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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 Monday, July 7, 2008
Mid-Ohio-Con will be happening on Saturday and Sunday, October 4 and 5, at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in good old Columbus, Ohio. I'm pleased to announce I will be continuing with the event by appearing as a special guest, joining a host of comics legends and old friends.
Though I will not be returning as the show's program director, I will be involved with the panel programing. I've been asked by Managing Director James Henry to create and host two panels, and to advise him and Creative Director Bill Henry on their program plans, and, of course, I'm delighted to do so.
This is an exciting year for Mid-Ohio-Con. New owners and new show dates and new ideas. I'm especially looking forward to the Mid-Ohio-Con Indie Film Festival, which was something Roger Price - the show's founder and still part of the event - and I had always wanted to do, but could never quite pull together.
Then there's the show's ever-growing and very spiffy roster of comics guests: Joe Kubert, Alan Davis, Dick Ayers, Art Baltazar, Chris Eliopoulos, Mark Evanier, Gary Friedrich, Mike Grell, David Mack, Bob McLeod, Steve Rude, P. Craig Russell, Roger Stern, Marc Sumerak, Arthur Suydam, Ethan Van Sciver, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, and Bernie Wrightson. Best of all, because I won't be the program director, I'll actually have time during the show to talk with all of them and with my other friends and readers.
For information on the show, be ye comics fan, professional, or retailer, go to:
www.midohiocon.com
You'll find links to everything you could want to know about Mid-Ohio-Con and to the Mighty Mighty MOC-Blog, the official blog of the convention.
October can't get here soon enough for me.
******
MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST HORROR COMICS
The Mammoth Book of Best Horror Comics
[Running Press; $17.95] does not live up to the best part of its title. To be more accurate, the 544-page collection features the best stories chosen by editor Peter Normanton he could get the rights to reprint. So there are no stories from EC, DC, Marvel, Warren, and other horror comics publishers who would, under more fortunate circumstances, have been represented in this volume. Still, even with the title inaccuracy, readers will still get plenty of scary bang for their bucks.
Normanton divided his selections into four periods, prefacing each section with a decent overview commentary of the respective eras. Each story is also prefaced by a few words of background. Some of Normanton's spelling drives me crazy; "Swamp Thing" is and always has been two words. His regard for some of the material strikes me as unsupported by those stories. But, overall, I found his history and introductions of interest.
From the 1940s and 1950s, there are twenty stories. While there is certainly some historical value to all of them, only a few stories are exceptional and those for their lively art by talents like Don Heck, Rudy Palais, Jerry Grandenetti, Jack Cole, and Pete Morisi. From a writing standpoint, the best is the bunch is the very creepy "Dungeon of Doom" with its subway monsters.
There are ten tales from the 1960s and 1970s. Written by the great John Stanley, "The Monster of Dread End" is the best story of the anthology. It manages to terrify without ever showing a bit of blood or gore. Also noteworthy are stories drawn and sometimes written by Tom Sutton for Charlton Comics.
The 1980s and 1990s are represented by nine stories. There are a number of gems here: a Mr. Monster adventure by Michael T. Gilbert; a Robert E. Howard adaptation by Roy Thomas and Tim Sale; a great science fiction horror story by Rand H. Holmes; a most unsettling tale by Arthur Suydam, and two Bruce Jones-written pieces drawn by Mike Ploog and Mike Hoffman.
There are likewise nine stories from the new millennium. Normanton is kinder to most of these than I would be, but the prize picks are a pair of stories by Pete Von Sholly, one a retelling of Stanley's "Dread End"; Steve Sennitt's "The Crawlspace" with art by James Fletcher; the darkly funny "There Was An Old Woman" by Socar Myles; and a Cal McDonald case by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith.
The Mammoth Book of Best Horror Comics offers some fine tales, decent variety, and some good historical perspective. It earns four out of five Tonys.
******
DC CHALLENGE FLASHBACK
Here are some reviews from my first failed attempt at reading and reviewing a month's worth of DC Comics items.
Justice League Unlimited #44 [DC; $2.25] was another enjoyable comic based on the series that ran on Cartoon Network. This time out, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, and the Flash are up against the Mirror Master. Written by Ken Pontac, "My Dad's A Hero" did remind me a bit of an earlier JLU story by Adam Beecham wherein we got to see a different side of a villain, but, as that territory hasn't been mined out and as this tale has a different spin on the basic idea, it didn't bother me. Pontac's script is visualized by penciler John Delaney, inker Ty Templeton, and colorist Heroic Age; all do a fine job. This issue might not be an award-winner, but it's a quality comic book that earns a very respectable three out of five Tonys.
Wonder Woman #18 [DC; $2.99] kicks off Gail Simone's second arc on the book and, like the first, I enjoyed it more than I've enjoyed any Wonder Woman since Mike Sekowsky's wonderful-if-misguided efforts of the late 1960s. I know I tread on several fan favorites with this view, but I calls them as I sees them.
