Posts Tagged ‘Marvel’
A Jungle Lord is a Terrible Character to Waste
AKA “COMIC COMPANIES, WHY DID YOU LEAVE THE FANS HANGING?” – PART 2 OF 10
Since the 1980s, no one has had any clue how to handle one of Marvel’s best and oldest characters, Ka-Zar. |
Ka-Zar was revived in the Silver Age by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Instead of David Rand, Ka-Zar was now Kevin Plunder, heir to the Plunder fortune and a man with a very Tarzan-like upbringing.
Despite some top-notch writers and artists working on Ka-Zar throughout the years (Val Mayerik and John Buscema to name just a few) the character – and his world – have never been explored and the continuity of Ka-Zar well, it’s never really made much sense.
The 1980s saw some bright light for the jungle lord, with his longest running series debuting first on newsstands and later (after issue #9) to direct market sales only. Here, Bruce Jones and Brent Anderson began to explore Ka-Zar and his environs without influence from the rest of the Marvel Universe. Since the awkward ending of the series, he’s had a train wreck series in 1997, which started like a hurricane with Mark Waid and Andy Kubert at the helm. The series ended like a droopy tissue with issue #20 and one of the worst storylines since Marvel’s NFL Superpro.
The Savage Land (Ka-Zar’s home) is destroyed in Avengers #257. It’s found still existing in underground tunnels (explain trees undergound to me) in Alpha Flight Annual #2. And in the Evolutionary War, the Savage Land is finally restored.
Ka-Zar is Tarzan, Burrough’s Pellucidar and John Carter all rolled up into one. Why can’t Marvel figure out to do with a character in such a story-rich environment?
As always, I am – Wally (AKA Paint Monk)
Void Left by Mayerik’s “Indigo” Needs to Be Filled
AKA “Comic Companies, Why did you leave the fans hanging?” – PART 1 OF 10
The cover for the second and last issue of Void Indigo. |
Happy New Year! May 2018 be filled with comics…
…and new nicely painted tabletop miniatures!
The Lost Art of Horror (and Writing) – Part III of III
By WALLY MONK – PM Library Editor
I’ve talked about the Comics Code Authority before, and how I believe it really forced writers and artists to hone their storytelling abilities. I’ve even said that I genuinely miss the CCA stamp on the front of comic books today.
As I read the Tomb of Dracula series (1972-1972) by Marvel Comics in its entirety over the last six months (yes, I am a busy monk and it took that long), I realize exactly why the CCA was necessary – and why it made things even more horrific in many ways. Before we talk about the actual comic, let’s talk about psychology. When people see a picture, they know exactlywhat they are looking at – and it either makes them feel a certain way, or it doesn’t. But when people are read a narrative, it allows their mind to wander. Let’s take two examples:
COMIC PANEL EXAMPLE 1: (Robert is lying in bed, and underneath the bed, hidden in shadows, the reader sees a monster – drooling and with massive teeth – looking up at the unknowing soon-to-be-victim. A pool of ichor that Robert can’t see is starting to come out from beneath where the monster is crouched.) Text: He knew something was there, but he didn’t know what it was. His heart began to race, and something deep inside told him that he would not see the morning.
COMIC PANEL EXAMPLE 2: (A close up of Robert’s face, focusing on his eyes. His face is contorted in terror, and his eyes are wide. We see his head rests on a pillow. Artist should focus on the whites of the eyes and the lines in his forehead – he is obviously terrified.) Text: He knew something was there, but he didn’t know what it was. His heart began to race, and something deep inside told him that he would not see the morning.
In the first example, the artist rendering of the “monster under the bed” might be scary to the reader, or it might not. If the reader isn’t frightened by it – or at least understanding why the character in the comic is frightened – then the whole mood just falls apart. The second example allows the reader to imagine something that might frighten them also. It’s the same reason Herman Melville’s classic Moby Dick doesn’t work as a movie (IMHO) – it’s more frightening to imagine Ahab’s obsession and the murky depths of the ocean than to see a CGI whale that doesn’t necessarily hit a viewer’s panic button.
Tomb of Dracula, what has become in many ways the curve-wrecker of the comic book horror genre, is full of these moments. Overall, it is a brilliantly written series of horror comics that capitalize on implied fear while making sure that the visuals are pretty terrifying themselves.
Issues individually are moderately pricey in excellent or better condition. The full-color Omnibus editions, especially Vol. 1, sell for hundreds of dollars. The value of Tomb of Dracula, both in the comic medium and as a story telling mechanism, is huge. Few comic books tell stories this way any more.
Tomb of Dracula was created by Marvel in the 1970s after the Comics Code Authority relaxed their restrictions a bit. Famous writers ranging from Gerry Conway, Gardner Fox, Roy Thomas and Archie Goodwin all worked on the book in its first year, until the final team of Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan were brought together in issue #7. They would work together until the end of the series run with issue #70. In fact, Colan drew all of the issues from issue #1 until the bitter end, a very unusual move for the industry and a good reason perhaps that the series was so successful.
Comics Bulletin in 2010 ranked the Colan/Wolfman run on Tomb of Dracula at #5 on their “Top 10 List of 1970s Marvel Comics.” Throughout the run, Dracula would ally himself (occasionally) with heroes to defeat a greater evil – but more often than not, he was the antagonist of such heroes and groups as The Uncanny X-Men, Spider-Man and Werewolf by Night.
So if all this true, why isn’t it a good idea for kids to read Tomb of Dracula – especially if it’s a perfect example of good storytelling? After all, it’s approved by the now-defunct CCA and comics are for kids anyway, right? Why is our friend the Paint Monk putting a warning label on this series and recommending it for mature audiences?
The most abhorrent twist to the series – and it is dangerously subtle, a testament to how it is written and put together – is that Marvel Comics successfully has fans of Tomb of Dracula “rooting” for the bad guy, for the “Lord of Darkness.”
Think about that for a moment – and be truly afraid.
As always, I am – Wally (AKA Paint Monk)
Dinosaurs, Jungle Lords and Antarctica
A MARVEL Comics Fan Page – News and Features from a Savage Land
As a child, I was a huge fan of Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle and just about anything written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. To be more specific, I was a huge fan of jungle heroes and the exotic worlds that they inhabited.
I loved the stories even more when they included dinosaurs.
When I was seven or eight years old, I picked up a copy of Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle #1 at the newsstand. It set me back a quarter, which means I had to choose between the comic and a pack of M&Ms. The comic book won, and almost fifty years later, I am glad that it did.
Ka-Zar is the consummate jungle hero, and he resides in a “Savage Land” that is found hidden deep in the Antarctic frost and snow. You could say Ka-Zar is Tarzan, Pellucidar, and the modern world all wrapped up into one.
Browsing through Facebook a month or two ago, I stumbled across the Ka-Zar Fan Page, run by three guys who seem to be enthusiastic Ka-Zar fans. Many Facebook groups seem to be a barrage of pin-ups and silly questions, but this group talks about the character and even offers reviews and thoughtful insights on the writing and artwork of the character throughout his different incarnations.
Check out the Marvel Comics Group – Ka-Zar Fan Page if you get a chance. If you are like me and love dinosaurs, hidden fantasy lands and good solid stories, the page is very insightful.
As always, I am – Wally (AKA Paint Monk)
Check out this weekend’s Comic-Watch articles
New Blog Page added so you can follow Wally Monk on Comic-Watch