Joe Staton
The Comics Journal #45 (February 1979)
Distributors: Bud Plant, Sea Gate, Well News Service
1. MARILYN BETHKE WATCH I. REVIEW: X-MEN #119.
Marilyn Bethke is our favorite early TCJ contributor, making this a special issue as she's first eviscerated in two letters in Blood & Thunder (Peter B. Gillis and Daniel Meyerowitz). Then we have the first of THREE reviews under her byline.
She succinctly punctures the Claremont/Byrne years: "I am constantly surprised by the otherwise critical and discerning fans who fall for this book. My usual reaction is to suggest they watch a television soap opera or two. The X-MEN is little more than ALL MY CHILDREN or THE DOCTORS with fancy superhero costumes and super-villains."
2. MARILYN BETHKE WATCH II. REVIEW: THE AVENGERS #181.
A rare positive review of a superhero comic. Bethke praises David Michelinie for "subtle characterizations" and "confront[ing] social and cultural issues in a light, matter-of-fact manner".
3. MARILYN BETHKE WATCH III. REVIEW: ADVENTURE COMICS #462.
And, we're back to our regular skewer...er, programming. "The story is anticlimactic and virtually pointless. There seems to be no real reason for the Batman's death, yet the story does not use that to make a statement about death or the irony of a superhero's lot."
4. MARILYN BETHKE WATCH IV. From E-Man to Batman: Joe Staton Interview.
This has always been a favorite early Journal interview, but I did not remember Marilyn Bethke (with partner Alexandre Koehn) conducting this offbeat interview with Joe Staton. Staton has some well thought out opinions on the comics industry and the mechanics of comics storytelling. Can you say, sequential pattern recognition?
5. ILLUSTRATION: FRED HEMBECK
I love this unusual drawing by Fred Hembeck, the only time I've seen him drawing in a more realistic style.
BONUS BLOOD AND THUNDER: Lot of respect for Guy Colwell's INNER CITY ROMANCE from fellow underground comix creator Leonard Rifas..
BONUS MYSTERY ILLUSTRATION: Scott McLeod = Scott (UNDERSTANDING COMICS) McCloud? Maybe everybody already knows this bit of history, in any case...
Scott McLeod (credited above along with "Contributing Artists") is responsible for the illustration below on page 24.
Scott McLeod also illustrated a 6-page comics story written by Kurt Busiek for ROCKET'S BLAST COMICOLLECTOR #148 (April 1979). On GCD, McLeod is credited as "McCloud".
The leap from McLeod the fan artist to McCloud the comics professional took five years with the publication of ZOT! #1 by Eclipse in 1984.
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