A bit of a slowdown in my reading as I prep for TWO panels at Comic-Con this year. Here’s what I read before and after the big event.
The Avengers in the Veracity Trap by Chip Kidd and Michael Cho • 5 Stars on Goodreads
I have more than a vested interest in this new MarvelArts original graphic novel published by Abrams ComicArts. It’s edited by my longtime friend, Charlie Kochman. In addition, I had the honor of giving Chip Kidd an Inkpot Award at Comic-Con in 2015, when he was a part of “The Craft of Comics” special section in that year’s Souvenir Book, which I edited and designed. And I’ve known artist Michael Cho since 2012, and his art, sense of design, and amazing color work have always been a favorite of mine (he’s also one of the nicest guys in comics, and I had the pleasure of working on two covers with him during my time at Comic-Con). So when I found out that Chip and Mike were collaborating on a brand new graphic novel—the third in a series from Abrams—I was absolutely thrilled. (I’m through name-dropping now, calm down.) This is pure Jack Kirby 1964 Avengers, with an amazing plot twist that results in a surprising and somewhat touching ending; that’s all I’ll say about the story. But I can go on and on about Mike’s art on this project. It’s pure Kirby channeled through Mike’s perspective and style—to me, at least—the best sequential comic work he’s ever done. Make sure you take off the dust jacket for the amazing portraits of the Avengers—in true 1964 fashion—Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Giant-Man, the Wasp, and the Hulk (okay, he wasn’t an Avenger after issue 2, but it’s nice to have him here) on the inside cover and the hardbound casing. If you love vintage “Marvel Age of Comics” stuff, this one is for you, True Believer!
DC Finest: Superman—Kryptonite Nevermore by Denny O’Neil, Curt Swan, and Murphy Anderson • 4 Stars on Goodreads
This latest volume of DC Finest featuring the Man of Steel launches us into the Bronze Age of Comics. To many—myself included—Julius Schwartz taking over the Superman family editing from the retired Mort Weisinger marked the end of the Silver Age. Weisinger’s final issues were Superman 231 and Action Comics 316. Murray Boltinoff took over as Action Comics editor, while Schwartz came in with Superman 233 (232 was a giant-sized reprint issue, put together by E. Nelson Bridwell). This volume includes Action 393-406 and Superman 233-238 and 240-246. The real stars of this volume are penciller Curt Swan and inker Murphy Anderson, who do just about all the art in this 576-page book, but Denny O’Neil’s scripts on Superman, starting with 233 are also great. Schwartz and O’Neil’s plan was to eliminate Kryptonite from the Man of Tomorrow’s life, but in doing so, a chain reaction causes some kind of weird “sand creature” doppelganger of Superman who leeches off his powers whenever he’s near. It takes O’Neil through issue 241 to end this extended storyline, banishing the creature to the dimension from which it escaped, along the way teaming up Superman with Diana Prince (the heroine formally known as Wonder Woman) and her sidekick of the time, I-Ching. These stories are an improvement over Weisinger’s normal stuff, but the whole “let’s de-power ol’ Supes a bit,” quickly falls by the wayside. By the end of this book, he’s back to hurtling nuclear reactors into outer space and surviving the resultant gigantic explosion. Over in Action Comics, Murray Boltinoff’s editing over mainly Leo Dorfman and Geoff Brown’s scripts seems more in line with Weisinger’s direction with the character, giving the two books a kind of schizophrenic take on the character, but Swan and Anderson’s art is wonderful on both books; Anderson’s inks make Swan look his absolute best, at least in my humble opinion. O’Neil would leave the book soon after this short run and writers like Cary Bates and Elliot S! Maggin would take over, and the stories would become—for the most part—kind of silly again. I remember reading them as they came out and finding them to be pretty boring. By the time 1986 rolled around, Superman needed a major reboot, which he got from writer-artist John Byrne.
Frank Frazetta: Fine Lines—A Collection of Illustratrations & Drawings by the Godfather of Fantastic Art edited by Sara Frazetta & Arnie Fenner • 5 Stars on Goodreads
Now, THIS is how you do an art book. For the last few years, we’ve seen books on the great Frank Frazetta that weren’t so great. Fine Lines is produced by the artist’s granddaughter, Sara, alongside well-known genre art expert and publisher Arnie Fenner. It’s an 80-page, high-quality, large-sized trade paperback with slick paper and great production values, produced by members of the late artist’s family known as Frazetta Girls. This collects a lot of Frank’s black and white art for books and portfolios over the years, with commentary by Sara. The reproduction is amazing and even though it showcases a lot of B&W art, most of it was scanned in full-color, showing us the color of the paper the original art was produced on. It’s also elegantly designed, a definite upgrade from the recent spate of Frazetta books from a different publisher. I know Frazetta Girls is publishing at least one more book on their family legend, Becoming Frazetta, which looks at Frank’s early comic book art in a pricey ($100) hardbound art book that recently finished a Kickstarter funding run. In the meantime, this short and lovely $35.00 volume should satiate any Frazetta fans looking for a quality art book on the master.
Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell • 5 Stars on Goodreads
Lisa Jewell is back to form after last summer’s Jessica Jones book for Marvel, Breaking the Dawn, which was a bit of a misfire in my humble opinion and not exactly a mighty Marvel team-up. Don’t Let Him In explores the world of real life catfishing (albeit with no internet involved) with an evil antagonist who seduces women and drains them of their money and dignity. He goes by many names: Nick, Jonathan, Al (Allistair), and he ruins the lives of many women: Tara, Amanda, Laura, Martha, Nina. It’s a very slow burn of a book, though, as—in traditional Lisa Jewell fashion—we move back and forth in time and points of view. The back in time chapters are narrated by Nick and we get some sense of how absolutely horrible he is. I don’t want to write too much about his various crimes, but I will say I thororougly enjoyed this book and look forward to whatever Jewell does next (as long as it’s not another Jessica Jones book) … she’s one of my most dependable and best loved summer reads.
The White Crow by Michael Robotham • 5 Stars on Goodreads
I’ve been reading books by Michael Robotham for a number of years now and his latest is one of his best. It’s the second in the Philomena McCarthy series. McCarthy is a young London copper with an interesting family background: They’re all gangsters, except for her. In this book, she finds a 5-year-old girl, Daisy, roaming the rain-slicked streets late one night. Following her home, she discovers the child’s mother is dead, tied to a chair in the kitchen. Her father is also strapped to a chair, with a bomb wrapped around his chest, in a jewelry shop miles away. All of this is part of a plot to get to McCarthy’s father and uncles, who have tried to cover up their OG ties and become “legitimate” businessmen under the guise of “building developers.” McCarthy finds herself embroiled in the vicious scheme to discredit and manipulate her family, and suspended from the police force for her ties to them. It’s a great read with one of Robotham’s best female characters. This would make a wonderful TV series, so somebody get on that, okay? I also really like the author’s Cyrus Haven/Evie Cormac series, which is currently at four books.
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