CONFESSIONS OF A SPINNER RACK JUNKIE.

Yes, it's time once more for CONFESSIONS OF A SPINNER RACK JUNKIE, where I opine in shortish fashion about comics that I have bought and/or received and/or read in the interval between August 5 through 18, some of which may even still be on sale at finer comics selling establishments worldwide if you're lucky. Or not, as the case may be.

ACE-FACE, THE MOD WITH THE METAL ARMS: Mike Dawson's other project, which has appeared here and there in Project: Superior and Superior Showcase, is a likable stab at doing superheroics in his idiosyncratic style. It's quite possibly the best comics series ever featuring a character inspired by an album by the Who, as well, so there's that. It deals with a fellow who was born in the early 60's without arms, and "his scientist" (did everyone have scientists of their own back then?) arrive at an unlikely solution: give him experimental, super-strong robot arms, that he can grow into. Of course, as he gets older, he embarks on a crime-fighting career as Ace-Face, the Mod with the Metal Arms, adopting a Who-style circle-arrow t-shirt as his costume, even joining in a couple of super-teams before retiring at the birth of his first child. This collection of shortish stories jumps around all through his career, which ends with him losing his job as a teacher when he stops a student who was doing some vigilantism of his own (more like bullying, actually). I'm sure Mike can draw parallels between his creation and his own life in places, and while I get some Paul Grist-style superhero-tweaking vibes, mostly this reminds me a lot of the stuff Scott McLeod did in the tail end of his Zot!; stories less about superguys and gals, and dealing with more stuff of a personal nature (even though we do get one kinda-fun Claremont-inspired adventure story as he faces an evil mind-controlling villain who forces Ace to fight his U.S. Outcast teammates)...Dawson's art, with its open, clean lines, reminds me a bit of McLoud's in places. Reminding me not so much of McLoud are the gnomish-featured people which populate his stories (with one exception, which I'll discuss in more detail later)...that's his style, nothing wrong with it, but it does draw attention to itself. Rounding out the volume is short stories of a pair of annoyingly bratty kids with superpowers (one is a telekinetic, one can teleport) who constantly pick on each other; it's OK for a while but before long they just get tiresome (their dad would agree), and most interesting of the bunch, an ongoing thread in which Ace-Faces' normal son tries to decide how to deal with unruly punks on the stoop below his apartment- it's drawn in a simpler, thicker-lined style, much different from his usual method, and it reminds me a lot of Paul Grist. I wouldn't mind seeing Dawson go more in this direction on future projects. I don't know if there are more Ace-Face projects on the way, but this collection is worth a look, especially if you like Mike's other work like Freddie and Me. B+

AGENTS OF ATLAS #9: Perhaps this series' best issue yet, as Jimmy Woo tries to pitch, well, Woo to old flame Suwan...but Suwan has, to understate, moved on and moved up in ambition and is no longer receptive to our Jimmy's charms. Lotsa action, too, thought not the kind that poor Jimmy was hoping for. I like the new artist, too- Panosian's art is lively, fairly threatening to bust out of the restrictive panel grid. If you despair of ever seeing good old fashioned honest action and sharp characterization in your funnybooks, and not cynical horror-movie-style wannabe movie-of-the-week potboilers, well, you really should be reading this. And I know there aren't nearly enough of you who are. A-

THE BOYS #33: For those who wondered why Ennis named the character "Butcher". He spends the majority of this issue doing just that to the hapless superpeople who have gotten on his bad side. And it's got you covered both ways, if you're invested enough to care about this comic; the backstory stuff, with its promise of trouble down the road, is involving, and the frontstory stuff gives us Butcher butchering with a sardonic smirk to assholes who seem to have it coming. Plus, John McCrea, not exactly inspiring Hitman nostalgia but not bad just the same. Win-win! B+

B.P.R.D.: 1947 #2: In which Dysart borrows just a smidge from Jonathan Norell and Mr. Strange, and that's just fine because first, no one's oversaturating us with adaptations of that fine novel (with its ambiguous, somewhat disappointing ending) so it's fair game as far as I'm concerned, and also because it's all brought to life quite vividly by the Moon/Ba duo's expressive, mood-evoking artwork. Don't know if I'm going to hold this one in as high a regard as I did 1946, but so far this is another winner from the B.P.R.D. team. A

