Happy Columbus Day

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue....and in September, 1992, Dark Horse gave us this tome, Columbus, by Starlen Baxter and Jack Jackson...

...with a cover by Sam Yeates, covering the historical significance of Christopher Columbus' journey across the Atlantic Ocean to help introduce his generation to the Americas.

Remembering Writer Edgar Rice Burroughs

Remembering writer Edgar Rice Burroughs on his birthday (September 1, 1875 - March 19, 1950) with a series featuring two of his most famous characters...Tarzan and John Carter of Mars.

The series by Dark Horse Comics had the two meet on Mars...although not until the third issue (as Tarzan wandered Mars).  Series with painted covers by Bret Blevins.

Tarzan/John Carter Warlords Of Mars #1 and #2 (January and April, 1996)

.

Tarzan/John Carter Warlords Of Mars #3 and #4 (May and June, 1996)

.

World's Finest Tarzan Team-Ups

Odd to think of it, but Tarzan predates both Superman and Batman, with his first appearance in magazines back in 1912, thanks to creator Edgar Rice Burroughs.

One would think that the man born John Clayton, living in the lush jungles of Africa, with the woman he loves, Jane Porter (later, Jane Clayton, his wife), would be content there, and not run into aliens from another world, or avenging knights from an urban jungle.....

....but one would be wrong.  Here's a look at a few comic books that brought some fantastic elements to the lord of the jungle.

Claws Of The Catwoman

Batman, that urban hunter of criminal prey orphaned by criminals, found his way to the jungles of Africa, and brought Tarzan (an orphan raised by the jungle) to the city that is more dangerous than any jungle, Gotham, in the four issue mini-series of Batman/Tarzan: Claws of the Catwoman from September to December, 1999, by Dark Horse and DC Comics, written by Ron Marz, drawn by Igor Kordey and covers by Dave Dorman. 

Set in the 1930s, Bruce Wayne's alter ego teams up with the Lord of Greystoke to save priceless African Cat-Cult treasures from Finnegan Dent (which the archaeologist had brought to Gotham without getting permission of their owners in Africa, sending John Clayton there to meet with Bruce Wayne).  Tarzan and Batman then followed Finnegan Dent back to Africa, where half his face was clawed by a lion...and the two heroes were able to stop him.

An odd pairing to say the least, but it also pointed out how different the two heroes were, even though both came into money, and worked to be prime examples of  humans, they also had differences, like Batman's unwillingness to kill, and Tarzan's anything for a goal attitude.  Better still, each man could respect the other for what they were. 

Sons Of The Jungle

Superman and Tarzan seem an unlikely pairing...but in a way, it also seems a natural, both being orphans of their culture, raised by the natives of where they were to possess the values the locals had, and becoming a symbol beyond what they were if they had remained in their homes.

Odder still, the team-up given us by DC Comics and Dark Horse from October, 2001 to May, 2002 (distance of release dates due to the last issue coming in late) in the three issue mini-series, Superman/Tarzan: Sons Of The Jungle by writer Chuck Dixon, artist Carlos Meglia and covers by Humberto Ramos.  Taking an idea of Elseworlds (where familiar things happen in different ways, giving a look at heroes on alternate Earths), these tales look at a world where young Kal-El's rocket ended up in early 20th Century Africa, making him the Lord of the Jungle, and unintentionally saving John Greystoke's parents from being killed, allowing him to go back to England and grow up to be an adventurer.  The two eventually meet up as Greystoke journeys to Africa with female reporter Lois Lane (and meeting Jane Porter), dealing with being a stranger in a strange land, and then reverse roles, with the Kryptonian ending up in the city, and the Nobleman finding himself in the jungle.

In a way, these stories show the timelessness of these classic heroes....as well as how they find their way back to themselves, despite the changes the times put on them.

Universal Monsters Cavalcade of Horror

Reprinting old stories is nothing new, and sometimes the stories even come from a long time ago...

...so, take a look at this collection of classic Universal Monsters from Dark Horse, with the Universal Monsters: Cavalcade of Horror from January, 2006, with a cover by Eric Powell.

These stories all originated from their movies, and from a run of comics by Dark Horse in 1993.

Frankenstein

First up was the adaptation of Frankenstein in June, 1993, by Den Beauvais, which is an airbrushed piece, harkening back to the birth of Frankstein's Monster...


...reading this will make you feel "it's alive!"....



...or make you run out to see the original movie.

Creature From The Black Lagoon

Truly, the best of the Dark Horse adaptations, with adapted story by Steve Moncuse and art by Art Adams and Terry Austin, this tale came out in August, 1993...


...with action so real, you'll get wet when reading it....


...so remember to bring along your scuba gear so you can catch a breath reading of the Creature From the Black Lagoon!

Dracula

Straight from the wilds of Transylvania, the Count was adapted by writer Dan Vado and artist Jonathan D. Smith who painted the story of the world's most famous bloodsucker...

..giving deeply rich backgrounds to look at...

...making you feel like Dracula and want a drink of something as well after you read this adaptation from October, 1993!

The Mummy

Deep in the heart of a tomb in Egypt, the Mummy's movie was brought to life in November, 1993 by writer Dan Jolley and artist Tony Harris...

...this tale with keep you wrapped up in suspense...

...at least long enough to finish the tale.  

Sadly, the planned volume for the Wolfman never saw the light of the moon.

Remembering Dave Stevens' Rocketeer

"The Rocke-who?"

A line from the Rocketeer movie of 1991, spoken by Jenny (played by Jennifer Connelly, but she was really Betty) to Cliff (the Rocketeer...played by Billy Campbell).

But, before the movie, the Rocketeer appeared in comics, created by writer/artist Dave Stevens (July 29, 1955 to March 11, 2008).

The Rocketeer begins

The Rocketeer first appeared in Starslayer #2 (April, 1982) with chapter 1 of his first 1938 adventure, where we met down on his luck pilot Cliff Secord and his buddy, Peev (and they found a portable jet-pack, which allowed Cliff to adopt the identity of the hero, the Rocketeer).

His second appearance, with chapter 2 in Starslayer #3 (June, 1982), introduced Cliff's girlfriend, Betty (modeled after famous pin-up, Bettie Page, quite an influence on artist Dave Stevens)...though neither character made the cover of these books by Pacific Comics.

Chapters 3 and 4 of the Rocketeer's premiere adventure premiered in Pacific Presents #1 and #2 (October, 1982 and April, 1983), continuing Cliff's battles against the Nazis (as well as to capture Betty's hand), and even guest-starred Doc Savage and his crew (though not named to prevent copyright troubles, but there was much fun to be had with this new hero in the pre-World War II days)...

...and this adventure ended with The Rocketeer Special Edition #1 in November, 1984 by Eclipse Comics!  This issue also contained pin-ups by artists such as Gray Morrow, Doug Wildey, Murphy Anderson, Russ Heath, Al Williamson and Bruce Jones.

These five original chapters of the Rocketeer were gathered in the Rocketeer, which came out in graphic novel form in September, 1985 by Eclipse Comics (and it even had an introduction by noted author, Harlan Ellison).

Rocketeer's New York Adventure

But, this didn't spell the end of Dave Stevens' adventures with the Rocketeer...as the hero and his cast headed to New York for the Rocketeer's New York Adventure....with Chapter 1 and 2 in Comico's Rocketeer Adventure Magazine #1 and #2 in July, 1988 and in July, 1989 (which also included cameos by Lamont Cranston a.k.a. the Shadow and his crew, also incognito)...

...finally concluding with Chapter 3 in Dark Horse's Rocketeer Adventure Magazine #3 in January, 1995...

...with Cliff's New York adventure was collected by Dark Horse in September, 1996); and during all this time, Dave Stevens renewed interest in pin-up queen, Bettie Page, and even helped her get royalties from publishers who used her image.

Rocketeer Movie Star

In between chapters 2 and 3 of Cliff's New York adventure is when Disney released the Rocketeer movie, and a couple of Rocketeer comics, which Dave Stevens did the cover for the regular movie adaptation in June, 1991 (with writer Peter David and artist Russ Heath providing the adaptation of the movie by Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo) and artist Neal Adams and his Continuity Studios making a different movie adaptation in June, 1991 as well for the Rocketeer 3-D Comic!  Sadly, the movie didn't do well enough for Disney to want to do a sequel (and you can see Dave Stevens in the movie briefly during the Nazi test flight sequence!), and Dave Stevens passed away from hairy cell leukemia in 2008.

Rocketeer Still Flies

This hasn't stopped the Rocketeer from flying, thanks to IDW!

With the Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures in October, 2009, as well as the Rocketeer Jetpack Treasury Edition #1 of November, 2011, you can thrill to the pulp stylings of Dave Stevens' rocketman inspired hero at your leisure, enjoying all of the good girl art Dave gave us in the 1980s about the 1930s! 

IDW is even giving us new adventures of the Rocketeer...

....and some of the variant covers for those Rocketeer Adventures books include Dave Stevens' art!

.

.

  You can even see how Dave Stevens influenced modern artists, like Alex Ross and Jim Silke....

...and you can also see how they were influenced by artists like Murphy Anderson and Russ Heath!

Welcome to My Alice Cooper Nightmare

For Halloween, I was looking for something simple, short and a little horror related to feature...

...and I hit upon the bright idea of featuring comics with Alice Cooper, feeling that he's quite worthy of focus....

...and then the horror began, because there are quite a few comics featuring the greatest villain of rock and roll!

From the Inside

Done to support his album, From the Inside (about Alice's stay in an asylum in New York due to severe alcoholism), it ended up being licensed by Marvel Comics, and a story was presented in Marvel Premiere #50 (October, 1979) written by Jim Salicrup, Roger Stern, Ed Hannigan (and Alice Cooper himself), and art by Tom Sutton and Terry Austin, and featured Alice's attempts to leave the asylum and find his snake, Veronica, and face offs with Nurse Rosetta, Jackknife Johnny and the Doctor, and even an attempt to put Alice into politics...and Vincent Furnier (aka Alice) realizes "We're All Crazy".

Trash

The next Alice Cooper comic was the unauthorized biography of the monster menace put out by Revolutionary Comics as Rock And Roll Comics #18 in 1991, coming out after Alice's wildly successful Trash album.  Written by Spike Steffenhagen and art by Steven Goupil, this covered much of Alice's real history, not being tied to a specific album.   It was unauthorized, having a real "Behind the Music" feel...as did most of Revolutionary's biographies...many stars felt they were "Poison"!

The Last Temptation

The Last Temptation was Alice Cooper's 20th studio album, and a three issue mini-series that was put out by Marvel Comics as part of their "Marvel Music" line. 

The comics were written by Neil Gaiman (author of DC's Sandman and a few episodes of Doctor Who) and interior art by Michael Zulli, with covers by Dave McKean. 

The issues came out cover dated May, August and December of 1994...and the album came out in July. 

The story (and album) revolve around Steven, the usual protagonist of Alice Cooper, facing off against a mysterious showman giving the boy twisted visions of his life as he tried to get Steven to join his road show where the boy would never grow up...

...and become "Lost In America". 


The series was collected by Marvel in 1995, and by Dark Horse Comics in 2000 and 2005, and very recently by Dynamite in 2014!

Welcome to Alice's Nightmare

In September, 2014, Alice Cooper finally gets his own monthly comic by Dynamite.  With story by Joe Harris, and art by Eman Casallos, the Prince of Darkness reveals he's more than the master of horrific road shows, but Alice Cooper was also the "Lord of Nightmares" and watched over everyone...until those powers were taken away...and he wants them back, proving that there will be "No More, Mr. Nice Guy"!

Hey, Stoopid!

One last Alice Cooper treat...another unauthorized biography comic with Orbit: Alice Cooper! 

This time, it's by Bluewater Comics (home of comics about William Shatner, Adam West, Vincent Price and more)...and written by Michael Frizell and interior and regular cover art by Jayfi Hashim.  "School's Out"  on whether you'll like these..."and I hope I didn't scare ya..."