Spain: Street Fighting Men

Spain: Street Fighting Men
Fantagraphics Books, November 2017

'Spain: Street Fighting Men' (304 pp) was published by Fantagraphics Books in November 2017. Like all the titles from Fantagraphics, this is a well-made, heavy slab of a trade paperback, printed on high-quality paper stock with reproductions as crisp as possibly can be made from scans, negatives, and printed copies of decades-old drawings, photographs, and comix.

Born and raised in a working-class neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, Manuel ‘Spain’ Rodriguez (1940 – 2012) was a pioneering figure in underground comix and alternative media. ‘Street Fighting Men’ is the first in a planned five-volume series of graphic novels compiling all of Rodriguez’s illustrations and comics. (As of August 2020, Fantagraphics has issued the first two volumes in the series.)

Patrick Rosenkranz (Rebel Visions) is the premiere historian of the underground comix era, and thus ably qualified to edit this book, which is divided into five parts:

‘The Complete Trashman’ compiles all of the comix featuring this seminal character. You get all of the Trashman stories from his first appearance as a one-page strip in The East Village Other in 1968, up to his final appearance, in the comic Zero Zero, in 1995. All the Trashman stories from Subvert Comics are present and accounted for. This compilation is superior to the 1997 Fantagraphics book, 'Trashman Lives' (used copies of which have asking prices close to $30, which is the same price as 'Street Fighting Men').

Growing up, I really liked Trashman, so being able to get all of his adventures in one volume, reprinted on glossy paper stock, in 'Street Fighting Men' is a real bargain. All of the intricate details - such as Spain's careful use of Zip-A-Tone - that were hard to make out in the original comix are easier to see, and appreciate:

‘Sometimes I’m So Happy I Can’t Stand It’ is Rosenkranz’s biography of the Buffalo, NY ‘Road Vultures’ motorcycle club; Spain joined the club in 1961 and participated in many of its activities, including its road rides and bar-room brawls.

Full of anecdotes and reminiscences by Spain and other members of the Vultures, accompanied by press clippings, photos from personal archives, early drawings by Spain, and even excerpts from a Scholarly Dissertation (?!), this essay is a very entertaining overview not just of the history of a motorcycle gang during the 50s and 60s, but a history of blue-collar Buffalo and Upstate New York in their golden years before the advent of economic decay and the establishment of the Rust Belt.

‘The Complete Road Vulture Comic Strips’ section features Spain’s semi-autobiographical accounts of the adventures of the club, ‘….back when Harleys still ruled the road’.

‘Arm the Vagrants’, another essay from Rosenkranz, is a narrative history of Spain’s relocation to New York City in the mid-60s. There, Spain played an important role in the nascent underground comix movement, mainly through his duties as the art director of the influential counterculture newspaper The East Village Other. Anecdotes about the ‘real creepy place’ in New York city that Spain and fellow comics artist Kim Deitch lived in during the mid 1960’s conjure up authentic Escape from New York, The Wolfen, and Fort Apache the Bronx vibes……. well before any of those films hit theatres.

Closing out ‘Street Fighting Men’ is a very short section of ‘Manning’ comix, one-pagers about a vigilante cop that Spain incorporated into early issues of The East Village Other.

Whether you're an underground comix fan, an aging hippie seeking nostalgia, or an acolyte or historian of American pop culture, 'Spain: Street Fighting Men' is a worthy investment. 

I would pick it up sooner, rather than later, as eventually these Fantagraphics titles will acquire out-of-print status.......... and high prices. 

Impacto Directo

 Impacto Directo
(Direct Impact)
by Paul Kirchner

from Zona 84 Almanac, 1987

I can't remember if this one-pager never appeared in Heavy Metal. How it wound up in the Spanish magazine Zona 84 1987 'alamanac' is anyone's guess..... 

But then, those crafty Spaniards had a habit of piling lots of U.S. - made material in their magazines during the 80s and early 90s.........whether the creators got any compensation is perhaps an....... untactful....... question..........

The Smiths from Look-In magazine

The Smiths
from Look-In magazine (UK)

March 24, 1984

Book Review: Cestus Dei

Book Review: 'Cestus Dei' by John Maddox Roberts

4 / 5 Stars

'Cestus Dei' (283 pp) was published by Tor Books in June 1983. The cover art is by Kevin Eugene Johnson.

This novel first was published, in greatly shortened form, as a hardback book titled 'The Strayed Sheep of Charun', issued by Doubleday / The Science Fiction Book Club in 1977. 'Charon' was John Maddox Roberts's (b. 1947) first published novel. Roberts went on to be a prolific sci-fi and fantasy author during the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, writing novels for the Dragonlance and Conan franchises, as well as for his own 'SPQR', 'Stormlands', 'Cingulum', and 'Island Worlds' properties. 

