Looking Forward to Looking Back Vol. 16

Good morning! It's good to be back in the Mechanicsburg store after the crazy week of relocting the York store and share the good news on a new collected edition project due out this summer from Titan Books! The project is The Simon and Kirby Superheroes, and Titan is boasting that this book is going to be a massive 480 page omnibus and will be printed at a special 11″ x 7-1/2″ over-sized format, thus reproducing the comic book pages in their original printed Golden Age size. This book is the first follow-up to Titan's The Best of Simon and Kirby, the first volume in The Official Simon and Kirby Library, and for this sequel, Titan owner and publisher, Nick Landau promises that "aside from their work for Marvel and DC, this will be all of the superhero stories Joe and Jack wrote and illustrated together from 1940 through 1960. It's a massive undertaking, but our team is ready to take it on."

I think the efforts of the Simon and Kirby Library publishing initiative are important to honor these men's achievements and contributions to the art of comics. The creative output of these two men in the span of two decades did so much to take the very young medium of the comic book and advanced it to the state of a true art form. These guys weren't just creators of comics, they were pioneers of comics. They were some of the earliest artists to bring a bit of the "cinematic" to comic books by expanding their storytelling beyond simply employing the standard comic strip format which was often applied to a comic page at that time. It was understandable the comics looked that way in their inception as a comic book was initially just a reprint collection for comic strips, but Simon and Kirby broke new ground in using center spreads to expand a scene. These techniques and their use of dynamic perspectives and exaggerated forms in action became the signature trademarks of Simon and Kirby's work! The pair started together on a science fiction story, but throughout their time together they'd work on books creating numerous adventure and super-heroes, they contributed early work to the horror genre of comics with their title, Black Magic, and the pair are credited with the creation of the romance comic with their title, Young Romance. They also produced many fine examples of crime and detective, western, and war comics during the time of their partnership.

Simon and Kirby had both gotten into comic book work in the late 1930s, but their paths didn't cross until Kirby got work at Fox Feature Syndicate where Simon had been serving as an editor. Simon recalled to panelists at the 1998 San Diego Comic-Con(Jack Kirby Collector #25) "I loved Jack's work and the first time I saw it I couldn't believe what I was seeing. He asked if we could do some freelance work together. I was delighted and I took him over to my little office. We worked from the second issue of Blue Bolt." After working on Blue Bolt #2 and then The Champion #9, Kirby followed Simon from Fox and to take a better paying gig at Timely Comics, a comic book publishing arm of pulp magazine publisher, Martin Goodman's Timely Publications Company. Goodman was interested in venturing into comic book publishing and after the hit he had with Marvel Comics #1, Goodman began assembling an in-house staff, hiring writer-artist Joe Simon as editor, making Simon the first official employee of the new Timely Publications. Simon negotiated Kirby's move to Timely and their wages at the company, and they quickly demonstrated their worth by creating Captain America, the seminal patriotic hero of the 1940s. Captain America #1 arrived on newsstands in 1941, sold out in days, and the second issue's print run was set at over a million copies. The title's success established the team as a notable creative force in the industry and the first issue's success established Kirby as the art director at Timely. Oddly enough, these years at Timely also set the stage for the second great creative collaboration of Kirby's career, as Joe Simon hired a young wannabe writer, Stan Lee, to serve as his office assistant. The fabled Marvel Age of comics laid its foundation not only in the characters which emerged from Timely publishing but also in the assemblage of its creative staff. Working with Simon was pivotal in Lee's creative development as he's stated "Lucky for me, when I entered comics Joe Simon was my mentor. In script, art, and editing he was the master."

While time at Timely was good for Simon and Kirby, their working relationship was not just forged in the Timely bullpen but also through the freelance work they produced outside the company as well. One such example of this work is their work on The Black Owl for Prize Comics. In fact, it is with that mysterious costumed hero that this edition of the Simon and Kirby Library will commence their Superheroes collection. This upcoming volume will also include the big-top swashbuckler known as Stuntman, the Runyonesque adventurer The Vagabond Prince, the entire run of the cold-war patriot The Fighting American, and The Fly and Private Strong—whcih were the final Simon and Kirby collaborations before Jack Kirby made the move to help launch the Marvel Universe.

Series editor, Steve Saffel wants readers to know Titan Books has "got some amazing surprises in store” with this project. For example, Restoration wizard Harry Mendryk will take the groundbreaking 1953 adventures of Captain 3-D and convert them to their original line art. These classic stories also feature artwork by Mort Meskin and a young Steve Ditko–who went on to co-create The Amazing Spider-Man at Marvel–and will be published in full color for the first time. “Plus, with a little help from our friends, we’ve located a bunch of never-before-published pages starring Stuntman,” Saffel revealed. “Many of the pages are in the hands of private collectors, with others coming directly from the Joe Simon archives. As a result, we’ll be able to pull together nearly the entire story, 'Stuntman Crowns a Jungle Lord,” and offer up other exciting features for the readers.”

If you'd like to learn more about Titan Publishing efforts to bring the Joe Simon and Jack Kirby Library to new readers, learn about this new upcoming volume, and Titan's plans for future volumes focusing on their work in horror, detective, and romance comics, please visit the project's official website!

Thanks for reading!

Looking Forward to Looking Back, Vol. 15

Holy Katz N Jammerkids! It's been a couple weeks now since I've had a chance to do a new post! In my posting absence though, I decided I would work these posts in a direction other than merely relaying information on what classic comic material is available, but I wish to also discuss why the availability of this classic comic material is important as many of you visiting our site may have no experience with the material I cover. And that's okay. Many readers may have no interest in these old comics and strips at all, which is also fine. But... if you're really interested in comics and in where comics as an art form are going then you really should take time to read and learn a bit about where the comics have been and how the medium of comics has progressed and become this thing we know it to be today.


