Review- ALL STAR COMICS ARCHIVES VOL. 5

ALL STAR COMICS ARCHIVES VOL. 5 (DC, First Printing, 1999; Hardcover)

Collects All Star Comics #19-23 (cover dates Winter, 1943- Winter, 1944)

Writers: Gardner Fox and Sheldon Mayer (co-plotter) with Jack Kirby (some Sandman rewrites)

Artists: Joe Gallagher, Stan Aschmeier, Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, Bernard Baily, Joe Gallagher, Sheldon Moldoff, Joe Kubert, Cliff Young, Steve Brodie, and Frank Harry

The novelty of reading scarce and expensive old comics has long since worn off for me after nearly fifteen years into the golden age of collected editions. We fans have been spoiled rotten by the embarrassment of riches shoveled at us in all directions in any number of formats. Since the novelty is gone, we are left with two avenues with which to judge these works. One is reading these comics in a purely academic sense, weighing their historical significance against other comics of the day. The other is how does it read through modern eyes in 2017. Modern meaning my middle-aged eyes, for what it's worth, but eyes that have still never read these comic books before.

With that in mind we jump in to this sixth volume in the line (there was a Vol. 0). The award winning formula of the day is still intact. The team starts each issue with a meeting and are suddenly presented with a challenge or mystery of some sort which requires the team to split up in order to tackle the problem more efficiently. This formula is used in every issue. While this might seem tedious or monotonous to a modern day fan, bear in mind that these comics were read primarily by children and that many people didn't buy every single issue of every title back then.

At this point The Justice Society Of America is Hawkman, Johnny Thunder (and his Thunderbolt), The Spectre, Sandman (the second, crappier version), Star Man, The Atom, Doctor Fate, Dr. Mid-Nite, and their secretary, Wonder Woman. Yes, that's right, the second most powerful member of the team is left behind to take notes. Societal mores being what they were, I guess that this appealed to the kids of the 1940s.

#20 finds the team fighting their first true super villain, The Monster. While they have fought costumed foes before, this is the first one with augmented abilities. The story in #21 would have done nothing but create multiple divergent timelines rather than solve the problem that the team faced. I wonder how the DC continuity experts have worked that one out. The Psycho-Pirate proved to be a worthwhile nemesis in issue 23.

This was a moderately entertaining read. The stories have no plot twists and the endings are telegraphed a mile away, but these were aimed at children over 70 years ago. It's easy to criticize the lack of sophistication in the writing or artwork here in 2017. This stuff is still important and worthy of your attention. If it weren't for The Justice Society Of America we would never have gotten The Justice League of America for Stan Lee to rip off with The Avengers.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- The following are omitted from this book:

On Silver Wings, a half page text story from #19.

Fuller Phun And Archibald Club one page gag strip from #20.

Fat And Slat one page gag strip from #21 and 22.

Who's Who In Whoville one page gag strip from #23.

Pervia Problem, one page text story from #23.

Why were these omitted? DC's collected editions department has little method to their madness.

Linework and Color restoration: Off-white matte coated stock with a slight sheen.

Binding: Smyth sewn binding. It's a little tight but loosens as you read it.

Dustjacket and Hardback cover notes: Thick laminated dustjacket. Casewrap has faux leather grain with foil stamping. 

Review- ALL STAR COMICS ARCHIVES VOL. 3

ALL STAR COMICS ARCHIVES VOL. 3 (DC, Second Printing, 1997; Hardcover)

Collects All Star Comics #11-14 (cover dates June/July, 1942- December, 1942/January, 1943)

Writers: Gardner Fox and Sheldon Mayer

Artists: Sheldon Moldoff, Jack Burnley, Harry G. Peter, Cliff Young, Ben Flinton, Howard Sherman, Stan Asch, Bernard Klein, Joe Gallagher, Jon L. Blummer, Lou Ferstadt, Pierce Rice, Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, and Howard Ferguson

The Justice Society of America are the first team of superheroes in the history of comic books, so their significance cannot be overstated. The team at this point in time consists of Hawkman, the Sandman (in his wretched Kirby-designed second costume), The Atom, Doctor Fate, Doctor Midnite, Starman, Johnny Thunder and his thunderbolt, The Spectre, and their secretary and emergency reserve member, Wonder Woman.

