Swamp Thing #43

From the Random Stack of Unread Comics.

Title: Swamp Thing
Issue: 43
Date: December 1985
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Stan Woch, Ron Randall
Colorist: Tatjana Wood
Letterer: John Costanza
Editor: Karen Berger

From Alan Moore's classic Swamp Thing in the pre-Vertigo days of the mid-Eighties.

Chester finds a strange root that has dropped off of the Swamp Thing, and he shares it with two different people. It has two very different effects.

This was a very good self-contained story, with the title character really appearing only in the opening sequence, and all of the focus on the character of Chester, as the discovery he makes forces him to look inward and to ask some very difficult questions.

Great issue for character development, and some awesome visuals as well.

Rating: 8.5/10

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 2

Today is the final day for returning books to the school library, and this is the last graphic novel that I checked out.

Title: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Issue: Volume Two
Publisher: DC Comics (Wildstorm)
Date: 2003
Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Kevin O'Neil
Colorist: Benedict DiMagmaliw
Letterer: William Oakley
Editor: Scott Dunbier, James Lee, Kristy Quinn

The second volume (compiling issues 7-12 of the original comic series) of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen throws the League into the midst of the martian invasion from HG Wells' War of the Worlds.

This is both a more complex and more tightly focused story than the original League arc, and it also involves the deaths of more than one member of the League before all is said and done.

The mixing of literature into the setting continues to be fantastic, and the character development, especially on Mr. Hyde, is great.

This is also a lot more violent than the first volume, with two scenes of particularly disturbing sexual violence.

The backup feature is a travelogue that serves to expand on the characters of Nemo, Mina, and Quatermain through their travels to fantastical places around the world. It also deepens the history of the League. But really, the sometimes dense prose is an excuse to drop as many literary references as possible (Herland! Five Children and It! Shakespeare! Tarzan! Beatles music!), blending them into a world where the strange and bizarre settings of literature coexist.

This continues to be a wonderfully detailed and intense story.

Rating: 8.5/10

The League of Extraordinary Gentleman Volume One

From the school library.

Title: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Issue: Volume One
Publisher: DC Comics (Wildstorm)
Date: 2000
Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Kevin O'Neil
Colorist: Benedict DiMagmaliw
Letterer: William Oakley
Editor: Scott Dunbier, James Lee, John Nee

Trade paperback collecting the first six issues of the original comic series.

This was one of the earlier arrivals in the current wave of steampunk, and as such, it can be hard to appreciate how original this was when it was first published. Bringing together 19th Century literary figures Captain Nemo, Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, Mina Murray (from Dracula), Allan Quatermain, and the Invisible Man, this story is all-in over-the-top steampunk action, with a dash of intrigue and a ton of literary references.

The story is brutally violent in places, and darkly humorous throughout. It plays with a whole range of elements from British literature and pop culture.

The plot has some fun twists, but is also a bit predictable in places, but the overall flavor of the story and the richness of detail in the art and narration make up for much of that.

The backup prose story is (intentionally) densely wordy, but does a nice job of providing a prequel for the character of Allan Quatermain, while managing to smoothly bring together the works of H. Rider Haggard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, H.G. Wells, and H.P. Lovecraft.

Rating: 8/10

Miracleman #2

I was on vacation last week, and I set aside Saturday for some geeky wanderings. In the late afternoon, I stopped in at a friend's place for a horror movie party he was throwing. From there it was off to the Magic: The Gathering prerelease tourney for the new Journey Into Nyx expansion set.

But earlier in the day, I stopped by New England Comics in New Bedford MA, where they were having one of their big sales.

I picked up some Magic cards and supplies, as well as this comic.

