The First Day of Classic Comics Christmas 2012

[dan bailey]

I bought Prez #4 to complete the (very short, of course) run a few weeks ago, as it happens. Haven't read it yet, but I remember doing so at the drugstore when it was new. I think I read the whole series that way, other than #1, which I actually bought at the time.

[thwhtGuardian]

I totally forgot Hawkworld was a limited series before it became an ongoing! Great book and great choice Slam!

[MRP]

So for the first day of Christmas I give thee...

Section Zero #1-3 (June 2000-Sept 2000)

Both a title and an imprint (Gorilla Comics) that ended much too soon (though Section Zero has been resurrected as a webcomic in the last year or so). The first thing to know about Section Zero is that there is no Section Zero. Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett team up to tell of a covert section of the UN that is charged with investigating UFOs, monsters, lost civilizations, time travel, ancient gods and other oddities. Its kind of Challengers of the Unknown meets Von Daniken for an episode of In Search of with gorgeous art by Grummett and Kesel. Some great characters too, Dr. Tina Challenger (great homage name), the 24 Hour Bug (a boy with a mystical tattoo that transforms him into a bug boy for 24 hours), Sam Wildman (the classic adventurer with a dark past), Tesla the alien and his UFO (the naive who provides the sense of wonder), Sargasso the sea monster, Keeler-the man behind the mystery, Curio the Madame Xandu-like owner of a mystical storefront that changes locations and provides answers...for a price. There’s just so much fun and potential for so much more in these three issue that I was saddened when it was cancelled.

Cover to #1





Some great picks so far.

-M

[dan bailey]

Was thinking about Section Zero while driving to work today & couldn't remember if I'd checked its dates. Seeing that it qualifies might change the looks of my list a bit, especially since after posting what I did after the Hawkworld pick I realized that I'd decided late in the game to stick to cancelled series rather than intentionally limited ones.

Never checked it out because of my innate aversion to reading comics digitallyh, but I know that on Facebook, Kurt Busiek has mentioned online Section Zero strips more than once. Not sure if those are just reprints from the 2000 series or new work; I got the impression that plans for the latter got sidelined when he fell ill, but I wasn't exactly taking notes & could certainly be wrong.

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

12. 'MAZING MAN nos. 1 (January 1986) - 12 (December 1986), published by DC (New York, NY, USA).
11. MYSTERIES [WEIRD AND STRANGE] nos. 1 (May 1953) - 11 (January 1955), published by Superior Comics (Toronto, ON, Canada).
10. E-MAN nos. 1 (October 1973) - 10 (September 1975), published by Charlton (Derby, CT, USA).
9. WANTED, THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS VILLAINS nos. 1 (July-August 1972) - 9 (August-September 1973), published by DC (New York, NY, USA).
8. ORB MAGAZINE nos. 1 (1974) - 6 (March-April 1976), published by Orb Productions (Toronto, ON, Canada).
7. ZORRO nos. 1 (January 1966) - 9 (March 1968), published by Gold Key (Poughkeepsie, NY, USA).
6. STAR HUNTERS nos. 1 (October-November 1977) - 7 (October-November 1978), published by DC (New York, NY, USA).
5. THE INFERIOR FIVE nos. 1 (March-April 1967) - 10 (September-October 1968), published by DC (New York, NY, USA).
4. SUPERHEROES nos. 1 (January 1967) - 4 (June 1967), published by Dell (New York, NY, USA).
3. CANTEEN KATE nos. 1 (June 1952) - 3 (November 1952), published by St. John (New York, NY, USA).
2. SUPERMAN & BATMAN MAGAZINE nos. 1 (Summer 1993) - 8 (Spring 1995), published by Welsh Publishing (New York, NY, USA).
1. RIMA, THE JUNGLE GIRL nos. 1 (April-May 1974) - 7 (April-May 1975), published by DC (New York, NY, USA).

[dan bailey]

Except that, come to think of it, Section Zero was written by Karl Kesel, not Kurt Busiek. Maybe it's Shockrockets (which I haven't read yet) that I'm thinking of.

And/or maybe I'm even more insane than I thought.

And/or maybe I'm Facebook friends with Kesel & didn't realize it.

*choke*

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

[edited for space]

[MRP]

Was thinking about Section Zero while driving to work today & couldn't remember if I'd checked its dates. Seeing that it qualifies might change the looks of my list a bit, especially since after posting what I did after the Hawkworld pick I realized that I'd decided late in the game to stick to cancelled series rather than intentionally limited ones.

Never checked it out because of my innate aversion to reading comics digitallyh, but I know that on Facebook, Kurt Busiek has mentioned online Section Zero strips more than once. Not sure if those are just reprints from the 2000 series or new work; I got the impression that plans for the latter got sidelined when he fell ill, but I wasn't exactly taking notes & could certainly be wrong.

Most of the online stuff is reprints. There are 6 new pages that replace the flashback with Tina and Wildman at the end of #2 and 6 new pages at the end of #3, but other than that it's all reprinting the series. There hasn't been any new pages by Kesel or Grummett since midyear, but I do know Karl just adopted a baby and Tom has probably had some paying gigs to keep him busy.

I would love to see more done with this, and if they ever did a kickstarter I would probably jump in on it, but I am not hopeful for more.

-M

[Brian Gravity]

#12 - Jemm, Son of Saturn #1-12 by Greg Potter and Gene Colan (DC, 1984-1985)



A poor man's Martian Manhunter? Maybe, but this Jemm maxi-series had an affect on my young ten year-old self in '84. E.T had come out a year or two before, and the idea of a lost alien bonding with a lonely kid from the ghetto, who now has a superpowerful friend -- sounded pretty cool. Little did I know later on that the whole idea was basically ripped off from Omega the Unknown, but then again the "a boy and his alien" plot has been around forever.

This was Greg Potter's first work as a writer, and some of his comments about creating "honest-to-God black people" in the Saturnian Salutations column section became pretty controversial. We're talking about a black kid running around dark alleys at night, his gramps is blind and sits at home all day, and his older brother is a drug-dealer. Then there's Reginald, a knife-wielding crook who wears a purple hat. Yeah, I'm not sure how Potter's comment was justified, but at least he had some pretty creative cliffhangers at the end of each issue.

Gene Colan can be hit and miss, but his work in Jemm was a hit. There is a fluidity to his drawing style that really works in this kind of story.



The series starts out earth-based with consipiracies aplenty, with the main villain that of corrupt rich guy Claudius Tull. But the plot moves into a compelling space opera involving a racial conflict between red and white Saturnians.

In retrospect, DC might have done better by giving first time writer Potter a mini-series instead, as the Jemm story seems to trail on for...ev...er. But this was the "new" DC, where maxi-series' were all the rage. Go figure!



Jemm is my #12 pick solely due to the fact that as a youngun I anticipated every issue and the story enraptured me greatly. Plus, Jemm gives ol' Supes a run for his money in an epic brawlfest. We be Jemmin'!

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

[edited for space]

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

#12. Prez #1-4 (1973)


Late 60s-early 70s DC is a treasure trove for this year's list--they were throwing a lot of non-superhero stuff at the wall and not much of it stuck. But a lot of it's interesting.

While Prez might appear a mis-guided, tone-deaf attempt by middle age guys to be "hip," it has the advantage of not seeming limited by expectations or imagination. Grandinetti's art is pretty wild, and the stories are totally off-the-wall. It's a great example of what was possible when comics didn't feel they had to be "realistic."

I had PREZ on my long list of possibles, but I never got all the issues. Still I think it's a series that deserves some respect. Prez also appeared in an issue of SUPERGIRL. And very much later in one of them SWAMP THING comics (along with a Geek, I believe).

[Slam_Bradley]

I had PREZ on my long list of possibles, but I never got all the issues. Still I think it's a series that deserves some respect. Prez also appeared in an issue of SUPERGIRL. And very much later in one of them SWAMP THING comics (along with a Geek, I believe).

It was actually Sandman #54. It was during the "World's End" series of short stories. It's essentially the story of a Messianic Prez Rickard as manipulated by Boss Smiley.

There was also a Vertigo one-shot by Ed Brubaker and Eric Shanower in 1995.

The Geek appeared in Swamp Thing Annual #5, which was written by Gaiman.

[Scott Harris]

Prez will be appearing on my list. Dan, you need to read #4, it's one of the greatest comics ever made.

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

It was actually Sandman #54. It was during the "World's End" series of short stories. It's essentially the story of a Messianic Prez Rickard as manipulated by Boss Smiley.

There was also a Vertigo one-shot by Ed Brubaker and Eric Shanower in 1995.

The Geek appeared in Swamp Thing Annual #5, which was written by Gaiman.

Okay. Those two issues must have morphed into one in my brain. But I thought Prez also appeared in that ST Annual. Or maybe it's just a repressed memory of something else.

[dan bailey]

Prez will be appearing on my list. Dan, you need to read #4, it's one of the greatest comics ever made.

My main memory of that issue, from well-nigh 40 years ago, is of a stereotypical Dracula-type vampire, except for having no legs, scooting around the halls of the White House on a cart. Or something.

It's entirely possible I hallucinated that, except that at the tender age of 14 I'd never touched a psychotropic substance in my life.

Also, when I received my #4 a few weeks back, I'm pretty sure I glanced inside to make sure the panel(s) in question really existed.

And it did.