#IReadsYou Review: THE SANDMAN #1

SANDMAN #1
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY:  Neil Gaiman
ART: Sam Keith and Mike Dringenberg
COLORS: Robbie Busch
LETTERS: Todd Klein
EDITOR: Karen Berger
COVER: Dave McKean
48pp, Color, $2.00 U.S., $2.50 CAN, £1.20 UK (January 1989)

“Suggested for Mature Readers”

The Sandman created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg

“Sleep of the Just”

The Sandman is a DC Comics comic book series created by writer Neil Gaiman and artists Sam Keith and Mike Dringenberg.  Published by DC Comics from 1989 to 1996, The Sandman ran for 75 issues, with the first issue cover dated January 1989 (although it was published in October 1988) and the last issue, March 1996.

Sandman #1 (“Sleep of the Just”) introduces the character “Dream” of “The Endless.”  Also named Morpheus (as well as other names), Dream rules over the world of dreams.  This first issue is written by Gaiman; drawn by Keith and Dringenberg; colored by Robbie Busch; and lettered by Todd Klein, with the cover illustration produced by Dave McKean (who had worked with Gaiman before Sandman).

Sandman #1 opens June 6th, 1916 in Wych Cross, England.  Dr. John Hathaway, senior curator at the Royal Museum in London, arrives at “Fawney Rig,” the manor house of Roderick Burgess.  Also known as the “Daemon King,” Burgess is the “Lord Magus” of the “Order of Ancient Mysteries,” an occult group.  Hathaway has been stealing books and manuscripts from the museum for Burgess, who needs them in order to create the incantation for a particular summoning ritual.

On the evening of June 6th, Burgess plans to hold a ritual that will end death in the world by capturing and imprisoning the personification of “Death,” of the Endless.  However, the ritual will not go as Burgess plans, and he will capture and imprison another of the Endless, Dream.  Burgess is not fully aware of what and whom he has captured, but he is determined to make Dream submit to his will.  Burgess is also not fully aware that his prisoner has all the time in the world... and beyond.

I think Sandman had reached its fourth or fifth issue by the time I starting hearing from other comic book readers how good it was.  I do remember seeing pre-release in-house ads for Sandman #1 in other DC Comics titles.  Whatever issue I first read amazed and blew me away so much that I started looking for back issues, and I was quickly able to find all the early issues, including the first issue.

I have previously read Sandman #1 once as an individual comic book and at least twice in collected form via the first Sandman trade paperback, The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes.  DC Comics is shortly to launch a line of comic books under the banner, “The Sandman Universe.”  A recently release stand-alone comic book, The Sandman Universe #1, introduces those titles.  For the first time in probably two decades, I decided to read Sandman #1 again as a kind of preparation for the The Sandman Universe.

Sandman #1 stands the test of time, as far as I am concerned.  Todd Klein's lettering for this first issue still evokes the fonts and lettering on old parchment and in aged books and texts that are sacred, profane, and mysterious.  The production, printing, and color separation of the time only barely manages to capture the vivid weirdness and screwy surrealism of Robbie Busch's coloring.

Sam Keith and Mike Dringenberg are not my favorite “Sandman artists.”  [I lean towards P. Craig Russell.]  I am fan of Keith's, though, and I love the funky graphic sensibilities of the Keith-Dringenberg team.  Their art recalls DC Comics' horror and dark fantasy comic books of the late 1960s and early 1970s, but this team also seems to be creating a new visual language for a new kind of comic book writer.

That new kind of writer of that time was Neil Gaiman.  Over its seven years of publication, Sandman (or The Sandman) evolves into a comic book that embraces fairy tales, folk tales, legends, myth, religion and more.  This first issue is the one that began the change.  “Sleep of the Just” looks like the kind of prose fiction written by Edgar Allen Poe or H.P. Lovecraft or by some author who wrote weird fiction and horror stories between the time of Poe and Lovecraft.  As the story progress through this first issue, however, Gaiman begins the move beyond what influences him and starts to tell stories of fantasy and myth in a new voice, spoken via a medium, the comic book, that is, despite the status quo, always ready for a challenge.

Sandman #1 is one of the most important individual issues of a comic book ever published in the United States.  Hopefully, what it wrought can inspire The Sandman Universe to aspire for excellence, if not greatness.

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 syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN Vol. 4 #1

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Review: BATMAN: Creature of the Night #1

BATMAN: CREATURE OF THE NIGHT No. 1
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Kurt Busiek
ART/COLORS: John Paul Leon
LETTERS: Todd Klein
COVER: John Paul Leon
48pp, Color, $5.99 U.S. (January 2018)

Rated “T+” for “Teen Plus”

Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger

Book One: “I Shall Become...”

Batman: Creature of the Night is a four-issue, prestige comic book miniseries published by DC Comics.  It is written by Kurt Busiek and drawn and colored by John Paul Leon.  Todd Klein, one of the all-time greats, does the lettering for this series.  Creature of the Night takes place in a real world-like setting in which Batman is a fictional character.

Batman: Creature of the Night #1 (“I Shall Become...”) introduces an eight-year boy named Bruce Wainwright, who is a huge fan of Batman.  Of course, he loves reading Batman comic books, and he surrounds himself with products bearing Batman's image.  Frankly, the little fellow is obsessed with Batman.  In fact, when Bruce tells people his name, he pronounces it “Wain...wright,” putting an obvious pause between “Wain” and “wright.”

Bruce has an great-uncle, Alton Frederick Jepson (the only living relative on either side of Bruce's family).  The boy has taken the “Al” in the first name and “Fred” in the second and turned his uncle into Uncle Alfred, like Batman's butler, Alfred Pennyworth.  Bruce even thinks of his hometown of Boston as Gotham City.

It is all fun and games, until that Halloween night when Bruce's parents, Carole and Henry Wainwright, are brutally murdered.  As Bruce's grief and rage grow in the aftermath of his parents' murders, something strange takes flight in Boston.

Batman: Creature of the Night is apparently the spiritual companion to the 2004 miniseries, Superman: Secret Identity, also written by Kurt Busiek (and drawn by Stuart Immonen).  Batman: Creature of the Night puts a spin on the world and fictional mythology of Batman.  This series seems to ask, what if Batman could exist in the real world?

This first issue, however, focuses not only on young Bruce Wainwright's grief and rage over his parents' murders, but also on his bitterness about his fate, especially because he feels abandoned by those who should care, to one extent or another, about him and what he needs.  In a way, this first issue deals with a child who experiences a break from reality, something that seems possible because of his total obsession not only with Batman, but also with being like Batman.  All of it is in the context of the great loss which he has suffered.

Kurt Busiek delivers powerful character development.  Busiek does not focus only on Bruce's Batman obsession; he also depicts a child in crisis, struggling with where his life is going, even as those who could help him to truly move forward only lie to themselves that they are doing what is best for young Bruce.  The result is potent and engaging character drama, simply because the reader can find young Bruce Wainwright fascinating or a fascinating character study.

Artist John Paul Leon conveys all of this in art and graphics that capture not so much a gritty reality as it does a tortured soul.  Leon creates effective storytelling that depicts Bruce's crisis and perhaps, his fanaticism and the fantastical elements, all of which are equally powerful and interesting.

Todd Klein, as always, is not merely a letterer; he is a graphical artist as much as the illustrator.  His lettering captures Busiek's shifting points of view from character to character – not just in external dialogue, but also in the internal monologue.  He does this using an array of visually striking fonts.  Klein plays a big part in keeping the readers in suspense regarding the mystery of Batman: Creature of the Night's phantom player.  Is it a break with reality or the arrival of something fantastic, but real?

Batman: Creature of the Night #1 is the real deal.  It is not just another Bat-book, and it certainly makes me want to get the second issue.

9 out of 10

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


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

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Review: BOOKS OF MAGIC #1

BOOKS OF MAGIC No. 1 (2018)
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Kat Howard
ART: Tom Fowler
COLORS: Jordan Boyd
LETTERS: Todd Klein
EDITOR: Molly Mahan
CURATOR: Neil Gaiman
COVER: Kai Carpenter
VARIANT COVERS: Josh Middleton
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (December 2018)

“Suggested for Mature Readers”

Timothy Hunter and The Books of Magic created by Neil Gaiman and John Bolton

“What's Past is Prologue”

The Books of Magic was a four-issue comic book miniseries written by Neil Gaiman and drawn by four artists, one for each issue, beginning with John Bolton.  This series was published by DC Comics from 1990 to 1991.  The Books of Magic told the story of a boy, Timothy Hunter, who had the potential to become the world's greatest magician.  DC Comics later published The Books of Magic as an ongoing series that ran for 75 issues from 1994 to 2000.

Books of Magic returns as an ongoing comic book series as part of “The Sandman Universe.”  This line of comic books is related to Neil Gamain's work for DC Comics, specifically The Books of Magic and the beloved series, The Sandman.  Books of Magic 2018 is written by novelist Kat Howard (Roses and Rot); drawn by Tom Fowler; colored by Jordan Boyd; and lettered by Todd Klein.

Books of Magic #1 (“What's Past is Prologue”) finds Tim Hunter ready to embrace his destiny to become the world's greatest magician.  Thus far, however, he seems to be little more than an awkward teenage boy with the talent for being the world's best at embarrassing himself.

So it is fortunate for Tim that one of his high school teacher's knows of his destiny.  She informs Tim that he actually has to learn magic from books, but the first book she gives Tim has blank pages.  Now, he has to discover a way to read it, even if some books of magic should not be read...

Books of Magic #1 2018 is a good example of how the members of a creative team can come together as one to create high quality comic books.  Kat Howard writes a script that has the enchantment of making the readers keep turning pages.  Tom Fowler's illustrations deliver a graphical story with intriguing shifts in tone and also in environment, and every environment – from memory to magic and from real world to magical realms – seems equally tangible and real.

Jordan's Boyd's color completes Fowler's illustrations, making them evocative, suggesting atmosphere and especially emotion.  Boyd really captures the sense of both frustration and anger that hangs over much of this first issue.  And of course, there is letterer Todd Klein.  I don't know what I'm supposed to say.  Todd Klein is good?  His name is like magic to me.

Books of Magic #1 is quite intriguing.  I want more, and I actually scoffed at the idea of this book when I first heard about it.  Now, I am scoffing at the idea of waiting a month between issues.

8 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 syndication rights and fees.

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Review: BATMAN: White Knight #1

BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT No. 1 (OF 8)
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY/ART: Sean Murphy
COLORS: Matt Hollingsworth
LETTERS: Todd Klein
COVER: Sean Murphy with Matt Hollingsworth
VARIANT COVER: Sean Murphy with Matt Hollingsworth
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (December 2017)

Rated “T+” for “Teen Plus”

Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger

Sean Gordon Murphy is a respected comic book creator, writer-artist, and artist, thanks to projects like Punk Rock Jesus, The Wake (with writer Scott Snyder), and Joe the Barbarian (with writer Grant Morrison).  I like Murphy's stylish art, striking graphics, and dramatic graphical storytelling.

Late last year, DC Comics launched an eight-issue event miniseries, Batman: White Knight, written and drawn by Murphy, colored by Matt Hollingsworth, and lettered by the amazing Todd Klein.  White Knight finds The Joker determined to save Gotham City from Batman, whom he believes has gone too far in his fight against crime and has become dangerous.

Batman: White Knight #1 opens with Batman imprisoned and in chains.  Flash back to a year earlier, The Dark Knight is engaged in another hot pursuit of The Joker.  Things get out of hand.  Batman brutally assaults The Joker while Commissioner Jim Gordon and the Gotham City Police Department stand by and watch.  Then, The Joker is seemingly cured of his insanity and homicidal tendencies.  Enter Jack Napier, Gotham's “white knight” who will save Gotham from its “dark knight.”

I'm intrigued.  Batman: White Knight #1 is all over the place as a first issue.  I think that there is a lot to take in because Sean Murphy decides to put the entire premise and central plot right out there to the reader without being coy and dividing the introductions and inciting events over the first two issues.  I think Murphy can show how truly innovative or inventive he is as a comic book creator in what he presents and by how he executes it.  I guess I mean by how much of the narrative over these eight issues is or is not story padding.

I usually like Matt Hollingsworth's work as a colorist, but I find his work in Batman: White Knight#1 to be garish and also counterproductive to the story.  Todd Klein's lettering is good... as it always is... because he is amazing.

I have issues #2 through 7, and I am thinking about reading the rest of this series in one sitting.  But it may be too tempting to wait for the final issue.