The actress, Lauren Bacall, once said of old movies that "only when you've seen a movie does it make a film an old movie. If you've never seen or tried a classic film, then it's still a "new" movie. I not only agree with her, but I think the notion can be applied quite easily to "old comics" too. In every volume I've allowed myself to discover of books such as Little Nemo or Krazy Kat or Bringing Up Father, I have found an experience that was not only enjoyable but the material was fresh and new! After all, I didn't grow up in the early 1900s, the Teens, or the Twenties, but the comic strips from those days are vastly appealing as the gags and the comedy is still intact, the artwork is just as spirited and often mesmerising, and I often learn something of not only this art form's past but the past of us as a collective people and nation. Just the same, I didn't grow up reading the adventure comics or strips of the Thirties, Forties, or Fifties, but I admire the art, the storytelling, and the heroism those stories had to offer readers. These works are now considered timeless because their best qualities remain intact for readers today. I find the material in these books is gratifying for the cost, I appreciate the restoration efforts that go into them, and I also like to think in some way I am helping to preserve the early days of an art form that has survived long enough to now have a history. A history that deserves to be explored. Fortunately, for us modern readers that exploration is possible with all of the various reprint efforts by publishers today.


So in the weeks ahead, I'm going to endeavour to cover a lot of comic ground and spotlight artists and strips and comics that deserve your attetnion, or if you're already familiar with them, maybe then a second look. There have been substantial efforts in the last twenty plus years to bring comic readers a selection of the best that the early days of this medium had to offer, but for these efforts to continually thrive these works need exposure to new readers and not just us who already appreciate the look back.

Stay Tuned! Comix Connection Counter Monkey Joe's updates on new collections and look back at comics appreciation begins next Monday!

Looking Forward to Looking Back, Vol. 14

This week's edition of classic collected edition comics news may be my briefest one yet. In fact, this may be my only brief edition, and an exception in a way as the one book I have to boast about is actually an original graphic novel 25 years in the making and features 120 pages of classic, New Teen Titans action that reunite George Perez and Marv Wolfman!

Yes, Titans fans, the infamous unfinished original graphic novel, New Teen Titans: Games, is done and DC Comics has announced its release for the 4Th quarter of 2010!


Wolfman stated, “it’s all the regular Titans, obviously because the story was plotted back then it’s Troia, in that costume, Nightwing, Cyborg, Changeling, Danny Chase, Jericho, Starfire, and a number of others but they’re all there. This isn’t a big surprise. What this really is, is the uncovered story that had been done at the height of the Titans. And except for the actual dialoguing, that’s exactly what it is. Because as I said, George drew 80 of the pages back then.”

For more from Wolfman and Perez on their "lost" Titans tale, check out Comic Book Resources for interviews with both legendary creators about their return to the Titans.

Looking Forward to Looking Back, Vol. 13

It's Monday, so it's time for some news on upcoming collected editions of classic comic books. This week the focus is on just a few key artist-centric reprints DC Comics has on their fall 2010 schedule of releases. So if you're a fan of comic artist extraordinaire, Neal Adams, pay attention and start saving your pennies, because you're going to want to add these to your library!

First up, the DC Universe Illustrated by Neal Adams Volume 2 will finally be released in September 2010. While the first volume featured miscellaneous work on everything from Superman and Teen Titans to Our Army at War and Star Spangled War Stories, this next volume reprints a hefty offering of Adam's horror work for DC.

The collection should include:

The Spectre #2-5, The Phantom Stranger #4
and the stories from House of Mystery #178, 189 and 186, The Witching Hour #8, Weird Western Tales #12, 13 and 15, and Limited Collector's Edition C-31

This hardcover will run 192 pages for $39.99 and will arrive in stores September 7Th, 2010.

DC Comics will release another collected edition that day featuring Adams' work, with DC Universe Illustrated by Neal Adams: The Covers. This will also be a 192 page hardcover collection of all the various work Adams contributed a cover to but no interior work, and there were certainly quite a few! This book should nicely round out DC Comics efforts to make the whole of Adams work available to fans.

But there's still one piece missing, right?

Well, not anymore!

This fall DC Comics will also be reprinting the story Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali! This tale, co-plotted and written by Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams with art from Adams, will see a new release in two formats:

"The first is a deluxe hardcover edition featuring an expanded sketch section and additional content with a new cover by Adams."

-and-

"For all those fans of the book in its tabloid form there is also a limited edition hardcover in the original trim-size with the complete, original cover of the landmark issue."

I think that's some of the best reprint news I've heard in a long, long time!

Well, that's all for this week! Stay tuned though... there's always plenty of classic reprints on the horizon!

Looking Forward to Looking Back, Vol. 12

It was the short story, "A Study in Scarlet", in the 1887 Beeton's Christmas Annual, which first introduced the world to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional character, Sherlock Holmes, a consulting detective renowned for his intellectual prowess and superb use of astute observation, cool logic, deductive reasoning, and forensic knowledge to solve cases which baffled his clients and police alike. Conan Doyle penned 56 short stories and 4 novels of Holmes' exploits, and he presented nearly all of these tales through the accounts of Dr. John H. Watson, a man who came to Holmes' acquaintance first as a roommate only to become Holmes' best friend and his biographer. The popularity of these tales kept Holmes in the detective business for years despite Conan Doyle's efforts to once kill the character off in the 1893 story, "The Final Problem".

The decision to kill Holmes was not at all popular with the reading public and it wasn't an easy one for Conan Doyle, whose wavering feelings about the character lead him to the work out a stage play featuring Holmes in 1897. Conan Doyle was never content with efforts in England to stage the play, but a rising American theatrical producer, Charles Frohman, secured the dramatic rights to bring Holmes to the stage in the States. Frohman passed the manuscript to William Gillette, a leading American actor and something of a playwright himself when it came to developing roles for himself for the stage. Gillette secured Conan Doyle's permission and rewrote the script to heighten the melodrama and made additions to the plot with elements from several of Holmes' previous tales. This play's premiere in New York, on November 6Th 1899 was a triumph as was the play's premiere in England in September 1901. After such positive public reception in England and abroad, Doyle returned to Holmes and Watson to the printed page with the tale, "The Hound of the Baskervilles", which was serialised from 1901-1902. Soon after, Conan Doyle revealed that Holmes was never really dead after that reported fatal plunge to the bottom of the Reichenback Falls in the grip of the villainous Professor Moriarty. Holmes returned proper in the story, "The Adventure of the Empty House". From there Holmes went on to pursue numerous other cases until Conan Doyle published his last Sherlock Holmes story in 1927.

An enduring fascination and affection for Sherlock Holmes has carried on through every medium of entertainment from those original stories then to the play then to motion pictures beginning as early as 1900 in a mere one reel picture. In 1912, the first significant screen adaptations of Holmes began with the first of four British silent films that miraculously still exist!. There was a silent American film versions of Holmes in 1916 not surprisingly starring William Gillette and another in 1922 starring John Barrymore, adapted from Gillette's play. Next, audiences were thrilled by 14 films(two for 20Th Century Fox and twelve for Universal) of Holmes with Basil Rathbone in the role and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson. During this time period, Rathbone and Bruce also completed 220 episodes put of 259 episodes of The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which ran from October 2, 1939 to July 7, 1947. In 1958, the Hammer film of TheHound of the Baskervilles, introduced Peter Cushing in the role of Holmes. Cushing would reprise the role of Holmes on television for the BBC, American audiences enjoyed 39 half-hour episodes starring Ronald Howard (son of Leslie Howard) as Holmes. My favourite of the television adaptations of Holmes would be the 1984, Granada television series, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which featured Jeremy Brett as Holmes. I'll attempt no further to list the representations of Holmes on screen as The Guinness Book of World Records continues to list Sherlock Holmes as the "most portrayed movie character" with 75 actors playing the part in over 211 films. A list to which we can add this year's movie, Sherlock Holmes, which arrived in theatres this past Christmas day, directed by Guy Ritchie and featuring Robert Downey, Jr. in the role of Holmes. While I'm not entirely sure this new take on Holmes is exactly my cup of tea, I chose to preoccupy myself instead this weekend with plenty of other interpretations of Holmes, and in doing so revisited a number of comic books featuring Holmes.

There have been many notable comic books to have featured Holmes over the years such as Classics Illustrated adaptations of "The Sign of the Four" from "Three Famous Mysteries" from Classics Illustrated #21(1951) and "A Study in Scarlet" from Classics Illustrated #110(1953). In 1961 and 1962, Dell also published two comics of The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. However, I have never been fortunate enough to come across any of these early comics. My first memory of Sherlock Holmes in a comic book would be Detective Comics #572, which was a wonderful anniversary issue where Batman and company meet a 135 year old Sherlock Holmes! In this issue, Slam Bradly teams up with Batman and Robin and the Elongated Man to solve a century long mystery and stop Professor Moriarty's descendants from assassinating The Queen of England.. The story ends with Sherlock Homes congratulating Batman on a job well done. Holmes goes on to state his longevity is due to the benefits of a "proper diet, a certain distillation of royal jelly developed in my beekeeping days, and the rarefied atmosphere of Tibet, where I keep my primary residence." Batman tries to light his pipe, Holmes states "Thank you, but I'm afraid the pipe is purely for show these days." As a twelve year old in 1987 this was pretty mind-blowing stuff! I only purchased Detective Comics off and on back then but the cover alone was worth the price of admission! I still find this tale to be quite enjoyable!



This wasn't the first time DC Comics played host to Holmes in their books. Holmes has an appearance of sorts in the Joker #6, as a deranged man believing himself to be Holmes does battle with a Joker who he mistakenly believes to be Professor Moriarty. Also, at the Baltimore Comic-Con this past October, I was lucky enough to find the first and only issue of Sherlock Holmes, a 1975 effort by DC Comics Walter Simonson produced the cover for the issue, and it was written by Denny O’Neil(Batman, Green Lantern/Green Arrow), with art by Philippine illustrator, E.R. Cruz, (Warren’s Eerie) and closed with a short essay entitled, “The Real Sherlock Holmes”, by Allan Asherman.

Other books I have really enjoyed having in my collection over the years are the collections of the comic strip, Sherlock Holmes, from the 1950s which Malibu Graphics, Inc. reprinted years ago. This short-lived comic strip appeared daily and Sunday from 1954-1956, written by radio scriptwriter Edith Meiser and drawn by Frank Giacola. Malibu also published some new and original horror inspired adventures of by writer Martin Powell and artist Seppo Makinen. The first series the team created together was the saga, Scarlet in Gaslight, a tale in which Holmes and Dr. Watson team-up with noted vampire hunter, Dr. Abraham Van Helsing, to of course fight none other than Dracula! The next authorised book the pair did was the story, A Case of Blind Fear which pitted Holmes and Dr. Watson against the Invisible Man. I enjoyed these tales but somehow missed out on Powell's third Holmes project, Return of the Devil. These tales were reprinted though by Moonstone Books, as Sherlock Holmes Mysteries Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. Volume 2 is of particular note as it offers a fourth tale that never saw print, The Loch Ness Horror. Moonstone Books had a bit of fun earlier this year publishing a series teaming up Sherlock Holmes with journalist and horror investigator, Carl Kolchak, the Nightstalker. The 3 issue mini-series is due soon in a collected edition. Sher

With the new movie renewing interest in the character, this year was obviously a ripe time for new comic book projects depicting Holmes. London-based graphic novel publisher SelfMadeHero published The Hound of the Baskervilles by Ian Edginton and illustrated by Ian Culbard. Meanwhile, in the States, Dynamite Entertainment published the new tale, The Trial of Sherlock Holmes, written by Leah Moore and John Reppion with art by Aaron Campbell. The hardcover collection is available now and in addition to the story, the book offers a complete cover gallery, a Sherlock Holmes short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and many other exciting bonus materials. I recommend it.

I know there's so many noteworthy Holmes appearances or references in comics I'm not going to get to touch on here, but I'd be remiss not to mention Holmes' role in Rick Veitch's Maximortal series, the Holmes appearance Warren Ellis includes in Planetary #13 (Planetary Volume 3 collected edition) or how Alan Moore works many aspects of Holmes' world into The League of Extraordinary Gentleman Series One (LoEG Volume 1 collected edition). Marvel Comics has had its share of comics featuring Holmes too over the years, such as Marvel Preview #5-6 (January-February 1975), as did many other publishers such as Eternity. With the endurance this good detective seems to possess, I can only see there being many more works to come following Holmes' exploits either new or old.

Looking Forward to Looking Back, Vol. 11

As a collector of old things I am always delighted to see a new publisher arrive on the market making more reprints of classic material available to fans. An even greater treat though is when such a publisher offers not just mere reprints, but when those reprints are presented with the highest regard to preservation, scholarship, and restoration. It is my belief such efforts deserve admiration, so to that end my column this week focuses on The Rosebud Archives and the passion and purpose of its founding partners Rick Marschall and Jonathan Barli.

