What Classic Comic Have You Read Lately?

[Lone Ranger]

Ok - every other board has a thread like this, so I thought it would be very suitable here.

What have you read within the last week or so?
Was it any good?
What did you like/dislike?
Is it worth tracking down?

Avengers #186

This issue explains a bit of Wanda and Pietro's 'Wundagorigins'. It is pretty good, but I am not a huge Quicksilver fan, and this book was 90% Pietro. Grade: C+

Tarzan #175

Great story in which Tarzan encouters the ant-men, and is shrunk down to their size. Lots of action, cool Russ Manning art. There is also a Leopard Girl story I haven't yet read, but I am sure it is 'entertaining but not groundbreaking'. Grade: B+

Star Spangled War Stories #183

Whoa! I just got a stack of these via eBay. This is Dave Micheline's first issue - the story is called "8,000 to 1" - serious moral dilemna for Unknown Soldier. Gerry Talaoc also put himself into the underappreciated artist pool. I don't know much of his work - but this stuff is pretty powerful. Grade: A

[solinvictus]

It a reissue of an 80 Page Giant with origins for Adam Strange, Green Lantern, the Superman/Batman team, and others. Love the Silver Age.

[InfoBroker]

Well I've been busy catching up on my Character Index for Astro City. That always goes slow, because I wind up reading the comics, analyzing the craft of the story, or just plain admiring the page layouts and panel-to-panel continuity instead of entering information in the database. I'm up to the final issue of "Tarnished Angel" which is definitely a classic comic.

I also found volume II of Alex Toth's Zorro at Book Review, here in Rochester. Amazing material. Truely stunning composition, page design and visual storytelling craft. What a great find for $5!!!

I mentioned elsewhere the Howard the Duck Essential that I also found on sale. Classic material, but very shabby production. I know its a low cost package, but even the other Essentials provide a standard size page frame that doesn't mush the artwork and make the lettering hard to read. For shame Marvel.

At my headboard are about a dozen Pogo books. They are being cycled through for the upteenth time, and I am currently reading Pogo's Peek-A-Book which contains the very classic story "Gore Blimey : The Bloody Drip Writhes Again." It stars Albert Alligator as a gum-shoe detective, and Viola [voila] as the femimum fatale.

Here's the start of Albert's first person narration:
http://webpages.charter.net/astrozoid/albert.jpg
©Walt Kelly

Still on the read stack is a bunch of Two-Fisted Tales (the Hardbacks), a Nexus trade, some Astroboys (also way too small - use a maginifying glass on those critters), and a Godzilla trade.

A fun time is guranteed for all -

- jb the ib

[Graham Vingoe]

Invisibles Volume 1 1- 12 in a long session over the weekend.This includes the infamous Arcadia storyline which apparently sorts out the men from the boys as far as the storyline goes. I genuinely have found lots of stuff in this run which I missed the first few times round. The title definitely suffered from multiple artists syndrome, but does include one of my favourite single issue stories in Dead Man Fall.

[T GUy]

Hi-Yo, Star Spangled War Stories #183

Whoa! I just got a stack of these via eBay. This is Dave Micheline's first issue - the story is called "8,000 to 1" - serious moral dilemna for Unknown Soldier. Gerry Talaoc also put himself into the underappreciated artist pool. I don't know much of his work - but this stuff is pretty powerful. Grade: A This whole run of Star-Spangled War Stories is really good, as is the preceding Archie Goodwin run, as is the preceding Joe Kubert run with the Unknown Soldier (well, okay, it's a bit ropey in places... but you get such semi-classics as #158 with Kubert art and a v. good Haney story).

The last classic comic I read was 'The Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt' from my Essential Showcase. I was supposed to be doing a spot of research on account of because the famous Infantino versus DC clash of the titans had kicked off and someone raised an issue in another forum. After doing that, I read a couple of Fireman Farrell stories, then sneaked a peak at the two Challs stories in the book. Two points: in the second story, Prof Haley is called Prof Harrison at least once; in the credits at the front of the collection, these stories are said to be written by Dave Wood. All I can say is he did a creditable job of impersonating Jack Kirby's writing.

Oh, and why was that first Flash story not called 'The Mystery of the Modern Mercury?'

[ianbrill]

Invisibles Volume 1 1- 12 in a long session over the weekend.This includes the infamous Arcadia storyline which apparently sorts out the men from the boys as far as the storyline goes. I genuinely have found lots of stuff in this run which I missed the first few times round. The title definitely suffered from multiple artists syndrome, but does include one of my favourite single issue stories in Dead Man Fall.

I read all those in a day last Sunday. It was quite a head-trip.

I've been reading Howard Chaykin's Shadow miniseries. Great stuff.

[Schmakt]

I just read the '72 Swamp Thing 1 and the '72 Man-Thing 1... do those count?

Swamp Thing was better... although the cover to Man-Thing 1 is pretty awesome. What the hell is Howard the Duck doing there? it was a pretty decent appearance, but just kind of weird... Swamp Thing is just much much better. Now I'm going to have to get the rest of the original series. :)

[Lone Ranger]

I just read the '72 Swamp Thing 1 and the '72 Man-Thing 1... do those count?

Now I'm going to have to get the rest of the original series. :)

Oh, those definitely count.

I have been trying to pick up the original series myself, they are definitely getting pricey. Great series - awesome art.

[JeffreyWKramer]

I read through my collected volumes of OMAHA over the weekend, in memory of Kate Worley. They are, of course, great - though obviously not to everyone's taste, given the very explicit sexuality. Worley had a great ear for dialogue and a real feel for relationships. There's nothing I dislike about OMAHA. Good characters, good story, good art. If you have any interest in adult comics, and particularly if you like adult comics that are not just stroke books, OMAHA is definitely worth tracking down.

[shjonescrk]

I always thought Michelinie and Talaoc's Unknown Soldier was great - I only have a couple of issues now and Lone Ranger has made me want to go and dig them out from wherever they are in my attic and re-read them.

I am reading Frank Miller's early Daredevil's - the ones written by Roger Mackenzie - a couple of issues a night. I had forgotten how good they were. Miller was making great comics from the off.



Steve

[founder81]

last Night before going to bed i read:

Amazing Spider-man #114

Octopus manages to get away from Hammerhead, their gangs have been fighting and Doc OCt seemes to be losing this gang war. Hammerhead has captured Spidey but soon finds out where Doc Ock ran to and leaves Spidey with some underlings. Spidey soon escapes and beats Hammerhead to the location. And of all people to knock Spidey out while he's snooping around, AUnt May knocks Spidey cold.

Lucifer's 10,12,18,19

(Too lazy to give a plot summary)
Small and skinny Lucifer maskes asses out of some angels, then some demons.

Today, between Lunch and waiting for my ride (I have lots of time), I will be reading:

Suicide Squad - 9,20, 21,
Justice League (Griffen) - 51, 52,
Spectacular Spider-man - 190,
Web of Spider-man - 63, 79, 82,
Flash (Wally West) - 26, 29, 36, 39,
Avengers Annuals - 11, 13,
Fantastic Four Annual - 15

I probably won't have time to read all of them, but that's what's on me to read today.

[Sir Tim Drake]

Last night I finished Madhouse #95 from Gray Morrow's Red Circle imprint. There were four stories in it, all of which were pretty silly, but three of them featured very pretty art by either Morrow or Vicente Alcazar. The fourth was by Carlos Pino, who doesn't excite me very much.

I also read Tomb of Dracula #37, which may be the first appearance of Harold H. Harold. Excellent, excellent issue. It reminded me of why ToD was one of the best comics of its time. I'm going to post a quotation from it on the classic quotes thread.

Yesterday I finished reading Gladstone's Mickey Mouse #236, my first exposure to Floyd Gottfredson's work. (I have the Smithsonian treasury that reprints some of Gottfredson's newspaper strips, but I never got around to reading them.) I quite enjoyed it. Gottfredson is (was?) a very good funny animal artist, it appears.

It may seem as though I like every old comic I read. Not true. I just read Superman #377 in which the Man of Steel battles two versions of Terra-Man at once. If you take a hideously annoying villain and multiply him by two, the results are not pretty. Curt Swan's artwork, boringly inked by Frank Chiaramonte, wasn't enough to save this one.

[Gingold]

Just re-read the Essential Howard the Duck yesterday. What a great bizarre series. Can't imagine any publisher doing anything like it again.

[T GUy]

always thought Michelinie and Talaoc's Unknown Soldier was great - I only have a couple of issues now and Lone Ranger has made me want to go and dig them out from wherever they are in my attic and re-read them. -Jones

Might I be so bold as to suggest that you look into getting hold of all the other issues? I think the team lasts just under 20 issues. Hmmm... that'd fit nicely into an Archive book or an Essentials-style one. Likelihood: rather low, I'd imagine...

Last night I finished Madhouse #95 from Gray Morrow's Red Circle imprint. There were four stories in it, all of which were pretty silly, but three of them featured very pretty art by either Morrow or Vicente Alcazar. The fourth was by Carlos Pino, who doesn't excite me very much.
- Sir Tim

A classic set of comics, though rather too few for my liking. Morrow and Pino are another of those pairs of artists where I appear to like/dislike them the other way round from everyone else. Actually, that's probably unfair to Morrow, as I do quite like his work. King of Red Circle, though, was of course Alex Toth.

[David Porta]

I found volume II of Alex Toth's Zorro at Book Review, here in Rochester. Amazing material. Truely stunning composition, page design and visual storytelling craft. What a great find for $5!!!
WoW! Those b&w reprints are beautiful. Eclipse? Or the more recent re-issue? Good price.

Rochester? The one near Hamlin Beach? Or is it some other Rochester, like Minnesota?

I mentioned elsewhere the Howard the Duck Essential that I also found on sale. Classic material, but very shabby production.
Well, the originals aren't such great production, either, ya know. Marvel in the '70s had some murky printing. Great stories, though. Check out the issue that satires Anita Bryant. A decent woman whose career was destroyed by militant gay backlash, of which Gerber's slanted humor was a part.

A dozen Pogo books. I am currently reading Pogo's Peek-A-Book which contains the very classic story "Gore Blimey : The Bloody Drip Writhes Again." Albert Alligator as a gum-shoe detective.
Lucky stiff! Those sound great. Who publishes?

Two-Fisted Tales (the Hardbacks).
Those were the first Russ Cochran stuff I ever got, way back in 1980. even before the SF.

Kurtzman's books were E.C.'s best. It was through one of them, a tattered back issue I picked up at a Seuling Con circa July, 1970 (high school sophomore), that I learned about the colonialist French defeat by nationalist Vietnamese at Dien Bien Phu.

A few years later, in college, when I mentioned that battle to a Vietnamese, he was amazed. "You know about Dien Bien Phu !?"

Why, sho' nuff ah do, bwah. I read comic books.

[JeffreyWKramer]

...Anita Bryant. A decent woman whose career was destroyed by militant gay backlash, of which Gerber's slanted humor was a part.

I seem to remember Ms. Bryant picking the fight, and I have a hard time regarding her as "a decent woman", any more than I consider the Rev. Fred Phelps a "kind, caring soul."

[Slam_Bradley]

Great minds think alike, Scott. I was going to start this very thread today.

I'm currently reading Essential Captain America, Vol. 2; Essential Silver Surfer; and Essential Spider-man, Vol. 4. I've been reading the Essential volumes roughly chronologically and am now at Jan. 1970.

Last night was Captain America # 121, "The Coming of the Man-Brute" by Lee, Colan and Sinnott. Love, love, love Colan's art, which holds up beautifully in black & white. Overall the story was entertaining, but nothing spectacular. The ending was more than a little hokey. Did we ever see the Man-Brute again? I don't recall him.

