Marvel Holiday Special 1991/1992/1993/1994/1996, The Howard the Duck! Holiday Special (1997) # 1

(I originally read these comics in late December 2016)

I'm surprised it took so long for Marvel to start putting out an annual 'holiday' special. Up till then, their Christmas stories had been but sporadic offerings in their regular mags, with three 'Holiday Grab-Bag' Treasury Editions in the '70s, though those were mostly reprint. There are informative text pieces detailing the history of these offerings in the first two specials.

The 1991 special features Yuletide tales with the X-Men, Fantastic Four, the Punisher, Thor, Captain America, Ghost Rider, Captain Ultra (?) and Spider-Man. Walt Simonson's Fantastic Four tale is the best, with Franklin Richards encountering a certain chain-rattling, Dickensian spectre, and it has the benefit of Art Adams art... adams.

After Art Adams' cover, Michael Golden's vividly-coloured art is the highlight of the 1992 special. That's allied to a wordless Larry Hama 'story' (and I use the word in its loosest sense) that would seem to want to say something about the equal vividness of children's imagination, but really says nothing. There's a comedic Doc Samson tale from Peter David in which he tries to tell the story of Hannukkah to a classroom of kids but has to think on his feet to retain their interest. The New Warriors, Punisher, Thanos, Iron Man and Spidey stories just fill up pages, but Ann Nocenti's Daredevil story at least tries something different as it's narrated by a toy lamb just purchased by Matt Murdock as a gift. I'd say it's better than it sounds, but it ain't.

The Christmas 1993 issue (labelled '1994') has Nocenti and Tom Grindberg reunite for a Ghost Rider tale which seems to suggest inducing a heart attack in your elderly mother is justifiable if she's an unremitting nag. (I might try it.) There are more lousy tales with Spidey and Captain Ultra (seriously, who the fuck is this guy?), but the Nick Fury and Hulk stories are worth reading. Ultimately, art overshadows story in Howard Chaykin's stylish effort, and the Hulk confronting a would-be suicide with some tough love is better read within the context of Peter David's contemporaneous run (here, for example).

The actual 1994 special leads with an X-Men story by Kurt Busiek and James Fry, a combination that might have worked on Elvira (see here) but which seems ill-suited this time. That said, it's marginally the best story of a weak selection featuring Captain America, the Thing, the Silver Surfer and the X-Men (again) in an illustrated take on 'The Night Before Christmas'. The Thing story just reads oddly now, a decade or more after Ben Grimm was established as a Jew, as he tries to educate a cynical, little Jewish girl as to the true meaning of Christmas.

After a year's hiatus, the 1996 special kicks off with a fairly amusing tale by Mark Waid and Pat Olliffe where Spider-Man and J. Jonah Jameson are forced to spend Christmas evening together. Back-ups include stories with the Silver Surfer, the Rawhide Kid and the X-Men, but it's the Kitty Pryde tale, mawkish though it is, that gets the runner-up prize.

  

The Howard the Duck Holiday Special by Larry Hama and Pasqual Ferry is pretty... fowl. In it, Howard, his human lady Beverly and an army of department store Santas are rounded up into a makeshift army to foil a hostile takeover of Santa's workshop by HYDRA. Ferry's "art" is typical, eye-searing '90s crap and Hama's script is supposed to be funny - I think. 

Stories from the Marvel Holiday Special 1992 are collected in:

Softcover:

Incredible Hulk Epic Collection: Ghost of the Past (US)

Incredible Hulk Epic Collection: Ghost of the Past (UK)

The Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos (US, First Edition)

The Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos (UK, First Edition)

(No current Amazon links)

The Infinity War Aftermath (US)

The Infinity War Aftermath (UK)

The Hulk story from the Marvel Holiday Special 1993 is collected in:

Softcover:

Incredible Hulk Epic Collection: Future Imperfect (US)

Incredible Hulk Epic Collection: Future Imperfect (UK)

The Munsters (1997) # 1-4, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988) # 1, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1993) # 1-8

(I originally read these comics in mid/late December 2016)

1997 seems late in the day to attempt a revival of the 1960s spooky sitcom family, but that's what TV Comics! attempted with this four-issue series. And against the odds, it works. All stories are by C.J. Henderson with a total roster of four different pencilers. George Broderick's broad yet accomplished cartooning in issue 1, which somewhat resembles that of Neil Vokes, is my favourite. However, the art style takes a downturn for the "more realistic" in issue 3, seemingly prompted by the reaction of one nobody on the letters page. 

   

The stories are much what you'd expect, but with more action. A would-be vampire slayer arrives from "the Old Country" in issue 1 to complete his long-held objective. (In this story, it's clearly implied Grandpa is the Dracula. Was this the case in the show?) In issue # 2, the Munsters take a trip to New York and their 'ugly' niece Marilyn (the joke being, of course, that she is actually gorgeous by normal, human standards, ho ho) gets a goth makeover. Issue 3 features a multi-chapter tale with Herman and Eddie attending the latter's school father/son day and Lily going to unusual lengths to prepare dinner for Herman's boss. The fourth and final issue has the Munsters bumbling into an FBI sting at a funfair where they're mistaken for the members of a criminal gang. All issues are padded out with cast photos and interviews and a prose story in issue 1, though I skipped that.

