What Classic Comic Have You Read Lately? [Archive] - Page 6

J'onn J'onzz

04-22-2006, 04:19 PM

Batman #620, 626-628 - Not exactly classic comics, but not new stuff either. I've been trying to catch up on sem-recent Batman history post-Hush and have been wading my way through these back issues. #620 really annoyed me with characterization that seemed very un-Batman, so I skipped the whole Broken City arc and jumped to #626, where Winnick takes over. MAN, this is good stuff. Batman is depicted in a way that's very true to the character, Tim Drake is fun as all heck (particularly in drag), and the characterizations of Penguin and Scarecrow are the best I've ever seen. I'm hooked on the plot and can't wait to read more. I've never read Winnick's work before. What else has he done?

What year're those from?

Daredevil Essential #3

This is when DD sort of heads in a new direction and yet not the depressing direction he's been in for about 30 years either, I mean storywise. Karen moves to California, Foggy's the DA, big long Star Saxon stroy, Daredevil teams up w/ Iron Man to fight the Zodiac, and Foggy goes blind (temporarily).Some good stories in here, mostly the Roy Thomas ones (which are most of the volume).

Essential Avengers #5

This has the very end of Roy Thomas' Avengers run which ends and Steve Englehart's run begins with this giant soap opera with Quicksilver and Crystal, and the Human Torch (it crosses into FF), and Hawkeye, and the Vision, and Daredevil, and the Black Widow, and Bucky with the Sentinals, Magneto, Space Phantom and Wonder Man's brother as villains.

Basic plot is as folows: Vision is offered to possess Captain America's body by the brother of his mind if he lets brother kill Avengers. Vision says, "I'll think about it." The sentinals kidnap Wanda. Quicksilver goes insane and tortures son of creator of Sentinals. Creator regains long lost memory. Selfless plug telling us to go buy the X-Men reprints with the story where he lost his memory. Quicksilver gets whacked by Sentinals. Crystal rescues him. Ex-boyfriend of Crysta, Human Torch, l gets mad. Avengers rescues Witch. Vision and Witch express love. Quicksilver show up on monitor and lectures Wanda saying she can't marry a machine. Wanda turns off monitor. Black Panther returns. Avengers go to antartica and fight Magneto. X-Men have disappeared. Cappy regains lost memories of Bucky (Rick Jones) and himself fighting AIM in graveyard. Shameless plug. Go buy Captain America to understand plotline. It turns out Space Phantom is toying with their minds. Space Phantom is a partner of Wonder Man's Brother. Vision beats them up. Hawkeye visits Black Widow. Black Widow and Daredevil join Avengers for the mission to Antartica after mindless fight scene between DD and Hawkeye over BW's affection. Hawkeye quits Avengers at end of fight. Avengers go back to Antartica and meet the X-Men. Send in large sums of money and they will publish their comic again. X-Men and Avengers beat up Magneto. DD doesn't want the Widow joining the Avengers. But the Avengers need Black Widow soo that Daredevil fans will buy the Avengers comic. So she joins. Black Panther is pressured by his people to come back and rule them. Some sort of god shows up out of nowhere. Cut to somewhere: Some people are talking. Those people are Mantis and the Swordsman. They join Avengers after Avengers get done fighting "that God creature". Black Widow quits. Avengers and Defenders fight meaninglessly over a statue for five issues. The end.

There. Aren't you glad I summed up that story so you don't have to buy the volume?

Actually I liked the story.

A- for a LOOOOONG story but a good one.

Buy it if you didn't just read that review. If you did, and want the full story buy it.

John Aston

04-23-2006, 08:33 AM

After 20 years or comics I've heard of Will Eisner but never read anything by him. I just finished my first Spirit Archives (vol. 12) and loved it. I'll be picking up Vol. 13 soon.

Currently, I'm halfway through Superman Chronicles Vol. 1 and about to start Wonder Woman Archives 1.

J'onn J'onzz

04-23-2006, 10:46 AM

I've got the Wonder Woman archives three days overdue from the library and haven't started it. On top of that I lost my library card to renew it and have a fine to pay. I'm so unfortunate. :(

Flash Archives #2 Part 1 (First five issues out of eight)

Things are speeding up and no more Super-Gorillas so far! :D Elongated Man has shown up as has Kid Flash. How old is Kid Flash supposed to when he's first introduced anyway? Eight-ten is my guess. He actually says "Holy moo cow!" in this volume. Have you ever heard anyone say that? At least its better than his usual "Jumping Jets!" expression.

Solid A

Worth Getting In That Showcase That Should Exist of Him.

shaxper

04-23-2006, 12:20 PM

What year're those from?

2003. Like I said, they're not very "classic" but they're not very new either.

shaxper

04-23-2006, 10:21 PM

Batman 629, 630 - Winnick concludes his four part story arc with far less gusto than he began. The deep characterizations he lent to his villains and the mystery lurking in the shadows all go almost entirely forgotten in #629, while Batman has yet another fear gas induced opportunity to confront his inner demons (I remember the exact same story back during Knightfall). #630 resolves the plot entirely too quickly, leaving several unanswered questions. The focal point of this issue ends up being the possible resurrection of Jason Todd. While I'm primarily reading these issues out of an interest in Jason Todd, I felt his ambiguous presence in these issues hijacked the storyline, shifting focus away from a well-crafted plot and into nothing of much worth. Disappointment city.

Detective Comics #796, 797 - These issues weren't any fun, but they were required reading for the next set of Batman issues. Tim has quit as Robin (when did this happen? He was in that month's issue of Batman!), Stephanie Brown has replaced him, Batman says he's not firing her at the end of the issue but, by the begining of the next issue he apparantly has. Confusion city. #797 depends upon a LOT of prior Batman knowledge that I know nothing about. Not exactly a good way to bring in a new reader. I have no idea who most of these characters are and I don't care either. I'm going to try to push through this War Games crossover, but I may need to skip it.

Uncle Scrooge#26 - Yes. I'm actually including a genuine classic comic on this list. It's worth mentioning that this is the first Barks ducks issue I've ever seen with ads on the front inside and back covers. I wonder when this started. The rest of the issue is still wall to wall stories. Here's what was included:

The Prize of Pizarro - Scrooge and the gang go out in search of the lost Aztec gold mines. This is a highly amusing story, even if much of it feels recycled. The Aztec people are thoroughly funny and their constant failure in attempting to kill Scrooge, Donald and the boys is damned funny. I was reading this issue in a public coffee house when a giant boulder flew over the heads of the five ducks, just missing them. Each looked up with an expression of utter bewilderment. The moment was simply priceless, and I found myself doubled over with laughter. Many people turned to look at me (and, I assume, kept looking once they saw the comic this 27 year old was reading!). Great story.

Krankenstein Gyro - This is as funny as I've ever known a Gyro Gearloose story to be (I've only read three thus far), and it wasn't all that funny. In this story, Gyro creates new life (a la Dr. Frankenstein), and it turns out to be a doorknob. Yes, that's the (only) gag. I wonder if Gyro would be funnier with a full length adventure?

A Bang-up Time - A Mickey and the gang short fiction piece which, I believe, was intended to be more amusing in a "isn't life swell/Family Circus" sort of way than in a funny and/or adventures one. Not particularly worthwhile, though Mickey's supervisory skills are a point of concern here, as his nephews wander off with a stranger that takes them to an amusement park for an entire day without Mickey noticing.

Uncle Scrooge (untitled) - A strong backstory that would have done better as a primary feature. It harkens back to Scrooge's gold rush days (always a pleasure to read), and involves a mystery (everything in the town keeps changing without anyone else being there) with a rather far-fetched, yet imaginative solution. I would have liked to have seen this story expanded more.

DarthAstuart

04-24-2006, 12:07 PM

Batman #400: A big anniversary issue with an essay by Stephen King, pin-ups by the likes of Steve Rude and Bernie Wrightson, and a story with lots of chapters and different art teams for each chapter.

The fun of it was all the different art teams, and the bummer is that I wasn't super into the story. Some clunky dialogue, but other moments that really work. All told, a decent and fun back issue if you're into that sort of thing. And a few STUNNING moments from Brian Bolland, who draws the story's final chapters.

shaxper

04-25-2006, 06:43 AM

shaxper

04-25-2006, 06:53 AM

Kamandi #14 - The predictable conclusion to the Sacker's Dept. Store arc. Klik Klak's death moved me even though I saw it coming an issue away. Kamandi doesn't maintain any long term relationships in these stories...ever. Perhaps ol' Jack had fear of committment issues.

The rest of the story was just blah. Even I'm starting to get pissed off when Kamandi demonstrates an inability to shut up at the propper time. It's amazing Tuftan didn't bitch slap him at the end.

Kamandi #15 - Amusing Watergate spoof, though not much to the story beyond that. It's been a few issues since this title felt new and refreshing. I hope #16 brings back that feeling (and quickly).

Uncle Scrooge #23

- The Strange Shipwrecks: Not one of Barks' best Duck stories. The solution to the mystery feels forced and relatively uncreative considering Barks' track record. I found it interesting that Scrooge spent much of the issue paired up with only one nephew and thought we might actually get to see some character development but, of course, the nephew is never specified. I suppose Barks prefers their adorable group mentality.

- Gyro Gearloose: Does Barks actually write the Gyro Gearloose stories? They suck so badly. Gyro is the only mad scientist parody I've ever read/seen that I didn't find amusing.

- Mickey Mouse in "The Big Top Bungle": Equally disappointing. I'm assuming these stories are targeted to a different audience. Perhaps this was an attempt to create a comic the whole family could enjoy with dull Mickey and family stories that feel like they were written to accompany a Norman Rockwell painting.

- Uncle Scrooge and the Fabulous Tycoon: Adorably silly, but not much there in terms of content. Scrooge meets a boastful rival tycoon who, we know, will somehow end up being inferior to Scrooge at the end of the brief story. I'm still not convinced the surprise ending succeeds in doing this. The tycoon should still be the wealthier, more powerful one. Oh well.

Graham Vingoe

04-25-2006, 07:58 AM

Essential Spiderwoman suddenly replaced Essential Avengers as a priority in my mind yesterday,so having previously dispensed with Marvel Spotlight and Marvel Two-in-one stories a few weeks ago,it was off onto issue 1 of Spiderwoman proper.
Now, The few Spiderwoman stories I've read by Marv Wolfman before have struck me as reasonably good, so this particular issue struck me as a real disappointment. Too much reiteration of the fact that Jessica Drew believed herself to be half woman,half Spider at every turn for my liking.
Good, functional Infantino/Dezuniga art rescue the issue a bit but overall the effect was more irritation than enjoyment. marks out of 10 .... no more than 6 to 7. I know better is to come

Cei-U!

04-25-2006, 09:03 AM

This one's been on my to-read list for seventeen years now. Glad I haven't missed out on much!

Actually, I think Batman #400 was a pretty fair adieu to the pre-Crisis Caped Crusader, no "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?," true, but a good read with wonderful art. I especially enjoyed the Art Adams, Kubert, Perez, Sinkiewicz, Sutton and Bolland chapters.

Cei-U!
I summon the thumbs up!

Lone Ranger

04-25-2006, 09:24 AM

Captain America & The Falcon: Secret Empire

I was thrilled to find this TPB collecting Captain America & The Falcon #169-176, as I had always heard good things about this storyline line. I finally got through it (babies have a way of slowing down comic book progress), and I really liked it.

The great thing about the Marvel Universe in the 70s is that things really took on a global scope. It's fun to see a story take you from Lagos, Nigeria to Nashville. It occured to me that this complex storyline, featuring government conspiracies and media manipulation, was a bit of a traiblazer for the kind of stories we'd be reading in the 80s and 90s.

At its core, it's good, fun stuff with lots of action and big name guest stars (X-Men! Nick Fury!). It is particularly interesting watching Cap fight his Boy Scout instincts for the sake of self-preservation.

The only downside is that the whole thing wraps up a bit quickly, and Cap's doubts about himself and his role in America are never fully explained (perhaps there's more to come). I also didn't buy the rapid ascension of Moonstone as 'hero of the people', but all in all it was a strong storline and well worth picking up for the Sal Buscema art alone. Sal does a great action panel where Cap has thrown his shield - you only see the shield, a white impact area, the sound effect and the villain's limbs. I think I've spotted that panel quite a few times - and I love the effect.

As an aside, I really love the update to Falcon's costume - it's genius.

Overall Grade: B+

DarthAstuart

04-25-2006, 12:17 PM

Actually, I think Batman #400 was a pretty fair adieu to the pre-Crisis Caped Crusader, no "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?," true, but a good read with wonderful art. I especially enjoyed the Art Adams, Kubert, Perez, Sinkiewicz, Sutton and Bolland chapters.

yeah, i really did downplay the art--maybe cause my copy had yellowed pages and so the visual presentation wasn't keen. but the different artists are pretty fun. good call on sinkiewitz--his section is pretty amazing.

i still didn't really love the story. :) but it's also just one of those neat beefy eighties comics packages, like detective 600--an essay, some pinups, and a big fat story. gotta love that value.

J'onn J'onzz

04-25-2006, 06:18 PM

shaxper

04-25-2006, 06:40 PM

Uncle Scrooge #28

-"Uncle Scrooge and the Paul Bunyan Machine": Somewhat cute and fantastical (especially Scrooge's Rhumatic ability to sense plots to steal his fortune), but I couldn't get past Scrooge spending fortunes in shipping and (later) machine building costs to protect his wealth. It didn't seem in character. Worse yet, it's a blow to the ego to discover I'm more stingy about Scrooge's money than he is! This plot also depends upon a tremendous coincidence that bugged me a bit. Maybe I'm being too demanding for a Disney story, but Barks has spoiled me in the past. I will say that Donald being bitten on the foot by a rejuvinated baby Crocadile had me laughing out loud, though.

-"Gyro Gearloose and the Inventor's Contest": One of Gyro's better stories only because he's not really the main character in this one. Most of the action depends upon other characters. Incidentally, is this Black Pete's first appearance???

- "Pluto's Playmate" (fiction): The same kind of drab I've come to expect from these Mickey short stories already. Blah.

-"Uncle Scrooge and the Witching Stick": Only funny in one part (where Scrooge keeps digging deeper for gold and keeps hitting various animal nests instead). The rest of the story (especially its conclusion) were pretty lousy.

Uncle Scrooge #32

-"That's No Fable": Scrooge and the boys recount their discovery of the Fountain of Youth to Grandma Duck. This is my first time seeing Grandma Duck and she annoyed me (not in an amusing way) in this issue, being overly demanding and thoroughly unlikable. The story, itself, was far less fantastic and enjoyable than one might expect. We know from the start that Scrooge decided $40 for the well wasn't worth it, but we spend the issue wondering why. The final revelation is only mildly interesting and largely disappointing. I seem to prefer the Duck Adventure/Mystery stories as opposed to these other "Scrooge's investment opportunities" and "Scrooge defending his wealth from the Beagle Boys" plots. Barks doesn't seem to pour as much of his heart into these.

-"That Small Feeling": Gyro Gearloose is suddenly speaking like he's part of the mod scene in this issue, even talking to a Beatnik at the end. How did this happen to the most un-cool character on the comic pages? The story in this issue is thoroughly ludicrous in more ways than I feel like listing, depending upon a number of very strange coincidences. All the same, it's one of Gyro's least annoying adventures probably because there's an actual antithesis in this story (there was also an antithesis in the story in Uncle Scrooge #28). Far better than four pages of Gyro tormenting himself about the neighbors learning that he doesn't know how to swim (Uncle Scrooge #23).

-"The Thinking Dog" (ficton): Why do I still read these awful, awful Mickey and family stories?

-"Clothes Make the Duck": The conclusion to this story was damn funny. Well worth the first six semi-uninteresting pages. I won't give it away in case any of you plan to read it.

Slam_Bradley

04-27-2006, 11:32 AM

I've been reading Showcase Presents The House of Mystery. And, overall, I've been enjoying it. But I haven't felt a compelling need to review any (much less all) of the issues. That is, until last night. Then I hit issue # 180.

The issue starts off with another Neal Adams child in danger cover. This isn't Adams' best cover for HoM, but it's plenty good. The covers are one of the areas where I think the b & w reproduction hurts this particular book. The HoM covers of this era seemed to make a very good use of color and do think the black and white hurts them.

The first story is a nice 9-pager Comes a Warrior written and penciled by Gil Kane and inked by Wally Wood. Kane and Woody mesh beautifully. And the story, a barbarian vs. dragon thing with a twist, plays to Kane's sense of scope. This is a very good story, particularly for the book and the era.

The real treat, though, comes immediately on its heels. His Name is...Kane with script by Mike Friedrich and again by the team of Kane and Wood finds our protagonist, one Gil Kane fighting the most horendous of foes, an editor and a writer. The story is surreal and hilarious and beautifully drawn.

Add in three pages of work by Sergio Aragones and this is a great book.

Grade: A.

shaxper

04-27-2006, 11:42 AM

shaxper

04-27-2006, 06:51 PM

Batman #634 - Winnick returns to provide a great synopsis of the War Games crossover for everyone that slept through it. Far more concise and entertaining.

Batman #635-637 - Finally, Winnick seems to be taking the title in the direction he'd been building toward prior to War Games. I'm finding the Red Hood thoroughly enjoyable (and knowing his mysterious identity only makes the story more enjoyable. Winnick throws in little clues all over the place!). I'm also thoroughly enjoying Black Mask. I know a lot of Batman fans didn't like this guy before his death, but he cracks me up. His last line in #637 about the shipment of Kryptonite Red Hood had stolen made me laugh out loud.

Demon #3 - What the hell happened? The first two issues were so thoroughly enjoyable that I couldn't wait for the rest of the run to arrive in the mail. Suddenly, the characterization and, in fact, the entire premise has shifted. This is not the title I was reading last issue, where my sympathies lied with the Demon, as well as with Jason Blood's quest to rediscover his past. Now Jason seems thoroughly more interested in other concerns and, worse yet, he and the Demon are two completely different characters, neither of which are coming off as particularly likable. Did I get something out of the first two issues that wasn't there or did Jack change things around a bit too much? I think I may be done with this series. What a waste.

Sub-Mariner #4 - Another fun epic from the Marvel Age, though this one adds in a few twists. Attuma was a generic dictator/villain, but his jester was both amusing and surprising (especially at the end). However, I think Gorgul, Attuma's rival, surprised me the most with his actions at the end of the story. Really nice work. It's nice to see an issue that spends more time on other strong characters, particularly since I think Namor's characterization is rather limited. He's pissed, he's arrogant, he's exiled. Got it. Still, it's Silver Age Marvel. Hard not to love, even if it's the adventures of a walking piece of crap.

Usagi Yojimbo #12 - Another generic, rather flavorless Usagi story that left me a little disappointed. However, it's understandable that Stan was putting most of his energy into planning Grasscutter at this point. Inevitably, the few issues before Grasscutter suffered a bit as a result.

Usagi Yojimbo #13-14 - Never before have I seen a storyline so epic that it required two full issues of backstory before begining. These issues are a highly fascinating departure from the normal Usagi Yojimbo fair, providing a riveting glimpse at Japanese Mythology made all the more exciting with the knowledge that these stories will become pertinant to the coming Usagi Yojimbo story arc.

Usagi Yojimbo #15 Grasscutter p.1. It's about time Jei worked his way back into a story after moving around in backstories for so long. His child companion makes him all the more interesting, and forces us to take his perspective on being the good guy a little more seriously. Inevitably, Gen and Tomoe work their way into this story (no way Stan would leave them out of a major arc). I do think it's a little cheesy that Usagi is at the scene where Grasscutter was lost, lamenting on the implications of someone one day finding it just as plans are being made to do just that. All the same, if this arc can live up to its prologues, this is going to be amazing.

Wonder Woman (2nd series) #11 - Challenge of the Gods continues as Diana kicks more monster butt in the underworld. It's nice to see Dianna on her own for once, instead of surrounded by others watching her. Seeing things from her perspective is quite refreshing, even while the outside-in perspective was done well in the past. The surprise ending of this issue made me have to start the next issue right away.

Wonder Woman #12 - I still don't see how this was a Millenium tie-in, other than the fact that WW is told to visit Oa at the end of the issue. I'd rather not pick up the entire Millenium series just to follow a few minor events in these issues. Anyway, regarding the issue itself, I found the original Diana's story to be somewhat of a letdown -- much less epic than I'd expected. All she did was crashland on the island and fire some bullets at a monster. Not quite the mysterious legacy I expected WW to be following. All the same, this original Diana is quite endearing and her exit was very touching. This was definitely a favorite WW issue for me.

InfoBroker

04-28-2006, 02:56 PM

The real treat, though, comes immediately on its heels. His Name is...Kane with script by Mike Friedrich and again by the team of Kane and Wood finds our protagonist, one Gil Kane fighting the most horendous of foes, an editor and a writer. The story is surreal and hilarious and beautifully drawn.

Small footnote: Mike and Gil were also tongue-in-cheekin' the Archie Goodwin/Gil Kane comic "His Name is... Savage" with the title.

Savage was a B&W 35 center that was on the newsracks in early 1968 at the same timeframe that Marvel published their B&W Spectacular Spider-man title.

This story from HoM is one of my favorites from the timeframe. I also tended to like the interactions of the hosts as much, if not more than the stories. Cain and Able's early interactions were classic, as were the Witches in [b]Witching Hour[b]. I think this peaked quite nicely in an early issue of [b]DC Special[b], when several young kids were holding Able's pet hostage, forcing all of the DC horror comic hosts to tell tales before they would release him.

It was a nice time for DC horror comics. Joe Orlando and Dick Giordano's editorialship on those titles produced some wonderful material.

-jb (the long-gone) ib -

J'onn J'onzz

04-29-2006, 01:53 PM

I've been trying to figure out where the "vanishing planet" reference in the Legion Bizzarro story is and have had no luck anyone know. I refuse to read on until I've read the refference and finish the Time Trapper arc until I've found the "vanishing planet" refference. Have I reviewed Checkmate #1 yet? Just wondering. Becuase if not I will soon.

Roquefort Raider

04-29-2006, 05:07 PM

Written by Chris Claremont, with art by Paul Smith and Bob Wiacek (with some uncredited inking by Barry Windsor-Smith).

I hadn't re-read that one for more than 15 years, but it has aged surprisingly well (apart, maybe, from the coloring... I really don't like the massive use of yellow and pink that seemed to be the norm in the 80s).

That was a good period for both the X-Men and Alpha Flight. The X-Men in particular were nearing their apex as characters: they had undergone continuous growth for close to ten years, and had not yet been frozen in amber. They were still characters, not trademarks.

The story deals with Loki, who in order to win some unspecified prize from celestial beings known as "Those who sit above in shadows" must perform a good deed on mankind's behalf. The trickster god causes a Canadian environmental mission (whose plane is flown by none other than Scott Summers and his new wife, Madelyne Pryor) to encounter a magical fountain that grants all of its members superpowers meant to alleviate mankind's suffering. (Madelyne becomes a healer, another team member can grow food at will, another can create buildings, etc).

The appearance of the fountain in northern Quebec causes disturbances in the normal flow of magic, causing Snowbird (a member of Alpha Flight, and an eskimo goddess) to suffer from an unknown illness. At the same time, Scott Summers' time-displaced daughter (Rachel) has a telepathic flash of her father being in mortal danger. This causes the X-Men to investigate the situation in Canada, and the unavoidable misunderstanding and subsequent battle with Alpha Flight.

The two teams having quickly determined that they would do more by uniting their forces than by duking it out, they set out to find the missing airplane and its environmentalists. This proves to be very easy, as the now super-powered scientists built a huge Viking-style fortress around the magic fountain, and it does stand out in the northern tundra.

After some explanations and the "healing" of many of our heroes by the powers of Madelyne Pryor (she cured Scott of his uncontrolled optic blasts, Rogue of her "no-touch" condition, Wolvie of his berserker rages, Puck of his dwarfism and Aurora of her split-personality disorder) it turns out that the gift of Loki has a price: the newly-empowered humans have lost all imagination! (Furthermore, naturally magical creatures can't survive in this new world, because the fountain drains them of their magic, meaning that Snowbird is doomed). The issue to be determined, then, is whether the heroes can accept Loki's gift in order to cure the world of famine and want, despite the high price it entails. As you would expect, opinions vary and fighting ensues. The heroes finally decide not to go Loki's way, causing the angry god to sic some Storm Giants at 'em.

"Those who sit above in shadow" then appear and declare that Loki has proven to be a right scoundrel. Had he gracefully accepted the heroes' refusal, he would still have received the prize he was after; but having been petty, he wouldn't get anything. So there. Loki, quite upset, returns everyone to normal.

The ending is one of the most moving moments (in my opinion) in the X-Men saga. Scott's daughter, Rachel, has not yet told him who she is; and in the course of this story, she had to face the news that Madelyne was pregnant and expecting... a boy. Not a daughter, not her past self. Scott reaches out to her at the end of the story, not really knowing who she is but (we think) kind of guessing. He tells her she reminds him of someone he knew and lost, and of how he thought he'd never be happy again. But he also tells her that one can outgrow one's past and build a new future, which will not be as the past was but can be just as good. Rachel still doesn't tell him the truth about herself, but realizes that she may not have to.

It's that kind of moment that make the later retcons with clones and Phoenix doubles and goblin queens and stuff all the more ugly. Up to that point, the X-Men had given us a beautiful story about love, loss, grief, and how one goes on after that and regains happiness. After that, well... Let's say that it became harder to identify with the grief of people who come back from the dead every five minutes.

I'm glad the old issues still exist!

benday-dot

04-29-2006, 07:05 PM

I just finished Thor 127... the latest in a sort of "for every action there is a reaction" chain of events. It started a couple of years ago with a batch of Gerber Defender comics. I became interested in Steve Gerber's creative process, and noticed he seemed to possess a semi-subversive affinity to the old and very insouciant pre-continuity, pure "comic" stylings of the Atlas/Marvel monster comics. As a lad in the 70's I dismissed Kirby's art as primitive and, well, pre-Perez, and so pre-anything good. But Gerber strangely led me back to Kirby, and above all to a Kirby I came to love. I sought out the reprints in Where Creatures Roam and Where Monsters Dwell. I read Kirby biography. I snagged the Fourth World titles. I acquired the Kamandi archives, the Black Panther tpb. The magnificent Eternals. And if Kirby/Lee are indomitable on the Fantastic Four, my quest for the truly perfect Kirby led me to hesitate even on the mighty Galactus saga and to believe that some ultimate expression still lay in wait. It was in reading the Fourth World saga, perhaps the first title that could claim to be pure Kirby through and through, that I realized, as many others already have, that the best of the man could be seen in the cosmic sagas that illuminated, and I use the word precisely, the pageantry and splendour of the worlds of the gods and goddesses. The world where all the Kirby squigles and dots and behomothic machinery and ragnarokian array were put on display in a manner befitting the shining medeival manuscripts. Armour, swords, garish costumes and riotous ruin, hideous beasts and strangely distorted poses and brute and anguished faces were all there. And the genesis for the New Gods and the rest came way back with the Mighty Thor. Do not flay me, but even more than Mike Royer I see the much maligned Vince Colletta setting down most perfectly the kohl eyed, flattened, clear lined look of Kirby's disturbing majesty. Like an old woodcut almost. I love the man's artistry. Thor 127 then... the cover exquisite... the plot not bad... the images a series of panels in a long and wondrous tapestry

What other classics am I reading... the complete Jungle Action (well the Black Panther books at least) and some of those Michelinie/Romita/Layton Iron Man books (rougly 117-132... you know the alcoholic ones)... Ok, Thanks.

Brad Curran

04-29-2006, 07:54 PM

Written by Chris Claremont, with art by Paul Smith and Bob Wiacek (with some uncredited inking by Barry Windsor-Smith).

That was a damn good post and all, but that was all it took to sell me on these issues. Claremont and Smith are probably my favorite writer-artist combo on the X-Men. Yeah, more than Claremont and Byrne, or Morrison and Quitely (who helped get me back in to comics). I love their issues together, and had no idea they worked on this.

Brad Curran

04-29-2006, 08:03 PM

Brad Curran

04-29-2006, 08:27 PM

I've been reading through the Essential Hulk lately. I can't remember the issue numbers for the life of me. I'm always crap with that kind of thing, but it's even harder for the half issue serials like this and Dr. Strange, because they're so short and part of a larger serial and all. They don't stick out as distinct, individual issues like an FF or Spider-Man story from this time period, but more like installments of a serial, as they don't have room for the pretense of a self contained story with subplots boiling on the backburner.

Anyway, despite the fact that these aren't as satisfying a self contained reading experience as what I'm used to with Silver Age Marvel, and the fact that the scans get really, really spotty in places, I've enjoyed these stories. Really, it's just amazing to see how the character evolved, as he's just now getting in to his "Hulk Smash!" phase, after a good many upheavels in status quo over the course of the character's history. It's interesting to see how the version of the character that was imprinted in my mind at such an early age as the definitive one wasn't fully formed even a few years in to the his history. That, and amongst some solid but not spectacular penciling (Kirby was doing layouts, and a gaggle of pencillers, from Bob Powell to Bill Everett to Mickey Demeo, were doing finishes), there was a pretty cool issue drawn by Kirby and inked by John Romita.

Speaking of John Romita, I just re-read the Romita pencilled Amazing Spider-Man 93, "The Lady and the Prowler", or, if it were written by the people behind friends, "The One Where Gwen Leaves." Because she does. It's a joy seeing Romita's work throughout the issue, but his work in the scenes between Gwen and Peter really makes me wonder what he could have done with a romance/relationship drama comic similar to Peter Parker's lovelife, but without the superhero action (which he was also great at, mind you). If nothing else, it made me think of what he and Stan could have done with Archie again. Which is always interesting. And quite possibly against all the laws of nature. But it would have been interesting.

i_mmmchocolate

04-30-2006, 09:46 AM

I'm really enjoying Showcase Green Arrow. Then again, Green Arrow (and Bats) are the reason why I got hooked on comics as a kid.

I've read the first few issues and I was surprised to read that there are Green Arrows throughout the world-- not just one. I thought that was interesting. Among other things.

scratchie

04-30-2006, 03:42 PM

Justice League of America #122, the original "Identity Crisis" where Doctor Light steals the JLA members' identities and then scrambles them up (e.g. Batman thinks he's Ollie Queen, Green Arrow thinks he's Barry Allen, etc). Picked this up for a buck and a quarter today.

Incredibly cheesy overall, but good clean DC fun.

DarthAstuart

05-03-2006, 12:18 PM

been slowly catching up on some reading...

