What Classic Comic Have You Read Lately?

[pmpknface]

Very cool. And lookit this! Our thread just hit 2500 posts! :D

[Reptisaurus!]

I actually dug out Essential Defenders Vol. 2 last night. The two issues I read were by Wein (I wanted to read the whole book), but I'll be getting to "Baby" Gerber's books soon enough.

Heh.

I read Defenders 29, 31-37 in the Essential Volume, the Howard the Duck Treasury edition and 21 (Sadly, I couldn't find the all-essay issue), Marvel Two-in-one 6-8, Sludge # 2, Countdown to Mystery 1-4, Void Indigo # 1, and some of the Gerber bits from Essential Tales of the Zombie.

[Beria]

I just read Doug Wildey's first Rio GN. Great art and an exciting story. Best western I've read in ages.

[Lone Ranger]

I just read Doug Wildey's first Rio GN. Great art and an exciting story. Best western I've read in ages.

I am madly in love with Rio.

It's probably the high watermark of the western genre.

[devildinosaur]

I just read Doug Wildey's first Rio GN. Great art and an exciting story. Best western I've read in ages.

Good Lord, I haven't read that name since Comico was good.

[Kirk G]

Very cool. And lookit this! Our thread just hit 2500 posts! :D

And 2600 of them are from you!!!!:D

[Lone Ranger]

Grimm's Ghost Stories #19
A nice warm bath of Gold Key ghost stories. Not exactly Watchmen, but enjoyable. The lead story of a ghost haunting the Brooklyn Bridge almost belongs in Haunted Love. Frank Bolle really knows how to set a mood. It's really quite nice. The others stories aren't quite as strong - just the typical 'greedy people getting their just desserts' stuff we see all the time. The final story takes place n a medieval setting and John Celardo's artwork (that's who is credited at GCD) has a real Schaffenbergeresque quality to it. Grade: B-

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/scottandkat/lately/Grimms19.jpg

[Lone Ranger]

Our Fighting Forces #150

We get a bit of a Joe Kubert bait and switch cover (it happened quite a bit during the 70s), as the Losers do briefly play dead, but it is to fool Arab bandits (not Nazis) and no snakes are involved). The lead story is very solid, with the Losers meeting up with some Israeli soldiers (attached to the British regiment) and there is a depth here that you don't often see in war books. The John Severin art is spectacular. The back-up story and Battle Album are ok, but I would have been happier if they'd lengthened the lead story. Grade: B+

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/scottandkat/lately/OFF150.jpg

[Cei-U!]

Our Fighting Forces #150

We get a bit of a Joe Kubert bait and switch cover (it happened quite a bit during the 70s), as the Losers do briefly play dead, but it is to fool Arab bandits (not Nazis) and no snakes are involved). The lead story is very solid, with the Losers meeting up with some Israeli soldiers (attached to the British regiment) and there is a depth here that you don't often see in war books. The John Severin art is spectacular. The back-up story and Battle Album are ok, but I would have been happier if they'd lengthened the lead story. Grade: B+

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/scottandkat/lately/OFF150.jpg

Hopefully, DC will give the Losers the Showcase treatment.

Cei-U!
I'd buy it!

[Lone Ranger]

Hopefully, DC will give the Losers the Showcase treatment.

Cei-U!
I'd buy it!

Me too - I've been trying to track down the Kirby issues, but they ain't so easy to find and they are no longer bargains.

[spoon_jenkins]

I've finished Essential Avengers vol. 4, which I mentioned starting upthread. Some thoughts on vol. 3 and vol. 4 together (even drawing on some stuff from vol. 2).

The Avengers didn't treat all prospective members equally. Roughly speaking, the spectrum goes like this:
Worst>Black Widow>Hercules>Black Panther>Black Knight>Vision>Best

Black Widow hangs out with the team on and off for a while. She's got the support of Hawkeye, but she never gets a spot on the team. Hercules hangs with the team for a while before he's finally offered a spot. Because he leaves soon after, he actually spent more time during the stint as an ally than as an actual member. Black Panther is favored for induction just because Cap vouches for him. A very good character reference though. Spends a lot of his time doing solo stuff. Black Knight is inducted into the team and proceeds to participate in virtually no missions. The Vision attacks the Avengers, then gets tapped to join the team.

I really like the Squadron Supreme story in #86; it's better than the earlier Squadron Sinister appearance. And it's a really dark story. The ending is pretty good - * spoiler * - Vision speculates that the quartet of Avengers may have returned to a very similar alternate Earth rather than their own.

I think the Kree-Skrull War's fame owes more to its epic scale than actually being a better story. It gets a bit convoluted.

[dan bailey]

Me too - I've been trying to track down the Kirby issues, but they ain't so easy to find and they are no longer bargains.

I've made the same unfortunate discovery regarding the John Severin ishes.

[Toku King]

The Death Of Captain Stacy and The Death Of Gwen Stacy.

Both very compelling stories. Every time I read them, I get swelled up inside.

[Lone Ranger]

Ms. Tree Quarterly #3

A rare miss from the Ms. Tree team. It's not that this is a terrible book, but it simply doesn't measure up to the other Ms. Tree tales that I've read. We've got pretty a pretty standard 'House on Haunted Hill' type story, with all of the usual suspects. None of the characters are fully realized, which is unfortunate as Ms. Tree almost seems like a bit player at times. We've got a bit of a mystery that lost my interest as it steered away from reality. Some decent elements are there - but the whole thing felt a bit rushed. The Midnight back-up is ok - this strip just never really grabbed my attention, but perhaps I'm missing something. Grade: C+

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/scottandkat/lately/MsTreeQ6.jpg

[Simon Garth]

I've finally succumbed to temptation, and signed up to Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, so this is the result of my first trawl through their archives.

First off, a warning to anyone else tempted to join up - the coverage is really patchy - lots of stuff from the early 60s, bits from the 70s & 80s & 90s. Still for $50, can't really complain too much.

King Size Spider-Man Annual #2

Those of you with eidetic memories may well remember this as one of my 12 Days of Christmas picks from 2 years ago. Waaaaay back, this (in the form of Spider-Man Comics Weekly #23), was the comic that really got me hooked on Marvel comics, so I was really looking forward to seeing it again, for the first time in probably 30+ years, and the first time in proper colour (the SMCW reprint used the crappy state-of-the-British-printing-art version of black & white + 1 colour - usually red for Spider-man stories, when I originally read this). So hyped up, I devoured it, and ... it was kind of OK. Actually, to be honest, it was hugely disappointing. I've commented before that I remember this stuff with great affection, but don't really want to read much of it again, well this is the reason. While the Ditko art still has its charm, it's all horribly overwritten, and Dr Strange hasn't really developed his voice yet. The weird other realms were great in that Ditko-imagination way, but... you know what, I kind of preferred them part coloured, so my imagination filled in the rest. Presented here in cleaned-up, very brightly coloured form (looks like old-style colouring on modern shiny paper), it just looked kind of trashy.

Really disappointing.

King Size Spider Man Annual #1

Spider-Man v Sinister Six. Aged slightly better, I thought, mainly because my expectations had been turned down by several notches after the previous read, and partly because this one wasn't one of my previous faves. Still horribly overwritten, none of the villains have much of an individual voice. Spider-Man loses and regains his powers with no obvious explanation.

Not great.

Hmm. OK, if the really old stuff hasn't aged too well, how about some more recent stuff. I really wanted to re-read the Byrne FF books, (a) to see how they ended, as I bailed before he did, and (b) to see if they really tailed off as badly as I remembered.

OK, only a few Byrne issues available on line - so much for that idea. Let's give a go to what's up there

Fantastic Four #276

Reed and Sue go to some town looking for a place in the 'burbs to live. Encounter some witch who decides that they are both evil witches, and calls up monsters and eventually knights of hell to attack them. "Oh no, what have I done? I was blinded by my.... etc etc". Truly dreadful.

Suddenly, the ASM annuals are looking a lot better!

Fantastic Four #285

Some kid idolises the Human Torch, by some really contrived coincidence, sets himself on fire to emulate his hero. Torch decides to quit but is convinced to stay on when someone shows him how much he meant to the kid, and how he gave the kid's life meaning, yada yada yada.

OK, well they really weren't so good, it appears that Byrne jumped the shark rather earlier in his run than I remembered - let's see what I missed in my wilderness years.

Fantastic Four #334

Simonson + Rich Buckler, with Ben Grimm in human form and some woman as the Thing??? FF defences are switched off & various Z-list villains try to break in, or something. So ugly I couldn't really concentrate on it, but didn't make a lot of sense. Awful. And some of the worst art to "grace" the title since... well, Buckler's stint in the 70s, at a guess.

Fantastic Four #347

Walt Simonson again. FF are Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Hulk & Wolverine??? WTF?! Who thought this would be a good idea?

For some reason which is never made clear, this bunch have taken over from the FF, though the real FF appear later in the book. Mole Man + Skrulls + fake FF + real FF = me losing the will to live. Not aided by some really poor Art Adams art in the classic 90s stylee - everything is shiny and highlighted, and hard to see what is actually happening.

Verdict so far: please make it stop!

Verdict on Marvel DCU, so far - interface is horrible to navigate and really slow on my 13Mb/s broadband link - I would really hate to use it on anything slower.

Anyhow, moving on. Looked for some Gerber, to cheer me up. Hmm, none of his Defenders on line.... no Man-Thing.... aha!

Adventure into Fear #16

I remember having this issue. Actually, come to think of it, I didn't think it was very good at the time. It was certainly totally eclipsed by his later Man-Thing work. And... it hasn't got better with the passage of time. Classic dumb 70s comic, not much of a hint of the Gerber magic that was to come later.

Trying another tack at random, picking another "A" title, I dived into:

Avengers Forever #12

I should know better than to dive into some maxi-series with the last issue, but by this point, I couldn't be bothered to wade through the whole lot. Basically, a big fight, which unravelled the whole of time, and re-ravelled it better. Apparently. I don't feel short-changed for missing the first 11 issues

OK, what's a guaranteed winner? Amazing Adventures with Killraven - not on line. Tried a couple of other things that I didn't find, then went for big series that I missed when it came out fairly recently:

House of M 1-4

(cue howls of anguish from all assembled)

Actually... quite liked this. Good art, much lighter writing.

New Avengers 1-3, 7, 8

Ditto.

OK, so it's not all a bust, but the "classic" parts of the collection haven't done it for me so far.

And, the interface totally sucks - I will be sending in some suggestions about that, you betcha.

[pmpknface]

Avengers Forever was fantastic, and it was face deep in continuity. Awesoem art too.

House of M prob reads better all at once, but still - you read 4 issues and nearly nothing happens. 7 issues should have taken 4 MAX!

[MWGallaher]

Fantastic Four #347
Walt Simonson again. FF are Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Hulk & Wolverine??? WTF?! Who thought this would be a good idea?

For some reason which is never made clear, this bunch have taken over from the FF, though the real FF appear later in the book. Mole Man + Skrulls + fake FF + real FF = me losing the will to live. Not aided by some really poor Art Adams art in the classic 90s stylee - everything is shiny and highlighted, and hard to see what is actually happening.


