Customer Reviews

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: The Complete Newspaper Dailies, Vol. 1: 1929-1930

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've loved the Buck Rogers strip for over 25 years but there has never been available a reprint of the strips with all of the stories in order with their titles, chapter by chapter. The reproduction of past reprints has ranged from terrible to so-so. This book is simply fantastic and forever remedies that problem; not only does it have a great introduction by Ron Goulart accompanied by pulp covers, Buck Rogers comic books, toys, movie poster art, Buck Rogers premiums - and even a great picture of the atomic disintegrator gun -the strips are the sharpest, clearest, and cleanest examples of the strip I have ever seen. The book features two strips per page in a 9 x 12 inch format and I couldn't ask for more. The book has the first seven installments of the strip; 582 strips in sequence. The paper is nice, heavy weight and matte. Can you tell I'm a big fan of the strip? I love the dustjacket too, it really grabs my eye and it's also printed on the hardcover as well; my 12-year-old actually looked at the book and commented how "neat" the cover art was, so maybe we'll have a next generation Buck Rogers fan in the house. I'm so happy with the book I've ordered a second copy.

As a kid growing up, I was always an sf fan. There were always 2 classic sf comic strips: Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. Flash has had several reprints of the Alex Ramond work on the strip (I have volumes from 3 different publishers). But Buck never got this. For years the only sampling of BR strips were the Chelsea House hardbacks. My aunt had a copy at her house, and when I visited, I pulled it out and read thru the the strips. Later, I was able to get my own copy, but found it was the revised edition they came out with, where they dropped a lot of the strips, but did add some from George Tuska's work. The CH collection was frustrating. Yes, they reprinted a lot of good storylines, but some were left incomplete (like the 2 Sunday storylines they reprinted).

Now, Hermes is working on reprinting all the Dailies and Sundays. As the Sundays had a totally different storyline (the first few years didn't even have Buck, but starred Wilma's kid brother), they will be collected in a separate set of books.

This volume reprints the first 5 storylines, and sets the groundwork for future storylines.

I hope that these sell well, because there are issues for modern readers.

Let's be honest. The artwork isn't as slick and polished as most would expect from comic strips. And the writting doesn't help. You have to wince and roll your eyes on some of the writing.

And there are other issues. Buck awakes in a world were America has been devistated and taken over by the "Red Monguls", who conquered the world with their superscience of repeller rays and destructor rays. This is typical early 20th century 'Yellow Peril' fears. Thankfully, Buck is able to help the Americans throw off the yoke of the Monguls and make peace with the Supreme Mogul. But even at the end of the book, most of America is apparently still under Mongul control. "Free America" is basically the Eastern part of the US along with Canada, with their capital at Niagra. A new foe appears in the form of the Tigermen of Mars, who will be the main villians for many years. The implied racism is troublesome, tho the Americans do make peace with the Asians; we see nothing about black americans or what's going on in Europe or Africa.

Wilma is also not the independent and strong woman of the 25th century we would like and expect. Too much of the storylines turn on her jealousys of Buck being with other girls (when nothing happened) or misunderstanding something and going off in a huff.

The 'high tech' of the 25th century is too much what someone in the 1920s thought it might be. No computers, no jets. Aircraft are either biplanes or rocket ships or repeller dirigibles. No ray guns, but guns shooting explosive bullets.

I know that artwork and writing improve, so I hope this series sells well enough. And can't wait for the Sundays. Hermes Press has already announced the next 2 dailies books and well as the first Sunday volume.

[This is very annoying that I have to recreate my review because Amazon somehow destroyed it]

I have been awaiting this new reprint series for a long time.

I've long been an SF fan, and growing up there were 2 major SF comic strips: Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. But while there have been several complete reprints of Raymond's Flash Gordon, there was only one partial reprint of Buck Rogers: the large hardback edition from Chelsea House. My aunt had a copy, and when I visited her house, I pulled it out and read it. I finally got my own copy, only to find it was a later edition that dropped a lot of the strips (tho added some newer stuff). Because several of the storylines were left unfinished in that book, I wanted a more complete reprint.

This volume begins the reprints of dailies and Sundays. BR had separate storylines in the dailies and sundays. Some strips did this, other later merged them together. So Hermes will be reprinting the Sundays in a separate series of volumes.

This edition starts off the reprint series, publishing the first 7 storylines. While most of this was reprinted in the Chelsea House edition, there is new stuff.

Most people know the basic story, but will be surprised in what really happens in the comic. Buck Rogers is a WWI veteran who falls asleep for 500 years, and awakes in the 25th Century. But in the intervening years, America (and most of the world) has been conquered by "Red Mongols", using futuristic flying ships. So Buck's first job is to help free America. By the end of the book, most of America (the eastern US and Canada) is free from Mongol control.

There are a lot of problems with this strip for modern audiences. Artwise, BR was fairly crude. While typical of many strips of its time, its not the slick look that Flash Gordon became. The technology shown is what someone of the time thought it would be. No sleek jets or teleports or high tech computers. More of large, bulky systems. Flight is by rockets or repeller rays.

And the writing. Dialogue is pretty crude. Wilma is not the independent woman of the future we expect. Several story turn on her jealous behavior that gets almost tiresome. And then there is the implied racism.

