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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 11, 2018 16:40:29 GMT -5
Like anything involving art and storytelling, a lot of what you get from it is what you bring to the table. I'm a big fan of adventure fiction, tv and film, having grown up with swashbucklers, mountain men, western heroes, explorers, aviation pioneers and more. Pratt really knows how to tick that impulse, much as Caniff and Foster did. he features exotic places and people; but, unlike some of those earlier comics, with the hindsight of seeing the post-war history of those former colonies and with a large background in the history of European colonialism. He hits the adventure and history jones for me, as does it with style.
Tardi has been a tougher nut for me, stylistically; but, I only got his work in interrupted snippets. Since I have been able to see collected editions (rather than an issue or two of Cheval Noir) they are more impactful to me.
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Post by berkley on Oct 11, 2018 23:47:37 GMT -5
I think Manara's art looks way better in black and white comics such as Monkey than it does in colour. He adds more texture and shading in black and white and it gives a kind of solidity and "there-ness" to his art that's missing in the colour stuff, which always feels a bit fluffy and lightweight in comparison.
I've had a hard time finding French editions of Barbarella or Jodelle at reasonable prices. For some reason the English translations are easier to get hold of right now, but I'd really prefer to read them in French since I'm always looking for stuff to practise on and improve my reading level in that language.
My favourite artist in that light-erotica vein is Denis Sire, whom Heavy Metal readers might remember from stories like The Great Trap from the earlier years of the mag. Unfortunately for fans he is the opposite of prolific, so there isn't a lot of stuff to look for. I have a couple of his art books in addition to all the B-D of his I've been able to track down.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 12, 2018 12:11:12 GMT -5
Well, both are over 50 years old, though you would think that there would be modern editions of it. Then again, I saw Cinco Por Infinito offered in a collection, on Amazon (marketplace), for around $50 and passed, hoping for a lower price. Since then, I haven't seen it below $100. I suppose Europe isn't much different in that the market for that is more limited, as it is a couple of generations past and maybe hasn't aged as well. Barbarella is pretty tame, when you read it; but, in 1962, it was pretty provocative. Jodelle just as much.
Europe is better about keeping this kind of thing in print; but, age does push it into higher end collections. I've seen listings for the Complete Crepax and it isn't cheap, though it is a lot of material, from Neutron on up and a ton of stuff that never made it here.
I'm amazed at how prices have changed on a lot of these albums, from Catalan and NBM. Up through the early 2000s you could get them for a song. Now, I see listings that make me blink.
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Post by mrbrklyn on Oct 30, 2018 21:16:30 GMT -5
I've been a long-time fan of comics, since the dawn of the Bronze Age. I like superheroes; but, I read just about anything and loved many of the books and characters from companies other than DC and Marvel, just as I loved the big Two's own niche titles. Looking around a bit, not just here; but, across the internet, the world of independent comics and the smaller publishers are less well represented, apart from things like the Disney comics. I thought I would start a thread to explore some of those "other" comics out there. This will be a bit more free-wheeling than my previous reviews, covering a wide variety of c genres and comics. My only criteria is that the comic not be something published by DC or Marvel, even though I don't quite consider Archie or Harvey, or even Gold Key and Charlton to necessarily be "independents." They were a bit too big for that label. However, I want to hit the real indies and the other publishers; so, here we go. This may also be a bit more sporadic, in the spirit of much of the small press. Let's get it started with something close to home, so to speak. (Cody Starbuck appeared in Heavy Metal, May-Sept. 1981 issues; I have used the most PG of the covers, Sept. 1981) Howard Chaykin was a hot young turk, working at DC. he broke into the business as an assistant to Gil Kane and expanded from there, including work on DC's Sword of Sorcery, adapting the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories of Fritz Leiber. That was an auspicious start for what we are going to look at. Leiber's heroes were an antidote to the more grim and hulking Conan of Robert E Howard and his other fantasy heroes. Fafhrd and Mouser were more layered and cultured, liking a good fight, if the odds favored them, retiring when it was prudent. They were a bit more sophisticated, engaging in cons and heists, rather than hacking their way through armies. Chaykin got to buckle plenty of swash in that short-lived series. F Chaykin followed that up with his own series, in the pages of Weird Worlds. The comic had started out showcasing some of Edgar Rice burroughs other works, aside from Tarzan; but, when the titles left DC, Chaykin had something new to fill in: Ironwolf. Ironwolf featured a space opera, swashbuckling hero, with a bit of an amoral streak. He's a little more in the Errol Flynn mode than later heroes; but, he has touches of Fafhrd and Gray Mouser. He is a nobleman from a world with forests of trees, with anti-gravity properties, which make for fine spaceships, in a galactic empire. Corrupt elements of this regime come to take from his world and he fights back, becoming an outlaw. The story lasted through the final three issues of Weird Worlds; but, was cancelled with that series. Chaykin and Mike Mignola later came back to it, in Ironwolf: Fires of the Revolution. Chaykin was never one for wasting a good idea, or speaking his mind and butting heads. He was fighting against the constraints of the mainstream and jumped at the chance to go outside it. Enter Mike Friederich. Friedrich began a publication that matched the sensibility of the Undergrounds with the artistic stylings of the mainstream. Much as New Wave would later bridge Punk and Pop, this series gave creators a chance to do things they couldn't at DC and Marvel, yet something more than counter-culture stuff. That vessel was Star*Reach. Chaykin nabbed the cover of the first issue, as he retooled Ironwolf into Cody Starbuck. Inside that first issue, following stories from studio mates Jim Starlin (a story about Death, naturally) and Walt Simonson (a parody of sword & sorcery that would hint at the future Thor), was a tale of an intergalactic pirate, in search of the kidnapped bride of a planetary governor, taken by a monk. Chaykin launches it with full piratical glory... Cody rescues the girl (who is clad in very little, complete with an open harness that showcases her....um....assets), Cody escapes to his organic wooden spaceship, the Limerick Rake, where the newly-freed hostage shows her appreciation, by launching Chaykin's favorite element of the "oral" storytelling tradition. Starbuck eventually reunites her with her husband, with a smile on her face, and then runs into an old, hated rival, Trachman. Chaykin recounts their history... ...then decides to settle the score. He's stopped and sent on his merry way. He meets up with an old buddy on another world, engages in sex with Coledroids (tm Homunculi, Ltd), then is attacked by assassins. He kills several and gets one to talk about who sent them, leading him back to Trachman. A fight ensues.... and Trachman dies in an explosion, trying to escape via a damaged matter transmitter. It's all a bit confusing; but, filled with plenty of action an intrigue, talk of corrupt churches and empires, plenty of nudity and profanity, and sex. This is where Chaykin cemented his reputation for sex, which would inform much of his independent work, and more than a bit of his mainstream, from the 80s onward. He steals that first issue of Star*Reach, which was a pretty darn good comic all around. Chaykin is definitely the star. His artwork is showing stronger linework than his earlier DC work, as he has become confident and experienced. He's still in that Gil Kane/Neal Adams mode; but, that will evolve, as we will see. His writing is rough, very rough. He is under the influence of Archie Goodwin, who introduced him to the greats of crime fiction and he is channelling more of that than the romantic likes of Leigh Brackett, CL Moore, Edmond Hamilton, and Gardner Fox. In fact, he is more like Michael Moorcock, than anyone else. Being a small publication, Star*Reach wasn't published on a monthly basis. Approximately 2 years after the first issue, issue 4 featured the return of Cody Starbuck. This issue finds Cody in the employ of the Abraxas mercantile cartel, launching raids on a rival cartel. Cody steals a device that will allow hyperspace travel; but, it's coded to the fingerprints of its inventor, a pacifist. Cody demands 50% of the profits, for 25 years, to locate and retrieve the inventor, Diego Portman We get a montage of Starbuck searching for his prey, then gaining a clue from a nomadic tribe, and the chief's daughter. He head's off to find Portman, which leads him back into Abraxas territory. he is also being tracked and set up for a double-cross by his patron, Sjardin, a lady who favors topless dress and the company of other women. Borrowing a bit from Raphael Sabatinni (Scaramouche), Chaykin has Cody hideout as Harlequin, from the Comedia Del Arte. He is followed by another Harlequin, as he searches for Portman. He finds him operating a puppet show and takes him inside a nearby wagon to confer. The Harlequin observer calls in Sjardin's dogs and they burst in on Cody and a fight ensues, killing Portman, while Starbuck wounds Sjardin. She only needs Portman's hands to operate his device. The cosmic joke is on her, as one of her officers, when they captured Portman, lopped off his hands and replaced them with clonedroid puppets, his characters from his puppet show. Starbuck walks out on the stunned Sjardin. Despite the promise at the end of the first story, we never get an explanation of what was going on. We are pretty much dumped into the middle of things here, too. Chaykin's art is starting to move away from the Adams mold and is taking on elements of the style we would come to know. He's definitely embraced the amoral nature of his hero; a template that factor into most of his characters. This is the influence of the crime novels he now favors. There is little continuity with the previous story and little background for this one. He has evolved the look of the character, too. This is Chaykin experimenting with characters and stories, rather than telling a longer tale. Terrific write up on one of my favorite creators. Chaykin pushed the entire field in a new direction... and everyone followed. www.mrbrklyn.com/american_flagg.html
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Post by mrbrklyn on Oct 30, 2018 21:23:52 GMT -5
