Superman Smashes the Klan, by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru, is the kind of throwback we need right now. A loose adaptation of the seminal 1946 radio serial Superman and the Clan of the Fiery Cross, it tells the story of the Lees, a Chinese-American family who move to Metropolis and are targeted by the Klan.
It's a gorgeous book, with an art style clearly modeled after the Fleischer cartoons but with a manga flair. And it's a whole lot of fun in places (Superman punches a nazi in a mech suit!) -- but dark and disturbing in others, as you'd expect from a book where the antagonists are the KKK. Yang softens things a bit; there's no graphic violence and he foregoes the use of any serious racial slurs, but this is still a book where white supremacist terrorism is front-and-center. And a Lex Luthor monologue never chilled me like a Klansman monologue.
Yang takes some time to examine the complexities of racism, too, and the way that victims of racism can still be racist themselves; in one particularly notable scene, after the Klan leaves a burning cross in the Lees' front yard and some black passersby scramble to help put it out, Mr. Lee gives them the cold shoulder and says he didn't ask for their help and would like them to leave.
As for Superman himself, this is a young version; he's brash, he's self-assured, but he's not the confident grownup he'll someday be. And he can't fly yet. He's also never encountered Kryptonite before -- and Yang uses that encounter to tell Superman's own story as an immigrant who doesn't always feel like he belongs.
The book's also, very consciously, written for a young audience. Not too young -- my nephew is 8 and I'd like to spare him learning about the Klan for a little while longer -- but it'd be appropriate for a typical 12-year-old.
The backmatter is interesting too; Yang briefly summarizes the history of the Klan, Chinese-Americans, and his own experiences growing up in the 1980s and facing racism in a more modern context.
The story isn't finished yet; last week's release was Book 1 of 3. But I'm totally onboard for the next two.
Comics for People who Don't Read Comics
Re: Comics for People who Don't Read Comics
Thad wrote:Superman Smashes the Klan, by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru, is the kind of throwback we need right now. A loose adaptation of the seminal 1946 radio serial Superman and the Clan of the Fiery Cross, it tells the story of the Lees, a Chinese-American family who move to Metropolis and are targeted by the Klan.
If I'm not getting confused, the most important part of the 1946 radio serial was the naming of actual real life names of people associated with the actual real life Klan. Does this continue that tradition?
How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks.
Re: Comics for People who Don't Read Comics
I don't believe the serial named actual Klan members, but it exposed their codewords and rituals. Among other things, it's a lot harder to take a terrorist organization seriously once you know they're grown men who go around calling themselves "wizard" and "dragon".
The leader of the Klan in the comic is called the Grand Scorpion; I don't know if that's a real thing or not.
The leader of the Klan in the comic is called the Grand Scorpion; I don't know if that's a real thing or not.
Re: Comics for People who Don't Read Comics
I picked up Mad #14, the Jaffee tribute issue. I do believe it's the first Mad I've bought in 20 years -- almost exactly; the last one I remember buying was a high school graduation issue when I graduated myself.
The first thing to notice is that all that talk last year about Mad going all-reprint was somewhat exaggerated. It's gone mostly-reprint, but there's still some new stuff in there -- in this issue, the new stuff is mostly other cartoonists riffing on Jaffee's signature bits (inventions, Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions, and, of course, the fold-in). Aragones has his signature pantomime cartoons, in the margins as usual plus a couple pages dedicated to Jaffee. And most of the reprint material is, as you'd expect, by Jaffee himself, plus one final Jaffee fold-in (though they don't seem to be retiring fold-ins; apparently there have been a couple new ones by Johnny Sampson over the past few months).
The words "legend" and "iconic" get thrown around so much as to lose all meaning, but when I say Jaffee is a legend and the Fold-In is iconic, I mean it.
I'm not sure what "I hope he enjoys his retirement" means for a 99-year-old man in an era where everything's shut down and people aren't supposed to leave their houses, but I hope he enjoys his retirement as much as he can under the circumstances.
And I'd love to see Evanier interview him.
The first thing to notice is that all that talk last year about Mad going all-reprint was somewhat exaggerated. It's gone mostly-reprint, but there's still some new stuff in there -- in this issue, the new stuff is mostly other cartoonists riffing on Jaffee's signature bits (inventions, Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions, and, of course, the fold-in). Aragones has his signature pantomime cartoons, in the margins as usual plus a couple pages dedicated to Jaffee. And most of the reprint material is, as you'd expect, by Jaffee himself, plus one final Jaffee fold-in (though they don't seem to be retiring fold-ins; apparently there have been a couple new ones by Johnny Sampson over the past few months).
The words "legend" and "iconic" get thrown around so much as to lose all meaning, but when I say Jaffee is a legend and the Fold-In is iconic, I mean it.
I'm not sure what "I hope he enjoys his retirement" means for a 99-year-old man in an era where everything's shut down and people aren't supposed to leave their houses, but I hope he enjoys his retirement as much as he can under the circumstances.
And I'd love to see Evanier interview him.
Re: Comics for People who Don't Read Comics
In honor of Congressman John Lewis, I'm gonna mention March again. Here's what I said about it in 2015:
March is important; it's a comic everyone should read. Support your local comic shop if possible, but if you can't, that's understandable under the circumstances.
They were working on a followup, Run. I expect we'll still see it in some form, eventually.
Thad wrote:March is fantastic too. John Lewis knows a thing or two about telling stories, and here he strikes the right balance between past and present (he uses Obama's inauguration day as a framing device), between humility and the acknowledgement that yeah, what he and his peers did was pretty important stuff. Andrew Aydin helped with the script and Nate Powell drew it. I think it all comes out really nicely. It's a familiar story but it's well-told, particularly for its target audience of young people learning the history of the civil rights movement. I finished volume 1 over the course of one day and decided to up my contribution to the top tier so I could get volume 2.
March is important; it's a comic everyone should read. Support your local comic shop if possible, but if you can't, that's understandable under the circumstances.
They were working on a followup, Run. I expect we'll still see it in some form, eventually.
Re: Comics for People who Don't Read Comics
Thad wrote:The first thing to notice is that all that talk last year about Mad going all-reprint was somewhat exaggerated. It's gone mostly-reprint, but there's still some new stuff in there
In last Thursday's Chat with the Groo Crew, Aragones said that the plan is still for Mad to go all-reprint eventually but that it hasn't happened yet. (He said that as of right now he's still producing new work for the magazine.)
Someone also asked about his autobiographical comics in Sergio Aragones Funnies and he said that the reason he hasn't done any since that series ended is that it's just too much work on top of his other projects. He said he would like to do a book recounting some of his memories, but if I understood him correctly he said it would probably be prose, not comics.
I'd prefer to see it in comics, of course, but I'd still love to read it in prose. Aragones has great stories and he's great at telling them, even without pictures.
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zaratustra
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Re: Comics for People who Don't Read Comics
That's... pretty sad. I mean I personally know an entire new generation of people that could easily fill MAD magazine with quality content
Re: Comics for People who Don't Read Comics
Yeah, the issue is certainly not a lack of talented cartoonists.
I talked about it a fair bit when it was first announced (see previous page) but generally I figure it's the usual incompetence at Warner. They really do not know what to do with their comics properties, and seem to think that shaking up the org chart every year or so is the answer.
I talked about it a fair bit when it was first announced (see previous page) but generally I figure it's the usual incompetence at Warner. They really do not know what to do with their comics properties, and seem to think that shaking up the org chart every year or so is the answer.
Re: Comics for People who Don't Read Comics
Okay, so, I just noted over in the Free and Cheap Comics thread that Comixology is giving away a shitload of free Black Panther comics. You may as well go and get all of them, but once you've done that, what should you actually read? Here are some thoughts:
First off: there's a pretty big omission here, in that there's no Don McGregor. (Or, if we're being precise, there's one collection with a couple of issues of Panther's Rage in it.) That's unfortunate, because McGregor's run is really the basis for Black Panther as we know it; it introduces Killmonger, W'Kabi, and a number of other important members of the supporting cast.
That said? I started with the Priest run in the '90s and I managed to pick up everything I needed to know. It's unfortunate that McGregor's run isn't included here, but while it's probably the best to start, you can figure out what's going on well enough without it.
Anyway, first off I'll go through this link-by-link and share some thoughts, if any.
Panther's first appearance, plot and pencils by Jack Kirby, script by Stan Lee.
The weird thing here is that this story is a two-parter, but only the first part is included. That's unfortunate because really #53 is the more important issue; it tells the Panther's origin story and introduces Klaw.
(ETA Actually, I just remembered that both issues are reprinted in Black Panther (1998) #36. So if you want to read BP's first appearance, that's probably the way to do it; get that issue and skip past the main story until you get to the Fantastic Four reprints.)
I haven't read it in ages; my recollection is that it's a fun introduction but, again, leaving the second part off is a misstep. Also, there's some product-of-its-time racial baggage here; it's one of those comics that was progressive for its time in its depiction of PoC, but, for example, describes Wyatt Wingfoot using the phrase "proud red-skinned ancestors".
Okay, so, '70s Kirby is what you might call an acquired taste. This leans hard into pulp adventure/science fiction and has the Panther and a group of colorful allies and enemies searching for a pair of mystic time-traveling artifacts called King Solomon's Frogs.
I like it but I can't really recommend it as a starting point.
By Peter B Gillis and Denys Cowan. I haven't read this one but Cowan does good work.
By Christopher Priest and various artists (initially Mark Texeira, with Sal Velluto going on to do the bulk of the series)
This was my first exposure to the Black Panther and it's still my favorite. Its main contribution to the lore is Everett K Ross and the Dora Milaje, but there's a hell of a lot going on here all around. Priest has a few trademarks in his writing -- it's dense and complicated, it's told out-of-sequence, and it's funny as hell. This is where I started and it made me a lifelong fan; you could do a lot worse.
By Reginald Hudlin and various artists (initially John Romita Jr., with Francis Portela drawing the bulk of the series), with 3 issues at the end by Jason Aaron and Jefte Palo
This was the first Black Panther series that was a real financial hit for Marvel. It's a relaunch that, at first, disregards previous continuity, though continuity starts creeping back in later. Romita's art really helped establish the look of the characters going forward; the Dora Milaje, in particular, have used his design ever since. This is also the series that introduced Shuri.
I remember really enjoying the first dozen or so issues at the time, though Hudlin made a pretty conscious decision to make it timely and "timely" for 2005 means "dated" in 2020. (The first arc is chock-a-block with references to the Bush Administration, with the Panther going up against characters like Secretary of State Dondi Reese; a later arc has him teaming up with Blade to fight vampires in post-Katrina New Orleans.) While it initially eschewed continuity for the sake of being friendly to new readers, eventually it switched from the "Marvel Knights" label to just plain "Marvel", and if you don't pay attention to that logo in the corner it's fucking jarring when Black Panther refers to the years he spent on the Avengers in issue #14 given that he had never met them back in issue #1.
It builds to the Black Panther marrying Storm, which never really worked for me and didn't work for Marvel either since they later had the marriage annulled, and then there's a bunch of crossover stuff, and anyway it all kinda becomes a mess by the end. I did really enjoy those first couple arcs, and the first 12-13 issues may be worth a read, but I can't say I recommend the whole series.
By Reggie Hudlin and various artists, mainly Ken Lashley.
I haven't read this one. Shuri becomes the Black Panther.
By David Liss and various artists (mainly Francesco Francavilla, Jefte Palo, and Shawn Martinbrough).
I haven't read this one. As you might guess from the title, it was a response to flagging sales of both Daredevil and Black Panther. Daredevil becomes evil, Black Panther takes over as protector of Hell's Kitchen.
By Ta-Nehisi Coates and various artists, chiefly Brian Stelfreeze and Chris Sprouse.
This is the beginning of the current run on Black Panther. I like it but a lot of folks have criticized it as slow, and they ain't wrong. Coates is an essayist, not a comics writer, and his approach is methodical and primarily concerned with sociopolitical maneuvering.
But again, I like it. I think Coates asks compelling questions and makes reasonable critiques of Wakandan society as we've seen it up to this point. As far as character relationships, he's one of only two writers who's ever made the Black Panther/Storm relationship work for me. (The other was the late Dwayne McDuffie.)
Coates's run continues (with artists including Daniel Acuna and Kev Walker), by throwing out everything he's built up to this point and starting with an amnesiac T'Challa fighting in a rebellion against an evil Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda in outer space.
Ultimately it's a moving story about slavery, about having your identity and your culture stolen away from you. And eventually of course everyone gets home and gets their memory back. But don't expect a complete story here; remember what I said about Coates's writing as a slow burn? He got 22 issues in, building toward a confrontation between T'Challa and Killmonger (who, himself, is fighting control by a symbiote, yes like the Venom symbiote), and...that's where we left off back in March. Between COVID-19 and the big annual Marvel crossover, whatever resolution we're going to see to this arc has been delayed.
By Robert Kirkman and Kyle Hotz. I haven't read it.
