#IReadsYou Review: World of BETTY AND VERONICA Jumbo Comics Digest #18

WORLD OF BETTY AND VERONICA JUMBO COMICS DIGEST #18
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS, INC.

STORY: Ron Robbins; Tom DeFalco; Frank Doyle, and others
PENCILS: Jeff Shultz; Pat & Tim Kennedy; Dan DeCarlo; Stan Goldberg; and others
INKS: Jim Amash; Al Milgrom; Rich Koslowski; Rudy Lapick; Jon D'Agostino; and others
COLORS: Glenn Whitmore; Barry Grossman
LETTERS: Jack Morelli; Bill Yoshida
COVER: Dan Parent with Rosario “Tito” Peña
EiC: Mike Pellerito
ISSN: 2766-2160; (October 2022)
192pp, Color, $8.99 U.S. (August 31, 2022 – direct market)

Rating: All-Ages

New stories: “Wooden it Be Nice?”; “Only the Strong Survive”

World of Betty and Veronica (Jumbo Comics) Digest is part of “The Archie Digest Library” series.  Debuting in early 2021, World of Betty and Veronica Digest is a mini-trade paperback-like series that features stories reprinted from across the publishing history of Archie Comics.  The stories focus on two of Archie Comics' main characters, Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge, best friends and also rivals in their love for Archie Andrews.  Sometimes, however, these digests open with an original story.

World of Betty and Veronica (Jumbo Comics) Digest #18, the latest edition, contains two brand new five-page stories.  The first is a “Betty and Veronica” tale entitled “Wooden it Be Nice?”  It is written by Ron Robbins and is drawn by Jeff Shultz (pencils).  The second is a “Pepper Smith” story entitled, “Only the Strong Survive”  It is written by Tom DeFalco and drawn by Pat & Tim Kennedy (pencils).  Both stories are inked by Jim Amash; colored by Glenn Whitmore; and lettered by Jack Morelli.

Betty and Veronica in “Wooden it Be Nice?”:

Betty, Veronica, Archie, Jughead, Cheryl Blossom, and the rest of the gang are at the annual Riverdale Fall Carnival.  A stray basketball starts a series of events that finds Betty transformed into a wooden puppet?!  Can Betty find a way to leave this crazy circumstance and end up in Archie's arms, instead?  Guess-starring Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Pepper Smith in “Only the Strong Survive:

Pepper tells Josie and Valerie (of the Josie and the Pussycats) that their band mate, Melody Valentine, relies too much on the boys who are obsessed with her doing things for her.  Pepper decides to help Melody become more self-reliant – an independent and resourceful young woman.  Pepper believes that she can achieve this by taking Melody on a camping trip.  Pepper is about to discover that Melody is inept at everything … except attracting eager teenage boys.

THE LOWDOWN:  World of Betty and Veronica (Jumbo Comics) Digest is a Betty & Veronica title, of course.  Most of the stories in issue #18 focus on Betty and Veronica as a duo or feature each girl in solo stories.  However, digest series publications also cover the history of Archie Comics, so this issue also includes stories starring such characters as Archie Andrews, Cheryl Blossom, and Ethel Muggs, to name a few.

As for the new stories, “Wooden it Be Nice?” is a fun take on the Pinocchio story, and it is timely because of the recent release of Disney's new live-action Pinocchio film on the Disney+ streaming service.  “Only the Strong Survive” stars Pepper Smith.  She is an early character from the world of Josie McCoy who was phased out in the 1969 revamp that created the title, Josie and the Pussycats.  As this new story and others have shown, Pepper and Melody make a good comedy duo.  Melody's playfulness and naivete make an excellent foil for Pepper and her assertiveness.

As a Josie and the Pussycats super-fan, I must inform you that there are three Josie reprint stories in World of Betty & Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #18.  There are “The Emissary,” “Club Crisis,” and the one-page “What's in a Name.”  “Club Crisis” is drawn by Josie's creator, the late Dan DeCarlo.

As usual, I must warn you, dear readers.  I will always recommend classic-style Archie Comics titles.  With the addition of two new stories, World of Betty and Veronica (Jumbo Comics) Digest #18 is most definitely worth finding.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of classic-style Archie Comics will want World of Betty and Veronica (Jumbo Comics) Digest #18.

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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#IReadsYou Review: ARCHIE MILESTONES DIGEST #16

ARCHIE MILESTONES (JUMBO COMICS) DIGEST #16
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS, INC.

STORY: Dan Parent; Angelo DeCesare; Kathleen Webb; Craig Boldman; Greg Cosby; Mike Pellowski; and others
PENCILS: Dan Parent; Dan DeCarlo, Stan Goldberg; Rex Lindsey; and others
INKS: Bob Smith; Henry Scarpelli; Rudy Lapick; Rich Koslowski; Jeff Shultz; Al Milgrom; and others
COLORS: Glenn Whitmore; Barry Grossman
LETTERS: Jack Morelli; Bill Yoshida; and others
COVER: Dan Parent with Rosario “Tito” Peña
EIC: Mike Pellerito
ISSN: 2641-5402; (October 2022)
192pp, Color, $8.99 U.S. (August 24, 2022 – direct market)

Rating: All-Ages

New story: “Movie Melée!”

Archie Milestones (Jumbo Comics) Digest is part of “The Archie Digest Library” series.  Archie Milestones Digest celebrates over 80 years of Archie Comics' history, one decade at a time.  Each issue of Archie Milestones Digest features Archie Comics stories published in a particular decade and also features a brand new “throwback story” written, drawn, and set in the featured decade.

Archie Milestones (Jumbo Comics) Digest #16, the latest edition, focuses on the 2000s.  This issue's new throwback story is “Movie Melée!”  It is written by Dan Parent; drawn by Parent (pencils) and Bob Smith (inks); colored by Glenn Whitmore; and lettered by the great Jack Morelli.

Archie in “Movie Melée!”:
Archie Andrews is sharing his uncle's cabin in the woods with old pals Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, and Jughead Jones and with newer pals, Chuck Clayton and Nancy Woods (two African-American characters).  After some hiking, the friends decide to relax in the cabin and watch movies.  Luckily, Archie gets DVDs in the mail via “Netfilms” (obviously a stand-in for “Netflix”), and Archie picks are the first seven installments of the “Blood Camp” horror film series.  But as Archie is want to do, he doesn't pay attention to the details, and soon, he is being haunted by DVDs.

