Happy Birthday this week to DAK- Many happy trips more 'round the sun, many howls at the moon! Part One: Man-Wolf! Wait...Man-Wolf? Lue Lyron: So the story goes, one day working as an assistant editor at Marvel Comics Group, you’re walking past Roy Thomas, after hearing you’d get a series to write one day for a while, and he stops his conversation with Steve Englehart, who was visiting from California. Roy just turns casually to you and says, “I’ve been meaning to assign you a book. I have your first series for you to write.” Then he picks right up talking to Steve, while you walk away savoring that bombshell. (DAK’s account of how he and George became the new creators on the ongoing Man-Wolf series appeared in Creatures On The Loose #33, a personable text piece of that sort that delights we readers. This is the team’s introduction in their first color comics issue at Marvel in 1974.) DAK: Everyone likes to use the phrase, “break into comics”- but I like to say, I...

I just re-read, for the first time in decades, Power Man and Iron Fist #118. When it first came out, this was my first exposure to the book. What was not to love? Solid artwork- with just a problem here and there which would be ironed out by the creative team, under the ever-improving hands of Mark “Doc” Bright and Jerry Acerno. The panels of supporting character Colleen Wing were the ones that grabbed me most effectively; she looks SO cool with her samurai sword. The martial arts combat with Chiatang versus Luke Cage and Colleen- his temporary partner-had me reading and re-reading the pages, following the blocking carefully. The long vertical panel where Cage speaks with steel about this “force” that’s warning them away, according to Danny, in K’un L’un’s secret language is one of the best in the series, much less this issue. Story? Engaging, mysterious, suspenseful, and wonderful characterizations by Jim Owsley, soon to be known as Christopher Priest. What I didn’t know is...

Iron Man #134 and #135 (1980)- Iron Man #14 (2016) My revival of Integr8d Fix -and I’d love to restore it to its original pastiche fiction form, but I’m busy with a novel and a series from IDW Publishing, so yay, it accomplished its pupal phase- kicked off with the impulse to write about a 1980 comic book (which sucked), and returned to me the thirst to write about classic comics stories again while awaiting my partner’s return from his furlough. The first thing that came to mind was Iron Man #134 and 135, well-made favorites of my back-issue collecting youth. I made note of that intention. With the Guardians of the Galaxy movie coming out, I got to their revival in Defenders first (and on Free Comic Book Day, the Defenders title got revived in the Guardians freebie!). Since I accompanied the movie review with a peek at All New GotG#1, I thought I’d continue the trend as I wrote about Power Man and Iron Fist, so I bought a new Iron Man to go with the classics I’d review in the...

I just wrote a feature on J.M.'s first superhero work in the post before. Here's the questions John Marc DeMatteis graciously OK’d: Cecil 1. I think one of your thematic abilities involves discovering a character that might have been, alternative takes of who they might have been, when corporate trademarks were editorially guided to be written “a certain way.” “Going Sane” is a story that became a Batman/ Joker story before it became the essence of “Kraven’s Last Hunt,” which then transformed once more essentially into “Going Sane”: your favorite mainstream superhero story. J.M. Stories, like people, have a natural growth curve and we have to honor that as writers. That story led me from Batman to Spider-Man and back again (with some other twists along the way). Since “Going Sane” and “KLH” are two of the best superhero stories I’ve written, I’m glad I had the sense, and patience, to let them guide me along, instead of trying to control them. 2. Tell me about anoth...

Defenders 92 “Eternity...Humanity...Oblivion!” So, Defenders #92 becomes the first regular superhero series assignment for John Marc DeMatteis, who had taken over Conan The Barbarian for a few issues. J.M. went on to write ‘Kraven’s Last Hunt,’ script the wildly-popular and hilarious Justice League series starting in ‘87, and pen many original, thoughtful tales, from his novice Marvel Team-Up efforts to this year’s Augusta Wind: The Last Story series for IDW Publishing (where novice me joins the ranks of pro comics writers with Hero Duty). He’s written cartoons like Justice League Unlimited, Teen Titans Go!, and somber comics like Mercy, one of the first Vertigo Comics, and Savior 28. And I do believe I saw his son Cody’s name in the credits for Rick and Morty last night, a William St. Production Manager. J.M. took over for Ed Hannigan, whose last story in #91 was probably my favorite from his run, along with the intriguing ‘Inquest’ from #87. Ed’s tale involved nuclear pow...

