Unca Cheeks the Toy Wonder's Silver Age Comics Web Site!
... and Why You Should, Too, If You Love Comics"
[or: "Don't Believe
the Anti-Hype"]
"[The critic's] real business is to find fault; to ask for more... Reputations are, to him, only the fortress of the opposing camps; and he helps to build or bombard them according to his side of the conflict."
-- George Bernard Shaw
"The good is always in conflict with the better. THE COMICS JOURNAL attempts to explain the difference."
-- Gil Kane
"I see the JOURNAL's raison d'etere as one of illumination and subversion, the one following logically and necessarily upon the other. [...] I regard the aesthetic status quo of contemporary comics as reactionary and meretricious, the natural result of which is to deify and reward the shoddy and the second-rate."
-- "Making Waves" (Gary Groth; THE COMICS JOURNAL #80; March, 1983)
Right away, see: it was the attitude.
It was the attitude that grabbed my attention, right from the git-go.
As God is my witness: I genuinely don't know why so many of you, out there -- on the message boards and mailing lists; in the chat rooms and discussion groups -- have this... this...
... this wholly inexplicable... thing, re: the good, grey Journal.
Oh, I've heard what you all have to say on the subject, believe me. "THE COMICS JOURNAL is too critical." "THE COMICS JOURNAL is anti- super-heroes." "THE COMICS JOURNAL is anti-comics professional." "THE COMICS JOURNAL is anti-comics." "Gary Groth burned me on a coke deal." And yadda yadda, yadda yadda, all the doo-dah day.
Unca takes it, then, that only a scant handful of you have ever actually read
THE COMICS JOURNAL.
Let's see if we can pry apart disingenuous myth from cold, hard reality... shall we?
Painfully Obvious Counter-Point Numero Uno: No one -- and kindly allow Unca to repeat this, please, for those of you sitting way back there, in the cheap seats -- NO ONE spends the better part of a quarter-decade engaged in the thankless task of churning out several hundred thousand words worth of articles and interviews and manifestos reviews and The Good Lord alone only knows what-all -- month in, month out -- for what amounts to the princely sum of jack-all, income-wise...
... unless they really, truly L-O-V-E the comics medium.
In actual point of fact, campers'n'camperettes: Unca genuinely feels more than a little...
... well... silly, really, even having to mention something
as boldly and blatantly obvious as all of that.
Now: it's a whole 'nother debatable point, altogether, as to whether or not THE COMICS JOURNAL, in general (and perpetually peptic and irate mouthpiece Gary Groth, in particular), "hates" the sort(s) of comics that you or I happpen to find waycool and nifty keen-o, absolutely; no question.
I think it fairly safe to posit -- having followed the gentleman's lengthy and storied journalistic career with no little amount of fascination, over the years -- that the estimable Master Groth would have no more use or regard for the bulk of what Unca likes, comics-wise (i.e., the cheerfully goofy and good-natured stuff of the Siler and Bronze Ages), than I'd have for -- oh, say -- Roberta Gregory's BITCHY BITCH.
... and: you know what, people...?
There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, neither.
I mean: so bloody what if Gary Groth (or Kim Thompson; or Kenneth Smith; or Greg Cwiklik; or any JOURNAL alumnus, really) finds the likes of Chester Brown's YUMMY FUR or Rick Altergott's DOOFUS more interesting and worthwhile than (say) some old Bob Kanigher-scripted issue of WONDER WOMAN, or what-have-you?
Back in the proverbial day, campers -- where Unca spent the greater portion of his Wonder Bread years, at any rate -- we used to call this sort of thing An Honest Difference Of Opinion.
Which didn't used to be a hangin' offense, if'n Unca recollects it
aright.
After a solid twenty-five YEARS in the industry trenches, all told: Gary Groth has officially outlasted (and contributed more, of appreciably greater significance) to the medium than a good-sized sampling of mainstream writers, artists and editors, thereof.
He co-founded (along with the aforementioned Kim Thompson) Fantagraphics, remember: affording a much-needed venue for such undeniably important storytelling voices as Jamie and Gilbert Hernandez (LOVE AND ROCKETS); Peter Bagge (NEAT STUFF and HATE!); Daniel Clowes (EIGHTBALL); Chris Ware (ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY); and Charles Burns (BIG BABY), among others...
... as well as reprinting, in toto, such pivotal and essential works as (again, say) E.C. Segar's POPEYE; Hal Foster's PRINCE VALIANT; Al Capp's LI'L ABNER; Winsor McCay's LITTLE NEMO IN SLUMBERLAND; and Robert Crumb's sketchbooks at wholly affordable prices; yes, and making good and damned certain that they all stay in print, to boot.
Call him crazynuttykookoo if you all wanna, peoples...
... but, in Unca's dog-eared Book of Karma: that all qualifies the much- villified gent for eighteen or twenty Purple Hearts a whole heck of a lot more than anything that (say) WIZARD's Gareb Shamus has done, lately.
I'm just sayin', here, is all.
So: let's not have any more of that cold, watery "Gary Groth is anti-comics" codswallop hereabouts, hokay...?
Any fellah canny and perspicacious enough to hit upon (and follow through upon) the notion that the oeuvre of KRAZY KAT's George Herriman is of greater pith and measure than that of (say) Jae Lee or Charles Platt is on the side of the angels, so far as Unca's concerned.
He's a genuine, card-carrying, four-color comics hero.
Painfully Obvious Counter-Point The Second: I'm leafing very, very quickly, now, through a randomly selected handful of COMICS JOURNAL back issues.
Twenty-four of 'em, to be precise; ranging in vintage from 1978 to the present.
