July 2007
THIS JUST IN...
According to IDW (via CBG), the new Harold Gray's Little Orphan Annie series, scheduled to start in February, 2008, will begin with the very first strips from August, 1924 and have an SRP of $39.99.
AC COMICS
The Crypt of Horror Vol. 4
More vintage horror form the 50s, with much of the material being from the pre-Code era. Bob Powell and Dick Briefer are included along with Jack Kamen and Wally Wood. I find it interesting that I've never seen a copy of these horror volumes on the shelves, leading me to wonder if they are selling out that fast, or if the SRP of $24.95 is keeping away both retailers and readers.
Best of the West #63
More classic Western action from the pages of yesteryear. The Durango Kid, Redmask, & The Haunted Horseman, as drawn by Fred Guardineer, Frank Bolle and Dick Ayers and written by Gardner Fox, Ray Krank & Rae Herman. Special feature of this issue is a chance to see the western art of John Buscema on "The Return of Wild Bill Pecos". SRP $6.95
MEN OF MYSTERY #67
More Fawcett material featuring Mr. Scarlet, Dollman, Manhunter, Major Midnight, The Black Terror and others as written and drawn by Otto Binder, Bill Woolfolk, Carl Pfeufer, Al Bryant Mort Meskin, Jerry Robinson and Leonard Frank. SRP $9.95
DARK HORSE
Chronicles of Conan Vol. 12: The Beast King of Abombi and Other Stories
Reprints 10 issues of the Marvel Conan the Barbarian comic by Roy Thomas, John Buscema, Ernie Chan and Sal Buscema. Ya just gotta love these solicitations...no issue numbers, outside of Roy Thomas, the others listed are artists and, to be perfectly frank, this series of reprints should have ceased long ago when the Marvel material started be repetitious...like around #50. In any event, this might reprint #91-100, which would include the death of Belit, but, since Dark Horse won't tell me anything, I'll just keep mum and you can take your chances. Don't know if I ever mentioned it, but the reason that Conan became an exercise in boredom was that John Buscema had a contract with Marvel to do ALL the Conan work, although he only had to do loose layouts. This meant that 'ole John B. was doing in excess of 100 pages per month at his high point and whatever turned up on the printed page was courtesy of the inkers, if they had their head into the project. SRP $16.95
DC
Seven Soldiers of Victory Archives Vol. 2
Reprints Leading Comics #5-8 written by Joe Samachson and drawn by Ed Dobrotka, Maurice Del Bourgo, Joe Kubert and others. The adventures of the Justice Society in All-Star Comics were such a success, that DC decided they had to come up with another crime-fighting group and so, the Seven Soldier of Victory were born. They were quite a varied lot (since the big guns were all in the JSA), so their membership was Green Arrow, Speedy, The Vigilante, The Crimson Avenger, The Shining Knight, the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy. These stories also fit into an interesting historical niche, since they were produced during WWII and most all the top names in the business had either been drafted, or had enlisted. The artists working during this time, were either too old, too young, or had a medical condition that kept them from active service, which is why there are no major names associated with this volume, as opposed to the first one. I don't believe that any of these stories have ever been reprinted before, so here's a chance to read some newly uncovered Golden Age stories! SRP $49.99
Showcase Presents: Batgirl Vol. 1
Reprints an unknown number of stories from Batman and Detective Comics by John Broome, Carmine Infantino, Gil Kane and a bunch of other folks. Apparently, the folks at DC feel we should just buy these books on faith and have no intention of giving us contents. Basically, you can blame this book (and other DC concepts) on Captain Marvel. Back in the Golden Age, Capt. Marvel had a huge supporting cast, including Capt. Marvel, Jr., Mary Marvel, the Lieutenant Marvels and, I'm not making this up, Hoppy, the Marvel Bunny. For some reason, somebody in the editorial hierarchy of DC thought these extra characters were a good idea and so, we eventually got not only Batgirl, but also Batwoman, Bat Hound, Bat Plane, Bat Copter, Batmobile and, if anyone had a sense of humor at DC, Batman would have probably relieved himself in the Bat-Room. These are the type of things that seemed cool when I read them as a kid, but I look back at them today with a mixture of fondness and nostalgia while another portion of my brain is gagging at the stupidity of it all. I never warmed to this Batgirl (who was a tie-in to the TV show), since she just didn't look as good as Yvonne Craig (what a babe!). So, it's up to you. SRP $16.99
Showcase Presents: Martian Manhunter Vol. 1
Reprints an unknown number of stories by John Broome, Joe Certa and the ever popular "and others". I'm tired of this lack of information! SRP $16.99
The Original Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes Vol. 2: Wonder Woman
This is a reprint of the book originally published in 1976 and gives you everything you could want to know about Wonder Woman...at least up until 1976. As with the Batman volume, author Michael Fleischer read through all the Wonder Woman appearances to create this definitive work on the Amazon Princess. SRP $19.99
GEMSTONE
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories
Features a tale by Dan Jippes, "The Abominator" and more of Floyd Gottfredson's newspaper story, "Mickey's Dangerous Double!". SRP $7.99
For those of you with more money than sense, we present the latest overpriced monstrosity, EC Archives: Weird Science Vol. 1-Limited Leatherbound with an SRP of $150. Yep, you heard that right, folks. For 3 times the price of the standard edition (which, as regular readers know walks the line between "too expensive" and "just right"), you can get exactly the same contents bound in leather, a limitation of 300 copies and Al Feldstein's signature in each and every one. Sheesh, at least try to make it seem special...like maybe a double volume or something? Wasting money on the production of a vanity item of this type is absurd, especially when that money could be invested in publishing other material that might reach a wider audience, or in lowering the overall cost of a publisher's product line. Eventually, comics will price themselves out of the market and this type of item is only hastening that demise.
