The Complete Web (Gwandanaland Comics #1137)

I bought this book by mistake. No, I didn't accidentally pick it up or drunkenly one-click it on Amazon. Instead, I mistook it for another of Archie's Red Circle heroes when I bought it. But I was pleasantly surprised by it's quality!

In 1959 Joe Simon and Jack Kirby were freelancing for Archie where they created a character called The Fly. Clad in green and yellow spandex, often illustrated on covers that bore a spider-web motif and of course a Red Circle Hero; when I found this book, I thought I was getting my hands on an affordable collection of one of my favorite artists' forgotten works. But instead of starring The Fly, this book stars an earlier character called The Web!

Created in 1942, The Web was a war-time hero, often battling Nazi saboteurs and Japanese spies. Created in part by John Cassone, along with an unknown co-creator, the Web was just a physically fit man in a green/yellow costume with webs dangling from his armpits, much like Spider-Man in his Ditko days. There were no super-bug powers or anything like that. His name represented the web of justice that was to ensnare all who worshiped evil! A professor of criminology by day known as John Raymond, our hero is motivated by his brother who turned to a life of crime and is implied to have later died while imprisoned.

Featuring the talents of Bob Montana, Irv Novick and others, the writing was melodramatic, sensationalized and finger pointing evidence of why parents freaked out about violence in comics! There's a level of death, torture and sadism that you would not see in a Silver Age comic. I think if these 12 stories hadn't been publishein the pages of Zip Comics during World War II, these issues would have been standout examples in early comic book history of ultra-violence and racism. But this is pre-Code comicdom. It was still an industry much like the Wild West. The Web was a dime-a-dozen characterization of anti-Hitler and anti-Japanese propaganda. There's at least 2 scenes in which Hitler is portrayed as being in a homosexual relationship with some of his underlings while almost every Japanese character in these books has sharp fangs and long claw-like fingernails. The only difference between this Batman clone and those dozens of other imitators from Second World War is that the Web has at least made a couple returns over the year's with Archie's frequent reboots of the Red Circle heroes. 

The material in this book is definitely dated. Normally, I'd be torn as to whether to continue owning this book or not. However, I view myself as a semi-pro comic book historian and I am a fan of the Red Circle heroes. It might not have been the yellow and green superhero I was hoping for. But I was entertained by this time capsule of pro-American comics that came about as an almost immediate reaction to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Probably not the kind of material a more modern comic book reader would favor. Though this is a book from Gwandanaland Comics with definite historical value if only to show how far we've come and how much more work there is to accomplish!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Batman Begins: The Movie & Other Tales of the Dark Knight

This DC trade paperback is like a matinee movie in reverse. The comic adaptation of the opening chapter of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy by Scott Beatty and Kilian Plunkett is the main attraction. The accompanying 4 stories are like the animated shorts and adventurous serials you would watch as lead up. Only they come after the movie!

I can't really say a lot about the adaptation of 2005's Batman Begins. Unlike the 2008's follow up, The Dark Knight, I've only seen the origin story once. So I don't have any idea if Beatty and Plunkett's version of the movie has extra stuff that got removed before hitting theaters or not. I will say that reading the comic book version of the film has really pique my interest in seeing the trilogy again. Mostly because there is a lot of material in the comic that I don't remember.

While Batman Begins is what got me to buy this book, it's the 4 shorter Batman stories that really captured my attention.

First by Denny O'Neil and Dick Giordano is another origin story of Batman. Only this is the accepted DC canon version which focuses more on Bruce Wayne studying the science of criminology more than martial arts and the tools of stealth. 

Story #2 is by Greg Rucka and Rick Burchett. It simultaneously tells of Batman taking down a gang while a family of 3 are trapped in their vehicle under the Gotham harbor. With time running out and water rushing in, this story has more of a Batman: The Animated Series vibe to it and was perhaps the best story of the bunch.

Story #3 is by Ed Brubaker. In a teaming with Catwoman, Batman explores what it is that makes him a vigilante. That faithful night in Crime Alley is referenced a lot. Art is pretty good. Yet, despite my feeling that Brubaker is the best crime comic writer of them all, he commits an unpardonable sin amongst fans of the Dark Knight by having the hero proclaim that his true identity is Bruce Wayne! Not the Bat!

