IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
WRITER/ARTIST: Howard Chaykin
COLORS: Wil Quintana
LETTERS: Ken Bruzenak
EDITOR: Thomas K
COVER: Don Cameron
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (August 2018)
Rated “M / Mature”
Hey Kids! Comics! is a new comic book from writer-artist, Howard Chaykin. This comic book depicts nearly a century of turbulence and and drama in the American comic book industry, and tells the stories of the men and women that created it (with names changed, of course). Chaykin's creative team on this series includes colorist Wil Quintana and letterer Ken Bruzenak, a longtime Chaykin collaborator.
Hey Kids! Comics! #1 opens in 1967 with an encounter between a comic book mogul and one of his former comic book creators slash freelancers... on Broadway! Moving back to 1945, we meet Ted Whitman, recently discharged from the Navy, and Ray Clarke, recently discharged from the Army. Whitman, a rare black man working in comics, and Clarke, who had some work before military service, are both looking to get back to work in the comics biz. But things have changed since they last worked for a comics publishing firm, and they seem to be changing still... and not for the best... when it comes to the rank and file.
Hey Kids! Comics! #1 is told in scenes that take place in five different years (1945, 1955, 1965, 1967, and 2001). The story involves several characters, multiple employers, and lots of job changes. The shifts in time are jarring, and Chaykin introduces characters, plots, and settings without really focusing in on developing characters. Thus, this first issue seems to be more about introductions than it is about examining the nitty gritty details of character, storytelling, and drama.
Still, I find Hey Kids! Comics! #1 hugely engrossing. I have been a fan of both fiction and non-fiction books that take readers behind the scenes of comic book publishing. My favorites are Michael Chabon's 2000 novel, The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, a work of fiction, and two recent non-fiction works, Sean Howe's Marvel Comics: The Untold Story (2012) and Larry Tye's Superman: a High-Flying History of America's Most Enduring Hero (2012).
Chaykin also began his comic book career working as an assistant for Gil Kane and Wally Wood, two comic book legends who started working in American comic books in the 1940s. Chaykin also worked as an assistant for Neal Adams, who emerged in the 1960s and early 1970s as a superstar. From anecdotes I have both read and been told, Adams' manner of working and his graphics style may have irritated comic book artists who had been working in comic books long before Adams.
So I am really looking forward to future issues of Hey Kids! Comics! I will always recommend Chaykin's comic books to people who are already fans of his, but I think that readers interested in the history of comic book publishing will also want to take a look at Hey Kids! Comics!
7 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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