The Art Of Violence!

This Starlin-Milgrom page knocks me out! It's from the earliest days of Master of Kung-Fu when it was still officially known as Marvel Special Edition, explaining why that MoKF number one you've been searching is so hard to find.

Attempting to translate martial arts action to the comics page is an ongoing effort in comics, as the classic page above by the late great Frank McLaughlin shows all too well.

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The Polite Society Of Masked Heroes!

Modern America is often a bewildering place. In the throes of a worldwide pandemic a significant part of the population has chosen to receive their medical advice from a rank amateur, and at that an amateur with a long-standing and well-substantiated reputation for being at best wantonly unreliable and at worst maliciously deceptive. In matters of life and death it seems people are weirdly comfortable with life-threatening risk at the cost of life-saving wisdom. This attitude has developed over many years and many decades as a belief , a growing nigh religious reliance on politics to define all the world's issues precludes some folks from seeing the clear evidence of their senses. An ignorance of the methods of science has caused reliance on that once venerated sphere of information to erode, and in its place comes riding rank superstition and unfounded hope. And that explains why in America something as simple as wearing a mask for the protection of fellow citizens is transformed into a test of political loyalty. Being polite and considering the needs of others is now seen as some sort of oddball weakness by some factions, and fashion overcomes practicality.

I have worked hard to ignore the tumult of these modern times. Mostly because its so immersive that I will find out anyway about important matters and so don't have to concern myself with that. But not riding into the fray day in and day out frees the mind and the spirit to find contentment. I am beginning my retirement and so the workaday world is no longer my concern. I fret about the pandemic in regards to my daughters as they are getting closer to having to return to the classroom (perhaps) but personally I can create sufficient defenses that for the most part the disease doesn't come near me too much. Hopefully I and mine will stay healthy in these unhealthy days and hopefully in a very few months the political nightmare will be over and relative calm and even a modicum of professionalism will return to the highest office in the land.

While there is no over-arching theme for the month of July (though you might notice, I am initiating a new regular on-going feature I've brilliantly dubbed "Sunday Funnies" which will logically enough show up on the Sunday of each week and focus on a myriad of comic strips I've been collecting for many years and with increased effort in the last decade. I keep meaning to dig them out and give them a proper going over but something always seems to get in the way. With retirement now upon me, I have the time to finally follow through. The focus will be on Prince Valiant to kick things off, but expect to see Captain Easy, The Phantom, Flash Gordon, Tarzan, Alley Oop, Dick Tracy, Superman, Batman and more as the weeks roll by. Other comics deemed "funny" such Calvin and Hobbes, Popeye, Peanuts, Pogo, Blondie, and Mickey Mouse among others could also readily be on the list. I have some of these gems collected in their raw comic strip form and in comic book format as well, and all are fit for "Sunday Funnies". It's time to enjoy these vintage masterpieces at last, and I have enough to last maybe as long as I do.

Expect something with a special Jack "King" Kirby flavor for the next several days in some of what have become annual "Fourth World of July" posts this week, but beyond that it could be anything at all.

 Hang in and hang on and be safe out there amigos, and do me a favor and join the ranks of the polite society of masked heroes.

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The Blind Man Sees Red!

As important as fine talents the likes of Gene Colan and Frank Miller have been to the development of the Daredevil comic book, it's easily arguable to me that the single most important artist in the history of the was Wally Wood. What Wood did was simply transform Daredevil from a musty looking superhero who might've dropped in out of the Golden Age into a sleek modern hero literally suited for the Silver Age. He did it with a single color -- red.

From his inception the design of Daredevil had played off his name by adorning his cowl with little horns. What Wally Wood did was to take that notion and give the character named "Devil" a deep rich color which evoked his name in all its glory. Soon after taking the helm Wood started diddling with the look and along with Stan Lee even made sure the hero got some high profile exposure in the Fantastic Four of all places and by fighting one of the greatest of all Marvel battles ever against the indomitable Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner. "The Man Without Fear" earned his nickname when he put it all on the line against the Sea King and there was no going back.

Despite small-ball but visually spectacular villains like the Stilt-Man, the comic was secure because watching DD in battle was exciting in itself.

Not all the stories made sense, but getting there was nearly all the fun. Daredevil was establishing himself as a hero who took on all comers and looked good doing it.

Wally Wood's tenure was brief though and ended when Bob Powell was brought aboard to finish Wood's layouts in the terrific two-parter featuring the debut of the villains who would be called the Ani-Men. These guys are all Wood, who wrote the first half of the two-part adventure. With that Wood left the book and a fellow named John Romita took the helm, no slouch himself.