I've also been slowly going through the Millenium Edition of Detective Comics #1. I've got it at work and have mostly been perusing it during lunches or necessity breaks.

I've also been reading a set of "Pioneer Books" reprints of Jungle Jim and Mandrake from the late 80's, early 90's. The books are in 32 page comic format and in b & w. Not by any means my favorite method for reading strips, but strip reprints are hard to come by, especially Jungle Jim.

[TheHistorian]

I'm currently working my way through the first volume of Li'l Abner dailies. Generally, I'm liking it a lot, but I'm having trouble getting into the rhythm of the language - yokelspeak that is.

[yonoid]

Byrne's little run on She-Hulk. She-Hulk #1-8. I thought issue 4 was the best out of the eight.

[Lone Ranger]

Avengers #179 & #180

The two-part Bloodhawk saga is not up to normally high late 70s Avengers standards. To be blunt, Tom DeFalco’s story was pretty lame (but it was slightly saved in the last couple of pages). I generally think Jim Mooney’s work is quite solid, but it really pales in comparison with the Avengers work done by Perez and Byrne during that period. Grade: C+

Justice League of America (vol. 1) #104
Look out – here comes the Shaggy Man! With a little prompting from Hector Hammond, the Shaggy Man takes on the entire JLA up in their satellite. How did he get up there? I am not sure that was ever explained. The Shagster is not exactly my #1 villain, but he at least gives the team a run for their money. Nice Dillin pencils with Giordano inks (don’t know how often this team was together on JLA). I normally like Len Wein as a writer, but I really think he struggles with some of the dialogue between JLAers. I just don’t think Aquaman would ever refer to his teammates as ‘the gang’. Grade: B-

Western Gunfighters #5

I really think that these late 60s/early 70s 25 cent Marvels (along with Mighty Marvel Western) are still a great back-issue value. I picked up a bunch in nice shape for $4 Cdn each. There are 5 stories, some new, some 50s reprints (art by Roth, Romita and Shores). There is a neat little story with Tom Sutton art, that really shows how he was becoming a very cool western artist. Another story features Barry Smith channeling his inner Kirby – the Outcast looks like a cross between Conan and Kamandi. To be fair, there is a note stating that the story was conceived a couple of years earlier by Roy Thomas, but was only just then (1971) seeing print. I find that some of Smith's action sequences difficult to follow, but perhaps I am unsophisticated. Grade: B+

[iwarrior]

http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/30929984076.258.GIF

Great issue. Really gets into the mind of Doom. I'm sure it'll be in tpb soon.

[Lone Ranger]

I also found volume II of Alex Toth's Zorro at Book Review, here in Rochester. Amazing material. Truely stunning composition, page design and visual storytelling craft. What a great find for $5!!!


I am interested in this too, John. Is the one you are talking about different that this one (which I have & love)

[MWGallaher]

Star Spangled War Stories #183

Whoa! I just got a stack of these via eBay. This is Dave Micheline's first issue - the story is called "8,000 to 1" - serious moral dilemna for Unknown Soldier. Gerry Talaoc also put himself into the underappreciated artist pool. I don't know much of his work - but this stuff is pretty powerful. Grade: A
That title is familiar--I think that's the one that was the subject of a series in "Amazing World of DC Comics" that dissected the creation of a comic book story, from plot to finish! I always sort of liked Talaoc, but I couldn't forgive him for taking over Phantom Stranger. I realize that Aparo was moving on to better things, but I really wanted him to stay on that book!
Just Sunday I tried to snag some ebay SSW issues (and, as usual, got sniped), having had a sudden spur of interest in the series sparked by looking through some covers at milehighcomics.com. I was particularly interested in #161, an issue credited to Doug Wildey as artist, but which appeared to be ghosted by Dan Spiegle, at least going by the 3 interior pages posted at milehigh.
As for classic comics, I've been reading Essential Tomb of Dracula Volume 2. I bought it thinking it was volume 1, which contains mostly stuff I hadn't read--v.2 I have about 60% of in its original format, but I wasn't upset at realizing my mistake. The stories have aged a little, and the issues of Giant-Size Dracula definitely suffer in comparison to the classic Wolfman-Colan-Palmer work! I was today amused by the juxtaposition of issues 27 and 28. In the final panel of 27, one character is under threat of gunfire by someone. Wolfman, in the teaser for the next issue, writes: "Perhaps NOT the kindest place to leave our story this issue--for the ACTION BEGINS on our VERY NEXT PAGE." Presumably, the readers had forgotten that promise when they bought 28, which opens with...
a splash of mute Indian Tabu standing with arms crossed while his paraplegic ex-wife talks to him from a wheelchair, with a dog sleeping on the floor in the background! "Action in the Mighty Marvel Manner" indeed!

[Sir Tim Drake]

A classic set of comics, though rather too few for my liking. Morrow and Pino are another of those pairs of artists where I appear to like/dislike them the other way round from everyone else. Actually, that's probably unfair to Morrow, as I do quite like his work. King of Red Circle, though, was of course Alex Toth.

Well, those are just the ones I read today and yesterday. I still have another big stack waiting to be read. :) For example, earlier today I read Master of Kung Fu #69-- nice artwork by Mike Zeck and John Tartaglione, pretty good story, not quite as good as the Gulacy era of that series, but then hardly anything else is either. :)

Mad House is from the '70s incarnation of Archie's Red Circle imprint. They revived it again in the '80s, when it included series like The Black Hood, The Fly and Blue Ribbon Comics. I know that Alex Toth did two stories for the '80s version of Red Circle, but did he do any work for the '70s version?

[Lone Ranger]

I always sort of liked Talaoc, but I couldn't forgive him for taking over Phantom Stranger. I realize that Aparo was moving on to better things, but I really wanted him to stay on that book!

As for classic comics, I've been reading Essential Tomb of Dracula Volume 2.

Michael

I was really only familiar with Talaoc from his turn on Phantom Stranger, and I really thought they were inferior to the Aparo issues too. I think he is a much better fit on the Uknown Soldier stories.

I picked of Ess. TOD #2 this weekend (my local shop had all trades 30% off) - haven't cracked it yet though. #1 was my first experience with the Essentials format and I really enjoyed it.

[i*love*comics*247]

I just recently picked up the entire Hulk magazine series and have been enjoying those old stories. I had forgotten that the Sub-Mariner and the Avengers had appeared in some of those stories. Does anyone know if Marvel has ever reprinted those magazines?

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/8209/hulk.jpg


I've also been picking up the Dark Horse reprints of Conan. I had missed the Red Nails stories when those came out originally so I really enjoyed them in the lasted tpb.

[Lone Ranger]

Hey Terry

Haven't see you around in ages!

I don't think the mags have ever been reprinted. I'd like to get my hands on some of those too.

I always thought that Dracula Lives should find its way into the Essential Tomb of Dracula series.

[i*love*comics*247]

Hey Terry

Haven't see you around in ages!

I don't think the mags have ever been reprinted. I'd like to get my hands on some of those too.

I always thought that Dracula Lives should find its way into the Essential Tomb of Dracula series.


Hey,

I've been doing a lot of lurking lately. I keep wanting to post on your "guess the comic cover" threads but Infobroker keeps beating me to the punch. :D

I'll be sneaking in there and getting one soon. As a matter of fact, I'm going over there now and see what ya got going on tonight.

Take care!

Terry.....

[MWGallaher]

Michael

I was really only familiar with Talaoc from his turn on Phantom Stranger, and I really thought they were inferior to the Aparo issues too. I think he is a much better fit on the Uknown Soldier stories.

I picked of Ess. TOD #2 this weekend (my local shop had all trades 30% off) - haven't cracked it yet though. #1 was my first experience with the Essentials format and I really enjoyed it.
Allow me to recommend two of the Essentials: Ant-Man and Human Torch. For a mere $30, you can two complete Silver Age runs of Marvel comics that haven't been reprinted extensively! Of those two, Ant-Man is my favorite. This is partly due to a bias in that Ant-Man's Marvel Feature run was one of my early pickups as a comic book reader, but...for crying out loud, it's so different from typical Marvel stuff, it really gets amazing! For those accustomed to Ant-Man's later appearances, let me just not this point: in his early adventures, he was in fact the size of an ant! And still a super-hero! You'll see great Kirby, you'll see Don Heck doing some of the best work of his career, you'll get variety, you'll get Oddball, you'll get ridiculous villains, The Wasp telling Stan Lee fantasy stories...it's a terrific package!

[Lone Ranger]

You and I have pretty similar tastes.

After Tomb, Essential Ant-Man is the second Essentials I picked up (I bought it a month ago and I am almost finished it).

I have a few of the original series (43, 50, 68), but they are too pricey to track down. I really like that "Wasp Tells a Tale" segment, which seemed like an excuse to burn off a Larry Lieber 'pre-hero' style story. I would never complain about that. Do you know if those were old inventory?

Don't you wish he stayed Ant-Man for a longer period?

Great recommendation - I know I picked it up because someone (likely you) recommended it on the old board.

I think I will track down the Human Torch - I only have one of the early Strange Tales, and I can't afford the originals.

Does it work well in b&w? I don't know if I'd like all comics in that format - it really depends on the artist.

Is it true that in the stories Johnny thought he was doing a good job of keep his identity a secret, when everyone in town knew he was the Torch? I seem to remember reading that in a magazine (CBM perhaps?).

[InfoBroker]

WoW! Those b&w reprints are beautiful. Eclipse? Or the more recent re-issue? Good price.

This is the recent Image issue. Only volume two, I fear.

Rochester?...
In the land of ten thousand lakes and twice as many doctors

Well, the originals aren't such great production, either, ya know. Marvel in the '70s had some murky printing.
I concur, the books themselves are piteous, but the black and white line work of Gene and the inking crew at this time was still outstanding. (Me know this for certain, since I have the a Dr. Strange splash page from this time frame. Yes it is very cool).

What makes this Howard edition mushy is the desicion to shrink everything but the covers to about 85% of the original printed size.

I read them when they came out, but all the talk here got me yearning to read them again. I figured since I didn't have a very good run of doubles for the last 15 issues or so, I could pass this on to one of my sons after re-reading. Still plan to, but the gifting isn't quite as nice I hoped it to be.

... the issue that satires Anita Bryant. A decent woman whose career was destroyed by militant gay backlash, of which Gerber's slanted humor was a part.

No concurrance here. She was asked to not be a political agitator by the "Florida Sunshine Tree" orange growers that she was being paid to be a spokesperson for. She choose to continue her attacks on a lifestyle she doesn't really understand and certainly showed she has no tolerance for. If it was skin color, she would be rightly labeled a racist. They dismised her as a spokeman for their product. She knew the ramifications and risks of her actions. She dismantled that career path. Militant gay backlash? I don't think so.

The Pogos are published by Simon and Shuster. They issued a Pogo book every Christmas season during the 50s and 60s. Frank Gorshe, my best friend in Junior High and High School struggled for over a year to get me interested in them. He eventually lured me in by showing me the page in Pogo Extra that pays tribute to Wally Wood. After that, I couldn't get enough Pogo. In 12th grade I was lucky enough to find someone in the art room who had a baker's dozen that he was willing to sell to me for cover price, except for the double of Sunday Parade. That he was willing to part with for 50¢ since it had a printers error, with an entire signature duplicated and printed backwards. Very strange read that one :)

I got the Two-Fisted Tales and the Frontline Combats at half price in the late 80s. The framing set of Civil War Tales are the highlight for me of some of the best comics (war or otherwise) ever done. All kinds of media refinement occured in these issues. Sound effects, panels that progressed the story down a visual path, with the wordy captions enhancing and even taking an adjacent story path. Not unlike texturing and layering the way a composer would do with a music score.

