Books With Pictures - and Some Without

Doug: Hello, and thanks for coming  around this week. It's good to be back in the blogger's chair, even if only for a few days. When last we met, it was over at Back in the Bronze Age when I contributed a post on DC's imaginary stories. That was over a year ago! And other than school work, I've really not written since May 2017. But I've done a heckuva lot of reading, and today I'd like to share some thoughts on the tomes I've consumed over the past 12 or so months.

A year ago I decided to start keeping track of the books I was reading. Since we quit blogging in November 2016, it really freed up time in the evenings for some leisurely reading. And as I got to forming that habit, I found that I'd missed regular reading - and particularly reading comics. Formerly, the comics I read were always blog-oriented. That's not a bad thing - I think our repository of reviews is a real treasure. But we're talking about me consuming 1-2 comics in a week over the 7+ years the BAB was active. However, that commitment had necessitated (at least, that's the story I'm telling) the acquisition of a massive amount of collected editions. At last count I have over 350 books on my shelves. For most of those books, they sat idle since arriving, waiting for a post idea or review to liberate them from their resting place. Once the blog shuttered, I felt able to crack open all of the books I'd amassed. If an evening goes the way I'd like, I'm on the couch or in the recliner with a tpb or hardcover, keeping an eye on some college sports or the Cubs. On a good night, I'll read 2-3 comics. I'd also add that the fact that our sons have been out of the house over the past few years has contributed to my disposable evening time. So you see how it's possible to rip through the amount of material I've read (see below).

Karen long ago said that we live in the golden age of reprints. She's not wrong. Just two weeks ago I finished the Batgirl Bronze Age Omnibus, collecting the character's early appearances in Detective Comics and Batman, up through the Batman Family years. Think about that... A 500-page hardcover devoted to mostly 8-10 page back-up stories, and featuring a C-list character. Karen was right!

You can count the Planet of the Apes B&W magazine strips among material I never expected to read. Thank goodness Boom Studios did what it took to put that mysterious content in my hot little hands. And if you've not seen these archive-like editions, you are missing out. The reproduction is outstanding - heavy stock, the same size as originally published, and wrapped by a sturdy hardcover. I have the first two volumes and intend to buy the next two. And speaking of those "damned, dirty apes", if you're into prose then you might like Tales from the Forbidden Zone. Karen and I both read it, and I can guarantee if we'd still been writing, you'd have seen our thoughts on it. Not every short story was a winner, but more often than not there was a smile and some thoughtful reflection before moving on to the next chapter. One story I'd mention specifically involved Taylor and Nova in a "What if Taylor had survived the nuke at the end of Beneath the Planet of the Apes?" Good stuff.

For our readers who've been with us for a few years, you'll recall that I have done contract work for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's education department. After spending 10 days each July in Washington, DC over the past seven summers, I am somewhat melancholy to report that I am not going back this year. However, my interest in the subject remains high, and you can see across my three reading logs that I've continued with my professional development by reading various selections in Holocaust witness and history. Two books I'd highlight to those interested: if you would be inclined to read a rather raw survivor testimony, told within months of liberation, then Five Chimneys is excellent. Certainly, it's a tough read, but very compelling throughout. If you want a concise history of some of the nuances of the event and era, then I heartily recommend Peter Hayes's very accessible Why? Explaining the Holocaust.

I didn't always care for the books I chose. Last summer I decided to give one of Edgar Rice Burroughs' last Tarzan novels a whirl. Tarzan and the Foreign Legion could best be avoided. In addition to Burroughs' formulaic storytelling, the racism that was so prevalent through the World War II era is off putting. I finished it, but can't say I bettered myself for the experience. Richard Wright's Come Together: Lennon & McCartney in the Seventies was OK, but the author's style was a little wonky; often he was repetitive. If he'd said one more time how much the four Beatles loved each other like brothers, I was going to scream. For funnybooks, I really liked the Essential Man-Thing once Gerber quit toying with the Nexus of Reality. I didn't care for that supernatural/occult stuff... which makes me wax hypocritical, as I absolutely loved the DC Comics Classics Library Roots of the Swamp Thing. I also found volume 2 of the Secret Society of Super-Villains disappointing as compared to my childhood memories. But overall, when you look at the almost-70 books on the lists, there were mostly hits among a few misses.

Shoot, why not toss you a good, better, best type of list?

Good: I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the Aquaman trade "Death of a Prince". Outside of Super Friends, I had zero experience with DC's King of Atlantis. So I was interested at my growing enthusiasm as I waded through these Bronze Age reprints from Arthur Curry's days as a back-up feature in Adventure Comics. Solid art from Mike Grell and Jim Aparo, and a nicely done payoff at the end. Recommended.