THE LOWDOWN:  Archie Milestones Digest is not only an Archie Andrews title.  It is also an Archie Comics title, so this edition includes stories focusing on Betty and Veronica (as a pair and as solo acts), Jughead, Dilton Doiley, and the pop group, The Archies.  There is a story from the Archie & Friends comic book series and also some decades-old stories, including one, “The Case in Brief,” drawn by the co-creator and designer of many Archie Comics characters, Bob Montana (1920-75)

“Movie Melée!” is funny, and writer-artist Dan Parent offers a snarky tale of something the 2000s did bring about – the beginning of the rapid demise of the bricks-and-mortar video rental stores.  The story manages to encapsulate the way things were early in the 2000s and what was coming late in the 2000s.  “Movie Melée!” is a clever bit of fun and is what I would expect from one of the best modern Archie Comics creatives.

Aside from the fun of the throwback story, Archie Milestones Digest #16 offers a reprint of a milestone Archie Comics publication from the 2000s, the 500th issue of Archie.  This digest reprints the main stories from Archie #500 (October 2000), “The Big Five-Oh-Oh!” and the three-part “Happy Anni-Worse-ary.”

As usual, I must warn you, dear readers.  I will always recommend classic-style Archie Comics titles.  And Archie Milestones Digest looks like the kind of digest series that I can't help but recommend.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of classic-style Archie Comics will want Archie Milestones (Jumbo Comics) Digest #16.

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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#IReadsYou Review: BETTY & VERONICA Double Digest #304

BETTY & VERONICA (JUMBO COMICS) DOUBLE DIGEST #304
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS, INC.

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Tania Del Rio; Angelo DeCesare; Frank Doyle; George Gladir; Dick Malmgren; Dan Parent; Mike Pellowski; Barbara Slate; Hal Smith; Dexter Taylor; Kathleen Webb
PENCILS: Bill Golliher; Dan DeCarlo; Gus Lemoine; Stan Goldberg; Tim Kennedy; Bill Kresse; Rudy Lapick; Dan Parent; Fernando Ruiz; Jeff Shultz; Chic Stone; Dexter Taylor; Bill Vigoda
INKS: Jim Amash; Jon D'Agostino; Jim DeCarlo; Vince DeCarlo; Mike Esposito; Bill Kresse; John Lowe; Al Milgrom; Henry Scarpelli; Chic Stone
COLORS: Glenn Whitmore; Barry Grossman
LETTERS: Jack Morelli; Vince DeCarlo; Bill Kresse; Dexter Taylor; Bill Yoshida
COVER: Dan Parent with Francis Bonnet
EIC: Mike Pellerito
ISSN: 10440321; (July 2022)
192pp, Color, $8.99 U.S. (June 1, 2022 – direct market)

Rating: All-Ages

New stories: “Smells Like Teen Spirits!”

Betty & Veronica (Jumbo Comics) Double Digest is part of “The Archie Digest Library” series.  Debuting in the spring of 1987, Betty & Veronica Double Digest is a mini-trade paperback-like series that features stories reprinted from across the publishing history of Archie Comics.  The stories focus on two of Archie Comics' main characters, Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge, best friends and also rivals in their love for Archie Andrews.  Sometimes, however, these digests open with an original story.

Betty & Veronica (Jumbo Comics) Double Digest #304, the latest edition, contains one brand new story, “Smells Like Teen Spirits!”  It is written by Tania Del Rio; drawn by Bill Golliher (pencils) and Jim Amash (inks); colored by Glenn Whitmore; and lettered by Jack Morelli.  It stars Sabrina Spellman with Betty and Veronica.  A teenage witch, Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appeared in Archie's Madhouse #22 (cover-dated: October 1962).  2022 is the sixtieth anniversary of the character, and Archie Comics is honoring the character with the “60 Years of Magic” celebration.

Sabrina in “Smells Like Teen Spirits!”:

The story opens at Riverdale Beach, and Sabrina is looking for a particular new pop-up shop among the beach's boardwalk shops.  Sabina hopes the new shop, “Perfume Pop-Up,” also sells empty perfume bottles.  She needs a thick new one to contain a troublesome potion she made that is about to break out of the flimsy old perfume bottle in which it is currently contained.

Unfortunately, all it takes is a moment for Betty and Veronica to expose themselves to the potion.  Now, unfortunate and unexpected things are happening to them, and Sabrina has to fix this awful situation without Betty and Veronica noticing.

THE LOWDOWN:  Although Betty & Veronica (Jumbo Comics) Double Digest #304 is a Betty & Veronica title, it is also a celebration of Sabrina the Teenage Witch.  In addition to the new story, “Smell Like Teen Spirits!,” which is the story that opens this issue, the next six stories feature Sabrina as the star or co-star.

The rest of the Sabrina stories include classic old-school Sabrina characters like her Aunt Hilda and Della, the Head Witch, with Archie and the gang joining the fun.  Another delight, two of the stories are drawn by Sabrina's co-creator, the late Dan DeCarlo.

As usual, I must warn you, dear readers.  I will always recommend classic-style Archie Comics titles.  And this 304th edition of Betty & Veronica Double Digest is doubly recommended because we get Betty & Veronica and the Archie Gang and Sabrina Spellman.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of classic-style Archie Comics will want Betty & Veronica (Jumbo Comics) Double Digest #304.

A-
★★★½ out of 4 stars

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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#IReadsYou Review: BETTY & VERONICA Double Digest #303

BETTY & VERONICA (JUMBO COMICS) DOUBLE DIGEST #303
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS, INC.

