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The Nearly Complete Essential Hembeck Archives Omnibus
The Near Complete Essential Hembeck Archives Omnibus is a massive collection covering cartoonist Fred Hembeck's past three decades of work. All seven of his early eighties collections - Bah, Hembeck, The Hembeck Files, et al - are included, as well as rarely seen strips, personal commissions, online pieces, holiday cards, assorted oddities, and over a dozen stories ranging up to ten pages in length! A massive collection featuring the superhero industry's most revered humorist! Foreword by industry legend and creator of Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four, Stan Lee!
900 pages, Paperback
First published June 11, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 17, 2020
I recall reading this stuff around the 80s and thot it was okay for what it was--a guy poking fun at comics via scratchy artwork that approximated the characters being satirized. Finding this omnibus edition at Half-Price Books decided me to revisit it. Sigh. Some things are best left to memory. For one thing the lettering is so freaking tiny you can't make out a word of it. Nor does the humor hold up. It's like watching Laugh-In reruns. It's no longer the same. Hembeck is something best left to memory. The reawakened reality sorely disappoints.
July 11, 2011
I spent the better part of 2011 in the bathroom with Fred Hembeck.
Perhaps I should explain further.
In the '90s, the decade in which I discovered the huge comics nerd I was destined to be, Fred Hembeck was the comedy king of Marvel. He had a regular stint in Marvel Age, which I didn't read, but his comedy stylings were all over Marvel. His style is incredibly distinctive. All you have to see is swirly kneecaps to know that you're reading a Hembeck bit. Also the presence of Hembeck himself was big tip-off.
So what do we have here in this volume? Pretty much everything Hembeck ever did outside of the stuff he published with Marvel. And I do mean everything. This book is gargantuan.
So what else is it? Well, pretty much comics blogging before the internet existed. Illustrated. What Hembeck was doing was pretty much comics commentary in an age when there were only a few outlets for such stuff, and obscure outlets at that. Most of the entirety of the book is Hembeck writing about comics, which he clearly has an insane love for. If you have any interest whatsoever in the history of comics, this is the book for you. This was the man in the street.
The majority of his commentary covers the late '70s and early '80s, when all this stuff was published. He has several sprawling text-riddled pages dedicated to the release of the Superman movie. The movie released in 1978. When it was new.
So why was in the bathroom with Fred Hembeck? Well, that's where I read it, and you better believe I read every bit of text contained within. At least once a day, and several times a day when I was home.
Look, if you even know who Fred Hembeck is, you should buy this book right now and put it on the back of your toilet. Fair warning, a lot of this book is nigh-unreadable. I'm not saying it's bad stuff, I'm saying it is literally nigh-unreadable because Hembeck was so verbose that the text that accompanied his pictures is almost too small and badly printed to be read.
I could listen to Hembeck talk about comics all day. In fact, somebody should put Fred Hembeck and Mark Evanier in a room together and publish the results. If you are in position to make this happen, MAKE IT HAPPEN RIGHT NOW.
Perhaps I should explain further.
In the '90s, the decade in which I discovered the huge comics nerd I was destined to be, Fred Hembeck was the comedy king of Marvel. He had a regular stint in Marvel Age, which I didn't read, but his comedy stylings were all over Marvel. His style is incredibly distinctive. All you have to see is swirly kneecaps to know that you're reading a Hembeck bit. Also the presence of Hembeck himself was big tip-off.
So what do we have here in this volume? Pretty much everything Hembeck ever did outside of the stuff he published with Marvel. And I do mean everything. This book is gargantuan.
So what else is it? Well, pretty much comics blogging before the internet existed. Illustrated. What Hembeck was doing was pretty much comics commentary in an age when there were only a few outlets for such stuff, and obscure outlets at that. Most of the entirety of the book is Hembeck writing about comics, which he clearly has an insane love for. If you have any interest whatsoever in the history of comics, this is the book for you. This was the man in the street.
The majority of his commentary covers the late '70s and early '80s, when all this stuff was published. He has several sprawling text-riddled pages dedicated to the release of the Superman movie. The movie released in 1978. When it was new.
So why was in the bathroom with Fred Hembeck? Well, that's where I read it, and you better believe I read every bit of text contained within. At least once a day, and several times a day when I was home.
Look, if you even know who Fred Hembeck is, you should buy this book right now and put it on the back of your toilet. Fair warning, a lot of this book is nigh-unreadable. I'm not saying it's bad stuff, I'm saying it is literally nigh-unreadable because Hembeck was so verbose that the text that accompanied his pictures is almost too small and badly printed to be read.
I could listen to Hembeck talk about comics all day. In fact, somebody should put Fred Hembeck and Mark Evanier in a room together and publish the results. If you are in position to make this happen, MAKE IT HAPPEN RIGHT NOW.
March 13, 2022
Fred Hembeck- The Man who launched a thousand optometry appointments.
Fred Hembeck has been a part of my life for a very long time. From his hilariously deadly Fred Hembeck Destroys the Marvel Universe to his splash page spreads in Marvel Age to his similar postings in DC's Daily Planet, I cut my teeth on the cartoonist/comedian/comic book historian. While I am sorry for the bite marks, I am even more sorry to say that none of those amazing works I previously mentioned are in this book.
The omissions are due to those works being owned by DC and Marvel and this massive work was published by Image. But packed within this 900 page behemoth are all of Fred (and your) favorite characters. Superman. Spider-Man. Jimmy Olsen, The Hulk, Nick Fury, Bizarro. Dennis the Menace. Wife Lynn and daughter Julie. And of course Fred!
The majority of work in this collection is from Hembeck's Dateline: @!!?#, a regular comic column that appeared in various incarnations of the Comic Buyers Guide. There's some rough drafts, experimental non-comic book related work. That tragic assault on a Native American family by US cavalrymen will haunt me till the day I die. Plus, there are dozens on comic book cover recreations; including some brilliant switches that take a DC icon and a Marvel regular and put them in the other's books.
As I mentioned earlier, this book is just a fraction under 1000 pages. I should have finished this book in just a couple of months. But I took my time. For one reason, Hembeck is noted for using very, very tiny letters, as he's got lots to say on the subject of sequential art. So I would have to take breaks due to eye strain. Unfortunately, some of the Datelines didn't reprint very well either due to smudging or too dark inking. So I had to skip a couple of them as they were indecipherable. That being said, reading 2 or 3 of Fred's Dateline: @!!?# reports,which are normally only 1 page in length each, is tantamount to reading an entire magazine's worth of articles.
If this type of writing/reviewing style sounds familiar, yeah it probably does. I do see a little bit of Fred Hembeck in my love of comics. Makes sense. I see a lot of my most beloved professors from my degrees in both culinary and history in my day-to-day professionalism. They say that if you spend 10,000 hours on something, you become an expert in it. At age 44, I probably qualify as such with comic books, though I still have much to learn. And Fred Hembeck was and is one of my comicdom professors.
Oh, yeah... The other reason for taking so long to finish this work! I didn't want my time with Hembeck to end! I've been honored to be a Fred Hembeck acquaintance for almost a decade now. I bought a Supergirl sketch card from him on eBay and wound up a friend on Facebook. Every year, my family look forward to his witty (and long) birthday wishes to me. Now we've evolved into rivals playing each other on a music trivia app.
So when I closed the book on this for the last time I was sad. But then I realized that Fred has a website. And it is still accessible. So I've got lots more education to gain from Mr. Hembeck!
And sir- if you're reading this- Very sorry for those bite marks! Hope they've healed!
Fred Hembeck has been a part of my life for a very long time. From his hilariously deadly Fred Hembeck Destroys the Marvel Universe to his splash page spreads in Marvel Age to his similar postings in DC's Daily Planet, I cut my teeth on the cartoonist/comedian/comic book historian. While I am sorry for the bite marks, I am even more sorry to say that none of those amazing works I previously mentioned are in this book.
The omissions are due to those works being owned by DC and Marvel and this massive work was published by Image. But packed within this 900 page behemoth are all of Fred (and your) favorite characters. Superman. Spider-Man. Jimmy Olsen, The Hulk, Nick Fury, Bizarro. Dennis the Menace. Wife Lynn and daughter Julie. And of course Fred!
The majority of work in this collection is from Hembeck's Dateline: @!!?#, a regular comic column that appeared in various incarnations of the Comic Buyers Guide. There's some rough drafts, experimental non-comic book related work. That tragic assault on a Native American family by US cavalrymen will haunt me till the day I die. Plus, there are dozens on comic book cover recreations; including some brilliant switches that take a DC icon and a Marvel regular and put them in the other's books.
As I mentioned earlier, this book is just a fraction under 1000 pages. I should have finished this book in just a couple of months. But I took my time. For one reason, Hembeck is noted for using very, very tiny letters, as he's got lots to say on the subject of sequential art. So I would have to take breaks due to eye strain. Unfortunately, some of the Datelines didn't reprint very well either due to smudging or too dark inking. So I had to skip a couple of them as they were indecipherable. That being said, reading 2 or 3 of Fred's Dateline: @!!?# reports,which are normally only 1 page in length each, is tantamount to reading an entire magazine's worth of articles.
If this type of writing/reviewing style sounds familiar, yeah it probably does. I do see a little bit of Fred Hembeck in my love of comics. Makes sense. I see a lot of my most beloved professors from my degrees in both culinary and history in my day-to-day professionalism. They say that if you spend 10,000 hours on something, you become an expert in it. At age 44, I probably qualify as such with comic books, though I still have much to learn. And Fred Hembeck was and is one of my comicdom professors.
Oh, yeah... The other reason for taking so long to finish this work! I didn't want my time with Hembeck to end! I've been honored to be a Fred Hembeck acquaintance for almost a decade now. I bought a Supergirl sketch card from him on eBay and wound up a friend on Facebook. Every year, my family look forward to his witty (and long) birthday wishes to me. Now we've evolved into rivals playing each other on a music trivia app.
So when I closed the book on this for the last time I was sad. But then I realized that Fred has a website. And it is still accessible. So I've got lots more education to gain from Mr. Hembeck!
And sir- if you're reading this- Very sorry for those bite marks! Hope they've healed!
March 28, 2022
This massive 900-page tome includes nearly all of Hembeck’s work save for the official material he created for both DC and Marvel. Full of many of his infamous cover recreations and lots of fun puns and gags aimed at targets all over the vast history of the comics medium, the book also serves as an overview of his personal life journey in comic form. While his jokes may sometimes seem to be bitingly critical, one thing comes across all his work is his love and respect for the art of comic books. The only bad marks on the book are the poor print quality and difficultly reading the text, many times I needed to use my phone to magnify. Caution: may cause serious eye strain.
March 16, 2015
When I learned this collection would be published, I eagerly anticipated it. In the days before the Internet, and before comics reprints were terribly common, Hembeck was recapping classic stories and recounting the torments that silver age Superman put Lois and Jimmy through. And he did it with humor and a great, cartoony art style. I consider Fred Hembeck to be the godfather of the comics Internet.
So why did it take me several years to read this book? Most of the comics reprinted here were originally published in a larger format and are shrunk down here. Hembeck hand- lettered every strip here, and his lettering can be rather sloppy. Also, the paper stock in this book is pretty cheap, and the ink spreads. All of these combine to make reading this book more of a chore than it should be, particularly on the strips where he is especially wordy. There are a couple of pages that are simply illegible. Because of this, I would set the book aside for months at a time, extending the read-time.
So why did it take me several years to read this book? Most of the comics reprinted here were originally published in a larger format and are shrunk down here. Hembeck hand- lettered every strip here, and his lettering can be rather sloppy. Also, the paper stock in this book is pretty cheap, and the ink spreads. All of these combine to make reading this book more of a chore than it should be, particularly on the strips where he is especially wordy. There are a couple of pages that are simply illegible. Because of this, I would set the book aside for months at a time, extending the read-time.
September 15, 2015
I really enjoyed Fred Hembeck's cartoons when they appeared back in the day in Marvel Comics. However, reading them in short bursts is much better than reading a bunch of them at once.....and this is a bunch of them! These are the entire sections of this book that are walls of text, with very little cartoons. In those cases, I would prefer to read a prose book. The reproductions aren't always great and the type is often minuscule to fit it all on one page, so much so that any time spent reading this book gave me a headache. There's some fun stuff in here, but I don't have the ability to wade through it ever again to find it.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews