Good Reads :: No Assembly Required.

I’ve been reading The Avengers for a long time now. I was there for the Kree-Skrull War, and the "War" with the Defenders. 

I was there when they fought the Serpent Crown and the Squadron Supreme, barely survived the Korvac saga, government dictated line-ups, and outlasted innumerable extinction-level schemes from Ultron.

I’ve encountered celestial beings, mad Titans, and even saw an android marry my favorite mutant. I’m well versed in several encounters with the Masters of Evil, especially the time they took over the Mansion and nearly destroyed the team. (No. Seriously. I thought the bad guys had ‘em that time.)

I was there for Onslaught, Rebirth, and Reborn. I remember when Kang actually conquered the world, and then watched as the team rallied and took it back from that tin-pot tyrant from the future one issue at a time.

I’ve seen them disassembled, reassembled, fragmented, and franchised. (Great Lakes Avengers represent!) Watched as they went through a Civil War, a Secret Invasion, a holy war with the Phoenix-possessed X-Men, and cheered when they rallied the Universe and stopped the cosmic Builders cold on the Galactic Frontier. Not to mention seeing them through not one, or two, but three Secret Wars.

I’ve seen them get bigger, smaller, younger, older, and even darker, and seen characters and line-ups, writers and artists, both good and bad, come and go. But I don’t think I’ve ever read anything quite like the first trade of Jason Aaron’s current run on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

If you’re a fan of the franchise, this belongs in the conversation as one of the greatest Avengers stories ever told. My mind be boggled. And I cannot wait to see what happens next. Go. Read this. NOW! 

Good Reads :: Standing On the Edge of the Opportunities and the Perils of Darwyn Cooke's The New Fronter (2004)

I would argue that Darwyn Cooke’s The New Frontier (2004) is probably the best thing DC Comics has published in the last twenty or so years. Set in the gray area between the Golden and Silver Age of comics, after an opening preamble set in 1945 involving The Losers and a suicide mission on Dinosaur Island, the majority of the tale takes place in the martini-soaked, jet-set and space age of the 1950s as the Cold War and McCarthyism sees the disbanding of the JSA and the forced retirement of masked vigilantes, making way for non-superhero groups like the original Task Force-X / Suicide Squad and the Challengers of the Unknown.

Still, a brand new generation of costumed crime-fighters and caped crusaders are starting to appear, some terrestrial, others not so much as Kryptonians, Martians and alien power rings find their way to Earth. But in this age of paranoia and conspiracy the government does their best to shut these heroes down -- with a few exceptions. And not to over-simplify things but there is a paradigm shift in this attitude when a crisis with extinction-level ramifications hits and all these new heroes unite under government sanction to take out the threat and usher in a new age of heroes; a new frontier, if you will.

Whenever I reread The New Frontier it’s always a slow go because I tend to savor every panel and every minute detail Cooke sticks into each panel to just soak it all in. It's pure alchemy. And as I get toward the end there is always a pang of regret because I do not want this adventure to end. I had always hoped Cooke had more vintage Challengers of the Unknown tales to tell -- easily the best and my most favorite part of the book. Alas, Cooke passed away last year so this will never be but at least we got this and for that (-- and his Catwoman run, and those Parker adaptations --) I will always be eternally grateful to him.

Now, one of the most amazing and refreshing things about the plot of The New Frontier, in my experience, is how the Batman essentially disappears for the climax, realizing he can actually do more good in this cosmic fight against something like ‘The Center’ as Bruce Wayne (-- established in one throwaway panel). Given the nature of DC’s ‘All Batman All the Time’ attitude it was a ballsy movie and I’m kinda surprised they let Cooke get away with it. Of course, Superman gets knocked out of the final battle as well. As does Wonder Woman, though less so, leaving it up to the likes of the Flash, a brand new Green Lantern, the Martian Manhunter, the Challengers, Adam Strange and several more familiar faces -- including the Blackhawks and a scientific brain trust that includes Will Magnus, Niles Caulder and Ray Palmer, to end the threat.