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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Review: THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN Volume 3: Century: 2009

THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN, VOL. III: CENTURY: 2009
TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS/Knockabout Comics – @topshelfcomix @KnockaboutComix

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Alan Moore
ARTIST: Kevin O’Neill
COLORIST: Ben Dimagmaliw
LETTERER: Todd Klein
ISBN: 978-1-86166-163-3; paperback – 6.625" x 10.125" (June 2012)
80pp, Color, $9.95 U.S., £7.99 GBP

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen created by Kevin O'Neill

3: Let It Come Down

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century is the third comic book miniseries starring Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s Victorian superheroes, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (LoEG).  The series is written by Moore; drawn by O'Neill; colored by Ben Dimagmaliw; and lettered by the extraordinary Todd Klein.

A three-graphic novel set, Century finds the League as a new team in a new century.  Century #1 “1910” and Century #2 “1969” focuses on the Leagues attempt to stop occultist Oliver Haddo from realizing his dream of creating an anti-Christ called “the Moonchild,” which would bring about an apocalypse.  The League's surviving members, the three immortals:  Orlando/Roland (the eternal warrior), Mina Murray (Count Dracula's shorty), and Allan Quatermain (great White B'wana and British adventurer) believe they stopped Haddo's plans after a battle in Hyde Park and in the “Blazing World” during the year 1969...

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century #3 “2009” (“Let It Come Down”) finds Orlando doing what he does best.  He is living eternally and slaughtering eternally, this time in Q'Mar, where a war of attrition drags into a fifth year of blood and devastation.  Orlando is back in London when she gets a sudden visit from Prospero, Duke of Milan, who informs her that Haddo's Moonchild has already been born and that the apocalypse is nigh.  Now, Orlando must reform the League in time to stop this anti-Christ, but where are the last two surviving members?  They may be immortals, but one is a homeless heroin addict and the other is currently a resident of a mental institution.

I like Alan Moore's dark, famous, and acclaimed comics of the 1980s.  Watchmen is a legendary comic book to many American comic book creators, fans, and industry types.  V for Vendetta is a bold and idiosyncratic vision (misunderstood by many of its readers and admirers).

Still, I prefer Moore’s more surreal and slyly humorous comics, such as The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.  More so, I think that LoEG, like Watchmen and Moore and Eddie Campbell's From Hell, is an extraordinary work because it is the creation of a comic book writing genius and comic book drawing genius.  I may be one of the few people who think that Kevin O'Neill is a genius, but his striking graphics and his visual sense of composing a story via a comic book page are matched by only a few comic book artists over the last three or four decades.  He can convey pathos, drama, humor, satire, parody, and surrealism within a single page and, on occasion, within a single panel.  Also, O'Neill's comics often trade in both the mundane and the scatological.

So that's my review.  Moore was first declared a genius over 30 years ago, and I am now officially declaring O'Neill a genius.  The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century #3 “2009” is a great comic book because it is the work of genius times two.  Everything about it is unconventional, although its structure is conventional comics, and the story is full of convention – by reference and allusion.

The final battle between the League and the Moonchild is neither climatic nor anti-climatic.  It is something different, waiting for a different kind of heroine to take it in another direction, even if that direction has been taken before her.  I wish there were The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century #4.

9.5 out of 10

www.tppshelfcomix.com
www.knockabout.com

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 syndication rights and fees.

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Review: DOOM PATROL #2

DOOM PATROL No. 2 (2016)
DC COMICS/Young Animal – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Gerard Way
ART: Nick Derington
COLORS: Tamra Bonvillain
LETTERS: Todd Klein
COVER: Nick Derington
VARIANT COVERS: Mike and Laura Allred
40pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (December 2016)

Mature Readers

Doom Patrol created by Arnold Drake

“Negative World” Part Two: “Brick by Brick 2”

The 2016 Doom Patrol is the latest iteration of DC Comic's Silver Age superhero team of the weird.  Part of the new DC Comics imprint, “Young Animal,” the new Doom Patrol is written by Gerard Way; drawn by Nick Derington; colored by Tamra Bonvillain; and lettered by Todd Klein.

Doom Patrol #2 (“Brick by Brick 2”) finds ambulance driver, Casey Brinke, and her partner, Samuel, getting the most peculiar emergency calls.  For instance, there is the raving lunatic who might be Larry Trainor.  Also, Robotman awakens; more Doom Patrol members from the past begin to appear, and there is a reunion and more extra-dimensional weirdness.

Gerard Way is certainly building his new Doom Patrol (DP) brick by brick.  With this second issue, however, there is just as much of the story becoming clear as there is of it remaining weird and vague.  Readers will like that more members of the original DP appear, as well as a somewhat infamous member.  After reading this second issue, I think that Grant Morrison's late 1980s, early 1990s Doom Patrol is the primary template for the Young Animals DP.  I don't yet know if that is a good thing, although I am a fan of Morrison's DP.

I still really like the art by Nick Derington.  No, I think I am falling in love with Derington's simple, clean style that looks like an indie comics version of Silver Age comic book art and also has a passing resemblance to the art of Chris Samnee.  It's great graphical storytelling simply because the art makes you want to keeping reading, being excited for each new page.

I am still recommending the Young Animal Doom Patrol.  Although I want more, I am not ready to give it a review grade.

[This comic book contains a “special sneak preview” of Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye #1 by Gerard Way and Jon Rivera and Michael Avon Oeming.]

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


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: DOOM PATROL #1

DOOM PATROL No. 1 (2016)
DC COMICS/Young Animal – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Gerard Way
ART: Nick Derington
COLORS: Tamra Bonvillain
LETTERS: Todd Klein
COVER: Nick Derington
VARIANT COVERS: Brian Bolland; Sanford Greene; Jaime Hernandez; Babs Tarr; Brian Chippendale
40pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (NOVEMBER 2016)

Mature Readers

Doom Patrol created by Arnold Drake

“Happy Birthday, Casey Brinke” Part One: “Brick by Brick”

The Doom Patrol is a DC Comics superhero team.  The original version of the Doom Patrol first appeared in the comic book, My Greatest Adventure #80 (cover dated:  June 1963).  DC Comics apparently officially credits writer Arnold Drake as the creator of the Doom Patrol, but writer Bob Haney, artist Bruno Premiani, and editor Murray Boltinoff also contributed to the creation of the original concept and team.

The first Doom Patrol consisted of super-powered misfits who had abilities (or “gifts”) that caused them alienation and trauma.  However, there have been many incarnations of the Doom Patrol since the first group that more or less work along the same lines or share the spirit of the original  The most famous iteration of the Doom Patrol since the original would probably be the one created and written by Grant Morrison that first appeared in Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #19 (cover dated:  February 1989).