It appears that Doubleday - for reasons unknown - cut 'Strayed Sheep' off at 180 pages (the final sentence in 'Strayed Sheep' has an awkward quality signalling that further plot developments were in the offing). The 180 pages of 'Stayed Sheep' are present in 'Cestus', along with another 103 pages of additional content. 

So: while I found 'Strayed Sheep' to be a competent novel even in its truncated form, to get the complete story, you'll want to pick up 'Cestus'. 

The plot: after centuries of isolation, the Flavian System once more re-establishes contact with the Federation. The United Faiths - a sort of Galactic ecumenical council representing Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and Judaism - approves of proselytizing in the Flavian System......on a first-come, first-converted basis, of course.  

Anxious to see millions of converts added to the fold, the Pope dispatches a Jesuit priest named Miles, and a Franciscan brother named Jeremiah, to the Flavian homeworld of Charun and its capital city, Augusta, where they are to begin their Missions. 

There is a marked contrast between the two: Miles is a man of action; brilliant in mind, devious and calculating in his ability to read, and exploit, the motives and desires of those he seeks to convert. And, by virtue of being trained on a heavy-gravity world, Miles is a masterful fighter in both hand-to-hand combat and the use of firearms. For Father Miles, a member of the eponymous Brotherhood of Cestus Dei, the use of venality and violence are perfectly acceptable, if they bring souls to Salvation..........

Jeremiah, on the other hand, is the quintessential Franciscan: meek, mild, seeking to convert the heathens through kindness and generosity of spirit. He is at times discomfited by the mercenary nature of Father Miles's tactics.

But once they arrive at Augusta, both men realize that converting Charun will not be easy. Although peopled by the the descendants of European spacefarers, monotheism has long since been abandoned on Charun, and in its place, the Consul has established the Roman practice of bread and circuses. Gambling, prostitution, drug abuse, and bloody gladiatorial games distract the populace from their impoverished misery. Allegiances among the ruling oligarchs are made solely for personal gain, and betrayal is simply another tool of statecraft.

Which strategy for conversion will win out - the hard-edged practicality of Father Miles ? Or the humble persona of Brother Jeremiah ? Whatever strategy to be employed must be immediately successful.........for it turns out the Muslims also have their eye on the Flavian System.........

'Cestus Dei' is a straightforward space opera, written in a clear and declarative prose style. What motivated me to give it four stars is the author's decision to color the actions of Father Miles and his church with a slight, but undeniable, note of extremism. For Miles and his superiors, lethal measures are quite justifiable if they protect the innocent and deter sinners......and the pirates and the warlords of the Flavian System are unashamed sinners. 

By avoiding a predictable narrative, in which the pacifism and selflessness of Father Jeremiah (improbably) winds over the hearts of evildoers, 'Cestus Dei' exhibits a transgressive sensibility that I found entertaining. For that reason, this novel is worth picking up.

Tarzan and Jane

Tarzan and Jane
by James Michaelson
from Zona 84 issue 20, 1985

This illustration was part of the promotional package for the 1981 film Tarzan, the Ape Man, starring Bo Derek. It apparently was considered too risque to appear in mainstream advertising in the US, and never was used. 

While the illustration certainly is striking, whether it would have made a difference in the film's reception had it been used in advertising is debatable. Despite Bo Derek's reluctant agreement to appear semi-nude throughout the film, Tarzan, the Ape Man is considered one of the worst movies ever made, and flopped at the box office.

Book Review: Generation

Book Review: 'Generation' edited by David Gerrold

2 / 5 Stars

‘Generation’ (236 pp) was published in July 1972 by Dell Books. The cover illustration is by Robert Foster.

Like Gerrold’s 1971 anthology ‘Protostars’, also co-edited with Stephen Goldin, ‘Generation’ is an all-new compilation of ‘speculative fiction’ pieces from both established and new authors. In his Introduction, Gerrold reveals that the anthology was assembled in 1969 and scheduled for publication in 1970, but circumstances beyond his control delayed publication until 1972. 

One thing that will get the immediate attention of modern-day readers is the un-Woke nature of Gerrold’s introductions for some of the female authors. Of Kathleen Sky, Gerrold writes:

Kathleen Sky may be the most liberated woman I know.

First of all, she is a supple and delicious creature. There may be girls in this world who are prettier than Kathleen Sky – but certainly not sexier. This girl exudes such a warm femininity that every man in her presence notices her.

