Fathom (1987) #1-3 by Lawrence Schick, Jill Thompson, Keith Wilson et al
Honestly, when I started this blog series, I thought I’d find a publisher that was more or less like Eclipse Comics — some really good comics, some kooky comics, and some comics that were churned out for purely commercial reasons — but even those done professionally and competently, resulting in surprising discoveries of series that are much better than they have any reason to be (to take just one random example).
If you’ve been following this blog series (if so — I’m sorry), this has not turned out to be the case. Perhaps I was mislead by the good and distinct cover designs, and the attention put to the colouring and stuff — Comico books look, if you just cast a glance at them, pretty good.
The problem is the comics themselves.
So many of them are just amateurish drek: Writers that don’t quite know how to tell a story, and artists that don’t know the basics. That goes doubly for the “commercial” comics (like Star Blazers, Justice Machine and Elementals) which have been both amateurish and surprisingly boring.
But I haven’t lost hope yet! Most of the books I’ve read so far have been inaugurated before editor Diana Schutz came aboard, I’m holding out hope that it’ll turn out that she has a taste level approaching cat yronwode’s.
So this is an Elementals mini-series, but Bill Willingham isn’t involved. This series is about the water spirit hero Fathom (she’s the one in green).
Well, that’s a very efficient way to set up the series, I guess?
What’s the reading order of the speech balloons in the second row here supposed to be, anyway? It seems like the “insect repellent” thing is supposed to go before the “was that a joke?”, but… er… Oh, is the “was that a joke?” supposed to be a comeback to “now the real party can start”?
It turns out that her old friends find her water spirit super-hero thing to be kinda disgusting. Nicely depicted, but… kinda weird.
The second issue starts with a recap of the first issue — and is that necessary when doing a three issue mini-series?
Love interest!
The second issue is rather a chore to read, because the black ink is all smudged.
But there are lots of fights to go around.
Jill Thompson’s artwork is better than in those issues of Elementals that she did. It’s kinda pretty?
The series has a dream-like quality to it. Fathom discovers a kingdom far below the waves, and gets a boyfriend, and … it’s all very strange. I was expecting it all to be revealed to be a dream, because it’s just very odd.
Instead the people under the sea are revealed to be cannibals (who eat their own children)…
… and this is how the series ends. What’s that final silent panel trying to tell us?
Very, very odd series. But not bad! I’m pleasantly surprised. Most of the attraction is from Thompson’s artwork, I guess.
Comic Book Collector #4, page #26:
The only reason I remember these is
because people brought them up to me,
and I looked through them and said,
“My God, I’d completely forgotten-
about this!” Then I did … the Fathom
mini-series, I think.
Comic Book Collector: Right, for
Comico.
Jill Thompson: That was for the
first Comico, the real Comico, not the
evil, slimy Comico. It was the one that
wasn’t “Fathom has sex with a dolphin
and everything else.”
Amazing Heroes Preview Special #4, page #42:
FATHOM
Written by LAWRENCE SCHICK from a
suggestion by BILL WILLINGHAM; pencilled by
JILL THOMPSON; inked by KEITH WILSON;
edited by BILL WILLINGHAM and DIANA
SCHUTZ
3-issue limited series; 32 four-color pages; $1.50;
monthly from COMICO
This mini-series has been in the
planning stages for some time and
marks the first solo appearance of a
character from the pages of The
Elementals. It stars Fathom, the water
Elemental of the group, and evolves
from Elementals creator Bill Willing-
ham’s desire to explore an actual under-
water civilization. “It is not a city from
the surface transported underwater,” he
says, “but a lot of scientific extrapolation
to see what one would be like.” This is
not “Comico’s Atlantis,” he points out.
The story is being done by two new-
comers to comics. Lawrence Schick is
doing the scripting, and Jill Thompson
is handling the pencilling. Both have
been hand-picked by Willingham to
work with regular Elementals inker
Keith Wilson. The story finds Fathom,
Tommy, and Lawrence out sailing when
they are capsized by a Japanese fishing
boat. Monolith falls overboard, causing
Fathom to have to save him. This is the
plot device which leads Fathom to
discover the underwater city and ano-
ther water elemental, a truly bizarre
character. Fathom proceeds to get into
all sorts of weird situations with these
people.
Look for this series in May. -ES-
Four Color Magazine #1, page #14:
Fathom, one of the characters from
the Elementals series, will be featured
in a three issue mini-series. Cleverly
titled Fathom, the series will be writ-
ten by Lawrence Schick and pencilled
by Jill Thompson under he supervision of
Elementals creator Bill Will-
ingham. The series begins with
Fathom, Rebecca Golden, attending
her high school class reunion. The
series next takes Fathom to sea,
where she experiences adventure. Ac-
cording to Willingham, the story also
involves her Elementals teammate
Monolith as well as the team’s butler.
Lawrence. Schick has written articles
for Dragon and Twilight Zone
magazines as well as having done ex-
tensive work as an editor of role-
playing and computer games. Ms.
Thompson, the penciller, has
previously contributed artwork to
Villains and Vigilantes gaming
modules and a “Munden’s Bar” back-
up in First Comics’ Grimjack…
The Slings and Arrows Comic Guide #2, page #244:
FATHOM
Comico: 3 issue miniseries 1987, 3 issue miniseries 1992-1993
Two dull miniseries spun-off from the briefly popular
Elementals. In the first, slightly superior, instalment, writer
Lawrence Shick ponderously recaps our aquatic
superheroine’s origin – sailing accident leads to Rebecca
Golden’s reincarnation as ‘Wet! Wild! Webbed!’ Fathom,
acolyte of watery deity Aqua – before sending her to a strange
underwater city where she’s literally treated like a Princess.
Artist Jill Thompson here blandly mimics the work of series
creator Bill Willingham. In the 1990s story Fathom is
summoned by Aqua to battle the dreaded Dera Aeshma,
“despoiler of the world’s pure waters”, a turgid eco-thriller
from David DeVries and Tim Eldred.~AL
This mini-series has never been reprinted or collected.
This is the only review of the book I can find:
Going in blind…it’s not bad and you can get a grasp on both Fathom and her backstory easily. The writing is decent and the art is classic mid 80s indie fare. Very much a product of its era with the fashion and pacing and all in all not a bad change of pace from the nonsense I normally read.