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LEGAL ACTION COMICS Vol. 2
(
www.dannyhellman.com)
Review by Mike Hunter
Whatever one may think of the ever-continuing lawsuit of Ted Rall versus Danny Hellman (now in its fifth year!), attempts to raise money for the defense of the latter have spawned a significantly larger and finer sequel to the original
Legal Action Comics anthology, likewise assembled with creator-donated art and stories.
Legal Action Comics Vol. 2 is a handsomely designed and produced 6" x 9" 290-page trade paperback, retailing for $18.95. Besides contributors I'm more familiar with (the ever-superb Tony Millionaire has a couple of stories with a recurring "injury to the ear" motif, Art Spiegelman's sketchbook drawings leave me wishing for a book-length collection of the same, Kim Deitch and "Waldo" talk about the immaturity of cartoonists, Rick Altergott's "Doofus" almost gets th' crap beat out of him, and on and on), there's a multitude of impressive work by less-frequently seen talents.
In Doug Skinner's "Walter and Benny Strike a Deal," two bored oldsters decide to conjure the Devil. Their dialogue is cleverly rendered in graphic symbolism (with helpful translations beneath), the drawings original and inventive. "Ghost Road," by Tim Lane, is a moody, poetic and powerful meditation on modern malaise. Rick Trembles does a story on "The Wheels of Bureaucracy," where creatures labor and are squashed in a surreal urban environment, rendered in that odd "perspective-less" style of some architectural drawings. Quite witty, in a thoroughly deadpan fashion. Hugo's "Herbert the Pervert" answers an ad for "lonely foreign girls...seeking to marry American men," and gets hilariously shafted – in more ways than one – big-time. In "Ghosts!", Nick Mullins' "take" of the cast of
Scooby Doo do their version of Ginsberg's "Howl." Neil Swaab's "The Secret Language of Women" is gruesomely accurate, and makes me
very glad not to be dating any more. There are several excellent stories written and drawn by Hellman himself (as well as the witty back cover) in this collection, ranging from moody and surreal ("The Death of Baron Vapid," "Blind Butcher") to the antically comedic "Peaceful Atom and the Mystery Mice." His art is fluid and assured, his storytelling on these works multileveled. He is, in short, a significant talent, who deserves far greater acclaim.
This is but the very tip of the iceberg. (Despite my highlighting more "serious" work, there
are a lot of very funny comics here, sometimes of the exceedingly tasteless variety.) The range of styles, moods, and approaches gathered within
Legal Action Comics Vol. 2 is remarkable. A juicy feast indeed.
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