The Black Dragon

'The Black Dragon', by Chris Claremont and John Bolton

Marvel / Epic Comics, 1985

 

‘The Black Dragon’ was published by Marvel’s Epic Comics line as a six-issue miniseries from May through October 1985.

The story is set in England in 1193. The plot centers on Scottish knight James Dunreith, exiled from his country by order of the King, Henry Plantagenet.

With Plantagenet’s death Dunreith decides to end his exile and return to England, where he is recruited by the Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. It seems rumors are circulating that a West Country nobleman named Edmund de Valere is planning a rebellion against the realm, even as Henry’s successor, Richard the Lionheart, is off adventuring in Palestine. 

James Dunreith knows de Valere well, having been the nobleman’s boon friend and comrade-at-arms. Dunreith, doubtful of the allegations against his friend, decides to allay the Queen’s fears and makes plans to visit Edmund at Glenowyn Castle.

Once at the Castle Glenowyn Dunreith finds it even harder to believe that de Valere is plotting to overthrow the King. Is a conspiracy underway to pin the blame for an insurrection on de Valere ?

Who is responsible for massacres and atrocities committed on the people living in the countryside around de Valere’s holdings ?

And why are the original inhabitants of the British Isles, the Little People, and their allies among the disgruntled Saxons of Wales, whispering that de Valere has entered into a pact with dark forces ?

Before long, James Dunreith finds himself in the middle of a bloody conflict between Norman and Saxon, between the supernatural and the natural, with the future of Merrie Olde England at stake.

‘The Black Dragon’ is an interesting effort at taking the authentic medieval setting and visual style of ‘Prince Valiant’ and melding them with a narrative full of modern fantasy and horror themes. 

John Bolton’s artwork is very good, despite suffering from the limitations of comic book printing as it stood in the mid-80s. Bolton’s draftsmanship carefully reproduces the environment of late 12^th-century England, and yet provides his own visual flair to the battle and fantasy scenes.

 

I had reservations about Chris Claremont’s writing duties for ‘The Black Dragon’, as Claremont is overly prone to putting together overwritten, overwrought narratives that tend to collapse under their own weight. 

Sadly, this is true of ‘Dragon’. The first four issues are well done in regard to plotting and the management of a large cast of characters, including historical personages such as Robin Hood. However the series’ final two issues suffer from too many plot threads vying for panel space; too many lengthy, stilted speeches by one character after another; too many convenient rescues and deathbed resuscitations; and an underwhelming ending that relies on a contrived act of spell-casting.

 

Despite the flaws of its scripting, Bolton’s artwork makes ‘The Black Dragon’ worth picking up. It’s also worth investigating for its treatment of classical English folklore, particularly in comparison to the contemporary approaches to this topic, such as Mignola’s recent Hellboy series, ‘The Fury’.

Fallen Angel by Maroto

'Fallen Angel' by Esteban Maroto
from Vampirella No. 60 (May 1977)

All of the Spanish artists employed by the Warren magazines during the 70s were skilled draftsmen. Esteban Maroto's pen-and-ink work, in particular, had an impressive artistic sensibility.

Book Review: The Third Omni Book of Science Fiction

Book Review: 'The Third Omni Book of Science Fiction', edited by Ellen Datlow

 

3 / 5  Stars

‘The Third Omni Book of Science Fiction’ (479 pp.) was edited by Ellen Datlow and released in April 1985 by Zebra Books. The cover artist is Tim White (as per David in the Comments).

This anthology contains short stories published during the interval 1978 – 1985; some originally appeared in Omni magazine, or in earlier anthologies (‘The Best of Omni Science Fiction’, 1980) associated with the magazine.

The first story, Alfed Bester’s ‘Galatea Galante’, is the worst in the collection. In the early 80s Bester began to get increased praise as the cyberpunk movement recognized the before-its-time quality of 'The Stars, My Destination'. Much is made in the back cover blurb of his inclusion in this collection

Unfortunately, 'Galatea' is a lame re-telling of the Pygmalion theme, a theme already heavily overworked in the sci-fi literature. Bester attempts to add satiric humor and New Wave-style mannerisms (including the insertion of musical notations into the text) but they fall miserably flat.

‘Number 13’, by Stephen Robinett, deals with a lone crewman’s angst. ‘Men Like Us’, by David Drake, is an entertaining look at post-Armageddon Earth and the suspicion of the Outsider. ‘I Am the Burning Bush’, by Gregg Keizer, is a downbeat, original tale of a mutant and his unique abilities.

‘Farmer on the Dole’, by Frederik Pohl, is another of the weaker entries. Pohl recasts the struggle of the Lumpen Proletariat for liberation, but with robots as the protagonists. The story goes on too long, and runs well out of steam, before it struggles to an ending.

Jack Dann’s ‘Blind Shemmy’ is one of the best stories in the anthology. It is set in a near-future Paris, where an amoral reporter decides to engage in a high-stakes, ‘virtual reality’ game of chemin de fer (the ‘Blind Shemmy’ of the title). Featuring some disturbing imagery and a suspenseful duel between desperate antagonists, this is a gem of an early cyberpunk tale.

