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[paw broon]

Yet another excellent discussion on CB+.
However, all the well thought out points above fail to take into account one particular aspect,  the fan/ reader with bad taste - e.g., me and the likes of me.  I loved and still do, The Mighty Crusaders.  The sheer joy at seeing another superteam made up of strange ( to me, anyway) heroes was exciting.   Bear in mind that I had never seen these characters in their GA versions. And that I enjoy the obscure.  It's always been a mystery to me the Iron Man's big, grey, bulky suit was changed.  Ok, sales etc. but I still prefer the limitations an unweildy bulk of the original.  And in keeping with the power limits on Marvel heroes at the time, the original armour fitted in perfectly imo.
Sometimes I've had chats with fellow fans as to why DC used the characters they did at the dawn of the S.A..  The Flash rather than Johnny Quick.  No Roboman.  None of Law's Legionnaires apart from Green Arow, till much much later.
While I have great appreciation of Ditko's Spiderman - I love those issues and gave up the title shortly after Ditko's departure, I wasn't as keen on the FF, and much preferred the early Captain America tales.  Bear in mind again, I'd had no or very little experience of GA heroes.
The one title that really brought me into DC silver age heroes was Showcase with Green Lantern.  I just loved everything about it.
Atlas? My Bad taste again? That imprint got me going as well and I still think there was some merit in some of the titles. The Grim Ghost appealed, I suppose it was slightly reminiscent of Nick Jolly.  I know a couple of fans who have collected the entire run of Atlas titles, and I have them digitally.
Same with the Harvey superheroes,  I and a few others of my acquaintance have all the titles as physical issues.  And again, Southern Knights, and Justice Machine and Twilight Avenger, and so on.
It's all about superheroes and often even though the quality isn't up to the standard of some mainstream titles - Marvel and DC have put out some dire stuff - it still appeals to many dyed in the wool fans.  Although Eclipse Comics is another that slips below my idea of readable.  In any case, I can get my fix of sheer quality here via, Cole, Fine, Eisner, Raboy, Robinson etc.

[The Australian Panther]

Paw,

It's all about superheroes and often even though the quality isn't up to the standard of some mainstream titles - Marvel and DC have put out some dire stuff - it still appeals to many dyed in the wool fans.

Oh absolutely! It's like a quest. You get hooked and then keep looking for the Holy Grail. And every once in a while you find it. May only be a single issue rather than a series, or an arc or a run.

the fan/ reader with bad taste - e.g., me and the likes of me.

Bad Taste? No, I think it's more like a drinker who can't get his favourite tipple and so settles for whatever he can get, to feed the desire. It's not as enjoyable but it will do.   

You missed the Charlton heroes!  I hoped for great things from then. Bought all the Superhero Charltons off the comic racks. Expected great things, but they lasted less than a year. And in the min-60's it wasn't Marvel that kept me reading comics after I was supposed to have 'grown up' and stopped. It was the Gold Key stable. Dr Solar, Space Family Robinson, Magnus. Marvel came later. Showcase? I even liked the Sea Devils and Cave Carson. 
I don't fault fans for being fans! But They have helped 'graphic art' reach a high level of respectability but they can be very one- dimensional, one-eyed and intolerant too! 
Cheers!

[paw broon]

Panther, you're so right.  Charlton heroes, and I include Blue Beetle pre Ditko and I have all the Charlton "bad" ones, were great fun and PAM on Thunderbolt still excites.  Lovely stuff.  Solar and Magnus, particularly Magnus, are lovely to read. But there is also for me The Super Heroes, The Owl, and Nukla and Brain Boy.
Charlton also had a superhero trio who appeared in the back of Thunderbolt, The Sentinels.  We are getting somewhat obscure here, and I love it.
Oh well, go for it.  Mentioning Justice Machine has pushed me to naming some other slightly more obscure teams that I collected, and enjoyed.  But despite the fact that The Elementals appeared in a crossover with Justice Machine, I never took to them.  What did float my boat, or at least gave me one paddle, was Hero Alliance.  Interesting but a bit derivative.  Victor was their main man.
And, Justice Machine also crossed over with Thunder Agents, although this was after Tower went belly up and the quality wasn't nearly the same.  Thunder Agents were exciting.  Great ideas, well drawn, quirky and unusual at the time.  I still go back and read the originals.  Dynamo's trick of turning the belt on and crashing down through a building never ceases to amuse and thrill.  A trick emulated by other heroes. No Man was a genius idea. 

