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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 21, 2015 17:02:37 GMT -5
On the Ninth day we get my pick for the greatest adventure strip creator of all time... Milton Caniff. I've heard of Terry and the Pirates before but I've never seen it or sought it out, but I'm thinking that has to change and that steve canyon page you posted looks right up my ally too. Are there any good collections out there that you'd recommend? IDW reprinted the entirety of Caniff's Terry in six volumes. They are all currently in print. They have gone out of print at least once...but while they're in print you can get used copies for around $18-25 per volume. IDW is also currently reprinting Steve Canyon. They're now up to volume six, which is through 1958. If you want a cheaper taste of Canyon Checker Comics did about eight or nine volumes collecting a year of Canyon. They aren't the quality of the IDW books, but they're pretty cheap used. A number of them can be purchased on Amazon marketplace for a few bucks. www.amazon.com/Milton-Caniffs-Steve-Canyon-1947/dp/0971024995/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450735055&sr=1-10&keywords=steve+canyon |
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Post by hondobrode on Dec 21, 2015 17:43:07 GMT -5
You know, I know of the man and have seen bits and pieces but haven't read more than a few panels at a time. He's one I want to get to along with another classic I won't mention until later.
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Post by Prince Hal on Dec 21, 2015 18:54:48 GMT -5
You know, I know of the man and have seen bits and pieces but haven't read more than a few panels at a time. He's one I want to get to along with another classic I won't mention until later. So worth your time. Git on it. So glad Slam posted it. I was prepared to redo my top three if no one had. Here's one of the most famous comic strip pages ever, from October 17, 1943:  A side note: Caniff didn't like the thumb Corky's gesturing with in the ninth panel. Read this article by RC Harvey for the rest of the story: www.rcharvey.com/caniff.html |
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Post by hondobrode on Dec 21, 2015 19:58:30 GMT -5
I've read many an article in The Comics Journal by Mr. Harvey.
What luck to have that panel he didn't like become so prominent !
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Post by thwhtguardian on Dec 21, 2015 20:10:11 GMT -5
I've heard of Terry and the Pirates before but I've never seen it or sought it out, but I'm thinking that has to change and that steve canyon page you posted looks right up my ally too. Are there any good collections out there that you'd recommend? IDW reprinted the entirety of Caniff's Terry in six volumes. They are all currently in print. They have gone out of print at least once...but while they're in print you can get used copies for around $18-25 per volume. IDW is also currently reprinting Steve Canyon. They're now up to volume six, which is through 1958. If you want a cheaper taste of Canyon Checker Comics did about eight or nine volumes collecting a year of Canyon. They aren't the quality of the IDW books, but they're pretty cheap used. A number of them can be purchased on Amazon marketplace for a few bucks. www.amazon.com/Milton-Caniffs-Steve-Canyon-1947/dp/0971024995/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450735055&sr=1-10&keywords=steve+canyonI love the quality of IDW's collections so I'll be picking those up for sure. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Dec 21, 2015 20:12:06 GMT -5
On the ninth day of Christmas, Comics my true love gave to me... Mike Mignola for Hellboy and others. What do you get when you take an appreciation of myth and folklore, a love for Lovecraftian horror, a dash of pulp heroes throw it into a blender and pour out the results-either the contents of many, many shelves in my library of Mignola's Hellboy Universe. Dark, moody, thrilling with mad storytelling skills. Reading Mignola's work just gives me a visceral pleasure; all the things I love about comics and fiction, storytelling and cultural legacy all wrapped into one giant visual treat.  I could go on forever about Mignola, but I'll just leave it at that. -M I think Wolves of St.August is probably my favorite work from Mignola, the image of the little girl turning into a wolf is one of the most haunting images I've ever seen in a comic. |
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Post by benday-dot on Dec 21, 2015 20:52:28 GMT -5
4. Jack KirbyI'll readily admit that, while I respect the importance of what Kirby did for comic book art in the 1960s, I'm not really a fan. Rather, it's the work he turned out in the 1970s, after both having been given more creative control and presumably having been influenced by the work of Philipe Druillet, that he created amazing sci-fi odysseys such as New Gods, Eternals, and (my personal favorite), Kamandi. I agree with your fine write-up completely Shax. Kirby in the early 70's is where the King was at his apogee. One small point of correction. Of course, Kirby was considering and even in the early stages of designing and conceptualizing his Fourth World epic as early as the late 60's while still at Marvel. Which leads me to your point about Phillip Druillet. Kirby was only introduced to the work of Druillet some time after the Fourth World books were cancelled. IIRC it was through Richard Kyle's Long Beach, Ca comic shop, that Jack sometimes dropped into, that the introduction to Druillet was made. Needless to say Kirby was impressed, but I would not say influenced by. Likewise, Druillet's own intro to Kirby came well after the French creator was in high gear with Lone Sloane and his other space operas. |
