Todd Klein's Blog, page 128

And Then I Read: THE FLASH #63

Image © DC Comics. Written by Joshua Williamson, art by Minkyu Jung,
colors by Hi-Fi, letters by Steve Wands.

The conclusion of “Force Quest” begins as the last issue ended, with the Gemini twins sucking the powers and life from Psych and Flash. Revelations about the new forces, Sage, Strength and Still come forth as Psych allows Barry Allen to learn what Gemini know about them. It changes everything, turns the tables on Gemini. and takes Barry and Iris back, briefly to Gorilla City and then home. I have to say I did not find much resolution in this story. Instead it simply leads into another one in FLASH ANNUAL #2. I don’t plan on continuing, as the whole concept of the four forces has become tiresome to me. Your mileage may vary.

Mildly recommended.

Watching: CAPTAIN MARVEL

I haven’t followed the Marvel versions of Captain Marvel, so I had no preconceptions of what to expect from the plot of this film. It begins more like a Star Wars film; in space, with the heroine part of a Kree team trying to rescue one of their agents on a world under attack by the Skrull. These two alien species have been at war for a long time in the Marvel universe, and the Skrulls go right back to the earliest issues of FANTASTIC FOUR, where they were tricky and evil alien shape-shifters. “Veers,” as the character is known, can’t remember her past before finding herself with the Kree, except for occasional moments and images. As the Kree group’s mission goes wrong, the story eventually takes us to Earth about twenty years in the past, where Veers crash-lands in a mall and is soon confronted by S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury. Veers is after the Skrull that have followed her to Earth, and Fury is soon dragged into that battle, even while the powerful young woman is gradually getting her memories back and finding out that her past is actually much different than what she’s been told by the Kree.

This was fun and well-written. I liked the way the origin story was woven gradually into the film a little at a time. I thought Brie Larson was terrific in the title role: a strong person, confused on occasion but never at a loss and always ready to fight for what she wants. My second favorite character was played by Annette Bening in a dual role as a mentor and enemy. Much has been made of the de-aging of Samuel L. Jackson and Clark Gregg as Nick Fury and Agent Coulson, but I hardly gave it a thought as I watched the film, it did not call any attention to itself. My only negative impression was the Skrulls, they seemed very much in a rubber suit, and hard to understand at times. Some action sequences were a bit too reminiscent of Star Wars, too, but most of the action worked well and was not as hard to follow as in some effects-laden films.

In all, this was a fine viewing experience and recommended.

And Then I Read: BATMAN, KINGS OF FEAR #4

Image © DC Comics. Written by Scott Peterson, art by Kelley Jones,
colors by Michelle Madsen, letters by Rob Leigh.

Once again the art often carries the narrative in this issue as Batman is on the psychiatric couch of The Scarecrow, telling him about the murders of his parents. Under the influence of Scarecrow’s fear gas, Batman does not seem to be able to resist the questioning. Meanwhile, James Gordon has found Scarecrow’s henchmen and is trying to beat the whereabouts of Batman out of them. One interesting segment shows the effects of the Bat signal on Gotham’s inhabitants, both criminal and law-abiding. Another shows how Batman sees himself as a kind of superhero. When it comes to a love interest, though, Scarecrow has a pretty accurate diagnosis for his foe.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: GREEN LANTERN #4

Image © DC Comics. Written by Grant Morrison, art by Liam Sharp,
Colors by Steve Oliff, letters by Tom Orzechowski

A four-armed cowboy and a masked Darkstar sit swapping tales in a bar. Hers is a tale of Countess Belzebeth, destroyer of worlds, preying on the sun of a race of ant-like creatures with her sun-eaters in order to get them to release another horrible threat. His is a tale of Hal Jordan and two other Green Lanterns as they try to save a different world from another sun-eater, and how Hal ignored a summons to appear before the Guardians of the Universe to answer for a killing at his hands so that he could save this world, as well as the other Green Lanterns with him. And what his punishment was for the killing. Both tale-tellers have a good reason for their tales, they each want something the other has.