[crashryan]

After following the discussion here I've had to reevaluate some of my comments. I completely ignored the Fan factor--doing a project because you're young, enthusiastic, and just loving to do comics. How soon we forget our roots. Many of these revivals seem like fan projects with much fancier production and printing than was available back in my own fanzine days. In my earlier comments I took it for granted that all the revivalists have the same goal: to find commercial success. I was thinking about the indy comic boom of the 80s, when countless mildly-talented and totally-inexperienced creative teams were convinced their project was going to be the next Ninja Turtles.

Today all I hear about online and off is building your brand, growing your enterprise, leveraging your social media presence, all that entrepreneurial bizspeak. Behind it is the promise that no matter what your product may be, if you market yourself properly you can sell it to Hollywood for a zillion dollars, declare yourself a libertarian, start a financial empire, donate to the Republican party and learn how to evade taxes. There's so much of this crap in the air that I automatically assumed it's entrepreneurial greed that motivates these publishing projects. It may not be! Some of these guys may just be passionate fans pursuing their personal dream of making comics.

Despite my snobbery I also enjoyed, and still enjoy, off-the-beaten-path comics. Magnus and Dr Solar were two early favorites (at least the plainclothes Dr Solar; I never warmed to the superhero version). And Brain Boy! I'd love to do a Brain Boy story. Being me, I'd keep the character in period and keep his rumpled suit and skinny tie. Not to mention the original dark-skinned Maria. Matt and Maria were modern American comics' first mixed-race couple until one day she suddenly turned pink. She also lost that revealing evening gown, more's the pity.

The Mighty heroes and the Dell superhero series were latecomers. I was moving up to high school and the Marvel books were entering their golden era. Being an aspiring comic artist I was always moved first by the artwork then by the character. So much good stuff was coming out back then! Not just Kirby and Ditko and the rest of the Marvel team. Ballantine Books released paperback reprints of EC science fiction stories, introducing me to Wood, Williamson, and Frazetta. Alberto Giolitti, Gold Key's nameless "good artist," was turning out TV adaptations, spy stories, Turok, and supernatural short subjects. Russ Manning was busting Tarzan out of the park. I confess I took a snooty attitude toward many books because the art didn't meet my standards. Hence my disdain for Paul Reinman's Mighty Crusaders and anything Bill Fraccio touched. Similarly my passionate devotion to the Tower heroes cooled with the departure of Wood and Co. and the coming of Ogden Whitney and Chic Stone.

Yet I really dug Charlton's B-grade heroes (except Son of Vulcan; see above). Alongside the super crowd we had Tiffany Sinn (despite Jim Aparo having developed into a fine Adams-school artist, I'm partial to his quirky ad-agency Charlton style), The Sentinels, The Fightin' Five, Thane of Bagarth, Sam Glanzman's Hercules, Sarge Steel (loved his film-noir episodes), Wander (great series), The Tyro Team, etc. ad infinitum.

I developed a soft spot for Nukla (nice Giordano art), Super Heroes, and Neutro. Dracula/Werewolf/Frankenstein not so much. Not only because of Bill Fraccio, but also because I couldn't believe a writer who'd name his heroine Miss Ann Thrope had anything but contempt for his subject. Funny name, though.

In closing I confess that I myself committed the very sins for which I admonished the current revivalists. I was certain I was ready to turn pro--I wasn't--and I sent D. J. Arneson a couple of Werewolf sample pages. Because I knew I had better ideas than the ones he'd paid for, in those two pages I changed Werewolf's costume, killed off his wolf sidekick, redefined his job, and gave him a new headquarters. What can I say? It takes one to know one.

