Panel Discussion: Looking for Adventure at DC...

 

Redartz:  It occurred to me recently that most of our comics discussions have focused on Marvel. With some reason, actually- I was always a Marvel Zuvembie first and foremost, so I write what I know. That said, there has been a great deal of DC in my collecting and reading as well. Going waaaaaaaay back to the beginnings, Superman was my first superhero title. Which I enjoyed, but the first DC book that really drew my interest was Adventure Comics. And it remained a favorite even into my college years. 

Adventure 369, an early favorite

 

 

 What was it about "Adventure" that grabbed me?  At first it was Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes. At the time, about 1967, Jim Shooter was writing it and Curt Swan was drawing it. Swan's art was familiar, as I'd seen it on the Man of  Steel. And Shooter was learning the ropes of scripting, developing talents I'd come to appreciate years later in the Avengers. Which of course I didn't know at the time, it just seemed that the stories with these super powered teens were more...convincing, more real, more dramatic. Compared, that is, to what was offered in "Superman" and "Action Comics". Superboy was familiar, but it took awhile to get used to so many other characters. Mon-El, Shadow Lass, Braniac 5; they even had cool names. Perhaps it was the combination of these factors that made "Adventure" an early read for me.  And I'll always be grateful to 'Adventure" for introducing me to the Legion, a group which would become one of my top picks, under Paul Levitz and Keith Giffen.

 

 

 

 

 

A few years later, upon returning to comics in a serious way, "Adventure" again piqued the interest. Michael Fleisher and Jim Aparo's Spectre tales were solid reading, and obviously the art was fine. I also got a kick out of "Black Orchid" (created by Sheldon Mayer, when he wasn't giving voice and life to
Sugar and Spike). Not being a fan of Aquaman, his takeover of hte book didn't excite me. Still later Superboy took over as the lead feature, which kind of had a Silver Age feel despite being published deep in the Bronze. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But my favorite incarnation of "Adventure Comics" appeared in the later 70's, when Superboy moved into his own book: "New Adventures of Superboy".  Meanwhile, the original "Adventure" became a Dollar comic; no ads and a great lineup of features. Deadman, the JLA, Wonder Woman, Flash; a pretty  good deal for your dollar. Personally, I most relished Deadman by Len Wein and Jim Aparo, and the Justice Society by Paul Levitz and Joe Staton ( one highlight of that feature was the impressive death of Earth 2 Batman). . Sadly the book soon shrank back to 'normal' size, but it still featured a nifty cast: the new Starman , by Paul Levitz and Steve Ditko (!), and the wonderful Plastic Man by Martin Pasko and Joe Staton. Great book, one of the best of the era and often overlooked. 

Eventually I dropped "Adventure Comics" when it converted to an all-reprint digest format. But the title (and it's distinctive, original curvy logo) always stayed close to my heart.  Next up: a selection of Bronze Age Adventure Comics covers, showing the range of headliners it carried. Any fellow 'Adventurers' out there?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rank and File: The Year's Best Comic Stories, 1982!

Redartz:  Hello gang; are you ready to delve into some of the finest four color offerings of that vintage year 1982? I am too, so let's jump right in. As always, the choices are simply my subjective picks , based upon personal enjoyment, history, and whether I've read it or not. After all, can't really make a call on an unfamiliar book...

Here we go:   

Amazing Spider-man 229-  "Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut", by Roger Stern, John Romita Jr. and Jim Mooney. One of the high points of Stern's admirable run on the title. A showpiece for Peter Parker's determination and self-sacrifice.













Dr. Strange 53-  "The Land of the Pharoahs" by Roger Stern, Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin. A very clever, entertaining climax to the all-too-brief run by the Stern/Rogers team. The intertwining with the classic Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four tale is most engaging. And Doc never looked better.












 

X-Men / Teen Titans-  "Apokolips...Now", by Chris Claremont, Walt Simonson and Terry Austin. Arguably the greatest inter-company crossover ever. Claremont voices both teams, and both mega villains, perfectly. And Simonson  inked by Austin? Spectacular.












Marvel Graphic Novel:  The Death of Captain Marvel- "The Death of Captain Marvel", by Jim Starlin. A poignant tale of loss and nobility, with many fine moments among the gathered individuals. Starlin gives Mar-vell a sendoff worthy of a warrior. And Starlin's writing and drawing carry it off in fine fashion.















Legion of Superheroes 293-  "Within the Darkness", by Paul Levitz, Keith Giffen and Larry Mahlstaedt.  Darkseid is revealed as the power behind the "Great Darkness", one of the Legion's greatest sagas ever. This spectacular tale reveals why the Levitz/Giffen/Mahlstaedt Legion was my favorite DC title back then, even more than the Titans.














Love and Rockets 1-  Numerous stories by Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez. Fantagraphics' long running series starts here, and with great artistic and literary form. Great, great reading.













