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Just Imagine GNs published by DC Comics
 

Just Imagine Stan Lee and Joe Kubert Creating Batman 2001 (SC GN) 48 pgs.

Written by Stan Lee. Illustrated by Joe Kubert.
Colours: Sibin Slavkovic. Letters: Bill Oakley.

Back up story: Writer: Michael Uslan. Artist: Michael Kaluta. Colours: Alex Sinclair. Letters: BilL Oakley.

Rating: * * * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

Essentially, this is just another "Elseworlds" tale, wherein familiar DC characters are re-invented and re-imagined. The reason Just Imagine Stan Lee's Batman was marketed somewhat differently, however, is that the guy doing the re-imagining is none other than comics legend Stan Lee. Lee's the guy who back in the 1960s helped take a minor comics company and, practically overnight, turn it into DC Comics chief rival: Marvel Comics. Lee co-created Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, the X-Men...Lee had a hand in creating probably three quarters of Marvel's characters that are still on the stands today. So the gimmick behind "Just Imagine..." was what if Lee had created Batman (and other DC Comics characters that will be getting their own books in the ensuing months).

Lee has a tough act to follow--his own. Therefore, it is not surprising the first book in a proposed 12 graphic novel series (each focusing on different characters) has been getting mixed reviews. What's surprising is just how venomous some of those reviews have been. Some seem to be genuine Stan-fans who had so inflated Lee in their own minds that anything--I mean anything--would've been a disappointment. Some, I'll wager, are modern fan-boys who don't like the idea that an old geezer like Stan the Man (here paired with the equally geriatric Joe Kubert) can still generate such hype.

But Stan Lee and Joe Kubert's Batman is actually pretty darn good.

Going the opposite extreme from the conventional Batman, the rich playboy, and perhaps trying to conjure up some of that old Marvel Age neo-realism, Lee's Batman starts out a poor black teen living in the ghetto. Instantly one can see where Lee's heading, introducing Wayne Williams (notice Lee's trademark illiteration?) as a teen-ager who recently lost his dad, living with his mom, trying to make ends meet. Clearly Wayne owes less to Bruce Wayne than to Spider-Man's alter ego, Peter Parker.

Then the story takes another turn. A darker, edgier turn, as Wayne ends up crossing a local hoodlum, Handz, and gets framed for armed robbery and sent to prison. Added into the mix now, one wonders if Lee had recently seen the movie "Hurricane", about a real life black man wrongly imprisoned.

Further spicing the stew is a hint of "The Count of Monte Cristo", as Wayne plots his revenge. There's another Spider-Man homage later, too.

Stan Lee's Batman is a brooding epic that seems as much a film noire melodrama, and an urban fable, as it does a superhero saga (the Batman identity comes rather late in the story). It's a character piece as much as anything, told about and through Wayne Williams.

Because it's Stan Lee, the story is a mixed bag. Lee's writing hasn't changed that much from the 1960s. It can be pretty obvious, lacking finesse. But it's that same obviousness that gives it its appeal. There's a raw purity to his words, a guileless innocence. I've written it before and I'll write it again: at his best, Lee's strength is that you really believe he believes. There is a passion and a commitment and, above all, a sincerity to his words that very few modern writers can match. There's a feeling modern writers would be embarassed to even try, hiding behind their ironic detachment. Lee's stuff can also be deceptive. A simplicity on the surface that can conceal moments of true sophistication and thoughtfulness. There's also a paired to the bone essence in Lee's style, what in literature we might call Hemingway-esque. Lee's epic covers a span of a few years, showing us Wayne's growth from boy to man, from victim to avenger, but flipping through the pages after I read it, I'm amazed at how short some of the scenes can be. I remembered them as longer--Lee has a knack for conveying a lot with very little.

Lee takes the appealing but, let's face it, simplistic Batman origin and adds meat to it. Gone is the "boy sees his parents die and instantly swears to become a super hero to have revenge", to be replaced with "boy loses everything, his parents, his honour, his freedom, and gradually forms the determination to avenge himself".

There are short comings, of course. Perhaps one of the reasons I enjoyed it more than some is that I'm perfectly well aware that Lee is fallible. In fact, the most recent thing I was aware of Lee actually writing (Silver Surfer: Parable, from the late 1980s) was a major disappointment. This Batman story is dark, lacking the quips and humour one associates with Lee's Spider-Man or Fantastic Four (although Lee indulges in a few tongue-in-cheek captions here and there that remind you of his old 1960s work). There are more than a few spots that push credibility--but then, I've yet to read a comic (or see a movie) that didn't. Besides, as noted above, it's easy to forgive such artistic licences because the story has an aspect of fable to it. Despite the gritty aspirations, there's a decidedly fairy tale, or mythological, feel to it.

