The Seventh Day of Classic Comics Christmas 2012

[Polar Bear]

Why are people worried about if something has already been posted? Isn't the point to simply list your true favorites, in order. Then the totals will be tallied and an overall list will be made?

Am I missing something?

I suspect there's also a bit of friendly one-upmanship going on, some good-natured desire to show one's uniqueness and perspicacity by posting that one series no one else had thought of but everyone should have. I know I felt that way with my #8 (day 5) pick, and I was startled and--believe it or not--a little annoyed that someone got there before I did. It's natural and human.

[T GUy]

On the seventh day of Christmas Joe Simon brought to me
A teen age coup in D. C.

Prez

DC, No. 1 (August-September, 1973) to No. 4 (February-March, 1974).


Perhaps the least anticipated, and only arguably the most insignificant, result of the 26th amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America was this all-too-brief masterwork/insanity from Joe Simon during his short stay at DC at the beginning of the Bronze Age.

Prez Rickard accidentally becomes what we in the far-flung future of the 21st century call a ‘community activist’ and is subsequently taken under the wing of Boss Smiley, who sees in him the ideal pawn for his selfish ambition. However, Prez turns out to be not a pawn but a Knight and therefore shrugs off the Svengali in pretty short order, as one would. He then has further adventures as Simon riffs on the classics – Dracula in No. 4 – and contemporaneous events - Bobby Fischer in No. 2.

This is not for the faint hearted. This is for those who can take comic books at full pelt as they treat realism with the reckless disregard that perhaps only they can.

[MDG]

Even in the sixties they had the gratuitous butt shot.

By Mike Sekowsky, from the look of it.

[Paulie]

I'm a day behind but the vote of the day is for... Amazing High Adventure. The older I get, the less I'm interested in Superheroes. These days it seems to be all Conan, Kull, Tarzan and the like. I guess Carl Potts, who edited this series, had the same sensibilites.

In 5 Giant-Size issues you get three great John Severin stories including one that stars Oliver Cromwell (!), art from John Bolton, Al Williamson, Stephen Bissette and Mike Mignola, dinosaurs, Napolean, jungles, planes... needless to say, one issue can keep you quite entertained for an hour.

Looking back on my list there are a couple of titles that could place ahead of this one but since I'm enjoying Lord of the Jungle and The Shadow so much these days Amazing High Adventure climbed very far up on my list.

[dan bailey]

6. Blazing Combat

Ooooohhhhhh, niiiiiiice. Didn't even occur to me.

I will now slap my own wrist.

[Chris N]

Been meaning to pick up Blazing Combat for a long time now. Perhaps Slam's post will be my impetus to finally knuckle down and buy the thing.

It's just that the long box next to my bed full of trades I've purchased in the last year but not yet read is getting to be full.

[dan bailey]

My only (ir)rationale for not even thinking of Blazing Combat is the fact that I know it only as a hardcover collection. All of my picks I read & own as individual issues, with one exception (that hasn't shown up yet) ... & even then, I read about half of that series' issues when they were new back in the late '60s. In contrast, the closest I ever came to seeing an actual issue of Blazing Combat was drooling over the covers in the Captain Company ads in the backs of my Creepys & Eeries.

[MDG]

My only (ir)rationale for not even thinking of Blazing Combat is the fact that I know it only as a hardcover collection.

It's a good selection, although I've only read half the run (two issues!). I think the reason it didn't last is that the Creepy and Eerie readers were more interested in "illicit," rather than realistic thrills and scares (though this would change in a couple years and into the 70s. There might have been an audience among men's sweat magazine readers, though I'll bet if any picked it up, they were turned off by the anti-war stance (usually implied, often explicit) of the magazine. (Though I would've loved to have seen comic stories based on some of those men's mag covers.)

Just checked GCD, and my suspicion was correct: the whole run was written by Archie Goodwin, except for one script by Wally Wood and a collaboration with Alex Toth.

[DubipR]

6. Cinder and Ashe #1 - 4 (DC, May - August 1988)

This was one of the first titles that popped into my mind when the topic was suggested. It's also the title that I think is least likely to appear on anyone else's list (although I'm quite happy to be proven wrong). Sometimes I think I'm the only person who remembers this mini-series.

It was considered on my list, but I'm trying to steer clear from the numbered minis, but this is one of my all-time favorite books Conway wrote. Excellent choice.

[Cherokee Jack]

It's a good selection, although I've only read half the run (two issues!). I think the reason it didn't last is that the Creepy and Eerie readers were more interested in "illicit," rather than realistic thrills and scares (though this would change in a couple years and into the 70s. There might have been an audience among men's sweat magazine readers, though I'll bet if any picked it up, they were turned off by the anti-war stance (usually implied, often explicit) of the magazine. (Though I would've loved to have seen comic stories based on some of those men's mag covers.)

Just checked GCD, and my suspicion was correct: the whole run was written by Archie Goodwin, except for one script by Wally Wood and a collaboration with Alex Toth.

A couple of reasons BC failed were due to the anti-war stance of the stories (as you surmised.) Army PXs wouldn't carry it, and many distributors returned full bundles of the mag, refusing to distribute it.

[foxley]

It was considered on my list, but I'm trying to steer clear from the numbered minis, but this is one of my all-time favorite books Conway wrote. Excellent choice.

Glad to know I'm not the only one with found memories of this mini.

[Slam_Bradley]

Random thoughts on day seven.

Blazing Combat was one of the last books to come off my list. And was a likely entry to replace the disqualified. Archie Goodwin produced a fantastic run.

Atlantis Chronicles had incredible art. Not as enamored of the story, but it's worth a read.

Extra! was a nice book. I preferred Valor overall and Impact for top stories, but it was a very good effort.

1963 made my list but fell off pretty early.

[benday-dot]

On the seventh day of Christmas Joe Simon brought to me
A teen age coup in D. C.

Prez

DC, No. 1 (August-September, 1973) to No. 4 (February-March, 1974).


Perhaps the least anticipated, and only arguably the most insignificant, result of the 26th amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America was this all-too-brief masterwork/insanity from Joe Simon during his short stay at DC at the beginning of the Bronze Age.

Prez Rickard accidentally becomes what we in the far-flung future of the 21st century call a ‘community activist’ and is subsequently taken under the wing of Boss Smiley, who sees in him the ideal pawn for his selfish ambition. However, Prez turns out to be not a pawn but a Knight and therefore shrugs off the Svengali in pretty short order, as one would. He then has further adventures as Simon riffs on the classics – Dracula in No. 4 – and contemporaneous events - Bobby Fischer in No. 2.

This is not for the faint hearted. This is for those who can take comic books at full pelt as they treat realism with the reckless disregard that perhaps only they can.

Fine words. Ya nailed it pal.

I have the full run of Prez, but haven't read it in years.

[benday-dot]

A couple of reasons BC failed were due to the anti-war stance of the stories (as you surmised.) Army PXs wouldn't carry it, and many distributors returned full bundles of the mag, refusing to distribute it.

That would be the reason I've most frequently seen cited for the failure of Blazing Combat. If it came out 10, maybe even 5 years later, it might've gone on much longer. Hard to say if the quality would have endured.

[dupont2005]

Dang I did it again. Posted my 8th day's choice in here.