Atlas-Seaboard Comics - May 1975

May is a tiny production month for Atlas-Seaboard with only two, color comics wear a May date. IRONJAW #3 offers a tremendous tale by Fleisher and Marcos. Ironjaw, who in the previous issue rejected a kingship, finds his way back home to find his adopted father Tar-Lok. Tar-Lok is a grand character and his exchanges with Ironjaw are very entertaining. The two clearly have an affection for each other, but they won't lift a hand to assist each other before a price has been bartered. There are robbers, sheriffs, and serpent-headed cannibals in this wildly imaginative tale that introduces us to the Great Machine, the god that Ironjaw worships and has invoked repeatedly in the first two issues. Well  let's just say the "Great Machine" is a relic from our time and is actually a humble humbug managed by a corrupt cleric more interested in the collection plate than his flock. Ironjaw is shown to be a naive yet devout individual who ignores his father's advice to quit throwing money at his "god". This a well-paced self-contained story with energetic artwork and a very entertaining and funny script.

SCORPION #2 gives us another Moro Frost adventure by Howard Chaykin. This time there is voodoo and curses galore. The Ernie Colon cover isn't all that accurate of what goes on inside the book so beware. The story is another period piece, a bit confusing in places but filled with vivid characters and situations. The artwork is another group-project with diverse hands throughout. This is another indication that Atlas is fragmenting, and Chaykin has clearly pulled away from the project.

Aside from the second installment of the black and white DEVILINA magazine (more on the black and white publications later this year), this is the whole of the Atlas-Seaboard May offerings. One more month and the train comes off the rails for good.

More Atlas-Seaboard to come in June.

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Maius!

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,

Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,

Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, 

One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne

In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,

One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them

In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. 

It's the merry month of May, or "Thrimidge" according to the Shire Calendar. The influence of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is difficult to reckon. It can be argued with some confidence that an entire publishing sector owes its existence to the saga, one which redefined fantasy. I fell into the clutches of Tolkien's imagination when I was still a very young man and was eager to expand my reading from the masses of comics I had consumed and the few bits of science fiction I'd enjoyed. I wanted to step up and take on something with a bit more rigor and Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings was just the ticket. I first got a glimpse at Tolkien's classic fantasy when I spied it in my high school library, three attractive black books in a slipcase tucked high and up out of reach behind the librarian's desk. They were presented almost like totems of worship. I was fascinated but never asked to see them. (She was that kind of librarian.) And then I went to college. 

It was 1975 and the publishing world was enjoying a boom of sorts with fantasy catching on with younger folks. In addition to TLotR, there were the Earthea trilogy from LeGuin, the Deryni Cycle from Kurtz, the grim weird Gormenghast trilogy from Peake, and copious amounts of Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Ballantine Books had a whole division advised by Lin Carter dedicated to putting back into print obscure fantastic and weird novels of decades gone. For a glimpse check out this link. I gobbled them up. But there always seemed to be something special about Tolkien's Middle-Earth, it seemed richer and more completely realized than many of the other places I visited. I'd learn that Tolkien had spent decades refining it with a special care which was not available to the whipsaw pulp creations of the Hyborian Age or ERB's myriad landscapes, worlds produced at the prodigious speed needed to produce income. Tolkien didn't work like that. He was a professor, and his Middle-Earth was a thing he fashioned first to entertain his children and himself. It was his hobby and his passion. He produced the books in those times that life allowed.  

I revisit these tomes from time to time. Certainly, they have gotten a great deal of notoriety since the Peter Jackson adaptations have made cash cows out of them to an even greater degree. (The trilogy is being exhibited in theaters again after over two decades.) I want to go there again, in Middle-Earth's many guises. I want to read the source material found in The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion and even The Unfinished Tales, and more. I want to view and enjoy these animated adaptations from Ralph Bakshi and the Rankin-Bass outfit. And I want to plum again the Jackson versions in all their sometimes, overwrought glory. And if time allows, I'd like to explore some of the tales that inspired Tolkien's imagination. We might even get around to the music, the art, and satire inspired by Tolkien's creation. So, expect everything this month to be either Tolkien related or Tolkien adjacent, with only a few exceptions. And it's a lot for a tiny month which I'm making tinier still. 

The blog will take a break early in the month but expect wall-to-wall Tolkien when it gets fired back up to full heat. Back tomorrow though with a little something from Atlas-Seaboard Comics. 

