I don't know a whole lot about The Badger, as I was not a First Comics reader when his stories were originally presented. I had gotten a few requests to include him, so I read up on the character and he seems pretty interesting, what with his fractured psyche and all. He seems to have jumped around a few comics companies with a few relaunches. So I'll put the question out there - for someone who has never read the character before, where's the best place to start?
There were some Complete Badger collections that you might be able to snag. The first few issues help set things up but the iconic badger is really a couple year's further in, so if you want to start with Complete Volume 3 you wouldn't go wrong.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Complete-Badger-Volume-Mike-Baron/dp/1600101291/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370776670&sr=8-1&keywords=the+badger
Hey Larry!
ReplyDeleteEXT. Night - Gotham City
ReplyDeleteBATMAN: Badger? I don't need help from no stinking Badger!
Aaaaaannnnnnd, scene.
So is the Badger kinda like Moon Knight, Wolverine or The Creeper?
Kinda, I guess... in fact he will be returning on another cover down the line teamed with one of those guys...
ReplyDeleteFantastic! This is so awesome!!! Please, more and more covers featuring characters from past independent books (First, Comico, Eclipse, Milestone (and not just Static!), Fantagraphics, Kitchen Sink, et al. In fact, how about a Love & Rockets match up?
ReplyDeleteIf you can find a copy of it, the Hexbreaker graphic novel is an excellent stand-alone story that you can jump into without any prior knowledge of the series.
ReplyDeleteAirDave - probably closest to Moon Knight of the three you mentioned. He has seven distinct personalities, the result of childhood abuse he suffered from his father. The stories can vary wildly in tone, from gritty martial arts action with psychological overtones, to over-the-top absurdity which gleefully refuses to take itself seriously.
I have always liked the artwork on Love & Rockets but I have to confess I have never read an issue. It's more of a soap operaish comic which follows the lives of a couple of characters, right?
ReplyDelete@Ross: The Palomar stories are definitely that and they eventually emerged as the most popular. But "Love & Rockets" started as an anthology where the three (or was it four originally?) Hernandez brothers could work individually or in pairs on whatever came to mind. After an initial period of experimentation they gravitated towards certain recurring features. If you want to see some of their more science-fiction/fantasy oriented stuff look for the early paperbacks or a mini-series called "Mechanics". Oh, and technically Badger (and Nexus and Whisper) started at Capitol briefly and became truly noticed at First, then Dark Horse. If I had to describe him, I'd call him a cross between Deadpool and Mel Gibson's "Lethal Weapon" character. He's genuinely mentally ill- it's not just a tiresome schtick- and he's aware that there's something wrong with him. But he treats it as just something to deal with like mild asthma when he should probably be hospitalized. In a way he has a lot in common with the Arkham inmates.
ReplyDeleteHah!, cool! I kinda did this in 2005-
ReplyDeletehttp://billreinhold.deviantart.com/art/Batman-and-Badger-89720760
why not do badger meets wolverine
ReplyDelete