Archive for April, 2011

Anton Previn

Saturday, April 30th, 2011

While at work Barry Allen receives a phone call from top international women’s designer Anton Previn who’s come to Central City with his latest portfolio. Barry recounts meeting Previn five years before on a trip to Paris and “[they] became fast friends”. Barry stores Previn’s portfolio in a police safe until his show the following day. The two men go for a walk and Previn shares that he wants to meet some American women to get their opinions on his clothing designs. Apparently in the Silver Age DC universe of 1961 Central City is a hot bed of fashion design. Naturally, Iris is Barry’s only choice to introduce to Anton, and she’s simply beside herself with happiness when meeting “The Anton Previn!” Anton is utterly charming, holding out a white-gloved hand to take Iris’ while complimenting her. On the other hand, so to speak, Barry isn’t the least bit jealous at the thought of Iris  and Previn becoming friends — because even Barry knows his friend is gay.

Art by Carmine Infantino

The two of them talk over coffee. Iris doesn’t waste a minute telling Anton that she thinks Barry could be more romantic. In turn, he remarks: “No offense, my dear, but a change in hair style and in make up — just a soupcon of difference” [emphasis in original] and he offers to re-do her look. Iris agrees and for the rest of the story Previn works his homo designer mojo to turn her into a ravishing beauty. Meanwhile Barry, as the Flash, is battling it out with the Top in their first encounter. Anton, smoking a cigarette in a long stemmed holder, shows off the new Iris to Barry who’s too dumbstruck by her new look to pay even the most minor of compliments. Of course, Iris interprets her fiance’s speechlessness as disapproval, and reverts to her former look. Anton looks rather speechless himself with Barry’s reaction. Or should I write “Barree” since this is how writer John Broome spelled it.

In addition to allegedly being the world’s top designer of his day, Previn had the ability to ceate the most florid hand gestures, and would certainly rank right behind Dr. Strange and Spider-man, especially as drawn by Steve Ditko. Ditko’s hand style was a stylistic choice. With Infantino here, I assume he and Broome wanted to convey that Previn is homosexual and bypass the Comics Code Authority. Plus, Infantino drew Previn with a fussy hairstyle, unlike the other men whose hair is worn short in keeping with contemporary looks. If old Allen coworker Patty Spivot can make a comeback, then why not bring Previn back as confidant for Iris?

Previn’s first and only appearance is in Flash #122 (August 1961) and reprinted in the 80 paged giant Flash # 169 and Flash Archives #3.

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Fearful Hunter #2

Friday, April 29th, 2011

Fearful Hunter #2
Jon Macy
$12
www.jonmacy.com

“I Will Have the Taste of Him”

In which gods take a young deer, who is, in turn, the beloved of a young wolf, and the question and nature of sex as magick is explored.

You may recall Jon Macy’s last work, Teleny and Camille, in which Macy focused on a furtive love affair whose nature both offended and defied the genteel and unyielding upper class of Victorian England. In Fearful Hunter, Macy moves from the dichotomy of the well bred gentry and endemic squalor of the working and under classes to a countryside where the sacred and profane merge and the sublime manifests.

Fearful Hunter is a work intended in four parts. The current installment, issue two, is the subject of this review.To recap the first chapter, Oison is a young man whose parents surrendered him as a young boy to Tavius, a Druid who has foresworn the modern world to live in and as a part of a nearby forest. Tavius believes Oison is gifted and has been training him in secret rituals and eventually communion with a nature god. Fate intervenes during a trip for supplies to the nearby town when Oison learns of a pub catering  to gay men of a different…bent. Shea, a were fox, encourages Oison to act on his impulses for the reluctant lycanthrope Byron. Tavius is both secretly displeased by Oison’s choice and covetous of Byron.

With introductions made in the first issue, the attention turns to exploring the various relationships and the nature of individual characters. Will  Oison remain in obeisance to his mentor Tavius to pass from his apprenticeship to attain the next level or will he realize his nature encompasses more and become steadfast in his love for a wolf?  Will Byron succumb to his animal nature  as a result of Tavius’ subtle manipulation (“You wouldn’t mind me watching you transform, would you?” and “I would love to see him kill sometime. I’m sure he is magnificent.”) or will he rise above his insecurities to forge a lasting bond with Oison? Can the jealous nature of a wolf who mates for life be overcome when his beloved ritually communes in sexual ecstasy with a god as an act of devotion? Does “It’s not really sex. It just takes that form” ring true? Or will Byron conquer his fear and protect Oison from possible harm?  Will the god Diultach be sated with a single taste of Oison and, as I suspect the name implies, become dismissive of his promised acolyte? Is Shea motivated by wily instincts conversing with Byron about love and passion or is be being sincere? Judging by the scope of Macy’s vision in Teleny and Camille actions and consequences coming out of these relationships will not be neat and tidy nor forumlaic; they will be brilliant and memorable.

