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Miscellaneous (Superheroes) - PAGE 9

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Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes
is reviewed here

Sandman Mystery Theatre: The Tarantula 1995 (SC TPB), 100 pgs.

Written by Matt Wagner. Art by Guy Davis.
Original colours: David Hornung. Letters: John Constanza. Editor: Karen Berger.

Reprinting: Sandman Mystery Theatre #1-4 (1993)

Rating: * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: 2

Recommended for Mature Readers

Published by DC Comics/Vertigo

Once again I find myself reconsidering my initial review after reading a book a second time. And, once again, I sort of, kind of, wonder if I was overly harsh in my initial assessment. Sort of. Why only "sort of"? Well, a lot of my initial criticism, frankly, is still very much valid. I just think I may have been a little too vitriolic.

That doesn't mean the first review is any less valid...after all, maybe my second reaction is just because, prepared for a certain mediocrity, I wasn't as affronted by it. As well, I initially read this story in a semi-serialized form, whereas the second time I read it largely in one sitting, so that I was less conscious of a certain thinness to the plotting. (man, I'm just not giving more than a centimetre, am I?)

Under the Comics Code, comics were restricted in the violence they could depict: Dr. Octopus and the like may not have been above murder, but they weren't sadists, and, being equal opportunity bad guys, their crimes lacked the misogynist undertones found in many movies and novels. This forced comic writers to come up with colourful plots and flesh things out with characterization. With the burgeoning field of "mature reader" comics, though, writers aren't so restricted. And thus we have The Sandman Mystery Theatre: The Tarantula, a story owing more to "The Silence of the Lambs" than, say, Superman comics. I guess that's supposed to be progress.

Anyway, The Tarantula was the first story arc kicking off a revival series starring the Golden Age Sandman, the trenchcoated, gas mask-wearing, sleeping gas spewing vigilante, as he investigates the kidnapping and brutal murder of society debutantes in the 1930s, their nude and dismembered bodies left for the police to find.

Despite reviving a character first published in the innocent, childish Golden Age of comics, The Sandman Mystery Theatre was done as a gritty "mature readers" comic. And you'd better believe it (in addition to the torture and murder, there's cussing and even incest). And therein lay some of my initial revulsion -- yes, revulsion -- to the story. It was just brutal and unpleasant -- excessively so. However, I think I've just become numb to these kinds of stories and their juvenile "chewed food" mentality (that is, evoking a kid who's trying to elicit a reaction from his parents by opening his mouth while eating). Make no mistake, whatever the series' defenders might say, writer Matt Wagner writes a story like this, not for its sophistication, nor its insight into the human condition, nor for any realism (it has little of any of that) -- he wrote it for the adolescent need to shock. Which is ironic. I disliked it violently the first time because, I suppose, it did shock me; and the second time, once the shock effect is gone, I'm just rather indifferent to it. Paradoxically, then, I liked it more...the less I allowed myself to become involved in it!

And reading it a second time, I realize that the gory/violence/torture scenes are, to be fair, few and far between compared to the page count. But the reason the violence and brutality seemed so paramount...is because there's not too much else to fill up the pages inbetween. Wagner really hasn't concocted a particularly interesting story, nor does he unfold it well.

The only way he can stretch it out over four issues is by having the hero do nothing for the first two "Acts". Worse, we can guess who the bad guys are by "Act II", ditto the why (even though Wagner holds back the specifics till "Act IV"). This leaves the only real question to hold our interest being "what" -- what are the baddies trying to learn? Well, guess what? Even by the end you don't know! It's a "mystery" where the only real question is basically shrugged off as irrelevant by the end.

The story plods along with static scenes of people talking (Matt Wagner obviously believing quantity of verbiage will make up for quality), but the characterization is fairly slight, as is the drama and plot development.

Even his grasp of the genre is shaky: it's a mystery, a shoddy one, but much of the action the Sandman doesn't witness, so the reader is many jumps ahead of him. It's also a "super hero" story, but a vigilante hero only works if he supplements the police, following leads the police don't have. Instead, the Sandman gets most of his leads eavesdropping on the police, then beating them to their destination, sometimes stealing clues the cops need, interfering with, rather than helping, the investigation. He bungles along, threatens to murder people's pets (ironically, mirroring the actions of the killers, though I'm not sure Matt Wagner intended the parallel) and accomplishes very little until the climax. Stemming from the post-Watchmen world, perhaps Wagner intends it as a deconstruction/critic of super heroes. It's perhaps the first comic I've read where you kind of think the case would be solved quicker if the Sandman stayed home and let the professionals do their job!

