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[February 6, 1969] Are Comics Embracing a 1970s Mindset?

February 6, 2024 Jason Sacks 4 Comments

by Jason Sacks

After the hullabaloo we saw in the world of comics in 1968, our new year of 1969 looks to be equally as interesting. Last year saw both Marvel and DC expand their lines—in Marvel’s case, doubling the number of comics they released—and we fans are lucky to see that diversity.

One of the breakthrough stars of ’68 was Jim Steranko, whose astonishing work on Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD provided some massive pop-culture thrills and energy. Steranko’s style feels like nobody else’s in comics, combining a pop-art, hyper-stylized approach with excellent storytelling and a massive dose of energy in his work.

Steranko’s successors on SHIELD don’t have the same flash, but journeyman cartoonists like Frank Springer and Herb Trimpe still bring the goods. The Christmas-themed issue 10 brings some special spy drama and a bit more energy than I’m used to from those artists.

Steranko left SHIELD, but 1969 dawns with an equally epochal run by him on Captain America, with writing as always by Stan Lee. One barely needs to look past the covers to see the energy Steranko brings to the page—see this week’s Cap cover for an example. Inside, the team has contrived to bring back Cap’s pal Bucky Barnes, dead since the end of WWII, and the twists and turns promise to be thrilling.

Amazing spread from Steranko's Captain America

Stan, of course, continues to write much of Marvel’s line, most notably on modern classics Amazing Spider-Man (now teamed with artist Jim Mooney), Fantastic Four and Thor (it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Jack Kirby drawing either). Spidey, in particular, has featured some great tales recently. Last year’s Kingpin tale was a show-stopper, while “Crisis on Campus,” cover-dated January 1969 and released in October, places Spider-Man firmly in the world of today, dealing with the fury and chaos of our complicated world.

Other Marvel books have taken on the modern world, too. Most surprising was probably Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, a book which would be as out-of-step with today as that Green Berets movie if not for the way writer Gary Friedrich tries to bridge the gap, as in January’s story of “The Peacemonger, ” in which a character voices empathy for the enemy and tries to find gray areas between the Allies and Japanese. It’s a bit ham-handed, but the attempt is interesting.

Moral ambiguity in the pages of Sgt. Fury

Maybe the nicest surprises from Marvel have been two-fold over the last year or so.

Stan and co. took a chance spinning the Silver Surfer off into his own series. I had my doubts whether the “Sky-Rider of the Spaceways” could support a title all his own—the character often seemed too self-pitying and dull in previous appearances. But my concerns were confounded. Stan installed artist John Buscema on the new title, and Big John brought the same majestic heroic splendor to the book which he has been demonstrating on Avengers. Silver Surfer #4, released in November, was an early Christmas gift for anyone looking to see gorgeous super-hero art.

The other nice surprise has been the move away from the dull, dutiful Wener Roth art in The X-Men. The aforementioned Mr. Steranko drew two mind-blowing issues before giving way to a young but promising tyro named Barry Smith. Smith copies Jack Kirby’s linework dutifully, but his art also shows the promise of an artist who might break out like Neal Adams recently did. Speaking of Adams, the fan press tells us that brilliant artist will be taking over X-Men starting next month, so I am on the edge of my seat waiting for that day to arrive.

Marvel still rounds their line out with a plethora of other super-hero mags (including Captain Marvel, Daredevil and Doctor Strange) as well as war comics, westerns and Archie-style books.

Over at National/DC, the company feels like it’s on the verge of embracing a 1970s mindset in their comics. I’ve written before about the evolution Batman comics took over the last year, from goofy camp to dramatic tales which fit the character’s long history. Frequently written by comic-strip vet Frank Robbins and neo-comics writer Denny O’Neil, there’s a vitality in Batman, Detective and Brave & Bold which fits our times. This month’s Brave & Bold, which teams Batman with the Teen Titans, and includes brilliant Adams art and a story which beautifully captures the generation gap causing chasms in so many American households today.

O’Neil has also added vitality to another of National’s more stodgy titles, as his take on the Justice League of America has moved the book away from formula and towards a book with one foot in reality. JLA #69, for instance, is a fairly sober look at the rule against heroes killing, an interesting exploration of violence in an era when violence causes hell on Earth.

O’Neil also provides the writing chores for one of National’s most radical changes, in Wonder Woman. Recently editor/writer Mike Sekowsky took over chores on WW, one of DC’s most childish characters, and provided a radical shift in stories. Gone was the patriotic costume, transparent plane and magic lasso. Instead, we have “Diana Prince, The New Wonder Woman”, an adventure heroine in the style of Emma Peel or Tara King. The stories have their flaws—I could happily live without seeing Diana’s stereotypical Asian mentor I Ching again—but Sekowsky’s changes have a thrilling feeling similar to the Road Runner running off a cliff—it feels like these stories will crash, but it’s thrilling to stand on air.

Just this month, Sekowsky is leading perennial also-rans the Metal Men into their own revolution. In Metal Men #39, he has the robot heroes melted down and transformed into human form. This change is wild, unlike anything I’ve seen in comics other than the Wonder Woman transformation, and I can’t wait to see how it plays out.

And while the Superman comics seem as stuck in their rhythm as ever (though the Adams covers on those books are fantastic!), DC also has revitalized some of their other classic heroes. Aquaman, now by the Skeates, Aparo and Giordano, has lovely art and a thrilling exploration of underwater life. Jerry Grandanetti delivers surreal art for DC’s mystical hero The Spectre. And they have transformed House of Mystery from a comic with DC’s worst heroes to a standout horror anthology which is often better than that previous gold standard for horror comics. Warren Magazines’ Creepy and Eerie are having a down year, but thankfully DC has filled that void.

But National’s best comics in 1969 are new series. Beware the Creeper and Hawk and Dove come from the fruitful imagination of Steve Ditko and are offbeat heroic fun, strange action delivered in that delectable, indisputable Ditko style.

Anthro, by Howie Post—a rare example of one man providing writing and art skills for a DC comic—tells the story of a boy and his family during caveman times and is a thorough delight—full of fun characters, interesting action and a low-key comedy mood which makes it a treat each time a new issue is released.

The standout new DC title is called Bat Lash and has nothing to do with the caped crusader and everything to do with the new wave of western characters appearing on TV these days. Batton Lash is kind of an antihero, a rare western hero who would rather pick flowers than engage in a gunfight, a wizard with women and at the gambling table who nevertheless always seems to find himself in the middle of one crazy criminal scheme or another. With gorgeous art by Nick Cardy and great writing by Sergio Aragones of MAD fame (no, really!), this is as good as comics get.

A few other titles not to sleep on at National: despite the toy tie-in, Captain Action is a lot of fun and features art by Gil Kane and Wally Wood; Enemy Ace continues in Star Spangled War Stories, with some gritty, smart stories of WWI from the German standpoint; and even DC’s romance comics have caught up with the times and feature more contemporary-feeling tales.

Archie continues to be Archie, the comics your kid sister loves, while Harvey continues the kiddie comics and Gold Key their unexceptional comics line with the likes of Lost in Space, Three Stooges and The Flintstones. I always think of Gold Key comics as “emergency comics”: to pick up when nothing better is on the stands.

Alright, this Pat Boyette page is nice... — Alright, this Pat Boyette page is nice…

Sadly, Charlton comics are worse than that, usually unreadable despite their comics featuring The Phantom, Popeye and Flash Gordon—though Pat Boyette's art on Flash is dynamic. Their comics have a bottom-of-the-barrel feel to them. Worse, their comics actually smell weird, as if their publisher prints cereal boxes as well as comics.

So, overall, comics in 1969 seem in good shape. From top to bottom, there’s something for most everyone. If I can recommend one comic above all the others, it’s Bat Lash. I don’t think the series will be long for the world—it’s too good to sell well—so grab an issue when you can and you will thank me.

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Comics

[September 12, 1968] I’ll See You In My Dreams: Valérian, Agent Spatio-Temporel

September 12, 2023 Fiona Moore 1 Comment

by Fiona Moore

I have been spending a lot of time lately at the Institut Français, both for their interesting lectures and films, and because they have a comfortable reading room which is handy for the universities and museums. This means I have been perusing more than a few copies of the comic magazine Pilote when I’m in town for a lecture.

While Pilote, edited by René Goscinny of Asterix fame, has an excellent variety of styles and artists from Francophone Europe, it’s very rare for it to venture into science fiction.

However, this seems to be changing, with the introduction late last year of a new series, written by Pierre Christin and drawn by Jean-Claude Mézières: Valérian, Agent Spatio-Temporel. Although possibly it ought to be called Valérian et Laureline, for reasons I’ll explain below. So far we’ve had one complete story and one nearly-completed: Les Mauvais Rêves (Bad Dreams) serialised from 9 November 1967 to 15 February 1968, and La Cité des Eaux Mouvants (The City of the Shifting Waters), which began on 25 July this year and is clearly moving towards a climax.

There's robots. Did I mention the robots?

Les Mauvais Rêves is more loosely sketched, in all senses of the word, than its sequel. The story takes place in the year 2720, when the instantaneous teleportation of matter through time and space has been achieved. The result is that that the inhabitants of Galaxity, the planet-spanning empire, have no need to work, except for a small cadre of bureaucrats and agents who are mostly charged with protecting society from time-traveling pirates and scouting for new resources on distant worlds. Everyone else entertains themselves through dreaming.

When people start having nightmares, it transpires that the former head of the dream service, Xombul, has sabotaged the dream computers and fled to medieval France in the year 1000. Agent Valérian pursues him there, where he finds that Xombul is disgusted by humanity’s softness and addiction to dreams. Having learned a set of spells from a medieval magician that will turn humans into monsters and make them follow him blindly (this is, shall we say, not a historically accurate representation of eleventh-century France), Xombul plans to return to the future and take over as emperor of Galaxity. With the aid of a local young woman, Laureline, Valérian must thwart his plans.

Valerian and Laureline enjoying the benefits of the leisure society.

In the second story, Xombul escapes from custody and flees again into the past, but this time, more cleverly, he has gone into the “Forbidden Zone” of 1986. We learn that the explosion of a hydrogen bomb in that year led to a four-century-long dark age on Earth, which the spatio-temporal agents are not supposed to visit. Valérian and Laureline, the latter of whom has now become a fully-fledged space-time agent, pursue him, of course, to a flooded mid-Eighties New York ruled by looter gang leader and free jazz enthusiast Sun Rae, but what Xombul is doing with his army of robots in the former UN headquarters remains a mystery so far.

The series as it currently stands shows a lot of promise. Unusually for a European comic, Galaxity is populated by people of all ethnicities who are represented without caricaturing or stereotypes: the same is also true of 1986 New York. There’s an explicit nod to the emerging sub-genre of African and African-American SF and fantasy in the character of Sun Rae, who is based on jazz musician and SF creator Sun Ra. He is portrayed as a shrewd political leader, who is possibly the only one in New York to have realised that the most valuable thing in the city is not the jewels and precious metals, but information and scientific knowledge.

The treatment of women is also exceptional: while there are only two women with speaking roles in the story, and while Laureline does tend to wear figure-hugging costumes, she is never a passive or helpless victim, and so far she has rescued Valérian from danger more times than he has rescued her. The relationship between the two, while affectionate, is also clearly professional, hence why I suggested that they might be regarded as co-protagonists rather than the male agent taking the most prominent position.

Laureline serving dinner with a soupçon of sarcasm.

There are also some interesting hints at the way in which the story might develop. Galaxity is plainly not the utopia it claims to be, if most of the population are simply dreaming their lives away: totalitarian though Xombul is, one can see why he finds it so frustrating. It also appears to be governed by small, petty bureaucrats with whom it’s difficult to sympathise. We have not seen any aliens so far, and one wonders if this is a universe with only humans, or if their absence hints at something darker. I’m not quite sure what to make of the apparently unproblematic existence of magic in the story, where medieval France is apparently full of wizards and monsters: whether it’s a confusing mixture of genres or a clever, New Wave, challenging of what we interpret as science.

The story also has a pleasing wit, for instance a rather delightful sequence in La Cité des Eaux Mouvants where Laureline explains how she got from Brasilia, where she arrived in the past, to New York, where her lighthearted narrative of borrowing a plane from the President and hiding it in the suburbs, is belied by the cartoon panels showing her stealing the craft and crashing it into a barn.

Sun Rae's first appearance... — Sun Rae's first appearance…

So far, the most problematic aspect is the variable character art. While Mézières’ landscapes and cityscapes are beautifully rendered, whether a luxury pleasure-garden on Venus or an apocalyptic New York bleakly studded with advertisements, the characters are strange, often grotesque, and change shape from panel to panel. Sun Rae, for instance, gains a bewildering amount of weight between his first and second appearance in the comic. The writing, also, seems on firmer footing in the second story than the first, with Les Mauvaises Rêves involving a lot of plot conveniences and contrivances.

...and Sun Rae's second appearance. — …and Sun Rae's second appearance.

Despite this, I certainly plan to keep following the series, and I hope an English translation will soon be forthcoming, to bring it to a wider international audience. Comics aren’t just for kids, and Valérian shows how the graphic medium can be used to build a sprawling spatio-temporal SF epic.

Four stars.

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Comics, Movies

[August 22, 1968] Vive de Gaul– Asterix the Gaul Movie

August 22, 2023 Fiona Moore 2 Comments

by Fiona Moore

At an event at the Institut Français in London recently, I was able to see the newly-translated animated film Asterix the Gaul (made in 1967, but only released in English this year). While it’s not a great adaptation, it is nice to see a series that’s only growing in popularity in the French-speaking world getting wider exposure.

In case you’ve missed the Asterix phenomenon, some background. Asterix le Gaulois, or Asterix the Gaul, is a Franco-Belgian comic from the writing and drawing team of Goscinny and Uderzo, originally serialised in 1959, with the first album coming out in 1961. Since then it’s only become more and more popular, with the ninth album, Asterix et les Normands (Asterix and the Normans) reaching 1.2 million sales in its first two days of release earlier this year.

On the face of it, Asterix might seem an unlikely hit. The story is a humourous historical fantasy, starting with a “what if…” premise to the effect that, after Caesar conquered Gaul and, as any schoolchild studying Latin knows, divided it into three parts, a small Gaulish village remained unconquered, due to their druid having invented a magic potion that gives the drinker super-strength. Our protagonist, Asterix, is a diminutive but sharp-witted warrior; his best pal is Obelix, a giant who has permanent super-strength due to having fallen in a vat of magic potion as a baby. Together, they have adventures traveling around Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, resisting Romans and meeting interesting, if frequently ethnically stereotyped, people.

Asterix' pal Obelix is a menhir salesman. He's barely in this story.

However, if you have a chance to read the albums, you can see the appeal. The puns are thick, heavy and groanworthy (particularly as regards the character names: the Gauls all have names ending in -ix, meaning we get people called Assurancetourix and Abracourix, and the Romans in -us, giving us Humerus and Fleurdelotus), and the anachronism humour nonstop. Additionally Goscinny and Uderzo have a lot of affectionate fun with projecting stereotypes of modern European nations back onto their Roman past equivalents. The story of plucky, likeable people resisting an oppressor is one with relevance to all political stripes. The Romans are always comically stupid and the violence cartoonish, keeping the tone from getting too heavy for children.

Asterix and Panoramix resisting Roman oppression

The series has appeared in English translation twice before now, both times in English children’s comics (Valiant and Ranger) and on neither occasion faithful, transporting the action to ancient Britain in the apparent belief that British audiences would be incapable of sympathising with French characters. However, word at the Institut is that an approved translation by Anthea Bell is currently in production and should be released next year.

Our hero was described in one English translation as an "ancient Brit with bags of grit." No, really.

The film Asterix the Gaul is a 70-minute animation, apparently originally planned as a telemovie but instead winding up in cinematic release. The visuals are, for the most part, decently done, and it has a jaunty theme tune by Gerard Calvi. The English voice cast are for the most part adopting American accents (the main exceptions being Stopthemusix the Bard and Julius Caesar, who are both using British received pronunciation), which seems an odd decision as French comics popular in other markets, such as Tintin, don’t generally do well in the American sphere, and it might be better to try and sell to the wider English-speaking world.

The plot more or less follows that of the comic album Asterix le Gaulois, the first adventure in the series. Roman centurion Phonus Balonus (Caius Bonus in the original comic), wanting to know the secret of the Gauls’ super-strength, sends a spy into the village disguised as a Gaul. Upon learning that the secret is the potion brewed by druid Panoramix, the Romans kidnap him, with Phonus Balonus planning to use his strengthened legions to become Emperor. Asterix sneaks into their camp with a view to rescuing Panoramix, but, on finding his friend in good spirits and having fun winding up the Romans, Asterix surrenders and joins him, with the pair living a luxurious life at the Romans’ expense. Finally Panoramix pretends to give in, but in fact brews a potion which makes the drinkers’ hair and beards grow uncontrollably. Realising that they can’t keep the gag going indefinitely, Panoramix pretends to brew an antidote, while also secretly furnishing Asterix with a small amount of magic potion. When the pair make their escape, they run into Caesar himself, who has come to investigate the mysterious goings-on in person.

Julius Caesar does not approve of Panoramix' beard-growing potion. — Julius Caesar does not approve of Panoramix's beard-growing potion.

The decision to adapt the first book in the series, and without the input of the creators, is arguably the film’s biggest problem. A lot of the running gags and characters which have contributed to the series’ appeal, such as Obelix’s tiny dog Idéfix and the ongoing feud between fishmonger Ordraflfabétix and blacksmith Cétautomatix, were worked out in later volumes, and the story feels thin without them. Although Asterix has never exactly been known for its female characters (there are exactly two women regulars, both stereotypes and only one having an actual name), in the film the village seems to be a homosexual commune, with no women or children at all. Goscinny and Uderzo were reportedly very unhappy with this movie, and it’s a shame they weren’t involved, as they could have revised their earlier story to include this later material.

The translation is generally serviceable. The punning names are retained and even arguably improved, with the bard Assurancetourix becoming Stopthemusix and Abraracourcix the chief becoming Tonabrix. The narration has a few heavy-handed gags like “Caesar had a lot of Gaul,” and there are more subtle jokes for those who remember their classics, like Phonus Balonus proposing to his second-in-command Marcus Sourpus that they form a triumvirate (not knowing that a triumvirate is, by definition, made up of three men). There’s a long and rather unfunny sequence with a singing ox-cart driver that feels like it’s just in to fill time, but there is also a blink-and-you-miss-it moment where Panoramix appears to be gathering marijuana in the woods.

That's some suspicious-looking smoke. Panoramix.

All in all, while it’s not the best introduction to the series, it gives English-speaking audiences a general flavour. It’s good to see a cartoon series where the main character lives by his wits more than his fists, and where bullies are shown as hapless incompetents who can be defeated by ridicule. Reportedly a new film is in production, based on Asterix et Cleopatre (Asterix and Cleopatra), with the creators’ full involvement, and I look forward to seeing if it is an improvement.

Two and a half stars.

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Comics, TV

[May 6, 1968] Does Whatever A Spider Can! (Spider-Man Cartoon)

May 6, 2023 Jason Sacks 5 Comments

by Jason Sacks

It's hard to be an adult fan of super-hero TV shows these days. The Marvel Super-Heroes cartoons by Grantray and Lawrence are notorious among fans for their super cheap animation. Batman limped through its third season, with its jokes worn out and its campiness turned up past 10 (don't talk to me about the "Joker's Flying Saucer" episode, please!). The new Fantastic Four cartoon is inane, poorly animated and plain annoying.

And then there's Spider-Man. And hey, at least the music in this cartoon is pretty good.

Most every weekend since September (football pre-emptions notwithstanding), we've been granted the pleasure of watching a certain web-head soar through the concrete towers of New York, stalking a never-ending crew of slightly inept criminals while evading the slings and barbs of the editor of the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson.

Every weekend I perk up when I hear this fun theme song. Seriously, you should pop out to see if your local Korvettes sells the 45 of this song because it (pardon the pun) swings!

Spider-Man, Spider-Man
Does whatever a spider can
Spins a web, any size
Catches thieves just like flies
Look out
Here comes the Spider-Man

Is he strong?
Listen bud
He's got radioactive blood
Can he swing from a thread?
Take a look overhead
Hey, there
There goes the Spider-Man

Oh yes, that gets me on my feet (granted, I really need that cup of Folgers, but still)…

What keeps me on my feet is… okay, waiting for the toaster to pop, but also to see which classic Spidey villain will appear in this episode. As you can see, we've gotten the Vulture, Electro, Green Goblin and many more on screen so far. It's been a delight to see how the production team modify Steve Ditko and John Romita's designs for the villains for the small screen.

Yeah, the designs have been kinda distorted compared to the original comic versions, but the cartoon designs have been fun.

Too bad the stories have been pretty subpar.

One of the few good things about the Marvel Super-Heroes cartoon is that the stories were – quite literally – torn from the pages of the actual comics stories. In this cartoon…less so.

For instance, an episode starring the Sandman as villain has Sandy stealing the largest diamond in the world for some unexplained reason. In another episode, Green Goblin takes up magic as a way of defeating our hero, when magic was never remotely a part of his M.O. Then there's the episode where Electro takes over an amusement park as a way of defeating Spider-Man. We never saw Stan Lee write that story. At least in the episode with Ditko-created villains The Enforcers, they are simply trying to rob a bank. That much makes sense!

I have to admit that despite my whining, the stories do maintain some fidelity to the comics. Just like Stan and John depict each month, Peter Parker is a genius scientist who also has a part-time job at the Daily Bugle, where he works for a nasty brutish J. Jonah Jameson and flirts with the pretty Betty Brant — though Betty is colored with red hair instead of her usual brown, for some reason. Perhaps they mixed her up with Pete's friend Mary Jane Watson).

It's in those sorts of moments, like when we see Peter struggle with his webbing recipe or complain about Jameson not paying enough, that this show becomes the most fun. I also never grow tired of JJJ blaming Spider-Man for every crime the villains commit, no matter how events turn out. You gotta appreciate Jameson's commitment to his own sort of false news! Of course, those moments also echo some of the finest Marvel stories we've seen so far.

There have even been a couple of episodes in which JJJ is basically the villain. In one, he pays for the construction of a suit for villain the Scorpion. Spidey beats Scorpion easily, but at least an effort was made to have Jameson show his hatred of Spider-Man in villainous form. In another episode, JJJ creates a spider-slayer, right out of a classic Ditko issue, but the animation is so awkward and cheap-feeling, that the story just loses its flair.

I guess I'm saying that this show seems cheap. We know from latter-day SatAM classics like Jonny Quest, Herculoids and Space Ghost that a TV cartoon doesn't have to look cheap. But the look at that panel above! You can see the producers didn't even draw in all of Spider-Man's costume, in the interests of saving time and money.

The animators also reuse scenes over and over again to the point of absurdity. If I drank a sip of coffee every time we see Spider-Man swing his web far above any office towers, I might not sleep for a week. The producers seem to have a basket of six or seven specific images of Spider-Man doing his webbing thing which they love to use over and over. I noticed the other week when watching the episode called "The Menace of Mysterio" how the animators will string all six of those images one after the next, then have an inset scene, and then repeat the sequence. I always find myself yawning and reaching for the coffee cup when I see those scenes.Once again, the notorious Grantray-Lawrence studio was behind this quickie cheapie, as they were behind the Super-Heroes show. G-L obviously had a few more dollars to spend on Spider-Man, but twice zero is still zero, and the production values doom this show to be second-rate.

But hey, the theme song and a lot of the incidental music is terrif!

Rumor has the show returning this fall. Hopefully ABC will up the show's budget and G-L will spend a few more dollars on the production of this show. In the meantime, I feel the same mockery for Spider-Man that the Green Goblin shows above. Get on your feet, Spider-Man, and make a fight of it!

by Gideon Marcus

Don't listen to old sourpuss there. While there are episodes that are less than terrific, there are several which are…terrific. Compared to the concurrently running Fantastic Four cartoon, and certainly to the virtually static Marvel "cartoons" of last season, Spider-Man is nothing less than a revolution.

The voice acting is stellar, with the fellow playing Spider-Man and Peter Parker doing an excellent job of distinguishing the two roles. JJJ is an absolute riot. As for the animation and art, the palette is also stunning, especially compared to the drab FF. And it's absolutely accurate; New York is chock full of pink buildings.

The animation is (for TV anyway) stellar, and the composition stands up to any comic book.

One of my favorite episodes, and a scene so good, it got incorporated into the end credits.

Is it a little goofy? Absolutely, though no more so than Batman, and it the show plays off the silliness with an infectious sense of fun.

Mysterio's true form may have been a tiny bit influenced by another contemporary character…

Alright–maybe The Rhino isn't the best villain.

In addition to the theme, Spider-Man has got one heck of a soundtrack, all boffo jazz like Herb Alpert was the band director.

So, give the show a watch. It's already in reruns on Saturday morning, and it's a stand-out. Would it have been nice to have more Green Hornet than Batman? Maybe. But for a cartoon, it sweeps the competition. If it's not exactly like the comic (which is actually currently the best in the Marvel stable), at least it's its own thing, and it does that thing pretty well.

And that's a headline I'll stand by…

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Comics

[May 4, 1967] The Marvel Superheroes Have Arrived! (Marvel Comics in the UK)

May 4, 2022 Kris Vyas-Myall 1 Comment

by Mx. Kris Vyas-Myall

Last Weekend in London, the most happening party of the year took place, The 14 Hour Technicolour Dream.

In order to help raise funds for International Times legal defence fund, Alexandra Palace was hired out for an extravaganza of the most “out there” artists around. Throughout the whole of Saturday Night there were a wide array of different entertainments to enjoy.

The 14 Hour Technicolour Dream crowds at Alexandra Palace — The crowds at Ally Pally

Whether that be the psychedelic music of Pink Floyd, the films of Kenneth Anger, the auto-destructive art of Yoko Ono or just Beatniks throwing flour bombs, it was an experience that London has never quite seen before. Quite a long way from the extended poetry reading at the Albert Hall less than 2 years ago.

With ads everywhere, from the underground papers to the up-market boutiques of Chelsea, it became the place to be seen with everyone from members of The Beatles to Warhol. From Dick Gregory to the near mythical Suzy Creemcheese.

The Exploding Galaxy Dance Troupe perform ‘Fuzzdeath’

Whilst some of the mods in attendance didn’t really dig the young men in long scruffy hair wearing cowbells or some of the interactive art, it has been hugely popular with an estimated 7000 attendees. There have been discussions of what to do with all the money, although a hitch that some of the tickets appear to have been stolen, so proceeds may come up short of what is expected.

A person Preparing to make another cut as part of Yoko Ono’s ‘Cut Piece’ — Preparing to make another cut as part of Yoko Ono’s ‘Cut Piece’

With this new generation of flower loving beatniks (or ‘hippys’ according to the American press) coming up there is definitely a change in the kind of artistic expression they like. And one surprising thing they seem to enjoy is Marvel Superhero comics:

Getting Here From There

When Marvel’s superhero line began a few years ago there were two main ways to read them in the UK, neither of which were easy.

The first was via reprints from Alan Class. This company has several titles devoted to reprinting American comic strips. The problem with these is they would often be a pretty random selection of titles, considering these superheroes not really as ongoing stories, just the same as one-off horror and SF tales to sprinkle occasionally through issues. Also, at a shilling these are at the more expensive end of the comic book market, where around sixpence is the usual price.

Marvel Edition of Spider-Man with UK Price Stamp on it — Spidey reminding you to pay 10 pence, not 12 cents!

The other was through direct import, predominantly via Thorpe & Porter. These, however, did not have wide distribution compared with British comics and, when the company went bankrupt last year, it was purchased by IND, National’s (AKA DC) distributor and the flow of Marvel imports slowed to a trickle.