Tastes have changed over the years, and the pacing and structure of these 7 pagers would need two or three issues to breath properly in todays styles, but the core elements that broke ground here, are still valid and still practiced by today's master of the trade.

... "You know about Dien Bien Phu !?"

I learned to appreciate the American Civil War from many angles thanks to Kurtzman's war books. I also feel that the best way to change Korea from being the "forgotten war" would be to package several of these classic stories and distribute them to our schools.

- jb the ib

[InfoBroker]

I am interested in this too, John. Is the one you are talking about different that this one (which I have & love)

Mine is the Image version done a few years ago. I'm on the prowl for the first volume...

I would love to see a huge coffee table book loaded with character sheets, sketches, storyboards, full comic stories, animation cells and historical data on this master. Be even cooler if he did the design work. He has a termendous sense of balance and composition.

Gil Kane once mentioned Alex's skill at spotting blacks. This was back in the late sixties. At the time he said he struggled with that, and if you look at his work in 1966-67 at Marvel (Tales to Astonish 87-92, Tales of Suspense 88-91), and his Tower work contemporary with that; you can see what he is talking about.

I felt that with Blackmark he nailed that particular skill and never had to look back. I'm just noticing the irony of that, considering the name of the book :)

jb the ib - meek, but in awe and greatly admiring of two giants in this field.

[InfoBroker]

I keep wanting to post on your "guess the comic cover" threads but Infobroker keeps beating me to the punch. :D


Me sorry, me sorry, me sorry ...

It's just that they're Marvel Silver Age comics and I love them dearly. Especially the peak work from late 64 to mid 68, about the time they changed the original page sizes from twice-up to one-and-1/2-up. Still a lot of good stuff before and after that, but that time frame is just spectacular.

I shall strive to hold out for at least the second clue, maybe the third....

maybe...

er... um...

well, I'll try anyway :D

- jb the ib

[InfoBroker]

I really like that "Wasp Tells a Tale" segment, which seemed like an excuse to burn off a Larry Lieber 'pre-hero' style story. I would never complain about that. Do you know if those were old inventory?


I don't think so Scott. He was also doing the Tales of the Watcher back-up series in Tales of Suspense.

While the stories were retreads, the execution of them seems contemporary with the times.

Is it true that in the stories Johnny thought he was doing a good job of keep his identity a secret, when everyone in town knew he was the Torch? I seem to remember reading that in a magazine (CBM perhaps?).

Odd but true, and the entire sequence, along with several of the wayout Kirby villians are all candidates for Scott Shaw's columns.

- jb the ib

[T GUy]

Me: A classic set of comics, though rather too few for my liking.

Sir Tim: Well, those are just the ones I read today and yesterday.

Crossed wires here, methinks. I was referring to the Bronze Age Red Circle when I wrote 'rather too few for my liking' rather than the set you read yesterday.

Sir Tim: I know that Alex Toth did two stories for the '80s version of Red Circle, but did he do any work for the '70s version? Yup, there's a few shorts in Sorcery and Mad House - it may be only two or three, but they're there. IIRR, one of 'em is the one about the pulp character dressed something like the Green Hornet. Marv Wolfman later extracted two issues of Daredevil (# 124 or so) from this villain and plot.

I've just looked it up (as can you - click away here (http://www.comics.org/details.lasso?id=27606) ) and it's a different story in that issue by Toth, by the looks of it. Oh, well. And has the GCBD got itself confused over Chilling Adventures in Sorcery, Red Circle Sorcery and Sorcery? Or am I imagining things when I 'recall' that No.s 6 and 7 were called Red Circle Sorcery?

[Slam_Bradley]

Read Silver Surfer #12 last night by Lee, Buscema and Adkins. Our angsty hero tries to break his Earthly bonds, is captured by modern witches, exhausts his strength saving his captor and fights the Abomination. I've decided I'm not a huge fan of the Surfer and this story didn't work for me at all. The appearance of The Abomination was very contrived to give the Surfer someone powerful to fight. The Surfer acts fittingly angsty and altruistic. And I've decided that I'm not overly fond of Dan Adkins' inks over Buscema's pencils, much prefering, Sinnott, Brother Sal, or the upcoming Chic Stone. Grade C+

[Schmakt]

Read Silver Surfer #12 last night by Lee, Buscema and Adkins. Our angsty hero tries to break his Earthly bonds, is captured by modern witches, exhausts his strength saving his captor and fights the Abomination. I've decided I'm not a huge fan of the Surfer and this story didn't work for me at all. The appearance of The Abomination was very contrived to give the Surfer someone powerful to fight. The Surfer acts fittingly angsty and altruistic. And I've decided that I'm not overly fond of Dan Adkins' inks over Buscema's pencils, much prefering, Sinnott, Brother Sal, or the upcoming Chic Stone. Grade C+

SS is a great character. :)
I just reread my copies of FF #48-50 last night. Really fun stuff. I was trying to read as if I had no idea who the Surfer was, and that made it kind of fun. The whole Alicia thing was kind of weird, but, obviously, succeeded in getting across the message. Still funny that Ben just pushes Norrin off the roof!

[Sir Tim Drake]

I moved the discussion about Anita Bryant and homosexuality to the Community board, since it was veering wildly off-topic.

And I'd like to remind you all to be civil to your fellow posters, even when they voice opinions you violently disagree with.

Now let's get back to talking about the classic comics we've read lately.

[Cei-U!]

I just finished reading a long run of '70s/'80s World's Finest Comics, from the start of the Dollar Comic format (#244) to within four issues of cancellation. I was surprised how much I enjoyed them.

WFC has an undeserved reputation for mediocrity during this era but there's some great stuff in here: Gray Morrow's Vigilante, Steve Ditko's Creeper, E. Nelson Bridwell and Don Newton's fun "Shazam!" stories, Superman/Batman art by Gene Colan, Gil Kane, Curt Swan, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Steve Lightle, George Tuska, Ross Andru, Trevor Von Eeden and many other favorites, obscure but interesting villains (Amalgamax, The Network, Null and Void, The Pantheon, X'ult) and, in the later issues, well-plotted stories by Kurt Busiek, David Anthony Kraft and the underrated Joey Cavalieri, who had a good Bob Haney groove (but with better dialogue) going for him.

Anybody else familiar with these?

Cei-U!
I summon the stash!

[InfoBroker]

I also read Tomb of Dracula #37, which may be the first appearance of Harold H. Harold. Excellent, excellent issue. It reminded me of why ToD was one of the best comics of its time. I'm going to post a quotation from it on the classic quotes thread.


Is this the one with the cover of Harold at his typewriter? Or was that issue #38??

In one of those issues, Marv Wolfman addresses the slipping sales and cancellations of the majority of Marvels horror line. Hardest hit was the B&W magazine line.

I loved the infusion of additional cast members into this very classic comic book during this timeframe. If you are reading from the Essential, then you have a LOT more really cool issues ahead of you :) TOD was my favorite Marvel Horror book of the early/mid 70s. I should probably get one of these to pass on to one or the other of my sons. After I read it of course <hehe>

-jb the ib

[MWGallaher]

In one of those issues, Marv Wolfman addresses the slipping sales and cancellations of the majority of Marvels horror line. Hardest hit was the B&W magazine line.
Y'know, this still baffles me. I can't believe that comic-buyers' tastes changed overnight, but as I recall, the many "monster" comics seemed to die off almost simultaneously. Something seems to have stricken Marvel and DC with panic. Monster books were aborted prematurely (Golem in Strange Tales and Man-Bat, for examples) and revamped to be less "monstrous" (Swamp Thing and Werewolf By Night, for examples). Was it really a tidal change in reader preference, or was something else scaring them off of this type of book?

[Sir Tim Drake]

By coincidence, I recently read World's Finest Comics #241-- just before the era Kurt is discussing. The story involves a group of astronauts, including Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne of course, who are on a mission in space when Earth is apparently destroyed. The other astronauts are all stock characters (militant feminist, rock star, etc.) and the story is rather cliched, but it's still got that Bob Haney charm. Pablo Marcos's artwork is surprisingly nice, reminding me of Garcia-Lopez.

[InfoBroker]

You're right Mike. Now that you mention it, I remember some of the same baffled feelings at the time.

Maybe it was economics as much as anything else. Atlas Comics was boarding up shop at the same time. Marvel also discontinued 20 or so pages of new material in the King/Giant size comics. I got the feeling that the added reprint editions of Iron-man, Subby and whatever else came along in early 1976 was to honor paper and press-time contracts that were already in the pipeline.

Perhaps it had as much to do with continually increasing productions costs and the demise of Atlas comics. DC comics went to 30¢ in early '76, Marvel held out until the late summer months at a quarter.

But the horror line took it on the chin more so than the spandex comics. 'Tis curious.

-jb the ib

[Sir Tim Drake]

Y'know, this still baffles me. I can't believe that comic-buyers' tastes changed overnight, but as I recall, the many "monster" comics seemed to die off almost simultaneously. Something seems to have stricken Marvel and DC with panic. Monster books were aborted prematurely (Golem in Strange Tales and Man-Bat, for examples) and revamped to be less "monstrous" (Swamp Thing and Werewolf By Night, for examples). Was it really a tidal change in reader preference, or was something else scaring them off of this type of book?

Well, I can think of one possibility... (plants tongue firmly in cheek)

It was around that time that the American Union of Werewolves, Vampires and Miscellaneous Monsters lost its class-action libel suit against Marvel and DC Comics. (This was perhaps due to their inability to find attorneys who were willing to represent them, since the pioneers of supernatural law, Alanna Wolff and Jeff Byrd, were still in law school at the time.) Having failed to stop Marvel and DC's ongoing defamation via the courts, the monsters decided to accomplish their goal by other means.

This decision resulted in the week-long haunting of the Marvel and DC offices.

We will never know exactly what happened during those seven days. The haunting was so traumatic that even today, the Marvel and DC staffers who experienced it refuse to discuss it or to admit that it occurred. However, by the time the week was up, both companies' editorial boards unanimously agreed to cancel most of their horror titles.

Only Tomb of Dracula was spared, because the monsters appreciated its often sympathetic portrayal of their kind. Besides, even vampires and werewolves are capable of enjoying great art.

[Lone Ranger]

Star Spangled War Stories #187 & 188

Continuing to make my way through a stack of 40 SSWS I won on eBay. I am really, really impressed by the Micheline/Talaoc team. I think that this is some of the best stuff DC was putting out in the mid-70s. Some of these stories are very gritty and have morally ambiguous conclusions. It is still nice to ‘discover’ a series, 30 years on. Grade: A.

Adventure Comics #410

I featured this one on GTCC a couple of cover ago, and finally read it. It has two mediocre Supergirl stories bookending a Legion classic. Since I already own the original Adventure issue with the Legion story, there were no great surprises in this one. Weird story about winged men in the first Supergirl story – pretty similar to the Bloodhawk story I discussed from Avengers. It’s weird how you can come across two similar concepts so close together. Grade: C

E-Man (vol. 1) #4

I had a few copies of E-Man as a kid (I think they were pretty much giving the back issues away in 1980), and I didn’t really like it. I know why – I was too unsophistimicated. This book is freakin’ hilarious. The Nick Cuti/Joe Staton team knew how to put together an entertaining story - this one involves time travel, Egyptians and a flea ridden dog. The back-up is Killjoy, which serves to illustrate that Steve Ditko was descending into madness. Anyone else think they should collect his 70s superhero work (paging Liberty Belle) at Charlton and call it “Being Steve Ditko”? Grade: B+ (only because the Killjoy story confused the heck out of me)

Kurt: As I have mentioned to you before, I am a big fan of the Dollar Comics version of World’s Finest – there is some great stuff in there – Newton on Shazam, Morrow on Vigilante, Ditko on the Creeper. #245 has one of my favourite Wonder Woman stories – written by Conway, and penciled by Jim Sherman. There is a one-page sequence where WW is being carried into a Nazi fortress that I just love. I never read many after the Dollar format – but I seem to remember some with Colan art, am I right about that?

