Bob's Thoughts

by Bob Gay

May 2008

ODDS AND ENDS

Finally got a chance to look through the Savage Sword of Conan Omnibus books from Dark Horse and was severely disappointed. Seems that Dark Horse produced these books poorly and there is a fair amount of drop out of the line work in the copies I saw. In addition, the black lines aren't black, but lean toward gray; something that makes the art hard to see. Too bad, as I was looking forward to replacing my yellowing copies of the original mags.

The Marvel Fanfare volume mentioned a couple of months ago is out and they are printing full issues and not just the lead stories! This is a great collection and I would recommend that you look this one up.

Gemstone seems to be publishing again and I have the Uncle Scrooge collection at hand. Not quite up to the quality of the first Disney Treasures book, but is a nice overview of the World's Richest Duck!

AC COMICS

Best of the West #67

Gardner Fox, Ray Krank, Bob Powell, John Severin, Bill Elder, Frank Bolle, Dick Ayers and Joe Certa gather together on the adventures of Lemonade Kid, Black Bull, Redmask, Haunted Horseman, Kitty Carson and Durango Kid. Saddle up and prepare to be entertained! SRP $6.95

Men of Mystery #71

Bulletman, Ibis, Golden Arrow, Major Midnight, Ken Shannon and The Hood are brought out of the Fawcett and Quality Comics vaults by writers Otto Binder, Bill Woolfolk and Jack Grogan, and artists Dan Barry, Bernie Krigstein, Harry Anderson, Kurt Schaffenberger, Reed Crandall, Jack Alderman and others. Good solid reproduction and a book that is worth a squint. SRP $9.95

AMERICAN COMIC ARCHIVE

Big Fun Comics #6

This latest issue features nearly 248 pages of comic strips. Captain Easy is featured in 5 complete stories from 1950-1951 with art by Leslie Turner. Next is an 8 month 1937 run of Scorchy Smith by Golden Age artist Bert Christman. Last, is 7 months of Scorchy Smith by Frank Robbins, this batch from 1939. Reproduction on these books is very good, but I find the price just a bit prohibitive for all but the die-hard collector. SRP $28.00

DARK HORSE

The Savage Sword of Conan Vol. 3

Dark Horse has finally deigned to give out some real information about this series and I can now tell you that this third volume reprints Savage Sword of Conan #25-31. Using these issue numbers as reference, I can also tell you that the majority of these stories are the usually John Buscema layouts with inks by Alfredo Alcala or Tony DeZuniga. Furthermore, I can tell you that this ain't really worth your time, unless you are a real Conan completist (except for the Dick Giordano story in #25). One of the pleasures of the Marvel run of Savage Sword, was that each issue usually contained not only Conan, but also stories about other Howard characters. Unfortunately, Dark Horse does not seem to have the rights to reprint these other characters, so these are all Conan all the time. So, give it a squint, set it back on the shelf and buy something else (Also, see above for some notes on the first two volumes!). SRP $17.95

DC

DC is doing a number of what I like to call "retro-revivals" this month. Among them:

• Rann/Thangar: Holy War-Jim Starlin brings together Adam Strange, Starfire, Hawkman, Starman and a whole bunch of other outer space uber-folk in one, massive 8 issue series.
• The War That Time Forgot- Another 8 issue series written by Bruce Jones and featuring lots of DC's older heroes, including Tomahawk and Enemy Ace, all on a mysterious island populated with dinosaurs (how can this one fail!).
• House of Mystery - An ongoing series by Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges, this time focusing on a group of people who are trapped in the House (from what I've seen, this one shows some promise, but no Cain and Abel.).
• Tor - Joe Kubert is once again resurrecting his look at the prehistoric world and, this time around, doing all the writing and the art.

Jack Kirby's O.M.A.C.: One Man Army Corps

Reprints O.M.A.C. #1-8 with pages from Who's Who by Kirby, Royer and Berry. This was one of Kirby's later series for DC and was done shortly after New Gods. The story has a lot of science-fictional overtones and of particular interest is the use of a satellite that can see, and influence, actions anywhere on Earth; back in the days before GPS. Much of Kirby's work has the concept of freedom at its core: the freedom to live, to work and to simply be what, and who your are. Many of his characters are outcasts for one reason or another and the "hero as an outsider" concept, combined with some threads left over from the Fourth World series, give some clues to explaining O.M.A.C.

In The Forever People (a part of the FourthWorld) it is established the Darkseid is after the "Anti-Life Equation." It is later revealed that this Equation does not cause death per se, but allows the person who possesses the Equation to gain complete control of others. In other words, those affected by the Anit-Life Equation are no longer free. To Jack, to be controlled by another, and lose one's freedom, was the opposite of life: in effect it was death. O.M.A.C. continues this concept by presenting a society where the vast majority of the populace is not free, since they are told what, and when, to do anything. The name Buddy Blank is no accident, since Buddy is a "blank," with no creativity or ideas of his own and, in some ways, dead, at least according to Kirby.

Although some find the series to be derivative of 1984 or Brave New World, or even a stab at Communism, I think it is an allegory. O.M.A.C. is Jack's reaction to his creative differences with DC and the scuttling of the Fourth World before it had a chance to gain an audience. The stories on a whole are good, but not outstanding, yet because of they offer a rare insight into Kirby and also predict some trends within society, this is another volume that belongs up on your sagging bookshelf. Since the O.M.A.C.s figured so heavily in current DC continuity, this is also your chance to read up on where they all began. SRP $24.99

Seven Soldiers of Victory Archives Vol. 3

Reprints the stories that originally appeared in Leading Comics #9-14 by Joe Samachson and Arthur Cazeneuve. "So," I hear you thinking, "who were Samachson and Cazeneuve?" Well, that's just part of the problem with this particular Archives series. Since most of DC's big guns were serving in the military during World War II when these stories were originally produced (no pun intended), most of the comics were produced by the B-list artists. However, the Seven Soldiers were yet another team that was created to try to cash in on the success of the Justice Society in All Star Comics and, since the pickings were kind of lean to find heroes who didn't already belong to the Justice Society, you have a combo B- and C- list characters featured in the team. The end result is that you have minor characters done by minor creators to create a kind of "Team-Up of the B-List Folks" book that just doesn't cut it. Personally, I wouldn't even bother to give it a squint. SRP $59.99

Showcase Presents: Green Lantern Vol. 3

Reprints Green Lantern #39-59 by Broome, Fox, Kane, Greene, Infantino and others. Another huge chunk of the Hal Jordan Green Lantern series from the 60s, back when green was good and yellow was bad. Good science fictional stories and worth a squint. SRP $16.99

Showcase Presents: Haunted Tank Vol. 2

Reprints the Haunted Tank stories from G.I. Combat #120-157 by Kanigher, Kubert, Heath, Sekowsky and others. World War II seemed to never end in the 60s and, at DC, was gritty and heroic with a touch of anti-war sentiment (although this was more prevalent in Sgt. Rock). The stories here are, for the most part, forgettable, although the art by Kubert and Heath gives them some extra oomph. Borderline. SRP $16.99

FANTAGRAPHICS

Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko

A career spanning retrospective of the work of Steve Ditko by noted Ditko authority, Blake Bell. Large size (9 x 12) and promised to feature not only a look at Ditko's life and career, but lots of artwork from all periods of Ditko's career. Ditko is one of the greats,yet he has always shunned the public eye, preferring to keep his privacy. Not only was Ditko incredibly prolific during his career, but he was second only to Jack Kirby in the creation of what is today known as the Marvel Universe.Definitely worth a squint. SRP $33.99

GEMSTONE PUBLISHING

On the Disney comic front, Uncle Scrooge #378 has a Romano Scarpa story, while Walt Disney's Comics & Stories has a Daan Jippes illustrated tale.

The Barks/Rosa Collection Vol. 3: Donald Duck Golden Helmet/The Lost Charts of Columbus

Qualifying both as the longest title of the month and the official series of the "We Ain't Ever Gonna Do The Don Rosa Stories By Themselves," this one has the Barks Golden Helmet along with the Rosa sequel. Just a shame that Gemstone can't get its act together and give us a quality reprint of Rosa's material. Flogging a dead horse? Am I ticked? Well, maybe somebody at Gemstone will read this and come up with an answer. SRP $8.99

IDW

John Byrne is hanging his hat for a bit at IDW, writing and pencilling a new Star Trek title, Star Trek: Assignment Earth, and also releasing a phone book collection, The Compleat Next Men Vol. 1, through them. The Next Men was a series Byrne did in the 90s as an independent title and this collection will reprint the 2112 graphic novel, #0 and #1-12 of the regular series. The Star Trek book, by the way, will focus on Gary Seven, the character from the original Star Trek series that was intended for a spin-off series that never happened.

MARVEL

Marvel is releasing a new Avengers/Invaders maxi-series this month. It looks ugly.

Essential Rampaging Hulk Vol. 1

Reprints Rampaging Hulk #1-9, The Hulk! #10-15 and Incredible Hulk #269 by Moench, Starlin, Mantlo, Simonson, Pollard, Trimpe and others. The Rampaging Hulk was a late 70s stab at yet another black and white magazine and the stories were set just after the original Hulk series of the early 60s and his first appearance in Tales to Astonish. Simonson did the first 3 issues and got swamped under Alcala inks. #4 has the odd combination of Starlin inked by Alex Nino (!). The Hulk! was the continuation of the series, this time in color. The color stories had some better work (Bob Mcleod comes to mind), but, of course, it was done in color (and depended on color for some of the line work) and it is reprinted here in black and white. What I find odd, is that out of all of this, all I remember are the covers and that Moon Knight ran in the back of The Hulk!..don't remember anything about the stories, so I dunno what to say. Your choice! SRP $16.99

Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 7

Reprints Thor #153-162 by Lee, Kirby and Colletta. This volume begins Kirby's last great period on Thor, with a nod to Norse mythology in a sweeping Ragnarok sequence and then a tremendous battle between Galactus and Ego, the Living Planet. Simply great stuff and it should be up on your bookshelf! SRP $54.99

Daredevil by Brian Michael Bendis Omnibus Vol. 1

Reprints Daredevil #16-19, #26-50, and 56-60 by Bendis and a whole bunch of other folks. Welcome to the Marvel Age of incomplete Omnibus collections. Here we have almost everything Bendis has written about Daredevil, except the last 20 issues, which, one would assume, is being held back for a second volume. Bendis is a tremendous writer and, although the art is hit and miss, I'm going to suggest that this is yet another for your sagging bookshelf, simply for the strength of the writing. After all, I stayed with Avengers for a very long time, simply because I enjoyed Bendis' writing...and would probably still be reading the title if it weren't for the constant tie-ins to this company cross-over or that (and the abysmal art!). SRP $99.99

Hulk Visionaries: John Byrne Vol. 1

reprints Incredible Hulk #314-319, Annual #14 and Marvel Fanfare #29 by John Byrne, John Byrne and...John Byrne (oh, all right...Sal Buscema pencils and inks in the annual). Here's a handy, on volume compendium of nearly everything John Byrne did on the Incredible Hulk-at least in terms of writing. All Byrne pencils and inks, except for the Sal Buscema job mentioned above (of course, there was a Hulk Annual, #7 to be exact, that Byrne pencilled and Layton inked with story by their old buddy, Roger Stern, and it was really great, but to get that, you have to buy Giant-Size Incredible Hulk #1 that Marvel is offering this month). Fairly good stuff and, if Byrne had stayed with the book, he might have been able to turn it into something special. Byrne had a rather bizarre track record at Marvel once he left X-Men. He took over a number of different books as writer/artist and then left them in a very short time, due to creative differences with the editors. Not sure how much of this was "Byrne the prima donna" and how much is based in actual head-on collisions, but Byrne has addressed this on his website (Byrne Robotics) and it does make for interesting reading.SRP $24.99

TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING

The Jack Kirby Checklist (Gold Edition)

This is a total revamping of the previous 1998 edition and has been expanded, updated and cross-indexed to include most everything that Kirby did and also includes a detailed list of Jack's unpublished work as well. Great for scholars and collectors alike. SRP $14.95

Alter Ego #77

A look at St. John publishing company, with a biography of Archer St. John and lots of related art and articles. Also includes the usual material from the Fawcett Collectors of America. SRP $6.95

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