Wally Wood stepped aboard the Daredevil comic book one more time, inking Frank Miller in a story from his epic run. It was a hearty reminder of the early days when Wally Wood had saved the comic from the dustbin of history.

It was then that Daredevil was established as the comic without fear.

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The Daredevil In Yellow!

Daredevil was the comic without fear. Marvel was on a dandy run, creating new heroes every month and growing in response to fan demand. Stan Lee had found a formula for success which leaned heavily on artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko for the hits which changed the face of comics and made the Silver Age profoundly different and profoundly modern. 

Taking the approach which had worked on Fantastic Four and Spider-Man, Lee turned to Bill Everett, the Golden Age creator of the Sub-Mariner. That lasted exactly one issue. Everett was a master in his time but his Daredevil look positively antique, well-crafted but of a different era.

Lee turned to EC veteran Joe Orlando to take up the slack and inked by Vince Colletta the comics looked more like what Marvel was doing elsewhere. 

Despite battling the borrowed Spidey villain Electro and running up against new foes like The Owl and The Purple Man, Daredevil seemed to be a comic which was sputtering. 

Even the soon-to-be-obligatory crossover with Spider-Man himself under the penciling hand of Steve Ditko himself only showed what might be missing from the Daredevil comic itself. The stories were good, but felt like stories which might've been produced a decade before. 

And then Joe Orlando's old partner Wally Wood took the helm of the book and brought a true-blue big name feel to a book which in truth had been put together by many qualified veterans. Wood brought something which had been missing despite all the good intentions -- excitement. Admittedly the Matador was an opponent inspired by Daredevil's little horns, but he did look good. Mr. Fear and his partners the Ox and the Eel were a blend of old and new but looked fresh nonetheless. 

But most importantly Wally Wood identified the problem with Daredevil pretty quickly -- the costume. The yellow and black and red fighting togs which DD had put together were right out of the Golden Age of comics, something you'd see someone on the Justice Society of America wear maybe.. Quickly  Wood added a bit of dash with another "D" to the chest symbol. Now Daredevil was "DD" formally for all the world to see. But Wally Wood wasn't done yet. More tomorrow.

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DD And Dynamo!

Two of Wally Wood's most famous creations collide atop a vintage spare Wood skyscraper. Dynamo is the highest profile hero for the THUNDER Agents and while Daredevil was not Wood's creation, the amazingly effective red costume was (with the addition of the missing double-d emblem). Now for the fans who bought The Rocket's Blast Comics Collector the two heroes clash and Dynamo gets the short end, but that's perhaps to be expected since Wood pitted DD against the Sub-Mariner of all people, and he survived. Daredevil is the ultimate underdog superhero and it's likely Wood identified with that. More Daredevil this weekend amigos.

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Saturday Morning Wood!

This is a delightful bit of artwork by Wally Wood for TV Guide. The superhero craze which overwhelmed TV, and especially Saturday morning cartoons is addressed both in the article and in this dynamic bit of vintage art as we see the Warner Brothers characters as well as those of the Fleischer Studios and Hanna-Barbara run in mortal terror of the costumed might headed their way. Only a somewhat obscured Mickey Mouse seems to face the threat and I cannot tell if that's bravery or mere shock. 

Wally Wood was well positioned to be the artist for this kind of article, with a deft hand at drawing all sorts of heroes and drawing parodies of those same heroes as well. 

To read the article check out this link. (Thanks Richard.)

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Master Of The Woody Arts!

It's possible my first "encounter" with the work of Wally Wood came by way of enjoying the work of his acolyte Dan Adkins. Adkins had been an assistant to Wood in some of his most potent Silver Age days, helping immensely on the THUNDER Agents from Tower. Adkins was drawing Dr. Strange when Marvel's mage was awarded his own magazine (taking over the numbering of Strange Tales).

Adkins produced pages with a bit more dynamic force than Wood at this time and his finishes, at least on his own work evoked the soft clarity of his mentor.

But Adkins only lasted as regular artist on the feature for its first few issues aside from several before the breakout, and he left to become mostly an inker for Marvel from that point on.

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The Many Faces In Scorpio Rose!

Steve Englehart has been pretty frank about his comic book career in interviews and on his own website and such. In the collected Coyote the book is backed up by a few issues of a short-fused project by Englehart and Marshall Rogers called Scorpio Rose. It was meant to be a trilogy but only ever produced two comic books (both of which I remember buying at the time). They concerned themselves with a Romany mystic of a unusual lengthy life and of the demon who loved her at times. 

