RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Comic Books I Shall Destroy All The Civilized Planets!

I've been reading a book called I Shall Destroy All The Civilized Planets (which I first heard about here). It's about the life of a little-known Golden Age writer/artist named Fletcher Hanks. He wrote for a comic book called "Fantastic Stories" between 1939-1941. His work is really hard to describe. I guess surreal is the word I'm looking to use here. He wrote along the same lines as the then-current top seller, Superman, by creating a "superhero" called....get ready......Stardust the Super-Wizard! Isn't that the most awesome name you've ever heard? I love it.

Anyway, the thing that makes a lot of his work stand-out is the sheer lunacy of the scripts, the concepts, the abilities, and how Stardust merits out his punishments. First of all, he only seems to target "spies and traitors" always hunting down "The Fifth Column" movement. It was all very, very pro-America, especially in the increasing xenophobia that lead up to WWII.

Second, his punishments were rarely just sending them to jail. On one occasion, he causes a group of gangsters to float thirty-stories in the air and forced them to stare at the skeletons of their victims, while he went and fetched the police. On other occasions, he shrunk a man's body down to nothing, while increasing the size of his head. Thus, being only a big living head, Stardust then takes the head and throws him into a "space pocket" where an immortal African headless headhunter will chase him around for all eternity. On other occasions he paralyzes a spy (which also, somehow, makes him immortal) and then puts him in an "orbiting star" where he will have to stare at and be aware of Earth forever. And even in another, he "stabs" about fourteen guys with a solid lighting bolt of some kind, and then hauls them to a planet made of gold and diamonds. But because of the "gravity" they can never pick up any of it AND there is an orbit that leaves the planet dark for centuries. Oh and he made sure to "slow down their blood" as to help them live for a long, long time, and thus, have to suffer for just as long. Ha! Ha! What a cruel bitch!

The cover to the book is perfectly indicative of Fletcher's strangely eerie style. The classic and assumed form and shot for a superhero to fly-by is, naturally, facing the reader. But, check out Stardust below on the cover...



There's something so off about the way he portrays this strangely detached being that's very telling of the detached creator's relationship with the world.

A few samples (circa 1940) :






While it may seem like somewhat normal Golden Age material, there was this obvious underbelly of bitterness and darkness in Fletcher's stuff. The book I'm reading goes into what little is known about Fletcher, which mostly comes from interviews with his still-living son. There are no pictures of the man Fletcher Hanks. But, as his son pointed out, his likeness is that of his characters. Stardust depicted the artist sober and aware, a father, and an intelligent artist. The Traitor/Spies that Stardust dealt with each issue are representative of him when he drank, of which he was known to do. That's the thing about Fletcher Hanks. He was gifted as hell, and could have been one of the pioneers of the Golden Age of comics. But, he was an all-out drunk, physically abusive to his wife, belligerent with his employers and fellow employees. He despised weakness, and his son bore the brunt of that displeasure. Fletcher Jr. (the son) relates a story in my book about his father pushing his four-year-old self down a flight of stairs to see if he would cry. As a small child, he of course did, and Hanks hit him more and more over the years to try and "toughen him up".

Fletcher Hanks left his wife and kid penniless when Jr. was ten-years-old. He never tried to see them again. Nothing is really known what happened to him after that, other than in 1976. A cop found him frozen to death on a New York park bench one morning. Presumably, he just became one of the homeless winos that roamed the city for the remainder of his life, finally dying from a cold winter.

It's a fascinating read, even though there is very little known about the man himself. His material, though...his work...is some of the craziest, interesting, most surreal comic fiction ever produced...

I hear that DC is doing a revamp. Geoff Johns is tagged to write and Paul Kirk will be doing the art. The working title is Return Of Stardust: Super Wizard.

You sure it's not "Stardust: Super-Wizard: Rebirth Crisis" ?

To be followd by "Rage of the Red,Green ,and,yellow Stardust Super Wizards".

Don't forget Thy Stardust Come!

This was a fun book except for the biographical bit with the artist's son. It might have been better just leaving it out.

Why didn't you like that part? I rather enjoyed the insight...



Fantomah!!

fuck, I've been wanting to get this since I first read about it. I read some Fletcher stuff online and it's amazing.

You just like that pic because it reminds you of Hillary

It was interesting but sad. I felt bad for the son.

Well, yeah, I think that's the point. Fletcher made some crazy-wonderful comics, but was a shit father/person. I liked it because it was authentic life and wasn't made-up to have a "happy ending". But, each their own...

I wouldn't have wanted a made up happy ending biography of Fletcher either but would have just preferred looking at the work itself. Maybe it's because the son clearly wasn't looking for pity but going back and looking at the weird and wonderful stories I can't help feeling sorry for him.

What made him a shit person?

He ran away from his family.

ZZZZZZZZZzzzzap!!!

Is their a reason given?

He had to fight an internet war or something

From what I've read, he was an abusive alcoholic. He beat his wife, beat his son, and went off on week-long benders away from home. He finally just never came back, and then so many decades later they found his body on a New York park bench. I think the reason he is considered a shit person is because of his relationship with his family was detrimental and abusive...

Yeah, if that's true, it would seem to make him a shit person...unless, of course, he were a pro wrestler.

Bing Crosby was a pro wrestler???

No. And he was a shit person.

Is it on record as him being abusive or just in the son's account?

Who? Bing Crosby or this guy?

Yes.

Owner of a Lonely Heart

Another collection of Fletcher Hanks is out. Same format as the first collection. This one has Fantomah on the cover. Fun stuff.

Is it just Fantomah or is Stardust up in the mix? Got a link?

It's a mix of both with some of his other strips sprinkled in like "Space Smith" and "Big Red McLane King of the Northwoods".

I just happened to see it at my LCS and had to pick it up. The story and art was just as wonderfully goofy as the first volume. It's dedicated to his son.

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Comic Tropes - Fletcher Hanks