Grass Green's Wildman!

I did something last week I haven't done in several years, I bought an actual back issue of a comic book. I'm mostly in the trend of getting my books out of the house and not bringing new ones in, especially vintage books, but this time I had to jump and pick up (for tiny money) the first Megaton Comics issue of Richard "Grass" Green's quixotic Wildman. It was jumbled in with a wide array of various 80's black and white comics, but this one I've wanted for a while since I first learned of its existence.

Wildman and his partner, the oddly named "Rubberoy" (that's not a typo) were created by Green many years before in the pages of fanzines, the place where much of Green's career developed. He had stints at Charlton and elsewhere, but mostly "Grass" Green was a fan artist of no small talent. He has the distinction of being considered the first black comics fan artist and did some important work in the underground press. I fell in love with is energetic style on old Charlton spoof stories and his work on his signature character Xal-Kor the Human Cat.

There is a mini-comic zero issue for this series as well as a second issue from Megaton Comics. The series was picked up by Miller Publications and ran for another ten issues or so.  Maybe I'll find some of them some day, but right now I'm pretty happy to have found at least one more treasure from the talented hand of Richard Green, may he rest in peace. 

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Comic Crusader Storybook!

This indy tome edited by Marty Griem might well be at the top of my wish list. I've gotten some of the stories in reprint here and there over the years, but to have this singular book with that outstanding Dick Giordano cover would be too scrumptious. Here's a link to the Grand Comic Book Database entry for the book with all the luscious details.

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Xal-Kor Is A Very Human Cat, Man!

Richard "Grass" Green is no longer with us. He passed away in 2002 after a long career in and around comics. He is probably considered the best fan artist of all time, working for a very long time in fanzines and such productions. He did some professional work, but never really became part of the fabric of either Marvel or DC. He instead worked on the fringes with Charlton, Fantagraphics, and Underground comics.

His most enduring creation is Xal-Kor the Human Cat. The story is lifted from the pages of a vintage Jack Kirby comic which pitted mankind against a race of super-rats. In Green's version of this backstory the war is between humanesque rats and more human cats. Xal-Kor is the best of the latter and is called upon to follow Queen Roda and her rat followers to Earth, a place they escape to, to plot and return to their home dimension and eventual conquest of the Felinians, the cat people. Xal-Kor comes to Earth, takes on an Earth identity and fights the fight. He battle other menaces from time to time, but the rats are his primary focus.

The adventures continued off and on through several decades. Then in 2001, Twomorrows and Hamster Press got together and published a 100-page new adventure of Xal-Kor by Grass Green. It would prove to be his last published adventure featuring his exciting creation. Xal-Kor wakes in 2013 after 23 years in suspended animation. He finds that the Earth and Felis have been protected by other Cat agents and specifically his son and daughter. Eventually Queen Roda and her minions are stopped before launching their big attack and the action is furious. The story is rich with characterization and large with action. Green blends the dynamics of Kirby with the hectic motion of Kurtzman. Green produced artwork that blended to great effect some of the techniques of comics masters, and created his own distinct blend.

Grass Green is gone. It's a shame, as it would've been great to read more Xal-Kor adventures.

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