The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1993: Glory #2, January 2002

    For information on stopping the spread of COVID-19, and on what to do if you are quarantined, have a look at the World Health Organization site.

 

 

Totally forgot to mention in yesterday's post the awesome flashback sequence by Melinda Gebbie. This series was definitely sticking to the format that worked with Supreme, and we get another flashback this issue. These are arranged through comics lying about in Gloria's apartment that are send-ups of the old Wonder Woman comics and the stories they told. Ms. Gebbie's art nicely characterizes the Golden Age tales in yesterday's issue. Today's flashback, by Matt Martin, is a little less apropos. While I love his covers on this series, I'm not sure his style fit what was meant to be a story from the weird superhero era of the 1950s. Instead of EC-style work, we get an Al Rio-esque romp, nicely told and amusing, but definitely not what comics in the 50s looked like. And, holy cats, are there a lot of just full-on panty shots.

And that's it for Glory. The story ends on a cliffhanger, and when we next see the character, she's living on an island, now separated from Gloria, and is discovered by a wandering teenager named Riley. And that series is fucking amazing.

 We'll stick with the remnants of the Awesome Universe for a bit after this, I think.

More to follow.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1992: Glory #1, December 2001

   For information on stopping the spread of COVID-19, and on what to do if you are quarantined, have a look at the World Health Organization site.

 

 

So finally, finally, we get into the actual story of The Gate of Tears. On a quick art note, I'll say that I enjoy Marat Mychaels' interiors much more than his exteriors. When telling a story, he's a pretty good artist. But those weird pin-up covers don't do much for me. I've written about it elsewhere, most likely in my considerations of the Glory covers, about the different propensities for cover art, which can be broken, very generally into the pin-up shot and the action shot. Unsurprisingly, there's far more pin-up shots for female-led books than there are for male-led ones. Personally, I'd love to see some pin-up covers of Captain America, or Superman.

We've seen the opening of "The Gate of Tears" already, though it definitely looks nicer in colour. Granger Troy is still pretty creepy, though I'm getting the feeling that he's recognizing the goddess in Gloria West and is overcome with a desire to worship her, however he can. And though he continually worries that he's taking advantage of someone with fairly severe mental difficulties, he never takes into account Gloria's own desires or agency, which definitely skew toward her wanting the sex. It seems to me that we're being offered a critique of how neurotypical people see "mental illness" (I don't like that term very much), and of the ways in which we might view those in our world whose mental architecture is a little less Euclidean.

There's always been a link between the neurodiverse and shamanic magic in tribal societies. As with all things, the superhero genre softens and simplifies the metaphor, but it might do us well to listen to the neurodiverse in society. They may not be channeling divinities (though they may!), but they have very important, and different, views on how we might solve some of the problems we see in the world today.

More to follow.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1991: Glory #0, December 2001

  For information on stopping the spread of COVID-19, and on what to do if you are quarantined, have a look at the World Health Organization site.

 

 

 Perhaps it's appropriate to go over the provenance of this series. The Awesome Preview from 1998 prints, in black and white, the entirety of the prelude story to "Glory and the Gate of Tears." The colourized version is presented in 1999 in the Awesome Entertainment zero issue. It's interesting, as that issue actually takes two of the pages and turns them into double-page spreads, albeit ones that are to be read vertically rather than horizontally. The the Avatar preview issue prints, again in black and white, the first few pages of issue 1. Add to this that today's zero issue includes a history of Glory, unique to the Avatar Press zero issue, which replaces sketchbook material that was included in the Awesome Entertainment zero issue. And it reverts the two double-page spreads to the single pages that were seen in the Awesome Preview. Which, since it's substantially different from today's zero issue, means I'll get around to reading the story again some time. As I've noted before, this is not a series that I'm in any way unhappy to revisit. Aside, of course, from the its truncated nature.

