The Spider Chronicles!

This is a heady collection of Spider tales from Moonstone. The Spider Chronicles kicks off with an introduction from Denny O'Neil and features fantastic illustrations from Tom Floyd throughout. Doug Kaluba's cover is a powerful introduction to the proceedings. As with any anthology, the quality of the stories vary, but most of all of them successfully tap into that Spider magic in some ghastly way. 

"City of the Melting Dead" by Martin Powell is a heady tale by one of my favorite writers which pits the Spider against a malevolent foe dubbed "The Crucible" who has a deadly and horrific formula that melts human flesh. This murderous enemy is put down in the most distinctive of ways. 

"King of the City" by C.J. Henderson shows how the Spider is able to use the forces of gangland against each other in their mad scramble of greed and avarice. The true king of the city is revealed by the story's bloody finale. 

"Death from a Blood Red Sky" by Elizabeth Massie features death from above as a murderous woman uses an autogyro to wreak havoc and murder from the safety of the skies. Her killing method is singluar and savage. Her rampage is put down by the Spider with great cost to himself. 

"Death Reign of the Zombie Queen" by Howard Hopkins has Nita fall victim to the powers of a deadly woman seeking power and revenge on men for the crimes committed against her. She has created deadly cannibalistic zombies to support her deadly play for power. 

"March of the Murder Mummy" by Will Murray is a wild story which delivers on the title. We have a murderous mummy who seems to have an insatiable lust for gold. The Spider is taxed to the limit to bring down this seemingly ancient menace that can shrivel men in its grasp. 

"Regrets Only " by Chuck Dixon is a story focused on Nita Van Sloan. She is in attendance at a dinner party which turns into a potential massacre when brutal thieves and murderers overwhelm the city's elite. The Spider is seemingly occupied with another crime and Nita fears she is all alone. 

"The Marching Madmen" by Bill Crider is a wild story about an insane mob which in defiance of death and seemingly impervious to pain attack a collection of the city's most important folks. The Spider is at a loss how to deal with this threat, even to the point of seeming to lead the maddened mob at one point. 

"Fear Itself" by Joel Friedman and C.J. Henderson sets the Spider against the most ancient threat of Set and of Monks older than time. Also on hand are deadly giant reptilian beasts all too ready to rend people apart for food. These monsters are under the thrall of the Serpent Men. The Spider needs magical help to solve this case. 

"Blazing Barrels at the Reich House" by James Anthony Kuhoric is set just as WWII is coming to an end, but while the Third Reich might seem to have fallen, a mysterious zeppelin delivers deadly Nazi agents with jet packs to a Washington party at which the President is scheduled to appear. The Spider is all that stands between the President and death, and I haven't even mentioned the odd leader of the pack. 

"Senor Suicide" by Steve Englehart is a bizarre tale which begins when the Spider shoots himself in the face. We learn that the whole of the city is consumed by the rays of a device which creates emotions, especially those leading to deadly behaviors. People commit suicide by the thousands and even airplanes fall from the sky. It's all the Spider can do to save himself let alone his fellow citizens. 

"Wheelman for Terror" by Shannon Eric Denton and John Helfers is an unusual Spider story told from the perspective of a simple thug named Len who just wants to make his way in the mob. He's diligent if decidedly uncaring about his fellow man, but he makes a name for himself when he seemingly kills the Spider. While he feels he's at last a success, his fame carries a cost. 

"More Souls for Hell" by C.J. Henderson puts the spotlight on Ram Singh when he finds himself all alone having to defend the Wentworth Estate from a gang of thieves decked out in black. With blades only he cuts a lusty and savage swatch through the interlopers and so ends his boredom at having to stay behind when The Spider was elsewhere. 

"Caught in the Crossfire" by Ann Nocenti finds Wentworth and Nita in the Bahamas aboard a gambling boat which finds itself accosted by classic gangsters and real-world pirates led by a fascinating creature called "The Red Slash". It's bloody mayhem as a Monopoly game becomes a real contest between deadly agents from several quarters. This one really gets inside the mind of The Spider. 

"The Invisible Gang" by Ron Fortier features a malignant female Fagan who uses her youthful charges to carry out murderous robberies of gangsters setting off a bloody gang war. The Spider is busy dealing with the bloody consequences and has little time to find out the true nature of this invisible menace. 

"The Devil's Druggist" by Robert Weinberg focuses on a horrifying mystery of poisonous aspirin which seems to find its way into all brands. The real secret of how the poison is being delivered sets up a wild finale which pits the Spider against some exotic and quite deadly enemies. 

"The Mad Gasser of Mantoon" by Joe Gentile tells the tale of a small town which suffers from a madman who silently sneaks around and silently pumps a weird gas into the homes of various citizens. The connection between victims is hard to fathom and the motive for the crime maybe even more complex. And then there's the problem with the FBI men who seem to want to frustrate the investigation. 

"The Calling of The Spider" by Mort Castle is a story from the early days of the Spider in which Dick Wentworth might have had less lethal aspirations for his crusade against crime. In a story set among the music industry as well as a deadly drug culture, this story perhaps explains why The Spider deals out justice with such ferocious intensity. 

"The Spider and the Monster Makers" by Christopher Mills is the story of a madman who infects young women with a horrific disfiguring disease and uses that threat to blackmail the rich and well-to-do of the city. The true secret of the villain known only as "Proteus" is even more horrific than we at first are led to believe. 

"Banquets for the Damned" by John Jakes wraps up the collection as Jakes pays homage to his favorite pulp hero with a story set in Hell's Kitchen, and never has that name been more accurate. A wave of madness and murder sweeps through the city when a foreign chef sets up shop in town. His ultimate motives are sadly even more of the times. 

These are pretty dang good stories overall. The beauty of a collection like this is that if a certain story isn't really thrilling you, there's the pleasure of knowing a new one is just a few pages away. The sad part is that when a tale is really potent, you know it will wrap more quickly than you might prefer. Moonstone published a lot of these kinds of collections and this one is the best one I've read so far. 

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The Spider Is The Master Of Men!

Martin Powell has been a favorite writer of mine since I chanced upon his magnificent Gaslight in Scarlet which pitted Sherlock Homes against Dracula. That gimmick has been done more than a few times, but never better than when Powell did it in combination with artist Seppo Makinen. So, I dived into this 2013 collection of Powell Spider stories titled Spider -Master of Men with anticipation. The results vary. There is no doubt that the Dan Brereton covers are a hit though. 

Powell teams with artist Pablo Marcos for the first Spider tale titled "Death Siege of the Frankenstein Legion" in which we discover that Nita Van Sloan has been kidnapped (a common occurrence) and the Spider leaps into the fray to find her. She has been taken by a strange scientist who has seemingly revived the dead and has several examples shambling around. This small nine-pager has a neat twist I never saw coming, but on reflection should have. 

In the second issue an artist named Hannibal King joins with Powell to give us the saga of the "Blood Reign of the Thunder King" in which all of NYC suffers under a deluge perpetrated by the titular villain. The flood waters rise and sharks literally swim in the streets as the Spider tries to end this weather menace. This story is in two parts and runs in total twenty-two pages. King's artwork is good, especially his rendering of Nita. I cannot find out where the second half of this story first appeared if anywhere. 

Artist Jay Piscopo steps in to draw Powell's story of the Spider's battle with a deadly ravenous shapeshifter in Return of the Monsters: Spider Vs. Werewolf. An old army ally appears who is hunting down the werewolf and thinks that Richard Wentworth might well be suffering from lycanthropy since he and Wentworth and other of their company ran across beasts of that kind in the war. This yarn runs twenty-eight pages, and we get Ram Singh and Jackson involved in the story as well. This one felt the most like a classic Spider story than any so far. Oddly the story was credited to "Martin Gram" inside, but it's Powell after all. 

