Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes - Posts Tagged "pulp-fiction"

The Spider, Master of Men! #18: The Flame Master by Grant Stockbridge

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Spider, a 1930s pulp hero returns in this 18th issue of his magazine. In a previous issue, he'd been thought killed and Richard Wentworth (the Spider's real identity) had the heat taken off by a servant confessing to the Spider's crimes-as the Spider would often kill criminals taking upon himself the role of judge, jury, and executioner.

However, the Spider's brought into action with a story of a man who can create man-made lightening and fear that he may have fallen into the hands of criminals who are ready to exploit the lightening power for their own nefarious purposes. The Spider is shocked when he finds his unusual foe is Aronk Dong, a self-proclaimed lion man from Mars.

The book has several strong points. First, like many pulp books, it's just a great ride: the main weapon is lightening firing remote controlled balloons, you have an alleged man from mars, and you even have the French underworld take a hand.

On the other hand, Wentworth is a vigilante killer. From a plot point what makes the book more difficult is that the Spider and his cohorts are constantly going around pretending to be tough and unafraid but are really scared out of their wits. All of the, "He gave a fake smile but what he really thought" moments were a little much. At times, it seemed like no human relationship portrayed in the book was at all believable. And despite his goals of world domination, it seems like Aronk Dong would rather be an evil supervillain than actually conquer the Earth by simply and quickly destroying his enemies.

Despite the over the top nature of the story, it was the 1930s and plot was king and you'll find few more compelling than this one among the pulps. There are plenty of ticking time bombs and 1920s weird science to satisfy any reader. Overall, this is a decent read if you know what you're getting into.



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Despite what most of the online sources say, the Annual of this series was written by Jeff Parker, not Mark Waid who wrote the main series. The story was not bad per se but it was a tad repetitive. Iron Man is the key guest star and he appeared back in Indestructible Hulk #2, only a year previously. The big opportunity of the issue would be exploration of the relationship between Bruce Banner and Tony Star, but compared to what Waid did back in Issue 2, this doesn't add much.

The book begins with four pages of a man speaking to a college seminar where both Tony Stark and Banner attended. If the book has a big point it's that there's not enough spending on non-defense related science. Whatever the merits, the argument is pounded in with a sledgehammer, so it's just annoying. The interactions between Hulk and Stark are okay, but it really feels like Parker didn't read the main title as he trode over a lot of familiar ground. The art is good and some of the traps were clever, but not so the resolution.

Annuals used to be huge stories worthy of reader's attentions but this story just doesn't do it. It features too much pointless talking, a retread of themes explored less than a year ago, and a villain who makes one and only one appearances. You may enjoy this book more if you haven't been following the series, but given the price of annuals, if you haven't been following the series, why bother?

Review: 2.25 out of 5.0

Silver Surfer, Vol. 7, Issue 1:

My curiosity was peaked about the Silver Surfer when I read the preview in Superior Spider-man. I have very limited experience with the Surfer beyond his Silver Age Fantastic Four appearances, and cartoons and found this pretty easy to follow as it established his backstory as a herald of Galactus and also introduced Dawn Greenwood who, based on the preview, will end up travelling the galaxy with the Surfer. (Doctor Surfer, perhaps.)

Dawn and the Surfer are apart until the last page. Dawn lives at a family run New England Bed and Breakfast in Anchor Baby and her sister decides to become a world traveler while Dawn is a homebody who only shows any regrets about the path she's chosen towards the end of the book.

The Surfer meanwhile has found a species that hidden itself from him seeking his assistance on their very big and crowded homeworld. This one point in the book where the art kind of failed as the Planet just looked very crowded and busy and it really should have been more breathtaking based on the dialogue.

The story was okay throughout but some of the changes towards the end really peaked my interest Nothing breathtaking happens, but for a first issue, I think it does it's job. It introduces the characters and some interesting concepts, and personally I'm looking forward to more from the Surfer and Dawn.

Rating 3.75 out of 5.0

Masks, Issue 7:

At this point, the story has gotten to the point where it's not moving a whole lot. Our heroes have finally gotten to their location. We have the introduction of a very convenient army and we finally learn who's behind the Justice Party. The book is competently done and sets up Issue 8

Rating: 3.25 out of 5.0