Which brings us to the animated version of The New Frontier (2008), which gets to the root of my point here. In the adaptation, of course, the Batman was brought out front and center to prove once again that he is the smartest man in the room and only he and he alone has the smarts and know-how to save the day like he always does and they always do -- sorry, but, *yawn* and *yawn* again, while everyone else is pushed way back into the background because god forbid they actually do something that ISN’T Bat-Centric in the DC animated universe.

So, in this version there are no Losers, no Rick Flagg, no Suicide Squad, no Adam Strange, and no Challengers of the Unknown (-- that glorified cameo does not count, sorry), which, to me, is unconscionable. And if the supplemental materials on the DVD are to be believed, the main reason all of that happened is because Bruce Timm thought it would be “cool” to see the vintage Bat-Plane in action during the climax. Well, screw that noise as far as I’m concerned. Next thing you know Batman will be screwing Batgirl.

Alright, fine. That’s a little harsh. The cartoon is actually pretty good at capturing the spirit of Cooke’s epic saga and is entertaining enough. But as an adaption of the story, it @#%*ing sucks. And so, if you’ve seen that and haven’t read The New Frontier comics I encourage you to do so to get the real picture of what the creator had intended. And if you’ve read the comics but haven’t seen the feature version yet brace yourselves for some drastic changes. It kinda takes a massive dump on it but at least there was some effort to clean it up before presenting the finished result. And you’ll still recognize it for what it is but also for what it isn’t, and so, you may just want to skip it altogether. I kinda wish I did. 

Favorites :: Comic Books :: The Fine Art of Self-Defense in Five More Easy Lessons Courtesy of Lee Elias' The Black Cat (1946-1958)

"Since the success of judo depends on the swiftness of your 

counter-attack, it is essential to know more than one procedure."

For the first round of judo lessons and a brief history of Linda Turner, Hollywood starlet and stunt-woman by day and masked crime fighter The Black Cat by night, click right here. 

Favorites :: Comic Books :: The Fine Art of Self-Defense in Five Easy Lessons Courtesy of Lee Elias' The Black Cat (1946-1958)

 "In practicing these tricks, use 

caution as you may injure your partner."

The Black Cat debuted in August, 1941, in Pocket Comics #1, one of many in a surge of costumed crime-fighters who crawled out of the woodwork to battle spies and fifth columnists and occasionally even punch Hitler himself right in the face as the United States entered World War II. Here, Linda Turner, Hollywood starlet and stunt-woman by day, first adopted her motor-cycle riding and ju-jitsu-trained alter ego when she suspected her director of being a Nazi spy.

The character was quickly shifted to Speed Comics, another anthology, featuring another rare costumed female fighter in Pat Parker, War Nurse, along with Captain Freedom and Shock Gibson.

Eventually, the character proved popular enough to garner her own book, Black Cat Comics, in 1946, where The Black Cat and Linda Turner really evolved into something unique and truly special, thanks in most part to the genius of artist Lee Elias. (Alas, the scribes on a lot of these vintage comics were never credited so I have no idea who wrote any of them.) And with a combination of daring do mixed with a peek into Hollywood life, complete with some kooky illustrated star-bios that are an absolute scream, topped off with these how-to self defense guides, these stories are priceless.

Alas, as tastes shifted, The Black Cat attempted to adjust right along with them, becoming Black Cat Western, with our starlet starring in westerns, 'natch, and then she adopted a teen side-kick when things got a bit darker and weirder in Black Cat Mysteries before the character was pushed out of her own comic altogether when it went all-out for gruesome horror with "strange tales of fear and superstition" with Black Cat Mystics until it's eventual cancellation in 1958. 

All of the aforementioned books were published by Harvey Comics and are now in the public domain, a fate which befell a lot of properties when there publishes went out of business and copyrights lapsed, making The Black Cat comics fairly easy to access on the World Wide Web, and I cannot recommend them enough. Or if you chose to wait, fear not, another crash-course from our heroine will be coming soon. Stay tuned, Boils and Ghouls! 

