Reviews- Vampire Tales Vol. 3; Atmospherics

VAMPIRE TALES VOL. 3 (Marvel, 2011; Softcover)

Collects Vampire Tales Nos. 8-11 (cover dates December, 1974- June, 1975)

Writers: Gerry Conway, Chris Claremont, Doug Moench, Don McGregor, Marv Wolfman and others

Artists: Sonny Trinidad, Alfredo Alcala, Tony DeZuniga, Russ Heath, Mike Vosburg, Yong Montano and others

Morbius the Living Vampire is one of my all-time favorite comic book characters. Indeed, I use his Marvel Value Stamp from the early '70s as my avatar on the Masterworks Message Board, so to get these classics collected is a dream come true.

Don McGregor's Morbius story (High Midnight from VT #8) was a chore to get through. While I love Morbius, McGregor uses the second party narrative to spew his personal philosophies of disdain for corporations, to the detriment of the story. While I share some of his views, I find it ironic that he uses an abundance of corporate owned popular culture icons as reference points for the actions of the characters. I don't believe that was his intention. It also severely dates his writing, as a younger reader picking up this book would be like “who is Rin Tin Tin?” I guess they could grab their smartphone and Google it. 

Doug Moench's writing is top notch as usual. He really had a gritty, street level approach to his writing. This straddles between zeitgeist and timeless, as these stories could just as easily be set in 2012.

Sonny Trinidad is an outstanding artist, one whose name isn't mentioned enough in conversation for my tastes. If he were an artist on a more commercially successful run of titles than these '70s Marvel black and white magazines then fandom would consider him a legend.

No, the gutters are not THAT tight. I just had to hold the book at a weird angle in order to get a relatively flat picture of the cover. Morbius rules!

Blade the Vampire Slayer is also a regular feature in this title. The restoration is worlds better here than on the old Blade: Black and White TPB.

The OCD zone- The restoration is excellent, with the exception of Blood Lunge from Vampire Tales #9. It's obviously scanned, and at a low resolution to boot. It has jagged lines and pixelation. Adding insult to injury, pages 2 and 3 are mixed up on that story. I am happy to see the covers in color. Marvel could've gone all cheap on us and printed them in black and white like the stories themselves.

This is one of the GN-TPB sized books, and despite the fact that the artwork was shrunk down from the original magazine size, it reads just fine. I would love to see this stuff collected in an omnibus or oversized hardcover but I can live with these three trades if not. I am just happy to see these lost classics finally collected. 

ATMOSPHERICS (Avatar, 2011- actually released in 2012; Softcover)

Original graphic novel

Writer: Warren Ellis

Artist: Ken Meyer, Jr.

Remastered and recolored from the original 2002 release, Atmospherics is a rollicking good time...if your idea of a good time is a completely nuts take on alien abductions and/or adverse reactions to heroin use. I thought that this was fantastic. I enjoy everything that I read by Warren Ellis. I don't own his entire catalog or anything, but his name attached to a project makes me more inclined to pick it up.

The OCD zone- This is basically a prestige format comic book/ graphic 'novelette'. I'd rather have a skinny 48 page book that is good than a bloated, 120 page trade paperback filled with nonsense double page spreads.

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Review: Moon Knight- Countdown To Dark

MOON KNIGHT: COUNTDOWN TO DARK (Marvel, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects selections from Hulk Magazine Nos. 11-15, 17, 18, 20, 21 and Marvel Preview No. 21 (cover dates February, 1979- May, 1980)

This is probably as close to a Moon Knight Masterworks as we're going to get. The Marvel Premiere Classic line gets it right, though. Nice paper and sewn binding in a hardcover format at a lower price point than the Masterworks line, albeit with a lower page count. Moon Knight is, at best, a strictly third tier character in terms of popularity. I have always had a soft spot for him, what with his schizophrenia/ multiple personality disorder and 'more Batman than Batman' attitude during this era. Moon Knight was a regular back-up feature in the full color Hulk Magazine, and the artwork for those issues was originally airbrushed. I have no idea if these are all scans or insanely complicated color reconstruction jobs. Most of the pages look excellent, although there a few "fuzzy" looking, probably scanned pages scattered throughout the book. Most people probably wouldn't notice, but my uber-anal-retentive, OCD-laden eyes can pick them out.

