Reprint This! 3. Axa

Reprint This! is a periodic feature where I will talk about some out-of-print comic book gems that are not available in collected form for readers to enjoy. You might consider it a companion to my Weekly Comics Hype, which is taking a short summer vacation, except while that's preaching to a potential audience, this is hoping to let rights owners know that, yes, readers are out here, and we'd like to buy the things we can't get at this time!

Despite such an enormous variety of books available these days, and genuine efforts to present the material in reasonably-priced, archival volumes, there are still countless fabulous series from the US, Britain and Japan which are overdue for new editions. I've selected two dozen titles which should be on bookshelves, but at this time are not.

One missing gem is AXA by Enrique Badia Romero. This is a science fiction serial where, following a global catastrophe, a woman tired of regimented life inside a domed city breaks away to discover the bizarre fates of small pockets of survivors on the outside. And get naked. Frequently.



Axa appeared as a daily newspaper strip in The Sun from 1978 to 1986. It would be foolish to suggest that the principal draw is anything other than the fabulous artwork. Romero, who was taking a sabbatical from the Evening Standard's Modesty Blaise strip, draws absolutely gorgeous women. Donne Avenall, who actually scripted the series from Romero's plots, finds plenty of excuses for most of the cast to wear little more than loincloths and bikinis, and strip out of those as often as is plausible. Newspaper standards are a little different in the UK than in America; adult-themed T&A like this has a long history, and attracts some very good artists. Even the science fiction setting is unusual by our standards, where continuity strips rarely get more fantastic than Dick Tracy or the infrequently-seen Spider-Man strip.

The stories themselves are pretty good. Installments are clearly inspired by most of the usual, pre-Star Wars suspects: Logan's Run, The Survivors, The Land That Time Forgot, Planet of the Apes, I Am Legend and so on. You've got communities trapped between armies of dinosaurs warring against robots in one story, and families where the women are barren, so Axa gets kidnapped in order to provide an heir in another. An ongoing subplot in the first couple of years, it might have been resolved beyond the point I've read, features an old boyfriend of Axa's sent into the wilderness to return her to the dome. So there's nothing incredibly original in the series, but it's incredibly fun to read.

Axa was collected, while the strip was still running, by a firm called First American Editions. These are flimsy little 64-page things with some dodgy reproduction. They're long out of print, but older comic shops might have some in stock. What's needed are some proper, large size collections, with better page count and reproduction. I do not know who holds the rights, but since Titan is currently doing such a nice job on Romero's other major series, Modesty Blaise, they might be the best choice to give Axa a proper collected treatment. So how about it, Titan?



(Originally posted June 27, 2007, 10:59 at hipsterdad's livejournal.)

Reprint This! 2. The Angry Planet

Reprint This! is a new, periodic feature where I will talk about some out-of-print comic book gems that are not available in collected form for readers to enjoy. You might consider it a companion to my Weekly Comics Hype, which is taking a short summer vacation, except while that's preaching to a potential audience, this is hoping to let rights owners know that, yes, readers are out here, and we'd like to buy the things we can't get at this time!

Despite such an enormous variety of books available these days, and genuine efforts to present the material in reasonably-priced, archival volumes, there are still countless fabulous series from the US, Britain and Japan which are overdue for new editions. I've selected two dozen titles which should be on bookshelves, but at this time are not.

One missing gem is THE ANGRY PLANET by Alan Hebden and the late Massimo Belardinelli. This is a fabulous science fiction serial where the Martian-born children of the first colonists of that planet struggle for their independence from the corporation which controls Mars.



The Angry Planet appeared in the 22 issues of the 1979 anthology Tornado. It's among the best things Hebden wrote (although we'll see him again in a later installment), just cracking from episode to episode with a brisk pace and fabulous ideas. Belardinelli got to run riot with bizarre backgrounds and mile-deep canyons and cool future-tech which gets blown up beautifully.

The story's only about 90 pages long in total, and the rights are probably held by Rebellion. Despite the fond memories of fans, it, like everything in Tornado, is a pretty obscure title, and so this might be a dark horse candidate for a repeat run in collected form.

On the other hand, one of the unfortunate side effects of Belardinelli's recent passing is a renewed interest in his work from creators and older fans. Rebellion could certainly do worse than to program a 2000 AD Extreme Edition containing the whole series. Certainly, a bookshelf version would be preferable, but just getting it back in the public eye would be the main thing. So how about it, Rebellion?



(Originally posted June 18, 2007, 09:23 at hipsterdad.livejournal.com)

Reprint This! 1. Angel and the Ape

Reprint This! is a new, periodic feature where I will talk about some out-of-print comic book gems that are not presently available in collected form for readers to enjoy. You might consider it a companion to my Weekly Comics Hype, which is taking a short summer vacation, except while that's preaching to a potential audience, this is hoping to let rights owners know that, yes, readers are out here, and we'd like to buy the things we can't get at this time!

Despite such an enormous variety of books available these days, and genuine efforts to present the material in reasonably-priced, archival volumes, there are still countless fabulous series from the US, Britain and Japan which are overdue for new editions. I've selected two dozen titles which should be on bookshelves, but at this time are not.

One missing gem is ANGEL AND THE APE by E. Nelson Bridwell and the late Bob Oskner, who passed away in February. This is a kid-friendly comic that DC tried out in the late 1960s, featuring an incredibly competent, super-cool private eye, and her partner, a gorilla who is usually happier drawing comic strips for his egomaniac boss, Stan Bragg.



Angel and the Ape first appeared in the September 1968 issue of Showcase before immediately moving to its own bimonthly title. However, the wacky hippie-era antics didn't find an audience. After six issues, it was retitled Angel for a final issue. Sam Simeon didn't even appear in one of that issue's two stories. What a revoltin' development. An eighth issue was in the works; a story from that shelved issue appeared a few years later in the large-format Christmas With the Super-Heroes collection.

DC's released a couple of Angel and the Ape trademark-holding miniseries since the duo was put out to pasture. The first one was by Phil Foglio, and it was pretty entertaining, despite an obnoxious, unnecessary mandate to tie the characters into DC's superhero continuity. There was another which came out under the Vertigo banner which I never read, but I understand Philip Bond drew it, so I should probably check that out.

But it's the original series which has all the charm, because it's full of incredibly silly, wow, happening, go-go goofiness. The plots are outlandish and wild, and the overall feel is that you're reading a groovy tie-in companion to one of Hanna-Barbera's better late 60s Saturday morning cartoons. It's definitely recommended if you like The Banana Splits or Josie & the Pussycats. It's absolutely charming, a fun mix of slapstick and light mystery, incredibly silly and cute.



I believe that a complete run of 1960s Angel and the Ape would come to less than 180 pages. DC has been a little more willing to revisit the wackier parts of its back catalog lately (Metamorpho, the Super-Sons, etc), so it's not completely out of the question. I'd love to have a full collection on the shelves for me and my kids to read. I've only got a single, stapleless issue currently. Back issues aren't that pricy -- you can obtain reasonable-quality copies for under $10 each -- but they're kind of scarce. So how about it, DC?

(Originally posted June 08, 2007, 10:30 at hipsterdad's livejournal.)