The Comics Rack

DAREDEVIL VISIONARIES: FRANK MILLER Vol. 3

   One of the joys of comic collecting is the thrill of the hunt. I may have issues 1-6 and 8-12 of a particular series and, as a matter of course, I want issue 7. I may have to pay through the nose for the issue I am missing, since it had a special guest appearance of a particular character, or half the print run was destroyed in a flood, or simply everyone has decided this is the hot book, or the myriad of other reasons that the price of a back-issue comic book escalates, but the bottom line is this: I want issue 7 so I can have A COMPLETE RUN of the title and then can read the storyline from beginning to end.
   Today, this type of hunting is not near the necessity it once was, since there is probably more reprinted comic material on the market than ever before. Between the Archives, Marvel Masterworks, and the various and sundry trade paperbacks, the the collecting of top-notch comic material has never been easier and, quite often, never been cheaper. Case in point: Daredevil Visionaries: Frank Miller Volume 3.
   This third volume reprints Daredevil #183-191, What If? #28 & 35 and the solo Elektra story from Bizarre Adventures #28, and wraps up the reprinting of all the Daredevil material Miller produced on his first time around with the character, allowing the collector in all of us to breath a sigh of relief because we can now have...A COMPLETE RUN.
   The stories in this final installment are good, though not up to the level of the second volume. Starting with issue #183, Miller is only credited with writing and Klaus Janson is given full pencilling and inking credit on the Daredevil issues (a comparison between issue #190 and Janson's first effort without Miller, #192, which is not included in this volume, will reveal, however, that Miller was most likely providing breakdowns and layout for Janson, since the look of the book is totally different once Miller leaves). There was a certain energy in Miller's pencils from this period that Janson is not able to capture and one needs only to look at issue #191, which is pencilled by Miller and inked by Terry Austin, to understand the difference. In other words, the art is good, but not quite as good as before. Of the remaining stories in the book, the What If? stories are inked Janson (#28) and Austin (#35), while the Elektra story has full pencils and inks by Miller and, as an added bonus, is reprinted in its original black and white.
   The writing too, while good, doesn't have the intensity of the previous volume. After a 2 issue team-up with the Punisher (remember when the Punisher was one of the top books from Marvel?) the remaining Daredevil stories are almost an epilogue to the Elektra/Kingpin/Bullseye sequence of the past volume. All the elements are here, but not with the energy they had before. Daredevil is nearly a pawn in this sequence, and spends a lot of time being dragged about rather than being the character to lead the way. The storyline leads to the final fate of Elektra, but even that revelation, while well done, doesn't have the impact it should (like I said, these stories are a sort of epilogue) and the last story is a recap of who Miller's Daredevil is.
   On re-reading these issues, I got the feeling that Miller wrote himself out on the subject with the death of Elektra and was hard pressed to come up with anything more to say. As he was also working on his first DC project, Ronin, while writing these stories, there is a the probability that his attention was split between the projects, knew he would be leaving the book soon and conceived the whole story arc as his swan song on the title that tied up all the loose ends before he left.
   The remaining stories in the book flesh out some of Miller's thoughts on Daredevil. The What If? stories both deal with Daredevil: the first looks at what might have happened had Matt Murdock been discovered by S.H.I.E.L.D. and the second takes a wistful look at the possible future of Daredevil and Elektra has Bullseye not gotten in the way. The solo Elektra story is a character study of Elektra at work (she was an assassin, you know) and would make a fine closing for the volume, except Marvel managed to print the pages out of order, causing this reader a great deal of confusion.
   While proofreading the above, I find that I sound kind of lukewarm about this volume. Don't let the tone of the review fool you. After all the praise I heaped on the second volume of this series, I knew I might be in for a let-down with the third and I was, indeed, let down, but only because Miller set such a high mark with his earlier work on the series. These stories are head and shoulders above those currently being published and they definitely should be in everyone's library (as should the previous 2 volumes in the series).
   And, as an added bonus, if you buy all three volumes, you can have... A COMPLETE RUN.
   Daredevil Visionaries: Frank Miller Vol. 3 is a $24.95 trade paperack, is worth every penny except for the out of order pages in the Elektra story, and can be found at the usual outlets. I would venture to guess that there are are 272 pages in the book, but, in a fit of insanity, Marvel gives a table of contents with page numbers and then fails to number the pages. Go figure!