An oddity, worth seeking out for fans.

Still in the mood for spooky silliiness, I read this adaptation of 'Elvira, Mistress of the Dark', a comedy for which I've had a soft spot since renting it on VHS back in about 1989 (though, discovering Elvira's gown-busting norks at the age of thirteen, it was less a "soft spot," more a...). 

I guess the film was considered pretty risque at the time as Sid Jacobson removes the naughtier jokes and the remaining few, such as my fave, "Here's to my big opening!", seem entirely innocuous without Elvira/Cassandra Peterson's nod and wink. Ernie Colon and Romeo Tanghal provide the art but Tanghal seems to me to have overpowered Colon's pencils, which is a shame.

For those not familiar with the movie, TV horror host and frustrated Las Vegas showgirl Elvira, a beehived valley girl with attitude and a goth fashion sense, inherits a house, recipe book and pet poodle from her deceased Aunt Morgana. However, the 'recipe book' is actually her aunt's spell book and Elvira's uncle, an evil warlock, will stop at nothing to gain its power. Horrified at first by Elvira's looks and perceived 'loose ways', the puritanical citizens of sleepy Falwell, Massachusetts are eventually won over when Elvira saves the day, but only after trying to burn her at the stake. The film takes its cues from the then-ongoing battle between the US religious Right and heavy metal culture and provides much more sexy and irreverent fun than the comic.

   

   

Elvira's ongoing comic, starting in 1993, is a mixed bag eight issues in. Editor Richard Howell enlists the talents of Paul Dini, Kurt Busiek, Jo Duffy and others to write, with James Fry, Neil Vokes, Jim Mooney and Dave Cockrum among the contributing artists. However, it's Dan Spiegle illustrating Duffy's back-up story in issues 1-6 which is the real eye candy, both in terms of his lush black and white art and his rendition of our heroine, which is definitely the sexiest thus far. A recurring theme is the clashes between Elvira and her station manager at K-WHA, Rosalind Wyck, but there's room for other matters as Elvira helps a teenage werewolf with relationship troubles and attends a class reunion (an idea supposedly contributed by Cassandra Peterson, herself). Paul Dini's stories in issues 1 and 8 were the most amusing to me, but really nothing seems to reach the comedic standard the creators are striving for. Howell's own back-up tale in issue 8 provides a nice, obscure Easter egg for comics fans, though, in that it's an unofficial sequel to Stan Lee's and Steve Ditko's 'Goodbye to Linda Brown', from the pages of Strange Tales # 97, which foreshadows both Spider-Man and the X-Men.

I'll return to this title as I find humour comics are best read in small doses.

As extras, here are Joe Jusko's unadorned front cover art and back cover for Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988) # 1

 

Stories from Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1993) # 1-8 are collected in:

Softcover:

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (US)

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (UK)

'Breed (1994) # 1-6, 'Breed II (1994) # 1-6, 'Breed III (2011)

(I originally read these comics in early December 2016)

It's 1949 and the army is deployed to investigate strange goings-on in the town of Bucksnort, Texas. Upon reaching the town, Captain Alex Stoner and co. discover a scene of carnage with human remains assembled into a shrine and alien symbols painted on the walls in blood, with just one pregnant survivor. Twenty years later, army photographer and Capt. Stoner's adopted son Ray's true heritage rears its hulking, horned head when he's ambushed in the steaming jungle of Laos. It's only after the war, however, when he stumbles upon a hidden city that he discovers the truth; that he's 'Breed', a human/demon hybrid, and, furthermore, he's the one who it's foretold will destroy all demonkind, making him a constant target of assassins. 

Jim Starlin crafts an interesting mythology here, one that only continues to expand throughout the three series. His art has a rough-hewn, Severin-like quality but is undermined with naff Photoshop effects. The speech balloons and captions are also rife with typos. 

  

  

The second series finds Stoner leaving a Nepalese temple and immediately coming under attack by 'brethren'. Dispatching them easily, he disappears to fight in a series of South American wars as a mercenary and to hone his skills as the story moves on into the '80s. However, it's not long till the brethren catch up with him and he must choose on whose side to fight. This chapter concludes with an exciting confrontation among the spires and citadels of the hidden city, Elsewhere. This is the weakest of the three series, with Starlin's art looking rushed. The Photoshop effects dominate and make the pages look sparse. They must have been cutting edge back in the mid-'90s, but have dated badly.

  

  

   

  

The third and final series, produced by Starlin after a sixteen year break, really kicks things up a notch. This is a much denser read, as though he had a lot of story left to tell in only a set seven issues. Unfortunately, much exposition comes in the way of an extended flashback in the first half of the book that does rob the story of some immediacy. Stoner, in his demon form, comes to the rescue of a woman whose face he's been seeing for years in the still waters of Elsewhere, and her dying, ten year-old son. Just how they figure into what's going on is teased and hinted at until late in the series when Stoner and other guest-starring Starlin creations such as Vanth Dreadstar, Oedi and Kid Kosmos must face a final battle. Things get trippy here with Stoner fighting on a psychic plane of mind-bending, Ditko-esque weirdness, and Starlin renders it all beautifully with no short cuts taken. His art is more refined and detailed here than previously, with less in the way of garish Photoshop effects, though they're still present. 

