Category: Reviews

Review: ‘Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon’

Al Williamsons Flash Gordon: A Lifelong Vision of the Heroic

Flesk Publications, July 2009, $29.95

While Al Williamson did not create the legendary science fiction character, in many ways he inherited Alex Raymond’s artistic legacy. The artist was born in 1931, three years before [[[Flash Gordon]]]memorably hit the Sunday newspapers.

Raymond is considered one of the finest illustrators to work in syndicated comics, along with Hal Foster, with a photorealistic style that brought his world of Mongo and its varied denizens to life. While Buck Rogers was the first SF strip, Flash Gordon was the best as the stories were epic in scope. The landscape of Mongo was unlike any realm seen in comics before and through the years that special feeling evaporated in the hands of others. Until Williamson.

In 256 pages, we are treated to the three stories produced for King Comics in the 1960s, the short-lived imprint from King Features Syndicate in addition to the his adaptation of the unfortunate 1980 film that looked better than it played. There’s also Williamson’s last major series work, the miniseries produced for Marvel in 1994. The King material is exceptional because it was the first time original material had been produced for comics with the characters actually resembling their strip origins . It’s lush and fast-paced with Williamson actually writing the first story. His long-time collaborator, Archie Goodwin, one of the most respected people in the field…ever, wrote several stories and Larry Ivie also contributed a tale.

Williamson’s style was very much like Raymond’s and his settings and characters felt just right. The deering-do is quick-paced and while the stories tread familiar ground, they are still head and shoulders above much other science fiction in comics. The three stories, brief as they were, earned him the National Cartoonist Society’s Best Comic Book Cartoonist award. His movie adaptation didn’t win awards but earned him a new generation of fans who may have only known his name in association with the legendary EC Comics.

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Review: ‘The Hunter’ by Darwyn Cooke from IDW

Let’s get the disclaimer out of the way first: Yes, ComicMix is publishing lots of stuff with IDW Publishing. Doesn’t matter, The Hunter
would still be on the short list for the best book of the year if it came out from Chick Publications.

I’ve had a preview copy of the entire book for a few months now, and I’ve held off on reviewing it because I didn’t want to tease you, even though previews of the first pages were up and about. You just would have wanted more. I certainly did.

The backstory is simple: it’s an adaptation of The Hunter
by Donald Westlake, writing as Richard Stark. It’s the first novel featuring his protaganist Parker. In this book he’s been betrayed by his wife and fellow criminals in the aftermath of a heist, and he hammers his way through New York circa 1962 to get revenge. A lot of it. With guns and fists and… you get the idea.

The book’s been adapted into film a number of times with varying degrees of quality, the two best known adaptions are [[[Point Blank]]] with Lee Marvin:

…and [[[Payback]]] with Mel Gibson:

(And before you ask, [[[The Hunter]]] with Steve McQueen has nothing to do with this book.) But this may be the closest adaptation of the source material, as evidenced by the fact that this is the first adaption that Westlake let use the name Parker.

It’s certainly faithful in (duo) tone. This is the time period Darwyn Cooke was born to draw, in the same way that Dave Stevens was born to draw the era of the Rocketeer. The book feels like 1962, and yet modern at the same time. If you know Cooke’s other projects– New Frontier, Selina’s Big Score, the Batman animated series, you don’t need the sell, if you don’t, picture here a blend of Jack Cole and Bernie Kriegstein, and you’ve almost got it. This book is clean and compact and accessible in ways that no other comic has, and should take the mainstream by storm. The preview almost makes reviewing redundant, let’s just say that Cooke keeps control of the pace all the way through.

I got my review copy early that I was able to call IDW and natter at them about a few production glitches, if the book hadn’t gone to press yet. When they said it hadn’t, I told them to save time in the future and just print “Eisner nominee” on the cover now.

Really. It’s that good. Buy copies for friends.

Review: ‘Dollhouse’ Season One on DVD

There are television creators who are placed under the microscope every time they produce something new, hoping it will generate the same pop buzz and ratings success of their previous series. While a Jerry Bruckheimer can churn out cookie cutter series, the ones with more unique and distinctive voices tend to be more hit or miss. In Joss Whedon’s case, he followed [[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]] and[[[ Angel]]] with [[[Firefly]]]. While a cult favorite, the series and its feature film incarnation failed to win the wide audience required to remain viable. As a result, all eyes were on him to see what his next trick would be and most were cautious given that the new series [[[Dollhouse]]] would appear on Fox, where a previous regime sabotaged Firefly through ineptness.

People cringed when the new show, featuring Whedon-alum Eliza Dushku, was given the dreaded Friday night at 9 slot but were also given fewer commercials allowing more show time allowing Whedon’s characters to come to life.

Dollhouse divided critics and fans and the ratings were iffy at best so the real surprise in May was that the show was renewed at all. Now, during the summer, about two months before the series returns, Fox is releasing a four-disc first season set on Tuesday. They provided the first three discs for review, reserving the fourth disc for consumers to discover on their own. That disc contains the unaired thirteenth episode that could well have been a coda to the series had it been canceled and shone the spotlight on Amy Acker’s Active, codenamed Whiskey. Here’s a clip:

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Review: ‘Pushing Daisies’ Season 2 on DVD

When Pushing Daisies debuted in the fall of 2007, I wrote
on my blog the show “is a delight. With its oversaturated color palette and
Jim Dale narration, this is a fairy tale with a set of off-kilter characters
that you immediately warm to. The leads and supporting cast are equally strong
so it’s up to the writers to make the most of them. I can see why ABC pushed
this so hard; it’s the most original series of the season.”

Somewhat retooled during the writers’ strike, ABC brought it
back this past fall and by Christmas it was gone with three episodes unaired.
Those finally got seen in June and now the entire second season is available as
a four disc box set, being released Tuesday from Warner Home Video.

The second season continued to have the feeling of a fairy
tale and maintained the basic tenants of the series from Jim Dale’s delightful
narration to the everything is slightly over-the-top but you buy it visuals.

Still, the cast probably had a few regulars and recurring
players too many and the storylines reflected that.  We have Olive hiding as a nun, taking away
from the core cast and concocting stories to bring the cast to her. Ned’s daddy
issues continued to flare up along with the improbable introduction of half-brothers
that only bloated the stories for a while. No sooner were they dispatched than
we turned to Chuck’s daddy issues complete with Daddy’s resurrection. The best
part of that was how he reacted and took advantage of the situation, causing fresh
problems for Ned and Chuck. Coupled with Chuck’s story was her aunts and the
arrival of Dwight, a recurring antagonist who got caught up with Vivian.

It felt messy and overdone, and for those trying to sample
the show, it was probably dense and off-putting. For those of us who watched it
regularly, we delighted in the bizarre cases, highlights including the
honey-based cosmetics murder, the death of Colonel Likkin and the case of the dead
window dresser.

Clearly, the writing was on the wall, allowing Bryan Fuller
to try and tidy things up in the final three episodes. The penultimate story,
which possibly had the best script of the season, allowed some closure to
Emerson Cod’s search for his daughter, allowing the finale to wrap up Chuck’s
issues with her Aunts, one of whom turned out to be her natural mother.

The core cast was nothing but superb from beginning to end. They
played everything straight in a wacky world and each appeared as fully-fleshed
out people with surprising quirks and hobbies (Emerson’s knitting for example).
The chemistry between Lee Pace and Anna Friel helped the romantic fairy tale
feel and they were more than ably supported by Kristen Chenoweth and Chi
McBride.  The guest cast was a nice blend
of the familiar and the less familiar but everyone played their parts larger
than life, adding to the unreal feel of the series.

The 13 episodes are complemented by four short featurettes:
The Master Pie Maker which was heavy on clips and not enough interview material
with the cast about the show overall; From Over to Table, which focused on
bringing the scripts to life that could have benefitted with a little more on
the props and set design; Secret Sweet Ingredients, a strong piece on the
wonderful music from composer Jim Dooley; and, Add a Little Magic, which was a
brief look at the visual effects. They, like the pie Ned served, were sweet
morsels leaving you wanting more.

Much like the series, this may be gone from television but
will live on as a maxiseries from WildStorm. For now, though, the second season
comes recommended.

Review: ‘Up’, Pixar and Storytelling

One of the things that I love about Pixar is that they
remember what a lot of filmmakers – and sadly, particularly those working in
the CG medium – have forgotten:


A film needs a story.