The saga was adapted and altered from scripts Englehar produced for DC for a projected Madame Xanadu series. The price for those scripts had been misrepresented to Englehart so he refused to turn them over and that was it for Madame Xanadu until some years later when we met her under the name of Scorpio Rose. 

The series went two issues then Rogers was unable to finish it. Instead of getting a new artist Englehart just left it unfinished but in this collection the layouts Rogers did for the final issue are printed with explanations as to how the story wrapped up. Frankly I found the stories very confusing even without an ending. It's not Englehart's greatest by any means, too much mysticism and Rogers art is  often hard to read. But the story is memorable for another reason which reaches back to Englehart's earliest days at Marvel and a character named Mantis.

Mantis of course was the Celestial Madonna (making a comeback perhaps when comics begin to publish again) and her saga unfolded over a very long time in the pages of The Avengers where she courted Swordsman and Vision and others while trying to understand her role in the universe. She gave birth to a child, also the child of an alien plant-person and supposedly this youngster was meant for great things indeed. Mantis disappeared when Englehart left the series. 

Englehart was attracted to DC by the call of better page rates and he took over the Justice League of America, bringing the same wonderful magic to those pages he brought to the Avengers. One issue introduced a green woman from the starts named Willow who was supposed to be Mantis, her story continuing with a new name and place. 

Then Englehart left DC and in the pages of Scorpio Rose from Eclipse Comics he gave us Lorelei, another green lady who was recognizably Willow and Mantis. She assists Scorpio Rose and we meet her child almost hidden in the shadows. 

Later Englehart brought Mantis back at Marvel, but I will always treasure the days when her story was bigger than any one company. For me it always will be.

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I Am Coyote Once Again!

If ever want to read something weird by two of best talents in comics then I recommend I Am Coyote by Steve Englehart and the late Marshall Rogers. It's full of enticing designs, offers a constantly twisting plot, and presents the world a character like few others its ever seen.

Coyote is an orphan, left in the desert by his parents for reasons we never learn and discovered by a geezer who claims to be a half-man, a creature of myth who lives in more than one dimension. Coyote is raised by the half-man and later gets a step-mother who claims to be a psychic vampire. His early life is a primitive one and he grows up a bit feral. He's at some point given access to some of the abilities of his adopted father though he himself is fully human (he says). He does this by means of Peyote. 

In this story which ran in serialized form in Eclipse Monthly (in black and white) the action starts immediately as Coyote runs afoul of what is called The Shadow Cabinet which has an underground bunker beneath Las Vegas and its suggested other places around the globe. Their mission to take control of the world's governments by covert means and present themselves as good guys but who have seen sunny words will not be enough to bring about the world they want. Their quick and casual use of murder undermines these claims.

Coyote infiltrates the base and meets Phyllida, a woman who leads the Shadow Cabinet but who seems to care for Coyote despite his penchant to adopt other people's faces. They go on the run from a deadly killer named "The Void" and Coyote is shocked to find someone else who can "dance" between dimensions as he does.

To say more would ruin the story and it's a pretty decent one. Once upon a time I had all the Eclipse Monthly numbers and originally read this story there. But more recently I located it in a trade which offers all of the Eclipse stories in a single narrative in color. The splash pages are included but the chapters actually flow together quite well. Marshall Rogers was a talented artist who had a knack for making pages which demanded you attention. He sometimes crafted some wonky and oddly stiff figures, but reading his stuff is generally pretty easy. I Am Coyote is a fascinating story.

It was continued by Englehart and other artists at Marvel in the early Epic line, but I only ever read a few of those and don't remember them fondly. But maybe some day I'll give them another tumble.

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Fight to Astonish!

There was a time when Jack "King" Kirby ruled the comic book universe. Those days seem long ago now as most of his fans grow even older than did the King himself. But now and again we are reminded of his utter dominance of the form. Such an instance is the blend above of several pages of Kirby art from the pages of Tales to Astonish #82, part of a multi-part tale in which Namor the Prince of the Deep  came into conflict with Tony Stark the Invincible Iron Man. 

They fought and they fought, and for some reason Gene "The Dean" Colan needed some assistance with the art and the "King" was tagged in with moments to spare to smack out these dynamic images. The power of this conflict makes your  teeth rattle as these two stalwarts of the Marvel Universe duke it out and we get to see it up close and personal. 

I got to see this  battle for the first time in The Invincible Iron Man King-Size Special #1 which sported a handsome "Mirthful" Marie Severin cover. The King was still in residence but headed soon to DC to work his magic by the time I saw this unforgettable blast from the past. 

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