Posts

Posted on

Showcase Presents Hawkman volume 1


By Gardner F. Fox, Bob Haney, Joe Kubert, Gil Kane, Murphy Anderson, Howard Purcell, Carmine Infantino & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-1280-3 (TPB)

Not all passions are romantic: mine is to finally have all old comics forever available in curated editions. These astoundingly engaging Silver Age tales are another treat inexplicably unavailable in modern, full-colour editions, either physically or digitally.

On a timely note, however, this book does highlight one of the most effective and enduring romantic crime-busting, world-saving partnerships in comics…

With the superhero revival in full swing by 1961, Editorial genius Julius Schwartz turned to resurrecting one of DC’s most visually arresting and iconic Golden Age characters. Once again eschewing mysticism for science fiction (the original Hawkman was a reincarnated Egyptian prince murdered by a villainous priest), Schwartz picked scripter Gardner F. Fox – who created the Golden Age great – and artist Joe Kubert to construct a new hero for the Space Age.

This titanic tome is still readily available from online retailers and packs a big punch, gathering the works of the Winged Wonders from The Brave and the Bold #34-36, #42-44 and #51; The Atom #7; Mystery in Space #87-90 and Hawkman #1-11: cumulatively spanning February/March 1961 to December 1965/January 1966.

Katar Hol and his wife Shayera Thal are police officers on their own planet of Thanagar. They’ve travelled to Earth from the star system Polaris in pursuit of a spree-thief named Byth who assaulted a scientist and stole a drug bestowing the ability to change into anything. Thus the scene was set in ‘Creature of a Thousand Shapes’ which graced The Brave and the Bold #34 (cover-dated February/March 1961): a spectacular work of graphic magic, with the otherworldly nature of the premise rendered captivatingly human by the passionate, moody expressiveness of Kubert’s art. It is a minor masterpiece of comic storytelling, and still a darned good read.

The high-flying heroes returned in the next issue, now stationed on Earth to study Terran police methods. In ‘Menace of the Matter Master’ they defeat a plundering scientist who has discovered a means to control elements, before ‘Valley of Vanishing Men’ takes the strange visitors from another world to the Himalayas to discover the astounding and ironic secret of the Abominable Snowmen.

Last chance in the try-out session, B&B #36 then sees them defeat a modern day wizard in ‘Strange Spells of the Sorcerer’ and after, save Earth from another Ice Age whilst defeating ‘The Shadow Thief of Midway City’.

With the three-issue audition over, the publishers sat back and waited for the fan letters and sales figures… and something odd happened: fans were vocal and enthusiastic, but the huge sales figures just weren’t there. It was inexplicable. The quality of the work was plain to see on every page, but somehow not enough people had plunked down their dimes to justify an ongoing Hawkman series

A year later DC tried again. The Brave and the Bold #42 (June/July 1962) featured ‘The Menace of the Dragonfly Raiders’ and found Katar and Shayera returning to Thanagar just in time to encounter a bizarre band of alien thieves. Here was superhero action in a fabulous alien locale and the next issue maintained the exoticism – at least initially – before Hawkman and Hawkgirl returned to Midway City to defeat a threat to both worlds – ‘The Masked Marauders of Earth’.

One last B&B issue followed – #44, October-November 1962 – with two splendid short tales. ‘Earth’s Impossible Day’focused on Shayera’s desire to celebrate a holiday tradition of Thanagar whilst eerie doomsday thriller ‘The Men who Moved the World’ explored lost civilisations and the return of Earth’s original owners… and then the Hawks vanished again. It certainly looked like this time the magic had faltered.

That, however, was not the end of the saga. Convinced he was right, Schwartz retrenched. Enjoying some success with the new Atom title and mindful of the response when he had teamed the Flash and Green Lantern in the summer of 1962, the editor had writer Fox include the Winged Wonder in ‘The Case of the Cosmic Camera’ (The Atom #7, June/July 1963): an interplanetary thriller illustrated by Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson. This invasion rollercoaster ranged from the depths of space to Earth’s most distant past.

This new clean-limbed version clearly found fan-favour and in 1963 Hawkman returned! Again!

Mystery in Space had been the home of Adam Strange since issue #53 and with #87 (November 1963) Schwartz moved the Winged Wonders into a back-up slot; even granting them occasional cover-privileges. Still written by Fox, Kubert’s moody art had been superseded by the clean, graceful illustration of Anderson. ‘The Amazing Thefts of the I.Q. Gang!’ was followed a month later by ‘Topsy-Turvy Day in Midway City!’

With the management now on board, guest appearances to maximise profile were easier to find. Hawkman briefly returned to The Brave and the Bold with #51 (December 1963/ January 1964) to team with Aquaman and face the ‘Fury of the Exiled Creature!’

This quirky tale of monsters, magic and mayhem in sunken Atlantis was written by Bob Haney and illustrated by the criminally neglected Howard Purcell, and then it was back to Mystery in Space #89 and the ‘Super-Motorized Menace!’the month after that.

These were brief, engaging action pieces, before issue #90 offered a full length story teaming the Hawks and Adam Strange in a legendary End-of the-World(s) epic. ‘Planets in Peril!’ – illustrated by Carmine Infantino & Murphy Anderson – was the last Hawkman back-up. From the next month, and after three years of trying, Hawkman would soar in his own title.

Cover-dated April/May 1964, Hawkman #1 is a gem of an issue by Fox & Anderson. Two of the most visually arresting characters in comics, the Hawks had one of the most subtle and sophisticated relationships in the business. Like Sue and Ralph Dibney (Elongated Man and wife) Katar and Shayera are equal partners, and both couples were influenced by the Nick and Nora Charles characters of the Thin Man movies. Like those progenitors, the interplay of the Hols at home or at work is always rich in humour and warmth.

In ‘Rivalry of the Winged Wonders’, and whilst accommodatingly recapping their origins for newcomers, the couple decide to turn their latest case into a contest. Hawkgirl (eventually and more appropriately Hawkwoman) would use Thanagarian super-science to track and catch a band of thieves whilst Hawkman limited himself to Earth techniques and tools in solving the crime.

This charmingly witty yarn is balanced by action thriller ‘Master of the Sky Weapons’ as ancient Mayan warrior Chacthreatens the world with unearthed alien super weapons whilst the second issue featured the ‘Secret of the Sizzling Sparklers!’ – an action-packed thriller concerning trans-dimensional invaders – and closed with ‘Wings across Time’: a mystery revolving around the discovery of the flying harness of the legendary Icarus.

Another brain-teaser opened the third issue. Scientific bandits proved less of a menace than ‘The Fear that Haunted Hawkman’ whilst ordinary thugs and an extraordinary alien owl converged to make our heroes ‘Birds in a Gilded Cage’.

Issue #4 opened with a tale that would revolutionise DC comics. ‘The Girl who Split in Two!’ introduced Zatanna, daughter of a magician who had fought crime in the 1940s only to “mysteriously disappear”.

From the very first issue, and for over a decade, Zatarra was a hero in the Mandrake mould who fought evil in the pages of Action Comics. During the Silver Age, Gardner Fox had Zatarra’s young and equally gifted daughter search for the missing mage by teaming up with a selection of superheroes he was currently scripting (if you’re counting, these tales appeared in Hawkman #4, The Atom #19, Green Lantern #42, and in the Elongated Man back-up strip in Detective Comics #355. A very slick piece of backwriting latterly included the high-profile Caped Crusader via Detective #336 – ‘Batman’s Bewitched Nightmare’.

The saga concluded in Justice League of America #51 and ‘Z – As in Zatanna – and Zero Hour!’)…

This wide, long-running experiment in continuity proved that there was a dedicated fan-base out there with a voracious appetite for experimentation and relatively deep pockets. Most importantly, it finally signalled the end of the period where DC heroes largely lived and battled in self-imposed worlds of their own.

Back-up ‘The Machine that Magnetized Men!’ is another fine tale, as the Pinioned Paladins use reason and deduction to defeat thieves who are impossible to touch.

‘Steal, Shadow – Steal!’ in number #5 is the first full-length thriller, as the ruthless Shadow Thief returns seeking revenge, and believing that causing the next Ice Age is an acceptable consequence of his schemes. Issue #6 is another epic, and one that turned DC’s peculiar obsession with gorillas into a classic adventure.

‘World Where Evolution Ran Wild!’ draws our heroes to fabled Illoral, where a scientist’s explorations and interventions have stretched Natural Selection to un-natural limits. Bold, brash and daft in equal proportions, this is a fabulous romp and seeing again the cover where Hawkman struggles for his life against a winged gorilla makes the adult me realise those DC chaps might have known what they were doing with all those anthropoid covers!

By issue #7 (April-May 1965) the world was gripped in secret agent fever as the likes of James Bond, the Man from U.N.C.L.E., and a host of others sashayed across our TV screens. Comics were not immune, though spies had been a staple threat there for decades. Before Hawkman joined the gang however, he had to deal with the rather mediocre threat posed by ‘The Amazing Return of the I.Q. Gang!’

They were quickly returned to prison and the Hawks moved on to face the ‘Attack of the Crocodile-Men!’: a high-octane super-science thriller that introduced C.A.W. – the Criminal Alliance of the World…

Another supremely captivating cover adorned #8, as the Hawks fought an ancient Roman artificial intelligence built by the not-so mythical Vulcan himself in ‘Giant in the Golden Mask!’, before defeating an alien Harpy who’d been buried for half a million years in ‘Battle of the Bird-Man Bandits’.

Hawkman #9 saw The Atom as guest star when an old villain returned with a seemingly perfect revenge plan for full-length super-thriller ‘Master Trap of the Matter Master!’, after which #10 saw a playful Fox at his best in both ‘Hawkman Clips the Claws of C.A.W!’ – another espionage drama with a delicious subplot as the Winged Wonder aids a sexy CIA agent with a big secret of her own, before solving ‘The Magic Mirror Mystery’: a fair-play tale brainteaser with lots of high-flying action to balance the smart stuff.

This glorious first volume closes with another superb full-length epic as ‘The Shrike Strikes at Midnight!’ and our heroes trail a super-powered, winged bandit all over the world and on to the star system Mizar, in a gripping tale of crime, super-villainy, aliens, revolutions and even dinosaurs.

Hawkman grew to be one of the most iconic characters of the second superhero boom, not just for the superb art but also because of a brilliant, subtle writer with a huge imagination. These tales are comfortably familiar but somehow grippingly timeless. Yet comics are a funny business; circumstances, tastes and fashions often mean that wonderful works are missed and unappreciated. Don’t make the same mistake readers did in the 1960s. Whatever your age, read these astounding adventures and become a fan. It’s never too late.
© 1961-1966, 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Cedric volume 2: Dad’s Got Class


By Laudec & Cauvin with colours by Leonardo and translated by Erica Jeffrey (Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-1-84918-003-0 (Album PB & Digital edition)

Time for another rumination on romance, and this one has both kinds that afflict Young Boys of an Impressionable Age: older women and the unattainable classmate…

At least our continental cousins have discovered the secret of finding the funny side of the horrors of young love…

Raoul Cauvin was one of Europe’s most successful comics scripters. Born in Antoing, Belgium in 1938, he joined publishing giant Dupuis’ animation department in 1960 after studying Lithography. Happily, he soon discovered his true calling – comedy writing – and began a glittering, prolific career at Le Journal de Spirou where he devised (with Salvérius) the astoundingly successful Bluecoats amongst dozens of other long-running, award winning series. Those included Sammy, Les Femmes en Blanc, Boulouloum et Guiliguili, Cupidon, Pauvre Lampil and Agent 212: cumulatively shifting more than 240 separate albums topping 45 million books in total thus far. Bluecoats alone has sold in excess of 15 million copies thus far.

We lost him to cancer on 19th August 2021.

His collaborator on sharp, witty yet kid-friendly family strip Cédric is Italian born, Belgium-raised Tony de Luca who studied electro-mechanics and toiled as an industrial draughtsman until he could make his break into comics.

Following a few fanzine efforts in the late 1970s, Laudec landed soap-style series Les Contes de Curé-la-Fl’ûte at Spirou in 1979. He built it into a brace of extended war-time serials (L’an 40 in 1983 and Marché Noir et Bottes à Clous in 1985) whilst working his way around many of the title’s other strips. In 1987 Laudec united with Cauvin on the first Cédric shorts and the rest is history… and science and geography and PE and…

We have Dennis the Menace (the Americans have one too but he’s just not the same) and the French-speaking world has Cédric: an adorable lovesick rapscallion with a heart of gold and an irresistible streak of mischief dogging his heels. Collected albums of the variable-length strips – ranging from a ½ page to half a dozen – began appearing in 1989 (with 34 released so far) and are always amongst the most popular and best-selling on the Continent, as is the animated TV show spun off from the strip.

This second Cinebook translation – from 2009 and originally continentally released as Cédric 4: Papa a de la classe – hauls straight in to the love action as the little lout is invited to a party at the palatial home of posh-boy and romantic rival The Right Honourable Alphonse Andre Jones-Tarrington-Dupree…

Previously, overly-imaginative Cedric had been utterly enamoured of his teacher Miss Nelly, but once new girl Chenjoined the class his life changed forever. Chen is different: her skin isn’t the same colour as everyone else’s and she talks really funny. He just can’t stop thinking about her…

All’s fair in love and war as ‘Milady and the Geisha’ finds Dupree tricking Cedric into wearing the most embarrassing fancy dress costume imaginable, only to see his devilish scheme badly backfire, after which ‘There are Flakes, and then there are Flakes…’ reveals how not everything falling from the sky is snow, before ‘Cats, Cats, Cats…’ sees Cedric and best pal Christian try to extort extra New Year’s gifts from feline fancier Aunt Jean only to fall at the first hurdle…

A young man’s initial encounter with grooming products and cologne is always a heady experience and ‘The A-Scent of Man’ shows the result of Cedric’s lack of impulse control, whilst grown-ups take centre stage in ‘A Story That’ll Make Your Hair Stand Up Straight’ as Grandpa starts dangerously criticising his useless son-in-law’s visit to a tonsorial stylist, after which ‘To Each His Own’ renews the simmering war after each tries – and fails – to hang a picture on the living room wall…

When Chen falls ill, Cedric goes to extreme efforts to be with and be like her in ‘Love, Love, Love’ before ‘Tails of All Sorts’ finds Cedric and Grandpa checking out each other’s romantic fascinations…

Kicking and screaming, Cedric is forced into the local Cub Scout group, and even after yomping all over the countryside in ‘Valderee, Valderah’ uses every opportunity to sabotage the experience. Just as he’s being kicked out, however, the Girl Guides march past with little Chen happily with them in line.

When she becomes obsessed with her headphones, Cedric decides to record a message for his darling Chen, but his delivery is no match for his heartfelt enthusiasm in ‘Message Not Received’ and – after Mum and Dad have one of those blazing row over nothing – Grandpa has to explain a few painful facts of life about ‘The Big Scene’ to the appalled kid…

‘Hair Apparent’ deals with the 8-year-old’s first attempt at shaving whilst ‘A Tough Choice’ finds the cash-strapped kid having to choose between a present for Mum or Chen, before the episodic antics end on a slapstick high note with another Cubs camping trip disrupted when ‘A Man Misses His Calling’ finds Cedric seemingly lost in the woods…

Rapid-paced, warm and witty, the exploits of this painfully keen, adorably amorous scallywag are a superbly charming example of how all little boys are just the same and infinitely unique. Cedric is a splendid family-oriented strip perfect for enticing youngsters and old folk alike – but should not to be considered a “How-To” manual for romance…
© Dupuis 1991 by Cauvin & Laudec. All rights reserved. English translation © 2009 Cinebook Ltd.