New Teen Titans #10-12 (1980): A great tale of the original Titans rising up from beneath the ground to take down the Gods of Olympus. Instantly, I'm drawn into the Wolfman/Perez work here. Very strong, fun, compelling stuff.

Legends of the DC Universe #12-17: Saw a nice set of these on Ebay for super cheap and had to grab them. This is one title I want to build up the run of ASAP, since it's all a grab bag of fun stories featuring DC heroes. I read a Priest tale about the JLA becoming giants and being saved by Ray Palmer, a one-shot Evanier/Rude book featuring what seems like an unused Kirby plot for Superman's Pal Jimmy Olson (AWESOME AND FUN), and a three-part Flash story by Michael Jan Friedman that nicely spotlights the dichotomy between Flash the hero and Barry Allen the forensic officer. Intriguing, especially considering that one-liner I read somewhere recently, from some creator, suggesting that the perfect Flash title is "CSI with superheroes." Brilliant. Anyway, this is a fun title and is cheap as heck so I recommend it highly.

Lone Ranger

05-03-2006, 12:57 PM

You really HAVE TO GET THE NEXT ISSUES! They finish up the saga and end Steve Englehart's run. The story ends (meaning all loose ends wrapped up) in issue 192.

Picked them up at the convention this past weekend in dollar bins. It'll take me a loooooong time to read through the stack I brought home.

Slam_Bradley

05-03-2006, 01:03 PM

Picked them up at the convention this past weekend in dollar bins. It'll take me a loooooong time to read through the stack I brought home.

So where's our list, Kemosabe. We have a thread for that, you know.

Lone Ranger

05-03-2006, 01:08 PM

So where's our list, Kemosabe. We have a thread for that, you know.

Well, here's the thing.

I plan on using many of the covers for GTCC - so I don't want to provide a roadmap for you folks.

dan bailey

05-03-2006, 01:57 PM

in my ongoing attempt to pick up actual floppies of the first comics i ever remember owning (a quest that over the last couple of years has netted me ripley's 5-7, brave & the bold 69, g.i. combat 119, superman 197, jimmy olsen 104, lois lane 77, flash 173 & -- just last week -- teen titans 7 ... cheap copies of green lantern 42, plastic man 1, detective 358, spider-man 29 & the america's best tv comics one-shot have thus far declined to offer themselves for my consideration, alas), last week i welcomed into my cluttered abode a copy of world's finest 169, courtesy of lone star comics.

i wasn't altogether positive i'd had this ish as a kid, though the cover looked awfully familiar, & as i read the cover story i was disappointed to find i didn't remember so much as a jot or tittle of a single panel.

lo & behold, though, the backup "editors' roundtable" story was what had stuck with me vividily for nigh unto 40 years. go figure! the fact that the lead story was a weak batmite/mr mxyzptlk (the computer's moving too slow for me to look up the spelling -- as it is, the letters on this post aren't showing up till a minute or more after my actual keystrokes, which is darned aggravating) yarn probably didn't help, but somethow i don't think 7-year-old me was particularly discriminating in such matters ...

DarthAstuart

05-06-2006, 12:56 PM

New Teen Titans #13-15 (1980 series): A neat arc that ties neatly into the current arc in the modern Teen Titans series, as it features Robotman and Gar hunting down the folks who killed the Doom Patrol. Gar also teams up with the Brotherhood of Evil to take down the ultimate bad guys, whose names escape me.

Can I just say how much i adore the brotherhood of evil? How freaking awesome is it? A brain in a jar and a talking gorilla with a gun. WHAT ELSE ARE COMICS FOR?!?!?!

Slam_Bradley

05-08-2006, 10:10 AM

The Will Eisner Reader. A collection of short works from the pages of Will Eisner's Quarterly. Given the anthology-like nature, it isn't as strong as Eisner's more important graphic novels. But, it's Eisner, so it is well worth reading. And there are some gems in there. I really liked The Long Hit. No, it isn't Contract With God or The Dreamer. But it's a good book.

Grade: B.

I also finished up Showcase Presents The House of Mystery. Again the book suffers from the variable quality that is largely inherent in an anthology title. And there can definitely be a sense of sameness if you sit down and read it in large bites. Definitely a book that is better read an issue or two every few days.

What it does have, however, is an incredible cross-section of some great artists. Toth, Adams, Aragones, Gil Kane, Dezuniga (hey, I like him), with Aparo and Redondo putting in appearances near the end. Also reprints of 50s work by Kirby, Heath and Leonard Starr.

Overall, well worth the time.

Grade: B.

Rob Allen

05-09-2006, 06:53 PM

I've been reading Wolff & Byrd for the first time, and really enjoying it. I've got one collection of the comic-strip version and one of the comic-book version. They live up to the name "funnybook"!

Sir Tim Drake

05-09-2006, 07:45 PM

I've been reading Wolff & Byrd for the first time, and really enjoying it. I've got one collection of the comic-strip version and one of the comic-book version. They live up to the name "funnybook"!

I love that series. And Batton Lash is one of the nicest comics creators I've met.

DarthAstuart

05-10-2006, 11:08 AM

Legends of the DC Universe #20-21: A VERY neat Abin Sur story written by Steven Grant and penciled by Mike Zeck set in the old west. Two issues, but just note-perfect, IMHO. HIGHLY recommended as these issues are probably choice quarter or dollar-bin fodder.

Lone Ranger

05-10-2006, 11:31 AM

Marvel Premiere #51-53

This is a decent little group of book that I picked up for a buck a piece at the Toronto Comicon. I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the Black Panther and am always interested in reading the different attempts to interpret the character.

This one ain't bad - and it starts off with some promise as Ed Hannigan continues the storyline from the his last few issues of the Jack Kirby series. I actually preferred the final issues of that series as Hannigan helped the Panther get back to reality, and this series starts off with him trying to re-establish himself in New York and help move Wakanda into modernity.

He's lost parts of his memory and I think the slow recollection of things is handled pretty well. His supporting cast, however, basically stands around looking for something to do - and they are totally unnecessary. The Panther is taking on both the Dragon Cult and the KKK - both sides feel that the Panter is working for the other, so it actually gets very confusion and ends with a fizzle due to the bayou plantation mysticism. That won't make any sense, but it is the best way I can think to explain it.

It's a decent read - but could have been better. The Jerry Bingham/Gene Day art team is really quite good, and do a nice job setting the mood both in NYC and the Georgia swampland.

Grade: B-

dan bailey

05-10-2006, 01:02 PM

pretty good summary, ranger. i took those issues on the road this past xmas to read in the motel during a trip back home to arkansas. at least the post-panther's-rage wind eagle cliffhanger was resolved (albeit not particularly satisfactorily, imho) after being left unaddressed for years following don macgregor's unfortunate expulsion from the strip in favor of jack "as a scripter he was a nice penciller" kirby.

J'onn J'onzz

05-14-2006, 08:45 PM

The Showcase issues with B'Wana Beast.

Okay, I can't tell if I liked these comics or not. The actual idea is pretty cool (a red gorilla shoves some liquid down some guy's throat and forces some hat on his head making him a crazy man who can talk to animals) but the first three pages of both issues literally put me to sleep. The "Sophisticated Black man who wants to put an end to his tribe's religion because they're stupid and should be like everyone else and because stones can't talk (really that was part of the story)" was extremely annoying and bothered me to no end. There were some boring moments in each, and I was really begging for them to be over by the end. So overall I didn't like them.

D+

Worth getting for backstory to Animal Man (that's why I got them).

DarthAstuart

05-15-2006, 01:12 PM

i picked up a great one on Saturday at Golden Apple for a quarter...

Marvel Fanfare #18

Dave over at Dave's Long Box wrote a great piece on this one a while back, and I happened to see it, and so I snagged it. a great Roger Stern/Frank Miller Captain America story about some lower to middle-class New Yorkers who take matters into their own hands and start burning down buildings to extort money from the city.

Read Dave's write-up; it's far better than I could do.

http://daveslongbox.blogspot.com/2006/03/marvel-fanfare-18-marvel-comics-1985.html

spoon_jenkins

05-15-2006, 01:24 PM

Wolverine: Save the Tiger

This is a one-shot that reprinted the Wolverine story serialized in Marvel Comics Presents #1-10 (back in 1988 IIRC). The writing pretty typical Chris Claremont; if you like his writing generally, you'll probably like this. I'm usually a bit ambivalent about Klaus Janson inking, but I really like the John Buscema/Janson combo on this.

The story is a prelude to the ongoing Wolverine series. It's got a similar feel to the early issues of that series. A bit of film noir, some exotic locales, etc. It also uses Razorfist, a Master of Kung Fu villain. So it seems like an attempt to place Wolverine in stories that don't have all the superhero elements

I found it to be a fairly enjoyable reading. I actually like the pacing that the 8-page installments placed on the story.

Slam_Bradley

05-15-2006, 03:45 PM

To the Heart of the Storm.

Another semi-autobiographical graphic novel by the master, Will Eisner. It's hard to say anything that hasn't been said before. Eisner here is at the top of his form. This is what he does best, conveying the experiences of immigrant Jews in the years leading up to World War II. This one is among his best.

Grade: A.

Hintermann

05-15-2006, 11:51 PM

The very first Phantom story that Lee falk ever wrote..."The Singh Brotherhood"... though I confess that my copy was a reprint. :o :o

scratchie

05-16-2006, 08:33 AM

I just read Strange Tales #178 for the first time, and I'm finally starting to appreciate all the hoopla about Jim Starlin.

The only word for this artwork is "stunning". Not so much for the actual art (which is excellent, but there was plenty of great art in the 70s), but for the way Starlin had apparently mastered the physical process of putting a limited palette of inks onto newsprint. As penciller, inker and colorist, Starlin is absolutely in control of the entire process, and the subtlety of tone and the detail in his artwork is unlike anything I've I've ever seen before, in 30+ years of reading comics.

It's also worth pointing out that the Baxter paper reprints from the early 80s don't even come close to doing this artwork justice. The black lines are in the right place, but nothing else is as it should be. Starlin's Warlock issues are not that expensive as back-issues and well worth hunting down in their original format.

Slam_Bradley

05-16-2006, 08:50 AM

Essential Avengers Vol. 5.

This book was a pretty significant letdown from the previous volume. And I skipped large chunks of it because I'd previously re-read issues 98-100 and the Avengers-Defenders War.

The early part of the book found Roy Thomas going off the book with a whimper, rather than a bang. The "Sentinals" story-line left me cold. Another excuse for Wanda to be in peril, for Quicksilver to refuse to be part of the team and then to blame everyone for his stupidity and for Hawkeye to be...well...Hawkeye, which is pretty much the definition of annoying.

Steve Englehart came on to the book... and took a bit to get going. The storyline revolving around the Grim Reaper and the mystery villain was a fairly good start. A decent exploration of the Vision. And a nice tie in to the Steranko issues of Captain America.

109 sees Hawkeye quitting the team because Wanda "rejects" him for the Vision. Let's forget that she's never given any indication of interest in him. This is Hawkeye...that doesn't matter. I'd happily say good riddence to a thouroughly unlikeable character, except...he just won't stay gone. Oh, and Quicksilver leaves...to be with Crystal, but not before letting Wanda know that her love for the Vision is wrong. Why anyone would ever care what this putz thinks is beyond me.

We get a team-up with Daredevil and Black Widow, because the team is underpowered. Yeah...they add a lot of fire-power. And of course we have to have the battle between DD and Hawkeye. Yay! BW joins...for a whole issue, before she scampers back to DD.

Of course, since we're so low on Avengers, they have to jump to allow The Swordsman and Mantis to join the team. Let's forget that he's betrayed them before and that Mantis is a totally unknown quantity. We'll just let them in anyway.

And then we get to the Avengers-Defenders War. Never has so much praise been heaped on a story that makes less sense in the annals of comicdom.

Art-wise, this period was at best pedestrian. Rich Buckler, Don Heck, Bob Brown...while servicable artists aren't going to set a lot of hearts on fire.

I think this has to be one of the lower points in the Avengers first 200 or so issues. I know it gets better. But this...just wasn't that good.

Overall grade: C.

dan bailey

05-16-2006, 09:21 AM

scratchie

05-16-2006, 10:01 AM

cue: cei-u's head exploding ...LOL. The thing is, what blew me away about this comic had nothing to do with the far-out cosmic storyline. It could have been a vampire comic or a war comic just as easily (something with a lot of black).

What amazed me was the physical craft of putting the ink onto the paper. It was done with a level of skill that I've never seen before. I think you've got to appreciate the mastery of the industrial printing process even if you think the actual creative content is crap.

Hombre

05-16-2006, 10:13 AM

Wolverine: Save the Tiger

The story is a prelude to the ongoing Wolverine series. It's got a similar feel to the early issues of that series. A bit of film noir, some exotic locales, etc. It also uses Razorfist, a Master of Kung Fu villain. So it seems like an attempt to place Wolverine in stories that don't have all the superhero elements

I think Essential Wolverine Vol. 1 should have been consistent with the general concept of all Essentials and include both the 1982 Wolverine limited series and this storyline.

Lone Ranger

05-16-2006, 02:20 PM

Captain America & Falcon 182 and 183

Holy crap are these ever great books! Cap has become Nomad, The Falcon is helping Roscoe Barnes train to be the new Cap and the Serpent Squad is causing all sort of trouble. Did I mention that a guy with a certain tinited crainium is also making his presence felt?

Steve Englehart manages to throw a lot of ingredient into the mix, without things getting too muddled. There's some really nice characterization - including some great dialogue between and behind the backs of Cobra and Viper. The Falcon seems well suited to the senior role in the partnership and the Red Skull shows that he is as cruel as ever - pretty intense stuff.

After doing a great job, Sal Buscema has handled the pencils over to Frank Robbins. Now, I know that not everyone loves Frank Robbins work - but does he ever kick ass here! His fluid action scenes add a much needed shot of adrenaline to the pages. I just love, love, love him on this title - couldn't wait to turn the page to see what he'd come up with next. Great stuff.

Grade: A

Cei-U!

05-16-2006, 04:44 PM

cue: cei-u's head exploding ...

Oww!

Just kidding. I have no problem with Starlin the artist. The art in those early Strange Tales Warlocks is really quite good.

Cei-U!
I summon my mellow side!

dan bailey

05-16-2006, 05:08 PM

[B]Now, I know that not everyone loves Frank Robbins work - but does he ever kick ass here! His fluid action scenes add a much needed shot of adrenaline to the pages. I just love, love, love him on this title - couldn't wait to turn the page to see what he'd come up with next. Great stuff.

cue: dan bailey's head exploding ...

Slam_Bradley

05-16-2006, 05:16 PM

cue: dan bailey's head exploding ...

I keep telling you to read Johnny Hazzard.

dan bailey

05-16-2006, 07:02 PM

even if it's the greatest strip in history, that wouldn't mitigate what i see as his utter butchery of superhero comics. i mean, warren beatty's reds is my favorite movie ever, but that doesn't leave me eager in the slightest to watch ishtar.

Lone Ranger

05-16-2006, 08:13 PM

I 'effin love this page.

The panel with the cops running makes me want to marry a comic book.

TheHistorian

05-16-2006, 10:17 PM

berk

05-16-2006, 10:34 PM

Oww!

Just kidding. I have no problem with Starlin the artist. The art in those early Strange Tales Warlocks is really quite good.

Cei-U!
I summon my mellow side!Cei-U: I know you're an artist yourself: what do you think of Starlin's more recent artwork, particularly in comparison to his earlier stuff?

Cei-U!

05-17-2006, 09:19 AM

Cei-U: I know you're an artist yourself: what do you think of Starlin's more recent artwork, particularly in comparison to his earlier stuff?

Since the last Starlin work I remember reading was "Metamorphosis Odyysey" in Epic Illustrated, "more recent" is 20+ years old. :D

Cei-U!
I summon the candor!

dan bailey

05-17-2006, 11:21 AM

We're just saying maybe, just maybe, blame the inker and colorist... and then go try Johnny Hazard.

nothing against frank robbins or his fans, honestly, but his superhero work just isn't my cup of tea. several months ago someone in his forum described his art as marred by figures that resembled twitching, contorted puppets (or words very much to that effect), & that nicely summarizes my objections to his work. the most inept inkers & colorists in the history of comicdom couldn't be responsible for that sort of ugliness in title after title, in my estimation.

spoon_jenkins

05-17-2006, 05:59 PM

John Byrne's Next Men #1-4
I bought these at my LCS's back issue sale on a whim, not realizing that the first arc starts with #0 (and goes all the way to 6). It's pretty good so far. IMO, Byrne's scripting can sometimes be weak and unnatural, but that wasn't the case here. The scripting is pretty good; it doesn't come across as a subsidiary concern.

I think Byrne does a good job of showing the naivete of the protagonists when interacting with the outside world without being cliched or unrealistic. There's also a lot of uncertainty at this point about where some characters stand, so I'm interested in seeing how that's resolved.

There's one also significant issue in this arc - the depiction of a sexual assault. I'm apprehensive when that's done in fiction because I worry about the depiction playing, whether intentionally or unintentionally, into a prurient interest rather than conveying a terrible crime. I think the depiction here falls somewhere in the middle of how well the issue can be handled. There is some horrific payback for the perpetrators.

Byrne does both the penciling and inking. To me, it looks different (a bit scratchier) that most of work I've seen where he inks his own pencils. But I think it's very effective work.

I think Essential Wolverine Vol. 1 should have been consistent with the general concept of all Essentials and include both the 1982 Wolverine limited series and this storyline.
I think the Marvel Comics Presents stories would have been especially appropriate, because they formed a set-up to the ongoing Wolverine series. Maybe there was a reluctance to include material, like the mini, that was reprinted elsewhere, but that hasn't been an obstacle for other Essentials. But you can find really cheap copies of Wolverine: Save the Tiger through online retailers.

Rob Allen

05-17-2006, 06:12 PM

I just finished Camelot 3000 and Will Eisner's The Dreamer, both borrowed from Cei-U! last month.

I've been into Arthurian fiction for many years, and Camelot 3000 was a fun addition to the canon. I liked the art a lot.

Eisner's book was thinly - very thinly - veiled autobiography. I recognized almost everybody in it. Now I have to find out who the ones I couldn't place were.

Reptisaurus!

05-17-2006, 09:41 PM

Adventures into Fear (Featuring the Man-Thing) 11-15:

Solid-ish. Steve Gerber eventually did some great stuff with the character of the Man-Thing (See how much work it takes not to make a dirty joke there?)

But this isn't it. It ain't hackneyed or cliched, but it all feels kind of meaningless and directionless. Man-Thing rampages through town. Then he fights a demon. Then he gets transported to another dimension and fights a gladiator. Then he's the result of an ancient prophecy. No real story coherence here, and you can feel Steve G. an' Val M. feeling out what to do with a protaganist that doesn't talk. Val Mayerick is solid on art, but this book got so much better under Mike Ploog 'an Frank Brunner.

scratchie

05-17-2006, 10:33 PM

Adventures into Fear (Featuring the Man-Thing) 11-15:

Solid-ish. Steve Gerber eventually did some great stuff with the character of the Man-Thing (See how much work it takes not to make a dirty joke there?)

But this isn't it.No question that these are the weakest issues from Gerber's Man-Thing run. I would say you're right at the point where things start to pick up. Issue 16 is the issue that inspired the recent direct-to-video Man-Thing movie, and it shows a slightly more mature approach to the material, with Gerber examining the positions and motivations of both the protesters and the construction workers. By issue 19, Gerber's creativity was in full swing.

Hombre

05-18-2006, 01:50 AM

nothing against frank robbins or his fans, honestly, but his superhero work just isn't my cup of tea. several months ago someone in his forum described his art as marred by figures that resembled twitching, contorted puppets (or words very much to that effect), & that nicely summarizes my objections to his work.

He probably just isn't your cup of tea, Dan.

I remember the Lone Ranger's U.A.S. on Robbins a year ago or so, and my comment there of vividly remembering the anguish of the Invaders, especially the Torch, as Toro's life was hanging in the balance, after the battle of Berlin I think. The nervousness worked well in that situation, and it probably worked well in conjuring a 1940s setting.

I'm looking forward to seeing his pencils in the 70s Power Man series, there's a new Essential coming on that, as, honestly, Trout in the Milk has sold me on the guy. Just because a get I kick out of how the guy writes, here's some of his comments on Robbins:

Yes, things really move in Frank Robbins' artwork, they never stand still. Read Giant-Size Invaders #1 and observe the storytelling: Cap and Bucky enter a hospital and practically jump off the page right into your hands. You don't dare try to read this kind of thing panel-by-panel, like with your modern-type books! It's fast, it's colourful, it's snappy as hell, it is simply unbelievable stuff. It goes for you all in a rush. The eye swallows it at a single gulp. It's bloody well-drawn, well laid-out, well-executed. Oh, and all the airplanes are totally authentic, too, due to Frank being a huge WWII aircraft buff...

scratchie

05-18-2006, 08:44 AM

I just finished up Incal: The Epic Conspiracy (Volume 1) by Jodorowsky and Moebius, which I picked up at Midtown on my recent NYC jaunt.

Someone was asking about Moebius a few months ago, and IMO this volume would be a great introduction. I didn't know at the time that the "Incal" story had been reprinted in this format (and recolored, too, but not poorly). This was one of my favorite long-format Moebius comics when I was younger, a comical sci-fi romp that perfectly showcases the artwork of "clean Moebius". If you can't find any of Heavy Metal's Moebius anthologies on Ebay, this would be a great place to start if you like sci-fi.

As a followup, I'm digging into some Epic volumes of Moebius' "Blueberry" westerns which feature a slightly younger and noticeably rougher Moebius who still manages to pack tons of unobtrusive detail into each panel. Moebius is certainly one of the most "cinematic" comic book artists I know of, and this book is like watching a Sergio Leone movie (although the pace is a just little less relaxed! :D).

DarthAstuart

05-18-2006, 10:30 AM

Star Wars #27 (Marvel)

I'm a huge SW buff as well as a comics reader and I've always wanted to explore the Marvel SW series--it always seemed like a fun read.

I wasn't disappointed by this issue. I love the Infantino art--it just feels so right that these characters should be interpreted by one of the silver age's leading artists, since George Lucas himself seemed so inspired by comics in telling the story of Star Wars.

the story's pretty good--a cyborg bounty hunter who hates droids faces off against luke and threepio (who actually gets himself tangled up in a skirmish, offering himself as a human shield!).

i guess knowing star wars so well, it's just fun for me to imagine this time when there wasn't a new novel on the shelves every two weeks and the expanded universe of the films hadn't become this convoluted place with little relationship to the films. building off JUST the movies, I think archie goodwin does a good job (so far) of continuing the story in the spirit of the films. the swashbuckle is definitely captured here, for sure.

(got about twelve of these books for cheap on ebay, but the condition leaves a LOT to be desired. fortunately, they were indeed cheap, like less than a buck apiece.)

Slam_Bradley

05-18-2006, 10:59 AM

Kerry Drake #1

The first volume in Blackthorne's reprinting of Alfred Andriola's Reuben winning comic strip. It reprints the first 2 1/2 storylines from late 1943-early 1944. Drake is certainly atypical of the adventure strip detectives of the time. He's older, beyond the age where he'd go in to WWII. And he seems more prone to use brains than bullets to solve his cases. There is the typical secretary who wants to be his love and the red-headed kid sidekick.

I'm not terribly familiar with Andriola's work. I know that he worked on Charlie Chan before Drake, but I've only read a very small amount of those strips. Overall, it's an interesting strip, but at this point not one of the highlights of the time.

MichikoS

05-18-2006, 05:16 PM

Just sat down with both volumes of Moonstone's Graham Nolan Sundays, Vols. 1 & 2.

Nolan is a young-ish Kubert School graduate (44 years old) who some may remember as an artist for DC, drawing for them during a rather dull period that featured the oddball title Hawkworld. He also drew Batman in Detective Comics.

The Phantom Sunday strips are, surprisingly, a very satisfying read. There is a special talent needed to recap the previous week's strip and move the story ahead with very few panels. Most of the strips are written by Tony DePaul, which Nolan illustrates from full script. The strips are printed half-tab, so they are easy to enjoy in their intended size and orientation.

Good stories, not at all "retro" or old-fashioned, except for the absence of ultra-violence and trash talk. The Phantom wears pretty well for being basically a white guy in purple tights. I like the domino mask and the ring. And the gun. And the dog, and the horse, and the wife, and the cave...

There is just so much cool backstory here. Falk knew what he was doing.

The Sundays Moonstone has chosen to reprint are nicely presented, well-colored and fun to read. I was very much impressed with the economy and intelligence of the storytelling, the deft characterizations, and the pretty illustrations. You can buy both on Amazon for $21.76. Well worth it, in my opinion.

Michi

benday-dot

05-18-2006, 06:44 PM

[QUOTE=scratchie]I just read Strange Tales #178 for the first time, and I'm finally starting to appreciate all the hoopla about Jim Starlin.

I can defiinitely appreciate your enthusiasm for Jim Starlin. I remember first beholding that very issue of which you speak. I think when I first looked upon that books amazing pages it was also the first time that I actually paid attention to the credits, and artist in particular, of a comic book. I mean I was just a kid then and before Starlin one comic, as long as it had a cool battle sequence and so much the better if it featured the Hulk, was pretty much the same as another in my eyes. But Starlin on Warlock was a feast of artwork, no matter what the plot. And well I actually do kinda like cosmic comics. But you are right the Baxter reprint is a dismal recreation of the original glory. I just the other day finally completed Starlin's run on Captain Marvel (not as good as Warlock, but hardly shabby). My opinion of Starlin has lessened a little over the years. He became a bit of a cosmic hack as the years passed by. Where I once couldn't make up my mind as young collector who was the greatest... Starlin or Barry Windsor Smith...I now don't doubt that BWS is top dog.

Was it Lone Ranger who brought up Frank Robbins? I must say that also in my younger years no artist came to represent "rotten art" more to me than old Frank Robbins. Today I realize I slight the guy, but I remember really digging the Morbius run in Fear, and how lovely the Craig Russel work was, and then along came Robbins. God did I hate what became of that mag... I mean there was Russel's fine, detailed pencil work and it looked so great to me next to Robbin's heavy scrawl of lines... all angular and messy.

But hey I'll leave Robbin's alone... what was this thread again? Oh yeah, what classic comics are you reading? Well right now Thor 160... the altogether mind-blowing Lee/Kirby tale of Galactus' origin. Forget Starlin, forget Robbins... I give you this... nuff said.

scratchie

05-18-2006, 08:49 PM

Forget Starlin, forget Robbins... I give you this... nuff said.

http://forums.comicbookresources.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=26545&d=1147999151
That's the stuff!

Hombre

05-22-2006, 06:04 AM

"As the first Serpent drove Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, so we shall drive from this land the unfit, the foreign born, the inferior..."

So I had to start my own adult spiritual journey through Steve Gerber's Defenders.

Not because anything else is below my notice, quite the opposite. Because I've remained a fan of Marvel and I find the continued attention devoted to this subject completely justified. You can't fully understand Marvel in the 70s without reading this run and, by implication, you can't fully understand Marvel as a whole either.

At the core, this run is all about the fun of Marvel's colorful characters, the fun of continuity and adventure as it had been expanded upon up to that point, but fully presented with the realism that had begun to characterize the medium and with an uncompromising artistic vision. It's thus the textbook example of Marvel finding its adult voice whilst remaining true to its original spirit, an approach that emerges in the early 1970s and inspires most of its stories throughout the decade.

Gerber uses extremely lenghty narration boxes, repeating his points over and over methodically, stressing the importance he gives to the justaxposition of the literary medium and the visual one. When the Supreme Serpent addresses the nation on television, he has a full typed text to accompany the image.

What more could a Marvelite want? declares the cover to #24. Indeed. You get Daredevil, Cage, Yellowjacket and the Son of Satan, being superhero-y and doing superhero-y stuff alongside the Defenders. But at the same time it's obvious we are not in the Silver Age anymore.

In #21, the Hulk stops to caress a little girl, finding joy in this simple display of affection, but the enraged reaction of the girl's father drives him to destroy their house. The man comments on having had a 30 year mortgage on it, which would have made him a full owner at 64. Funny how certain things don't change. Also in the issue, Val goes searching for her alter ego's husband in Cobbler's Roost, Vermont. The man's landlady assumes she's just after a divorce to get what's left of his family's wealth and chases her away with shouted threats.

#22 starts the Son of the Serpents epic. The Valkyrie rescues a child from a rabid rat in an inner city tenement. Her mother informs her that maybe it would have been just as well to let her die and that she eats dog food in order to be able to feed her milk, because the welfare department thinks she can get along with $150 a month.

After the Valkyrie takes the woman to Doctor Strange's house, the building she was staying at is set on fire by the Serpents and an elderly blind black man dies on the spot. When the landlord arrives to the scene and accuses the tenants of the crime, he spits in the face of an African American man who was attempting to make him realize the folly of that notion. The man of course reacts, and him and the others start to beat him until Doctor Strange intervenes to calm everybody down.

I think it's needless to say, even after the Serpents are beaten by the outraged heroes, it's clear that the line between heroes and villains is not nearly as defined as it might have seemed at the beginning.

Graham Vingoe

05-22-2006, 06:27 AM

A really nice summary of the Sons of the Serpent Saga, Hombre. Defenders 24 was the first issue I picked up of the title and I still have a fond spot for it. Now I have the urge to go home and start reading Essential Defenders again.:cool:

Dial Tone

05-22-2006, 10:13 PM

I've been on a classic Comic crusade lately. ( the writing was so much stronger back then) Here's the list of books I've tackled in the last year.

Simonson's complete thor run, including the balder limited series
Roger Stern, John Buscema, and Tom palmer's Avengers
Bob Harras, Steve Epting, and Tom palmer's 'proctor saga" in the Avengers
Mark Gruenwald and Kieron Dwyer's "Bloodstone Hunt" in Captain America
Mark Gruenwald and Ron Lim's 'Streets of Poison" in Captain America
Roger Stern and John Byrne's Captain America
John Byrne's Hulk (his first run in the 80's)
Claremont and Byrne's Dark Phoenix Saga in Uncanny X-Men
Tom Defalco and Ron Frenz's Amazing Spider-Man 256-257,260-261, and 269-270
PAD and Rich Buckler's "The Death of Jean DeWolff" in Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man
J. M. Dematties and Mike Zeck's "Kraven Last Hunt"
Hobgoblin Lives by Roger Stern and Ron Frenz
JMS and John Romita Jr.'s "Coming Home" in Amazing spider-Man
Dan Jurgens and John Romita Jr.'s Thanos story in Thor 21-25
The Revenge of the Living Monolith Graphic Novel

Upcoming things I'll be reading:

John Byrne's Fantastic Four run
John Byrne's Alpha Flight
John Byrne's Namor
John Byrne's West Coast Avengers
Roger Stern's original West Coast Avengers mini series
A Steve Englehart West Coast Avengers story
A Roy Thomas West Coast Avengers story
Roy Thomas' Conan
Jim Owsely's (Christopher Priest) Conan
Miller's Daredevil stuff
Miller's Batman stuff
David Michelinie's Amazing Spider-man
Peter David and Todd Mcfarlane's HulkPeter David and Dale Keown's Hulk
Peter david and Gary Frank's Hulk
Future Imperfect by Peter David and George Perez
Walt Simonson's Fantastic Four
Walt and Weezie's X-Factor
J. M. Dematties and Mike Zeck's Captain America
Peter David and Sal Buscema's Sin Eater sequel
J. M. Dematties and Sal Buscema's The Child Within 6 parter in Spectacular Spider-Man
Gerry Conway and Sal Buscema's Spectacular Spider-Man from the late 80's early 90's.
Demon in a Bottle by Michelinie, Romita Jr., and Layton (Iron-Man)
Armor Wars by Michelinie, Bright, and Layton (iron-Man)

That should keep me busy for the rest of the year.

Hombre

05-23-2006, 04:29 AM

Gerry Conway and Sal Buscema's Spectacular Spider-Man from the late 80's early 90's.

Good choice. Very solid, atmospheric and mature work from both creators.

Dial Tone

05-23-2006, 05:31 AM

Good choice. Very solid, atmospheric and mature work from both creators.

Funny you should comment on that run, as that's the one I was looking at to read next and pulled out of the box.

I agree, their run was as solid as it comes, and I wish Joe Quesada would read it so that he might see what's wrong with Spidey today. The lack of the supporting cast. Conway used the cast for all they were worth in every issue. He dealt with Jonah, Robbie, Liz, Harry, Flash, Glory, MJ, Aunt May, and Betty, as well as giving us strong Spidey stuff that was consistant every month. One of the most underrated runs ever, IMO.

I'm really excited about revisiting the Tombstone stuff. Gerry Conway moved on to have success as a TV writer. If there was one TV writer that JQ should try to lure to Marvel, Gerry's the guy.

Clint Barton

05-23-2006, 09:58 PM

I'm on a Steve Gerber kick right now. I'm beginning with his Defenders run with the Blue Oyster Cult song titles......classic stuff, man.

Reptisaurus!

05-24-2006, 03:34 AM

I'm on a Steve Gerber kick right now. I'm beginning with his Defenders run with the Blue Oyster Cult song titles......classic stuff, man.

I think that was David Anthony Craft (Or something like that) who followed Gerber. I loved the music references, too. Big old BOC fan, here.

Slam_Bradley

05-25-2006, 09:09 AM

I'm about 2/3 of the way through Essential Monster of Frankenstein.

Normally, I'd wait until I was finished with the entire volume before commenting, but at this point it's like I'm reading two entirely different books.

The first part of this series was a reinterpretation of the Frankenstein novel by Gary Friedrich and Mike Ploog and then his continuing adventures in 19th Century Europe by Friedrich and Ploog (then John Buscema). There was nothing spectacular about the book in this phaze, but it was a nice gothic book, and the setting made it a bit different from Marvel's other monster books of the time. Ploog's art is very nice, though not up to his best on Man-Thing. Overall, I was really liking the book.

Then it changed. Doug Moench took over the writing. The storyline is now set in 1973/74. And Frankie is constantly shifting brains. To be fair to Moench, much of this comes out of Friedrich penned stories from the Monster's Unleashed black & white magazine. I don't know if the change was editorially driven or not, but it was not a change for the better. Where we had a sympathetic anti-hero in an interesting setting, we now have the functional equivalent of The Hulk in generic 70s Marvel U. The constant brain-shifting is silly and annoying.

I'll finish up the book. And hopefully Moench and Mayerick can pull it back to being interesting. But this, to me, was a jarring, unnecessary and thus far very unsuccessful change in a pretty good book.

J'onn J'onzz

05-25-2006, 05:17 PM

Dammit! I just spent an hour typing out a huge review of about thirty comics then closed the window! GRRR! :evilangry

scratchie

05-25-2006, 06:32 PM

Dammit! I just spent an hour typing out a huge review of about thirty comics then closed the window! GRRR! :evilangryOh, man, that smarts.

I just finished up reading the final issues of David Kraft's run on Defenders, and it was some pretty tough going. Kurt Busiek actually wrote in after one particularly dismal storyline ("Dollar Bill's Documentary Disaster") and said exactly what I had been thinking, that Kraft had some good ideas but that the stories were just dull, dull, dull.

The aforementioned storyline, AKA "Defender for a Day", is the one where Defenders hanger-on Dollar Bill makes an unauthorized documentary about the group and every C-list superhero on Marvel's roster shows up on their doorstep the next day. It's an idea that could be really funny, but Kraft unfortunately neglected to write any actual funny parts, churning out sub-sitcom bits that were probably stale in the vaudeville days (Look out for those horses!) and writing every character as an idiot, a jerk, or both.

Kraft has now (as I read through Defenders) just left the comic writing field and his loose ends are being wrapped up by Ed Hannigan. An unenviable task if I ever saw one, and I know what's coming down the pike in less than ten issues: the legendarily bad "Omega the Unknown" conclusion. Here's hoping that it picks up after that (it looks like Strange, Hulk and Sub-Mariner come back), as I've still got around another seventy issues to go!

benday-dot

05-25-2006, 09:28 PM

I just re-read, after what 29 years, Rampaging Hulk 3. It was sweet re-visiting this B&W magazine. I have a few of these early issues and I enjoy their rather offbeat tone. Doug Moench crafts a nice story line in which Hulk really does rampage a lot, but in the goofy sort of way he always used to back in the 70's. I know a lot of people got upset with the Bereet storyline (wasn't it later said to be all just a movie to escape a continuity crunch?... I frankly couldn't care less what is and isn't canonical. I'll take a story on its own merits). Walt Simonson and Alfredo Alcala also do a wonderful job on the artwork. Also the John Warner/ Sal Buscema/ Rudy Nebres backup featuring Bloodstone is great story. I remember really liking this little strip, always existing among the lesser lights of Marvel's dimmer underbelly. Have these been Bloodstone stories since collected anywhere else?

dan bailey

05-26-2006, 12:26 AM

I think that was David Anthony Craft (Or something like that) who followed Gerber. I loved the music references, too. Big old BOC fan, here.

kraft-with-a-k, actually. wasn't that about the time then-tyro keith giffen, while still in his somewhat-of-a-kirby-clone phase, came on as penciller? i loved those ishes, loved the art ... heck, if kraft had exhibited half-decent taste in music (nothing against the boc & their fans, reptisaurus, but i'm an unregenerate old punk), my head probably would've exploded!

dan bailey

05-26-2006, 12:34 AM

as mentioned a few minutes ago on another thread, a couple of days ago i read the marvel "startling stories" banner mini, having obtained it mainly because of my fondness (cultivated from first encountering him in the pages of warren in the mid-'70s beginning with creepy 54, plus a couple of issues of the skull underground, along with the jan strnad-scripted bloodstar hc -- adapting, if memory serves, robert e howard's valley of the worm, which i think maybe gil kane also addressed in a single marvel issue of one of its "mystery" titles a couple of years earlier -- that i wish i'd kept, & which must've been one of the first graphic novels) for richard corben's artwork.

nice enough, but an obvious example of a story that would've been taken care of in a single issue back in the day. i mean ... gimme a break.

Graham Vingoe

05-26-2006, 01:52 AM

An unenviable task if I ever saw one, and I know what's coming down the pike in less than ten issues: the legendarily bad "Omega the Unknown" conclusion. Here's hoping that it picks up after that (it looks like Strange, Hulk and Sub-Mariner come back), as I've still got around another seventy issues to go!

It doesn't pick up until Dematteis takes over. hannigans Defenders are a really hard slog to get through- worse than Defender for a Day:eek:

scratchie

05-26-2006, 07:09 AM

kraft-with-a-k, actually. wasn't that about the time then-tyro keith giffen, while still in his somewhat-of-a-kirby-clone phase, came on as penciller? i loved those ishes, loved the art ... Yes, that's exactly correct. There's some really spectacular art in the first one or two segments of "The Power Principle" storyline (where Red Guardian gets all radioactive 'n' stuff) but then they replaced Giffen with <ptui> Carmine Infantino. Like a kick in the solar plexus.
It doesn't pick up until Dematteis takes over. hannigans Defenders are a really hard slog to get through- worse than Defender for a Day:eek: Great. Now I'm really looking forward to it. Do I even dare look up how many issues that is?

scratchie

05-26-2006, 07:17 AM

Do I even dare look up how many issues that is?
Ouch. I shouldn't have looked. :(

Graham Vingoe

05-26-2006, 08:42 AM

Ouch. I shouldn't have looked. :(

Sorry, Scratchie!

scratchie

05-26-2006, 09:14 AM

LOL. I'll live. I think I think I'll be setting the Defenders aside for a bit after I wrap up the current (Lunatik) storyline (another dog... woof woof!). There was no way I was going to read the whole run in one go anyway, so I might as well take a break in the middle of Hannigan's run and decide which pile to dig into next. I've got Silver Age Captain Mar-Vell and Starlin's Warlock calling my name and I've still got big chunks of Fourth World to read in color now that I've filled in some key issues (the greyscale reprints just weren't doing it for me; I'd rather pure black & white like a Showcase). Kirby might be a good antidote for an overdose of late-70s Marvel and a good warm-up for when the Eternals hardcover arrives next month.

Kurt Busiek

05-26-2006, 11:44 AM

I know what's coming down the pike in less than ten issues: the legendarily bad "Omega the Unknown" conclusion. Here's hoping that it picks up after that

It doesn't.

The book doesn't actually start to pick up again until about #92 or so -- when deMatteis becomes the regular writer -- and it simply never again gets close to the heights of its first 40-50 issues.

kdb

scratchie

05-26-2006, 12:16 PM

The book doesn't actually start to pick up again until about #92 or so -- when deMatteis becomes the regular writer -- and it simply never again gets close to the heights of its first 40-50 issues.And I hear Volume Two is even worse!

Sorry, couldn't resist. :D

Reptisaurus!

05-26-2006, 03:16 PM

kraft-with-a-k, actually. wasn't that about the time then-tyro keith giffen, while still in his somewhat-of-a-kirby-clone phase, came on as penciller? i loved those ishes, loved the art ... heck, if kraft had exhibited half-decent taste in music (nothing against the boc & their fans, reptisaurus, but i'm an unregenerate old punk), my head probably would've exploded!

Yeah. Giffen-as-Kirby penciled most of them. I've got nine of ten of those issues in no particular order, but I dig 'em too. Not as creative or deep as the Gerber issues before 'em, of course, but solid comics.

Defender for a Day ain't brilliant... But better than 99% of all the OTHER toss-seventenn-gazillion-superheroes-in-a-room type stories I've ever read, including Secret Wars, Extinction Agenda, Crisis on the Infinite Earths, Infinite Crisis.

And Blue Oyster Cult abjectly rock. There's certainly a heckofalotta punk influence, as well; First two albums have "We Loooove the MC5" written all over them in big red letters, and at least one of their songs was co-written by Patty Smith.

And after that they turned into a conciously bizzare, meta, half-parody of a heavy metal band. I don't completely understand it, but I know brilliance when I see it.

dan bailey

05-26-2006, 05:03 PM

Yeah. Giffen-as-Kirby penciled most of them.

it's evil & wrong of me, i know, but i prefer giffen-as-kirby to giffen-as-giffen, at least in his extremely cartoonish trencher mode, say.

i'll go stand in the corner now. can i take some comics to read, please? i'm soooo far behind ...

And Blue Oyster Cult abjectly rock. There's certainly a heckofalotta punk influence, as well; First two albums have "We Loooove the MC5" written all over them in big red letters, and at least one of their songs was co-written by Patty Smith.

"stairway to the stars," i think, though i could be completely wrong. i think at the time she was going out with one of the cultists ... allen lanier (a/k/a buck dharma?), maybe? again, i'm relying on fading memories of old creem mags from nigh unto 30 years ago.

J'onn J'onzz

05-26-2006, 08:41 PM

Speaking of Giffen here's one of the many comic reviews I was about to post.

Son of Ambush Bug #1-6

This series is good. Just not Ambush Bug good. Giffen goes a bit overboard with continuity, and the letter writers notice it in the last issue's letter column. There's this big plot with the "Interferer" and some socks posessing a leftover uniform. Then there's the hilariously anti-climactic ending written and drawn by Giffen's three year old son. :D

Overall a C in Ambush Bug standards.

Get it.

Deadman (new stories from 1986) #1-4

Well, put mildly this is an overdialogued worthless bribed in set of comics. The only reason these comics were published instead of all the other (probably superior) Deadman scripts lying around was because the writer offered to write the text page! You heard me right! Not because the story was good (believe me it isn't) but because he offered to write the text page. The plot is very suspenceful. :rolleyes: Cleaveland is needlessly shot and killed. Vashnu is needlessly shot and killed. Boston is needlessly shot and killed many times then comes back as a zombie, dies, comes back to life, dies, possesses someone, leaves them, comes back to life, dies, and possesses someone for the rest of their life. Oh and Rama Kushna is a woman! Oh wow! What a shocking development. :rolleyes: Oh and did I mention how the writer disregards all the stories between the Brave and Bold wrap-up issue and this mini, then promises to explain how they fit in then says, "Naah, too much effort. I'll let the readers do it."? I didn't think I did.

F

Don't get these unless you are a Deadman completist.

dan bailey

05-27-2006, 12:49 AM

Son of Ambush Bug #1-6.

way to go, j'onn -- invoke yet another (thankfully short) run i'm about to receive & thus add to my exponentially expanding to-read-before-i-die-though-at-this-rate-that-won't-be-too-long-from-now pile ... (well, son of ambush bug 1-5 [mile high didn't have #6 in stock] plus ambush bug 1-3 [i already owned #4], anyway.)

Reptisaurus!

05-27-2006, 12:58 AM

Cherokee Jack

05-27-2006, 04:56 AM

Deadman (new stories from 1986) #1-4

Well, put mildly this is an overdialogued worthless bribed in set of comics. The only reason these comics were published instead of all the other (probably superior) Deadman scripts lying around was because the writer offered to write the text page! You heard me right! Not because the story was good (believe me it isn't) but because he offered to write the text page. The plot is very suspenceful. :rolleyes: Cleaveland is needlessly shot and killed. Vashnu is needlessly shot and killed. Boston is needlessly shot and killed many times then comes back as a zombie, dies, comes back to life, dies, possesses someone, leaves them, comes back to life, dies, and possesses someone for the rest of their life. Oh and Rama Kushna is a woman! Oh wow! What a shocking development. :rolleyes: Oh and did I mention how the writer disregards all the stories between the Brave and Bold wrap-up issue and this mini, then promises to explain how they fit in then says, "Naah, too much effort. I'll let the readers do it."? I didn't think I did.

F

Don't get these unless you are a Deadman completist.

Who was the writer?

Jessica Drew

05-27-2006, 10:35 AM

And Blue Oyster Cult abjectly rock. There's certainly a heckofalotta punk influence, as well; First two albums have "We Loooove the MC5" written all over them in big red letters, and at least one of their songs was co-written by Patty Smith.

The Patti Smith tune is "The Revenge of Vera Gemini" from Agents of Fortune. Well, I'm assuming she co-penned it; she does have a very brief spoken-word intro, and she sings back-up vocals. Agents of Fortune, by the way, is a fantastic album.

InfoBroker

05-27-2006, 12:34 PM

Kirby might be a good antidote for an overdose of late-70s Marvel and a good warm-up for when the Eternals hardcover arrives next month.

Kirby is the perfect antidote for any type of ailment. To any who have some comic reading time this weekend, just grab a stack of Jack Kirby goodness, a bottle or two of suger-made (no corn sryup please) soft drink, and your soul is healed, your spirits lifted, and your sense of awe and wonder restored.

Currently, there's a stack of Enternals right next to my Astro Cities comics, the later resides next to this here computer on a practically constant basis.

-jb the (can't wait for the Gaiman/JRJR Eternals books) ib -

dan bailey

05-27-2006, 01:23 PM

Kirby is the perfect antidote for any type of ailment. To any who have some comic reading time this weekend, just grab a stack of Jack Kirby goodness, a bottle or two of suger-made (no corn sryup please) soft drink, and your soul is healed, your spirits lifted, and your sense of awe and wonder restored.

well, hell. i can't drink carbonated beverages (well, i can, but i can also pay dearly in a gastrointestinal sense), & post-'70-or-so kirby pretty much makes my skin crawl, but after reading the ultimate fantastic four annual inhumans reimagining last night, i'm rather of a mind to go delving into essential ff vol 3 to reread the originals.

god, for years & years it really was "the world's greatest comics magazine."

InfoBroker

05-27-2006, 01:40 PM

Kirby 70s Klostrophobia

I feel sorry for your skin, truely I do...

Digestive Disorders

I have the same problem at least with the corn syrup derived, stuck in can versions. I have found that the old sugar based recipes, marketed in bottles, and taken in moderation do not trigger the GURDs.

-jb the (Kirby medicinal advise still stands) ib-

dan bailey

05-27-2006, 01:58 PM

[Digestive Disorders

I have the same problem at least with the corn syrup derived, stuck in can versions. I have found that the old sugar based recipes, marketed in bottles, and taken in moderation do not trigger the GURDs.

gurd i can handle, pretty much (as long as i'm up-to-date on prilosec). crohn's disease is what keeps me away from anything carbonated, though i tried for years & years to cheat with my all-time favorite, red cream soda. *choke*

J'onn J'onzz

05-28-2006, 03:55 PM

Who was the writer?
Andrew Helfer.

yonoid

05-29-2006, 07:58 AM

Just finished the unfortunately short Stern/Byrne run on Captain America (#247-255). Cap really would make a great president.:)

dan bailey

05-29-2006, 09:37 AM

read the first 4 or 5 stories in jim valentino's normalman tpb, obtained a few days ago via amazon marketplace. quite fun, of course, & very reminiscent of one of my childhood favorites, not brand ecch (i swear, some of the panels look like they could've come straight off marie severin's drawing board back then), though i can imagine that reading much more than a couple of stories at one sitting could be a bit much.

then again, that's probably true of not brand ecch (not to mention the similar-spirited inferior five) as well.

Cei-U!

05-29-2006, 11:15 AM

The Essential Werewolf By Night, Vol. 1
reprinting Marvel Spotlight #2-4, Werewolf By Night #1-21, Giant-Size Creatures #1, Tomb of Dracula #18 and Marvel Team-Up #12.

Back in my Marvel Zombie days, I had a complete run of this series. When I downsized my collection, it was on the short list for the train out of town. At the time, I considered WBN an anemic cousin to Tomb of Dracula, competently crafted but without ToD’s mood and incisive characterization. I bought this volume for the Ploog, Sutton and Kane art in the title’s early days. Imagine my delight when I discovered these comics were much, much better than I remembered.

Jack Russell, the son of a European nobleman now living with his hated stepfather in Southern California, inherits the family curse on his 18th birthday. The curse fell courtesy of the Darkhold, a tome of evil magic Jack has unknowingly inherited. The villains he and his furry alter ego confront in the early issues—sorceress Andrea Timly, mad scientist Miles Blackgar and his island of freaks, the cabal of corrupt businessmen known as The Committee—all want the Darkhold for their own nefarious purposes.

WBN is told in first person narrative (as befits a series first pitched as “I, Werewolf”). This is both its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. Original scripter Gerry Conway makes Jack a blend of pulpish hyperbole and teenage cynicism trying desperately to hold onto his identity in the face of endless horror and tragedy. It’s a delicate balance Conway achieves: the character is neither hardened nor whiny, remaining likeable even when he’s being a jerk. Not everyone who follows him successfully maintains that balance (though Len Wein tries hard). Marv Wolfman's take on Jack suffers from the same overdramatic verbosity that plagues all his characters; Mike Friedrich’s crosses the line repeatedly into whiny loser. Doug Moench, considered by many the definitive WBN writer (though I personally dislike most of Moench’s writing, Master of Kung Fu excepted) scripts only the last two stories in this volume and thus cannot, IMO, be fairly judged.

Wolfman does, however, add several major players to the WBN cast: Jack’s new love interest, the witchy Topaz; her mentor, the Punjabi sorcerer Taboo; the crazed “super-hero” called the Hangman and the residents of Jack’s apartment building, including the mysterious Raymond Coker, ultimately revealed to be a werewolf himself. Marv also ties the Werewolf’s origin to the Dracula mythos, gives Jack a job as a movie stuntman (though we never see him at work) and resolves the conflict between Jack and his stepather.

Later scripters take some serious missteps. Friedrich, for instance, spoils Conway’s Committee, with its unique and interesting economic motivations, by reducing it to just another criminal conspiracy run by the wholly unimaginative super-villain Baron Thunder. Moench, in his issues, hurriedly wraps up his predecessors’ outstanding plotlines, not always satisfactorily. Lt. Lou Hackett, the LAPD detective assigned to the “werewolf murders” added to the cast during Wein’s run, is unconvincingly turned into a bad guy and killed off, curing Coker in the process.

As for the art, do I really need to elaborate on the virtues of Mike Ploog? His work establishes the “California gothic” ambiance that makes WBN stand out amidst its peers. I love Ploog’s cartoony approach to characterization and the clarity of his staging, especially in the action sequences. Tom Sutton’s two issues are a visual feast that left me hungry for more. His subsequent inking over Gil Kane is also awesome, lending atmosphere and grit to Kane’s trademark dynamics. Don Perlin comes aboard as penciller with WBN #17 and remains through the series’ end. Although Perlin does a yeomanlike job of storytelling a la Sal Buscema, his stiff figures, inexpressive faces and lackluster character design lack excitement, particularly when combined with Vince Colletta’s insipid inks.

The volume also includes the first Tigra story, a boring slog by Tony Isabella and the Perlin/Colletta team that provides no hint of the appealing character she will evolve into under other hands, and the Werewolf entry from the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition, which inexplicably claims Jack has never taken a human life despite the high body count rolled up in the first dozen issues!

Do I recommend this Essential? I do, with reservations. The first 18 stories, up through the end of Wolfman’s run, are great, the last third of the volume significantly less so, but the book remains a good value.

Grade: B+ (it would rank higher if not for that last third)

Cei-U!
I summon the lovable lycanthrope!

MichikoS

05-29-2006, 07:22 PM

This series keeps floating up in the 50¢ bins at various places, and this weekend the entire 3-book series turned up, nicely bagged and boarded since, I'm sure, the 1990s. So I bought em.

I sat down to read all three in one sitting, and I'm surprised by how rough (as in sloppy, unfinished, not thought out) the story is. It makes a point of turning its back on the "heroic fantasy" elements of Adam Strange that were, in my opinion, what made the book fun and interesting. Mystery in Space was a deliberate pastiche on ERB, and I always found the central premise, an earthman scientist who is forced to become a larger-than-life hero in a new world, and the central plot formula, that the effects of the transporting zeta beam are temporary, and he is whisked away back to earth mid-kiss with his alien sweetie, to be charming and predictable.

Writer Richard Bruning (who was head of DC's design department back then, I believe, and has since moved on to front office at DC) is abetted by two relative unknowns, Andy and Adam Kubert. They draw just like dad in this series, which ain't too shabby. In fact, the art is about the only saving grace of the series.

Adam goes bonkers due to the "mega zeta beam" that Sardath has invented to allow one last trip between Rann and Earth. There is some weird Magnus-like political stuff going on (nothing like this is hinted at in earlier stories). Adam attacks Sardath and others and flees the city. Alanna dies in childbirth. Not sure why. It's a pointless and unmotivated death. Sardath goes bonkers, and starts acting silly. Not sure why. An earth doctor with whom Adam has a one-night stand on Earth gets transported to Rann, presumably to deliver the baby and then serve as a new love interest. Not sure why.

The entire series has been retconned out of existence, as far as I know. It Never Happened. Alanna seems to be alive and well, and Sardath doesn't act all goofy. I don't think. I didn't pick up but a few issues of the Andy Diggle/Pascual Ferry mini-series, and I've avoided the whole Crisis thing with the Rann-Thanagar War. So maybe some of these wacky '90s ideas have been revived. Not sure.

But one thing is for sure. This Adam Strange isn't the character I enjoyed so much in the 1960s. Skip this mini-series no matter how cheap. It's not worth it, even for the art. Grade: D

Michi

Lone Ranger

05-30-2006, 09:36 AM

Marvel Premiere #56

One of a stack of Marvel Premieres I picked up recently. I like Dominic Fortune-type characters and I appreciate Howard Chaykin's attempts to bring a 30s era adventure strip into the Marvel Universe. This Wein/Micheline story has some interesting elements: a gambling boat in International waters, a pre-Howlers Dum Dum Duggan and a dude with a mechanical hand. Terry Austin adds very nice artwork over Chaykin layouts. Sure, it gets a bit silly, but and all in all it makes for a pretty fun read. It's too bad Marvel and Chaykin could never really figure out where to take this characters as the characters and setting are pretty refreshing in comparison to the rest of the Marvel Universe circa 1980.

Grade: B+

shaxper

05-30-2006, 12:09 PM

X-Men (vol. 1) #10-12

I've resumed work on my old, half-finished X-Men continuity web project and added reviews for these three issues, which can be found here (http://xmenresource.tripod.com/1965.html). Please note that the rest of the site is severely out of date and needs to be fixed up. I haven't been giving this project the attention it deserves.

Slam_Bradley

05-30-2006, 01:57 PM

I'm still struggling to get through the later issues of Monster of Frankenstein. This is some of the toughest going I've had in quite a while. Definitely the worst work by Doug Moench that I've ever read. And I'm not enough of a Mayerik fan for that to offset the horrible stories.

On a more pleasant note, I was digging through some magazines that I'd never gotten around to reading and came across Comics Interview #31. It was published some time in 1985 (don't have it handy) and it focused on Batman. Thus far I've read short interviews with Jerry Robinson, George Roussos and Burt Ward. Looking forward to long interviews with Bob Kane, Frank Miller and Fred Finger (Bill Finger's son).

west3man

05-31-2006, 11:07 AM

I keep finding comics in my collection that I've never read or didn't remember that well. (A rare thing, really.)

Some of those are in the following which I've renewed interest in, right now:

Justice League of America #'s 190, 195, 196, 197, 200, 203, 207, 208, and 209.

In fact, I'm trying to find a relatively painless way to fill in the gaps.

DarthAstuart

05-31-2006, 04:41 PM

J'onn J'onzz

05-31-2006, 09:12 PM

someone mentioned the 1990 adam strange prestige miniseries, which I own but do not remember at all.

so in spite of the fact that it is only "classic" in the sense that it is not new, even though it's only a year or two old, I'll highly recommend the Adam Strange "planet heist" miniseries that came out a few years ago and led into rann-thanagar war. it had a swashbuckle that felt very fifties, very sci-fi. really fun stuff.

I'll be sure to get it.

Warning: The Following Endorses the Fact that Dolphins are better than humans. Those who dislike dolphins or display an uncanny liking towards humanity may want to turn away.
I reviewed the first half of Grant Morrisson's Animal Man in the lost review and really don't feel like retyping it, so we'll be starting in...

Animal Man # 15

This is a really good story. I'm not saying I enjoyed it. It was good but it would be sadistic to say I enjoyed this comic. It involves dolphin hunters going out and shooting dolphins. It is narrarated by a dolphin. As crazy as this sounds it works. It's done rather matter-of-factly and you hardly even notice how odd the whold concept is... Anyway, back on topic... the dolphin hunters go around shooting dolphins. I do not endorse hunting in any way, and this story... well, suffice it to say, if hunters had brains, which they don't, and they read this story, which they can't because they generally can't read, there would be a lot less hunters. I don't know WHY we call ourselves the most intelligent species on Earth. Do dolphins massacre other species FOR FUN? No. They don't. Humans do. 'Nuff said.

A+++++

Get it!

joe bloke

06-01-2006, 05:46 AM

Panther's Rage. Omega the Unknown. Also, been ploughing me way through me old Howard the Duck's. Does anyone remember that great old Marvel Treasury Howard-Defenders team-up? Now, there's a classic. Two oldish early 'nineties British efforts - Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes' Dan Dare reimagining ( called, not surprisingly, " Dare " ), and Pete Milligan and Brendan Mccarthy's " Rogan Gosh. " Trippy stuff. Finally, for a treat beyond treats, Burne Hogarth's " Tazan of the Apes " book. It was published in England by Pan Books in 'seventythree. I think the American edition was published by Watson-Guptill in 'seventytwo. If you're not familiar with Burne Hogarth, but you are a fan of beautiful comic book art, then I can't recommend it highly enough. No one, but no one, not even Gil Kane, drew the human figure so breath-takingly beautiful as Burne Hogarth.

Roquefort Raider

06-01-2006, 07:02 AM

The Micronauts was a toy-line inspired series that generated veritable devotion in many of its fans. Its first year is still remembered fondly by old timers like me. It combined an unapologetic space opera flavor with a very fast pace (even a frenetic one by today's decompressed storytelling standards) and references to mysticism, class warfare, fate and duty, and pop culture items like the TV show "Land of the giants".

Most of all, the first 12 issues had the absolutely breathtaking art of Michael Golden. The man's talent as an illustrator was obvious right from the start, but something that was even more impressive was his sheer genius as a designer. Everything from clothes to alien architecture, from character design to spaceships (the Endeavour was something never seen before nor since), from otherworldly alphabet to landscapes, was a joy to behold. Thanks to the power of Golden's vision, characters like the armored warrior Acroyear, the insect-like Bug or the space-gliding Commander Rann immediately took imposed their iconic presence. (Man, Rann's incredible helmet... classic yet novel, complex yet so simple-looking... A wonderful creation).

At the helm, Bill Mantlo came up with a surprisingly complex background for the series, with many layers of plots weaved into a satisfying SF saga. It had everything from secretive priests to armored warriors, from evil dictators to mystical messiahs.

I must admit that with a few decades of accumulated maturity, I am now a little more aware of the series' fault. The dialogue is often pretty bad, and the iconic characters often devolve into stereotypes. Unnecessary whining is the norm, perhaps as an attempt to cast the heroes in a more human light. Most of the political background is shaky, because the "good guys" are part of a hereditary absolutist monarchy that later claims to defend democracy. (In fact, in issue #1 the population seems to be quite against the monarchy, only to support it in issue #10).

