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 finally got through Moon Girl. Jeff warned me it wasn't very good, and it's not. It's a sort of mediocre Wonder Woman riff. She comes from an exotic land, and her sidekick is a "true son" of Hercules whose only name is, apparently, "The Prince." His strength is natural, but Moon Girl's come from a "moonstone" that can pretty much do whatever the plot requires. In one of the later stories, it forms a giant hand to hold some criminals, a al Green Lantern! And just like Wonder Woman, Moon Girl calls to the Greco-Roman gods all the time, only she uses the Roman names instead of the Greek ones. She also picks up another sidekick toward the end, a little girl with her own moonstone (she's the daughter of Moon Girl's cousin), and is called Star in her first appearance and Starlet in her second. The whole thing lasted less than two years (1947-48).
My main gripe is that the book stops with issue #8. The book was Moon Girl for the first six issues, then Moon Girl Fights Crime, which she was doing anyway, for two issues, and then a romance book -- A Moon, A Girl, Romance -- for the last four issues. (Then it became Weird Fantasy.) I'm like the person who complains that the food at a restauran is terrible, and the portions are too small. No, Moon Girl wasn't very good, and I doubt the romance run (without Moon Girl) will be any better, but I still want to read those four issues. And if they're not collected in this book, they're probably not going to be collected anywhere. This was likeliest place for them to appear, and they didn't. Dang it.
As discussed elsewhere, Sheldon Moldoff drew this after leaving DC in 1945. He'd done a bang-up job on "Hawkman," but as discussed in the All-Star Comics thread, he did a LOT of swipes in "Hawkman," mostly from movie stills/magazines, "Flash Gordon" and "Prince Valiant." At least, those are the ones I semi-recognize. But Moon Girl is pretty much swipe-free ... and not as good. Make of that what you will.
I also read:
Spider-Man Holiday Special: I don't know why I buy these, as they are always feel-good bits of fluff that the older I get the more saccharine they feel. This one's no different, with the entire Marvel Universe acting out of character to make a lonely Spidey feel better during the holidays. Shrug.
Batman/Deadpool: Has Bob started a thread on this one? I enjoyed his Deadpool/Batman thread, but didn't get a copy until the discussion was over. I'll give it another couple of days.
New Gods #12: I read all 12 issues, one a month, and I can truthfully say I don't know what I read. There were several plots, lots of enigmatic dialogue, hints of a bigger picture than never came into focus for me, and finally Scott Free becomes the new Highfather. I'm sure if I re-read the whole thing at a sitting, it would be more comprehensible, but right now it's just a blur. Except for the ending, which I just spoiled. Sorry.
Wonder Woman #27: The Mouse Man story continues, and it remains inventive and absorbing. Mouse Man isn't a miniature supervillain any more, he 's a master of giant mice who has organized an island's population on severe fascist lines, even to what citizens are allowed to say. (Two phrases: "Mouse Man knows" and "Mice have ears.") There has been a consequential murder, Wonder Woman's baby has been kidnapped, and all in all WW is pretty fed up with all of this. There's a climactic battle, but I don't think the story's over. The Amazing Amazon had meant to slip in and slip out with a minor missions accomplished -- against the advice of the JLA, because she's violating international law -- but I think Diana's mad enough that she's going to stay on Mouse Island (or whatever it's called) bring down the whole, rotten temple. That's not going to sit well with her colleagues. But, you know, it's cathartic to see someone stand up to fascism. Can't wait for next issue.
The book was Moon Girl for the first six issues, then Moon Girl Fights Crime, which she was doing anyway, for two issues, and then a romance book -- A Moon, A Girl, Romance -- for the last four issues.
That's not unlike the transformation of the "Atlas Era" Venus (from around the same time), which started as a glamour comic, became a romance comic, then science fiction , and finally horror.
I doubt the romance run (without Moon Girl) will be any better, but... if they're not collected in this book, they're probably not going to be collected anywhere.
I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but they already have been collected. Remember those HC b&w reprints published by Gemstone Publishing years ago? In 1995, Russ Cochran released a slipcaed set of Modern Love #1-8, Saddle Romances #9-11, and A Moon, a Girl...Romance #9-12. You'll have to content yourself with the HC color collection of Modern Love which Dark Horse released in 2019 (which I know you have because I remember discussing it with you). If it makes you feel any better, the stories from A Moon, a Girl...Romance are about what you'd expect. That is to say, I liked them, but I recall we disagreed on the relative merits of Modern Love.
Jeff warned me it wasn't very good, and it's not.
I would still recommend Moon Girl from an historical perspective.
I am still intermittently reading the Moon Girl stories one or two at a time. They are charming, even if they aren’t very good. It’s interesting to me that EC attempted this genre.
In the manner of the omnibus books, they included house ads, etc. There are a few books advertised that seem to be additional superhero titles. Were they ever published?
NEW COMICS I HAVE READ TODAY THIS MONTH:
COMIC STRIPS: I have pretty much put everything else on hold while I read my way through The Complete Funky Winkerbean v15
AROC OF ZENITH: I'm up to episode #245.
Finally, I have just started reading...
BATMAN BLACK & WHITE COMPENDIUM: I'm up to page 15.
I'm reading the fourth collection of the Pitiful Human-Lizard, though I missed the second and third. This presents a problem, as so much that I'm reading happened in the third collection. My reactions are mixed, though I like a lot of it, and I was able to get this one signed by Jason Loo.
Oh, and today I picked up two: one from the local library and a local-ish one from the local:
HULK SMASH EVERYTHING:
I miss Marvel Comics in general, but they're publishing very little I am interested in these days. I miss the Hulk in specific, but they haven't published a version of his title I've been interested in for decades. Yesterday they released Hulk Smash Everything #1, and it looked entertaining in a mindless sort of way. The art was in the style I call "generic modern" which didn't really appeal to me, but it featured Dr. Strange and the Leader, plus it was an otherwise light week, so I figured what the hell. There's five bucks I'll never see again. It's the first issue of a mini-series but I won't be buying any more. Here's a sample of Dr. Strange's dialogue from page one: "Wong, I've told you--if there's a problem, summon me. Don't just shout in horror! This is a sanctum. We already have far too many shouts in horror as it is. I'm making a portal to come to you. I'm sure whatever it is... it doesn't have to interrupt my very important Sorcerer Supreme business." The whole thing's like that.
DEATH DOG #2:
This is the end of the two-issue introduction to a character/concept I hope with run for years to come. I can't believe that AHOY! has published like, five, Toxic Avenger series but can manage only two issue of Death Dog. It is written by Bryce Ingman (or "Bouncin' Baby Bryce" as he is probably not known) and supplement by three of his short stories, which are all equally enjoyable. It occurs to me that issues #1-2 would have made a nice one-shot. Editor Tom Peyer has taken to publishing public domain poems in response to the dearth of letters AHOY! has been receiving lately. Please take up my cause and send the following message to letters@comicsahoy.com: "More Death Dog! Less Toxic Avenger!"
I'm partway through Kevin Fraser Mutch's The Moon Prince, a 400+ pages all(ish)-ages graphic novel. It started with his desire, when his kids were young, to introduce them to the kind of adventures stories he'd enjoyed as a kid. He realized that (1) those stories contain a lot of racism, sexism, and squicky colonial stuff and (2) his children are biracial. So, he created a version of those stories with versions of his children as the protagonists and a perspective that eschews the attitudes of the older works he'd once enjoyed.
The results, so far, are fascinating, and I recommend it without having finished it. This is a lot of fun, but it also carries some thematic weight.
CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED:
I have been reading too many comics books lately. I've decided to read some Dickens, but which one(s)? In order to refresh them in my memory, over the course of that last couple of days I've read the C.I. versions of his "Big Four." (One of them I've read three times, and one never.) Right now I am in the middle of a Tarzan book, however.
On Monday, a library in a nearby small town is having an actor portray Charles Dickens and read the entirety of "A Christmas Carol." We might go. So much depends upon the weather this time of year.*
Hmm... the CI versions of those novels.... I'm imagining:
David Aluminumfield
Oliver Half-Twist
Adequate Expectations
A Tale of Two Towns
*Beside the white chickens.
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