[ Perhaps Gerrold also could have casually mentioned that Kathleen Sky happened to be the wife of his co-editor, Stephen Goldin. Nothing like nepotism to get you into print........ ! ]

And for Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, we are told:

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro is a cuddly little lump of blond femininity. She has a cute nose, a smile that never quits, and is a seemingly boundless source of energy and enthusiasm.

………Yeah, times sure were different back in 1972……….!

Upon finishing ‘Generation’ it is quite apparent that few contributors were willing to submit quality pieces; most of the entries in this anthology are short, fragmentary, tossed-off works that signal that the rates Gerrold and Dell were offering were Low at best…………..indeed, ‘The Shortest Science-Fiction Story Ever Told’ by Roger Deeley consists of just three words. 

[ This may have been the height of hipness in the New Wave era, or perhaps an in-joke between Deeley and Gerrold……..but I’ll let the reader make his or her own conclusions. ]

My capsule summaries of the 25 entries, starting with the best:

It’s Very Clean, by Gene Wolfe: I consider Wolfe to be an over-rated author, but this tale from early in his career - about the future of prostitution - has coherent prose, a tangible plot, and a worthwhile denouement. That’s really all anyone can ask from a New Wave era story………… 

Psychedelic Flight, by Robert Ray: some hippies find that their new choice of recreational drug triggers unpleasant revelations. Stands alongside Harlan Ellison’s ‘Shattered Like A Glass Goblin’, and Avram Davidson and Grania Davis’s ‘The New Zombies’, as an effective treatment of the dark side of the hippie movement. Gerrold’s own ‘All of Them Were Empty’ (below) arguably belongs in this select company, too.

The Galactic Clock, by Vonda N. McIntyre: Elroy Finchwood is one of those unfortunate people for whom life is one constant trial. Can a hippie commune save him ? This story prefigures M. John Harrison’s 1975 tale ‘Breaking Down’ as an insightful examination of infection with entropy.

Beside Still Waters, by Edward Bryant and James Sutherland: an urban fantasy – with a John Cheever-ish tenor - about a swimming pool.

Here’s A Health Unto His Majesty, by Roger Deeley: here, Deeley provides a complete short story. Tavern patrons in Merrie Olde England muse over the arrival of a man who claims to be from 1962.

Then there’s Gerrold’s own entry: ‘All of Them Were Empty’, in which junkies Deet and Woozy enter a decaying tenement in search of a strange new trip.

 

In his introduction to the story, Gerrold proudly states that he wrote it spontaneously after smoking pot, and listening to the Donovan Leitch song 'Sunny Goodge Street'. Ominously, Gerrold boasts that (save for some grammatical corrections) the published story is a first draft.  Be that as it may, under its ‘trippy’ prose this story has a functioning plot and a convincing denouement. Hooray !

The remaining stories in ‘Generation’ consist of fables and parables from Stephen Goldin (‘Stubborn’), Robert E. Toomey, Jr. (‘The Re-Creation’), Barry M. Malzberg (‘Vidi, Vici, Veni’), Kathleen Sky (‘One Ordinary Day, With Box’), Edward Bryant and Jody Harper (‘Nova Morning’), Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (‘Everything That Begins With An ‘M’’), Joseph F. Pumilia (‘The Porter of Hell-Gate’), and C. F. Hensel (‘A Sense of Time’). 

Two entries from Alice Sheldon / James Tiptree Jr. are unremarkable. ‘Through A Lass Darkly’ is a satirical treatment of a future Valley Girl and her diction, while ‘Amberjack’ is a plotless short-short story featuring stream-of-consciousness-New-Wave-Hipster Jive. 

‘Reprisal’, by Alice Laurence, is a very earnest and overly labored example of the hallowed New Wave era practice of using sci-fi tropes to say something Profound about Racial Prejudice. In this case, people born with wings suffer discrimination........ at the hands of those born without wings.

Other entries are uninspired, workmanlike efforts at satire: ‘Every Fourth House’ by Evelyn Lief; ‘Up Schist Creek’ by Piers Anthony Jacob; ‘The Birthday Boy’ by James Stevens; ‘The Lady Was for Kroinking’ by David R. Bunch; ‘…..After They’ve Seen Paree’ by Dennis O’Neil, and ‘Constitution in E Flat’ by Paul A. Carter. 

Surprisingly for an anthology issued during the Vietnam War, Gardner Dozois’s ‘Conditioned Reflex’ is the sole antiwar story. Although it is set in a fictional future conflict, its allegorical nature should have been quite clear to anyone reading it in 1972. 