There is also the recurring problem of Mantlo's poor grasp of science, which is at times simply annoying (when he pictures all scientists as enthusiastic vivisectionist madmen) and sometimes confusing (when physical laws are ignored for plot purposes). That latter point is illustrated by these few examples: at one point, one character is knocked out and falls from a great height; another realizes this and jumps after him (actually jumping up at first, diving-board style, before starting down) but manages to catch him anyway. Gravity was a bit unequal that day. At another point, a Micronaut (who must weigh all of 20 grams) jumps on the handle of a poorly balanced hammer. Despite the very small mass of the character, the hammer is thrown up at great speed and smashes a bad guy in the face! Another one is probably due to the colorist, but still: a character falls into a jar of red paint and comes out wet, but without any stain. That must have been very poor-quality paint.

Despite these few qualms, the Micronauts was off to a great start. But then Michael Golden left after issue 12, and the series passed to Howard Chaykin with what must be the very worst work of his career. Pat Broderick succeeded him after five issues, but that was still a young Broderick who didn't have the power of Golden's style. Plotwise, the book suffered from having killed all its villains, especially its Darth Vader-Doctor Doom amalgam, Baron Karza. The rest of the series was an attempt to recapture the glory of the first 12 issues.

scratchie

06-01-2006, 07:46 AM

Also, been ploughing me way through me old Howard the Duck's. Does anyone remember that great old Marvel Treasury Howard-Defenders team-up? Now, there's a classic. That was awesome, with the team of third-string villains that they had to fight ("The Black Hole.... SUCKS!!"). While on the one hand, this was a shameless ploy to cash in on Howard's popularity and try to draw people into the Defenders, on the other hand, it was pure Gerber doing what he does best, a little bit of social satire (the aforementioned villains), a little bit of slapstick & broad humor ("If you had any class, you'd have had that overbite fixed years ago!") and a satisfying super-hero climax.

joe bloke

06-03-2006, 04:55 AM

When I was a kid, Marvel were making in-roads 'round here ( England ) with a couple of black and white titles that reprinted several of the original titles in episode format in each comic. It would usually take three or four of the English numbers to each American number. You had "Fantastic" and you had "Terrific." "Fantastic" used to reprint the mighty Thor, the X-Men, and Iron Man. "Terrific" used to reprint the Avengers, the incredible Hulk and Dr. Strange. These comics only lasted a short while, but at the beginning of the 'seventies Marvel UK really came into it's own when they released "the Mighty World of Marvel" which started printing the adventures of the Hulk, Spider-man, and the Fantastic Four, starting from the first appearances of each. From this, there sprang a whole crap-load of black and white compilation titles. Which brings me to. . .

Picked up a bagful of old English "Planet of the Apes" comics at a jumble sale the other day. They were brilliant. You had the reprints of the great old Marvel "Planet of the Apes" magazines ( Tom Sutton, Mike Ploog, Alfredo Alcala, the very best artists, I tell you ), but also "Warlock", starting with the Roy Thomas/Gil Kane stories and running right through Jim Starlin's. But, and this is where it gets a little strange, they also started running the original series of "War of the Worlds", redrawing the heads of all the bad guys to look like apes! ( I think it was Ron Wilson who did all the work there ), and renaming Killraven's character Apeslayer.

I was going to scan some of them, and post them, but my scanner's knackered. They're definately worth seeking out, and, given that they're old English Marvels, they shouldn't work out too expensive.

Actually, staying within CBR, if you go over to the COMICS SHOULD BE GOOD forum - COMIC BOOK URBAN LEGENDS REVEALED # 24, you'll find a bit more about it, and a scan of one of the doctored pages.

shaxper

06-03-2006, 01:44 PM

Cerebus: Jakka's Story and Melmoth

I'd been holding off on reading these for a while now because I truly feel that High Society was the best Dave Sim had to offer and that everything else has been a downward spiral (even if it's been an interesting and artistically experimental downward spiral). But enough people implored me to read through Melmoth so I have.

Jakka's Story - This one was really hard to wade through at first. The abrupt shift in focus to Jakka and husband Rick was unwelcome to me, and neither the individual characters nor their relationship proved likable in any way. Still, I pushed through, and gradually began to appreciate some of the experimentation Sim was trying here (and there was a lot of it). Cerebus's characterization and Lord Julius's shadowy presence, though limited, were endearing, and I started to care about Jakka and Rick just a bit as their relationship started to improve. The out-of-nowhere plottwist at the end was good for a change of pace, if nothing else. The ending was powerful and painful but, still, Sim failed in making me ever sympathize with Jakka. Her backstory failed to make me care for her, and her present state was understandably less sympathetic, even if it was understandable. Definitely an interesting reading experience, but not necessarily one I'd care to repeat.

Melmoth - What the hell was this? If Sim wanted to write a non-fiction graphic novel depicting the death of Oscar Wilde, then that's what he should have done. This story didn't relate to Cerebus at all and only marginally related to the Oscar Wilde-resembling character in Jakka's Story. What was the point? Even Cerebus's appearances in this story were less enjoyable simply because it's hard to watch anyone sit there in a catatonic state for 200 plus pages. Why do Cerebus fans insist that this book is worth reading?

The sad part is, I'm still considering trying out Flight. As much as Cerebus has lost something as a story, Dave Sim is his own genre, and I do find myself missing that genre from time to time.

benday-dot

06-04-2006, 12:50 PM

Thor (Kirby/Colletta)

In my ongoing project to read all my Kirby Thors (I have perhaps half of the total published in my collection) I just finished with Thor 168. To me this repesents a bit of a landmark issue. The inking was done here by George Klein as opposed to Vince Colletta, and represents to me a slight injury, a bruising perhaps, of Kirby's pencils. I know many have and continue to accuse Colletta of the crime of Kirby abuse, but I am on record on this forum and elsewhere as lauding his embellishments to Kirby's Thor work. Kirby himself later disavowed Colletta when he heard his longtime collaborator accused of erasing some of his original detailed panelwork. The line that goes with Colletta was that he became a bit of a bitter hack, underpaid and undervalued, so he felt entitled to give as good (or as cheaply as the case may be) as he got. I don't know the precise veracity of this, though I think evidence has been shown that he did cheat a bit on the King's extradordinary drawings. But given the times, the alleged sweatshop environment of the Bullpen in the Silver Age years, this might indeed have been the once not all too uncommon practice in the penciller/inker relationship.

Nevertheless, I have been stricken anew at the grandeur of the almost medeival cut-work aesthetic of the Kirby/Colletta collaboration on the pages of Thor. The large panels, irregular perspective, scratched etchings all contribute to this quasi-classical style (it may be a stretch, but at times I see it as of a kind with the likes of masters Hal Foster and Alex Raymond). Fabulous stuff. Some issues are better drawn than others I purport, but up until issue 169 when George Klein, and then Bill Everett (legendary to be sure, but not suitable for Kirby's bold, blocky strokes) took over they were all pretty consistently brilliant. Colletta comes back for two more issues in Thor 176 and 177, and it may be just my imagination but I felt these revival issues marked either a slight drop in excellence or perhaps a rush job (even though all of Kirby's work was said to be accomplished almost superhumanly fast). I suspect too at this point Kirby's morale was at a pretty low point for Marvel, and maybe he just didn't care as much as he used to.

Anyway I want to give two enthusiastic thumb up for the amazing Kirby/Colletta work on the Mighty Thor... one of the highest peaks of Marvel's Silver Age.

joe bloke

06-05-2006, 05:25 AM

Absolutely, benday-dot. Fantastic stuff, and never better, I think, than through issues # 154 - 157, the cracking " Hammer and the Holocaust " Mangog - Ragnarok arc. Easily, my favourite Thor tale, and possibly my favourite Lee - Kirby collaboration. I've always thought Vince Colletta got something of an unfair shrift by many. About time someone started singing the man's praises. Well done, that man.

scratchie

06-05-2006, 07:15 AM

I've always thought Vince Colletta got something of an unfair shrift by many. About time someone started singing the man's praises. Well done, that man.I've just been plowing through my Fourth World collection -- reading them in publication order, rather than reading each title separately -- and I have nothing bad to say about Colletta's art on the early issues of Kirby's epic. I might like Mike Royer's work a little bit better, but there was nothing about Colletta's inks that made me dislike them. I've seen some fine work of his over Sal Buscema as well.

Lone Ranger

06-05-2006, 07:25 AM

IIRC, Issue #28 of the Jack Kirby Collector had several example of artwork before and after Colletta inked them. There were definitely many details (even buildings) missing.

I can't recall if Mark Evanier wrote the article or was quoted in it.

As for Colletta, he was often a very strong inker - but his bad work (or lackadaisical work, for a better term) has really ruined his reputation.

Actually, he was quite a good penciller in the 50s. I have some nice Atlas romance books with covers and interior artwork by Vinnie C, and it looks just fine in comparison to the other great Atlas artists of the era.

Slam_Bradley

06-05-2006, 08:30 AM

I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately, comics and prose. I have, however, managed the following:

The Dr. Doom stories from Astonishing Tales as reprinted in Essential Super-Villain Team-Up. For me, these stories were all about the artwork. Wally Wood followed by Gene Colan. The stories themselves, while nothing spectacular, were generally entertaining.

I also finished up Comics Interview #31 with the Bob Kane and Fred Finger interviews. Interesting stuff, though not much I hadn't read elsewhere. Finger was very forthright about his father's failings and Kane was solicitous of Finger's contributions to the Batman mythos and acknowledged that he was underappreciated when he lived. On the other hand, his venom for Jerry Robinson was palpable.

I also read the Irwin Hasen interview in Alter Ego vol.3/#1. Interesting interview about the early days of DC/National/All-American. Definitely makes me wish somebody would bring out some strip reprints of Dondi.

Reptisaurus!

06-05-2006, 12:26 PM

The Dr. Doom stories from Astonishing Tales as reprinted in Essential Super-Villain Team-Up. For me, these stories were all about the artwork. Wally Wood followed by Gene Colan. The stories themselves, while nothing spectacular, were generally entertaining.

But the very last Doom story was freakin' brilliant. Wasn't it written by Gerry Conway? Best thing he's ever done, sez I.

Really, I thought this whole volume was top-notch, except for the stupid Red Skull stories at the very end. Much better than I was expecting when I bought it, even with the constant creator switches.

Slam_Bradley

06-05-2006, 12:39 PM

But the very last Doom story was freakin' brilliant. Wasn't it written by Gerry Conway? Best thing he's ever done, sez I.

Really, I thought this whole volume was top-notch, except for the stupid Red Skull stories at the very end. Much better than I was expecting when I bought it, even with the constant creator switches.

It was certainly good. By far the strongest story of the bunch. By far the strongest story of the series.

I personally think that Conway is underrated. He had a very good run on Amazing Spider-Man. And Atari Force was an incredible read.

I haven't gone any farther in the volume. Just the Doom stories for now.

Lone Ranger

06-05-2006, 01:02 PM

benday-dot

06-05-2006, 08:21 PM

Originally posted by Lone Ranger
As for Colletta, he was often a very strong inker - but his bad work (or lackadaisical work, for a better term) has really ruined his reputation.

Right Lone Ranger... Do you think it was a case that Colletta - with the high privilege, and daunting task, of inking over the pencils of arguably the most beloved creator in comic book history - and given all the publicly declared failings of the man, has but fallen under all that inevitable added scrutiny that the particular partnership in question demands? Point being, perhaps he has been unfairly singled out for any injustice wrought upon Kirby's artistry.

Excuse or not, blasphemy or not, it could be that Colletta's inking methods were not quite the singular crime they have been made out to be. Sinnott, and Royer are rightly praised for their due respect of Kirby's panelwork, but comic book creation is above all a collaborationist process (with the exception of those auteur titles where it's pretty much a one man show). It is oft told how Kirby added the Silver Surfer character unbeknownst to Lee. Other examples must abound where end results depart from original imaginings. But returning to the inker/penciller relationship in particular... any given inker can quite drastically alter the finished look of any given penciller. Does it cross the line to actually erase a penciller's detail? Perhaps, but I can only conclude that the finished work in the truly revelatory work of Kirby pencil underneath Colletta pen stand as some of the finest work I've seen in the medium.

The cheat question aside in Colletta's alleged liberties with those vaunted Kirby strokes I do believe that sometimes, whether intentionally or not, with JK's work less can on occasion be more. Some have a hard time with Kirby's faces, those of humans in particular, as oppsed to all the many wonderful alien and mechanical visages the King has produced, but I am often quite in awe when I see a Kirby/Colletta panel in which their is nothing portrayed but a close up of Thor's, Sif's, Balder's, or any other number of character's, faces regally stricken against an abstractly splashed backdrop of subdued primary colour. Chins slightly elevated, eyes a mere black-kohled dash, and aura majesty implied. Brilliant. Sometimes such an economy triumphs in a Kirby authored panel even over his unfathomable, sometimes stupendously de-humanizing and colossal renderings of machinery and ship.

And, oh yes, Joe Bloke the Mangog/Ragnarok epic is beyond spanking good.

Hombre

06-06-2006, 02:47 AM

Giant Size Defenders #5, Defenders #26-41, Annual #1.

The main thing about the mid-70s Defenders... they look good, they feel good, they smell good. I imagine eventually they'll be read on a computer screen by some kid, and they'll wonder what the fuss was all about. But these things are just a great reading experience and as such they remain so to this day.

I see Plok has a juicy post on the Guardians arc on his blog. The Guardians are just a great concept, and here they receive a new member, the great Starhawk, while Nikki will come later in Marvel Presents. Visually, these guys are as sharp as can be. Just a couple of things about this wonderful sci -fi arc comprising GS 5 and #26-29.

When Charlie 27 comes to 70s Earth from his dystopic future, he is stunned by the general inability to use logic he witnesses, these people are insane is his assessment. Well that they are, Charlie.

Another special moment is Vance Astro telling in painstaking detail the story of the Earth's future as he experienced it to his younger self and Doctor Strange. The attention Gerber gives to reconstructing with verisimilitude a couple of millennia of alternate reality is amazing.

In Astro's future, things start precipitating with a simple yet devastating occurrence, the Ozone layer is depleted by gas emissions and it's no longer possible to go outside without heavy duty protection, skin cancer becomes rampant and people start losing their limbs and heavily relying on bionics to replace them.

In this story, Doctor Strange begins his appreciation of Jack Norriss, which he will maintain until the end of the run, alone among the Defenders. Norriss is widely disliked by the Defenders, yet he is not painted as a stereotypical creep. For a regular guy, he will demonstrate courage and determination in the issues to come, if also an annoying streak.

The saga of the Headmen and Nebulon, coming to a head in #31 and concluding in Annual 1 is lots and lots of fun. Starting with #35 Klaus Janson starts inking Sal, and the results are great, Janson and Ernie Chan may be two of the inkers which most complimented Sal's pencils.

The story has a lot of horror overtones, and it's a well done psychological thriller. The bozos make for a disquieting visual, as do the Headmen themselves. These guys have in common a disastrous alteration of their body, whether intended or not, and the only one who was fairly normal to begin with, Chondu, is before long made by the others into one of us.
They start in motion their master plan by removing Nighthawk's brain and implanting another in its place.

For all that, the Headmen actually deem violence distasteful, and try to conquer the world through political means, and merely subject the Defenders to a mind alteration in order to make them subtly of help in reaching their goals.

In his run Gerber adds to the ranks of the Defenders Luke Cage and Red Guardian. It's all good and it's all entertaining as hell. The plots interweave with one another intricately, the Valkyrie lands in prison feeling weary and dejected, the Elf kills randomly to remind everyone that there is not always a happy end, not always bad things can be prevented from happening and sometimes there is no retribution for them.

There is so much that could be said, but the main thing is that this series was just so great, and it will continue to be for a while, as Gerry Conway, Roger Slifer and Dave Kraft come on board to continue it.

Graham Vingoe

06-06-2006, 03:39 AM

I've continued to read the Essential Spider-Woman and have reached the start of the Fleischer run in 22. I read the early issues when they first came out, and as I said before found them reasonably enjoyable, but I had only read 2 or 3 issues between the start of Gruenwalds run and the Claremont issues. This proves to have been fortuitious as the Fleischer issues are just intensely awful.
In issue 22 SW runs a bounty hunting business with a wheelchair bound ex FBI agent called Scotty, and has access to an apparently endless supply of disguises. What really bugs me is that there is NO word of explanation about any of this, we're fobbed off with a promise to explain this all in a later issue.
In the mean time we get to see a battle with a crazed clown real name, Cedric Whimpley, and a rent a bad guy called Gamesman, who essentially meets and falls head over heels in love with Jessica Drew in a record time, which is just enough to allow her to capture him easily.
Michael Fleischer can, and has written excellent material in Jonah Hex, the Spectre etc, but this run of stories has real pacing problems, lack of logic and bland one dimensional characters.
The one saving grace in this is the debut of Steve Leialoha on pencils. I always liked his art and he does sterling work on his lone issue in the collection.

overall, the title drifts from excellence to extreme mediocrity in the space of 25 issues. Some good work from Wolfman, Infantino, Gruenwald and Leialoha marred by Fleischer and Springer.
Final verdict- a grade C, at best

Dial Tone

06-06-2006, 09:03 AM

I finished reading the solid run of Spectacular Spider-Man by Gerry Conway and Sal Buscema from the late 80's/early 90's.

I think it's a very under-rated run, which wasn't helped by the fact that David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane had started their classic and high profile run on Amazing Spider-Man at the same time. Their thunder was stolen.

Conway really understood Peter Parker and all of his supporting characters really well. Unlike today, the supporting cast was actually IN THE BOOK. Joe "Robbie" Robertson was used more than he ever had been, and it resulted in some great stuff with a new villian named Tombstone, who was a high priced albino hitman who Robbie knew from his teen years as a bully at school. Other great stories featuring the LOBO brothers, who were two mutant werewolf mob brothers, the Arranger, one of the Kingpin's top assistants, and Knight and Fogg, who were two British baddies, really kept things interesting throughout the 3 year run.

Sal Buscema did some of his best artwork of his career. It was stylized and solid, and he drew every issue, which gave incredible consistency throughout the entire run of stories.

It was the very definition of solid!

B+ (88%)

benday-dot

06-06-2006, 07:30 PM

[QUOTE=Hombre]Giant Size Defenders #5, Defenders #26-41, Annual #1.

The main thing about the mid-70s Defenders... they look good, they feel good, they smell good.

Hombre... you are the man. The Gerber Defender's run is the best it ever got in the 1970's. Not just the pinnacle of my collection, but I can't ever imagine the entire comic book world without them.

rick

06-07-2006, 12:10 AM

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/2001/ff1028cu.jpg

Fantastic Four #102 from the fall of 1970, featuring, The Strength of the Savage Sub-Mariner and special guest villain Magneto written and drawn by the classic team of Stan Lee & Jack Kirby

This cool little comic by two classic creators at the very top of their form is simply put one of the single most historically significant comics in the history of the medium.

Which makes it kind of funny that nothing much really happens this issue.

Ben has a bad cold that Johnny and Crystal are attempting to treat. Reed and Sue are still adjusting to the recent birth of baby Franklin. Johnny plays a prank on Ben, and the team is attacked inside of the Baxter building when all the metal in the place begins to attack them.

Meanwhile, Namor, the Sub-Mariner, after a brief but well drawn battle with a pair of sea monsters, is paid a visit by the Master of Magnetism, Magneto, who has come to Atlantis to convince the Sub-Mariner to join forces with Mags in his war against the human race. Of course at that very moment the surface world apparently attacks Atlantis, showering the city with pieces of loose metal.

I have to admit that I’m not sure why Magneto picked on the FF and the Sub-Mariner, but I figure it had to be because the X-Men were out of town of something, but certainly it seems that from his reaction Namor isn’t being all that bright. Because he ignores the obviousness of Magnetos attack and instead is quickly convinced that the Fantastic Four is responsible for attacking his home and so to war.

Admittedly not the most exciting issue of the FF. But at the same time the writing is sharp and the art is simply breath taking.

But like I said this is still a major milestone in comics history, because Fantastic Four #102 was not only the next to last time that Lee & Kirby would ever collaborate on a comic, the next one being the Silver Surfer paperback from the very late 1970’s, but it was also the very last issue of the Fantastic Four that Jack Kirby would ever draw.

And it really is a beautiful issue too. The Sub-Mariner’s underwater world is exotic and dangerous, filled with all sorts of odd threats. Magneto comes across as sly and evil. And the household scenes with the team are funny and just beautifully drawn by the master, who knew that this was his goodbye.

Here's a glimpse...

http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/125/ff3oz.jpg

Hombre

06-07-2006, 03:56 AM

[QUOTE]

The Gerber Defender's run is the best it ever got in the 1970's.

I love 70s Marvel comics. I can't personally say this was the high watermark, there's so much great stuff that comes to my mind. Even with the Defenders, when Gerber left other creators came on board and did some fascinating things, just as Gerber himself had brought forward and expanded upon the work of others. The Hellcat in the Defenders, for example, is part of my comics imprinting. Different styles, different ideas, a common feel.

So I think Gerber's Defenders has several serious contenders for the title, Don McGregor's Jungle Action, for example, or Englehart's Avengers. Personally I always go back to the work done by people like Gerry Conway or Len Wein, who wrote tons of entertaining and well crafted stories.

Their philosophy was that comics were meant to be uplifting things, whose reason for being was to make you feel good as well as to make you think and care about others. These guys weren't pretentious or patronizing, but they believed their stories could be told with the same integrity, coherence and maturity as those told in any other medium.

At least that's what I got out of it and why I've loved them all these years.

joe bloke

06-07-2006, 12:40 PM

Simon Garth

06-07-2006, 02:42 PM

So true, Hombre. That's what I got out of them, too, and it's why I still love them so much today.

I recently spent a night going through my old Don McGregor comics. McGregor, with Steve Gerber running a close second, was always my favourite comic book writer. His respect and his love for his audience always shone through in his work. The Panther's Rage and the Killraven series were the comic books that taught me that it wasn't all about shiny lantern-jawed ubermensch in spandex beating the living snot out of each other and birds with cracking tits. Sabre: Slow Fade, Detectives Inc: a Remembrance of Threatening Green, and the Ragamuffins are the stuff of truly great fiction, that's fiction there, not comic book fiction, but fiction FULL STOP.

OLD SKULL: " Look at that, M'Shulla. Old Skull's flowers. . .they're still living. Ain't that something? "
M'SHULLA: " You never give it up, do you? "
OLD SKULL: " Nope! "
Killraven. Last Dreams Broken.

Still gets me, every time.

Me too - I loved all that MacGregor stuff - worlds ahead of most of the writing at the time, though by modern standards it's incredibly wordy. It was one of my biggest disappointments of that age when DMcG was yanked off Black Panther to make room for that beyond-awful Kirby version.

The Killraven graphic novel was an amusing insight into Don's mind (and the slapdash production standards of the time) - you could clearly see where earlier versions of the dialogue had been whited-out and rewritten - it was a significant portion of the book.

shaxper

06-07-2006, 05:50 PM

Groo (Pacific) #2-6
Got a couple of great out-loud laughs from these, but the title is super repetitive. Not sure how much longer I'll stick with these, though the front and back cover to #6 were priceless.

Sub-Mariner (1968) #7-8
This title is finally picking up speed. While the first few issues were about Namor as a wandering embodiment of vengeance and anger, losing his temper too quickly and thus providing the plot for an issue while his girlfriend mopes around and whines, thinking he's dead, Namor is finally situated back in Atlantis, making him less pissed and his girlfriend less whiney. Finally, I can start to like this only slightly hotheaded, take-things-into-your-own-hands hero who has neither the tact nor patience to explain himself, using a well deserved blow as his defense instead. The actual plot for #7 was interesting (and the ending was brilliant) as Destiny ended up brainwashing himself into believing he could do things that he couldn't. #8's conflict with the Thing was similarly great because, well, it's the Thing. To a newcomer, I would recommend reading #1 (for basic setup), #5 (for Tigershark's origin), and then starting with #7 to follow the ongoing title. The rest, while decent, wasn't particularly exceptional.

Kamandi #17-19
I can't believe how much I'm still enjoying this title. Kirby never runs out of ideas here. #19 was particularly fascinating in that Kamandi discovers that Chicago has survived the great disaster and is populated by 1920's era gangsters. The revelation at the very end of this issue almost stopped my heart, even though I already knew what was coming. Extraordinarily well done. Kamandi may be one of Jack's best works of all time.

Green Lantern/Green Arrow #118-119
GL/GA had definitely hit a dry spell for a while there, but I'm glad I stuck with it as Denny O'Neil seems to have gotten back in touch with his characters in these issues. Arrow and Canary are dead on here, especially as Canary whines while Ollie drags her around town looking for Chilli spice. O'Neill begins playing up the sacredness of Hal's oath again, reminding us how seriously he takes his job. At the same time, his budding romance with Guy Gardner's girlfriend (who now believes he's dead) draws us in and compells us to care. O'Neill was never very strong with plot, and these issues are no exception, but it's nice to see these amazingly strong characters from the early O'Neill days back on the page.

The Spectre (Ostrander/Mandrake) #8
There's no doubt that this series is very well done, but it's not making me want to keep up with it. I feel like I have to force myself to keep picking up this book (rather than simply wanting to read it) because it's so depressing and mundane. Great insights about tormented lives while little else happens in terms of plot. While Ostrander does a great job of literally peering into the souls of these characters, he dredges up so much of the pain and reality that I read comics to escape from. I don't feel all comics should be disposable bad-guy-of-the-month mind candy. I love comics that strive for something more. This just feels too depressing, and I may soon give it up.

benday-dot

06-07-2006, 08:08 PM

Originally posted by Shaxper
Kamandi #17-19
I can't believe how much I'm still enjoying this title. Kirby never runs out of ideas here. #19 was particularly fascinating in that Kamandi discovers that Chicago has survived the great disaster and is populated by 1920's era gangsters. The revelation at the very end of this issue almost stopped my heart, even though I already knew what was coming. Extraordinarily well done. Kamandi may be one of Jack's best works of all time.
Right that... when the hell is Kamandi Archives #2 coming out, or am I just going to have to break down and buy the originals like I did with Fourth World.

Dial Tone

06-08-2006, 12:21 AM

I finished reading the first Michelinie and McFarlane Amazing Spider-Man TPB, which covers issues 298-305 of their defining run.

I was always a big fan of Dave. He wrote the greatest Iron-Man stories, and I really liked his Avengers that I read. One of my favorite stories ever was a graphic novel called the Revenge of the Living Monolith, which featured Spider-Man, Cap, and the Fantastic Four during the She-Hulk years, all drawn by Marc Silvestri. It really showed that dave had a good handle on Spidey, so when he and Marc where assigned to do Web of Spider-Man, I was thrilled.

Unfortunately, it was a short run, but partly because Dave moved on to the main Spidey book and was paired with Todd McFarlane, who had developed into a powerhouse artist during his Hulk run. Dave and Todd started off with a strong story featuring a villian named Chance, who I believe Michelinie created, and then the shit hit the fan with Dave's greatest creation...VENOM! Dave doesn't get near the credit for what he did for Spider-Man's book.

After some Silver Sable action and a trip to the midwest where Spidey runs into a guy who was bitten by a radioactive bunny, Peter heads out west to promote a book collecting his photos of Spider-Man that the Bugle got published, and he runs into the Black Fox, the aging jewel thief who is always a hoot, as well as the Prowler. It's the type of story that is the best of what Spider-Man's all about, and guess what, Peter and MJ are MARRIED!

This would easily be my pick as the definitive version of Spidey that wasn't written by Stan Lee. Perfect characterization, perfect villians pitted against our hero, and a perfect handling of a marriage.

A (97%)

I'm now reading the Peter David and Todd McFarlane Hulk, which is collected in PAD Visionaries vol. 1 (331-339) and Ground Zero (340-346)

dan bailey

06-08-2006, 11:11 AM

Sub-Mariner (1968) #7-8
This title is finally picking up speed. While the first few issues were about Namor as a wandering embodiment of vengeance and anger, losing his temper too quickly and thus providing the plot for an issue while his girlfriend mopes around and whines, thinking he's dead, Namor is finally situated back in Atlantis, making him less pissed and his girlfriend less whiney. Finally, I can start to like this only slightly hotheaded, take-things-into-your-own-hands hero who has neither the tact nor patience to explain himself, using a well deserved blow as his defense instead. The actual plot for #7 was interesting (and the ending was brilliant) as Destiny ended up brainwashing himself into believing he could do things that he couldn't. #8's conflict with the Thing was similarly great because, well, it's the Thing. To a newcomer, I would recommend reading #1 (for basic setup), #5 (for Tigershark's origin), and then starting with #7 to follow the ongoing title. The rest, while decent, wasn't particularly exceptional.

*sigh* this is where i renew my nigh-eternal call for a sub-mariner essentials already, dammit.

it'd be one thing if decent runs of the original series could be had for cheap, but so far that's proven not to be the case, not that i've been particularly vigilant about checking ebay (as i have been about another marvel series that hasn't been essentialized & because of copyright issues most likely never will be, master of kung fu, which i'm about a dozen ishes away from completing an entire run of at an average of maybe 50 cents an issue).

the lcs across town from me (as opposed to the one down the highway frm me) has been running a 50-percent-off sale on back issues lately, & i was lucky enough to find about 5 ishes of subby from circa #s 19-29 for maybe $3 each -- a minuscule price to pay for at least 3 ishes of primo marie severin goodness! -- but alas, those are the only examples of the titles i own.

Rob Allen

06-08-2006, 07:44 PM

Sub-Mariner (1968) #7-8
This title is finally picking up speed.
And right after this, it starts into the Serpent Crown story, one of Marvel's trial balloons for a sword-and-sorcery title (along with the Arkon story in Avengers). I recall that the letters pages in Sub-Mariner made references to Conan and Tolkien - possibly the first place I saw either name.

shaxper

06-08-2006, 08:02 PM

*sigh* this is where i renew my nigh-eternal call for a sub-mariner essentials already, dammit.

it'd be one thing if decent runs of the original series could be had for cheap, but so far that's proven not to be the case, not that i've been particularly vigilant about checking ebay

Actually, with the exception of Iron Man & Sub-Mariner #1 and Sub-Mariner #1, the rest of the series is genuinely very easy to pick up for $4-$6 per issue. I was fortunate enough to find #1 in a comic shop basement bin where they gave it to me for $2. I haven't been able to obtain Iron Man & Subby #1, but Sub-Mariner #1 pretty much reiterates what you've missed.

shaxper

06-08-2006, 08:03 PM

And right after this, it starts into the Serpent Crown story, one of Marvel's trial balloons for a sword-and-sorcery title (along with the Arkon story in Avengers). I recall that the letters pages in Sub-Mariner made references to Conan and Tolkien - possibly the first place I saw either name.

Interesting! Can't wait. I only own up to #10 but, if I continue to like it enough, I'll acquire #11 and up.

Roquefort Raider

06-09-2006, 06:35 AM

Micronauts: the new voyages, by Peter Gillis and a young Kelley Jones (published by Marvel in the early 80s).

I had a so-so feeling about that series and hadn't really re-read it since it came out. Oh, how foolish youth can be! I shouldn't have been upset by the book not being like its predecessor.

That short-lived series (20 issues) was a real renewal for the characters, and not merely the opportunity to temporarily boost sales thanks to a new #1 issue.

The original Micronauts run had seen sheer brilliance (the first 12 issues) followed by a lot of mediocrity and a last-ditch attempt to regain the original interest by basically retelling the same story. But in all honesty, the last 20 issues had read like a non-stop meaningless fight against lots of downright stupid characters such as Arcade.

With "the new voyages", new writer peter Gillis shifted the emphasis of the series from a straight action-adventire space opera to one of mystery and discovery. As someone wrote on Wikipedia, it became less "Star Wars" and more "2001". There are some truly beautiful moments in there, such as when a character briefly glimpses one of the gods who created the Micronauts' universe (imagine Kelley Jones doing Jack Kirby).

Unfortunately, poor sales condemned the series. As was the trend in the 80s and 90s whenever a series was cancelled, everybody died at the end; but in this case, it worked beautifully and gave a very satisfying conclusion to the story of the Micronauts. (It also prevented any possibility of a sequel, which makes it odd to see a few of the characters running around today under the name of "Microns").

I'm sure many of these issues are available in quarter bins everywhere. I don't know if they'd be that good if read out of order, but as a complete story they're very, very good.

Cheers!

- Ben

scratchie

06-09-2006, 11:33 AM

I just made it through the bulk of Kirby's original Fourth World books. That consists of the original New Gods and Forever People runs, and the first eleven issues of Mister Miracle (I've previously read his Jimmy Olsen issues).

For this run-through, I decided to read the books in publication order, starting with Forever People #1, then New Gods #1, then Mister Miracle #1, etc. Somehow, this was more satisfying than reading one particular series start-to-finish.

While he's hardly a conventional writer, he certainly keeps your interest, and the overall project must have been one of the most ambitious stories told in mainstream comics up to that point. I think the fact that he doesn't spell everything out is one of the big attractions to this work: by allowing the reader to imagine a lot of the details himself, he draws the reader in much more than comics that feel obligated to explain and justify every single plot twist. But Lord knows what Kirby would have done with it if the first two books hadn't been cancelled; I doubt he knew himself. He might have created an unforgettable masterpice or he might have created the comics equivalent of "Twin Peaks", where clues continue to get dropped and nothing is ever resolved.

Next up, I'll be blasting through the remaining issues of Mister Miracle, finishing off Kirby's run and continuing into the Gerber-penned issues from later in the 70s. The change in artistic style is certainly quite extreme, but since I am a sucker for "fine lines", I think I'll enjoy the later issues as well.

benday-dot

06-09-2006, 08:55 PM

I think the fact that he doesn't spell everything out is one of the big attractions to this work: by allowing the reader to imagine a lot of the details himself, he draws the reader in much more than comics that feel obligated to explain and justify every single plot twist.

Weren't they wonderful... I just read the Fourth World Kirby books for the first time about a year ago, and they blew me away. Did you read the letters pages. I seem to remember the fans getting pretty antsy over Kirby's slow drip style revelations. To so many impatient fans at the time it seemed like it was going nowhere. But I agree completely with you... the King knew what he was doing. Justifiably great.

shaxper

06-09-2006, 11:06 PM

Has there ever been a Fourth World trade that combines the early issues of each title? I'd like to try reading them in publication order, the way Scratchie did. Very Seven Soldiers.

scratchie

06-10-2006, 10:36 AM

Weren't they wonderful... I just read the Fourth World Kirby books for the first time about a year ago, and they blew me away. Did you read the letters pages. I seem to remember the fans getting pretty antsy over Kirby's slow drip style revelations. To so many impatient fans at the time it seemed like it was going nowhere. But I agree completely with you... the King knew what he was doing. Justifiably great.The letters pages are pretty funny. People complaining because there wasn't an "origin" story, as if they couldn't enjoy the current story without some far-fetched justification for why the characters do what they do. Even by the time I was fifteen, I knew that the "origin" story of any given given character was usually one of the weakest actual issues, and was often completely irrelevant to what came after. I mean, ten issues into Fantastic Four, did it really matter whether they had gotten their powers from cosmic rays, or from a gamma bomb, or from being bitten by a radioactive rubber plant?

My favorite letter was the one from Richard H. Morrissey of Framingham, Mass (a frequent correspondant) who complains about the names (my emphasis added):

But why did you have to give her such an imbecilic name as "Granny Goodness?" Wy not give her a respectable alien name like "Amarta Zarki?"

Yes, "Amarta Zarki" is much more "respectable" a name, isn't it? That really adds a touch of gravitas to the story.

I guess if you have a lot of emotional investment in the idea of comics being "serious literature", funny names like "Granny Goodness" or "Scott Free" (LOL) might cause some sort of cognitive dissonance, but the names, especially in Mister Miracle are among my favorite Kirby touches. My favorite is "Virman Vundabar". I actually laughed out loud when I first read that.

But, more seriously, I think the names are important because they show that Kirby wasn't trying to be "gritty" or "realistic" and they give the whole story a "fable-like" feel that's entirely appropriate. I think it says a lot for Kirby's (obviously considerable) self-confidence that he would flaunt comic book conventions (especially those of his previous employer) so thoroughly on his first high-profile solo work.

Has there ever been a Fourth World trade that combines the early issues of each title? I'd like to try reading them in publication order, the way Scratchie did.I don't think so. The trades of the Fourth World stories are very disappointing (except for Jimmy Olsen). They tried to split the difference between color and black & white by re-"coloring" them in greyscale, but since they tended to apply the grey in large patches, the end result is that the darkest shade of grey tends to obscure a lot of the detail in Kirby's artwork.

I'm actually tempted to get my issues bound in the "proper" order (I have three other volumes at the local bindery currently and am waiting to see how they turn out).

J'onn J'onzz

06-10-2006, 02:01 PM

Captain America #191

Judging from the letters page, there was a great cry when Steve Engelhart left as writer. Steve definitely brought some pretty exciting times to Cap’s life, but this story (plotted by Tony Isabella and scripted by Bill Mantlo) shows that there is life after Engelhart (and before Kirby). The Falcon’s past has come back to haunt him and his must stand trial. Racial issues are brought to the forefront, as the Falcon is concerned about his chances of getting a fair trial. Ok, so the legal procedures are a bit hazy, but the thought is there.

One of the Falcon’s former associates decides that they’d rather not have him talk, so who do they hire? That’s right: Stilt-Man. Now, I love the stilted one, but it’s well known that he never, ever, ever, ever, ever gets the job done.For some reason, Stilt-Man steal some of the Trapster’s paste before crashing the court proceedings. Needless to say, mayhem ensues. The Falcon shows his true heroic colours and is eventually put on probation with Nick Fury acting as his parole officer. How convenient.

Does this tie together a little too neatly? Sure it does, but the last 20 issues of the title had been such a roller coaster ride that it was nice to see a little closure. The Frank Robbins artwork is wonderful (or terrible, depending on your POV) and Mantlo’s script shows that he has a real flair for dialogue. The conversations between Cap and Nick Fury are great. I enjoyed this one from start to finish.

Grade: A

Was this the one with the wonderful line "Gettin' it on with that foxy mama"? I'm pretty sure Falcon said that, in refference to Cappy kissing the Enchantress. Other good Cappy & the Falcon lines are "You jivin' me, Jack?", and "Time to tie on the feed bag."

Justice League America #33

This issue features my favorite poozer, Kilowog! He's been living in the old Green Lantern Corps Citadel alone, with only occasional visits from Arisa to keep him company. Then Guy Gardener shows up because "Ice is off with Fire shakin' her thigh cheese". UGH. How does J.M. write Guy's dialogue? Anyway... Guy and Kilowog fight, destroy the Citadel, and rebuild it, while Arisa is shopping for Kilowog. Unfortunately the store doesn't have Kilowog's desired purchase, so Arisa buys him such wonderfully titled horror novels as "The Spooning", "The Forking", and "The Kniving". Later, Guy gets Kilowog a position as electronic for the JLI, albeit with the misinformation that Guy was running the JLI. Come on Cei-U, how can you hate this?

A+

BUY IT!

Justice League America (It's a pain having to type out the title because there's also a JLA title... so hereforth JLA=Justice League America) #34

In this issue Blue Beetle and Booster Gold start up an island resort named CLUB JLI on Kooeykooeykooey. Big Sir and Major Disaster of the Injustice League (I love the Injustice League!) appear and use Big Sir's ability to read cards to rob CLUB JLI out of all its money... which was stolen from Max Lord's bank account! As if that wasn't enough, Aquaman shows up to warn them of Kooeykooeykooey being a flying island. Unfortunately, he shows up too late and it blasts into the sky, immediately after the evacuation! So the guests and hosts are stuck on a nearby island, while the Chieftan of Kooeykooeykooey informs us that Kooeykooeykooey will return in a few days.

A+ again

Get it.

JLA #35

Well, there had to be a bad issue in here somewhere and this is it. Ice, Huntress, and Oberon get stranded on an iceberg because they wanted to go on vacation to CLUB JLI, but the transporter tube was gone due to the club being destroyed and with ruins on an island in the sky. Then Huntress says damn, and complains about Ice being ill, and otherwise acts annoyingly for about 15 pages. Aquaman rescues them... The end. Well, actually, not quite. They discover that the cash Big Sir won is frozen in their ice berg. So Max gets his money back (albeut soaked, yet somehow useable...), Aquaman is portrayed out of character (keep up with your in-jokes! In issue 19 Hawkman says that Aquaman would never say damn, and yet, here he is sprouting the same swearing that is constant within virtually all JLI characters except for Arisa, Fire, and Ice. Not even Barda and Dr. Female Fate [though I have an explanation for hers. Vestiges of Kent's mind are still inside of the helmet thus forcing the helmet to act like Kent. Keep in mind that I made that up while reading it, and there is no evidence of it being true.] are excempt from it.) *Whew!*

D-

Don't get unless you are completist.

JLE #9 (Or as Cei-U once called Werewolf by Night: the "anemic cousin".)

This comic is awful. It's the only comic I've ever read which seems to exist only to cover a deadline. This story did not need telling. I cannot claim that even the dreaded Deadman mini-series did not need telling. It did. Despite my hatred of it, it still fininished the story. It just didn't do it well. This comic, however, did not by any means need telling. It covers Superman performing surgery on Power Girl for 18/22 pages, due to a throway incident in last month's JLA. It could have never been mentioned again, and noone would've complained. But Mr. Loebs, the new writer, felt the need to weaken Power Girl, as he does with every character he writes. Actually, he felt the need for a paycheck... Also in this issue, Metamorpho complains that the Outsiders didn't check on him, while he was in the hospital. Really. And he was in the hospital FOR ONE WEEK REAL TIME! That equates to about an hour comic time... And he has the right to complain that the Outsiders didn't fly across the country to check on him? And there was 0 forshadowing to this. Well, that's one more page down, only three more and he gets his paycheck. SO let's have Wally and Ralph make up! To Hell with the last writer's ideas! I'm makin' my own so move aside! I'm sure Mr. Loebs was thinking that as he wrote those pages.

F

DO NOT GET BY ANY MEANS! THERE IS NO REASON TO BUY THIS! IT IS PURE AWFULNESS!

T GUy

06-10-2006, 05:01 PM

scratchie on Kirby's Fourth World: The letters pages are pretty funny. People complaining because there wasn't an "origin" story

My favourite was the classic letter complaining about Darkseid: can't the heroes fight some other villain? I wonder if the same letter writer wrote to Our Army at War moaning that Sgt. Rock was always fighting Adolf Hitler?

benday-dot

06-10-2006, 06:23 PM

Originally posted by Scratchie
Yes, "Amarta Zarki" is much more "respectable" a name, isn't it? That really adds a touch of gravitas to the story.

If Kirby actually chose Amarta Zarki (WTF!!?!) over Granny Goodness I would have paid the Hairies to tie the ill-named woman to the back of a chopper and drag her around the hills of California .

shaxper

06-11-2006, 09:10 AM

Action Comics #600

I've been reading the Perez Wonder Woman run lately, and it continued into Action Comics for this anniversary issue in which Wonder Woman and Superman actually (I kid you not) go on a first date. This had to be Perez's best artwork on WW yet. The first two pages (done almost entirely without Byrne's dialogue) were priceless. Unfortunately, Byrne's script really disappointed me, particularly since Clark and Diana's reasons for deciding not to see each other again at the end seem forced and out of left field. And yes, we also had that unfortunate moment where, after catching Darkseid off-guard, Wondy and Supes stand there, reeling off paragraphs of dialogue explaining how they tricked him. Horrible...horrible.

So I would recommend this issue for the art, as well as for an explanation (horribly crappy as it was) as to why Supes and Wondy don't date. Nothing more.

There are other stories in this giant-sized volume, but they were all written by Byrne and I didn't feel like giving him another chance after that story.

mrc1214

06-11-2006, 03:47 PM

[BEssentials: Fantastic Four vol.1 [/B]
I thought this was very good. These comics were some of the earliest I have read so far. I thought they were going to be very dull but they werent at all. I did feel bad for Reed Richards though Sue first falls for the Sub-Mariner and then the Ant-Man and he really doesnt seem to care much. Out of all of the stories in this I would have to say Annual 1 when Sub-Mariner invades NY is the best.

Lex Luthor: The Unauthorized Biography

This was an excellent read. The story really gets into how evil Luthor really is i mean i knew he was evil but i had no idea to what extent. I dont want to give away to much about the story but it revolves around Clark Kent being framed for the murder of the reporter who was writing the unauthorized biography of Luthor. And as the police question Kent we see the reporter (whose name i forgot) going aroung gathering information on Luthor. Great story and i would recommend picking this up.

The next couple of books ill be reading are Camelot 3000, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and Squadron Supreme.

Lone Ranger

06-12-2006, 01:31 PM

Graham Nolan – Phantom Sundays Vol. 1

I’ve been on a bit of a Phantom kick lately – picking up old Charltons and Gold Keys wherever possible and really enjoying the new Moonstone series (although not enjoy its erratic publishing schedule). I’d heard about this collection of Sunday strips and was very happy to find a copy of Volume 1 at a local used book store.

In the introduction, Nolan acknowledges a lifelong love of the Phantom – as it had been his mother’s favourite when she was young. This love is evidenced by the sheer passion infused in the stories. This volume has four separate story arcs, dealing with jewel thieves, gangsters and tribal warfare. When written well, the Phantom is almost the perfect comic book characters as he transcends time as the multigenerational legacy provides a writer with limitless possibilities.

I do, however, have a couple of criticism. The first is inherent to the Sunday strip format, and Nolan addresses it in his Introduction. In the 3 row format, the first row of panels often repeat much if not all of the story from the previous Sunday’s strip. This certainly hampers the flow of the story, but you get used to it after a while. The second problem was a real headache. The pages were improperly inserted so the first and final story arcs begin halfway through the story. This is a real drag – especially since the pages aren’t numbered so it’s tough to distinguish start from finish.

Grade: For Nolan’s stories and artwork - B+ For packaging: F

Ultraman Max

06-15-2006, 11:25 PM

Devil Dinosaur #1

After reading the Essential Godzilla volume (which was something of a mixed experience) I decided I just had to go looking for issues of this wild Jack Kirby creation.
The art is amazing, incredibly cinematic and very pop art eye candy. The two page splash featuring a battle between Devil and a triceratops is a thing of beauty. I love the clunky way Kirby renders dinos here as well as the brutish look he gives the bad guy tribe of ape-men.

The story starts with the aforementioned dino battle, leading into a flashback sequence that tells us how Moonboy and Devil met, before ending on a cliffhanger in the present tense of the title. Seeing how Devil actually gets his red hue was kind of creepy in that it wasn't from a mutation of any sort but from being SET AFLAME! :eek: Doesn't that mean we're actually seeing his underlying muscle and skin structure or third degree burns rather than red colored scales? Other than that one little "huh?" moment I ended up enjoying the issue alot and wish that the store had more than just the one.

There's also commentary in the letter section written by Kirby which kind of reads like a "pfft, scientists, what do THEY know?" statement which I found hillarious.

scratchie

06-16-2006, 06:35 AM

There's also commentary in the letter section written by Kirby which kind of reads like a "pfft, scientists, what do THEY know?" statement which I found hillarious.LOL. Kirby as Homer Simpson. I love it.

I just picked up Crisis on Two or More Earths, Volume 4 (http://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/?gn=5086), which came out a few weeks ago. This is the first volume in the series that contains a story that I bought and read as a young 'un. In JLA #123, writers Elliot Maggin and Cary Bates discover the Cosmic Treadmill that the Flash left behind in Julie Schwarz's office and use it transport themselves to Earth-One and Earth-Two, respectively. This may have been the first comic I read where the creator "appears" in the comic (another early one for me was Man-Thing #22) and I thought it was cool as hell when I was ten. It's still a fun read, although these DC stories were still way campy compared to what Marvel was putting out at the time (e.g. having bystanders say "Those heroes from that other earth..." as if this were an everyday occurance).

As a bonus, I had completely forgotten that I also used to own the following year's three-part crossover between Earth-1, Earth-2 and Earth-S. It was a treat to read that again, but I could see how, even at age 11, the way DC was treating the alternate worlds (as a big filing cabinet of interchangeable characters) was just a tired story gimmick. Without the added schtick of the writers joining the story, this is just a typical "sequence" story where the heroes save one earth, then save the next earth, then save the next earth, with each "battle" being wrapped up in only a page or two.

The funniest part about the Earth-S crossover is how Billy Batson is still drawn in the classic wide-eyed CC Beck style, but Freddie Freeman (Capt. Marvel Jr.) is drawn with the standard "Dick Dillin face" and looks exactly like Bruce Wayne or Clark Kent.

Scarlet Pimpernel

06-16-2006, 11:27 AM

scratchie, I remember that JLA issue with Maggin and Bates playing characters. I got a kick out of it too when I was younger.

As for me, I have been reading a lot of old Dell Westerns such as the Lone Ranger and the Cisco Kid. Also, the Disney Zorros. They all have a certain innocent charm to them that's gone nowadays.

Lone Ranger

06-16-2006, 12:03 PM

As for me, I have been reading a lot of old Dell Westerns such as the Lone Ranger and the Cisco Kid. Also, the Disney Zorros. They all have a certain innocent charm to them that's gone nowadays.

SP - you have excellent taste.:D

The Lone Ranger comic is one of the true gems of the 50s. The Zorro series with Alex Toth art is about as good as comics get.

shaxper

06-19-2006, 02:00 PM

Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #20

Amazing issue! The problem with this series, from issue #1, has always been that the characters are fantastic but the plots are terrible (or, at best, contrived). This issue breaks from that tradition with a very different plot and tone. A prominant supporting character in Diana's world has been murdered. The story is told from the perspective of a police detective on the case. The narration is strong, the plot is compelling (even where predicatable), and the twist ending is an amazing development point for Diana. Plus, of course, it's Perez art.

I think this is the strongest issue of the run thus far and I look forward to reading more!

MWGallaher

06-20-2006, 07:42 PM

SUPER-TEAM FAMILY #2, DC Comics, January, 1976.
Well, this has to be one of the poorest covers of the Bronze Age: the reprint (Batman and Deadman from Brave & Bold) gets top billing, with a poor copy/tracing by Dick Giordano from an interior panel, only it's spread out on a blank background; below, the Creeper jumps Wildcat (on his Cat-O-Cycle) in front of a minimal beach background. Truly a yawner of a cover, it seems to have been dashed out overnight. For a second issue, it doesn't seem that they were trying very hard. At the time, though, the idea of a Creeper/Wildcat team-up was irresistible to me, despite the lackluster presentation.
Alas, the comic does not deliver. Artists Ric Estrada and Bill Draut turn in pedestrian work, and the story makes little sense. Our heroes are dealing with a boxer kidnapped before his heavyweight fight in some small island nation (I guess this was a take-off on Ali's "Thrilla in Manilla"). Wildcat considers the Creeper to be a rookie in this sequel to the Creeper's many-years-cancelled series, in which Denny O'Neill brings back the Creeper's major foe, Proteus, who has the "awesome" power of chameleon-like disguise. The climax is impossible to swallow, as the kidnapped boxer is dropped 200 feet from the top of the arena into the ring; Proteus intends to kill him, but he's supposedly saved when Wildcat positions himself as the cushion. Hm, I don't think I'd stand a much better chance dropping 200 feet onto the rock-hard abs of a former heavyweight champ like Wildcat than I would dropping directly onto the floor of the boxing ring; the only difference would be that Wildcat should have been smashed to a pulp, too. These S-T-F teamups (like the Hawkman/Flash story that followed in #3) would've been better served by Bob Haney's scripting, I betcha.
The issue's rounded out with the first Batman/Deadman team-up, a real classic of a reprint, and a Green Arrow story with a surprise guest-star (but considering there were only a couple of other superheroes sharing a magazine with GA at the time, it's not such a surprise). This series was proving to be a real let-down for us B&B fans who wanted to see some of the more unusual secondary characters team up. Not long afterwards, DC rethought the premise behind the series, doing reprints, a run of Challengers of the Unknown and then a stretch with a continuing saga centered around the Atom. Too bad they couldn't make the original concept work, but with seriously half-baked stories like this, it's no wonder.
Grade: D.

Lone Ranger

06-21-2006, 06:59 AM

I love the Unknown Soldier - great concept, and a great run during his Star Spangled Comics days. Back in 1988/1989, I was midway through high school and only buying a few titles on a regular basis (Green Arrow, Detective and Silver Surfer come to mind), so I missed the boat on this miniseries completely. My guess is that it was probably lost among the big titles on the shelf and may never have found an audience. That's too bad - as it's quite good.

Upon reflection, it is clear that the late 80s were a very creative era at DC - they were taking risks and many of them paid off. With this series we see what happened to the Unknown Soldier after WW2. We move about in time, with stops in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Central America. Eventually we settle down in the present day as the Soldier has to tie up some loose ends. This is a pretty good concept - I only wish we'd done a few more journeys through the past (Bay of Pigs perhaps?).

The Unknown Soldier is really flesh out as a character here, as we get a look at his childhood and his psychological struggles. We are introduced to a very strong supporting character in the Saigon Kid. One of the real weaknesses are the parellels to Mike Grell's Green Arrow series - from the 'topical' missions to the CIA sleazeball in Barry (Eddie Fyers anyone?). This got me thinking as to who came up with what first and got focus away from the actual stories. No biggie - just an interesting point.

I really like Jim Owsley's stories - and his style and many of the issues he touches on reminded me of Peter Milligan's excellent Human Target series from a couple of years ago. I don't know anything about Phil Gascone, but I really enjoyed the artwork - where else would I have seen his stuff.

Anyway - a great little series. I picked it up for next to nothing from Lone Star.

Grade: B+

shaxper

06-21-2006, 04:27 PM

Kamandi #24-28

Nothing special in these issues, though it was a fun and fascinating romp as always. It's nice to see Kamandi moving into a new area of the post-apocalyptic world, with new rules and new threats. Next issue is the one I've been waiting for forever -- the one that places Superman and Kamandi within the same universe.

rick

06-21-2006, 11:20 PM

shaxper

06-25-2006, 09:18 AM

Superman Annual #11: "For the Man who has Everything"

I'd been looking forward to reading this story for a while now. I'd heard about it enough times that I'd come to expect it was one of Superman's better stories (and, in fact, it's included in "The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told." Really, my only reaction is "What the heck???"

This story feels like a bunch of random ideas strung together with no real direction. Okay, so Superman has been attacked by a plant that feeds on people and makes them believe they're experiencing their greatest fantasies. Cool premise, but how did it manage to penetrate the chest of the man of steel, and why does his greatest fantasy include working a dead-end job in a dystopian Krypton with a megalomaniac father that wants to destroy the world and random mobs that beat the living crap out of Kara? This never gets explained. Then the thing attaches itself to Batman and you expect that to have some importance to the plot in some way...but it doesn't. And as for Superman asking Wonder Woman "why don't we do this more often?" when they kiss in this issue, my guess is that it's because HE'S IN LOVE WITH LOIS LANE. Man. This issue killed me. Very imaginative stuff, but the most incomprehensible, meaningless plot I've read in a while (and I'm currently reading all the ridiculous sci-fi 1950s Superman stories alongside this one). Bleh.

"The Origin of Captain America" (1966 Animated)

This was taken from the old Marvel Superheroes cartoon and was quite a treat to watch. Though the plot was both silly and largely incomprehensible, the art was fun. The animators took Kirby stills and essentially animated them. Instead of constantly moving characters, we get Kirby shots with lips moving and occasional body shifting. When the scene calls for action, we'll occasionally see full movement, but sometimes watch a Kirby cell simply cross the room. Much like the 1960s Batman cartoon, dramatic sounds are also spelt out in dynamic words. It took me a short while to adjust to this style of animation, but it really suited the comic book genre after a while. It almost felt like reading a comic: when you get so into a story that the panels almost seem to move a little. Anyway, this really was a treat and I highly recommend it. It was put out by Best Videos in 1991 (the same company that sold the VHS copies of 'Pryde of the X-Men'). My only regret was that it omitted the being frozen in an ice-block for two decades. Bucky is still around too.

MichikoS

06-25-2006, 10:45 AM

I just finished issue 2 of Gold Key comics version of the short lived animated version of Isaac Asimov’s, Fantastic Voyage, and I have to say that I really rather liked it.

I’m not at all sure who drew the damm thing, but it looks very familiar and has a few pages drawn in this semi-psychedelic style that for some reason reminds me of both Nick Cardy AND Alex Toth. So if anyone knows who the artist was, please let me know.

Still it was a pretty good story starring the good folks of C.M.D.F., (that’s the Civilian Miniaturized Defense Force for those who don’t follow obscure late 60’s cartoon shows) and the adventure of The Black Fire.

Now I have to admit that the CMDF team really isn’t made up of very exciting characters.

First off there is the eye patch wearing team leader Commander Jonathan Kidd, who is the very picture of the bland but heroic leading man. Then there is chief scientist and nerd in residence Busby Birdwell, who is sort of a comedy relief, only not funny. And then there’s the sexy yet stunningly bland blonde Erica Lane, who is sort of Cmdr. Kidd’s love interest and honestly I couldn’t really figure out what else her job on the ship was. And of course the mysterious and magical turban headed, Doctor Guru.

Now I don’t really remember if he was the lead on the cartoon, but Guru is definitely the star of this comic. Guru is vaguely Indian, with a big turban and ill defined magical powers, and except for the fact that he doesn’t chant ”Sim, Sim, Sala Bim” you would almost instantly guess that he was actually Hadji from Johnny Quests long lost uncle.

Anyway one of his old students, a green colored creepy old bald guy named Mephisto, as if that name wasn’t a give away that Guru might have noticed if he’d been paying attention at the old ashram, has decided to take over the world.

The details aren’t important, but more or less Mephisto plans to conquer the world by shrinking really, really small.

Which is where our FV buddies come in.

Like I said the details don’t matter, but the story reads very much like a Saturday morning cartoon. Lot’s of action, huge sound effects, not much in the way of story and plot holes that you don’t need to be able to shrink to drive a truck through.

But the overall story was fun, dumb fun I admit, but fun. Like most Gold Key books, it was aimed at a younger audience, but it was fast moving and extremely well drawn.

Now if I could only figure out who drew it.This was originally a Filmation/ABC-TV cartoon project, right? I vaguely remember thinking that the eyepatch guy reminded me of Nick Fury. Oddly enough, while trolling the web, I ran across this bit in a lengthy exposition called "From Russia with Madness" by Octavio Aragão and Carlos Martinho. It's part of the Philip Jose Farmer Official website. Farmer, as most old-timers know, was responsible for elaborate "biographies" of fictional characters like Tarzan and Doc Savage. Warren Ellis proudly carries on PJF's tradition in comics today.

For what it's worth, enjoy:

After near killing three fellow scientists, Grigori Thorkel was arrested and disappeared from view for a while but he came back years later, in the same place, with the same goals but with a "different" name... In the sixties, after the arresting of Grigori, some others experiments with the Thorkel machine took place. The North American organisation called CMDF - a small part of the SHIELD - where studying the shrinking process while Dr. Cyclops were in jail and was able to built and shrink successfully a small submarine - a ship called The Voyager - capable to sail through the bloodstream of the human body. There were two crews aboard the Voyager: The first one was formed by Commander Grant (probably descendant of the famous Captain Grant), dr. Cora Peterson, General Carter, Colonel Donald Reid (probably descendant of the famous Britt Reid), Captain Bill Owens, Dr. Duval and had the mission of save the life of a very influent politician from a communist country. It's story was told in the 1966 movie picture Fantastic Journey, but the curiosity about the movie is that there was a certain Dr. Michaels with the crew who was portrayed as a saboteur and a traitor... well, the truth is that this was nothing more than Dr. Thorkel himself!

And no, he doesn't died inside the ship as well as the vessel wasn't destroyed as shown in the end of the movie... both survived and, this time, as Grigori Thorkel was put in prison again, the Voyager was prepared to receive its second, and far more competent, crew. Officially the new Voyager crew was composed by someone called "The Chief"; Pilot Busby Birdwell; Dr. Erica Lane; a man known only as 'Guru'; (then General, now "Professor") Carter and Captain Jonathan Kidd. That was the "official record", but the reality was far from that! The REAL crew of the Voyager was composed by a group of highly trained SHIELD agents and they were comanded by no one else but Colonel Nicholas Fury himself! Birdwell, Lane (probably descendant of the famous Lois Lane) and Carter were real agents but the men called "Chief" and "Guru" were, obviously, disguises projected to protect their real identities.

There are doubts about who was the Chief. Some say he could have been the super scientist known as Dr. Hank Pym, and others defends that he was none other then Dr Raymond Palmer, both of them experts in the fields of the "Shrinking Science". But there are other speculations... he could have been the genius spy Sunday who was disappeared since the beginning of the XX century (see The Man Who Was Thursday, by G. K. Chesterton)... or even the man known as "Charles Thowsend", who later turned out to be the owner of a private eye agency. Speculation never cease... ;-) About the Guru, perhaps, nobody had any doubts. He was Dr. Anthony Druid, a surgeon and an expert in occultism. But, because of the great success of this group, there was a cartoon tv series which altered the identities of the more recognizable members of the crew.

