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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, June 28, 2005
Our salute to Superman continues during this, his anniversary month. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster introduced their creation to the world in ACTION COMICS #1 [June, 1938]. Move forward 55 years and a new Superman is starring in ACTION COMICS #687 [June, 1993]. He is known as the "Last Son of Krypton."
Superman was getting a lot of attention in 1993 and I thought it was justified. He died fighting Doomsday in comics which were exciting if not memorable beyond his temporary demise and the real-world press said demise received. This was followed by a series of "Funeral For a Friend" comics, which *were* memorable. Then, in a follow-up to that, Superman returned.
Actually, Superman returned four times.
There was a cyborg who claimed to be Superman. There was a brash young teenager who claimed to be Superman. There was a black man in a suit of armor who also claimed to be Superman. And there was the alien and unemotional Last Son of Krypton. Which, if any, of them was the real Superman?
The GRAND COMICS DATABASE [www.comics.org] has Kerry Gammill (pencils) and Jackson Guice (inks) as the cover artists of ACTION #687. The issue had an extra die-cut cover that opened to reveal the Last Son of Krypton.
Here's a spiffy summary of the issue from the great SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE [www.supermanhomepage.com]:
In 1993, after the death of Superman, several new characters appear to claim the Superman legacy, including one who is referred to as the Last Son of Krypton. In "Born Again" from ACTION COMICS #687 (written by Roger Stern with art by Jackson Guice and Denis Rodier), the robots at the Fortress of Solitude work to recreate their master.
The robots' conversation is purposely vague as to who they are retrieving, with comments such as, "his essence dispersed following dysfunction of the corporeal body." The humanoid energy form that emerges recognizes his surroundings as "my Fortress" and says, "I remember a battle." Reviewing tapes of Superman's battle with Doomsday (he has the robots create a bank of monitors) and entombment in Metropolis, the being heads off for the memorial seeking the "real power [that] must be in the body!"
On touching the body in its casket, great energies ripple and the Last Son of Krypton stands before the casket in material form and bearing Superman's face. The body is different, in that it can sense electrical circuitry and send energy blasts. The eyes are overly sensitive to light, forcing him to wear a visor.
Back at the Fortress, the Kryptonian notes that he can no longer absorb energy directly from the sun and must channel it through a regeneration matrix that "has insured that the heart of Krypton's last son keeps beating!"
Wearing a black uniform with a blue center stripe, the new Superman does not hesitate to use violence and to take the life of a criminal. When Lois finally meets him, she finds him to be cold and hollow. She finds that he has memories of Clark's but he tells her that, "Kent is gone. There is only Superman now."
In subsequent issues, The Last Son of Krypton is revealed to be the sentient Kryptonian device known as the Eradicator with a backstory best read at the SUPERMAN HOMEPAGE. The device does prove to be pivotal in the rebirth of the true Superman and then "dies" in a battle with the cyborg Superman. The "body" goes to STAR Labs in Metropolis where an accident causes it to revive and merge with the mind of a dying scientist. After various adventures and even more misadventures, the Eradicator is now an occasional and incredibly uneasy ally of Superman and other heroes.
Our salute to Superman continues tomorrow.
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ARCHIE COMICS IN THE COMICS
Here's a heads-up for ARCHIE #561 [$2.25], which ships October 5. From the solicitation materials:
"It's My Life": In the classic tradition of Archie stories that break down the "fourth panel," Archie ponders his existence as the star of comic-book misadventures...or, rather, what life could be like free from the constraints of the funny pages! Along the way, he imagines himself as a super-hero, a manga character, and more! SCRIPT: George Gladir. ART: Stan Goldberg.
Look for a review when the issue comes out.
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COMICS IN THE COMICS
Today we have a pair of MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM strips by Mike Peters, who is an award-winning editorial cartoonist and much more. The above strip ran in over 500 papers on June 6. The below strip ran on June 10.
The King Features site offers this information about the "much more" part of Mike Peters:
Mike Peters has been interested in cartooning since childhood. Born in St. Louis, Mo., he graduated from Christian Brothers College High School in 1961. In 1965, he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Washington University and immediately began his career on the art staff of the Chicago Daily News. The following year he began two years of service with the U.S. Army as an artist for the Seventh Psychological Operations Group in Okinawa.