IDW PUBLISHING
The Complete Terry and the Pirates Vol. 1
Beginning a 6 volume reprinting of the complete Canniff run on the strip, with Sunday pages reproduced in full color and the dailies in black and white. Scheduled to include all the strips from October 1934 through the end of 1936. Unlike the Dick Tracy volumes, this series will also feature a larger size and will be done in a 11" X 8.5" format, which should solve some of the reproduction problems of the Tracy volumes. The term "genius" is often overused, but not when applied to the work of Milton Caniff. Terry and the Pirates was probably the greatest adventure strip to ever appear in American newspapers and that it was written and drawn by one man only makes it that much greater. Within the confines of the newspaper format, Caniff was able to create exotic locales, strong characters, adventure and cliffhanger endings that still are highly readable today. And, the most important part of the package, is that they don't read sequentially as some strips do, but flow together seamlessly from one adventure to the next. This is a book you really should get Mike to order for you, as it represents the best of what newspaper strips were, and could be if only somebody would give them a chance. This is a must-have item that every sagging bookshelf can display with pride, as, under Caniff, Terry and the Pirates was probably the greatest newspaper strip ever produced. SRP $49.99
IMAGE
Ordinarily, Image doesn't get mentioned around here, simply because their material doesn't tend to fit into the parameters of our reporting (reprints, don'tcha know), but they are bringing out one volume that needs some warning labels. Entitled Jack Kirby's Silver Star it is planned as a 144 page, oversized, hardcover book reprinting the Silver Star series that was Jack's last published series. Produced for Pacific Comics in the 80s, inks are by Mike Royer and the book has been re-colored by Erik Larsen based on the original printing. SRP of $34.99
The problem is that this is a book that should not have been brought out. Much as I love Kirby's work, I do recognize that, as with any creator, he had high and low points in his career. Unfortunately, Silver Star was one of the low points. When the book appeared, Jack was working in the animation industry and his ability to draw was slowly deteriorating, possibly due to an auto accident a number of years before. The way I heard it, Silver Star was a rejected outline for an animated series and Jack assembled the book series from material he had done some years before combined with new material and put together a story to tie together what had originally been a proposal, not a finished product.
The end result was not pretty and this is where I question Image's intent in producing this book. There are many ways to honor a creator and publishing the work that was not his best is not one of them. Publish a sketchbook. Reprint the pencil version of the Heroes and Villains book. Write something about what the creator means to you. But don't produce what is a seeming attempt to simply cash in on his name.
