|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Aug 20, 2024 20:48:19 GMT -5
As for Shatner's "writing," I suspect the only thing he wrote was his name, when he endorsed the check. The fact that he had a co-author credited on his memoirs was enough to convince me he never wrote a line of his prose work, especially the novels. Ron Goulart wrote the Tek War stuff, and Jan and Michael Friedman were listed as co-authors on most of his Trek stuff and probably wrote everything. At best, he might have offered some plot ideas. Of course, the only way to prove that is to see the contracts. I thought Michael Jan Friedman was one person. Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens were credited as co-authors of several of Shatner's Star Trek novels. I forgot Friedman; but, if memory serves, he was credited on some books. I don't have copies and the titles tend to blend together; but, Shatner had one or two novels credited solely to him, but everything after at least had the real authors listed inside the book. Dust jackets would list his name, but the title page listed the actual writers, as co-authors. Ron Goulart had no credit on Tek War, until later, as I seem to recall seeing some kind of thank you to him. By the same token, Alan Dean Foster wrote the Star Wars novelization, based on George Lucas' script; but, only Lucas was credited on the novel, until the 90s, when new editions were released with a forward from Lucas, crediting Foster. |
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Aug 20, 2024 21:00:38 GMT -5
Judge Dredd was a blockbuster? Someone was in for a rude awakening. It made a profit, but even global box office was only about $20 million over the production budget. I like elements of it (none of which include the name Rob Schneider), but Demolition Man was closer in tone to the comics than this Stallone film.
I had The Big Book of Conspiracies. Fun read, but the usual huge leaps in logic and near total lack of evidence to support many claims. I haven't seen it in years, but I seem to recall it tried to balance the basic elements of the alleged conspiracy with at least some alternative claims or at least point out lack of evidence. I have digital copies....I ought to dig it up and look at it again. Doug Moench handled that one, with the usual variety of artists. If memory serves, the linking narrator was a Man-In-Black.
Or a member of the Blues Brothers Band.
|
|
|
|
Post by commond on Aug 21, 2024 15:27:26 GMT -5
DC Direct Currents #90 (September, 1995)  I thought I was out of the game by now, but I actually bought some of the Byrne's Wonder Woman. I didn't stick around for the entire run. As far as I recall, it was Byrne doing his typical reboot crap. Alan Grant and John Wagner reunite for a Batman/Judge Dredd one shot. There's a prestige format reprint of Mad Love (possibly because it won an Eisner?) Nightwing gets a miniseries, which is clearly testing the waters for an ongoing series. Lobo gets a pinup special. The Golden Age is collected in trade paperback form with a plug for Starman #11 featuring Golden Age heroes. Green Arrow reaches issue #100, and is so far removed from the Grell run that it makes my head hurt. Wally West and Kyle Rayner team up for the first time in Green Lantern #66. Milestone has its own little corner in this mags called Milestone this Month. They're still plugging away with their summer crossover. This month there are covers by Kent Williams. Finally, there's a plug for Star Trek and New Generation reaching their 75th issues. The cover of the month is Starman #11. Vertigo leads with Sandman Midnight Theatre. The team of Ed Brubaker and Eric Shanower bring us a Prez one shot. I didn't realize they'd worked together before on a Lowlife story. I need to put that on the dock. Enigma gets a trade paperback, and there's a Sandman retail poster available with art by Michael Zulli. The Vertigo cover of the month is Invisibles #12.