There is a new version of the Doom Patrol.  It is part of the new DC Comics imprint, “Young Animal,” which is “curated” and overseen by Gerard Way.  Way is the creator of the comic book series, The Umbrella Academy (Dark Horse Comics), and is also a lead vocalist and co-founder of the rock band, My Chemical Romance.  The new Doom Patrol is written by Way, drawn by Nick Derington, colored by Tamra Bonvillain, and lettered by Todd Klein.

Doom Patrol #1 (“Brick by Brick”) introduces Casey Brinke.  Maybe, she's a “space case,” but, for sure, she is a hot-shot ambulance driver.  However, goings-on in other dimensions will make her weird even weirder, including meeting a new roommate.

This first issue of Young Animal's Doom Patrol is certainly intriguing, but there is nothing here that will make me, dear reader, convince you to buy the first issue.  This is not a bad story, but Gerard Way spends so much time teasing that he only has enough space to do one other thing, make Casey Brinke likable.  That is something.  I am a longtime fan of the Doom Patrol, so I was going to try this comic book for at least a few issues.  Casey Brinke makes me think a few issues are a decent investment.

I do really like the art by Nick Derington.  His simple, clean style recalls small press and indie comics released by publishers like Drawn & Quarterly, Oni Press, SLP, etc.  The popularity of artists like Bruce Timm and the late Darwyn Cooke, whose slick styles recall comic books from an earlier era, made it possible for the rise of artists like Babs Tarr and Chris Samnee in superhero comic books.  In fact, Derington reminds me of Chris Samnee.

The fact that this is Doom Patrol and that I like the style and design of Nick Derington's graphical storytelling and art means I will be back for more.  Perhaps, I can highly recommend the Young Animal Doom Patrol to you at a later date.

[This comic book contains a “special sneak preview” of Shade the Change Girl #1 by Cecil Castellucci, Marley Zarcone, Kelly Fitzpatrick, and Saida Temofonte.]

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


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: WHO'S WHO Volume 1

WHO'S WHO: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE OF THE DC UNIVERSE VOL. 1
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITERS: Len Wein, Marv Wolfman
PENCILS: Joe Orlando, Craig Hamilton, Carmine Infantino, Don Heck, Alex Saviuk, Scott Shaw!, Jerry Ordway, Marshall Rogers, Mike Zeck, Keith Giffen, Ernie Colón, Gil Kane, José Delbo, Howie Post, Greg Theakston, George Pérez, Chuck Patton, Steve Bissette, Jan Duursema, Eduardo Barreto, Rick Hoberg, Murphy Anderson, Curt Swan, Tod Smith
INKERS: Joe Orlando, Dick Giordano, Frank McLaughlin, Murphy Anderson, Don Heck, Scott Shaw!, Jerry Ordway, Marshall Rogers, John Beatty, Bob Oksner,  Ernie Colón, Gil Kane, Romeo Tanghal, Howie Post, Greg Theakston,  George Pérez, John Totleben, Jan Duursema, Eduardo Barreto, Rick Magyar
COLORS: Helen Visik, Shelly Eiber, Tatjana Wood, Joe Orlando, Greg Theakston
LETTERS: Todd Klein (production)
EDITORIAL: Len Wein with Marv Wolfman and Robert Greenberger
COVER: George Perez
32pp, Color, $1.00 U.S., $1.35 CAN, 45p U.K. (March 1985)

Who's Who: The Definitive Guide to the DC Universe was an encyclopedia of the characters, places, and things of the DC Universe, but it was published in a comic book format.  Created by Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, and Robert Greenberger, Who's Who began publication in 1984 one month before the release of Crisis on Infinite Earths, the 12-issue comic book series that changed the DC Universe of characters.  Who's Who ran for 26 issues, but there were updates (in 1987 and 1988) and spinoffs (including one for DC Comic's 1980s “Star Trek” comic book series).

In Who's Who, each of the characters, places, and things (for the most part) has its own page and is depicted in an illustration, pin-up, or technical drawing created by a comic book artist or a penciller/inker team.  Some of the artists are legendary comic book creators or are famous or are at least known for their association with DC Comics.  Others are comic book artists who were active working professionals in American comic books, including in independent and alternative comics, at the time of the publication of the original Who's Who.

At the recent Louisiana Comic Con (October 17 and 18th, 2015 in Lafayette, LA), I found a copy of Who's Who: The Definitive Guide to the DC Universe #1.  I once had several issues of this series, but I don't know what happened to them.  Although I actually once read some of the text, I really bought Who's Who for the illustrations.

First of all, I love the wraparound cover art by George Perez, especially the detail with “Arak: Son of Thunder” sitting on a rock outcropping.  Inside, there is also a lot to like.  I think that it is just great that the first illustration of this first issue is by the late, great Joe Orlando, a depiction of House of Secrets star/victim, “Abel.”  Seeing classic Flash artist, Carmine Infantino, draw “Abra Kadabra,” a character in Flash's “rogue gallery” is a treat.  Fans of Jerry Ordway's 1980s work for DC Comics will be happy to see his double-page spread of the cast of All-Star Squadron.

I can never say no to “Ambush Bug” drawn by Keith Giffen.  I can never say “No” to anything by legend Gil Kane, who offers a drawing of pre-Grant Morrison, “Animal-Man” and a drawing of his version of “Atom.”  I like Ernie Colón, so I was happy to see a few drawings from him, including one of “Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld.”  “Arcane” by the classic Swamp Thing art team of Steve Bissette and John Totleben is a highlight.  Classic Golden and Silver Age DC Comics artist, Murphy Anderson, offers a drawing of one of his signature characters, “Atomic Knight.”  Anderson also inked “The Atomic Skull” drawing by one of my all-time favorite artists, Curt Swan.

Greg Theakston did a good job with an “Apokolips” drawing, but I would have preferred that “Fourth World” creator, Jack Kirby, draw Apokolips for this series.  Eduardo Barreto is a fine comic book artist, but I wish that Jose Luis Garcia Lopez had drawn the Atari Force double-spread.

In the nearly three decades since Who's Who: The Definitive Guide to the DC Universe was originally published, much of its text is no longer relevant.  That is the result of DC Comics' numerous reboots and relaunches and “new directions.”  Still, this series can be of use as a reference source for writers, comics historians, and archivists, and especially for fans of DC Comics' bygone days.  Fans of classic and veteran comic book artists, of course, will want this series.  I plan on hunting down more issues.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

I Reads You Review: THE MULTIVERSITY #1

THE MULTIVERSITY #1
DC COMICS – @DCComics

WRITER: Grant Morrison
PENCILS: Ivan Reis
INKS: Joe Prado
COLORS: Nei Ruffino
LETTERS: Todd Klein
COVER: Ivan Reis and Joe Prado with Nei Ruffino
VARIANT COVERS: Chris Burnham with Nathan Fairbairn (after Joe Shuster); Bryan Hitch with Alex Sinclair; Grant Morrison
48pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (October 2014)

Rated “T” for “Teen”

“House of Heroes”

The Multiversity is the latest comic book event series from DC Comics.  It is also a long-awaited event series, as this project was first announced several years ago.  The Multiversity is a limited series consisting of interrelated one-shot comic books set in the “DC Multiverse.”  Specifically, this is the Multiverse as it exists after The New 52, the re-launch of the DC Comics Universe that occurred in 2011.

If I understand correctly, the series will be comprised of eight comics.  Grant Morrison will write all eight, but each comic book will be drawn by a different artist.  The first issue, The Multiversity #1, is written by Morrison, drawn by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado, colored by Nei Ruffino, and lettered by the great Todd Klein.

The Multiversity #1 (“Hall of Heroes”) opens in a college dorm room, where a young African-American man is trying to understand what may be a haunted comic book.  The story moves to Earth-7, where Nix Uotan, the Superjudge and last of the Multiversal Monitors, saves a superhero, Thunderer, from certain doom at the hands of five demonic invaders:  Dame Merciless, Hellmachine, Lord Broken, Demogorounn, and Intellectron.

Meanwhile, Superman of Earth-23 finds himself spirited away to the Monitor Watchstation, also known as Valla-hal the “House of Heroes.”  Here, the greatest heroes of Fifty-Two worlds have been summoned to protect the Multiverse.  None of them have any idea of what they face.

If I had to guess (and I have to since I'm trying to communicate with you, dear readers, through this review), I would guess that The Multiversity is influenced by DC Comics' now-legendary comic book crossover event, Crisis on Infinite Earths.  I think the JLA/JSA crossover events that occurred in the original Justice League of America comic book series, every year from 1963 to 1985, also inspires The Multiversity.  In fact, I have read a few of those annual crossover stories, and The Multiversity #1, in terms of storytelling and in Ivan Reis' art, reminds me of them.

Basically,  The Multiversity #1 is old-school DC Comics (pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths) mixed with Grant Morrison's penchant for weirdness and mythology, and his... taste... for Alan Moore and Michael Moorcock.  It's a fun read.  I don't know if this event is meant to be world(s)-shattering, but it sure doesn't seem like it.  It's more goofy fun than anything else.

I won't lie to you.  This is far from a great comic book, but it is, for the most part, good.  You know, there are enough Black and African-American superheroes in The Multiversity #1 to make a Tarzan movie or at least, a Milestone Media comic book, so I can't help but like it.  I am going to follow this series in its entirety because of this first issue, although I had planned on not reading past the first issue.

B

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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

I Reads You Review: HERCULES: The Knives of Kush

HERCULES: THE KNIVES OF KUSH
RADICAL COMICS

WRITER: Steve Moore
ARTIST: Chris Bolson with Manuel Silva and Leonardo Silva
COLORS: Doug Sirois with Cliff Cramp and Steve Firchow
LETTERS: Todd Klein
MISC. ART: Jim Steranko, Clint Langley, Arthur Suydam, Marko Djurdjevic, Daryl Mandryk, J.P. Targete, Jean-Sebastien Rossbach
COVER: Clint Langley
ISBN:  978-1-935417-03-3; paperback (May 2010)
152pp, Color, $14.95 U.S., $16.50 CAN

Radical Comics, a division of Radical Publishing, Inc., presented a radical interpretation of Hercules in 2008.  Radical’s Hercules debuted in the 2008 miniseries, Hercules: The Thracian Wars, which was written by late British writer, Steve Moore.  Moore created this new Hercules and legendary comic book artist, Jim Steranko, designed him.

Moore made Radical’s Hercules grittier, while focusing more on his human side than on his heritage as the son of the supreme god, Zeus.  Moore set Hercules’ life in the Bronze Age and gave him a band of friends.  Together, Hercules and his band left Greece and sought mercenary work in other lands.  Thus, Moore set Hercules first mercenary activities in Thrace.  Radical’s Hercules is now a Paramount Pictures/MGM’s film starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and directed by Brett Ratner.

The second Hercules miniseries was the five-issue, Hercules: The Knives of Kush, which was released in 2009.  The Knives of Kush finds Hercules and his mercenary band caught in the middle of Egypt’s civil war.  In 2010, Radical collected Hercules: The Knives of Kush in a trade paperback, and the company’s marketing director sent me a copy for review, which I promptly forgot about.

However, the impending release of the movie made me dig up my copy of The Knives of Kush.  I decided to reread the story, as I had previously only read the fourth and fifth issue of the miniseries, and post a review of the trade.

Hercules: The Knives of Kush opens with Hercules and his band of mercenaries:  Autolycus, Iolaus, Meleager, and Atalanta (the only female of the group) aboard the Greek boat, the “Sea Nymph.”  After a brief skirmish with pirates, Hercules and company end up in Egypt.  They eventually offer their services to Pharaoh Seti II who is fighting a civil war against his half-brother, Amenmessu (real life historical figures that lived in the 13th and 12th centuries BC).

Amenmessu is aided by Khadis, Lord of Lighting and a sorcerer whose powers may be the reason Amenmessu seems to be winning the war with Seti.  Hercules suspects that there is more to Amenmessu’s success than Khadis and believes that traitors hide among Seti’s circle of wives, advisors, retainers, etc.  Hercules is appointed as a royal bodyguard, but he believes that to learn the truth he must penetrate the sinister cult known as “The Knives of Kush.”  This, however, will bring Hercules face to face with an enemy like no other – a mysterious figure who may wield the power of the gods.

I doubt that I am the only reviewer who thinks that Steve Moore has converted the demigod of Greek myth, Hercules (Heracles), into something that resembles the sword and sorcery character, Conan the Cimmerian (also known as Conan the Barbarian).  This is not a criticism; Moore apparently put a lot of effort into researching Greek myth and history for Hercules.  Besides, I like this Hercules.  I did not read The Thracian Wars, and Moore states in the foreword to this trade paperback that readers do not need to know of Hercules’ adventures in Thrace before reading of his adventures in Egypt.

I think that Hercules: The Knives of Kush slightly resembles some of the Conan comic books that Marvel Comics published in the 1970s and 80s.  In fact, The Knives of Kush has a good premise and plot, but the problem is the execution.  It is as if Moore wanted this miniseries to be any number of things or was not sure what it should be.

On one hand, Hercules’ struggles against Amenmessu’s rebellion involve courtly conflict and palace intrigue.  Moore basically has Hercules, an action character, stumbling around Seti’s Memphis, vainly trying to discover spies.  On the other hand, since Amenmessu is leading an armed rebellion, there is eventually going to have to be a big battle between Seti’s forces, to which Hercules belongs, and Amenmessu.  Instead of building up to the battles, the spy hunt seems like story padding.  Also, at five issues in length, The Knives of Kush is at least one issue too long.

In fact, for all the fear that Amenmessu and his ally, Khadis and the cult known as The Knives of Kush, are supposed to engender, their confrontation with Hercules and company is anti-climatic.  Their demises are pitiful, leaving this story with the sense that there was no great villain and with the disappointment that Hercules’ head-bashing comes in fits and starts.

The art produced by Chris Bolson and Doug Sirois is quite good, but the rest of it falls off.  If there is ever more of Radical’s Hercules, I hope Bolson and Sirois are the artists, and I hope for a story that has more head-bashing and disemboweling than it does character drama.  I want the next Hercules to be more like the last two issues of Hercules: The Knives of Kush than the first three.  Who really cares about Hercules’ daddy issues?

B-

[This trade paperback includes an interview of Steve Moore conducted by Andre Lamar.]

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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

I Reads You Review: DEAD BOY DETECTIVES #1

DEAD BOY DETECTIVES #1
DC COMICS/Vertigo – @DCComics  @vertigo_comics

STORY: Toby Litt and Mark Buckingham
SCRIPT: Toby Litt
PENCILS: Mark Buckingham
INKS: Gary Erskine
COLORS: Lee Loughridge
LETTERS: Todd Klein
EDITOR: Shelly Bond
COVER: Mark Buckingham
VARIANT COVER: Cliff Chiang
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (February 2014)

Rated “T” for Teen

“Schoolboy Terrors” The New Girl, Part 1 of 4

Dead Boy Detectives created by Neil Gaiman and artists Matt Wagner and Malcolm Jones III

In preparation for Vertigo Comics’ new ongoing series, Dead Boy Detectives, I read The Sandman Presents: The Deadboy Detectives.  This 2001 miniseries was written by Ed Brubaker and drawn by Bryan Talbot (pencils) and Steve Leialoha (inks), with colors by Daniel Vozzo.  I loved it because this miniseries is the kind of comic book that is the reason I keep reading comic books.

I am not as enamored with the new series, Dead Boy Detectives, which launched a few months ago.  A production of the creative team of Toby Litt and Mark Buckingham, the first issue of Dead Boy Detectives is not quite tepid, but it certainly lacks the sparkling wit and dazzling imagination of The Sandman Presents: The Deadboy Detectives #1.

For those that don’t know, “The Dead Boy Detectives” are Edwin Paine and Charles Rowland.  The two characters first appeared in The Sandman #25 (cover dated: April, 1991) and were created by writer Neil Gaiman and artists Matt Wagner and Malcolm Jones III.  Paine was murdered at his British boarding school, Saint Hilarion’s, in 1916, and spent 75 years in Hell.  He escaped in 1991 and returned to Hilarion’s, where he met Rowland (during the events depicted in The Sandman story arc, Seasons of Mist).  Rowland died during this time, but refused to accompany Death, preferring the prospect of future adventures with Paine.  The two ghosts spent a decade haunting places, preparing to become “first-rate detectives.”

As Dead Boy Detectives #1 begins, Edwin and Charles are observing the spectacle that is British performance artist, Maddy Surname.  With her rock star husband, Seth Von Hoverkraft, Maddy plans to steal Vincent Van Gogh’s painting, “Sunflowers,” from the British National Gallery.  They will replace Van Gogh’s masterpiece with another painting that Maddy will steal before the Van Gogh theft.  Maddy and Seth’s daughter, Crystal Palace, seems an unwilling participant in the performance.

However, some others decide that they also want play in this game, and it has a great affect on Crystal Palace.  Now, Crystal makes a decision that will have the Dead Boy Detectives shadowing her to a familiar place.

With Brubaker’s layered story and radiant characters and Bryan Talbot and Steve Leialoha’s textured and detailed art, The Sandman Presents: The Deadboy Detectives was a dazzling fantasy, graphic novella.  Toby Litt and Mark Buckingham offer something with potential, but, at this point, it seems like little more than a story with its style lifted from Daniel Clowes’ Ghost World.

I must say that I do like the art by Buckingham (pencils), Gary Erskine (inks), and Lee Loughridge (colors).  Beyond that, I guess I’ll just have to keep reading.

B

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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

I Reads You Review: THE SANDMAN: Overture #2

THE SANDMAN: OVERTURE #2 (OF 6)
DC COMICS/VERTIGO – @DCComics and @vertigo_comics

WRITER:  Neil Gaiman
ART: J.H. Williams, III
COLORS: Dave Stewart
LETTERS: Todd Klein
EDITOR: Shelly Bond
COVERS: J.H. Williams, III (Cover A); Dave McKean (Cover B)
32pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (May 2014)

“Suggested for Mature Readers”

Chapter Two

The second issue of The Sandman: Overture finally arrives after a few months delay.  Overture is a six-issue miniseries based on The Sandman, a comic book series written by Neil Gaiman and drawn by numerous artists, including Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Jill Thompson, and Shawn McManus, among others.  The Sandman chronicled the adventures of a character called Dream (or Morpheus), created by Gaiman and artists, Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg.  Dream was one of “The Endless,” and he ruled over the world of dreams.

The Sandman: Overture, written by Gaiman and drawn by artist J.H. Williams III, is a prequel, of sorts.  The series will explore Morpheus’ world before he was captured, which is how readers found him way back in The Sandman #1.

As Gaiman told The New York Times in a 2012 interview, “This is the one story that we never got to tell.  In Sandman #1, Morpheus is captured somehow. Later on in the series, you learn he was returning from somewhere far, far away – but we never got to the story of what he was doing and what had happened. This is our chance to tell that story, and J.H. Williams III is drawing it.  It’s the most beautiful thing in the world.”

The Sandman: Overture #2 opens with a look-in on the current Lord of Dreams.  The story then travels back to 1915 where Morpheus joins a gathering of other aspects of Dream from throughout time and space.  Why have they gathered?  It seems one of Dream’s aspects has died – or rather, been destroyed.  Who or what did it?  Morpheus intends to get answers from the First Circle, but he must first deal with some attitude.

In the first issue of The Sandman: Overture, Neil Gaiman focused on introducing concepts over revealing plot.  With the second issue, he jumps fully into storytelling and the plot, and, of course, it is quite good storytelling.  Even the plot offers surprises.  Do I even have to say that it is good?  Well, yes, I have to because it has been a long time since Gaiman has written a long-form Sandman comic book.  “Chapter 2” is brilliant, imaginative, colorful, and expansive.  Every panel sparkles with magic.

However, much of the credit should go to artist J.H. Williams III and colorist Dave Stewart.  I like what I see on the pages of The Sandman: Overture #2 so much that I think Williams and Stewart were born to be Sandman artists.  Williams’ dazzling page design peels open structures the way Will Eisner did in his famous comic, The Spirit, turning the rooms of a house into individual comic book panels.  Stewart’s colors throb and pulse.  I felt as if the colors were pushing into my eyes, on the way to blowing my mind.  Wow, The Sandman: Overture #2 is why I like reading comic books.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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

I Reads You Review: THE BOOKS OF MAGIC Book 1

THE BOOKS OF MAGIC, BOOK 1 (OF 4)
DC COMICS

WRITER: Neil Gaiman
ARTIST: John Bolton
LETTERS: Todd Klein
EDITOR: Karen Berger
48pp, Color, $3.95 U.S., $4.75 CAN (1990)

The Books of Magic was a four-issue comic book miniseries written by Neil Gaiman and published by DC Comics.  The series focuses on a boy named Timothy “Tim” Hunter, who has the potential to become the world’s greatest magician.

Each issue (or “book”) was drawn by a different artist:  Book I by John Bolton; Book II by Scott Hampton; Book III by Charles Vess; and Book IV by Paul Johnson.  In addition to Hunter, the book also features four characters who take it upon themselves to introduce Hunter to the world of magic (as it exists in the DC Comics Universe):  The Phantom Stranger, John Constantine, Doctor Occult, and Mr. E.  Constantine mockingly refers to himself and the others as “the Trenchcoat Brigade.”

The Books of Magic, Book I is entitled “The Invisible Labyrinth.”  The Phantom Stranger takes Tim on a journey through the history of the DC Universe.  The story begins with the Trenchcoat Brigade debating if and how they should help Hunter.  Eventually, the story moves the Phantom Stranger and Hunter back through time so that the boy can experience ancient figures speaking of the high cost of magic.  DC Comics magical characters that appear in Book I include, Merlin, Jason Blood, Dr. Fate/Kent Nelson, Zatara, and Sargon the Sorcerer/John Sargent.

If I remember correctly, I read one or two issues of The Books of Magic, but I did not read the story in its entirety until the first trade paperback collection, which had an introduction by author Roger Zelazny, was published in 1991 (I think).  However, I have not read the story since then (which is something like over twenty years), nor have I ever read the ongoing series that spun off from the original miniseries.

Reading The Books of Magic again, I am not only surprised by how humorous it is, but also how often the story shifts in terms of tone and mood.  Gaiman presents the gathering of The Phantom Stranger, John Constantine, Doctor Occult, and Mr. E, as if it were a regular meeting between bickering old pals, which I thinks encourages the readers to want to get to know all four characters better or, in some cases, for the first time.  That humor is mostly conveyed in the dialogue, because John Bolton’s art, as effective as it is for most of the first book, does not capture the nuances and little bits of humor that Gaiman is giving to the characters in the first ten or so pages.

Bolton’s strength comes through once the Phantom Stranger and Tim Hunter begin their journey.  Gaiman portrays magic, not as a happy thing ready to pull anything out of thin air.  He is philosophical about it, imparting to his readers that it comes with a cost, in that magic may take much more than it ever gives.  Bolton depicts magic in all the diversity of its earthly incarnations, while encapsulating the interplay between the dark and the light, the beautiful and the unsightly, and the alien and the familiar.  Bolton makes DC Comics’ nonsensical ‘bible” of magic visually and graphically dark, ambiguous, intriguing, and even alluring.

The Books of Magic, Book I: The Invisible Labyrinth will make you want to read the rest of the series.  I had forgotten how special this series was and is.  I doubt DC Comics could do something like this again, even they tried.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

Review: SHAME: Pursuit

SHAME: PURSUIT – BOOK 2 (OF 3)
RENEGADE ARTS ENTERTAINMENT

WRITER: Lovern Kindzierski – @Lovern
ARTIST: John Bolton
LETTERS/COVER DESIGN: Todd Klein
ISBN: 978-0-9868200-5-2; paperback (April 24, 2013)
64pp, Color, $9.99 U.S.

With his cousin Chris Chuckry, Lovern Kindzierski founded Digital Chameleon. The company revolutionized the art of creating comics by making Photoshop and computer coloring the industry standards. Kindzierski also writes comic books. His latest project is Shame, a series of three graphic novels that he writes and John Bolton draws and paints. Published by Renegade Arts Entertainment, the first book, Shame: Conception, was released in 2011. The second book, Shame: Pursuit, was recently published.

Shame is set in the Middle Ages, described as the infancy of humanity’s spiritual development. The series focuses on two witches, Shame and Virtue. Shame is Virtue’s mother and daughter, and Virtue is Shame’s mother and daughter – as far as I can tell. Their father is Slur, the willowy and physically shifting demon of ignorance. Shame imprisoned Virtue in Cradle Mound, a jail made of thorny vines and guarded by flesh-eating plants, monstrous birds, and Harpy-like nannies.

Shame: Pursuit finds Shame waging war on the world, destroying her rivals who are magic users and killing anyone else who gets in her way. Slur is always nearby to encourage Shame or prick her nerves. Meanwhile, Virtue comes closer to breaking free of Cradle Mound, but she will need help. That comes in the form of Merritt, a brave young warrior who is not quite like other warriors.

