The second volume of SLEAZE CASTLE: Director’s Cut by Dave McKinnon has Panda and Jo grappling with the fallout from Jo’s time-trip in V1 while a detective tries to figure out if the body on the floor of her apartment is a bigger problem than the two weirdoes in her closet. This was weaker than the first volume, possibly because a lot of it was written earlier.
SAGA Volume 11 by Brian Vaughn and Fiona Staples has Hazel trying to raise her father from the dead, The Will and Gwendolyn getting it on and Alanna trying to get off-world with her kids before the many hunters on her trail arrive. As I said of V10, the long break the creators took has definitely boosted things, though the fate of one character in this book pissed me off. I’m also annoyed that in a series that tosses around the C-word for women so casually, this volume declares “retard” is an insult too far (how about not using either word?).
ARCHER AND ARMSTRONG: The 1 Percent and Other Tales by multiple writers and artists is a collection of short stories taking place at various points in the main series, including Armstrong telling the true story behind the Epic of Gilgamesh (if you’re not familiar with the series, Armstrong wrote the Epic). Minor, but fun if you’re a fan of Fred Van Lente’s run on the book, and I am.
FORGOTTEN ALL-STAR: A Biography of Gardner Fox by Jennifer DeRoss reminds me of my friend Ross’s axiom that a writer should have an epic life if they’re going to have an epic biography. At times DeRoss tells me more than I needed to know (which is not a fault in the book) and her language is a little stiff (which is). Still, Fox is one of my favorite Silver Age writers—
— so I was interested to learn about Fox’s devout Catholicism, his love of cigars and fencing, his enthusiasm for social justice and the details of his departure from DC. While it’s usually blamed on Fox joining other writers in asking for benefits — and DeRoss agrees that’s the primary motive — it wasn’t a firing as much as a nudge to quit by transferring him to the editorial stable of the notoriously bullying Mort Weisinger.
Happily Fox had a steady career writing paperbacks over the following decade, including three sexcapades of the soft-core spy series The Lady From L.U.S.T. (including the SF adventure below, despite the standard series pseudonym Rod Gray)
Fox was even planning a return to the comics in the 1980s with some indie work and a Hawkman story that would eventually become the John Ostrander/Tim Truman Hawkworld. He died first. While his work was never great art, it was always entertaining and I’m glad I have so much of it.
#SFWApro. Covers by Fiona Staples, Mike Sekowsky, Carmine Infantino and uncredited. All rights to images remain with current holders.
