Back in 2010, on a trip to the Island of Maui in Hawaii, I purchased this oddity in a second-hand book shop in La Haina, Sojourn #1, published in September 1977.
Sojourn was a broadsheet sized, independently published comic, the brainchild of Joe Kubert and Ivan Snyder, featuring creator-owned stories by the likes of Kubert himself, Dick Giordano, Lee Elias, Sergio Aragones, John Severin and Doug Wildey , with a stunning fold-out poster by Steve Bisette and editorial support from Jack Harris.
The quality of the artwork is superb, reproduced presumably the same size as the originals, printed on good coated stock.
The lead story by Kubert involves his prehistoric Tarzan/caveman TOR, of which I had some familiarity, having bought the six issues that Kubert had drawn for DC back in 1975. At that time I was unaware that Kubert had originally drawn five issues of TOR first back in 1953 for St John Publications.
[Interestingly, I can find no information that states that these TOR stories have ever been collected in the subsequent hardcover TOR collections by DC. Can anyone confirm?]
Re-reading the issue now, I’m really impressed by the standard and quality of all the contributions. The artwork on the EAGLE strip by the great John Severin is especially fine.
I'm also particularly taken by the artwork of British-born artist Lee Elias on Kronos, the serialised story of which was eventually completed four years later in Warren’s The Rook. I'm convinced that Lee Elias and Frank Robbins must have shared some of the same DNA, the similarities in posing in their artwork are so great.
Sojourn ran for two issues, beset by distribution problems that probably caused its cancellation, although the mix of material - three private-eye strips, one caveman strip, a Western and an SF epic could do with more variety. That said, the avoidance of any superhero content is admirable.
The non-standard size and format of the comic probably challenged retailers as well. But it was a great experiment for an independent creator-owned property. The broadsheet format was of course followed by DC’s own short-lived Wednesday Comics 30-odd years later, but without the editorial content, or lofty ambition.
Anyway, enjoy the selection of pages I have included.
[Apologies for not colour-balancing the page reproductions, or scanning the pages on a flat-bed scanner ; Mrs B. is keeping me firmly away from the family in the spare bedroom while I sit out my COVID isolation!]
TOR was drawn largely caption free, different to the DC version of a few years earlier. Comparing it to my copy of TOR #1 from 1975, my preference is actually for the colour rendition in the DC comic, although I can see that Kubert was striving for a lean aesthetic here.
Central painted poster by Steve Bisette. This is a full double-spread broadsheet size. The intention was to have a similar poster in each issue.
First page from Dick Giordano's The Smooth.
E.V. Race Private Investgator, by Doug Wildey.
The superbly detailed work of John Severin on EAGLE.
Finally, I've included the editorial by Joe Kubert and Ivan Snyder on their ambitions for Sojourn:
That looks like a comic I would've liked, B. Regarding Tor (and going purely from memory), I think the 1975 first issue of Tor contained new material, though the remaining five issues were reprints of some of Kubert's '50s strips.
ReplyDeleteYes, it’s a great comic. Kid. The problem is that the darn thing is so big that it’s unmanageable to hold to read. And putting it on a flat table to pore over and read is too close to appreciate it. It almost needs to be on an easel or angled drawing board to be able to shift back to an appropriate viewing distance.
DeleteI’ve ordered a copy of #2 online, so am looking forward to that turning up and seeing what format changes may have occurred in the second issue.
Re TOR - I only have 1975 DC issue #1 in my collection these days so was unaware of the reprint status of subsequent issues. Thanks for the tip. I shall investigate.
Aw come on Ian, just how jealous do you have to make us? - it’s enough your got a great comic like that you bought it in Hawaii 😊
ReplyDeleteI’ve heard about this comic but I have only ever seen snippets of the cover so seeing the full cover is great and the contents look even better than I imagined. Was this the same size as DC’S “The Wednesday Comics” from a few years ago? . I’ve never read anything about or seen any examples of Sojourn issue 2 so it would be great to see it on your blog once you get that.
Kid – Tor issue 1 (1975) did indeed contain some new Joe Kubert art in a story called “The Beating”. The remaining issues were all reprints.
I can’t comment on whether or not this Tor story /art was reprinted or not, but Kronos was reformatted and reprinted in Warrens “Rook” magazine (issues 8 -11) And Severin’s amazing "Eagle" strip was reprinted in the Rook issue 12. The Tor “Heavy Hitters” series when Kubert moved the character to Epic (Marvel) in the early 1990s is worth checking o out if you’re a fan. I managed to pick up the 4-issue run of that (large “floppy” magazine size format) for £2 a few years after the last issue went on sale - the art is stunning and is some of Kubert’s best.
I agree that Lee Elias "Kronos" page does have a Frank Robbins feel to it - I wasn't aware Elias was British. For some reason that page looks familiar (not from the Rook) but from a Atlas / Seaboard comic before that -I'm sure I'm mixing it up, but it rings a bell -Another great blog thanks for showing this.
Finding Sojourn #1 (along with a copy of 70s UK Fanzine Comic Media and a Johnny Hazard collection) in Maui back in 2010 gave me a glimmer of hope that not all good second-hand book shops had disappeared at the end of the 70s, Paul. Perhaps backwaters still exist with gems still be found?
DeleteI believe that Sojourn and Wednesday comics are the same size, but not 100% sure. I'll overlay a copy to check - Sojourn may have the edge. I have a feeling that the paper size was larger than Wednesday - perhaps international A3 per page, rather than 2xUS Letter size.
I've been sitting here in the spare bedroom all week waiting out COVID (hence the deluge of blogs); once I get a positive test and Mrs B allows me to rejoin the community, I'll give you a definitive answer.
I'll look out for those Warren "Rook" books when I get the chance. Glad you enjoyed the post.