Stephen Holland runs Page 45, a comic shop in Nottingham, England, with Mark Simpson and Tom Rosin. He has a monthly column in Comics International, and appears perennially as a small Japanese Maple in West Bridgford.
Who is... Alan Donald?
In his dreams Alan Donald is a multi-award winning writer of comic books, animation, theme park shows and rides, children’s books, novels, television, internet animation and more.
In real life Alan writes this column, which has been described as more than a lifestyle than a weekly column. He used to write SBC's All The Rage.
"I stand by all the misstatements that I've made." - George W. Bush
Current comics
I’ve actually read some comic books recently too. Loads. In fact, a huge, enormous pile. Don’t know how we’ll eat towards the end of the summer, but there you go.
One thing I have noticed is that Spider-Man has been having a bit of a hard time of it of late. I’m guessing that sentence is one of the great understatements of our time. I’m not a huge continuity nut. I can handle little things being wrong here and there but in the DCU only one title I’ve seen has really done anything about Lex’s reign as President ending despite his presidency being a thread that has run throughout all their titles! But worse, we have Spider-Man.
In two titles he’s beaten half to death, his identity seems to be out, he is being hunted by… too big a spoiler to say (BUT Peter I thought better of you, honestly I thought you were an innocent nerd, what would Aunt May say if she knew what you and Gwen got up to out of wedlock?) and he has mutated into a beast (again) in another. What the hell is going on? I know his life is normally hell but how can these things all be happening? Are they going to mention them all as having happened and in which order afterwards? It is all a bit much!
Back in the days of Stan Lee things were a little mad but every title was linked to a certain degree (as was nicely highlighted in Marvels a while back). I don’t think we need to go back to that as it would be far too constraining for creators but frankly it makes you wonder what the Editors are employed to do nowadays. I am sure they are busy folk but one of their main roles in the past was to keep some degree of continuity between titles where has that gone? Am I the only one who misses it?
Over in Batman we’ve got the Animated Adventures title managing to maintain its position as the best, most mature and cleverest read of the bunch which is odd. Odder still is that Robin comes second in my affections at the moment. These are two titles I’d recommend without hesitation. It used to be Gotham Knights: when I had a shop and I was asked to recommend a title the first I would pick was Gotham Knights - Devin Grayson did a fantastic job on the writing and the art was great. Don’t get me wrong, her work on Nightwing is cool and you get the feeling this is what she really loves to do, but, to be honest, she is wasted on that title. Gotham Knights gave her a greater opportunity to work with the whole Batfamily, she gave us great action and fantastic character dynamics. Gotham Knights, as it is, is a good title but it is just another Bat title (which puts it high in my estimation all the same). Robin has recently given us the same sort of dynamics we used to have with Knights. Spoiler brings a bouncy fun attitude to the title that, if produced by many other writers, could have been terrible, sickening and the biggest put off of all. Tim Drake’s roof-top encounter with Batgirl was classic Gotham Knights and showed a real understanding of both characters.
I’ve always enjoyed the Batman Animated titles. They have tended to fully capture the essence of Batman without a lot of the depth that can both enhance and detract from your enjoyment of the story. They tended to be slightly more innocent, less violent and (Mad Love excepted) less sexual. I liked them as mindless drop-in, harmless fun. I mean no insult to them by that but they were… uncomplicated. The latest series, however, has been blinding! The whole series has been awesome. We’ve had several subplots and character developments that have, at times, put the mainstream titles to shame. There have been sexy moments, violent moments yet through it all there has been the same innocence. The character interactions have been wonderful, the back up stories have been a great idea and have often produced fantastic juxtapositions for the reader.
From the vaults
At home we’ve been having a bit of a clean out. We are finally in a position to start putting things up on ebay and to take things to car boot sales. What this means is that I’ve been rediscovering little gems I’d forgotten all about. One such gem is a little magazine by the name of Comic World. Initially I thought “what the hell is this?” It had completely slipped my mind. Then I found another and another and another all from around 1993/94 – the time I discovered ACE Comics in Colchester. I’m guessing there’s a connection there. I love looking back through old comicbook magazines. Old Wizard mags make me wonder how Shamus stayed in business they look really bad! That is a little unfair; they are interesting to read and it is cool to rediscover whole companies that have since died. The real problem with old Wizards is the layout etc, looks dreadful.
Comic World, on the other hand, looks very similar to Comics International and as such has dated well in this respect. This is a well laid out and very informative magazine. Oh and it was edited by… Steve Holland! Fancy that.
I’m off to read through a stack of these bad boys and then I’ll get back to you. If he has the time I may have a chat with Steve about the magazines of yesteryear.
[Ed’s note: Steve Holland, editor of Comic World, is a different person to Stephen Holland, co-owner of Page 45. Sorry.]
One little gem I have found in our tidying is Action Comics #775 (2001, shield #13). This is a timely find with Justice League Elite being advertised by DC at present. The good thing about comic books is that they are monthly so you get a continuous supply of new stories for your entertainment. The problem with comic books is that they are monthly and there are always new stories to consider. Graphic novels have changed things but now we’ve got a continuous supply of graphic novels to fall behind on.
It is nice to rediscover old comic books. I don’t collect comic books for their value, I collect them because I like to read them. I’m terrible at getting my collection in order as I keep on stopping to reread things. It is like old friends you see in a photo and decide to get in touch with; sometimes you’re so glad you did, and other times you decide to lose their number for good.
Action Comics #775 is wonderful. From the classic Tim Bradstreet cover to Superman’s bloody conclusion to the tale, every moment is a joy to relive. For years Superman had been a joke. The first superhero had become old fashioned and out of step with the real world. DC had dealt with this once before in several ways:
a) Guy Gardner was a hero with attitude… but he was also a twat. b) They had Superman answer pupil’s questions on the Cat Grant show complete with a school kid who thought Supes was a joke. c) Superman died saving the school kid’s family and Guy Gardner (oh and the whole world but that is by the by).
Superman returned rejuvenated, a serious hero with a new feel - but it didn’t last.
This time the problem had become compounded by a threat from within. A slew of dark superhero comicbooks had appeared on the market complete with a parody of the JLA so blatant that if it hadn’t been part of the DC family it would have been in copyright court (well… so I say but Squadron Supreme and Supreme Power have gotten away with it). The Authority featured a JLA that was prepared to do whatever it took to get the job done… anything. On top of this the Authority’s Superman was shagging their version of Batman. Superman was looking like a child’s character from a bygone age.
Joe Kelly decided to produce a tale that would demonstrate once and for all why Superman was the world’s greatest hero whilst also showing exactly what it meant to be a hero.
We open with Superman making his way to an emergency accompanied by radio transmissions reporting on it. Suddenly it becomes very clear that there is something dreadfully, awfully wrong. Our opening splash is of a cyborg King Kong complete with a gun the size of the Empire State building lying across the ruins of Tripoli. The bad guy has a hole the bigger than Yankee Stadium in his chest and the capital of Libya looked… gone. Thousands were dead including the Libyan army divisions who were fighting the beast. Above it all hovered the tiny and insignificant figure of Superman. A new type of hero had arrived … enter the Elite.
The Elite – nasty and dirty. Kelly’s take on The Authority.
Throughout the whole issue we see Superman being gradually taken apart. Each and every argument against him as a character is exposed and we are left wondering how the Man of Steel can possibly recover both within the comic and as a character. The issue draws to a close with a final battle televised on every screen around the world.
Superman is beaten, destroyed and burnt to a toast leaving just his cape behind.
Then a voice comes from all around them:
“I finally get it, now… Thank you. I’ve made the mistake of treating you people like… people… But now, I understand better. I understand what you are…”
One by one they are taken down. One mutates and dies. Another has his lungs collapsed by a hurricane. The penultimate Elite member is simply thrown into space where as Superman says:
“He took a trip into space at Mach Seven. If you had Super-hearing, you’d hear a pop in ten seconds.”
