In addition to a general noir atmosphere and treating crime as a character study instead of an event requiring a solution, their stories have consistently featured elements of cinematic pacing and the illusion of natural dialogue (no small feat in a comic book format). They’ve also often focused on central characters who were situationally or morally compromised.
In 1982, creator-ownership received a huge shot in the arm from Steve and Bill Schanes through their Pacific Comics imprint. The company launched Jack Kirby’s Captain Victory, Mike Grell’s Starslayer, and Neal Adams’ Ms. Mystic, in addition to many other titles, with the creators retaining the rights to their work, a far cry from the usual arrangements in those days.
Writer Geoff Johns, artist Jason Fabok, and colorist Brad Anderson continue to deliver one of the best serialized comic books on the market today, and one of the reasons Rook: Exodus is so good is that it is fundamentally science fiction rather than a superhero comic in disguise.
By the time Avengers #160 arrived on the stands, it had gotten around that Wonder Man was back, so it was a great time for The Grim Reaper to make a return appearance. In the hands of Shooter, penciler George Pérez, and inker Pablo Marcos, the story is vintage Marvel magic. With flashbacks to the origin and development of The Vision (there are great story reasons the android is closely tied to Simon Williams), previous Grim Reaper appearances, and Wonder Man’s death and return.
Following the Liberty Legion four-part crossover in Invaders #5, Marvel Premiere #29, Invaders #6, and Marvel Premiere #30, which reintroduced a number of Timely Comics characters, writer-editor Roy Thomas and pencil artist Frank Robbins got back to creating new original characters the following issue.
It was neither the most likely of pairings nor would it last long, but the original outings of Secret Agent X-9, which premiered in January 1934, teamed one of the great practitioners of mystery fiction, Dashiell Hammett, with one of the most significant comic strip artists to ever ply his craft, Alex Raymond.
The Rocketeer first appeared on an ad on the back of Pacific Comics’ Starslayer #1. The feature itself ran in Starslayer #2 and #3, and Pacific Presents #1 and #2 before Pacific went under. The Rocketeer Special Edition #1, which had been intended to be Pacific Presents #5, was published by Eclipse, as was an album-format collected edition of those installments.
I’ve been doing a lot of reading of and research on Milestone Media’s revolutionary 1990s comics line. That, in turn, led me to remember one of my favorite almost-unknowns from that time, Nemesis Comics’ Frank. In terms of tone and approach, this modern take on Frankenstein actually would have fit in nicely with most of Milestone’s output.
Writer Mark Evanier and Steve Rude bookended 1987 by teaming up twice. The first, cover-dated January of that year, was a Mister Miracle one-shot for DC Comics. Evanier, a longtime Jack Kirby associate, and Rude, channeled the King and produced a fantastic, Kirbyesque thrill ride. In December, they once again teamed up, this time for a Space Ghost one-shot at Comico.
hen the comics collected in this omnibus were running as individual issues, I wrote “Writer Daryl Gregory and artist Carlos Magno could put us on their payroll and we still couldn’t like this comic any more than we already do. Tightly plotted, relentlessly paced, brilliantly illustrated, accessible to new readers, and a balm for longtime POTA fans to the extent that while reading it one forgets there was ever a Tim Burton movie.
