Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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How am I feeling right now?
I'm feeling comfortably numb.
But, exactly forty years ago, I was probably feeling even more like that because it was the month which saw the release of Pink Floyd's cinematic venture The Wall, starring Bob Geldof as Pink.
I like the album but do I like the film?
I don't know. I've never seen it.
I have, however, seen Amityville II: The Possession which also came out that September.
Whatever that film's merits, I still can't believe they spurned the chance to call it Amityville II: The Repossession.
Clearly, those people had no class.
Apparently, the Over-Mind also puts in an appearance. How that comes about, one can only wonder.
In a chilling echo of Thor's strip, Zeus exiles Hercules from Olympus until he learns humility.
I suspect that means he may be exiled for quite some time.
But at least the prince of power has company in the form of a Recorder robot to accompany him on his travels.
Calm-headed as always, our hero arrives in Japan to confront Mariko about her marriage to another man but ends up duelling with her father.
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21 comments:
Defenders cover gets my pick for best distortion of female anatomy. Also i do have a soft spot for the cat! Bought her first issues off the spinner rack around 50 years ago, lol, with art by Wallywood no less
Best distortion of the female anatomy award is often a strongly contested category in comics, but not it seems this month.
Best cover is Jaunty Jim Steranko making Marvel Super Special great again.
Inside, as we might expect from the mighty Al Williamson some pages are really well drawn, with exactly the kind of noirish sf you'd hope for in a Blade Runner comic; but with tight deadlines and a few other hands involved, some of its not so good.
The flat comic book colour doesn't work well for it either.
Adapted by Archie Goodwin - from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher & David Peoples - interestingly theres no credit for Phillip K Dick. Which I guess tells you how little known he was beyond fringe sf-nuts back then, in the aftermath of his passing (March '82).
Best comic is Moon Knight #22. This is around the point where Bill Sienkiewicz really moves decisively beyond his Neal Adams phase, and becomes... well, Sienkiewicz.
-sean
Steve, you're not missing much with the Pink Floyd film. Theres some good bits, but nowadays you're better off just checking those out in online clips if you're interested, rather than sitting through the whole thing, which does have seriously tedious stretches.
This bit is quite striking, strangely prophetic viewed from 2022 -
www.youtube.com/watch?v=196h-nUrNB4
-sean
Thanks for the link, Sean. Bob Geldof covering Pink Floyd songs. What is this madness? Now I want to hear Roger Waters singing I Don't Like Mondays.
Anonymous and Sean, I would say The Defenders gets my vote for best cover of the ones above.
As a then Daredevil and X-men fan, the Wolverine mini series really hit the mark. I thought Miller's layout were really well complimented by Joe Rubinstein's inking. I'd forgotten these overlapped with Miller's final year on Daredevil, which explain why he moved to providing layouts for Klaus Janson to render on that title. I also recall Claremont reining in his script. I haven't read this mini series for years, but can feel a revisit coming on.
DW
GREAT selection!
I was lucky enough to see Blade Runner when it came out (literally no-one else I knew saw it until it hit video). I say lucky, as I was 11 and it was a AA certificate. So I was obsessed with that comics adaptation.
Someone bought me a another copy recently, my original having disappeared at some point in the intervening years, and yeah - it’s not great. Very much someone doing fussy, slightly lifeless copies of reference photos, and not really capturing the tone that well. Still better than most comics adaptations though! Nice cover. I had a U.K. reprint as an ‘annual’, with a photo of Harrison Bored on the cover.
Big Miller and Sienkiewicz month! I admire rather than enjoy the Wolverine mini. The art is nice, but it’s a bit lifeless for me. And Claremont still - even when restraining himself - write three times as much verbiage as necessary.
But that Moon Knight! That cover! That luxury length (its a double-issue) and the amazing semi-abstract compositions! Next month is the peak, but this is a doozy.
Mathew, I think you might be getting that issue of Moon Knight mixed up with the double-sized #25, which also had a black & white cover.
Easily done (hey, I wrote Moon Knight #22 above, and it is of course #23).
Although it made sense at the time, the Claremont/Miller credit on Wolverine looks a bit odd now we know what Fearless Frank went on to do later. Has he ever collaborated with a writer again since?
-sean
The BLADE RUNNER cover is my favorite too. One assumes Steranko had limited photo reference to work from and probably hadn’t seen the completed film, but the random ‘Alternate Universe’ nature of it all just adds to the charm. Joanna Cassiday’s character seems to be represented twice, while Darryl Hannah is completely MIA. Of the three dudes in the foreground, I suppose the white guy in the middle might be James ‘I only do eyes’ Wong, the guy on the far right looks like a Soviet General and the machine gunner on the left, who the heck knows. There seems to be some kind of Cops Vs. Punks street riot going on in the background that I don’t recall from the film. Instead of that ugly/cool monster firearm from the movie, Steranko just made up his own streamlined Art Deco gun for Deckard to wield (it does look pretty neat) and while the profile and 3/4 Harrison Ford faces more or less resemble the actor, the one in the middle, facing the viewer straight-on, looks like William Shatner in the the first Star Trek movie.
I think my favorite bit is the bird perched menacingly on Roy Batty’s upraised fist. Steranko gets extra points for posing the movie’s pigeon like a hunting falcon for added drama.
One thing I’ve always wondered about : why was this one issue of MARVEL SUPER SPECIAL standard comic sized, not magazine-sized like all the rest of them?
b.t.
Little did Bob Geldof realise he'd soon be "Sir" Bob and Saint Bob.
I know this is heresy but I think 'Blade Runner' is a bit boring. So there. I like the famous "tears in rain" speech though.
Colin and Matthew, somehow, I've never watched Blade Runner. It's not been a conscious decision. It's just worked out that way.
Thanks, Super-Duper ToyBox. :)
Bt and DW, thanks for your comments too. :)
And you too, Sean and Anonymous. :)
Colin, I happen to agree with you. I’ve seen it probably five or six times since its initial release (including several different ‘Special Director’s Cut’ versions) and while I acknowledge and appreciate its iconic and hugely influential Production Design, I’ve always found it ponderous and somewhat emotionally inert. I last saw it probably 20 years ago now and found it really really dull.
The irony is that many literary Science Fiction critics and hardcore PDK fans condemned it back in the day for supposedly turning Dick’s cerebral slow-burn novel into a futuristic Cops and Robbers shoot-‘em-up. When I saw it on opening weekend, it sure didn’t feel like the thrilling adventure story the trailers and posters suggested :)
b.t.
Sean -
No, 23 is definitely a double-sized issue too. It’s very odd to have two so close together.
My nerd memory tells me Miller drew for another writer a couple of years later in the bonanza Superman 400 in 1984. Can’t remember who the writer was though. Denny O’Neill?
And he collaborated with one of the Brians on the recent Dark Knight: Master Race thing.
Yeah, I thought Miller drew something for one of the big Anniversary Specials for DC around that time, possibly written by Denny — but I thought it was a Batman story (his first) not Superman. Maybe?
GCD, here I come…
b.t.
I was thinking of ‘Wanted: Santa Claus — Dead or Alive’ from DC SUPER-STAR HOLIDAY SPECIAL #1 in 1980, written by Denny O’Neil, inked by Steve Mitchell. FWIW.
b.t.
Looks like he pencilled and inked a 4-page story written by Elliott S. Maggin in SUPERMAN 400. I know I have that issue but for the life of me I can’t remember anything about that story. The one that really stands out in my memory from that one was the crazy Steranko epic.
b.t.
My memory tells me Moon Knight #23 was the second of a two parter about Morpheus, Matthew, and I don't recall it being a double at all... but it has been a long time so my mind may well be playing tricks on me.
For example, I have no memory of Fearless Frank's involvement in Superman #400. Or very much of anything in it, other than that Steranko epic of course.
It was inevitable there'd be some short piece like that with Maggin really - or the Santa thing (thanks b.t.) - but I was thinking more of major works. You know, comparable to the stuff Miller did with artists like Sienkiewicz, David Mazzuchelli, Gibbons, and Geof Darrow. Or even er... Todd McFarlane.
He didn't seem interested in letting someone else take the writer role. Perhaps thats the effect working with Claremont has (see also: John Byrne).
Yeah, Brian Azarello did write Dark Knight 3. But as Andy Kubert was the artist it doesn't count. (Pretty sure Miller came up with the words to go with the bits he doodled).
Although who knows about Dark Knight 4? Fortunately I've yet to encounter a copy...
-sean
Moon Knight issue 23 wasn't exactly a double edition (like issue 25) but it was larger than normal issue with 30 story pages which wasnt far off the pace count of issue 25 the "official" double page issue that had 37 strory pages. I seem to recall a few other larger than normal issues of Moon Knight that had 25 plus pages. I think ( though not 100%) that 22 pages were the norm for the direct market comics of the 1980s.
Sean, issue 23 was indeed the second part of a two part tale.
Thanks Paul. Moon Knight was quite early for a direct market title - along with Ka-Zar it was Marvel's first go at a regular series, wasn't it? Maybe they were still figuring out the best way to do it.
The comics in this feature do have a transitional feel at this point. Like, in Moon Knight Sienkiewicz is finding the style he became known for in the 80s, but Doug Moench's writing is still quite 70s (compared to say, Miller's Daredevil) Thats my take anyway.
Changing the subject - as I don't have anything better to do at the moment, and Charlie was asking about DCs 40 years ago in the last thread - I'm going to add that this month I also read:
Night Force #2 by Marv Wolfman & Gene Colan, DCs bid for ex-Tomb of Dracula readers, and
Arak Son of Thunder #13. Hey, don't laugh - it seemed worth trying because it was the first issue drawn by Alfredo Alcala. I did not bother #14 the following month.
-sean
Miller illustrated (quite nicely) a Walt Simonson script in Orion #3 (its the 6 page Tales of the New Gods back up). Simonson got some great artists on these back-ups.
DW
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