Perhaps the biggest short coming is the villain, Handz, who is a thinly sketched figure. In fact, the reason for his framing of Wayne initially seems particularly hard to credit: Wayne saved Handz's girlfriend from a hail of bullets, engendering a jealous wrath. Yet even here things might be more plausible than it at first seems, as it later turns out Handz really is obsessive about his girlfriend.

And the story doesn't have as many parallels to the existing Batman mythos as one might like, or as one might expect from such a story. Though there are parallels that manifest themselves, particularly as the story progresses.

The making of Batman into a black man is fine, but he's actually the only black man in the story, which seems awkward. Some critics have complained about the cliched idea of the ex-con black man, or that he gains a white mentor. Conversely, the story is about a wrongly convicted black man, and all the bad guys--all--are white.

With all the hype focused on Lee, it's easy to undersell Kubert. Easy, but wrong. Because with all due respect to Lee, a great strength of the story is Joe Kubert's distinctive scratchy art. There is a brooding power, a haunting mood to his images that lend an added meaning and weight to Lee's words that might not be there with another, less accomplished artist supplying the visuals. It also helps create the sense of fable that I've alluded to, because Kubert's sketchy style isn't quite realist (while being far more grounded in reality than the cartoony style employed by many modern comics artists). Vistas of the ghetto are both sultry and forlorn, while scenes of Wayne lost in grim contemplation seem more thoughtful, more substantial because of Kubert's shaded art. And the added plus is that Kubert just isn't that prolific--this is one of the few full length stories I've ever seen by him. Perhaps the biggest shortcoming in Kubert's contribution is the re-designed Batman costume which, other than an effectively more elaborate mask, is pretty unimaginative.

The art is nicely aided by Slavkovic's sobre, earth-tone colours and Oakley's lettering.

The book also contains a short, wordless back-up story drawn by Michael Kaluta from a story by Michael Uslan (who's also credited with initiating the whole "Just Imagine..." project). Unfortunately, the "story" is kind of nothing and I would've preferred if they had just given Lee the full 48 pages to tell his tale.

Since I thought this was meant to be a self-contained one-shot, I was surprised by the introduction of a (minor) unresolved sub-plot. I don't know if that was just a "gag", to create the sense of the beginning of a series, or since "Just Imagine..." is slatted to run 12 books, whether it will be followed up on in a later issue. Only time will tell. At least, hopefully time will tell. Given some of the negative reviews, one wonders if DC Comics might consider pulling the plug on the series before it runs its course. It would be a shame if they did because, while not perfect, Lee and Kubert's Batman was a good read, proving those old guys still have it.

The next graphic novel will be Wonder Woman, with Lee paired with a newer artist, fan-favourite Jim Lee (no relation). I don't know how well the meeting of Old School and New School will work, but I'm willing to give it a try, and I'm definitely looking forward to Lee teaming with former collaborator John Buscema to reinvent Superman.

Cover price: $9.95 CDN./$5.95 USA

Just Imagine Stan Lee and and Kevin Maguire Creating the Flash 2001 (SC GN) 48 pages

Written by Stan Lee. Pencils by Kevin Maguire. Inks by Karl Story.
Colours by Chris Chuckry. Letters: Bill Oakley.

Back up story written by Michael Uslan, Stan Lee. Art by Sergio Aragones. Colours: Lee Loughridge. Letters: Bill Oakley.

Rating: * * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

The fifth book in DC Comics graphic novel series wherein seminal Marvel Comics creator, Stan Lee, takes a stab at re-envisioning various DC Comics' characters. This time out, the Flash gets an overhaul.

Lee's Flash is a female teen-ager named Mary Maxwell. Mary actually fantasizes about the adventurous life of a superhero, but such a lifestyle is far removed from her existence living with her "dull city" inventor dad. That is, until she discovers her dad is on the run from a criminal organization, Stealth, who had recruited him to help with their time travel experiments. He left when he realized their evil intentions, and now he and Mary must go on the lam. Eventually, Mary's dad is dead, and Mary has become imbued with superspeed powers (in an origin with shades of the Marvel character, the Whizzer) and decides to fight Stealth.