[The Australian Panther]

For lovers of Superhero comics and Golden Age heroes in particular, a happy medium between Fan created and professional is Big Bang comics.
Clearly a fan project but the books look professional in their tribute to comic book traditions.Some professionals [like Eric Larson for one] sometimes contribute.
If you miss the Golden Age or the Silver Age, this is the place to go.
All available on the internet if you look.
https://imagecomics.fandom.com/wiki/Big_Bang_Comics_Vol_1
This list is just of the Title Big Bang, not the total output of the Big Bang collective. There are one shots and mini-series too.
The Sphinx  character originally appeared in fanzines.
Detailed article on Big Bang and rundown of the characters. Just reading this is fun.
Read it over breakfast!
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ComicBook/BigBangComics 
These books are a lot of fun.
Cheers!         

[gregjh]

So why bother doing a revival at all? The only reasons that I can imagine are (1) The new creator thinks the character is cool, but too old-fashioned. He  really believes he's working on the same character even after he's updated it beyond recognition. (2) The new creator thinks he can save time and development effort by using a pre-existing character. However he puts in so much effort reworking the character that he might as well have started from scratch. (3) A creator thinks a character would have great potential if only he were in charge. In his attempt to realize that potential the creator, who didn't really have that much new to say, reprises the Marvel/DC/Whomever ideas he grew up with. 

I will probably read and review the "Exciting" comics this weekend.

Very well said, and I think you've hit the proverbial nail on the head. It's essentially lazy or self-indulgent writing. There is no reason a character cannot be revived in a new generation whilst also retaining the original qualities and character that made him or her a hero. This has been done successfully in TV, Film and at least once in comics. That once is Dynamite Thor by Jon Del Arroz, who stayed true to the original by portraying the superpowers as a family legacy, though Del Arroz noted sales were below his usual numbers whenever he revived GA heroes.   

[paw broon]

AP, how could I not have mentioned Big Bang??  Great fun and most of them well done. Thanks for reminding me.
I was thinking about superhero teams - as you do, and there was a French team, Mikros, that I used to enjoy and I see there are 2 collections available.  Jean Yves Mitton is the creator:-
https://www.planetebd.com/comics/series/mikros/9013.html
They are entertaining comics. 
As I was looking for Mikros, I stumbled on this illo and a page on Italian "neri" "heroes", well, villains, many of them, although Fantax is in there which I find odd.  Here's the illo:-
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VaU_IamL5wQ/Xsuk0Zc6_hI/AAAAAAAADlA/9Z2-ktrpAa4egYXBu24fIAgAve3ho5CYACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Fum_nero_italiano.jpg
and some examples.  WARNING, many are of an adult nature:-
https://bdmagexhumator.blogspot.com/2020/05/sadik-scantrad-inedit.html

[Florian R. Guillon]

Just discovering this delightful topic, and I must say I have to give it my two cents, but time flies, and it's 12.45 AM here, so my first message won't be long.

Mikros is not the name of a team, it's the name of the purple one in the trio of superheroes - the other two being Saltarella and Big Crab. Interestingly enough, their first crossover in graphic novel form with Photonik (another superhero from the same publisher - created by Ciro Tota) is about a gala where every superhero is invited, and among them are some well-known characters from the US public domain. This GN is called "Mikros/Photonik : L'ombre et la lumiere" and it aw released in 2013.

I'll have more to say as a writer of PD characters, but it'll have to wait until tomorrow.

[paw broon]

Memory is a fickle thing and mine let's me down at times.  My wife and I spent many  holidays in France over decades and I drove her daft searching for bookshops, comic shops,  newsstands, always looking for comics.  I now remember stumbling on Photonik and thoroughly enjoying it.  Was it Editions Lug?  I could be embarrassing myself here. Then I discovered the Mikros team. 
Can't wait to read your two cents, Florian.

[Florian R. Guillon]

Well, I know memory may let you down sometimes, so don't worry.

