Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
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There's nothing like a movie for bringing to life our nightmares, dreams and whatever it is that's the midway point between a nightmare and dream.
So, which nightmares and dreams were being given life during this month in 1985?
A View to a Kill is the only one of those I've ever seen. Therefore, in my time-honoured tradition of determined ignorance, I shall declare that to be my film of the month, even though it's not actually all that good and its main appeal to me rests in its theme tune.
Just what distinguishes him from Marvel's already existing Black Knight?
I've no idea but, within this book, he gets 31 pages of metal-clad mayhem, action, thrills, spills, chivalry and deviltry.
And that's then followed by something called The John Bolton Photo Session.
I'm assuming that involves photos of John Bolton, which seems a strange thing to put in a comic about a knight but there you go.
And it's not even written by Michael Fleisher!
It's written by Dave Manak!
Anyway, it seems they've got trouble with the Rainbow Bridge.
Whether that brings them into conflict with Thor, I cannot say.
I suspect it doesn't.
This comic will last for fourteen issues before death claims it.
And Dave Manak's behind this one, as well!
I know nothing of this comic but I do know its main attraction is called The Ice Cold Mystery and features such characters as Montgomery Moose, Woolma Lamb, Dotty Dog, Portia Porcupine and Zipper Cat.
To be honest, if I were a young child, every single thing in that plot description would traumatise me.
I know nothing of the tale inside, other than that it's called Animal Crackers and is the brainchild of no lesser talents than Bill Mantlo and Mike Mignola.
Whatever the character's antecedents, this issue mostly concerns itself with The Mystery of the Missing Crown in which the king of Cashelot discovers that one of his crowns is missing!
And yet another new mag hits our local shops.
John J Muth's stylish cover lets us know Moonshadow is back for a second issue.
We also encounter a 6-page adventure in which Roy and his crocodile Gummy catch two poachers on his royal estate.
I feel like I'm going to find Roy a tough character to relate to.
In this one, Peter, Jonah and a trio of interns visit a strange island where planes have been disappearing.
But the gang soon fall into the hands of Ducktor Doom who's using those he captures to film a rock video that'll make him rich.
It may all sound like a living nightmare but, fortunately, Spider-Ham's on hand to save us all!
Can the Thing really be quitting the Fantastic Four?
Well, yes, he can. Especially as he quit the team several months ago, back when this series began.
Regardless, this issue's episode is titled Remembrances and I assume there'll be much soul-searching, agonising and mulling over the fact that Johnny Storm's now dating Alicia.
But, sadly, I can't reveal whether the insides are equally as potent, as I've never seen them.
I do know, though, that this May's masterpiece is labelled The French Spaceman which makes me wonder if we're going to see Batroc, Radion or the Grey Gargoyle, as I believe all of them are French.
Granted, none of them are spacemen but I don't know of any French Marvel characters who double up as spacemen.
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15 comments:
I’ve only seen Rambo 2 out of those, and that was back in the VHS days in the wake of being madly into Aliens. I only watched it the once.
25 years ago when I was sort of getting into Mike Mignola and picking up old stuff he’d done, I would have taken a look at that Rocket Raccoon. But I didn’t know until here and now that it even existed. Too late now.
The only ones I know here are Black Dragon and Moonshadow.
Moonshadow was another one I read 25 years ago. I came across a trade paperback in a remainder bookshop. I did not enjoy it AT ALL. I sold it immediately.
A friend and I were recently discussing it as there’s a deluxe edition coming out imminently from Dark Horse. We decided it was like a bad Neil Gaiman comic but before he even came along.
What was John Bolton’s career path, does anyone know? I know him from Warrior and then this and then a Batman graphic novel and various movie tie-ins in the 2000s. He seems to be well liked but never reached fandom critical mass. Am I wrong?
There was a time when I owned every single James Bond film on dvd — except A VIEW TO A KILL. I’d seen it in the theatre and hated it intensely. A few years back I saw a cheap copy at Target, thought “what the hell” and added it to my 007 collection. When I finally got around to re-watching it, I was surprised that Moore actually looked younger than he had in FOR YOUR EYES ONLY and OCTOPUSSY — so much so that I suspected a face lift and a good dye job. The movie was overall a tiny bit better than my memory of it, but it’s never going to be in my list of favorite Bond movies.
So…. these comics.
I read some issue of MOONSHADOW back in the day (maybe the first one?) and decided that was more than enough.
As I mentioned last time, I’m pretty sure I had that BLACK DRAGON but can’t remember a thing about it now. That goes for the whole 6-issue series. The cover of #1 looks really nice, actually makes me want to check it out. Thing is, I probably still own a copy but don’t feel like hunting it down.
Matthew :
I first noticed Bolton’s work when he was doing stuff for HOUSE OF HAMMER magazine, adaptations of movies like DRACULA, PRINCE OF DARKNESS etc. HOH was where i first spotted Bolland too. Anyhow, after that he drew that excellent Kull story in BIZARRE ADVENTURES, “Demon In A Silvered Glass” (kind of a mash-up of REH’s “Mirrors of Tuzun Thune” and “The Shadow Kingdom”), followed by some Not-As-Good stories in Kull’s own color comic. Then a handful of covers and interiors for Bruce Jones’ TWISTED TALES and ALIEN WORLDS , and then MARADA THE SHE-WOLF in EPIC. Bolton’s art was quite nice, but Claremont’s story was dialed up to “Maximum Cringe”. He teamed-up again with Claremont for some X-Men shorts in the X-MEN CLASSIC comic. Then he kinda fell off my radar, popping back up in the late 90s (I think) with a series of erotic/morbid paintings of naked vampire women. That’s pretty much the last thing I remember seeing from him.
b.t.
