The Comics Rack

AC COMICS

Nothing of interest this month.

DARK HORSE

Creepy Archives Vol. 6

Reprints Creepy 26-30 by the ever popular Various. Most interesting is the influx of young artists that Warren used at this stage, including Steve Stiles, Mike Royer, Tom Sutton and Bill Black, along with stories written by some people who have never been heard from since. Unfortunately, there are also reprints from earlier issues of Creepy, so do take this into account. SRP $49.99

Turok, Son of Stone Archives Vol. 6

Dark Horse continues the Turok series, this time reprinting #31-35 and 37 of the Gold Key series by Paul S. Newman and Alberto Giolitti (#36 was a reprint and is not included). More dinosaurs and cavemen as Turok and Andar continue to search for a way home. Not my cup of tea, but possibly yours. SRP $49.99

Thun'Da, King of the Congo Archive

Doing what hasn't been done before, here we get all six issues of the Thun'da title along with the backup stories from Cave Girl and Africa: Thrilling Land of Mystery. This means that besides the Frazetta material (reprinted for the umpteenth time) you'll also get to see all the stories Gardner Fox and Bob Powell produced for the title: a rare treat indeed, as I can only think of about one story I've ever seen of their collaboration in all the years I've been reading comics. Definitely worth a squint just for the chance to see lots of Bob Powell's work (who, in my mind has always been vastly underrated). SRP $49.99

Tarzan Archives: The Jesse Marsh Years Vol. 6

Reprints Dell Tarzan #28-32 and Tarzan's Jungle Annual #1 by Gaylord DuBois and Jesse Marsh. The fun of the Dubois/Marsh Tarzan stories was that they created new worlds and situations for Tarzan while, at the same time, staying faithful to the character that Burroughs had created. Take for instance the issue of Previews that contained the solicitation for this book. We have a single page reproduced where Tarzan and some natives are battling giant tarantulas. Now, Burroughs never used giant tarantulas in his books, but in the comics this type of situation was quite frequent, along with the twin cities ruled by apes, dinosaurs and other quasi-science fictional settings. What makes it all work, however, is that Tarzan doesn't pull out a pistol and shoot the spiders, nor does he invent some device to conquer the arachnids. No, he battles them with his wits and his brawn, just like he would have if Burroughs had planned the story...and that's why the comic stories work so well and why you should be giving this series a good, long squint. SRP $49.99

THOUGHT BALLOONS

Comic Book Memories is finished and new writing on the horizon. Watch this space for new stuff!

DC

In a surprising turn of events, this month sees the debut of the first issue of a 6 part Batman series written AND drawn by Neal Adams. Batman: Odyssey will tell of Batman's "life-changing voyage" as he attempts to remove "a dark and mysterious matrix superimposed over his life." What all that means, I have no idea, but this mini-series will be followed by a second. It will be interesting, however, to see if Adams can stay to deadline...(a bit of an in-joke for you old-timers out there!). SRP $3.99

Showcase Presents: Sgt. Rock Vol. 3

Reprints Our Army at War #149-163, 165-172 and 174-180 by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert. Another large dose of World War II action, as Rock and the Easy Company fight the good fight. While Marvel had Sgt. Fury fighting the Axis in a super-heroic fashion, DC had Sgt. Rock fight (mostly) Nazis that leaned more toward the reality of war and, in an oddity, even questioned the need for armed conflict as a way to settle differences. Kanigher's scripts are good and Kubert's art looks just as fine in black and white as it did in color. Give it a squint! SRP 19.99

FLESK PUBLICATIONS

Al Williamson Archives Vol. 1

According to the publisher, each volume of this series will feature artwork from Williamson's private files: although whether this will be full stories or simply partial pages and illustrations is not clear. Might be worth a squint, particularly since this first volume will focus on science fiction and fantasy-two genres at which Williamson is very adept. What the heck, give it a squint. SRP $19.95

IDW

X-9: Secret Agent Corrigan Vol. 1

Reprints the dailies and Sundays from 1967-1969 by Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson. Secret Agent X-9 originally debuted in 1934, written and drawn by no less than Dashiell Hammett and Alex Raymond. Jump forward a number of years and you have what many consider the re-birth of the strip when the name was changed to Secret Agent Corrigan when Goodwin and Williamson took over. This re-boot is considered by many to be the height of the strip and look for lots of spy-type storylines with exotic locales and gorgeous females. Worth a squint. SRP $49.99

Archie: Pureheart the Powerful

Back in the 60s, Archie Comics decided to follow the lead of every other comic company and jump on the super-hero bandwagon. When their serious attempts at super-heroes failed, it was decided that the Archie crew should become super-heroes and, as a result, we can now re-read the adventures of Pureheart the Powerful (the other Archie characters also got super-powers, but it's too complicated to get into here...!). While this change in direction was short-lived (it lasted around a year and didn't even take over the entire Archie line), IDW isn't very forthcoming about what to expect in this volume. It's a trade paperback and will run 144 pages, but all I can discern is that it will include the "original Archie as Pureheart comics books (there were only 6 issues), as well as the early adventures that originally appeared in Life With Archie (there were 4 of those)," so you may get a full series here, or maybe not (since I, for one, would feel slighted if the Little Archie stories weren't here). Anyway, this might be worth a squint if you want some comic, bordering on parody, super-hero stories, so give it a squint. SRP $19.99

Barney Google

Barney Google was the invention of artist/writer Billy DeBeck and started as a sports strip way back in 1919. In 1922, the horse Spark Plug was added to the strip and its popularity grew to tremendous levels. This book, edited by Craig Yoe, will reprint "the most famous and acclaimed adventures of Barney Google," with no real mention of what strips are involved and whether the strips will include the 1934 appearance of Google's sidekick, Snuffy Smith, who eventually took over the starring role of the strip. These are very early stories and may not be to everyone's taste, but you should, at least, give them a squint to see if you find them enjoyable or not. SRP $39.99

MARVEL

The Marvelman reprints begin this month at Marvel and, as promised, here's some background information:
At some point in the 40s, publisher L. Miller & Son signed a contract with Fawcett publishers to reprint the adventures of Captain Marvel and the Marvel family. The series met with great success, but, when Fawcett ceased to create new Captain Marvel adventures in 1954 (as the result of the famous lawsuit with DC over copyright infringement), Miller was left with a large hole in their schedule. Enter Mick Anglo. Anglo came up with the concept to simply change Captain Marvel into an updated superhero known as Marvelman. Captain Marvel Jr. became Young Marvelman and Mary Marvel underwent a sex change and became Kid Marvelman. Of course, different secret identities went with each character and, somewhat sadly, some of the supporting cast were dropped as well.

While the basic change from Captain Marvel to Marvelman seems cosmetic, it did go a bit deeper. Captain Marvel had originally been based on magic and mythology: Billy Batson gets his powers from a wizard, is transformed via a magic word (Shazam- made up of the first letters of various mythological and historical beings), and exists in a world like our own, but with many fantasy elements attached to it. Anglo and Miller, however, kept the lighter tone of the characters, but based Marvelman in science in much the same way that DC would revamp their characters at the beginning of the Silver Age. Marvelman's world is more steeped in reality than Captain Marvel, his initial transformation is brought about through the discovery of a scientist and even the word that changes him is even indicative of the more modern character (Kimota, which, when pronounced backwards, sounds like "atomic.").

Miller used Fawcett style lettering on the covers, which were drawn in a style (as were the interiors) reminiscent of the Fawcett house style. The whimsy and simplicity that were used in the Captain Marvel stories were also continued and the stories of Marvelman and his "family" gained great popularity-seen by many as a continuation of the original Captain Marvel. The Marvelman and Young Marvelman titles amassed over 300 issues each and appeared weekly for nearly all the run from 1954 until 1963. Marvelman Family ran monthly for 5 years and all 3 titles were only canceled after the softening of the English comic market in the early 60s (caused in part by the importation of American comic books). From there, the character was revived in England in 1982 in a series written by Alan Moore. Those stories were reprinted in the US by Eclipse and then new stories were added by Moore and, later, Neil Gaimen, where the name of the character was changed to Miracleman at the behest of Marvel Comics (ain't life ironic). The last story of Marvelman/Miracleman appeared in 1994 and no, I'm not gonna try to untangle the legal battles that have gone on over the character in the intervening years.

With all that in mind, what Marvel has planned (at least for the moment) is to release the Marvelmanstories in two formats. Do keep in mind that there is one heck of a lot of material out there and these projects could, if there is enough interest, last for many, many years...

Marvelman Classic Vol. 1

This series of hardbound books, will reprint the Marvelman comic stories in chronological order. In keeping with the original source material, the stories will be presented in black and white and at 160 pages, they sound like the same type of format at the DC Comics Library editions. This first volume will reprint Marvelman #25-34 , which, according to one source I consulted, were only 24 pages long to begin with, but it is not clear how long the Marvelman story in each issue was. I'm rather torn on what to tell you about whether to buy the book or not. I've always enjoyed the original Captain Marvel and, from the few Marvelman stories I've read, I find them enjoyable in the same way. Basically, as mentioned above, these are pretty much a continuation of the original Captain Marvel adventures and they are simple, entertaining stories. But, for those of you who enjoy the dark angst of modern comics, or even the type of story done when Alan Moore revamped the character, then these stories aren't for you-especially considering the the rather high SRP of $34.99.

Marvelman Family's Finest #1

This is the first of a six issue series that will reprint various stories featuring the Marvelman characters, but it is unclear from what issues. Marvelman Family featured Marvelman, Young Marvelman and Kid Marvelman in adventures together, so this may be source of the stories. One would hope they would include the origin of Marvelman from Marvelman #25, but that may be too much to hope for. Like the book listed above, the stories will be in black and white and the same kudos and cautions apply. This may be a cheaper way to get acquainted with Marvelman and see if you like the stories. SRP $3.99

Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 1

Reprints Journey Into Mystery #83-100 by Lee, Leiber and Bernstein and Kirby, Sinnott, Heck and Hartley. Here we have the beginnings of one Marvel's seminal characters as Dr. Don Blake discovers an old cane which, when struck on the ground, changes him into the mighty Thor. From there, we get a rollicking mixture of mythology, science fiction and what might happen if a god walked the earth. These early stories are a bit crude (Thor is quite slight in build at the beginning) and there is often the feeling that concepts are tossed in on the fly, but the you will find great entertainment here and some enjoyable reads. As an added bonus, the Tales of Asgard stories, which gave back story on the Lee/Kirby version of Norse mythology, are included. Definitely worth a squint and inclusion on your sagging bookshelf if you don't have the stories in another form. SRP $24.99

And, as an addendum, a trade paperback of Vampire Tales is due out this month, reprinting the first 3 issues of the Marvel black and white magazine from the 70s. Nothing outstanding here, as the magazine was made up of new stories mixed with reprints and the lead character, Morbius, was transplanted from Spider-Man and given a more horrific slant. For the completist only with an SRP of $19.99.

Marvel Masterworks: Black Panther Jungle Action

Reprints Jungle Action #6-24 by Don McGregor, Rich Buckler, Billy Graham, Keith Pollard and Gil Kane with an assortment of inkers. Reprinted here are the two story arcs that made up the Panther's initial run as a solo character. The first, "Panther's Rage," ran from #6-17 and the second "Panther vs. the Klan," ran from #18-24 (with the exception of #23, which was a reprint) and was never finished, although some of the dangling plot lines were finished up by other authors in later Black Panther appearances.* The art by both Billy Graham and Rich Buckler is good, but my remembrance of the stories themselves is that they did not work all that well, with way too much time spent on seeing how much damage could be inflicted on the title character. I dunno, with the second story arc truncated and the new record high SRP of $64.99, I'll leave this one to you.

Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Human Torch Vol. 3

Reprints #9-12 of the 1940s series by uncredited writers and art by Harry Sahl, Al Gabrielle, Carl Pfeufer and others. More fun from the dawn of comics as The Human Torch and Toro battle members of the Axis, fifth columnists, downright crazies and, of course, the Sub-Mariner. Since Marvel is reprinting the entire issues, you also get the fun back-ups, including the solo Sub-Mariner stories. Great fun and at least deserving of a squint. SRP $59.99

PURE IMAGINATION

Real Love Vol. 1

This is a reprint of the 1988 Eclipse volume of the same name and features 13 stories from the Simon & Kirby romance comics that were published in the 40s and 50s. Lots of good stuff here, particularly since it doesn't only focus on the S & K material, but also some of the other artists who worked for the duo's studio. The S & K romance comics were truly adult comics in the best sense, offering stories about real people and real emotions. Although some of the situations may seem dated today, the underlying themes presented are still true today as they were then and this one is well worth a squint and a spot up on your sagging bookshelf. SRP $20.00

TWOMORROWS

Alter Ego #95

A look at Not Brand Echh, lots of rare art, the conclusion of the George Kashdan interview and the usual features from the FCA. SRP $7.95

Back Issue #42

A Wild West issue that features an interview with former Jonah Hex writer Michael Fleisher, lots of art and looks at Scout, Two-Gun Kid, Rawhide Kid, Ayers' Ghost Rider, DC's Weird Western title, Red Wolf, Caleb Hammer, Charlton Westerns and DC's 1970 revival of The Vigilante. SRP $7.95

VANGUARD PRODUCTIONS

Vanguard Frazetta Classics Series Vol. 1: The Complete Johnny Comet

While the late Frank Frazetta is remembered as a painter of fantasy book covers, he served a rather lengthy time working in both comics and comic strips. One of his solo projects, done when he was around 20 years old, was the syndicated newspaper strip, Johnny Comet. Comet appeared from 1950-1951 and told the story of a daring race car driver and his gorgeous sweetheart. There is very little information about the strip other than that, although it appears that both Wood and Williamson had some hand in the art on some of the Sunday pages. According to the publisher, the strips are all shot from Frazetta's proofs, making this a definitive edition. SRP $39.95