G.I. Joe Cover Homage?

This is weird. Issue 21 of the early 80's run of Marvel's G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero was honored with homage by Valiant with an alternate cover to issue 22, their silent interlude between the "Fist and Steel" storyline and the "Seven Blades of Master Darque" storyline:

I love this kind of thing...

Praising Kurt Busiek's "Astro City"

I was visiting my brother's house and saw a copy of the trade paperback that collects the first go around of Kurt Busiek's "Astro City", the initial six issues from 1995:

I turned 16 that same summer and remember the beautiful covers from Alex Ross and the talk about how awesome this miniseries was, how revolutionary and the like. Not that I didn't believe it, but this was about the time I had moved on from comics and was only really purchasing Frank Miller's work (300 and Sin City books).

I may have been mature enough for Astro City, but by now, twenty-plus years, I'm certainly mature enough for it.

I read the accompanying essays and got a feel for the premise: instead of the grim/gritty '80s, instead of the DADA-esque fracturing of the medium from Grant Morrison, instead of the "this is what the world where superheroes exist looks like" era, Busiek strove to look at the world where superheroes existed, for sure, but at the untold stories.

Not hyper-realism, but more of a tweaking of the metaphor that caped superheroes personify.

When I saw the trade paperback I asked my brother if I could borrow it. I'd been intent on finding it recently, and to see it at my brother's place was a boon. The following exchange took place:

Brother: "Didn't you give me that?"
Me: "I forget plenty of gifts, but this one specifically I know I didn't get you."
Brother: "Really?...Oh you know, yeah...so a few years back I bought a huge collection of Stephen King's 'The Stand' in graphic novels, like a bunch of them, like over a hundred bucks worth. They threw that in for free. You can just have it...I'm not even sure I know where 'The Stand' is."

This copy had a "Used: $3.99" sticker on it, so the store must have felt like they were doing someone a favor, because the collection is that good.

The first issue/chapter follows the exemplar of Superman, here named The Samaritan, for oe complete day. It begins and ends with the Samaritan dreaming. In his dreams he flies.

In reality he flies also, only from one person who needs to be saved to another. The day is presented as a series of flights to save lives, to meet with other heroes, to work to pretend to be getting articles written. Only he doesn't pretend---he actually gets work done. Throughout the day we see his grind.

Eventually the editor comes to him with a super-secret dossier---here's a new juicy article to write. Excitedly the Samaritan scurries to get some privacy and take a closer look at the contents of the file. It turns out to be a list of the contestants of Astro City's newest beauty pageant.

For one, the article is a crock, but for two, here this guy has the names and addresses of Astro City's 100 most beautiful women, 100 women who would likely love to meet and possibly even become romantically entangled with the Samaritan, but when would he ever have time for that? He laments the article on too many levels.

As he heads home to sleep, he's attacked by a a recent iteration of a magical monster that feeds on fear and anxiety and tends to appear right as the Samaritan is about to pass out. During the pummeling he contemplates surviving this time, and if so, then what useful information could he give his super-group at the next meeting. He gets underneath the monster, which is his trap: he then flies straight up into space and throws it in the direction of the sun. Of course since it feeds on bad vibes, it disappears within fifty yards, making for an unsatisfying battle conclusion.

The second chapter is a flashback anecdote about a rookie reporter trying to crack his first big story and working at a newspaper with journalistic integrity. The third chapter is about a two bit hood learning the identity of one of the masked superheroes and then diving himself nuts with the information, eventually leaving town with the secret intact.

Everything is good and deep and real and new, which is the most important part. That it's new twenty-plus years on is a testament to how novel the approach is.

I couldn't recommend this corner of the comic universe more.

Calexit Finally Hits the Shelves

Bursting with extra pages and political essays, Black Mask has finally delivered the first issue of "Calexit", their speculative fiction comic about the secession of California from the United States.

Make that "attempted secession."

When I first heard about it, I thought it was a nice time-capsule that harnessed the anger and frustration of the nation after the election of 2016.

I was excited to check it out, and included it as a Hot Jazz book for May, when it was due out.

Black Mask has, eh, shall we say aggressive deadline claims? It has a difficult time meeting some of those timetables, especially as the Big Two companies snatch up their talent.

Well, here's to hoping the next issue comes out within the next two months. Why two months?

Why not? It seems reasonable and likely, seeing as how it sounds like we'll be waiting until December for the last issue of 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank, only eighteen months after the first issue was released.

Is it "Comix" or a "Sequential Art Project"?

I found some more underground, small print run graphic art comic that could be construed as comix, but that could be a stretch, seeing as how the subject matter isn't exactly comix-themed:

It's a collection of The Cave Man Speaks comics from Guarino and Westerfield, who I believe published originally online.

It also collects a longer form silent piece starring the main caveman from the cover in a bit of a darker role.

All in all, its pretty good, and I like supporting the fringes of the fringe. I am inspired to check out their other, far longer collaborations: "Amboy, Pop. 5" and "Moses", both of which are stationed at a local indie record store.

Free Graphic History Lesson

Recently returning from an adventure to old stomping grounds in New York City, I'm able to sit down and type up about a random free comic I grabbed from the park center at Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn:

Daly Clement is credited with the writing duties, with the job being the adaptation of Thomas During's memoir of surviving a British prison ship during the Revolutionary War.

This is an aspect of history I didn't know: the British would imprison their POWs in ships in Brooklyn's harbor where they were mercilessly treated.

James Bentley is the illustrator and while he has talent, is likely his first work that's gone to an outside publisher. The first and last page are digitally colored, while the interior is black and white, and the backgrounds are rather plain, but the story---and the storytelling---is moving.

I love these types of surprises: free comics independently printed and funded by Chase Bank and the Rush Philanthropic Foundation that illuminate a thing I previously knew nothing about.

Future Force Returns for Valiant

Like Secret Weapons a month before, Valiant is dusting off one of their older property names, using nearly identical font.

Back in 1992, starting with issue #9, "Rai" became "Rai and the Future Force":

And this summer the concept is either getting recycled, rebooted, or re-purposed, only it's a miniseries and it stars Faith:

I can honestly say with a touch of embarrassment that I haven't done my research into either of these story arcs. I read plenty of Valiant books, but I likely won't be adding this to my pull list. I like that not only are they re-purposing the title (my guess), they're using essentially the same word marking.

Beyond the Margins

If "sequential art" is mostly referred to as "comics", and this site is a place to talk about "independent" or the hipper "indie" comics, then "comix" is the drugged out punk rock bassist cousin of comics, selling cigarette smelling swag at shows.

Robert Crumb used to create sequential art about his scene, the first LSD wave in 1965 in San Francisco, and sell them out of a baby carriage walking up and down the Haight. They were sequential art stories about drug use and sex, police brutality, and general counter cultural stuff. It was given the title "comix."

Nowadays comix can be found in indie record stores, skate shops, and other random spots where punk rock still means something.

I found this, issue number five from Dumptruck Press:

Inside there is a specifically comix story, some drawings from one of Dumptruck's publishers, some neat photographs from different folks of skate boarding in action, and two separate anecdotes about meeting up with band members of different bands (and taking mushrooms).

It holds all the aspects of a comix publication these days: comix-styled sequential art, and content from other medium.

Here's the reverse of this issue:

This was a glossy production printed on 8.5" x 11" paper and folded in half.

I try to support sequential art in all it's forms, mostly independents and way-independents, but also occasionally one of the majors as well.