After a second reading, all that stuff, frankly, holds true. Nonetheless, I liked it slightly more.

Guy Davis' art, too, I was extremely harsh on, partly in reaction to its contrast to the snazzy, painted cover. Davis' style is a little cartoony, where all the characters are drawn as dumpy, portly sad sacks -- even the Sandman's alter ego of Wesley Dodds, and Dian Belmont, the supposedly pretty society debutante with whom he strikes up a relationship (and who is as much a central character as he is, and their evolving relationship was developed throughout the series). As with Wagner's script, perhaps the choice of Davis was also meant to play into a heroic deconstruction. Still, I didn't dislike it so much this time through, as Davis can reasonably present a scene.

Ultimately, this review is less about my taking a book I hated and announcing that I love it now, so much as announcing that I have a certain ambivalence to it. It's still not great, or even particularly good. It ain't smart or sophisticated. But I appreciated the atmosphere a little more, and I applaud the "talking heads" approach to the story, emphasizing it as a drama more than an action-adventure. But it's just not that interesting or intelligent a drama. The series was hyped as a throwback to Raymond Chandler...which is just downright embarrassing (if I were catty, I'd suggest whoever said that had probably never read Chandler). In Chandler's day, writers tended to rely on plot twists and character development to tell a story, rather than the lazy "let's fill up time with a serial killer killing broads so we don't have to come up with a complex plot" idea so common today.

A decade and some after this TPB was first released, and a number of years after the comic itself has been cancelled, DC comics has released another TPB collection and, I'll confess, given my softening attitude toward this, I might -- almost -- give it a try, on the off chance that The Tarantula was basically a shake down effort and Wagner might have improved as he went along.

(This is a review of the version originally serialized in Sandman Mystery Theatre comics)

Cover price: $20.95 CDN./$14.95 USA

The Sensational She-Hulk 199_ (SC TPB) 186 pages

Written and Pencilled by John Byrne. Inks by Bob Wiacek (and Al Gordon).
Colours: Glynis Oliver. Letters: John Workman, Jim Novak. Editor: Bobbie Chase.

Reprinting: The Sensational She-Hulk #1-8 (1989)

Rating: * * * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

Published by Marvel Comics

She-Hulk was first launched in her own comic, The Savage She-Hulk, which was a straight-faced affair, with plenty of comicbook angst, mainly written by David Kraft. It folded after a couple of years, but the She-Hulk seemed to become a pet project of John Byrne, who employed her in various team books he worked on (including becoming a temporary member of the normally inviolate membership of the Fantastic Four). Then she got her own graphic novel -- The Sensational She-Hulk (yeah, same name as this TPB collection) -- and, eventually, landed her own comic again...this time, not "savage", but The Sensational She-Hulk.

By this point Byrne had completely revamped the concept -- other than big, green, and strong, thhis well-adjusted, happy-go-lucky She-Hulk bears little resemblance to the original. The original was a variation on the Hulk -- though keeping her bombshell figure -- with some intriguing differences. Whereas the Hulk was like an angry child, frustrated by things he didn't understand (which was most things), the savage She-Hulk retained normal intelligence...but she was ego-unleashed, the held-in-check bitterness and resentment of her straight-laced alter ego, attorney Jennifer Walters. She wasn't always likeable, but she was easy to empathize with. Byrne dispenses with all that...and he also dispenses with the seriousness. Not only is this She-Hulk a light-hearted comic, but she knows she's in a comic, frequently addressing the reader, or playing around with the conventions of the medium.

That self-reflective-ness got a lot of critical notice, but I expected it to be cloying and self-indulgent. Surprisingly, it's kind of fun. Oh, to be sure, Byrne isn't quite as funny as he thinks he is, but he can still wrench loose an involuntary chuckle with an unexpected gag -- like cutting back to the She-Hulk and some villains, after a pause for a sub-plot, literally sitting around, waiting for their scene to start up again.

Maybe what works best is, despite the humour, the stories still have, well, stories. There's still action and the characters remain in character, even when they know they're characters. Which is why Byrne can throw in pre- existing villains like the Headmen and Mysterio, and even have Spider-Man guest star. In fact, because it's not meant to be taken seriously, Byrne unleashes a tell-it-with-gusto storytelling that actually makes for better -- at least, more imaginative -- adventures than some more serious comics. And Byrne anchors things a bit by, occasionally, treating even the self-reflective stuff a little more literally, such as in issue #4 when She-Hulk acquires a supporting character who used to have her own comic. Suddenly Byrne's really exploring the idea of what it might mean to be a comicbook character -- and not just as a joke. And the fact that only some characters know they're in a comicbook also adds to things.

Perhaps what most sells this, though, is what I'd argue is among Byrne's best art. I first observed Byrne's art on the X-Men years n' years ago, and loved it, but I've felt that much of his subsequent work lacked the same polish, both because he was intentionally trying for a looser style, and because he sometimes just seemed rushed (writing, drawing, and inking can do that to you). But here Byrne has shaken off some of the flatness that, admittedly, was a part of his early work, without becoming too sketchy. I don't know if Byrne was just particularly dedicated to the project, or whether a lot of credit should go to inker Bob Wiacek, who shades and fleshes out Byrne's pencils -- though I think Wiacek deserves some kudos -- but it's a nice looking comic.

What the true genesis of all this was, I don't know. Because over at DC Comics, Grant Morrison was likewise exploring the idea of a hero who knows he's in a comicbook in Animal Man -- though in a more serious vein. So was the time just right? Or was one inspired by the other?

I'll admit, I didn't expect to like this much. For one thing, I liked the original Savage She-Hulk comic -- which has been much maligned over the years. But I liked the intriguing variation on the "inner self unleashed", and the unconventional supporting characters, the sometimes atypical villains and the, occasionally, off-beat plotting, even the crude, but kind of moody, art by the team of Mike Vosburg and Frank Springer. Mollifying her temper and turning her into a joke seemed a shame (though She-Hulk writer, David Anthony Kraft, himself started the ball rolling as early as a Marvel Two-in-One appearance where the She-Hulk was basically comic relief). As well, I'd read issue #8 of Byrne's series and, though I had nothing against it, it didn't do much for me (and still seems a lesser issue, story and art-wise). But I came upon most of these early issues, water-stained and in the cheap bin, and knowing they had been collected in a (seeming hard to find) TPB, I picked them up, just for review purposes. Maybe that's the best way to do it -- go in with limited expectations. But I found them unpretentious: a brisk, well drawn, vaguely amusing -- if a little ghoulish -- read, with Byrne skirting the edges of cheesecake from time to time.

Though the first issue has She-Hulk spending most of it unspeaking and hypnotized -- not an auspices beginning for the character who should be the lead! Though it was reminiscent of the first issue of The Savage She-Hulk, in which the Hulk's alter-ego, Bruce Banner, seemed to get more page time.

The first three issues form a story arc (though even then, issue #1 can be read on its own) and #6-7 form a story, the rest are self-contained adventures (just if you're looking for this in its original issues). Byrne left the series after #8 -- apparently in a creative dispute with the Marvel brass -- though returned some issues later. As such, this TPB collects the full run of his early issues.

This is a review of the issues as they originally appeared in the monthly comic.

Cover price: 

Son of Origins of Marvel Comics - Revised Edition 1997 (SC TPB) 272 pgs

by Stan Lee

Reprinting:
Then: The X-Men (vol. 1) #1, Tales of Suspense #39, The Avengers #1, Daredevil #1, Silver Surfer #1
Now: X-Men (vol. 2) #3 (Chris Claremont, Jim Lee, Scott Williams), Iron Man #231 (David Michelinie, Mark Bright, Bob Layton), The Avengers #347 (Bob Harras, Steve Epting, Tom Palmer), Daredevil #232 (Frank Miller, David Mazzucchelli)

Rating: * * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1 (some stories more)

Published by Marvel Comics

First published in the 1970s, the "Origins" series of books featured anecdotal introductions by Stan Lee leading into reprints of the inaugural stories of Marvel Comics characters, followed by a reprint of a more contemporary story featuring the same characters -- basically showing how far the characters, and comics, had come. Recently these books have been re-issued...but with new covers, and new stories substituted to represent the modern versions of these characters.