DOMINIC FORTUNE #1: Welcome back, Howie, it's been a while. Sure, he doesn't exactly stretch out and break new ground on this revival of a Chaykinman character he created in 1974 (I bought 3 Atlas titles off the rack in 1975, and The Scorpion #'s 1 and 2 were two of them), but he sure seems awake and committed for the first time in, well, a long time. Like primo Howie, the humor is glib and sardonic, the action is fast-paced and furious, the layouts are not-as-good-as-80's-Chaykin-but-still-mighty-damn-good, the dames are voluptuous and the "hero" is as square-jawed and handsome as Max Glory, Cody Starbuck, Lord Brian Ironwolf, Reuben Flagg, Monark Starstalker...etc., etc., understandable, since he was roughly third in line in that progression. Anyway, it's also good to see Chaykin back in the late Forties milieu, a period he has a marked affinity for I do believe (well, I think it's post WWII anyway; it's not specified. It's either that or the early 50's judging by the clothes)...and if that wasn't enough, we even get the obligatory blow job scene! Whee! Happy days are here again. If anything, the whole Jewish Dom gets a job as bodyguard, runs afoul of a Nazi scumbag storyline so far seems a mite pedestrian, blowjobs or no, but I have no doubt that it will get better. Besides, how can I resist a comic in which the lead quips "Like I said, boys...behave yourselves, like gentlemen...or it's goodbye booze and cooze...hello hot fudge sundaes at C.C. Brown's."? I ask you. A-

FABLES #87: Buckingham returns, plot is advanced, and more bad stuff continues to accumulate around our poor beleaguered cast. In short, another solid issue of this most consistent of good reads. At least we don't get zombie Fafhrd and Mouser this issue. B+

HELLBOY: THE WILD HUNT #5: Gee, it seems like the wait between this one and #4 was about the same interval as between my review posts, doesn't it? Oh well, it was worth it because this is shaping up to be another excellent weaving of folklore and Mignola-lore, and for me, anyway, Duncan Fregredo's dynamic art is always worth the money. Yeah, sure, this is kinda the same basic plot- Hellboy runs afoul of some powerful evil magical being, usually female, who threatens trouble and wants to take over the mundane world- that we usually get for the more extended HB stories, but again, no worries because even if it is a well-worn riff, Mignola plays it well. A

INCREDIBLE HERCULES #132: A bit of a return to form after the rather joyless previous couple issues; of course, there's drama as Amadeus and Herc go their separate ways (we all know that Van Lente and Pak would be foolish to keep them separated, so no real worries there), but soon after we get Zeus, now reborn as a smart-mouthed young boy, and Herc (with Athena along as well) getting tabbed to replace none other than Thor as he's enlisted by Balder to battle Dark Elves who threaten Asgard, and by extension, the world. But of course, that's not exactly what's really happening, and good old oblivious Herc crashes right in to the middle of it. Lots of amusing jibes at Marvel's Thor mythology, especially in the snarky opening recap page, and I find myself liking the art team of Reilly Brown and Nelson DeCastro, a bit stiff in the figure department but doing a nice job with some very detailed pages, as well as some decent action scenes. A-

MARVEL DIVAS #2: Proving last issue was no fluke, we get another enjoyable blend of humor and drama, all filtered through the Sex and the City aesthetic, which is not to make that sound like a bad thing in this case. We also get a callback to the excellent Brian Vaughan mini Dr. Strange: The Oath, which remains proof that the character can work, and work well, and not need the sour, cynical, Bendis-style reimagining. Aguirre-Sacasa and Tonci Zonjic do a lot better by Daimon Hellstorm in this, too, but he still looks a bit too neat and tidy for my liking. Oh well, not bad, not bad at all, and it's funny how much better this, which no one expected anything from, is than the Distinguished Competition's Gotham City Sirens. A

