic sea-change occurs as Magneto returns, leading ‘The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants!’ Intent on conquering a South American country and establishing a political powerbase, he ruthlessly dominates Mastermind, Toad, Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch, who are very much unwilling thralls in the bombastic struggle that follows. From then, the champions-in-training are the prey of many malevolent mutants.

As well as beginning letters page ‘Let’s Visit the X-Man’, #5 reveals ‘Trapped: One X-Man!’ as an early setback in that secret war sees Angel abducted to Magneto’s orbiting satellite base Asteroid M, where only a desperate battle at the edge of space eventually saves him, after which ‘Sub-Mariner Joins the Evil Mutants!’

The self-explanatory tale of gripping intensity is elevated to magical levels of artistic quality as the superb Chic Stone replaced Reinman as inker for the rest of Kirby’s tenure. The issue also incorporates a stunning ‘Special Pin-up page’ starring “Cyclops” before genuine narrative progress is made in ‘The Return of the Blob!’ as their mentor leaves on a secret mission, after appointing Cyclops team leader. Comedy relief is provided as Lee & Kirby introduce Beast and Iceman to a Beatnik-inspired “youth scene” whilst a high action quotient is maintained courtesy of a fractious teaming of Blob and Magneto’s malign brood…

Another and very different invulnerable mutant debuted in ‘Unus the Untouchable!’: a wrestler with an invisible force field who attempts to join the Brotherhood by offering to bring them an X-Man. Also notable is the first real incident of “anti-mutant hysteria” after a mob attacks Beast – a theme that would become the cornerstone of X-Men mythology – and added delight ‘Special Pin-up page – ‘The Beast’.

X-Men #9 (January 1965) is the first true masterpiece of this celebrated title. ‘Enter, The Avengers!’ reunites the youngsters with Professor X in the wilds of Balkan Europe, as deadly schemer Lucifer seeks to destroy Earth with a super-bomb, subsequently manipulating the teens into an all-out battle with the awesome Avengers. This month’s extra treat is a Marvel Masterwork Pin-up of ‘Marvel Girl’.

This is still a perfect Marvel comic story today, as is its follow-up ‘The Coming of Ka-Zar!’: a wild excursion to Antarctica, featuring the discovery of the Antediluvian Savage Land and a modern incarnation of one of Marvel/Timely’s oldest heroes (Kazar the Great was a pulp Tarzan knock-off who migrated to comics pages in November 1939’s Marvel Comics #1).

Dinosaurs, lost cities, spectacular locations, mystery and action: it never got better than this…

After spectacular starts on most of Marvel’s Superhero titles (as well as western and war revamps), Kirby’s increasing workload compelled him to cut back to just laying out most of these lesser lights whilst Thor and Fantastic Four evolved into perfect playgrounds and full-time monthly preoccupations for his burgeoning imagination. The last series Jack surrendered was still-bimonthly X-Men wherein an outcast tribe of mutants worked clandestinely to foster peace and integration

His departure in #11 was marked by a major turning point. ‘The Triumph of Magneto!’ sees our heroes and the Brotherhood both seeking a fantastically powered being dubbed The Stranger. None knew his true identity, nature or purpose, but when the Master of Magnetism finds him first, it signalled the end of his war with the X-Men…

With Magneto gone and the Brotherhood broken, Kirby relinquished pencilling to others, providing loose layouts and character design only. Alex Toth & Vince Colletta proved an uncomfortable mix for #12’s tense drama ‘The Origin of Professor X!’: opening a 2-part saga introducing Xavier’s half-brother Cain Marko and revealing that simplistic thug’s mystic transformation into an unstoppable human engine of destruction.

The story concludes with ‘Where Walks the Juggernaut’: a compelling, tension-drenched tale guest-starring The Human Torch, most notable for the introduction of penciller Werner Roth (as “Jay Gavin”). He would be associated with the mutants for the next half decade. His inker for this first outing was the infallible Joe Sinnott.

Roth was an unsung industry veteran, working for the company in the 1950s on star features like Apache Kid and the inexplicably durable Kid Colt, Outlaw, as well as Mandrake the Magician for King Features Comics and Man from U.N.C.L.E. for Gold Key. As with many pseudonymous creators of the period, it was DC commitments (mostly romance stories) that forced him to disguise his moonlighting until Marvel was big enough to offer full-time work.

From issue #14 and inked by Colletta, ‘Among us Stalk the Sentinels!’ celebrated the team’s inevitable elevation to monthly publication with the first episode of a 3-part epic introducing anthropologist Bolivar Trask, whose solution to the threat of Mutant Domination was super-robots that would protect humanity at all costs. Sadly, their definition of “protect” varied wildly from their builder’s, but what can you expect when a social scientist dabbles in high-energy physics and engineering?

The X-Men took the battle to the Sentinels’ secret base only to became ‘Prisoners of the Mysterious Master Mold!’ before crushing their ferrous foes with ‘The Supreme Sacrifice!’ Dick Ayers had joined as inker with #15, his clean line blending perfectly with Roth’s crisp, classicist pencils. They remained a team for years, adding vital continuity to this quirky but never top-selling series. X-Men #17 dealt with the aftermath of battle – the last time the US Army and government openly approved of the team’s efforts – and the sedate but brooding nature of ‘…And None Shall Survive!’ enabled the story to generate genuine apprehension as Xavier Mansion was taken over by an old foe who picked them off one by one until only the youngest remained to battle alone in climactic conclusion ‘If Iceman Should Fail..!’

Lee’s last script was ‘Lo! Now Shall Appear… The Mimic!’ in #19: the tale of troubled teen Cal Rankin who possesses the ability to copy skills, powers and abilities of anyone in close proximity. Scripting fell to Thomas in #20, who promptly jumped in guns blazing with ‘I, Lucifer…’: an alien invasion yarn starring Xavier’s arch-nemesis plus Unus the Untouchable and Blob. Most importantly, it revealed in passing how Professor X lost the use of his legs.

With concluding chapter ‘From Whence Comes Dominus?’, Thomas & Roth completely made the series their own, blending juvenile high spirits, classy superhero action and torrid soap opera with beautiful drawing and stirring adventure.

At this time Marvel Comics had a vast and growing following among older teens and college kids, and the youthful Thomas spoke and wrote as they did. Coupled with his easy delight in large casts, this increasingly made X-Men a welcoming read for any educated adolescent …like you or me…

As suggested, X-Men was never one of young Marvel’s top titles but it found a dedicated following, with the frantic, freakish energy of Kirby’s epic dynamism comfortably transiting into the slick, sleek attractiveness of Roth as the fierce tension of hunted, haunted juvenile outsider settled into a pastiche of college and school scenarios so familiar to the students who were the series’ main audience.

A crafty 2-parter then resurrected Avengers villain Count Nefaria who employed illusion-casting technology and a band of other heroes’ minor foes (Unicorn, Porcupine, Plantman, Scarecrow and The Eel, if you’re wondering) to hold Washington DC hostage and frame the X-Men for the entire scheme. ‘Divided… We Fall!’ and ‘To Save a City!’ comprise a fast-paced, old-fashioned Goodies vs. Baddies battle with a decided sting in the tail. Moreover, the tale concludes with Marvel Girl yanked off the team when her parents demand she furthers her education by attending New York’s Metro University…

By the time attitudes and events in the wider world were starting to inflict cultural uncertainty on the Merry Mutants and infusing every issue with an aura of nervous tension. During the heady 1960s, Marvel Comics had a vast following among older teens and college kids, and youthful scribe Thomas spoke and wrote as they did. However, with societal unrest everywhere, those greater issues were being reflected in the comics. A watered-down version of the counter-culture had been slowly creeping into these tales of teenaged triumph and tragedy, mostly for comedic balance, but they were – along with Peter Parker in Amazing Spider-Man – some of the earliest indications of the changing face of America…

Illustrated by Roth with Dick Ayers inking, the action opens with college girl Jean visiting her old chums to regale them with tales of life at Metro University. Her departure segues neatly into a beloved plot standard – Evil Scientist Grows Giant Bugs – when she meets an embittered, recently-fired professor, leading her erstwhile comrades to confront ‘The Plague of… the Locust!’ X-Men #24 isn’t the most memorable of the canon but still reads well and has the added drama of Marvel Girl’s departure crystallizing a romantic rivalry for her affections between Cyclops and Angel: providing another deft sop to the audience as it enabled many future epics to include Campus life in the mix…

Somehow Jean managed to turn up every issue even as ‘The Power and the Pendant’ (#25, October 1966) found the boys tracking new menace El Tigre. This South American hunter was visiting New York to steal the second half of a Mayan amulet which would grant him god-like powers. Having soundly thrashed the mutant heroes, newly-ascended – and reborn as Kukulkan – the malign meta returns to Amazonian San Rico to recreate a lost pre-Columbian empire with the heroes in hot pursuit. The result is a cataclysmic showdown in ‘Holocaust!’ which leaves Angel fighting for his life and deputy leader Cyclops crushed by guilt…

Issue #27 saw the return of old foes in ‘Re-enter: The Mimic!’ as the mesmerising Puppet Master pits Calvin Rankin against a team riven by dissention and ill-feeling, before ‘The Wail of the Banshee!’ sees Rankin join the X-Men in a tale introducing the sonic-powered mutant (who eventually became a valued team-mate/team-leader) as a deadly threat. This was the opening salvo of an ambitious extended epic featuring the global menace of sinister, mutant-abducting organisation Factor Three. John Tartaglione replaced Ayers as regular inker with bright and breezy thriller ‘When Titans Clash!’, as the power-duplicating Super-Adaptoid almost turns the entire team into robot slaves before ending Mimic’s crime-busting career.

Jack Sparling & Tartaglione illustrated ‘The Warlock Wakes’ in #30 as old Thor foe Merlin enjoys a stylish upgrade to malevolent mutant menace whilst trying to turn Earth into his mind-controlled playground. and the Costumed Dramas pause for now as Marvel Girl and the boys reunite to tackle a deranged Iron Man wannabe who is also an accidental atomic time bomb in Roth & Tartaglione illustrated ‘We Must Destroy… The Cobalt Man!’

Once the stories pause the extras start with essays Dawn of the Marvel Mutants: The X-Men of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby by Jon B. Cooke and Bruce Canwell’s A Mutant By Any Other Name, supplemented by a tee-shirt design by Kirby & Stone, unused covers.

As well as original art and House ads, there are covers for reprint comics Marvel Tales #2, Marvel Super-Heroes #21-27 & 21, Amazing Adventures #1-14 (with additional bridging art by Ron Wilson, Al Milgrom &Carmine Infantino) and X-Men: The Early Years, plus previous collections’ covers by Bruce Timm, Alex Ross, Kirby, Roth & Dean White.

These tales perfectly display Marvel’s evolution from quirky action tales to the more fraught, breast-beating, convoluted melodramas that inexorably led to the monolithic X-brand of today. Superbly drawn, highly readable stories are never unwelcome or out of favour though, and it must be remembered that everything here informs much of today’s mutant mythology. These are unmissable stories for the dedicated fan and newest convert.
© 2022 MARVEL.

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Aquaman: 80 Years of the King of the Seven Seas – the Deluxe Edition


By Mort Weisinger & Paul Norris, Joe Samachson, Otto Binder, Robert Bernstein, Jack Miller, Bob Haney, Steve Skeates, Paul Levitz, Paul Kupperberg, J.M. DeMatteis, Neal Pozner, Keith Giffen & Robert Loren Fleming, Peter David, Jeph Loeb, Will Pfeifer, G. Willow Wilson & Tony Bedard, Geoff Johns, Dan Abnett, Louis Cazeneuve, John Daly, Ramona Fradon, Nick Cardy, Jim Aparo, Mike Grell, Don Newton, Dick Giordano, Craig Hamilton, Curt Swan, Martin Egeland, Jim Calafiore, Ron Garney, Patrick Gleason, Joshua Middleton, Ivan Reis, Stjepan Šelji? & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-7795-1019-8 (HB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Sea Son’s Greetings …and Greatest … 9/10

Aquaman is that oddest of comic book phenomena: a timeless survivor. One of the few superheroes to carry on in unbroken exploits since the Golden Age, the King of the Seas has endured endless cancellations, reboots and makeovers in the name of trendy relevance and fickle fashion but has somehow always recovered to come back fresher, stronger and more intriguing. He’s also one of the earliest cartoon champions to make the jump to television…

Created by Mort Weisinger & Paul Norris, the Sea King debuted in More Fun Comics #73 in the wake of and in response to Timely Comics’ barnstorming antihero Namor the Sub-Mariner. Strictly a second stringer for most of his career, Aquaman nevertheless swam on beyond many stronger features; illustrated by Norris, Louis Cazeneuve, John Daly, Charles Paris, and of course Ramona Fradon who drew almost every exploit from 1951 to 1961.

