THE STEREOS: BATTLE OF THE BANDS and THE STEREOS: IN THE GARAGE

the stereos: battle of the bands
by Brandon Hanvey
$5, The Geekout

the stereos: in the garage
by Brandon Hanvey
$7, The Geekout

At MoCCA, I picked up two books by Brandon Hanvey. I knew Hanvey as moderator of the Comic Book Resources independent and small press forum and enjoyed the links he posted for his web comic The Little Things, so I made a point to pick up the stereos: battle of the bands and the stereos: in the garage. The books focus on a small garage band making their way in the local scene.

Just looking at both books, one can see the impact Hanvey's gig as a graphic designer had on the production quality. Both books have the look and feel of a 7" record dust jacket that (at least, when I was still in high school) local bands put together to showcase their music. Not only is the packaging attractive, but it meshes the content with the format. The album vibe is enforced through the "track listings" on the back that track the plot points.

The real selling point of the story is Hanvey's sincerity. While the band members fit stereotypical modes (the stereos are comprised of a geek, a goth, a slacker and a punk), they don't come across more as archetypes than caricatures. The band's name even plays off the image they present; "the stereos" is an abbreviation for stereotypes. While the characters roles are fairly stock, Hanvey isn't presenting them with a knowing wink or an ironic detachment--they're presented simply as what they are, which gives both books a certain charm. The little touches in both books, like the similar opening sequences, make the characters and the story accessible; there's no need for a recap or information page to bring the reader up to speed--these are ground-level comics.

Hanvey's art is crisp and refreshing. In the stereos: in the garage, his line is more confident, and the background details are better illustrated than in the earlier book. Reading them together, it's fun to watch Hanvey's growth as an illustrator. Hanvey's strength is in using facial expressions, body language and other non-verbal cues to show who the characters are, as the cover to the right demonstrates (click on the image to see the full-size version at Hanvey's site).

The weakest point in these books is the dialogue. While the characters come across through what they are saying, they don't have distinct voices--everything feels slightly wooden. Jonas's slacker tendencies come across through the rhythm of his dialogue better than the other characters' personality traits do, but if one were to take a random line from any of the four characters and print them out of context, it would be difficult to attribute the quote correctly (although the lyrics capture the characters better than the dialogue does, particularly with Rain, the goth character). Also, Hanvey relies a little heavily on conversation rather than dialogue. The flow of the conversations is authentic--perhaps a little too authentic--but it doesn't move the story forward. I hope this doesn't come across as too negative, because I really did enjoy both books. With a little work done on making the words and rhythm flow as well as the visuals do, Hanvey could easily be one of the few cartoonists making books that just about anyone could enjoy.

The stereos: battle of the bands and the stereos: in the garage don't resonate. They're not "deep" books setting out to make a statement or to "change the comics industry." They're cleanly illustrated, accessible and comfortably familiar. By playing with the stereotypes the characters represent, Hanvey's doing the same thing one imagines John Hughes intended to do with his '80s teen movies--providing something most people can look at and find something reflective of their adolescence.

On the basis of the two stereos books, I'm looking forward to Hanvey's as-yet-untitled romance comic (a sample page in stages can be viewed at Hanvey's blog); as he grows and matures as a cartoonist and as a writer, his design sense and sincerity could pay off well in that genre.

"Thus, By The Power of Transcendent Thought, I Must Strike!"*

I've seen several people comment that the FF movie suffers from not being able to translate Kirby's unique artistic vision to the screen. Yeah, there's that, but I think the FF movie could have also used more of Stan Lee's trademark bombastic dialogue. As it was, the movie's dialogue was little more than limp, watered-down, written-by-committee crap that felt as though it had been cribbed from other big-budget action movies. But just imagine if the filmmakers had gone for the gusto and peppered everyone's speech with full-on Stan Lee speak! I was reading through the fourth ESSENTIAL FANTASTIC FOUR volume recently and Lee's gift for so-over-the-top-it-seems-serious-again writing really leapt out at me. Even lines that weren't obvious examples of ComicBook-ese stood out for their unusual combination of common words. Consider:

"I was a man before I became a scientist!"

"Now, according to standard procedure, I must create a cone of impenetrability about myself."

"I must insist on silence during the period of accusation!"

"It's finished! We have a wristband to nowhere!"

"And now -- since we've achieved necessary shrinkage -- we're ready to take off!"

"Your menfolk are alive...in a place where you cannot reach them!"

"But, once I press this plunger...they are but seconds from total extermination! And since they have finally come into view...I PRESS IT NOW!"

"We're being helplessly flung thru space...like a team of powerless rag dolls!" "Rag dolls maybe..! But powerless...NEVER!!"

Now that's dialogue that will continue to echo in your mind long after you've left the theater!

And I'm not saying the movie should have been a slavish recreation of the Lee & Kirby comics, but something in the spirit of the two creators would have been better than what ended up on the screen.

---

I watched Constantine on DVD this weekend. I don't remember much of the few HELLBLAZER comics I've actually read, so faithfulness to source material wasn't as much as issue with this comic book adaptation. Despite an uneven performance from Keanu as Constantine, I actually liked the movie. I'm sure I'd hate the plot if I actually stopped to think about it, but I enjoyed the surface trappings of the film at least: The visuals and special effects were generally well-done, and the mysticism in the movie had a nice otherworldly feel to it. (No idea if it was based on any occult traditions or not, but it all seemed appropriately "odd" to me.)

But my favorite part of the movie came in the deleted scenes (POSSIBLE SPOILERS if you haven't watched the DVD yet): Man, that poor actress who repeated the same lines in like two or three different scenes, only to have all of those scenes cut from the final film. How much does that suck? "OK, now we'll try a scene where you say your lines while riding a Ferris wheel. Yeah, I know we cut the previous eleven attempts at your big scene, but I have a really good feeling that this setting is finally the right one."

---

* Yeah, I know, the full quote is actually: "Thus, by the power of transcendent thought, I must strike ---- from across the chasm of a billion light years!" but that was a little long for a post title.

The Great Manga Giveaway!

UPDATE 7/26: It's all gone! Most of it went very quickly the first day, but there were a couple books that didn't move until today. (In what can't bode well for DC, I learned that it's hard even to give away CMX manga.) I sent out one batch of books this morning and I'll try to get the rest out later this week. I hope everyone enjoys their manga!

Well, I'm not sure how great it is since I'm really just trying to unload a bunch of manga I don't want anymore, but there is a lot of it, so it's a great big manga giveaway at least. Here are the books up for grabs:

• AI YORI AOSHI 1
• ALIEN NINE 1-3
• BANANA FISH 1
• BERSERK 1-2
• BLUE SPRING 1
• BOMBER GIRL 1
• BOYS BE 1
• CANNON GOD EXAXXION 1-2
• CHOBITS 1
• CMX PREVIEW 2004
• CRAYON SHINCHAN 8
• CROMARTIE HIGH SCHOOL 1
• CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON 1-2
• CRYING FREEMAN PERFECT COLLECTION
• DRAGON BALL 1
• FIRST PRESIDENT OF JAPAN 1, 3-4
• FIST OF THE BLUE SKY 1, 3
• FROM EROICA WITH LOVE 1-2
• IRON WOK JAN 2
• ISLAND 1
• LAND OF THE BLINDFOLDED 1
• MADARA 1
• MAI THE PSYCHIC GIRL PERFECT COLLECTION 1
• ONEGAI TEACHER 1-2
• REVENGE OF MOUFLON 1
• RISING STARS OF MANGA 1-3
• SANCTUARY 1-4, 6

And some other comics that aren't manga but are manga-sized:

• THE BUNKER
• THE LIBERTY PROJECT
• LITTLE LULU - LULU GOES SHOPPING
• LOVE FIGHTS 1
• PULPATOON PILGRIMAGE
• ROAD TO PERDITION
• SCOTT PILGRIM 1

I'll even cover shipping in the US. Outside the US, you pay shipping. First come, first served. Just email me with the books you want and the address you want the books sent to. (And please be patient -- I will send you your books, but I'm not going to rush to do it either. Hey, what do you expect? They're free!)

UPDATE: Boy, you people sure like your free manga, don't you? I'll try to keep updating the list as I check my email so no one gets their hopes up for a manga that's already been snatched up.

Eisner Awards results against my predictions.

As promised, stacking my Eisner predictions against the actual winners. Winners in bold, my picks in italics. Again, my predictions were only how I thought the judges would vote, and not my own personal picks. I did just barely over 50%, which is better than I anticipated.

