Review- MARVEL MASTERWORKS: FANTASTIC FOUR VOL. 5

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: FANTASTIC FOUR VOL. 5 (Marvel, Second Edition, Second Printing, 2007; Hardcover)

Collects Fantastic Four Nos. 41-50 and Fantastic Four Annual No. 3 (cover dates August, 1965- May, 1966)

Writer: Stan Lee

Artists: Jack Kirby (pencils) and inkers Vince Coletta (41-43, Annual 3) and Joe Sinnott (44-50)

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were a force of nature during this era. They tossed out so many brilliant ideas in such a brief period of time that it leaves me awestruck. After a trio of issues featuring the Frightful Four we get the wedding of Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) to Susan Storm (the Invisible Girl) in Annual No. 3. Unlike DC, this would not be an imaginary tale to be undone next month. This was a real, actual life event unfolding in the ever expanding Marvel Universe. That issue showed what a real, integrated universe it was like no issue before it. 

Doctor Doom used his High-Frequency Emotion Charger to “fan the flames of hatred in the heart of every evil menace in existence!” The result was nearly every villain that the Fantastic Four tangled with up to that point converging on the Baxter Building. Luckily, every hero in the Marvel Universe was attending the wedding, so you got plenty of cool mix and match battles, such as S.H.IE.L.D. vs. the Puppet Master; the X-Men fighting the Mole Man and his mindless minions; the FF and Doctor Strange tussling with the Red Ghost and his Super Apes; Thor vs. the Super Skrull; Daredevil vs. Hydra; Captain America locking horns with the Cobra, the Executioner, and the Enchantress while Hawkeye removed Mister Hyde from entering the fray; the X-Men fighting the original Black Knight, the Mandarin, Electro, the Unicorn, the Melter, and the Beetle; Iron Man versus the Mad Thinker and his Awesome Android; Quicksilver tangling with the Human Top; and Attuma's surface world invasion thwarted in a scene worthy of It's A Mad, Mad, Mad World. In short, it's simply one of the greatest comic books of the Silver Age.

You would think that Lee and Kirby would cool their heels a bit after a blockbuster like that, but you'd be mistaken. Madam Medusa was already introduced as a member of the Frightful Four, but not much was known about her. Issue 44 heralds the arrival of inker extraordinaire Joe Sinnott, a most welcome change after Vince Colletta. Colletta did not compliment Kirby's pencils in my opinion. Issue 44 is also when things kicked into high gear. The Gentleman's Name is Gorgon! is pure genius. Gorgon, in his very first appearance, tries to take Medusa back to their world, and to their own people. It was forbidden for her to be out in the human world. Dragon Man is woken up during their battle, complicating things even further.

Issue 45's Among Us Hide...The Inhumans! is another high mark for the era. When Marvel slapped the phrase The World's Greatest Comic Magazine on the cover every month it was a case of no brag, just the facts. Karnak, Lockjaw, Crystal, Triton, and Black Bolt all debut in one issue. That's right, the Inhumans were fully formed right out of the gate. Maximus the Mad, the Great Refuge...everything was ready to go. Mind you, they did this in one month. No creator retreats. No crossovers. No mapped out arcs. Just unbridled, unrestrained creativity. Lee and Kirby were going off and nothing could stop them. 

Reed Richards knew how to put the lil' woman in HER place. Women's lib hadn't happened yet.

This storyline carries us into issue 48. The Inhumans “arc” is finished by page 7, the last two panels of which we are introduced to yet another iconic character: the Silver Surfer. I kid you not, this stuff went on month after month without missing a beat. Imagine how many arcs today's “star” writers would milk out of each issue. But that's not all! Not content to phone in the remaining 13 pages, we instead get the coming of Galactus. Galactus, preserved in all of his erroneously colored glory on the final page of issue 48. When I say that the Masterworks adhere to the original color palette I mean it. They even faithfully recreate the mistakes!

Issues 49 and 50 see Uatu the Watcher coming really, really close to breaking his oath of recording the activities of the lifeforms in this section of the galaxy without ever interfering. Galactus also came out of the box fully assembled, his motives and intentions clearly presented from the very first. Frickin' incredible. 