|
|
|
|
Post by chaykinstevens on Aug 21, 2024 15:40:05 GMT -5
The team of Ed Brubaker and Eric Shanower bring us a Prez one shot. I didn't realize they'd worked together before on a Lowlife story. I need to put that on the dock. According to GCD, their collaboration in Lowlife #1 was a one-pager. |
|
|
|
Post by commond on Aug 21, 2024 15:51:00 GMT -5
The team of Ed Brubaker and Eric Shanower bring us a Prez one shot. I didn't realize they'd worked together before on a Lowlife story. I need to put that on the dock. According to GCD, their collaboration in Lowlife #1 was a one-pager. You had me worried for a second, but it was a story they did together in Dark Horse Presents that was reprinted as a one shot by Fantagraphics. They were nominated for an Eisner for Best Writer/Artist Team in '93 but lost out to Mike Baron and Steve Rude. |
|
|
|
Post by commond on Aug 22, 2024 15:56:21 GMT -5
DC Direct Currents #91 (October, 1995)  I kind of like that Man Bat cover. It's from an Elseworlds miniseries by Jamie Delano and John Bolton. I actually don't like Bolton's artwork very much, but what's shown here looks interesting. I wonder if Elseworlds was a way for creators like Delano to do mainstream DC Universe work in the current climate. Next up we've got Darkseid vs. Galactus in John Byrne's The Hunger. I had no idea this existed. You don't hear anything about it these days so it can't have been very good. Speaking of Darkseid, there's a pretty awful looking New Gods series being launched. It lasts 15 issues. Bane is back for a one shot. There's a Batman pinup special featuring different costume designs for Batman Forever, a Sovereign Seven retail poster, and a plug for the new story arc in Starman, which, IIRC, is the first time Direct Currents has mentioned the Eisner awards. One feature I like is titled Meanwhile... and takes a look at some goings on in the ongoing titles. I wish they'd done this a lot sooner as one of the complaints readers had about Direct Currents is that it didn't do enough to promote the regular titles. The cover of the month is a Kent Wiilliams Hawkman cover. The lead feature for the Vertigo side is Howard Cruse's Stuck Rubber Baby, a Paradox Press hardcover graphic novel about a young man's sexual awakening as a gay man during the Civil Rights movement. The preview features words of praise from Will Eisner and Scott McCloud, which again, is a first for Direct Currents. I'm sorry to say I've never heard of the book until now, but I feel that it's something I should read. Upon its release it was met with near universal acclaim and was being compared to books like Maus, but it drifted out of print until 2010. Vertigo brings us a romantic comedy called Millennium Fever with art by Duncan Fegredo. There's another pinup special, which we're told are immensely popular, a small plug for the new Invisibles arc, and a hardcover collection for the first Sandman arc, Preludes and Nocturnes. The cover of the month is Sandman Mystery Theatre #31. Next it's the final issue of Direct Currents.
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Aug 22, 2024 16:33:19 GMT -5
I thought the Darkseid Galactus thing was pretty disappointing. Apart from the Amalagam imprint, I didn't care for most of the DC and Marvel second wave of crossovers, except for Batman & Captain America. That was a lot of fun. Steve Rude's art on Hulk & Superman was another. The rest you could keep.
Stuck Rubber Baby is an amazing piece of work. For those who don't know his work, Howard Cruse had worked around the undergrounds and independents, with features like Barefootz and Wendel. He had also contributed a column to the first generation of Comics Scene magazine, from Starlog Press. This was his masterpiece, a more personal story (somewhat fictionalized) about growing up in the South, during the Civil Rights Movement, and coming to terms both with the racial history and his own homosexuality. One of the things that shocked me, at the time, was a scene of racist attitudes within the gay community; though it probably shouldn't have done so. It seemed unfathomable to me that one oppressed group couldn't empathize with another, but that naively ignores that ignorance knows no barriers. Transference is a wonderful coping mechanism. That is why I shake my head when I hear someone from an oppressed minority say that can't be racist, who then turn around and exhibit racist behaviors towards another group. The book provokes thought, while giving us complex characters and an ultimately hopeful story.
The book is in print, though. It was reissued, with additional materials from Cruse's archives, in 2020, by First Second Books, for the 25th Anniversary of its publication. It was released a few months after Howard's death. It is available on Amazon, in hardcover, soft cover and Kindle editions.
The work actually began as a Piranha Press project, but was still in the drawing phase when that line was dissolved and it was carried over to Paradox Press. Later editions, I believe, carried the Vertigo logo.
