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Post by codystarbuck on May 15, 2019 18:11:57 GMT -5
I enjoyed all of Byrne's output for the Legend imprint, and I'd agree that the similarities to popular Marvel properties are mostly superficial (also, I'd add that the Danger Unlimited material set in the early '60s also had a bit of a Jonny Quest vibe to it). Once you start reading them, it becomes apparent that he was really exploring different themes. It's too bad they weren't financially successful, as I really wanted to read more of both Danger Unlimited and Babe. Best DC/Marvel crossover ever... I'm a little more partial to X-Men/New Teen Titans, myself. Batman & Captain America is more fun, though.
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Post by EdoBosnar on May 16, 2019 2:56:39 GMT -5
X-men/NTT was my very favorite for the longest time, and I still love it, but it got knocked to 2nd place once I read Batman & Cap.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 18, 2019 20:47:33 GMT -5
So, now; my favorite of all of the Legend books. Mike Mignola wasn't exactly a superstar artist at Marvel, or DC. He was primarily an inker, for a while, though he got to dabble here and there. Slowly, and with little fanfare, he developed his skills. He was the artist on John Byrne's World of Krypton mini, which covered the history of Kal-El's planet, as Byrne reinvisioned it. He drew Jim Starlin's Cosmic Odyssey, his foray into Kirby's 4th World (via Batman). He teamed up with Howard Chaykin for Chaykin's second go round with the heroes of Fritz Leiber: Fafhrd and Gray Mouser (at Epic). The teamed again to revisit another early Chaykin work: Ironwolf, with The Fires of the Revolution graphic novel. He drew the seminal and influential Gotham By Gaslight, launching the Elseworlds vehicle for alternate character takes. In these later works, we see the darker, more impressionistic style that Mignola was developing: part German Expressionism, part Jack Kirby, a bit of Alex Toth, a little P Craig Russell. Then, Mignola found the perfect vehicle for that style. Hellboy was originally pitched to DC, who had a problem with the word "hell" in the title (this was before they would have a comic, titled Lucifer). Dark Horse wasn't so puritanical. They loved the idea and the character had its debut in the San Diego Comiccon program. Then, there were promotional pieces. Then, out of a stormy night, in an island in the Orkneys, he appeared, after Rasputin and some weird Nazis conjured him up, while trying to reach his pappa. Mignola wasn't totally confident in his abilities, yet. He plotted and drew his story; but, he had John byrne script it. Here, we meet Hellboy, a demonic figure that was pulled from some other dimension, by a Nazi experiment, under advice from the fabled Rasputin. We met Liz Sherman, a pyrokinetic, Hellboy's foster father, and a bunch of weird Nazis creeps. And it was gorgeous. Mignola had melded Lovecraftian horror with Jack Kirby monsters and monster hunters, with a satirical, blue collar bent. Dr Strange always seemed a bit of a snob; Hellboy, like Ben Grimm, liked a beer and a smoke. He also liked pancakes (forever freeing him from Hell's control). It was dark and moody; and, yet, it was funny. It was truly horrifying and scary; and, exciting! It was also warm and touching. Mignola also proved to be rather shrewd. Rather than a continuing series, Hellboy became a series of mini-series; each a complete story. There was a continuity; but, there was a beginning, middle and ending. More would follow; but, Mignola would handle his own writing, completely. Hellboy is an immersive world, with ancient horrors locked away behind mystical gates, folkloric figures and terrors, and quiet beauty. In The Wolves of St August, Mignola gave us the image of a child were wolf, a little girl with a wolf's head. In other stories, he had flowers growing where blood was spilt. Even the grotesque had a beauty about it. He introduced us to Abe Sapien, a fishlike creature, no doubt inspired by the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Like many species of fish, Abe had a beauty to him, both in his soul and his appearance. Mignola added touches of horror throughout, with decayed and decrepit buildings and locales, slimy, mold covered rooms, old bones, nasty amphibians, tentacles, manic apes, deadly lizards and frogs, and body horrors. Mignola, bit by bit, built up an entire world of adventure, humor and horror... Hellboy existed in a shared legend universe and the Torch of Liberty was part of the team of GIs who found the young creature. He then appeared in an issue of John Byrne's Next Men. he also built his own little world, as the agency he worked for, the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD) got its own spin-off, focusing on the other agents of the group, with other hands joining Mignola in exploring this world and characters. Hellboy got to meet Batman and Jack Knight... His friends got exposure on their own... There were novels and anthologies..... He introduced us to the legendary pulp hero Lobster Johnson, who got his own spin-offs... There were real oddities, like The Amazing Screw-On Head... And, then, Hollywood came calling. Mignola ended up being the luckiest of the Legend bunch, where Hollywood was concerned, because Mignola found a real fan: Guillermo Del Toro. Del Toro wasn't just a Hollywood gladhander, claiming he loved the comics, then changing everything about them for the film, because he knew better than the creator. he gave us Hellboy... Kirby, how I love that film! Ron Perlman is perfect and Del Toro translated it wonderfully. You have cats and pancakes and Hellboy sanding down his horns, and Rasputin, and bats@#$ Nazis, and ugly monsters and talking corpses and moments of beauty and liberal doses of humor. Sin City may have looked like Miller's panels brought to life; but, Del Toro captured Hellboy's soul, as well as his look and attitude. There was a Hellboy animated dvd and even one for The Amazing Screw-On Head! Still waiting for a Lobster Johnson film, though. Hellboy is simply brilliant. Mignola's art is just amazing and he turned out to be the best writer of the bunch, in my opinion. At least, the best storyteller.We have a whole thread dedicated to his adventures, so check it out. Also appearing