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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 13, 2019 12:03:35 GMT -5
The other big pulp character that Dark Horse tackled was Conan; but, that is for a later entry. Next time, we will look at some Dark Horse odds and ends, including Michael Chabon's The Escapist, Eddie Campbell's Bacchus (aka Deadface), Christopher Moeller's Faith Conquers (part of his Iron Empires series), and some Bettie Page and related comics.
I had an interesting e-mail exchange with the woman who edited The Escapist, in which I offered an assessment of why the series didn't work. Curiously, she agreed the series didn't work but I don't think she understood my point. My wife talked me out of writing back to her and trying to clarify things. <g>
I'll get to it; but, it was one where segments were better than the whole.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 15, 2019 19:48:09 GMT -5
On of the big pop culture bandwagons that emerged from the 80s was the Cult of Bettie Page (then known as Betty, until she resurfaced and corrected the spelling) Of course, Bettie was the cult pin-up/fetish model of the 1950s, who disappeared after her main source of revenue, Irving Klaw, got into hot water with the Feds and gave up the fetish photo business (well, sort of; he kept Movie Star News going and had a company called Nutrix/Mutrix, which put out material, into the 60s). Bettie tribute material started appearing in the late 70s and turned into a whole industry, by the 80s, with everyone from Paula Klaw to Dave Stevens using her image. Stevens was, in part, responsible for Bettie coming to Dark Horse, as they became the home for the unfinished Rocketeer: Cliff's new York Adventure. They also thought it was a good idea to actually publish Stevens proposed Bettie Page Comics... The Cover was Stevens, from an older art piece (it had appeared in Greg Theakston's The Betty Pages fanzine, among other places); but, interiors were from others, including Brett Blevins, Russ heath, Eric Stanton (reprinting an older Bettie cartoon he did), and a pin-up from Jaime Hernandez (and co-writing by Gilbert). It was an anthology of Bettie stories, such as Jumpin' Jungle Jive, where a film set goes a bit off kilter, Mars Needs Bettie, and Sandbar Skirmish. Alas, we didn't get more issues. That one-shot was a fun bit of campy stories and cheesecake; but, all in the spirit of fun. However, that wasn't the only Bettie material. The bulk of it would come from Jim Silke. Jim Silke was an artist, publisher, editor, historian, writer (print and screenplays) and probably created Einstein's Unified Field Theory, on his day off. He worked extensively in the magazine industry, before bringing his own comics work to Dark Horse. His first work was the 3-issue Rascals in Paradise. The series was set on a world that was in a 30s pulp sci-fi setting, with plenty of skin and cheesecake on display; but, with a light, playful tone to things. There was even a Bettie-like character, in the series. It was much in the vein of Legends of the Stargrazer, which debuted in Pacific's Vanguard anthology, with a Dave Stevens cover (and was revived at innovation, with Adam Hughes covers). That segued into true Bettie material. Queen of Hearts was a pseudo-history and pin-up art book, with a mix of photos and illustrations (mainly Silke's; but, also some others. Spicy Adventure was a new one-shot, with some pulp adventure and cheesecake, ala Harry Donenfeld's Spicy line of pulp magazines, with art from Silke. Queen of the Nile featured a time-displaced Bettie, who ends up in the Land of the Pharaohs (which I always hear as Fay-Rows, thanks to Bo Hopkins, in American Graffiti), where hijinks ensue. Nothing earth-shattering here; but, pleasant fun, with plenty of "good girl art," if you like that sort of thing. Judging by how much the bettie stuff, across the board, sold, a lot of people did. Now, leaving behind ladies in their skivvies, we come to Greek gods and demigods, running around the modern world. Before Neil Gaiman met up with American Gods, in tourist traps, Eddie Campbell was "Doing the Islands, with a character known as Deadface. Deadface is Bacchus, God of Wine and Revelry and a general good time. he is currently living in the modern world, where he is an amiable fellow, with a bit of craziness going on around him. Deadface began at Harrier comics, before they went out of business. Campbell then sold the idea to Dark Horse, as well as the British publisher Trident. Dark Horse reprinted the Deadface and Bacchus (he got his own title for two issues, while Deadface focused on other characters), reprinting the material in Dark Horse Presents, Deadface: Doing the Islands, and Immortality isn't Forever. The Eyeball Kid, one of the characters in deadface, was reprinted in Cheval Noir and a 3-issue mini. The Eyeball Kid is the grandson of Argus and a sort of hero/private eye/adventurer. Also appearing in these stories were Joe Theseus (a shady gangster sort), Hermes (who ends up at odds with the Eyeball kid) and a few other supporting characters. Campbell's scratchy, minimalist line is a bit looser than his From Hell collaboration, with Alan Moore; but, the material is also lighter in tone, mixing comedy (especially dark humor) with a bit of of crime fiction and drama. These are a lot of fun , specially if you have an interest in mythology. They aren't mythology, per se; but, they take those figures and put them into modern stories, with tweaks to their classic personas. hermes vs the Eyeball Kid was a central feature of DHP, around the time they were introducing Sin City and John Byrne's Next Men. Campbell would go on to self-publish Bacchus, with some additional material and reprints, including a hilarious segment where he poked fun at Dave Sim, who had used Bacchus and a caricature of Campbell (as a drunken Scotsman) in Guys. Bacchus resides in his own pub and Sim pretty much creates a riot, with his ranting and a crowd descends upon him, before he is ejected. I highly recommend the Deadface/Bacchus and Eyeball Kid material, especially if you have only seen Campbell's From Hell work. Also worth seeking out are his semi-autobiographical Alec stories, published elsewhere. Next in the miscellania category is a work which began at Dark horse and spread elsewhere: Christopher Moeller's Iron Empires. Christopher Moeller is a painter and line artist, who worked extensively in the role playing world and dabbled a bit in painted comics, producing the Rocket Man comic, for innovation (adapting the Republic serial King of the Rocket Men, to cash in on the Rocketeer movie release), where he mixed pulp storytelling a serial thrills, with a sci-fi/techy look. Here, he introduces his own sci-fi world and the