|
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 22, 2024 17:24:43 GMT -5
DC Direct Currents #91 (October, 1995)I kind of like that Man Bat cover. It's from an Elseworlds miniseries by Jamie Delano and John Bolton. I actually don't like Bolton's artwork very much, but what's shown here looks interesting. I wonder if Elseworlds was a way for creators like Delano to do mainstream DC Universe work in the current climate. I actively dislike Bolton's artwork. I bought that miniseries, but have no memory of it at this point. |
|
|
|
Post by commond on Aug 23, 2024 16:34:17 GMT -5
DC Direct Currents #92 (September, 1995)
  And here we have the final issue of Direct Currents. The editors talk about the big changes going on in the business end of comics. They say DC is committed to making these changes positive for everyone concerned, especially the comic readers and retailers who have supported them for so long, however sometimes tough decisions have to be made and it is "with no small regret" that they announce that this is the final regular issue of Direct Currents. In reality, DC had signed an exclusive distribution deal with Diamond, and so you have the editors saying the good news is that solicitations for DC books will continue in Diamond Previews. Previews is available in comic specialty shops wherever DC comics are sold, but what they don't tell you is that is that Previews ain't free. The lead feature for our final issue is Mark Waid's Underworld Unleashed, a miniseries about a powerful new evil figure called Neron with tie-ins to various DC titles. Superboy meets the Legion of Super-Heroes for the first time in a three-part crossover. The Trial of Superman is a three month crossover running through the Superman books starting with a double-sized Man of Steel #50. There's a Batman Elseworlds story using the costume designs from that Batman Forever pinup special. Batman Adventures is relaunched as The Batman and Robin Adventures. Terminal Velocity is being collected as a trade paperback. There's a Superman Elseworlds story by Tom Veitch set in a post-apocalyptic future. There's a new Star Trek miniseries -- big ups to Star Trek for outliving Direct Currents. James Robinson, who's described as a "hot writer" has a Golden Age themed miniseries out called Vigilante. Finally, there's a Wonder Woman statute, and the likes of Mark Waid and Paul Dini are available to available to chat with online. The cover(s) of the month are the Milestone books with covers by Howard Chaykin. Vertigo has Mr. Punch in softcover, a Tank Girl miniseries written by Alan Grant, a Vertigo Voices one shot about a middle-class suburban family of cannibals by Peter Milligan (of course), and a psychological thriller from Paradox Press called Green Candles. There's also a preview for new story arcs in Preacher and Swamp Thing. The cover of the month is Swamp Thing #160. And that's it. I'll be back tomorrow with some odds and ends, and final thoughts on Direct Currents.
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Aug 23, 2024 21:35:12 GMT -5
The Vigilante mini was pretty cool, set in the post-war era, with Greg Saunders battling against Bugsy Siegel, who orders the murder of his sidekick, Stuff, as well as The Dummy, one of his old enemies. Lots of historical stuff about LA and Las Vegas and the Mob.
Found Underworld Unleashed rather underwhelming and it just seemed a way to undo some things from the past. In Starman, it is the source of the revival of the Ragdoll, which seemed a bit different than what Robinson had hinted, before Archie Goodwin's death.
I can't recall getting Direct Currents after leaving the military and returning to Illinois. I'm not sure my shop carried it. They were a Capital account and we got the Capital Advance Comics book, which covered things well enough. I was a subscriber to CBG and they had all of the upcoming features that were shown in Direct Currents. However, it was my go-to while in college and then in the military, until about 1992, or so.
I was so POed at DC for siding with Diamond, as Capital had a better operation and was more focused on comics and the industry than on collectibles and that segment of the market. They were also far friendlier to the independents and small press. When DC sided with Diamond, it hurt them; when Image and Dark Horse followed suit, it killed them.