Michi

rick

06-25-2006, 11:51 AM

This was originally a Filmation/ABC-TV cartoon project, right? I vaguely remember thinking that the eyepatch guy reminded me of Nick Fury. Oddly enough, while trolling the web, I ran across this bit in a lengthy exposition called "From Russia with Madness" by Octavio Aragão and Carlos Martinho. It's part of the Philip Jose Farmer Official website. Farmer, as most old-timers know, was responsible for elaborate "biographies" of fictional characters like Tarzan and Doc Savage. Warren Ellis proudly carries on PJF's tradition in comics today.

For what it's worth, enjoy:

After near killing three fellow scientists, Grigori Thorkel was arrested and disappeared from view for a while but he came back years later, in the same place, with the same goals but with a "different" name... In the sixties, after the arresting of Grigori, some others experiments with the Thorkel machine took place. The North American organisation called CMDF - a small part of the SHIELD - where studying the shrinking process while Dr. Cyclops were in jail and was able to built and shrink successfully a small submarine - a ship called The Voyager - capable to sail through the bloodstream of the human body. There were two crews aboard the Voyager: The first one was formed by Commander Grant (probably descendant of the famous Captain Grant), dr. Cora Peterson, General Carter, Colonel Donald Reid (probably descendant of the famous Britt Reid), Captain Bill Owens, Dr. Duval and had the mission of save the life of a very influent politician from a communist country. It's story was told in the 1966 movie picture Fantastic Journey, but the curiosity about the movie is that there was a certain Dr. Michaels with the crew who was portrayed as a saboteur and a traitor... well, the truth is that this was nothing more than Dr. Thorkel himself!

And no, he doesn't died inside the ship as well as the vessel wasn't destroyed as shown in the end of the movie... both survived and, this time, as Grigori Thorkel was put in prison again, the Voyager was prepared to receive its second, and far more competent, crew. Officially the new Voyager crew was composed by someone called "The Chief"; Pilot Busby Birdwell; Dr. Erica Lane; a man known only as 'Guru'; (then General, now "Professor") Carter and Captain Jonathan Kidd. That was the "official record", but the reality was far from that! The REAL crew of the Voyager was composed by a group of highly trained SHIELD agents and they were comanded by no one else but Colonel Nicholas Fury himself! Birdwell, Lane (probably descendant of the famous Lois Lane) and Carter were real agents but the men called "Chief" and "Guru" were, obviously, disguises projected to protect their real identities.

There are doubts about who was the Chief. Some say he could have been the super scientist known as Dr. Hank Pym, and others defends that he was none other then Dr Raymond Palmer, both of them experts in the fields of the "Shrinking Science". But there are other speculations... he could have been the genius spy Sunday who was disappeared since the beginning of the XX century (see The Man Who Was Thursday, by G. K. Chesterton)... or even the man known as "Charles Thowsend", who later turned out to be the owner of a private eye agency. Speculation never cease... ;-) About the Guru, perhaps, nobody had any doubts. He was Dr. Anthony Druid, a surgeon and an expert in occultism. But, because of the great success of this group, there was a cartoon tv series which altered the identities of the more recognizable members of the crew.

Michi

Ah yes, our old friends at Wold-Newton once again doing their level best to prove that Doc Savage and the Pillsbury Dough Boy are first cousins.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of the Wold-Newton Universe and have been ever since I first read Tarzan Alive back in the early 70’s, but I do think that sometimes they just grope a little too hard to make their connections.

For example even though both Fury and Kidd wore eyepatches, Kidd not only didn’t smoke, but Fury would have killed to have gotten as close a shave as the Commander routinely had. On top of that it’s just plain silly to compare Guru to Dr Druid, if for no other reason then the fact that more often then not, Guru’s magic actually worked as opposed to the constant bungling of that loser Druid. :D

Cei-U!

06-25-2006, 12:01 PM

Okay, so Superman has been attacked by a plant that feeds on people and makes them believe they're experiencing their greatest fantasies. Cool premise, but how did it manage to penetrate the chest of the man of steel

Not sure what the big deal is here. I simply assumed the plant was from a Krypton-like planet. There'd certainly been enough precedents along these lines for Moore not to need to spell it out.

and why does his greatest fantasy include working a dead-end job in a dystopian Krypton with a megalomaniac father that wants to destroy the world and random mobs that beat the living crap out of Kara? This never gets explained.

It's been a while since I've read this but wasn't it stated (or at least implied) that it was Kal's own subconscious twisting the fantasy from utopia to dystopia as a way to tell him he was participating in an illusion?

Then the thing attaches itself to Batman and you expect that to have some importance to the plot in some way...but it doesn't.

Urm, because it's a Superman story? We get a hint of what Batman's seeing. Anything more would be beside the point.

This issue killed me. Very imaginative stuff, but the most incomprehensible, meaningless plot I've read in a while (and I'm currently reading all the ridiculous sci-fi 1950s Superman stories alongside this one). Bleh.

I dunno, pal. Sounds to me like you're *looking* for reasons to dislike it, because I've never found the plot incomprehensible or meaningless. But to each their own.

Cei-U!
I summon the sloppy defense!

MichikoS

06-25-2006, 03:40 PM

I dunno, pal. Sounds to me like you're *looking* for reasons to dislike it, because I've never found the plot incomprehensible or meaningless. But to each their own.Cei-U, *seeing* giant plot holes is not exactly the same as *looking* for reasons to dislike something. I am with Shax on this one. I found this story to be one of the weakest things Moore has ever turned out. I read it and said WTF??!

The major benefit in the mini-reviews in this thread have to do with value judgments about the quality of the story. I often decide whether or not to pursue reading a particular comic based on the reactions of the reviewer.

Your rebuttal to Shax's points didn't really address the issues. It's fine that you like this story, but the problems with the plot remain for all to see. It's weak, weak, weak.

Michi

MichikoS

06-25-2006, 03:44 PM

Ah yes, are old friends at Wold-Newton once again doing their level best to prove that Doc Savage and the Pillsbury Dough Boy are first cousins.SECOND cousins via the Michelin Tire guy, I think.;)

LOL,
Michi

shaxper

06-25-2006, 04:53 PM

It's been a while since I've read this but wasn't it stated (or at least implied) that it was Kal's own subconscious twisting the fantasy from utopia to dystopia as a way to tell him he was participating in an illusion?

The plant wasn't from Krypton. Reread the story.

It's been a while since I've read this but wasn't it stated (or at least implied) that it was Kal's own subconscious twisting the fantasy from utopia to dystopia as a way to tell him he was participating in an illusion?

Though that's my best guess, it isn't implied anywhere. The closest thing we see to this is Superman misunderstanding Batman's plea for him to wake up as a public tirade by Jor-El.

Urm, because it's a Superman story? We get a hint of what Batman's seeing. Anything more would be beside the point.

Batman's fantasy, in and of itself, was beside the point. We didn't need one and a half pages of Batman's fantasy if it wasn't integral to the plot. A single narration box about Batman dreaming of a Wayne couple that lives would have sufficed.

I dunno, pal. Sounds to me like you're *looking* for reasons to dislike it, because I've never found the plot incomprehensible or meaningless.

That's a pretty insulting thing to say to a fellow comic fan. I could just as easily accuse you of going out of your way to make excuses for this story, though that's not quite as insulting an allegation. I didn't make my post with the intent of judging others, so please don't judge me.

I summon the sloppy defense!

...

shaxper

06-25-2006, 04:59 PM

Cerebus: Women

"Flight," the previous volume, really impressed me because it took the story into some very abstract places and yet remained fully comprehensible throughout. I understood exactly what was happening as gods second guessed themselves and prophets played cosmic chess. "Women" took this abstraction to a whole new level. While I got into the story and really started to LIKE Astoria for the first time, I have very little understanding of what happened toward the end. Very little. Am I just having a slow day or did anyone else feel the same way?

It's a minor point, but I also don't like the little addition to Cerebus's personal history in which he was trained by a master who foresaw his destiny in politics and religion, warning him against the women that would get in his way. Part of what I've always enjoyed about Cerebus is his complete disdain for complexity. He goes through life with simpleminded ideas and an unwillingness to get involved in anything that doesn't involve sex, alcohol, Jakka, or power. If his master had forseen all of this coming, I would expect that Cerebus would have been a little more interested. Who knows? One thing I find intriguing about Cerebus's world is how so many of the things we've accepted as givens are later called into question. Maybe this new backstory is some sort of illusion as well.

benday-dot

06-25-2006, 07:44 PM

Not sure what the big deal is here. I simply assumed the plant was from a Krypton-like planet. There'd certainly been enough precedents along these lines for Moore not to need to spell it out.

It's been awhile since I read this story as well, but I do recall enjoying it, and more properly put, amused by it.

I took the story, much as I take a great deal of Moore's DC superhero work. He is master of the homage... and though I can't read Moore's mind could it be he was exercising here a sort of convivial indifference to continuity and strict logical consistency in what Superman can and cannot do? Such plot holes didn't matter in the funny book days of yore.

As much a I love reading all those 60's letters pages and re-discovering the long ago voices of those ravenous error seekers, and their zealous coveting of those no-prizes, sometimes Marvel's continuity obsession saddens me. Oft times, it seems to me, to have stemmed from fandom's humourless reaction to the foibles of .12 cent ephemera. Criticism is the key to growth, but an overly dour comic book culture has in some quarters ensued. I don't suspect, you Shaxper, of subscribing to such dourness... you made clear the wider extent of your lukewarm reaction to the book... but I am willing to overlook some of the more fragile points to Moore's plot.

I do remain happily insouciant to the finer failings of what I felt was a well written imaginary Superman one-shot, very much in the spirit of all those wacky golden-age books of long ago you mentioned.

Cei-U!

06-25-2006, 07:48 PM

That's a pretty insulting thing to say to a fellow comic fan. I could just as easily accuse you of going out of your way to make excuses for this story, though that's not quite as insulting an allegation. I didn't make my post with the intent of judging others, so please don't judge me.

Insulting you was certainly not my intent but, after rereading my reply, I can see why you feel that way. My apologies.

Cei-U!
I summon the olive branch!

shaxper

06-25-2006, 07:55 PM

Insulting you was certainly not my intent but, after rereading my reply, I can see why you feel that way. My apologies.

Cei-U!
I summon the olive branch!

Thanks for clarifying. No hard feelings.

benday-dot, I definitely see your point about letting some of the finer plot points go. You definitely have to be forgiving to appreciate those earlier Superman stories that Moore may have been trying to pay homage to. I guess the plant's ability to penetrate Supes' chest wasn't such a big deal.

shaxper

06-25-2006, 08:40 PM

World's Finest Comics #172 - "Superman and Batman -- Brothers!"

This has got to be one of the best Silver Age stories I've ever read. It's a "what if?" sort of story in which, after his parents are murdered, Bruce Wayne becomes a ward of the state and is sent to live with Ma and Pa Kent. Clark and Bruce grow up as brothers, fighting crime in Smallville as Superboy and Batboy, and later moving to Gotham together. On the one hand, this story made the silver age camradery between the two stronger and more touching than ever. On the other, it also acknowledged the tremendous differences in their outlooks, something I'd thought Frank Miller had been the first to explore nearly twenty years later. This issue was really ahead of its time and understood these characters better than most.

The second part of this story was even more unexpected than the first. The story ends up going in places you'd never expect it to, culminating in one very powerful dramatic moment. The last few panels are spent trying to end the story on a lighter note, but it's definitely a forced afterthought. This story feels like it was intended to end in a very dark, dramatic way. It's too bad the creative team for this issue was uncredited. I would love to know who wrote this. I know it's included in the new tpb: DC's Most Imaginary Tales. Perhaps the creative team is credited there.

Cei-U!

06-25-2006, 09:08 PM

World's Finest Comics #172 - "Superman and Batman -- Brothers!"

It's too bad the creative team for this issue was uncredited. I would love to know who wrote this. I know it's included in the new tpb: DC's Most Imaginary Tales. Perhaps the creative team is credited there.

The GCD credits the story to Jim Shooter, who was still in his early teens when writing his first assignments for DC.

Cei-U!
I summon the premature maturity!

shaxper

06-25-2006, 09:36 PM

The GCD credits the story to Jim Shooter, who was still in his early teens when writing his first assignments for DC.

Cei-U!
I summon the premature maturity!

That explains everything. I adore Shooter. He's very good at probing that inner darkness and handling it with balance.

Thanks for the info!

benday-dot

06-26-2006, 09:54 PM

After many years longing to read this quintessential oddity of the DC Silver Age I finally got my chance. It did not disappoint... a masterpiece of the horrendous and marvelous.

Truly, if this first part of a series that would suffer the light of day only one an additional issue - receiving, depending on your point of view, a premature passing or mercifully sudden demise - cannot be considered a wonder of wonders, it must be finally viewed upon as "out of this world."

Coming from the creative, but no doubt removed mind of Joe Simon, Brother Power the Geek, seems to have been not so much DC's attempt at early comic book relevancy, but entirely that of its creator (who, not surprisingly, receives sole credit for the curio.) Having left the world of comic books and earning his keep doing ad work for the New York Sunday Times, Simon in 1968 apparently had lofty longings to jump back into the biz that once, way back, saw him bring forth, with Jack Kirby, the legend of Captain America, and lesser luminaries... including Manhunter and the Fly.

So what does Simon come up with in his pitch to the DC brass? How about a book sensitively exploring hippie culture as a way to get back in touch with the drifting youth of America. Lofty indeed. Check out Simon's self-ascribed intent to this latter day myth of Promethea... "This story is about man and nature. But mostly it is about the soul of man." Heady stuff. The absurdities that follow must count among the most unintentionally ridiculous secnarios and devices I have ever encountered in a comic.

And yet I loved it for all of that. The odd coupling of Simon's apparent seriousness of purpose and ludicrousness of implemenation serve Brother Power up with a massive degree of not only kitsch, but charm.

Consider the goings on...

Part 1... Lazy hippes (Simon seemed to view hippy culture with an overly ernest mix of benevolence and disgust) being lazy are gratuitously attacked by the outlaw biker gang the Hound Dawgs, thinly disguised Hell's Angel ciphers. In the abandoned tailor shop where the loafers loaf the two main hippies, Paul Cymbalist and Nick Cranston hang their grimy threads upon an old mannequin. Lightning strikes the dummy, and, of course, the thing is quickened to life. No less than Spider-Man, Brother Power starts swinging around 'Frisco, laying the blows on the bad-boy bikers, and the licks on his groovy guitar (ok... so Spider-Man abstained from trying to sound like Scott McKenzie).

Remember that classic Frosty the Snowman cartoon in which the first words Frosty utters are the misguided "Happy Birthday" around and about Christmas Time. Well BP first chimes into voice with "Man, I tell it like it is now! The Sound is Groovy! It blows my mind!"

Ah but, "the lazy ways of the hippies are not for Brother Power". He wants to "Savor Life... To soar like a bird." Like Spider-Man, as with BP, with great power comes great resonsibilty.

Part 2... The Psychedelic Circus comes to town and very unbrotherly enslaves the Geek. Our lazy hippies decide at last they gotta act. But being pacifists besides indolent they decide to march into hostile territory with a "Comic Book Hero Happening" WTF!! They sing, donned in the strangest blend of hippie and superhero underwear: "Sock it to them babies/Before they tune out our geekout/Flex your muscles! Bang up the Mongrels/They're our hangup/Yea, yea, yea yea" (Note: apparently DC was worried that the more apt "freakout" would smack (no pun intended ;-) too closely of drugs, and no one did that in 1968 ;-0).

And so... Brother Power kicks the daylights out of the circus strongman, falls in love fill a hippie babe named Cindy, who sews him some new threads from her "hem-stitch I picked up at the Singer Sewing Institute" (lovely Simon touch of verite), and to top it all of, showing those do-nothing hippies how a guy could "inspire to anything" decides to run for president. Not since Steve Gerber had Howard the Duck and Ruby Thursday run for Prez has such a bizarre run for the Oval Office taken place (excluding Bush vs Gore of course). Brother Power is basically drawn like a cross between a scarecrow and a ragdoll but he seems to have the youth vote. Alas, the cops and the bikers are on Power's tail... and in the shocking finale our hero drives his comandeered bike into San Francisco Harbour.

Man... I can't wait to read issue 2 (Apparently Ronald Reagan shoots him into space (I kid you not) in early anticipation of his Star Wars initiatve no doubt.)

It seems that Mort Weisenger was so appalled at what Simon concocted for his return to DC that he couldn't abide another issue and kindly showed the old legend the door. It strikes me that both Kirby and Simon had an interest in 60's biker and hippy culture (see many elements of the King's Thor- who himself is rather a godly hippie- as well as Jimmy Olsen's the Drop Outs and the Hairies, in addition to segments of the New Gods). It just shows you that Kirby would never allow any sort of over indulgent message to get in the way of his imagination and profound grasp of comic book vocabulary. Kirby knew where to draw the line between absurdist relevance and pitch perfect adventure. (Yet, when JK tossed out the idea for the Forever People I can just imagine the staff of DC nervously holding their breath)

Well, sorry for the length of this one, but hey I really don't think I'll ever read anything quite like Brother Power the Geek again.

PS... almost 90 posts later I finally settled on a face to my voice... Anyone care to guess who my avatar is? Sorry Red Oak Kid, I don't wish to poach your gig, this is a one-shot thing. Anyway you'll probably be the one to get it, your skills on the Guess the Classic Cover game, like... blow my mind!

Cherokee Jack

06-27-2006, 03:17 AM

PS... almost 90 posts later I finally settled on a face to my voice... Anyone care to guess who my avatar is? Sorry Red Oak Kid, I don't wish to poach your gig, this is a one-shot thing. Anyway you'll probably be the one to get it, your skills on the Guess the Classic Cover game, like... blow my mind!

Johnny Comet?

Roquefort Raider

06-27-2006, 06:24 AM

Superman Annual #11: "For the Man who has Everything"

(...) And as for Superman asking Wonder Woman "why don't we do this more often?" when they kiss in this issue, my guess is that it's because HE'S IN LOVE WITH LOIS LANE. Man.

I guess it's a case of "can't please everyone all the time", because that scene is one of my favourite ever depicting the nature of the relationship between Kal and Diana.

Compared to the elegant answer Diana gave (something like "it would be too predictable"), John Byrne's efforts on the same subject a few years later seemed ponderous, clunky and artificial.

Even Alan Moore can't win 'em all, it seems!

benday-dot

06-27-2006, 07:52 PM

Johnny Comet?

Proving once again that the good people on the Classic Comics Forum are a cut above that answer is not only a good one, but a correct one. Nice work Cherokee. While I am not overly enamoured with the later Frank Frazetta fantasy paintings (just a matter of taste here) I do love his pen and ink drawings marvelously highlighted in the strips a half century ago.

J'onn J'onzz

06-30-2006, 05:39 PM

Now if only Cherokee and T GUy would get avatars...

Anyway time for...

Camelot 3000 #1-9

Okay, I've been reading Camelot 3000, and as of this writing am at issue 10. I read 9 yesterday, and will read 10 today... Anyway, these are some good comics! Despite my negative review of Mike W. Barr's Batmanless Outsiders, I liked his writing there and here. If only I could find his Detective run... In these comics aliens invade London, Sir Tristan is reincarnated as a woman, and complains about it constantly for three issues, Sir Percival (my favorite knight) is reincarnated as a monsterous green suited watchamacalit, and Guynevere swears, leading me to believe that she is a spy, and not really Guynevere because I doubt people swore the same way in the thirieth century as they do now. I've already thought of the "What about the reincarnated body" angle. Tristan regains none of his host body's personality or memories, so I'm assuming that's the same for all of the knights... Or maybe I'm overthinking it. Something odd happens to Merlin in issue 8, and I don't really know what. Probably due to my lack of Arthurian knowledge... But the end of issue 8 is pretty sad. That was quite the ramble right there!

Solid A. Tristan's constant whining and Merlin's confusing situation bring this down from an A+ to an A.

Get it!

DaJabberwocky

07-02-2006, 08:19 PM

Over the last few days, I've read the first 18 issues of the Nam. I bought these in the mid-late 80s and re-read them for the first time in 20 years or so. Even under the watchful eyes of the CCA, the issues were edgy and engaging. Still powerful (and relevant) today. I'll be searching the discount boxes at Wizard World Chicago looking for the rest....

J'onn J'onzz

07-05-2006, 08:31 AM

Welcome DaJabberwockey. I hope I spelled your name right.

Booster Gold #21

In this issue Booster Gold's sister is captured by aliens.. booster tries to find the aliens for about 15 pages. Then he beats up the aliens for about 7 pages. No wonder this book was cancelled. Seriously, this is an okay comic but it's just one big fight scene. There's not even a subplot tacked on. I used to think it'd be sad when I finally finished Booster Gold. After all, I've been reading this book's 25 issues for almost a year. This is my first run through... If the last four issues go like this, well, suffice it to say I won't lament this book's passing.

D

Bad, bad, bad. Not as bad as, say Justice League Europe written by William Messener Loebs... Oh speaking of JLE by Loebs...

JLE #10

Was this supposed to be funny? I really can't tell. I think it was... Ya know, the Crimson Fox (name does not fit character.) blows up Captain Atom's sofa. That's some real comedy there... :rolleyes: Anyway, this involves the subplot with the Red Fox, who the JLE have been watching on their monitors for a few issues. It starts out with Bruce Wayne and some rich lady with a French accent (I think she is the Crimson Fox. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be a mystery or not... This is such a poorly written book...) going to a charity event. Then it's robbed. The Red Fox shows up. She chases them to JLE hq. They fight for ten pages. Red Fox is invited to join JLE. She declines. Next day she decides to join the JLE. What a schizophrenic woman!

Worse than Booster Gold! F!

JLE #11-12

These comics are awful. They deal with Giffen's inability to work on existing characters... Err... I mean, Metamorpho's baby. I'm not sure where everybody gets that Sapphire had the baby. I've read and reviewed in this space the full run of Outsiders (I was a bit too harsh on it though...) and I'm positive that they adopted a baby. I also remember that it was impossible for Sapphire and Metamorpho to have sexual intercourse. Because Metamorpho is not human. So where are they getting this mixed gene crazed Metababy from? Silly writer! Get backstory! This guy's as bad at writing existing characters as, say, John Byrne on Doom Patrol! Anyway, Guy Gardener goes after "Simon Stagg" (who is not the real Simon Stagg but "Giffen Simon Stagg".) to protect him from Giffen Metamorpho. Anyway Animal Man, whose family was just killed, beats up some of the Metal Men (who show up out of nowhere), as do Metamorpho and Rocket Red. Metamorpho tries to kill Simon Stagg with his acid touch after this. Did these people even read Metamorpho's earlier series? Simon didn't like Metamorpho, and Metamorpho wasn't Simon's biggest fan, but they didn't slaughter people in cold blood for no reason, like they do in JLE.

Bad, Worse, and Worst. F-

Avoid at all costs.

Cei-U!

07-05-2006, 08:38 AM

I'm relieved to know I'm not the only one who finds the post-Crisis, pre-Morrison Justice League comics unreadable. For a while there, I feared I'd grown too old to "get" them.

Cei-U!
I summon the second opinion!

shaxper

07-06-2006, 06:01 AM

Cerebus: Reads

Ah, finally the much discussed "crazy" volume. I'll readily confess I actually enjoyed the non-Cerebus text portions that occupied most of this volume. While I have no explanation for why Victor Reid's story was juxtoposed with that of Cerebus, it did keep my interest. Of course, far more fascinating was the story of Viktor Davis (only marginally connected to that of Victor Reid) that dominated the volume in the second half.

I LIKED Davis (obviously an aspect of Dave Sim, if not the whole). I found his attempts to communicate directly with the reader to be both lofty and enticing, even when they weren't fully succesful. The anti-woman thing seemed to come out of left field in the end, seemingly in direct contrast to the concepts about gender that Sim had been developing all along in Mothers & Daughters. Rather than dismissing him, I tried my best to really try out Davis's ideas before fully writing them off. Sim seemed to ask me to do as much.

In the end, I still don't feel they made much sense. I agree that we live in a selfish, short-sighted age of "I feel" without much "I think" or "I believe," though I don't see any connection between that and the emergence of feminism. I agree that most of the women I know are more emotional and less logical than I am but, then again, I don't know many men. I can't assume they're more logical just because I am. I can only assume Sim doesn't really believe there's a female "agenda" and means more that feminism has led us, as a society, to embrace too much of the emotional, "feminine" side within and not enough of the logical, "masculine" side. I can only hope that his vision of females eating the brains of their male mates is intended to represent how the more emotional member of a partnership can cause both to descend into a whirlpool of emotional battle, effectively driving away the calm and rational. I hope Sim doesn't actually mean to imply there's an intent to do this on the part of women worldwide, because that would be crazy talk.

Crazier yet, I don't see these supposedly universal female characteristics in any of Sim's characters except Red Sophia. Jakka is a far more logical than Rick, Astoria is the pinnacle of logic, Cirin is neither particularly logical nor particularly emotional. I don't see the controlling, overly emotional woman occupying much space in Cerebus's world, yet Davis pretty much says that he (Sim) has been building to this point about women for a very long time.

So I'm going to assume that either Davis is not meant to fully and truthfully represent the whole of Dave Sims or that Sim had an episode of the "crazies" and, in fact, had not considered bringing these concepts into the Cerebus storyline until only a few issues earlier.

So I'm not sure how to feel about Cerebus after this. Will Sim return to his character in a more meaningful way, or will the publication continue to serve as nothing more than a soapbox for ideas that seem to interest Sim more than the aardvark? Will there be a return to the real nature and substance of the storyline (like "Flight" did), or will we simply be challenged to embrace or reject one wild idea after another? I guess I'll keep reading to find out...

Fred2

07-06-2006, 07:18 PM

Avengers 156

This is my favorite Avenger comic and seems to be a grand crossover before crossovers were big.

It has the Avengers, Sub-Mariner, Dr. Doom, Attuma and Tyrak.

The Vision is especially bad ass in this issue. I like the part where he reclaims his cloak from Attuma.

It also has the mysterious Wonderman. Wonderman and the Vision take out Tyrak.

Has there been a bronze age Avengers comic with this much in it?

Grade: A+

Reptisaurus!

07-06-2006, 09:58 PM

I really liked all the Victor Reid stuff, even if it felt just a tad name-checky. Loved the first half.

The second half... Yeah. Who knows. I pretty much agree with Shaxper on all points. It was a well presented argument, sorta, but I am WAY far from convinced. And the REST of Cerebus didn't seem to bare this out.

The stuff after this: I haven't read the whole thing, but I think most of the crazy takes place in the back of the book in the essays and letter collumns, and not in the actual comics themselves. (Although some of the essays and letters are damned well written and thought provoking.) So the phone books should be mostly rant-free.

T GUy

07-07-2006, 06:42 AM

J'Onn J'Onzz: Now if only Cherokee and T GUy would get avatars...

One day, John, one day...

shaxper

07-07-2006, 11:52 AM

The stuff after this: I haven't read the whole thing, but I think most of the crazy takes place in the back of the book in the essays and letter collumns, and not in the actual comics themselves. (Although some of the essays and letters are damned well written and thought provoking.) So the phone books should be mostly rant-free.

Agh. Now you're making me want to track down the original issues just to read those essays. I don't like them dominating a story to which they bear no relationship, but I am intrigued by Sim's thought processes -- even when they add up to conclusions that are hurtful and make no sense.

Reptisaurus!

07-07-2006, 01:53 PM

Agh. Now you're making me want to track down the original issues just to read those essays. I don't like them dominating a story to which they bear no relationship, but I am intrigued by Sim's thought processes -- even when they add up to conclusions that are hurtful and make no sense.

It's generally interesting stuff. I've only got 10-15 or so issues from the 200s, but each of them has at least four or five pages of small font, single spaced text at the end. And it is usually really interesting; I don't agree with a lot of what Sim's saying, but he can structure an argument really, really well. And he's still pretty funny when he tries.

Sir Tim Drake

07-08-2006, 08:58 PM

Edge of Chaos #1-2-- These feature some striking artwork by Gray Morrow, who was pretty good at making impossible creatures look realistic. His storytelling is a bit off sometimes, but very energetic. The story reminds me a bit of BWS's Freebooters or Young Gods, but less raucous and a bit more serious. Morrow doesn't quite have BWS's sense of humor, but there are some funny lines (e.g. an apelike character claiming that he was "high-born" because he was born in a tree). Since this is a three-issue miniseries, I'm curious to see how (or whether) he managed to resolve all the dangling plot threads in just one issue.

Overall grade: B+/A-

Lone Ranger

07-09-2006, 08:16 PM

Batman: Killing Joke

I read this as part of the larger DC Universe Stories of Alan Moore TPB. I last read this book some time around 1990, after I had read Dark Knight Returns and was gobbling up Norm Breyfogle drawn 'Tec issue. I was pretty much happy to any anitdote to the Tim Burton Batman film (which I kinda liked at the time - but was overwhelmed by the Kim Basinger/Price influence on the Caped Crusader). All of that detail is to set the background - when I first read Killing Joke - I absolutely loved. As far as I was concerned, it was one of the best comics I'd ever read - and certainly one of the defining moments for the Gotham Universe.

What a difference 15+ years makes! When I bought this collection - I though it was great - as I would get a few iconic stories, some relative filler and Killing Joke for not much more than a copy of Killing Joke on its own. I was very disciplined and made sure that I read every story prior to digging into Killing Joke. Maybe I should blame all of that build up - but I'd rather just blame Alan Moore. Killing Joke now exist as on e of the weaker Batman stories of the last 20 years, in my mind. As far as I am concerned - nothing was really accomplished in this story - except for some pseudo-psychiatric connections between Bats and the Joker. Babs' demise seems almost tacked on now, and all of the if the 'dragging Jim Gordon around in the nude' stuff simply seems like a Moore LP skipping on my turntable.

There is good Moore (League Vol. 1) and Dashed Off Moore (League Vol. 2) and this falls into the latter category. His mixture of sex and violence is now quite tiresome in my eyes - and I can't really stomache watching Gordon's forced viewings of Bab's photos. Maybe once upon a time, I saw that as groundbreaking - now it simply seems cheap and sensationalistic.

Of course, this is all camouflages by Brian Bolland's elegant artwork. Where I once saw this as an example of what a comic can be - now I see it as a below average POTDK story arc.

Grade: C+

shaxper

07-12-2006, 12:39 PM

Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?

