Gun Fury Returns!

Gun Fury Returns #1 - #4 

(Aircel Comics/Malibu Graphics, June - September 1990)

Story: Barry Blair
Art: Dave Cooper

Rating: Six of Ten Stars

New York City has been overrun by costumed heroes and villains. Millionaire Donald Lump believes Gun Fury and Ammo can restore some semblance of order, so he coaxes them out of retirement by funding new equipment for them and providing a base of operations. The city has been overrun by costumed heroes and villains, and only Gun Fury can restore some semblance of order!

Gun Fury and Ammo were the stars of a ten-issue superhero parody series that ran from January to October of 1989. There are hints that, despite the series wrapping up with the heroes retiring at the end of #10, there were course adjustments in the final 2-3 issues, because the creators knew cancelation was looming due to low sales. 

In mid-1990, Gun Fury and Ammo returned for four more whacky adventures of questionable taste, brought to us by the original creative team of Barry Blair (writer and creator) and Dave Cooper (artist and sometime co-plotter) in the limited series "Gun Fury Returns". In keeping with the tone of the original series, "Gun Fury Returns" is full low-brow spoofs of popular comic book characters and dominant industry business and storytelling trends. (You can read my thoughts about the original series by clicking here [issues 1-5] and here [issues 6-10].

One thing that immediately jumps out if you put the four issues of this series side-by-side is that the covers get progressively more unappealing and downright ugly. Take a look:

Does the interior artwork and stories follow this same progression, you may ask? Generally no--except for #4 where artist Cooper didn't do the excellent ink washes that graced all the pages up until that point. There is a fairly steady level of quality throughout the series... which is both good and bad.

"Gun Fury Returns" follows the rhythm that the first series fell into as of issue #6: Each issue features a self-contained story, with Gun Fury and Ammo being the only recurring characters and everything being tied together with a thin subplot that's little more than a running joke. In this mini-series, the subplot is about Gun Fury's hemorrhoids, which should tell you something about the level of humor present within the pages.

The first issue of the mini-series is perhaps the weakest. I remember reading it back in 1990 and being disappointed in it. I particularly found the Batman spoof that is the central feature of the issue to be overly juvenile and crass (even by the standards of the previous series), as well as a little trite and redundant since Gun Fury and Ammo were already something of a Batman spoof. 

Thirty years later, I still find "Batman and Throbbin" and the related, embarrassingly obvious scatological humor to be lame, but, because there have been one redundant Batman movie after another, I also feel like this target is even more deserving than it was Back In The Day. The Alfred-type character made me chuckle back then, and it is still one of the more amusing (and darker) elements of the parody. 

Issue #2 offers an X-Men spoof -- The Yes Men. The story here is an improvement over the first issue, and the subplot involving Gun Fury's hemorrhoids actually serves a purpose other than providing some mildly gross gags. This issue's main target was the seemingly never-ending, ever-present X-Men crossovers that Marvel was dishing out during the late-1980s--and into the 1990s, as well as the big-boobed women that became increasingly common in the pages of comics. I was never much of an X-Men reader--the mutant stories in "Marvel Comics Presents" was all that I followed--and the incessent crossovers into titles I DID follow were a contributing factor to my getting away from Marvel Comics (except when I had to read them for work purposes). For this reason, some of the humor in this issue may be lost on me, but them being cast as basically a fetish sex club was something I found very amusing. Further, over all, the timing of the gags were better in this issue than any one previously; Blair and Cooper seem to have found a perfect rhythm... and this carries through to the end of the series.

Issue #3 skewers two indie comics properties that exploded in popularity during the 1980s, ElfQuest and the Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles. This issue features what is probably the most mature industry commentary featured in all 14 issues in which Gun Fury appeared. Wrapped within the usual, off-color gags, the story takes shots at how art can take a back seat to creativity (with caricatures of ElfQuest creators Wendi and Richard Pini callously exploiting dog-riding elves to enrich themselves) and how putting greed above all else will eventually come back to haunt and destroy creators (or at least their reputation and stature).

