The Gil Kane Punch of the Week 10

Over the past week, the Drs. K have been moving their home office, which has meant little time for anything but packing, unpacking, and cleaning. Plus, most of the Gil Kane comics are still packed away in what will become the new Spec Headquarters. While the old Spec Headquarters devolved over the years into stacks and stacks of unsorted comics, the new one has room to grow, which should allow the 100-Page Super Spectacular to become a much more efficient comic blogging machine. But until that gets set up, some friends have chipped in some Gil Kane punches to help with the lag.

First up is pal Dave Lartigue of Dave Ex Machina, who has provided what is the earliest example of a Gil Kane punch I have yet to see, from "Mystery of the Counterfeit Space-Cabby!" in Mystery in Space 26 (June-July 1955), written by Otto Binder and inked by Bernard Sachs:



I would consider this a kind of proto-Gil Kane punch: the basic elements are there, and we can see how this would eventually evolve into the panel-breaking violence of later years.

You can find more on this story, and about Space Cabby in general, from Dave's great new weekly feature, "Space Cabby Sunday!" Thanks, Dave!

Dr. K Reviews: Heathentown

I'll be posting a bunch of reviews in the coming days as I work my way through some of the stuff I picked up at HeroesCon. One of the first comics I read from the show is Corinna Sara Bechko and Gabriel Hardman's horror graphic novel from Image's Shadowline imprint, Heathentown.



I picked this book up on the first day, after having a nice chat with Gabriel Hardman about his fantastic work on Marvel's Agents of Atlas. I read it that night in the hotel room and found it difficult to put down.

I'm a sucker for horror stories where a good-natured stranger comes to a small town and manages to inadvertantly uncover that town's secrets. Here, Anna Romano, a grad student doing field research in Chad, accompanies the body of her friend, Kit Durrel, back to a small town in Florida after Kit is horribly murdered in the African village where they are both studying.



When Anna arrives in town, strange things start to happen, as they are wont to do in this kind of story. But the secret this town hides is particularly creepy and unsettling, especially as rendered by Hardman in a black and white style akin to 70s Warren horror comics (Hardman's style here is a fusion of Bernie Wrightson and Tony DeZuniga, though I would say that the latter's style tends to dominate).



Bechko handles this exposition quickly and efficiently, as Anna reveals her experiences to her public defender after she is arrested for digging up Kit's grave. Once that's dispatched, the story moves forward with a relentless pace up to the very end. Anna has to remain in motion almost constantly in order to escape her persuers, so information about the town and its secret are revealed to her in quick bursts, and to us in large, often silent panels. It's been a long time since I've read a horror comic that was this effective at building a genuine sense of unstoppable terror--I'd have to go back to Alan Moore's "Sleep of Reason" story in Swamp Thing for something with a similar visceral impact. This is a pure, classic horror comic, and I'm glad I picked it up. I hope Bechko and Hardman continue to produce more graphic novels in this vein.

Dr. K Reviews: Batman: Reborn

Everyone who knows me knows that I love Batman. Even my students have begun to spread the word to each other that, if I ever ask them who would win in a fight between Batman and someone else, the answer is always "Batman."

And while I liked "Batman RIP" a heck of a lot, and I enjoyed what Grant Morrison did with Batman in Final Crisis, I really had no interest in reading Battle for the Cowl. I figured, as long as I could get confirmation that Dick Grayson was the new Batman, I would be fine skipping the series.

So, last month, I jumped into the new Batman comics that shook out of Battle for the Cowl, trying to figure out which ones I would be following for the duration of the "Batman: Reborn" storyline until the inevitable return of Bruce Wayne. (I did, however, skip Gotham City Sirens, as that series didn't interest me just based on its basic concept.)

Here, then, are my reviews of five of the post-Battle Batman comics that came out in June. I did discover, however, that my initial instinct was right: I didn't need to read Battle for the Cowl, as most of these comics got me up to speed easily.


I really don't care for Judd Winick as a writer of superhero comics, though I think he does his best work when writing non-powered heroes like Green Arrow (though his Green Arrow/Black Canary series was abysmal) and Batman. In fact, aside from the crap about Superboy punching a continuity wall and bringing back Jason Todd, Winick's previous run on Batman was inoffensive and readable.