Best Short Story
“Eve O’ Twins,” by Craig Thompson, in Rosetta 2 (Alternative)
“Glenn Ganges: Jeepers Jacobs,” by Kevin Huizenga, in Kramer’s Ergot 5 (Gingko Press)
“God” (story on wrap-around dust jacket) by Chris Ware, in McSweeney’s Quarterly #13 (McSweeney’s)
“The Price,” by Neil Gaiman and Michael Zulli, in Creatures of the Night (Dark Horse Books)
“Unfamiliar,” by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson, in The Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft (Dark Horse Books)
“Where Monsters Dine,” by Troy Hickman, Angel Medina, and Jon Holdredge, in Common Grounds #5 (Top Cow/Image)

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)
Demo #7: “One Shot, Don’t Miss,” by Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan (AiT/Planet Lar)
Eightball #23: “The Death Ray,” by Dan Clowes (Fantagraphics)
Ex Machina #1: “The Pilot,” by Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris, and Tom Feister (WildStorm/DC)
Global Frequency #12: “Harpoon,” by Warren Ellis and Gene Ha (WildStorm/DC)
The Goon #6: “Ilagarto Hombre!,” by Eric Powell (Dark Horse)

Best Serialized Story
Astonishing X-Men #1-6: “Gifted,” by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday (Marvel)
Ex Machina #2-5: “State of Emergency,” by Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris, and Tom Feister (WildStorm/DC)
Fables #19-27: “March of the Wooden Soldiers,” by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, and Steve Leialoha (Vertigo/DC)
Planetary #19-20: “Mystery in Space/Rendezvous,” by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday (WildStorm/DC)
Y: The Last Man #18-20: “Safeword,” by Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, and José Marzan Jr. (Vertigo/DC)

Best Continuing Series
Astonishing X-Men, by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday (Marvel)
Ex Machina, by Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris, and Tom Fesiter (WildStorm/DC)
The Goon, by Eric Powell (Dark Horse)
Stray Bullets, by David Lapham (El Capitan)
Y: The Last Man, by Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, and José Marzan Jr. (Vertigo/DC)

Best Limited Series
DC: The New Frontier, by Darwyn Cooke (DC)
Demo, by Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan (AiT/Planet Lar)
30 Days of Night: Return to Barrow, by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith (IDW)
WE3, by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (Vertigo/DC)
Wanted, by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones (Top Cow/Image)

Best New Series
Astonishing X-Men, by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday (Marvel)
Doc Frankenstein, by the Wachowski Brothers and Steve Scroce (Burlyman)
Ex Machina, by Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris, and Tom Fesiter (WildStorm/DC)
The Shaolin Cowboy, by Geof Darrow (Burlyman)

Best Publication for a Younger Audience
Amelia Rules!, (Renaissance Press) and Amelia Rules! What Makes You Happy (iBooks) by Jimmy Gownley
Courtney Crumrin in the Twilight Kingdom, by Ted Naifeh (Oni)
Owly, by Andy Runton (Top Shelf)
Plastic Man, by Kyle Baker and Scott Morse (DC)
Tommysaurus Rex, by Doug TenNapel (Image)

Best Humor Publication
Angry Youth Comix, by Johnny Ryan (Fantagraphics)
Birth of a Nation, by Aaron McGruder, Reginald Hudlin, and Kyle Baker (Crown)
The Goon, by Eric Powell (Dark Horse)
Kyle Baker, Cartoonist, by Kyle Baker (Kyle Baker Publishing)
Plastic Man, by Kyle Baker and Scott Morse (DC)

Best Anthology
Common Grounds, by Troy Hickman and others, edited by Jim McLauchlin (Top Cow/Image)
The Dark Horse Book of Witchcraft, edited by Scott Allie (Dark Horse Books)
The Matrix Comics, vol. 2, edited by Spencer Lamm (Burlyman)
McSweeney’s Quarterly #13, edited by Chris Ware (McSweeney’s)
Michael Chabon Presents The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist, edited by Diana Schutz and David Land (Dark Horse)

Best Digital Comic
Athena Voltaire, by Steve Bryant Link
Copper, by Kazu Link
Jonny Crossbones, by Les McClaine Link
Mom's Cancer, by Brian Fies Link
ojingogo, by matt forsythe Link

Best Graphic Album—New
Blacksad Book 2: Arctic Nation, by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido (iBooks)
It’s a Bird . . ., by Steven T. Seagle and Teddy Kristiansen (Vertigo/DC)
The Originals, by Dave Gibbons (Vertigo/DC)
Suspended in Language, by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Purvis (GT Labs)
Tommysaurus Rex, by Doug TenNapel (Image)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint
Age of Bronze: Sacrifice, by Eric Shanower (Image)
Bone One Volume Edition, by Jeff Smith (Cartoon Books)
The Book of Ballads, by Charles Vess and others (Tor)
Clyde Fans, by Seth (Drawn & Quarterly)
In the Shadow of No Towers, by art spiegelman (Pantheon)
Locas, by Jaime Hernandez (Fantagraphics)