So, acquiring these stories was a real challenge for UK readers. That is until another surprising source came through. One due to the success of British Comics superstar, Leo Baxendale.

A Non-Cowardly Lion

Starting in the early 50s Leo Baxendale began working for DC Thompson on The Beano, Britain’s top selling comic book (over a million issues a week, about the same as national newspapers like the Daily Telegraph). For it he created some of their best loved strips, such as Minnie The Minx, When The Bell Rings and Little Plum.

When The Bell Rings and The Tiddlers Panel Comparison — Spot the difference, When The Bell Rings and The Tiddlers

After leaving DC Thompson, Odhams hired him to create a new humour comic for them, the result was Wham! launching in 1964. Whilst containing some new ideas, it contained a number of very similar ideas from DC Thompson titles (e.g. The Beezer has The Numskulls, about the inner life of a child’s senses, Wham! has Georgie’s Germs, about the lives of germs on a dirty child).

However, it was successful enough for Odhams to want a second title in the same style. This was Smash! which followed in early 1966 in much the same style, with the Minnie-esque Bad Penny and another microscopic strip The Nervs, along with parodies, such as The Man From BUNGLE.

House Ad for Hulk’s arrival — House Ad for The Hulk’s arrival

A few months in they began to import two American strips. The Newspaper version of Batman and Marvel’s The Hulk.

Hulk Smashes On To The Scene

Smash! Hulk Cover — A much older Banner and a flesh toned Incredible Hulk make their first appearance in Smash!

I think it is important to start with the differences in the importation of these strips. The first, and most obvious point, is that British comics do not have many colour pages. Smash! itself only has them on the front cover (used for the first half of the Batman strip) and the back (currently occupied by surreal humour strip Grimly Feendish), and, even then, in a limited number of tones. As such all of the Hulk’s exploits are in black and white.

Comparison of Marvel and Odhams hulk Pages — How a page break becomes an issue break for Smash! (Notice the slight difference between bottom left and bottom right panel).

Secondly, as this is in the standard British weekly anthology style of comic book, it does not often have the space to reprint an entire story. As such they have to be broken up into multiple issues. At the same time, British comic dimensions are slightly different, so some panels have to be either rearranged or modified to fit.

Two Letter to Smash! — Contrasting views on the changes from David and Nicholas

Whilst some readers did not appreciate their Baxendale style comedy being interrupted by superhero antics, in general the changes have been well received and Hulk continues to lumber on. Which leads to third difference: Odhams made the choice to follow the characters through their appearances as best as they can, regardless of what book they were originally published in. Which leads us to the arrival of The Fantastic Four.

(Flower) Power Comics

Fantastic Four Ad in Wham! — A reminder in Smash! of where to read The Fantastic Four

As Marvel readers in the US will probably recall, there was a period between the ending of Hulk’s own series and his continued strip in Tales to Astonish. Rather than simply stopping one and starting the other, they follow his continued exploits. Next is his encounter with the Fantastic Four, so they are the next to be imported. After an introductory story, the tales of them facing each other begin in Smash!, followed by The Fantastic Four appearing regularly in big-sister title Wham!.

Next, he is on to The Avengers where things get particularly interesting. First off, these are rebilled as The Incredible Hulk and The Avengers (later V. The Avengers), to reflect the continuing adventures of Bruce Banner’s alter ego. However, what it also did was introduce readers to a whole range of characters they wanted to see more of.

The Incredible Hulk: The Monster and the Matador — The story you always wanted, what happens when The Hulk becomes a bullfighter!

Secondly, there are gaps in the Hulk’s story between issues, so they have their own strips drawn to fill them in. the first of which explaining what happened to him after he goes into the sea near Gibraltar.

Power Comics Christmas Message — Christmas wishes from Power Comics (which Tony Stark seems to take as a sales pitch)

This combination of showing off the range of heroes available and willingness to play with exclusive material opened the floodgates, leading to new branding of them as Power Comics and the launching of three primarily superhero titles.

First, is Pow!. In this are two reprints, Spider-Man and Nick Fury (originally Agent of SHIELD but since replaced by Howling Commandos era). In between are a few forgettable humour strips and two new adventure strips, Jack Magic, about a magician’s assistant who is transported to the present day, and The Python, where two adventures fight snake men and their giant mechanical reptile.

Then came Fantastic, this time containing three Marvel titles, Thor, Iron Man and The X-Men. In addition, they have their own superhero series, The Missing Link. Originally a Hulk like character menacing London King-Kong Style, he has recently got into a nuclear reactor accident which has given him super-intelligence and a normal appearance, whilst keeping his superhuman strength.

The most recent to debut is Terrific, which is entirely reprints, giving us the adventures of The Submariner, Dr. Strange and The (now Hulkless) Avengers. Plus occasional horror shorts from Marvel’s back catalogue in order to fill the space if the main stories run short.

All of this means the majority of Marvel’s superhero line is now being reprinted in these “Power Comics”. With a recent announcement that Daredevil is in negotiation, this just leaves Giant Man, who I don’t see anyone crying out for, and Captain America, who might need some localization to work. Maybe he could follow GI Joe’s lead and become “Captain Action”?

The Power-House Period

Now, going back to my introduction, what we are seeing is the new generation of beatniks seem to love them. Reportedly a recent poll of Berkley students placed The Hulk as the 6th greatest man in the world (Dylan won, obviously) and I regularly see ads in British fanzines and underground presses for people seeking out copies of the American originals.

Doom Patrol and TV Century 21 — Why does free love not extend to the soapy antics of Doom Patrol or the TV Century 21 crossovers?

What is the reason for this? Some have cited some of the technical innovations with more serialization, crossovers and soap opera dynamics. However, many of these are elements already present in many British comics and certainly seen in more recent DC titles like Doom Patrol and The Legion of Superheroes.

Dr. Strange and Fantastic Four Panels — Psychedelia and Progressive Politics? A Power-House indeed!
(from Dr. Strange and Fantastic Four respectively

I think the answer lies in the characters they are creating. The Hulk and the Thing are figures of great angst. Peter Parker and Johnny Storm are much more relatable teenagers than the richer but flatter Teen Titans. Nick Fury appeals to the Bond fans, whilst Dr. Strange is pure psychedelia. There are also regular smart uses of progressive politics, such as dealing with hate organizations or the existence of an advanced African society. A stark contrast of the excruciating message issues we get from other companies.

“It's a sign of the times, and a year ago I never could have seen it”

Until recently both Odhams and the British youth scene seemed mired in the past, with Eagle being a shadow of itself and extremely high-priced boutiques churning out the same modish styles for rich kids to dance to the same beat sounds since ’63.

Over the last year we have seen fascinating new life emerging, with the Americans trying to teach us Brits a thing or two. Let’s see if we can learn the lessons.

Elektra Ad for Doors and Love Albums — The latest exciting American bands coming out from Elektra

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Comics

[April 22, 1967] Make War Not Love (Comics)

April 22, 2022 Jason Sacks 2 Comments

by Jason Sacks

Hello from sunny Seattle, where spring has sprung, the rain has (mostly) stopped, cherry blossoms are on the trees at the U-Dub, and Don & the Goodtimes are topping our city's pop charts.

My friends and I love hearing that wonderful local pop ditty on Kolorful KOL Radio while driving in his Corvair. Most often we wander down to the Spanish Castle, down in south King County (past my beloved Sicks' Stadium where the Seattle Angels play). At the Spanish Castle we get to watch some amazing pop, funk and jazz musicians deliver performances to warm us up on Seattle's rainy nights. Local standbys The Wailers, The Kingsmen and a very talented young man named Jimmy Hendrix have played there. Remember the name 'Hendrix'. According to rumors, he's keeping busy in England these days and may be working on a full album. My friends and I hope our local boy makes good.

But from one type of entertainment to another… It's been about a year since I talked in Galactic Journey about the state of American comic books. This seems like the perfect opportunity to give you an update on some changes I would never have expected.

In fact, before I dig into super-hero comics, I want to look at two genres of comics the fans seldom seem to notice: war comics and love comics. Yeah, neither genre has costumed heroes, but both are fascinating here in 1967.

Make War (Comics) No More?

National dominates war comics, while its closest competitor, Charlton, is frankly pathetic. Where is Marvel in the list? Well, Marvel still publishes Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos, but that comic has much to do with life in the army as Gomer Pyle, USMC does. Fury's style of goofy heroism may be a good read for the kiddies but it's too shallow for anyone over the age of 12. Anyone who is fascinated by the horrors and passions of war should read the good stuff.

Our Army at War is the flagship title of National's war comics line. This series stars Sgt. Rock and the combat-happy Joes of Easy Company. For several years now, writer Robert Kanigher has teamed up with the incredibly talented Joe Kubert to deliver some of the finest continuing-character war comics in my memory. Each story is like an opera of violence and martial situations with tight, terse prose matched by a gorgeously intense, slashy but stolid style by Kubert.

In fact, though I've seen Kubert's work for many years – he drew "Hawkman" in the Golden Age and drew the first Flash feature in Showcase, among hundreds of other stories – Kubert's style is hard to describe. Look at the below original page (from a friend's collection) to see what I'm trying to put into words.