The "Red Monguls" are typical early 20th centuary 'yellow peril'. The bad guys at first are the monguls and the 'half-breeds'. While the Americans make peace with the Monguls, I'm uncertain how things full work out. At the end of that storyline, only about half of america is truly free from Mongol control. Does the strip assume that the world is now a free united globe, fighting against Tigermen from Mars and other off world threats? I have no idea.

I do look forward to the next volume, and the upcoming Sundays.

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

Buck Rogers is a legend. Created by Philip Francis Nowlan, he first appeared in 1928, in the pages of Amazing Stories. "Armageddon-2914 AD" took the concept of Rip Van Winkle a step further. Forget 100 years, what about 500? Anthony Rogers, a 29 year old scientific type fell asleep in abandoned Pennsylvania coal mines. Falling prey to radioactive gasses, he awoke to find a different world . Over the next year, Buck was a fixture in Amazing Stories, and soon, the comic strips.
January 7, 1929 featured the premiere of Buck Rogers by Nowlan and Calkins in over 500 papers. It caught the world by storm, and soon Buck Rogers was at the movies portrayed by Larry Buster Crabbe. Books featuring the intrepid explorer hit newsstands as Big Little Books, and the fledgling comic book industry. Buck was a success.
For most modern fans of Buck Rogers, we were not there to see the beginning, now, through the auspices of Hermes Press and the Dill family trust, we can. The first two books take us through 1932 and include the following adventures:
Meeting the Mongols, Capturing the Mongol Emperor, Pact of Perpetual Peace, Defeat of the Mongol Rebels, Tiger Men of Mars, land of the Golden People, Synthetic Gold Plot, In the City Beneath the Sea, Mystery of the Atlantian Gold Ships, On the Planetoid Eros, and On the Moons of Saturn.
The art is not necessarily the best, but it captures the time period. In terms of art reproduction, this is no second rate effort . One of the interesting ads is one that states
A television print of Buck Rogers has been reproduced by the science department back in Niagra! Send a two cent stamp to cover postage and receive one of these pictures! Address Buck Rogers, (care of this paper).
The stories told are amazing adventures that certainly provide a good definition of the word `escapism'. Times were tough, and to travel to another planet, all you had to do was open your newspaper.
Buck Rogers 1929-30 and 1930-32 are books of rare quality. Check them out at [...]
Tim Lasiuta

This is a very nice book, real quality product, but my complaint is all of the wasted space between strips. They have 2 strips per page and they should have had 3. Having 2 makes it difficult to concentrate on the story since I'm constanly aware of all the blankness. I've bought the first two volumes but will not buy any others. If they would have put 3 strips per page they could have gotten lots more in the book and also ended up with lots less books.

I've loved the Buck Rogers strip for over 25 years but there has never been available a reprint of the strips with all of the stories in order with their titles, chapter by chapter. The reproduction of past reprints has ranged from terrible to so-so. This book is simply fantastic and forever remedies that problem; not only does it have a great introduction by Ron Goulart accompanied by pulp covers, Buck Rogers comic books, toys, movie poster art, Buck Rogers premiums - and even a great picture of the atomic disintegrator gun -the strips are the sharpest, clearest, and cleanest examples of the strip I have ever seen. The book features two strips per page in a 9 x 12 inch format and I couldn't ask for more. The book has the first seven installments of the strip; 582 strips in sequence. The paper is nice, heavy weight and matte. Can you tell I'm a big fan of the strip? I love the dustjacket too, it really grabs my eye and it's also printed on the hardcover as well; my 12-year-old actually looked at the book and commented how "neat" the cover art was, so maybe we'll have a next generation Buck Rogers fan in the house. I'm so happy with the book I've ordered a second copy.

The first Science Fiction illustrated feature that launched a genre. What more need one say? A fan of Star Trek, Star Wars any or all things Sci-fi? Then this book is a must have.

Many years ago, I received a copy of a previous reprint of the old Buck Rogers newspaper comics (Collected Works of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century). That collection included much of the material in this one although in the later sections it started to jump around, often skipping large periods of time in the publication of the strip. This newer compilation is more complete, in that it present the daily strips chronologically with no annoying gaps in continuity. The illustrations and text are all crisp, clear and easily read and overall this is a welcome and well done tribute to a historic comic strip.

Admittedly, much of the material is dated and a product of its times, however if looked at with this in mind it provides not only a look into the values and culture of the times, but also an interesting look at "the future that never was" through the eyes of a previous generation. I thoroughly enjoyed this first book, and will without a doubt be purchasing further volumes in the series.

Though not up there with Gasoline Alley, Krazy Kat, LOA and Terry and the Pirates, Buck Rogers is very enjoyable. The art and stories are primitive yet great fun. This is an old fashioned look into early scifi.

The book itself is big and gorgeous. Only two strips to a page and its stock is outstanding. Dr. Who has his Tardis to visit the past. This book could be yours.

I owned the atomic disintegrator pistol in the 1930s. It could cut a deep gash in hand-to-hand combat--I hope all those scars have healed.

The girls Dick Calkins drew were incredibly attractive. Up against Al Capp's, less is more.