The verdict ? Save for aficionados of New Wave fiction, there's not a whole lot of impressive content in 'Generation'. It's best regarded as an exemplar of a particular time and place in sci-fi history, rather than as a story collection to be treasured through the passage of the decades.

Zetari by John M. Burns

'Zetari' by John M. Burns

According to his interview in George Khoury's 2004 overview of British comics artists,True Brit, John M. Burns (b. 1938) first began illustrating comics in 1954. Over his 50+ year career, he provided illustrations for an impressive gamut of titles from UK publications such as 2000 AD, Look-In, Eagle, Diana, and Marvel UK. 

Burns also illustrated a number of comic strips for UK newspapers, including the cheesecake strip Jane and the private-eye strip The Seekers.

From 1984 to 1988, Burns teamed up with the Dutch writer Martin Lodewijk to produce 'Zetari', a fantasy comic featuring a female lead. Zetari was serialized in Panorama magazine, the Italian magazine L'Eternauta, and the Spanish magazine Zona 84.

This 96-page, 2018 German-language graphic novel (or 'integral'), from publisher ERKO, compiles all the Zetari comics in a very nice hardcover edition. 

Not being fluent in German, I can't comment on the writing of this graphic novel, but the excellence of Burns's artwork is quite evident. The cheesecake elements lend the book an undertone of humor that balances the occasional bouts of bloody swordplay.

'Zetari' has not, to the best of my knowledge, been published in the U.S. Hopefully someone like Titan Books, IDW, Dark Horse, Image, or Avatar will recognize Zetari as a gem of 1980s comics and graphic art, and arrange to issue a U.S. version. 

Rolling Stones Dance Part 1

Rolling Stones
'Dance Pt. 1' and 'If I Was A Dancer (Part II)'

As July 1980 slides into August 1980, the Rolling Stones' latest album, Emotional Rescue, released at the end of June, continues to supply the soundtrack to the Summer.

The first track on the album is the infectious disco song 'Dance (Pt. 1)'. While not released as a single, it did reach number 9 on the Billboard Dance chart.

The band recorded an alternate version of 'Dance', which was titled 'If I Was A Dancer (Pt. II)'. This was released as a track on the compilation album Sucking in the Seventies in 1981.

Fifth Avenue, 1980, photograph by Lucas Compan 

Together, the two versions perfectly capture the hedonistic attitude of Studio 54 and the city's disco culture, as the elites partied away while New York sunk ever further into decay. 

Hey, what am I doing standing here on the corner of
West 8th Street and 6th Avenue and...
Ah, skip it.
Nothing. Keith! Watcha, watcha doing? (whistle)

Oh, I think the time has come to get out, get out
Get up, get out, get into something new
Get up, get out, into something new
Ooh! And it's got me moving (Got me moving honey!)
Ooh! And it's got me moving
Ooh! And it's got me moving
Ooh! And it's got me moving

My my my, my my my, my my my, my my my, my

Poor man eyes a rich man
Denigrates his property
A rich man eyes a poor man
And envies his simplicity.
Get up, get up, into something new
Get up, get out, down into something new

Ooh! and it's got me moving
Ooh! and it's got me moving
Ooh! and it's got me moving
Ooh! and it's got me moving
Ooh! and it's got me moving

Yeah, get up, get up, get out
Into something new
Yeah, all, woncha all, woncha all, woncha all
Don't stand accused...

**************************************************************

I stand accused of talking
But I feel that we are falling
In the same old groove
The radio is playing
Spitting out the same old news
It's time to get up, get out
Get out into something new
Time to get up, get out
Out into something new

Everybody wants somebody's fantasy
Everybody wants somebody's crazy dreams

Everybody wants somebody's fantasy
Everybody wants somebody's crazy dreams

If I was a woman, I would want a new man every night
If I was a woman, I would want a new man every night
If I was a politician, make sure I was the best in sight
If I was a woman, I would want a new man every night

The poor man eyes the rich man
Denigrates his poverty
The rich man eyes the poor man
And envies his simplicity

Everybody wants somebody's fantasy
Everybody wants somebody's crazy dreams

If I was a movie star, five million dollars would be my price
If I was a trucker, I'd drive for seven days and seven lonely Nights
If I was a drummer, I would never miss the beat
If I was a dancer, y'all would never see my feet
If I was a hooker, a thousand dollars would be my price, all right
If I was a candidate for President, I'd make sure I had a steady wife
If I was a millionaire, I'd spend all my money in one crazy night

I am what I am
Yeah, my my boss 

I am what I am

My dreams can't be bought Yeah, I said now
I tear across the dollar 

Just to end this day with you 

Yeah, I am what I am
I am my own boss 

Everybody wants somebody's crazy dreams

Everybody wants somebody's crazy dreams

Everybody wants somebody's crazy dreams

Book Review: One Half of the World

Book Review: 'One Half of the World' by James Barlow

3 / 5 Stars

'One Half of the World' (277 pp) was published in hardback by Harper and Brothers (U.S.) in 1957 (as far as I can tell, no paperback edition ever was released).

