Olympus Has Fallen!

My daughters came in for a visit this past holiday weekend and brought with them a copy of this summer's action flick Olympus Has Fallen. So we put it on and sat back as a family to enjoy seeing Washington DC attacked by North Korean terrorists.

Now I'm not going to belabor this, the movie directed by Antoine Fuqua has some outstanding action sequences, especially in the first third of the flick when the Koreans attack the White House. The sequences are wildly kinetic and creatively brutal with wide-ranging lethal consequences. That part of the movie has an awesome punch.

But at a point relatively soon after the initial assault we fall into a fairly traditional lone hero must save hostages scenario which has been played many times over the decades. It's a tried and true format and offers some real possibilities here with Gerard Butler serving exceedingly well as the tough commando ready to take heads to save his Aaron Echhart, commander-in-chief.

But that's where this one runs off the rails. At the point where the President and his staff are taken prisoner in the bowels of the White House and the Koreans have taken control of the "People's House", the logical and inevitable counter attack is postponed time and again out of some incredibly lame concern for the specific life of the particular man serving as President. Bollocks!

Bollocks I say!

Without getting into too much detail here, the story devolves to the point where the entire nation, hell the entire world is threatened by nuclear extinction because the powers-that-be cannot somehow bring themselves to allow the killing of five people. It's ludicrous to think that the leadership of this country would be as feckless as the dopes portrayed in this story.

My daughters and I groaned repeatedly as one after another stupid decisions allowed an effective but small-scale terrorist attack to mushroom into a world-shaking event with far-reaching global consequences. The terrorism shown here was all too effective because the leadership portrayed didn't seem to have any handle on the big picture. The last time Morgan Freeman got to play President, a damn comet hit the Earth and this time he just about causes the same amount of damage because he cannot act like someone with anything remotely like perspective.

The creators of this movie made a pretty exciting action flick, but damn I wish they'd spend just a few more minutes fixing some the gaping maws in the plot which caused me and mine at least to detach from the narrative with sarcastic disdain.

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Brothers Of The Spear!

I was most pleased to finally get hold of the first two volumes of Dark Horse's reprints of Gold Key's classic series "Brothers of the Spear". This smart and forward-thinking adventure serial ran successfully for years and years in the back pages of Tarzan of the Apes.

For those who might not know the the story as begun by Gaylord Dubois and drawn by Jesse Marsh tells of Natongo the son of a Zulu chieftan who finds a sturdy comrade and "brother" in Dan-El, a wayward white prince. These two men who both lose their kingdoms swear loyalty to one another and proceed to present quietly the profound message of two men of different ethnic backgrounds working together for the common good. It's a potent message told with little attention to the utterly transforming visual in the early 50's of a white and black man working side by side in harmony.

Gaylord Dubois and Jesse Marsh

Perhaps the series lasted so long (1951-1966) because this challenging image was safely tucked inside a comic book and not blazoned on the covers. It was to some extent a secret story which eluded those looking to make sure that comics were deemed as dangerous and worthless as possible.

Gaylord Dubois and Russ Manning

This great series is being reprinted because it features the earliest work of Russ Manning who took over from Marsh, and that's fine. But I wish the primary reason was that this story created by Gaylord Dubois deserves greater fame for its significant contribution to the lasting significance of comics. It's arguably the finest back-up series in the history of the medium.

A third and final volume is due out this winter. I for one cannot wait. If you cannot wait either check out this link.

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Dino Duplication!

This 1961 gem is one of my favorite Turok Son of Stone covers. The way the dinosaur, or as Turok dubbed them "Honker" is forced to crouch by the cave wall his menace seems all the more immediate to the small figure of Turok, regardless of how well armed he might be. This one has real drama.

Clearly someone else saw the virtues of that cover because this Tarzan cover from Editorial Novarro swipes the dino almost precisely. The positioning of the Tarzan figure though is far less effective and he doesn't feel nearly so threatened minus the cave roof forcing the dinosaur down.

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Konga Krush!

Finally the second installment of YOe Books Ditko Monsters series has arrived at my door. The Gorgo volume showed up last spring, but the Konga volume has been delayed a few times and finally showed up in stores a few weeks back. My order from Amazon only arrived at my doorstep a few days ago, but I'm happy to have it and eager to give the stories, some of them familiar, good going over.

It has long been established that some of the most invigorating work of Steve Ditko's career was done for the sometimes hapless Charlton Publications. Infamous for low-quality, the publisher allowed Ditko near complete creative freedom, since for the most part they regarded comics as so limited an endeavor that the powers couldn't be bothered to really care too much about the content. Much of it was rotten, but surprisingly often it was really really good.

Steve Ditko's runs on both Gorgo and Konga with scripts by the indefatigable Joe Gill are among the most entertaining. I first stumbled across these epics in the classic 1966 mostly reprint one-shot Fantastic Giants.

Many years later I was able to finally get a copy of The Lonely One published by Ditko and Robin Snyder. Now at long last, I have a collection of all of Ditko's ferociously idiosyncratic Konga tales.

