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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 Saturday, May 21, 2005
Today is ARMED FORCES DAY, a day in which we salute all of the men and women in all of the branches of service. Though often ill-used by politicians, especially the ones currently in office, they have always stood ready to defend and protect us. They deserve our appreciation and our support.
This Alex Schomburg cover for THRILLING COMICS #50 [October, 1945] shows Doc Strange - not the latter-day master of the mystic arts - greeting a returning soldier with the soldier's old job and a home loan. I'm deliberately keeping the politics to a minimum on this day, but I will say that my concept of "supporting our troops" includes making certain their needs and the needs of their families are taken care of, during their time of service and afterwards, and not sending them into harm's way recklessly. We as a nation should never come up short in this regard.
I thank the men and women of our armed forces for their great service to our nation. When their time of service ends, I hope and pray they are returned safely to their loved ones and that they are always accorded the dignity and respect they deserve.
Thank you.
******
KLARION
Taking DC and writer Grant Morrison at their word that each of the mini-series in the SEVEN SOLDIERS project is self-contained, I skipped over a few issues to read SEVEN SOLDIERS: KLARION THE WITCH BOY #1 [$2.99]. Morrison's Soldiers gets high marks for ambition as it weaves its tale through seven four-issue mini-series and a pair of bookend comics. His more-unlikely-than-magnificent seven heroes aren't traditional heroes, but their diverse natures are making for a thrilling epic that mixes genres (fantasy, horror, super-heroes, science fiction) with reckless abandon.
He has revamped Klarion - originally created by Jack Kirby as a foe for Etrigan the Demon - into a clever and abrasive witch-in-training, a future protector of his lost city of Croatoan. But the young man is drawn to the world beyond Croatoan, a world that, like his own, is being menaced by the alien Sheeda. There is weirdness a'plenty here, but, thus far, my interest outweighs my confusion. I don't know if I *like* Klarion much, but I do want to see what he does next.
Artist Frazer Irving delivers appropriately moody art, but he comes up short on the backgrounds and facial diversity. Colorist Irving relies too heavily on a monotonous greenish-blue. It's good work, but it does drag after several pages.
This issue also loses a Tony for failing to include Klarion's creator in its credits. Bad form that.
On our scale of zero to five, KLARION THE WITCH BOY #1 earns but two Tonys. Better luck next time.
******
GODZILLA IN THE COMICS
While I'm compiling another series of "Comics in the Comics," I share another of my true loves with you. It's true. I'm mad for Godzilla and Kaiju cutups in general, and it delights me when they appear in the comic strips. Today's entry is Robb Armstrong's JUMP START strip for May 19:
I'll be keeping an eye out for future Godzilla appearances in the comics and, if you come across any, don't be shy about sending them my way. I'll run them in future columns.
We are Kaiju...hear us roar!
******
PHANTOM
Since the dawn of history or thereabouts, Frew Publications of Australia has been publishing THE PHANTOM in comic books. Though I'm behind in reading the title, I recently read two of the issues I received in February.
THE PHANTOM #1403 was Frew's 100-page 2004 Christmas Special. The lead story is "Avenger From the Sea" by writer Norman Worker and artist Georges Bess. It's an spectacular "Phantom vs. pirates" story, but, as publisher Jim Shepherd points out, it's also notable for its moving depiction of the mantle of the Phantom passing from the dying eighth Phantom to the ninth.
The second of this issue's three tales is "The Viking Fortress Mystery" by Graham Nolan. Taken from the Sunday strips for April 4 through September 26 of last year, the adventure pits the modern Phantom against a menace and a mystery from the 12th century. I've been a fan of Nolan's art since his days drawing Batman and Hawkman at DC Comics, but, on the Phantom, he's also proven himself to be an excellent writer.
The third story comes from the daily strips. "The Locust God" by George Olesen and Keith Williams ran from May 3 through August 28, 2004. The Phantom and wife Diana, on vacation in the American West, bring criminal fugitives to justice at the behest of a Navajo man of mystery. This fairly predictable tale does drags a bit, but the idea of the Ghost Who Walks meeting another force for justice using some of his own family's tricks is a neat one. I just wish more had been done with it.
THE PHANTOM #1403 is priced at $5.50 in Australian dollars, which works out to about $4.20 over here. Even paying shipping and handling charges, I think that's a good deal. With its three done-in-one stories, this black-and-white comic book earns four out of five Tonys. I definitely recommend it.
I also read THE PHANTOM #1404 [approximately $1.70]. "Eye of the Hurricane" is part of a series of "Phantom: Year One" stories. Written by David Bishop from a suggestion by Hans Lindahl and Kari Leppanen, "Eye" finds the young Phantom's return to Africa delayed by a hurricane, a plane crash, Russian spies, and a ruthless C.I.A. agent. The story is set during the dangerous days of the 1960s, a time when the world feared war could break out between the super-powers at any moment. Bishop does a good job capturing the global paranoia of the era and developing his characters. I'm not overly wild about the Phantom's own recklessness causing the death of one man, but, outside of that, I enjoyed the tale.
