It Came From the Long Box! -- Secrets of House Sinster #6

Secrets of House Sinister #6
cover by Mike Kaluta

I’m fortunate enough to have a comics collection that is widely varied in its tenor and genre, and when I dig through it, I’ve always got a great chance to find something that is both a lot of fun and something that I haven’t read in a while. Last night, while I was trying to reorganize some things, I came across Secrets of House Sinister #6. It’s a recent acquisition, and I had not had a chance to read it up to that point, but I dug into it this morning and had a lot of fun with it.

There’s something wonderful about horror comics, particularly those of a certain era. Naturally, there are those wonderful pre-code horror comics from EC, Charlton, and the like. But there’s another era that is of equal greatness, if not of equal importance, that era is the one that was given it’s vigor in the 1960s by Warren publishing and its Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella, and other magazines. Regardless of precise publication date, it’s the braveness of Warren, in my opinion, that made horror comics once again welcomed in the mainstream market place again and helped reinvigorate Charlton’s horror line and allowed for DC’s House of Mystery, House of Secrets, The Witching Hour, a whole host of other titles from DC and Marvel, and, in particular, the subject of this review: Secrets of House Sinister.

Things To Not Worry About: Creators' Social & Political Opinions

Over the past week or so, there have been a lot of forceful, and occasionally angry, opinions posted across the internet about the thoughts and opinions that comic creators choose to espouse. Frankly, I found the initial outrage ridiculous and hardly worthy of much attention at all. The outrage I’m speaking of, of course, is the response to Frank Miller’s blog post regarding the Occupy Movement; a movement that is sweeping the country and bringing all kinds of like-minded folks to the streets to protest and attempt to stand against what they feel is political, social, and economic injustice. My views on the movement are a bit complicated and absolutely not worth discussing here—particularly as they are irrelevant to this discussion. What encouraged this post is a point that was raised on the 11 O’Clock Comics message board. On the board the following question was posed: Can you separate artists from their art? That is, does your personal opinion of an artist affect whether or not you are able enjoy his or her work?

So here’s my position: I don’t care. Not even a little bit. If I got all flibbity gibbet every time someone famous espoused a political, economic, social, or religious view that was different from me, I wouldn’t be able to watch TV, read books, watch any movies, or listen to nearly any music ever…except for maybe Rush…and that's a big maybe.

REVIEW: Dinopopolous

One of the great things about comics is that their only limitation is the imagination of the creator(s) and, to a slightly lesser extent, the reader. Comics can be anything and do anything any time they want—and they don’t even need a reason for doing it. Cartoonist Nick Edwards proves that point with relative ease in his latest work, Dinopopolous. Creating a world filled with adventure, dinosaurs, evil lizard armies, ancient artifacts, laser knives, and sprinkled with a bit of heavy metal, Edwards taps into an innate sense of wonder and excitement that turned many readers on to comics in their youth. It’s that same sense of wonderment that has made Jesse Moynihan’s Adventure Time so brilliant and that burned movies like The Goonies and Monster Squad into the collective psyche of a generation; it’s what made Kamandi so amazing; it’s what fuels the cult following of bands like The Aquabats. I would even go so far as to say that, at its core, what drives this comic is the same sort of felling that makes people love Tom Sawyer. It’s adventure, it’s imagination, it’s boyhood.

It’s hyperbolic to compare Dinopopolous to something like Jack Kirby’s Kamandi, but the spirit of Kamandi certainly fuels Edwards’ work and gives it a certain quality that makes it much more than just another off-the-wall indie comic.

REVIEW: Death Ray

Rare is the time that I feel intimidated before I open my big fat mouth; however, every now and then I question whether or not I am actually worthy to critique a book. It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. Dan Clowes’ Death Ray led me to one of those instances of anxiety. A lot of my anxiety came not just from Clowes’ standing in the comics/cartooning community, but rather a combination of that standing and my embarrassing lack of direct familiarity with his comics work. Fortunately, it didn’t take me long to get over that initial embarrassment, so I threw caution to the wind and decided to tackle Death Ray.

