Dojo Classics - House Of Yang #5

House of Yang Volume 2, Number 5 is dated April, 1976 and was published by Charlton Publications Inc. The editor is George Wildman. The dynamic cover was painted by Warren Sattler, who is the regular artist on the companion comic Yang. The interior artwork is by Demetrio Gomez Sanchez with the final two pages produced by Franc Fuentes Man. The script was supplied by the always reliable Joe Gill.

"A Poisoned Pearl" begins in the South China sea where Eva Ku learns of fabulous pearls. She plots with her henchman Ni-Shan to take the native divers into slavery and force them to get more pearls for her. Ni-Shan and his pirates do just that but encounter Sun Yang who battles them fiercely before being struck down from behind. He is tied up to a mast and presented to Eva Ku who immediately demonstrates her dual nature by demanding he be taken down and she herself cares for her enemy. But after a firm but eventful kiss between the two she again changes, but Sun Yang plans to leave but he is stopped by the wily Ni-Shan who is waiting for him. Again Sun Yang is tied to the mast and tormented, yet again Eva Ku sends out mixed messages when she punished Ni-Shan for abusing Sun Yang.

"Death Lies Deep" begins as Sun Yang and Eva Ku dive together into the shark infested waters to get the pearls themselves. Sun Yang battles a giant shark to save Eva Ku, and the pair make another dive, both protecting the other divers and making sure the pearls are delivered. A fracture develops between Eva Ku and Ni-Shan though over the division of the pearls. Sun Yang is still fending off sharks to protect the native divers and returns in time to see Ni-Shan turn on his pirate queen taking both her and Sun Yang prisoner in a giant net. As the pair are to be tossed to the sharks, all of which have been brought to a frenzy with chopped up fish, Sun Yang tackles Ni-Shan and the duo fall into the sea. Sun Yang is able to battle his toothy attackers but Ni-Shan is not so lucky. Returning to the junk, Eva Ku and Sun Yang discuss the split on the pearls and Sun Yang demands his part be given to the native divers.


"The Victims" is a two-page text piece which discusses the history of seal fishing in Alaska and how it has become a managed industry in more recent years after a free-for-all in the early days.


This issue was reprinted in 1976 by Gredown, an Australian publisher, which offers up a very dynamic variation on the original Sattler watercolor cover art.

The change in art styles in this issue is abrupt. Demetrio is a fine artist, and the storytelling in this one only breaks down in a few spots. The final pages by Fuentes Man fit right in and if he hadn't signed them, I doubt most folks would notice the change. These two Spanish artists are solid talents and worthy replacements for a man like Sanho Kim, but clearly some of the special magic which made House of Yang so different is missing.

Here is a link to see more of Demetrio's work on some Charlton romance stories.

Ni-Shan is a very nasty villain and frankly I wasn't a bit surprised he turned on Eva Ku. She doesn't deserve loyalty, the way she changes her mercurial mind about Sun Yang. If I worked for her, it would drive me crazy. The Yin-Yang dynamic is firmly established here, as clearly as in any previous issue.

There is one more issue of this run to come. Stay tuned.

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Emergency!

Here's a real gem. This Joe Staton cover for Emergency #2 is bright and exciting. I stumbled across this delightful bit of 70's gold while visiting a new (to me at least) comic book store in Bowling Green, Kentucky. There it was amid an admittedly chaotic assembly of comics, mostly stuff I own or was not really interested in. But this issue is the only issue of the original run I missed way back in 1976, so I snatched it up, haggled very successfully and brought it home in tandem with another Charlton comic I found lurking in a dusty corner.

The cover by Staton is the lure for me,  but the idea of completing this run after almost forty years is a fantastic feeling. The new comic fits in with my others perfectly in terms of condition. The interiors of this one feature a script by Charlton yeoman Joe Gill and art by the exceedingly talented Demetrio Gomez Sanchez. The Emergency comic was about paramedics, a then-new concept explored on the successful television show. Today I guess we'd call the "First Responders". It's a nice hook for a TV show and an above average premise for a comic book.

The debut issue of the run is the famous one, this one also featuring a Joe Staton cover and on the inside some early John Byrne artwork. Some artwork appropriated from the Byrne story here is used for the obligatory text piece in issue two.