"The City that Couldn't Sleep" is a prose story by Powell with illustrations by Pablo Marcos and follows a deadly menace which has everyone in NYC awake for weeks. The result is a near collapse of the social order. Only the Spider's special training allows him to keep functioning as he finds strange, hooded criminals robbing banks and whatnot in the chaos. Nita gets captured again, but as usual it doesn't do the villain named "The Dreamer" much good. I'm not sure where this first appeared if anywhere. 

"City of the Melting Dead" is a short story which originally appeared in the Moonstone anthology The Spider Chronicles. I'll have a little more on this story next week when I take a look at that entire collection. 

"City of the Bleeding Snow" closes out the collection with a comics story by Powell and artist Tom Floyd. and begins with Nita again captured by the enemy, this time called the "Snowman". His gimmick raining down deadly acids onto the population which causes them to melt down to the bones. This is a pretty gruesome 2007 Christmas story as the Spider goes to Nita's rescue and metes out his own brutal form of justice. 

These are grim and brutal stories by Powell much in keeping with wild and bloody tradition set down by Norvell Page himself. Page's niece writes a forward for the collection. I don't think any of these stories by Powell are on par with is Sherlock Holmes stories, but he sure ain't afraid to spill some blood. I do wish Moonstone had been more informative about the provenance of the stories in this collection. 

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Sherlock Holmes - The Loch Ness Horror!

The final Sherlock Holmes collaboration between Martin Powell and Seppo Makinen appeared in serial form in the four issues of the Caliber Comics magazine Sherlock Holmes Reader. Titled "The Loch Ness Horror", the story is a sequel of sorts to Return of the Devil. Actually I think it's best to consider the latter as a prequel for the much more ambitious Loch Ness story which is surprisingly sprawling in its scope for a Sherlock Holmes yarn.

The story concerns itself with the "The Spear of Destiny" no less and begins as Holmes is called out of retirement in Sussex by the Pope no less to investigate how this relic has been taken from inside the Vatican itself. Holmes finds himself pitted against Aleister Crowley, the infamous Satanist called by some "The Beast". Crowley is trying to use the Spear to bring out the end of the world itself and has enlisted the aid of a veritable horde of demons to help him accomplish that bloody goal.

The story touches many familiar notes as much of it is set at Baskerville Hall and involves intimately Sir Henry Baskerville and his daughter Magdeline. Watson leaves his new wife Veronica to join Holmes in this epic quest to stave off doomsday. It's a true spectacle with monsters great, small, and historic on hand.

This story features some of Makinen's most vibrant and powerful artwork, as he is a much more assured and confident artist since those halcyon days of Scarlet in Gaslight. I"m not sure I'm totally satisfied with the ending of this tale, but there's little doubt that Powell left it all on the table when he put this one together. It's the duo's blockbuster for sure.

I read this story in Moonstone's Sherlock Holmes Mysteries Volume Two. Along with Return of the Devil, this story forms a vast story which makes for a solid Holmes experience, at least for those who don't mind the Great Detective pitting his wits against the supernatural.

NOTE: This is a Dojo Revised Classic Post. 

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Sherlock Holmes - Return Of The Devil!

Return of the Devil is a relatively short two-part tale from Martin Powell and Seppo Makinen, revisiting again the world of Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective Sherlock Holmes. This yarn follows on the success of Scarlet in Gaslight and A Case of Blind Fear.  In this one Watson and Holmes are nearing the end of their long partnership when word gets to Holmes that Irene Adler once again needs his assistance. It turns out it is not Adler directly but a colleague, a beautiful contralto named Violet Fortier who has been  hallucinating apparently and reveals that the Devil himself, in his horned and cloven-hoofed glory has visited her. Violet's sister Veronica appeals to Holmes for assistance and frankly just flat-out appeals to Watson who misses his late wife Mary terribly. Things get much more serious thought when Violet kills herself. Later Holmes himself is suffering from delusions, or at least he thinks they must be since he sees his old enemy Moriarty seemingly returned from his death so many years before.

There is an answer to all this, a somewhat mundane answer after it's all said and done, but this story introduces Alestair Crowley to the scene, a character who will play a much larger role in the next Powell-Makinen Holmes story, their last. More on that later.

