Back to the Sons of the Tiger - a Review from DHoKF 3

Deadly Hands of Kung fu #3 (August 1974)
"The Trail of the Ninja!"
Gerry Conway-Dick Giordano/Frank McLaughlin

Hey, it's been awhile since we looked in on Master Kee's students. When last we saw the boys, we got an origin story, and were dealing with a tale of revenge. Master Kee had been murdered and Lin Sun, his student, had rounded up his friends Abe and Bob to assist him in meting out justice. So we're back in The Deadly Hands of Kung fu #3 (there was no Sons installment in the second issue), with the same creative team - although Frank McLaughlin joins the party this time as inker over Dick Giordano. Enough of this intro stuff - let's get to the story!

100-Word Review:

Lin Sun is on the trail of Master Kee’s killers. When his tracking takes him to a wharf in San Francisco, it looks like his revenge mission will end abruptly. Evading a speeding car bent on his death, Lin Sun is subsequently attacked by the same ninjas the Sons had fought previously. To Abe and Bob, we find Abe consumed with guilt for not offering to help Lin Sun. Talking Bob into assisting, they pursue Lin Sun. But when they find him, he is a prisoner of Lo Chin, possessor of the sonic cannon and bent on the deaths of the Sons of the Tiger!

I mentioned the first time around that I don't have a heckuva lot of experience in the martial arts comics. As a kid I passed over Shang chi's book, and Iron Fist as well. I liked Karate Kid as a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, but did not own a single copy of his book; ditto Richard Dragon. You know by now that as a kid I owned not a single B&W magazine - so when I come to these stories now, it's with a sense of nostalgia only. The eyes are fresh.

The Good: This story, like the first installment, was 15 pages long. But there was a whole lotta fun crammed into that space. The plot carries over quite a few issues, however, so it would seem to me that once the day's agenda is set (in this case, pursue Master Kee's murderers, kick some arse, get into trouble, kick some more arse on the way out of trouble, and face the cliffhanger du jour), the pictures do the talking. And do they! I praised Dick Giordano's work back in December - the camera angles, panel layouts, choreography of the fights, and so on. Sure, the story is chock full of unbelievable moments - such as Lin Sun snatching a throwing star right out of space and hurling it back - but that's the point. These kung fu stories are just fun. It's sort of like watching hockey - did you care about the outcome, or just the fights? Most people, it's the fisticuffs.

Which is not at all to detract from Gerry Conway's words - they're fine. The plot's fun. I like seeing each issue how the boys get closer to their objective, only to find the plot thickening as new layers are added. I think the slow reveal of shorter stories and published on a bi-monthly schedule would have added to the savoriness of the adventure. I also enjoy that each character has his own voice, even if they do fall somewhat into racist stereotypes. I can get on board with these comics being a slice of the historical record. I don't need any disclaimers - they are what they are. No further judgments are necessary.

 

The Bad: The sound effects! Man, these made me laugh at times. They're actually very good in the two-page spread I included above. However, at the conclusion of that scene on the wharf, Lin Sun punches a ninja in the head. Not only does the dude recoil some 25 feet out into the harbor, but the punch has the sound of "BAWHOOM!" Dang... that's some punch... There are a few other instances that made me smile as well.

In my first review of the Sons of the Tiger, I'd knocked on the oath a bit - called it pretty hokey, basically. But here it was OK - sort of grew on me with a "Flame on!" or "It's Clobbering Time!" vibe. I used it more as an alert that it was game on, and the fists and feet would furiously fly very soon.

I wasn't entirely sure if Abe was exaggerating when he told Bob that Lin Sun was suspended about 100 feet in the air. I am going to assume it was 100% hyperbole. Otherwise, when Lin Sun is dropped and Abe catches him... well, I am not going to work out any physics equations, but I am going to say that 180 pounds of kung fu fighter descending rapidly from a height of 100 feet isn't going to be caught. Not a chance. Big time splatter is what that would be.

The Ugly: Ah, I suppose I can pick on the name of our baddie in this issue. Lo Chin seems more light a weight problem than anything scary. Not sure what to make of it. It's a humorous name, I'll give you that. Menacing? Nah...

At some point I'll dig back into the Deadly Hands of Kung fu Omnibus. I need to review a tale from the aforementioned Shang chi, as well as the Sons of the Tiger under the influence of a young George Perez.

Jim Starlin - Cosmically Aware...

Longtime readers of my musings will recall that my writing partner, Karen, is far more attuned to the work of Jim Starlin than am I. Relatively speaking, I'm a newcomer to appreciating Starlin's cosmic sagas in the Marvel Universe.

I think it must have been budgetary concerns (hey, a kid only has so many quarters!) in my youth that caused me to skip the Captain Marvel and Warlock comics of the early-mid Bronze Age. I'd wager that my only exposure to Starlin's art as a child were a few issues he did on Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes and of course the immortal Avengers Annual #7 (but even then, I didn't read Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2 until years and years later!). I have since made up for this transgression against one of the all-time greats, acquiring numerous trade paperbacks and hardcover collections that reprint his work. I have especially enjoyed the massive Avengers vs. Thanos tpb, which made a nice tutorial ahead of the latter Marvel Cinematic Universe films.

Starlin also had a turn at DC, but my encounters with him across the 1980s often saw him in the writer's chair.

Enjoy today's sampling of his characters and his line art. And as always, I make no claim to any of these images, but am appreciative to those friends around the Internet who make them available so that we all might enjoy.

 

 

 

 

Batman Black and White's "Two of a Kind" - a Review

Batman Black and White #1 (June 1996)
"Two of a Kind"
Bruce Timm

In the spring I had to clean out both my classroom and office, as I have been assigned to a new space (hopefully for my last four years of teaching). Having been in the same classroom for 25 years, to say I'd accumulated some stuff (read: crap) would be an understatement. So... I loaded up five paper boxes of books that I knew I did not want to keep and that none of my colleagues would enjoy, and headed off to our local Half Price Books. If you don't have one of those, let me just say that it's not a place one goes to make money; rather, one goes there because there are painful feelings of guilt in throwing books in the trash. Of course, while the staff determines how many pennies to pay out, what has one to do but wander the stacks. And for this guy, specifically the graphic novels section. BOOM! I left with the hardcover collection of the series I am featuring today (and will in subsequent posts), as well as tpbs of Tarzan on the Planet of the Apes and Captain Britain: Before Excalibur. All for around $25 - a good trade-off. 

The creators listed in this hardcover reads like a who's who of awesomeness. To name just a few, Bill Sienkiewicz, Brian Bolland, Howard Chaykin, Neil Gaiman, Joe Kubert, Dennis O'Neil, Brian Stelfreeze, Walter Simonson, and today's featured luminary - Bruce Timm. Timm is listed as the sole creator on the 8-page gem we're going to discuss, and I think you'll find that the boy done good! Shall we?

 

100-Word Review:

Two-Face is the centerpiece of a tale of deception and duality. Harvey Dent had finally been cured, by the beautiful plastic surgeon Marilyn Crane. Having fallen in love, Crane rushed plans to marry Harvey. But from her past stepped her twin sister Madeline - who doesn’t play nice. Madeline confronted Harvey in his office after hours one night, and cajoled him into a tryst. Telling Madeline it could not go further, Harvey was dismayed to later find that he could not reach Marilyn by phone. Rushing to her condo, a grisly murder scene was discovered. Would Two-Face be the result for Harvey Dent?

The Good: You know, when I read an adult-themed story from Bruce Timm, such as today's fare or the wonderful Mad Love, I'm always at first a little taken aback at the disconnect between the "animated style" of art and the mature content. But the pictures are just so darned good, I quickly chuck any misgivings. That's definitely the case with our story today. As I began reading, I was reminded of the first issue of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and Harvey Dent's curing and subsequent backslide into crime. I don't by any stretch think Timm swiped the plot - but there was just that sense of familiarity.

It's a good Batman story when Batman is only in it for two panels, and you'd say it's a Batman story. Does that make sense? Timm uses various tropes from the mythos, such as Arkham Asylum and Harvey's past as an attorney to firmly set the doings in Gotham City. Longtime readers of Batman comics know that the city is almost a character in itself, so the mood of the story seems set from the start. And the idea of identical twins providing a trigger to possibly ruin Harvey's rehabilitation seemed fun.

Timm works well in blacks. I didn't doubt that he would, but I must declare that his use of shadow is very effective. He also adjusts the closeness of the camera, as well as varying angles, to generate interest and excitement as necessary panel-to-panel. I loved the two pages posted just above. The spotlight of Harvey giving in to Madeline, followed by the silhouette of their affair, is a nice piece of movie-making. The two-panel sequence of Harvey racing in his car to Marilyn's condo and then up the stairs is also very well done.

I wanted there to be one more twist at the end - that it actually would have been Marilyn who killed Madeline, creating a dual personality in Marilyn. But it was fine the way it finished, and probably better, given the short page count. I've included the entire story in today's art samples.

The Bad: Nothing, although I did wish the story was longer. I was enjoying myself!

The Ugly: Just Harvey's face, once he burned half of it off. Yikes!

Come back in about a month when I'll get back into this hardcover. Next time we'll check out a Batman tale written and drawn by Joe Kubert!

Walter Simonson - Sketches and Line Art from a Nice Guy!

Thanks for finding this on a Friday rather than the customary Thursday. I figured with the holiday, there wouldn't have been much traffic yesterday.

Do you follow Walt Simonson on Twitter? You should. I don't know him personally - I don't think he and I have ever even attended the same cons or shows. But my impression of him is that he's just a genuinely nice man. When I think of him, the image in my mind most closely resembles the photo at right - just a happy guy.

That being said, count me among those who appreciate his art and style, and then follow up such a comment with "it's not always for me". I can't always put my finger on it, but when I can, my "complaints" would usually center around the looseness of his style. I'm more in the "tight realism" crowd - if that's a crowd. At times I've found the switch from one artist to Simonson to be a bit jarring. That being said, however, I've long felt a bit sorry for the guy in that his first run on Thor seemed to ape John Buscema, without a lot of Walt's uniqueness being allowed to shine through. Perhaps some of that was due to the inking of Tony DeZuniga, perhaps it was an editorial mandate. Whatever, we all know the heights to which Thor soared when Simonson gained full control. Many fans of the Thunder God put those years right beside the Lee/Kirby/Colletta run, and maybe rightfully so.

Today enjoy some sketchwork, some original art, and whatever else I've cobbled together for you. And as always, drop me a personal impression of yours in the comments section. Thanks, too, to the many collectors and original art aficionados across the interwebs, who of course retain ownership of the images in today's post.