The Collected John Law!

The folks at Hard Case Crime have given us a real treat in The Collected Will Eisner's John Law. All of the John Law material is now easily available between two handsome covers. This is material created by Will Eisner and his team back in the 1940's when he was briefly considering starting his own line-up of comics for the newsstands as well as more modern material fashioned by Australian artist Gary Chaloner which takes many of Eisner's noir fragments and cements them into a fascinating and quite spooky whole. 

When the project failed to come together, Eisner took the elements of the stories and refashioned into stories for The Spirit Section. Four Spirit stories developed from this material, including the seminal two-part Sand Saref tale. 

I first became aware of these John Law Detective stories when Eclipse Comics was able to put together a one-shot comic at the same time that Kitchen Sink was rolling with The Spirit reprints. I was fascinated even then to get a glimpse behind the scenes of how comics can come together. 

Eisner was pitching all kinds of books and formats for these characters as well as others which never saw the light of day such as Melba Girl Detective. Originally Nubbin the Shoeshine Boy was to be the headliner. 

But then Eisner switched gears, and the beefy, one-eyed John Law took the lead. His similarity to The Spirit is evident, making the shift over to that series relatively simple to do. (I'll have more to say on these Spirit stories tomorrow.)

In the early 2000's Gary Chaloner was put into contact with Denis Kitchen by way of Kurt Busiek and it turned out that Chaloner was handed the keys to the Crossroads kingdom when he was given the okay by Eisner himself to continue the John Law adventures. 

Chaloner wisely chose to take the character and give him an even darker tone, adding a modern noir gloss to the already heady environment. Since the stories had in many ways become part of The Spirit mythos, Chaloner took steps to make the character distinctive replacing and adding to keep the structure if not all the details. 

In two collections (Dead Man Walking and Angels and Ashes, Devils and Dust) Chaloner added both Lady Luck and Mr. Mystic to the Crossroads universe. Crossroads is supposed to be a stand-in for Los Angeles just as Central City seems very much like New York City. This change alone gives the stories a fresh feel. The stories are hard-edged with the supernatural a regular aspect of the goings on. From the first collection we get "Meet John Law", "The Opal Skull" (originally a Spirit story intended for Dark Horse and later reconverted to same) and "Law, Luck and a Dead-Eye Mystic". And the remaining stories are "What Nubbin Knew..." and "The Half Dead Nubbin Butts", and a story I title "Law's Spook Squad". 

In a new story for the Hard Case Crime collection, we get a glimpse at what Chaloner had planned for Law, a team of detectives made up of Eisner alumni from all over. We get Harry Carey from the pages of WoW Magazine! from 1936, "Hammer" Donovan from Detective Picture Stories #4 from 1937, Melba Chase P.I. from the unpublished "Tab" The Weekly Comic from 1947 and Lieutenant Oren Grey from a couple of Spirit stories appearing in 1947 and 1948. It was a rich cast with plenty of villainy on display from the likes of corrupt cop Detective Reznick, gunman Ray Hades, and Law's boyhood friend, the gangster Enzo "The Angel" D'Angelo. 

This collection is highly recommended, not only for just fans of Eisner or The Spirit, but for fans of good noir crime stories. 

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Deadly Beloved!

Deadly Beloved by Max Allan Collins is actually the first Ms. Tree publication from the Hard Case Crime brand of Titan Books. Under an exceedingly attractive Terry Beatty painted cover we get a terse, fast-paced novel which for the first time puts Ms. Tree in the format from which the hardboiled dick first emerged, the prose printed page. This novel was published in 2007, long before Titan Books decided to reprint the original comic book adventures of the Ms. Tree. 

The novel, a brisk read which I devoured in single sitting, is an adaptation of the first two Ms. Tree stories "I, for an Eye" and "Death Do Us Part" which between them explore the mystery of the honeymoon murder of Mike Tree, the tough-as-nails husband of Michael Friday Tree. We get into the case through the curious but effective technique of Ms.Tree talking to her psychologist. The story is not necessarily told in chronological order, but Collins is too deft a writer to let the reader lose the plot. There are twists inside of twists and by blending the two stories this turns out to something of a revamp and update of the original yarns. Topical and timely things such as the first Gulf War replacing the Vietnam War for instance. 

If you're a Ms. Tree fan like me, you will want to read this novel even though it's something of a rehash of stories you think you know. This telling does a masterful job of creating a sleek whole from the parts. And speaking of sleek, have I mentioned Terry Beatty's stylish and smokin' hot image of the alluring Ms. Tree used as a cover? It's a stunner. 

I continue my rather comprehensive look at the Ms. Tree works next with the closest thing to a Ms. Tree movie Collins was ever able to get on film, a strange film titled Real Time - Siege at Lucas Street Market. See you at the movies. 

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Skeleton In The Closet!

The first of Hard Case Crime's Ms. Tree books captured a series of stories from DC's Ms. Tree Quarterly which formed a defacto graphic novel. This volume gets the rest, stories which are as they say "torn from the headlines". These are provocative stories about provocative subjects, but the treatment is thoughtful and not completely exploitational. Collins and Beatty seem intent on creating stories that strike on sensitive subjects but offering some level of context. 

