Who Is the Greatest Hero?

Editor's Note: Today I have a guest post by contributor Paul Entrekin which I think you will find appropriate in light of a certain movie that is opening today. ;)

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Thousands of years ago there were heroes. Indeed, there were Superheroes. From Agamemnon to Hercules and Thor, beings with powers far beyond the norm took bold, drastic action on behalf of mere humans to stop evil, right wrongs or just eliminate some menace to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Some seventy years ago, due to a desire to keep idle printing presses running and make a bit of additional income, superheroes were once again re-envisioned, and tread across the pages of illustrated text we have come to know as Comic Books.

Like many who stumble on this media at an early age, whether by chance or choice, I first came to be infatuated with the first and “greatest” hero, Superman. It wasn’t that the stories were that good, in fact, they seemed ridiculous even to my ten year old mind. No, it was the myth. Who he was and how he came to be was just so tragic and cool! Then the reasons why he did the things he did, the way he did them, were just so noble and yet so necessary from a human point of view. He performed good deeds because it was the right thing to do, he passed on actual punishment to the legal system so that people would not fear him, mistrust him, or resent his vast superiority.

The concept of a part time secret identity seemed necessary for peace of mind and sheer sanity. I think even then there was some appreciation of the extreme empowerment of the individual in a world where it seemed that the power of the individual was greatly diminished by governments and large corporations.

At some point I became more interested in Batman, probably because he was at least remotely possible from the standpoint of reality. His non-super vulnerability made him more attractive. I could possibly actually become Batman. (Of course, I wasn’t rich and probably not willing to devote so much energy into the necessary training)

Then I stumbled upon MARVEL comics, and finally, the stories were much, much better. The heroes were more complex and human. They had doubts, could get freaked out, and could just as easily make a mistake as pull off a winning move. This was some good reading!

After years, decades of considering myself to be firmly in the Marvel camp, I came to realize that one character had become more appealing to me than any other, and surprise, it was a DC character! Green Lantern. Even considering the dopey, obvious ploy to weaken a character who wields limitless power, namely a weakness to the color yellow and the ridiculous lantern concept itself, he was still the most incredibly great concept to come down the chute.

The new 60’s version was based on incredibly ancient science. The ring was a computer so sophisticated and compact, that it could literally create anything one could imagine! It could create any form of matter or energy, answer any question that could possibly be known through its billion year old and millions of cultures database (including every source of data on Earth!) His was not just a powerful weapon, but a device that could provide knowledge and create any needed material instantly on a galactic scale. Man become God!

Too bad DC felt they had to “dumb down” most of their ultra-powerful heroes. They seem to feel that no one should be shown to have that much power, or that they can’t build a story with any challenge to it for such heroes. I say that there is always a way to make an interesting tale, you just have to find the right angle. Sometimes just finding the “villan” or cause of an event can be challenging. Perhaps figuring out what to do is not so obvious. Indeed, it seems the stories I have enjoyed most are the ones where the hero figures out some ingenious way to beat the bad guy. Then there are the internal struggles. Hal Jordan had to constantly remember that he is just a mere man after all, and that even though he could have anything he desired instantly, he understood the fundamentally most important thing, that absolute power does not bring happiness.

All he really wanted was to have friends, love, and a place to come home to. Denny O’Neil got close to this mainly missed truth about the character, and created some of the most memorable stories ever to take comic form. If only DC had understood this, we would have had some of the greatest stories ever, constantly.

But for me, to answer the original question, I stick with Green Lantern. The ability to create as well as destroy makes him far more interesting to me. Perhaps one day DC will realize just how great that fact is and use it instead of ignoring it completely, or injecting ridiculous ideas like having it cause him pain to use the ring. There is a much greater story here. If only it were told.

Hope you enjoy the movie!

- Paul

MAKE MINE EC! Comics in the Philippines

Editors Note: Normally on Wednesdays, Pierre regales us with stories of growing up reading comics in Canada.

However, I thought it might be interesting to turn the globe a bit and get a different perspective, so today I'm presenting an article by Augusto P. Surtida, a comic book reader from the Philippines.