Drawn & Quarterly Presents: Guy Delisle Hostage Sometimes a simple cartoon, when there’s a single character, can convey your story perfectly. How you feel about one desperate person chained to a radiator, held hostage, will equate to how much you’d enjoy this comic. It’s a well-done attempt to evoke empathy. In fact, it’s quite the opposite of the usual escapist fare that dominates American comics. The monochromatic palette demonstrates the hazy, monotonous feeling of two days, after an entire month previously, of being a hostage in an apartment in Chechnya. You know the little the hostage knows; you appreciate the things you do with your freedom, especially your free time. Delisle’s work even in so brief a sample does leave an impression on which to linger. The situation he wishes to convey is not very detail-intensive. I recognize the craft, but I think I’d be more attracted to some of the other real-world-inspired offereings from D & Q more. 3 ½ stars of 5. P...

Hope your Mother’s Day is happier than most superheroes. I’m sure you can think up someone with a good relationship with their mom, but in the four color fictional worlds there’s usually missing parents, if not downright antagonism! It’s true of their cinematic variations as well, as per witness Iron Man/ Tony Stark in Captain America: Civil War. I’ll skip the Stark ending pun. But sure, Batman, Spider-Man- maybe it’s the removal of the single most comforting relationship of more childhoods than not, or removing authority figures from the story, but Mother’s Day’s twisted in some way for most super heroes. Our mother, after all, is part of everyone’s origin story, you know. And speaking of both mothers and origins, let me pick up with the Defenders, and their run by writer Steve Gerber, as mentioned in my Gawdy Yarns of the Galaxy Original Volume Two post. First, I’m not sure Stephen Strange’s mom’s been in a story-when a character’s kicked around this long, there’s little w...

Scott Westerfeld/ Alex Puvilland Spill Night Masterful. I don’t think Free Comic Book Day is meant to display, necessarily, how talented a creative team is at tying up a big story. You want a complete presentation, but ideally, a free comic should leave you excited, practically dying to find out what happens next! Spill Night delivers. MK and I were in accord: we wanted to spend money collecting more of this series. It’s a preview to the graphic novel Spill Zone, which is serialized on spillzone.com; it’s also available in comics shops and book stores in print. A little girl and her doll, Vespertine- which holds the voice of her imaginary friend- see a bizarre, colorful energy altering her hometown. With a street-wise voice, Vespertine criticizes absent older sister Addison while guiding the little sister through the enigmatic, encroaching menace. The doll helps her escape, searching desperately for its allies that may have come over from the other side in this energet...

Free Comic Book Day! Rick & Morty by Oni Press (2 stories) “The wubba lubba dub dub of Wall Street” Zac Gorman, CJ Cannon colors, Ryan Hill Letters, Crank! You DO know the show, don’t you? If not, you get a pretty good introduction to the sarcastic, insightful science-fiction-flavored adventures of reality-hopping grandpa Rick Sanchez and his hapless grandson Morty. This sample has a get-rick-quick scheme involving the stock market that goes tits-up on the pair thanks to Morty’s weasel dad, Jerry, granting access of the grounds to the Time Police. Turns out Rick’s invention has a twist, so it’s NOT time travel, but I won’t blow it all for you. The art’s mostly on model; we don’t get a lot of the show’s signature aliens. We do get a lame-o antagonist in Detective Tock. The language, perversion, and substance abuse don’t go as overboard as some episodes, but the real difference is the lack of a B-plot with the supporting cast, which is where the show gets a lot o...