One book, first published in 1950, is often considered the first graphic novel, while the other collects the 1991 mini-series adaptation of seven classic fantasy stories featuring characters that debuted in 1939, but both It Rhymes With Lust and Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are important new entries in Dark Horse's 2007 graphic novel lineup.
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser ($19.95) sports art by the distinctive stylist Mike Mignola (Hellboy) and a story crafted by veteran scribe (and artist) Howard Chaykin (American Flagg). Fritz Leiber's beloved sword-and-sorcery creation combines a detailed depiction of a wonderful fantasy world (Nehwon) filled with bizarre images and a cynical, rollicking sense of humor, which has been a major influence on subsequent fantasy writers such as Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, and Michael Moorcock.
Mignola actually worked on the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser comics in 1991 well before he created Hellboy in 1993, but Dark Horse is collecting the 4-issue Epic Comics series that adapted seven classic Leiber stories here for the first time in a deluxe 200-page full color volume with a new Mignola cover.
It Rhymes With Lust ($14.95) is a legendary 112-page, black and white graphic novel that has been out of print for over fifty years. Written in 1950 by two ex G.I.'s, Arnold Drake and Leslie Waller, who were in college on the G.I. Bill, It Rhymes With Lust is their attempt to create a long form comic book adventure that would, in the words of Arnold Drake, 'make the leap from Superman to The Great Gatsby.' Fortunately the novice writers got veteran comic book/good girl artist Matt Baker (Phantom Lady) to illustrate their film noir-influenced saga of intrigue, passion, and political corruption.
Anyone interested in the history of graphic novels or the once overwhelmingly popular genre of crime comics will have to check out this new edition of this comics industry landmark that comes with an introduction by writer Arnold Drake, who later won the Bill Finger Award for lifetime achievement in comic writing for his creation of Deadman, and his work on Doom Patrol and X-Men.