This was a great pseudo-Silver Age Superman story, filled with action, mystery, some very strong characterization, and an epic/tragic tone underscoring it all. I was moved by so much of this story: the deaths of Lana and Krypto, the "return" of Supergirl, that moment where Superman contemplates his own demise, and even the death of Bizarro.

Sure it was cheesy in places. The ending, though satisfying, seemed hard to believe. What does "Mr. Elliot" do when he sees someone in trouble? Walk away and fix a carborator? Still, Moore was striving for a Silver Age feel in this issue, and the best Silver Age Supes stories were highly imaginative and full of loose ends. Moore accomplished his mission.

My only real regret was that Moore didn't have more issues to tell this story. Moments like the loss of Clark's identity should have recieved more attention. Lois should have had more dramatic interplay with Superman (even though she does share in his "last moment"). And it does bug me that Jimmy's death recieved so little attention. We felt for Lana going into the conflict (after what she overheard), but Jimmy's just sort of there in the background...and then he gets shot and dies, and that's sort of it for him. Not even a closeup.

Anyway, this was an AWESOME story. Probably one of the best Superman stories I've ever read. This was the kind of thing I was expecting when I read Moore's "For the Man Who Has Everything". Clearly, this was a much stronger story.

Wonder Woman (vol. 2) Annual #1

Wonder Woman takes Julia and Vanessa (her primary supporting cast) to visit Paradise Island. The bulk of the issue consists of stories that are retold during this visit (both of Amazon history and of Julia's personal history), and each one is pencilled by a different guest artist. In all honesty, most of it isn't very interesting. But then there's the last story, which isn't part of the theme of the rest of the issue and has Perez writing and pencilling (as usual). Clearly, this is the big story of the issue, even if it only occupies a few pages.

In it, we learn a LOT more about Myndi Mayor, a supporting character that died several issues earlier. It's a very emotionally powerful story, one of those rare moments in comics where your heart actually sinks (and it somehow feels good). GREAT story if you've been following the series up to this point. Not sure how it would play out with a newcomer. Anyway, it was amazing so, if you're interested, just start reading the full series from WW #1. If you're a fan of characterization and a strong supporting cast, then you won't regret it.

Sub-Mariner (1960s) #10

The origin of the snake seal thing that's brainwashed Atlantis and turned its citizens against Namor. Another great issue, complimented by the most evocative art I've ever seen in a 1960s Marvel title (pencils and coloring by Gene Colan. Obviously, we're being set up for a longer story arc involving the seal, and I'm somewhat intrigued, but I decided to stop reading with #10, and I think I'll stick to that. It's been a great ride thus far, but Namor is not a particularly interesting nor likeable character, so even a great plot isn't going to make me love this title.

Magnus: Robot Fighter (1960s) #11

Most Magnus issues tend to flow together in boring repetition with little characterization to help it out. This one was marginally more interesting, involving Danae's neo pets and a mysterious villain using robotic animals to wreck havoc on North Am. Who the villain is and how he's managed to continue operating after being captured and mentally reprogrammed is quite thrilling. The action throughout the rest of the issue is a little more intense than usual because Magnus is accompanied by the super intelligent neo pets and, while we know Magnus isn't going to die, we're not as sure about these kind-hearted beings assisting him. Sure enough, while it's handled quite subtlely, one of Danae's favorite animals does die in the fight. While Magnus and Leeja's discussion about Danae's courage is gratuitous and uninteresting in the end, the look in Danae's eyes while she sits, surrounded by her surviving pets, is quite evocative. Nice work.

Groo (Marvel) #5

Sergio Aragones tackles slavery with some controversial results. Marginally interesting (and really not offensive, in case you're wondering), but I swear it feels like I'm reading the same story each issue. I'm seriously considering quitting this title.

Lone Ranger

07-19-2006, 01:47 PM

Hellboy: Seed of Destruction

I am very latecomer to the Hellboy bandwagon. I'd never read a single story before seeing the movie (which I liked quite a bit). When I was in Brooklyn last year, Joe Rice recommend that i give the comic a try and I bought a copy of The Conquering Worm TPB. I quite liked it, but there are so many great books out there and only so much time and money. I was at a local used bookshop yesterday, and they had a couple of Hellboy TPBs at great prices.

I plowed right through Seed of Destruction last night and absolutely loved it. We get a quick Hellboy origin and then head straight into the action with Liz and Abe. I really admire Mike Mignola - his storytelling is superb. His approach is simultaneously modern and old school. John Byrne wrote the script here and its very strong (colour me surprised). One of the real treats is the introduction written by Robert Bloch - very nice move involving someone with such a strong background in pulpish storytelling.

I think I am officially a Hellboy fan. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks.

DaJabberwocky

07-19-2006, 05:49 PM

Hellboy: Seed of Destruction
I really admire Mike Mignola - his storytelling is superb. His approach is simultaneously modern and old school.

Mignola is absolutely one of my favorites, too. If you like his comic book style you may want to check out his zany new animated series 'The Amazing Screw-On Head' on the Sci-Fi channel. Go here to see the pilot:

The Amazing Screw-On Head (http://www.scifi.com/amazingscrewonhead/)

mrc1214

07-19-2006, 06:22 PM

Groo (Marvel) #5

Sergio Aragones tackles slavery with some controversial results. Marginally interesting (and really not offensive, in case you're wondering), but I swear it feels like I'm reading the same story each issue. I'm seriously considering quitting this title.[/QUOTE]

I was just going to post the same thing about this title. I picked 16 issues of it at the local flea market for 50 cents each. I started reading them and it really does feel like the same story over and over. There are funny points but i really didnt care for it that much.

Graham Vingoe

07-20-2006, 01:39 AM

Slam_Bradley

07-20-2006, 03:05 PM

Didn't read a lot while I was offline. I did, however, read

Essential Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Vol. 1.

Overall, a good book. I love the focus on Spidey's supporting cast. Good solid bronze age super-hero fun.

J'onn J'onzz

07-20-2006, 08:05 PM

And I'm finally back!

Okay, I read this during my absence of a couple of weeks from posting here, but here goes...

Justice League America #39

Bad. Bad. Bad. Totally schizophrencially awful. It starts out with this Spy Parody that ties up the way-too-long-running story with the guy who was rummaging in the trash-can and is kind of funny. They have this four-six page text feature with Spy refusing to buy his story about the JLA's private lives. So far, so normal for the JLA. Then they have this massacre. I mean it, they go from having this light-hearted news article to this married couple in the country AND THEN THIS GIANT PINK ALIEN SHOWS UP OUT OF NOWHERE AND SLAUGHTERS THEM! What the--?! Where did that come from? Then he gets all mad about Gypsy not being home with her just slaughtered-for-no-reason parents. So Gypsy gets home, and Despero (the giant pink alien) is off slaughtering her ex-friend Steel. I guess DeMattis putting him in an indefinate koma wasn't good enough for Giffen. I can just imagine how this conference went. "Hey D-man!" calls Giffen.* "Yeah, what do you want?" snaps DeMattis. "Remember those idiots you kinda killed off that Conway thought were a good idea?"
"Yeah, what of 'em?"
"I don't think you were harsh enough on 'em. How 'bout you kill off their parents and blow up their corpses. They were 'tards anyways."
"Sure."
Then when Gypsy notices that her parents were slaughtered in the depressing alien serial killer part of the comic, we switch back to Kilowog, who is conversing with a Mr. Miracle robot who says, "Hello Kilowog. Hello, hello, hello." OVER AND OVER AND OVER! Talk about a total-mood-switch. I think that they did this section before they decided to slaughter everyone from the Detroit league that was still alive. Thank god Vibe was already dead. Then I arrive at Gypsy's and try to comfort her. Oh, and there was this out of place scene with Booster making a new JLA.

F

Bad. Avoid.

*There is no record of Giffen ever calling DeMattis D-Man. It just seems like something he would do.

Fred2

07-21-2006, 12:48 AM

Swamp Thing #46

I heard rave reviews about Alan Moore's Swampthing, so I picked up this issue. It had Phantom Stranger on the cover and looked interesting.

I read an earlier issue of the Alan Moore Swampthing that had a big fact pregnant vampire lady living underwater (yuk!) . It really was n't that good IMO, but I figured I'd give it another go. I also read an original Swampthing from the 70's run that I loved, and this was another reason to read another Swampthing.

One thing is that this issue was a Crisis on Infinite Earth's tie in and this may have impacted it. The Crisis allows for a meeting between Swampthing, Phantom Stranger and the overrated Constantine (Who I now really can not stand).

One thing is I like how Moore contrives to make his Constantine (Who is just a rip off of Sting from the Police) a player.

Phantom Stranger smiles and says how have you been and jokes about Constantine's black humor. Flat out attempt by Moore to get his character Constantine over with the audience.

But it seemed to me as phony.

Sometimes, I think Moore is just gross for the sake of shock value. I know the invunche is an actual mythological beast from Latin America, but it creeped me out. I guess that is the whole point of this kind of genre, but it is not my cup of tea.

Finally, at the back of the comic in the letters section; some woman writes about how Swamp Thing #40 was mysoginist. Then she says she will vote for the story anyway for some CBG awards. Go figure.

Moore writes a long yet sympathetic response to her, but it turns me off somehow. I don't know, I know that it is conventional wisdom to rant and rave about how Moore is God; but this issue left me cold.

I should be wary of grading this,but if I don't like I have to be honest. I grade this issue an F.

Sam T.

07-21-2006, 01:00 AM

Essential Uncanny X-Men vol.1...great classic stories!!

J'onn J'onzz

07-26-2006, 01:18 PM

Wow, this thread's been dying recently.

Now for...

Forever People (1988 mini-series) #1

Okay, this proves that DeMattis isn't to blame for the disrespect of continuity found in Justice League America... It's Giffen's fault. He has this whole essay in the back of the comic about the Beatles, Stan Lee, and Jack Kirby... but even I, one who doesn't even work in the comics industry, can spot some flaws in it. From what I've heard, Kirby really didn't quit the FF because of lack of ideas. It was because Stan was having a disagreement with him... And there's more than just that flawed in the essay... but he meant well, so he's forgiven. As for the comic itself, it's pretty good... They made Serifan in love with Mark Moonrider for "sophistication's sake" or something. :rolleyes: They also did some other stuff, like turn Beutiful Dreamer into fanservice only, that I disapprove of. The villians have potential, but almost this whole issue is dis-canonified(?) by the next issue.

Overall, a B-. Not bad, not really great either.

Get it.

Hombre

07-31-2006, 02:18 AM

Incredible Hulk #217, The circus of lost souls!

Triumph and tragedy in the Marvel manner. That's what it says and that's what it is. This comic dates back to 1977. This might be Marvel's most important year for me, with the bronze age reaching its classic Zenith, whereas I think by 1979 and with Shooter in charge, a new age had begun to be ushered.

This comic was written by Len Wein, with art by the duo Sal Buscema/Ernie Chan. I could speak endlessly about the decency inherent in Len Wein's comic book work, and his Hulk tales tell that story without having aged a bit. As for the art, the beauty and elegance of Chan's finishes over Sal's artwork are breathtaking, or at least they would be for those of us who are fascinated by superheroes, I think him and De Zuniga really had a gift for expressing strenght and sensitivity with the same stroke.

It's curious how Len and his contemporaries could write about romance without being corny, and this particular tale is particularly spellbinding, like a 40s movie by Mitchell Leisen.

Hulk lands on a shore, probably somewhere in NJ after his airborne battle with the Bi-Beast, and stumbles upon a sideshow wagon. The same belongs to a group of performers that are running from the Ringmaster, to protect Meriam, who, unbeknownst to them is a sea nymph. They are a fat lady, a tall man, a dog faced boy, a little person... yet they show no self pity, only courage and determination, with Major Minor in particular being something of a miniature Nick Fury or Ben Grimm. With them, Hulk laughs and feels at home, and his scenes with Meriam, who is weak and suffering from being away from the sea, exude gentleness. He is completely besotted with her.

By the time the tale ends, Hulk is back on the beach, staring at the waves that took Meriam with them, and then walking away, leaving footprints in the sand that the sea will soon erase, the sea that has seen all of man's triumph and tragedy and that alone is eternal.

I could not recommend Len's Hulk highly enough, and I think this is a particulary great stand alone story.

Graham Vingoe

07-31-2006, 03:41 AM

Titans/Young Justice Graduation Day

I'm reading this as part of the Death and Return of Donna Troy tp. Donna Troy is/was my favourite character from the Wolfman/Perez Teen Titans days- and I wanted to catch up with the Jiminez/Garcia-Lopez/Perez miniseries which is also included in the tp as I missed it last year.

The reputation of the Titans/Young Justice series for leading to a cheap meaningless death for Donna is reasonably well-known, and completely accurate. Donna goes down fighting a Superman robot which has been reactivated by a time-travelling cyborg from 2000 years in the future who comes to the present for reasons which are never established (unless I glossed over that on first reading).
I'm presuming that this was designed as a "fill-in" miniseries to clear the decks for the new Outsiders and Teen Titans series, and therefore designed to let Winick and Geoff Johns (who I'm not blaming at all, btw) work with the characters they wanted to, and at the time neither wanted to use Troia in the rosters.

The series seems rushed - some of the characters (e.g Argent, Tempest) do nothing but get injured and left to one side- Donna herself does very little in issues 2 and 3 before suddenly being pushed the forefront in the finale in order to be killed off.

on the plus side, I liked Ale Garza's art for the first time, and I actually liked Arsenal/Roy Harper, who normally annoys the hell out of me, so it isn't completely wasted but this is not a great series by any stretch of the imagination.

MichikoS

07-31-2006, 12:28 PM

I picked this up on a lark in the quarter boxes, just because of the nice Dick Giordano-inked cover by Chuck Patton.

It's a stinker.

This Gerry Conway story recounts Aquaman's disbanding of the JLA (excepting Zatanna and Ralph Dibney) after an alien invasion, and the subsequent formation of a new team that includes Vibe (a horrible Puerto Rican stereotype), Gypsy (sort of like Invisible Girl in a peasant blouse) and Vixen (could have been DC's first African-American headliner in her own title, but was a victim of the Implosion).

Steel and the Martian Manhunter round out the new members of what came to be called the "JLA Detroit," I believe. I did not follow DC team books at all in the '80s and '90s, so this tidbit comes to me after the fact.

Storywise, it's lame. Aquaman comes off as an idiot who doesn't know what he's doing. He blithely adds all these young unknowns to the team on the strength of...what, their snappy repartee? Hard to tell. (I think the fact that most of the characters were Gerry Conway creations is the real reason.)

I'd recount the plot, but it's virtually non-existent. No one would care anyway. The team moves into a Detroit factory as their new headquarters. Quite the comedown from their orbiting space station HQ.

The single redeeming factor is the attractive art by Chuck Patton. What happened to him? Didn't he go on to a career as an animation director?

Anyway, his character art is fluid, graceful and attractive, with the exception of J'onn J'onzz, who looks weird and misshapen even in his human form. Patton works hard to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, but the story is so eye-rollingly bad that he is doomed to fail.

The new version of the venerable Justice League introduced in this annual was a big mistake. In retrospect, it's sad to see how DC allowed these missteps to occur.

This was kind of a depressing read. Sorry to bear such ill tidings for those who are JLA fans.

Michi

Cei-U!

07-31-2006, 01:41 PM

I think the fact that most of the characters were Gerry Conway creations is the real reason.

Actually *all* the new heroes, including Vixen, were Conway creations.

This was kind of a depressing read. Sorry to bear such ill tidings for those who are JLA fans.

Did you read the text piece where Conway explains that he'd run out of storylines for the real JLA because Superman, GL, Flash and WW were too powerful? I'm tempted to think that if Julius Schwartz were still editing the book, the solution would've been to replace the scripter instead of turning DC's premiere team into yet *another* lame-ass rip-off of the X-Men/New Teen Titans.

Cei-U!
I summon the nadir!

J'onn J'onzz

07-31-2006, 07:49 PM

MichikoS

07-31-2006, 08:27 PM

benday-dot

08-01-2006, 08:39 PM

This is the first issue of this series I have ever read. And I picked up the book without expectation or foresight. I added it to a pile of pre #200 Captain Americas I had gathered at my LCS on a whim. Although, I was quite pleased about finally putting together the last pieces of the Cap-in-the-ghetto-angry-at Watergate-America story arc, contentment really gave way to some barely repressed excitement about my what I'd claimed on a lark. I suspect many on this forum go way back with Doc Solar in his Gold Key days, but if you do no longer recall your first encounter with the man of the atom, let me remind you how fine it might have been. Yes, the painted cover, the lurid reds and yellows, the hero, arms outstretched, impossibly holding at bay the impending collision of two fiery suns, was enough to sell me on the virtues of this Gold Key comic. However, the interior was equal to the opening treat. I was served up a plot fortified my top notch storytelling and art that by the time I closed the book my happiness quotient was soaring high.

This issue was scripted by Paul Newman (yeah, I know...) and illustrated by Frank Bolle. I was pleasantly surprised by the intelligent flow and ernest attempt at scientific verisimilitude. There was obviously at least a secondary effort to combine the evident thrills of Doctor Solar's adventures with a quasi-educational agenda. Frank Bolle's art (abetted by a subdued flat colouring typical of the era) is also very suited to the genre. Yes, the book can be considered superhero, but, in this issue at least, more in sense that James Bond is, taking on his own breed of absurdly ambitious would be world-conquering madmen. There are delightful panels featuring secret agents peering through articial holes from within hollowed out tree trunks and of retractable hillsides leading to underground complexes of scientific lairs and labyrinthes. It's all great fun. And when solar zooms into space and maneuvers one flaming sun into another (the contrary scenario from that depicted on the cover) all by his lonesome to force "an awesome cosmic collision" its all icing on the cake. This storytelling is not the physically present, awesomely propulsive, imaginitively powerful type of work that I personally am used to, being drenched in the Marvel Kirby school, while in the pursuit my Silver Age lusts , but of course monogamy in the quest of comic book glory is never really a good thing.

Thumb Up to Solar!

PS. There is also a copy of Solar 15 at my LCS, also drawn by Bolle, but scripted GCD says by Dick Wood (c'mon other than maybe Randy Johnson, could a name be any more suggestive !?) I am hoping to pick up on my next visit.

david r

08-01-2006, 08:46 PM

Right now I'm reading the Black Panther series by Jack Kirby. It's quite fun.

King Solomon's Frog!! Gotta love it!

Slam_Bradley

08-02-2006, 11:58 AM

Finished up Essential Marvel Two-In-One Vol. 1. This is what I would call the epitome of workmanlike comics. There's nothing here that really stands out for me, story or art-wise. But there's also nothing that is really horrible (unlike the early run of Marvel Team-Up which had some stinkers). Just good solid Bronze-Age superheroics.

Simon Garth

08-02-2006, 12:35 PM

Right now I'm reading the Black Panther series by Jack Kirby. It's quite fun.

King Solomon's Frog!! Gotta love it!

Each to their own - for me, that series is very high up my "most hated" list. To see the excellent Don McGregor series flushed down the toilet and replaced by something that I regard as utterly clueless, made me fume at the time, and doesn't exactly thrill me, 25 years on

dan bailey

08-02-2006, 02:29 PM

Each to their own - for me, that series is very high up my "most hated" list. To see the excellent Don McGregor series flushed down the toilet and replaced by something that I regard as utterly clueless, made me fume at the time, and doesn't exactly thrill me, 25 years on

same here, to the extent (as i've noted before) that i sat down & typed out a letter to marvel expressing my revulsion; somehow, i regarded it almost as a personal slap in the face, or something. got a response from roy thomas that i can recall nothing about (it's loooooong gone), but i seem to recall reading recently that he wasn't exactly impressed with kirby's prowess as a writer ...

david r

08-02-2006, 08:37 PM

Hombre

08-11-2006, 04:37 AM

I'm really not sure that creating wildly imaginative and funny characters and locales qualifies as not being a good superhero writer.

I think a lot of it is supposed to evoke feelings, rather than necessarily follow a realistic pattern. I'd call it sublime comic impressionism, and think it fits rather well with the realism and drama of 70s comics, providing a reminder on the nature of comics as magical doorways to other worlds.

A reminder whose relevance has become all the more precious as that delicate balance between naturalism and poetry has been lost with the decades, along with the ability of this medium to make you dream of a better world.

J'onn J'onzz

08-11-2006, 08:10 AM

Well, I recently read Jack Kirby's stint on Captain America from the mid-70s, and thought that was really bad. I think his work on "Black Panther" is better, but I agree, Kirby's strong suit was NOT writing.

But BP just has a quirky weirdness to it, that I'm enjoying. It's very "70s" to me.

I have not read "Jungle Action", but I would if they'd release it in a trade.

Speaking of Jack Kirby's 70's Cappy run...

Captain America #193-197

Captain America and the Falcon have to defuse the Madbomb, which would... I don't know, mind control New York or something. So he goes down to some secret orginization underground, who wants to blow up America. And then there's this black woman, who beats them up and steals Cappy's shield. So they forget about the Madbomb, and race in the "Kill Derby", while trying to steal Cappy's shield back from one of the racers. The racer straps a bomb to the shield and tosses it at Cappy. Cappy kicks the shield (or something. Somehow it ends up flying back at the guy...) to cause it to fly backwards and INCINERATE THE GUY WHO THREW IT! He gives a lecture to the secret organization about how their evil plans had caused one of their own to be killed, and goes off home to have a nap or something. The end. No, wait, the leader is still out there, menacing America! Tune in after Captain America's love story for more!

C-. There were tons of huge plotholes in this story! For example: Whatever happened to the Madbomb? Why are they abruptly changing to "Captain America's Love Story" next issue? Whatever happened to the one armed hippy pacifist that Sherin was dating a few issues ago? For that matter, what happened to Sherin? Why is Kirby brushing off the previous storyline? I hear the Madbomb story continues throughout this run, so I'll keep reading. I've never really understood much of Kirby's stories. The Demon: No. Fourth World: Somewhat... I made the mistake of reading Forever People before New Gods, so that made no sence, but when I reread them after reading the New Gods, they made much more sence.

I would reccomend checking this out if the issues are cheap enough. I can't remember how much mine cost, because I bought them years ago, and am just now getting around to reading them.

Speaking of Forever People...

Forever People (1988 Mini-series) #2-6.

And I thought the Cappy run was bad. This whole run is so... utterly random! There's the whole story about the horror novel writer's biggest fan moving in next door to him, and the fan stalking him and stuff, that had nothing to do with the actual story. Then there was the story about the woman with the gold face who talks in cursive. And of course, due to the "gay cowboy" fad or perhaps inspiring it (my terrible memory can't remember when it started, but it seems like it only started recently... making this a stand-alone occurence, but it seems like it would fit in, in today's snarky world.), Serifan is suddenly in love with Marc Moonrider... And of course, there's the scene where Big Bear yells at the posessed Moonrider asking him such questions as "Since when was love an profanity?" then goes on to swear several times on the next few pages. If you think love being a profanity is such a downgrade for love, why do you swear so much, Big Bear?

An utter mess! F

Don't get.

quidproquo

08-11-2006, 09:44 AM

Call me insane, but I actually loved the Justice League Detroit stories. They were absolutely hilarious, whether it was intentional or not, and... did I mention that I read them several times back in the day, which was a rarity for me? I mean, they're great... or I just had no taste. I would swallow anything back then! ;)

You know, it's funny how you can love something you know is just so darn bad.

Although I had quite a few issues of JLA before this 1984 Annual, this issue marked the point in time when I had enough resources to buy comics on a monthly basis. As a result, I bought all of the Detroit-era JLA and still have them to this day.

These are not very good comics, but because of the "nostolgia-factor" I love them and re-read them every few years. And, I will probably continue to do so for years to come. I guess this Annual (and the rest of the Detroit-era issues) is one of my guilty pleasures.

quidproquo

08-11-2006, 10:53 AM

I am beginning my task of reading all of my favorite comics published from 1/1980 to 12/1989 in the order they were released. Well, their monthly release; I cannot and do not want to figure out the weekly release date of all these comics.

Obviously, I am starting with January 1980. There are about 60 comics pulbished this month that I was into or wanted to read. Some I have never read before, because I could not afford or find them at the time and I have not read them over the subsequent years. So, it will not only be a treat to reread some of my faves, it will also be very cool to read a bunch of 80s comics for the first time!

This task to read a decade's worth of comics is going to take a long time, but I plan on enjoying every second of it.

Do you guys think I am insane for attempting this? Anyone else try something like this before?

Here is the list of comics for 1/80 that I plan on reading:

DC
Action Comics 503
Adventure Comics 467
Batman 319
Brave and the Bold 158
DC Comics Presents 17
DC Special Series 20
Flash 281
Green Lantern 124
Jonah Hex 32
Justice League of America 174
Legion of Super-Heroes 259
The New Adventures of Super-Boy 1
Superman 343
Superman Family 199
Warlord 29
Wonder Woman 263

Marvel
Amazing Spider-Man 200
Avengers 191
Captain America 241
Conan 106
Daredevil 162
Defenders 79
Fantastic Four 214
Ghost Rider 40
Incredible Hulk 243
Iron Man 130
Man Thing (II) 2
Marvel Spotlight (II) 4
Marvel Team-Up 89
Marvel Two-In-One 59
Master of Kung Fu 84
Micronauts 13
Peter Parker, The Spectaculer Spider-Man 38
Rom 2
Spider-Woman 22
Thor 291
Uncanny X-Men 129

Any others you guys think I should read from this period?

Here's what I read first....

Uncanny X-Men #129

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i64/thewaytheywere/January%201980/x-men129.jpg

Rating: ****½

Wow, what a great way to start out my romp through 80s comics. It’s the first appearance of Kitty Pryde and the first installment of the Dark Phoenix story arc. This is classic stuff, people. We get John Byrne art and Chris Claremont’s over-the-top, melodramatic dialogue. This is superhero soap-opera at its best!

The comic opens with the team (Professor X. Colossus, Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Phoenix, and Nightcrawler) in Scotland, having just defeated Proteus. After membership is offered to and refused by Banshee and Madrox, the X-Men hop aboard the Blackbird and head home to Massachusetts. While in flight, Jean hallucinates that she is back some two hundred years in the past, en route to America aboard a ship with her future husband, Jason Wyngarde. This hallucination is broken by Scott talking to Jean, leading to a one-page scene where the couple proclaims their undying love for one another (isn’t this obligatory in any X-Men comic?).

Once back at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, Professor X is a prick and pisses of Wolverine and annoys Cyclops. Then – suddenly – Cerebro detects two new mutants (remember when mutants were rare?): one in Chicago and one in New York. The team splits up to contact both mutants. This is the last we see Scott, Jean, and Nightcrawler in this issue. Also, unknown to the X-Men, the Hellfire Club has bugged Cerebro and plans on getting to these new mutants first.

The next scene shows Kitty Pryde arriving home from dancing class to find Ms. Frost, who “represents a very good school in Massachusetts," speaking with her parents. As Frost leaves, the X-Men arrive. Professor X stays to speak with Kitty’s parents, while Wolverine, Storm, and Colossus take Kitty out for ice-cream (remember, Kitty is only 13 years old at the time) at a local soda shop. This is where the action kicks in! After much cool fighting, the White Queen and her henchmen take the X-Men prisoner. Although Frost thinks Kitty fled, the future X-man has sneaked aboard the Hellfire Club’s hovercraft. The issue ends with Kitty scared and wondering how she is going to get herself out of this mess.

If I were handing out stars, say on a scale from one to five, with five being the best, this comic gets an excellent 4 ½!

One interesting note: While in the soda shop, Wolverine is seen reading a Penthouse.

Cei-U!

08-11-2006, 11:13 AM

One interesting note: While in the soda shop, Wolverine is seen reading a Penthouse.

With a wide-eyed Colossus looking over his shoulder. Great scene.

Cei-U!
I summon the good old days!

quidproquo

08-11-2006, 04:19 PM

Found some extra time to read another today:

Green Lantern #124

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i64/thewaytheywere/January%201980/gl124.jpg

Rating: **½

Denny O’Neil phones in this issue. There’s not much characterization and the plot is simplistic and, at times, ridiculous. Sinestro attacks a museum celebrating humanity's space exploration. Hal saves the people, but Sinestro escapes. Proclaiming that he will follow Sinestro to Korugar, Green Arrow gets fed up on being left out of the space adventures. Hal meets up with Katma Tui (Sinestro’s GL replacement on Korugar) who informs Hal that Sinestro’s father operates a Null Chamber (Korugarian version of an opium den) and that Hal should look there for Sinestro. She states she is unable to help because of some Korugarian law which is never explained very well. Hal gets trapped by Sinestro impersonating his father, Katma Tui returns to help (even though I thought she couldn’t?), and Hal chases Sinestro off into the Qward universe.

This issue, while enjoyable, simply wasn’t Denny’s best (I read his and Neil Adams’ complete GL/GA run, which is classic stuff). The art by Joe Staton adds a lot of overall quality to the issue, saving if from being a complete “ugh” read.

I noticed there were a lot of house ads for DC Comics and it seemed like every title advertised was being released on October 25th. I find it very cool to see ads for 26 year old comics that I have not read yet, but will read very soon. These ads are also informative, because they let me know that although I am starting with a comic dated January 1980, it was actually on the shelves in October 1979 (when I was a wee lad of 8 years old). I knew that I would be starting with comics released before their actual cover dates, but this helped lock in a more definitive time.

There was also an ad in for the Green Lantern issue just BEFORE this one. It was still being advertised, because it highlighted how Green Arrow was being removed from the comic. Remember, when the Big Two used to support their comics with house ads? Do they even do that anymore?

GL odds-n-ends: Per formula, in this issue Hal takes the GL oath, the yellow “impurity” weakness is explained, and there is tension between Hal and Carol Ferris.

There were a few cool parts to the comic. Tom (forget his last name) – Hal’s sometimes non-powered sidekick – told Hal not to call him “Pieface.” Denny was riding the comic of a bit of racism. When Hal met Katma Tui, their rings “embraced” by forming some weird image, in what was called a “Moment of Silent Recognition.” I thought that was cool. Also, at the end, Hal kissed Katma on the cheek and she responds by saying it has no effect on her, because she is not female in the way that human women are. Isn’t Katma an item with Jon Stewart? I guess in the post-COIE DCU, she has plenty of estrogen flowing through her hot, red bod.

I wonder how Infinite Crises has affected her sex drive?

Agentum

08-11-2006, 05:15 PM

I am beginning my task of reading all of my favorite comics published from 1/1980 to 12/1989 in the order they were released. Well, their monthly release; I cannot and do not want to figure out the weekly release date of all these comics.

