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Post by codystarbuck on Mar 3, 2024 13:50:32 GMT -5
Blueberry 1: Chihuahua Pearl and Blueberry 2: A Ballad for a Coffin (1989)This was my first serious look at Jean-Michel Charlier and Jean Giraud's Blueberry comics. Suffice to say, they're some of the best comics that Marvel were publishing at the time. Not that they can stake much of a claim to French comic books from the 70s, but they deserve credit for introducing them to the American market and by proxy the English speaking comic book world. The stories aren't as grim as I was expecting. I thought they would be more in line with the spaghetti westerns of the era. That said, they're not really in line with the Western pulp magazines either. Blueberry is an atypical Western hero, just not a Clint Eastwood or Franco Nero type. Apparently, he was based on the French actor, Jean-Paul Belmondo, of Breathless fame. The art is much different from other Moebius that I've read. In fact, at this stage I believe he hadn't dreamed up his Moebius alter-ego yet. His work on Blueberry was staunchly realistic, which is a fascinating contrast to his sci-fi and fantasy work. It's impressive that the same artist could produce such vastly different work. I read these books on Sunday afternoons, which felt like catching an old Western on the television. Comfort reading if ever there was some. Definitely interested in reading the further adventures of Lieutenant Blueberry. Blueberry came first and he signed his art "Gir." When he started doing the science fiction/fantasy stuff, he adopted the new name, Moebius, to differentiate it from his other work. The series actually grew out of an earlier series, Fort Navajo, which began in 1963. It was supposed to be an ensemble feature; but, Blueberry quickly became the star. The stuff that Marvel reprinted was from the 70s; but, the feature was a hit, in the 60s. Giraud was a fan of earlier European western comics, like Frank et Jeremie, and had worked with mentor Jije, on his Jerry Spring, in Spirou. Giraud had talked to writer Jean-Michel Charlier about doing some western comics; but, he wasn't interested, at the time. It was after he was sent by Pilote to the Mojave Desert, to gather material for some of their educational comics, that the idea of the landscape and a western came to mind. he approached Jije about doing it, but he felt it was a conflict of interest, since he worked for Spirou, which competed with Pilote, but recommended Giraud. Thus was born Fort Navajo, soon to be retitled Blueberry. Amazingly, we have only seen one film realized out of it, and not a particularly good one or even a remotely faithful one, with the 2004 film, starring Vincent Cassel. There was an attempt to finance a tv mini-series, for European television, in 1983, with Sergio Leonne expressing interest, which failed to draw investors. A few years later, Martin Kove (Kreese of Karate Kid fame and the tv show Cagney and Lacey), was involved in an attempt to do a movie. Kove wanted to adapt the comics; but, the producers wanted to turn it into a generic western. It didn't go anywhere. Another production was attempted, which turned it into an Indiana Jones ripoff, with Aztec pyramids and lost treasure, which thankfully went nowhere. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 4, 2024 9:01:58 GMT -5
Blueberry 1: Chihuahua Pearl and Blueberry 2: A Ballad for a Coffin (1989)This was my first serious look at Jean-Michel Charlier and Jean Giraud's Blueberry comics. Suffice to say, they're some of the best comics that Marvel were publishing at the time. Not that they can stake much of a claim to French comic books from the 70s, but they deserve credit for introducing them to the American market and by proxy the English speaking comic book world. The stories aren't as grim as I was expecting. I thought they would be more in line with the spaghetti westerns of the era. That said, they're not really in line with the Western pulp magazines either. Blueberry is an atypical Western hero, just not a Clint Eastwood or Franco Nero type. Apparently, he was based on the French actor, Jean-Paul Belmondo, of Breathless fame. Indeed he was!  It's very obvious in the first volumes (Especially Fort Navajo, in which Blueberry isn't simply inspired by Belmondo; he's drawn exactly like him. Pretty quickly the character developed a more personal look, however, with his broken nose becoming more obvious. Moebius was an astonishing artist. The fact that he lettered with a brush still has me floored. |
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Post by commond on Mar 14, 2024 19:30:54 GMT -5
The Elsewhere Prince #1-6 (1990)
I thoroughly enjoyed this comic.