Between The Fabulous Fantastic Four Marvel Treasury Edition from 1974, which collected truncated versions of issues 48-50 and Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol. 2, I've read all of these issues before. I sold off my copy of Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol. 2 a while ago for a couple hundred bucks and then turned around and bought the softcover volume 4 and back to press 2007 hardcovers of Vols. 5 and 6, all of which use the same restoration as the Omnibus. That book is coming back in print this fall, but I won't be triple dipping. I'm happy with these books...and the money that I pocketed selling my Omnibus on eBay. 

You will find no "witty" dialogue or breakfast table conversations in THIS book, charlie.

Issue 50 introduces a long-running member of the FF's supporting cast: Wyatt Wingfoot, Johnny Storm's Native American college roommate. Volume 5 is the most satisfying of all of the Lee/Kirby FF Masterworks, but you really can't wrong with any (or all) of them. Any aspiring comic book writer needs to sit down and study this to see how the masters did it. They were fearless and took countless chances, and they all paid off.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- The Marvel Masterworks line of hardcovers are my poison of choice. This particular book is from a transitional era in the production values of the line. While they finally had the paper and restoration down, the American-made sewn binding is thick on the glue and nowhere near as nice as the Chinese-made Masterworks which would surface a year later.

DVD-style Extras included in this book: This book was from the era before such things were common in Marvel Masterworks.

Linework and Color restoration rating: 5 out of 5. The second Omnibus, this 2007 hardcover printing, and/or the 2011 softcover is the only way to go. All three use the same state of the art restoration and original color palette. Marvel should recall and pulp the older, inferior printings. They soil the Masterworks name. The only gripe that I have is a scan line on one portion of the page shown below.

Paper rating: 5 out of 5. Beautiful thick coated stock paper with a slight sheen. There was a problem with several pages, where they weren't fully cut and I had to tear the “perforation” on the top in order to open and read those pages. Terrible.

Binding rating: 4.25 out of 5. This sewn binding is incredibly stiff, although it does loosen up significantly if you play with it enough. Still, those spoiled by a steady diet of modern pressings will be disappointed with how much work it takes for this book to lay perfectly flat.

Buy MARVEL MASTERWORKS: FANTASTIC FOUR VOL. 5 HC at InStockTrades!

 

Also available in Direct Market Variant Edition flavor.

Review- INSURRECTION

INSURRECTION (2000 AD, 2011; Softcover)

Collects selections from Judge Dredd Megazine Nos. 279-284, 305-310 (cover dates January 6, 2009- May 24, 2011)

Writer: Dan Abnett

Artist: Colin Macneil

Curse you, 2000 AD Free Comic Book Day issue! That issue featured a snippet of this feature, and I was so intrigued that I had to seek out the trade paperback which collected it. Insurrection is set in the Judge Dredd universe but, aside from some lingo and the antagonists being the Special Judicial Squad, this could just have easily been it's own thing. Whereas you root for the Judges in Judge Dredd, here the entire thing is a gray area.

Mega City One Colony K Alpha 61 was invaded by the Zhind, an alien race claiming ownership to the minerals of this space settlement. Despite numerous pleas to Mega City One, no help was sent. So the Judges granted the mutants, uplifts, and droids citizenship and enlisted them in a war, which they won, renaming the colony Liberty. This is where our story begins.

Liberty has declared independence from Earth, something that does not go over well. Mega City One sends the Special Judicial Squad (which will be referred to as the SJS from here on out) to reclaim it's territory...something that also does not go over well. What you have is basically a wafer thin metaphor for the United States, who revolted from England (where this story was originally published).

The sequel, Insurrection II (from issues 305-310), sees our “heroes” (depending on your point of view) flee Liberty and spread their message, causing an uprising an a droid-only factory which manufactures the Trilinear Chip. This then poses the question of equality. Are sacrifices okay if they are not human? Are robots the equal to humans since they have fought shoulder to shoulder with humans for the very same thing? This is an allegory for the Civil War. The droids have developed a pulse virus which can short out every Trilinear Chip on Earth, essentially setting Earth back hundreds of years. What is one to do? I won't tell you. You may highlight the following line below for the answer:

There is no answer. We are left with a question, which I LOVE.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

The OCD zone- The only covers that are included are the ones which feature characters from this story, which would be Judge Dredd Megazine Nos. 305 and 310.

