tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post3311354171788758664..comments2024-03-19T10:41:35.976-05:00Comments on Bronze Age Babies: Guest Review - When comics guys write “real” books: Stephen Englehart’s The Point ManDoughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04248324005584963229noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-75644959763203681202015-10-27T03:40:31.993-05:002015-10-27T03:40:31.993-05:00Russ' comment above reminded me of another &qu...Russ' comment above reminded me of another "opposite case" situations that I'm ashamed to admit I didn't think of right away: Alan Brennert. He's a rather successful screen-writer and novelist who dabbled in comics for a while in the late '70s and '80s, and he wrote what is probably my favorite Batman story, "The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne" from Brave & the Bold #197. I actually have a few of his prose books sitting on my shelf, waiting to be read (another reason to be ashamed).Edo Bosnarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-67917574926746985772015-10-26T23:14:11.021-05:002015-10-26T23:14:11.021-05:00This is out of the usual orbit, but I've been ...This is out of the usual orbit, but I've been thinking about old Murphy Anderson comics lately, for obvious reasons, and his frequent collaborator, Gardner Fox, had a massive number of books published, historical, science fiction and (under pseudonyms) romance and soft porn.<br /><br />The really interesting one I recall is Lou Cameron, who was a fantastic artist of horror comics and, I think, Classics Illustrated. He somehow ended up being a very prolific novelist, also using various pseudonyms. He wrote a ton of novelizations of movies and television shows like How the West Was Won and Kung Fu. He was an award-winning writer of Western Fiction, and created the incredibly sleazy adult Western series Longarm in the late 70s, which ran for a couple of hundred volumes at least.<br /><br />Both of these guys went pretty far afield of their comic book beginnings and were sometimes great, sometimes mediocre. But you never got the feeling that they were pretending to be "real" writers as I did from some of the comics guys who didn't seem equipped for substantive work. You don.t want the reaction to be "that's pretty good, for a comic book writer."Russhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04809592629762693427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-85015411202265468912015-10-26T15:38:59.454-05:002015-10-26T15:38:59.454-05:00Mmmmmmmm, nope, Martinex, can't say that any c...Mmmmmmmm, nope, Martinex, can't say that any character in the book reminded me of Mantis...Edo Bosnarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-43721494230068921122015-10-26T15:24:15.141-05:002015-10-26T15:24:15.141-05:00Thanks for the review Edo. Again, another exampl...Thanks for the review Edo. Again, another example of a work that I had no idea existed.<br /><br />One question, did any version of Mantis show up in The Point Man?Martinex1noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-86073707128109618382015-10-26T13:47:45.657-05:002015-10-26T13:47:45.657-05:00Cool review, Edo. I like Englehart's comics wo...Cool review, Edo. I like Englehart's comics work (most of the time), but I didn't know he'd written any "real" books. I've been meaning to check out Peter David's Star Trek stuff, but I haven't gotten to it yet...which is strange because I love PAD's comics work.<br /><br />I've always thought that comics themselves would read well as full-length novels, but the few examples I've seen don't seem to work all that well. But I'd love to read a series of novels retelling the origins of the Marvel Universe...or maybe a series set in the 70s, very streetwise and a bit noirish; oh well, I guess we have the Netflix series for that (though they aren't set in the 70s, obviously).<br /><br />Mike WilsonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-72625634428712302582015-10-26T11:37:54.722-05:002015-10-26T11:37:54.722-05:00You might well be right, Edo, as the same blogosph...You might well be right, Edo, as the same blogosphere seems equally enthusiastic about the work of Grant Morrison, which shows just how off the mark the comics uni-mind can be; plus, Gerber's original Omega wasn't exactly brilliant to start with. So I guess that's why I haven't tried too hard to get hold of the Lethem take (although I'm still interested and will keep an open mind)<br /><br />I really like Alan Moore's stuff, but generally the more literary (for want of a better word) approach to comics he influenced leaves me cold. Actually, Moore aside, I don't think "comic book writers" have ever really brought much to the form - sometimes they can work well in collaboration, but most of the best comics have been the work of a single writer/artist (ooh - a bit of controversy there)<br /><br />-sean<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-67343795699065066152015-10-26T10:13:15.797-05:002015-10-26T10:13:15.797-05:00Thanks for the comments, guys.