The final story is an unusual Batman story by Fables head honcho Bill Willingham. It sees a rooftop Batman losing his footing and crashing to the streets below. Obviously injured from the fall, the Caped Crusader must be helped by an assorted group of Gothamites. I wasn't so much of a fan of Tim Fowler's art. But the story was so different and so very engrossing. 

A great mix of stories celebrating not just the origin of the Batman but also of what makes a Batman. A worthy addition to my Batman collection of comics. Only it's not the feature that makes this book worth owning--- it's the backup material! In fact, I'd rather lose the comic adaptation and just add 3-4 more similar tales to the quartet of additional works!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Adventures of Jerry Lewis #107 (2024 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

In the early 1950s, one of the hottest comedic duos in Hollywood was the team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Having met a couple of years prior, Martin and Lewis became a team in 1946 on the recommendation of Lewis after another singer bailed from performing at the 500 Club in Atlantic City. Martin played the straight man, suave with the ladies and good in voice. Lewis was the comedic foil, doing slapstick and skits which hilariously interrupted Martin while singing. 

The two went on to co-star in 16 movies for Paramount. However, tensions started coming to the surface as Martin felt that the plots were becoming ever so focused on Lewis instead of a duo. 10 years to the day Martin and Lewis had first become a partnership, the pair broke up, never to speak with each other for another 20 years. 

Starting in 1949, National Periodicals/DC Comics began to license rights from some of Hollywood's top entertainment as characters in comic books. Matinee star Alan Ladd was first, followed by comedian Bob Hope. Ladd's book was more adventure focused and only ran for 9 issues. However, with the popularity of Hope's humor book, DC decided to continue with their experiment by nabbing Martin and Lewis in 1952, right at the apex of their comedy careers together. 

The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis ran for 40 issues from 1952-57. Though the pair split a year earlier, DC had a small backlog of stories starring both Martin and Lewis that needed publishing. As the inventory ran low, editor Larry Nadle renegotiated terms with Jerry Lewis to restructure the comic book to focus solely on his comedic exploits. With issue #41, the series was retitled The Adventures of Jerry Lewis. 

As just a solo act, Lewis would occasionally pair up with some of DC's biggest and brightest stars including Superman and the Flash. Even the villains would get into the act as Lex Luthor and the Joker were notable guests in the re-branded series. In the 1960s, the cast would grow to include a rapscallion nephew named Renfrew, a bewitching housekeeper named Witch Kraft and a straight man foil named Uncle Hal. No relation to Jerry, Uncle Hal was actually the headmaster at the Genghis Khan School for Boys where Renfrew and the other rowdy youths of Jerry's hometown were enrolled. 

In this issue, Jerry plans on taking his nephew on a cross-country road trip during Spring Break. Renfrew tricks his uncle into letting him take his entire class on the trip which prompts Jerry needing to borrow one of the buses from Renfrew's school. Meanwhile, Uncle Hal's deadbeat brother has come to town along with his bookies. Owning thousands of dollars, Hal is forced to pay down his brother's debt. This results in Hal having to make deliveries of counterfeit cash all across America while acting as chauffeur for Jerry's bus full of rowdies. However, not wanting to be caught with the phony money on his persons, Hal feigns injury, tricking gullible Jerry into make a series of madcap deliveries all the while being trailed by Treasury agents and that pair of bookies.

Included at the end of this issue is a letter from Jerry to his fans. It's doubtful that Lewis actually wrote this article himself. It is more than likely that an assist to the comedian wrote down a number of Lewis' jokes which were relevant to this issue's theme of travel and vacation. 

Though there are no credits to this issue, the DC wiki credits Arnold Drake with writing the script. Artist Bob Oksner penciled and inks both the cover and interiors.

The Adventures of Jerry Lewis would continue until June, 1971 with issue #124 being the finale. The cancellation of the series had less to do with the popularity of the title and more with DC rebranding. By the following year, DC's entire line of humor books would be cancelled in favor of more superhero and horror themed books.

Completing this review completes Task #32 (A Fictional Story About a Real Person) of the 2024 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Surprisingly funny and well plotted.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars