Who's the Best... Anthology Comic Series?

Redartz:  Good day to one and all! Today we consider a genre of comic close to many hearts (certainly close to mine, anyway): anthology comics. Books in which one was treated to a variety of stories, with different characters, different creative teams, all within a single issue. A given book may have contained just two stories (such as was found in classic series like Strange Tales, Tales of Suspense, and Tales to Astonish). Or it may have contained several stories, as with the dollar Adventure Comics, or Walt Disney's Comics and Stories. The stories sometimes shared a theme, such as sci-fi in Mystery in Space, or Batman Family stories in Detective. Story lengths varied, but you always got some variety for your comic coin. And after all, who doesn't enjoy a buffet?

 Following are a few examples to 'prime the pump':
 

 

Among my personal favorites were Adventure (a great line-up with Deadman and the JSA), Mystery in Space (some very nice stories by top talent) and the always fun Disney's Comics and Stories. What were your favorites? What were the best line-ups of features? Let's all get eclectic today... 

News Flash: New Rich Buckler Retrospective Coming Your Way

Doug: Happy Weekend, everyone! This evening we were contacted by Clifford Meth via Twitter. Some of you may know Clifford as the agent for the personal collection of Dave Cockrum. Clifford has many friends in the comics industry, and wrote asking us to give a plug for a new book about Rich Buckler. You can see Clifford's original post at his own blog, but I am reproducing it here for our very own Bronze Age Babies. I am going to get in on this, and wanted our readers to have the opportunity as well. Here's Clifford's text:

Clifford Meth: I've been pleased to know artist Rich Buckler for decades and was happy to recently help renegotiate his contract with Marvel Comics for genuine participation in the Deathlok character that he created.

When I was young, Rich drew some of my favorite books including Fantastic Four, where he was handpicked to follow John Buscema, and later The Avengers. Best known for creating as well as writing and illustrating Deathlok (soon to be a major motion picture?), Rich is among a handful of legendary Marvel Bullpen artists who had the opportunity to draw nearly every major Marvel character of the 1970s.

In 2015, Aardwolf Publishing will release Rich Buckler: Artist, Innovator a perfect-bound portfolio of Rich's work with an introduction by Roy Thomas and, I expect, some rare insights from other important professionals. This collection of Rich's impressive drawings will be a limited edition run that's launched with a Kickstarter campaign.

But before we do that, Aardwolf is offering fans the opportunity to order the book now along with special signed/lettered or signed/numbered bookplates from Rich. These bookplates will contain unique head sketches of Marvel and DC characters that Rich has drawn specially for this project. This is a chance for you to own a piece of original Rich Bucker art as well as the rarest iteration of this new book. 
 

• Signed/numbered editions of Rich Buckler: Artist, Innovator (only 100 will be produced) including the head sketch by Rich are $45 postage-paid.
• The Lettered Edition of Rich Buckler: Artist, Innovator (only 26 will be produced), including a head sketch by Rich, is $72 postage-paid.
• You can also order the book without the original head sketch for only $20.
  

Orders that need to be shipped outside of the U.S. will require additional postage.

You can request the character of your choice and we will try to accommodate you, but all character head sketches are either Marvel or DC characters, and each one is unique.


We do not have a ship date yet but you can reserve your copy now for just $20 (or by paying in full) by sending your order via PayPal to sales@aardwolfpublishing.com - Please specify whether you are ordering the numbered or lettered edition.

Doug: So there you have it, kids! See you back here on Monday for another great week of conversation.
 

The Curse of the Sun God

Astonishing Tales #5 (April 1971)"Rampage!"
Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: Barry Smith
Inker: Frank Giacoia

Karen: When last we left the fearless jungle lord Ka-Zar he had been swept up in the talons of a pterodactyl ridden by the merciless priestess Zaladane. We start this story with Ka-Zar struggling to break loose from that terrible grip. The acrobatic savage manages to swing himself free and up on to Zaladane's perch, knocking the reins out of her hands. The gigantic beast flies wildly out of control and the two enemies now cling to one another as they crash through trees to the ground below.
Karen: The beast has fallen in front of the temple to the Sun God, where Ka-Zar's friend Garokk, the Petrified Man, stands, hoping to be free of the godlike power that now fills him, and is driving him mad. He looks at the lake before him and sees a sea serpent attacking boats full of men and tries to stop it. Unfortunately he uses too much of his power and practically evaporates the entire lake, wiping out man and monster alike. This is an effective sequence as we see the water roiling and then the near empty lake bed.