stories contained within. At first, he called it Shadow Empires and the debut took place in issues 79-81 of DHP, with the story, "The Passage." In it, a war between feudal houses comes to an end as an invading army lays siege and carries out the final assault on the rebel lord's fortress. He is killed in battle and orders are to wipe out his entire house. His wife dies, rushing to protect her infant daughter. A noble soldier (the nobles all have high tech battle armor, known as "iron" which makes them the heavy weaponry of the Empire) comes across the child and, upon seeing the innocent, turns upon his bloodthirsty comrades and scoops her up and escapes with her. he must fight his way past the lines of his own side and go on the run. he eventually comes in contact with a reptilian creature, who befriends him, while he protects the young princess. The vibe was very much Lone Wolf & Cub, though with a less hardened hero. The story was taken up with Faith Conquers. This was a new story, set in the same world, as a new military garrison commander arrives on an outlying world. he is part of a religious military order, which finds opposition from the local nobility, as well as other political factions within the Empire. This border world is also threatened by a race of parasitic worms, which burrow into the brain of a host and control their minds, until they exhaust the host body. They have taken over several key figures and plans are afoot to extend their influence. The garrison commander and his Grey rats must deal with political backstabbing, mystery, intrigue and plenty of combat. The basic concept is a blend of Italian and Spanish political and religious intrigue, mixed with old fashioned sci-fi and military sci-fi. it bears more than a passing resemblance to Games Workshop's Warhammer series of games and novels, which feature similar battle armor, religious stand-in for the Catholic Church, and monstrous enemies (especially vampires). Moeller's art differs from many of the painters who dabbled in comics. He is not as slick as Alex Ross, but, he is more dynamic and his art is closer to traditional sequential storytelling, but using a different media to tell the story. here are some examples... Moeller put some thought into his setting and their technology, giving it a utilitarian look and a logical use. he has studied military tactics and his action sequences reflect that knowledge. he writes better military fiction than most war comics writers. He renamed the series Iron Empires and continued it else where. He published a sequel to the Passage, with his brother handling some of the scripting, on Caliber's Negative Burn anthology comic (issues 33,35,37, 39, 41 and 43) and at DC's Helix imprint, with Sheva's War. Sheva's War featured a new border world and a new hero, Lady Sheva, who helps the local militia and garrison fight the parasitic aliens, who have already taken some of her supposed allies. There, we also see horrific soldiers of the worms, who are kind of ape/bear creatures, with cape-like flaps, who grab people and envelop them in an opening (rather like a leech, but one that swallows the head and shoulders) and then pacifies them. It is pretty damn creepy and all of the stories would make for great movies or a tv series. Moeller later funded another Iron Empires story, via Kickstarter. In 2003, Dark Horse would reprint both Faith Conquers and Sheva's War, in trade collections. Faith Conquers also featured The Passage, with new color added (though it was a bit murky). They did not collect the Negative Burn material. If you enjoy military sci fi (such as David Drake's "Hammer's Slammers" series, The Forever War, Starship Troopers) or the Warhammer 40000 novels (such as Dan Abnett's work), or Jodorowsky'a Metabarons series, this will be right up your alley. The next feature requires a bit of introduction. In 2000, writer Michael Chabon (Fountain City, The Wonder Boys) wrote a novel that was an homage to the early days of the comic book industry and, especially, the predominantly Jewish creators who worked in this rather low end field. It told the story of the fictional Czech Jew Josef Kavalier and his American cousin, Sammy Klayman. Sammy works for a novelty company, illustrating and writing advertising materials. With the success of Superman, the company is keen to make money off of the rising popularity of comics and Sammy, who is a big fan, wants to produce comics. His cousin Josef is freshly arrived to new York, after escaping from Prague, in a coffin. Josef had been an apprentice magician and escapologist, whose mentor helped him escape, leaving behind his family. Josef also is a tremendous artist, far better than Sammy. Sammy gets him a job at the novelty company; and, together, they create a comic book hero, The Escapist. The comic is decidedly anti-fascist and the hero is a liberator and freedom fighter, with the theme of escaping oppression. The novel follows the tragedies that befall Josef, the boys' creation of the Escapist and its popularity, their exploitation by their publisher, their relationships, the war, and battles with themselves, society and more. It mixed the real stories of people like Siegel and Shuster, Will Eisner and Joe Simon & Jack Kirby with other figures, in comics, movies, radio, and other media and fields, as well as the holocaust, homosexual discrimination, and more. The novel would go on to win the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Chabon was a fan of comics and the novel showed he had done his homework. A comic book, related to the novel, seemed like a natural. rather than adapt the novel, it, instead, focused on the adventure stories of the escapist, as created by Joe Kavalier and Sammy Klay, the fictional creators. This led to Michael Chabon Presents: The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist. Contributors included Jim Starlin, Paul Grist, Will Eisner (with the Spirit), Roy Thomas, Dick Ayers, Marie Severin (in a 60s Marvel pastiche), Howard Chaykin, Brian K Vaughn, Chabon (himself), novelist Glen David Gould, Mike Baron, Val Mayerik, Chris Warner, and many more. Each issue was a thick mini-trade paperback, with several stories, generally done in a stripped down, Golden Age style; or, in a facsimile of another era in comics (such as the 60s Marvel from Thomas et al). There were also adventures for other Kavalier and Klay characters, like Luna moth (inspired by Kavalier's girlfriend, Rosa). At best, these had a cult audience and, like any anthology, some stories hit the mark better than others. i quite enjoyed them and there was usually a really great story in each issue and the rest ranging from good to mildly entertaining. There was a follow up mini-series, caled The Escapists. This was a mini-series, from