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Title: The Golden Age (Elseworlds) by James Robinson ISBN: 1-56389-203-0 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 October, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.25 (12 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Another look at times past
Comment: The Golden Age is another "Elseworlds" examination of comics history. By using such rarely seen characters as Captain Triumph and Mr.America along with the "big guns" of the era (Green Lantern, The Atom,etc.)James Robinson visits a Post WWII America where superheroes are considered suspect, and only those who conform are to be trusted. Using superheroes to comment on McCarthyism may seem to be a stretch, but Robinson makes the story challenging with many twists. The "alternate history" concept gives the author the freedom to take chances, but also eliminates the element of "this can't be happening" suspense. Too many sub plots (Hourman's addiction, Starman's breakdown) get in the way of the more compelling central tale.
Paul Smith's art is a wonder throughout. Shifting from the well-lit scenes of Dyna-man to Paul Kirk's despair, Smith constantly creates visuals that hold your attention and never let you forget the true wonder of this medium; the ability for two dimensional, brightly colored figures to fascinate and entertain.
Rating: 5
Summary: Absolutely golden
Comment: I'm a huge mark for Golden Age heroes. The major problem with the comic books of yesteryear is that the heroes were two dimensional, completely lacking in personality. They were all upstanding, usually rich, and basically boring, when not in costume. If it wasn't for the creative gimmicks and colorful costumes, the men and women behind the masks were interchangeable. James Robinson's updating of these classic Golden Agers is insightful and refreshing. He takes these legends and creates distinctive, and relatively believable, personal backgrounds for each of them. Yet he does this without diminishing the fun and nostalgia of those earlier tales. While congratulating Robinson, I feel inclined to point out the influence of Alan Moore's Watchmen. While Watchmen may have set the standard for alternate takes on the traditional DC/Marvel universes, Robinson and Smith's work here easily lives up to that lofty standard.
Paul Smith does a great job on the art, subtly employing updated pencilling techniques along with a very distinctive golden age era style. The colors in this book are also great, obviously far superior to the comic books of decades past. My only problem with the art lies with the lack of differentiation between some of the alter egos of these costumes heroes. Since most of these guys basically had the same blonde hair, chiseled features, erect postures, and well tailored suits back in the day, sometimes it's difficult to tell them apart, at least in the early chapters. As you read on, Robinson adds humanistic touches of doubts, addictions, regrets and redemption to enrich the characters well beyond their original incarnations.
This collection covers a complete story arc, which is great, but I must admit that I would love to read more tales of the Golden Age from James Robinson and Paul Smith. James Robinson is easily one of the top 5 to 10 comic book writers out there. Check out his popular, and critically acclaimed, Starman (another update of a Golden Ager) series if you don't believe me.
Rating: 4
Summary: Deconstructing Fascism with Comics
Comment: In the introduction to "The Golden Age," the author mentions Moore's "Watchmen" as a source of inspiration. In fact, the idea that superheroes are fascist tools isn't a new one, and "Watchmen" explored that same issue, but from a Reagan-era hysteria point of view. "The Golden Age" returns readers to a simpler time, when apple pie and the Stars and Stripes were good, and Hammers and Sickles and All Things Red were bad, and that was that.
Since superheroes, especially traditional superheroes, represent the same dualistic worldview- ultimate good and ultimate evil, with very little in between - it's natural that they be used as a vehicle to explore the darker aspects of living with such a limiting cosmology. "Golden Age" takes some of the classic superheroes and does just that, focusing on the McCarthy-era, post-WWII hysteria. On one hand, America had a lot of to be proud of, fighting a successful war to rid the world of obviously evil enemies. But, on the other, the Red Menace was growing, an evil that no one could really define yet everyone agreed was bad. Enter the superheroes, fighting for all that is good and American.
But where does the line between fascism in the name of good, and fascism in the name of evil, fall? Or is there even a difference?
While "The Golden Age's" point isn't exactly subtle, sometimes ideologies must be taken to the extreme to show how their application would be absurd. This it does with style and elegance, making it an interesting story for anyone interested in comics as literature, or as art (or both). "The Golden Age" is definitely worth your time.
Final Grade: B
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Title: JSA: Justice Be Done (Book 1) by James Robinson, David S. Goyer, Steve Sadowski ISBN: 1563896206 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Ultimates by Mark Millar, Bryan Hitch, Andrew Currie ISBN: 0785109609 Publisher: Marvel Books Pub. Date: August, 2002 List Price(USD): $12.99 |
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Title: Starman: Sins of the Father (Book 1) by James Robinson ISBN: 1563892480 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 January, 1996 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Kingdom Come (Graphic Novel) by Mark Waid, Alex Ross ISBN: 1563893304 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 October, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Starman: Night and Day (Book 2) by James Robinson ISBN: 1563892707 Publisher: DC Comics Pub. Date: 01 March, 1997 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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