Posted on

Trent volume 3: When the Lamps are Lit


By Rodolphe & Léo with colour by Marie-Paule Alluard, translated by Jerome Saincantin (Cinebook)
ISBN: 978-1-84918-836-4 (Album PB)

I’m thinking about relationships and romance at the moment, and comics have always explored pair-bonds as a fundamental aspect of any genre they exploit. It’s not always about simple attainment of a dream either. Sometimes, failure and the loss of love is more powerful, rewarding and/or entertaining than “True Love Ways”. The attendant emotion certainly has generated some astoundingly moving fiction…

European comics audiences have long been fascinated with the mythologised American experience, whether it be the Big Sky Wild West or later eras of crime-riddled, gangster-fuelled dramas. They also have a vested historical interest in the northernmost parts of the New World which has resulted in some pretty cool graphic extravaganzas.

Léo is actually Brazilian artist and storymaker Luiz Eduardo de Oliveira Filho: born in Rio de Janeiro on December 13th, 1944. Attaining a degree in mechanical engineering from Puerto Alegre in 1968, he was a government employee for three years, until forced to flee the country because of his political views. While a military dictatorship ran Brazil, he lived in Chile and Argentina before illegally returning to his homeland in 1974. To survive, he worked as a designer/graphic artist in Sao Paulo and created his first comics art for O Bicho magazine.

In 1981 he migrated to Paris, seeking to pursue a career in Bande Dessinée, and found work with Pilote and L’Echo des Savanes as well as more advertising and graphics fare. The big break came when Jean-Claude Forest invited him to draw stories for Okapi which led to regular illustration work for Bayard Presse. In 1988 Léo began his long association with scripter and scenarist Rodolphe D. Jacquette – AKA Rodolphe.

His prolific, celebrated writing partner has been a giant of comics since the 1970s: a Literature graduate who transitioned from teaching and running libraries to creating poetry and writing criticism, novels, biographies, children’s stories and music journalism. In 1975, after meeting Jacques Lob, he expanded his portfolio to write for a vast number of artists and strip illustrators in magazines ranging from Pilote and Circus to À Suivre and Métal Hurlant. Amongst his most successful endeavours are Raffini (with Ferrandez) and L’Autre Monde (Florence Magnin) but his collaborations in all genres and age ranges are too numerous to list here.

In 1991 he began working with Léo on a period adventure series of the far north. Taciturn, introspective and fiercely driven Royal Canadian Mounted Police sergeant Philip Trent premiered in L’Homme Mort, forging a lonely path through the 19th century Dominion over eight tempestuous, hard-bitten albums between then and 2000. He also prompted the collaborators’ later fantasy classics Kenya (and its spin-offs), Centaurus and Porte de Brazenac.

Cast very much in the classic adventure mould perfected by Jack London and John Buchan, Trent is a man of few words, deep thoughts and unyielding principles who gets the job done whilst stifling emotional turmoil boiling deep within him, but is the very embodiment of the phrase “still waters run deep”…

As ‘Quand S’allument Les Lampes’, this third adventure comes from 1993, with the solitary man and his faithful hound “Dog” trudging into and through another snow-wrapped town (stunning rendered as always by Leo) to eventually make camp alone in the frozen woods beyond. His thoughts dwell on the warm loving families therein, and wander back, as they always will, to Agnes.

He had saved her – but not her brother – and was given a clear invitation that he had never acted upon. Now, under the cold stars, he makes a decision. Applying for leave, he travels to Providence with marriage in mind, but on arrival finds a dilapidated, empty house and learns that his Miss St. Yves had reached the same conclusion years ago… and with another man…

Shaken and crushed, he finds a saloon and picks up a whisky glass…

Weeks later, a penniless broken staggering shambles, he plagues the barkeeps of a nameless frontier railtown, pitied and despised by residents as they go about their business and try to avoid the rummy in the gutter.

Howling constantly with desolated loss, Trent’s only human connection is bar girl Mary Lou, but he is blind to her more than Christian interest. Wendley City is all bustle and terror. The railway will bring wealth – and is already reaping dividends – but it’s also drawn out human wolves. Seemingly invisible outlaws dubbed “the Coalmen” have targeted elderly residents for months, cruelly torturing and killing to extract the savings of the weakest townsfolk…

After another night of atrocity, an outraged posse manages to wound a suspect before losing him. The fugitive hides under the stoop drunken sot Trent is slumped on, and in gratitude offers the despised reprobate a job if he has the stomach for bad business and can sober up…

The final act contains a brutal denouement and reveals a cunning and extended undercover scheme to catch the Coalmen, but one that turned on the implacable Mountie’s honest despair and deadly near all-consuming brush with loss and loneliness…

Mission accomplished, the quiet man returns to duty and the wastelands he patrols to preserve the safety of the families he cannot find a way to join…

Another beguiling and introspective voyage of internal discovery, where environment and locales are as much lead characters as hero and foe, When the Lamps are Lit offers suspense, action, drama and poignant evocation in a compelling confection that will appeal to any fan of widescreen cinematic crime fiction or epic western drama.
Original edition © Dargaud Editeur Paris 1993 by Rodolphe & Léo. All rights reserved. English translation © 2017 Cinebook Ltd.

Posted on

Rosa Parks


By Mariapoala Pesce & Matteo Mancini, translated by Nanette McGuiness (NBM)
ISBN: 978-1-68112-291-5 (HB) eISBN: 978-1-68112-292-2

It must be quite hard to say something new – or even get under the accumulated skin – of a legend, and doubly so when the single act the entire world knows them for is not the beginning or end, but rather a middle moment in a long life of impassioned exceptionalism…

On December 1st 1955, “negro” seamstress Rosa Parks rode the bus home. She had taken said public transport vehicle many times before and until that moment had always followed the rules. This was in Montgomery, Alabama, where “Jim Crow” laws had been steadily snatching back every vestige of freedom and liberty won with shot and shell during the War Between the States, almost from the moment the shooting stopped…

Thus, on those commuter routes – as everywhere else – white people had priority, and if a black person was seated, they had to get up and literally move to the back of the bus to let “their betters” sit down.

On that evening, weary Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, even when told to by the white bus driver. She knew there would be consequences, anticipated them and was ready for them. Perhaps she wasn’t so sure where that act of passive defiance would take her and the entire country…

That moment is as much part of mythology as history, but here – via some intriguing extrapolation from writer Mariapoala Pesce (Angela Davis; Alice in Austenland; La Fattoria Degli Animali) and illustrator/designer Matteo Mancini (Una divisa per nino) – we take a look at what made the moment: who Rosa Parks was before and what she became after that act of wanton lawbreaking…

Preceded by thoughtful author’s preface ‘Does it still make sense to talk about Rosa Parks?’ the story is then told through a distant lens, beginning in a taxicab on December 1st 2014, where a hot young rapper frets and slowly gets acquainted with the elderly blue collar driver. They’re different generations of black man, but as the ride progresses, conversation shows how much has changed and how much they’re still alike…

The star is wearing an “I Can’t Breathe” shirt and that cause celebre sparks talk of another more distant time…

And thus is told an intimate tale of the thoughtful family woman who weathered instant infamy and dangerous notoriety to become an eternal activist, iconic institution and tireless campaigner for employment equality, civil rights education, literacy and an end to sexual abuse and exploitation of black women and girls.

The captivating tale within a tale is augmented by ‘Martin Luther King’s Letter to Citizens of Montgomery, AL’; an essay by Stephanie Brooks detailing ‘Rosa Parks After’; a bibliography of Further Reading and a beautiful, capacious and extensive sketch and design section.

Intriguing and entertaining, Rosa Parks offers a powerful and enriching approach to a much-lauded but little known example of humanity at its very best.
© Mariapoala Pesce 2020 for the text. © Matteo Mancini 2020 for the illustrations. © for the original Italian EditionBeccoGiallo S.r.l. 2020. All rights reserved.

