Art In Time news


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Monday, June 21, 2010


Our own Dan Nadel spoke with Chris Marshall over at
Collected Comics Library. Check it out, True Believers-
slack off at work early with this one. Why are you at work anyways? It’s summer!

Collected Comics Library Podcast #274

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13 Responses to “Art In Time news”
  1. patrick ford says:

    Near the end of the conversation there is a mention of the Jules Feiffer book “The Great Comic Book Heroes.”
    Wouldn’t it be a great idea to reprint the book and get it right?
    The text doesn’t need any work, but the reproduction used the old time “Jack Adler” method DC and Marvel were using for reprints of old comics in the 60’s.
    How much nicer would the book be with proper reproduction, and a slightly expanded selection of reprints.
    It could also add a Captain Marvel story which DC wouldn’t when the book was first published.
    I’m not sure about a complete Detective 1-26, but a scanned collection of all the various features Siegel and Shuster worked on before Superman would be interesting. Aside from the fairly large number of Slam Bradley stories there are quite a few others.

  2. Jeet Heer says:

    I dunno … an edition of “The Great Comic Book Heroes” with the proper stories and art would be great but at this point maybe also a little bit superflous. Most of the comics Feiffer mentions are available one way or another. The Fantagraphics “Supermen” book is a particularly useful source. So I think anyone who wants to augment Feiffer’s great text can do so easily.

  3. patrick ford says:

    The most recent edition from (I think) Fantagraphics didn’t even have the reprints, it was only the text.
    I’m not even sure it was Feiffer who chose the reprints in the book.
    You’re correct that as a collection of reprints it’s superflous, but the text is very strong in my opinion, and the reprints illustrate the next nicely.
    I suppose that without the reprints there is that tantalizing mystery which as a reader I got in the old days reading “All In Color For A Dime” at a time when I had almost no way of seeing golden age comics and old newspaper strips. The authors made it sound like they had walked through El Dorado, and a kid I could only imagine in my mind the things they were so enthused about.
    Still I’d rather have the stories Feiffer is talking about there to illustrate the text rather than mystery and my imagination.
    Feiffer is really very straight forward about the comics. very accurately describing their charm, not over looking their reality, and getting it just right.

  4. Patrick, you are correct, The Great Comic Book Heroes was reprinted a few years back in softcover, but it was heavily edited due to copyrights. Hunt down the original.
    I’ve kicked around Detective 1-26 for my own selfish benefit. I hope no one minds.
    Cheers and thanks for listening to the podcast. It is much appreciated.

  5. patrick ford says:

    What I’d like to see is DC and Marvel move away from reprinting things by title, and go to reprint collections arranged by artists/writers.
    A nice collection of Fred Guardineer, or all of the Bert Christman stories would be a good thing to have.
    The quality of seminal DC magazines is of far greater interest than what Timely was publishing. You look at Marvel Mystery comics, and it’s pretty much crap with the exception of Everett.
    In fact Timely is the best possible example of what Dan mentioned (and he did mention Timely) of a company which published a very high percentage of bad junk, but had a bit of great stuff sprinkled in. Kurtzman, Wolverton, Krigstein, Matt Fox, etc.
    In contrast almost everything in the seminal DC magazines is worth a glance. I’d far prefer to have Slam Bradley in a collected scanned edition than Superman, it’s the pure stuff.
    And speaking of Superman. Wouldn’t you like to see how the real Superman (the one in the first few issues) would deal with Tony Hayward?

  6. IMA PELICAN says:

    Dan- important- I think You should get a Morrissey haircut

  7. pfft! You think he’s got that much hair?!

    oops, sorry, boss. Just sayin’!

  8. Jeet Heer says:

    @Patrick Ford. Yes, volumes focusing on artists would be good. I sort of think that same should be done for EC. I’d love to have a volume that brings together all of Kurtzman’s EC work or all of Krigstein’s EC work.

  9. patrick ford says:

    Jeet, I’ve been bugging Russ Cochran to do that for years. It seems such a natural.
    I only wish Dark Horse would do the same with the Warren stuff.
    I’d kill for a book collecting all the Warren Ditko stories.

  10. Dan Nadel says:

    I couldn’t agree more on all accounts. Yes, I should have a Morissey haircut, yes I am rapidly losing the ability to have one (comics will turn you into an old man. Or break your heart. Or something). And yes I would also kill for single artist volumes from Warren and/or EC. A solo-Ditko (or Wood, or Toth) Warren book would be pretty wonderful.

  11. patrick ford says:

    Jim Warren made a move in that direction in the 70’s. He published issues devoted to Ditko, Williamson, Wood, Toth, Crandall, and Corben.
    When movie studios package suites of films they don’t do the complete RKO 1931, they put together collections by director, or actor.
    Movies have know for ages that “stars” sell tickets.

    • Dan Nadel says:

      True! I remember sweating it out at a Con on 34th st a few years back as Frank called Bill Boichel so he could look up which issue was the all Toth-issue. Desperate and intensely nerdy of us.

  12. patrick ford says:

    Being of a sensitive nature I like to think of the nerdy guy being the one who wants the complete Creepy issues 20-30 rather than wanting a collection of Toth.
    An interesting thing about the Crandall issue is it reprinted the great story Crandall had done only a short time before about an Indian graveyard. It’s actually my favorite story by Crandall ever. There is a subtle distortion to the figures which is very beautiful. Crandall only did a small number of stories during his brief 70’s return to comics, including a single story for Marvel. For whatever reason the Graveyard story I mentioned got to me in a special way.

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