|
|
|
|
Post by commond on Aug 24, 2024 20:05:35 GMT -5
I had an accident yesterday and injured my right arm. It's in a splint, so I'm typing this with one hand. I might have to stretch out the wrap up over several posts. Along with 92 regular issues, DC also released two Direct Currents specials. The first was in 1995.  It featured advance previews of many of the books that were featured in the glossy version of the newsletter, but there is also info about books that were published in the latter half of '95 and into early '96. We're told that plot threads from all of the Batman titles will converge in Detective Comics #700 in early '96. They hype the Batman movie and all of the various Batman books they have planned. including Batman: Black & White. They're excited for the Judge Dredd movie, which makes sense considering they were publishing those two ongoing Dredd books. Sandman is coming to an end, but they're still looking for ways to make money off it with new hardcover editions of the early trades, a new Death miniseries and the new The Dreaming series. There are plenty of Vertigo books in the works. The Horrorist, Mythos, Industrial Gothic and Vertigo Verite are books we haven't seen solicited yet. The Horrorist interests me as it's a John Constantine story by Jamie Delano and David Lloyd. The ongoing titles are also covered. Joining their ranks will be J.M. DeMatteis' Seekers. There'sa section for the Superman books as you'd expect. Sovereign Seven gets some hype. Milestone and Star Trek are covered. Paradox Press gets a nice two-page spread. DC continue to recognize Starman as one of their best books. There's a plug for DC's intercompany crossovers like Superman vs. Aliens and Lobo/Judge Dredd. Underworld Unleashed and other company crossovers receive a two page spread, then we close things out with plus for John Byrne's Wonder Woman, The Power of Shazam, Waid's Flash, and an upcoming project called Kingdom Come. Amusingly, there are general solicitations for all of DC's releases with generic descriptions of each book. You can tell some of the editors provided precious little input. Not a bad little special. If I'd still been buying comics religiously at the time, I would have been excited by these sneak previews. |
|
|
|
Post by EdoBosnar on Aug 25, 2024 3:07:12 GMT -5
I had an accident yesterday and injured my right arm. It's in a splint, so I'm typing this with one hand. (...) Oh, geez. That sounds pretty serious. Take care of yourself first. Posting can wait. |
|
|
|
Post by commond on Aug 26, 2024 6:32:01 GMT -5
The second Direct Currents Special was a preview of what lay ahead in 1997.  It opens with some poetic words from Paul Levitz much like the last special did. I don't know a lot about 1997 DC, so this should be revelatory for you and me. Superman has his new look and new powers. I don't hate the new look. I guess it's because I'm indifferent to Superman. They made a big deal out of Superman being published 52 weeks a year in both specials. I'm extremely interested in John Ostrander's Kents miniseries. Superman titles Supergirl, Steel and Superboy also get a plug. The youth movement continues with a Teen Titans Elseworlds special done in a manga style, Young Heroes in Love (billed as Melrose Place with super powers), and Impulse. There's a new group of books that focus on "black magic, dark humor, and malevolent mystery." I thought Vertigo dealt with those types of things but apparently someone felt they were missing from the DC Universe. One of the books is Challengers of the Unknown. Not sure that was what Jack had in mind for the boys. Wolfman is bringing back Night Force. I didn't know that happened. We get a two page spread of some of the anti-heroes and reluctant heroes in the DC Universe. Alex Ross did a Vertigo book? Ted McKeever did far more work for DC than I remembered. There is a new Terminal City miniseries in the works. I know Cody is a fan. Steve Gerber is also writing for Vertigo. Interesting times. Preacher was starting to grow in popularity and so there are a lot of specials planned. The Invisibles is relaunched with volume two. I love how they make a point of stating it will contain more accessible stories. There's a two page Sandman spread. I feel as though DC had a hard time letting go. More Vertigo and a little Paradox Press, including A History of Violence. There's some Amalgam and plenty of intercompany crossovers, none more worthy than Madman/Superman. There's a few pages of the more mainstream characters, including a spread on Morrison's JLA and related books. Helix gets a spread. There's Transmetropolitan. I don't know if the other books are any good but there are a lot of talented creators involved. Of course there is a Batman spread, and another movie. Then we close things out with the Adventures books, some comedy titles, and MAD. The back cover is a foreboding warning about John Byrne's Genesis. As with the previous special, I'd have been happy to get this for free if I'd still been collecting. DC resurrected Direct Currents for a single issue in 2016 before cancelling it again, but I won't be covering that. Next time I'll offer some final thoughts and then I'll start reading some of these books. |
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Aug 26, 2024 21:31:32 GMT -5
By the Alex Ross comment, I assume you mean Uncle Sam? Pretty good work, with Steve Darnall writing. Great encapsulation of many not-so-sterling moments in US history, which would prove timely, as we headed towards the 2000 Election fiasco and a very questionable outcome. Pretty cynical stuff; but, with an underlying theme of the ideals under which the country was founded, with hope to restore those ideals to head into the future. Best use of the old Quality character, from my viewpoint. Strictly speaking, it may or may not be the Quality hero; it could be interpreted as the symbolic figure, a raving homeless man, or something new. That was the beauty; you could interpret it how you wanted. They do reference at least one cover from Quality, with a giant Uncle Sam striding over US Warships, as they bring the fight to the Axis.