[MWGallaher]

I have a few of the original series (43, 50, 68), but they are too pricey to track down. I really like that "Wasp Tells a Tale" segment, which seemed like an excuse to burn off a Larry Lieber 'pre-hero' style story. I would never complain about that. Do you know if those were old inventory?

At least one of the stories was a remake of an earlier fantasy story, but I think they were all produced contemporarily. Those types of stories had been good sellers in the past, presumably, so I don't think we should be surprised that Stan allowed them to keep a presence in the books beyond the pre-hero days.

Don't you wish he stayed Ant-Man for a longer period?

I very much do! Particularly disappointing was the change from the unique Ant-Man costume--well, the helmet, at least--to the utterly generic Giant-Man outfit. But I can certainly understand how Stan and Jack and the others involved could suppose that a giant hero might have more appeal than a tiny one. I've seen it suggested that Giant-Man failed because he was, conceptually, a bully; a big guy picking on smaller people, but I never bought that line of reasoning.
[/QUOTE]

I think I will track down the Human Torch - I only have one of the early Strange Tales, and I can't afford the originals.

Does it work well in b&w? I don't know if I'd like all comics in that format - it really depends on the artist.

Except for one extremely poorly reproduced story, I think the Human Torch stories work very well in black and white. This series seems to have been written with a somewhat more juvenile audience as the target, and the art, as seems to be the practice of the time for work aimed at younger ages, was somewhat simpler, and more open. With this less complex design, you don't need the color so much to define the panels, and black & white is sufficient.
The "junior Marvelite" approach is attenuated as the book goes on, and by the time the Thing joins in (and the series becomes a duo book rather than a solo series) Strange Tales is essentially an additional Fantastic Four comic book, although admittedly created by somewhat lesser talents.

[Lone Ranger]

This series seems to have been written with a somewhat more juvenile audience as the target, and the art, as seems to be the practice of the time for work aimed at younger ages, was somewhat simpler, and more open. With this less complex design, you don't need the color so much to define the panels, and black & white is sufficient.


You are right about that.

That is why I think a collection of Marvel Westerns from the 60s would reproduce well as an Essentials. Ayers, Keller and Lieber all took the 'simpler, and more open' approach to their storytelling. Even Kirby's western work in toned down compared to this superhero work.

[InfoBroker]

We will never know exactly what happened during those seven days. The haunting was so traumatic that even today, the Marvel and DC staffers who experienced it refuse to discuss it or to admit that it occurred.

I think you are on to something here Sir Tim. Mike Ploog was already feeling the heat before the haunting. Great artwork that it was, Frankenstien and Werewolf never liked being depicted with drool drooping from theirs mouths.

So Mike went from drawing great horror titles like Man-Thing, Ghost Rider and Werewolf by Night, to Gorillas (who have always liked their nasty-sided comic book imagery) in Planet of the Apes. After the week of the office horror attacks, POOF! Ploog left the comic field for Hollywood.

Planet of Vampires they must have found extremely offensive, for the fear they planted in the Atlas offices caused a complete meltdown of the company. Maybe Kurt Busiek heard some pro-side revelations, late night con-fabs over Beer and Pretzels, that inspired his story for Astro City #22, "Where the Action Is." He knew he couldn't use the monsters, or they'd come for him too, so he took the cosmically-enpowered-alien-angle as the nemisis.

I think we'd better be very careful ourselves here :eek:

- jb the ib

[Cei-U!]

I never read many after the Dollar format – but I seem to remember some with Colan art, am I right about that?

Issues 297 and 299 are by Colan, yes.

Cei-U!
Gotsem rah cheer nexame!

[Slam_Bradley]

Amazing Spider-Man # 80 - a Slan Lee, John Buscema, Jim Mooney production of "On the Trail of...the Chameleon!" Pete and Flash work out their issues with Gwen. Peter and Gwen get back together. The Chameleon frames Capt. Stacey and later Spidey for his crimes before getting caught.

Certainly not a ground-breaking issue, but another in a solid run of Spidey issues. I first started reading Spidey through the Marvel Tales reprints of the issues that saw a lot of movement between Romita, Mooney and Buscema doing various art chores on the book, so this is a blast to my personal past.

Grade: B +

[founder81]

last nights reading...

Lucifer #36, 37
Lucifer sends a small group of his choosing to find the soul of Elaine Belloc.


Flash (Wally West) # 29
Flash goes to Casablanca for some fun and winds up in an international assissin/spy plot with Phantom Girl. They save the defecting scientist and defeat the assissins. Afterward they have dinner.


Today's "waiting for my ride" reading:

Avengers - 262, 279, 280,
Spectacular Spider-man - 190
Amazing Spider-man - 431, 432, 439,
Suicide Squad - 21
Airboy - 18, 25,
Deadpool - 7,
Flash (Wally West) - 36, 39, 41,
Fantastic Four Annual - 15,

[mckracken]

Now for some real classics !

Justice League of America - Issue 23 (1963)
"Drones of the Queen Bee!"

Fun all around. The Queen Bee (first appearance and last, I guess, heh) tries to get her hands on an immortality elixir and enslaves the Jla to get it for her. (either that or she blows up the earth - tee hee) Hidden by a mad scientist on a maze ridden planet, each of the members has to overcome their individiul weaknesses, to gather the pieces, needed for assembly.

Hawkman Issue 4 (1964)
"The Machine that Magnetized Man!"

First appearance of Zatanna, which trapped herself because one of her spells went awfullly wrong. (even splitting herself up in two) In a last magical effort she sends a creative SOS to the museum of Carter.

Green Lantern Issue 30 (1964)

First Hal is up against powerhungry pterodactyls from the far future (totally weird) in the second arc he tries to convince a GL wielder, on behalf of the Corps, that
giving up the ring isnt an option. No matter the circumstances.

[Schmakt]

that bit about the haunting was hilarious. :)


Last night...
Iron Man #'s 1 and 2... tried to get to 3, but had to do the whole sleep thing.

I really need to get IM/Sub #1 so I can see the beginning of this story, but #1 had IM pitted against AIM in their incredibly goofy costumes. The technology back then was amazing. :) Most interesting is that IM seems to actually kill all the AIM guys that were in the base when he left. He got away, and the whole thing immediately exploded b/c of some trick Tony pulled with the Generators and fooling the AIM guys into turning on AUX power. I'd forgotten about that and was kind of surprised to see that many people get blown up in a comic that old...

#2 was pretty run-of-the-mill. Crazy scientist guy thinks he's better than IM, so he builds a robot to beat Iron Man... but his daughter thinks he's crazy and tries to help IM. Naturally, the robot goes crazy and ends up almost killing his daughter. In a final effort to redeem himself, the scientist helps save Tony and his daughter but falls prey to his own machine. Luckily he's alive just long enough to deliver a short apology before he drops dead at the end of the issue. His daughter didn't seem to upset tho... maybe she was hoping for some Tony Stark action. :)

Lots of death in early IM... I've forgotten how #3 ends too, so it'll be interesting to get through the rest of these early issues tonight...

[Lone Ranger]

Amazing Spider-Man # 80

I am not 100% sure why, but this is my favourite issue of ASM.

I just think it is a great single issue story with a nice twist at the end.

I have always liked the Chameleon, but felt he has been underused.

[Schmakt]

IM #3 down during lunch... and, amazingly, no one died!
I had forgotten that Happy Hogan was "The Freak"... man, the early villian names were CAMPY...

Tony has some major problems with his heart after fighting the evil robot took its toll on his armor last issue. He momentarily regrets having offed that girl's dad, but quickly has to save some Stark workers from a rocket that was falling over. This is just too much for his heart, so he ends up plugging himself into a generator to keep himself alive. He realizes the generator will eventually die and has Happy help him build some new armor with enough power to keep his (now weaker) heart from stopping. In the process, Happy gets zapped by some crazy beam or another, which turns him into... "The Freak!" He kidnapps Pep and, after a short chase and fist fight in a building under construction, IM manages to trap the Freak in a truck... taking a page from issue #1 when AIM tried to gas IM, IM fills the truck with gas to knock out the Freak. Which, obviously, works, and that's that.

Coolest thing about this issue is that a lot of it is spent talking about Tony and his problems rather than watching Iron Man run around and kill people. I also noticed that Gene Colan didn't do pencils on this issue, but I'm pretty sure he did on the previous two. Did Gene drop Shellhead after too issues?

[Rob Allen]

Did Gene drop Shellhead after too issues?I'm not at all sure that it was his choice, but Colan didn't draw IM much after that. He took over the art on IM in Tales of Suspense #73, dated January 1966, and drew every IM story thru ToS #99 and IM & SM#1 before IM #1 and 2. So he had a good two-and-a-half year run. Johnny Craig started inking Colan in ToS #99, and took over the pencilling for a little while, but he wasn't fast enough to do a full-length monthly book. I think George Tuska starts his long run after that. I really liked the issues done by Tuska & Jim Mooney.

[Cei-U!]

The Queen Bee (first appearance and last, I guess, heh).

Nope. Queen Bee was a major recurring JLA villain throughout the run of the original title. She's popped up post-Crisis too but I'm not familiar with those appearances.

Cei-U!
I summon the drones!

[Cei-U!]

I also noticed that Gene Colan didn't do pencils on this issue, but I'm pretty sure he did on the previous two. Did Gene drop Shellhead after too issues?

#1 was Colan's last art job on the Iron Man title. #2-4 are by Johnny Craig. Tuska begins with #5.

Cei-U!
I summon the credits box!

[InfoBroker]

Johnny Craig started inking Colan in ToS #99, and took over the pencilling for a little while, but he wasn't fast enough to do a full-length monthly book. I think George Tuska starts his long run after that. I really liked the issues done by Tuska & Jim Mooney.

Just to fill in things a bit - Johnny Craig did continue inking Iron-man until at least issue 13 or 14. I'm pretty sure we was inking when the Night Phantom came along. He was also being tapped for material for the new horror comics (Tower of Shadows and Chamber of Darkness). Plus I think he inked or filled in on a Tales of the Watcher tale or two in Silver Surfer.

-jb the Watchfull ib

[founder81]

Avengers - 262,
by Roger Stern and John Buscema.
The Avengers must, due to FCC demands, find a new place to park their Quinjets. After going through much mail, they find the perfect place, a floating island. While checking out the island Hercules starts a fight with Namor to raise Namor's spirits. That night, Namor joins the Avengers and they have a place to park their jets

Spectacular Spider-man - 190
By JM Dematties and Sal Buscema. Harry hires the Rhino to screw with Peter's head. It works.

Suicide Squad - 21
by John Ostrander and Luke McDonnell. Someone is Blackmailing Waller and unknown to (can't remember his name but he's the only Non-X-Supervillian on the team) shoots and kills the blackmailer without knowing Waller had everything in hand.

Airboy - 18
2 stories in this one, both written by Chuck Dixon.
In the first story Airboy is forced to down a 42 year old, out-of-time, bomber in Russia. The Second story features Air Wolf getting downed by Migs and going to a prison camp.

