Todd Klein's Blog, page 173

And Then I Read: GREEN LANTERNS #10

Image © DC Comics.

A new kind of power ring has been created by a rogue Guardian, and there’s only one of them. It can be used by anyone, no restrictions, and contains the powers of all the lantern colors. Earth’s GLs, Jessica and Simon, have the ring and it’s creator under their roof, nervously waiting for evil to pounce, and pounce it does, in the form of Volthoom, the first Lantern and his human protege, Frank, who desperately wants to wear a power ring. He has no qualms about what he might need to do to get it.

I’m enjoying this storyline, and particularly the banter and elements of humor in Sam Humphries’ script, leavening the action and scary bits nicely. The art by Eduardo Pansica and Julio Ferreira is also excellent.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: THE FLASH #11

Image © DC Comics.

Wally West, Kid Flash, has been sucked into a dark realm where he’s being constantly attacked by menacing shadow creatures. He can’t find a way out. Meanwhile, Barry Allen visits Wally’s Aunt Iris to have a talk with Wally. They both discover he’s missing, and Iris contacts The Flash about it (not knowing Barry’s other identity). An oddly grotesque figure in Victorian garb appears, who Barry recognizes as The Shade–sort of. The Shade tells Barry and Iris that Wally is trapped in the The Shadowlands, a dimension that is the source of his power, and Iris and Flash rush into it to help Wally. Once there, Wally and Barry meet the more normal version of The Shade, who tells them his story of reform, a new life with Hope O’Dare, and the destruction of that life by forces from The Shadowland. Meanwhile, there’s no sign of Iris, but plenty of shadow creatures to fight.

This story interests me because I lettered a 2012 mini-series about The Shade that this story draws on, and I always found him a great character in STARMAN, too. So far his use here isn’t as interesting, but the book does have its moments, kind of heading into dark steampunk territory of sorts. It’s a nice break from the constant Speed Force thread of recent books. I like the art on this issue by Davide Gianfelice, though his name is not on the cover. He does a nice job similar to  the stylized approach of previous artist Carmine Di Giandomenico.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: CAVE CARSON #4

Image © DC Comics.

Cave has stolen his subterranean car, the Mighty Mole, and with his daughter and Wild Dog (for some reason) has fled to the underground kingdom which was the home of his wife and her people. It’s now in ruins and haunted by ghosts. A newer Mighty Mole is after them, with a team intent on retrieving Cave and his crew and vehicle. That group is led by one of Cave’s former team, Johnny, who is a reluctant pilot. The rest of the team are corporate stooges ready to take down the fugitives. Cave will not go without a fight, and the underground land has a few surprises for both groups. Meanwhile, Cave’s former boss is cooking up more trouble back on the surface.

I have to say I like the story and characters better than the art on this book. I keep waiting for the art to draw me in, but instead I find myself puzzling out what some of the pictures are meant to be showing, taking me out of the story. I’ll stick with it, though, as I want to see where it goes.

Mildly recommended.

And Then I Read: GHOST HAWK by Susan Cooper

Cover illustration by Alejandro Colucci.

I’ve been enjoying the work of Susan Cooper since her first fantasy, “Over Sea, Under Stone” in 1965, the beginning of her “The Dark Is Rising” sequence. One thing I admire about Cooper is that she’s always trying new things, entering new areas of fiction. This book takes place in Massachusetts at a time when the Native American population was still large, but colonists from Europe were arriving steadily, creating friction between the two groups. The narrator is Little Hawk, a boy of the Pokanoket tribe undergoing a survival ritual that will usher him into manhood if he comes through it. Left in the woods far from home with only his knife, tomahawk, bow and arrows in early winter, he must find a way to survive for three months there on his own. While he has been well trained for his ordeal, it’s far from easy, and he comes close to death at times, but Little Hawk does win through.