MAKE MINE EC! Memories of a comics aficionado from the Far East
by Augusto P. Surtida

Being a former colony of the United States, the Philippines imbibed its politics (liberal democracy), language (English), aspirations, trends, fashion, and pop culture.

Pop culture wa exemplified by Hollywood, sports, recording artists, books, paperbacks, magazines, Sunday funnies, and comic books.

The second world war disrupted all these. But when Douglas McArthur came back in 1945 to keep his promise (“I shall return”) and liberated the Philippines, the good times rolled on.

With the post-war boom, the foreign imports were back with a vengeance. As a baby boomer (born in 1947), I was also a sucker for foreign imports, particularly US print publications including comic books.

As a young child, I was already fascinated by the graphic medium called comics. I could already discern great artworks and drawings, which fueled my choice of comic books to buy and collect.

At first it was the Sunday funnies which were reprinted by local broadsheet newspapers. I always looked forward to weekends because of the comic strips: Tarzan (drawn by John Celardo), Lil Abner, Nancy, Johnny Hazard, Mandrake the Magician, Prince Valiant, The Lone Ranger, The Phantom, Terry and the Pirates, the Spirit, etc., were some of my regular fix during weekends.

The Fifties
As the fifties progressed, I turned my attention to comic books. There was a wide variety to choose from. Classics Illustrated, EC, DC, Atlas, Harvey, Dell, etc. They were sold in stores, newsstands, and kiosks on street corners that also sold US magazines: Life, Look, Saturday Evening post, Ladies Home Journal, Colliers, Argosy, Saga, National Geographic, etc. Classics Illustrated was the most expensive. They sold for 50 centavos (exchange rate then was 1 US dollar to 2 pesos).

My favorites, though were the EC publications with the titles Vault of Horror, Tales from the Crypt, Frontline Combat, Two-fisted Tales, etc. I wasn’t much on the superhero genre although I read them, too. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, Captain America, Plastic Man, Shazam, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, The Fly, etc.

My interests were westerns, horror, sci-fi, adventure war stories, and the classics. Samples of these were Lash La Rue, Tom Mix, Rocky Lane, Roy Rogers, Kid Colt Outlaw, Two-Gun Kid, Wyatt Earp, Gunsmoke Western, Billy the Kid, Sheriff of Tombstone, Outlaws of the West, Combat Kelly, and Lorna the Jungle Girl.

And of course there were the TV and movie tie-ins of Dell comics which were: Gunsmoke, Have Gun Will Travel, Lone Ranger, Cheyenne, Range Rider, Tales from Wells Fargo, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Tonto, Rawhide, Maverick, Gene Autry, Rifleman, Bonanza, Wagon Train, Texas John Slaughter, Elfego Vaca, Lawman, Sugarfoot, Jake Pearson and Tales of the Texas Rangers, Sgt. Preston of the Yukon, Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, Rex Allen, etc.

The other non-western titles from Dell were Tarzan, Turok, Son of Stone, Lassie, Sea Hunt, 77 Sunset Strip, Twilight Zone, Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery, and Jungle Jim. From DC, I bought western titles like Hopalong Cassidy, Tomahawk, and Johnny Thunder. Thunder and Cassidy were illustrated by Gil Kane, one of my favorites then.

War titles from DC which I patronized were Our Army at War (Sgt. Rock), All American Men of War, Our Fighting Forces, G.I. Combat. I also bought the series Sea Devils from DC primarily because it was illustrated by another favorite who was Russ Heath and The Brave and Bold, featuring The Viking Prince, illustrated by Joe Kubert, also another favorite. From Atlas, I bought non-western titles like Tales to Astonish, Uncanny tales, and other similar titles.

I had almost all the titles in Classics Illustrated, including Junior Classics and their other series: The World Around Us. In addition, when EC publications morphed to Mad Comics, I continued to buy.

On to the Sixties
By this time, Atlas Publications became Marvel, but I didn’t buy those new superheroes by Stan Lee, simply because the artworks didn’t grab me. I resorted to borrowing or renting the new Marvel titles.

At DC, I bought a rare superhero title, Hawkman, because it was drawn by Joe Kubert. I continued to buy their war titles, particularly the new one by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert: Enemy Ace, using Manfred von Richtofen a.k.a. The Red Baron as template.

Other Kubert opus which I bought were Firehair, a western, but it didn’t last long. Over at Marvel, I bought Kull the Conqueror also simply it was drawn by John Severin.

By this time, my budget was strained because I was entering college and could not afford the imported titles that I used to like. Besides, some new local titles were worth considering. I am referring to the titles by CRAF Publications. CRAF was born out of the ashes of the defunct Ace Publications, which was closed down due to labor problems. Ace Publications was considered to be the premiere “komiks” publications of the Philippines then. It started in 1947 and ended in 1962. The best local artists and writers were working for Ace then.

CRAF churned out four titles every fortnight: Redondo Komix, Alcala Fight Komix, Fight Klasix, and Amado Lovers Komix. Two masters were incorporators of CRAF, Nestor Redondo and Alfredo Alcala, considered two of the best Filipino illustrators of all time. I collected all the CRAF titles because they featured the best illustrators in the land.

By this time Classics Illustrated had ceased operation, and Gold Key (formerly Dell comics) became rare and almost disappeared. The two competing publications were Marvel and DC because of its superheroes.

By this time also, I reined in my buying of imported comics because of budget difficulties.

The Seventies and Beyond
By the early seventies, I became very selective with my purchases since CRAF Publications folded up in the late sixties. I continued buying DC, however, my choices were extremely few like Enemy Ace, Tarzan of the Apes series by Joe Kubert, and the new western series, Jonah Hex, by John Albano and Tony Zuniga. Even after Zuniga left Jonah, I continued to patronize the Series. I also bought the other DC titles that were featuring works by Filipino artists: House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Swamp Thing, Rima the Jungle Girl, etc.

At Marvel I also did the same thing, that of buying titles which featured Filipino artists such as Conan the Barbarian, and others. My attention, however, was focused now on the magazine format, black and white comics by publisher Jim Warren. I was amazed at the consistent high quality artwork and scripts being spewed by Eerie, Creepy, Vampirella, and 1984. The “Spanish conquest” and “Filipino invasion” of warren magazines added to my interest. My favorite Spanish illustrators toiling for Warren were: Joe Ortiz, Esteban Maroto, Jose Gonzales, Luis Bermejo, and Auraleon. It was like an all-star list.

As if it weren’t enough, American illustrators added to the list like Berni Wrightson, Richard Corben, Frank Thorne, Wallace Wood, Russ Heath, John Severin, and Frank Frazetta. And to up the ante, Filipino masters Alex Nino, Alfredo Alcala, Nestor Redondo, Angel Laxamana, Fred Carillo, Jess Jodloman, etc. were also strutting their stuff. It was too good to be true. And then to provide competition to Warren Publications, Heavy Metal came out. It was the stateside version of the French Metal Hurlant. Moebius, Bilal Serpieri, and others were enough reason to buy the magazine. Both Warren and Heavy Metal were much more expensive than DC, Marvel, and others.

Heavy Metal, if memory serves me right, was sold at P45 – P50 pesos for a brand new copy, in legitimate bookstores and newsstands. They came cheaper if it was a used copy and came from the black market.

Warren magazines were not sold at legitimate outlets. They all came out used from the black market.

I often asked the peddlers at corner kiosks and magazine stands where they got their stuff. They told me they were either from Subic Bay in Olongapo, Zambales where the 7th Fleet of the US Navy was docked, or from Clark Air Base in Pampanga, where the US air force was cooling its heels after air strikes in Vietnam (this was the height of the Vietnam war).

The magazine peddlers got their merchandize from black market operators outside the bases. They collect all stuff thrown out by grunts of the US armed forces and sold them outside the bases. The items wound up in Manila and elsewhere.

Warren magazines sold for P25 – P35 pesos then, and depended on one’s haggling. Other than Heavy Metal, Warren, DC, and Marvel, Playboy, Penthouse, Hustler, National Geographic, etc. were sold too; I even got the Pacific Stars and Stripes for free. It had an excellent comic strip section and sports pages.

But this didn’t last long. After the Vietnam war, Mount Pinatubo eruption, and the termination of the US bases agreement, the supply dried up. Warren magazines ceased existence in the early 80’s. My interest in Heavy Metal also became less when work of Moebius illustrators became few and far between.