By Reggie Hudlin and Denys Cowan. I haven't read it, but it's got a Black Panther (T'Challa's father? grandfather? where are we in Marvel's sliding time-scale anyway?) fighting nazis alongside Captain America and Nick Fury and the Howling Commandos, so that sounds fun.
...holy hell, how many more of these are there?
guys I gotta go eat something. Be back later. And yeah I plan on doing a "tl;dr read these" later on.
First off: there's a pretty big omission here, in that there's no Don McGregor. (Or, if we're being precise, there's one collection with a couple of issues of Panther's Rage in it.) That's unfortunate, because McGregor's run is really the basis for Black Panther as we know it; it introduces Killmonger, W'Kabi, and a number of other important members of the supporting cast.
That said? I started with the Priest run in the '90s and I managed to pick up everything I needed to know. It's unfortunate that McGregor's run isn't included here, but while it's probably the best to start, you can figure out what's going on well enough without it.
Anyway, first off I'll go through this link-by-link and share some thoughts, if any.
Thad wrote:First Appearance
Fantastic Four #52 (1966)
Panther's first appearance, plot and pencils by Jack Kirby, script by Stan Lee.
The weird thing here is that this story is a two-parter, but only the first part is included. That's unfortunate because really #53 is the more important issue; it tells the Panther's origin story and introduces Klaw.
(ETA Actually, I just remembered that both issues are reprinted in Black Panther (1998) #36. So if you want to read BP's first appearance, that's probably the way to do it; get that issue and skip past the main story until you get to the Fantastic Four reprints.)
I haven't read it in ages; my recollection is that it's a fun introduction but, again, leaving the second part off is a misstep. Also, there's some product-of-its-time racial baggage here; it's one of those comics that was progressive for its time in its depiction of PoC, but, for example, describes Wyatt Wingfoot using the phrase "proud red-skinned ancestors".
Main series
Black Panther (1977-1979)
Okay, so, '70s Kirby is what you might call an acquired taste. This leans hard into pulp adventure/science fiction and has the Panther and a group of colorful allies and enemies searching for a pair of mystic time-traveling artifacts called King Solomon's Frogs.
I like it but I can't really recommend it as a starting point.
Black Panther (1988)
By Peter B Gillis and Denys Cowan. I haven't read this one but Cowan does good work.
Black Panther (1998-2003)
By Christopher Priest and various artists (initially Mark Texeira, with Sal Velluto going on to do the bulk of the series)
This was my first exposure to the Black Panther and it's still my favorite. Its main contribution to the lore is Everett K Ross and the Dora Milaje, but there's a hell of a lot going on here all around. Priest has a few trademarks in his writing -- it's dense and complicated, it's told out-of-sequence, and it's funny as hell. This is where I started and it made me a lifelong fan; you could do a lot worse.
Black Panther (2005-2008)
By Reginald Hudlin and various artists (initially John Romita Jr., with Francis Portela drawing the bulk of the series), with 3 issues at the end by Jason Aaron and Jefte Palo
This was the first Black Panther series that was a real financial hit for Marvel. It's a relaunch that, at first, disregards previous continuity, though continuity starts creeping back in later. Romita's art really helped establish the look of the characters going forward; the Dora Milaje, in particular, have used his design ever since. This is also the series that introduced Shuri.
I remember really enjoying the first dozen or so issues at the time, though Hudlin made a pretty conscious decision to make it timely and "timely" for 2005 means "dated" in 2020. (The first arc is chock-a-block with references to the Bush Administration, with the Panther going up against characters like Secretary of State Dondi Reese; a later arc has him teaming up with Blade to fight vampires in post-Katrina New Orleans.) While it initially eschewed continuity for the sake of being friendly to new readers, eventually it switched from the "Marvel Knights" label to just plain "Marvel", and if you don't pay attention to that logo in the corner it's fucking jarring when Black Panther refers to the years he spent on the Avengers in issue #14 given that he had never met them back in issue #1.
It builds to the Black Panther marrying Storm, which never really worked for me and didn't work for Marvel either since they later had the marriage annulled, and then there's a bunch of crossover stuff, and anyway it all kinda becomes a mess by the end. I did really enjoy those first couple arcs, and the first 12-13 issues may be worth a read, but I can't say I recommend the whole series.
Black Panther (2008-2010)
By Reggie Hudlin and various artists, mainly Ken Lashley.
I haven't read this one. Shuri becomes the Black Panther.
Black Panther: The Man Without Fear (2010-2012)
By David Liss and various artists (mainly Francesco Francavilla, Jefte Palo, and Shawn Martinbrough).
I haven't read this one. As you might guess from the title, it was a response to flagging sales of both Daredevil and Black Panther. Daredevil becomes evil, Black Panther takes over as protector of Hell's Kitchen.
Black Panther (2016-2018)
By Ta-Nehisi Coates and various artists, chiefly Brian Stelfreeze and Chris Sprouse.
This is the beginning of the current run on Black Panther. I like it but a lot of folks have criticized it as slow, and they ain't wrong. Coates is an essayist, not a comics writer, and his approach is methodical and primarily concerned with sociopolitical maneuvering.
But again, I like it. I think Coates asks compelling questions and makes reasonable critiques of Wakandan society as we've seen it up to this point. As far as character relationships, he's one of only two writers who's ever made the Black Panther/Storm relationship work for me. (The other was the late Dwayne McDuffie.)
Black Panther (2018-)
Coates's run continues (with artists including Daniel Acuna and Kev Walker), by throwing out everything he's built up to this point and starting with an amnesiac T'Challa fighting in a rebellion against an evil Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda in outer space.
Ultimately it's a moving story about slavery, about having your identity and your culture stolen away from you. And eventually of course everyone gets home and gets their memory back. But don't expect a complete story here; remember what I said about Coates's writing as a slow burn? He got 22 issues in, building toward a confrontation between T'Challa and Killmonger (who, himself, is fighting control by a symbiote, yes like the Venom symbiote), and...that's where we left off back in March. Between COVID-19 and the big annual Marvel crossover, whatever resolution we're going to see to this arc has been delayed.
Spinoffs
Black Panther 2099 (2004)
By Robert Kirkman and Kyle Hotz. I haven't read it.
By Reggie Hudlin and Denys Cowan. I haven't read it, but it's got a Black Panther (T'Challa's father? grandfather? where are we in Marvel's sliding time-scale anyway?) fighting nazis alongside Captain America and Nick Fury and the Howling Commandos, so that sounds fun.
...holy hell, how many more of these are there?
guys I gotta go eat something. Be back later. And yeah I plan on doing a "tl;dr read these" later on.