THE PHANTOM: THE GHOST KILLER

   It may surprise many to find out the Lee Falk's creation, the Phantom, is still alive and well. After all, few newspapers in the US carry the strip, although it is still being produced. To the rest of the world, however, the Phantom has never been far from the comic reading public. Frew Publishing in Australia has published the Phantom regularly since 1948 in a black and white edition that reprints the newspaper strips from all eras and also complete comic stories. The giant European publisher, Egmont, regulary publishes an all-new Phantom comic book (which is where Frew gets much of its material) and there are also publishing efforts in India, Denmark, and Italy.
   Since the demise of Charlton comics in the 70s, American comic book appearances of the Phantom have been very sporadic. Both Marvel and DC have published the character in the last 20 years, yet neither series gained a firm foothold in the market. Phantom fans need not despair, however, since 2002 has seen the start of a new series of Phantom stories from Moonstone Books, the subject of our review this time around.
   The Phantom: The Ghost Killer is the first Phantom graphic album to be produced by Moonstone Books. Like all of Moonstone's current output, the book is a 52 page stand-alone story with a beginning, middle, and satisfying resolution, something that is missing in most of the comics being produced today. Coloring is a bit dark, but is well done. The story by Ben Rabb is cinematic in its pacing, with quick intercutting between scenes and a number of different locales (the closest comparison I can make to this is the Danger Girl series). The art by Fernando Blanco is a bit good (again, think Danger Girl), although some panels are just downright ugly, but at least the anatomy is right and its not manga. Diana, Kit, Heloise, Hero, the Jungle Patrol and Wolf, the main parts of the Phantom's supporting cast, are all there. So, what's not to like? Well, it's just not quite a Phantom story.
   To my mind, the Phantom is somewhat a man of mystery. After all, as the continuity goes, everyone thinks that the Phantom is just one man who has lived for centuries and not the 21st of his line (the Phantom whose adventures we have read since Falk started the newspaper strip). He is known as "the Ghost who walks" and it is by his prescence and action that he makes things happen: in other words, the Phantom is a man of action, not a speech maker.
   In The Ghost Killer, however, the Phantom's dialogue seems truly out of character and Raab seems to be trying to turn him into just another smart-mouthed hero. "Take your best shot" and other cliches, seem more in keeping with the more paranormal heroes who don't have to worry about physical damage and can pummel away at each other all day long. Rather the Phantom, as an adventurer, and quite mortal character, would be spending the time thinking up a strategy to best the bad guy and not spend time talking about it. Raab, who has written some Phantom adventures for Egmont, should know better and this was probably an editorial decision on the part of Moonstone to "Americanize" the character.
   This problem aside, I will be looking for the next installment from Moonstone and I would guardedly recommend the book to you, particularly if enjoy a good adventure tale and are not as picky about characterization as I.
   The Phantom: The Ghost Killer retails for $5.95 and is hard to find. Your local comic store may be able to order it from Diamond, but finding it on the shelves is a challenge, since most stores under-ordered the book and sold out almost immediately (I found mine on eBay and got a nifty skull ring to go with it). You can also order it direct from Moonstone and you can find an Internet link to them on our Links page.