This issue may stand out from the rest, in part because the villains here are satirical versions of friends of Blair--and they would eventually hire him to contribute to their expanding ElfQuest fiefdom, in the "New Blood" spinoff series. More care and less vitriol was probably infused into this script than any of the others--although I assume the Pinis were consulted on the jokes, because Richard comes off REALLY badly. (For what it's worth, I had some small dealings with Richard Pini during the early mid-1990s and my last halfhearted attempts to break into comics. He came across as a nice guy.)

The mini-series closes with a Spider-Man spoof, including the sentient suit from "Secret Wars" (which eventually became an even dumber concept via the invention of the Venom and Carnage characters). Story-wise, this issue is on-par with #3, and Blair's comedy version of Peter Parker at his most whiny is hilarious. The only disappointing aspect of this issue is that the art feels unfinished and a bit empty, because the excellent ink wash finishes  are not applied here as they had been in the previous 13 issues. (The panel that opens this post is from "Gun Fury Returns" #4.)

 

Like most satire, "Gun Fury Returns" is, to a large extent, a product of its time. Much of the humor will be silent or even baffling to readers who aren't familiar with tropes or controversies or fads that permeating comic books and the comic book industry in the late 1980s/early 1990s. The original 10-issue series was broader based in its humor, in the sense that the pot-shots at fans and creators and publishers involve stereotypes and issues that continue to present day, so in that sense its held up better to the passage of time. As a snap-shot of history and as a irreverent and off-color walk down memory lane for Gen-X comics fans, "Gun Fury Returns" still entertains.

--

For an excellent exploration of the man behind the creation, Barry Blair, click here.

The Further Adventures of Gun Fury

Gun Fury #6-#10 (Aircel Comics/Malibu Graphics, June - Oct 1989)
Story and Layouts: Barry Blair
Art: Dave Cooper

Rating: Six of Ten Stars

The city needed a hero. What it got was Gun Fury and his sidekick Ammo. They were better than nothing at all. Well... most of the time...

"Gun Fury" was a series that poked fun at superheroes, the comics business and fandom, and mass-media trends of the late 1980s. The first five issues presented and complete storyline that introduced Gun Fury, Ammo (and Peter Pane, the replacement Ammo), and a supporting cast that served the double purpose of poking fun at superhero tropes and taking pot-shots at comic book industry figures. You can read a review of those issues by clicking here.

With the sixth issue of the series, there were a number of changes. First, Dave Cooper became both the penciller and inker of the title, while Barry Blair continued to be the writer and provided page layouts. The story-telling style also shifted from a serial that continued from issue to issue to each issue being self-contained. The supporting cast all but vanished, with Gun Fury and Ammo being the only recurring characters. (There's also a minor running gag revolving around Gun Fury and Ammo being couch potatoes, deciding what crimes need to be fought on what they see on television.)

Another big change is that beginning with these issues, the characterization of Gun Fury as an eccentric, mildly delusional blowhard into someone who is just one step shy of being a complete idiot who exists in a world that exists only in his mind. It leads to some funny one-liners, but, overall, I think it weakened the humor of the title, pushing from a series that made fun of the ultra-violent superheroes of the late 1980s to one that seemed contemptuous of superheroes in general.

The stories in the individual issues are hit-and-miss. The least interesting are in issues #6 and #9, mostly because they cover ground and recycle jokes that were already made in issues #1 through #5 and feature thin stories. 

Issue #6 has little noteworthy in it. It's mostly the above-referenced recycled jokes from earlier issues--pot-shots at comics dealers and collectors--along with setting up the "modern" method by which Gun Fury and Ammo find crime to fight. Gun Fury is also really, REALLY stupid here in ways that are more befuddling than funny. (I don't disagree with the commentary... it's just that the ground had already been covered.)