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Batman Vs. Ra's al Ghul!

Batman Vs. Ra's al Ghul by Neal Adams is one bizarre comic book yarn. This 2019 six-issue extravaganza follows on after the Deadman limited series that Adams created the year before, and Deadman plays a very large role in this strange tale that has the Batman transported to another dimension while a doppleganger takes his place as Bruce Wayne. While the assembled Robins attempt to get to bottom of the mystery, the real Batman and Deadman are fighting for their lives in the distant dimension where they encounter all sorts of magic and such. 

Compared to Batman Odyssey this is a relatively easy read, though the first two chapters are exceedingly confusing. I actually thought the book had either missing pages or there had been a printing error. The setting seems to be "No Man's Land", the time when Gotham was cut off from the rest of the world and martial law was necessary. Ra's al Ghul lends his forces to the city to maintain "order" and Batman is vehemently opposed thinking rightly that Ra's al Ghul has another agenda. 

The Neal Adams Deadman series and this one are part of the same story, with the cliffhanger ending of the former leading directly into this. For my review of that series check out this link. In that series Boston Brand is searching for brother Aaron Brand who was traded to Ra's al Ghul by his parents in a strange bargain. Aaron has been trained to become Ra's al Ghul's right hand and participates in a funky series of athletic events to determine who will replace Bruce Wayne as Batman. While that goes on Batman himself is held prisoner (sort of) by the other-dimensional witch Chiaroscuro. 

I'm not quite sure what Adams was up to with this meandering series which not unlike Batman Odyssey seems to want to confuse the reader as much as possible as the story unfolds. There are disguises and robot dopplegangers and endless reveals which are supposed to shocking but sadly just become tiring before the story finally comes to a conclusion of sorts. Deadman does get something of a happy ending to his travails and I suspect that was what Adams most wanted to do for the character on which he'd cut his teeth at DC. The Demon also gets a short appearance in the story as does the Man-Bat and his bride She-Bat. 

The story comes to a complete halt at its climax when we suddenly get a lecture on the benefits of hydrogen power and an explanation of how such power could actually work. Noble, but it seems Adams couldn't keep his preaching out of his storytelling at a critical time. I wish Batman Vs. Ra's al Ghul were better. I wanted it to be better because I have long admired the talent of the late and very great Neal Adams. Adams was an artist who truly changed the industry, first with his style bringing a powerful sense of illustration to a field dominated by cartooning and then by working to see that creators got a fairer share of the benefits from their work. The fact that Batman Vs. Ra's al Ghul is a mediocre comic doesn't mean that Neal Adams wasn't a great man and a great talent. 

Here are the issues in this mini-series with logos intact. 

See next time. Same Bat-Channel! Different Non-Bat-Month! 

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Batman Odyssey!

Batman rides a pterodactyl! Wow! What's not to like? Let me begin this by saying that I don't have the insatiable craving for Bat-stories that many in fandom seem to have. So, I haven't followed a regular Bat-book in decades. I say that to say that the continuity confusions which largely inform Batman Odyssey don't bother me in their own right maybe as much as they might someone more directly connected to the character. They still bother me, as much as I can detect them though. I bought this book because I'm a fan of Neal Adams and I like the way he draws the Batman. That said, this book is still a pretty big mess. But said I think there is a secret to reading it. More on that in a few moments. 

The decision to have Bruce Wayne/Batman narrate the story is a mistake despite the eventual and interesting reveal of who he is narrating the story to. It makes the Batman in these stories downright verbose, not the grim tight-lipped avenger of justice I expect. We also get a psychological play-by-play and that cuts across the impression Batman gives off that utter confidence might be his ultimate edge on criminals. Adams has attempted to humanize the Batman and it doesn't really work all that well. He mostly doesn't come off as competent and often seems merely cocky and often more than a bit dim. 

And then there's the plotting. Is it all a dream of some kind? A dream would explain some of the nonsensical twists and turns. I had a whale of time trying to stay on board as the story jackknifed all over the place. It was hard to follow in a trade and I can only imagine how difficult it was to keep track of month by month. Often, I didn't really know what I had read on some pages until I read the summary in the next installment.