Re: Comics for People who Don't Read Comics
Continuing on:
After the success of Coates's series and with the movie coming, Marvel kind of bit off more than it could chew, greenlit multiple simultaneous spinoffs, and promptly canceled them.
This one was meant to be a series with a rotating team, focusing on various supporting characters in the Black Panther's orbit. Instead we got one story arc, by Roxane Gay and Alitha E Martinez, telling the backstory of Ayo and Aneka, the Midnight Angels, and a single issue by Rembert Browne and Joe Bennett, catching up with Kasper Cole, a character from the Priest run.
I think this series was an inspired idea but a victim of a marketing push that was too much too soon. Putting Gay on a Marvel superhero book was a real coup. I would have loved to see what they could have come up with if it had made it past #6.
Okay, so, the original Crew was Priest's followup to Black Panther after it was canceled in 2003. The Crew, in turn, was canceled after only seven issues (IIRC the cancellation decision occurred before the first issue even shipped).
Improbably, that was the longer-lived of the two Crew titles.
Coates, with co-writer Yona Harvey and artist Butch Guice, brought back the Crew name, and its premise of a team of black superheroes, and somehow it didn't even last as long as the original series. Much like the original, it feels like there's an awful lot of potential there, but it never really gets past setting up the pieces.
By Will Corona Pilgrim and Annapaola Martello. Movie tie-in. Haven't read it.
By Nnedi Okorafor and Andre Araujo. Haven't read it. Not sure how I missed it.
By Ralph Macchio (no, not the actor) and Andrea Di Vito. Takes place in Dubai and features Klaw as the villain. I vaguely remember that I read this but that's about all I remember about it.
By Evan Narcisse Paul Renaud, Javier Pina, and Edgar Salazar.
A retelling of T'Challa's origin story to coincide with the release of the movie. It's pretty good!
...okay, more still to go but I'm gonna leave it there for now.
Black Panther: World of Wakanda (2016-2017)
After the success of Coates's series and with the movie coming, Marvel kind of bit off more than it could chew, greenlit multiple simultaneous spinoffs, and promptly canceled them.
This one was meant to be a series with a rotating team, focusing on various supporting characters in the Black Panther's orbit. Instead we got one story arc, by Roxane Gay and Alitha E Martinez, telling the backstory of Ayo and Aneka, the Midnight Angels, and a single issue by Rembert Browne and Joe Bennett, catching up with Kasper Cole, a character from the Priest run.
I think this series was an inspired idea but a victim of a marketing push that was too much too soon. Putting Gay on a Marvel superhero book was a real coup. I would have loved to see what they could have come up with if it had made it past #6.
Black Panther and the Crew (2017)
Okay, so, the original Crew was Priest's followup to Black Panther after it was canceled in 2003. The Crew, in turn, was canceled after only seven issues (IIRC the cancellation decision occurred before the first issue even shipped).
Improbably, that was the longer-lived of the two Crew titles.
Coates, with co-writer Yona Harvey and artist Butch Guice, brought back the Crew name, and its premise of a team of black superheroes, and somehow it didn't even last as long as the original series. Much like the original, it feels like there's an awful lot of potential there, but it never really gets past setting up the pieces.
Black Panther Prelude (2017)
By Will Corona Pilgrim and Annapaola Martello. Movie tie-in. Haven't read it.
Black Panther: Long Live the King (2017-2018)
By Nnedi Okorafor and Andre Araujo. Haven't read it. Not sure how I missed it.
By Ralph Macchio (no, not the actor) and Andrea Di Vito. Takes place in Dubai and features Klaw as the villain. I vaguely remember that I read this but that's about all I remember about it.
Rise of the Black Panther (2018)
By Evan Narcisse Paul Renaud, Javier Pina, and Edgar Salazar.
A retelling of T'Challa's origin story to coincide with the release of the movie. It's pretty good!
...okay, more still to go but I'm gonna leave it there for now.
Re: Comics for People who Don't Read Comics
Thad wrote:Black Panther vs. Deadpool (2018-2019)
By Daniel Kibblesmith and Ricardo Lopez-Ortiz. I haven't read it.
Killmonger (2018-2019)
By Bryan Edward Hill and Juan Ferreyra. Something of a companion piece to the Rise of the Black Panther; where that miniseries retold T'Challa's origin story as the movie was coming out, this one fills in Killmonger's. It's good stuff.
Shuri (2018-2019)
By Nnedi Okorafor, Leonardo Romero, and Rachael Stott, plus two issues by Vita Ayala and Paul Davidson.
This one certainly came about as a result of the movie, too, but I got the impression it was intended as an ongoing series. Marvel's website still lists it as "2018-present", even though the last issue was cover dated July 2019, so who knows, maybe it's just been delayed, a lot.
Anyhow, this one takes place during T'Challa's absence, after he goes off to have his adventure in space. With the king absent yet again, Shuri faces pressure to step up and lead her people.
By Jim Zub, Lan Medina, and Scot Eaton.
The latest recently-canceled Black Panther spinoff; this one's fun as hell. The title aside, while T'Challa and Okoye are in it it's not really a Black Panther book so much as one of those books where Marvel puts one of their major characters on a team with a bunch of C-listers. We're talking characters like Ka-Zar, Fat Cobra, Gorilla-Man, Man-Wolf, Doctor Nemesis, Broo, and American Eagle. It explores weirder, sillier corners of the Marvel Universe and has stories with titles like "God Loves, Moon Kills." I love it and I just now found out it's cancelled and that bums me out.
Marvel Action Black Panther (2019-)
By Kyle Baker and Juan Samu. I haven't read it, but Marvel Action is the all-ages line, so expect it to be kid-friendly and not steeped in Marvel continuity.
Collections
Marvel Tales: Black Panther (2019; collects comics from 1963 to 2009)
Marvel's summary:
The origin of T’Challa, the warrior king of Wakanda, is explored by Roy Thomas and Frank Giacoia in AVENGERS (1963) #87! Then, Don McGregor and Rich Buckler kick off their seminal Black Panther tale “Panther’s Rage” by introducing the deadly Erik Killmonger in JUNGLE ACTION (1972) #6-7! Plus, meet a new Black Panther for a new era as the brilliant Shuri claims her brother’s cowl in Reginald Hudlin and Ken Lashley’s BLACK PANTHER (2009) #1!
Okay, of those I've only read Panther's Rage, and again, Panther's rage is probably the seminal Black Panther storyline (it certainly establishes some key elements used in the movie) and it's a shame you can't get the entire thing in the current giveaway. But it's great stuff anyway, even if this is just a taste.
