From Chicago to Wakanda to Plaszow to Selma - Doug's Summer Reading List

Doug: With yesterday's observance of Labor Day here in the States, summer has unofficially come to an end. And as we've done in the past around here, we like to query the reading lists of friends and discuss that of your hosts. I always look forward to these times to get recommendations and really to just get a finger on the pulse of our readers' preferences inside and outside the comics/graphic novel genre.

I was really floored when I set to gathering images for today's post. I knew I'd been somewhat prolific since May -- way more than in the past several summers -- but I had no idea how ravenous an appetite for reading I'd had. So in chronological order (because I'm a history guy, you know...), here are my accomplishments.

In May I actually finished a book I'd started in the fall of 2015. Having lived in the Chicago area for 95% of my life, my wife and I have an interest in Chicago history. So last year, while she read The Devil in the White City, I started Sin in the Second City. You can see from the taglines on the book's cover what it is basically about. It centers on a pair of sisters who arrive in town with the goal of setting up the best brothel in America. The Everleigh (get it?) Club was notorious, and the circumstances around its existence and demise were compelling reading.

I followed that book with a biography of Eliot Ness. I probably haven't seen but one or two episodes of the 1959-63 television show The Untouchables, but I love the 1986 film of the same name that starred Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Andy Garcia, and Robert DeNiro. Last year my wife and I toured Union Station, site of the most memorable scene from that film. So I've had this closet interest in Ness, and upon seeing the book for sale at the Chicago History Museum I purchased it. Like all people and events, lives and circumstances tend to be romanticized over time. This would definitely be true of the history of the Untouchables, a story actually promoted by Ness himself. I had not known that after Prohibition ended Ness landed in Cleveland and became that city's Public Safety Director. Ness led an interesting, and conflicted, life to be sure. It was a good read.

When I headed to Washington, DC in mid-July I wanted to read something that could probably be conquered in the four-plus hours (round-trip) of flight time. Having recently downloaded a file of all the Tarzan novels to my Kindle, I chose Jungle Tales of Tarzan. It was my third read of that book, and its format as a collection of short stories was perfect. This also helped to set my mind for seeing the Tarzan film, which I did after my return.

For light reading while in Washington, because being immersed in the Holocaust definitely requires a mental break, I took my copy of the the Black Panther Marvel Masterworks. I've long been reporting that a storyline I'd never read but needed to was "Panther's Rage". I actually read the first three issues (of 13) while away from home, and then finished it upon my return. I have something in the works for later this fall in terms of a review of the story. Footnote: As Marvel is soon releasing a paperback Epic Collection version of the "Panther's Rage" story, and with the Marvel Premiere BP stories also included, I decided to sell my Masterworks and pre-order the softcover as a replacement. My copy sold on eBay last month for $120, so it was a wise decision financially.

While at the Holocaust Museum, a colleague recommended I read My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me. You can see the tagline on the cover. But the kicker is that the author's grandfather was not some obscure Nazi lost to the sands of time. No... Jennifer Teege's grandfather was none other than Amon Goth, commandant of the Plaszow Labor Camp and immortalized in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List. Goth and his mistress, shown a couple of times in the film, had a baby girl just months before the War ended and Goth was hanged for his crimes. That baby girl grew up and had a relationship with a man of African descent which bore a daughter, Jennifer. Ms. Teege did not know the full truth about her background until she was an adult and how that new knowledge turned her life upside down is the theme of the book. Fascinating reading.

I felt like I needed something a little lighter to help balance the Teege book. On Amazon's Kindle Store, books that have fallen to the public domain are offered for a free download. While browsing I found the first Lone Ranger book and snatched it up. It was OK -- I found it perhaps more sociologically interesting in terms of the attitudes and stereotypes than I found it to be any sort of high literature. But I'm glad I read it. Funny, because I could "see" Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels in my head the entire time I read it and much of the dialogue seemed like it could have been used later in the television program.

 

I mentioned to a Twitter friend a few weeks ago, as he was on his way to hear Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) speak that I regretted passing on a rally in DC after the Dallas shootings. Lewis was to be the main speaker at a rally on the Capitol lawn. If you are not aware, John Lewis remains a major figure in the Civil Rights Movement, and is the last living person who spoke at the March on Washington on 28 August 1963 (site of Dr. Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech). Lewis has authored a memoir in the graphic novel format. March has been issued in three volumes. I have read the first two and am awaiting the third installment, which will arrive with the Black Panther book I mentioned above. Highly recommended!