in Hellboy, in back-up stories, were Art Adams monkey Man and O'Brien. Monkeyman is Axwell Tiberius, a genius-level intelligent gorilla, from another dimension, who was accidentally pulled through to our dimension, in an experiment that got out of control. That same experiment endowed Ann O'Brien with super strength and endurance and shot her to 7 feet tall. Together, they face various monster and science threats, in lighthearted adventures, though not many of them. One thing Art Adams isn't is prolific. He teased us with a handful of stories, before going onto other things. My favorite involves a class visit to their lab, where a kid wants to turn his pet turtle into a teenage mutant ninja turtle; and, instead, ends up creating Gamera. Also appearing as back-ups in Hellboy, before getting his own spotlight was gary Gianni's Monstermen. Gianni gives us the pulpy adventures of Lawrence St george, of the Corpus Monstrum guild, who fight monsters, while wearing evening dress and a knights visored helmet. The image wasn't entirely original, as it borrows from the Belgian comic character Monsieur Choc, from the series Tif et Tondu. Monsieur Choc was a criminal mastermind, in the manner of Fantomas or Arsene Lupin or the Italian Diabolik. Lawrence St George is on the side of angels. Gianni didn't do many stories; but, they are wonderful. Hellboy, probably more than any other Legend creation, became the standard bearer for Dark Horse and arguably its greatest success. Miller and Sin City may have had higher initial sales; but, Mignola sustained his creation longer, and at a high level, find audiences beyond comic shops. Next up, a look at the rest of Legend and a few other series that found shelter at Dark Horse, including Nexus, Madman, Star Slammers, and Grendel.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 23, 2019 15:27:00 GMT -5
So, Legend was also the imprint used for other creator-owned material, with Paul Chadwick's latest Concrete mini-series thrown in there and then Walt Simonson would turn up, to finish up Star Slammers, after Malibu's Bravura line went down, when Marvel bought the company. Also joining the group was Mike Allred, as he brought Madman there, after the demise of Tundra... The Legend icon didn't appear until issue 2. Madman would meet up with the Big Guy, in issues 6 and 7... Allred stuck around Dark Horse, for a while; but, his Red Rocket 7 did not carry the Legend logo. And that, more or less, is Legend. However, prior to the birth of Legend, Dark Horse had become a home for some lost properties. In 1992, Nexus arrived.... Nexus began life at Capital Comics, a subsidiary of Capital Distribution. Like other distributors (Pacific, Malibu), Capital tried to publish their own comics, including Nexus, Badger and Whisper. It proved costly for them and they found a home for them with First Comics, which was conveniently headquartered in Chicago, where Capital originated. Nexus became the hit of the bunch and lasted 80 issues at First, with spin-offs and miniseries, as Mike Baron and Steve Rude crafted one of the finest and more thoughtful adventure series of the 80s. Rude was never fast and struggled with deadlines, leading other artists to take over regular duties. then, First Comics went bankrupt. First offered creator ownership; but, had long term publishing rights. On top of that, bankruptcy fell under Federal law, while the publishing contracts fell under civil law. The Bankruptcy courts considered the titles as assets of First Comics and therefore were tied up in the efforts to pay off First's creditors. It took a while to unravel these entanglements. Baron & Rude seemed to have lost their property, when fate, or, rather, Mike Richardson intervened. He bought the Nexus rights (somehow, never very clear on what transpired there) and then offered it back to its creators, in exchange for a few new stories to help him recoup his costs. baron & Rude followed with new Nexus minis, a format which worked better with Rude's speed (or lack thereof). It continued for a while, but, Nexus' glory days were gone and the market was a mess. Succeeding Nexus stories had lower sales and they were switched to black 7 white (where they began) in the end. Rude would focus more on a potential Nexus animated feature (which was to be done by Hanna-Barbera, of all people), which never came to fruition. he also dabbled in some special projects, such as his retro Marvel minis, done in the style of 60s Kirby. Baron revived Badger, at Dark Horse, for a short time... ...before moving it to Image, in 1997, for a short run. Badger was always the more cultish of the two and fared worse than Nexus, though it revived the fun and lunacy. Another big indie fave, which also fell into bankruptcy linbo (at Comico) was Matt Wagner's Grendel. Wagner had just finished up his tale of orion Asante, the Grendel Khan who has united the world under the banner of Grendel. he had also announced Grendel tales, a series of stories with guest artists. Then, Comico went belly up and Wagner was writing for DC. Dark Horse entered the picture again, with Grendel: War Child.... The announcement lit up the comic press and initial sales were great, with the Simon Bisley covers aiding things; not to mention a rather violent story, illustrated by Patrick McEown, fitting the emerging 90s aesthetic. The story picks up where the Comico series ended. In that last storyline, orion Asante was picking up the pieces of a fractured society, after the defeat of the vampire Trujiro. The church was dead; but, Asante was going to rebuild society. He continued the Grendel iconography, which he manipulated to bring the downfall of Tujiro's false church. Now, the Grendels became a sort of samurai warrior society, dedicated to a code of honor and loyal to their Khan. He then unites the various regions under his banner, with the aid of the solar weapon Tujiro had built. By the end, they world has forcibly been united, Orion carries his own son in an artificial womb, and he has grown distant from his wife, after determining her lust for power was dangerous to this world. He dies, and the new story begins. We see a Grendel warrior on a hover bike, speeding away from pursuers, with a small child in tow. They traverse the lands, fleeing from the forces of the Dowager Khan, as well as the vampires that emerged