For those who might not know, Konga was an adaptation of an American-International Pictures schlock sci-fi flick which tried to re-fry the classic King Kong scenario by adding in bizarre plants with growth-inducing properties, mad lascivious scientists, and exceedingly perky teenagers. It's an entertaining brew, but hardly one would think the stuff for an ongoing comic series.

Konga at Charlton was a peripatetic protagonist who finds humans often a bother, sometimes a threat, but always it seems fascinating. He battles monsters, aliens, robots, and whatever could clank, carom, or slither his way. He was drawn by many in the Charlton talent pool, but it's always been Steve Ditko's rendition which captured the imagination best.

Here's a cover gallery of Ditko's best.

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Son Of Mad!

The seventh MAD magazine paperback, dubbed Son of MAD featured a simply outstanding cover by the great Frank Kelly Freas. This image of a Kong-like figure menaced by the baby Alfred is funny and exceedingly well crafted.

I was able to snag a 2003 reproduction of this classic paperback a few days ago to go along with the IBook reprints I showcased yesterday. It's a gem.

In 1993 Freas recreated the image beautifully as seen above. The original is apparently lost for all time sadly. I still prefer the more rugged original, but this recreation is slick and handsome too.

UPDATE: As pointed out in the comments section this volume of MAD makes a cameo in A Hard Day's Night starring the Beatles.

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It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad Paperback!

The Mad Reader is one of those truly important books. EC Comics made a big splash in the heyday of comics, both critically and financially. So much so, that the furor around them eventually caused them to disappear from the comic racks. But MAD survived, and in fact thrived for decades after becoming a cultural touchstone for millions of kids trying to find a way to interpret adult society. Soon after its sales success in the early 50's, Ballantine Books stepped forward to bring the distinctive humor brand to a broader audience in the first paperback comic book reprint, The Mad Reader. The Mad Reader, first published in 1954 went through many editions and spawned many subsequent collections.

A little over a decade ago IBooks under the direction of the late Byron Preiss returned these vintage classics to the market in handsome and faithful reproductions. As you can see, the leering mug of Alfred P. Neuman guarantees MAD-level quality. In point of fact, this was the first time that Alfred's famous puss ever graced a MAD publication, but as we all know it be far from the last.

IBooks went on quickly to publish other of the 50's MAD paperbacks. Some years ago, I found numbers two through five for a neat discount, but despaired at ever discovering the first volume. A few days ago I stumbled across it. There are later volumes in this esteemed series, but these five from Ballantine Books (MAD moved to Signet with the sixth volume) are the core upon which the long MAD paperback tradition lives. It's exceedingly neat to have these clever reproductions in my sweaty mitts at long last.

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Some Assembly Required!

I Am An Avenger is an interesting collection which focuses on stories which saw the team assembled and then reassembled over the decades. Part of the Avengers mystique has been the relatively regular reshuffling of members. There were nigh countless variations possible within the ranks, and some teams really caught the imagination.

Doubtless the first issue is significant as it brings together the then-current Marvel stars into a group for the very first time. Even the anti-social Hulk tags along beside Thor, Iron Man, and the Ant-Man/Wasp team. It's a memorable beginning for a superteam which has lasted a very long time now.

Arguably the most significant issue in Avengers history, the sixteenth established the notion that the team could be shaken up, and shaken up dramatically. The shift from the super-potent originals to the seriously small-powered "Kooky Quartet" marks that which makes the Avengers an important comic, the idea of constant change.

When the Beast joined up a decade later, he was a nice dash of spice to a team which had become quite familiar. His brash personality replicated that of Hawkeye, but seemed warmer and more congenial. His eventual pairing with Wonder Man became the best Bronze Age buddy team in comics, elevating both characters.

After many deadline-missing delays, a "new line-up" finally gets announced as Steve Englehart leaves the team he'd built a reputation on. He soon enough was writing the Justice League for the "Distinguished Competition". Gerry Conway would carry on with the Assemblers.

The shake-up after the "Korvac War" might be among the most notorious as Peter Gyrich brings to bear the government's point of view and builds a team which complies with norms of the time. This is perhaps the first politically-correct line-up ever. It was doomed from the start.

This shake-up was intriguing as it anticipates the memorable trial of Yellowjacket, which transformed that longtime member, and changed the stalwarts of the team in many memorable ways.

Another great addition to the team was She-Hulk, though alas she soon moved on to become a staple of the Fantastic Four. Having a distaff version of a founding member back in the fold was quite nice while it lasted.

To celebrate the three hundredth issue Walt Simonson did a bang-up job of bringing in some unusual heroes. Half Fab 4, the team has an altered Cap and a steady Thunder God. This time though the newbie is a real change up, a relatively minor hero from Jack Kirby's 70's Eternals epic called "The Forgotten One". Sadly his name proved all too prophetic. I liked him though.

The final issue in the collection offers up the late 80's introduction of the hero "Rage", a hero who had some real possibilities and I thought worked well in the team until it was revealed he was a minor. Yikes!

This Avengers collection though put me in mind of DC's 2006 offering which also focused on membership changes. The JLofA though were always adding, rarely shaking up the total membership quite like the Assemblers. It was left to Marvel's mainstream supergroup to constantly challenge the status quo and time after time beat the odds with some really impressive and fascinating choices.

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