The Just Imagine... series has proven rather erratic, and Lee's Flash seems to be comfortably ensconced in the middle between the better books (Batman, Superman) and the lesser ones (Wonder Woman, Green Lantern). It's a decent enough time killer, but nothing more.

Kevin Maguire's detailed and appealingly enthusiastic art helps quite a bit in the telling. Maguire brings a realism, and a technical skill to the thing, while enlivening it just enough with a little bit of quirk and even visual humour in spots (like a kind of inherent nerdiness to many of Stealth's bald-headed goons). As well, he has a flare for drawing females -- not only is the hero a heroine, but her arch foe, Andrea Zakara, is also female. Not that Maguire is given to exploitation or cheesecake posses.

The story trundles along, and Lee manages to throw in enough to the plot to keep things spritely. The dialogue's a tad stilted in spots, but a bit more relaxed than it's been in some of the other Just Imagine... books. Though, like with all these books, what's missing is a supporting cast. Given that Lee's 1960s work on Spider-Man at times ressembled a soap opera with its huge cast of pals n' gals, it's funny Lee should leave out such an important dimenson to storytelling. At least Mary's dad doesn't get killed off too early, giving her someone to interact with. But after that, she's on her own.

Some of the elements Lee throws in show a little more imagination than he has brought to some of the other books, like Mary and her dad on the run from a secret organization, or touching on the idea that the Flash's superspeed opens the door to moving through time.

But that's the problem. Lee opens that door...but doesn't go through it. Stealth is working to develop a time machine (so they can rob throughout history) and the Flash speculates that her power allows her to move through time. So we can envision some sort of spectacular climax taking place in ancient Egypt or something, right? Yeah, we can imagine it, but that's all, because Lee doesn't actually go that route. Instead the climax is just a routine showdown at Stealth's H.Q.

And that remains the problem with the whole Just Imagine... series. Supposedly when Lee helped shake up the comics biz in the 1960s, and pushed the limits of just what was, and was not, possible within the super hero genre, he did it because he had things he wanted to try and, suspecting his days in comics were numbered, decided to just write the comics the way he wanted to write them. And a legend was born. But there's a feeling with these Just Imagine... stories that Lee doesn't really have anything he particularly wanted to say or do. It isn't so much that Lee is a Silver Age writer out of his depths in the modern comics biz, so much as the Lee who's writing the Just Imagine... books isn't the same Lee who revolutionized Marvel Comics decades before. Lee's Flash, for instance, is a moderately enjoyable, but largely conventional comic. There are a few clever ideas, a quirk here or there, but for the most part, little that's developed upon.

Though what's curious is to wonder if Lee, and/or Maguire, were influenced by the 1994 motion picture, The Shadow. Plot-wise, there's little to connect Lee's Flash with that movie, but there are two or three (very minor) scenes that put one in mind of it, and villainess Zakara's chief henchman, Zorgul, has a visual look that's reminiscent of a henchman in The Shadow.

The "On the Street" back up story is another gag story, revisiting characters used in the "On the Street" story in Lee's Superman book. It's amusing enough to be fun.

Ultimately, Stan Lee's The Flash is a perfectly agreeable read...just nothing special. Though, ironically, Lee's return to mainstream super heroes, whatever his ups and downs, is proving less disastorous than Frank Miller's much anticipated, and hugely disappointing, The Dark Knight Strikes Again.

Cover Price: $9.95 CDN. / $5.95 USA.

Just Imagine Stan Lee and Dave Gibbons Creating Green Lantern 2001 (SC GN) 48 pgs.

Written by Stan Lee. Pencils by Dave Gibbons. Inks by Dick Giordano.
Colours: Alex Sinclair. Letters: Bill Oakley.

Back up story: Writers: Michael Uslan, Stan Lee. Art: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Joe Rubinstein. Colours: Alex Sinclair. Letters: Phil Felix.

