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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The Pages Of War!

"War,uh yeah! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!"

Edwin Starr was right of course, but let's look at it another way. What is war good for? It made for some damn fine comic books over the decades. March derives its very name from the ancient god of war "Mars", so it's fitting that this month at the Dojo we look at some finest war comics from across the broad spectrum of what the genre has produced. 

At the center will be the best YOe Book yet -- We Spoke Out - Comic Books and the Holocaust. This is a fascinating overview of how the horrific event that transformed the latter half of the twentieth century was seen in comics. There are stories here from the 50's through the modern age, and reflect a broad spectrum of how an attempted genocide created heroes and villains and more. I'll be taking a comic by comic look (as does the book itself) and that means comics from Marvel, EC, DC, Warren, and more. Expect the expected and the unexpected as well as we have classic war yarns and superhero jaunts and other stories besides. 

This seemed also a grand time to fish out that copy of Yossel, April 19, 1943 by Joe Kubert that's been nestled in my collection for years waiting its turn on the night table. This is a highly personal story by perhaps the finest war artist of all time. There are some other Kubert stories I'd like to get as well, to but time will tell.

The Unknown Anti-War Comics features comic books from the defunct and fondly remembered Charlton Comics. The stories might not be as heavy as those in the tomes above, but maybe they are of value nonetheless.

Another weird one is Nuke' Em Classic Cold War Comics Celebrating the End of the World from Hermes Press. This one reprints just two vintage early 50's series - Atomic War and World War III from the little comic house Ace. If these comics are right, we're lucky to be here.

The weekend tent pole reviews will be a of Warren Magazines critically acclaimed Blazing Combat. War comics were once big business, but only if you could get them into military base PX's and this is one comic book magazine that raised the ire of the military brass when they caught wind of its less than gung-ho attitudes about the Vietnam War, then blazing at full tilt on the Asian continent and in the politics of the United States. There are some of the finest war stories ever in these pages and I'm eager to read them all over again.

So that's it (and maybe a few other things as time permits and circumstances demand but it's a packed house), war, war and more war. But tales of war are rarely about war, but about the peace which always seems to brief and so fragile. Join me.

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Masterpieces Of Fantasy!

Of all the myriad of reprint comics that Mighty Marvel unleashed upon the world over the course of its long multi-decade existence, none will in my mind ever be cooler than Fantasy Masterpieces. First there's the name, the essence of bombast and insane seriousness which marked the early days of the Marvel experience. Marvel at one level took its comics more seriously than did the Distinguished Competition and consequently also took its fans more seriously too. That was felt by the youngster reaching for entertainment which not only passed the hours but lifted up their senses of themselves. Comic books might have been for kids, but Marvel comic books were a bit different, seemingly designed for a select cadre of readers who could truly appreciate the art of comics.

And so in the earliest issues the artists are the starts with not only Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko getting name-checked on the cover but also others like Don Heck, Joe Sinnot, and Dick Ayers. This wasn't a
"Batman comic" or a "Spider-Man comic" but a "comic by (fill in the blank)", a more adult and sophisticated attitude about literature which these comics aspired to be, if only just. Name checking the talent has proven to be a winner for comics which for many years eschewed such personal glory and promoted a company brand. Jack Kirby and Joe Simon had been the first really to break this pattern in the 40's when they took their trade to DC and later on their own. Kirby and Ditko now were at the spearhead of a wave of celebration of pop culture of which comics were a part.

Sadly by the third issue that attitude had given way somewhat and despite a cost rise there was suddenly a shift in focus as not just the Atomic Age was there to be gleaned but the Golden Age as well. Captain America by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon was back and he was soon to be followed by others of his ilk.

In issue seven Sub-Mariner and the Human Torch joined the jolly band of heroes and monsters and weird science fiction tropes which filled up the pages.

And ultimately a team from Marvel's Timely past, the All-Winners came to visit. The first of their only two yarns was in issue ten and the second would find its way into the magazine after its name change.