James Barlow was born in 1921 in Birmingham, England, and was of Welsh background. During World War Two he served in the Royal Air Force as a gunnery instructor before being discharged due to tuberculosis. After convalescing in a sanitarium (the first randomized clinical trial for the efficacy of streptomycin against tuberculosis took place in 1946), Barlow took a job with the city of Birmingham water bureau.

In 1956 he  published his first novel, ‘The Protagonists’. He eventually took up writing full time and published another 12 novels (in the crime, suspense, and political thriller genres) before dying at age 51 in 1973.

'One Half' is set in Britain in 1960, two years after Soviet Russia (referred to throughout the novel with the euphemism 'Occupiers') has conquered Western Europe, during the course of which they nuked London (!)

The United States remains hostile to this New Order, and supports a small, but determined, Resistance movement in the U.K.

The protagonist of 'One Half' is a 36 year-old, clean cut, tall, level-headed  man named Trevor George Baxter. A veteran of World War Two, Baxter is an investigator with the Internal Insecurity Police, dedicated to ferreting out saboteurs, subversives, and other enemies of the State. Baxter serves the Occupiers with the equanimity of the Company Man, convinced that efforts to overthrow his country's overlords risk fostering chaos and the implosion of British society.

Early in the novel Baxter meets, and becomes infatuated by, an eighteen year-old Elizabeth Taylor lookalike named Gillian Smallwood. It turns out that Gillian is religious and meets regularly with other Christians to worship; while not banned by the Occupiers, such activity is frowned upon. Baxter soon realizes that courting Gillian will mean adopting her beliefs; this in turn changes his willingness to advance the aims of the Occupation. 

It also jeopardizes his high standing in the Internal Security Police, and the brutish Detective Sergeant Eric Woodley, who nurses a deep and abiding hatred for Baxter, will be too happy to exploit any mis-steps on Baxter's part..............

'One Half of the World' is not an action-driven storyline along the lines of the 2000 AD comic 'Invasion !', where truck (er, 'lorry') driver Bill Savage wields a sawed-off shotgun and wages violent war against the hated 'Volgans'. 

Rather, it is a deliberately-paced exploration of the conversion from atheism to Christianity on the part of Trevor Baxter and, consequent to this, Baxter's realization that the ideologies of the Occupiers are designed to permanently erase the psyches of conquered peoples. The novel winds up being overburdened with many lengthy passages dealing with this philosophical argument.

Another weakness of 'One Half' is the deracination, as it were, of the Soviets; by referring to them as 'Occupiers', author Barlow imparts generic quality to the villains (the one Occupier that is mentioned by name in the entirety of the novel is a Major with the ambiguous surname of Frosch, as opposed to something more 'Cyrillic' in nature). This failure to imbue the narrative with a full awareness the odious nature of the Soviet / Marxist regime fails to give an effective grounding to the struggle of the oppressed Brits against the Occupation.  

Summing up, I can't recommend 'One Half of the World' as a particularly impressive treatment of the premise of a near-future Britain under the thumb of the Commies. Readers are better off looking for the adventures of Bill Savage in the pages of 2000 AD.

Heavy Metal Presents: Moebius

Heavy Metal Presents: Moebius
1981

Heavy Metal released this compilation of all-new (i.e., it had not previously appeared in the magazine) Moebius material in 1981. Due to speculators, copies in good condition have steep asking prices, but I was able to find a nice copy for $6 in my local comic book shop.

The first half of Heavy Metal Presents: Moebius is made up of an English translation of the initial chapters of the 'Black Incal' (L'Incal Noir) comic. 

The coloring scheme reflects the state of comic book printing in 1981, which was not that great............

Then there is a section of book and magazine covers:

Closing out the compilation are some shorter color and black-and-white comics. 

The best of these is 'The Detour', a satirical tale of Moebius on vacation in the South of France with his wife and baby; despite its heavy amount of text, the comic brings forth the artists' genius at draftsmanship, particularly in this self-portrait:

Summing up, while I wouldn't pay $30 or more for a copy of Heavy Metal Presents: Moebius, if you come across a copy for $20 or less then I recommend picking it up.