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JSA Liberty Files: The Whistling Skull #1-6
JSA Liberty Files: The Whistling Skull
In 1940s Europe, the Nazi war machine is on the move...but crimes are still committed in even the smallest hamlets. One heroic duo must solve the most bizarre mystery of all, but when dealing with Der Karneval, the current Whistling Skull and his partner Knuckles must learn to rely on the memories of the Whistling Skulls that came before and uncover a mystery all in the midst of the greatest war in world history!
160 pages, Paperback
First published November 5, 2013
2 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
B. Clay Moore
166 books31 followersB. Clay Moore has written comic books for virtually every major publisher, including Image Comics, Marvel Comics, DC Comics, WildStorm, Oni Press, Valiant Comics, Aftershock Comics, DSTLRY and Ignition Press.
Upcoming projects including LAST FLIGHT OUT OF WICHITA, from DSTLRY Media in 2025, in collaboration with Mack Chater. This is the first of two books from Moore and Chater, who combine to work under the Dead Echo Press imprint. Following that will be BLOODLAND.
Hollywood has spent a lot of money optioning Moore's work.
He lives in suburban Kansas City.
Upcoming projects including LAST FLIGHT OUT OF WICHITA, from DSTLRY Media in 2025, in collaboration with Mack Chater. This is the first of two books from Moore and Chater, who combine to work under the Dead Echo Press imprint. Following that will be BLOODLAND.
Hollywood has spent a lot of money optioning Moore's work.
He lives in suburban Kansas City.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
May 13, 2016
Sorry, creative team behind JSA Liberty Files: The Whistling Skull, I can see that caring and inventiveness and talent all went into this graphic novel, but they clashed with each other. The art style was fun, but didn't match the dark and mysterious colors. We have a strangely garbed hero but wait until the final chapter to piece together the extent of his powers and never learn his original origin nor why (or even when) he Whistles? What's up guys? A mystery is only fun for the readers if it reaches the big reveal.
I refer the Gentle Reader to the Fourth and Fifth of Niven's Laws for Writers:
4. It is a sin to waste the reader's time.
5. If you've nothing to say, say it any way you like. Stylistic innovations, contorted story lines or none, exotic or genderless pronouns, internal inconsistencies, the recipe for preparing your lover as a cannibal banquet: feel free. If what you have to say is important and/or difficult to follow, use the simplest language possible. If the reader doesn't get it then, let it not be your fault.
I refer the Gentle Reader to the Fourth and Fifth of Niven's Laws for Writers:
4. It is a sin to waste the reader's time.
5. If you've nothing to say, say it any way you like. Stylistic innovations, contorted story lines or none, exotic or genderless pronouns, internal inconsistencies, the recipe for preparing your lover as a cannibal banquet: feel free. If what you have to say is important and/or difficult to follow, use the simplest language possible. If the reader doesn't get it then, let it not be your fault.
November 22, 2020
Enjoyable, but missing something overall. The book was very evocative of the Hellboy series, and also seemed to have something in common with The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I like the book more the more I read of it, but my review would mirror many of the other complaints I've seen. The development of the characters and backstory was confusing, and I had to verify that I hadn't missed previous works that explained what the "Skeleton" was, and what had happened in Japan. And the tie in with the JSA just seemed gratuitous. I enjoyed the art, and the story finally gelled for me, but overall it remained good, not great.
November 20, 2020
This was a fun pulp adventure, set in the 1940’s but with a backstory going back decades or more. The Whistling Skull (a hero wearing a skull mask with a chimney spout on the side) and his sidekick Knuckles are sent to an unnamed European country where they uncover a Nazi plot.
It’s a fun story that in just six issues creates and expertly delivers a unique hero, a secret society a complex back story, connections to the JSA, a conspiracy and future (but as yet unexplored) plot lines. I thoroughly enjoyed it and hopefully we’ll get a chance to see the Skull in action once more.
It’s a fun story that in just six issues creates and expertly delivers a unique hero, a secret society a complex back story, connections to the JSA, a conspiracy and future (but as yet unexplored) plot lines. I thoroughly enjoyed it and hopefully we’ll get a chance to see the Skull in action once more.
June 12, 2023
A seriously flawed but ultimately enjoyable story. This books reads very much like part 2 of a 3 part story, the problem being that it is actually book 1 of 1. While there is some backstory told in (often confusing) flashbacks, they only encompass the Skull's past. The JSA stuff is a separate story that has no real effect on the Whistling Skull story, but seems to be where a follow up book might have been going. There was potential here to build something interesting, and while this offering fell short, I would like to have seen if a follow up could have been better.