String codystarbuckWhile maybe not up to Aparo/Newton levels, a good place to start with The Phantom on the cheap to get a sense of the character and if you will like him is the 4 issue Phantom mini by Peter David and Joe Orlando from DC in 1988. There was a 13 issue regular series that followed, that's decent too, but a little different in tone form the mini. The David/Orlando mini gives you a sense of the history of the character, the types of stories told and is a fun rousing adventure in and of itself, plus it is dollar bin fodder so you can try it on the cheap before you plunk down money on the more expensive Charlton/GK issues. Not to take a thing away form the issues codystarbuck recommended, they are awesome, but they are harder to find/a little pricier and if you are not sure you will like it, you might want a slightly more accessible/less pricey place to start. You could also go here and read the Phantom strips form 1996 to the present for free to try it if you were so inclined. -M momentofcerebus.blogspot.com/2016/09/howard-chaykin.htmlnothingbutcomics.net/2016/03/21/ironwolf/www.mrbrklyn.com/docs/chaykin_kane_1.jpgwww.mrbrklyn.com/docs/chaykin_kane_2.jpg
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Post by mikelmidnight on Oct 31, 2018 11:53:10 GMT -5
One of the entertaining things about reading Ironwolf these days is seeing how many character names (and some concepts) he reused in later works.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 31, 2018 13:47:51 GMT -5
One of the entertaining things about reading Ironwolf these days is seeing how many character names (and some concepts) he reused in later works. That's one of the things in reading the body of Chaykin's work; it feels like alternate universe versions of previous characters/stories. In many ways, Ironwolf is Fafhrd and Gray Mouser sent into space, then he turns into Cody Starbuck. Then, he gets thrust back in time to become The Scorpion, changes coasts and becomes Dominic Fortune, then gets thrown into the future to become Reuben Flagg. The Shadow, to me, felt like one of Reuben's old acting roles, like while Mark Thrust was on hiatus, or something.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 31, 2018 14:30:25 GMT -5
One of the entertaining things about reading Ironwolf these days is seeing how many character names (and some concepts) he reused in later works. That's one of the things in reading the body of Chaykin's work; it feels like alternate universe versions of previous characters/stories. In many ways, Ironwolf is Fafhrd and Gray Mouser sent into space, then he turns into Cody Starbuck. Then, he gets thrust back in time to become The Scorpion, changes coasts and becomes Dominic Fortune, then gets thrown into the future to become Reuben Flagg. The Shadow, to me, felt like one of Reuben's old acting roles, like while Mark Thrust was on hiatus, or something. The Eternal Chaykin Champion.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 31, 2018 15:55:48 GMT -5
A while back, I looked at Cerebus and the Aardvark-Vanaheim line of comics published by Dave Sim and wife Deni Loubert. Now, we explore after the breakup of their marriage, from the professional standpoint. But, for those who came in late, a bit of history. Deni Loubert, like Dave Sim was born and raised in Canada. She was a writer and became interested in the growing world of fanzines, as an avenue into getting work published. She started to put together 'zines and was looking for an artist to do some work. Dave Sim had been published via his mentor Gene Day and some other 'zines and his work was sold at Now & Then Books. The pair came in contact and began to work together. They were putting together a 'zine, to be called Cerebus (with Deni responsible for misspelling the name Cerberus, from Greek mythology). Dave created a mascot, a little aardvark character. They sent the art off to a printer, who pocketed the check and disappeared with the artwork (and other checks and artwork from other 'zine publishers) They tried selling the idea of Cerebus to Mike Friedrich, at Star*Reach (who had published some of Dave's stuff, including his Beavers comic strip), who passed. They put together the first issue themselves and the rest is a 300 issue history. Dave and Deni married and she acted as an art assistant, editor and publisher for the book. As they became more successful, they enticed others to publish their books through Aardvark-Vanaheim and Deni became more involved in things beyond Cerebus, while Dave focused on Cerebus and his newer partnership with Gerhard. As time went on, A-V had some critical hits, though they were minor sellers, compared to Cerebus. Eventually, things started to unravel, for various reasons, not the least of which was the disintegration of Dave and deni's marriage. There is a lot of he-said, she-said in all of this and I don't want to get too deeply in it. Dave had a severe episode after taking acid, Deni had an affair, and both were fighting, badly. There were egos and jealousies involved and the truth is probably not to be found in interviews with either. The end result was divorce and the split ended it involving the titles published by A-V. Dave kept custody of Cerebus and just about everyone else went with Deni. At first, Renegade appeared to be A-V, with a new name. You'll notice that Ms Tree and narmalman each have a couple of issues that say "Aardvark-Vanaheim and Renegade Press present..." before the first issue with just the Renegade Press logo. There was a bit of an overlap in A-V ending their relationship (meaning Dave) with the creators and Renegade starting up as a solo entity. One title did not come with Renegade and that was William messner-Loebs' Journey, which went to Fantagraphics, instead. In an interview, Deni remarked that Nadine Loebs told her that they felt Deni had been ignoring them and the title and they felt more comfortable elsewhere. At the time, Deni says she was hurt; but, in retrospect, understands that Nadine was protecting their interests. Supposedly, Dave had been wanting