The Rosebud Archives launched its online initiative this past week, with a blog and store and so much more! With every feature it is ever apparent how great an affection these men possess for the materials they reproduce. The store offers an array of books, portfolios, prints, stationary, and it appears there's much, much more to come! Already the Archives offers work by a variety of fine artists, illustrators, and cartoonists ranging from the very important to the nearly forgotten, such as:

Winsor McCay (1867-1934) - American cartoonist and animator, creator of the comic strip, Little Nemo in Slumberland, and the early cartoon, Gertie the Dinosaur.

George Herriman (1880-1944) - American cartoonist and creator of the comic strip Krazy Kat.

Clare Briggs - (1875-1930) American cartoonist and creator of A. Piker Clerk.

F. von Rezniček (1868-1909) - Austrian painter, caricaturist, and illustrator.

Charles Dana Gibson (1867–1944) - American illustrator, remembered for his creation of The Gibson Girl, an iconic representation of the beautiful and independent American woman at the turn of the 20th Century.

Gluyas Williams (1888-1982) - American cartoonist for Collier's, Century, Life and The New Yorker magazines.

Harrison Cady (1877–1970) - American illustrator and cartoonist of the comic strip, Peter Rabbit.

...and these names are only the beginning!

The array of products featuring the work of classic illustrators and cartoonists is as vast as the Archives founders love of the material they reproduce. The source material for these works come from Rick Marschall's personal collection of graphic materials that spans two centuries of prints, posters, comic strips, books, and other ephemera. Marschall is more than just a super-collector though. Rick Marschall has a served as an editor at Disney Comics and Marvel Comics, where he found Epic Illustrated. He has edited several comic strips and served as founder and editor of two magazines, Nemo and Hogan's Alley, which were dedicated to documenting the history of comic strips. After also writing and editing more than 50 books on numerous everything from the golden age of television to the history of country music, it's no wonder Bostonia Magazine magazine regards Marschall as "America's foremost authority on pop culture." His business partner, Jonathan Barli holds a BFA from the School of Visual Arts and has spent years digitising and restoring comic strips and cartoons, with a focus on collecting and restoring the works of many a “forgotten” cartoonist.

Well, there's nothing more I can tell you of The Rosebud Archives that their beautiful site cannot, so please if you have any interest in this age of art, comic strips, and illustration, take some time to visit their page and acknowledge the work they do. I'm off to look further at their section of prints and daydream about what would look good on my walls!

May you have a good week and a wonderful holiday!

Until next time!

Looking Forward to Looking Back Vol 10

Well, it's Monday so I'm back with more goodies classic comic fans can add to their shopping lists for the year to come, and gee if this week isn't a doozy! Comic strip collections are the bulk of my news and the first items up are some collections of note from Fantagraphics Books.

In March, Fantagraphics will answer my prayers (and those of many other fans) with the release of Krazy and Ignatz 1916-1918. This softcover ($24.99) sees Fantagraphics finally going back and reprinting the strips from its beginning.

"When Fantagraphics launched its collection of Krazy Kat Sunday strips back in 2002, we picked up with the 10th and 11th years of the legendary strip (1925-1926) because another publisher had already collected the first nine during the 1980s and 1990s. But now, with that publisher long gone and their Krazy Kat collections fetching record prices (some over $100!) among collectors, it’s time to go back and get every one of these masterpieces back in print — re-scanned and re-retouched from original tearsheets, using 21st century digital resources. Fantagraphics will be collecting these first nine years of Sundays into three volumes comprising three years apiece, starting with the very first Sundays from 1916 through 1918, and incorporating all the added features from the first edition."

Look for this collection in the January Previews!

Word of a new Peanuts collection is always a treat and in April 2010, readers can expect to see The Complete Peanuts: 1975-1976 by Charles M. Schulz. It's incredible how much ground this series has covered so far! This thirteenth volume will be a hardcover for $28.99. If you're like me and wait for the double book slip cased sets, then relax and let your anticipation go until an announcement comes for The Complete Peanuts: 1977-1978, which should follow for a release in September 2010.

Then in May 2010, we can expect to see Prince Valiant Volume 2 1939-1940 by Hal Foster, and there's adventure galore in this new volume!

"Prince Valiant helps his father reclaim his throne in kingdom of Thule, fights alongside King Arthur, and is made a knight of the Round Table in recompense for his bravery and wit. Bored by the peace he helped to create, Val decides to independently pull together the forces to battle the Huns’ descent on Southern Europe. When Val’s army breaches the Huns’ stronghold, however, he discovers that corruption reigns still further west in Rome. Thus Val sets off with Sir Gawain and Tristam of Arthurian legend fame, and the familial kinship of the trio sees them through chivalrous escapades, false imprisonment and daring escapes. By the end of this volume, they go their separate ways, and Val boards a ship to Sicily—yet a storm approaches, throwing him off-course, as adventure follows him everywhere."

This hardcover collection of art shot and restored from the original proof pages will run 112 pages for $29.99.

Also in May, Fantagraphics is releasing the important sequel to their 2007 release of cartoonist Bill Mauldin's Willie & Joe: The WWII Years collection. This new collection, Willie and Joe: Back Home follows the pair as they begin a new struggle: the readjustment to civilian life.

"WWII’s most famous soldiers return from the frontlines. In the summer of 1945, a great tide of battered soldiers began flowing back to the united States from around the globe. Though victorious, these exhausted men were nevertheless too grief-stricken over the loss of comrades, too guilt-ridden that they had survived, and too numbed by trauma to share in the country’s euphoria. Most never saw a ticker-tape parade, or stole a Times Square kiss. All they wanted was to settle back into quiet workaday lives without fear. How tragic that the forces unleashed by World War II made this simple wish impossible.

Willie & Joe: Back Home brilliantly chronicles the struggles and disillusionments of these early postwar years and, in doing so, tells Bill Mauldin’s own extraordinary story of his journey home to a wife he barely knew and a son he had only seen in pictures. The drawings capture the texture and feel, the warp and woof, of this confusing time: the ubiquitous hats and cigarettes, the domestic rubs, the rising fear of another war, and new conflicts over Civil Rights, civil liberties, and free speech. This second volume of Fantagraphics’ series reprinting Mauldin’s greatest work identifies and restores the dozens of cartoons censored by Mauldin’s syndicate for their attacks on racial segregation and McCarthy-style “witch hunts.” Mauldin pleaded with his syndicate to let him out of his contract so that he could return to the simple quiet life so desired by Willie & Joe. The syndicate refused, so Mauldin did battle, as always, through pen and ink."

This will be a 288 page hardcover of black and white cartoons for $29.99.

In June, readers can expect to see a turn of the 19th century cartoonist get his due, as Fantagraphics releases, The Antic Cartoon Art of T.S. Sullivant. Sullivant (1854-1926) came late to cartooning at the age of 32, but before he was 40, he had helped "alter the face of comedic art in America, ushering it into the 20th century."

"Until Sullivant’s drawings of animals exaggerated facial and anatomical features to the point of caricature, most American cartoonists were more illustrators than cartoonists: they drew realistically and cross-hatched copiously. Sullivant (and Eugene “Zim” Zimmerman) changed that, inaugurating the typical caricatural methods of modern cartooning—big heads, big feet. Sullivant, famed for drawing animals, cave men (and women), rummy Irishmen, and Biblical characters with anachronistic abandon, did most of his cartooning for the old Life humor magazine (1883-1936), with a few years’ detour to a rival, Judge. During that period, Sullivant received the accolade of the age: he was employed briefly by William Randolph Hearst to do political cartoons for the New York Journal American."

This will be the first extensive collection of his drawings and cartoons published until now and offers a healthy sampling of his Life cartoons from his debut in the magazine in 1888 to his last cartoon in 1926, published posthumously; a healthy helping of his 1905-1909 work for Judge; and a short biography and evaluation by compiler R. C. Harvey and an appreciation by Richard Marschall. Color and black-and-white cartoons throughout.

Also for June 2010, I can update an earlier column with information that we'll see the release that month of Four Color Fear: Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s, edited by Greg Sadowski and John Benson. This is the first book in the company's partnership with historian Greg Sadowski, offering a massive $29.99 paperback collection of never-before-collected pre-Comics Code horror comics of the 1950s.

It looks like Fantagraphics couldn't let Drawn & Quarterly have all the fun with reprints of Nancy, so in July 2010, the publisher has their own collections of Nancy on the slate but focusing on the work of Nancy's creator, Ernie Bushmiller. Their first collection, Nancy is Happy: Complete Dailies 1942-1945, will reprint four years worth of material and its release with be complimented with the book, How to Read Nancy by Paul Karasik and Mark Newgarden. This new expansion of the classic 1988 essay reads as "the ultimate comic-strip deconstruction/tutorial. Everything that you will ever need to know about reading, making, or under- standing comics can be found in the three panels of a single comic strip published on August 8, 1959: Nancy, by Ernie Bushmiller." This should be an enlightening read for anyone interested in the technique and wonder of comics as an art form.

Fantagraphics also has the book, From Shadow to Light: The Life & Art of Mort Meskin, on the schedule for July. The publisher states:

"From Shadow to Light: The Life and Art of Mort Meskin is a coffee table art book and critical biography of one of the twentieth century’s most influential comic book artists. Meskin’s career spanned both the Golden and Silver ages of comics, from the 1940s to the 1960s. His drawing, chiaroscuro technique, and storytelling are considered by connoisseurs of the form to be among the most sophisticated of his time. His passion for his artwork was equaled by his skill, and the quality of his overall oeuvre blurs the artificial distinction between high and low art. Yet he is known mostly among hard-core aficionados today, eclipsed by many of his peers, some of whom he profoundly influenced. Among Meskin’s fans and admirers are Jim Steranko, Joe Kubert, Alex Toth, Carmine Infantino, Steve Ditko, Jerry Robinson, and Jack Kirby. From Shadow to Light: The Life and Art of Mort Meskin will finally give this neglected artist the recognition he’s due."

August will see two more release of the classic variety with not only another Krazy & Ignatz volume, in Krazy and Ignatz 1919-1921: A Kind, Benevolent and Amiable Brick, but that month also will bring the start of Fantagraphics' efforts to reprint more of the excellent comic strip work of Roy Crane with the release of Buz Sawyer Volume 1: War in the Pacific. In this strip, Crane sought to give readers tales of a more realistic fighting man, John Singer Sawyer, a Navy pilot who fought in the Pacific Theater from 1943 until V-J Day in 1945.

"This book, the first in a series reprinting the Buz Sawyer strip, reprints all of the daily strips published during World War II. Buzz serves aboard an aircraft carrier, flies combat missions against the notorious Japanese Zeros, crash lands behind enemy lines, and is captured by a Japanese submarine."

Considering Mr. Royston Campbell Crane is one of the founding fathers of the adventure strip with the 1920s strip Wash Tubbs, it's great to see Fantagraphics bringing not only Buz Sawyer but also Captain Easy out in hardcovers collections such as they deserve! Hopefully Wash Tubbs collections are on the horizon too! Hint hint!!!

Finally, Drawn & Quarterly has a nice offering I didn't think readers would see anytime soon, but June 2010 should see the release of Walt & Skeezix Book Four: 1927-1928. Glad to see D&Q clearer up some rights issues and continues their long tradition of affectionately reprinting the Gasoline Alley strips.

So how's that for an incredible release schedule? I think I'm going to need more bookcases going into next year!

Well, that's enough for this week! Until next time...

Looking Forward to Looking Back, Volume 9

Well, it's Monday, and here I am with some collected editions of the classic variety to go on about.

Not a lot of news this week, but I do have two additions to my post from last week on upcoming DC Comics collections. In addition to the release of Crisis on Multiple Earths Vol. 5 and The Atomic Knights collection, I wanted to include word that there will also be a release of The Viking Prince by Joe Kubert. For those not familiar with the good Prince, DC offers this account:

"When an amnesiac Viking warrior washed up on the shores of a fishing village in fifth century Iceland, the villagers guessed from his garb that he was royalty, and so they called him Jon, after a legendary prince. Only Thorvald, ruler of a nearby town, realized that he was in fact both royalty and a threat to his own power -- and so, Thorvald plotted to kill Jon. While dodging Thorvald's attempts on his life, Jon also battled the likes of giants, sea monsters, witches and more."

This collection will be a 296 page hardcover that is tentatively planned for release in June 2010.

The other item from DC Comics is a collection that's a very long time coming... drum roll, please... ladies and gentlemen... please give a round of applause for The Adventures of Superboy, Book One! If you're wondering why this book deserves such fanfare take a look at this ad below which carried the announcement of a Superboy Archive Edition.




Now let me add that this ad was from 2002.


Yes, 2002.

These stories set in Superboy’s Kansas hometown of Smallville, taught the future Man of Steel responsibility as he learned to deal with problems of every sort in the post-World War II midwest. This collection will be a 224 page hardcover reprinting more than twenty stories from More Fun Comics and Adventure Comics. This book is set to be released in July 0f 2010. It may not be a DC Archive of Superboy, but it's the material that's being reprinted that counts, right?

That's all for this week! I'll see you next week!

Thanks to the guys on the Marvelmasterworks.com message boards for the heads up on this collection, and member Silveragepeteross for the scan of the Superboy and Supergirl Action Figure Set announcement.

Looking Forward to Looking Back, Vol. 8

Here I am with a late edition this week of all things classic in comics, and so that it doesn't get any later on this last Monday in November I'm just going to spotlight two collected editions from DC Comics that I'm jazzed to see on the schedule for next year!

First up, DC will finally release a new book in their Crisis on Multiple Earths series! If you ever wanted to read the classic "Crisis Crossover" adventures of the Justice League of America, these are the books for you. This series has reprinted everything from the League's very first meeting of their Golden Age predecessors, the Justice Society of America(Earth Two), a search across time to find the Seven Soldiers of Victory, meeting the Freedom Fighters of Earth-X, meeting Captain Marvel and the heroes of Earth-S, and a time-crossed team-up with the Legion of Super-Heroes! Not a bad bunch of adventures, eh? DC states that this new volume will feature the Justice League of America and the Justice Society of America "encountering the some of DC's war and western characters, including Jonah Hex and Enemy Ace. Then, the teams must find the traitor within their own ranks. And finally, the JLA and JSA join forces with The New Gods to stop the evil might of Darkseid." This collection will run 176 pages and is due to arrive in the spring of 2010.

The last item I have tonight is word that DC Comics' defunct plans to publish a Showcase Presents Great Disasters volume featuring the Atomic Knights has shifted to a plan to release to these stories now as a hardcover collection in colour! If you've never read these tales before DC describes the series as such:

"Originally presented at the height of the Cold War, the adventures of the Atomic Knights begin in 1986, after the U.S. has been devastated by a "hydrogen war." The survivors were protected by Sgt. Gardner Grayle and his band of Atomic Knights, who wore suits of armor that had been treated with radiation, rendering them impervious to futuristic threats. The Knights traveled the country, helping citizens rebuild their lives while battling menaces including the would-be tyrant the Black Baron, the cavemen of New York, giant mutant plants and more."

This collection will also arrive in stores this spring.

Well, that's all for this edition!

Until next time...

Looking Forward to Looking Back, Vol. 7

It's that time again for yours truly to ramble on about upcoming collected editions of comics of a more classic variety! Hopefully there's something here that catches your interest!

First up, if you fancy more Nancy, the second volume of artist John Stanley's work will see release in summer of 2010. Canadian indie cartoonist Seth who has been doing a wonderful job designing the covers for the John Stanley series of reprints and Drawn & Quarterly (publisher) is offering a sneak peak of the new cover on their website. For your convenience I'm featuring it here. There's also a second volume of Melvin the Monster on the way and that listing will be the new Previews that arrives this Wednesday, Nov. 25th.

IDW will be adding to its output of classic comic strip reprints with some exciting new offerings for next year! Coming in August 2010, IDW Publishing through its imprint, the Library of American Comics, "will launch a new oversized hardcover series with what historians and critics consider one of the essential masterpieces of comics strip art, Cliff Sterrett’s Polly and Her Pals." Polly and Her Pals: Complete Sunday Comics, 1925-1927, will be a 176 page hard cover “Champagne edition” reproducing every one of Sterrett’s dynamic full-color Sunday pages from those years, in an extra large 12″ x 16″ format so that each can be fully appreciated.

Debuting 1912, Polly and Her Pals was one of the first “pretty girl” strips, but it was in 1925 that Sterrett’s magnificent Sunday pages entered their peak period, as he developed a style with distinctive surreal perspectives, abstract backgrounds and bold, vibrant use of color. Art Spiegelman has written, “Polly and Her Pals is a glorious composition… a happy pop synthesis of Art Deco, Futurism, Surrealism, Dada, and Pure Cartoon.”

“Some strips, such as Polly, need to be seen large,” says Dean Mullaney, Creative Director of the Library of American Comics. “We’ve created the oversized Champagne Edition format specifically for these Sunday pages.”

Another exciting strip that's getting the proper collected treatment from IDW next year is Secret Agent: X-9. This strip was begun by writer Dashiell Hammett (The Maltese Falcon, The Thin Man) and artist Alex Raymond (Flash Gordon, Rip Kirby). Syndicated by King Features, Secret Agent x-9 ran from January 22, 1934 until February 10, 1996, but Hammett and Raymond moved on early from the strip and from 1937 on the strip was continued by an assortment of other talents. It is largely for that reason IDW has decided to focus their reprints on the strips from 1967 to 1980, for in these years, the strip thrived with the most noteworthy team of creators it had since its inception. These were the years written by Archie Goodwin and drawn by Al Williamson, who together also collaborated on the Star Wars comic strip, The Bounty Hunter of Ord Mantell, and their partnership continued until that strip's end final in 1984.


IDW sees Al Williamson's work on Secret Agent Corrigan as "one of the artistic highlights in the history of the American comic strip". Further stating "Williamson's delicate line-work, coupled with a style both realistic and atmospheric, enhanced the no-nonsense story of Corrigan". I think if you keep an eye out for this collection when it arrives, you'll firmly agree!

And speaking of delicate line work and realistic style, Williamson's idol, Alex Raymond, had an incredible example of his prowess as an artist arrive in our store last week, with the release of IDW's Rip Kirby Volume One collection. I've spent more than a few nights now poring over this book, and Raymond's work is stunning. The expression, "they don't make them like this anymore", comes to mind viewing his work and one look at this book will immediately explain why I feel this way. This level of draftsmanship is missing in comic strips today and there's only a handful of comic artists that bring this quality of line, style, and realism to their work. Raymond's art is a joy to behold, and this is one very classy strip. If you're a fan of his work the forward on Raymond alone might be worth the price of admission. I highly recommend it! The second volume is due in March 2010.

