|
|
Reviews and commentary by Tony Isabella
"America's Most Beloved Comic-Book Writer & Columnist"
Current TOT >>
TOT Archives |
About Tony |
Message Board
TONY'S ONLINE TIPS
for Thursday, March 24, 2005
This cover of TALES OF HORROR #12 [August, 1954] comes to you by way of my web-surfing when I was too tired to work. I caught my first wave at the COMIC BOOK COVER OF THE WEEK page:
www.usscatastrophe.com/itlives/library/covers/index.html
One of the covers archived there was an earlier issue of TALES OF HORROR which I thought looked kind of interesting. That led me to the GRAND COMICS DATABASE [www.comics.org] where I found several more TOH covers.
The above cover caught my attention because it surely ranks as one of the quietest cover I've ever seen on a horror comic: just a guy in a coffin and some apparently insincere mourners. The only remotely scary element is that the dead guy has a thought balloon. I can't take many more shocks like that.
TALES OF HORROR was published by Toby and ran thirteen issues, most of them featuring covers and stories by Myron Fass, who drew this cover. Toby's editor was Elliot Caplin, brother of LI'L ABNER creator Al Capp. Several issues featured reprints of a super-hero comic called THE PURPLE CLAW.
The 34th edition of THE OFFICIAL OVERSTREET COMIC BOOK PRICE GUIDE pegs a near-mint condition copy of this issue at $235. THE STANDARD CATALOG OF COMIC BOOKS (second edition) places it at $150. My quick search of recently completed eBay auctions found a slabbed copy [CGC; 7.5] had sold for $103.51 on ten bids. An unslabbed and generously-rated "very fine" copy with a starting bid of $26 failed to attract any bids. That copy has now been re-listed with a lower starting bid of $14.99, but, as I write today's column, there are still no takers.
Let's see what else I have for you today.
******
2000 AD
2000 AD's end of the year specials aren't exactly a warm-and-fuzzy yuletide tradition, but they do provide a terrific showcase of what's been happening in the long-running British comics weekly and what's coming. The PROG 2005 edition [Rebellion; $10.99] gives readers four done-in-one stories, four opening chapters of serials, and a host of special strips and features. The Mort Drucker-esque cover is by Mark Harrison.
A JUDGE DREDD done-in-one has him tracking a serial killer who escaped him once before. "Christmas With the Blints" is written by Dredd co-creator John Wagner and drawn by Andrew Currie.
The hitmen known collectively as SINISTER DEXTER have a drink and discuss their dumbest clients and targets in a darkly amusing story by writer Dan Abnett and artist Simon Davis. In ROBO-HUNTER, Samantha C. Slade is on her first official case since getting into her granddad's line of work. The lighthearted thriller is written by Alan Grant and drawn by Ian Gibson.
TALES OF THE LEVIATHAN is an intriguing series created by Ian Edginton (writer) and D'Israeli (artist) about the world's biggest ocean-liner...which went missing in 1928 with its 28,000 passengers and crew. Unfortunately, this done-in-one story doesn't continue from the spectacular ending of that serial but, instead, goes back to fill in some only moderately interesting back story.
The four opening chapters are for CABALLISTIC, INC. (an uneven amalgam of Hellblazer and Hellboy), SLAINE (a beautifully-painted Celtic sword-and-sorcery saga), SECOND CITY BLUES (racial tensions between humans and aliens in a vast urban sprawl), and the always-delightful NIKOLAI DANTE, a roguish hero turned pirate following a civil war in which he was on the losing side. Of these, Dante is my favorite with top-notch writing by Robbie Morrison and painted artwork by John Burns.
Getting 100 pages of comics - many of them fully-painted- and features for $10.99 strikes me as reasonable bang-for-your-bucks, especially since most of the tales are pretty good and some of them are outstanding. On our usual scale - see the chart elsewhere on this page - 2000 AD PROG 2005 earns four Tonys.
******
ALTER EGO: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL
It didn't make much of a splash when it was first published in 1986 and I don't think it will make one now, but, then and now, I enjoyed ALTER EGO, the comic book as opposed to the great magazine of the same name. Writer and co-creator Roy Thomas had mined the Golden Age of Comics for inspiration previously: Marvel's INVADERS and DC's ALL-STAR SQUADRON. But here he was playing with a wider range of heroes, thinly disguised from the characters who sometimes shone but mostly labored in titles published by the smaller outfits like Hillman, Holyoke, and others. I'm not certain his nods to the past entertained any but the most hardcore and historically-minded comics fans, but, as someone who falls into that category, I got my jollies from the series.
Heroic has collected the four issue series in a nicely-made trade edition. ALTER EGO: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL [$17.95] also has the original covers, an introduction by Thomas, an afterword by artist Ron Harris, and a bonus sketchbook. Two decades after ALTER EGO's original publication, I was happy to sit and spend an hour with an old acquaintance.
A mystic mask propels comics fan Rob Lindsay into the body of a super-hero from another dimension and pits him against a villain with murderous plans for our world as well. Much of the action and the plot derive from the slam-bang style of the 1940s, but Thomas added a more contemporary human interest element to his tale: the impending divorce of his teen hero's parents. It was an emotional parallel. As Rob became an adult hero in that other dimension, he would also have to face more adult responsibilities in this world. I would have liked to see more of that.
Then and now, I was not fond of what artist Ron Harris did in ALTER EGO. His zeal for unusual layouts distracted from the story flow on several occasions and the actual drawing was journeyman at best. I recall liking his own CRASH RYAN series much better than his work here or in DC's YOUNG ALL-STARS.
ALTER EGO: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL is a little pricey for what it is and for the ready availability of the original comics on the back-issue market, but it does deliver a satisfying chunk of super-hero chills and thrills. I give it a perfectly respectable three Tonys with the hope we have not seen the last of Rob Lindsay.
******
ALTER EGO ADDENDUM
Heroic publisher Dennis Mallonee - on hearing I was planning to review ALTER EGO: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL - asked me if I'd mention, for the benefit of fans who might want the book but can't get it via their local retailer that it's available either at Amazon.com or directly from Heroic Publishing at:
www.heroicpub.com/orders/subscriptions.php
Amazon is charging $14.95 plus shipping; Heroic is charging $17.95 postage paid, which works out to about the same.
******
AMERICA'S GREATEST COMICS
Bill Black's AMERICA'S GREATEST COMICS #10 [AC; $6.95] departs from its usual format to present a spotlight on Alex Toth no fan of the legendary artist should miss. Black set out to create a visual documentary of Toth's work in the 1940s and 1950s and accomplished his goal with such skill and perception he had me grinding my teeth out of frustration that much of this work will never be available except in the original comic books.
Toth worked with Black on assembling this issue and his input was clearly valuable. He also drew a new Johnny Thunder cover and it's as eye-catching as any he did for the DC Comics western hero back in the day.
"Toth at Dell" discusses the many licensed comics the artist drew for that publisher. A page from THE LAND UNKNOWN (1957) is as exciting and as flawless a piece of storytelling as you will find. There's a "bounce"...for lack of a better word...to his art on such wide-ranging properties as 77 SUNSET STRIP, Walt Disney's CLINT AND MAC, GALE STORM, SEA HUNT, THE REAL McCOYS which conveyed movement and reality better than most movie and TV adaptations of that time and since. Lovely stuff.
Black reprints two complete Toth stories in this issue. The first is a sci-fi story from Lev Gleason's BUSTER CRABBE #3 (1954) in which the actor is kidnapped by invisible aliens and taken to a planet recently conquered by those aliens. It's free-wheeling fun that mixes action and silliness superbly.
Next up is "Thunder In the West," an article by Harry Thomas detailing Toth's run on Johnny Thunder. It made me ache for DC to reprint this material. It's not as polished or skilled as Toth's later work, but it still had that...bounce.
