DC Comics from Diamond Distributors for December 23, 2015

DC COMICS

JUN150301     ABSOLUTE GREEN LANTERN GREEN ARROW HC     $99.99
OCT150171     AQUAMAN #47     $3.99
OCT150275     ART OPS #3 (MR)     $3.99
OCT150277     ASTRO CITY #30     $3.99
OCT150153     BATMAN 66 MEETS THE MAN FROM UNCLE #1     $2.99
OCT150214     BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL #12     $2.99
OCT150229     BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT #12     $3.99
OCT150169     CYBORG #6     $2.99
OCT150141     DARK KNIGHT III MASTER RACE #2     $5.99
OCT150226     DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS #7     $3.99
OCT150173     DEATHSTROKE #13     $2.99
SEP150293     DEATHSTROKE THE TERMINATOR TP VOL 02 SYMPATHY     $14.99
SEP150295     DEMON TP VOL 01 HELLS HITMAN     $19.99
OCT150217     GOTHAM BY MIDNIGHT #12     $2.99
OCT150231     HE MAN THE ETERNITY WAR #13     $2.99
OCT150278     JACKED #2 (MR)     $3.99
OCT150180     JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #7     $2.99
SEP150199     JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #6     $3.99
OCT150271     LAST GANG IN TOWN #1 (MR)     $3.99
OCT150160     ROBIN SON OF BATMAN #7 (ROBIN WAR)     $3.99
AUG150295     SCALPED HC BOOK 03 DELUXE EDITION     $29.99
OCT150224     SINESTRO #18     $2.99
OCT150199     SUPERMAN #47     $3.99
AUG150277     SUPERMAN ACTION COMICS HC VOL 07 UNDER THE SKIN     $22.99
SEP150306     SUPERMAN ACTION COMICS TP VOL 06 SUPERDOOM     $16.99
OCT150163     TEEN TITANS #15 (ROBIN WAR)     $2.99
OCT150189     TITANS HUNT #3     $3.99

DC COMICS/DC COLLECTIBLES

MAY150285     BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT ARKHAM KNIGHT STATUE     $124.95
AUG140382     DC COMICS DESIGNER SER 3 TWO FACE AF     $24.95
JUL150349     DC COMICS ICONS HARLEY QUINN STATUE     $100.00
MAY150295     DC ICONS THE FLASH CHAIN LIGHTNING AF     $24.95
MAY150280     JUSTICE LEAGUE GODS & MONSTERS BATMAN AF     $24.95
MAY150281     JUSTICE LEAGUE GODS & MONSTERS SUPERMAN AF     $24.95
MAY150282     JUSTICE LEAGUE GODS & MONSTERS WONDER WOMAN AF     $24.95
MAY150290     JUSTICE LEAGUE TAROT CARD DECK     $24.95

Evans, Hasen, Moldoff Enter Will Eisner Comics Awards Hall of Fame

Irwin Hasen, Sheldon Moldoff, Orrin C. Evans Chosen for Eisner Hall of Fame

Three Golden Age Artists are Eisner Hall of Fame 2014 I Judges' Choices

14 Nominees Will Face Voters for 4 Other Spots

Comic-Con International, the largest comic book and popular arts event of its kind in the world, has announced that the Eisner Awards judges have selected three individuals to automatically be inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame for 2014. These inductees are Golden Age artists Irwin Hasen (The Flash, Wildcat, Green Lantern for DC; Dondi syndicated strip), Sheldon Moldoff (Batman artist), and African American comics pioneer Orrin C. Evans (All-Negro Comics). In the past, the judges have chosen two automatic inductees, both deceased. This year’s judges decided to add one more inductee, a deserving still-living comics creator.

The judges have also chosen 14 nominees from which voters will select 4 to be inducted in the Hall of Fame this summer. These nominees are Gus Arriola, Howard Cruse, Philippe Druillet, Rube Goldberg, Fred Kida, Hayao Miyazaki, Tarpé Mills, Alan Moore, Francoise Mouly, Dennis O’Neil, Antonio Prohias, Rumiko Takahashi, George Tuska, and Bernie Wrightson.

I Reads You Review: CRISIS ON MULTIPLE EARTHS Volume 2

CRISIS ON MULTIPLE EARTHS VOLUME 2
DC COMICS – @DCComics

WRITERS: Gardner Fox, Dennis O’Neil
PENCILS: Mike Sekowsky, Dick Dillin
INKS: Sid Greene, Joe Giella
LETTERS: Gaspar Saladino, Joe Letterese, Milton Snapinn, Ira Schnapp
ORIGINAL COVER ARTISTS:  Mike Sekowsky and Murphy Anderson; Mike Sekowsky and Joe Giella; Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson; Dick Dillin and George Roussos; Joe Kubert; Neal Adams
COVER: Jerry Ordway
208pp, Color, $14.95 U.S., $22.95 CAN (2003)

Several years ago, I was one of the winners of a raffle at a local comic book shop (well, at least my version of a local comic shop).  The prizes had mostly been picked through by the time I visited the store again, but I ended up being lucky anyway.  Sitting on the prize table, almost alone, was a copy of Crisis on Multiple Earths Volume 2.

