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.

Original Art Sundays No. 165: Surrealist Cowgirls, p. 21

Only a few pages left to this story, as we come up on our fight scene, page one. One of the only pages in the story to not feature any of its main characters. Don't worry, Kay Seurat-Seurat and the Cowgirls will reappear very, VERY soon!
But for right now, the story demands that, in the words of J. Wellington Wimpy, "Let's you and him fight."

Again, a lot I like here. The energy, the economy of dialogue, the layout, and the last line is, of course, stolen from Superman's classic line when he was hit by lightning.

I wanted this page to be raw energy, hence the sparse background in the action panel. It also gave me an excuse to play with manga action lines. I seldom use manga conventions in my work (at least consciously), but as I've been reading more in preparation for this year's SGMS conference, it seems to have been on my mind.
The way this is flowing, I seem to be actually keeping my self-imposed schedule.
This matters for two reasons:
1. It's better for my mental health, my morale.
2. It helps build a readership. I hope people like the work, I hope they enjoy it and get something out of it. But none of that will happen if the work's not there. I get it that a reader wants to know what to expect, and delivering on a regular schedule is a crucial part of that. Really, it's just good business and good manners.
That said, I hope I can maintain the pace through the end of this story!
What after that?
Possibly back to A Private Myth, or another Cowgirls story, or....

Best Comics of 2012, No. 5: IDW's Popeye

Next item on the list is one of the oldest and newest characters out there.
Under IDW, Popeye is experiencing a remarkable revival.
Though the character never went away to the faithful among us, recent attempts at the character have often fallen short of his potential. The last major take on Popeye that really stood out was Bobby London's run on the strip, which deserves a proper collection.
Here's the cover from the one collection in print to date.

MInd, this is not to take anything away from others who have worked on the character. But Segar, Bud Sagendorf and Bobby London are tough acts to follow!
I was so grateful when Roger Landridge took on the new book.  While I've yet to pick up on Snarked, I'm sure some of you will remember that his take on The Muppet Show made my Best of... list a couple years ago.
And Landridge brings the right tone to the character, echoing Segar's run without simply aping it. Landridge knows his comic history and is not afraid to use it. as evidenced in this cover for issue #1.

If you don't know what comic this references,
you're reading the wrong blog!

As the pages below clarify, this book incorporates numerous elements, not just of the strip but of its original period: black and white films, jalopies, language and phrasing specific to the era and the strip (some of which can be traced to Yiddish ghetto vernacular- I know just enough about that to be dangerous, so corrections are welcome). 
Landridge also pulls in supporting characters from the original Thimble Theater, and sometimes gives them their own strips in the book, as in the examples posted below.
The book is remarkable for its covers, printed on flat (non-gloss) paper! This feels like an old book with new stories. I envy young readers whose first Popeye comics are these!

Our cast!

Beautiful.
As with some of the other picks in the current list, this book is full of energy and charm, but not at the expense of solid storytelling.
Kid's books deserve to be as entertaining and smart as those ostensibly aimed at adults. I'm so fed up with simpering stories that remove all conflict being hailed because they're "safe". How are kids supposed to learn to effectively resolve conflicts if they're not exposed to the process at every opportunity?
I don't mean to say that we should barrage kids with brutality and animosity, but let's face it, conflicts happen. Of what use is a story that denies that reality? I contend that denying reality to kids, lying to them about that reality, is more harmful than letting them face said reality.
And Popeye is a prefect vehicle for that. At heart a pacifist, he's not afraid to face and deal with problems in an up-front manner. When Popeye makes a mistake, he corrects it as best he can, and he tolerates no wrongdoing from others. In short, he has a clear idea of right and wrong, and he lives by it.
See example below of a fight scene.

There's the energy of the original strip that we mentioned before!
Note that there's a fairly high level of detail here, especially relative to Segar's original strips. Segar's backgrounds were light and sketchy- his crowd scenes were often fields of ovals with eyes and noses, for example.
In this page, while Landridge uses solid fields of color as background in panels three through five, the first and last panels have full backgrounds with more than sufficient detail to tell the story and reinforce the two things that sustain a Popeye story: energy and gags.
The stories themselves are as imaginative as Landridge's Muppet work.  In the example below, Landridge riffs on the definitive Fleischer cartoons in a story involving Bluto giving Popeye the business in the process of making a film.

Note the Fleischer style opening title!

Here's an example of a backup story spotlighting one of the other characters from a Segar strip, this one from Sappo.

Note that this "best of" refers to IDW's Popeye and not to Landridge's.
While I defer to none in my admiration of Landridge's work on this and other books, I must note that IDW has been a consistent supporter of classic comics, rivaling Fantagraphics for its quality line of reprints.
We'll see another example of the great IDW reprints in a couple days, but I do want to note that they are also publishing a Popeye reprint book, featuring the work of Bud Sagendorf. Craig Yoe has a book of the Sagendorf material. While I do love my deluxe and too expensive for me (but worth the money) comic reprint volumes, there's a lot to be said for the traditional format.
My one quibble with the format is that they're using a nearly identical cover structure between the two titles, and the same flat paper stock. If you buy your comics in a hurry, as I sometimes do, it's easy to think you've picked up the next issue of one when you really grabbed the other.

The first collection of the Landridge work is due out January 22. The regular title continues on schedule. I was concerned that Landridge might have to sacrifice quality to maintain this pace, but so far I'm pleased to report that such has not happened.
Tomorrow, number four in the Top Comics of 2012, as we ride along.

Original Art Sundays No. 126: Tranny Towers, Ch. 28

One more from a tearsheet. As always, click on the strip to see it larger.

This cleaned up fairly well, but will still need a rescan once I dig the originals out of the vault, as it were.
Notes on this chapter: decent action, adequate backgrounds, straight-up 2 x 3 classic panel layout, useful for action and humor pages (though for some reason, a 2 x 4 layout works better with most comedy stories). I seldom write action-heavy stories, and I wanted to push myself a bit in that area, as you'll see next week.
I think the Art Deco typeface in the banner is from a public domain book of Deco faces. I do love hand rendering mastheads!
The title "Let's You and Him Fight" is my favorite Wimpy line from Popeye. I also like, "I would gladly have you over for a duck dinner. You bring the ducks."
The line about "all glitter and no go" in the last panel is from Mike Baron's Badger no. 1.
There are 35 strips in the series, plus a few appearances in political strips from TransSisters and TNT News magazines in the early 90s. So we have about 7 weeks until the basic strip is completely posted. I'll save the editorial strips for the book, and I have an undrawn script somewhere that was intended as a collaboration with Katherine Collins (creator of Neil the Horse) before she fell off the radar. So there will be some bonus material in the book. More on that later. I have this habit of planning a lot and doing a fraction of it. I know, I'm the only creative person to have that problem...
Next week: the street fight.