A Mar-Vell-Ous Essential!

Captain Marvel, the late great Kree hero has been on my mind lately and on the newsstands again and again lately. The most recent Captain Marvel product is the second Essentials volume, this one reprinting some material which has never yet been reprinted in an affordable format.

The Captain's utterly fantastic Cosmic Era begins as Jim Starlin comes aboard to fabricate his earliest masterpiece, and introduces one of Marvel's greatest villains, the malevolent Thanos. All of the Starlin stuff is here, including the necessary offshoots of the tale from Iron Man and Marvel Two-In-One. But this material has been reprinted many times.

What's really of significance to Cap fans in this volume is the ready access to the work of Wayne Boring. The venerable Superman creator stepped into the House of Ideas and took the reins of Captain Marvel, Marvel's own space-born super-hero, and produced three very attractive issues. Alas Boring's style seemed somewhatdated even at the time, but I still find his work remarkable and charming.

Also included in this epic collection are the Steve Englehart and Al Milgrom stories following Cap and his sidekick Rick Jones as they rocket into space to match up against the Supreme Intelligence, the Lunatic Legion and other assorted baddies. These are stories not on the level of the Starlin stuff, but still wild entertainment, with more than a smidgeon of the madness folks like so much about the Steve Gerber Defenders stories. The artwork has a somewhat "diverse hands" approach, at least on inks, as Alan Weiss, Berni Wrightson, but mostly Klaus Janson are on board. Alfredo Alcala even drew an issue.

This is hearty collection, a great cheap way for a fan to own the whole Starlin opus as well as some other dandy stories from the shadows of Marvel's mighty history. I'm looking forward to getting my copy.

Here's a gander at the covers in this volume. Issue #36 is not included, as it contains a reprinted story of Cap's earliest past, but I find the Alan Weiss cover for that "Dreaded Deadline Doomed" issue that I included it here.

The one comic book apparently not included in this volume which probably should be is The Avengers #125.

This story fits in right before Captain Marvel #33 in the midst of Cap's epic struggle against Thanos. Why it's not included is a mystery, but certainly space must have been a consideration.

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Not Even Pete's Dragon!

Pete Morisi
It dawned on me after yesterday's post on  Thunderbolt, that I had never actually gotten around to reviewing the new series from Dynamite Comics. Let me amend that oversight right now. 

First, let me say that I'm happy that Thunderbolt in some form is still with us and being published by anyone. T-Bolt in the right hands is a compelling character. But alas, I have to say that the modern version of Thunderbolt falls somewhat short of what I expect. It's an impossibly high bar I've set for this classic series by the late great Pete Morisi. I think of the original Charlton series as a finely crafted jewel, and later attempts to translate the hero often don't fall short on craftsmanship as much as they do on focus.

Alex Ross
The modern comic book reader, fed a steady diet of bombast through constant high-energy event-driven comics, is likely to find the quiet and refreshing flavor of a reflective Thunderbolt tale not to their liking. So Peter Cannon must be pushed into a broader and noisier playing field of world-beating menaces.

Pat Boyette
What is ironic about the core storyline of the new Dynamite series is that the writer took his influence from the original series, which on its face is a good start, but alas he took special note of an issue of Thunderbolt not produced by P.A.M. himself. Morisi was meticulous and sometimes slow, so to fill in the publishing schedule, editor Dick Giordano would tap other talents, in particular Pat Boyette to fill in. In one of the fill-in issues by Boyette Peter Cannon uses his mind powers in a way somewhat differently than Morisi had used them, he projects an illusion of a dragon to terrify his opponents, an illusion so strong it not only debilitates T-Bolt, but almost seems to become corporeal. It's neat gag, but really not sound T-Bolt.

It's this aspect of Thunderbolt's legend the new creators latched onto to forge their first sprawling storyline. That's fine, but alas despite some decent craftsmanship, I have decided to give this series a pass. I did pick up the debut issue which was enhanced by publishing after many years Pete Morisi's last Thunderbolt story, a tale crafted for DC Comics many years ago but sadly never used. I have to confess that despite my nostalgic appreciation for Morisi's work, this story was relatively unremarkable and was of interest mostly because of its historical significance in that a great creator revisited after many years his most famous creation.

So in the final analysis, I don't necessarily recommend the Thunderbolt series from Dynamite Comics, though I would say every Thunderbolt fan needs to get hold of first issue if only to say a fond farewell to the great P.A.M.

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Thunderbolt By George!

When Dynamite Comics got hold of the Peter Cannon Thunderbolt license they unleashed the typical avalanche of alternate covers for the debut issue. Most are sadly unremarkable cash-grabs, but the image above by the late great George Tuska is special for a number of reasons.

Pete Morisi, better known as "P.A.M." (he remained incognito to keep his job as a NYPD cop) created Thunderbolt for Charlton's "Action Hero" line-up. Morisi had been one of Charlton's mainstay artists for years working on westerns and other projects over that time. Thunderbolt was his chance to shine, to bring out his own special vision of what a hero could be. Morisi's style is instantly identifiable, but it has its root in the early work of George Tuska. Morisi was a fan of Tuska's work and in his early days slavishly followed the style of the somewhat more experienced artist, with, according to some reports, a degree of approval from Tuska himself.