After Staton's two great covers, Jack Sparling handles the remaining two issues of the run. The one above is a wonderful image, bright and focused, one of the best pieces I've seen by Sparling, if in fact it is him. I'm not so sure. It looks a lot like the style Sanchez uses inside.

This cover is more typical of his work, good and sturdy, but hardly compelling. Admittedly this is not a very good scan.

The Emergency license was used by Charlton for a color comic line as well as a black and white series. The artwork on the black and white  was produced by the Continuity Associates team assembled by Neal Adams, whose work can be seen on the first two issues. The stories are by Gill, Nicola Cuti, and Mike Pellowski.

I'm lucky to have the first two issues of this run.  But for some reason I did not find or get the last two issues of that series.

The last few issues feature some pretty good covers by Earl Norem, and the fourth issue has an Alfredo Alacala story in it. The completist in me would love to get hold of them, but I have rarely if ever seen either issue. It would be neat to finally have all of the Charlton Emergency books.

Here's a treat,  the original artwork by Jack Sparling for the unpublished fifth issue of the run. I'd put the quality of this one between his other efforts in terms of quality. The snake is sure interesting.

For  more on the television show that inspired these offbeat and oddly attractive comics, check out this link.

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The Yang Reports #17

Warren Sattler
House of Yang Volume 2, Number 5 is dated April, 1976 and was published by Charlton Publications Inc. The editor is George Wildman. The dynamic cover was painted by Warren Sattler, who is the regular artist on the companion comic Yang. The interior artwork is by Demetrio Gomez Sanchez with the final two pages produced by Franc Fuentes Man. The script was supplied by the always reliable Joe Gill. Here is a look at what else was on the newsstands when House of Yang #5 hit the stands.

"A Poisoned Pearl" begins in the South China sea where Eva Ku learns of fabulous pearls. She plots with her henchman Ni-Shan to take the native divers into slavery and force them to get more pearls for her. Ni-Shan and his pirates do just that but encounter Sun Yang who battles them fiercely before being struck down from behind. He is tied up to a mast and presented to Eva Ku who immediately demonstrates her dual nature by demanding he be taken down and she herself cares for her enemy. But after a firm but eventful kiss between the two she again changes, but Sun Yang plans to leave but he is stopped by the wily Ni-Shan who is waiting for him. Again Sun Yang is tied to the mast and tormented, yet again Eva Ku sends out mixed messages when she punished Ni-Shan for abusing Sun Yang.

"Death Lies Deep" begins as Sun Yang and Eva Ku dive together into the shark infested waters to get the pearls themselves. Sun Yang battles a giant shark to save Eva Ku, and the pair make another dive, both protecting the other divers and making sure the pearls are delivered. A fracture develops between Eva Ku and Ni-Shan though over the division of the pearls. Sun Yang is still fending off sharks to protect the native divers and returns in time to see Ni-Shan turn on his pirate queen taking both her and Sun Yang prisoner in a giant net. As the pair are to be tossed to the sharks, all of which have been brought to a frenzy with chopped up fish, Sun Yang tackles Ni-Shan and the duo fall into the sea. Sun Yang is able to battle his toothy attackers but Ni-Shan is not so lucky. Returning to the junk, Eva Ku and Sun Yang discuss the split on the pearls and Sun Yang demands his part be given to the native divers.


"The Victims" is a two-page text piece which discusses the history of seal fishing in Alaska and how it has become a managed industry in more recent years after a free-for-all in the early days.


This issue was reprinted in 1976 by Gredown, an Australian publisher, which offers up a very dynamic variation on the original Sattler watercolor cover art.

The change in art styles in this issue is abrupt. Demetrio is a fine artist, and the storytelling in this one only breaks down in a few spots. The final pages by Fuentes Man fit right in and if he hadn't signed them, I doubt most folks would notice the change. These two Spanish artists are solid talents and worthy replacements for a man like Sanho Kim, but clearly some of the special magic which made House of Yang so different is missing.

Here is a link to see more of Demetrio's work on some Charlton romance stories.

Ni-Shan is a very nasty villain and frankly I wasn't a bit surprised he turned on Eva Ku. She doesn't deserve loyalty, the way she changes her mercurial mind about Sun Yang. If I worked for her, it would drive me crazy. The Yin-Yang dynamic is firmly established here, as clearly as in any previous issue.

There is one more issue of this run to come. Stay tuned.

Rip Off