ShareThisIt's the golden age of reprints at DC Comics. But which titles are hidden gems -- and which should just remain hidden? Here are some quick picks:
-- "Madame Xanadu: Disenchanted" ($12.99, Vertigo). I took my time getting around to the latest incarnation of DC's mysterious, sexy, tarot-reading, second-string magician. Because that's all she's ever really been in her 31-year history; a supporting character prone to vague, flowery and incomprehensible predictions. It seemed her only super-power was an exaggerated décolletage.
Not anymore. In the hands of writer Matt Wagner ("Mage"), Xanadu has a new origin and status quo -- one rife with story possibilities. Plus, she's now (thankfully) petite.
Wagner has invented a backstory in which Madame X is actually Nimue, the nymph who defeated Merlin in "Le Morte d'Arthur." But, contra Thomas Malory, Wagner tells that story (and the fall of Camelot) from Nimue's point of view -- and she is much more sympathetic. Being an immortal Celtic seer also makes Madame Xanadu a much more powerful figure in DC's magical pantheon, plus one with lots of backstory to explore.
Which Wagner does with gusto in the recent "Madame Xanadu" Nos. 1-10, reprinted in "Disenchanted." We go from Camelot to Kublai Khan to the French Revolution to Jack the Ripper to 1940 New York to the present with scarcely a breath. Wagner establishes these rich backdrops as important nexuses in DC's magical history. The Phantom Stranger (another vaguely defined magical character) appears in each -- first as an object of lust for Nimue, then as an object of her fury as the woman scorned.
In the midst of all this hoo-ha, Wagner threads in important references to Jack Kirby's Demon, the original (magical) Green Lantern, Dr. Fate, Zatara and The Spectre. This is all defined by the gentle artwork of Amy Reeder Hadley, who brings lush historical scenes to life and imbues the eternally coltish, doe-eyed Nimue with real personality.
It's the magic of history, romance, vengeance and redemption -- plus, you know, actual magic. Despite the title, I was enchanted.
-- "Showcase: Bat Lash" ($9.99). It collects most of this obscure Western character's solo appearances, which amounts to a whopping 240 pages. That's a shame, because it's good stuff.
The Li'l Cap'n didn't "get" the character in the '60s. Lash constantly claimed to be nonviolent and spoke, dressed and acted in a vaguely effeminate way. And yet, he was an accomplished hand-to-hand combatant, expert gunfighter and relentless womanizer. Perhaps I hadn't yet discovered Jim Garner's "Maverick," because I didn't understand the spoofing of genre conventions. I did appreciate the artwork of Nick Cardy and Dan Spiegle, but I expected cowboys to be rough and tough, not fey.
Now I'm all grown up, and the charm of these ribald and subtly melancholy stories is suddenly apparent. I wish there were more, but apparently I wasn't the only one who didn't appreciate "Bat Lash" the first time around.
-- "Golden Age Starman Archives," Vol. 2 ($59.99). It completes this character's 1940s appearances from "Adventure Comics," which should appeal to completists. Plus "Adventure" boasted some of the best artists of the era, like Jack Burnley, Mort Meskin and Kirby, which is another draw.
But if those two reasons don't do it for you, don't buy the book. The stories are typical Golden Age pap, with zero characterization, endless fistfights and incredibly unimaginative use of Starman's Gravity Rod, one of the most powerful weapons in fiction.
-- "Showcase: Martian Manhunter" Vol. 2 ($16.99). It completes the Alien Ace's early solo appearances, which ran in "Detective" and "House of Mystery" from 1955 to 1968. I've waited decades to finally read most of these stories, and I have to say I'm disappointed.
The first volume, despite the shallow and repetitive nature of its stories, was amusing in that the Manhunter seemed to gain new (and increasingly bizarre) super-powers with each adventure. (Like -- and I kid thee not -- See Around Corners Vision.) But the second volume doesn't even do that; it's just shallow and repetitive.
This is a character with all of Superman's powers, plus telepathy, shape changing and invisibility, plus an alien sidekick with an additional set of powers, plus a fascinating origin. And yet writer Jack Miller and artist Joe Certa managed to make him boring.
Various writers have made the Space Sleuth a much more interesting character in recent years -- mainly by ignoring these stories. I think we should follow their lead.
(Contact Andrew A. Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at capncomics(at)aol.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
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