No one sparkles in Macy’s imagination as put to paper here. They rut and mount and possess and howl and revel, then collapse from abandon. Macy is quite clever in drawing arresting erotic encounters and characters.Oison’s and Byron’s newly found love pulses with an energy that is simultaneously urgent and naive. Oison with his smooth body marked with Druidic symbols and innocent appearance is a study in contrast to Byron’s lithe and furry form and soulful eyes. The elder Druid Eanruig, likely I think to have been Tavius’ mentor, is a silver fox with flowing hair and beard. Tavius himself is a bull of a man. Shea the were-fox is wiry and playful as revealed in the short fillip we’re treated to recounting the time he nicked a farmer’s shorts.

Several years ago a friend, an art professor, and I had a conversation about artists creating a sense of of place. She knew of my interest in comics and asked to borrow any apropos graphic novels which she’d used as reference for a class lecture. It’s a harder task to accomplish than one might think as it involves more than simply drawing a character surrounded by four walls to give a character a sense of life and belonging to the space. One can find reference material to draw a London opera house but it will take insight to make it believable. Likewise Macy’s primary setting of a forest in Hunter. Quite another matter to transform forest and river and rock into a living temple of warm earth, still water, and trees versed in a secret tongue in which Druids, gods, and were-men co-exist, if some uneasily at that.

A dream interlude reveals Byron’s true name and the event from his childhood that inspired it. The circumstances serve to illuminate Byron’s temperament and his struggle as an outsider in his own community. Will there be  more to learn about how Oison came to be Tavius’ pupil? What sort of dire conditions arose to persuade parents to relinquish a child? Imagining the twists Macy could invent further piques my interest. Macy has shown Tavius to be flawed with the first issue’s revelation for Oison that Tavius withheld knowledge of the local gay pub and with Tavius’ unspoken desire for Byron. These indiscretions bear the question of whether Tavius truly follows the Druidic codes of honor to do right regardless of cost, of loyalty to friends and family, and hospitality.

Teleny and Camille was wildly impressive and Fearful Hunter is an equally excellent venture from the talented Macy. During the wait for the next installment the dilemma for me is having an incomplete run of Macy’s Nefarismo to enjoy and chart an artist’s progress.

Would you like to be further tempted visually? Visit Macy’s site and feast on art and video? Yes, of course you would.

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Northwest Press’ Anti-Bullying Comic

Thursday, April 28th, 2011

Northwest Press, a publisher of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender graphic novels and comics, is raising funds on the website Kickstarter to produce an anti-bullying comic book for youth and teachers’ groups. The Power Within tells the story of a junior high schooler who imagines himself as a superhero to deal with his constant harassment at school. The project is written by Charles “Zan” Christensen and drawn by Mark Brill, and features bonus material by Dan Parent (creator of Archie Comics’ first openly gay character, Kevin Keller), Phil Jimenez (Wonder Woman, New X-Men), Gail Simone (Secret Six, Wonder Woman), Carla Speed McNeil (Finder), Andy Mangels (Gay Comics), Donna Barr (The Desert Peach), and others.

The project was conceived in October 2010 for 24 Hour Comics Day, an international event where comics creators attempt to produce a complete comic book in a single day. The previous month, there were numerous, high-profile news reports of gay teen suicides all over the U.S., prompting a public outcry and the creation of the It Gets Better Project to combat LGBT teen isolation and bullying. Christensen and Brill decided to tackle the topic in their book and by the end of the event, they had completed a rough version of the story.

Brill continued to polish the artwork, and the book was completed and published in a limited run in March 2011, selling at comic book conventions in Seattle and Chicago. In order to mass-produce the book and provide free copies to gay-straight alliances and other youth groups, Christensen sought the participation of some high profile artists and writers for bonus features and began a fundraising effort to cover printing and shipping costs. In six days, the project reached a third of its funding goal; The Power Within must receive a minimum of $3000 in pledges on Kickstarter by May 20th in order to be funded.

The publisher is offering a variety of incentives to encourage people to fund the project, ranging from signed art prints and copies of the finished book to a ticket to join Northwest Press at the Lambda Literary Awards in May, where two of their books-Teleny and Camille and Glamazonia: The Uncanny Super-Tranny-are finalists for awards.

The publisher will be promoting the new book, as well as its other releases, at several conventions around the U.S. this month. They will be appearing in partnership with Prism Comics at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival in Ontario, Gaylaxicon in Atlanta, Georgia, and Fanaticon in Asheville, North Carolina.

For more information about The Power Within, visit northwestpress.com.