Roger Zelazny contributes ‘The Last of the Wild Ones’, set in his universe of intelligent, self-aware automobiles. ‘Prairie Sun’, by Edward Bryant, deals with time travelers and the fateful decisions regulating interaction with the Past.

Robert Silverberg’s ‘Amanda and the Alien’ is a humorous tale of a California Valley Girl and an escaped ET.

Gregory Benford and Marc Laidlaw provide ‘A Hiss of Dragon’, a well-written tale of an adventurer who makes a hazardous living on a low-grav planet. ‘Executive Clemency’, by Gardner Dozois and Jack C. Haldeman II, is another of the better entries in the collection; in a near-future, post- World War Three USA, an elderly man struggles to come to terms with the changes to his world.

Philip K. Dick’s ‘Ruatavaara’s Case’ is a satiric look at the collision of human and alien theologies. ‘Adventurer of the Metal Murderer’, by Fred Saberhagen, mixes his Berserker theme with proto-Steampunk.

‘Borovsky’s Hollow Woman’, by Jeff Duntemann and Nancy Kress, features a spacesuit governed by an empathic AI, a troubled steelworker, and murderous rivalries on a massive space station construction project. It’s a labored tale that could have benefited from being shortened in length. Gene Wolfe’s ‘The War Beneath the Tree’ is a blackly humorous take on Christmas toys; perhaps because of its shorter length, it is one of his more accessible stories.

‘Webrider’, by Jayge Carr, is a middling tale of a mutant gifted with the ability to travel the galaxy through teleportation. This involves great risk; there is predictable angst on the part of the ‘webrider’. ‘Ringtime’, by Thomas Disch, deals with virtual reality, risky behavior, and a paying audience; it suffers from an oblique prose style that shows too many signs of hanging on to New Wave affectations.

William Gibson and Bruce Sterling provide ‘Red Star, Winter Orbit’, a passable, if not particularly exciting tale of a seedy Soviet space station and its rebellious crew.

The anthology closes with a novelette by Dan Simmons, ‘Carrion Comfort’, which the author later expanded into a novel.

‘Comfort’ deals with a group of mutants who are able to bend others to their will. This novelette starts off very slowly, and the powers wielded by the mutants are more than a little contrived. While the ending eventually takes on some momentum, it was too long in coming to make me interested in possibly trying the novel. 

All in all, the Third Omni Book of Science Fiction is a reasonably good snapshot of SF writing in the early 80s, at a time when the cyberpunk movement was in ascendancy, bringing with it greater attention to composition, plotting, and narrative as compared to the defunct New Wave movement it was replacing.

Thrillogy by Tim Conrad

'Thrillogy' by Tim Conrad

Pacific Comics, 1984

 An interesting take on the 'Caveman' theme with 'Prometheus Primeval'.
 

Heavy Metal magazine November 1981

'Heavy Metal' magazine November 1981

It's November 1981, and in heavy rotation on the FM stations is Lindsay Buckingham's 'Trouble'.

The newest issue of Heavy Metal magazine is out on the stands, featuring a front cover by Segrelles, titled 'The Mercenary', which was accompanied in the issue by the second installment of that series. The back cover, 'And the Children Play', was by Tito Salamoni.

Buoyed by the success of the Heavy Metal motion picture, the editorial staff presents a variety of stylin' early 80s clothing and merchandise for fans to purchase (note that back in 1981, baseball cap brims were always flat...the idea of actually manufacturing them with the bills curved would have seemed perverse and bizarre.....note, too, that the idea of shorts for men that had hems below the knee was still some 7 - 8 years in the future).

 

The columns reviewing music and books in this issue are expanded to three pages. Leading off is 'rok' critic Lou Stathis's exposition on reggae. 

All through the 70s and early 80s, rock critics were obsessed with reggae, never skipping an opportunity to rhapsodize about those profound sounds, and, most importantly, never passing up an opportunity to speak in the reggae style (I learned from a native Jamaican that the island people are not, repeat, not impressed when suburban white boys try to mimic 'the dialect' ).

I remember buying Burnin', by Marley and the Wailers, back in 1979 and thinking, what's the big deal ? Thankfully, by early 1979, The Police had come along and done something worthwhile with reggae.....

Also receiving reviews are albums by some 'New Wave' English bands called 'The Psychedelic Furs', 'Joy Division', and 'Souixie and the Banshees'. Kind words also are applied to a nascent genre dubbed 'trance music', as performed by the German band named Kraftwerk. In 1981, all the proto-hipsters name-dropped Kraftwerk.

As far as the comics go, Bilal's 'The Immortal's Fete' continues, as does 'Tex Arcana' by Findley, and there is another 'Mudwogs' strip from Arthur Suydam. The artwork of the Dillons is the topic of a Portfolio. 

There are a number of one-shot strips of quality. 'One Evening, I Saw Red !', by Caza, is posted below.

 

'The Bus' by Paul Kirchner

 

Book Review: Brothers of Earth

Book Review: 'Brothers of Earth' by C. J. Cherryh

2 / 5 Stars

‘Brothers of Earth’ (245 pp.) is DAW Book No. 212; it was published in October 1976, with cover art by Alan Atkinson.

