It’s my last book report of 2024, as we turn the page (see what I did there?) on the year and I went through a whole mess of books to clean off my coffee table (is it really a coffee table if you don’t drink coffee?) and make my 75 books read goal on GoodReads. Lots of graphic novels and comics-related books this time, and a reread of yet another Michael Connelly Bosch novel … let’s start there.
Trunk Music by Michael Connelly • 5 Stars on GoodReads
This is the fourth Harry Bosch novel by Connelly, originally published in 1997. It’s one of the books that was used for the story in Bosch Season 2, and as such, I was curious to see how close the 10-episode series kept to the book (other books used in this season are The Last Coyote and The Drop). And a lot of the book is in the series, with a number of changes and additions. The story in the book involves the murder of an adult movie producer named Tony Aliso (Allen in the series) with mob ties to Las Vegas. Bosch and his team—Jerry Edgar and Kiz Rider—pursue the question of who killed Tony. Trunk Music is pretty much focused on that sole case, while the TV show had two ongoing storylines—the Tony Allen (changed from Aliso) murder with his wife, Veronica, as the main suspect, and the undercover work of George Irving, son of Bosch’s LAPD nemesis (and sometimes savior), Irvin Irving (that storyline comes from The Drop and is greatly changed). The book is a bit different from the series and to be honest, I think the TV show did a great job of incorporating the two storylines, which merge into one at the end. I did enjoy re-reading it, though … the first time I read it was when it came out over 25 (!) years ago.
Fearless by M. W. Craven • 3.5 Stars on GoodRead
This is the first M. W. Craven book I’ve ever read, and I don’t think it’ll be the last, even though at times I struggled with this first book in the “Ben Koenig” series. Koenig is a man on the lam from the Russian mob, a former U. S. Marshal who, because of a shooting that’s affected a certain area of his brain, doesn’t ever feel fearful. He is, like Daredevil in Marvel Comics, a man without fear. He’s tracked down in the hinterlands by his former boss and tasked with finding his boss’s missing daughter, who got kidnapped by bad guys because of a paper she was writing for college that got too uncomfortably close to the truth of a burgeoning solar power business. This is where it gets complicated, and saying anything else would reveal too much of the story, but suffice it to say, Fearless is, at times, a very suspenseful book. Unfortunately, the suspense, more times than not, comes to a screeching halt, because Koenig pauses to explain everything to the reader: How his training with the Israelis helped in this particular instance, how he perfected his escape from handcuffs, the history of the knife he buys at a gun show, etc., etc., ad infinitum. It brings the book to a dead stop almost every time, and while Craven writes in a very friendly, almost homespun way, it’s annoying, especially in the last 100 pages or so when all the wheels in the plot are fully in motion. Still, there is already a second Ben Koenig novel, and I will probably take a stab (so to speak) at it. I understand a streaming series is in development, although it will probably seem like Reacher-light, but I’ll also give that a whirl, if it comes to be.
The Fantastic Worlds of Frank Frazetta edited by Dian Hansen • 5 Stars on GoodReads
Frank Frazetta has had more books published on his work than any other comics-adjacent illustrator, but to be honest … this is the only one you’ll ever need. Taschen produces beautiful art and photography books, most of which are hernia-inducing in weight and size and wallet-busting in price, but occasionally they reprint the books in much smaller, much more affordable formats, and that’s exactly what they did with The Fantastic Worlds of Frank Frazetta, reproducing the book in a $30.00 format that’s easy to read, and—more importantly—handle. The reproduction is absolutely first-class, the layout classy, if understated, and the short articles about Frazetta—which are presented in English, French, and German—are easy to digest. Edited by Dian Hanson, with biographical and analytical info by Dan Nadel and Zak Smith, the book is divided into periods in the artist’s life, with a concentration on the 1960s and ‘70s, Frazetta’s busiest and most prolific periods. Ignore those high-priced hardbacks that seem to appear multiple times each year and go with this budget-conscious choice which doesn’t stint on quality or quantity of reproductions of this great, ground-breaking artist’s work.
Superman: Kryptonite by Darwyn Cooke and Tim Sale • 3.5 Stars on GoodReads
Everyone is Superman-crazed this week with the release of the teaser trailer for the new film by James Gunn (I liked it just fine, but Krypto is the real star and I still don’t like the S symbol on the costume). This 2006/2007 story arc was originally published in Superman Confidential and for some reason ran in issues 1-5 and then 11. I read it back then, and had a TPB of it, but this new Deluxe Edition caught my eye and in re-reading it, I realized I remembered absolutely nothing about it, so it seemed like a new story to me. It isn’t the finest hour of either writer Darwyn Cooke or artist Tim Sale, but it was enjoyable. It concerns a sentinent being trapped in a big fragment of Kryptonite who is somehow anchored to Superman and follows his journey to Earth. As the years pass, the giant rock changes hands and comes into the possession of a casino owner (yes, really) who is in reality a criminal psychopath. The being grows in strength when he’s closer to Superman, but of course the Kryptonite casing he’s in causes the Man of Steel infinite pain and possible death. I love Sale’s art (better in issues 1-5, not as great in 11) and Cooke’s script is good, too, but there’s just something missing here, that keeps it being the classic that Superman For All Season is for me (maybe it’s missing Jeph Loeb). It’s still a decent read, though, and of course Lois, Jimmy, and Luthor are in it, too, but sadly, no Krypto, although there is a dog on the porch at Ma and Pa Kent’s house.
Manhunter: The Deluxe Edition by Archie Goodwin and Walter Simonson • 4 Stars on GoodReads
This slim hardbound volume—published in 2020—collects all the Manhunter stories from Detective Comics in the mid-1970s. Writer Archie Goodwin had been in comics for close to 15 years, starting at Warren Publications with Creepy and Eerie, but artist Walter Simonson was a relative newcomer. These short 8-page stories appeared mostly in the $1.00/100 page issues of Detective (#s 437-443), which also included new Batman stories and scads of reprints, and are a lot of fun to read. I kind of prefer Simonson’s early work from this era; there was a lot more texture in it, but he immediately displayed the imaginative page layouts he later became famous for in books like Fantastic Four and Thor at Marvel. The story is a little muddled at times, involving the return of a Simon & Kirby character from the 1940s as a clone, fighting an evil organization intent on taking over the world (aren’t they all?). Eventually, Batman shows up (it’s his book after all), and we see Simonson’s first take on the Dark Knight, which—to me, at least—is surprisingly reminiscent of Marshall Rogers, even though that artist wouldn’t tackle the Bat for another three years. This is a beautiful little collection though, with a great price—$17.99—if you can find a new copy. Lucky me, I found a new copy at a local comic shops half-price sale!
Atlas Comics Library No. 4: War Comics • 3 Stars on GoodReads
While I still love this series, I’m getting a little burned out on it. This is the fourth book this year and I guess I’m realizing it’s not really the format I’d prefer. I’d rather see a kind of “Best of” series of anthologies, dealing with the genres they’ve concentrated on: Horror, sci-fi, and now war, in addition to the other Atlas ones (Western, romance, crime, humor, etc.), that they plan to cover in the coming year ot so. To be honest, most of these stories are unreadable and the art is mediocre at best, definitely tied to the era—the 1950s—in which it was published. There is some great art in this volume, though, towards the end of it, since it reprints War Comics 1-8, and most of the good stuff is by Russ Heath and Joe Maneely. There are flashes here of Heath’s later brilliance in the DC war books and his Warren and National Lampoon stories. And, as always, Dr. Michael J. Vassallo’s learned and always entertaining introductions and history lessons on the Atlas books are great … so great, in fact, that I wish Fantagraphics would publish a kind of “Atlas Fan Addict Fanzine”—or a dedicated Atlas Comics history book—collecting all the good doctor’s intros alongside new articles. I feel Atlas is both underappreciated and undocumented, and I’m very happy to see these reprints, but I’m not sure I need to see all 8 issues of War Comics. At least four more volumes have been announced (four of which are coming out almost monthly in a five-month period: April-May-June and then August 2025), covering crime, romance, and a reprinting of Stan Lee’s mid-50s humor book, Snafu, alongside another horror volume. I’m still interested, but we’ll have to take each volume one at a time, I guess, especially at their $39.95-49.95 price point.
SPECIAL WEB-SLINGIN’ ACTION SECTION!
Jeez, I sure read a lot of Spider-Man books this month, all of them with one thing in common: Jazzy Johnny Romita, to many—including me, I think—the greatest Spidey artist ever. Yeah, I know … Steve Ditko co-created the character and most of his rakish rogues gallery (all the great Webhead baddies were introduced in the first three years of the strip, when Ditko was the artist and co-plotter), but somehow Romita made Spider-Man and Peter Parker more likable. And, God … his women! Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson, even shy little Betty Brant; all those years as a romance comics artist at DC gave Romita the chops to draw beautiful people, women and men alike. So here’s what I swung into in the merry Marvel month of December:
Mighty Marvel Masterworks: Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 5 by Stan Lee and John Romita • 5 Stars on GoodReads
This is, of course, the turning point for Spider-Man: Steve Ditko left the series with issue #38, and John Romita took over with #39 taking the book to new heights as Marvel’s #1 series. Stan The Man and Jazzy John start with a bang, too, finally revealing the true identity of the Green Goblin in a thrilling two-part story in issues #39 and 40. (Reportedly, Stan’s plans for Norman Osborne were not what Ditko wanted to do and that was another nail in the Lee-Ditko team coffin.) Romita, who had returned to Marvel after a seven-year hiatus, spent working for DC on their romance comics line, jumps right in with Spidey after a few issues on Daredevil, one of which was a try-out for the webslinger’s title. This volume reprints issues #39-46, plus Annual #3, which Romita only did layouts for. Both the Rhino and the Shocker join the Spidey rogues gallery in this volume, neither being top-notch villains, but the real star here is Romita’s art, which is great. Once again, this smaller format reprinting of the long-running Marvel Masterworks line is a bargain-priced alternative, retailing for only $15.99 and comes in two different cover versions, a new one by Leonardo Romero (my choice) and one reprinting the famous cover to #39. Unfortunately, Marvel seems to be concentrating on only a few titles to reprint in this format; only Spidey, Fantastic Four, Avengers, X-Men, Hulk, Thor, and Daredevil have gone on to over three volumes each.
John Romita’s Amazing Spider-Man Artisan Edition Vol. 2 by Stan Lee, Gerry Conway, and John Romita • 5 Stars on GoodReads
This is another in IDW’s Artisan Edition series, reprinting the original Artist Editions in a much more managable (both size- and price-wise) paperback format. This one concentrates on a run of Amazing Spider-Man issues, most of which are both pencilled and inked by John Romita. It includes issues 106 and 108 through 115, prime issues of the artist’s work, in which he seems to be channeling some of the great, classic, newspaper strip artists with his inks (to be fair there are some artist assistants involved here, including Tony Mortellaro and (!) Jim Starlin, along with Frank Giacoia on inks on issue 106). Romita’s inking is thick and velvety in these issues, and while the stories aren’t that great (Hammerhead seems like a refugee from Dick Tracy, and Aunt May’s romance with Doctor Octopus is bizarre, especially when she dons a maid’s outfit and tends house for him), it is the era when Gerry Conway picked up the web-shooters from Stan and took Spidey away in a different—and somewhat controversial—direction (aw, Gwen … we hardly knew ye). It’s fascinating to see these pages, even though—sadly—a lot of the margin notes seem to have been cropped off, for whatever reason (I’m guessing original art storage, but what do I know?). Romita sure packs a lot of action into his pages, and this run proves he became Marvel’s most dynamic superhero artist after Jack Kirby, who was over at DC by the time these issues came out. You get the added bonus of seeing Romita’s blue pencils under his inks, too.
The Art of Spider-Man edited and designed by Ian Chalgren and John Lind • 3 Stars on GoodReads
I have very mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it’s a beautifully designed, large-sized, hardbound art book focusing on John Romita’s run on Amazing Spider-Man, from issue 39 through 122. On the other, it presents seven complete stories reproduced from the original art, six of which have already appeared in IDW’s two volumes of John Romita’s Amazing Spider-Man Artist Edition (and reprinted yet again in the smaller-sized Artisan Editions). The issues shown in this volume are 46, 67, 69, 108, 109, 115, and 121, and only 46 is not printed elsewhere (to my knowledge). And while I’m grateful for any books covering Marvel’s Silver Age 1960s output, there is getting to be a bit of overkill here. Between Marvel’s own massive reprint program (Omnibus, Epic Collections, Marvel Masterworks—now REmastered—and Mighty Marvel Masterworks formats), Taschen’s huge and hugely expensive reprints of classic Marvels, Folio Society’s curated volumes, and now this new imprint at Dark Horse Comics called “Bullpen Books,” whose second book will concentrate on Jack Kirby’s Marvel covers (and that’s only Volume 1). Penguin Classics seems to have quit after six reprint volumes in deluxe hardbound and more affordable paperback formats, Only Abrams ComicArts—which has launched a new sub-imprint called “Abrams MarvelArts”—is doing new graphic novels with Marvel characters, including Alex Ross’s Fantastic Four: Full Circle, Patrick McDonnell’s The Super Hero’s Journey, and the upcoming The Avengers in the Veracity Trap by Chip Kidd and Michael Cho. It’s great to see a book focus almost solely on Romita’s Spidey work (there’s one Gil Kane story in it—issue 121—inked by Romita, but which was already included in—you guessed it—Gil Kane’s Amazing Spider-Man Artist (and Artisan) Edition, but other than that, it’s all Romita, including all his Spidey covers (a lot in original art form, but shrunk down to a small size) from issues 39 through 121. But the whole six stories reproduced from original art that have already been presented—TWICE—by another publisher seems like double-dipping (make it triple-dipping) and I’m astonished (although not amazed) as to how Marvel would approve a book with so much material that was licensed to another publisher. If you don’t have the IDW books, I thoroughly recommend this handsome volume, but if you do … well, not so much. It almost seems like someone else did all the heavy lifting.
I just received John Romita’s Amazing Spider-Man Artisan Edition Vol. 2 by Stan Lee, Gerry Conway, and John Romita for Christmas and am looking forward to sitting down and enjoying it!
Thanks for the reviews.