 

Fantastic Four 243-  "Shall Earth Endure?", by John Byrne. Everyone vs. Galactus, indeed. One of Byrne's best FF stories, art and story definitely at the top of his game. Loved seeing Spidey and Daredevil sit back and watch.
















 

Ms. Tree's Thrilling Detective Adventures-  Several stories by Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty. Terrific old-school detective fare with great characterization. Beatty's art at times makes me think of Ditko, and that's a high compliment.












 



Marvel Graphic Novel: God Loves, Man Kills-  "God Loves, Man Kills", by Chris Claremont and Brent Anderson. A melodramatic, but affecting, tale of prejudice with Marvel's Mutants. Nice to see Brent Anderson's take on them.











 


Fantastic Four Roast-  "When Titans Chuckle", by Fred Hembeck, Jim Shooter and just about everybody. Enough puns and visual jokes to fill a dining hall full of heroes, which is pretty much what happens. Absolutely, the "Just Plain Fun" book of 1982!














Another Marvel- heavy year, in my opinion. But the indies are really starting to make an impact, and DC still has a lot to offer. The new formats such as miniseries and graphic novels add some serious competition to the monthly newsstand titles. All things considered, it's a great year to be reading comics. Your thoughts and nominations?

Panel Discussion: Keith Giffen!

Redartz:  Hello, all! Recently we have taken a look at the artistic creations of several prominent Bronze Age artists, including Sal Buscema, John Romita and Ed Hannigan. Today we will pay homage to another, an artist whose stylistic changes garnered as much attention as his storytelling: Keith Giffen. Giffen is known as much as a writer as an artist, but here we will concentrate on his visuals. His career ranges from the mid 70's up to today, and includes work at Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, First comics, Valiant and Image (and thanks to Wikipedia and the Grand Comics Database for some of the background information).

 


 Keith Giffen started his career at Marvel in 1975. In the mid 70's he did many individual stories, including issues of Marvel Premiere, Amazing Adventures and Super-Villain Team-Up. However, he made his biggest initial impact as penciller on Defenders. Here his art was pretty strongly influenced by the work of Jack Kirby, as seen in this Hulking splash page:












 Here we have a couple more Defenders pages, inked by Bob McLeod. Note the "Kirby krackle" on the Red Guardian. And "The Presence" next to her looks like he came right out of an issue of "New Gods". But there was more to Giffen's work than stylish semblances. On the page to the right, we see an early example of Giffen's experimentation with panel layout and composition. And I did, by the way, really like Giffen's Hulk...


 


Not tied to Marvel, it wasn't long before Giffen started producing work over at DC. Here he tackled All-Star, Claw and Challengers of the Unknown, but he found fame on the Legion of Super-Heroes and Justice League.  Starting with issue 285 (Mar. 1982), Giffen began pencilling the Legion, and his distinctive artwork helped raise the title to the upper echelon of DC's publishing. Due to Keith's futuristic imagery (along with great writing courtesy of Paul Levitz), Legion became one of the first DC titles I collected religiously. 

Inks by Bruce Patterson

Inks by Larry Mahlstedt

Here we have  f our pages of his work on Legion. Giffen makes frequent use of halftones, shadow and silhouette. He also had great skill at the manipulation of color.  Some of his panels had an almost ephemeral appearance that I found greatly appealing, such as the page at left. Additionally, he did fabulous space scenes. Perfect for the Legion.


 



 






 These two pages were inked by Larry Mahlstedt, who finished many of Giffen's later issues. Giffen's pencils still have a taste of the sheer power of Kirby, but have a tighter, more linear design. And again, we see his play with panel arrangement and color. On the left, we get a glimpse at one of Giffen's 30th. Century cityscapes. Very clean, sharp and aerodynamic; looks futuristic to this viewer.











Oh, by the way, another feature of Giffen's Legion work I enjoyed was the inclusion of the "Interlac" script on signs, screens, walls, and anywhere (including the artists' signatures). Giffen and writer Levitz gave us a translation, here is a chart of the Interlac symbols (again, thanks to Wikipedia):

Inks by Bob Oksner

More inks by Bob Oksner

Still later, Giffen adopted a looser, more expressionistic style as seen in his work on Ambush Bug  and Lobo. His mixing of image, tone, and lettering almost approaches collage...















And he carried his composition and technique over to the post-Crisis Justice League, doing the scripting and providing breakdowns for penciller Kevin Maguire...

More recently, Giffen's art has returned to a more detailed look. But based upon his history, give him a couple more years: He may change yet again. Regardless, I have always found his artwork to be interesting, appealing, and often humorous. And he's willing to take a few chances; I give him cred for that. 

Finally, a selection of some Giffen cover art; enjoy, and then let us know what you think!