I found the 'Breed saga in its entirety to be pretty satisfying stuff.

'Breed (1994) # 1-6 are collected in:

Softcover:

'Breed Vol. 1: The Book of Genesis (US)

'Breed Vol. 1: The Book of Genesis (UK)

'Breed II (1994) # 1-6 are collected in:

Softcover:

'Breed II: The Book of Ecclesiastes (US)

'Breed II: The Book of Ecclesiastes (UK)

'Breed III (2011) # 1-7 are collected in:

Softcover:

'Breed III: The Book of Revelations (US)

'Breed III: The Book of Revelations (UK)

The Curse of Dracula (1998) # 1-3, Blade (1998) # 1-3, Journey Into Mystery (1952) # 520/521, Blade (1998), Blade: Sins of the Father (1998), Spider-Man Unlimited (1993) # 20, Marvel Team-Up (1997) # 7, Morbius in Dark Corners (1998) # 1

(I originally read these comics in mid November 2016)

'The Curse of Dracula' doesn't come close to recapturing the magic of Marv Wolfman's and Gene Colan's previous Dracula collaboration (and shame on you if you don't know what that is), but is worth reading. As before, Wolfman assembles a band of disparate individuals, all damaged in their own ways, to pursue the vampire count. This Dracula is younger and sexier than the Marvel incarnation and has his eyes on political power as he exerts violent influence over a senator's campaign for presidential office. The story is gorier, Wolfman is less wordy than he was and Colan is looser (and dare I say, sloppier), his art reproduced directly from his pencils. I'll admit to being less of a fan of 'Gene the Dean' than I used to be; his 'scatter the panels on the page and see how they land' approach to layout isn't always to the benefit of story clarity.

Jim Shooter was right.

ANYWAY.

  

At approximately the same time over at Marvel, vampires were having something of a renaissance. Besides Morbius returning in the pages of Peter Parker, Spider-Man (see here), Marv Wolfman, Christopher Golden and Don McGregor were creating a temporary nexus for the company's Undead. Gene Colan's back for the 1998 Blade one-shot, subtitled 'Crescent City Blues', which sees the vampire hunter decamp to New Orleans on the trail of Deacon Frost, who is muscling in on that city's organised crime. Writer Golden clearly knows his Marvel horror history and Blade's fellow 'Tomb of Dracula' survivor Hannibal King and Brother Voodoo also appear in a wordy adventure that was nevertheless Colan's last association with all three of his co-creations. This leads straight into Spider-Man Unlimited # 20, also by Golden, which follows vampire PI King as he teams up with the webslinger to track Simon Garth, the Zombie, who's in the thrall of Lilith, Dracula's errant daughter.

   

  

Marv Wolfman, meanwhile, contributes Marvel Team-Up # 7 and another excursion into the world of vampires for Spidey as he teams with Blade to foil a plot that allows them to walk in sunlight. Then picking up the reins from Golden, he continues the adventures of Hannibal King in two issues of 'Journey Into Mystery', at this brief time an anthology title. King takes on a case that turns out to be more than it seems as he teams with a glamorous CIA agent to thwart an attempt to swell the Undead's numbers via the triggering of chemical weapons. The story's average and Karl Kerschl's art unattractive, but it does provide character development for King as he's tested beyond his limits.

The second Blade one shot published in '98 is by Marc Andreyko and Bart Sears and is a prequel to that year's movie, though you wouldn't know it till the last page and it's easy enough to imagine it takes place within the main Marvel U. The story's fast-moving and action-packed as Blade is hired by the daughter of a vampire mob boss to take down his operation and neutralise a gang war. Bart Sears' art is stylish and Blade looks cooler than he ever has previously. 

  

Don McGregor's Blade series under Marvel's short-lived 'Strange Tales' banner is a frustrating beast. Preluded in the 'Dark Corners' twelve-page Morbius strip, it sees Blade unwittingly become embroiled in an elaborate plot towards his own destruction that takes in Morbius' wife's family and inevitably brings the two into conflict. Disappointingly, and I'd forgotten this, the series was cancelled with the third issue and the plot never resolved. That's unfortunate, as though Brian Hagan's art is bland, McGregor had something going on. Blade and Morbius next crossed paths in Peter Parker Spider-Man (1999) # 8 and their encounter here was never alluded to.

As an extra, here's Bart Sears' back cover art for the 'Blade: Sins of the Father' one-shot.

The Curse of Dracula (1998) # 1-3 are collected in:

Hardcover:

The Curse of Dracula (US)

The Curse of Dracula (UK)

Softcover:

The Curse of Dracula (US)

The Curse of Dracula (UK)

Blade (1998) # 1 is collected in:

Softcover:

Blade the Vampire Slayer: Black & White (US)

Blade the Vampire Slayer: Black & White (UK)