DVD-style Extras included in this book: Eight pages of character sketches. Original Pitch (2 typed pages).

Paper rating: 4.25 out of 5. Glossy coated stock, but it has that “dusty” Chinese ink feeling to it. Probably flakes from the asbestos tiles that the Chinese mix in a vat with the mercury from recalled thermometers and lead paint chips.

Binding rating: 4.25 out of 5. Sewn binding. Nice.

Cardstock cover coating rating: 4 out of 5. Dull matte finish coating which scuffs fairly easy. Not a fan of this “fancy” coating used on so many books these days. It makes the colors look dull and muted in a bad way.

I apparently bought the last copy available a week or so ago, but there are plenty of other great books published by 2000 AD available at InStockTrades!

Review- BEFORE WATCHMEN: OZYMANDIAS/ CRIMSON CORSAIR

BEFORE WATCHMEN: OZYMANDIAS/ CRIMSON CORSAIR (DC, 2013; Hardcover)

Collects Before Watchmen: Ozymandius Nos. 1-6, Before Watchmen: Dollar Bill No. 1, and the Crimson Corsair back-up stories from Before Watchmen: Minutemen Nos. 1-5, Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre Nos. 1-4, Before Watchmen: Comedian Nos. 1-4, Before Watchmen: Nite Owl Nos. 1-3, Before Watchmen: Rorschach Nos. 1-3, Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan Nos. 1-3, and Before Watchmen: Moloch Nos. 1, 2 (cover dates August, 2012- May, 2013)

Writers: Len Wein and John Higgins (co-writer on the Crimson Corsair back-up stories)

Artists: Jae Lee (Ozymandias), John Higgins (Crimson Corsair), and Steve Rude (Dollar Bill)

Colorists: June Chung (Ozymandias), John Higgins (Crimson Corsair), and Steve Rude (Dollar Bill)

Len Wein is a true legend in this industry, and yet he never seems to get enough props. The guy's track record speaks for itself: He co-created the Swamp Thing with Bernie Wrightson. He retooled and relaunched the moribund X-Men, setting the stage in just two issues for Chris Claremont to take over and turn it into one of the biggest comic books of all time. He also co-created a little known character by the name of Wolverine. Never mind his respectable run on Spider-Man in the '70s.

In this book Wein writes Ozymandias, which is a fantastic mini-series in it's own right. It fuses elements hinted at or ever so briefly touched upon in the original Watchmen series with the handful of original developments and ideas from the film. This may make the purists wince but it makes for a great read. I love how much story Wein crams into each issue. This is definitely not one of the collected editions that you can polish off in an hour or so. No siree, this is best digested slowly over several days, the better for it to sink in. 

Ozymandias' childhood and early days as a crime fighter are fascinating to witness. These are things that I have always wanted to see. You want to know something else? I'd love to see more prequels of this stuff. There are plenty of empty spaces where you could insert untold tales. As long as the talent is equal to Len Wein and Jae Lee, then why not?

The Crimson Corsair is a good story with spectacular artwork by John Higgins. I didn't sit there and compare it with the comic book that was being read in the original series, so I am not sure how it fits in with everything there. The most interesting thing about it is how the whole thing is presented in 2 page increments, giving it a serialized Sunday strip vibe. It was a back-up feature in many of the Before Watchmen comics.

The Dollar Bill one-shot once again touches on events hinted at or told in the text pages of the original series. It's a more lighthearted tale than Ozymandias' origin...at least until the end. Steve Rude does the artwork, and I would love to see him do more stuff. 

So does this surpass the original series? Of course not. Does it ruin Watchmen for all time? Nope. Folks will still be talking about that series decades from now. I just think that too many folks got uptight about their sacred cow getting molested by other creators. I'd be more than willing to buy more prequels or, dare I say it, a sequel to Watchmen.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4.25 out of 5.

The OCD zone- Aside from the warped paper (see below), these DC Deluxe Edition hardcovers are really nice. The image is printed on the hardback itself, with no dustjacket included.

