Todd Klein's Blog, page 122

And Then I Read: SECOND COMING #1

Written by Mark Russell, art by Richard Pace with Leonard Kirk.
Colors by Andy Troy, letters by Rob Steen.

This is the series that was bounced by DC and picked up by Ahoy, who already has a Christian religion-themed satire comic, HIGH HEAVEN, so I guess taking this one made sense for them.

Unlike HIGH HEAVEN, this one starts with God creating humans, and finding them difficult to handle right from Adam and Eve. God already has a son, Jesus, who volunteers to go down to Earth to see what he can do, and God likes the idea of him taking on the “family business.” Most of us know how that worked out.

In the present day, a superhero named Sunstar with powers similar to Superman is fighting crime in Urban City, and catches the eye of both God and Jesus. God admires the work Sunstar is doing, and decides to enlist him as a tutor for Jesus, dropping his son off at the apartment of Sunstar and his girlfriend Sheila. Sunstar hardly knows what to do with Jesus, bringing him along on a mission to stop sellers of illegal merchandise, but telling him to wait outside. Jesus has his own way of helping that’s not what Sunstar expected.

The humor here is obvious and not subtle, but the story does take an interesting turn toward the end when Jesus tells Sunstar about his best friend from his previous time on Earth, and what happened then. As someone who is not religious, but reasonably familiar with Christian teachings, I found the book entertaining, and will read more issues if I get them. I don’t see the series as either groundbreaking or provocative, but it’s a good read.

Recommended.

San Diego Bound July 18-21

Having been nominated for an Eisner Award for best lettering again this year, I am heading to that massive crowd scene and amazing exhibition called Comic-Con International in San Diego, California once again. I head out early Thursday and will be there Thursday afternoon through Sunday, if air travel goes as planned. While there’s plenty to see, for me it’s most importantly a time to see friends and work-mates from over the last 40-plus years, and to enjoy the company of kindred souls in the comics business. Yes, there’s plenty of non-comics stuff there, too, but we can pass by much of that. It’s such a wide-ranging event that you can find the con you’re looking for, it just may take some extra walking.

I hope to blog from the con as I usually do. Above is a photo from my last visit in 2017. I will only have my phone camera this time, as I’m planning on traveling light, but that’s good enough to capture my own con. I will probably be posting on Facebook too, so if you’re following me either on my personal page or my “Todd Klein, artist” page, I should have some images there.

If you’re going, and you see me, do say hello! I know there will be people I’d like to see that I’ll miss (125 thousand attendees per day after all), and some I wasn’t expecting to see that I will. At least I hope so. I know I’ll be exhausted by each afternoon and evening, but I’m sure I’ll have a great time. I always do.

Incoming: JUSTICE Deluxe Edition Hardcover

Image © DC Comics.

JUSTICE has just arrived, a new hardcover edition in the Deluxe format, which is a little larger than standard hardcover size. This is the 2005-2007 twelve-issue series pitting the Justice League against many of their top villains. It has over 100 pages of additional material, so I’m guessing this follows the Absolute Edition as far as contents, but that’s my guess. Retail price is $49.99. It’s out in comics shops on August 7th. Gorgeous art with Alex Ross painting over Doug Braithwaite’s pencils, and a cast of thousands.

And Then I Read: HASHTAG: DANGER #3

Image © Ahoy Comics. Lead story written by Tom Peyer, everything else by Chris Giarrusso. Backup written by Paul Constant, art by Fred Harper, Colors by Lee Loughridge, letters by Rob Steen. Cover by Richard Williams.

At first glance this comic’s title lead seems to be in the style of a kid’s cartoon or animation. One of the things that makes it funny is the way that look plays against the sophisticated sarcasm, humor and adult language. The three lead characters fit the stereotypes of leader (Desiree Danger), brainy science guy (Einstein Armstrong) and muscle (Susan Rae Huang), but each character combines those elements with equally dissonant flaws. Desiree is desperate for a newsworthy villain to tackle, but none are around, so they head off to the moon to look for “The Ape in the Iron Mask,” as described by Einstein. The journey and what they find there are equally amusing.

The backup featuring stand-up comic Snelson is completely different, sort of a Vertigo take on Seinfeld perhaps, but also entertaining. Of the text features, the one by Carol Lay is the best.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: FIRE, TALES OF ELEMENTAL SPIRITS by Robin McKinley & Peter Dickinson

I’ve enjoyed the fantasy fiction of both these authors for many years. They married in 1991 and did two of these anthologies together. This one has three stories by Dickinson and two by McKinley, but one of hers fills about a third of the book.

