Best Comics of 2104, No. 2: Wonder Woman: the Complete Newspaper Strip 1944 -1945

With two Wonder Woman titles on this list, my reverence for the character is quite clear. I was delighted when IDW announced this volume late last year, and it lived up to my expectations!

This collects the COMPLETE run of the strip. Bruce Canwell of the Library of American Comics informs me that there were no Sundays for this run, so this is it!

Marston's writing has many of the same elements of his comic book work- highly imaginative stories, lots of action, and implied larger themes. He even brings some of the bondage scenes that many have searched out in his work into play, no mean feat for a syndicated comic strip. While some may think standards were more relaxed in this (barely) pre-Code era, I would like to point out that readership of the funnies was huge in the 1940s and didn't carry the stigma it did in later decades. Therefore, strips had more of an adult readership. Also, attempts to censor comics have been around as long as there have been comics, so to use the Code as a barometer doesn't really cut it.

I'd also like to echo Trina Robbins' point about this whole bondage thing. Many comics of that era showed women being forced into submission, but Wonder Woman was the only one that consistently showed a woman breaking free under her own power!

We're also treated to the usual supporting cast. Steve Trevor is on board, as is the Cheetah (possibly my favorite WW villain from the Golden Age), Queen Hippolyta and the Amazons of Paradise Island, and Etta Candy and the Holliday Girls!

the "thick line elephant" in the strip

Harry G. Peter's art doesn't have as much room to stretch in the strip format as it does in the books, he does a more than serviceable job here. Bear in mind that in the 1940s, strips were printed much larger, so the art did have some room to breathe! Peter's line vary from the mostly thin and more regular lines seen in the above strips to some wildly chunky brush strokes as the strip evolved. The elephants in the final strips are key examples of this.

Some readers have complained about the price tag, basically $50, relative to the content, 175 pages. While this is a bit leaner than some of the other volumes in the Library of American Comics series, I have no serious issues with having the whole run in one durable, handsome volume (with a bookmark ribbon, no less!). IDW has been taking some real chances on this series. I haven't seen sales figures overall, but this volume is ranked 108,000 +- on Amazon's charts, compared to the Batman Silver Age Dailies (mid- 75,000 range) and the Russ Manning Tarzan dailies (same range). So it appears the series overall is doing well enough, and while lagging a tad in sales, the Wonder Woman volume is holding its own.
Let's hope so. IDW has been doing some remarkable work in this series, and I for one would love to see more!

Promo from the syndicate

Next: Best Comics of 2014, No. 1.

Best Comics of 2014, No. 8: Star Trek: City on the Edge of Forever, the Original Teleplay

Here we go, with the next Best of 2014 Comics entry.
It's no secret that I enjoy a good Star Trek story, or that I admire the work of Harlan Ellison. As such, even in its bowdlerized version, City on the Edge of Forever stands as one of my favorite episodes of all the series and films (I also really like Theodore Sturgeon's two episodes, Shore Leave and Amok Time, but sadly, he's no longer with us to create graphic versions of them).
I've read the original screenplay in two previous iterations- its inclusion in the Roger Elwood edited anthology Six Science Fiction Plays and as a stand-alone hardcover many years later, courtesy of the Science Fiction Book Club.
So when IDW, who did such a great job publishing the comic adaptation of Ellison's Phoenix Without Ashes a couple years back, announced this project, I was on board for every issue.
While I doubt Mr. Ellison would have suffered such shenanigans, this could have been bad. It could have been howling, rabid bay-at-the-moon bad. It's such an emotionally wrought story, the potential is there to do great injury with this one.
But it worked.

Starting with the brilliant covers, offered in two basic formats- a painted cover or a retro design evoking period Pelican books, Leo &; Diane Dillon, some of Milton Glaser's work, or possibly Robert McKinnis- working through the haunting final page (which I won't reproduce, as you really need to read it for yourself), this is as perfect as comics get.

The bridge drug scene

The script by Scott and David Tipton is taut and empathetic to  all characters, even the irredeemable Beckwith. If you're only familiar with the original broadcast version, suffice to say that this goes into more dangerous territory. The aforementioned Beckwith is a dealer in intergalactic contraband, including the narcotic dream jewels (sidebar: this was not much of an issue when Ellison first penned the tale in 1967, but I am SO tired of writers feeling the compulsion to reinvent the everyday just because it's in outer space, or in the future. So many intergalactic drugs, ranging from Star Wars' Death Sticks to Ketracel-white in Deep Space 9 and Spice in Dune. Now, some of these, like Spice in Dune, are integral to the plot, but others are just mildly annoying. Why not just use any of the vast pharmacy of extant pharmaceutical killers? I'm sure heroin will still exist in a couple centuries, since it's been used on Earth in its current form since 1874, and the opium poppy was first harvested in roughly 300 BC.). His foul deeds lead to the non-existence of the Federation and the Enterprise's replacement with the Condor, seemingly a pirate ship (when I first read this part in the original script, I flashed on the later episode Mirror, Mirror, written by Jerome Bixby).
Kirk and Spock must go back in time to undo the damage done by Beckwith. But in order to do so, Kirk must sacrifice the love of his life.
The best moments here involve a different sort of Spock, one with a greater intensity and, dare I say it, a greater empathy than often shown in the first series.

