Showing posts with label DC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DC. Show all posts
Friday, November 18, 2022
Thursday, November 17, 2022
Recently Read: The Superman Chronicles, Vol. 10
In (sadly) the last volume of DC's Superman Chronicles, reprinting early Superman stories in chronological order, one half of the team who created the character is nearly missing. Joe Shuster only pencils one of the twelve collected stories. The others are penciled by Leo Nowak and John Sikela, each of whom does an okay job mimicking Joe's (more cartoony) style.
The stories are all written by Jerry Siegel, though, and the series at this point still holds a lot of charm. Lex Luthor shows up, as do an assortment of early, more obscure villains. Either out of boredom or a desire to branch out, Siegel's last two stories here work on a meta level: the first involves Clark and Lois seeing a Paramount Superman cartoon in a movie theater (how can Clark prevent Lois from seeing the scenes in the short which show Clark changing into Superman?). The second is a parody of the cartoonist Li'l Abner and a parody of its creator, Al Capp (here called Al Hatt), a premise resulting in a great panel in which Superman slugs Abner! Was the story a response to Capp's popularity and notorious ego? Probably.
Recommended.
Friday, February 4, 2022
Recently Read: The Newsboy Legion, Vol. 1, by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon
The Newsboy Legion, created in 1942 for DC, may not be one of Jack Kirby's greatest comic book series (though don't count that out), but it's surely one of his most personal. The Legion are a kid gang trying to survive in a rotting tenement neighborhood called Suicide Slum, selling newspapers and trying to avoid mob activity as Kirby himself did growing up in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Like the Legion, Kirby found camaraderie and support in a local boy's club (which still exists today) and the exploits of Tommy, Scrapper, Gabby and "Big Woids", juvenile delinquents under threat of being sent to reform school, were pure Kirby; he knew this world. The idealized figure of "copper" and advocate Jim Harper/The Guardian, an adult and part-time vigilante who not only cares about the kids but actively argues in court to protect them, has a poignancy that still resonates eighty years later. Kirby loved these characters so much, he brought descendants of the group back in the first issue he created of Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen, when Kirby returned to DC in 1970.
Unlike his other WWII kid gang series for DC, the Boy Commandos, which could whimsically swerve into science fiction, the Newsboy Legion is grounded in the streets and a world of poverty (one scene of a sick lady in bed takes place in a run-down room quite like the one Kirby and his family lived in), though one story imagines what New York would be like if the Nazis took control of it (a real threat when these stories were being written and drawn).
The Newsboy Legion Vol. 1 covers half of the Legion stories created in the '40s. They're printed on wonderfully non-glare paper and, if slightly too dark in places, are perfectly readable. Kirby was drafted into the U.S. Army about halfway through the volume, and so the last stories in the volume reflect the inventory Kirby and partner Joe Simon were tasked by DC with creating, knowing that WWII drafting was imminent. Kirby has only partial involvement with the last story he draws in the book and a still awkward and green Gil Kane takes over for the last two stories. Vol. II continues with stories drawn by Kane, Joe Kubert and others until Kirby returned from the warfront.
Thursday, August 12, 2021
Recently Read: According to Jack Kirby, by Michael Hill
Michael Hill has done comics historians a service in compiling and publishing this collection of cartoonist Jack Kirby's memories and thoughts on his career. While the longer living and outgoing spokesman Stan Lee's interpretation of events has held sway in the general public's mind, in-depth comics readers and historians have long been able to differentiate the two creator's distinctive voices and contributions. Despite what any creator might say, the proof is in the published work (and the photocopied original art, with Kirby's story notes in the margins). What Kirby relates in the book's compiled quotes jibes with the historical evidence and shores up his contention that he wrote the stories in Marvel's seminal '60s work and created the initial characters. In short, Lee claiming he was the writer of the work insured more money for him and less money for Kirby (and other cartoonists who were also creating stories on the series they worked on, like Steve Ditko and John Romita, Sr.). This was an injustice perpetuated by later owners of Marvel.
Loaded with copious footnotes, the book covers decades of Kirby being outspoken on his contributions. Because the scope of the book mainly covers what Kirby said, some evidence which would help confirm his beliefs isn't covered: Dr. Michael Vassallo's extensively researched chronological analysis of Stan Lee scripts, for example, shows conclusively that Lee's "creativity" began when Kirby rejoined Marvel in the late '50s, and mysteriously left Lee when Kirby quit Marvel for DC in 1970. Conversely, the book deals little with Lee's distinctive 1960s voice which, whether one enjoys it or not, was highly instrumental in creating a new jovial and audience-connecting informality in comics (compared to DC's straight-laced and patronizing editorial voice), but which is, again, outside the scope of this book.
The incident of Lee rejecting a Kirby Hulk story and the resultant output of Kirby in the month of March, 1963, is a fascinating connection and a new avenue to explore in the complex story of these two creators.
There are ways According to Jack Kirby could be bettered. Some commentators are quoted with no context or explanation of who they are or why their opinion is of importance. Some reproduced art could be of higher resolution quality. And, the book uses some quotes too repetitively. I'm hoping a future edition can correct these attributes. Still, the book is an essential addition, and appreciators of Kirby's work have Michael Hill to thank for the hard work and initiative to put together what is, ultimately, a damning and important document.
