Originally created as part of publisher Charlton Comics' line of "Action Heroes," nearly all of these classic tales were written and illustrated by artist Steve Ditko, co-creator of Spider-Man.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
They were "Action Heroes" before they became "Watchmen",
By Silver Age Fan (Illinois) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Action Heroes Archives, Vol. 2 (DC Archives Edition) (Hardcover)
Those of you who read my review of the first volume of ACTION HEROES ARCHIVES know I was enthusiastic about DC reprinting the Charlton "Action Heroes" in these quality hardcover editions. Volume 2 is no exception, and I'm giving it a qualified 5 stars rating (as explained below).As I somewhat surmised when Volume 1 was published, in addition to continuing the Captain Atom reprint stories, this volume includes Steve Ditko's Blue Beetle tales -- plus The Question to boot! It also makes sense that Volume 2 picks up the good Captain's adventures with issue #83, considering that issue was the start of big changes for Captain Atom, and also began the back-up adventures of the "new" Blue Beetle, scripted by Gary Friedrich with art by the awesome Ditko. It was during this period that Charlton Comics was attempting to emulate Marvel Comics, and was strengthening the characterization in its stories. (Indeed, shortly thereafter Gary Friedrich would leave Charlton to work for Marvel Comics, and no doubt for a larger paycheck.) Fan-turned-pro Dave Kaler penned some enjoyable scripts for Captain Atom, beginning his run with CAPTAIN ATOM #82, the last story in Volume 1, and continuing through the "Captain Atom Meets Thirteen" tale (from CAPTAIN ATOM #89) reprinted in this volume. CAPTAIN ATOM #89 was the last Charlton issue published, and as a kid I was bummed out because of that and because the storyline involving Cap's nemisis, The Ghost, had been unresolved. But this volume also reprints the "final" Captain Atom tales with The Ghost ("Showdown in Sunuria" and "Two Against Sunuria") which were only heretore published in Charlton's "fanzine," CHRLTON BULLSEYE. Like the printing in CHARLTON BULLSEYE, these tales are published in black-and-white in this volume. The Blue Beetle reprints are fantastic, especially the back-up stories originally published in CAPTAIN ATOM, and the first two issues of the Beetle's own comic mag. Reading them is like immersing yourself in the Marvel Comics of 1966-67, and is a delightful treat. Like the Captain Atom bonuses that originally saw print in CHARLTON BULLSEYE, this volume reprints the unpublished BLUE BEETLE #6 cover and story, which only previously saw print in CHARLTON BULLSEYE (in black-and-white both therein and herein). A perhaps unexpected bonus here are The Question stories, back-up tales contained in the BLUE BEETLE comic plus the full-length MYSTERIOUS SUSPENSE #1 comic from 1968. The "bonus" for The Question fans is the black-and-white story drawn by comics legend Alex Toth, reprinted from CHARLTON BULLSEYE #5 (and also including Toth's cover for that issue reproduced in full color). The Question, of course, was based on Steve Ditko's Mr. A character (first published in Wally Wood's WITZEND), and much later metamorphasized into the Rorshach character in Alan Moore's WATCHMEN. The only problems with this volume are some of the tales penned by Steve Ditko. Ditko was used to working "Marvel style," both plotting out and drawing the tales, which would later be dialogued and captioned by the writer. How much of this was done on the Captain Atom stories is hard to say, but they seem pretty tight, and my guess is that Ditko at least was working in the "traditional" mode, from Dave Kaler's scripts, on those efforts. But the early Blue Beetle tales have a lot going on, and it appears Ditko was perhaps using the Marvel method with writer Gary Friedrich. With the departure of Friedrich on the Blue Beetle, Ditko inherited the scripting duties as well (using the assumed name "D.C. Glanzman"). But while Ditko has ability as a writer, he's also had the problem of his Ayn Rand philosophies exerting a heavy influence on his his stories. Mr. A was a perfect example of this (where everything was "black and white," and there was no "gray" in moral values), as is the story "Blue Beetle Faces the Destroyer of Heroes" (reprinted from BLUE BEETLE #5), where the extremes of values are unbelievably comical. The "A Specter is Haunting Hub City" story, originally intended for the unpublished BLUE BEETLE #6, is likewise ridiculous. In that tale we have the public up in arms -- against SCIENTISTS ("It's a plot! The scientists want to rule the world!")