Paneled Goods: Divine Right

Oh man the 90's, the most action packed decade in comic books! I grew up during the Image Comics boom, reading and collecting the science fiction tinged and kinetically violent WildC.A.T.S., Brigade and Backlash and later thanks to .25 bins picking up runs of Prophet, Youngblood, Cyber Force, Savage Dragon and more. I'm not sure when I grabbed Jim Lee's Divine Right: The Adventures of Max Farady but at a recent show picked up the first several issues in a collected edition for a few bucks. I have the entire run sitting in storage halfway across the country which was not going to help me after getting hooked again. For any comic book fan, Jim Lee is one of the luminaries; his crisp, exciting art coupled with his nice guy attitude has served him well from being a young upstart at Marvel to laying claim to the highest selling comic book issue of all time to creating imprint Wildstorm at Image, selling that to DC and now running the shop as Co-Publisher. DC has recently re-released Divine Right in a graphic novel and included several tie-in issues along with some sketches from the man himself. It's on Amazon but if you're reading this from the west side of Los Angeles, check out Pulp Fiction on Sepulveda where most graphic novels are 30-50% off.

Starting in 1997, Divine Right introduces us to Max Faraday, a part time pizza delivery guy and college student with a hot older sister and thinks he's cool but really isn't best friend. Always on the internet, Max has struck up an online relationship with Susanna Chaste but never met her in person. Remember chat rooms from the 90's? Phew, flashbacks! One night, Max randomly downloads the Creation Equation, a mystical formula that goes way back and from beyond our universe. Basically, Max has downloaded the powers of God but doesn't know it. Soon enough he's being chased by aliens and rescued by members of The Fallen: Brande, Tobruk and Exotica; wizard, warrior and babe types who know all about the Creation Equation. International Operations, Wildstorm's version of S.H.I.E.L.D., gets involved so we get universe familiar faces John Lynch and Caitlin Fairchild along with the members of Gen 13, along with former agent resurrected from the dead Christy Blaze helping to guide and protect Max. It's only a matter of tick tocks before members of The Rath catch up as of course they have their own nefarious plans for using the power of God.

Reading Divine Right again after all these years was at once familiar and nostalgic while at the same time exciting, fun and surprising. You get 1997 style chat interfaces, computer windows and comic book-ness, you know, all dudes are super buff and chiseled, all women are super hot, big action scenes and one liners. There's a lot of juvenile humor and male fantasy turned on it's head while providing several strong female characters. What surprised me was how deep the story goes into the Wildstorm universe and in watching Max change as a character. He starts off innocent and kind then when corrupted by power and threatened by evil, he suddenly feels he knows what's best for the entire planet, becoming an "evil" force himself. I also didn't remember it drawing in so many characters from the Wildstorm U like Gen 13 and Lee's awesome super powered team WildC.A.T.S. but it all fits tightly together since the CATS were always fighting alien warlords and whatnot.

Lee writes and pencils here with assists from the likes of Scott Lobdell, Carlos D'Anda, Albert Deschesne, Rachelle Brissenden, Richard Starkings and Scott Williams to create a big, exciting and vibrant tale of huge adventure, faith, love and action that takes us from a crappy apartment to an alternate version of Heaven and back again. There's character and ideas layered deep throughout as each issue starts with a passage from the bible as well as one from Max's personal slacker manifesto, recurring bits like Whak! cola are a nice touch as are the fantasy sequences that turn out to be horrible nightmares. The detail and scope in Lee's work is always impressive as each panel is filled to the brim with characters in ornate costumes, giant vistas and of course, action. This is what I feel comic books were made to be, larger than life, epic adventures that explore life's themes with manly men and womanly women. It's a fantasy, it's a break from reality so let's really revel in it and go for it. Next up, rereading some WildC.A.T.S. and Backlash!

Ask Me a Question: Conan the Destroyer

I hadn't been to the New Beverly since the Van Damme Double then Triple Dip in May.  Shortly after, the longstanding repertory cinema house went through some management changes and a much needed face lift.  Since reopening, owner and now more hands on manager Quentin Tarantino has been programming some very unique double features from kung-fu classics to grindhouse flicks and tributes to actors like Steve McQueen and directors like this month's Richard Fleischer.  Now all shows are touted in 35 or 16 mm with nary a digital print in sight.  I figured on checking out the Fleischer directed Charles Bronson vehicle Mr. Majestyk at the end of the month but action #MovieBro and author David J. Moore wanted to check out Conan the Destroyer.  I wouldn't have gone to see that but hey, why not?

