Todd Klein's Blog, page 219

And Then I Read: SUPERMAN 40

Image © DC Comics.

For the final pre-CONVERGENCE issue of SUPERMAN, John Romita Jr. writes as well as pencils, and does a fine job. Superman is still trying to figure out the new power he’s discovered which is dangerous to anyone around him when used, and exhausts Clark Kent’s super-abilities for a while afterwards, a kind of super-intense heat beam, and I mean core of the sun hot. The Justice League is helping him, and they have some tests and lots of opinions, but no real answers. There’s a great scene afterwards where they all go to dinner in their civvies, and Clark gets drunk for the first time.

Next morning, a crisis arises, and as in the previous issue, Superman attempts to handle it, even though his powers are not yet fully restored. An interesting final scene with Lois leaves us with “To Be Continued.” I believe a new writer takes over after the break, I’ll be giving his work a try. I’ve been enjoying this book.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: CONVERGENCE WORLD’S FINEST 1 & 2

Images © DC Comics.

I’ve only read a few of the DC Convergence titles. This is one that looked interesting. Writer Paul Levitz has chosen as his viewpoint character a cartoonist based on comics legend Sheldon Mayer’s creation Scribbly, and Sheldon himself. The DC heroes involved are the Seven Soldiers of Victory, who as far as I recall never appeared in WORLD’S FINEST, or were handled by Mayer, but that aside, the story is made more appealing by the combination.

Convergence has set pieces of business that appear in each of the two-issue stories, and it’s very plot-driven, but Paul manages to get some nice character moments in when he can, and the story has a Silver Age feel to it in many respects. The art by pencillers Jim Fern and Ron Wagner, with guest spots and several inkers, is clean and open, appealing to my eyes. Nothing here that wowed me, but an enjoyable read for what it is. You should be aware that it will leave you hanging unless you read the main CONVERGENCE books, but Paul manages to get some resolution for his narrator at least.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: JUSTICE LEAGUE 40

Image © DC Comics.

Unlike many of the issue 40’s in DC’s New 52, this one does not end a story, it begins another epic struggle involving Jack Kirby’s Fourth World characters like Darkseid, and cleverly tying that into the original CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS. After recapping the central storyline of Kirby’s NEW GODS, as narrated by Metron of that group, and several pages of crazy character-stuffed recap of CRISIS, we see Metron interacting with the Anti-Monitor, and that’s where things get really interesting.

Having just read a New Gods storyline in the Green Lantern books, I can’t say I’m looking forward to more of them, but writer Geoff Johns always finds ways to draw me in, and the excellent art on this book helps, as always.

Recommended.

End of May

Photos © Todd Klein

I’m always a little sad to see the end of May, my favorite month, but this year it was a hectic one, and I’m looking forward to June. More flowers are blooming in the yard, these Roses are doing quite well.

The Trumpet Honeysuckle is elderly and nearly dead, but still putting out a few clusters of blossoms that the hummingbirds love.

These pansies were the first annuals I planted, at the end of April, and they’re still looking good. When it gets hot they’ll probably need to be replaced.

All the annuals I put in last weekend are doing well, like these pink Begonias. Of course, I have to water them, we’ve had very little rain for the last two months.

The cats were each relaxing in their own way this afternoon, Leo in a sunny corner of the porch…

…and Tigger on our bed upstairs. We relaxed, too. I finished a book I’ve been enjoying all week, played my guitar a little, and rocked on the porch, where Ellen was doing some scrap-booking after a small watercolor. A good day, lovely weather, and on we go to June!

Pulled From My Files #31: Lettering to Fit

Images © DC Comics.

Hand lettering on vellum overlay for HOUSE OF SECRETS #16 page 5 (1998). The type at lower right is done on the computer and pasted onto the vellum.

Here’s the best scan I could get of the printed page from the massive one-volume collection of a few years ago. The lettering overlay was photostatted in the DC production department and then pasted onto the finished art, or at least I think that’s what was done. The placement isn’t quite right, most obvious at the top right of the big five, where the lettering was meant to fill that white space. But I’m sure it was a tricky job to get it in, as the lettering was intentionally run very close to the border lines. Even then there are lots of hyphenated words. It might have been made harder if the art paper changed size due to changes in humidity, or if the photocopy of the art I used to letter over wasn’t quite the right proportions, which can happen. This job might have been easier to do with digital lettering, though the perspective angle needed would be tricky there too.

And Then I Read: SUPERMAN 39

Image © DC Comics.

There’s a reason writer Geoff Johns has moved from comics scriptwriter for DC to additionally holding the management position of Chief Creative Officer since 2010: he knows what makes their super-heroic characters work. Thankfully, he’s still writing about some of them, and this comic is a prime example.