! Now, certainly, continuing advances in technology can be used for "bad" efforts as well as "good" -- but some of the Ditko dialogue in this story would make more sense in Mad Magazine. My criticisms of Ditko's writing aside, however, Ditko was still at his artistic peak in 1966-68, and it is an absolute joy to behold his story-telling techniques along with his basic art talent. This volume is worth the price for Steve Ditko's art alone! A negative regarding the Ditko art is the finale Captain Atom "Sunuria" 2-parter reprinted from CHARLTON BULLSEYE. Apparently Ditko had only penciled those stories, and they had remained uninked for some time -- which would have made sense with no plans to publish them. When they finally saw print, a young John Byrne was called upon to ink them (and it would be interesting to know whether he inked Ditko's actual penciled pages or only phostats). I've never been a big John Byrne fan, having felt that he's never truly taken his artistic ability to its maximum level. Early John Byrne art is pretty rough, as is his inking on Ditko's Captain Atom (which Byrne also lettered, and didn't do a great job there as well). In my opinion, Byrne didn't really make an effort to remain faithful to Ditko's pencils, and the art winds up being downright sloppy in spots. But that substandard inking involves only 21 pages in this volume, and the remainder of of the Ditko art is inked by Sturdy Steve himself, or by Rocke Mastroserio and Frank McLaughlin. And that work is great! As noted by Dick Giordano (Charlton's editor back in 1966-68) in his forword, it's unlikely that the other Charlton "Action Heroes" of that Silver age era (among them The Peacemaker, Judo-Master, and Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt) will ever see the reprinting light of day. But the Ditko-driven characters certainly deserved hardcover editions for posterity. Don't cheat yourself -- make sure to purchase both volumes 1 and two of ACTION HEROES ARCHIVES!
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Steve Ditko And The Charlton Action Heroes,
By Grant Watson (Northern California) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Action Heroes Archives, Vol. 2 (DC Archives Edition) (Hardcover)
Action Heroes Archives vol 2 is definately worth the price that its being offered. This edition has nearly 100 pages more than the average DC Archive edition for starters. This book is filled to the brim with some of steve ditkos best work with the exception of his work on Spiderman, Dr. Strange and his charlton monsters series Konga and Gorgo. This volume has the revamped Captain Atom, Blue Beetle and the Question stories in their full glory. Another nice feature is the addition of the Charlton Bullseye, the black and white fanzine that featured the wrap up of the captain atom storyline featuring his final battle with the ghost. My only complaint is that they didnt include some of the relevant back up stories, I.e the Jim Aparo Nightshade stories which would have fit nicely with this volume. But thats really nitpicking. If you love Ditko, this is a must have. Nobody draws action and human movement with as much excitment and fluidity as Steve Ditko. He's one of the few artists that can tell a story soley with his art. Todays art is simply poses, and much too much reliance on photo references with all due respect to alex ross and others of his style. Reading a steve ditko drawn story is like watching a movie. I sincerely hope they reprint more under rated Charlton stories. Id love to see reprints of Ditko's Konga and Gorgo work. Buy this book.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Worst reproduction I have EVER seen...,
By
This review is from: Action Heroes Archives, Vol. 2 (DC Archives Edition) (Hardcover)
This volume contains Steve Ditko's fascinatingly mental Question material, which is why I actually felt compelled to pay the outrageous price DC asks for their Archive editions rather than attempting to track down the original Charlton Comics. Charlton being considered the Poverty Row of the comics world, renowned for shoddy business practices and cut-rate printing, I assumed that DC would be able to offer improved reproduction on quality paper stock. Well, the paper is heavy enough (though the finish should probably be matte, and perhaps not so blindingly white), but the artwork has been DESTROYED. Whatever you feel about Ditko's work on its own merits, you aren't getting a fair impression with this book, as the art appears to have been scanned from the original comics, traced over with a blunted black marker, and the original dot colouring replaced with garishly ugly puddles of solid colour.I'm not exaggerating. I was so appalled by the art in this book that I tracked down a copy of Mysterious Suspense #1(the only full-length Ditko Question comic Charlton produced) and compared them side by side. Poor as the original printing was, it was infinitely superior to what DC has fobbed off on us, with lovely fine line work and only minor color bleed problems that any teenager with a copy of Photoshop on their computer could have remedied. DC's masterly, museum-grade Archive presentation looks like it was 'restored' by your kid sister while bored in math class. I'm not just bitching here: what DC have done here is simply unbelievable -- utterly disrespectful of Ditko and criminal at any price. And the price is obscenely HIGH.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