Brian K Vaughan, about a trio of fans who revive the character, in the modern day. It follows a similar take on the idea to Kavalier and Clay, mixing the fictional adventures, with the trials and tribulations of the creators. What other comic book company would turn a Pulitzer prize-winning novel into a comic series (not just an adaptation)? DC and Marvel weren't exactly doing series based on A Confederacy of dunces or The Executioner's Song.! The Escapist anthology would win the Eisner Award (fittingly) for Best Anthology, in 2005. Following on literary lines are the comic book works of Andrew Vachss. Vachss is an interesting figure; a lawyer, social worker, child protection activist, labor and community organizer and author. As a lawyer, he exclusively represented children, particularly abused children. His work in this field influenced his fiction, particularly his Burke novels. Burke is a career criminal, the end result of years of abuse and neglect by his biological family, state institutions, and foster families. he is part of a brotherhood, The Children of the Secret, who are all survivors of abuse; but, who don't have much to show for it. The novels are violent and dark and serve as a window into the hell of child abuse. Vachss specifically chose a character who is no White Knight and the works are extremely dark and hard hitting. He also created Cross, about a violent gang, the Cross Crew, a group of mercenary criminals and muscle. Vachss used his writing to fund his legal practice and also provide a window into this harsh reality. he then turned to comics to do the same, matching hard hitting writing with harsh artwork. These works are greatly praised; but, are not for the squeamish. This is not some bright superhero fantasy, or some clever heist caper comic, or even some detective fiction in comic form; it is brutal, dark fiction, in a world with few heroes. Vachss would also partner with DC to produce Batman: The Ultimate Evil, a novel which turns Batman's focus on the child "sex tourism" trade, in Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia. To finish on a slightly lighter note, we will end with the continued publication of Harvey Pekar's American Splendor. Harvey Pekar, for the uninitiated, was an Underground comic writer, music critic, favorite guest of David Letterman (until he proved a little to difficult for Dave to control), Cleveland VA hospital file clerk and all around kvetch. His was one of the pioneers of the self-reflective comic, as his work, American Splendor, is a look into his world, gripes, favorite topics, friends and events in his life or other things that interest him. He was a giant of a little man. Don't believe me? Read this stuff! or, check out the movie, starring Paul Giamatti... Brilliant, brilliant film, which features the real Harvey and wife Joyce Brabner, as well as their fictional counterparts. Harvey was a genius and so are his comics, with does of humor, insight, pathos, fun, depression....and life. Dark Horse continued the series, after Pekar's own publications, starting with his 17th installment, up through the 31st, before it moved over to DC's Vertigo line. When you finish those, pick up Our Cancer Year, from Harvey and Joyce (1994; Four Walls, Eight Windows) which details their experiences with Harvey's diagnosis of cancer and the treatment. It is a unflinching look at what cancer patients, their caregivers and families go through, with doses of humor, humanity, depression, fear, joy, and stress. Doubleday collected some of American Splendor into a volume to tie into the film, particularly episodes featured in the film, with a cover graphic of Paul Giamatti, as Harvey. That will do it for this installment. More odds and ends to follow.
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Post by mikelmidnight on Jun 17, 2019 12:01:41 GMT -5
Now, leaving behind ladies in their skivvies, we come to Greek gods and demigods, running around the modern world. Before Neil Gaiman met up with American Gods, in tourist traps, Eddie Campbell was "Doing the Islands, with a character known as Deadface. Although I feel like the series disintegrated in its final arc or two, this is one of my favorite comics of all time and was a huge influence on my own writing, as you can imagine! I share your recommendation and any fan interested in mythology definitely needs to check them out. My unfortunate take on the series: as much as I loved the novel, and the characters of Escapist and Luna Moth, when translated into comic form I think it revealed a deep flaw. The Escapist had no normal human in his cast of characters: no police commissioner, no FBI liaison, no girlfriend, no pushy reporter. His three assistants are noncostumed but have no lives beyond assisting him, and are also functional adults (who have been doing this longer than he had); a kid sidekick would at least have the potential to screw up occasionally. As a result, the entire series is left with zero emotional depth. One writer (I forget his name but it was lovingly drawn by Gene Colan) at least tried to address this problem, but still there was a limit to how far he could go because the reader had no conception of what life the Escapist had left behind. Bruce Wayne could at least retire to marry Kathy Kane, you know? Luna Moth had a cop boyfriend, but the few stories about her only painted him as an idiot. I additionally think the series suffered by focusing all the stories on the Iron Chain and ignoring many of the other arch-villains that Chabon had created. The Escapists actually showcased this problem accidentally: the main story about a group of creators (who existing in Kavalier & Clay's "universe") was entertaining, but the comic-within-a-comic they created was actually horrifically boring precisely for the reasons I outlined above! I have a couple of the comics. I enjoy them, although I have no desire to own many more. I'd recommend to folks the book collection of Harvey's stories illustrated by Robert Crumb, which are by far the best drawn, and also everyone should watch this excellent movie.
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Post by berkley on Jun 18, 2019 21:01:51 GMT -5
I'm a big fan of Andrew Vacchs's Burke series. The one or two of his stand-alone books that I've read are really good as well. Haven't tried the Cross books or the more recent series he started a few years back after finishing the Burkes.
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Post by mikelmidnight on Jun 19, 2019 11:35:49 GMT -5
I'm a big fan of Andrew Vacchs's Burke series. The one or two of his stand-alone books that I've read are really good as well. Haven't tried the Cross books or the more recent series he started a few years back after finishing the Burkes.