It makes sense, then, that Winick's return to the character would involve a confrontation with the Scarecrow, the first villain Winick used in the previous run. Though the Scarecrow story barely starts in this issue, most of it is taken up with Dick Grayson's struggle in making the transition from Nightwing to Batman. There are some nice moments where Nightwing and Alfred come to the decision that Batman can't die, though it would seem that this is ground that should have been covered in the transitional miniseries. I like the interaction between Nightwing and Alfred here: Alfred admits that he can talk to Dick in a way that's different from the way he talked to Bruce, and that should pay out with some interesting character moments in the issues to come. Winick also seems to establish a clear purpose for this book in the grand scheme of the Bat-universe when Dick tells Alfred, "There'll be times when I'll need to go it alone." Therefore, I expect that this series will feature mainly Robin-less adventures, as opposed to the two other monthly Batman books.

However, compared to some of the other series, this one just didn't grab me that much. Part of that had to do with Ed Benes's art, though this appears to be his only issue of the series, as Mark Bagley is coming on for the next two issues. It also feels like this is the book that's going to concern itself the most with continuity issues and the new Batman's larger relationship to the DC Universe. While that's probably necessary for some readers, I prefer what some of the other series are doing with the new status quo.


Man, this comic is a freaking work of art. I love that DC snuck a superhero story that's a bit unconventional into its flagship title, instead of spinning it off into another new series, like Streets of Gotham. J. H. Williams III's art is phenomenal, shifting gears between experimental page layouts for the action scenes with Batwoman and more conventional storytelling for the character moments with Kate Kane. Greg Rucka is also playing around with the idea that Batwoman is still an unknown quantity, so the last panel leaves us wondering what kind of hero she will be.

I would also buy a monthly comic featuring the Question by Greg Rucka and Cully Hamner, so I have no problem with the larger pricetag for the Question co-feature. In its first chapter, this series makes me more interested in the new Question than any of the stories featuring her over the past couple of years. It feels like, in these two stories, that Rucka is getting to use these characters in the way he wants to after shaking off some of the 52 and Final Crisis baggage (though we do see that the Crime Bible is still going to be a factor at least in the Batwoman series).


This book is the shit, and it makes the whole Battle for the Cowl event worthwhile. As anyone who reads this blog knows, I am totally and unapologetically in the tank for Grant Morrison, but this is pretty much my ideal for a superhero comic. The interaction between a dark Robin and a more lighthearted Batman seems especially fruitful. Also, in just a few panels, the new villain, Mr. Pyg, is shown to be a disturbing and unsettling threat, much in the way Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers used The Joker in "The Laughing Fish." Finally, Frank Quitely's art, which was already amazing in All-Star Superman, seems to have progressed even further here. This is one of the few comics that I can't wait for every month.


I have a hard time understanding what the purpose of this new series is. It uses the same team that was previously on Detective--Paul Dini, Dustin Nguyen, and Derek Fridolfs--and it feels entirely consistent with their work on that series. I had hoped that this series could serve as a kind of "Batman Family" title, featuring some of the other Gotham heroes who are trying to fill in for the original Batman; however, from this issue, it seems to be just another Batman and Robin title. It just doesn't seem necessary.

Plus, I just didn't care for the story. As disturbing as Mr. Pyg might be in Batman and Robin, I was more put off by the mass casualties that Firebug causes in this issue. There have been so many mass killings and disasters in Gotham City over the past two years, it would be nice if the Batman books had a moritorium on such things.

I was a bit disappointed with the Manhunter co-feature by Marc Andreyko and Georges Jeanty. I was a big fan of the Manhunter series, and I was disappointed that it was cancelled, but Andreyko did a great job wrapping it up. However, the idea of Kate Spencer as Gotham City's D.A. is intriguing enough for me to stay interested, though that may not be enough incentive to keep buying this series every month.



On the surface, Red Robin has the clearest purpose of all the new Bat-universe series. Tim Wayne, formerly Tim Drake, travels through Europe trying to find evidence that Bruce Wayne is still alive after Tim has lost the Robin job to Damien Wayne. However, this issue mainly involves Red Robin complaining about getting distracted by crimefighting while he's on this quest. I'm not sure exactly what evidence Tim is finding in Europe, as Bruce Wayne is lost in prehistorical times, though his investigation may have something to do with Ra's al Ghul, who appears at the end of this issue. I'll probably give this series one story arc before making my final decision, but if it turns out that Red Robin's quest is interminably delayed by other plots, I may get quickly frustrated with it.


