Wayne Markley

by Wayne Markley

I often ask for feedback in the column about books I am not reading or books I should check out but for one reason or another I never did. Sometimes I dismiss it as being something I am not interested in. But it has always been my believe if someone is willing to take the time and effort to send me a book, or even an e-mail, and point out that I am missing something, the least I can do is take the time to read the book or look into it and get back to the person. That is what this column is about. All the books here have been pointed out to me as being someone’s favorite book and asked me to give it a second chance. And I have been, as I said in my last blog, wrong. All of these books are very good and I was wrong to dismiss them in the past. I am not going to name names as to who suggested what as I did not get their permission.

Sex Criminals

The first title, and one of the reasons I am not naming who recommend it to me, is Sex Criminals. At first glance, the book did not strike me particularly sexy or crime themed. I sat down and read the first five issues and I must confess I really enjoyed them. The story has very little actual sex in it; you will see more sex in any Avatar book or even more in Image’s own Satellite Sam. The book does deal with sexual themes and is for mature audiences only, but it is very different from any other comic out there. It is an odd mix of sex, crime, and 60s psychedelic. I am not even going to try and describe the story as it has to be read to be understood and just flipping through it does not do it justice. It reminds me of Saga in that it is creating a fleshed out world with its own rules and laws, and thus crimes. While it is not science fiction in the way Saga is, the story is just as rich and complex. Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky are doing as good as work as Brian Vaughn and Fiona Staples are doing on Saga. The first trade of the first five issues of Sex Criminals is coming very soon.

Scooby-Doo Team-Up

Scooby-Doo Team-Up is as about as far away from Sex Criminals as you can. It is for all ages, it is by no means complex and rich storytelling, and the target audience is a lot younger than Sex Criminals. I did not read this book at first because I hated the Scooby-Doo team-up show from so many years ago. I am sorry, Harlem Globetrotters, Phyllis Diller, Batman, and all the rest; I just did not care for Scooby and his other guest stars. Scooby and the gang by themselves I love and I have recommended the monthly comic for years (And I still would love to see a Showcase Presents of the Gold Key/Charlton/Marvel/Archie material and the tons of Scooby stories done for the UK that have not been reprinted here). All of that aside, when DC launched Scooby Team-Up and the first three issues all had Batman-related characters, I thought this was going to be as bad as the TV show. Once again I was wrong. These are fun standalone stories that are entertaining and fun to read. They are just as good as the monthly Scooby comics and they are not as exploitative as I found the TV show to be or as I feared the comic would be. These are just plain fun for the entire family and readers of all ages.

Swamp Thing

After the whole Rotworld story line in the pages of Swamp Thing, I gave up on it. Scott Snyder’s whole run on the book left me wanting and the Rotworld story was such a mess I turned my back on the whole book. Thankfully it was pointed out to me to me that the new writer on the book, Charles Soule, was doing something really different and creative with the character that made it worth reading and giving it a second chance. They were right. Soule’s run on the book so far has been exceptional. I have always thought that Alan Moore set the bar for Swamp Thing so high that no one would be able to reach it. Over the last two decades there have been a number of attempts to revive Swamp Thing but they all failed. I think it is because each time the creators tried to do what Alan Moore did, and you cannot redo what he did. Soule does not try to copy or top what was done before. He has taken the lead character and kept the best of the roots of the character and added a whole new supporting cast, some old friends, and some original story ideas to make this the best version of Swamp Thing since Alan Moore. It is well worth your time to check it out and the first collection of Soule’s Swamp Thing will be out in a few months. Well worth picking up.

Comics Revue

The last book is one I pooped out on many years ago and then went back our bought the issues I had skipped. For many years since I have bought every issue and they are a joy to read, and that is Comics Revue. Now not many people buy Comics Revue, and it is a bit pricy at $19.99 for a 128 pages each month, but there is very little that gives as much value for your $20. To be honest, you are not going to find Comics Revue at your local book store, or even comic shop for that matter, but you can always special order from Westfield and I highly encourage you to do so. As the title suggests, Comics Revue is a collection of newspaper strips from the past reprinted in a mix of black and white and color and runs all the stories in sequence. Each issue, the stories pick up where the previous issue left off. All of the stories are excellent and some of them would never have seen the light of day if it was not for this magazine. In every issue you have the Air Force special operative Buz Sawyer from the early 1960s. Roy Crane, who writes and draws Buz, is a master storyteller and an astounding artist. As a nice bonus, Fantagraphics has been reprinting the early Buz Sawyer stories from the late 1940s in a series of beautiful hardcovers. There is also Flash Gordon by Harry Harrison and Dan Berry. This is science fiction storytelling at its finest by two of the greats. Stan Lynde has two strips every month with reprints of the daily Rick O’Shay and the color Sunday’s of Latigo. I think Stan Lynde, along with Warren Tufts and Doug Wildley, are three of the best western artists ever to pick up a pencil. In terms of comic strips at least. Lee Falk also has two strips as they reprint the dailies and the Sundays of both the Phantom and Mandrake the Magician. Falk has the amazing ability to have done two strips at the same time and kept both of them original and different from each other and yet both are a thrill to read. In addition, there are monthly installments of Sig Bagby (which I had never read before Comics Revue, but it is a great humor strip), Krazy Kat dailies, Alley Oop, and one of my favorites, Gasoline Alley, in both black and white and color by Dick Moore. There is even more adventure every issue with Tarzan in the rarely seen strips by Bob Lubbers, Steve Canyon (they are in the early 1970s currently, 20 plus years ahead of where the IDW Steve Canyon collections are) and one of the all-time great adventure strips, Modesty Blaise (Which has also been collected with nicer paper in over 20 volumes by Titan Books). To end each issue is Warren Tufts color Sundays of Casey Ruggles. Each issue of Comics Revue is a joy to read and leaves you wanting more. It is well worth investing in an issue to give it a try.

That is if for this time. As always, everything I have written here is my opinion and in no way reflects the opinions of Westfield Comics or their employees. I welcome comments (after all, they were the reason behind this column), complaints, or review copies at MFBWAY@AOL.COM. I do hope you will let me know what you think.

Thank you.