Self Contained Steve Gerber?

[Sambo253]

Lately I've been reading lots about Steve Gerber and how he is 'Grant Morrison before there was Grant Morrison.' I've read the first issue of Howard the Duck, and there certainly is a lot of fun experimentation and story ideas.

However my issue with reading Gerber is that a lot of his acclaimed work is tainted because, from my brief research, most of his runs have no conclusions. Which I think might be the reason Steve gets over looked often.

So my question is, what are Mr. Gerber's self-contained, completed stories? I know of Nevada and I intend to pick it up soon. Are there others?

Thanks

[GreatLakesAvengers]

How about:

Exiles #1-4 and Sludge #1-12 from Malibu's Ultraverse
Foolkiller #1-10 from Marvel
Hard Time Season I & II from DC's Focus
Suburban Jersey Ninja She-Devils #1 from Marvel

[FanboyStranger]

I would say that Foolkiller is the most self-contained of Steve's work, and I highly recommend hunting it down. Even Nevada, as much as I like it, has an unfinished feel, and there was supposed to be a Nevada II, which has never materialized.

Hard Time is excellent, and DC did give it time for a wrap-up issue, but again, it feels unfinished as there were 49 years of Ethan's sentence just glossed over in the last issue.

The Superman: Last Son of Earth Elseworlds series is self-contained as well as one of the better late-era Elseworlds books.

Stewart the Rat is self-contained, but it's really a product of its time and place: early '80s California.

[GreatLakesAvengers]

I agree. Track Foolkiller down. Good stuff!

[MWGallaher]

DC's 4-issue Phantom Zone miniseries and its followup in DC Comics Presents #97 and A. Bizarro are nice complete Superman Family sagas that are inexpensive and worth seeking out.
I love Gerber's work on Man-Thing (and its predecessor Adventures into Fear). I don't know if you'd count cancellation as a "conclusion", but Man-Thing was intended to be an open-ended series, and the first run, I believe, is all Gerber to the end. I'd recommend checking out Essential Man-Thing when it's published (I don't think it's come out yet?).

[FanboyStranger]

DC's 4-issue Phantom Zone miniseries and its followup in DC Comics Presents #97 and A. Bizarro are nice complete Superman Family sagas that are inexpensive and worth seeking out.
I love Gerber's work on Man-Thing (and its predecessor Adventures into Fear). I don't know if you'd count cancellation as a "conclusion", but Man-Thing was intended to be an open-ended series, and the first run, I believe, is all Gerber to the end. I'd recommend checking out Essential Man-Thing when it's published (I don't think it's come out yet?).

The Essential Man-Thing is out, and it is quite good. I love Richard Rory as the sad-sack Rick Jones (meaning that whereas the charmed Jones stumbles into trouble but usually comes out smelling like a rose, Rory falls into trouble and comes out smelling like shit).

I thought A. Bizarro was merely okay for Gerber. Definitely fun, but I couldn't help feeling that it should have been better, particularly since it had art by MD Bright, artist on Quantum and Woody, truly one of the funniest series of all time.

[Sambo253]

Thanks to everyone that replied. I'll certainly try to track down those Foolkiller issues, and Essential Man-Thing will be the next Essential I buy.

[Sir Tim Drake]

The Essential Man-Thing is out, and it is quite good. I love Richard Rory as the sad-sack Rick Jones (meaning that whereas the charmed Jones stumbles into trouble but usually comes out smelling like a rose, Rory falls into trouble and comes out smelling like shit).

By the way, does anyone know whether Richard Rory was named after Richard Cory (http://www.bartleby.com/104/45.html)?

[scratchie]

By the way, does anyone know whether Richard Rory was named after Richard Cory (http://www.bartleby.com/104/45.html)?This was addressed in a lettercol, and as I recall, Gerber said there was no connection other than the rhyme.

