Creeping Death from Neptune: The Life And Comics Of Basil Wolverton Vol. 1

Amazing artis! Ahead of the curve and times! I can not believe a lot of his ideas were rejected. He came into his own once the nineteen fifties kicked in.

I was one of those bitterly disappointed by the delay of this book. I was further disappointed to read that it was not, after all, going to contain the legendary 17 SF and horror stories Wolverton wrote and drew in the 50s. But there are times when I don't mind being wrong, and this is one of them. We should be thankful that the publisher changed direction from the original intent, turning it from a story collection to a full and complete history.I am seriously loving this book! Greg Sadowski is well known for writing great histories of comics legends, and this one is no exception.Basil Wolverton was practically there from the start, when comic book publishers in the late 30s began to use original rather than reprinted newspaper comics. Fortunately for us, he saved his correspondence from editors and publishers, so we have an in-depth history of the beginnings of the comic book industry.Some of the early material had been reprinted before, especially in Bill Spicer's excellent issues of Graphic Story Magazine, but this is probably as complete as it's going to get. As Wolverton developed his style and artistic chops, it just gets more fabulous with each series.The only negative to these series is that once you are hooked, they end abruptly, as the publishers vacillated and changed their criteria or went out of business, but what we have can only be described as strange and wonderful. The art alone is worth the entire purchase, but the stories also have a unique sensibility, set in a cold, hostile universe, something I can only describe as existential, where villains are coldly brought to justice and dispatched without remorse. It's also unique how "diverse" Wolverton's characters are, with grotesque aliens acting and talking no differently from humans, and treated with the same respect by the heroes. His background was obviously space opera pulp fiction, with concepts unusual for "mere" comic books.Reading both the history and the actual comics has been such a joy that I dread reaching the end of the book. I would give it at least 6 stars if it were possible.If you love Wolverton's work half as much as I do, you cannot possibly live without this awesome volume.

I've been enjoying this book immensely -- it's so much better than I had hoped. Half-biography, half-comics, and most importantly those two aspects are perfectly combined into one seamless narrative.The biography is blended with tons of accompanying artwork on every page...and the artwork is carefully captioned to help understand Wolverton's development in context of the times. There are also big sections devoted to super-rare comics that I've never seen before. This book truly shows the development of a unique cartoon genius!Some of the comics that are included give a revealing glimpse into Wolverton's creative process, his development and his artistic response to constructive feedback. We are able to see early comic strips that were rejected, along with the very detailed rejection letters that were filled with sage advice from various editors. We also get to see the same stories as redrawn in response to the critiques. I've never seen anything like this in any book, and since Wolverton is such a huge inspiration for me, "Creeping Death from Neptune" is a delightful treat.

Now THIS is what we've been waiting for since we were kids, reading PLOP magazine on the beach. A glorious, incredibly-well researched and meticulously assembled overview of the genius of Basil Wolverton in a reasonably priced, HARDCOVER edition! The work and love that went in to collecting and gathering information on Mr. Wolverton's work is absolutely staggering. Lavish, mostly full reprints of everything from his childhood comic-book drawings up until his perversely beautiful "warts and all (but mostly warts)" early-later work. I was so excited to see this - and not being a "super-hero" comic book kind of guy, I immediately bought two! And I cannot wait for the second volume to be published, when he really kicks in to high gear. I cannot recommend this title strongly enough - BUY IT! BUY TWO! WAIT FOR THE SECOND VOLUME, AND BUY TWENTY OF EACH! You will not regret this purchase if you are any sort of Basil Wolverton fan at all.

Don't worry. There is much more art than yapping about Wolverton's life. Wolverton is so talented and amazing that even the early sketches are interesting. There are great full length stories too. The book is presented beatifully and with awareness of what is already in print so the pages are rich with novel and essential stuff. Of course this book only makes me want Volume 2 more. This is an amazing time to be a Wolverton fan. I just want a time machine forward a little bit to when Vol. 2 is available. Also, I'd love to see Powerhouse Pepper get another look--maybe in a book like the Fantagraphics Scacehawk book. Fantagraphics Books is very cool regarding how much Basil Wolverton they feed us and the love for his material that they always show with their beautiful presentation.