I loved the first of the Burke novels, Flood (which may be out of print?), but tired of them pretty quickly after that. I did read Pain Management but only because it had my mate Madison Clell in it.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 19, 2019 13:17:45 GMT -5
Never read Vachss' novels; what I sampled of the comics was pretty dark and I have a low threshold for that in my reading (viewing too, really) We used to carry a couple of his titles in our mystery section; but, not his entire body of work. We did get in the Batman novel, which hit the bestseller list, for a brief period, as I recall.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 22, 2019 18:36:35 GMT -5
Time for more odds and ends, with one of the oddest, from a packaging standpoint. Barry Mountbatten-Windsor-Smith-Corona-Cigars; or, as I like to call him, Al, he of the hyphenated name, finally got off the pot and put out a book of his own material. He had been through a major resurgence in popularity, thanks to some mutants and some nice comics at Valiant and was doing his own thing here. Sort of. Well, it was his own thing; but, it sure looked like the stuff he had left behind, at Valiant (and Marvel). Oh, sure, with a twist; but, it wasn't to diverging a line from Archer& Armstrong to Freebooters (after stopping off to pick up Conan); or, Ivar the Timewalker to Paradox Man, Young Gods' Adastra sure seemed a lot like Storm. Who cared, though? It's Barry Windsor-Smith. See, it's in the title! And it's printed really big! The book was done tabloid size, which had a lot of retailers and fans pissing and moaning about how they were supposed to display it and store it in their collection. Who cares? It's Barry Windsor-Smith! Unrestrained! Dark Horse answered some of the moaning by creating a table top display for the books, for retailers (what we in the trade called a "dump"). Then, they produced a slipcase in which you could store the issues... Still....(in whiny, nasally voice) "It's too tall for my shelf!" Aw, go bag your Lobos, fanboy! I don't recall the same whining when Frank Miller did Hardboiled and Big Guy and Rusty. Heck, we hated The 300, at B&N, 'cause it stuck out three feet on the shelf. If you were browsing the wrong side, you might get clotheslined by it! Forget all of that nonsense and focus on the content. Uhm-ahem...well......aw, screw it, I liked it. To me, Freebooters had the fun of Archer & Armstrong, with a guy who seemed like a middle aged Conan. Paradox Man? enh..... Young Gods/Adastra was interesting; but, fate kind of screwed that one up, more than the rest. BWS did a decent job, for a bit, of getting the thing out in a timely manner. Then, I seem to recall longer gaps. Things ground to a halt with issue 9. Sales weren't that awesome. Some of it was the format nonsense; but, some of it was that "unrestrained" BWS didn't really seem to have a gem hidden away for this showcase. Like I said, I enjoyed the material; but, my tastes were getting pretty eclectic, by this point. Heck, I tapped out early on Busiek and Perez on Avengers and JLA/Avengers. nothing wrong with it; just kind of tired of superheroes. Storyteller was definitely not superheroes. The format let the art stand out... Some really nice stuff there. maybe not as lush as some of his Gorblimey Press material; but, pretty sweet, for comics. So, what were these features? Freebooters is a light-hearted look at a middle aged sword slinger, who runs a tavern, now, and a young dude, who befriends him. like I said, it was an Archer & Armstrong vibe, with elements of a middle-aged Conan. Paradox Man was a sci-fi adventure, with a dimension hopping dude on a motorcycle. It seemed to be a revamp of what he had in mind for Ivar, the brother of Archer and Eternal Warrior, at Valian; but, never got around to (and I'm sure the Ivar that did appear at Valiant was a departure). BWS had done an earlier Paradox man, which can be seen here. Young Gods was an homage to Kirby, both Thor and New Gods, with a goddess, named Adastra, who has been spending time on Earth, and is back home for her sister's wedding. It was kind of a fun juxtaposition of Lee/Kirby gods and a bit of post-modern snark. It went unfinished, like all of this, though there was a collection that featured material from the unpublished issues, though never brings the story to a close. There was a separate Adastra in Africa book, from Fantagraphics, which was actually a repurposed Storm story, from X-Men, rather than tied to the Storyteller issues. I don't know the full details; but, it seemed like the end of BWS' relationship with Dark Horse came with some venom, that spills over in the Young Gods collection. Sales weren't that great and Dark Horse put the effort into it, as did BWS; so, it wasn't for lack of trying. Your and other people's mileage may vary with this. While we are on the subject of brits, let's have a cuppa with Bryan Talbot. Talbot started out in the British Undergound scene (as in comics, not the subway system), in the late 60s and became known as a guy to read and watch. In 1978, he started the Adventures of Luther Arkwright (a fine Northern name if there ever was one.). Arkwright is an agent of a higher roder, who crosses parallel worlds, via force of will, and is aided bu Rose Wylde, a telepath who can communicate with her other dimesnional selves. Much of it deals with a parallel where the English Civil War has dragged on, thanks to a group known as the Disruptors. Arkwright contends with the disruptors, and all kinds of psychedelic stuff happens. The series was first published in the UK, the Dark Horse started reprinting it, for the US, in 1990..... Reading the series, if you are a fan of Michael Moorcock, you may find yourself saying, "This sounds like Jerry Cornelius." Yeah, a bit, though not enough to cry plagiarism. There is a similar tone and basic premise; but, even Moorcock felt it was a minimal connection, unlike some others that Moorcock pointed fingers at (in his eyes, anyway). Both are pretty darn cool. Dark Horse collected the series and published a trade, for a while. They also became home for other works from Talbot. This is probably Talbot's most powerful, and certainly most acclaimed work. It is a story told in three parts, as a young woman flees from her home, where she is sexually abused by her father and neglected by her mother. She is begging on the streets of London, when she is hit on by a man (a Conservative MP) and is saved by a group of young men, who mug the MP. She stays with them in a asquat, with her pat rat and a