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* The pooeriag peel «f Fetter Street *- 5 r ^gnec . "ir ■*» , ^*ar«f**'«r' *f ■**« e-r-ttr"* $ec~*w$ ’TifftWT»»jrr « ar —« -r-5" ir *#c+ ’^•r^ **« » #*: «&« *tp« <**»-* y neoe^ • pun »aa»i #*< #Gun-i **»>■ ”««• **•* ** irt -ac* ( • mr- “if- *■ *^s»* ^ “■ ^i~!K'-’*ec '* •f ^ ’•ar ■*** s^.egwf’^f*'"~ cmntef - *» ■ £-#<& <- «»".#>•>*»*>-• *r *ar Zrmpy z*- , £ '■*■'■*<£ Jf ±. *r^ ,#Ti*^-s»* ,T Vt^ut t .>«■*«»'■ *'-«-• • mrs e«r^5s« » *«* <■>« ir-t n» ac r ;* i . tw« w ■"» «J* ••*■“5. "» IT >?jW 1»»T|3VS. *i« r 8 *>s*-a»Hi* srawf-jn*-'. e am »*« #o*wt «-wrts swiM'a *>w Cr-esar a»i* f-v« s a.n> &*m ounu ■ Tn-SMjff arm •»* new eicscr airnm «l*it «*» s «nc .*-»rtm aeries w •» mrmtr amt wrn% tr ws. 9ar*«* a «r E*.«9e-«. Cr«^ar S4lKr«r« '*n« *<-» ?: -. ows * -*h»ers'H xr Trvpar sruieewr jr«r snvff sojs^ icrisnar tnm tr» ^ser ar ir-r*x.* i-ar-rera y***' £—*■'*»« *r»c t* t^sx ^ « Sru*aew« rr ite m m i rf jr 'r-^ptfr «nr -?•* E-*r«r’*4r *r*« **• -*■• ir Zrn%tm &z ~ insr-tr-m '«r* rr -meat a*osc^ijr«aws a C s*r .•*#< J Soec** SiflKra^ee -nr gorana mr .^aer it ~*^*5nr* i in *•«. *o* If i •« jr S."£ s*^ ••er M 3*r c .-er ms u ar ir^ ■^1* s*iac>*"*~**t- «*-4- r>ar^O*r«r se»*r*f* • E^*r*«r ft Zr+par mc» «*e «euiw srnre. a b>n>r IT -Wvs aaaaemaea* a C*-» £ms :r*par Sw*r»«t E*«y a ’’ar-* wti% ■’sr *rr»« seeder 5 .arr Jkr«*r—^it»5 ji 'Tr» Zr~*%*m Zm>', E-*uer»c a * i^mgs »*r*.p^ -*sr -n* Zr^pjr 3*1* E^«r»« a a* •■■*■*« «rr> «e*c- * *m« •**o»fT* «nc _»* x* r.r*c-*a *n -w* E'worM. JT *.««* -*i 'jnmmntm «r ~~T»r C-* 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