HERE'S BERNIE !!!

Hello Chums,

I have been a fan of Bernie Wrightson for a very long time. I remember buying a book he illustrated back in '82. What! Yeah '82! When I first saw this guy's artwork, I was blown away by not just the creepy factor, but the level of detail he had. This guy's inked art was amazing. I had to have MORE! But getting more through the years hasn't exactly been easy. Bernie has done work in other fields that has taken from his time (and body of work) in comics. So when there is a new book or comic or cover work, I tend to latch on to it like a junkie would their fix ( this can also be traced back to the fact that I didn't buy his book "A Look Back" when it was new and have regretted it ever since).

Now here it is 26 years later and I have read a new (old material) book. Although Freak Show was published by Image Comics in 2005, the material is from the early '70s. These four stories were entirely new to me. Yeah! New material! I don't know where these stories came from, but I wish Image Comics would find and publish more. And a full size hardcover book at 14.99? What a good deal!

The meat of Freak Show is the 44 page title story. This story, written by Bruce Jones, has plenty of haunting images in the usual Bernie Wrightson style. Dark, shadowy, raining nights with mysterious creatures lurking in the woods, really Bernie at his best. What makes this great is the fact that it is black and white art. Color is not wanted or needed when it's Bernie's story. His attention to detail coupled with his inking style, give his panels depth that's rarely seen with other artists.

The other three short stories are written and drawn by Wrightson. The story "The Task" has Bernie doing an almost (painted?) Conan story and art. While "Out On A Limb" and "Nosferatu" feature his usual creepy style. These stories feel like they might have originally been published in some magazine.

I'm planning on taking my copy of Freak Show to the Kansas City Con to get Wrightson to sign it. I hope he makes the trip.

Rating: Story: A, Art: A+

K.R.C.

D.L.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS !!!!!

Hello Chums,

For me, nothing or no-one makes better use of the word "champions" than when the late, great Freddie Mercury sings it. I mean even though Freddie has been dead since '92 and the song has been around since '78, it's still used for just about any championship. It has had some real staying power. Kudos to Queen for that.

In the '70's, Marvel comics also used the word "Champions", for their newest super hero group. Did it have the same staying power as the famous song? Heck no. The Champions comic book ran for a measly 17 issues. That is not much of a success, when you consider the books line up. The Champions featured Hercules, The Black Widow, The Angel, The Iceman and Ghost Rider.

That's a pretty decent line up with a strong man, Russian agent and two former X-men.

So what's the Ghost Rider doing there? He's not a team player. Remember when the Avengers started out with the Hulk as a founding member? He didn't work out. He left the team and was soon replaced by Captain America! Ghost Riders not that popular of a character anyway. He deals with the dead and spirits of hellfire. Not really the right fit for a fun team book set in southern California. Maybe if he'd been replaced by a better character the book would have made it. Imagine if the book had Hawkeye, Spider-woman, The Vision or Scarlet Witch. Add any of them to the line up for an interesting book.

I recently read The Champions Classic vol. 1 & 2. These two volumes feature all 17 issues and their appearances as guests in other books. While I liked the story of how the team came together, as the their story progressed it got weaker and weaker. So weak in fact the Iceman contemplates leaving the group early on. I just wish it could have been Ghost Rider.

After I finished reading the 22 issues, I couldn't help but wonder; What if there had been a little better story through out the run? Maybe a slightly different line up of characters? Would the Champions still be around today? Maybe so.

Even though the art went through numerous artists, it was always adequate. For me the BIG eye sore is the terrible 70's coloring. I wish that they would re-color these trades as they release them.

Rating: Story C+ Art B+ Coloring D-

Keep Reading Comics

D.L.

GETTING READY FOR CON SEASON!

Hello Chums,

Spring is almost here! That means con season is right around the corner! Last year I went to four cons: Kansas City, OKC, Chicago and Dallas. All good, except OKC. It Was Very Bad. Although it's put on by comic book people, it's not much of a comic-con. That's too bad since I live in OKC. I have had numerous people tell me that they won't be returning this year. AND THEY LIVE IN THIS CITY. Once again, that's too bad.

I was told (by the powers that be) that they want the con attenders to have the complete con experience. Meaning get a room at the con-hosting hotel and stay the whole weekend doing con activities. What The ? You mean spend 10 minutes in the lousy dealers room, then go hear some too-bit hack talk about their latest book, then play some role playing game, follow that up with a movie in one of the hotel rooms, then go see the crappy costume contest and finally filksing the night away? Are you effing kidding me? What am I twelve? I have a car, I don't have to stay in some shit hole hotel, play a role playing game with people that I don't know or even want to talk to. And if I wanted to watch a movie I wouldn't do it during the con with a bunch of questionable bathers. That's what the red box, blockbuster or netflix is for. And don't even bring up filksing or the costume contest. As William Shatner once said: Those people need to get a life.

This show focus' on third tier media guests and local writers. That kind of line up will not attract many (if any) returning retailers or attenders. I asked a big retailer (based out of Texas) I see every year at San Diego and Dallas if he would come to OKC. He said: "I heard that show sucked". I couldn't disagree with him.

I think all it would take to make the show a winner would be to get a few (known) comic-book writers or artists as guests. They don't have to be expensive "superstars", just creators people have heard of. These name creators could be enough to bring in a few big regional retailers. Better guests = better retailers= more attenders. Do that for a few years and the con would be off and running. It could rival Kansas City.

But enough griping about the OKC con (for now). This year it's back to sunny/fun(ny) San Diego,

for hands down the best show of the year. The best dealers room and by far the best panels. Period. I absolutely can't wait.

Is it okay if I wish for a little less media and their fans in San Diego? It would be nice if the con would take up the policy: Comics first! All other fandom...to be treated like the clingers on that they are! Comic books are what made comic-con, let's not forget it!

First con stop this year: Kansas City, April 5-6. See you there.

Now go to a comic book convention.

D.L.

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.