One of my goals for 2020 that I achieved was to increase the type of content on Pop Culture Podium - - not just comics, but books, film, music - and in 2021 I hope to add craft beer reviews.
The other goal was to post more comics reviews on the site, also achieved. I contributed over 900 comics reviews in 2020, plus several from guest contributors. For those new to this blog, pghhead is a.k.a. Mike Clarke, editor, writer, and curator of Pop Culture Podium.
In 2021 I’d like to cross over the 1,000 comics review barrier. That’s what this odyssey is about, beginning January 01, 2021. Wish me luck . . . . .
#42-47 SCOUT #20-21, SCOUT HANDBOOK, SCOUT #22-24 (Eclipse, June-October 1987) What a great way to wrap up a series! Things climax with Issue #24 in explosive fashion with land and air battles worthy of a World War III global slugfest. Truman’s art here is especially dynamic, with beautifully detailed landscapes, and expressive panoramic panels free of text, allowing the art to propel the story.
As I’m reading through all these issues, I keep thinking that Truman inserted the rock band side story just to indulge his interests. He finds a way to keep inserting them right into the story and justifies their presence. Satellite dishes are set up all across Arizona to jam the government’s television signals. Next, the rock band broadcasts in order to get people’s attention. Then, Senator Creek runs certain tapes that give evidence about the corrupt government, and what’s really been happening in the country.
Vice President Bill Loper’s put the POTUS out of commission and taken over. Everybody gets back together for a final stand against government forces at their back and an invading army from Communist Mexico crossing the border. The stolen missile gets dropped on Nevada by saboteurs and this set-up maneuver is what Loper was waiting for to put his plan into action. Truman depicts the aftermath and devastation in stark, narrow vertical panels.
The Scout Handbook: An Atlas To Survival In America was published in-between Issues #21 & #22 and is a great testament to the amount of research and detail that Truman put into his epic story. This contains maps, histories, weapons, tactical equipment, and character dossiers.
The battleground in the southwestern states is but the beginning, the catalyst that sets off global conflict. The United States is a third world country, just a bystander/victim of the conflict between the true super-powers - Soviet and Israeli forces. The fighting continues on the Texas -Mexico border with Communist Mexicans in Soviet armor squaring off against American National Guardsmen in Israel-supplied tanks. Russian troops cross the northern Iraq border to fight Israeli and Egyptian troops. Russian navy invades the Israeli coast. Fights occur along the Spanish and Italian borders. All this conceals the true conflict - - the final battle between The Legion of Man and the Samothracians.
Scout and Monday travel via space shuttle to disable the Russian space station, armored with atomic weapons pointed at Earth. Hey, at least the good guys win in the end. A fantastic send-off for this series, which spawned two spin-off mini-series (SWORDS OF TEXAS and NEW AMERICA) as well as SCOUT: WAR SHAMAN some months later.
Some years ago, Dynamite Entertainment packaged the SCOUT series in several trade paperbacks, with enhanced colors and extras. These are worth seeking out.
Lest you think this was all battle action, there is plenty of reflection, character insights, philosophy and social commentary throughout This final story arc rates FIVE STARS.
JOURNEY focuses on the escapades of Wolverine MacAlistaire, an experienced woodsman skilled in survival skills and enduring long periods of isolation. There’s an equally complex cast of characters, all unique, and vividly portrayed down to their peculiar ways of speaking. The pencil and ink, at times minimalist and other times well-detailed, black and white art style of writer/illustrator William Messner-Loebs won’t appeal to all readers but I’ve come to appreciate it and pick up on the subtle touches.
Here’s some of what’s in store for readers to explore: How to survive frigid blizzards by burying under the snow. Finding bodies trapped under the ice after falling through a frozen lake or stream. Enjoying the hospitality of a frontier family while things thaw out, entertaining by reading Lord Byron’s poetry aloud, discussing politics, trading, “injun” threats. Hunting forest bison. A gnarly old man of the woods, thought to be a demon, who announces his presence with giggles, concluding with one utterance: “Deathie!” Love/hate relationships with ornery dogs. Pride. Lustful dreams. Hunting forest badger. Stealing honey from beehives high in the trees. Encounters with traveling Frenchmen and Hessians, some friendly and some not so much. Poets, prophets, and crazy folk. A spy inside Fort Miami, and an Indian plot to attack. A crossover story with NORMALMAN that seems absurd but entertains. How to track down a runaway canoe. Experiencing the eclipse of the sun.
It’s a highly conceptualized world that readers can get lost in. IDW has collected JOURNEY in editions that will preserve this important work, and they are worth seeking out. FOUR AND ONE-HALF STARS.
Following the eclipse, a major earthquake occurs which dismantles the fort, and upends MacAlistaire as he tries to make his way towards the settlement. With a dry riverbed as a result, he has to abandon the canoe and make his way on foot through the snow and cold. The only thing that keeps him from giving up is crossing paths again with Jimmy Acorn, the singer of insane songs that at least lift his spirits. They meet up with German ex-soldiers (The Hessian Brothers) just in time to help erect a temporary lodge to shelter from the cold.
Beginning with Issue #17, Fantagraphic shifts to Baxter paper for a cleaner, crisper look and it makes a dramatic difference in the appearance of the art.
Ever since Issue #1, MacAlistaire has been carrying a wrapped package from Three-finger Pierre which he agreed to take across the Michigan wilderness to a small frontier village. Now, with the Boston poet Elmer Alyn Craft as his companion, they arrive at New Hope in western Michigan. Founded by three revolutionary war vets, the town has a dark and dangerous secret. The issues throughout this longer story arc reveal small bits of information regarding the big mystery until everything is revealed in Issue #24.
Why does a surviving twin brother pursue a hermetic existence in a cavern that once was a huge burial mound? Why does a young girl sleepwalk, reciting a riddle and speaking of a woman drowning in a river? What are the townsfolk so guarded in their speech and glancing about to see who else might be listening?
There’s an Iroquois village within a few miles of the settlement, yet there is no sense of impending violence despite what the townsfolk say, just some quiet surveillance by the Indians as if they are keeping a close eye on any hostilities that might emerge against them. They are portrayed here not as savages intent on eliminating the white man, but as a quiet society of intelligent woods folk that wish to keep their culture intact. It’s a nice spin from the usual depiction. When MacAlistaire trails one of their spies back to the village, he survives a near fatal attack by a huge wolf.
There’s a lot of depth to these stories, and creator Messner-Loebs inserts quite a bit of subtle commentary on the beliefs of the time on a variety of subjects without preaching. This seems very authentic.
Once all the mysteries of New Hope are explained, MacAlistaire and Craft are less worried about spending the winter there, but still a bit wary of many of the residents. Things get heated when the town officers decide the visitors need to pull their weight and contribute. Issue #24 ends on a real cliff-hanger when the village decides for MacAlistaire and Craft that they need to marry, and make the arrangements for them.
Alas, my collection ends with Issue #24. JOURNEY ended with Issue #27, then spun off into a three-issue JOURNEY: WARDRUMS limited series. FOUR AND ONE-HALF STARS.
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