‘Brothers’ adheres quite closely to the premise regularly employed in author Cherryh’s science fiction: through circumstance, or his own volition, an Earthman finds himself immersed in an alien world and an alien culture. 

Success of his mission, or perhaps his very survival, depends on his willingness to adapt to the alien culture and gain the respect of its people. The alien culture is usually depicted as being fair and equitable in its own right, if not in some ways superior to that of Terran culture. 

And, more often than not, our hero finds himself bereft of laser, disintegrator ray, railgun, mini-nuke launcher, phase plasma rifle in the 40-watt range, and other ordnance, leaving him with no choice but to undergo various humiliations and abuses, with no way to respond save to grin and bear it, and hope his persecutors will eventually relent.

In the case of ‘Brothers’, the hero is spaceman Kurt Morgan, the lone survivor of a battle between the fleets of the Federation and the rebellious Hanan faction. Morgan  crash-lands on a nameless Earth-type world, whose inhabitants are a race of humans akin to the Polynesians of Terra.

In due course, Kurt Morgan and Kta, his native minder, find themselves caught up in various religious and political conflicts among the native peoples, and forced into choosing sides in a violent civil war. It’s up to Kurt to demonstrate that his loyalties stand with Kta and his kin, even if so doing ruins the last, best chance Morgan has of regaining contact with the Federation, and eventual rescue…..

I found ‘Brothers’ to be a competent, if not particularly original, Cherryh novel. With the exception of the book’s middle section, where the narrative takes on some degree of momentum, most of the text is devoted to lengthy explorations of the emotional interactions between Morgan and his friend Kta. 

While I can’t claim to be an aficionado of so-called ‘slash’ fiction, it’s clear that in many ways ‘Brothers’ is a more chaste incarnation of the Kirk/Spock pieces regularly produced in the 70s by a subset of Star Trek’s female fans.

The novel is centered on the relationship between Morgan and Kta, and rarely strays from this path; I’m not disclosing a major spoiler to say that early on a female love interest is deployed, but then quickly removed. Other female characters are introduced in the course of the narrative, but these characters serve as vehicles by which Morgan and Kta can further cement their dedication to one another.

Cherryh fans will want to have a copy of ‘Brothers’ on their bookshelf, but I suspect all other PorPor fans will want to read it only if they have nothing more pressing on their calendar.

The Silver Age of Comic Book Art

'The Silver Age of Comic Book Art', by Arlen Schumer

 

  

Arlen Schumer’s ‘The Silver Age of Comic Book Art’ (Collector’s Press, 2003, 176 pp.) is a large trade paperback (at nearly 10 “ x 13 “, it didn’t fit into the confines of my scanner).

Author Schumer is a historian of comics and graphic art, and he knows his stuff, and how to present it. This book, as its title indicates, is devoted to the artwork of Silver Age (1956 – 1972) mainstream comic books, with emphasis on 8 of the artists who were foremost in the field. The printing quality of the book is very good, and even when enlarged, the Ben-day dot images of the old comics are rendered in a manner that is pleasing to the eye. 

 

The layout is consistently interesting and carefully places the covers of the featured comic books on the left and right sides of each page, superimposed on the background graphic – usually a blown-up panel or series of panels. Schumer further mixes things up by overlaying superposed quotes from the featured artist, or his own editorial comments, either as speech balloons or ‘comic book-style’ font headings. The final result is to lend the book its own colorful, Silver Age-inspired visual style. 

The Introduction gives an overview of the Silver Age and the relationship between its revolutionary effect on not just comic book art, but graphic art culture as a whole, particularly the Pop Art movement. There is also some discussion of the way the Silver Age books approached controversial social and political issues within the context of the Civil Rights and Antiwar movements.

The surveyed artists cover the Silver Age in roughly chronological order, starting with Carmine Infantino and his work for The Flash at DC in the late 50s – early 60s. 

Successive chapters turn to Steve Ditko:

 

Jack Kirby:

 

  

  

Gil Kane:

 

 Joe Kubert:

 Gene Colan:

 Jim Steranko:

 

  

and Neal Adams:

By taking advantage of modern printing technology, author Schumer succeeds in bringing out the artistry innate to these images, something difficult to grasp when viewing the actual comics back in the 60s (much less nowadays), with all the drawbacks of their cheap paper construction, hasty print quality, and crude color separations. 

One appreciates the effort of these artists, who were often assigned to illustrate multiple books each month, with all the attendant deadlines, yet received comparatively meager compensation for properties that brought in sizable amounts of money to the publishers.

If you were a fan of the Silver Age comics from Marvel and DC, you'll want to have this book in your library. And even if nostalgia isn't your 'bag', those interested more in the evolution of illustration and graphic art in American culture also will want a copy.

Autumn by Judson Huss

'Autumn' by Judson Huss

1989, oil on wood, 46 x 38 cm

from the book 'River of Mirrors: The Fantastic Art of Judson Huss'

Morpheus International, 1996