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Fletcher Hanks




Title Creator Publisher Series Price
You Shall Die By Your Own Evil Creation Fletcher Hanks Fantagraphics $22.22
($24.99 list)
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Read more and comment... 		Yes, the wait is over, it's here:  the follow-up volume to the most successful collection of comics by an obscure Golden Age cartoonist ever produced (by far), I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets by Fletcher Hanks.  And what a follow-up volume this is!  Everything you liked about the first volume is continued -- the high resolution scans, the fine quality printing, the quality paper stock, the modest design -- only this time you get more!  Whereas I Shall Destroy contained 15 Hanks stories in 106 pages, You Shall Die delivers a whopping 36 stories in 229 pandemonium packed pages.  As with the first, this volume is edited by Paul Karasik, only instead of an afterword in comics form, this time around he provides a introduction that fills us in on more details of his life and career as well as providing some critical perspective.  This is one book that was well worth the wait.  Just make sure you take your time while reading it, and savor each story:  this copious compendium completes the publication of all known comics works by Fletcher Hanks; after you've closed the book on the last tale... that's it!
Supermen Greg Sandowski, Jonathan Lethem, Jack Kirby, Will Eisner and more ... Fantagraphics $22.22
($24.95 list)
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Read more and comment... 		>> edited and designed by Greg Sadowski  >> introduction by Jonathan Lethem  >> Ladies and gentlemen!  Step right up and see the wonders of the ages!  This is where it all began:  the protoplasmic early days of the superhero comic book -- wild & heady, zany & crazy, fantastic & non-sensical, rough around the edges; all this and more.  Reading these stories is like witnessing history in the making, it is being present at the birth.  Sure, we've all read those original Superman and Batman stories along with other DC classics, as well as a those old Captain America, Submariner, Human Torch tales, and maybe a few other Golden Age Marvels (well, Timelys, actually), but these are usually presented in a self-promoting fashion by their corporate owners which mitigates and obscures the historical context in which these works need to be read to fully appreciate their novelty.  The work here spans the years 1936 to 1941, with the bulk of it originating in 1939 and 1940.  It is divided by publisher and includes the Comics Magazine Company, Chesler, Centaur, Fox, MLJ, Fiction House, Columbia, Your Guide/Rhoda and Novelty Press,  Some of the earliest work by the brightest stars of the Golden Age are collected here:  Jack Kirby, Will Eisner, Lou Fine, Jack Cole, Basil Wolverton, Bill Everett, Ogden Whitney, Dick Briefer, Fred Guardineer, and, yes, Fletcher Hanks.  It appears that this volume has been put together employing high quality scans of the original comic books which were then digitally restored and and enhanced and then crisply printed on flat (non-glossy) bright paper stock, and the results are excellent,  A minor quibble is that, for our money, we would have preferred an off-white paper that more closely matches the newsprint upon which these comics were originally printed, but this is negligible when stacked next to all that is right with the production.  While it should go without saying that no self-respecting comics scholar can pass this up, we hasten to add that anyone who misses the plain old fun that we associate with the term comic book, who wants a jolt of that good ol' four-color energy from back in the day, need look no further than this fine volume.
Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories: Volume Two David Mazzuchelli, Leif Goldberg, Brian Chippendale, Elinore Norflus and more ... Yale University Press $20.00
($28.00 list)
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Read more and comment... 		edited by Ivan Brunetti It's too early to say for certain, but this follow-up to Brunetti's already classic 2006 anthology, also published by Yale University Press, might just be even better than its precursor.  One thing's for certain:  Brunetti has held onto -- and further refined -- his editorial vision of arranging the work contained in this volume in an organic sequence, deftly managing to map out the similarities between artists so that each piece flows smoothly into into the other, creating an amazing sense of an innate connectivity between all areas of comics here on display.  This book is a powerful ally in the struggle to bring the light of comics to those poor souls still dwelling in the darkness.  It's the perfect choice to turn on a friend or relative to the joy, beauty and pleasures of our favorite medium.  Hold onto your hats, here's the contributor list:  Daniel Clowes, Saul Steinberg, Sammy Harkham, Chris Ware, R. Sikoryak, Michael Kupperman, Drew Friedman, Mark Beyer, Mack White, Jayr Pulga, Renee French, Kim Deitch, Richard Sala, J. Bradley Johnson, Archer Prewit, Anonymous (utility sketchbook), HJ Tuthill, Milt Gross, Bill Holman, Harvey Kurtzman, R.Crumb, Basil Wolverton, Art Spiegelman, Jess, John Hankiewicz, Tim Hensley, Bill Griffith, Richard McGuire, Gilbert Hernandez, Jim Woodring, David Collier, Eugene Teal, Charles Burns, Karl Wirsum, Gary Panter, Paper Rad, Fletcher Hanks, CF, Charles Forbell, Ron Rege, Jr., Winsor McCay, Matthew Thurber, Souther Salazar, Kevin Scalzo, Megan Kelso, James McShane, Laura Park, Vanessa Davis, Onsmith, Joe Matt, Jeffrey Brown, Martin Cendreda, Dave Kiersh, John Porcellino, Carrie Golus/Patrick Welch, Jessica Abel, Cole Johnson, Lynda Barry, Debbie Drechsler, Diane Noomin, Aline Kominsky-Crum, Ariel Bordeaux, Chester Brown, Anders Nilsen, Joe Sacco, Phoebe Gloeckner, Elinore Norflus, Brian Chippendale, Leif Goldberg, David Mazzuchelli, Jerry Moriarty, Ben Katchor, Frank Santoro, Dan Zettwoch, Kevin Huizenga, Harvey Pekar/R.Crumb, Carol Tyler, Maurice Vellekoop, Seth, Adrian Tomine, Jaime Hernandez & David Heatley.  It's simply amazing.  Comics Power!  PLEASE NOTE:  We feel compelled to mention that this volume includes several pieces that contain quite explicit sexual content; and while this content represents only a miniscule fraction of the total, it nevertheless renders this volume fit for ADULTS ONLY.
I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets!: The Comics of Fletcher Hanks Fletcher Hanks Fantagraphics $16.95
($19.95 list)
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Read more and comment... 		A treat for the refined sensibilities of comics connoisseurs, the work of Fletcher Hanks has been gaining fans for at least as long as Art Spiegelman has been including it in his slide-show/lecture.  Crudely marvelous, these comics somehow manage to exactly embody the early innocence of the Golden Age.  These are comics trapped in time, like a fly in amber.  Working before the conventions of heroic fantasy comics had solidified, Hanks was free to pursue his own inner visions without having to worry about whether he was doing it "right."  It would literally be impossible to have produced these comics even a few years later, as editors (and readers) would have come to expect certain levels of predictability and adherence to the established codes.  You can palpably feel Hanks forging ahead with only pencil, pen & ink and paper as he creates his own unique style straight out of his imagination.  In some respects, the work contained in this volume resembles some comics currently being made by a new breed of younger creators -- such as Mat Brinkman and Brian Chippendale -- who have either chosen to disregard established comics traditions or never learned them in the first palce, making the work of Hanks feel strangely contemporary at times.