Look at the incredible storytelling by Kubert. The tumbling coins on the left add tension while the top three panels on the right show the misery, fear and determination in the eyes of the soldiers. Note, too, the clever way Kubert both divides and unifies the single image. That's a clever use of paradox to heighten the tension of the page. There's just nobody drawing comics like Kubert these days.

In fact, while many fans criticize DC/National frequently for having a house art style, their costumed hero books employ much more homogenization than their war titles . Perhaps Kubert deserves some of the credit for that, as he edits many of the titles.

To a lesser extent, we see Kubert's artistic approach to the other war comics National releases. For instance, Russ Heath is the main artist on the "Hunter's Hellcats" feature in Our Fighting Forces, and Heath brings a slightly more polished but equally visceral style to its art pages. Even old-timer Irv Novick brings a looser, more unconventional style to bear with his stories of "The Losers" in G.I. Combat.

More than anything, the DC war series feature a dark, despairing tone. Readers get a real sense of the horrors of war. Though Capt. Storm or Sgt. Rock may succeed in their missions, the battles obviously take their toll on the protagonists.

I wish the same could be said for the many war comics which quirky publisher Charlton Comics releases. I should talk more about Charlton in a future column. One thing I have to discuss is how their comics are published alongside song lyric mags, crossword puzzle magazines and cereal boxes, but that's a topic for another week.

Instead, I'm here to bemoan Charlton's seemingly endless line of bland, dull war comics. Whether it's Fightin' Marines, Fightin' Army, Fightin' Navy (see a pattern?), War Heroes or Marine War Heroes, these chest-thumpin' men of action seem to never question their mission and never feel any pain from their incredible struggles. If you've ever wondered how the Pentagon would write comics intended for five-year-olds, read a Charlton war comic. I dare you.

While I'm discussing war comics, I should lament again the abrupt cancelation of Blazing Combat, Warren Publishing's often brilliant contribution to the war comics anthology genre. During its four-issue run last year, BC included sensational artwork by comics stalwarts such as Heath, Alex Toth, Gene Colan and many others. Writer Archie Goodwin told stories of wartime combat without filters, unnecessary heroism or national bias. With its ever-shifting anthology approach, Goodwin and his artists delivered stories which felt as contemporary as the Vietnam War and as timeless as the Peloponnesian War. Look, for instance, at the lovely page below drawn by the inimitable Reed Crandall.

These comics were created in black and white, published magazine sized, and often illustrated with ink wash or pointillistic techniques. For those reasons, the stories in Blazing Combat aimed higher than most comic books. Indeed, their audience was mainly adults. Tragically, that selfsame adult audience spelled doom for Blazing Combat. Reportedly publisher Jim Warren had to pull the plug on BC when PX bases across the world canceled their orders after author Goodwin penned a story critical of the war in Vietnam. Sales were too poor to sustain a money loser for long.

Make Love (Comics) No More?

I wish I could praise the many, many love comics published by National or Charlton but I sadly can't. Hey, I'm a man who likes women, I'm fond of my wife, my sister and my mother, so why can't there be comics for women which don't insult their intelligence? Sadly, neither publisher seems able to pull off that skill. This is one area Marvel hasn't plunged into in 1967; probably good news for them. (Millie the Model is more an Archie-style humor comic than a love comic, by the way.)

Once again, Charlton leads the way with garbage, flooding the newsstand with interchangable junk like Career Girl Romances, I Love You, Just Married, Teen-Age Love, Sweethearts and many more. Like the sweethearts candies you got in your fourth grade class on Valentine's Day, these comics are laced with sweetness and may put you into a coma.

The love comics from National are marginally better, at least boasting work by professional cartoonists. But their attitudes seem stuck in the Eisenhower era.

In fact, a reader should expect out-of-date attitudes. Comics like Girls' Love, Young Love and Falling in Love frequently feature reprints of comics from a decade earlier. Staff artists, modify the art to include modern hairdos or clothes. But their conformist attitudes reflect an earlier era when a girl's greatest goal was to be a housewife. It would be a bold statement for one of these comics to reflect the "free love" or hippie movements. The creators need to change with the time. Their musical beats should be attuned to the Beatles rather than Frank Sinatra.

I'd like to think there's a place for love comics in today's era. Perhaps some of the emerging group of so-called underground cartoonists can revive the genre, maybe with a twist. I know I would chortle to see a comic on the stands called Young Lust instead of Young Love.

Make Steve Ditko Comics at Marvel No More

Perhaps the biggest shock of the last year was the resignation of the brilliant Steve Ditko from Marvel Comics. Ditko, who was the prime force behind Spider-Man and Dr. Strange, apparently was engaged in a long, pitched battle with key Marvel editor/writer Stan Lee over the identity of a villain in the already-classic Master Planner saga. Ditko, who was the main plotter for the series, wanted to follow one direction for a character reveal. Lee disagreed and apparently that latest disagreement was the metaphorical last straw.

It's a shame because Ditko was reaching his apex on both series at the time this incident happened. Spider-Man was achieving new levels of bathos and power and was a solid, constantly interesting series.

Ditko's work on Dr. Strange, meanwhile, existed on a level few other comics have ever reached. In a vast, multi-chapter epic spanning some dozen issues, an increasingly desperate and isolated Strange journeys to lands scarcely imagined by mortal men. There, he encounters beings so unknowable and cosmically powered that their mere existence is beyond our mortal ken. Ditko set Strange as one single solitary man desperately trying to save our entire universe even while the rest of the universe continued on, blissfully unaware of the strange battles happening around them.

As you can see in the above excerpt, characters like Eternity live in great cosmic landscapes, full of bizarre and almost incomprehensible sparks which bespeak our insignficance as humans. And yet Strange, a mere human with expanded consciousness, fights desperately to avoid massive cosmic destruction.

That astounding storyline, a truly cosmic saga, drew the curtain on Ditko's Marvel era with a real sense of majesty.

The "Dr. Strange" strip has been drifting without Ditko's presence, with pointless stories and uninspired artwork. But I'm mention to you that Ditko's other great series, The Amazing Spider-Man, has reached new heights in 1967.

John Romita has stepped in to fill Ditko's shoes. Lo and behold, the impossible seems to have happened: the comic has gotten better. Amazing Spider-Man is now more fun, somehow both lighter and darker than before. More importantly, some charming supporting characters have emerged. I'm keeping my eye on Romita's groovy interpretation of Gwen Stacy. She seems like she could become a compelling love interest for poor ol' Peter Parker.

And the series seems to be finding its level. Amazing Spider-Man #50 was just released two weeks ago, so I don't want to ruin its fascinating twists and turns. But look at that wonderful page above and tell me you're not intrigued. Romits delivers drama Ditko couldn't reproduce in quite the same way and points to an exciting new future for the old web-head.

Jaunty Jim Debuts

Speaking of exciting futures, comic fandom has been buzzing over the last few months about the emergence of a new creator at Marvel who seems to have a unique set of skills. Jim Steranko is in a role unprecedented at Marvel, both writing and drawing the "Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD" strip in Strange Tales. As far as I can remember, no Marvel creator has assumed the duties as writer and artist of an ongoing. His work is intriguing and unprecedented, and so far it's been spectacular.

Steranko displays a dynamism and energy in his panels which rivals his mentor, Jack Kirby. His men seem coiled with power, drawn with dynamic foreshortening that holds tremendous power on the page even while the anatomy makes no sense in real life. In the page above, look at the wild energy of the final panel in the excerpt above, with its massive overwhelming machinery contrasting with the negative space to add power to Nick Fury's battle. Nobody, not even Kirby draws like Steranko. Who knows what the man can achieve in the coming years?

The King Remains and Reminds Us Why He's King

…which doesn't mean the King isn't carrying his own weight. Jack Kirby continues to deliver some ace action yarns in Fantastic Four and Thor. The recent Doctor Doom-Inhumans crossover story had me on the edge of my seat, as Doom schemed to assume the Silver Surfer's Power Cosmic and, with that power, control the world. That storyline was a deeply dynamic drama, definitively delineated by Kirby's crispy lines.

The Black Panther is perhaps the most dynamic character find of the last year. He debuted in the pages of Fantastic Four #52. T'Challa is the king of a futuristic kingdom deep in Africa who dons his ceremonial outfit to battle perfidious villainy, in this case embodied in the nefarious Klaw.

It's thrilling to see a Black hero appear at Marvel, especially one who can defeat our estimable heroes in battle while maintaining his regal presence. I'm so intrigued by this new hero. I hope he returns soon. I can't wait to read more about him. (Seems to me he'd be a great member of the Avengers.)

And as for Thor, if there ever was a case where a picture says a thousand words, the below image does that!

If you don't want to read that issue of Thor, you clearly lack an imagination!

The Debut of Batgirl

Life at National Comics has been a little quieter than life at Marvel these days. Their quietness has started to make National's line of heroes feel a bit stodgy compared with their Marvel counterparts. Lately the Justice League of America has veered a bit into camp, which felt appropriate when the Batman TV series was at the top of the charts. Since people are starting to get bored of Batman's repeating jokes, likely sales of Batman-related comics will begin to sag as well.

For instance, the return of the Penguin to comics in Batman #190 boasts a wonderful cover by Carmine Infantino but… darn, look at the stiff and uninspired artwork inside the issue.

