LONDON GOES TO POPEYE

When I started Strip Search, the earliest updates tended towards collections of newspaper strips rather than comic books. Recently the emphasis seems to have shifted the other way, but today I'm going back to the strip reprints for  a quick note about a book that has somehow slipped under my radar.
In 1986, cartoonist Bobby London took over the Popeye newspaper strip. Up to then London was known for his work for National Lampoon and Playboy, and most notoriously the underground comic "Air Pirate Funnies" which led to a lawsuit by the Walt Disney corporation over a Mickey Mouse satire.
London was the perfect choice for the strip, both updating the strip but staying true to the spirit of the strip's original creator E.C. Segar. He lasted 6 years before a controversial storyline allegedly about abortion found him removed from the strip.
IDW have now published a hardcover book collecting the first three years of London's run, with a second volume due, I believe, in November.
I haven't yet seen the book, but IDW's track record in strip reprints is exemplary, and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy. When I do, I'll give it a more detailed review.
I'll be back with more later in the week, including the next Fourth World Thursday.
Be seeing you,
Steve

SECRET AGENT MAN (SLIGHT RETURN)

Way back in May, I mentioned IDW's Secret Agent Corrigan collection by Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson and promised to review it on it's release in July. Well, July came and went with no sign of the book, but here in September it's finally available and it was certainly worth the wait!

For those of you unfamiliar with this classic strip, here's a bit of background information. Secret Agent X-9 (as the strip was originally titled) started in January 1934. Supplied to newspapers by the King Features Syndicate, the strip was written by Dashiell Hammett, of Maltese Falcon fame, and illustrated by the legendary Alex Raymond, well known for his work on the Tarzan and Flash Gordon comic strips. Despite this impeccable pedigree, Secret Agent X-9 was never a success Hammett soon moved on, followed not longer after by Raymond.

X-9 was originally a nameless agent working for a unnamed agency. In the 1940s X-9 was finally given a name, Phil Corrigan, and the agency was revealed to be the FBI. The strip was a hybrid of a private detective and secret agent adventure, and alternated between the two styles.

After Raymond and Hammett's departure, the strip continued under the hands of Charles Flanders (1937), Mel Graff (1939-1960) and Bob Lubbers (1960-1966) before being handed to the team of writer Archie Goodwin and artist Al Williamson. This team supreme handled the strip from 1967-1980, taking the opportunity to introduce some more fantastical elements into the storylines along the way. In 1980 they passed the baton to veteran EC artist George Evans who wrote and drew the strip for sixteen years. When he retired in 1996, the strip was retired with him.

History lesson over, let's look at the new collection. The first thing that strikes you is the size. I was expecting a volume the same format as IDWs excellent King Aroo collection, but this hardcover is much larger, measuring 10 1/2 inches by 11 1/2 inches. This increase in page size, together with the excellent reproduction straight from Williamson's own proof copies, shows off his luxuriant art in all it's detail.

The volume opens with an introductory piece by Mark Schultz, telling us a little about Al Williamson and his arrival on the strip and how he insisted on bringing Archie Goodwin on board as well. This introduction also includes examples of Williamson's other comic work, including a strip from his and Goodwin's work on Star Wars, a page from his work with EC comics in the 1950s and a page of art from a Flash Gordon comic book also written by Goodwin.

Bruce Canwell brings up the rear with a well written and researched article on Secret Agent X-9/Corrigan's history, illustrated with sample strips from Bob Lubbers, George Evans, Alex Raymond and Mel Graff.

In between there is, of course, the meat of the book. Over 800 daily strips from 30th January 1967 through to 30th August 1969.

Goodwin and Williamson took over Secret Agent X-9 at the height of the spy-mania fad that gripped America in the mid 1960s. TV shows such as The Man (and Girl) From U.N.C.L.E., Get Smart and The Wild, Wild West filled the nations airwaves. James Bond still ruled the silver screen. Comic books weren't exempt from the spy game. Marvel took their war hero Sgt. Fury and brought him into the modern day as Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. while DC had King Faraday, and even adapted the Bond story Dr. No into comic form.

Shortly after the Goodwin/Williamson team took over, King Features decided to change the strip's title to Secret Agent Corrigan, a title Williamson in particular wasn't keen on. Goodwin decided to take the strip back to its Hammitt/Raymond roots. Under Bob Lubbers, Corrigan's exploits were light-hearted. The new team brought in a darker, more violent and more cinematic feel to the strip. The team's love for adventure movies shines through in these stories. In later years they would stretch, but never break, the limits of the strips format as they would alternate the spy/detective stories with ever more fantastical stories inspired by movies such as The Lost World. It's a credit to them that these tales seem perfectly natural and the strip never quite "jumps the shark" to use TV parlance.

All that will come in later volumes however. For now, we remain in the hard-boiled detective spy genre. While the stories are certainly of their time, Goodwin's taut plotting and credible dialogue perfectly compliments Williamson's exquisite artwork.

This is a collection I cannot praise highly enough. IDW have again raised the strip reprint bar higher with this collection. I know the $49.99 price tag will put some people off, but I feel that's a worthy price to pay for this first installment of one of the finest examples of the adventure strip. If your local comic shop has a copy you can look at, I wholeheartedly recommend you take a look.
Roll on vol. 2.

I'll be back soon with more reviews.

Until then, take care,

Steve

KATS, MICE, PUPPS, TIGERS AND OTHER ASSORTED KREATURES

In the long history of the newspaper comic, few strips have been lauded as much as George Herriman's surreal 'Krazy Kat'. Launched in 1913, the strip ran thirty-one years, only ending with Herriman's death in 1944.

The eponymous Kat, along with Ignatz Mouse, Officer Bull Pupp and sundry other anthropomorphic characters existed in the ever changing landscape of Coconino County, a bizarre, almost Daliesque, universe where the backdrops melt and shift around. Unique in both its surreal visuals and bizarre wordplay, the strip was feted by such illuminaries as newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, art critic Gilbert Seldes and poet e.e. Cummings. It's even said that Pablo Picasso followed the strip avidly. In later years the strip's influence would be seen in the works of comics artists such as Robert Crumb and Chris Ware.

The main thrust of the strip was the three way relationship between the aforementioned Kat, Mouse and Dog. Krazy is a carefree, almost simple-minded, cat whose gender is ambigious, being referred to both as "he" and "she". He/she loves Ignatz Mouse, however this love is unrequited - in fact Ignatz despises Krazy and continually tries to throw bricks at the feline's head. Krazy however misinterprets these bricks as 'love taps'. Meanwhile Offissa Pupp, Coconino's local police officer, who harbours a crush for Krazy, attempts to thwart Ignatz's plans and incarcerate the mouse in his jailhouse.

Extended narratives were unheard of in 'Krazy Kat' but in 1936, twenty-three years on from it's inception, Herriman started the storyline which has now become known as 'Tiger Tea'. It is that tale that has recently been collected by Craig Yoe as part of his Yoe Books series for IDW Publishing.

'Tiger Tea' starts with the collapse of Katnip Konsolidated, leaving Coconino County's wealthiest citizen Mr. Meeyowl pennyless. Krazy takes it upon himself to help him regain his fortune and thus embarks on a quest, following his nose hither and thither and arrives in a land where "things are tiger bad". From this strange land comes the titular Tiger Tea. And that's when things get very odd indeed...
There have been many discussions over the years as to whether Herriman was using 'Tiger Tea' as a euphemism for marijuana. I'll not add to those debates, but instead leave you, the reader, to decide for yourself. However Craig Yoe's insightful introduction does go into some detail of both sides of the argument.

The collection is a beautifully designed hardcover, printed supposedly on hemp paper. Priced at a mere $12.99 (about £9.99 here in the UK), this is a collection no Herriman fan should be without. Available from all good comic shops, or from Amazon - see the link below, or click The Strip Search Store link at the top right of the page for details.



Editor Craig Yoe is also responsible for the forthcoming book "Krazy Kat And The Art Of George Herriman" being published, not by IDW, but by Abrams. I look forward to seeing it. It's available for preorder from your local comic shop, or you can use the link below to preorder from Amazon now.




I'll see you soon with more reviews, and maybe some surprises. Until then, take care.

Steve

LONG LIVE THE KING!

As far as I know, there hasn't been an official announcement from IDW yet, but it appears that there will soon be another collection of Jack Kent's wonderful strip King Aroo. Amazon UK are already listing volume two as available for pre-order, although as yet there's no mention of it on IDW's website. As the first volume is by far my favourite strip collection of recent months, I just cannot wait to get my hands on this new book. Will let you know as and when I have a release date.

UPDATE! Those splendid chaps at IDW have just let me know that we can expect the King's arrival in November. Let your local comic shop know it's coming, and get them to pre-order it for you.

