Were Money No Object on April 4th with American Barbarian, Flex Mentallo & Cold War

Columns, Top Story

The Book I Want to Buy:

American Barbarian

by Tom Scioli; Adhouse, $19.95

I’m going to admit that I’m not the biggest Jack Kirby fan.  I know that saying something like that is considered sacrilegious to many a comics fan, but there you have it.  I appreciate the characters he created, and his body of work, but I don’t particularly like reading his work.  Fire away.

Why am I talking about this when explaining why I would want to buy Tom Scioli’s new graphic novel American Barbarian?  Well, that’s because Scioli has turn ‘Jack Kirby’ into a comics genre all its own, through his work with Joe Casey on Godland, and with his own The Myth Of 8-Opus, which I’ve never read.  I’ve seen some preview pages of his American Barbarian, and it looks like the same kind of knowing, self-aware madness that shows up whenever a new issue of Godland decides to appear out of the ether.  (Is the existence of this book part of the reason why Godland is so late?)

Scioli is a talented artist, and I’m curious to see what he does as a writer.  At the least, I expect this book to be pretty entertaining…

The Books I Think You Should Buy:

Flex Mentallo Man of Muscle Mystery Deluxe Edition Hardcover

by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely; Vertigo, $22.99

It was never really expected that this comic would see the light of day in any sort of reprint fashion (as it has drawn some legal fire for its similarity to a certain celebrity).  The character of Flex Mentallo, the master of muscle mystery was introduced in Grant Morrison’s classic run of Doom Patrol as a Charles Atlas look-a-like who could tap into his magical abilities by flexing his muscles.  He paraded around in little more than a leopard-print speedo, and if I remember correctly, was a bit of a dolt.

The character proved popular, and Morrison gave him his own mini-series, accompanied by artist Frank Quitely.  I could be wrong, but I think this was the first major North American comic Quitely ever did – I do know that it was my first exposure to the artist who would go with Morrison to revitalize the X-Men a few years later, and make a name for himself drawing The Authority.

At this stage, I can’t tell you a single thing about what happens in this comic.  I read (and still own) all the originals, but I don’t remember them at all, beyond being able to picture the cover.  The thing is, it’s a comic by Morrison and Quitely.  Do you need to know anything else?  You might not completely understand it, but it’s going to be lovely.

Cold War Vol. 1: Damocles Contract

by John Byrne; IDW, $19.99

I believe you’d be hard-pressed to find a comics fan of a certain age who doesn’t have warm memories of John Byrne’s classic runs on comics at Marvel and DC in the late 70s, the 80s, and into the 90s.  I was too young to have read his famous The Uncanny X-Men run with Chris Claremont s it came out each month, but was right there for his time with books like Alpha Flight, the Fantastic Four, and later Superman, not to mention his creator-owned Next Men series at Dark Horse.  I did lose interest in his work around the time he was doing Wonder Woman and Elseworld series at Dc, but I will always appreciate his work on some of my favourite comics, even if it’s hard to appreciate the on-line presence he has built for himself.

I’ve read 3/4 of the comics that make up his Cold War mini-series, collected here in trade.  It’s a very good comic, featuring a James Bond-like character who is involved in some nuclear espionage.  This is the old Byrne, with nice clear pencils and a quick-paced but meaty story that is strong on characterization.  It’s a very good comic; if you liked his work back in the day, you likely won’t be disappointed in this comic now.

So, what would you buy Were Money No Object?

Get in touch and share your thoughts on what I've written: jfulton@insidepulse.com