Son of Origins - Revised Edition reprints the first appearances of the X-Men, Iron Man, Daredevil, the Avengers, and the first issue (as opposed to the first appearance) of the Silver Surfer, followed by more contemporary tales of all (except the Surfer, for some reason). Though the definition of contemporary is a bit loose; this was published in 1997, but the "modern" Daredevil story is from eleven years earlier!

The origin stories are pretty self-explanatory, featuring the scripting of Stan Lee (and his brother Larry Lieber on the Iron Man story from Tales of Suspense) and art by Jack Kirby, Don Heck, Bill Everett, and John Buscema. I'd already read (slightly edited) the X-Men and the Silver Surfer stories, as well as a later reprisal of Iron Man's origin by David Michelinie and Carmine Infantino (Iron Man #122) that was almost a panel-by-panel, line-by-line remake of the original, so the novelty of those stories was a bit muted. The weakest of the five is probably the Avengers origin, with the strongest being the Silver Surfer (a product of the late '60s, rather than the early '60s as with the others) and the Daredevil story was interesting, albeit more for its aspects of kitchen sink melodrama than its superhero fisticuffs. I also kind of liked the Iron Man origin, nicely drawn by Heck.

Lee, in his intro to the Iron Man story, acknowledges the politics of the tale (published during the early days of the Vietnam War) might be a bit uncomfortable in hindsight -- the good guy American vs. the evil commie. That's pretty unusual, and admirable, for someone to acknowledge changing mores -- it's amazing how unrepentent some writers will be when looking back at their early stuff. What's ironic, though, is that Lee needn't have bothered: even in these "enlightened" times I've read (and seen) stories far more offensive and racist than the Iron Man tale.

Perhaps to demonstrate how elaborate comics have become, all four of the modern stories are part of multi-issue sagas (the Avengers tale is the final chapter of a 19 issue epic!). Although it allows the reader to glean something of the bigger story, it's awkward -- you don't really feel you've read a complete story. My favourite was the Iron Man tale: it was pleasingly entertaining and, ironically, the most old fashioned, comic booky of the four -- sort of negating the point of the old/new excercise. It had more of a self-contained feel, despite being in the middle of a bigger story. The 40 page Avengers story was brooding, with the characters struggling with a moral dilemma -- decent enough, but, again, too much of what it was...the end of a much larger piece. The X-Men story, and Chris Claremont's final script after fifteen years on the title (possibly a record) was a bit blah and generic, with the X-Men and Magneto debating political philosophy. Maybe I read too many X-Men comics in my youth, 'cause it just seemed like a retread of other -- better -- X-stories.

And then we get to Daredevil. Perhaps the best example of showing how much comics have "grown up" over the years, it's a gritty, gnarly little tale...but, where the other stories were the conclusions of epic chronicles, the Daredevil story is the penultimate chapter! It's to be continued! Honest! Marvel Comics expects you to lay out all that moola for this book, and they haven't even bothered to give you a story with an ending. Worse, since the full storyline is reprinted in the TPB Daredevil: Born Again, is this just a mercenary ad for that other TPB? (The full Iron Man storyline is also, apparently, available as a TPB: subtitled The Armor Wars).

Or is this merely an unfortunate comment on recent comics? That, in the eleven years prior to this collection, the editors couldn't find another, self-contained story worth including? That could also be asked of the other reprints. Are these truly the best they could find?

In the end, Son of Origins - Revised Edition delivers the promised inaugural issues and the four modern stories are, to varying degrees, entertaining. Ultimately, though, it falls short of being a great book, thanks in large part to the incompleteness of the modern tales. What's also frustrating is how spartan Lee's commentaries can be. No mention is there, for instance, that Iron Man has had bouts of alcoholism -- a not insignificant event in the evolution of the art form. As well, the book is sloppily assembled in spots -- there are references that clearly relate to the 1975 edition of Son of Origins, and the different stories contained therein.

Actually, I wish they had just done a straight re-issue of the original edition. Not only would it have contained other stories, but it also contained more stories -- including a Watcher comic (never having read a Watcher story, I'm curious what it would've been like). Obviously, though, to have retained the original, 1970s comics, would defeat the purpose of printing "newer" stories.

Cover price: $35.00 CDN./$24.99 USA. 

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