So, I'm hooked in to Detective Comics and Batman and Robin for the duration. The others, I'll give one story arc before I make my final decision, but Batman and Red Robin are definitely on a shorter leash than Streets of Gotham.

The Gil Kane Punch of the Week 9: Stop Hitting Yourself!

Sorry I missed last week, but recovering from HeroesCon and finishing up summer teaching made posting difficult. To make up, here's an extra-special splash page from Action Comics 541:

The Gil Kane Punch of the Week 8

That's gotta hurt! Necks are not supposed to bend like that!

Traitor punches out Hal Jordan in "Traitor's Revenge!" first published in Legends of the DC Universe 29, written by Steven Grant, art by Gil Kane and Klaus Janson.

HeroesCon 2009 in Charlotte

Chris Sims and I are heading up to Charlotte tomorrow for the fantastic Heroes Convention.

As I reported last year, Chris and I had an experience that nearly drove us mad, and I'm hoping this year will be just as much fun. If you're there, say hi. Chris has an undoctored photo on his blog to help you recognize us.

Superman in "Terra-Man's Skyway Robbery"

The third Super Sugar Crisp minicomic from 1980 is "Terra-Man's Highway Robbery." (I have to say that I must have eaten a shitload of Super Sugar Crisp when I was a kid in order to get all these minicomics. But, like most right-thinking kids at the time, I picked my cereal for the prize inside, not for taste or nutritional value.)

Of all the possible Superman villains to use in this, Terra-Man seems to be an odd choice. Don't get me wrong, the space cowboy on a flying horse was a near-perfect Cary Bates creation. It just seems that a more high-profile villain, like Luthor or Brainiac or Parasite or Toyman or Mr. Mxyzptlk or any one of a dozen others would be more appropriate.

The story opens with Clark Kent having a friendly, innocuous chat with Frank, the doorman at Clark's Clinton Street apartment building. Frank, who apparently can talk about anything, mentions how full the moon looks, and Clark, realizing he's going to get sucked in to another one of those conversations, takes off at super speed.

Actually, he sees the shadow of a guy on a flying horse going across the moon. Whatever the case, he dodged a bullet there.

Meanwhile, Terra-Man has broken into the Metropolis Historical Museum in order to steal Cole Younger's pistol.

This all seems a bit excessive just for a pistol, especially when you consider the cost of all of Terra-Man's gadgets. I mean, what's his ROI on this caper? He could probaby just take the money he invested in his drill lariat, his glass-cutting spurs, and flying horse feed, and make a cash offer to the museum for the pistol. It would surely save a lot of trouble. Especially since he plans on ruining the pistol's historical value by rigging it to shoot lasers.


Just how uncomfortable would it be to ride around on your flying horse with a cactus in your hat?

Turns out, it's no ordinary flying cactus--it's an exploding kryptonite cactus. Nothing says, "1970s DC Comic" quite like "exploding kryptonite cactus."

In typical fashion, Superman finds the most complex method possible to escape from the falling kryptonite, and then he quickly captures the "cosmic cowboy."

"Cosmic Cowboy," not to be confused with "Space Cowboy," copyright 1973, Steve Miller.

Superman then further humiliates the guy in a yellow shirt and green cape by "hogtying" him, which leads to some pretty disturbing banter.
Is "I ain't been branded yet" a good retort to levy at a guy with heat vision? And Superman's response at first sounds like he's been watching a little too much Oz.

The Gil Kane Punch of the Week 7

I'm a little late with this week's Gil Kane punch, so as an added bonus, I'm giving you a Green Lantern tag team on the villain Captain Challenge from "Thoroughly Modern Mayhem!" in Green Lantern 61 (June 1968) written by Mike Friedrich and drawn by Gil Kane and Sid Greene (reprinted in Showcase Presents: Green Lantern, Vol. 4).




I also declare "Thoroughly Modern Mayhem!" to be the Gil-Kane-Punchingest story of all time!