These were raucous packages of vintage work, and some of it every bit as good as what was being done in the then modern day. The Black Knight by Joe Maneely was an exquisite example of what could be done on a comic page. But soon Captain Marvel would come to Earth and the title would become Marvel Super-Heroes. Still they were masterpieces.

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Nifty Presents - Anti-War Comics!

The Unknown Anti-War Comics is a tome I wanted the moment I saw it. The books that come Craig Yoe's operation can vary in quality, but this looked to be one that offered a wide range of material. I was a bit disappointed in that we have basically two types of stories here -- classic war yarns and vintage sci-fi stories. I don't object either and I don't object to seeing them together I just expected a bit more variation.

That said, what do get are two issues of a weird little book called Never Again, which is spot on with the theme of the collection. The comic just had two issues, with work by Ross Andru among others -- the offbeat thing is the two issues are numbered one and eight. These are Charlton comics, so numbering is always eccentric to say the least.

The majority of the collection is old-fashioned sci-fi tales and pretty good ones too, the kind with lots of ready space travel and twisty endings. It's neat to see a collection with so much of Bill Molno's work in it, as he's often seen as a hack and most of the time gets no mention when his stuff is reprinted. Other Charlton mainstays like "Nicholas Alascia" (two guys -- Charles Nicholas and Vince Alascia), Sal Trapani, and Dick Giordano are represented.

The collection closes with what might be Charlton's most famous single story -- "Children of Doom" by Denny O'Neil and Pat Boyette. It's a weird and wack view of a war-torn future, one  in which mankind is not necessarily the winner. This is a fun collection, but maybe a western or a romance thrown in to make the collection feel a bit more well-rounded.

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Nifty Presents - Marvel Masterwork Pin-Ups!

I knew I had to have this book the moment I saw it advertised. The "Marvel Masterwork Pin-Ups" scattered through scores of classic Marvel comics always made me smile and sometimes impressed me beyond that. Often the posters broke the fourth wall, having the character speak directly to the reader with some bogus inscription and signature, sometimes the pieces itself was just such an impressive bit of artwork that you couldn't stop staring at it, admiring the craftsmanship of the artists.

The artist responsible for the vast majority of the posters in this book is Jack "King" Kirby followed closely by "Sturdy" Steve Ditko. "Dashing" Don Heck, "Big" John Buscema, "Jazzy" Johnny Romita, and "Genial" Gene Colan are also well represented. The book features the vast galleries of villainy featured in Fantastic Four Annuals as well as the same thing from Spider-Man Annuals. These posters in the earliest days of Marvel acted almost like pages from the handbooks which proved so popular in the 80's and beyond at both Marvel and DC. It is not too much to say that there's a delight each time you turn the page in this handsome volume.

Here's a small sampling in its original form.

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A New Beginning!

As this new year of 2020 (some say new decade) tumbles into view expect things at this "Other Dojo" to be at once the same and different than what went on at the other joint. I want to focus on reading more comics this coming year, instead of just collecting them in lovely bound volumes to tuck away for a "rainy day". That rain might never come, and I might not be there to enjoy it when it does, so it's time to get to proper work and tear into my collection which has now officially spilled out into two bedrooms just so I can more access the dad-blamed stuff. 

By the end of 2020 I will most likely be a retired person, one of the (gasp) elderly and someone with more free time if not more disposable income, so sitting in my personal real life dojo quietly reading comic books seems not such a bad way to spend the moons to come. There are hundreds if not thousands of comic books I yearn to read or read yet again.

So my New Year's Resolution (along with the obligatory eating healthier, losing more than a few pounds, and remembering to feed my dog) will be to read more comic books. So I hope to present more reviews of individual comic books. To that end look for (alongside my belated Super Friends rundowns) an issue by issue examination of a most significant comic book called Marvel Super-Heroes which debuted or showcased more than a few of my most favorite things. And also all month long I'll be showcasing the delightful presents I received over the holidays, a real trove.

So let this new blog also be a new beginning in many ways. Happy New Year amigos! 

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