The prelude to "Gate of Tears" is a nice set-up not only for Glory's new situation (a Rick Jones/Captain Mar-Vell-style body sharing situation), but also for the exploration of symbolic nature that comes to its apex in Promethea. I touched briefly upon this in my introduction to the "Faces of Glory" series of posts, and Glory creator Rob Liefeld has often claimed that without Moore's work in the Awesome Universe, there would be no ABC Comics, Promethea, Tom Strong, etc. I find this amusing coming from someone whose biggest claim to fame is a team book that was originally a Teen Titans pitch. Again, however, there are substantial enough differences between both the characters and the universes within which they exist that the exploration begun here and exploration undertaken in Promethea would have been significantly different, even if they arrived at the same places.

Another thing to bear in mind about the Avatar Press series is that it was prepared as a mini-series, consisting of the zero issue and 4 regular issues. Which means, if I'm not mistaken, that there's at the very least bare bones outlines of what happens later in the series kicking about somewhere. And given how the series "concludes" in the second issue, I'd love to get at least a tiny bit more. Pun intended.

More to follow.

Further Reading and Related Posts

I've written a bit about Alan Moore for the blog. Mostly to do with Supreme and Glory.

And for a deep dive into Glory's origins, here's some stuff about Extreme Studios, from whence she originally sprang.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1990: Glory Preview, September 2001

 For information on stopping the spread of COVID-19, and on what to do if you are quarantined, have a look at the World Health Organization site.

 

 This series' title is one of the highest-occurring tags on my blog. And that's not likely to change in the future. Anyone who's read any of my other stuff about this series and the Awesome Universe that spawned it knows how much I love this stuff.

I talked a bit about this cover in my Faces of Glory series. Marat Mychaels takes over the artwork post-Awesome Universe, and I have to be very honest - his art is just not to my liking. Actually, I should clarify. I like his interiors fine. I find them a bit stiff, but they're light-years beyond what I could ever accomplish. But the exteriors, especially on this series, are basically pin-up model shots of superheroes. The cover of a comic is meant to draw the reader in, and give them an idea of what they're going to be paying for. This cover gives us nothing to do with the story within, which is actually a kind of creepy monologue from a man watching Gloria West, Glory's new human host, at the coffee shot she works at.

Though what I take away from it is the ridiculousness of a dude like this thinking that his purpose is to protect someone who is the avatar of a warrior goddess.

Like all women are.

I'll leave it there for a bit. This preview prints a few pages from issue #1, so I'll deal with the rest of the story tomorrow.

More to follow.

Further Reading and Related Posts

Mr. Mychaels has shown up a few times in the collection.

As has his usual publisher, Avatar.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1897: Awesome Adventures, 1999

For information on stopping the spread of COVID-19, and on what to do if you are quarantined, have a look at the World Health Organization site.

 

 

 

 

With a whimper and a bang. This is how Moore and Skroce's ends.

We get about half a story by Skroce and half by Dietrich Smith and Marat Mychaels. And, actually, half a story. This is the first part of a two-parter, the end of which has the team trapped by old Professor Night villain in a seemingly inescapable situation. They do escape, though, as Joe Casey's excellent run attests - but really, the team never escapes.

And unfortunately, there only being 2.5 issues, there's not a lot more to say. The first two issues are amazing, the last bit slightly less so. We get a little look at the world that surrounds Moore's Supreme, and at some of the characters that were shown in the flashbacks from that series. And then just about all of that disappears. There are a couple of callbacks in Prophet, and in Glory, and then it's done. Though we also get the alternate, remixed version of the universe in America's Best Comics.

Hmmmm.

Been awhile since I read those.

More to follow.

The Faces of Glory - Alan Moore's Glory #1 [Mychaels Variant, Avatar Press]

One last look for now at series artist Marat Mychaels. This is probably my favourite of his covers thus far. There's something intriguing about Glory's face in this picture. I wonder what it is she's about to attack?