I am a fan of DC Comics’ Silver and Bronze Ages, and here was a book full of Justice League of America reprints from the late Silver Age and at the precipice of the Bronze Age.  As far as I was concerned, I won the raffle.

Crisis on Multiple Earths Volume 2 reprints the following Justice League of America issues with August to September cover dates:  #55-56 (1967), 64-65 (1968), 73-74 (1969), and 82-83 (1970).  The book also reprints three pin-ups that were originally published in Justice League #76 (cover dated: October 1969) and Limited Collector’s Edition C-46 (cover dated: August-September 1976).  Why did DC Comics pair two issues of Justice League of America?

Well, it starts with Flash #123 (cover dated: September 1961).  In a story entitled, “The Flash of Two Worlds,” the Silver Age Flash (Barry Allen) meets his Golden Age counterpart, Jay Garrick.  It turns out Garrick, along with the rest of the original Justice Society of America of the Golden Age of comics, inhabit an alternate universe.  This meeting of the Flash characters from two different comic book eras turned out to be a historic meeting.  Apparently fans liked it, and there were more such issues of Flash.

This set the stage for the first crossover between the Silver Age Justice League of America and the Golden Age Justice Society of America:  “Crisis on Earth-One” (Justice League of America #21, cover dated: August 1963) and “Crisis on Earth-Two” (Justice League of America #22, September 1963).  In this two-part tale, the Justice Society teams up with the Justice League to combat a team of villains from both worlds.  These evil-doers travel between the worlds using vibratory devices made by the Fiddler (a Flash villain).  After kidnapping both Flashes, they plan on committing crimes, and then, each villain will spend the money on the version of Earth where nobody knows him.

From that point on in 1967 until 1985, the JLA/JSA crossover became an annual event in Justice League of America comic book series.  I know that these JLA/JSA team-ups are essential stories that led the way to DC Comics’ universe-changing event series, Crisis on Infinite Earths.  However, I’m reading them because they are a kind of comic book that I like the most.  If you, dear reader, do need some historical perspective, Martin Pasko’s introduction to this trade paperback, “Crisis Behind the Scenes,” is excellent.

The stories in this book also reflect the changes going on in the comic book industry in the late 1960s.  Golden Age Justice Society of America and longtime Justice League of America writer, Gardner Fox (who had written 65 consecutive issues of the JLA series), gave way to then emerging new talent Dennis O’Neil.  Artist Dick Dillin became Justice League of America’s penciller.  He replaced regular JLA artist Mike Sekowsky, who began his comic book career when the industry was in its infancy (in 1941 with Timely Comics).  Even Sekowsky’s inker, Murphy Anderson (who also began working in the 1940s), gave way to Sid Greene and Joe Giella as Dillin’s inkers.

As I am largely unfamiliar with that era of comics, I didn’t notice much of a change in the creative staff, except in the kind of stories Gardner Fox and Dennis O’Neil wrote.  Fox’s JLA-JSA stories are fanciful, like children’s fantasy stories (Alice in Wonderland or The Wizard of Oz).  O’Neil’s stories are more cosmic, and the threats to the heroes are more immediate and dangerous.  Change and death are prominent themes, especially in the 1969 crossover.

I enjoyed reading this trade paperback, and I would recommend it to JLA fans.  Crisis on Multiple Earths Volume 2 makes me look forward to finding the other volumes in the Crisis on Multiple Earths trade paperback series, although I do wonder how many are currently out of print.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Review: Advs. of Superman: José Luis García-López

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN JOSE LUIS GARCIA-LOPEZ
DC COMICS – @DCComics

WRITER: Gerry Conway, Elliot S. Maggin, David Michelinie, Denny O’Neil, Martin Pasko, Len Wein
PENCILS: José Luis García-López
INKS: José Luis García-López with Dan Adkins, Vince Colletta, Joe Giella, Dick Giordano, Steve Mitchell, Bob Oksner, Frank Springer
COLORS: Jerry Serpe, Adrienne Roy, Glynis Wein
LETTERS: Ben Oda, Clem Robins, Gaspar Saladino, Milt Snapinn
COVER: José Luis García-López and Dan Adkins
ISBN: 978-1-4012-3856-8; hardcover (April 2013)
360pp, Color, $39.99 U.S., $47.00 CAN

Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

In Superman #347 (May 1980), Superman takes on an alien phantom whose antics are placing Metropolis and the surrounding region in danger of a nuclear disaster.  It is a nice story with a sad ending, but what is more memorable about this particular Superman comic book is the art for the story, penciled and inked by José Luis García-López.

