false 720370 1 <B>A dizzying collection from the Ed Wood of comics.</B><BR><BR>Welcome to the bizarre world of Fletcher Hanks, Super Wizard of the Inkwell. Fletcher Hanks worked for only a few years in the earliest days of the comic book industry (1939-1941). Because he worked in a gutter medium for second-rate publishers on third-rate characters, his work has been largely forgotten. But among aficionados he is legendary.<BR><BR>At the time, comic books were in their infancy. The rules governing their form and content had not been established. In this <I>Anything Goes</I> era, Hanks' work stands out for its thrilling experimentation. At once both crude and visionary, cold and hot as hell, Hanks' work is hard to pigeon hole. One thing is for certain: the stuff is bent.<BR><BR>Hanks drew in a variety of genres depicting science-fiction saviors, white women of the jungle, and he-man loggers. Whether he signed these various stories "Henry Fletcher" or "Hank Christy" or "Barclay Flagg" there is no mistaking the unique outsider style of Fletcher Hanks.<BR><BR>Cartoonist Paul Karasik (co-adapter of Paul Auster's <I>City of Glass</I>, and co-author of <I>The Ride Together: A Memoir of Autism in the Family</I>) has spent years tracking down these obscure and hard to find stories buried in the back of long-forgotten comic book titles. Karasik has also uncovered a dark secret: why Hanks disappeared from the comics scene.<BR><BR>This book collects 15 of his best stories in one volume followed by an afterword which solves the mystery of "Whatever Happened to Fletcher Hanks," the mysterious cartoonist who created a hailstorm of tales of brutal retribution...and then mysteriously vanished. 706612 20 6 2007 I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets: The Comics of Fletcher Hanks total:202|5:78|4:69|3:42|2:13|1:0| 202 818 322 58 5 2 false false Wed Jan 09 14:33:15 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 09 14:38:32 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jan 24 11:37:16 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 24 11:49:51 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Mar 16 19:06:24 -0700 2008 Wed Nov 21 22:17:29 -0800 2007 Wed Nov 21 22:55:47 -0800 2007 Stardust the Super Wizard.

Hanks was a creator during the Golden Age of comics, when everyone was trying to create their Superman. A time when no one really knew what the #$@! they were doing, but that was the beauty of it. No rules had been established. You made it up as you went...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Nov 30 17:27:24 -0800 2007 Mon Dec 03 13:09:40 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Feb 14 06:30:01 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 14 06:32:33 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Sun Jun 28 11:11:08 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 28 11:16:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Nov 09 17:21:15 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 10 13:00:50 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Dec 15 18:08:04 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 15 18:15:21 -0800 2007
The adventures depicted - starring "Stardust the Super Wizard" and "Fantomah protector of the jungle folk" have an amazing psych...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 03 19:47:30 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 21 11:50:12 -0700 2008
Soon after the A...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jun 05 22:14:37 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 05 23:12:54 -0700 2007
His drawings are crude and stiff at times, his plots are predictable and ludicrous, and his superheroes are...I mean, they have "super superio...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Apr 22 06:00:42 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 22 06:01:38 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Tue Aug 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 23 19:04:18 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 18 11:17:05 -0700 2009
Fletcher Hanks writes the same story over and over again. Here it is: a madman plots mass destruction and is stopped by one of Hanks' super-powered heroes, ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Aug 29 11:39:27 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 29 11:44:33 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 16 12:14:32 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 23 10:34:32 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Feb 07 15:12:44 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 07 15:15:10 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 03 11:14:16 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 03 11:21:27 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Dec 12 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 27 18:54:53 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 12 22:23:35 -0800 2008
I was a bit disappointed with Karasik's afterword. It just felt greedy and lazy, as if the only reason he tracked down Hanks, Jr. was in hopes of fin...more...]]> 0 0 false false Sat Dec 20 20:54:17 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 20 20:56:14 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Mon Feb 02 17:41:12 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 02 17:42:59 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 27 06:20:04 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 05 07:46:47 -0700 2007 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=720370