While reading March I was also reading Robert E. Howard's only full-length Conan novel, Conan the Conqueror. I read it from a Kindle file of Howard's complete Conan stories. It was a solid read, and a nice balance to the themes of Lewis's memoir. I'll recommend any Howard Conan, and follow it up with a tip of the hat to the way Marvel (notably Roy Thomas) handled the character in the Bronze Age.

So summer's over and I've begun reading Viktor Frankl's Holocaust memoir Man's Search for Meaning. But you know I'll have to have a mental diversion from those difficult events and themes, so from the Kindle I will also soon begin Johnston McCulley's The Mark of Zorro. That, and all the comics I read so that I can bring the reviews your way for consideration are on the horizon.

Now, how about you?

 

BAB Firsts - BAB Two-In-One: Two Bad Cats and One Good Move

This post was originally published on November 11 2009

Doug: Today you can tell all of your friends (and perhaps even a foe or three) that you were in on the ground floor of our next greatest sometimes-we'll-post-this theme: the Bronze Age Babies Two-In-One! Here's the premise -- while Karen and I will keep doing the tag-team comics reviews that have become one of the star features of this blog (as well as the Two Girls... blog), we are now going to occasionally branch out into comics that we uniquely own. In other words, Karen has a book that I don't, and vice versa.

Doug: I'm actually going to begin with two books I purchased on eBay about a year ago, The Cat #'s 3 and 4 from 1973. I'll confess that I had no prior experience with this character prior to Avengers #144 when Patsy Walker finds the Cat suit and upon donning it rechristens herself the Hellcat.

Doug: One thing I did know of this short-lived series is that it didn't seem to get off the ground creatively, and I say that strictly from the standpoint that all of the villains in the title were borrowed from other heroes' rogues galleries, including the Owl, Commander Kraken, and the Man-Bull. Another issue facing this series was scattershot artistic teams. Marie Severin, Wally Wood, Jim Mooney, Paty Greer, Bill Everett (who is really solid, unlike the criticisms we had of him in the Defenders books we reviewed a few weeks ago), Jim Starlin, and Alan Weiss all had a hand in the look of this series. Inconsistent artwork and a bi-monthly publishing schedule spells cancellation? I'd add bad publicity as well -- the teaser box at the end of #3 implies a storyline that is not close to what is between the covers of #4; #4 just sort of ends, and then there's a filler story of the Linda Fite-authored Marvel Girl origin (say what??).

Doug: Issue #3 begins with a boat chase on Lake Michigan. As a native Illinoisan, I was offended by author Linda Fite's claim that after crashing, the Cat's lungs filled with "salty" water (all of the Great Lakes are fresh water -- duh!). Anyway, the Cat is involved with some mystery-men and is captured by them. The reader is treated to a recap of events of the past couple of days that brought Greer Nelson to this point. The "bad guys" are sort of weird, referring to her as a "creature". They also can't seem to figure out the purpose of her costume.

Doug: To make a long story short, Greer is taken below the waters of the lake to a base. At this point she believes these dudes to be Navy. In the midst of her investigation of the base (after regaining consciousness, natch), she stumbles upon an intruder -- the Sub-Mariner's villain Commander Kraken. Should I be scared? After all, the guy looks just like Captain Hook, for crying out loud! A big fight ensues, the Cat and her "Navy" boys win, the Cat's sent back up to shore, and then the base blasts through the surface of the lake, revealing that it is an alien space ship. Yeah, I know -- I couldn't have made that up.

Doug: And if that wasn't dorky enough, I then start reading #4. The art this time around is by Jim Starlin and Alan Weiss -- this certainly ain't the Starlin we'd come to know in Captain Marvel! Also, I don't know much about Linda Fite other than she was married to Herb Trimpe at one time and is now a newspaper reporter. I would argue that she certainly didn't know much about Chicago back in the day, as she not only made the gaffe about the lake, but also sets this story in the Union Stockyards. Problem -- this issue is cover-dated June 1973; the Stockyards closed in 1971.

Doug: Because I can't hardly stand to belabor the point, Greer and a female pal encounter a heavy who turns out to be the Man-Bull. He's a big dope whether Man or Bull, and what's even more ridiculous is the fact that he's shown controlling a herd of cattle. Sort of like an orchestrated running of the bulls. Oh, lord, I could stick a fork in my eye... If you can avoid these books, do.

