Books: Black Panthers, Air Pirates, Warlocks, Libriomancers, and First Novelizations

[woodwardiocom]

Marvel Masterworks: The Black Panther v1 by McGregor, Buckler, & Graham

In the early 1970s Marvel was trying very hard to get with the counterculture, and giving their African hero his own book was a noble attempt. In the foreword, the writer talks about how he was constantly getting pressure to add white people to a story entirely set in Africa, and entirely about politics (and war) in Wakanda. He pretty much managed to avoid it, bless him. This volume contains two stories, the much-lauded epic "Panther's Rage", which ran across 13 issues, and a story about the Panther vs. the Klan, sadly cut short when the title was canceled. "Rage" certainly has a lot to recommend it, what with court politics, subtly gay heroes and villains, creepy bad guys, and a lot of action (though the Panther's wounds are often described in detail a little too loving). It seemed a bit meandering to me, but it must be hard to hold a story together across 13 bimonthly issues, with constant editorial interference. The Klan story never really has a chance to get rolling, but, again, nice action, it doesn't shy away from the issues of race, and I like that the police chief isn't a bad guy. Still, I gotta wonder what the Panther thought would be accomplished by going to the supermarket in costume. Recommended, with the caveat that 1970s comics aren't for everyone.

Lady Sabre & The Pirates Of The Ineffable Aether: Book I by Greg Rucka and Rick Burchett

This Kickstart'd steampunk tale is about the same size and heft as the Panther volume above, though with about half the page count. It is also direly decompressed in comparison. The entire plot would have fit in one, maybe two issues of Panther. It's pretty, and I like it, but it's not even act 1 of a story, more like the first three scenes. I hate to say "not recommended", but don't pay what I did.

Warlock by Jim Starlin

This comics collection is marked "The Complete Collection", which is true only if you're talking about strictly Starlin's 1970s work on Warlock, since he returned to the character in force in the 1990s. This is a trippy, angsty tale of Warlock's attempts to find his place in the cosmos, which is hard when you discover that you're destined to turn evil and/or kill your future self whilst teamed up with Thanos and/or the Avengers. Plus, the first appearance of Gamora! Very talky, gorgeous art, cosmic comics like only the 1970s could do, recommended.

Codex Born by Jim C. Hines

Second in the Magic Ex Libris series, where our hero does magic by pulling artifacts out of books (such as lightsabers and healing potions). This volume is partly about a very bad, very petty man getting his hands on a little power, partly about who really invented movable type, and partly about how Gutenberg (head of our hero's order) is not a very nice guy. But, most of the important bits are about the leading lady, who is still dealing with the fact that she's based on a work of fiction (and not a very good one), and thus has serious doubts about her free will. If she was literally written to be a certain kind of person, being true to her nature means living up to someone else's dream... right? Fun, recommended.

Wars and Treks

I picked up the novelizations of the first Star Wars and Star Trek movies when Pandemonium (my friendly local SF store) got in a bunch of used paperbacks. They're interesting because they were written back when their respective universes were still largely unformed and amorphous. These books are at best rough fits to the Expanded Universes that followed.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Gene Roddenberry (allegedly)

In the original Star Trek show, we never really saw what Earth was like in the 23rd century. (We get a brief glimpse in "The Menagerie", but we learn practically nothing, and it's an illusion anyway.) This novel asserts that the bulk of humanity are "New Humans", some sort of ill-defined transhumanity, most of whom are far too peaceful and enlightened to serve in Starfleet. Kirk & Co. are "old humans", rough and tumble, and they often rub New Humans the wrong way. Kirk was tricked into retiring prior to this movie/book in part because his cowboy captaincy annoyed the heck out of the New Human civilian leadership.

This whole New Human business was pretty much discarded after this novelization and never mentioned again.

Speaking of things that should have been never mentioned, between Kirk getting a call from an old flame, and Lieutenant Ilia's pheromones, we get far too many updates on the status of the Captain's Log, if you know what I mean. I really don't need to know what's going on in his pants. On the other hand, the specific question of whether Kirk and Spock were lovers comes up, and there's a footnote, written in the first person by Kirk, in which he appears to deny it without ever actually denying it (and also tells us that Spock never outright denies it, either). Oh, what slashy days are these!

And weird changes in tone, and a lot of talk about sex without anyone ever having any, and Kirk's old flame dies in front of him, horribly, in a transporter accident, and within half an hour he's telling jokes and never mentions it again. It's a weird ride, and I'm glad that everything that followed went a different way.

Star Wars: From The Adventures Of Luke Skywalker by George Lucas (allegedly)

This novelization adheres very closely to the movie, and the odd bits tend to be isolated. E.g., mention is made of both ducks and dogs, Jabba is a humanoid, not a slug, the whole story is from the Journal of the Whills (What's a Whill? Is it next to the Whays?), and, of course, it is very strongly suggested that the Clone Wars took place much more than 20 years ago. And Leia's sensuous lips and curving hips get a lot of words, many of them from Luke's point of view, yikes. Regardless, it fits into later canon much better than the Trek novelization.

Comments

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

I've never seen the novel, but it's always seem to me that the great erotic scene of Star Trek: The Motion Picture is the one where Kirk's shuttle glides slowly past the vast body of his true love and finally docks gently with her access portal. Of course the whole film is about human–machine eroticism.

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

...That's a really illuminating way of looking at it (which I probably missed due to seeing it at a very young age, and not reanalyzing it much since).

The footnote I mentioned, by the way, has been dissected many a time, and much info can be found on it here.

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

I was nearly 30 when I saw it, so my point of view was somewhat different. I liked it a lot, actually, but I haven't felt the need to go back and rewatch it, even though it would be easily done now. But on reflection I think it's more lyric and less epic or dramatic than most fans are looking for.

[mzrowan.livejournal.com]

I have a few of the novelizations from the original Battlestar Galactica, allegedly written by Glen Larson and Robert Thurston. I'm pretty sure Thurston got a bonus every time he managed to shoe-horn in the phrase "rag-tag fleet". Also, the interstitial Captain's Log bits are surprisingly nuanced; reading them, I could suddenly imagine how Moore got from the old series to the new one. That reminds me, I should go look up more of Thurston's work...

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

Also, the interstitial Captain's Log bits are surprisingly nuanced; reading them, I could suddenly imagine how Moore got from the old series to the new one.

Interesting, thank you!