My Favorite Comic Book Cover Today #9 - Texas Rangers!

I don't own this comic, but I wish I did. Rocke Mastroserio had a knack for creating an exciting comic book cover, seeming to find that one dramatic moment which captures the essence of the tale. The design and layout on this one is magnetic. Often the stories beneath these lush Charlton covers are disappointing, but the covers themselves are outstanding!

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Somerset Holmes Revisited!

I had fond memories of this 1983 Pacific Comics series by Bruce Jones and Brent Anderson, but I know I never finished reading the story because it got cancelled and Pacific Comics went under before the story was shifted over to Eclipse Comics for a two issue finale. I was out of the Indy market by that time, so I've never seen the ending -- until recently when I found the full run. Admittedly it was the work by Al Williamson which got me over the hump on this series as he and Jones did a back up for the comic called "Cliff Hanger".

I grabbed the issues and read them through. It's a really really good comic book story. The first three chapters set up some outstanding suspense and the storytelling is exquisite. The artwork and the storytelling begin to get a slightly bit more choppy for the final three issues (perhaps a change from slick paper stock when it moved to Eclipse had something to do with that). The ultimate mystery is not a cheat, but I will say as is often the case the enigma and the possibilities are usually more interesting than the truth. Though despite this story having an ending, I do see room for a sequel if necessary. The story essentially is the saga of a woman overcome by amnesia who seems to have some really impressive fighting skills, and she needs them because it seems almost everyone she meets wants to kill her, or do her harm.

The Cliff Hanger story was a lot of fun. The pacing is a bit off in places, but I'll confess they got the over-the-top aspect of the old serials well in place. The twist at the end seems a bit overwrought and I'm not sure I bought it, but the plot to destroy America with Nazi Killer Bees was fun.

All in all a really fun read. If you like pulpy mysteries, you'll like Somerset Holmes. I can't say it was necessarily worth the 25 year wait to finish the story, but it wasn't a bad read at all.

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My Favorite Comic Book Cover Today #8 - Space Adventures!

This issue of Space Adventures is numbered both issue #1 and #60, yet another exquisite example of the chaos that so much of Charlton's numbering can become. The cover itself is mesmerizing. The shadows are dramatic and the UFO is at once mysterious and iconic. The comic itself is rather typical material alas.

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Gray Morrow's Edge Of Chaos!

Pacific Comics was one of the more interesting Indy publishers in the early days of the direct-sales market. One title the Pacific crew came up with was a potential opus by Gray Morrow called Edge of Chaos which has a pretty dandy high-concept.

A man named Eric Cleese ("Hercules" of course) is lost in the Bermuda Triangle and whisked into the ancient past (vague timeframe) by aliens who have been stranded on Earth and have become the basis for our mythological gods. He meets a beauty named Diona and accepts a mission to undo the harm the alien-gods have done so that the aliens can at last go home. He must battle a renegade alien named Moloch who mourns for his dead mate, and he does this with a couple of buddies he picks up in a local bar named Flan (a drunken fellow with a baboon face) and Slag (a neanderthal looking chap). As the first issue ends the trio ride off to complete their mission riding prehistoric beasts.

The final two issues of the run though fail to really follow through on the excellent set-up. In the second issue Eric and his buds fight the "Hill Hag" a sorceress and her monsters. They overcome her fairly readily, then in the next issue we have to see all this great landscape wrapped up as characters are eliminated and the status quo is transformed because the three-issue series is coming to an end. It's a pretty random and confusing conclusion with characters popping up faster than the reader can process them, though given the space crunch Morrow does okay I guess.

It's a disappointment because this series had great potential. A strength is the artwork of Morrow, a man who was unusually gifted at drawing lovely women in all manner of undress. A weakness is his writing. Many of the pages are overwritten, with words overcoming the pace of the story. There are instances where captions get lost on the page and the text almost contradicts what we're seeing on the page. This series seems to have fallen victim to some scheduling or contractual problem that made its conclusion rushed and ironically chaotic. It's a pity.

My Favorite Comic Book Cover Today #7 - Blue Beetle!

This is not really that impressive a cover, but this comic is very special to me. It's among the very first Charlton comics I ever got as a present from my Grandmother. Heavens only know where she found them, but she gave me this comic along with a Judomaster and a Thunderbolt. That started my love affair with Charlton comics. This Tony Tallarico cover is pretty effective even if it doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles. The black background makes it pop Blue Beetle is seen in full glory--such as it was.

