Book-It '10! Book #2
The Fifty Books Challenge, year two! This was a library request.
Title: The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics edited by Paul Gravett
Details: Copyright 2008, Running Press
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "24 of the greatest crime comics ever
These are some of the slickest, moodiest, graphic short stories ever collected, from the mean streets and sin cities of crime. They range from America's classic newspaper-strip serials and notorious uncensored comic books to modern graphic-novel masterpieces.
The gallery includes:
¤ Dashiell Hammett & Alex Raymond's operator Secret Agent X-9
¤ Will Eisner's masked man of mystery The Spirit
¤ Mickey Spillane's tough-guy Mike Hammer
¤ Ed McBain's streetwise police squad of 87th Precinct
¤ José Muñoz & Carlos Sampayo's brooding ex-cop Alack Sinner
¤ Max Allan Collins & Terry Beatty's femme fetale Ms. Tree
¤ Enrique Sanchez Abuli & Jordi Bernet's venal hitman Torpedo
¤ Charles Burns's wrestler and defective detective El Borbah
Spanning all shades of noir, this must-have collection is fully loaded with some of the greatest writers and artists in comics:
Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, Johnny Craig, Alex Toth, Bernie Krigstein, Jack Cole, Jacques Tardi, Gianni De Luca and Paul Grist.
This, for sure, is one offer you can't refuse!"
Why I Wanted to Read It: Whilst browsing through Amazon's recs for me, I stumbled across a fabulous new Neil Gaiman book devoted entirely to the amazing Death. Unfortunately, my library doesn't have it (and looking at the price I can see why) but on a Gaiman search, his name pulled up this book. It was listed as a graphic novel (fellow Gaiman fans, don't burn me at the stake, but I fucking hated American Gods and decided I like my Gaiman best in graphic novel form) so that was almost an instant check.
How I Liked It: The book, as described, spans years of comics (I like calling them graphic novels better) from the early '3os to the recent graphic novel "explosion". The stories are hit and miss, based on the art or the writing (which saves what). It's rare that good writing seems to match good art-- either beautiful style is littered with silly gun-moll gangster movie caricatures or a compelling story is crowded by the claustrophobic styles of the more lined work of the '40s and '50s.
A gem stands out, though, in a story collected from daily strips from 1934. Dashiell Hammett and Alex Raymond's "Secret Agent X-9" is a fabulous eighty page epic with a twisting plot (essential to keep newspaper readers looking for the next day) and gorgeous art. The evil heiress artist Raymond has made a dead ringer for Garbo and with an exquisite (and accurate) wardrobe to match. Hero Agent X-9 is a Gary Cooper lookalike and his waif love could be a cross of any Jazz age moppets from Mary Pickford to Betty Compson. There's even a "character actor" in the form of Sydney George Harper Carp, a curious fellow involved (maybe) in the case.
A few other notables include an enticingly and comically overwrought cautionary tale of dope addiction and mob ties from 1948 (laden with some of the most hilariously hackneyed slang) and a slightly lyrical thread from 1979 with art that's nearly a time capsule of fashions of the era.
Sadly, the Gaiman-penned story lacks any of the spark or noir so Gaiman. It's a slightly bland piece of a story (it's a stand-alone, but it feels like we're missing crucial bits-- generally Gaiman's writing suggests a backstory in and of itself based on its quality, but this just feels unfinished) about an East End gangster.
The collection's obviously a must for any fan of both crime noir and the golden age of the newspaper serial. For those of us whose interests skew in the graphic novel era (which isn't to say that I don't have a great affection as well for the old serials), it's wanting.
Notable: Each "chapter" (meaning story) is introduced by editor Paul Gravett with a little intro and a choice bit of art from the chapter. In a slightly predictable story of a murderous wife and her lover from 1949 (this era appears to abound with unsatisfied wives with eager lovers who plot to knock off the buzzkill husband so they can be together, nearly always ending with a cautionary tale of justice), Gravett describes one-time accountant for DC comics Victor Fox, a man "so impressed by their [DC's] comic book profits that he started his own company in 1939." (pg 308) Gravett goes on
"The short, loud, self-proclaimed 'King of Comics' pumped out whatever was selling and hit on a winner in the mix of buxom broads and bullies in Crimes By Women. In this John Waters-esque melodrama, a listless wife schemes to rid herself of her dull but wealthy husband. Crudely compulsive, the uncredited artwork pours on the tawdry sleaze and shapely legs." (pg 308)
It goes without saying that my heart always soars at the mention of John Waters. This isn't really a Watersian story, save for the fact the scheming wife, when given the death penalty at the end (by, of course, the electric chair), takes Waters's advice (so used in his stand-up act about making public execution "as sick as it really is") and makes a spectacle out of it, screeching "I AM TOO YOUNG TO DIE! GIVE ME A CHANCE! NO! EEEEEE!!" as the priest delivers her last rites as she writhes in the restraints, never wrinkling her suspiciously tailored-looking "prison stripes" (more resembling the Chanel collared dresses of the era than prison garb).
There's also the matter of Waters purposefully parodying the very unintended camp of such comics (or rather the movies that inspired them and vice versa). However, given Waters's presence on the now-defunct Court TV series 'Til Death Do Us Part , Gravett actually isn't that far off.