from Las Vegas. The boy is Jupiter Asante, the heir to the Grendel throne. Meanwhile, his sister is still a prisoner, until another Grendel, Susan Verhagen, helps her escape. Eventually, Jupiter and Susan are reunited and Jupiter re-establishes control of the empire, with the help of the mysterious Grendel warrior, known as Grendel Prime. He turns out to be a cyborg, with a special purpose to revive a secret weapon. Wagner then turned Grendel over to others, as The Grendel tales stories began, first with James Robinson & Teddy Kristiansen... Here, we get four different Grendels and one hell of a story, filled with character, excitement, and terror. Robinson was in his prime, as a writer, and Starman was still to come! More series followed... Devil in Our Midst was an excellent one, from Steven T Seagle (Amazon) and Paul Grist (Kane, Jack Staff), set in an Arctic environment, with a sort of Thing From Another World plot. Devils and Deaths and Devil's Choices were both from Darko Macan and Edvin Biukovic, a pair of Croatian comic creators, whose stories built upon the wars in Bosnia and Croatia, after the breakup of Yugoslavia. Macan is a tremendous writer and they have a very strong story, with a well developed main character. Biukovic gives it a very haunted look and you can feel the despair and tragedy that permeate, while still finding hope for a better world. grendel is always about tragedy, brought on by violence, and these two stories exemplify that as much as Wagner's own work on the series. Pat McEown wrote and drew Homecoming, as Susan Verhagen returns to her home, after the decline of Jupiter Asante and Crystal. She returns to the world of violent bullies and thugs and reclaims her honor, as a Grendel. Terry LaBan did a rare mainstream story in The Devil May Care, while his own Cud and Eno & Plum (which was one of the features of Cud) were also being published at Dark Horse. Grendel Prime returned for a back-up series and then a crossover with Batman... There was even a Grendel novel, featuring Grendel Prime and Susan Verhagen. The story was from Greg Rucka, with spot illustrations from Wagner. Other Grendel projects would follow, including the more retro stories of the original Grendel, Hunter Rose... These were stories done by various artists, in the manner of Batman: Black & White, with a 3-color palate: black, white and red. They fit the moddier stories of Hunter Rose, often dealing with intricate double crosses and the truly terrifying figure than Hunter Rose was. The family even got into the gig as Matt Wagner's sister-in-law, Diana Schutz, wrote the two-part Grendel: Devil Child, about Stacy Palumbo, the adopted daughter of Hunter Rose and the mother of the next Grendel, Christine Spar. Stacy Palumbo was the daughter of an associate of Hunter Rose, who knew him as the writer he was. He grows attached to her and, as Grendel, murders her parents and adopts her. She also develops a friendship with Argent, the wolf, a cursed Algonquin who lives as a wolf creature and works with the police, hunting Grendel. When Stacy learns that Hunter rose is Grendel, she manipulates him into a confrontation with Argent, which kills Rose and leaves Argent crippled. This story picks up what happened to Stacy, afterward, based on elements brought up in the Grendel series, with Christine Sar, her daughter. here, we see Stacy in a mental institution, nearly catatonic. Her therapist works to draw her out; but, also harbors on unhealthy attachment to her. As she grows, he gains more and more control over her and becomes more and more corrupted by the Grendel spirit that inhabits her. They are married when Stacy comes of age and he repeatedly abuses her, with sado-masochistic games and additional physical and mental abuse, until he unleashes the force within her, which destroys him and ultimately, her. This then bridges to Christine Spar's story, where she is a journalist who deals with the legacy of her infamous mother and grandfather, then steals Grendel's mask and fork weapon, after her son is abducted by the kabuki dancer vampire, Tujiro, and murdered. This is probably the darkest of all Grendel stories and one of the most powerful, as Schutz explores the mental depravity and abuse that destroyed Stacy's life and ultimately doomed her descendents. Schutz had done her research on child abuse, physical and sexual, and the comic was probably tame compared to the reality of things. Reader reaction was both shocking and praiseworthy, as Grendel often was. Diana Schutz was always a strong element in Grendel,as the editor and the response to readers in the letters pages. Grendel always had one of the most literate and contentious letter pages in comics. Tim Sale, who worked on the tail end of the Comico Grendel, provides very haunting art. Dark Horse reprinted the Comico material, though, at first, only the collected editions they had produced. Some of the film had been lost and it was a long time before God & the Devil, the battle between Eppy Thatcher and the disguised Tujiro, was reprinted (first as a monthly comic, then as a trade collection). Grendel is one of the comics that defined the promise of the 80s and early 90s, which survived the turmoil of the later 90s, to show that comics could handle hard material, with a maturity beyond heightened violence or horror. I highly recommend all of these comics and seeking out their predecessors. Badger was loppy, satirical, and hard-hitting adventure, with a mentally damaged Vietnam vet and a Druid wizard. It was both funny and nasty. Nexus was a melange of influences, all great. it was satirical, dark, romantic, exciting and a visual treat, as Steve Rude mixed Jack Kirby, Alex Toth and Russ Manning into one of the most visually appealing styles of the age. The stories were fun and thought-provoking, with well rounded, real characters, wilf alien designs, and a sense of fund and maturity lacking from most comics. Madman covered similar grounds, with loopy fun an adventure, with intriguing characters. Grendel is pure literature and succeeds in multiple hands, yet always feeling like Matt Wagner's vision. From here, we go on to Dark Horse's next experiment, as they jump on the superhero bandwagon explosion that followed the birth of Image. Join us as we explore Comics' Greatest World and see if it lives up to the name!