MARVEL
Marvel Illustrated: The Man In The Iron Mask #1 (of 6)
Another entry into the Marvel illustrated classics line and ain't it nifty the way each book falls into 6 issues of the comic? Makes you wonder what is being added or deleted. Anyway, Roy Thomas is adapting the Alexander Dumas novel with pencils by Hugo Petrus. What I'm most interested in is whether Thomas is going to tell the story most are expecting, or is going to attempt to adapt the entire novel (if you've never read it, the story about the guy in an iron mask is only a small portion of a much larger work which tells what finally happened to the Three Musketeers). SRP $2.99 each
Avengers Classic #2
Somehow, I just skipped over the first issue (why, I don't know), but this one is purportedly going to reprint Avengers #2 by Lee and Kirby in its entirety. Good story and the new cover by Art Adams looks really nifty. SRP $2.99
Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 6
Reprints (The Mighty)Thor (Vol. 1) #141-151 by Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and inks by Vince Colletta (yeah, inkers get credit, too!) These are great stories as Thor meets the Destroyer, the Wrecker and even Death, herself. Also features the Warriors 3 and the Lady Sif (what were they thinking?). What makes these stories so great are the on-going sub-plots that were so masterfully added to the story. The main narrative would be about Thor battling some great menace (either science fictional or mythological), but there would also be ongoing bits of business regarding Thor, his relationship with Lady Sif, Don Blake and, most importantly, the rebellion of Thor against his father Odin. Definitely belongs up on the second bookshelf you've had to build to hold all the wonderful books that just keep coming out! SRP $54.99
Devil Dinosaur by Jack Kirby Omnibus
Reprints Devil Dinosaur #1-9 written and drawn by Jack and inked (I believe) by Mike Royer. Sorry, but much as I like Jack's work, I would only take a copy of this one if it was free. Coming from the last period of Kirby work at Marvel, it is a juvenile comic and, if read on that level, it works pretty well, but lacks much of the charm that a juvenile comic should have. Much of Jack's final work was quite pedestrian. All the elements were there (the ideas, the characters and the art), but I don't believe that Jack's heart was in the work any longer and that he was filling pages with stories that he really had no interest in (the exception being Captain America). These stories are a great example of this problem: they are professional, they tell a story, but they lack a certain involvement on the part of their creator. Gotta vote no on this one and suggest you save your money for something else. SRP $29.99
Invaders Classics Vol. 1
Reprints Giant-Size Invaders #1, Invaders #1-9 and Marvel Premiere #29-30 written by Roy Thomas and art by Frank Robbins, Rich Buckler, Dick Ayers and Don Heck. I never liked Frank Robbins art until this series and it is his loose-limbed, distorted characters that are probably the main draw (pun intended) here. The Invaders featured Captain America and Bucky, the Sub-Mariner, the Human Torch and Toro as they battled the Nazis in the idealized war years (that being World War II) that Roy Thomas has spent much of his career writing about. The stories from Marvel Premiere feature The Liberty Legion, another wartime group that Thomas created during this same period. These are good stories that are quite enjoyable and deserve a place up on your bookshelf. Thomas had a fascination about the years of his youth and, if the era of WWII is of interest to you, these stories are quite well researched. SRP $24.99
Captain America: War & Remembrance
Reprints Captain America #247-255 by Stern, Byrne and Rubinstein. Long after the Englehart years (which I consider one of the heights of the series) and just after Kirby's last take on the character, John Byrne and Roger Stern gave us an excellent run on Cap that stands right up there with the best of them. Featuring Cap running for president,some guests from the X-Men, old villains and a tremendous re-telling of Cap's origin, you can't beat the Stern and Byrne team with a stick and it is unfortunate that the creators left the book over a contract dispute with Marvel. If you don't already have this collection in its previous reprinting, this is one you must have! SRP $24.99
Essential Defenders Vol. 3
Reprints The Defenders #31-61 and Annual #1 by a slew of writers and even more pencillers and inkers. Marvel's favorite "non-team" continue with some nice twists and turns. What I find interesting is that Marvel's solicitation for the volume leaves out any listing for artist Keith Giffen, who was just starting out at this time. I'm also surprised that David Anthony Kraft is left off the list of writers, since I've long considered him to be one of the stronger writers who never really hit the big time. These quibbles aside, this is an enjoyable volume and, if you don't buy it for any other reason, pick it up for #48-50, which wraps up some dangling plot lines from Steranko's tenure on Nick Fury. This is the last volume of the title you will need to buy, as the art and story begin to wander off into really odd places to the end of the series. SRP $16.99
SANCTUM PRODUCTIONS
The Shadow Double Novel Vol. 9
In what is being billed as "Foreshadowing"-The Batman Special, the Shadow battles an underworld kingpin in "Lingo", a Walter Gibson story that inspired the Batarang. Then, the Shadow investigates the chemical syndicate murders in Theodore Tinsley's "Partners in Peril": a tale that Anthony Tollin shows, in a related article, was the model for Batman's debut in Detective Comics #27. Also included is a tale by Tinsley about a crime boss named...The Joker! An article by Will Murray further documents the Batman/Shadow connection and it all comes in a nifty cover by George Rozen. SRP $12.95
TWOMORROWS
TwoMorrows may be experimenting with downloadable issues of their magazines in the future, due to the rising cost of postage and high paper costs. Stay tuned for details!
Alter Ego #70
A spotlight on Roy Thomas during the 70s, looking at his time as Marvel editor and writer of many of the company's leading titles. Lots of art and reminiscences from those who knew him then (including Stan Lee). Also, the usual departments and the FCA. SRP $6.95
<TOP>