“Don’t tell me Marvel’s doing another ‘swimsuit issue'”.
Fanboy #4
DC Comics (June, 1999)
WRITER: Mark Evanier ARTIST: Sergio Aragonés ‘FINSTER’S FANTASIES” ARTISTS: Jordi Bernet, Marie Severin, and Russ Heath COVER ART: Joe Kubert & Sergio Aragonés COLORIST: Tom Luth LETTERER: Todd Klein EDITOR: Tony Bedard
It’s Finster’s day in court, as a Sgt. Rock comic (featuring a story of a private Finster puts himself into the role of, where Nazis go after a small library) convinces him to stand up against the showboating comic hater. (Sort of a prototype for Jack Thompson’s assault on video games.) But Finster gets a surprise witness in Doctor Joseph Zensie (who I think is a stand-in for Wertham), who has changed his views on the “destructive” nature of comics.
What they got right: While this still has Finster’s imaginings I think it would have hurt the story had the Sgt. Rock story been a parody. Instead, there are no jokes; just the story of a private who wants to help protect books the Nazi’s want destroyed for being “anti-German” (more like anti-Nazi POV) and the librarian who comes up with a crafty way of protecting his books. The jokes are kept to Finster’s story and I think the two balance well to tell their anti-censorship story.
What they got wrong: That said, comics really weren’t the target at the time. The do-gooders had moved to the upcoming video games as they began testing their potential as a tool of storytelling and games like Mortal Kombat and Night Trap. While I support the moral of the story, it loses something by being set in present day (for the year it was published).
Analysis: It’s still one of the stronger stories, but as much as I rooted for Finster, it was really for the Sgt. Rock story than Finster’s story. Still, a recommended comic even on its own.
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