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Okay- I ended last month with only three books completed which means I'm two months in and I'm already two weeks behind. Though it seems, just like my journalistic hero James Bartholomew Olsen, I have super heroes at my beck and call. Well actually not at first. Our first pick for this month isn't quite a super hero though many say he's the prototype of the genre. So here we go!
- Gladiator By Philip Wylie:
The influence of Wylie's novel on the super hero genre is hard to ignore. So much of where super hero comics came from had their genesis with this novel. The book was written in 1930 and at times it shows. It does a lot of telling instead of showing. Which is a really common mistake of a lot of Golden Age (or in this case just pre Golden Age) science fiction. It is worth reading for its historical significance to comic book fans alone. The other annoyance is that every female character in the story is portrayed as either incompetent or egotistical. The saving grace of the story is that while Hugo Danner may have super powers and do wondrous things with them, he lacks a sense of direction. He is a pacifist one chapter and a one man armored division the next. Near the end he is an anarchistic one minute and a fascist the next. He both accepts and rejects the philosophies later associated with Ayn Rand in a single paragraph. In short he is not a hero by any means. Where most super hero tales are about the old axiom: "With great power comes great responsibility," Wylie seems to reinforce the idea that "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" whether the character sees it or not. The tragedy in Hugo Danner is that the same corruptions he wants to cast out of humanity are ones he himself carries in himself in great abundance but refuses to see it.
- Superman: The Last Son of Krypton By Elliot S. Maggin:
The fact this novel was written in the late 1970s had me a little worried. I feared it would either be a story about Clark Kent with the comic book elements toned down in order to appeal to people who had only knew Superman from the Richard Donner movie. (Which I love by the way.) What fed my worries was the cover listing the author as Elliot S. Maggin with a period, not Elliot S! Maggin with an explanation point. It couldn't possibly really be for comic book fans. You know what they say about books by their covers, right? What I found was pure 1970s campy fun Superman without pictures. Much like the 1970s comics, Clark Kent has ditched The Daily Planet and become a TV reporter. His enemies include Lex Luthor, Towbee and Steve Lombard. Not only that, there were small hints of the rest of the DC universe- particularly The Green Lantern mythos. It has a very strange plot involving Albert Einstein, ancient prophecies, transtemporal real estate swindles and a planet where true economics are outlawed. The only major change between a typical Superman comic book story of the period and this book is the use of humor. The comedy often associated with Donner's take on the Man of Steel is reflected. Luthor is portrayed like his 1970s movie counterpart with only a hint of Gene Hackman. The overall book is very light hearted, geekish and a comic booky treat.
- Superman: Miracle Monday By TElliot S. Maggin:
Aside from several chapters of show not tell this is a very good Superman story. It hits just about all the right notes for silver age camp. It's very comic booky with all its use of demons and time travel. There are some real world cameos as well- though not as many as found in The Last Son of Krypton. There is even some overlap between the two books which means if you read books too close together it does feel simultaneously rewarding (because of some the jokes) but sadly a bit repetitive as well. Maggin hits some interesting (for the time) ideas about the relationship between Superman and Lois as well as the necessity of Clark Kent. One wonders how things would have developed outside of a licensed novel where everything must be returned to the status quo. The final real shocker of the story is that by the 1980s we'd heard a lot of the heroes saying Hell and Damn. Hearing Lois Lane actually use hardcore non comics code approved profanity is a little weird but also incredibly funny- especially with Silver Age Lois. Ultimately, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone but a die hard Superman fan even though as of DC Comics Presents Annual #2 and #4 this book was canon for the Pre-Crisis DC Universe.
- X-Men and Spider-Man - Time's Arrow - Book One: The Past By Tom DeFalco and Jason Henderson:
This starts off as your basic story wherein two of Marvel's biggest franchises team up. It also involves quite of bit of time travel- including true time travel. which is a rarity in Marvel stories. The X-Men and Spider-Man aren't the only ones to get involved in Kang's time travel mayhem. There is a cameo by Spider-Ham. Plus key roles by the original Black Knight, Moon Boy, Devil Dinosaur, The Two-Gun Kid, The Original Human Torch and Toro. If you are a fan of really weird team ups that show off just how diverse the Marvel universe really is- this is your kind of story. This being co-written by Tom DeFalco it is safe to say the Spider-Man characters really rings true. Some of the X-Men seem a little off- particularly Cable. In this story I almost like him. Henderson and DeFalco wisely limit the number of X-Men in the book. There is a lot of going over various characters back stories- probably to help people who haven't read the comics and knew the characters only from their respective animated series- which were just beginning to fade from syndication in 1998. In terms of the team ups the most interesting was Spider-Man and Bishop with Two-Gun Kid. I'm not a western fan but this hit all the right notes. I loved how Spider-Man's first instinct in the past is to simply drive Bishop crazy with wisecracks. To me- that's just so Spider-Man. The bigger the problem is the more obnoxiousness he throws at it. (That's my fighting style too.)
- X-Men and Spider-Man - Time's Arrow - Book Two: The Present By Tom DeFalco and Adam-Troy Castro:
Kang's plan from the previous book is still rolling along. The X-Men sections are mostly action pieces as they face off against villains and traps Kang has set up. The Spider-Man and Bishop sections are much more character driven. It contains one of the best retellings of Spider-Man's origin I've ever seen. The more interesting segment is Peter Parker's conversation with the Peter Parker of the alternate universe that he and Bishop are on. The impact is weakened a bit by a revelation at the end, but Alternate Peter still hits a few nails just a little too close to home. This story has more cameos than the previous one as DeFalco drags in the Fantastic Four, Power Man, The Avengers, Power Pack, Iron Fist, Shang Chi, Forbrush Man and an appearance (only vaguely for legal reasons) by the one and only Superpro. But that's not all. There is a fairly big role for one of my all-time favorite Marvel characters- Speedball. Is the book perfect? No. There is all of the awkward back stories in places that disrupt the action and a few fights that go on much longer than they should. However- the book is very funny. I mean how many Marvel stories out there ask you to believe in a darker Mirrorworld Marvel Universe that simultaneously wants you to take Razorback seriously? It's the type of crazy and weird fun I wish more mainstream comics still did.
- X-Men and Spider-Man - Time's Arrow - Book Three: The Future By Tom DeFalco and Eluki Bes Shahahaa:
Okay, so as a result of the previous two books Kang the Conqueror is all set to destroy the entire multiverse save for the one universe with a surviving incarnation of Ravonna, his true love. Or as close to a delusional sociopath comes to love. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and The X-Men must travel to various futures to find time platforms which will lead them to Limbo to find Kang. Preventing them from reaching said platforms are: 1) Void worms and the original futuristic Guardians of the Galaxy. 2) The X-Men of 2099 and 3) the Iron Man 2020 with his sidekick, an alternate version of Mayday Parker (aka Spider-Girl). There is a brief team-up with Spider-Man's pal Machine Man as well. (In a quasi-sequel to the Machine Man 2020 comics by none other than Tom DeFalco.) Luckily the book follows the old Marvel trope of heroes meet, heroes fight and then they team up. Unfortunately, Kang was counting on this. Most of the machines are broken or destroyed in battle. Now the only real problem with the book is there are two paragraphs that actually appear twice- almost word for word- in two different chapters. And the cameos could have given a little more time to develop. The first book did this really well. Save for the gathering at the end of the second book everyone got quite of a bit to do. This time the fights are clearly padding out the book and not in a fun way though that might be two previous books of somewhat repetitious plots talking. Again-Spider-Man's dialogue is clearly mostly DeFalco. He's a guy who clearly loves writing Spider-Man and it shows. This entire trilogy reminds me how much I miss the funny and wiseass Spider-Man.
Am I caught up to where I want to be yet? No. I'm close. The heroes bought me some wiggle room. V And next month- because no one demanded it- and because more than half the stuff in the boxes fits the theme and it has been several months since I've done one-Star Trek. Though to make it feel special this month will feature a book by one of Star Trek's greatest writers D.C. Fontana.
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