I was away for about a third of November, so I didn’t get as much reading done as I would have liked … but I still got six more books closer to my GoodReads goal of 75 this year. Only four more to go at this point! Here’s is what I read in November …
Superman For All Seasons by Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale, and Bjarne Hansen
This is one of the weaker Loeb/Sale DC collaborations, but still an enjoyable read. Originally published in 1998 as a four-issue mini-series in the prestige format, SFAS comes at the tail end of the duo’s DC books, between Batman: The Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory. Sale’s art style is all fine lines and detail, the exact opposite of his heavy use of thick lines and solid blacks in his Batman work … exactly as it should be. Loeb’s story is about Superman/Clark Kent transitioning from Smallville to Metropolis, with each issue presented as a season narrated by a different character: Spring is Pa Kent, Summer is Lois Lane, Fall is Lex Luthor, and Winter is Lana Lang (an additional story reprinted in this new 2023 TPB edition, “Prom Night,” originally printed in DC’s Solo #1, is told by Ma Kent). I love Sale’s art—especially his two-page spreads in this series, beautifully colored by Bjarne Hansen—but I’m not entirely onboard with his Jay Leno-ish chin on Clark/Superman and the beefiness of his figure. I loved both the DC and Marvel collaborations Loeb and Sale created—some are better than others, but they’re all good—and I’m sad that there won’t be any future ones. Tim Sale died in 2022.
Mighty Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men, Vol. 3 by Roy Thomas and Werner Roth
If anything, this third volume of X-Men reprints proves that Stan Lee and company didn’t quite know what to do with these misbegotten sons (and daughter) of the Marvel Age of Comics. This volume, which features issue #s 20 through 29, is written by Roy Thomas (his first regular superhero writing gig at Marvel, I believe) and drawn by Werner Roth (billed at first as “Jay Gavin”). To be honest, it’s a bit of a mess, and well before Thomas’s best Marvel stories, which were mainly for the Avengers and later issues of X-Men (#s 56 through 66 spring to mind, the ones Neal Adams drew). But even the powerhouse team of Thomas and Adams (with the great Tom Palmer inking and coloring) didn’t save the X-Men from cancellation, and it’s any wonder when the villains in one of the multi-issue arcs in this volume are a motley assortment of some of the absolute worst Ant-Man, Human Torch, and Iron Man baddies (like Scarecrow, Unicorn, Porcupine, Eel, and the totally forgettable Plant Man), brought together by the incredibly boring, monocled and caped Count Nefaria. Roth’s art is a bit better than I remember, but to be honest, I haven’t read these stories in almost 60 years, and there’s a reason for that … they’re pretty awful. I’ve never been much of an X-Men fan, even after the book took off in the 1970s and became one of the company’s best-sellers under Chris Claremont, John Byrne, et al. Too many characters, too many storylines, too many books—which continues to this day—but this early set of issues just seems to be a super-team in search of a decent story, or at the very least, a decent bad guy. And if you think Stan the Man was wordy, wait til you see some of Roy the Boy’s X-Men pages … who needs art with this many word balloons?!
Mighty Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 3 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
This volume reprints Fantastic Four #s 21-29 and as such, it’s an early low point for the title. Almost all these issues (#s 21 through 27) are inked by George Bell (aka George Roussos) and … well, let’s just say he makes Vince Colletta look good. Stan Lee seemed to schedule an inker for a year or so on Kirby, inking just about all the books Jack was pencilling at the time. I think Bell was also inking Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos at this point (issues #4 through 7, if memory serves me right), and I know he did Avengers also (including the classic issue #4 with the return of Captain America). His inking on all these books is careless to the point that it looks like he was just cranking it out to get it done. I’m not sure if that’s the case, maybe the overworked Kirby needed some extra time to finish all the books he was either fully pencilling or “just” laying out for other artists. Thankfully Chic Stone comes on with issue #28, and also took over inking Kirby on Avengers (#s 5 through 8, when Kirby left the book), and the Captain America stories in Tales of Suspense. This is also a run famous for its crossovers, as the Marvel Universe was being born: Nick Fury, now a CIA Colonel is in issue #21, the Avengers in #26, Doctor Strange in #27, and the X-Men in #28. The stories—with the exception of the epic Thing/Hulk battle in issues #25 and #26—are mainly forgettable, but I have a soft spot for #29’s story: “It Happened on Yancy Street,” with that incredible Kirby cover, featuring the FF with the Watcher watching over them. Don’t worry … things will get better in the next volume, starting with issue #36 and the introduction of the Frightful Four.
Suzanne: The Jazz Age Goddess of Tennis by Tom Humberstone
This graphic novel published by Avery Hill is the story of famed French tennis champion Suzanne Lenglen. Cartoonist Tom Humberstone brings grace to the story of the pioneer who won 241 titles, including a 181-match winning streak and was the world’s number one player for eight years. His style of cartooning is very minimal and graphic, but also very pleasing. Lenglen only lived to be 39 years old, and Humberstone doesn’t really dwell on her early demise, instead opting to end the book on a positive note, showing his subject doing what she loved most, playing tennis. This is also a very nicely designed hardback book … I think Avery Hill is right up there with D&Q and Fantagraphics when it comes to thoughtful, beautiful graphic novel book design.
Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
I watched the TV series starring Brendan Gleeson first on this one … all three seasons, and really enjoyed it (I think season two was a bit tedious, but still enjoyable). And after reading Stephen King’s recent book, Holly, starring Holly Gibney, who is first introduced in this book, I wanted to go back and see how her story started. It’s book one of a series, dubbed “The Bill Hodges Trilogy,” and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Hodges is a recently retired police detective who has one major unsolved case haunting him: someone drove a Mercedes into a crowd of people lined up for a job fair early one morning, killing eight people, including a baby whose mother was in line, desperately seeking a job. The perp (or “perk” as the killer repeatedly wrongly calls himself) starts torturing Hodges with a letter and online messages and Hodges gets drawn more and more into finding him, especially after someone close to him is killed. I found it very interesting to see how King introduced Holly Gibney into the story and how she becomes key to it, moving from an extreme background character while blossoming out of her autistic shell. It’s hard to watch the show and read the book and picture anyone other than Gleeson as Bill Hodges, but trust me … that’s a good thing. I look forward to reading the second (Finders Keepers) and third (End of Watch) books in this trilogy. I’ve recently become a Stephen King fan again, after many years of not reading anything by him.
Resurrection Walk by Michael Connelly
I’m not a huge fan of legal thrillers, but I have read all the “Lincoln Lawyer” books by Michael Connelly and enjoyed them. I felt this one was exceptional, though. It concerns Mickey Haller’s defense of Lucinda Sanz, wrongly imprisoned for the murder of her ex-husband, an L.A. County Sheriff deputy. She’s spent five long years in prison, after taking a plea deal, which appeared to be her only way out. After Haller frees another wrongly imprisoned person, Sanz reaches out to him. Haller has employed his half-brother, Harry Bosch, to look through the deluge of cases that come in after Haller’s initial success. (Haller—at least in the books—is firmly ensconced in the Bosch Universe, something that unfortunately doesn’t occur in the streaming world, a major mistake on creator Connelly’s part, in my humble opinion). The subsequent unveiling of the conspiracy behind Lucinda Sanz being set up as her ex-husband’s murderer is intricate and thrilling. And Connelly appears to have started a new era in the Lincoln Lawyer series, one that gives Mickey Haller a new purpose: resurrection for those wrongly accused and imprisoned.
Currently reading: Charlie Chaplin vs. America: When Art, Sex, and Politics Collided by Scott Eyman
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