 Issue #9 makes fun of merchandising and, curiously, pedophiles. It's generally a badly executed mess--with a couple slapstick gags that rely on motion. The scenes could have worked, but Dave Cooper was just not up to the task, failing both to capture the motion and the timing of the gags. There's this iconic moment dropped into the middle of those sequences, but it's too little to save the issue:

In fact, the most interesting thing in #9 is the letters column. It gives insight into the lead-time when it comes to publishing and how plans can change: The editor makes reference to a coming "Gun Fury: Year One" story arc that would detail Our Hero's early adventures--and it would have most likely been a spoof of any and all "origin series" that were being pumped out by Marvel and DC Comics at the time. As it ultimately turned out, the only "Year One" type material we'd get was in issue #8, which revealed how Gun Fury was first set on the path to being a hero and how he got his costume. It's an amusing issue, but it also treads ground that was covered earlier in the series. (I wonder if this was a set-up for the storyline mentioned in #9, or if it was salvaged and slightly reworked and dropped into the mix when it became apparent that the series wasn't going to last much longer. It could explain the only truly lame part of the issue--a not-very-inventive fourth-wall-breaking gag that's drawn out longer than it should have been.)

The best issues in the second half of the "Gun Fury" series are #7 and #10. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they are also the ones that have most effectively survived the passage of time and could in some ways have been published a couple years ago, despite the fact they are firmly rooted in 1980s pop culture.

During the 1980s, there was an explosion of televangelism on cable TV; it didn't matter what time of day it was, you could find religious programming somewhere. There were even channels devoted to nothing but religious programming, such as the Christian Broadcasting Network (for the born-again, evangelical crowd) and the Eternal World Television Network (for the Catholics). 

Issue #7 of Gun Fury pokes fun at these flashy religious productions geared toward television and the, even in 1989, well-documented and laughable hypocrisy of many televangelists. The humor and themes in this issue are as fresh now as they were then, and the climax is perhaps the best of any issue in the series. Gun Fury is in full classic superhero caricature mode in this issue, but it's all very funny.

Meanwhile, issue #10 feels as fresh as the day it was published because it lampoons issues that seem to have exploded across the American cultural landscape over the past two or three years: Gang violence and petty crime of all sorts, and the appearance of casual police violence.

The issue also feels like it might have been published yesterday because there's a Donald Trump caricature that is central to the issue's story. While the character isn't involved in politics, it's an illustration of how long Donald Trump has been a big part of the American cultural landscape.

As hinted at throughout this article, issue #10 would be the  final issue of the "Gun Fury" ongoing series, with the last page seeing our heroes heading off to retirement and tropical climes--and offering up final, heavyhanded, double entendre joke.

 

This would not be fend of Gun Fury and Ammo, however. While "Gun Fury: Year One" would never materialize, Our Heroes would eventually return in a mini-series. Look for my opinions of it in this space at some future date!

(Meanwhile, if you have any memories or opinions about "Gun Fury" or any other Aircel Comics, that's what the comments section is for! Also, for an excellent exploration of the man behind the creation, Barry Blair, click here.)

The Coming of Gun Fury!

Gun Fury 1-5 (Aircel Comics/Malibu Graphics, January - May 1989)
Story and Pencils: Barry Blair

Inks and Washes: Dave Cooper

Rating: Six of Ten Stars

In a city where innocent citizens are being preyed upon by the rich and powerful, and by the violent and psychopathic; where the media lies as much as they tell the truth; deluded goofballs can't tell the difference between comic book fantasies and reality, a cry went up for a hero. Gun Fury answered that call... to the regret of many.

"Gun Fury" was a 10-issue series by Barry Blair and Dave Cooper, with the latters artistic style becoming increasingly dominant as the series progressed. Published by Aircel (which was by this time an imprint of Malibu Graphics) from January of 1989 through October 1989.
It featured broad, often crude, satire of the "grim and gritty" comics that were trendy at the time, as well as making fun of fandom and comics industry.

The first five issues are liked by several intertwining storylines and subplots. Along the way, the title character Gun Fury as a demented, ultra-violent hero who's part 1960s Batman and 1980s Punisher. His secret civilian identity is Jack Luger, mild-mannered staff writer at Fan Graphics, a firm that publishes several entertainment-related magazines and comic books. He has a money-grubbing, homophobic boss, and a go-getting investigative journalist female co-worker with a superhero fetish. 