Thursday, April 22, 2021
Sunday, April 4, 2021
Recently Read: Astroman, Book Two: The Arsenal of Wonders, by Dwight R. Decker
Dwight R. Decker's sequel to Astroman Book One: The Secret Citadel is a little less than twice as long as its predecessor, and is expansive in scope, incorporating time and alternate universe travelling. Decker's loving homage to early '60s DC comics (particularly Superman) includes not only characters modeled on fictional characters in those comics, but characters modeled on the creators of the comics (in one clever conceit, the villain muses that a god he calls Mort may be guiding and thwarting people's lives). Decker keeps the rules of the worlds he's created consistent and logical, and plotlines suspenseful. While I would enjoy reading more of the protagonist Matt Dawson's adventures, the conclusion is satisfying, wanting nothing. If you've spent years reading DC comics and science fiction paperbacks circa the late '50s and early '60s, you'll find The Arsenal of Wonders a whimsical and endearing tribute to that pulp paper printed work
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
Recently Read: The Boy Commandos, Vol. 1, by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
The Boy Commandos Vol. 1 is a much appreciated 250 pages of the first, chronological
Commandos stories created for DC by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Applying the kid gang concept to WWII, the series features kid representatives of several Allied countries, each with his own (somewhat annoying) accent.
As with Kirby's '70s WWII series, The Losers, Commandos uses WWII scenarios to tell a variety of human interest stories. One story begins with Nostradamus; another ten thousand years in the future (Kirby was often willing to employ his love for science fiction pulp in his work). Gangsters, a Japanese prisoner, a family curse, a pampered aristocrat and the French Underground are all used as story ideas; Simon and Kirby themselves make an appearance in "Satan Wears a Swastika", along with The Sandman and the Newsboy Legion.
The stories are smartly printed on non-glare matte paper, using the original colors. Much of the art is printed a little too dark, but is still preferable to modern re-coloring.
Like most comics of the period, the stories are of limited emotional resonance and can be formulaic (though Simon and Kirby, as seen above, mixed and mashed different story angles with more agility and experimentation than most). I read the book in two different sittings, giving my mind a rest with other readings. Any way you choose to read it, it's a good compilation of some of the better comics being produced at the time.
Friday, March 20, 2020
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Monday, July 22, 2019
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Recently Read: The Superman Chronicles, Vol. 9
In the second-to-last volume of DC's missed chronological reprintings of the adventures of Superman, cartoonist John Sikela does a good job attempting to keep the book looking like co-creator Joe Shuster's work.
Fortunately, Jerry Siegel's still writing every story and the work has a charm missing from today's interpretations. In this volume, Lois and Clark take on car dealers who purposely sell unsafe cars, take inner city kids out for a day in the country, rat out a fake astrologist, and help a budding baseball player start his career. This down-to-earth and humanist take on Superman is just what's missing in the stories I've read in the past several decades (although Grant Morrison's run started promisingly).
These are also the first reprinted stories I've read which use material created for the Superman radio show as orthodoxy. Jimmy Olson and the Fortress of Solitude are used in the stories as if they've already been introduced on the page; rather, they were apparently created for the radio show first and transferred to the comic books (and comic strip?). I'd love to hear from comics historians about this particular transference from radio to comics.
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Recently Read: Crisis on Infinite Earths by Marv Wolfman and George Perez
Crisis on Infinite Earths may be the worst comic story I've read. By worst, I don't mean unprofessional. The most amateurish mid-'80s, self-published B&W comic published on browning, cheap newsprint can have its inadvertent charms, but there's nothing charming about this slick, corporate product. COIE was one of the first miniseries created by corporate committee (Jim Shooter, not surprisingly, led the way the previous year with Secret Wars). Reading it was a slogging chore.
COIE is a convoluted concoction designed to utilize, in one forced way or another, nearly every intellectual property the company owned. This necessitates scene after scene of characters saying "Who are you?" and "Where are we?" and "Please, what is going on here?" (corporate-mandated "fun" is the answer). In fact, the 350-page work is stultifyingly repetitive. I've never read a superhero comic with so many heroes crying, weeping, wailing. I just now opened to a random page: "Now there is nothing...and the man called Pariah can only cry."
Instead of trying to describe what our heroes are up against, I'll let one of them describe it for you: "There is an enemy...The Monitor never told me WHO he is - but he seeks the total destruction of all POSITIVE MATTER UNIVERSES. You know of Earths 1 and 2...but ALL the planets are separated by VIBRATIONS...to ESCAPE the enemy's antimatter attack, The Monitor began the process of MERGING the UNIVERSES INTO ONE..as it was INTENDED to be, but somehow, AT THE DAWN OF TIME -- we were SPLIT INTO AN INFINITE NUMBER OF UNIVERSES. To SAVE all life, we must RETURN TO BEING ONE UNIVERSE AGAIN."
