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Week 86 - The Mad Hatter #2

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topic icon Author Topic: Week 86 - The Mad Hatter #2  (Read 3251 times)

MarkWarner

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Week 86 - The Mad Hatter #2
« on: August 26, 2015, 06:37:05 AM »

Although it was not very well received last week's book (Darevdevil #1) certainly got the reading group's little grey cells working plenty of good comments to read!

This week's book is an interestesting little oddity scanned by our very own Jim (aka Narfstar) and hails from another Jim's (Vadeboncoeur, Jr aka JVJ) amazing collection!

So here we have The Mad Hatter #2  https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=7420. The story we are concentrating on is the first one "The Golden City!". 

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Morgus

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Re: Week 86 - The Mad Hatter #2
« Reply #1 on: August 28, 2015, 09:00:23 AM »

The style reminded me a LOT of The Spirit strips...was the artist one of the folks from Eisner's stable? Liked the backgrounds and back story..The fight sequences really reminded me of The Spirit...but WHY "Mad Hatter"? Aside from the pimped up search light, I couldn't figure any co relation to the name...he didn't seem either angrier or crazier then anybody else in the strip and didn't wear a hat...and come to think of it, as I look at his features, he seems more and more a copy of The Spirit...just blonde...but with the same grin, and just a red mask...and no hat. But hey, remember Mr Risk? THERE was an explanation that could have worked...Risk could have followed Mad Hatter's lead and have been a lawyer who could duck out when he wanted, so THAT was why he didn't need to collect his fees...Still, if you have to read knock offs, Will Eisner knock offs are a good way to go...
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SuperScrounge

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Re: Week 86 - The Mad Hatter #2
« Reply #2 on: August 29, 2015, 06:59:21 PM »

You'd think a character calling himself the Mad Hatter might actually, you know, wear a hat. Guess that why they call him Mad. I suppose we should be glad he wasn't the Mad Pantsman.

I'd read both Mad Hatter books a few years back and, I believe, that Woolfolk had written dozens of characters for multiple publishers, which oddly, makes for a well written, but generic character. Nothing about him makes him stand out from any number of other characters from other publishers.

The Golden City - No bloodshed in the Golden City... weren't the Aztecs known for their bloody sacrifices? Otherwise a good story, with nice art.

Untitled - So was this the first superhero fights evil gorilla story? I think 10 years later DC would make a cottage industry out of this type of tale.  ;)

Hasty & Tardy - Eh, nothing special.

Murder Rides The Trail - Meh.

Fuddy & Bustle - Oh, joy, a story featuring the so-called comic relief. *rolls eyes*

Crime Consultant - Okay.
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Mazzucchelli

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Re: Week 86 - The Mad Hatter #2
« Reply #3 on: August 29, 2015, 10:06:12 PM »

This probably stands as one of the worst chosen names for a comic book hero ever.
Mad hatter?

Mind you, the guy is neither mad or does wear a hat. But nevertheless his symbol is a hat, without any apparent logical reason.
Which makes me wonder why the hell they
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crashryan

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Re: Week 86 - The Mad Hatter #2
« Reply #4 on: August 30, 2015, 05:17:08 AM »

I was puzzled by the sudden change of tone in this book. The Mad Hatter in the Giunta "Man-Ape" story is a different guy than the Hatter in the two Mort Leav stories. There are little differences, like how the Hatter recites rhymes while fighting in the Giunta version but not in the Leav stories; or the way Giunta draws the Hatter with fuzzy cape, gloves and shorts and Leav doesn't. More significant is that the Giunta story is so much darker in tone than the Leav tales.

Curious, I turned to the previous (and only other) issue and got a surprise. The Giunta man-ape story was supposed to have been in issue #1--or so I gather from the fact that it's featured on #1's cover! What's more the lead story, "Date with the Hatter," has the same dark tone and unusual character bits as the man-ape story. The two stories would have fit together perfectly.

Looking at it that way we get the impression that The Mad Hatter was almost completely re-thought between its first and second issues. The first issue might even have been written by someone other than Bill Woolfolk. But Woolfolk was co-publisher; he probably just changed his mind about the character's direction. Or maybe the entire project was troubled. Details like missing logos and sloppy editing suggest either behind-the-scenes struggles or half-assed production.

All that aside, I agree with the others that The Mad Hatter is a generic character with a dumb name. Yes, he should at least wear a hat! However I like the attempts in the Giunta stories to give secondary characters a bit of depth. For that reason I prefer the man-ape story to the Golden City and Humpty Dumpty stories. The Golden City story did have some interesting ideas. The Humpty Dumpty story reminded me of those wartime non-Eisner Spirit stories where the writers never quite got the character right. Hasty and Tardy was forgettable. Fuddy and Bustle are two of the worst comic-relief characters ever! Even in comic books there's a limit to how stupid a character can be. Their filler story is plain awful.

My late friend Manny Stallman greatly admired John Giunta. At the time I couldn't understand why. I'd only seen Giunta's work for Tower and I didn't like it. Later when I saw Giunta's 1950s work I understood where Manny was coming from. They did a number of weird stories and romances, Manny pencilling and "Johnny" inking. They were a terrific team. In Giunta's solo work there were flashes of brilliance, especially in moody scenes. We see that side of him in the man-ape story. Unfortunately most of his art suffers from the traits I'd disliked in the sixties: tiny stiff characters lost in enormous background-free panels.

I have a similar love-hate thing with Mort Leav. He obviously can draw well when he wants to. He can pack a lot of action and movement into a panel. But he's wildly inconsistent. A great panel is followed by a panel dashed off between bites of a sandwich. Something about Leav's faces, particularly their noses, irritates me. The shtick that really drives me crazy, though, is how he'll draw people's heads and hands floating in space.

The Mad Hatter isn't much of a comic, but I'll bet its "inside story" would be fascinating.
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paw broon

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Re: Week 86 - The Mad Hatter #2
« Reply #5 on: August 31, 2015, 03:57:13 PM »

I liked this comic.  The art is all action on the first story and, despite the odd name and insignia, I was taken with Grant Richmond and The Mad Hatter.  Can't work out any significance of it all but it doesn't matter to me.  And I love that first panel of the 2nd. story.  The story itself is a lot darker and a bit like some horror comics and horror films. Frank Faro is a nasty piece of work.  The 2nd. last panel on our page 30 perhaps gives some hazy insight to The Hatter's name and sign.  Despite some really weirdly depicted heads, the art in this story seems lacking in detail and, apart from that 1st. panel, doesn't appeal to me as much as that on the 1st. story.
Then the 3rd. Hatter story. It seems reminiscent of the odd, exaggerated characters from Kirby's Fighting American.  All in all for a superhero fan like me, this was a good read.  Also, It's another MMM to add to my card file of obscure superheroes ;D
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narfstar

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Re: Week 86 - The Mad Hatter #2
« Reply #6 on: September 01, 2015, 03:05:44 PM »

Pure rollicking golden age fun. I loved the first story. I did not read other comments first because it left me smiling.
« Last Edit: September 01, 2015, 03:10:58 PM by narfstar »
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bowers

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Re: Week 86 - The Mad Hatter #2
« Reply #7 on: September 01, 2015, 11:10:51 PM »

This one was slightly perplexing, but still a fun read. I, too, couldn't see why Richmond chose this name. Paw's direction to the panel containing the note is probably the only answer we'll ever get. Just another guy crazy about adventure!

"The Golden City" was a great leadoff story. Good action drawing and writing. I'm always a sucker for lost city tales, and this one kept the action moving right along. Loved it!

I liked Leav's art much better than Giunta's, although the ape story was very well written and I do like the way the Hatter was handled differently. The crazy rhymes and bad puns were a nice touch.

I actually enjoyed "Hasty and Tardy". Nice '40's animal art and and a short and sweet gag.

"Humpty Dumpty" was an average but enjoyable romp, the art being just a bit better than the story.

Maybe with a little clearer picture of who The Mad Hatter was and how his character worked, the publishers might have had at least a minor hit on their hands. Great read! Cheers- Bowers
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MarkWarner

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Re: Week 86 - The Mad Hatter #2
« Reply #8 on: September 02, 2015, 01:05:26 PM »

I'd love to see a collection of comic books that claim "A New Kind Of Comic Magazine" or words to that effect. Here is one of them, and it would rank as one of the cooler of those covers. Hopefully the inside is as good!  AND IT IS!!!

Ths first story all seems rather commie if you ask me. It's certainly not capitalism in the good old USA style! It is pretty good. It has a bit of a story, some humour and cool art.

I think the second story is really VERY good, a gothic comicbook story of the highest order (not sure that is saying too much I guess)!

Even the funny animal interlude is good. The text story is Okish and certainly readable. I was not sure about the Mad Hatter spinoff with just Fuddy and Bustle.

The last Mad Hatter story is also VERY cool, with Humpty Dumpty setting himself up as a crime consultant. He certainly has some style and reminds me SO MUCH of Batman's Penguin!

Verdict: A HUGE HIT. Certainly one of the best books we have read, I really enjoyed it!
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