Best Archival Collection/Project
The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker, edited by Robert Mankoff (Black Dog & Leventhal)
The Complete Peanuts, edited by Gary Groth (Fantagraphics)
DC Comics Rarities Archives, vol. 1, edited by Dale Crain (DC)
Krazy and Ignatz, edited by Bill Blackbeard and Derya Ataker (Fantagraphics)
Russ Manning’s Magnus, Robot Fighter, vol. 1, edited by Katie Moody, Mike Carriglitto, and David Land (Dark Horse Books)

Best U.S. Edition of Foreign Material
Barefoot Gen: A Cartoon Story of Hiroshima, vols. 1-2, by Keiji Nahazawa (Last Gasp)
Blacksad Book 2: Arctic Nation, by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido (iBooks)
Buddha, vols. 3-4 by Osamu Tezuka (Vertical)
Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return, by Marjane Satrapi (Pantheon)
Tokyo Tribes, by Santa Inoue (TOKYOPOP)

Best Writer
Steve Niles, 30 Days of Night: Return to Barrow; 30Days of Night: Bloodsucker Tales; Aleister Arcane (IDW); Freaks of the Heartland; Last Train to Deadsville (Dark Horse)
Greg Rucka, Queen & Country (Oni); Gotham Central (DC)
Brian K. Vaughan, Y: The Last Man (Vertigo/DC); Ex Machina (WildStorm/DC); Runaways (Marvel)
Joss Whedon, Astonishing X-Men (Marvel)
Bill Willingham, Fables (Vertigo/DC)

Best Writer/Artist
Paul Chadwick, Concrete: The Human Dilemma (Dark Horse)
Dan Clowes, Eightball #23 (Fantagraphics)
David Lapham, Stray Bullets (El Capitan)
Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo (Dark Horse)
Adrian Tomine, Optic Nerve #9 (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Writer/Artist—Humor
Kyle Baker, Plastic Man (DC); Kyle Baker, Cartoonist (Kyle Baker Publishing)
Phil Foglio, Girl Genius (Airship Entertainment)
Scott Kurtz, PvP (Image)
Eric Powell, The Goon (Dark Horse)
Johnny Ryan, Angry Youth Comix (Fantagraphics)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
Charles Adlard, The Walking Dead (Image)
John Cassaday, Astonishing X-Men (Marvel); Planetary (WildStorm/DC); I Am Legion: The Dancing Faun (Humanoids/DC) (tie)
Geof Darrow, Shaolin Cowboy (Burlyman)
Cary Nord/Thomas Yeates, Conan (Dark Horse)
Frank Quitely, WE3 (Vertigo/DC) (tie)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
Juanjo Guarnido, Blacksad, Book 2: Arctic Nation (iBooks)
Teddy Kristiansen, It’s a Bird . . . (Vertigo/DC)
David Mack, Kabuki (Marvel)
Ben Templesmith, 30 Days of Night: Return to Barrow (IDW)
Michael Zulli, Creatures of the Night (Dark Horse Books)

Best Coloring
Peter Doherty, Shaolin Cowboy (Burlyman)
Steven Griffen, Hawaiian Dick: The Last Resort (Image)
Laura Martin, Astonishing X-Men (Marvel); Ministry of Space (Image); Planetary (WildStorm/DC); I Am Legion: The Dancing Faun (Humanoids/DC)
J. D. Mettler, Ex Machina (WildStorm/DC)
Dave Stewart, Daredevil, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Six, Captain America (Marvel); Conan, BPRD (Dark Horse)l DC: The New Frontier (DC)

Best Lettering
Todd Klein, Promethea; Tom Strong; Tom Strong’s Terrific Tales (ABC); Wonder Woman (DC); Books of Magick: Life During Wartime; Fables; WE3 (Vertigo/DC); Creatures of the Night (Dark Horse)
Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo (Dark Horse)
Dave Sim, Cerebus (Aardvark Vanaheim)
Craig Thompson, Carnet de Voyage (Top Shelf); “Eve O’ Twins” in Rosetta 2 (Alternative)