This compelling compilation collects – in whole or in part – material from More Fun Comics #73, Adventure Comics #120, 137, 232, 266, 269, 437, 475, Aquaman #11, 35, 46, 62, Aquaman (volume 2) #1, The Legend of Aquaman Special #1, Aquaman (volume 5) #0, 37, JLA: Our Worlds at War #1, Aquaman (volume 6) #17, Outsiders: Five of a Kind – Metamorpho/Aquaman #1, Aquaman (volume 7) #1, and Aquaman (volume 8) #25, spanning cover-dates November 1941 to August 2017.

As convention dictates these celebratory collections include essays by individuals connected to the subject, beginning with Mark Waid discussing ‘The Early Years’ before that untitled tale is redesignated ‘The Submarine Strikes’ for this edition. The salty sea saga sees survivors in lifeboats being rescued – and the brutal U-Boat commander responsible for their plight swiftly brought to justice – by a mysterious stranger who converses with porpoises. The golden saviour reveals that he was made into a subsea superman by his scientist father: an explorer who had discovered the secrets of lost, long-dead Atlantis.

Six years later Joe Samachson & Cazeneuve revealed how ‘Aquaman Goes to College’ (Adventure Comics #120, September 1947) as the oceanic adventurer sagaciously seeks to expand his knowledge of marine life, only to become embroiled in collegiate sporting scandals whilst Adventure #137 – cover-dated February 1949 – saw him explore ‘The Undersea Lost World!’ thanks to Otto Binder & John Daly only to clash with early archenemy and ruthless modern pirate Black Jack.

The Fifties Superhero Interregnum saw Ramona Fradon (Metamorpho, Super Friends, Brenda Starr) assume the art chores, by which time Aquaman was settled like a barnacle in a regular Adventure Comics back-up slot offering slick, smart and extremely genteel aquatic action. She was to draw every single adventure until 1960, making the feature one of the best looking if only mildly thrilling hero strips of the era. Sadly, records aren’t as helpful on writers and ‘Aquaman Joins to Navy!’ from AC #232 (January 1957) is anonymously penned as it describes how the Sea King is asked to boost recruitment…

In 1956, when Showcase #4 rekindled the public’s taste for costumed crimefighters with the advent of a new Flash, National/DC began cautiously updating its small band of superhero survivors, especially Green Arrow and the Subsea Sentinel. The program included a new origin and expanded cast and here (#266, November 1959) Robert Bernstein & Fradon test the waters as ‘Aquaman Meets Aquagirl!’: giving more information about fabled modern Atlantis (not dead but a thriving ancient civilisation) whilst trialling a possible sidekick.

With #269, Adventure Comics #269, (February 1960) Bernstein & Fradon completed the formula by introducing permanent junior partner Aqualad. ‘The Kid from Atlantis!’ was a young, purple-eyed outcast from the mysterious city possessing the same powers as Aquaman but terrified of fish – at least until the Sea King applies a little firm but kindly psychology.

By the end of the tale the little guy has happily adapted and would help patrol the endless oceans – and add a child’s awestruck perspective to the mix – for nearly a decade thereafter.

The early era ends with Paul Kupperberg’s essay ‘King of Atlantis’…

As the sixties opened, Aquaman was a back-up feature in Detective Comics and World’s Finest Comics, but made his big leap following a team up with Hawkman in Brave and the Bold # 51 and his own try-out run in Showcase #30-33. After two decades of continuous nautical service, the marine marvel was at last awarded his own name – Arthur Curry – and comic book (#1 cover-dated January/February 1962), but although the star of his own title and a founder member of the Justice League of America, Aquaman continued as a back-up feature in World’s Finest Comics until 1964.