Walking up to the box office I was only too pleased to see Mr. Michael Torgan back behind the window after taking a much deserved break in the action from running the joint while the New Bev figured out their next phase.  The place looked great, spiffy and shined up with printed calendars everywhere for the taking, over sized framed posters on the walls, even a Japanese Destroyer one sheet in the lobby.  A cash only institution for as long as I've been coming, they now take credit cards!  The concession stand now sells hot dogs and White Castle burgers, can't beat that.  Anyways, if it weren't for Michael generously agreeing to screen Double Impact and Bloodsport, Dammaged Goods Presents would still be an unrealized pipe dream and I wouldn't have met so many great movie lovers along with all the luminaries and professionals who attended the Van Damme, Dolph, Carl Weathers and Die Hard nights.  The top half of the double bill was Fleischer's slave turned bare knuckle boxer turned partial Django Unchained inspiration Mandingo from 1975.  I've never seen the flick and honestly have no real desire to so we hit up Elite Cuisine next door for some dinner and catching up.  This is an establishment that serves you chips and salsa while offering Jewish comfort food, Italian dishes, American sammiches and Chinese food?!  That's Los Angeles baby, just go with it.

I was really interested to see what kind of folks turned out for Conan the Destroyer on a Wednesday night.  The Man Clu was holding it down in the front row as usual, one of the staff members was rocking a Conan tee shirt and there were maybe three women in the audience.  Also in the crowd was co-writer and prolific comic book scribe Gerry Conway! A talented jerk like Steven E. de Souza, Conway sold his first work as a teenager then went to both Marvel and DC Comics.  At only 19, Conway worked on The Amazing Spider-Man where he scripted the Death of Gwen Stacy storyline and many others over a several year run.  While at the House of Ideas, Conway co-created The Punisher and wrote for The Fantastic Four, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk and more.  Moving to DC Comics, Conway co-created Firestorm and worked on Superman, Justice League of America and Detective Comics among others.  If that weren't enough, in the 80's Conway jumped into film, television and animation with credits on G.I. Joe, Transformers, Batman: The Animated Series, Diagnosis Murder and Law & Order.

Conway quickly introduced Conan the Destroyer, recalling how Conan the Barbarian producer Edward R. Pressman sold his share of the rights to mogul Dino De Laurentiis. Conway and comics writing partner Roy Thomas worked on the script for about a year pumping out 10 drafts.  During that time, it seemed like only the writers and Arnold were attached to the project.  Word came down that Richard Fleischer was hired to direct, an excellent choice in Conway's eyes as he loved the director's Norsemen saga, The Vikings, starring KIRK DOUGLAS, Tony Curtis, Ernest Borgnine and Janet Leigh.  The writers met with Fleischer, thought he was a very nice man and immediately after were told they were fired!  Thus ending Conway's involvement with tonight's feature on which he receives a Story By credit and attended the premiere in 1984.

Conan the Destroyer is not a good movie.  It's a fun movie, it's crazy and intentionally and unintentionally hilarious.  Starting with credits over the a dusty landscape and Mako's wonderful narration of an age "between the time the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas", days of high adventure set to Basil Poledouris' iconic score.  We find Conan (Arnold Schwarzenegger) praying for his lost love Valeria while thief homeboy Malak (Tracey Walter) counts stolen booty before they're attacked by Queen Taramis (Sarah Douglas). Taramis wishes to recruit the barbarian thief on a mission to retrieve a treasured horn that will bring back dreaming god Dagoth.  For his service, Taramis promises to resurrect Valeria.  At the palace of Shadizar, Taramis and Captain of the Guard Bombaata (Wilt Chamberlain) explain their plot to use Conan to retrieve the horn, that only virgin niece Jehnna (Olivia d'Abo) can collect, then kill the barbarian and sacrifice the niece in order to appease Dagoth.

Feeling that a sword can't match up to sorcery, Conan stops off to pick up Wizard of the Mounds Akiro (Mako) before the motley crew runs into Zula (Grace Jones), a fierce warrior stranded in a village after an unsuccessful raid.  To get the horn, they have to find a jewel which is housed in an ice and crystal castle on a lake where wizard Toth-Amon (Pat Roach) resides.  From there it's off to a temple where Jehnna places the jewel and walks through fire to collect the horn.  Bombaata seemingly seals Conan and his crew in a tunnel and escapes with Jehnna and the horn.  Back at the palace, things don't go too smoothly as Jehnna's botched sacrifice turns Dagoth into a horrific monster that a rescuing Conan must hack the shit out of with a battle ax and his trusty broadsword.  The film looked great on the big screen, the print was in terrific shape as was Arnold, holy geez was he yoked in this!  I believe director John Milius told Arnold to tone down his workouts for the first Conan as a specimen built from hard living and physical labor wouldn't look like a polished bodybuilder while in the sequel Arnold is equal parts huge and shredded with his signature huge chest, big arms and a slim tapered waist.  Being shirtless for many a scene I wondered if he was severely dehydrated and underfed for the duration of filming.

Shot in Mexico, Destroyer takes advantage of the dusty desert as well as lush forest locations.  The sets were quite impressive as you had a huge marbled palace, a castle made from crystals and ice, a chamber full of mirrors, an underground temple, etc.  Being an early 80's flick there was a nice blend of miniatures, animation, forced perspective, matte paintings and a little obvious rear screen projection.  While the script by Stanley Mann is a pretty straightforward adventure/mission flick, Fleischer's directing is a little clunky here and could have used some extra editing.  Not surprising as this was towards the tail end of his long career.  Fight scenes are nice with bloody squib slashes, severed heads and impalement's galore but for all the sword, spear, mace and knife fighting, they could have used a little more choreography instead of just clanging weapons a couple times before being run through. Being a fantasy film you get magic, sorcery, wizards, crazy costumes and monsters.  During the mirror chamber, Arnold throws down with Toth-Amon in his reptilian/man-ape form and gets body slammed and windmilled around the room in a goofy fight scene.  The monstrous Dagoth was played by an uncredited Andre the Giant in a full, aquatic monster inspired suit, who slaps Arnold around before getting his horn ripped out and stabbed dead.

Of course with such an eclectic assortment of actors including a bodybuilder, a singer and an NBA star, performances and expressions are laughable and priceless at times.  Arnold playing drunk is great as is his punching of a horse and hammer fisting a camel early on.  Mako is terrific as the ragged wizard who can move things with his mind and start a fire out of nothing.  Tracey Walter plays the comedic sidekick/thief just fine in a role that would probably be designated to Rob Schneider if this was made in the 90's.  Future Bond girl and Dolph Lundgren girlfriend Grace Jones is strong and terrifying while Olivia D'Abo is cute as can be as the naive virgin always showing skin in aerated gowns.  Wilt Chamberlain is tall as shit and gives Bombaata some nice gravitas.  While Conan the Destroyer is by far no masterpiece, it still stands as a solid if unspectacular entry in the sword and sorcery, action-fantasy genre if only because there aren't enough comparable titles and is perfect for lazy day viewing.

Sgt. Rock Day: Between Hell & A Hard Place

After reading the superb mini-series, The Prophecy, I dug into my comic archives and came up with the preceding visit to Sgt. Rock and Easy Company, Between Hell & A Hard Place.  While the story takes place AFTER Prophecy, the comics were released 3 years earlier in 2003.  After a long layoff from the character, Joe Kubert was asked to consider doing covers for a new series then those talks became focused on Kubert doing the actual book.  Not wanting to take on writing and artist duties, DC's Vertigo brand lined up 100 Bullets' Brian Azzarello for scripting.  Set in 1944, Hell & Hard finds Easy Company in the woods along the Belgian and German border where units are being torn apart daily by German troops.  Replacements arrive to fill ranks but the fresh from the mint greenhorns are more of a hindrance than a help.

In this case I had the series collected into a beautiful graphic novel that included an opening page introducing Sgt. Rock and his Combat-Happy Joes.  Here you are reminded that Rock's first name is Frank and that he hails from Pennsylvania where he was a professional boxer turned steel mill worker before being drafted.  Bulldozer is actually Horace Nichols, Ice Cream Soldier is Terry O'Riley, Wildman is Harold Shapiro and Little Sure Shot is Louis Kiyahani.  Unlike the slice of life Prophecy, Hell & Hard fleshes out the characters as we learn that Ice was in prison and the Army was a way out, we see the friendly yet edgy dynamic between Wildman and Sure Shot, that Rock is there to wipe their behinds and noses, etc.  The realistic approach to storytelling starts right away as Ice visits with an injured comrade who has lost both hands in battle.  From there things only get worse as another soldier gets promoted to Lieutenant after his two superiors are killed while on patrol.  Stuck in the dense woods, patrols are getting ripped up regularly as the Germans push in.  A new detachment finds itself under fire and panicking when they run into the stoic Sgt. Rock and his men.  Of course Bulldozer and the rest don't want new replacements, especially inexperienced ones to have to babysit but orders are orders.

A very interesting beat is when Sgt. Rock tells the new kids not to introduce themselves and gives each one a nickname as who they were back in the world no longer matters and after the horrors they'll face in the war, they'll want to leave their nick names behind and go back to their real identities.  So you get Grease, Tinny, Cowboy and the like.  After stumbling upon a group of German soldiers in their foxholes, Rock and friends capture four SS Officers but after a skirmish, three of them end up dead, executed, and the fourth has escaped.  While the troops are used to the killing, the murder of the three SS Officers seems wrong, even in time of war and the finger pointing begins.  Could someone from Easy Company just murdered three unarmed men?  From there, Easy Company is tasked with taking a town where they deal with snipers, dug in troops and Tiger tanks as they pursue the escaped SS Officer.

Kubert's art seems surprisingly different here than in Prophecy, lines aren't as tight and everything has a washed out, mushy feel but upon comparison, it's the color job that makes the difference.  Whereas Prophecy has a drab, solid appearance, Hell & Hard utilizes a color palette that reminded me of water paint with its variations in texture and fill.  It's still dynamic and exciting with lots of details in the woods, expressions on faces, explosiveness in the action scenes and in a very unique editing choice, full on music bars and lyrics to accompany a woman singing in French.  It's also very violent with impalement, burning alive, grenades, close quarter combat, headshots, booby trap mines and lots of spilled blood. Azzarello's script reminds you of 2001's Band of Brothers, particularly the Bastogne episodes where they're holed up in the woods being shelled by Germans then invade the town.  There's moral conundrums galore as our characters discuss killing versus murdering, doing what they have to in order to survive, revenge, punishment, good vs evil and the like, it's all very interesting but also very familiar in a Hollywood sense. 

Sgt. Rock Day: The Prophecy

Once upon a time at some Southern California con I picked up a Sgt. Rock mini-series dubbed The Prophecy.  As I plunked down to read them, I realized I was missing the final issue.  I'm sure I meant to find it from another vendor at the show but here I was, 5/6 of the way into an engrossing tale of World War II with no end in sight.  Cut to a while later and I finally grabbed issue 6 and of course, had to sit down and reread the entire series.  Introduced in 1959 by editor and writer Robert Kanigher and artist Joe Kubert, Sgt. Rock has long been one of my favorite non-superhero comic characters.  Written in a punchy, realistic tone, Sgt. Rock follows the title character, a dependable Sergeant and the "get shit done" motley crew of Easy Company who have fought the war from Africa to Italy and into Germany.  Unlike Marvel's Nick Fury and the Howling Commandos, Rock stays a bit more grounded versus the fun, over the top machismo and derring-do of the 1963 introduced Commandos.  Running until 1988, Sgt. Rock would pop up occasionally before returning in 3 mini-series in the 2000's, Between Hell and a Hard Place, The Prophecy and The Lost Battalion.

In 2006's Prophecy, we find our guys dropped into Lithuania in 1943, north of the Allied lines and smack dab in between Germany and Russia's daily back and forth bombings and attacks, to receive a package and deliver it to a rendezvous point.  Joining Sgt. Rock this go around are Ice Cream Soldier, Bulldozer, Wildman, Shorty, Curly, Four-Eyes and Sure-Shot as they meet a scary, local civilian army leader nicknamed Bear who introduces them to David, a young Jewish rabbi known as The Prophet due to his devotion to God and ability to see the horrors of Hitler's plan to eradicate Jews and "lesser peoples" under the Aryans.  It is believed that David will be able to share his visions and give hope to those under Hitler's heel before a Holocaust occurs.  With 100 kilometers to walk to the extraction point in Estonia, Rock and company trek their way across the war ravaged country filled with the dead bodies of innocents and witness the brutal savagery of war.  Along the way they encounter tanks, retreating German soldiers, merciless Russian Calvary, a concentration camp filled with the ashes of the dead, a mine field and an untouched town where locals gave up their Jewish neighbors in exchange for money and local authority among other obstacles.