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Post by DubipR on Dec 21, 2015 21:01:58 GMT -5
A turn to the independent and mainstream with today's selection #4- HOWARD CHAYKIN Often controversial, but a dang good storyteller, Howard Chaykin exploded on the scene of independent comics in the late 70s with stories in Star*Reach and working with Roger Zelaney on Empire. Also known for being the first artist on the monthly Star Wars comic at Marvel, Chaykin had a solid reputation of a super star. It wasn't until the 1980s where Chaykin broke the mold and gave the comic readers something revolutionary with Americann Flagg! Mixing politics, sex, jazz and two-fisted pulp adventure in a style mixed with Zipitone and Duoshade boards, the art style in American Flagg! was light years ahead of coloring to give that book a feel unto its own.  Never settling for simple, Chaykin's runs on the Shadow and Blackhawk challenged the mainstream readers on traditional heroes. But it was Black Kiss that sealed Chaykin as truly amazing artist and creator in my eyes. Yeah, its smut or pornography, but its storytelling that would make the Maquis de Sade blush.   I'm a huge Chaykin fan. I know his artwork can be polarizing but he's a brilliant cartoonist. |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Dec 21, 2015 21:13:33 GMT -5
A turn to the independent and mainstream with today's selection #4- HOWARD CHAYKINOften controversial, but a dang good storyteller, Howard Chaykin exploded on the scene of independent comics in the late 70s with stories in Star*Reach and working with Roger Zelaney on Empire. Also known for being the first artist on the monthly Star Wars comic at Marvel, Chaykin had a solid reputation of a super star. It wasn't until the 1980s where Chaykin broke the mold and gave the comic readers something revolutionary with Americann Flagg! Mixing politics, sex, jazz and two-fisted pulp adventure in a style mixed with Zipitone and Duoshade boards, the art style in American Flagg! was light years ahead of coloring to give that book a feel unto its own. Never settling for simple, Chaykin's runs on the Shadow and Blackhawk challenged the mainstream readers on traditional heroes. But it was Black Kiss that sealed Chaykin as truly amazing artist and creator in my eyes. Yeah, its smut or pornography, but its storytelling that would make the Maquis de Sade blush. I'm a huge Chaykin fan. I know his artwork can be polarizing but he's a brilliant cartoonist. Polarizing in what way? I don't think I've ever heard anyone speak ill of his work before, and I know I love it. |
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Post by benday-dot on Dec 21, 2015 21:16:40 GMT -5
4) Joe Kubert (creator of Tor) The esteemed and eloquent Prince Hal yesterday extolled the work of Joe Kubert. Without wishing to imitate the inimitable, I will direct attention away from Joe's justly praised war comics and instead extol what I take to be his finest hour in comic book creativity. Before Sgt. Rock, Enemy Ace and before the definitive work on Tarzan in the 70's there was Tor, the 1,000,000 caveman created by Kubert and his pal Norman Maurer in the early 50's. That first work on Tor was pretty great, but it wasn't until decades later when Joe on his own revisited his primitive vista (for the third time actually) that the character and story truly came alive. The second brief mid 70's run, with DC, was pretty darn good, but when Kubert finally had the opportunity in 1993 to play with large format, deluxe printed pages under Marvel's Epic Imprint, and importantly free of the restraint of the comics code, Tor became a masterpiece. Joe's Tor comics of this run are some of the most primal, vital and brutally visceral you'll ever see. It's glorious stuff if you are at all into graphic explorations of the primitive, and man at his most existential. It really is, at it's heart, a story about the making not just of a man, but of a humanity.   |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Dec 21, 2015 21:19:08 GMT -5
4) Joe Kubert (creator of Tor) The esteemed and eloquent Prince Hal yesterday extolled the work of Joe Kubert. Without wishing to imitate the inimitable, I will direct attention away from Joe's justly praised war comics and instead extol what I take to be his finest hour in comic book creativity. Before Sgt. Rock, Enemy Ace and before the definitive work on Tarzan in the 70's there was Tor, the 1,000,000 caveman created by Kubert and his pal Norman Maurer in the early 50's. That first work on Tor was pretty great, but it wasn't until decades later when Joe on his own revisited his primitive vista (for the third time actually) that the character and story truly came alive. The second brief mid 70's run, with DC, was pretty darn good, but when Kubert finally had the opportunity in 1993 to play with large format, deluxe printed pages under Marvel's Epic Imprint, and importantly free of the restraint of the comics code, Tor became a masterpiece. Joe's Tor comics of this run are some of the most primal, vital and brutally visceral you'll ever see. It's glorious stuff if you are at all into graphic explorations of the primitive, and man at his most existential. It really is, at it's heart, a story about the making not just of a man, but of a humanity. Tor is up there with Hellboy as one of my favorite comics of all time. It just has everything you could want out of a comic: dinosaurs, cavemen, action, humor, romance and giant man-apes. |