The rise would result in his featuring in groundbreaking must-see animation show The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure. The Finned Fury seemed destined for super-stardom, but despite increasingly bold and innovative tales presented with stunning art, his title was cancelled as the decade closed. Towards the end, outrageously outlandish crime and sci fi yarns gave way to grittily hard-edged epics steered by revolutionary editor Dick Giordano and hot new talents Steve Skeates & Jim Aparo that might arguably be the first sallies of comic books’ landmark socially conscious “relevancy” period…

Kicking off this period, with Aquaman now commanding an army of sea life and ruling a super-scientific culture, Aquaman #11 (September/October 1963) saw him confront ‘The Doom From Dimension Aqua.’ Here Jack Miller and illustrator Nick Cardy introduced the Sea King’s future wife Mera when insurgents from her extra-dimensional kingdom invaded Earth’s Oceans. Although not seen here, she married Aquaman seven issues later): one of the first Silver Age superhero weddings and swiftly followed by the arrival of “Aquababy”…

In Aquaman #35 (September/October 1967) Bob Haney & Cardy crafted another deadly clash with Atlantean usurper Ocean Master and ruthless human nemesis Black Manta. Never afraid to tweak the comfort zone or shake up the status quo, ‘Between Two Dooms!’ epitomised growing darker sensibilities of the title, resulting in Atlanteans being robbed of their ability to breathe underwater, leaving Aquaman’s subjects virtual prisoners in their own subsea city for years to come…

Over those years scripter Steve Skeates and artist Jim Aparo began an epic extended tale as the Sea Lord abandoned all kingly duties to hunt for Mera after she is abducted from his very arms. For full enjoyment you will want to see Aquaman: The Search For Mera but concluding chapter ‘The Explanation!’ (by Skeates, Aparo & Frank Giacoia AKA “An Inker”) fills in the blanks on a complex scheme exposing treachery in Atlantis and collusion between subsea corridors of power and American crimelords…

This bombastic thriller forever ended the anodyne days of B-lister Aquaman: reforging the hero into a passionate, questioning, forceful environmental champion far more in keeping with the turbulent times, but it didn’t stop his cancelation with #56. Despite some of the most avant-garde, intriguing, exciting and simply beautiful adventures of Aquaman’s entire career, the title became another victim of the industry shift from Super Hero to supernatural themes.

As the decade closed superhero sales tanked and the Sea King was again reduced to back-up duties in other titles, but the quality of his stories remained high. After a three year hiatus the Marine Marvel returned in Adventure Comics, with this third outing from #437 (January/ February 1975 by Paul Levitz & Mike Grell) sarcastically depicting ‘A Quiet Day in Atlantis’ in advance of regaining his solo title. He battled bravely against political foes, supervillains and the burden of duty and family, but in Aquaman #62 (June/July 1978 by Kupperberg, Don Newton & Bob McLeod) faced tragedy and failure in ‘And the Wall came Tumblin’ Down’: losing both wife and child…

Time and tides passed before Adventure Comics #475 (September 1980) found J.M. DeMatteis & Dick Giordano relating how newly-reconciled Aquaman and Mera forcibly separate yet again in ‘Scavenger Hunt!’ after a subsea treasure hunter attacks…

The “all-change Eighties” and the impact of Crisis on Infinite Earths is pondered in ‘The Ruler of The Deep Gains Depth’ by Robert Greenberger covering a period of near-constant change and revision with the backstory of Atlantis and the Sea King regularly tweaked in search of a winning formula. In truth, the creators frequently succeeded but could never maintain the high sales each reboot started with, even after the post-Crisis reboot cleared away much of five decades of accumulated backstory…

A renewed hero debuted in Aquaman (volume 2) #1. Cover-dated February 1986, this was the start of a 4-issue miniseries redefining the relationship of Arthur and half-brother Orm, as well as embedding magic as a key component of previously rationalist Atlantis. Sporting a new costume, Aquaman endured a revised origin whilst trying to stop Ocean Master subjugating Earth with lost Atlantean necromancy. Here that epic journey begins with ‘The Rise and Fall and Rise and Fall of Atlantis’ by Neil Pozner, Craig Hamilton and Steve Montano, but segues sans completion into May 1989’s The Legend of Aquaman Special #1 as a tweaked origin reveals how his mother escaped a totalitarian Atlantis in ‘The Legend of Aquaman’ by Keith Giffen, Robert Loren Fleming, Curt Swan & Eric Shanower.

New versions were constant and painfully trend-chasing, coming and going with distressing speed, but – following continuity reset Zero Hour – all DC characters got a radical make-over and Aquaman (volume 5) #0 (October 1994 seemingly found a format with sea legs thanks to Peter David, Martin Egeland, Brad Vancata & Howard M Shum. ‘A Crash of Symbols’ saw the hero lose a hand and gain a hook, while Aqualad and marine hybrid Dolphin bring the maimed Sea King back to the Atlantis he abandoned and duties he despises. One such onerous task is defending the city from Darkseid’s minions during the Genesis publishing event. ‘One Demon Life’ is all action and intrigue by David, Jim Calafiore & Peter Palmiotti (v.5, #37, October 1997).

