tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28103455.post2802670076300415741..comments2024-03-09T05:53:59.542-05:00Comments on Oz and Ends: The Most Remarkable ManUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28103455.post-53131533729864361342008-03-29T14:27:00.000-05:002008-03-29T14:27:00.000-05:00I too loved the afterword, but I had to read it se...I too loved the afterword, but I had to read it several times because it was so disorienting at first. OK, Karasik finds Fletcher Hanks, and he is kind, unassuming, a war hero, helpful, just what you'd hope for in a superman -- but his birth date is wrong, it's too recent by about a generation. Then Karasik finds out that the Hanks he has met is the son, and that the father, the artist, was just an awful, evil man, for whom his son has no attachment and no respect. (Nor did I, when I read what the son had to say.)<BR/><BR/>So the dad, who could conceive of the superhero, was a horrible useless man, and the son, who wasn't interested in comic superheros at all, was someone altogether admirable. To me, the afterword was an astonishing story about the ability of the human spirit to seek the light.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28103455.post-34813767718724512942008-03-27T21:56:00.000-05:002008-03-27T21:56:00.000-05:00I got my first look at Fletcher Hanks's work in Ar...I got my first look at Fletcher Hanks's work in <A HREF="http://ozandends.blogspot.com/2007/01/art-out-of-its-mind.html" REL="nofollow"><I>Art Out of Time</I></A>, and then found more on the web. So this collection didn't have the power of a new discovery for me. <BR/><BR/>Which is not to say that Hanks's work isn't powerful in its way. "Puzzlingly effective," as <A HREF="http://ozandends.blogspot.com/2007/06/look-out-everyone.html" REL="nofollow">Jules Feiffer has said</A>. Like you, I found that a little at a time goes a long way. <BR/><BR/>My analysis of Hanks's work is that during the first superhero comics boom, publishers were putting <I>anything</I> on paper, and hadn't yet developed standards of what was appropriate and/or good quality. That economic situation can produce some wonderful creativity (e.g., Jack Cole) and some simply weird stuff.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28103455.post-25468519266568684042008-03-27T21:27:00.000-05:002008-03-27T21:27:00.000-05:00I agree with your assessment, to a point. Karasik...I agree with your assessment, to a point. Karasik's afterword was definitely the highlight of the book -- I like how it almost feels like a continuation of the story that precedes it, by virtue of the final panel being reprised on the author's computer screen. <BR/><BR/>I think the rest of the book is fascinating. It's bizarre to think that these stories were once considered (relatively) mainstream entertainment for children. The stories feature the sort of "ugly" cartooning and surreal juxtapositions that I associate with, say, Crumb's work, rather than with Golden Age comics. I enjoyed this aspect, but found that I could only read a single story at a time, meaning that the length of time it took me considerably longer for me to read than a lot of other graphic novels.Bill S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12786195100780643845noreply@blogger.com