Karen: Ka-Zar and Zaladane have survived their crash and she appears to have changed her tune, as Ka-Zar tried to protect her during their ordeal. She shows him a pool of black water under the city -"heating our homes, supplying liquid wood for our fires..." Sounds like oil right? But then she says, "...and he who drinks from it gains immortality, and then unlimited force---and then madness!" OK, definitely not oil! Ka-Zar realizes what this means for Garokk, and asks inf there is no cure. Zaladane replies that if Garokk bathes in the pool the curse will be removed. Unfortunately she's been playing Ka-Zar -she lured him into the chamber only to release a big nasty ape-like monster on him!

Karen: Back on the surface, Garokk has decided the only way to bring peace to the Savage Land is to wipe out the people. He nearly attacks Tongah and Zabu when he feels compelled to leave in his godly form. Zaladane has summoned him, and he's not happy! Back underground, the jungle lord is battling a much bigger foe than he, but still overcomes him. Ka-Zar sees Garokk and tries to reason with him but it's no use. The crazed man-god begins firing energy beams from his eyes, and the very ground they stand upon crumbles and the twon drop into the underground chamber. Remembering Zaladane's words about removing the curse, Ka-Zar manipulates Garokk into the bubbling pool. Of course, Ka-Zar should know better than to trust the treacherous wench. Garokk starts to change, his outer rocky form consumed by the fire. All that is left is his withered, centuries-old mortal form, now dying. Ka-Zar is stunned but Garokk gratefully accepts death.

Karen: Zaladane comes down to the chamber but Ka-Zar leaves her be, pretty much disgusted with the whole situation. Suddenly, from under some rubble comes the guardian-beast that Ka-Zar had defeated. he doesn't recognize Zaladane and goes to attack her. The whole chamber starts to collapse. Form outside, Tongah and Zabu try to enter but the whole temple is falling apart. After the Sun-God's statues falls, they see a figure in the dust; it is Ka-Zar.

Karen: This three-part tale was solid all the way through. It's fun to look back at two young creators, Conway and Smith, just starting to come into their own, Smith with a few more years under his belt at this point than Conway. His art is much improved from his earlier Avengers work, where he seemed to be trying to emulate Kirby. Here, in his own natural style, he excels. I think Giacoia was a better choice of inker for him than Grainger. There seems to be much more of Smith's fine line work retained in this issue. It's too bad he was not the cover artist as well; the covers for these issues have been fairly pedestrian. For anyone wanting to see some examples of early Smith art that is not Conan, these issues would be a good place to look.

Savages and Sun Gods

Astonishing Tales #4 (Feb. 1970)"The Sun God!"
Writer: Gerry Conway
Artist: Barry Smith
Inker: Sam Grainger

Karen: Way back in February of last year, I reviewed Astonishing Tales 3 (see it here). I've finally acquired the following issues and decided to read and review them. I'll just be looking at the Ka-Zar portion of this split comic. Not that I don't like Dr. Doom, but I find the Ka-Zar tale more interesting. It would be great if Marvel would collect these stories in a TPB. It would be worth it for the early Barry Smith art alone.

Karen: The mad priestess Zaladane has brought war to the Savage Land. Flying in on pterodactyls, she and her people reign fire on the peaceful green-skinned Vala-Kuri people. Ka-Zar is miles away and needs some speedy transportation. He wrestles down a unicorn(!!) and heads off for the city, leaving behind his buddy Tongah and Garokk, the petrified man, who appears to be made of stone; unlike Stone Boy of the Legion of Substitute Heroes, Garokk is quite mobile. In turn, Tongah leaves Garokk, who is left to muse about youth abandoning age and age burying youth. He's that kinda guy.

Karen: Zaladane and her forces are wreaking havoc on the poor Vala Kuri, who have neither the means nor desire to fight back. But along comes an enraged Ka-Zar, who launches himself at one of the pterodactyl riders, bringing man and beast down to the ground. He quickly punches out the rider and takes his flaming device, while Zabu works on the dinosaur. Ka-Zar also waxes a little philosophical here - surely the very young Gerry Conway expressing himself. I've noticed that his early stories seem much more like he's writing a novel rather than a comic.

Karen: In the meantime Garokk has reached the Sun God shrine where he was first transformed. He reaches out to touch it and there is a strange energy enveloping him. A very bizarre-looking Tyrannosaurus Rex comes lurching towards him, and he blasts it away. This was a well-composed sequence by Smith. While Ka-Zar and newly arrived friend Tongah face down Zaladane, a giant fiery head appears in the sky -it is Garokk, now completely changed into the Sun God. He demands an end to the fighting and uses his powers (apparently pretty god-like ones) to destroy all the fire-blasting weapons. The invaders stop attacking -all that is but Zaladane, who is infuriated by this development. She sweeps down and grabs Ka-Zar in her mount's talons and flies off with him! Can you say, to be continued?

Karen: This was a real rip-snorting yarn. I've always liked the Savage Land. It has so many possibilities. Gerry Conway does a nice job here of pacing the story. Although the unicorn seemed fairly out of place, I have to say. I wonder if that was his idea, or Smith's? But otherwise, we have all the elements -the hero, the evil queen, the wizard/god -that make this a classic tale of fantasy- adventure.
Karen: It's really fun to look at this early work of Barry Smith. It's instantly recognizable, but it's also clearly still Smith learning his craft. He has a gift for portraying the fantastic, but at times his figures and especially faces are a bit off. The T-Rex mentioned earlier is a good example of this; it looks almost more-bug-like than reptilian. But Smith still has a very appealing style which shows wonderful flashes of the brilliance he would eventually achieve.

BAB Two-In-One: Dystopian Demolishers and Mighty Marvel Westerns!

Karen: Continuing along with our stroll down Deathlok-memory lane, we're up to issue 32 of Astonishing Tales. Last time we were lucky enough to have Klaus Janson doing the inking; this time, the entire art job is credited to "Rich, Keith, Bob McLeod, and the whole blamed bullpen" -and it shows! A very uneven looking book to say the least. Bill Mantlo picks up the scripting chores and does a good enough job. Deathlok is in pursuit of a courier who may hold the key to finding a surgeon who can restore the cyborg to normal -at least, that's what Deathlok is hoping for. Hope is about all he has left at this point, and his desperation causes him to take a number of risks, most of which his computer mind protests against.

Karen: As for the rest of our cast, Mike Travers breaks back into Ryker's facility -housed in the Pan Am building (if you're under forty, you may not have any idea what that means). Travers works his way through assorted guards and thugs to get to poor Nina, whose brain is still hard-wired to Ryker's computers. That whacky Ryker is still using his network of big brother cameras to follow Deathlok's movements, but loses contact when the cyborg enters the subway system. It appears that Ryker is going to have some sort of surgery, and really isn't focusing that much on his erstwhile creation.

Karen: Deathlok uses his infra-red vision, which he hadn't even realized he had, to track the courier across New York City. He fights off the usual cannibals only to run into lobotomized cyber-thugs, who have unfortunately found the courier first. Although Deathlok wipes out the attackers, the courier dies, before Deathlok can learn about the surgeon from him. Frustrated, he takes the man's briefcase, which at least is filled with money. But to just add to his misery, the computer in his head informs him that it is counterfeit. The guy just can't catch a break!

Doug: If'n yuh thought I wuz gonna sooner or latuh give ya a little lead from the Bronze Age, then yer durn tootin' right cuz today's tale comes from April 1973 -- and was made by Larry Lieber (words and pencils) and George Roussos. We're lookin' at Rawhide Kid #110, "The Sightless Gun!"


OK, enough cowboy dialect! I was never a Western fan -- born too late to have gotten in on the Davy Crockett craze and never warmed to the genre in the Marvel Age of Comics. However, just to broaden my horizons, I came across this magazine and thought it might be fun to stretch myself a bit for one of our Two-In-Ones. So here goes!


