DORIS DANGER SEEKS WHERE GIANT MONSTERS CREEP & STOMP #1 ADVANCE REVIEW

[Robin Lewis]

<a href="http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/8341/dorisdanger6cx.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/4983/dorisdangertn9us.jpg" hspace=10 align=left alt="Doris Danger Seeks Where Giant Monsters Creep & Stomp"></a>Reviewer: Robin Lewis, lucillerobin@aol.com
Story Title: Also known as Tabloia #577!

Giant Monsters! Amusing Letters!! Pinups!!! Word-searches!!!!

Creator, writer, artist, letterer, editor: Chris Wisnia
Production, front & back cover design, logos & colours: Wesley Ruff
Inker (pages 7-31): Dick Ayers(!)
Pin-ups: Mike Allred, Gene Colan, Thomas YeatesSteve Rude, John Severin, Irwin Hasen, Bill Sienkiewicz, Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Mario Hernandez, Ryan Sook, Ramona Fradon, Tony Millionaire, Sam Kieth, & Mike Mignola
Editor In Chief: Rob Oder
Published by: Salt Peter Press

Tabloia was a short-lived black and white anthology comic that ran for five issues in 2004-2005. It featured such delights as Dick Hammer: Conservative Republican Private Investigator! and Dr Debunko: Debunker of the Supernatural!, but the last story in every issue was a 'reprint' of the terrifying and astonishing adventures of Doris Danger, a photo journalist who followed the wreckage-strewn paths of giant monsters wherever they led her, but always seemed to lose her camera before she gained the conclusive proof that these beasts existed. These stories were presented utterly without continuity or context, each episode drawn seemingly at random from the vast archives of the long-running and entirely entirely-made-up history of Tabloia. They were a deeply affectionate tribute to the original monster stories of Lee, Lieber, Kirby and Ayers, and were drawn in the manner of Kirby's own distinctive style. As proof of just how affectionate a tribute this is to these works the inking on most of the pages is actually done by none other than Dick Ayers. If you don't recognise the name it should be enough for you to know that he's the guy who inked the covers of both Fantastic Four #1 and The Avengers #1.

<A HREF="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/ind/tabloia/danger01.jpg" TARGET="_blank"><IMG SRC=" http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/ind/tabloia/danger01T.jpg" hspace=10 align=right ALT="Doris Danger takes on Krakapoo!"></A>This large format book collects together all the Doris Danger strips from Tabloia and throws in a bunch of new pages for good measure (including the tale of the creature with possibly the finest tagline in the book: "AAHBLAAH! The Creature Who Defied Science ... by Punching!"). If you're after nuanced storytelling and naturalistic dialogue this isn't the book for you. If, on the other hand, you're looking for enormous monsters creeping and stomping, plotting that seems to spring directly from the mind of a lunatic with ADD and dialogue such as 'Redneck fools! You've doomed us all!' you're in the right place. Giant monsters have gone through a bit of a revival recently, with Marvel publishing a few new titles featuring such favourites as Fin Fang Foom, releasing a shiny hardcover of their most famous appearances and even having them pop up in books like Warren Ellis' Nextwave. Following their example, Wisnias' monsters often wear the regulation tight-fitting pants to cover up their modesty, and all have fantastically evocative names: FUGGABLUH!, SPANKO!, SPLUHH!, DABBA-DOO!. The exclamation marks come thick and fast as Doris Danger attempts to discover the truth behind their appearances and their connection to the many strange characters that accompany them.

<A HREF="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/ind/tabloia/danger03.jpg" TARGET="_blank"><IMG SRC="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/ind/tabloia/danger03T.jpg" hspace=10 align=left ALT="Doris Danger takes on Krakapoo!"></A> You, like Doris, will probably try and attempt to discern some thread of continuity or logic in these stories. A futile notion. Aliens, robots and deranged, giggling scientists spring up from panel to panel, each forming another layer of paranoid conspiracies and convoluted plotting only truly understandable to those who possess the early (and entirely non-existent) issues of Tabloia mentioned in the many footnotes. Which is exactly as it should be. Common sense and intelligibility would destory precisely the things that make these stories so enjoyable. Each one reads as if you've just switched on the TV and caught the most interesting ten-minute segment of an old Roger Corman B-movie. Drawn by Kirby. Although he's still universally regarded as one of the most important and influential figures in comics, Kirby's work hasn't all aged as well as some artists from his time, but the pages here are rendered with such care and love they manage to plug straight into some cerebral cortex of comics nostalgia and seduce you with charm alone. That's not to say the monsters aren't impressive: how could one fail to marvel at THE HONKING THING! or his battle with PLOPSPLU!. What's perhaps most impressive about the art is the degree to which Wisnias has managed to emulate Kirby's style. It's an astonishing achievement, and manages to rise above the level of pastiche to evoke Kirby's strongest quality: his inexhaustible reserves of imagination.

As well as the strips themselves there are fifteen pages of pin-ups featuring a whole menagerie of monsters drawn by, among others, X-Factor's Ryan Sook and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. There's a wordsearch on the very final page that doubles as a loving message from the editor, a double-page spread of insulting letters and a 'Shocking and Truly Hard to Believe' history of the real Doris Danger's professional life and the depiciton of her career in comics. It's an attractive package, and well worth the ten bucks that you were only going to waste on gumballs or Adam Sandler DVD's. You might have to hunt it down to get a copy, but if you don't, you'll never know the majesty of PWAPWAPWAH! The Fiend Who Reaches Into The Sky!, and your life will be the poorer for your ignorance.

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Read Comixfan’s interview with Tabloia creator Chris Wisnia here.

Visit Tabloia Weekly Magazine’s website at http://www.tabloia.com

[James Groves]

Excellent review, mate. Sold me into buying it. The Jack Kirby flavor to it is an instant sell for me. As is:

"AAHBLAAH! The Creature Who Defied Science ... by Punching!"

Sounds cool.

[Mitch Brown]

Great review Robin.

I've been a big fan of Chris' work since Alex hooked me up with Tabloia last year. I too received a copy of this from Chris and truly the Doris Danger special is a delight. The large format really does wonders for Chris' art.

While its a shame that Tabloia ended prematurely, its great that the stories can live in on in specials like this and the upcoming Lump Trade Paperback. If you're a fan of good, old-fashioned pulp fiction and comic books then its well worth tracking down the single issues of Tabloia as well.

Chris Wisnia is a great talent and a hell of a nice guy, and I can't pimp his work enough (As you can probably tell!)

[Ovid]

Oooh, this sounds great! When's it out? And are the other strips from Tabloia going to be similarly collected? I missed it first time out.

[wisnias]

Thanks for all the kind words and enthusiam, gang! And an opportunity for this shameless plug:

I've still got plenty of copies of "Doris Danger" and all the issues of "Tabloia." If you realize you can't live without them, you can order them at my website, www.tabloia.com. I'm charging cover price, but include free shipping. Mile High Comics has the books listed for between $8 and $15.

Tabloia had four stories in each issue.
1. "The Lump,"
2. "Dick Hammer: Conservative Republican Private Investigator,"
3. "Dr. DeBunko: Debunker of the Supernatural," and
4. "Doris Danger."

Now that the Doris book is finished, I've submitted "The Lump Trade Paperback" to Diamond, for April Previews, shipping to stores in June. It will have original sketches and layouts, interviews, a four-page story published in a British horror anthology, and a brand-new 3-page epilogue.

I have many story ideas for Dick Hammer and Dr. DeBunko, at which time I also plan to collect their adventures into nicer packages.

Chris Wisnia

[Ovid]

Free shipping to the UK?