Black Panther: Start Here (2018; collects comics from 2005 to 2017)
This appears to include excerpts of various comics I've already covered up above: the Coates series and its spinoffs World of Wakanda and Black Panther and the Crew, plus some of the Hudlin/Romita Jr. run.
And...I think that's all of them? I'll plan on coming back later and giving a quicker rundown of what the good stuff is, but the short version is, if you only read one Black Panther series you should read the Priest run.
Re: Comics for People who Don't Read Comics
In summary: you may as well get all of them because they're free, but as far as what to actually read:
Thad, I'm a people who don't read comics. If I read only one Black Panther series, which one should it be?
The Priest series. That's where I started, and it made me a lifelong Black Panther fan. It's funny, it's smart, and it made me look at the Marvel Universe in a way no comic had before and few have since.
You can read it with no prior knowledge of Black Panther; I did. There'll be some gaps in your knowledge, but it gives you enough information to go on.
For further reading
If you do want some of the background, it's not a bad idea to start with Panther's first appearance in Fantastic Four #52-#53. The easiest way to do that with books in this giveaway is actually right there in the Priest run -- get Black Panther #36 and page past the main story until you get to the reprints.
The Don McGregor run is also really important but, as I said, mostly not included in this giveaway. The first two issues, which introduce Killmonger, are in Marvel Tales: Black Panther. There are some Roy Thomas/Sal Buscema Avengers reprints in there too; I'm not familiar with that run but I guess they retell T'Challa's origin.
Also, if you are all-in on Priest's run, by the time you get around to the stuff with Happy-Pants Panther, Abner Little, Princess Zanda, and King Solomon's Frogs, it's probably a good idea to check out the Kirby run to explain just what the fuck that's all about. Like I said, you can make it through the Priest series without reading any of the background material, but if there's ever a part where the series gets hard to follow if you don't know the backstory, it's the Kirby stuff.
If you want the modern portrayal
You can start with the origin story in Rise of the Black Panther or you can start with the first Coates series. The Coates series relies on some backstory but it'll fill you in.
If you like the Coates series, I'd recommend World of Wakanda and the second Coates series.
Whether or not you like the Coates series, the Shuri spinoff is solid and does a pretty good job standing on its own. I liked Killmonger too, though it doesn't wind up having much of a connection to the current storyline.
If you're not really here for Black Panther and you want to read more about characters like John Jameson, J Jonah's son who is an astronaut and also a werewolf
You're looking for Agents of Wakanda.
Thad, I'm a people who don't read comics. If I read only one Black Panther series, which one should it be?
The Priest series. That's where I started, and it made me a lifelong Black Panther fan. It's funny, it's smart, and it made me look at the Marvel Universe in a way no comic had before and few have since.
You can read it with no prior knowledge of Black Panther; I did. There'll be some gaps in your knowledge, but it gives you enough information to go on.
For further reading
If you do want some of the background, it's not a bad idea to start with Panther's first appearance in Fantastic Four #52-#53. The easiest way to do that with books in this giveaway is actually right there in the Priest run -- get Black Panther #36 and page past the main story until you get to the reprints.
The Don McGregor run is also really important but, as I said, mostly not included in this giveaway. The first two issues, which introduce Killmonger, are in Marvel Tales: Black Panther. There are some Roy Thomas/Sal Buscema Avengers reprints in there too; I'm not familiar with that run but I guess they retell T'Challa's origin.
Also, if you are all-in on Priest's run, by the time you get around to the stuff with Happy-Pants Panther, Abner Little, Princess Zanda, and King Solomon's Frogs, it's probably a good idea to check out the Kirby run to explain just what the fuck that's all about. Like I said, you can make it through the Priest series without reading any of the background material, but if there's ever a part where the series gets hard to follow if you don't know the backstory, it's the Kirby stuff.
If you want the modern portrayal
You can start with the origin story in Rise of the Black Panther or you can start with the first Coates series. The Coates series relies on some backstory but it'll fill you in.
If you like the Coates series, I'd recommend World of Wakanda and the second Coates series.
Whether or not you like the Coates series, the Shuri spinoff is solid and does a pretty good job standing on its own. I liked Killmonger too, though it doesn't wind up having much of a connection to the current storyline.
If you're not really here for Black Panther and you want to read more about characters like John Jameson, J Jonah's son who is an astronaut and also a werewolf
You're looking for Agents of Wakanda.
Re: Comics for People who Don't Read Comics
Per the Beat, I've added a few more freebies I missed (and BTW the giveaway is still on):
Crossover with the (first) Hudlin series, by Peter Milligan and Salvador Larroca. I remember reading this and...can't say as I remember much else about it. If you read the Hudlin series, read this at the appropriate time.
By Jonathan Maberry and Scot Eaton; this follows the second Hudlin series and features Shuri as the Black Panther. Haven't read it.
By Jonathan Maberry and Gianluca Gugliotta. Another Shuri-era miniseries I haven't read.
This is a fun little team-up book by Nnedi Okorafor, Alberto Jimenez, Ray-Anthony Height, and Andre Lima Araujo, mainly featuring the Dora Milaje (though Panther shows up in the last issue). The villain is a character from Priest's run so read that first.
Crossover with the (first) Hudlin series, by Peter Milligan and Salvador Larroca. I remember reading this and...can't say as I remember much else about it. If you read the Hudlin series, read this at the appropriate time.
Doomwar (2010)
By Jonathan Maberry and Scot Eaton; this follows the second Hudlin series and features Shuri as the Black Panther. Haven't read it.
Klaws of the Panther (2010)
By Jonathan Maberry and Gianluca Gugliotta. Another Shuri-era miniseries I haven't read.
This is a fun little team-up book by Nnedi Okorafor, Alberto Jimenez, Ray-Anthony Height, and Andre Lima Araujo, mainly featuring the Dora Milaje (though Panther shows up in the last issue). The villain is a character from Priest's run so read that first.
Re: Comics for People who Don't Read Comics
Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics, by Tom Scioli, is as good as I had hoped. It's probably not quite as good an overview of Jack's life as the similarly-titled Kirby: King of Comics by Mark Evanier, but it's probably a better starting point; it's an even breezier read and it doesn't take up as much space in a book bag.
If you don't know anything about Kirby, it's a great introduction. If you're already a Kirby fan, you won't learn much (I really only learned two new details: one is that I'd never heard one of his war stories, which involves stabbing nazis in a bar fight, before; another is that I never realized Charlton Comics was the remains of the Simon and Kirby Studio after they sold it), but it's a fun read and well-presented.
Scioli's most striking decision is right there on the cover:
He draws Kirby manga-style. In a book about Jack Kirby by an artist best known for his Jack Kirby influence, the only character who doesn't look like he was drawn by Jack Kirby is Jack Kirby.
I think I get what Scioli is going for there: he's showing us Kirby's world, and of course Kirby himself should look like an outsider, like somebody apart. Of course there's no Jack Kirby influence to Jack Kirby.
The layouts aren't very Kirby either. It's not flashy, there are no splash pages. I think there's one page where two panels overlap each other. But for the most part, it's just a simple six-panel grid. What is Kirby-like about it is the density of information. It gets a lot across in comparatively few panels, just like comics used to do in the old days of 8-page stories, before everything was geared toward 6-issue story arcs.
For example, Kirby's death is handled in one panel. It's just a black panel captioned "February 6, 1994."
The book up to that point has narration, written in the first person, mostly as if Jack is the one telling the story. And a lot of it is Jack's own words; I recognized some of the narration from videos I've watched. Scioli definitely did his research.
It follows the major beats of Kirby's life, as expected -- growing up in Brooklyn, street gangs, brief time working in the Fleischer studio, breaking into comics in the '40s, meeting Joe Simon and collaborating on a number of projects, most importantly Captain America. The draft, the war, getting frostbite, getting sent home. Continued collaboration with Simon; the witch-hunts of the '50s; selling the studio; going to Timely. Timely becomes Marvel; Fantastic Four, all the Marvel books that followed. Increasing bad blood with Stan Lee; leaving for DC; Fourth World; cancellation. Return to Marvel. Work in animation; increasing recognition by younger up-and-coming artists; finally getting health insurance just in time for his health to start failing. Battles with Marvel over credit and the return of his original art. Being feted as an elder statesman at conventions. That black panel indicating his death in 1994.
There are a couple of bits narrated by Jack's wife, Roz. And a couple of pages narrated by Stan Lee, disputing Kirby's story about how he joined Marvel in the late '50s. The book doesn't treat Stan as a sympathetic character, but it acknowledges Jack as an unreliable narrator at times (comics historians generally agree that his story about coming into the office and people were taking the furniture out and Stan Lee looked like he'd been crying is probably the result of Kirby combining several different years-apart events in his memory). For the most part, it tells Kirby's story as he told it during his life, though there are a couple of spots where I think Scioli presents inaccurate rumors as fact. (He implies that when Kirby watches Star Wars, it makes him angry because he feels like Lucas has ripped him off. Per Evanier, insofar as Kirby was angry about Star Wars, it wasn't at Lucas; it was at DC for canceling New Gods and insisting it could never be successful as a movie or a toy line.)
The book doesn't end with Kirby's death, though his narration is silenced from there on out. This is as it should be; Kirby's story doesn't end with his death, and the ending is crucial; it's his vindication, the enduring popularity of his work, and, at last, his name displayed prominently in the credits. Scioli gives two panels each to the '90s Silver Surfer cartoon (which initially credited the Surfer as "created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee" until Stan complained and the credit was reversed to its usual order) and "Apokolips...Now!" (the Superman: TAS two-parter that serves as a moving tribute to Kirby and is straight-up one of the best hours of TV I've ever seen). And then it moves on to the movies: first X-Men and then the MCU. And then Marvel v Kirby, and the settlement, and Jack finally getting his name displayed with Stan Lee's in the credits in movies like Ant-Man and Black Panther -- and his sole creator credit on Eternals and New Gods, because what's a Kirby book without a taste of the future?
All in all? There are bits I could quibble with, but this is a well-researched, well-told, entertaining story about a unique talent who's had a massive impact on pop culture and the stories we tell but who's only recently, some twenty-five years after his death, started getting the recognition he deserves. And it's not just a story about a guy who made some great comics. Kirby had an interesting damn life.
It's also accessible and approachable and my one note of caution is that the WWII stuff gets pretty graphic. There are some violent images of dead nazis, and a haunting sequence where Kirby helps liberate a labor camp. For those reasons I can't really recommend it for young children. (It's also got some cursing, but I don't really give a fuck about that.) Older kids, though, sure; I figure I'll give a copy to my nephew in the next couple of years.
This is stuff people should know. And Scioli's done a great job with it.
If you don't know anything about Kirby, it's a great introduction. If you're already a Kirby fan, you won't learn much (I really only learned two new details: one is that I'd never heard one of his war stories, which involves stabbing nazis in a bar fight, before; another is that I never realized Charlton Comics was the remains of the Simon and Kirby Studio after they sold it), but it's a fun read and well-presented.
Scioli's most striking decision is right there on the cover:
He draws Kirby manga-style. In a book about Jack Kirby by an artist best known for his Jack Kirby influence, the only character who doesn't look like he was drawn by Jack Kirby is Jack Kirby.
I think I get what Scioli is going for there: he's showing us Kirby's world, and of course Kirby himself should look like an outsider, like somebody apart. Of course there's no Jack Kirby influence to Jack Kirby.
The layouts aren't very Kirby either. It's not flashy, there are no splash pages. I think there's one page where two panels overlap each other. But for the most part, it's just a simple six-panel grid. What is Kirby-like about it is the density of information. It gets a lot across in comparatively few panels, just like comics used to do in the old days of 8-page stories, before everything was geared toward 6-issue story arcs.
For example, Kirby's death is handled in one panel. It's just a black panel captioned "February 6, 1994."
The book up to that point has narration, written in the first person, mostly as if Jack is the one telling the story. And a lot of it is Jack's own words; I recognized some of the narration from videos I've watched. Scioli definitely did his research.
It follows the major beats of Kirby's life, as expected -- growing up in Brooklyn, street gangs, brief time working in the Fleischer studio, breaking into comics in the '40s, meeting Joe Simon and collaborating on a number of projects, most importantly Captain America. The draft, the war, getting frostbite, getting sent home. Continued collaboration with Simon; the witch-hunts of the '50s; selling the studio; going to Timely. Timely becomes Marvel; Fantastic Four, all the Marvel books that followed. Increasing bad blood with Stan Lee; leaving for DC; Fourth World; cancellation. Return to Marvel. Work in animation; increasing recognition by younger up-and-coming artists; finally getting health insurance just in time for his health to start failing. Battles with Marvel over credit and the return of his original art. Being feted as an elder statesman at conventions. That black panel indicating his death in 1994.
There are a couple of bits narrated by Jack's wife, Roz. And a couple of pages narrated by Stan Lee, disputing Kirby's story about how he joined Marvel in the late '50s. The book doesn't treat Stan as a sympathetic character, but it acknowledges Jack as an unreliable narrator at times (comics historians generally agree that his story about coming into the office and people were taking the furniture out and Stan Lee looked like he'd been crying is probably the result of Kirby combining several different years-apart events in his memory). For the most part, it tells Kirby's story as he told it during his life, though there are a couple of spots where I think Scioli presents inaccurate rumors as fact. (He implies that when Kirby watches Star Wars, it makes him angry because he feels like Lucas has ripped him off. Per Evanier, insofar as Kirby was angry about Star Wars, it wasn't at Lucas; it was at DC for canceling New Gods and insisting it could never be successful as a movie or a toy line.)
The book doesn't end with Kirby's death, though his narration is silenced from there on out. This is as it should be; Kirby's story doesn't end with his death, and the ending is crucial; it's his vindication, the enduring popularity of his work, and, at last, his name displayed prominently in the credits. Scioli gives two panels each to the '90s Silver Surfer cartoon (which initially credited the Surfer as "created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee" until Stan complained and the credit was reversed to its usual order) and "Apokolips...Now!" (the Superman: TAS two-parter that serves as a moving tribute to Kirby and is straight-up one of the best hours of TV I've ever seen). And then it moves on to the movies: first X-Men and then the MCU. And then Marvel v Kirby, and the settlement, and Jack finally getting his name displayed with Stan Lee's in the credits in movies like Ant-Man and Black Panther -- and his sole creator credit on Eternals and New Gods, because what's a Kirby book without a taste of the future?
All in all? There are bits I could quibble with, but this is a well-researched, well-told, entertaining story about a unique talent who's had a massive impact on pop culture and the stories we tell but who's only recently, some twenty-five years after his death, started getting the recognition he deserves. And it's not just a story about a guy who made some great comics. Kirby had an interesting damn life.
It's also accessible and approachable and my one note of caution is that the WWII stuff gets pretty graphic. There are some violent images of dead nazis, and a haunting sequence where Kirby helps liberate a labor camp. For those reasons I can't really recommend it for young children. (It's also got some cursing, but I don't really give a fuck about that.) Older kids, though, sure; I figure I'll give a copy to my nephew in the next couple of years.
This is stuff people should know. And Scioli's done a great job with it.
Re: Comics for People who Don't Read Comics
Really enjoyed the first issue of The Good Asian, by Pornsak Pichetshote and Alex Tefenkgi (with some fantastic color work by Lee Loughridge). From the backmatter:
I do need to caution that it's graphic in its depictions of violence and racism, and pretty disturbing in places. So keep that in mind before you decide to give it a read. But I really liked #1 and I've added it to my pull list so I can be sure to read the rest.
Pornsak Pichetshote wrote:Asian-American noir. Or, in our specific case -- Chinatown noir.
Because between 1882 and 1943, the barely referenced Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited Chinese immigrants from entering America unless they were of specific categories. It was America's first immigration ban, and by 1924, a version of it would extend to limit the immigration of Asians and Arabs into America. So by 1936, you had the first generation of Americans -- the Chinese -- to come of age with that immigration ban being all they knew.
THE GOOD ASIAN folds that history alongside the traditions of Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, and Easy Rawlins. It follows Edison Hark, a Chinese-American who made police detective in Hawaii (the only state it was possible for him to) decades before America was ready for it. About what it took for him to exist. His flaws and hypocrisies. About a time where -- for this portion of Americans -- things felt like they were on the cusp of changing, what it took to actually get better, but also, maybe most importantly -- how they learned to define "better."
I do need to caution that it's graphic in its depictions of violence and racism, and pretty disturbing in places. So keep that in mind before you decide to give it a read. But I really liked #1 and I've added it to my pull list so I can be sure to read the rest.
Re: Comics for People who Don't Read Comics
Astro City is my all-time favorite superhero comic, and most of it is now available DRM-free on Comixology (and currently half-price).
It's written by Kurt Busiek, with art by Brent Anderson (except for a couple one- and two-off issues) and covers by Alex Ross. It's something of a spiritual followup to Marvels, and often employs that series' man-on-the-street approach to superhero storytelling. Even when it tells stories from a superhero's perspective, it focuses on the human elements -- Samaritan dreams of flying because he can't fly for pleasure when he's awake, he's too busy saving the world. Brian Kinney moves to the city with dreams of becoming a sidekick. Jack-in-the-Box has a baby on the way and worries that if he continues fighting crime, he could die in the line of duty just like his own father did. Martha Sullivan and Michael Tenicek aren't superheroes at all; she uses her telekinesis to help with stunt work on a soap opera, and he runs a support group for people who have lost loved ones in superhero-related violence.
You can start pretty much anywhere; any volume of the series is a jumping-on point, except for vol 7, which is the second half of the Dark Age arc. Personally, I'd recommend starting with any of the first three volumes -- Life in the Big City and Family Album are anthologies that introduce various recurring characters; Life in the Big City has a bit more of a DC flavor, with characters like Samaritan (who resembles Superman) and Winged Victory (Wonder Woman), while Family Album skews a little more Marvel, with the First Family (the Fantastic Four) and Jack-in-the-Box (Spider-Man). Confession is a longer story arc and, for my money, the best Batman story of all time. And you know I'm not the kind of guy who throws out praise like "the best Batman story of all time" lightly.
One small note: there are three books that aren't currently available:
Vol 4: Tarnished Angel (vol 2 #14-20)
Vol 8: Shining Stars (Samaritan, Beautie, Astra, Silver Agent)
Vol 11: Private Lives (vol 3 #11-16)
I'm not sure what's holding those up. And some of my favorite issues are in there -- the Samaritan one-shot, The Eagle and the Mountain, and vol 3 #16, Wish I May, are both stories about Superman-like characters taking on enemies who they'd rather reform as friends (Busiek originally wrote the story that would become Wish I May as a Superboy/Lex Luthor story). Wish I May, in particular, got a lot of praise back in 2014 for its depiction of a trans character.
Not sure why those three volumes aren't available right now, but hopefully they will be before too long. And again, every volume in the series stands on its own (except for volumes 6 and 7, which comprise two halves of the Dark Age storyline); it's a shame that 4, 8, and 11 aren't currently available, but they're not essential to reading and understanding the later books.
ETA: The missing books are there now; it appears to have been a mistake.
It's written by Kurt Busiek, with art by Brent Anderson (except for a couple one- and two-off issues) and covers by Alex Ross. It's something of a spiritual followup to Marvels, and often employs that series' man-on-the-street approach to superhero storytelling. Even when it tells stories from a superhero's perspective, it focuses on the human elements -- Samaritan dreams of flying because he can't fly for pleasure when he's awake, he's too busy saving the world. Brian Kinney moves to the city with dreams of becoming a sidekick. Jack-in-the-Box has a baby on the way and worries that if he continues fighting crime, he could die in the line of duty just like his own father did. Martha Sullivan and Michael Tenicek aren't superheroes at all; she uses her telekinesis to help with stunt work on a soap opera, and he runs a support group for people who have lost loved ones in superhero-related violence.