I originally read Return of the Devil in its two-issue format years ago from Malibu's black and white Adventure Comics brand. I have never found the collected edition from Caliber's Tome Press seen above. But I feel fortunate to have the story in the second volume of Moonstone's Sherlock Holmes Mysteries.

NOTE: This is a Dojo Revised Classic Post. 

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Sherlock Holmes - A Case Of Blind Fear!

Following on the success of Scarlet in Gaslight which dramatically pitted Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes against Bram Stoker's Dracula, Martin Powell and Seppo Makinen teamed up once again to take Doyle's great detective in a slightly different direction. This time the antagonist was plucked from the broad  and vivid canon of H.G. Wells, specifically his villainous creation, "The Invisible Man".

A Case of Blind Fear (outstanding title) actually works better as a Sherlock Holmes story than did the earlier Scarlet in Gaslight (which I still adore nonetheless). The super-scientific base for the murderous Griffin is challenging but somewhat less shocking to the 221B Baker Street milieu than the supernatural undead of Bram Stoker. The universe of Wells mingles better with the super-rational universe of Doyle.

Also unlike Scarlet in Gaslight, Holmes this time is in full command of his wits, save for those which are slightly blunted by the confusing absence of Dr. John Watson and the untimely arrival of "The Woman" herself, the beautiful and distracting Irene Adler. In fact it is the personal story of Watson and his wife Mary which is the center of attention this time out, as Watson's old life comes back to literally haunt him. 

Powell's writing is at his usual excellent standard here, if anything firmer and more nimble with loads of echoes from the classic Holmes canon. Makinen's artistic storytelling is improved since the earlier effort, reading cleanly and doing a wonderful job of rendering the hardest thing imaginable, the unseen itself. Making an invisible man a threat can be more difficult in the broad comic book world, but it is accomplished with gusto here. The story also makes superb use of vintage Holmes villain Captain Moran, making him something truly vile and repulsive. The villainy is ripe and potent in this one.

Hard to find, but worth the effort, I heartily recommend A Case of Blind Fear. Here are the covers for the original Eternity Comics limited series (Malibu's black and white brand).

And here's a striking cover for the Caliber Comics 1996 collected version of the tale.

I read this story in Volume One of Moonstone's Sherlock Holmes Mysteries which collects the Powell-Makinen stories. There is a second volume in this set, and I'll be attending to that soon.

NOTE: This is a Dojo Revised Classic Post. 

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Sherlock Holmes - Scarlet In Gaslight!

Where and exactly when I picked up Scarlet in Gaslight I don't recollect. But this masterful story of Sherlock Holmes facing off against Dracula made a huge impression. I first read the story as a collection from Malibu Comics from 1988. This slightly smaller version of the tale does some injustice to Seppo Makinen's elegant and vibrant artwork but the tale remains intact.

There have been many stories written pitting Arthur Conan Doyle's supremely logical consulting detective against Bram Stoker's supremely evil lord of the undead, but in this comics telling Martin Powell gives adds a flavorful dash of humanity to Holmes and oddly enough to Dracula too. Both are rich personalities with specific motivations and particular worldviews. In the case of Holmes, his confrontation with the startling reality of the undead rocks his world of reason and carefully groomed intellect and his mind falls into disorder. In the case of Dracula, his craving for control is frustrated by evil folks who seek use him as a weapon in their battle against a peaceful world. Both of our protagonists overcome their conflicts and that makes this story hum so effectively.
 

Seppo Makinen's artwork in these stories has a real flavor to it. Unlike so much of the comic art produced in the modern day, there is a real style and whimsy to Makinen's supple lines. The artwork improves as the story progresses, suggesting that Makinen gains his footing a bit through the tale, and by the end he is in full control of the storytelling and the textures. This is a black and white story, produced originally for Malibu's black and white "Eternity Comics" brand in waning days of what we now dub the "Black and White Boom". It's a story best told in black and white, not only to preserve Makinen's lush linework, but to retain the frosty atmosphere the story so successfully develops.

The story has proven a success and has been reprinted a number of times over the intervening years by several publishers.

