Savage Tales (Vol.2) #1 - Marvel

Ok, well, Thanksgiving's over--we've eaten--twice (we spend half the day at Trace's sister's house, then finish it off at my parents, eating way more than we should at each)--and we're all sitting home now, too bloated to move, waiting for ER to come on. So why not post again? At least my fingers have remained somewhat near their original, pre-Thanksgiving shape.

This is Savage Tales, Volume 2, #1. Marvel had tried a series called Savage Tales back in the early 70s, but we'll cover that later. This is the second go-round, started in 1985 under the editorial hand of Marvel mainstay Larry Hama.

I remember finding this magazine at a newsstand in August of '85, back when my parents and I still went to the Poconos for vacation, like we had every year since before I was born. I normally perused the spinner racks and left the magazines shelves alone, but this (plus Savage Sword of Conan, another title we'll get to later) was placed near the spinners, so I picked it up.

I immediately knew that this was probably not the kind of comic magazine my parents would want me to read--one look at the gun-totin' pneumatic babes on the front cover told me that--so of course I bought it immediately.

Behind the gorgeous Michael Golden cover, there's an editorial by Hama explaining the magazine's philosophy--"Here it is, the first issue ever of Savage Tales. Hope you like it and if you don't, 'xin-loi' to you and the cat that dragged you in." Oh yeah, am I glad I bought this.

Next there's some brief bios of the creators, and then it starts off with a Vietnam story, "The 5th to 1st" (presaging Marvel's The 'Nam comic), by Doug Murray and Michael Golden. It's an excellent story, tersely written and superbly illustrated. I'm no war comics expert, but I'd say it's one of the best war-comics-stories I've ever read.

Next is "Sky Warriors: Marla", written and drawn by Herb Trimpe. It features lots of bi-planes, a hobby Trimpe enjoys in real life. While it's not the knockout that preceeded it, Trimpe's love of subject comes across.

Then there's "Avenger" by Archie Goodwin and John Severin (him again!), which is one of the best short stories I've read in a comic, period, war story or no. A grim, no-kidding tale of revenge. Man, that Goodwin could really write.

Fourth is "Blood & Guts: A Pizza", a humorish, post-apocalyptic story featuring a main badass named Blood fighting off zombies en route to get a pizza. It was written and drawn by Will Jungkuntz, whose name I had never seen before or since, until I had learned he had died very young when Frank Miller dedicated the first issue of The Dark Knight Returns to him a year later. The story is so-so, but the art and storytelling is fluid and attractive. It's shame Mr.Jungkuntz didn't get to live longer and develop his obvious talents.

Last is "Across the Rio Grande" by Don Kraar and the legendary Gray Morrow. A solid story of bravery and revenge, a nice way to wrap the issue up.

This first issue has an amazing the roster of talent. This mag was only a $1.50, yet it had art by Golden, Trimpe, Severin, and Morrow, and some great stories to boot. Can't be beat.

Alas, at the age I read it--fourteen--I think I was a tad too young to appreciate all the grim, terse, adult goings-on on display here. I don't remember searching for issue #2, and I think this series only lasted about ten issues total. Yet I hung on to this issue all these years, and as I got older I got to appreciate the stories more. I don't know how well Savage Tales mk.2 held on to the momentum from this first issue, but I can say overall I think it's a shame the magazine didn't find more of an audience. Any magazine that can put together this roster of talent deserves to be around for a while.

And if you don't agree--'xin-loi' to you and the cat that dragged you in!