And, yes, there's the giant boobs. I can't say that they're a major draw for me on the cover. It actually seems a bit lazy. What else from the series would have worked better than that big white space? Maybe Gloria's face?

This is the Marat Mychaels variant of issue #1 of the Avatar series. I don't have any of the Mychaels variants for issue #2, which is odd because I feel like these were the more common covers. I actually have no idea of the distribution numbers of these covers (which I feel like I've mentioned before).

The Faces of Glory - Glory Preview [Avatar Press]

As I go through the last of my already-owned covers, we'll go in numerical order, so to speak. With luck, by the time the last of these write-ups sees publication, I'll have found some more.

This is another Marat Mychaels cover, this time the non-limited version of the preview issue. Another take on Glory as warrior pretending to be model, I think. That's the feeling I get, anyway, from the two preview covers. Perhaps this is Glory posing for her Vogue shoot before the big comeback.

This is the Marat Mychaels regular cover for the Glory Preview from Avatar. Though I'm not a huge fan of his art, it was very exciting to see this issue come out - I'd have loved to see at least the end of the story, but what we get is worth it regardless.

The Faces of Glory - Alan Moore's Glory #1 [Wraparound Variant, Avatar Press]

I hope you'll forgive my attempt at stitching this picture. I'm not great at it yet. And, to be fair, the tech I'm using isn't the best either.

A bit more of the Mychaels work today. He's definitely got the sexy warrior vibe going in his pieces, less about the corporeal than Martin, but not quite the warrior that we see in Haley (wait until you see his issue #2 variant. Probably my favourite).

This is the wraparound variant of issue #1 of the Avatar Press series, art by Marat Mychaels. We'll see a bit more of Mychaels' art, and that villainess, and her utterly ridiculous cleavage, later on. I don't really understand this cover. Is the horned lady watching Glory getting angry at her readership? That seems weird.

The Faces of Glory - Alan Moore's Glory #0 [Mychaels Variant, Avatar Press]

Another Marat Mychaels cover (he is, after all, the artist on the series), this time covering the Avatar reprint of the Awesome Entertainment zero issue. There's also an extra section chronicling the various incarnations of Glory, and placing them into some kind of chronological sequence. This is a rare thing to see from a superhero comic, though the Extreme/Maximum/Awesome characters did seem to have much more stable continuities.

The Faces of Glory - Glory Preview, September 2001 [Temple Variant, Avatar Press]

Avatar really are masters of the variant cover. I guess it pays to know your audience, and theirs seems to be a strange mixture of horror and cheesecake art fans. People who are a little darker than Chaos! Comics fans, perhaps. Sorry, that was pretty referential.

I'm often torn about Marat Mychaels. His work is good, but it doesn't flow right for me. Whenever I encounter something like this, where I can see that it's good but it doesn't do the thing for me that good art usually does, I think of a Philosophy of Aesthetics course I took in my undergrad. The central question we wrestled with is how one can define, or quantify, beauty. It's a lovely line of thinking, and I really enjoyed the course.

This is one of the two covers for this Avatar Press preview. According to the cover it was limited to 1500 copies, though without knowing how many of the regular edition were printed, that means nothing to me. 1500 was a large enough number that it wasn't distributed with a certificate of authenticity.

Moving forward I'll be randomly posting one of the covers. And the hunt begins this weekend at the Purple Gorilla!

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1124: Supreme #19, September 1994

Supreme regains consciousness and decides to take out the mob.

For...reasons?

There's something about an old girlfriend who was killed, I think, by a mobster, but no other real reason.

Oh, and Kid Supreme shows up. Apparently an explosion during Supreme's battle with Union has imbued this dude with powers. He bursts into a mob hideout secure in the knowledge that their bullets will bounce off because of the knife he "tested on his arm."

I think I have to see these stories as the most basic type of this mythic story, in that they are told with little to no nuance or critical thought. They're surface, and not much else. Again, that depth is added by the later writers who see the plant into which this seed can grow.