So many films today focus on technological dazzle, shock value, making pretty
pictures, or cleverness. None of these are bad things; any and all of them can
add enjoyment, but for me a good story is more important than anything else. I’ll
enjoy the spectacle, the beauty, the wit, but what stays with me is the story.
If story is absent, everything else fades quickly. Pixar’s films have had
consistently strong storytelling, letting the characters carry the viewer along
on their adventures, and this summer’s offering, [[[Up]]], is no exception.

Up doesn’t come near to matching the sheer dazzling brilliance of last
summer’s [[[Wall-E]]], but it is a sweet and charming movie in its own right,
and like Wall-E, it remembered to have a story.
Not only that, but Up takes a startling number of storytelling risks,
particularly for a movie aimed at children.

First there was the absolutely heartbreaking montage of Carl
and Ellie trying to save for their dream trip, and having their dream
constantly derailed by crisis after crisis, only to have Ellie fall ill and die
just as the trip was finally in their reach. This montage is also a rare
instance of a wedding being the beginning of a couple’s story rather than the
“happily ever after.” Seeing Carl lose the legal battle to stay in his home was
also painful.

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Review: ‘Inkheart’ on DVD

After its success with [[[The Lord of the Rings]]], New Line wisely began scouring the bookshelves for other properties that could feed the appetite of a growing public to whom fantasy was no longer reserved for the geeks.  They snatched up several including Cornelia Funke’s German novel, which first saw print in fall 2003.  Inkheart is a well-received novel, first in a trilogy naturally, about a family whose father was a “silvertongue”, who by reading aloud could bring the written word to life.

New Line grabbed the rights and shot the film in fairly quick order but the hoped for December 2007 release got delayed and then the Writers’ Strike forced them to juggle their schedule and then Warner Bros. gobbled up New Line and before you knew it, [[[Inkheart]]] was quietly released in January. And here we are in June with an equally quiet video release, coming Tuesday.

Inkheart was the name of a fantasy book that Mortimer (Brendan Fraser) read one night to his young daughter Meggie. When its characters came to life, his life was changed as his loving wife Resa (Sienna Guillory) vanished at the same time, trapped in the book. Mo never read aloud again and began a quest for a new copy of the book to free his wife. However, Capricorn (Andy Serkis), leader of the foul beings that came through, fled and established a castle in Italy and built up a powerbase, not at all desiring to go home. In fact, the only one who desired a return to print was Dustfinger (Paul Bettany), a fire performer who missed his wife.  For years, Mo sought the rare book, only to have copies vanish from under him as Capricorn also sought the out-of-print tome to destroy.

Now, Meggie (Eliza Bennett) was 12 and Mo finally found a new copy at the same time as Capricorn’s goons. Meggie finally begins to learn the secret her father had been harboring and gets caught up in Capricorn’s machinations to seal his place on Earth.

The movie has tremendous potential for wonderment in addition to a rich relationship between father and daughter. There’s time for moody tension and opportunity for nice character bits and humor. Instead, we get a mashed up film where none of that potential is achieved. There’s little subtlety to the performances, save Bettany, and the story begs for better treatment. Instead, David Lindsay-Abaire’s screenplay misses every opportunity to rise up and be wonderful (and what’s scary for ComicMix readers is that he’s attached to [[[Spider-Man 4]]]). Director Iain Softley robs the film of its magic, delivering everything with the same tone and feel rather than using a full palette.

The Aunt, played by Helen Mirren who must have grandchildren, really has nothing to do and is more of an annoyance than participant. Jim Broadbent is wasted as the novel’s author although he has a sympathetic and briefly sketched character arc.

Watching it, I kept wondering why Mo didn’t just read a [[[Superman]]] comic or a strategically chosen book and bring with him an army to stop Capricorn’s evil plot? Never addressed. And then we get the climax which had the look and feel of the final scenes from [[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]], spoiling a chance to redeem the film.

To see what the film could have been the one and only extra on the DVD is a lovely bit with Bennett reading from a chapter of the novel, a scene not included in the film.

tom-and-jerry-chuck-jones-collection1-7827852

Review: ‘Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection’ on DVD

tom-and-jerry-chuck-jones-collection1-7827852I have to laugh when I watch old [[[Tom and Jerry]]] cartoons. First, of course, because they’re funny. The original series of 114 theatrical cartoons by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s Hollywood cartoon studio were produced between 1940 and 1957, seven of them winning the Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons)…a tie for most awards, one should note for the animation snobs out there, with Walt Disney’s [[[Silly Symphonies]]] animated series. A series of perfectly dreadful and too-often released cartoons followed, produced in Eastern Europe (cheap labor, I would imagine, and worth what they paid for it), produced by Gene Deitch at Rembrandt Films in 1960 before, thank the animation heavens, there came Chuck Jones in 1963.