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Dan Parent; Francis Bonnet with Bob Bolling; Frank Doyle; George Gladir; Bill Golliher; Mike Pellowski; Hal Smith; Dexter Taylor; Kathleen Webb
PENCILS: Dan Parent; Rex Lindsey with Bob Bolling; Doug Crane; Jon D'Agostino; Dan DeCarlo; Stan Goldberg; Tim Kennedy; Rudy Lapick; Jeff Shultz
INKS: Bob Smith; Rex Lindsey with Jim Amash; Jim DeCarlo; Vince DeCarlo; Mike Esposito; Rich Koslowski; Rudy Lapick; John Lowe; Al Milgrom; Henry Scarpelli; Ken Selig
COLORS: Glenn Whitmore with Barry Grossman
LETTERS: Jack Morelli; Rex Lindsey with Jon D'Agostino; Teresa Davidson; Vince DeCarlo; Phil Felix; Rod Ollerenshaw; Vickie Williams; Bill Yoshida
COVER: Bill Galvan and Ben Galvan with Rosario “Tito” Peña
EIC: Mike Pellerito
ISSN: 10440321; (June 2022)
192pp, Color, $8.99 U.S. (April 27, 2022 – direct market)

Rating: All-Ages

New stories: “New Trails, Trials, and Tribulations!” and “A Million Dollars Short”

Betty & Veronica (Jumbo Comics) Double Digest is part of “The Archie Digest Library” series.  Debuting in the spring of 1987, Betty & Veronica Double Digest is a mini-trade paperback-like series that features stories reprinted from across the publishing history of Archie Comics.  The stories focus on two of Archie Comics' main characters, Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge, best friends and also rivals in their love for Archie Andrews.  Sometimes, however, these digests open with an original story.

Betty & Veronica (Jumbo Comics) Double Digest #303, the latest edition, contains two brand new stories.  The first is a “Betty & Veronica” story entitled “New Trails, Trials and Tribulations!”  It is written by Dan Parent; drawn by Parent (pencils) and Bob Smith (inks); colored by Glenn Whitmore; and lettered by the Great Jack Morelli.  The second original is a “Cricket O'Dell” story entitled “A Million Dollars Short!”  It is written by Francis Bonnet; drawn and lettered by Rex Lindsey; and colored by Glenn Whitmore.

“New Trails, Trials and Tribulations!”

Betty, Veronica, Archie, and Jughead are ready to do some hiking.  Then, the gang discovers that their favorite hiking trail, Pike Trail, has been washed out by a flood.  They need to find a new one, but every other trail is riddled with problems.  Will Betty and Veronica and friends be able to find the perfect trail and enjoy the great outdoors?

“A Million Dollars Short!”

Betty and Veronica are having lunch when Veronica realizes that she has misplaced her purse … which has a million-dollar gold coin in it!  Luckily, Cricket O’Dell is also having lunch and she offers to use her sense of smell for money to track down the missing purse.  With Veronica at the wheel of her car, and Betty in the backseat, Cricket shouts out directions, sending them tearing through Riverdale as Cricket follows her nose towards the scent of the missing money.  Will they be able to track down the missing coin?

THE LOWDOWN:  “New Trails, Trials and Tribulations!” and “A Million Dollars Short!” are both only five pages long, and the latter is really a “Betty & Veronica” story guest-starring Cricket O'Dell (a recurring character who is a friend of Betty and Veronica).  Still, this is a welcomed ten new pages of classic-style Archie Comics, and I had a blast reading them.

There are also two stories featuring Josie McCoy (of Josie and the Pussycats), and both are drawn by the ultimate “Josie” comic book artist and her creator, Dan DeCarlo.  The easiest way to make me like any Archie “Jumbo Comics” digest is to include Josie, and the ten-page “The Photographers” and the six-page “Forget It” make me “over the moon” about Betty & Veronica Double Digest #303.

This edition of the digest also contains multiple pin-up illustrations featuring Betty or Veronica or both of the girls.  There are also several stories that seem to predate the “Silver Age” of comic books.  So I heartily recommend this 303rd edition of this digest, but I must warn you, dear readers.  I will always recommend classic-style Archie Comics titles.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of classic-style Archie Comics will want Betty & Veronica (Jumbo Comics) Double Digest #303.

A-
★★★½ out of 4 stars

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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BETTY & VERONICA Jumbo Comics Double Digest #299

BETTY & VERONICA (JUMBO COMICS) DOUBLE DIGEST #299
ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS, INC.

STORY: Bill Golliher with Craig Boldman; Frank Doyle; George Gladir; Al Hartley; Sid Jacobson; Dick Malmgren; Mike Pellowski; Hal Smith; Dexter Taylor; Kathleen Webb
PENCILS: Bill Golliher with Dan DeCarlo; Holly G!; Al Hartley; Pat Kennedy; Dan Parent; Jeff Shultz; Dexter Taylor
INKS: Jim Amash with John Costanza; Jon D'Agostino; Jimmy DeCarlo; Hy Eisman; Mike Esposito; Alison Flood; Rick Koslowski; Rudy Lapick; Al Milgrom; Henry Scarpelli; Dexter Taylor
COLORS: Glenn Whitmore with Barry Grossman
LETTERS: Jack Morelli with Vince DeCarlo; Dexter Taylor; Bill Yoshida
COVER: Jeff Shultz with Rosario “Tito” Peña
192pp, Color, $7.99 U.S. (February 2022)

Rating: All-Ages

“Holiday Lights!”

Betty & Veronica (Jumbo Comics) Double Digest is part of “The Archie Digest Library” series.  Debuting in the spring of 1987, Betty & Veronica Double Digest is a mini-trade paperback-like series that features stories reprinted from across the publishing history of Archie Comics.  Sometimes, however, these digests open with an original story.

Betty & Veronica (Jumbo Comics) Double Digest #299 opens with the original story, “Holiday Lights!”  It is written by Bill Golliher; drawn by Golliher (pencils) and Jim Amash (inks); colored by Glenn Whitmore; and lettered by Jack Morelli.

As “Holiday Lights!” opens, Betty and Veronica are planning their big Christmas party, which will take place at Veronica's family home, the Lodge estate.  Veronica has planned for a “killer light display” across the entire estate, and she wants it to be the biggest light display in Riverdale.  The party guests begin to arrive:  Moose & Midge, Toni & Kevin, Jughead, Dilton, Archie, and more.  Can the guests, however, discover the true spirit of Christmas beyond the light display?

THE LOWDOWN:  “Holiday Lights” is only five pages long, but it is a delightful tale.  It's easy to digest moral is a perfect fit for Christmas and for the end of the year holidays.

Like the concurrently released, World of Archie Double Digest #115, Betty & Veronica Double Digest #299 offers other Christmas-themed and holiday-themed stories.  There is also a two-part, movie studio-set mystery tale, “Mystery at the Studio” by classic-style Archie Comics creative stalwarts, writer George Gladir and artists Stan Goldberg (pencils) and Rudy Lapick (inks).  This digest also has some Betty solo comics and some Veronica solo comics … for those who want to enjoy the girls apart.