Best Cover Artist
Kieron Dwyer, Remains (IDW)
James Jean, Fables (Vertigo/DC); Green Arrow, Batgirl (DC)
Tony Moore, The Walking Dead (Image)
Frank Quitely, Bite Club; WE3 (Vertigo/DC)
Michael Turner, Identity Crisis (DC)

Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition
Frank Cammuso (Max Hamm, Fairy Tale Detective)
Bosch Fawstin (Table for One)
Matt Kindt (Two Sisters; Pistolwhip)
Sean McKeever (A Waiting Place; Mary Jane; Inhumans; Sentinels)
Raina Telgemeier (“Smile,” Takeout)

Best Comics-Related Periodical
Comic Art, edited by M. Todd Hignite (Comic Art)
Comic Book Artist, edited by Jon B. Cooke (Top Shelf)
Draw!, edited by Mike Manley (TwoMorrows)
Indy Magazine online (www.indyworld.com), edited by Bill Kartalopoulos (Alternative)

Best Comics-Related Book
The Art of Usagi Yojimbo, by Stan Sakai (Dark Horse Books)
Chris Ware, by Daniel Raeburn (Monographics/Yale University Press)
Give Our Regards to the Atom Smashers, edited by Sean Howe (Pantheon)
Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book, by Gerard Jones (Basic Books)
Strangers in Paradise Treasury Edition, by Terry Moore (HarperCollins Perennial)

Best Publication Design
The Art of Usagi Yojimbo, designed by Cary Grazzini (Dark Horse Books)
Clyde’s Fans, designed by Seth (Drawn & Quarterly)
The Complete Peanuts, designed by Seth (Fantagraphics)
In the Shadow of No Towers, designed by art spiegelman (Pantheon)
McSweeney’s Quarterly #13, designed by Chris Ware (McSweeney’s)

Hall of Fame

Judges’ Choices: Lou Fine; René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo

Four will be selected from:
Matt Baker
Wayne Boring
Nick Cardy
Yves Chaland
Gene Colan
Johnny Craig
Reed Crandall
Floyd Gottfredson
Frank Hampson
Graham Ingels
Robert Kanigher
William Moulton Marston
Hugo Pratt
Frank Robbins

If this was Jeopardy! this would be the Potpourri category.

I hate that I feel the need to apologize for not posting as often lately, but real life has (rightfully) supplanted on-line life. However, the worst of it is behind me, and I can get back into the swing of things a little bit. As of today, Beth's a licensed RN working an ER night shift, so my evenings are free to whittle down that nasty, nasty review pile I've been building up for months (scan down one entry for the first of the reviews, focusing on Grant Geissman's Foul Play!). So, my weeknights will likely be spent reviewing and doing laundry (we'll let the DVR get the few shows we're still watching so we can watch them together), and I can finally get the scary stack of comics on my bar down to a more manageable level. Work's still on the high-alert ass-kicking level, so daytime posts will likely not start up again until, say, August or so.

• Dave Lartigue's causin' more Family Feuds than Richard Dawson. While we might not get to bond over beer and comics like the ACAPCWOVCCAOE, but the ECB's got crazy skilled bloghedz, and less letters to remember.

• Speaking of the ECB, some guy's taken his beef with Johanna's review of his comic to a few message boards (and probably some others). Now, ignoring the fact that if most people took a casual glance at the comic would probably bring about the same reaction Johanna had to it, it probably doesn't hurt to say yet again that if someone sending out review copies as a way of getting publicity should choose reviewers who seem to like comics similar to his/hers is a good way to go about doing things. In fact, there's probably some kind of "how to get your book reviewed" guide somewhere online or something. Or one could just use common sense.

• It's almost time for the Eisners, so I'll have to get ready to compare my predictions with the results. I'm thinking I might get 25% if I'm lucky.

• I'm also making a point to go and edit out and add things to the blogroll thingy on the side, but I want to make a special note of Crisis/Boring Change. Despite the awkward name, it's shaping up to be daily reading. Particularly, today's piece on manga and the latest issue of The Comics Journal:

I should mention, again, perhaps, that this is meant neither as an attack on manga, nor as a potential invalidation. Though I'm grossly unfamiliar with the (as Dirk Deppey calls it) meta-category, no good comics advocate and proselytizer would claim that any work, created in good taste, that attracts both young and female readers is bad, not ideologically so. More, this little rantlet is meant as sort of a half-hearted explanation of why I'm not on record as having trumpeted how good, and good for our culture, manga can be.

