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Reviews and commentary by Tony Isabella
"America's Most Beloved Comic-Book Writer & Columnist"
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TONY'S ONLINE TIPS
for Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Whenever I make a factual error in this column, I try to make with the correction as soon as possible. In my March 12 review of THE SUPERHERO BOOK, I took the authors/editors of that tome to task for their factual errors and critical exaggerations. However, one of the examples of the former that I offered turns out not to have been a factual error after all.
I wrote:
"In the entry on "Archie Heroes," it is stated that Alan Moore had wanted to use the Fly, Black Hood, and others in his WATCHMEN series for DC. Obviously, that's incorrect. It was the Charlton heroes Moore had wanted to use and THE SUPERHERO BOOK even mentions that fact in its entry on those characters."
Noted comics writer KURT BUSIEK, who isn't affiliated with THE SUPERHERO BOOK, set me straight on this:
THE SUPERHERO BOOK is correct when it says Alan Moore wanted to use the Archie super-heroes in what became WATCHMEN, at least. As Moore said in the back matter to the Graphitti WATCHMEN hardcover:
"Having a whole cast of characters in a self-contained world would solve these difficulties, and my original idea, for what it's worth, involved the characters of the MLJ-Archie Comics super-hero line, the Mighty Crusaders. This, restricted to idle fanboy musing as it was, has no special significance, save that it was fairly easy to make the conceptual leap to the characters of the defunct Charlton comics line once I heard that DC had acquired the rights to them."
TOT regrets the error and thanks our pal Kurt for his swiftly making us aware of the error. Now, as I struggle to stop referring to myself in the plural, let's see what else we...I mean *I*...have for you today.
******
FROM BEYOND THE UNKNOWN
Back on February 3, I ran the cover of STRANGE ADVENTURES #55 [April, 1955]. The cover story was "The Gorilla Who Challenged the World" by Edmond Hamilton. Having just purchased a reprint of the story - whose second and final part ran in STRANGE ADVENTURES #56 - I promised I'd review FROM BEYOND THE UNKNOWN #5 [June-July, 1970] in the near future. Welcome to the neat future...and watch out for those pesky SPOILERS which lay ahead.
Murphy Anderson drew both the original cover and the reprint cover. His second cover beats the first hands down. The staging is more dramatic, the copy is more dramatic, and, although, there's too much brown in the second cover, the coloring is more dramatic as well. For comparison's sake, here's another look at the cover from STRANGE ADVENTURES #55:
Hamilton's stories disappointed me. There is an appropriately chilling moment when the title ape, his intelligence increased via chemical means, uses an antidote to the serum to retard the mind of the serum's creator down to the level of a gorilla. What could've been truly horrifying is little more than a plot device to give the gorilla leave to commit nighttime robberies which further his plans for world domination. The scientist's intelligence is restored by the end of the first chapter, but the gorilla escapes.
In "The Jungle Emperor," it appears the gorilla has created an army of intelligent apes. That turns out to be a scam - he didn't want any competition - and his soldiers are revealed to be robots. The scientist tricks the emperor into capturing him, then exposes the gorilla to the gaseous form of the antidote.
The Sy Barry art doesn't have any more life than the scripts. It was DC's drab house style back then, apparently adopted to avoid exciting the kids too much. You really had to work hard to make an army of intelligent apes uninteresting.
I had more fun with the issue's other stories. Otto Binder's "The Watchdogs of the Universe" has a father telling his young son a seemingly fantastic bedtime story about how the father stumbled on an intergalactic organization that secretly helps various worlds out of jams. The aliens maintain secrecy so as to keep the worlds from getting dependent on them. They seize "Daddy" to keep their secret, but recruit him to their organization. After he joins, Binder and penciller Sid Greene (inked by Joe Giella) deliver three incredible rescues in two pages. Their science might be shaky, but the "gosh wow" excitement runs high.
"Daddy" does such a good job with the "Watchdogs" that he wins their highest honor and the right to return home...if he solemnly promises not to betray them. Sent back to Earth via a time-twister ray, he arrives at the same moment he was seized and then tells the whole story to his son. I guess the aliens were right not to trust him in the first place. Or maybe Greene neglected to stage the key panel to show him crossing his fingers. Regardless, this is still a neat little tale.
Gardner Fox's "The Anti-Invasion Machine" has Earth generals and scientists working with an alien to defeat a planned invasion of our planet. It turns out to be a scam, but the good guys - that would be us - still manage to turn the tables on the prevaricating extraterrestrials. Carmine Infantino pencilled and inked this one. It may not be as slick as his typical work, but you can't beat the raw energy of this artist flying solo.
"The Watchdogs of the Universe" originally appeared in STRANGE ADVENTURES #62 [November, 1955] and "The Anti-Invasion Machine" ran in STRANGE ADVENTURES #80 [May, 1957].
