10/01/10 - Releases for October
AC COMICS
Nothing of interest this month.
DARK HORSE
(Note: According to the Dark Horse website, all these titles are set to come out the last week of September, not in October. Let's watch and see if they can hit the deadline...hehehe!)Eerie Vol. 4
Reprints Eerie #16-20 by a whole number of people. This is another of the transition volumes for Warren, when times were bad. You do get some interesting newer artists, such as Tom Sutton, but the amount of material reprinted here from earlier issues of Eerie (and even Creepy) make this one for the completist only. There is the mention on the Dark Horse website that there will be bonus color pages in this volume, but exactly what they will be, I have no idea. SRP $49.99
Doctor Solar, Man of Atom Archives Vol. 1
To tie in with the new series, this is a trade paperback of the hardback Archives and reprints Doctor Solar #1-7 by Paul S. Newman, Bob Fujitani, Frank Bolle and Richard Powers at the SRP of $19.99. Worth a squint at the lower price and one would hope that Dark Horse plans to bring out the other Gold Key Archives at this lower price.
Creepy Archives Vol. 8
Reprints Creepy #37-41 by lots of different folks. These issues are from the early 70s and offer lots of familiar names-many of them from the days before they became established pros. Mike Royer is here, along with Steve Skeates, Don MacGregor, Rich Buckler and Bruce Jones. Wally Wood, Syd Shores and George Russos also make appearances along with Richard Corben. Worth a squint. SRP $49.99
Star Wars Omnibus: A Long Time Ago...Vol. 2
Continuing with the reprints of the Marvel series, this volume will reprint #28-49 by a whole bunch of folks, including Archie Goodwin, Chris Claremont, and Al Williamson. As of this writing, I've just seen the first volume of this series and the reproduction is quite good and the stories are readable at this smaller size, which is smaller than the normal trade paperback, but larger than a digest size. The second volume will also contain the six-issue adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back (although why they just didn't use the Marvel Super Special version is beyond me...most likely in the interest of completeness, since the six-issue version would have some extra splash pages). Well worth a squint! SRP $24.99
DC
The Green Lantern Chronicles Vol. 3
Reprints more Green Lantern adventures in chronological order from Green Lantern #10-14 and Flash #131 by Broome, Kane, Giella and Infantino. Great stuff as the Emerald Gladiator has his first conflict with the Guardians along with other adventures. Well worth a squint. SRP $14.99
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT
Vampirella Archives Vol. 2
Reprints the Warren Vampirella #8-14 with art and story by Archie Goodwin, Steve Englehart, Wally Wood, Neal Adams, Frank Brunner and a host of others. Say what you will about Warren, but, in his early days, he did manage to attract a huge number of seasoned pros along with artists and writers who were just starting out. These stories are done under Archie Goodwin's supervision and, as such, constitute a Vampirella you are probably more familiar with. Of greatest interest is the Barry Windsor-Smith art job in #9, which was the one and only appearance Smith made at Warren. Might be worth a squint, but I'll leave it up to you. SRP $49.99
FLESK PUBLICATIONS
Xenozoic: The Complete Collection
Back in 1986, a story that ran in Kitchen Sink's Death Rattle caught the attention of many fans, myself included. It was called "Xenozoic!" and featured a story by a (then) unknown artist named Mark Schultz that was set in an indeterminate time in the future when civilization has collapsed. Dinosaurs, vintage cars, guns, beautiful women and a two-fisted hero all came together in a story that led to a tremendous, but short-lived series. Xenozoic Tales only ran for 14 issues, before deadline problems and a softening comic market called a halt to Shultz's saga. The series features Jack Tenerec, the hero of the tales who not only has to contend with trying to recapture some of the parts of civilization that have been lost (he drives a Cadillac that has been modified to run on dinosaur poop), but also has to deal with the other people who live around him: both good and bad (he also has a pet Allosaurus who acts as a watchdog). Add to this a beautiful girl friend (Hannah Dundee), who can handle a gun as well as she handles her fists, high powered firearms, vintage cars, lost cities, dinosaurs (of course!) and absolutely drop-dead gorgeous art that channels, Wood, Williamson and Frazetta while being wholly original at the same time and you have a great adventure story that makes you wish all comics could be this good. Flesk has chosen to reprint all of Mark Schultz's Xenozoic Tales (also known as Cadillacs and Dinosaurs) in a single volume and it is just one great collection that deserves a place of honor up on your sagging bookshelf. Great art and story and the only thing that would make it better would have been in Flesk had included the back-up stories that were done by Steve Stiles. Heck, I want to go back and reread it right now! SRP $39.95