The first titled "The Devil's Punchbowl" deals with Satanism and specifically the craze which seemed to whip through the early 90's about Satan worshippers sacrificing creatures including people. It's a murder tale of course about a young girl who left an unquiet home and found, for a time, some comfort in a cult. When her body turns up, seemingly marked up as if for a ritual, Ms. Tree is hired by her parents to get to bottom of it. Collins is careful to showcase how cults and fear of cults can affect communities, something I've seen firsthand. 

From the fourth issue comes "Skeleton in the Closet" which deals with gay rights and the struggles inside and outside the gay community to deal with issues such as "Outing". The world has come so far on this issue since this story was published that it seems a bit quaint in places but that's not the fault of Collins and Beatty who try to present a sensitive issue in a sensitive way while at the same time treating the reader to rather intense murder yarn. The characters in this story, even ones we are familiar with have some rough ideas and things to say. An important revelation seals this dandy story. 

"Cry Rape" from issue five follows quite closely on after the previous tale and like its predecessor is set on a college campus. Young women who are subjected to sexual harassment and even rape, are the focus here. Like the previous story Ms. Tree's stepson Mike is at the center of his story and his attitudes are complicated by indicative of those of a less enlightened era. Like the story about gay bashing, this one seems somewhat dated, though both are still very much concerns for our modern times. We have not come as far as we imagine in this are for certain. 

From issue six we get "Horror Hotel", a splendid whodunnit that smacks of Richard Matheson's Hell House as well many movies of the haunted house variety. Ms. Tree is among a group of folks hired to examine an old mansion presumably haunted by decades of abuse and murder. There are deceptions galore in this fast-paced humdinger of a tale and as to whether ghosts are real, Collins and Beatty seem to leave the door open to that fundamental question. I'm always taken by how Beatty can draw the most gruesome scenes but make then seem so well managed and clean. 

Next the volume reaches back to issue twenty-eight of Renegade's Ms. Tree run with "Roger's Story". This sleek black, white and red little gem of betrayal and deceit gives us necessary backstory to understand better the next story in this collection. 

The Ms. Tree series at DC ended with issue ten titled at the time a Ms. Tree Special. This story takes Tree Investigations team to Vietnam where a mystery which ties two of our main characters is explored. It's fascinating story, which has a real twist I actually didn't see coming. Most of the time in stories this short a reader can guess the ending or get close, but I confess that Collins and Beatty genuinely surprised me with this one. 

The collection closes out with a short story titled "Louise" by Collins which itself was nominated for an Edgar Award. This is a sleek and trim reading experience. The Ms. Tree stories in this collection felt like television episodes put on paper, with neatly defined characters and some twists but rarely confounding. Collins and Beatty stick to the expectations of the hard-nosed detective genre but fill in the spaces with more compassion than one often finds in stories of this kind. 

That's a wrap on the comic series. Next time it's a glimpse at Dearly Beloved - The First Ever Ms. Tree Novel. But first some Spirit. 

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One Mean Mother!

Ms. Tree was created by Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty in 1981 at the behest of Dean Mullaney who wanted the feature for the independent pioneer Eclipse Magazine. The story concerns a detective named Michael Tree who married a former cop also named Michael but who shot by gangsters. She takes over his detective business and goes on to not only discover who killed her husband but takes steps to revenge herself. As we have seen her life is one filled with violence. 

The series about a tough-as-nails detective was popular enough to get its own title rather quickly. After leaving Eclipse the series ventured to Aardvark-Vanaheim for a nifty run before shifting over to DC in the 90's for a turn under the title Ms. Tree Quarterly. I've covered those earlier eras in previous posts. 

It is the stories from this DC run which occupy this 2019 trade from Titan Books Hard Case Crime brand. The story contains numerous spoilers if the reader intends to check out earlier comics, but I've enough knowledge that it wasn't that hard for me. Collins said he wanted to start with this de facto "graphic novel" because it was the best stuff he and Beatty did. I really like the early stuff, so I don't necessarily agree with that assessment, but I see his point. It's all good now anyway. 

The saga opens in Ms. Tree Quarterly #1 with "Gift of Death" which has Ms. Tree confronted by the Muerta crime family which she has been fighting for years. A change in the leadership makes them consider her better kept as an employee and ally than a perennial enemy. That doesn't work out, but a sudden murder makes it look like Ms. Tree's vendetta is not over with.  We meet longtime supporting characters such as Lt. Rafe Valer, Michael's former partner on the police and close confidant, Her stepson Mike, business partners Dan Green and Roger Freemont among others. 

From Ms. Tree Quarterly #4 the story "Drop Dead Handsome" Michael meets up with an old flame named Billy Powers who has gone on to be a tycoon of sorts in the big city. Based on real estate magnate, television personality, convicted criminal, president and traitor Donald Trump the story is one of manipulation in which Ms. Tree commits the only killing she says later she will feel sorry about. But this brief and violent romance will have consequences. 

