The Eye Collection
144 pgs. & $13.95
Hamster Press
Words: Bill Schelly & friends
Art: Ron Frenz & friends
Available at comics shops and www.billshelly.com.

Keep your eye out for this one because an early and bizarre fandom superhero is back, and his name isn't Iris. Visually created in 1955 by Richard "Grass" Green and completely fleshed out by Biljo White in 1963, The Eye is a criminal executioner in blue britches, red shirt, white cape and boots, and a huge, well, eye for a head. Eye wouldn't kid you.

Enough puns. The Eye Collection presents about 30% new material and reprints the earliest and latest exploits of this odd and delightful character.

There, I wrote it: The Eye is delightful. He is also inventive, entertaining and neither brooding or introspective. This is adventure for the sake of adventure and fun.

Especially excellent is "The Untold Origin of the Eye" which is of as high a quality of art and story as any origin story this reviewer has read.

The twists added to clichés like 'the child witnesses a parent's death and decides to fight crime' are wonderful. The plot is fast-paced and engrossing, dialog is crisp and believable within the inner-logic of the series, and it is befuddling why Eye is not published by one of the 'big guns' of comics, DC or Marvel.

Special thanks to Bill Schelly for his scripting, and for his preservation of the early history of comic fandom.

And for those you think this collection has won a "highly recommended" because The Eye was co-created by my dear friend and collaborator "Grass" Green, well, you are right. It is also dang good. MV

MINIVIEW: NakedFella Comics #7: Herman, The Legal Labrador by David Bluemenstein and Glen Smith. A well-drawn and written lark about a dog with a law degree earns no recommendation because of pointless nasty sentences at the bottom of some pages, and profanity. MV

Any statements made, expressed or implied are solely those of columnists or persons interviewed and do not represent the editorial position of the administration, who does not accept responsibility of such statements. All characters and artwork shown are trademark and © of their respective owners.