Sadly, Marvel's experiment in more adult, non-superhero-related material didn't quite pan out, for after just eight issues, Marvel's second attempt at Savage Tales folded up shop.
Not for lack of trying--indeed, a lot of the material in Savage Tales Mk.2 is good stuff--terse, well-told, drawn by a great group of artists.
And you can see that right off the bat, with this cover by our pal Joe Jusko--usually, when artists draw people falling from some great height, they look like still figures. But Joe here really delivers a sense of movement with our buxom blond ass-kicker, as he falls toward the camera, ready to shoot (and stab, apparently) some ne'er-do-well. Nice job, Joe.
First up is "The Long Ride Home" by Chuck Dixon and the incomparable John Severin.
Usually I post the title page for a story, but there's a sequence featuring a brutal gun battle that Severin executes with perfect elan:
...someone should really collect John Severin's b/w magazine material. Really.
Next is "Rescued by Luck" by Sam Glanzman:
If anything, "Killing" is even more brutal than the previous stories.
Next is "Feud" by the late, great Archie Goodwin and Val Mayerik:
Next is "Rescued by Luck" by Sam Glanzman:
...like Severin, Glanzman didn't romanticize war and combat, instead told adult stories about adults. No Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandoes here.
Next is "Dead Ringer", which opens with one of the more gruesome splash pages you'll see:
Next is "Dead Ringer", which opens with one of the more gruesome splash pages you'll see:
..I would not want to be that guy!
By John Arcudi and Vincent Waller, the story only gets more weird and gruesome from there.
Next is "Chindits!" by Wayne Vansant, followed by "The Killing Kind" by Dixon, Mike Docherty, and Armando Gil:
By John Arcudi and Vincent Waller, the story only gets more weird and gruesome from there.
Next is "Chindits!" by Wayne Vansant, followed by "The Killing Kind" by Dixon, Mike Docherty, and Armando Gil:
Next is "Feud" by the late, great Archie Goodwin and Val Mayerik:
..tt features, among other things, a guy in zoot suit blowing himself up by his own grendade, a murderous thug who looks like Jimmy Olsen, a guy getting splashed with scalding coffee, ending with a woman chopping a man with a meat cleaver. Fun!
Last in this jam-packed issue is a short story (only four pages), "Blood and Ice" by Charles Santino and Val Semeiks, a grim tale of life in the arctic wilderness:
...it has a very grim ending, an appropriate way to wrap up the Savage Tales series, when you think about it.
Unfortunately, Marvel must have canceled the series very abruptly, since no mention is made of this being the last issue on the letters page. Savage Tales just...disappeared.
Last in this jam-packed issue is a short story (only four pages), "Blood and Ice" by Charles Santino and Val Semeiks, a grim tale of life in the arctic wilderness:
Unfortunately, Marvel must have canceled the series very abruptly, since no mention is made of this being the last issue on the letters page. Savage Tales just...disappeared.
1 comment:
I've always liked that cover but in hindsight her boobs should be on top of the chute and not behind it. I guess I understand boobs better now that I'm older! :-)
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