to pull back from publishing others to return focus to Cerebus; yet, he ended up starting Aardvark One, publishing Stephen Murphy Michael Zulli's Puma Blues. In an interview, Deni stated that she had been growing restless to do more, as a publisher, to see if she could do so beyond just publishing her husband. She says she used to commiserate with Richard Pini over this topic, though she said Richard had a much stronger sense of self and was happy in his role and very good at it. Deni really got the bug after meeting Dean Mullaney and cat yronwode, talking to them about Eclipse. She wanted to publish more of the kind of material that DC and Marvel didn't. That was part of what fuelled A-V; but, Deni wanted to do more of it, while Dave started resenting the other books, both as pulling his focus away from his own work and for the very real feeling that he was carrying those other creators with his sales. Now, Deni had a chance to prove herself, without Dave and Dave was free to concentrate on Cerebus and only Cerebus (until Aardvark One). Ms Tree and Flaming Carrot continued as before, with (respectively) hardboiled detective adventures and just plain weirdness. Neil the Horse continued to be a delightful world of the absurd, the charming and the decidedly non-mainstream adventures of Neil and his cast, as they sang and danced their way across comics (seriously, read these stories; they define fun). normalman wrapped up its run and was collected into a book; then Valentino launched a new book, with more personal stories. The title was, obviously, Valentino. Alas, I do not have these comics, in any form, nor have I ever read them. However, my experience with Valentino is that his non-superhero (or non-serious superhero) material is vastly superior to his superhero work. These were humorous tales, with strong biographical elements, with much in common with the later alternative press that grew up with companies like Fantagrahics, Drawn & Quarterly and others, which drew their roots from the Undergrounds and early indie publishers, like Kitchen Sink. Valentino got much better press in the Comics journal fro this stuff than for Guardians of the Galaxy or Shadow Hawk. Deni Loubert wanted Renegade to represent the kind of comics that interested others, particularly women, who seemed marginalized by the mainstream and even the indies. One of the titles that was published with this aim was Vicki Valentine, inspired by the Archie comic Katy Keene. Like Katy Keene, Vicki had lighthearted stores and fashion creations. Eclipse had also dabbled in this world and there was a whole side market for romance comics, though not enough for DC and Marvel to take notice. Louise Simonson pitched the idea of publishing romance comics, in conjunction with Harlequin, aimed at that audience; but, Marvel decided to stick with what they knew (not sure; but, there may have been problems in negotiating a deal with Harlequin that would make it economically viable). Marvel did publish barbie, which was one of their few titles with a very strong female readership. Renegade went so far as to put together a romance anthology, Renegade Romance. Contributors included Mario Hernandez, Trina Robbins, Angela Bocage, Al Williamson, Cynthia Martin, Mary Wilshire, Stephan DeStefano, Gilbert Hernandez, Steve Leialoha, Colleen Doran, and a few more. Again, I have no copies; but, the Comics Journal favorably reviewed the material, including the Al Williamson story (he did the art) which was set in the fine art world, with a character based on (and drawn to look like) Frank Frazetta. Unfortunately, two issue were it, as Renegade was having severe financial problems, by that point. Science fiction was a big favorite of Deni and Robin Snyder's sci-fi anthology, Revolver filled that, nicely. The key draw was Steve Ditko (who Snyder would represent), and the first issue featured material originally intended for Western's Astral Frontier #1; but, the comic was cancelled before it could be published. Here was a title with a lot of mainstream cache: Ditko, Tony Dezuniga, Ernie Colon, Robert Kanigher, Irwin Hasen, Alex nino, Stephen Bissette, Tom Mandrake (both of whom were rookies, fresh from the Kubert School, with other contributions by students there), Romeo Tanghal, Erik Larsen, Pat Boyette, and more. If those names aren't enough to convince you to check it out, nothing else will. The title evolved into other things, after 6 issues; mainly, a showcase for Ditko. What would have been issues 7-9 became Ditko's World, Featuring Static #1-3 Some of this was seen before (at least one story in issue #1 was from Eclipse Monthly) and the Static character had appeared at Charlton. Murder was another title that became home to material intended for Revolver. This was a crime anthology, with material from Ditko, Dave and Dan Day (Gene's brothers), Alex Toth, Henry Boltinoff, Richard Connoly, Nick Cuti, Wally Wood and Ernie Colon (the last three in one story, with material from Warren's 1984 comic) The last book of material intended for Revolver was published as the Revolver Annual (title Frisky Frolics)... This was a mixture of humor material, some old (such as Killjoy, from Charlton's E-man comics), some newer. Contributors included Ditko, Bill Dubay, henry Boltinoff, Alex Toth (cover), Romeo Tanghal, Erik Larsen, Ernie Colon, and Pat Boyette. Now, if you really wanted to get away from the mainstream, you couldn't go much further than French Ice. French Ice was a reprint of material from the French publication Fluide Glacial, featuring (primarily) Jean-Marc Lelong's creation, Carmen Cru, about an acerbic elderly woman, who has a unique way of dealing with life's troubles and absurdities. The strip was published in Fluide Glacial until Lelong's death, in 2004. The strip is a