A
look
at
six
newly
released
books
-and
one
album
me onaaow v or z. >o. 3
Denny O'Neil
Illustrated by Michael Hm. Kahita and Bemi Wrightson
National Periodical Publications. Inc.
Copyright 1974
"Only out of boredom might we perish And from boredom. fo»
tunately, the comics keep distance -Federico Fellini
Anyone who signs their work with the name. Michael Wm. Kaluta
has a lotta nerve and better have talent to back it up Kaluta does
Assisted by his old compatriot. Bemi Wnghtson of Swamp Thing
fame with whom he put out the new rare issues of Web of Horror, a
beautifully drawn and edited black and white, horror—type, ctxnic
magazine back in the I960 s'. the young artists manage to outdo any of
their previous individual works
Wnghtson s inking tends to "round out" and three-dimensionalize
Kaluta s oft-times scratchy sketchiness which mars the second issue
of The Shadow. wherein Kaluta has all the artist chores
O Ned s writing of the adventures of the most popular 1930s pulp
hero of them all exaggerates the feelings of an overzealous crime
hater
"Quiet and cold midnight lays upon the city like an inky cloak!
Most good people are tucked in their beds However. the bad are about
their deeds asin this suburban bank ."
Going along with the above narration are two illustrated panels: the
first. 1930's scene with old electric street lamps, trolley-car wires, an
old car. and a bank with a tiny sign. ABC-DELE GOLDFISH; the
second, a supposed inside view of the bank, complete with its three
shady men one who looks like the thug Kaluta did six months ago in
Bom Losers page four Hoase of Secrets no. 9*. Now, when art in a
comic does not just repeat what is bemg said m the particular panel,
but gives the reader a tremendous wealth of other information, most
times vital to the story it becomes more than "just another comic "
The artwork for The Shadow ao. 3 is truly amanng A large variety
of differently angled shots for example page four . las two panels.
the first, a view of a cab from high above, and the next, a shot looking
up a: the Shadow who is at the top of the stairs makes the reader into
an omnipresent viewer who sees behind, m front, above, below, inside
and outside according to the artists whims
Kaluta is the comic artist for America s 1930's mood He proved that
with his earlier works Here s a rumor-Mike Kaluta was giver The
Shadow if be would take on the non-promising Spawn of Frankenstein
w-hich had two strikes against it For one. the strip w as to be regulated
to second billing behind The Phantom Sraager m whose comic
Spawn was to appear .And second Kahita had to face the other line s
competition. Mike Pioog. an excellent artist who was domg Marvel's
Frankensteia This earlier Kaluta art carries the tightness and 1930's
look with women in long-sleeved, shaky dresses, old mansions-an
art nouveau look Phantom Stranger m 33. first panel of the Spawn
story, shows an elegant woman's profile as she leans on die
gravestone of her deceased husband amidst Sowers and green grass
As an oracie acquaintance once said, Tbe future is bemg swallowed
by the :93P> and '.940's ' Kahita is helping it along
I, vim
Bonds
month!*
corner
Owr Crisis
I>esling with the energy cnss
Is goiag to pu: all of us ander a strain
Even the Great White Father m la^mgtoB D C
Has beer forced to fh mg n a enrOiar-type plane
Wrier, yen drive true your favorite gas statwc
One you re dealt with for years m the past
Car you imagmr the attendant's cresterratwc
Wren he has to tefl you tie has joat pumped ms very -»c
'lAher the breath from your furnace oecomes icy.
Causing you to shiver and shake like a ieaf.
And the calendar sternly te&s you there U be
Oie more wee* before you can get any relief.
Tbe coid of winter vil become a hot subject
Gladly would you welcome back August s hoc
Tbe gasoiine tn your lmaou&ne tank has dradsi—
How many more mJes can it las:
We re tesng forced into accepting a rcae
In the tragedy that has taken ewer our ait
Its director the weB-knows Profit *->r L*-iss
Its ccH±rectcr the eqnfiy ifc-ow: Supply are Demand
What find fi a perh.irmaace wtl we grve*
How we& wiS we pay ear par.*
* -i *e ce any wiser when the pay is over
Than we were at its very star*
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Of course, let’s give Wrightson some credit. iBemi Wright
son: iTake a look at page five, panel five. The Shadow talking with
Margo is a real Fraaetta “hit” wouldn’t you say? How about page 14,
Margo gagged as a lighted cigar approaches her face. t Wrightson
again this time, using Alfredo Alcala’s trick of black, heavy lines to
intensify the horror)? Pretty nice!
For another example of the variety of “shots”, see page 11: first
panel, inside jail from above; second panel floor level; third panel, a
face close up; fourth, far off, floor level shot at a 45-degree angle;
Fifth, outside shot of the prison with cemetery crosses in the
foreground dialogue “Cobra slaughtered everyone except Earl and
myself”).
