Archie GoodwinRecensioni
Autore di Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (The Marvel Comics Version)
Recensioni
This is not strictly a scene-for-scene, line-by-line recreation of what you know. Like most adaptations that are composed at the same time as the film is in post-production, it has elements from earlier scripts and features scenes that were later cut, while missing others that were later added. It does not open with a star destroyer, and it includes the wampa attack on the rebel base. Darth Vader requests his ship as he is leaving Cloud City, which we didn't see him do on screen until the 1997 special edition.
Objects are not always accurately scaled (Yoda and the Executor, especially), and the shading gives an odd look to some scenes; as a prisoner of Cloud City, Han Solo looks ready for the discotheque. These are minor quibbles to me. I loved, and still love, every frame of my treasured copy and the fuel this provided to my young imagination. The original film trilogy is a significant memory for me and ESB most of all, in part because of this.
The comic adaptation of Return of the Jedi has only four issues, rather than the six for the two previous films. The action sequences, which are after all the main point, are well done.
In general I approve of the tightening up, yet I felt that we skipped a couple of interesting points here; most notably the ghost scene at the end with the shades of Anakin, Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi is absent, and though it's a bit silly I felt it gave closure to the story.
It sticks pretty closely to the film, shot for shot; the art is perhaps better executed but less imaginative (if you see what I mean).
"I"m a girl but so what! I read and love CREEPY. I agree with Sam Morrell that Frank Frezetta should do the cover, but I like the dark colors better!"
From an ad for a ski mask:
"At last you can have your very own Hollywood MYSTERY-MAN type MASK. Use your mask to: Make a movie, with yourself starring as the 'Mysterious Avenger!'"
From Charles Darwin's "review" of a mailorder Venus Fly Trap:
"This plant, commonly called Venus Fly-Trap ... is one of the most wonderful in the world... It is surprising how a slight damp bit of meat... will produce these ... effects."
It's a very different experience reading this series today than it was back then. The first six issues, adapting the original film, are pretty rough in the art department. Howard Chaykin has said that if he knew how big Star Wars was going to be, he would have tried harder--movie adaptations being mostly forgettable merchandising tie-ins. Of course, no one knew how big it would be. The movie wasn't even out yet when the comic series began. Obsessive, err, I mean astute fans will notice "discrepancies" that are a result of having worked from an earlier version of the script (or not having been provided information at all)--most notably in the case of Jabba the Hutt who is neither human nor slug here. If you're going to get upset about such things, you won't enjoy this book at all. Die-hard fans should relax and try to see the comic as it's own thing.
Roy Thomas writes the first several issues, we get some great art by Tom Palmer and then the new team of Archie Goodwin and Carmine Infantino takes over for most of the duration. I was never a fan of Infantino's style, but it looks alright (particularly when inked by Terry Austin). Goodwin does a fine job building up his own Star Wars "universe" in spite of the restrictions placed upon him. He couldn't, of course, make any drastic changes or do anything that would interfere with George Lucas' plans for the continuing film story. This is where "knowing too much" as a reader affects the experience. After a while, it starts to feel like it is spinning its wheels waiting for the next "official" or "real" chapter to begin. Not fair, perhaps, but it can't be helped.
The book ends with the adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back. Goodwin continues to write while Al Williamson handles the art. The art in this section of the book is fantastic. Not only is it easier on the eyes, it also has a near-photo-realistic attention to detail. For the first time, everything looks just as it does in the movies. The story ends on a cliffhanger, but it finishes the volume on a high creative note.
The stories focus on Vampirella, a vampire from the planet Drakulon, who came to Earth when her planet's rivers of blood began to dry up. On Earth, she works with Conrad van Helsing and his son Adam van Helsing (both from a long line of vampire hunters), Pendragon (a former stage magician and one of Vampirella's dearest friends), and occasionally Dracula to combat the seven gods of chaos and their allies in our world. The stories, which begin with a character primarily designed to titillate, quickly become somber, brooding tales that would be right at home in any gothic horror collection. José Gonzalez's art is almost photo-realistic when it needs to be and dark and mysterious throughout. Using only black-and-white he displays a felicity of illustration that rivals most of the other big names in comics history.
After Warren Publishing went bankrupt, Harris Publications continued the character for a time and their name appears on this volume, but the current Vampirella comics appear under the Dynamite Entertainment banner. Those who want to explore the character's history or just want a good gothic horror story like Dark Shadows should give this volume a read.
Modeling the content after [a:Harvey Kurtzman|80542|Harvey Kurtzman|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]'s legendary EC comics [b:Two-Fisted Tales|1154252|EC Archives Two-Fisted Tales Volume 1 (EC Archives)|Harvey Kurtzman|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1181446275s/1154252.jpg|1141752] and [a:Frontline Combat|80542|Harvey Kurtzman|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg], Goodwin focused on the grim realities of war. The American public in 1965, a broad majority of which supported the newly-escalating involvement in Vietnam, proved ill suited for the new comic.
[War is:] a crazy way to settle things and you could be very sympathetic to the people who were stuck with having to fight them.
—Archie Goodwin
The first story of issue one ("Viet-Cong!") focused on the mistakes made by American soldiers in Vietnam and included scenes of torture and killing of villagers. Goodwin and artist Orlando teamed up for two more Vietnam stories, both well-rendered morality plays. Their most famous and controversial tale ("Landscape!" from Issue 2) related the tale of a Vietnamese rice farmer whose life is inextricably altered by the ongoing conflict.