Rosa Parks will be published on February 17th 2022 and is available for pre-order now. For more information and other great reads see http://www.nbmpub.com/

Posted on

The Fall of Homunculus


By Pentti Otsamo (Drawn & Quarterly)
ISBN: 978-1896597157 (PB)

Joel and Anna are a young couple just getting by. They both have great artistic aspirations, but when Anna falls pregnant their previously harmonious partnership begins to unravel. Does Joel’s confusion and reluctance mean that they are not as compatible as he’d believed? Does Anna’s willingness to put her career on hold show her lack of dedication to her art?

Unless they truly communicate, how can they learn what each truly wants and needs?

This pensive Graphic Novella is a brief yet telling examination of the creative urge and process that makes some telling points about competing human drives, and the nature of creativity.

Such a gentle tragedy makes no great leaps forward or claims to innovation, but this tale is honest and engaging, and the inviting and expressive black and white artwork is subversively addictive.

Regrettably out of print and currently unavailable in digital editions, this a beguiling and rewarding yarn long overdue for a comeback and creative reassessment. Get it if you can.
© 1998 Pentti Otsamo. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Showcase Presents Superman Volume 2


By Otto Binder, Jerry Siegel, Jerry Coleman, Bill Finger, Robert Bernstein, Wayne Boring, Al Plastino, Curt Swan, Kurt Schaffenberger  & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-1041-0 (TPB)

Although we all think of Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster’s iconic creation as the epitome of comic book creation, the truth is that very soon after his launch in  Action Comics #1, Superman became a fictional multimedia star in the same league as Mickey Mouse, Popeye, Tarzan and Sherlock Holmes.

Far more people have seen or heard the Man of Steel than have ever read him – and yes, that does include the globally syndicated newspaper strips. By the time his 20th anniversary rolled around, he had become a radio star; helmed a series of 17 astounding animated cartoons; been turned into literature by George Lowther’s novel; and spawned two movies, He was a perennial success for toy and puzzle manufacturers and had just ended his first smash live-action television serial. In his future were many more, a stage musical, a franchise of stellar movies and an almost seamless succession of games, bubble-gum cards and TV cartoons, beginning in 1966 with The New Adventures of Superman and continuing ever since. Even Krypto got in on the small-screen act…

However, that’s not all there is to these gloriously engaging super-sagas culled from the Metropolis Marvel’s lead feature in Action Comics #258-277 and the all-star sagas from Superman #134-145 (reliving the period November 1959 to May 1961, and including selected snippets from Superman Annuals #1 & 2) presented in crisp, clean monochrome for this sterling second Showcase Presents collection. Of course, in an ideal world  – or even just a little bit better than this one – we’d be able to see these tales in glorious full colour either on paper or digitally…

During the 1950s, even as his back-story was expanded and elaborated, Superman had settled into an ordered existence. Nothing could really hurt him, nothing ever changed, and pure thrills seemed in short supply. With the TV show supplying live action, the Comics Code-hamstrung funnybook writers concentrated on supplying wonder, intrigue, imagination and, whenever possible, a few laughs as well…

The wholesome intrigue and breathtaking fantasy commence here with Action Comics #258’s ‘The Menace of Cosmic Man’. This sharp mystery written by Bill Finger – illustrated by Wayne Boring & Stan Kaye – focuses on an impoverished European dictatorship which suddenly announces it has its own all-powerful costumed champion: drawing Lois Lane and Clark Kent into a potentially deadly investigation. Action #259’s hallucinogenic thriller ‘The Revenge of Luthor!’ (Jerry Siegel & Al Plastino) delivers a seemingly impossible clash between the Man of Tomorrow and his own younger self which almost led to death for Lois and school sweetheart Lana Lang…

Solo title Superman #134 (January 1960) sees a full-length epic from Otto Binder, Boring & Kaye as ‘The Super-Menace of Metropolis’ has the Caped Kryptonian apparently undertake a concerted attack upon humanity, leading to shocking revelations in ‘The Revenge Against Jor-El!’ before a blockbusting final battle against an unsuspected Kandorian foe in ‘Duel of the Supermen!’

There’s the usual heartbreak for Lois when Superman and Supergirl perpetrate a romantic hoax on the world to thwart a potential alien attack in ‘Mighty Maid!’ (Action #260, Binder & Plastino), as Superman #135 served up three Siegel stories beginning with the Plastino illustrated Untold Tale ‘When Lois First Suspected Clark was Superman!’ before ‘Superman’s Mermaid Sweetheart!’ (Boring & Kaye) reintroduces Clark’s college love Lori Lemaris in another superbly effective, bittersweet tear-jerker, after which Plastino’s ‘The Trio of Steel!’ finds the Man of Steel again battling his most impossible foe in a classy conundrum…

Action #261 revealed the secret history of ‘Superman’s Fortress of Solitude!‘ by unravelling a cunning criminal plot against the indomitable hero in a clever yarn from Siegel, Boring & Kaye, after which ‘When Superman Lost his Powers!’(#262, Robert Bernstein, Boring & Kaye) sees the Daily Planet staff trapped in another dimension where the Man of Tomorrow is merely mortal and Lois’ suspicions are again aroused…

Superman #136 began with ‘The Man who Married Lois Lane!’ (Bernstein, Boring & Kaye) wherein the frustrated reporter finally gives in, settling for a superman from the future with tragic results, after which another Untold Tale reveals how the world first learned ‘The Secret of Kryptonite!’ (Jerry Coleman & Plastino) and how, as ‘The Super-Clown of Metropolis!’, Superman is blackmailed into attempting to make a millionaire misanthrope laugh in a smart, character-driven yarn from Siegel & Plastino.

Action #263 introduced ‘The World of Bizarros!’ (Binder, Boring & Kaye) as the ghastly doppelganger uses an imperfect duplicator machine to create an entire race in his broken image, after which Superman #137 – ‘The Super-Brat from Krypton!’ by Siegel, Curt Swan & John Forte – reveals how an energy duplicate of baby Kal-El is raised by criminals to become ‘The Young Super-Bully’ before finally confronting his noble counterpart in ‘Superman vs. Super-Menace!’

In Action Comics #264, a clash with the newly-minted artificial race culminates in the Caped Kryptonian almost becoming ‘The Superman Bizarro!’ in a tense thriller from Binder, Boring & Kaye whilst ‘The “Superman” from Outer Space!’ in #265 (Binder, Swan & Forte) details the tragically short career of Hyper-Man, planetary champion of Earth-like world Oceania, before Superman #138 debuts ‘Titano the Super-Ape!’: a chimpanzee mutated into a Kryptonite-empowered King Kong clone with a devotion to Lois and big hatred for the Man of Steel: a beloved masterpiece by Binder, Boring & Kaye combining action, pathos and drama to superb effect.

‘Superman’s Black Magic!’ (Siegel & Plastino) balanced the epic tear-jerker with a clever yarn seeing the Action Ace instigate a devilish sting to catch superstitious crooks whilst ‘The Mermaid from Atlantis!’ ( Siegel, Boring & Kaye) finds newlywed Lori Lemaris attempt to trick Superman into finally proposing to Lois.

Action #266 has the heroic hunk ‘The Captive of the Amazons’ and trapped on another world. The queen wants the Man of Tomorrow for her sixth husband and is prepared to destroy Earth to make her dreams come true…

Superman #139 opens with ‘The New Life of Super-Merman!’ as the Caped Kryptonian and Lori scheme to marry Lois off to a nice, safe multi-millionaire who really loves her in a rather dated and potentially offensive tale by Siegel, Boring & Kaye, whereas ‘The Jolly Jailhouse!’ (Coleman & Plastino) is safe and solid entertainment, providing a light-hearted clash between a would-be dictator and the World’s Most Uncooperative political prisoner… Clark Kent.