Maybe the introduction of the dynamic new Batgirl will revitalize the Batman comics a bit. College student Barbara Gordon, the daughter of Commissioner Gordon, donned her distaff version of the cape and cowl in Detective Comics #359, late last year. Fan reaction to her appearance has been all over the place. Many have praised the idea that this new Batgirl can actually throw punches and kick some heads in – unlike the more old-fashioned Bat-Girl of the 1950s. Others have complained about the need to tie Commissioner Gordon more closely with our heroes. And some younger fans have complained about Batgirl acting like a big sister to Robin, which embarasses him since a girl can often out-achieve him (of course the female fans love that aspect of the heroine).

Under Infantino's pencils, the new Batgirl is a lilthe, athletic fighting machine. She's also kind of a women's libber, fighting with the ability of a man while maintaining her female identity. She would be a welcome addition to the Batman TV series. I hope she gets added to it soon.

Sadly, unless her series takes a radical turn, I can't imagine Wonder Woman becoming a feminist icon. I dare you to look at the cover below and tell me I'm wrong.

The tremendously prolific Robert Kanigher writes Wonder Woman. He's is one of the key forces behind the war comics I mentioned earlier. Maybe's he's too busy in his mental combat to consider the abuse he's heaping on his heroes.

In fact, of DC's heroes line, only "Legion of Super-Heroes" in Adventure Comics resonantes for me (well, okay, one other series has sparked excitement – see below for the details). My newfound love for the Legion surprises me. I usually yawn at the Superman family of titles (which this is part of). Readers get one variation after another of the same full stories. But new writer Jim Shooter has brought a new energy to the future's finest super-teens. Just this year, "The Doomed Legionnaire" brought an unexpected death to the team (I promise I won't tell you who dies!) This month, we're viewing an incredible flash-forward to a time when the Legionnaires are adults. It's spellbinding stuff, written for teenagers with an energy and freshness which makes me wonder if Shooter himself is a teen.

And finally…

This article has aleady run long, so I'd better add a few final notes before I head down to the Spanish Castle to see Paul Revere and the Raiders…

Doom Patrol continues to be DC's ginchiest comic book – miss it and weep, pals!
Archie's super-hero parodies like Captain Pureheart are a giggle a minute if you're in the right mindset. They are well worth your twelve pennies.
Warren continues to publish the outstanding horror comics Creepy and Eerie, and each feature work by the delightful Mr. Ditko. Miss them at your peril.
Look for copies of King Comics' Flash Gordon on your local stands. If you can find it, you will find some breathtaking comic art by the likes of Al Williamson and Reed Crandall.
And lastly and leastly, a reminder that the weakest and dullest comics in the Marvel line is The X-Men. Save your cents for its much better imitator, Doom Patrol. When will Marvel wise up and give up on this series?

Till next time, sayonara!

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Comics, Fashion, music, politics, sports

[August 4, 1966] Up, up, and away! (the Superman musical)

August 4, 2021 GalacticJourney 1 Comment

by Aaron Grunfeld

[Every so often, one of our readers submits a guest article. We're always delighted to receive such unexpected bounty, and this one is particularly fun and relevant.

Aaron Grunfeld is a former journalist and dramaturg. In the past he has worked with playwrights and theaters on and Off-Broadway, and written for publications like Playbill. Aaron lives in New York City with his wife and daughter, and he’s preparing to teach high school English this fall.

As a science-fiction fan, Aaron is enjoying Adventure Comics, where Edmond Hamilton is currently writing a light-hearted space opera starring Superboy and a team of teen super-pals in the 30th century. Highly recommended!]

Batman may be the biggest superhero of 1966, but his pal Superman can still draw a crowd. This past spring, the Man of Steel was featured in a brand-new Broadway musical with a tongue-in-cheek title: It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman! But a marriage between the Great White Way and the Funny Pages isn’t as strange as it sounds. Television, comic books, and American musicals are all forms of ‘pop art,’ the trendy term for work that’s meant to be popular, mass-produced, and ephemeral. That definition clearly applied to Superman’s show, which only ran for four months. It was a flop by most measures, but not the one that counts: the producers recouped their costs.

Onstage at the Alvin Theatre, Superman faces a mad scientist who’s teamed with a gossip columnist at the Daily Planet; together they hope to ruin the superhero’s reputation. The newsroom is also the setting for the comic’s legendary love triangle, with reporter Lois Lane at its apex and Superman as his own rival. This angle is played as romantic comedy, and as a result, Superman feels less like a comic-book adventure than a generic musical with a superheroic twist.

All the action takes place in Metropolis, which is identical to Broadway’s vision of New York—a cynical, seen-it-all borough that breaks into song & dance every so often. Superman floats gently into the chorus of hoofers like he’s gliding off the movie screen at a Saturday matinee. He’s just as earnest and good-natured as he ever was, and his fellow citizens can’t take him seriously in the red cape and blue tights.

Neither can the show’s creators, Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, who had a hit a few years ago with Bye Bye Birdie. Strouse and Adams have developed Superman with book writers David Newman and Robert Benton and director Harold Prince (Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster originated the concept in 1938). Their Superman is a galoot with a big heart, and their impulse is to mock him. His super-feats are played for knowing laughs; when Superman swoops in on wires, he strikes a pose like Mary Martin in Peter Pan. I’m not sure why Strouse and Adams wrote a musical about Superman, rather than, say, Li’l Orphan Annie. I’m not sure they know either.

The actors are uniformly better than their material, and many received acclaim for their efforts. Bob Holiday plays the dual role of Clark Kent and Superman as so essentially decent that the show’s mockery just bounces off him. In the second act, he laments, “Why can’t the strongest man in the world | Be the happiest man in the world?” and for a moment, it seems like he’ll reveal his secret identity to Lois. Wouldn’t that be a twist!

Those who remember Lois Lane from the radio, or those incredible cartoon shorts during the war, will be disappointed that the musical’s newshound is more focused on wedlock than journalism. It’s a retrograde portrayal that feels out-of-step with the current decade; I’d like to think Lois is still reporting on civic corruption and civil unrest, not that she’s writing the Daily Planet’s advice column. However, the audience enjoyed her romantic antics, as executed by Patricia Marand, and, if her Tony nomination is anything to go by, so did her peers.

I found the show’s two villains more lively. Michael O’Sullivan plays a generic mad scientist, a “ten-time Nobel loser” who blames Superman for his failures. A veteran of vaudeville, O’Sullivan mugs and hams his way through the show like a cut-rate Bert Lahr. He’s at his best opposite Jack Cassidy, who plays a Walter Winchell type and goes for every laugh he can find. They’re a pair of old-fashioned entertainers who give the audience what we paid for: Broadway schtick done slick. For that, both men also earned Tony nominations. None of the show’s performers won their categories, but all three are professionals enjoying their work, and in the theater, that feeling is infectious.

The spotlight, however, is stolen by an up-and-comer named Linda Lavin. She plays a secretary who flirts with Clark Kent in a number called “You’ve Got Possibilities.” The lyrics suggest she views the mild-mannered reporter as a fixer-upper, a groom to be groomed. But in performance, Lavin’s character finds Kent genuinely, carnally attractive, and she’s not afraid to say so. “Possibilities” is the show’s strongest number, and Lavin uses it to make a big impression. All the critics agreed, Lavin is Superman’s high point. I’ll go further: Lavin is the only modern, original part of the entire Superman musical.

In its cultural attitudes, Superman is a throwback to the era between the War and Kennedy’s assassination. This is clearest in its treatment of Lois Lane, but it permeates the show. Lavin’s character, by contrast, doesn’t want to marry Superman, or even Clark Kent. She enjoys her independence, and she’s too busy living her own life to bother with the heroic melodrama of Superman. Lavin’s creation is looking forward, not back, and her moments onstage elevate the Superman musical from light entertainment to pop art.

Two and a half stars.

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Comics

[June 26, 1966] Justice League of Britain (New British Superhero Comics)

June 26, 2021 Kris Vyas-Myall 3 Comments

by Mx. Kris Vyas-Myall

World Cup Stadium — Wembley, one of the main venues for the world cup matches.

World Cup excitement seems to have hit fever pitch in the UK. For the first time the international tournament is to be held in England and even non-sports fans, like me, are finding themselves caught up in the drama.

Pickles The Dog — Pickles the Dog being rewarded for the return of the World Cup trophy

It has certainly been an eventful run up. Whether it be the trophy being lost and then found by a dog, or the CAF refusing to play over the number of pre-agreed qualifiers, it seems like there is always a new twist in the story.

Whilst, obviously, I am hopeful that England will do well, I personally expect it will be West Germany that will retake the title. However, the Soviet Union are not ones to count out, with a lot of expectation for them to do very well this time around.

There are the even adventures of the mascot World Cup Willie appearing in TV Comic. This is not the only change happening right now in the world of British comics.

The Next Shift

Sometimes it seems the only constancy in British comics is change. Whilst there are some long running strips like Garth, Dan Dare and Roy of the Rovers, the contents of most magazines are largely revised every few years, whilst new comic books spring up and others merge.

Recent excellent new publications Ranger and Champion are both coming to an end, being incorporated into Look and Learn and Lion respectively. Whilst in Lion itself, the excellent long-running dystopian series, Vic Gunn, has been wrapped up, with Emperor Rudolph imprisoned in exile and democracy restored to Britain.

But rather than talk about what is disappearing I want to talk about a new trend that seems to be appearing. The return of British superheroes.