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Post by EdoBosnar on May 23, 2019 18:05:19 GMT -5
Haven't read any of the other Grendels, but I can confirm that Devils & Deaths/Devil's Choices are quite excellent. Man, I really need to re-read those...
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 3, 2019 20:52:25 GMT -5
This has been a while in coming; but, now, Comics' Greatest World! 1993 saw an explosion of of superhero-oriented "universes," in the wake of the Image launch. Suddenly, everyone was getting in on the act. malibu, after already debuting the Protectors, launched the Ultraverse, with higher profile creative talent and a big marketing push (thanks to the money they made distributing the first year of Image). Valiant exploded the number of books they had coming out, in the wake of Unity and the firing of Jim Shooter. Dark Horse now seemed to be jumping on the bandwagon. Except, they actually started the project in 1990. Mike Richardson, Randy Stradley, Jerry Prosser and Chris Warner were at the heart of it, with Barbara Kesel joining Dark Horse in 1991, after working as a writer and editor at DC. Together, they developed the concepts and characters that would make up what the called Comics' Greatest World, inspired by the Fantastic Four's early cover blurb claiming to be th World's Greatest Comic Magazine. Team CGW's approach was to develop the setting, then populate it with characters. They created 4 different locales and each would feature a group of heroes and anti-heroes, who would soon interact, after their introduction. First, there was Arcadia Arcadia is essentially Gotham City, a corrupt metropolis of crime lords, crooked politicians and people exploiting people. It is a world of dark vigilantes, most noticeably X, who was the featured played, and who got a debut in Dark Horse Comics, issues 8-10. He is a human vigilante, in a fetish mask and tattered costume. He attacks the gangs of Arcadia, destroying them and their political connections. His is a dark and violent world and he is Batman, minus the lighter side. And if you say, "What lighter side?", you understand just how dark this comic was. This seems to be the most Chris Warner of the books, in my opinion, as his sensibilities seem to lay in this direction. Stephen Grant, who created Whisper and wrote the Punisher for a long time, would write the regular X series, which would last 25 issues. Pitbulls and Monster would prove to be minor distractions within Arcadia and would mostly end up as supporting characters, without their own series. Pitbulls were a government attack team, sent after X, by crooked politicians. They spend as much time fighting each other. Basically, goons with guns, in costumes. Monster was a sewer-dwelling monster, who is lonely. he tries to befriend X. So, um, Stanley and his Monster? Yeah, not quite... The other character of note, and most successful of all of the characters introduced in Comics' Greatest World, was Ghost. The secret of its success? Girls with guns! There's mo to it; but, this series was greatly aided by a pair of 45s (and I don't mean the Colts) and the then-current 'Bad Girl" fad. Along with superheroes, everyone was churning out scantily clad, buxom women, who carried knives and guns and licked them, often. It was soft core porn, usually without the nudity; but, with plenty of sexualized violence. Dark Horse was a bit higher class about things, so Ghost actually got developed more than most. There is a mystery to who she is and why she is attacking the corrupt figures of the city; but, she turns out not to be as supernatural as you think and she has more of a personality than your average Honey With A Handgun. Covers from Adam Hughes (and some interior work) and interior work from several artists proved popular; but, it was Eric Luke who gave the character personality that kept her going, when the other bad girls disappeared (probably to either seek treatment at the free clinic or a mental institution, or both). Ghost stuck around for years to come and would crossover with other features, well outliving the concept that launched her, as well as the designated star, X. In many ways, Ghost was the descendent of a long tradition of pulp heroes, including ladies like The Domino Lady, Black Canary, Miss Masque, Blonde Phantom, Phantom Lady and other female characters that combined a sexy heroine, plenty of peril, and copious amounts of violence. In the 90s, that sold comics, though, again, Ghost was more than she seemed, on the surface. Next was Golden City. Golden City is a utopia, patterned, somewhat, after Superman's Metropolis, but under the governance of Grace, this world's Wonder Woman. Grace was a mysterious super-powered woman who came to a small West Coast City, and turned it into a sprawling utopia. She then turns a runaway, abused son of a Marine, into Titan, a superstrong champion of the city (though the powers were born into him). He is given a sidekick, Golden Boy, as a PR gimmick; but, Golden Boy is captured and tortured, before being rescued. He is retired and bitterness festers, until he becomes a villain. Mecha is a soldier who is bonded to battle armor, using the name of the previous Dark Horse Mecha series (which was inspired by Japanese manga and anime); but, having no other connection to it. Mecha is also more of a supporting character. Rebel is actually a pair of twins with energy absorbing powers (and a bad mullet), who is also more of a supporting character. The city is protected by Catalyst, the Agents of Change, who act as their JLA, led by Grace. The members are Grace, Titan, Mecha and Rebel. Within this set of issues, a villain, called Warmaker, is sent to The Vault, a prison in Golden City; but, he escapes and wreaks havoc, before being defeated by Grace. She uses this as an excuse to secede from the US, putting her and the city at odds with the US government. Steel Harbor is a decayed city, where law and order has completely collapsed. It is likened to Detroit and Watts, at the worst of their violent periods. Here, gangs fight for supremacy. The main focus is Barbara Kopetski, aka Barb Wire, a bounty hunter who owns the hammerhead Bar & Grill. The bar usually runs short of money; so, Barb takes on the toughest bounty hunter jobs to earn money. The Machine is a cyborg that can tap into any data system and assists barb Wire, from time to time. He was transformed into this