It's always a joy to jump back into the world of Mary Perkins. I never really know what to expect with each of these comic strip collections, as Mary's creator, Leonard Starr, has proven that he is an amazing writer, managing to always keep the stories fresh and engaging, and to provide art that is absolutely stunning with each and every panel. This particular volume has a forward by the creator himself, Leonard Starr, which gives some insight into Starr's own inspiration for getting into the field of art - his love of the Terry and the Pirates strip back in the day, and his fateful meeting with the creator of that strip, Milton Caniff. There's also an introduction by Sal Amendola, who started his career in comics way back in 1969 at DC Comics. Amendola discusses how the characters in Starr's strips are always fully human - neither all good, nor all bad, as particularly evidenced by the stories in this collection. And he's write. As I was reading this year-and-a-half worth of strips, I realized that is what truly draws the reader into Starr's stories - the characters are very real, even in some very unusual circumstances.
Volume Seven of Mary Starr, On Stage picks up with the October 12, 1964 strip that introduces readers to the Russian Major Volkov and re-introduces readers to Morgana D'Alexius (incorrectly identified as "D'Alexis" on the back cover blurb for this volume). And thus begins the opening story for this volume, as Mary is informed one of her films is being shown at the Moscow film festival, and they want her there; while, at the same time, Pete (Mary's photographer husband, for those who may have forgotten) is told the Soviet government is opening new areas to the foreign press, and he has been personally invited to photograph them. Mary and Pete both believe this is too much of a coincidence, and as they quickly find out, it is! Morgana has enlisted the aid of Major Volkov in a plan to steal Pete away from Mary - by having the Major basically hold Mary captive at his castle home, while she leads Pete to another small country where she can seduce him away from his wife. As you can expect, the plan fails, Mary and Pete figure out what is going on, and they find their way back to each other. The one great thing about this story is the gorgeous backgrounds of Russia and its architectural beauty in Moscow. The story has a very powerful ending, with the Major sacrificing himself during a horrific storm to hold Morgana out in the treacherous waters so she cannot get back to Pete. Both are assumed lost at sea, but no bodies are found ... (gee, like with any good soap opera, you know what that means!)
As one story ends, so does another begin, and Starr takes us from international danger and intrigue to a May-December romance as Mary happens to meet up with Constance Heath, a former drama coach of Mary's who is aging somewhat gracefully. A young up-and-coming actor gives up everything to be in her current show just so he can get close to the woman he claims to love. Constance doesn't know what to think, and Starr plays with the readers emotions, as Constance and young Eric go back and forth - will they marry? Will they part ways? Will they be able to bridge the large age gap to find true love? Mary just wants her former coach to be happy, but at what price comes happiness? Starr actually touches on some very real issues here regarding the compromises and sacrifices that come with loving someone who is vastly older / younger than one's self.
From here, we slide right into an island adventure, as Mary heads south to film a television version of "The Tempest." Little does she realize that she's going to be reunited with a face from the past - or rather, a faceless one! That's right, Mary is startled at first, but then overjoyed to discover that Maximus is going to be playing the role of Caliban in the production. The master of disguise is in top form, but the producer's assistant falls head over heels for him, not knowing of his deformity. The young girl's brother, though, has other ideas, as he sees Maximus as a money ticket and his way off the island. Blackmail gone wrong and a near-fatal fight at the top of a lighthouse lead to the origin of our faceless hero, as well as a marriage proposal that shows just how much heart and soul matter more than physical appearance!
The next story takes us back to New York, where Mary is preparing for her latest stage role, alongside two very different men - Claude Harper, a boy from the country who is thrilled to be working with Mary; and Rod Damian, an arrogant, self-absorbed star from Hollywood who sees only himself ... until he meets Claude's girlfriend, however, and decides he is going to steal her away. This story gives readers the typical soap opera drama one would come to expect from a daily serial about a theater actress. A young country girl comes to the big city to meet her actor boyfriend, only to be enticed away by a famous actor. She loses her boyfriend, only to discover the famous actor has tossed her aside once has has driven a wedge between the two. The question remains - has the damage Rod done driven the young couple apart for good?
Starr provides a pretty good lead up for the next story, as Mary notices a shifting mood in her husband, and sees numerous phone messages from his boss that have not been returned. Something is up, but she can't figure out what - until he fails to show up after her opening night of the play, and she rushes home to learn Pete has left for an assignment, one that will keep him away for some time. And it is at this point readers get a real change of pace, for the story leaves Mary in New York and turns all focus and attention on Pete Fletcher and the danger he faces in Vietnam. Pete has been called to assist in getting a Chinese actor smuggled out of the country and safely to America - but the story has plenty of twists and turns, as he finds out the actor is one who plays females on the stage and is quite defensive about his art form. Soon enough, though, Pete is given a shock to discover the person he is helping escape is not the actor, but rather, the actor's daughter - the actor refused to leave unless his daughter was taken safely out first! Pete spends a number of weeks trekking through the jungles, avoiding armed natives, and having to seek first aid for the young girl after she is poisoned in a trap set in the reeds. I was actually surprised to see how many weeks go by without even one panel of Mary anywhere in the strip - I mean, after all, this is HER strip, and yet Starr keeps the entire focus on Pete and the girl he is rescuing (and her growing love for Pete!). Of course, Pete eventually makes it home and has to face his wife, who is concerned that all the time spent with the girl may have changed his feelings for her...
This volume ends with a few hints of the next story to come, as Mary runs into an old friend, and while eating dinner together, they spot a famous producer who has just gotten divorced and begin to dish on the gossip about the divorced couple...
Starr's art is superb, as usual, with amazingly detailed backgrounds and the most accurate expressions I've ever seen in any comic art. There were a couple of strips in this collection that were not quite as crisp and clear as 99% of the strips usually are, making me wonder if Classic Comics Press was unable to find really good scans of those particularly daily strips (ex., page 240, the 3-26 strip or page 237, the 3-19 strip). Yes, both strips use a lot of shadows and shading, but they still seem a bit fuzzy to me, almost a bit grainy as of they are copies of copies. Nevertheless, they are clear enough to read and do not truly take away from the enjoyment of the story.
I'm sure I've said it before, and I'll gladly say it again - I am so glad to be reading these strips in these collected editions, because I don't know if I would have had the patience to wait day after day after day to read these full stories when they were original published back in the 1960s!
RATING: 10 stand-in hat racks out of 10 for keeping the strip fresh and interesting with a variety of stories and characters that leave the reader feeling like you never know what's going to happen next!
No comments:
Post a Comment