First Post
Mon 28 Nov 2011, AT 15:36
‘Pond scum’ says Miller as comic book masters line up on opposite sides of the Occupy fence
An axe-wielding Barack Obama takes on Sarah Palin in a new comic series
'Haven't I seen you somewhere before?' by Joe Shuster
More than 125,000 sci-fi fans are expected at the comic book convention which starts today in San Diego
News
Wed 4 Nov 2009, AT 13:27
A new comic book anthology pits social activists against big business and religious intolerance
For our final column, an exquisite showcase of two gentlemen who rank as veritable grand masters in the comics medium. Together, writer Joe Simon and artist Jack Kirby had an effervescent and riveting magic that extended far beyond their iconic creation of Captain America in 1940. Although synonymous with superheroes, theirs was a partnership which thrived in an array of genres, as this majestic anthology (hand-picked by Simon) highlights.
Connoisseurs of horror comics will be only too familiar with the legendary Warren Publishing. Their pioneering 1964 magazine Creepy - notably able to evade comics censorship laws – pierced the medium’s permissible boundaries. Creepy’s stable-mate Eerie followed in 1966 and, as this collection of the first five issues amply shows, it took Warren’s gleeful voyage into the macabre to greater heights, aided by an array of stellar art talents.
Esther Pearl Watson's highly amusing and poignant tale of eighties teen angst (loosely based on a teenager's diary from the decade found in a gas-station bathroom) certainly proves the old adage that the more things change the more they stay the same. Set in 1985, Unlovable chronicles the sophomore year of Tammy Pierce, whom Watson crafts into an appealing every-teen character. The story mixes timeless adolescent concerns (acne, boys, pop idols) with memorable period icons such as bouffant perms and leg-warmers.
The legendary Harvey Kurtzman revolutionised American satire with the creation of MAD magazine in 1952, editing it until 1956 and going on to create Little Annie Fanny for Playboy in 1962. In between these two milestones - and virtually forgotten - was the short-lived Humbug, an exquisite satirical work that, over its 11 issues, routinely equalled MAD in its displays of creative genius.
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