All that said, there are some real virtues in this monstrous epic. Neal Adams is a damn fantastic artist, and it comes across here in spades. His Batman is powerful and exceedingly physical. There is almost a fetishistic concern with musculature at times, but it all works within the confines of the larger artwork. The action is detailed and at times seems specifically designed to demonstrate some particular tactic, and it often does it quite well.

The other thing I really liked was the extensive use of dinosaurs. I love dinosaurs and I love how Neal Adams draws dinosaurs, so it was a hoot to see this book full of people riding around on T-Rex broncos. In point of fact, it was these images which got me over on buying this one. I had to see how Batman came to be riding such an array of prehistoric monsters.

Now I've talked around it and criticized it, but I haven't really talked about the story. It's a tale that does live up to its name. Batman does indeed go on an odyssey. After much furious action atop trains and in the streets of Gotham where Bats battles gunmen and robbers and assassins he discovers that Arkham Asylum has secrets within secrets. The Sensei, leader of the League of Assassins, has taken control and there is a struggle between him and Ra's Al Ghul for vast resources found in a underground territory named "Underworld". Batman enters this Underworld accompanied not by Dick Grayson as Robin (yep) but by Bat-Man, a Neanderthal version of the Batman himself. There are also intelligent evolved dinosaurs and hideous trolls and such which this hidden land filled with giant bats and giant unevolved dinosaurs. This is a one wild ass roller coaster of a comic book yarn.

Many of the characters don't seem to behave as I'd expect, at least not as I sort of remember them. One example is Talia who goes from being a mysterious alluring and exotic but serious-minded vixen to a chatty and scatter-brained strumpet. Batman himself seems to lose control of himself and yell a lot. All of these things add up to some peculiar moments, which don't make sense overall nor inside the story itself. I did like the presence of Deadman who gets a surprising amount of action. Adams draws him very well and he looks good here. And talk, talk, talk. I complain that modern comics don't have enough words, and I stick by that. But this series, despite its bombastic visuals is also quite dense in words. The closest thing I can think of are Don McGregor's epics with Black Panther. 

It finally occurred to me that this was an elaborate rendition of a 1950's Batman story, one of those Dick Sprang classics filled with wacky sci-fi tropes but done in a modern style with overwrought characterization. On that level I can appreciate what Adams was trying to do, but sadly he just didn't demonstrate the writing chops to pull it off completely here. With a truly professional writer polishing this script and trimming it down in some places, this has the makings a really wild and wooly Bat-venture. But as it sits, it's a flawed and at times exhausting work for sure.

Below are the rather outstanding covers for this series. They are powerful!

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The Phantom Novels - Killer's Town!

Killer's Town is the ninth in the "The Story of The Phantom" adventure series from Avon Books way back in the 1970's. I've been reading the Hermes Press reprints and finding them great brisk reads. This was actually written by Lee Falk and not one of the several ghost writers such as Basil Copper and Ron Goulart who wrote many of these books. This particular novel is based on two series from the comic strip titled "Bullet's Town" and "The Killer" by Falk and artist Sy Barry. 

Killer's Town is a dandy adventure which leaps into action when a rundown and largely abandoned town is taken over by killers and criminals from the United States and elsewhere. The allure of the town called "Metropolis City" before its new "owner" a man gangster named Killer Koy took possession. An oddity of politics had somehow made this small territory into its own independent state, not unlike the Vatican or Monaco for instance. The shabby rundown ghost town became a haven for criminals of all sorts who found protection from the law for their crimes. 

The novel rumbles along quite nicely with a number of the thugs and hoods getting great descriptions. Some are thieves, some are corrupt lawyers, some are muscle, and at least two of them are psychopaths, not the least being Killer Koy himself and the other a handsome young murderer named Pretty. His representative and mouthpiece Eagle had purchased the town from its "Governor-Mayor" named Matthew Crumb for a case of beer. The local authorities, and especially the Jungle Patrol attempt to end the scourge but are stopped by legalities. Things really begin to heat up when the leader of the Jungle Patrol's daughter unknowingly enters Killer's Town and is taken hostage. That's when the call goes out to the Commander of the Patrol, the man we know as the Phantom. 

