The Sixth Day of Classic Comics Christmas 2012

[Cei-U!]

I forgot to write up today's entry last night and I don't want to make you all wait while I struggle with syntax so this is going to be a tad cursory. Besides Marty already did a fine job of enumerating the pleasures of

#7. Marvel Feature #1-12



Hulk. Sub-Mariner. Dr. Strange. Defenders. Ant-Man. Wasp. Thing. Iron Man. Thomas. Andru. Everett. Friedrich. Trimpe. Russell, Wein. Starlin. Sinnott. Nuff. Said.

Cei-U!
I summon the Readers Digest condensed version!

[MRP]

On the sixth day of Christmas, having reached the halfway point, I give unto thee...

Marvel Universe #1-7 (June 1998-Dec 1998)

Roger Stern was given a series to play around the Marvel universe telling stories set in various points in Marvel history. Unfortunately it only lasted 7 issues comprising 2 acs (though a third story featuring Dr. Strange was written and later completed and released as part of the Marvel From the Vault series).

The first arc features the invaders and the artwork of Steve Epting inked by Al Williamson. This was a very enjoyable Invaders tale with beautiful artwork, but the reason for my enduring affection for this series is the second arc featuring the Monster Hunters. Mike Manley did the art for the second arc with a little help form some friends. The Monster Hunters was an ad hoc team led by Ulysses Bloodstone, featuring Dr. Druid, incorporating elements from Kibry’s Eternals, the dora milaje from the Black Panther mythos, a pre-FF #1 Mole Man, and a gaggle of Marvel Monsters such as Gigantus and Gorgilla, the series is pure fun in comic form.

Cover to #4



So let's hope Santa leaves some monsters in your stocking....

-M

[dan bailey]

Nice. Marvel Universe will be showing up again a few days from now.

[Slam_Bradley]

I loved Marvel Universe...well for the short time we got it.

It was one of the books I'd seriously considered using as a replacement. Now I may not since it looks like it's getting some love.

[Scott Harris]

7. Amazing High Adventure #1-5



I'm going to say right up front that I haven't actually read these yet. Hey, you have to think outside the box sometimes. Actually, I haven't read them only because the shipment from ebay containing the whole run has gotten stuck in transit somewhere; I thought I would have it read by now, but them's the breaks.

But even without reading this series I'm still confident enough in it to put it in my top 12. Why? Well, honestly, I just love the fact that this series exists. Back when Marvel was willing to actually try new things (read: the early 80's), they put together this oversized, overpriced series of specials featuring some of the best creators in comics doing adventure stories. Not superheroes, but just straight up, Indiana Jones style pulp adventures mixed with dramatic stories set throughout history. Here are the CGD descriptions of the four stories from the first issue alone: "Pagan resistance to Oliver Cromwell," "Mayan resistance to Cortez," "time travel" and "Russian boy lost with dying Inuit man."

And then there are those creators. That story about Cromwell features art by John Severin, as does at least one story in almost every issue. Bill Sienkiewicz, Paul Smith, Mike Mignola, Val Mayerik, John Bolton and Steve Bissette are just some of the great artists who contributed to the series. How could you not want to read a story about "Napoleon's invasion of Egypt" drawn by Mike Mignola, or something simply described as "the early days of paleontology" drawn by Steve Bissette? I have a feeling Marvel won't be publishing any new comics about paleontology any time soon.

The first issue was published in 1983, with a second in 1984 and the third coming in 1985. They then made the series monthly, and it was almost immediately cancelled. I wish they had just left it as an annual, as it would have been nice to have Marvel's top talent continue to deliver a giant-sized book of adventures every year. But the fact that this series exists at all is enough for me.

Check out the credits on this one:

[MRP]

I am trying very hard not to expand my want list, but that write up for Amazing High Adventure has made me add it to my list. I know of the title but never looked at its contents that closely before. Shame too, as I know I have passed over it in quarter and dollar bins in the last year. Ah, the regrets.

