Sat 6 Jul 2019
Comic Book Stories I’m Reading: FRITZ LEIBER “Lean Times in Lankhmar.”
Posted by Steve under Comic Books I'm Reading , Pulp Fiction , Science Fiction & Fantasy[6] Comments
FRITZ LEIBER “Lean Times in Lankhmar.” Published in Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, Book Four. Epic (Marvel) Comics, 1991. Adaptation & script: Howard Chaykin. Pencils & inks: Mike Mignola & Al Williamson. Also in this same issue: “When the Sea King’s Away.” Note: “Lean Times in Lankhmar” was first published in Fantastic SF, November 1959. Reprinted many times.
Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser are a pair of adventurous rogues living day by day if not moment by moment in the swords and sorcery setting of the city of Lankhmar on the world of Nehwon, just west of the Great Salt Marsh and east of the River Hlal. Fafhrd is a tall powerful barbarian, while the Gray Mouser is a small hotheaded thief extraordinarily good at swordsmanship.
Their first story, “Two Sought Adventure”, appeared in the pulp magazine Unknown in August 1939, but the story of how they first met was “Ill Met in Lankhmar,” did not appear until the April 1970 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
They usually team up well, but at the beginning of this story they have split up, perhaps arguing over the spelling of Fafhrd’s name. (I have trouble, too.) Fafhrd becomes an acolyte of Bwadres, the sole priest of Issek of the Jug, while the Gray Mouser goes to work for a local racketeer named Pulg, who offers protection to “priests of all godlets seeking to become gods — on pain of unpleasant, disturbing, and revolting things happening at future services of the defaulting godlet.”
And of course in the course of their new occupations, the two heroes’ paths are about to cross. Many consider this story to be one of the funniest sword and sorcery stories ever, and you can count me as being one of them.
I enjoyed the comic book version, and I do recommend it to you. The structure and setting of the stories, as well as the flashing charisma of the heroes themselves, are perfect for adaptation to graphic novel format, but I kept wondering whether I’d have enjoyed it as much if I didn’t already know the story itself ahead of time.
The art is fine, but there was a day, back into the 1960s, where to get the story told, the captions and word balloons took almost all the space in the pages of the comic books of the day. No more. The art is now supposed to tell a lot more of the story, but it takes a lot of coordination between writer and artist to make it so. It may very well be the best that could have been done, but I don’t think it happened here. There were several times when if I hadn’t know what was supposed to be happening, I’d have had no clue.
Or maybe I’m an old dog struggling with new tricks.
July 6th, 2019 at 6:39 am
A good point Steve. You reminded me of those old CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED were sometimes over-crowded with word balloons… but occasionally took flight when an Artist evoked an Author.
July 6th, 2019 at 12:09 pm
Back in the day CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED comics were used for more book reports than Cliffs Notes ever did.
July 6th, 2019 at 1:19 pm
I always preferred Howard Chaykin when he wrote and drew the story. Best remembered for AMERICAN FLAGG one of the first comics Chaykin drew was these two characters in SWORD AND SORCERY #1 (“The Price of Pain Ease” written by the great Denny O’Neil).
Artist Mike Mignola is another who is at his best when he writes and draws the story. His most famous creation is Hellboy. My favorite of his work is THE AMAZING SCREW-ON HEAD.
Al Williamson was one of the best inkers in comic book history. His work as an artist also ranks him among the best. Known best for his work on FLASH GORDON, he was the artist when comic strip SECRET AGENT X-9 (created by Dashiell Hammett and Alex Raymond) changed its name to SECRET AGENT CORRIGAN.
July 6th, 2019 at 2:08 pm
Chaykin’s AMERICAN FLAGG was a big favorite of mine when it first came out (mid to late 80s) but my interest in comics had waned considerably by the time Hellboy came along (1993). I agree with your statement about Al Williamson 100%.
There was a lot of talent involved in this Fafhrd and Grey Mouser project, and it shows. I wish I didn’t have to quibble a bit about the results, but I think I wanted complete perfection.
July 12th, 2019 at 5:03 pm
I might be a little too legalistic, but I don’t think of Leiber’s latter-day stories as pulp when they were taking a different approach, somewhat, from the earliest stories…and appeared in the digests or other non-pulp media. That written, have you ever read the 1970s DC Comics SWORD OF SORCERY title, which mixed adaptations with (what I’ve read have been) weak-tea comics original stories not scripted by Leiber.
July 12th, 2019 at 5:20 pm
Todd, It was the review itself that I filed in the Pulp Fiction category, since the characters started out there. As time went on, and the stories started to appear in “mainstream” SF mags, they (the stories) also became more sophisticated (and no longer showing their roots nearly as much).
I remember buying the DC comic SWORDS AND SORCERY off the newsstands, and being delighted to see Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser being brought to life there, so to speak. I haven’t read the comics ever since, more’s the pity (or shame).