On Pages 4 and 5 (of the story), García-López depicts Superman having dinner with Lois Lane at a rooftop restaurant.  As usual, García-López shows off his knowledge of human anatomy in the physique of Superman and in the lithe, athletic figure of Lois Lane.  However, on those two pages, García-López’s compositions conceive Metropolis Towers Restaurant’s settings, interiors, and backdrops with elegance and flair.  This comic book art looks like pages that could be from an architectural or interior design magazine.  It is simply a testament to García-López’s skill, and such an artist deserves a special showcase.

Earlier this year, DC Comics published Adventures of Superman: José Luis García-López.  This book is part of a line of hardcover, full-color books that collect the work of influential comic book artists on iconic DC Comics characters, in particular Superman and Batman.  Previous books in the series include Legends of the Dark Knight: Jim Aparo and Adventures of Superman: Gil Kane.

José Luis García-López was born in Spain in 1948 and eventually immigrated to Argentina with his parents.  He began his comic book career there at the age of 13 and also studied at Escuela Panamericana de Arte.  He broke into American comic books in the late 1960s with Charlton Comics and worked for the publisher into the early 1970s.  After moving to New York City in 1974, García-López met DC Comics editor Joe Orlando, and his first work for DC Comics began appearing in 1975.

Adventures of Superman: José Luis García-López reprints García-López’s work on the character for which he is arguably most associated, Superman.  Apparently, at one time, García-López’s Superman was used on all DC Comics merchandising.  Adventures of Superman: José Luis García-López reprints Superman stories from the following Superman publications:  Superman #294, 301-302, 307-309, 347; DC Comics Presents #1-4, 17, 20, 24, 31; and All-New Collector’s Edition #C-54 (Superman vs. Wonder Woman.)

The first time I really paid attention to José Luis García-López was when I found an issue of Amazing Heroes (the former Fantagraphics Books magazine that published news, features, and interviews about superhero comic books) that focused on him.  The article talked about his work on the comic book series, Atari Force (1984), and his then upcoming work on the hit 1980s New Teen Titans (Vol. 2, #7-11; 1985).  The article included images of García-López’s pencil art before it was inked.  I learned from the article that García-López was a master of figure drawing in comic books.

That is indeed true.  For the last 25 years, many comic book artists have presented the human figure by over-delineating musculature with cross-hatching and detailed line work.  That yields either unimaginative photo-realistic art or characters (especially male characters) in which every muscle is squeezed and pumped until the characters look like freakish bodybuilders.  García-López mastered the human figure through cartooning, expression, and abstraction.  The result is dynamic figure drawing that best captures the magic and wonder evoked by comic book characters, especially superheroes.

In splash and half-splash pages and with big panels, modern comic book artists can show off intricate pencils, detailed backgrounds, and figure drawing that catches every nook and cranny of the human form.  In this book, José Luis García-López, the master, shows off the proficiency of his ability to cartoon the human figure in even the smallest panels just as well as he can in double-page spreads, splash pages, and assorted big panels.

In the first six stories reprinted herein, García-López blends the page design style of Neal Adams with the aesthetics of Steve Ditko to create stylish page design cramped and dotted with panels.  Still, the physicality of Superman and guest-stars, such as Supergirl and Solomon Grundy, shines through everything.  Superman’s muscular form takes on the traits of dancer’s lithe body, as the Man of Steel flexes, fights, and flies from one panel to another.  Because García-López can pull this off, he creates a sense of movement in his pages, connecting not just each panel to another, but also each page to another.  Looking at the art, I thought I was watching a tiny Superman literally flying through the story and acting as the storytelling vehicle.

The masterstroke of Adventures of Superman: José Luis García-López is its reprint of All-New Collector’s Edition #C-54, a 1978, oversized comic book that pitted Superman and Wonder Woman against each other, before finally uniting to fight Axis evil.  The clean inks by Dan Adkins give García-López’s pencils a Neo-Classical quality, but retains the “New York slick” style that fits this World War II era story.

This book will also afford readers an opportunity to read stories written by a number of good comic book writers, especially the now underappreciated Gerry Conway.  His “Superman vs. Wonder Woman” tale is spectacular.  The feud between the two heroes and their eventual resolution makes sense within the context of the story and also corresponds with real world issues that still vex us today.