HERMES PRESS
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: The Dailies Vol. 5: 1935-1937
Another 2 years of Rogers dailies by John F. Dille and Dick Calkins. I've said most everything I can say about this strip, but to bring you up to speed, suffice to say that it is quirky and adventuresome with more action the you will find in Flash Gordon. This volume will feature strips that have never been reprinted before and, I must say that all the examples of strip reprints I've seen from Hermes have been topnotch with really clean reproduction. Give it a squint! SRP $49.99
IDW
Bloom County: The Complete Library, Vol. 2
Reprints all the dailies and Sundays for July, 1984 through February, 1988. Reproduction is great and what could be wrong with more Opus and Bill the Cat? SRP $39.99 or, if you want to lay out some extra cash, you can get a signed and numbered limited edition for the SRP or $50.00
Genius, Isolated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth
This one is set to be a 400 page biography of Toth's entire life and career starting with his early DC work through his last work of the 80s. Lots of rare and unpublished art will be reprinted, including the complete Jon Fury pages that Toth produced while in the Army. Definitely worth a squint for the story of one of the true greats of comics! SRP $59.99
Archie: 7 Decades of America's Favorite Teenagers
Yet another Archie overview, this time a "behind the scenes" look at the creation of the Riverdale gang with artist and writer bios, lots of unpublished art and sections devoted to the characters who make up the Archie universe. A Yoe Books production. SRP $49.99
MARVEL
Squadron Supreme by Mark Gruenwald Omnibus
Reprints Squadron Supreme (1985) #1-12, Captain America (1968) #314 and Squadron Supreme: Death of a Universe by Mark Gruenwald and a host of pencillers and inkers. The Squadron Supreme was originally invented by Roy Thomas as a parody of DC's Justice League, but, over time, took on a life of their own. The late Mark Gruenwald took the Squadron to new heights in the 12 issue series he did and the stories presented here are considered some of the best Squadron stories ever done and some of the best writing Gruenwald ever did (and he did one heck of a lot of good stories). Art varies around a bit and, while I'm not sure this was deserving of an Omnibus, the stories are quite entertaining and worth a squint. SRP $74.99
Tomb of Dracula Omnibus Vol. 3
Reprints Tomb of Dracula Magazine #1-6, Frankenstein Monster #7-9 and Dracula Lives #1-13 by tons of writers and even more pencillers and inkers.At one time, Marvel had a large line of black and white magazines—some were spin-offs from established books while others had characters, and a life, of their own. The horror books were the backbone of the line and there were around 4 or 5 of them (if memory serves me right). Dracula Lives was probably the strongest of Marvel's black and white magazines and, at times, even rivaled the Marv Wolfman/Gene Colan/Tom Palmer work on the Tomb of Dracula color comic. As with all the black and white magazines, the title eventually fell on hard times, due to the overuse of secondary artists and writers (although the covers were usually spectacular) after the magazines got established. The material from Tomb of Dracula magazine, which came out after the color comic was canceled, is of lesser quality, mainly due to the stories feeling padded. This Omnibus is a sort of oddity, since it is not clear whether the material will be produced in black and white as it was originally presented or if Marvel is spending some bucks to put color to the artwork. I'm also a bit suspicious of the transfer of the magazine size pages being put into a book whose size was formatted for comic book pages. Seems to me there will be some empty space on the pages or truncated artwork somewhere along the line as a result. This might be worth a squint, since there are a lot of big names connected to it (Neal Adams, Jim Starlin, Gene Colan, Mike Ploog), but most only have a single story in the entire book, so I'd tread with caution. SRP $99.99
Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Journey Into Mystery Vol. 3