-M

[Paulie]

7. Amazing High Adventure #1-5



I'm going to say right up front that I haven't actually read these yet. Hey, you have to think outside the box sometimes. Actually, I haven't read them only because the shipment from ebay containing the whole run has gotten stuck in transit somewhere; I thought I would have it read by now, but them's the breaks.

But even without reading this series I'm still confident enough in it to put it in my top 12. Why? Well, honestly, I just love the fact that this series exists. Back when Marvel was willing to actually try new things (read: the early 80's), they put together this oversized, overpriced series of specials featuring some of the best creators in comics doing adventure stories. Not superheroes, but just straight up, Indiana Jones style pulp adventures mixed with dramatic stories set throughout history. Here are the CGD descriptions of the four stories from the first issue alone: "Pagan resistance to Oliver Cromwell," "Mayan resistance to Cortez," "time travel" and "Russian boy lost with dying Inuit man."

And then there are those creators. That story about Cromwell features art by John Severin, as does at least one story in almost every issue. Bill Sienkiewicz, Paul Smith, Mike Mignola, Val Mayerik, John Bolton and Steve Bissette are just some of the great artists who contributed to the series. How could you not want to read a story about "Napoleon's invasion of Egypt" drawn by Mike Mignola, or something simply described as "the early days of paleontology" drawn by Steve Bissette? I have a feeling Marvel won't be publishing any new comics about paleontology any time soon.

The first issue was published in 1983, with a second in 1984 and the third coming in 1985. They then made the series monthly, and it was almost immediately cancelled. I wish they had just left it as an annual, as it would have been nice to have Marvel's top talent continue to deliver a giant-sized book of adventures every year. But the fact that this series exists at all is enough for me.

Check out the credits on this one:

Nice, this was going to be on my list today! Soooo... I'll make the switch and do Marvel Feature 1-12. 12 very nice comics. First Defenders with great art from Ross Andru and those gorgeous Thing Team-ups from Starlin. And now everyone knows tomorrow's pick as well!

[dan bailey]

A Severin page! Be still my beating heart ...

[Roquefort Raider]

7. Amazing High Adventure #1-5

I had forgotten about that title! It's like a color Savage Tales vol. 2. Looks pretty good!!!

Meanwhile...

-------------------------------------

7. The adventures of Luther Arkwright #1-9, published by Valkyrie Press in the UK and by Dark Horse in the US, with different covers.

This is pure Michael Moorcock fantasy: multiple universes mixed with pop culture blended with history with a touch of tantric sex and a healthy dose of oriental spirituality. With religion. And politics. Oh, and of course superhuman psychic powers, messianic themes, lots of action and cool characters!



But it's not actually by Moorcock... It's by Bryan Talbot, who with this series became an instant favorite of mine. This particular story is on the same level as Jim Starlin's Warlock in my book, and just like Warlock it is one I am happy to see in black and white so I can appreciate the fine linework of the artist. (In case you wonder, I first read Warlock in a B&W French version, and the Essential Warlock confirmed that I preferred it that way to the color version).

The sequel published years and years later ("Hearts of empire") was nice too, but I don't think anything comes close to the original tale... it has rough edges, sure, but all the enthusiasm and manic energy of an ambitious work done by a talented newcomer.

[Slam_Bradley]

'Mazing Man



I don't know that there's a huge amount that I can add to what Ear already said about 'Maze. (I hope it's still there). This book was a breath of fresh air in the aftermath of grim and gritty. My wife even liked it. Everyone needs 'Mazing Man and friends to make life a little more fun.

[MRP]

7. The adventures of Luther Arkwright #1-9, published by Valkyrie Press in the UK and by Dark Horse in the US, with different covers.

We will be seeing this one again. It was a toss up between this and Marvel Universe as to which was posted today for me, but Arkwright got the nod to being slightly higher on my list, so got put off a day.

-M

[Polar Bear]

7. Boys' Ranch #1-6, by Simon & Kirby

Angel, Dandy, and Wabash, all under 20 years old, handle a ranch under man's man Clay Duncan in the wild west. As usual with such set-ups, plenty of conflicts arise.

