tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-373559342024-03-13T03:03:23.252-04:00Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!My ramblings on all my reading, with emphasis on comics and pulp novels.cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.comBlogger174125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-42711889790311348892022-04-30T00:35:00.003-04:002022-04-30T17:38:28.930-04:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWmP_MsxaPK9I2m5q4ERE6pyo7myJx3fgzRYGK8GqAwJYBLMW5W-CU-QbFz1cP1a7fnNYcHpxP_10BbhWrEYL5nhDe-RH5U4YhKeBTzk0ci2Bd52YH1qZTF90mIddwCzkS_sZFaaGpL-D2UwgpnalVnAv02-IDV6W0ny4nZAXeQQNgHgA/s593/fly30.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="593" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWmP_MsxaPK9I2m5q4ERE6pyo7myJx3fgzRYGK8GqAwJYBLMW5W-CU-QbFz1cP1a7fnNYcHpxP_10BbhWrEYL5nhDe-RH5U4YhKeBTzk0ci2Bd52YH1qZTF90mIddwCzkS_sZFaaGpL-D2UwgpnalVnAv02-IDV6W0ny4nZAXeQQNgHgA/s320/fly30.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><br />So, I recently picked up a couple of older comics: Adventures of the Fly #30 and Fly-Man #32. Partly because it turns out that the Archie company let several a couple of years of mid 1960s comics slip through the cracks. In this case, they left off the copyright notices, a requirement at the time of publication and rendering the comics public domain upon publication. What's interesting in these issues is that issue #30 re-introduced the Comet. Issues 31 and 32 (with the change in name) introduced the third Shield and the concept of the heroes as the team the Mighty Crusaders. <p></p><p>Adventures of the Fly #30 is the last issue before the superheroes went in full camp mode. Like the Jaguar comics of the time, at this point of time the comic reads much like 1950s, early 1960s Superman family comics. Just not quite as good. But, still there's some fun to them, especially if you're a kid. Or, if you're weary and need something to cleanse your palette after reading a selection of comics by Tom King, Brian Michael Bendis, and Geoff Johns.<br /></p><p>The other interesting thing about this particular issue is that two of the three stories it contains are centered on Kim Brand aka the Fly Girl. And, in the second story, she is in the story as much as the Fly is.</p><p>The first story, Kim Brand decides to call on Tom Troy aka the Fly in his law offices. Troy has been so successful of late in putting away gangsters, that a couple are laying in wait for him and she ends up being captured by them. She knows she could change to Fly Girl and take them out easily but it would mean sacrificing her secret identity. She reasons Troy is on patrol as the Fly and could return any moment. So, she must figure a way to warn him without alerting her captors. The good part of this story is that her solution is by subverting the stereotypes of women of the time, that they would dismiss her bizarre actions as being those of a dizzy female. The only real flaw is that bad science in that as Brand she has no powers, but she blows up a balloon which is able to float away as if filled with helium. </p><p>The second story, Fly Girl and the Fly discover a bank robbery by a short man named Limbo and his girlfriend Stella Stretchpants (really!) in progress. Only the bank tellers are helping the couple in the robbery! Turns out Limbo is a master chemist from a perfume factory who accidentally discovered a super-chemical when used in perfumes has extreme effects. One, is a super attracter that makes women fall in love with him and men overly eager to help. Soon, he has the Fly couple also helping them make their escape. The next encounter, he reveals another perfume that sets the couple against each other, more interested in fighting each other than stopping the villain. The heroes realize they have a dilemma, trying to stop the couple without coming under the influence of the super-perfumes. The story actually makes me think of the plots of the Batman television show. There's the humor and parody in the names and plot, but not at the expense of the heroes or the nature of heroes. They are capable and smart and treat the threat as serious.</p><p>The third story is the one with the Comet. This story especially reminds one of the Supergirl and Lois Lane stories. The Comet is the ruler of the alien planet Altrox. Through alien technology, he has fallen in love with Fly Girl and has foresaken his crown to do so. His rainbow pith helmet is actually a replica of his crown. He proves he is able to fly and has super strength that puts him at the equal to her. She is suspicious of his motives and comes up with several tests: an electromagnet to see if he's a robotic android (it only attracts and destroys his prized helmet), a wrestling match under the excuse that she cannot marry someone who cannot outfight her but really to give her an excuse to see if she can grab a face mask hiding some kind of ugly inhuman visage and three, and lastly, a kiss to see if there is an attraction and that she could love him but in reality to allow her to read his mind to see if he's lying about anything. The mind-reading backfires as it gives the Comet's advanced brain a head-ache. She confesses and was quite moved by the kiss. However, he wants nothing to do with suspicious women and leaves to go back home. If the first story subverted the expectations and characterization of
women, this one leans into them Fly Girl does not come off as well here.</p><p>The interesting thing is the Comet. His appearance here is similar to many of the super suitors other super characters that would pop up in the Superman family comics. It reads as nothing more than a one-shot. The cover shows a purple faced alien but that's simply Fly Girl's imagination of what he might look like underneath a human mask. His costume is simply red & white. Another thing that's notable is there is no mention of the golden-age Comet. At some point, it was revealed that the original Comet didn't die, but was transported to the planet Altrox. But, here it is just re-using the name without acknowledging the older character.</p><p>Yet, it didn't end there for the Comet. He returned for the next two issues! I don't have #31 handy, but it includes the Fly couple, the Comet, the son of the golden-age Shield as the new Shield, and the Black Hood. His costume has changed colors to the more garish orange and green. I don't recall whether there is an in-story explanation for why he's back on Earth, slightly different powers, and different colored costume. The other notable thing, as seen with change in name to Fly-Man, these new stories are less straight-forward and more campy. They read like it's recycled 1960 Justice League plots but scripted by Stan Lee doped up on strong cold medication. With that is also a change in artists, from the solid if somewhat dull John Giunta to the more notably flashy and hyper art of Paul Reinman whose work fittingly has the flat cutout looks of Mike Sekowsky from his JLA days <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFt8VtWxGTe4ZvV48c0wVZNpes345LYTTZCWsvmxt-4etiMFcqjk8T0DX2sPXwz3gBrapzmik8zbxcpFnc2ARyc9BDUdfMYwXIHzoXY1iZ6GpvW1yDSKy40UMiQSHmVJVoNauz2wpv2K-Uue9KZmTTeucf44cJibnhaBt9X7Trxr77iYc/s594/fly32.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFt8VtWxGTe4ZvV48c0wVZNpes345LYTTZCWsvmxt-4etiMFcqjk8T0DX2sPXwz3gBrapzmik8zbxcpFnc2ARyc9BDUdfMYwXIHzoXY1iZ6GpvW1yDSKy40UMiQSHmVJVoNauz2wpv2K-Uue9KZmTTeucf44cJibnhaBt9X7Trxr77iYc/s320/fly32.jpg" width="215" /></a></div><br />Issue #32 opens up with the heroes fighting each other on a deserted island. Turns out, they disagree on what to call their new team. It seems like the Mighty Crusaders name was given to them by the Fly-man's old villain the Spider and the other members think that tarnishes it. However, the names the other members have are even worse. The fight is interrupted by an incoming atomic warhead. Before it reaches them, they are encased by a force-field globe that protects them from the blast. The Comet reasons the warhead was sent to kill him by enemies fearing that he might return to Altrox. Likewise, the force field was from his friends. This kind of scares the others, that just being near him makes them a target. So, they depart. However, the explosion has awoken the Atlantean tyrant Eterno from his suspended animation sleep, centuries ahead of schedule. Fearing that the heroes or descendants of them could be a threat to his future plans of conquest, he sets out to do a preemptive strike against them. <p></p><p>Now, these aren't good comics, but there are some interesting bits here and there. The first threat sent against them is a powerful giant robot called Doombala whose name evokes the monster comics of Atlas. It's he and not Eterno on the cover. In a writing and art disconnect, Fly-man shrinks himself and enters the robot through it's nose and is expelled by a sneeze. At least that's what the art shows us. The writing says he is entering through the mouth and expelled by a robotic cough!</p><p>The summation of the story's plot on the GCD actually gets this wrong. It says that it was the fight against Doombala that set Eterno free when it wasn't. The readers aren't introduced to Eterno until after the fight, but that's presented as a flashback revealing Eterno is behind the menace of Doombala and was woken by the earlier atomic explosion. <br /></p><p>Another part is the heroes in an attempt to strategize in private decide to hide out amongst others at a comic book convention! They almost don't get in since they aren't dressed as comic book characters but real superheroes. Eterno tracks them down and creates evil powered duplicates based on several of the characters of several cosplayers. A very similar story was done in the pages of the Freedom Fighters which was part of an unofficial crossover of the Freedom Fighters and The Invaders. In both cases, the villains the teams faced were called... the Crusaders. It's too bad that the cosplayers aren't in costumed identities meant to parody the Justice League, FF, or Avengers. Instead, they are using names that clearly meant to be silly, belittling the subject matter. At one point, there is a deliberate meta-fictional bit (before the term existed), where the comic fans are extolling the characters from the golden-age and companies should dust them off and bring them back like Radio Comics is doing. Radio Comics is the name Archie was publishing these under at the time and the Shield, Black Hood, and Comet were all golden-age characters back when they were MLJ. Soon, they would also bring back the Web and Steel Sterling for solo stories and some others to lesser degrees.</p><p>The ending is really bizarre but suitable for this comic. You have the Shield revealing a power that was set up earlier in the comic but this is the last time he's able to use it. Then, there's how Eterno is ultimately taken out. It's a bit out of left field and almost seems like something that might have happened in an Ant-Man comic. But, I won't spoil it for you.</p><p>As noted, the Comet is in the green and orange costume which he'd wear for the rest of his Silver-Age appearances. When he shows up in the 1980s revival, he is wearing his original red & white colors which is a definite improvement before he reverts to his golden-age powers and looks. I think I may be the only person that actually liked the red and white costume with the rainbow helmet. There's no mention of the character's previous super-strength. It is revealed that it is his helmet that allows him to fly as well as powering his gloves which fires de-atomizing rays aka disintegrating beams. He is still being presented as being the ex-ruler of Altrox. I wonder when it was revealed that this version of the Comet was really the return of the golden-age one, that he's not simply an alien using a currently unused superhero name. Was this something Buckler came up with when doing the revival in the 1980s? It is something to keep in mind if anyone wishes to use the public domain versions of the Comet. The 1940s one is public domain, and this one is public domain. But, combining the two into a single hero might not be.<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-49613907558804362572017-08-20T23:44:00.000-04:002017-08-20T23:44:15.389-04:00Eclipse means Eclipso!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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With the eclipse, it seemed a good time to look at one of a couple silver-age DC comics I picked up. One thing the comics showed was that if you think that the Silver-Age Doom Patrol was weird, you probably need to read more DC comics from that era. <b>House of Secrets</b> during this time had two features much like their competition's Strange Tales and Tales of Suspense. In this case, the two were Eclipso and Prince Ra-man. One of the things that attracted me with this comic was it promised a merging of the two features into one story pitting the hero against the star villain.<br />
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Eclipso was sort of DC's version the Hulk, playing on the Jekyll and Hyde motif: good guy scientist who turns into a menace. In Eclipso's case all it takes is an eclipse to turn scientist Bruce Gordon into the villain Eclipso. Unlike the Hulk, Eclipso got to wear a costume, had incredible intellect and was an out and out villain. Gordon spent most of his time trying, and failing, to prevent coming into eclipses and then helping to set things up that would force him to become Gordon again. In this he is aided by his girlfriend Mona and her father Professor Bennet. A strong sudden light is enough to banish Eclipso.<br />
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Prince Ra-Man is a bit tougher to explain. He has his roots in an earlier strip featuring Mark Merlin who was an occult detective. He got himself stuck in another dimension and the only way to get back to our reality was to be cast into a recently deceased body. In this new body, he has various mental powers (telekinesis, illusion casting) and a powerful artifact, the six-sided sun. Sort of like the cinema version of Doctor Strange, it has the all of the earmarks of being a mystical hero but explaining it in pseudo science fiction terms while hedging their bets by also sprinkling in Egyptian references. Upon arriving back in this reality he tells Mark's fiance Elsa that Mark is dead. But, she travels with Prince Ra-man in his crusade against crime. Prince Ra-Man may be DC's first superhero to actually sport a beard. With that, plus a white streak in his black hair and his eyes being all white and black ringed, he is looking almost more like a villain than a hero at the time.<br />
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This story starts with Bruce, Mona and Professor Bennet preparing for the next eclipse and a plan to instantly banish Eclipso. As usual Eclipso uses his intellect to outwit them and embark on his next plan of world conquest. In this instance, Eclipso emerges from Bruce Gordon as opposed to Bruce transforming into Eclipso. Eclipso's plan involves him to create Helio, a being made from sun and various chemicals. He even designed a costume for Helio. Of course, it means Eclipso has to shield himself from his own being in order to avoid getting banished. With Helio's power, they steal a space platform so that they can attack anywhere on earth from the safety of space. Eclipso is eventually defeated and returns to Gordon's body. However, Helio is still out there.<br />
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In the part two, Prince Ra-man sets out to end the ongoing threat of Helio. In their first encounter Helio almost manages to kill Ra-man and Elsa in a cave in. Helio travels to the lab complex of Buce Gordon in Solar City. He creates an artificial eclipse which transforms Bruce into Eclipso this time. When Prince Ra-man arrives, he quickly reasons that Eclipso is Gordon's other self which Professor Bennet admits. The professor tells him this transformation is only temporary but if there is a real eclipse, Eclipso will split off permanently and if Eclipso and Helio are able to get the stolen space platform into space, they will be nearly unstoppable. Ra-man grows his disc to giant size and flies it like a flying carpet after the platform where he has to battle the two villains.<br />
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GCD lists both parts of the story to be by Bob Haney while Jack Sparling did the art for the first half and Bernard Bailey on the second. It's not quite the book length battle promised on the cover, it is still a fun read of a couple of off-beat characters. The stories don't give much background on the characters and so the handling of Eclipso seems a bit inconsistent, with him emerging from Bruce in the front half and a transformed Bruce Gordon in the second. Eclipso's appearances after his run were sporadic in the 1970s. Some reprints, a battle against Batman, the Metal Men, an appearance in Crisis. It would be in the 1990s that Eclipso would get upgraded into a major villainous threat as he was portrayed as a dark villain that was able to use his black diamonds to create dark-sides of the various heroes. In one issue of his own comic he would be responsible for the deaths of various characters including the original Steel, the lady Dr. Midnight and Wildcat, Peacemaker, Mark Shaw Manhunter, the Creeper and another or two. The Creeper would get better and the Manhunter killed was retconned to have been someone else in his costume. In these stories, Eclipso doesn't display the scientific expertise and cunning that he does in these Silver-Age stories where he seems more of a Doctor Doom or Lex Luthor style villain. Prince Ra-Man would cross swords again with Eclipso a few issues later. He would eventually come clean with Elsa over his identity. Not much later he was killed in the final issue of <b>Crisis on Infinite Earths</b>. Since then, there have apparently been sporadic inconsistent appearances of him and/or Mark Merlin.<div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-82673560495551054272017-04-24T14:41:00.003-04:002017-04-24T14:53:41.178-04:00Pete Francisco reduxBack in February I shared the story of Revolutionary War hero Pete Francisco who loomed like a mythological hero come to life. Today on Comicbookplus.com I was reading a newly uploaded book <b>Soldiers of Fortune</b>. I've not read a lot of ACG and was mainly going through this for curiosity's sake. However, it has a two page story devoted to Peter Francisco. The story even mentions the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in Greensboro, NC and the commemorative monument remembering him. From <b>Soldiers of Fortune </b>#3, ACG, July-August, 1951, retrieved from comicbookplus.com.<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-17135008513367305322017-03-25T19:27:00.000-04:002017-03-25T19:27:12.730-04:00The Terror<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Continuing my foray into the lobby cards I had recently obtained from an antique mall. This one is from the 1928 film <b>The Terror.</b> The first two things that attracted me to this one is the artwork on the front & back, plus the image of a hooded, robed menacing villain. Then, I noticed it was adapted from the work of Edgar Wallace. Wallace may be one of the more influential writers on popular culture that few have read or very much aware of.<br />
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Edgar Wallace was a popular English writer of thrillers and detective stories. His work appeared as novels and reprinted in pulps on both sides of the ocean. Many have been filmed, some several times. Wallace also worked as a scriptwriter and his most famous work was the initial draft for <b>King Kong. </b>He died before completion of the script and filming but his name remained attached to the project.<br />
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The story goes that when the publishers created the house name of "Robert Wallace" as writer for the Phantom Detective pulps, it was because of the association the last name would bring.<br />
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<b>The Green Archer </b>by Wallace is an interesting novel that has been filmed several times. Its second outing was as a movie serial starring Victor Jory. Like all adaptations, characters are changed quite a bit from the source material. Still, it is hard to miss the color and initials of the mysterious title character and not wonder about the possible influence of the comic book superhero and villain archers that would follow: the Arrow, Green Arrow, Golden Arrow, Green Knight, etc. Most rightly point to the popularity of Robin Hood, both stories and swashbuckling films as direct and indirect inspirations of the whole costumed superhero genre. But, I like to think that there is room for the Green Archer still: the secret identity behind the costume and archaic weapon, the colorful name.<br />
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In <b>The Four Just Men</b>, Wallace wrote one of his few series of books centering around continuing characters. In these novels, he would write of a small group of men from different backgrounds coming together as an organization of vigilantes to punish criminals beyond the reach of the law. In an early science fiction story, Wallace would pioneer the idea of a parallel Earth, one that exists on the opposite orbit around the sun.<br />
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<b>The Terror</b> was first written and developed as a play in 1927. It was then adapted into this film version in 1928. This is an early talking movie, reportedly, Warner Bros. second. In 1929, Wallace would write a novelization of the story. It differs markedly from this movie in various character names and occupations. I do not know how closely the novel follows the play though. The 1938 film follows the novelized story more closely and is almost universally considered the better of the films. The latter film definitely had the better cast: Alistair Sim (A Christmas Carol), Bernard Lee (M of the James Bond films), and Alfred Wotner (Sherlock Holmes in several films).<br />
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Joe Connor and "Soapy Marks"are two crooks in the employ of the mysterious super criminal known only as O'Shea whose features no one has seen. With him they rob an armored truck full of foreign gold coins. Even though the two are responsible for hiding the truck and are to meet up with O'Shea later to split the loot, they find themselves captured by the police at the rendezvous and the gold gone.<br />
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Ten years later as they near their release, the crime is still unsolved. Each vows their own separate revenge against O'Shea and intimate they may have an idea on the man's identity. The only thing they reveal to the police is that he is only sane 22 of 24 hours a day.<br />
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The action shifts to the mansion and grounds owned by the eccentric Colonel Redmayne whose military title and money seem a bit questionable. One of his eccentricities is that he sort of runs it as an inn but by invite only. The longer term residents include a middle aged businessman, a widow with a knowledge and interest in fantastic crimes, her daughter, and the colonel's own daughter newly arrived from school. Added to the mix are a youngish drunkard ne'er-do-well who is steadily trying to worm his way into an invitation, a roaming tinkerer, and a visiting scholarly pastor. Stories circulate of mysterious organ music played in the late hours of the night, and a spectral, robed figure that wanders the grounds. Such reports tend to set the colonel on edge. And when a murder happens on their doorstep, the links of the events from ten years before and rumors of hidden treasure come to the fore.<br />
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The novelization takes advantage of being a novel and fleshing out details of the story that cannot readily be captured on film. In man ways the story is similar <b>The Green Archer. </b>A master criminal, a mansion with hidden passageways, a mysterious spectral figure haunting the grounds. It is also similar to another story by Wallace, <b>The Black Abbott, </b>where a mysterious robed figure is haunting an old abbey where there is reportedly hidden treasure and those that might know too much meet death.<br />
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Unfortunately, the novelization is unable to expand much beyond its original stage play format. So, while the characterization and motivation is expanded upon some and given more flourishes, much of the plot is sadly simple. It does not get a lot out of the gothic touches inherent in the story. The idea of the robed figure being the ghost of a monk attached to a ruined abbey and underground chapel don't get the build-up it richly deserves (as compared to the Archer being the ghost of a hanged archer with a corpse-like countenance in TGA). The cast is small because of its origins as a play and film which limits severely the choices of who "the Terror" is and there is no doubts about the Terror being the mysterious O'Shea. The cast feels even smaller once an absent detective whose specialty is O'She is brought up. There can be no doubt that one of the characters will stand revealed as the detective. Then add the two ex-cons, there are more characters in the story with second identities than there are those who are who they seem.<br />
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This gives the whole story a feeling of a distilled down plot of a Scooby-Doo episode. It brought to mind the many outlandish detective stories that P.G. Wodehouse would often allude to in his stories and would make fun of. Characters with hidden identities and motivations, apt to knock someone off just for the heck of it. Mansions always have hidden doors, passageways, and access to subterranean lairs. And, a decent mansion must come with hidden treasure and a ghost-story or two. And the mysterious criminal is always after the pretty young girl who is to be rescued by some fumbling bumbling guy who will stand revealed as being the great heroic detective all along.<br />
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<a href="http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks13/1305821h.html#ch14" target="_blank">The Terror</a> at Project Guttenberg.<div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-2317768313899433832017-03-07T19:50:00.000-05:002017-03-07T19:50:28.856-05:00Daredevil's Reward<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Continuing my sharing of some of the movie flyers that I bought several months ago. This one appealed because of the notable star as well being an early masked hero<br />
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For many, the idea of an old Western is probably one with John Wayne. My own first exposure to Tom Mix was as a character played by Bruce Willis in the move <b>Sunset</b> with James Garner playing Wyatt Earp. And, then as a character in the graphic novel <b>Batman/Houdini: The Devil's Workshop.</b><br />
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<b>Daredevil's Reward</b> also aired overseas as <b>$5,000 Reward</b> so this managed to serve double duty. This is a silent film from 1928. A little research revealed the movie was copyrighted and renewed. At least old newspaper listed it as being successful, airing several nights to capacity crowds. Finding information on the story was a little more difficult. IMDB had nothing beyond the credits. The carried more details.<br />
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Mix plays Texas Ranger Tom Hardy who has to adopt various disguises to capture a gang of stagecoach robbers, one of which would appear to be the masked man shown here. Judging from the flyer alone, I assumed the film to be a response to the popularity of the Zorro films, but it's hard to tell from the description whether he wore the mask and black outfit regularly or even if he's called "Daredevil" as in the title. However, the film description does raise an interesting comparison. A Texas Ranger who puts on a mask to fight crime? This is 5 years before a more famous masked Texas Ranger would debut on the radio and was apparently a popular film.<div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-65179532025792768062017-03-05T19:36:00.000-05:002017-03-05T19:36:01.026-05:00Alias Jimmy Valentine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Several months ago at a local antique store mall, I came across a bunch of these movie flyers from the early days of film making. They were from silent movies and early "talkies" and some illustrating movies that are now considered lost.<br />
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I bought several of them, basing my choice on subject matter and overall sense of design and artwork.<br />
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This first one satisfied all of my criteria. It has some interesting art along with photos of the stars. The character of Jimmy Valentine is interesting for a couple of reasons of his own merit. He also is the creation of famed short-story writer O'Henry. I don't know if I was a fan of O'Henry because he was from my hometown, and where I currently call home, Greensboro, NC or if that was just happenstance.<br />
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While O'Henry was from NC, most of his stories were written while he was a resident of New York in the early part of the 20th Century. Before M. Night Shyalaman, O'Henry specialized in the ironic and twist ending to his tales. He wrote around 600 short-stories but four are especially notable for their fame extending past the stories themselves.<br />
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Before Hallmark started making so many Christmas themed movies that they could show them without repeating 24/7 weeks before Christmas, us older folks watched many of the same Christmas specials over and over and read many of the same stories. It was fairly popular for television shows to do a Christmas episode, usually borrowing the plot from "A Christmas Carol", "It's a Wonderful Life", and, a little more infrequently, "The Gift of the Magi" (1905). Like the other two stories, it has been formally adapted in film and plays as well. No doubt many are aware of the story without having actually read it. Interestingly, almost all adaptations that I can remember seeing, most tend to ignore one of the more unique aspects of this story that separates it from other O'Henry stories (at least of the paltry 20% I have read from that prodigious 600 total). It is one of the few stories written that the 3rd person narrative has a personality. The narrator is a cynic and presents the story as a cautionary tale, the young poor couple described as being foolish and for readers to not emulate them.<br />
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"The Ransom of Red Chief" (1910) is one of several stories featuring Bill and Sam, a pair of somewhat scoundrels always pursuing a quick buck or easy path to fortune. In this story they decide to kidnap the boy of a local prominent citizen and end up getting far more than they bargained for. Like the above story, it has been filmed and adapted for stage many times. Its plot has become a standard comedy trope, showing up in movies and television shows. Most recently, the plot showed up just a couple of weeks ago in television's <b>Grimm</b> when a crooked cop kidnaps Renaud's daughter to force him to honor his end of a bargain and not knowing how powerful of a little witch she actually is.<br />
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"The Caballero's Way" (1907) is notable for two things. One, it introduces a specific character who becomes famous beyond the original story, in this case, the Cisco Kid. Two, it does not have the wit and humor generally found in O'Henry stories. It is a dark tale. Readers expecting the Cisco Kid of television and comics are in for a surprise as he is a clever, ruthless and murderous outlaw. In 1914 a silent version of the story was filmed and apparently a fairly faithful adaptation of the plot. In 1928, a sound film, <b>In Old Arizona</b>, was released with a more heroic Cisco, albeit still an outlaw. The movies would continue, he'd have various sidekicks before settling on the familiar Pancho. The characters made the transition to a 1950s television series. In 1972, he even made it into a pop song. Sing it with me, "The Cisco Kid, was a good friend of miine." In 1994, Jimmy Smits and Cheech Marin would saddle up for a tv movie featuring the characters. Moonstone Comics did a series several years ago that walked the line between the two versions of the Cisco Kid.<br />
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This brings us to "A Retrieved Reformation" (1903) which introduced the world to the safe-cracker Jimmy Valentine. Jimmy is known to be able to break into any safe or vault and is casing a small town bank with a state of the art new vault. However, he sees the bank manager's daughter and falls in love. He passes himself off with a new name and endeavors to go straight. However, a detective rolls into town and is positive he recognizes Jimmy but has no proof. That's when a young girl gets accidentally locked in the safe. Jimmy can save her but it means revealing who he is and sacrificing his chance for happiness. The story was adapted for a play which was then filmed as a movie three times. The above images are from the third film, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's first sound film with dialogue sequences. The story would also make it onto radio. He would achieve a different kind of fame outside his story than the Cisco Kid. His name became synonymous for skilled safe crackers and became a somewhat slang term. Reading mysteries and pulp novels, it would not be surprising to come across a sentence that read something like: "he wasn't a Jimmy Valentine, but this old safe shouldn't give him too much trouble he thought." These days, his name has drifted into the past as money is stolen more through computer hacking than safe cracking. With all of the meta-fiction out there and people dusting off old characters and concepts for new stories, I am a bit surprised that we have not seen "The Return of Jimmy Valentine" as a series of historical mysteries set in the early pre-WWI days of 20th century New York. Or, maybe we have and it has just slipped by me.<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-55160379284674330202017-02-25T20:52:00.000-05:002017-02-25T20:52:14.983-05:00Pulpy Motifs in Pop Lit<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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So, I was at the comic book store and looking over the titles and the one for <b>Hellblazer</b> struck me as being very familiar. It probably wouldn't have been immediately recognizable if not for the fact that I got a Fantomas paperback using the image from the original cover. From the online <b>Hellblazer </b>previews, the story does take place in Paris so the swipe obviously is meant to be an homage or a parody. However, Cassaday does not cite from where his cover comes from. Plus, it is an image that probably only a small percentage of comic readers are going to be aware of the reference. You know the old saying, "if you have to explain the joke..."<br />
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<b>Astro City</b> #41/100: I will warn you, the issue comes with two different covers. At the store I frequent, the issues with the Astro-naut on the cover all had printing/binding issues. In two different places, several pages were duplicated in place of the proper pages. I returned mine and swapped it for the one with other cover as the issues they had left with the same cover had the same errors.<br />
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Busiek has lately been knocking it out of the park using the superheroics to explore the history of music and race relations and tensions around the turn of the 20th Century. In this issue, the lead character and his story and relationship to the colorful superheroes of Astro City are definitely meant to evoke the era of pulp heroes and the relationship and popularity of them to the rise of the comic book heroes of WWII. As usual, Busiek does a great job telling a story that is meta-fictional in its use of history and archetypes but in a way that's not mocking or parodying by focusing on creating rounded characters and character driven stories. Prior knowledge is not required for the enjoyment of the stories on their own merits.<br />
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<b>Books:</b><br />
<b>Her Dark Curiosity</b> by Megan Shepherd. Several years ago I heard about Megan Shepherd, a new North Carolina author whose debut book <b>The Madman's Daughter</b> was coming out. The book features Juliet, a 16 year old girl in late 19th Century London. Juliet is strong-willed and talented in sciences despite the limitations on her due to her gender. She finds out her exiled father is still conducting his mad experiments on a secret island, the same experiments that got him exiled. She decides to find out if it is true. The catch, her father is Dr. Moreau. That story is a compelling retelling of H.G. Wells' classic tale. The retelling does take quite a few liberties beyond simply inserting the character of Juliet. It is a re-writing of the story, using it to explore similar and different themes and constructing a powerful new story that follows some of the same plot points.<br />
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For some reason, the first book was in the local bookstore and library under regular new fiction. With the second book, it was classified as "Young Adult". I also discovered at the local library that carries the book, there is a difference between "Young Adult" and "Youth" fiction which explains why I was having trouble looking for it amongst the Harry Potters and Percy Jacksons of the latter. While the protagonist is of an older teen, the storytelling is every bit of sophisticated and even moreso than much of the fiction that finds itself on the adult shelves of genre and normal fiction.<br />
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<b>Her Dark Curiosity</b> picks up after the first with Juliet back in London. A professor that had once been friends with her father has taken her in. Meanwhile, she is living a double life as she is conducting research in trying to find a cure for her illness and dealing with personal fallout from the first novel. There are killings occurring across the city, gripping it in terror. Juliet discovers that there are links of the killings to her own past and the methods seem to indicate that maybe not all of her father's beast men died on the island.<br />
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Like the previous novel, the story uses a pre-existing classic to explore different themes and issues of a person trying to find her own way in a highly gender divided society. In this case, it is Robert Louis Stevenson's <b>Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.</b> Shepherd takes more liberties with the original novel and characters. But, she uses it to explore some of the same themes just recasting for a new generation. Juliet struggles with the nature of good and evil existing in the same person, from seeing the world in black and white vs shades of gray. In some people, the demarcation between good and evil are literal. But some are more successful in keeping their bestial sides hidden from view. By the novel's end, Juliet and the reader find themselves in a world where knowing who to trust is difficult and trusting the wrong person can be fatal.<br />
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The novel ends on a note setting up the third and last from the trilogy drawing inspiration from Mary Shelley's <b>Frankenstein. </b>Now, I know where in the library to find it.<br />
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<b>Reanimatrix: The Horror of Lovecraft's 20th Century</b> by Pete Rawlik. I am only a few chapters in to this book. The opening chapters are in the format of letters from a soldier in France in the days after WWI to his brother. Each chapter is a whole short story of horror and dread and are setting him up to be the proper character to return home to the town of Arkham, Mass. to handle crimes and horrors that the regular cops cannot.<br />
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As the novel is based on Lovecraft, I expect references to characters, creatures, and places from his works and those that continued the mythos. However, Rawlik is in full Wold Newtonian mode. In the first few chapters, there's references to <b>The Great Gatsby, The Phantom of the Opera,</b> Robert W. Chambers' "King in Yellow", Talbot Mundy's Meldrum Strange (who is related to a Hugo Strange, whether the superhero Doc Strange or Batman's villain is untold), the pulpish French master-villain Cornelius Kramm (http://www.coolfrenchcomics.com/cornelius.htm), Frankenstein, works of Clark Ashton Smith (Beasts of Averoigne, events around the fictional location of Yvones) and even Bela Lugosi's Dr. Sangre from <b>King of the Zombies</b>. There is also a reference to the real legend, the beast of Gevaudan that served as the basis for the movie <b>Brotherhood of the Wolf</b>.<br />
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On one hand, once you realize the references are there to such a degree it becomes distracting from the novel. With each character or concept introduced one wonders is it from a specific source? It's akin to all the Easter Egg in Moore and O'Neill's <b>The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. </b>Yet, Rawlik so far is excellent at telling disquieting stories, building a novel from short short stories. His writing skill is strong enough to override the name-dropping. As I am still under 40 pages into the book, here's hoping that he is able to maintain the quality. At the worst, he has already directed me towards some other writers and short stories to check out.<div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-13774346055875648112017-02-10T23:11:00.000-05:002017-02-10T23:11:48.852-05:00Peter Francisco & Ann the HuntressOne of the joys of my new job in archives is coming across bits of information while conducting research. Often as I am looking to track down a bit of information or history for someone, often something I know little about, I come across completely unrelated but fascinating information. Going down rabbit holes I call it.<br />
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Most recently, I was looking for information concerning history of Greensboro, NC. After looking through several archives boxes, I was checking through some of the history books in archives. In one a photograph caught my eye of a man from the Revolutionary War. The photo was of Peter Francisco but it was the billing of "Hercules of the Revolutionary War" that further drew me in. Also called the Giant of Virginia and Hercules of Virginia, he fought valiantly at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse among other conflicts. His life story reads like one out of myth and later Americana tall tales. As a boy, he was discovered on foreign docks and spoke Portuguese. He gave his name as Pedro Francisco, that his family lived in a mansion and that he and his sister were kidnapped. She escaped but he was taken away by ship and later abandoned.<br />
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He was taken to America and grew up in Virginia. When he was old enough he apprenticed as a blacksmith. Peter grew to be somewhere between 6 foot 6 to 6 foot 8, a giant of a man, especially for those times. As a soldier, he participated and was wounded in several notable battles. In addition to stories of his prowess as a soldier, stories of his strength spread. When a wagon was stuck in mud and two mules could not pull it out, he did. Another time, he was loathe to leave a cannon to be recovered by the enemy and the horses that were to pull it had been killed. Supposedly he hefted the heavy cannon on to his shoulders and carried it. This feat was immortalized on a stamp. To add to the mythos of the man, he had a special broadsword made, commissioned for him by General Washington. The sword was six feet long, five feet of it being the blade. The mental image of this fighting giant on the battlefield with a sword longer than the height of many men is striking. Sadly, his sword was lost at some point after being donated to a historical society by his daughter.<br />
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With these stories of strength and fighting ability, it is no surprise that the moniker of Hercules would be attached to him. I cannot help to wonder if such stories around a man of historical record somehow inspired later fictional heroes of tall tales, folklore and various supermen of late 19th and early 20th Century pop culture. More can be found out about him at <a href="http://www.peterfrancisco.org./">www.peterfrancisco.org.</a><br />
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<b>Ann the Huntress</b><br />
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I came across this story in another book, Greensboro North Carolina: The County Seat of Guilford by Ethel Stephens Arnett, University of North Carolina Press, 1955. For a little context, Mrs. Arnett writes that in the late 1700s in order to increase agriculture harvests, legislation passed a law that each man in the region would kill a quota of crows, blackbirds and squirrels or pay a fine. Out of this grew a celebration and shooting match as the men would turn in their quotas and show off their marksmanship skills to their women. Quoting Mrs. Arnett:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
At one of these meetings, about 1790-1791, "an incident occurred... of such a character that it had an influence of North Carolina... the United States, and the world," wrote Addison Coffin in his "Early Settlements of Friends in North Carolina" And this is the story he recorded:<br />There was a shooting match about one mile east of where Guilford College now stands, in a forest. [A large company of noted riflemen were performing wonderful feats of marksmanship]. In the midst of the exciting contest a beautiful young woman suddenly made her appearance coming up the road from the northwest. She was dressed in a neat walkng dress with ornamented Indian leggins and moccasins. She carried a small rifle highly ornamented with silvr mountings, and the usual shot pouch and belt, with hunting knife and small hatchet, a complete hunting outfit. After the excitement had somewhat subsided and shooting began again, she modestly asked permission to take a shot with the contestants; the request was granted and she stepped lightly out of the line, raised her rifle, took quick aim and fired, the ball drove the center to a hair's breadth sixty yards away. A shout of applause from the hunters made the forest ring. Again she loaded and fired, again the ball drove the center. Astonished and bewildered the old hunters gathered around her, doubting whether they were seeing a vision, or were in the presence of flesh and blood, but her bright intelligent face, respectful language, and lady-like bearing convinced them that whe was a mortal, and one of the highest types of sacred womanhood, but to the inquiry who she was, from whence she came and why thus alone among strangers, she respectfully declined to answer, but gaver her name as Ann, the huntress. Richard Dodson, a Friend, invited her to go home with him... she accepted the invitation and as they walked away her form was so graceful and her step so light and springing that the old veterans shook their heads again doubting or no all was really human.</blockquote>
The story could end there. It makes for a great tale from folklore or legend. But, it does not simply end there. As Paul Harvey, now for the rest of the story. According to Arnett, she stayed with the Dodson family working as huntress for the family and teacher for the children. In addition to be a crack shot and hunter, Ann was highly educated for her time and she changed the language of the region.<br />
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Everybody said "goin" "doin." She taught the children to sound <i>ing</i> to all words with that termination - some of the old ones had trouble retwisting their tongues to talk "politely" but before she left a half generation had grown up under her magic instructions...Her cheerful smile, bright face, and gentle ways [were] a light in every household; so much so that many began to seriously believe there was supernatural about her, but alas, the scene suddenly changed. In the winter of 1807-8 Ann disappeared as suddenly as she appeared and no trace of her was ever found. It is said that her teachings were engrafted [by emigrants from North Carolina] into the school systems of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Iowa and the language and the pronunciation is that of all the great Northwest and Pacific coast." (Arnett).</blockquote>
She is not to be confused with <a href="http://www.wvculture.org/history/notewv/madanne4.html" target="_blank">Mad Anne Bailey</a>, another interesting woman.<div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-66838676804173859262016-03-31T13:10:00.002-04:002016-03-31T13:20:17.229-04:00Leadership and superheroes<br />
Cannot believe it has been so long since I last wrote. It has been a busy year. During the summer, I processed collections, researched bios, and created some finding aides for the <a href="http://libcdm1.uncg.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/WVHP/">Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project at UNCG</a>. An interesting project and in looking at the military careers of WACs and such, it gave me some context concerning Wonder Woman. While much grief and disdain has been given concerning her secretary status for the JSA, this was actually common and considered a bit forward thinking for the time, especially as she also accompanied the men on adventures! The other option for secretary (which was more than just taking notes) would have actually been the Flash or the Atom (one being freshly college graduated and the other with some college courses, but neither established professionally). Johnny Thunder would never have been considered a serious candidate and the others were all established professionally and probably with advanced degrees. The other thing that occurred to me that I've never seen mentioned, Wonder Woman would be considered a spy if her secret identity was ever discovered! She is a foreign national, using an assumed name and rank that is not really hers to infiltrate the US military.<br />
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In the Fall, I did an internship with the Carrboro Public Library and obtained a temporary part-time job with the Center for Creative Leadership performing copyright research for program materials. December, I graduated with my MLIS from UNCG. At the start of the year, my temporary part-time job got extended into being a temporary full-time job (ie a full-time contractor position), with me maxing out my hours probably some time in May.<br />
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<br />
What can comics like Fables and characters like Ash of "The Evil Dead", and Xena and Gabrielle teach you about leadership?<br />
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My current job as a contractor at the Center for Creative Leadership has me researching copyrights and trademarks of third party IP in our various lessons, presentations, and documents. Which has me looking up strange things from time to time (did you know the man who brought the duck-rabbit graphic to the English speaking world also helped develop the APA citation style? Or that there was such a thing as dead mice wine?). A recent search brought<a href="http://christophercummings.com/"> this website</a> to my attention. Cummings combines reviewing comic books and pop culture with lessons on leadership and management, something that makes up a big part of my life right now.<br />
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This would be unusual enough except for another search lead me to <a href="https://blog.richmond.edu/heroes/category/superheroes/">this blog</a> discussing heroes of various stripes including Superman (and even looks at the Superman song by the Crash Test Dummies).<br />
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<b>Superman not a good role model for charity giving?</b><br />
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Grant, Adam M. Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success. New York, NY: Viking, 2013. Print.<br />
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Another search lead me to this interesting book on different factors that influence people giving to charity. It talks of a study where people were asked to give attributes for superheroes vs. attributes for Superman and how that influenced subsequent behavior. To be fair, this study would have probably been true if they used almost any specific superhero by name, not just Superman.<br />
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Consider an experiment by psychologists Leif Nelson and Michael Norton, who randomly assigned people to list either ten features of a superhero or ten features of Superman. When invited to sign up as community service volunteers, the group that listed superhero features was nearly twice as likely to volunteer as the Superman group. Three months later, Nelson and Norton invited both groups to a meeting to kick off their volunteering. The people who had written about a superhero were four times more likely to show up than the people who had written about Superman. Thinking about a suphero three months earlier supported giving. In comparison, thinking about Superman discouraged giving. Why? </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
When people think about the general attributes of superheroes they generate a list of desirable characteristics that they can relate to themselves. In the study, for example, people wrote about how superheroes are helpful and responsible, and they wanted to express these giver values, so they volunteered. But when people think specifically about Superman, what comes to mind is a set of impossible standards, like those popularized in the TV series The Adventures of Superman: "faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound." No one can be that strong or heroic, so why bother trying?</blockquote>
<b><br />A Look at Murphy Anderson</b><br />
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This one isn't work related. Pretty good article from <a href="http://yesweekly.com/article-20983-murphy-anderson-in-the-21st-century.html">Yes! Weekly</a>, a local free paper, although the writer commits the all too common sin of trying to show his maturity by being condescending towards superheroes by referring to the underwear on the outside... Don't know how I didn't know Murphy Anderson was from my home town and actually did some of his work from there while moonlighting as a cab driver. Sadly, this is not touted anywhere in town that I know of though cannot avoid references to O'Henry who did not live here when he did his writing. <br />
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Ok. Lunch break is over. I'll try not to be so long between my next visit.<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-77320281315838363732014-07-05T21:40:00.002-04:002014-07-05T21:40:43.338-04:00Returned from Vegas VacationBeen awhile. Last fall I started back to school to get a Master's in Library Science. Then early this year, I got a full-time job. I had been working part-time on the weekends for my old employer, The News & Observer, putting in 20+ hours on Fridays and Saturdays in addition to going to school. The full-time job is with the book conservation company, The HF Group. The pay is considerably less, but the hours plus not having to commute to Raleigh every weekend evens it out. However, between going to work 40 hours a week AND going to school puts a strain on time and sanity. Doing a session of summer school even moreso.<br />
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Thankfully, I got a brief break by not going to second summer school session. My wife and I went to Las Vegas for a week, to meet up with her sister and kids on vacation from Alaska. I like to scope out local comic stores, but was limited by not knowing the city. The ones closest to The Strip even seemed a couple of blocks off, thus not easily accessible when you're hoofing it most of the time in over a hundred degree weather. Although the heat is not too bad considering the low humidity. Eighty-five degrees with high humidity in NC can sap your strength more than the dry desert heat. <br />
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I had pretty much given up going to a comic store when we took a bus down to the Freemont Street district and stumbled upon Jesse James Celestial Comics store almost immediately off the bus. Apparently, it is a fairly new store and most of the comic selection is geared towards current and recent stuff. I was mainly looking for a copy of Alan Davis' "Savage Hulk" which just came out and once I found where the actual "this week's" comics were, I was set.<br />
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What was cool about the store is that up front and center as you enter is a table of comics featuring female characters as leads. Also at the front and to the side are the comics suitable for children. When my niece of 12 came in, she found the section immediately. The young woman running the store was extremely helpful, aiding in selecting various comics that would interest her. My niece ended up leaving with more comics than I did, several issues of "Princeless", a trade collecting the first story as well as a collection of the Power-Puff Girls. The employee also tried to help my 16 y.o. nephew pick out a suitable horror comic, but I feel he was feeling a bit "too cool" to be seen reading comics even when its something like "Hellblazer" or "30 Days of Night".<br />
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Also while in town, saw a couple of Cirque du Soleil shows. It was my first experience with their shows. I am not a big Michael Jackson fan, but he is of my generation and hard not to have associations with his music and certain ages and times of my life. The "Michael Jackson: One" show is absolutely amazing though. The storyline/setting is a bit surreal, that some of Jackson's artifacts are being held by some kind of aliens and you have four stowaway kids who over the course of the show each comes across one of the artifacts (his glasses, glove, shoes, jacket) and are transformed into greater versions of themselves against a backdrop of some of his most popular songs ad a few of his more philosophical ones. The dancing/acrobatics are incredible and the effects amazing. Especially when the performers interact with holograms of a singing Michael Jackson on stage. The only thing that bothered me was the near deification/sanctification of Jackson. The message of the narrative through the dancing and music is positive, but it also lifts the singer up as something much larger than life and more than he was.<br />
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The second Cirque show we aw was Ka. Like "One",there is a story narrative, told through pantomime and music. The story is a fantasy where a pair of twins, a brother and sister, are at a celebration which is attacked by a rival nation of pirates. In trying to escape by boat, they are separated and the ship is also attacked and half the group is stranded. Each sibling discovers new dangers, allies and finds love before being re-united.<br />
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The show is aimed more at families with children, my niece loved it and talked about it for days and had a bit of a crush on the bad guy of the story. Again, there were some wonderful effects especially in the movement of the stage that moved and rotated. In addition to the boat is a flying machine and a large wheel with cages containing prisoners that spins. The man-sized crab costume was very convincing considering it being a stage production. Much of the humor is aimed at the young, some almost slap-stick in nature. Although, the woman on the other side of my wife apparently does not get out much or she simply still has the wide-eyed wonder and humor of a child. She laughed at each appropriate part, ooh-ed and ahh-ed at each wonder and gasped at each twist. I pride myself on having maintained my sense of fun and wonder, able to enjoy animated children movies like "Up", "Bolt", etc and I enjoyed this show. Just not quite as much as this woman. The one chief let-down in the show came near the end. After so many great acrobatic and dance segments moving the story alone as well as the expensive sets, costumes and effects, the climactic battle is not done live on stage but projected against the vertical stage. The projection was fuzzy and hard to make out, although this may have been partly because we had otherwise good seats close to the stage. It felt like they finally ran out of money and/or time and had to wrap things up quickly<br />
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To bring this a bit on topic for this blog, the shows reinforced my opinion that Hollywood and current comic creators really just do not get it when it comes to superheroes. Both of these shows These shows are bringing in large numbers celebrating wonder and colorful costumes and action. Hollywood directors, the companies and their defenders would have us believe that people won't take colorful costumes seriously, that they are not realistic. Yet, these shows celebrate that. The Olympics and sporting events attract millions with their players wearing colorful outfits that make them easily distinguishable from others also in colorful outfits. The Michael Jackson show basically had four kids becoming superheroes through Michael Jackson artifacts. It's the creators and fans that are embarrassed to be seen enjoying reading or working on superheroes that are actually out of touch with the larger populace.<div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-28773274635734384332014-01-28T18:01:00.000-05:002014-01-28T18:01:52.500-05:00Back To The Golden AgeA few thoughts on recent comics.<br />
<b>Captain Midnight: </b>By Dark Horse, Captain Midnight has been mostly a way to do a revival right. While clearly based on the history of the old radio and comic character (not "pulp"), the comic is also modern storytelling. The Captain is brought forward through time and finds that his villains have not been idle over the years. Also, his own tech seems to have been corrupted by others over the years. The writers manage to tell their Captain America/SHIELD over arcing long story without sacrificing telling smaller stories and keeping the hero heroic and active force. There were a couple of mis-steps in the Skyman issues as with the character of Skyman, they did everything they didn't do with the character of Captain Midnight. They went out of the way to make the character derivative of CM by completely ignoring Skyman's own rich history and motivations (the truth is that the Skyman owed more to Spy Smasher than Captain Midnight, especially as this version of Midnight is based on Fawcett's version, who they re-worked as being more like their character Spy Smasher). The character of Skyman is not the original but some patriotic zealot thug and made to look ridiculous by seeing his hair sticking out from under his cowl. Then to add insult to injury, in the upcoming Skyman comic, he's replaced by a minority character AND given a new, kewl costume while making making fun of the original costume!<br />
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<b>Doc Savage:</b> Two issues in, Dynamite's Doc Savage is a bit of a surprise. One, it is keeping so far halfway close to the actual pulp character. Two, the artwork in the second issue is the same as in the first issue, and mostly solid if not exceptional. Three, it is a tighter, stronger and in character driven story than the writer's attempt in "Masks". The second issue thankfully does not live up to the advertised hyperbole, that Doc would have to choose between his mission or his cousin's life. No such decision is made here. There's even hope that the writer is coming up a way to bring Doc and crew both to the present day without actually sidelining them by death or infirmity of age. The story of the second issue only has one real flaw. It states that when Doc is at his fortress, that his men call in help and that help is Pat Savage. This is necessary for the sake of the story, but it doesn't fit with what we know of Doc's men or of their relationship with Pat. Pat is a capable character, but she's not super-capable, no more capable than they are. Plus, the text states that she formed her own crew of adventurers, which would make some sense as Doc and crew tended to try to keep her out of trouble, but after stating that, instead of seeing some of them, we get Monk and Ham! Kinda disappointing. If Doc's men were calling in help, might have been interesting to see another Lester Dent or Street & Smith character ala Click Rush, Blond Adder or Nick Carter, Cash Gorman, the Avenger...<br />
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I give Roberson credit by dealing with the Crime College and NOT writing it up as if Doc was lobotomizing the bad guys and removing all sense of free will.<br />
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The biggest drawback so far really is the art. It's clear and straightforward, detailed where it needs to be, not overly colored. What it cannot do is really distinguish Doc and his men. Long Tom, Renny, and Johnny all have the same build and face, nothing distinguishing about them. Doc is not drawn taller than those around him. Monk doesn't look shorter than the others and doesn't look homely as much as just perpetually angry. Characters are identified not by who they look like, but because they look less like anyone else.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinTYbUSiZ66ok0V_S0nCTZDvHea4jL2ArknPemah0svJwUdni1EAIY4PxvpsGH0IJ0elOULIy9CRy1erPwG3Dfe2EiXYyqqi_vzWJ6x8cTtYvJjRDo7VUAz6Rdn-rnx12IYfg/s1600/superpro.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinTYbUSiZ66ok0V_S0nCTZDvHea4jL2ArknPemah0svJwUdni1EAIY4PxvpsGH0IJ0elOULIy9CRy1erPwG3Dfe2EiXYyqqi_vzWJ6x8cTtYvJjRDo7VUAz6Rdn-rnx12IYfg/s1600/superpro.jpg" height="320" width="210" /></a><b>The Invaders:</b> A strong first issue by Marvel and James Robinson that comes as a bit of a surprise. There are two cannon fodder deaths, one belonging to a Shi'ar Imperial Guardsman and the other a golden-age hero. Although, given the nature of the particular hero's power and who killed him, it is not something that is necessarily permanent. Although, it does raise the question as to why he was on the mission and not Captain America and hopefully, there will be an in-story explanation.<br />
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The plot concerns the Kree after a device that the Invaders discovered in the 40s being used by Strucker. It could control gods and the original Human Torch, Namor, and Bucky divided it up and hid it. Namor's piece was found and they are after the Torch's piece. The Torch has been living the quiet life in a small town as a mechanic when they come calling. A pitched battle, things go badly for him, and then at the end Superpro and Nomad show up.<br />
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There's a few places that make little sense beyond the story needing it to be that way. Such as if the Human Torch is retired and keeping a low profile, why is he wearing his costume under his clothes? Even more to the point, why is he wearing a new, cool version of his costume? As he's a synthetic human, if he's trying to pass as normal, why wouldn't he eat a whole pie or drink a whole cup of coffee? Presumably, he could actually process the food as energy just as a normal person. It's there to drive home that he's not human, but it doesn't really make sense from a character point of view. Since, the Invaders divided the pieces to hide, why would Namor and NOT the Human Torch hide his piece in the middle of the desert? One might guess that Namor would hide a piece in the desert if he is the one that had to hide all three, who would look for a piece there. But, since they divided it up, the desert is no longer a reach for a hiding place as the other two could conceivably hide it there. So, it simply makes no sense other than being a cool moment.<br />
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The artwork is top notch. Clean and clear storytelling, actually looks better on print than online. The only drawback is in a few flame effects and the explosion behind Superpro-Cap and Nomad-Bucky are obviously digitally created.<br />
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The biggest problems for me in continuing with the book are things mostly coming from outside this specific issue. For example, I don't like the idea of Winter Soldier. We see Bucky in the past and he's mowing people down with his gun, his new default personality. I also lost faith with James Robinson as a writer some time ago. We get an indication of that with the cannon fodder deaths that he's using to kick off his series. He plans on making changes to Toro's powers (because somehow another fire-based character is redundant, even when he's one of the first ones). Then there's Cap's movie inspired costume that is one of the ugliest ideas to come down the pike. Where's the idea that he is an acrobatic and martial artist styled fighter under all of that padded gear? The idea that it's supposed to be a superhero costume? <br />
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<b>Scooby Doo Team-up:</b> A comic that actually captures the fun. The first issue was the gang teaming up with Batman and Robin to take down Man-Bat. The second has Batman and Robin but also Slam Bradly, Mystico, Jason Bard, Roy Raymond, Dr. Thirteen, Angel O'Day and Ace, the Bat-hound. And, manages to keep in character with the various characters... well, as long as you consider in-character does not have to do with the nu52. <br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-49469470960416264532014-01-07T16:38:00.000-05:002014-01-07T16:38:24.079-05:00Mr. Justice<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd4fdV4gc8QrDdBKd7yg2Qd5xL45uxykK8y7EY6PBMyuGkxCQanSDpLNYHcijsV2bMosWj4UGvPOIDJCNzbBjlIaUlCTJLhAoDlGWShk1XNGZeQymmpNoihyphenhypheneDc-BDf_Nn-k8/s1600/mr-justice1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd4fdV4gc8QrDdBKd7yg2Qd5xL45uxykK8y7EY6PBMyuGkxCQanSDpLNYHcijsV2bMosWj4UGvPOIDJCNzbBjlIaUlCTJLhAoDlGWShk1XNGZeQymmpNoihyphenhypheneDc-BDf_Nn-k8/s1600/mr-justice1.jpg" height="320" width="225" /></a>I was thinking that it had been awhile since I had read some golden-age MLJ comics and strangely enough, I've read only one or two of the Web, one of my favorites of the characters when revived some years back. For some reason, I really like his green-yellow bifurcated costume. The old comics could never decide on what his hair color was while from the 1960s on, it was consistently blond. However, along my way to read his stories in Zip Comics, I stopped by Jackpot Comics #5 and came across this Mr. Justice story. Now, I am not a big fan of Mr. Justice, for several reasons. Yet this story has style and mood, something usually lacking a bit from Mr. Justice. The scans and the rest of the comic can be found on comicbookplus.com.<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-36170671538594866762013-09-02T16:09:00.003-04:002013-09-02T16:09:26.712-04:00Understanding Comics and the Phantom Magician<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDN6gWPBYqHbflWj9cccNzWeuL4GLvK5Us0dLJGpZvT9VusbLDJY_s4v32nRMXTgcjSOPfZsKs4PcgTDnkFehNuaNPKdVfgH9HVHnJXIqg_G0G_kBKuIetcxlx4EzKvqO8GXs/s1600/scott1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDN6gWPBYqHbflWj9cccNzWeuL4GLvK5Us0dLJGpZvT9VusbLDJY_s4v32nRMXTgcjSOPfZsKs4PcgTDnkFehNuaNPKdVfgH9HVHnJXIqg_G0G_kBKuIetcxlx4EzKvqO8GXs/s320/scott1.jpg" width="212" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEtdA2h-SnXK7SGMnATAPOBoKriQMUoV9IS-Z_M0bCNKNHyMpA915qGoWOISe8IUOLOcogBcV1dtlBAxI8gwKjtYNAp8iVLZGysizmH0C9dwZmWjTNAbbzOoRc28AIuYC-T8o/s1600/phantom-magician1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>
I am starting to work on a Masters program in Library Science. Which of course means taking some basic level classes, explaining terms we use every day without giving much thought to, putting into words things we already think we know. Such as what constitutes information, knowledge, language, etc.<br />
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One of the books we're reading excepts from is Scott McCloud's <b>Understanding Comics</b> which does much the same thing. Deceptively simple, explaining stuff that we think we already know but never really gave much thought about. Whimsical and really gets across the roles of writing, art, language and touching how we interact with information and art and the processes of absorbing as well as creating works. He touches on various subjects such as how most human minds are wired, in recognizing faces and patterns in almost everything.<br />
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A basic concept that the class and the book is getting across is that an information object (such as a book, paper, painting, even words themselves) is not the same as information itself. They are simply the representation of the real thing or idea behind it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJp1CQQ6zeUc_1XtiOe192zEYeD3DvIl3IAEIVNdVCMQ3x_lVtB9CHqMvYqLIxTHmYDs1MI3guEJwvgkL1aMTjsW0_H5EbNpqLwgO2_j4SfP-X40NRXPCdeEAtNeSInjfzho4/s1600/scott2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJp1CQQ6zeUc_1XtiOe192zEYeD3DvIl3IAEIVNdVCMQ3x_lVtB9CHqMvYqLIxTHmYDs1MI3guEJwvgkL1aMTjsW0_H5EbNpqLwgO2_j4SfP-X40NRXPCdeEAtNeSInjfzho4/s320/scott2.jpg" width="211" /></a>What was interesting was that a few days before reading the assignment, I was reading at comicbookplus.com<b> Famous Funnies</b> #32, 1937 by Eastern Publishing, specifically "The Adventures of Patsy". <b>Famous Funnies</b> is a reprint anthology, so the strips are a bit earlier than the book. In this, we see the appearance of the Phantom Magician, dated to 1935. Some consider PM the first original comics superhero, some Mandrake the Magician (1934), depending on the criteria and how you parse the definition of "superhero" and for that matter, "comics". Personally, if you'd consider either of those, I'd say that Hugo Hercules (1902) and The Handyman from Timbuctoo (which I don't have a date for but it's roughly as early). Regardless of the "comic superhero" debate, it's interesting to see that here in the early days of cartooning, the Phantom Magician touches on a similar concept!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDN6gWPBYqHbflWj9cccNzWeuL4GLvK5Us0dLJGpZvT9VusbLDJY_s4v32nRMXTgcjSOPfZsKs4PcgTDnkFehNuaNPKdVfgH9HVHnJXIqg_G0G_kBKuIetcxlx4EzKvqO8GXs/s1600/scott1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJp1CQQ6zeUc_1XtiOe192zEYeD3DvIl3IAEIVNdVCMQ3x_lVtB9CHqMvYqLIxTHmYDs1MI3guEJwvgkL1aMTjsW0_H5EbNpqLwgO2_j4SfP-X40NRXPCdeEAtNeSInjfzho4/s1600/scott2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEtdA2h-SnXK7SGMnATAPOBoKriQMUoV9IS-Z_M0bCNKNHyMpA915qGoWOISe8IUOLOcogBcV1dtlBAxI8gwKjtYNAp8iVLZGysizmH0C9dwZmWjTNAbbzOoRc28AIuYC-T8o/s1600/phantom-magician1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEtdA2h-SnXK7SGMnATAPOBoKriQMUoV9IS-Z_M0bCNKNHyMpA915qGoWOISe8IUOLOcogBcV1dtlBAxI8gwKjtYNAp8iVLZGysizmH0C9dwZmWjTNAbbzOoRc28AIuYC-T8o/s320/phantom-magician1.jpg" width="236" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvazxbP_XJhDb-LADMVEL5JU_yZiQuKHl0G8Xcj0nI3bH7T9y_SOBKG_ElSYfK1518MDuifUfW_FZKNcigPDHeXdweT42FXDDnlQ036sXM0-mQH557SPwTpfe0A0wc9YPooLY/s1600/phantom-magician2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvazxbP_XJhDb-LADMVEL5JU_yZiQuKHl0G8Xcj0nI3bH7T9y_SOBKG_ElSYfK1518MDuifUfW_FZKNcigPDHeXdweT42FXDDnlQ036sXM0-mQH557SPwTpfe0A0wc9YPooLY/s320/phantom-magician2.jpg" width="237" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg61BM7EIqPp-ERYcyZG5KJEHf7DraJ-h7mqdsymv_PngthwuKt171JKWjOfEQxzjrHC92Z3O7E0lpxdnM51Dov288PB-91hQ7OzjPZIBXUXKWdbUFMAxKUiqaKMOZAb3HaFyU/s1600/phantom-magician2-detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg61BM7EIqPp-ERYcyZG5KJEHf7DraJ-h7mqdsymv_PngthwuKt171JKWjOfEQxzjrHC92Z3O7E0lpxdnM51Dov288PB-91hQ7OzjPZIBXUXKWdbUFMAxKUiqaKMOZAb3HaFyU/s320/phantom-magician2-detail.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvazxbP_XJhDb-LADMVEL5JU_yZiQuKHl0G8Xcj0nI3bH7T9y_SOBKG_ElSYfK1518MDuifUfW_FZKNcigPDHeXdweT42FXDDnlQ036sXM0-mQH557SPwTpfe0A0wc9YPooLY/s1600/phantom-magician2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-9719339743648850552013-08-21T16:29:00.000-04:002013-08-21T16:29:10.183-04:00Comic Reviews<b>Adventures of Superman </b>#3: Got this as more of a protest buy, to support a more classic take of Superman. The art looked passable, if over the top and definitely over-computer colored. 30, 20 years ago, this story might have been considered pretty good. It's exploring some of the same ground that Alan Moore used to do and Busiek does regularly, but unfortunately it fails miserably at it. The conceit is that it is a look in the day of life of Superman, talking about how other people dream of flying, which of course he doesn't.<br />
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One of the problems is that it is setting up a false premise in order to turn it on its ear. In this case, to explore how Superman is not like us, only to make him all that human at the end. Except, the whole set up does too good a job at alienating us from Superman. He's too super, too beyond human concerns for the twist at the end to pay off.<br />
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The other is conflicting themes. Again and again, it talks about flying. But, the story is really about how FAST Superman is. He flies to an inhabited world under his own power, he does all these various big epic adventures in under an hour, he can hear super-fast, move so fast to be invisible, etc. If taken place on Earth, it would be a Flash story.<br />
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Last, there's just a lot of stupid writing going on. It would be invisible to a kid reading it, but keep in mind this is a "serious" story, it's meant for us to THINK about Superman and what it would be like to be Superman. He can hear things we can, and thus pick and choose what he responds to. He hears a call from an alien Green Lantern and flies across millions of miles in minutes. Then, he doesn't wait for an explanation but just does his own thing. Why she calls him and not a score of Green Lanterns that might be closer? Who knows.<br />
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He then stops a war on an alien planet. Here the writer shows Superman acting with complete naivete in his approach to stopping the war. Not to mention that it raises the ugly head if he can do that on an alien planet, why can he not put an end to wars here? Because, the reality is war cannot be stopped or resolved in that simple of a manner. Plus, Superman is lucky in that he can recognize what alien libraries look like, can decipher their language and styles instantly and that this advanced race still uses books with pages!<br />
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Then he's basically kidnapped to Apokolips. This section isn't really written badly but it does show shortcomings of the artist. He gets the characters to look more or less on model, but nothing about Apokolips looks Kirby-esque. You'd think most artists would leap at the chance to design a couple of alien worlds and races on their own AND be able to riff on Kirby, but nothing there. Then he gets back to Earth to save some un-named man from being shot and Lois from being blown up (another badly drawn scene as the action of that panel moves from right to left while we read left to right so it takes a second look to actually read the scene correctly).<br />
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What's really funny is how this comic could be lampooned. Superman constantly acts, but is too busy to stop and analyze, too busy to talk to anyone. His walking Lois Lane to work takes precedence over actually talking or taking time to think. It results in almost disaster at several points and makes Superman seem more of a Super-prick know-it-all busybody butt-insky. By the time, I was done I had in my head comments being made by all the other characters, of how he actually screwed everything up and made things worse, not better.<br />
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A good idea and germ of a story... sloppy execution on every front though.<br />
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<b>Astro City</b> So good to have this back as part of my regular reading material. Busiek does a good job at updating, acknowledging that time has passed for characters, especially after the really long arcs. The first issue is an interesting look at Gaiman/Morrison-esque weirdness and meta-fiction and followed by a two parter looking at the support staff for Honor Guard, who fields the phone calls asking for help. Solid storytelling by Busiek and Brent Anderson, again the weakest part being the coloring, often too dark or working too hard to make faces and things look 3-D or realistic which only competes with line-work.<br />
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<b>Buck Rogers</b> Ok, this comic is pretty much complete crap. See, on Free Comic Book Day, they released a free comic featuring a classic Buck Rogers story. While a little primitive in style, that story was amazing complex, creative and dense. I can only assume that it was released to show that it's 180 from the direction they were going. Knowing Chaykin was involved, knew it was going to largely depend on which Chaykin showed up. The Chaykin that likes pulp related stuff or the one that cannot resist in twisting it, making it adult and somewhat sleazy.<br />
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While Chaykin at least gives Buck a perm so that he looks differently from American Flagg/Dominic Fortune/Blackhawk/Nick Fury, his Buck is the same prickish thug that he normally writes. Actually, that's not fair. Buck is a fanatical Communist prickish thug who even actually calls someone "comrade". Not making this up.<br />
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On the very first page we have swearing. Nothing extreme, very moderate,
but to not even get past a first page... Then on the second, we have a
nice blood splatter from a breaking nose. A little more swearing and a
couple bloody exploding heads later, the writing is pretty much on the
wall. I'm not a prude, swearing and blood & gore is fine if you're
doing a comic like <b>The Walking Dead</b>. When it's applied to Buck Rogers, it comes across as superficial, trying to be edgy without providing content of substance to justify it. What's funny is that some words are more acceptable than others as when this version of Black Barney swears while using a current day exclamation it gets symbolized: What kind of chicken#%*s outfit is this? Seriously, that's where you draw the line? <br />
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The plot is a bit back to basics, but it is not only simplistic, instead of making Buck different from Flash Gordon, it makes him MORE like him by taking his storyline: that the various gangs of people left over from America are too busy fighting each other that they will not unite against their common foe and it's going to take Buck to do so. Now, the original stories you did have the Han taking over America and the people existing in small groups called orgs or gangs. But, the problem was of disparity of technology, strategy and tactics. It was Buck's knowledge and experience as a veteran that made him into a leader able to organize the groups into effective fighting units not the groups fighting amongst themselves.<br />
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The comic has the honor of being one of those that I really wish I could return and ask for my money back.<br />
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<b>Captain Midnight</b> Another return of a really old character. Fairly solid story dealing with the man suddenly yanked from his past and discovers a complex world. Because of a secret mission he was on and the time travel involved, he's sorta wanted by the Government because of stuff he knows. Of course, he apparently doesn't trust people because of what he knows as well. It's a bit Captain America crossed with Nick Fury and James Bond and an enjoyable comic. The only really stupid part is when some of the agents go rogue, they gain glowing green skulls and no one reacts to this. They are shocked that the men are traitors, but not by the glowing green skull heads?<br />
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<b>Five Ghosts</b> The book often feels as if being written backwards, constantly giving information or story developments that should have probably occurred earlier in the book. In this case, we get a major revelation in the last issue just how unsympathetic and criminal of a character that Fabian was before his curse as he's shown to willing betray a partner and shoot him in the back over a treasure. The art and its storytelling continues to be top notch, but as a mini-series it reads like a rough draft. Trying to be clever with its structure and doling out secrets but not really organic or doing so in the best possible way. The announcement at the end promises it to continue from this mini as an ongoing and I really want to like it as it is full of potential. But, the writer needs to actually write, get at the meat of the story and not rely so much on the art.<br />
