Monday, March 30, 2015
MOKF Monday: "The Crystal Connection" by Moench and Gulacy
HiiiiiiiYA, Groove-ophiles! You've been hankering for more MOKF Mondays, haven't ya? Well, your patience is about to be greatly rewarded! We're heading back to MOKF #29 (March 1975) and "The Crystal Connection"! Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy were firmly buckled in to MOKF's driver's seat with this ish, and man, oh, man, did they ever stomp full-on the throttle! Not only did we get the return of Dr. Petrie, but we got the intros of Clive Reston (son of James Bond, great-nephew of Sherlock Holmes, don'tcha know) and major villains Carlton Velcro and Razorfist! Ooooo-EEE! Dig it, baby!!
A great comic, and a stunning last frame. Yikes.
ReplyDeletebut one thing always bothered me about Razorfist.
How does he, uh,...in the bathroom, ....you know....
C'mon. I know I ain't the only one whose wondered that.
M.P.
Ha, ha! EXACTLY what I thought all those years ago when I first bought the comic!!
DeleteFantastic stuff, I remember buying these Gulacy issues as a kid.... one of the few Gulacy inked issues (the sublime #40 being 'hitting it out of the ballpark' level) if I remember correctly. I always remember thinking when I bought this 'how does razor-fist go to the bathroom?'...amazing what sticks with you after all these years!
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff. I got my hands on a few issues of MoKF from this period (I'm pretty sure ish #25) and really enjoyed them. And man, was that series ever served by some great artists: first that long run by Gulacy, and later Zeck and Day.
ReplyDeleteAny chance of seeing part II of this story? I never got into this until I started watching Bruce Lee films. The character is obviously a take on Bruce Lee with enough changes, his estate couldn't object. Is it just me or does artist Paul Gulacy like a clone of Jim Steranko, if he were drawing these pages. Oh well, this was an enjoyable issue. Wish there was an omnibus of this character. Master of Kung Fu also had a Black and White $1 magazine that featured The Sons of Tiger and eventually George Prez drew the White Tiger, one of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteYes, the Steranko influences on Gulacy at this stage were still pretty heavy (not that that's a bad thing!). I've got a pile of yellowing Deadly Hands of Kung Fu B&W issues as well, I loved the Rudy Nebres Iron fist strip...I think Ol' Groove's posted one or two of those - Great stuff!
DeleteGreat comic. Memories.... One of the many things I loved about MOKF were the references, like Fu Manchu and James Bond. It was then that I was reading Farmer and the Wold Newton theories, and it all seemed to come together!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, I found these books too wordy. The references were lost on me, and the panel layouts seemed too complicated to follow. Boy, did I ever miss out!!! Literate, cinematic and brutal!
ReplyDeleteJust beautiful. I'd have to check, but I'm pretty sure Reston was introduced in Giant Size MOKF, wearing a very Holmesian outfit and smoking a pipe. Three of the four Giant Sizes were drawn by Gulacy...you could just feel the endorphins surge when you opened them up.
ReplyDeleteThis was the issue that marked a change in direction for series and the full flowering of the Moench/Gulacy team. Paul pulled out all the stops with the Steranko inspired special effects. I especially love the Shang - Chi standing in front of the fireplace scene. It's a shame that deadline pressures didn't allow Gulacy to ink his own pencils more often. This issue and the aforementioned # 40 were him at his best!
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ReplyDeleteThank...from France !
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