Better: Beatles '66 by Steve Turner was wonderful. Turner begins his book in December of 1965, and then charts the careers and lives of the Fab Four month-by-month through December 1966. It's tough to say that the book "centers" on any one thing, as the last world tour, the decision to stop touring, increased drug use, the recording of Revolver, and the appearance of Yoko Ono all conspired to make the year of my birth a landmark era for the Beatles. Great book, and I'd read it again.

Best: I gave no thought to this whatsoever beyond my initial impression. It wasn't even close, or worthy of further consideration. The best thing I've read in the past 12-15 months was the Uncanny X-Men Omnibus, volume 1. The 800+ page heavyweight collects Giant-Size X-Men #1, and X-Men #s 94-131. Also included is the George Perez-drawn X-Men Annual #3. As most of you know, this title just kept picking up steam. Aside from the 2-3 filler issues (the Dreaded Deadline Doom), every issue was pulse pounding and senses shattering. You know what I'm saying!

As to my coming-up reading list, I've already pulled three hardcovers for immediate consumption: Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams, volume 1, Spider-Man Newspaper Strips, volume 1, and The Inhumans Marvel Masterworks, volume 2. Once school's out in a few days, I'll commence to also wading through a large stack of real books -- I need to finish Rep. John Lewis's (D-GA) memoir Walking with the Wind, and then I have a caboodle of additional Civil Rights books already purchased: The Autobiography of Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson. For lighter fare, my son gave me Tim Kurkjian's (ESPN baseball commentator) book, I'm Fascinated by Sacrifice Flies: Inside the Game We All Love and Keith Richards's autobiography, Life.

So what are your thoughts? What are you reading presently, or recently? What would you recommend to me, or do you see something we share that you'd pass along to a friend? If you are just happening by this space for the first time ever, you must know that in order to join our Loyal Order of Water Buffalo Lodge a comment must be made and left for all to see. True story. All you veterans -- you know the drill.

Super Blog Team-Up: Things Are a Little Different Around Here...

Doug: Welcome to the 5th quarterly edition of the Super Blog Team-Up, a massive collaboration across the blogosphere and podcastosphere (say what?). We're glad you've dropped in, and if you're visiting from another site and are making your inaugural journey to the Bronze Age Babies then we say "Welcome!" Don't be a stranger -- come back often and get in on the conversations. Most importantly, leave us a comment!

Doug: This time around, the topics du jour are multiverses and alternate realities. As you may or may not know, this blog is pushing six years of publishing history, so we've dealt with these sorts of things on many occasions. As you may also know (a quick peek at our masthead should have been the first clue), we're taking our annual vacation from new material and are instead featuring some classic posts from our backlog. Wanting to stay true to ourselves, then, we're going to direct our readers to a "greatest hits" series of comic book reviews that should satisfy anyone's multiversal appetite. NOTE: Feel free to leave comments either on this post or on all of the posts linked below. We have a "recent comments" widget on our sidebar that will direct visitors to today's action. NOTE #2: We've only linked you to the first issue in each storyline. You should be able to navigate through the remainder of the series by using the "You might also like" feature at the end of each post.

Avengers vs. the Squadron Supreme for the Serpent Crown (Avengers 141-144, 147-149)

Memorable scene - Wanda being possessed by the Serpent Crown and flat-out talking nasty to the Vision. Vizh took out his frustrations by phasing through Hyperion's chest.

Key comment - Karen: Beast served as a mouthpiece for Englehart to make some social commentary. It would probably be considered heavy-handed now but considering where the national psyche was at in 1976, I think it fit in perfectly. "We commit the most outrageous acts...and you go right along, pretending not to notice!" Actually, much of that speech still resonates today.

The Fantastic Four Deal With Thing 1 and Thing 2... and Arkon! (Fantastic Four 160-163)

Memorable scene - Alicia relates her story and asks how it is that Ben is now with her -- he assures her that he'd been in the Great Refuge with the rest of the team. Alicia is very upset, and produces a scrap of the other Thing's shirt as evidence of what she'd gone through. Ben gets an idea, and calls up Crystal on the omni-viewer. Of course Quicksilver is right by her side, and abrasive as ever. Ben brushes him off and asks Crystal for Lockjaw's services. No sooner is the connection cut than the big pooch appears. Dimension-hopping time, friends!

