The Corpse-Makers!

Will Eisner's The Spirit is no more alas. Some creators are so distinctive and wedded to their creations that when that talent is no longer available the creation wanes and disappears. Whether this will happen to The Spirit following the death of Eisner remains to be seen.

Some decent Spirit tales have been crafted, but I've yet to find any that had the same distinctive character, the same specific charm. That's the case with one of the most recent as well -- The Corpse-Makers by Francesco Francavilla. But I was eager to see this one in its collected form because if any modern artist was mining the same Film Noir material that evoked the original Spirit it's Francavilla.

There are a few things I like a lot, and number one is the creamy artwork of Francavilla who has found a nifty way tell a tale in the dark. His atmospheric backgrounds are exquisite. His usually deft storytelling falls down a few times in this five-part yarn that spins along for too short a time. That pace is the biggest downfall of his story, it flies by and all five chapters are read in minutes.

Once again I am reminded why I don't buy new comics, the storytelling is just not sufficient in a given chapter to warrant the the effort. Even with five parts collected here, the experience fell a bit shy. Now that's odd to say since the original Spirit stories were concocted in a handful of pages with a hammer-like rhythm.

But in the end despite the twenty dollar asking price, I found Francavilla's Spirit a satisfying read, not as good as Eisner, but on its own terms a proper Noir. I do hate the title though and recommend "Crimson Coal" or even  "The Crematorium" as possible substitutes. It will make sense when you read it.

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The Black Beetle!

Let me begin by saying that I am a big Francesco Fracavilla fan. I first discovered Francavilla's artwork on the offbeat Indy comic The Black Coat many years ago. 

Sadly, he left that riotous character for greener (blacker?) pastures and I've followed his progress as he made a name for himself. He has an engaging and attractive style which if full of energy and slathered with atmosphere, the perfect artist to draw a classic pulp adventure. And it's good news for one and all that he has done just that.

(Fist Drawing of Black Beetle by Francavilla)

The Black Beetle is a hard-nosed take-no-prisoners action hero in the mythical but nonetheless recognizable Colt City during the momentous year of 1941. He's a hero in a world ripe with villains across the globe as the Nazis prowl the streets for dark and evil secrets and gangsters murder and plot their way to riches and revenge.

The first story in this collection is titled "Murder in the Museum!" and delivers just that. The savage Third Reich is in the skies and seeking ancient plunder and only the Black Beetle can stop them. This is a tasty into to the world and the character and if any fault can be found with this collection, it's that the story started here is largely stalled while another gangster epic commences. I yearn to see what happens next, but like everyone else I'll have to wait. More on that later.

When not fighting European armies, the Black Beetle fights the Mob and the four-issue story title "No Way Out" describes his conflict with a mysterious villain named "Labirynto", an enigmatic killer who stalks the gangsters of Colt City wherever they seek to hide themselves. The Black Beetle finds himself in the odd position of tracking down this weird assassin, and discovering why all the bad guys are being dispatched. 

This a great action-filled story which reads with wonderful pace. The artwork is lush and propels you along. I wanted to read it again immediately after I finished it the first time. 

Sadly, though it's not the story yearned to read most. After the great introduction, I really wanted to learn more about the Nazi plot to get hold of an ancient trinket called "The Hollow Lizard". That's the story which will be told in the next Black Beetle adventure which is advertised at the end of this wonderful collection. 

"Necrologue" was to be the limited series which followed on after the sterling beginning but after time passed and deadlines were missed the story eventually fell off Dark Horse's schedule and has not been seen to my knowledge to this day. 

Francesco Francavilla's lush and rich dark images resonate with my pulp tastes and by and large run contrary to the modern stylings which often lack heft and depth. Francavilla's work is loaded with both.

Following his first adventure against mob forces seeking to get the upper hand in Colt City, the Black Beetle is missing for some time. 