After the second issue, the military banned Blazing Combat from bases citing the anti-war stance. The American Legion also protested, and most distributors stopped carrying the magazine. The quarterly publication limped on for another two issues.
If the censors had delved beneath the perceived bias, they would have discovered some of the finest war stories and illustration in the medium's history. Goodwin and his cadre of contributors detailed the uniquely personal views of soldiers and civilians through several engagements: the Revolutionary War, the U.S. Civil War, Indian Wars, both World Wars, and the Korean War, with a side trip through the Ancient Greek battle at Thermopylae. The dynamic art leaps off the pages throughout. In particular, Toth and Morrow created some of the best works of their long careers. Goodwin actually celebrated soldiers, sailors, and airmen rather denigrated them. Without leaning on glory and sensationalism, Blazing Combat focused on heroism, sacrifice, and dignity.
Archie [Goodwin:] was a prophet in his own time. He knew. He didn't have to wait until 1973 to find out that the war was a mistake.
—James Warren
This review originally appeared in "War on Two Fronts", Nexus Graphica May 1 2009.
I love Jim Gordon.
He's probably my favorite Batman supporting character, and I suppose that to anyone who knows me and my tastes, this is completely predictable. A man of the law, with no special powers, doing what he can to help in an unkind, unforgiving world, bit by bit. I like him a lot, but he's been a peripheral presence in most of these Batman tales I've been reading, bar Batman: Year One and a flash-forward in The Man Who Laughs. Night Cries features him shortly after his appointment to police commissioner, during an attempt to reconcile with his wife Barbara. (His niece/daughter Barbara is nowhere to be seen, but I think maybe she might be in college right now, living on campus.)
Night Cries shows that the fight Jim Gordon fights is not just against demons external, but internal ones as well. He's under a lot of stress here, trying to navigate the politics required of him by his new position while still wanting to be a beat cop and solve every crime himself, while not neglecting his family-- and also while dealing with his history of abuse. Night Cries reveals that Gordon was abused as a child, and that this has lingering effects. We saw his angry outbursts in Year One, which he channels for good, but here we see the darker side of Gordon, the one which he has to fight to keep in check, and which have a marked effect on his family, even if he's able to stop himself from hitting them.
Night Cries is a story about abuse; this moving story about Gordon is weaved together with one about Batman investigating a new serial killer in Gotham, one who seems to have their own issues with abuse. This is affecting in a different way, mostly for the sheer tragedy it evokes. The graphic novel opens with a meditation on the hearing of bats, cited to a 1990 book called A Guide to Wildlife. I didn't get it at first-- it just seemed kind of pretentious-- but upon finishing the book and seeing it repeated, I realized how awful its meaning. Batman fights crime, his whole reason for being is that having been touched by crime, Bruce Wayne devoted himself to (not unambitiously) the elimination of all crime. But at the end of the novel, as he stands and watches over Gotham, Batman realizes that there are crimes he just can't hear. There are children who need him... and he'll never know about it.
It's a sobering moment reflecting on a very real phenomenon, and in lesser hands, I think this book could be terrible. But in Archie Goodwin and Scott Hampton's hands, it's anything but. This book's seriousness and moodiness is such a contrast to what we just saw last week in The Cat and the Bat, yet it still works in its own way. It's a slow read, in a good way: they invite you to linger over the pages, to slowly absorb yourself in this sad, dark world, one which is our world. This superhero story is no fantasy, Batman can't swoop in and save the children here anymore than he can in ours. There are other ways child abuse has to be fought, and while it is, it will continue to have it pernicious effects on families long after the abusers are gone. As Gordon's story here shows, sometimes there are just no easy answers.
Or answers at all.
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Stevil2001 | 2 altre recensioni | May 27, 2016 |
Stevil2001 | 2 altre recensioni | May 27, 2016 | 
This early Iron Man story is entirely typical of that; it solves Tony Stark’s heart problems then reinstates them immediately. It has him giving up Iron Man but switching back immediately. It has him losing his fortune and company but getting them back, you guessed it, immediately. In other words it’s pretty much the template for all Iron Man stories that come afterwards, particularly when the emphasis moves from commie-bashing to the evils of big business. Tony Stark is resourceful and surprisingly likeable for the Bruce Wayne-esque playboy he is; but that’s the consequence of the story living in the moment and the ‘out of the frying pan into the fire into the barrel of boiling water into the vat of acid into the villain’s cunning Heath Robinsonly elaborate trap’ nature of the storytelling. The art and writing is terrifically energetic but it’s all almost entirely ephemeral and evaporates in the mind moments after reading. Fun as it is it shows that it was aimed at youngsters and teenagers; the literary equivalent of a fast food burger. Quick, cheap and satisfying in the moment but entirely unmemorable.
Alan Moore:
"Blind Fury" p. 251
"Rust Never Sleeps" p. 257
"The Pandora Effect" p. 262
"Dark Lord's Conscience" p.225
"Tiloting Throws a Shape" p.278
Steve Moore:
"Death Masque" p. 209
"Dark Knight's Devilry" p. 231
Collegamenti
Wikipedia (English)
Entry at Mike's Amazing World of Comics (English)
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Some of the stories are great but others don't hold up well. I would have given them a 5 as a kid now they are more like a 3.5. A great walk down memory lane.