Favorites :: Inks and Paints :: Dial "S" for the Subs, Then "D" for Disaster :: Best Birthday Ever!

Once again artist Tom Fowler perfectly captures the disaster-prone essence of The Legion of Substitute Heroes. I have always held a deep affection for the 'Never say die' attitude of the Subs, who, despite a colossal amount of collateral damage, most of it self-inflicted, have managed to save the Legion's hash on several occasions and, here, the artist has once more captured that gung-ho espirit de corps quite beautifully. For more of Fowler's wonderful work, follow the link to his website.

In Memoriam :: Happy Trails, Herb.

When I was a kid growing up in the 1970s, my comic book buying was very sporadic. Purchases were usually made every six months or so, basically whenever the whole family was hauled to the barbershop for a mass haircut, which was located right next to the Central News Stand, which had a wall of comics to peruse through. (Also, a huge amount of porn, which brought tri-annual picket lines from the local demagogues. Lines I remember defying and breaking through. Even the Lord Almighty couldn't keep me from my funny books. Anyhoo... ) A virtual 4-color Nirvana it was, and if you behaved in the barber's chair, your reward was a comic book. And whenever, by some miracle, I behaved, I usually blew my reward on a copy of The Incredible Hulk -- because what child can resist the story of a gentle giant that no one understands but his woman with a penchant for city-leveling temper tantrums and the mass of army men charged with capturing him, amIright?

Thus and so, began a decades long love of old Jade Jaws. Sure, my version of the story was severely truncated but at least some effort was made back then to treat each issue as if it was the very first one you read, allowing new readers to get up to speed and others, like myself, to get caught up on what we'd missed. (As usual, my timing sucked enough to miss out on issues #180 and #181, which could've helped pay off my house, but, no. Of COURSE I got #182... ) And if you were really lucky, and good at the con game, you could get your hands on one of those Treasury Editions, which were super-sized reprints featuring whole story arcs of your favorite characters. Hell yeah!

Herb Trimpe was the artist on the Hulk when I got hooked. Trimpe is probably best known for his work on The Incredible Hulk, which, for my money, was the best rendition of the character ever put on paper -- especially if John or Marie Severin were doing the inks. The artist drew the mag for nearly seven years straight, where he famously rendered the first appearance of Wolverine (in those aforementioned missed issues. No. I AM NOT BITTER. AM NOT! AM NOT! AM NOT!)

And while the stories were cool, full of monsters, and kind of a head-trip, it was the art that kept bringing me back. Trimpe's drawings simply exploded off the page, with fists or feet or whole bodies breaking through the panel and plane. His art was fluid and you'd swear you could see it move from panel to panel and feel each landed punch. I loved his splash pages, and would spend hours perusing all the details in his massive double-spreads.  He was also amazing at depicting tech and military equipment. Trimpe was instrumental in the formation of the Hulkbusters, who constantly hounded our hero, even though he usually made short work of their tanks, aircraft and artillery.

After he left the Hulk, Trimpe sort of became Marvel's go-to artists for their licensed properties and toy-lines, including Godzilla and the Shogun Warriors (and he later helped launch G.I. Joe), where his layouts and forced perspective work to give the King of the Monsters and those giant battle-bots size and scale were pretty damned amazing in my book.

In fact, I think Trimpe runs second only to King Kirby, himself, when it came to these kind of nightmare creatures, kit-bashed doodads and cosmic whiz-bangery. And I kind of bristle when Trimpe is tagged as the Poor Man's Kirby or Kirby-Lite. It's funny, but I found out later that the artist actually favored the work of Jack Davis and the boys at EC Comics. So much so, that Stan Lee had some of his first work redone and told him to be more like Kirby in the future. And so, being a good employee, that's what Trimpe did, to great effect.

I could go on rambling, but I think I can bring this tribute down to a succinct point. I grew up with this artist. He was the first artist whose style I recognized. He was formative. He will always be one of my favorites. He was my Kirby. Rest in peace, sir. And thank you.

Herbert W. "Happy Herb" Trimpe

(1939-2015)