December 2007
DID YOU KNOW?
Often, the biggest comment we get about these columns is, "Where can I find (fill in the title)?" Well, I'm here to tell you it isn't that difficult! Although the comic books that are reviewed on the Pulp Fiction website are periodical in nature (meaning that once their gone, they usually are gone, but you can always ask Mike), the Archives, Masterworks, Omnibuses, Absolute Editions and other collections that are mentioned generally remain in print for quite sometime.
If you have a particular title in mind that you want to purchase as either a Christmas gift for yourself or for someone else, or at any other time of the year, check with Mike to see if the title is still available from the distributor. Usually, most titles can be ordered while you wait and the item(s) in question can be delivered within one to two weeks!
So, if you read about it on the website, or saw it on the shelf and now its gone, don't despair! Ask Mike!
AC COMICS
Best of the West #65
Strap on your six-gun and join Gardner Fox, Ray Krank, Paul S. Newman, Frank Bolle, Dick Ayers, Joe Certa and Fred Guardineer as they spin yarns of The Durango Kid, Redmask, Monte Hale and The Haunted Horseman for the minuscule SRP of $6.95!
Men of Mystery Spotlight Special: Black Terror
Joining the ranks of titles with colons in them, AC puts together another collection of material they have already reprinted. This time, it is stories featuring The Black Terror and it might be a surprisingly good collection, as 8 of the 13 stories reprinted here are by Jerry Robinson and Mort Meskin. Jerry Robinson, of course, is best remembered for his work with Bob Kane on Batman, but his other comic work is of equal quality and worth perusing. The stories here are from the period when Robinson and Meskin set up their own comic shop in the 40s, where they produced a number of titles for a variety of publishers.These stories alone are worth the high price of admission and the additional work by Ralph Mayo, Ruben Moriera, George Tuska and Sheldon Moldoff, while not as good as the Robinson/Meskin material, is still good. Outrageous SRP of $24.95
DARK HORSE
The Savage Sword of Conan
It is often hard to get excited about a project when the publisher won't give you any information about what is going to be in the finished package. In this case, I will make some educated guesses and then it's all up to you. Dark Horse goes on and on about how this will be the first in a series of trade paperbacks collecting the black and white stories from Marvel's Savage Sword of Conan. Since this first volume will be 542 pages, it is safe to assume that it will contain the Conan stories from at least the first 25 issues of the title, along with stories from Savage Tales. These would include stories by Barry Windsor-Smith, a gorgeous collection of stories done by John Buscema with inks by Alfredo Alcala and other stories by talents such as Alex Nino, Jim Starlin and Walt Simonson. In fact, the only problem with the stories from Savage Sword is they often seemed forced, in that they tended to run rather long and, due to deadlines, the art looked rushed at times. On the flip side, Buscema and Alcala knocked themselves out on some of the early issues and produced artwork that exceeded Windsor-Smith's work, which, coming from me, is high praise indeed.What is also interesting, is that Dark Horse is giving the printed size of the book as 7 X 10: a size that is a bit larger than either the Essentials or Showcase volumes and one that might solve the problems of proportion from the magazine size pages to a smaller size. So, I'm going to suggest you give this one a good squint and, guardedly, suggest that you add it to your sagging bookshelf, since there are some wonderful comics in this one, provided they do a good job of reprinting them. SRP $17.95
Batman/Grendel
Got someone on your Christmas list and don't know what to get them? Here's a great item reprinting both of the Batman/Grendel miniseries that came out over 10 years ago; both written and drawn by Matt Wagner. Stories were excellent in both story and art and this is yet another book that belongs up on your sagging bookshelf. If you enjoyed Batman and the Monster Men, then you know how well Wagner does Batman and this collection is no exception! SRP $19.95
DC
DC is reviving another classic character when the Bat Lash 6 issue series starts this month. Of special interest is that Sergio Aragones, who worked on the original series, is listed as co-author. John Severin provides the art and the Simonson cover is done in a Nick Cardy style. Might be worth a squint. SRP $2.99
The Spirit Archives Vol. 23
Reprints the Spirit section for the second half of 1951 (yeesh, they've been doing these for so long, they don't even list the contents anymore) by Will Eisner and company. Great stories from the 50s and this, and all the other volumes, belong on your sagging bookshelf. What I'm waiting for is to see what a full set will go for on eBay when DC finishes this series...
Don't even bother looking for the Showcase Present: Jonah Hex Vol. 2 due out this month...it's been cancelled!
