A bit of an abbreviated list this time around, since I took a trip in the second half of the month, back to Old Blighty for a couple weeks. Many books were had, some of which will soon appear on here, I’m sure. In the meantime, here’s what I read before I joined the jet set and flew across the pond to haunt bookstores and museum shops. (“Are you here AGAIN?!!”)
Ready For My Close-Up: The Making of Sunset Boulevard and the Dark Side of Hollywood by David M. Lubin • 4 Stars on Goodreads
Fascinating look at Billy Wilder and Charlie Brackett’s 1950 classic, Sunset Boulevard, starring Gloria Swanson and William Holden. While not one of my favorite films, I do love some of Wilder’s other movies (Double Indemnity and The Apartment in particular). Author Davis M. Lubin’s book runs through the backstories of all the principals: Wilder, Brackett, Swanson, Holden, and Erich von Stroheim, provides a thorough look at the film itself and a lot of info on pre-production and the movie’s effect after it was released. It’s a good history, although I’m a bit fuzzy on where “the Dark Side of Hollywood” mentioned in the subtitle fits in, other than Hollywood chews up its stars and drops them when their shelf life expires. I love a good movie history book and I’m grateful that we seem to be getting more of them these days. This one is a worthy addition to your movie book shelf.
DC Finest Metamorpho: The Element Man by Bob Haney, Ramona Fradon, and Sal Trapani • 3 Stars on Goodreads
This latest volume in my DC Finest collection was a total impulse buy at San Diego Comic-Con; it seemed to call my name from a large booth of discounted graphic novels. I was never a fan of Metamorpho back in the day—the mid-1960s—when it first appeared on the newsstand. I found it to be “dumb,” in the somewhat limited vocabulary of an 8- to 10-year-old. But this 592-page volume which reprints the character’s The Brave and the Bold appearances (including his origin in issues 57 and 58, plus three team-ups in 66, 68, and 101, the complete run of his own title—issues 1-17—and Justice League of America 42), has made me more of a fan. Co-creator Bob Haney is one of DC’s wonkiest writers of this era, most famous for his B&B Batman team-ups, which ran the gamut from Sgt. Rock to Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth, and his wonkiness shows with this character; he wrote all 17 issues in this volume, plus the B&B stories. And some of them are a lot of fun; I particularly liked Metamorpho issues 4 and 6. One thing I was surprised to learn: Ramona Fradon only drew the character’s first six issues (the two B&Bs and the first four Metamorphos); the rest of the run is pretty much done by Sal Trapani, but inker Charles Paris helps make it still look like Fradon, I’m sure. I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would, but it’s probably my least favorite DC Finest volume to-date … but still a good read.
Marshall Rogers: Brightest Days and Darkest Knights by Jeff Messer and Dewey Cassell • 5 Stars on Goodreads
Another great artist biography/career overview from TwoMorrows Publishing, this 160-page hardbound volume celebrates the life and art of comic book artist Marshall Rogers, best known for his 1970s work on Batman, and later on Marvel titles like Doctor Strange and Silver Surfer. Rogers is one of those artists who did not have a huge body of work, but did leave an outsized impact on fans, especially when it came to Batman. He died at the age of 57 in 2007, while working on a second Batman: Dark Detective mini-series. This book includes a long remembrance of working with the artist by Terry Austin, who was Rogers’s primary inker over the years and a couple of extensive interviews with writer Steve Englehart, whom Rogers collaborated with on Batman, Silver Surfer, and Coyote, their creator-owned property. There’s also a rare radio interview with Rogers from 2005, and a personal reminiscence by his sister. Messer and Cassell have compiled an art-filled tome that includes originals and commissions, plus previously unpublished art, and the book gives fans (like myself) a well-balanced look at an artist who epitomizes the phrase, “For one brief, shining moment …”
The Art of George Wilson by Anthony Taylor • 5 Stars on Goodreads
This beautiful book showcases the career of an absolutely unsung comics and paperback book cover artist, George Wilson. If you’re like me and grew up a comics-loving kid in the 1960s, Wilson was the mystery artist behind hundreds of beautifully painted Dell and Gold Key covers, put together by Western Publishing. Wilson painted numerous covers each month for the publisher, including books such as The Phantom, Tarzan, Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery, Doctor Solar, Magnus Robot Fighter, Turok, Lone Ranger, Space Family Robinson, and many more. Those painted covers allowed both Dell and Gold Key to stand out on the newsstand, looking far different than the colored line art of their competitors, DC and Marvel. When Western split from Dell in the early ‘60s and took most of the big licenses with them to create Gold Key, the front cover paintings, often by Wilson, also appeared minus the trade dress and text on the back cover as a pin-up. Not much has been written about Wilson, but this book fixes that, with an introduction by artist Joe Jusko and biographical info by author Anthony Taylor, and a rare interview conducted with the artist just a month before he died. This book contains numerous paintings, both as printed comic book covers and as scanned original art. It’s a fascinating look at an almost-unknown artist.
Sugar Shack (Peapod Farms Vol. 3) by Lucy Knisley • 5 Stars on Goodreads
I’m definitely not the target audience for this charming and enjoyable conclusion to Lucy Knisley’s “Peapod Farm” series starring Jen (sorta/kinda based on Lucy) trying to fit in with her new family including her mom, and her mom’s boyfriend’s two daughters, Andy and Reese. I just love Knisley’s cartooning, so I’ve purchased—and enjoyed—each volume of this series. Sadly this is the final one, but it certainly captures that cozy fall/winter vibe that the title eludes to, “Sugar Shack” meaning a small outside structure where maple syrup is made after the sap is taken from trees. Like the title, this is a sweet, warm-hearted book, as Jen, Andy, and Reese finally become sisters.
Currently reading: Believe: The Untold Story Behind Ted Lasso, the Show That Kicked Its Way Into Our Hearts by Jeremy Egner
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