Larry Lieber crafts a fun little 14-page story that although new (at the time), could easily have been written in the 1950's. It's a simple tale that involved the Kid, some bandits, and a couple of tweens. I could see how appealing this might have been to the Mickey Mouse Club crowd; I wonder, however, how this magazine was selling as the Bronze Age and all of its innovations were underway... Rawhide comes across a payroll robbery, and as he's about to intervene the bandits shoot the carrier. Riding down to check on the man as the robbers hightail it away, the Kid decides that he'd best get the man medical attention before pursuing the bad guys. I thought it was a little strange that the Kid went back into town alone to fetch the doctor, rather than taking the injured man with him. At any rate, the Kid brings the doctor back to the site of the robbery, and is assured that the injuries will be dealt with abruptly.


Now free to pursue the bandits, the Kid picks up their trail. Along the way, he comes upon a cabin inhabited by a couple of kids whose parents had been "killed by renegade injuns". Ah, yes -- Bronze Age political incorrectness! The young man is in awe of the Kid, and asks him to show him his draw. The Kid obliges, shooting some rocks off a fence, but telling young Billy that his brains are as important as his gun. The Kid takes his leave, and tracks the outlaws to a cave.


Once in the cave, the Kid finds the stash of loot. However, he trips a wire that fires a pistol, grazing himself on the side of the head. As the Kid rises, he discovers that he's lost his sight! Staggering about the cave, he loses his balance and falls over a ledge. As fate would have it, young Billy and his sister Bess have decided to follow so they can watch Rawhide round up the bandits. They find the Kid's horse, Nightwind, and enter the cave. Soon they find Rawhide and assist him out of the hole. They hear voices, and decide to attempt to evade the robbers.


As Billy and Rawhide leap a narrow chasm, Bess freezes in fear; she's shortly grabbed by the bad guys and used as a hostage -- the Kid must come outside the cave to duel in order to get her back. Knowing he can't win without his eyes, Rawhide asks Billy if he can tell time (see, this would have been great in the '50's -- no digital clocks!). Billy assures him that he can, and they craft a plan. Upon emerging from the cave, the Kid asks Billy to tell him where the gunman is -- at 2:00, Kid! Bang -- Rawhide fills him full of lead! And, while diving to evade the gunfire from the other robber, the Kid hits his head on a rock, miraculously restoring his sight! Bang, bang -- fills the other guy full of lead!

And even though the hero didn't get the girl, 'cause that would be nasty since she's like 12 years old, all is restored to order in the Wild West!

BAB Two-In-One: Bionic Betrayals and the Sons of the Tiger!

Karen: After a brief hiatus, I'm back to the wonderful world of Deathlok, with issue 31 of Astonishing Tales. This issue has a memorable cover by Ed Hannigan to start it off. Doug Moench is back as writer, and Rich Buckler and Keith Pollard are credited as artists, with the inimitable Klaus Janson beginning his turn on the title as inker (although unfortunately he's not the inker on the next issue!). I have to say, the Janson-inked issues are the ones that really stand out in my memory. He brought a really smooth, solid look to the book -it looks more professional, more polished, when Janson is the inker.


Karen: We only get a 10 page story this time around, as the last half of the book contains a Watcher reprint. I'm assuming that Buckler and company had some sort of problem cranking out a full story, and rather than letting the 'dreaded deadline doom' force a full issue of reprints, maybe they just went with a shortened version? Whatever the case might be, this brief story has a couple of nice points to it, chief among them, the Janson finishes. After defeating Ryker's cyber-tank, Deathlok runs into best friend Mike Travers, a soldier buddy who once saved Luther's (Deathlok's) life. Unfortunately in the five years that passed since Luther's 'death', Mike and Luther's wife Janice have now become a couple, and this naturally sends our cyborg pal into a rage. He'd been hoping, probably foolishly, that he could find someone to 'fix' him, to give him back his humanity. Then of course he would return to his wife and son. Now, that option is gone. He pummels Mike a bit until he reminds him that he did save his life. With that, the disconsolate cyborg lets Travers go and wanders off.

Karen: When Deathlok sees a helicopter on a roof, he decides to take it. But he stumbles into a deal going down between some gangster-types, and overhears them say that they're going to kidnap the surgeon who created Deathlok! He manages to take out three of the four goons, but the fourth runs to the chopper and starts to take off. Despite his internal computer's protests, Deathlok decides that he's going to jump after it - "Cuz Mr. Briefcase up there knows where to find Mr. Surgeon. If it's a choice between livin' in this putrid body and missin' the jump to go splat on the sidewalk - then I'd rather die!!"

