Archives
Bob’s Thoughts

June 2006

AC

NOTE: According to the listings on their website, the AC schedule is a bit behind as of this writing and the issues listed here may, or may not, show up this month.
America's Greatest Comics # 14
   An all Fiction House issue featuring Sheena, Señorita Rio, Gale Allen, Futura, Mysta and Kaanga — Jungle Lord by artists that include Matt Baker, Fran Hopper and Maurice Whitman. America's Greatest Comics tends to have more A-list stories than any of the other AC titles. Fiction House was often an also-ran during the Golden Age, but there were many gems scattered among their titles. Black will, I'm sure, be picking the gems for this one. Some of the stories will be shot from the original art! SRP $6.95
Best Of The West Roundup Special # 3
   Featuring Redmask, the Haunted Horseman, Durango Kid, Ken Maynard, Wild Bill Hickock, Black Diamond, American Eagle and Golden Arrow with art by Dick Ayers, Carl Pfeufer, Joe Certa, John Belfi, Fred Guardineer, Joe Maneely, William Overgard, Frank Bolle, John Severin, Ruben Moriera and Al Luster. The Westerns of the 50s and 60s were a bit different than those of today. Most were in the vein of the traditional western where there were good guys, bad guys, horses, six-guns and purty girls. The art in this period, however, ranged from very good to drop dead gorgeous on many of these books. Contains 14 stories that have all appeared previously in Best of the West. Only available through Diamond and NOT the AC webstore. SRP $21.95
Golden Age Greats Costumed Crusaders Special #1
   Another item only available through Diamond, this one will feature 14 stories that feature Black Terror, Fighting Yank, Golden Lad, Tomboy, Daredevil, Miss Victory, Phantom Lady, Miss Masque. Art is by Matt Baker, Mort Meskin, Jerry Robinson, LB Cole, Nina Albright, Charles Quinlan, Lee Elias and Nick Cardy, with 8 of the stories done by Robinson and Meskin and there is also an interview with Robinson. This is an excellent collection, mainly because of the chance to get all this Robinson and Meskin material in one place. The two of them were an excellent team and crafted some outstanding stories that featured great are AND story. All material has previously appeared in Golden-Age Greats. SRP $24.95
Men Of Mystery # 59
   A special Heroes of Quality Comics issue with Dollman, Manhunter, Kid Eternity, Lady Luck, T-Man and Torchy, by Bill Ward, John Spranger, Klaus Nordling, HG Hargis and others, all from the late 40s. During the Golden Age, I would consider Quality to rank right up there with Marvel and DC. Often their writing staff was often marginal at times, but their stable of artists was very strong...sometimes even superior to the other two companines. This issue would make a good introduction to what Quality produced.SRP $6.95

DARK HORSE

The Comics: An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art
   This is a new, revised edition of the book originally published in the early 70s. Written by Jerry Robinson, the same Jerry Robinson who had so much to do with Batman, the book is an historical overview of comic strips from their beginnings to the current time. Robinson was an extremely versatile artist and writer before he left comics to go into editorial cartooning and what makes this book so important is that Robinson not only understands how comics work, he can also explain it in terms that the non-artist can grasp. The previous printing of this volume has long been considered a definitive resource for those interested in the history of comic strips and, with the contents now updated to include many of the current classics (like Calvin & Hobbes and Doonesbury) this is really a good addition to your reference library. SRP $24.95

DC

Superman: Cover to Cover
   A sequel of sorts to the Batman volume, this coffee table book will reprint 270 Superman covers by a variety of artists, some of which will be grouped by theme, while others will be chosen by different writers, artists and media figures, who will write about their choices. With 240 pages, you know these aren't going to be one to a page. And why was this solicited for way back in February, anyway? SRP $39.99
Batman: the Dynamic Duo Archives Vol. 2
   Reprints Batman #168-171 and Detective Comics #334-339 by Fox, Herron, Finger Moldoff, Infantino, Giella, Greene and Anderson. More of the Silver Age of Batman, including the first appearance of the "New Look" logo (the yellow circle around the bat on Batman's chest) along with the return of The Penguin and The Riddler. These stories run the gamut from interesting to just okay, but are miles away from any current Batman story I can think of. What makes Batman interesting, in an historical sense, is that unlike most any character currently on the stands, the current incarnation of Batman probably has more in common with the original Golden Age character than it does with the character that was done in the Silver Age. To many, Infantino is the only artist to draw Batman and there is a healthy dose of his work here. What is even more interesting, is that DC is finally giving Shelly Moldoff credit for the stories he ghosted for Bob Kane. SRP $49.99
Showcase Present: Superman Vol. 2
   Reprints Action Comics #258-275 and Superman #134-145 by Coleman, Finger, Binder, Swan, Boring, Plastino and Schaffenberger. Another heaping dose of Weisinger era Superman. Weisinger was the editor on the Superman titles from the late 40s until his retirement in 1970. One of the main dictums of his tenure was that something new should occur each month, which is why the Weisinger edited stories have so much going on in them. Eventually, this approach to the Superman family added multiple Kryptonites, Superman robots and hundreds of citizens of Krypton to the Superman stable: much of which was (mercifully) wiped out by Crisis and the Byrne re-boot. Mr. Mxyzptlk, Braniac and Bizarro all show up and the cover shows Titano, the super ape (you know, the one with Kryptonite vision). These are enjoyable stories that were just starting to enter into the Weisinger era of silliness(in Superman #140, Bizarro becomes known as Bizarro #1!). At least there is only one Kryptonite here and it is green! Both this volume and the previous are definitely worth a squint. SRP $16.99

MARVEL

   The big news this month is that Neil Gaiman is taking a stab at reworking Kirby's Eternals and, after the job that he did on 1602, I am more than willing to take a look at this one, especially since the pencilling will be done by John Romita Jr. Don't quite know what to expect, but I think it will definitely be worth a squint.
   Of course this is also western month at Marvel and some of them look pretty good, too!
Marvel Milestones: Rawhide Kid and Two-Gun Kid
   Although Marvel isn't clear on exactly what will be in this issue, it appears to be the new orgins of both the Rawhide Kid and Two-Gun Kid from 1960 and 1962 respectively, both of which were done by Kirby. The western comic had a long history as a staple at all the comic companies, but it peaked out in the mid to late 50s. Kirby and Lee's take on the genre was to make The Rawhide Kid a super hero without powers...in other words, someone who could do the impossible, but without any special enhanced abilities. There are lots of stunts here (the Kid hits the bullseye everytime, even standing on his head), but most of all Kirby was able to give the series a sense of fun and adventure that was enjoyable as a good story, not just a western. If you can picture the B westerns of John Wayne and then take them up a couple of notches, you'll get the idea. Artists listed are Jack Kirby and Don Heck, which would seem to indicate that there is some extra western material done by Heck, who was one of the under-rated artists of the Marvel Bullpen. Heck entered the comic business in 1949 and did his best comic work when drawing non-superhero strips, so this western material should be good. Here is a great chance to get some excellent stories at a bargain price! Worth a squint! (more on The Rawhide Kid in the Masterworks listing farther down the page) SRP $3.99
< Get this issue of Marvel Milestones for $2.00 when you mention this column > Marvel Masterworks: Rawhide Kid Vol. 1
   Reprints Rawhide Kid #17-25 by Lee, Kirby, Heck, Ayers and Reinman. Like the Sgt. Fury Masterworks of a couple of months back, here is another collection of rare Kirby/Lee Silver Age material. Prior to the creation of the Fantastic Four, Kirby and Lee revamped The Rawhide Kid. Aside from the cosmetic changes (the character became a younger relative of the original Rawhide Kid with a new origin), the strips were done in a new style that made the characters into non-powered super-heroes: a technique the team would later use on Sgt. Fury and others. These are stories that set the tone for all the Marvel stories to follow, since they take the basics of the genre and then flip them around into something slightly off center. The cover to the Masterworks volume says it all, as the Rawhide Kid shoots a gun with one hand and twirls a gun with the other. In this volume you get around 18 pages of Kirby per issue, all of which are excellent and best described as hyper-active westerns that are nearly parodies of the genre. As an added bonus, there are also additional stories drawn by Don Heck, who was at his best drawing western and science fictional material. So, what's not to like. This one belongs on your overstocked bookshelf and will bring you a lot of enjoyment! SRP $49.99
Haunt of Horror: Edgar Allan Poe #2
   I wonder if anyone at Marvel reads the blurbs they put in their solicitations. The description says in part "each issue features three adaptations" and then they go on to list 4 story titles. In any event, Corben does an excellent job adapting Poe and this issue should be no exception. SRP $3.99
Eternals by Jack Kirby
   Finally Marvel begins to take a respectable approach to Kirby's work by actually collecting a full sequence of stories in one volume (and, in this case, the full series). What you get here is issues #1-19 and Annual #1 in an oversized hardback with (assumedly) new coloring. The problem is the $75 price tag, which will make all but the most dedicated steer away (And why this price is anyone's guess, since the Powers Definitive Hardcover Collection clocks in at 456 pages, but only has a ticket price of $29.99). While this was a much weaker series than New Gods, there are still a number of interesting bits throughout the series to make it a worthwhile read, although Jack's interest just wasn't in the series and the concept begins to run down after the first 10 issues (with the Annual being a bright spot that should be read somewhere after the "Uni-Mind" sequence). Afraid you're on your own on this one. Ordinarily, I would recommend most anything done by Kirby without a second thought, but this series is more of interest to those who have an historical interest in Kirby and want to read everything he did. SRP $75
Champions Classic Vol. 1
   Reprints Champions #1-11 by art by a bunch of people and art by another bunch. Since Marvel had The Avengers and Defenders, they tried their hand at a third team, The Champions. Unfortunately, it seems that the basic premise was to team up some X-folks (Angel and Iceman) with some other super-types (Hercules, Ghost Rider, and Black Widow) and that was about as far as it went. Oh, it was also set in Los Angeles rather than New York, something we all knew because it said so in each story and there were palm trees set among skyscrapers (didn't anyone do research?). Anyway, the other title for this series might have been The Losers, but DC already had it tied up. Except for some nifty Byrne pencils near the end of the run (you only get one story here), there isn't much to recommend here at all. One also has to wonder why this is Vol. 1, when there were only 17 issues of the title to begin with...better this had been and Essentials volume with some filler material. Run away, quickly! SRP $19.99
Essential Savage She-Hulk Vol. 1
   Reprints The Savage She-Hulk #1-25 by Lee, Kraft, Buscema and Vosburg and a whole slew of inkers. As the story goes, Jennifer Walters was related in some fashion to Bruce Banner and got a blood transfusion from her relative and she became the Savage She-Hulk as a result. *Yawn!* In fact, the series was so lame, I don't really understand why this first She-Hulk sequence got put into book form, except for the character's ties to current Marvel continuity. Ignore this one and hold out for a second volume that would start with Byrne's re-working of the character as a super-hero/humor book. It was excellent! SRP $16.99
Essential Fantastic Four Vol. 5
   Reprints Fantastic Four #84-110 and Annual #7-8 by Lee, Kirby, Romita and Buscema. Wrapping up the Kirby run on the title with the (uncomfortable) Romita issues and the beginning of Buscema's tenure on the title thrown in for good measure. It is now possible to posess the entirety of Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four, either in hardback or, like this volume, hefty trade paperbacks. Why should you care? Simply, the words "World's Greatest Comic Magazine!" that appeared on each issue were true and the entirety of Kirby's run on the title is some of the best comics that Kirby ever produced. Although these later FF stories were basically rehashes of what had gone before, as Kirby stopped creating new characters and concepts for Marvel around #60, but the stories are still uniformly excellent and miles above most of the current comics on the stands.SRP $14.99