.
You should read Moon Knight and All star squadron from early 80s, good comics.

On Topic:
I manage to get the first 20 books of Nexus and it must be one of the best titles from the 80s, wonderful work.
First comics seems to be the best company in the 80s
People often skip books from other companys than DC and Marvel, like Grimjack or Jon Sable.
I wil keep this books till i die:)

A lot of the DC and Marvel books is not very memorable and i will not miss them, i'm happy to have discover some of those alternative titles from the 80s, they were never reprinted here of course.

MichikoS

08-11-2006, 08:29 PM

quiproquo writes: There were a few cool parts to the comic. Tom (forget his last name) – Hal’s sometimes non-powered sidekick – told Hal not to call him “Pieface.” Denny was ridding the comic of a bit of racism.

Pieface, originally a young Eskimo lad, has had some serious retconning in the DCU. Here's Wikipedia's entry on ol' Pie:

Thomas Kalmaku is a character in DC Comics, associated with Green Lantern. He was introduced as a young engineer at Ferris Aircraft, also the employer of test pilot Hal Jordan. In the Silver Age he was referred to as "Pieface", however this has not been used for some time. In his early appearances Thomas had a girlfriend named Tegra. They later married, but have since separated.

Kalmaku was one of the few people who knew Hal Jordan's secret, and kept a journal of Green Lantern's adventures. In several stories he either assisted the hero, or required rescuing. As a non-costumed sidekick, he served a similar role to Jimmy Olsen, except that Jimmy did not know Superman's identity.

During the Millennium crossover, Kalmaku was revealed to be one of the "Chosen" who formed the New Guardians. He had the superpower to bring out the best in people. However, he decided to leave the New Guardians to be with his family.

The graphic novel Legacy: The Last Will and Testament of Hal Jordan focused on Thomas, after Hal's (several) deaths. In it he went on a final mission on Hal's behalf, eventually reconstructing the planet Oa.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kalmaku"

Whenever I'm in the mood for some good old-fashioned, unabashed, unselfconscious comic book racism (not counting the WWII years, of course -- "Superman says, You Can Slap a Jap...") I turn to this oddly disturbing comic book series from 1966, Tower Comics' FIGHT THE ENEMY.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i221/elbert_coalwell/fight_the_enemy_1.jpg

And then there's always TOD HOLTON, SUPER-GREEN BERET. Now that's a soldier with some serious ideological baggage! Uh-huh.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i221/elbert_coalwell/super_green_beret_1.jpg

Michi

quidproquo

08-11-2006, 08:38 PM

You should read Moon Knight and All star squadron from early 80s, good comics.

On Topic:
I manage to get the first 20 books of Nexus and it must be one of the best titles from the 80s, wonderful work.
First comics seems to be the best company in the 80s
People often skip books from other companys than DC and Marvel, like Grimjack or Jon Sable.
I wil keep this books till i die:)

A lot of the DC and Marvel books is not very memorable and i will not miss them, i'm happy to have discover some of those alternative titles from the 80s, they were never reprinted here of course.

I will definately be adding Moon Knight and All-Star Squadron to the list, but they weren't yet being published in Jan 1980.

I have nearly a complete collection of everything First published, but most of it was purchased in the last couple of years and was thinking of adding them as well. You're right though - First was putting out some excellent comics during the 80s.

Brad Curran

08-11-2006, 10:06 PM

Marvel Two-In-One #6-8- These are about the only comics I've read lately, from the Essential MTIO trade. I really enjoyed the first few issues of Gerber's run (and even the lead ins from some Marvel anthology be Len Wein, which surprised the hell out of me, as I've never been what you would call a fan of his). These issues didn't quite work for me, though. They lacked the absurdist humor I really enjoy in Gerber's work. In its place was a whole of exposition, including a tie-in to a plot in Defenders involving the Valkirye. There were some good ideas here or there, but this wasn't up to Gerber's usual standards. Although, it is a team up book, so I guess I shouldn't be expecting Howard the Duck or anything. In any event, the spectre of a whole lot of Bill Mantlo looms on the horizon, which makes me remember how much of an impulse buy this was. But Slam seemed to like it as a whole, so I'll see whether I have the same impression in due time.

MichikoS

08-12-2006, 08:24 PM

LEGENDS OF THE DC UNIVERSE #14, MARCH, 1999.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i221/elbert_coalwell/legends_14.jpg

Featuring Jimmy Olsen in "The American Evolution" by Mark Evanier, Steve Rude and Bill Reinhold.

I've had little interest in the DC LEGENDS series, although I see issues all the time in the quarter bins. They always seem overblown and/or underpowered when I pick them up and scan the stories inside. Nice covers, though.

I ran across this issue for the first time in a back issue bin, and just on the strength of the creative team, picked it up. I'm glad I did. It's a great read, and an exciting tribute to Jack Kirby's wild run on Jimmy Olsen in the 1970s.

The Guardian, Mokkari, Simyan, Dubbilex, and other Kirby characters play important roles in the story, a plot to de-evolve the citizens of Metropolis with a de-evolution ray hidden in the new Daily Planet globe on the top of the Planet's building. Morgan Edge is the dastardly villain responsible, of course, carrying out the nefarious Darkseid's master plan. Superman actually plays a very small part in the story, acting as a deus ex machina rescuer several times, but that's about it.

Jimmy Olsen is just the brash, impulsive and likeable character Kirby envisioned, and we get a recap of the Guardian II's origin in the DNA Project headed by Dubbilex from the '70's series.

The subplot concerning doorman Bernie Sobel's selfishness and inhumanity is the heart of the story, however; Bernie is introduced on the first page and appears to undergo a change of heart by the end of the story, but as Jimmy finds out, things aren't always clear cut when it comes to the human heart. Perry White sums it up in the penultimate panel: "Sometimes when you change your ways, the hardest part is admitting it out loud. Don't forget--human beings are flawed and imperfect."

This story is really a continuation and revival of several of the Kirby ideas left dangling when he left the books. Steve Rude stays his own man while doing a fanastic Kirby homage. Evanier does much the same thing with the script, which has a smooth flow and professional polish Kirby never managed. It's a wonderfully successful tribute to Kirby's accomplishments, knowing and wise, with just the right touch of pathos and humor.

Anyone with a soft spot for Kirby's Jimmy Olsen should have this comic. I'm so glad I found it. It's a gem! Enthusiastically recommended!

Grade A

Michi

dan bailey

08-13-2006, 02:00 PM

having asked last month (i think), a week after it came out, for my lcs to order me a copy of the two-gun kid/rawhide kid marvel milestones, only to be told that it was already unavailable, i was pleasantly taken aback last night to find several copies at a nearby books-a-million. (somehow, i don't think the same thing is going to happen with dr blink, superhero shrink #3, with which i otherwise appear to be in the same boat ...)

when i was a kid in the late '60s i read marvel westerns fairly faithfully & never failed to enjoy them, even though i've never been a western fan per se (i probably haven't watched a western movie since high noon in film class back in '79 or so, & the only western series i've ever really liked was laredo, back in the mid-'60s, probably because i remember my almost-forgotten dad liking it). thirty-five or so years later, that's still the case, with classic kirby-ayers artwork & solid stan lee scripting.

in this case, though, the revelations for me were the 2 backup strips by don heck. as i think i've mentioned before, when i was a practicing fan back in the mid-'70s the prevailing viewpoint was heck=hack, even though that was unfair then & now. his avengers, iron man, etc work was of course always sturdy, if unspectacular, but the belief that superhero strips didn't play to his strengths is certainly borne out by these 2 western stories, especially "with gun in hand" from rawhide kid 17.

quidproquo

08-13-2006, 05:22 PM

LEGENDS OF THE DC UNIVERSE #14, MARCH, 1999.
Anyone with a soft spot for Kirby's Jimmy Olsen should have this comic. I'm so glad I found it. It's a gem! Enthusiastically recommended!

I Agree completely. I love this issue of Legends.

This is what I read most recently...

Fantastic Four #214

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i64/thewaytheywere/January%201980/ff214.jpg

Rating: ***

This is a decent issue of the FF by Marv Wolfman, John Byrne, and Joe Sinnott. I believe that I have read Wolfman state in more than one interview that he is not fond of his FF work, because he really didn’t know how to write the series. I think it shows a bit, as this comic is not nearly as good as his earlier Spider-Man and Tomb of Dracula stories or his New Teen Titans, which debuted about the same time his FF work was wrapping up. We all know that Byrne’s run on FF (#232-#292 – I think) is considered one of the best FF runs. In light of this, it was interesting to see his art on the title a couple years before his seminal run began. I don’t know why, but it looks like he is trying to draw like John Buscema. Either it’s a decisive move on Byrne’s part (or perhaps editorial edict) or Joe Sinnott’s inks really alter Byrne’s pencils. It’s very interesting to compare Byrne’s art on this issue with that of the concurrently released X-men #129, in which his pencils and Terry Austin’s inks shine! While the art here is solid, it does look a bit rushed.

The story starts out with Johnny Storm whining about how he is a failure, while standing over a stasis chamber, wherein lie Reed, Sue, and Ben. In the previous issue, it appears that these three were drastically aged by a skull aging ray. Now, Johnny has to find someway or someone who can reverse the effects of the ray.

Johnny tries to elicit the help of Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. His search finally leads his to the S.H.I.E.L.D. hovercraft, but DumDum Dugan won’t allow Johnny to speak with Stark, because Tony is working on a top secret, radioactive project. It seems that it would take so long to decontaminate Tony, that other members of the FF would die of old age by the time Tony was able to help them (Hey, I thought they were in a stasis chamber? Must be one crappy stasis chamber.).

Back in the Baxter Building and back to his whining, a machine in Reed’s lab metamorphoses into Skrull X and surprise attacks Johnny! (I don’t know if the X stands for X or “10,” like Weapon X. Maybe the Skrull and Canadian governments were working together!). Anyway, to make a long story short, Johnny defeats this poor-man’s Super-Skrull, takes the aging ray gun from him, and gives it to Reed to reverse the effects.

Skrull X's dialogue was very funny. He kept calling Johnny "Dog." Instead of coming across as a derogatory remark, Skrull X sounded like Randy Jackson, the man who refers to everyone as "Dog."

Ultimately, it’s a fun read. Not the best FF issue I have ever read, but still more enjoyable than 99% of the FF comics published in the 1990s. I’d give it a solid three stars.

Weird Trivia: In this issue, we learn the Jarvis, the Avengers' butler, is allergic to nuts.

MDG

08-14-2006, 06:42 AM

Anyone with a soft spot for Kirby's Jimmy Olsen should have this comic. I'm so glad I found it. It's a gem! Enthusiastically recommended!
I just read that whole series for the first time--I'd read some issues, but recently bought the first TPB as a bircthday gift for a friend who loves Kirby but lukewarm on DCs (and I read it first).

I loved it! Pretty much in character with Jimmy Olsen, but with a real free-wheeling attitude. Good, exciting reads--wished I'd seen them when I was 12.

MDG

Rob Allen

08-14-2006, 05:32 PM

Roquefort Raider

08-15-2006, 06:37 AM

T GUy

08-15-2006, 07:02 AM

How can it be that as a kid I didn't much care for Colan's art?

As one grows older, one's taste matures.

quidproquo

08-15-2006, 09:06 AM

Essential Dracula, vol. 1, reprinting issues 1-25 or so and Giant-size chillers #1.

This series is still considered a classic and I'm glad to report that it aged very well indeed.

How can it be that as a kid I didn't much care for Colan's art? The man's control of chiaroscuro is brilliant!

And Colan without Tom Palmer on the inks is like Stan Laurel without Oliver Hardy. These two artists' styles mesh so well, it's uncanny.

The character of Dracula as written by Wolfman was also something very unique and not seen since; a blend of craftiness, savagery, egotism, and very child-like petulance. No other writer ever managed to recapture the sulfurous aura that surrounded Wolfman's Dracula.

I am reading this Essential right now. I'm only about eight issues in, so I have not seen much of Wolfman's work, but Colan is simply awesome.

I also just read...

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i64/thewaytheywere/January%201980/jla174.jpg

Rating: ***

The first issue of JLA with a 1980s cover date is a blast. Gerry Conway and Dick Dillin (man, didn’t he draw way more issues of the Justice League than any other artist?) provide us with a tale that’s one part The Pied Piper and one part War on Poverty.

“A Plague of Monsters” begins with Barnabas Boulton, a former STAR Labs technician now known as The Regulator, breaking into STAR’s Metropolis headquarters, by controlling everyday rats with a helmet he developed while employed at STAR. It seems that Barnabas had developed the helmet to rid the slums of vermin, but, based on the testimony of his wife and colleagues who claimed the helmet drove him made, he was institutionalized instead. Now, Barnabas has returned and, with the help of STAR technology, turns the rats into giant, super-tough, scary rats. He’s going to use these super rats to attack those who foiled his plans to rid the slums of vermin. Ironic, ain’t it?

Let’s not even get into how ludicrous the notion of riding slums of vermin with a super-powered helmet is.

Next, we cut to a scene where Green Arrow is having one of his save-the-minorities moments of the 1970s, cursing the rest of the JLA for causing Black Lightning to turn down JLA membership. Nothing like a white billionaire championing the rights of poor minorities! Green Arrow, followed by Zatanna and Elongated man who want to reason with Ollie, gets pissed and storms off to try to get Black Lightning to change his mind. Fortunately for the plot, Black Lightning lives near STAR Labs, so the three Justice Leaguers encountered the rats and the fisticuffs ensue. Soon, they are joined by Black Lightning and the only two League members who answer the emergency beacon: Batman and Wonder Woman.

Here, the story essentially splits in two. While the Justice League deals with the rats, Black Lightning pursues The Regulator. A nice battle takes place between BL and The Regulator, including much witty banter about how minorities have been given the shaft. But, just as Black Lightning swings the final blows that take down The Regulator, he points out how the rats are attacking everyone, even blacks. With much emotion, Black Lightning utters what may be the coolest line he has ever said in the history of DC Comics:

“WHO LIVES IN THE GHETTOS, YOU DUMB JACKASS?”

It seems that The Regulator's plans for retribution for poor minorities was short sighted. Could it have been anything else? He IS a mad super villain.

The JLA concoct a perfume that lures all of the transformed rats out of Metropolis. They cage the animals in an air tight container and Wonder Woman hurls them into space. Ah – death by asphyxiation. It seems that WW has been a killer even longer than we thought.

In the final scene, Green Arrow and Black Lightning come to an understanding the Lightning works better as a loner.

This issue – as goofy as it gets – is a heck of a lot of fun. I am going to give it three stars for the fast plot, terrific art, and absolute disregard for logic!

MichikoS

08-16-2006, 10:36 PM

The eighties were a f*cked-up time, and comics reflect that. I recently read a six-issue mini-series published by Epic (Marvel's creator-owned, mature content imprint): Marshal Law, from 1987-88.

Marshal Law is by Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill. O'Neill is best known for his scratchy, detailed art for LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN with Alan Moore. Pat Mills is a mainstay of the Brit publication 2000 AD, and the author of Charley's War.

Marshal Law is set in a post-apocalypse San Francisco, called San Futuro, in a world where superheroes are common, having been created by government scientists to fight a brutal war of decimation in South America. It's an ugly world, and our hero, one of these genetically modified former soldiers, is now a pseudo-vigilante whose job is to keep the more off-the-wall, violent and outright insane superheroes in check. By killing them, usually.

Marshal Law has some moral principles, and a lot of guilt for his part in the brutal war against civilian populations, but he is an anti-hero at best. He dresses in black leather and barbed wire, with a leather fetish mask entirely concealing his face. He doesn't feel pain, but for all of that appears to remain relatively vulnerable to injury or death.

Marshal Law is tracking a serial killer responsible for the murders of several young women, all of whom were dressed for various reasons like a popular female superhero named Celeste, who is the consort of a beloved "establishment" superhero named Public Spirit. There's a mystery involved, and politics, and a surprise revelation or two, but the whole thing is pretty pointless.

Public Spirit is a thinly veiled Superman, Celeste is Wonder Woman. There is a Batman character, too. Most the superheroes seem to be patterned after the archetypal biggies.

Are you getting the feeling that you've read this story in Judge Dredd, Watchmen, Astro City, American Way, The Authority, American Flagg, and The Dark Knight Returns? Yeah, I think you have. It's a close cousin, if not an out-and-out twin, in tone and outlook to many of these better-known storylines.

One part British nihilism (nobody does nihilism like the English), one part American ultraviolence and one part sexual psychothriller, Marshal Law is a deliberately unsettling mixture of satire and very black humor. Strangely enough, this first appearance of Marshal Law spawned a whole raft of subsequent appearances by other comics publishers in the decade following. Go figure.

Epic seemed to specialize in this particular, bitter concoction, brewing up similar potions like THE LAST AMERICAN and ST. GEORGE, POWERLINE and DOCTOR ZERO. Why did the 1980's spawn such sordid storytelling?

I have my theories and you probably do too. I'll leave you with a qualified recommendation. If you like grim and gritty, you'll like Marshal Law. Others might not be as enamored. C+

Michi

Lone Ranger

08-17-2006, 07:14 AM

The Man in Black #1 and #2 -

Oh my gosh, are these ever fun! Bob Powell is soooo good. I had no idea. These are 1990-91 reprints of work from the 50s. The art here reminds me of Will Eisner and Bill Everett, and the stories remind me of the same two men, plus Richard Hughes of ACG. These comics are the opposite of grim & gritty.

I've been trying (in vain) to track down the originals for a low price for years. I had no idea they were reprinted!

I am also a big fan Powell's work. He doesn't seem to have reached the same status of many of his contemporaries. Perhaps that has a bit to do with the fact that he died during the early days of fandom.

Lone Ranger

08-17-2006, 09:15 AM

Many people, knowing that I am a big fan of westerns, have recommended this miniseries to me. I am not sure how I missed it the first time around, but I finally track it down at a used bookstore.
We’ve basically got your classic ‘Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven/Three Amigos’ storyline as most ofthe Mighty Marvel Western regulars reunite to save a town from a greedy and murderous business man who has employed a gang of ‘Night Riders’, who look more than a little like members of the KKK.

The enormous cast of characters, which includes Rawhide Kid, Two Gun Kid, Kid Colt etc… look at little rougher around the edges than they did in the 60s but still have a strong sense of justice.

It’s often difficult to focus on the plot when so many characters have to be introduced and developed, but John Ostrander does a good job of getting through the formalities smoothly and laying out each character’s motivations. Leonardo Manco’s artwork is appropriate for this story, as he infuses it with a rather sinister atmosphere.

We know how this will all play out in the end – some people will get shot, some will live and everyone will need a bath and a beer by sundown – but that’s the joy of the western. Ostrander helps to keep it fun with one great gag, playing up the fact that there are so many ‘Kids’.

Some things did, however, leave me a little saddle sore: I didn’t love the ‘Two-Face’ take on the Outlaw Kid, as it was over the top. I also felt that it was a bit tough to distinguish one character from the next at time (this is why they wore spotted cow vests and the like back in the day), and the climactic action sequence was more than a little disappointing. I also thought that they if they were going to use a million characters, why leave out Matt Slade and Ringo Kid?

Overall, it was a good read and illustrates how westerns are still a viable genre in the funnybook world.

I like to see Mr. Ostrander tackle Jonah Hex.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v471/scottandkat/CBR/BlazeofGlory.jpg
Overall Grade: B+

Slam_Bradley

08-17-2006, 10:31 AM

Many people, knowing that I am a big fan of westerns, have recommended this miniseries to me.

Scott, have you read The Kents. It came out a bit before Blaze of Glory and was by Ostrander and Truman and Mandrake. Aside from the conceit that they were Superman's adopted ancestors it plays as a pretty straight up western. It was one of my favorite books of the late 90s. More accessible than you describe Blaze.

I picked up the first issue of Blaze and thought it was ok. But I think it came out about the time I was finishing law school and preparing for the bar and I pretty much cut out buying all comics at the time.

Lone Ranger

08-17-2006, 12:24 PM

Scott, have you read The Kents. It came out a bit before Blaze of Glory and was by Ostrander and Truman and Mandrake. Aside from the conceit that they were Superman's adopted ancestors it plays as a pretty straight up western. It was one of my favorite books of the late 90s. More accessible than you describe Blaze.

I picked up the first issue of Blaze and thought it was ok. But I think it came out about the time I was finishing law school and preparing for the bar and I pretty much cut out buying all comics at the time.

Slam - I haven't read it, I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the tip.

For me, reading something like Blaze is a real treat as I'll take just about any western I can get my hands on.

dan bailey

08-17-2006, 02:15 PM

thanks for that review, ranger. i hadn't heard of blaze of glory, & i think i'll like it a lot.

time to update my ever-expanding want list ...

Slam_Bradley

08-17-2006, 02:22 PM

I finished up Essential Daredevil, vol. 2. I liked this book a lot. Gene the Dean is incredible as usual and Stan seemed to have a really good time writing this book. Admittedly DD got the bottom of the barrel villain-wise (Stilt-Man, Leap Frog, oy) but that's part of the charm. And I liked the Mike Murdock dynamic. It was fun and quirky.

The stories aren't without problems. The "I can't love Karen Page (the woman with no discernable personality) because I'm blind" thing gets really old. And Foggy is kind of a dick. But overall this is good silver-age faire.

Rob Allen

08-17-2006, 06:17 PM

I've been trying (in vain) to track down the originals [of The Man in Black for a low price for years. I had no idea they were reprinted!

I am also a big fan Powell's work. He doesn't seem to have reached the same status of many of his contemporaries. Perhaps that has a bit to do with the fact that he died during the early days of fandom.
The reprints were from a Harvey spinoff (or subsidiary, or something) called Lorne-Harvey Recollections. In 1990-91, they published a couple of issues of Black Cat, Man in Black, and a few other gems from Harvey's pre-Richie Rich days.

I recently read that someone asked Joe Simon who he thought were the best writer/artists in comic books; Joe is reputed to have answered, "Will Eisner, Jack Kirby, and Bob Powell."

dan bailey

08-17-2006, 06:34 PM

they published a couple ofissues of Black Cat,

10, actually -- buyable for $23.95 plus shipping at http://sadsack.hypermart.net/BlackCatForSale.htm, where one can also find man in black 1-2 plus 4 other horror-oriented reprints for $15.95, etc. that must be where i picked 'em all up a couple of years ago.

benday-dot

08-17-2006, 06:46 PM

I recently read that someone asked Joe Simon who he thought were the best writer/artists in comic books; Joe is reputed to have answered, "Will Eisner, Jack Kirby, and Bob Powell."

I cannot put down Bob Powell, however my first exposure to him came with the Human Torch halves that fronted the superhero era Strange Tales comics of the 60's. I guess I lept like a magnet to Ditko's Dr. Strange and I always hoped that the master would get a full issue to work his magic on the title with which he is today perhaps best associated. I guess I also resented the Human Torch and Thing pushing Dr. Strange to the back pages. I have since gained an appreciation for these corny tales, and I suppose if it wasn't for Ditko's Strange, and Kirby's renderings of his own FF characters Powell and I wouldn't have got off to a rocky start.

Jake Lockley

08-17-2006, 07:01 PM

Many people, knowing that I am a big fan of westerns, have recommended this miniseries to me.

I bought this mini about 6 months ago, but I haven't read it yet. I think I'll bump it up on my list.

Agentum

08-18-2006, 03:53 PM

quidproquo

08-21-2006, 09:04 AM

Superman #343

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i64/thewaytheywere/January%201980/supermanc343.jpg

Rating: *

OMG – this is a one star comic. And it only gets that star because of the sweet Curt Swan art (although it is a bit hampered by the inks).

Basically, Moximus – a magician from Pompeii – survives into the future to face Superman. He does this because, in the past, he sees a vision of Superman and thinks he is evil. Superman has difficulty defeating Moximus, because of his weakness to magic. Ultimately, Superman wins by showing he is a good guy and Moximus sees the error of his ways.

The only bright spot in the story occurs when a radioactive rocket explodes in the atmosphere and Superman flies around it at super speed to contain the radiation. That was neat.

A lot of formula here: Lois being nosey. Jimmy being silly. And Perry being cranky.

Sir Tim Drake

08-21-2006, 10:25 PM

Roquefort Raider

08-22-2006, 06:17 AM

New Mutants Annual #1-- This story revolves around a rock diva's abduction of an underage boy for sexual purposes. There's some more to the plot, but the story is so compressed that it's very difficult to figure out what's going on, which is an impressive feat given that it's 40 pages. Possibly the worst Claremont story I've ever read.

Mmmh... Have you read X-Men #261, "Hardcase and the Harriers"? ;)

But I'm being unfair... Every writer must be cut some slack after producing some of the most memorable comics of the 70s and 80s.

I liked New Mutants annual for one thing: it shows how cool Douglas Ramsey's power could be when used properly by the writer. Not like a Star Trek's universal translator, but in an analytical fashion that requires some time to decipher the logic behind an alien language.

Poor Doug was ill-used in the following years, especially by Louise Simonson.

quidproquo

08-22-2006, 08:55 AM

Lone Ranger

08-22-2006, 12:18 PM

I recently found the X-Men: Dark Phoenix Saga on sale. I own a few of the issues, but have always been scared off from buying the remaining issues by the high prices.

This is right around where I started buying X-Men (#128 was my first - part of a 2 or 3 pack at the airport, IIRC), so I am glad that I could get a whole string of issies in a TPB for a low price.

This storyline (running from #129 to #137) introduces us to Kitty Pryde and Dazzler, gives us heaping doses of the Hellfire Club, let's us see the darker side of Jean Grey and demonstrates the downside to lack of discretionary powers in an intergalactic empire.

All in all - it's good stuff. Claremont does a good job of mixing wild imagination with down to earth dialogue and the Byrne/Austin team is in fine form. I must note that Byrne seems a little obsessed with showing off Wolverine's hairy back. Why wouldn't he get it waxed? Would he even feel the pain?

Overall Grade: A (I've got no complaints)

quidproquo

08-22-2006, 02:07 PM

I must note that Byrne seems a little obsessed with showing off Wolverine's hairy back. Why wouldn't he get it waxed? Would he even feel the pain?

Overall Grade: A (I've got no complaints)

Ha - maybe it would instantly grow back, due to his healing factor!

Nonetheless, you're right - these are really enjoyable comics.

MichikoS

08-22-2006, 08:44 PM

I have started to read Grells Warlord, i have books 1-40.
It's early work by him and it's not that perfected as it became later, but it's still pretty good comics.
The art is nice when he is inking hiself that Coletta person is not very good at inking him i think.
It's a lot of complaining on the mailpage over the slower and non action issues, i think those is maybe the best, he was before his time with the stuff and the readers did not understand it they wanted an advanced plot have him meet Batman etc(stupid idea) not characterizings and deeper comics.

Make me thinking of Longbow Hunters that some always says is just a copy of Millers DKR, but after reading this and Jon Sable and maybe Starslayer i see that he already had this type of storytelling in him and had writen more mature comics for a long time.I think your assessment is right on target, Agentum. I've always liked Grell's long run on Warlord, and even though the series seems to have fallen out of favor among many comic readers, the stories are suspenseful, intelligent, and exciting as all hell. There's a certain manly swagger that Grell brings to all of his comics work that may not be to everyone's liking. I think it works great in Warlord, a terrific sword & sorcery fantasy plotline. Skartaris is a cool place, and Travis Morgan is an appealing character--visually very distinctive with his silver hair, beard, extravagant helmet and skimpy fur loincloth. The supporting characters are excellent (Tara, Machiste, Shakira and Jennifer are all fully-realized and complex characters that change over time). Count me as a Grell Warlord fan, too!

Michi

MichikoS

08-22-2006, 09:13 PM

I have just read the 3-issue STEED AND MRS. PEEL published 1990-92 by Eclipse and Acme. This prestige-binding mini-series is based on the popular British TV show, "The Avengers," starring Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg, among others. The heyday of "classic" Avengers was about 1965, I think.

Anyway, the three-issue comic series incorporates two different stories: The Golden Game (serialized in all three issues) by Grant Morrison, and Deadly Rainbow (begun in #2 and finished in #3), by Anne Caulfield. Both stories are drawn by Ian Gibson (2000 AD regular, and Robo-Hunter artist).

Both stories try to capture the insouciant banter of the two main characters, as well as the sci-fi-spy trappings of the original television episodes. Morrison is by far the more successful at doing this. His story is chockfull of secret societies, mad villains who want to destroy the world, and of course the unflappable, upper-crust charm of bowler-wearing, bumpershoot-twirling John Steed.

Young operative Tara King is abducted by a mysterious mole in the first few pages, and Steed is charged by Mother to find her. Naturally, he calls upon "the one person I can trust," the incomparable Emma Peel. (M-appeal. Man-appeal. Get it?)

Sexy Mrs. Peel and stalwart Steed encounter all kinds of kooky and eccentric characters while infiltrating the games-loving Palamedes Club, while trying to locate the kidnapped Tara and put an end to the string of murders being perpetrated on the Club's charter members. Good, fun stuff.

The cartoony art is a bit off-putting at first, but after the first book I found it quite effective and very much in the spirit of Morrison's playful script.

Unfortunately, the second story, Deadly Rainbow by Anne Caulfield, is brusquely interpolated into the second half of #2. It's a stupid story, and, compared to Morrison's polished effort, is difficult to make sense of, in spite of Gibson's charming Mayan-styled friezes which are just one element in a visual tour-de-force opening sequence that tells the story of Peter Peel (Emma's missing husband) and his plane crash in the Amazon jungle, where he is nursed back to health by the mysterious Leopard People. Naturally, he suffers amnesia, which explains his failure to return to his lovely wife for some time.

Peter regains his memory, and travels with Emma to Pringle-on-Sea, the site of their honeymoon. But the town has been taken over by strange Mayan-looking people who worship the rainbow. Unfortunately, the story takes a turn for the stupid at this point and becomes rubbish, not worth recounting. The final segment in book #3 is marred by off-registration printing, too. Yech.

Morrison's story is the gem here, and should have been published alone in one or two volumes. Why Caulfield's vastly inferior tale was shoe-horned into this mini-series is a mystery. Perhaps someone else knows.

Gibson clearly portrays the likenesses of actors Diana Rigg and Patrick Macnee in his character designs (which must have required some clearances) but doesn't try to be photo-realistic, thank god. He is particularly effective in capturing Steed's arch expressions and aristocratic mien. He gets Rigg's lanky sexiness just right, but doesn't try to portray her facial features with accuracy. He does a fine job with the script overall.

Recommended to fans of the TV series, to Grant Morrison admirers, and to Ian Gibson fans. Grade: B+ (D- for Deadly Rainbow)

Michi