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Post by foxley on Nov 23, 2021 1:44:04 GMT -5
I read so many of those 'blood & thunder' paperbacks as teenager.
Another of those 'team of specialists' films is Seven for 1979, in which Hawaii falls under the control of a ruthless cartel of seven gangsters and the FBI acquires the services of an ex-agent turned assassin, who in turn assembles a team of seven hitmen (including one woman)to stop them. It's good cheesy fun, but perhaps most interestingly it uses the 'shoot the swordsman' gag two years before Raiders of the Lost Ark.
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 23, 2021 16:16:03 GMT -5
I read so many of those 'blood & thunder' paperbacks as teenager.
Another of those 'team of specialists' films is Seven for 1979, in which Hawaii falls under the control of a ruthless cartel of seven gangsters and the FBI acquires the services of an ex-agent turned assassin, who in turn assembles a team of seven hitmen (including one woman)to stop them. It's good cheesy fun, but perhaps most interestingly it uses the 'shoot the swordsman' gag two years before Raiders of the Lost Ark.
My teen years were the same, with as many monthly purchases of Mack Bolan, Able Team & Phoenix Force as the X-Men and Legion of Superheroes. I was also a gun nut and those helped fuel that. I blame it on a lot of war movies and comics in my pre-teen years. By the time I was starting NROTC, I had grown out of it (working with real professionals will do that); but, I still read reputable books about actual mercenary soldiers and special operations teams and missions, as well as military history and other accounts of interesting history. At one point, I had Mike Hoare's account of the Congo, as well as a more nuanced look at 5 Commando and the use of mercenaries in Katanga and during the Simba Revolt, including how they were largely the weak factor in Operation Dragon Rouge, the mission to rescue hostages in Stanleyville. I also came across a rather detailed look at French mercenary Bob Denard, who led 6 Commando, in the Congo and later led something like 3 different coups in the Comoros Islands, befor the French government sent their military to kick him out (after previously sanctioning him via French intelligence). I had Frederick Forsyth's account of the Biafra war, and the mercenaries he met, like Taffy Williams, who was the basis for his mercenary leader Cat Shannon, in The Dogs of War (portrayed by Christopher Walken, in the film). One of the histories of modern mercenaries I read alleged that Forsyth was involved in the actual planning of a coup, using mercenaries, in Equitorial Guinea, but their weapons were seized by Spanish authorities, before the ship could sail with them. Forsyth later claimed he was doing research, but there are suggestions that it was more than research. The Italian "Macaroni Combat" films include a few mercenary adventures, though most are bad rip-offs, like Code-Name Wild Geese, with Lewis Collins (of The Professionals tv series). The only one I have ever heard good things about was Seven Red Berets, which is pretty much a rip-off of Dark of the Sun, with Rod Taylor, which was based on the Wilbur Smith novel. Smith's novel was set during the Baluba War, in the Congo, during the Katanga Secession, when UN troops engaged foreign mercenaries in the employ of Tshombe and the Belgian mining companies (and Belgian & French governments) who backed them. A team is sent via fortified train to pull mining workers and families and a consignment of diamonds out of an overrun area. The film version moved the period forward, to the Simba revolt, which was after Katanga rejoined the republic of Congo. It also includes a German mercenary, an ex-Nazi, portrayed by Peter Carsten. The character was very loosely based on German mercenary Siegfried Muller, who had served in the Wehrmacht, at the tail end of WW2 and wore his Iron Cross, in the Congo. In the film, the character wears a swastika, to make him nastier. One of the things I enjoyed about The Suicide Squad was that it used the same element of a team of specialists, on a dangerous, undercover mission, with the hook being they are super-criminals, in the mode of The Dirty Dozen (on steroids). Of the stuff I read in the men's adventure line, the original Executioner books, from the 70s, weren't bad; but the formula wore thin pretty quickly. Anyone who wants to sample should try the first three (War Against The Mafia, Death Squad, Battle Mask) and "The Last Mile," the final sequence of books where Bolan finishes his battle with the mafia, to become a counter-terrorist agent for the government (complete with pardon and a new face). Those are Monday's Mob, Terrible Tuesday, Wednesday's Wrath, Thermal Thursday, Friday's Feast and Satan's Sabbath (#33-38). Aside from those, most of the books are interchangeable, just set in a new town. Bolan arrives in the city, says hello to the mob, does a recon, gains a helper, has to pull off a rescue and has a big gun battle at the end. There is usually a sex scene devoid of any real erotic atmosphere. The counter-terror books were also pretty interchangeable. They also had the Stony Man books, where Bolan teamed up with Able Team and Phoenix Force, against a larger enemy. The Destroyer series is more in the mode of classic pulp, with a dark sense of humor, though a certain Right Wing sensibility (which is true of most men's adventure pulps). Most of the rest was crap. Never read any of the Nick Carter spy books, though. He dated back to the 1800s, as a detective. I also read some of the Shadow, Doc Savage, and The Spider. All were formulaic, though they had some good stories. the Shadow was great for atmosphere and mystery and Doc Savage for colorful adventures against supercriminals and madmen. The Spider was gonzo mayhem and killing, with the high point being the three-part battle against a fascist takeover of New York. Heck, they tried to repackage old Spider pulps as men's adventure novels, by putting Richard Wentworth in a turtleneck and carrying a pistol, on covers, but reprinting the 1930s and 40s stories. I read a little Spillane, but never read any of the Travis McGee stuff, despite Greg Hatcher's columns on the stuff, nor Casca the Eternal Mercenary. I did read Robert Adams' Horseclans fantasy series, which are the equivalent of pulp novels, in a fantasy environment. Still better than the Punisher comics, though. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 30, 2021 0:52:08 GMT -5