Deadpool - 7
By Joe Kelly and Ed McGuiness. Deadpool has taken Typhoid Mary under his wing and a startling revalation connecting Mary's past to Daredevil. Oh, and someone'sout to get Deadpool.

Flash (Wally West) - 36, 39,
By William Messner-Loabs and ??laroque. Pts 1 and 3 of a story.
A cult run by con artists manage to lure Wally into their midst. He even does TV spots for them, but his future girlfriend, Linda ??, is possed by an irish spirit who helps break the con.

[Cei-U!]

Just to fill in things a bit - Johnny Craig did continue inking Iron-man until at least issue 13 or 14. I'm pretty sure we was inking when the Night Phantom came along. He was also being tapped for material for the new horror comics (Tower of Shadows and Chamber of Darkness). Plus I think he inked or filled in on a Tales of the Watcher tale or two in Silver Surfer.

Craig pencilled the Night Phantom story (#14) as well as #23-24.

Cei-U!
I summon a personal favorite!

[InfoBroker]

I summon a personal favorite!

Hey Kurt!

I couldn't remember if Johnny Craig did the full pencils on Night Phantom but I knew he was definitely invovled in that one.

Like you this is one of my favorite issues in this run, which says a lot, because I really liked Archie Goodwin's run on Iron-man.

I loved the design of the Night Phantom's costume, and I remember doing a lot of sketches of him at the time. It had a great cover as well.
http://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/1867/200/1867_2_014.jpg

I'll add one more art tidbit to this run of classic comics. Archie was doing the breakdowns in the early issues, indicating visual pacing and viewing angle on tissue paper. I don't know how long he did that, if it was just for Johnny Craig's initial couple of issues, or what. But I remember seeing some of Archie's layout sheets in a fanzine interview somewhere.

..er, a LONG time ago.

-jb the ib

[Cei-U!]

I'll add one more art tidbit to this run of classic comics. Archie was doing the breakdowns in the early issues, indicating visual pacing and viewing angle on tissue paper. I don't know how long he did that, if it was just for Johnny Craig's initial couple of issues, or what. But I remember seeing some of Archie's layout sheets in a fanzine interview somewhere.

..er, a LONG time ago.


From what I've read, all of Archie's scripts were done this away. Jim Shooter's too.

Cei-U!
Can't swear to it though!

[Schmakt]

Spectacular Spider-man - 190
By JM Dematties and Sal Buscema. Harry hires the Rhino to screw with Peter's head. It works.

Suicide Squad - 21
by John Ostrander and Luke McDonnell. Someone is Blackmailing Waller and unknown to (can't remember his name but he's the only Non-X-Supervillian on the team) shoots and kills the blackmailer without knowing Waller had everything in hand.


Good stuff... I'm a particularly big fan of Ostrander and DeMatteis. Spectacular Spidey and the Spectre are what did it for me. (so it's kind of nice they're in the same box, alphabetically) Tried Ostrander on Martian Manhunter and some other stuff, but found Spectre to be the best. It's just stupid that I haven't read Suicide Squard yet. :)

I would like to see him dump the Star Wars stuff and take JMS's place on Doc Strange tho... or even follow Waid on FF. (as per this interview: http://www.b-independent.com/interviews/johnostrander.htm - about half-way down)

[Lone Ranger]

Detective Comics #399

I featured this comic last week on GTCC, but I just got around to reading it. It is a decent story trying to incorporate a little late 60s/early 70s martial arts. There is also some good humour as Batman tries to deal with an anti-vigilante bureaucrat. Bob Brown’s art seems quite lackluster, especially since the likes of Neal Adams and Nick Cardy had been working on the Dark Knight around the same time. The back-up is a ‘Robin defeats Cold War spies on Campus’ tale. Gil Kane’s art lacks the earlier dynamism we saw on Atom and Green Lantern – can we completely blame this on Vince Colletta? Grade: C+

Ghostly Tales #116

I keep adding to my box of Charlton horror comics because they are cheap and usually have at least one good story in them. The first story is a pretty bad effort by Joe Gill and Sanko Kim – it involves the fallout from budgetary shortcuts at a nuclear facility – might have worked in Kim’s monster didn’t look so stupid. Kim’s artwork really doesn’t do it for me – he just seems to struggle with anatomy. The next story is much better – a Joe Gill/Charles Nicholas ‘what did you bring back from space?’ tale. It has such a silver age look to it, that I wonder if it is a reprint. The final story is the old ‘Stranger comes to town – could it be Satan?’ story – it features so pretty energetic Steve Ditko art. Grade: B-

[founder81]

Last night's Classic comics

Lucifer #'s 39,41*
Ending the quest for Ellain Belloc's soul and the Epilogue to the story were she chooses to watch over things in Lucifer's Realm. By Mike Carey and 2 artists that i can't remember.
*I'm not sure if these make the 2-year mark, if they don't I apologize, but they are some fine comics

Myth Adventures # 7 (Warp Graphics)
Storty and art by Phil Foglio.
The backgorund story of Aahz. This is the earliest issue I have of this, and well, its not no where near as funny as the later issues, but does show the beginings of how they get the Inn.

[Doesitmatter]

Just got Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams Vol. 2 this week so that will take up all my time.

Last month, I decided to reread all of Sandman but stopped after Season of Mists. That was my favorite story and for some reason I felt satisfied closing the book there.

[Slam_Bradley]

Captain America # 122, a Stan Lee, Gene Colan, Joe Sinnott production of "Sting of the Scorpion." We find Steve Rogers suitably angsty over his place in a world he didn't make and nursing his issues with Sharon Carter's unwillingness to give up her work with SHIELD for him. Meanwhile, a smuggling ring hires The Scorpion to take out Agent 13/Sharon Carter who has infiltrated them. Cap ends up defeating Scorpy and the smuggling ring, but leaves the mop up to the SHIELD agents before a bound and gagged (oo-la-la) Sharon Carter can tell him how she feels about him.

Colan is, as always fantastic, and Sinnott is a very good inker for him. The art is first rate. The story is a decent one-off story and Scorpy is a good opponent for Cap. The story is fairly sexist, but given it was published in very early 1970, what can we expect?

Grade: B +

[Schmakt]

Last month, I decided to reread all of Sandman but stopped after Season of Mists. That was my favorite story and for some reason I felt satisfied closing the book there.

That's funny... I did the same thing with Sandman not long ago. Season of Mists was a GREAT tale... God, I love Gaiman...

but today's Classic re-reading continued on with my Iron Man run... #'s 4 and 5.

Tony's getting better about not killing people... no one has died since issue 2. :) But in #4, communism was alive and well. And to show just how big and mean and nasty they could be, the ruskies managed to revive their hero... The UNICORN! I don't know what happened to him previously, but these new scientists shot him with a beam that made him stronger but also decreased his life expentancy. The newly powered-up Unicorn gets into his suit, which allows him to fly and shoot various energy beams from a single gun on the top of his head. (hence "Unicorn") He hears that a bunch of smart guys are getting together (Tony included), so he decides that the smart thing to do is crash the smart guy party and force one of them to help increase his life expentancy. Tony gets bashed up when the Unicorn makes his entrance through the ceiling, and his briefcase with the armor gets stuck behind Uni as he's making his grand supervillian speech. Tony dares the wrath of the Unicorn and eventually retrieves his armor while suffering some minor bruises along the way. Having pleaded with Unicorn to just stop and ASK for help, IM ends up having to kick his ass instead. The fight eventually rolls outside, and the Unicorn falls off a cliff into a lake to an unknown fate. That about wraps that up, and Tony heads home... to a mysterious adventure in the future... (i.e. Iron Man #5)

Tony makes it back to the lab and is doing some pondering when he is suddenly (of course) sucked into some strange whirlpool that ends up taking him to the future... without his armor. His kidnappers are from the 25th century, which is a time that is controlled by the evil computer "Cerebus." These guys decided that the only way to end the menace their society faces is to bring Tony back from the past and kill him before he creates Cerebus. Maybe they should have started writing movie scripts with James Cameron instead... anyway, while he's being held captive, Cerebus attacks, and Tony gets away during the scuffle. Luckily a beautiful young woman (obviously) finds him and attempts to help... she has what is, probably, the smartest line in the book... something along the lines of the fact that it's not Tony's fault for inventing the computer, but society's fault for becoming too reliant on it and allowing it to become so powerful. She leads him to an old museum where, surprise, surprise, there is a suit of Iron Man armor! Personally, I think it would have been way cooler had this suit been way advanced from his current suit, but Archie didn't ask me... Tony dons the armor and attempts to face Cerebus. The computer is able to create some sort of energy being to fight Iron Man, and it's doing a pretty good job... until Iron Man takes off his mask to reveal that he is, in fact, the creator of the computer... If the computer kills Tony now, Tony won't invent the computer, but if it doesn't kill him, Tony will destroy the computer... ARGH! The only option for the computer is to short circuit, which allows the girl enough time to throw a bomb at it... She then manages to help Tony get back to normal time along with the suit of armor. Oddly, when Tony's back, he doesn't really give a damn about the armor but instead pines of the girl... "No matter what happens, a part of you will always be with me." ugh...

(I only have #6 before my run jumps to 30... only ONE more IM review... promise!)

[Lone Ranger]

Captain America # 122, a Stan Lee, Gene Colan, Joe Sinnott production of "Sting of the Scorpion."

I have a bunch of Cap in the #100-135 range, but not that one. I really liked the Scorpion as a villain. I have got to get my hand on this one.

I'll keep an eye out for in at the Toronto Comicon this weekend.

Thanks, Slam

[T GUy]

The polite knight: I moved the discussion about Anita Bryant and homosexuality to the Community board, since it was veering wildly off-topic...
Ah. I recall that I was the first to pop a post in this thread with no reference to comics. My apologies. It did occur to me to ask a mod to move it, but before I could post to that effect you had sprung into action.
Now let's get back to talking about the classic comics we've read lately.
Ooh, yes please. O'er the weekend I read the remaining three Flash stories in The Essential Showcase, which I rather enjoyed. I have obviously had a long enough rest from Schwartz Silver Age Superheroes to like them again.

This book overall is interesting in that it acts as a chronicle of the transition from the Atomic Age to the Silver Age. Fireman Farrell and Lois Lane feature three 8-page stories, crammed with 6 or 7 panels on a page. By the time you get to the third Flash issue (13, IIRR), not only do you have two rather than three stories, but you also get expansive Infantino layouts with four to seven panels on a page, and slick Giella or Giacoia inking. The two Challengers issues even have only one story in 'em apiece! The first Flash issue is perhaps the most interesting in that the art has a definate Atomic look to it, which is only exagerrated by studying later Flash issues.

Odd that Cei-U should summon the World's Finest Comics No. 241. I was in a newsagent's a few days ago and summoned the latest issue of Panini's Batman Legends, No. 9. into my eager little hands, which reoptints, inter alia, the issue with the Superman-Batman Revenge Squad. I may be getting round to reading that soon, as I suspect that it may be a classic.

My favourite issues of World's Finest Comics of all, however, are the earliest Boltinoff-edited ones, say 215 to 230, with the Super-Sons running through many of these issues.