I must warn you, dear readers.  I will always recommend classic-style Archie Comics titles.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of classic-style Archie Comics and of Christmas-themed comics will want Betty & Veronica Double Digest #299.

B+
7 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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#IReadsYou Review: MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL No. 9: The Futurians

MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL NO. 9: THE FUTURIANS
MARVEL COMICS

STORY: Dave Cockrum
ART: Dave Cockrum
COLORS: Paty
LETTERS: Jim Novack
EDITOR: Al Milgrom
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Jim Shooter
80pp, Color, $6.95 U.S., $7.95 CAN (1983)

The Futurians created by Dave Cockrum

“Marvel Graphic Novel” (MGN) was a line of paperback original graphic novels published from 1982 to 1993 by Marvel Comics.  The books were published in an oversize format, 8.5" x 11", similar to French comic book “albums,” which generally had cardboard covers, full-color interiors, and slick pages.  [In response, DC Comics would also establish a competitor line known as “DC Graphic Novel.”]

Dave Cockrum (1943-2006) was an American comic book artist, who made significant contributions to both Marvel and DC Comics.  Cockrum is best known as the artist who helped Marvel Comics and writer, the late Len Wein (1948-2017), relaunch the X-Men comic book series with a new team of X-Men, first in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (cover dated: May 1975) and then, in X-Men #94 (cover dated: August 1975).  Cockrum co-created and designed the new X-Men:  Storm, Colossus, and Nightcrawler.  Cockrum was also known as one of the best designers of comic book character costumes in the 1970s and 1980s.  He updated the costumes for DC's Legion of Super-Heroes when he began drawing the series in 1972.

Dave Cockrum entered the realm of creator-owned comic books with his unusual superhero team, “The Futurians.”  The team made its debut as the ninth entry in the Marvel Graphic Novel line.  Cockrum wrote and drew the debut story of the Futurians.  His wife, Paty Cockrum, colored the story, and the great Jim Novak lettered the story, with Al Milgrom editing.

Marvel Graphic Novel No. 9: The Futurians opens in the distant future of the planet Earth.  Hundreds of empires have risen and fallen, and at its zenith, human civilization was a melange of human, alien, and robotic cultures.  Mankind conquered and colonized the stars dozens of times before finally returning to Earth and forgetting the stars.

As the story opens, Earth is dominated by two city-states, Terminus and Ghron.  Terminus is a city-state of “scientist-generals,” and Ghron is ruled by the “Inheritors” and their mutant army.  After nearly destroying the entire Earth, the Inheritors travel into Earth's past in a bid to conquer the Earth.

In response, the “Terminus Grand Council” sends “genetic time bombs” into the past.  These “bombs” will increase human potential in select bloodlines.  Scientist-General Callistrax, via “discorporeal transmission,” sends his mind three million years into the past to the year 1940 AD.  Callistrax's mind takes over the body of a homeless man known only as “Vandervecken” or “The Dutchman.”

By 1962, Vandervecken has built an advanced technology corporation called “Future Dynamics,” and its motto is “Tomorrow is Now.”  Vandervecken then begins gathering up those who have been empowered by the genetic time bombs.  They are the seven humans that he begins to prepare for a series of historic battles against the Inheritors and their leader, Lord Temujin.  Vandervecken activates these seven humans' powers with the help of Sunswift.  She is an immortal fire elemental who lives in the sun and travels back in time as an ally of Vandervecken.

The first of the seven is Avatar, an immortal (unbeknownst to Vandervecken) who gains the powers of flight, super strength, and invulnerability.  African-American geologist Harry Robins becomes “Terrayne” a living mud-man who can manipulate rock and earth.  Marine biologist Tracy Winters becomes “Silkie,” a green-skinned amphibian with the ability to breathe underwater at great depths, fire bio-electrical blasts, control and shape water, and transform into a humanoid manta ray-like form, which allows her to fly or swim at great speeds.

Matthew Blackfeather, an Native American of the Dakota tribe, becomes “Werehawk,” a clawed, flying hawk-like humanoid.  Former spy Jonathan Darknyte becomes “Silver Shadow,” a living shadow that can merge with, animate, or teleport through shadows and darkness.  Dana Morgan becomes “Mosquito,” who can fly and generate ultrasonic energy.  Walter Bonner becomes the lion-like “Blackmane,” who has razor-sharp talons and superhuman strength and agility.

The Futurians are immediately sent into action when the Inheritors strike four locations in a bid to obtain the technology that Lord Temujin will use to complete a doomsday device.  However, the Futurians cannot stop the Inheritors if they cannot learn to work together.  Plus, only two of the Futurians realize that Vandervecken has a strange power over them.

THE LOWDOWN:  One thing that Marvel Graphic Novel No. 9: The Futurians certainly confirms is that Dave Cockrum was perhaps the most inventive and imaginative designer of comic book superheroes of his time.  The Futurians are a beautiful collection of superheroes, and it is a shame that these characters have largely been kept dormant in the nearly four decades since their debuted.

Here, as a writer, Cockrum did not have the smooth storytelling chops of the elite writers of superhero comic books of that time, such as Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Frank Miller, Marv Wolfman, Gerry Conway, and Jim Starlin, to name a few.  Still, in The Futurians, Cockrum created an intriguing universe that was as much science fiction as it was superhero, and what his script lacked in “mature audience” theatrics, it made up for in imagination and pure, old-fashioned superhero fun.  This story is dialogue and exposition heavy, but every bit of it serves the story by establishing the setting, defining the characters, or advancing the plot.  I have to admit that I really enjoyed reading Cockrum's dialogue, which gets even better in The Futurians, the short-lived ongoing comic book series that followed the graphic novel.

The Futurians actually reads like a comic book from the 1960s.  It is filled with a sense of mystery, a touch of magic, and a streak of cosmic wonder and imagination.  The Futurians is like a crazy blend of elements from the X-Men, the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and the Fantastic Four.  The Earth of the Futurians has a complex “future-history,” and Cockrum also teased an intriguing deep history that recalls the kind of science fiction to which Cockrum may have been exposed as a teenager and as a young man.

In retrospect, Dave Cockrum made an unfortunate decision in moving The Futurians from Marvel Comics to Lodestone Publishing, Inc., an independent publisher that ultimately could maintain neither its promises nor its business model.  Lodestone published three issues of The Futurians ongoing series from 1985 to 1986.  Cockrum produced a fourth issue that Lodestone could not publish, so it was later included in the collection, The Futurians Volume 2.  Published by Eternity, this trade paperback also collected the Lodestone published, The Futurians #1 to #3.  That unpublished fourth issue was published again, this time as The Futurians #0, which also included a character profile section and a new Futurians story drawn by Cockrum and written by his associate, Clifford Meth.