First is “Phoenix” by Dickinson. Ellie is on a picnic with her family in the English countryside, and is rescued on the edge of a private woods preserve from thieves by a boy, Dave, who invites her to enter the wood and meet his elderly lady friend Welly, who lives there. Dave and Welly are caretakers of the preserve, and are as much in love with trees, animals and nature as she is. In time, she becomes their helper, and eventually learns their deepest secret. They have a (or the) Phoenix living in the wood with them. It has done so for over 100 years. The rest of Dave and Welly’s story is equally amazing, and Ellie is asked to take part in an ancient ritual to allow it to continue.

Next is McKinley’s “Hellhound.” Miri and her family run a riding stable adjacent to a cemetery with a bad reputation. When Miri adopts a dog with unusual red eyes she names Flame, she jokingly calls him a hellhound. It turns out she’s not far wrong. Flame has perfect manners, but he does not like the graveyard and what unseen things may be there. When Miri’s brother and his girlfriend don’t return in time from a trail ride in that direction, Miri and Flame are off to find out why. The answer is horrible, leading to a battle in the spirit world.

“Fireworm” by Dickinson is about an ancient pre-historic people in an ice age beset by a fiery salamander from deep inside the earth who attacks their camp. Tandin, one of them who is not well thought of by his people, finds he has the power to enter the spirit world and follow the salamander there, leading to a plan that he hopes will destroy the creature and save his people.

“Salamander Man” is another Dickinson story about the fiery elemental creatures. In this one, Tib is the slave/helper of a seller of magical trinkets and charms in the medieval town of Haballun. A wizard customer recognizes powers in Tib he doesn’t know about himself, and he buys the boy, beginning a strange journey in which Tib gathers the powers of the salamanders, growing to the size of a giant.

“First Flight” by McKinley is the longest story, almost a novel itself. It’s about dragons who are partnered with human riders for combat and transportation, along the lines of Ann McCaffrey’s Pern novels. Ern is the third son of a working class family in a small village. His older brother Dag has gone to learn to be a dragon rider, the second boy is learning to be a Seer. Ern has found his own personal calling as a healer, but healing is a skill which is looked down on in his village, and Ern has to hide his talent for it. Meanwhile, he’s found a young animal, a foogit, doglike but related to the dragons somehow. Sippy had a broken leg when he found it, and Ern mended it to the best of his ability, but in the end he brought it to Ralas, their local witch/wizard. Ralas becomes Ern’s friend and teaches him many things about healing. The story takes a turn when Dag comes home angry and depressed. He’s been paired with an older dragon who has only two eyes instead of the usual three, one was lost in combat. This makes Hereyta unable to make the long-distance flights through another dimension that her breed is known for. Despite that, Dag and Hereyta have been commanded to fly with the rest of Dag’s class before the entire dragon school. Ralas suggests that Ern and Sippy go with him for this graduation event, and when they all arrive at the dragon school things get even more interesting, and Ern and Sippy find new importance.

This is a fine book. I’m not a fan of anthologies generally, but I liked this one a lot. Recommended.

And Then I Read: STEEL CAGE #1

Image © Ahoy Comics. In addition to the credits listed above,
lettering by Rob Steen, cover by Elsa Charretier.

DC Comics once had SHOWCASE and THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD to try out new characters or features, but Ahoy Comics has a much cleverer idea. Divide this new anthology into three equal parts, and let three creative teams introduce a new comic. Readers are then invited to vote for their favorite on the Ahoy Comics website, and I expect the winner will be up for a future series, or perhaps the contest will continue by pitting winners against winners in future issues. All three of these are worthy entries.

Tom Peyer and Alan Robinson bring us the superhero Penultiman, posing as a lowly FBI office worker until his powers are needed. This may sound familiar, but the character’s origin is unusual, and rather funny, though he sure doesn’t think so.

There’s nothing funny about Bright Boy from Stuart Moore and Peter Gross, he’s a soul-tortured computer virus expert whose explosive powers seem to only get in the way when he’s trying to save the world.

Finally we have Noah Zark by Mark Waid and Lanna Souvanny, a charming story about a boy who has not only escaped from an interstellar menagerie of creatures from many worlds, he’s taken the creatures with him. Noah’s plan is to return each of them to their home world. The Zaxton Brothers, in hot pursuit, have another plan that doesn’t bode well for Noah.

Fun stuff, and recommended.

Twelve Years In

July 3, 2007 I began this blog. I admit it’s been somewhat neglected this past year, for several reasons. The main one is that I’ve been putting a lot of time into a family history project instead, one that I should be wrapping up this month. It’s meant for family members, but some parts of it may show up here in the future.

I’ve cut back my comics lettering and design work quite a bit in the past year, I’m now doing about a quarter of what I was few years ago. You’d think this would give me plenty of time for blogging, but it hasn’t proved to be so. Less involvement in making comics provides less incentive for writing about them, for one thing. Eventually I hope to get back to writing more about letterers like Ira Schnapp and Gaspar Saladino, I hope in the coming year.

