THOR'S COMIC COLUMN - 2.06.07

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT OUR EXPANDED COMIC BOOK COVERAGE ON RACKRAIDS.COM

Here's a smattering a trades and some other reviews for your reading pleasure.

For those of you who still read monthly comics and enjoy the occasional small press or indie book, be sure to check out the warrior-scribes' expanded comic book review site RACK RAIDS at www.rackraids.com.

Sean Fahey

Raided: Conan � The Midnight God #1 (Dark Horse Comics)

I generally don�t leap out of bed for mini-series of comics that already have an ongoing title.� It�s the cynic in me that sees spin-offs as (primarily) an instrument to capitalize on the success of the core title without adding anything to the character, his history or the title�s continuity.�That�s the beauty of Conan though, the character�s history lends itself perfectly to out of continuity storytelling.�Hell, that�s exactly how Robert E. Howard wrote the original stories to begin with. Midnight God focuses on an episode during Conan�s later years, when he was the King of Aquilonia.�

My favorite Howard stories tend to be the handful that take place during King Conan�s reign, because they highlight most clearly the dichotomy between (and the misconceptions about) �civilization� and �barbarism� that Howard wrote about so poetically.� Joshua Dysart, the writer of this mini-series, does an excellent job evoking that, as Conan � traditionally a man of action and few words � chooses to afford his most bitter enemies diplomatic courtesies only to have �civilized behavior� tragically backfire, costing him what he holds most dear.� As a result, true justice can only come through a brutal show of force.� This issue is my favorite of any of the Conan spin-offs to date.� It�s an engaging, and emotional story that evokes the central themes that this character is famous for, and Will Conrad�s artwork is incredibly sharp and appropriately stoic.

FOUR AND A HALF OUT OF FIVE VIKINGS

Graig Kent

Superman: Back In Action tpb (DC Comics)

It�s rare these days for a trade paperback to be more expensive than the batch of comics it�s collecting, and yet, here�s one.��Back In Action� presents a three-issues run of Action Comics set �one year later� where the denizens of the world are still coming to terms with Superman�s reappearance (again), and they�re wondering, rightfully, if it�s really him.� But this isn�t the only problem Superman faces as a new threat has come to Earth, a somewhat different threat than one the globe�s heroes have faced before, one of Galactus-sized proportions.� Only this threat isn�t going to eat the planet, but rather instead sell it off, piece by piece, to the highest bidder.� The Auctioneer�s massive size, superior intellectual processing capabilities, and his unfathomable technology prove� troublesome, and Superman needs more than a little help, and he�s willing to take what he can get.

Written by Kurt Busiek with Fabian Nicieza and beautifully illustrated by Pete Woods, �Back In Action� returns the fun to a character who hasn�t had nearly enough of it for, oh, the past three decades.� Seriously, this is a romp, perhaps even a romp and a half.� Teaming Superman up with random heroes is, and has always been a good idea, which explains the second half of this book.� The main story was inspired by Busiek�s affection for the old Superman team-up book DC Comics Presents, and as such he and DC though it apt to showcase some of Busiek�s favourite issues of the series (co-starring the Metal Men, Firestorm and Deadman, in that order) with each story introduced by KB himself.� The first and third stories are written by Len Wein, the second by Jerry Conway, but all of them are illustrated by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez.� Old school DC fans will know why that�s exciting (although to me, something seems off in the coloring of these reprints).

Checking out the price stickers on the books presented here (the first three at $2.50 a pop, the latter three at the �you don�t see that anymore� price of $0.40) this book is $6.29 overpriced and you could probably find all six issues (even the three-decade-old ones) at a decent comics shop for less.� But, it�s still a handsome and enjoyable collection.

THREE OUT OF FIVE VIKINGS

Mr. Big (Little Foot Publishing)

The story of Mr. Big takes place in a pond, pretty much a self-contained ecosystem that lives, thrives and falters under the laws of nature.� Here, the titular Mr. Big is an enormous snapping turtle who lives in the mouth of a drain pipe and sits at the top of the food chain.� Mr. Big has his own schedule, he eats what he wants, when he wants, but he takes only what he needs.� But some of the denizens of the pond are tired of Mr. Big, including Fish, who has had two more of his school eaten by Mr. Big.� Fish rallies much of the pond life behind him and plots the turtle�s downfall, and despite protests, enlists a murder of crows to do the dirty deed.� But something more sinister and deadly has made its way to the pond, and the crows have their own agenda.� Things are never as simple as they seem.

Mr. Big started out as a one-shot mini-comic produced by artist Matt Dembicki, co-written with his wife Carol.� The early pages of the comic reflect this, as the opening pages are a non-story, but they do serve excellently as an introduction to the environment and serve well to place the mood of the impending story.� Rather than larger-than-life over-exaggerated anthropomorphic animals, the Dembickis present the pond in its natural state, the fauna within associating with one another only out of necessity, not as community.� There�s not much of a semblance of humanity, the thoughts and motivations of these creatures feels primarily organic, with the caveat that they feel the greater need for the revenge that invokes the core story.

While the opening chapters are more artistic, with Matt Dembicki experimenting with shadowing techniques and negative space, in the heart of the book he draws true-to-life, or an approximation thereof, both above ground and underwater.� There�s beauty in his details, serenity in his pacing and, above all, a naturalness that makes this something far beyond what may initially be perceived as a kids story.� It�s like a documentary of the pond but with dialogue (all conveyed via thought balloon), and in its core lies a morality play that uses another civilization to relate its message.

The afterward by zookeeper Sean Henderson casts the entire volume in a different light, footnoting some of the ecological and environmental events in the story that the reader might not have caught or fully understood.� A brilliant, beautiful and engrossing work.� Highly recommended.

FIVE OUT OF FIVE VIKINGS

Elgin Carver

Usagi Yojimbo # 100��(Dark Horse)

The first two of Buddha's Four Great Truths are, first, to exist is to suffer and, second, suffering is caused by desire. As anticipation is a type of desire, one can only blame oneself when what is anticipated fails to deliver and disappointment ensues.

Few independent titles reach the 100 issue mark, and even fewer deserve to. Usagi Yojimbo, a consistently superior book, written and drawn by Stan Sakai, has outlived publishing houses that brought the early stories. It has outlived competitors. It has outlived, for the most part, headliners to which it was the backup story. It deserves all the praise it has received and more. The ongoing tale of a samurai rabbit is imaginative and enlightening. How could fans fail to anticipate that the 100th issue would contain an epic extension of ongoing adventures, or perhaps a 100 page retelling of� Usagi's apprenticeship. Maybe Usagi would marry or save the emperor or we would see an adventure in his old age.

What fans get is a "roast" of Sakai, drawn by himself and other artists who influenced him or assisted his career. It does nothing for the comic. A new reader will have no idea of the quality of the other issues and have no reason to seek them out. Fans of the title will find nothing of Usagi. There is nothing here for anyone seeking out Usagi.� Whatever content of Sakai's career that can be gleaned here would have been better communicated on the inside back cover. Doubtless someone at Dark Horse came up with this concept and sold Sakai on it. By doing so they did a true disservice to him, the title, and the Dark Horse imprint.

ONE�OUT OF FIVE VIKINGS

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Marvel Masterworks Atlas Era Heroes Vol. #1�(Marvel)

Every list of the 100 best movies invariably places Citizen Kane at the head of the list. Is it because it is the best movie ever made? The most exciting? The deepest story? The greatest acting? The dirty truth is that the very first such list placed it there and no one since has had the nerve to displace it despite the quality or popularity of later films. Similarly EC comics rose to its place in the comics pantheon when it became the target of congressional inquiries into juvenile delinquency, and crime and horror comics came under close scrutiny. When that publisher suffered and the line of comics they printed collapsed, a mythos of their great superiority rose about them, and it is a tough veil to pierce.

Here is a finely bound refutation to that standing. Atlas Comics, the direct descendent of Timely Comics, and the ancestor of today's Marvel Comics has been long overlooked. Here are the reprints of eleven comics of three titles, Marvel Boy, Astonishing Tales Of Science Fiction, and Young Men. In a companion volume, Atlas Era Tales Of Suspense, every genre that EC covered, with the exception of war stories, was also covered by Atlas, and equally well. Here Atlas covered the genre of superheroes as well, which EC did not. Many will be surprised to discover the Human Torch, Captain America, and the Submariner included. Most fans and many comic histories end the Timely superhero stories in the late 1940's, but here we find stories in the 1950s with Captain America coming home from the war, not frozen in Arctic ice as the 1960s Marvel explosion has taught us.

This is the type of book the Marvel Masterpiece and DC Archives series should be bringing us; work that is virtually unknown and all but impossible to collect, even if you have available the substantial funds that would be required. This volume and the companion Tales Of Suspense are necessary additions to your library. The appreciation of competitors to the EC line, as great as it was, is long overdue.

FOUR AND A HALF OUT OF FIVE VIKINGS

Essential Ghost Rider Vol. #2��(Marvel)

The reprinting of a large number of comics in one phone book sized volume at a reasonable price is one of the better ideas publishers have come up with in the past 20 years. Every collector should be happy with the concept and struggle to purchase every volume that is brought to us so as to encourage the continuation of the process. However it is titles like this that do indeed make it a struggle. Surely there were a fairly substantial number of fans for this title when it first came out for here are issues� #21 through #50, and no title gets 50 issues published if it is not profitable. Someone still enjoys the concept as a big budget movie on the subject is about to be thrown into the public arena. Reading this book today however, makes one wonder how and why.

Desultory in both script and artwork, this supernatural superhero wanders about doing good and fighting evil. Many would say this constitutes the totality of the superhero genre, but this is easily refuted by comparing these stories to a comparable number of Spiderman issues. If you enjoy this character, more power to you. Others should pick it up so as to expand their library.

TWO OUT OF FIVE VIKINGS

Ten Ever Loving Blue Eyed Years With Pogo�(Simon and Schuster)

Comic books are terrific fun and can be great works of art. Their grandfather and superior is the newspaper comic strip. Many of those deserve reprinting and today many are receiving that treatment. If you take the Wayback Machine to the 1960s, this was not the case. One of the very first to receive any such handling, and one of the most deserving, was Pogo.

Drawn by Walt Kelly, a Disney employee at one point, this strip tells the adventures of a possum, alligator, owl, turtle, and other assorted creatures inhabiting the Okeefenokee Swamp. Their adventures involve the political events of the day with easily recognizable caricatures of political figures from all parties. Imagine the Walt Disney Company doing editorial cartoons in comic strip form with a biting wit worthy of Mark Twain, and you will begin to form an idea of what millions of newspaper readers looked forward to every day.

Here is a review of the first decade of the strip accompanied by a running commentary by Walt Kelly himself. This is a highly superior strip given a superior treatment. It is a hard back book that is unfortunately out of print. It was reprinted as a paperback a few years ago but that too has lapsed into that same state. However the book can be found at on-line auctions with little trouble although a pristine copy will set you back more than a few bucks. You should also be warned that this title can be addictive, and the other trade paperbacks that were printed on an annual basis may become must-have's for you.

FOUR OUT OF FIVE VIKINGS

Tarzan by Russ Manning�(Tony Raiola Books)

No other character from popular culture, especially in comic strips and comic books, has received the quality of visual representation as has Tarzan. From the beginning with Hal Foster, whom Frank Frazetta credits with being his early inspiration, Tarzan was an utterly believable figure. Foster had not reached his peak or prowess, and Prince Valiant was yet to come. Still this was a beginning to be envied. Then came Burne Hogarth whom however highly praised (called the Michaelangelo of comics) became an overstrained figure. He deserves great credit for his work, but Hogarth's influence in the comic book world gives today's comic books an unrealistic appearance to its detriment. Jesse Marsh is an overlooked comic book genius of the first order. His work in the 150 plus Tarzan comic books, mainly in the 1950's, is surely a record for any comic book title, His style is reflected in Mike Allred's work that seemed to be such a visual breakthrough just a few years ago. Joe Jubert's DC Tarzan comics are as good a work as he ever did and have been collected in hardback form. Russ Manning did both strip and comic book work on this title and must be ranked with the very best.

These four volumes encompass Manning's entire daily strip work and are a joy to behold. The books themselves are something of a throwback in that they appear to be a fan created publishing enterprise. Soft bound, and with covers that are somewhat disappointing in both design and paper quality, the contents are nevertheless reprinted superbly. A disclaimer on the back of each book declares that the books are for collectors only and not for regular sale. This fan based type printing was common during the early days of fandom, and Mr. Raiola is to be commended in keeping the practice alive. Not only these excellent books are available, but numerous other titles as well. If you are a fan of Tarzan or Russ Manning, whose work on Brothers Of The Spear and Magnus Robot Fighter are also brilliant, these are books you should not miss.