March 2007
The Rumor Mill
According to John Morrow over at TwoMorrows Publishing, Marvel has a project in the works that will reprint the long lost story that was slated to appear in Fantastic Four #102, rejected by Stan Lee, and then cut up for use in Fantastic Four #108. For more details, take a look here: Tomorrows' News Today
AC
In theory, AC is caught up and back on schedule, but I'm having trouble getting confirmation. What should be out this month:
Men Of Mystery Golden Age Grand Slam Vol. 1
A 100 page collection slated to reprint 12 stories starring Manhunter, Black Condor, Bulletman, Torchy, The Heap and others by the likes of Lou Fine, John Spranger, Ernie Schroeder and others. Most of this material is top-notch and a chance to read The Heap alongside The Black Condor makes for a fine collection. AC makes the notation that this material originally appeared in Men of Mystery Comics #51 and 56.SRP $21.95
Dark Horse
Nothing of interest this month.
DC
Superman: Action Comics Archives Vol. 6
Reprints the Superman stories from Action Comics #69-85 by bunches of folks, including Siegel, Shuster, Schwartz and Sikela. This volume continues to forge ahead and the stories presented here are from 1944-45. By this time, Siegel and Shuster were running their own studio to keep pace with the demand for Superman material, hence the variety of creator credits. Worth a squint and worth adding to your bookshelf. SRP $49.99. Do note that if you are interested in the early adventures of Superman, Mike can order the Superman Chronicles volumes (there are 2 at this point) and they will give you a relatively inexpensive taste of the early Man of Steel. Superman was the champion of the oppressed as originally envisioned and he is probably the character who has strayed the farthest from his Golden Age roots.
Superman/Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told
Reprints Superman #76, World's Finest #142, 159, 176, 207, Man of Steel #3, Batman & Superman World's Finest #7, Supermam/Batman Secret Files 2003 and Superman/Batman Annual #1 by Edmond Hamilton, Jeph Loeb, Curt Swan, Neal Adams, Ed McGuiness and a host of others. Back in the early days of the DC Universe, the two biggest starts, Superman and Batman, were considered to be best of friends. They hung out together, fought evil together...even celebrated birthdays and played practical jokes on one another. All was well with the duo, until Frank Miller created The Dark Knight Returns. From that story onwards, while not adversaries, the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel simply tolerated one another and, to my mind, the comic world is a bit poorer for it. Most of these stories are from the simpler times when Supes and Bats hung out together. The Composite Superman is here (one of my favorites) and the first team up of the duo, along with some of the later stories where our heroes are at odds. Worth a squint. SRP #19.99
Crisis on Multiple Earths: the Team-Ups Vol. 2
Reprints The Atom #29 and 36, The Brave and The Bold #62, The Flash #170 and 173, Green Lantern #45 and 52 and The Spectre #3 by Gardner Fox, John Broome, Gil Kane, Carmine Infantino, Neal Adams and lots of other folks. One of the major features of DC in the 60s was the crossing over of the Golden Age characters with their Silver Age counterparts. For many of us, this was our first introduction to the Golden Age characters and the idea of having two different Earths was quite intriguing (it didn't get confusing until later.). This is the second volume of Silver Age team-ups that don't really fit into any other format. I wish they would do one Showcase volume to cover the pre-Batman material in The Brave and The Bold, but it seems that DC wants to just trickle those stories out in collections like this. I always found crossovers between the earths fun, but you may have much of this material in other forms, so check that bookshelf before you buy! SRP $14.99
Showcase Presents: Hawkman Vol. 1
Reprints The Brave and the Bold #34-36, #42-44 and #51, Mystery in Space #87-90 and Hawkman #1–11 written by Gardner Fox and Bob Haney with pictureography by Joe Kubert, Gil Kane, Carmine Infantino and other folks. Here's a heaping dose of Hawkman from one of his prime periods. Not only do you get the beginnings of the Silver Age Hawkman, you also get a team up with The Atom and a couple of stories that team Hawkman with Adam Strange and, even though DC won't tell you about it (along with leaving out the issue numbers that we've included here), you get the work of Murphy Anderson on the Hawkman/Adam Strange stories. I can remember seeing the DC house ads for Hawkman when I was a kid and I must say that when I finally got to read them as an adult, I wasn't disappointed. Kubert's art was excellent on Hawkman and, much as I admire the Golden Age version of the character, I think that Carter Hall's costume was way cooler. Another book worth both the squint and the buying. SRP $16.99
Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery Vol. 2
Reprints House Of Mystery #195-211. One of the interesting facets of Orlando's tenure as editor on the book was the mixture of artists and writers he brought on board. In any given issue, you might find a cover by Wrightson or Kaluta, interiors by Adams, Wrightson, Sparling, Aparo, Grandenetti, stories by Wolfman or Wein and, in order to keep costs down on the book, there were also reprints from the earlier DC books, including work by Kirby, Leonard Starr and others. Mix into this the regular contributions of Sergio Arragones and it is easy to see why House of Mystery was considered to be an artist book during Orlando's run. Also keep in mind that the DC anthology books do have a very important place in the history of comics: they were a training ground for aspiring professionals; an outlet that just doesn't exist today. Many of the artists who bloomed in the 70s and 80s got a leg up working in House of Mystery and were trained, in no small part, by Orlando. This volume should be no exception to the mix and well worth adding to your sagging bookshelf (I'm currently reading the first volume and find it quite enjoyable!). SRP $16.99
GEMSTONE
A light month for Gemstone. Uncle Scrooge #364 has a Barks story, Walt Disney's Comics & Stories #679 has a Daan Jippes story and there is a new special, Walt Disney's Spring Fever Vol.1, with Barks' "Mystery of the Swamp" as the lead-off and some other stories filling out the 80 pages.
IDW
The Complete Mike Grell's Jon Sable, Freelance, Vol. 6
Reprints Jon Sable, Freelance #28-33 by Mike Grell with guest artist Sergio Aragones. Sable was one of my favorite comics when it was being published and this is another excellent collection that deserves a place up on your bookshelf, although it is a bit pricey. One of the mistakes the comic publishers are currently making is that most everything is either super-heroes, horror or zombies: there needs to be more adventure titles, such as this one, available if the industry is to survive. Comics offer the best outlet for stories that would be too expensive for television or movies. SRP $19.99
MARVEL
Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange Vol. 3
Reprints Doctor Strange (Vol. 1) #169-179 and The Avengers (Vol. 1) #61 written by Roy Thomas with art by Gene Colan, Tom Palmer, Dan Adkins and John Buscema. In 1969, Marvel took all their split books (Tales of Suspense, Tales to Astonish and Strange Tales) and spun the characters off into their own comics (Historical Note: The Hulk, Captain America and Dr. Strange kept the numbering of the titles in which they had previously appeared.). While some of the books thrived, others died. Once Dr. Strange spun off from Strange Tales into his own book, his adventures (and his sales) began to drop. The stories presented here are from that period and, while not bad, they're not good either; one reason that the good Doctor's book was cancelled. Thomas did not understand how to make Dr. Strange work and, among other problems, put him in a costume. The art by Colan and Palmer is excellent, but the stories don't really give them much room for action, and they are limited to lots of mood shots with talking heads. It's too bad, since Marvel is trying really hard to put their reprints into chronological order, hence the inclusion of Avengers #61, which brought Dr. Strange back after his book was cancelled. This volume, however, is for the completist only. SRP $54.99
Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age U.S.A. Comics Vol. 1
Reprints U.S.A. Comics #1-4, from 1941, by most anyone who was working for Marvel at the time! Here is the real deal and you will probably find more Axis bashing between these pages, than in any book released in the last couple of years. Unlike DC, Marvel (which was known as Timely at the time) went full out for the war effort during WWII. All of the Marvel heroes fought both the Nazis and Japanese and many of the characters, like Captain America, were created just for the war effort. Most of the characters here are second tier (the major ones had their own books) and only lasted until the end of the war, but since most of this material has never been reprinted, it is definitely worth a squint. SRP $54.99
Wolverine: Weapon X
Reprints the Weapon X storyline that ran in Marvel Comics Presents #72-84 written and illustrated by Barry Windsor-Smith. I consider this to be one of the finer pieces of work to come from either Windsor-Smith or Marvel. At the time this appeared, Windsor-Smith was best known for his Conan work and had never written his own material. Around a year before Weapon X, and as a way to introduce himself back at Marvel, he wrote and drew a 30 page Thing story on spec, to show them what he could do. Fortunately, the suits weren't completely running Marvel at the time, the powers-that-be brought Windsor-Smith back into the fold and he got a chance to show what he could do. In this book, and 125 pages, Windsor-Smith gives us a complete story (originally serialized in Marvel Comics Presents) that explains how Logan became Wolverine, but still manages to keep the Logan portion of his life a mystery...something current writers on the series should study and take to heart. This is a good, solid and, dare I say it, adult story that shows what comics can, and should, be. If you don't have the original comics and don't have the previous reprint, this one definitely belongs up on your sagging bookshelf! SRP $19.99
Thor: The Eternals Saga Vol. 2
Reprints Thor #292-301 with story by Roy Thomas, Ralph Macchio and Mark Gruenwald and art by Keith Pollard and a variety of inkers. My mother told me that if I couldn't say anything nice, I shouldn't say anything at all. NOT! Roy Thomas was enamored with the 4 operas written by Richard Wagner which are commonly known as The Ring Cycle, which he had always wanted to adapt in comic form. Thinking that Thor was the perfect platform, he managed to create a story which lumped Wagner, the Eternals and even some of the gods of India into one big massive story that went on and on and on... Needless to say, the end result was a hopeless mish-mash that did not read well at the time and probably reads even worse today (Thomas did get to adapt The Ring Cycle many years later at DC when he did a 4 issue series with Gil Kane called The Ring). I have but two words...Run Away! SRP $24.99
PURE IMAGINATION
Alex Toth Readers Volumes 1 and 2 CD-Rom
Pure Imagination continues to experiment with different formats and here present both out of print volumes on a single CD-Rom. All 320 pages on the disk can be viewed on your computer, or printed out. Toth had a very fascinating career. He started at DC at the end of the Golden Age and, after creating a very influential body of work, left to try his hand at smaller publishers, including EC. As I've mentioned before, Toth influenced an entire generation of artists through his use of black areas, thin lines and white space. I never found any copies of these books when they were in print, but they feature Toth's work from the 50s; a period when he established his reputation and, from the examples I have seen, the pages reproduced here are all excellent. SRP $20
Basil Wolverton Readers Volumes 1 and 2 CD-Rom
Here is another CD-Rom that collects 2 out of print volumes. All 320 pages on the disk can be viewed on your computer, or printed out. Basil Wolverton's work is usually associated with humor, but he drew horror and science fiction, as well and always used a finely rendered, but primitive, style. Wolverton is another of my favorite artists and this collection should be worth a squint and a place on honor on your overcrowded hard drive. SRP $20
TWOMORROWS
Alter Ego #66
An issue focusing on Bob Powell with a look at his life by Ed Lane and his children. Also tons of art and the usual FCA features. SRP $6.95
Back-Issue #21
Focus on Daredevil with art and interviews by Klaus Janson, John Romita, Jr., Ann Nocenti and others. Also Mike Mignola on Hellboy and spotlights on Son of Satan, Plop! and Devil Dinosaur. SRP $6.95
SANCTUM PRODUCTIONS
Mike has started stocking these books on a regular basis. Ask about them and take a look next time you're at the store.
The Shadow Double-Novel Vol. 6
Features "The Shadow's Justice", a tale set in Havana of 1933 and then a tale of The Shadow confronting The Vulture, all with interior art by Tom Lovell, a cover by George Rozen and commentary by Will Murray and Anthony Tollin. SRP $12.95
Doc Savage Double-Novel Vol. 5
Another pair of Lester Dent spectaculars, featuring "The Spook Legion", a tale of invisible super-crooks from 1935 and "The Submarine Mystery", a 1938 thriller in which Doc investigates a group of modern day pirates. Covers by Walter Baumhofer and Emery Clarke, interior illustrations by Paul Orban and articles by Will Murray. SRP $12.95
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