I have a general familiarity with the visual aspect of Clowes’ work and greatly enjoyed the film adaptation of Ghost World (I haven’t read the book yet…sorry), so I kind of had a good idea of how the book would feel visually and figured that I could guess the kind of complex, often odd, characters I would encounter. Additionally, I own several of Clowes’ earlier works, this just happens to be the first I have actually read. Having taken all of that into consideration, I had received the solace that I convinced myself that I needed before taking on such a giant of a cartoonist. The fact (that’s right, fact) that Death Ray is an incredible story, naturally, put my mind further at ease, and made it very easy for me to feel comfortable commenting on it.

REVIEW: Mark Twain's Autobiography 1910-2010

Michael Kupperman just may be the one of the funniest people planet. At least that’s what Conan O’Brian thinks, he wrote it as an endorsement for Kupperman’s latest book, Mark Twain’s Autobiography 1910-2010.

It just so happens that I agree with Conan. Kupperman is a comedic genius. Filled with deliberately odd syntax, wizards, snarky dialog, vampires, outer space adventures, car chasing UFOs, and nearly every significant event of the past one hundred years Mark Twain’s Autobiography is easily the funniest thing that I have read in a very, very long time. Come to think of it, I don’t think I have ever read anything funnier. Nearly every page had me rolling. It wasn’t just a chuckle or even a hearty guffaw, either. It was maniacal,  hysterical, snorting, crying, temporarily not breathing, and contorting my body into uncomfortable shapes type of laughing. It’s that goddamn funny. So funny, in fact, that I would be entirely satisfied if Kupperman went ahead and decided to write the biographies of everyone else, ever.

O Comics! My Comics!

Art: Steve Ditko from the story Deep Ruby,
appearing in Eerie #6

Why do we do it? What makes comics so important to us? What makes us stand tall in the face of mockery from obnoxious, ignorant, outsiders? What makes us suffer the sometimes rude, elitist, and cruel words that fellow fans will spew from behind the anonymity of the internet? Why do comics affect us on a deep, emotional level that few other mediums ever have or could? Why would I spend the time writing this column that is coming dangerously close to being a cry for personal validation?

The answer to all of those questions is a simple one: comics are an end in themselves. Neither comics, nor I, need any additional validation. Their very existence proves their worthiness and that they are a worthwhile pursuit.

It Came From (someone else's) Long Box! -- Captain America #445-448 Operation Rebirth

I think it’s fair to say that nearly all comics fans have had an experience where a good friend—whose taste in comics they trust—lends them a book or stack of comics, they read it, and the story falls completely flat for them. Not everybody likes everything. Not every story or style is appreciated by every fan and it’s not even about what’s good versus what’s bad. There’s just no accounting for taste. One person’s Watchmen is another’s Ravage 2099. I had recently had one such experience with Mark Waid and Ron Garney’s Captain America: Operation Rebirth.

A few weeks back, at our regular Summit City Ink drink ‘n draw, my friend, Andy, lent me his issues of Operation Rebirth. Andy’s a longtime Captain America fan (he’s very fond of this story) and we usually have pretty similar tastes when it comes to comics. Given his enthusiasm, and our history, I agreed to borrow and read the issues. While I would not say that the Watchmen versus Ravage 2099 comparison that I used above is in any way an accurate description of my reaction, Operation Rebirth just did not work for me.

A New Dawn Awaits...The DC Relaunch

Swamp-Thing #1

This is it. It’s DC-Day in the wild, wonderful world of comics. Today is the day that DC relaunches its entire line of comics and I could not be more excited about it. There are an array of opinions out there that range from the outraged, nay-saying, fanboy, to the completely disinterested, to the lukewarm, to the ecstatic. I fall somewhere towards ecstatic. Because of my excitement for this bold change, I feel compelled to regurgitate some of my initial thoughts on the relaunch. I’ve espoused this opinion while I was working at Discount Comic Book Service, on my podcast, on other podcasts, and on message boards. I still stand by it.