Sure, any comic artist can change the scene drastically from panel
to panel, but can they maintain continuity of the story? Barry Smith
does, in Hawk from the Sea” Conan no. 19, pages 11 and 12, by having
a seagull fly from panel to panel as Conan, broods and ponders Kaluta
and Wrightson do. too. They use the motif of shadowed jail bars
throughout the whole comic (a la Will Eisner’s Spirit) repeating it
with window frames, stripped reflections as Margo’s glasses, wire
fences, trolly lines, skylights, floor tiles, and climaxing in a building
whose jagged rubble reminds the reader once again of jail bars.
Because art makes the comic. Shadow no. 3 is the comic of the year
Savage Tales no 2 and no. 3 are comic magazines!).
Greg T. Weed
"Economics and the Public Purpose"
John Kenneth Galbraith
Houghton Mifflin Company
Copyright 1S73
For anyone interested is a possible explanation of why things go so
bad m the economic sector, this is the book to read. Galbraith’s
Economics is a precise and detailed itemizing of not only the ills of a
system, but directions for reform
Some people, of course, have no time for John Kenneth Galbraith In
fact, just the other night someone told me Galbraith was “all crap.”
And this is the important point to Galbraith: it isn’t so much the
detailed positions one by one as it is the over-all acceptance of what he
is saying For some, the .American (and Western) economic system
does not do what an economic system should—provide the most of
what most people want, such as hospitals, mass transit and
reasonable, decent bousing
But obviously many people feel the reverse is true: that the system
does provide wfcat people want Oh sure, there’s maybe too many
deodorants and not enough housing, but it’s what people want. Not by
coincidence. many of these same people have enough money to pay the
rugh costs of basic needs like housing and health care
Galbraith ir.ashamedly takes the side of the poor and middle in
camed He even defends the position of small and medium size
business in the United States TTie big business world of planning and
technocratic structure threatens, according to Galbraith, the very
lifeblood of the smaller market system Responding not to the con
sumer as described hi classical theory but to its own inner needs and
requirements, the gigantic planning corporations and conglomerates
have the power to fix prices and fees both for the individual consumer
and the retail outlet As a consequence, we are stuck with in needed
products, ranging from elaborate and quickly obsolescent missile
systems to total satu-atioo in such trivial areas as deodorants and
cosmetics
Mach more is 'outlined by Galbraith, many complaints also detailed
m his earlier books New Industrial State and The Affluent Society.
What then to do* Galbraith puts forth suggested areas of reform in
the final one-third of Economics Perhaps the most important
ingredient for reform is what Galbraith terms "the emancipation of
oebef This means in his words. ‘“Rie belief to be contested is that
the ptrposes of the planning system are those of the individual Once
this grip is broken once the regular Joe in the street no longer believ es
that what is good for General Motors or Boeing is good for the nation
ar_d mmseif. then the public will be well down the road to meamr^fii.
ntrele reform All too often. Galbraith says, reform of the system
through anti-trust and regulation has back-fired But. warns
Galbraith , no regulation or anti-trust is equally damaging For on no
conetasnn is this book more clear Left to themselves. otw
forces do not work out for the best except for the powerful '1
Galbraith presents a full range of general and detailed recom
meodabons in the economic system, including areas involving public
p*Qtac> the environment. coordination, fiscal policy and controls
Although Galbraith is generally critical of the present sy stem and
eccotrusts erf cotrse and the N ixon Adnunistrat ion s policies be does
ofier praise for the concept of revenue sharing which he terms “a part
of reform While it can be expected that acceptors of the present faith
wsii totally and gleefully denounce Galbraith's book, they ’ll have a
hard time getting around his praise But then, they’ll have to look
pretty hard to find any
George Buddy
Mikrs a Vf» laipm»Ma
Vartfcf
\«h VOS **IZ
C«ftn.0< 1*T5
k aer rece-: j&e for her »en label i Atlantic). Joseph p«>%ed u
** * * fresta*t ®«* exempt next female voice* tn soul music
Kv^re -^apLa^ ^ber correctly desenbed her as a cross betvreen
^ ^ Fr»^* ***** K*»s In the Atlantic album she shooed
sae cahd ra-*&e a variety of styles from AJ Green's ‘Let's Slav
Tgedaer -a Dah Phruas Touch Your Woman *uh ease
Vpareedr Mti*g the attention Joseph has reared for the
K^moc *^=*r farmer abel ,Volt> bas re*n*d her first album
“ “"T*a£X^?® ***h'«Wmhtof thei «bum is her verswn
A Slap se he Vitae of Lore complete with an >troductorv Isaac
Ha?«-:ype mnahna Both the Volt and Atlanta albums ithe Atlantic
»e 3 jded siraph Margie Joseph ' are north a place on your shelf