Here's a woefully incomplete listing of standard, straightforward s-u-p-e-r h-e-r-o and/or adventure comic books which have received plaudits, approbation and rave reviews, within the pages of the (ostensibly) "anti-superhero" magazine of your (collective) fevered imaginings, over the past two decades.
It took Unca all of fifteen minutes to rustle these up, people.
Tops.
Roy Thomas' ALL-STAR SQUADRON.
John Byrne's ALPHA FLIGHT.
Steve Ditko and Stan Lee's AMAZING SPIDER-MAN.
Keith Giffen's AMBUSH BUG.
Howard Chaykin's AMERICAN FLAGG!
Grant Morrison's ANIMAL MAN.
Roy Thomas' ARAK.
Kurt Busiek's ASTRO CITY.
Warren Ellis' THE AUTHORITY.
Mike Baron's THE BADGER.
Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's BATMAN: YEAR ONE.
Peter Gross' THE BOOKS OF MAGIC.
Steve Englehart's COYOTE.
Mark Evanier and Dan Spiegle's CROSSFIRE.
James O'Barr's THE CROW.
Frank Miller's DAREDEVIL.
Frank Miller's THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS.
J.M. DeMatteis' DEFENDERS.
Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers' DETECTIVE COMICS.
Grant Morrison's DOOM PATROL.
Frank Miller and Bill Sienkiewicz's ELEKTRA: ASSASSIN.
Jack Kirby and Stan Lee's FANTASTIC FOUR.
John Byrne's FANTASTIC FOUR.
Mark Waid's THE FLASH.
Jack Kirby's FOREVER PEOPLE.
John Ostrander''s GRIMJACK.
Garth Ennis' HITMAN.
Steve Gerber's HOWARD THE DUCK.
Grant Morrison's THE INVISIBLES.
David Michelinie and Bob Layton's IRON MAN.
Grant Morrison's JLA.
Michael Fleisher's JONAH HEX.
John Wagner and Alan Grant's JUDGE DREDD.
Alan Moore's THE KILLING JOKE.
Mark Waid and Alex Ross' KINGDOM COME.
Alan Moore's LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN.
Greg Rucka's LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT.
Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson's MANHUNTER.
Steve Gerber's MAN-THING.
Kurt Busiek's MARVELS.
Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy's MASTER OF KUNG FU.
Bob Rozakis' 'MAZING MAN.
Alan Moore's MIRACLEMAN.
Mark Evanier and Steve Rude's MISTER MIRACLE SPECIAL.
Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz's MOON KNIGHT.
Cary Bates' NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERBOY.
Jack Kirby's NEW GODS.
Mike Baron and Steve Rude's NEXUS.
Marv Wolfman's NIGHT FORCE.
Warren Ellis' PLANETARY.
Jack Cole's PLASTIC MAN.
Garth Ennis' PREACHER.
Alan Moore's PROMETHEA.
Dave Stevens' THE ROCKETEER.
Neil Gaiman's SANDMAN.
Steve Ditko's SHADE, THE CHANGING MAN.
Alan Moore's SWAMP THING.
Marv Wolfman and George Perez's TEEN TITANS.
Walt Simonson's THOR.
R.L. Fleming and Trevor Von Eden's THRILLER.
Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan's TOMB OF DRACULA.
Alan Moore's TOP 10.
Jack Kirby's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.
Steve Darnall and Alex Ross' UNCLE SAM.
Garth Ennis' UNKNOWN SOLDIER.
Alan Moore's V FOR VENDETTA.
Steve Englehart's THE VISION AND THE SCARLET WITCH.
Don McGregor and Craig Russell's WAR OF THE WORLDS.
Alan Moore's WATCHMEN.
Scott McCloud's ZOT!
Those cranky, comics-hating bastards, huh...?
The pale and anemic "THE COMICS JOURNAL is anti-superhero" and "... anti-comics professional" dodges(s) are the counterfeit coin of choice for two "types," basically:
1.) Those thin-skinned, hypersensitive and self-aggrandizing fans and/or professionals whose own particular preferences in four-color wet dreams have received a "thumbs down" review, at any given point along the way --
[e.g.: "Those dirty, stinking so-and-so's! They panned the latest issue of THE MUPPET BABIES MEET MUTANT X! They must hate all mainstream comic books, then! AND the good, decent, God-fearing folk who labor so tirelessly to produce 'em! It's... it's the only answer that makes any sense, dammit!"]
2.) -- folks who (as Unca pointed out, earliier) have never actually... y'know... read an issue of the Journal, their own selves; and are simply "getting off" on mindlessly parroting the same ol' fannish same ol'.
News Flash, kids'n'kiddettes: the Journal has employed a more diverse and eclectic stable of writers and reviewers, over the years, than any other comics industry organ in the recorded history of same.
Some of 'em (like Gary Groth, say; or Marilyn Bethke; or Ted White) have leaned noticeably towards the Don't-Care-Much-For-The-Spandex-
Actually side of the Great Critical Divide, to be certain.
Others, however -- and this is pretty much how that whole "diversity of voices" thing works, people -- have tilted just as appreciably the other way, over the years. (Arthur Byron Cover, for one; Cat Yronwode, for another; and -- most recently, and reliably -- Ray Mescallado).
Only the intellectually lazy (or outright dishonest) attempt to homebrew rhetorical moonshine out of any one critic's given "stance," given a menu as varied and disparate as all of that.
Again: it ain't WIZARD, folks.
"Too anti-superhero"...? "Too anti-comics professional" -- ?
Good Christ, people: those (purportedly) flint-hearted bastards
over at TCJ have praised a greater number of modern-day mainstream comics, artists
and writers -- more fulsomely; more lavishly -- than Unca has.