When he returns home, everything is greatly changed. Most of his tribe is dead from a disease brought by the white men. Only his grandmother and sister remain from his own family, and they have joined another decimated tribe in a new home. Little Hawk does his best for them, even befriending a white man’s son who visits the tribe, but later that friendship leads to a horrible misunderstanding and violent attack on the Native American boy. The white boy, John Wakely, is horrified, knowing Little Hawk was only trying to help him, and a spiritual bond is forged between them that will last for the rest of their lives. There is definitely a fantasy element to the tale, but I’ll refrain from explaining further, as it might spoil the story for readers.

Through the eyes of the two boys, we see how the conflicts between the settlers and natives play out in many ways. The settlers have come to gain religious freedom, but many of them are so strict in their own religion that freedom is impossible for young John, and he must leave home to become an cooper’s apprentice, learning to make barrels. Eventually he finds a life for himself, with Little Hawk always watching and helping when he can. They are not easy times for anyone, especially the Pokanoket and other tribes whose long-held territory is shrinking, and their traditional way of life becoming ever more difficult. John Wakely does what he can to help them, too.

Beautifully written, historically accurate, and with great knowledge of the land, the ways of both peoples, and human nature. Highly recommended.

A New Blog Page

I’ve added a new page collecting links to all the Book Reviews I’ve done since I began this blog in July, 2007. You’ll find it in the top menu, which is horizontal list at the top, or a pull-down list on the phone version. It doesn’t include comics, art books which are mostly pictures, or movies, which I don’t review often anyway. It does include both fiction and non-fiction, some comics related, and art books which include biographical and analytical information. Most are books I enjoyed and would recommend, some more than others, of course. Books I didn’t like enough to finish are not there. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, for my own reference, and perhaps others will find it useful, too. Please let me know if you find any broken or incorrect links.

Pulled From My Files #52: THE VISION LOGO

This and all images © Marvel.

In 1994 I was asked by Marvel editor Ralph Macchio to design a logo for a Vision miniseries. I submitted three marker sketches, but only two of them remain in my files. At the time Marvel had been stretching out some of my logos vertically, so I decided to design this one already very tall, with the V and N intended to run off the top edge. There are some notes on this sketch (hard to read in this scan) about curving the S more, and opening up space between I, O and N as well as the space inside the O. These were probably notes from Ralph.

Here’s the other surviving sketch, also tall, and this time with one-point perspective telescoping to add depth. My note says that if they chose this design I would open up space between the letters a bit.

Version 1 was what they chose, and this is a photocopy of the final logo I sent in. The changes from my notes were made, and I evened out and opened up the THE. Otherwise this is pretty close to the sketch.

Of course, wouldn’t you know,  the cover art didn’t work well with the tall logo, forcing Marvel to make it pretty small on the covers. None of the four mini-series covers showcase the logo very well, this is about the best to my eye. So my plan didn’t work out, but at least they used the logo without any distortion, as happened with some others at the time.

And Then I Read: WONDER WOMAN #12

Image © DC Comics.

Even-numbered issue, Wonder Woman Year One storyline. Diana has stopped terrorists attacking a San Diego mall, bringing her to the attention of the media and the world. Her military handlers and friends, including Steve Trevor, Lieutenant Candy, and Doctor Minerva are still trying to figure out what exactly her powers are, as is Diana herself. It seems they appear when she most needs them, unexpectedly. Steve has her out in the desert training when he learns that she cannot return home, a sacrifice made for him that he didn’t recognize before. Later, she tries to help interrogate the terrorists she captured using her magic lasso with very surprising results, see the image above. Great writing by Greg Rucka, lovely art by Nicola Scott. I’m still finding this storyline a more fun and appealing than the present-day one running in the odd-numbered issues, though I like that too.

Recommended.

Listening To: RINGWORLD by Larry Niven

This is the third complete science fiction novel I’ve enjoyed listening to on Audible, included as part of Amazon Prime. I own the book, but hadn’t read it since it came out in the 1970s, also true of many other Larry Niven books. I’d forgotten how much I enjoy his writing.

