Review- TOMB OF DRACULA OMNIBUS VOL. 3

TOMB OF DRACULA OMNIBUS VOL. 3 (Marvel, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects Dracula Lives! Nos. 1-13, Frankenstein Monster Nos. 7-9, Tomb of Dracula (magazine) Nos. 1-6, and selections from Legion of Monsters No. 1 and Savage Sword of Conan No. 26 (cover dates 1973- August, 1980)

Writers: Marv Wolfman, Roy Thomas, Steve Gerber, Tony Isabella, Doug Moench, Gary Friedrich, Gerry Conway, Gardner Fox, Len Wein, Chris Claremont, and many others

Artists: Gene Colan, Dick Giordano, John Buscema, Steve Ditko, Neal Adams, Bill Sienkiewicz, Rich Buckler, Jim Starlin, Mike Ploog, Dick Ayers, Alfredo Alcala, Sonny Trinidad, George Tuska, Russ Heath, Pablo Marcos, Val Mayerik, Win Mortimer, Bob McLeod, John Romita, Sr., Tom Palmer, Klaus Janson, and many others

Artwork by the master, Gene Colan, with Pablo Marcos.

This book is a beast, weighing in at 5.8 lbs. (2.63 kilograms for my metric system using friends out there in the world outside of the United States) and clocking in at a staggering 944 pages. All of the issues are in black and white as originally published, with the exception of each issue's covers and the three Frankenstein Monster issues . I was glad to get the Roy Thomas/ Dick Giordano adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula here in its original black and white, since I have the recently completed and recolored hardcover. Girodano's artwork is gorgeous on that one. 

There is quite an assembly of talent here, and I bolded Wolfman and Colan's names because they did the lion's share of the stories contained herein. The roll call above is like a who's who of legendary creators from that era, and to have them all slapped between two covers is divine. While not every story is great, there is an ample amount of goodness to outweigh any so-so stories. Some of these stories are great, though, like the aforementioned Dracula adaptation, Angela from Tomb of Dracula #4, and Bounty For A Vampire from Dracula Lives! #13. The latter is especially great, with an over the hill marshal turned bounty hunter in pursuit of the lord of the vampires. It's a spaghetti western meets Horror, and it pre-dates all of these recent takes on that (i.e. American Vampire from Vertigo/DC) by decades. 

There are so many good stories and creators involved that I cannot possibly list them all. Let me just add that it pleases me to no end that Dark Horse gave Marvel permission to reprint the two stories featuring Solomon Kane here for completion's sake, since Marvel no longer holds the license for the Robert E. Howard characters. Kudos to Dark Horse! I hope that there can be more cooperation between all of the companies when it comes to comprehensive reprint projects like this. When issues are omitted due to licensing rights, it's a like a smile that is missing a tooth.

Did Steve Ditko bring The Question to Marvel?? Nope, it appears that he just liked drawing faceless characters with that style of hat. Rorschach who?

The OCD zone- The restoration is generally excellent. The problem lies with the super high gloss paper, which is much, much glossier than any stock that Marvel has used in years. While it feels great, and I am admittedly partial to coated paper stock with a slight sheen, the black and white material contained in this book is difficult to read under both CFLs and incandescent light bulbs. The only comfortable, glare free reading that I had was in natural light with no other lights on. This book boasts wonderful sewn binding, and like all post-2007 Marvel Omnibus hardcovers, lays flat from the first page to the last. I just wish that the paper wasn't so damned shiny. 

Gene Colan- one of the absolute masters of the art form.

Reviews: Dick Briefer's Frankenstein

DICK BRIEFER'S FRANKENSTEIN(IDW, 2010; Hardcover)

Collects selections from Prize Comics Nos. 7-9 and Frankenstein Nos. 1, 8, 15, 20, 24, 28, 31 (cover dates December, 1940- June/July, 1952)

Writer/ Artist: Dick Briefer

This is essentially a sampler of the three different eras of Briefer's take on the Frankenstein monster. The first was a crude Horror take. The second version was a comedic take on ol' Frank. The emphasis was still on the macabre.

The third, and final incarnation of Briefer's Frankenstein was an intense, Horror-laden take. 

This was my favorite of the three, although I would love to see a comprehensive collection of all eras of the character. I had read all of this era before in Idea Men Production's 2006 black and white trade paperback. While it collects this era in its entirety, it is dark and muddy, whereas this book is incomplete but in full color. I reviewed the 2006 TPB way back when in my blog.

The OCD zone- The paper used in this book is thick, uncoated stock with an off-white, creamy color similar to pulp paper prior to aging. The restoration is high resolution scans of the original comic books, with no additional work done. You can see every imperfection in the original printing process, for better or for worse. The book has sewn binding, but the paper is so thick and tight in the spine that it doesn't lay flat until the middle of the book. I can't really call foul at the book's price point of MSRP $21.99, though. This book is a bargain.

EDIT- I can't believe that I forgot to mention the die-cut cover. Frankenstein's eyes are cut out, and when you open the book there is a second-phase, comedic Frankenstein picture. A nice, and completely unnecessary, touch. Also worth mentioning is that there is no dustjacket and that the images are screen printed on the cover itself. There is no wax coating on the cover and it is fairly easy to scuff. I'm not sure if I like this recent trend in hardcovers. 

Reviews: X-Men- Powerless; Frankenstein's Womb; Aetheric Mechanics

X-MEN: POWERLESS (Marvel, 2010; softcover)

Collects Cable No. 78, Uncanny X-Men Nos. 379, 380, Wolverine No. 149, X-Force No. 101 and X-Men No. 99 (cover dates April- May, 2000)

This is one of those pleasant surprises. Marvel usually brings out collected editions of older material to cash in on/ hype up an old character returning and/or being relaunched, or starring in a movie. Once in a while, they throw a left field trade like this out there that has nothing to do with current happenings in the Marvel Universe. This was a decent read with palatable artwork. I love how the cover of each issue has the trade dress, unlike collections of  modern material. I'll never understand why they do that. I like seeing the logo, the TM box, etc.

FRANKENSTEIN'S WOMB (Avatar, 2009; softcover)

Original graphic novel.

I picked this up on a whim and was pleasantly surprised at how good it is. Warren Ellis writes a prequel of sorts to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Marek Oleksicki's artwork is excellent, presented in black and white and is genuinely creepy. The cover art is not by Marek, so I included a panel from the story to show how exquisite his artwork is.

I like how this is a skinny book rather than a padded 5 or 6 issues mini-series collected into a trade paperback. The story is the exact length that it needed to be, and that is refreshing in this day and age of "written for the trade" comic books.

AETHERIC MECHANICS (Avatar, 2008; softcover)

Original graphic novel

OK, so I am on a Warren Ellis kick. Sue me. This follows the same format as Frankenstein's Womb, basically a glorified 'prestige format' 48 page book. Graphic novella does sound sexier, I'll admit. Like FW, the shorter story length works because the story is long enough to make a point but is not bloated and padded out to fill a 120 page book. There isn't the investment of both time and money that often makes these things seem not worthwhile. I copped an attitude towards the story at first because it seemed kind of "steam punk", but there is a payoff at the end. This story isn't gripping but it is a worthwhile read.

The All-New, All-Different Junk Food For Thought

OK, not really. What I meant to say is that this is the first all-new blog post since I signed up for Blogspot last month. All of my other posts have been re-posts from my myspace blog (RIP). My last post over there was on July 4, and since then I have been sitting on my reviews. Here we go...

THE ZOMBIE FACTORY (Idea Men Productions, 2007)

Collects selections from Tales From The Tomb (Vol. 2 ) No. 2, (Vol. 4) Nos. 4, 5 (Vol. 5) No. 1, Tales of Voodoo (Vol. 3) Nos. 1, 2, Terror Tales (Vol. 2) No. 5, (Vol. 3) No. 3, (Vol. 4) No. 6, (Vol. 6) Nos. 1, 4 (Vol. 9) No. 1 and Witches’ Tales (Vol. 6) No. 1 (cover dates January, 1970- January, 1978).

