The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 2411: Martian Manhunter Special #1, 1996

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 Publisher: DC Comics

Writer: Paul Kupperberg

Artist: Mike Collins

I fully admit I have not read a lot of the solo J'onn J'onzz material. When his solo series began back in the early 2000s, I checked it out, but it didn't resonate with me, even though the Ostrander/Mandrake creative team had done some amazing things with the Spectre. I wonder if the Manhunter is one of those characters who, because of his remarkable power set, is a difficult one to write dramatically. Much like Superman, J'onzz is virtually unstoppable. Granted, his Achilles' heel (fire) is a lot more accessible and prevalent than something like kryptonite. Having a more ubiquitous weakness allows perhaps for more drama.

But I don't know why he doesn't pull me in like some other heroes. He's cut from the same cloth as a well-done Superman, or Starman, or Wonder Woman. But, I think, some characters have yet to find their personal genre, and perhaps J'onzz is one of them. While we may have had some great stories, I don't think the character has found his great story yet.

Today's story was pretty good, some spacebound conflict in which the Manhunter gets embroiled. But, as with a lot of Paul Kupperberg's work, I found it to be a competent superhero story, but not a great one.

Onward.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 2410: Two-Fisted Tales #7, April 1994

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Publisher: Russ Cochran

Writer: Harvey Kurtzman & Ed Rock

Artists: Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Davis, Wally Wood, Johnny Craig, John Severin

We're coming up to the end of Year 7, and, as I noted in the last post, this year has been difficult. Hell, the last couple of years have been difficult, but that's the same story that everyone has right now, so at least I'm not alone. But I've quit my delivery job, I'm having a go at writing full time, and I love it, and I want to get the project up and running again.

I don't read, or generally consume, media that has to do with war or crime. They're two human activities that I am pretty much against hallowing through art. Unless, that is, the art is decrying the darker natures that lead us to these pursuits. While I acknowledge that they're fertile places for stories to be told, the sometimes celebratory atmosphere of such tales makes me uncomfortable. But when Mike at the Purple Gorilla suggests something to me, I'd be a fool not to listen. And, of course, the tales in this comic don't celebrate war - they decry it and point to the horrible inequities and violence that grow from it.

That said, as much as the stories and art were fucking brilliant, it didn't resonate with me as much as the horror and sci-fi titles coming out of the company at the same time. I have a much easier time finding my metaphors in things that I can fully divorce from reality. In stories that take place in less-stylized settings, I sometimes have a hard time finding the piece of the tale that resonates with me. Perhaps that's something to keep in mind as I move on.

Onward.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 2409: Fantastic Four #144, March 1974

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Publisher: Marvel Comics

Writer: Gerry Conway

Artists: Rich Buckler & Joe Sinnott

Man, year 7 of this project has been a real shit show. But, y'know, I try.

Before I get to today's comic, for the last little while I've been working through my Superman comics chronologically. My oldest is an issue of Lois Lane from the early 60s. Let me tell you, and I say this as a great fan and admirer of what Superman has become, some of this early stuff is just...bad. I mean, the art is great, and the dialogue and narrative flow are expert, but the subject matter of the stories is just subpar. I think about 90% of the stories across all titles that feature Lois are somehow about her needing to marry a good man. Superman uses his powers to play some pretty mean pranks on various friends, and Jimmy Olsen is the irresponsible "pal" Superman could possibly have. So let's just call it all apocryphal and move on, shall we?

I'm going to be spending a lot more time writing for work, so I'm hoping this will inspire me to get back to the project on a daily basis. Today's issue is a pretty rad 70s FF, with Medusa filling in for Sue, and Doctor Doom seemingly meeting his doom at the end of the comic. I will say this - Ben Grimm is a giant pain in the ass in this comic. I find the Thing's characterization to be off-putting sometimes. Given the things he's seen, I always expect Grimm to be a more even-tempered and open-minded creature. He is these days, but in his genesis he was written as a very pig-headed and resistant character. Thank goodness someone came along and gave him a bit of nuance eventually.

Not much more to say, except that this comic and I share a cover date.

Onward.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 2384: DC Comics Presents #89, January 1986

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Publisher: DC Comics

Writer: Bob Rozakis & Todd Klein

Penciller: Alex Saviuk

Cover Artist: Denys Cowan

Oh, hey there. Happy December?

