Todd Klein's Blog, page 252

And Then I Read: DARK HORSE PRESENTS 26

Image © Dark Horse Comics and Ron Randall.

This month’s episode of “Trekker” is a train wreck. Literally. And if that weren’t bad enough, assassins. Fine work, great reading!

“Nosferatu Wars” is all about vampires in a bleak landscape. I didn’t find it scary or very appealing.

“Juice Squeezers” on the other hand I liked muchly. A group of nerdy losers in school are taking a basket-weaving class. Only that’s just a front for a very different activity that involves going to battle with giant bugs.

Talk shows can be surreal, but I feel certain there’s never been one as odd as in this month’s “Nexus” chapter. The storyline is verging on over-the-top parody at this point. Nice art, of course.

I like the look of the current “Alabaster” storyline, but still can’t understand it.

“Blackout” has fine art and interesting ideas. Like it.

And if you didn’t see it on this list, I didn’t care to read it.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: THE FLASH 27

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

I’m happy to see Brian Buccellato continuing as the (now solo) writer on this title. I’ve enjoyed his stories, and I appreciate the continuity he’s developed. I will miss artist and co-writer Francis Manapul, but Patrick Zircher does an excellent job with the art for this issue.

The Flash, in chasing down some hapless super-villains, uncovers a secret graveyard that ties into a very old serial killer case, one that Barry Allen has a very personal reason to want investigated. Since Barry is on the outs with his boss, it doesn’t quite work out that way…so far.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: DARK HORSE PRESENTS 25

Image © Dark Horse Comics, Inc.

I’ve never watched a minute of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” I read the cover-featured story in this issue hoping to find out what I’ve missed. I’m still wondering. The writer seems to have assumed that everyone reading will know who these characters are, what their relationships with each other are, and what their situation and their world is about. There is absolutely no explanation of any of that. I’m guessing the blonde woman with the stake is Buffy, though no one refers to her by name, and she attacks zombies. Beyond that, I learned nothing useful.

“The Time Ben Fell in Love” by Matt Fraction and Christian Ward is complex and challenging, but in a way I love: a tangled web of time made by one time traveler trying to fix things in his own past. Like the art, too.

I like the “Brainboy” story that winds up in this issue. The writing by Fred van Lente is entertaining, and the art by Freddie Williams II is appealing. There was one character that puzzled me, though. I couldn’t figure out if it was a female midget or a child with odd anatomy. The storyline is a mix of police work and ESP.

“Trekker” by Ron Randall is my favorite series in this issue. Both the writing and art are excellent. Ron has been doing this character for a long time, and it shows. The bounty hunter on vacation—only she can’t really go on vacation—is a good hook, and the amount of trouble Mercy St. Clair and her girlfriend get into on their supposed holiday is amazing and entertaining.

“King’s Road” tries hard to entwine mundane life with epic fantasy, and never really clicked for me. The art by Phil Winslade is well drawn, but much of the painted color lacks contrast, making it hard to “read.”

The “Nexus” storyline now running is getting weirder all the time. Here H.G. Wells offers Horatio a time machine to chase the villain, but it needs a very rare fuel.

“Bloodhound” wraps up its police action against an invisible man story well. Liked it. “Blackout” with another sort of invisible man, this time the main character, is pretty good, too.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: RICK AFIRE! by David Severn

David Severn was the pen name of David Unwin, son of the publisher Stanley Unwin (Tolkien’s publisher). He wrote many novels for children, and this is the first. The early books are holiday adventure stories somewhat in the style of M.E. Atkinson, nothing too heavy or deep, but fun reading for kids. His later books were more thoughtful and imaginative, but I like all of Severn’s work that I’ve found.

Here’s the endpaper map with most of the scenes of the story on it. I always feel I’m in for a good time when I see something like this.

Derek and Diana Longmore are two children from London coming to stay with friends at a small country farm, where the twins, Brian and Pamela live. The four are allowed to roam the nearby countryside, and one of their early explorations into slightly scary Gibbet Wood reveals an odd bearded man camping there. The four decide to investigate him, and eventually they meet Crusoe, a young man from the city who enjoys camping on his own on summer holidays. Before long they are all friends and sharing knowledge of things like a family of young foxes in the Wood. One night a hay rick bursts into flame, causing all the people of the area to gather. The farmers are naturally angry about this, so much of their hard work ruined, and suspicion falls on Crusoe as the culprit. The children go on a quick and dangerous race into Gibbet Wood to tell Crusoe an angry mob of farmers is after him, and rescue their friend. Then all five begin a new investigation to find out who really set the rick afire. That takes them to more adventures and unexpected meetings with some unusual characters.

There are four more books about Crusoe and his friends, all good reading and recommended, if you can find them.

And Then I Read: GREEN LANTERN NEW GUARDIANS 27

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

There are two things I really like about this issue: banter and mushroom people. Banter can certainly be overdone, and used to be quite often in comics. Now most comics are deadly serious and grim, with not a lighthearted remark to be found, which I find too extreme in the other direction. I miss the kind of banter laced throughout this issue between Kyle Rayner and Carol Ferris, among others. Yes, there’s a serious struggle between war-loving beings and peaceful ones, but the leavening of a little banter makes it all much more fun to read.

Mushroom people, as designed by artist Andrei Bressan are the other great thing here, even though they hardly appear at all, and have no speaking parts. They’re the visual equivalent of banter, a fine example of an artist going the extra mile to give us something fun amid the general mayhem of fighting and struggling. The main plot of the book is nothing very new or remarkable, but writer Justin Jordan and Bressan have still given us a fun read through a little added effort.