state; but, likes it and has no desire to return to human form. Wolf Gang is one of the city's gangs (obviously, though they might be a Mozart Fan Club), battling rivals the Prime Movers, who want to control the entire city. they end up aiding Barb in her fight against the Prime Movers. Motorhead is the heavy metal band, led by Lemmy Killmister. Oh, not that one. This one is a dude who works for Barb, in the bar, who hears voices. Turns out it is some kind of energy force that he can channel. Chris Warner was heavily involved in this one, writing Barb Wire and drawing Wolf Gang, with paul Gulacy handling art on Barb Wire. It's pretty much the same kind of Action movie/Punisher gun-toting anti-hero mess that inundated video stores, cable and comic shops. Barb Wire, herself, was also another nod to the Bad Girl fad, with a bosomy bimbo in tight leather. So, of course, she got a movie... Starring a bosomy bimbo in tight leather, in Pamela Anderson (Lee). It was terrible and, quite frankly, I always thought the comic was only marginally better. As an aside, the best commentary on that cinematic piece of trash was from John Waters, in an appearance on Ru Paul's short-lived VH1 talk show. The particular episode had the theme of "camp," with Waters, Debby Harry (Blondie) Fred Schneider (B-52s) and some other guy, who escapes me. each brought an item of camp and Waters spoke of being at a theater, with friends, when one said, "Oh, look; Ru Paul has a movie coming out!" then pointed to the Barb Wire poster. Damned if Pamela Anderson doesn't look a lot like Ru Paul, in the image (especially from afar). Quite frankly, Ru Paul would have greatly improved the film. Might have helped the comic, too. The last locale was Cinnibar Flats (which is not a pastry company, like it sounds); but, not so much that, as the Vortex. Cinnibar Flats is a government research center, in Nevada (think Alamogordo meets Nellis AFB, aka Area 51), where the Vortex exists. Division 13 features a group of mutants, the results of accidents and experiments, housed in Block 13. A group escapes, then seeks to free other inmates. Hero Zero is a kid who transforms into a giant hero. So, basically, he is Ultraman (with a little JohnnY Sokko). King Tiger is a mystical warrior who hunts 5 demons, released by the fight between Hero Zero and a dragon, which came through the Vortex. He carries a bow, so Bruce Lee meets Green Arrow. The character was created as a potential film vehicle for Brandon Lee. Then, well, you know....The Crow. Out of the Vortex featured The Vortex, who is an alien scientist who created the Vortex rift, which unleashed all kinds of weirdness. His people, the Seekers, come looking for him, as a heretic. That usually means reasoned debate between open-minded adults. The universe was released as a weekly mini-series; or, rather, 4 weekly mini-series. A comic featuring a character from each city came out in a particular week, with 4 more the following, until 4 weeks had passed. Then, new series were launched. Coming out of it we got X, Ghost, Catalyst, Barb Wire, Division 13 and Out of the Vortex. Division 13 was supposed to be 12 issues; but, was cancelled after 4. out of the Vortex was a 12 issue series. Barb Wire lasted 9 issues, while X had a respectable 25. Ghost had the most life, with 36 issues, plus multiple specials and appearances. A few others got some specials and other one shots... Godzilla vs Hero Zero has a certain charm to it; but, most of these are average to forgettable. Now, average isn't bad; but, for Dark Horse, average isn't high praise. They had done better with superhero concepts in the American and The Mark. Timing worked in favor of the launches; but, it soon worked against them, too. The series launched during the speculator boom, when ridiculous amounts of money were being thrown at perceived goldmines, especially new first issues and these were all first issues. Problem is, the speculators rarely stuck around for the second issue. The bottom fell out of the speculator market by 1995/96 and stuff just stopped selling. Comic shops who over-ordered this stuff went under and no one was scrounging to find back issues, except for Dark Horse Comics #8, the debut of X and the whole universe. That speculation trickled away, after a few years. Dark Horse put the Comics' Greatest World brand to bed and folded the few remaining titles into the Dark Horse Heroes brand; but, even those days were numbered. Some name talent worked on these books and there were some interesting ideas ther and a few good characters; but, the support wasn't there and the ideas dried up quickly (some faster than others). The failure of the Barb Wire film did the properties no favors and no other productions came out of this. Ghost has had some interest; but, no film. The comics market moved on, though Dark Horse brought some back, if for no other reason than to keep trademarks alive, probably hoping to reinterest Hollywood. Comics' Greatest World is mostly a failed experiment by Dark Horse, probably one with less than pure motives, which explains its short life, apart from Ghost. After the initial launch there was a thematic follow up, Will to Power; but, it wasn't enough. Who knows, maybe the future will be kinder to it. At the time, it became one of the punchlines in Cerebus, during Mothers & Daughters, when the Roach goes nuts and explodes into a hulking mess that name drops all of the speculator-driven new universes. Next, we will explore some of Dark Horse's next wave of of licensed titles, with classic adventure at the heart of things. Come back for Dark Horse's handling of Indiana Jones, The Shadow, Doc Savage, and Tarzan.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 3, 2019 21:02:43 GMT -5
ps If I sound down on this, it is probably because I had looked at the announcement of this line as a big thing, with expectations of some really great titles, based on what dark Horse had already done and was doing in other books. Unfortunately, disappointment set in pretty quickly. I thought there was a ton of potential in the teased concepts; but, the books just didn't live up to the potential, as a group. I never read the regular Ghost series, though I know it had a lot of fans and was one of Dark Horse's more popular non-licensed titles. Your mileage may vary; but, I don't recommend shelling out much money, if you are curious. There were book collections, as well.