The reason stated for creating a work which simplified the DC universe was and is that it was confusing to then-new readers. I question that: most DC stories at the time didn't involve characters from parallel universes and those which did had no appreciable drop in sales. Moreover, the DC universe that existed after the dust settled was a worse one, with 25 years of Hawkman continuity thrown into the ditch, a much weakened and less interesting Superman (under the hand of John Byrne - no surprise there) and a smaller playing field with less story potential.
COIE also loses points for helping create the template for a seemingly endless series of company "events" which to this day interrupt and negate the continuity of other series written by authors attempting to tell their own slowly-built stories. As an example: over one hundred individual issues of DC's comics were tied-in to COIE before, during and immediately after its publication.
I can't discuss COIE without mentioning George Perez's art, it being such an integral part of the work and its financial success. I didn't read COIE at the time of its initial publication because of my aversion to his style, and thirty years haven't altered my view. If you like Perez's work, you'll like this book. He's a professional and clearly worked an insane number of hours on it.
COIE suffers in stark contrast to the previous work of fantasy I'd read before it - a tale which also involved multiple universes, a creepy, world-destroying villain, imperfect heroes and lots of journeying between worlds: C.S. Lewis' The Magician's Nephew. That story had humor, whimsy, a compelling, straightforward narrative, a lightness of touch and real suspense. I'd recommend reading it instead.
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Recently Read: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, Deluxe Edition
DC's Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?: The Deluxe Edition, collects the last "real" Superman story. Taking place in a sort of continuity limbo between the Superman of 1938-1986 and the new Superman created after DC's self-destructive miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths, writer Alan Moore conveys the sadness of these editorial decisions in the emotional heft of his story. The famous panel of Superman in tears is apt, as there was a profound sense that DC's destruction of their own continuity and beloved characters was needless and essentially financially mercenary. Complex, long-form stories like Tony Isabella's Hawkman were cast aside to make room for dumber, more "edgy" versions of the proprietary names and trademarks.
Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? is designed as an end to the Superman Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created in the '30s and it incorporates concepts, continuity and iconography from nearly five decades worth of stories in order to do justice to the theme. It gains special authenticity from it having been penciled by Superman artist supreme Curt Swan, so when jaw-dropping events happen, the reader accepts it as if the book was a run-of-the-mill 1973 issue (George Perez, unfortunately, inks half of the story, threatening to break the illusion). Moore's willingness to go where other Superman writers hadn't, or couldn't, set the tone for decades of writers, picking up on his perceived maliciousness; the first issue of Whatever Happened... was released the same month as his Watchmen #1. (Ironically, Superman's co-creator, Jerry Siegel, had been writing violently adult comics in the back of Eclispe's Destroyer Duck a few years beforehand, making one wonder what a Siegel-penned last Superman story could have been like; Siegel was the first writer editor Julie Schwartz had approached, but legal issues kept that assignment from happening.)
For all the story's audaciousness, Moore gives the work a fitting, happy ending. Moore has an understanding of Superman and his world most mainstream writers didn't and don't, and the post-Crisis series ebbed and flowed in mediocrity for decades, starting with John Byrne's limited, small-minded view of the meanings and scope of Siegel and Shuster's creation. It makes you wish Moore could have written a hundred issues of Superman and Action Comics.
The Deluxe Edition is filled out with Moore's Superman/Swamp Thing tale, "The Jungle Line", ravishingly inked by Al Williamson, with hallucinogenic pencils by Rick Veitch, drawing upon Veitch's underground comics background. Also included is Moore and Dave Gibbons' Superman tale, "For The Man Who Has Everything". Even after being adapted several times for television and reprinted ad nauseam, the story bears repeated reading. Everything Moore touched of the Superman series was classic and will remain so.
I'm happy to report DC has published this book on matte paper, so no garish colors and light glare will detract. I recommend this book for every comic reader's bookshelf.
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Recently Read: Young Romance 2
Anyone who disparages romance comics probably
A. hasn't read any and is instead thinking of Roy Lichtenstein paintings and, more importantly,
B. hasn't read any created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the enterprising gents who created the genre in comics.
The stories compiled in Young Romance 2, originally printed from 1947-1949, are dense, compelling little dramas; they could be short films churned out by Warner Bros. in the '30s. They deal with class systems, espionage, culture clashes, small town bigotry, post WWII societal problems, gossip, poverty and prejudice. They're hard-hitting, sometimes spectacularly violent. These aren't your laughable '70s DC romances drawn by Vince Colletta. Kirby crams detail into each panel as if he's directing a 1918 silent film; the art has much more in common with his late '70s Marvel comics like Machine Man than any of the '60s comics he's most known for.
The hardbound book is beautiful. Unlike what's promised on the front and back cover, the restorations published within aren't scanned from the original comics with printing dots intact. Instead, they were exposed to a solution process which eradicated the colors, leaving the black art behind. Once digitally enhanced, the result is black and white art amazingly faithful to the original. Although I prefer editor Michael Gagne's restorations from the first volume, the new process makes for immanently readable stories, using a color palate faithful to the original comics and set against a nice light beige background.
Friday, December 11, 2015
Thursday, April 30, 2015
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