Mikros and Photonik were published by Editions Lug in the 1980s, in a magazine named Mustang - because it was cheaper for the publisher to change the content of an already existing title than to create a new one. Mustang was originally a pocket-size, black and white western title, and went on that way after the "Sup'heros" parenthesis. Mikros was relocated to Titans (alongside comics from Marvel - we're talking Star Wars here) and Photonik was relocated to Spidey (with reprints of the original X-Men).

Now, to the Project Superpowers and the PD heroes.

Reading an Alex Ross interview about Project Superpowers really got me to the PD side of the Force in fall 2007. I had already read a bit about Daredevil and the Claw, and I think that left a mark, but knowing they were public domain really fascinated me. Discovering all these characters in small pictures painted by Alex Ross really kickstarted my imagination. I spent the next few months in 2008 searching for references, and even subscribed to goldenagecomics.

I finally read the first Project Superpowers hardcover in 2009-2010, enjoyed it, then had to wait another few years to read the next series. Maybe four years ago, I decided to read the whole thing again, including Death-Defyin' Devil and Black Terror. My opinion changed a little bit. Technically, most of the characters used in PS aren't really fleshed out or out-of-character, as if the writer didn't read much about them, or only used them to copyright these new iterations, just because they're available.

That said, I still like it. One must simply keep in mind they're not grandpa's superheroes. The whole project is aimed at new readers and creating a whole shared superhero universe for a publisher that didn't have any to start with. And bringing back PD superheroes from the forties sure gets more coverage than creating all-new characters from scratch. It did indeed. And so, many imaginations were kickstarted in the way.

To be continued in part 2!

[The Australian Panther]

Just a few short comments for the time being.

Technically, most of the characters used in PS aren't really fleshed out or out-of-character, as if the writer didn't read much about them, or only used them to copyright these new iterations, just because they're available. 

Agreed.

One must simply keep in mind they're not grandpa's superheroes. The whole project is aimed at new readers

But they were grandpa's superheroes! Literally, in that the characters in this re-imagining are the same characters who 'went to sleep' at the end of WWII and woke up, not having aged, in the 21st century. And nothing very much is made of this in the narrative. Which stamps it very much as a 'fan' project in my estimation.

Cheers!   

[Florian R. Guillon]

Yes, they were grandpa's superheroes, but the whole thing is that they are reimagined, not being given a kind of clear continuity, because they become so different they're not our old heroes anymore.

[Florian R. Guillon]

And now, here's my opinion on PD heroes from a writer's perspective.

When I discovered Project Superpowers, my first wish was to have Daredevil, Black Terror, Green Lama and the Claw in my comic projects, because they looked good on Alex Ross' paintings. Back in 2007, I already had my fanzine project but still had to choose one comic to focus on (for those interested in the Forgotten Generation fanzine, I made a thread (https://comicbookplus.com/forum/index.php?topic=18108) that I absolutely have to revive.). After a short brainstorming with me and myself, it appeared I was more inspired by the Dark Fates project. Dark Fates is a story of magic, undead and paranormal creatures. While I was sketching the first designs, I decided to replace one of my characters (the Pumpkin King) with the Claw, because it looked better. I also had further plans including the Green Lama and a descendant to Fighting Yank, but decided to use an altered version of the Fantom of the Fair and Thomas Carnacki instead. I included the Ghost Woman later on.

My decisions were based on the fact that the PD characters already had a backstory that could help me enrich my own characters and universe. Well, except the Claw, because when I drew it from memory, it didn't look the same - it became a lovecraftian character called Tzuha.

That said, I had many other projects that were superheroic, and using PD heroes. I must admit I, in turn, had taken the habit of taking these characters and twisting them a bit too much. My primary example is Red Ann, from Black Terror. I think I read it in these forums that the character had a perfect happy ending to her story. And because I needed a female character for my comic Esprit Vengeur, I chose to expand her story beyond this happy ending in order to fit my agenda.