I would recommend that you buy this book

If you're like me and you like things that are good, then I recommend that you buy this book:


Kevin Church and Benjamin Birdie's The Rack is a fun web comic about life in a comic book store, and even if you've been reading the series online, there are some nice extras that make the book worth owning. Included in those extras is a fantastic interview with the creators, done by me in my civilian identity. So if you're longing to know the secret identity of Dr. K, then the book will be worth the cost right there.

Wonder Woman in "The Angle Menace"

Here's another Super Sugar Crisp minicomic from 1980, this one featuring Wonder Woman in "The Angle Menace."

In this story, Angle Man steals an Egyptian stone tablet from a museum because that's the kind of thing that DC supervillains steal.


I have to say, "The Angler" is a pretty dumb name for Angle Man's weapon. Why not just "Angle Gun"? And what exactly does this weapon do? Sure, it opens up triangle-shaped portals and bends stuff, but it also shoots blasts that aren't particularly angular and circumvents alarm systems. I think it exceeds the purview of the gimmick.

I don't really get the sense that Angle Man has wholly committed to his gimmick. Or, at the very least, he tapped it out long ago, relying on more vaguely defined geometrically based crimes. In fact, he's a pretty lame villain overall, but that seems to be par for the course with Wonder Woman. Her rogues gallery begins with Cheetah and ends with Dr. Psycho. If you have to go three deep, you get Angle Man, and at that point, the barrel's bottom is scraped. Of course, the creators of these minicomics needed villains that could be handily defeated in about 30 panels, so the inclusion of Angle Man makes sense here.

Following the robbery, Wonder Woman is called in to investigate, and she takes one look at the stone tablet and quickly figures out Angle Man's plan.
That is kind of a show-offy way to exit.

Wonder Woman's invisible jet takes her to Egypt, where she catches Angle Man in the act of stealing a pyramid:

I see what Wonder Woman is trying to do there, using parallelism to equate Tuk-Hotep with Angle Man, but isn't it a bit of a stretch to call Angle Man "greatest of super-villains"? Maybe it's just PR. If she says it enough, maybe people will starting thinking he's a real threat.


Angle Man then fires some decidedly nonangular blasts at Wonder Woman, which she deflects with her Amazon bracelets while also explaining that she is deflecting the blasts with her Amazon bracelets.


We also get a sense here about how ridiculous Angle Man's plan is. He's stealing the pyramid to "loot it at [his] leisure." What? This seems simultaneously lazy and inefficient. And where is he going to keep this pyramid while he gets around to looting it for treasure? I can tell him from my own experience with projects that I would eventually get around to--it's just going to collect dust in his garage.

Clearly sensing that defeat is inevitable after his stupid angle gun is destroyed, Angle Man tries to make his escape by distracting Wonder Woman with a falling pyramid.
Once again, Wonder Woman helps the reader along by explaining exactly what she is doing in these panels.

Finally, Wonder Woman messes up Angle Man's ride, Kool-Aid Man style:

Wonder Woman misses an opportunity here to close the deal with a humorous and demeaning quip. I would have gone with, "That was 'a cute' attempt to escape, but now you're going to jail." Or, "You would have to be pretty obtuse if you thought you could get away with this." Or, "You thought you had the right angle, but it turned out to be all wrong!" Or, "Multiply one-half the base times the height, and the answer is some serious jail time!"

The Gil Kane Punch of the Week 6

The Silver Age Atom punches his Golden Age counterpart clear out of his comic, from The Atom 36 (image courtesy of The Grand Comics Database).

By the way, here are a couple of links to some Gil-Kane-punching-related sites:

First, while this gallery of punches appears on a blog that is in Spanish, it speaks the international language of punching.

Second, a nice analysis by Strange Ink of a great Gil Kane punch from Justice League of America 200.

Batman in "The Peril of the Penguin"

While digging through some old boxes in my closet recently, I found a ziplock baggie filled with some minicomics that I must have accumulated when I was a kid. Several of them are small DC Comics that came inside packages of Super Sugar Crisp back around 1979-80. Each comic is 16 pages, with two panels per page. I'll spend the next few posts going through some of these odd novelties.

The first one, "The Peril of the Penguin," is a perfect little Batman story in which the Dynamic Duo stop The Penguin from robbing a rodeo.