Title: Miracleman
Issue: 2
Date: March, 2014
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: The Original Writer, Mick Anglo
Artist: Garry Leach, Don Lawrence, Mick Anglo, Steve Dillon, Alan Davis, Paul Neary
Colorist: Steve Oliff
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Editor: Axel Alonso

The main feature here is the reprint of Miracleman #2, itself a reprint from early issues of Warrior magazine. It's written by Alan Moore, credited here once again as "The Original Writer". The story introduces Johnny Bates AKA Kid Miracleman, now grown to adulthood, rich, powerful, and thoroughly evil. Mickey Moran is great here as he sees through Bates' suave lies, but Bates as the villain absolutely steals the show. Bates is the best rendition of the Superman-gone-bad concept ever, and this issue is just a taste of what is to come.

The writing has a poetic quality to it that really brings up the intensity level.

Following the main story is an flash-forward segment that appeared in Warrior, but I'm not sure if it was printed in the Eclipse Miracleman series. It's a time travel piece set in the midst of the battle against Kid Miracleman later in the series, and it flashes back to earlier events. It had some good moments, but will probably make more sense to reread later on.

Bonus features in this issue include a "Behind the Scenes" segment showing original pencils and b/w artwork by Gary Leach for the story as it first appeared in Warrior.

There is also a full Marvelman origin story from 1954, which was quite good in places, but also leaned a bit on the typically goofy side. Last up is a short Kid Marvelman story from 1955, which is definitely goofy, and features Kid Marvelman helping out some local kids and improving the attitude of a cop.

The reprint material is fun, and the main story continues to be awesome.

Rating: 8.5/10

Miracleman #1

A new comic! I picked this one up tonight at my local Newbury Comics along with the new Springsteen album. I've been trying to avoid buying too many new comics, seeing how many are still in the massive unread stack, but I had to pick this one up. I have a complete run of the original Miracleman, but I'm looking forward to rereading those classic stories with all of the extras that Marvel is throwing in.

Title: Miracleman
Issue: 1
Date: March, 2014
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: The Original Writer, Mick Anglo
Artist: Garry Leach, Don Lawrence, Mick Anglo
Colorist: Steve Oliff
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Axel Alonso

Marvel's acquisition and reprinting of Miracleman is not without its share of controversy, a fact that is evident right on the first page where the story credit is simply listed as The Original Writer. Alan Moore refused to allow his name to be attached to this version of his classic deconstruction of the superhero myth. Moore has asked that his name not be used for any of his work that he does not retain ownership of.

Miracleman was originally the British version of Captain Marvel, and was printed under the name Marvelman in the UK in the 1950s. Originally created by Mick Anglo, and based on Fawcett's Captain Marvel character, the story featured a boy named Mickey Moran who had been given the secret to powerful superhuman abilities, which were activated by him speaking the word "Kimota" ("atomic" spelled phonetically and backward!). The stories from the 1950s were classic superhero fare with Marvelman fighting evil foreign agents, mad scientists, and invaders from outer space.

This book reprints Miracleman #1, with some additional material. The original comic started out with a classic Marvelman story and then moves to the present day, where Mickey Moran, now in middle age, married, and troubled by mysterious dreams, suddenly remembers "kimota" and releases the power that had been locked away from his memory.

Then he has to explain it all to his wife.

The storytelling is already powerful, especially the interaction between Liz and Miracleman when he comes home to her in his new form.

In addition to the material from Miracleman #1, this issue contains three classic b/w Marvelman stories from the 1950s. I love the transformation scenes, which consist of a small panel with a drawing of a mushroom cloud and the sound effect WOOF! These stories were goofy fun, with Marvelman taking on foreign spies (from Boromania!) and a mad scientist who steals people's reflections to turn them into evil doppelgangers.

A text history of the publication of Captain Marvel and Marvelman is also included, along with excerpts from an interview that Joe Quesada did with original Marvelman creator Mick Anglo before he passed away in 2011.

The original issues of Miracleman are hard to find (and you can't have mine!), so if you haven't read this, it's really worth it. Fans of the original will also find plenty of nice extras in this reprint.

Rating: 8/10