Some stories from the "GODFATHER"

Hello Chums,

Okay so my last post featured a Frank Miller story. That got me to thinking about Eisner/Miller, a pretty good book I read last year. I hate to admit that I have read even less Will Eisner material than I have read Jack Kirby material. And I call myself a comic book fan. That won't do. So I got busy and read not one, not two, but three Will Eisner trades. Even though Will Eisner is the father of the "Graphic Novel", I'll call these trades because they were full of small stories that I believe appeared elsewhere first.

The three books I read were New York, The Big City, Will Eisner Reader and City People Notebook. All three of these books had an underlying theme: people's lives in a big city environment. We get to see people in all walks of life doing the mundane: fighting the crowds walking to work (or riding the subway), dealing with noise, crime, pollution and the lack of money. There are kids playing stoop ball, splashing in the water from a hydrant on a hot summer day and of course trying to fish up someones lost valuables from a storm drain. The people of these stories seem real, almost as if Eisner looked out his window and drew what he saw that day.

Even though there are some panels with dates as late as the mid-eighties, these stories feel like they are from the forties or maybe the fifties. The artwork reminds me of Mad Magazine, that I used to read as a kid. And I mean that in a good way. Each individual person has their own look. There is very nice detail in the people's faces and clothing. And I especially liked the use of the grey tones. When I read these books I could hear "Rhapsody In Blue" playing (in my mind) as an underlying background track, but that's probably because of the segment of Fantasia 2000 that uses that song during an Eisner-esque tale.

Not to be missed by a true comics fan. Now I want to read more of his graphic novels.

Rating: Story and Art: A

K.R.C.

D.L.

The Batman (he strikes again)

Hello Chums,

When the name Frank Miller comes up (in the world of comics not movies), I find that most people either love him or (with his later work) hate him. This can probably be traced back to his most recent run on Batman (All Star Batman and Robin the boy wonder) and his Batman Limited series Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again. Okay so All Star Batman and Robin the boy wonder is very different than what's came before. But wasn't Batman: The Dark Knight Returns really different than what we'd seen before? At least we have Jim Lee drawing All Star.

What really pissed off the fans with Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again were two main things: The three issues shipped very late (which doesn't matter now) and the artwork. Remember Miller was still drawing in his Sin City style.

When the first issue came out, I heard nothing but negatives about it (mostly because of the artwork). So I didn't pick up the individual issues. Later on, I did pick up the trade, but I never bothered to read my copy until now. One thing I can say is the artwork didn't bother me like I thought it would.

So what's this story about? It's a Batman story right? Yes and no. It's more of a what if the Justice League left us regular people all alone and didn't help us anymore. But of course something has to happen to get the "gang" back together again. That's where Batman comes in. Even though he's not suppose too, one by one he gets the team together again.

Did I enjoy the book? Mostly. A couple of nice fanboy moments were: Superman and Wonder Woman having a child together (this always made since to me, who needs homely Lois Lane?) and Batman kicking Superman's ass using Kryptonite gauntlets (this needed to be done years ago). What I really didn't care for was the constant news reporter and man on the street comments. This is something that is done to death in the Spawn monthly comic. And I HATE it!

Give this trade a shot.

Rating: B+

K.R.C.

D.L.

Catwoman: Selina's Big Score

Hello Chums,

For me, Darwyn Cooke came on the scene with DC Comics' The New Frontier. That story, (written and drawn by him), started with a bang. However, I found the ending a letdown (although the artwork was fantastic). After The New Frontier, I started looking for more of his work. Enter his work on Catwoman. Catwoman Selina's Big Score is written and drawn by Mr. Cooke along with colors by Matt Hollingsworth.

This story isn't your typical Catwoman story. In fact Catwoman is barely in it. Selina Kyle (Catwoman) is a thief who learns of a potential big score in the form of a train robbery. Since this isn't her usual cat burglary, Selina puts together a team for this "score". This team has trust issues from the beginning because of old scars between them. Can they work together to pull off this heist? It's not likely.

This story had some nice film noir elements to it (not so straight laced cop, female who seems vulnerable but probably isn't) you get the idea. Does the story work? Yes and no. Much like The New Frontier, I really liked the artwork, coloring and the story started off well but the ending really fizzled.

Buy this one for the art.

Rating: Story: C, Art (and coloring): A

K.R.C.

D.L.

How about a little Jack "King" Kirby?

Hello Chums,


I have been reading comic books for a long time now, something like 35 years. With the exception of OMAC, I haven't really appreciated the work of Jack Kirby until the last 5 or so years. Now I am attempting to get caught up on some of his work that I have missed out on.


I picked up the Silver Star Graphite Edition awhile back and thought I would give it a try. First of all Graphite Editions are basically the pencil work of the artist. No color or even inks present. Just pencils and word balloons. This edition does have some pages with inks but only when the pencil page couldn't be found. This project was started by Kirby in the 70's to be a motion picture, but when that didn't work out it was shelved until the early 80's. Kirby then took the project to Pacific Comics for a 6 issue series.


The story revolves around Morgan Miller a common G.I. in the Vietnam War. Common until he picks up a tank and throws it into another tank. (Did the vietamese have tanks?) It seems Morgan's dad (Bradford Miller) developed a "genetic package" for survival in a post-atomic world. Bradford gave these "packages" to Morgan and a few others. During a time of stress something is triggered in these indiduals to cause a change in them from regular people to superhumans. From Homo Sapiens to Homo Geneticus.

This "origin" of Silver Star reminds me of Captain America with some mutant power thrown in for good measure. Is it original? Not really, but Kirby did co-create Captain America. So I guess it's okay to have some resemblance to him.

This story is the last original tale done by Kirby. Even though it is billed as a "visual novel", I found it lacking and a little hard to follow. Luckily this edition comes with the original movie pitch. Upon reading the 10 page pitch, the story does makes sense, but I can see why Hollywood turned it down. This edition also has a nice section of Kirby Silver Star sketches and alternate unused covers.

Rating: Story C+, Art B

K.R.C.

D.L.