I’m getting older, 68 now, and health issues and doctor visits are taking up more time for both myself and my wife Ellen. It seems to occupy about one full day a week on average between the two of us.

I’m still enjoying reading some comics, but not as many, and I’m no longer receiving many copies from publishers, so that’s also a factor. I do buy a few on Comixology and review those, if anybody’s even interested in what I think!

I’m also trying to get outside more, though not so much on 90 degree days like today.

Hope you all have a great summer, and check in here from time to time to see what’s new.

Todd

And Then I Read: BRONZE AGE BOOGIE #2

Image © Stuart Moore, Alberto Ponticelli and Ahoy Comics. Lead written by Moore, art by Ponticelli, backup written by Tyrone Finch, art by Mauricet. Colors by Giulia Brusco & Lee Loughridge, letters by Rob Steen.

Stuart Moore is having too much fun throwing together every 1970s science fiction, action and exploitation Saturday-afternoon movie idea he can think of. You have the girl fighter from the distant past, Brita Constantina, teamed with the giant afro gunfighter Lynda Darrk fighting Martian invaders, and soon they’re joined by kung-fu guru Jackson Li and his shaggy dog, all in New York, which is crumbling under the Martians. Cool stuff. The backup is great too, about a bear who gained supreme intelligence on a spaceflight test mission, but no one will listen to him because…he’s a bear. This is a fine read in every way.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: PLANET OF THE NERDS #3

Written by Paul Constant, art by Alan Robinson (lead) and Randy Elliott (backup),
colors by Felipe Sobreiro, letters by Rob Steen

I’m impressed with the writing of Paul Constant on this title because he’s made me sympathize with the lead characters, even though I don’t like them. Steve, Drew and Chad are three high-school jocks from the 1980s tricked into cryogenic sleep by their inventor-nerd enemy Alvin. When they wake up in our present time, they’re completely lost in every way, struggling to survive without getting arrested in this issue while they try to reach Alvin, now a successful business owner. Chad is the least likable of the three, he’s stubborn, cruel and violent. This issue’s backup story gives us some possible reasons why. The other two have a little more sense, but they can’t navigate today’s world at all. Strangers in a strange land is a plot device that works well here.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: ASTOUNDING, JOHN W. CAMPBELL, ISAAC ASIMOV, ROBERT A. HEINLEIN, L. RON HUBBARD, AND THE GOLDEN AGE OF SCIENCE FICTION by Alec Nevala-Lee

Cover art by Tavis Coburn

I began reading science fiction magazines around 1962, age 11, starting with “The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.” I became aware of the placement of “Astounding Science Fiction” at the top rank of those magazines, but by then the so-called golden age had passed. I did find and love the work of Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov in other magazines, and especially the novels of Heinlein written for younger readers, and he became and remains a favorite author. I liked Asimov too, not quite as much. I never read anything by L. Ron Hubbard, and by the time I was getting into SF, he was better known as the founder of dianetics and scientology, often described as crackpot science and weird cults. As for Campbell, I encountered him in older issues of “Astounding” that I searched out for stories by my favorite writers. His editorials were interesting, provocative, sometimes a bit shocking. I never encountered his writing, though I knew a story of his was the basis for the very scary film, “The Thing.”

I thoroughly enjoyed Alex Nevala-Lee’s combined biography and explanation of the rise and fall of “Astounding” under the editorship of Campbell, and it not only was an engrossing history and story, it also helped me fit many disparate bits of information I had about these people into context and into the broader story of science fiction and its role in the development of fiction and science in the 20th century. Having read the massive two-volume biography of Heinlein by William H. Patterson Jr., it was particularly interesting to see how things I learned there fit into this story. For instance, Heinlein always saw Hubbard as a war hero, never knowing (or not believing) that all of his heroic war stories were made up by him.

Campbell himself is a fascinating person to read about, a classic brilliant but anti-social nerd who never quite had the ability to become the scientist he wanted to be, and fell into writing science fiction to make extra money. His placement as the editor of “Astounding” allowed him to cultivate and guide other writers to the kind of work he wanted to do himself, and he supplied them with countless ideas to get them writing. Of the title writers, he was initially closest to Heinlein, and the two formed a tight partnership in the early years. This was derailed by Campbell’s later shift toward crackpot theories and unprovable inventions, with Hubbard’s dianetics at the head of the pack.

Asimov comes off as the most pliable pawn in Campbell’s writing stable, eager to let the editor guide him at first, and certainly benefitting from that guidance. Hubbard is portrayed as just about the opposite of what he claimed to be, from brilliant writer to would-be messiah. It makes me even more certain I’m not interested in his writing, and I have to wonder what kind of push-back this book will get from Scientology, the religion of sorts that Hubbard started.

This is a great read for anyone interested in the period, the genre, or the authors. Highly recommended.