What's happening, Groove-ophiles! Many is the time Ol' Groove has mentioned that Steve Skeates is one of my all-time fave writers, and today's example of Sir Steve's scintillating storytelling skills should make it sufficiently self-evident as to why I so speak! Originally appearing in Eerie #32 (cover-dated March 1971), Skeates' "Superhero!", illustrated by the incredible Tom Sutton, turns our expectations of a superhero on its ear--a decade before guys like Alan Moore made such shenanigans cool. Short though it may be, this titanic tale gives ya plenty to sink your teeth into. Dig it, baby!
Looks like Skeates had some residual anger at Steve Ditko to work out of his system...
ReplyDeleteExcellent! This is one of my favorite stories from Eerie. Thanks for posting it.
ReplyDelete"It ain't enough he's foulin' up the caper - he gives lectures too!"
ReplyDeleteThat's hilarious!Had Skeates been reading Ditko's Mr. A?
Nice twist too.
At the risk of being obvious, "Crime Crusher's" rhetoric sounds familiar: "There is good and there is evil! They are opposites! They do not mix! A man cannot be partly evil!"
ReplyDeleteStraight out of Mr. A.
Given that Skeates worked with Ditko at DC in the late sixties, writing this story was probably cathartic for him.
This could be where Kurt Busiek got his idea for the Batman-like vampire hero the Confessor in ASTRO CITY:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Confessor_%28comics%29
Nice twist ending--I wasn't expecting it!
ReplyDeleteStrange but true: the 1st page of the 1st MOON KNIGHT story in MARVEL SPOTLIGHT (by Doug Moench & Don Perlin) is ver similar in layout to the 1st page of the "Crime Crusher" story. (His costume is B&W, too.)
ReplyDelete