This was more of a horror story than a superhero story, so the weird art kind of fit the mood, but it was not great art.
The ending was really weak.
This was more of a horror story than a superhero story, so the weird art kind of fit the mood, but it was not great art.
The ending was really weak.
February 10, 2021
Quick impressions: Overall this was an entertaining and fun read. It's different than the usual super powered hero tales, and I liked that. If you like comics like The Shadow you might like this one. The story stands on its own, but there is an opening for further adventures. The volume also includes an appendix of character files presented as top secret memos, a nice touch. I really like this one and would recommend it.
Full review on my blog.
Full review on my blog.
November 24, 2020
La JSA, la Sociedad de la Justicia de América, ha sido desde hace años una debilidad mía. Desde la magnífica La Edad de Oro, pero sobre todo tras los tiempos en que Robinson, Johns et al. resucitaron al grupo a principios de los 2000, las historias de estos personajes siempre me han atraído. Tanto en su ambientación "original" (los años 30 y 40) o en historias contemporáneas, las raices pulp de varios de los personajes y la idea del legado siempre han sido puntos débiles para mi. Desgraciadamente en el universo convencional de DC estos dos elementos se cotizan a la baja y el refugio de la JSA que me interesa ha quedado reducido a los especiales de Otros Mundos como este.
http://aventurasextraordinarias.blogs...
http://aventurasextraordinarias.blogs...
March 17, 2018
I can’t. I just can’t bring my self to finishing this nonsense. The art of gorgeous, as expected from Tony Harris, but the story is so disjointed...I just can’t seem to care.
Please don’t assume it’s the obvious “Of Mice and Men” George and Lenny allusion that’s turned me off, I actually like that idea, but three issues in to the six, and it seems that this mini series was just a bunch of neat ideas thrown together with a limp narrative.
I’m out....
Please don’t assume it’s the obvious “Of Mice and Men” George and Lenny allusion that’s turned me off, I actually like that idea, but three issues in to the six, and it seems that this mini series was just a bunch of neat ideas thrown together with a limp narrative.
I’m out....
November 11, 2016
So boring I didn't even finish it. It's labeled JSA Liberty Files but it had none (that I remember) characters from the original JSA Liberty Files, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Boo.
November 13, 2013
I came to this expecting to find the alternate pulp versions of Batman, Hourman and Dr. Midnight from the first JSA Liberty Files series fighting a villain called The Whistling Skull. What a shock! The Whistling Skull is the hero, and the other guys make only cameo appearances (except for Batman who is replaced entirely by The Cat, an alternate version of Wildcat maybe?).
The story by B. Clay Moore, replacing Dan Jolley, author of the original series, jumps all over, out of sequence, from WWI-era London to various WWII locales in Japan and Europe. The Whistling Skull and his sidekick, Knuckles, arrive in a Swiss village during WWII to investigate the strange disappearance of local folks. Assisting them is another agent, a partially invisible man (looking something like Claude Raines in his bandages, except that his lips and teeth are visible!). The Skull is a riff on The Phantom. There has been a long line of Whistling Skulls and each selects a successor to follow him. The previous Skull was the father of Knuckles, the present Skull's sidekick, a simple-minded, tender-hearted bruiser who misses his dad. There's an alternate plot line involving the previous Skull, a mission in Japan, and questions of whether he's alive or dead. It all eventually becomes rather tedious and the connections never become clear.
Tony Harris returns as artist for this book, but something's not right. This time around Harris often slips into a rather "bigfoot" style variation of his already unique style. The result is often clownish and grotesque and certainly not the Tony Harris art I was expecting.
This is a different creature than the original JSA Liberty Files, and nowhere near as enjoyable.
The story by B. Clay Moore, replacing Dan Jolley, author of the original series, jumps all over, out of sequence, from WWI-era London to various WWII locales in Japan and Europe. The Whistling Skull and his sidekick, Knuckles, arrive in a Swiss village during WWII to investigate the strange disappearance of local folks. Assisting them is another agent, a partially invisible man (looking something like Claude Raines in his bandages, except that his lips and teeth are visible!). The Skull is a riff on The Phantom. There has been a long line of Whistling Skulls and each selects a successor to follow him. The previous Skull was the father of Knuckles, the present Skull's sidekick, a simple-minded, tender-hearted bruiser who misses his dad. There's an alternate plot line involving the previous Skull, a mission in Japan, and questions of whether he's alive or dead. It all eventually becomes rather tedious and the connections never become clear.