It was a spinoff of Moebius' Airtight Garage, written by Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier, Moebius' representatives in the States, and drawn by Eric Shanowner of Age of Bronze fame. There were problems with the coloring, and Shanowner wasn't that happy with how the book turned out overall, but honestly, it's my second favorite work of his after Age of Bronze. He hadn't reached the level of craftsmanship he'd achieve on AoB, but he was getting there. It's particularly evident in the faces, which have that distinct Shanowner look. Mostly, it's just an incredibly fun comic. It's not weighed down by the density of the plot or overburdened by exposition like some sci-fi comics. It's brisk, exciting, and full of adventure. Easily one of the best books that Marvel released in 1990.
I think you can draw a clear line between the first half of DeFalco's tenure and the second half with the demarcation line being the speculator boom. The sale to the Andrews Group was a major factor, but there is a clear difference in the Marvel that I was first introduced to from '88-90 and the soulless cash grab that followed. To be honest, I'm kind of proud that books like this exist from my formative years of reading Marvel since my formative years are often overlooked and almost never celebrated.
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Post by commond on Mar 19, 2024 18:02:59 GMT -5
Ted McKeever's Metropol #1-12 (1991-1992)
I did not enjoy this comic.
It's not that I can't appreciate weird comic books, it's just that there's good weird and there's bad weird. It started off okay, but descended into a boring tale a battle between angels and demons. Honestly, it reminded me of the kind of stuff that I would have written as a teenager. The art and coloring were incredibly ugly (intentionally so, but still ugly as sin.) I should have known that McKeever isn't for me as Eddy Current didn't do much for me either, but I was intrigued by an indie guy coming over to Marvel and publishing their work at Epic (originally it was supposed to be a Comico series.) The story doesn't end here, either. Time will tell if I read the follow up series or not.
On a more positive note, Mignola does the art on an Eddy Current backup story in issues #9-11 that's better than anything in the main story and another stepping stone towards the work he'd do on Hellboy.
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Post by commond on Mar 20, 2024 17:37:09 GMT -5
Conan the Barbarian: The Skull of Set (1989)
This may be the first Conan story I've read that wasn't written by Roy Thomas. This a Moench & Gulacy collaboration. The story doesn't justify being a graphic novel, but I couldn't pass on the opportunity to see Gulacy do Conan. That's the primary appeal of this book. Gulacy draws an interesting Conan (much leaner than the hulking Buscema Conan), and of course there are many Gulacy women. Plenty of rear ends on display. The story starts off like a Western before the obligatory Sword and Sorcery stuff. It's not bad, I just can't imagine it was worth forking out $8.95 for back in the day.
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Post by berkley on Mar 20, 2024 20:54:10 GMT -5
Conan the Barbarian: The Skull of Set (1989)This may be the first Conan story I've read that wasn't written by Roy Thomas. This a Moench & Gulacy collaboration. The story doesn't justify being a graphic novel, but I couldn't pass on the opportunity to see Gulacy do Conan. That's the primary appeal of this book. Gulacy draws an interesting Conan (much leaner than the hulking Buscema Conan), and of course there are many Gulacy women. Plenty of rear ends on display. The story starts off like a Western before the obligatory Sword and Sorcery stuff. It's not bad, I just can't imagine it was worth forking out $8.95 for back in the day.
I'm a Moench & Gulacy fan, separately and together, and thus I was probably always going to like this as long as they didn't screw around with the basic REH characters and setting in some drastic or unacceptable way. And going by memory, like it I did. Not the greatest Conan story ever told but pretty solid.
I'd like to have seen Paul Gulacy do more in the sword & sorcery vein, perhaps a Kull story, though I think possibly his clean style would have been better suited to ERB-type planetary romance, which we never really got to see him try, to my knowledge. Are you reading this, Mr. Gulacy? There's still time!