Y'know what was the coolest thing about this issue for me? It features my favorite "Easter Eggs" of all time (http://www.snowcrest.net/fox/str.html) ...

[Kirk G]

I just got my Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD Marvel Masterwork late last night and stayed up until 3am reading it in the still of the night.
Although the artwork is uneven (Kirby Layouts with finishes and inks by a different person virtually every issue or installment) it is FILLED with Silver Age goodness!
Ah, the innocent age of James Bond, 007 and the struggle against impossibly well organized criminal elements.... an interlocking plot that ranges from Strange Tales to Tales of Suspense to Astonishing Tales to the FF.

This was one of the high points of the Masterworks collection, in my opinion, and as it comes when Dr. Strange, Submariner, Hulk, Iron Man and Cap all split off in their own questionably strong volumes, my quest for those issues that I missed in my youth is just about at an end.
The last volume of Hulk, the last volume of Submariner and the last volume of Dr. Strange were strangely unsatisfying, as I remember the wandering direction of the ploting and scripts and artwork, and didn't like them enough to pick up the issues as they appeared upon the stands.
So, unless Marvel happens to hit another homerun like the SHEILD volume, my masterworks days may be over....

Plus, my favorite internet sales source has apparantly gone under leaving a ton of frustrated costomers on Ebay leaving angry demands for their product.
That's probably why I missed this volume when it came out, but just scored one on the rebound with another supplier.

(Does anyone know what the real story behind Collector's Universe is or has become???)

[benday-dot]

I've finally succumbed to temptation, and signed up to Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, so this is the result of my first trawl through their archives.


OK, so it's not all a bust, but the "classic" parts of the collection haven't done it for me so far.

And, the interface totally sucks - I will be sending in some suggestions about that, you betcha.

Ah, Simon. You are the Christopher Hitchens of the comic book world.

You obviously suffered much, but your reviews were a treat.

[scratchie]

And, the interface totally sucks - I will be sending in some suggestions about that, you betcha.I took a spin through this the other day to read one of the free teasers on Marvel's website. (It was "The Day Reality Went Wild" from the Claremont/Byrne X-Men).

I was disappointed to see that they were using a recolored version (either the Masterworks or Omnibus, assuming there's a difference) of the comic. And the interface was really, really heinous. As someone said on some blog, if Marvel wants this digital comics thing to catch on, they have to make it so the product you pay for isn't much worse than the product you can get for free.

[Rob Allen]

The other night I read Savage Sword of Conan #32, acquired from Cei-U! last weekend. This is the one where Conan finally kills Olgerd Vladislav, in the midst of a four-way battle in a formerly hidden city. It's classic Thomas/Buscema/deZuniga action all the way, plus the story is twice as long as a color comic and the pages are bigger. I don't know why this format didn't last.

Two thumbs up!

[Roquefort Raider]

The other night I read Savage Sword of Conan #32, acquired from Cei-U! last weekend. This is the one where Conan finally kills Olgerd Vladislav, in the midst of a four-way battle in a formerly hidden city. It's classic Thomas/Buscema/deZuniga action all the way, plus the story is twice as long as a color comic and the pages are bigger. I don't know why this format didn't last.

That was the first SSoC issue I bought at the newsstand! What fun it was to discover Conan stories that went on for dozens and dozens of pages. I was impressed at the time by the way Tony DeZuniga's inking made Conan look older than he was in the color comic, which only made sense given that the Cimmerian was in his mid-thirties.

Being a young teenager at the time, I also had my brain fried by Big John's rendering of the female anatomy. A code book that wasn't!

The B&W magazine format was indeed pretty cool, and alongside SSoC there were gems like Marvel Preview/Bizarre adventures, Unknown Worlds of science-fiction, and Deadly hands of kung-fu. Despite lowered sales, I'm sure SSoC could have survived the 90s crunch if Marvel had had a little faith in its basic formula instead of making it into something it wasn't.

[Roquefort Raider]

Since we broach the subject of B&W mags...

Unknown Worlds of science fiction #2 (edit: it is indeed 2, not 3 as I mistyped in the subject line) was a good example of something I'd definitely buy it it were published today. It assumes its readers have a certain degree of intelligence and does not treat them as mere consumers of the latest fad.

The cover is a beautiful piece by Mike Kaluta, and one also found in the art book "The studio" published in the late 70s.

There are many stories in there, mostly based on quirky endings (as is often the case in such anthology books). Two adaptations: one of a story by noted writer Alfred Bester (who is also interviewed in the mag), and the other from the novel "day of the triffids".

Bruce Jones provides a story in his beautiful Jeffrey Jones-like style, and a youngster named George Perez illustrates a parable on the uncaring way we treat our veterans. Oh, and as if this wasn't enough Mike Kaluta also gives us a very sharp four-pager!

A history of the Hugo award rounds up the issue, which despite its comic-book content could proudly stand the comparison to Analog or other SF mags.

All of that stuff used to cost only a buck? The mind boggles!

[T GUy]

Jughead No. 296 from January, 1980. A mildly amusing cover two-panel gag is followed by four stories of Archie's closed-eyed, hamburger-crazy pal drawn by the superb Samm Schwartz, whose elegant lines make him my favourite of the Archie artists. As well as 21 pages of Juggie, we are given four pages of filler, including the text page, and two house ads, which makes me wonder why Marvel and DC were such poor value for money at this time.

[wolp]

I've enjoyed Marvel Essentials FF and I was wondering if Marvel Essentials Cap America vol. 1 is as good ? I don't know if this is the right topic to ask this in.

[T GUy]

wolp, I'd say you're on topic unless someone takes the view that you shoul've started a new thread.

I'd say that Cap Essentials v 1 is more consistent than the FF, on which Kirby took his time to get going - so Cap v 1 beats out FF v 1, is about the same as v2 but not as good as v3.

Hope this quick comment helps.

[wolp]

wolp, I'd say you're on topic unless someone takes the view that you shoul've started a new thread.

I'd say that Cap Essentials v 1 is more consistent than the FF, on which Kirby took his time to get going - so Cap v 1 beats out FF v 1, is about the same as v2 but not as good as v3.

Hope this quick comment helps.

Yea it helps. I was wondering what other Marvel Essentials you would say are good. Maybe Uncanny X-men? Maybe Daredevil? Thanks.

[Reptisaurus!]

wolp, I'd say you're on topic unless someone takes the view that you shoul've started a new thread.

I'd say that Cap Essentials v 1 is more consistent than the FF, on which Kirby took his time to get going - so Cap v 1 beats out FF v 1, is about the same as v2 but not as good as v3.

Hope this quick comment helps.

Agreed on the order of Fantastic Four books, with 3 being the peak of the run.

But I don't like the Lee/Kirby Cap QUITE as much as any of 'em, not even 1. (And, Cap-wise, the Engelhart-written stuff in volume 4 is my favorite.)

Just for the record, here's my favorite Showcase/Essentials, with an arbitrary 1-per-character restriction.

1. Enemy Ace
2. Spider-Man vol. 2
3. Howard the Duck
4. Fantastic Four vol. 3
5. Doctor Strange vol. 3
6. Man-Thing
7. Brave and the Bold vol 2
8. Tomb of Dracula vol. 2
9. Jonah Hex
10. Atom
11. Captain America vol. 4
12. Sgt. Rock
13. (Claremont/Byrne) X-men vol. 2
14. Metamorpho
15. Justice League vol. 3

[spoon_jenkins]

Yea it helps. I was wondering what other Marvel Essentials you would say are good. Maybe Uncanny X-men? Maybe Daredevil? Thanks.
Daredevil vol. 1 is really good. I haven't read the other volumes yet.

I've read all the stuff in the Essential X-Men volumes, but in color rather than in the Essential format. As far as the Silver Age volumes go, volume 1 (titled Uncanny X-Men vol. 1) is good stuff. Volume 2 (Classic X-Men vol. 2) isn't that great unless your an X-Men fan. The volumes that are simply titled Essential X-Men reprint the Claremont era stuff starting in 1975. That's all really good stuff.

I'd also recommend Essential Avengers (especially vol. 2-4) and Essential Spider-Man (especially vol. 3, 4, 6).

I liked Cap vol. 1. I'm in the middle of FF vol. 3 right now. Comparing the two is a bit difficult because they're different. Cap has quicker pacing because each installment is shorter. But after a while Cap ends up in an endless chain of action cliffhangers which gets tiresome. FF vol. 2 has some humor that Cap lacks, but I generally liked the Cap stories better.

[wolp]

I'm going to be buying more of these essentials and I will go by your guy's suggestions.

I've never read these stories so I'm going into these with fresh eyes.

Side note - I was having trouble getting into Watchmen, it was kinda boring. But with the story about the blue guy and how he can tell the future the book is picking up. I don't even remember the blue guy's name though. Wish me luck with the Watchmen and also gonna read V for Vendetta. And on top of that I'm reading Essentials FF vol. 4 .

[dan bailey]

Side note - I was having trouble getting into Watchmen, it was kinda boring. But with the story about the blue guy and how he can tell the future the book is picking up. I don't even remember the blue guy's name though. Wish me luck with the Watchmen and also gonna read V for Vendetta.

I had a very similar reaction to Watchmen, for what it's worth -- to the extent that after the first few pages failed to grab me, I set the book aside for probably years before finally trying it again a couple of years ago, applying myself a bit more this time around, & making it all the way through.

Let's just say it turned out to be worth the effort ... though to my mind V for Vendetta is much better. V has to be one of my favorite comics, period.

[wolp]

I had a very similar reaction to Watchmen, for what it's worth -- to the extent that after the first few pages failed to grab me, I set the book aside for probably years before finally trying it again a couple of years ago, applying myself a bit more this time around, & making it all the way through.

Let's just say it turned out to be worth the effort ... though to my mind V for Vendetta is much better. V has to be one of my favorite comics, period.

Yeah I can't sit and read the whole Watchmen book in one sitting. My mind wanders which is odd since I've read tons of TPBs in one sitting. It's just touch and go for me with the Watchmen. The story is good it's just not a typical GN. I guess I'm not used to Moore's writing. I'll get it eventually and it'll be an epiphany..I'm sure of it.

[Kan-Man]

Absolute DC: The New Frontier

Not a classic, I know, but I never get to post to this thread and it has many elements that make it a classic to me.

Do you know how there are certain things - movies, books, records - you know you're going to enjoy before you even experience them? I had been looking forward to reading this since I first heard about it, but never got around to picking up a copy.

Then, out of the blue, my brother bought this edition for me for the holidays without knowing anything about it beyond the thought, "it looked like something you'd be into."

Well, he was right. In a nutshell, it represents everything I'm nostalgic about from my comic reading days. And ironically enough, it's probably better than many of the comics I gobbled up in the 70s and early 80s.

I love stories that incorporate many different characters, even if they're cameos (the Absolute edition has a great page by page description by Cooke that points out obscure references, influences, etc.) and Cooke's intererpretations of John Jones and the Challengers of the Unknown would make for great ongoing series.

The artwork is great, the storytelling is great, the book could give you a hernia but I loved every minute of it.

If there's anybody left out there that hasn't read this yet, I highly recommend it.

[Lone Ranger]

Since we broach the subject of B&W mags...

Unknown Worlds of science fiction #2 (edit: it is indeed 2, not 3 as I mistyped in the subject line) was a good example of something I'd definitely buy it it were published today.

All of that stuff used to cost only a buck? The mind boggles!

I recently read this one, too (was it a NewKadia purchase for you?). I'm generally a pretty big fan of the Marvel b&w mags, and I like this one quite a bit but I can't say that I loved it.

The War Toy story was quite good. I liked the Bruce Jones one as well, - it had a nice EC twist to it. I couldn't really get into the Day of the Triffids adaptation. Wyndam's book has a certain tone that was missing from this comic, which came across more as a standard 50s 'atomic plants' B-Movie. Perhaps I am thick, but I really didn't understand the short Kaluta drawn piece. Can someone explain that one to me.

One of the great things about these magazines are the text pieces (except for the Don McGregor frame by frame 'reviews' in DHOKF) - I really enjoyed the look at the Hugo. I'm just a casual sci-fi fan, but I find it very interesting to see who was getting criticals raves back in the day.

I also picked up issue #4 from NewKadia and I'm looking forward to digging into it.

[pmpknface]

I was reading my Essentail Defenders today. I just finished the Avengers / Defenders war. I kinda blew through it because I've read it before. Great stuff though.

I want to finish this so I can get to the Steve Gerber issues. ;)

[MWGallaher]

I recently read this one, too [UNKNOWN WORLDS OF SCIENCE FICTION #2]
...

The War Toy story was quite good. I liked the Bruce Jones one as well, - it had a nice EC twist to it. I couldn't really get into the Day of the Triffids adaptation. Wyndam's book has a certain tone that was missing from this comic, which came across more as a standard 50s 'atomic plants' B-Movie. Perhaps I am thick, but I really didn't understand the short Kaluta drawn piece. Can someone explain that one to me.



I pulled it out in hopes that I could offer up an interpretation of the Kaluta story, only to discover that it was one I remember being baffled by as a youngster, and finally giving up on. Reading it now, I can't see much more to it than this:
Bad guys have blown up an enemy space ship, whose only survivor is a little boy, blinded and freezing and floating in space. The boy instinctively grabs a ray gun from a floating corpse. The bad guys amuse themselves watching the doomed lad floating pitifully, rather than hightailing it away from the scene of their dastardly deed. The boy, blindly, pulls the trigger (perhaps involuntarily as his hands freeze?) and through pure luck hits a vulnerable window, depressurizing the spaceship and avenging his family, before floating away. But Kaluta apparently botches the staging: despite a leisurely survey of the bad guys' ship (as the boy floats around and temporarily perches in what seems to be an antenna), Kaluta fails to give us an establishing shot of the glassy black porthole window that the boy ultimately shoots out, instead showing it only in a confusing closeup.
~shrug~
I for one really loved this adapation of "Triffids", but then I never read the book. This was one of the stories that sold me on the talents of Rico Rival, who I mentioned in the "Lesser Filipinos" thread. I also enjoyed the Frank Robbins/Jim Mooney art team on "Adam and No Eve." Unknown Worlds had a knack for picking SF stories that packed punches that tended to really stick with me, like this, and "Threads" in a later issue, and the mindblowingly iconoclastic "Behold the Man" (Nino!), and the depressing "Slow Glass" frames. I'm enjoying revisiting my set of these magazines, inspired by this thread.

[Slam_Bradley]

Not as classic as what we're used too, but I recently read Queen & Country: Operation Morningstar, which reprinted Queen & Country # 5-7. I find Rucka to be one of the better "new" writers of comics and I've gotten to really like this book. The story finds the SIS agents in Taliban controlled Afghanistan. The story was written in July of 2001, so just prior to 9/11. I really like that Rucka didn't try to shoe-horn Tara Chace into Afghanistan, as it would have been truly unreasonable. Good stuff...looking forward to finding the next volume at my price.

[pmpknface]

Finished the Defenders Essential vol 1 which brought my up through #14. I found it interesting that at the end of the Avengers / Defenders war, Dr. Strange (in order to spare humanity of the memory of being partially merged with the dark dimension) MIND WIPED the entire world of having any memory of the experiennce or of the Defenders existance. It wasn't the first or the last time such an event has been used I guess...

[Roquefort Raider]

Eternal warrior #3, 4 and 7.

Like most Valiant titles from 1992 and 1993, these issues deliver good stories, good character development and good storytelling. Notice that I don't go for the stellar or outstanding adjectives: Valiant back then was decidedly going for a subdued but steady approach, with little flash and lots of substance. (The exception might be the art in #7, because Barry Windsor-Smith is always more than just good).

The main character of the series is Gilan Ani-pada, a hero whose unusual abilities are that he doesn't age and that he heals pretty quickly. He's also been around for at least five thousand years, and has been fighting in some capacity for that long -usually in the service of succeeding generations of "geomancers", sort of shamans who communicate with the Earth itself. Frequent flashback sequences to the distant past are a great part of the series' fun.

In issue #3, Gilad begins by stopping a band of thugs who were after him but settled on trying to murder his young and pretty assistant. He gets rid of them in the time-tested way of smashing their car and bumping their heads, but then falls down exhausted (thanks to the Big Company Crossover he just came back from at the start of the issue). His young ladyfriend manages to take him to a secluded cottage to recuperate, and the ensuing flirtation and sexual tension is a good example of Jim Shooter's ability as a writer: efficient and to the point.

Gilad then finds himself a little bummed out; he's tired of fighting all the time. During a little vacation in Greece, where he goes to visit another ladyfriend, he seems to get deeper into depression. Said ladyfriend then secretly arranges for Gilad to get into an old-fashioned bar-brawl with his brother Aram (also an immortal, but a laid-back sort of fellow despite his enormous strength) who pretends to hold a grudge regarding his being drafted in the aforementioned Big Company Crossover. Fisticuffs ensue, and Gilad, elated, can get on with his life.

The dialogue throughout the issue is very good. The whole thing, despite having a serious undertone and setting up quite a few relationships and plot points for future issues, is written as a light comedy and is a lot of fun even as a standalone.


Issue #4 starts in ancient China, where Gilad fights in a civil war and helps defeat the ruthless general Cheng. Cheng, a brilliant strategist with mismatched eyes, commits suicide rather than submit to the emperor's offer of being pardonned in exchange for his service as a foot soldier. As he dies, he however promises he'll be back.

Fast forward to the present, where we learn that Cheng has been reincarnated many times, always as someone with mismatched eyes. In all his incarnations, he ends up remembering his hatred of Gilad and tries to go after him (which, as we learn in this story, he doesn't always manage). This time around, Cheng is a Columbian drug lord and comes this close to ridding himself of Gilad by throwing him off an airplane at 20 000 feet; luckily, things go awry and Cheng is sent back to his next incarnation.

In issue #7, written and drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith, the Valiant über-villain, Master Darque, is after the current geomancer's secrets. Master Darque is an albino sorcerer who, thanks to Valiant's short publishing career, never ceased to feel like a real threat (something that eventually happens to all super-villains who manage to lose again and again and again). Here, after capturing and torturing a retired geomancer to pick his brain, he comes in conflict with Gilad and manages to steal from him a magical artefact that, apparently, the immortal hero has been carrying for a very long time. This artefact is a knife that captures the soul of evil creatures, from whom Darque hopes to gain all sorts of nasty knowledge. Clearly outpowered by Darque, Gilad breaks the knife and frees the captured souls. In the ensuing chaos, the old crypt in which the fight occured collapses, burrying Darque. Gilad walks off, but an epilogue reveals that the villain survived.

Excellent art and color, a straightforward plot, and some more exploration into the Valiant mythos.

It's a pity the whole company later decided to go shoulderpads (if you'll forgive the expression) and to give up its policy of good storytelling for flashy and fanboyish artwork as well as massive slaughter of supporting casts. Even if Valiant hadn't been bought by Acclaim and gone belly up, these excellent series were already dead by 1995.

[scratchie]

Not as classic as what we're used too, but I recently read Queen & Country: Operation Morningstar, which reprinted Queen & Country # 5-7. I find Rucka to be one of the better "new" writers of comics and I've gotten to really like this book. The story finds the SIS agents in Taliban controlled Afghanistan. The story was written in July of 2001, so just prior to 9/11. I really like that Rucka didn't try to shoe-horn Tara Chace into Afghanistan, as it would have been truly unreasonable. Good stuff...looking forward to finding the next volume at my price.I just started reading the third volume and sadly, I was completely put off by the artwork. The artist on this volume -- I'm not even going to go look up his name -- has turned Tara into a buxom Barbie-doll-with-gun rather than the real woman she appeared in the first two volumes. I tried to shrug it off, but I couldn't even get through the first ten pages before I went looking for something else to read.

If you like Queen & Country, I strongly recommend Rucka's Whiteout, about a woman who's a federal marshal in Antarctica. There are two trades that have just been reprinted in slightly smaller "definitive editions" (as Oni is doing with Q&C currently).

[Slam_Bradley]

If you like Queen & Country, I strongly recommend Rucka's Whiteout, about a woman who's a federal marshal in Antarctica. There are two trades that have just been reprinted in slightly smaller "definitive editions" (as Oni is doing with Q&C currently).


Yep. I've read Whiteout. Good stuff. I haven't found Whiteout:Melt for the right price yet. But I will eventually.

[devildinosaur]

Yep. I've read Whiteout. Good stuff. I haven't found Whiteout:Melt for the right price yet. But I will eventually.

"Melt" is in relatively cheap paperback form now.

Unless, of course, you're speaking of "Ebay cheap". ;)

[Slam_Bradley]

"Melt" is in relatively cheap paperback form now.

Unless, of course, you're speaking of "Ebay cheap". ;)


I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of trades I've paid more than $5 for.

[Cherokee Jack]

If you like Queen & Country, I strongly recommend Rucka's Whiteout, about a woman who's a federal marshal in Antarctica. There are two trades that have just been reprinted in slightly smaller "definitive editions" (as Oni is doing with Q&C currently).


WHITEOUT is now a movie.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365929/

[devildinosaur]

I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of trades I've paid more than $5 for.

Patience is a virtue.

[Slam_Bradley]

I just finished up reading American Century 1-27, the entire series. Overall, I thought this was a pretty fine read. I loved the setting 1950-52. I liked the protagonist. Chayking and Tischman had a great feel for the time and the book felt like an naughty flip-side of Steve Canyon. My major complaint would be that it didn't have a letter/editorial column, and this was a book that cried out for one. From the historical references, to the literature that Harry Block/Kraft was constantly reading, a letters page could have been a great addition.

Of particular interest to Classics fans would be issue 24 with pencils and inks by John Severin. This one is a look back at Harry's Great-Grandfather as he heads in to Kansas to collect on a gambling debt, circa 1870.

[dan bailey]

Wow, Slam -- what a case of great minds shrinking alike, or something. I won an eBay auction for virtually all of American Century -- the entire run except for ishes 2, 20, 25 & 26 -- just about 3 hours ago. And the Severin issue (not at all surprisingly, given my adoration of his work) is what made me go looking into the series in the first place after I came across the reference to #24 while going through his GCD credits just last week.

[Slam_Bradley]

Wow, Slam -- what a case of great minds shrinking alike, or something. I won an eBay auction for virtually all of American Century -- the entire run except for ishes 2, 20, 25 & 26 -- just about 3 hours ago. And the Severin issue (not at all surprisingly, given my adoration of his work) is what made me go looking into the series in the first place after I came across the reference to #24 while going through his GCD credits just last week.


Let us know what you think when you get done with it, Dan. I certainly enjoyed it, though the last couple of storylines weren't quite as good as the start.

[pmpknface]

I bought the first story arc of American Century and stopped after that, but I do remember lilking it. Great call guys!

[Belanner]

Frank Miller's DareDevil. That my last classic comic-boock I have read...I have to say I didint like very much that comic, but I like more than the Roger Mckenzie's issues.

[Roquefort Raider]

Stalker #1-4.

Stalker is a very short series of sword and sorcery (all of four issues!) written by a very young Paul Levitz -it was his first series- and drawn by two masters of the comic art: Steve Ditko and Wally Wood.

The story probably ended because of poor sales, but it is just as well: the four-part story arc has a satisfying and non-conventional conclusion.

Stalker is a young urchin who dreams of becoming a knight. He tries to achieve his dream by offering to serve a local baroness, who assigns him to menial chores in her castle. After a year of drudgery, the young man protests that he was supposed to become a man-at-arms, not a slave. For his trouble, he's condemned to be whipped! He manages to escape both punishment and castle by jumping off a high tower into a moat, and ends up frustrated and eager for revenge.

Desperate, he prays to Dgrth, demon-god of warriors, and lo and behold! the supernatural entity appears, ready to grant him his wish in exchange for his soul. Stalker agrees, and is magically given all sorts of martial skills. The caveat is that his soul is forfeit immediately!

Realizing that he has perhaps made a bad deal, the young warrior decides to hunt down the demon and force him to give him back his soul. His quest will bring him to raise an army and to attack the very gates of Dgrth's hell, only to realize that there is no way he can recover what he lost: his soul having been given away, it is now part of the very essence of the demon and cannot be recovered.

Thus the series end, with the upbeat message that the hero prevailed, but the dire realization that making deals with the devil is never a good idea.

Peter Parker obviously didn't read Stalker...

[MichikoS]

Not as classic as what we're used too, but I recently read Queen & Country: Operation Morningstar, which reprinted Queen & Country # 5-7. I find Rucka to be one of the better "new" writers of comics and I've gotten to really like this book. The story finds the SIS agents in Taliban controlled Afghanistan. The story was written in July of 2001, so just prior to 9/11. I really like that Rucka didn't try to shoe-horn Tara Chace into Afghanistan, as it would have been truly unreasonable. Good stuff...looking forward to finding the next volume at my price.Slam, I discovered and devoured all the Q&C trades at my library. I think they are terrific, and even read Rucka's prose novels based on the comic, which are excellent. Unlike scratchie, I enjoyed the wide variety in art styles, and what each artist brought to the table in terms of characterization and storytelling choices. Very interesting, if somewhat grim and even depressing. Sort of the Dark Side of Modesty Blaise, which I'm now absorbing in small doses as I find the gns and prose novels at my local libraries, thanks to the recommendations on this board. Funny thing about Rucka -- I first encountered him as a prose author years ago. I think it must have been KEEPER, his first Atticus Kodiak novel. I put him in the the Bill Pronzini category of competent without being literary (not that that's bad; I've read just about everything Pronzini has ever written) and was surprised to see him writing comic books. I don't like his writing for capes books at all -- completely turns me off, like Brad Meltzer does. Q&C really brings out his strengths, however, and he hasn't had a single misstep in that series as far as I'm concerned.

Michi

[scratchie]

Unlike scratchie, I enjoyed the wide variety in art styles, and what each artist brought to the table in terms of characterization and storytelling choices. Just to clarify, I'm not opposed to variety, but I thought that one particular artist characterized the main character in a way that was completely opposed to the way she had been characterized previously. To the point where I didn't even realize it *was* the main character when I first saw her. That's not variety, that's crap.

[MichikoS]

That's not variety, that's crap.If it's not Scottish, it's crap! :)

Michi

[DF2506]

Absolute DC: The New Frontier

Not a classic, I know, but I never get to post to this thread and it has many elements that make it a classic to me.

Do you know how there are certain things - movies, books, records - you know you're going to enjoy before you even experience them? I had been looking forward to reading this since I first heard about it, but never got around to picking up a copy.

Then, out of the blue, my brother bought this edition for me for the holidays without knowing anything about it beyond the thought, "it looked like something you'd be into."

Well, he was right. In a nutshell, it represents everything I'm nostalgic about from my comic reading days. And ironically enough, it's probably better than many of the comics I gobbled up in the 70s and early 80s.

I love stories that incorporate many different characters, even if they're cameos (the Absolute edition has a great page by page description by Cooke that points out obscure references, influences, etc.) and Cooke's intererpretations of John Jones and the Challengers of the Unknown would make for great ongoing series.

The artwork is great, the storytelling is great, the book could give you a hernia but I loved every minute of it.

If there's anybody left out there that hasn't read this yet, I highly recommend it.

I just got the first Trade of New Frontier the other day and Loved it. I can't wait to get the second one eventually. Heck, I like it so much that I may try to get the Absolute verison when I get some money. lol. It truly is a classic in my book too!

I'd love to see Cooke do the Flash or Green Lantern (well, ok, Hal Jordan) as an ongoing. I think those are my two favorite characters in New Frontier so far! Although I liked Cookes take on the Losers, Suicide Squad, the Challengers, John Jones, Batman, Superman...and...er...ok I love the whole thing! Just an amazing book. Some people say Kingdom Come is better then this, but personally, as much as I like Kingdom Come, I like New Frontier better so far! :)

Man...I wish I could read Volume 2 now!

DF2506
" And I can't wait to get more of Cooke's work, like the Spirit! "

[Perry Holley]

I just got the first Trade of New Frontier the other day and Loved it. I can't wait to get the second one eventually. Heck, I like it so much that I may try to get the Absolute verison when I get some money. lol. It truly is a classic in my book too!My local comic book shop was recently having a back-issue sale, so I was able to pick up #1-6 for under $20. After hearing so many great things about New Frontier, I was very pleased to find out that it did very much live up to the hype. Great, great story.

[dan bailey]

As I believe I noted at the time, I was lured to New Frontier when ish #1 popped up in a 18-for-$25 (or some such) LCS box* a couple of yeas ago. I didn't realize for some months just what it was, & when I finally got around to reading it I rather quickly gathered (after I got past the initial Losers segement, that is ... can't say that did much for me) that I by god had better get the rest of the series ASAP. As quickly as I could manage, #s 2 & 3 & the TPB of 4-6 were mine.

Something tells me that owning the Absolute edition wouldn't exactly ruin my life, either.




*Am I the only one who finds cheap bins the equivalent of repositories of crack cocaine? Probably I'm not. If I had a dollar for every comic I've bought because of what I came across in one of those boxes ... well, I'd have a lot of dollars, not counting the ones that I spent under those circumstances?

[Perry Holley]

*Am I the only one who finds cheap bins the equivalent of repositories of crack cocaine?Oh, hell no.

[Slam_Bradley]

I've been re-reading Alter Ego: The Comic Book Artist Collection. This reprints the "flip-book" issues of Alter Ego that appeared in CBA 1-5. I have the original books, but there are some ok extras in this one, including an interview with Gil Kane that focuses on his non-DC/Marvel work and the rest of the Topps super-hero parodies. Enjoyable entertaining schtuff.

http://twomorrows.com/images/large/books/aecba_LRG.jpg

[Netley]

Alan Moore's Swampthing (I have most of the run in issue form). Still holds up today in both story and art (though maybe not in printing quality haha).

[benday-dot]

As I believe I noted at the time, I was lured to New Frontier when ish #1 popped up in a 18-for-$25 (or some such) LCS box* a couple of yeas ago. I didn't realize for some months just what it was, & when I finally got around to reading it I rather quickly gathered (after I got past the initial Losers segement, that is ... can't say that did much for me) that I by god had better get the rest of the series ASAP. As quickly as I could manage, #s 2 & 3 & the TPB of 4-6 were mine.

Something tells me that owning the Absolute edition wouldn't exactly ruin my life, either.


New Frontier has got to be one of the best series DC has published in several years. Contrary to you Dan, a real highlight came early to me with that kick-off Losers episode you mention on the "Island Island that Time Forgot." I love the Losers crew anyways and... well Dinosaurs enter my heart easily. The splash panels to be found in this series are right out of 50's pop deco art heaven. Several really remind me of a Kirby composition.

This Wednesday I am anticipating attending a special screening here in Halifax of the recently released film based on New Frontier. It is to be hosted by Darwyn Cooke himself and I hope to pick up a few inside tidbits on the movie and the comic book series creation.

[Kan-Man]

New Frontier has got to be one of the best series DC has published in several years. Contrary to you Dan, a real highlight came early to me with that kick-off Losers episode you mention on the "Island Island that Time Forgot." I love the Losers crew anyways and... well Dinosaurs enter my heart easily. The splash panels to be found in this series are right out of 50's pop deco art heaven. Several really remind me of a Kirby composition.

This Wednesday I am anticipating attending a special screening here in Halifax of the recently released film based on New Frontier. It is to be hosted by Darwyn Cooke himself and I hope to pick up a few inside tidbits on the movie and the comic book series creation.

One of the things Cooke mentions in the back of the Absolute edition is that he knew it was a risk starting the series with a bunch of characters most people had never heard of but he figured if he could get the reader to care about them, he'd have a much better chance of holding their interest throughout.

Have fun at the screening - I've heard great things about it and I'm looking forward to seeing the DVD myself.

[Kan-Man]

Something tells me that owning the Absolute edition wouldn't exactly ruin my life, either.



Ruin your life? No. Give you a hernia? Definitely a possibility.

[pmpknface]

I haven't read the New Frontier, but I watched it last night! EXCELLENT!!!

[dan bailey]

One of the things Cooke mentions in the back of the Absolute edition is that he knew it was a risk starting the series with a bunch of characters most people had never heard of but he figured if he could get the reader to care about them, he'd have a much better chance of holding their interest throughout.


Which is possibly the oddest thing about my reaction ... I very definitely did know the characters. Then again, I knew (& know -- I've got only one issue featuring the Losers lineup per se, though of course I'm hoping to remedy that, at least as regards the strips that John Severin drew) them from their respective individual apperances, not in their team iteration.

[Kan-Man]

Which is possibly the oddest thing about my reaction ... I very definitely did know the characters.

I was thinking the same thing - I think it should have been a "preaching to the choir" deal with you but for whatever reason it didn't resonate.

It sort of took a few pages for me to remember who those guys were. I knew the character names but I had to search the dusty corners of my memory to properly place them.

[dan bailey]

All of which I guess means I really, really need to go back & reread New Frontier, especially ish 1. Except that I have multiple short boxes of stuff I need to read for the first time, not to mention dozens of TPBs, especially Essentials & Showcase Presents (Presentses? Or maybe the plural is Showcases Presents, a la attorneys general?). *choke*

[dan bailey]

Speaking of which & whom, I know not everybody here pays attention to new stuff (from a financial standpoint, I wish I didn't ... I mean, if everything I hope to buy actually shows up at my LCSes tomorrow, I'll be coming home with something like 19 titles, not to mention at least two from my pull-list that are a couple of weeks overdue), but is everyone aware of the following, due out tomorrow?

JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE NEW FRONTIER SPECIAL

Written by Darwyn Cooke; Art by Cooke, J. Bone and David Bullock; Cover by Cooke

Celebrating the DVD release of the New Frontier movie comes this collection of never before seen stories including "New Frontier: The Lost Chapter," with script and art by Darwyn Cooke! This tale provides a first-hand look at Faraday's quest to outlaw masked vigilantes, culminating with the day Superman goes to Gotham to bring down Batman. Also included are two back-up stories featuring Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Sgt. Rock and others, as well as behind-the-scenes bonus material from the movie!

[pmpknface]

JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE NEW FRONTIER SPECIAL

I was aware of it, biut wasn't planning on getting it. It cracks me up that now everyone's "Absolute" editions are now not so complete... :p

[Kan-Man]

JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE NEW FRONTIER SPECIAL

I was aware of it, biut wasn't planning on getting it. It cracks me up that now everyone's "Absolute" editions are now not so complete... :p

True - but I forgot to mention before that the Absolute edition does include pages that were cut from the original edition for one reason or another. See, that's how they get ya.

[Aaron King]

The Absolute edition hasn't been complete since Darwyn Cooke did an issue of Solo that contained a Faraday story set in the world of New Frontier.

[benday-dot]

I think this New Frontier one-shot is supposed to get more into the Faraday character. And also highlight Sgt. Rock and bring in Back Canary, a DC character I've always been pretty fond of. I'm sure I'll end up picking it up.

[spoon_jenkins]

Essential Fantastic Four vol. 3 (reprinting Fantastic Four #41-63, Annuals #3,4)

I haven't met my blasphemy quota, so let me say that the first Galactus story is overrated. I expected more of it. And the Silver Surfer wasn't fully developed and human as he would be.

I preferred the story in which Dr. Doom steals the cosmic power a lot more. I also enjoyed "This Man, This Monster" and the ongoing Inhumans plotline quite a bit.

[Slam_Bradley]

I haven't met my blasphemy quota, so let me say that the first Galactus story is overrated. I expected more of it. And the Silver Surfer wasn't fully developed and human as he would be.



I much preferred him this way to the whiney git he'd become later on.

[Beria]

Stalker #1-4.

Stalker is a very short series of sword and sorcery (all of four issues!) written by a very young Paul Levitz -it was his first series- and drawn by two masters of the comic art: Steve Ditko and Wally Wood.



I read Stalker last year and liked it a lot. The story is pretty standard fantasy fare, but the art, pencilled by Ditko and inked by Wood, is amazing. The two masters also did an early "mature readers" comic together called Cannon. I have one issue and I don't know if more issues were published. Great stuff, anyway.

[benday-dot]

Spider-Boy Team-Up #1.

This was one of those issues from so-called Amalgam Comics (a joint Marvel/DC production) in the late 90's.

The best part of these books is appreciating the cross-company hero mash-ups. So yeah, its a real geek fest.

The Big Two publishers are famous, or notorious, for their imitations and swipes of one another's characters. Marvel has a swamp guy. DC must have one. DC has their Bat Man, Marvel must have it's Moon Knight. There are the Avengers and then there is the Justice League. Atom and Ant Man etc.

Here in Spider-Boy, the Legion of Super Heroes blends with Guardians of the Galaxy to form the Legion of Galactic Guardians 2099. So we get such luminous heroes as Timberwolf by Night, Vance Cosmic, Living Lightning Lad and, of course such add-on greats as Paste-Eater Pete and Dream Date.

As foes we get Scavulture (a Vulture/Scavenger amalgam) And one of my favourite blends is the all Kirby mash-up the Silver Racer!

The writing chores are by R.K. Sternsel. And the art is by the very good European stylist Ladronn.

The other Amalgam I'd like to get a hold of is Thorion of the Asgods. Another all-Kirby combine by Keith Giffen and JR, Jr. It stars Thorion and L'Ok D'Saad as well as the Mother Lobe and Thanoseid!

[mgs]

I don't know why, but God bless her, my mom sometimes goes to garage sales and picks up comics for me. usually they are very old and in bad shape, but some I find interesting as a flash to the past. These are some I've recently taken a look at:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh228/michaelphotos22/18.jpg

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh228/michaelphotos22/17.jpg

[dan bailey]

Good lord -- the comics up top are neat enough, but those are DC Digests bringing up the rear!

Just out of curiosity, how would your mom feel about adopting me? I can always play the I'm-an-orphan (though if you wanna be technical about it, I was 24 when my mother died) trump card if it comes to that ...

[mgs]

Good lord -- the comics up top are neat enough, but those are DC Digests bringing up the rear!

Just out of curiosity, how would your mom feel about adopting me? I can always play the I'm-an-orphan (though if you wanna be technical about it, I was 24 when my mother died) trump card if it comes to that ...

Yeah, those are the Blue Ribbon ones. Except for the Transformers ones. If my mom were younger and in better health she probably would! ;) She loves kids. My condolances about your mom.

[Aaron King]

Re: Amalgam Comics

That Spider-Boy Team-Up is definitely fun. I also have Thorion, which is a cool "THE OLD GODS DIED" sort of story. The regular old "Spider-Boy" one-shot from the previous Amalgam run was fun, too.

[Sir Tim Drake]

Re: Amalgam Comics

That Spider-Boy Team-Up is definitely fun. I also have Thorion, which is a cool "THE OLD GODS DIED" sort of story. The regular old "Spider-Boy" one-shot from the previous Amalgam run was fun, too.

I liked Spider-Boy Team-Up, although obviously I would have liked to see more of the Legion of Galactic Guardians.

[pmpknface]

I remember the Dark Claw one was good.

I recently read Defenders 15-16. Great stuff! Nighthawk gets his yellow & blue costume, they beat Magneto and the Brotherhood, and YES - another mind wipe happens. It's becoming a joke, but it's still making me laugh.

What was even funnier, that I didn't know, is that I guess after Magneto's appearrance in Avengers #111 Thor trapped Magneto in a BUBBLE IN THE CENTER OF THE EARTH! He stays trapped because the magnetic forces are equal there, and he can't use them. He then escapes when a COMET FLIES BY THE EARTH and the magnetic forces shift for a minute. How long was he down there? Months? Weeks? Without food, water, or a bathroom? WHo knows. But apperently Thor can be a real bastard! HA! :D

[Cei-U!]

I haven't met my blasphemy quota, so let me say that the first Galactus story is overrated. I expected more of it.

If it makes you feel less of a heretic, spoon, I agree with you. From its odd construction--the story starts midway through #48 and wraps up midway through #50--to the FF's irrelevance in their own book to the lame deus ex machina resolution, it's probably the least satisfying post-Golden Age "classic" I've ever read.

I read Stalker last year and liked it a lot. The story is pretty standard fantasy fare, but the art, pencilled by Ditko and inked by Wood, is amazing. The two masters also did an early "mature readers" comic together called Cannon. I have one issue and I don't know if more issues were published. Great stuff, anyway.

I'm a wee bit hazy on the details but Wood continued Cannon (without Ditko) as a comic strip for the military newspaper Overseas Weekly. The strip was collected circa '79 into a four-volume set of tabloid-sized b&w comic books. I used to have 'em and they were great. In 1991-92, Fantagraphics reprinted them as eight standard-size comics but with some of the nudity and graphic violence inexplicably toned down.

Cei-U!
I summon the odds and ends!

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

I am reading a series of DC Special presents bought from ebay, from 1976, issues 21 - 25 or so. Some feature all new stories of the Three Musketeers followed by back-up reprint stories of Robin Hood or the Viking Prince. They're all swashbucklers.

Issue #24 - the story is titled "The King and the Red Skinned Savages." The art is by somebody named Lee Alias and the story by somebody named Wesley Marsh. The Musketeers fight Indians brought over by the Cardinal, It's not very politically correct and doubtful it would be written today.

Some of the other Three Musketeers issues were written by Denny O'Neil. I never knew he had written these. Damn, I swear I have a man-crush on O'Neil. He has written every one of my favorite characters (Batman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Spiderman, Daredevil etc).

There is also an ad for Twinkies starring Aquaman, and advertisements for "DC TV Series" Shazam, Isis, Super Friends and Welcome Back Kotter.

[berk]

If it makes you feel less of a heretic, spoon, I agree with you. From its odd construction--the story starts midway through #48 and wraps up midway through #50--to the FF's irrelevance in their own book to the lame deus ex machina resolution, it's probably the least satisfying post-Golden Age "classic" I've ever read.Agree & disagree: I think the FF's irrlevance was one of the main points of the story, but the deus ex machina ending has its problems for sure. For one thing - and this is something studiously ignored by absolutely every discussion of it I've ever seen - it makes Reed Richards the ultimate terrorist, holding the entire universe hostage in order to achieve his goal of getting Glactus to leave earth alone.

I suspect that the ending in the form it reached the reader might be another case of Kirby's intentions having been misunderstood or ignored by Stan Lee, but we'll never know for sure.

I'm a wee bit hazy on the details but Wood continued Cannon (without Ditko) as a comic strip for the military newspaper Overseas Weekly. The strip was collected circa '79 into a four-volume set of tabloid-sized b&w comic books. I used to have 'em and they were great. In 1991-92, Fantagraphics reprinted them as eight standard-size comics but with some of the nudity and graphic violence inexplicably toned down.

Cei-U!
I summon the odds and ends!How odd, wonder why they did that. I like Cannon, bought the Fanatgraphics issues and the big collection. Never up there with Wood's very best stuff, and deteriorates even more as it goes along, but still a lot of fun, especially as an artifact of its era.

[Kirk G]

I've noticed that odd construction in the Galactus Trilogy before also.
But remember, these were the days of the great experiment, when all Marvel stories were continued stories, as Stan got feedback that his stories were being read on college campus... and so he tried writing higher soap operas. By starting Galactus in the middle of an issue, and ending in the middle, he assured that the reader would pick up the next plot threads... This served marvel well, as they did this through at least issue #63, as I recall. The only real ending to an arc appeared to be #60, with Dooms defeat...

[Kirk G]

In fact, when Marvel reprinted the Galactus Trilogy as a graphic novel under the imprint of the Silver Surfer, the had John Byrne draw a splash page, and simply took the story from the flight back from the Great Refuge, and ended it with the Thing walking off the roof. This made it aproximately 40 pages or so, and it would have fit perfectly in a two issues, except for the splash pages and the double cliffhanger when each issue (#48 & 49) ended.

[spoon_jenkins]

If it makes you feel less of a heretic, spoon, I agree with you. From its odd construction--the story starts midway through #48 and wraps up midway through #50--to the FF's irrelevance in their own book to the lame deus ex machina resolution, it's probably the least satisfying post-Golden Age "classic" I've ever read.
I guess one fan's heresy is another's orthodoxy. :D Yeah, the "odd construction" stuck out like a sore thumb. It was bizarre reading the cliffhanger in #49 and then seeing the cover to #50 about Johnny going to college. That must've killed the suspense for many fans picking the issue up when it first came out.

[Reptisaurus!]

Agree & disagree: I think the FF's irrlevance was one of the main points of the story, but the deus ex machina ending has its problems for sure. For one thing - and this is something studiously ignored by absolutely every discussion of it I've ever seen - it makes Reed Richards the ultimate terrorist, holding the entire universe hostage in order to achieve his goal of getting Glactus to leave earth alone.



Ha! Good point.

And on a more conventional note, is it really a deux ex machina if your hero has to fly across the length of the universe and come to adulthood to get the super-magguffin?

That said: The first Inhumans story, barring the great character designs, was some of the worst plotting I've ever read from silver age Marvel.

[berk]

Ha! Good point.

And on a more conventional note, is it really a deux ex machina if your hero has to fly across the length of the universe and come to adulthood to get the super-magguffin?

That said: The first Inhumans story, barring the great character designs, was some of the worst plotting I've ever read from silver age Marvel.I think the ideas and creativity were just bursting out of Kirby at that time and Lee was having a hard time keeping up. Couldn't have been easy trying to impose some sort of order on the plethora of ideas Kirby was coming up with in such a short time. Of course I think it would have worked better and we'd have gotten even an even greater, an even more ground-breaking series if Lee had accepted Kirby more completely as a writing partner rather than just as an artist to whom he gave a lot of freedom. But there's no way of knowing for sure.

The poor plotting? I can see what you mean - the Inhumans story-line was so good, it was sad to see it abandoned practically in mid-stream, even for an equally mind-blowing story. OTOH, I kind f like the looseness of the approach implied by the willingness to do just that - come up with one of the best story-ideas anyone in comics ever had, including an entire new group of characters each of whom individually would have been a major accomplishment - and then let it go, just like that, because you suddenly had another, totally different idea that you just had to get down on the page. That's the kind of freedom of thought and expression that usually lay behind the best stuff that came out of Marvel in the 60s & 70s; and of course exactly the kind of thing that could never happen in the atmosphere of today's well-run, business-like environment.

[Simon Garth]

Part 2 of "Simon Garth's Adventures in the world of Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited"

Avengers Annual #6

Gerry Conway at his Gerry Conwayist; George Perez before he got good. A story so mind-numbingly stupid that I gave up after 10 or so pages. Some drivel about Nuklo.

Off to a cracking start!

Avengers Annual #8

Rather better, but still not very good, George Perez art, forgotten who the writer was.

Hank Pym, showing why he is so highly regarded as a super genius, reassembled Dr Spectrum's power prism, to give to the Wasp as a birthday present. I mean, seriously, how stupid is this guy? Much merriment ensues as prism takes over a series of Avenger host bodies, and fights a whole army of Avengers.

Pretty dumb, but better than #6, which is not exactly glowing praise.

Avengers Annual #10

One of my favourite comics ever. Great battle between pre-Freedom Force Brotherhood of Mystique's Mutants, gorgeous drawn by Michael Golden, drastically overwritten by Chris Claremont. Hmm. Still pretty good, but read an awful lot better when I first read it 20+ years ago.

Infinity Gauntlet 1-6

Thanos becomes God & the Universe. Again. Adam Warlock's legacy is shredded to bring him back to life, so he can stand on the sidelines, spouting Starlin's unique brand of mumbo jumbo. Starlin's leaden dialogue really starting to jar. Pretty awful.

Infinity War 1-3

Not content with bringing Warlock back to life, Starlin rips any shred of dignity from the corpse of his original Warlock saga, by bringing The Magus back, as well. Really, really dreadful, and not helped by part 4 not being available on line yet, so I can see how the damn stupid story ends! :(

Marvel Team Up 1-25 (2004-2006)

Just about old enough to be classic, I think. I've been wanting to read these since I picked up a couple of the stories in the recentish Brit reprints. Robert Kirkman does a cracking job or reinvigorating the Star X + Star Y formula, by having a running story through most of these issues, with reasonably plausible explanations for why certain characters were turning up.

Felt it tailed off a bit at the end, with the Freedom Ring story (though I would pay good money to see someone do the same thing to a Green Lantern - it's such an obvious counter - I digress) being way below the standard of the rest of the series. But most of it, from the use of some lesser characters (particularly the Loser's Legion) to some nice twists and turns in the plot, via alternate universes & time travel. Really nice stuff.

Ultimate Fantastic Four 4, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 33, 39

These are some great comics, and I cannot begin to tell you how frustrating it is to have chunks (usually the end!) missing from most of the stories.

The writer (Mark Millar? didn't even look, to be honest) plays some great games with the established history of the FF, develops a more "believable" psuedoscience explanation for them and how their powers work, drops in some great cliffhangers (even more sodding cliffhanging due to the gaps!) and generally makes me more interested in the FF than I have been for years. Decades.

Really, great fun comics - if I wasn't expecting to be able to read some more soon, I'd go out & buy the trades.

Best of all, #1-3 have turned up today, and Annual #1 is available too - soon they will be mine, oh yes!

[Simon Garth]

Ultimate Fantastic Four 1-3

(no delayed gratification here, oh no)

Excellent set up for the series - lots of background, vaguely familiar but wildly different enough to emphasise it's a different universe. Can't help thinking that this would all have been done in 5 pages in the old days, probably with the same number of words, but I have objection to a more leisurely telling, especially when I can get 3 months worth in a few minutes, for free.

Ultimate Fantastic Four Annual #1

First one I've been disappointed with. Fairly literal re-telling of the first encounter with the Inhumans. The Inhumans are presented as rather weirder than in 616 universe, but familiar story, and less interesting because of it.

[Kirk G]

Ha! Good point.

And on a more conventional note, is it really a deux ex machina if your hero has to fly across the length of the universe and come to adulthood to get the super-magguffin?

That said: The first Inhumans story, barring the great character designs, was some of the worst plotting I've ever read from silver age Marvel.

I don't know why I feel like I have to defend these stories. I keep hearing from other Silver age fans(now comics creators themselves) that these were the BEST of Marvel and Jack Kirby's tenure of the whole FF run.

I think that the fact that we all know and love this period speaks well for the stories, and allows us to overlook the occassional loose end, the changes in direction, the incomplete plotting that took place. I place that more at the feet of Stan than Jack, as Stan was the one with the notorious memory, the frequent lapse in remembering where he was going with a plot, etc.

And remember, they had just changed from pretty much single issue, one part stories, to a longer continued story arc (FF #36-40)(41-43)(44-48)(48-50) that covered more than a year and a half.

For a poor plot point, may I point out the total lack of resolution to the plight of the Coach and Whitey Mullins. The last time we see any mention of football falls in about FF #61-62, when Crystal just misses Johnny's departure from a football game. And the last major contribution by Wyatt Wingfoot is either his shot at Dr. Doom in #68, and then the Living Totum in #80.(or was it #81?)

Can anybody cite the issues where the coach OR whitey Mullens are even featured?
I suspect they start with 50 and are over by 54 or 56. I suspect stan was planning on pulling Wyatt Wingfoot into the quarterback slot as a rescue for the coach, but there was going to be a tribal/Indian culture set-back or roadblock that would have been resolved first. ( Part of the multi-cultural push that Stan was bringing along with the Inhumans, the Black Panther, Preston John & the Egyptians, etc.)

But I can't argue that there are some points of the Galactus Trilogy that don't really hang together (including the Watcher's dire prediction at the end of FF #49).

[Roquefort Raider]

Infinity War 1-3

Not content with bringing Warlock back to life, Starlin rips any shred of dignity from the corpse of his original Warlock saga, by bringing The Magus back, as well. Really, really dreadful, and not helped by part 4 not being available on line yet, so I can see how the damn stupid story ends!

I was not that strong back in the day. I gave up after issue #1.

[pmpknface]

I'm having a blast reading old Defenders issues. I completed my run a while ago, and I'm now getting around to reading them. Yesterday I read 20-23 with the 1st Headmen (21) and the Sons of the Serpent in 23. Gerber's run starts with #20 as well, and that story is continued from Marvel 2-in-1 #7 with Valkyrie looking for more info about her human side's origin.

I'm going to try and read a few issues a week (at least!) until I finish the whole run.

[mrc1214]

I'm having a blast reading old Defenders issues. I completed my run a while ago, and I'm now getting around to reading them. Yesterday I read 20-23 with the 1st Headmen (21) and the Sons of the Serpent in 23. Gerber's run starts with #20 as well, and that story is continued from Marvel 2-in-1 #7 with Valkyrie looking for more info about her human side's origin.

I'm going to try and read a few issues a week (at least!) until I finish the whole run.

I finished the Gerber run not to long ago. It was wild stuff. Ive never read anything like that. It was really great Gerber was a true genius. I hoep you enjoy it.

[Roquefort Raider]

Valiant's Unity crossover.

That one ran through 16 issues plus a couple of specials. Its plot is very simple (heroes must join forces to stop a threat to existence) and apparently not all that coherent. The antagonist is a woman who basically has the same powers as Solar, and who wants to reshape reality into something more to her liking. To do that she needs to build some big reactor gizmo. The Valiant heroes try to stop the construction, or to murder the bad lady, or at least to talk her out of it. Nothing works, and it eventually comes to a showdown between her and Solar.

As I said, the plot is simple: since the entire story occurs in a parallel dimension that is sort of connected to all time periods (it's called at one point a sargasso of time), our heroes get to slug it out with dinosaurs and futuristic robots for 16 issues.

Why was that crossover so popular at the time, one might ask? Well, it really has a lot in its favor. First, the script is usually pretty sharp and the dialogue at times very funny or poignant. The characters were fresh at the time (since few readers had actually read the original Magnus, Turok and Solar). The art ranges from quite honest to spectacular (Barry Windsor-Smith was still at the company). But mostly, the psychological side of many characters plays a huge role in the story, something that isn't all that common in superhero books.

The villain, Erica Pierce, despite having the godlike powers of Solar, is a psychologically deeply scarred person. She clearly hates herself and repeatedly sets herself to be hurt. One gets the impression that the whole ordeal of building a mechanical contraption to change reality was something she unconsciously meant to fail from the start. Here's a woman who could wipe out her enemies with a flick of the hand, but who prefers resorting to robot guards and bionical T-rexes to hunt them down? That doesn't strike me like the acts of a sane person. Her psychological problems are the reason Solar manages to take her down in the end, in fact.

Another thing that is excellent in that series is that is plays with the carefully-orchestrated timeline of the early Valiant universe. We see how things are set up for events occuring in 1992 to have an impact in 4001 and vice-versa; we also get a pretty logical reason for Turok to be a dinosaur hunter and for him to end up in the 20th century. It's not just a reason to sell comics by featuring a big fight starring everyone; it's actually the basis for much of what was to occur later. Unlike what happens too frequently in many shared-universe lines, Valiant had a plan at the start and stuck to it, revealing it little by little to the readers. (Too bad that didn't last more than a few years)!

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

Marvel Team Up 1-25 (2004-2006)

Just about old enough to be classic, I think. I've been wanting to read these since I picked up a couple of the stories in the recentish Brit reprints. Robert Kirkman does a cracking job or reinvigorating the Star X + Star Y formula, by having a running story through most of these issues, with reasonably plausible explanations for why certain characters were turning up.


2004-2006? Damn near anything qualifies as "classic" nowadays.

[dan bailey]

2004-2006? Damn near anything qualifies as "classic" nowadays.

For purposes of this board, I'm pretty sure that "classic" has been defined in writing as "anything at least 2 years old." That definitely doesn't fit my interpretation of the concept, but as the saying goes, it is what it is.

[mrc1214]

Im in the process of reading New Mutants 1-50. Ive got up to 8 and Im very pleased. The only thing that bothers me is that I guess at some point a few characters are going to get killed off cause I know there not around now. It really bothers me cause there was alot of potential wasted.

[pmpknface]

Most of them are still around. I don't think anyone dies for quite some time...

[Lone Ranger]

The Safest Place in the World

I've been on a bit of Obscure Steve Ditko kick lately, and picked this up for $1.12 from New Kadia. It is pure Ditko craziness - almost shocking. The story takes place in a an unnamed militaristic Communist nation. Some freedom fighters are trying to get some vital information out to the 'free world', but a witchunt led by a cruel General with a vicious dog serves as a major obstacle. Themes of paranoia and greed flow through the story, and those in power seem worse off than those being torture. Some very stitled dialogue hurts the overall effect, but Ditko does provide some effective artwork. The thing is - it's unbelievably dated. This story feel like 1950s propaganda, so I find it very odd that it was published (not sure when it was actually written) after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Empire. Steve Ditko is never subtle when making a point, but it's also moot.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/scottandkat/lately/safestplace.jpg

[Kan-Man]

The Safest Place in the World

I've been on a bit of Obscure Steve Ditko kick lately, and picked this up for $1.12 from New Kadia. It is pure Ditko craziness - almost shocking. The story takes place in a an unnamed militaristic Communist nation. Some freedom fighters are trying to get some vital information out to the 'free world', but a witchunt led by a cruel General with a vicious dog serves as a major obstacle. Themes of paranoia and greed flow through the story, and those in power seem worse off than those being torture. Some very stitled dialogue hurts the overall effect, but Ditko does provide some effective artwork. The thing is - it's unbelievably dated. This story feel like 1950s propaganda, so I find it very odd that it was published (not sure when it was actually written) after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Empire. Steve Ditko is never subtle when making a point, but it's also moot.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/scottandkat/lately/safestplace.jpg

Paranoia? Greed? Torture? Stilted Dialogue? Some would argue that describes our fearless leader down here in the States. See? It's not dated at all. :D

[adam_warlock_2099]

Since the last time I posted here, I have read Teknophage, which was kind of a diversion when I was digging through that particular box to read the Teen Titans issues that make up "The Judas Contract."

I finished catching up on Annihilation, so I would be ready for Conquest.

I read the entire AoA.

Also read Batman: Sword of Azrael and Knightsend/Quest/Fall.

[Roquefort Raider]

I finished catching up on Annihilation, so I would be ready for Conquest.



I was thinking on getting the trades for that but I'm a little afraid that it might be a pretty standard storyline with nice colors. What was your opinion of it? Is anything done with the cosmic characters apart from pulling them from obscurity, giving them new costumes and/or killing them?

[pmpknface]

I was thinking on getting the trades for that but I'm a little afraid that it might be a pretty standard storyline with nice colors. What was our opinion of it? Is anything done with the cosmic characters apart from pulling them from obscurity, giving them new costumes and/or killing them?
Yes. I GREATLY enjoyed the 1st Annihilation story and I'm very much enjoying the Conquest tale! Can't wait for #5 to arrive on Monday! :D

[Lone Ranger]

Dead of Night #4
I've been trying to track down these 70s reprint book, but they've been getting tougher and tougher to find. It makes me wonder if they had a lower print run that other Marvel titles of the era. These are a great way to get your hands on some Atlas stories without taking out a 2nd mortgage. Inside we've got your standard 50s horror stories involving haunted mirrors and greedy landlords. The real highlight is a Don Heck drawn werewolf story reprinted by the very tough to find Mystery Tales #25. Good stuff - even the 2nd tier Atlas artists were creating quality stories.
Grade: B

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/scottandkat/lately/DeadofNight.jpg

[adam_warlock_2099]

I was thinking on getting the trades for that but I'm a little afraid that it might be a pretty standard storyline with nice colors. What was our opinion of it? Is anything done with the cosmic characters apart from pulling them from obscurity, giving them new costumes and/or killing them?

Well for me Annihilation is absolutly fantastic. But I also dig cosmic stories as well. You can certainly get the meat of the story with just the main 6 issues. The minis are just padding. I only bought the Silver Surfer mini, because I am a big SS fan.

Annihilation does bring some old cosmic characters out of obscurity and do new things with them, but they are good things, not just cosmetic. FOr instance Drak is great. Totally better than what he use to be. Also Thanos is in it. So that's another win for me.

As far as Conquest, again the main title books are the meat of the story, so far (I believe issue #5 came out yesterday), and I like them too. Especially Warlocks apperance/role. :D So far I like it, but even with Warlock being in it, it still doesn't have the caliber of Annihilation.

The one mini in Conquest, StarLord is great. Well worth the money, but not completly integral to the main story if that's all you want to get. Wraith and Quasar weren't near as good, but Quasar had more of a introduction to the main series.

Overall, I like it. There are some books that aren't worth it. If you want the main two stories just stick with the main books. If you like those the SS mini for Annihilation is good and the StarLord and Quasar and good for Conquest. But to get down to the best, it's definatly Annihilation, unless Conquest just happens to have a spectacular ending in the last two books. But I don't think that they can top Annihilation. Although the villian in Conquest, is a pretty good reimagined villian that I hadn't seen in many years.

[pmpknface]

I'd also say that the Nova lead in to Ann. 1 was VERY good. Super Skrull was good too, and while Ronan wasn't awful it just missed some beats.

I liked Quasar, which also has Moondragon in it. You're right - Starlord was very cool with a great cast! And the other 2, Nova and Wraith were also pretty kick-@$$! Nova has pretty much (1 way or another) been related since issue #4.

[Roquefort Raider]

Thanks, adam and pmpk. I'm usually a big fan of cosmic adventures and loved the original Starlin run on Warlock, the original Star-Lord stories, and things like DC's Twilight. I was very disappointed by the Infinity Whatever series of the 90s, though, and was afraid that Annihilation might be in the same vein.

[Slam_Bradley]

I recently finished re-reading Comic Book Artist # 5, focusing on DC from '67-'74. Of course I've read it before, but that was around 9 years ago when it first came out. Great book, with a ton of fun interviews. I think the highlight for me was the interview with Howie Post. He just seemed like a heck of a nice guy.

[Kirk G]

Most of them are still around. I don't think anyone dies for quite some time...

That's really nice of you to try to keep the magic and suspense alive for him, but recalling that the Demon Bear story is only a few issues away, and the bizarre Warlock/Magnus saga is about to begin.... well, just wait awhile, and don't believe everything thing you read just yet....:eek:

[Reptisaurus!]

Thanks, adam and pmpk. I'm usually a big fan of cosmic adventures and loved the original Starlin run on Warlock, the original Star-Lord stories, and things like DC's Twilight. I was very disappointed by the Infinity Whatever series of the 90s, though, and was afraid that Annihilation might be in the same vein.

I quite liked it. Good mix of epic war story and genuinely effective character bits. I can't think of a Big Even crossover I've liked more.

I just read the Sinestro War trade collecting the recent storyline from DC, and I kept thinking, "Man, if these guys had only read Annihillation, they might figure out how to tell this kind of big Cosmic Space Story RIGHT. Or at least not completely wrong."

P.S. He's not a character I've read much of. Has there been ANY decent Green Lantern stuff since Neal Adams?


Dead of Night #4
I've been trying to track down these 70s reprint book, but they've been getting tougher and tougher to find. It makes me wonder if they had a lower print run that other Marvel titles of the era. These are a great way to get your hands on some Atlas stories without taking out a 2nd mortgage. Inside we've got your standard 50s horror stories involving haunted mirrors and greedy landlords. The real highlight is a Don Heck drawn werewolf story reprinted by the very tough to find Mystery Tales #25. Good stuff - even the 2nd tier Atlas artists were creating quality stories.
Grade: B


Someday, I plan to track down as much reprinted Joe Maneely as I can get my hands on. I've never seen any work from him that I didn't love.

Did he do anything after fifties Marvel?

[Cherokee Jack]

Dead of Night #4








Do you know who drew the cover?

[Senormac]

Police #51. Wow the artwork on this Plas story is fantastic! Not signed Cole anywhere nor did Ron G. give Cole undisputed credit for it in his book on Cole....but Wow.....it looks like Cole to me. Maybe like he had had a few good nights sleep, all the bills were paid, had got layed by the Mrs., and he found the inspiration and motivation to do a really great story.

Flatfoot Burns is idiotic. Manhunter was average/good. Candy .....eh , and the Spirit story was alright. Still I love the simplicity of these old stories in alot of ways.

[Cei-U!]

Someday, I plan to track down as much reprinted Joe Maneely as I can get my hands on. I've never seen any work from him that I didn't love.

Did he do anything after fifties Marvel?

No, he died while still Marvel's main workhorse.

Cei-U!
I summon the untimely loss!

[MDG]

P.S. He's not a character I've read much of. Has there been ANY decent Green Lantern stuff since Neal Adams?

Englehart/Staton/Patterson

[Senormac]

I scored a Captain America 111 and 113 on ebay.....but am waiting till I get a 110 to read em. Is that wrong???!!!! :D

[spoon_jenkins]

P.S. He's not a character I've read much of. Has there been ANY decent Green Lantern stuff since Neal Adams?
Englehart/Staton/Patterson
Amen. Englehart/Staton/Patterson is my favorite Green Lantern run and I think I'm going to place it high on my list of favorite runs for the poll of favorite runs that's being conducted. I was gonna mention it in the thread about runs that should be collected in TPBs. It starts with Green Lantern #188 and continues when the series is retitled Green Lantern Corps.

[Senormac]

Tonight I read Spectacular Spiderman #1 ....the B/W magazine from '68. It kinda fits the times since we are in an election year and the story is about a guy running for office.

[Lone Ranger]

Do you know who drew the cover?

My guess is Larry Lieber on pencils, with Al Milgrom inks.

I believe they teamed up for a lot of these horror reprint covers.

[Simon Garth]

Ok, so this time, I hit the jackpot.

Runaways, 1 - 10

Having dropped out of comics in the late 80s, I missed masses of utter crud, but a few gems as well - this is one of them.

I had heard about Runaways, but apart from a freebie from 2 or 3 free comic books days ago, I knew nothing about them.

This sort of thing is where the Marvel digital archives is so good (for Marvel, and to some extent the reader) - 10 issues online, every one a winner - tightly and believably written, engaging artwork, and leaving the reader raging at the end and desperate for more issues, even if they have to buy trades to get them!

I also read Runaways vol 2, issues 1-3, 6-7, 13-something (I think).

Excellent comics, but I regret reading them, as (a) issues 1-3 well and truly blow the plot of issues 11-18 of the first series, and (b) some of the later ones in this volume blow a really major plot point of the earlier missing issues.

The whole point of subscribing to this thing was to eventually wean myself off monthly comics, and get them (6 months late) online - this tactic is obviously working real well, as now I'm going to start buying Runaways, and look for trades to fill in the gaps I'm missing!

(the interface still totally sucks, though)

[pmpknface]

FYI - There are 2 giant HC's that have most of Runaways in 2 vols. Look for them! ;)

[Perry Holley]

There are also smaller 'digest' collections of six issues each that are priced very reasonably (around $8 a pop).

[Slam_Bradley]

I've been re-reading my back issues of CBA and Alter Ego. I finished re-reading Alter Ego v3 #1 over the weekend. Enjoyable read over-all. The interview with Irwin Hasen was fun. I love hearing what the old-timers had to say. I also really loved the Writer's Digest article written by Stan Lee in 1947 about how to break into comic writing.

I also re-read the O'Neil/Adams issues of Green Lantern. It had been a long while since I'd last read them and with the emphasis on Adams in the early issues of CBA I felt like re-reading them. They haven't necessarily aged all that well. Still interesting and certainly different than what DC was doing at the time.

[dan bailey]

Do you still buy the mag, Slam?

It & Back Issue both come out tomorrow, & my checking account* is strongly suggesting that *choke* I leave them in my pull folder for another week (along with quite a few new comics) unless a couple of records I've got selling tonight on eBay for far more than I'm hoping ...**


*See my latest "What Classic Comics Have Your Purchased Lately?" post ...

** Just in case, y'know, anyone around here is just dying to own Middle Class' Homeland & the F*** Greg Lowery bootleg of the Supercharger s/t ...

[Slam_Bradley]

Do you still buy the mag, Slam?

It & Back Issue both come out tomorrow, & my checking account* is strongly suggesting that *choke* I leave them in my pull folder for another week (along with quite a few new comics) unless a couple of records I've got selling tonight on eBay for far more than I'm hoping ...**


*See my latest "What Classic Comics Have Your Purchased Lately?" post ...

** Just in case, y'know, anyone around here is just dying to own Middle Class' Homeland & the F*** Greg Lowery bootleg of the Supercharger s/t ...


I had subscriptions to both CBA and Alter Ego for some time and then hit some money issues and let them both lapse. This was when CBA was still published by Twomorrows.

Since then I've been piece-mealing Alter Ego and Back Issue through E-bay. They still average around $4-5 an issue. I just got to thinking that I hadn't read them since I first bought them back in '99, so I've started working my way back through them.

If I ever catch up to the present, I guess I'll have to decide if I want to re-subscribe. I can't get them locally. Nearest comic shop is 120 miles away.

[dan bailey]

I had subscriptions to both CBA and Alter Ego for some time and then hit some money issues and let them both lapse. This was when CBA was still published by Twomorrows.

Since then I've been piece-mealing Alter Ego and Back Issue through E-bay. They still average around $4-5 an issue. I just got to thinking that I hadn't read them since I first bought them back in '99, so I've started working my way back through them.

If I ever catch up to the present, I guess I'll have to decide if I want to re-subscribe. I can't get them locally. Nearest comic shop is 120 miles away.


Too bad TwoMorrows' ongoing 15 percent (I think it is) sale doesn't seem to apply to subs. My 15 percent LCS discount is why I have AE & BI on my pull list, even though our ridiculous *choke* 10 percent sales tax pretty much wipes it out.

[pmpknface]

Dan... You GOTTA check out DCBS. The March listing has those 2 mags at:

ALTER EGO #77 (C: 0-1-2) *Special Discount* $6.95 50% $3.47
BACK ISSUE #28 (C: 0-1-2) *Special Discount* $6.95 50% $3.47

[dan bailey]

Madre de dios!

[pmpknface]

YUP!

Here: d-load a sample Excel sheet:

http://www.dcbservice.com/downloads.aspx

Just so see what prices are. Shipping is a FLAT RATE of $5.95 and extra if you want biweekly or weekly shipping (which I get).

[Roquefort Raider]

Spawn #11, written by Frank Miller and drawn by Todd McFarlane. This was a free comic, and even though I have read exactly 4 issues of Spawn (one written by Alan Moore and one by Dave Sim) I thought I couldn't go wrong with a Frank Miller story. Just to show that the best laid plans of mice and men...

The artwork is okay... typical early 90s McFarlane, with a controlled caricatural look and very busy pictures. I'm not really into this decorative style where heroes wear 50 foot long capes and kilometers of dangling chains while jumping from roof to roof, but I see why young ones liked it. Unlike many of his imitators, McFarlane actually knew how to use the style without it looking like cheating.

The script though... I would not have guessed it was Miller had I not seen his name in the credits. The dialogue is merely adequate, the captions (yes, captions in a Miller story!) are superfluous, and the plot is asinine. Maybe this was supposed to be a parody disguised as a genuine Spawn adventure, but if so it's a parody that isn't even funny. It's like Robocop 2, but worse. In a nutshell: two street gangs made up of white suburban nerdy cyborg teenagers want to fight over an alley where Spawn currently lives. After failing to save the life of the member of one of the gangs, a young girl, Spawn decides to... push both gangs into a big confrontation that kills all but one gang member! And even that one, a giant cyborg who spells the letters S and R backwards in his word balloons, gets eviscerated when the titular hero teleports inside his guts and bursts out. It's gory, it's stupidly violent, it's idiotic. (Oh, and to add insult to injury: it even suggests that the three prvious issues, guest-written by Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman and Dave Sim, were probably dreams. I kid you not).

Another free comic: Deathmate black. (It has a color instead of an issue number). This was another free comic, and since the prologue to this Image comics-Valiant comics crossover had been partly drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith, I thought it could be good. Well... not so much. The story is typical of this kind of thing: both companies' universes having merged for the time of the series, our world is now a dystopia ruled by an evil conglomerate. The usual rebels want to topple the despotic elite and free everyone, which as usual can be achieved by stoming the bad guys' citadel and freeing the Deus Ex Machina (which in this case is a version of Solar). Much fighting occurs, lots of heroes die (hey, it's only for the duration of this limited series) and of course virtue wins the day. Let's say it could have been worse, and after Spawn #11 it's almost okay.

The art, though, is Image comics early 90s at its very worst. I can't tell who did what, because the 40-odd pages are drawn by a lot of young artists who all want to draw like Jim Lee and Marc Silvestri. The result is a ton of confusing pages where all characters strike poses and contort themselves, especially in the case of the female characters who apparently can't think of another way of exposing even more tits and ass. Some images border on the obscene, and the odd placement of certain word balloons suggests that an editor thought "this is going overboard... better cover it". Hey, I'm no prude but let's be serious... when a character in a comic meant for kids has to shave her private parts to fit into her costume, I think we've reached the limit of pandering to pimply boys' prurient interests.

Two free issues, then, but in both cases a disappointment even at the unbeatable price.

[DF2506]

I just checked out the Bone TPB (hardcover here) that collects the whole series from my local library!

Wow! This book is so GREAT!

I really like the writing, the humor, and the art of the book quite a bit. Its such a unique series and while I can see it would be something kids would be interested in too, the series is just written so well that I believe people of different ages would get different things from it! In a sense, its the defination of an All Ages book. What these kind of books should be anyways. Enjoyable and wacky enough for kids, but with an added layer to it with the writing (which works on multiple levels. mystery, fantasy, humor, etc). It looks so cartoony and you think its going to be a really wacky fantasy for kids or something and it IS wacky and a fantasy..but..wow. Just a very intelligently written story imo. Wacky, funny, interesting, full of mystery and more!

I just read my favorite of the Bone stories (so far). It was called Moby Bone. Its in the Eyes of the Storm Book. The look of the panels in this one are so different and while I'm not a huge fan of Moby Dick, I mean...it was just so cool! To see Fone Bone as Ishmel (sp?) and Phoney Bone as Ahab! And Smiley as Moby Dick! heheh. Best of all, the splash page with the dragon!!

This book just gets better and better! I love this series. Its going to be a must own for me.

DF2506

[Roquefort Raider]

Its such a unique series and while I can see it would be something kids would be interested in too, the series is just written so well that I believe people of different ages would get different things from it! In a sense, its the defination of an All Ages book.

Spot-on. I took great pleasure in reading it to my kids (although doing the voices and the translation all at once was a real chore)!

There are moments of sheer comic-book brilliance in there... "It's worth a dollar"... Fone Bone's hat catching on fire... "stupid, stupid rat-creatures!"

That book is really a keeper.

[MadMikeyD]

I've been downloading Golden Age material lately. I hate reading comics on the computer, and I can't afford to buy the real deals, so I've been picking and choosing stories from them to print out and read. Here is what I have read recently:

THE AMERICAN CRUSADER – Thrilling Comics #19 (1st appearance/origin)
THE BLACK TERROR – Exciting Comics #9 (1st appearance/origin)
THE BLACK TERROR - Black Terror #24 (The Lady Serpent Returns)
THE CLOCK - Crack Comics #1
DAREDEVIL – Silver Streak Comics #7 (Daredevil Battles the Claw)
THE FIGHTING YANK – Startling Comics #10 (1st appearance/origin)
THE FLAME – Wonderworld Comics #3 (1st appearance)
THE FLAME – Wonderworld Comics #30 (1st appearance/origin of Flame Girl)
FRANKENSTEIN - Prize Comics #24 (Prize Heroes vs. Frankenstein)
GREEN LAMA - Prize Comics #24
THE HOOD – Cat-Man Comics #18 (The Hood Meets the Death's Head)
HYDROMAN – Reg’lar Fellers Heroic Comics #1 (1st appearance/origin)
HYDROMAN & RAINBOW BOY - Heroic Comics #19 (2-part team-up)
HYDROMAN & RAINBOW BOY - Heroic Comics #