All four issues stick to the same formula. The team meets up, the stage is set, and they either split up to tackle the problem individually or become separated, with the team reconvening at the end to defeat their foe. Each character's strip is handled by the team that created them, so this is a precursor to the “comic jam”. Most interesting is how each character's creator draws them in the panels and covers where the whole team are assembled.

Wow, this panel has it all. Native Americans worried about turning traitors to the country that stole their land and referring to the Japanese as "yellow men". 

Issue 11 shows that America had entered into World War II, with Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor fresh on everyone's mind. The members of the JSA all decided to volunteer to enlist in the armed forces, albeit in their civilian identities. They all manage to somehow sneak their superhero outfits along, changing into them on the battlefield. German and Japanese stereotypes abound in these comics, so they may seem politically incorrect by 2016 standards. Bear in mind that our country was in war, and they were the enemy at that point in time. These comics are fascinating time capsules of a bygone era.

My favorite issue in this book is #13. The Germans gas and knock out the JSA, loading them each onto a separate rocket destined to one of the nine planets in our solar system. I found it amusing that the supernatural Spectre could be gassed into unconsciousness, but you have to supersize your suspension of disbelief when you read Golden Age comic books. I found our then-current knowledge of the planets to be amusing as well. People's imaginations were running wild. Fast forward nearly 75 years later and we know so much more about the planets and outer space in general even though we still have a long way to go. I wonder what comic book fans in 2101 will think about our science fiction of today.

I love the rawness of Golden Age comics, and how the creators made up the rules as they went along. There is a freshness to this stuff that no longer exists in the medium. I enjoyed this book as a book and loved it as a historical document and artifact. Either way it deserves a place in your collection.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4.25 out of 5.

The OCD zone- RIP DC Archives.

Linework and Color restoration: This is an overall solid restoration job, especially for the era that the restoration work was done in. The linework is good, although there are spots with the occasional dropout. The color palette is maintained for the most part, although the color blends have that airbrushed gradient look not found in the original comics. There are also coloring errors here and there.

Paper stock: The paper in this book is perfect. Off white thick matte coated stock.

Binding: Smyth sewn binding. The binding is quite stiff and the book doesn't lay flat.

Dustjacket and Hardback cover notes: Dustjacket has a lamination. The hardback has that faux leather casewrap and foil stamping on the front and rear covers as well as the spine. 

Review- ALL STAR COMICS ARCHIVES VOL. 2

ALL STAR COMICS ARCHIVES VOL. 2 (DC, First Printing, 1993; Hardcover)

Collects All Star Comics #7-10 (cover dates October/November, 1941- April/May, 1942)

Writers: Gardner Fox, Sheldon Mayer, and William Moulton Marston

Artists: Everett E. Hibbard, Martin Nodell, Bernard Baily, Ben Flinton, Stan Aschmeier, Sheldon Moldoff, Cliff Young, Jack Burnley, Harry G. Peter, and Howard Sherman

The Justice Society Of America was the first superhero team in comics. In an age where there are ten Avengers teams the superhero team may seem tired and old, but back in the days leading up to World War II this was a groundbreaking concept. The JSA undergoes a few membership changes during this book, with Green Lantern stepping down after #7 and Dr. Mid-Nite (with his owl sidekick, Hooty) stepping in. The roster of the team is as follows: Green Lantern (#7 only), The Spectre, The Atom, Dr. Fate, Hawkman, The Sandman, Hour Man, Johnny Thunder, Dr. Mid-Nite (#8-on), and Starman (#8-on).

I found Johnny Thunder to be an annoying character. He is an idiot who has control over a Thunderbolt, basically a genie that can do anything and is seemingly impervious to harm. He has to summon the Thunderbolt by saying the magical Badhnisian phrase “Cei U” (pronounced say you), which he always does by accident. He can never figure out how to summon the Thunderbolt, often getting into worse trouble until he accidentally summons him. The Thunderbolt seems to like to take the piss out of him, needling him in ways like not answering the magical Badhnisian phrase when Johnny was in Cuba because he didn't say the magic phrase it in Spanish. None of which makes sense since it is a Badhnisian phrase and not an English phrase to begin with, but there you have it.

The stories are all set up in the same format. The Justice Society meets up, encounters a problem, and then they all split up to tackle this multifaceted problem, meeting up at the end. There is little to no actual teamwork in terms of battles. The artwork is done in what the kids call “comic jam” format, where each character is handled by a different artist, usually the one who created the character.

