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[MarkWarner]

Last week's books had mixed reviews, including a not too hot one from the book's owner.

Anyway, Coolio! A member has suggested The Barker, a book that I keep meaning to read! He/she says:

Largely a detective comic, but with an element of humor derived from being based on circus acts & freaks

The Barker #1 can be found at https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=25238, and the story we are concentrating on is the first one with "Bobo the Evil Clown".

[narfstar]

Wow what a disappointment. I had read a Barker previously but did not remember much about it. The series has always garnered high praise. The art is good but the story was so completely predictable and boring. It had noting unique or interesting about it.

[crashryan]

I rather like this book, though I have some quibbles with it. What most appeals to me is its unusual setting. Not that The Barker is the only circus character in GA comics, but he seems to be the most (maybe the only?) successful one. Think about it. A circus barker as the star of a book, not just a backup feature, and the book lasts 15 issues! That's quite a feat.

The main problem is that the stories are short on laughs, especially the first one. It could easily have appeared in a crime comic drawn in a realistic style. The last story is the most amusing of the three, though built on obnoxious stereotypes. The middle story is midway between funny and straight. I don't care for the Spudo short at all. But then Quality's filler series were seldom very good.

I'm a big booster of writer-artists so I wish I liked Klaus Nordling more than I do. There's something about his cartooning that seems out-of-synch. It's most noticeable on the first story. Carnie's super-exaggerated poses just don't mesh with the semi-straight action. Overall Nordling fares pretty well as a writer. His cast of characters is pleasant and the stories are well-paced with decent dialogue. The surprise endings aren't very surprising, though. Was anyone else bothered by the fact the clown in the first story  never appears out of costume and is never given a name? It's as if he doesn't have a "real" identity.

I want to return to the comic's unusual theme. Golden Age comics boasted a wider variety of genres than those of the Silver Age and later. However most of the non-funny-animal comics fell into familiar categories: pirates, detectives, cowboys, soldiers, superheroes, men of action. Some Quality editor took a chance launching a book like this. I wonder if it was the same editor who decided to give a riverboat captain the lead spot in latter-day issues of Hit Comics.

[Drahken]

I'm generally not a fan of detective type comics (nor the whole private eye/fil noir type thing in any media), so I was rather surprised to find myself liking this, despite it not meeting my expectations. Based on the description on the site (or was it wiki I was reading? *shrug*), I was expecting something more humorous and/or adventurous, finding it to be a detective type comic was rather disappointing. Despite this however, I found myself drawn in to it & rather liking it. I liked the story of the horse trainer best. While it was glaringly obvious from the outset what her "secret" identity would be, I couldn't guess where she got such powers given the context of the comic (ie, the fact that it's generally realistic, no aliens or magic powers etc).
Overall it is a series that I'll likely come back to.

[SuperScrounge]

Bobo the clown - Okay, but nothing special.

Second story - Liked it more than the first story, although the explanation for Nona's power over men was weak.

Spudo story - Okay. Spudo filling in for the windmill was daft, although the cynicism with Louella's loyalty was oddly amusing.

Telltale Eye - Okay.

Slim Pickens - Okay.

Final story - Best of the lot.

[Mazzucchelli]

I imagine that by 1946 there were probably dozens of Will Eisner's "The Spirit" copycat comics on the new stands, and every time there's a huge success in the media, inevitably it will be followed by some rip-offs.
And I also know that sometimes some of these rip-offs even have quality points in them, and can be quite entertaining.

This is obviously not the case with The Barker.

Similar in concept, in costume and general thematics with Eisner's The Spirit, it is not, however, similar in quality.

The first story lacks in humour, suspense and is quite boring. The plot couldn't be more predictable. The art is average in my opinion (but fails disgracefully when compared to Will Eisner's).

Even the main mystery of the story is not solved by the protagonist himself !!
It is indeed solved and revealed by "Midge", the sidekick  (who is a caucasian version of The Spirit's sidekick "Ebony White"). He's the one who discovers everything and reveals to Carnie Calahan.

Barker is described in the first page as "spieling" and "genial".
Well, in my point of view, he (at least in the first story) was nothing more than a spectator, because all the credit belongs to Midge.

The cover states proudly "The Barker in a Carnival of Laughs and Thrills"
Barker is there, The carnival is also there

[crashryan]

Mazzucchelli, you make an interesting point comparing The Barker to The Spirit. It's not a one-to-one correspondence, but the influence certainly seems to be there. Also the personnel connection, since Nordling, who presumably wrote as well as drew these stories, did Lady Luck for Eisner's Spirit section.

I think Carnie is totally passive only in the first story. He takes an active role in wrapping up the other two cases, though he's never the big star like the Spirit is. These are more "ensemble cast" stories than "hero" stories. Part of the problem might be that the other cast members have strong personalities (though admittedly schtick-based). Carnie's only outstanding characteristic is fast talking, but that trait doesn't play a part in the stories' outcomes.

[MarkWarner]

Here we go with a recommendation from an esteemed Reading Group Member. The book makes a good start with a great cover directly followed by "Pepsi the Pepsi-Cola Cop" strip. I really like my vintage advertising!

The first feature has now been read, and if it is representative The Barker is a very readable series. It has a story line, some interesting characters and cool art. It's now time to find out if this is the norm as we are straight into another one. This again is nicely worked, but very unbelievable to say the least.

I am not quite sure about the morals of the Spudo story. It was a tad strange, looking at our GCD data the script unlike the other stories is credited to Gwen Hansen and it certainly does have a different feel to it. Still good though! If you

[bowers]

This issue is a fun little visit to a now dead genre. The circus can, indeed, provide a strange setting for a story, peopled with some quite bizarre characters.
The first story was probably the most predictable but still had an entertaining cast. Unfortunately, Carnie Calahan was one of the weakest characters in this one. The evil clown theme was reasonably well done.
The second story was better, although still predictable. C'mon- we all knew who Nona really was. The hypnotic angle was interesting, but not very well explained away.
I liked the character, Spudo, so his feature was OK. Nice bit of a filler.
My favorite was the Adou Ben Hafiz story. Definitely a real rat! Carnie seemed to be a little more in command in this one. Nice ending.
The art and writing was adequate, but not great. Still, not a bad read. Pretty good in places. Cheers, Bowers