Wonder Woman begins her formal courtship of romantic interest Tom Tresser and it's funny and sweet and just odd enough to fit our heroine's Amazon heritage. We also get an "attack" by the Khund, war-like aliens with a Klingon-cuddly vibe that had me laughing out loud once or twice; a trip to the Khund planet; and a revelation of a mystery villain that caught me by surprise. With terrific art by Bernard Chang, coloring by I.L.L., and lettering by Rob Leigh, this issue is comics joy. It earns the full five Tonys.
World of Warcraft #5 [Wildstorm; $2.99] was doomed from the moment it landed in my hands. Every reviewer has his or her core dislikes and, among mine, are anything having to do with video games, role-playing games, online video role-playing games, and any combination thereof. I think they are the black hole of time that could and should have been spent better, but, this being America and all, I do not deny your right to leap into that gravity-sucking hole. However, my dislike for such games notwithstanding, my faith in comics is such that I think one could do a pretty decent comic based on WOW or other games. Alas, this isn't that comic. Nothing draws me to the characters, the story doesn't engage me, and the art is really butt-ugly. It earns no Tonys whatsoever.
******
SUPERMAN AND EVERYMAN
Superman and Everyman. The Man of Steel and Harvey Pekar. Two of the best and most interesting comic books I read during my first DC Challenge attempt.
All Star Superman #10 [DC; $2.99] is a Silver Age story evolved to make use of all the artistic and technological advances to comic books since the 1960s. Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's "Neverending" packs more character bits and story turns into its 22 pages than most DCU creators do in a year's worth of stories. We see Superman performing feats great and small, superhuman and very human, even as he deals with his own impeding death. We get a brilliant take on the bottle city of Kandor. We attend a meeting between Superman and Lex Luthor that cuts to the heart of both men. Any one of the last four pages of this story would have been a satisfying ending to the issue. Quitely's art, digitally inked and colored by Jamie Grant, is breathtaking in its visuals and its certain storytelling. Comics this good are to be treasured; this one earns the full five out of five Tonys.
American Splendor Volume 2 #1 [Vertigo; $2.99] is 32 black-and-white pages of writer Harvey Pekar being Harvey Pekar, which is always a treat. Some of his life stories make me laugh out loud, some of them make me nod my head in recognition of some tiny truth revealed. But I never put down one of his books without wishing there were more pages of it.
Phillip Bond's cover captures Pekar perfectly and delivers a smile. Inside the issue, the artistic roster is very impressive: David Lapham, Dean Haspiel, Mike Hawthorne, Hilary Barta, John Lucas, Ed Piskor, Zachary Baldus, and Chris Weston.
Every story is fun, but my favorites are those that speak to me on a more personal level. "I'm No Help" recounts Pekar's front porch meeting with an aspiring teenage film maker; I've had those conversations with hopeful writers and artists, coming away from them feeling much as Pekar does in this tale. When Pekar expresses his delight in realizing he can still have a good time or when he takes a tumble, I can recognize myself in those moments.
Every issue of American Splendor is like a wonderful visit with an old pal. I make no claim to have more than a nodding acquaintance with Pekar, though I do love him and his family madly from afar. This new issue adds to my admiration of his ability to make real life an adventure. It earns the full five Tonys.
******
CELEBRATING JACK KIRBY
From time to time, my friends at the Marvel Comics site ask me to add my two cents to their topic of the week. Last month, one such topic was celebrating Jack "King" Kirby's many contributions to Marvel Comics and comics in general.
Here's what I wrote:
You could celebrate Jack Kirby every day of the year and not make more than a dent in all the great comics stories he worked on. I'll mention a couple of favorites from the fringes.
Rawhide Kid #18 [October, 1960]:
"A Legend is Born!"
The Stan Lee and Jack Kirby reboot of the Kid as a diminutive fugitive from the law is among my favorite westerns, and this five-page treat is easily my favorite of the stories they did. The Kid's trying to enjoy a meal at a typical Old West saloon when he's hassled by a pack of bullies. In mere pages, he teaches them the error of their ways, escaping minutes before the sheriff's arrival. When the town lawman asks for a description, the bullies widely exaggerate the kid's height, weight, size of his guns, you name it. Because only a giant of a man could have beaten them all.
Not Brand Echh #1 [August, 1967]:
"The Silver Burper!"
Jack Kirby unleashed his zany side in a hilarious parody of the Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom, and, of course, the Silver Surfer. Stan matches the visuals beat for beat. I laughed out loud when I first read it...and every time I've read it since.
******
COMICS IN THE COMICS
I love newspaper comic strips and panels, especially the ones that contain self-referential humor or guest appearances by other comics characters. When I find them, I share them with you in this section of the column.
Is this what "One More Day" spared us? Spider-Man appears in Mother Goose and Grimm from July 4:
I can always count on Dave Whamond's Reality Check to provide material for this section. This is from July 5:
I was surprised to see prescription drug abuse in the July 5 strip of Stephan Pastis' Pearls Before Swine. Then again, if I ever started having drug-induced hallucinations, this is what they would look like.
Keep watching TOT for more "Comics in the Comics."
Thanks for spending a part of your day with me. I'll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
Tony Isabella
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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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