Lookit: we all know -- deep, deep down; right where the brat beats the inner bulldog (as it were) -- where and how this plainly idiotic fannish urban myth (i.e., "THE COMICS JOURNAL hates all super-hero comics") first got cobbled up, for pity's sake.
No one ever comes right out and says it, mind -- because to give it naked utterance would be too (self-)incriminating for the putative accuser, quite frankly --
... but: we all KNOW, of course.
It's because TCJ (I'm going with the acronym, from here on out, okay? Unca's hands are cramping up) had the unspeakable temerity -- the godless, ubelievable gall -- to regularly mock and deride The Holiest of Modern-Day Fanboy Holies.
Again: you all know what I'm talkin' 'bout, here:
"Claremont has managed to undermine significantly the major integrity of the focus of THE X-MEN: characterization. By allowing his biases against certain character "types" (generally male) and for others (female archetypes of his own creation) to overwhelm his authorial sense of proportion, Claremont has allowed [...] his characters to remain unfulfilled shadows of their potential personalities..."
LIFE AMONG THE MUTANTS: "The X-Men Under Chris Claremont and John Byrne" [Carol B. Kalish and Richard E. Howell; THE COMICS JOURNAL #49; September, 1979]
*******************
X-MEN #171
"[Chris Claremont's] writing style consists of characters explaining things, to themselves and to each other, with every character coming on to do his or her little set piece. Often the explaining takes so much space that some fake 'action' has to be contrived (a la the ever-handy trip to The Danger Room).
"I don't think this is good writing, and I don't think this is good comics writing, but [...] I imagine it grows on one, like a sopa opera.
"Not that I intend to find out, mind you."
FUNNYBOOK ROULETTE (R. Fiore; THE COMICS JOURNAL #84; September, 1983)
**************************
MAGIK
"Anyone skeptical about DC's raising their cover prices for better paper should check this Marvel mini-series out, as the cheapest newsprint capable of holding ink reduces the work of two of comics' ablest artists -- John Buscema and Tom Palmer -- to a whirlpool of mud. [...] Writing is by Chris Claremont, which says it all: heavy 'characterization,' sprinkled lightly with plot."
-- COMICS 1983: THE YEAR IN REVIEW (Lee Wochner; THE COMICS JOURNAL #89; May, 1984)
**********************
"It may be true that Claremont has never fallen into the usual cliches of comics writing.
"Instead, he's created his own cliches; and keeps using them over and over and over again, until the reader is ready to scream.
" 'I... hurt.'
" 'Then you'll be mine... body and soul.'
" 'Quarter is neither asked... nor given.'
"Whenever one character shows off his/her powers, someone else will invariably say: 'I'm impressed.'
"Whenever one human sees an attractive human of the opposite sex, I can guarantee that the exclamation 'Yum!' will soon be on its way."
-- "Alas, Poor Claremont; I Knew Him, Woolverine..." (Heidi MacDonald; THE COMICS JOURNAL #99; June, 1985)
*******************
UNCANNY X-MEN #204
"I used to be able to suspend my disbelief for the X-Men, but -- for the last few years -- the characters' incessant breast-beating has been getting on my nerves. Rather than expanding on the personalities of his characters, Claremont seems intent upon hitting the exact same notes, with minor variations, in order to keep the book on its slow and sodden track."
"Generally Speaking" (Arthur Byron Cover; THE COMICS JOURNAL #107; April, 1986)
*********************
THE UNCANNY X-MEN #252
"If there's any point in a plot summary, which I doubt, suffice it to say that the X-Men, for reasons that remain unknown to those just tuning in, have departed via some sort of 'Seige Perilous' crystal (I think) and left Wolverine alone in a hostile enviroment (one never identified); wounded badly, and hunted by cyborg assassins.
"Said assassins actually work for a familiar character, one 'Donald Pierce -- Cyborg, deposed White King of the infamous Hellfire Club, now leading a band of assassins, the Reavers.'
"Amazing, isn't it? Such details as setting and exposition are ignored or obfuscated... but we get a resume for the villain on Page One! (Next issue, I hope to find out what his educational background is, but I must say, it's a mighty impressive set of credentials so far. Think he'd mind relocating?)
" [...] To put it painfully: I think Chris Claremont has reached X-menopause."
-- "Cinematics Anonymous" (Peter Cashhwell; THE COMICS JOURNAL #134; February, 1990)
********************
THE UNCANNY X-MEN #282
"Here we see a perfect example of the Marvel dilemma: trying to pursue impossibly convoluted storylines while maintaining some semblance of accessibility for new readers. The result is exposition or references to previous issues on nine out of 22 pages. It leads to lines like: 'Storm is a claustrophobe, Peter... being entombed in a sea of Morlocks was something short of beneficial for her!' Needless to say, there isn't much room left over for plot. Such as it is."
-- FUNNYBOOK ROULETTE (R. Fiorre; THE COMICS JOURNAL
#152; August, 1992)
******************
You're all just good'n'sore that Gary Groth and His Amazing Syncopated Dancers
have been doing the Ubangi Stomp all over the reigning four-color "emperor"
of fannish choice, pretty much from Day One; and convincingly demonstrating,
for all the world to see, that said magistrate has been parading down storytelling
Main Street buck nekkid, to tumultuous (and undeserved) sales applause.
C'mon.
Lay off, f'chrissakes.
I mean: it's ain't 'zactly as if they've been wrong, all this time, y'know...
... and: it also ain't as if you all aren't saying pretty much the same things online, nowadays, neither.
It's just that TCJ was way sharper (and righter) than everyone else
on this'un sooner, is all.
