talks about some personal favorites he would like to see published in the near future.Confessions of a Comic Book Guy is a weekly column by Steve Bennett of Super-Fly Comics and Games in Yellow Springs, Ohio.  This week, Bennett talks about some personal favorites he would like to see published in the near future:

In spite of my best efforts to prevent it last Saturday I turned fifty, which may well be the new thirty but it's still hard not to take it more than a little personally when Billy Mays and Michael Jackson both just died at my age.*  But it was a good to time take an internal inventory and I've come to the conclusion, since I no longer have all the time in the world, delayed gratification is for suckers.  So I'm going to start writing about more of the things I'd like to see published and on my short list.

THE DEADPOOL LIBRARY:  I realize it doesn't make sense seeing as how I prefer heroes who come from the Silver, Gold and sometimes Bronze tradition but I really like Deadpool.  I used to loathe what in my mind was the perfect representative for all the Mad Libs constructs (ridiculous name + unnecessary costume accessories + "attitude" = superhero) Rob Liefeld used to produce by the foot back in the 90's.  But I came round when he got his own title thanks to the humor, pathos and slightly askew storytelling Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness which at the time was too 'edgy' for a mainstream audience.

Now of course the character is enjoying unparalleled popularity, which is weird since he hasn't mellowed so much as the bad guys have gotten worse.  Sure he's an unapologetic killer who terrorized a blind old man but so far (to date anyway) he's shown no interest in consuming human flesh or opening fire on small children, without getting paid to do it anyway.

It's also weird that in spite of his popularity so many of his comics remain out of print.  Hopefully before the movie opens Marvel will give us a Deadpool Library that would reprint them in sequential order or baring that at least volume one of the Essential Deadpool.  And if for reason being Green Lantern interferes with Ryan Reynolds availability to portray Wade Wilson I'd recommend actor/stuntman Ray Park for the role.  But once the mask goes on his dialogue should definitely be dubbed by comedian Andy Dick; if you don't believe me go read a page of one of Joe Kelly's scripts in Dick's voice ("the answer to your first question is SHADDUP")... it would be hilarious.

THE COMPLETE MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN:  While we definitely live in the Golden Age of comic strip reprints there's still so much material begging to be collected.  One of the joys of reading Golden Age comics is finding anthologies that reprint wonderful old comic strips hardly anyone remember like Moon Mullins, Mickey Finn and Joe Palooka, but if I had to pick just one to be collected it would have to be Mandrake the Magician.

Although the franchise hasn't amounted to much in modern times The Phantom is still a valuable enough property that two publishers, Moonstone and Dynamite, have the license and I give him all due respect.  He was the first proper masked superhero, has all kinds of cool "stuff" (I'm a firm believer that truly great superheroes have got to have stuff; a cool headquarters, weapons, supporting players, etc.) and remains a genuine classic.  He deserves the upcoming The Phantom: The Complete Newspaper Dailies collection from Hermes Press.

But I've always preferred Lee Falk's other great creation (proof some creators do have a second great idea in them).  The art was much better, the stories more fantastic and the lead a more interesting character, if something of a jerk (in his early days he seemed to delight in using his powers of hypnotism to mess with people's heads).  But although hugely influential in the 30's (you couldn't call yourself a proper comic book company if you didn't have at least a couple of Mandrake rip-offs) he's fallen out of favor.

Revivals are problematic what with to modern eyes him looking like a waiter at a wedding (and if you change the look you might as well not do the character at all) and with reprints you have to deal with Mandrake's
companion Lothar.  Though he was later rehabilitated in the 60's to enjoy these early adventures you've got to endure Lothar's splintered English, him calling Mandrake "master" and his fetching off the shoulder leopard print shirt and exceedingly large fez ensemble.  But it's definitely worth it

* Of course it isn't like either died of old age; Billy Mays apparently suffered from hypertensive heart disease and all preliminary reports indicate Michael Jackson died of a severe case of.being Michael Jackson.  I don't know what he had in mind when he first started getting plastic surgery but he couldn't have done a better job of turning himself into a character from a Tim Burton movie if he had actually tried.

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.