Masks, #2

[CBR News]

Powerful criminals and crooked politicians have taken over New York, and instituted a fascist police state. With the law bent to their own purposes, the so- called "Justice Party" and their army of Black Legion troopers imprison, extort, and execute any citizens who stand in their way. Only vigilantes like the Shadow, Green Hornet, and the Spider have any hope of standing against them, but instead of operating outside the law as they have always done, these masked heroes must now oppose the law in their fight for justice. But they will not be fighting alone, as more men and women don masks and emerge from the shadows to stand alongside them.


Full article here.

[Movieartman]

Thoose Interiors dont look Painted by Alex Ross...... you Lied to me Dynamite...... YOU F##KING LIED!!!

[Drew Melbourne]

Thoose Interiors dont look Painted by Alex Ross......

Apparently Ross was only ever doing the first issue. I only figured that out after I bought the first issue. Probably won't be picking up the rest of the series.

[Ed Love]

Apparently Ross was only ever doing the first issue. I only figured that out after I bought the first issue. Probably won't be picking up the rest of the series.

While not as pretty, I think at least in the preview, this art is a bit clearer in the storytelling department. Ross is a great painter. But, his layouts especially in regards to sequential storytelling are a little lacking.

What bothers me more are the liberties. Green Hornet comes off second rate to the others including his own sidekick. Miss Fury debuted in 1941, so her appearance alone is an anachronism. Also forgotten in the rush to redesign every character they can is that her costume is supposed to be made from a black panther skin which is why it had ears plus claws on the back of her knuckles which she was not loathe to use if need be. The problem with the costume redesign is that the costume is a big part of her motivation and story-engine. She didn't choose to put on a costume to fight crime; the costume, its powers and responsibilities were thrust upon her.

The Green Lama of this time changed clothes like the rest of us. He also wasn't immune to being attracted to women. Hopefully, we'll see some characterization over the difference of m.o.'s. He didn't carry or use a gun nor use lethal force; however, he didn't force his own aides in that regard. But, the lethal tactics of the Shadow and Spider should still give him pause.

[jsf]

Thoose Interiors dont look Painted by Alex Ross...... you Lied to me Dynamite...... YOU F##KING LIED!!!

No they didn't. They said all along that Ross was only doing the first issue and that Calero was doing the remainder of the story.

Looks fine to me. Not as big a change as I thought it might be. Love seeing the Green Lama here. Been too long since any of the Project Superpowers characters showed up in a Dynamite book.

[ak1007]

Calero did the recent Shadow Annual, which was pretty good.

[Movieartman]

While not as pretty, I think at least in the preview, this art is a bit clearer in the storytelling department. Ross is a great painter. But, his layouts especially in regards to sequential storytelling are a little lacking.

i have never found a SINGLE momment ever that his story telling skills failed and i didnt fallow what was happening in on page, in mask #1 or in kingdom come or justice.
and painting can lend it self to comics more than anyone considers, example - the congress page spread in mask #1 had 5 or so seperate images within it not seperated by panel lines, and the whole spread flowed amazingly.

but even if his work did have small storytelling flaws the beauty of his work is worth it and negates it in my opinion

[Ed Love]

i have never found a SINGLE momment ever that his story telling skills failed and i didnt fallow what was happening in on page, in mask #1 or in kingdom come or justice.
and painting can lend it self to comics more than anyone considers, example - the congress page spread in mask #1 had 5 or so seperate images within it not seperated by panel lines, and the whole spread flowed amazingly.

but even if his work did have small storytelling flaws the beauty of his work is worth it and negates it in my opinion

There are several places in the first issue where his costant shifting of p.o.v. angles (high, low) bogs the flow. His staging of panels, don't seem to really take into account how they flow to each other and I found it off putting to be constantly looking up at people's crotches. It even made it seem like characters were flying in some scenes because of the dramatic shift in p.o.v. In JUSTICE, he was actually painting over someone else's pencils and narratively speaking, it was stronger for that.

[emb021]

The Green Lama of this time changed clothes like the rest of us. He also wasn't immune to being attracted to women. Hopefully, we'll see some characterization over the difference of m.o.'s. He didn't carry or use a gun nor use lethal force; however, he didn't force his own aides in that regard. But, the lethal tactics of the Shadow and Spider should still give him pause.

As I understand it, they aren't using the pulp Green Lama (which is still owned by the estate of Ken Crossen), but the comic book version of him (which where created and written by Crossen, but is somehow public domain). In those, (at least the Spark version), he'd say Om Mani Padme Hum ("Hail the Jewel of the Lotus Flower"), and transform into the Green Lama. (whereas in the pulp version usually went about under the alias of being Rev. Pali with a green ministers outfit, and adding a green robe when he went 'into action'.