I most recently read the tale in the Moonstone version of Sherlock Holmes story by Powell and Makinen. There are two volumes in this handsome set despite the rather mundane and uninspired cover artwork. Building on the critical success of Scarlet in Gaslight, the two did several more Holmes stories pitting the detective against some very odd foes. I'll have more to say on those at a later date.

But I give Scarlet in Gaslight my highest recommendation. If you have not yet read this stunning tale of reason versus madness then seek it out and give it a go. It's one of the best stories of Sherlock Holmes not written by Doyle and one of the best stories produced in the comic book format ever.

NOTE: This is a Dojo Revised Classic Post. 

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The Adventures Of The Extraordinary Gentlemen!

The Dojo closes out the year focusing on two great writers. There's no doubt that Alan Moore is one of the great literary talents of our generation. He's even achieved this level of notoriety by writing comic books. Hie works are no small part of the reason that comics have an elevated status in the United States, a status they have long had in Europe and elsewhere. He a distinctive figure, a shaggy looming ogre of a man who comes across as a mad Merlin. But there's no denying his output. I'm very slow to the Moore temple of worship, but I did hop aboard for his The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen adventures, and I've always had a soft spot for the anti-fascist epic V for Vendetta. (Just read it again this past November 5th, and might make that an annual tradition, just to keep my head on straight.) I did a deep dive into his groundbreaking Swamp Thing work in 2021 and as 2022 nears its end, I want to do the same for a few other Moore series. 

This month is also dedicated to the recently departed Kevin O'Neill, Moore's partner on The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen books which were published DC and then later by Top Shelf. Regardless of who published them, O'Neill's distinctive art guaranteed the reader he or she was getting the pure stuff. The League stories form a sprawling saga which incorporates elements of no less than all of English popular literature and other entertainments to form its narrative. Any character who has drifted into public domain (and many who are not though in disguise) is on the table for inclusion into this comic book variation of Philip Farmer's Wold Newton gimmick. My plan is to read these books in order of their publication, and many of the later ones I have never read before. I'm eager to dive in. 

And then there's Lost Girls, a book written by Moore and drawn in a delightful style by Melinda Gebbe. This is a yarn that includes adult versions of Alice from the Wonderland books, Dorothy from the Wizard of OZ books, and Wendy from Peter Pan and puts them in a European hotel as the First World War is about to break out. Somewhat isolated from reality the three women explore a wide range of sexual experiences. This work depicts sexual activity with frank clarity, but I wouldn't call it pornography in the strict sense because it is about more than just depicting the sex acts themselves. 

From Hell is the epic exploration by Moore and artist Eddie Campbell of the sundry theories about Jack the Ripper. I did gather up some of these when they were being released in the early 90's, but reading them all together in a collection, despite its mammoth size is the best way to experience them. 

Now turning to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes and Professor Edward Challenger. I'll be also taking fresh ganders at classic Dojo items featuring Sherlock Holmes, especially those written by Martin Powell and drawn by Seppo Makinen such as the utterly exquisite Scarlet by Gaslight and the very upsetting A Case of Blind Fear among others. Sherlock Holmes battled Dracula, the Invisible Man, and the Devil himself in these comics and elsewhere. These early 80's and 90's comics while preceding them are very much in the spirit of Moore's League, crossing over iconic characters from different writers. 

Expect a closer look at his interactions with some nasty Martians as well. I'm planning on watching a number of Sherlock Holmes movies and television efforts as this final month of 2022 marches towards its inevitable conclusion. Expect classic as well as new posts on those too.  

And while I'm spending time at 221 B Baker Street, it's a nifty moment to revisit one of my favorite television series of the 21st century -- BBC's Sherlock starring Doctor Strange and Bilbo Baggins. 

And if time permits, I want to finally get through all the episodes of Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century, an animated take on the great detective. It's not some flavor for a cartoon of its era. There are several clever takes on the classic tales. I hope some of this strikes your fancy.  

Oh, and there will be a few holiday items as well. Enjoy the finale to 2022!

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