I can't find any credits for this comic online, but I'm going to take a guess that the art is by Adrian Gonzales and Dave Hunt (I'm pretty certain on the inker, but not the penciller). The cover is by Dick Giordano (at least the inks). I don't have a clue as to the writer, though at this time Bob Rozakis was writing a lot of stuff like this for DC, so I'm going to make that my guess.

The story opens in typical fashion for the time, with Batman scaring and beating up some thugs for information.



He's so effective at this that he doesn't even have to take them to the police--he just scares the crap out of them so they do it themselves.

The thugs give him a vague clue that the Penguin is at a "Bull Dog Contest." Robin jumps to the logical but dead wrong conclusion that this means he's going to rob the Gotham Dog Show (which, in the world of Gotham City in the 70s, makes perfect sense). Instead, Batman points out that a "Bull Dog Contest" is slang for a rodeo. From then on, Batman will not shut up about how right he is all the time.


I like how Bruce gets down to business and makes sure that Commissioner Gordon understands his question here. This isn't idle chit-chat as someone, using the vernacular of the times, might ask "What's happening?"

The Penguin, inconspicuously disguised as a cowboy, uses one of his trick umbrellas to rile up the bulls and start a stampede:


This calls for Bruce and Dick to get in on the action:

"But as the Batman I can move!": whoever wrote this deserves a medal for that line alone.

And we end up with one of my favorite things: Batman interacting with members of the animal kingdom. First, with the steers:

Second, on a horse:

Finally, Batman and Robin catch up to the Penguin and his henchman at the rodeo box office. Penguin tries to get away with a helicopter umbrella, but Batman manages to lasso the criminal's feet:

Leaving Robin to make a series of demoralizing puns at the Penguin's expense.

In the span of 29 panels, "The Peril of the Penguin" provides a formula for the basic Batman story: Batman interrogates punks, punks give up clue, Batman decodes clue and tracks down the villain, fighting ensues.

The Gil Kane Punch of the Week 5

Perhaps one of the greatest punches in comics history, from Amazing Spider-Man 121, written by Gerry Conway, pencils by Gil Kane, and inks by John Romita, Sr.

Thanks to Chris Sims for the tip and the scan.

Who's a Brave Boy?

Recently, the Other Dr. K and I took a trip to London. Among the touristy things we did was ride the London Eye. If I do say so myself, this was an accomplishment for me, as I don't like heights. I think you can see that from this picture in particular, where I'm scowling and gripping my seat:

As the flight went on, however, I started to fee better, so I stood up and tried to look cheerier:


Also, while standing in line for the Eye, we saw the host of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Ty Pennington:
:
Unfortunately, he did not get on the same flight as we did. If he had, I would have walked off the Eye with a new house--guaranteed!

Dr. K Reviews: Blazing Combat!

Holy crap, this book is awesome!

In 1965, Warren Publshing sought to build on the success of their horror comic magazine Creepy. Since Creepy was modeled after the the EC horror comics of the previous decade, the decision was made to duplicate another famous EC genre: war comics. The result was Blazing Combat, written by Archie Goodwin and drawn by some of the greatest artists in comics history, including Wally Wood, Alex Toth, Joe Orlando, Gene Colon, Reed Crandall, John Severin, and Russ Heath.

The series, unfortunately, only ran for 4 issues, and the book spends some time explaining the series's downfall through interviews with publisher James Warren and writer Archie Goodwin. In brief, Goodwin took a critical, realistic approach to war stories, including stories about the Vietnam War, which was then in the early days of American involvement. These Vietnam stories, which anticipated the country's antiwar sentiment, raised the ire of the US military and the American Legion. The military stopped the sale of the comic on all military bases and the American Legion encouraged wholesalers to keep it from newstands. Thus, after only a few issues, Warren had to pull the plug.

What made it into these four issues, however, are some of the greatest war comics ever made. In reading this collection, I was struck not only the progressive attitude toward war that these stories present, but also the breadth of stories told here. Each issue includes stories ranging from the American Civil War to Vietnam, and, with the exception of World War II, rarely is a historical period repeated in an issue. Each issue contained 7-8 short stories. When these stories are presented collectively like this, Archie Goodwin's accomplishment here can be seen as on par with Harvey Kurtzman's work on the EC war books.