Cause here is the point: you may never write Batman or whatever big league character you want, but you can have the next best thing in public domain. It's quite tempting opening the toy box and playing with all these toys that already have a story of their own that you can feel free to perpetuate - or starting your own. That's pretty much what Jim Krueger and Alex Ross did with Project Superpowers. Can't really blame them for that. AC Comics readers - circa 2000, if memory serves - may remember some of their Fighting Yank comics that mimicked Fighting American, because they couldn't have the rights to Simon & Kirby's character.

So Project Superpowers has this toy box effect, as the writers always bring more toys to it and play with them to their liking because, well, they can. And so do the AC people. And so do every writer and artist who open the toy box, be they professionnals or amateurs. That's the magic.

(I think I got a little carried away)

[The Australian Panther]

Well expressed.
Thanks!

[gregjh]

I'm pleased to see that this thread has been really productive.

Following my disappointment with Project Superpowers (PSP) I have taken up the suggestion of Australian Panther and started reading Exciting Comics by Antarctic Press (AP). For context, I like the graphical style of AP but I am unfamiliar with the original incarnation of Exciting Comics and their heroes so I won't be able to comment on the differences between the originals and the new generation.

The word I would use to describe issue one of exciting comics is....exciting! Each of the three stories: BlackJaq, Crimson Scorpion and Madam Mask starts with a cold opening. This works well. I believe that while it might be easy for a character that is well established, not only his or her self but also in their settings and companions may benefit from a slow, melancholy opening (like a lot of Batman stories, for example) this is far harder to achieve with less prestigious characters or characters that are being revived. The greatest writers may be able to aim this high but the rest perhaps shouldn't, this was an obvious mistake made with PSP in my humble opinion.

So in Exciting Comics we have a female hero battling mafia protection rackets in NY, an explorer seeking an ancient Egyptian artifact in Syria and a master criminal who appears to be led into a trap that forces her superpower upon her. Each story also ends on a cliffhanger, leaving me thinking "What happens next?!" rather than "Can I force myself to continue?" as I did with PSP.

Exciting Comics have got off to a good start, will it continue? More reviews incoming.

[The Australian Panther]

gregjh,
Exciting Comics is here.

https://comicbookplus.com/?cid=976 

Enjoy!

[The Australian Panther]

Re Reivvals of Golden Age Heroes, was just researching Centaur Publications and found this - which I was previously unaware of:-   '

  Revival
In 1992, Malibu Comics revived several Centaur heroes?which by that time had lapsed into public domain?as the superhero team The Protectors. Malibu selected R.A. Jones to revamp and write the series[4] Included were Airman, Amazing Man,[4] the Arrow, the Clock (as a retired mystery man, then the President of the United States, Brian O'Brien), the Fantom of the Fair, also known as Fantoman (renamed by Malibu as Gravestone), the Ferret,[citation needed] Man of War,[4] the Masked Marvel (renamed Night Mask), Mighty Man, Prince Zardi the Eternal Man, and the Shark (renamed Thresher),[citation needed] as well as completely original characters,[4] such as Arc and Aura. Several of these characters had short-lived titles of their own. AC Comics reprinted a number of stories featuring Centaur characters in their anthologies.[citation needed]

R.A. Jones was approached by a small book publisher, Westerntainment,[5] to do a prose novel about the Centaur characters with the idea that the story take place in their original time period. By December 2014, his novel "The Steel Ring" was available. A second book, "Twilight War", was green-lit by that time.[4] Those Centaur heroes in Ring were Amazing Man, the Clock, Ferret, Iron Skull, Man of War plus others. In October 2016, "Twilight War" was available. Centaur characters add for the second novel included Airman, the Arrow, Eternal Man and Phantom Princess. Each novel would take place in a different year of World War II. So at the time of the second novels release, Jones had planned to do a total of seven books in the series for each year of the war.[5] 