But eventually I find his work is fully on display in Karabocek, a shorter one-off tale in the Black Beetle universe. "Karabocek" is a maguffin in this yarn which pits the Black Beetle against some more exceedingly lethal and determined Nazis. Turns out it's the name of a gun, a most curious and peculiar gun which is astonishingly ancient and apparently most desirable. We first encountered the gun in the debut Black Beetle adventure and now we learn more about what it can do and why the Nazis might want it. 

Francavilla is one of those talents who can with an air of authenticity blend the supernatural, super-science, and heady pulp adventure into a simmering brew. It's a bare bones story telling which has real pace and which doesn't disappoint with cliffhanger endings. There is resolution, even if there are mysteries yet to be plumbed. I hope he explores them sooner than later. I crave more Black Beetle. 

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The Web Of Crime!

Audiences have always cottoned to heroes who are resolute and have the courage of their convictions. The Shadow was such a hero, and he was rough and tough and very successful, so much so that imitators came into being. In The Spider, a vintage pulp hero published originally by Popular Publications beginning in the 1930's they found a hero who was not afraid to take the law into his own hands like The Shadow, in fact he was quite ready and willing to hand down death sentences to those he deemed worthy.  The Spider as written by Norvell Page and others is the best of those, following the model but being just different enough to garner his own following. This month I want to spend some time with The Spider and explore his grim menacing world. Thanks to publishers like Moonstone, Baen, Vanguard and others, there is a lot of great Spider material out there, from reprints of the original pulps to new novels and short stories, and even comic book and movie serial adaptations. Below are some of the works I'm hoping to get to this month. 

But The Spider did not fight crime alone. There are plenty of other vigilantes who took a bite out of crime and I'd like to visit and revisit with some of those distinctive agents of justice. See below for a chamber full of options such as Lone Justice, The Black Beetle, Monstermen, and The Dreamwalker. 

And sometimes telling the difference between the good guys (or gals) and the bad ones can be a little difficult. Hardboiled dicks come in all genders it seems as we see with the classic It Rhymes with Lust by Arnold Drake and Matt Baker, Fiction Illustrated's Schlomo Raven by Tom Sutton and Chandler by Jim Steranko, Ms. Tree- Deadline by Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty, and Johnny Dynamite by Pete Morisi. 

And crime can strike anywhere, even the "most magical place on the Earth". So, it seems only appropriate to check out the devious doings of Mickey Mouse's arch enemy The Phantom Blot. The Blot debuted in the Mickey Mouse comic strip but proved popular enough to even get his comic book series from Gold Key in the 1960's. 

Crime makes for good anthologies as well as evidenced by DC's Greatest Detective Stories Ever Told and The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics. Both tomes have delightful surprises between their mysterious covers. 

And look for an overview of the early career of Marvel's famous crime crusher, the Punisher. Frank Castle rose to fame in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man and took the world by storm, shot by shot. These early tales allow a reader to enjoy the evolution of Marvel's toughest character. 

And I want to take a little time tomorrow to talk about the late great Steve Ditko who gave us two of comics most relentless crime fighters in The Question and Mr. A. Mr. A's stories have most recently been gathered together in the pages of Avenging World. 

And I mentioned Max Allan Collins earlier. He's a fecund writer of mysteries of all kinds and some of the ones I enjoy most are a trio of stories he fashioned which take a look at infamous crimes committed within the comics community, or perhaps might have been. 

And then there's more film such as the hard-nosed Blade Runner which adapts Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick with gritty determination. Also on hand is the somewhat more tongue-in-cheek trio of tales about Trancers which features a tough as nails detective named Jack Deth of all things. Also look for the movie Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow a strange movie which has an even more bizarre connection to The Spider. 

That's a lot on my plate this month of Thanksgiving, and there's more I haven't mentioned. But we in America like to eat hearty during this month. So, strap in and come with me down some pretty dark crime alleys at Dojo this month. But be sure to keep your heads down amigos, the bullets are flying. 

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