Rating: * * (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

The fourth book in DC's Just Imagine Stan Lee Creating... series has former Marvel Comics legend, Stan Lee, re-imagining DC's Green Lantern. Throughout these books (which so far have included Lee's take on Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman), Lee has threaded an ominous church called The Church of Eternal Empowerment as an evil presence lurking in the background of the stories. But here, the Church and its leader, Reverend Darrk, are principal motivators. The evil Reverend has sent a squad of mercenaries to Africa looking for the legendary Tree of Life and its accompanying power. However, it's an American archaeologist, Len Lewis, who encounters the tree (after an encounter with said mercenaries leaves him dying). The tree, Yggdrasil, feels humanity is in desperate need of a hero, what with the way its polluting the world and all, and imbues Lewis with vast power (to fly, fire ray beams, etc.) that, when in use, turns him all green. Lewis returns to Los Angeles, while the Reverend searches for the power that Lewis now possesses.

The Just Imagine Books have been an uneven affair, and this book is somewhere in the middle of the others, quality wise. My reaction to the various books may have something to do with the artists Lee's paired with. The books I liked best (Batman and Superman) saw Lee paired with artists I like (Joe Kubert, John Buscema) while his Wonder Woman had him paired with Jim Lee, an artist who I have nothing against, but failed to excite me. Likewise, I've never been a big fan of Dave Gibbons, a guy best remembered for the critically acclaimed Watchmen (and who also drew regular Green Lantern comics in the 1980s).

The plotting is O.K. in this graphic novel, going from Africa, back to Los Angeles, showing Green Lantern learning the limits of his power and, more importantly, his wisdom in how to use them (after interfering in a mugging where he realizes he kind of leapt before he looked) and climaxing in a larger-than-life tussle with big, Godzilla-like monster -- I mean, what's not to like? But Lee's haandling of dialogue in all these books has been a bit stilted and obvious, and this is more extreme than some, rendering the scenes a bit clunky. A sub-plot involving a girl working for Darrk has some interesting potential, but Lee doesn't quite realize it properly. The early hint that Lee might be intending to give the book a "relevant" edge -- with some sort of ecological message -- never goes anywhere as it becomes just your usual hero vs. villain conflict.

Gibbons workmanlike art, whether intentional or not, lends the thing a Silver Age ambience (and his Len Lewis is evocative of crewcutted Barry Allen -- the Silver Age Flash) which suits Lee's old fashioned writing style. As well, there's something kind of evocative in that Gibbons' design for this Green Lantern is essentially the same as his design for The Watchmen's Dr. Manhattan, and with similar powers to boot. It gives the thing an oddly appealing tinge of familiarity. But, ultimately, his stiff style doesn't entirely compensate for, or enliven, the weaknesses in Lee's script. The always exceptional Jose Luis Gracia-Lopez draws the short, "On the Street" back up story, and I would've loved to have seen him handle one of the main stories in this series instead.

The problem with these Just Imagine... books is that Lee isn't really letting himself be Lee. By focusing on the "creation" of these characters, coming up with new origins, while sticking within certain parameters, the focus here is mainly on the ideas. Lee's origins are perfectly fine, and one could easily imagine in a year or two DC doing a follow up where newer writers run with Lee's concepts (a whole "Just Imagine Universe"). But though Lee helped create most of Marvel's main heroes, an undertaking which required boundless imagination, what he's remembered for is not what ideas he came up with, but how he handled them. The Fantastic Four had a neat origin and powers, but it was the interplay and the character dynamics that made it a legend. Spider-Man has to be one of the most original character concepts in comics history, but its true strength was in the very human soap opera-y sub-plots involving Peter Parker and his friends. What's missing from Lee's Green Lantern, and most of his other Just Imagine books, is that human factor that defined the Marvel Age all those years ago. There's no supporting cast in this graphic novel, no one for Lewis to interact with (other than people directly involved with the plot) and Lewis has no personality outside of being a clean cut, personable hero. The plots, though for the most part busy enough to fill out the page count, lack much in the way of subtlety or moral complexity (the villains are just bad guys -- period).

The Just Imagine... series has failed to be the landmark DC was hyping it as being, but some of the criticisms of the series seem a bit odd as well. Critics have asked "what's the point?" of the series. But that's true of any comic book, or any fiction undertaking. What's the point of DC's Elseworlds line (where their characters are regularly re-imagined and re-interpreted)? It's just meant to be entertaining.

Ultimately Lee's Batman was brooding, his Superman kind of fun, his Wonder Woman rather dull, and his Green Lantern...kind of middling. Next is Lee's Flash and then, in December, Lee brings all his heroes together for a showdown with Darrk in Stan Lee's JLA. Here's hoping that working with a team dynamic, some of Lee's old feel for character interplay will finally come back to him.

Cover price: $9.95 CDN./ $5.95 USA.

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