Gerber's Defenders run is pretty much self-contained, other than never resolving the Elf with a Gun sub-plot. You can get most of the good stuff in Essential Defenders 3 (and the rest in Vol 2).

[Jolly Mon]

By the way, has Mr. Gerber ever made public exactly what his plans were for the elf?

[berk]

By the way, has Mr. Gerber ever made public exactly what his plans were for the elf?I don't think so, and nor should he, IMO, any more than he and Skrenes should give away their plans for Omega, since Marvel isn't interested in whatever they might have been. OTOH, as a reader, I would like to see the Gerber/Skrenes Omega completed, but since they aren't the legal owners of the "property" and the actual legal owners' only interest is in how best to make money off it, that's probably never gonna happen.

[Aaron King]

Hard Time is easily one of my favorite comics from the past decade.

[FanboyStranger]

Hard Time is easily one of my favorite comics from the past decade.

Have to agree with that. It was certainly the best comic that DC was publishing in the same time frame including Vertigo books like Fables, Lucifer, 100 Bullets, and even The Other Side. I do think it's the best thing that Gerber has (co-) written, but its premature end still stings. (There are still 49 years worth of stories to tell... and beyond!)

[Polar Bear]

By the way, has Mr. Gerber ever made public exactly what his plans were for the elf?

"In retrospect, the Elf with a Gun was one of the oddest and most perplexing moments in Marvel history. Steve Gerber for his part stated years later that the Elf with a Gun was only supposed to represent the randomness of life and how no matter how much you plan and work, something completely random may occur and destroy all of your plans - like, one supposes, getting shot by an Elf with a Gun." --everything2.com

I think I read an interview where he actually did give more information than that, but I can't find it.

Oh, and I hope you enjoy Foolkiller; it really was excellent.

[JKCarrier]

That sounds about right. The thing I loved about the Elf was that it was pure non-sequitur black humor. Almost Monty Python-esque. I thought David Anthony Kraft caught that spirit just right when he "wrapped up" the story ("He got run over by a truck. The End."). But of course, more literal-minded writers had to try and graft a "logical" explanation onto it, thus completely killing the joke.

[Jolly Mon]

I don't think so, and nor should he, IMO, any more than he and Skrenes should give away their plans for Omega, since Marvel isn't interested in whatever they might have been. OTOH, as a reader, I would like to see the Gerber/Skrenes Omega completed, but since they aren't the legal owners of the "property" and the actual legal owners' only interest is in how best to make money off it, that's probably never gonna happen.

I agree, from a reader's point of view, I would much rather have seen Marvel produce a TPB with Gerber/Skrenes being brought back to finish the story the way they had planned, than the TPB and revamp that they did. I would have bought that, but not what they are doing. The whole thing makes a great argument for creator-owned series.

[Jolly Mon]

"In retrospect, the Elf with a Gun was one of the oddest and most perplexing moments in Marvel history. Steve Gerber for his part stated years later that the Elf with a Gun was only supposed to represent the randomness of life and how no matter how much you plan and work, something completely random may occur and destroy all of your plans - like, one supposes, getting shot by an Elf with a Gun." --everything2.com

I think I read an interview where he actually did give more information than that, but I can't find it.

Oh, and I hope you enjoy Foolkiller; it really was excellent.That sounds about right. The thing I loved about the Elf was that it was pure non-sequitur black humor. Almost Monty Python-esque. I thought David Anthony Kraft caught that spirit just right when he "wrapped up" the story ("He got run over by a truck. The End."). But of course, more literal-minded writers had to try and graft a "logical" explanation onto it, thus completely killing the joke.

Thanks, I had completely forgotten about the "resolution" to the Elf saga. (Beep! Beep! Crunch!) What was the "logical" explaination?

[JKCarrier]

What was the "logical" explaination?

That the Elf was a time-traveller who was killing specific people in order to change history and prevent a future disaster. Other writers added further complications after that:

http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/elfwagun.htm