Having handily disposed of the usual boneheaded fannish shibboleths, then, re: The Whys and Wherefores of THE COMICS JOURNAL...
... let's take a long and appreciative look, now, at all the things that are oh, so very, very right concerning said magazine.
First and foremost (at least, insofar as Unca, here, is concerned): they may legitimately boast of having the sharpest; slyest; and falling-down funniest writer in all of comics fandom on staff, as an ongoing columnist.
I am, of course, referring to the saucy and inimitable R. Fiore: he of richly merited FUNNYBOOK ROULETTE fame (or infamy).
Those of you out there who've already experienced what Unca likes to refer to as "The Fiore Experience" are doubtless all nodding your heads in silent and emphatic agreement, at this point; smiling at the memory of one especially pointed and pertinent bon mot or another, fondly remembered.
For those of you not already amongst The Fortunate and Aware, on the other hand...
... well: observe, kiddies.
Unca Cheeks regards this man as nothing less than his undisputed master;
whose sandals he is not fit even to annoint with scented balms.
*****************
THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #197
("... starring Batman and Ragman!")
"Batman, you've probably heard of; Ragman is Rory Regan, veteran of 'the jungle of insane dreams and blasted hopes that was the American nightmare called Vietnam!' (It was no picnic for the Vietnamese, either.)"
-- FUNNYBOOK ROULETTE (R. Fiore; THE COMMICS JOURNAL #80; March, 1983)
******************
THE OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE #6
"Now, this is the Marvel Masterwork we've all been waiting for; an epic so mind-bogglingly huge that by issue #6 they're still introducing the cast of --
"... oh.
"It's not...?
"You mean... this is it?
"The whole point...?
"The banality of the 'resume' format [for the characters' entries] lends a surreal air to the proceedings; for instance, Karnilla: 'Occupation: Sorceress, Queen of Norns. Place of Birth: Norheim, dimension of Asgard. Eyes: Purple. Weight: 475 lbs.' (But she carries it well.)
"All in all, it's a fine example of how much junk you can end up with in your closet, if you just let it pile up."
-- FUNNYBOOK ROULETTE (R. Fiore; THE COMICS JOURNAL #83; August, 1983)
**********************
MARVEL FANFARE #8
"And, just to help your digestion, it's all topped off by a Jim Shooter editorial, in which he is so enthralled by his achievements that one wonders how he tears himself away from his mirror in the morning ('... I think my pushing, pulling and agitating brought a lot of minor miracles to pass').
"It's a shame that so little of the 'creative energy' that puts him into a state of 'sheer ecstasy' gets into the actual comic books; but at least he knows that he'll always have at least one fan."
-- FUNNYBOOK ROULETTE (R. Fiore; THE COMMICS JOURNAL #83; August, 1983)
******************
JONAH HEX #77
"The world's longest running spaghetti western continues apace. Hex escapes prison, despite being weakened by weeks of solitary confinement. You can tell how weak he is, because every time he performs some superhuman feat, he says something like: 'Ah shore do feel weak! Ah cain't keep this up much longer!' You have to think that if he were healthy, he could fly."
FUNNYBOOK ROULETTE (R. Fiore; THE COMICS JOURNAL #86; November, 1983)
**************************
DETECTIVE COMICS #531
"Here we have a standard comics subplot; the one in which the would-be hero's sidekick must chase down the villain to prove himself 'worthy,' before he's taken on; and it strikes me as one damned callous way to do business, quite frankly.
"I mean: when a little Wallenda decides he wants to be a Flying Wallenda, they don't send him out on a rope over Niagra Falls with the promise that he'll be 'trained' if he makes the other side, do they?"
-- FUNNYBOOK ROULETTE (R. Fiore; THE COMMICS JOURNAL #86; November, 1983)
**************************
BLOOM COUNTY
"Berke Breathed has plenty of style... all of it [Garry] Trudeau's. The drawing, the cadence and timing, the types of gags; even the lettering is lifted without so much as a howd'ye do. [...] To say that it's a pretty good strip much of the time (which it is) is like complimenting a shoplifter on being a snappy dresser."
FUNNYBOOK ROULETTE (R. Fiore; THE COMICS JOURNAL #92; August, 1984)
***********************
JEMM, SON OF SATURN #1
"... Brother of Uranus, Cousin of Pluto, and close personal pal to more asteroids than you'd care to count.
"Sometimes, I wonder if comic book writers live in a world totally bounded by cliche. In an editorial page at the end of the book, JEMM creator Greg Potter tells us that "it had to be different from any other concept on the market today." Then, without skippping a beat, he proceeds to tell us where he swiped the precise elements from.
"For those of you who don't know the language: 'different' means you make it up yourself."
-- FUNNYBOOK ROULETTE (R. Fiore; THE COMICS JOURNAL #93; September, 1984)
******************
ROBOTECH DEFENDERS #1
"It occurs to me that I've been neglecting Japanese toy comics; or (in this case) Japanese-toy-licensed-by-American-company comics.
"What a wise, well-reasoned policy that was."
-- FUNNYBOOK ROULETTE (R. Fiore; THE COMICS JOURNAL #96; March, 1985)
****************
SECRET WARS II #2
"SECRET WARS is something [Stan] Lee probably wouldn't have done. His old school instincts would rebel at the possibility of alienating casual and very young readers with the multiple tie-ins. Either Shooter is blissfully innocent of this inhibition, or else he knows that Marvel doesn't have casual readers any more.
"You can't argue with success, however; or at least, you can't argue that it''s not successful. If I were a costumed character fan, I don't doubt that I'd eat this stuff up, if it were well executed. Which it isn't."
