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Bob’s Thoughts

09/01/10 - Releases for September

OPENING RANT

ABRAMS COMICARTS

Shazam!: The Golden Age of the World's Mightiest Mortal

A large hardback assembled by Chip Kidd and Geoff Spear that examine all the ephemera, artwork and toys that were the result of Captain Marvel's popularity in the 40s. The publisher promises tons of pictures, featuring the many rare items that now are sought by collectors the world over. Worth a squint, especially if you enjoyed Kidd's other comic related books. Worth a squint. SRP $35.00

AC COMICS

Nothing of interest this month.

DARK HORSE

The Chronicles of Kull Vol. 3: Screams in the Dark and Other Stories

Reprints a real mixed bag with Kull the Destroyer #23-29 leading the pack and then some other odds and ends, including a Chaykin story from Savage Sword of Conan that was reprinted in Conan Annual #3 and a story from Conan #68 that featured Kull, but was actually part of a multi-issue storyline and Dark Horse also lists a story I can't figure out where it actually first appeared. Nothing special here, since the Kull title went downhill once Ploog left, so I'd give this one a long squint before plunking down your money. SRP $18.99

Creepy Archive Vol. 7

Reprints Creepy #33-36 by any number of artists and writers, including Tom Sutton, Alan Weiss, Reed Crandall, Rich Buckler, a rare story by Syd Shores and, in #36, what I believe is the first story done for Warren by Richard Corben. A fair collection and I still find myself wishing they had done a series of "Best of" collections instead of each issue in its entirety, since there is a lot of filler in many of the Warren publications. Take a squint and take your chances. SRP $49.99

Conan: The Newspaper Strips Vol. 1

Along with the plethora of Conan comics Marvel produced over the years, there was also a daily and Sunday newspaper strip that ran from September, 1978 through April, 1981. This volume from Dark Horse will reprint all of the dailies, which were in the style of the Marvel comics and by most all the same folks who did the comics, including Thomas, Buscema, Alcala, Marcos and Chan. I don't recall that the strip had a wide following and I've only seen some samples here and there. No great surprise, they look pretty much like the regular comics, except most all the art is constrained by the daily strip format (the Sundays that I've seen look a bit better). If you liked the Marvel Conan, then this one would make nice addition to your bookshelf, but there are no revelations to be found here, nor anything to rival the Windsor-Smith work on the strip. SRP $34.99

Giant Size Little Lulu Vol. 2

Collecting material already reprinted by Dark Horse, this is a 672 page volume that reprints Little Lulu #6-22 by John Stanley and Irving Tripp in their entirety. Even with out the color, this is a bargain to get so much Stanley and Tripp material in one package. Give it a long squint and then add it to your bookshelf reserved for kid comics. SRP $24.99

Little Lulu's Pal Tubby Vol. 1: The Castaway and Other Stories

Never before reprinted, these stories were all done written and drawn by John Stanley for a quarterly title (my guess is that it was originally part of the Four Color series before spinning off into its own title) that featured the character from the Little Lulu series (for those of you out of the loop, Tubby was Little Lulu's best friend). These stories date from the 50s and are well worth a squint, simply because Stanley's work was so good (and they're in full color, to boot!). Give it a squint! SRP $15.99

DC

War returns to the DC Universe this month with 5 one-shot issues of famous DC titles of the past. Look for Our Army At War #1, Weird War Tales #1, Our Fighting Forces #1, G. I. Combat #1 and Star-Spangled War Stories #1 as Sgt. Rock, the Losers, Haunted Tank, and Mlle. Marie return for more battlefield action. SRP $3.99 each

Superman Archives Vol. 8

Reprints Superman #30-35 by Siegel, Cameron, Finger, Yarbrough, Dobrotka, Burnley and others. From the long ago age of 1945, here's another collection of the Golden Age Superman. Mr. Mxyztplk makes his debut here and there are also appearances by Lex Luthor and The Toyman. Although some of the creator names may be unfamiliar, keep in mind that the stories produced during the war years were still fairly well done and many have a patriotic theme, although the DC characters didn't jump into the war in the same way the characters did over at Timely. Worth a squint! SRP $59.99