To date, I have been reading comics for twenty-five years. I consider myself lucky to have spent a good portion of those twenty-five years reading DC comics. Obviously, DC has been publishing for much longer than that. So long, in fact, that the idea of a relaunch is not new for DC, and angrier fans are deluding themselves if they think otherwise. This marks at least the third relaunch in DC's history (the first being the introduction of the Silver Age with Showcase #4 and the second being Crisis on Infinite Earths). 

REVIEW: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1

A-hal-right! After a brief hiatus to get my teaching bearings set straight, I am back in the saddle. Damn it feels good to be talking about comics again.

Even more important than my triumphant return to the blog is that last week marked the return of one of my all-time favorite comics series. It’s a series and group of characters that colored a very large part of my childhood, and as college student reminded me of the amazing spirit of independent comics. It’s a series that is one of, if not the, most import comics of the past forty years. Last week Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Casey Jones, and, the greatest of them all, Raphael returned to the comic book page in a brand new ongoing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series from IDW. “Journalistic” (HA!) objectivity aside, I have not been this excited for a new comics series in a long time… this is particularly true because of the involvement of Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman.

Where is that goober?

Hey everyone!

As I'm sure you noticed, I have not posted anything new since last Monday. Sorry about that. But I have an excuse!

Last Tuesday I was offered an opportunity to teach some college courses here in town. It's an opportunity that I absolutely could not turn down and I am thrilled to be doing it. But! Here's the catch: classes started today. So with only a couple of days to get all of my affairs in order and adequately plan for the classes, I had to take a brief break from blogging.

I should be back on track this week and will resume regular posting as soon as I am able...there will be a new update no later than Friday.

Again, my apologies for the lack of content. I hope that you all understand!

Punch-Up!

Back in 2009, maybe it was early in 2010…yeah. 2010. I met a writer by the name of Frank Cvetkovic at S.P.A.C.E. in Columbus, Ohio. I had invited Frank to be a guest at my convention, which was just barely two months after S.P.A.C.E. and picked up a copy of his self-published comic, Skottie Rocket.

After that, you’ll have to forgive me but, in my brain, my time line is a little mixed up. It was either at Summit City Con while I was chatting with Frank, or when I ran into him again at Mid-Ohio Con that fall that he told me about his then forthcoming webcomic, Punch-Up. I thought the premise was pretty cool and I promised Frank that I would read it, and I did.

I was not disappointed.

It Came From The Long Box! -- Weird Mystery #2

Rummaging through some old back issues this afternoon, I came across a copy of DC’s Weird Mystery #2. It looks just like a back issue should—at least one suited for reading. There are cracks on the spine, some minor staple separation on the saddle stitching, a little tear on the bottom, multiple creases on the cover,  yellowed pages, and it smells of old paper. Absolutely perfect.

Weird Mystery, for those who may not remember the book, ran as two stories per issue (like a lot of comics at the time) and had stories that were in the vein of what DC was producing with The Witching Hour, House of Secrets, House of Mystery, Weird War, Sinster House, et al. Each story is short horror, sci-fi, or suspense vignette that often had an O’Henry type ending, or one similar to The Lady and The Tiger, and is usually more than satisfying for the reader. In Weird Mystery the stories are hosted by the character Destiny and savvy fans will recognize this format not just from the DC/National books listed above, but from the Warren Magazines, EC Comics, Charlton Publications, Atlas, and on and on. It was a pretty standard format that we, as modern fans, don’t see that often any more (or at all).

Shades of Gray: An Informal History of The Life and Work of Gray Morrow (1)

This is an introduction for this series of blog posts.

Ever since I read his, albeit limited, work on Man-Thing, I have been a Gray Morrow fan. Later, when I first encountered his work for Warren Publications, is when I became a bit more of a devotee of his work. It would be disingenuous for me to say that I have devoted as much of my time to Morrow’s work as I have Steve Ditko’s, but he ranks right up there in my pantheon of favorite artists with others like Wally Wood, Jack Davis, Kirby, Harvey Kurtzman, and so on. Truly an unsung great.