-- FUNNYBOOK ROULETTE (R. Fiore; THE COMMICS JOURNAL #101; August, 1985)
************************
CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #5
"All I can say, is: be glad you live in a democracy. In totalitarian countries, they do these alternate world purges a little differently. Forced marches, extermination camps, mass graves -- it's not a pretty sight."
-- FUNNYBOOK ROULETTE (R. Fiore; THE COMICS JOURNAL #101; August, 1985)
*******************
G.I. JOE #51
"Putting 'Give The Gift Of Literacy' on the cover of a book like this is like putting 'Give The Gift Of Silence' on a package of gelginite."
-- FUNNYBOOK ROULETTE (R. Fiore; THE COMICS JOURNAL #111; September, 1986)
*******************
"[Marvel's] 'New Universe' is, I suppose, the ultimate expression of Marvel's contempt for Jack Kirby. They truly must have no conception of the magnitude of Kirby's creation(s). [...] The only thing 'unique' thing the 'New Universe' offers is a black border around the covers, which -- as Kim Thompson says -- might turn out to be extremely appropriate."
-- FUNNYBOOK ROULETTE (R. Fiore; THE COMICS JOURNAL #112; November, 1986)
*******************
MAN OF STEEL #1 & #2
"As far as I can see, Byrne makes only one major change in the SUPERMAN mythos. All it does it rip the guts out of it.
"That change is the elimination of Clark Kent's meekness. It must have seemed like simple common sense to Byrne, and probably will to a lot of readers, as well. [...] Byrne might just have something, there. For one thing...
"... well, let's put it this way: if Byrne were a method actor, 'arrogance' would not be a trait he'd have to research."
-- FUNNYBOOK ROULETTE (R. Fiore; THE COMMICS JOURNAL #112; November, 1986)
*******************
"Stop me if you've heard this one.
"There's this tiny, impassioned cult -- thought by most to be at least a little nutty -- who have decided that a forthcoming motion picture about their most revered idol is going to be a mockery and a disgrace.
"That none of them have (yet) seen said film-- as, indeed, it has not yet been completed -- matters not one whit.
"They don't like the casting. They think their idol is going to be ridiculed. [...] They are convinced that this film could set their cause back decades, foiling years of strenuous effort. They fear it will turn potential converts away from their idol. They think that this film is the work of a malicious conspiracy against them, which operates on all levels of the mass media... but most particularly the press. They mount a letter-writing campaign to halt this incipient outrage.
"Of course, I'm talking about THE LAST TEMPTATION OF BATMAN."
-- FUNNYBOOK ROULETTE (R. Fiore; THE COMICS JOURNAL #126; January, 1989)
*******************
YOUNGBLOOD #2
"And the little child shall lead them.
"So, we finally come to Rob Liefeld, who exemplifies his era of adventure comics as surely as Jack Kirby personified his -- to which one can only murmur, 'God help them.'
"You know how the human figure is normally drawn as a series of egg shapes? Lieffeld uses watermelons. His characters are so inhuman that they don't even have eyes; just little slits. They have three facial expressions: a frown that serves for most purposes; gritted teeth for those little moments of pre-fight intensity; and a wide-open yawp for once the fight gets started.
"I don't see why people call Todd McFarlane illiterate while this guy's around; Liefeld makes McFarlane look like Moliere. [...] Liefeld's dialogue is inspired largely by wrestling interviews: 'While you're appearance is not familiar to me, your defeat at my hands will become all too familiar to you!' 'From unconsciousness you came, and if necessary, to unconsciousness shall you return!'
"That Liefeld tries to write at all is just an example of how foolish some people are willing to look for money. Given his youth and the facility he's shown, it is (theoretically) possible that -- with discipline and dedication -- he could turn himseelf into a cartoonnist. It is also true that -- with discipline and dedication -- he could become a Capuchin monk. He shows about as much inclination for one as the other."
-- FUNNYBOOK ROULETTE (R. Fiore; THE COMICS JOURNAL #152; August, 1992)
*******************
As I said: funny.
The man's just naturally funny, is what it is.
The tart-tongued and irreplaceable Mr. Fiore no longer contributes to each and every issue of TCJ, alas; but his still-occasional appearances therein -- much like the yearly arrivals of the Easter Bunny, or the Great Pumpkin -- are always events of inexpressible merriment and joy, over here at Casa del Unca.
If, in fact, Mr. Fiore (or any representative of the Journal,
for that matter) ever happen to chance across this article, whilst lolling about
online: this is a situation which simply cries out for immediate and effective
remedy.
A close, close second on the list of Reasons To Laud and Appreciate THE COMICS JOURNAL is the magazine's steadfast and unwavering social conscience; a rare (and most welcome) quality, in the (frequently) short-sighted and self-serving environs of the mainstream American comics industry.
What follows is a grossly abbreviated re-capping of just How, When and Where, precisely, TCJ has been the prototypical "good neighbor" to all the rest of us, over the years; readers and retailers, collectors and craftsmen.
Pay attention, now, nieces'n'nephews...
... and: ask yourselves, whilst reading and recollecting, just how many of the following battles you can remember being joined, in turn, by WIZARD, or THE COMIC BUYER'S GUIDE.
1.) When, in 1990 (1990, for the love of Jesus! Not 1890! NOT one hundred and ten years ago!), comics publisher Aircel attempted to line their corporate pockets in unsavory fashion, with the release of the blatantly racist RIPPER series: it was the Journal (and said magazine alone) which was willing to (and capable of) finding the editorial cajones requisite to bringing the full weight of loud and efficacious auctorial censure to bear, when censure and outrage were both (plainly) the order of the day.