Karen: Well, I think I had better luck with my selection for our inaugural post. The issue I chose was Justice League of America #141, from 1976. I've always been a Marvel reader first and foremost, but I did (and still do) read DC as well. But back in the 70s, most of my DC interest was confined to the Legion of Super-Heroes, although I really wanted to like the Justice League. Like many kids, I knew who all the members of the League were, primarily from watching cartoons rather than reading comics. I had read some JLAs that my uncle had, which were from the mid-60s, but they just didn't grab me. The major problem for me was that the JLA seemed so bland. I was used to reading teams like the Fantastic Four or the Avengers. These were folks who worked together, and yet, they were all as different as could be. You could hide the pictures and just read the dialogue out of an issue of the FF, for example, and it would be pretty easy to tell who was who based solely on their speech patterns. But the JLA books I read featured characters that were practically interchangeable, at least personality-wise.

Karen: I would pick up an issue of JLA every once in awhile, just to check out the team, but was usually much more interested in The Avengers, FF, even the Defenders. But in 1976, the JLA experienced a change that brought me on board as a regular reader. It wasn't the addition of new members that did it - it was the addition of a new writer; a writer who was, in fact, one of my Marvel favorites: Steve Englehart.

Karen: As the story goes, when Gerry Conway ever so briefly took over the editor in chief reins at Marvel, he announced that he would be writing Avengers from now on. Englehart had been on the book for four years and was doing a great job. With Conway resolute, Englehart felt wronged, and offered his services to DC. New publisher Jenette Kahn asked him to take Justice League and make it more, well, Marvel-like. And that's just what Steve did. Under his brief guidance, the JLA developed realistic personalities and voices. They didn't all get along, and they didn't all sound the same!

Karen: His first story actually appeared as the second story in issue 139. But today I'm going to review issue 141, which is the second part of a fantastic Green Lantern-Manhunter story. Actually, if you're a fan of the animated Justice League, you'll recall the plot, since they used it in one of their episodes! The Green Lantern (Hal Jordan here) is being hunted by the Manhunters, intergalactic bounty hunters. It is believed -even by GL at first - that he accidentally destroyed an inhabited planet. The League tries to figure out what's going on and prove GL's innocence.

Karen: This is a long story - DC was doing JLA in 'giant' format - but it moves really well. The art by Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin is very pleasant, although not spectacular. However, I would have loved to have seen artists of their ability on Englehart's Avengers run. The JLA face battles on Earth and in space, and it is all crisply portrayed.

Karen: Englehart's trademark skill with developing relationships is in evidence here. We have a Wonder Woman who has only recently regained her powers, and who feels somewhat insecure, hence her picking on Flash, who seems somewhat uneasy with the Amazon princess. The Atom begins to voice self-doubt. As Englehart's run would go on we would get more insight into some of the other Leaguers (as well as the sort-of cross-over of his Avengers' creation, Mantis...but that's a subject for a later review).

Karen: This issue added to the Green Lantern Corps mythology and also did a good job showcasing the various members and their powers. Batman once again proves that his deductive reasoning is practically a super-power in itself. This was a fun read and I'd especially recommend it to any fans who always found the 70s and earlier JLA boring.

Karen: I can't help but wonder, though, what the regular DC readers thought of Englehart bringing in his 'Marvel style'. Were they offended? By 1976, with so many writers and artists starting to move between companies, did it matter?

Face-Off: Bands With Two Lead Vocalists - Who Ya Got?

Doug: Today's question doesn't require much background, so I'll cut right to the chase. This is a multiple subject Face-Off, by the way. Can you think of bands that had two lead singers in the group at the same time, or in some cases two singers who were perfectly capable of carrying the band? Got one or two in mind? OK -- simply tell us which singer you preferred/enjoyed more on a given bands discography, and why.

Some nominees for consideration:

• The Beatles: John Lennon and Paul McCartney

• The Who: Roger Daltry (who sang far and away most of the band's mainstream hits) and Pete Townshend


• The Eagles: Don Henley and Glenn Frey
  


• Chicago: Peter Cetera and Terry Kath


• Journey: Gregg Rolie and (of course) Steve Perry


• The Cars: Benjamin Orr and Ric Ocasek


• The Monkees: Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz


• Three Dog Night: Cory Wells and Chuck Negron


• Earth, Wind, & Fire: Maurice White and Philip Bailey


• The Beach Boys: Brian Wilson and Mike Love


• KISS: Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley (duh... can't believe I left them off! I'll have to surrender my KISS Army card! Thanks, Erick!)

Have fun, and be sure to throw out some other favorite groups!

Versus -- the Illinois Bands

Cheap Trick -- Rockford
Chicago -- Chicago
REO Speedwagon -- Champaign
Styx -- Chicago


Doug: Not a bad list, if you're looking for bands that charted throughout the 1970's and into the 1980's, huh? From Surrender to 25 or 6 to 4, from Roll With the Changes to Lorelei, these guys have you covered on just about anything between hard rock, pop, and ballads.

Doug: I guess I became "aware" of popular music when I was about 6-years old. That's when I got my beloved transistor radio (complete with earpiece) -- AM only, baby. From that day, I fell in love with the likes of Elton John (Rocket Man, Someone Saved My Life Tonight), Paul McCartney (Live and Let Die, Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey), and the one-hit wonders of the early 1970's -- Paper Lace (The Night Chicago Died), Johnny Wakelin (Black Superman), etc. But it wasn't until I got into junior high school in 1977 that I really began to latch onto some bands and actually follow what they produced. The bands listed above fall into that category.

Doug: I can recall standing in line to get out of PE one day and seeing an older kid wearing a Cheap Trick concert t-shirt. Never heard of 'em. But, it wasn't too long after that when the live album (yeah, dude -- a record) Cheap Trick at Budokan was released. I didn't know it at the time, but Cheap Trick had been huge in Japan, while struggling early on to get anything on the radio in the States. The year 1979 saw their frustration come to an end when I Want You to Want Me was constantly played on Top 40 stations around the country. After that album came the studio follow-up Dream Police, with its title track and Voices being the big hits. Dream Police really rocked, and Zander's vocals were powerful throughout the album -- at times power-charged, at others a little pouty. I loved the contrast in looks among the band members, as lead singer Robin Zander and bassist Tom Petersson looked like refugees from Tiger Beat magazine, while guitarist Rick Nielsen and drummer Bun E. Carlos were almost caricatures; they were certainly characters. In particular, Nielsen's multi-colored (and certainly odd-looking) guitars were a visual high point. At the point of Dream Police, I'd become a fan and eagerly anticipated new output from the band. Of all their hits, I guess I'd rank The Flame and Tonight It's You as two I regularly turn to. I like the studio and live versions of The Flame about equally.

Doug: Chicago. Wow -- when did I become aware of them? When you look at their early discography and think of AM radio, I guess from the time I got that radio I've been aware of Chicago's music. It would be hard to name a hit that I don't care for, although most of what they turned out after Peter Cetera left to make his sappy-ballad-duet fortune pale in comparison to what the band created in its first decade-plus. While not a big purchaser of their albums, their greatest hits compilations (as well as iTunes today) have me pretty well-stocked in regard to their music. The horns are always great, and the contrast in vocal styles create a nice sound. Frequently-played songs lately for me include Dialogue (Part I & II) and I'm a Man. I just love the percussion section, especially on I'm a Man, as well as the end of Beginnings. Going old style!

Doug: You Can Tune a Piano But You Can't Tuna Fish. Best. Album. Name. Ever. And the singles off of it -- Roll With the Changes and Time For Me to Fly plus the foot-tapping Say You Love Me or Say Goodnight make this an all-time great. This came out about the same time as the retrospective A Decade of Rock and Roll, which got me turned on to some of their older tunes, like 157 Riverside Avenue. After hearing that, I bought Live: You Get What You Play For and really got into some of the band's older tracks -- a bit more hard-edged than the pop path they would head down in the 1980's. Of the Illinois bands I've listed, this was by far the band for which I owned the most albums. Hi Infidelity, Nine Lives... each album had a sound of its own as the band experimented with different sounds that oscilated between rock and pop. Having purchased The Essential REO Speedwagon on CD a couple of years ago, my iTouch is pretty well outfitted with REO tunes. Hey, and why do they refer to the '80's rockers as "hair bands"? Check out these fellows!

Doug: The last band on the list, Styx, has a little local history (for me) tied in. Urban legends in these parts had them playing on the tennis courts of the local YMCA and even at the homecoming dance of the high school I would attend. Both of these events allegedly occurred in the early 1970's, well before the band hit it big. I've not been able to verify either incident, but it is the stuff of local chest-swelling. Or so I'm told... Anyway, Styx was getting big when I was in junior high and got even bigger as I got into high school. Early songs like Lorelei and Lady led to hits off The Grand Illusion like the title track, Foolin' Yourself, and the mega-hit Come Sail Away. The dueling vocals of Dennis DeYoung and Tommy Shaw gave each song a little bit of a different feel, but the keyboards and vocal harmonies held everything neatly together. Later, the albums Cornerstone and Paradise Theater cemented the band's albums as treasured spaces in my collection. Rockin' the Paradise, Borrowed Time, and Too Much Time on My Hands were all great memories as they played from my table-top stereo system. I wasn't much into politics as a kid, but the negativity of the Carter administration shines through on several of the band's songs.

Doug: So, give a vote on the poll to the left, and leave a comment below to share a memory.