[Lone Ranger]

Captain America #122

After Slam Bradley’s recommendation I bought and read Captain America #122 this weekend. I was happy to see the Scorpion back in action. Gene Colan’s art was very fluid and dynamic. The only real weak point was following Cap’s thoughts through the first few pages as he tried to reconcile his need to defend the status quo during an age of revolution. I am sure it seemed poignant in 1970, but Stan Lee’s script has become a little ham fisted with the passage of time. Grade: B+

[Slam_Bradley]

Silver Surfer # 13 a Stan Lee, John Buscema, Dan Adkins production of "The Dawn of the Doomsday Man." Our hero once again jumps in to save the Earth from an invincible robot, built too powerfully by the U.S. Army and controlled by a mad scientist. In the end, the inherent mistrust of the Earthlings he's saved, leaves the Surfer to wonder if it was all worthwhile. Basically the same plot and resolution we've seen in a half dozen previous issues of the title. Buscems's art is great as usual, but I don't think Adkins' inks match up as well as a number of other inkers. Grade: C.

Amazing Spider-man #81 a Stan Lee, John Buscema, Jim Mooney, John Romita production of "The Coming of the Kangaroo." Frankly, the Kangaroo has little going for him as a villain, Peter lets Aunt May walk all over him and sets her up for a very dangerous shock. The art is very nice, though from the credits it's hard to say who did what. Grade: B-.

Captain America # 123 a Stan Lee, Gene Colan, Joe Sinnott production of "Suprema, The Deadliest of the Species." Fantastic Colan/Sinnott art marred by a story centering on a villain who is essentially The Ringmaster in drag. SHIELD is taken over by Suprema and only Cap can save the day by creating a gadget at Tony Stark's lab. Cap shouldn't have the scientific know-how to do this based on his appearances prior to this issue. Grade: B-

[founder81]

an invincible robot, built too powerfully by the U.S. Army and controlled by a mad scientist.

Doesn't that always seem to be the case.

Someone builds a superpowerful robot for beniegn reasons (or a military project) and some evil mad scientist always steals it.

(where's that "Comics Greatest Cliches" thread at??)

[Cei-U!]

Captain America # 123 a Stan Lee, Gene Colan, Joe Sinnott production of "Suprema, The Deadliest of the Species." Fantastic Colan/Sinnott art marred by a story centering on a villain who is essentially The Ringmaster in drag. SHIELD is taken over by Suprema and only Cap can save the day by creating a gadget at Tony Stark's lab. Cap shouldn't have the scientific know-how to do this based on his appearances prior to this issue. Grade: B-

Man, that was a dire period for Cap. Much as I love Gene Colan 'n' all that, those were some really boring, directionless comics. It wasn't until Steve Englehart came on board that it became worth reading again.

Did Colan/Sinnott seem like a poor match to anyone but me? (Colan/Wood, on the other hand, held real promise. Too bad they worked together so rarely.)

Cei-U!
I summon my two cents' worth!

[B Smith]

It wasn't until Steve Englehart came on board that it became worth reading again.

Hear hear!

[Slam_Bradley]

Man, that was a dire period for Cap. Much as I love Gene Colan 'n' all that, those were some really boring, directionless comics. It wasn't until Steve Englehart came on board that it became worth reading again.

Did Colan/Sinnott seem like a poor match to anyone but me? (Colan/Wood, on the other hand, held real promise. Too bad they worked together so rarely.)

Cei-U!


I thought Colan/Sinnott matched up fairly well. I think the thing is that Colan seems to be pretty hard to ink and I felt like his work still showed through Sinnott's inks pretty well. I'm also reading them in B&W which may make a difference. Colan's work looks really good in B&W.

I do have to say that overall, Stan's work during that period wasn't stellar. His writing on Cap and the later issues of Silver Surfer wasn't up to snuff. On the other hand, I really liked Amazing Spider-man around that time.

[SaotomeMtl]

I wanted to read Howard Chaykin again and see if my opinion of him has changed, so I read the Blackhawk comics I own. I also re-read Jim Lee's run on the Fantastic Four Vol. 2, which is amazing even though it tries to fit in so much in 12 issues. Finally, I re-read the four issue mini-series of Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives! which remains one of my favourite Spider-Man books. Great story and art.

[founder81]

Iron Man #150
by David Michielienie (sp?) and John Romita JR

Iron man and Dr. Doom are blasted back in time to Camelot. King Arthur is suspicious of them both but IM proves his worth. Doom strikes a deal with Morgana Le Fey and he leads an army of undead to destroy King Arthur. IM figures out that there is something fishy and confronts Le Fey, forcing her to quelch on her deal with Doom. Doom swears vengeance on IM but they must work together to get home. They get home.

Avengers #279
by Roger Stern and John Buscema
Captain Marvel is nomited for chairmen, after some self doubt she finds the courage to take the position. And she helps Cap save some kids, (sweet isn't it).

[Schmakt]

I wanted to read Howard Chaykin again and see if my opinion of him has changed, so I read the Blackhawk comics I own. I also re-read Jim Lee's run on the Fantastic Four Vol. 2, which is amazing even though it tries to fit in so much in 12 issues. Finally, I re-read the four issue mini-series of Spider-Man: Hobgoblin Lives! which remains one of my favourite Spider-Man books. Great story and art.

and what did you think of Blackhawk?
My comics guy got me to buy a Blackhawk mini- like ten years ago... I was only 17 and didn't really know what I was doing, but I do remember enjoying the series fairly well.

[Lone Ranger]

Gunhawks #1

After ROK brought this up in the short run 70s series thread, I knew I had to find a copy just to check it out. I got a good deal on a beautiful copy. The story is like this – two confederate veterans head west to track down one of their kidnapped girlfriend. Reno Jones is, of all things, a black confederate veteran. You see, he was raised by Kid Cassidy’s father – who was a good ‘master’ and even paid the slaves for their labour. The two of them were raised and educated as ‘brothers’. After I got my mind around that stuff, the story got a bit weirder. Some old guy is ‘protective’ the buffalo herds, and and takes the Gunhawks – making a splint for Kid Cassidy’s broken leg, and teaching Reno how to handle a ‘buffalo rifle’. Well, there is a lot of shooting towards the end, and clue as to the whereabouts of Reno’s girlfriend appears.

Aside from the nice Syd Shores art, I really can’t recommend this book – except as an oddball. Too weird, very disjointed and I am not sure where it is going. There are a lot better western titles available from the late 60s/ early 70s. Grade: C

Marvel Feature #6

I really enjoyed this book! Ant-Man is still stuck at ant size and Jan is trying to help him find an antidote. Wouldn’t you know that Whirlwind (formerly the Human Top) decides to pay a visit! It has a fun Mike Friedrich script, and great miniature action sequences by Herb Trimpe. Happy Herb really seemed at home with Ant-Man and the Wasp – too bad this try-out never became a series. One of the reasons I really enjoy both Ant-Man and the Atom is the mixture of science and action – and the creative ways these mini-heroes use to get out of jams. Grade: A

[Lone Ranger]

Last night’s reading:

Ghost Rider #7

I am a big fan of this character, and was happy to find that koop had a nice copy of this issue for sale. This is the last issue of the series, although the storyline is continued in Western Gunfighters. What separates Ghost Rider from other Marvel Westerns is the soap opera-ish story arcs. Whereas the Kids (Two-Gun, Rawhide and Colt) normally get in and out of a jam within one issue, Ghost Rider’s problems are ongoing. The Ayers/Trimpe team do a good job on a slightly stiff script from Gary Friedrich (the Mountain Man seemed a bit too Hulk-like), as the Ghost Rider’s ‘effects’ give the artistic team more room to maneuver. It closes out with a typical (for Marvel westerns) ‘moral tale’ back-ups from Dennis O’Neil and Trimpe. Nicely done all around, but not great. Grade: B

Sorcery #10

I try to pick up Red Circle books wherever I can, and I got a copy of this issue during a sale at my favourite Toronto comic shop (Paradise Comics). This issue features at least 6 short tales (can’t recall exactly off the top of my head). Like most horror anthologies, there is some inconsistencies in the quality of the stories (I think most were written by Marv Channing), but where else can you find Gray Morrow, Frank Thorne, Howard Chaykin, Al McWilliams and Jack Abel all within one book? Grade: B+

[founder81]

Fantastic Four Annual #15
By Doug Moench and George Perez.
This was a rather boring tale of the FF, I almost fell asleep while reading it (and this was in the middle of the day!) Plot - Reed invents an energy transmitter whcih with a littel modification can become a matter transmitter. The Skrulls want this, they fight, Capt marvel shows up, the heroes win.


Spider-man #97 (? i can't remember the #, but...)
The Final Chapter part 2 of 4
Spider-man is hopping mad at Norman Osborne for kidnapping Peter's daughter and for faking the kids death. After getting through Osborne's security and after some rather nasty mid games from teh Green Goblin, Spidey learns his daughter really is dead becaus the May that has been alluded to is Aunt May, who knocks spidey over the head reminicent of Amazing #114.

[Schmakt]

Spider-man #97 (? i can't remember the #, but...)
The Final Chapter part 2 of 4
Spider-man is hopping mad at Norman Osborne for kidnapping Peter's daughter and for faking the kids death. After getting through Osborne's security and after some rather nasty mid games from teh Green Goblin, Spidey learns his daughter really is dead becaus the May that has been alluded to is Aunt May, who knocks spidey over the head reminicent of Amazing #114.

Spider-Man's daughter?
what?
Which Spider-Man book is this?

[Bill Angus]

Me:

Sir Tim:

Crossed wires here, methinks. I was referring to the Bronze Age Red Circle when I wrote 'rather too few for my liking' rather than the set you read yesterday.

Sir Tim: Yup, there's a few shorts in Sorcery and Mad House - it may be only two or three, but they're there. IIRR, one of 'em is the one about the pulp character dressed something like the Green Hornet. Marv Wolfman later extracted two issues of Daredevil (# 124 or so) from this villain and plot.

I've just looked it up (as can you - click away here (http://www.comics.org/details.lasso?id=27606) ) and it's a different story in that issue by Toth, by the looks of it. Oh, well. And has the GCBD got itself confused over Chilling Adventures in Sorcery, Red Circle Sorcery and Sorcery? Or am I imagining things when I 'recall' that No.s 6 and 7 were called Red Circle Sorcery?

Anyone interested in looking at/reading that story (The Man Who Tried To Kill Death) by Toth, can do so here (http://www.tothfans.com/showarticles.asp?ctg=3&fldAuto=254), and read annotations by the man himself.

[Slam_Bradley]

Silver Surfer #14, a Stan Lee, John Buscema, Dan Adkins production of "The Surfer and the Spider." Through the usual comic book machinations the Surfer and the Spider spend multiple pages battling each other over a rather simple misunderstanding. Of course the Army must get involved. Inevitably the Surfer saves a young child at risk to himself and the Army and Spidey decide to leave him alone.

This was the first Surfer issue I ever read. It was a whole lot better 25 years ago than it was last night. Grade C.

[yonoid]

I read Uncanny X-Men #151 this morning and I was really surprised at that passionate kiss Collosus and Kitty Pride had. From just reading the other Uncanny issues with the whole Kitty liking Collosus, I thought the whole thing was just innocent, not intimate. I was surprised they actually showed a 14 year old girl kissing an adult man, but I guess they were already past that revolutionizing thing in 1981.

[InfoBroker]

The plot break for me on Silver Surfer #14 was the role of Spider-man. It was a tangent from him being the target of the army and police, instead of being perceived as on their side.

But I always like the kid's line "If only I could make it fly" or something to that effect.

For me, Surfer was on a downward spiral from issue 5 onward. Issue 5 was nominated for an alley award iirc.

I'll also have to confess, that I never liked Shala Bal being in the present tense. After my initial read of Silver Surfer #1, I assumed Norin Radd's life on Zenn-la was way back in the past, many many millenium. LOTS of time. None of those characters were alive anymore. Zilched. Kick the bucket before Gilgamesh murdered dragons.

Of course, while I like the first five issues or so of Surfer, like so many others, I couldn't link the Silver Surfer appearing in FF, with this origin, and this Surfer. Except for the angst, they were two different guys dressed in silver and riding a surfboard.

And I also feel that Stan lost direction on the character, and his being trapped on earth limited the range of stories that could be told. Why bill him as the "Sentinel of the Spaceways"??? All he did was moan and mop about being trapped on earth.

Pure digression:
Now my Meteor-man character, while he had hardened skin and a sleek sheen, (he looked somewhat like the Adaptoid between adaptations -see Tales of Suspense #82), and was heavily influenced by old SS here, he had free range of the Milky Way and encountered all kinds of alien critters. No mopping and groaning. He had a wander-lust and explored a lot of territory. Closest he ever came to earth was examing the remains of one the the Surveyor spacecraft that crashed landed into the moon in the early 60s. He also liked cratered planetoids, and soaring through space. Those were a lot fun to draw :)

Probably not too much of spoiler, but the ride down the Silver Surfer trail is going to get bumpier for you before it gets smoother.


- jb the cosmic ib

[T GUy]

Infobroker: Of course, while I like the first five issues or so of Surfer, like so many others, I couldn't link the Silver Surfer appearing in FF, with this origin, and this Surfer. You and Jack Kirby both.

[Slam_Bradley]

Probably not too much of spoiler, but the ride down the Silver Surfer trail is going to get bumpier for you before it gets smoother.



Yeah, I'm anticipating this. But, with only 4 issues left I'll deal. And I'm heading in to the Schemer/Kingpin saga in ASM which was the first long continued Spidey story I ever read, way back when. I'm hoping it holds up to my memories.

[founder81]

Spider-Man's daughter?
what?
Which Spider-Man book is this?

SPOILERS











The simple version is this: During the Clone Saga MJ gets pregnant. During a story called 'Revalations" the child is born and wisked away immediatley at the hospital and MJ is told she (the child) is dead. Hints are HEAVILY layed here and thru ASM that the child is alive and Norman Osborne has her. In the Final Chapter, Peter gets wind that Osborne has "May" and goes to get his daughter only to find Aunt May. At this point it may be believable that Norman told the truth, the child died.

[Slam_Bradley]

Spectacular Spider-Man # 1, a Stan Lee, John Romita, Jim Mooney production of "Lo, This Monster." This was the first of the two issue 35 cent magazine experiment published in July of 1968. The painted cover over the Romita pencils is pretty cool. The story itself, while the art is vintage Romita/Mooney is nothing spectacular. Mad politician hires mad scientist to build a monster to help him get elected, so he can "rule the world." Sure it's a little tweak on the mad scientist routine, but very little. It was nice to see Capt. Stacey and Gwen in their customary roles. One thing that struck me were the number of typos. Manual become manuel, poor grammer...I counted over 20 typos in the 52 page story.

The second story is a 10 page origin re-cap by Lee, Larry Lieber and Bill Everett. It was billed as being expanded...but it seemed the standard origin. I can understand having it in the book for those who picked up the mag, but weren't familiar with the comic.

There was a little more violence in the book than in the typical comic of 1968. Most of the antagonists end up pretty clearly dead. But there simply wasn't anything here that couldn't have been done in the regular comic.

Grade: B -

[Lone Ranger]

Doom Patrol #101

Beast Boy’s trustee in knee deep in debt and figures killing Gar is the best way out. Of course, the DP afford him no sympathy and before you know it the are off to some island to defeat an alien robot menace. Turns out it isn’t an alien, but rather a familiar villain with a Parisian accent. The back-up story is a look at Robotman/Cliff Steele’s early days in his new metal shell. I was never into Doom Patrol when I started collecting comics, and that is my loss because these are a lot of fun. Arnold Drake’s scripts may be a little ‘out there’, but at least they are entertaining. Luckily, these are some of the cheapest Silver Age books around. Grade: A

Tales of Suspense #84

Iron Man is in the midst of a prolonged battle with the Mandarin – pitting technology against technology. I really like Mandy as a villain, so this 12 pager was lots of fun for me. I am generally not a huge fan of mid-story splash pages as they tend to disrupt the pacing. , but there is a pretty nice one by Colan in here. The Captain American story isn’t quite as good. Cap is somewhere in Communist China, trying to assist a SHIELD agent sabotaging a Z-Bomb. The whole thing seems a little rushed, and a there is no ‘suspense’ leading up to the SHIELD agent’s sacrifice. Grade: B

Beware the Creeper #4

Ditko at his kookiest. I really like the Creeper character, and the whole ‘Proteus’ storyline was pretty avant-garde for the late 60s. This book is so different (dare I say ‘innovative’) that I can’t believe it doesn’t say Charlton on the cover. The plot is too difficult to explain but let’s just say that brainwashing swamis, eastern European man mountains and hot dog vendors all play a role. The only real downside is the lack of depth of the supporting characters and the ill-defined powers of the Creepy one. I am nearly finished collecting this run, and I think it will be even better to sit down and read it all the way through. Grade: B+

[Sir Tim Drake]

I just read Longshot #2, an early work by Art Adams which is only worth reading for that reason. The story (by Ann Nocenti) was pretty undistinguished and also rather confusing if you hadn't read the first issue.

[Rob Allen]

Slam, the story in that 1968 Spectacular Spider-Man magazine was later printed in modified form in the regular Amazing Spider-Man comic. It was in 1972, just after Gerry Conway took over as writer. He found a way to incorporate the old story into current continuity with relatively few changes. I think it ran in issues 116-118 or so of ASM. That was John Romita's swan song as Spidey's regular artist; after that Gil Kane did half-a-dozen issues and then Ross Andru started.

[T GUy]

A masked man (who was he?) wrote:
This book is so different (dare I say ‘innovative’) that I can’t believe it doesn’t say Charlton on the cover.No, it was DC who were 'the daring and the different!'

[founder81]

Gunsmith Cats Bonnie and Clyde TPB

This intro's the Gunsmith Cats, gunsmiths who are bounty hunters in Chicago. I haven't seen a fun comic in this way anywhere else. It has its serious moments but always makes you laugh at the interaction of the characters to their bounty. An due to the fact its a "mirror" image to make the manga read left to right, the cars have the wheel on the WRONG side of the car.

Amazing Spider-man #430
Carnage's symbiote tries to take over the Silver Surfer. Kletus Cassady (Carnage's human host) has stomach cancer and it appears the symbiote was keeping him alive. Spidey helps Surfer reunite the symbiote with carnage and the Surfer turns Carnage into a living statue. Not the best Spidey story by far. (Credits ommitted because these guys normally do good work and I don't want to tarnish their names)

Avengers #280
to my surprise, ish #279 ended the Stern/Buscema run
This issue explores Jarvis. He was seriously injured at the hand sof Mr. Hyde and now contemplates retiring from the avengers. Due to the fact I had to get to work while reading this, I ended with Jarvis still undecided.

[Lone Ranger]

Gunsmoke Western #74

This is one of my older Marvel Silver Age books (Jan, 1963) and you really feel as though they still have one foot in the Atlas universe. Most western characters changed quite a bit in the early 60s, but Kid Colt probably changed the least. The lead story is great, as KC temporarily become sheriff of a town. The two back-ups are typical Stan Lee morality plays. Nice art by Keller, Reinman and Ayers art throughout. Grade: B

Bat Lash #1

No fancy review here, except to say ‘Bat Lash rocks!’. I cannot say enough about this comic. I have the first Bat Lash Showcase appearance, but never had any of the original series. Thanks to koop, I now do. If you don’t own any of this series – get your hands on some. There are still pretty affordable. DC would do well to do a thin TPB (like the Jack Kirby Green Arrow book). This stuff is fun, fun, fun. I can’t wait to read the rest of them. Grade: A+

[Slam_Bradley]

I read the first 2/3 of Classic Adventure Strips # 3 published by Dragon Lady Press. This consisted of the first story-line featuring the adventures of "Dickie Dare" and Dynamite Dan Flynn as written and rendered by Milton Caniff. I believe this was the second to the last storyline done by Caniff before he left "Dickie" for "Terry and the Pirates."

This type of strip has to be read considering the time in which it was published. It's hard to imagine anybody starting a storyline nowadays with parents sending a 12 year old boy off on an around the world journey with a old friend they hadn't seen in many many years, but that's what happened to Dickie. What followed was a rousing adventure involving gun-smuggling, rebel Bedouins, the French Foreign Legion and, of course, a beautiful debutantte.

Neither Caniff's writing nor his art are nearly as polished as they would be in the later Terry episodes or in Steve Canyon, but it was clear from the start that he was a major talent. The genesis of Terry and Pat Ryan is very apparent in Dickie and Dynamite Dan. A very readable, very enjoyable and extremely important historic strip.

Grade: B +

[Sir Tim Drake]

Avengers #280
to my surprise, ish #279 ended the Stern/Buscema run
This issue explores Jarvis. He was seriously injured at the hand sof Mr. Hyde and now contemplates retiring from the avengers. Due to the fact I had to get to work while reading this, I ended with Jarvis still undecided.

This is one of my favorite issues of Avengers, and also possibly one of the last issues of volume 1 that's actually worth reading. It may not be by Stern and Buscema, but it's a beautiful and poignant story.

[i*love*comics*247]

I just picked up Volumes 1 & 2 of Xenozoic Tales TPB yesterday and I'm through the first half of number one. This is some very good reading. Mark Schultz did an excellent job with this and I'm enjoying it alot. I can't believe I missed these stories over the years. And me being a big dinosaur fan.

[founder81]

This is one of my favorite issues of Avengers, and also possibly one of the last issues of volume 1 that's actually worth reading. It may not be by Stern and Buscema, but it's a beautiful and poignant story.

At first I thought this wouldn't be to my liking lacking Stern on the writing chores, but I was pleasantly surprised. Jarvis should be given full permanent membership to the avengers. That type of loyalty is hard to find.

[solinvictus]

"Mystery in Space" 90 & 91. I also bought #95 and found, unfortunately, that it was done by Lee Elias rather than Carmine Infantino.

[matt levin]

Just finished re-reading "Ronin" for about the what, 20th time? since it was published.

Was yet again impressed with how important this comic has proven in the scheme of things: without Frank Miller's "Ronin"--

there would be
no "Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles"
no black and white "boom"
far far less indy press work (most likely)
no "Lone Wolf and Cub" in English
very likely no manga
few if any "high priced" comics (heh--as if they aren't ALL high-priced now)
and so on and so on.

Too bad I still am uncertain what the ending is about, though!

Matt,
who's much enjoyed most of the comics mentioned above, too--thanks!

[David Porta]

"Mystery in Space" 90 & 91. I also bought #95 and found, unfortunately, that it was done by Lee Elias rather than Carmine Infantino.
Infantino rocks, and it is always disappointing to have one's hopes/expectations dashed.
But let's don't slight Lee Elias. A delightful talent.
And isn't it amazing how many artists were influenced by Caniff?