Which brings us to Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection, hitting stores on Tuesday. Jones was one of the handful of master animators to influence the entire look and feel of the Warner Bros. animated line with his Bugs Bunny, Road Runner, Tweety and Sylvester and countless other cartoons. But after 30 years, the studio closed its animation section and Jones set up his own shop, Sib Tower 12 Productions, with partner Les Goldman. MGM came knocking, and the 34 madcap adventures included in this collection was the result.

The second reason I find to laugh at these, or any classic animated shorts is because of how the reality of these characters clashes with the perception that has grown up around them since the 1950s when they began appearing as Saturday morning children’s programming. These cartoons were not created, originally, as children’s fare. They were, instead, part of a program of entertainment shown to adult movie audiences in a day and age when theaters routinely ran double features and the bill changed twice a week. Before, between and after the movies, however, came a variety of subjects: a newsreel, a short feature (usually humorous), a cartoon, and coming attractions, at the minimum. Look at a World War II era Bugs Bunny cartoon; that was not kid’s stuff!

Because as I watch these cartoons—and they are a lot of fun, have no doubt of that—I’m struck at how mercilessly violent they are. Heavy objects routinely fall and crush their victims (Tom), explosives blow in hand or in the victim’s (Tom’s) mouth, an axe used to chop open a mouse hole chops a victim’s (Tom’s) tail like a chef chops a carrot. The network censors chopped a lot of that material out of the cartoons when they went to TV in the 1960s, and, by the 1980s, the original essence of these little seven minute masterpieces was corrupted beyond redemption, to the point that as the writer of the Tom and Jerry syndicated newspaper strip for Editor’s Syndicate around 1990, I was told Tom could chase Jerry, but if he caught him, he could do him no harm. No hitting, no smashing, no slamming, certainly no chopping of tails. These guys were pals they just chased one another for fun.

Bugs Bunny has suffered a similar fate in the modern world: A friend working on a Bugs Bunny promotional comic book project was told by WB to change a gag because “Bugs would never produce a mallet out of nowhere and whack someone like that!”

But thanks to home video and DVD and the demand of the marketplace for original and uncut material, the truth is coming out. Tom and Jerry is funny and it’s funny because it’s violent. Take away the psychedelic randomness and well-constructed but mean-spirited violence of a situation like Tom and Jerry or the Road Runner and Wiley E. Coyote and all you’re left with is the existential angst of the eternal loser pursuing that well-known definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again in expectation of a different result.

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Review: ‘Lost’ Seasons 1 & 2 on Blu-ray

ABC’s Lloyd Berman had a nifty idea: turn [[[Survivor]]] into a drama. He handed the notion off to producer J.J. Abrams, who at the time was riding the critical wave of success with the network’s [[[Alias]]]. Abrams, in turn, sat with Damon Lindeolf and Carleton Cuse and they brainstormed a concept and characters.  From there, they shot an expensive, moody, intriguing pilot that got everyone’s attention. And suddenly, Wednesday nights were appointment television evening as everyone wanted to watch [[[Lost]]] and dissect it the following morning.

In the hands of these three, they took a high concept and turned it into one of the most layered and nuanced television programs ever attempted that demanded the audience pay attention. Not just to the dialogue or performances, but the little details in the backgrounds. Was that really Hurley winning the lottery being broadcast on Korean television? By concentrating on the show, by demanding our attention, the producers delivered with surprise after surprise, twists and turns that you couldn’t possibly see coming.

They hired an ensemble and told them all they were expendable. And wisely, they used flashbacks to make us care about these unfortunate survivors. We learned about them, and their odd connections with one another, while propelling the storylines forward as the island itself came to life. Before that first season ended, it became clear the island was going to be as important a character as Jack or Claire or Charlie or Locke. Nothing may have surprised as much as learning that Locke was wheelchair bound before the crash. The island was magical in some way.

