If you go waaaay back through my 'Reprint This!' archives, you'll note that this was one of the very first titles I asked to be collected. A very, very fine gentleman from Kansas City was kind enough to send me this book as part of a spectacular care package (Thanks Mickey!). I dove right in, as I had sold my original copies a while back and had missed Mr. Lash a great deal. The good news is that the stories are as entertaining as ever, and artwork holds up very well in black and white, especially the early Cardy stuff and the Dan Spiegle drawn stories. I am delighted that they chose to include some stories from the 70s and early 80s, but I feel as though DC really missed an opportunity to for a perfect grade by omitting the two-part story arc with Scalphunter from Weird Western Tales (#45 and #46, to be specific). Still, this volume is a bargain to behold as you will have a difficult time finding a book with a higher 'Fun per Page' ratio. A true classic. Trade Mark: A-
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Trade Marks: Showcase Presents Bat Lash
If you go waaaay back through my 'Reprint This!' archives, you'll note that this was one of the very first titles I asked to be collected. A very, very fine gentleman from Kansas City was kind enough to send me this book as part of a spectacular care package (Thanks Mickey!). I dove right in, as I had sold my original copies a while back and had missed Mr. Lash a great deal. The good news is that the stories are as entertaining as ever, and artwork holds up very well in black and white, especially the early Cardy stuff and the Dan Spiegle drawn stories. I am delighted that they chose to include some stories from the 70s and early 80s, but I feel as though DC really missed an opportunity to for a perfect grade by omitting the two-part story arc with Scalphunter from Weird Western Tales (#45 and #46, to be specific). Still, this volume is a bargain to behold as you will have a difficult time finding a book with a higher 'Fun per Page' ratio. A true classic. Trade Mark: A-
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4 comments:
I recall mentioning a few years ago (god, time flies!) on CBR that for years & years I'd consigned Cardy to the quasi-anonymous wing of later Silver/early Bronze Age artists like Dick Dillin & Irv Novick ... till I was re-introduced to his genuinely sumptuous work courtesy of the first Teen Titans volume of Showcase Presents. If I'd never encountered those, it'd be safe to say his art in the Bat Lash collection would've done the trick. Somehow, I think Cardy's lush pencils are particularly well-served by black & white.
Beyond that, it was nice to be able to reacquaint myself with the several issues of the comic I'd read as a kid when they were fresh off the spinner racks (about half the run, I think including the Showcase debut).
I've just been reading through Scalphunter, which is a lot of fun. It's really turned me around on Dick Ayers, who is in his element here and well-inked by others, which makes all the difference. Bat Lash's guest appearances, as written by Gerry Conway, are quite out-of-character though, far more ruthless and self-serving than he was in his own book, so I'm not sure they would have fit in. I'd love a "Scalphunter" Showcase though. (And more Jonah Hex, of course)
I got this one for Christmas and, as you say, a true classic. And I second Matt's motion for more Jonah Hex Showcase volumes!
That's on my short list of greatest comic book covers ever!
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