The Ringworld concept is a huge one, and a fascinating idea: an artificial world in the shape of a ring orbiting a star. The ring is so huge that if the surface of our own world were made flat, many thousands (perhaps millions?) of them could fit on the surface. It rotates enough to provide gravity, and there are very high walls on the edges to contain atmosphere. Four explorers crash-land on the surface, their ship shot down by automatic anti-meteorite weapons, and most of the book involves them trying to find a way to repair their ship and get it to the edge of the ring so they can escape Ringworld.

Two are from Earth. Louis Wu is a man just celebrating his 200th birthday, but in fine physical shape due to longevity drugs. He’s done and seen it all on Earth, and in Niven’s “known space,” comprising a number of inhabited worlds and competing civilizations. The very dangerous expedition to Ringworld appeals to him as something new and different. Teela Brown, a beautiful young woman, has been chosen in an unlikely way by the leader of the group not because she and Louis are having an affair, but something more scientific (at least in this book). She is extremely lucky. The other two members are non-human. Speaker-to-Animals is a Kzin, a tiger-like humanoid whose warlike race has fought and been defeated by humans and others, and is now learning the ways of civilized diplomacy. Speaker is the ambassador of the Kzin on Earth. Finally, the leader of the group, at least initially, is Nessus, a non-humanoid of the species Pierson’s Puppeteer. He has two heads, and other unusual anatomy, and his overriding personality trait, like all his species, is cowardice. The fact that he is even willing to go on this dangerous expedition suggests he may be insane by Puppeteer standards.

There’s plenty more plot leading up to the launch of the spacecraft “Lying Bastard” from the Puppeteer homeworld to Ringworld, which they have discovered, giving plenty of time for the reader (or listener) to get to know the characters and for them to learn about each other, all on a fascinating idea-filled backdrop of Niven’s “known space,” but once they arrive on Ringworld itself, the plot becomes one of exploration of unknown wonders, survival of unexpected dangers, and communication with the few other intelligent beings with some knowledge of Ringworld they can find. Most of the place has reverted to very primitive societies who understand little or nothing about where they live, and who worship the unseen Ringworld engineers as gods.

It’s a big book full of big ideas, entertaining characters, and exciting adventures. I have to find time to reread more of the Ringworld books now. Highly recommended.

And Then I Read: HAL JORDAN AND THE GL CORPS 9

Image © DC Comics.

Writer Robert Venditti is bringing out the big DCU space villains. Up first is Starro the Conqueror, that starfish-shaped creature who takes over minds with his face-hugger children, as seen above. But the real threat is Brainiac, who has led the Corps into a trap and into one of his “bottles.” Meanwhile, Hal Jordan, presumed dead, has a fascinating encounter with the very first Green Lantern he ever met, and Sinestro’s daughter, Soranik, is trying to help the people of Xudar, where things are happening, with her group of Yellow Lanterns. Lots going on, all of it interesting, and both John Stewart and Guy Gardner have enjoyable moments. Nice art by Rafa Sandoval and Jordi Tarragona, too.

Recommended.

Incoming: BLACK HAMMER SECRET ORIGINS (Vol. 1)

The first collection of the BLACK HAMMER series just arrived, containing issues 1 to 6. I believe this is the only continuing series I’ve ever lettered for Dark Horse, and I signed on because I liked the creative team and the proposal I got, and thought it would be fun to work on. It is, and I’m enjoying the stories and art immensely. If you haven’t given this title a try, here’s a great way to do it. Jeff Lemire describes it as a mix of old-school superhero comics and his own work on titles like ESSEX COUNTY and SWEET TOOTH. I’d say that’s about right. Each issue here contains an origin story of sorts, with characters that will seem somewhat familiar but with an overlay of weirdness that permeates the entire series. It has what I think are some brilliant moments, and Dean Ormston’s art has never looked better, in my opinion. Dark Horse’s website says it’s on sale March 29th.