I will have to track those down.
Full list of characters used:-
Airman
Amazing Man
The Arrow
Black Panther
Blue Fire
Blue Lady
The Buzzard
The Clock (at the Comics Magazine Co., character sold to Quality Comics but reprints of CMC stories appeared at Centaur)
Dash Dartwell
Dr. Darkness
Dr. Hypno
Dr. Mystic
Dr. Synthe
The Electric Ray
The Eye
Ermine
Fantom of the Fair/Fantoman
The Fire Man
Iron Skull
King of Darkness
Liberty Guards
Magician from Mars
Man O'War
Marksman
The Masked Marvel
Meteor Martin
Mighty-Man
Minimidget
Miraco the Great
Nightshade
The Rainbow
The Sentinel
The Shark
Scarlet Ace
Skyrocket Steele
Solarman
Speed Centaur
Super-Ann (Two characters of the same name)
TNT Todd
Vapo-man
The Voice

Cheers!

[paw broon]

As a hopelessly addicted superhero fan I bought all those Malibu series at the time.  It never occurred to me that Gravestone had any connection  with Fantoman.  A look back is needed.  Ferret always seemed more like a Badger clone to me. Was it Ferret #1 That had the bullet hole cover? That should be in a box somewhere.
Thanks for the info Panther.  Now some research to satisfy my curiosity.

[gregjh]

OK guys strap in, it's time for Exciting Comics issue 2!



The comic starts with a short note from the editor explaining he wants to bring back heroes of the past abut also give them purpose. This is a simple but important message and it carries well through all three stories.

Each story picks up immediately or shortly after its cliffhanger from, issue 1. Having said that, we start with Blackjaq who is apparently a few days in from her previous encounter with a New York mafia gang extorting local businesses. Without spoiling too much, Blackjaq has created some serious waves within the mob and her actions have caused three villains to punish some of their own members and, presumably, set off after Blackjaq.

This story, like all three in the series so far, is an example of excellent pacing. Despite the very limited space, all three authors have managed to balance action without character development. There's one particular set of panels I like where a tired, dejected Blackjaq is looking in a mirror. We see that she is far stronger than a typical woman but she's still human. She's hurt, she's unsure and she's desperately tired. These are the type of heroes we can relate to, they may have special powers but they are still ordinary, fallible,  people for the most part. This is what makes them likable and investable for the reader or viewer and it is why progressive ideology is anathema to good storytelling.

The villains in this story are lifted from an obscure comic called Bulletman in the fifties and they are called Murder Prophet, The Griever and Black Rat. They are cheesy against the backdrop or a semi-realistic New York but cheesy in the right way, like the Suicide Squad or GOTG.

The Second story, Crimson Scorpion, picks up the second after the previous issue. Scorpion is still somewhere in a  desert and under a temple. He is confused about what has happened but has no time to think about it as his military escort are under fire. His powers are slowly revealed to him in the heat of the moment and there's a significant event at the end that makes him realise the profound nature of his new powers. Another excellent balance of action and development and well drawn, too.


Finally we have Madam Mask, the granddaughter of Miss Mask. Again, this story continues immediately from last time around and the new mask receives an education not only about her family legacy but also on the benefits of her costume. She immediately puts those benefits to use. At the end of the story Mask becomes aware of why she has suddenly been placed in serious danger and is nothing to do with the family name or legacy.

Madam Mask could easily have been a lazy rehash of a million and one superhero tales of yore but instead the writer and artist made an effort to make it something better. The colouring and artwork is modern and stylish and the script, despite treading the "your ancestors were heroes" turf that is so well-trodden, is great. For example, there's one panel that made me laugh when Madam Mask is having he grandmother's life story told to her by a family friend. Madam Mask asks: "So my grandmother punched Hitler?!" to which the reply comes: "No, but she punched Himmler.". Later she is also told that Miss Mask fought a dragon, a villain called Pahaohologist and the Nazi Okkultek. This story also ends on a good cliffhanger.

In conclusion, Exciting Comics has really knocked it out of the park so far. They have combined excellent artwork,  enthusiastic and clever writers with a respect for heroes of the past. This is one I'm going to stick with.