‘The Untold Story of Red Kryptonite!’ (Binder, Boring & Kaye) then delivers a dramatic dilemma, a redefinition of the parameters of the deadly crimson mineral, and plenty of thrills with the Man of Steel forced to risk deadly danger and lots of informative flashbacks to rescue a sunken submarine…

Binder, Boring & Kaye produced spectacular 2-chapter clash ‘Hercules in the 20th Century!’ and ‘Superman’s Battle with Hercules!’ (Action #267-268, and separated here by the cover of all-reprint  Superman Annual #1) as Luthor brings the Hellenic demi-god to Metropolis to battle “evil king” Superman. Events turn even more serious when the legendary warrior falls for Lois and marshals all the magical powers of the Olympians to destroy his unwitting rival…

Although later played for laughs, most of the earlier appearances of Superman‘s warped double were generally moving comic-tragedies, such as issue #140 wherein  Binder, Boring & Kaye’s ‘The Son of Bizarro!’ sees the fractured facsimile and wife Bizarro-Lois have a perfect, human baby. The fast growing tyke is super-powered but shunned by the populace of the world of monsters.

His simple-minded, heartbroken father has no choice but to exile his son in space where chance brings the lad crashing to Earth as ‘The Orphan Bizarro!’. Sent to the same institution where Supergirl resided, “Baby Buster” is soon a permanent headache for the Girl of Steel until a tragic accident seemingly mutates him. Eventually his distraught father comes looking for him at the head of an angry army of enraged Superman duplicates and a devastating battle is narrowly avoided with a happy ending only materialising due to the introduction of ‘The Bizarro Supergirl!’…

Action Comics #269 tells a clever tale of identity-saving when Lois tricks Clark into standing before ‘The Truth Mirror!’(Siegel, Swan & George Klein), whilst Superman #141 again shows the writer’s winning form in ‘Superman’s Return to Krypton!’ Illustrated by Boring & Kaye, the epic Grand Tragedy shows in ‘Superman Meets Jor-El and Lara Again!’ how an accident maroons the adoptive Earth hero in the past on his doomed home-world. Reconciled to dying there with his people, in ‘Superman’s Kryptonian Romance’ Kal-El finds love with soul-mate Lyla Lerrol, only to be torn from her side and returned to Earth against his will in concluding chapter ‘The Surprise of Fate!’

This bold saga was a fan favourite for decades thereafter, and remains one of the very best stories of the period.

In Action #270 Binder, Swan & Forte provide a whimsical interlude in ‘The Old Man of Metropolis!’ as the Metropolis Marvel glimpses his own twilight years whilst ‘Voyage to Dimension X!’ – Binder & Plastino in #271 – sees him narrowly escape his greatest foe’s latest diabolical plot.

Superman #142 opened with ‘Lois Lane’s Secret Helper!’ (Binder & Kurt Schaffenberger, as faithful Krypto tried to play matchmaker before ‘Superman Meets Al Capone!’ has the time-lost Man of Tomorrow clash with the legendary mobster (Binder, Boring & Kaye) before battling a wandering ‘Flame-Dragon from Krypton!’ with some helpful assistance from his best super-buddies in a sharp yarn from Siegel, Boring & Kaye.

Another prototype team-up featured in Action #272’s ‘Superman’s Rival, Mental Man!’: a clever criminal-sting by Siegel, Swan & Kaye centring around Lois’ unsuspected talents as a comic strip creator, whilst over in Superman #143, ‘The Great Superman Hoax!’ (Bernstein, Boring & Kaye) sees a criminal try to convince Lois that he is actually the Man of Might. ‘Lois Lane’s Lucky Day!’ (Siegel & Forte) then finds the daring reporter busting a crooked carnival – with a little covert Kryptonian help – before ‘Bizarro Meets Frankenstein!’ (Binder, Boring & Kaye) finds the befuddled duplicate invading Earth to prove he is the scariest monster of all time…

Action #273 has Superman turn the table on the pestiferous Fifth Dimensional pixie by invading ‘The World of Mxyzptlk!’– a light-hearted romp from Siegel & Plastino – and in the next issue lose his abilities to Lois in ‘The Reversed Super-Powers!’ (Siegel & Schaffenberger.

Superman #144 led with Siegel, Swan & Kaye’s combative thriller ‘The Super-Weapon!’, after which Siegel & Plastino revealed the Untold Tale of ‘Superboy’s First Public Appearance!’ before going on to describe the terrifying plight of Superman, Supergirl and Krypto as ‘The Orphans of Space!’

Action #275 delivers a classic clash with alien marauder Brainiac, whose latest weapon is ‘The Menace of Red-Green Kryptonite!’ (Coleman, Boring & Kaye) after which Superman #145 opens on a salutary fable by Siegel, Swan & Kaye proving why Lois can’t be trusted with ‘The Secret Identity of Superman!’

Bernstein & Plastino’s ‘The Interplanetary Circus!’ then holds Earth hostage until the Man of Steel agrees to join them, but even after outwitting those interplanetary scoundrels, Superman is utterly flummoxed by the incredible events of ‘The Night of March 31st ‘ – a deliciously surreal, whimsical and bizarre mystery-puzzle from Siegel, Swan & Sheldon Moldoff.

This second superb collection concludes with the stirring cover of Superman Annual #2 and a scintillating double-page Map of Krypton by Siegel & Plastino which enflamed the imagination of every kid who ever saw it…

Superman has proven to be all things to all fans over his decades of existence, and with the character undergoing another radical overhaul at this time, 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…
© 1959, 1960, 1961, 2006 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Playing the Game


By Doris Lessing & Charlie Adlard (HarperCollins Publications 1995/Fourth Estate)
ISBN: 978-58621-689-7 (Album PB)

Author, poet, playwright, biographer, Nobel Laureate and literary big gun Doris May Lessing (22 October 1919 – 17 November 2013) did the unexpected for her entire career, writing about what was personally important and effectively damning her critics by ignoring them.

The much-celebrated author of The Grass is Singing, Children of Violence, The Good Terrorist and The Golden Notebook delivered a major blow to literary snobs who sneered at science fiction as nothing but a degraded form with her five volume Canopus in Argos: Archives and she was just as insensible to hidebound criticism when she wrote this slim graphic novella…

With art by Charlie Adlard, Playing the Game is a simple, harsh yet lyrical tale describing the rise – and life philosophy – of Spacer Joe Magnifico, whose mighty self-confidence and risk-everything nature takes him out of the desperate slums of a dystopic future city-slum to within spitting distances of the vault of Heaven, whether it be seen as freedom, wealth, security or fantastic love.

Does he flee or free himself from the true, dirty, real world and the physically limited carnality of Bella-Rose, to join with the sublime Francesca Bird? Can he keep what his determination has won him? Which is stronger: Will or Chance?

Chillingly, a recent reread seemed to display a propensity for prophetic allegory: the dare-everything, nobody-can-touch mental dysfunction Magnifico is stricken with makes a perfect template for many current world leaders who think nothing will stick and that they are immune from consequences. As in this book, Time will tell…

Praised as a major boost in credibility for graphic narrative on its release, this is a work largely ignored by the comics community itself. We still desperately want the big world to take us seriously, but instances we cite still tend to be couched in terms of the movies our best stuff spawns, rather than in the magic of word and pictures on paper, and that in itself limits us. I haven’t yet seen a decent film version of Spiegelman’s Maus, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or From Hell …or even James Joyce’s Ulysses, come to that…

The scope of content needn’t overwhelm the depth of intent and this is a parable with as much unsaid and un-drawn as shown and told. This is not a case of less than meets the eye… as you will find if you try it.

Tragically and inexplicably, it’s still not been taken up digitally anywhere, but copies can be found on line at ludicrous prices, so if you want it Playing the Game can still be yours…
© 1995 Doris Lessing. Art © 1995 Charlie Adlard. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

DC’s Wanted: The World’s Most Dangerous Villains


By Jerry Siegel, Bill Finger, Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, William Woolfolk, Ed Herron, John Broome, Gardner F. Fox, Alfred Bester, Don Cameron, Joe Samachson, Mort Weisinger, Ken Fitch, David Vern Reed, Sheldon Moldoff, Jack Burnley, Carmine Infantino, Gil Kane, Lee Elias, Mort Meskin, Joe Kubert, Howard Sherman, Pete Riss, Paul Reinman, Alex Kotzky, Bernard Baily, Jon Sikela, Harry G. Peter, Murphy Anderson, Nick Cardy & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-7795-0173-8 (HB)

We talk of Gold and Silver Ages in comics and latterly for the sake of expediency have added other mineral markers like a Bronze Age, but no ever talks about the period between 1964 and 1977 as a specific and crucial time in funnybook history. But it was…

During that period, economic pressure compelled DC and Marvel to increasingly plunder their own archives and fill expensive pages in their primary product to maintain hard-won spaces on newsstands and magazine spinners. Some readers moaned about reprints. Some didn’t notice and most didn’t care. But for all those little proto-geeks like me, it was being given the keys to the greatest kingdom of all.