This is an interesting collection of mostly B and C level black and white Horror from the '70s. Credits are nearly non-existent, which is a pet peeve of mine. It would be nice to know what issue which story came from, as well as who wrote and/or penciled it. The scans are way too dark, likely done to compensate for the deterioration of the pulp paper used back then. I'm sure that a C-level publisher like Eerie (no relation to Warren Publishing's superb Creepy and Eerie) didn't bother archiving their stats for later use. This is an okay read if you can find it, although I would have preferred a more comprehensive hardcover collection.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13 VOL. 2: HELL COMES TO BIRMINGHAM (Marvel, 2009)

Collects Captain Britain and MI13 Nos. 5-9 (cover dates November, 2008- March, 2009)

This series is worlds better than most of the current stuff being put out by Marvel. It's a shame that this wasn't the first arc, rather than the always gimmick-y crossover spin-off that it had. Maybe if Marvel would let a series find its own footing rather then being shoved into crossover after crossover we wouldn't see the amount of launches, re-launches, and cancellations that we currently do.

SIN CITY VOL. 4: THAT YELLOW BASTARD (Dark Horse, 2005)

Collects Sin City: That Yellow Bastard Nos. 1-6 (cover dates February- July, 1996)

SIN CITY VOL. 5: FAMILY VALUES (Dark Horse, 2005)

Collects Sin City: Family Values Original Graphic Novel (cover date October, 1997)

SIN CITY VOL. 6: BOOZE, BROADS & BULLETS (Dark Horse, 2005)

Collects Sin City: The Babe Wore Red, Sin City: Silent Night, Sin City: Lost, Lonely & Lethal, Sin City: Sex & Violence and Sin City: Just Another Saturday Night (cover dates November, 1994- October, 1998).

SIN CITY VOL. 7: HELL AND BACK (Dark Horse, 2005)

Collects Sin City: Hell and Back Nos. 1-9 (cover dates July, 1999- April, 2000)

This is a super fast paced read, and it works for this type of series. Frank Miller's artwork is growing on me, as he makes excellent use of black and white and solids. The occasional color inserted into the black and white color scheme is interesting as well. I really like the paper that these books are printed on, as it has an intoxicating smell. I like how all of the characters and settings all circle around and intersect in each other's stories without becoming directly involved with each other, and without it being necessary to know any of the previous stories. One could literally pick up any book in the series and have an enjoyable read.

BLAZING COMBAT (Fantagraphics, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Blazing Combat Nos. 1-4 (cover dates October, 1965- July, 1966)

The Warren magazines were the natural successors to EC Comics. Frontline Combat and Two-Fisted Tales depicted the horrors of war in often unfavorable ways, and this series ups the ante with it's early anti-Vietnam angle. The title was blackballed by distributors and cancelled, which is a damn shame considering the quality. The EC stable turns in fantastic artwork all around, and Russ Heath does what is, in my opinion, his finest work ever. The book is a super high quality presentation, with superb uncoated, thick paper stock, spotless art transfers from pristine sources, and luxurious sewn binding, all in hardcover to boot. The only gripe that I have is that the Frazetta covers are shrunk down to 1/4 page in the back of the book. Aside from that, this is the definitive document on this series for the ages. Interviews with James Warren and Archie Goodwin provide invaluable insight into the minds of the men who made it happen.

SWAMP THING VOL. 7: REGENESIS (DC, 2004)

Collects Swamp Thing (Vol. 2) Nos. 65-70 (cover dates October, 1987- March, 1988)

SWAMP THING VOL. 8: SPONTANEOUS GENERATION (DC, 2005)

Collects Swamp Thing Nos. 71-76 (cover dates April- September, 1988)

This series doesn't seem to miss a beat after the departure of Alan Moore. I was delighted to see Alfredo Alcala's finely detailed artwork grace these pages.

THE MONSTER OF FRANKENSTEIN (Idea Men Productions, 2006)

Collects The Monster of Frankenstein Nos. 18-33 (cover dates March, 1952- October/November, 1954)

This collects the obscure series by Dick Briefer, and is outstanding! Gruesome, gory and violent, this is not some campy or watered down version of the monster. Briefer's artwork is unusual, but has a style that is pleasing to the eye. I wish that this series was collected in a full color, high end hardcover rather than this black and white trade. Oh well, when you are dealing with comics as obscure as this, you have to take what you can get. I highly recommend this book to all fans of Horror comics.