Terminal City is all kinds of awesome, from clever puns and allusions to a great little mystery story, all wrapped up in a failed retro future. Nice companion to Motter's Mister X, soon followed by Electropolis, which was set in the same world (and featured the return of Mister X).
Of the companion Super books, the only one I really followed for any length was Superboy. Good stuff there, from Karl Kesel, who knew how to have fun with the Superman mythos, especially Kirby's corner of that history.
Paradox published both History of Violence and the Road to Perdition volumes. The latter always seemed like it should be getting a summons from Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima, over the similarity with Lone Wolf and Cub.
I had forgotten Madman/Superman; that was a good crossover. It was the weird little ideas like that, Hulk/Superman, and Batman/Captain America that worked, while the stuff like Batman and Daredevil or Batman and Spawn fell flat, for me. Amalgam was mostly good (while DC vs Marvel was forgettable), though you could keep stuff like Bullets and Bracelets, Dark Claw and Assassins. Stuff like JLX, Spider-Boy and Bruce Wayne, Agent of SHIELD were all kinds of awesome sauce!
The Kents was pretty good, looking at the family history. Don't quote me on this; but, I believe Ostrander was at least partially inspired by John Jakes' The Kent Family Chronicles, a series of books about an American family, starting with The Bastard, in 1974, as the first Kent comes to America, leading into the Revolutionary War, with The Rebels and the Westward expansion, with The Seekers, continuing to The Americans, in 1979. I know it was also inspired by his late wife, Kim Yale, turning him onto Westerns.
|
|
|
|
Post by commond on Aug 31, 2024 19:15:29 GMT -5
I thought I'd wrap this up by sharing some thoughts on Direct Currents. When I first discovered comic book shops, Direct Currents was a way for me to stay connected to comics. I would pour over each issue, imagining the stories that were taking place in comic books I couldn't afford. Little did I know that Paul Kupperberg was often writing these blurbs with zero input from the editors. To me, they were precious nuggets of information and I treated each blurb as if they were gold. Once I grew a little older, the speculator boom hit, and I was caught in a wave of hot books. DC were late to the party with the speculator boom and Direct Currents faded into the background. It wasn't until I became a teenager that DC was able to appeal to me again through the Vertigo line. By that stage, I was ignoring the DC Universe books completely, which would have been unfathomable to the ten year-old boy who first discovered Direct Currents. What made Direct Currents stand out in the late 80s was that it was a comic book-sized newsletter printed on high quality mando paper. It was far slicker than the rest of the trade press, which was printed on newsprint. The newsletter was at its peak in the early years when it featured an editor's column, readers' letters, and monthly interviews. This was the tail end of the Direct Market era, a robust and creative era for DC comics where creators were given the freedom to create comics with a more mature audience in mind. There were no imprints. The only division between books were the paper they were printed on and whether they carried the "Suggested for Mature Readers" title. Even the most mainstream of books tried to be more sophisticated during this era. Fans eventually grew sick of "grim and gritty" superhero comics, but compared to the comics that followed, the post-Crisis years of 1988-89 (and even into 1990) were a lot closer in spirit to Swamp Thing, Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns than foil enhanced covers and hologram trading cards. Once the 90s truly began (circa '92), Direct Currents began to change. Eventually, it lost its unique features and because strictly commercial. The launch of Vertigo, and the flipbook format for Direct Currents, provided an alternative to the speculator madness, although Vertigo wasn't without its growing pains. Direct Currents never regained the charm it lost by axing its special features, however after the market crashed, I got the feeling that DC were trying to return to an even keel by publishing more of the high quality books they were known for. In retrospect, DC published better books from '95-97 than I gave them credit for, however by that stage I already a niche reader. Ultimately, Direct Currents couldn't survive the distribution wars and the growth of the internet, but I still go back to those early years and how much the newsletters meant to me. Such fond memories. I wish I could bottle them somehow. If anyone is interested, Paul Kupperberg self-published a collection of the interviews he did for Direct Currents -- www.paulkupperberg.net/product-page/direct-comments-comic-book-creators-in-their-own-words I've spent the past few weeks reading old DC books from the Direct Currents era and will start posting reviews soon. |
|
