August 2008
ADVENTURE HOUSE REACHES A MILESTONE
Although we don't cover pulp and book releases here, we thought you might find it interesting that Adventure House will be releasing #100 of their flagship title High Adventure this month. Adventure House has made this title into one of the premiere pulp titles on the market over the years and this issue will be an overview featuring a genre for most anyone, with stories by Robert E. Howard, Hugh B. Cave, Robert Leslie Bellem and more! If you haven't ever taken a squint at an issue of High Adventure, this would be a good place to start. Ask Mike about snagging you a copy! (While you're waiting for your copy, check out the Adventure House website) SRP $14.95
AC COMICS
Men of Mystery #73
Seven Stories! All never reprinted! Mr. Scarlet! Commando Yank! Ibis! Spy Smasher! Binder! Woolfolk! Pfeuffer! Quality and Fawcett! Buy it today!! SRP 9.95
DC
Those of you who remember the art teams of yesterday may want to take a look at this month's Hawkman Special #1. It's written by Jim Starlin and art is by that team supreme, Starlin pencils with inks by Al Milgrom. Might be worth a squint...
By the by, I chanced upon a copy of Chuck, the comic book of the TV show, during a trip to the comic store. It might have read well, but the art was so darned ugly, I didn't want to waste my time.
Spirit Archives Vol. 25
As promised, DC is bringing out a volume that will reprint the complete Spirit daily comic strip, which ran from 10/13/41-3/11/41 and, to the best of my knowledge, has never been reprinted in its entirety. With the success of the Spirit as a Sunday comic supplement, Eisner gave a daily strip a try. According to informed sources, Eisner wrote and drew the strip at first, then turned it over to Jack Cole when Eisner entered the army. Cole couldn't keep up with the load due to his Plastic Man commitments and the duties eventually fell to Woolfolk and Lou Fine. Although it isn't clear, my guess would be that the strain of producing the dailies and the Sunday section was too much and the strip was dropped in favor of the Sunday section, but hopefully this volume will have some background info. Unfortunately, it will be reprinted in (*sigh*) black and white. However, this is a must-have item that belongs up on your sagging bookshelf, since it features both Jack Cole and Lou Fine artwork! SRP $59.99
Superman Chronicles Vol. 5
Reprints, in chronological order, the Superman stories from Action Comics #32-36, Superman #8-9 and World's Best Comics #1, all written by Jerry Siegel and drawn by Joe Shuster and other artists. If only they would do adventures about Superman nowadays like they used to do, I'd probably still be reading the comics. In these early stories, you have a Superman with a purpose: he fights evil in all its forms. It may be a world-shaking menace, or a corrupt city official, but Superman is determined to use his powers to make things right. This may sound simplistic, butthe stories read well and Shuster's art (there is early Wayne Boring here along with Jack Burnley) is clean and filled with excellent storytelling. If you don't have these in another form, this is yet another item for your sagging bookshelf. Give it a squint, you'll be glad you did. A bargain at SRP $14.99
Showcase Presents: Superman Vol. 4
More Weisinger edited material from Action Comics #293-309 and Superman #157-166 by Siegel, Hamilton Swan Klein and tons of others. What can I say, more of Kryptonite, Kandor, people with the initials "LL" and the twin menaces of Luthor and Braniac. If you fondly remember the Silver Age, you've come to the right place and oughta add this one to your sagging bookshelf! SRP $16.99
Showcase Presents: The Atom Vol. 2
Reprints The Atom #18-38 and The Atom and Hawkman #39-45 by Fox, O'Neill, Kane, Greene, Anderson and others. Here's a bit of an oddity-back in July, DC released Showcase Presents: Hawkman Vol. 2 and that volume also reprinted The Atom and Hawkman #39-45 (if you are completist, do take note) and so, this becomes the first Showcase volume to reprint a portion of another, at least as far as I can tell. Anyway, I never really warmed to the character of the Atom and found that Land of the Giants gave me all the shrinking man fix I needed. I leave this one up to personal taste. SRP $16.99
DEVIL'S DUE
Golden Age Sheena: the Best of the Queen of the Jungle Vol. 2
Don't know what this one is gong to include and don't know what the reproduction will look like (and I'm really annoyed that I never saw any mention of a first volume!). Anyway, the ad says that it is 144 pages of color Sheena reprints from the 30s, 40 and 50s. Once again, you're on your own. SRP $18.99
FANTAGRAPHICS
The Complete Peanuts 1969-1970
Don't know what volume number this will be (I've lost track), but it will feature the intro of Woodstock, Lucy as a "New Feminist," Peppermint Patty, the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm and...The Great Beagle. Schulz, as always, was on his game here and all the volumes in the series deserve a good, long squint, if not inclusion on that sagging bookshelf! SRP $28.99
GEMSTONE PUBLISHING
Over in Gemstone Land, things are just about the same as always. Uncle Scrooge has a whole Don Rosa pin-up, Comics & Stories has a Barks story along with a story by Van Horn. A Barks/Rosa volume is due out after missing its previous deadline and there ain't much of anything else to talk about, except...