You can start pretty much anywhere; any volume of the series is a jumping-on point, except for vol 7, which is the second half of the Dark Age arc. Personally, I'd recommend starting with any of the first three volumes -- Life in the Big City and Family Album are anthologies that introduce various recurring characters; Life in the Big City has a bit more of a DC flavor, with characters like Samaritan (who resembles Superman) and Winged Victory (Wonder Woman), while Family Album skews a little more Marvel, with the First Family (the Fantastic Four) and Jack-in-the-Box (Spider-Man). Confession is a longer story arc and, for my money, the best Batman story of all time. And you know I'm not the kind of guy who throws out praise like "the best Batman story of all time" lightly.
One small note: there are three books that aren't currently available:
Vol 4: Tarnished Angel (vol 2 #14-20)
Vol 8: Shining Stars (Samaritan, Beautie, Astra, Silver Agent)
Vol 11: Private Lives (vol 3 #11-16)
I'm not sure what's holding those up. And some of my favorite issues are in there -- the Samaritan one-shot, The Eagle and the Mountain, and vol 3 #16, Wish I May, are both stories about Superman-like characters taking on enemies who they'd rather reform as friends (Busiek originally wrote the story that would become Wish I May as a Superboy/Lex Luthor story). Wish I May, in particular, got a lot of praise back in 2014 for its depiction of a trans character.
Not sure why those three volumes aren't available right now, but hopefully they will be before too long. And again, every volume in the series stands on its own (except for volumes 6 and 7, which comprise two halves of the Dark Age storyline); it's a shame that 4, 8, and 11 aren't currently available, but they're not essential to reading and understanding the later books.
ETA: The missing books are there now; it appears to have been a mistake.
Re: Comics for People who Don't Read Comics
The problem with recommending Comics for Ukraine is that you can't buy it right now. You can sign up to be notified when it's available, but so far the only people who have gotten it are the people who crowdfunded it.
It's quite good but it's also a tough read given its subject matter. Stories that would otherwise feel breezy, like an Astro City story about an alien invasion, are heavy with subtext. (I think ending a story with a character saying "I don't know how it ends" is the sort of thing a writer can get away with once in a lifetime at the most. Busiek chose his moment wisely.)
And yeah, speaking of Astro City, there are a lot of stories in there (not all of them) that are set in existing comics continuities, but by and large they're self-contained and you don't need to know anything about Astro City or Groo or Usagi Yojimbo or American Flagg or Chew or...look, I can never remember the difference between X and Grendel, but one of those is in there...to follow along.
It's an excellent book for a good cause, though I can't say it's a fun read.
It's quite good but it's also a tough read given its subject matter. Stories that would otherwise feel breezy, like an Astro City story about an alien invasion, are heavy with subtext. (I think ending a story with a character saying "I don't know how it ends" is the sort of thing a writer can get away with once in a lifetime at the most. Busiek chose his moment wisely.)
And yeah, speaking of Astro City, there are a lot of stories in there (not all of them) that are set in existing comics continuities, but by and large they're self-contained and you don't need to know anything about Astro City or Groo or Usagi Yojimbo or American Flagg or Chew or...look, I can never remember the difference between X and Grendel, but one of those is in there...to follow along.
It's an excellent book for a good cause, though I can't say it's a fun read.
Re: Comics for People who Don't Read Comics
Thad wrote:The problem with recommending Comics for Ukraine is that you can't buy it right now.
You can buy it now.
(For those of you who aren't familiar with variant covers -- this is the "people who don't read comics" thread, after all -- all the books for sale on that page have the same interior, just different covers.
FWIW I went with the Sinkiewicz softcover.)
Re: Comics for People who Don't Read Comics
The Comics Journal: “I've Rediscovered A Mode Of Expression That Was Important To Me As A Kid”: A Talk with Jordan Mechner
Replay came out a few weeks ago. It's a graphic memoir that Mechner wrote, drew, colored, and lettered himself, and it traces the lives of his grandfather Adolph, his father Francis, and finally Jordan himself.
I've gushed about The Making of Karateka at some length, and I've been looking forward to Replay since I first heard Mechner discuss it there. The highlight of Making of Karateka was the conversations between Jordan and Francis; it's not just the story of a wunderkind who defined video-game storytelling, it's also the story of a father and son. Francis wrote the music for Karateka (and I suspect he was probably the first person who ever used the phrase "Wagnerian leitmotif" to describe a video game), and he's a renaissance man in his own right; here's a paragraph from his Wikipedia page (links, formatting, and citations omitted):
So yeah, I've been looking forward to reading more about both of them and their family history. But I haven't actually picked up Replay yet; I might wait for the paperback. But it sure looks good, and Jordan Mechner has some interesting things to say in that interview, as always.
Also, he's got a Kickstarter on for Monte Cristo, a modern-day adaptation with artist Mario Alberti.
Replay came out a few weeks ago. It's a graphic memoir that Mechner wrote, drew, colored, and lettered himself, and it traces the lives of his grandfather Adolph, his father Francis, and finally Jordan himself.
I've gushed about The Making of Karateka at some length, and I've been looking forward to Replay since I first heard Mechner discuss it there. The highlight of Making of Karateka was the conversations between Jordan and Francis; it's not just the story of a wunderkind who defined video-game storytelling, it's also the story of a father and son. Francis wrote the music for Karateka (and I suspect he was probably the first person who ever used the phrase "Wagnerian leitmotif" to describe a video game), and he's a renaissance man in his own right; here's a paragraph from his Wikipedia page (links, formatting, and citations omitted):
Born in Vienna, Austria, in 1931, Mechner came to the United States as a Jewish refugee from Nazi-occupied Europe in 1944 after having spent three years in France and over two years in Cuba.[11] By age 19 he was an accomplished classical concert pianist, portrait painter, and USCF-rated chess master.[12][13][14] In the late 1980s he composed the soundtracks for the original versions of Karateka and Prince of Persia (video games) both developed by his oldest son Jordan Mechner. Mechner has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies since 1985.
So yeah, I've been looking forward to reading more about both of them and their family history. But I haven't actually picked up Replay yet; I might wait for the paperback. But it sure looks good, and Jordan Mechner has some interesting things to say in that interview, as always.
Also, he's got a Kickstarter on for Monte Cristo, a modern-day adaptation with artist Mario Alberti.
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