During the 80’s, I practically stopped buying comics except for a few notable ones, like adaptation of Lone Wolf and Cub. My interest was on paperbacks by then: Louis L’Amour, Larry McMurtry, Mac Bolan, Death Merchant, and Casca were titles I bought.

By the 90’s, my collection was almost a trickle. I bought the Punisher series, Rivers of Blood because it was illustrated by Joe Kubert.

By the 2000’s I stopped buying entirely. Graphic novels are unaffordable at P500 pesos and above and now I have resorted to borrowing from aficionados.

But sometimes, if I get lucky, there have been a few purchases I remember at bargain bins featuring comic books by Image, Dark Horse, Topps, DC/Vertigo, and Marvel.

Among them were: 300 by Frank Miller, Sin City, also by Miller, Dracula, illustrated by Esteban Maroto, and Indiana Jones, illustrated by Leo Duranona.

Now, looking back, I realize that my generation were basically addicts for American culture during the halcyon days of the 50’s – 60’s which included pop culture and its many manifestations on trends, books, rock and roll, movies, fashion, etc. We were also partakers of the era when the US was at its height politically, economically, and culturally.

Augusto is a true-blue comics aficionado. He is retired and lives in Naga City, Camarines Sur in Southern Luzon, Philippines.

An Interview with Lou Manna

Today I am pleased to present this interesting interview with veteran Artist Lou Manna, who has worked on a on many notable comics over the years including early work on Thunder Agents and All-Star Squadron to his present work on The Phantom and Soulcatcher series.

Special thanks goes to FBU guest correspondent Clayton Neal who conducted this interview.

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Clayton Neal: Looking back, what was it that got you hooked on comics? Do you remember what title it was?

LOU MANNA: I can remember the issue! It was Superman #161, the one where he goes to war and Ma and Pa Kent die. I was amazed that could happen in a comic book! And seeing the beautiful Curt Swan's art got me hooked. It was all DC from there. I remember going to the corner store and an issue of Batman with Ace the Bathound, so from then on I was a comic book junkie!

There was a cool old store where the guy had boxes of comics he sold for five cents each. I bought a lot of DC's Superman and Batman, and in a few years I had a pretty good collection. I discovered Marvel's Spiderman a few years later, and then things really started opening up for me.

I have been collection comics since I was 8 years old. Thank God for comic shops! An old man like me going to the 7-11 to buy comics might look a bit odd.

CN: When did you realize that you wanted to be a comic book artist?

LM: When I was 8 or 9 years old, I started to try and draw Superman and Batman. I would do these little comics on loose leaf paper with crayons. When my Dad would come home from work, I would sell them to him for a quarter. From there, I just tried to copy my favorites like Gil Kane, Buscema, Neil Adams, and many others.

I spent years making the same mistakes that most others who want to draw comics make. I had no knowledge of anything about the comic business. I would see the finished product, but didn't know what all went into the production.

CN: Was it easy for you to break into comics?

LM: Not at all! Well, in one way it was, but in another it was not! When I first started to show samples, I was so naive. I took the samples to DC Comics, and Jack Adler would be very patient with me. He would explain that I needed to work on drawing hands, so I would do that, go back the next month, and he would say “Ok, the hands are good, but the buildings are bad, work on that. This went on for a few years. I was always sure that the next time I went in, would be the time he would say “we have work for you”. This went on for about 3 years, but I was learning as I went along, since I had no formal training.

Finally, Dave Manak and Dick Giordano liked my samples. And were going to give me a werewolf story to do. The fact is, I showed them my samples and went home, thinking the same rejection was happening. They called me and asked “Where did you go?” and then they told me that they had work for me. They said I could go back in the next day, and that is where it began.

I spent two years training on mystery stories, and really learned a lot about the business. I learned to draw a lot of things that I would never want to draw on my own. It was great training because it taught me that there was more to comic art than just drawing muscle men. I also learned about story telling, from there I got a bit lucky.