The last fun thing I'd like to point out this week references a post I did some time ago about comic artist contributions to that superb purveyor of films, the Criterion Collection, who are dedicated to gathering the greatest works of classic and contemporary, foreign and arthouse cinema on DVD. This time they too have tapped the design sensibilities of Seth for the cover for their upcoming release of Leo McCarey’s masterpiece, "Make Way for Tomorrow"(1937), "an enormously moving Depression-era depiction of the frustrations of family, aging, and the generation gap". This film is number 505 in the collection and will be available in February 2010.

Well, that's that for this week!

Until next time...

Looking Forward to Looking Back Vol. 6

Well, here I am with a look at some classic reprint collections being offered in the current November Previews Catalog. These are items that are mostly shipping in January 2010 plus some items that are advance solicited for the spring of 2010.

Starting with Dark Horse Comics' listing there are two new hardcovers offerings, the Turok, Son of Stone Archives Volume 5 and Tarzan Archives, the Jesse Marsh Years Volume 5. I have really been enjoying both of these series. Oddly enough there's plenty of jungle adventure and dinosaur fighting awaits in these two books considering Tarzan sees as much dinosaur fighting as Turok! Fun stuff!

Onto DC Comics now and they've got a variety of classic material offered in Previews. First up, there's a new Joe Simon and Jack Kirby collection! This time DC is reprinting their work together on The Newsboy Legion. These stories from Star-Spangled Comics(1942-1944) have never been assembled into a collection like this before, and I for one think it's about time! This scrappy gang of gutter-snipes from Suicide Slum utilised their own independent newspaper to challenge crooked politicians and slum lords and even Nazi fifth columnists along side their adult hero The Guardian. They were like the Dead End Kids or the Bowery Boys of the comics of their day, only involved in less criminal mischief, and I'm mighty glad to see them offered like this for today's readers. It should be a nice book!

DC's other offerings include Showcase Presents: Secrets of Sinister House TP which is a nice one and done collection of classic gothic horror/romance from the early seventies. Also offered is Wonder Woman Archives Vol 6! It's always great to see DC offering a new Archive! Bravo!

Marvel Comics has some nice books as always with a little something for everyone in their listings. For the dedicated Iron Man fans there's Iron Man Omnibus Vol 2! This massive tome gives you Tales of Suspense #84-99, Iron Man & Sub-Mariner #1, and Iron Man #1-25 all in one beautiful volume! These omnibus books carry quite a price tag($99.99), but her you get every story, every letters page, and a great wealth of extra bonus material that even the mighty Marvel Masterworks volumes don't see! And speak of the devil, there's a Masterworks offering too! This time Inhumans Volume 2 is the choice for the month and it follows hot on the heels of the release last month of Inhumans Volume 1 and it completes Marvel's efforts to collect and release all of their classic appearances! Two handsome volumes of work and you've got them all! Is that nice or what? The softcover Masterwork for the month is Fantastic Four Volume 3 reprinting FF #21-30 which is a grand bunch of issues full of Marvel Universe guests and villains galore! Essential buyers should note there's an Avengers Volume 7 TP listed reprinting Avengers #141-163, Annual #6, and Super-Villain Team-Up #9! I love this period of Avengers as they went up against Kang, The Serpent Crown, and were caught up in the drama of civil wars which erupted in both Atlantis and in Latveria! They had their hands full during this period and the action in this comic just seemed to get bigger and bigger! Other notable collected editions from Marvel include Excalibur Visionaries Alan Davis Volume 2 TP, Hulk Visionaries Vol. 7 TP, and a reprint of Daredevil: Born Again now in softcover. Finally, two more recent classics get the premiere hardcover treatment: Avengers: World Trust, which was first arc of Avengers by super-star writer Geoff Johns just before his time on Green Lantern and his elevated status at DC! Also, score another collection for Iron Man fans with Iron Man: Deadly Solutions reprinting the first seven issues of Iron Man post Heroes Reborn as Kurt Busiek wrote a book good enough to make us readers forget all about teen Tony Stark! Thank you, Mr. Busiek!

Hermes Press has another classic reprint book delving into comics based on TV's fantastic worlds of Irwin Allen with the complete Land of the Giants Archive. This hardcover reprints the entire Gold Key series plus essays, photos, production art, blueprints, and many, many more wonderful extras! Classic TV fans should also note their reprints of other comics of Irwin Allen shows, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and the Time Tunnel, are available now, and I learned from their sales rep during a recent retailer summit that they're planning on releasing archive collections ofthe comics of Dan Curtis' gothic TV soap opera, Dark Shadows, in 2010 as well!

IDW has two wonderful books in Previews! The first is cartoonist Jack Kent's hilariously clever comic strip King Aroo, which is being collected now into hardcovers of every daily and Sunday strip from 1950-1952. Their second comic strip collection for the month goes back even further and reprints a surreal saga of George Herriman's Krazy & Ignatz in a very affordable hardcover! The hi-jinx begin when Krazy Kat discovers a bag marked “TIGER TEA” and brews an elixir that leads to all sorts of... well, kraziness!

Well, to make some attempt to keep this somewhat brief I'll wrap this up here! There's a number of great items that I could go on about but pick up a previews and check out the catalog for yourself! As always, if any of these books are of interest, just let us know at the shop. This month's orders are due back by this Saturday, November 14Th, but as you know being the nice folks that we are we even accept orders late.

Until next time...

Looking Forward to Looking Back, Vol. 5

I'm back with some very good news for 2010 out of publisher, Fantagraphics! Many of you may know them as a premiere publisher of many fine works of independent comic creators, but Fantagraphics has had an even longer tradition of releasing collections of great comic books and comic strips of the past. In 2010, the company continues this work, teaming once again with famed Eisner Award-nominated editor Greg Sadowski (B. Krigstein Comics, Supermen! The First Wave of Comic Book Heroes 1936-1941) to release six volumes of Golden Age goodies. Some big names are going to be represented in these books, such as Jack Cole, Alex Toth, Frank Frazetta, Steve Ditko, and Al Williamson!