I bought this book because I love Golden Age comics with the original Sandman and The Spectre. Even though they are handled by the same creative teams as their solo adventures the stories here are inferior. When it comes to comics one has to have what is commonly referred to as a suspension of disbelief. If you think these comics through too much there will be holes, and that goes for all fantasy created in any era. My suspension of disbelief ran into a wall when The Spectre, who battled entities on the spirit plane in his own strip, was raising money for war orphans. That issue was out several months before the United States entered World War II. The Sandman changes his costume over the course of this book with no explanation given. His new costume looks closer to the wretched Joe Simon/Jack Kirby version of the Sandman. His original costume was rooted in the 1930s pulps.

I especially enjoyed #10, where the team had to journey 500 years into the future (2442) in order to retrieve the formula to prevent bombing. Lots of interesting ideas in that story. It is funny how outdated many of the science fiction ideas of 500 years in the future are 75 years after publication. While there were times that this was a clunky read it was by and large very enjoyable. There are a handful of politically incorrect things that are unintentionally funny, but one shouldn't find offense in such things if you read this in proper historical context and as an example of the history of the medium. That is asking a lot of modern fandom, I know, but trying to appreciate things for what they are instead of what you wish they were will lower your stress level.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.75 out of 5.

The OCD zone- DC Archives are well made books.

Spine without dustjacket.

Linework and Color restoration: The covers look wretched, with lines dropped or made murky. The original color palette is faithfully maintained throughout. The linework looks a little blotchy, with the black lines looking thicker than the scans of the original comics that I have done comparisons with. This was a perfectly serviceable restoration job for 1993 that, knowing DC, will never be remastered using modern technology. Scanning has come a long way, and this was recolored prior to Photoshop. Marvel always takes another look at their material every time they rerelease it, and if superior source materials surface or better techniques arise then they will seize the opportunity to make these books the best that they can be. DC seems to shrug their shoulders.

Paper stock: The paper in this book is perfect. Off white thick matte coated stock.

Binding: Smyth sewn binding. The binding is quite stiff and the book doesn't lay flat.

Front cover without dustjacket.

Dustjacket and Hardback cover notes: Dustjacket has a lamination, while the foil coloring becomes discolored with time, even when not left in direct sunlight. The hardback has that faux leather casewrap and foil stamping on the front and rear covers as well as the spine. 

Back cover without dustjacket.

Review- ALL STAR COMICS ARCHIVES VOL. 1

ALL STAR COMICS ARCHIVES VOL. 1 (DC, Second Printing, 2000; Hardcover)

Collects All Star Comics #3-6 (cover dates Winter, 1940- August/ September, 1941)

Writers: Gardner Fox with Charles Reisenstein and other, unidentified writers.

Artists: Everett E. Hibbard, Sheldon Moldoff, Bernard Baily, Creig Flessel, Howard Sherman, Ben Flinton, Martin Nodell, Howard Purcell, Hal Sharp, Cliff Young, Irwin Hasen, Stan Aschmeier, and other possibly unidentified art assistants.

The Justice Society Of America was the first superhero team in the history of comics. That alone makes this book historically significant and worth a read. In Don Thompson's Foreword he claims that this is the first time that superheroes ever met one another in comic books. This is false. Over at Timely's Marvel Mystery Comics the Human Torch met (and battled) the Sub-Mariner in #8 (cover date June, 1940, on the stands months before that). Thompson was a respected member of the original organized fandom in the early 1960s, back when comic book collecting was not considered a serious hobby and long before these characters entered mainstream and I respect him, but he is wrong. Crossovers as such existed in some of the earliest newspaper strips at the turn of the 20^th century, going as far back as The Katzenjammer Kids.

Way to go, Flash, think of ways to put honest firemen out of work.

That aside, this is a fascinating read. For starters, the characters all meet up and then go their separate ways to uncover whatever case they are working on. The kids these days call them “comic jams”, where one creator hands it off to the next. Each character's creator and primary artist handles their respective strips, and then there is a resolution at the end where they all meet up and solve the case. This formula is repeated in all four issues collected here. What makes this interesting is that instead of the anthology format used in all comics of the day you have one 58 page long story.

Comparing unions to Nazis. Sheesh.

I like how the JSA has a clubhouse where they meet. The simplicity of the times was evident throughout these comics. While the fashions and architecture of the time were contemporary to readers when these issues were originally published they only add to the escapist pleasure of the stories for me. I also enjoy the slang peppered in casual conversation. When modern writers try to write period piece comic like this they always come off as fake because they lack the reference points that the writers who were active during this era had.