My friend, John Cardona, was a great artist in school, and we would always draw pictures and show each other. One day he introduced me to his cousin, Jimmy Janes, who was working for Warren. I showed him my work, and he saw potential. I started doing some layouts for him, and from there, he got me the Legion of Super Heroes assignment. I did a lot of work there, layouts and pencils that he would go over and fix, that lasted about a year. I met Rich Buckler through Jimmy, and did some layouts for him on the Hulk, All-Star Squadron, and other books that he worked on.

I went and got Spiderman from Mark Gruenwald, and was supposed to become the artist on the Web of Spiderman, but that fell through, so I went back to DC where I felt more comfortable.
CN: You were rejected a number of times by DC, did you submit to other companies?

LM: The funny thing was, I got rejected by DC for three solid years. I just happened to go to Marvel Comics with Jimmy Janes when he was dropping off his work. Mark Gruenwald came out to say “hi”.

He looked at my work, brought me in and gave me a Spiderman script—just like that! They never used it, but I got paid for it, and did a few small jobs for them. A Rogue story, I think, so that was weird!

There were a lot of companies in the 80's that you could submit samples to. Some rejected me, and some gave me work. I was one of the first American artists that worked for a British company when I did Sunrise for Harrier Comics in 1983. Most British artists came here, I did the opposite! Also, Grant Morrison had a back up story in it, so how weird is that?


CN: I am interested in knowing what your feelings are about the past “ages” of comics. We have all watch the medium evolve, but not everyone thinks that is such a good thing.

LM: Well, what the artists today are doing is really amazing work. But there is something about the look of the older comics that stays with me. Today the art is so much better. The coloring, the writing, are excellent, but a lot of todays books get lost in the process. The coloring is by computer, and in many cases so dark that I can't see the art underneath.

The silver age to me was the most exciting, a combination of the age and the times. I remember when certain comics came out, they were so mind numbing to me: Neal Adam's Batman, Wrightson's Swamp Thing, Colan, Kane, Kirby, Aparo, all a big part of my youth, so I am bias for that time and style. I'm not taking anything away from the greats of today. Hitch, Davis, Garcia Lopez, Hughes, and so many others, I don't see it as “bronze age, silver age, etc., but as a evolution of comics and the medium.

40 years ago, His Name was Savage, to me was the first mature graphic novel, but it goes unrecognized. Today there is so much product, that you really have to stand out to make a difference.

CN: I know that Salem Saint James, the comic you produced, was set in the World War 2 era. And some of the work you did for DC included both Infinity Inc and the Young All-stars. Am I correct in assuming that you really have a fondness for the golden age?

LM: Not so much the golden age, but I do like that period of time. I was born in the 50's, but I think the art deco of the 30's and 40's—the cars, the clothes, just the feel of that time period makes for some great backgrounds. And as for bad guys, you can never have enough Nazis to beat up on.

I set Salem in the 40's because I like that innocent time, and because he would fit more as a private eye than in todays time period. Now having said that, if I continue doing a new Salem book, I have thought about bringing him into the modern times. But I do like the early golden age stuff. Only the very early Captain America, Superman, and Batman, but after the first few books, the golden age really wasn't so golden. The art was crude, and it wasn't until the early 50's when it got a lot better. As the second generation of comic artists came into the field.

CN: Can you tell us what you are working on now?

LM: I am doing a set of sketch cards for Moonstone, a few small indy projects, and I just started to work up a Phantom story that I will be writing and drawing.. Plus a few pet project graphic novels that I am also working on now, I try to work on something new each week, so I take in a lot of small assignments, commercial work. I just finished a 50 page book for a school system in Chicago, and a logo design. So as long as people need work, and I think I can do it, I am always open to new projects. It helps to be able to do a few different styles, and not just comic work, because that expands both.

I have always has such a weird journey in comics. Not always easy, not always fun, but I got bit by the comic bug when I was young. It is something I could never see myself giving up. Even when I worked for corporations as a creative service manager, I always had time at night to do some comic art. I would run home and eat dinner, then go to the studio to work on something. Anything to keep my hand in it.

Now that I do this full time, the stakes are much higher, but the rewards are so much sweeter when you finish up a book and the client is happy.

I look at the road I started on, and the road to get there--- I am a lucky guy!

CN: And we are lucky you granted us this interview! Thank you Lou!