Reprints Journey Into Mystery #21-30 by Various writers and Maneely, Kubert, Colan, Severin, Crandall and many more! These are mostly post-Comic Code issues with only 21 and 22 slipping in under the wire. The art varies all over the place, with some newer talent (Kubert, Colan) mixed with EC ex-patriots (Crandall, Severin, Orlando, Torres) and others who had been around for awhile. No real visceral horror here and these stories aren't really exceptional, nor are they terrible—a mix of suspense and science fictional tales (keep in mind this is before the Atlas giant monster period). I find myself sort of bored by many of the stories and, while the art is interesting, there are only so many of these one can read before overload set in. I leave this one to you. SRP $59.99
Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 9
Reprints Thor #173-183 by Lee, Kirby, Buscema, Adams and a host of inkers. With this volume we hit the end of an era, as it reprints the final stories Kirby did for the title. Fittingly, Kirby's last arc suggests a mini-Ragnarok and his final issue, #177, is a huge battle (a possible allegory over his time at Marvel?). #179 has one more Kirby job, but it is merely a filler story. Everett, and Colletta ink the final stories. John Buscema does issue #178 and turns a wonderfully dynamic job, proving that Buscema was one of the Marvel heirs to Kirby's legacy, but the story flounders, since Lee doesn't seem to have a clue as to the characters or what they are doing. After the fill-in, Neal Adams does two stories (which were produced while Adams was doing Green Lantern/Green Arrow over at DC) and, while nice to look at, Thor and Adams are not a good fit. The volume is finished off by 2 Buscema stories (inked by Sinnott) and they are back on track...at least in terms of art. What is most interesting is that Lee was clueless as to Kirby's structure of the Thor mythos: the combination of science fiction, mythology and humanity; a combination that was never equaled on the series once Kirby left. This volume still belongs on your bookshelf, however, since it completes the Lee/Kirby Thor series (you have the previous 9 volumes, don't you?). Even with the later flawed stories, the Kirby material is worth the price of admission. SRP $54.99.
Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four Vol. 4
Reprints Fantastic Four #31-40 and Annual #2 by Lee, Kirby and most of the inking is by Chic Stone. This is a great collection featuring some of the best early Fantastic Four stories, as Kirby and Lee were finding a direction for the characters. Diablo, the Dragon Man, Sub-Mariner, the Frightful Four, and a two-part guest appearance from Daredevil would be highlights enough for any book, but this volume also included the origin of Dr. Doom from Annual #2 and a battle with Doom that figures into #39 and 40 later down the line. These stories also feature the beginning of the sub-plots that were the highlights of Kirby's tenure on the series and make all the stories a part of a larger whole (think of chapters in an on-going novel). Definitely great stuff and, if you don't have it in another format, a place of honor on your sagging bookshelf. SRP $24.99
Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5
Reprints Amazing Spider-Man #41-50 and Annual #3 by Lee, Romita, Heck and unnamed inkers. More stories from the post-Ditko era that feature the Rhino, the Lizard, Kraven the Hunter, the Vulture, the Kingpin, other assorted villains and the story from the Annual features the Avengers! As an added bonus, this volume also has the famous "Spider-Man No More" story from #50 that was not only a turning point in the life of everyone's favorite wall-crawler, but also one of the most copied covers of the Silver Age. Worth a squint and inclusion on your bookshelf if you don't have these stories in some other form, as Romita was doing excellent work during this portion of his career. SRP $24.99
PURE IMAGINATION
The Eisner Shop
A collection of early Eisner material from a variety of sources, along with strips produced by others for the Eisner shop. SRP $25.00
TASCHEN
75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking
In honor of DC's 75th anniversary, Taschen is releasing a massive, 600 page hardcover that features numerous essays by Paul Levitz that trace the history of DC from its earliest beginnings to the present day and beyond. Some 2,000 images support the essays and feature many photos and drawings that have never been seen before. That's the good news. The bad is that this is an unwieldy book that is 11.4 x 16 inches and probably will look great on your bookshelf, but may be completely impossible to read. That coupled with the SRP of $200 makes this one for the completist only.
TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING
Alter Ego #97
An examination of the non-EC horror comics of the 50s featuring looks at Menace, House of Mystery and everything in-between. Lots of art, much unpublished, and the usual features from the FCA. SRP $7.95
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