PURE IMAGINATION

Will Eisner: The Edge of Genius Vol. 1
   A 160 page volume featuring early work by Eisner from 1937-1940. Eisner, even in the early years, had a certain flair comic books and his early, pre-Spirit, work established a style that eventually became the Quality Comics house style. Should be interesting and is scheduled to include commentary by Theakston and a rare interview with Eisner about the early years. SRP $25.00

TWOMORROWS

Alter Ego Collection Vol. 1
   A tradepaperback collection the first two issues of Alter Ego that were originally published in 1999 along with 30 pages of new material. Includes Gil Kane, Julius Schwartz and Gardner Fox aon the creation of the Silver Age Atom, a Stan Lee Roast and Thomas, Ordway and Machlan on the creation of Infinity, Inc. SRP $21.95
Alter Ego #59
   Spotlights on Batman and Superman, including an interview with Sheldon Moldoff on Bob Kane (Moldoff served as Kane's ghost artist for umpteen gazillion years). SRP $6.95
Comic Book Nerd #1
   In a bit of change of pace for Twomorrows, Pete Von Sholly has assembled a parody of the current comic industry and fan press. Read the wonderment of The Comics Unrinal, Ultra Ego, or Purviews: all presented with tongue firmly in cheek. SRP $8.95

A BIT OF NEWS

   On March 23, 2006, a federal judge found in favor of the heirs of Jerry Siegel in their suit to terminate DC's copyright of the character of Superboy and established that the copyright reverted to them as of November of 2004. While this isn't real earth-shaking news, it does put a different spin on Superboy and his future with DC.
   The Superboy at the heart of the Siegel suit is the same character who has just made a return to the DC Universe: a character who was adopted by the Kents, went by the name of Clark Kent as a teen and went on to become Superman when he became an adult. The Siegel's also claim that this character is the same that was first introduced to DC by Jerry Siegel as early as 1938 and that the TV series Smallville (the subject of a suit that is being filed now) is pretty much a play-by-play realization of Siegel's original proposal.
   The Smallville issue aside, DC now has to decide whether they want to pay the Siegel family royalties for the use of the character, or simply eliminate Superboy from the DCU until the current copyright expires around 2023. And, just to make things more complicated, while the Siegels own the copyright to Superboy, DC, apparently, owns the copyright, which keeps the Siegels from allowing another publisher from using the character. <TOP>