The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler

One of Chandler's novels written towards the end of his career/life. Philip Marlowe has always been a cynical character (to be a private investigator in a mega-corrupt City of Angels, you really have to be as such), but here it seems that Chandler started to become that type of cantankerous old man who yells at kids to stay off his lawn. There are several diatribes at how society has lost its way. Quite a bit about how America became a super power after the second world war, producing terrible products sold inside of top of the line quality packaging. It almost read like a boomer who doesn't know how to stay quiet on social media 

That's not to say that I didn't love this 1953 book. There's several mysteries all intertwined and while I needed a dictionary to decipher many of the outdated references and lingo sprinkled throughout this book, I didn't get lost in the plot. In, fact I actually was able to solve most of the crimes before Marlowe did and I was pretty proud of myself for it.

Marlowe becomes friends with a cuckold veteran of WWII. His wealthy wife openly cheats on him while nobody is able to say a single bad thing about the guy. When the wife turns up brutally murdered, the guy takes the fall and flees to Mexico. Marlowe is arrested for driving the guy to the Mexican border. But the detective is soon released when news arrives that the fugitive kills himself.

Marlowe is willing to let things drop. But friends and acquaintances of the killer keep approaching Marlowe, warning him from looking further into the murder/suicide. Thus the P.I. has no option but to determine if his old pal did it or if he was framed. There's also concern that Marlowe's friend might not have actually pulled the trigger on himself but instead was made to look like it was suicide. 

Meanwhile, a publishing agent of a famous hack romance writer, is looking to hire Marlowe to keep the author, who's got a history of drink and violence, on track to finish his latest work. Marlowe doesn't do babysitting assignments. Normally, he'd turn the job down. Only the scribe has an alluring wife who's caught Marlowe's eye. Plus the guy has gone missing for several days now. So it appears that as much as Phillip wants to wash his hands of this crew, just like with the death of his friend in Mexico, he's got another mystery to solve whether he likes it or not.

I swear I have read this book before. When I was about 12, I read a couple of Philip Marlowe novels. I know that I read Lady in the Lake and I at least tried to complete Raymond Chandler's unfinished work, Poodle Springs, and hated it. There was just so many aspects of this book that were extremely familiar to me. Maybe that's why I solved many of the mysteries in here. 

It could be that I have seen the 1973 Robert Altman version starring Elliot Gould. I was a big fan of Altman's in the 90s and would watch just about anything he made. But after I finished this book, I went to Wikipedia, mostly to see who was cast in the roles. From what I gleaned, I don't think seeing the movie explains my feeling like I had read this book previously. The plot of the film differs too darn much from Chandler's work. 

I will admit that I couldn't stop picturing Gould as Marlowe. There's just too many lines that sound like they would have come from the M*A*S*H* and Friends actor's mouth. I had always pictured someone more plain as Marlowe, like a Montgomery Clift. But I don't think I will be able to anymore. 

There's only 4 Chandler novels and just an even smaller handful of short stories starring Philip Marlowe left. I really want to read them all. But I also don't want to rush through it and be left with nothing new. I've got Farewell, My Lovely already in my possession. But I will probably wait until closer to the beginning of summer to start it. I don't think it matters what order you read the Marlowe books in, although there were a couple of characters that have appeared in some previous stories. I just think that I like the older, post-war Marlowe the best. I don't know why because he gets away with insults and barbs that would end up in viral video fisticuffs these days. 

Oh what a simpler, grittier time...

Worth Consuming!

Rating 10 out of 10 stars.

Get Fury #5

In the penultimate issue of this 2024-25 miniseries, Frank Castle initiates his rescue of Nick Fury from the confines of the Hanoi Hilton. Meanwhile dirty CIA operatives Steve and Dave convince General Mackie to send out a group of commandos to eliminate Castle and Fury, branding them Communist double agents. 

It's a really powerful chapter, especially when seen through the eyes of Lt. Castle. As much as he needs to free Nick Fury from the notorious North Vietnamese prison, it's killing Frank to have to overlook the hundreds of other American POWS being held under deplorable conditions. 

Man, I just brainstormed  what would be a freaking awesome What If... What if the Punisher existed during the Vietnam War? Have Castle's wife killed while he's in Nam. Have him lose all care and go all Rambo, armed to the teeth, staging a raid on Hóa Lò. Through in a few characters from 1990's The 'Nam series. Have Larry Hama and Garth Ennis pen it together. Give it the Marvel MAX treatment. I would be first in line, pre-ordered for that epic! Think it over CB Cebulski! 

An awesome issue that opens up a multiverse of opportunities.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Get Fury #4

Col. Nick Fury has arrived at the notorious Hanoi Hilton. Lt. Frank Castle has established himself in the capitol city of North Vietnam, posing as a Soviet army advisor. But his Russian is limited and he's leaving a trail behind him everywhere he goes. Thankfully, Castle has found a pair of allies that have a way of getting inside the prison and they both have a history with Nick Fury. That's because one of them is Fury's former lover and the other is Nick's daughter.

Meanwhile, back at base, CIA agents Steve and Dave have uncovered further evidence that Castle and Fury are working together to end the agency's drug trade in Cambodia. Instead of following his orders to execute Nick Fury, it's becoming increasingly clear that Frank is going to rescue the Colonel. This is calling for a Plan B, which will mean the elimination of both Fury and Castle.

The scenes involving Frank Castle were perfect. I wouldn't change a thing; especially the whole added dimension of Nick's daughter being added to the mix. As for the scenes where Dave has figured out that Frank Castle was the last person to select for the Nick Fury mission, I understand the importance of those scenes. I just found that they went too freaking long. This is a 6 issue miniseries. But if Garth Ennis could have made the CIA scenes a little more streamlined, Get Fury could've ended in 4 issues. 5 tops.

I know that nothing that the CIA did in Southeast Asia was anything but concise or ethical. But I still felt like I could have done without a majority of it.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Dell Four Color #631- Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

From December, 1954 to February, 1955, ABC aired 3 one-hour mini movies starring Fess Parker as legendary frontiersman, Davy Crockett. The programming was part of a deal with the television network to produce weekly family entertainment in return for funding for Walt Disney to build his dream theme park: Disneyland. This deal also acted as a weekly advertisement in which Disney would provide updates on the park's construction.

The trio of Davy Crockett episodes were produced to highlight Disneyland's Frontierland, the park's tribute to explorers and cowboys. The three parts were titled 'Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter', 'Davy Crockett Goes to Congress' and 'Davy Crockett at the Alamo'. These films ended up becoming a nationwide success and sparked a fad in children wearing coon skin caps as well as boosting interest in Westerns as a growing genre in post-war television and movies. 

Seeing dollar signs, Disney repackaged the 3 episodes into a feature length movie. In May, 1955 Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier hit theaters and was an immediate hit. Grossing over $2 million dollars, that's about $30 million dollars in 2026 dollars. 

Historians know that Davy Crockett met his demise at the infamous battle of the Alamo. (Whether he died heroically in battle or was taken as a prisoner and executed at a later date is a subject for debate that will not be examined here.) After losing his Tennessee  congressional seat, Crockett sought to make a new start in politics further South. Texas was in the middle of a battle for Independence from Mexico and Crockett saw a chance to reap massive political and personal benefits should Texas win the war. He joined the garrison in San Antonio in the winter of 1836 and died a few months later at the regiment's last stand at the Alamo. 

As Fess Parker's character dies at the conclusion of the 3-episode miniseries, you would think that would be the end of Disney and the exploits of Davy Crockett. Never one to let a money making opportunity slip away, Walt Disney decided to produce another set of films based on the historical figure. Only they would be more fiction than fact and they would be set in between Crockett's time as a scout for the United States Army during the Creek Indian Wars and his brief stint in Washington DC. 'Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race' and 'Davy Crockett and the River Pirates' were brilliantly released in the fall of 1955, just in time to make Davy Crockett hats, bubble gum cards and pop-style muskets the most requested toys from American boys AND girls! An estimated $300 million in Christmas sales revolved around Davy Crockett themed merchandise.

The prequel episodes were edited and repackaged as another feature in the summer of 1956. Walt Disney's Davy Crockett and the River Pirates was released in July. It took earned over $2 million in ticket sales. However, by the time the film exited theaters, the fervor over Davy Crockett had become passé and American children moved on to the next fad.

This edition of Dell Four Color was published during the height of Crockett Mania. It adapts the first chapter of the Davy Crockett miniseries seeing Davy and his singing pal George Russel volunteering to join the U.S. Army under the command of General Andrew Jackson. They act as scouts and use their knowledge of animal tracking to procure food for the troops before returning home for the winter to hunt for their families.

Upon their return to the Army, Davy and George learn that Jackson has been transferred to New Orleans to help fortify the important port city against the British. The incompetent Major Norton is now in charge of the Army. His mission is to hunt down the remaining Creek warrior Chief Red Stick in hopes of ending the war. George is taken captive by Red Stick's men prompting Crockett to a tomahawk duel to the death! 

With the exception of 'Davy Crockett Goes to Congress', the other 3 segments of Disney's miniseries were given solo treatment in the Four Color series. Crockett's time in DC was included in the reprint heavy Dell Giant Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier. Dell also produced a holiday special to cash in on the hoopla with Sears promo comic, the Davy Crockett Christmas Book that along with a dozen pages of comics including puzzles and games. 

The comic adventures of Davy Crockett would live on in reprint form through the 1980s in issues of Gold Key's Walt Disney Showcase and Walt Disney Comics Digest.

According to leagueofcomicgeeks.com Chase Craig scripted this issue. John Ushler is attributed by several sources for providing the pencils and inks. The front cover is a photograph image of Fess Parker as Crockett. Additional artwork for the background and the map of the Creek Indian Wars were provided by the staff of the Western Publishing Production Shop.