HB, Englehart actua...Thanks for the comments, guys.<br />HB, Englehart actually kept the storytelling pretty tight here, in the sense that he didn't go off the rails and bog down the narrative with too many extraneous concepts. So in terms of ideas and plotting, the storytelling is pretty tight.<br /><br />Sean, the thought of an 'opposite' post, i.e., "proper" writers doing comics, also occurred to me, and I thought of Delaney (and Harlan Ellison) as well. But in the case of those two writers, I haven't read any of their comics work, at least not that I recall.<br />By the way, I know Lethem's Omega tends to get universally praised in the comics blogosphere, but I've read it and I'll just say I was pretty underwhelmed and leave it at that...Edo Bosnarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-60633923466447643882015-10-26T08:46:16.187-05:002015-10-26T08:46:16.187-05:00Thanks for the review, Edo! Not an area I'm ex...Thanks for the review, Edo! Not an area I'm experienced in; I've read "Ultimate Spider-Man" (a text anthology of stories by a variety of writers), but as for original subject matter, I got nothing.<br /><br />Sean- that Omega treatment by Lethem sounds interesting; if you read it let us know what you think...Redartzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08221459636234713619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-19814056932211175322015-10-26T08:09:11.629-05:002015-10-26T08:09:11.629-05:00When I was a kid (and really into Killraven/War of...When I was a kid (and really into Killraven/War of the Worlds) I was desperate to read Dragon Flame, but it was obviously one of those fabulous items advertised in American comics that I'd never actually get hold of.<br />Nowadays, I think I might have dodged a bullet there:)....<br /><br />I've read Voice of the Fire by Alan Moore, which is really good and I'm looking forward to Jerusalem (due out next year - I can't believe it!) but otherwise... can't really think of a comic writer I'd particularly want to read a novel by. All the same, I'm open to suggestions and appreciated the review, Edo.<br /><br />The other side of this would be proper writers doing comics, no? Samuel Delany springs to mind. I keep meaning to check out Jonathan Lethem's take on Omega the Unknown... anyone read that? Is it any good?<br /><br />-seanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-56267875757222825322015-10-26T07:55:02.247-05:002015-10-26T07:55:02.247-05:00Really nice job bringing a neat, overlooked topic ...Really nice job bringing a neat, overlooked topic like this up to the front, edo-! <br /><br />I think Gerry Conway was the first comics author I was ever aware of who took a shot at straight novel-writing-- mostly 'cause they made such a big deal of it on the Bullpen Bulletins page. But I don't think I've ever read anything that wasn't tied to comics or another franchise.<br /><br />THE POINT MAN, here, may not be wholly my own cup of tea. I'd say one criticism I'd have with Englehart in general is that, w/out a steady, pragmatic editor he's capable of running with a wild idea for almost any element or character he comes up with. And then you just get exotic-idea overload. He and his buddy Gerber both had this in common, I daresay. As we've sort of discussed, this is a major pitfall in comics in general-- and it's also a big problem in a lot of popular series (Harry Dresden; Harry Potter; Buffy; etc, etc). A variation of the ol' "Bigger is Better" upward spiral. It sounds like he's almost starting right off at that point with this book. Buuuuuut I also haven't read it, so I'm certainly not the fairest judge.<br /><br />I've read a couple of Peter David's Star Trek novels (quite good, I recall), and I enjoyed his Hulk novel (WHAT SAVAGE BEAST)-- but those aren't at all appropriate to the discussion here. Are these writers' talents truly genre'-specific, or are they able to jump over into prose works entirely of their own creation?<br /><br />HBHumanbellynoreply@blogger.com