After Vietnam, the renowned World War II artist Bill Mauldin mentored Peters and helped him find a cartooning position on the Dayton Daily News in 1969. In 1972, his editorial cartoons became syndicated nationally. In 1981, Mike was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Journalism, and in 1984, Peters created the award-winning MOTHER GOOSE & GRIMM comic strip.
Mother Goose & Grimm appears in more than 500 newspapers worldwide and consistently places in the top 10 most popular ratings. Peters has 28 Mother Goose & Grimm books in print. Licensees distribute Grimmy products all over the world. "Grimmy," the weekly Saturday morning animated series launched in September 1991 on CBS, continues to air in several countries. In July 1999, Mother Goose & Grimm became an attraction in Toon Lagoon at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure theme park.
Peters' work is syndicated in newspapers worldwide and frequently appears in national publications and on national television. He is a frequent guest on television programs, such as Good Morning America, The Today Show, MSNBC, CNNFN and C-SPAN. Peters is also a popular lecturer and makes appearances at editor and publisher conventions, on the college lecture circuit and before political groups.
In his spare time, Peters' creates storyboards for animation, such as "Night of the Living Fred" which he developed for Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks team (1998). "Night of the Living Fred" is a continuing 7-minute segment of a 30-minute animated show called "Toonsylvania." The show takes place in middle America featuring the lovable Deadman family, a nuclear family of zombies, Deadgar, Stiffanie, Fred, Ashley and their dog.
Peters is a member of the National Cartoonists Society, and is also on the Advisory Board of the Sarasota Comedy Festival, the Board of Advocates of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and an Honorary Member of the American Association of Therapeutic Humor based in St. Louis, Mo. Peters is a member of the Defense Orientation Conference Association, a civilian group formed by the Defense Department which is dedicated to the understanding and studying of national security on an unclassified basis at all levels.
I hadn't planned to run the compete Peters bio from the King Features website, but I found it so fascinating that I thought you would find it fascinating as well. I love to see one of the real comics journalists - I'm the journalistic equivalent of a song-and-dance man - interview Peters about his volunteer work. There would probably be some good stories there.
More COMICS IN THE COMICS to come...and don't be the least bit shy about sending me examples I might have missed.
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TONY POLLS
It's Tuesday and that means new TONY POLLS questions for your and my voting amusement. This week, I ask you to rate the BATMAN BEGINS performances of Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne/Batman), Gary Oldman (Jim Gordon), and Cillian Murphy (Dr. Jonathan Crane, aka the Scarecrow). You'll also get to pick your favorite third-season episodes of JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED and STATIC SHOCK. Whether you live in a blue or red state, you can vote on these polls by making your way to:
www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony/poll
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TONY'S MAILBOX
Today's letter is from WILLIAM VAUGHAN:
Thank you for using my previous e-mail in your April 3, 2005 column. When I was a kid, I used to dream of being published in the Marvel or DC letter columns. I was lucky enough to have a letter in THE POWER OF SHAZAM back when such things still existed. That was thrilling, but having my writing used in the column of one of the comics professionals who edited some of the letter columns I used to read when I was just discovering the joys of comics is even more wonderful.
Speaking of The Power of Shazam, I thought that, even if it never quite hit the heights of imagination and exhilaration the Marvel Family demanded, it was at least moderately entertaining and respectful enough to treat the Marvels as the heroes they were meant to be. I can just imagine what Captain Marvel would be like if DC were to "reintroduce" him today.
Killer Marvel! With one word of power he calls down the lightning to flash fry criminal scum. At his side are his fellow Shazam Commandos: Cutthroat Marvel and Mary Murder. Their allies in the war against low sales figures are lethal. Ice-cold tactician and weapons expert Uncle Deadly traps and annihilates evildoers. Any who survive him have no chance against paramilitary feline of few words, Tearem Shredem. His bloodstained teeth and claws do the talking for him.
They take their orders from the wise and noble Commander in Chief Shazam-Bush from his armed fortress, the Rock of Brutality. Do not believe those rumors that Shazam-Bush is actually a hologram controlled by the Seven Patriotic Friends of America, Vice President Anger; Secretary of State Pride; Secretary of Defense Envy; Attorney General Injustice; Secretary of Commerce Greed; Secretary of Education Laziness; and Secretary of Health and Human Services Selfishness. It is not true the real Commander in Chief was crushed into powder early in his first term. He was not dumb enough to think that he could hang a half-ton block of granite from the ceiling with nothing more than a thread without having it drop on him."
The special preview would no doubt begin with Killer Marvel, in his secret identity of Billy Bestial, honing his aim by firing a few rounds into Hapless the Target Bunny XXXVI of as many as it takes to deplete his ammunition. Every issue would begin like this. That way all of them could be advertised as containing the death of a major character.
Billy would then be joined in his butchery by his sister Mary Bloodthirst and their friend Freddy Sickmind, the secret identities of Mary Murder and Cutthroat Marvel. In a scene of heartwarming family togetherness, Uncle Deadly, beaming with pride, would tell them their practice would have been just like a real battle with a super-villain if they had sadly but unavoidably caused widespread destruction of property and the wholesale maiming and killing of innocent bystanders. You see what I mean.
Moving on...
I have to admit I was one of those "heartless fiends," err, devoted fans who voted to have you review the ESSENTIAL LUKE CAGE. This book is in may ways a time capsule, especially the glimpses of pre-Disneyfication Times Square. I thought having Cage's office over a Times Square revival theater was a great touch. I did find it hard to believe Dr. Doom would stiff Cage after he successfully completed the job he was hired to do. After all, the one thing that set Doom apart from all other Marvel villains was that he always kept his word. I was impressed by the stories you wrote for Luke Cage, Power Man. Thank you for toning down the over-the-top jive talk. I hate to be uncomplimentary to Steve Englehart - his work on Avengers, Captain America, Master of Kung Fu and Detective Comics is one masterpiece after another - but he was not at his best on this series.
Your best stories on Luke Cage were his confrontation with the other Power Man and the Security City story. "The Killer With My Name" was the one story in this collection I had read as a kid. I was stunned by the vividness of the fight scenes, especially Ron Wilson's illustration of Cage knocking his namesake halfway across the theater with one punch. I also admired the fact that Cage was fighting for more than just macho self-centeredness. On second reading, I still found it very powerful.
"Welcome to Security City" impressed me the more for having first read it thirty years after its original publication. I found it absolutely chilling. Many relevant stories of that period are so obviously of their time they seem like quaint relics. "Security City is not in the least dated. Right-wing paranoia is still very much with us and the security-industrial complex has only grown over the years. The fact that instead of preaching, you simply showed the effects of these trends on the mentality and behavior of those who embrace them only improves the story.
Sorry to make this e-mail so long, but after suffering through ten loathsome years of grim and gritty, I just couldn't resist the chance to eviscerate its modern day revival at some length. Here's hoping that Batman was secretly replaced by Hugo Strange after NO MAN'S LAND at the instigation of Maxwell Lord and that the real Batman will be freed by the Justice League so that he can bring the imposter to justice and restore his reputation as a true hero. I hope that you and your family are having a wonderful summer.
Thanks for the kind words about my Cage stories and the good wishes for my family. Consider those good wishes extended to you and yours from me and mine.
"Grim and gritty" has its place; there's no denying that the world has gotten darker in recent decades. But, just because the world has gotten darker, that doesn't mean every super-hero has to follow suit. They can combat the darkness with succumbing to it. And, even in this grim and gritty world of ours, there are still lighter stories and room for more.
Fortunately, Captain Marvel will be in the good hands of Jeff (BONE) Smith when he gets his full-fledged reintroduction into the DC Universe. Smith is very excited about this coming series and, considering the towering achievement that was his fifty-plus issues of BONE, that's saying a lot.
Thanks to William and all of you for spending a part of your day with me. I'll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
Tony Isabella
<< 06/27/2005 | 06/28/2005 | 06/29/2005 >>
Discuss this column with me at my Message Board. Also, read Heroes and Villains: Real and Imagined.
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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.
Please send material you would like me to review to:
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Medina, OH 44256
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