STARSTRUCK #1: Few comics on the market today have had as convoluted a history as this one, fitting, I suppose, because it's got such a convoluted narrative anyway. I can't tell you how many times I had considered trying to do a series of blog posts about the issues that had already come out over the last three decades, but shied away because frankly, it's so densely plotted and loaded with so many characters with complicated backgrounds, and I just didn't feel equal to the task. As he so often tends to do, Jog did a pretty good job of summing it up in his review of the Marvel Graphic Novel a few months ago, but even he only really was able to scratch the surface, and that's in part because we've only been given the surface after one graphic novel, six ongoing issues, four reprints of the previous with a handful of newer pages, and a smattering of peripheral stories such as the Galactic Girl Guides backups that appeared oh so long ago in the short-lived Rocketeer Adventure Magazine. But I'm sure you want me to cut to the chase and tell you what I thought about it, I know, so here- yeah, I loved it. But understand- I loved it in 1982 when I read it the first time (and over and over a few more), and loved it again in the early 90's, when I reread it as part of Dark Horse's aborted revival/reprint attempt. So, yeah, I loved it again- the quirky characters, usually joined right in the middle of some scene, and speaking cryptic things to each other that only they know the meaning of; the gorgeously detailed Mike Kaluta pages, with all the clever architectural designs and all the well-thought-out panel layouts and body english. But if the total effect, for me the Starstruck veteran, was a bit like reading and re-reading a long novel, but only being able to get through the first chapter before having to put it away for a while, then forgetting what it said and having to read that chapter again...well, that's OK. I don't mind in this case. IDW seems to be committed to getting this in print, and therefore I know we'll eventually get to even more elaborate, clever, and wonderful places very soon. No, the main thing I found enjoyable this time around was the marvelous job Lee Moyer has done on color art- I'm not always the biggest fan of excessive Photoshoppery in my comics art, but when it's done right, as a compliment rather than as a band-aid, well, it can be wonderful, and that's what Moyer does here. So, anyway- look: I don't think Elaine Lee's ever been better than she is here; I've read a few of her other series in the past and never got the same buzz that I did from this. The intricacies and the imagination employed to build this universe amazes me just as much in 2009 as it did in 1982. The Altman-esque dialogue style is also a joy to parse out- as confusing and disorienting as it sometimes can be, it's always witty and clever. You all know what I think about Kaluta, and save for selected Shadow pages and illustrations, I think this is probably the finest work of his storied career as well. I can't tell you if you should buy this or not. It's not an easy read, not something you can turn your brain off and go with. You have to study and think about this connection to that thing or vice versa. You don't really have a lot of backstory to by about these characters, either, and I know that bugs a lot of people. It helps to have read the previous series, but I know many of you won't have that advantage. You'll have to work a little to follow along, but believe me, it's worth it, especially if you enjoy experiencing the unique. A+

WITCHFINDER: IN THE SERVICE OF ANGELS #2: When it comes to comics that deal with the supernatural, well, I guess I'm a little jaded- from the Warren mags of my youth, on through Taboo and such, to the grotesqueries often found in today's horror comics, well, I just don't usually see anything that gives me the creeps or even evokes a spooky mood. It's my shortcoming, not the various creators'. So believe me when I tell you that the unconventional seance scene in this issue, brought to life by Ben Stenbeck, whose work here suggests Mignola inked by Pete Snejbjerg, evokes mood quite convincingly; I don't think Mignola himself could have done any better. It's the kind of excellent sequence that can make or break a series sometimes, I hope it isn't the series peak. Otherwise, the supernatural murder mystery, as rooted in mummy movie cliches as it started out to be, is moving along well- I like the various odd characters Mignola introduces, and how they all interact with each other, even Ed Grey, whose predilection to uttering god-bothering screeds and quotations goes down a bit better than in issue 1. So far, another winner for the B.P.R.D. factory. A

Lotta good ones this time out, and as always, I apologize for being so tardy in getting these capsules posted. I'm usually more critical than this, but really, I got a very good stack of books in that period. I'll also get back to Wednesday Comics soon. Trying something new this time; instead of searching or scanning for all the cover images, I'll just link to them instead and you can click if you're curious.

Working my way through a new box of comics received just last Friday, and hopefully I'll get those reviews up sooner than I did these!

A Bacardi Show 15 cover birthday greeting.