I love the hooligans in this yarn. Falk gives them great names such as Greasy, Gutsy, Fats, Sport, Banana, Scarface, Slim, Spaghetti, Frenchy, Ossie, Fingers, Pilot, and Moogar. Don't get me wrong, this is a foul bunch who deserve every skull mark on the chin they get and more, but there is also a gang-that-shoot-straight quality to these mopes. The murderous impulses and actions of Koy and Pretty help to temper the story and give it a real sense of danger, but overall, they seem a pretty ineffective mob. But of course, with the Ghost Who Walks on their collective tails how could it be otherwise. The story takes a dramatic turn in the last third of the saga. The focus is on Pretty and the native Moogar who find themselves on the run with the Phantom at their heels. 

After a few novels which had the Phantom operating in America and elsewhere, it's nice to have a story set squarely in jungle which is his home. Next time it's The Goggle-Eyed Pirates. But that will be in June. I am taking a break from Deep Woods doings for a month for something special. More details to come. 

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The Last Phantom!

Years ago, I was annoyed that Moonstone had lost the Phantom license, but I still wanted to read Dynamite's version of Lee Falk's classic hero The Phantom. I didn't get the issues as they arrived on the stands. But I did get hold of the trade paper reprints of these stories and I'm glad I did in the end. The two volumes are divided relating to storyline. In the first titled Ghostwalk, we meet a Phantom who has rejected his heritage for a seemingly better way to help and learns that he's not going to get away from his family work all that easily when his trust is betrayed. This is a story loaded with violence. In the second volume titled Jungle Rules the aftermath of the events of the first story continues to unfold, and we revisit the origin and move the plot threads from the first volume forward some. 

Actually, I have to say I was taken away by them. I get what purists object to in this much more violent version of the classic "Ghost Who Walks", but I did detect a clear knowledge of and a fundamental respect for the classic version. If this bloody Phantom was all I had, then I might sigh mightily and move on, but seen merely as a version of the classic, I was intrigued.

This Phantom might or might not be the twenty-first we all know and admire. The arrival of Diana Palmer at the end makes me think he must be. My initial impressions was that this was the twenty-second Phantom, the son of the classic we'd been following so long who was trying to find a Twenty-first Century solution to the Phantom mission, something other than shooting forty-fives and traipsing across the jungle saving folk who need saving. This is a good man who wanted to do good on a broader scale. But we soon find, as does he, that fate has other plans.

The death toll in this story is exceedingly high, and The Phantom is not shy about leaving those who deal death to a fatal reward. That's a definite shift in the nature of the heroics here. It's pretty high octane stuff in this story which never really stops. Thank goodness I waited to read the tale in its entirety. Following along month by month would've been far too tedious.

This Phantom is already married with a son, a wife and son who are killed when the worldwide network he has established for the betterment of the poor of the world is sabotaged by his second in command, a man named appropriately Quisling. Kit Walker must survive long enough to return to his roots as the "Ghost Who Walks" and bring hard justice to those who have killed so many innocents.

I liked how Scott Beatty's story reinterpreted so many of the classic tropes of the original tale, giving them a new and often darker spin. The addition of a stealth suit to the Phantom's arms was a nice idea, adding to the Phantom's power and living up to his name. Hero and Devil are both along for the ride, though the pair do prove nettlesome when it comes to intercontinental transport.

(Edwardo Ferrigato)

The artwork by Edwardo Ferrigato is still of the new school which usually leaves me a bit cold, but has enough classic touches that I can endure it. The Phantom doesn't look off model in most of the panels and the storytelling is sufficient. I would've preferred an artist with a bit more atmosphere, or perhaps a more detailed inker would've helped. The covers by Alex Ross and others are magnificent by and large, though as always with Dynamite they become a fetish with so many different versions being available. I'm happy to have them all in these trades where they can be savored.

The second story arc gives us a new version of the classic origin, a much bloodier retelling but one that still rings essentially true. The Phantom is a concept which is sturdy enough to handle these revisions, so I don't mind when writers try to bring a bit of a change to the details, as long as they don't tinker with the core.

Overall, I found myself swept along by the story which I will caution one and all does end abruptly. But not without a wink to the fans who know that the Phantom regardless of circumstances will always prevail. I will caution you that not all the plot threads are answered in this collection, and it does end on a bit of a cliffhanger. The annual drawn by Johnny Desjardins tells a story of how the father of the current Phantom might have died. Despite the lack of a neat finale, these are still compelling reads. 

Here are the superb covers by Alex Ross with their logos for all twelve regular issues and the annual. 

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