EC Archives: Haunt of Fear Vol. 1
Reprints Haunt of Fear #1-6 of Haunt of Fear by Craig, Wood, Kamen, Ingels, Davis, Feldstein, Kurtzman and Gaines. The third of EC's trio of horror books makes its appearance this month and, although the early issues are crude by the standards of the later ones, it is still worth a squint and a place up on your sagging bookshelf. One of the fun things about the EC horror books was their horror hosts, who gave introductions and wrap-ups to each of the stories-usually summing things up with a pun. HOF was hosted by the Old Witch and, just in the way the EC books evolved over time, she started off looking one way and got really grotesque by the end of the title's run. These early stories don't have the big gross-out of later stories, but tend to run more along the lines of O. Henry's short stories where a twist occurs right at the end. It is also interesting that there was always a sense of fair play in the EC books and that the bad guy always got what was coming to him: something that is lacking in the horror comics and films of today. SRP $49.95
IDW
Looking for some info on the IDW site, I came across a disturbing reference that suggests the Dick Tracy series is now bi-annual?? Not sure what that means and haven't found any other mention of this change anywhere else. My guess is that they meant to say bi-monthly... It would surprise me if they changed the frequency of Tracy, since sales are good enough the IDW has done second printings of both Vol. 1 and 2.
The Complete Chester Gould's Dick Tracy Vol. 5
Reprints the strips from January 1938-July 1939 with an intro by Max Allan Collins and the first segment of a feature on Tracy merchandise by J. C. Vaughan. As always, if you haven't taken a squint at this series, you are missing one of the best comic strips ever produced. Deserves a hearty squint and a place of honor up on your sagging bookshelf (along with Terry and the Pirates)! SRP $29.99
MANUSCRIPT PRESS
Comics Revue #269
Sixty-four pages of comic strip reprints, including anything from Gasoline Alley to Tarzan. Well worth a squint and a great place to start exploring the world of comic strips. SRP $6.85
MARVEL
Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics Vol. 3
Reprints Marvel Mystery Comics #9-12 by a bunch of writers I've never heard of and art by Burgos, Everett, Gustavson, Thompson, Hasen and others (Keep in mind that many of the artists listed here wrote their own material). Marvel is slowly reprinting material that hasn't seen the light of day since it was printed (witness some of the stories in the Atlas Era Heroes Masterworks) and this volume makes great inroads into this uncharted territory. There is some Human Torch and Sub-Mariner stories here, which, to be honest, is probably the greatest draw outside of the Schomburg covers (the stories from 9 and 10 were reprinted back in 2004). But, you do get lots of stories by the second-tier artists, whose work is often overlooked. Characters include Ka-Zar, Electro, the Angel and the Masked Rider. There are also a number of stories here that feature the war in Europe before the entrance of the US into the conflict, making for some interesting historical reading! A nice package and worth a squint or two and (depending on the reproduction) addition to your sagging bookshelf. SRP $59.99
Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 10
Reprints Amazing Spider-Man #88-99 by Lee, Romita and Kane. With issue 88, Romita dropped the pencilling duties on Spidey and continued on as the inker of Gil Kane's pencils, with some excellent results. One has to wonder how much input Kane had on the strip, since 1) his tenure on Spider-Man includes the death of Capt. Stacy (presented here), 2) (a couple of years later)the death of Gwen Stacy and 3) Spidey's character remains pretty consistent over Kane's run on the book, even though there are a number of different writers involved. Can't prove anything, just something that came to mind... In any event, along with the Captain's demise, you get the Green Goblin, Doc Ock and the controversial 3 issue anti-drug issues that Marvel published without the approval of the Comics' Code. Why controversial? Well, to explain that, you have to understand that the Comics Code had a stranglehold on the comic book industry in the pre-direct sales days and acted with the same irrationality as the FCC does today. In the case of Spider-Man, Marvel wanted to do a sequence with Harry Osborne that showed the down side of using LSD. I've read the stories and they are definitely anti-drug. The Comics' Code, however, did not allow drug use to be shown in a newsstand comic book. Lee, Kane, et al did the first issue and the Code refused to give it their stamp of approval. Marvel went ahead and published the issue without the Code seal and, you know, a funny thing happened- rather than news dealers and places that carried comics refusing to sell the issue, they put the issue out and it sold just like normal (as did the subsequent issues). In other words, the Comics' Code seal on a comic really didn't mean anything at all by the late 60s/early 70s. As a result of Marvel's stance, the Code relaxed a whole bunch of things, since they realized that if they wanted to stay in business (you do realize that the Comics Code was a regulatory agency that the comic companies paid to censor their own product, don't you?) they had to change with the times. Some good stuff here and worth a squint. SRP $59.99
Elektra by Frank Miller Omnibus
Reprints Elektra Assassin #1-8, Elektra Lives Again, Bizarre Adventures #28 and What If? #35 by Frank Miller (by himself) and Miller with Bill Sienkiewicz. I predicted they would need something like this volume back when the first Daredevil Omnibus hit the stands. What your get is the Miller/Sienkiewicz Elektra Assassin mini-series (a bit over the top, but readable), Elektra Lives Again (a graphic novel written and drawn by Miller), the solo Elektra story from Bizarre Adventures (all Miller) and the "What If Elektra Had Lived?" story from What If?, which is probably one of the finest stories done for the title and a fitting end for Miller's run on Daredevil. What makes this volume especially interesting is that long ago rumors suggest that Miller was not in the least happy with Sienkiewicz's work on Elektra Assassin. As the story goes, when Miller saw the art to the first issue, he tore up the rest of his script for the series and started writing the quasi-weird story that finally saw print: the original story, according to what I heard, was different. This is one of those volumes that belongs up on your sagging bookshelf without even a second thought, so run out and buy it right now! SRP $74.99
Tomb of Dracula Omnibus Vol. 1
Reprints Tomb of Dracula #1-31, Werewolf by Night #15, Giant-Size Chillers #1 and Giant-Size Dracula #2-4 by (mostly) Marv Wolfman, Gene Colan and Tom Palmer. It's too bad that this is coming out so soon after the Essential volumes, since many collectors (including me) already have all this material in that format. If you don't, I'd recommend this one to you, since these are some of the finest horror stories that have been done this side of Alan Moore.
Most every comic company has put out a horror comic at one time or another with varying degrees of success. Anthology titles have always been the most popular format, but in the 70s, due to changes in the Comics Code, Marvel put out a number of titles that had a continuing cast of characters and a central horror figure as the star. Probably the best of these was Tomb of Dracula, which, after a rather shaky start, became a title worth following, not so because it was a horror book, but for the quality of both art and story that it contained.
In order to enjoy this series, you have to put aside any prejudices you might have concerning a comic that stars Dracula. On the surface, the concept does seem like a one note song: the main character sleeps by day, drinks blood and runs around in a tuxedo and opera cape. Well, as you read the first issues, you can see how close the book could have come to being mundane. The first issue, written by Gerry Conway and penciled by Gene Colan, sets the scene as Dracula is brought back from the dead by his great grand something or other. Disaster follows and within the next couple of issues a sort of chase ensues where Dracula pops up wherever his descendant happens to be hanging out. Rather pedestrian at best and if the series had continued in this fashion, it most likely would have ended within a year or two.
The saving grace of the early issues is the teaming of Gene Colan with inker Tom Palmer beginning in issue #3. Palmer inked Colan's pencils in a way that enhanced the pencils rather than redrawing them and the end result is probably the best inking the Colan ever received at Marvel (The team continued, except for a couple of issues, to the end of the series to create a moody and atmospheric feel for the book). Yet, even the excellent art was not enough to really turn the book around. Archie Goodwin introduced a couple of characters who remained a part of the series, then Gardner Fox attempted a lamentable two issue continuity. But, it wasn't until issue #7, when Marv Wolfman arrived, that Tomb of Dracula hit its stride.
Under Wolfman, Tomb of Dracula slowly developed into more than just a book about a vampire. With a rich supporting cast (one of whom was Blade), the stories outgrew their "quest to stamp out Dracula" beginnings and became stories about people and emotions, all set within the framework of a monthly horror comic book (dare we call it "adult"?). Wolfman understood the limitations of featuring Dracula as the central figure of each story and, instead, crafted stories that involved Dracula, but were, at times, more about the people Dracula encountered: sort of in the spirit of the best Fu Manchu novels, where the title character is a presence and influence.
The horror presented here is visceral at times, at others psychological and understated. Grief and loss are important to Wolfman and these items are often presented in a wrenching fashion that far outstrips the ripping of throats and draining of blood. Along the way, we also learn more about Dracula; the noble, yet tragic figure, who revels in this vampiric power, but also must deal with the horror of being truly undead.
The series does have a couple of flaws. The continuity conscious reader will notice some huge holes in the early issues that were produced during the time Marvel was playing musical editor-in-chief. And one must also wonder why the stories from Giant-Size Dracula #2-5 were included (or even written in the first place). Wolfman also plays fast and loose with the vampire legends on occasion and, read in succession in a volume like this, it seems that Dracula had to die at least once every 10-12 issues due to some arcane editorial edict.
These problems aside, however, the stories presented here succeed due to the humanity presented in them; much in the same fashion as Alan Moore's Swamp Thing (and, when are we gonna see an Absolute edition of these stories, DC??). While I realize that gore fests seem to be the popular genre today, much of what we would call horror can only work if there is a human element that makes the situation and events horrifying. And in Tomb of Dracula, we find that rare pairing of humanity and horror, handled by an extremely talented team of creators.
Belongs on your sagging bookshelf, if you don't have the stories in some other form! SRP $99.99
Essential Man-Thing Vol. 2
Reprints Man-Thing (1974) #15-22, Man-Thing (1979) #1-11, Giant-Size Man-Thing #3-5, Marvel Team-Up #68, Marvel Two-In-One #43 and Doctor Strange #41 by a ton of writers and even more pencillers and inkers. I'd shy away from this one if I were you, since...well, lots of reasons. The last stories from the 1974 series were written by Gerber, but he had said about all he could about the character in the previous Essentials volume and these stories are okay, but not inspired and the artwork is only passable, since Jim Mooney was not a horror artist by any stretch of the imagination. The 1979 series was very uninspired, as were the stories from the Giant-Size issues, where the art gets downright ugly at times. The other stories are just filler and what you end up with is a collection of stories that don't really say anything about the character and you could spend your money elsewhere on something you might really enjoy. For the completist only. SRP $16.99
PURE IMAGINATION
Four Frightened Women
A reprinting of an early graphic novel from 1950 adapting a prose novel by mystery writer George Herman Coxe. Don't know anything more, but you might take a squint before you dive in. A bit of a question mark from the history of comics and I would recommend that you take a squint at it before you buy. SRP $10.00
Jack Magic
Hot on the heels of Evanier's biography of Kirby comes Theakston's take on the man and the artist. Not sure exactly what to expect, but it promises to be an overview of Kirby's life and career with lots of art and family pictures. Most likely worth a squint since Theakston had close ties to Jack and the Kirby family. SRP $25.00
TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING
The Collected Jack Kirby Collector Vol. 6
Reprints the complete contents of The Jack Kirby Collector #23-26 which included numerous interviews with Kirby and other comic pros, lots of uninked pencils and an previously unpublished 10 page story by Kirby. This edition will also include over 30 pieces of Kirby original art that has never been previously published. SRP $29.95
Alter Ego #80
A special Sword and Sorcery issue that will look at all them thar barbarian types that trundle about the comics swinging a mean sword. Conan is there, of course, but also the other Robert E. Howard creations, Brak the Barbarian, Nightmaster, Dagar, Warlord...well, you get the picture. Lots of rare art and also the usual features from the Fawcett Collector's of America. SRP $6.95
The Jack Kirby Collector #51
This issue features a whole bunch of items that just didn't seem to fit in a regular theme issue, so you get a rare interview with Jack, new interviews with Jim Lee and Adam Hughes, two pencil galleries, Mark Evanier's column and two more unpublished Kirby covers. Do remember that this is published in the oversized tabloid format. SRP $9.95
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