And the names. The names demanded attention to find their sources and understand what that also told us about the characters.  There was nothing like it and we were enchanted.

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Review: ‘The Complete Steve Canyon on TV’ Vol. 2

The second volume of [[[The Complete Steve Canyon on TV]]] is just out and there are 12 more episodes from the one season series based on Milton Caniff’s wonderful comic strip.  As with volume one, no one other than Canyon appears from the strip and there’s precious little in recurring characters on the show.

This is a perfect example of 1950s television when the star was role model perfect and merely there to propel stories along. We learn nothing about Canyon, who has a wide network of friends and acquaintances from coast to coast. While based at Big Thunder, his adventures take him far and wide as he helps those in need or is caught up in problems that just happen to occur.

Clearly, the highlight of the two-disc set is the Christmas episode written by Ray Bradbury. On the one hand, it’s a typical holiday television story and on the other, it has a spiritual and emotional depth missing from so many seasonal tales. Not only that, unlike so many Canyon episodes it tugs at your emotions as Canyon ferries a group of Hungarian refugee children to a German base where local families will host them for the holiday. Canyon has to figure out why one girl finds no joy in the holiday and his solution is a nice, universal one.

On the other hand, some of the histrionics in other episodes stagger those of us raised on more nuanced acting. “[[[The Search]]]” has a hammy Jeanette Nolan as a panicked wife begging Canyon and the Air Force to locate her missing, well-connected husband. She chews the scenery, wailing beyond human reason for most of the 30 minutes.

The remaining stories range from illness overseas to a damaged landing wheel. The final episode, “[[[Strike Force]]]” starts off well with a tension missing from most of the other stories but then becomes tedious as Canyon commands a three-part strike team on a Cold War exercise over the Atlantic. We’re told how difficult the coordination will be and how tough it is on the pilots for flying 10-12 hours each to be precisely in position on time but everything goes perfectly with no twists, surprises or reason to worry. The episode did make great use of archival footage.

Another pleasure in watching these shows is to see guest stars we know from their later works. Leonard Nimoy has a fairly thankless role in one while Gavin McLeod and Jack Weston get the have some fun with more substantive roles in a different story. The final episode, “Strike Force” has a blink-and-you-miss appearance by [[[Mary Tyler Moore]]].

The episodes are crisply restored, most complete with commercials from the era with audio commentary from some o the guest performers and historians. This is definitely worth a look for those who love the character or old-time television.

Review: ‘Bayou’ Volume One

One of the first questions posed regarding digital comics is just how you make any money from a strip available for free. The usual answer is that the strip, if it’s any good, will find an audience who will then happily pay for a print compilation. That seems to be the model for DC Comics’ Zuda Comics as they released Bayou
, the first book collecting Jeremy Love’s charming southern serial.

Zuda has been a nice place to find some new talent or see familiar talent try new things. The interface is fairly dreadful but the content is a nice mixed bag, veering just a little too much on the traditional genres of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. Few, though, use the genre as a jumping off point with the same affection and craft as Love’s feature. He called it “a southern fried odyssey”, set in 1933 Mississippi when the races were segregated. Two little girls, one white and one black, play as equals despite their parents’ views. When the white girl goes missing, Lee’s father is arrested for the crime and so begins the girl’s adventure.

Working with 1-4 panels per page (or screen), Love leisurely introduces us to the world of the Deep South and its players. Wisely, they are products of their time but not stereotypes or clichés. His simple art and lush color are wonders I these days of scritchy line art and oversaturated pages. Love knows how to tell a story from pacing to dialogue to art and color. No wonder the strip was lauded last month at the Glyph Comics Awards taking home five awards, including Best Writer, Best Artist and Story of the Year, Best Comic Strip, and his lead character, Lee Wagstaff, was declared Best Female Character.

The problem with the collection, though, is that at 160 pages we get only part of the story. Nothing is resolved and everything is left dangling, forcing you to wait for a second volume or more before we find out who these creatures living in the Bayou are and will Lee be fast enough to save her daddy from a lynching he does not deserve.

The book also lacks any sort of introductory material about the strip, Zuda or Love. All we get are a few sketches at the back to show the development, but even those pages are lacking context.

[[[Bayou]]] in print is a wonder to behold and comes recommended but be careful. Love’s work and the world he created are addictive and you will be left wanting much more.

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