Fifth Degree: Legion and Links
Life & Death of Ferro Lad
by Josh Crawley
For some reason the past few years, the winter season puts me in the mood to read Legion of Super-Heroes. While i don’t have a great number of Legion comics, my collection of them grows slowly every year. The past two years have been especially great for reprint collections, whether it’s the many Showcase Presents collections, An Eye for an Eye followed up by The More Things Change by Paul Levitz, Keith Giffen & Co., or the book I’m itching to get to soon, The Life & Death of Ferro Lad (as part of the DC Comics Classics Library hardcover line). If you’re interested in reading some L.o.S.H. yourself, 1,050 Years of the Future has a great sampling from many eras. (Normally I’d be torn about recommending Great Darkness Saga, due to the lack of a great introduction/set-up), but it’s out of print for some reason. My guess would be DC is waiting to make it an entry in the previously mentioned DC Comics Classics Library line, but at this point I wouldn’t hold my breath. After all, this is the company that has let Born to Run and Terminal Velocity (two AMAZING Wally West Flash stories by Mark Waid & Co.) go out of print.
And on that tangent, time for some quick link-blogging, and then I’m out of here. Too many holiday gifts to get finished (and too much Phantom Hourglass to play).
‡ I don’t have much by Mark Schultz. Most, if not all, of what I have are comics he’s written. I have become a great fan of his art (even if some people just consider him a “poor man’s version” of Al Williamson). I’ve really enjoyed looking at the Various Drawings books Flesk Publications has put out, but I’ve never bought any of them. I think I’ve found the first one. Blue Book will not be available through book or comic stores, so be sure you follow the link for details. It sounds like a high quality version of an ashcan you’d buy at a convention, but I really don’t mind; 8.5 by 5.5 inches is nice size for preliminary artwork.
‡ Last week you may remember me mentioning X Necrosha: The Gathering, which had some coloring by my friend Chad Fidler. Well, he recently posted some of the colored, non-lettered pages in his deviantART gallery. He also posted pages from Witchblade #88 (written by Ron Marz and collected in Witchblade Volume 2: Awakenings) that he worked on, in addition to more Top Cow work and Athena Voltaire pages!
Parker the Hunter
‡ It seems a little early for End of/Best of the Year lists, but they’re out there. Looking at the Barnes and Noble list (by Douglas Wolk), I made an interesting observation: I haven’t read any of them. Not in full, anyways (Final Crisis). I do want to read Luba, and the others all sound interesting. And the Honorable Mentions I haven’t even partially read, but I definitely want to read Darwyn Cooke’s Parker The Hunter adaptation and Scott Pilgrim Volume 5. I’m thinking of working on my own list, but I usually end up forgetting stuff. Plus, I like to actually wait until after the end of the year. I’ll probably just end up doing my own list after I read a bunch of others to remind myself what came out this year.
‡ Ever wondered how comics went primarily from newsstands to comics book stores? Jim McLauchlin of Hero Initiative posted a nice essay on Phil Seuling, the answer to your question.
Gossip Girl
‡ While I don’t always agree with her, Johanna Draper Carlson’s comments on the Gossip Girl manga preview were pretty much spot on. And no, I will not admit to knowing anything else about Gossip Girl.
Feel free to contact me with creators you’d like to see spotlighted, comics for review, comments, concerns, corrections, questions, or even just your favorite beer. Be sure it says ATTN: JOSH if it’s sent post, otherwise we may have issues. If you just want more of me running my mouth, check Twitter.com/joshcrawley.
josh@westfieldcomics.com
Westfield Comics
ATTN: JOSH
7475 Mineral Point Rd STE 22
Madison WI 53717
______________________
Josh Crawley is the tenured Master of Disaster for Westfield Comics, not to be confused with Josh Crawley, the keyboardist for Everclear.
Purchase
Legion of Super-Heroes: The Life & Death of Ferro Lad
Legion of Super-Heroes: The More Things Change
Mark Schultz: Various Drawings Vol. 3
Richard Stark’s Parker the Hunter HC
Scott Pilgrim Vol. 5: Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe