MUSINGS SPURRED BY CANNON

I know we all have our ideas of what would make great TV shows. The thing is, most of mine are really good ideas. Case in point: why do we not have a TV show, something like a pulp style series from the thirties or forties, with tons of sex and violence, on a pay cable network? Doesn't this seem like a no-brainer?

In my review of Wally Wood's CANNON the other day, I said, "...maybe it's my reptilian brain at work overriding good taste, but I've always enjoyed a story about a rugged man who kills with impunity and beds women with regularity." I cited the Bond films as an example of this genre. Another would be the Cinemax series BANSHEE. BANSHEE is somewhat acclaimed, and apparently quite successful. And it overflows with hard, brutal violence and softcore sex scenes. These are things people like to watch. Look to GAME OF THRONES for another example. Or BLACK SAILS, which quickly became a personal favorite during it's first season this past winter. I'm sure there are plenty more, but I don't watch a ton of pay cable shows.

My question, then, is: Why don't we have a series like the above, catered to grown man-children who love superheroes but who are old enough to enjoy explicit material? (And I unashamedly include myself in this demographic!) I don't want to watch such a series about Batman or Spider-Man. They're all-ages characters, not meant for strong language and overt sexual situations. Putting them into these sorts of situations is wrong. But if an outright fantasy series like GAME OF THRONES can capture the imaginations of millions of mainstream viewers, why couldn't a Batman-esque series?

CANNON

I've apparently been a fan of Wally Wood for far longer than I realized. I admit that I've read very little of his output -- he did some Silver Age DAREDEVIL for Marvel, but that's probably about all I've looked at. However he was a mentor to many comic professionals I enjoy, such as Larry Hama and Bob Layton. And he co-created Power Girl with Gerry Conway over at DC, so we have him to thank for that fantastic costume. As many know, the legend goes that Wood incrementally increased the size of Power Girl's breasts from issue to issue until his editors told him to knock it off. I've never seen this story confirmed, and I've seen it disputed more than once -- plus the artwork itself does not support it -- but the simple fact that it persists and is considered something Wood might have done is enough to make me a fan.

Which brings us to CANNON. Sort of. First, an anecdote to set the stage -- I distinctly recall, when I was about eleven or twelve years old, flipping through a SALLY FORTH collection some degenerate had left lying around in easy reach at a local comic book shop. It was black and white, it appeared to be a comedy, and it featured a buxom blonde girl soldier who wound up naked or topless every other page. I thought it was awesome. But I forgot about it pretty quickly after that chance encounter. It was years later that I discovered SALLY FORTH was created by Wally Wood -- who I had learned about through the Power Girl connection in the interim. From there, I disovered CANNON.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #233

"WHERE THE @¢%# IS NOSE NORTON?"
Scripter: Roger Stern | Artists: John Romita, Jr. & Jim Mooney
Letterer: Diana Albers | Colorist: Glynis Wein | Editor: Tom DeFalco
Lost & Found: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Realizing that underworld informant "Nose" Norton may hold the key to their exposé on the Brand Corporation, Robbie Robertson, Ned Leeds, and Marla Madison convince Jonah Jameson to offer a $1500 cash reward to the first Daily Bugle employee to find the missing stool pigeon. Spurred to action by the reward, Peter Parker -- as Spider-Man -- combs the city for Norton.

Meanwhile, the Brand Corporation wants Norton silenced. Their own men are on the hunt as well, and they hire the South American terrorist called the Tarantula to kill him once he is uncovered. Brand finds Nose around the same time as Peter and Bugle reporter Ben Urich, who have decided to split the reward.

When the Tarantula arrives to kill Norton, Peter changes to Spider-Man and fights him off. But private investigators working for Brand arrive and gun Norton down, claiming he fired upon them first. After the Tarantula escapes, Spider-Man changes back to Peter and informs Ben that he has photos of the entire altercation.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #232

"HYDE...IN PLAIN SIGHT!"
Scripter: Roger Stern | Penciler: John Romita, Jr. | Inker: Jim Mooney
Letterer: Diana Albers | Colorist: Bob Sharen | Editor: Tom DeFalco
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Mr. Hyde challenges Spider-Man for his captive, the Cobra. Hyde proves too much for the web-slinger and eventually Spider-Man tosses Cobra to Hyde -- but not before coating Cobra's helmet in webbing, which sticks the two villains together when Hyde catches him. Hyde collapses several rooftop water towers and escapes with Cobra, while Spider-Man heads for Empire State University.

Later, Hyde, in his guise as Dr. Calvin Zabo, brings Cobra to the latter's penthouse suite with the intention of killing him and taking his riches. But Spider-Man, having planted a tracer on the Cobra before handing him over, arrives to challenge Hyde. The wall-crawler's non-stop barrage of quips enrages Hyde to the point of irrationality, and Spider-Man manages to defeat him by hurling him from the penthouse to the street below. Hyde passes out, and Cobra surrenders to Spider-Man rather than go another round with the webbed wonder.

The Sub-Plots: Ned Leeds and Marla Madison put in a brief appearance as they wait for Spider-Man to deliver Cobra to the police, and Marla makes her dislike and mistrust for the web-slinger clear to Ned. When Lance Bannon shows up to snap photos of the captive Cobra and gets caught up in Hyde's rampage, Spider-Man saves him but Lance chastises the wall-crawler for not rescuing his camera as well.

ONE YEAR

(...Plus a week.)

I'm a firm believer in acknowledging milestones, so I thought I'd mention that last weekend -- specifically August 16th -- marked this blog's first birthday.

When I began my ramblings last summer, I wasn't sure what form they would ultimately take, or even how long they'd last. I was armed with a bunch of posts I'd written about Captain Britain and little else. But within a month I'd started reading TRANSFORMERS: REGENERATION ONE, and soon enough something of a regular schedule materialized: long series posts on Mondays and Wednesdays, with "one shot" or shorter series posts on Fridays. Soon my Sundays began to fill up too, with whatever ramblings happened to be on my mind.

I eventually started mapping out my monthly schedule, and that soon became a yearly schedule. As it stands, as of today, I have a rough idea of what I'll write about on what weekdays, all the way through to the end of next January -- and I have posts already written and scheduled through November. But I like to keep my options open too, so Sundays will remain, with the exception of the regularly scheduled "Unboxing" feature and the occasional announcements, the spot where I will write about things more immediately: a review of a book I just got, or my opinion on some TV show or something else I recently encountered.

For those who care, the most viewed page or post on this site is X-MEN COLLECTED EDITIONS, with my review of the SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES soundtrack album in second place at half as many hits. And the Google search terms which have drawn the most eyes here, aside from the title of the blog, are "infinity gauntlet omnibus review" and, for some reason, "iron man #134 titanium man".

Anyway -- thanks to those who have stuck with me over the past year. It's been a lot of fun sharing my thoughts on some of my favorite comics, as well as several that I've never read before. I intend to keep doing it for as long as it's fun, and since I have quite a backlog of books to read, I'm hoping that will be a good long time.

JACK AVARICE IS THE COURIER BOOK ONE: KILL THE MESSENGER

"BIG BLIND" | "DEAL" | "RAISE" | "BLUFF" | "CALL"
Story/Art/Color/Lettering/Design: Chris Madden
Editor: Tom Waltz

As I noted in my review of DANGER GIRL: REVOLVER, I'm a big fan of Chris Madden's delightful artwork for that series. In fact I enjoyed it so much that I subsequently decided to take a look at Madden's creator-owned mini-series, JACK AVARICE IS THE COURIER, available in trade paperback from IDW. There's something to be said for a comic book professional who is capable of doing it all, as evidenced by the credits above. I've seen those who do most of it before, but coloring and/or lettering are usually left out of the full package. So regardless of the quality of the story, Madden should receive great kudos simply for being a quintuple-threat creator.

But the story is enjoyable too, if a bit derivative. We follow a young man named Jack Avarice as he becomes a "Courier" -- a member of a top-secret group of U.N. sanctioned super-spies. Every nation has one such operative, a person who can operate around the globe with complete immunity. It's an interesting premise, though I'm not sure such a thing makes much sense when you think about it. But in the world Madden has created, it's easy enough to swallow.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #231

"CAUGHT IN THE ACT..."
Scripter: Roger Stern | Artists: John Romita, Jr. & Jim Mooney
Letterer: Joe Rosen | Colorist: Bob Sharen | Editor: Tom DeFalco
Precinct Captain: Jim Shooter

The Plot: The Cobra robs a police evidence locker of several gems from a jewel theft ring, the latest in a series of similar crimes. At his home, he makes plans to see his fence about them. Meanwhile, Jonah Jameson has assigned Ned Leeds to investigate the Brand Corporation. Ned and Dr. Marla Madison go to meet with Ned's contact, "Nose" Norton -- who just happens to be the Cobra's fence, as well.

Cobra arrives at the same time and sees Nose consorting with Ned, who he recognizes as a reporter from his last trial, and assumes Nose is selling him out. He jumps Nose, Ned, and Marla in an alleyway. Fortunately Spider-Man is in the area, having been informed (as Peter Parker) by Betty Leeds that Ned was headed to a bad part of town.

The web-slinger defends the Cobra's victims and makes short work of the wily villain, but as he heads away to turn Cobra over to the police, the pair is attacked by Cobra's ex-partner, Mr. Hyde.