[Michael24]

Yeah, it's definitely quite a change in look, but as others have said, Dynamite said from the beginning that Ross was only doing interior art for #1. I would have preferred that he did the entire mini, but I'm still looking forward to the rest of the series after such a solid debut. And I had no problem following the panels in his work. I thought it all looked and flowed beautifully.

[MajorHoy]

I like the Miss Fury version of the cover.

Though she does remind me of the Catwoman from Gotham Girls.

[Ed Love]

As I understand it, they aren't using the pulp Green Lama (which is still owned by the estate of Ken Crossen), but the comic book version of him (which where created and written by Crossen, but is somehow public domain). In those, (at least the Spark version), he'd say Om Mani Padme Hum ("Hail the Jewel of the Lotus Flower"), and transform into the Green Lama. (whereas in the pulp version usually went about under the alias of being Rev. Pali with a green ministers outfit, and adding a green robe when he went 'into action'.

There's a couple of different comic versions of him. The earliest in Prize Comics, he was pretty close to his pulp counterpart. One or two issues that actually showed him have magical powers, but most just portrayed him as a pulpish detective hero in green robes with some hypnotic ability. The main difference seemed to be no mention of his aides, Magga, or the Dr. Pali identity. Whereas, the Spark version from a couple of years later, he actually wore tights and had Superman type powers from reciting his mantra. Then, there's the radio show... Like the Shadow and the Spider, Dynamite seems to be borrowing elements from different incarnations to create an amalgam character that's not quite faithful to any particular version. And, since the majority of the others in this are licensed trademarks, it's not like they couldn't get the rights if they wanted to. They do have to be careful because the Crossen estate is looking at them. I am willing to give a little leeway with the Green Lama, as none of his incarnations were particularly long-lived, so they are about all equally valid. Although, his having magical spell powers was still more of an exception than the rule, that seemed to come from nowhere. If they are go that route, would rather they go with someone like Chandu or Mandrake where that was their main m.o.

The pulp version is an interesting character with story progression as some aides retired and new ones came in and a mystery-woman that gave him timely information and intervention (Crossen must've been a fan of Frank Packard) coupled with a hero that was a bit more introspective/philosophical than most. And, the idea that he maintained the Dr. Pali id, that most of his assistants assumed to be the Green Lama but didn't connect Jethro Dumont with either of them (think they thought he was just an assistant like them, though one that was also knowledgeable in the teachings of Buddha).

[MichaelPaytonMZ]

I wasn't crazy about Ross' art in issue #1. As nice as the art preview is here, I'd've been just as happy if this guy drew the whole series.

[Selinafan]

Loved Ross' art in the first issue.. This isn't as good to my eye, but it does the job.

While I love that Miss Fury cover, I'm a little disappointed with her look in the interiors and wish they'd have stuck closer to the original design.

[positronic1]

All of the original Green Lama pulp novels were recently reprinted in three omnibus collections from Altus Press. From the first omnibus, the legal notices page contains this information: "GREEN LAMA is a trademark controlled by, and licensed from, Argosy Communications, Inc. Published by arrangement with Argosy Communications Inc."

And what is Argosy Communications? Well, ARGOSY is the title of what is considered to be the very first pulp magazine, originally published by the Frank A. Munsey Co. For decades, Munsey enjoyed great success and was a trend setter in the field of fiction magazines. In addition to ARGOSY, Munsey published such titles as ALL-STORY (original home of Tarzan of the Apes), DOUBLE DETECTIVE (home of the Green Lama) and FAMOUS FANTASTIC MYSTERIES (which reprinted many fantasy and science fiction classics from earlier Munsey pulps that had predated the introduction of the specialized genre magazines like WEIRD TALES, AMAZING STORIES, and ASTOUNDING STORIES). But by the early 1940s, even Munsey's fortunes fell victim to increased competition, and he sold his remaining titles, copyrights and trademarks to Harry Steeger of Popular Publications. Popular was the publisher of such titles as THE SPIDER, G-8 AND HIS BATTLE ACES, OPERATOR #5, and many other pulps such as DIME DETECTIVE and DIME MYSTERY. In the 1930s and 1940s, Popular Publications was about neck-and-neck with Street & Smith (publisher of THE SHADOW, DOC SAVAGE, and ASTOUNDING) as kings of the pulp jungle, and in fact at times they may have outsold them. In 1943, Popular took over some of the former Munsey titles and continued them. Argosy Communications Inc. has succeeded Popular Publications as the trademark holder of Harry Steeger's intellectual property rights, including the rights acquired from Frank A. Munsey.

The foregoing only becomes significant when you realize that Dynamite already publishes THE SPIDER, which is also a trademark of Argosy Communications Inc. So they are already dealing with the trademark holder of the Green Lama. It therefore seems unlikely that they would license THE SPIDER from Argosy, yet choose to skirt the fringes of the gray area of copyright and trademark law when it comes to Green Lama.