It would be a crime to overlook the brilliant painted art by J.K. Woodward. I enjoyed his work on Peter David's Fallen Angel series a great deal. He's able to remain faithful to the script while innovating, which shows up well in this series. I particularly like his designs for the Guardians of Forever.

Woodward's inspired designs for the Guardians of Forever.

And that last page just makes me ache.
With Mr. Ellison starting to show his years (he had a stroke earlier in 2014), I feared we would hear less from him. But between his collaborations with IDW (including a hardcover collection of this series coming soon) and his self-publishing imprint, I am relieved that his body of work continues to expand rather than contract.
Next: Best of 2014, no. 7 takes us back to the War to End All Wars.

Best Comics of 2013, no. 11: Mars Attacks Popeye

This one-shot really grabbed me. Part of a series expanding the Mars Attacks card line from the early 1960s, Mars Attacks Popeye was the first chapter of this crazy opus. Subsequent entries featured Kiss, the Real Ghostbusters, Transformers and Zombies vs. Robots. But the Popeye issue was the only one that interested me!

Page One of my copy, with signatures of Martin Powell and Terry Beatty sketch!

There just seemed such a charm to this idea when applied to Popeye. I've spoken previously of my respect for Roger Landridge's work on IDW's Popeye, but here IDW turns the writing chores over to The Goon creator Martin Powell (annotation: I was reminded by Terry Beatty that Martin Powell was not the creator of The Goon. That was Eric Powell. Sloppy research on my part, sorry!), who captures the spirit of the character admirably. While many see Segar in this issue, and there's plenty of that to see, I interpret it as more of an homage to the Bud Sagendorf stories- a bit longer and more wildly colored, with the limited palette and (in this case, simulated) sloppy production techniques associated with pre-1970s comics.

Terry Beatty's art delights throughout. The poses and layouts are classic Sagendorf. Much as I revere the work of Segar, his layouts were pretty straightforward, and mostly intended for daily or Sunday papers. While this does adhere to a fairly conventional grid, it's more akin to a comic book page than to a strip page, and Segar worked almost exclusively on the strips.

The 2 x 3 grid is a classic for humorous adventure strips. As Reed Waller once pointed out to me, the 2 x 4 grid is somehow more effective for humor books, but this works. 

It's great to see the Thimble Theater cast working through their paces in this, although I was disappointed by the slight use of the Jeep. Then again, if he were used to full potential, the Jeep would make Popeye's presence unnecessary. 

The use of Sea Hag as collaborator with the Martians is reminiscent of the Plunder island story. Another irritant: I would have liked to see a bit more of her pet vulture, Bernard.

But these are minot quibbles. The story is there. The excitement is there. And the energy is certainly there!

Yeah, I left this page crooked. Somehow it seemed right.

The front covers of these books simulated cards from the series, and the back covers were the backs of the cards- a very fun touch!

A few years ago, there was a Starman/Congorilla team-up from DC- a fun book that touched on something larger. Mars Attacks Popeye is right in the ballpark with that. 

It needs to be noted that every issue of the Mars Attacks crossover series had alternate covers featuring other characters and titles. The alternates for the Popeye volume were a mediocre cover featuring the unnecessarily revived Miss Fury and a very fun Mars Attacks Opus by Berke Breathed. Other alternative covers of note included Mars Attacks Chew and Mars Attacks Strangers in Paradise!
Next: a Best of 2013 entry that will make you purr with joy.

Farewell to a classic

It was announced today that, after 82 years, Little Orphan Annie (now just called Annie) will cease on June 12, 2010.
While I was never a huge fan of the strip, I did and do recognize its quality and social significance. And I'm so glad IDW is doing the reprint series.

While the musical was a slight misstep for the lauded director John Huston, it was still enjoyable, mostly for the Shirley Temple-esque Aileen Quinn in the title role and the great fun had by Tim Curry, Albert Finney and the irrepressible Bernadette Peters.
I read the strip as it came out in the 60s, but only the Sundays. My grandma picked up the Sunday Minneapolis Star or Duluth News Tribune (which had better, but different, strips) largely so I could read my funnies.
I read it again briefly in the '00s when Andy Pepoy was doing the art. Enjoyed that run immensely, the little I saw of it.

Finally, this drawing is freely lifted from Craig Yoe's great Super I.T.C.H. blog, linked to elsewhere on this page.

Good work, Annie. You added the phrase "Leaping Lizards!" and the term "Gloriosky" to the national dialogue, and showed young girls that they could triumph over just about anything and stay happy if they really wanted to.