"Happy Independents Day"

Redartz:  Happy Fourth of July, everyone! Today, in honor of our (for those of us in the ol' USA; of course all our international friends are enthusiastically welcomed- the day is all about freedom, after all) Independence Day, we shall honor our 'independents'! In other words, we shall declare our independence from the Big Two, and look at some of the revolutionary, upstart, pioneering comics published by such companies as First, Comico, Pacific, Aardvark-Vanaheim, etc. And for such a momentous occasion, our good friend Martinex1 is here as well! We both will start things off with a few of our favorites, and then the rest is up to you...

Ms. Mystic #1, 1982

Martinex1:  And a happy Fourth of July to all BABsters!   I had limited access to Local Comic Shops back in the day, so the first independent company to catch my attention was Pacific Comics.  PC has
a long and storied history in the comic industry as it was started by a couple of teenage brothers. Steve and Bill Schanes, as a mail order company and then a series of comic shops; they followed up by making PC a significant distributor and finally evolved into publishing.  They managed to convince Jack Kirby to create Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers for PC late in his career.   But the comic that caught my eye was Ms. Mystic by Neal Adams.  The story involved a witch from the Salem trials, who returned in modern times as a protector of Earth and its resources.  With her magical sword and powers, she was a super-environmentalist.   Some of those ideas and concerns were about twenty years ahead of the mainstream. The art was of course fantastic, as Adams was still creating wonderful covers and intricate panels.   He moved the title after the second issue to his own label Continuity Comics when PC imploded.   Nine issues appeared throughout the 80s; it was a missed opportunity for an interesting concept.

American Flagg! #1, 1983

Redartz:  Howard Chaykin is a name familiar to any Bronze age comics fan. In 1983 he introduced us to "American Flagg!", from First Comics.  Reuben Flagg is our protagonist: a former actor who now finds himself serving as a "Plexus Ranger", a kind of police officer/soldier. In this series, we watch Flagg tackle the entrenched corruption and depravity of society in Chicago, after most of that society has collapsed (the government moved to Mars following the multiple crises of 1996).  The artwork and writing mesh quite effectively, and there's enough socio-cultural commentary to last until the Tricentennial. Part of the fun of reading it now is noticing how familiar some of the story elements seem, in our digitally obsessed age. Very entertaining, very thought provoking, and very controversial. Oh, and Flagg also has a talking cat...

Flaming Carrot #9, 1985

Martinex1: Bob Burden created perhaps one of my favorite “comic” comic characters of all time.   I was introduced to the Flaming Carrot just after college and the sense of humor, sarcasm, and satire seemed to fit the zeitgeist of the mid to late 80s.   Appearing in a series of books from Aardvark-Vanaheim to Renegade Press to Dark Horse Comics, the title character is a goof who read too many comic books on a dare and emerged from the experience as a carrot masked adventurer.   He seems to make his way through his challenges with the advantage of sheer luck or utter stupidity.   With a simple catch phrase of “Ut!” the flame headed root faces off against the likes of Hitler’s cloned boots and the man in the moon.   With a super pogo stick, flippers on his feet, and a utility belt loaded with rubber bands, the character made me laugh more times than I could count. 

Journey #1, 1983

Redartz:  Another fine book from an artist/writer, in this case William Messner-Loebs, was "Journey", from Aardvark-Vanaheim.   Beginning in 1983 (a very good year for comics, btw) this series tells the story of frontiersman Joshua "Wolverine" Macalistaire (and no adamantium claws here). "Old Joss", as the title character is known, is remarkably skilled in all the requisite woodsman tasks. As he travels across the Michigan frontier of the early 19th. Century, he faces all manner of challenges; from wild bears to tornadoes, from mad poets to  British agents preparing for the War of 1812. Messner-Loebs brings in a wide, charming, and well-defined cast of fascinating characters (including historical figures such as Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet). This book is unique for its' historical detail, humor, and Messner-Loeb's frequent insertion of authentic frontier lore.







Martinex1: The Maze Agency, was a mystery series that started under the Comico banner and was later picked up by Innovation.  It was the brainchild of writer Mike W. Barr, and although Alan Davis

The Maze Agency #1, 1988

penciled an early version Adam Hughes was the main artist through much of the series (the art chores did rotate through many including Joe Staton and Greg Shoemaker).  The book follows the adventures of Jennifer Mays, a private detective and proprietor of the title agency, and Gabriel Webb, a crime novelist and sleuth.   Each issue stands alone as they solve various crimes and murders, interact with the local constabulary, and compete with other gumshoes.   For the most part, the books play fair with the clues of the crimes although they can be elaborate and far-fetched.  A favorite of mine was an issue where the detectives teamed with Ellery Queen.  The real fun in this book is the balance of the mystery and the romantic interplay between the lead characters.  Great characterization and humor and art throughout.

Mister X #4, 1985

Redartz: Creators Dean Motter and Paul Rivoche gave us "Mister X", from Vortex Comics. This mysterious, visually-striking series tells of an architect with numerous identities, but who calls himself "Mister X". Mr. X is obsessed with trying to save Radiant City, which he helped create. His psychologically-inspired designs were distorted, driving many in the city to madness; and he seeks to restore his original vision. The storyline features many twists and turns, and the artwork is unique and integral to the book. As an art student at the time, this book positively gripped me with its accent on fine graphics. There were four beautiful promo posters offered at the time, they still hang on my studio wall. The first four issues are a special treat- drawn by Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez, of "Love and Rockets" fame. Later issues featured art by Seth, Klaus Shonefeld, and others

 Ok, you've seen our picks. Now it's your turn. Exercise your rights, nominate your favorites, stand up for the underdogs, let your voice be heard, and let your indie spirit soar!

Suggestions Unboxed -- Getting My Comics Outside the 'Big Two'

Jeirich: I'd be interested in a discussion of the short-lived Atlas Comics line in the mid 70s. They managed to attract an amazing level of talent, which they promptly seemed to waste: Ditko, Adams, Toth, Heath, Chaykin, Buckler . . . I think a creator's rights approach helped them get these heavyweights (and to-be-heavyweights).

pfgavigan: There is a lot of great material out there that was produced by the small independent companies that we rarely touch upon that might make a good subject for a post. First, Pacific, Valiant are just a few of the companies that I was reading at the time.

To be honest, reading a lot more than the Big Two at the time.

Garett: I'll second PFG's suggestion about independent comics. To me they were a major part of the Bronze Age.

Guest Reviews - Finding Gold (sort of) and High (yeah, I went there) Bronze in the Late Bronze Age: John Law, Shining Knight, and Darklon

Doug: Happy Monday, kids! Rainy Days and Mondays... you know what I'm saying! But today we have a gaggle of reviews from our resident Balkan. He quipped to us in an email that his intent was to write in the 100-Word Review format, but soon found the handcuffs to be a bit too tight. So today, with a little expansion, the musings of Edo Bosnar --

Edo Bosnar: The year 1983 was a good time for reprints, apparently, and here’s a review of three reprint books I have in my collection that all came out that year. The first two collect some classic material from the late ’40s and early ‘50s by industry legends Will Eisner and Frank Frazetta, while the last one contains some pretty obscure stories by the no less legendary Jim Starlin.

 

First up: John Law, Detective. Published by Eclipse, this book contains three stories done by Will Eisner in the late 1940s featuring a then new character he was trying to develop. No publishers were interested at the time, and he ended up redoing them for the Spirit newspaper sections, while these originals were put into an envelope and forgotten until Eclipse editor-in-chief cat yronwoode (that’s not a typo, she deliberately signed her name like that back then) found them in Eisner’s archives years later and had them published.

Visually, John Law is virtually indistinguishable from the Spirit – basically Eisner wanted a character who was a normal cop, not some guy pretending to be a ghost and wearing a domino mask (John Law wears an eye patch instead). The stories therefore match the style and tone of the popular Spirit shorts – there’s even a little boy sidekick, a shoeshine named Nubbin who is, thankfully, not a caricatured stereotype like the Spirit’s Ebony.

Of the three stories, the first, “Sand Saref” is the best – and probably familiar to those who’ve read Eisner’s Spirit stories, since Sand Saref was an occasionally recurring character in them. Basically, it’s the origin tale of Sand, a childhood friend of Law’s who went down a different path and eventually ended up leading a globe-trotting life, often engaged in none-too-legal activities, before coming back to their hometown. Like a lot of Eisner’s stories, it almost works as a storyboard treatment for what could be a good noir film.

 

The other two stories focus more on the Nubbin character, with John Law in a more supporting role, i.e., he sort of steps in and saves the day at the last moment. Again, these will be familiar to anyone who’s read Eisner’s Spirit strips that focus on any of his several boy sidekicks (not just the unfortunate Ebony). This book is definitely worth getting if you’re a fan of Eisner’s work (like I am), and I think it’s pretty easy to find for next to nothing (my copy carried the hefty price tag of 80 cents a few years back).

Next: Masterworks Series of Great Comic Book Artists, nos. 1-2, published by DC together with Sea Gate Distributors. These two books reprint the Shining Knight and other stories drawn by Frank Frazetta that originally appeared in Adventure Comics in 1050-51. I’m a fan of Frazetta’s art, so I really like these simply because they’re so nice to look at (by the way, someone posted a video on YouTube with a page-by-page overview of the first issue in case anyone’s interested).

The stories, however, are pretty average, and if the art wasn’t so nice they would be entirely forgettable. No writer credits are generally cited in the book, so I had to look it up on the GCD, and found that the Shining Knight stories were written by one Joseph Samachson, who was also the co-creator of the Martian Manhunter and otherwise a research chemist and university professor! None of that comes out in these stories, unfortunately, and they quite surprisingly contain much of the typical Golden/Silver Age wonky science among other things. A case in point, one story involves a con-man who sells what he claims is the Shining Knight’s winged horse – and he manages to fool his marks (mainly gullible rich guys) because he has very real-looking fake wings with small jet packs under them mounted on the horse, which allows it to glide for a short distance. Needless to say, the reader is left with the question that often arises with these criminal geniuses in comics: why doesn’t he just patent that impressive technology and make a fortune, instead of running scams or trying to take over  the world?

This brief review is going to run a little long, just because I have to highlight what is by far the best story in these two books. It’s an extra in the second issue, an SF tale written by Gardener Fox (who is credited). It starts with some mysterious spores from space falling to Earth and kick-starting a new ice age that devastates much of the planet.

Astronomers eventually learn that they came from the none other than the asteroid Ceres – I found this amusing as I was re-reading this just as the news broke that the Dawn spacecraft approaching Ceres had photographed what looked like lights on it. The story also has a very darkly ironic ending, as Earth’s scientists figure out that the spores are a source of infinite energy, and use it to power machinery that not only reverses the ice age but also helps rebuild human civilization – and propel a rocket that is launched to blow up Ceres. Afterward, they find out that the inhabitants of the asteroid actually sent the spores to Earth to keep us from using atomic energy and destroying ourselves. Definitely a twist worthy of the Twilight Zone.

 

And finally: Darklon the Mystic, published by Pacific Comics. This one collects five stories by Jim Starlin about a cosmic character called Darklon that originally appeared in various issues of Warren’s Eerie magazine from 1976 to 1979. As far as I know, these stories were originally black-and-white, so they were colored for this Pacific edition. The tale begins with the titular space-faring character tracking down a group of assassins who tried to kill him; he kills each one of them in turn, sparing the last one long enough to find out who sent them (spoiler: his father). So this is the kind of fare we’ve come to expect from the writer of those cosmic Warlock and Captain Marvel epics: a powerful and determined yet grim and troubled protagonist involved in a dark tale of  retribution and inevitable destiny with lots of cosmic magic thrown in (and it gets pretty dark, and also quite weird at a few places). Of these three titles that I’ve reviewed here, I have to say I like this one the best. It’s Starlin doing what he does best, and the story is engrossing, while the art is spectacular. By the way, I know many people don’t like it when black-and-white stories are later colored, but the coloring here was very nicely done and it really serves the story well.

I’m also happy that these reviews highlight some of the independent publishers that became quite active in the 1980s and gave started releasing a lot of creator-owned material. Pacific in particular did a few other books similar to Darklon, i.e., they collected and reprinted some of the more obscure comics work from the 1970s by popular artists like Jeffrey Catherine Jones, Bernie Wrightson and Arthur Suydam.