DVD-style Extras included in this book: A variant cover gallery in the back of the book which collects the following:

Before Watchmen: Ozymandius No. 1 Jim Lee with Scott Williams & Alex Sinclair variant cover

Before Watchmen: Ozymandius No. 1 Phil Jimenez with Romulo Fajardo, Jr. variant cover

Before Watchmen: Ozymandius No. 2 Phil Noto variant cover

Before Watchmen: Ozymandius No. 3 Massimo Carnevale variant cover

Before Watchmen: Ozymandius No. 4 Michael Wm. Kaluta variant cover

Before Watchmen: Ozymandius No. 5 Jill Thompson variant cover

Before Watchmen: Ozymandius No. 6 Ryan Sook variant cover

Before Watchmen: Dollar Bill No. 1 Jim Lee with Scott Williams & Alex Sinclair variant cover

Before Watchmen: Dollar Bill No. 1 Darwyn Cooke variant cover

2 pages of Ozymandius sketches by Jae Lee

Crimson Corsair character sketches by John Higgins (1 page)

Crimson Corsair art by John Higgins (1 page)

Paper rating: 4 out of 5. This book is made in the United States, which is a huge part of the problem. I'd love to see everything made in the USA once again if the products are as good as what we get from the Chinese sweatshop printing presses. US paper mills use trees which are not allowed to cure properly once cut, which means that the trees are green when they are made into paper. The result is shitty, warped paper like the stuff found in this book. My books are all stored in a climate controlled environment, and yet this one has warped paper all over. Books made in China from virgin Amazon rainforest trees do not have this problem.

Binding rating: 4 out of 5. Glued binding in hardcovers this thin is not a deal breaker. The book lays reasonably flat.

Hardback cover coating rating: 5 out of 5. This has a super thick lamination which is impervious to damage when handled as the product is intended. The black Beyond Watchmen band, spine, and section of equal measure on the rear cover have a different, dull texture which is really nice.

Buy BEFORE WATCHMEN: OZYMANDIAS/ CRIMSON CORSAIR HC at InStockTrades!

Review- LONE WOLF & CUB OMNIBUS VOL. 1

LONE WOLF & CUB OMNIBUS VOL. 1 (Dark Horse, 2013; Softcover)

Collects Lone Wolf and Cub Vols. 1-3

Writer: Kazuo Koike

Artist: Goseki Kojima

I was wrong. W-R-O-N-G, wrong. My exposure to Manga had been characters drawn with cheesy, large round eyes, cartoony artwork, and borderline pornographic comic books. I dismissed the entire genre as crap, although I have always enjoyed things influenced by Manga, such as Elfquest. Everyone and their brother have raved about this series over the years, urging me to read it, with me always dismissing it because it was Manga. I was in a comic shop with a friend a few years back and he showed me one of the Dark Horse digests of this series, telling me how good it was. I flipped through it and thought that yes, the artwork was quite good, but it was Manga, so no sale. Fast forward to the present day, and Dark Horse solicits an Omnibus of this material. I adore the Dark Horse Omnibus format, which has a generous page count with excellent production values (i.e. nice paper, binding, etc.) at a reasonable price. I was intrigued enough to finally give it a try. 

Lone Wolf & Cub takes place in Edo-period Japan (17^th century). Ogama Itto gets set up for murder by the clan in order for them to gain control. His toddler son Daigoro is given a choice between a ball or a sword. One is a quick death (the ball), the other is the path to becoming a ronin. Since Daigoro chose the sword, he set out with his father as the Shogun's executioner, traipsing across the Japanese countryside and encountering friends and foes alike. Ogama is a master of the dotanuki sword battle sword. I've got to admit that I've always found ninja/sword stuff to be uber-cheesy, but this is done so well that it transcends any notions or biases that I once had toward them. 

The thing that won me over with this book was the quality of the writing as well as the artwork. There is some deft characterization here. Time and again I smirked and shook my head at how clever this story is. The violence is way over the top and fast paced. There is nudity and sex throughout the book, but it is artfully done and in service to the story rather than appealing to basement dwelling fanboys (term used in the original pejorative). I normally feel embarrassed to read comics that feature nudity and sex because it feels adolescent. This is true “Mature Reader” fare. The plots are both complex and straightforward. Everything is easy to grasp but there is a lot going on in the overall structure of the story, sometimes taking 100 pages to make it's point. 