Jon Sable #32 This is what GI Joe would look like, if they could hit a target! Creative Team: Mike Grell-story & art, Ken Bruzenak-letters, Janice Cohen-colors, Mike Gold-editor. Letters page continues praise for "Torch Song". There is one letter from someone signed as "Friend of Grey," who was turned onto the series, by a friend who didn't know he was gay. He praises Mike for the sensitive and realistic portrayal of Grey and the reader felt elated to see it, as his comic reading friends tend to be rather homophobic. He is glad to see the series gives them a dose of reality. You kind of forget that until relatively recently, comics were rather devoid of positive gay characters, outside of specialty things like Gay Comics or Alison Bechdel's Dykes to Watch Out For. Grey Adler was one of the earliest, in a major series. Byrne made allusions to Northstar, in Alpha Flight, but Marvel was pretty wishy-washy and backed away from the idea, for a long time, before having him come out (in the middle of a fight scene). I don't recall when the Pied Piper was revealed to be gay, in the Flash. Gaiman's Sandman is a little after this. Synopsis: We begin with news reports that the USS hornet, along with escorts, is on its way to the coast of Nicaragua, in response to the Soviet ship Dragenov docked there, with crates that appear to be the type that carry MiG-25 Foxbats.  That's a pretty neat trick, since the original carrier (CV-8) was sunk at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, in 1942 and the later Essex-class carrier (CV-8) was decommissioned in 1947. Maybe they went through that time distortion that hit the USS Nimitz, but from the other end.... It's the Finnnaaaalll Countdown! Da-da-dee-da, da-da-duh-da-da......................... The Gauntlet has arrived in Managua, masquerading as tourists, with Saxon and Jon as a married couple, and O'Reilly and Jordan as a pair of florists from Fire Island. Sounds faaaaab-ulous! Saxon pretends to shoot photos of her "hubby," while actually shooting the Dragenov. They all meet up later, with Jordan complaining about the cover and O'Reilly's behavior, given the rather macho culture, which is a fair point. They have a bigger problem, though; the guard rotation has changed to earlier shift changes, so they will only have a 3-hour window to infiltrate the area, check out the crates and contact the Hornet to send a "No-go," if it anything other than MiGs. The crates have been moved to a compound, by a nitrite factory. There are guard barracks about 200 yards away, and a heliport less than a mile away, with Hind gunships. The team came in clean, so they need weapons, fast. Gardner found himself some oozy dynamite....  (Every demolitions expert in these things is always a bit crazy) Later, the team ambushes a patrol and takes their weapons. They head to the target. Jon, Jerry and Saxon move in to do the recon and get photos for evidence. Tahnee signals when the shift change occurs. They swim into the site. Saxon garottes a guard, while Sable caves another's head in and Jerry applies his prosthetic hook. They have a close call with a local kid, then go through an access hatch in one of the crates to check it out. There are no MiGs in them; but, they aren't out of the woods.....  We are at Code Brown, people; this mission has gone to s@#$! They rendezvous with the others and relay the situation. Saxon confirms that the missiles are operational and could destroy the Hornet, if it launches a strike. They can't send a no-go and leave the missiles in the hands of the Sandinistas and their Soviet and Cuban advisors. Jon says their only option is to destroy the missiles, themselves. We juxtapose the mission briefing in the Ready Room, on the Hornet, with the team hotwiring a fuel truck and breaking into the nitrite factory. Another part of the team cut through the fencing at the heliport, intending to steal a helicopter, which O'Reilly will fly. They mix bags of fertilizer with the gasoline in the fuel truck, which Gardner says will make dynamite look like a baby's burp. The heliport team selects a chopper, then dumps fuel on the ground to take care of potential pursuit. Garner rigs a couple of sticks of the oozy dynamite under the truck and inserts a cartridge into one of the sticks, with the primer facing outward. He then rigs up a contact detonator, by putting a nail in the end of a split rod and suspending it in front of the primer end of the rifle cartridge. When the rod impacts anything, it will shove the nail end into the primer, setting of the charge, which will ignite the dynamite, which then causes the fertilizer and gasoline mixture to explode....  O'Reilly starts up the chopper, which draws in the guards. Jordan and Tahnee take care of them; Jordan with well-placed pistol shots and Tahnee with more unstable dynamite, taped to a throwing stick, like a dynamite javelin. It works better than Rambo's explosive arrowheads Lot of explosives in that little cone! The firefight and explosions create the diversion needed and the truck team blow the fence to the compound and send the truck hurtling toward the crates, with the accelerator pushed down and the steering wheel rigged. But, Murphy is in the courtroom and invokes his law, as the truck hits a rock and bounces, dislodging the stick that held the accelerator down. The truck starts slowing down and then comes to a stop. The Hornet launches its fighter CAP (Combat Air Patrol), though Grell gives the US Navy F-16s, which is to be expected from an Air Force vet. Damn Zoomies! The firefight with the guards is becoming too intense and the Gauntlet are outnumbered. The techs are climbing into the missile crates, to prepare the launchers for retaliation. O'Reilly finishes taking out the Hinds and they drop in to pick up the rest of the team and learn about the failed truck bomb. Then, the crates pop open and the missile launchers are revealed, as the techs prepare to launch. The gunship is out of ammo. The have a signal that the Hornet strike is inbound. O'Reilly has an idea. He brings the helo in low and lets the missile techs lock onto them. The missiles are raised to a new elevation and the crate lid is pushed back further, into the detonator rod., and.....  The bomb goes off and bye-bye nukes! They transmit the "no-go" and the strike is recalled. They radio the Hornet and let them know they are a "sheep in wolf's clothing." We end with a news report that surveillance photos showed that the crates were tractor parts, while Nicaraguan officials were working to clear rubble from an explosion at a nitrate fertilizer plant. Thoughts: Again, we are deep in man's adventure pulp territory. The team infiltrates the target country, does a recon, executes their plan, and it goes wrong, forcing them to improvise their way out. The truck bomb is also reminiscent of the movie Uncommon Valor, where Gene Hackman's team have had their weapons confiscated by the CIA and the Thai police. They have to get WW-2 era weapons from an arms dealer and have to make do with improvised satchel charges and explosives, to blow the perimeter wall of the POW camp, and use a shoulder-fired recoilless rifle, instead of the more modern LAW rocket launcher they had. That movie's crazy demolitions expert, Blaster, was played by none other than Captain America 1979, Reb Brown (How come Marvel hasn't done Captain America 1979, Amazing Spider-Man 1977, The Incredible Hulk 1977, and Dr Strange 1978?). He has to blow a bridge with a satchel charge, after his planted explosives fail to do it, thanks to dodgy detonator caps. Grell dispenses with the infiltration and recon rather quickly and gets right down to the plan and the execution of it, to hit the action. My one quibble is the detonation scene, as it is a bit ambiguous as to what happens. My first interpretation was that they used the rotor wash of the helo to push the truck into the crate; but, I looked at it again and could see the missiles have motion lines, as the helo moves in low and then you see the crate shell and the detonator rod. It