Best of DC #49

April 16, 2011

Title: Funny Stuff

Featuring the work of: Sheldon Mayer, Otto Feuer, Rube Grossman, Henry Scarpelli, Arnold Drake
Cover: Jim Engel
Editor: Nick Cuti
Publisher: DC Comics

I may not remember exactly what the first comic book I ever read was, but I remember that this DC Digest, which reprinted a lot of their funny animal comics from the Silver Age, was one of the first. I had this digest from 1984, and I read it over and over and over again. Recently, my local comic shop got a whole collection of old digests, and when I saw that this book was among them, I had to get it. I re-read it again today for the first time in years, and I’m happy to say that I still enjoyed it.

The book collects several old comics, including tales of the Three Mouseketeers, Dodo and the Frog, Peter Porkchop, Dizzy Dog, The Raccoon Kids, Stanley the Timid Scarecrow, Doodles Duck, Pinky and Winky, Bo Bunny, Goofy Goose, Peter Panda, Nutsy Squirrel, and the classic Stanley and His Monster. Having the great Sheldon Mayer on the book is a major bonus. His work, including the Dizzy Dog, Doodles Duck and Bo Bunny comics, are among the funniest in the collection. Each of these characters has a wonderful, hyperactive energy to it, packed with great one-liners and clever wordplay. Although none of these characters ever made it to animated cartoons, it’s the Mayer stuff that I think probably would have fit in the best.

Besides Mayer’s stuff, Otto Feuer’s Dodo and the Frog are the standouts of the comic. We get two stories, one which imagines the two characters as rival space explorers and another more down-to-Earth tale about Fenimore Frog trying to swindle Dunbar Dodo at a swap meet. I really loved these characters, and the somewhat unique formula they have. Most of these sort of funny animal combos are always about one character getting it over the other one. These two Dodo and Frog stories (the only ones I’ve read) actually feature the Frog winning in his schemes, but then somehow losing anyway. I’m also reminded that these characters actually did exist in the Pre-Crisis DC Universe. Dodo and the Frog turned up years later in the pages of Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew, while timid Peter Porkchop actually became a member of that superhero team, the tough-as-nails Pig Iron.

The only story in this book that kind of stands out is the Stanley and His Monster tale. It features human and monster characters, instead of the funny animals of the rest of the book, and it’s actually a very dark piece about Stanley’s parents discovering his monster, which gets hauled away by a mob of monster investigators. It’s really kind of disconcerting. It’s not a bad story, and the artwork is really wonderful, but it feels totally out of place with the rest of the book.

I really loved reading this book again, and I’m glad to have it back in my collection after all these years.

Rating: 7/10

Plastic Man Lost Annual #1

December 13, 2003

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Various

A collection of Plastic Man comics to whet your appetite for the new series!

Writers: Jack Cole, Dave Wood, Arnold Drake & Steve Skeates
Artists: Jack Cole, Jim Mooney, Gil Kane, Ramona Fradon & Teny Henson
Editor: Dale Crain
Cover Art: Jack Cole, Jim Mooney, Gil Kane, Ramona Fradon & Teny Henson
Publisher: DC Comics

One of the best specialty products DC Comics puts out these days are the occasional “lost” 80-page giants with classic stories to go with their current hits. This book, timed to coincide with this month’s new Plastic Man #1, serves up six old Plastic Man comics and one prose short story.

The first two stories in this books, “The Origin of Plastic Man” from Police Comics #1 and “The Man Who Can’t Be Harmed” from Police Comics #13, both by Plastic Man creator Jack Cole, are the real treasure here. Cole had a beautiful art style and a wicked sense of humor. Parts of “The Origin of Plastic Man” were “borrowed” by Kyle Baker for the first issue of the new series. People who enjoyed that book will want to read this to see how the creator drafted those same scenes. “The Man Who Can’t Be Harmed” is significant in that it introduces Plastic Man’s sidekick, Woozy Winks. Folks who wonder who Plas wound up with this dumpy partner – here’s your answer.

“The Wizard of Light” from House of Mystery #160 is an odd addition, but delightful for fans of silver age camp. In this book Robby Reed, the first star of DC’s Dial “H” For Hero series (recently resurrected as the very good H-E-R-O) spins his magic dial and transforms into… the lost Plastic Man! Why? Well… most likely, because DC had acquired the rights to the character and needed to use him somewhere for copyright purposes, but it still made for a clever read.

“The Dirty Devices of Dr. Dome,” from 1966’s Plastic Man Vol. 2 #1, is a fairly unremarkable comedy/superhero story where Plas faces off, of course, against a goofy villain named Dr. Dome. This story is remarkable only for two reasons – it has artwork by the immortal Gil Kane, and because Kane, as magnificent an artist as he was, frankly didn’t draw a very good Plastic Man. It’s like looking at Jay Leno in the costume.