Lone Wolf & Cub was obviously a huge influence on comic books over the past decade or so. While I despise Manga-flavored superhero comics, I adore this book. I despise decompression in modern comics, with pages and pages of little to no text. It seems lazy. This is done in abundance here, but it was A) innovative for the era and B) so well done that the pictures really can do the heavy lifting. Nothing about this seems like they are just filling pages with pretty pictures or padding the page count. The quiet moments are necessary and appropriate for the story. The action sequences, which last for page after page at times, can be confusing. It requires study and repeated viewing in order to fully determine what Ogama Itto is doing, all without the benefit of narrative or dialogue.

And this is reading it with 2013 eyes. This series was originally published in Japan as Kozure Okami in Weekly Manga Action from September, 1970- April, 1976. The US was oblivious to this series until it was published by First Comics beginning in 1987. They only managed to get through a third of the run before going belly up. Dark Horse translated and compiled the entire saga in 28 Graphic Novels, the first three of which are collected in this larger-sized Omnibus edition.

So my decidedly Western taste in comic books has finally met a Manga book that I like. I have been getting more and more into European comic over the past year or two, and now this. It's staggering to think of something as American as the comic book being taken around the world and interpreted and expanded upon with different storytelling “languages”. I am in for the Volume 2, due in August. People keep telling me to read Akira. What do you think, do I owe it to myself to read that too?

Junk Food For Thought rating: 5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- This is not your typical Dark Horse Omnibus. Both the dimensions of the book and the materials used are radically different from the rest of the line. This book measures 2.4 x 5 x 7.1 inches (or 6 x 12.8 x 18 cm for my friends in the Metric system using world outside of the United States) as opposed to the size of the rest of the books in the Dark Horse Omnibus line, which are 1.2 x 5.9 x 9.1 inches (or 3 x 15.9 x 23.5 cm ).

DVD-style Extras included in this book: A 5 page glossary.

Linework restoration rating: ? out of 5. Your guess is as good as mine. I do not have access to the original single issues or the Dark Horse digests for comparison. I see no pixelation or any other defects. I defer to Manga experts on this one.

Paper rating: 4 out of 5. This has a nice thick pulp paper. Manga has traditionally used cheap paper to help keep costs down. That could be why this stuff sells millions of copies in Japan while our American comics are considered hits if they crack the 100k sales mark.

Binding rating: 5 out of 5. This has glued binding, and the spine of the book has a bizarre flexibility to it. It actually rounds inwards when you are reading it. This results in some slight creasing on the spine and marginal inward curve when you're done with the book. This doesn't phase me but will make my OCD homeskillet Ferjo Byroy lay awake at night. There is no creaking of the glue, and there is nice thick band attaching the pages to the cover. It seems highly durable, enough for an OCD 5.

Cardstock cover coating rating: 5 out of 5. This has a dull matte finish but is scuff resistant.

Buy LONE WOLF & CUB OMNIBUS VOL. 1 TP at InStockTrades!

Review- AVENGERS: WEST COAST AVENGERS- ZODIAC ATTACK

AVENGERS: WEST COAST AVENGERS- ZODIAC ATTACK (Marvel, 2012; Hardcover)

Collects Avengers Annual No. 16, West Coast Avengers Nos. 25-30, and West Coast Avengers Annual No. 2 (cover dates October, 1987- March, 1988)

Writers: Steve Englehart and Al Milgrom (30)

Artists: Al Milgrom and Mike Machlan with Dave Hunt and others ( Avengers Annual No. 16)

The book starts out with the two Annuals which are a sequel to the 1982 mini-series Contest of Champions. The Controller used the East and West Coast Avengers teams in a game to trick Death into releasing the Grandmaster from his deathly exile. Al Milgrom's artwork is best described as “serviceable”. He is okay as long as he has a good inker. When he inks his own work, as he does in the West Coast Avengers Annual, the results are less than impressive. I've read both of these a few times. They were collected in the 1999 Contest of Champions trade paperback which I owned (2001 printing) but then dumped off to upgrade to the 2010 Marvel Premiere Classic Hardcover Avengers: The Contest, which was a remastered and significantly upgraded version of the same material.