These collected editions will be released one per season, starting with Four Color Fear: Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s in June 2010 and collaborated on with famed comics historian John Benson.

The second volume arrives in the Fall of 2010 and collects Toth's amazing efforts for Standard Comics from the '50s. Subsequent books will be issued in the coming seasons and exact dates will follow. So far here is what is certain to come and when:

• FOUR COLOR FEAR: Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s:
  RELEASE DATE: June 2010
• SETTING THE STANDARD: Alex Toth at Standard Comics 1952-54
  RELEASE DATE: Fall 2010
• THE ROAD TO PLASTIC MAN: The Golden Age Comics of Jack Cole 1937-41
  RELEASE DATE: N/A
• AWAY FROM HOME: EC Artists at Other Companies
  RELEASE DATE: N/A
• CREEPING DEATH FROM NEPTUNE: Basil Wolverton's Sci-Fi and Horror Comics 1938-55
  RELEASE DATE: N/A
  
• THE COMIC BOOK FRANKENSTEIN: The Monster According to Dick Briefer
  RELEASE DATE: N/A

Fantagraphics is one of the leaders in producing high quality reprint collections of some of the best lost gems of the classic years of comic books with collections showcasing the work of Bernie Krigstein, Fletcher Hanks, Steve Ditko, and many, many others. The company also boasts an extensive catalog of reprints of the comic strips of Krazy & Ignatz, Peanuts, Feiffer, Dennis the Menace, Popeye, and Prince Valiant! We carry a variety of their books at the shop, and as always, if there's a Fantagraphics title you seek that we don't have, we can certainly order it for you!

That's all for now! I'll be back next week highlighting some gems from the November Previews catalog for books shipping January 2010.

I think 2010 is going to be a good year for classic comic fans!

Looking Forward to Looking Back, Vol. 4

After a week off from posting, I thought I'd compose a rather timely "Looking Forward to Looking Back Baltimore Comic-Con Edition"! I make this post for two reasons. First of all I am definitely looking forward to going to Baltimore this coming weekend and I hope you are too! Second, despite all of my vast duties as a Comix Connection Convention Monkey, I do hope to find a moment or two for myself to seek out some of the items on my own want list while I'm there. After all, what's a comic-con if you can't do a bit of shopping?

So what's on my wish list for the show? Well, a lot of classic stuff, of course. Items I'll probably have very little luck finding, but I'll still share a few with you. But not too many, as you should be busy making up a convention list of your own!

First up in my notes are some classic back issues from DC Comics! On average, I don't buy a lot of back issues these days, but due to DC's significant scale back on Archives and their odd habit of delaying and canceling reprint books, my back issue attention is focused on some of the rarer DC Comics. I love DC Comics, so that critique while negative is simply because I enjoy their books so much!

So what overlooked gems of DC Comics past are on my wish list? Well, at the top of my list is Brave and the Bold #38 featuring Task Force X! I have wanted to collect all of this team's appearances ever since I read Darwyn Cooke's DC: New Frontier! Also the kid in me still enjoys seeing soldiers versus dinosaurs! That's just fun stuff! Task Force X first debuted in Showcase #25 through #27, before a certain cast of characters decided to go and form a Justice League of America. Task Force X got the book back though with issue #37-39, before TB&tB was then turned over to feature the return of Cave Carson to the series. If anyone at DC Comics is listening these 6 issues would make a fine collected edition, hard cover or otherwise! They would also fit nicely in the canceled Showcase Presents Suicide Squad collection. Wink, wink... nudge, nudge...

Another DC: New Frontier inspired comic I would love to find is Danger Trail #1(1950), which introduced King Faraday to the DC Universe! Of course, a comic like this doesn't come cheap. Fortunately, DC did reprint the King Faraday stories from Danger Trail #1 in 1964 in Showcase #50 and #51, and those two issues tend to be way more affordable. Either way, I may just have to keep dreaming here! But what a great comic to dream about! Danger Trail #1 packed 4 stories of espionage written by Robert Kanigher with art by Carmen Infantino and inks by Alex Toth! Kanigher's stories here read like a great movie thriller just loaded with snappy, wit-sharp dialogue and driven by that classic first person narrative while Infantino's art drops the remarkably dressed cast of characters into a dangerous world of high contrast, deep shadows, and Expressionist camera angles that would make Fritz Lang proud! If any comic book ever should have made the boast of being "Noir" this was it! I'd love to see the four issues of Danger Trail reprinted plus the King Faraday "Spy Train" story from World's Finest Comics #64(1953). DC did reprint this one tale in 1990 in their Greatest 1950s Stories Ever Told hardcover collection. It's probably one of the best DC anthology collections I have in my library, and if you ever find a copy I highly recommend it for yours! The book's full of so many great characters and talented creators, and there's especially a lot of great examples of Alex Toth's work at DC. I have read mine so much I've kind of wrecked the book's spine a bit!

Speaking of Toth, another little gem I have been hunting high and low for is the Dragon Lady Press 1987 reprint of Alex Toth's Bravo For Adventure. This magazine reprinted Toth's "Bravo..." stories that originally ran in issues #3 & #4 of the Warren magazine, Rook, published in 1979. I remember buying the book Toth: Black and White years ago, and this bit always stuck out to me. In my mind I see the Jesse Bravo character as an amalgamation of two old Hollywood personalities I admire, as Bravo's got the dashing looks of actor, Errol Flynn, which Toth always freely admitted, and the fearless aviator spirit of director William "Wild Bill" Wellman. How could a guy like that not encounter plenty of women and plenty of adventure?

Other than these fine books, I'd love to find some various collections that would complete some of the series on my bookshelves, like a few volumes of the Tarzan in Color HCs that NBM published, AC Comics Golden Age Men of Mystery Treasury Volume 2, the first book of Radio Patrol comic strips of 7/31/39 - 1/13/40, Charlie Chan comic strips volume 3, and the list goes on and on! One never knows what you're going to find at a convention, so it pays to list even those nuggets of comic gold you never hope to find!

I hope everyone that ventures to Baltimore this weekend has a safe and enjoyable experience and may you find those items your heart desires! Don't forget to stop by our booth at the show to say "hello", and pick up a special coupon from us for use at the store! Sport a Comix Connection t-shirt and Bill will reward your fashion choice with a prize of one dollar! See you there!