Editor Julius Schwartz wrapped up this issue with two pages of "Messages From Beyond" with one such missive coming from Mike W. Barr, who would later write many stories for the esteemed Schwartz, for DC Comics, and for other publishers.
If I were rating FROM BEYOND THE UNIVERSE #5 today, I'd give it a solid three Tonys. Of course, if it still cost a mere fifteen cents, I'd rate it higher.
Look for more retro-reviews in future TOTs.
******
IT'S A BIRD...
The mainstream critics seemed to love Steven T. Seagle's IT'S A BIRD [Vertigo/DC; $17.95], judging from the pull quotes festooned on the trade paperback edition's front and back covers. I'd agree with them on some elements of their reviews.
Seagle's semi-autobiographical work does engage me whenever it focuses on the dreaded family illness and the havoc it has wreaked on the protagonist's family and life. When it turns to him whining about being asked to write Superman and stumbling for a grip on the comics icon, it starts to bore the crap out of me. I'm not saying the industry in general - and DC in particular - hasn't changed a lot since I used to live and work in New York City, but I couldn't believe in the protagonist, the writer he would follow on Superman, or their editor. I guess the joke will be on me if those are more accurate portrayals than they appear to be.
Teddy Kristiansen's art and storytelling is amazing. I found myself zooming in on most panels, eager to capture every last bit of detail and nuance to be found therein. Todd Klein's lettering, so true to comic books, does a great job of anchoring the story and art in our beloved not-quite-reality.
Sometimes I think IT'S A BIRD is a compelling tale. Sometimes I think it's just pretentious. Most of the time I don't know what I think about it. But it's experimental without being impenetrable and it's got a strong core of humanity. At the end of the day, it deserves at least three Tonys.
******
LUNCH HOUR COMIX
LUNCH HOUR COMIX by Robert Ullman [Alternative Comics; $4.95] is a 68-page pocket-sized collection of strips chronicling a pretty eventual year in the cartoonist's life. His plan was to do a diary in comic strip form, not spending more than an hour on any single strip. In addition to Ullman's 2004 strips, we get a selection of strips by a cartoonist pal of his and another selection of Ullman strips from 2002.
Ullman is the real deal. He conveys a great deal of emotion and information in his strips. His style is a pleasant mix of the cartoon and the realistic. Despite its small physical size, LUNCH HOUR COMIX delivers excellent bang for the bucks.
My only complaint about this book goes to the publisher and/or designer. Art is art and all that jazz, but how about making more of an effort to sell LUNCH HOUR COMIX and thus make it possible for Ullman to do more books?
If you don't want to put come-on copy on the cover of a book, I can accept that. I don't agree with that, but I can accept it. But what's wrong with a few nice blurbs and words of encouragement on the back cover? What's wrong with some "this is what the book is about" copy on the inside front cover? What's wrong with some biographical props on the inside back cover? Try to sell the damn book or you're little more than a vanity press.
Pardon my outburst.
LUNCH HOUR COMIX earns four out of five Tonys. I look forward to Ullman's next book.
******
TONY POLLS
I haven't written them yet, but, sometime today, there will be new TONY POLLS questions at:
www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony/poll
Every one of them will be on comics or comics-related matters. I figure I owe you that much after all those Saturn Awards film and TV questions. Can you feel the love?
Thanks for spending a part of your day with me. I'll be back soon with more stuff.
Tony Isabella
<< 03/14/2005 | 03/15/2005 | 03/16/2005 >>
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THE "TONY" SCALE
ZERO: Burn your money before buying any comic receiving this rating. It doesn't *necessarily* mean there's absolutely nothing of value here - though it *could* - but whatever value it might possess shrinks into insignificance before its overall awfulness.
ONE: Buy something else. Maybe I found something which wasn't completely dreadful in the item, but not enough for me to recommend it when there are better comics available. I only want what's best for you, my children.
TWO: Basic judgment call. I found some value, but not enough to recommend it. My review should give you enough info to decide if you want to take a chance on it. Are you feeling lucky today, punk? Well, are you?
THREE: This denotes something I find perfectly respectable. There are better books out there, but I wouldn't regret buying this item. Based on my review, you should be able to determine if it's of interest to you. Let the Force guide you.
FOUR: I recommend anything earning this rating. Unless you don't like the genre, subject matter, or past work of the creators, I believe you'll enjoy this item. Isn't it uncanny how I can look right into your soul that way?
FIVE: Anything getting this rating is among the best comicdom has to offer. You should buy/read this, even if the genre/subject matter doesn't appeal to you. It's for your own good. Me, I live for comics and books this good...but not in a pathetic "Comic-Book Guy" sort of way.
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