Kudos to Grant for inventive story structure and to Liam for inventive art. Everything in this book is quality, including the coloring and lettering. Recommended.

And Then I Read: SHADOWMAN, FEAR OF THE DARK

Image © Valiant Entertainment. Written by Andy Diggle, art by Stephen Segovia,
colors by Ulises Arreola, letters by Simon Bowland, cover by Tonci Zonjic

This is the first comics by Valiant that I’ve read, a collection of the first three issues of the 2018 relaunch of their character Shadowman. He’s a New Orleans/voodoo character whose apparently been in “the Deadside” for a while. His former partner/girlfriend Alyssa Miles is working a case in the swamps herself, runs into a monster she can’t handle, and somehow pulls Shadowman out of the Deadside to help. Jack Boniface, the alter-ego of Shadowman, was put there by his enemy, voodoo spirit Baron Samedi, who retains some of Jack’s Shadowman power, and comes back to taunt him. Jack’s only hope is to return to the Deadside, even though he and Alyssa are sure he’s walking into a trap.

Well written, with excellent art, coloring and lettering. It’s a genre that doesn’t usually appeal to me, but the story kept the pages turning and I enjoyed the read. Recommended.

Incoming: THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN OMNIBUS, JUBILEE EDITION

Just arrived is this thick, heavy collection of Volumes 1 and 2 of LOEG plus THE BLACK DOSSIER. There’s no page count, but approximately 600 pages I think. It’s the Deluxe size, so about 10% larger art than the regular hardcover and trade paperbacks. The paper quality is quite good, the binding is glued rather than sewn. Without looking at every page, I think it’s complete with a few minor changes on credits/indicia pages. The bound-in 3-D glasses are not as good as the ones in the original versions of BLACK DOSSIER (also in issue 3 of the current series LOEG: THE TEMPEST), but they will probably work well enough. The cover starts with my cover design for the Absolute Edition but puts the title at the top instead of the bottom, covering some of the art. Looks okay, I like my design better.

Of course the Absolute Editions of these three collections are the best, much larger page size, sewn binding, and on volumes 1 and 2 a second book of Alan Moore scripts. Buying those now, if you could, would cost hundreds of dollars. This one is quite a good deal at $75, I think. I’m all for keeping the material in print, and DC has done a good job with this book. I’m currently working on the last issue of THE TEMPEST, the last LOEG issue ever, and of course that will eventually be collected as Volume 4. Volume 3, CENTURY, has been out for some time, and then there are the three NEMO hardcovers as well. It’s been a long road, and a great one. I’ve just lettered a very satisfying resolution to a storyline that began in BLACK DOSSIER, the first series I lettered (most of). I will be sad to see it end, and have enjoyed every moment of working on the League.

Not sure when this is out in shops, but I’d put an order in now if you want it. Amazon has it available on April 9th.

And Then I Read: THE DREAMING #6

Image © DC Comics. Written by Simon Spurrier, art by Bilquis Evely, colors by Mat Lopes, letters by Simon Boland, cover by Jae Lee & June Chung.

Dora has been the central character around which much of this series has revolved, and as the issue opens, we hear her thoughts. They are full of fear, self-hatred, and anger. Cain and Abel, amid their eternal roles of killer and victim, offer her a new idea, but Dora is now intent on killing Judge Gallows, the current ruler of the realm, a dream of death and torture who is making everyone miserable. Merv Pumpkinhead gives Dora new information about her life in The Dreaming, arming her for the battle with Gallows. Meanwhile, the strange geometric shape recently arrived on the plain outside Dream’s castle is speaking to Cain and Abel and about to open.

Issues one to five had pretty clear storytelling, but this one gets confusing at times, and the conclusion is puzzling. Still, I’ve enjoyed reading it and will be interested in what comes next.

Recommended.

MY COMICS LIFE-LIST 1981

From UNKNOWN SOLDIER #252, image © DC Comics.

This is the fourth in my ongoing series of articles where I list where and when I first worked with other creators, mostly on inside pages, in chronological order based on cover dates of the comics. You can find the previous entries on the COMICS CREATION page of this blog.

Ground rules: I worked on staff at DC from July 1977 to August 1987, and in that time worked with every staffer and many freelancers in some capacity, and did art and lettering corrections on a host of comics. I can’t count those. Some of the things I did in comics did not usually involve working directly with artists and writers: logo design, house ads, cover lettering and production work of various kinds. Another thing I won’t count are relettering foreign stories, as I did for HEAVY METAL early on. To be added to my comics life-list, I thought I should be part of the creative team making stories. That means I was the letterer (in most cases), occasionally the writer, and rarely the artist or colorist. Of course this lists only the first time I worked with someone, so anyone from the previous year lists will not be here. Entries are tagged as a writer (w), artist or penciller-inker (a), penciller (p), or inker (i). I did not often interact with colorists (c) in pre-digital days, as my work was finished before theirs began, but I’m including them as an important part of the creative team. My credit is for lettering unless otherwise noted.

Carmine Infantino (p) ADVENTURE COMICS #479, March 1981

Larry Mahlstedt (i) ADVENTURE COMICS #479, March 1981

I loved Carmine’s work as a child, particularly on FLASH. I missed working with him on staff by a few years, and was delighted to letter some of his work at DC, particularly on FLASH, but the lead “Dial H for Hero” story in this issue was fun, too. Larry was a fine inker, I think we worked together elsewhere.

B. S. Watson (w) MYSTERY IN SPACE #117, March 1981

Bruce Jones (w) MYSTERY IN SPACE #117, March 1981

Rick Veitch (p) MYSTERY IN SPACE #117, March 1981

Dennis Jensen (i) MYSTERY IN SPACE #117, March 1981

This issue was the first of many collaborations with Rick Veitch. I confess I don’t remember meeting the others.

Bo Hampton (a) THE UNEXPECTED #208, March 1981

I’m surprised to see I worked with Bo this early, or at all, I didn’t recall it. His brother Scott and I collaborated often.

Dan Mishkin & Gary Cohn (w) WARLORD #43, March 1981

Greg LaRocque (p) WARLORD #43, March 1981

Phil Rachelson (c) WARLORD #43, March 1981

Mishkin & Cohn always worked as a team in their early days at DC, we met a few times. This was on an “OMAC” backup story.

Roy Thomas (w) GREEN LANTERN #139, April 1981

I only worked with Roy a few times. This first time, he scripted over Marv Wolfman’s plot.

Karen Berger (w) HOUSE OF MYSTERY #292, May 1981

Dan Spiegle (a) HOUSE OF MYSTERY #292, May 1981

In her earliest editing days on this title, Karen was writing the one-page introductions, some of which I lettered. Dan Spiegle and I later collaborated on OMEGA MEN #32, my favorite issue.

Bob Oksner (p) SUPERMAN FAMILY # 207, May-June 1981

A wonderful artist whose work I came to appreciate more later. This was a Lois Lane story.

Howard Bender (p) GHOSTS #101, June 1981

Tony DeZuñiga (i) GHOSTS #101, June 1981

Howard worked in the DC production department with me at the time. I don’t think I ever met DeZuñiga.

Joe Brozowski (p) HOUSE OF MYSTERY #293, June 1981

I remember talking to Joe at DC a number of times. He also worked under the pen name J. J. Birch.

John Severin (a) UNKNOWN SOLDIER #252, June 1981

As seen above, John was always a thrill to work with, and I didn’t have the chance very often. One of the greats. I don’t think we ever met in person.

Bob Haney (w) WORLD’S FINEST #269, June-July 1981

Brett Breeding (i) WORLD’S FINEST #269, June-July 1981

Long-time DC writer Haney was around the offices fairly often, but I don’t recall ever talking to him. Breeding was and is a fine inker.

Denys Cowan (p) THE FLASH #299, July 1981

I remember talking to Denys at DC, and we worked together on Batman stories a few times.

Ernie Colón (a) THE SPIRIT #30 (Kitchen Sink), July 1981

Ernie and I became friends when he started working at DC as an editor, and he was my editor on a few things I wrote. We often went to lunch together with Keith Giffen and others. This was the “Spirit Jam” issue with dozens of top creators. I lettered three pages. A rare instance of being allowed to letter for another publisher while on staff.

Laurie Sutton (w) GREEN LANTERN #143, Aug. 1981

Rodin Rodriguez (p) GREEN LANTERN #143, Aug. 1981

Laurie had been employed by the Comics Code Authority, and then became an editor at DC, where we worked together. I think I met Rodriguez, but I’m not sure. This was for an “Adam Strange” backup story.

Adrian Gonzales (i) HOUSE OF MYSTERY #295, Aug. 1981

Jimmy Janes (p) LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #278, Aug. 1981

I met Jimmy Janes at DC and remember talking to him a few times.

Luke McDonnell (p) WEIRD WAR TALES #102, Aug. 1981

I worked with Luke on his SUICIDE SQUAD run and remember meeting him a few times.

Tom Ziuko (c) ACTION COMICS #524, Oct. 1981

Tom was another fellow production staffer. I enjoyed working with him until he went freelance full-time.

That’s it, more of this when I have time.

And Then I Read: MASCOT OF THE MELROY by Keith Robertson

Cover illustration by Jack Weaver

It’s World War Two, and some of the crew of a U.S. Destroyer are on a dock in Newfoundland loading supplies when Slim Teague hears the whimper of a puppy, a Newfoundland puppy shivering and abandoned on the dock. Despite the fact that his ship has a strict “No Dogs” policy laid down by their captain, he smuggles the frozen puppy back to the ship in his jacket, thinking he will drop it at the next port. That next port is a long time coming, as “The Melroy” is about to join a convoy escorting ships to Europe. Before long everyone knows about the puppy, now named Bosun, except the officers and captain. When Bosun alerts some of the men to a fire in their bunkroom, he becomes a beloved member of the crew, and eventually is discovered by the Captain. Slim is punished when they finally return to New York harbor for resupply and Bosun is given to a crewman’s wife, but he finds his own way back to the ship and stows away on their next voyage, to the captain’s annoyance.

Eventually, even that hard heart is won over and Bosun becomes the official ship’s mascot. When “The Melroy” goes to war in Operation Torch in the Mediterranean Sea, his training in water rescue comes in handy, but in the confusion of a sinking vessel, he’s left behind, to become the property of several new owners on the shore of North Africa. Will he somehow find his way back to Slim?

This is the last of many Keith Robertson books I hadn’t read, I’ve collected almost all of them from my childhood to now. He’s probably best known for his “Henry Reed” books, but wrote many others I love just as well. He lived in and sometimes wrote about New Jersey, my home state, and served as the captain of a destroyer himself in World War Two. I thoroughly enjoyed this 1953 book, and am a bit sad that there are no more unread ones to find, but I will probably reread some of the ones I already have.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: THE FLASH #62

Image © DC Comics. Written by Joshua Williamson, art by Christian Duce,
colors by Luis Guerrero, letters by Steve Wands, cover by David Yardin

Part Five of “Force Quest” has Barry Allen and Iris West undercover in Zandia, a haven for super-villains. They’ve met Psyche, a Sage Force user, and hope to find out more about that, but first he wants their help taking down the queen of crime in Zandia, Roulette, in her casino. Psyche’s story has Barry sympathetic, but Iris is more wary, and with good reason. Things don’t go at all as expected in the casino, where Roulette has the Royal Flush Gang as her bodyguard. To make things worse, the criminal power-draining duo Gemini are here, too.

Fairly predictable, but entertaining. Recommended.