On the Eighth Day of Christmas, Santa said to me...The Truth is Out There...



The X-Files #1-16 by Stefan Petrucha and Charlie Adlard, covers by Miriam Kim, published by Topps Comics in 1995-1996

based on the television series created by Chris Carter



I didn't start watching X-Files until partway into the first season, but once I started it became appointment television. I became a huge fan of the show. At first with some co-workers, and later with girl I was dating at the time, Friday night when new X-Files episodes were airing was set aside for take out and TV. When I heard Topps was launching an X-Files comic with a sneak preview appearing in TV Guide, I was ecstatic. With typical 90s comic fan mentality, I thought it was going to be huge. It was a great seller and a great comic, but not the 90s pipe dream pay your college loans off hot book huge, but that was ok. This was my first exposure to Charlie Adlard's (now of Walking Dead fame) art and he is a superb visual storyteller. Petrucha told stories that fit in with the X-Files groove and explored types of unexplained phenomenon that intrigued me (I was getting those Time-Life hardcover series of mysteries of the unknown at the time and my sensibilities had been shaped by Leonard Nimoy's In Search Of as a kid, so I've always loved this type of stuff), so the series quickly became a favorite. It lasted 41 issues but I dropped off after Petrucha left and Topps had started trying to cash in with episode adaptation series, digests, mini-series spin-offs etc. and when my comic budget dropped sharply around '97 or so, but man that first year and a half of issues were a joy and I still fondly remember the stories.

-M

At number 5 is Quantum Leap. I was in the military when the show premiered and missed it early on and kept missing it, until the did the episode, "The Leap Home," where Sam leaps into his younger self, as a teenager, and tries to prevent his father from dying of a heart attack at an early age, stop his sister from getting into a bad marriage, and prevent his older brother from dying in Vietnam. Sam's brother is a Navy SEAL and that was the hook that got me to watch the show. NBC also ran a marathon of episodes, so I could catch up. I quickly became a fan of it and tuned in every week. I was sad to see it die a subdued death. Around the tail end of the show run, Innovation secured the rights to do a tie-in comic. Like most independents, Innovation had small budgets and they spent more money on the cover art than the interior art. As a result, covers were spectacular, while likenesses inside varied a bit. The art was always decent to good; but, it was the writing that drove the series. Innovation was able to capture the flavor of the series, while adding new wrinkles. There was nothing particularly earthshattering, until issue #9.



That issue featured an actual sequel to the episode, "Good night Dear Heart," about a murder case. In that episode, Sam leaps into a mortician, who is also the local coroner. he deals with what first appeared to be a drowning, which turns out to be murder. The young woman, an immigrant from West germany, had no family and Sam discovers she had been pregnant. The twist ends up being that she had been involved in a lesbian relationship with a woman, named Stephanie, who accidentally killed her when she struck her with her high-heeled shoe (and the heel penetrated the skull). This issue deals with Stephanie as she leaves prison, having served her time for the crime.

There is a wrinkle to all of this. The issue was written by Andy Mangels, a writer who had worked in the entertainment and comic book field, writing articles for Comic Scene, Starlog, Amazing Heroes and others. he would also write some comic books, including Wonder Woman. Andy is a gay man and has tackled gay topics in his writing and he specifically wanted to do a sequel to this episode, because he hated it.  He hated it because of its somewhat stereotyped depiction of the lesbian relationship and the character of Stephanie, the imbalanced lesbian woman whose lover returned to the heterosexual world. It was an old cliche and it angered Mangels enough to perform his own "leap." Stephanie has become a noted photographer, while in prison, after her work is picked up by a wealthy art patron. Stephanie goes on to become a noted photographer, gaining interest in the art world of New York. Her life then intersects with one of the defining moments of the Gay Rights Movement: The Stonewall Riots.

On June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a regular bar for LBGT patrons. Raids were a common thing and harassment of patrons even more so. Things reached a boiling point in those early morning hours and violence erupted in reaction to the police actions, for people who were doing little more than exercising their civil rights. A series of riots erupted and it became a focal point of Gay and Lesbian activism. It led the gay community to take a more direct role in demanding equal treatment under the law.

Within the story, Sam, as Stephanie, is working with a model named Clement, who is a drag queen. Clement is arrested and beaten by police. Sam photographs Clement out of drag, highlighting the injuries, to document the abuse and harassment of the gay community. Sam then witness the Stonewall riots, before leaping.

Andy Mangels felt the negative depiction from the earlier episode dovetailed into an anti-gay climate, revolving around the AIDS crisis and actions by fundamentalist religious groups. There were states who were proposing laws that would restrict gay rights and Mangels felt a statement was needed and used the story to highlight the harassment and civil rights abuses that led to the Stonewall Riots and further activism. In his eyes, he was carying out Sam's mission, "To right what once went wrong." he did it wonderfully, in a powerful and sensitive story that stands way out in the series and in comic books of the period.

I'm not gay; but, I witnessed good people summarily discharged from the military, for the sole reason of being gay. Just before I left the service, Congress held hearing about the military's policing of banning gay servicemembers. Gen. Colin Powell testified and used the old standby of being susceptible to blackmail by foreign agents and disruption of good order and discipline. Sen. Diane Feinstein was having none of it and fired back that his arguments were the same as those offered in the 1940s to block desegregation of the military, which was done by executive order, in 1947. Powell had become the first African-American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, as a direct result of that change. He couldn't refute the evidence. Around the time this comic came out, I saw a documentary, on PBS about Stonewall and gay lives and rights in 20th Century America. One woman who spoke had been a career Army soldier. She was a secretary to Gen Eisenhower, when he was a base commander. She spoke of how, at one point, there was concern about possible gays on the base and he wanted to root them out. She then spoke up and told Ike that he would have to start with her. She made him realize that there were many good soldiers, who did their jobs, who just happened to be gay. Ike dropped the whole thing. I served temporary duty on a ship with women and men. There was a Chief Corpsman, a woman, who was widely known to be gay. However, the command ignored it because she was damn good at her job. So good, in fact, that she was going to be retiring soon and would be taking a job as a tour medic for a country music performer.

That documentary and this issue of Quantum Leap did much to educate me about the barriers that gay Americans had and still faced. It angered me, as a lifetime of Superman comics always made me hate injustice. Andy Mangels used this platform wonderfully, to do what the series did best: highlighting history and correct the mistakes of the past.  He did it in an entertaining fashion, with skill and passion, in the best traditions of the medium. The comic was never a big hit; but, the work deserves to stand next to things like Howard Cruse's Stuck Rubber Baby as a work of historical fiction, which also uses metaphor to highlight the issues of today.

5. "The Saga of Solomon Kane", various B&W magazines (Marvel, 1973-94)



My favourite Robert E. Howard character is the Puritan adventurer, Solomon Kane, who has never had the success of some of Howard's other creations, which is a shame. His first adaptation in comics (that I am aware of) was in a series of short backup features that ran in Marvel's b&w magazines: primarily The Savage Sword of Conan, but also Kull and the Barbarians, Monsters Unleashed, Dracula Lives, and Conan Saga. When Dark Horse obtained the rights, the published all of these stories in a collection titled The Saga of Solomon Kane, which is what I'm using as an umbrella term for these tales.

These stories are a mix of adaptations of Howard's stories, and original tales. And I'll be the first to admit that these stories are a mixed bag. There was no consistency in the writing or art teams, so the quality varies drastically. And a few writers showed no grasp of the character; having latched on to the word Puritan with no understanding of what it meant in the historical context of the character.

But the good stories are very good. "The Dragon at Castle Frankenstein" is the kind of situation Kane finds himself in constantly, and "The Silver Beast Beyond Torkertown" would slot effortlessly into Howard's canon and chronology. There is a two-part encounter with Dracula that does both characters justice, and a crossover with Conan that works far better than it has any right to.

However, two pieces stand out for me above the others. "Shattered Innocence" bu John Arcudi and Steve Carr is a masterpiece of compressed storytelling in 8 pages, and a glorious 24 page adaptation of "Solomon Kane's Homecoming" (my favourite Howard poem) that features multiple full page images and is glorious to look at.

5. Glen Scarpelli in Hollywood

5. Avengers #239

As a teen in the late 1980s, I thought two things were the coolest: Late Night with David Letterman, and the Avengers. During the summers of 1987 and 1988, I remember staying up to all hours, watching Letterman's transgressive brand of sardonic humor while reading comic books. What a time to be alive.

It was around this time that I discovered the ultimate mashup, as a recent back issue: Avengers #239, which featured the Avengers' reserves appearing as guests on David Letterman (my first issue of the title was #256). This, of course, was during the infamous Assistant Editor's Month at Marvel, which was full of weird and offbeat comics.

So this one has a special place in my heart.




In the end, Letterman himself takes out the hapless villain, Fabian Stankowicz (another favorite from the era).

5. Conan the Barbarian
Publisher - Marvel
Year - 1970
Writer- Roy Thomas
Artists- Barry Smith





My first contact with sword and sorcery in comic book form was the Roy Thomas/ Barry Smith Conan run. It was high adventure with sword play and what really made the series work for me was that it wasn’t static. What I mean is that he traveled from place to place which made every tale an adventure and unpredictable. I’m not sure, but I believe that the first time I saw blood in a comic book was in one of those early Conan’s. It was a shock to be sure and was a departure from the fake violence of the Superhero world. I didn’t stay on past the Smith departure but I have fond memories of those early issues. I actually bought a tpb of the first 6 issues for the CCC which I am waiting for as I write this.

Nicolai Dante
by Robbie Morrison and Simon Fraser
(2000 AD) 1987 - 1990 (and beyond)

I've always wanted to get more into British comics, but their availability is rather limited here...one of the few times I'd gotten a few this was one of the features, and I was in love.

I mean, Czarist Russia spread into the 27th Century? How cool is that. Nicolai is the rebel of the Romanov Dynasty, using his 'royal seal' powers to raise heck and woo the women he's not supposed to. he's a great rogue in a fantastic setting littered with fun historic references.

5. Storm vs Dracula from Uncanny X-Men

by Chris Claremont, Bill Sienkiewicz and Bob Wiacek
Marvel, 1982

In Uncanny X-Men #159, Dracula seduces Storm and nearly makes her his queen.

Dracula has been in many great comics. Wolfman's Tomb of Dracula, of course. He's fought Batman. And Spider-Man. But I think I decided this was my favorite depiction in comic form. Bill S. captures something about the character. Helps you understand why he can be enticing. And I liked it. A story of seduction and craving.

The same createive team followed up the story with Uncanny X-Men annual 6. Where we learn Storm wasn't as free of the curse as we'd believed.

Years later, this story would be followed up in the pages of the Mutant X series, about alternate reality X-Men. But my very first exposure to it was in the pages of What If..." Two separate issues spinning off this arc focused on Wolverine as the lord of the vampires.