Super Absences

Captain Universe Electroman Ace Hart Comic Covers — Just a few of the many short-lived British superhero comics, with plenty of WHAM! for your sixpence

Following the arrival of American superhero comics on British shores (and their subsequent disappearance) there was short lived explosion British superhero comics. However, most did not last more than a few issues.

Marvelman Family Marvelman Family Young Marvelman Covers — Some of the Marvelman titles

One of the few that stuck around was Mick Anglo’s Marvelman. Starting in 1954 , it was an intentional copy of Captain Marvel, designed to continue after the collapse of Fawcett comics in the US. However, even this ceased publication in 1963.

So, what remained of these kinds of marvels? Whilst British adventure comics moved to a mix of War, Crime, Sport, Science Fiction and Spy Stories, there are some which border on the superheroic.

The biggest are more anti-heroes than heroes. Louis Crandell is The Steel Claw, who after he had a series of accidents, became able to turn invisible if electrocuted. After originally becoming a criminal for a time, he has now begun to work for The Shadow Squad of the British secret service. Another is The Spider, a technologically advanced supervillain, who often battles other violent supervillains but more for control than out of a sense of altruism. Neither strip feels much like a typical American style superhero tale.

There are also some incredibly powerful robot titles such as Robot Archie and The Iron Man. In these the robot hereos will sometimes battle supervillains and display unusual powers.

Brassneck – “The funny adventures of a metal schoolboy”

However, these feel as much science fiction and colonial adventure tales as superhero stories. Also, robots are generally a pretty common feature of British comics, even starring in schoolboy humour series, like The Tin Teacher or Brassneck.

The closest hang-overs are probably Kelly’s Eye and Garth. In the former, Kelly has an amulet that makes him invulnerable while wearing it, allowing him to do outrageous deeds such as sitting on a lightning rod for charity. The stories are fairly repetitive and dull though, as they have to keep finding excuses to lose the eye temporarily, as a way of maintaining the tension.

In the latter, Garth is sometimes referred to as a superhero due to him being extremely strong, but his adventures tend to be more cosmic, much closer to a Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers character than Superman or Green Lantern.

Whilst there a few that could count, this set would make a very paltry Justice League of Britain. But we have just recently started to see the arrival of a new wave of British superheroes, who I am going to attempt to match with their American counterparts.

New Heroes

Smash Ads for Batman and Hulk — Ads for Batman and The Hulk comic strips in Smash!

Smash! comic was designed to be primarily another humour comic building off the success of superstar artist Leo Baxendale’s Wham!, combining cheap parodies like The Man from B.U.N.G.L.E. and Danger Mouse, with rip-offs of D. C. Thompson characters such as Bad Penny and The Swots and the Blots. But recently there has been more of a shift. First off, they have started reprinting US superhero comics which are hard to come by on this side of the Atlantic. Secondly, they have also produced their own superhero strip, Rubber Man:

Britain’s Elongated Man – The Rubber Man

Cursed by an Indian Fakir, Jim Hollis finds himself able to stretch himself like rubber. The series has only just started but seems to be following the standard superhero formula, as we follow Jim becoming Rubberman and facing off against Jonas Sleech, a super strong villain.

Apparently, these kinds of stretchy superheroes have been common in the US since Plastic Man appeared in the 1940s. However, I am reminded of the character I am most familiar with, National Comics Elongated Man, who appears in the pages of The Flash, with similar powers and even a similar look.

Britain’s Hourman – Thunderbolt The Avenger

Mick Riley is a police constable considered too wimpy by his colleagues and consigned to desk duty. When escorting a Professor Markham he is given a wristwatch will give him a wide range of superhuman abilities but only for a period of 2 hours. With it he adopts the secret identity of Thunderbolt, a masked superhero.

Thunderbolt seems most analogous to Hourman, recently revived in Showcase. He has his own source of power which gives him superhuman abilities for an hour. I would not be surprised if he was an inspiration on the Thunderbolt strip.

Britain’s Mera – Marina Girl of the Sea

Marina Girl of the Sea is a prequel to the Stingray TV series run in the Lady Penelope comic. Ostensibly we are told this will be the story of how the titular Marina became non-verbal, but it is more of a fantasy undersea epic about the Princess of Pacifica dealing with an invasion of her kingdom.

It could be argued whether this counts as a superhero tale, but I am definitely reminded of Mera in the Aquaman comics. These both share a sense of adventure and the mix of fantasy and undersea politics.

Britain’s Atom – The Mini-Men

The two Mini-Men are secret agents Pete Stevens and Tim Bailey, shrunk by shrinking gas to only two inches. They are sent into Scarvia to rescue Professor Hannah from the dictator general Borgos, who is forcing him to work on deadly mechanical rodents.

These two bring to mind National Comics' own shrinking hero The Atom. Although he tends to be more focused on crimes than spy missions, these kinds of scientifically focused tales are very much part of his repertoire.

Britain’s Kid Flash – Billy Whizz

More of a humour strip than a straight superhero adventure, Billy Whizz follows the comical antics of an incredibly fast boy dealing with ordinary life and its travails.

Whilst he is slightly older, I am definitely reminded of the Wally West as Kid Flash, appearing in back up strips in some issues of The Flash. These have often emphasized his youth and sometimes show him dealing with real-life problems in the midst of heroics.

Britain’s Beast Boy – The Amazing Jack Wonder

Jack Wonder is the result of another scientific experiment. The evil scientist Varan uses him as a guinea pig and the result allows Jack to transform into any object, whilst still retaining his sentience. As a “freedom loving adventurer”, he uses his power to fight the evil dictator Quantro.

Jack Wonder most reminds of The Doom Patrol’s Beast Boy. Rather than being able to transform into any object, Beast Boy can transform into any animal. Both also have rather a great sense of fun and make their adventures a joy to read.

Britain’s Thor – The Phantom Viking

New magazine Champion has produced some really innovative strips such as Return of the Stormtroopers and Hunters Without Guns. One less inventive creation is The Phantom Viking. Here mild-mannered school-teacher Olaf Larsen discovers an ancient Viking helmet. When he puts it on, he transforms into a superhero with superhuman strength and the ability to fly. He decides to use this power to confront evil.

Anyone vaguely familiar with North American comics will probably be aware of how similar this is to the Marvel character of Thor. In fact, the Marvel readers I have shown the strip to have commented how much it looks like they resemble Jack Kirby’s illustrations. But then, I guess if you are going to copy, why not copy from the best?

Britain’s ???? – Sugarman

Finally, from the unoriginal to the decidedly unique, this one coming from The Long-Hair Times, the recently launched alternative magazine filled with discussions of drugs and sex. In the centre of it we have the comic strip adventures of Sugarman. Here journalist Brad Calworthy goes into a fashionable boutique to try to find some hip new clothes. After ingesting a sugar cube left over from the night before he finds himself as Sugarman travelling through the cosmic consciousness. At the same time, we learn of an evil plan being brewed by Harry The Nit (who appears to be modelled on Harold Wilson) and his secretary (who seems to be Charlie Brown from the Peanuts strip).

I am not sure what to compare this to as it is probably the most bizarre use of the comic book format I have ever seen. Also, it is hard to get a handle on where it is going when I have only been able to acquire one issue of The Long-Hair Times so far. Perhaps more will be revealed as future publications come out? Alternatively, it could just be a single piece of bizarre satire, but still an engagingly made one.

Super Staying Power?

With these new heroes, I am sure Britain is much safer against alien super menaces, not just having to rely on Dan Dare, Jeff Hawke and other space pilots. The question remains whether these heroes will stick around in these pages or disappear as we get more of the American originals arriving?

For now, I will keep reading both the import and homegrown caped crusaders.

Tune in to KGJ, our radio station! Nothing but super hits!

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Comics

[June 23, 1966] Interlude, with panthers

June 23, 2021 Gideon Marcus 2 Comments

by Gideon Marcus

The phone rang insistently on my desk, waking me from my nap. I dropped my comic book and spilled coffee all over the galleys for the next article. On the other end of the line was a voice, a woman's voice, heavily accented in German.

"Is something wrong? We didn't receive our shipment of Galactic Journey!"

That woke me up faster than a cup of pure zavarka. Stealing a glance at the calendar, I saw that it wasn't the 22nd but the 23rd. For the first time in two years, we'd missed a deadline.

"Uh, no! Everything's fine! We're just doing a special edition. Building suspense-like. Don't worry. I'll call the vans and make sure they bring you your inventory."

The L.A. Times' Lester Rodney, not me…but close enough

Hanging up before my stunned caller could reply, I took stock of the situation. Our beautiful next article was a sopping mess, completely useless. I couldn't even see what the subject had been — a new book? Skinny on Star Trek, debuting in September? Candid photos of Tony Randall in swim trunks?

Whatever it had been, it was melted shreds now. I had to put up something, and fast. But what? How could I possibly fill the slot, 24 hours late, no less!

My eyes lit upon the comic book at my feet, Fantastic Four #53.

God bless Stan Lee (and Jack Kirby)!

Of course, I didn't have time to write a full article. That takes hours, research, several fingers of rum. I didn't even have coffee in me!

Then I remembered that a picture is worth a thousand words. And we have a limit on article length at the Journey: always try to keep things shorter than 2000 words, I say.

Two comic book panels would be enough. Heck, eight would be sheer luxury!

So, with very little introduction (far less than he deserves), meet the newest Marvel Superhero: Black Panther!

This is the King of Wakanda, a highly advanced country somewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa. He's invited the Fantastic Four to his nation for… some reason.