Once you grasped that the differently drawn stuff with clunkier buildings and cars – and more men in hats – was from the past, and not something happening “now”, it simply added to the scope and scale of what you were reading: hinting of a grand unknown past you were now party to. Moreover, the sheer quality of most twice-printed tales was astounding.

I wasn’t around for Lou Fine or Basil Wolverton or Jack Burnley the first time, but reprints made me a devotee. You young whippersnappers with your interwebs and archive collections don’t know how lucky you are.

Marvel especially made a service out of a necessity: keeping their older material in print via big packages like Marvel Collectors’ Items Classics and Marvel Tales to ensure reader awareness of their unfolding universe. Those and DC’s 80-Page Giant specials were true gateway series for comics junkies who wanted a peek at the past… particularly the mysterious and alluring “Golden Age” where all the really incredible stuff must have happened…

In 1968 DC started taking reprints seriously by creating a specific title. DC Special began a succession of themed and carefully curated issues at a time when superheroes had entered another decline. In its first run – from fall 1968 to November/December 1971 – it featured issues dedicated to the careers of Carmine Infantino and Joe Kubert, horror stories, teen comedy, western, crime, and two issues featuring Strange Sports Stories, as well as an “all-girl” superhero volume, the Viking Prince and Plastic Man. Issues #8 (Summer1970) and #14 (September/October 1972) were both entitled Wanted! The World’s Most Dangerous Villains: an unrepentant, unashamed celebration of costumed good guys thrashing costumed bad guys…

This spiffy hardback and digital collection sadly excludes those try-out experiments but does collect all the subsequent contents of the spin-off title that followed – #1-9 spanning July/August 1972 to September 1973 – and adds a tenth issue just for thrills and giggles.

It kicks off with a gloriously outré debut as #1 reintroduced ‘The Signalman of Crime’ who used signs and symbols to baffle lawmen. He came – and went – in Batman #112 (December 1957) courtesy of Bill Finger, Sheldon Moldoff & Charles Paris and is followed by a classy Green Arrow yarn from Ed Herron & Lee Elias. ‘The Crimes of the Clock King’ were first found and foiled in World’s Finest Comics (#111 July 1960). Rounding out the first sally is ‘Menace of the Giant Puppet’ by John Broome, Gil Kane & Joe Giella (Green Lantern volume 2 #1, August 1960) wherein the Emerald Gladiator faced the superscience-wielding Puppeteer.

Gold was struck in #2 as Batman #25 (October/November 1944) yielded Don Cameron, Jack Burnley & Jerry Robinson’s‘Knights of Knavery’: an epic clash which saw crime rivals The Penguin and Joker – temporarily – join forces against the Dynamic Duo, after which John Broome, Infantino & Giella detail how ‘The Trickster Strikes Back’. The air-walking felon plunders Central City until the Scarlet Speedster finally outwits him, as first seen in The Flash #121 (June 1961).

Wanted #3 provided exclusively Golden Age greatness, beginning with The Vigilante yarn from Action Comics #69 (February 1944). Devised by Joe Samachson, Mort Meskin & Joe Kubert, ‘The Little Men Who Were There!’ pitted the Prairie Troubadour against diabolical Napoleon of Crime The Dummy, after which warrior wizard Doctor Fate frustrated an invasion by ‘The Fish-Men of Nyarl-Amen’ (More Fun Comics #65 March 1941, by Gardner F. Fox & Howard Sherman) and Hawkman crushed ‘The Human Fly Bandits’ thanks to creators Broome & Kubert as seen in Flash Comics #100 (October 1948).

Original Green Lantern Alan Scott headlined in #4, replaying his epic first clash with Solomon Grundy from All-American Comics #61 (October 1944) as related by Alfred Bester & Paul Reinman in ‘Fighters Never Quit!’, whilst the follow-up featured Kid Eternity – who died before his time and was rewarded by Higher Powers with the power to summon figures from history, myth and literature to fight for justice. ‘Master Man’ came from Kid Eternity #15 (May 1949) wherein writer William Woolfolk and illustrator Pete Riss created the hero’s ultimate nemesis and set them duelling by proxy via resuurected heroes and villains…

Contemporary Green Gladiator Hal Jordan returned in #5, battling Doctor Light in Gardner F. Fox, Kane & Sid Greene’s ‘Wizard of the Light-Wave Weapons!’ (Green Lantern volume 2 #33, December 1964), before the original Tiny Titan faced ‘The Man in the Iron Mask!’ in an epic clash by Woolfolk & Alex Kotzky from Doll Man Quarterly #15 (Winter 1948).

Starman opened #6, in a grudge match against arch foe The Mist. Fox & Burnley’s ‘Finders Keepers!’ – from Adventure Comics #77, August 1942 – saw the see-through fiend use found treasure to mesmerise his victims, and is followed by a saga of Sargon the Sorcerer, battling Blue Lama as ‘The Man Who Met Himself’ (Sensation Comics #71, November 1947 by Broome & Reinman). The drama ends on a spectacular high in the Kubert-illustrated Wildcat thriller ‘The Wasp’s Nest!’ from (Sensation Comics #66, June 1947).

Wanted #7 exhumed more Gold, beginning with speedster Johnny Quick‘s duel with satanic scientist Dr. Clever who gleans the secret of hyper-velocity in ‘The Adventure of the Human Streak’ (More Fun Comics #76 February 1942 and illustrated by Mort Weisinger & Mort Meskin) after which the 1940’s Hawkman battles spectral nemesis The Gentleman Ghost in Robert Kanigher & Kubert’s ‘The Crimes That Couldn’t Have Happened!’ (Flash Comics #90, December 1947) before Ken Fitch & Bernard Baily reveal how Hourman crushes ‘Dr. Glisten’s Submarine Pirates’ as originally seen inAdventure Comics #72, March 1942.

The Silver Age Flash faces ‘The Big Freeze!’ in Broome, Infantino & Murphy Anderson’s furious fight against Captain Cold (The Flash #114 August 1960) before Fox & Sherman pit a depowered Doctor Fate against transformative terror ‘Mr. Who’ in a stirring saga from More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941).

The original run concluded with #9, which opened with Jerry Siegel & Jon Sikela’s epic and absurdist Superman clash against the diabolical Prankster who claimed to be ‘Crime’s Comedy King!’ in Action Comics #57 (February 1943) after which the adventure peaked in a classic Jack Kirby & Joe Simon Sandman thriller. First found in World’s Finest Comics #6 (Summer 1942) ‘The Adventure of the Magic Forest!’ saw the Master of Dreams and Sandy the Golden Boy crush murderous, nefarious hijacker Nightshade…

The fun continues with a virtual 10th issue compiled in recent times and prompted by a letter from Wanted #9 requesting an all-female outing. It took long enough but the wish is finally granted in ‘A Modern Take: Wanted: The World’s Most Dangerous Villains #10!‘ which begins with a Catwoman classic.

‘The Sleeping Beauties of Gotham City!’ debuted in Batman #84 (June 1954), scripted by David Vern Reed and limned by Sheldon Moldoff & Stan Kaye, wherein notorious Selina Kyle subverts a beauty contest, not for vanity but for glittering profit, after which Flash Comics #86 (August 1947) provides the first adventure of ‘The Black Canary’ in a swansong for bumbling hero Johnny Thunder by Kanigher, Infantino & Giella.