Written and illustrated by the then 80 year old Joe Kubert, The Prophecy is a terrific and quick read as well as a visual feast.  From the opening splash pages to the drab locale to the quick bursts of violent and explosive action, Kubert creates a somber yet realistic account of a horrible time in our history without depressing the reader.  His crisp lines, weathered faces, expansive backgrounds and simple yet dynamic style mixed with a no nonsense, unglamorous portrayal of the war seamlessly blends the history and horror of the time.  Having just seen the hardcore WWII flick, Fury, I further appreciated Kubert's straight forward approach rather than sensationalizing or adding more spectacle. The action comes out of nowhere and happens fast and furiously in a raw and messy fashion with knives, machine guns, grenades and close quarter scraps.  Not all of our guys make it to the end and are killed suddenly and without a glorious moment, friends and enemies show up and disappear and we're never quite sure if the man is worth the mission but there's no doubt they'll die trying. The characters aren't given much background but you get the sense of who is who as big ox Bulldozer shows his heart when he adopts a little puppy, Wildman challenges a loud mouth local to duke it out rather than argue, tribal nations member Sure-Shot is cynical towards the flag waving Americans who tricked his people, etc.  Sgt. Rock of course is unflappable as usual, not questioning the mission, just doing his best to accomplish it and keep his men safe.  While David believes in a higher power or being, Rock believes in himself, his company and the men it's made up of.

The comics are given a nice, heavy stock cover and a matte finish.  I don't read a lot of DC Comics but I distinctly remember an issue of Batman where only 2 pages were laid out sequentially as every other page was an ad.  Here, the inside front cover is an advertisement but then we get 22 pages of Rock before several DC ads in the back and a few for video games and cars.  Sadly, no cool time capsules like Arnold selling workout courses or Hostess Cupcake ads that were included in some 60's and 70's issues I recently picked up.

Cinema Showdown: DC vs Marvel

Booked my tickets to the Thor/Avengers/Thor:  The Dark World marathon and yesterday watched the Captain America:  The Winter Soldier trailer half a dozen times.  It's a great age to be a comic book and film fan.  Marvel has been knocking it out of the park since they launched their own studio and carefully constructed an interwoven cinematic universe of safe and entertaining if not daring movie fare.  Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Captain America and Thor have all been given big budget, semi faithful adaptations on the big screen culminating in mega hit, The Avengers.

Meanwhile DC has struggled outside of the Christopher Nolan/Christian Bale Batman universe to capitalize on the thousands of characters at their disposal under Time Warner's vast multinational media network of film, television, print, video games, etc.  Justice League?  Scrapped.  Catwoman?  Please.  Green Lantern?  See ya later Ryan Reynolds.  The casting of Ben Affleck as the new Batman rankled more than a few movie going and comic book reading patrons but hey, never forget that Michael Keaton did a great job.

Why?  Because for Marvel it's all or nothing.  After years of selling off their titles and seeing cheap adaptations like 1990's Captain America (ehhhhh) and 1989's The Punisher (still best adaptation to date!) the stars finally aligned when Fox and Sony put up decent cash and directors for X-Men and Spider-Man in the 2000's, showing audiences that superhero movies could be equally exciting and dramatic.  Marvel Studios was formed to corral the remaining unlicensed characters and voila, 2008's Iron Man hit the mark and now we're moving into Phase II and Phase III of Kevin Fiege's legacy.

It's a different story for DC and Warner Brothers though, WB is only interested in the properties as brands and franchises, fodder for toy and tee-shirt deals and product in the company pipeline.  Harry Potter, Ocean's 11 and Nolan's Batman have run dry while Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit only has two more entries.  That's not a bad thing, they have to run their business.  But how else could you quantify the disjointed efforts of Superman on television, Shaquille O'Neal as Steel, the expensive mess of Green Lantern and Halle Berry as Catwoman?  Oh and it doesn't help they have David S. Goyer as their in house authority, remember when he was handed the keys to his own franchise then drove it into the fucking ground and gave us Blade:  Trinity?  The white-washed, slow motion fest sitcom?  Didn't think so.

Warner Brothers may have started the conversation with Superman and Batman but now they can't keep up because they're making the movies for all the wrong reasons.  How else can you explain Batman's inclusion into the rebooted Superman sequel?  A)  It shows how desperate they are to start their cinematic comic book universe and B)  Shows you how boring Superman is as a character.

Just like the comics, Make Mine Marvel!  With these mash up Hulk credits!