March 2008
AC COMICS
Best of the West #66
Gardner Fox, Ray Krank and Paul S. Newman, along with Dick Ayers, Frank Bolle, Joe Certa, Ed Good and Myron Fass bring the best western action this side of the Pecos. Features include the Durango Kid, Black Diamond, Redmask, the Haunted Horseman and Monte Hale. SRP $6.95
Green Lama: Man of Strength #0
A prequel to AC's revival of the Green Lama by Bill Black, Mark G. Heike and Bob Davis that contains material originally presented in All Hitler Comics #1. Fairly good story, as I recall and worth a squint. SRP $6.95
Green Lama: Man of Strength #1
A revival of the Golden Age character by James Ritchey and Loki Dolza. This first issue promises a re-boot of the character, but also (sadly) says that the series will be darker and edgier. The examples I've read of the Golden Age series certainly don't call for darker and edgier, so I'm not sure what to suggest on this one and you're on your own. SRP $6.95
DARK HORSE
Chronicles of Conan Vol. 14
Mercy killings don't often occur in the comic book world, but, in the case of this series, they finally ran out of material to reprint, so the Chronicles of Conan comes to an end with this volume. Since Roy Thomas had run out of stories by this time and John Buscema's layouts just look tired. Avoid this one by a wide margin. Reprints Conan the Barbarian #108-115. SRP $16.95
Harvey Classics Library Vol. 3: Hot Stuff
Dark Horse only says that this one will reprint 100 stories featuring Hot Stuff, along with some other Harvey characters, including Stumbo the Giant. The Harvey characters were never my favorites and they were the titles we read when there wasn't anything else around. Of them all, Hot Stuff was my least favorite, so I'm not really a good one to be writing about the title. As memory serves me, Hot Stuff was a devil, who carried a pitchfork and breathed fire but, since he was a part of the Harvey characters, he wasn't the Son of Satan, but a comic figure whose temper often got him into problems. This one would be handy to have for the young readers in your home and the reproduction of the Casper volume (which is the only one I've seen as of this writing) is absolutely top-notch. Do note, however, that there is no mention of a color section, as there was with the previous 2 volumes. SRP $19.95
Al Capp's Complete Shmoo: The Comic Books
The Shmoos were introduced in the Al Capp Li'l Abner newspaper strip in 1948. Cute, cuddly white blobs with a head and feet (think Proty in the later Legion of Super-Heroes), the Shmoos were, satirically, the ultimate servants of mankind, who would do just about anything to make people happy...including serving themselves up as food. Of course, back in the old days, a popular newspaper strip character would make a quick transition to comic books, and the Shmoos were featured in 5 issues of Al Capp's Shmoo in 1949 followed by Al Capp's Shmoo in Washable Jones' Travels (1 issue) in 1950 and Washable Jones and Shmoo (1 issue) in 1953. Although Dark Horse doesn't give any specifics about this one, it is scheduled to reprint all the Shmoo comic books, along with rare bonus stories, advertisements and introduction and annotations by Capp expert Denis Kitchen, so I'm sure those mentioned will be in here. What is interesting, is that these comics are so obscure, that credits are non-existant. Definitely worth a squint and probably belongs up on your sagging bookshelf. SRP $49.95
DC
Adam Strange Archives Vol. 3
Warm up the Zeta Beams and get ready for another set of space adventures, this time from Mystery in Space #81-91, Hawkman #18 and Strange Adventures #157 by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino, Murphy Anderson and others. At its heart, Adam Strange was a reworking of the Flash Gordon newspaper strip. You had the dashing hero, a beautiful woman and a brilliant scientist who all worked together to fight menaces on a distant planet. Lots of fun and Infantino never looked better than when he was inked by Murphy Anderson. SRP $49.99
Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus Vol. 4
Reprints the end of Kirby's Fourth World stories and the boneheads at DC ain't going to tell us what's in it! According to informed sources, the contents should include (and I stress should) New Gods #11, Forever People #11, Mister Miracle #10-18, the 48-page story "Even Gods Must Die," originally published in New Gods #6 (the final issue of a mini-series that reprinted all 11 issues of New Gods series), the character entries from Who's Who and the Hunger Dogs graphic novel. Back in the 70s and 80s, both Marvel and DC released a number of complete series in Baxter editions: named as such due to the heavier paper stock that was used for the books. New Gods was reprinted in this format with the sixth issue containing a double-sized story that Jack did that led into the Hunger Dogs graphic novel. Neither this "prequel" or The Hunger Dogs has seen print since their original appearances. One of the rumors at the time was that Kirby was given a part of the merchandising for any characters that were used from the prequel or the graphic novel, which is why there are so many characters floating around in the two stories. Of greatest interest here, however (and only hinted at in the solicitation), is that the collection will most likely include the 24 page conclusion to the New Gods that Kirby penciled, Royer inked and DC rejected back in the 80s! This is a great collection that, along with the other three volumes belong up on your sagging bookshelf. Now, DC, where's the slipcase that was hinted about when this project was first announced?? SRP $49.99
Shazam: the Greatest Stories Ever Told
Take a real close look at this one before you buy! It does have a large amount of Golden Age material (stories from Whiz Comics #2, Captain Marvel Adventures #1, 137, 148 and Marvel Family #21 and 85), but it also has some rather dreadful later material, especially since I tend to run the other way anytime anyone mentions the Shazam! book of the 70s (here we have selections from #1 and #14). All in all, not the best compilation one could hope for and worth a squint, but I'll leave it to you whether it has enough A-list material to warrant adding to your sagging bookshelf. SRP $24.99
Showcase Presents: Phantom Stranger Vol. 2
Reprints Phantom Stranger #22-41, Justice League of America #103, House of Secrets #150 and Brave and the Bold #8 and #98 by Haney, Wein, Wolfman and an assortment of pencillers and inkers. It's kind of interesting to read between the lines of DC's solicitations. If you read the description of this book, you would think that you were getting a veritable who's who of artists working on the book, since Aparo, Dillin, Andru and Grell are the only names listed. Then, there's the "and others" disclaimer, which means, in this case, that Dillin worked on the story from JLA, Grell did one issue of Phantom Stranger, Andru drew the second Brave and the Bold story and that after #27, the Phantom Stranger book is drawn by Phillipino artists with most covers by Aparo. Fans of Deadman (and believe me, if you think the X-Men continuity is confusing, just try to follow the continuity of Deadman) will find their hero featured in #39-41, which is the end of the run, so this is, most likely, the final volume we will see of this particular Showcase series. Not quite the mix you were looking for, eh? Well, this one is a borderline item that I will leave to you to decide on. SRP $16.99
Showcase Presents: Supergirl Vol. 1
Reprints Action Comics #252-281, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #40, 44, 46, 51 and 52, Adventure Comics #278, Superboy #80, Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane 314, and Superman #123, 139, 140 and 144 by Binder, Sieger, Plastino, Mooney, Swan and a whole bunch of other artists and writers. I dunno...I realize that Supergirl has a great following, but I found her stories lame when I was a kid and as an adult, my opinion hasn't changed a great deal. By and large, Supergirl spends an inordinate amount of time playing the "protect the secret identity game" and must go to even greater (and sillier) lengths than her famous cousin to protext her identity since she must also keep her existence a secret. Yeesh! At the time Supergirl appeared, the Superman titles were all firmly under the editorial guidance of Mort Weisinger. One tact Weisinger used in an attempt to revitalize the franchise was to add more super-beings to the Superman comics; sort of like the large cast of characters that had super-powers in the Captain Marvel books of the 40s. The end result was rather bloated and Supergirl was just the tip of the iceberg. Maybe I've missed something. If Supergirl is of interest, by all means give this one a squint. Otherwise, save your money. SRP $16.99
Eureka Productions
Graphic Classics Vol. 15; Fantasy Classics
Features comic adaptations of Shelley's Frankenstein, Lovecraft's "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kaddath," Baum's "The Glass Dog," Hawthorn's "Rappaccini's Daughter" and a poem by Lord Dunsany, "After the Fire." From what samples I've seen the Graphic Classics are fairly well done and feature quite an eclectic mix of stories presented in an illustrated format. Maybe worth a squint. SRP $11.95
FANTAGRAPHICS
The Complete Peanuts Vol. 9: 1967-1968
Peppermint Patty, Snoopy as the World War I Flying Ace and the controversial introduction of the black character Franklin are the highlights of this latest volume that reprints all the dailies and Sundays for the year cited in the title. Worth a squint and a place up on the sagging bookshelf. SRP $28.99
GEMSTONE
Nothing much of interest this month on the Disney front and nothing new from the EC reprint series either. Yawn!
IDW
The Complete Terry and the Pirates Vol. 3
The third volume of Milton Caniff's masterpiece features the arrival of April Kane (a love interest for Terry) and also the introduction of Raven Sherman. The book contains over 100 color Sundays and more than 600 dailies: all reproduced with great care. Art and story don't get any better, and this one oughta be up on your sagging bookshelf, along with the previous two. SRP $49.99
MARVEL
Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales To Astonish Vol. 2
Two years after the first volume, here's the second collection, this time reprinting Tales to Astonish #11-20 by Lee, Leiber, Kirby, Ditko and others. As with the first volume, this one features more giant monsters, borderline horror and other dimensional adventures as Kirby and Ditko were warming up for the super-hero adventures to follow. Back in the early days of the Silver Age, most all the comic companies featured at least 2 stories per issue with many of the anthology titles, like Tales to Astonish, featuring 3 or 4 stories. The art in the early Marvel anthologies, as opposed to those from DC, is usually top notch, with both Kirby and Ditko in top form. There is some nice Don Heck material here and also offerings by Paul Reinman. Although, most of this material has been reprinted before in various Marvel titles, It is still worth a squint and possible inclusion on your sagging bookshelf. SRP $59.99 (note the higher price)
Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 4
Reprints Captain America #114-124 by Lee, Colan, Romita and J. Buscema. These issues are a transition period for Cap, as Lee struggled to find a direction for the strip and basically just recycled ideas left behind by Kirby and Steranko. Once Kirby left Captain America with #110, and Steranko did his memorable 3 issue stint, Marvel was left in a bit of lurch, and these are the stories reprinted here. Showing that history does repeat itself, Cap is dead at the beginning of this volume and things just kind of founder around from there. One must also mention the unfortunate addition of the Falcon to the series: a painful sidekick that haunted the Captain America comic for nearly 100 issues. Aside from the excellent art of Colan, this is not a great collection and should be reserved for the completist only. If you want to read the stories, I would suggest the Essential collection, where you can peruse the tales for a fraction of the cost. SRP $54.99
SANCTUM PRODUCTIONS
Doc Savage Vol. 15: Triple Novel Special
To celebrate Doc's 75th birthday, Doc and crew first journey to Hong Kong to stop germ warfare in "Terror Wears No Shoes," then, dive right into "The Red Spider": a cold war novel that was "lost" until 1978. Lastly, a scientist who is able to predict the future must be defeated in "Return From Commoral." All this plus Ed Cartier and Paul Orban illustrations, covers by George Rozen and Walter Swensen and historical articles by Will Murray. SRP $12.95
Shadow Double Novel Vol. 16
In a pair of stories penned by Walter Gibson, Lamont Cranston must defeat a group of hidden plotters in "City of Crime" and then The Shadow must stop a plot to assault Alcatraz in "Shadow over Alcatraz." Covers by George Rozen and illustrations by Edd Cartier round out the volume. SRP $12.95
TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING
Alter Ego #76
A special issue focusing on Joe Simon with a long interview and lots of art. Also the usual features from the FCA
Back Issue #27
A look at Aquaman and Sub-Mariner in the 70s and 80s. Plus, Barr and Bolland on Camelot 3000, a discussion of Jack Kirby, McGregor's Black Panther and lots of other stuff. SRP $6.95
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