The Sea King was often a pawn of unseen forces and sales figures at this time, and next up is one-shot JLA: Our Worlds at War #1 (September 2001). A cosmic calamity/DC Crossover – wherein alien doomsday device and inimical manifested concept Imperiex almost destroys Earth and unravels the universe – tragically impacts Aquaman and his entire subsea race as Jeph Loeb, Ron Garney & Mark Morales capture ‘A Date That Will Live in Infamy’ as the embattled planet calls on all its metahuman resources to repel Imperiex, who retaliates by eradicating Atlantis and everyone in it…

The fate of Aquaman and his people was revealed in JLA Deluxe volume 6 and The Obsidian Age saga, but for us Paul Levitz ponders ‘The Next Eight Decades’ before a smart new revision sees Will Pfeifer, Patrick Gleason & Christian Alamy return to strict scientific methodology for Aquaman volume 6 #17 (June 2004) as ‘American Tidal Part 3’ finds Arthur helping citizens of a Californian city suddenly turned into water-breathers by a mystery maniac who also explosively submerges their homes to create “Sub Diego”. Helping Aquaman solve the mystery whilst adapting to her own status as the newly-minted Aquagirl is feisty millennial teen Lorena, after which we see the hero mysteriously made over as teenager himself and teamed with the Element Man in Outsiders: Five of a Kind – Metamorpho/Aquaman #1 (October 2007); another crossover tale by G. Willow Wilson & Joshua Middleton.

Another major overhaul came in November 2011 and Aquaman (volume 7) #1. Recreated in the wake of the Flashpoint publishing event and DC’s company-wide reboot The New 52, the new/old approach concentrated on a back-to-basics for the Sea Sovereign and Atlantean Overlord. Crafted by Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis & Joe Prado, it found Aquaman and Mera trying to reconcile their status as second-string heroes on the surface world with the reality of being unwelcome rulers of a belligerent Atlantis eager to wipe out air-breathing humanity. Sadly, such petty tensions are sidelined when unknown deep-sea horrors attack above and below the waves, consuming everything in their path in ‘The Trench Part One’…

This eclectic if not frustrating compendium concludes with more unfinished business as Dan Abnett & Stjepan Šelji? celebrate the DC Universe Rebirth with Aquaman (volume 8) #25 from August 2017 and the start of another epic saga in ‘Underworld’ as the King and Queen of Atlantis are deposed and hunted by new tyrant Corum Rath and begin a revolution to depose him right back…

To Be Continued elsewhere…

Covers accompanying the stories cited above are bolstered by even more ‘Cover Highlights’ by Mike Sekowsky, Murphy Anderson, Cardy, Neal Adams, Giordano, Aparo, Ernie Chan, Vince Colletta, Hamilton, Kirk Jarvinen, Egeland & Vancata, Calafiore, Butch Guice, Jim Lee & Scott Williams, Middleton, Paul Pelletier & Andrew Hennessy and Francesco Mattina – subdivided into Silver, Bronze, Dark and Modern Ages – and includes a pencil sketch by Lee and ‘Biographies’ on all creators

DC has a long, comforting history of genteel, innocuous yarn-spinning delivered with quality artwork. The Golden, Silver and pre-Crisis Aquaman was a trusty champion and family friendly average guy, who became an earnest, unsure and strident wanderer in the latter part of the 20th century. Latterly, he operated as a bombastic, bludgeoning brute with a chip on his shoulder and plenty to prove: proving that the Sea King is certainly a man for all generations, eras, seasons and screens…

What is most clear however, is that all his past adventures deserve far more attention than they’ve received. It is a true pleasure to find just how readable they still are. With tumultuous sea-changes always in store for Aquaman, the comics industry and America itself, this monolithic testament to the inestimable value of a good bad-guy is a true delight for fans of all ages and vintage.

This peek at the perpetually renewable Marine Monarch is a book of many flavours and textures and one to be tucked into with gusto.
© 1941, 1943, 1947, 1952, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1968, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1984, 1986, 1994, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2011, 2015, 2016 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.