What Classic Comic Have You Read Lately? Pt. 2

[inferno]

Fantastic Four #28 - (as reprinted in Giant-Size Fantastic Four #4) A prototypical crossover tale. The Puppet Master takes control of Professor X and his mental powers, in turn using them to control the X-Men to attack the Fantastic Four and whatnot. Eventually, Beast breaks the control and the differences are more or less resolved. Great art by Kirby as per usual, middling story by Stan Lee , and about two ridiculous editorial goofs by Lee. Worth reading regardless.

[pmpknface]

Finally finished the last 2 issues in the Swamp Thing HC v. 4. Great stuff! This is all new to me and now I can't wait for vol. 5!

[Paulie]

Finally finished the last 2 issues in the Swamp Thing HC v. 4. Great stuff! This is all new to me and now I can't wait for vol. 5!

Yup, and the entire series is good to all the way through to #171. While the Moore issues are classics, the Rick Veitch run is excellent and thankfully it never dips below a solid B/B- the rest of the way.

[pmpknface]

Very good to know. I have the HC "Roots of the Swamp Thing" that has HoS #92 & SWAMP THING #1-13 and then the Moore HC's 1-4 that start at #20. So I hope they put out A "Roots of" vol 2 that covers 12-19 just to bridge the gap. If DC keeps putting out these HCs after Moore's run is over I'll continue to read them.

In the same vein I also just finished Hellblazer vol 1 that was a new printing a few months ago. I hope to continue on with that too!

[inferno]

Giant-Size Fantastic Four #3 (1974) -- Marv Wolfman, Rich Buckler, Joe Sinnot -- I dig Wolfman's Team of Dracula stuff, but this outing on FF was rather uninspired. Invisible Girl is missing from the roster here, in her place is Medusa, who fittingly, has super-strong prehensile hair. Also of note is the Torch's F4 uniform is red rather than white. Anyway, the story is the four horsemen of the apocalypse (not the ones originated in X-Factor years later; these apparently debuted in FF#150). They fight the Four, the Four win. Kinda boring. Have to give it a THUMBS DOWN. The reprint of FF#21 contained in the back was more fun.

[Jolly Mon]

Giant-Size Fantastic Four #3 (1974) -- Marv Wolfman, Rich Buckler, Joe Sinnot -- I dig Wolfman's Team of Dracula stuff, but this outing on FF was rather uninspired. Invisible Girl is missing from the roster here, in her place is Medusa, who fittingly, has super-strong prehensile hair. Also of note is the Torch's F4 uniform is red rather than white. Anyway, the story is the four horsemen of the apocalypse (not the ones originated in X-Factor years later; these apparently debuted in FF#150). They fight the Four, the Four win. Kinda boring. Have to give it a THUMBS DOWN. The reprint of FF#21 contained in the back was more fun.

FF #150 was the conclusion of the Avengers/FF crossover that featured the wedding of Quicksilver & Crystal. No horsemen of any kind here. Also, for several years in the 70's the Torch's uniform was changed as a sort of tribute to the original Human Torch from the Goldern Age.

[inferno]

Oops. I misrecalled an editorial footnote. I just checked and the reference to #150 is concern by Reed and Ben that Johnny is bummed over the wedding of Crystal and Quicksilver which occurred in that issue. I guess it doesn't help that I usually read my comics as I'm falling asleep.

[benday-dot]

Vampirella: Transcending Time And Space (TPB)

Random collection (as far as I can tell chronologically anyway) of original Warren Vampirella is adventures in different planets and dimensions with the Van Helsings and Pendragon. There was a interesting story of Dracula's road to redemption that was left open in this collection. And just when I thought, as I gaze upon Jose Gonzalez's Vampirella that he couldn't draw a woman more beautiful Conjuress. So glad someone gave that man a job drawing.

The Gonzalez art is actually the best thing about the Vampirella books. Generally speaking the other stories backing up Vampi in her book are superior. The Vampirella tales always seemed to me stuck halfway between cheese and horror, never quite figuring out which way to go. It wasn't bad stuff and some it was most entertaining, but it often failed to find its proper voice. Gonzalez at one point got sick of drawing Vampirella and left the book, to be replaced by the equally inspired and wonderful Peruvian Gonzalo Mayo. Gonzalez came back to the book as wonderful as ever; indeed his art seemed to improve as he went along.

[Graham Vingoe]

Very good to know. I have the HC "Roots of the Swamp Thing" that has HoS #92 & SWAMP THING #1-13 and then the Moore HC's 1-4 that start at #20. So I hope they put out A "Roots of" vol 2 that covers 12-19 just to bridge the gap. If DC keeps putting out these HCs after Moore's run is over I'll continue to read them.

In the same vein I also just finished Hellblazer vol 1 that was a new printing a few months ago. I hope to continue on with that too!

pmpknface, minor thing to consider Roots of the Swamp Thing HC is the first series of Swampy, whilst Alan Moore was writing the second series.
The remainder of series one is primarily by David Michelinie and Nestor Redondo and uncollected. 1-19 of series 2 was by Marty Pasko with Tom Yeates and then Bissette/Totleben. Its also never been collected as far as I can remember but worth seeking out.
You've got a lot more swampy to look forward to!

