Report what comic books you have read today--and tell us a little something about it while you're here!
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Report what comic books you have read today--and tell us a little something about it while you're here!
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I made the decision yesterday to leave JSA #2 behind. It was a difficult decision to make, because my run stretches back to the beginning.
I'm on the edge with JSA. If ti doesn't improve soon, it'll get yeeted, as the kids probably don't actually say.
I finished reading the DC Finest edition of Superman: The First Superhero today. At this point, Lois Lane and [editor George] Taylor are pretty much one-dimensional characters. Lois in particular is little more than a female co-worker who utterly despises Clark Kent. I have come to think of this volume as "The Complete Adventures of the Golden Age Ultra-Humanite" as it comprises all of his/her appearances: Action Comics #13, 14, 17, 19, 20 and 21. [NOTE: Action Comics Archives Vol. 1 came close, but it's missing his/her final apearance.] Ultra typically dies at the end of each story, then is brought back without any real explanation of how he/she survived. I find it odd, from a 21st century perspective, that in Action Comics #20 the elderly male scientist had his mind transferred into the body of a beautiful, young female actress, apparently without a ripple of controversy. Heavens! Which public restroom will he/she use? The volume also contains the first three appearances of Lex Luthor (or just "Luthor" if you prefer): Action Comics #23, and Superman #4-5.
At this point I haven't yet decided whether to continue from this point into the Action Comics/Superman Archives, or move into an entirely different (AFAIAC) version: Superboy. (I do plan to re-read that volume sometime before the release of DC Finest edition of Superboy is released this May.) Or I may re-read the Superman newspaper strip dailes. Decisions, decisions...
I find it odd, from a 21st century perspective, that in Action Comics #20 the elderly male scientist had his mind transferred into the body of a beautiful, young female actress, apparently without a ripple of controversy. Heavens! Which public restroom will he/she use?
Many years ago, I was sitting at a lunch counter reading a paperback of I Will Fear No Evil by Robert Heinlein. It has an almost identical story to this, plus sexual activity. I was approached by an apparently zealous man, attracted by the religious-sounding title on the cover. I told him what it was about. He left swiftly, as if I had sprouted horns.
What's wrong with JSA? I'm not reading it, so I'm genuinely asking. If it was any good I might buy the trade.
Also, I read the first two issues of Space Western Comics in the Dark Horse collection (of the six total issues). It's genuinely bad, and it's not comprehensive (some backups are dropped) but I'll probably finish it. If I had it in front of me I'd quote some of the dialogue so you could wince with me. It's hard to believe Walter Gibson wrote this tripe, but he did.
What's wrong with JSA?
Oh, there's nothing "wrong" with it per se, but here it is a month later and I barely remember it. I asked Bob what he thought of #1 and he replied that he was "not that overwhelmed." Here is what I posted: "I was a bit underwhelmed by the JSA one myself. I didn't enjoy it as much as I did the recent series, and I didn't enjoy that one as much as the one before, and so on, back and back and back. There are some JSA series that I really liked that I haven't read more than once. I'm starting to wonder whether I would be better served simply rereading older series than continually buying new ones. case in point, I find myself quite enthusiastic by some of the upcoming releases in the DC Finest line, particularly the "Superboy" one. I haven't been this excited by an upcoming DC release since... well, since 2011 when Flashpoint destroyed the DC universe I had known for a quarter century.
At this point I haven't yet decided whether to continue from this point into the Action Comics/Superman Archives, or move into an entirely different (AFAIAC) version: Superboy.
I decided to move on to the Action Comcis/Superman Archives. My plan is to continue reading them, for as long as my purpose holds, in more-or-less chronological order, but I'm not going to be anal about it. For example, Action Comics Vol.2 overlaps with Superman Vol. 2, and my plan is to read Action Comics #26-36 first, then go back and read Superman #5-8 rather than try to read them in strict release date order. I forgot to mention last time that Action Comics #25 was the first mention of "Metropolis." The editor of the Daily Planet is still "Taylor" in Action Comics #30, and Perry White first appears in Action Comics #33 (although, like Luthor, he identified by his last name only. Lois Lane begins to take on a more prevalent role (rather than just "office bitch") in these stories. It's unclear as to when Superman begins actually flying rather than simply leaping in these stories; in one story he appears to be flying, then in the next he's back to definitely leaping again. (I'm not certain exactly what's happening on the Superman radio at exactly this point.) In #28 he says, "Up-- up--" for the first time (which is what he said on radio at first), and in #33 he utters the full phrase "Up-- up-- and away!" for the first time.
But the most striking change is in the art. The earliest issues were all drawn by Joe Schuster, but later issues are credited to "Joe Schuster and the Superman Studio" (which is probaly breakdowns by Scuster and inks by Paul Cassidy and Dennis Neville at this point). Schuster himself is probably concentrating the bulk of his artistic effort to the Superman comic strip. The most noteable change occurs with #28, however, when Jack Burnley takes over as artist for seven issues. (Burnley is, in my estimation, one of the better artists of the Golden Age.) One thing I noticed in context is the #29 has the first (and only so far in my reading) full page splash.
The editor of the Daily Planet is still "Taylor" in Action Comics #30, and Perry White first appears in Action Comics #33 (although, like Luthor, he identified by his last name only.
Many/most of the readers of the comics were also listening to the radio show, so there was an effort to make the two match. Action Comics #33 (FEB41) went on sale on December 20, 1940. Here are two quotes from the Superman radio series Wiki. The show began broadcasting on February 12, 1940:
This serial introduced the fictional mineral kryptonite, the radiation from which can weaken and even (in some continuities) kill Superman. Aside from giving Superman's foes a plausible way to fight him, it also allowed Superman's voice actor to take the occasional break. Superman would spend the next episode incapacitated, his groans voiced by a substitute actor.
Many aspects associated with Superman, such as kryptonite, originated on radio, as did certain characters, including Daily Planet editor Perry White, copy boy Jimmy Olsen and police inspector Bill Henderson. On March 2, 1945, Superman met Batman and Robin for the first time.
As for his flying, see how this date matches his comic book flying. The first Fleischer Studios Superman cartoon debuted on September 26, 1941. They decided to have Superman fly instead of leap because it would look better. I suspect that most or all of the comic book flying followed that date.
Bud Collyer was the host of the TV game show To Tell the Truth when I was growing up. Quoting IMDB:
Classic game show in which a person of some notoriety and two impostors try to match wits with a panel of four celebrities. The object of the game is to try to fool the celebrities into voting for the two impostors.
A fun show. Little did I know at the time that Collyer was the voice actor for the Superman radio show, the Fleischer animated features and the 1966 TV show The New Adventures of Superman.
But the most striking change is in the art. The earliest issues were all drawn by Joe Schuster, but later issues are credited to "Joe Schuster and the Superman Studio"
In addition to the well-known flat fee to sell the rights, Siegel and Shuster were given a ten-year contract to write and draw the comics. For the 1940s they were getting decent money. I’m not sure how this worked for the newspaper strip, but Shuster’s vision was already getting worse and worse. Toward the end of the contract (1948) none of the art was by Shuster. At the end of the ten-year contract, the company dropped the “Superman Studio.” Siegel continued as a writer, presumably the same as any freelancer.
Bea Wolf, a fun and cleverly-written, verrrrrrrrrrrrrrry loose adaptation of Beowulf, set in some crazed version of childhood.
The graphic novel is written by Zach Weinersmith and illustrated by Boulet. It features a younger-reader-friendly version of Beowulf's history at the end.
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