Turns out, it was to beat all four of them pretty handily.

But why? He's no villain. He's a noble hero! Turns out, the "Great Hunt" was really just the equivalent of a Wakandan handshake. I mean, fighting is superhero foreplay, right?

So why did he really invite the FF to his swingin' super-sciencey jungle pad?

Sadly, when I got FF #52 last month, that ish left me on a cliffhanger, and it wasn't until this month I got the answer.

Seems the evil organization, Klaw, had attacked Wakanda. In the process, the King was killed, leaving his son to grieve… and avenge.

Needless to say, FF #53 details the defeat of Klaw's minions at the hands of the grown-up prince. But though his pledged duty be done, there's always more injustice to be fought.

And so, the Marvel universe not only gets a new hero (and one of the most powerful in the pantheon) but our first black hero to boot! Black Panther is not quite the first foreign hero to grace a Marvel Mag, now that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch have joined the Avengers, but it's still nice to see villain-busting become an international affair.

All I gotta say is, Make Mine Marvel!

(and thanks for bearing with the delay and this makeshift slot-fill. I promise it won't happen again…for at least another 24 hours! Next time, I'll lay off the sauce…)

Sammy Davis Jr. doing his Dean Martin impression

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Comics, Movies, Science Fiction/Fantasy

[May 6, 1966] Blaise-ing Wreckage (Modesty Blaise)

May 6, 2021 Kris Vyas-Myall 5 Comments

by Mx. Kris Vyas-Myall

Eye Spies

Spies are everywhere these days. James Bond is now just one of many secret agents dominating cinema.

On TV you are spoilt for choice, whether you prefer John Steed, John Drake, Richard Cadell, Napoleon Solo or even Amos Burke.

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Funeral In Berlin, Somewhere In The Night — Just a few of the spy books that dominate UK bookshelves

You can go to any bookshop and pick up the latest thriller from people like John Le Carre, Len Deighton or even by Michael Moorcock (under one of his many aliases).

But also, in real life news. A 92-page document was made public in Vancouver yesterday, detailing the allegation that George Victor Spencer, recently deceased, had been assigned to look into farms near the US border in order to find a suitable property to set up a site that could possibly have been a base for Soviet intelligence operations.

Mr. Spencer had denied these allegations and called for a public enquiry before his death. I imagine the debate about whether he was really a Russian agent or just a falsely accused man will continue for some time.

With all this intrigue happening around us, it is perhaps unsurprising that the first ever British comic book adaptation is another spy tale: Peter O’Donnell’s Modesty Blaise.

An Unlucrative Medium

Comic books have not been ones for adaptation in Britain. We did not have the 30s/40s film serials like the United States, so we did not get a Garth Conquers The Universe or The Return of Buck Ryan.

Nor is there a strong enough animation field to produce The Adventures of Dan Dare or The Rupert The Bear Show.

Whilst comics remain popular the idea that we would ever get a Roy of the Rovers or Bash Street Kids film would seem beyond remote. But Modesty Blaise has changed that.

A Pop Culture Icon

Modesty Blaise Novelization — Peter O’Donnell’s “novelization” of the film script

The first strip of Modesty Blaise was only released 3 years ago, but she has already become a massive success. So before talking about the new movie I think it is important to talk about the original strip.

Romeo Brown Strip — A Romeo Brown story in which he gets hit with a golf ball and loses his memory

At the same time as working on the beloved adventure strip Garth, the Daily Mirror further employed Peter O'Donnell to takeover Romeo Brown, their comedy comic strip about a bumbling detective, usually involved in silly situations with various young women. The quality of the strip is not that memorable, but it is there he began collaborating with Jim Holdaway.

After Romeo Brown finished, Peter O’Donnell decided to create a more serious strip where a woman would be a capable hero rather than simply an object of desire or a damsel for the man to rescue. Apparently inspired by an orphan girl he met when stationed in Persia during the war, he teamed up once again with Holdaway to create Modesty Blaise.

Modesty & Marjorie — Modesty reassures Willie’s girlfriend Marjorie that she has no romantic feelings for him.

Starting in 1963, Blaise feels like a totally new type of hero. Both Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin (her loyal sidekick) are both former criminals neither from privileged backgrounds. Modesty grew up in refugee camps in Persia and other Middle Eastern countries, whilst Willie is very much a working-class character. There is also no suggestion that she has any romantic interaction with Willie, instead they are loyal professional colleagues.

Modesty Blaise Action — An excellent action sequence where Willie rams a lorry into Gabriel’s mansion

It is not just the initial concept that is fresh, the quality of the strip feels ahead of anything else I could easily pick up. O’Donnell’s plots feel fresh and complex, varying significantly from story to story. One week she will be investigating drug running in the Vietnam war, the next dealing with psychic espionage. These are combined with characters that feel deep and real. O’Donnell’s writing and Holdaway’s art also come together to give a really cinematic presentation with a real eye for direction.

The Daily Express’ James Bond strip: A more old fashioned kind of spy story

Whilst it can often feel like comic books lag behind literature (most science fiction strips seem to be barely coming to grips with the Golden Age), Modesty Blaise often feels like it is closer to the new wave of British espionage literature. Rather than the old-fashioned heroics of James Bond, Blaise owes something to the George Smiley tales or The IPCRESS File, with a certain level of cynicism about intelligence operations.

Modesty comforts Weng after he shoots his sister

The prospects for the film seemed good at first. Peter O’Donell wrote the initial story for the film, although it was changed significantly for the screen (his novelization is based on his script rather than the finished product) with the main writer and director representing a reunion of Joseph Losey and Evan Jones, the team behind the brilliant Hammer Film The Damned.

So, I went in to see it on the first day of release quietly confident…

An Outrageous Mess

…and I am honestly not sure what I got. It is almost like every scene was made by a different director, none of whom talked to each other, and all footage edited together in five minutes at midnight.

It is quite an experience to watch and hard to believe it was ever released. Is the intention meant to be satirical? Artistic? Serious? I cannot see it particularly working with any reading.

Modesty Blaise Fashions — Just a few of the numerous outfits on display (along with her magical color changing hair)

If I were to praise anything about it, it is the look. The design work in it is beautiful, taking full advantage of being in colour to showcase bright locations and fashions. But even that gets wearying quickly. I believe Modesty changes outfit in almost every scene, only briefly wearing her iconic comic outfit for the sake of a cheap joke about how to change out of it. At times it feels less like they consider Blaise to be a spy than a model for Marissa Martelli’s designs.

Rather than the serious tone of the newspaper strip, Losey’s film has a large dose of comedy inserted into it. Some is absurdly silly, some is satiric, some is very dark. None of it really landed for me.

One of the core points of Modesty's character is how skilled a fighter she is. Here the only evidence we see of that is a really poorly choreographed fight scene. For much of the film she is reduced to being a damsel in distress. This is a common problem in British media, I am aware, but that doesn’t make it any less disappointing to see here.

Modesty and Willie discuss their romantic feelings through the medium of song.

Willie now seems to have transformed into some Alfie-like lothario in a modish bachelor pad rather than an ex-criminal who runs a pub. They also break one of the most interesting elements of the original strip by involving them in a romance. Inexplicably told through musical numbers taking place in between or during action scenes.

Gabriel was previously a Moriarty style figure with an enlarged forehead and walked with a limp. Much like Lex Luthor is to Superman, he seems designed to be the brain to match Modesty and Willie’s brawn. Yet in the film he just appears to be an eccentric, upset about any snag in his plans whilst launching rocket missiles that shoot lasers.

The movie also uses scenes from the original comic but without any real explanation or context. The opening scene appears to be taken from The Gabriel Set-Up but whilst there it is a key plot-point about a device to extract people’s secrets, in the film it appears to be an advanced printer which, in another attempt at humor, is unable to give information she requires and has no relation to the rest of the story.

At the start of this section, I said trying to get a read on what this film is trying to do is tough. As an adaptation it has barely any faithfulness. As a silly comedy the jokes are not directed well enough to land.

If it is a satire I am not sure what of? Imperialism? It is more imperialist than anything. Spy films and TV? The meta-fictional jokes don’t really make sense for that. I never thought a problem with all the espionage thrillers coming out is that they have obvious continuity errors, break out into musical numbers at random or even that they take themselves too seriously. The awful carry-on films do a better job at mockery of popular media than this.

I have heard it is trying to be artful but, honestly, I am not convinced by that either. I am fan of the cut-up approach of Burroughs, Ballard and their ilk but they do this to tell a story as a whole in an interesting way, not to make something non-sensical. Whilst we can debate the true value of Duchamp’s Fountain, I can see the point he was making. The only point here seems to be it is a plainly bad film.

The End…Thankfully

Modesty Blaise End — As the Sheikh’s troops advance on Gabriel’s stronghold, Willie and Modesty sing once again.

I do not even know if you can truly rank this on a star system. I cannot even be sure what I just watched was actually a film. The only evidence seems to be I paid money to see it in a cinema. The whole thing, whatever it is, is almost worth seeing in order to appreciate how bizarre an experience it is.

However, I come down on the side of staying at home instead. There you can spend your time reading O’Donnell and Holdaway’s wonderful comic strip in comfort. Find out if a newspaper anywhere near you is syndicating it, I hear that it has been picked up all over the world and it is one of the true greats.

Unlike the shambles Losey served up.

One Star

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