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Post by rberman on Mar 22, 2024 8:32:02 GMT -5
Conan the Barbarian: The Skull of Set (1989)This may be the first Conan story I've read that wasn't written by Roy Thomas. This a Moench & Gulacy collaboration. The story doesn't justify being a graphic novel, but I couldn't pass on the opportunity to see Gulacy do Conan. That's the primary appeal of this book. Gulacy draws an interesting Conan (much leaner than the hulking Buscema Conan), and of course there are many Gulacy women. Plenty of rear ends on display. The story starts off like a Western before the obligatory Sword and Sorcery stuff. It's not bad, I just can't imagine it was worth forking out $8.95 for back in the day. Some of these were older works published in the "Marvel Graphic Novel" line just to fill a slot reserved at the printer. That was the case with "Conan the Barbarian: The Horn of Azoth" (1990), which says "Inventory story" right on the art pages, and then was stamped "Conan graphic novel." It was probably originally commissioned for a title like Savage Sword.  |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 22, 2024 8:44:18 GMT -5
Conan the Barbarian: The Skull of Set (1989)This may be the first Conan story I've read that wasn't written by Roy Thomas. This a Moench & Gulacy collaboration. The story doesn't justify being a graphic novel, but I couldn't pass on the opportunity to see Gulacy do Conan. That's the primary appeal of this book. Gulacy draws an interesting Conan (much leaner than the hulking Buscema Conan), and of course there are many Gulacy women. Plenty of rear ends on display. The story starts off like a Western before the obligatory Sword and Sorcery stuff. It's not bad, I just can't imagine it was worth forking out $8.95 for back in the day. Some of these were older works published in the "Marvel Graphic Novel" line just to fill a slot reserved at the printer. That was the case with "Conan the Barbarian: The Horn of Azoth" (1990), which says "Inventory story" right on the art pages, and then was stamped "Conan graphic novel." It was probably originally commissioned for a title like Savage Sword. That's interesting! The Horn of Azoth is actually based on the plot Roy and Gerry Conway had drafted for the second Conan movie, Conan the Destroyer. My guess is that when Roy returned t Marvel and to the Cimmerian, he thought he might as well adapt that tale. Not being quite canonical, it makes sense that it would have been kept in inventory until an opportunity presented itself for it to see the light of day. Not the best Conan GN there is, I must admit. The plot is mundane and the art feels rushed. It felt like one of the generic SSoC from the '80s. |
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Post by zaku on Mar 22, 2024 8:56:05 GMT -5
The Transmutation of Ike Garuda #1-2 (1991-1992)
This was a two-part prestige format series written by Elaine Lee with art by James Sherman. Lee had created Starstruck in the early 80s, her own original off-Broadway play that she adapted into a comic with Michael Kaluta. It was originally serialized in the States in the pages of Heavy Metal magazine and then collected into a graphic novel by Epic in 1985. Ike Garuda is a sci-fi noir that borrows some elements of Philip K. Dick and/or Blade Runner. I'm not the biggest sci-fi fan in the world, and I freely admit that I had to read the second issue twice to better understand the story because of the number of characters involved, the confusion over double identities and erased memories and the sheer amount of exposition involved. However, I imagine that a more astute reader would revel in the plot. The art was cool. Sherman is best known for taking over from Mike Grell as the regular penciler on Legion of Super-Heroes. I'm not sure how his work here compares to his regular DC and Marvel work, but he appeared to bring a European sci-fi aesthetic to his work while resembling Gulacy at times. It was nice work. Certainly a cut above the average Marvel comic being released at the time. I have to read this! |
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Post by commond on Mar 31, 2024 18:16:53 GMT -5
A Tale From the Heart of Africa: Bloodlines (1992)
Epic picks up Cindy Goff, Rafael Nieves and Seitu Hayden's indie series, Tales from the Heart, for a series of graphic novels. Tales from the Heart was a semi-autobiographical account of Goff's experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Central African Republic in the mid-1980s. This particular novel is about the reign of Jean-Bédel Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic in the 60s and 70s, and self-proclaimed Emperor of Central Africa. I'm not sure how historically accurate it is, but it sure is harrowing. Not your typical Marvel comic. The artwork is a bit stiff, which would stop me from recommending this as highly as some of the other Epic books I've read, but by 1992 Marvel standards, it's practically a Pulitzer winner. In fact, it was nominated for two Eisners in 1993.
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Post by senatortombstone on Apr 24, 2024 20:20:15 GMT -5
Some of these were older works published in the "Marvel Graphic Novel" line just to fill a slot reserved at the printer. That was the case with "Conan the Barbarian: The Horn of Azoth" (1990), which says "Inventory story" right on the art pages, and then was stamped "Conan graphic novel." It was probably originally commissioned for a title like Savage Sword. That's interesting! The Horn of Azoth is actually based on the plot Roy and Gerry Conway had drafted for the second Conan movie, Conan the Destroyer. My guess is that when Roy returned t Marvel and to the Cimmerian, he thought he might as well adapt that tale. Not being quite canonical, it makes sense that it would have been kept in inventory until an opportunity presented itself for it to see the light of day. Not the best Conan GN there is, I must admit. The plot is mundane and the art feels rushed. It felt like one of the generic SSoC from the '80s. I picked up Horn of Azoth 20 years ago at used book store for $2.98, which is a bargain compared to what it goes for on eBay today. However, I did not actually read it until few years ago, and when I did I noticed how similar it was to Conan the Destroyer, but still very different. While it is clearly non-conanical, there are several Easter Eggs that only Roy would have stuffed in. From page 17, Bombaata from the movie is called Strabo and his character clearly based on Baal-Pteor. On the same page it also depicts Conan expounding on the cult of his people, lifting nearly verbatim from REH. What I found most interesting is how it shows Conan dealing with the ramifications of his crimes. In pursuit of treasure, Conan kills a wizard name Rammon . Even by the standards of the Hyborian Age it was murder, as you cannot claim self-defense when a property owner retaliates against you after break into his fortress.
This wizard has a young son, Rammon, jr., who pursues Conan in an attempt to avenge his father, but eventually ends up joining forces with the barbarian to battle against an even greater evil, and at the end of story of his own volition he stays his hand from slaying Conan when the all-too-brief opportunity arises.
Conan clearly feels bad about killing the boy's father and does not dispatch the lad or let nature take its course when he has the opportunity to do so.
Conan is not a villain, but neither is he a hero, he is an adventurous rogue that lives by his hillman code of honor.
Despite this, many of his actions are completely unjustifiable and rarely do we ever see forced to deal with the victims of his actions.
Conan is not the type to waste time with guilt or regret, he makes mistakes, deals with the consequences, learns from them, and then moves on.
I really wish there had been a few more stories by Roy dealing with this kind of situation.
Even if the story is non-conanical, that is not necessarily a bad thing, as the entire run of SSoC not written by Roy is also pretty much non-Conanical, and a such a story by Roy reads like a good issue of What If? |
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Post by commond on May 3, 2024 18:12:05 GMT -5
Blueberry 3: Angel Face (1989), Blueberry 4: The Ghost Tribe (1990) & Blueberry 5: The End of the Trail (1990)
These graphic novels represent the conclusion to Blueberry's quest to clear his name. It's a long, sprawling tale with many twists and turns, and I imagine quite exhausting to read continuously. Each graphic novel contains two installments of the story. I read one installment per weekend over the course of six weeks at a far more leisurely pace. The art seemed to dip a bit towards the end, and I wondered if Giraud' heart was still in it as I had read that he did Blueberry to pay the bills so he could purse his more experimental "Moebius" stuff. Things picked up again in the final volume, however, and the art was restored to its previous grandeur. It would be remiss of me not to mention the coloring on these books, some of which is done by Moebius himself as well as various other colorists. The coloring is some of my favorite work in comics, and along with the painted Moebius covers, make these gorgeous books to read. It seems the lasting legacy of Epic was introducing a new generation of readers and cartoonists to the works of Moebius and Otomo. It seems bizarre that Marvel would be the curator for such a thing, but give the hard working editors their due.
These Blueberry books must have sold well enough to encourage Epic to print more Blueberry stories in '91. I wonder how much Blueberry we would have gotten if the Epic line hadn't been squashed by the money men.