DITKO'S STRANGE WORLD

Up to now, this blog has primarily focused on reprints of newspaper strips. I'm not sure why that is, apart from the number of excellent collections that have come out recently. So today I'm going to look at four recent books featuring the work of the legendary comics artist Steve Ditko. As I've already said in a previous blog entry, I'm a huge fan of Ditko's work, and while he's best known for his work on Spider-Man and Doctor Strange for Marvel (both of whom he co-created), The Creeper for DC and Captain Atom for Charlton there is far more to him than superheroes.

First up is Stranger And Stranger: The World Of Steve Ditko. Unlike the other books here this is not a collection of Ditko's stories, but a work tracing the life and career of one of comics most mysterious creators. The book's author Blake Bell has done an exemplary job of telling the tale of the notoriously reclusive artist, from his early days in the comics industry studying under Jerry Robinson, through his breakthrough with Charlton Comics, the heady days of the early Marvel Bullpen, his departure for DC comics, up to his self-published (with Robin Snyder) Steve Ditko's Packages of the late 1990s. Bell delves into Ditko's fascination with the writings of Ayn Rand and explores how the influance of books like The Fountainhead affected the artists later career and his relationship with comic fandom. Lavishly illustrated with page after page of Ditko art from all stages of his career, and with quotes from many of the people he worked with in the industry this book is a must for anyone with an interest in comics most celebrated and yet unknown artists.

Next, also from Fantagraphics and Blake Bell, is the superb Strange Suspense: The Steve Ditko Archives Vol. 1 which I mentioned in a previous blog entry. This book was compiled by Bell and collects Ditko's earliest work for publishers such as Prize, Gilmor, Ajax/Farrell, Timor and, of course, Charlton. The majority of the stories collected here fall firmly into the horror vein, with tales taken from titles such as The Thing, This Magazine Is Haunted and Strange Suspense Stories. Some science fiction stories are also present from the pages of Space Adventures, while Racket Squad In Action, Crime And Justice and Blazing Western give us... well, crime and western tales. Nearly all of this material predates the introduction of the Comics Code Authority in October 1954, the sole exception being a humour piece Car Show taken from a 1955 issue of From Here To Insanity. This means that much of this material is more visceral than the stories many are familier with from the early 1960s although still tame by todays standards. The reproduction is stunning, showing off Ditko's detailed artwork at its finest. Check out the infamous electric chair cover to Strange Suspense Stories # 19, a detail of which is used as the cover to this collection (see right). Or the cover to Space Adventures # 12 with is EC inspired cover (see left). And while the art is all prime Ditko, here and there he does let his influences show through. For example Die Laughing from The Thing #13 has a few layouts and panels inspired by the legendary Will Eisner, while Cinderella from The Thing #12 has a very Mort Meskin feel. This is one of the finest collections of Ditko's work out there, and while it may not be as familier as his work on Spider-Man, Doctor Strange or indeed those mystery shorts he did for Marvel books such as Strange Tales and Amazing Fantasy, it's all classic Ditko. Buy it now, and pre-order volume 2, hopefully due in August this year.

As a quick aside, Ditko's Eisner influance would also show up in his work on Marvel's Doctor Strange strip. The first Dr. Strange story from Strange Tales #110 has some very Eisneresque panels. And that distinct window in the good Doctor's Sanctum Sanatorum bears more than a passing resemblence to the one in Denny Colt's Wildwood Cemetery hideaway. But I digress...

Fantagraphics set the bar high with Strange Suspense, and IDW's The Art Of Ditko collection only just falls short of the other books high standards. Compiled by Craig Yeo for IDWs Yeo Books imprint, this collection concentrates on Ditko's work from the 1960s. With the Comics Code at the height of it's influance the stories here are tamer than those in the Fantagraphics book, while Ditko's artwork is a little less detailed, more akin to his superhero work for Marvel and DC, than his earlier, detailed horror work. Along with numorous examples of Ditko's work from Charlton titles from the sixties, there are reproductions of original art pages from his work with Marvel and DC.
One advantage this collection has over the Fantagraphics volume is that it is oversized, allowing the reader to really appreciate Ditko's stylised art.
While not quite reaching the heights of Strange Suspense, The Art Of Ditko is still an essential purchase for Ditkologists everywhere.


Finally, DC Comics have also brought out a Ditko collection , this one devoted to his work on the superhero strip The Creeper. This volume contains all of the Creeper stories Ditko had a hand in, starting with the characters debut in the pages of DC's tryout comic, Showcase.
For those unfamilier with him, The Creeper was originally introduced in Showcase #73 (1968), which told the tale of outspoken Gotham City talk show host Jack Ryder, gunned down by gangsters when he used his TV show to take a stance against organized crime made him a target. Mortally wounded by the mob, Ryder's life was saved by a scientist who gave him an experimental serum that granted him powers of super-agility. Disguising himself in a bizarre costume, Ryder took on the persona of The Creeper and sought retribution.
After that single tryout issue, The Creeper was quickly given his own title, "Beware The Creeper" the first six issues of which are presented here. Ditko walked off the title having drawn only eleven pages of that sixth issue, with Jack Sparling pitching in to fill out the issue. In fact it looks to me that Sparling may have redrawn those first eleven pages although some of the layouts certainly look like Ditko. The reclusive artist returned to the Creeper in 1975 for another tryout book, First Issue Special #7, and then again in 1978 for a series of backup stories in World's Finest Comics #249-255. All those stories are collected here along with a real treat - a story originally intended for a revival of Showcase but scrapped when that title was suddenley cancelled in the infamous D.C. Imposion of 1978. Instead the story was used in Cancelled Comic Cavalcade, an extremely limited edition collection of material left unpubished, especially compiled by D.C. for copyright reasons. Only a few dozen copies were published, although bootleg copies allegedly exist.
Ditko's art on the earlier Creeper stories is not unlike his later work for Marvel on Spider-Man and Dr. Strange, while his 1970's return to the character exemplifies his looser, simpler style that would also be seen on his later return to Marvel on series such as Machine Man. The stories themselves, written by up and coming talent such as Denny O'Neil and Michael Fleisher are for the main part fairly standard superhero fare, although the earliest stories are slightly more quirky than the standard late 1960s DC superhero title.
All in all, not the most essential of Ditko's work, but certainly well worth a look.
I'll be back soon with more recommendations.
Be seeing you!

SECRET AGENT MAN

I hadn't intended to blog twice in one day, but having just put up the second and final part of my Jeff Hawke review I get news of another strip collection I've been dreaming of! Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson's run on Secret Agent X-9 (later Secret Agent Corrigan) is getting the deluxe hardcover treatment by IDW Publishing as part of their Library of American Comics series. I'm going to let IDW's press release do the talking for me...

San Diego, CA (May 5, 2010) - IDW Publishing announced today a new hardcover series from its Library of American Comics imprint - X-9: Secret Agent Corrigan. Drawn by Al Williamson and written by Archie GoodwinSecret Agent CorriganAl Williamson's personal proofs in an oversized format that matches IDW's exquisite Rip Kirby series by Alex Raymond. The first volume features an introduction by Mark Schultz, and an essay on X-9's long history by Bruce Canwell. from 1967 through 1980, is one of the classics of modern adventure newspaper comics.The multi-book series is the first-ever comprehensive collection of the strip and will be printed from

"Al Williamson's delicate line-work, coupled with a style that's both realistic and atmospheric, enhances the no-nonsense story of the sophisticated action hero Phil Corrigan," said series editor Scott Dunbier. Dean Mullaney, series designer and the Library of American Comics Creative Director, added, "Archie Goodwin's unerring sense of pacing, which he developed in comic books, is even more noticeable in the daily strip format."

Secret Agent Corrigan updates the character created in 1934 by Dashiell Hammett (The Maltese Falcon) and Alex Raymond (Rip Kirby). X-9 was originally an agent known only by his code name, who worked for an unknown government agency. Over the years, the series benefited from the individual styles of many writers and artists - including Leslie CharterisThe Saint novels), Charles Flanders, Mel Graff, Bob Lubbers, and George Evans - but it is the Goodwin/Williamson tenure that is most fondly remembered by today's comics fans. It was during their run that X-9 received the name of Phil Corrigan. (author of

Secret Agent X9, Volume One ($49.99, 296 pages) debuts in July 2010. Diamond order code MAY10 0403. ISBN 978-1-60010-677-2.

Regular readers (should I have any) will know that on this very blog I recently wrote about IDW's wonderful collection of Jack Kent's King Aroo strip. If this Secret Agent Corrigan collection is as good it'll be one of the best collections of 2010. I'll let you all know in July how it looks. Somehow, I don't think I'll be disappointed!