In 2010, writer-artist David Miller published a three-issue miniseries, Avatar of the Futurians, which Miller wrote and drew, through his company, David Miller Studios.  In 2011, Miller collected the miniseries in the trade paperback, Dave Cockrum's Futurians: Avatar.

What could have been?  How long could Dave Cockrum have produced an ongoing comic book featuring The Futurians?  How long would Marvel have published it?  Would Cockrum and his characters been welcomed into the fold by Image Comics?  It's all speculation, but we have Marvel Graphic Novel No. 9: The Futurians, and it was part of a line that, for a few years, delivered some very interesting and memorable comics.  Here is to hoping that The Futurians indeed have a future.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Dave Cockrum will want to read Marvel Graphic Novel No. 9: The Futurians.

A
8 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: BATMAN: Strange Apparitions

BATMAN: STRANGE APPARITIONS
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Steve Englehart; Len Wein
PENCILS: Marshall Rogers; Walter Simonson
INKS: Terry Austin; Dick Giordano; Al Milgrom
COLORS: Marshall Rogers
LETTERS: Ben Oda; Milton Snapinn; John Workman
EDITORS: Dale Crain (collection); Julie Schwartz (original)
MISC: Marshall Rogers; Walter Simonson; Terry Austin; Al Milgrom; Jerry Serpe
COVER: Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin with Lee Loughridge
ISBN: 978-1-56389-500-5; paperback (January 2000)
180pp, Color, $12.95 U.S., $20.00 CAN (November 11, 1999)

Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger

Introduction by Steve Englehart

Steve Englehart is an American comic book writer known for his influential and prominent work during the 1970s.  He had memorable runs writing The Avengers from #105 -#152 (1972 to 1976) and Doctor Strange (Vol. 2) #1 to 18 (except #3).  He created such comics characters as “Shang-Chi, Master of Kung-Fu,” “Nomad,” “Star Lord,” and “Mantis.”

Marshall Rogers (1950 to 2007) was an American comic book artist known for his work for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and Eclipse Comics.  He produced memorable work like Harlan Ellison's graphic novel, Demon with a Glass Hand (DC Comics, 1986); an early 1980s run on Doctor Strange and a late 1980s run on The Silver Surfer, both for Marvel.

In November 1999, DC Comics published the trade paperback, Batman: Strange Apparitions.  It collected Englehart and Rogers' most acclaimed and most influential work, which was their collaboration on a six-issue run of Batman stories for Detective Comics in the 1970s.  From issue #471 to issue #476 (August 1977 to March-April 1978), Englehart and Rogers produced some of the most popular Batman stories of all time, although they each produced two stories for Detective Comics with other collaborators.

Englehart wrote a Batman two-part story for Detective Comics #469 and #470, which were drawn by legendary comic book artist, Walter Simonson.  Rogers drew a two-art Batman story for issues #478 and #479, which were written by the late great comic book writer, Len Wein.  However, their work from #471 to #476 is what marks Englehart and Rogers as one of the greatest Batman creative teams of all time.  Although their work covers no more than six issues and is comprised of about only 102 pages, they are six memorable issues and 102 glorious pages.

DC Comics first reprinted Detective Comics #469 to #476 and #478 to #479 in the five-issue comic book miniseries, Shadow of the Batman (December 1985 to April 1986).  Shadow of the Batman #1 reprints the Englehart and Simonson issues, and Shadow of the Batman #5 reprints the Wein and Rogers stories.  Shadow of the Batman #2 to #4 reprints the Englehart-Rogers run.  Rogers also drew double-sided covers for each issue of Shadow of the Batman, and each issue also includes a comics short story drawn by Rogers that appeared in one of DC Comics' 1970s comic book anthology series.  Batman: Strange Apparitions reprints Detective Comics #469 to #476 and #478 to #479, without the Rogers short stories.

Englehart and artist Walt Simonson open Strange Apparitions with a two-part story from Detective Comics #469 (“...By Death's Eerie Light!”) and #470 (“The Master Plan of Dr. Phosphorus”).  The radioactive villain, “Dr. Phosphorus,” is attempting to hold Gotham City hostage, and Batman is having a difficult time with the villain.  Phosphorus has the strength to go toe-to-toe with Batman, and his radioactive touch can burn through Batman's uniform and leave serious burn on the Dark Knight's body.  Phosphorus is also part of a conspiracy that reaches into city hall.  The ringleader of this conspiracy is Boss Rupert Thorne, city council chairman and crime boss.  Englehart also introduces a memorable love interest for Bruce Wayne, Silver St. Cloud, a socialite and eventually, an event planner who comes to realize that Wayne is Batman.

That leads into the first two Steve Englehart-Marshall Rogers issues, Detective Comics #471 (“The Dead Yet Live) and #472 (“I Am the Batman”).  As Bruce Wayne, Batman checks into Graytowers Clinic, where the renowned Dr. Todhunter has a reputation for helping wealthy and powerful men recover physically and mentally.  Batman is hoping to recover from the grave wounds he sustained battling Dr. Phosphorus.  However, Dr. Todhunter is in actuality an old Batman villain, Hugo Strange.  Strange discovers that Bruce Wayne is Batman and incapacitates Wayne so that he can assume the identity of Batman.  Another plot line involves Boss Thorne putting out a contract on Batman's life, which draws the attention of some colorful and familiar Batman enemies.  In “I Am the Batman,” Robin returns to Gotham City to re-team with Batman.

Batman takes on The Penguin in Detective Comics #473 (“The Malay Penguin”) and the assassin “Deadshot” in issue #474 (The Deadshot Ricochet”).  Early in the latter story, Robin ends his temporary reunion with Batman when he is summoned by the Teen Titans.