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Post by berkley on May 3, 2024 18:55:21 GMT -5
Blueberry 3: Angel Face (1989), Blueberry 4: The Ghost Tribe (1990) & Blueberry 5: The End of the Trail (1990)These graphic novels represent the conclusion to Blueberry's quest to clear his name. It's a long, sprawling tale with many twists and turns, and I imagine quite exhausting to read continuously. Each graphic novel contains two installments of the story. I read one installment per weekend over the course of six weeks at a far more leisurely pace. The art seemed to dip a bit towards the end, and I wondered if Giraud' heart was still in it as I had read that he did Blueberry to pay the bills so he could purse his more experimental "Moebius" stuff. Things picked up again in the final volume, however, and the art was restored to its previous grandeur. It would be remiss of me not to mention the coloring on these books, some of which is done by Moebius himself as well as various other colorists. The coloring is some of my favorite work in comics, and along with the painted Moebius covers, make these gorgeous books to read. It seems the lasting legacy of Epic was introducing a new generation of readers and cartoonists to the works of Moebius and Otomo. It seems bizarre that Marvel would be the curator for such a thing, but give the hard working editors their due. These Blueberry books must have sold well enough to encourage Epic to print more Blueberry stories in '91. I wonder how much Blueberry we would have gotten if the Epic line hadn't been squashed by the money men.
I should be getting back to this series soon after having neglected it the last year or two. I'm at the sequence before this one, though, the one that begins with Chihuahua Pearl.
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Post by commond on Jun 9, 2024 0:59:44 GMT -5
Tor #1-4 (1993)
This was part of Epic's Heavy Hitters line, which was one of several attempts Marvel made to make Epic more commercially appealing. Unfortunately, Marvel's idea of a "suggested for mature readers" book was to stuff it full of sex and violence. So here we get an incredibly graphic and violent version of Tor with a female character who is topless throughout. The artwork is amazing. Kubert's DC Tor had mostly been reprints of his 1950s stories, but with this series he had the freedom to work at his own pace and produced incredibly detailed artwork. I believe the series was originally printed as a magazine-sized floppy, which must have done the artwork even more justice. There's not much of a plot to ruminate over. The 1950s Tor stories would often highlight how prehistoric man's basic struggle for survival wasn't much different from own struggles, and despite being thrown out of his clan and left to wander the Earth, Tor operated with his own personal code and often stuck up for the weak and oppressed. The Epic series is basically a violent revenge story. Tor is heroic and makes personal sacrifices, but it's very much action-oriented (and heavy-hitting.) Kubert draws Tor with the most amazing hair. He looks like a Shonen Jump character. I wonder if Joe was following the trends at the time or having fun messing around with the design. I'll be interested to see what the 2008 Tor series is like.
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Post by commond on Jun 15, 2024 16:50:02 GMT -5
Punisher War Zone #31-36 (1994-1995)
Joe Kubert draws the Punisher! Now, I'm sure there's a host of other things people would rather see Joe Kubert draw than the Punisher, but the point of this thread is to uncover the Marvel books that are worth reading under the stewardship of Tom DeFalco, and you're not going to find too many better looking books than this from 1994/95 Marvel. These books came right at the end of DeFalco's tenure. In fact, they continued to be published after he was fired but still list his name as Editor in Chief despite most books carrying the group editor's name at the time.
Punisher War Zone was the Punisher's third simultaneous ongoing series, which is crazy to me all these years later. It was loosely based on Legends of the Dark Knight as it featured different arcs drawn by different artists. This arc was written by Chuck Dixon, a solid albeit unspectacular writer, who tended to write more grounded Punisher stories than the cocaine-fueled Baron stories. In fact, this story came not long after the storyline where an entire skyscraper collapsed on the Punisher and he was presumed dead. People still talk about the Death of Superman and Knightfall to this very day, but somehow they overlook Suicide Run. There's an argument to be made that Suicide Run killed the golden goose as far as the Punisher went. This story is simple, however. The Punisher teams up with the Russian equivalent of himself and together they take on the Russian mob on their own turf. They wind up in Sarajevo, and the Punisher reflects on the conflict over there, which as we know was of concern to Kubert. The story is fine. The art is great. Kubert didn't do a lot of work for Marvel post-Atlas, but his boys had begun getting work for Marvel (benefitting in no small part from the Image guys leaving), and there's a sense that he is penciling and inking the book in a similar fashion to his sons' styles. In other words, a Joe Kubert for the 90s. This actually lead to a lot of criticism from The Comics Journal over his artwork on Fax from Sarajevo, but screw them. The worst part of this storyline is the lettering. Lettering was quite possibly the worst thing about the 90s.
John Buscema also did some work on Punisher War Zone, and I'm curious to see who did the better Punisher.
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