collection of Beatrix Potter books (author of Peter Rabbit). She has a flair for art and finds solace in it. She comes across the MP again, and is forced to flee the police, who believe her part of the mugging, rather than the victim of unwarranted advances. She comes back to the squat to find her rat dead, killed by one of the guys' cat. She leaves and hitchhikes to the Lake District, where she gets a ride from a man wro tries to assault her. She fights him off and passes out, outside a building. In the third part, it is revealed that the building was a country pub and she is now working as a waitress there, reading self help books to face her past and the abuse, to then confront her parents. She eventually does and conceives of a Beatrix Potter book, The Tale of One Bad Rat, which parallels her own story; but, with a happy ending. Talbot modified his style a bit, in part to capture the look of Potter's illustrations; but, also to simplify things, giving them greater resonance. he used actual photos and people for models and the art is arresting... Helen, the heroine of the story, sees a vision of a giant rat, as the story progresses, based on her own dead rat. She visits the locales and home of Beatrix Potter, as the story progresses. The collected version won the Eisner for "Best Graphic Album Reprint," in 1996, plus several other awards and nominations. It was quickly noticed within the book retailing world and became a perennial seller and a book that has been highly recommended for schools and librarians, with a caution as to the subject matter. Talbot really grasps the power of the medium to tell a tale that is literature, even as it explores another author's work. It shows how childhood loves can help shield one from the harsh reality of life, though one can become lost in it, if one isn't careful. In more recent years, Talbot has been publishing a series of steampunk detective graphic novels, featuring Archie LeBrock, a Scotland Yard detective, who happens to be a badger. He is aided by Roderick Ratzi, a rat (of course). Anthropomorphic animals exist alongside humans, though they believe the humans are a hairless subspecies of chimps. This is an alternate world where Napoleon defeated the British, though they are independent, at this point in time. The series makes comment on modern political and historical events, while also delving in mystery and steampunk tropes. Switching to another comic master, Dark Horse became the home for a personal project, from Joe Kubert. Joe Kubert became friends with Bosnian editor/packager Ervin Rustemagic, whose company, Strip Art features, represented artists in European and other markets. Rustemagic represented Kubert and they worked together when Kubert published his Abraham Stone graphic novel Country Mouse, City Rat, through Malibu's Platinum Editions line (a co-publication of Malibu and SAF) and at Epic. Following the death of Tito and the subsequent weakening of the Communist government, the Yugoslavian Federation broke apart, in 1991, after Serbia and Croatia seceded from the union. Bosnia voted on a referendum to also leave; but was plagued with ethnic squabbling between Bosnian Serbs and Croats, and the muslim majority. By 1992, the country was in a state of civil war, which led to the siege of Sarajevo. Atrocities were many and death was constant. UN peacekeeping were a mixed result, at best. Rustemagic lived and worked in Sarajevo and the graphic novel recounts his experiences, trying to continue, then ultimately flee the city and get his family out. he maintained communication with colleagues and friends, via fax. At one point in the story, he even uses stacks of comic books as armor, while trying to travel through a hot zone, in a vehicle (bundles of comics are stacked up in the vehicle to help absorb bullets, should they come under fire). Kubert mastered his talent to the project... Kubert marshalled his years of war comics to tell the story of a real war, one where innocents were directly under fire and no one seemed to do a thing about it, for far too long. It was a story that seemed all too familiar, to people of the older generation, in the Balkans. Moving on to a lighter, though no less impactful topic was the anthology, Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor. This was an anthology of Ellison works, adapted and interpreted by noted artists. There was a while mini-industry of this, with Ray Bradbury adaptations at Topps, and Grateful dead Comix at Kitchen Sink. Ellison had already had material adapted, at Marvel (such as "Repent Harlequin!," in Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction, and Night and the Enemy , at Epic (later collected at Comico). Finally, sticking in the vein, P Craig Russell brought some literary stuff to Dark Horse. First, there was the final chapter in the Elric saga, Stormbringer... This is the end tale to Elric (well, sort of, given how Moorcock can always find another alternative, in the Multiverse), as he unleashes forces, in the battle between Law and Chaos. Russell was there at the start (well, if you ignore the pre-Russell stuff at Star*Reach and start with the Pacific series) and is here for the end. He also brings along his love of the stories of opera, with the big moma that is the Ring of the Nibelung (or as the Germans call it "Der Really Longen Opera Mit Der Big Fraulein Gersingin!"). True to Wagnerian form, PCR drags this sucker out for 14 books. Geez, Roy Thomas and Gil Kane did it in 4! All due respect to Roy and Gil, this was better. Russell, epic opera, Tolkien movies coming; it's a perfect combo. You got anything you could ever want in an epic myth, from magic rings to warrior maidens riding in on enchanted horses, picking up dead guys. About the only thing missing was Bugs & Elmer. Next time, more odds & ends, including a better run of James Bond material than either Eclipse or Timothy Dalton (or George Lazenby), a Spyboy, A Tank Girl, and a Marshal who sure does a lot of killing.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Jun 23, 2019 5:58:27 GMT -5
(...) in 1991, after Serbia and Croatia seceded from the union. (...) ...Slovenia and Croatia...
Much as I love Kubert, Fax from Sarajevo didn't leave much of an impression on me. It's definitely worth checking out, but I found Joe Sacco's various books dealing with the war and its aftermath in Bosnia far more effective and memorable.
Otherwise, you've reminded me that I've had the hard-cover reprint of Smith's Freebooters sitting on my shelf for several years now. Too much stuff to read...
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 26, 2019 19:42:08 GMT -5
So, Dark Horse has carved out a pretty good niche as a publisher of licensed titles, with really great stories in them. They were able to deliver the film experience, in a comic form, with a variety of creators. So, how about tackling one of the oldest action franchises? Time for Dark Horse to do James Bond. Now. Bond had been done at DC, with a Showcase issue devoted to an adaptation of Dr. No. It was actually a reprint of a British comic. In the UK, Bond had already been the star of a popular comic strip (damned good one, too); but, not as much in the US. He next appeared in the 80s, at Marvel, when they did adaptations of For Your Eyes Only and Octapussy. That was followed by the first original Bond comic for the US market, with Mike Grell's Permission to Die, at Eclipse Comics. Eclipse had obtained a license through Acme, who were listed as co-publishers. They were the license holder for comics; and not, their comics didn't suddenly burst into flame or cause you to fall off cliffs. Eclipse also published an adaptation of License to Kill, written by Grell. However, that was all. They had massive problems with Bond, related to their cash flow problems. They had the work in house (per a conversation I had, with Mike Grell); but, no printer would take on work from them without payment up front, and a verified payment, at that. As a result, there was 6 months between issues 1 and 2 of Permission to Die and 2 years before issue 3 came out. Needless to say, Acme wasn't happy. They took the license to Dark Horse and DH put out their first Bind comic, in 1992. They played a sure thing, going with an avowed fan, much like Mike Grell. Actually, it was 2 fans: Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy, the people who gave us James Bond-meets-Bruce Lee. They gave us Serpent's Tooth. Serpent's Tooth is about as close to delivering a James Bond movie experience on a comic book page, as you can get. Gulacy styled his covers and images to match Bond posters and the look of the films. His Bond has a sort of mix of the actors to play him, along with Fleming's model Hoagy Carmichael. Gulacy gave it plenty of sexy women, though some of his stock facial expressions made them look too much like mannequins (he had similar problems in his Batman stories). His villain, though, was quite memorable, and one that would have been a major make-up budget for a Bond film. Well, maybe not; but, the Brocoli kids seemed to avoid villains with unique physical stylings. Moench & Gulacy provided a cinematic plot, with plenty pof action, hot chicks, gadgets and a memorable twist to the villain's lair: a mobile underwater fortress. Gulacy also took great pains to use actual weaponry and equipment, where he could. This seemed to fit a trend in realism to Bond's gear, trying to pull back from the more comical Roger Moore films. On the whole, it's a decent comic (as was Permission to Die, by Grell); but, it never really felt like it captured the spirit of the really classic Connery films, which was their real inspiration. They did a better job of that in Master of Kung Fu. I suspect they were being stage managed a bit in this, though I have no proof of that. So, as much as I enjoyed the story, it always felt a bit restrained. The mini was a success and more Bond followed: Shattered Helix was a two-parter, from writer Simon Jowett and artists David Jackson and David Lloyd. Lloyd had done this genre on ESPers, with James Hudnall. I haven't read it since it came out; but, I recall it being a pretty decent adventure. Same with Quasimodo Gambit, from Don mcGregor. McGregor had actually written the story some time before. Silent Armageddon was different. Jowett was the writer and the artist was British artist John M Burns, who had a long career in British comics, including a stint on Modesty Blaise. Something happened here and only 2 issues of a planned 4 were released, leaving the story unfinished, to this day. I never heard why this went unfinished, though I would lay money on a dispute with Acme. Topps had issues with them over the adaptation of Goldeneye, suggesting they might have been very demanding. Burns drew a beautiful Bond, and his time on modesty Blaise, alone, made him the perfect choice. The Dark horse Comics issues represent 2 stories: "Light of My Death," which ran from issues 8-11, and "Minute of Midnight," in issue 25. the first was by Das Petrou and John Watkiss, and featured a return of Tatiana Romanova, the love interest in From Russia With Love. The latter featured a story by Don McGregor and art by Russ Heath, which is reason enough to read it. My memories of everything but Serpent's Tooth is a bit hazy; but, Dark Horse did a good job with these things. they are worth a look, if you come across them. Next up was a regular series, with a spy theme: Spyboy. The series was conceived by Dark Horse, who hired Peter David to give it life. He created a series bible and conceived the characters, working with artist Pop Mahn (who came out of Jim Lee's Wildstorm studio) and Norman Lee. The basic premise is a teenager who is a sleeper secret agent, with a hidden personality. He is part of an agency, Secret headquarters, International Reconnaissance, Tactics, and Spies (SHIRTS), who face rival organization, Supreme killing Institute (SKIns). Get it? SHIRTS vs SKINS? Hunh?, Hunh? yeah, well; never let it be said that Peter David delivered a subtle joke. However, he does deliver pretty funny ones. Basically, this is a riff on spy-fi cliches, mixed with teen comedy, in an action package, with rather manga-like art. Mahn was born in Thailand and grew up in the US, and has that Asian sensibility to his art. The heroes name is Alex Fleming, a nod to Ian Fleming. It proved popular enough for 17 issues,a couple of mini-series, anda crossover with young Justice (which David was writing). I haven't read it, as the premise didn't grab me, back in '99 and I never really looked at it. It sounded like a lot of things out at the time, which I skipped, though I have since found that many were better than I thought. No idea, here, other than david had a decent track record. However, it was Dh's baby, not his. Dark Horse would also be the American hime to Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin's Tank Girl. Forget the Lori Petty film, this is the anarchic series that inspired Hollywood to make a hash of the character and property. It's a decidedly oddball comic; but, a damned good oddball comic, with a definite punk sensibility, in keeping with other British imports, like Judge Dredd and the next feature. Marshal Law is the incredibly dark comedy from pat Mills and Kevin O'Neil, where Mills indulges in his hatred for superheroes. Mills really loathes costumed do-gooders and Marshal Law hunts them down and kills them, because they are psychotic nutjobs, destroying the order of things. It is pretty vicious satire and began at Epic, where Marshal Law has to take on the world's version of Superman, whos ia also a patriotic figure. He is a serial killer who killed Law's girlfriend. Law, himself was a hero, who was part of a super-powered army that fought in a Latin American conflict. Epic ran a 6-issue mini and a one shot (Crime & Punishment: Marshal Law Rakes Manhattan, which savages the Marvel heroes) and then went to indie, Apocalypse, who went out of business. Dark Horse reprinted the Apocalypse material, from their comic Toxic!. Then, contined with Super Babylon and the 2-part Secret Tribunal (a send up of the Legion of Super Heroes and other teen heroes). These are nasty and profane and hilarious, though you do need a pretty thick skin and strong stomach. O'Neil demonstrates why his art style was banned by the Comics Code, based on look, not content. Here, he brings the content. There are sight gags, profane graffiti, scenes of cartoon-like violence and some things that are disturbing. I loved these books; but, they are not for everyone. Heck, It took a second read to get me to pick up the series, with Crime & Punishment (after reading the original Epic mini). The Marshal also appeared in a crossover with Pinhead, at Epic, and one with the Mask, plus one with Savage Dragon and a cameo in 2000 AD. More Odds & Ends to come.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 26, 2019 19:46:24 GMT -5
ps best part of the Tank Girl movie was the opening, with images from the comics. It was downhill from there.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 4, 2019 16:09:02 GMT -5
Truth telling time: I'ma pretty square kind of guy (No, really? A comic book fan?) Yep, I was born and raised in a little farm town, in central Illinois, surrounded by farms. My parents were school teachers, we went to church every Sunday, my grandfather was a teetotaller and Baptist preacher (and farmer), my father was a deacon in our home church, my mother played organ. I never smoked, never had a joint, never had a drop of alcohol until my first midshipman training cruise. I was a naval officer. I sold books for 20 years, was a virgin until the age of 30. So, not exactly adventuresome, in most respects. As such, Underground Comix weren't a big deal in my comics reading. I first came across the Undergrounds around 1978/79, with the World Encyclopedia of Comics, edited by Maurice Horn. That came into my hands by accident. My small town had no public library, only the school library. However, the Decatur Public Library sent out a bookmobile to surrounding communities, like mine. It was there that I discovered Phillip Jose Farmer's Tarzan Alive (and believed, briefly, that Tarzan had been copied from a real person) and Nostalgia Press' Flash Gordon on the Planet Mongo. That book reprinted the first couple of years of the Flash Gordon comic strip, introducing me to its wonders. I later tried to see if I could check out the book again; but, it could no longer be found in the library (probably stolen); but, they did have Horn's book and a couple of others. I devoured that thing, which introduced me to so many comics and creators, in its articles, including art samples of people like Corben and R Crumb. That stuff was probably a bit too adult for me; but, it was also rather grotesque, which I found off-putting. So, I didn't really go looking for any of that. I encountered Raw magazine, in college, which carried on some of that spirit; but, wasn't grabbed by that particular issue's content (only ever saw the one). So, again, not much attraction. By the time I was nearing 30, I had broadened my horizons a bit, especially thanks to an eclectic comic shop, while I was in the Navy, a cool shop in St Louis (with a lot of indie stuff) and boredom with mainstream comics, I began to look at some of the descendents of the Undergrounds. I started to read stuff like Love & Rockets (very late in the game) and Hate. I had one real underground, the collected book of Spain's Trashman, which I got at that eclectic shop (the Green Dragon), while in the Navy. I had watched Comic Book Confidential, while in the navy (came across it in the video section of a Par-Mor store) which brought some more Undergrounds to light. So, I was reading Love & Rockets and Hate, adn hearing about Dan Clowes (not yet reading) and seth and Harvey Pekar, when I somehow stumbled across Terry LaBan and Cud. Cud was actually a collection of strips by LaBan, published by Fantagraphics. Some of it was fine, some didn't do much for me; but, one regular strip drew me in: Eno & Plum. This is a strip about a couple of 20 somethings, stereotypical slackers of the grunge age, the female of which is the daughter of an old hippie, who has made a fortune off of hippie culture and smokes massive, cigar-sized joins. However, it all looks rather like a Dan Decarlo Archie comic, crossed with a bit of Gilbert Shelton, and mixed with Peter Bagge. And it cracked me up. At that point in time, making me laugh was a great way to sell me a comic (I was starting to get more things like Bone and Hate, and Patty Cake and other comics with a sense of humor). I mostly missed the fantagraphics version (got them later); but, LaBan migrated to Dark Horse, who brought it to my attention: The Dark Horse version focuses squarely on Eno & Plum and delivers a lot of fun, for the short time it existed. These are tremendous fun, with the satirical spirit of the Undergrounds and the 90s indie children of those comics, with a mixture of stylistic influences and some funny stories. Dark Horse collected the stories... Sadly, Laban wasn't exactly paying the mortgage with this. he did some further material at Oni and moved more into doing comics for magazines and alternative newspapers. However, he did get to dabble in Matt Wagner's Grendel universe, penning one of the Grendel Tales minis. Along similar short-lived and funny lines was Instant Piano, from Stephen Destefano, Evan Dorkin , Kyle Baker, Mark Badger, and Robbie Busch. Baker and Badger had been playing around at DC, with Piranha Press and some regular DC stuff, while Evan Dorkin was doing Milk & Cheese and Destefano ha co-created 'Mazing Man and dabbled at DC and in animation. The result was a bit anarchic and fun, mixing animation sensibilities with indie comics aesthetics. It was an anthology, with little to unify it; but, one very memorable piece to come out of it was "The Eltingville Comic book. Science-Fiction, Fantasy , Horror and Role-Playing Club,"which would be adapted into a cartoon, on Adult Swim. The Black pearl was an urban sci-fi/vigilante series, which i never really looked at, but has the geek credit of having been created by Mark Hamill. It came out when he couldn't get arrested in movies (except Kevin Smith films); but, was riding pretty high on BTAS. I glanced at this, once. It was a vanity project, from Golden Apple