Completing this review completes Task #1 (Comic from the Golden Age (1938-1955)) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Get Fury #3

So you might be wondering how in the heck is Frank Castle able to operate in downtown Saigon in the middle of daylight. He's over 6 feet tall and whiter than paper. Not exactly the most Asian looking bloke in the heart of Communist Vietnam. He sticks out like a sore thumb.

It turns out that just as the South Vietnamese had American advisors, the North had advisors from the Soviet Union. This was totally new information to me but it makes total sense. So using what little amount of Russian he knows and his amazing array of survival skills, Castle is making do. But he's also leaving a rather long trail of bodies in his wake 

Back at base camp, there's a third party at play that I haven't mentioned in my previous 2 reviews: a pair of dirty CIA operatives named Steve and Dave. They've been involved in the illegal drug trafficking scheme in Cambodia; which is where Fury was captured by North Vietnamese forces. They believe that Col. Fury discovered the illicit trade and was in route to spill the beans on the whole operation. Thus why the push to send Lt. Castle into enemy territory to neutralize the future Director of SHIELD.

However, when a different pair of CIA spooks wind up dead in a locale that neither man would have frequented in a million years, Steve and Dave smell a rat. It turns out that the one guy to send to eliminate Nick Fury was the wrong G.I. to send. Because Fury and Castle have history. It turns out Nick has been using Frank to wipe out the loose threads dangling from the Cambodian drug trade.

Things just got complicated. Why couldn't Garth Ennis have just made this a simple extraction caper? Maybe you can't have the Punisher going after Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD without any sort of permanent repercussions. But did Ennis have to make the reason for Castle not eventually going through with his mission so freaking complex that I feel like I need one of those charts with the red strings going all cattywampus like an obsessed conspiracy theorist might have up in their bedroom??? 

The action parts are fantastic. The introduction of clandestine government programs was muddling at best. Yeah, I know that the CIA did some really unethical and illegal stuff in Southeast Asia during Nam. I have no doubt that they're still doing something in the name of American interests that would result in plausible deniability if the agents running the scams were ever found out in the open.  I just didn't need it's historical insertion into this story.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Get Fury #2

Along with examining Nick Fury's time in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, Get Fury acts as another chapter in the origin story of Frank Castle, AKA the Punisher. A Marine Lieutenant on his third tour of duty, Castle has seen a lot of horrors and atrocities that have numbed him to the point of doing some very sinister things for the American armed forces. Hence his unquestioning ability to accept a CIA backed mission to infiltrate Hanoi and assassinate Nick Fury before he can be tortured into spilling all of his country's covert secrets.

With his wife, Maria, still alive and waiting for him back home, Frank still has his moral compass. His hands might be dirty. In fact, they're down right bloody. But Castle has yet to have lost his soul.

This issue sees Castle being snuck across enemy lines and taking up a presence in Hanoi. The process of getting the Marine into North Vietnam involves a thrilling dogfight sequence by Jacen Burrows, between an American jet (I'm not an expert but I am assuming that it's a Grumman A-6 Intruder based on looks) and some Communist surface-to-air missiles. I mean I know that Frank wasn't going to die because he's got to survive in order to one day become the Punisher. Yet I was enthralled by that scene. Plus, there's still the fate of the fighter pilot...

Another decent introductory issue that's setting up all the pieces to the chess board. Definitely not a wasted issue. Still pretty heavy on hard swears but it wasn't a chapter devoid of action.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Get Fury #1

When this miniseries was first advertised in Previews, I put it on my wish list. I didn't need to buy the issues new. But I am a big fan of Nick Fury, owning complete runs of many series, titles and one shots involving various incarnations of the character. Considering that Fury fought in World War II and Korea, it's natural to assume that the one-eyed super spy was poking around Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. 

In Get Fury, Nick has been captured by North Vietnamese forces while involved in a clandestine operation in Cambodia. CIA Intel has information that Fury is being transported to the infamous Hanoi Hilton POW prison, where he will be tortured until he reveals every little government secret hidden in the folds of his brain. To prevent sensitive information from getting to the Communists, Lt. Frank Castle, currently on his third tour of duty, has been assigned to enter Hanoi, infiltrate the prison and assassinate Nick Fury before his torturous information sessions can begin.

Get Fury was written by Garth Ennis. Had I known that, I probably would have skipped putting this title on my radar. I'm just not a fan of the North Irish writer. His stories have tons of blood, viscera and the F-word. Plus he's no fan of the American government, or just about any world power, unafraid of upsetting the skeletons in any nation's closet. Ennis is a lot like Tarantino; only without the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia. At least he refused to kill the puppy!

This 2024-25 miniseries marks the long awaited return of the Marvel MAX imprint. In other words, the House of Ideas version of Vertigo. If you ever wanted to see Nick Fury operating outside of the confines of the Comics Code, this is your chance. It's rather unsettling as I prefer the character when presented as a Our Man Flynn type of secret agent with an unlimited budget and madcap imagination. I'm going to trudge through this 6-issue series all the way through to the end. I just don't think that I'm going to like it.

Fantastic cover by Dave Johnson. Love this homage to the first appearance of the Punisher!

Worth Consuming, so far...

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.