Diana Prince: Wonder Woman

DC just wrapped up its 4 volume Diana Prince: Wonder Woman reprints. The books chronicle a period during the late 60's, early 1970s in which WW lost her powers, hooked up with a mysterious koan-spouting, blind martial arts expert named I Ching (!), traded her iconic uniform for a white jumpsuit, and bounced around the world seeking adventure. 

These aren't the greatest comics stories ever, but they do represent DC's attempt to catch up with Marvel, to make their characters more relevant to the times. So over in the Batman books, Dick Grayson was suddenly shot forward in age and heading off to college. The famous Green Arrow/Green Lantern series dates from this period, as does the Superman sequence, just republished by DC, in which Clark Kent moves from the Daily Planet to Morgan Edge's WGBS and Superman's powers are cut by a third. The writer Denny O'Neil had his hand in all of this stuff. If you think about it, he was the Geoff Johns of his day. DC really gave him the keys to the kingdom. 

Anyway, they tried with Wonder Woman. The stories are all over the place, a combo of romance comics with Diana falling in love with just about every man she meets, Avengers-type kung fu action with Diana as Ms. Peel and I Ching as her John Steed. Interestingly, in the final volume two stories pop up written by Samuel R. Delany. One, The Grandee Caper, has WW and Catwoman traveling to another dimension where they meet up with--wait for it---Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser. How? Wha? Delany isn't able to run on all of his usual cylinders in a mainstream comic, but any tale featuring a "dimensional energy transfer matrix machine" is pretty good stuff. 

C.O.U.S.: Reflections from Rick's Collection #19

The Best of DC No. 63 (August, 1985) and No. 46 (March 1984)


While "researching" a recent Nexus Graphica, I had reason to look through my collection of Comics Of Unusual Size. This set of the big and small and odd of comicdom offers many gems. Deciding that I really should share some of these largely forgotten and sometime rare pieces, I'm taking you through a tour of the more interesting selections.

Continuing my tour through some of the more mainstream selections. In the seventies and eighties, digest-sized comics were all the rage. These 4.75 in. x 6.5 in. perfect bound collections usually contained minuscule, often poorly reproduced reprints.

DC's first experimented with the smaller format in 1972 with Tarzan Digest #1. Though a Laurel & Hardy digest was announced (and never produced), DC would only return to the format in 1979 following the DC Implosion.

Beginning with a collection of Superman reprints, The Best of DC ran for 71 issues. Throughout seven years, the series focused on a wide array of DC properties including Batman, the Legion of Super-Heroes, Binky, Jimmy Olsen, and Plop!


The Best of DC No. 54 (November, 1984) and No. 64 (September, 1985)


Starting in 1980, The "Year's Best Comic Stories" became an annual event as part of The Best of DC. The final issue (No. 71) was the Year's Best Stories of 1985.


The Best of DC No. 71 (April, 1986) and No. 52 (September, 1984)


Later in the same month that premiered The Best of DC, the digest-sized Jonah Hex and Other Western Tales appeared. After three issues, DC canceled the title and replaced it with DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest. Each volume tended to focus on theme. The variety of characters and subjects included the Legion of Super Heroes, Flash, Green Lantern, Ghosts, Secret Origins, Strange Sports, and Sgt. Rock.


DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest No. 16 (December, 1981) and No. 19 (March, 1982)


After 24 issues, DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest ended in 1982 and was soon replaced by the digest-sized last gasp of the legendary Adventure Comics. Beginning with no. 491, the now-completely reprint series limped its way to an ignoble conclusion with no. 503.


Adventure No. 501 (July, 1983)


The DC digests introduced me to some of my favorite characters and series. My first exposure to the Doom Patrol, the O'Neil/Adams Green Lantern/Green Arrow, Plop!, Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, and countless others first occurred within those tiny pages.

MARVEL BRINGS PHILIP K DICK’S ELECTRIC ANT TO LIFE

"My universe is lying within my fingers, he realized. If I can just figure out how the damn thing works."-- "The Electric Ant," Philip K. Dick


This is from PhilipKDick.com:

The Electric Ant, Philip K. Dick’s seminal science fiction short story, will be adapted by Marvel Comics in the upcoming Electric Ant limited series to be released in 2009, it was announced by Marvel, and Electric Shepherd Productions.

[...]

The creative team behind this existential thriller includes acclaimed writer David Mack (Daredevil, Kabuki) and artist Pascal Alixe (Ultimate X-Men, 1602: Fantastik Four), joined by Consulting Editor Brian Michael Bendis (award-winning author behind Secret Invasion) and renowned artist Paul Pope, who will provide covers to the series.

About time publishers got around to publishing PKD adaptations. I imagine many more are to follow.

Pascal Alixe art

A short film version of the "Electric Ant" titled All Gates Open was produced in 2006.

Kyle Piccolo: Comic Shop Therapist

In the eponymous Web TV series, Kyle Piccolo of New York City's Midtown Comics doles out pearls of life wisdom to his often socially inept customers and his sidekick Doucheus. Created by Alec Pollak, Neil Turitz, Eric Zuckerman and John Cassaday, Kyle Piccolo: Comic Shop Therapist offers a scarily realistic insight into the world of the comic shop. So far there have been only two episodes but I've picked up these two very important pearls of wisdom: Gods sell better at an angle and even though Reed Richards is the smartest man in the world, he too has relationship problems.

With some big time sponsors and witty scripts, I expect this one to be around for a while.

Interview with The Damned

Creators, that is. My latest Baker's Dozen for RevolutionSF is with The Damned writer Cullen Bunn and artist Brian Hurtt.

It's been said the in order to get anything published, you must sell your soul. How much of Eddie comes from your personal and professional life experiences?

BH: The process of doing this comic has been entirely painless. We have a great relationship with Oni (I’d done several projects with them prior to this) and when they said yes to the pitch they more or less cut us loose on the book. Their input has been minimal and always put forth as questions rather than edicts. The Oni philosophy has always been to hire the creators they like and trust and then let them do what they do. It’s a great way to work.

Eddie is a bitter, tired, and pessimistic soul. He’s entirely based on Cullen.

CB: I tried to sell Brian’s soul on eBay, but the highest bidder failed to pay. I didn’t get a single bite on it when posted to Craigslist, either. I finally gave his soul away on Freecycle so it wouldn’t clutter my garage.

Working on The Damned seems a bit surreal, because it has been so easy, and I’m grateful every day for the experience. Brian and Oni Press are great to work with. My only fear is that I’ve been spoiled by how well this has gone. I can only hope that all the other projects I work on will be as rewarding.

Continued...

Michael Moorcock and the Comics of the Multiverse

The fine folks over at Moorcock’s Miscellany have reprinted my 1998 article "Michael Moorcock and the Comics of the Mutliverse" from Michael Moorcock's Multiverse #6.

Moorcock then began working on a succession of comic magazines for Fleetway including Sexton Blake Library, Kit Carson, Robin Hood, and Billy The Kid, first on the annuals and then on the actual weeklies. The annuals were hardbound Christmas versions of the weeklies and monthlies.

During this period, Moorcock also edited issues of Thriller Picture Library, Cowboy Picture Library, and others. By 1965 he had written or co-written issues of Karl the Viking, Kit Carson, Buck Jones, Dogfight Dixon RFC (which he helped to create), The Life Of Alexander, Skid Solo, Zip Nolan, Highway Patrol, and Bible Story Weekly. Contrary to popular belief, Moorcock never wrote issues of Wrath of Gods, Deathworld, or The Trigon Empire. By the end of 1965 he had all but stopped writing comics.

Continued...