DC's 2nd facsimile edition reprint of August is House of Secrets 92, released in 1971. As everyone knows, this is the issue in which Len Wein & Berni Wrightson introduced Swamp Thing. The character, who turns 50 in two years, was cover-featured, and after a splash page with host Abel, also by Wrightson, the initial tale leads off the issue.
In Wein's original script, our tragic hero was Alex Olsen, who was killed by a jealous rival for the affections of his wife, Linda, who would soon marry the cad. Basically, your standard gothic horror-romance story.
A year later, when Swamp Thing went to series, Wein rewrote the origin, changing the protagonist's name to Alec Holland, and the rest, of course, is history. Wein's original story struck a chord not only with readers, but also with DC editorial of the period.
The rest of the issue is standard fare for DC's horror line, including an issue-closing two page short by an uncredited Gerry Conway & Dick Dillin. In those days, DC was inconsistent about crediting creators, though that would soon change.
Rating: A-.
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With Harley Quinn set to return to the big screen next year in "Birds of Prey", plus her own DC Universe animated series, due this fall, DC is flooding the shelves with Harley-centric new books, including a young adult graphic novel on the DC Ink line.
Best-selling author Mariko Tamaka's Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass is narrated by Harley herself, but way too chatty for her own good. Veteran artist Steve Pugh sets the tone. However, I for one am not a fan of DC suits deciding that Harley is their answer to Marvel's Deadpool, who also gets a little too chatty. Shoot, Deadpool was already parodied in the pages of Harley's solo series, and it seems to me that DC is uncertain of how to properly market Harley as a solo act. Her forthcoming miniseries with Poison Ivy is in answer to years of internet fan shipping, and, sad to say, will disappoint a lot of male fans who'd wish they had a girl like Harley to call their own.
DC is previewing Breaking Glass by releasing chapter 1 in a stand-alone giveaway. You'll need to eventually pony up $10 for the whole enchilada, but trust me, while this would make a good Christmas present for your daughter, some back issues of Harley's solo series might help counter-balance.
Rating: B-.
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In 1975, Marvel tried out a new black & white magazine, Marvel Movie Premiere, which adapted the feature film adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' The Land That Time Forgot, which was someone's idea of marketing TV vet Doug McClure (ex-The Virginian) as a movie star. As memory serves, Marvel Movie Premiere flopped, and this ended up being a 1-shot. The company's black & white line was dying by 1975.
44 years later, American Mythology Press has acquired the issue, and split it into a 2-part miniseries, as they have the rights to most, but not all, of the Burroughs library of characters. Behind the painted cover of long time DC artist Nick Cardy, the story itself remains in black & white, as coloring it might've forced AMP to raise its price by an extra buck. Marv Wolfman wrote the adaptation of the movie, which, in turn, was co-written by fantasy novelist Michael Moorcock, the creator of Elric. Sonny Trinidad did quite a bit of work for Marvel in the 70's, but doesn't get the respect he deserves.
For what it might be worth, AMP delayed the release of the first issue by a week for unknown reasons. Their Zorro books are running late as well, and I've a feeling there might be some licensing issues involved.
Rating: A.
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Coming attractions: SyFy's hit series, The Magicians, is being adapted into a 5 part miniseries, due in November from Boom! Studios. If you're a fan of the show, you might want this.......IDW is moving forward with its second miniseries based on Netflix's GLOW, and this time, because of her heavy schedule, Tini Howard has been replaced by not one, but two writers. Actress Aimee Garcia and former wrestler-turned-best-selling author April Mendez (pka AJ Lee of the WWE) are collaborating on GLOW vs. The Babyface, also due in November. Artist Hannah Templer returns, and we can assume she didn't do the Summer Special so she could get a head start on this one.
If you're a die-hard Super Friends fan, it must be frustrating knowing that past reprint volumes of the series have not collected the entire 47 issue comic book series (1976-81).
In December, the same 24 issues that were reproduced in black & white as part of DC's Showcase trade paperback collection are being restored to full color, plus two more issues and some rare material not reprinted in over 40 years, in a hardcover volume that is labeled as Super Friends: Saturday Morning Comics Volume 1, and the same Alex Toth cover that has been used a few times since 1976 is being reprinted yet again. Back then, Toth was working for Hanna Barbera on and off, and Super Friends was one of his last projects for the studio. Due date? Christmas!
Ya know, I get the suspicion they may be testing the waters for a revival, and perhaps entrusting it to a certain hot writer (Mark Russell). Stay tuned.
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