"The Family Way" from Ms. Tree Quarterly #7 leaps forward three months, when has Ms. Tree contacted by the Muerta family again, this time to see about finding a wayward and quite possibly mad family member and hitman. It's a brutal trail with many innocents getting dragged into the line of fire and all the time Michael thinks she has the flu. Turns out she's pregnant. 

"Maternity Leave" in the very next issue jumps ahead six months and Ms. Tree steps down from her business to plan the birth of her child. Someone else is concerned about the upcoming birth, the family of the father - the deceitful and dead Billy Powers-- who hire killers to solve the problem before it can get to a probate court. It's all Michael can do to stave the killers until she does at last give birth. 

When we catch up with Ms. Tree again in the retitled Ms.  Tree Special #9 it is four months later, and she plans to return to work. She gets her sister to help babysit but her return to work is quickly marred by an attack which leaves her sister wounded and her new baby named Melodie kidnapped. It's all actually a hit on Ms. Tree and the suspects again are the family members of the Powers family. This is an especially bloody one though the crisp clean artwork by Terry Beatty and inker Gary Kato allows the reader to be free of excessive gore. These are stories which hearken back to the vintage film noir detective yarns in which gunshots often rang out but blood while seen sometimes was rarely if ever excessive. Collins and Beatty do have some fun with their culprits in this one who are twins from Belgium named Thompson. Tintin and Snowy never treated their Thompsons like this. 

Also included in this collection are two short essays by Collins. One discusses Ms. Tree's origins and the other the efforts he made to place Ms. Tree into film and television. Most are failed efforts, but one movie did get made from a Ms. Tree short story titled "Inconvenience Store" about a hostage situation the still very pregnant Michael Tree finds herself in when she wants a late-night snack of sardines. It was made into a Troma film titled Real Time - Siege at Lucas Street Market, apparently directed by Collins himself and starring  Brinke Stevens. More on it at a later date.

And that's a wrap on this volume. These are sleek well-crafted comic tales. They are violent tales, more impactful than the doings of superheroes, so a reader must be cautious. Michael Tree is a fully-developed character with a tendency towards violence but then she lives in a violent world as created by Collins and Beatty. The remaining issues for the DC run will make the second volume. That's tomorrow. 

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Fallen Tree!

In this ultimate collection of Ms. Tree stories Terry Beatty's artwork (with assists from Gary Kato) really tightens up and becomes more realistic. He'll be given more time to work on the stories the series will shrink to seven pages a month, letting reprints of Johnny Dynamite stories from the 1950's help fill up the comic. Mike Mist is on hand as always. 

The collection kicks off with a timely New Year's Eve story and shows how violent the world of Ms. Tree can be. A crazy killer shows up to a celebration with a machine gun and starts killing. It's up to Ms. Tree to find a way to first survive and then stop the menace. Both Effie and Rafe Valer play big parts in this story titled "New Year's Evil". 

Issue thirty-six is not included in this collection. But you can find the lead story in the YOe Books Johnny Dynamite collection. I took a look at that here. 

In four very taught issues featuring the story "The Bloody Badge", Ms. Tree is forced to go to Los Angeles and solve the murder of her father, a rock steady cop who is killed and then disgraced by making it seem as if he was involved with the drug market. We meet many new people, most importantly Ms. Tree's younger sister. It is heavily implied but not confirmed that Michael Tree's father is Joe Friday from countless Dragnet shows on the radio and television. The story is dedicated to Jack Webb. 

We then are treated a wild story in which Ms. Tree's adopted son is kidnapped along with the daughter of Dominique Mureta. The women have had a tense truce for some time, but the demands of these kidnappers seem to be creating a showdown. To be frank Ms. Tree's role as mother has been pretty lame as she's killed multiple people in front of her son, as well as long absences either fighting criminals, recovering in an asylum, or doing a stint in jail. When his bodyguard and tutor is still recovering from wounds, she decides to send him to a private school renowned for its security. 

"Murder Cruise" is as delightful read. It's got that classic mystery feel to it, less of the dark noir that permeates the series. In this one the entire Ms. Tree outfit plus Mike Mist are on a cruise. The story is  divided day by day as they make stops at various Caribbean islands. Mist has tagged along because a former partner of his was murdered and clues suggest the Cruise company might be involved. When there is a second murder after a few failed attempts the full team are on the case. In the last chapters a dressed ball is given which allows Beatty to have fun with costumes. If you look closely, you'll see Gary Kato's hero Jigsaw at the party as well. 

"Music to Murder Buy" from the Ms. Tree Rock and Roll Summer Special is about a rich musician and former member of the 60's group The Keys is killed and both Mike Mist and Ms. Tree are on hand to sort out the mystery and locate the culprit. They are most certainly not Annette and Frankie. 

The Renegade series closes out with a robust story which puts Ms. Tree in as much danger as she's ever faced in a story titled "Rendezvous with Death". Her services as a bodyguard are requested, but the danger is more than she expected. Does Ms. Tree end up in heaven or hell, the answer might be in this story. It doesn't end the way you think it will. 

But it's not over yet. The series will shift over to DC Comics where the creators will have access to full color and longer formats. More on that next time. 

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