For those of you out there who may be (blessedly) unfamiliar with the distasteful details of this particular controversy: RIPPER writer/artist Barry Blair's sordid little series grotesquely demonized young African-
American males as drooling, gibbering, rape-inclined sub-humans; the better to serve as the hapless receptacles for bloody retribution, re: the comic's knife-wielding protagonist.
As Gary Groth himself so aptly and artfully detailed it, in his editorial for TCJ #136:
" [...] RIPPER is shallow, cliche-ridden, sub-literate rubbish; mindlessly (and sleazily) exploits a serious contemporary urban crisis; and (incidentally) happens to be racist [...] Blacks who are clearly part of the urban underclass are stereotyped as foolish, bug-eyed illiterates; one such black kid, interviewed on a TV news program, says: 'He come from da roof. Y'know whatam sayin'? He done kilt dem dudes lake dey waz nuttin'... lake he sum kinda monster, y'know whatam sayin'?
" [...] it would take an artist of monumental ignorance and/or insensitivity not to realize that the depiction of blacks as fat-lipped, pop-eyed types with this We-Be-Gangbangin' style of speech is offensive."
-- "Strategies of Self-Deception" (Gary Groth; THE COMICS JOURNAL #136; July, 1990)
Again: no other trade journal or fannish organ of opinion had much of anything to say on the horrid and unsettling matter, at the time.
That sort of heavy lifting, you see, is routinely left for the Journal to undertake...
... at which point, then: all the little Mary-Kates and Ashleys out there in the fannish hinterlands settle comfortably back into the usual snide roundelays of anti-TCJ sniping, once the dust has decently settled.
2.) The Journal has also proven itself a fearless and constant advocate on behalf of gay; lesbian; and transgendered comics writers, publishers and artists, over the decades; yet another arena of opinion in which the (purportedly) more "pro-comics" players have frequently been most conspicuous chiefly in their collective, thundering silence.
It was TCJ, the record informs us -- alone, amongst all the major comics-oriented 'zines -- initially championed the artistic contributions such valuable and worthwhile craftspersons as (say) Howard Cruse [GAY COMIX; Wendel; etcetera) and Donna Barr [re: the gender-bending THE DESERT PEACH].
"It is pure heterosexual paranoia that perceives a sympathetic treatment of homosexuality as automatically propagandistic. [...] The conservative fear is that if homosexuality isn't demonized throughout the media (or simply supppressed), red-blooded American boys will start humping each other crazily. The family would wither, and the race would die off. This does not indicate much faith in heterosexuality, on the part of heterosexual propagandists."
-- "Everybody's a Critic" (Gary Groth; THE COMICS JOURNAL #142; June, 1991)
The Journal has also served as a (semi-)regular venue for the witty (and always welcome) writings of highly regarded Gay Lit wordsmith Robert Rodi, whose trenchant observations, re: the handling of gay and lesbian characters within modern mainstream comics are always well worth the reading; as in (say) the much-ballyhooed publishing of Marvel's ALPHA FLIGHT #106 (the notorious "Northstar-Comes-Out-Of-
The-Closet" issue):
"A memorable old Monty Python sketch, satirizing TV public affairs programs, presented a negligee-clad blonde writhing on a bed and spouting economic theory in a dry, academic male voice. I was reminded of that sketch while I read Marvel Comics' ALPHA FLIGHT #106, in which two pin-headed and thunder-thighed super-heroes knock each other through skyscrapers while arguing the politics of sexual orientation in the age of AIDS. The main difference is that ALPHA FLIGHT isn't trying to be funny.
"It's distressing, to be sure: as a gay man, I'm particularly distressed by the way ALPHA FLIGHT #106 is being additionally heralded as a significant step forward for gay people. As if our representation in crappy commercial comics was something to be heralded.
" [...] when Marvel Comics finally decided to make Northstar publicly gay, they first beefed him up to the point where he's now indistinguishable from any other malproportioned Marvel wonder-clod. [...] After all, by God: if our boy's gonna say if he's a homo, he'd better prove he can deck a dinosaur first!
"This is, of course, far from the only fault with the ridiculous script by Scott Lobdell, [with] Northstar and his opponent somehow managing to hear the finer points of each other's cliched AIDS arguments, even though they're busy busting up enough private property to qualify any city on the continent for about a century of federal disaster aid."
-- "What Price Role Models?" (Rob Rodi; THE COMICS JOURNAL #152; August, 1992)
3.)
It was the Journal -- and ONLY the Journal, He Pointed Out,
Once Again -- which managed to find the requisite time and column inches,
somehow, to demonstrably detail the shameless wholesale swiping
on the part of one Richard Buckler, Esq., from the published works
of Jack "King" Kirby, back in 1983; the former lifting
entire pages of artwork AND dialogue from the
latter, and affixing his name SOLELY to
the shoddy end results.
"The story [in Red Circle's THE MIGHTY CRUSADERS #1] is followed by five pages of origin reprises for the seven major characters. These are signed 'R. Buckler '82,' which indicates to me that Rich Buckler wishes to take credit for drawing these pages in 1982.
"Following the main Fly story [in THE FLY #1] are two shorter stories. The first is a four-pager, "Who Is... The Man With The DOUBLE LIFE?" Here, once again, the origin of the late '50s Shield is given a 'reprise' -- and here, once again, Rich Buckler takes full credit for 'script, art and editing.'
"Folks, the word for this is plagiarism.
"Every single panel has been taken from the 1959 issue [...] What Buckler has done here might, with charity, be called 'pastiche'; but I can't help thinking it's simply stolen goods."