But it's a very angry seed, at the moment.

More to come...

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1075: Brigade #9, April 1994

Here's what I expect from a crossover: a few good action set pieces, an intriguing story that has shifts and turns, and well-written dialogue between characters who don't often appear together.

Here's what I get in "Extreme Prejudice": a 7-issue battle. It's like no one ever explained to the writers that fights aren't stories - they're parts of stories. *sigh*

One more issue tomorrow, and then we're on to something else. None too soon, I think.

To be continued.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1072: Brigade #8, March 1994

Part 2 of the massive Extreme crossover!

No, you didn't miss part 1. I don't actually have it. But the story is recapped nicely, so it's easy to catch up. What seems like the Extreme U version of the Inhumans, the Newmen, have been slaughtered, and a powerful member of the race sets out to avenge them. I think. At the end of yesterday's issue, Supreme flies off to take this guy down.

There's actually some nicely done dialogue in this issue, which, I have to say, has been a rarity in these last few comics. It turns out that Battlestone, leader of Brigade, is the son of this big bad (named Quantum, though I don't know why), and Dad comes to see if his boy will enlist in the cause.

I'm reminded of the place where I am in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., where Daisy has just met her father and told him in no uncertain terms she'll kill him if he makes a wrong move. Similarly, Battlestone refuses his father's invitation, and actively opposes the plan. Familial bonds aren't often played out this way in superhero comics, having to choose between "the mission" and the family. Not to such an extreme level, anyway. I guess the choice is easy when the parental figure in question is a homicidal maniac.

To be continued.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 760: Extreme Hero, 1994

What is it about Extreme/Maximum/Awesome that keeps pulling me back in? I mean, I guess there's the occasional good creator that is somehow convinced by Liefeld to work with him until the inevitable financial disaster. And perhaps, just perhaps, there's something about the ridiculously hyper-masculine aesthetic that I find fascinating, and slightly titillating. Though when we come to the 8 or 12-pack stomachs, I think perhaps these comics artists need a bit of an anatomy lesson.

This is a sampler that was distributed with the now-defunct Hero Illustrated, one of the numerous comic industry magazines that offered "news" to fans in the 90s. And anything new from Liefeld and co. in the 90s was news. As far as I know, none of the series in this sampler made it beyond maybe issue #3. Liefeld, as is well known in the industry, is insanely bad at business. I mean, really, who fucks over Alan Moore when he's writing one of your comics? Who does that? He, for some reason, booted Joe Casey from an excellent run on Youngblood, managed I think one issue that he decided to write and draw, and then the comic folded.

Anyway, the short stories in here are exactly what you'd expect. The art is okay, though very 90s Image. The stories are blunt. It's meant to entice us into reading the regular series, but the problem is that the regular series never appear. *sigh*

I'm hoping one day that I'll stop being so annoyed with Liefeld and 90s Image. But I don't know if it'll happen.

Onward!

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 747: Demonslayer: Prophecy #1, September 2001

Reading a typical Avatar Press comic is a bit like reading an Image comic from the early 90s. You know, pretty much, exactly what you're going to get. I was looking at that cover, and for a while I simply assumed that the Demonslayer's costume was a very similar colour to her skin. If you look a the red "costume" parts, there seems to be no way they could possibly be covering up her nipples. But then I realized that the red bit is all there is to the costume, and that she's...I don't know. A Barbie doll? I've always thought that anatomy would be one of the first things a comics artist would know, but perhaps I'm wrong. To give Mychaels his due, the men in the comic are often naked as well, and every bit as overwrought and nipple-less.

Sorry. I just don't get it. The story is interesting, but nothing we haven't seen before. The art is provocative, or is meant to be, but I've never been a fan of Mychaels' work. Avatar publishes comics for a very specific subset of the comics-buying public. I guess I'm just not a part of that subset.

To be continued.