I've recently developed a bit of a sweet tooth for late Bronze Age Superman stuff. It's really good and thoughtful, and really trying to be what comics become in about the mid 90s or so. But it's also revelling in the weirdness that was Silver Age DC. As an advent calendar this year, my partner took 25 comics and put wrapping paper in front of the covers in the bag and taped them up to our bedroom closet door. It's awesome, and most of it is this Bronze Age Superman stuff I'm into. Though, really, it's more Bronze Age Superman and Supergirl. I've been grooving on the Superman Family book as well as DCCP. Oh, and Lois Lane in Family. The stuff written by Tamsyn O'Flynn is fucking excellent.

Gonna try to be a bit more mindful of this blog. I'm also considering moving it over to Wordpress, as that's what I use for work and I'm getting pretty good at it. We'll see.

Onward!

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 2355: Doctor Tomorrow #2, October 1997

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Publisher: Acclaim Comics

Writer: Bob Layton

Penciller: Dean Zachary

Cover Artist: Unknown, though suggested to be Butch Guice

I made a bit of a blunder this Remembrance Day and posted something on Facebook that hurt the feelings of a good friend of mine who serves in the military. Still trying to figure out how to apologize. But today's comic actually brings me back to something I raised in that post, and that's the rhetoric used to describe historical wars. Or, rather, recent historical wars, rather than all historical wars. The three-issue opening arc on Dr. Tomorrow is titled "The Glory War," and chronicle's the character's origins in the opening days of the Second World War. It's this notion of glory that set my blood boiling a bit this November. All we seem to hear about Remembrance Day is about the glory, about the honour, about the sacrifice, about how heroic it was that these brave young men and women gave their lives in defense of their country. And not just in the sense that some did not return from the battlefields - some did and still gave their lives. My Grandad was such a person, battered and scarred, from all that I can tell, from his experiences in WW2. Yet still, despite the cost in lives and lifetimes, we still revere these young people, we still only remember the glory, the honour, and not the fact that they were sent to die often for reasons that had nothing to do with what they were told. I'll stop there. That's not the point of this post. But that rhetoric of reverence for people who were sent, in some cases unwillingly, to war just rubs me the wrong way.

The character of Dr. Tomorrow appears first in the Acclaim Universe in 1941-42, as far as I can tell. Only a few years after Action Comics #1 goes on sale and kicks off the Golden Age of Superheroes. It's not a new device for installing a history into a newly-created shared narrative, but it's a good one. As we recognize various ages of comics, we also recognize how those ages work together to create the foundations of a shared narrative universe. When writing a story of the Golden Age of a setting, there are certain signs and signals that let us know what kind of a history is being installed. It's a superheroic history, of course, but that isn't just communicated by the captions and artwork - it's communicated in the way that the comic is in dialogue with the actual, "real world" history of the superhero genre. Like giving your hero an origin point near to the first big three DC heroes. In Gerard Way's take on Doom Patrol, he hints at a figure called the God of Superheroes, the Platonic form of all of the superheroes that have come since. By stationing Dr. Tomorrow so close to the early originals, the comic signals that he is to become a template figure for the shared universe moving forward, similarly to how Captain America has been positioned in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sadly, I'm not sure Acclaim's version of the Valiant Universe lasted long enough for any of this admitted speculation to come to fruition.

But we got a pretty cool comic series out of it. Oh, and today's issue is a tribute to Will Eisner and his early Spirit adventures.

"I made it a rule to never look into the future more than a year at a time."

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 2354: Doctor Tomorrow #1, September 1997

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(Yeah, yeah, 2 in a row. Contain yer excitement 😏 Going to try a bit of a format change for a while, see how it feels.)

Publisher: Acclaim Comics

Writer: Bob Layton

Penciller: Don Perlin

Cover Artist: Mike Mignola

I've had this one kicking about the collection for about 20 years now. I started finding Acclaim comics in the comic bin at a used bookstore in Kitchener, ON, that I'm sure has gone the way of most used bookstores nowadays. It's where I first found Quantum & Woody, and where I started poking my nose into the Valiant/Acclaim universe. I've always found the idea of a historically presented superhero universe, like Astro City, for example, and this series is a cool way for the Acclaim superhero universe, relatively new, to establish a history for itself.

I don't really know much about the series, having only read this issue, but I'm intrigued by the premise, though I have inklings already, of an ontological paradoxical nature, about what's going to happen.