Englehart and Rogers most famous story in their run occurred in the two-part Detective Comics #475 (“The Laughing Fish”) and #476 (“Sign of the Joker”).  This story features an unambiguously homicidal Joker, whose murderous actions are wholly illogical and consistently capricious.  In this mini-story arc, The Joker uses a chemical to disfigure fish in the ocean, giving them a “rictus grin” (similar to his own ghastly grin).  The Joker brazenly expects to be granted a federal trademark on these grinning fish.  The local government bureaucrats try to explain to the Joker that they cannot help him even if they wanted.  Obtaining such a claim on a natural resource (like the fish) is legally impossible.  So The Joker starts killing these men in the most gruesome way, and Batman begins a desperate and seemingly failing battle to stop the Joker.  Issue #476 is Englehart's final issue.

Marshall Rogers ends his tenure on Detective Comics with a two-part tale written by Len Wein.  The story appears in Detective Comics #478 (“The Coming of... Clayface III!”) and #479 (“If a Man Be Made of Clay...!”) and introduces the third iteration of the classic Batman villain, Clayface.

During his short, but essential run on Detective Comics, Steve Englehart returns Batman to his pulp fiction roots, making him a relentless force for justice.  Marshall Rogers draws Batman as brooding, fearsome, wraith-like, and (indeed) bat-like.  Batman moves about the page in a way that recalls what may be the character's chief inspiration, the pulp hero and vigilante, Walter Gibson's The Shadow.

The Joker also experiences a return to his roots.  Englehart and Rogers present an insane, matter-of-fact, and homicidal Joker, who has a creepy, unsettling grin dominating his face.  This recalls the character originally presented by writer Bill Finger and artists Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson.  As a visual reference for the way Rogers draws The Joker, readers need only take a look at three covers drawn by Jerry Robinson that feature The Joker:  Detective Comics #69 (Nov. 1942) and #71 (Jan. 1943), and also Batman #37 (Oct.-Nov 1946).

Steve Englehart now refers to his 1970s run on Detective Comics as “Dark Detective I,” as precursor to his 2005 miniseries, Batman: Dark Detective, which he now calls “Dark Detective II.”  I read these 1970s Englehart-Rogers Batman stories when I was a pre-teen, again in my late teens, and again in my early thirties, and now in my early 50s.  I can say that, for the most part, these stories have aged well.

Englehart has also said that these stories not only influenced the 1989 Batman movie, but that they are also the reason that film went into development.  I don't know if that is true or not, but I could believe it.  These stories are special enough to influence other Batman storytellers, and in the trade paperback collection, Batman: Strange Apparitions, they prove that they won't fade away.

The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: The Death of Captain Marvel

THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN MARVEL (MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL #1)
MARVEL COMICS

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Jim Starlin
ART: Jim Starlin
COLORS: Steve Oliff
LETTERS: James Novack
EDITOR: Al Milgrom
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Jim Shooter
COVER/BACK COVER: Jim Starlin
68pp, Color, $5.95 U.S. (1982)

Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell) created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan

Introduction by Al Milgrom

“Marvel Graphic Novel” (MGN) was a line of paperback original graphic novels published from 1982 to 1993 by Marvel Comics.  The books were published in an oversize format, 8.5" x 11", similar to French comic book “albums,” which generally had cardboard covers, full-color, slick pages.  [In response, DC Comics would also establish a competitor line known as “DC Graphic Novel.”]

The first Marvel Graphic Novel was released in 1982.  Entitled The Death of Captain Marvel, it was written and drawn by Jim Starlin, who had been the comic book creator most associated with the character of Captain Marvel up to that time.  The rest of The Death of Captain Marvel's creative team included colorist Steve Oliff and letterer James Novak.  The late Allen Milgrom was the graphic novel's editor and also provided a short introduction to the story.

Captain Marvel is a Marvel Comics superhero and science fiction and fantasy character.  He was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and designed by artist Gene Colan and first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #12 (cover dated: December 1967).  He is the original bearer of the name “Captain Marvel” within the world of Marvel Comics.

Before he became Captain Marvel, he was named “Mar-Vell,” and he was a member of the alien Kree race.  Captain Mar-Vell came to Earth to spy on humans, but he eventually rejected the Kree, and took the name “Captain Marvel.”  While living among humans, he also used the identity of “Walter Lawson” and was a member of the Avengers.

As The Death of Captain Marvel opens, Marvel has been living a live of semi-retirement on Titan, one of the planet Saturn's moons (satellites).  Marvel is recording a mini-autobiography of his life while on board a spaceship belonging to his allies, the demigod, Mentor, and his son, Eros.  Mentor and Eros are also the father and brother of the recently defeated and killed, Thanos, the mad warlord of Titan.

The trio is heading to the command central ship of Thanos' space fleet.  Inside, Thanos is dead and encased in stone (because of events depicted in Marvel Two-in-One Annual 1977), and they want to make sure he has stayed that way.  A surprise meets these heroes, however, as they discover that followers of Thanos live aboard the ship, awaiting what they believe will be the inevitable resurrection of the mad Titan.

The intense battle to defeat these alien zealots inadvertently reveals the secret that Marvel has been keeping from his closest friends, Mentor and Eros.  Marvel is dying of cancer – what the Titans call the “Inner Decay” and the Kree call “the Blackend.”  [Captain Marvel was exposed to the nerve gas that would lead to this cancer in Captain Marvel #34 (cover dated: September 1974)].  Now, Marvel must also share his diagnosis with his lover Elysius, the woman with whom he had hoped to share his life.  He must also inform, Rick Jones, the young human who once shared an existence with Marvel.  When he shares this news with the current members of the Avengers:  Black Panther, Iron Man, Thor, Vision, Wonder Man, Beast, and Yellowjacket, they immediately spring into action, bringing all their scientific knowledge to bear in a bid to save Marvel from death.

As the greatest heroes of the Marvel Universe gather on a deathwatch, Captain Marvel still has one final battle.  The hero must face his greatest enemy, Thanos, and Thanos' dark mistress.

THE LOWDOWN:  I first discovered the existence of The Death of Captain Marvel via in-house ads published in various Marvel Comics titles that I read at the time.  Those ads made me quite interested in the book, but it was only sold in comic book shops via the “Direct Sales” market.  At the time, I bought all my comic books at the now-defunct K&B drug store chain (headquartered in New Orleans, LA), and a few other places that sold comic books, mostly other drug stores and grocery stores.  They all placed the comic books in those old “spinner racks.”  I didn't know if there were any comic book shops near me, although it turned out that there was one about a 45-minute drive from where I lived at the time.

