Panel Discussion: Spotlight on Steve Gerber!

 

Redartz:  Usually when we open these 'panel discussions', we are talking about art and artists. Today we're going to look instead at one of the Bronze Age's most unique writers: Steve Gerber. Most readers know him from his extensive work for Marvel, but he also did work for DC and some Indies as well. He even had a second career life in tv animation, including the creation of "Thundarr, the Barbarian". 

 Gerber's writing style was often esoteric, quirky, and deeply personal. This was one of the things which attracted me to his work; beginning with his classic writing on Marvel's "Man-Thing". About the same time (this was actually the time at which I first started collecting comics and was eagerly sampling anything in four color print) I discovered his "Defenders" and "Daredevil", and he became one of my top favorite writers. 

When Gerber wrote a comic, it was jam-packed. It was sure to be a good half hour read, at any rate. Frequently he included text pages in his stories, which probably was a break for the artists. 

And the characters he revived or created: Howard the Duck, the Foolkiller, the Headmen, Omega the Unknown, Starhawk, and a certain infamous Elf With a Gun. The same young teen who loved
Dr. Demento on the radio was enthralled by such oddities. I mentioned above Gerber's penchant for introspection; it was this tendency that made "Omega" so appealing to me. And the same was true for another of Gerber's psychological studies, "The Kid's Night  Out" in Giant Size Man-Thing 4. Gerber seemed at the time to be writing specifically to me (yes, I was a hopeless nerd, but a harmless one). 

 

 

 

 

And aside from weirdness and navel-contemplation, Gerber could write some darned fine stories. His "Night of the Living Dead" was excellent. His "Phantom Zone" miniseries for DC was quite interesting. And we haven't even touched on "Howard the Duck" or "Guardians of the Galaxy".

 

 

 

 

 

So here's a few more images from 'Gerber's Greatest Hits'.  While you pore over them, you can consider your own thoughts about the man and his work. Were you a fan? Gerber's work didn't appeal to everyone, granted. If you were, what were your favorites? What titles would  you have liked to see him tackle? Which artists seemed to mesh best with his unique vision? Comment away...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rank and File: The Year's Best Comic Stories, 1975!

Redartz:  1975; what a year! Marvel was still putting out the "Giant-Size" issues, as well as Marvel Value Stamps. Atlas Comics were trying to make a go of the comic business. DC was debuting numerous new titles and characters. It was an exciting time to be a comic reader, which leads us to our topic today: the best stories of that fine year. 

I've pored over loads of issues, and prodded my memory to recall my favorites. So, as always, this subjective list; based upon a combination of personal preference and historical impact. Your list my vary. Order is random. No deposit, no return. Void where prohibited. 

Ok, now that the formalities are complete, on with the countdown:



 



1. Defenders 33- "Webbed Hands, Warm Heart" by Steve Gerber, Sal Buscema and Jim Mooney. Inspired lunacy from Mr. Gerber with 'musical brains', the Headmen and a very angry baby deer.










 

2. Detective Comics 457- "There is no Hope in Crime Alley" by Dennis O'Neal and Dick Giordano. A nice closer look at the Batman's origins by a couple of his best storytellers. Oh, and uncredited backgrounds by the great Terry Austin.











 
3. Warlock 11- "How Strange My Destiny, Pt. 2" by Jim Starlin and Steve Leialoha. Starlin's epic tale continues the exploration of Adam Warlock. Great cast, great art, great story, great comic.













 
4. Tomb of Dracula 41- "Re-Birth" by Marv Wolfman, Gene Colan and Tom Palmer. Dracula returns, in another fine issue of this fine series. Wolfman, Colan and Palmer just keep it rolling.














 
5. All-Star Comics 58- "All-Star Super Squad" by Gerry Conway, Ric Estrada and Wally Wood. Power Girl debuts in this engaging revival of the classic DC title.












 

6.  Howard the Duck 1- "Howard the Barbarian" by Steve Gerber, Frank Brunner and Steve Leialoha. A very imaginative,enjoyable first issue, Brunner and Leialoha rock visually. A fun guest appearance by Spidey, and a tower of credit cards. 











 
7.  Amazing Adventures 34, "A Death in the Family" by Don McGregor and P. Craig Russell. A dramatic high point in this excellent series. Phenomenal art, as usual. 













 
8.  Avengers 142- "Go West, Young Gods" by Steve Englehart, George Perez and Vince Colletta.The Avengers in the old West. Absolutely wonderful. Another Kang war, Immortus, the Brand Corp., Thor and Moondragon on a train, and Hawkeye having way too much fun. How did they pack so much into one issue?













 
9. Giant-Size X-Men 1- "Second Genesis" by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum.There are better stories of the 'new team', but this classic giant introduces us to the group that became a pillar of the Marvel Universe. Wein and Cockrum get things started with a bang.















10. Giant-Size Man-Thing 4- "The Kid's Night  Out" by Steve Gerber, Ed Hannigan and Frank Springer; "Frog Death" by Steve Gerber and Frank Brunner. A  personal favorite, with a rather emotion-laden lead story. A bit preachy perhaps,but quite impactful to a shy fourteen year old comic fan. And it's offset by the return of Howard the Duck in a Brunner-illustrated short. Loads of fun, the scene in the cigar store is a blast.

Incidentally, if Will Eisner's Spirit stories in the Warren magazine had been 'new', they would certainly have made the list. Those "Spirit"s were high on my buying list all that year. And this year, it seems, was a very solid one for Marvel (and for one Steve Gerber). But, that's just my take. What think you?

Riding the Retro Metro: Monday August 6, 1979!