As the years rolled by, Morisi's work became more and more stylized, and while the Tuska influence never goes away, it becomes more and more muted behind Morisi's catalog of fixed poses and shots. At Marvel Tuska's work had opened up, infusing the broader action championed by Jack Kirby. But in P.A.M. we see the Tuska of an earlier era yet refined to its essential elements.

So it's oddly appropriate that George Tuska would ultimately create a Thunderbolt cover, closing one of comics most unusual creative circuits.  And it doesn't hurt that it's a striking image to boot.

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King Of The Magicians!

Don Heck
With the success of Lee Falk's The Phantom, currently getting the archival reprint treatment from Hermes Press, the recent archives featuring Alex Raymond's fantstic Flash Gordon, the only member of the King Features "Big Three" not to have gotten a quality reprint package is Mandrake the Magician. Like both The Phantom and Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician was a key element of the King Features push into comic books in 1967.

The debut issue was drawn by "Dashing" Don Heck, a member of Marvel's illustrious Bullpen. The subsequent issues featured a hodge-podge of art and story, some original to the series and some imported from Europe. Alas Mandrake never seemed to break through like the Phantom and Flash who both found homes later at Charlton after King Features dropped out of the comic book game.

Mandrake even suffered the ignominy of a never-completed trilogy when briefly Marvel held control of the King license in the 90's. Mandrake and Lothar were part of the Defenders of the Earth team at Marvel's Star Comics brand during the 80's.

It was announced a few years ago that Mandrake would join Flash Gordon and The Phantom at Dynamite Comics, but while there have been comics for the other two, so far nothing that I'm aware of for Lee Falk's Magician.

Mandrake never seemed to find the respect among fans that his long tenure as a comic hero merits. He deserves an archive of his own, ideally collecting the vintage work which graced the newsstands in the late Silver Age. He deserves a place on the bookshelf next to Phantom and Flash.

While we wait (perhaps for a very long time alas), enjoy this cover gallery of Mandrake's King Features comic run. There's some intriguing images, many by long-time Mandrake artist Fred Fredericks, suggestive of stories that any fan might yearn to read.

Andre LeBlanc

Andre LeBlanc

Andre LeBlanc

Fred Fredericks

Ray Bailey and Fred Fredericks

Fred Fredericks

Fred Fredericks

Fred Fredericks

Fred Fredericks
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Mandrake Mojo!

I was strolling through the wonderful Grand Comics Database the other day, as I am wont to do, and I came across a charming cover gallery for The Official Mandrake the Magician from Pioneer Comics. This was a slightly more than a year-long turn at getting some of the classic Lee Falk and Phil Davis Mandrake comic strips back into print and before the eyes of a potentially new readership.

To that end in the middle of the run, the editors at Pioneer eschewed the vintage cover art covers they'd been using and hired artist Brett Blevins to create a trio of fresh new images featuring the comics mage. The one above showing Mandrake holding a charming beauty in his palm with a bit of a knowing smirk on his mug is my favorite.

This one gets the nod for most mysterious as both Mandrake and Lothar are featured staring out at the reader who is getting hypnotized.

This third one shows off the exotic nature of Mandrake's setting, atop a flying carpet with another beauty in tow. That hat must wow the ladies!

A pretty neat triad of images. Soon enough though, Pioneer shifted back to vintage art and this little bubble of new images disappeared like the magic they were.

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The Ghost Tribe!

Above is a glimpse of a lost jewel in the history of Lee Falk's The Phantom. This cover art derived from the work of the great Sy Barry and sadly never saw publication in the United States.

The Phantom comic book series begun under the Gold Key banner and which switched over to the King Comics label kept its numbering intact. There were seventeen Gold Key issues and King began with eighteen. When the title shifted again to the Charlton banner though there was a glitch.

The last King Comics number was twenty-eight, but the first Charlton number was thirty.

What happened to twenty-nine?

Since Charlton Comics is involved, it doesn't necessarily send off alarm bells when the numbering of a comic book series hits a snag. Charlton was notorious for such malarkey. But what happened?

As it turns out, a twenty-ninth issue was prepared but never published under the King banner, at least not in the United States. The cover art (seen at the top) was eventually published in Mexico.

The story for that missing issue titled "The Ghost Tribe" did eventually see U.S. publication though, in Charlton's thirty-fifth issue beneath a striking Jim Aparo cover. The story was written by Bill Harris and featured art by  Bill Lignante, the artist who had been responsible for nearly all the Phantom stories before the move to Charlton.

Here is the Frew version of the comic, with a different cover.

And here is yet another cover for the story for the Indrajal Comics line. To read this version of the "The Ghost Tribe" check out this link.

It seems fitting almost that The Phantom, the Ghost Who Walks, would have a "phantom" issue of his own comic series. Weird, but fitting.

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