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.

 

Review- THE STEVE DITKO OMNIBUS VOL. 1 STARRING SHADE, THE CHANGING MAN

THE STEVE DITKO OMNIBUS VOL. 1 STARRING SHADE, THE CHANGING MAN (DC, 2011; Hardcover)

Collects Shade,The Changing Man Nos. 1-8, Stalker Nos. 1-4, and selections from Cancelled Comics Cavalcade No. 2, Ghosts Nos. 77, 111, House of Mystery Nos. 236, 247, 254, 258, 276, House of Secrets Nos. 139, 148, Mystery In Space Nos. 111, 114-116, Plop! No. 16, Secrets of Haunted House Nos. 9, 12, 41, 45, Strange Adventures Nos. 188, 189, Time Warp Nos. 1-4, The Unexpected Nos. 189, 221, and Weird War Tales Nos. 46, 49, 95, 99, 104-106 (cover dates May, 1966- April, 1982)

Writers: Steve Ditko, Michael Fleisher, Otto Binder, Dave Wood, Jack Oleck, David Reed, Jack Harris, Len Wein, Paul Levitz, Steve Skeates, Sheldon Mayer, Robert Kanigher, George Kashdan, Joe Cavalieri, Arnold Drake, Robert Ingersoll, Stan Timmons, J.M. DeMatteis, Mike Barr, Steven Utley, Dan Mishkin, Gary Cohn, and David Allikas

Artists: Steve Ditko with Inking by Sal Trapani, Mike Royer, Ernie Chan, Wayne Howard, Wally Wood, Vince Coletta, and Gary Martin

Steve Ditko is among the greatest comic book artists of all time. Anyone who created/co-created Spider-Man (and his colorful rogues gallery) and Doctor Strange has cemented their place in comics history. Having said that, the material that comprises this book is almost entirely culled from his, shall we say, less than illustrious era, the mid-70s to early '80s. 

While his contributions to the various Horror and Science Fiction titles are great, Shade,The Changing Man and Stalker leave a lot to be desired. His artwork is still solid and full of all of his idiosyncrasies that we all know and love, but the writing on those two titles straddles between tolerable and terrible. Stalker especially sucks, a weak concept with even weaker execution. If I ever reread this book I will skip these clunkers and make a beeline to the good stuff.

While I am glad that this material has been compiled in a collected edition, the idea of this book is better than the experience of actually reading it. Still, as a Ditko fan who strives to own his complete output in collected editions it is an essential part of my library, substandard presentation and all.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3 out of 5.

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The OCD zone- DC released this during a period where they decontented their books across the board after consulting Direct Market retailers. Out were quality paper and binding, in was cheap paper, glued binding, and no shrinkwrap, all done to make books “more affordable”. These practices were penny wise and pound foolish. This book feels chintzy and weights about as much as a pack of cigarettes. Those of us who are connoisseurs of high end collected editions thumb our noses up at subpar products like this that try to pass themselves off as high end books.

DVD-style Extras included in this book: Introduction by Jonathan Ross. (3 pages)

DC likely uses first semester community college students who just learned how to use Photoshop to recolor these pages. 

Linework and Color restoration rating: 3 out of 5. While the linework would get a 4.25, it is the horrid, amateur hour recoloring that sinks this book. Lazy airbrush gradients instead of hand colored blends are the order of the day in DC books of classic material. It is harsh and sticks out like a sore thumb to my eyes. I would honestly rather read this stuff in black and white phonebooks than in an improperly colored book like this. While the spirit of the original publications is maintained the blends kill it for me.

A fine example of the horrid recoloring. I feel a stabbing pain behind my eyes when I look at this. 

 Paper rating: 3 out of 5. The paper is basically really thick mando paper, which is a slightly thicker and less acidic version of pulp paper. Hardly the type of paper that one would expect to find in a supposedly high end collected edition like this. It looks like real pulp paper.

Many DC collected editions fans are also binders, which means that they take their floppies and have them custom bound in hardcovers. DC's inattention to detail has earned them the nickname Defective Comics in collected editions circles (credit of term- Aussie Stu from the Masterworks Message Board), leaving many fans that map out and bind their own books. Since they are accustomed to crappy paper in their books they have lower standards for their hardcovers, even going as far as to defend DC's subpar practices like the toilet paper used in this book as well as...

Binding rating: 3 out of 5. ...the glued binding used in this book, which results in both tight gutters and the book not laying flat. Everybody wins!

Hardback cover coating rating: 5 out of 5. While the casewrap has a quality lamination, it's design is so ugly that it makes this book feel even cheesier than the materials used in the cheap boards on the hardback. I would take a picture to show you the horrid design found under the dustjacket but I would prefer to spare you the terror. 

Review- SHOWCASE PRESENTS: GHOSTS VOL. 1

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: GHOSTS VOL. 1 (DC, 2011; Softcover)

Collects Ghosts Nos. 1-18 (cover dates October, 1971- September, 1973)

Writers: Leo Dorfman, George Kashdan, Murray Boltinoff, and other, unidentified writers

Artists: Jim Aparo, Nick Cardy (covers), Sam Glanzman, Carmine Infantino, Sy Barry. Frank Giacoia, Tony Dezuniga, John Calnan, George Tuska, Bob Brown, Wally Wood, Curt Swan, Ray Burnley, Ruben Moreira, Irwin Hasen, Leonard Starr, Jerry Grandenetti, Ernie Chan, Ramona Fradon, Charles Paris, Art Saaf, Jack Sparling, William Kaluta, Buddy Gernale, Nestor Redondo, Quico Redondo, Alrefdo P. Alcala, Frank McLaughlin, Gerry Talaoc, Nestor Malgopo, Eufronio Reyes Cruz, Rico Rival, Abe Ocampo, Frank Redondo, and Ernesto Patricio

I love these big, thick black and white phone books. They are among the best entertainment values on the planet, clocking in at over 500 pages for $19.99 MSRP. This is something of a companion piece to the three Showcase Presents House Of Mystery volumes, both volumes of House of Secrets, and the one and only volume of Secrets Of Sinister House. These '60s/70s Horror/mystery comics are all interchangeable and are all equally enjoyable. Sadly, DC doesn't put too much stock into their Horror comics, and they are woefully underrepresented in the collected editions realm. They've barely scratched the surface of potential releases.