Key comment - Karen: This illustrates again why I have never liked Reed Richards. Besides lobotomizing his son and treating his wife like crap, he rules the FF with an iron fist! "I own 51% and controlling interest -so what I say goes" -that's just typical of Mr. Big Brain. Oh sure, it may turn out he has something up his sleeve, but he's gonna put everyone through hell before he's done.

Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man

Memorable scene - Looking through the book with a discerning eye, trying to find all of the "corrections" done to Ross Andru's art.

Key comment - Doug: I guess, looking back on what must have gone on in those smoke-filled rooms at the meetings between Stan and Carmine (and all of their other assistants), Gerry Conway did a good job with what he had. I mean, there aren't any risks at all taken here -- everyone's in their firmly entrenched characterization, neither company's character really gets the upper hand over the other's (although I'd certainly argue that Ock got the short end of the stick in the bad guy dept. -- he comes off looking pretty inept), and even the supporting casts are pretty vanilla. But I keep coming back to -- what would I have expected?

The Last Superboy Story - The Greatest Hero of Them All (Legion 37-38, Superman 8, Action Comics 591)

Memorable scene - The Legion is invited to the Kents for dinner while they wait for Clark to return home. Ma stuffs them with a big country spread, and suddenly Clark walks in. The team is really excited to see him, as again -- they'd thought he never existed (in spite of their own memories). But Clark's reserved, and quickly invites the Legionnaires to the basement to talk while Ma cleans up the kitchen. Clark distracts them by directing their attention to a shelving unit with statuettes of the Legion members. But while their backs are turned, Clark pulls out a device that looks like the Phantom Zone projector; instead, it's a Time-Stasis ray and freezes the teen heroes in their tracks.

Key comment - Doug: For my money, this was all very poorly imagined, executed, and bordering on plain ol' stupid. As Superboy had never existed on Earth-2, and as the Legion was going to be kept around (although from the post-Crisis onward, endlessly rebooted), I failed then and do now to see the necessity of this "housecleaning". While DC through the years has had many corners of their universe supported by rabid fan support, the Legion seemed to hold an almost cult-like loyalty among its adherents. This seems to have been a kick in the teeth and a "We don't care" from editorial toward longtime Superman and Legion of Super-Heroes fans.

Deathlok the Demolisher (Astonishing Tales 25-28, 30-32)

Memorable scene -The Deathlok series (which ran from Astonishing Tales 25 to 36) was set in a dystopian future, ruled by corrupt military and corporate leaders. Colonel Luther Manning is killed in combat but brought back to life as a hideous cyborg (for some reason, his face always takes me back to that grade Z 50s horror flick, I Was A Teen-Age Frankenstein!) to do the dirty work of Major Simon Riker. Riker had Manning rebuilt with steel-re-inforced limbs and a computer brain. In fact, he had surgeons keep only a small portion of Manning's brain, supposedly the part that made him a brilliant tactician. However, Manning retains his personality and is able to assert dominance over the computer mind, and break free of Riker's control. In this issue, we see him working as a freelance mercenary, cutting down two men in cold-blood. The story of how he became such a ruthless killing machine is told in flashback. Deathlok was one of the first of that wave of anti-hero characters (including the Punisher, who also debuted in 1974) who would change the face of comics forever.

Key comment -This issue gives us the origin, but there would be so much more to follow. It just scratches the surface. Especially compelling was Manning's struggle to find his wife and kid - although with predictable results. The concept may not seem so novel now, but back in 1974, believe me, it was. Sure, we had The Six Million Dollar Man on TV, but Steve Austin was a pretty normal looking guy, leading an appealing life. Not so for Deathlok. I think Robocop probably owes its existence to Deathlok, and it surely has been an influence on other works.

The Spider-Man Newspaper Strip

Memorable scene -  JJJ and his paper have paid the way for Dr. Doom to address the United Nations at a world conference on terrorism.  Yep -- invite a totalitarian dictator and renowned terrorist himself to discuss how to bring that phenomenon to a close.

Key comment - Fred W. Hill: The Spidey strip was in the local paper my dad subscribed to, so I got to read the first few years worth of stories. Certainly fun but eventually I got bored with it, even when I was still gung ho on the montly comics. Spider-Man is much better suited for comic books than strips, IMO. Stan, however,is very wise in keeping the strip separate from what's going on in the comics -- I have a hunch that having Aunt May on the verge of death and Pete making a deal with the devil to save her at the cost of having his marriage to Mary Jane cease to have ever existed would strike most of that dying breed of regular newspaper readers as spectacularly stupid storytelling. The sort of idiocy Stan strove to avoid when he was mostly in charge of Marvel during the Silver Age.

