What Are You Reading?

Doug: I think it's been a long time since we've checked in with each other concerning what lies atop (or a'bottom for that matter) the reading pile. I know I never feel like I read enough, although at the end of any day I guess I've read quite a bit either in the context of work, checking Twitter a few times throughout the day, or a daily newspaper early in the evening. But in terms of some seriously dedicated reading, I always feel deficient. So in the interest of prying into your personal lives and interests, here goes:

Doug: Presently I find myself in the middle of no less than four books, and that's a lot of plates to be spinning for me. Academically, I'm a few chapters into Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder and Hitler's Beneficiaries by Gotz Aly. Both are quite interesting and each book fills in my knowledge for the purpose of my teaching but also in regard to my "summer job" at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Each of these books is engaging, and neither appears to be a slog to get through. I just seem to never find a decent run of time to dedicate to really digging into them with the attention that I need to give in order to truly internalize the material.

Doug: On the lighter side of fiction, I've mentioned a few times that I began A Princess of Mars over the summer. It really never grabbed me, and although close to 3/4 of the way through I am not very eager to return. I think I'd rather re-read The Return of Tarzan, or perhaps return to The Complete Chronicles of Conan. Those short stories were nice, and as we remarked earlier Robert E. Howard seems to stay away from some of the formulaic storytelling tropes employed by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I especially enjoy reading one of those short tales and then finding the adaptation in my first four volumes of Essential Savage Sword of Conan. It's great to see the words of REH set to the comic medium.

Doug: Comics-wise, you know I've been enjoying the Marvel Pocketbook edition of The Astonishing Ant-Man: Origins; the last story I read was the 3-parter with the Hulk that originally ran in Iron Man #s 131-133. David Michelinie, Jerry Bingham, and Bob Layton paid homage to Avengers #s 93 and 140 in IM #133. I've also returned to Ed Brubaker's Captain America, finishing the Red Menace: The Ultimate Collection and now well into The Death of Captain America: The Complete Collection. Brubaker's writing is simply excellent, and the cadre of artists who illustrated these stories are top shelf.  I must declare that when I've sat down to read one of these trades I do not want to put it down. It is so entertaining. And there aren't a lot of comics that I read that are like that - page-turners. James Buchanan Barnes has really become a complex character for me, rather than the one-dimensional sidekick I'd previously believed him to be. We remarked about it earlier, but Brubaker has respectfully touched on elements of war that had been glossed over for decades. That Captain America never killed in WWII? Foolish, and Brubaker deals with that. Again, as we've said (we do have an abundance of conversations around here, don't we?) in the past, I will pass on the modern coloring for a brighter palette. But I don't let that kill my pleasure from soaking in the narrative. And I've come to employ a tactic encouraged by our friend Edo Bosnar -- in regard to the return of Bucky Barnes I just treat these as a sort of What If? or Elseworlds tale and leave it at that. I just want to find enjoyment without the continuity baggage, and Brubaker et. al accomplish that for me. I've also recently purchased the collections of Captain America: Reborn and The Winter Soldier (purchased in Lima, OH last Saturday). Once I'm done with this massive "Death of" trade, I'm hoping to get into my soon-to-arrive copy of The Monster of Frankenstein, Vol. I. I've only read the first issue and some other appearances of the Monster, so am looking forward to digging a bit deeper. And, another hardcover I need to get off the shelf is Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, Volume 13 -- gotta love some Bronze Age Superboy!

Doug: Your turn -- let's hear about your triumphs, shortfalls, and wish lists!

Face-Off: Martian Mayhem!

Karen: In honor of the recent announcement about the discovery of liquid water on the surface of Mars, we give you the opportunity today to throw your support behind one of two books that each dealt with the red planet: In War of the Worlds, Killraven and his band of rebels fought back against invading Martians in a dark future, while John Carter, Warlord of Mars followed the adventures of the Edgar Rice Burroughs character as he rescued princesses and battled six-limbed martians on Mars itself. Which book survives this interplanetary death match?

Guest Post - If I Had a Buck... Barbarians

Doug: Here we have another of Mike S.'s budgetary nightmares -- picking and choosing Bronze Age goodness, but armed only with a dollar! Today's fare -- the animal loincloth crowd!

I Need to Buy Some Pants But Only Have a Buck!  A Barbarian Shopping Spree!

Mike S.: Back in the height of the Bronze Age, it seemed the comic choices were well balanced with Super Heroes, Funny Animals, Teenage Jokesters, Richie Rich (in a category all his own) and of course the Barbarians and Warriors. 

It was not uncommon at all to find a fine selection of loin clothed, weapon wielding, long maned combatants in the comic rack. Savages, warlords, destroyers, and she devils armed with sword, sorcery, and sometimes just their bare hands battled wizards, creatures, and even dystopian futures.

Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard seemed to have invaded the industry as their numerous creations came to life in four glorious colors. Their success was of course followed by numerous copycats armed with knives, battleaxes, and broadswords.

In my youth, in my assessment of what to buy, I lumped these many characters together. From Tarzan to John Carter, from Conan to Killraven, from Kull to Kamandi, I considered these adventure series to be secondary to those of their powered and costumed super heroic counterparts. I dismissed them as cavemen of no interest (even if they battled Martian technology). But I was wrong. Later in life, I found joy in seeing John Buscema’s depiction of the Hyborian Age in Conan, and the kookiness of Kirby’s impending animal rule in Kamandi, and the drama of Joe Kubert’s jungle action in Tarzan.   

So I offer to you another $1 challenge of “If I Had A Buck…” With no competition from other genres, if the comic rack was limited to only adventurers, warriors, and barbarians, who would you choose? There are nine titles, nine stories to choose from, but you only have one measly dollar.  Make your selection wisely or you may lose your head (metaphorically speaking of course). This was a difficult list to assemble, as there were so many titles and great covers to choose from and I am honestly no expert. Titles like “Turok, The Dinosaur Hunter” and “Skull, The Slayer” didn’t make the cut.  Nor did “Ironjaw” or “Wulf, The Barbarian”. But that does not mean you can’t discuss them if they interest you. 

What were your favorite titles in this genre? What did you like about the characters and stories? Did you get drawn in and did you collect these series? Or were you like me and only picked up issues here and there? Do you lump the futuristic fighters with their ancient equivalents, like I do? Is there a storyline that you would recommend? How did you choose to spend your dollar? And most importantly, why were these characters so averse to wearing shirts and why did so many of their names start with a hard “C” sound?

Have fun and here is the list of choices:

Amazing Adventures featuring Killraven, Warrior of the Worlds #32; $0.25

Conan the Barbarian #72; $0.30

John Carter, Warlord of Mars #13; $0.35

Kamandi, The Last Boy on Earth #17; $0.20

Lord of the Hidden Jungle, Ka-Zar #13; $0.25

Korak, Son of Tarzan #58; $0.25

Kull the Destroyer #18; $0.30

Red Sonja, She-Devil With a Sword #11; $0.35

Tarzan #222; $0.20

Not Fade Away

Doug: The attention around John Carter, Warlord of Mars has me thinking about other "timeless" characters. Since we're all pop-o-philes around here, I'm wondering today about a very broad discussion of characters -- comic, film, literary, pop-culture -- you name it. My question to you is about staying power.

Doug: I think anyone out there would freely admit that between Edgar Rice Burroughs' two most famous creations, John Carter is pretty far down the public consciousness meter. Tarzan? There probably aren't too many folks around who could attest to never having heard of the Lord of the Jungle. Which reminds me of a thought I read many, many years ago; I believe it was in an annual almanac, and may have actually been in the preface of the section on pop culture. Anyway, the author said there were a handful of fictional characters who were known worldwide. Among those on the list were Tarzan, Superman, and Mickey Mouse.

Doug: Just this past week I saw a picture of Johnny Depp as Tonto in a still promoting an upcoming Lone Ranger revival. I don't know that I've thought too much about the Lone Ranger in the past several years. So there's our question for this Sunday -- who are the characters in our various cultures that you think will still be relevant decades from now? Who has that intergenerational staying power? And why do we keep coming back to them? As usual, thanks in advance for you participation today!

Discuss: John Carter

Karen: We all know that should be "John Carter OF MARS" but regardless, who has seen the film? What did you think of it? Four thumbs up, or down?