These stories were pretty old-fashioned even at the time of publication, dealing with ghosts, Victorian era haunted mansions that were usually willed to some unsuspecting relative, and seance type stuff. Nothing too edgy or too complex, just good, fun, watered down for the Comics Code Authority Horror comic books. This is fine late night reading.

The first five issues of the title were double-sized. Marvel followed DC in going from 36 pages at 15 cents to 52 pages at 25 cents format. In one of it's shrewder moves, Marvel immediately went back down to normal sized issues the following month, but moved their cover price to 20 cents. This made Marvel look like a bargain by comparison, and it cost DC some circulation. So you see kids, this tit for tat dirty pool between Marvel and DC has been going on for decades.

Some of these stories were originally published prior to this series, but are collected here because they were reprinted in this title. Issue 1 has The Tattooed Terror! from Sensation Mystery Comics #112 (November/December,1952) and The Last Dream! from Sensation Mystery Comics #107 (January/February, 1952). Issue 2 reprints The Sorrow of The Spirits! from House Of Mystery #21 (December,1953) and Enter The Ghost from House Of Mystery #29 (August, 1954). Issue 5 reprints The Telltale Mirror from House Of Mystery #13 (April, 1953) and The Phantom Of The Fog from House Of Mystery #123 (June, 1962). 

There are some tremendous artists who worked on these stories, such as Alfredo P. Alcala. I have been fascinated by his artwork since I was a wee lad flipping through my oldest sister's copy of House Of Mystery #222. His artwork looks even better here in black and white than it does in color. Jerry Grandenetti is a name familiar to readers of the Warren Magazines of the day (Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella). I used to find his artwork to be distasteful, but am either softening that stance or am learning to really appreciate his heavy handed style. The guy must have burned through so much black ink drawing the way that he does. He uses a ton of solids! There are lots of “name” artists of the day who worked on these DC Horror titles as well as a few who have been lost to the mists of time.

While I finished this book on the morning of Hallowe'en, I have finally just finished writing this review today. Cover artist extraordinaire Nick Cardy passed away yesterday at age 93. His covers were and are great. He has a sense of depth and movement, making his covers more than just a pretty picture. The covers themselves tell a story. 

I hope that we see more of these Ghosts phonebooks, as there were 112 issues published between 1971 and 1982. DC seems to be moving away from these Showcase Presents books as of late, so I doubt that it will happen, but it would be nice if it did. Better yet, I would love to see Archives of this or any of the other DC Horror/Mystery titles. I'm not holding my breath, though. In any case, this book is no apparition or figment of your imagination.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4 out of 5.

The OCD zone- I bought this at a comic shop that was, shall we say, less than concerned about pesky things such as consumer recalls like the one had. DC put out in it's Retailer Email about how this book slipped through the cracks missing a page, and for retailers to pull it from their shipment for immediate return. I went to the shop unaware of this development and bought this book. I found out about the recall once I got home that night. Page 7 of Death Held The Lantern was omitted from this first printing. The page was included as page 474 of the original printing. I just printed the missing page from this Bleeding Cool article and tipped it in.

DC sent out an update email to retailers with the following information: UPDATE ON SHOWCASE PRESENTS: GHOSTS VOL. 1

Retailers, as a reminder, the corrected version of SHOWCASE PRESENTS: GHOSTS VOL. 1 TP (JUL110264) is scheduled to arrive in stores on February 8. New copies can be distinguished by the date "1/13/12" on the first interior page of the book.

This is from my recalled 2011 printing. The so-called corrected 2012 version also states that it is a  first printing and has the same ISBN.

Leave it to those buffoons in DC's collected editions department to screw up the corrected version as well. In the corrected 2012 “First” Printing, they omitted what was Page 482 in my “defective” book, the one page story Phantoms Of The Flash! It's not like there wasn't enough room for it. There are not one, not two, not three, but four pages in the back of the book (both versions!) advertising other Showcase Presents books. What a bunch of maroons! So you see, BOTH versions are defective and are missing a page of story. Way to go, DC!

DVD-style Extras included in this book: None. This era of DC collected editions are rife with mistakes such as missing pages, and you should thank your lucky stars that almost every page is here.

Linework restoration rating: 5 out of 5. DC always took really good care of their stuff. The film for these stories was in excellent shape, as there is no way that they would bother doing linework reconstruction on a $19.99 MSRP book with over 500 pages. There are a few word balloons where some of the words are ever so slightly scratched or obscured. Not enough to rate an OCD score debit, but enough for me to tell you about it.

Paper rating: 3 out of 5. Pro: The cheap pulp paper used in this book helps to keep these books affordable, and also help it to feel like authentic old comic books. Con: Pulp paper sucks. It yellows and feels like it has a dusty film on it as it ages if you leave it unprotected...like this book will be on a bookshelf.

Binding rating: 4 out of 5. Glued binding.

Cardstock cover coating rating: 4.5 out of 5. The lamination on the cardstock is a hair thinner than the stuff that DC is currently using on their collected editions but is perfectly fine..for a 4.5 out of 5 rating. No 5 for you!

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