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Shameful Republicans

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

Forgive a digression into politics and government. I’ve reached a saturation point with all that so many, if not all, elected Republican officials are attempting to do with what seems a full on assault on anyone who is either not a fellow Republican official or rich enough to be a special interest/ lobbyist for the Corporate Elite. Women’s reproductive health and rights in jeopardy, workers’ rights stripped in several states and financial martial law in Michigan, with predominately African-American Benton Harbor’s government removed and its one community asset, a lovely park on prime real estate being eyed for an exclusive golf resort ($5,000 annual membership fee projected) are just the proverbial tip of the iceberg.

Paul Ryan’s budget plan privatizes Medicare in favor of a coupon/ voucher system. It doesn’t matter what they rename it, the idea is to cut off part of the safety net while continuing to allow huge corporations not to pay a fair share of taxes. Let Ryan and the rest of Congress test his idea on themselves. And if government pensions for public employees are such an economic ball buster, then Ryan and every other Republican should lead by example and forgo their 50% pension for achieving 20 consecutive years of service. And it isn’t just seniors who would be thrown into the abyss. People with either physical or medical disabilities who also receive Medicare would be affected, and I am one of those people.

And Donald Trump possibly running for President? Effing out of touch blowhard trying so hard to appeal to the rednecks for whom he wouldn’t cross the street to piss on if they were on fire.

And no, I don’t think Democrats are angels either.

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The Complete Wendel

Friday, April 22nd, 2011

The Complete Wendel
Howard Cruse
288 Pages
$24.95
Universe Publishing

May you live in interesting times.

So goes the saying, incorrectly attributed as a Chinese curse.

Economic incentives for the rich; ultra conservatives whipping up fear against the LGBT community with charges that our goal is to legalize perversions, while at the same time we’re working for civil rights; AIDS crises; a blonde pop star with provocative sexuality and messages.Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? But I’m not thinking of America in 2011, but America in the 1980s when many Americans were in thrall to the veneered charm of the so called great communicator, Ronald Reagan. Today it’s the Glenn Beck, the Tea Party and the mysterious Koch Brothers working to dupe Americans.

Everything old seems new again, eh?

Thankfully Howard Cruse was there the first time around to capture the zeitgeist of the times. Cruse spent much of the previous decade defining his aspirations and honing his skills with work in the underground comix world, in which he came out in 1976, and then went on to become the original editor of Gay Comix in 1980. As important as the anthology was, Cruse moved on to a more ambitious project, which brings me to this new edition of The Complete Wendel, published by Universe Press.

Wendel was, simplistically put, a comic strip. Yet it was so much more than the average comic strip. It had gay people! Still, comic strips with gay characters and content weren’t new. The Advocate magazine, which published Wendel, had run two gay strips previously, and a smattering appeared in other venues, as well as gay and lesbian stories in a few pioneering underground comix. According to Cruse, the Advocate initially offered no long term commitment, ordering strips one at a time. Other cartoonists might let that kind of uncertainty affect their narrative, but Cruse happily busied himself with lovable red-headed Wendel and fleshing out his world first with supportive friends, first with supportive parents, best friend Deb, and boyfriend Ollie, who — surprise! — had a young son named Farley (AKA Branman when he was in his superhero disguise), Farley’s mom Carol whose off panel high maintenance presence threw barbs, and Ollie’s oddly named friend Sterno whoinadvertently changed Wendel and Ollie’s relationship. What makes them feel alive and memorable is that Wendel, Ollie, Deb, Tina and the rest of the ensemble cast members were just everyday people trying their best to live life while dealing with everyday problems. You might have a friend like one of them or you might be facing a similar problem (ever have a friend overstay their welcome or lose a job?), and if neither were true for you, you could appreciate the humor and hijinx (either wacky or romantic/ sexual or both) that Cruse infused in their lives.They were human and that was their charm and appeal. The significance of this may seem lost today but take into account that at the time conservatives labeled us sexual perverts much louder than today and with dire consequences (legislation and funds for AIDS was stingy) while simultaneously there was the widespread mystique of sexual freedom and reveling in being a sexual outlaw, sodomy being illegal in many states, let alone the reality of same sex marriage.

Looking back, Wendel seems to be a natural progression for Cruse on another front. A few years before Cruse began to inject social and political commentary in his work, notably the underground Headrack comix. Nor was he the lone wolf in the underground comix world, but that’s another discussion. The Advocate presented a special opportunity though. A bi-weekly publication afforded the chance to incorporate real world events and topics when inspiration struck, lending the aura that Wendel’s world existed in real time. This was a dramatic uptick in exposure from the underground comix world with infrequent publication and often problematic distribution. That was the price of thumbing a collective nose at the Comics Code Authority and artistic integrity. Nationwide distribution was a dream come true. Lest I forget, rest assured that there isn’t any heavy handed preaching in these topical instances. It just isn’t Cruse’s nature to be dogmatic.

There is one point that could potentially be misinterpreted by some readers. Cruse occasionally put the word fag or faggot into the mouths of his characters as a non-derogatory descriptor. Back then the words were re-appropriated and used by some gays to defuse the negative connotations in the same fashion as some African Americans’ use the N word. Take this as evidence that attitudes are neither universal or unchanging.

Readers may know about a previous collection, Wendel All Together, published a decade ago by Olmsted Press. Both are printed in oversized format and contain the full run, however, Universe’s edition is an extra 16 pages. Olmsted went out of business though copies of its volume occasionally surface on the secondary market. Now there’s no need to search and wait for it, unless you’re an avid collector of all things Cruse.

Time and time again while sitting with this book I was reminded of why Cruse belongs to the class of storyteller. Comparisons can be inaccurate or find disfavor with the reviewed, but it occurred to me that Wendel (and Stuck Rubber Baby) would appeal to readers of Armisted Maupin’s Tales of the City books.

Universe Publishing is an imprint of Italian publishing house and bookseller Rizzoli, whose former Chicago  store I had a mad love for in my Windy City days. The imprint has published other books of gay interest such as David Leddick’s Male Nude Now and Paul Cadmus The Male Nude by Justin Spring, which have sat proudly in my bookshelves for a few years.

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How To Succeed In Love

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

Imagine a nuclear war has caused world wide devastation. A few pockets of humanity survive and those who have are spread in tiny pockets and forced to adapt to a new way of life that is both simpler and harder. This is the premise of the Atomic Knights. As a kid it was one of my favorite comic strips mainly because of what my childhood selftook as a more scientific nature and it seemed different enough from superhero comics. The feature appeared irregularly in Strange Adventures in the early 1960s and was later reprinted in the same book along with Adam Strange stories after my interest in comics began. During my many trips as a kid to look for back issues to Boss Drugs and old lady Stuan’s second hand and sewing shop I scored a few originals for the ridiculous price of a nickel.

Recently I re-read a few of those stories. They just weren’t the same. Well, they are. The stories still have a certain charm, but it’s very obvious now that they were a product of their time, especially when showing the relationship between Douglas, the  defacto leader, and token female Marene, who became an Atomic Knight only because no one else could fit into a small suit of armor. Yes, they wore real suits of armor. Don’t ask me to explain! At first Marene wistfully hopes to date confident alpha male Douglas, but he’s too focused on saving the few residents of Durvale and hanging out with the other Knights in their he man’s club. As the series progressed so did their relationship, hormones and behavior in check according to contemporary morals, thank you very much. Case in point: it’s the end of civilization as you know it, food is scarce, and technology is largely non-existent. And amazingly, in this post-apolyptic world you’re in love, yet there’s something essential missing from a fulfilling romantic relationship.

Yes, you need a car so you can take the little woman to lover’s lane and chastely make out. A vehicle is what every man needs to guarantee love and sex after the world has gone straight to hell.

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Every part Of You Is Familiar To Me

Friday, April 8th, 2011

Kris Dresen
108 pages
$12

Kris Dresen’s “Every Part of You Is Familiar to Me” is a collection of work in which the artist accomplishes a difficult feat: to reveal the joys and magic of everyday encounters and a rich interior monologue. Whether in single paged or short sequences, Dresen celebrates the beauty of the human body, women’s bodies for certain, and the subtleties of the human condition. There is a familiarity about the situations chosen here. You have been here. In my own way I have been here on an occasion or two. As has Dresen as every inner thought of these women seem at once laid open and intimate. What elevates this book is Dresen’s keen sense of observation with which she employs to evoke states of grace, desire, and sensuality with allusions to the ineffable. Dialog and narrative text are banished as they would only detract from the experience. This emphasis on the image creates the mood of being a witness, a voyeur if you like, without the unsavory component, rather than simply being a reader.

This image is one page from what may be my favorite section, Travail de Nuit.

Dresen’s art style is all about the line and a love of making marks with pen and ink or pencil. Dresen surely enjoyed every moment exploring the gentle, curving lines that give her women life, how the upturn of a mouth teases the hand to touch the hip and breast. There’s a desire for drawing decorative patterns and playful textures, especially with hair, either luxurious spills of curls or short spikes, downswept curves, or wavy masses that have rhythmic beat of their own. And her trees which must be both fascination and signature.

To heap on more words in reviewing this book is a disservice I think. A bit like trying to explain “sky” and only having a blue crayon. It was a serendipitous find at Prism’s table at C2E2 this past March, and very much a pleasure to take part in later that night. My only regret was not having a glass of wine at hand. Find yourself a good bottle or something else enjoyable to relax with and sit back with this book.

Every part Of You Is Familiar To Me and several others are available for ordering. Please visit Kris Dresen’s shop, where as of this posting the book may be purchased for $9.97 plus shipping.

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