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<b>Half Past Danger</b> Another mini-series with a great high concept: WWII, island of dinosaurs and an Irishman, a super strong Yank, a British woman and a Japanese Ninja go to it and fight the dinosaurs and figure out what the Nazis want with them. Sadly, the writing isn't quite up to par. The first issue alone, we have the Irishman leading a platoon on the island. His squad gets eaten and he comes back but it seems as if he's not believed and so he's drinking himself to death until he meets up with the Yank and Britisher and a bar room brawl begins. It gives us the set-up and the major points of the plot, but what it doesn't tell is the STORY. We don't get to know the individual soldiers, they aren't drawn or written in any distinctive way to tell them apart or to care for them or their relationship with the leader. The author needs to go back and read some of those old war comics by Robert Kanigher and see what he actually did in so few pages. Just because it's a multiple part story doesn't mean that the individual issue shouldn't have its own story to tell, that you should care for the characters beyond laughing at the kewl bits of attitude. And, someone should kick the colorist in the butt and tell him to stop doing color knockouts on a blond person's head but nowhere else. It makes his hair look like it belongs to a different sort of reality than the rest of his head and body and the hair of everybody else.<br />
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Overall, it is a fun comic mini in that it's a bit like a roller-coaster ride. But, it reads like it's being written or developed for hopes for a film offer such as a SyFy Channel movie.<br />
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<b>Dynamite Comics</b> After watching <b>Masks </b>slowly circle the drain and go down the tubes, really wanted to bail on them, but they followed up with some intriguing comics, doing a bit more right than wrong for a change.<br />
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<b>Lords of Mars</b> Tarzan goes to Mars. Ugly cover as it looks like Ross has been taking lessons from Jusko and delivers such muscular men that one can only wonder how they move. Whereas, the insides has a pretty competent and clear artist drawing characters with lean muscular bodies. For comics these days, the heroes almost look emaciated, especially compared to the cover! There's great character moments introducing the main characters and there is some story contained here. It's decompressed, Tarzan doesn't end on Mars by the last panel. However, there is good groundwork and mystery that's established, to let you know that more is going on than readily meets the eye. The decompression is not to stretch out a thin story, but to tell it and fill it. Now, if it can keep that clarity in art and storytelling and not peter out by the end like the Gulliver of Mars and John Carter team-up in <b>Warriors of Mars</b>.<br />
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<b>The Owl</b> Yet another old hero that finds himself coping with the present day. Here, they show that they've learned from the Black Terror series in that we see Nick Terry aka The Owl dealing with personal issues. He's trying to get a job and figure out his place in the modern world. He is dealing with real ramifications of having everyone and everything he knows being gone, having moved on without him. There are some hiccups in the writing. Apparently, the writer has never applied for a real job beyond retail as he seems to think that someone would turn in a resume and get an interview if the company wasn't looking to fill a position. Not to mention that getting a job as a policeman is not the same as getting a normal job. As the Owl he seems to have purpose, but when he finds a modern Owl-Girl who is far more violent and keeps the money she takes from the crooks, he has to wonder how much the world has changed and not for the better. It's a bit of a false premise. The 1940s comics and heroes were NOT the sanitized ones from the mid 1950s and 60s. This isn't necessarily something that would be so abhorrent to him, even if he disagreed with it. And, the redesigned costume and powers/tricks aren't really an improvement. But, these days I'll settle for a simply average superhero comic where the hero is about being better than the bad guys and wanting to do the right thing.<br />
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<b>Shadow - Green Hornet: Dark Knights</b> Ignoring that they met in <b>Masks</b>, this series presents them as meeting again for first time. Written by Michael Uslan, it starts off strong as far as the writing is concerned. He knows the history of the characters and the time period and works a lot of it in without resorting to simply name dropping (and notes in the back explaining some of those bits). You have to deal with the fact that apparently the Shadow's ring is some super-power source/weapon maguffin for the plot. He does an admirable job at presenting the Green Hornet/Britt Reid as being a peer of the Shadow/Lamont Cranston and juggling the similarities and differences of the characters. There's the Shadow suspicious of Kato's loyalties while Shiwan Khan thinks a crook like Green Hornet with an Asian side-kick would make him prone to team up with him (in the 1940s, there were a few issues where the Green Hornet does pretend to team-up with a Japanese spy leading the Black Dragon Society).<br />
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The artwork is detailed but often dark, confusing and inconsistent on people and is the weakest part of the book.<br />
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Then, there's the implied lesbian relationship between Margo Lane and Lenore Case. Apparently, knowing each other years before when their men leave them to make excuses to each other to cover their secret identities, they decide to talk about the "bad old days" over wine. When we next see Margo, it's when Harry is calling on her at her hotel room and there's some naked buttocks going by in the room behind her. Nice cuckolding the men heroes there that is completely purposeless. And, that sexual fantasy attitude that women are just a bottle of wine from enjoying a lesbian encounter.<div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-69935018185746109782013-08-08T16:18:00.000-04:002013-08-08T16:18:17.124-04:00Secret Origin of the American EagleThe good guys at comicbookplus.com have posted <b>America's Best Comics </b>#2 which features the origin of the patriotic hero American Eagle. The title of the comic might seem a little familiar as it is where Alan Moore got the name of his imprint featuring Top Ten, Promothea and Tom Strong which featured some revamps of characters from Standard.<br />
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Before this, I always found American Eagle to be one of their more uninteresting heroes. Most of them were variations of themes: superstrength, bulletproof, but susceptible to blows on the head. Doc Strange, Liberator, Captain Future, and the Scarab all belonged to a subset wearing t-shirts and in some cases shorts. Some flew, Fighting Yank had his ancestor that would intervene, Captain Future and Pyroman threw around lightning, and so on.<br />
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But, in this first outing American Eagle does stand out. Many of the heroes were a bit timid or physical weaklings before becoming heroes (in his early appearances, the Liberator was drawn scrawny with his clothes hanging off of him before he'd take his secret formula to turn into the hero). Tom Standish on the other hand is shown to be scare of practically his own shadow and a bit clumsy before accidentally gaining his powers. Although, until he puts on the costume, he doesn't seem to be able to fly, or at least is unaware that he has that ability.<br />
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His sidekick on the other hand is super-powered for no other reason than being the son of a circus strongman. Now, it made sense for Robin to be acrobatic as he was not only a son of trapeze artists but trained in the skill and not shown to be superhuman so. But, Bud's strength is on the superhuman side as if it was merely genetic. This isn't unheard of in the comics of the day as there are several heroes who boast extreme skills and talents by virtue of circus parentage. As far as I know, Bud's parents aren't mentioned again. Bud's story would pick up in the second appearance over in <b>Exciting Comics</b> #22 where he gains a costume to become the Eaglet.<br />
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The Batman similarity continues with the American Eagle's costume. Notice the scalloped cape, the fins on his gloves, the shape of his boots. Even his belt looks a bit distinctive. Now, the American Eagle had one of the more inconsistent costumes, individual elements would change or appear and disappear depending on the story. Each of those specific elements would be gone in .<br />
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<b>Exciting Comics</b><div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-48021483215192145372013-07-30T17:23:00.002-04:002013-07-30T17:23:59.890-04:00Comics and DC's Golden Age<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikDFSie4qWVVdQzIcDWY1arCvjlFxTXUuriaU2D4nNQIbCOjC14_xAM57-xVW9JqmcVu1oXIirtKLeoir_N9UZZxoRlYsWUZHNRNeBcAZ2oVJE2b4_udndsTKZYNsjuCJ3YOQ/s1600/Mutts-hulk.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikDFSie4qWVVdQzIcDWY1arCvjlFxTXUuriaU2D4nNQIbCOjC14_xAM57-xVW9JqmcVu1oXIirtKLeoir_N9UZZxoRlYsWUZHNRNeBcAZ2oVJE2b4_udndsTKZYNsjuCJ3YOQ/s320/Mutts-hulk.jpg" width="320" /></a> <b>Comic Strips: </b>With Comi-Con, it appears a few of the strips over the last couple of weeks wanted to get in on the act. Gotta love "Fox Trot" for embracing the various ages. Where else are you going to run the gamut of Hit Girl to the Jay Garrick Flash? Even DC Comics doesn't want to do that. OK, the "Get Fuzzy" comic has nothing to do with superheroes. Sometimes a pun is its own reward. <br />
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<b>Herogoggles:</b> Speaking of Golden-Age DC, over at my <a href="http://www.herogoggles.com/" target="_blank">golden-age superheroes/supervillains website,</a> I have added pages devoted to DC's<a href="http://www.herogoggles.com/DC-goldenAgeHeroes.html" target="_blank"> heroes</a> and <a href="http://www.herogoggles.com/DC-GoldenAgeVillains.html" target="_blank">villains</a> of the Golden-Age.. As my brother pointed out, I basically am admitting the project will <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn81P5GqiF-suQkpTXpHJOoVgZJKKbPD22ZrnqoBFHSeyzkL68kd0elnEraC6Jho_oug2tY3C4nq0E9u4XPmnr2H8JCPK5esBm3B37x27zHJU5mx5OL6cmcFCBae1s_avTjps/s1600/get-fuzzy.gif" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn81P5GqiF-suQkpTXpHJOoVgZJKKbPD22ZrnqoBFHSeyzkL68kd0elnEraC6Jho_oug2tY3C4nq0E9u4XPmnr2H8JCPK5esBm3B37x27zHJU5mx5OL6cmcFCBae1s_avTjps/s320/get-fuzzy.gif" width="320" /></a>NEVER be completed because there's no real way for me to read all of DC's comics of the Golden-Age. I don't have the money to buy them and that limits me to the ones they are willing to reprint. And, most of the reprint books like the Archives are devoted to characters, rarely the whole comics. Luckily with the All-Star Archives, they included the Hop Harrigan text stories for example since that wasn't part of the JSA. Marvel's output was a bit smaller with titles and characters having much smaller runs once you look past the big three of Captain America, Human Torch, and Namor. So, it's a bit easier for them to devote a hardback to Mystic Comics for example. It does mean, that certain stories tend to get reprinted a half dozen times. Such as their recent "Marvel Firsts" devoted to the Golden-Age. I was tempted, but I already had half the book in other volumes!<br />
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In putting together the lists of characters that I wanted to cover from various sources, I started also looking at the copyrights of a few of the early titles. It was interesting to discover that "New York World's Fair Comics" was not renewed. In addition to having a few Superman, Batman stories in public domain, it's also the first appearance of the Wesley Dodd Sandman! It also occurred to me that some of the public domain comics might actually be availabe. And, a few of them are, over at comics.org! Of course, the quality of the scans vary wildly. Which is sad, since stories with characters like "Wing Brady" and "Barry O'Neil" look like they'd be fun to read. The latter especially has wonderfully dense and detailed artwork, heads above much of what was being published at the time or even years later. You'd have to look at Milton Caniff, Hal Foster, or Alex Raymond for comparable work. However, this makes the strip pretty much a strain on the eyes and unreadable when it comes to low resolution or microfiche reproduction. Barry O'Neil's ongoing war with the Yellow Peril menace Fang Gow continued from the public domain comics over to Detective Comics.<br />
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What's enjoyable is to see all of the Siegel and Shuster strips: Radio Patrol, Dr. Occult, Henri Duval, etc. The artwork is open and expressive. Plus, the duo really exploded the limits of the medium, they exploited the visual sides of the medium. The heroes were men of physical action, the menaces larger than life. It's a shame there are a few holes, but how great to see Dr. Occult in action. Henri Duval was a musketeer hero whose storyline just sort of ends to be replaced by an adaptation of The Three Musketeers itself. The duo must have liked the name as they used it again for a villain to face Dr. Occult.<br />
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Sadly, the comics they have seems to run out before getting to Captain Desmo and Nadir. Nadir is a fascinating character. In some ways, he seems to borrow a bit from Chandu, Mandrake, the Shadow... a man brings knowledge gained in the Far East to fight crime. The difference is Nadir reverses the status quo. He's a prince of India! His origin might seem a little familiar, his parents killed when he was a lad he decides to turn his back on his title and devote his life to fighting crime! He masters not only ancient knowledge of the East, he also masters the sciences of the West and now makes his home in New York City!<br />
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Then there's the Flying Fox. An aviation hero whose aviator's cap doubles as a fox mask. Sadly, he's not public domain, so the only way to see that character will be buying the original comics or hoping DC makes it available some day. DC would be smart to really gather a lot of this material for posterity and preservation. Even if not making any plans for printing, just making them available digitally for historical purposes. Although a volume of Siegel and Shuster's work would seem to be easily feasible. Most of these were b/w or one color to begin with so reprinting would be cheap enough and you'd imagine there would be some interest in seeing these stories from the creators of their flagship character.<br />
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While DC has acknowledged the Crimson Avenger as pre-dating Superman as a masked hero, it's interesting to see Dr. Occult as a brief caped hero with super-powers. Captain Desmo, who like the Flying Fox was an aviation hero whose cowl doubled as a mask, also squeaks by debuting before Superman. Desmo had some kind of issue, he wore the cowl constantly, even when lounging in his own home. His sidekick asks him about it, but Desmo doesn't get around to sharing that information. The Flying Fox would debut just a few months later.<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-86707812157676556852013-05-16T09:53:00.000-04:002013-05-16T09:53:41.063-04:00More Fred Guardineer<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZcD3mEDQ0eIGdKrGvq2r7xxTNK5L7q8bx72JerOvFusrotdRma6-M2YszDKfH8mzK2GxTzH5LutUY9ET3yDFV8XHPL6ejgJEIlpr8yj2QWQKZZeB5zRnwGZyGRkblkwbC8bM/s1600/guardineer3.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZcD3mEDQ0eIGdKrGvq2r7xxTNK5L7q8bx72JerOvFusrotdRma6-M2YszDKfH8mzK2GxTzH5LutUY9ET3yDFV8XHPL6ejgJEIlpr8yj2QWQKZZeB5zRnwGZyGRkblkwbC8bM/s320/guardineer3.jpg" width="224" /></a>I've mentioned before I'm a big fan of Fred Guardineer. His strong, deliberate line, his use of parallel lines to define shapes, mass, and patterns and juxtapose them against other lines. And, knowing when to leave space open to define shape and dimension. With Zatara, he'd become famous for magician characters, especially the backwards speaking variety. There couldn't be too many companies for which he didn't do a magician hero or two.<br />
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Yet before that, he worked at the short-lived Centaur comics where he seemed to be their go-to artist. He did illustrations for various text stories, most notably Dan Hastings, but also other he-man adventurer types. He did sci-fi comics in the Flash Gordon/Buck Rogers type. While he didn't have quite the natural feel of Alex Raymond, he was quite a bit slicker than the art found in the daily Bucks. He also did illustrations for advertising, and slice of life pieces. In this day and age where the time period seems to be one of black and white, his pieces were full of vibrant color. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvH1hhsg4s2TBEGW39vkNrcRLjARd2Q1TiJN66Kx0XzcqJYR7hOFE8UG-QZeqF8a6Wukg2h5tBBqfHODI6txp7HI3syFkVne1V5P77-gtihLq_X8ClG-OOBnejy9AGJm5irS8/s1600/dan-hastings-guardineer.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvH1hhsg4s2TBEGW39vkNrcRLjARd2Q1TiJN66Kx0XzcqJYR7hOFE8UG-QZeqF8a6Wukg2h5tBBqfHODI6txp7HI3syFkVne1V5P77-gtihLq_X8ClG-OOBnejy9AGJm5irS8/s320/dan-hastings-guardineer.jpg" width="221" /></a>During this time, his weaknesses came from his strengths. That deliberate line lent a certain artificiality to the world. He was great on patterns, but rarely captured textures and atmosphere as things were often a little too pristine, too ordered and organized. He was Art Deco when he could stand to be a little Art Nouveau, to let a little wildness and seeming arbitrariness in. Figures were often stiff and posed, as life-like as store mannequins. In ten years, he'd show that he conquered some of these shortcomings when working on Durango.<br />
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Still, looking at his artwork in the context of what would come after, what would make up the great variety of 1940s comicbook art, and his technical skill and mastery is undeniable. Admittedly, during the later years, many of the more technically proficient artists would be at War as well as being influenced by the bombastic styles of Lou Fine and Simon & Kirby. And, Guardineer was here a bit before them, showing the level of detail and clarity that was obtainable. When looking at his backgrounds and scenes, it's not hard to see echoes of it in Simon & Kirby's depictions of city life or Fine's fantastic buildings, weapons and explosions, the clarity in C.C. Beck's Captain Marvel story-telling, and Mort Meskin's own atmospheric use of lines, patterns and shapes.<br />
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These few illos are from 1938 issues of <b>Star Comics</b> and can be found on comicbookplus.com. With that one Dan Hastings pic from below, he came close to doing the first patriotic themed hero!<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-47082297049870777782013-04-23T16:43:00.002-04:002013-04-24T15:38:10.868-04:00The Fox, The Beetle, and The Gray.Archie has announced a new series based on one of their original superheroes, the Fox. Here's the first paragraph of their press release:<span id="intelliTXT">Eisner Award winning writer Mark Waid (Daredevil,
Thrillbent) and Emmy winning writer/artist Dean Haspiel (Billy Dogma,
HBO’s Bored To Death) are teaming up to launch a brand new series – THE
FOX. Taking place in the Red Circle universe, this exciting creative
team will deliver an innovative, action-packed superhero story starring
the fabled pulp hero.</span><br />
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<span id="intelliTXT">AAAAARGHH!!. NOT A PULP HERO! It seems fashionable these days to call every character that comes down the pike who debuted in the 1930s and 40s, "pulp". Green Hornet: radio, movie serial and comics, not pulp. Captain Midnight: radio, comics, big little books, movie serial but not pulp. Miss Fury: comic strips and comic book reprints, not a pulp. The Fox: comic books only (and even then a back-up player in anthology books in the 1940s).</span><br />
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<span id="intelliTXT">What's annoying is one of Archie's heroes did make it into the pulps, but that was the Black Hood. One of the few to start in comics and branch out into pulps and not the other way around.</span><br />
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<span id="intelliTXT">Is it a big deal? Well, imagine if they said that Mark Waid was the Emmy winning writer and Haspiel was the Eisner award winner. They're both award winning writers so it doesn't matter if you got the specifics wrong, right? If you are going to talk about the history and pedigree of the character, at least get the terms right! It's funny in that they even say he's a "fabled pulp hero" as if these non-existent pulp adventures are well known! Just further drawing attention to the ignorance of the writer. </span><br />
<span id="intelliTXT"><br /></span>
<span id="intelliTXT">Can you imagine any other industry not knowing their own history, apparently superhero writers, editors, publishers and fans not knowing or caring about the distinction between comic strips, comic books and pulp magazines? </span>Would you say Peyton Manning is known as a professional Rugby or Soccer
player? Would you read a newspaper or watch the news that regularly
called North Korea South Vietnam or take seriously a sportscaster who
didn't know the difference between referees and umpires, said that the
players, cheerleaders and band members wore costumes but the mascots
wore uniforms and that a "match" of football was divided by "innings"?