The Brave & the Bold, and Super Sons Stories of Bob Haney (Earth-H?)

Memorable scene - And then... things turn zanier yet.  The Flash, realizing that the power of light and radiation caused a chink in Bork's armor, grabs the totem once again and begins towing it -- right into the sun!  No transuit, no protective aura, nothing.  Just running.  Into the sun.

Key comment - Inkstained Wretch: That Bob Haney plot ... wow... just, umm, wow ... running to and from the sun? ... I am speechless...

Jack Kirby's Last Boy on Earth - Kamandi (Kamandi Archives, volumes 1 & 2)

Memorable scene - Kamandi himself is a cipher. He leaves his underground bunker (Command D -get it?) where he lived with his grandfather, to explore the world above, a world he had only known through stories and microfilm records. When he returns to his home he finds his grandfather killed by invading wolf-men. He decides to continue his explorations, but there never seems to be any rhyme or reason to his travels. He never expresses a personality beyond being something of a hot-head. There's no emotional life to the character. I'm not saying every comic character has to be a Peter Parker and cry in his beer every issue, but there has to be some sort of inner life, something going on that drives the protagonist and makes the reader take an interest in them. There's just nothing there with Kamandi. He's a blank slate. He seems to exist only as a vehicle to move from one place to another, from one idea to the next, so that different concepts can get shown off. He has no stake in anything.

Key comment - Despite all of this, I do find Kamandi oddly compelling. I'm even considering buying the second Archives edition. Part of it is just this desire to see if anything really evolves out of  this beginning. There's so much potential for story-telling. But without a central character to care about, it's just so much fluff. Kamandi (the book) is like a fast food snack when it could be a great four-course meal. It's kind of fun but ultimately it doesn't satisfy. I'm hoping that later in the series it turns around and gains some substance.

Only Time Will Tell -- X-Men: Days of Future Past (X-Men 141-142)

Memorable scene - ...and as Wolverine sought to intervene, new team leader Storm swept him from the fray. Mad, claws drawn -- not gonna fight that way, said Ororo.

Key comment - Karen: It's interesting in this future sequence that Rachel says she's not certain that what Kate does in the past will definitely change their own time stream -it might just create a different timeline. Isn't this always the problem with time travel stories? Can you really change things?















Doug: Thanks again for coming by today. If you left a specific comment on one of our classic posts, we're grateful. But if you'd care to leave some general thoughts here on multiverses and alternate realities, we'd love to hear that as well. Come back soon, and be sure to patronize the other great blogs and podcasts in today's SBTU.

Amazing Spider-Talk/Chasing Amazing/Superior Spider-Talk: Spider-Man Reign

Chasing Amazing - The Case Against Spider-Man Reign

Superior Spider-Talk - The Case For Spider-Man Reign

Between The Pages: A Tale Of Two Cities On The Edge Of Forever

Firestorm Fan:Firestorm on Infinite Earths -- Countdown Arena

Flodo's Page: The Ballad of Two Green Lanterns

The Idol-Head of Diabolu Podcast: Martian Manhunter Multiversity

In My Not So Humble Opinion: The Many Worlds of Tesla Strong

The Legion of Super-Bloggers: Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes

Longbox Graveyard: X-Men #141 & 142: Days of Future Past

The Marvel Super Heroes Podcast (i.e. part of Rolled Spine Podcast): Epic Comics’ Doctor Zero

Mystery Vlog: Marvel & DC's Secret Crossover: Avengers #85–86 (1st Squadron Supreme)

Superhero Satellite: Marvel Comics' Star Comics Line: “Licensed Reality and Parallel Properties”

Ultraverse Network:Altered Reality: The Ultraverse Before and After Black September

The Unspoken Decade (2 posts):The Ghost in the Machine: Robocop versus Terminator

...and: 5 Batmen, 1 Superman, ZERO HOUR

BAB Book Review: Spider-Man Newspaper Strips, Volume 1

Doug:  Hi, friends.  You may recall about a month ago I mentioned that earlier in the fall I purchased (at a great deal, natch) the tome you see pictured above.  And since I found an hour or so to sit down with it back on the 26th of October I figured I'd pen a write-up of not only the highs and lows of the book itself, but also go ahead and review the first story inside.

From the outside this is a great looking book!  The dust jacket is sharp -- love that Romita pose on Spidey swinging right at us.  The back of the jacket has a large panel (one of the rotating title panels that ran at the top of the Sundays) in black and white and a short amount of text.  The faux leather cover is black with silver lettering and is pretty nice.  So in your hands this really looks swell; did I mention that it's oversized?  It's larger than a Marvel Masterworks edition, standing about 11 inches tall and almost 7 1/2 inches wide.  And therein lies my main reservation about the book.  The strips are printed sideways (the pages are even numbered that way as well), so you actually have to rotate the book 90 degrees to read it.  But the strips are only 6 3/4 inches wide!  Keeping in mind that this is the 11" side of the book, we're giving up about 2" of usable space in the margins!  As far as the handling of the book, I got used to it pretty quickly; I'll admit it was easier reading once I rested the book on a pillow on my lap.  There are three strips on a page, so six on the spread.

If you're looking for extras, "Easter Eggs", etc. then you're going to be disappointed.  There is no introduction and only short (separate) interviews with Lee and Romita at the back of the book.  On the final page is a color print of the oft-reprinted self-portrait of John Romita at his drawing board.  But that's where the color stops -- the Sundays?  They're here, as they were integral to the storylines; but all are reprinted in black and white which is very disappointing.  At an msrp of $39.99, certainly Marvel could have printed 1/7 of the pages in color.  Apparently, nope.  The reproductions are for the most part OK, but not stellar.  Often the linework is light, which causes me to wonder what the source for photography was?  I'm guessing it wasn't always the original art, simply because there is variation in the quality of the various dailies.

Who is Spidey mixing it up with between these covers?  Well, below you can see my thoughts on his first fracas -- with Victor von Doom.  That's followed by Doc Ock, a new character called the Rattler, the Kingpin, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, and Dr. Doom again.  In between, there are 2-3 stories that feature non-super-powered nemeses.  It's a blast seeing Jazzy Johnny on Spidey again, and the '70's hairdo on Peter is awesome!   The newspaper strips would have debuted around the same time Amazing Spider-Man #166 was on the spinner racks, I'm guessing -- give or take a month.

So how about it?  Should you pick this up?  If you were like me, I tried to get in the habit of riding my bike to the Convenient about a mile away to pick up a Chicago Tribune each day.  But you know how that went, huh?  I'm glad I have this and at some point will probably pick up the second volume if I can get it cheap.  But there's no way I'd pay cover price for it.  I just don't feel like, as a consumer, Marvel "took care of me".

Stan Lee's plot to the first story arc (running approximately 7 weeks and four days if my math is correct) is pretty simple, yet serving its purpose in getting the readership up to speed on the Spider-Man mythos.  We have to assume that many people would have been introduced to the character, and by extension the Marvel Universe (although to my quickly-perusing eye, there are no other MU heroes in these yarns) for the first time in the pages of their favorite newspaper.  In the first arc Stan and Johnny use J. Jonah Jameson, Robbie Robertson, and Betty Brant from the Daily Bugle and we see scenes in Forest Park with Aunt May, Anna Watson, and Mary Jane Watson.  Other Spidey cast members appear in subsequent stories.  Peter's general down-on-his-luck persona, his dating relationship with MJ, and of course his adversarial head-butting with JJJ are all established in this first story.  Interestingly, however, Doom's origin is partially told, but not Spider-Man's.  That being said, in one of the rotating title panels of the Sunday strips there is a synopsis of Peter's beginnings with the radioactive spider.

So here's the gist of it:  JJJ and his paper have paid the way for Dr. Doom to address the United Nations at a world conference on terrorism.  Yep -- invite a totalitarian dictator and renowned terrorist himself to discuss how to bring that phenomenon to a close.  Of course Spidey's out to stop Doom, but in the process falls on the wrong side of the law (again).  This provides Stan an opportunity to not only show Spidey as an outsider in his own town, but it gives Aunt May something to worry about while watching the news bulletin -- because you know, Peter's downtown, too.  We also get to see Pete's scientific knowledge on display, and it's his skill and perseverance at stopping Doom that ends up saving the day.  It was interesting how Stan adapted to the daily format of storytelling, as just by the nature of the medium the first panel was often used to summarize the previous day's entry; at other times 2/3 of the strip may have served this purpose!  The highlight for me were the caricatures Romita drew of world leaders of the day, all in attendance at Doom's UN address:  Israel's Golda Meir, the PLO's Yasser Arafat, Canada's Pierre Trudeau, Uganda's Idi Amin, Egypt's Anwar Sadat, and U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.  Now that's a party with a roomful like that!  In the end, Doom gives his address, demands that everyone follow his lead, Spidey takes him on and tricks him into defeating himself, and the sun comes up tomorrow.  But what are those strange tentacles about to knock on a door on the last panel?