I was also amazed at how well these stories hold up after more than 40 years. Warren published its comics as magazines in order to circumvent the censorship of the Comics Code, so while the level of violence depicted here may be higher than that acceptible in mainstream comics of the time, it is by no means gratuitous. The Vietnam stories are probably the most remarkable. The opening story of the series, "Viet-Cong" (with art by Joe Orlando, who draws most of the Vietnam stories) features an American soldier advising the South Vietnamese army and witnessing the murder of civilians and the torture of enemy soldiers (including waterboarding).

If anything unifies these stories, other than the focus on war, it is a dominant sense of irony. Stories of military heroism are rare, and when they do occur, they are often balanced by this irony--in one Revolutionary War story, the heroism of an unnamed general is celebrated, and we only find out at the end that it's Benedict Arnold.

Among my favorite stories are those involving fighter pilots in various wars, especially those stories drawn by Alex Toth and Wally Wood. Toth drew what is probably my all-time favorite war comic story--"F-86 Sabre Jet!" in EC's Frontline Combat 12. Toth's "Lone Hawk" and "The Edge!" are easily on par with that earlier story, and "The Edge!" itself forms a perfect companion piece, where Toth uses a deceptively minimalist style to tell a gripping story of Korean War fighter combat. Wally Wood did two amazing fighter pilot stories: "The Battle of Britain!" (which he wrote--the only story in the collection not written by Goodwin) and "ME-262!" The latter story is especially remarkable because it tells of the frustration of a German pilot in WWII who knows that the new Messerschmitts should be used as fighters, while Hitler keeps insisting on making them bombers.

Probably my favorite story in the collection, however, is "Give and Take," with art by Russ Heath. Heath has always been one of the greatest war comics artists, but this story goes well beyond any of the work he did in DC and Atlas's war comics. The art is almost photo-realistic here, especially in the use of shadows and evocative facial expressions.

In all, this is an essential collection, featuring truly important stories from an unfortunately brief period of incredible creativity on the part of Archie Goodwin and a stable of some of comics' greatest artists. Fantagraphics has been knocking out a lot of great archival collections lately, including Paul Karasik's rediscovery of Fletcher Hanks's work, Craig Yoe's collection of bizarre Boody Rodgers stories, Greg Sadowski's Supermen anthology, and the complete, essential collection of Harvey Kurtzman's Humbug series (not to mention the work they are doing on comic strip archives).

The Gil Kane Punch of the Week 4

Midnight punches a goon over a desk and out of the panel! From "The Secret Origin of Midnight" in Secret Origins 28 (1988), written by Roy Thomas, art by Gil Kane. Thanks to reader Seth for the recommendation.

ISBook Club: Hunt at the Well of Eternity

So, as Chris Sims recounts here, he and I have decided to start a cross-blog book club with the first installment of the Hunt for Adventure series, Hunt at the Well of Eternity, written by James Reasoner.

Much like Chris, I was excited to hear about this series about a treasure-hunting hero named Gabriel Hunt when series creator Charles Ardai announced it. Ardai is the creator of the Hard Case Crime series, which I've been enjoying tremendously for the last few years. Unfortunately, the first book in the series doesn't live up to those expectations, but I'm going to stick with this series in hopes that it does live up to its potential.

I agree with Chris on most points. I also wish that the book used first-person narration, especially since "Gabriel Hunt" is listed as the author, and I also found the contemporary setting off-putting. And, in the end, Gabriel Hunt is too much of a generic adventure hero to care much about. But, as Chris also points out, the book moves along at a fast clip, with one action set-piece following quickly after another--in the first 40 pages, we get a fight at a museum benefit, a car chase across the Queensboro bridge, and an airboat chase through the Florida Everglades, all with considerable gunfire.

The book could also benefit from a more self-aware, ironic approach. Hints of that occur in the suggestion that Gabriel learned to use a bullwhip from a friend of his parents who may have been Indiana Jones. In fact, my hopes for ironic self-awareness came in the first page, when we're introduced to Gabriel's brother:

His brother Michael leaned closer to him. Without altering the beaming smile on his face, Michael said from the corner of his mouth, "Stop fidgeting."