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Post by mikelmidnight on Jun 4, 2019 11:26:46 GMT -5
Grendel is one of the comics that defined the promise of the 80s and early 90s, which survived the turmoil of the later 90s, to show that comics could handle hard material, with a maturity beyond heightened violence or horror. I highly recommend all of these comics and seeking out their predecessors. Badger was loppy, satirical, and hard-hitting adventure, with a mentally damaged Vietnam vet and a Druid wizard. It was both funny and nasty. Nexus was a melange of influences, all great. it was satirical, dark, romantic, exciting and a visual treat, as Steve Rude mixed Jack Kirby, Alex Toth and Russ Manning into one of the most visually appealing styles of the age. The stories were fun and thought-provoking, with well rounded, real characters, wilf alien designs, and a sense of fund and maturity lacking from most comics. Madman covered similar grounds, with loopy fun an adventure, with intriguing characters. Grendel is pure literature and succeeds in multiple hands, yet always feeling like Matt Wagner's vision. I loved Badger in the Comico issues when the comic was focused on Ham the Weather Wizard, and Badger was comic relief, but never felt interested in him as a focus. Nexus was up and down for me in quality, but certainly the first Omnibus collection is brilliant and I'd recommend it to anyone. Grendel is intriguing, although I've only explored the Hunter Rose stories. I have the first Omnibus collection and intend to get the second. I've never been interested in the far-future ultimate warrior incarnation.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 4, 2019 14:35:36 GMT -5
Grendel is one of the comics that defined the promise of the 80s and early 90s, which survived the turmoil of the later 90s, to show that comics could handle hard material, with a maturity beyond heightened violence or horror. I highly recommend all of these comics and seeking out their predecessors. Badger was loppy, satirical, and hard-hitting adventure, with a mentally damaged Vietnam vet and a Druid wizard. It was both funny and nasty. Nexus was a melange of influences, all great. it was satirical, dark, romantic, exciting and a visual treat, as Steve Rude mixed Jack Kirby, Alex Toth and Russ Manning into one of the most visually appealing styles of the age. The stories were fun and thought-provoking, with well rounded, real characters, wilf alien designs, and a sense of fund and maturity lacking from most comics. Madman covered similar grounds, with loopy fun an adventure, with intriguing characters. Grendel is pure literature and succeeds in multiple hands, yet always feeling like Matt Wagner's vision. I loved Badger in the Comico issues when the comic was focused on Ham the Weather Wizard, and Badger was comic relief, but never felt interested in him as a focus. Nexus was up and down for me in quality, but certainly the first Omnibus collection is brilliant and I'd recommend it to anyone. Grendel is intriguing, although I've only explored the Hunter Rose stories. I have the first Omnibus collection and intend to get the second. I've never been interested in the far-future ultimate warrior incarnation. Hunter Rose gets most of the attention, drawing as it does on its pulp forefathers, such as Fantomas, as well as comic ancestors, like Diabolik. However, the Eppie Thatcher/Orion Asante storyline (aka God & the Devil) is a really strong read. It pulls in elements of trickster stories, such as Harlan Ellison's "Repent Harlequin.....Said the Tick-Tock Man," plus political clashes, religious institutional corruption, and vampires. It actually links back to the Christine Spar Devil's Legacy storyline, that started the regular Grendel series. Then, it segues into Devil's reign, as orion Asante must bring order out of the chaos of the world. God and the Devil features John K Snyder III's art, which is pretty scratchy; but, it fits the harshness of the story. Plus, Eppie's Grendel personna is one of the most visually striking, as a figure of terror. The Devil's Reign story is very much political intrigue and was done as a visual experiment, with tim Sale on art; but panels reduced to very small squares, with more talking heads than action scenes. it felt more like an illustrated novel. however, it is contrasted by the back-up story of Pellon Cross, the Church-based law enforcement figure from God & The Devil, as he establishes a vampire enclave in Las Vegas, which factors into War Child, when it returns at Dark Horse. Hunter Rose is the most memorable Grendel personna; but, Matt Wagner had eally grown as a writer, by the latter Comico days. Tim Sale does the art of the vampire back-ups, in Devil's Reign, as well. There was also Silverback, with agner, William messner-Loebs and John Peck detailing the origin story of Argent, as an Algonquin indian who is transformed into the wolf, who will fight Grendel. This was at Comico, at the tail end of the Grendel run there, before the bankruptcy.