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The Primus Reports #7

This is the last issue of Charlton's Ivan Tors' Primus adaptation. George Wildman is the editor and for one last time Joe Gill handles the scripts and Joe Staton is the artist. Joe also did the rather exciting cover, the only Primus cover to actually have some significant action on it. Also I should finally mention that Charlotte Jetter is the letterer on this issue and has been for all the Primus comics.

The first story is titled "Crisis at 40 Fathoms" and once again we start with a real splash page (no pun intended) under water with Pirmus under attack by scuba divers but this time it's an out-of-sequence scene and the story actually begins aboard the Orca with Toni and Primus talking about a difficult salvage dive. He offers to take her to dinner at a swanky place called "The Glades" and next we are at the nightclub. An entertainer, a many named Richard N. Mixon is the headliner and he's a comedian who mimics the famous ex-President (who was still in office at this time of course). Two gunsels though walk away with Mixon after his show and Primus gets suspicious, goes back stage and is gets a karate chop to the back of the neck. Toni finds him and they call the White House about the situation. Later Charlie Whitman gives Primus a call that the international phone cable has gone out and the government wants Primus to check it out. He agrees and soon the deceptively swift houseboat/lab the Orca is racing to the scene. But it seems already at the site of the break are some divers and a submarine. In the sub are the missing Mixon and another man Panyi who can mimic the Soviet Premier of that day. The villain is a man named Dr.Wylie Forbush (who resembles Sydney Greenstreet more than a little) and his plan is to spark World War III by having these imposters place bogus phone calls to the world leaders. Primus investigates but sees a guy planting a bomb on the Orca and and defuses it. He heads back down to the bottom and confronts the two divers at the sub, but he's shot with a dart and taken aboard. There he learns of Forbush's plan which has been stalled because Mixon refused to participate and has been knocked out under torture. He awakes and causes a disruption that allows Primus to attack the villains and defeat them, and soon enough the authorities arrive to take them into custody. The story ends with an exhausted Primus refusing calls from a thankful White House, preferring the evening with Toni.

The Human Fish story this time is titled "Starfish Trouble" and Professor John Wilmore, the man with both gills and lungs is called upon to solve an ecological disaster. It seems the Crown of Thorns starfish is multiplying in vast numbers and is destroying a coral bed which is lifeline for a group of Pacific islanders. Wilmore investigates and offers the novel solution of buttressing the coral bed with concrete and waiting to see if the burst of starfish population is a natural cycle. It seems it was and the story ends happily.

The second Primus story is titled "Saboteur" and begins with Primus investigating what might be cutting fishing nets off the Grand Banks. He finds mysterious scuba divers who get him caught in a net and escape. He goes topside and talks a fisherman named Dan and tells him of the sabotage. Then all of a sudden a large Russian trawler appears and almost swamps the fishing boat. Primus is convinced the Russians have a habitat hidden on the seabed and are causing the trouble, so down he goes again. He finds the habitat and sabotages the air supply. The divers have to call the trawler for help and Primus uses that chance to attach small explosives to the propeller and rudder of the boat, effectively disabling it. The story ends with the Russian captain looking through his binoculars at a waving Primus who wants to make sure they know who won this round. Dan says that Primus is "fantastic" and Primus says he won't argue the point.

And that completes the run. The last panel of Primus waving is a nice goodbye, so it's likely that Joe Gill and Joe Staton knew this was his last Primus story. If not, it's a neat coincidence. Joe Gill's scripts have been solid all through the run. This final issue features Staton in all his glory. There's lots of action and some interesting storytelling angles. It's clear that Primus was a learning experience for Joe Staton who would soon enough strike gold at Charlton alongside Nicola Cuti with E-Man.

It's been fun. No more to come.

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My Favorite Comic Book Cover Today #6 - Popeye!

I adore George Wildman's Popeyes. Wildman was the editor of Charlton comics during the 70's, the Bullseye era. He also was a wonderful cartoonist in his own right and his work on Popeye was fresh and broad. He took those classic designs and made them move and react in all new ways to my eye. This is a typically fun cover. Charlton didn't do the best by all their licensed projects, but they sure did well by most of the King material and Popeye is no exception.

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