Broken Frontier

Hello, everyone! Welcome to Guiding Lines! My name is William Gatevackes. Let’s take a look at the comics arriving in stores September 7, 2006 (a day later than usual because of the Labor Day weekend). Please note that the titles featured in this column were listed as coming out tomorrow on Diamond’s Shipping List on Monday, August 28. Shipping schedules are subject to change at the last moment and some of the titles might not arrive as scheduled.

American Splendor #1 is coming to us tomorrow from Vertigo. This marks an unusual occurrence—an “underground” book making its way into the mainstream. This journey didn’t happen overnight, it took thirty years as a matter of fact, but it represents another interesting turn in the life of Harvey Pekar.

Pekar started American Splendor in 1976 while working at the Veteran Administration hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. The title detailed stories taken directly from Pekar’s life. A love of old records brought him into a friendship with underground comic legend Robert Crumb, who did the art for the first issue.

Having Crumb on the art gave the title an immediate cache, but it was Pekar’s appearances on the Late Night show with David Letterman that gave the title and the writer notoriety. Harvey appeared on the show 8 times between 1986 and 1988 before he was banned for speaking out on-air against General Electric, the parent company of Late Night’s network NBC. (Letterman eventually buried the hatchet with Pekar and invited him back on the show—after the show had moved to CBS.)

More fame came when American Splendor was adapted for the big screen in 2003, starring Paul Giamatti as Pekar. The movie won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published.

Pekar self-published 17 issues of the comic from 1976 to 1993 before moving briefly to Dark Horse. Now he’s at an imprint of the big Two. He moves American Splendor to Vertigo after writing last year’s The Quitter for the company.

American Splendor covers all aspects of Pekar’s life, from the mundane to the exciting. While many of the autobiographical comics inspired by Splendor come off as boring and self-indulgent, Pekar’s writing style is conversational and interesting, making the books very inviting to readers.

If you are not familiar with Pekar’s American Splendor, either through the original issues, the paperback collection or the movie, this miniseries is a good way for you to introduce yourself. It might not be for everybody, but it definitely deserves a chance.

DC dusts off one of its old anthology titles with Mystery in Space #1. The original series ran from 1952-1966 with a 7-issue revival in 1980-1981. That comic featured numerous stories set firmly in the realm of science fiction and served as the launching pad and home for fan favorite character Adam Strange.

This series is set for 8 issues and mixes several popular trends in comics today: a once well-liked alternative to heroes getting another chance, an old, B-list character getting some time in the spotlight, and a legendary creator working in the style he is famous for.

The science fiction genre was once a, if not the, dominant story type in comics. It seemed like every company had several space operas on their publishing output. And now, it is one of the many styles getting another chance to grab new readers. Mystery in Space joins Marvel's Annihilation event as an example of the companies’ efforts in this arena.

This new series focuses on Captain Comet, one of DC’s oldest science fiction characters. The good Captain first appeared in 1951’s Strange Adventures #9 and has been making sporadic appearances since, usually in supporting roles. 

The comic is written by comic legend Jim Starlin. If there has ever been a creator linked with the science fiction comic book, it would be Starlin. The writer/artist came to fame over at Marvel for his work on their version of Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock and is known for co-creating the popular villain Thanos. Starlin excels at writing cosmic characters and space-faring storylines, so writing Mystery in Space should be second nature to him.

But will these three aspects blend together to form a successful limited series? Only time will tell. But if you are a fan of science fiction, you might want to give Mystery in Space a try.

With a cloud of dust and a hardy “Hi-Ho Silver,” Lone Ranger #1 gallops into stores tomorrow. Published by Dynamite Entertainment, the title joins the company’s eclectic mix of licensed properties, which include Red Sonja, both versions of Battlestar Galactica, and Sam Raimi’s Xena: Warrior Princess, Army of Darkness and Darkman. All of the above hold a certain audience of dedicated fans. However, the Lone Ranger’s fan base might be smaller than the rest, making the license a risky one for Dynamite to pursue.

The Lone Ranger first appeared on radio on January 30, 1933 and ran for almost 3,000 episodes over the next 21 years. The popularity of the character spawned movie serials, novels, a TV show which ran from 1949 to 1957, cartoons, a newspaper comic strip which appeared from 1938 to 1971, and even two comic book series, the first from Dell starting in 1948 and lasting 145 issues and a short, 27 issue revival from Gold Key which ran from 1964 to 1977.

The first run of the Lone Ranger comic book was popular enough to spawn a spin-off series featuring the Lone Ranger’s sidekick Tonto and even one starring his horse, Silver. But the character has waned in popularity, which might mean this current comic incarnation might find it hard to get an audience.

The 1981 movie, The Legend of the Lone Ranger, was a flop, only being remembered for its producers bringing about a lawsuit against the TV Lone Ranger Clayton Moore prohibiting him from wearing the characters trademark black mask. A cartoon featuring the character, paired with stories featuring Zorro and Tarzan, lasted only 14 episodes in 1981. The most recent attempt to revive the character was a 2003 WB pilot which didn’t get much notice.

Will Dynamite’s latest attempt at revival work? They are going back to basics with the character, starting with his origin story. And they are trying to keep a modern tone with the writing while still keeping reverence to what has come before.

But when a majority of the comic buying audience only has a fuzzy recollection of the character from the cartoons and repeats of the TV show from syndication, it is a hard road to travel. You can’t sell it on nostalgia alone. You have to reintroduce the character in such a way that readers who have never heard of the character before are drawn in. It will be interesting to see if Dynamite pulls this off with its newest publication.

X-Men: Phoenix-Warsong #1 is the start of a 5-issue limited series that revisits the “Phoenix” concept yet again. The Phoenix has become a sort of albatross around the neck of X-Men continuity, a concept writers like to return to again and again until the concept is almost played out.

The “Dark Phoenix Saga,” which introduced the Phoenix force and ran from Uncanny X-Men #129 to #138, is arguably the greatest story in X-Men history.  It deals with corruptive quality of absolute power, and the arc made a great impression on many current day comic professionals.

However, it might have made too great an impression on fans and professionals, judging by the way the concepts and ideas of the storyline have been revisited again and again over the years.

A Jean Grey look-alike was made to look like the Dark Phoenix in Uncanny #175. Rachel Summers, the daughter of Jean Grey and Cyclops gained the powers of the Phoenix in Uncanny #199. And when Jean Grey herself came back to life, any time they wanted her character to appear interesting they threw a red herring in about her becoming the Phoenix again.

Last year’s X-Men: Phoenix Endsong appeared to bring closure to the issue of the Phoenix. Like Phoenix: Warsong, it was written by Greg Pak and tied up a lot of the loose ends created by the Grant Morrison run of New X-Men. It would have been a perfectly fine end to the Phoenix concept if it was just left alone. After all, it was subtitled “Endsong.”

Unfortunately, the limited series sold too well (each issue received a second printing) and so here we are with a sequel. I’m sure that Warsong will be of the same quality as Endsong, which I found to be a very well-written series. However, every story revolving around the Phoenix not only pales in comparison to the Dark Phoenix Saga, but also dilutes the impact of that original story as well.

Great stories begat more stories. One of the best qualities of comics is that every issue published builds on the one before it. But there are times, like the case of the Phoenix, when concepts should just be laid to rest. You can go to the well too many times.

Speaking about revisiting concepts, although in quite a different way, 1602: Fantastick Four #1 comes to us tomorrow. This is the latest limited series to spin-off from the concepts Neil Gaiman created in his 1602 series.

What Gaiman did with 1602 was create an entirely new universe. Sure, this universe was composed of Marvel characters as they would be like if they lived in the 17th Century, but nonetheless, the concept contained great potential for stories to explore this new reality.

1602: The New World was Marvel’s first follow-up to the original series and focused on two characters, the Hulk and Iron Man, which Gaiman did not devote much, or any, time to in 1602.  The Fantastick Four, however, did appear in 1602. So whoever took over this series would face even stronger critical comparisons to Gaiman’s 1602 than The New World’s Greg Pak did. You’d need to have a writer on the top of his game. You’d need a writer with a lot of writing experience under his belt and a unique style that could still fit into the world of 1602.

Enter Peter David.

Peter David is a wily comics veteran who has worked consistently in the industry for over 20 years. As comics have changed over the years, he has changed subtly with them while still retaining his unique voice. While many of his former contemporaries have found it difficult to adjust, David has remained a vital creator.

It will be interesting to see what David does while in Gaiman’s playground. Gaiman and David are, in my opinion, two of the best comic writers of all time. This quasi-collaboration has me genuinely excited and I look forward to getting my copy of this issue.

When I first came across the solicitation for Sam Noir: Samurai Detective #1 in the July Previews, I instantly thought of John Belushi’s character from the first several seasons of Saturday Night Live. There was a recurring sketch which featured Belushi portraying a Samurai in a variety of mundane occupations such as “Samurai Delicatessen” or “Samurai Tailor.”

And if that is the lead character on the cover, he does bear a resemblance to Belushi. Could this be some kind of unofficial adaptation of those series of sketches? Regardless, the concept is unique and some solicitations advertise an off-kilter humor to the book. And the mix of genres is so goofy, and I mean this in a good way, that even if it was played straight it would probably be hilarious.

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William Gatevackes is a professional writer living in Mamaroneck, NY who has fond memories of Belushi’s Samurai sketches. Which is strange because he would have been 4, 5 tops, when those sketches first aired. Anyway, Bill lives with his wife Jennifer and writes periodic comic reviews for PopMatters and writes title descriptions for Human Computing’s Comicbase collection management software.