"Mother Delilah" in issue #3 is one of the pair's best stories ever. Possibly their single best: biblical and classical allusions abound in this slow-train-wreck of s story, complete with a Greek chorus (even if he does have a Roman name).



1991 Marvel hardcover collects all six 1950-51 issues. Great fun!

[METAROG]

Well, ROK used this one for his list yesterday and between he and Dan Bailey almost every one on my actual or back-up list have been chosen. I do have a few surprises coming up though but this one had to be one of my selections!

7. Star Hunters 1-7 1977

This was a promising series that unfortunately got axed before a definitive resolution to the plot occurred. I believe this story actually started in DC Super Stars and from there this series continued. The premise had elements Escape from New York/LA but on a cosmic scale. The team was infected and the antidote was contingent on them getting results.

The scripts by Michelinie were solid and the art was nice although several artists traded off the early issues. Overall this was yet another Sci-Fi adventure that was cut short before it could really establish itself. I just enjoy the “overcome insurmountable obstacles and stick it to the greedy immoral types” story and this is a quintessential example of that.

[MWGallaher]

7. Doll #1-8 by Guy Colwell, 1989-1992

The kind of science fiction that most intrigues me is the kind that takes a single technological advance and uses the that advance's projected effect on society to explore human nature. This adults-only series does just that.
Doll is about an extremely realistic sex doll. One of a kind, "fully functional", hypernaturally realistic in both look and feel, authentically articulated and completely poseable.

Colwell takes this premise, which could inspire so many responses, and explores them all, as Doll changes hands from the artist who creates her, to the wealthy-but-disfigured man who commissioned her, to the various people who steal, find, or otherwise gain access to her, exploring big concepts of human sexuality, power, obsession, greed, and commerce, to name but a few.

Lest that scare you off with the suspicion that this is some dry, feminist polemic, Colwell manages to wrap all these grand sociological and psychological investigations inside the threads of a riveting story, with memorable, richly conceived and rendered characters. He doesn't have to hit you over the head with anything, because the reader responds to every twist, every betrayal, every desperate act with immediate realizations that, yes, there would be some people exactly like that who would do exactly that kind of thing. And with those realizations come insights into ordinary human experience and personality, along with, quite probably, introspective exploration.

Doll is some of the best of what comics can do. It's the epitome of "serious pornography." It has to include the explicit stuff, because that's what it's all about, and what it's all about has genuine, indisputable merit and importance. It's one of the only non-salacious mechanisms by which I can imagine an artist addressing the breadth of issues Colwell does here.

You can read this story, and its sequel ("Further Adventures of Doll") in collected editions or in back issue form. A quick look at amazon shows some incredibly low prices for used copies right now. For those over 18 who don't object to this sort of content, it's worth sampling.

[dan bailey]

7. ClanDestine #s 1-12 c(Marvel, Oct 1994-Sept 1995)

I have no idea how I learned about the existence of this title & these characters a few years ago, since I took the '90s (& of course the '80s, & '78-'79, & 2000-2003ish ...) off, but man, is this one fun. As if Alan Davis' excellent art -- sort of a more fluid Neal Adams, with maybe a bit of John Byrne at the top of his game thrown in -- weren't enticement enough, he comes up with a family of superpowered beings, the Destines, with enough drama, foibles & back story to stock a primetime soap opera. For whatever reason, Davis left the series with the 8th issue, & after that things took a turn for the drastically different for the final four issues. When he revived the characters for a 2-issue X-Men crossover, he dismissed that arc as a nightmare in what would otherwise have been a throwaway bit of dialogue.

Only in researching this (as alluded to previously, memory at first suggested that it was a planned 12-issue limited series, which for reasons of my own would've disqualified it for my list) did I find out that Davis brought the Destines back this year in a series of crossover annuals of mainstream MU characters. The collected volume of same is due to arrive at my doorstep by the time I get home; I can't wait.