Or, perhaps I think I do, except that I don't. Bear with me. The series is the brainchild of writer/inker Bob Layton. Each issue has a different art team, and is presented in tribute to a particular luminary of Comics' history. Today's is a paean to Jack Kirby. I'm missing a couple of the later issues, which I may try to track down in the next few days, but I noticed at some point that Mr. Layton's name does not appear on the final issue. And, being, as far as I can tell, a fairly open company about the ways things work behind the scenes, there's an explanation in the back matter of the final issue. According to this, Layton asked to have his name removed from the issue because he had differences with the editorial department over how the series should end. The editorial side had plans for a character from later in the series that must have somehow conflicted with Mr. Layton's, as the writer, original ending.

That got me thinking about The Eternals. Not the movie, but the mid-80s maxi-series from Marvel that dropped around the same time as Squadron Supreme. The last four issues of that series, originally helmed by Peter B. Gillis, were written by Walt Simonson. It's been a while since I've looked, but I imagine the excuse given for Gillis' departure is similar to that given for Layton's. I wondered, briefly, why this might be the case until I realized that by the end of the series, there would have been significant sales figures for previous issues, indicating whether or not it was worthwhile to continue the character/series somehow. And that continuity, the imposition of the shared narrative universe, on what looks to be a story with a definite end, has to cause some ruptures. Perhaps I'll look into it a bit more over the next few days as I continue Dr. Tomorrow's cool-ass history.

"Who is this mysterious man from the future who has joined forces with the allied march into Europe?"

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 2353: Valiant FCBD 2016 - 4001 A.D. Prologue

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I honestly hadn't intended for there to be months between posts anymore, but, y'know, holy shit life gets in the way sometimes. I've been channeling a lot of my creative energies into music over the last few months, managing to compile three full albums of music that I hope to somehow release to the world once I figure out a good way to do so. And comics have fallen by the wayside.

Sort of.

I've kept up with the reading, and since we last met I've made my way through most of the Harris Comics content in the collection. I've come to appreciate Vampirella a bit more now - I made the classic mistake of seeing what she looked like and assuming that was the be-all and end-all of the character. It's shocking to realize, only every now and again thankfully, how much that kind of thinking, especially with regard to women, has been intrinsically programmed into my psyche. I've been thinking a lot lately about the ways that I have to deprogram myself from the toxically masculine behaviours that were performed as the norm for me when I was still learning how to human. Going back to school helped in a big way, but moments like this remind me that I have to remain vigilant.

So, yeah, Vampirella's a kick-ass lady who uses her scantily-clad appearance to stop enemies in their tracks, giving her the opening to kill the hell out of them. And she's battling in an America that's been, in some ways, taken over by all the creatures of the night that we fear. And her boyfriend's a creature-hunting congressman. It's all pretty great and ridiculous, and just good comics.

After that, I decided to dive into the Valiant/Acclaim publishing universe. There's a couple of longer runs in there that I skipped over, and will perhaps start on tomorrow, but I'm glad I did my overview first, as the Valiant/Acclaim universe is one with which I'm only tangentially familiar. I was a fan of the Acclaim Comics iteration in the early Naughts, but only, sadly, as that line was imploding. Quantum & Woody still ranks as one of the best superhero stories I've read, and I only wish Mr. Priest and Mr. Bright had been able to finish telling their story. I'll talk more about that soon, I hope. All that said, I'm going to be a little more on the lookout for Valiant/Acclaim stuff when I'm doing my dollar bin or TPB buying. I've managed to read bits and pieces across about 4 different iterations of this universe, as far as I can tell, and each of them have been really quite good. I think I used to link Valiant to Image too much, as the most prominent Valiant exposure I've had was their crossover with early Image in Deathmate. But where Image was over the top and grandiose, Valiant took a different route. I wonder if anyone's ever compared them with DC and Marvel at the beginning of the Marvel Era? Valiant takes the Marvel route of grounding its heroes in the "real" world, and it works almost too well. There's a series called Armorines, about, you guessed it, an armoured Marine squad. The characters are really well done, and there's some excellent commentary on U.S.-Cuban relations, from a diasporic point of view even (!), but it's still very pro-military in a way that just doesn't sit right with me. I've noticed this in only a few comics as I've been going through the collection, but there's definitely ones written so much farther right on the political spectrum of where I sit that it becomes noticeable. The key, I suppose, is to appreciate that the belief in that particular ideological perspective has created what amounts to a wonderful popular work of art. The artists behind the work all obviously feel strongly about the material they're presenting, and that's fabulous. Indeed, I get that feeling from all of the Valiant/Acclaim books - but again, they promote a "Bullpen" atmosphere in their back matter, so perhaps I'm simply buying into the rhetoric that Stan Lee perfected back in the 60s.

Ah, voluminous. I really ought to try to get back to daily writing.

More to come.