Then to end it all Superman uses X-ray, telescopic and heat vision to lobotomise the leader of the group removing the part of his brain that gave him his superpowers…
…or did he? Manchester Black bursts into tears in front of the world:
“You… You’re Superman… You don’t … You don’t do this.”
“They know you’re no better than us! You’re NO BETTER! There’s nothing Special about you!”
Superman then makes a speech that is utterly typical of him but somehow seems more real, more relevant than ever. And at the end of the speech he closes with:
“I don’t like my heroes ugly and mean. I just don’t believe in it.”
Manchester Black replies, tears streaming…
“What do you mean? You killed my team! You violated my brain--!”
Superman replies with cutting sarcasm revealing that the Elite are only incapacitated and that Black is only concussed. He hasn’t crossed the line but more than that he proved he was good enough to take them down without permanent damage. Bloodied, torn and looking more powerful and honourable than ever Superman continues to talk. Black is now enraged, he’ll kill Superman, he’ll kill them all, Superman is crazy and so on. Superman finalises the issue perfectly and suddenly we have our 21st Century Superhero:
“I swear… until my dream of a world where dignity, honor and justice becomes the reality we all share… --I’ll never stop fighting. Ever.”
Rant
This is more like it – I’ve got a gripe this week! I have just withdrawn from the Comics2000 mailing list, the yahoo group for the UK comic festival. It was fun but I’d had enough. Every now and then someone takes it upon themselves to attack the festivals, the guy who runs them and stuff in general. We’re used to it and we move on. This time some bloke did all this and then backed it up with a comment along the lines of “…X, who hasn’t been attending Kev’s festivals for 3 years”…huh?
Regie, as one would expect, gave a reasoned, well-thought-out answer. I, on the other hand, who has given several reasoned answers in the past and, along with Regie, has calmed down several arguments decided to take a different tack. I lost it a bit. How dare someone come onto a board that was set up with the express purpose of improving the festival and rip it to shreds? Worse still how dare someone do that and then say they don’t even come to the Festivals (in such a way to imply that he didn’t come because he didn’t like them)? My response was, in part reasoned. I stated my case clearly and succinctly (unbelievable for me I know) and added a few expletives to show my anger.
I was taken to task by several people and I was accused of being the sort of person who kept people out of comics! For pity’s sake! I have been trying to bring the festival to my own town, I ran a comic book shop, I risk ridicule at school from pupils and colleagues by doing all I can to promote comic books! My parents think I’m mad because of my love of the art form and what I do to try and promote it (fortunately my wife shares my passion but with slightly less of the evangelical zeal I have).
So I’d had enough. If that is what they thought of me, screw them. I help run the damned festival and contribute ideas etc behind the scenes to Kev directly that he has acted on a number of times… Darn it I don’t want to build my part up I don’t do nearly enough but I do what I can (and I feel compelled to point out that Regie does a hell of a lot too and he’ll be doing a lot more next year). I left. Petulant and childish perhaps, but frankly I couldn’t take any more.
Right, that’s off my chest – time to move on.
Chris Weston, know him, yeah? What about Ian Kennedy? …less hands up now. Ian Kennedy is one of Chris’ heroes, a great artist and someone many UK readers will know the work of despite having never heard of him. Ian Kennedy has done work for virtually every British boys’ comic but he is perhaps best known for his work on Commando. Chris has interviewed Ian over on the Pulse www.comicon.com/pulse. This is the first in a series of interviews by Chris and if they are all like this one then I’ll have no problem recommending them all. Chris’ interview is laid back but incisive. One almost feels one is reading the script for an episode of Inside the Actors Studio (or whatever that show on the Biography Channel is called). It is easy to ask an artist what type of pencil he or she uses but it is quite another to understand the implications of the answer and to follow up with more questions. Chris discusses several technical aspects that I found fascinating and I feel that it is possible that Ian is also opening up more for Chris as a fellow professional than he might have done for a journalist. Go read it and judge for yourself.
Another column over and done with. If you liked it then tell your friends, if not… um…