Somehow, my Bin boss was able to talk DC Comics into giving me a copy of Adventures of Superman: José Luis García-López.  I don’t owe them a good review for giving me this book, but I’m going to give them one anyway.  This archival presentation is the kind of book that a great comic book artist like José Luis García-López not only deserves, but has also earned.  It is also indicative of the usual high quality of DC Comics’ hardcover reprint books.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Leroy Douresseaux Reviews: TALES OF THE BATMAN: DON NEWTON

TALES OF THE BATMAN: DON NEWTON
DC COMICS

WRITERS: Dennis J. O’Neil, Bob Rozakis, Cary Burkett, Martin Pasko, Michael L. Fleisher, Marv Wolfman, Gerry Conway
PENCILS: Don Newton
INKS: Dan Adkins, Dave Hunt, Robert R. Smith, Kim DeMulder, Frank Chiaramonte
COLORS: Adrienne Roy, Jerry Serpe
LETTERS: Ben Oda, Todd Klein, Gaspar, John Workman, Milt Snapinn, John Costanza
COVER: Don Newton and Dick Giordano
ISBN: 978-1-4012-3294-8; hardcover
360pp, Color, $39.99 U.S., $46.99 CAN

[Tales of the Batman: Don Newton reprints stories from the following comic books: Batman #305-306, 328; Detective Comics #480, 483-497; The Brave and the Bold #156, 156, 165.]

Tales of the Batman: Don Newton is a recent DC Comics hardcover collection that gathers the work of the late comic book artist, Don Newton. Once an art teacher and fan and amateur artist, Newton had a brief, decade-long career as a professional comic book artist. Newton drew for Charlton Comics and Marvel Comics, but did most of his professional work for DC Comics. Newton died in 1984, at the age of 49, as he was set to become the series artist on Infinity, Inc., a spin-off of the 1980s DC Comics series, All-Star Squadron.

One of the characters with which Don Newton was most associated was Batman. Beginning with Batman #305 (cover date November 1978), Newton drew Batman and related characters in almost 80 stories that were published over a seven year period. DC Comics has gathered 22 Don Newton-drawn Batman stories in Tales of the Batman: Don Newton. These stories were published during a two-year period from late 1978 to late 1980 and were published in three Batman comic book titles, Batman, Detective Comics, and The Brave and the Bold (a Batman team-up book).

Don Newton’s compositional style reminds me of Jim Aparo, while his graphic design and page layout clearly show the influence of Neal Adams. Newton wasn’t a copycat, though; the way he composed the contents of his panels was and still is distinctive. Most of the stories here feature Dan Adkins inking Newton, but I prefer Dave Hunt, who inked the first three tales in this book. Hunt makes Newton’s figure drawing look gorgeous and smooth and made each element in a panel stand out, while Adkins’ inks allows Newton’s eccentricities free reign, which isn’t always a good thing.

The Batman of the late 1970s still retains some of the influence of Denny O’Neil (who wrote several of the stories in this book). O’Neil’s Batman is an ominous figure, more like the avenging wraith that appeared in the first Batman stories back in the late 1930s. However, I think the Batman in these Newton stories is most influenced by the work of writer Steve Englehart, who presented Batman as a “Darknight Detective.” In fact, this Batman is more detective than “Dark Knight.”

Newton is perfect for this kind of Batman, who creeps around inside, deftly crossing the threshold into buildings, hallways, rooms, laboratories, and other interior and living spaces. Of course, the Batman in these stories also swings over roofs, jumps on moving vehicles, and has no problem kicking as in his urban playground.

There is an awkward nature to the way Newton draws, but once again, that serves his stories well. Limbs flail and smash into things, which give a strong physical sense to Newton’s fight scenes. That’s why the fight in “The Perfect Fighting Machine” (Detective Comics #480) really looks like a fight to death – one that Batman might lose. Newton’s Bronze Tiger in “The Vengeance Vow” (Detective Comics #480) captures Bruce Lee’s movement in the static visual medium of comic books probably as best as anyone can. For an odd bit of physicality, Newton stages a fight between Batman and some thugs in the narrow rows between movie theatre seats (Detective Comics #487).

DC Comics sent me a copy of Tales of the Batman: Don Newton for review, and this is one of the instances when I feel a bit guilty about that. Why? It’s because after reading this book, I realized that I would have been happy to buy it. As with many DC hardcover reprint collections, the interior pages are made of coated or enamel paper stock. The reproduction of the comic book art is solid, and the restored color pops on the page. Only the reproductions of The Brave and the Bold stories can be described as poor.

With this book, DC Comics has made Newton, who is practically obscure now, seem like someone special. For awhile, Newton was special, because he got the plumb assignment of drawing Batman comic books on a regular basis. And you will also believe in Newton’s noteworthiness when you see Tales of the Batman: Don Newton.

A-