Some of my favorite artists, I don't remember the first time I saw their work. Or, to be more accurate, I don't recall exactly when I first noticed their work. However, with Michael William Kaluta, I remember exactly- it was the cover of The Shadow #2, the first issue of DC's 1973 revival of the venerable character that I had seen on the spinner rack at the local Jr. Foods Store. I had heard of the Shadow, and had seen an ad or two in DC comics at the time; he sounded interesting. For some reason, I didn't see #1, but when #2 came out I plunked down my 20 cents to find out what the fuss was about...and got a lot more than I bargained for with my first exposure to the graceful, nuanced, 30's pulp-styled illustration work of Mr. Kaluta, and it was that first exposure that led me to be a lifelong fan. I tried to imitate it in my own crude way, me still being a 13-year-old aspiring comic book artist, but I just never really could get it right...it was just too idiosyncratic. I could draw a decent Shadow (relatively speaking), but his other characters, no. Much to my chagrin, Kaluta abruptly abandoned the Shadow's exploits with the issue that I posted above; the monthly deadlines were too much. I would see his work pop up here and there over the next few years, mostly on covers, until 1982, when he and Elaine Lee hooked up to give us the amazing Starstruck, and I fell in love with Kaluta's work all over again- this was vastly more detailed and clever than his earlier stuff; Lee gave him a whole universe to play with, and he brought it to life vividly- as those who picked up last week's Starstruck #1 from IDW are finding out. After the inevitable failure of a title that readers just weren't ready for in the 1980's, it was back to covers, mostly, for Mr. Kaluta, and almost all of them were typically intricate and often more gorgeous than the interiors of those comics deserved. Through thick and thin, I've remained a staunch fan, and have often named him as my favorite illustrator, comics or otherwise. He's had a hell of a career; I wish there had been more sequential work, but these things tend to play themselves out the way they're meant to, and I'm happy for what we've had.

Anyway, I post this because today is his 62nd birthday, and I wanted to pay tribute. I could post at least 30 more covers, there are that many that I have liked over the years; I tried to choose a mix of ones I loved as a teen with others that I have admired recently. I'm sure I've omitted a great many excellent ones. For more on Mr. K, including some pages from that second Shadow issue that galvanized me so, go here to last year's birthday post.

So happy birthday, Mr. Kaluta, good luck with Starstruck, and I hope it's been a great one.

Truth, as far as it goes.

Very good news from none other than the great Mike Kaluta- seems like IDW will be publishing longtime JBS fave Starstruck!

Here, in Mike's own words, cut-and-pasted from the Kaluta Yahoo! Group, and I hope it's ok for me to post this stuff:

...since the Agreements have arrived and been signed, I can
officially tell you that Starstruck, the Comic Book, will be
returning to the stands, in color! Whew! What a LONG haul this has
been... The painter who'll add the 6th Dimension is Lee Moyer: a big
Starstruck Scholar and fine fine painter. I'm adding about 2 inches
to every page so they'll fit the Comic Book Format (nothing much
added, though, not THERE, anyway) and there'll be New New covers and
an added page or two here and there.

To make up the 13 issues out of the material that is "finished", we
are adding the Galactic Girl Guide pages to the mix, so there'll be
about 22 pages of Real Comic Art in each book, plus The Starstruck
Glossary (always fun). The GGG work was to be a Graphic Novel for
Tundra, way back when, but never caught the Brass Ring... most of the
pages are pencilled by me and inked brilliantly by Charles Vess (the
20 pages that appeared in the back of The Rocketeer Adventure
Magazine are both pencilled and inked by me). All is written by
Elaine Lee and will also have Lee Moyer's fine hand on the added
color. The publisher is IDW.

If things go well, perhaps IDW will contract for Elaine and me to
finish the rest of the many many new pages...

And about the above page sample in particular:

The Starstruck Material will be basically the pages that appeared in
the Dark Horse "Expanding Universe" issues, with a few bits and
pieces tweaked for story purposes and, as I said, maybe a new linking
page when one of the longer stories gets cut in half. It'll be the
addition of The Galactic Girl Guides material that'll be new to most
everyone, and Lee Moyer's brilliant color. Here's just a taste of
what that man is capable of: a page done some years ago when last
time there seemed to be someone ready to print Starstruck in color...

Anyway, something to look forward to, and I especially hope it leads to the long-awaited resolution (or at least conclusion of sorts) to the whole thing...

A Bacardi Show Birthday Greeting is in order for illustrator extraordinaire Michael William Kaluta, who turns 61 years young today.

I've used this forum to opine and spotlight a great many artists in the last (almost) six years, but of all of them, Kaluta may just be my favorite. From the first time I saw his artwork, in DC's The Shadow #2, on through his multitudes of wonderful covers and illustrations, through Starstruck and other works, I have always made it a point to pick it up and never cease to marvel at his graceful style, highly redolent of the great pulp magazine-era illustrators and even farther back than that. It has wit, style, and sexiness, and his design sense is flawless. Of course, even the greats falter from time to time, and for sure he's done figures that didn't quite work or compositions that didn't come together as well as you'd hope...but they've been few and far between.

Here's one of a multitude of pages from Starstruck that blew me away; click to see it bigger. It's a conference-call type conversation between several of the characters, that takes place about midway through the first graphic novel. Notice the varied facial expressions, as well as the details around the edges of each panel, which help clue the reader in on who's speaking to whom:



Also, here are four pages from the 1973 Shadow I mentioned earlier, and the one which certainly grabbed my attention and made me a fan. SPOILERS, if you haven't read this issue! Even though this is early on in his career, there is so much going on in these pages, as the Shadow pursues and eventually puts paid to the killer that was hiding as part of a circus- the atmospheric, moody black night sky, with tiny pinpoints for stars (and for once the crappy 70's coloring doesn't really hurt all that much), the train, which evokes a lot of nostalgia, Hank Williams, all that- it's as if Hank did the music for a 40's noir- and perched incongruously behind the locomotive engine is a giant whale, providing humor. The standoff scenes have real tension, and combined with Denny O'Neil's terse dialogue, the merciless nature of the Shadow here is underlined perfectly. This stuff hit me so hard when I was 13, and I have yet to recover; I didn't know it until a couple of years later, but this looks like it could have been taken straight from the Pulps. Obviously, click the images to see them bigger (I've taken the liberty of "whitening" the page scans a bit):



One of the biggest thrills in my life was when I got to meet the man, at a Louisville toy and game convention in 2000. He was sitting there sketching when I approached, with large notebooks full of the originals of the various DC covers he'd been doing at the time for The Spectre, Books of Magic, and Aquaman. All hand colored with Dr. Martin's dyes, he said, and they were gorgeous. Of course, I couldn't afford- he was asking four figures for them- but I did spend some time browsing. He autographed my copy of the first Starstruck graphic novel, I shook his hand and tried to relate my admiration for his work (variations on which I'm sure he's heard from a thousand different people in a thousand different places)...now I've met some fairly well-known people, musicians, celebrities and such, but I was never as nervous as when I first approached this man. We made some small talk, I got my signature, and then I got the hell out of there before I became one of those people who linger long after their time has come and gone. I've had a little email correspondence with him since, here and there, and he is still every bit as gracious there as he was in 2000, but I'll never forget that meeting.

Anyway, I've gushed enough. Hope you've had a wonderful day, Mr. Kaluta. Thanks for the memories, and here's to many to come.

(Starstruck page and portrait pic ganked from the website of Todd Klein.)

Hey! This blogging stuff is contagious!

Anyway, I wanted to share this image, which was set to be the cover to Dark Horse's Starstruck: The Expanded Universe #5- which of course never saw print. It is of course by Mike Kaluta, who graciously sent it to me when I couldn't see it at the Kaluta Yahoo! Group, which you should all belong to.

He also stated in a post to the community (which he often does) that he and Elaine Lee are still interested in bringing Starstruck to a satisfactory conclusion someday, but haven't been able to find a publisher that would agree to publish/republish it the way they want it (i.e., in color).

And speaking of 1980's vintage series which grabbed me hard, by all means go read Jog's typically erudite take on Starstruck, one of my all-time favorites and another, like Zot! which kept me in the four-color funnybook habit as I navigated my way unsteadily throughout my twenties and beyond.