Batman/Superman: Saga of the Super Sons
Reprints stories from World's Finest Comics #215-216, 221-222, 224, 228, 230, 231, 233, 238, 242, 263 and Elseworlds 80-Page Giant #1 written by Bob Haney with art by Dick Dillin, Murphy Anderson and others. More years ago than I care to remember, DC inserted a continuity in World's Finest that dealt with the sons of Superman and Batman. Their mothers were never named and, I don't recall the stories being imaginary, but my brain ain't what it used to be.The solicitation claims that this is the complete sage of the Super Sons in one volume, but I'm not sure how these would read today. DC was attempting to up their market share at the time (which was sliding fast compared to Marvel) and felt that young and hip would do the trick, whether the stories were good or not. I'll leave this one up to you. SRP $19.99
Showcase Presents: The Brave and The Bold: Batman Team-Ups Vol. 2
Reprints Brave and The Bold #88-109 by Bob Haney, Denny O'Neil, Neal Adams, Nick Cardy, Jim Aparo and others. Here's another heaping helping of Batman team-ups, most of which are really good stories. Jim Aparo was a vastly under-rated artist, who came up through the ranks in the 60s: first at Charlton and then at DC. His style is a twist on Adams and quite distinctive and pleasing. A little known fact is that Aparo used to pencil, ink and letter all the books he worked on, so he could control all aspects of his art (and didn't have to draw anything that would be later covered by a word balloon). Although Haney occasionally brings in story elements that happen off camera, the stories are very enjoyable. Take a squint and you'll be hooked. SRP $16.99
Showcase Presents: Justice League of America Vol. 3
Reprints Justice League of America #37-60 written by Gardner Fox with art by Mike Sekowsky and others. Although Sekowsky's work has never been my cup of tea, these are good stories and include not one, but two of the annual team-ups of the JLA and the JSA, including #55, which blew my mind when I was a youngster, since it showed a grown-up Robin on the cover! Worth a squint and should be on your bookshelf, if you don't have the stories in some other form. SRP $16.99
FANTAGRAPHICS
Nothing of interest this month
GEMSTONE PUBLISHING
About the only item to point out in the world of Disney this month is that Comics and Stories #688 will begin serializing another Gottfredson Mickey Mouse serial, "The Gleam".
EC Archives: Crime Suspenstories Vol. 1
Reprints the first 6 issues of the title with a forward by Max Allan Collins and art and story by Wally Wood, Harvey Kurtzman, the under-rated Johnny Craig, Al Feldstein and the rest of the gang. The main drawback to Crime Suspenstories was that the stories weren't crime stories in the sense that we think of them today. There are no car chases, very little gunplay and, in fact, you have to look really hard to find a gangster, a private detective or even a police station. Granted, most all the stories for the title are about a crime of some sort, but they could have appeared in most any other EC title, although there are bits of noir elements in the Johnny Craig stories that sets them apart from the rest. Don't get me wrong, these are entertaining stories, but just don't make it as crime stories, especially when compared to the Lev Gleason or Simon & Kirby crime books, or even more modern crime tales such as Stray Bullets or the crime comics of Ed Brubaker (particularly Criminal). Not the strongest of EC titles, but one worth squinting at and, if you don't have it in another form, adding to your sagging bookshelf. SRP $49.95
IMAGE
The Next Issue Project #1: Fantastic Comics #24
Don't often mention Image Comics, but this (ongoing?) series might be interesting. Apparently, each issue will be a "new" issue of a long cancelled Golden Age title by a variety of creators. This first issue will be a 24th issue of Fantastic Comics featuring Samson, Stardust, Flip Falcon and others with art and story by Erik Larsen, Joe Casey, Howard Chaykin, Tom Yeates, Fred Hembeck and others. 9 stories in 64 full color pages with an SRP of $5.99. Worth a squint!