Or a retrospective on Andy Griffith talking about his home-state of
Alabama which also served as location for the fictional town of
Mayberry, the movie drama where he played a police commissioner? This is
not the first time. It's a recurring problem with articles, CBR, the
companies and the writers, all using the term with a fairly specific
meaning incorrectly. It shows a ignorance of their own history and
industry terms. I expect a press release to KNOW what they are talking
about and since they are advertising the character and trying to talk
about his history to actually get it right.<br />
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<b>Black Beetle: No Way Out</b> #3. Franchesco Francavilla's Black Beetle mini-series appears to be a success. Francavilla has been making a name for himself with his covers and artwork, reminding me of old-style movie posters from the 1960s and 70s but his subject matter incorporating all kinds of kitsch and love of campy horror and science-fiction television, movies and pulps. Much as Mike Mignola has done with Hellboy and his interest in giant monsters and the late Dave Stevens did with the Rocketeer, Francavilla has channeled his interests into his own character and series, the Black Beetle. The Black Beetle has his roots in pulps and pulp-styled characters, and while there's a hint of mysticism and darker going ons in the "Zero" issue, this mini is more crime oriented, with him investigating who would put the hit on several mobsters as well as having a colorful, larger than life villain lurking in the shadows. The artwork and limited color palettes that Frankavilla loves so much makes it seem both rich but full of shadows and atmosphere.<br />
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If there's a weakness, it's in that we don't really get a sense of who or why the Beetle does what he does. In this issue, he's seen without a mask though his face stays partially obscured by shadow most of the time and even then we discover, it's a mask. Now, there are several pulp heroes who we know little or next to nothing about, but in those cases it's also clear that it's a deliberate part of the character's mystique. Also, unlike the Black Beetle, those characters are surrounded by other people who we do get to know a bit about. In writing <b>The Shadow</b>, Maxwell Grant dubbed "proxy heroes" as a term for heroes that could investigate and drive the story while keeping the Shadow mysterious and in the background. The Black Beetle doesn't have proxy heroes though, nor normal people such as agents, aides, or friends that he can interact with, to give us more of an idea of what kind of man he really is.<br />
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I also didn't care for the big fight scene this issue as it goes meta-fictional on us, appearing as if shot from a comic book that wasn't properly lined up so everything at an angle and panels running off the page and the proper order of reading the panels obfuscated by the bizarre layout. It takes the reader out of the world and the immediacy of the action. Interestingly, it shares this with the other pulp-like title that came out this week. <br />
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<b>Five Ghosts: The Haunting of Fabian Gray</b> #2. The second issue is a rocking roller-coaster ride from start to finish. Fabian and friend are captured by some odd natives and taken to be sacrificed to giant spiders at the supposed abandoned temple. They make friends with a martial artist who carries a charm that has some kind of link to Fabian's powers. And, we see where the powers can be truly dangerous, especially when one of the ghosts you call up is blood-crazed vampire.<br />
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The first several pages is an example of decompressed story-telling where it works. No words, but we see who the woman in the coma is and what she means to Fabian. It uses cinematic storytelling and widescreen panels to good effect. However, it also fails in that it goes just a little too far in being clever for clever's sake and not simply for good storytelling purposes. Because, the method is that each panel on the page is from a different point of Fabian's past. The top panel of each page tells one narrative, the second from each another and so on. However, it's more than two pages and starts on page 1. It's only when you turn the page that you see what they are doing. And, then to properly follow the sequence of events, you have to turn the pages back and forth for each narrative. This would work fine on a two page spread where you can read straight across the spread, but doesn't really work for more than two pages as it makes the reader aware of the mechanics of following the story.<br />
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Likewise, the sequence really was needed to have been in the first issue as it explains a lot of the motivations and relationships of the characters especially in terms of this specific story. Probably will read fine when read in one sitting or in the eventual trade. <br />
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<b>Masks</b>: It appears as if <b>Masks</b> is throwing the other conceit or premise the mini-series was based on out the window. The first being that this is a team-up of various pulp characters. Several are not only not pulp, but others are given new origins and back-story for the purpose of the mini, so it's not the characters at all but thin copies. The other premise was that this is supposed to be a retelling of sorts of a specific Spider novel. Thus, you expect some fidelity to that source material. However, the latest issue that I've received seems to be setting up the Clock as the main bad-guy. Now, I've not read the original Spider novel this storyline is from, but I'm reasonably sure that the Centaur/Quality hero was not behind it all. Not to mention the cliche of having it being a former hero going bad or trying to justify extreme actions through "ends justifies the means" excuse. Again, the premise works when the creators byword is "fidelity". As the series is winding down, can only wonder, what's the point of it?<br />
<span id="intelliTXT"> </span>----------------------------------------------------<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtKhKcJ9ulGytkleu7FHF2AJAXoqau5-myXHN65aigYi5aMxSgJpD_ZbBOqQc4ukRahM4_kyATHgko3EAngPa6pyrje0cyz83dhcSQWDeL9u_bmZ0l0wRseQYRdPbAy9_QGRc/s1600/crusaders1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtKhKcJ9ulGytkleu7FHF2AJAXoqau5-myXHN65aigYi5aMxSgJpD_ZbBOqQc4ukRahM4_kyATHgko3EAngPa6pyrje0cyz83dhcSQWDeL9u_bmZ0l0wRseQYRdPbAy9_QGRc/s320/crusaders1.jpg" width="208" /></a>One of my favorite revivals was in the 1980s when Archie published <b>The Mighty Crusaders</b>. Of the many times that companies have dusted off old properties and characters, this is one of the few times that I thought a company did it right. At least in the beginning. At the time, I had no awareness of the original comics of these characters or the history of them other than what the press releases told us that these guys had been around for awhile.<br />
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See, it didn't matter that the last time most of these characters had been seen were almost two decades before. The series played it as if it was just two months ago. The series didn't act like they had been retired or away for any extended period of time. A nod to the 1940s history of the original Shield, but no one asking where the others had been since they last appeared. The first few issues worked great at reintroducing these old characters, allowing them to have their history without bogging a new reader like myself with continuity knowledge. The fact that each of the heroes could have their whole origins explained in about six panels in the back is a testament to the power of a good concept and compressed storytelling.<br />
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Recognizing they were a little light in diversity, instead of changing the gender or race of established characters, they created a couple of all new ones! Won't say that Darkling and Malcolm Reeves were necessarily stellar creations, but they could be accepted on their own merits without sacrificing the standing of any other characters.<br />
<br />
Every revival of the team since then has been "let's not do that". Admittedly, that revival didn't last long, but I chalk that up to the quick downturn in quality. Dull writing, lackluster villains, even the printing became cheaper. Somewhere, they forgot that Steel Sterling should be the equivalent of Superman and became just a body-builder hero with teen hanger ons and social interest storylines that felt almost like recycled plots from afternoon specials. I think if they kept up with the richness of the superhero-verse they started with: giant robots, space aliens, beings from other dimensions, magic and science-fiction, dangerous supervillains, etc. Heroes being heroic fighting villains being bad, it might've been something really good.<br />
<br />
So, not much interest in Archie's current take. Most of the heroes are back long enough to be shown to have gotten old and then getting killed. The focus is on a diverse cast of teens taking on the predecessors' names. Right off the bat, it's more like the other attempts with these characters in that it's about people with the same names. And, despite all the death and teen angst, the artistic style is cartoony as if that's all it takes to make it "fun".<br />
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Remember when DC wanted to youthen the JSA a bit so they brought in a grown up Robin, a time-tossed Star Spangled Kid and CREATED Huntress and Powergirl. Later, Thomas would create Infiniti Inc., new characters that didn't automatically overwrite the old ones<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtKhKcJ9ulGytkleu7FHF2AJAXoqau5-myXHN65aigYi5aMxSgJpD_ZbBOqQc4ukRahM4_kyATHgko3EAngPa6pyrje0cyz83dhcSQWDeL9u_bmZ0l0wRseQYRdPbAy9_QGRc/s1600/crusaders1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-35165955061979321992013-04-14T04:08:00.001-04:002013-04-14T04:08:35.004-04:005 Ghosts: The Haunting of Fabian Gray<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiscVC1p1ufuOC_sKf4aLnlJ-4COUebCM7kgJjPQSL7n4cgecdIaHGT6CEaWyQ4yte_hhwG06pU0sIQY260Lah-OY0n0VWkxLu49fN7MEVd002qrSwpeQA80dlZvMaOFTV6Z6Q/s1600/5ghostsCover.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiscVC1p1ufuOC_sKf4aLnlJ-4COUebCM7kgJjPQSL7n4cgecdIaHGT6CEaWyQ4yte_hhwG06pU0sIQY260Lah-OY0n0VWkxLu49fN7MEVd002qrSwpeQA80dlZvMaOFTV6Z6Q/s320/5ghostsCover.jpg" width="209" /></a>I was in the comic store talking with the owner. We go back a ways but nowadays because of my schedule, I don't see much of him when I visit the store. He returned a Sherlock Holmes book I had loaned him and we were talking Holmes and pulps and Dr. Moreau. As I was checking out with my single purchase of a Shadow reprint, he said, "you may be interested in this" and handed me the Image comic <b>Five Ghosts: The Haunting of Fabian Gray</b> by writer Frank J. Barbiere and art by Chris Mooneyham. Rick tells me, "It's about a man who's possessed by 5 spirits, only they are spirits of fictional characters." The spirits aren't named beyond their types as if they are found on a deck of Tarot cards: The Wizard, The Detective, The Samurai, The Archer, The Vampire. Obviously Merlin, Sherlock Holmes,..., Robin Hood, and Dracula. Only the samurai stumps us. With Dracula in the mix, it doesn't necessarily have to be a good guy.<br />
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The set-up echoes that of Fawcett's Captain Marvel, a well they went to many times in the creation of his extended family and several villains. The difference here is the artist comes up with a different visual language in communicating Fabian making use of his talents. His movements are echoed by the relative spirit whose talent he's using. The action takes place all over the world in the days of WWII though the actual date is not specified.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDTKjoovgqIs7A0gHBqQYg3qlq9gbcSt6rWFccJgzV6kuF9hTy6pIOBprf8XXAFqgg7dfICKLOvGPpCztsZdRBBXlHeaEMoARqHjVNkdtLW7ekw08f8yW5DxEMO7Y4O4zlxTY/s1600/5ghosts.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDTKjoovgqIs7A0gHBqQYg3qlq9gbcSt6rWFccJgzV6kuF9hTy6pIOBprf8XXAFqgg7dfICKLOvGPpCztsZdRBBXlHeaEMoARqHjVNkdtLW7ekw08f8yW5DxEMO7Y4O4zlxTY/s1600/5ghosts.jpg" /></a><br />
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In the first issue, we are introduced to Fabian with him in the middle of the action, fighting Nazis and using his unique talents. Over the course of the issue, you realize he's being hunted by some creepy guys, he's looking for magic artifacts and a cure, apparently for himself and a woman friend who seems to be comatose but who he hears calling out to him.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha6t3b9oyxGr7WqLBdxghmXfxGixfkCJWGr85zEgrJC2A9lGrcmg2wIS5sm_p8IZ_ex7hqV39yTcz09YIovvcUbxVoRfQpMFrisdE2SWIEviR2UB6b0ofyhjleT962bJXku_g/s1600/five-ghosts-detective.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNZzpSy7jKHjUiuAubASu6RiUSxX0ThMovWFXX4Ndjseg__Gkn_acbcveTcqEkqHYRyBoddcmxcF8FkLfh1ycQQJdmr5VYvB3mrXZU_KKbn1ReXGZREdoreAd_NdVltwnibWM/s1600/5ghosts-archer.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNZzpSy7jKHjUiuAubASu6RiUSxX0ThMovWFXX4Ndjseg__Gkn_acbcveTcqEkqHYRyBoddcmxcF8FkLfh1ycQQJdmr5VYvB3mrXZU_KKbn1ReXGZREdoreAd_NdVltwnibWM/s320/5ghosts-archer.jpg" width="208" /></a>The writing may be the weakest part. There's a lot that is introduced here, but there's nothing to anchor the story. We see him in action but we don't really know how his abilities work. Does he consciously call on each spirit, or is it innate and each one is always there, guiding him and coming to the fore when their particular skill set is needed. Are the two guys looking for him part of the same group or unrelated. The scene that Iago reveals his name to us is set up like it's supposed to mean something, but other than "Othello" it's meaningless... and that beat of the sudden full page reveal is lost.. How does the one woman survive being blown up by hand grenade? Why are the people hunting him? What happened to the woman who's comatose? And, exactly who is she to him or to his friend? <br />
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I don't expect that the first issue reveal all, that we necessarily get an origin story right off the bat, and a little mystery is good. However, there's a difference in starting a story as far into the action as you can and starting it so that it seems like you walked into a movie 15 minutes after it started and that you're missing some relevant information for it to make sense and hang together. I checked to make sure that I was indeed reading the first issue, although in this day and age of comics with Zero issues and point-five issues, a number one on the cover doesn't mean much. I wonder if it's a case where the writer is so familiar with the characters and the story he's telling, he forgot that the readers weren't. I also can sympathize in not wanting to write a "Basil Exposition" or "As you know, Bob" speech to get across information known by the characters but not the reader. They can be clunky and difficult to do. However, to have relevant information on the back cover of the comic about his powers and that they are LITERARY ghosts and not that this is a world where Holmes, Dracula, Robin Hood, Merlin and nameless samurai guy all lived and died is even clunkier and worse structure than any bad internal exposition would have been.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDTKjoovgqIs7A0gHBqQYg3qlq9gbcSt6rWFccJgzV6kuF9hTy6pIOBprf8XXAFqgg7dfICKLOvGPpCztsZdRBBXlHeaEMoARqHjVNkdtLW7ekw08f8yW5DxEMO7Y4O4zlxTY/s1600/5ghosts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha6t3b9oyxGr7WqLBdxghmXfxGixfkCJWGr85zEgrJC2A9lGrcmg2wIS5sm_p8IZ_ex7hqV39yTcz09YIovvcUbxVoRfQpMFrisdE2SWIEviR2UB6b0ofyhjleT962bJXku_g/s1600/five-ghosts-detective.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha6t3b9oyxGr7WqLBdxghmXfxGixfkCJWGr85zEgrJC2A9lGrcmg2wIS5sm_p8IZ_ex7hqV39yTcz09YIovvcUbxVoRfQpMFrisdE2SWIEviR2UB6b0ofyhjleT962bJXku_g/s320/five-ghosts-detective.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
That's the kind of information that's needed IN THE STORY, not after I finished reading the comic (or being told to me up front by someone who read it). Despite this, the idea, the concept and the storylines being set up are intriguing enough and strong enough to make up for it.<br />
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Fortunately, the artwork likewise is more than strong enough to carry the weight of the story. Mooneyham's artwork is reminiscent of Denys Cowan and Rick Magyar's work on <b>The Question</b>. The right balance of texture, exaggeration, grittiness, shadow and detail.. Fantastic use of layouts for dense action and epic feeling action and straight forward grids for quieter moments. The only complaint of the artwork that I could make is I couldn't tell if the woman he was in bed with and whom he retrieved some jewels for was supposed to be the same woman in the store that keeps hand grenades handy to blow up spook men. Neither writing nor artwork was particularly clear in that regard.<br />
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The pencils are backed by incredibly strong colors. As the color credit to S. M. Vidaurri is as "color assists" I'm assuming the reason it is so strong is that it's directed by Mooneyham. Either way, this is using color to set mood and tone and to supplement the line art, not to try to do the penciler's job or make "corrections" ie filling empty spaces with textures and gradients that don't need it or doing all the 3-D rendering of the figures and faces: providing cheekbones and muscle definition, and high contrast on every bit of skin that shows. The colors are lush and warm where need be, and cool, dark and moody where need be and the end result is where the artwork and the colors all work together.<br />
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After the first issue, I want more. I would like to read a novel based on this. I want to see the tv series and the movie. I wish I could buy stock in the character because I'd be surprised if a deal wasn't already being floated. The rest of the mini is as strong and ships regularly, this is already shaping up to be the best book of the year. And, competing against the Black Beetle, that's saying something.<div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-13610144045678220312013-04-08T15:35:00.000-04:002013-04-08T15:40:23.890-04:00Superhero novels<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKKfNrAxZ0kdrUBY81GT9cIopk89hcUz2vmw0yE6DZFyWE0616SCDyJT9iMIqN_noJUrw77CNbdOSfrvMQvCqEvPxv5RjRQn4Ks-FJ7N0RrZOCsjYYe84ujC9RuymqjMHRd1M/s1600/nobody.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKKfNrAxZ0kdrUBY81GT9cIopk89hcUz2vmw0yE6DZFyWE0616SCDyJT9iMIqN_noJUrw77CNbdOSfrvMQvCqEvPxv5RjRQn4Ks-FJ7N0RrZOCsjYYe84ujC9RuymqjMHRd1M/s320/nobody.jpg" width="204" /></a>
<b>Nobody Gets The Girl</b> - James Maxey. Heard about this novel on NPR some time back. When I picked it up from the library, was a bit surprised to see it was from 2003.<br />
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The novel concerns a young man by the name of Richard Rogers. He has a good day job, a devoted wife, and a home. Yet, he's bored with it all, feels his work as a stand-up comic in the evenings is his true calling. He sees the world as being a joke. It's a world where scientists talk about enclosing cities in domes, where a 100 ft baby doll with a giant pistol for a head sows havoc and destruction in Seattle. He fantasizes about going on the road as a full-time comic, leaving his life behind. Be careful what you wish for.<br />
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He wakes up the next day, only his house has different furniture and an older couple lives there. What's worse, he finds that he's invisible and intangible to them.<br />
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Eventually, he falls in with Dr. Know, a wealthy mad scientist who thinks he created the universe and is bent on saving the world from Rex Monday, and Know's beautiful daughters: the Thrill who can fly and make people do as she wishes and Rail Blade, a woman with complete mastery over iron including seemingly building metallic rails to skate along and armor and weapons from trace elements around.<br />