-- "It All Boils Down To The Editor" (Ted White; THE COMICS JOURNAL
#83; August, 1983)
..
Mind, now... Unca realizes it must be darned tough for most fanzine (or semi-prozine, let's say) editors to make that big, crucial decision, come the telltale journalistic "crunch" of Final Decision: whether to stick up for some old guy who only happened to help invent the entire medium, is all; or else devote a few more valuable column inches to debating such hot'n'heavy issues du jour as (say) "Whether Or Not Kelly Jones Draws The Batman's Ears Too Durned Big"; or mebbe "Who's The Kewler Killer: Carnage Or Venom"...
... but, all the same: Unca, for one, is mighty, mighty glad
and grateful that there's at least one publisher/editor out there who
routinely makes the same sorts of decisions he does, ninety-nine times
out of every hundred.
... and: speaking of Doing The Right Thing, insofar as Jack Kirby is concerned:
4.) ... let's all kindly remember who led the initial cavalry charge
and burned away the b.s. underbrush, when the time came to stand up on David's
behalf, when Goliath got all... y'know... grabby, and suchlike, shall
we...?
It was also (just so long as Unca's rhetorical sleeves are rolled up already, I mean) TCJ which rallied the ground troops requisite to aiding and abetting, on the great man's behalf; to wit --
" [...] I am appalled at Marvel's treatment of Jack Kirby. [...] Jack Kirby has undoubtedly become an 'unperson' in this new Marvel."
-- John Byrne [TCJ #116; July, 1987]
>*****************
"Even if Jack Kirby were nothing but an artist, he would still be one of the two most important men, along with Lee, in the company's history. But all those who know his work realize he was far, far more.
"Without Kirby, Marvel would have nothing. It probably wouldn't have survived. It certainly wouldn't be the giant of the industry. The industry itself might not have made it through the late '60s."
-- Will Jacobs and Gerard Jones [TCJ #110; August, 1986]
******************
"Jack Kirby is one of our industry's greatest innovators and contributors. We are all in his debt. His artwork, like that of all the hundreds of other artists who have received their pages back from the publishers, is his morally and by industry practice for the past twelvve years.
"There has never been a time in those twelve years that we [at DC Comics, Inc.] have ever singled out any artist and attatched different conditions to the return of his art. We cannot imagine a circumstance in which it would be appropriate or ethical. Ownership of artwork is absolute, and therefore cannot be subject to negotiation."
-- Jeanette Kahn, Dick Giordano and Paul Levitz [on behalf of DC Comics, re: Jack Kirby] [TCJ #105; February, 1986]
********************
"My gut instinct is that if Jesus Christ were the editor up there [at Marvel], Jack would certainly get that artwork back."
-- Gil Kane [TCJ #105; February, 1986]
*****************
"I said 'Jack Kirby' at a cocktail party hosted by Marvel Comics this past summer. The group of artists, writers and retailers with whom I had been chatting looked at their feet, split up, and wandered off to find more pleasant conversation.
"I did not say 'AIDS.' I said 'Jack Kirby.' "
-- Frank Miller [TCJ #105; February, 19886]
******************
"Shabby, squalid and pernicious."
-- Burne Hogarth [re: Marvel's trreatment off Jack Kirby] [TCJ #105; February, 1986]
************************
... and so on, and so forth, and my God but they all came a-runnin', on Jack's desperate behalf --
... once those evil, vicious, comics-hatin' scallawags over at TCJ had sounded
the proverbial trumpet in the first place, I mean.
Unca could
go on and bloody on in this same rhetorical vein, quite frankly;
detailing the Journal's tireless tub-thumping and support on behalf
of the certified saints over at the CBLDF (a.k.a., The Comic Book Legal
Defense Fund); their johnny-on-the-spot news coverage and raising of
alarums, whenever some beleagured comics retailer gets slapped with an
obscenity charge or lawsuit by some eager local district attorney, for
selling "obscene" works such as (say) OMAHA THE CAT DANCER, or (incredibly)
ELFQUEST; their exhaustive and irrefutable detailing of the comics industry's
terrifying economic free-fall, over the past several decades --
... or, heck: just for regularly featuring the most intelligent and probing interviews (and
way juiciest catfights and comebacks) of any comics-related magazine,
evereverever.
"Over-estimation of the intelligence of the 'adult' audience is fatal in the publishing and entertainment fields, as has been proven too many times to count. Under-estimation of the intelligence ofchildren is also fatal, as many comic book publishers have discovered over the years.
"Now they [the publishers] seem to have given up the struggle to produce comic books for children, and are aiming their magaines at the least intelligent adults they can find."
-- C.C. Beck (TCJ #113; December, 1986)<
*********************
"In a recent interview [...] Mike Grell states that he doesn't read comics. Of course he doesn't; the way he draws them, you may think he's never seen one."
-- Rob Rodi (TCJ #119; January, 1988)
**********************
"I think that to a large extent, what we've got in so-called 'mainstream' comics today is material that's too expensive per page for a browser to pick up. If they do pick it up, they don't understand it because the characters don't get introduced; stories are not complete in one issue; and chapters of continuing stories don't have enough of a satisfactory introduction and conclusion.
"You pick up an issue of some hot 'mainstream' comic today, and the odds are that you'll have to pick up a couple of issues before it, a couple of issues after it, perhaps even something that spins out into another title altogether before you can really understand what's going on.
"That's not a browsers market. That's a destination market. That's a market for people who are already committed readers."
-- Kurt Busiek (TCJ #188; July, 1996)
*******************
"I would never, ever agree to burning books, you know? But by [expletive deleted], if there's ever a book that deserves it, it's HOW TO DRAW COMICS THE MARVEL WAY."