PLASTIC MAN ARCHIVES Vol. 2

   Much has been written about Jack Cole and the impact his work had on comics, particularly with the character of Plastic Man. In Plastic Man Archives Vol. 2, our review for this segment of the News Stand, Cole's warped sense of humor and his inventiveness continue to shine.
   This particular volume reprints Plastic Man #1 and the Plastic Man stories from Police Comics, a period that must have extremely busy for Cole. In addition to producing the 15 page Plastic Man stories monthly for Police Comics, he was also wrote and drew the quarterly Plastic Man solo comic, which contained 54 pages of art and story in the first issue, continued to produce the Spirit daily strip, assisted with the Spirit Sunday strip and produced a myriad of covers and other art.
   What makes this of importance, is that with the workload that Cole was carrying, the quality of the Plastic Man stories doesn't suffer. Each splash page has a different design, with the Plastic Man logo newly designed and integrated into the page (in his introduction to this volume, Ron Goulart makes a point that Cole was one of the few artists to draw his logos fresh for each story, rather than paste a stat onto the page). The stories are filled with the comic, off kilter, and at times serious, characters that are a Cole trademark. The villains are menacing and serious in their intent, yet their physical appearance makes them comic in the same way that the antagonists in the Dick Tracy strip are comic. The backgrounds and supporting characters all have a surreal feel about them. Familiar objects are recognizable, but slightly askew. And then, of course, there is Plastic Man himself, seemingly indestructable and able to change himself into a limitless number of objects or people. The only way to sum this all up, and this includes the writing as well, is that under a lesser artist, these stories would be run of the mill. Under Cole, they are entertaining and different enough to be unique, but not too different to be undecipherable, a lesson today's comic creators should pay heed to.
   Like Eisner's Spirit, Plastic Man cannot be tied down to one particular genre, but is able to cover all of them, from drama to comedy. I look forward to all the subsequent volumes in this series and it definitely deserves a place on your bookshelf.
   Plastic Man Archives Vol. 2 retails for $49.95, but can be found for less if you shop around a bit.

ASTRO BOY Vol. 1

   As a reader of comic books produced in the United States, I often feel deprived. Why? Because the structure and formatting of the comics has pretty much remained unchanged over the last 70 years. Story length is not dictated by the needs of the story the author wishes to tell, it is dictated by the number of pages that need to be filled. The artist is expected to start the comic with a full page splash panel, whether the story needs it or not. Each comic must, in most cases, end on a cliff-hanger, in order to force the reader to return the following month. And, quite frankly, the less said about how each comic must come out monthly, the better.
   In Europe and Japan, the majority of comics appear in anthologies and are serialized stories that appear in small segments until the entire tale is told, at which time, the story is collected into a graphic album. The major advantage to this style of publishing, is that story length is dependent on the length of tale the author wishes to tell. It may be long or short, but it is not stretched or shrunk to fit into a monthly 22 page segment. The story is allowed to unfold just as one would expect from a novel. Similarly the artists also enjoy benefits from this system, since the pressure is removed from having to produce, at the minimum, a page of art per day, in order to make a living.
   All of this digression is leading to a review, of course, which in this case is of Astro Boy Vol. 1, the beginning of a 23 volume reprinting from Dark Horse that presents Osamu Tezuka's creation to western audiences in English for the first time.
   I must admit that my only exposure to Astro Boy (known in Japan as "Mighty Atom") was through the cartoons shown in the 60s and through various spot reprints of pages and panels of the strip that have appeared in various comic histories. To read the real deal is quite another matter.
   Tezuka's art is has an undefineable charm that owes more to early Gottfredson and Iwerks than what we would think of as the Manga style, although the stylistic elements of that style, such as large eyes, are in evidence throughout. It is in the action sequences that Tezuka excels and these are filled with motion, whether it is an army charging across a plain, or Astro Boy flying. Tezuka also appears at the beginning of many of the stories in order to introduce the tale. Throughout, the art is enjoyable.
   The length of the stories is what surprised me and what led to the opening paragraph of this review. The first story in the book, "The Birth of Astro Boy" (from 1975), is 23 pages long and gives the reader most everything he or she would need to know about the character and its origins. The second story, "The Hot Dog Corps" (from 1961), is a whopping 174 pages long. The third, and last tale, "Plant People" (also from 1961), is 16 pages long. None of these stories could have been created in American comics, because they don't fit the parameters of the way comics are created here in the US. The stories are as long as they need to be to tell the tale and this is their strength and what makes them enjoyable. Whether we are getting to know the character of Astro Boy, or whether we are invited along to solve the mystery of kidnapped dogs in "The Hot Dog Corps" Tezuka's storytelling is entertaining, engrossing and a breath of freshness in this era of steroid pumped heroes.
   Overall, I would recommend this first collection to you, even if you don't intend to buy the entire series. The stories are fun, the artwork is excellent and I have a sneaking hunch that you may find yourself going back for more.
   Astro Boy Vol. 1 retails for 9.95 from your local comic book store or the usual Internet outlets.