Tony Harris returns as artist for this book, but something's not right. This time around Harris often slips into a rather "bigfoot" style variation of his already unique style. The result is often clownish and grotesque and certainly not the Tony Harris art I was expecting.
This is a different creature than the original JSA Liberty Files, and nowhere near as enjoyable.
January 15, 2014
Public library copy.
(Annoyingly, the stupid Android app crashed several times while writing this review. )
The art work was immensely ugly and unappealing for a DC superhero book; had the book been published by, say, a small publisher like Viper it'd fit right in.
No wonder the artist has used photo reference in his better drawn books like Ex Machina, because every time I flipped through the book I'd see multiple characters drawn with the same noses and all the finger joints would have a cartoony @ symbol in the middle. The art style, I felt, with its thick, bold line weight was unsuited for this kind of story. Mike Mignola's style would have worked better.
There wasn't an ounce of JSA characters to really follow so why incorporate the tale in their universe? I kept putting this library book down in favor of books I own that I prefer to read over this. I cannot recommend this work. If this work was a creator-owned effort I'd have fewer complaints, it's too bad because I'd have loved a great pulpy detective story featuring JSA characters.
(Annoyingly, the stupid Android app crashed several times while writing this review. )
The art work was immensely ugly and unappealing for a DC superhero book; had the book been published by, say, a small publisher like Viper it'd fit right in.
No wonder the artist has used photo reference in his better drawn books like Ex Machina, because every time I flipped through the book I'd see multiple characters drawn with the same noses and all the finger joints would have a cartoony @ symbol in the middle. The art style, I felt, with its thick, bold line weight was unsuited for this kind of story. Mike Mignola's style would have worked better.
There wasn't an ounce of JSA characters to really follow so why incorporate the tale in their universe? I kept putting this library book down in favor of books I own that I prefer to read over this. I cannot recommend this work. If this work was a creator-owned effort I'd have fewer complaints, it's too bad because I'd have loved a great pulpy detective story featuring JSA characters.
October 11, 2016
Oof. Talk about painful. This really stretches the Elseworlds theme in that it has the absolute slightest connection to anything DC. Would have probably done better as something completely outside of continuity or even DC related. This could have stood alone under another publisher or brand. Having said that, I don't think it would have improved it much. A rather confusing and convoluted story is stretched over far too many issues with an utterly crap pay off. Add to this some unique but extremely confusing art and you'll feel like you missed a few pages somewhere. I'll be moving this book on as I can't see myself ever reading it again.
February 22, 2015
Weird, quirky supernatural mystery that feels like it is only pretending to be connected to the previous 'Liberty Files' mini-series.
Gentleman detective, government operative and possible zombie,his hulking sidekick and his gadget-filled mobile home investigate a mystery in a small village during World War 2.
Creepy mysterious vibe that then goes seriously Mike Mignola level bizarre and dangerous.
Fun pulpy read. Would love to see more adventures featuring this character.
Gentleman detective, government operative and possible zombie,his hulking sidekick and his gadget-filled mobile home investigate a mystery in a small village during World War 2.
Creepy mysterious vibe that then goes seriously Mike Mignola level bizarre and dangerous.
Fun pulpy read. Would love to see more adventures featuring this character.
December 18, 2016
It was a decent tale that retconned a new hero into the Golden Age. The JSA barely put in an appearance however and the story could have been told without them being involved.
Be warned though; this is not the JSA that existed prior to the new 52 making its appearance. This is the Elseworlds JSA that had Zod as Superman and the Martian Manhunter duped into believing he was Hitler's Ubermensch.
Be warned though; this is not the JSA that existed prior to the new 52 making its appearance. This is the Elseworlds JSA that had Zod as Superman and the Martian Manhunter duped into believing he was Hitler's Ubermensch.
January 18, 2014
The heroes are a sedate British pair; the villains are carnival freaks. It's a standard pulp story with confusing digressions and not much to recommend it. Probably for pulp lovers only.
November 5, 2015
Good but not spectacular - interesting story with highly stylized art, worth a look if you can't find your favorite title.
September 17, 2013
An enjoyable superhero romp. Beautiful art by Tony Harris. B. Clay Moore stories Don't disappoint.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews