Comic-Con 2009 - Reports Coming Soon

I will be starting reports from Comic-Con starting Friday night.

DC First Wave - Pulp Comic

DC Comic Will Feature
Pulp Heroes

DC Comics is preparing to launch a stand alone series titled, First Wave, that will feature Doc Savage, the Avenger, the Spirit, and other characters from the era of Heroic Pulp magazines. The series will take place in a new universe where super-powered characters do not exist. Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets) is the writer and Rags Morales (JSA) is the artist. The book is expected to launch later this year.

Doc Savage, The Spirit, and Blackhawk from First Wave, original concept art by Brian Stelfreeze

Newsarama has posted an interview with artist Rags Morales that provides some insight into the series. Morales explains the premise, "It's a world of heroism at its most innocent... We're talking about the heart and soul of what it means to be heroic, where people are left more to their wits... than any fierce other-worldly technology..."

Morales explains that the world is like our own and like the 1930s. There are computers, but there are also Fedoras. There are airships and jets, gangsters and babes. A retro modern style.

"Doc Savage won't have that exaggerated widow's peak, but I'm going with the classic looks on the characters with some updating," Morales explains. "He's an inventor, and he's got a very moral ethic. In a world of non-powered heroes, he's going to be our focal point."

"The Spirit along with Doc Savage will provide an interesting combination, because Denny will be played with a little more humor. And The Avenger's going to be this grizzly kind of Tommy Lee Jones character. He'll be a little more heavy handed, but at the same time, he has a high moral ethic," Morales says.

Additionally, Rags Morales explains that, "Well, theoretically, any non-powered DC hero could show up in this world and have some form of involvement. And there are some characters that we're going to address that are going to be reinvented, one of which is a very cool villain who's going to get a makeover."

He also says, "I think the subtleties of these characters in First Wave are going to be something I'm going to enjoy drawing. I mean, Denny Colt is going to be more lighthearted, and Doc Savage will be more stoic, and Avenger's going to be sinister, but a good guy sinister. So there's a lot in these characters."

I have high hopes for this series and hope that there will be additional information at San Diego Comic-Con. Last year Warner Bros announced a new Doc Savage movie and we have heard nothing since. I'll be at Comic-Con and hope to post further reports.

Wednesday Comics From DC

Wednesday Comics #1
DC Comics $3.99

This week DC begins the most talked about experiment in the comicbook publishing business in recent memory; the newspaper-sized anthology comic called, "Wednesday Comics." The comics are shipped folded 3 times. Unfold the pages and you get 15 single page comics each measuring 14" x 20".

The first comic up is Batman by the Eisner Award-winning 100 BULLETS team of writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso. The art is beautiful and the writing sets up a cool premise: Batman has one minute to save a hostage's life. I am curious to see how this plays out. 15 panels

Next is Jack Kirby's Kamandi by Dave Gibbons and Ryan Sook. This is at the top of my list in this issue. The beautiful art and text set up an intriguing story. 8 panels

Third is John Arcudi and Lee Bermejo's take on Superman. The story starts with a bang, literally. Superman is fighting an alien that telepathically questions his identity. I don't care for the dark, excellently crafted, yet somehow ugly, artwork. Near the bottom of my list. 10 panels

Deadman is next; written by Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck with art by Dave Bullock. The page is strikingly graphic, with well written text setting up an intriguing story. This has a strong pulp style and I like it. 8 panels

Fifth is a strong start to a Green Lantern story written by Kurt Busiek with art by Joe Quiñones. This story is set in the late '50s and sets up Hal Jordan's co-workers at Ferris Airfield. The Green Lantern is seen in an action packed final panel. 9 panels

Metamorpho, the Element Man is next from the interesting pairing of Neil Gaiman and Michael Allred that looks plucked out of the 1960's. One of the more fun beginnings. 11 panels

The Teen Titans are midway through the paper. The story is written by Eddie Berganza with art by Sean Galloway. This is one of the more controvercial (or at least talked about) comics. The first page is mostly a team set-up and introduction. Galloway's art is like a pastel anime. The anime style seems to alienate some of the readers. 9 panels

Eighth is Strange Adventures with Adam Strange by Paul Pope working in a sort of Alex Toth style. While this first episode left me cold, I somehow feel that this could end up being one of my favorites. The panel design and the composition are outstanding, but some of the faces are a bit ugly. I am unfamiliar with Pope's work and I think that it will grow on me. 11 panels

Supergirl is next, teaming Amanda Conner's cartoonish style with Jimmy Palmiotti's humorous story. This is fun and I'm sure my daughters will love it. 10 panels

Metal Men continues with the high panel count. Writer Dan Didio sets up the action comedy with the great art by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Kevin Nowlan creating a page that is a pleasure to read. This is another of my favorites. 12 panels

The 11th page is bound to be the most controversial; Ben Caldwell's take on Wonder Woman. This is by far the hardest to read with a page choking 50 panels and text that is often tough to read. The smallest panel is 3/8 x 3/4 of an inch and includes 2 word baloons! Even with all that art, there is a lot of text on the page and the whole thing feels clogged. The colors are garish - purple and green - and the art has an anime / manga feel. Among my least favorites... 50 panels

After the claustropobically tiny panels of Wonder Woman, Sgt. Rock and Easy Co. feels open and free, even though the story is confined and brutal. The father and son team of Adam Kubert (writer) and Joe Kubert (artist) provide the restrained work on this page. Sgt. Rock is being brutally questioned by the Germans. There are few works cluttering the powerful images from the Legend - 82 year old Joe Kubert. I look forward to seeing how Easy Co. gets Rock out of this mess. 9 panels

Lucky 13 is Flash Comics written by Karl Kerschl and Brenden Fletcher and illustrated by Kerschl. This page is interesting in that it is divided into 2 comic strips. The top half of the page is The Flash and the bottom half is titled, Iris West. The halves are illustrated in very different styles. Iris West is a Mary Worth-esque affair while The Flash half is quite a bit more cartoony. I liked this story and look forward to see if the format is carried over next week. Flash - 14 panels, Iris West - 9 panels, Total - 23 panels

The Demon and Cat Woman is the 14th page. Once again the story is just a bare introduction, but the art by Brian Stelfreeze is stylish and the colors by Steve Wands? are beautifully muted giving a tone of mystery to the story by Walter Simonson. I am curious to see this one develop. 12 panels

Kyle Baker's Hawkman is the final page of the compilation. In just 5 powerful panels he sets up a powerful rescue of a hijacked plane. 5 panels

If the quality of this package continues this should prove to be a success. The huge pages show off the art and with fold lines through every page reinforce the idea that this is meant to be read, not just bagged, boarded and collected. There are no mint condition copies at your comic shop.

Buy Wednesday Comics. Read and enjoy.



Additional Thoughts and Speculations

Thinking about the price - $4 for 16 quadruple size pages. So it's like a 64 page comic for $4. Not bad. Except that only a few of the stories got anywhere near 4 pages of story on the page. Most got about 2 and some were a lot like a regular comic page, but big. Wonder Woman got about 6 pages of material in, but was very hard to read.

Until we get into a few more issue it is hard to tell which stories will be good. Batman could be great, but we don't get a lot in this first page. All we get is that he has one minute to save a guys life. I didn't care for Superman, Wonder Woman, Teen Titans, and Adam Strange. Hopefully they will improve.

It would be really cool if this became a weekly ongoing thing. It could be distributed along side of the Wednesday (or any day really) USA Today for $2 bucks. It could be expanded with one more big page to include 1 more story or text page and 3 ad pages to keep the cost down.

I like the idea of returning to comics' newspaper roots and DC should not be afraid to use regular newsprint paper to bring the cost down. As comic fans, we need to get comics into kids hands and this would be a good way to do that.

For comics to survive the industry needs a strong effort to provide good, cheap entertainment for younger readers. The kids do not need bag and board glossy covers and premium acid free paper for $4 or $5. They need $2 comics. The Marvel Adventure series are good, but we need to get the prices down and one way to do that is with cheaper paper. Face it, a kid is gonna read the book over and over. The cover is coming off, the pages mangled, and pen marks everywhere. (Can you tell I have kids?) The kids comics should not be viewed as collectables, but as something that will be read and enjoyed and wear out and go into the recycling. They should be cheap to get people to buy them and they should be fun and appropriate for kids.




© 2009 W. Peter Miller

Pulp of the Week - Doc Savage #6

August, 1933 - The Red Skull

This is the first Doc Savage Western, in that the villains are all cowboys. An unknown person is trying to stop construction of a hydroelectric damn in Arizona - Red Skull Canyon to be specific. One of the partners tries to contact Doc Savage to get his assistance, but his agent is stopped and Monk's gorgeous secretary is kidnapped. Doc and the fabulous 5 must track down the men and rescue Lea Aster.

This is very much a free-standing adventure. In the Bantam paperpack, at least, there is no reference to any other adventure previous or subsequent.

There are a few new gadgets and character bits in this book. Monk and Lea speak from Monk's private laboratory to the 86th floor via Televisiphone. Lea Aster herself is a never before seen character. She is described as blonde, tall, beautiful, and athletically fit. Monk boasts he had the, "prettiest secretary in New York."

It is mentioned specifically that Doc is not emotional. Previously, Doc was jovial, wry, and spoke with occasional humor. Doc is working at controlling his emotions.

Johnny's left eye is now said to be useless from a war injury. Previously it was diminished in use.

Dent uses the phrase, "Top hats and claw-hammer coats." I hadn't head this bit of slang for a tuxedo before and I quite like it. While the writing is good in this adventure it is a bit of lesser effort after the last two books. I don't think this will make many Top 10 Doc adventure lists, but it is no dog either. I was pretty sure of the identity of the villain, but there were just enough red herrings thrown in that I wasn't certain.

I'll give this book a 6 out of 10. Last time I was boasting 5 Docs in 3 months. That was in April, and now I am at a one a month average... This could take 15 years...



For this review I read my copy of the Bantam Paperback #17, 2nd Printing May 1967.

The Bantam cover is by James Bama. The Pulp cover is by Walter Baumhofer.


© 2009 W. Peter Miller

Just Released - Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective Vol. 1

Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective Vol. 1
Published by Cornerstone Books
Produced by Ron Fortier, Airship 27 Productions

This volume contains five new classic mysteries starring the world's greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes and his loyal companion, Dr.Watson. Writers Aaron Smith, Andrew Salmon, Van Allen Plexico and I.A. Watson put forth clever, twisted puzzles that only the Baker Street sleuth can unravel. Edited by Ron Fortier, interior illustrations and design by Rob Davis with a stunning cover by Mark Maddox. Once again, the game is afoot!

Pulp of the Week - G-8 and his Battle Aces #2

November 1933 - Purple Aces

In the second issue of G-8 our heroes go up against the mysterious Purple Aces, a squadron of pilots that have turned against their homeland and will fight to the death with no fear for their own lives.

The novel takes G-8 deep into German folklore to uncover the secrets of the purple staffel. Once again G-8 is fighting a bizarre menace, once again a mad genius is fighting for the Kaiser to defeat the allies and conquer Europe.

The story begins with a pilot crashing a Fokker into an allied airfield. The pilot is pulled from the wreckage, still alive, but with a purple spade on his forehead. The purple spreads, covering his entire face and the pilot expires after giving a warning. The Germans are coming to bomb the airbase. The Purple Aces are coming and will gladly die to complete their mission. Just as the pilot is going to give the location of the Purple Aces airfield, he expires.

G-8 is brought in to solve the mystery of the purple faces. It's another great yarn from Robert J. Hogan. I really like these books. I'm glad I have a few more of the Vintage New Media reprints. They also have selected issues available as PDFs. For this review I read my Berkley paperback dated May 1970.

Once again I would like to thank Bill Mann for compiling his awesome G-8 and his Battle Aces Cover Gallery. Bill also publishes a nice line of Air War pulp reprints under his Age of Aces Books imprint.


The paperback cover is by Jim Steranko and the Pulp cover is, of course, by Frederick Blakeslee, who did all the pulp covers.


© 2009 W. Peter Miller

Pulp Factory Awards Announced

ANNOUNCING THE PULP FACTORY AWARDS


For the past two years, pulp writer and editor Ron Fortier has been moderating a Yahoo group known as the Pulp Factory, dedicated to the creation of new pulp stories. It is currently made up of thirty-six members, among them writers, artists and devoted pulp fans. Recently the group decided it was high time to shine a bright light on the resurgence of new pulp fiction and art that has exploded across the literary field.

With the advent of companies such as Moonstone Books, Age of Adventure, Black Coat Press, Airship 27, Wild Cat Books, and Altus Press, there have been hundreds of new pulp short stories and dozens of original pulp novels released in the past few years. This resurgence warrants serious attention and support. The established pulp groups and organizations, and their awards, continue to recognize only past creators and ignore the talented newcomers who are revitalizing the entire pulp community. The Pulp Factory Awards were inaugurated to publicly support, encourage and applaud the creation of new pulp fiction and art.

There will be four separate awards handed out annually; Best New Pulp Short Story, Best New Pulp Novel, Best New Pulp Interior Illustrations, and Best New Pulp Cover Art. Starting in January of 2010, the Pulp Factory members will nominate candidates in the four categories and then, after a final ballot is determined, cast their vote. Winners will be notified and public announcements made. Windy City Pulp & Paper Convention promoter, Doug Ellis, was thrilled and delighted to offer the 2010 Windy City show as the venue for the first ever Pulp Factory Awards presentation. The physical award is a small statue in the shape of interconnecting gears with a pen embedded into them; the pen symbolizing both a writing quill and drawing pencil. (See accompanying sketch.)

In making this announcement, Fortier wanted it made absolutely clear that the Pulp Factory group is not affiliated with any one publishing company and all its members are freelancers who have been published by multiple outfits. All new pulp fiction and art published in 2009, regardless of the source, will be eligible for these awards. "All of our members are extremely excited about this program and anxious to get it under way," he said happily in a recent interview. "We think this is a good thing for all of pulpdom."

Any person or group wanting more information on The Pulp Factory Awards is asked to contact Fortier directly at (Airship27@comcast.net). They are very receptive to any positive support in this new venture.