Comics owner Bill Liebowitz, with a color centerfold of Playboy Playmate Susie Owens in costume, as the character, at the start of models portraying buxom comic characters, at conventions. So, if soft-core cosplay and derivative comics are your thing, here you go. Back when I was covering DH's Godzilla, I forgot a couple of other monsters... Don Simpson adapts King Kong, based on the original story, so you get some stuff that was left out of the film. They also covered Gamera... This was actually based on the revived series of movies, which launched in the 90s, rather than the MST3K favorites. What can I say about Gamera? He is really neat, he is full of meat, we've been eating Gamera! Speaking of MST3K... They got a comic, finally, in 2018, for the Netflix revival. I would have rather had one in the day, making fun of old comic stories. Peter David actually ran a MST3K comic contest, in the Comic Buyer's Guide. He Used a page of New teen Titans, when Deathstroke kills Jericho, added the silhouettes and had people send in their riffs. If memory serves, the winning entry was "Whosoever pulleth this sword from this Titan is rightwise King of England..." Steve Rude came up with this (since he wasn't busy with Nexus or getting cheesed off by marvel), about a circus performer who adopts a costumed identity, when a circus acrobat takes on a costume identity to become a bounty hunter, to make ends meet and keep the circus going. There is a mystery at the heart of things, related to the death of the ring master and some gangsters. Gary Martin provides the script. Never saw this, beyond ads; but, looks right up my alley, with pulpy heroes and weirdness. Race of Scorpions is a follow-on mini-series, from Argentinian comics creator Leopoldo Duranona. he started the series in Eerie, at Warren, then it was finished in DHP, leading to theis new story. I saw a couple of the earlier DHP chapters, which looked interesting; but, never read the whole thing. I'll end with one i have only seen a few panels; but has a faithful following: The Goon The series was created by Eric Powell, who had a proto version in Best Cellars #1 (called Monster Boy), but which debuted as the Goon, at Avatar. Powell was unhappy with Avatar's quality and stopped producing for them, until his contract expired. He tried farming it to other companies, who rejected it, until Dark Horse came back to him about doing it. The series is a wild mix of Popeye-style cartoon violence and supernatural stories. The series has proved popular and for 10 years there has been talk of an animated feature, with Clancy Brown as the hero; but, funding issues prevented much from happening, other than a trailer and some test footage. A Kickstarter campaign was launched and reached its goal, in 2012, but no film. It was announced in May that it was now in development with Fox, though how the sale to Disney affects things, who knows?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2019 16:31:07 GMT -5
I think Nevermen debuted in DHP before having their own series. I have a couple of random issues of it I picked up because it has Guy Davis on art, but I don't have the whole mini, so I haven't read it yet.
-M
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Post by chaykinstevens on Jul 4, 2019 16:51:18 GMT -5
The Dark horse Comics issues represent 2 stories: "Light of My Death," which ran from issues 8-11, and "Minute of Midnight," in issue 25. the first was by Das Petrou and John Watkiss, and featured a return of Tatiana Romanova, the love interest in From Russia With Love. The latter featured a story by Don McGregor and art by Russ Heath, which is reason enough to read it. Minute of Midnight was actually written by Doug Moench. The story ended abruptly with unresolved threads, suggesting it was probably intended as a longer serial but curtailed when Dark Horse lost the license (to kill).
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Post by mikelmidnight on Jul 5, 2019 11:45:17 GMT -5
I never commented above but I am a huge fan of Bryan Talbot, and Luther Arkwright and One Bad Rat are both masterpieces as far as I'm concerned.
I also love P. Craig Russell and always bought his opera adaptations when he was doing them. Geek claim to fame/interaction with the man: he had no idea Alan Moore had claimed he was the artist on the 70s version of Promethea, and I showed him the issue with his name on it.
I could never get into Marshal Law, although I like other work from both creators. I guess I didn't see the point of them doing a satire of a genre they hated (and thus, effectively making more of it); to my mind the best satires are done out of love (Dorkin's brilliant "Eltingville Club" is an example, and I identify with those guys much more than the cast of Big Bang Theory).
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 5, 2019 18:46:56 GMT -5
I never commented above but I am a huge fan of Bryan Talbot, and Luther Arkwright and One Bad Rat are both masterpieces as far as I'm concerned. I also love P. Craig Russell and always bought his opera adaptations when he was doing them. Geek claim to fame/interaction with the man: he had no idea Alan Moore had claimed he was the artist on the 70s version of Promethea, and I showed him the issue with his name on it. I could never get into Marshal Law, although I like other work from both creators. I guess I didn't see the point of them doing a satire of a genre they hated (and thus, effectively making more of it); to my mind the best satires are done out of love (Dorkin's brilliant "Eltingville Club" is an example, and I identify with those guys much more than the cast of Big Bang Theory). It varied a bit from project to project. The original mini is more deconstructionist, in the tradition of The One, Marvelman, and the like, with some biting satire played out in backgrounds and graffiti. That remains as an element. Some pieces were more comics, like crime and Punishment: Marshal Law Takes Manhattan. Law ends up in a mental hospital with Marvel analogs, including a Reed Richards type who talks to his "invisible" wife, and several who think they can fly until they try i, at the end. The Dark Horse stuff was more along those lines and there were a lot of background gags, while they took shots at the ideas of minors as vigilante heroes. Mills and O'Neil also finished up a storyline begun at Apocalypse, which began with a Batman analog, examining his motifs. It's an acquired taste and you had to be willing to accept some pretty nasty criticism of some of your favorites. At the same time, there are political allegories in there, as well as cultural satire. I was in a place and time where a lot of it really resonated with me, though I didn't want a steady diet of it. Their output was pretty sporadic, which made it work better. I doubt it would have worked on a Judge Dredd schedule.
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