Writer Doug Moench does some really neat scene changes that were pretty groundbreaking at the time but have since become commonplace. He didn't do as many caption/ third party narratives as most writers did back then. He used dialogue shifts to change scenes, i.e. someone would be talking and the scene would shift with someone finishing the line, but moving the other scene forward. Bill Sienkiewicz is a fan favorite artist, but not one of my mine. His work devolved into a scratchy mess as he went along, but here he does his best Neal Adams riffs to much success. It's a shame that he had to drastically alter his style a few years later.

This is a great read for those unfamiliar with the character. These issues were collected in black and white (along with his early Werewolf By Night appearances) in Essential Moon Knight Vol. 1. Either way, you can't go wrong.

Reviews: Vampire Tales Vol. 2

VAMPIRE TALES VOL. 2 (Marvel, 2011; softcover)

Collects Vampire Tales Nos. 4-7 (cover dates April- October, 1974)

I was happy to see the series shift its focus back to Morbius, the Living Vampire after Issue 3. It seemed like they were hyping Satana to be the lead feature, and then nothing. She lasted two issues. The reprints from '50s Horror comics are weeded out, and the influx of talented creators really lift this series to heights of greatness.

Let me drop some names here: Writers on this series include Don McGregor, Doug Moench, Tony Isabella, Roy Thomas (who adapts Robert Bloch's The Living Dead), Steve Gerber, Marv Wolfman, and Chris Claremont. Artists include greats such as Tom Sutton, Esteban Maroto, Rich Buckler, Val Mayerik, Bob Brown, Tom Palmer, Pablo Marcos, Alfredo P. Alacala, and Howard Chaykin. Alfredo P. Alcala, a personal favorite of mine, turns in what must be his greatest work in Blood Death (Issue 6). I love his work on the DC Horror titles from this era (House of Secrets, House of Mystery, etc.), as his artwork really shines in the black and white phonebook format for those titles. Here, his artwork was intended to be seen in black and white, and he puts even more detail in each panel than he usually did. It's stunning, rich, atmospheric work, with so much texture and nuance that I could put it on my wall and stare at it like fine art in a museum.

The stories in this book are almost as good as anything in the Warren Magazines (Creepy, Eerie, etc.) of the time, and I am interested in seeing what the rest of the series holds. Vol. 3 is listed on Amazon.com but has not been officially solicited yet.

Reviews: Vampire Tales Vol. 1; Marvel Masterworks- The Human Torch Vol. 1; Soundgarden- Live On I5

One could argue that we are currently living in the Golden Age of comic books. No, I am not saying that sales are anywhere near where they were in the halcyon days of the 1930s and 1940s, but in terms of the sheer depth and breadth of titles from all eras being readily available to all readers. Collections range from bargain priced crash courses into character history (i.e Essentials, Showcase Presents, Chronicles TPBs) to comprehensive high end collections (i.e. Masterworks, Archives, Omnibus editions, etc.) and all price points in between. Flip through a copy of Diamond Previews and see for yourself. On any given month, there are collections available from every decade (the 1930s- present day collections) in all shapes and sizes. Some are very affordable and go to the level of being...not as affordable. As a fan and reader foremost, I feel like I can stand at the crossroads and cherry pick comics from every decade and every genre, and bask in the warmth of the promise of future treasures from all eras being unearthed. When I was a collector starting out in the 1980s, it was current comic books and cheap-o '70s or lesser condition '60s comics. That was it. I couldn't even dream of affording, let alone reading, comic books from the '30s-50s. A fan starting out today could literally become an expert on the medium with far less investment.