isn't crystal clear that the crate lid moves and impacts the rod, rather than the truck is pushed forward and impacts the shell. Personally, i think the rotor wash idea makes more sense and would be a bit more of an "A-ha" moment, though you would need a panel of the helo dropping its tail and indicate the rotor wash hitting the truck and rolling it forward. I also feel that it makes more sense, as nuclear warheads would be used on surface to surface missiles, not surface to air; so, they would not be targeting the helo with these missiles. That's like rabbit hunting with an RPG; it'll kill the rabbit, but there won't be any meat for dinner! Great little two-part action-adventure storyline, after the character and mystery stuff. Next issue, we take a little breather and turn it all over to humor, as Sergio Aragones teams up with Mike Grell, as Jon takes a look at storyboards for an animation special, based on BB Flemm's books. Grab your clay pipe and a jug o' poteen, as this book is about to be invaded by the Wee Folk. Faith and begorah! Oh, just for fun...... Most epic Hair Metal song, ever!
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 30, 2021 1:16:14 GMT -5
ps There used to be a fan-made mash up of the Europe song and footage from the film, but I can't find it anymore.
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Post by foxley on Nov 30, 2021 1:28:00 GMT -5
The only mainstream comic with gay characters I can think of around this time is Colleen Doran's A Distant Soil which have debuted about the same time as Sable.
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Post by chaykinstevens on Nov 30, 2021 7:35:26 GMT -5
I think the Pied Piper was established as gay in Flash #53, cover dated August 1991. JM DeMatteis had an implicitly gay supporting character, Arnie Roth, in Captain America in 1982. Don McGregor had a gay couple, Deuces Wild and Summer Ice, in Sabre, and had hinted at Horatio Venomm and Taku being gay in Jungle Action. Marv Wolfman had a couple of gay villains, Cannon and Saber, in Vigilante in 1984.  |
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 5, 2021 21:34:51 GMT -5
Jon Sable #33 Looks like Jon has a pest control problem. Creative Team: Mike O'Grell-story & art, Ken McBruzenak-letters, Janice Cohan-colors, Mike Pot O' Gold-editor Cave O' Half-Pints: Sergio Aragones de Murphy-art, Fionn Stan Sakai-letters, Janice Cohan-colors, Lee Lamhfada Dolezal-script Janice gets a Gaelic spelling for this one, pronounced Co-han, don't ya know? Well now, the letters page is filled with praise for "Torch Song." Sure'n t'was a fine story. Synopsis: Well now, t'is himself, don't ya know, Jon Sable, along with his lasses, Myke Blackmon and Eden Kendall (a fine Irish lass if ever t'was one). They flew clear over t' rainbow to a place called Los Ang-gel-es, to deliver a script tha's a wee bit late, don't ya know, and make sure the characters look proper Irish. They drive out to meet the cartoonist, and Jon regales the fair ones with stories of how horribly deformed and twisted cartoonists are, like the sidhe ridin' the wind.  Well now, don't he look proper fit 'n all! The hansome man introduces himself as Sucio Eroganes and he fair charms the lasses an' Myke tells Jon that he has no inadequacies and Jon is forced to agree. Well now, he must have Irish blood in him....probably descended from one of the Wild Geese who went to serve the King of Spain. Sucio shows his guests his studio, then let's Jon an' Myke go over the storyboards, while he entertains the Irish lass Eden. So, we now switch to the story of the animated special, based on the Wee Folk of BB (Brian Boru) Flemm's books. The time is 1847 and Guinness has been brewin for four score and eight years. Half a mile away, there is a finer brew being made that made Guinness taste like muddy water. T'was poteen, but with the famine on, there be no potatoes to give it the right kick.  3 lads have been given the bum's rush. sure'n they cause too much trouble for the mound and times are too hard to be doin' with the likes of them. They are Grog O'Leary, Dusty Cruster and Dooly. Grog an' Dusty are always havin' a go at one another and have been caught by stompers (big uns) 6 times. Dooly nearly led stompers to the mound twice. They are banished from the mound. With nowhere else to go, they decide to follow the stompers to America, a land of milk and honey, though they can keep the milk and honey and pass the whiskey!  On the boat, they run into a darrig and Grog tries to start a fight, but gets sent to spend the rest of his life under a fat woman's armpit. he returns quickly, because she was razor shavin'. They arrive in New York and find a suitable spot for their mound. However, Progress starts invadin' their land and they find it getting a wee bit crowded. The brew up some poteen and slip a mickey finn to some developers and they decide to make the area a park, instead of more houses and Central park is born. Our trio goes on makin' their poteen, with the aid of potatoes pinched by Grog, while disguised as a squirrel. He gets away from a grocer and a cop, but gets caught in a shoeshine box, by a wee black man, name of Kareem N'Koffee. He has a large amount of pygmy blood in him and is the same size as our leprechauns and is invited to stay. This helps solve their labor problem and others are invited to join the mound, provided they ban walk under a beagle's belly.   They meet an old whino, named J Michael Murphy and tell him their story, since he can't tell other stompers and have them believe it. He becomes the only stomper to see them and protects their secret and they provide a brew that makes him happy. Back in the real world, Jon likes the story, but still thinks Sucio is hiding a hump under his clothes, or sumpin'. They go looking for Eden and wonder if she might be in the hot tub. Myke asks if they should look there and Jon says it wouldn't be right. Besides, what would they do if they saw her there, blackmail her?  Thoughts: Well, now, t'is a fine story and lets us see what BB Flemm has been up to all this time, but it's not exactly packed with laughs. It makes for a nice diversion, after the donnybrook last issue. Still, it could have used a bit of Maureen O'Hara, if ye don't mind me sayin'. Okay, enough of that. It's a nice diversion, but, it's not quite as charming as it wants to be and they switched from an Elfquest joke to a smurf joke, in terms of labor practices. Beyond that, it mostly gives Mike a bit of a breather, before the next storyline. Sergio Aragones takes over and does his thing, and Mike has a bit of fun with him, inserting him into the framing story, as Sucio, adding a punchline to Jon's idea that cartoonists are all short and dumpy, with physical deformities. Sergio is a handsome, tall man, who charms all he meets and so does Sucio, while Mike is rather short. You know he is having a bit of fun, at his own expense, while tipping his hat to Sergio. Next issue begins the series change to Baxter format paper (a thicker white paper, which DC and Marvel were using for special projects, at higher prices. The story sends Jon into the wilderness, so Mike gets to draw more flora and fauna, while crafting a story of white supremacists that is just as timely now, as it was then, sadly.
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 5, 2021 22:07:52 GMT -5
ps The Wild Geese were Irish mercenaries who went off to fight in foreign wars, including for Spain and France. The name was adopted by Mike Hoare, who led 5 Commando, in the Congo, during the Simba Revolt. Hoare was Irish and had served in the British Army and chose that name for 5 Commando, based on romantic notions that had nothing to do with the real soldiers he recruited. By his own admission (in his book about the Congo), most were wannabes, with no actual military experience, or little beyond basic national service. The two best he had were Siegfried Muller, who had served in the Hitler Youth and Wehrmacht, at the tail end of WW2 and had won the Iron Cross, which he would wear in the Congo, mainly for journalists. The other was John "Jon-Jon" Peters, a South African who had served in the South African SAS and was Hoare's second-in-command. Their exploits, jazzed up by British journalists, inspired Daniel Carney's manuscript, The Wild Geese, about mercenaries recruited to rescue a deposed democratic African leader. That Manuscript was optioned by producer Euan Lloyd and directed by Andrew V McLaglen (son of actor Victor McLaglen), with Richard Burton, Richard Harris, Roger Moore, Hardy Krueger, Winston Ntshona, John Kani, and Stewart Granger.
Some of the Wild Geese served in companies for the Spanish and settled there. There is a theory that the "black Irish" (those with black hair) may be the descendants of those who went to Spain and took Spanish wives, before returning to Ireland, after making their fortune. Similar theories link them to Spanish traders or displaced sailors from the Armada, though there is no evidence to support any of these theories.
Bernard Cornwell added a fictional company to the Spanish royal guard, in his Sharpe series of novels, in Sharpe's Battle: The Real Compania Irlandesa. Sharpe has to turn these belligerent (Ireland was under British rule and there had been skirmishes against the British, at that time) toy soldiers into real fighters. In reality, the British Army had several Irish regiments, including the Connaught Rangers, the 88th Regiment of Foot, who served with Wellington, during the Peninsular Campaign, against Napoleon. Wellington, himself (Sir Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington), was born in Ireland, of an Anglo-Irish noble family.
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 14, 2021 2:20:43 GMT -5
Jon Sable #34 Jon is facing a new enemy, with an old hatred; and, like many of these stories, the themes are still timely. Creative Team: Mike Grell-story & art, Ken Bruzenak-letters, Lynn Varley-colors, Rick Oliver-editor. Mike Gold left First Comics, the company he helped found, and went to work for DC. I met him once and he kind of generally spoke of the regime that remained, without getting into specifics, remarking how the ended up bankrupt, a fine comics tradition (he spoke of Malcolm Wheeler-Nichols, who lost DC to his creditors, waltzing out on his debts). He did not speak as to what prompted his decision to leave first and take the job at DC and, like a fool, I didn't ask. Whether he decided to move on to new horizons, or was having problems with certain factions there, I don't know. He left and First continued on. He edited Legends, The Question and some other books, then enticed Mike Grell to come back and do Green Arrow: Longbow Hunters. Grell would have his own problems with those in power at First and not return. He could not take Jon Sable from them because of the long term of the contract with them. Creative ownership came with First having long reprint rights and publication rights; so, those had to expire before Sable was Grell's again (further complicated by their bankruptcy, which falls under Federal law and supersedes the civil contracts with the creators, as complicated several properties, with the bankruptcies of First and Comico). Rick Oliver took over as Editorial Director. Janice Cohen also left the book and Lynn Varley took over. At this point, Varley had colored Ronin; but, Dark Knight had not yet been published. She colored the first two issues of American Flagg!, before Leslie Zahler took over and had colored Batman, at DC. She had worked for Neal Adams, at his Continuity Associates, and then joined Walt Simonson, Jim Starlin, Val Mayerick and Howard Chaykin, at Upstart Associates, where she met Frank Miller (not sure if they met there, initially, or elsewhere and he started working there). She married Frank in 1986 and worked primarily on his projects, from then on. They divorced in 2005. This issue marks another change, as the comic goes to Baxter Format, as used on DC's New Teen Titans and Legion of Superheroes comics, for the Direct Market (they also put out newsstand versions of those comics, in traditional newsprint, eventually reprinting the Baxter stories in those books, after having separate stories going, at the beginning). Baxter paper was white, allowing for better color reproduction, but which also required refining coloring techniques that had been designed for the cheaper newsprint. There is a bit of a learning curve going on. The letters page features an interesting one from a Trevor Woofenden, who started with the Safari recap issues and the controversy related to them, and got all of the back issues. He gives a pretty balanced response to the controversy, noting he doesn't care for killing for trophies, but respected Grell's stance on the meat being used and the conservation efforts by hunting groups. He also noted the fair response to one particular attack on the hunt. Mostly, he praised the mature depth to things and how there was a longer story at play, within the individual issues and adventures, meaning the relationship between Jon and Myke, which is a through line, from issue #2. Synopsis: Somewhere in the woods, a couple are camping and the woman goes off to bath in a stream, when she is startled by something. We cut to a small town cafe and a newspaper vending machine, with headlines about the missing woman, with a bear attack suspected, though it says it is the 6th incident. there is also a notation about the "Order Trial," whatever that is. Jon Sable parks a jeep and enters the cafe, asking for someone named Winter Wolf. Sable gets some odd looks from people, then Winter Wolf comes into the cafe and greets Sable, who he is supposed to guide, on a hunting trip. the waitress is agitated, flashing glances at the clock and tries to hurry Winter Wolf out of the cafe...  Sable asks what that was all about and a camouflage-painted van (looks like a VW bus), with an emblem of a white bandaged fist, pulls up to the cafe and three men get out, including one who is wearing a WW2 era German field cap. We see another sitting in the van, with the swastika prominently displayed. White Wolf answers Jon with one word, "Fear." White Wolf leads Jon into the mountains of Idaho, on horseback and they talk. Jon says he is there to learn, and find what he has lost. White Wolf answers that sometimes you must find it within, but you have to come to the wild places to be able to find it. They talk of the sable antelope and WW suggests it might be Jon's totem animal. He tells Jon of finding his own, as a boy, hunting in the mountains and coming across a wolf, learning to be like the wolf, a hunter and free. They come to a stop and White Wolf starts building a lean-to and tells Jon they will drink only spring water and spruce tea and eat no meat until they make a kill, so they don't stink of the outside world. White Wolf explains about sneaking up on animals and bathing in the purifying (and cold) streams, about wearing moccasins to feel the twigs under foot, before they are snapped, making noise. he shows Jon how to lay his clothes on pine trees and rub the needles in them to get the smell of the forest on them.  Jon tries out White Wolf's bow, though he can barely draw it. They watch as a mountain lion brings down an elk. They see other elks in a herd, and two males butt heads for dominance. A squirrel climbs over Jon's shoulder to reach a pine cone.  They creep up to try to hit an elk with the bow, but it is scared off by rapid gunfire. They track it to its source and see two men butchering a Selkirk Caribou, which is endangered. Sable wants to see who they are. They follow them to a compound, with chain-link fences, topped by barbed wire, and guard towers. Sable recognizes a paramilitary compound when he sees it and asks what it is doing there. White Wolf points out part of the reason....  The bound woman is the missing camper. Thoughts: This is an interesting start to things as Grell balances the serene wilderness, with the uneasiness about White Wolf being in the cafe. We soon see why the waitress and others are uneasy; there are white supremacists in the area. You almost expect Jon to have a Billy Jack moment.... Grell goes to town on the flora and fauna and we can see his talk of never firing a shot while hunting is no BS. Nobody who draws animals like that, doing natural things in their natural habitat, if they didn't witness it and have an affinity for it. He also shows how the Native Americans and the smarter woodsmen were able to hunt for food successfully, without firearms to give them reach. He shows how man separates himself from nature and how nature notices. During Vietnam, Special Forces soldiers often did similar things, eating only Vietnamese food, before going on patrols, so they gave off a scent like the VC, lulling them into a false sense of security. During WW2, Carlson's Raiders ate only rice, raisins and bacon, subsisting as Mao's troops did, in China, much like the Japanese soldiers they were hunting, on Guadalcanal. Then, Grell shows us the really dark underbelly of this forest, as we see a paramilitary compound, with pregnant and captive blond women and we put two and two together. White supremacists and missing blond women and the word "Aryan" comes to mind, accompanied by a dark insanity. We then realize this story is 35 years old and realize that too many things do not change. The KKK and John Birchers and American Bunds gave way to survivalists and "militias," who seemed to fear more those who weren't white more than alleged foreign enemies. They saw enemies everywhere, as they were ruled by fear and self loathing, covering for their own inadequacies by blaming others for their failures. Always someone who holds them down, secretly controls the system, someone who is an "other." It is the same mentality that fueled the Nazis and their stormtroopers, the SA, who engaged in street brawls with rival political factions and bullied those who were weaker or other. It is the same mentality that drives people to done robes and masks and burn crosses and lynch vulnerable, isolated people. It is the same mentality that drives anonymous trolls to send vile threats to women in internet forums, or worse. At first, the cover seems a bit odd. Jon has torn something behind him, obscuring and marring what it was, making it hard to identify and comprehend. Inside, we see it is the symbol of these would-be supremacists and we realize that Jon is telling us he will tear them down, just as he has torn their symbol. We are still in men's adventure pulp territory, to a much smaller degree, as some writers addressed those topical situations, of survivalists and militias, white supremacists and their ilk. However, there weren't as many of those stories as there were of killing mobsters and Commies, as the audience for much of those works wasn't as receptive to plots about gun-toting groups causing hatred and violence as outside enemies trying to conquer democratic patriots. Not many were like Norvell Page, who had the Spider fighting fascists, before Hitler invaded Poland. The plot of a group abducting women to be slaves and breeding stock was a staple of the men's adventure magazines of the 50s and 60s and the pulps before them, with tales of white slavers and women sold to harems and brothels, as well as for use by crazed men in armed compounds. these magazines featured lurid covrs, with scantily clad women in danger and being tortured, or square-jawed, muscled heroes shooting their way through these escaped Nazis and slavers. Next, Sable and White Wolf check out the compound and Jon has a spirit vision, while Grell gives us a preview of his return to Green Arrow, a year (and a bit) later.
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Post by foxley on Dec 14, 2021 3:23:59 GMT -5
The bit with Jon trying to draw Winter Wolf's bow shows Iron Mike's experience as an archer, which would stand him him in good stead when he did Green Arrow. Looking at those wilderness scenes and reading codystarbuck's description puts me in mind of the Joe Pickett mysteries by C.J. Box. Joe is a game warden in a remote part of Wyoming and stumbling across a paramilitary compound in a remote stretch of wilderness is exactly the kind of mess he finds himself in. In fact the third book in the series, Winterkill, was written in the aftermath of the Waco Massacre and centres on a caravan of survivors of Waco, joined by survivors of other right-wing militias that had been broken up or destroyed, taking up residence in a national park in Joe's bailiwick and immediately getting into a standoff with the local feds. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 24, 2021 21:31:32 GMT -5
Jon Sable #35 Creative Team: Mike Grell-story & art, Ken Bruzenak-letters, Marcus Davis-colors, Rick Oliver-editor (he is the First comics editorial director; but not listed as the issue's editor, in the credits) Synopsis: Jon and White Wolf are spying on the white supremacist compound and spot the captive woman, who is the missing hiker that Jon saw in the newspaper. One of the master (add another couple of syllables to that) race turns up with supplies, they mention a trial going sour. They also show the paper, with the front page story about their hostage. They say the leader wants to giver her special attention....  Jon wants to bring in the authorities; but, White Wolf says they are too near the Canadian border and the racist @#$s would just slip across. Jon demands action. A sentry in a guard tower opens fire and Sable gets creased in the forehead. White wolf puts an arrow through the shooter's throat. problem is, Jon is blind and losing his @#$%. White Wolf tells him to shut up and leads him away. The nazis chase after, with armed ATVs. The heroes hide and the nazis find their camp and unload with their heavy machine guns. They go off to celebrate and White Wolf tends to Jon. His sight starts returning and White Wolf has him sheltered and warm and gives him food. He then says he is going for help. Jon is feverish and has a vision, then wakes up and finds White Wolf gone. Jon goes searching for him and finds some dead bodies with arrows. He then finds White Wolf, dead, because he wasn't fast enough with the arrows. Jon sneaks up to the perimeter fence and shoves a knife into a sentry, then passes orders to one of the women...  Jon creates a diversion, so that the woman can get the others into a crawler and take off.  Jon draws them out an gives a hint of Mike's next job....  It comes down to Jon and the temporary boss and they face off, near a waterfall and the man can't believe a white man sided against him. He has the drop on Sable, but a wolf appears, distracting him. he turns back and Jon is gone. Jon circles around him and attacks from behind and uses his knife to finish him off. He then prepares a funeral pyre for White Wolf. As Jon walks away to the sounds of a wolf howling, we see the enxt newspaper headline, that the white supremacist leader has been convicted, in his trial. Thoughts: The blinding of Jon is a bit much and is becoming a cliche in these things, as Jon gets another wound. White Wolf was fated to die nobly, from the get go and you knew Jon would kill everyone in his sights, as is the structure for these kinds of stories. Not my favorite Sable story; but, not bad. From here, we spend some more time with Jon and Myke, while also setting up a new adventure, in Africa, for the pair of them!
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 31, 2021 18:38:11 GMT -5
Jon Sable #36 Well, that should keep Jon humble! Creative Team: Mike Grell-story & Art, Ken Bruzenak-letters, Marcus David-colors, Rick Oliver-editor Oliver isn't listed directly as editor; but, he is running the editorial side, at First. I don't believe Mike 2 hook up as a team again until Longbow Hunters. From then on, Grell works almost exclusively with Gold, on his own projects. The letters page has negative reaction to the "Gauntlet" storyline. Several readers took issue with the Reagan-esque view of Nicaragua and the Sandinistas, especially as the issue pretty much copies the Cuban Missile Crisis. It is a valid point, as the Sandinistas came to power after driving out the murderous and repressive Samosa regime, whose family had been put into power with the aid of the US Marine Corps. The indigenous population saw great improvement in their relations with the government, compared to Samosa. So, it was hardly the black & white situation that the Reagan Administration used as justification for pumping money and arms to the Contras, who were, primarily, ex-Samosa forces. That, of course, led to the whole Iran-Contra scandal, revealing the government was selling arms to a hostile power to fund secret operations with the Contras, in violation of laws passed by Congress. Of course, the Sandinistas cozied up with Cuba (more so than the USSR, directly), as the whole "enemy of my enemy" scenario. Had the US Government not been so aggressive in its support of the Contras, we might have seen a more moderate Nicaragua take shape. On the other hand, Ortega was like many revolutionaries, who was better at the revolution than the governing. Grell's story is a bit more nuanced than, say, an issue of Able Team (since the books were released monthly, "issue" sounds more accurate than novel) or Mack Bolan; but, he is more interested in doing men's adventure pulp than a more accurate look at the country. I kind of get what he was doing and, given his relatively middle of the road politics, on the whole, in the series, I say you can give him the benefit of the doubt. Grell is writing an adventure series, and geopolitics are complicated enough, without bogging down the reader. As I say, Grell did a better job of balance than either the bulk of the Hollywood action film community or the men's adventure pulp genre. Probably why I always liked Grell and Tim Truman, as their characters had more depth and their stories had more balance to contemporary events than most of the long underwear crowd. Synopsis: Myke is preparing to do a painting and several images cross through her head, including Christmas with Jon and soothing him as the nightmares take hold....  