The artist? None other than Paul Ryan, the current artist on the Phantom dailies. Ryan was woefully underrated back when he was drawing super-heroes for DC and Marvel. I hope the Phantom brings him the recognition he deserves.
THE PHANTOM #1404 is good for three Tonys.
******
FRIENDS OF OLD MARVEL
F.O.O.M. - Friends of Old Marvel - was the official Marvel fan club of the 1970s. Jim Steranko was, as I recall, the designer of the membership kit, and the editor/designer of the first few issues of the club magazine.
Combing through my e-mail files, I found an interview on the subject of my involvement with F.O.O.M., conducted by a RICK KELSEY in late 2003. I can't remember where the interview was supposed to appear, I can't remember if it ever did appear, and I couldn't find any mention online of it after a moderate amount of web-searching. Since I hate to let anything go to waste, here's the first half of this clearly less-than-historic chat:
What were you doing for Marvel when you became the editor of the FOOM magazine? Did you volunteer to edit the zine or was it assigned to you?
I was editing THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL, a weekly comics mag reprinting the earliest Marvel Universe stories. It was a British weekly, prepared in New York and then sent to the UK for printing and distribution. I was also assisting Sol Brodsky, Stan Lee, and Roy Thomas on Marvel's black-and-white magazines.
Jim Steranko launched FOOM for Marvel, but, for some reason, maybe as simple as the original contract expiring - I never knew - Marvel was bringing the magazine in house. Having recently come to Marvel from fandom, though I'd also been working in newspapers for a few years, Roy thought I would be a good choice to edit the mag. I think I did the next two issues and maybe prepared some material for a third before handing it off to another editor.
What did being the editor of the FOOM magazine involve? Did you have to write everything or did others pitch in and help? Mark Evanier told me Marvel worked you so hard that sometimes you slept overnight in the office. You must have been REALLY busy!)
FOOM was as much a promotional tool as it was a fan magazine. So I made sure we plugged upcoming Marvel projects, but also tried to include material that was just plain fun...such as Roger Stern's great interview with Jarvis the butler.
I wrote everything in my issues of FOOM that I signed, as well as anything which wasn't signed. If anyone else wrote something, I made sure their credit was included.
It was far from a one-man show. I got lots of help designing the magazine from Sol and Marvel's production department, as well as proofreading help from friends and fellow staffers.
Was editing the FOOM magazine kind of a training ground for future editors?
Not really. It was just a low-priority project folks worked on around other projects. I think I was followed by Duffy Vohland, whose main job was working on the British weeklies, and he may have been followed by David Anthony Kraft, whose main job was assisting editors on the color comics and black-and-white mags.
Do you have any idea how FOOM was regarded by the Marvel staff? Was the magazine treated seriously, regarded as a hassle, or just another task that had to be done?
As I said above, it was a low-priority project, but, in those days, even low-priority projects were treated with respect. It was important for us to give readers their money's worth in everything that we published...even when time and budgets worked against us.
Why did you stop editing the magazine?
I don't recall exactly. I probably just got too busy with my other editorial duties. We'd added another British weekly or two, plus I'd assumed the editorship of several of the black-and-white magazines. Something had to give.
What did you think of FOOM? Did you like it?
I thought I did a good job with the zine, but I also thought I could have done a better job with it. I don't think I have ever been 100% satisfied with any magazine I edited.
I don't have any opinion about FOOM after I handed it off to another editor for the simple reason I don't recall seeing issues beyond the two I put together.
Was it just the FOOM magazine that Marvel was doing for the club or were other FOOM things going on?
There were probably more things going on, but, unless I wrote advertising copy for merchandise or something, I wouldn't have been consciously aware of them.
I was in my early 20s, working in comics, living in New York City, enjoying the night life, so stuff I would have been all over as a comics fan living in Cleveland didn't necessarily register on my radar at that time in my life.
Do you have any idea why FOOM ended?
Not really. My guess would be that it ceased to be profitable or that it wasn't profitable enough to justify the manpower needed to continue the magazine.
Before FOOM, there was the Merry Marvel Marching Society (M.M.M.S.) and Marvelmania. Were you a member of or did you work on any of the Marvel clubs before FOOM?
I was a proud member of the MMMS. What self-respecting Marvel fan of the 1960s wasn't?
When Marvelmania came along a few years later, Mark Evanier was editing its magazine. I contributed to the magazine as long as my pal Mark was at Marvelmania and quit when he did.
Do you know of other people who worked on FOOM or any of the other Marvel clubs?
I knew just about everybody who worked on FOOM, even though I might not remember if they worked on it or not. With Marvelmania, I knew Mark, Steve Sherman, and probably, if only by name, most of the other fans who worked on it. Marvelmania operated out of Los Angeles, but I would have known these fans through the fanzines of the day.
TO BE CONTINUED
After receiving the above, Kelsey sent me a batch of follow-up questions. That concluding portion of this interview will appear in tomorrow's column. See you then.
Tony Isabella
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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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