Books: Eternals, Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E., Transmet Zero, Steranko of S.H.I.E.L.D., and the Rocketeer

[woodwardiocom]

The Eternals by Jack Kirby

After the Fourth World, after Kirby left DC and returned to Marvel, he dipped again into the pool of creating modern myth. The Eternals, inspired in part by Chariots of the Gods, presupposes that our myths of gods and demons are the confused retellings of ancient alien intervention on Earth. The Celestials, 2000-foot tall armored entities, meddled in the Terran gene pool millions of years ago, creating the horrific Deviants, the immortal Eternals, and a little race called Humans . . . And now they're back, to decide whether their experiment should be allowed to continue.

This series was the basis for Gaiman's recent Eternals series, and has also become foundation stone of the Marvel Universe in places (as seen most notably in Earth X). If you're interested in modern reinterpretations of ancient myth, you shouldn't pass this one up.

Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E by Johns, Moder, and Davis

Once upon a time, there was a superhero called the Star-Spangled Kid, and his sidekick, Stripesy. The Kid went and got himself killed, and Stripsey retired, got married, and tried to form a parental bond with his teenage step-child, Courtney Whitmore. Then she found his box of superhero memorabilia, donned the Kid's cosmic converter belt, and declared herself to be the new Star-Spangled Kid. Fortunately, he had been working on a battlesuit in his spare time, and he is forced to constantly use the S.T.R.I.P.E. armor to try and get her out of trouble . . . though, actually, she seems to be pretty good at this superhero stuff.

This was Geoff Johns' first comic, and he does a good job of giving us new adventures while staying true to the past history of the names (even making the Roy Thomas bits sound not too wonky). The main artist, Lee Moder, is often quite good . . . and sometimes Courtney looks like a deformed blond zombie, but, [shrug]. A solid superhero title, now available in two volumes.

Transmetropolitan: Tales of Human Waste by Warren Ellis and divers hands

This "volume zero" of the Transmet series mostly consists of interpretations of the characters and their dystopian future by a variety of hot artists, with little excerpts from Spider's column added on. It's entertaining, and necessary for completists, but not really vital to an understanding the Transmet story.

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Who is Scorpio? by Steranko & Co.

This slim volume collects the four issues of the titular spy's eponymous comic that were written and illustrated by Jim Steranko, and are thus innovative and weird in their use of collage, moire, and silent storytelling. Unfortunately, since he only did these four issues, they don't form much of a story, and (in particular) you never find out who Scorpio is. Nevertheless, if you're interested in the evolution of comic book art, this is one of the signposts.

The Rocketeer by Dave Stevens

For no clear reason, the comic book adventures of the Rocketeer have been out of print for years 'n years, and they go for mad money on eBay. My FLCS happened to get one in stock, however, and I snatched it up. If you've seen the movie you're familiar with the premise, though in the comic our hero is dating Bettie Page, not Jennifer Connelly, and the inventor of the rocket pack is a thinly disguised Famous Pulp Hero, not Howard Hughes. Classic retro action, highly recommended.

Comments

[aota.livejournal.com]

When I picked up Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. I was surprised that it was a really good book. I'm looking forward to the next one. The Rocketeer is a brilliant book I wish they would collect everything again and republish it. I loved the the two pulp hero cameos.