Damn, Grell captures the emotion of these moments! Myke preps the canvas then stares at the blank space for a moment, then makes her first mark. We see memories of other moments, including checking in on the Broadway production, with Grey, based on BB Flemm's books...  Myke starts with the rough shapes of a face and body, then smiles, as she starts working in the details. We see more details of Jon & Myke, as they meet Capt Winters, outside the theater. Jon introduces Myke, whose name he recognizes, from the books, as his kids are massive Flemm fans, as we saw previously. Winters is very warm to Myke, while still cool to Jon, hoping that his lower profile is the beginning of a trend, a not-so-subtle warning. Myke tells Jon he has nice friends, as he grinds his teeth. We see little character details, as Myke pours herself some tea and sniffs a yellow rose, as she contemplates the painting. She recalls where they went next, as Jon took her to a restaurant and showed her the published Africa article. He tells her that the magazine has given him an offer to do a piece on hunting in Alaska, as a contrast and he said he told them he'd do it, on one condition: that Myke be included. She aks if this might be the "new start."  Later, they walk past a gallery, displaying a huge elephant tusk and decide to go in. They meet the owner, Alfred Queen, who recognizes Jon and compliments him on the article. he deals mainly in sporting-related art. Jon comments on the value of the ivroy alone, to Myke, aside from the value of the art pieces created with the ivory. Mr Queen introduces them to Claudine Jobert, the proprietress of the art pieces.....  Myke seems cold and comments on how the tusk used to be a lot of elephant. Claudine suggests Jon explain it to her. Jon twigs her as being from South Africa, detecting a trace of the accent and she is impressed. She says she has been in New York, setting up an American branch of her business, trading in ivory artifacts and some raw tusks. She gives Jon her card. As they leave the gallery, Myke tries some small talk, remarking about Claudine's physical beauty; but, Jon seems distracted.  He says he doesn't like her, that there is something about her. As Myke works on the painting, we see Jon meet with Claudine, in her office. She has a job for him, to be her guide into Africa, as she pursues a legend of an ivory ape statue, which was discovered, then hidden by a man named Horn, after being wounded. he was never able to return and she intends to find the statue. Jon remarks about his status in many African countries and Claudine says she is willing to make the risk worth his while. He responds with a condition, that Myke come along and he goes to her place to tell her. He tells her he wants her to see where he comes from and she accepts, enthusiastically. The painting is hidden away, so Jon cannot see it and we end with a shot of it half covered, and the revelation of who Claudine really is....  Thoughts: More terrific character work from Grell, as we see Jon and Myke grow even closer and contemplate a future together and Jon possibly abandoning the life of danger for a more serene life of writing about nature, with Myke's illustrations, aside from the leprechaun tales. Then, Grell adds the serpent to the Garden of Eden. As soon as we see an ivory tusk in the gallery window, a feeling of dread comes over us. No good has ever come of Jon's encounters with ivory. Myke doesn't care for the "art" and Jon admits to not liking Claudine, as they leave. Maybe he senses her relationship to the tragedy that ivory has brought to him, or just the overall unsavory an unapologetic nature which she treats gaudy trinkets carked from dead animals, most of whom didn't die of natural causes. We get the full picture, on the last page. "Sign it 'J'." J, the initial on the telegram congratulating Reinhardt Pyke, on his appointment as head of Zimbabwe's national parks. Reinhardt Pyke, the white-haired man who was behind the ivory poaching operation in the region and the murderer of Elise and the children. The man who destroyed Jon's life in a hail of bullets. J, the other end of the operation, is Claudine Jobert. Jon is walking into a trap. For 30 issues, we had thought the story had ended with Pyke's death, though the telegram was a warning that he wasn't the entire operation. Grell just lulled us into a false sense of security, believing that Jon had gained justice for his loved ones. Now, Myke is also in danger. Claudine's story about a treasure hunter, named Horn, is based on Alfred Aloysius Smith, aka "Trader" Horn. Smith changed his name, at some point and was an ivory trader, in central Africa, a prospector, big game hunter and adventurer, who claimed to have fought to free slaves, including a princess. He met both Ulysses S Grant and Cecil Rhodes; but, most of the details of his life come from the book, Trader Horn, which was actually written by Etheireda Lewis, but attributed to Smith, aka Horn. It, in turn, spawned the Pre-Hayes Code epic Trader Horn, which shot footage in Africa, which was later reused in many films, including the Tarzan series and King Solomon's Mines. How true any of it was, I can't really determine, with internet sources. The 1931 film starred Harry Carey, who finds a blond jungle goddess (daughter of a missionary) and swings across a crocodile-infested river, on a vine (and nearly got munched, in the process). One aspect of this that is a bit troubling is the art. The switch to the white paper necessitated some changes in Mike's techniques and we saw a bit of an adjustment. However, there is a rougher edge to some of this, less defined in some spots. It's more in the long shots than the close-ups; but, it seems below previous standards. This is a sign of some problems ahead, which we will discuss when we get to them.