When I first started visiting comic book shops, I sometimes came across a copy of The Death of Captain Marvel,  By that time, however, I wasn't really as interested in reading it as I was when I first heard about it.  I recently decided to go back and re-read the Marvel Graphic Novels that I had previously read and read the ones that I had not.  On eBay, I found a nice copy of the second printing of The Death of Captain Marvel, which went through several printings just in the first decade of its original publication.  The second printing was apparently published within months of the first printing.

I am glad that I read The Death of Captain Marvel now, as I don't know if I would have appreciated it decades ago the way I do now.  The way comic book stories are told and structured has radically changed in the four decades since the debut of The Death of Captain Marvel.  This had made me appreciate what Starlin did with only 66 pages, which is more than most modern comic book writers do with over 100 pages.

Jim Starlin was certainly a good comic book artist.  His drawing style has similarities to some of the most popular comic book artists that came before him.  Still, Starlin's style is unique, and his illustrations always grab me.  The background elements, the figure drawing, the landscapes, the backdrops, the costumes, the alien and fantastic landscapes:  the way Starlin illustrates a comic book page is like nothing anyone else did or does in superhero comics books.  Starlin has created a unique visual and graphical language, and no other artist's work could be mistaken for his.

Surprisingly, Starlin may be an even better comic book writer than he is a comic book artist.  The stories that he writes and other artists illustrate maintain Starlin's imaginative and inventive storytelling.  Starlin was one of the best mainstream comic book writers of the last quarter of the 20th century.  Yes, he was right up there with Alan Moore, Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Marv Wolfman, Steve Englehart, and Grant Morrison, to name a few.

You can discover this for yourself, dear readers, in The Death of Captain Marvel.  This stand-alone story references the past, but is singularly focused on Captain Marvel's final battle.  It is philosophical, thoughtful, and contemplative.  It is surreal and also matter-of-fact in its realism, all of it leading to the last act, a breathtaking death-dream that gave me pause.

Starlin offers some melodrama, mainly involving the characters to which is he intimately connected – from the bitter and frustrated anger of Rick Jones to the quite acceptance of Elysius.  I am surprised that Marvel Comics published a story in which a superhero must face his imminent death – and one executed with such honesty.  Captain Marvel freely admits that he does not want to die, and that he thought that when death came – a long time in the future – it would be a warrior's death.

Instead, the hero died in bed, ravaged by disease.  Still, The Death of Captain Marvel gives the title character the kind of epic story of his end that would be befitting of elite superheroes.  We know, however, that such superheroes don't stay dead.  Instead, the story of Captain Marvel/Mar-Vell's death is one of Marvel Comics' greatest stories, and he did stay dead.  I'd like to believe that Jim Starlin created a story so powerful that even the most arrogant Marvel editors and superstar creators could not summon the gall to undo it.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of the greatest Marvel Comics stories ever told will want to read The Death of Captain Marvel.

10 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: All Time Comics: BULLWHIP #1

ALL TIME COMICS: BULLWHIP No. 1
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS/ALL TIME COMICS – @fantagraphics @alltimecomics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Josh Bayer and Benjamin Marra
SCRIPT: Josh Bayer
PENCILS: Benjamin Marra
INKS: Al Milgrom
LETTERS: Rick Parker
COLORS: Matt Rota
MISC. ART: Jason T. Miles and Ken Landgraf; Eric Haven
COVERS: Das Pastoras; Gilbert Hernandez; Tony Millionaire
24pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (April 2017)

“Web of Oblivion!”

Alternative comix mainstay, Fantagraphics Books, is currently publishing comic books set in a new shared superhero universe.  Entitled “All Time Comics,” this imprint/universe will see the release of six comic books, each a stand-alone story featuring a particular superhero or set of superheroes.

The hook with All Time Comics is that each title is a mash-up of and throwback to classic 1970s comic books, especially those published by Marvel Comics.  The second title is All Time Comics: Bullwhip.  It is plotted by Josh Bayer and Benjamin Marra; scripted by Bayer; drawn by Marra (pencils) and Al Milgrom (inks); colored by Matt Rota; and lettered by Rick Parker.

All Time Comics: Bullwhip #1 (“Web of Oblivion!”) opens in Metro City at a concert venue.  Candy Christilliam and her band “Brain Parasites” were about to jam, but the concert is being held up by a woman-hating villain, “The Mysogynist.”  Lucikly the mysterious crime-fighter, Bullwhip, has sworn to keep Metro City safe from villainy, violence, and sexist pigs.

However, The Mysogynist isn't the only evil-doer plaguing the concert and the city.  The second villain is the “Time Vampire,” a strange figure determined to attack one of the twin Alexi sisters.  The third adversary acts from the shadows; he is Raingod.

Like All Time Comics: Crime Destroyer #1, Bullwhip #1 is a retro comic book, recalling the past, but not as much as the Crime Destroyer.  For me, Bullwhip reads like an almost, but not quite pure comic book.  The difference is that Bullwhip is a female superhero and a rock solid feminist, who kicks ass with all the gusto of the most ballsy male superheroes.  And, well, pure comic books seem to keep women on the side – at least the pure comics of the past.

All Time Comics: Bullwhip #1 feels like a Fantagraphics Books alt-comix title, with the art owing more to Dan Clowes or Peter Bagge than it does to Jack Kirby, Neal Adams, or Gil Kane – three of the most influential graphic artist comic book storytellers in modern superhero comic books.  The story is also retro, part Silver Age Marvel Comics and part Charlton Comics oddball horror / superhero comic book.

In the end, influences and inspiration aside, I had a blast reading this comic book, and dammit, I want more... NOW!  I heartily recommend it.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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The New 52 Review: THE FURY OF FIRESTORM: THE NUCLEAR MEN #1

"Two are better than one"

THE FURY OF FIRESTORM: THE NUCLEAR MEN #1
DC COMICS

PLOT: Ethan Van Sciver and Gail Simone
SCRIPT: Gail Simone
ARTIST: Yildiray Cinar
COLORS: Steve Buccellato
LETTERS: Travis Lanham
COVER: Ethan Van Sciver with Hi-Fi
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S.

Firestorm is a superhero that was created by writer Gerry Conway and artist Al Milgrom and appears in comics published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in the short-lived series, Firestorm, The Nuclear Man #1 (cover date March 1978), and was the alter ego of two men, Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein.

