Well,
it looks like even though I'm dropping Dynamite's
Shadow
title per
se,
I'm still going to be reading about him from Dynamite, at least for a
while. In addition to the first comic I'm reviewing below, this
month's pre-order solicitations has the first of an eight-issue
Shadow:
Year One
series written by Matt Wagner. I really liked Wagner's pulpish take
on DC's original gas-masked Sandman in the 1990s series Sandman
Mystery Theatre,
and hope for good things here even if I don't particularly care for
the more supernatural take on the Shadow that appears in Dynamite
comics. I will be getting it.
 |
| Cover A by Alex Ross (25%) |
It's
1938. The “Justice Party” has just effected its takeover of New
York City but is proving to be basically a criminal enterprise under
the guise of fascist totalitarianism that only masked vigilantes can
possibly oppose....
 |
| Ad for Norvell Page, The Spider vs. the Empire State |
In
any case, it being a year and a half since I read Empire
State,
I don't remember the scene by scene detail well enough to do a direct
comparison, but obviously the broad strokes of the story are here,
likely told more quickly. This time the story begins with Green
Hornet and Kato, having pursued a criminal from their own locale of
Chicago to New York, encountering the Shadow in a not-entirely
friendly way. Soon thereafter, Britt Reid meets with Lamont Cranston
in an exclusive men's club. Kato, waiting for his master outside,
witnesses the arbitrary nature of “justice” in the new order that
prevails in the streets of New York City, as a young out-of-work
artist of color is accosted as a “vagrant.” We are treated to
glimpses of his portfolio, and I predict this character will become
this series' version of the early-19th-century Zorro. Kato is
stopped from what could only turn out to be a futile interference by
Britt's steadying hand. The case of the “vagrant” artist plays
out in a corrupt court, and our glimpse of the workings of the new
criminous legislature passing a new “Poor Tax” is followed by a
stark image straight from the original prose pulp novel, that of the
“Poor Tax Wagons” bearing those who could not cough up the
extortionate levies. Determined to fight against the new injustice,
the Green Hornet, Kato, and the Shadow are joined by the Spider –
in his more typical webbed mask and cape as in the 1930s serials and
in most comics (including Dynamite's) but never in the pulps
themselves – on the last page. Dialogue between the various
characters throughout hammers home the theme that will underlie this
series, that of the sometimes difficult intersection between law and
justice.
As
you can doubtless tell, I'm excited by this. The idea of adapting
one of the more monumental pulp stories into a modern telling
(without succumbing to the temptation of pulling it out of its proper
1930s milieu as has kept me off the new Dynamite version of The
Spider
after the first issue), expanding its inherent appeal by creating
what I called above a “Justice League of Pulp Heroes” – I hope
this is a smashing success. I like what I see so far. Dynamite has
pulled out all the marketing stops, it seems, save one. I would have
expected the first issue to be put out there for a cheaper “hook”
price of 99 cents as has been done on other high-profile series such
as Warlord
of Mars.
But there is a muliplicity of variant and incentive covers,
including various dealers' exclusives. Unfortunately, the painted
art by Alex Ross that graces the interior of this issue #1 is for
this issue only – something I knew but that I hope others keyed in
on from the beginning and are not headed for a big disappointment
when the second and subsequent issues come with art by Dennis Calero.
“The
Return of the Jungle Lord 1 of 6: The Affair on the Liner”
Here
begins Dynamite's “expandaptation” (my word) of The
Return of Tarzan.
This seems to be starting off to be a looser version of the original
story than the first arc was of Tarzan
of the Apes.
For instance, if I recall correctly Rokoff in the original was
pretty much just a con man, a common criminal. Here he is an agent
of the Russian Empire, on a mission to find the legendary city of
Opar as mentioned in one ancient manuscript recounting the voyage of
Hanno
the Phoenician.
Tarzan, on the other hand, is working more closely with French
Intelligence and his friend Paul D'Arnot to foil Rokoff's mission,
although he's increasingly disgusted by the attitudes of “civilized”
men, as they are at best dismissive of him as a “savage.”
Meanwhile, Cecil Clayton is obviously deteriorating, being driven to
drink by the knowledge that he's not the true Lord Greystoke, further
driving a wedge between himself and Jane. Professor Porter hopes
that another upcoming Africa expedition will bring the two back
together.
 |
| Cover A by Lucio Parrillo (50%) |
“The
Return of the Jungle Lord 2 of 6: Back to the Primitive”
Tarzan
and D'Arnot confront Rokoff in the execution of his crime, but the
Russian agent gets away with Hanno's map to Opar. Tarzan follows his
trail to Africa, not to secure gold for the French, but to validate
his friend D'Arnot's faith in him against the derision of D'Arnot's
countrymen. Meanwhile, Jane and Clayton have unwittingly taken
Rokoff, who is now going by the name Thuran, into their Africa
expedition. In Africa, Tarzan befriends the Waziri by taking their
part in a confrontation with the Belgians.
Overall,
again, this seems more significantly different from the book,
especially in the characterization of Rokoff – who if I recall
correctly is in the original really the Count de Coude's wife Olga's
brother. Which reminds me of another notable deviation, that Tarzan
did not have the duel with the Count over his supposed affair with
the Countess.
But
it's all good, and as MCR of Jcomreader posits, tightening the very
episodic nature of The
Return of Tarzan
into a more driving plot could well improve the overall story as told
here.
“A
Hero in Kaol, Part 2 of 5”
Well,
right there is the answer to a question I raised last issue – these
are issue titles, each part of an overall five-part adaptation of
Burroughs' third Mars
book. Ambiguity inevitably resulted from Warlord
of Mars
being both the name of that third novel and this Dynamite comic book
series overall. So, properly I guess, the title line should read
“Warlord of Mars, Part 2 of 5: A Hero in Kaol.” Eh, whatever.
John
Carter continues to trail Matai Shang and the captive Dejah Thoris to
the isolated city-state of Kaol, where he thwarts a plot by the
Therns to break the alliance between Kaol and Ptarth as part of their
covert war against Helium. Of course, the villain manages to get
away just ahead of John Carter, who is now accompanied by Thuvan
Dinh, Jeddak of Ptarth, into the far reaches of the north – where
they crash on the near side of the massive ice cliffs.
This
continues to be solid, both story and art-wise, quite faithful to the
original – moreso than the same writer's Lord
of the Jungle.
As with Burroughs' originals, Mars
is my favorite of the two series.
One
notable dissonance, however, seemingly an inevitability when the
companion series purports to tell apocryphal tales of Dejah Thoris'
past, it's amazing that after ten years living in Helium with his
princess at the end of the first novel – faithfully reflected in
this expandaptation series (I like that word, right up there with my
other word coined for this blog, “inner'logue”) – John Carter
seems to regard rumors of the existence of the Yellow Men of the
North. I guess Dejah Thoris never got around to relating to him the
events recounted in her own series, issue
#16.
 |
| Cover B by Fabiano Neves (50%) |
[“The
Vampire Men of Saturn, Part 3 of 3”]
I
can't bring myself to do a full write-up of this issue. I did not
care for it at all. Dejah Thoris ends up on Saturn itself, but her
vampire captor ultimately falls for her and turns against his own
people, helping her thwart their invasion of Barsoom.
Meh.
Cheers,
and Thanks for reading!
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