-- Barry Windsor-Smith (TCJ #190; Septemmber, 1996)
*******************
"Comics Retailers hate neophytes. They want customers who are part of the cult. They don't want to have to deal with women, children or non-fans who come in and ask questions about material that makes them (the retailer) uncomfortable.
"Publishers jumped at the chance to oblige. Remember: 'Risky' = non-superhero. 'Mainstream' = superhero. Never mind that outside -- in the real world -- 'mainstream' = anything but superhero.
"Back in the early '70s, disaster movies were all the rage, and made big box office. POSEIDON ADVENTURE. TOWERING INFERNO. Anything with Shelly Winters in it. And then, suddenly -- just as all fads do -- it died out, and the movies stopped drawing them in.
"Now, did film studio executives sit around saying: 'What is wrong with these audiences? Why can't they accept our wonderful disaster movies? We must find new and better ways to market disaster movies! We must save the disaster movie industry!'
"No. They just started making buddy pictures, instead.
"However, when the superhero genre began to slip a little bit, the scenario above is just what was played out. 'My God, we must get them reading those superhero comics again! What is wrong with these people?'
"Just a bit short-sighted, yes."
-- Heidi MacDonald (TCJ #200; December, 1997)
******************
"As long as young boys doubt their masculinity, there will be a need for super-heroes."
-- Will Eisner (TCJ #200; December, 1997)
*******************
THE COMICS JOURNAL.
"The Only Magazine (and Staff) Whose Natural Habitat Is Boiling Hot Water."
So.
Let's review, then, shall we...?
1.) "I see the JOURNAL's raison d'etere as one of illumination and subversion, the one following logically and necessarily upon the other." [Gary Groth; TCJ#80; March, 1983)
For twenty-five YEARS, mind. (... and at a beggar's wages, too, I shouldn't wonder.)
2.) The establishment of Fantagraphics; pretty much the only economically viable venue, really, for comics writers and artists too "uncommercial" and/or iconoclastic to find regular work or expression at (say) DC Comics, or Marvel.
In other words: anything but a ready "cash cow" for the milking.
3.) Conscience and courage enough to take up the hard (but necessary) comics-related causes and burdens, whenever the need arises. (e.g.: Jack Kirby; the RIPPER scandal; the CBLDF; etcetera, etcetera)
4.) Those exhaustive (some might even say epochal) forty- and fifty-page interviews! The definitive journal of record, re: the musings and opinions of the justly storied likes of (deeeeeeep breath, now):
Neal Adams; Sergio Aragones; Peter Bagge; Kyle Baker; Clive Barker; Carl Barks; Mike Baron; Donna Barr; C.C. Beck; Murray Boltinoff; Berke Breathed; Sol Brodsky; Kurt Busiek; John Byrne; Milton Caniff; Paul Chadwick; Howard Chaykin; Robert Crumb; Howard Cruse; Will Eisner; Harlan Ellison; Steve Englehart; Garth Ennis; Mark Evanier; Jules Feiffer; Harold Foster; Frank Frazetta; Neil Gaiman; William Gaines; Steve Gerber; Terry Gilliam; Dick Giordano; Archie Goodwin; Floyd Gottfredson; Matt Groening; Los Bros Hernandez; Burne Hogarth; Carmine Infantino; Robert Kanigher; Gil Kane; Jack Kirby; Joe Kubert; Harvey Kurtzman; Stan Lee; Scott McCloud; Frank Miller; Moebius; Alan Moore; Grant Morrison; Pat Oliphant; Dennis O'Neil; Harvey Pekar; Wendy Pini; James Robinson; Marshall Rogers; Don Rosa; Charles Schulz; John Severin; Bill Sienkiewicz; Dave Sim; Joe Simon; Jeff Smith; Art Spiegelman; Ralph Steadman; Dave Stevens; Curt Swan; Roy Thomas; Alex Toth; Bill Watterson; Al Williamson; Gahan Wilson; Barry Windsor-Smith; Wally Wood; Berni Wrightson --
... well, look: would you all mind terribly if Unca left this list still
two-thirds undone, here? He tires so easily, nowadays.
"THE COMICS JOURNAL is really anti-comics."
Shyeah.
Right.
Pull the other one, whydon'cha...?
Seems to me we could readily use another forty or fifty magazines that
hate the comics medium that damned badly, really.
Again: Unca has never enjoyed the privilege of correspondence with Gary Groth; has never contributed an article to THE COMICS JOURNAL; and (plainly) occupies no real common ideological "ground" with either, insofar as this here site is concerned.
(As a matter of fact, Unca strongly suspects that -- were the gentleman ever
to find his way to this shamelessly retro rib shack, all unawares --
he'd end up goggling in sheerest, slack-jawed horror at all the spandex
on ready and gaudy display, hereabouts.)
Nonetheless: Unca is firmly of the opinion -- borne out by the events and occurrences detailed, above -- that our industry (and our medium) is an immeasurably better one, all told, for the Journal's ongoing and opinionated presence.
There are blindly (and blandly) worshipful monthly collaborators enough already, surely; with their "price guides," and their fawningly servile "puff pieces," and their unwavering allegiance and devotion to all things Wolverine-ish.
The Journal -- ultimately -- is our industry's Diogeenes; plain and simple.
I'm just sayin', here, is all.
"We have never claimed to be the embodiment of ethical standards. We simply recognize those standards, and do our best to live up to them.
"We know the only way to be rid of venemous insects is to drain the swamp.
"You may consider the JOURNAL one of the pumps."
-- "Draining the Swamp" (R. Fiore; THE COMICS JOURNAL #122; June, 1988)
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