The issues from the core series were a huge arc dealing with the Zodiac. The Zodiac have been used so many times and in so many ways that even diehard comic fans find them hard to follow. The original incantation was a criminal cartel, where each sign was a gang leader. According to Wikipedia, there have been six versions of the Zodiac. This book features the second version. Loathe as I am to resort to referring to Wikipedia, the Zodiac are so confusing to me that I had to. 

The battle between Wonder Man and the Abomination in issue 25 is great. I have always enjoyed Moon Knight and was pleased to see him join the team. This group was always a mismatched affair and so he fits right in. The battle between Moon Knight and Taurus in issue 29 is a lot of fun, as we see Moon Knight's schizophrenic personality reemerging. Milgrom's pencils and layouts are good. He is a great storyteller even if he is not a technically great artist. Mike Machlan's inks are not as powerful as Joe Sinnott's but he still saves the day (and Milgrom's artwork). Englehart is mysteriously absent from issue 30 but returns in issue 31 (not in this book). Milgrom takes over the scripting duties in issue 30 in addition to his pencils. The story feels similar to one of those proto-Silver Age Stan Lee alien invasion type stories from Tales To Astonish or one of the other Atlas science fiction/ monster titles.

The material collected in this book is being repackaged in the West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vol. 2, due later this year. The rub of it is that this is the last of the Marvel Premiere Classic hardcovers, while the second Omnibus goes up to issue 41. So I will be dumping this (and Lost In Space-Time) on eBay and upgrading. I resisted buying the first West Coast Avengers Omnibus because I am perfectly happy with the first three hardcovers. This will be the only way that issues 31-41 and Annual 3* will be collected unless Marvel issues another hardcover...which they probably will if I buy the Omnibus. If I don't buy it, it will go out of print and then a collection of issues 31-41 and Annual 3 will never materialize. A pox upon you, completist OCD! (*Annual 3 was also collected in the Evolutionary War Omnibus.)

This will then bump us up to the John Byrne run, which I already own in the VisionQuest and Darker Than Scarlet trade paperbacks. The fill-in issues 58 and 59 are collected along with issues 63-75 in the Along Came A Spider-Woman trade paperback. This would give us enough material, already remastered and restored, for a third potential Omnibus. Don't hold your breath for that one, although I wouldn't entirely rule it out when Avengers: Age of Ultron hits theatres in two years.

That leaves us only issues 76-102 and Annuals 4-8* in order for the entire series to be collected under the West Coast Avengers banner. Annual 4 (Atlantis Attacks), 80-82 (Operation: Galactic Storm), 96, 97 (Infinity Crusade), and 101 (X-Men/Avengers: Bloodties) have been collected in their respective crossover-themed collections.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

The OCD zone- I love the way that these Chinese made books smell.

DVD-style Extras included in this book:

Marvel Age Annual No. 3 (1985) page 3, a spoof page by Writer/Artist Fred Hembeck, and page 5, which was a preview page with brand new writing and artwork by Steve Englehart, Al Milgrom, and Mike Machlan. That Annual was a blast, as they had a brand new page for each title that Marvel was currently publishing outlining the next year's plotlines. I loved Marvel Age magazine.

The covers to issues 27 and Avengers Annual No. 16 with modern recoloring. These were used as the front and back cover of the dustjacket for the bookstore market version of the book (see cover image at the top of the review). These are fully rendered and would have been used for a softcover version of this book. They likely will be used if one is ever made available. They are presented here without any trade dress (i.e. logos, etc.).

Linework and Color restoration rating: 5 out of 5. These Marvel Premiere Classic Hardcovers were a sort of junior Masterworks line. While this isn't quite the “Blu-Ray” restoration you would see in a Marvel Masterwork, it is still excellent.

Paper rating: 5 out of 5. Thick coated stock with a slight sheen.

Binding rating: 5 out of 5. Sewn binding. The book lays 99% flat. I feel all warm and fuzzy.

Buy AVENGERS: WEST COAST AVENGERS- ZODIAC ATTACK HC at InStockTrades!

Also available in DIRECT MARKET VARIANT flavor.