Hey kids! Pop a pill and get super powers...just watch out for the crash an hour later. Coming down is a drag.

I enjoyed The Spectre, The Sandman, and the Hawkman parts of the stories the most. Flash is more enjoyable here than he was in other books that I read. 

 

There is some great talent on this book. Sheldon Moldoff's Hawkman is stunning, even if he totally swiped tons from Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon strip. Gardner Fox manages to juggle all of the balls between the various creators of each character, and for the most part it works. #7 is the weakest issue in the book.

I have several more of the books in this lane aging to perfection in my backlog with no real timetable on reading them. I guess that I'll get to them when I get to them. It's not like another year or three is going to matter with comics that already over 70 years old.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3.75 out of 5.

The OCD zone- I like DC Archives. Back when SUVs were getting to be the size of tanks automakers started touting the “garageability” of Ford Explorers. Here in the Omnibus age, where books exceed 1,000 pages and have even hit the 1,500 page mark, I enjoy the “readability” of a 270-odd page book.

Linework and Color restoration: While the color palette is faithfully maintained, the linework is pretty washed out. This was remastered in 1991 using Greg Theakston's Theakstonizing method, where old comics are chemically treated and the color is removed. From there some of the lines were redrawn by hand, and it is obvious how many lines were washed out with this technique. Credit where credit is due, this was the state of the art technique of the day and Theakston was the pioneer in comic book restoration.

Scan of the original comic.

...and the version from the Archive. Notice how blotchy the linework is in places and how washed out it is in others. 

I was impressed by how close the colors were. The blends were done prior to Photoshop, so they were done by hand and therefore lack the cheesy lazy airbrush gradients found in many later DC Archives.

Think of this as a state of the art VHS remaster from 1991. Play that same VHS on a modern television and you will see graininess and the inferior techniques in comparison to what can be found in Blu-Rays. It is unfair to criticize the VHS remastering using this criteria, and it is unfair to outright condemn the work done on this book using 2015 eyes. This was a very good restoration job for it's day. It's a damn shame that DC never ever ever revisits and remasters their material. This material could look so much better. DC could use the Marvel strategy and rerelease this in an Omnibus, using the new format upgrade to defer the restoration cost. DC would simply slap the old files into a new book, like they are going to do in the forthcoming Golden Age Batman Omnibus. Sad.

Paper stock: Wonderful creamy off-white matte coated stock. Perfect.

Binding: Smyth sewn binding, lays perfectly flat.

Dustjacket and Hardback cover notes: Laminated dustjacket. Casewrap has grainy faux leather feel with foil dye stamping. 

Review- ALL STAR COMICS ARCHIVES VOL. 0

ALL STAR COMICS ARCHIVES VOL. 0 (DC, 2006; Hardcover)

Collects All Star Comics #1, 2 (cover dates Summer- Fall, 1940)

Writers: Gardner Fox, Jon. L. Blummer, Jerry Siegel, Al Sulman, Evelyn Gaines, Ken Fitch (as William Waugh), Bill Finger, and John B. Wentworth

Artists: Sheldon Moldoff, Chad Grothkopf, Jon. L. Blummer, Everett E. Hibbard, Bernard Baily, Joseph Sulman, William A. Smith, Martin Nodell, Creig Flessel, and Stan Aschmeier

This was a big 64-page anthology series featuring many different super-heroes. I am not sure which Earth this is supposed to be or how it does or does not fit into current continuity, I just know that I love Golden Age DC.

Hawkman is awesome, as he “uses weapons of the past to battle evils of the present”. Sheldon Moldoff is one of the finest Golden Age comic book artists. The original Sandman is of course fantastic, owing much to the Pulps of the 1930s in tone and delivery. Gary Concord, The Ultra-Man is little more than a Flash Gordon retread, who himself was a Buck Rogers retread done right. The original Flash just bores me. I have no idea why. I enjoy the Silver Age reboot but the original bores me so much that I have no interest in buying the Archives of that run. 

Horrid, horrid gradient shade cheesy airbrush coloring as far as the eye can see. 

My favorite is The Spectre. The Golden Age version is the best comic of it's day, and it was the lure of stories not collected in the Golden Age Spectre Archives that had me scoop these All Star Archives when DC was liquidating them a couple of years ago. Hour-Man and Red, White And Blue are all lovable products of their time that put a smile on my face. Golden Age Comics are something of an acquired taste. They wouldn't hold up to most modern readers beyond historical significance, at least from what I gather via online comic communities.

Uh...okay. I am open minded, but I am pretty sure that everyone can agree that this is kind of sick. 

These are all fun, silly escapist reads. At the end of the day that is all that I am looking for anymore. The real world and real life are depressing enough; I don't need that clogging up my escapist hobby.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

The OCD zone- This is one of the thinnest Archives, clocking in at 144 pages. This is because DC didn't include these issues when they launched this line 15 years earlier and fan demand caused them to add a Vol. 0 to the line, which is great.

Linework and Color restoration: Horrid gradient shades as far as the eye can see. This technique looks wrong for the era. I can't be overly harsh though, as viewing this 2006 restoration with 2015 eyes is unfair. Imagine a DVD purchased in 2006. It probably was fine at the time of purchase, and certainly on par or better with everything else that was remastered at that point in time. Fast forward to the Blu-Ray era, and it looks thin and dated with low resolution. The same can be said for remastering techniques in these books. Advances in scanning and coloring technology has allowed the books to look more authentic to the original publications, often surpassing the primitive printing techniques of the time and looking as close to the original art as possible.

I cannot tell if the linework or color palette are authentic to the original publications as I A) do not own the original comic books to compare and B) cannot find scans online to compare with this book.

Paper stock: I love the paper stock used in DC Archives of this vintage. It is a creamy, off-white matte coated stock and is perfect. Why DC has done an about face and uses glossy paper in modern day Archives is beyond me.

Binding: Smyth sewn binding, lays mostly flat.

Hardback cover notes: Faux leather casewrap with die foil stamping.

Review- SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE SPECTRE VOL. 1

SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE SPECTRE VOL. 1 (DC, 2012; Softcover)

Collects Showcase #60, 61, 64, The Spectre #1-10, The Brave and the Bold #72, 75, 116, 180, 199, DC Comics Presents #29, and The Spectre stories from Adventure Comics #431-440 and Ghosts #97-99 (cover dates February, 1966- June, 1983)

Writers: Gardner Fox, Bob Haney, Mike Friedrich, Steve Skeates, Denny O'Neil, Mark Hanereld, Michael Fleisher, Len Wein, and Paul Kupperberg.

Artists: Murphy Anderson, Carmine Infantino, Charles Cuidera, Neal Adams, Ross Andru, Mike Esposito, Jerry Grandenetti, Bernie Wrightson, Jack Sparling, Nick Cardy, Jim Aparo, Ernie Chan, Jim Starlin, Romeo Tanghal, Michael R. Adams, Tex Blaisdell, Tony Dezuniga, and Rick Hoberg.

The Spectre rules! This skips his still largely uncollected Golden Age run and jumps ahead to his Silver Age revival, which was 21 years to the cover date of his previous appearance. They seem to try to keep the premise of the Golden Age Spectre at first. The Showcase issues and the first issue of his series are okay if a little boring. Neal Adams comes in for #2 and stays a few issues. I enjoy the ones with Wildcat, now 20 years older and past his prime. I recently read some of his early appearances in The Comics Cavalcade Archives.

Things are good but don't get great until Adventure Comics #431, which ushers in the reinvented Spectre after a five year absence in 1974. Michael Fleisher and Jim Aparo crafted a brilliant storyline of wrath and retribution. The Spectre deals out ironic deaths to criminals. This is pretty gritty stuff that pushed the Comics Code Authority to it's limit. There is an old, long out of print trade paperback which collects that series in color which I read years ago.

These black and white phone books are a love and hate thing for me. DC usually screws up the coloring in their collections, so this is something of a plus for them. They can also serve as poor man's Artist Editions books.

I wish that DC would continue the Golden Age Archives and continue into the Silver Age and beyond. I have the first two '90s series trades but couldn't even begin to guess when I will get around to reading them.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4.75 out of 5.

The OCD zone- This being DC, multiple appearances are omitted that were published during the timeframe of the material presented in this collection. Par for the course. At least they didn't omit any story pages in this collection like they did in so many others during the period that this collection was published in.

Linework and restoration: Everything looks tight and clean.

Paper stock: These books use the cheapest pulp paper available. When you get 624 pages at $19.99 MSRP you can't really complain, though. These are designed to be cheap reads.

Binding: Perfect bound trade paperback.

Cardstock cover notes: Thick waxlike lamination.