Wrapping up this sublime “Wants” list is a late clash between the Amazing Amazon and war god Mars by Kanigher & Harry G. Peter. ‘The Girl Who saved Paradise Island!’ comes from Wonder Woman #36, July/August 1949 and features interplanetary conflict and the truly terrifying warriors of Infanta, so be warned…

With covers by Murphy Anderson and Nick Cardy, this tome celebrates the primal simplicity of Superhero comics: no angst, no grey areas and no continued epics, just a whole bunch of done-in-one delights for fans of history and simplicity.
© 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1954, 1960, 1961, 1964, 1972, 1973, 2020 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Thor: Vikings


By Garth Ennis, Glenn Fabry & various (Max Comics/ MARVEL)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-1175-7 (TPB)

It’s the anniversary year of Marvel’s thunder god. Here’s a strange saga sparked during that time that will delight some and annoy the leather pants off others. Still, in my fathers’ Valhalla there are many mansions… unless the drunken warriors have wrecked them…

In the middle of 1962, Stan Lee & Jack Kirby launched their latest offbeat superhero creation in anthology monsters-and-mysteries title Journey into Mystery #83. The tale introduced disabled American doctor Donald Blake who took a vacation in Norway only to encounter the vanguard of an alien invasion fleet.

Fleeing in terror, he was trapped in a cave wherein lay an old, gnarled walking stick. When, in helplessness and frustration, the puny human smashed the cane into the huge boulder obstructing his escape, Blake’s insignificant frame was transformed into the bold and brawny Norse God of Thunder, Thor!

The series grew from formulaic beginnings battling aliens, commies and cheap thugs into a vast, panoramic and breathtaking cosmic playground for Kirby’s burgeoning imagination. Anthological Journey into Mystery inevitably became Mighty Thor where, after years of bombastic adventuring, the inconsistencies of the Blake/Thor relationship were re-examined and finally clarified to explain how an immortal godling could also be locked within a frail short-lived mortal.

That startling saga took the immortal hero back to his long-distant youth and finally revealed that the mortal surgeon was no more than an Odinian construct designed to teach the Thunder God humility and compassion…

As decades passed the series underwent numerous reboots and re-imaginings to keep the wonders of fabled Asgard appealing to an increasingly jaded readership. An already exceedingly broad range of scenarios spawned even greater visual variety after the Thunderer’s introduction to the pantheon of cinematic Marvels with his ongoing triumphs making him a bona fide blockbuster movie star. To be frank, there were always comics ventures that allowed for some fairly broad interpretations of the god and his universe, such as this rousing yarn…

In this scintillating gore-spattered traditional fantasy yarn – collecting Thor: Vikings #1-5, which originally ran from July- November 2003 – scripter Garth Ennis  and illustrator Glenn Fabry indulge their inner barbarians with a yarn strictly not for the young or sensitive…

In 1003 AD, pitiless reiver Harald Jaekelsson has just finished destroying the village of Lakstad when its shaman curses the lawless raiders who have destroyed his family and friends.

Maybe, if Harald hadn’t butchered him at that moment, allowing the elders’ blood to feed the runestone he held, the sadistic killer’s ship and crew would not have spent the next thousand years crossing the ‘Endless Ocean’ to the New World…

On finally arriving in the port of New York, the undead accursed monsters set about their old ways of rapine and slaughter, before their rampage is briefly halted by a challenge from the sky as Thunder God Thor demands their surrender…

Sorcery-stained zombie lord Harald is unimpressed and as his undead crew grotesquely devastate Manhattan, he savagely beats the god nigh unto death. With his longship now sailing the skies above the city, the northman basks in carnage in his new-won ‘Kingdom of Iron’, unaware that the Thunderer still lives and has been joined by Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange…

As Harald builds his throne on the city’s highest tower, the magical medic sees to Thor and marshals resources to battle a foe that outmatches him in mystic might. ‘Time Like a River’ finds the embattled heroes exploring chronal echoes, seeking a solution to the old wise man’s curse… and finding it in the blood he spilled casting it.

To counter Harald’s horde, Strange searches history for the old man’s bloodkin, and plucks them from their own times to battle the rapacious revenants. Outcast and frustrated Viking battle-maiden Sigrid, Teutonic knight Magnus of the Danesand disillusioned Luftwaffe Ace Oberstleutnant Erik Lonnroth arrive in the ravaged city just after the Marines are slaughtered and Mighty Avengers admit defeat and regroup.

Horrified by the atrocities being perpetrated, the time-strayed trio determine to ‘Fight the Good Fight’, suitably enhanced by Strange’s sorceries…

As Jaekelsson squats on his high seat, the heroes go to work with a will, and soon the Viking lord is compelled to join the battle. Once more easily outmatched by the ruthless reiver, the outraged god needs all he’s got to win the day and save his people in ‘See You in Valhalla’…

Although shocking at the turn of the century, the Asgardians and greater Marvel pantheon have by now fully integrated into our movie-led culture, and contemporary readers won’t be taken aback at the themes and uncompromising action scenes so lovingly crafted here. Thor: Vikings is bold and brutal, filled with action and leavened with dark, dark humour and well worth any thunder follower’s time and attention.
© 2021 MARVEL

Posted on

Showcase Presents Sgt. Rock volume 3


By Robert Kanigher, Joe Kubert, Russ Heath & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2771-5 (TPB)

In America after the demise of EC Comics in the mid-1950’s and prior to the game-changing Blazing Combat, the only certain place to find controversial, challenging and entertaining American war comics was at DC.

In fact, even whilst Archie Goodwin’s stunning but tragically mis-marketed quartet of classics were waking up a generation, the home of Flash, Green Arrow and the Justice League of America was a veritable cornucopia of gritty, intriguing and beautifully illustrated battle tales presenting combat on a variety of fronts and from differing points of view.

Whilst the Vietnam War escalated, 1960s America increasingly endured a Homefront death-struggle pitting deeply-ingrained Establishment social attitudes against a youth-oriented generation with a radical new sensibility. In response DC’s (or rather National Periodical Publishing, as it then was) military-themed comicbooks became even more bold and innovative…

Sgt Rock and the “combat-happy Joes” of Easy Company are one of the great and enduring creations of the American comic book industry. The gritty meta-realism of Robert Kanigher’s ordinary guys in a constant welter of life-or-death situations captured the imaginations of generations of readers, young and old.

So pervasive is this icon of comics combat that’s it’s hard to grasp that Rock is not an immortal industry prototype like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman – with us since the earliest moments of the industry – but is in fact a late addition to and child of the Silver Age of Comics: debuting as just another Kanigher & Joe Kubert tale in war anthology G.I. Combat (#68, January 1959).

The archetypal and ideal sergeant was an anonymous boxer who wasn’t particularly skilled but simply refused to be beaten, absorbing any and all punishment dealt out to him. When ‘The Rock!’ enlisted, that same Horatian quality attained mythic proportions as he held back an overwhelming Nazi attack by sheer grit and determination, remaining bloody but unbowed on a field littered with dead and broken men. The tale inspired an instant sequel or two before, in Our Army at War #83 (June 1959), the mythmaking truly began…

This third monumental military milestone collects in chronological publishing order and stark, stunning monochrome more of the groundbreaking classics which made Rock a comics legend. These grim and gritty, epically poetic war stories were taken from the still-anthological Our Army at War #149-180 (bracketing December 1964 to May 1967), a period when American comics were undergoing a spectacular renaissance in style, theme and quality even as the Vietnam war took over the nation’s consciousness and conscience.

They are also still criminally unavailable in modern colour and/or digital editions…

Scripted throughout by Writer/Editor Kanigher and illustrated primarily by Kubert, the terse episodes herein begin with ‘Surrender Ticket!’ as the German High Command randomly pick an American Company to endure unrelenting pressure until they crack, thereby proving Nazi superiority. They really should have picked again after selecting Easy Company…

In ‘Flytrap Hill!’, Rock is forced to request a retreat before instead leading his brutalised men to unlikely victory. They all found fresh inspiration through the example of a messenger who gave his life to reach them…

‘War Party!’ then sees the Sarge undertaking a trial organised by Little Sure Shot to become an “honorary Apache Indian”, with the always-advancing Germans inadvertently spoiling his chances at every turn.