So, being a huge fan of Morrow’s work, you can imagine my excitement when I learned that Gray and I hail from the same city. Gray Morrow grew up in the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana. I grew up in very nearby Churubusco, but the rest of my family and my social life existed in Fort Wayne and that is the city that I now call my home--basically, if you're from 'Busco, you may as well be from Fort Wayne. It’s difficult to not be excited by the fact that someone whose work you admire so much shares your home town. In big cities, it likely has a far less significant impact than what the majority of us, that exist in small cities and communities, would experience. It’s a point of pride in many ways. Someone whom I admire, in a medium that I’m passionate about, has a common heritage. It’s cool.

The Isle of 100,000 Graves

Before I begin this review, I need to be upfront with you about something. It’s at least a little difficult to write this review dispassionately or in any manner that could be considered objective. I think that will be something that I will struggle with, and struggle with often. Especially when it comes to Jason. Sorry, that’s just the way it’s going to be. There. I got that out of the way.

I first came across the work of Norwegian cartoonist Jason when his graphic novel, I Killed Adolf Hitler was solicited for pre-order. I believe that was in 2007. I ordered the book, it was released on time and I consumed it immediately. I loved every single page of that book. I still do. Because of I Killed Adolf Hitler, I have gobbled up every other title that Jason has released in the U.S. through Fantagraphics, as well as his work on Marvel’s Strange Tales. To date, I am yet to be disappointed. Incidentally, I Killed Adolf Hitler was an Eisner Award winning title.

 

There’s something wonderful about Jason’s cartooning. It’s a very simple looking, clean, style and has an incredible sense of comedic timing. He has a set cast of characters and those characters take on many different roles throughout all of his work…perhaps characters is not the right word. More like, physical templates? There’s nothing particularly ground breaking about his page layouts, but they tell his stories effectively. Like his overall line and style, his layouts are deceptively simple looking.

Deceptive is the key word in that last sentence. While the overall package of his work appears simple, it’s really, very subtly, complex. The subtly complexity is most emphasized by his characters. Each of his characters are terrifc actors and with the slightest gesture, or non-gesture, they convey their emotions and reactions to the reader in relatable and compelling ways. In simple 4, 6, and 9 panel grids his layouts encourage the eye to move at a pace appropriate for the action on the page. By the time the story is all said and done, Jason has usually made you laugh with his wry wit, feel compassion, awkwardness, joy, and he often leaves you with at least a modest sense of existential despair. Each story has its own wonderful feeling and is often very touching in spite of the sense of dread that may loom over it. Every story is a roller coaster ride and worth reading more than once.

50 Years of The Fantastic Four!

Fantastic Four #10

Welcome to A Little Nonsense! What better way to kick off this new comics blog than by celebrating the birth of the Fantastic Four!

Fantastic Four #46

According to Mark Evanier, it was 50 years ago today that the first issue of the Fantastic Four hit newsstands and it’s hard to imagine comics being the same without it. It was also an issue that kicked off a historic 102-issue run from Jack Kirby and Stan Lee…a tenure that that no Marvel creative team would top until Brian Bendis and Mark Bagley did it on Ultimate Spider-Man. 

Fantastic Four #48

There’s something intangible about this book, like many other Kirby works, that make it something more and set it apart from any other superhero title coming out at the time. Sure, Jack definitely brought over a lot of elements from his incredible (and often underappreciated) Challengers of The Unknown work at DC, but the FF has a certain raw energy and excitement to it that few other titles had at the time. And it remained that way consistently for 102 issues. The concepts and characters were exciting and inventive and  the way that Kirby’s pencils brought them to life is seldom topped—when it is it’s usually by Kirby, himself. Like Ditko’s horror work and Wally Wood’s science fiction stories, Jack Kirby’s FF issues are something that every art and comics fan should experience and nothing that comics could live without.

Thanks, Jack.