The second complete tale is "Danny Dreams" from TOR #3 (1954). Toth's art is more subdued than in the Crabbe story, but the splash panel of Danny fishing with his Uncle Jim is just plain gorgeous. I wish I could see it in color.
How bad did things get for super-heroes as their "Golden Age" ended? Ask Green Lantern. He was crowded off the covers of both ALL-AMERICAN COMICS and his own GREEN LANTERN title by "Streak the Wonder Dog" as written by Robert Kanigher and drawn by Toth. For the finale of this Toth spotlight, Black writes about "The Dog That Did In Green Lantern" and Streak's successor, Rex the Wonder Dog. Poor Alan Scott!
The 52 pages of AMERICA'S GREATEST COMICS #10 do a first-rate job exploring these areas of Toth's art and career, but they leave me wanting more. In the hope of encouraging Black and Toth to do it again, this issue gets the full five Tonys.
If you can't find this or other AC Comics titles at your local comics retailer, you can order them directly from the publisher by heading to:
www.accomics.com
******
MANSQUITO
"Hey, Mansquito! Take this!"
...says the police detective with the unkempt hair as he sends an armor-piecing bullet into oxygen tanks at a hospital savaged by the blood-sucking title star of this 2005 sci-fi movie. It would probably be impolite of me to mention this early in my review that only *female* mosquitos suck blood.
SPOILERS AHEAD
MANSQUITO [2005] made its debut on the Sci-Fi Channel earlier this month. The set-up goes like this:
Deadly virus carried by mosquitos. Scientists - including the principled heroine played by Musetta Vander - try to find a cure by manipulating the DNA of other mosquitos. Typically callous head of research lab gets a mass murderer sprung from death row to test the serum on, this without the knowledge of the heroine. Oh, yeah, her detective boyfriend is the one who busted the murderer.
Murderer escapes in lab. Kills guards and heroine's assistant before some sort of nuclear rotisserie blows up. Murderer catches the worst of it and changes quickly into...MANSQUITO! Heroine gets smaller dose and starts changing slowly.
The creature suit isn't bad and there is some creepy fun to be had at first. Near the movie's end, director Tibor Takacs goes too heavy on the gore; heads and limbs go rolling all over the hospital where the heroine is being cared for.
The hair of Corin Nemac - he plays the detective - has a life of its own with a clump of it constantly falling over his forehead. I guess he had to do something to get noticed. That Mansquito is such a scene-stealer.
The funniest moment in the movie - and you can only watch this movie for laughs - is when I realized where I'd seen Vander before. She played the mantis-lady on the first-season episode of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER wherein Xander Harris nearly got eaten. Is this not the worst possible typecasting? To be the actress directors think of when someone turns into a giant bug?
I was going to give away the ending, but, what the heck, this stupid movie is actually worth seeing just for the fun you can have making sport of it. If I rated it on any other basis, it wouldn't get more than one Tony (for the creature suit). But, as your very own MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 home game, I give it a respectable three Tonys. Hey, Mansquito!
Thanks for spending a part of your day with me. I'll be back soon with more stuff.
Tony Isabella
<< 03/23/2005 | 03/24/2005 | 03/25/2005 >>
Discuss this column with me at my Message Board. Also, read Heroes and Villains: Real and Imagined.
Recent Columns:
| NEWEST | Finale (06/22/2010) |
| 06/17/2010 | I review Siege |
| 06/16/2010 | Linda Gold 1949-2010 |
| 06/15/2010 | Everett True Tuesday! |
| 06/14/2010 | I review The Amazing Adventures of Nate Banks #1: Secret Identity Crisis, Secret Identity Crisis: Comic Books and the Unmasking of Cold War America and The Walking Dead Volume 2: Miles Behind Us. |
| Archives >> |
Current TOT >>
TOT Archives |
About Tony |
Message Board
|
|
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.
Please send material you would like me to review to:
Tony's Online Tips
840 Damon Drive
Medina, OH 44256
|
|
Anything Goes Trivia