And I second the thanks to both Clayton and Lou for the interview! - Jim

You can check out more of Lou's art at: http://www.louismanna.com/

What Makes a Good Super Villain Story?

Editor's Note: Today I present a guest column by Pop Box creator Clayton Neal. Clayton describes Pop Box as an automatically home delivered comic fix that is designed to let the fans have a say in the comics. He is hoping to launch Pop Box soon but is currently working on content and looking for creators. People interested in hearing more about Pop Box or in submitting work can contact Clayton at Submission4popbox@gmx.com

~ Jim

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To paraphrase an American great: Last night I had a dream! Not so much about the civil rights movement, but interestingly enough, it did take place in the courtroom. I can't tell you much about it (mainly because I don't remember) but I can tell you that I was standing in front of the judge saying:

“...after all, your Honor, what exactly makes a good super villain story?”

OK, I admit to little sleep and too much research can put me in a very interesting mind set. As I woke up laughing to myself and after the initial “What was that?” line I give, I thought that it was a very interesting question. Not only what makes a good super villain, but also what makes a good super villain team?

Back in the Golden age of comics it was simple, because the characterization was much simpler than today or even in the Bronze Age of comics. For example, When the Injustice Society was first formed by the Wizard (All-Star Comics #37, 1940) the villains actually seemed to form a bond, and had a great cooperation in working together to defeat the Justice Society of America.

In the Bronze Age, it was a different story. The individual villain characteristics started to surface. Marvel Comics showed us that even the most bonded team of villains wasn't immune to a sudden back stabbing. Avengers #72 (Jan.,1970) started a story arc with the Zodiac Gang where the leader of the citadel at the time betrayed his team and blasted them off into space as well as the Avengers. Roy Thomas did a great job in scripting this memorable classic.

Over at DC Comics, Len Wein and artist Dick Dillon went one step farther. In Justice League of America #111 (Sept. 1974) they created the Injustice Gang of the World. A new “master villain” was introduced and gathered together the likes of Mirror Master, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, the Tattooed Man, and Chronos (The seemingly staple of almost every villain team DC came up with at that time). Libra not only betrayed his team, but beat them and left them for the authorities to pick up. Strangely, this both disappointed me and excited me at the time. Maybe that is what they were aiming for. This was now offically the formula for super villain teams that seemed to work. This is what was making a great super villain team: Who will betray who?

It was only a few years later when Gerry Conway took this theme a little farther, and Created a gem with the Secret Society of Super Villains! I thought it was interesting when I found out that in order to pitch the idea to the big guys at DC Comics, he actually wrote and had Rich Buckler draw up a small sample mock up of what he had planed for the series. He knew this was the only way he might be able to get them to rise up and take notice, since the sales on other Super Villain solo books like the Joker didn't sell so well. I for one am very glad that DC gave the go ahead for the comic. From the very first issue, they started to stretch the betrayal theme to new lengths!

A few examples being:

Issue one had Gorilla Grodd not only leaving an injured Copperhead behind for the authorities, but in order to serve his own purpose, he actually told the Society that it was Copperhead who was the backstabber, And to think they had just been told that the Secret Society was to be a kind of brotherhood of injustice.

Issue two reintroduced the 50's hero Captain Comet, who recently came back to earth after a long impose exile in space. After he “saved” Star Sapphire from Green Lantern, the society thought to convince Comet that they were indeed the good guys, and the Justice League were the evil ones. (It turns out later that the good Captain didn't buy it, and he knew that the Secret Society's leader, Manhunter, was actually one of the good guys unlike the rest of the team)

Oh sure, the Secret Society bonded together, but the theme was still there. The Wizard and Sinestro not taking part in the big blow out between the SSOSV and Mantis, wanting to wait and side with the winners, The Trickster deciding to try and keep the loot for himself, only to be tossed out of the society, and then getting his first taste of heroism when he sided with Captain Comet and Kid Flash to try and take down the team because he felt betrayed by the society. Some of many examples.

In my humble opinion, the SSOSV was the book that really expanded the theme, and showed the world that what made a great super villain story. Who's going to stab who in the back and when?

Hey, you gotta love your villains, just don't turn your back on them.

- Clayton