Karen: Moench and Buckler probably do as much as they can with ten pages, although it still feels far too brief. But we see a definite goal now forming for Deathlok, to find a way to regain his humanity, his identity. Travers' revelation is brutal -how far down can Deathlok go? - but brings another layer to the story. So the plot thickens.

Doug: Today's picture story hearkens back to December 1975 in a hero- and villain-packed extravaganza. Marvel Team-Up #40 featured Spider-Man (natch!), the Human Torch, the Sons of the Tiger, the Sandman, the Enforcers (sans the Ox), the Big Man, and the Crime Master. I had this one as a wee lad, and loved it to death. Bill Mantlo provided the words and Sal Buscema and Mike Esposito handled the graphics.

This one starts like a downhill rollercoaster, apparently continued from the previous issue (although it's hardly referenced) -- all-out combat between Spidey and the Torch and all of the above-named do-badders. Seems the Big Man and the Crime Master are trying to be the one to kill Spider-Man; curious, however, that both of these would-be crime lords met their ends much earlier. Sandman is just sort of in this story as a heavy, with no clear allegiance to either "boss"; same for the Enforcers. The Torch is eventually captured, as is Spider-Man, and it ain't lookin' good for the longjohn crowd.

But, lo and behold if the Sons of the Tiger aren't in the adjacent building, a run-down and abandoned martial arts school. While training, our young kung fu fighters (a veritable United Nations of heroes!) are alerted to loud noises coming from not-too-far. Heading next door to investigate, Tiger Lin Sun and Tigress Lotus break up the assembled gang and free our heroes. You guessed it -- more melee as Bob and Abe, the remaining Sons of the Tiger, join the fracas. Crime Master eventually launches a gas grenade, giving the villains a cover under which to escape. The Torch cuts out because he has a date over in FF #165 with Frankie Raye, and Spidey and the Sons of the Tiger split up as well.

Sooner than later, the baddies show themselves, Spidey pursues, and discovers that the Sons of the Tiger were ambushed are have been taken captive. Of course Spidey jumps in, begins administering beatdowns, and it's game on! again. I'll tell you, this comic made me want to take a deep breath a few times. The ratio of action pages to inaction pages was seriously 15-3. What a great memory from my childhood -- Sal Buscema cutting loose in his own way, and everything a team-up book should be: lots of style and not much substance required. If I have one criticism, it's that scribe Mantlo doesn't quite have Spidey's "voice" down. But it's minor -- overall, the three primary creators move the story along well.

The "big pay-off" is the reveal that both the Crime Master and the Big Man were in fact the son and daughter (respectively) of their crooked fathers. However, in each other's crazed drive to kill Spider-Man in revenge of their father's death, Crime Master plugs the Big Man. Only thing is, neither had known the other's secret, and they'd fallen in love some years before. So in effect, Crime Master had killed the love of his life. A nice little twist, and a decent closing scene to what had been a fun Bronze Age comic book!

BAB Two-In-One: Jacked-up Storytelling and the Savage art of Barry Smith

Doug: Back atcha with a look at Amazing Adventures #2 from September 1970. As with the premiere ish of the Inhumans solo series, this story was written and drawn by Jack Kirby with inks by Chic Stone (who incidentally seems to have tipped over the ol' inkpot square on Black Bolt's mug on the splash page!).

As I'd commented last time, while Jack Kirby might have been known as the King, it certainly was not a title to be associated with his writing prowess. Let's see if things get better with experience... When we left off, the Great Refuge had been attacked by a cobalt missile. Destroyed by Black Bolt, the scraps carried the insignia of the Fantastic Four. With the revelation that former allies had instigated the attack, Black Bolt gave the signal for the royal family to now make war.

This issue opens with Lockjaw teleporting the Inhumans directly into the Baxter Building where they find Ben reclining in his personal quarters and Crystal (still can't figure out why she's in this story -- as I'd said, she had been called back to the Great Refuge some months ago) and Johnny dancing to records (that's right -- vinyl, baby!) in the rec. room. There's a great scene of Lockjaw holding the door knob to Ben's room so that he can't get out, and Ben on the other side giving a firm tug. When Lockjaw finally plows through, Black Bolt follows and hits Ben with an electron burst from his antennae. Ben's floored then by Karnak and the scene switches to the young lovers.

Moving into the hallway to check out the commotion, Crystal is subdued by Medusa while Johnny squares off against Gorgon. Of course the Baxter Building is virtually destroyed in the melee. When Reed and Sue return from a shopping trip, there's not much left of their home.

Meanwhile, Maximus is on his secret island gloating about the events transpiring. However, Black Bolt had dispatched Triton on a hunch that the Mad One was behind all of this (as he usually is in an Inhumans yarn...). Yep -- Triton sees the missile launcher, catches a little of Maximus' gloating, and takes him into custody. Shortly after that the fighting in New York comes to a halt.

While Black Bolt regenerates Ben's destroyed bath robe, Medusa gives an odd soliloquy about doing right in the face of a false attack (or something like that). It's a real moralizing speech, and coming from Kirby's pen is understandable given his war experiences but the delivery is just odd. And that's also the overall evaluation of this 2-parter -- while Jack's visual storytelling works, the plot and dialogue are just so contrived and basic that it's really a bore. As I've read so much history about the man, I find myself sad that all of the ideas caged up in his head didn't make him happy on the graphic page -- that he had to write, when that was not his gift, somewhat seems to diminish the overall talent. And I'm sorry I feel that way about it.


Karen: My comrade in comics, Doug, has inspired me with his selection of the split-book, Amazing Adventures. Since I've been reading Astonishing Tales featuring Deathlok, I decided to go waaay back to issue 3 of that title, back when it was a split book as well, shared by the incongruous pairing of Dr. Doom and Ka-Zar! I've had this book plus a number of other early Astonishing Tales issues sitting in my comic boxes, unread. So I pulled out the earliest one I had and was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by the art of Barry Smith. While best known for Conan, Smith left his mark in a number of other titles, such as Avengers and Dr. Strange. But I've always felt that his style worked best with the non-super-heroes. There is a sort of otherworldliness to it - at least, in my eyes. Here, he turns in a terrific Ka-Zar, who resembles Conan in many ways - the blond hair being the primary difference!
The story in this issue, "Back to the Savage Land," was written by Gerry Conway, another guy who popped up all over the Marvel universe. According to Wikipedia, this was Conway's first writing job for Marvel. If that's the case, then it's no wonder he was soon scripting almost every title Marvel had. It's a really solid adventure that continues with the next issue. But probably the most interesting thing about it is that it is the precursor to a much-better known X-Men story. Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Terry Austin basically did a sequel to this issue in issues 114-116 of that title, when the X-Men found themselves stuck in Ka-Zar's home base.

In this story, the blood-thirsty priestess Zaladane of the Sun People uses the worship of their god, Garokk, to influence her tribe to attack and conquer the other people of the Savage Land, breaking years of peaceful co-existence. In the meantime, Ka-Zar, who has been living in New York, is contacted by the Petrified Man, the human avatar of Garokk. The Petrified Man was originally a sailor in the 16th century who wound up in the Savage Land. By drinking mystical water consecrated to Garokk he has become immortal; but he has also been turned into stone (but can still move, obviously). He senses things are not right in the Savage Land, so he and Ka-Zar return to their jungle home. They soon discover what Zaladane is up to and try to stop her.



I really enjoyed the artwork in this issue. I think Barry Smith is one of the most immediately-recognizable of artists - I knew as soon as I looked at the first page that this was his work. He does an excellent job here in depicting the hidden world of the Savage Land, and his pacing moves the story along at just the right speed. His figures are dynamic. All in all, just a real joy to look at. It's always great fun for me to read an old book like this for the very first time - but when it is a truly good story, so much the better.



I won't review the Dr. Doom story here, but I must say something about the Wally Wood artwork. It is truly beautiful. It has a heavy, dark feeling that perfectly suits Dr. Doom. In some ways, it feels 'old' to me. But in a good way. It's extremely dramatic, and well....just take a look. Wow.