The final story is “The Hamsters of Doom” from Plastic Man Vol. 2 #11 – from 1976, according to the table of contents (11 issues in 10 years – it’s like reading The Ultimates). Another unremarkable story, but not a bad one.

The first three stories in this book are well worth the price of admission, however, especially the Jack Cole stories. It may not be required reading for the new Plastic Man series, but it’s certainly recommended reading.

Rating: 8/10

Showcase Presents Jonah Hex Vol. 1

January 15, 2006

Quick Rating: Great
Collects: Jonah Hex stories from All-Star Western #10-12 & Weird Western Tales #13, 14, 16-33 and assorted western stories from All-Star Western #2-8.

Witness the birth of DC’s most famous gunslinger!

Writers: John Albano, Arnold Drake, Michael Fleisher & Robert Kanigher
Art: Tony Dezuniga, Noly Panaligan, Doug Wildey, George Moliterni, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Gil Kane & Jim Aparo
Cover Art: Luis Dominguez
Publisher: DC Comics

One project of Marvel’s that I’ve long appreciated are their “Essential” trade paperbacks – inexpensive volumes collecting big chunks of a comic book or a character’s appearances. I was very happy when DC recently began a similar program with the “Showcase Presents” series, and particularly happy that they chose to give one of the launch titles in the program to their western warrior Jonah Hex.

Now it’s obvious that Hex got a nod because he’s got a new ongoing series, but I don’t care, I’m just glad that he did. I’ve often enjoyed the character when he’s shown up in other comics (everything from DC Challenge to Superman and Batman: Generations 3), but I’ve never gotten to read very many of his solo adventures. Thanks to this series, it’s now simple to follow his legend from the very beginning. Jonah Hex first appears on the scene in All-Star Western #10 (1972) as a scarred, world-weary warrior, a gun for hire that comes into town to collect the bounty on a pair of dead raiders, then stays to gun down a few more. He’s a cold man, one who has no qualms about taking his enemy’s life and then taking the money for doing it. The character is a cipher, but one that immediately intrigues you.

Over the course of the next 400-plus pages of this volume, you learn more and more about Hex – his origins as a Confederate officer who pulls himself out of the Civil War after his conscience tells him he’s on the wrong side, but refuses to fight against his old friends – then gets branded a traitor anyway. We watch him face up to his past, forge an alliance with an Indian, take up arms against an old friend and gun down many, many evildoers.

It would not be unreasonable to refer to these stories as a western in its purest form. Although restrained in terms of language and violence by the Comics Code of the 1970s, these stories don’t shy away from the harsh life of a western bounty hunter or from touching on issues like racism and slavery. It’s as hard-boiled as a comic book could get at the time, and the result is some of the finest western comics you’ve ever read. Plus, throwing in art by the likes of Tony Dezuniga and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, you’ve got a book that looks as good as it reads. There are some stories where the artwork seems to suffer a little from lack of color, where the black-and-white ink work comes across a little sketchy or muddy, but you still get an enormous bang for your buck.

Instead of filling all 526 pages with Jonah Hex stories, though, DC chose to cap off this book with a few other assorted western tales. First is the four-part Outlaw story by Robert Kanigher, with art by Dezuniga, Gil Kane and Jim Aparo. This is a passable story about a young man whose own father begins to hunt him down, believing him to be a criminal. The story has a lot of plotholes, unfortunately, and ends quite abruptly, making it appear as though DC realized the story wasn’t working and wrapped it up. There’s also two tales of a female Billy the Kid (another concept that wore thin quickly) and a one-shot story, “The Night of the Snake,” that’s about as harsh as any of Hex’s adventures. I must confess, I’m not sure why they filled out this volume with these other stories – there’s plenty of Jonah Hex left and none of these stories, with the possible exception of “Night of the Snake,” are particularly memorable.

But the main feature, the dozens of Jonah Hex stories, more than make this volume worth the cash. By the 1970s the western comic was on its way out, but Jonah Hex proved popular enough to eventually graduate from a spot in this title to his own ongoing series, which lasted 92 issues and one special (followed by 18 issues of a science fiction follow-up, where Hex was transported to a post-Apocalyptic future). If you’ve tried and enjoyed the new Jonah Hex series (as I have), this book is a must-read – and I for one certainly hope that a second volume comes out soon, because there’s plenty of Jonah Hex left to tell.

Rating: 9/10

(2010 Note: To my knowledge, DC has not yet scheduled a Showcase Presents Jonah Hex Vol. 2. What’s up with that?)