Weekend Reading: Vince Colletta, Gene Roddenberry, Tezuka and Zombies!

Welcome to the Labor Day edition of Weekend Reading, with a few extra links to help you cope with the extended weekend. Let’s get it started; I’ve got to make the rounds of quite a few barbecues.

Comic Books For Kids: You know who everyone should thank for the influx of great graphic novels for kids? Jeff Smith, creator of Bone. Robin Brenner at Early Word explains, and also points out that while a number of librarians are nuts about graphic novels from NY’s publishing icons, they are somewhat ignorant of the kid-friendly graphic novels actually produced by traditional comic book publishers.

Vince Colletta: I don’t think there’s an inker around who polarizes people as much as the late Mr. C. Scoop reviews The Thin Black Line, a new biography of the inker who “saved the bacon of many an editor.”

Gene Roddenberry: Frederik Pohl remembers his time with the “great bird of the galaxy.”

Superman: Randy Johnson, the writer not the retired baseball pitcher and mustache-worshipper, reviews Jeff Mariotte’s 2007 DC Universe novel Trail of Time. “The real fun for me were the chapters labeled May, 1872. They detailed the gradual coming together of four DC western characters, Jonah Hex, Bat Lash, El Diablo, and the Scalphunter, along with an able assist from Johnny Thunder.” Needless to say, he liked the book, and who among us wouldn’t? I’ve already ordered my copy.

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WEEKEND READING: Will Eisner, Clown Funerals, Don Heck and Moon Nazis!

Welcome to the weekend reading portion of the blog. Lots of great stuff found on the internets this week, from Will Eisner and Clown Funerals to Nazi Moonbases, there’s enough stuff to make everyone happy, and that’s always the ultimate goal, isn’t it?

WILL EISNER’S WONDER MAN: This is an oldie, but still good. Eisner was hired by Victor Fox to create Wonder Man to be his company’s Superman. When Wonder Comics #1 debuted in 1939, Fox then proceeded to get the crap sued out of him by the owners of the real thing. Eisner was even called to the stand. You can read about that over at the Wikipedia. But over at Golden Age Heroes, you can read the complete first Wonder Man story.

WILL NO ONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN? Fredric Wertham did, and so did the U.S. Government. But did you know that England also had its share of hysteria over comics? It seems that Jolly Old E was very concerned about children who read comic books and then commit horrible badness, which must then be traced back to those horrible comic books. Britain’s National Archives has a great podcast about how the vulgar American comic books were insinuating themselves into Britain’s cakes-and-ale culture and corrupting the sweet-faced youth of our mother country. Fortunately, the host does bring up the fact that Britain had something of a comics industry long before we showed up. Oh, snap! The podcast is called “Kapow! Fifties Britain Vs. The Comics Menace,” and the link is courtesy of Elizabeth Foxwell over at The Bunburyist (and that’s a reference to Oscar Wilde, you lit-slackers).

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