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Post by chaykinstevens on Dec 31, 2021 18:56:12 GMT -5
Creative Team: Mike Grell-story & Art, Ken Bruzenak-inks, Marcus David-colors, Rick Oliver-editor Bruzenak was just the letterer. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 31, 2021 21:36:21 GMT -5
Creative Team: Mike Grell-story & Art, Ken Bruzenak-inks, Marcus David-colors, Rick Oliver-editor Bruzenak was just the letterer. Yeah, I know, it's a brainfart typo. Fixed. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 12, 2022 0:07:04 GMT -5
Jon Sable #37 On of Grell's best covers, in the series. Creative Team: Mike Grell-story & art, Ken Bruzenak-letters, Marcus David-colors, Rick Oliver-editor I am assuming things here, in regards to editing. Rick Oliver is First's Editorial Director; but, Laurel Fitch is now listed as Editorial Coordinator. That sounds more like an assistant job, to me; so, I am sticking with Oliver. Really, Grell is editing himself. They may be handling the production end; but, I doubt they are discussing story. Letters page has a newbie who picked up issue #33 because of Sergio Aragones and was pleasantly surprised by the story. Praise for Grell's depiction of the Sierra Nevada mountains and a rebuttal about hunting that is a bit more reasoned and respectful than the last attack on Grell. It raises some valied points about groups like Ducks Unlimited lobbying to prevent hunting restrictions, due to population decreases, based on government surveys vs Grell's statements about such groups funding game management. Fitch responds with clarification of Grell's statement, but no fisticuffs ensue, as in the previous attack. Of course, this storyline includes African hunting and safaris, so the topic isn't going away for a bit. At least this time, Grell has a villain, rather than painting a target on himself, with his Safari Journal. Synopsis: Out in the bush, a cute little putty-tat is snoozin' in the tree, when a bunch of stinky, dumb, hairless apes come tromping through the trees.....  It is Jon, Myke and Claudine Jobert, on their safari. Later, at camp, Myke draws the wildlife, while M. Jobert whines about Jon bringing back enough meat to feed the safari group. M. Jobert pushes Myke, testing her, verbally, and Myke gives her fair warning that she can handle herself.  Jon is out on the veldt and he shoots a kudu and his tracker questions why he didn't shoot another, as M Jobert ordered. Jon replies one is all they can eat and that if madame wants two and carry the leftovers, she can shoot it herself. Jon returns to camp and startles Myke with how quietly he walked up to where she was sketching. In the distance, a lion roars. They discuss the ivory ape statue that M Jobert seeks and Jon doubts its existence, but intends to have fun, tracing Trader Horn's route. Jobert tersely answers it is out there and she will have it. She asks when they will reach the river and Jon replies, "In two days." That pleases her and then Jon bemoans to Myke that they will then be checking every cave behind every waterfall, chasing a legend. Myke replies that she still does not like M Jobert. Go with that instinct, Myke! The next day, they encounter a herd of elephant and a cow charges at them. Jobert takes aim, but Jon pushes away her rifle then shoots the cow through the ear, telling her to bugger off. it does the trick, without killing the animal. Jobert is not pleased...  As they hike, Jon outlines the problem that Horn walked for 18 days, after leaving the ape and the river has likely changed course multiple times in the ensuing 75 years. The tracker whispers to Jobert, asking if it is time and is told to wait. They come to a village where ivory hunting used to be a way of life and the people often traded with Horn. An old man recalls the course of the river and offers to guide, in exchange for any elephants they might shoot. Jon replies they aren't there to shoot elephants and the old man smiles and replies that white men usually find a reason to do so. Later, Jobert spots our putty-tat in the tree, with her supper and takes a shot. Jon tells her she better hope she missed and she warns him not to interfere again. Join checks the ground and finds blood and swears. The animal is wounded and dangerous and now he has to find it and finish it off. Jon and the tracker move out and the putty-tat leaps out to attack Jon and it gets its teeth into him, before the tracker saves him...  Jon is patched up, back at camp; but, the cat had rotted meat under her claws and septicemia is a danger. Myke is frantic and worried and snaps at the village elder and Jon stops her. Through the night, Jon is feverish and hallucinates. he sees himself questioned as to why he came back to Africa. he says to show Myke who he is. Myke is asked the question and she says to learn, about him and herself. She is asked if she loves him. Eden is seen and she says she keeps him writing and that is all. Josh Winters appears and says he doesn't like him; but the voice doesn't believe him and says a part f him does like Jon. Then it is Jobert is there and says she is there for ivory and wants to possess its beauty. The question "What are you doing here?' is repeated again and again and we see Jon wake up, asking the question. myke answers that she has been watching over him, through the night. His fever ran for 3 days. Thoughts: Part character, part complications and foreboding. Myke is seeing the beauty of Africa, through her eyes and Jon's, while continuing to feel uneasy about Claudine. Jon refuses to be a yes man and puts himself at odds with Claudine, from the start, as he will not overburden them on her whims and greed, nor endanger them needlessly. However, his instincts must be letting him down if he cannot smell a rat, from the start. The tracker's question to Claudine proves they plan to ambush him and it looked, for an instant, that was going to occur; but, the tracker saved Jon from the leopard so that he might die by Jobert's hands. The story is good; but the art isn't. Although Grell handles the environment and animals well, there is a scratchiness to the work that is uncharacteristic. Some of it looks half-finished, which is well below Grell's standards of professionalism. I'm not wild about the coloring of this and really miss Janice Cohen. The Baxter format also reproduces differently and we are on the early part of the learning curve. Grell has expressed that he isn't fond of his work at this stage, on the title. He was going through a divorce from wife Sharon, during this period and it affected his work. Also, his relationship with First started to become contentious and others had issues with the executives at the company. 1986 was a boom period for comics, across the board. DC was really starting to kick into high gear and was wresting back market share and mass media praise, with the help of people like Frank Miller and Alan Moore. Marvel is having some of its highest sales, ever. The independent scene is booming and new publishers have popped up, in response to that and the black & white fad that followed the TMNT. Dark Horse Comics started up this year, Malibu and its various imprints, Slave Labor Graphics started up, Viz, and Fantagor, while Eclipse continues to be strong, before their flood. First started to expand and most of their original talent moved on. Mike Gold proved influential in getting Grell to come back to do Longbow Hunters, at DC and in bringing in John Ostrander and Mike Baron to write. Howard Chaykin was leaving American Flagg and going back to do projects at DC. Grell's work suffered through this period, from both personal and professional lines. However, the writing is solid and gets you to overlook the art, though just barely. This storyline takes us back to the world of illegal ivory poaching, an industry that decimated the African elephant population, in the 1980s. In 1979, surveys estimated a population of 1.3 million African elephants. By 1989, only 600, 000 remained. Ivory trade claimed it was due to loss of habitat but investigations soon proved that illegal hunting and killing was at the heart of things, fueled by government corruption and the use of ivory poaching to fund arm sales for various rebel factions in the region. Much of the ivory was ending up in Hong Kong and Singapore, as ivory was a highly desired commodity in Asia. Efforts to protect the herds were undermined by Zimbabwe and South Africa, as well as other states with corruption and vested interests. Next issue, things turn bad and Myke will witness true savagery.
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