The Flash Chronicles Vol. 2

Reprints The Flash #107-112 by John Broome, Carmine Infantino, Joe Giella, Frank Giacoia and Murphy Anderson. More fast paced fun (in color!) with Gorilla Grodd, the Mirror Master and the debuts of Kid Flash and the Elongated Man. Although The Flash was never my cup of tea, it may be yours, so I'll leave this one to you. SRP $14.99

Showcase Presents: The Legion of Super-Heroes

Reprints Adventure Comics #369-380, Action Comics #378-387, 389-392 and Superboy #172, 172, 176, 183, 184, 188, 190 and 191 by Shooter, Bridwell, Bates, Swan, Cockrum and others. The Legion had a very checkered career in comics, as they were stars for a very long run, then relegated to back-up status, only to re-emerge as one of DC's major teams. Kind of a mixed bag here, as the material from Adventure has strong stories by Jim Shooter, but rather weak art by Win Mortimer (who was in the twilight of his career). The stories from Action are passable, but suffer from weak art. Most fascinating, however, are the stories from Superboy, since those written by Cary Bates were the beginning of the resurgence of the team and, once Dave Cockrum came on board, the Legion returned to the greatness of their early years. I'd recommend giving this one a good squint and probably inclusion on your sagging bookshelf since the good material pretty much outweighs the bad. SRP $19.99

World's Greatest Super-Heroes

Finally out in an affordable trade paperback are these 6 stories that came out between 1988 and 2003-a collaboration between Paul Dini and Alex Ross. Originally released as a series of stand-alone graphic novels, this collection includes stories of Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman and 2 tales of the Justice League. The writing here is very strong and the art by Alex Ross is mind-boggling. Do keep in mind, however, that all these stories were originally done in an oversized format, so you will be getting a reduced page size with this collection. That quibble aside, however, you really should give this one a good, long squint and, if you don't have these stories in another format, inclusion on your sagging bookshelf. SRP $29.99

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

Vampirella Archives Vol. 1

How Dark Horse managed to let this one get away I'll never know, but Dynamite is bringing out this first volume that reprints Vampirella #1-7 by Frazetta, Adams, Sutton, Glut, Ackerman, Colon, Graham, Weiss, Jones and others. As created by Jim Warren and Forest J. Ackerman, Vampirella started out as the horror hostess of the mag, much in the same style as the Creepy and Eerie characters hosted their respective magazines. The difference, however, was that Vampirella (a vampire from another planet) also starred in her own tale in some of the early issues, usually in a comic vein (no pun intended). The stories you will find here are quite reminiscent of the other Warren material. Lots of name artists and writers, but keep in mind that the launch of this mag occurred some 5 years after Creepy and 3 years after Eerie, so none of the old EC crew are in evidence. Also be aware that the more serious Vampirella doesn't start until after the stories contained here: those were the work of Archie Goodwin who took over as Associate Editor with #7. All this aside, if you've enjoyed the Warren material from Dark Horse, you will probably like these tales as well and should give this volume a good, long squint (especially for the gorgeous Frazetta covers!). SRP $49.99

FANTAGRAPHICS

Roy Crane's Buz Sawyer Vol. 1: The War in the Pacific

Roy Crane came to prominence with his strip Wash Tubbs—a comedic and bigfooted adventure strip which later morphed into the strip Captain Easy. With the advent of World War II, Crane felt that the adventures of his characters had less and less meaning and, when offered the chance to start a new strip for the Hearst syndicate, he jumped at the chance and began the realistic adventures of Buz Sawyer. Sawyer differs from other strips in a number of ways, mainly in that the dailies and Sundays didn't tie together and while Buz had realistic adventures during the week, his pal, Roscoe Sweeney, held court on Sundays in a series of semi-comedic adventures. Crane's art style is more along the lines of Caniff in Sawyer with a lots of attention paid to action and realistic detail (Sawyer is a navy pilot). There is also great use of wash and zip-a-tone in the art giving the dailies a high degree of depth and rendering that few other artists have equaled. This first volume is set to reprint the entire World War II dailies (1943-45?...Fantagraphics won't tell me) and selected Sunday color strips. Except for the Sundays, most of these strips have seen print before, so do check out what you have on hand before you plunk down that debit card. Definitely worth a squint! SRP $35.00

