|
|
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 Friday, May 20, 2005
SECRETS OF THE UNKNOWN #224 isn't one of the better Alan Class comics in my growing collection. It's mostly comprised of Charlton Comics reprints with only one Atlas/Marvel tale among its contents. Now Charlton did manage to publish some terrific comics during its decades of operation, but the fantasy/sci-fi stories in this issue are about as drab and uninteresting as you'll find.
I can't identify the original publication or artists of most of the stories here, but I get a Dick Giordano vibe from the cover of the issue. I'm not going to give you a blow-by-blow listing of the contents, but I do want to provide a taste of how cliche-ridden and uninspired these tales were.
Most of the clearly Charlton stories are familiar and utterly predictable. A man gets three wishes to change his past and ends up returning to and appreciating his present-day life. A couple of crooked mediums are foiled by the spirit of the dead man they were pretending to summon. What seem to be docile native Americans turn out to be extraterrestrial beings who shrink savage Viking warriors and take them back to their alien world as specimens. Not one of the stories delivers any excitement or suspense. Even when there's an interesting idea - an average man possessed by the spirit of a trapeze artist or a retired lawman with a crook-attracting machine - the ideas never come to life.
The best story in the issue is from STRANGE TALES #99 [August, 1962]. With terrific art by Don Heck, "The Man in the Glass Cage" is a solid "surprise ending" yarn about a sound engineer obsessed with a beautiful vocalist. Editor Stan Lee might have written this tale, but I wouldn't rule out Larry Lieber either. The more I read of my pal Larry's 1960s work, the more I appreciate what a really good writer he was, much better than most of the writers who tried to follow Stan's style in those pre-hero years.
The Alan Class comics also included reprints from ACG, Archie Adventure, Tower, and other publishers. I'll be getting to some of those in future columns.
Let's see what else I have for you today.
******
HARVEYVILLE FUN TIMES
Editor and publisher Mark Arnold has published another great issue of THE HARVEYVILLE FUN TIMES [Summer, 2005; $4.50]. This one focuses on the Hostess ads which featured Casper and other Harvey Comics characters. This first chapter of the ongoing series gives a brief background on the advertising campaign so familiar to the comics readers of the 1970s and reprints the first 32 of the Harvey ads. Man, was I craving a delicious fruit pie or tasty Twinkie by the time I finished reading this feature.
There's other good stuff in the issue as well. Arnold reports the latest Harvey Comics and related comics news. Chris Barat pays tribute to the late Daniel Branca, one of the all-time great Disney artists from Europe. The issue concludes with Harvey cartoonist bios from the 1996 National Cartoonist Society Album. I'm amazed at how much Arnold got into his 32 pages.
THE HARVEYVILLE FUN TIMES earns an impressive four out of five Tonys.
You can find subscription information for the magazine and even order issues via PayPal by going to:
thft.home.att.net
At the site, you'll also find information on characters from Baby Huey to Wendy the Good Little Witch, Arnold's own comics, and much more. It's definitely worth a visit.
******
IRON GHOST
World War II. As American and British bombers pound Berlin night after night, a mysterious avenger is passing final sentence on the rapists and murderers of the feared SS, dispatching them with bullets and fire. In THE IRON GHOST #1 [Image; $2.95], writer Chuck Dixon and artist Sergio Cariello embrace their protagonist's pulp adventure roots: save for a glowing crimson monocle, the Ghost could be the Shadow's twin brother.
The element that could elevate this book from being more than the typical vengeance tale is Police Inspector Tannhauser, who has been charged with investigating these killings and bringing their perpetrator to "justice," even as Berlin crumbles around them. I don't know if there is historical precedent for the Berlin Police Department conducting business as usual in the midst of such utter devastation, but this approaching conflict between the agent of law and one of retribution intrigues me enough for me to come back for the second issue.
Cariello's art and storytelling are first-rate and his work is further enhanced by Rick Hiltbrunner's fine coloring. This debut issue reads well, looks great, and earns three out of five Tonys. It's worth checking out.
******
TONY POLLS
The TONY POLLS questions we ran last week all concerned FREE COMIC BOOK DAY. Here are the results:
FREE COMIC BOOK DAY was on Saturday, May 7. Did you go to a comic-book store that day?
Yes.....42.34%
No.....57.66%
This might be a deceptive result. Some voters went to their friendly neighborhood comics shop on their regular day and, though they didn't make a repeat visit on Saturday, still got free comics from the store.
How would you rate the activities and turnout at the comic-book store or stores you visited?
Excellent.....12.50%
Very Good.....30.36%
Good.....30.36%
Fair.....17.86%
Poor.....8.93%
The way I look at it, these are positive results. More than 70% of the respondents thought the activities and turnout were good or better.
Which of these best describes the visitors you saw at the comic-book store or stores you visited?
I saw many (more than 10) of new faces.....36%
I saw some (5-10) new faces.....20%
I saw a few (less than 5) new faces.....26%
I didn't see any new faces.....18%
This isn't as positive as I would have hoped. Only 56% of the respondents saw some or many new faces. On the other hand, that's a larger mandate that either President Al Gore or George Bush got in the years they won high office.
How many free comics did you get on FCBD?
1.....12.73%
2.....3.64%
3.....5.45%
4.....18.18%
More than 4.....60%
I'm happy with these results because it puts more...and more different...comic books in the hands of customers. But the object is to increase the sales of those comics and it'll take time to see if that was accomplished.