satire of a certain French attitude, often found in the more rural areas of France, with a certain grumpy attitude to life and a penchant for taking advantage of situations, by adopting contrary modes. The series is a lot of fun, with Carmen living in a house with all kinds of barriers, to keep out those who would prey upon her or just annoy her. Issue one features a story, "Sanitation," which features carmen dragging her trash can to "city hall" (some government building) and dumping it in the office of the Sanitation department, since it hasn't been collected in over 2 weeks. This puzzles the official until he learns that it is not left on the sidewalk, by the street, since there is no side walk and you ahve to go down stairs and across a courtyard to reach Carmen's house, where she leaves the can. The official explains the problem with this and suggests she bring it to the street, where it will be collected. She retorts that she is an old woman, despite the fact she just dragged it to the government building. In the end, due to sheer bloody-mindedness, Carmen wins. other stories feature and mooching nephew and various neighbors and annoyances who inflict themselves upon Carmen. Lelong employs a certain grotesque caricature style, which fits the biting tone of things... Also appearing in later issues was Christian Binet's Kador, featuring a dog character that was quite popular in France, which grew into a larger strip, Les Bidochon. All of this is wonderfully funny satire and quite accessible to an American audience, though few saw it. Renegade also picked up the anthology, Wimmen's Comix, origanlly begun at Last Gasp... This groundbreaking anthology found a home with a female publisher; but, the financial problems that dogged Renegade would send it to Rp-Off Press, for the remained of its duration. The Renegade issues feature contributions from Trina Robbins, Mary Fleener, Leslie Sternbergh, Carol Lay, Cynthia Martin, Diane Noomin, Angela Bocage and more. This was one of the longer lasting and historical books of the Undergrounds. Next time, we will look closer at some of Renegade's particular features, including Silent Invasion and the critically acclaimed Wordsmith.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 31, 2018 15:58:22 GMT -5
That's one of the things in reading the body of Chaykin's work; it feels like alternate universe versions of previous characters/stories. In many ways, Ironwolf is Fafhrd and Gray Mouser sent into space, then he turns into Cody Starbuck. Then, he gets thrust back in time to become The Scorpion, changes coasts and becomes Dominic Fortune, then gets thrown into the future to become Reuben Flagg. The Shadow, to me, felt like one of Reuben's old acting roles, like while Mark Thrust was on hiatus, or something. The Eternal Chaykin Champion. Yeah, Moorcock was in my mind when I typed that. No wonder they collaborated on the Swords of Heaven, the Flowers of Hell and Moorcock wrote the forward to the First Graphic Novel collection of Hard Times (the first three issues of American Flagg, plus some new art pages). Very similar sensibilities.
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Post by beccabear67 on Oct 31, 2018 16:59:15 GMT -5
Like Katy Keene, Vicki had lighthearted stores and fashion creations. Eclipse had also dabbled in this world and there was a whole side market for romance comics, though not enough for DC and Marvel to take notice. Louise Simonson pitched the idea of publishing romance comics, in conjunction with Harlequin, aimed at that audience; but, Marvel decided to stick with what they knew (not sure; but, there may have been problems in negotiating a deal with Harlequin that would make it economically viable). Marvel did publish barbie, which was one of their few titles with a very strong female readership. Renegade went so far as to put together a romance anthology, Renegade Romance. I had a lot of trouble getting Renegade titles here, I figured either because the shop owner was pals with Dave Sim (true) or they figured they couldn't sell such things to anyone other than me (I bought all the weird stuff nobody else wanted I was told) or they had some distributor that just didn't offer them. I only ever had this one Vicki Valentine and it had to come by mail. This was an era where we only had one real full comic store (not counting a few places that had old comics in with secondhand books). We'd had more than one in the late '70s and early '80s that shocked me in closing, and competition didn't appear until around 1989-90 when two or three opened near the older one in quick succession. Anyway... I loved Barb Rausch's ink work, I think she was the reason I even looked for this title. So sad when I'd heard she had died. I bought Trina's Misty and California Girls comics to support their existence as much as to read, and the art was always quality. I just never got into romance and clothing design comics back when there were a bunch of them on newsstands in the '70s, a Scamp or Shazam or something else would get my nickels and dimes. I had stuffed animals galore to play tea with, not a lot of dolls.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 31, 2018 20:33:32 GMT -5