Last issue Clark Kent revealed to Jimmy Olsen that he’s Superman, and at the beginning of this issue, Jimmy is wowed and impressed, but skeptical. Clark can’t show him any Superman tricks, because his power has just been depleted, so he’s an ordinary person for the day. But as that day progresses, Jimmy sees Clark continually reacting to the strangeness of being unpowered, as well as acting the part of a heroic figure, including managing a stand-off with a lone gunman in Metropolis that could easily get him killed. John Romita Jr. and Klaus Janson deliver fine art, but it’s the writing of Geoff Johns that makes this story shine, and stand well above the usual super-hero tale.

Highly recommended.

And Then I Read: THE SCULPTOR by Scott McCloud

Image © Scott McCloud

Scott has come a long way since we worked together in the DC Comics production department decades ago, and I admire all he’s accomplished. His new book is a massive effort in every way: hundreds of pages beautifully written and drawn full of heartfelt emotion, real people, a fine ticking-clock plot, and just enough fantasy to make full use of the comics medium brilliantly.

David Smith is a struggling sculptor with undeniable talent, but he keeps messing up his own best chances through poor people skills. When his Uncle Harry shows up in David’s life, he seems to know all about David’s frustrations and problems, and it soon becomes clear the person he’s talking to is not really Uncle Harry, but someone much more primal and sinister. Uncle Harry offers David a deal: a special talent that will help with his sculpture, in exchange for… well, I’ll let Scott tell it to you, he does it better, but you can probably sense where this is going.

Despite his new, amazing (and improbable) skill, David keeps on self-sabotaging his career, and now he has a deadline for success that can’t be denied. Then something happens that changes everything: David meets an angel. At first he’s dazzled by theatrical tricks, but when he gets to know the real woman, Meg, she becomes the most important person in his life, even though Meg has her own issues, and tries to push him away.

Beneath all the everyday trials and conflicts, the struggle for both David and Meg to find meaning in their lives and worth in their skills, the humor and commentary on the fine art world and surviving in the big city, this book is, at its center, a love story, and one you won’t forget. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

And Then I Read: DIPPER OF COPPER CREEK by Jean Craighead George & John George

Cover art by Matt Westrup

If, like me, you’re a fan of novels written for younger readers with a nature theme, you’re likely to know the name Jean Craighead George. She wrote dozens of them. Before her breakout novels, “My Side of the Mountain,” and “Julie of the Wolves,” her earliest novels were co-written with her then husband, John George. This is the first of those I’ve found, and I enjoyed it just as much as her solo work, though the latter is a little better in my opinion.

Doug is a teenager who comes to spend the summer with his uncle in a high valley of the Colorado Rockies, an otherwise abandoned mining town. Uncle Bill is still prospecting there, and occasionally finding enough gold ore to live on, barely. When Doug arrives, he’s ready for adventure, but is surprised to find how much he enjoys the native wildlife, particularly a family of Dippers.

American Dippers, as they’re now called, are very unusual birds who can actually walk and fly underwater, where they find insect food in competition with fish! Their lives and habits are fascinating, and well documented in this book, along with many other animals of the area. The book gives about equal time between the humans and the animals, with the largest focus on a young male dipper and his mate. There are adventures, trials, and danger in both narratives, which join when Doug tries to capture and raise a young dipper in Uncle Bill’s cabin, with unhappy results for everyone.

The approach in the writing is little clinical, with the animals often named by their latin nomenclature, but the book is still a good read and entertaining as well as informative. This copy is a reprint from 1996, so possibly still in print.

Recommended.

Gardening and Spring Glory

It’s a glorious Memorial Day weekend here, beautiful weather. Yesterday I spent about six hours getting the yard ready for summer, planting annual flowers in pots, as well as a few other things like this Cherry Pepper plant, with Cilantro and Dill in the one behind. The perennial flowers and shrubs are doing well too, with many in bloom.

The Chives planted last year came back and are blooming nicely.

Out next to the driveway, the Rhododendrons are forming a tower of lavender about eight feet high. Hard to believe these were about two feet high when we planted them about 12 years ago (I think).

The first few Roses are out.

In the back, Spiderwort is blooming, with an actual spider at upper left.

A closer look at the spider, his web outlined in the tons of pollen we’re getting now.

The pond is looking wonderful, with dozens of Blue Iris blooming around and in it.

A Bumblebee at the Iris.

And a young Bullfrog sunning on a lily pad. The Water Lily flowers are emerging, and will open soon.

Tigger and Leo are enjoying the screened porch, Ellen and I will be out there today too. Hope your weekend is good!

Pulled From My Files #30: SPECTRE 52 title

Image © DC Comics

My hand-lettered title over pencils by Tom Mandrake on THE SPECTRE #52 dated April 1997. Photocopied so I could refer to it when I did later parts of the story. Since it was lettered on the pencilled art, it wasn’t something I could cut and paste onto another issue, but it helped to have the style to look at when I lettered later chapters. Some time in the early 1990s I bought my own copy machine, and it made it so much easier to save reference like this. Before that I had to drive to the library to make a copy of something. Today I can simply open a previous digital file if I need to, but at the time, once I shipped the pencilled pages back to Tom Mandrake for inking, I wouldn’t see this again until the printed comic came to me a few months later.