It is like nothing I’ve read in quite a while. Shame: Pursuit is a doozy, and I had a difficult time figuring out what was going on because I had not read the first book, Conception. I didn’t even know that this series existed until Renegade Arts Entertainment sent me a copy of Pursuit for review, although I think I had heard of Renegade Arts before I received the book.

I find the characters to be quite attractive and engaging, especially the lovable Merritt. Everyone, except Merritt, seems to be so devious and deceptive. Also, the story is weird, like a Ralph Bakshi animated fantasy film.

I really like the art for Shame by comic book artist and painter John Bolton, whose work I’ve admired for ages. There is a dreamy quality to his art that is ideal for fantasy storytelling. Bolton has been one of the few artists whose paintings for comic books are as effective as comic book art drawn traditionally with pencils and with pens and brushes for inking.

Bolton paints Virtue with a photorealistic touch, giving her the qualities like that of a model who walks the runway for the biggest shows and gets the all the magazine covers. What Bolton does with Merritt’s facial features, physique, and clothes is uncannily, eerily natural and genuinely human. I say witchcraft is involved in this man’s art.

Strange as Shame: Pursuit is, I want to find the first book, and I would like to read the final book.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

Review: Starstruck #1 (IDW version)

[IDW Publishing did indeed publish all thirteen issues of their Starstruck re-launch slash re-packaging. Now, the publisher has collected the entire series in an oversized edition (in paperback and hardcover) collecting all thirteen issues with re-mastered art and extras. In conjunction with the release of this collection, I am reprinting my review of IDW’s first issue that I originally wrote for another site.]





STARSTRUCK #1
IDW PUBLISHING

WRITER: Elaine Lee
ARTIST: Michael Kaluta
INKS: Michael Kaluta, Charles Vess
COLORS: Lee Moyer
LETTERS: Todd Klein, John Workman
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S.

In 1980, Elaine Lee, along with her co-writers, Norfleet Lee and Dale Place, saw the off-Broadway production of her stage play, Starstruck. Lee continued the characters and stories of Starstruck in comics form. Written by Lee and drawn by Michael Kaluta (who contributed to the play’s staging), the Starstruck comics were a prequel to the events of the play and revealed the history and relationships between the various characters and introduced new characters. The Starstruck comics first appeared as comic strip series in Heavy Metal magazine in 1982.

Marvel Comics re-published the strips that appeared in Heavy Metal in 1984 as the graphic novel, Starstruck: The Luckless, the Abandoned and Forsaked (Marvel Graphic Novel #13). The graphic novel was followed by a six-issue comic book series published under Marvel’s Epic Comics imprint. Plans by Lee and Kaluta to reprint the previously published Starstruck comics and to add new material resulted in the aborted Starstruck: The Expanded Universe (four issues from Dark Horse Comics, 1990-91), as well as a few stand-alone “Galactic Girl Guides” short story comics in Dave Stevens’s The Rocketeer Adventure Magazine (two issues, Comico Comics, 1988-89).

Now, it seems as if everything that Elaine Lee and Michael Kaluta want to release as Starstruck comics will finally see publication because IDW is publishing a new 13-issue Starstruck series. The entirety of Starstruck #1 is previously published material: 15 pages of Starstruck; six pages of “Galactic Girl Guides;” and four pages of supplementary material that explains the Starstruck universe (in a rather obtuse way).

Starstruck is set in a far-flung, alternative future. One might think of it as something like the science fiction and fantasy comics of Moebius, Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg! (which Starstruck predates), Zap Comix!, and Star Wars thrown into a blender. A space opera, Starstruck follows the offspring of two powerful houses as they vie for wealth and dominance in a universe that is newly freed from the Incorporated Elysian Republic. Issue one introduces several characters, but focuses on Baron Bajar and his son Kalif and daughter Lucrezia.

Lee’s story and script are complicated and challenging, but fans of space opera will want to dig through this intricate and exotic concept. Of course, having Mike Kaluta, with his decorative, illustrative style, as the artist to visualize Lee’s concepts into comics art is serendipity. Her oblique and outlandish storytelling and his intricate, Pre-Raphaelite graphic scenarios were meant to be together.

As much as I like the main story’s astonishing weirdness, “The Galactic Girl Guides” is the kind of sweet treat I’d want to have on a regular basis. Written as a playful, comic appendage to Starstruck, GGG is simply about girls having fun, playing pranks, and seeking out adventure – the kind of things that most storytelling leaves to boys. Unlike the main narrative, in which Kaluta pencils and inks the art, Charles Vess inks Kaluta’s pencils, and the resulting difference in look makes GGG seem like a more traditional kid friendly comic book than Starstruck.

Before this review ends, I must call attention to painter Lee Moyer’s glorious new coloring for this rebirth of Starstruck. I’d buy this comic book just to see more of the color splendor found on pages 6-7.

A-

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+

I Reads You Review: MATA HARI #0

RADICAL PUBLISHING
CREATOR/WRITER: Rich Wilkes
ART: Roy Allan Martinez
BACKGROUND ART: Arnaud Valette
COLORS: Drazenka Kimpel
LETTERS: Todd Klein
COVER: Támás Gáspár
20pp, Color, $1.00

Next year, Radical Publishing will release the full color, hardcover graphic novel, Mata Hari. It is created and written by Rich Wilkes (the creator of the xXx film franchise) and drawn by Roy Allen Martinez (the artist of Radical’s FVZA comic book). Radical recently released Mata Hari #0, a $1-priced “Racial Premiere,” which presents 20 pages from the upcoming graphic novel.

The story opens in Litmov, Russia in 1953. The narrator is Antonia Maslov, a young Russian girl who recounts the exploits of her uncle, Lt. Vadim Maslov. Vadim was a photographer who worked with the French during World War I. Vadim is destined to be part of a love triangle with French General Robert Nivelle and the notorious Mata Hari.

Reputedly a German double agent, Mata Hari would be blamed for the deaths of 50,000 French soldiers and was executed after a sensational trial shocked Europe. The question is was she really a betrayer of countless lovers or merely a scapegoat.

After reading Mata Hari #0, I’m curious about the rest of the story, but I wish the title character would have made an actual, first person appearance in this preview. Truthfully, writer Rich Wilkes’ article at the end of this issue, “Mata Hari: A Proposition,” is a more interesting read than the comic book portion, although the comic book portion does intrigue.

B+

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