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Post by mikelmidnight on Jun 5, 2019 12:23:49 GMT -5
The city is protected by Catalyst, the Agents of Change, who act as their JLA, led by Grace. The members are Grace, Titan, Mecha and Rebel. Within this set of issues, a villain, called Warmaker, is sent to The Vault, a prison in Golden City; but, he escapes and wreaks havoc, before being defeated by Grace. She uses this as an excuse to secede from the US, putting her and the city at odds with the US government. The Catalyst comic was the only one I bothered to pick up, because it was written by Eddie Campbell! But Campbell wasn't in a position to let his oddness shine, and a lot of the political jokes were taken out by editorial anyway.
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Post by Icctrombone on Jun 11, 2019 19:05:05 GMT -5
ps If I sound down on this, it is probably because I had looked at the announcement of this line as a big thing, with expectations of some really great titles, based on what dark Horse had already done and was doing in other books. Unfortunately, disappointment set in pretty quickly. I thought there was a ton of potential in the teased concepts; but, the books just didn't live up to the potential, as a group. I never read the regular Ghost series, though I know it had a lot of fans and was one of Dark Horse's more popular non-licensed titles. Your mileage may vary; but, I don't recommend shelling out much money, if you are curious. There were book collections, as well. I bought each and every book from CGW. I even bought the Will to power Mini and the Catalyst series. I enjoyed the Will to power series and Vortex wasn't a bad book either.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 11, 2019 19:54:16 GMT -5
ps If I sound down on this, it is probably because I had looked at the announcement of this line as a big thing, with expectations of some really great titles, based on what dark Horse had already done and was doing in other books. Unfortunately, disappointment set in pretty quickly. I thought there was a ton of potential in the teased concepts; but, the books just didn't live up to the potential, as a group. I never read the regular Ghost series, though I know it had a lot of fans and was one of Dark Horse's more popular non-licensed titles. Your mileage may vary; but, I don't recommend shelling out much money, if you are curious. There were book collections, as well. I bought each and every book from CGW. I even bought the Will to power Mini and the Catalyst series. I enjoyed the Will to power series and Vortex wasn't a bad book either. I bought the initial launch and kept Vortex going, though I don't recall if I stuck with it to the end.. Catalyst and Vortex were the concepts that intrigues me the most, in terms of where they might go with it; but, they didn't seem to do as much with it as things like X and Barb Wire. I was more than tired of stuff like that, with violent, gun-toting vigilantes. I think I just imagined things more like The American and The Mark and what I was seeing was not that different from DC, Marvel and Image. It was better than Image and I saw more there than in most of the Ultraverse books (except maybe Firearm and Prime); but, I was also burning out on superhero books. It was all starting to feel the same. The Legend titles and stuff like The Shadow and Tarzan and DHP were delivering more of the kind of thing that was drawing my attention, by that point. Speculator frenzy also kind of nudged me away from the bulk of the new superhero universes that popped up. Even at DC, which I probably stuck with the longest (in terms of superhero books) I was switching over more and more to Vertigo titles and other more niche titles. I was kind of going through the same thing with music, at that time. I was pulling away from the mainstream and going into more niche areas, with more indie stuff and older material, or new takes on older material, like the surf revival stuff that followed Pulp Fiction.
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Post by Icctrombone on Jun 11, 2019 20:26:39 GMT -5
My problem with the Ghost book was that they were taking too long to explain what she was. Was she a Ghost or what? I didn't want to wait around to find out.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 12, 2019 16:55:08 GMT -5
So, Dark Horse had built part of its name with licensed titles, for which they expanded the universe. It wasn't only movie franchises that were licensed, though; they also licensed some pulp characters. The pulps spawned comic books, in part, because the earliest publishers were publishers of pulp magazines. As such, the first original material tended to reflect what was popular in the pulps (as well as newspaper comics, which were the other parent to comic books). The pulp heroes helped launch the concept of superheroes and many were quickly adapted into comic books, with varying success. The pulp revival of the 60s and 70s led to a revival of pulp hero comics, with DC handling The Shadow and the Avenger (in Justice, Inc, taking its name from the first Avenger pulp novel) and Doc Savage and Conan, at Marvel. In the 80s, DC had licensed all of the Street & Smith heavy hitters, with The Shadow, Doc Savage and the Avenger represented (though the Avenger, again, only got two issues). This was a bit controversial as DC first tried to update the concepts, with mixed results. Howard Chaykin brought the Shadow into the modern world, with a new set of aides. That wasn't bad, though the subsequent series was a mixed bag. DC then retooled it as a period piece. Doc Savage got an update with both a son and grandson taking over the role, only for Doc to be returned in period adventures, as well. Then, DC had the two meet. Doc Savage was given a better lease on life at small indie publisher Millennium, where he was treated respectfully and they captured the flavor of his original adventures, in a series of mini-series and even one for Pat Savage. It wasn't too long after Doc was a hit there, that the Shadow turned up at Dark Horse, with an old friend: Mike Kaluta. Kaluta had made his name (in fandom) on DC's Shadow series, with Denny O'Neil on the writing. The Shadow became a cult hit for DC and was the most popular of the pulp hero revivals (if you leave out Conan and Tarzan). However, Kaluta wasn't that fast and it became an issue and he left the series. however, he never truly left the character as he produced several Shadow prints.... Here, he did covers, as well as illustrations on text pieces. The issues also came with bound-in posters, recreating the cover (sans text). He also did the writing, with Joel Gross; but, the art was by someone else: Gary Gianni. Gianni was still relatively unknown in comics, though he had done work in it for a few years, including the adaptation of O Henry's "The Gift of the Magi," for First Comics' revival of Classics Illustrated. He was able to capture the flavor of the Turn of the Century, with his illustrative style, which harkened back to the great magazine illustrators, like Gibson and and James Montgomery Flagg. Here, he does similar duty, channeling the look of the old Street & Smith pulps, in a pure period piece of pulp perfection. Fans loved it and more followed... Including an adaptation of the Alec Baldwin movie... and a crossover with Ghost... He also met up with an old friend... Doc came over from Millennium; but, aside from crossing with the Shadow, he didn't do much at Dark Horse... It was evocative and an engrossing story; but, lacked the spark that filled the Shadow stories. Aside from the team up, this was Dark Horse's only Doc Savage series. Millennium still had the best batting average with the character. DH didn't even attempt the Avenger, which was just as well, as no one seemed to be able to crack him (his life in the pulps was relatively short, especially compared the the Shadow or Doc Savage.) Bridging the gaps of pulp and movies was indiana Jones, which drew inspiration from pulp novels, movie serials, and adventure films. Lucasfilm was no dummy when it came to comics, as Star Wars proved, and Indy was quickly adapted at Marvel, with both movie adaptations and an ongoing series (with John Byrne). When Dark Horse got Star wars, it wasn't too long before they had Indy. This initial story was actually created for Lucasfilm Games, by Hal Barwood and Noah Falstein. Transition to comics was handled by William Messner-Loebs and newspaper adventure legend Dan Barry (Flash Gordon). Covers by Dave Dorman did a lot to attract readers and fans, as well. The mini was a hit and more followed... Barry handled story on Indy's second outing (Thunder in the orient, which riffed on Terry & the Pirates) and then Lee Marrs took over on further stories, with Karl Kesel also writing a bit. The Young indian Jones Chronicles soon joined older Indy... here, we got to see stories from Dan Barry & Gray Morrow, as wel as Barry and Gordon Purcell. Adventures featured both little brat Indy and sexy teenager Indy. Things cooled off on Indy, after the tv series went off the air (the book series lasted a bit, then ceased releasing new novels), as Lucas tried for a script that was acceptable to Spielberg and Harrison Ford, to get everyone back together. It took a decade, before Kingdom of the Krystal Skull, which got an adaptation.... The movie was disappointing to fans, though it did well enough at the box office. Dark Horse got out a couple of young reader digests and a new Indy mini... As with Star Wars, Dark Horse also reprinted the Marvel Indy series... Like Star Wars, Indy ended up sold to Disney, as part of the Lucasfilm IP; but, Paramount maintains distribution rights to the films and tv series (until Disney swallows them, I suppose). So far, to my knowledge, Marvel has not put out new Indy comics. Along similar lines, Dark horse ended up with the Tarzan license, for a time. Tarzan hadn't yet fallen into the public domain, so this was all approved by ERB Inc. Again, Dark Horse put out new material and reprints of classic work... This was a Burroughs story, adapted and expanded by Joe Lansdale, with Tom Yeates on the art, and reprints of John Coleman Burroughs John Carter strips. A Regular Tarzan comic followed... ...for 20 issues. Tarzan also met up with other Burroughs characters... He crossed over with other heroes... and movie monsters... That's right, baby; Walt Fin Simonson! Tarzans and Predators and Mahars, oh my! There were also a couple of Tarzan minis.... Yep, Iron Mike Grell! He had done the Tarzan newspaper strip, in the early 80s; but, it didn't pay enough to sustain him. Tarzan was one of his boyhood heroes, so he got to play with him again. He would probably die of ecstacy if he ever got to have Tarzan meet Travis Morgan (and Jon Sable)! However, it is in the reprint field that Dark Horse did a really big service, reprinting the breadth of comic book Tarzan, from Dell to Dark Horse. At first, it was just some Russ manning Tarzan... This was soon expanded to include the Jesse Marsh Tarzan, the Joe Kubert stories, and even the unauthorized Charlton Tarzan stories, with Sam Glanzman art.... as well as some of the Malibu (Comics) Tarzan and reprints of Foster and Hogarth (which had previously been done by NBM). Unfortunately, they couldn't put out the John buscema Tarzans, from marvel (though Dynamite was able to do so). The other big pulp character that Dark Horse tackled was Conan; but, that is for a later entry. Next time, we will look at some Dark Horse odds and ends, including Michael Chabon's The Escapist, Eddie Campbell's Bacchus (aka Deadface), Christopher Moeller's Faith Conquers (part of his Iron Empires series), and some Bettie Page and related comics.
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Post by mikelmidnight on Jun 13, 2019 11:54:51 GMT -5
The other big pulp character that Dark Horse tackled was Conan; but, that is for a later entry. Next time, we will look at some Dark Horse odds and ends, including Michael Chabon's The Escapist, Eddie Campbell's Bacchus (aka Deadface), Christopher Moeller's Faith Conquers (part of his Iron Empires series), and some Bettie Page and related comics.
I had an interesting e-mail exchange with the woman who edited The Escapist, in which I offered an assessment of why the series didn't work. Curiously, she agreed the series didn't work but I don't think she understood my point. My wife talked me out of writing back to her and trying to clarify things. <g>
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