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The main strength of the novel is it tells the story completely from the point of view of Rogers, now calling himself Nobody. His everyman status, with his small hopes, dreams and fears, given both the gift and curse of non-perceived existence.is ably portrayed and contrasts well against the larger craziness and absurdity of the world and a war he doesn't understand.<br />
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The other strength of the novel is its brevity. There's no excess padding, and moves at a quick pace with plenty of suspense and action.<br />
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This is a strength primarily because despite the claim to have read many comics, the story is that of "superhero as literature". As many modern comics and other superhero novels, it seems to miss the actual point of superheroes. The modern take seems to be that for superheroes and their stories to be taken seriously they have to be about the ineffectiveness of superheroes. As Nobody, the narrator is often a voyeur, the Thrill uses her mind control abilities to make people give her things as opposed to paying for them, while Rail Blade has shut herself off from empathy and willing to kill. Meanwhile, Dr. Know follows the cliche and fate of other comic superheroes whose chief power is that of super-intelligence or "superhero as god" ie a step from insanity and ascribing to a super-morality that allows him to pursue his goals of the greater good despite the loss of life and collateral damage.<br />
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Despite all those comics the author supposedly read, the influence of Moore's "Watchmen" and Ozymandias and Dr. Manhattan in particular loom large over the character of Dr. Know. For the literati of comicbook creators seem unable to truly envision geniuses that are truly smarter than their writers nor heroes as being nobler than ourselves (or that we should truly aspire to such concepts). He gets some kudos to recognize the true barrier of peace is that hate is so strong and indoctrinated when young. Take away the tanks and guns, and in places where hate and the divides are so strong, they'll just pick up rocks and sticks. I'm reminded of recent news of clashes between Buddhists and Muslims. Guns and bullets aren't needed. Despite that positive turn, it's still Dr. Know not being smart enough to recognize that himself and ultimately coming to the same conclusion and resolution that Ozymandias does, Peace not through uniting people in Hope, but in uniting them in Fear of an even worse Other out there than the one we know.<br />
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If superheroes originally were expressions of wish fulfillment of young men (many minorities) in time of War, crime, poverty and the Great Depression, Superheroes as Literature are more concerned with the fetishness of heroes and involved in their sex lives. I was reminded of "Fort Freak", a Wild Cards novel edited by George R. R. Martin, where writers seemed more concerned having their characters act out fantasies of being with younger women and menage a trois relationships. Here, the narrator, a voyeur himself, serves as an avatar for the reader and manages to be the ideal sexual partner of the superhero babes (while the traditional relationship is portrayed as boring and dull, an ideal life for those that are content to be "nobodies" but not for those who aspire for more).<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy0L_d0GnA_xteftgGIzY-e91u5kFFK6AurQs82fI74fGjjCAURUY7o13nelICZQHbw2kd3Mcm99tuZSiDZNACN6V6GMGWIc7YonskkKvwyABaGctVGszylVC5-lA9HcGkVK4/s1600/freedom2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy0L_d0GnA_xteftgGIzY-e91u5kFFK6AurQs82fI74fGjjCAURUY7o13nelICZQHbw2kd3Mcm99tuZSiDZNACN6V6GMGWIc7YonskkKvwyABaGctVGszylVC5-lA9HcGkVK4/s320/freedom2.jpg" width="195" /></a><br />
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<b>City of Heroes: The Freedom Phalanx:</b> The late lamented City of Heroes game seemed to get superheroes better than the actual comics did. When comics were mocking heroes, especially with capes, the game embraced them. When it was first launched, capes weren't part of the costume package, reportedly through the difficulty in the animating of them across the board. However, it was one of the most requested features to be added! It just shows how far out of touch those that think superheroes need to be made fun of really are. <br />
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I've had "The Freedom Phalanx" book in my possession for awhile, but only recently got around to reading it, mainly because of going through withdrawal of playing the game. Reading the book was only partially successful in that once it was done, I missed the game more because I WANTED MORE! I want more books like this. I want more comics like this. I wanted to play the game again, to design my own heroes or revisiting some that I created like Mr. Muscles, The Horned Owl, and Captain Amazon.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ38ce__UPHeNRv3QbPx71K4Ydw-ARkeZm8n97aBKppBZU_u_Gv42Z34R9cfbb2FbpwmkOmyVGQ8PoE0Fd1-ul0UYsVi86yTVFhgPXt-ePHSnQytxwUfAjtDwA3ils-vqxY5g/s1600/freedom.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ38ce__UPHeNRv3QbPx71K4Ydw-ARkeZm8n97aBKppBZU_u_Gv42Z34R9cfbb2FbpwmkOmyVGQ8PoE0Fd1-ul0UYsVi86yTVFhgPXt-ePHSnQytxwUfAjtDwA3ils-vqxY5g/s320/freedom.jpg" width="215" /></a>The book is set in the past of the game, when the current legendary heroes of The Freedom Phalanx were a mixture of novices and established heroes who don't necessarily play well with each other. Novice heroes Positron and Synapse are seeing Paragon City crumbling under disillusionment and apathy. The original Freedom Phalanx has long disbanded, it's members dead or scattered. There are new heroes about, but none of the new ones have the clout and name recognition to truly rally the city. This pair wants and hopes to get some of the experienced heroes together to reform the old group in an attempt to turn the city around. However, there's also a criminal plot, their own arch-nemeses and their own concerns they have to face, and that it's somehow all tied to the Mayoral race.<br />
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Robin Laws is able to keep the heroes heroic and still come across as human with human wants and desires and real life concerns. Statesman is basically immortal and he's sidelined by watching his wife basically slowly die in old age from cancer and realizing that he will probably see this happen to everyone he loves, his daughter, his grand-daughter, his friends. The only constant in his life seems to be the fighting with his arch-enemy Lord Recluse, with neither gaining an upper hand for long. Synapse wants a regular life that his powers make impossible for him. Manticore, a cross between Batman and Green Arrow, is obsessive. He's obsessed with holding up the legacy of his father, the original Manticore. And, he's obsessed with bringing down his father's chief foe. Sister Psyche's mental powers are so strong that she basically shuts the world out and seems to slowly be spiraling into full blown depression. Despite this, the book doesn't come across depressing or mocking the heroes. It embraces superheroes and that their stories are ones of characters overcoming obstacles, both external and internal. And it recognizes that the genre is one of action and adventure as well as mystery. The plot of the super-villains is full on pulp/supevillain mastermind style but it all works and hangs together. It's the type of story you long for the days when the Justice League and Avengers comics were like this.<br />
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A fun read and a wonderful George Perez cover. And, sadly, no more.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy0L_d0GnA_xteftgGIzY-e91u5kFFK6AurQs82fI74fGjjCAURUY7o13nelICZQHbw2kd3Mcm99tuZSiDZNACN6V6GMGWIc7YonskkKvwyABaGctVGszylVC5-lA9HcGkVK4/s1600/freedom2.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a> <div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-67695255657296477342013-04-04T18:45:00.000-04:002013-04-05T09:42:52.673-04:00Carmine Infantino - RIP<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYM_tELrSIZmVtvgAJJRlSXyb2XMua4KPxqYDnA7W1L19OaiWWBwMoE_sB3BUAFDuMY20bOWQA9CdBbUOSkfBOPFi0rsdtqTuN1o3jVyTz4Ho6w90KiYYHszBDYKSbzYyiyU0/s1600/infantino-flash.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYM_tELrSIZmVtvgAJJRlSXyb2XMua4KPxqYDnA7W1L19OaiWWBwMoE_sB3BUAFDuMY20bOWQA9CdBbUOSkfBOPFi0rsdtqTuN1o3jVyTz4Ho6w90KiYYHszBDYKSbzYyiyU0/s320/infantino-flash.jpg" width="219" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeD_byGgJYclN4NUunz8RUXgKdxicszBLcKCBbTCzhLr5Hae4mJHZOLZA49opbAkw0thon1ZTM9b76QtxnJFup5tkMMVJ8BIy-eMqiL4tVE7Hrp-lUoc4ghUT_3gYyB2j9vSY/s1600/flash.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeD_byGgJYclN4NUunz8RUXgKdxicszBLcKCBbTCzhLr5Hae4mJHZOLZA49opbAkw0thon1ZTM9b76QtxnJFup5tkMMVJ8BIy-eMqiL4tVE7Hrp-lUoc4ghUT_3gYyB2j9vSY/s320/flash.jpg" width="218" /></a>Just heard that Silver-Age great Carmine Infantino has passed away. Infantino is an artist who made such a significant mark at DC during the Silver-Age, it's easily forgotten that he got his start at the tail end of the Golden-Age and did some 1970s work at Marvel.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9njjTyetMLtlB7woT16H9usL3vOUNy7aAeXk5d0hoUQn-0bzY-nwg_fz6Na8Hkk9FCq_CdNUcfMg8uwR3GubmFZVD1eiTwdq4vuhZy3mfq4khE3RdxYuGp-R8no8sy_ZzLtc/s1600/infantino-danger.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9njjTyetMLtlB7woT16H9usL3vOUNy7aAeXk5d0hoUQn-0bzY-nwg_fz6Na8Hkk9FCq_CdNUcfMg8uwR3GubmFZVD1eiTwdq4vuhZy3mfq4khE3RdxYuGp-R8no8sy_ZzLtc/s320/infantino-danger.jpg" width="226" /></a>He's so associated with revamping the Flash in the 1950s at DC, giving him a modern streamlined look, most probably don't realize that some of his earliest work was on Jay Garrick the golden-age Flash. And, while he did some wonderful science fiction stories for DC, especially Adam Strange, during the 1950s he did some wonderful work on Westerns and characters like the Trigger Twins and Pow-wow Smith as well as the intelligent spy thriller series King Faraday of Danger Trail. <br />
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His 1950s and 1960s work shows similarities to Alex Toth and Dan Barry. In his earliest works, his use of shadows and blocks of black to give shape, wrinkles and depth to clothes echoes the works of Caniff, which may be where his more stiff, angular posing of characters came from. Clean and concise art style with an emphasis on natural proportions and physiques and clear storytelling. His style quickly developed an angular and almost mechanical artificial style. The same design sense that gave us cars with hard edges and fins was echoed in his comic style. On the Flash, he gave us some iconic covers as well as some of the more surreal images. Whenever I hear people talking about how the Doom Patrol was about weirdness, I like to point them to a handful of Flash covers that outdo anything that appeared in the DP. His covers were often ones of action, heroes or villains rarely stood still, something was happening or about to happen. As far as I know, he developed the cover of two teams charging/facing off against each other from either side of the cover like opposing football teams. He had a quirk of often setting the action on some plaza with the skyline of a city in the distance. I often wondered where these remote plazas or staging areas were with nothing for yards around other than the distant city a mile or so off. Even the "Flash of Two Worlds" cover has the man about to be crushed by a metal beam with apparently no other structure a mile around other than the brick wall he happens to be kneeling by. Talk about bad luck! I want to credit that it was Infantino that was also ultimately behind the "new look Batman" ala the yellow oval around the bat on the chest.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQYrQ-X8CSmOF9nEt4v6tl3ROnuVWCCukhKRoxDltQHvDFItqD5DTfFGGVzRKnkdcWoGwnLQKuEx_z52Wnpn_NaACzV7FbBIocW6no5OFmkjGSCab_a9o6hyphenhyphenEa4aSypnMDQ8Q/s1600/infantino-league.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQYrQ-X8CSmOF9nEt4v6tl3ROnuVWCCukhKRoxDltQHvDFItqD5DTfFGGVzRKnkdcWoGwnLQKuEx_z52Wnpn_NaACzV7FbBIocW6no5OFmkjGSCab_a9o6hyphenhyphenEa4aSypnMDQ8Q/s320/infantino-league.jpg" width="210" /></a><br />
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I tended to like Murphy Anderson as inker over Infantino. Anderson appropriately rounded off some of the edges of his characters, making them more natural without sacrificing the actual power of Infantino's figures <br />
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In the 1970s, he'd go to Marvel working on titles such as
Nova, Spider-Woman, and Star Wars. By this time, his figures were all hard corners and angles. It was bold but eccentric. He was a strange choice for their
John Carter, Warlord of Mars book but buried under Rudy Nebres inks, the
combination gave us possibly the best of both artists: clear, powerful
layouts and storytelling of Infantino and more organic, lush, detailed
line found in the Filipino school. In the 80s, he'd return to the title
that made him famous, the Flash. Like Kirby, his style by this time is
stiffer, blockier, and more epic in proportions, yet it's compelling in
sheer bombastics and storytelling. He also revisited his Danger Trail
series, with some excellent art, though the covers had Paul Gulacy, an artist with a completely different and photo-realistic style,
almost a complete antithesis of Infantino's. About the only thing the two really shared was their use of stark highlight and shadow, with little sense of grays or gradation.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHr38dQh3Wc_VQmAXDwmoK5ljWAdCcWYmH5WFeoDU2mceqXQWh-tsbHxq0Tv-N1srfaKPYaEE1TZYUZn_lnEG4gMqvEB8qgHr7hQY1rWO-nv6NeMMDixJ2ET-5CBwIHipCUmE/s1600/star-wars.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHr38dQh3Wc_VQmAXDwmoK5ljWAdCcWYmH5WFeoDU2mceqXQWh-tsbHxq0Tv-N1srfaKPYaEE1TZYUZn_lnEG4gMqvEB8qgHr7hQY1rWO-nv6NeMMDixJ2ET-5CBwIHipCUmE/s320/star-wars.jpg" width="209" /></a> <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHg_RLY3NPvOMHPjOkoLU_sR5Vavae4hX_mcPb-21nSET_wYJdz69wMxkZDwR-NoNfj8Pevn5FZ1IoUIOPnqE_n87uGaUjNt9eCAS1GO3OvWKELl8Jjh2DNOZo1KD8s2GrDZA/s1600/infantino-flash5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHg_RLY3NPvOMHPjOkoLU_sR5Vavae4hX_mcPb-21nSET_wYJdz69wMxkZDwR-NoNfj8Pevn5FZ1IoUIOPnqE_n87uGaUjNt9eCAS1GO3OvWKELl8Jjh2DNOZo1KD8s2GrDZA/s320/infantino-flash5.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
.<div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-74953482668548667802013-03-09T17:59:00.000-05:002013-03-09T17:59:19.072-05:00Bob Larkin needs help<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWRDutQfUbx46Lx7AN2iC0mH2NzrhQBjNBHpwwprLDt0BVG9lAuJPpy-nVjTOHc-GRM880gapV9gAp3FZIg3DQBY-AVXIiomy7tuAQ9ocPMNoOsHSA1uSDSoUg2uFz_pa3sH4/s1600/larkin1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWRDutQfUbx46Lx7AN2iC0mH2NzrhQBjNBHpwwprLDt0BVG9lAuJPpy-nVjTOHc-GRM880gapV9gAp3FZIg3DQBY-AVXIiomy7tuAQ9ocPMNoOsHSA1uSDSoUg2uFz_pa3sH4/s1600/larkin1.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a>Most of the pulp fans are probably already aware of this. But, I thought I'd share this with some of the comic fans that may be unaware.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNIVxLUZR6TMUYcegihlHfRQS3ooyzYeyro186BmmSkBGBYrUWE-Cn9XR-48pweo09IqvBUl02T-PgxUYnQ9FJQPbZrYdf3MCV-bBSRaHuq9NoBZHrPAG8OZMDGC6I7_OQxoo/s1600/larkin10.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNIVxLUZR6TMUYcegihlHfRQS3ooyzYeyro186BmmSkBGBYrUWE-Cn9XR-48pweo09IqvBUl02T-PgxUYnQ9FJQPbZrYdf3MCV-bBSRaHuq9NoBZHrPAG8OZMDGC6I7_OQxoo/s1600/larkin10.jpg" height="320" width="237" /></a>I first became aware of Larkin's name when he became the main replacement for James Bama on Bantam's Doc Savage series. He was a good choice in that he had much of the same sense of heroic realism of Bama and Boris. He also managed to get Doc in some other clothes for a few of the covers. It was only in retrospect that I realized I had seen his art for awhile as he did quite a few painted covers for Marvel's comics and paperbacks as well as the painted and pulpish covers for Warren's Rook magazine among others.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOpu08zT4Fnr61n8M7KPTZiadjgJHsqo7RPgCnTOjc8y6aEIIMZdMzsoLaTctudPY7MiQbEW4anJMGTWRDxOq-cueSi_u1MJtwoWm0cARi6SE3CLa1lEheL_s0BkqV45RcpkM/s1600/larkin4.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOpu08zT4Fnr61n8M7KPTZiadjgJHsqo7RPgCnTOjc8y6aEIIMZdMzsoLaTctudPY7MiQbEW4anJMGTWRDxOq-cueSi_u1MJtwoWm0cARi6SE3CLa1lEheL_s0BkqV45RcpkM/s1600/larkin4.jpg" height="320" width="239" /></a>Bob's wife, Fran, has been fighting cancer for the past
12 years and the medical bills has put them under an incredible financial
strain. She is currently recovering from her latest
surgery and Bob has become her caregiver around the clock, leaving him unable to take
on new work.<br />
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Thankfully, fantompress.net has been working with Bob the past few years, doing primarily Doc
Savage based items with the profits going to Bob and family.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8mimMaLN3ijB_0Bmr7per6kKUoVYzWYFbWz-8Y-T0qcG0X6oG5ftj_9tz2MszD7yz9FvUd_5_IftUHFq5TRvbj-sk7bM1jb5KCcoQno842xajwComjWxhe2_5Ya0sFrYZg-8/s1600/larkin3.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8mimMaLN3ijB_0Bmr7per6kKUoVYzWYFbWz-8Y-T0qcG0X6oG5ftj_9tz2MszD7yz9FvUd_5_IftUHFq5TRvbj-sk7bM1jb5KCcoQno842xajwComjWxhe2_5Ya0sFrYZg-8/s1600/larkin3.jpg" height="320" width="164" /></a><br />
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They've also been working with Bob about putting together a
sketch book featuring Doc Savage as well as Batman, Stewie, the Shadow,
and a bunch others. It has finally come to pass as the books are fresh from the printers. Each is square bound, 8 ½ x 11" 48 black and white pages and are individually signed and numbered by Bob. The paperback is b/w, signed and numbered of 500 copies and is $20 per. The special hard cover includes an extra 8 pages of color of new paintings of Doc and friends. Thirty signed and numbered copies for $60 apiece. The Deluxe has the extra 8 pages plus choice of original water color illustration (5x7 on 8 1/2x11 board) along with custom storage case. Only 20 copies and is $500.<br />
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100% of the sales are going directly to the Larkins as well as anything else that might interest you on the site.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.fantompress.net/">www.fantompress.net</a><br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-78347563757585527292013-03-08T11:11:00.001-05:002013-03-08T11:11:45.693-05:00Whedon does Shakespeare<iframe frameborder="0" height="351" scrolling="no" src="http://movies.yahoo.com/video/much-ado-nothing-trailer-173033169.html?format=embed&player_autoplay=false" width="624"></iframe><br />
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Have to say, this looks really cool. Shakespeare adapted by Joss Whedon using several of his regular actors: Alexis Denisof, Nathan Fillion, Amy Acker. Apparently, Anthony Head was supposed to be in it and when he couldn't, Clark Gregg of the Marvel movies was drummed up. One way to get superhero fans and sci-fi geeks into the seats for William Shakespeare. If it's half as smart, sexy, and energetic as the trailer shows, it's bound to be good.<div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-54648138137230276322013-01-15T15:41:00.000-05:002013-01-15T15:41:19.354-05:00Miss Fury and MasksEver since Dynamite advertised her appearance, it was only a matter of time before they advertised a series with Miss Fury. Written by Rob Williams (a host of Marvel credits to his name that I never read) and art by Jack Herbert (one of Dynamite's more capable artists, doing admirable work on Kirby Genesis) and a host of covers by Alex Ross and a host of others that are unknown to me and from the ones shown, none of which are particularly striking. <br />