[Simon Garth]

Just read Avengers vol1 #120 through to 178. And to be honest, they seemed an awful lot better when I was 12-15!

There's some OK-ish stuff in there - early George Perez art, and some of the Kang/Wild West story wasn't bad, but mostly the stories were dreadful, the scripts were incredibly over-written, and an awful lot of the art is really poor: Bob Brown inked by Don Heck, Rick Buckler at his worst, even John Buscema mismatched Don Heck.

[Mr. O'Hara]

I'm currently re-reading a big pile of National Lampoons from the early 70's and these things are full of nicely bizarre art by the likes of Neil Adams, Jeff Jones, Gahan Wilson, Edward Gorey, Frank Thorne, Frank Springer, and Frank Frazetta.

Good clean fun

[MDG]

I'm currently re-reading a big pile of National Lampoons from the early 70's and these things are full of nicely bizarre art by the likes of Neil Adams, Jeff Jones, Gahan Wilson, Edward Gorey, Frank Thorne, Frank Springer, and Frank Frazetta.

Good clean fun

Can't forget regulars Bobby London, Sherry Flenniken and Vaughn Bode!

A lot of mainstream artists showed up in NATLAMP. Don't know which issues you have, but there are a couple of surprisingly tasteless stories drawn by Joe Orlando and George Evans, and a MAD parody, with John Romita, of all people, drawing the Alfred E Newman cover. Best of all, there's at least one episode of "PJ's Naked Girls Telling Jokes," which is just what it sounds like, and drawn by Russ Heath.

[pmpknface]

pmpknface, minor thing to consider Roots of the Swamp Thing HC is the first series of Swampy, whilst Alan Moore was writing the second series.
The remainder of series one is primarily by David Michelinie and Nestor Redondo and uncollected. 1-19 of series 2 was by Marty Pasko with Tom Yeates and then Bissette/Totleben. Its also never been collected as far as I can remember but worth seeking out.
You've got a lot more swampy to look forward to!

Good to know. Thanks! Book 5 lands on 7/12 according to Amazon! ;)

[Scott Harris]

Just read Avengers vol1 #120 through to 178. And to be honest, they seemed an awful lot better when I was 12-15!

There's some OK-ish stuff in there - early George Perez art, and some of the Kang/Wild West story wasn't bad, but mostly the stories were dreadful, the scripts were incredibly over-written, and an awful lot of the art is really poor: Bob Brown inked by Don Heck, Rick Buckler at his worst, even John Buscema mismatched Don Heck.

No offense, but I think you're slightly daft. While I'm not as big a fan of Englehart's work as some of my fellow Avengers fans, The Shooter/Perez (and company) era from, say, #158-177 is totally awesome. One of the best runs in superhero comics, period, in my opinion. Grim Reaper's trial in #160, the best Ultron story ever in #161-162, the fantastic Nefaria story with Byrne art in #164-166 (which is basically "what if the Avengers fought Superman?") and the all-time great Korvac Saga in #167-168 and #170-177. Top notch.

[adam_warlock_2099]

The Gonzalez art is actually the best thing about the Vampirella books. Generally speaking the other stories backing up Vampi in her book are superior. The Vampirella tales always seemed to me stuck halfway between cheese and horror, never quite figuring out which way to go. It wasn't bad stuff and some it was most entertaining, but it often failed to find its proper voice. Gonzalez at one point got sick of drawing Vampirella and left the book, to be replaced by the equally inspired and wonderful Peruvian Gonzalo Mayo. Gonzalez came back to the book as wonderful as ever; indeed his art seemed to improve as he went along.

I am not at all ashamed to say Vampirella IS the reason I started reading the Harris series. The first was the Millar/Mayhew series in 2001 to attract my attention. I saw a Mayhew cover on display and cared not for the contents. I bought the all the issues that had come out at the time (around 10) and continued with the series till it ended. I bought many Harris issues of Vampirella and was attracted to that TPB for the wonderful Jim Silke cover (whose Bettie Page I had discovered before). But I was young and brash and thought how can a black&white comic be as good as color. So there is sat from many years until I just now read it. After reading some Cerebus and Essential/Showcase, and well just growing up a bit, I decided to give Warren Vampirella another go. Since then I have three TPB and enjoyed them.

I have the Crimson Chronicles TPB which reprints the first 37 issues of the series that I will be reading next. This being the one complaint I had with Harris' TPB before that they were random and/or collected in a story arc with no indication in the book what the original material was they were reprinting, thus making it hard for me to know what material I have. But at least with the first 37 issues under my belt, in time I can afford the original issues if I have to go that way.

Having seen far more gaudy cheese cake I guess this came off a bit more umm "classy". Maybe had I read it in the 70's it would have been more racy. I think looking back at things outside of one's lifetime can give one a context for that time. I can see Vampirella fitting in real well as a racy and sexualized adult reading material. Something to set it apart from the general audience superhero comics at the time.

I agree that it does seem to meander some. Some stories and down to earth and realistic and then others are so fantastical that it's almost ridiculous. (The worm on the sand planet comes to mind.) But I take it as entertainment and enjoy it as some great eye candy. And sometimes, just like movies, I don't mind turning my brain off and just letting someone give my eyes a show they won't forget.

I look forward to seeing Mayo's art. Hopefully he will be in this last TPB I have yet to read.