9/02/08
AC COMICS
Best of the West #69
Gardner Fox, Ray Krank and Paul S. Newman write and Dick Ayers, Frank Bolle, Doug Wildey and John Buscema draw (along with others) another issue of all-out western action featuring Redmask, Lash LaRue, Durango Kid, Haunted Horseman, Monte Hale and other favorites. SRP $9.95
Crypt of Horror #5
Another terrifying collection of pre-code horror with art by Jay Disbrow, Steve Ditko, Bernie Krigstein, Dick Ayers, Shelly Moldoff and many more. This is a 120 page collection that, according to AC, features material that has never been reprinted before. SRP $24.95
Men of Mystery #74
An issue focusing on the male/female super-duos, including Flame & Flamegirl, Bulletman & Bulletgirl, Cat-Man & Kitten, Rocketman & Rocketgirl and the rarely-seen Boomerang & Diana by Otto Binder, William Woolfolk, France Herron, Charles Quinlan, Al Bryant, L. B. Cole and a host of others. SRP $9.95
ANDREWS AND MCMEEL
Prince Valiant Vol. 1
Betcha didn't know that the Prince Valiant newspaper strip was still being produced, but here's the proof! Currently written and drawn by Gary Gianni and Mark Schultz, this volume will present their take on good 'ole Prince Hal and reprint the strips from 11/21/04-5/11/08 in a large 8 x 11 size. From the samples I've seen, the strip is well drawn, but the creators are obviously constrained by the space limitations of current newspapers. How the story reads over the continuity, however, I can't say. I do know that under Hal Foster, the latter years of the saga were quite slow moving, which is what inspired Dave Sim to do his parody strip, "Prince Valium." Seems that the action that moved the strip in the early years was replaced with lots of pretty pictures. Is the new series action packed? Guess you'll have to plunk down the SRP of $19.99 to find out!
DC
Showcase Presents: Metal Men Vol. 2
Reprints Metal Men #16-36 and The Brave and the Bold #66 by Kanigher, Haney, Andru, Esposito and others. More adventures of Will Magnus and his robots who think for themselves. Lots of good, solid stories that are exciting and fun. Belongs up on that there sagging bookshelf. SRP $16.99
GEMSTONE PUBLISHING
Uncle Scrooge #382 will have a full Don Rosa story (which I think has seen print in the US before) and Walt Disney's Comics & Stories #697 will have a Romano Scarpa Mickey Mouse adventure. Other than that there ain't much else from Gemstoneland and I won't even take time to sneer at the leather bound monstrosity over in the EC side of things. Where's a collection of Don Rosa, Gemstone?
GRAPHIC IMAGING TECHNOLOGY
Star Trek: The Complete Collection
Here is another DVD collection that will include ALL of the Star Trek comic books published from 1967 to the present, except for the current releases from IDW. Over 550 pages of comics from Gold Key, DC, Marvel and the set is also scheduled to include 1,440 Star Trek comic strips from newspapers and other sources. Might be worth a squint and it's never too early to start your Christmas shopping. SRP $49.99
HERMES PRESS
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: The Complete Newspaper Dailies Vol. 1: 1929-1931
Reprints the original Buck Rogers strip starting with the first daily from 1/07/29 by Philip Francis Nowlan and Dick Calkins. Hermes is promising that this book, and each volume in the series, will reprint over 900 strips (2 years worth), two strips per page in a 9 x 12 format (similar to the IDW Terry and the Pirates series). Buck Rogers is arguably the first SF comic strip that was ever produced and, although it may be considered quite crude by today's standards, without Rogers, there would be no Star Trek, Star Wars or most of science fictional comics, books and movies we have today. This is NOT anything like the television show that aired some 20+ years ago, nor is it like any adaptation that has been done in animation or comics. Rocket packs, ray guns, sleek spaceships and other pulp trappings fill the strip as Nowlan and Calkins create a future world as seen from the early part of the 20th century. Dick Calkins had a cartoony style, but it works quite well in the context of the strip and, unlike the "other" SF strip, Flash Gordon, Rogers is all about action: figures don't seem posed as they do in Gordon and the stories all move along at a rapid pace. More on Buck Rogers on Wikipedia. The first continuity featured here concerns how Buck gets into the future and that leads into a long sequence concerning a future war on Earth against an enemy that has lots of Yellow Peril overtones. Keep in mind that you won't lose any continuity by the dailies being all that is reprinted, as the dailies and Sundays had a separate continuity for most of the run of the strip. Worth a squint and I would probably pick up a copy, if I didn't already have these in another format (that I would pay money for this says something about how good it is!). SRP $39.99
KNOCKABOUT COMICS
The Freak Brothers Omnibus
Think back to the 60s and 70s...if you can sort of remember them, but your memories are a bit blurred by the "hippie" lifestyle, than this is the book for you. According to the info I've been able to find, the book will reprint all of Gilbert Shelton's The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers-every story, cover, poster and other material, including 224 pages in color. I hope that the reprinting will have the art cleaned up a bit, since some of my aging reprints are rather smeared. These were fun stories and are quite a record of their time, since they poke fun at the drug culture of the 60s and the many trappings that made up the lifestyle of the time. Beer, marijuana, munchies, the clap, jeans, boots, vans, food stamps... all these are part of the Freak Brothers and Shelton's loose, cartoony style makes the events in the strip all the more hilarious. Whether these will be as funny to someone who wasn't around in those days, I'm not sure, but I've always found the stories to be side-spittingly funny. Worth a squint and the ad promises that The Freak Brothers will soon be an animated film. SRP $35.00
MANUSCRIPT PRESS
Comics Revue #270
Sixty-four pages of comic strip reprints, including anything from Gasoline Alley to Tarzan. Well worth a squint and a great place to start exploring the world of comic strips. SRP $6.95
MARVEL
Once in awhile, the publicity materials for the comics are even funnier (in a sad way) than the comics themselves (most of which are just laughably bad). In the Marvel Previews for July, we have the listing for Marvel Illustrated: The Odyssey #1 (of 8). Just below this in big and bold red lettering the promo proclaims, "Based on the epic poem by Alexandre Dumas". The poem by Alexandre Dumas?? Did any of the people writing and proofing this stay awake through school? While I'm sure Dumas would be flattered, the next thing you know, Marvel will be telling us that Charles Foster Kane was fascinated by flowers....LOL
And, for any among the great unwashed masses who don't understand what I'm talking about in the above, The Odyssey was written by (or at least credited to) the Greek poet Homer. Charles Foster Kane is the central figure of the film Citizen Kane and to tell you more would spoil the ending of one of the classics of cinema.
The Twelve ½
Some more golden Age stories from Daring Mystery Comics #1-2, Human Torch Comics #2 and USA Comics #2 featuring Fiery Mask, Mister E and Rockman: all of whom are currently seen in the series The Twelve. Art and story by Joe Simon, Al Carreno, Joe Cal Cagno and Basil Wolverton. Worth a squint since for the Wolverton work alone! SRP $3.99
A couple of odd items, which I assume are produced by Marvel come out this month. Iron Man: DVD Digital Comic Book Archives 1 and Hulk: DVD Digital Comic Book Archives 1 seem to duplicate the contents of the Omnibus editions that were just released in book form. Assumedly, these DVDs would allow you to view your favorite comics on either your computer or TV, assuming that is your cup of tea. The only bit of info that I find a bit odd is that both discs are listed as having the "exclusive Marvel Digital Comics Reader" which, I guess, is another way to let us know that the discs are copy guarded in some way. Like I said, if you aren't tied to books, this is a lot of great reading at a fraction of the cost of the Omnibus, since both discs have an SRP of $29.99. Might be worth a squint!
Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four Vol. 11
Reprints fantastic Four #105-116 by Lee, Goodwin, Buscema, Romita, Kirby and most inkology by Joe Sinnott. If anyone still has questions about how much Jack Kirby contributed to the Fantastic Four, these issues clearly demonstrate that the book was mainly Jack's show with some input by Stan and not the other way around. At the time Kirby left the book, Fantastic Four was the best selling comic on the market and Marvel wanted to keep it that way. As an interesting sideline, for many years, Sinnott's contract with Marvel stated that he was to maintain the look of the FF regardless of who was doing the pencils, which is why he was kept on the book for so many years (aside from the fact that he was an excellent inker). Romita obviously has no clue as to the characters (and his short stint isn't helped by John Verpoorten's inks). John Buscema, with Sinnott inks, comes a bit closer, but the stories themselves fall completely flat, since Lee and Goodwin don't understand how the FF function, even though Lee was always credited as the writer of the book(?)! Also included is the infamous #108, which features a re-working of the Kirby story that Lee rejected. Sadly, these are for the completeist only and you are better off switching off to the Essential volumes at this point, simply because you can get more bang for the buck. SRP $54.99
Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Heroes Vol. 2
Reprints Sub-Mariner #33-42 (1950s) by Bill Everett, Stan Lee, Dick Ayers, Mort Lawrence and others. Hopefully, this volume, along with the previous two, will bring some long overdue credit and attention to Everett. The Sub-Mariner stories that he wrote and drew throughout his career are wonderful tales that show what a truly great creator Everett was. The 50s stories, in particular, are of interest since many have never been reprinted and they show a different Namor than either the Golden Age stories or the later tales. In the 50s, Namor is almost a traveling adventurer taking on whatever menace seems to pop up and is a far cry from the tantrum thrower that he was in the 40s. The art is also a feast for the eyes and Everett's attention to detail and action are some of the best. I've long been fascinated by the career of Bill Everett, since he started working at the very beginning of comics (Marvel Mystery #1), created one of the major Marvel characters right off the bat (Sub-Mariner) and continued to work until his death in the 70s. Along the way he proved he was adept at adventure, SF, horror, super-heroes and was also a talented inker and colorist. Yet, he he is rarely mentioned in the history of comics and today, is pretty much forgotten by most comic fans. Also included are some Dick Ayers Human Torch stories and other odds and ends. Definitely worth a squint and a spot up on your sagging bookshelf. SRP $59.99
PURE IMAGINATION
Alex Toth: Edge of Genius Vol. 2
No details are available as to actual contents, but this would seem to be a reprinting of 30 Toth stories from the year 1953, many of which are shot from Toth's original artwork. Worth a squint. SRP
The Walt Kelly Reader Vol. 1
A collection of stories from Raggedy Ann and Andy, Fairy Tale Parade, Christmas with Mother Goose and other titles featuring Kelly's wonderful comic book work, which has a whimsy that is similar, yet vastly different, from his work on Pogo. Worth a squint, especially since this material is quite rare. SRP $25.00
TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING
Back-Issue #30
Comics on TV with a spotlight on the 1970s Shazam! comic and TV show including an interview with Jackson Bostwick, Space Ghost including an interview with Gary Owens, Marv Wolfman on the Ruby-Spears Superman cartoon show, Astro Boy and lots of artwork and other features. SRP $6.95
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