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In the article at CBR, it talks about the story being about the original Miss Fury and make it sound like she's bouncing between the past and present. But, for all it's talk about being about the original character, it doesn't actually sell us on or talk about the original character. The places it does, it gets it wrong such as referring to her as a pulp heroine. She never appeared in the pulps. She was created and appeared primarily in newspaper strips though Timely (aka Marvel) reprinted some of them in comic book form which arguably had the effect of making sure she was still remembered years later. Also, it seems they are going down the same path they did with the Shadow and the Black Terror and over-literalize aspects of the character. With the Shadow, they took the question and answer of "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows" and turned it into a literal super-power. With the Black Terror, took the name and skull & crossbones on his costume and went overboard with pirate themes though it has nothing to do with the character. With Miss Fury, well, there's this bit of hyperbole: <span id="intelliTXT">"As witness to generations of bloodshed and violence, Miss Fury has lots of righteous rage… and anger is her fearsome power." Of course, anger and fury is NOT her power. If any it's that the costume is supposed to bring her good luck though she suspects it might also bring her bad luck.</span><br />
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To add insult to injury, there's no mention about the strengths of the original character: the gorgeous artwork, an early female character created, written and drawn by a woman (Tarpe Mills), the many interesting and colorful villains and supporting cast and love interests that she populated the world with. From the interview, you don't get the gist at all that they read anything of the original character other than possibly a brief bio with a pic somewhere.<br />
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Gotta love the pic of her in the bath in the article. Why is she wearing gloves? And, half the newspaper is apparently submerged in the bathwater! On one hand, wonderfully drawn and sexy, but the end result is one of total stupidity. Based on what a man thinks a woman does in a bathtub perhaps?<br />
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<b>Masks</b>: The chinks were there in the advertising and in the first issue. But, with the second issue, the comic goes off the rails and pretty much completely throws the central concept under the bus. The idea of this being a series featuring the original pulp heroes was already a bit stretched to include the Green Hornet and Kato, but at least they seem close to their original incarnations as did the Shadow. The Spider looks like the Dynamite comic version but at least the signs are that they are taking the cue to being more faithful to the pulp version. But, the advertised use of Black Terror and Miss Fury, characters who don't fit with either the time frame of the story or concept gave me pause. And, then you have a Zorro who is a whole new creation. The downside is that we don't get legitimate characters that are better fits than these.<br />
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With the second issue, we have a different artist. The layouts aren't as dizzying as Ross' but the artist is poor on backgrounds and clarity of action. We have a scene of Miss Fury changing from evening dress into costume, but there's no way she was carrying that costume on her and no mention of it. We see the Green Lama, but because of legal issues, it's a magic-using hero instead of the pulp hero. Gee, if you were going to have to use a magic based hero, why not Mandrake or Chandu who already fit that role?<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgicn_mkO4mEtP7UxUt67513rcMQRfkJtOZFoZeXfYKUh_YaBykaQUg8AIk3WPpEarHq4ulyPDq2B-yRyqkY8G7L_bt8ayMdlzZ4Zo6rFPiOlvad8hkQuW04GSOH0oCGXUjHSg/s1600/masks05_black_bat.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgicn_mkO4mEtP7UxUt67513rcMQRfkJtOZFoZeXfYKUh_YaBykaQUg8AIk3WPpEarHq4ulyPDq2B-yRyqkY8G7L_bt8ayMdlzZ4Zo6rFPiOlvad8hkQuW04GSOH0oCGXUjHSg/s320/masks05_black_bat.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"It's the Black Umpire! Three Strikes, You're out!" </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Because, this isn't about actually using the original characters in character. This is driven home when everyone is played up second rate to the Shadow and the Green Hornet to everyone, including his side-kick. We get scenes made to play up the cool factor of Kato, but not Green Hornet. Wentworth in the pulps was called "the Master of Men" and he's a powerful, charismatic, dynamic personality and easily a peer and equal of the Shadow. Won't get that here. Meanwhile, the Black Bat basically gets a whole new origin. It's cool to see Tony Quinn going into action as Quinn, but it looks like this is where he's going to get blinded and lead him to becoming the Black Bat, essentially giving us a whole new character who just happens to use the same name and motif. Looking at his portrayal on a future cover, my first thought, "It's the Black Umpire! Three Strikes, You're out!" Once they stopped being true to the original characters though, the whole point and draw of this mini-series is lost. I'm not seeing some little known favorites teaming up in a slam-bang adventure because most of them are for all intents and purposes new characters. For example, what makes John Byrne's Captain America/Batman crossover fun is that it works and is true to all of the characters involved. Part of the whole point of crossover stories is the fidelity aspect to the characters involved. The more faithful you are and make it work, the better the story is. Once, you start making changes to the characters willy-nilly to force them into your story instead of making the story work, you're losing the whole point and producing at best a second rate book.<br />
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I don't doubt that some of the decisions are business related. With <b>Project: Superpowers</b>, Dynamite secured comicbook trademarks on the Green Lama and Black Terror. But, it's been over a year since they were last used and trademarks must be used to be kept. Yet, by the same token, there's bad business decisions being made as well as there is a lack of consistency between titles. Dynamite has the Black Bat appearing here and getting an origin. However, Dynamite is also pushing a Black Bat comic that has the character getting a different origin and different costume. While the Spider looks the same here as he does in Dynamite's ongoing series, the two are largely different characters with completely different relationships to their supporting cast. It's a failure at generating a synergy and interest between the books. <div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37355934.post-62213387798166069982012-12-04T09:31:00.002-05:002012-12-04T09:46:32.395-05:00Masks and other comics<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb40doKfr2-focQ10Zln2FpCekyWIkck52dF2kJhdsxed_YMjBAQyPljtdb4ehGQdti6CYop0YJ5_gVSjjJhzjT3g3HdPIwTIKSoiiGaOc1gYpeCKawfkPr_Og3J2eblXjBiA/s1600/masks1b.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb40doKfr2-focQ10Zln2FpCekyWIkck52dF2kJhdsxed_YMjBAQyPljtdb4ehGQdti6CYop0YJ5_gVSjjJhzjT3g3HdPIwTIKSoiiGaOc1gYpeCKawfkPr_Og3J2eblXjBiA/s320/masks1b.jpeg" width="320" /></a><b>Masks </b>#1: A solid if unexceptional first issue focusing mostly on the Shadow and the Green Hornet and Kato and laying down the foundation of the threat, of the "Party of Justice" taking over control of the city of New York, its police and courts. Likewise, the painted artwork by Alex Ross is pretty to look at. I personally chose the Francavilla cover. He is one of the stronger artists with a more unique style and approach to layouts and colors and perfectly suited to the pulp and noir storytelling feeling of such a book.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQeUHVulOpjtkShaBXtJ5pKkn-EBtsMj-IilsBgHd-sbDak8hHsxTNMRAqoqjDnGg1o8SHjVDYGYbKmBXi3bBE38rutQUHjHQ7clA8zU4wvqWBN4xhabGRJz4vLhPWVc0PCRE/s1600/Masks01-Francavilla.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQeUHVulOpjtkShaBXtJ5pKkn-EBtsMj-IilsBgHd-sbDak8hHsxTNMRAqoqjDnGg1o8SHjVDYGYbKmBXi3bBE38rutQUHjHQ7clA8zU4wvqWBN4xhabGRJz4vLhPWVc0PCRE/s320/Masks01-Francavilla.jpg" width="213" /></a>I don't know much about the particular Spider novels that serve as the inspiration and source for the plotline. Kudos to Dynamite to running an ad for places to get more about it. However, I've read several that have a similar set-up and feel.<br />
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There are questionable things concerning it, still. The story is to feature the Black Bat and we see him as Tony Quinn his alter-ego here. However, it's from the time <i>before</i> he was blinded and became the Black Bat. He's one of the few pulp heroes whose origin is pretty much given and does not leave much wiggle room to fit in another epic. In his pulp origin, he's a lawyer as seen here, only is blinded by a criminal who smuggled in some acid (the chemical not the drug). An act that will seem familiar to most comic fans as that's the origin for both Two-Face and Dr. Mid-nite. He retires from Law and becomes a recluse. He's visited by the daughter of a slain sheriff and agrees to an eye-transplant with the lawman's eyes. The operation is a success and leaves him with the extra ability to see in the dark, though he still has the acid scars around the eyes. With the sheriff's daughter and two other aides, he decides to let the world to continue think he's blind while he remains retired, acting as a sometimes consultant and the masked and costumed vigilante the Black Bat.<br />
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Nor does this crossover actually line up with the portrayals of the Spider in his own comic. Visually, he looks the same, but this is set in the late 1930s and his pulp novel while the main series is full of retcons and set in the present day. Time will tell if his supporting cast will be at least truer to the pulps or to the retcons. The story continues the Bruce Lee influence of Kato, which makes it hard for Green Hornet to seem really a peer of the likes of the Shadow and Spider.<br />
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Conversely, the upcoming covers featuring the Black Terror have him in his classic costume and not Alex Ross' redesign. But, Miss Fury is being shown in a re-designed costume.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMZ2eeJH-ESGlMkMUSEybDt-h_QInHafZTAcYD8TiDeKG6RUpW0WcWy9lGB2ueKrAhkexPz2JxePvewKHhdA7Jai_iuEZ_5RQ1OlwkRU-tHmpizaLLQzK7Ss4bp_g1Ckb2qxI/s1600/masks-missfury.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMZ2eeJH-ESGlMkMUSEybDt-h_QInHafZTAcYD8TiDeKG6RUpW0WcWy9lGB2ueKrAhkexPz2JxePvewKHhdA7Jai_iuEZ_5RQ1OlwkRU-tHmpizaLLQzK7Ss4bp_g1Ckb2qxI/s320/masks-missfury.jpg" width="213" /></a><br />
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Storywise, the main thing that doesn't really add up is the discussion between Britt Reid and Lamont Cranston concerning Law and Justice. Thematically, it fits as the Party of Justice is about a group taking over and subverting the law with criminals being enforcers and agents of the new corrupt laws, leading to men of justice becoming outlaws. However, the discussion doesn't really fit. Reid as the Green Hornet is a man who fosters the idea of him as a criminal, to act outside of the Law. If he truly believed in the Law over Justice, he wouldn't be a masked vigilante but fight solely from within the system as a crusading newspaper publisher. It's a scene for the sake of the story and not growing out of the characters.<br />
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Otherwise, the writing is solid. It introduces the heroes, a brief hero vs hero fight (though it should be the Shadow vs Green Hornet, Shadow vs Kato is akin to Batman fighting Bucky or Captain America fighting Robin... even the tv show got that right and had Kato fighting Robin), A discussion of the heroes in civilian identities over the problem. We get the introduction or teases of a couple of other characters but otherwise see the criminal group in action, enforcing the new laws. Ends with the heroes fighting overwhelming odds and the addition of another hero to the ranks. The writing is tight. It doesn't try to introduce every character at once. Where it does offer glimpses of future heroes, it's in scenes that also serve in showcasing the corruption of the Party of Justice and building storytelling tension. There's talking, but also plenty of superhero action.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuQBPEjM9p3svRRbYq9iMNHtKxKKbvSRkNEo56hj7kA0CngbDuvba7zx774w5b0bor3vXL-I_8-tIng7oXSL7t89s4QoliUi71qVAIkWEdNdtS9tcEV1rpdWqJIxmUesXVsEQ/s1600/Masks01-Cov-Syaf.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuQBPEjM9p3svRRbYq9iMNHtKxKKbvSRkNEo56hj7kA0CngbDuvba7zx774w5b0bor3vXL-I_8-tIng7oXSL7t89s4QoliUi71qVAIkWEdNdtS9tcEV1rpdWqJIxmUesXVsEQ/s320/Masks01-Cov-Syaf.jpg" width="213" /></a>While Ross did the artwork on the first issue, he's not the artist on the subsequent issues and as far as I know the future artist hasn't been announced. The cynic in me is so that retailers and readers will have to commit at least to the first couple of issues. Ross is a good painter. However, he's not a great storyteller. Panel flow is often clunky and he overuses his trick of casting the viewpoint beneath the characters to make them seem larger than life. Combined with tilting the angles of the panels making it seem some heroes are flying and shifting the viewpoints from low to high can cause a bit motion sickness. It feels as he's almost approaching each panel individually without much regard to the storyflow from panel to panel. His Lamont Cranston looks like an old man, and I've never found his women to be all that attractive. So, the scene of the Cranston and Margo in the Cobalt Club doesn't really give a feeling of jazz, glamour, or sophistication.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT2_wYpj8cjTYl23b5lgzbyTWkQViY2DcttuBMMWagkV_IgLNAhXR6HxW2_Vr-GXdNjOGei6V3TlJEXj4QQZIb9qARG5sqfFrOjqht9-6S7tiu4vfUwCQMplUdTGpUUEzpv4s/s1600/Masks03-cov-Lee.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT2_wYpj8cjTYl23b5lgzbyTWkQViY2DcttuBMMWagkV_IgLNAhXR6HxW2_Vr-GXdNjOGei6V3TlJEXj4QQZIb9qARG5sqfFrOjqht9-6S7tiu4vfUwCQMplUdTGpUUEzpv4s/s320/Masks03-cov-Lee.jpg" width="213" /></a>There are many that don't see a problem with the portrayal of women in comics. One can look no further than this comic to see the gap and issue. This comic will feature heroes from pulps, radio and comics the Shadow, Spider, Green Hornet and Kato, Zorro, Green Lama, Black Bat, the Black Terror and Miss Fury. Among all those men, one woman out of all of comics and pulps from the era though there are several that would fit. Instead of the oddballs such as Zorro and the over-powered Black Terror, women heroes like pulp's Domino Lady and comics Woman in Red, Invisible Scarlet O'Neil or Phantom Lady would better fit. To add insult to injury, one of the alternate covers of the first issue featuring Miss Fury is her half out of costume as is one of the future alternate titles. There is no similar depiction of any of the male heroes.<br />
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There are a few other male pulp heroes I wouldn't mind seeing over the Black Terror and Zorro either: Jim Anthony, Phantom Detective, the Black Hood, Angel Detective, the Park Avenue Hunt Club, Operator 5, the Avenger, Secret Agent "X", the Crimson Clown, the Ghost, the Purple Scar, Skull-killer and the Octopus/Scorpion. Maybe the latter can be the next story. A sequel to the the Octopus and Scorpion pulps, clearing up some of those loose ends and having the two villains teaming up with Wu Fang bringing various pulp heroes together again.<br />
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Another big flaw is that at the price of comics today... the first page is wasted to a black title page with credits and acknowledgements. The second page is all black with the publisher information at the bottom... the story doesn't start til page 3!!? Why aren't those two pages just one page? Or better yet, at the bottom of one of the story pages as most comics do? Sure, that would mean reducing a page of Ross' artwork or putting non-story text on it, but it would free up two more pages for art. At the very least, print some of the alternate covers, original pulp covers or sketches on the pages. Seriously, an all black page at the front of the book? Before I even began the story I had a bad taste in my mouth.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEo_XXmHH44cqbB37_5TY21IIo7yYLN0uhVtulxQ25wSsZPkG1Cl3PjF5RLBp6Ek8gKRWIX9q67PsZx-Rvgk9MUwi3T3MweUqYzKmyDI1ZA3csl3z0UMiTTaYDZhcAlVVefiE/s1600/Masks01-Cov-Lee.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEo_XXmHH44cqbB37_5TY21IIo7yYLN0uhVtulxQ25wSsZPkG1Cl3PjF5RLBp6Ek8gKRWIX9q67PsZx-Rvgk9MUwi3T3MweUqYzKmyDI1ZA3csl3z0UMiTTaYDZhcAlVVefiE/s320/Masks01-Cov-Lee.jpg" width="213" /></a><br />
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<b>Talon</b> #2: Ok, second issue (or 3rd if you count the zero issue) and there's a guest-artist? Right on the heels of Snyder online praising the work of the artist. I'm out.<br />
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<b>Aquaman </b>#14: Like <b>Masks,</b> a set-up issue, following up the the events of the last issue and setting up the next arc. It tells us what happened with Black Manta, though not a single mention of The Others. <br />
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This issue has been billed as a good jumping on point, but it's not really. Because, for the most part it is incredibly dull with a lot of talking and Aquaman not doing much. We get some heavy handed dialogue as to why Aquaman is cool and tough, while Black Manta turns down an offer to join the Suicide Squad. Only, there's nothing to tell new readers who or what the Suicide Squad is. There's a tease in dialogue concerning Garth. However, as this is a new reality, how much this Garth will be like the old Garth remains to be seen. A long dialogue between Ocean Master and Aquaman concerning past events. A scene with Vulko as an Atlantean body washes onshore conveniently near where he's been in exile. A bunch of disparate scenes, with little to tie any of them together, especially if you've not been following the title and very little action, but a whole lot of talking. The only scene with oomph is Black Manta asserting his Bad @$$-ery while in prison while talking about Aquaman and turning down the Suicide Squad.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTnj-iX0lXJyisEI9vZ9y5iSDyo3GwgXIK8sk_iPt7ELR-1h90TeKJdoor9VrJc3QDfOTVE2w2d_qW6ZECmW1Zmm1Kxn0HAP2khrJq9GQfYKjgvAxy9WJcRey-4-enb1aYlxY/s1600/masks3a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTnj-iX0lXJyisEI9vZ9y5iSDyo3GwgXIK8sk_iPt7ELR-1h90TeKJdoor9VrJc3QDfOTVE2w2d_qW6ZECmW1Zmm1Kxn0HAP2khrJq9GQfYKjgvAxy9WJcRey-4-enb1aYlxY/s320/masks3a.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
Pete Woods is the guest artist for the title and he does a good job, didin't really miss Ivan Reis. Being aware that it was a guest artist, I looked to see if the odd widescreen panels would occur. The answer to that is "yes" and there was a page with just 4 extreme vertical panels. Woods does a better job at disguising it though, there's not a lot of empty space or odd croppings of figures other than a couple. This leads me to conclude that while Reis is the flashier artist especially when it comes to the figures and faces and with more finer line detail, Woods is actually the better storyteller and better at executing the script. And, that much of the fault of the odd panels and its effects on the storytelling as well as padding out the comic is coming from the writer and not the artists. Will be interesting to see what new artist Paul Pelleitier will be able to do.<div class="blogger-post-footer">More Comics and Pulps reviewed at <a href="http://hero-goggles.blogspot.com/" title="Hero Goggles - All things comics and maybe a little more!">Hero Goggles</a>.</div>cash_gormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04016914226368450646noreply@blogger.com0