[Lone Ranger]

Rawhide Kid #56

Picked this one up at the Toronto con. I am a big Rawhide Kid fan, and I am always pleased to find an issue that I need at a reasonable price. This RK story has the Kid trying to dethrone a corrupt local sheriff. It’s a fun story and for my money, Larry Lieber can draw an action sequence as well as anyone. Unfortunately, the story was inked by Vinny C and it shows. I think that John Tartaglione (sp?) is one of the better inkers for Lieber, or the Larrupin’ One himself. The back-up story is a nice little tale, as a revenge seeking son learns that time takes its toll on the vilest of villains. This story was drawn by Al Ulmer – who worked for plenty of companies in the Golden Age, but I don’t recall ever seeing his name of a Silver Age book. Grade: B+

Captain America #107

Captain America is seeing the worst shrink ever, as he is being fed ‘nightmare’ pills which have hallucinogenic properties. This is a neat little story, as we see Cap dealing with various issues from his past. It is a good story because it demonstrates how the best way to (nearly) defeat a superhero is through his mind, not his might. Dr. Faustus is behind all of this, and his Freudian appearance is quite intimidating. Great work by the Kirby/Shores team. I really liked this one. Grade: A

[founder81]

Avengers Annual #13
Roger Stern and Steve Ditko
A lame B level Captain America Villian unleashes an Army of Hulks on the Avengers to keep them distracted so he can steal Dr. Banner's Biological discoveries. And yes the Avengers win and yes this story is better written then my plot summary suggests.

Last night I was bored and decided to start reading my wife's Hellblazer run. She got it off ebay and HASN"T TOUCHED IT SINCE. I figured some should read it.

Hellblazer #2
Constatine uses one of his friends to trap an evil force that threatens the world.

#3
Demon Yuppies. They trade in Souls like realy yuppies trade stocks. Constatine pulls off a bluff so the head demon destroys the other demons.

Hellblazer is turning out to be some pretty good stuff.

[Cei-U!]

The New Teen Titans (1st series) #38
"Who is Donna Troy?"
Marv Wolfman (Story) and George Perez (Art)

I just recently re-collected a big chunk of the title that spearheaded DC's early '80s renaissance and I gotta say it: a little of Wolfman's weepy Titans goes a long way. Individually each issue is excellent but read in sequence, the barrage of teen angst and sentimentality gets old quickly.

That said, this issue was absolutely groundbreaking and, even more important, was beautifully executed. No super-villains, no action of any kind, just Robin and Wonder Girl in their civvies solving the mystery of the orphaned super-heroine's lost past.

Wolfman's plot is solid, satisfying and almost completely devoid of super-hero trappings, the characters are incisively and economically portrayed and only Robin's uncharacteristically florid narration mars what is otherwise Marv's finest hour in the genre. Perez demonstrates an understatement and emotional honesty that puts the lie to those who thing all he's capable of is costume-studded slugfests.

Did I mention I like this story? A lot. God, I miss the Eighties.

Cei-U!
I summon the good read!

[Sir Tim Drake]

The New Teen Titans (1st series) #38
"Who is Donna Troy?"
Marv Wolfman (Story) and George Perez (Art)

I just recently re-collected a big chunk of the title that spearheaded DC's early '80s renaissance and I gotta say it: a little of Wolfman's weepy Titans goes a long way. Individually each issue is excellent but read in sequence, the barrage of teen angst and sentimentality gets old quickly.

That said, this issue was absolutely groundbreaking and, even more important, was beautifully executed. No super-villains, no action of any kind, just Robin and Wonder Girl in their civvies solving the mystery of the orphaned super-heroine's lost past.

Wolfman's plot is solid, satisfying and almost completely devoid of super-hero trappings, the characters are incisively and economically portrayed and only Robin's uncharacteristically florid narration mars what is otherwise Marv's finest hour in the genre. Perez demonstrates an understatement and emotional honesty that puts the lie to those who thing all he's capable of is costume-studded slugfests.

Did I mention I like this story? A lot. God, I miss the Eighties.

Cei-U!
I summon the good read!

I agree with most of this except for the bit about the florid narration. :) This is my favorite comic book. Ever.

[Slam_Bradley]

Amazing Spider-man # 82, a Stan Lee, John Romita, Jim Mooney production of "And Then Came Electro!" Peter is very stressed out about the effect that his Spidey activities are having on his social life. This is compounded by his lack of money and inability to wine and dine young Gwen Stacy. In an attempt to get some money, he agrees to appear on a night-time talk show. Serendipitously, a paroled Electro is working as an electrician on the show. He makes a deal with J. Jonah Jameson to unmask Spidey on the air. Mayhem ensues.

The fight between Electro and Spidey only takes up the last 1/3 of the book. Most of the first 2/3 deals with Petes personal problems and attempts to make some money. It's good old fashioned Marvel soap opera with great art by Romita and Mooney. Grade: A -

[InfoBroker]

re: Amazing #82

Is a very interesting comic with some very interesting history, and illustrates one of the major reason that Marvel was so successful as a company in the 60s.

The time period for this comic's publication is early 1970, about four month's before I take a year long break from buying comics. The fan press is sensing an end to the silver-age of comics, super-heroes sales are down, (probably all comic sales are down - but I don't have source to prove that one), and there is a lot of talk in the Marvel based fanzines about Stan losing his touch, and that the content, the form of comics has all changed for the worse.

One of the more interesting observations is that the panels per page has shrunk considerably, not allowing enough room to pace a story with the same content that was true during the heyday of Spider-man during the Steve Ditko run.

This comic was the answer to that comment by fandom. It went back to six and even nine panels per page, which was no mean feat considering that the original art size was now only 1 and 1/2 up the printed size instead of twice up as it had been post 1968.

Stan Lee the editor truely cared about what fans wanted. He read most if not all of the letters, and he kept a pulse on the fan press of the time. He listened to his customers and kept their interests a part of his editorial decision process.

Oh and it was also a great story. Stan still understood the nature of what made for a really good Spider-man story.

But then came issue #86, and with that comic, and several other Marvel comics that came out in that month or so, I had had it with the dumb-downed editorial policies and the missing passion of this dark (to me) period. When I saw the cover to issue 87, it was the deal breaker. Marvel had become everything they ridiculed DC about and in someways worse.

I spent a year away from comics, well, on the edge anyway. Not buying much if any new material, but still drawing my own comics, and watching and waiting for something new and fresh to emerge.

- jb the ib:cool: - who gave this comic a strong A- way back then, and still enjoys the whole approach of this comic, and its sympathies for the desires of the fan base.

[founder81]

Hellblazer just keeps getting better as it goes along.

#4
Constatine's niece is missing. Gemma, his niece, doesn't like her new home, her parents have fallen in wiht a religious fanatic group. On the play ground near her home, Gemma meets 3 girls and they take her home to another "wife". Constatine hears this on the news and goes to help. the religious group refuses to help, they feel the girl deserves what she gets because she isn't religious enough. Constatine finds Gemma and the bodies of the 3 girls. The marriage is a ritual to a dark god. Gemma is safe though.

#5
For some reason Constatine is in Iowa. There is a religious group here as well. This group has promised to return the towns MIA vietnam boys. When the Boys emerge form a nearby cornfield they see the townsfolk, their own parents, as vietnamese farmers. The only survivor from this group, now 20 years older, goes nuts and relives the events he went through. he was responsible for them not coming home. Constatine doesn't participate, just watches. By the end of issue, the entire town is dead and Constatine decides to look into these religious groups.

[Slam_Bradley]

Captain America # 124, a Stan Lee, Gene Colan, Joe Sinnott production of "Mission: Stop the Cyborg." This book was very much a mixed bag for me. I love the Colan/Sinnott art. I have always liked Modok as a villain (though the AIM bee-keeper suits are goofy) and the Cyborg he created from an AIM soldier was interesting. But Cap's insistence that Sharon stop working as a SHIELD field-agent, Sharon and Fury's instant acquiesence to his demands and then his tantrum when Sharon returns to the field to try to warn him of the cyborg was wearing. Grade: C+ in a story that is saved by the art and the villain.

[Slam_Bradley]

One of the areas in which my comic knowledge is conpicuously lacking is in the area of Disney comics. Ducks, Mice, Carl Barks, Don Rosa, Floyd Gottfreidson...I know the names and I've read a little, but not much. I recently came in to access to a number of these books, so I'll be reading them in the coming days.

Four Color # 386/Uncle Scrooge # 1, "Only A Poor Old Duck" by Carl Barks. Funny story which finds the Beagle Boys spending 32 pages trying to(and almost succeeding in) getting Scrooge's money. I found the short flashbacks to how Scrooge gained his money interesting. I'm not sure if these were to older stories or to stories that would later be fleshed out. Scrooge has always struck me as penny-smart and dime-foolish; you'd think he'd own the property surrounding his money-bin to keep anyone from building next to it.

Random thoughts: Scrooge pays the boys 30 cents an hour, while a year later in F.C. 456 he pays them 22 cents an hour; the EPA would have a field day with what he and the Beagles did to that lake.
Grade: B+.

Four Color # 456/Uncle Scrooge # 2, "Back To the Klondike" by Carl Barks. This is the type of story I think of when I think of Barks' Ducks. The rousing adventure set in an "exotic" locale. Scrooge, thanks to a memory pill remembers White Agony Creek in the Yukon, the huge stash of gold he left there, and Glittering Goldie (who owes him a billion dollars). Scrooge and the boys go to the Klondike to get the gold, run in to Goldie and a trained bear, and in the end love gets the better of greed.

Random thoughts: It appears that this is the first appearance of Goldie; There's a fight scene in a flashback in Dawson that I know I've seen before.
Grade: A.

[Hoss]

Uncanny X-Men 180 - 188.

These are some of my favority X-Men stories. By this point, Claremont had already established the core of the characters and was now evolving the relationships and personalities. Storm first goes through a radical personality and cosmetic change and then in these issues has to deal with losing her powers. Claremont really doconstructs Storm and then builds something great from the ashes. Kitty on the one hand has to deal with her surrogate mom "Storm" changing and with Peter dumping her for the memory of the Alien from Secret Wars. Kitty's reaction is a perfect mix of a girl being dumped by her first love and a woman keeping her dignity. Wolverine kicks into full paternal mode when he lets Colossus get into a fight with the Juggernaunt in order to teach him a lesson about hurting Kitty. Heck, we even see a new, less evil side to the Juggernaunt that lends alot of creedence to the new good guy Juggernaunt.

We meet Forge - a really interesting character that could have been just an amalgalm of circumastances - a handicapped, mutant, American-Indian, Vietnam vet. But Claremont Forge into a flawed yet surprisingly strong and nobel character. Plus, we see Rogue deal with the effects of her absorbing Carol Danvers personality and powers and the consequences of her previous actions as a member of Mystique's Brotherhood.


John Romita Jr's art is fantastic. I'm reading these books in the new essential trade and Romita's uncolored pencils are just stunning. I remember not being crazy about his stuff back then, but I also wanted everyone to be either Byrne or Mike Zeck when these issues of X-men came out. Actually, before re-reading these books, I thought I liked Romita's newer style better. Now, I'm not so sure at all.

Oh yeah - some guy named Windsor-Smith does a fair job as a fill-in artist. ;)

[Slam_Bradley]

Silver Surfer # 15, a Stan Lee, John Buscema, Dan Adkins presentation of "The Flame and the Fury." The Surfer decides he needs to again try to fit in to Earth society so he seeks out the Fantastic Four, his only Earth friends. Lurking outside the window of the Baxter building he overhears the FF agree to "get him" for an Army general and goes berserk. Of course he spends the rest of the issue fighting the Human Torch only to find out the Army wanted help with its space program.

Another rehashed hero fights hero by mistake saved from the trash-heap only by John Buscema's pencils (though I still don't like Adkins inking him).

Grade: D+

[Lone Ranger]

Tales to Astonish #60

Well, that’s not completely true. I read the Giant Man/Wasp story in the Essential Ant-Man, but close enough. In this story, Hank has to go behind the iron curtain to rescue