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Post by benday-dot on Dec 21, 2015 21:24:15 GMT -5
IDW reprinted the entirety of Caniff's Terry in six volumes. They are all currently in print. They have gone out of print at least once...but while they're in print you can get used copies for around $18-25 per volume. Yeah, those IDW volumes are sublime. Canniff and Terry were number two on my first list which was almost all strips, but then when I went another direction I ended up shedding all of the strips (except Prince Valiant). So much good stuff, and hard to juggle it all. |
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Post by DubipR on Dec 21, 2015 21:24:58 GMT -5
A turn to the independent and mainstream with today's selection #4- HOWARD CHAYKINOften controversial, but a dang good storyteller, Howard Chaykin exploded on the scene of independent comics in the late 70s with stories in Star*Reach and working with Roger Zelaney on Empire. Also known for being the first artist on the monthly Star Wars comic at Marvel, Chaykin had a solid reputation of a super star. It wasn't until the 1980s where Chaykin broke the mold and gave the comic readers something revolutionary with Americann Flagg! Mixing politics, sex, jazz and two-fisted pulp adventure in a style mixed with Zipitone and Duoshade boards, the art style in American Flagg! was light years ahead of coloring to give that book a feel unto its own. Never settling for simple, Chaykin's runs on the Shadow and Blackhawk challenged the mainstream readers on traditional heroes. But it was Black Kiss that sealed Chaykin as truly amazing artist and creator in my eyes. Yeah, its smut or pornography, but its storytelling that would make the Maquis de Sade blush. I'm a huge Chaykin fan. I know his artwork can be polarizing but he's a brilliant cartoonist. Polarizing in what way? I don't think I've ever heard anyone speak ill of his work before, and I know I love it. It might be a generation thing. People our age appreciate Howard's work but I've hear young fans dislike his style of artwork.... |
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 21, 2015 21:25:07 GMT -5
On the ninth day of Christmas, Lightning Press gave to me... #4 Carla Speed McNeil I have a complicated relationship with finder. You explain the concept far better than I could make out, 8 chapters in. It turns out I have Finder sitting on my lap right now. I years ago read the first small volume, Sin-Eater, and did not know what to make of it. About 6 months ago, I decided to pick up the giant 600 page tome. Because if you don't like a short book, maybe you'll love the long one. While I hadn't loved it, I did know Finder was well-respected and often pointed to as the great science fiction saga of comics. I had to give it another go. I've read it off and on for 6 months, getting through 300 pages. And I brought it with me for my holiday travels. The quality is clear, but I just can't figure out what's going on, and (opposite of what some others have recently posted) I really like to know what's going on. I'll push through the last half of this giant book. But I still don't know what it's about. Except that your summary seems entirely on point and consistent with what I've read so far, but couldn't myself articulate. |
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,862
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Post by shaxper on Dec 21, 2015 22:03:23 GMT -5
4. Jack KirbyI'll readily admit that, while I respect the importance of what Kirby did for comic book art in the 1960s, I'm not really a fan. Rather, it's the work he turned out in the 1970s, after both having been given more creative control and presumably having been influenced by the work of Philipe Druillet, that he created amazing sci-fi odysseys such as New Gods, Eternals, and (my personal favorite), Kamandi. I agree with your fine write-up completely Shax. Kirby in the early 70's is where the King was at his apogee. One small point of correction. Of course, Kirby was considering and even in the early stages of designing and conceptualizing his Fourth World epic as early as the late 60's while still at Marvel. Which leads me to your point about Phillip Druillet. Kirby was only introduced to the work of Druillet some time after the Fourth World books were cancelled. IIRC it was through Richard Kyle's Long Beach, Ca comic shop, that Jack sometimes dropped into, that the introduction to Druillet was made. Needless to say Kirby was impressed, but I would not say influenced by. Likewise, Druillet's own intro to Kirby came well after the French creator was in high gear with Lone Sloane and his other space operas. I find that surprising as there are so many moments in the first Lone Sloan volume that are just so clearly echoed in Kirby's work on the Fourth World and The Eternals. I don't have the time nor energy to scan comparison panels, but I can't be the only one who sees some very clear resemblances. Even the Mobius Chair. |
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