MARVEL
Marvel has a new series coming from J. Michael Straczynski that is based on Golden Age characters of the past and has a special preview issue to generate interest. The Twelve #0 will reprint the origins of Rockman from USA Comics #1, Laughing Mask from Daring Mystery Comics #2 and Phantom Reporter from Daring Mystery Comics #3. As the Rockman origin was drawn by Basil Wolverton, this one might be worth a squint. SRP $19.99
Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Human Torch Vol. 2
Reprints Human torch #5b-8 (yes, there were two #5s) by Burgos, Everett, Spillane, Wolverton and others. The main draw here is the ongoing battle between the Torch and Sub-Mariner in each issue, which, to my amazement, were usually drawn by both Burgos AND Everett; often combining their talents on the same panels. Of course, since the stories all take place during WWII, we also have a lot of Axis bashing, not only during the Torch/Sub-Mariner battles, but also in the back-up stories, as well. And, it is interesting that the DC heroes fought WWII on the homefront, battling spies and saboteurs, while the Marvel heroes were constantly fighting in the front lines. Lots of fun, lots of energy and something that belongs on the sagging bookshelf. SRP $59.99 (note the new, higher price)
Marvel Masterworks: Rawhide Kid Vol. 2
Reprints Rawhide Kid #26-35 by Kirby , Heck, Ayers, Davis and Lee. Another heaping dose of Marvel Silver Age western action. Due to other commitments, such as the Fantastic Four, Kirby dropped the Rawhide Kid at issue #32 and other hands (primarily Dick Ayers drawing in a Kirby-esque style) took over the strip, although Kirby continued to do covers for a time. This is probably the last volume of Rawhide Kid we will see in this format, since there ain't no more Kirby Rawhide Kid to be reprinted.What makes this one even more interesting is that besides the Kirby/Ayers work in #26-32, #33-35 are almost entirely by Jack Davis (How can you tell if Jack Davis draws a western? The horse looks like it wants to talk!). Definitely another addition to your sagging bookshelf. SRP $54.99
Essential Doctor Strange Vol. 3
Reprints Doctor Strange #1-29, Annual #1 and Tomb of Dracula #44-45 by Englehart, Wolfman, Thomas, Brunner , Colan, Adkins, Starlin, and others. While many Marvel characters have had their ups and downs in terms of story quality, Dr. Strange has probably had more than his share. There is the brilliance of the Ditko run on the character in Strange Tales (found in the first Essential volume) and then a big gap of mundanity until Englehart took over the character during the end of the character's run in Marvel Premiere (found at the end of the second volume with great art by Frank Brunner). Here we have quite a mixed bag. It starts with the Englehart/Brunner Silver Dagger story and then continues up through the Englehart/Colan stories that include a crossover with Tomb of Dracula and then ends with an aborted storyline in #18 that Marvel found unacceptable. After that, it's musical artists and writers and nobody can seem to get a firm handle of the character, until the Roger Stern authored tales, beginning in #27, start to get back on track. Personally, I found the Englehart stories to be very close to an "adult" storyline and you might want this volume, just for them, as they are worth reading. SRP $16.99
Essential Power Man and Iron Fist Vol. 1
Reprints Power Man and Iron Fist #50-72 and 74-75 by Claremont, Hannigan, Byrne, Zeck, Sal Buscema, Gammill and others. Long, long ago, when Power Man's own book was foundering (mainly because it was so stereotypical as to be laughable,), Marvel decided to combine Power Man with a hero who had just lost his own strip (due to boredom)...Iron Fist. The result is what is reprinted here. Much as I dissed the Essential volume that was Power Man alone, I have some fondness the teaming of Power Man and Iron Fist. Jo Duffy had a successful run writing this book and you get some great art from short runs by Byrne and Zeck and then a long run by Kerry Gammill, who worked for Marvel before he moved over to draw Superman for DC. The combination of Cage's street smarts with the philosophy of Iron Fist is well handled and the supporting cast of Misty Knight and others, actually makes for some good reads. Take a look before you buy, but you may be pleasantly surprised. SRP $16.99
PURE IMAGINATION PUBLISHING
Wally Wood's Wayout
Not a collection of comic stories, but rather a 160 page collection of Wood's science fiction illustrations done for a variety of publishers in, I believe, the 50s. According to the publisher, 90% of these drawings have never before been reprinted. SRP $25.00
SANCTUM PRODUCTIONS
Doc Savage Double Novel Vol. 13
Doc and his gang go on the trail of an ancient mystery in "Brand of the Werewolf" and then Doc's cousin Pat Savage is introduced when she travels with Doc to the strange island called "Fear Cay." Original pulp covers and illustrations are included and historical articles are by Will Murray. Both novels are written by Lester Dent. SRP $12.95
Shadow Double Novel Vol. 14
The Shadow sets out to solve mysteries in Chinatown in "The Grove of Doom" and then must find the truth behind a series of murders in "The Masked Lady", a novel with more then 13,000 words restored that had been previously deleted in earlier reprintings. Original covers and interior art, with commentary by Will Murray. SRP $12.95
TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING
Note that Twomorrows is offering some of their publications in a downloadable form at a lower cost then the printed editions. If you are interested, head over to the Twomorrows website and check out the "Digital Edition" link in the navigation on the left.
Modern Masters Vol. 15: Mark Schultz
An overview of the creator of Xenozoic Tales that focuses on both his career as an artist and a writer with a long interview and lots of art, both rare and unpublished. SRP $14.95
Alter Ego #74
A focus on Stan Lee with interviews with Lee and other creators and rare and unseen art. Also features the FCA material assembled by P.C. Hamerlinck. SRP $6.95
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