Redartz: Greetings once again; your ride is ready for another trip aboard the Retro Metro! This time, we aim for the year 1979.  Times were tough , as the headlines were filled with stories about the aftermath of the regime of dictator Pol Pot in Cambodia. Then there's the ongoing revolutionary turmoil in Iran. In the US, the economy is still struggling; Chrysler has asked the government for a billion dollar bailout to stay afloat. During such times, it helps to seek some diversion in the form of popular culture. Therefore, let's hear the top song on the US Billboard Hot 100:  Donna Summer, "Bad Girls"...

Donna's had a lock on the top spot since mid-July. A mammoth follow-up to her previous hit "Hot Stuff", another chart topper for disco's reigning diva.

Rounding out the top five:
2. Chic, "Good Times"
3.  Barbara Streisand, "The Main Event/ Fight"
4. The Knack, "My Sharona"
5.  John Stewart, "Gold"

To be honest,most of the top five this week leave me cold. I'm more tuned into the emerging New wave rather than the disco scene. But "My Sharona" seems to be garnering a lot of press for the Knack; some calling them the new Beatles (of course, we've heard that one before). And that John Stewart song is pretty good. 

Further down the chart, some other tunes deserve mention:  ELO, "Don't Bring Me Down";  a good solid rocker from Jeff Lynne and co. Charlie Daniels Band, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" : a story song, with some cool fiddle work. I love a good story song. The Cars, "Let's Go": Off their new lp "Candy-O", the Cars give us a fine bit of New wave-tinged rock.  ABBA, "Does Your Mother Know": The foursome from Sweden just keep putting out phenomenal pop songs, one after another.  Supertramp, "Goodbye Stranger": Supertramp's album "Breakfast in America" is amazing, loaded with good songs. And this is a great one (although you want to hear the full version, not the trimmed single version).

The Cars, "Let's Go"

Tops in the UK:  The Boomtown Rats, "I Don't Like Mondays"


Having checked out the music world, let's see what's in store on the small screen tonight:

US Television Schedule:

ABC: Monday Night Baseball

Baseball fan that I am, I don't watch this very often. Generally because of the appeal of the strong CBS lineup.

 

CBS:  WKRP in Cincinnati, Flatbush, M*A*S*H, One Day at a Time, Lou Grant

Yes, this is quite a schedule. M*A*S*H remains great, One Day at a Time is entertaining, but WKRP is a blast! A brilliant comic cast; among them are Gary Sandy, Howard Hesseman, Gordon Jump, Loni Anderson and (my current crush) Jan Smithers. The show features embedded pop music, likeable characters and plenty of craziness. 

And at the end of the evening, Lou Grant is a great finish. Ed Asner is always a pleasure to watch. It's intriguing to see the turn from the comedic Grant of  "Mary Tyler Moore" to  the dramatic newsroom version we see here.

WKRP in Cincinnati Intro

NBC:  Little House on the Prairie, NBC Monday Night at the Movies

NBC Monday Night at the Movies Intro

BBC1:  Explorers of the Deep, Raintree County, World of Panorama

BBC2:  For Valour, The Waltons, T.J. Thorpe Sings Country, Inside Story, Best of Brass

That "Explorers of the Deep" sounds good; on this side of the pond we often see Jacques Cousteau featured on National Geographic specials.
Now then, we always love some good reading material. With that in mind, shall we investigate the offerings out now on the spinner racks?

As usual, there are plenty of temptations available. As summer is winding down, the Annuals still keep coming, and here's two good ones. The Avengers annual features a Bill Mantlo story with Don Newton artwork; a bit of a departure from the norm. Then there's the Amazing Spider-Man annual; a great Dr. Octopus tale with art by John Byrne! A favorite villain and a favorite penciller; that adds up to a must-buy. 

On the other hand, the new Howard the Duck magazine seems to have lost something. That something would be Steve Gerber, unfortunately...
Daredevil looks like another winner; Bullseye by Frank Miller. Can't beat that. 
DC has a big anniversary spectacular for Action Comics, telling Superman's life story as presented by Martin Pasko and Curt Swan. With a cool infinity cover, to boot. 
Also from DC, a new anthology called "Time Warp". Science fiction tales make up the content, appropriately enough, for this book. I'll definitely give this a try.
Speaking of time warps, it's time we wrap up this visit to the Bronze age. Thanks for joining us; and keep your eyes peeled for the next journey on the Retro; coming soon!

The Quarter Bin: Duck, It's A Rabbit!

Martinex1: George Orwell brought us Animal Farm.   The band Wall of Voodoo sang, "It's Animal Day."  And so it goes today for BitBA today, a thorough exploration of certain types of animal comic books and their covers. 

When I started researching this topic, I thought I would include every animal star I could think of from Lockjaw to Devil Dinosaur to Mickey Mouse to Captain Carrot.  But I quickly found that I had plenty for us to focus on just looking at RABBITS and DUCKS!  Holy cow, you would not believe how many books there are starring the various bunnies and fowl!

So let's begin a $1 Challenge - four books for your imaginary dollar!  Today we have a lot of books from the Golden Age of comics, but the trend definitely continues to modern day.  It seems ducks and rabbits must have captured our imagination as they are everywhere.   We have super-hero animals, funny animals, adventurous animals, and satirical animals. I am willing to bet there are many you have never heard of before today. While Bugs, Daffy, Donald, and Howard will be very recognizable.  Rags, Dippy, and Dopey may be less known.   I've also stretched the definition of the animal in a couple of instances, but it all fits the theme!

Take a gander and share your picks and pans!