I highly recommend this Wonderful book, with LOTS of reproductions, but if you're looking for specific Wolverton art I'd recommend waiting till vol 2 (&3 ?), come out and pick your favorite period. This is the start of a biography, so don't expect to see his later Space Hawk, horror or Plop art here. But what it does have is great.

Excellent compendium of rare and hard to find material that will send the Wolverton fan into paroxysms of joy and offers rewards to the general appreciator of comics history as well. The biographical information nicely dovetails with the examples of Wolverton's creative development without being excessively dry or pedantic. We look forward to the next volume and the insights it may afford. Perhaps this project might unclog the logjam that has long kept the vast bulk of Wolverton's Timely /Marvel humor material from being reprinted.

Everything as advertised

This is a book that's long overdue. I've been waiting for it for more than a quarter of a century. Quite simply, it's the best collection of Wolverton's science-fiction there has ever been.Basil Wolverton drew his first attempt at an sf strip not long after the BUCK ROGERS dailies started in 1929, and it's great to finally get a good look at it. He submitted stories to the early sf pulps, and we get the opportunity here to read letters to Wolverton from editors David Lasser at WONDER STORIES and Harry Bates at ASTOUNDING. His career in comic books began in in 1938, in the same month SUPERMAN was launched. What Wolverton wanted to draw, however, wasn't superheroes, but sf in a style informed by his earlier reading -- adventures in an interplanetary setting.A complete run, in colour, of SPACE PATROL is perhaps the highlight here. The plots are by no means sophisticated, but it's freer and more inventive than SPACEHAWK, which followed it. It's a delight to look at, and fun to read. (The full run of SPACEHAWK, available in a separate volume, is not duplicated here.)Before SPACE PATROL, there are the gorgeously textured pages of MILT ARCHER, METEOR MURPHY, METEOR MORGAN and VULTURES OF THE VOID. These were never coloured for the comic books, and are presented here in crisp black & white.The book is handsomely produced. It's a hardcover, and opens flat, which makes it easy to linger over the artwork. Of the 304 pages, nearly two-thirds are given over to comic strips and comic book pages. The remainder of the book offers a richly illustrated account of Wolverton's life and career up to the end of 1941. Greg Sadowski's done an excellent job of assembling this material, and of setting the artist -- ever hopeful, but too often frustrated -- in the context of the emerging comic book industry.Wolverton's most remarkable sf stories, which appeared in the early '50s, will be collected in the second volume. Together, the two volumes will be the essential starting point for anyone curious about this idiosyncratic artist, or attracted by his eye-tickling and oddly beautiful ugliness. If you have a serious interest in the history of American comic books, or in the roots of comic book sf, you ought to investigate.

Premetto che del grande Basil Wolverton conoscevo molto poco. Illustrazioni e storie lette sul web o comparse su riviste varie. Su consiglio di un amico autore di fumetti, mi sono fiondato sul volume in questione deciso a saperne di più sulla produzione dell'autore rimanendo piacevolmente sorpreso.Il volume è il primo di due che ricopre la produzione dal 1909 al 1941 riportandone estratti e storie più salienti. Non è una ristampa integrale, ma una selezione di storie. Il contenuto delle stesse varia da quelle umoristiche sino a quelle di fantascienza con alcune piccole chicche.Devo dire che attendo spasmodicamente il secondo volume dopo aver avuto la fortuna di leggere questo volume.Lo stesso volume è in grande formato, cartonato e rilegato a filo (unica nota riguarda proprio la rilegatura a filo della casa editrice che non mi pare molto solida, ma ribadisco la qualità del volume è davvero alta).

Amazing and thorough study on the artists' career since the very begining, including early sketches and even cartoons made as a child, and personal and familiar facts as well, several samples of first professional art attempts and achievements.. A truly useful guide to learn where Basil Wolverton's unique style came from. Superb printing quality and contents, Thoroughly happy wih this book, It's really worth the last cent, no doubt. A must for buffs on the raw, purest Science Fiction comics and one of its more representative authors.

Toda a história da luta do Basil para viver e se manter no mercado. Cabra teimoso e paciente... mas o talento e o instinto venceram no final... pena q o reconhecimento veio tardio, à la Van Gogh...