[The Australian Panther]

Continuing to look at revivals and reiterations of [not-just Golden Age but Old school superheroes]
There is a lot going on out there in the indy world.
https://indyplanet.com
If the covers [for the new titles] are any indication of the insides, the quality is reasonable.
Some new characters, Eternity Smith reprints?
Quite a few Golden age reprint books.
Big Bang comics still going strong. 
Also here is a Canadian comic book wiki.
Note the Standard Comics Encyclopedia.
And also the Graphic novel and Anthology collections.
https://canadiancomicbooks.fandom.com/wiki/Canadian_Indie_Comic_Books_Wiki

If you miss the Silver age, try these guys
http://www.oniriccomics.com/titles/

Cheers!

Cheers!     

[crashryan]

I went to the Oniric Comics site. An interesting personal story by the publisher/writer/artist. An impressive number of titles. However I couldn't find a way to preview any of them. The bio says all are free to read online, but how does one access them?

[The Australian Panther]

I have since had a look at many of them.
First - the print and publishing quality is high. The books are a mix of new material, reprints and and one-page pin-ups. In the original art, lots of swipes, but all credited. They obviously revere Ditko and Kirby. As who wouldn't?
When I say a mix, I mean that the mix is often within a single issue. There are also reprints of French comics, , translated, mostly SF, which I was happy about because there is so much french stuff that is hard to get and then not translated. The reprinted stories are clearly lovingly selected and not just random.   
Cheers!         

[Florian R. Guillon]

I've known Chris Malgrain from Oniric Comics online for a while now. He's been active for two decades and I've been following him since his first publications. I have a collection of his early comics in a volume named Oniric, with superhero, jungle and sci-fi stuff from the Semic era. Some may actually be available in English through Hexagon Comics/Black Coat Press.

He's a good friend of one of my artists, and he granted us with a cover which I haven't shown to the world yet.

[gregjh]

Well it's late on a Sunday but I really wanted to link up with my favourite comic forum this weekend so I made time to buy, download and read the first story of Exciting Comics Issue #3. I personally prefer paper copies of comics but the reality of where I live means that shipping fees often cost me three times the price of the comic itself, so unless it's available on bookdepository.com, I have to go digital.

So as mentioned, I only read the first story today, the rest will come later.
And as you will know by now, the first story of this Exciting Comics series is Black J...no..wait...what's this? Apparently it's Ghost featuring Black Jaq.


And who the heck is Ghost? I have no idea. It may be this guy https://1900hotdog.com/2021/08/golden-age-comics-captain-ghost-%F0%9F%8C%AD/ but I haven't properly checked yet.

In any case, it quickly becomes clear that the literal and visual tone will change this issue.  The story opens as Ghost prepares for a special ops military jump while considering his backstory, which is very macabre. Black Jaq only appears towards the end of this very short chapter and when the two characters first interact, the body language is interesting.


It would be easy to assume they are a couple but it's not made clear. The story ends with Black Jaq and Ghost discovering a massacre.

It would be unfair and presumptuous to say that EC has finally failed to score a hit, especially with just one short story to judge by, but  I have to say this is the first time I've felt unsatisfied. The story opened up so many questions: Why is Ghost suddenly replacing Black Jaq? Does this mean the previous Black Jaq story has ended early? Are Black Jaq and Ghost romantically involved? If so, why did he not come to her aid against the NY Mafia? If not, why is their body language so close? Is it lazy writing or drawing? Why is Ghost suddenly working Special Forces? What is the drop he is suddenly involved with?

Also, without dropping spoilers, the back story for Ghost really didn't make sense to me.

Perhaps many of these questions will be answered in future editions, and I'll certainly be reading them. I'll also be returning to the FizzFop reading corner when Fizzfop actually makes some new videos.  For now though, I hope the rest of EC #3 will be less of a sudden switch.

[Ed Love]

The Ghost (II): 1941, Daredevil Comics #5 (Lev Gleason). Brad Hendricks had it a bit tougher than most heroes. Instead of starting as a star in his own strip, he starts out as an adversary against both Hitler and the monstrous Claw. He had no superpowers but he had the Ghost Plane to help even the fight. http://www.herogoggles.com/Heroes/G_heroes.htm