Issue five was another solid issue. The heartbreaking truth behind the comic business. I can see why many readers aren't interested in seeing the curtain pulled back. But I credit Chaykin for not pulling punches.
There came a time when the Old Gods died! The Brave died with the Cunning! The Noble perished locked in battle with unleashed Evil! It was the last day for them! An ancient era was passing in fiery holocaust!
Yeah, no one likes seeing the sausage being made, but we sure love consuming it. Chaykin sure didn't pull any punches and his thinly disguised characters remind us of some of the non-heroic actions the publishers of our heroes took. It was a history lesson and the George Santayana quote applies here. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
And yet, despite how greed and envy got to many in this business, the ending managed to warm my heart. Although it didn't end with a fourth wall breaking wink, it still reminded us of why we read these damn things in the first place.
Those of you who've been enjoying this might like another story of comics' early days, when black and white comics were facing the threat of WWII's end--and the return of color comics to Canada.
Warbears, from Margaret Atwood and Ken Steacy, Dark Horse Comics. Not at all what one might guess from the covers!
Age/Bronze, Age/Reptiles, Alex&Ada, Anne Bonnie, Astro City, Bone, Briggs Land, Cerebus, Criminal, Courtney Crumrin, Eleanor & the Egret, Fables, Fatale, Fell, Grass Kings, Green Valley, Goon, Gotham Midnight, Groo, Hellboy, Hillbilly, Incognegro, Jack Staff, JL8, Jonah Hex, Kane, Lazarus, Little Nemo, Lone Wolf, Next Wave, Popeye, Powers, Princess Ugg, Resident Alien, SiP, Squirrel Girl, Stray Bullets, 10G, Thief of Thieves, Tuki, Uncle Scrooge, Usagi, Velvet
Pussey is still my favourite comic history of comics. Really funny but totally brutal. Stan lee gets it with both barrels but then Clowes typically gives himself the harshest treatment of all.
Whoa-- hello, seismic-2. So glad others read and liked War Bears. Sooo....
if you like stuff like this, you might like Tinsel Town, too. Just concluded its five issue story of Hollywood's first female police officer (fiction, based on reality).
From Arcana Comics, I believe.
Age/Bronze, Age/Reptiles, Alex&Ada, Anne Bonnie, Astro City, Bone, Briggs Land, Cerebus, Criminal, Courtney Crumrin, Eleanor & the Egret, Fables, Fatale, Fell, Grass Kings, Green Valley, Goon, Gotham Midnight, Groo, Hellboy, Hillbilly, Incognegro, Jack Staff, JL8, Jonah Hex, Kane, Lazarus, Little Nemo, Lone Wolf, Next Wave, Popeye, Powers, Princess Ugg, Resident Alien, SiP, Squirrel Girl, Stray Bullets, 10G, Thief of Thieves, Tuki, Uncle Scrooge, Usagi, Velvet
Is War Bears worth the hardcover price (I think $15.99 on Amazon), or should I hunt down individual issues (which I currently have NO idea of the difficulty of this right now)?
Arcana, Alterna, Ahoy... whew. But I should warn you I wouldn't call Tinsel Town "noir"--more, almost an 'adventure/love comic.' It's just that it's more firmly based in 'the real world' than not, much like War Bears and the original topic of this section, Hey Kids.
Age/Bronze, Age/Reptiles, Alex&Ada, Anne Bonnie, Astro City, Bone, Briggs Land, Cerebus, Criminal, Courtney Crumrin, Eleanor & the Egret, Fables, Fatale, Fell, Grass Kings, Green Valley, Goon, Gotham Midnight, Groo, Hellboy, Hillbilly, Incognegro, Jack Staff, JL8, Jonah Hex, Kane, Lazarus, Little Nemo, Lone Wolf, Next Wave, Popeye, Powers, Princess Ugg, Resident Alien, SiP, Squirrel Girl, Stray Bullets, 10G, Thief of Thieves, Tuki, Uncle Scrooge, Usagi, Velvet
Anyone else pick up issue #1 for Volume 2 of this book?
We see the origins of EC comics (GW) with Chaykin's stand-ins for Gaines, Kurtzman and Feldstein. Also we have Jeff Thomas-Jack Davis, Peter Vance-Wally Wood and Joel Pitkin-John Severin (I think, could be Will Elder)
It's still a realistic retelling of the behind the scenes comic book history. Depressing, but always interesting. This is a necessary book, even if we don't want to see how badly our artistic heroes were treated.
One of the things that is fun in this book is Chaykin's versions of real comics, like the EC line up or Archie. The pages of the Simon/Kirby (and others) are really well done.
Last edited by Kirby101; 05-10-2021 at 08:06 PM.
There came a time when the Old Gods died! The Brave died with the Cunning! The Noble perished locked in battle with unleashed Evil! It was the last day for them! An ancient era was passing in fiery holocaust!