Title: The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics edited by Paul Gravett
Details: Copyright 2008, Running Press
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "24 of the greatest crime comics ever
These are some of the slickest, moodiest, graphic short stories ever collected, from the mean streets and sin cities of crime. They range from America's classic newspaper-strip serials and notorious uncensored comic books to modern graphic-novel masterpieces.
The gallery includes:
¤ Dashiell Hammett & Alex Raymond's operator Secret Agent X-9
¤ Will Eisner's masked man of mystery The Spirit
¤ Mickey Spillane's tough-guy Mike Hammer
¤ Ed McBain's streetwise police squad of 87th Precinct
¤ José Muñoz & Carlos Sampayo's brooding ex-cop Alack Sinner
¤ Max Allan Collins & Terry Beatty's femme fetale Ms. Tree
¤ Enrique Sanchez Abuli & Jordi Bernet's venal hitman Torpedo
¤ Charles Burns's wrestler and defective detective El Borbah
Spanning all shades of noir, this must-have collection is fully loaded with some of the greatest writers and artists in comics:
Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, Johnny Craig, Alex Toth, Bernie Krigstein, Jack Cole, Jacques Tardi, Gianni De Luca and Paul Grist.
This, for sure, is one offer you can't refuse!"
Why I Wanted to Read It: Whilst browsing through Amazon's recs for me, I stumbled across a fabulous new Neil Gaiman book devoted entirely to the amazing Death. Unfortunately, my library doesn't have it (and looking at the price I can see why) but on a Gaiman search, his name pulled up this book. It was listed as a graphic novel (fellow Gaiman fans, don't burn me at the stake, but I fucking hated American Gods and decided I like my Gaiman best in graphic novel form) so that was almost an instant check.
How I Liked It: The book, as described, spans years of comics (I like calling them graphic novels better) from the early '3os to the recent graphic novel "explosion". The stories are hit and miss, based on the art or the writing (which saves what). It's rare that good writing seems to match good art-- either beautiful style is littered with silly gun-moll gangster movie caricatures or a compelling story is crowded by the claustrophobic styles of the more lined work of the '40s and '50s.
A gem stands out, though, in a story collected from daily strips from 1934. Dashiell Hammett and Alex Raymond's "Secret Agent X-9" is a fabulous eighty page epic with a twisting plot (essential to keep newspaper readers looking for the next day) and gorgeous art. The evil heiress artist Raymond has made a dead ringer for Garbo and with an exquisite (and accurate) wardrobe to match. Hero Agent X-9 is a Gary Cooper lookalike and his waif love could be a cross of any Jazz age moppets from Mary Pickford to Betty Compson. There's even a "character actor" in the form of Sydney George Harper Carp, a curious fellow involved (maybe) in the case.
A few other notables include an enticingly and comically overwrought cautionary tale of dope addiction and mob ties from 1948 (laden with some of the most hilariously hackneyed slang) and a slightly lyrical thread from 1979 with art that's nearly a time capsule of fashions of the era.
Sadly, the Gaiman-penned story lacks any of the spark or noir so Gaiman. It's a slightly bland piece of a story (it's a stand-alone, but it feels like we're missing crucial bits-- generally Gaiman's writing suggests a backstory in and of itself based on its quality, but this just feels unfinished) about an East End gangster.
The collection's obviously a must for any fan of both crime noir and the golden age of the newspaper serial. For those of us whose interests skew in the graphic novel era (which isn't to say that I don't have a great affection as well for the old serials), it's wanting.
Notable: Each "chapter" (meaning story) is introduced by editor Paul Gravett with a little intro and a choice bit of art from the chapter. In a slightly predictable story of a murderous wife and her lover from 1949 (this era appears to abound with unsatisfied wives with eager lovers who plot to knock off the buzzkill husband so they can be together, nearly always ending with a cautionary tale of justice), Gravett describes one-time accountant for DC comics Victor Fox, a man "so impressed by their [DC's] comic book profits that he started his own company in 1939." (pg 308) Gravett goes on
"The short, loud, self-proclaimed 'King of Comics' pumped out whatever was selling and hit on a winner in the mix of buxom broads and bullies in Crimes By Women. In this John Waters-esque melodrama, a listless wife schemes to rid herself of her dull but wealthy husband. Crudely compulsive, the uncredited artwork pours on the tawdry sleaze and shapely legs." (pg 308)
It goes without saying that my heart always soars at the mention of John Waters. This isn't really a Watersian story, save for the fact the scheming wife, when given the death penalty at the end (by, of course, the electric chair), takes Waters's advice (so used in his stand-up act about making public execution "as sick as it really is") and makes a spectacle out of it, screeching "I AM TOO YOUNG TO DIE! GIVE ME A CHANCE! NO! EEEEEE!!" as the priest delivers her last rites as she writhes in the restraints, never wrinkling her suspiciously tailored-looking "prison stripes" (more resembling the Chanel collared dresses of the era than prison garb).
There's also the matter of Waters purposefully parodying the very unintended camp of such comics (or rather the movies that inspired them and vice versa). However, given Waters's presence on the now-defunct Court TV series 'Til Death Do Us Part , Gravett actually isn't that far off.