VAMPIRE TALES VOL. 1 (Marvel, 2010; softcover)

Collects Vampire Tales Nos. 1-3 (cover dates 1973- February, 1974)

File this one under "dreams come true". I have long wanted to see this series collected in ANY format. It was released in Marvel's new "Graphic Novel" format, which is a bit smaller and narrower than a standard comic book. It's not my preferred format, but it's better than nothing. The cover image is a poor choice, especially when you consider how impressive each issue's painted cover is. Any one of them would have helped to make this a more attractive package.

All of the original text pieces are included, and the covers are presented in full color. The original issues were black and white. There are some reprints of Atlas Era Horror material as back up features, and they are included here as they were in the original issues of Vampire Tales.

I had Issue 3 back in the '80s. Morbius the Living Vampire has been a favorite of mine since I first encountered him in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #38 back in 1978. My Mom bought me that one evening when we went grocery shopping at Farmer Jack. Morbius was originally the star feature of this title until Issue 3, when all of the focus seemed to shift to Satana, the Devil's Daughter. I love '70s Horror comics, with their faux-Satanic, Hollywood-tinged evil. It's so much more interesting than "real" evil or Satanic stuff, which is just stupid.

One of the things that I enjoy about these '70s Marvel Horror magazines are the way that they push the envelope. Freed of the Comics Code Authority, they can do pretty much whatever they want to. Drug references, violence, bloodshed...they're all here. I have a double standard: I love this stuff in comics, but not in mainstream Marvel Comics. When it comes to Spider-Man, Captain America, etc., I want things to be age appropriate. When it's Horror or non-Marvel stuff, then the sky's the limit as far as I am concerned. Again, it's a total double standard and I freely admit it, but I think that it boils down to the fact that Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, etc., are all marketed to children, whereas Morbius the Living Vampire is not.

I am still keeping my fingers crossed for a comprehensive Morbius Hardcover series down the road. I'd love to see a Masterwork or an Omnibus. Hey, a guy can dream, right? Just like I used to dream about seeing this series reprinted...

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE HUMAN TORCH VOL. 1 (Marvel, 2006; Hardcover)

Collects selections from Strange Tales Nos. 101-117 and Strange Tales Annual No. 2 (cover dates October, 1962- February, 1964)

I picked this up at the Motor City Comic Con last May for $15 in mint condition, still sealed in the original factory shrinkwrap. I mean, the cover states that it's by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. It's got to be gold, right? Wrong! Stan Lee only plots and edits the bulk of these issues and turns over the scripting duties to brother Larry Lieber and other third stringers. Jack Kirby only does the occasional pencil layouts or inking, and Dick Ayers does most of the artwork. Ayers is my least favorite artist from this era of Marvel. His artwork leaves me cold. I forgot just how unlikable the Human Torch was back then. Come to think of it, I always considered him to the weak link of the Fantastic Four, being too hot headed and rash for my tastes.

The later issues in the book step up in quality when Stan and Jack handle the book themselves. Lots of fun stuff occurs, like the Torch fighting the Sandman, the Puppet Master, and  the Acrobat, who poses as Captain America in a story that came out before Marvel reintroduced Cap. After enjoying the last few issues in the book, I am on the fence about Volume 2.

This book was something of a shock to the system. I have become quite spoiled by the quality of Masterworks over the last few years, and forgot about some of the speed bumps that the line had along the way. This book is from the era where they got the coloring, linework, and paper down pat, but suffers from glued binding. Not just glued binding, but super tight mousetrap style binding. I'm serious, this is a two-fisted read. If you let go for one second, SNAP!, the book closes just like a mousetrap. Glued binding on hardcovers is the devil, and this was a trip back to the bad old days.

Soundgarden/ Live On I5 (A&M, 2011)

I have fond memories of the Soundgarden concert I attended in November of 1996, and I jumped at the chance to buy a live album recorded a month after that show. The setlist is a bit different than the one that I saw, and the CD doesn't sound anywhere near as powerful as the concert did. That's the drawback of live albums. While they are important documents of a specific era of any given band, it can't replicate the sensory experience that is a live concert.

The sound quality and performances are both excellent, and I wish that they would have released this years ago. Oh well, better late than never.