Did you read the free comics you got on FCBD?
Yes.....73.58%
No.....26.42%
Good for 73.58% of you...says the guy who wallows in guilt on a daily basis because he can't read all the comic books he receives for review.
After reading these free comics, will you buy any of the titles or works by their creators in the future?
Yes.....34%
No.....14%
Maybe.....52%
Marketing folks will tell you 34% is a very positive result on something like this. I don't disagree, but I wonder what it would take to move the undecided 52%.
This week's TONY POLLS questions ask you to "grade" the new DC Comics logo and rate your expectations for a quartet of comic-book movies. You can cast your votes at:
www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony/poll
******
WHAT I'M DOING
Since some of you have asked...
I'm writing a pair of scripts for a small-but-energetic comics publisher. Once the scripts are finished and the artist is working on them, I'll make a more formal announcement.
I'm working on a few more assignments for Gemstone, rewriting foreign Disney stories for the American market. I'll let you know when these hit the stands.
I'm hoping to get my children to help me organize my enormous accumulation of stuff so I can...a) start reading comics I should have read ages ago, and b) start selling the 70% of the comics and books and assorted other items I would like to sell in an effort to get my finances back in the black.
I'm dreading the expected disruption in my life and work when the contractors start working on an addition to and renovation of parts of our home. They were supposed to stake out the work area this week, but they haven't shown up yet. This doesn't surprise me in the least as every step in this process seems to take a month or so longer than promised. I'm thinking we might celebrate Christmas with a backhoe in our yard.
I'm doing all this and the usual family activities, household chores, and online and print columns. It's a full life. Sometimes way too full.
******
WHAT I'VE DONE
I've been interviewed by THE PULSE's Jen Contino concerning my recently-reprinted stories in Marvel's ESSENTIAL LUKE CAGE volume. The interview runs about 1900 words and, since Jen also interviewed Steve Englehart, I'm not sure how much of my interview will make it onto that fine website. Not to worry; whatever doesn't run there will run here.
I'll let you know when the interview posts, but you could do worse than making THE PULSE a regular online stop:
www.comicon.com/pulse
******
WHAT I'M NOT DOING
I'm not getting involved with the emerging online arguments on whether or not fans should champion the original creators of comics characters...beyond this solitary item.
The never-ending battle for truth and justice, if perhaps not the American away, got a little more heated with reports of Steve Gerber's displeasure over Marvel Comics hiring Jonathan Lethem to write a new series starring OMEGA THE UNKNOWN, a character created by Gerber and, I believe, Mary Skrenes. In case any of you harbor the slightest doubt, I'm 100% with Gerber on this issue. Deciding that was as natural for me as breathing.
Why I'm not getting involved beyond that is that I am simply bone-weary of reading online pundits who don't understand anything about contractual agreements, copyright laws, work-for-hire, and a host of other creator/publisher issues, but who, nevertheless, make pronouncements based on facts not in evidence. Creators have been screwed over by publishers since the dawn of the industry and it's still happening today. More often than not, the victor in any such dispute is the side with the fattest bank account.
On my darker days, I have another reason for not getting into this argument again. On my darker days, I'm convinced that many - maybe most - comics fans would sooner see the likes of Steve Gerber and countless other ill-used comics creators, the likes of Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Bill Finger, living impoverished in cold and smelly alleys rather than have their beloved Marvel or DC universes inconvenienced in the slightest. All that really matters to these fans is that they can buy their new comic books.
Yes, that's an amazingly gloomy line of thought. Which is why I won't be playing the game this time around.
******
WHAT I'M READING
It may be too late at this point, but I'm going to try to wrap today's column on a happier note. Whatever I think of the business and corporate side of comics, I still love the comics.
I'm always reading a couple of comic books a day for reviews. I've a list of fifty-plus reader requests through which I'm slowly, surely making my way. I'm also trying to catch up on the 2000 AD weekly, 2000 AD EXTREME, COMICS REVUE, JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE, Frew's PHANTOM comics, and an towering stack of those Alan Class reprints which I may have mentioned somewhere.
Ever the optimist, I would also like to catch up on the years-worth of comics from DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, and other publishers lying around my house waiting to be sorted. I'm not kidding about the "years" part of that. My earliest unread issues of BATMAN go back before the earthquake that ate Gotham. I have issues of IRON MAN written by Kurt Busiek to read. If the comics industry hadn't already beaten any sense of shame out of me, I would be embarrassed to tell you all this.
As I always do in times of need, I turn to my loyal legions of TOT readers for assistance and, this time, though they are always welcome, I'm not asking you for TIP THE TIPSTER donations. Instead I'm asking you to suggest the *one* long-running comics title that you think I should read.
The title doesn't have to be the one you think I would enjoy most. It can be the title you think I most need to read to figure out what's going on in other books...or the title you think is most indicative of what's right with comics...or the title you think is most indicative of what's wrong. The title can be part of a shared universe of a stand-along title. The only real criteria is that it be a long-running title with lots of issues.
I have a reason for asking this of you, but I'm gonna hold off on revealing it until the suggestions start arriving. Embrace the suspense, my children.
Thanks for spending a part of your day with me. I'll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
Tony Isabella
<< 05/19/2005 | 05/20/2005 | 05/21/2005 >>
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