OAAW #152 is a full-length yarn in which a shipment of green replacements find themselves frozen under fire, until Rock recounts the tales of Ziggy and Hopeless, who found courage with their final breaths in ‘Last Man – Last Shot!’ This narrative device of incorporating brief past-action episodes into a baptism of fire scenario played over and over again in Sgt. Rock but never got old.

‘Easy’s Last Stand!’ saw the stony serviceman battling alone in the mistaken belief he was the only one left alive, whilst ‘Boobytrap Mascot’ found Easy accompanying boy soldier Andre Lune in search of hidden artillery emplacements as the lad tried to live up to – and die for – the pressure of generations of warrior ancestors who gave their lives for France…

‘No Stripes for Me!’ found the non-com in the middle of a family feud as a valiant GI continually refuses well-earned battlefield promotions his father – the General – keeps foisting upon him, after which a bumbling medic deemed unfit for combat fatally proves his worth, saving Easy as ‘The Human Tank Trap!’

The shell-shocked last survivor of an eradicated relief company goes through hell at Rock’s side as the topkick strives to prove that ‘Nothin’s Ever Lost in War!’ before OAAW #158 introduces some insight into the pre-war world of civilian Frank Rock, as well as an antithesis and arch-enemy for Easy’s front man in ‘Iron Major – Rock Sergeant!’

With the American captured, tortured and used as bait in a blizzard by a steel-handed master strategist, it takes sheer guts and unflinching to save Easy from a deadly ambush…

Wounded in combat, hunted by a German kill-team and guided by the sister of a nurse he feels responsible for killing, Rock becomes ‘The Blind Gun!’ before recovering his sight and finding a measure of solace in groundbreaking epic ‘What’s the Colour of Your Blood?’

Here black G.I. – it’s a comic book making a point about a crucial point in modern US history: please ignore the appalling and sordid truth about US Army segregation during WWII – and former boxer Jackie Johnson is forced to bare-knuckle battle the racist Aryan prize-fighter he trounced in the years before the war.

Of course, if he raises his hands to defend himself in this impromptu rematch, Storm Trooper Uhlan‘s comrades will shoot Jackie’s Easy Co. buddies… until the right word from Rock changes all the odds…

An over-eager replacement almost dies to prove he’s not a coward like his court-martialled brother in ‘Dead End for a Dog Face!’ before ‘The Prince and the Sergeant!’ revives an old DC star for a truly bizarre team-up.

When superheroes were in decline during the 1950s, comicbook companies sought different types of action hero. In 1955 Kanigher devised traditional adventure comic The Brave and the Bold which featured historical strips and stalwarts such as Golden Gladiator, Robin Hood and Silent Knight. Already legendary, Joe Kubert drew the fantastic exploits of a dynamic Norseman dubbed the Viking Prince.

He appeared in nearly every issue, eventually monopolising Brave and the Bold entirely, until the resurgent superhero boom saw the comic retooled as a try-out title with the 25th issue. Before that, however, those fanciful Scandi-sagas were among some of the finest adventure comics of all time (and they’re still too long overdue for a definitive collection of their own).

In Our Army at War #162, Easy Company are sent to Norway on a proverbial suicide mission and subsequently separated under fire. Taking cover in a cave, Rock discovers a warrior frozen in ice moments before an explosion shatters the frigid tomb. Soon the revived Prince Jon is slicing his way through the modern “Huns”, determined to sell his life dearly.

Before his entombment, he had fallen in love with a Valkyrie and had to die gloriously in battle to reunite with her in Valhalla. Of course, offended Odin had stacked the odds and decreed no mortal weapon could now harm him…

Despite his best efforts, Jon and Rock kept winning and so the saga continued in the next issue as the doughty comrades complete the suicide mission with the Viking crying ‘Kill Me – Kill Me!’… until a seeming martial miracle occurred…

Our Army at War #164 was an 80-page Giant reprint issue (not included here) and #165 heralded the ‘Return of the Iron Major!’ with the Nazi Superman back from the dead and seeking revenge, only to find Rock kissing his former fiancée Contessa Helga von Hohenschlag-Lowenburg…

That results in another brutal death-duel after which ‘Half a Sergeant!’ saw the indomitable human force-of-nature suffer a crack-up, until an inconsolable loss on the battlefield shocks him back to normal, after which ‘Kill One – Save One!’extends the psycho-dramas as Rock shoots a sniper and discovers he’s killed a child. The guilt cripples him so completely he can’t raise a hand against the boy’s even younger comrade who takes the topkick prisoner…

An element of supernatural mystery flavoured ‘I Knew the Unknown Soldier!’ in Our Army at War #168, as Rock proudly recalls an enigmatic G.I. who repeatedly saved and inspired Easy to overcome impossible odds. This short yarn would be the genesis of future combat superstar The Unknown Soldier…

Again blinded in battle, Rock unwittingly treks across the African desert towards German lines with an American-educated ‘Nazi on My Back!’ in #169 but is back in Europe for ‘No One Comes Down Alive from – Buzzard Bait Hill!’: dealing with a shell-shocked veteran who had been reliving the war since the last time Germans invaded France.

War’s insanity was a recurring theme and in ‘The Sergeant Must Die!’ Easy had to steal a relic of huge symbolic importance from a mediaeval castle defended by a deranged Nazi who believed himself the reincarnation of legendary Hun Barbarosa. A perilous stalemate is only broken by vicious single combat; a situation echoed in ‘A Slug for a Sergeant!’ as Russ Heath slowly began to take over illuminating Rock’s sorties.

German Sgt. Schlum is every inch Rock’s equal and when the hostage American chooses to duel his counterpart rather than betray Easy into ambush, the outcome is anything but certain…

Our Army at War #173 was another reprint – also omitted here – and Kubert returned in #174 as ‘One Kill Too Many!’sees the Sarge suffer another breakdown and freezing under fire after reliving the moment he shot that child-sniper. His inaction leads to Easy’s medic being killed and the broken soldier gives up fighting to take his place… until the wounded men he treats show Rock where he truly belongs…

Heath was back in #175 to deliver the ‘T.N.T. Letter!’ from Rock’s stateside sweetheart Mary which leaves him broken and suicidal until he meets a battlefield gamin who restores his perspective, and Kubert limned the strange saga of Crusher Cole: a beefy replacement who wanted the sergeant’s job and kept crying ‘Give Me Your Stripes!’

Following another 80-Page Giant in #177, ‘Only One Medal for Easy’ (Heath, #178) returned to the series’ picaresque, portmanteau traditions as Rock is given one gong and a Pass to dispense to Easy’s most outstanding combatant. Of course, the medal is passed around the entire company as every time the enemy attacks, a different hero saves the day…

Kubert was back reprising that landmark tale of bigotry and tolerance in OAAW #179 as white supremacist Sharkey joins Easy and makes things tough for the unit’s only black soldier. Even Rock can’t change his attitudes but the trials of war and the patience of a truly noble man finally crush racist views of a soldier who wouldn’t give ‘A Penny for Jackie Johnson!’

Russ Heath ends this cataclysmic comics campaign with another stunning moral quandary as Rock captures a German officer and has to endure unbearable provocation as he escorts his prisoner to base: coming within an inch of breaking all the rules as the cunning monster brags ‘You Can’t Kill a General!’…

Robert Kanigher at his worst was a declarative, heavy-handed and formulaic writer, but when writing his best stuff – as here – his work was imaginative, evocative, iconoclastic and heart-rending. He was a unique reporter and observer of the warrior’s way and the unchanging condition of the dedicated and so very human ordinary foot-slogging G.I. He was also a strident and early advocate of equality and integration.

With superb combat covers from Kubert fronting each episode, this battle-book is a visually vital compendium and a certain delight for any jaded comics fan looking for something more than flash and dazzle. A perfect example of true Shock and Awe; these are stories every comics fan and combat collector should see and one day we’ll have them in the full archival dress and trimmings they deserve…
© 1964-1967, 2010 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.