Matthew, John Bolton was one of Dez Skinn's early go to artists in the late 70s, in House of Hammer mag - the Shandor stories (later reprinted in Warrior) and his adaptation of One Million Years BC (!) - various domestic annuals, and then Marvel UK.
He made the leap to American comics drawing a full length Kull story for the magazine formerly known as Marvel Preview -
https://theporporbooksblog.blogspot.com/2015/09/demon-in-silvered-glass-part-one.html
Which was pretty impressive, and seemed like a big deal at the time. The story he did for Warrior #1 was a bit of a farewell to the British comic biz, as he went on to more for Marvel - more Kull, Thor for Preview/Bizarre Adventures, and then regularly working with Chris Claremont on Marada (originally intended to be Red Sonja) in Epic Illustrated, back-ups for Classic X-Men, and... well, Black Dragon.
He was the first Brit to make an impression in American comics since the anomalous Barry Windsor-Smith much earlier (although Brian Bolland did get in a couple of covers and a Mystery in Space short first). Back then it seemed a bit weird that so many Marvel UK types went to DC rather than the US parent company like Bolton, but in retrospect he seems like the odd one out.
-sean
A View to a Kill. Charlie saw it on the big screen lo those 40 years ago. The song was great. The opening sequence where Grace Jones jumps off Tour Eiffel was great. The rest was OK for a 22 year old.
Flash forward to last year when Charlie rewatched on DVD (feom the library, natch) 39 years later. It was not even passable. Pretty boy Moore had run his course as Bond.
Steve, Johnny Storm did not date Alicia. As I pointed out to you last month - under the 40 Year Ago feature - that was a Skrull.
-sean
Sean & BT,
Thanks!
I remember Bolton being spoken of in hushed tones in the Warrior letters pages, and I’m pretty sure I must have his Hammer / Horror stuff reprinted in Skinn’s recent hardcovers.
I’m just surprised that I never even stumbled upon anything he did after Warrior 1. Not a peep. Until that Batman story in around the turn of the century.
I flicked through a reprint of Marada (I think) when it was super-cheap in a Forbidden Planet sale a few years back but it didn’t appeal.
He is very good at ‘sexy ladies’ though. And I like his painted art when I’ve seen it.
I guess he never had that one perfect project that put him in the mainstream spotlight, like Weapon X did for Smith, Watchmen for Gibbons etc.
Matthew:
Yes, Bolton never seemed to have that one big hit that would have made him a “Fan Favorite”. It’s a stupid thing, but his style and sensibilities not being a smooth fit with super-heroes may have had something to do with it too (his X-MEN CLASSIC stuff was kinda awkward and unappealing). I’d forgotten about Bolton’s Batman comic. I googled it just now, and ohhhh yeah… looked like “Imitation Bisley” distortions and palette to me, but sort of half-hearted. Felt kinda “too little, too late”.
b.t.
sean:
Per our convo earlier this week, the Porpor Boks Blog has scans of all 3 parts of “Blood And Black Satin” too. But you probably knew that already …
b.t.
But, Sean, the Thing doesn't know that and is, therefore, upset about the Torch dating Alicia. Not about her dating a Skrull.
Matthew, I guess looking back Bolton's work does seem quite old skool. The obvious reference point for, say, 'Demon In A Silvered Glass' would be Barry Smith's 'Red Nails' rather than anything that came later, and his actual style - compared to a Sienkiewicz or McKean (or even Bisley) - tends to the traditional.
Working with Chris Claremont probably hasn't helped his 'Comics Are Growing Up' 80s boom credibility either.
Its not hard to imagine Bolton being offered the chance to do anything for the Epic imprint, and wanting to do a Prince Valiant!
Having said that, I like Black Dragon. Mind you, I have a taste for that kind of thing (I like old Hal Foster strips too). Its better appreciated these days in the black & white Titan reprint though. For someone who did amazing full colour work, Bolton's traditional comic book colouring was quite iffy.
b.t., Bolton fell off my radar around the time of Books of Magic (the original four part Neil Gaiman series). That was no particular reflection on him though, as I lost interest in mainstream comics generally around that point.
I didn't come across his work again til the Residents' Freakshow.
For anyone interested in that kind of thing -
https://archive.org/details/the-residents-freak-show-comic/The%20Residents%20Freak%20Show%20Comic/mode/2up
-sean
PS That Residents' comic includes work by Brian Bolland, Charles Burns and Dave McKean too.
Ah! I’d forgotten he did a bit of Books Of Magic. I read that.
That Residents book is great! Hadn’t heard of that. And a Charles Burns cover too.
I nominate the word DRIGHTMARE as the mid-point between a dream and a nightmare but when exactly does a dream become a nightmare? Perhaps it's like hearing that Keir Starmer is resigning and then discovering his replacement will be Nigel Farage.
Colin, its not looking like it would make much difference if Nigel Farage does take over from Sir Keir.
As the old adage goes, 'What Enoch Powell says today, the Tories repeat tomorrow, and Labour legislates for the day after..."
-sean
I hadn't heard that particular old adage before, Sean!
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