I would think, if you named a character "Michael Hunt," you would absolutely have to know what you were doing. And if so, then the reader should expect much of the novel to be written with the tongue planted firmly in the cheek. However, that is really not the case here, and Reasoner writes the rest of the novel with such a bland earnestness that it seems as if he were willfully avoiding ironic self-awareness. Take, for example, the turgid prose used in the introduction of the novel's damsel-in-distress, Mariella Montez:

A mass of midnight-black curls framed a compelling, high-cheekboned face dominated by dark, intense eyes. Those curls tumbled over honey-skinned shoulders left bare by the strapless evening gown of dark green silk that clung to the generous curves of her body. She possessed a timeless, natural beauty that was more attractive to Gabriel than anything the multitude of stick-thin, face-lifted society women attending this reception could ever muster.

This may as well have said "generically attractive Latina," as there is very little here to give us much of a picture of the character, though that's par for the course with most characters in this novel. Reasoner may be intentionally resisting the kind of postmodern irony that accompanies many nostalgic genre revivals, but the bland style used here does not serve as a worthwhile replacement.

Reasoner, best known for his Westerns and Civil War novels, as well as the Mike Shayne mysteries that he wrote as "Brett Halliday," would seem perfectly suited to this kind of adventure tale. And the author does bring his historical expertise to a plot involving the quest for the fate of a Civil War general who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. But apart from strong pacing and action scenes that make the story mildly diverting and inoffensive, there isn't much to recommend here.

Later installments in the series do offer some promise, though. If the preview in the back of Well of Eternity is a sign, then the next novel, Hunt Through the Cradle of Fear by series creator Charles Ardai, should be a lot more fun. Ardai's contributions to the Hard Case Crime series, notably Little Girl Lost and Songs of Innocence (writing as "Richard Aleas"), are both fantastic crime novels, and he clearly has a love for these pulp genres. Also, Christa Faust and David J. Schow are both lined up for the series, and they wrote my two favorite Hard Case Crime novels: Money Shot and Gun Work (respectively). Both of these novels are fun and fast-paced, with strong characterization and some pretty wild twists. So, while I was disappointed in Hunt at the Well of Eternity, I hold out hope that this was merely a mild abberation, and that the series will live up to its potential.

Artists and Critics

I recently returned from a trip to the UK, where I got to see a marvelous, funny, and accessible production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godotstarring Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Simon Callow, and Ronald Pickup (more on this in a later post, perhaps).

At one point in the play, in their endless quest to occupy their time, Didi (Stewart) and Gogo (McKellen) decide to play at hurling insults at one another. The back-and-forth ends when Gogo shouts "Critic!" and Didi falls to the ground as if shot. The line got the biggest applause of the play, and yet, this particular run has been almost universally praised by critics. Clearly, though, that applause would help cushion the blow that any negative criticism might unleash.

On this trip to London, I also got to see a performance of Yukio Mishima's Madame de Sade, starring Judi Dench and Rosamund Pike. Unlike the Beckett play, this one has been almost universally panned, though I found it quite good and found most of the negative criticism to miss the point of the play. However, the critical backlash has been so strong that it inspired Dame Judi to respond to Daily Telegraph critic Charles Spencer with a letter stating, "I've always rather admired you but now realise you're an absolute shit."

Now, when feuds between artists and critics enter the public sphere, it can be fun to watch, and Dame Judi manages to toss a perfect verbal barb at her detractor, especially as one can imagine just how the great actress would deliver such a line. But I use these two examples as a means of taking the long way to get to this recent example of what not to do when faced with negative criticism. Kevin Church assesses Joseph Larkin's Arcade of Cruelty using the famous reviews of Spinal Tap's albums, and this results in Larkin providing a response that lacks any kind of cleverness or class while also being legally actionable. Now, no one likes negative criticism, but responding with physical threats can be damaging to the point of being career-ending. At the very least, it doesn't reflect well on Larkin's creativity, providing an even more damning review of his work than Kevin's post does. Feuds between artists and critics can be a fun spectator sport, especially in the age of the Internet, but Larkin seems to have crossed a line here.

The Gil Kane Punch of the Week Extra

Payback time! The perfect full-page panel in "The Demon with a Cape!" from Superman Special 2 (1984), story by Cary Bates, art by Gil Kane.

The Gil Kane Punch of the Week 3

Say it ain't so! Brainiac punches a depowered Superman in "The Demon with a Cape!" from Superman Special 2 (1984), story by Cary Bates, art by Gil Kane.