Recommended.

 

And Then I Read: GREEN LANTERN CORPS 27

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

John Stewart and his band of new recruit GLs and one Star Sapphire have finally come to the heart of the trouble that has been undermining the Corps for many issues now. If you’ve been reading it should be no surprise it’s two powerful enemy peoples teamed up, The Khund and the Durlans, with the latter being shape-shifters who have infiltrated the center of the Corps leadership. Will this knowledge do Stewart and company any good? They’re out in the boondocks with little chance for help or reinforcements and piles of trouble on the horizon. Not a bad issue, though it took way too long for the Corps to get a clue on this.

Recommended.

Beach Walk

After a long, cold winter it was great to have a sunny day today with temperatures in the fifties. We went for a beach walk at Sea Isle City where the waves were pretty large, delightful to see and hear.

A Conch was washed up on the beach, not just the shell but the live animal, though since it wasn’t moving it might have been dead. Hard to tell with these creatures. From the footprints you can see some gulls have been looking it over.

Here’s one, I think a Herring Gull, with a wonderfully abstract reflection in the wet sand.

There were lots of Sanderlings at the surf line doing their feeding run back and forth with the waves. A fine walk, and not many people around. They were all in the restaurant where we had dinner after!

And Then I Read: ASTRO CITY 8

Image © Juke Box Productions.

Writer Kurt Busiek continues to pile troubles on the back of super-heroine Winged Victory in a most unfair way, making her plight all the more compelling. At least a few hero friends are on her side, but everyone else seems ready to think the worst of this woman who has been so successful, and so helpful to many, and they act accordingly. Is there a past enemy behind it? If so, which one? And will Winged Victory have a chance to find out?

Great work by everyone involved. Highly recommended.

And Then I Read: GREEN LANTERN NEW GUARDIANS 26

Image © DC Comics, Inc.

They say if it sounds too good to be true it probably is, and so it proved on the “paradise planet” being visited by Kyle Rayner, Carol Ferris and their small group of Guardians. To create paradise the planet’s leaders had to steal many things from other versions of their world, and now the inhabitants of those places are bringing their anger and weapons to paradise. It’s a morality play with lots of energy blasts. A very plot-driven issue. Not a bad story, as things go, but a bit confusing at times due to the duplicate versions of characters we don’t know very well. Still, the moral thread is clear enough. The art is a little loose in spots, but gets the job done.

Mildly recommended.

Rereading: THE BLUE MAN by Kin Platt

Image © estate of Kin Platt, cover illustration by Leonard Everett Fisher.

Kin Platt was a talented man in many fields and genres. He was a comics artist throughout the 1940s, working on all kinds of stories from science fiction (CAPTAIN FUTURE) to teen humor (RUSTY). Then he wrote and drew the syndicated strip “Mr. and Mrs.” from 1947 to 1963. When that ended he focused on writing books for children and adults, and was quite successful and prolific at that, with some occasional work as an animation writer as well. Platt wrote four novels for younger readers about Steve Forrester, a boy who keeps running into mysteries with supernatural or science fictional elements. The best of them is “Sinbad and Me,” which I reviewed in the link. The first written, and the last I discovered is this one. I reviewed it once before, but that review was of the abridged paperback edition. Not long after, in 2011, I was contacted by Kin Platt’s son Chris, who told me that the original hardcover edition of the book was better, and some of the elements I’d felt were missing in the paperback were because of the abridgment. He also told me he had republished the hardcover himself, and offered to send me a copy. I was happy to agree. Below is the note that came with the book.

I did want to read this version, but unfortunately it took me until recently to get to it. When I did, the foreword by Christopher Platt was eye opening. Chris tells what it was like to grow up with his father, and how much he, himself, loved the books. Chris’s dad wrote, in the copy of “The Blue Man” he gave to his son, “For my boy Chris — who might be Steve.” It seems the father may well have been inspired by his son in creating Steve Forrester. How cool it is, having enjoyed the books myself, to have received one from the inspiration!

Christopher Platt’s edition of “The Blue Man” is from his own Two Lakes Press of St. Joseph, Minnesota, and was published in 2005. It seems to be the only book he published, so I imagine it was not a financial success, which is too bad, it’s a fine and exciting story. In searching online I haven’t found evidence that Two Lakes Press is still in business, or any copies of this edition, either. I hope there are some out there to be found.

The story, though the first written, has young Steve as a teenager, old enough to drive himself from Long Island to a small hotel in the country many miles north. (The other Steve Forrester books, which feature Sinbad, his English Bulldog sidekick, have him at a younger age.) Left alone in charge of the hotel one night, a very strange man checks in. Not only is he uncommunicative, he seems almost alien, with strange blue skin and the apparent ability to disrupt electric lines and radio signals. Steve tries to investigate, and develops a theory that The Blue Man is actually a Martian sent to pave the way for an invasion. While Steve is sleeping, his uncle at last gets back and soon confronts the blue guest, but things escalate into violence, and when Steve arrives in the hotel lobby, his uncle is on the floor unconscious, perhaps dead, and The Blue Man has fled in a stolen car. Incensed, Steve takes off after him, thus beginning a thrilling, suspenseful chase with lots more danger, twists and turns, as well as help from a young woman, Penny, who seems to be the only one who believes Steve’s story.

It’s a great read. I regret that I didn’t blog about it sooner. I hope anyone who’s interested can locate a copy. Highly recommended.