The Hulk Strips!

Many decades ago the Hulk was huge. Now truth told the Hulk has always been pretty big but when the 70's TV show exploded onto the small screen with Lou Ferrigno as Jadejaws and Bill Bixby as David Banner, the Hulk's stock skyrocketed.

He became Spidey's rival for dominance at Mighty Marvel and would remain there until Wolverine sliced his way into the mainstream of comics fandom and beyond. But still today, you mention Marvel Comics and the layman is apt to bring up three heroes: Spider-Man, Captain America and The Hulk.

The Hulk's magnificence has dwindled somewhat today I think, partly because of the relatively cool reaction to his two big-feature outings (both of which I enjoyed thoroughly despite their very different approaches) and now he's but one of several heroes in high-profile Avengers flicks.

But during his heyday he not only jumped onto the small screen in living rooms across the world, but found a home in the daily papers among the venerable comic strips which still linger in the steadily disappearing print world then and now. His comic strip was produced by the Brothers Leiber (Stanley and Larry). His stay in the newspapers was a short one compared to Spidey, but he beat out Conan and Howard the Duck for longevity as proven by five handsome paperback volumes from Tempo Books.

These five tomes (some with very striking covers) gather up the strips in a handy easy-to-read format. I have exactly one of these, the first, but I'm smitten by the covers of the others. I see the nifty work of John Romita, Larry Leiber, and Marie Severin evident. Others talents I'm less certain of. If I were to find them somewhere for a decent price would be hard pressed to get back home without them.

'Nuff Said!

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Out Damn Gumby!

Just added this second volume of vintage The Adventures of Gumby to my burgeoning DVD collection. Glad to have the second half of this two-part collection of the green guy's show from this era. Picked up the first half early last year and now have added the second. For the record I got the bonus box with the Blockheads inside...love this kind of marketing! One of the extras this time is a film called "The Clay Peacock"; check this out for more on that. Many reviewers bemoan that some of the Gumby animated material has been discarded from this collection due to the stereotypical nature of the some of the stuff concerning Native Americans. Having never seen these I cannot judge, but feel it's a mistake to not include material of this kind in these collections which purport to offer a glimpse into the full range of what was happening. Because they are not included I will not be able to see for myself what the problem was.

This sort of thing has happened before of course with Warner Brothers and I remember concerns with some of the Popeye cartoons a few years back. But it's enough I feel to add cautions to the packaging or perhaps even inside for those who are concerned. Purging material which is now deemed offensive runs the risk of masking a problem which has plagued mankind for all its history and to alter that history retroactively, even in this small instance creates a false impression of what attitudes were and how they might need to shift going forward. Racist material should be objected to and sneered at but it should not be purged from the historical record, because as we know from the old adage, those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

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Getting A Mutliversity Degree!

It's no secret to anyone who visits here with any regularity that I do not as a rule buy new comics. I get lots of new collections of old comics, but new stuff by modern creators -- not so much. One talent I will sometimes make an exception for is Grant Morrison. I've read plenty of Grant Morrison stories I didn't really fully understand (and sometimes understand at all) but I've never read one that didn't hold my interest. He's a great comic book writer who understands the medium as well or better than anyone who ever tapped into it.

So The Multiversity was a project long in the planning and execution but one which I really was attracted to for a host of reasons. One was Morrison who I trust. A second was the significant role the heroes of Earth-4, the heroes of the Charlton universe, played in the story. But when it came to picking up the series, I only ever picked up the Charlton installment and let the rest lay, waiting for the eventual collection. It has arrived and I've read it and as usual it was full of compelling imagery  and fascinating ideas and I almost understood it. Standard for a Morrison story. 

It begins with a cosmic threat which serves to bring together heroes from across a sprawling Multiverse. They are confronted by an invasion of "The Gentry", weird conceptual aliens from beyond the known realities and heroes like Superman (the President of his world), Captain Carrot, The Thunderer, Aquawoman, Dino-Cop and countless others gather under the auspices of the Monitor (sort of).

The next installment called Society of Super-Heroes (S.O.S.) is radically different and showcases pulp-like versions of heroes like Doc Fate, the Atom, Green Lantern (Abin Sur), and Lady Blackhawk to confront the evil Vandal Savage who comes from another universe. We see a five-year war which has taken the stuffing out of a society weary of it, but we meet heroes who strive on anyway.

In the next tome we meet heroes who are not up to the task. In The Just we meet second generation heroes who appear to live listless lives since their fathers and mothers have appeared to have solved all the major problems in the world. This one answers the burning question of what would the world be like if the Kardashians had superpowers. Sadly in many painful ways this story seemed the most realistic to me.

In Pax Americana (the one installment I picked up off the stands) we meet the Charlton heroes as they deal with a Watchmen-like threat, and we are pulled into a time-traveling adventure which explains why the assassination of an American President might not always be such a bad thing. Weird, but compelling stuff and beautifully rendered by Frank Quitely.

Thunderworld is the next one and we find Earth-5 heroes Captain Marvel and his associates battling an gang of deadly Sivanas as the evil scientist has found a way to add a deadly day to the week, a day when Sivana wins. This one is fun, fun, fun.

The Multiversity Guidebook is two or three things at once. There's a story of two Batmen (one Little Batman and the other from a post-apocalyptic sci-fi world) who must struggle to understand the nature of the threat to the entire Multiverse. We also meet Kamandi and his comrades as they too uncover valuable secrets. This also offers up a user guide to the fifty-two worlds with descriptions and maps and whatnot. Offbeat and useful to boot.

Mastermen is a dark dark tale of Earth-10 in which Superman arrives in Nazi-controlled territory and becomes the Uberman Hitler dreamed of. We follow the story of a world in which the Nazis won and rule and which is being threatened by Uncle Sam and his cadre of Freedom Fighters. Rockem' Sockem' action in this one.

Ultra Comics is the one I expected not to like, but I found I loved it. It's a comic book which is self-aware and serves at once as a plot device and an entertainment as well as a warning. We follow Ultra as he discovers much about himself/itself and meets other "Ultras" from the sprawling panoply of the DCU. This one also points up one of the cleverer deceits of the series, that comic books are a means of communication across universes, not at all unlike that which was revealed to many a Silver Age fan in Flash #123 with the discovery of Earth-2. I couldn't take my eyes off this one.

And finally in The Multiversity #2 we meet "Justice Incarnate", a team of cross-universal heroes who bond together to battle the threat of the Gentry and perhaps beyond. After the free-wheeling and oddball nature of the in-between chapters the two bookends seem somewhat quaint, but still good comic book reading.

And that's what I find with this series, a good comic book read which will stand up to repeated visits over the years. The Multiversity is going on the shelf and soon will be slipped off for another encounter.

Highly recommended.

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Dick Tracy Meets The Spirit!

I've been following the Dick Tracy strip for a few months now regularly and did not know this was happening until a few weeks ago when the Spirit suddenly appeared in the strip by Mike Curtis and the great Joe Staton. Wowser! I've not been a particular fan of what Dynamite has been doing with the character but I am downright gleeful to see one of my favorite artists take a swing at Will Eisner's iconic comic figure. If anyone can capture the blend of drama and fun which Eisner produced at his best, it's Staton.

(This bogus cover image is from the always delightful Super-Team Family - The Lost Issues.)

To see more covers like the amazing mash up of Dick Tracy and The Spirit above check out this link to Super-Team Family - The Lost Issues.

The fantastic faux cover above appears to my eye to be a blend of these evocative originals.

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Jack Kirby Pencils And Inks!

What a great way to kick off the "Year of the King". I don't think I even knew this new volume from IDW Publishing was coming out, but when I stumbled across this beautiful tome a week ago I knew I had to have it. And the fact my local store was running a holiday half-price sale on hardbacks made it a must buy right that very minute. So I got this fifty dollar item for a sweet price indeed and it's exceedingly well worth it.

Jack Kirby Pencils and Inks - Artisan Edition pulls three number one issues from the catalogue of Kirby number ones and gives them a real royal treatment. The original artwork for these three issues is largely still extant thanks to Kirby having installed an early copy machine and making duplicates of his original art before inks by the great Mike Royer.

The set-up of the book is that we have the debut issues of The Demon, Kamandi Last Boy on Earth and OMAC and we get the pencil art (when available) reproduced directly next to the inked version.  It's a novel way to read the King's work, a way into his techniques like no other. There's an introduction by inker Mike Royer, who inked all three of these books as well as Kirby's own classic introductions to the each series from the respective debut issues.

Most of the material is here, save sadly for the inked cover of OMAC and the pencil versions of some amazing two-page spreads. The editors have even included some other material from New Gods and elsewhere to expand the volume just a mite. Beautiful volume and easy to read, not something one can say about the larger Artist's Editions which have been coming onto the market in recent years.

Highly recommended.

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In The Year Of The King!

Anyone who has followed this blog for any length of time, knows my admiration for the "King of Comics", the late great Jack Kirby. (Only Charlton Comics rivals the King for posts dedicated to them.) His work at Timely, Marvel, DC, Mainline, and beyond have all been mentioned if not explored at some length here. But 2017 which marks a cool one hundred years since the birth of Jacob "Jack Kirby" Kurtzberg (who sadly passed away far too early in 1994) is an opportunity to give even more attention to arguably the most influential talent in American comics.

One thing which will be happening for certain is that the regular "Favorite Cover" feature will host only Kirby covers this entire year. I've been working to gather up some of Kirby's most exciting images (and there are hundreds to select from) into some thematic galleries which will grace the Dojo all through 2017. We start things off with a gathering of Kirby's Number One covers, of which he had many in a long career. There might be enough for two months worth.

My favorite work of the King's is his fantastic "Fourth World" material. I've looked at those magnificent DC magazines before here, but if all goes well I hope to do another reading and a review of the entire canon including the unofficial prequel (Marvel's Tales of Asgard) and often forgotten sequel of sorts (Pacific's Captain Victory and The Galactic Rangers).  And there's of course the third IDW Artist's Edition featuring the Forever People this time which is due later in the spring. This time out maybe I'll read the saga using those reproduced original pages, as close to the original intent as possible.

And I'd also love to be able finally at long last read all of Kirby's momentous and highly influential Fantastic Four run. These comics are simply stellar achievements of modern storytelling, at once personal and epic and worthy of a careful reading, one hundred and two (plus annuals) sumptuous issues. There's lots of Kirby though to choose from. I see a good reading of The Black Panther and Machine Man in the near future as well. I even have a special tentative plan for Captain America for the summer (if we all live that long God willing).

I'll start off this weekend with a good close look at Kirby's earliest Hulk stories recently reprinted in The Incredible Hulk - Man or Monster an Epic Collection. These are some truly weird tales, as Marvel cast about trying to find a direction for this most unusual character. Look for the first installment this weekend and more each weekend after that.  I've  been collecting up a bunch of these vintage color collections of Kirby's earliest Marvel work, look for it to show up here from time to time.

I'm sure I'll think of other things to do and I might change my mind about some of the above (no need to be too confidant about what the future will bring as this past year's election has surely proven to one and all) but I'm sure all of that and the other nonsense which fills up this internet attic will be worth at least a meager moment of your time. I hope as 2017 spreads before us that all of you will hang loose and hang around.

The King is dead. Long live the King!

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The Old And The New!

It's difficult to say after the last year what the new one will hold. It's far too easy to get caught up in the overwrought drama of the day-to-day political world and imagine that this remark or that quip will turn the corner on a new deal. One has to take a longer view, a task easier to do as years aggregate on your shoulders. I fear the new year and the next several years to come will make life much more difficult for the most downtrodden and unlucky in the population as the wheels of power have been taken over by those who imagine themselves our proper rulers. I keep hoping the light will shine keenly on the miasma which passes for political discourse at the highest levels, but fear that no light will burn brightly enough to cut through the swiftly accumulating crud.

Life is local and perhaps that's the answer. Instead of looking to world leaders for guidance, just focus on the immediate and take care of business as best one can. One would hope that folks in general would accept the responsibilities of a social contract, but more and more it seems not the be the case. But that means there's more for the rest of us to do. So I pledge myself this year to focus on what can be done to help those that need it and spend less precious time wobbling on about what the political gossip of the hour might be.

Me and mine are well by and large. My wife's health is improving after some devastating falls forced some hospital stays, a bit of surgery, and yet more physical therapy. She is admired by those who know her for her resilient persona, though I see the times when it's difficult to push forward. She's a strong woman and well worth my time to help as best I can. My daughters continue to serve as teachers to a clientele which is often forgotten and ignored and pushed aside, either because of their origins or language or lack of resources or all of that together. They do good work for people who really need good work done, and I could not be more proud of them. The world can be a dark place but we all have to work to make it better and I must do my part. I vow to do more, to do better.

And now a story about what can happen when prudent people see a disaster coming and do what they can to help save those who might not be so wise.

Happy New Year to all. I hope to see each and every one of you in the coming year right here. I know I plan to keep the home fire burning in these cold times.

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