The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 2000: Wall of Flesh #1, 1992

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Given that this comic is from the same company that have published Femforce for the last few decades, you might be forgive for thinking that this comic, especially based on its cover, might be a weird, slightly-horrific but more titillating comic than it actually is. There's one cheesecake-y moment, with a member of Femforce in a pin-up on the Wall of Flesh, but aside from that it's reprints of old horror comics, and was meant to be the first issue of many.

 

As with a large number of the old 50s horror comics, each of these stories is really, really good. Though the comic suffers from a lack of colour, the draftsmanship apparent in each tale reinforces just how talented these early comics artists were, and just what they could do without the restrictions of the Comics Code. Indeed, it's a testament to how good they were that they could produce some stellar material even under those restrictions, but such tales often pale compared to what was possible before that draconian set of rules was enforced.

 

All that said, this is my 2000th comic! That feels like a lot. I wondered, at the beginning of the project, at what point would I feel like I'd done a significant chunk of the collection, and this is it. 2000 comics. It's a number I can still sort of visualize. I'd considered at one point taking each of the comics I'd read for the project and separating them, so I would have the read and the unread collections. Though I ultimately decided that this would be a ridiculous way to organize my collection, it would have been interesting seeing the shift, slowly but surely, over the years.

 

But what a nightmare it would have been for accessing anything.

 

So it seems somewhat fitting to me that a comic celebrating the brilliant history of comics is my 2000th read. I cannot wait to see what the next 2000 bring.

 

More to follow.

 

Further Reading and Related Posts

 

A couple of other "anniversaries:"

My post on day 100 - I thought I'd read a lot at that point.

And my post on completing the first year - we're in Year 6 right now, for anyone keeping track.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 716: Priority: White Heat #1, 1986

So, apparently even international spies need to have boob window costumes?

I don't know much about AC Comics, but I do have one or two of their publications in my collection. The art in this issue is pretty good. There's even a single page that highlights some fashion designs by artist Secrease, so it's definitely got that aesthetic sensibility going for it. Unfortunately the story doesn't really stand up. The text box at the top of the first page claims that our protagonist is "part Bond," which does come across in the whirlwind tour around the world that White Heat undertakes to track down a Nazi defector. Oh, yeah, it's the Nazis. Again.

(You know, stories with Nazis as antagonists seemed far more far-fetched about a year ago. Funny how the world changes, innit?)

The problem with the story lies in the dialogue and the attempts, in caption, at gritty crime noir-esque exposition. No only is it not pulled off to well, but the comic is rife with grammar and spelling problems. I know that this critique comes from my years as a teacher, but, really, spelling and grammar are the most basic foundation, after the alphabet, of written communication. If you can't be bothered paying attention to it, how can you possibly call yourself a writer?

(Big can of worms there. I'll just leave it.)

Anyway, not much else happens aside from the heroine travelling around the world, looking for Nazis. They turn out to be, as they often do, in South America, and the issue ends with White Heat piloting a Harrier jump jet into the wilds of Brazil. As one does.

To be continued.