IDW

Blondie Vol. 1

Unlike the strip of today that focuses on Dagwood and his continual battles with Mr. Dithers and life, the original Blondie newspaper strip centered on Dagwood's attempts to court Blondie: a young flapper type who comes from a completely different social class than Dagwood and that's where the problems start. Blondie was originally presented as a sort of gag-a-day strip with some light continuity (no cliff-hangers here) and this volume will reprint Chic Young's creation from the very first strip in 1930 through the wedding of Blondie and Dagwood in February of 1933. I'm not sure if Blondie was only a daily strip at the beginning or whether it was both daily and Sunday, so you are a bit on your own with this one. The strip is enjoyable, but does read a bit dated from the perspective of today. SRP $49.99

Popeye: The Best Comic Book Stories of Bud Sagendorf

Bud Sagendorf worked as an assistant to Popeye's creator E. C. Segar for many years and made his mark as the artist/writer of Popeye's comic book adventures. This book will reprint the best of these stories in full color, but exactly what stories or where they originally appeared is a secret known only to IDW (and editor Craig Yoe). Worth a squint. SRP $29.99

Archie: Best of Stan Goldberg

Hot on the heels of the Dan deCarlo volume comes another collection showcasing one of the artists most associated with Archie. Stan Goldberg has been drawing the adventures of the Riverdale gang for over 35 years and this volume is advertised as reprinting some of the best from his classic period. All the stories are shot from the original art and the book will also feature pin-ups, photographs and other material from Goldberg's own collection. Worth as squint as the deCarlo volume looked really great with excellent coloring and reproduction. SRP $24.99

Li'l Abner Vol. 2

Reprints all the dailies and Sundays from 1937-1938 by the one, the only, Al Capp. Sadie Hawkins Day makes its first appearance in this volume and that should make it worth a squint all by itself (I do find it interesting that there are a number items that are part of our popular culture that came directly from comic strips, simply proving how popular this art form was at one time...) . SRP $49.99

MARVEL

Marvel Masterworks: the Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 12

Reprints Amazing Spider-Man #110-120 by Conway, Lee, Romita and Kane (along with inkers who remain nameless). Although these are the first Spider-Man comics I read, I find that I hold no special fondness for them all these years later. Lee continued to fumble about with the character and Conway, whose writing seemed so fresh back in the 70s, does not hold up well on re-reading. The art is also confused, as Romita and Kane together seemed to be at odds and Kane by himself, who normally could draw rings around anyone, never warmed to the characters and the work seems forced. Although there is an interesting storyline concerning Aunt May being courted by Doc Ock, you need to give this one a wide berth and, maybe, read the stories in their Essentials reprinting, where you can save a buck or 20. For the completist only. SRP $54.99

PURE IMAGINATION

Wild Wood

In a change of pace, this book will be an overview of Wood's career, including interviews with Joe Orlando, Dan Adkins and others and art from Wood's commercial work, along with comics and pulp illustrations. SRP $25

TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING

Back Issue #44

Bronze Age Spider-Man is the theme for this issue with looks at the drug issues, the Green Goblin and Gwen Stacy resurrections, Marvel Team-Up, Spectacular Spider-Man, TV series, newspaper strips and an interview with Gerry Conway. SRP $7.95

The Jack Kirby Collector #55

An overview of Kirby's forays in and out of Hollywood with comparisons of The New Gods and Star Wars, his work at Ruby-Spears, Jack's influence on Hollywood productions and how television and film influenced Kirby's comic work. SRP $10.95

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