I had imagined that I would blog about the stupendous and exciting Titan books printing of Marvel's Prisoner adaptation of the 1970s- both the Kirby and Gil Kane material. But I think I'll wait until I've finished the second box set from Big Finish which "re-imagines" Patrick McGoohan's spy thriller-cum-psychedelic-allegory. I hope this won't be like the long-promised and undelivered Star Trek book posts ( one day, when I finally find the Discovery and Prometheus novels I bought in the summer, they might actually come to pass).
It's been another busy school week, with our annual fundraising walk from Elgin to Lossiemouth ( with a record-smashing 11 minute sprint from me at the end, to get from the school to this library for a talk on Muriel Spark by my former work colleague, Dr. Colin "Sammy" McIlroy).
As I've mentioned before, our school comics club meets on a Tuesday in the library and I enjoy showing our pupils comics and graphic novels they may not be aware of. Indeed, soberingly for me, the prismatic foil covers of 90s comics that their parents have collected are as distant to them as the All-Winners Squad was to me.
At our last eeting, I brought in a 1975 100-page DC Super-Spectacular ( the JLA/ Injustice Gang issue) and the four modern Super-Specs I bought on ebay. I thought I'd post about them today since Walmart have announced it is releasing a regular 100-page Flash title and a Swamp Thing special, presumably for Hallow'een.
Superman opens with a serial entitled "Endurance", set in Tornado Alley. It really speaks to the Midwestern roots of the character but perversely, I found this folksy realism of this natural disaster tale dull and not engaging.
The Loeb/McGuinness Superman/Batman stories are up next. This serial was made into an animated feature and its slick, Manga style is exactly the bright, colourful material a Supery mass-market title should feature.
Then we get the John/Pacheco/Van Sciver Green Lantern revival. Johns's slavish 80s fanboy tastes and the odious right-winger Van Sciver are a total turn-off. I tried this launch at the time in 2005 and didn't pursue it through a lack of interest in Hal Jordan, basically.
New to me was the Terrifics, Lemire and Reis's pastiche Fantastic Four. Plastic Man, Metamorpho and Mr. Terrific are characters that I enjoy but I don't see the point of the Metal spin-offs, which all ape Marvel properties.
The Batman comic begins with an utterly unermarkable serial about a kidnapping entitled One More Chance. The Jim Lee Hush saga from 2002 is the oldest material in these Walmart books but I read the collected version when I was working with 20ish Bat-fans in Easterhouse a decade ago. I was more interested in New 52 Nightwing but the potty-mouthed T&A of 2013 Harley Quinn is again another total turn-off. I understand the Bad Girl appeal of Margot Robbie's Harley but I don't think the anti-hero approach that has all-ages appeal.
Teen Titans by Jurgens and Eaton introduced another iteration of Wolfman and Perez's very minor villain 1982 the Disruptor. The Johns/McKone revival of the Titans from 2003 is a logical place to start but I simply do not care for Johns's violent, ugly storylines.
I've read much of Pete Tomasi's Super Sons in UK Titatn reprints but Jon and Damian are really appealing characters ( much more so than Zaney Haney's original 70s Super Sons ciphers).
Again Metal spinoff Sideways is a derivative teen hero in the Peter Parker/Nova/ Miles Morales. Why not showcase the New 52 Blue Beetle here? At least his ethnic background is more representative of US demographics.
Justice League was the one I wanted most and ironically, was probably the least rewarding. The new Seeley/Leonardi Wonder Woman strip looks and read very much like the Rebirth Year One serial- so why not print that?It was sensible to spotlight all the heroes from the movie and it's not their fault that I'd read virtually everything before.
I don't know how many times I've seen the Lee/Johns Justice League Origin now- as an animation and as a New 52 series. It's a thin, movie blockbuster of a script showing yet again how such an iconic group can have such humdrum adventures.
I own the new 52 Aquaman Trench serial in tpb form. It's an atmospheric horror movie but again. overly familiar. And the Manapul Buccellato Flash is a triumph of design but... I've read it before.
Compared to the Super-Specs of yore, readers aren't rediscovering long-defunct characters and stories. A substantial number of these reprints are from the New 52 relaunch of 2011: a mere seven years compared to the 20-30-year gap in mid-70s hundred-pagers. So are both companies involved missing the point of the format?
While there is a definite nostalgic tug for these comics, it's misleading to think of them as an initiative that will boost sales. They are exclusive to Walmart in the US and can't be purchased elsewhere. You have to shop at Walmart to buy these comics. They're rarities, for all that they're largely reprints and they can't be obtained in a digital format. The marquee name creators will attract hardcore collectors and speculators so I can't see that they can grow a new revenue stream. The pupils in our comics club gave them a cursory glance but no more.
It doesn't look like DC knows what it's doing here but you can bet your bottom dollar that Marvel will launch a very similar strategy soon.
With the last of my moving boxes returned to the courier, yesterday, I've been immersed in old comics: Kirby's Bicentennial Cap; MOKF; Starlin's Dreadstar; Englehart's Coyote. The entire Thomas/Buscema run of Conan the Barbarian in Dark Horse reprints is lined up and I'm thinking of a post on Marvel's Conan the Liberator. I'm delighted to revisit them even if they are taking over the flat.
Coming soon (ish) The Twelve and the Time War. Take care and stay aware.
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