In the first issue, Gun Fury's boy sidekick, Ammo, is killed in a clash with minions of the mysterious Master. Over the next few issues, he adopts and breaks in teenaged orphan Peter Pane as the new Ammo while simultaneously protecting the boy from the Master's agents, including fellow superhero Captain Rearguard who is duped into furthering the evil schemes. Meanwhile, a second more odious threat is lurking in the shadows, preparing to ooze onto the scene. 

Over the course of five issues (which form a complete, self-contained storyline), Blair and Cooper poke fun at superheroes as they were developing in the mid-1980s and into the 1990s... all grim and gritty and violent in the wake hits like "The Watchmen" and "The Dark Knight Returns", with a few dollops of hamfisted social commentary thrown in for  good measure. Perhaps the most clever aspect of Blair's approach to the topic was having the grim-and-gritty co-exist with the lighthearted melodrama and downright goofiness that were the hallmarks of the superhero comics he'd grown up with. It gives a bizarre feeling to Gun Fury's world that is perfect for the title.

What is less perfect is Blair's sense of comedy. While this is an effective spoof in broad strokes, it's less effective when you zoom in. 

First, Blair was just not very good at coming up with one-liners, and the timing is even sometimes off on gags that span panels or pages. His inability to come up with zingers that hit home is particularly obvious when he's trying to play with characters making unintentional double-entendres that are supposed to be plays on sexual activity--homosexual activity in particular. It's particularly painful when it comes to Gun Fury exclaiming "Justice is about to spurt from my loins!" (or some such battle-cries). Some of those kind of jokes made around the superhero suffering from PTSD known as Captain Rearguard work a little better, but not by much.

Second, some of the humor is just too mean-spirited for my tastes--and I'm the guy who produced things like "Bill Clinton Meets a Girl Scout" and "Super Muslim Bros." Reading these comics, it appears that Blair might have hated comics fans, comics retailers, and comics critics in general, and Gary Groth (the founder of Fantagraphics and a key figure in the comics industry when this series was published), since they're all stupid, perverted, gross, and/or money-grubbers who are corrupt to the core. Some of the shots at the comics industry are dead-on, but others just feel like Blair is grinding his personal axes and isn't terribly concerned if he's being funny or not. 

The best of Blair's industry commentary can be found in the scene where the Gary Groth stand-in is berating an editor and a pair of talented hacks for not delivering the promised issues, despite having been paid. The scene ends with the trio heading off to find ANOTHER publisher from whom to get paid for not producing a product. Most of it, though, just feels too venomous and personal to be amusing.

One thing that is of high-caliber and always close to perfect is the art. While not quite at the level of Blair and Cooper's other major collaboration, "Jake Thrash", the combination of Blair's slick, cartoony-with-a-slant-toward-the-manga-style (a decade or more before EVERYONE started doing it) and Cooper's chunky inks and brilliantly applied washes was the perfect visualization for the mixture of old-school superhero posturing married with modern-day gore and violence. The occasional playfulness with the "language" of comic book storytelling that shows up in the art is also very well done. The page below is from "Gun Fury" #1, and it's one of my favorites from the entire series.

Sometimes, when I break out these old comics and re-read them for review purposes, I find myself disappointed; I find that something I have fond memories of doesn't match those memories. That is not the case with "Gun Fury". I had the same reaction to reading it now as I remember having back then--it's fun but flawed. It's got great art and it's a decent spoof of All Things Comics as they stood ca. 1989, but it's dragged down by the writer spewing too much venom in various directions.

Watch this space for thoughts on "Gun Fury" #6 - #10. (Meanwhile, if you have any memories or opinions about "Gun Fury" or any other Aircel Comics, that's what the comments section is for! Also, for an excellent exploration of the man behind the creation, Barry Blair, click here.)

Forgotten Comics: Jake Thrash

Jack Thrash (Malibu Graphics 1989)
Writer: Barry Blair
Artist: Dave Cooper
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

During the 1980s, Barry Blair and Aircel Comics were front and center for the "black-and-white boom"... and Blair rode the wave as the "black and white bust" crashed onto the shores of comics publishing during the 1990s and ended a very exciting and creativity-filled time in the North American comic book industry... a time of such creativity and comics in such a spread of genres that had not been seen since, perhaps, the 1940s. And at the rate things have been doing in the years since, i don't think we'll ever see it again.

Writer/Artist Barry Blair

Aircel Comics published some of my favorite comics of that period, and Blair created, wrote, and/or drew many of them. I eagerly awaited the arrival of each new isssue of "Samurai", "Elf Lord" and "Dragon Ring"/"Dragon Force" when those titles were at their height, either as black-and-white comics, or, for a time, color. In fact, I first became interested in game design as possible income source when an idea for an RPG (which was my main vocation from 1993 to 2003, and which continues to be a strong sideline) that could be serialized in the back of "Elf Lord" struck me... and Eiwin Mark, editor at Aircel, seemed interested in the proposal.

The idea ultimately came to nothing as Aircel hit a rough patch during 1988 during the first signs of trouble in the booming alternative comic book market, was acquired by Malibu Graphics, and everything changed. Such is life. (Echoes of that approach to publishing an RPG have been present in NUELOW Games' recent "ROLF!" game line that I've been producing, and it may become fully manifested in a possible new product we are looking into developing... time will tell.)

The notion of an "Elf Lord" RPG wasn't the only thing that fell by the wayside during Aircel's transition. There was the extremely interesting three-issue mini-series "Jake Thrash", a cyberpunkish dark future story about a drifter squaring off against a group of man-eating mutants to save the lives of some young thrill-seekers too dumb to stay out of the bad parts of a war- and toxic-waste scarred urban sprawl. The overall tone of the series, and personality of the title character, was as if the main character from "For a Few Dollars More" had been transplanted from the grimy wild west to an even grimier and wilder dark future.

Two full-color issues of "Jake Thrash" were published in 1987, then sky-rocketing printing costs forced Aircel Comics to convert their titles back to the black-and-white they had started as, the operation was acquired by Malibu Graphics... but the third chapter in the tale of "Jake Thrash" never appeared, an apparent victim of changing market conditions and business decisions.

But in 1989, Malibu Graphics published a "Jake Thrash" graphic novel that collected a six-page teaser that had appeared in several of Aircel's titles prior to the debut of the aborted mini-series, the two issues that had seen print, and the lost third issue between two covers. It was a handsomely designed book that mostly did the material proud. Some of the gray-scale art is a bit muddled, but in general what had been intended to be elaborately colored pages--Aircel's color comics were amazing for what was industry standard at the time--comes across nicely. Dave Cooper's unusual line-art almost looks better this way, so, in the end, a black-and-white Jake Thrash might be been best after all.

Like is so often the case when revisiting something we loved when we were young, I found that reading "Jake Thrash" again 20+ years later, it's not quite as perfect as I remembered it, but it's still much, much better than many modern comics I've had the misfortune of flipping through in bookstores of late. Barry Blair's dialogue is clunky in many spots, and there are times when Dave Cooper's presentation of a fight scene or chase scene is a little hard to follow, but these are minor flaws in what is, generally speaking, a pretty intense reading experience. Blair and Cooper are far more effective and clear in their story-telling techniques than many modern artists and writers and it's a shame that I have to list this book under the "Forgotten Comics" heading.

I find it to be doubly a shame, because, even though I now see the imperfections in Blair and Cooper's work, the scene I remembered the clearest from the book was exactly as I recalled it, and I still consider it one of the greatest comic book moments I've ever read:

Barry Blair passed away in 2010 after spending his last few years drawing comics that can generously be described as "adult comics" or "erotica." His output declined steadily in quality from the mid-1990s on, and Cooper has left the comic book field in favor of children's book illustrations, but during the 1980s, both men produced some excellent material. I will have to revisit more of it in this forum.