There was a second Firestorm series, Firestorm the Nuclear Man, and in issue #100 (cover date August 1990), Martin Stein became the sole identity behind Firestorm. In Firestorm #1 (cover date July 2004), the third series, African-American teenager, Jason Rusch, created by writer Dan Jolley and artist ChrisCross, became the new Firestorm. With the re-launch of the DC Comics superhero line, “The New 52,” a fourth Firestorm series arrives. This one stars Ronnie Raymond and Jason Rusch.

In The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #1 (“God Particle”), two high school students, who think that they are each from a different side of the social divide (but really aren’t that far apart), are about to come together in an amazing way. Ronnie Raymond is the golden boy quarterback at Walton Mills High School; a full-ride college scholarship would help his mother, who is a single-parent. Jason Rusch works for the school newspaper and is also from a single-parent home, as he lives with his father.

Jason makes an enemy of Ronnie, but before they can settle their differences, an elite team of killers invades their school and starts killing people. Suddenly, Jason is forced to introduce Ronnie to the world of Firestorm.

Some of the characters in The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #1 need a conflict resolution specialist; others just need a visit from the Navy SEALs. Seriously, this is such a conflict-driven comic book; some of the conflicts quite harrowing and others simply typical high school melodrama. Writing partners Ethan Van Sciver and Gail Simone are holding onto much of Firestorm’s past, as far as I can tell, but conflict and dramatic tension are the elements that will hold readers – not the mythos.

Series artist Yildiray Cinar, however, may be the one who leaves the most indelible mark on The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men. He has a traditional drawing style that would have fit in well with the first two Firestorm comic book series. Cinar apparently gets a kick out of drawing the Firestorms and it shows. Even colorist Steve Buccellato turns in his best work in this issue on the Firestorm pages, using fiery reds, oranges, and yellows that seem to burst off the page. The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men has the potential to be a top tier book about a second (or even third) tier character.

B+

September 28th
AQUAMAN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/aquaman-1.html
BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/batman-dark-knight-1.html
BLACKHAWKS #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/blackhawks-1.html
FLASH #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/flash-1.html
GREEN LANTERN NEW GUARDIANS #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/green-lantern-new-guardians-1.html
I VAMPIRE #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/i-vampire-1.html
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/justice-league-dark-1.html
SAVAGE HAWKMAN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/savage-hawkman-1.html
SUPERMAN #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/superman-1.html
TEEN TITANS #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/teen-titans-1.html
VOODOO #1
http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/2011/10/voodoo-1.html

Leroy Douresseaux on Legion of Super-Heroes The Great Darkness Saga The Deluxe Edition

Legion of Super-heroes: The Great Darkness Saga (Deluxe Edition)

DC COMICS
WRITER: Paul Levitz
PENCILS: Keith Giffen with Pat Broderick, Howard Bender, Carmine Infantino
INKS: Larry Mahlstedt with Bruce D. Patterson, Rodin Rodriguez, Dave Hunt
COLORS: Carl Gafford, Gene D’Angelo
LETTERS: John Costanza, Bruce D. Patterson, Ben Oda, Adam Kubert, Annette Kawecki, Todd Klein, Janice Chiang
COVER: Keith Giffen and Al Milgrom with Drew R. Moore
ISBN: 978-14012-2961-0; hardcover
416pp, Color, $39.99 U.S., $47.99

If there are superhero comic book stories that deserve to be called legendary, then, The Great Darkness Saga is legendary. It may be the most famous Legion of Super-Heroes comic book storyline, and DC Comics is bringing The Great Darkness Saga, first published in the early 1980s, back to print.

No, make that DC Comics is celebrating The Great Darkness Saga with a new book, Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga The Deluxe Edition. This 416-page (7.25in x 11in) hardcover reprints Legion of Super-Heroes #284-296 and Legion of Super-Heroes Annual 1. The Great Darkness Saga started in #290 and ended in the double-sized #294, but the event was foreshadowed before it actually began in a half-year’s worth of Legion of Super-Heroes comic books. After the end of the epic, the series continued to deal with the repercussions on the Legionnaires.

Written by Paul Levitz and largely drawn by penciller Keith Giffen and inker Larry Mahlstedt, The Great Darkness Saga is basically about the Legion of Super-Heroes war against the forces of Darkseid. The New God quietly reawakens in the 30th century and hatches a complicated, but ingenious plan to both revive his powers and to finally conquer the universe and subvert it to darkness.

Unaware, the Legion of Super-Heroes is in a state of flux with retirements and resignations, and also with Legionnaires moving to reserve status. Older members find themselves feeling replaced by newer members and also dealing with their own adult issues and midlife-like problems. Personal problems become team problems, and personal and professional failings take a toll on the team. When Darkseid’s minions attack, the Legion basically wakes up with their lives like a house on fire.

The Great Darkness Saga was of its time and ahead of its time. The character drama and storylines captured the best elements of two of the most popular comic book series of the time, Chris Claremont’s soap operatic Uncanny X-Men and Marv Wolfman’s emerging New Teen Titans. As the story gets deeper into the conflict with Darkseid, the Legion of Super-Heroes basically establishes the template for series-wide and company-wide crossover events that are common today.

In a more compact manner and with fewer characters (although there are lots of Legionnaires) than most crossover events, Paul Levitz takes readers across the 30th century version of the DC Universe to experience a super powers fight club, in which the superheroes try to stop their existence-as-they-know-it from blinking out in favor of eternal darkness. Levitz deftly balances sustained battles with electrifying, fleeting glimpses at other clashes. This epic is the stencil for Crisis on Infinite Earths and its children; one might even recognize Marvel Comics Secret Invasion in this.

One also cannot help but be impressed by how Keith Giffen and Larry Mahlstedt drew this without the art ever looking hurried or rushed. There is a consistency to the storytelling, and the compositions, also stunningly consistent, are impeccable in their professionalism.

What would a grand hardcover collection of classic comics be without some extras? Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga The Deluxe Edition offers the standard sketchbook material and bonus cover art, but by far the best extra – the one that really makes this collection – is the inclusion of Levitz’s plot for issue #290, the opening chapter of Darkness. This detailed plot breakdown (one paragraph for each page) will be a treat for Legion fans and of importance for those who want to write superhero comic books.

The Great Darkness Saga was popular at the time of its publication, but because it was so ahead of its time that it seems of this time; so it deserves the deluxe treatment. Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga The Deluxe Edition is one of those pricey books that should have place in the home of every reader of superhero comic books.

A+