There's quite a bit of online content to the latest TCJ, so browse if you're so inclined--it's tiding me over until I can get down to pick up my copy.

• Just out of curiosity, who is planning on attending SPX? I already know of a few people, but I'm curious as to who else in blogland will be attending.

• James Smith talks about one of my favorite blog topics, the writing about comics. He also links to a site that will probably suck up my time in the near future: Writings by Neil Cohn.

Foul Play!

Foul Play! The Art and Artists of the Notorious 1950s E.C. Comics!
Written by Grant Geissman
$29.95, Harper Design (an imprint of Harper Collins)

There are very few "essential" books on comics, and few people who agree on which books should be labeled essential reading. With Foul Play! The Art and Artists of the Notorious E.C. Comics!, Grant Geissman presents, at the very least, an essential overview of the artists who made E.C. Comics into one of the most fondly remembered publishers of American comic books in the middle of the 20th century.

By focusing on the creators rather than the comics themselves, Geissman gets across the atmosphere and the vibe of the E.C. office and creative process better than he would have had he focused on a more linear, book-focused look at the company. The focus also helps to personalize artists many readers might know only through their work. The personalities of the people behind these comics comes through not only through Geissman's writing and through quotes, but through the reproduced Christmas cards and party art.

Geissman's writing is breezy and accessible, which helps shape the overall tone of the book. It's not a critique of the company, nor is it making the case for the historical significance of Gaines's stable of books--it's a book for E.C. fans by an E.C. fan. However, Geissman doesn't present a polka dots and moonbeams version of the company or its artists--the artists faults, fears and afflictions are presented in a matter-of-fact way.

Foul Play! also reprints classic E.C. horror and science fiction stories, and there isn't a poor choice in the bunch. The selections aren't all horror, either, but certain genres such as romance and western are omitted (although one could argue that "The Precious Years" by Wood, Gaines and Feldstein is more romance than science fiction). For as celebrated as the E.C. comics from the period are in some comics circles, it's possible to forget why they are lauded until one reads (or rereads) them. Some, like "50 Girls 50," still inspire chills. Some of the less successful stories, like "Kamen's Kalamity," work in the context of the book, as they represent the wink to the reader that E.C. comics popularized before the silver age Marvel books and DC's "Flash of Two Worlds" stories. The inclusion of Will Elder's "The Night Before Christmas" is surprising, but welcome--by choosing the story from Panic rather than one from Mad, Geissman reinforces the bit in Elder's section on the book being banned in Boston because of the tale, but also provides a reprint from a comic less well-known than its more famed sister publication. For the reprints alone, Foul Play! is worth the thirty dollar price tag--fourteen E.C. stories and one previously unpublished Picto-Fiction story (although that story, "Wanted for Murder," loses some detail in the art with the smaller scale of the scans in relation to the others presented in the book).

It shouldn't be a surprise that Foul Play! is a gorgeous book, considering it's published by Harper Collins's design imprint. The text and art samples are balanced, and neither side overshadows the other. It feels like a better-designed (and better written) version of the publisher-centric books Les Daniels used to write. A particularly nice touch is the use of the artist's signature as chapter headers for his or her section, which further personalizes and connects the artist to the art and looks great on the page.

Not that it's a perfect book, by any means. The introduction is the weakest part of the book. Others have already noted Geissman makes the manga-as-a-style faux paux that many writers unfamiliar with the form tend to do. Also, while he doesn't outright say that E.C. was the first horror publisher in the following passage, it certainly seems implied:

Almost overnight, E.C.'s horror titles, [...] had become the flagships of the line. This time, however, it was E.C.'s turn to be imitated, and other companies flooded the newsstands with competing horror titles.

However, as Steve Duin and Mike Richardson point out in Comics: Between the Panels, Eerie Comics #1 predated the first E.C. horror story by a year, and other publishers (including Marvel) had published horror comics in the interim between Eerie Comics and the first Crypt of Terror. One can't fault Geissman entirely--there isn't as much material to reference when writing about comics history as there is for other media--but it would have been nice to see the myth of Gaines-as-initiator supplanted by the more accurate Gaines-as-innovator.

Foul Play! has enough content in terms of biographical information and comics reprints to appeal to E.C. fans, or to comic book fans interested in the history of the medium. While it isn't necessarily an "important" book, it's an enjoyable one. Geissman's book is possibly the best E.C. comics primer and a potential resource for converting E.C. neophytes into full-fledged Fan-Addicts.