Like Katy Keene, Vicki had lighthearted stores and fashion creations. Eclipse had also dabbled in this world and there was a whole side market for romance comics, though not enough for DC and Marvel to take notice. Louise Simonson pitched the idea of publishing romance comics, in conjunction with Harlequin, aimed at that audience; but, Marvel decided to stick with what they knew (not sure; but, there may have been problems in negotiating a deal with Harlequin that would make it economically viable). Marvel did publish barbie, which was one of their few titles with a very strong female readership. Renegade went so far as to put together a romance anthology, Renegade Romance. I had a lot of trouble getting Renegade titles here, I figured either because the shop owner was pals with Dave Sim (true) or they figured they couldn't sell such things to anyone other than me (I bought all the weird stuff nobody else wanted I was told) or they had some distributor that just didn't offer them. I only ever had this one Vicki Valentine and it had to come by mail. This was an era where we only had one real full comic store (not counting a few places that had old comics in with secondhand books). We'd had more than one in the late '70s and early '80s that shocked me in closing, and competition didn't appear until around 1989-90 when two or three opened near the older one in quick succession. Anyway... I loved Barb Rausch's ink work, I think she was the reason I even looked for this title. So sad when I'd heard she had died. I bought Trina's Misty and California Girls comics to support their existence as much as to read, and the art was always quality. I just never got into romance and clothing design comics back when there were a bunch of them on newsstands in the '70s, a Scamp or Shazam or something else would get my nickels and dimes. I had stuffed animals galore to play tea with, not a lot of dolls. I suspect that was a bit of a problem in many locations, though the Dave end of it was probably more prevalent in Canada. Renegade was black & white, which limited it in comic shops period, and they weren't featuring the latest TMNT rip-off, which further limited it, even with the black & white boom. I was in college when Renegade was going and saw a few of their titles at my local, in Champaign, IL: Neil the Horse, Ms Tree, possibly some of the Ditko stuff. I didn't discover normalman until I saw the trade at a shop in Charleston, SC, when I was stationed there while in the US Navy. Eclipse had an interesting twist on the whole fashion/paper doll/romance comic thing; they published John K Snyder III's Fashion In Action (FIA) as a back-up (in Scout) and in its own book, with a group of spies and criminal/terrorists, with the fashion angle.
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Post by berkley on Nov 1, 2018 3:16:54 GMT -5
As usual, lots of titles that are new to me in these last few posts. I'm particularly interested in Renegade Romance and the Frisky Frolics because of Al Williamson, Toth, and the Hernandezes.
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 1, 2018 16:13:43 GMT -5
Back when Deni Loubert was still married to Dave Sim, Cerebus began running back-ups, called Unusual Stories, which showcased work from other talents. One of those stories featured a detective character, named Dick Mallet. It was a spoof of the hardboiled detective, much like Nick Cuti and Joe Staton's Mike Mauser, at Charlton (appearing in back-up stories in E-Man, then later being revived, with E-man, at First Comics). The story was the work of Michael Cherkas, a fellow Canadian. More stories followed and a cast grew, in the series. Cherkas was developing an idea that would mix in the world of the 50s, with political paranoia and UFOs. He conceived of a reporter character, named Matt Sinkage, Alien Detective. Deni Loubert asked Cherkas to create a series for Aardvark-Vanaheim and Cherkas started to put together a series revolving around Matt Sinkage. During this time, the separation of Dave and Deni led to most of the A-V books going with Deni, as the foundation for the new Renegade Press, now based in California. Matt Sinkage showed up a little later, now called The Silent Invasion... By this point, Michael Cherkas had been joined by Larry Hancock, who co-wrote the series, while Cherkas wrote and drew it. The title morphed into The Silent Invasion, to better encompass the expanding world and Matt Sinkage went from Alien Detective to Intrepid Reporter. The series opens with Dick Mallet going to meet an informant to locate a person of interest in his latest case. His contact doesn't show and he drives on and spies a weird flying object, coming in low, in the night sky. He runs off the road, into a road sign. His body disappears and police find only the empty car. Union City reporter Matt Sinkage hears about strange lights sighted, out by Copper Hills, then heads off to work, wondering why his editor didn't contact him to check out the story. At the newspaper offices, he finds a story on it, dismissing it as "marsh gas." A heated argument sees Matt go off to investigate for himself, where only a young farm boy says he saw something different. meanwhile, Matt has a couple of encounter with Gloria Amber, assistant to his neighbor, Ivan Kalashnikov (he literally bumps into her, lost in thought). By issue two, he suspects they are Russian spies (after hearing what sound like Russian, in the dead of night). He pokes his nose in and finds out they are spies; but not the Atomic Spies that he thinks. Soon, he is mixed with FBI agents and more as he discovers that aliens are invading the US, with the aid of the government, as many have been taken over by the aliens. If this all sounds kind of familiar, remember that the series premiered in 1986, a decade before the X-Files. However, it had similar antecedents, such as the Twilight Zone, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (and Robert Heinlein's original work, The Puppet Masters), plus the various 1950s paranoid sci-fi films and the political climate of the era (not to mention conspiracy paranoia pulps and similar material). The cast was large and the book included cast descriptions to help keep the reader straight. The artwork was something truly different from the average American comic. If you didn't know better, you'd think it was a European comic, translated to English. That was deliberate. Sort of. Michael Cherkas had a day job; so, Silent Invasion was a sideline. To produce the artwork (and co-write the script) he needed to work fast. So, he employed a strip down style that would allow his to produce the pages relatively quickly and keep the book on a bi-monthly schedule. he was also experimenting with brush inking. To aid in developing a style that would work, he looked at work from Franco-Belgian artists Yves Chaland (Freddy Lombard, Young Albert) and Serge Clerc (Captain Futur, other works in Metal Hurlant), who were modern masters of la ligne claire, the style popular in European comics (as best illustrated by Herge, in Tintin). Cherkas line was actually thicker than the traditional ligne claire; but, the concept was the same (also espoused by Americans, like Alex Toth). Thus, the story is a purely nostalgic American paranoid 1950s, with a look of 1950s/60s Europe, but with a slightly more modern aesthetic. It quickly drew praise and noted fans, even if it didn't challenge X-men for newsstand supremacy. Hancock and Cherkas conceived the series to be finite and it ended with issue 12 and has a definite ending, though one that allowed for a return, if desired. It was later collected in color albums by NBM, as well as a 6 issue black & white reprint by Caliber (out of an intended 12 issues), in 1996. The intent was to do a sequel (one issue of Silent Invasion: Abductions appeared); but, Caliber decided not to continue, as they were changing their focus. Negotiations were made with Dark Horse, who ended up paying a kill fee, when they changed their minds and Vertigo passed on the series when the creators refused to have it redrawn by others. They talked to the Helix line editors; but, nothing came of that. Eventually, NBM not only collected the series, they produced Secret Messages, the sequel... The series was nominated for the Kirby Award and was named, by Amazing Heroes, as one of the Top Ten Comics of 1986. Not just independent comics, but of all comics of that year. Renegade also produced another comic from Hancock and Cherkas (with art also contributed by John Van Bruggen), called Suburban Nightmares. On the surface, it appears to be a horror comic; but, it is really more of an exploration of 1950s suburban life, coupled with the fear and paranoia of the age. A tag-line on the NBM collections of this reads, "Where Leave It To Beaver meets The Twilight Zone!" That pretty much sums it up and it is equally engaging. Much of the strength of this and Silent Invasion lies in Hancock and Cherkas leading our expectations, then surprising us. At many points in The Silent Invasion, we wonder if Matt is just off his nut and the kids of Suburban Nightmares see the world as kids do, with real and imagined horrors. reality is a very fluid thing, sometimes. Switching gears a bit; but, not as drastically as you might think, we have one of Renegade's other critical darlings, Wordsmith, by Dave Darrigo and RG Taylor. Confession time: when I first heard of the title Wordsmith, and glanced at the cover of one in my LCS, I thought it was a series about a magical superhero, from a small company. I barely glanced inside, saw sketchy black & white art and put it back. Fool! What can I say? I was 18 or 19 (probably 19) and was still locked into superheroes, with most of my indie stretching involving adventure series, like Jon Sable and Scout. I hadn't quite yet fully expanded my horizons (though I was beginning to take notice of things beyond, as I encountered them). This should have been right up my alley. I have been a fan of pulp fiction for some time, thanjs to the influences of comic books and discovering that there were prose versions of similar kinds of stories. I was still even reading some of the Mack Bolan Men's Adventure series, when I started college. here's a book about a pulp writer, in the 1930s, the heyday of the pulps. However, I probably wasn't ready for a series that dealt with a writer and his life struggles and events, rather than his stories. That's what Wordsmith is ultimately about. It tells of Clay Washburn, a struggling pulp writer who is producing stories at a penny a word, trying to move up the ladder. His work appears under pen names and his parents would rather see him doing something more reputable and lucrative. We see him struggle with things like how to have a gunfighter, who has just killed a deadly enemy, grapple with proposing to his love interest, without sounding ridiculous. A former prize fighter, named Joe, who runs a nearby newsstand helps him with the answer. Meanwhile, Clay struggles with developing a relationship with a woman introduced to him by a sophisticated (and wealthier) friend, when he is attracted to the friend's date. Clay's date is from an old family and she has little patience for Clay's stories or the distractions (and income) of a writer. Issue 3 sees Clay tasked with creating a proposal for a masked mystery man, to compete with the likes of the Shadow and the Spider. he comes up with the Domino Detective, based on a friend named Dominic, who is a wealthy newspaper publisher, who comes to Clay with a problem. Clay's editor likes the name and the concept; but, wants the hero changed to an Englishman. Clay struggles with this, as the character is inspired by and a tribute to his friend. However, in the world of the pulps, Italians are opera singers and gangsters, not publishers and crusading heroes, with chauffeur assistants. It's a chance for Clay to have his own magazine feature, rather than a back-up story, which means steady income, rather than freelancing. Integrity fights with economics. The issue drew a letter of praise from no less than Harlan Ellison, who toiled in the dying days of the pulps, in the mid-50s, as he progressed from magazine writing to paperbacks and beyond. He spoke of the truth of the story and the fight for moral integrity in the pursuit of Art. The series also drew letters of praise from the likes of Ron Fortier, who would soon be penning his own pulps comic stories, with Boston Bombers, at Caliber; and the launch of the Green Hornet, at Now. Fortier would go on to publish the Airship 27 line of modern pulp fiction. The stories themselves see Clay's pulp stories juxtaposed with his real life. We see the illustrated passages of a Congo Carson story, as he hunts for a secret treasure in a Thai temple, only to run afoul of a tiger cult and be placed in a deathtrap of a cage over a tiger pit. Clay struggles with how to get Congo out of the deathtrap, while also having 2 days to meet his deadline, after his editor calls with the change in schedule. We also see the reality of the depression, with soup kitchens and declining business. Issue 4 sees Clay deal with a young shoeshine boy, who is a fan of his stories, who turns out to be physically abused by his "father" (the boy is an orphan, who was adopted or fostered by a troubled and violent man). Clay ends up helping the boy, after a bad beating and helps him escape the abuse. he comes to learn the boy was illiterate and can now read, thanks to the nuns who he entrusted the boy to, and can read the story Clay wrote, with a shoeshine bot named Jimmy, based on the real boy. Over the course of the series, we see Clay move up the ladder and see him tackle different genres, as many of the pulp writers did (Robert E Howard wrote of sailors and boxers, as much as he did barbarian heroes). He finds love and starts a family and the series ends in 1941, as comics are flourishing and the pulps are starting to contract. Clay creates a patriotic hero, for a comic company, inspired by the success of Captain America. The art is handled by an up and coming artist named Jake Corby, who looks rather familiar. Clay helps his old pulp editor, who is being pushed aside, as the publisher cuts back on its output, in anticipation of paper shortages, as war looms. He gets him a job as an editor at the comic book publisher, where he finds a new realm for his talents, which causes Clay a few problems, as the editor calls for changes to The Freedom Fighter, his patriotic hero. Clay comes to see that the editor is right and promises to make the changes. meanwhile, Pearl Harbor happens and Clay ends up going to Washington (since he has a college degree) to help in administration, fro the Army, rather than go off to fight. The series ends at a train station, as he says goodbye to his wife and baby daughter, heading off to Washington DC. He has a novel in bookstores and a comic about to come out and he faces an uncertain future. This was really a writer's series; but, artist RG Taylor does some fine work. Unfortunately, I have no samples, beyond the cover images. Taylor has a light, sketchy line in the series, which is almost impressionistic. New York is seen as dark buildings, street vendors, vintage cars and art deco decor. We see the period depicted with the rich and the poor, and those caught in between, trying to hang on to what they've got. The lines are sparse and the figures relatively simple, though in an illustrative mode. He would go on to work with Caliber (Negative Burn, Caliber Presents) and DC/Vertigo (Sandman Mystery Theater, Vamps). His style can be summed up in this self portrait... The art is good; but, it could have used more tonal qualities, as the black and white contrast is lacking a bit of a middle ground. Taylor adds textures to things like clothing and cars and buildings; but, it is a bit under-developed and he could have used more grey tones or zips to help give the art greater weight and dimension. It does give the work a sort of dream quality, which does kind of fit the theme, especially as we see images from the stories that Clay writes. Had I been the editor, i might have suggested that the real world stuff have a stronger tonal quality, to help visually separate it. As it stands, Taylor does more of that by the end of the series, as he grows as an artist. Dave Darrigo is the real star here, as his writing really carries the work. he crafts interesting characters and dramas, which really helps pull is in and make us care about the problems of a writer. Darrigo also adds a history of pulp fiction, in the back of the book, until letters start rolling in, while Don Hutchison would give us more in depth articles on some of the great pulp writers and characters. In the end, you can't go too far wrong in following the suggestion of Harlan Ellison, when it comes to a great series. Next time, we will look at Renegade's hybrid sci-fi/costumed hero/adventurer series, Eternity Smith, plus some other sci-fi-oriented books from Renegade.
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Post by mrbrklyn on Nov 5, 2018 8:58:09 GMT -5
One of the entertaining things about reading Ironwolf these days is seeing how many character names (and some concepts) he reused in later works. That's one of the things in reading the body of Chaykin's work; it feels like alternate universe versions of previous characters/stories. In many ways, Ironwolf is Fafhrd and Gray Mouser sent into space, then he turns into Cody Starbuck. Then, he gets thrust back in time to become The Scorpion, changes coasts and becomes Dominic Fortune, then gets thrown into the future to become Reuben Flagg. The Shadow, to me, felt like one of Reuben's old acting roles, like while Mark Thrust was on hiatus, or something. At one time he wrote that his main protagonists seemingly look the same intentionally, as they are manifestations of the same character.
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