The Eighth Day of Classic Comics Christmas 2012

[thwhtGuardian]

On the Eighth day of Christmas my LCS owner gave to me...

Batman Versus Predator

Published by Darkhorse Comics in 1991 and written by Dave Gibbons with pencils by Andy Kubert and inks by Adam Kubert this was one of my favorite Batman comics growing up, and it still has a soft spot in my heart to this day.

Sure, the plot is basically a retread of Predator Two only starring Batman instead of Danny Glover but personally I'm not to bothered by that. Though the basic plot beats are the same as the movie I feel that Gibbons gives us enough personalization to make it stand out as memorable; I especially liked the view on organized crime that the story gave us and Batman's relationships with Gordon and Alfred were fantastic.

What really keeps this book near the forefront of my mind though is the art; the style here is simply fantastic and marks my first ever experience with Andy Kubert and my love affair with the whole line of Kubert artists. I really loved just how detail-oriented and dark Andy Kubert pencil style is in this story, he truly created images that conveyed motion like I had never seen before. It all feels so cinematic while your reading it and yet it has none of the decompression that other books that strive for that feel often have.

More than all of that though is probably the wonder of the concept itself, it's two icons duking it out on the page; what's not to love? DC and Darkhorse partnered up for more than a few more similar installments, and some of them even had talent that I almost always enjoy like Doug Moench and Chuck Dixon but none of those installments really rose to the greatness of the first one. Sometimes you just can't bottle lightning twice I guess.

[Polar Bear]

#5. Ragman #1-5, by Kanigher, Kubert, & Redondo Studios.

Until yesterday, when doing research for today's write-up, I'd thought this had only lasted four issues. So now I have #5 on my want list.

This series was one of the ones I picked up at Book Nook when I was a kid, rummaging around in their twenty-cent pile. (In fact, three of my top five come from this happy time.)

I think #1 features the first inter-racial kiss in comics (Ragman, in full mask, and Opal, an African-American supporting character and occasional hostage).

No time, so I'll just refer you to other peoples' reviews and say that I really enjoyed this series!

[METAROG]

5. Captain Marvel + vs Terrible 5 1-5 1966

Okay, this pick is not about nice art, clever writing, or original concepts… in fact-quite the opposite. This Captain Marvel was silly, awkwardly handled, had ridiculous powers and encountered some of the lamest-most derivative villains imaginable. That being said it is still one of my all-time favorites mainly because it was so bad-it was good.

This series was published by MF (Myron Fass) who did credible pencils on many series back in the 50’s. The issues are scripted and illustrated by unknowns although the covers are by Carl Burgos but are uninspired to say the least. However, the scripting and art are legendary compared to the characters involved in this series.

Captain Marvel himself was an android from a dead planet that befriends a boy name Billy Baxton (name sound familiar)? Almost all the characters are either blatant rip-offs (Tinyman, Colonel Cold, Elasticman) or use the names of characters from other companies (Dr./Prof Doom, The Destroyer, Plastic Man, The Ray) and I think we can all figure out who “Tarzac” and “The Bat” are supposed to be confused with!

I can only recommend this to those of you who are into the obscurest of characters and like to see how not to do a comic. Even so this series does have a sort of odd charm to it and I do treasure my complete set (it was tough to find). Oddly enough, although I sincerely doubt anybody else would put this on their list-I still felt this strip should be in mine.

[dan bailey]

5- DESPERADOES
1-5 (Image) 1997

Yet another strong contender for me before I opted against including limited series. I've really liked all the Desperadoes releases

[MWGallaher]

5. Captain Marvel + vs Terrible 5 1-5 1966
I can only recommend this to those of you who are into the obscurest of characters and like to see how not to do a comic. Even so this series does have a sort of odd charm to it and I do treasure my complete set (it was tough to find). Oddly enough, although I sincerely doubt anybody else would put this on their list-I still felt this strip should be in mine.

I've made it this far in CCC '12 without anyone beating me to a choice, and then, you, Metarog, sneak in with this...and here I thought I was the only real "fake" Captain Marvel fan here.
Maybe I can get you disqualified for trying to include "Captain Marvel Presents the Terrible Five" in your choice. I think it's against the rules to include a post-title change section of a run, or at least, I infer that from the eligibility rulings on Kull the Conquerer!
On second thought, never mind...I forgot that I had sworn not to do entries that were repeats of my own past CCC choices, and since I picked this version of CM as one of my favorite characters, and since he only appeared in this run of comics, good ol' Roger Winkle isn't eligible for my list, anyway, so I'm glad he made it here thanks to you, Metarog!

[MWGallaher]

Here's what I had to say about Captain Marvel a few CCCs ago.

[icctrombone]

5. Green lantern/Green Arrow
1983 Baxter series 1-7
Writer :Denny Oneil/ Artist:Neal Adams




Not much I can add to this reprint of the masterpiece that hasn’t been said throughout the years . I just had to cheat and include a reprint series so I used the Baxter series from the 80’s that re- introduced this mind blowing run.
I am taking the liberty of posting 2 of my favorite Neal Adams panels.

[icctrombone]

Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman # 1-9


.

This is one of the best write ups of the year. Thanks man.

[Rob Allen]

Here's yet another paean to:

Tales of the Zombie



Has this cover appeared yet? I tried to get one that hadn't been used yet but didn't search all the threads.

Anyway, Marvel's entry into the black & white magazine market was a Big Deal in my life as a comics fan. Stepping outside the Comics Code Authority's purview and challenging the successful Warren, Skywald and Eerie Publications magazines with not one, but four new horror magazines was a bold move. I was on board right from the beginning. Marvel's entry led to the demise of Skywald, which was unfortunate, but Marvel had a decade or more of success in the b & w field, and for a little while it looked like this would be the format that would replace the color "floppy" comic book. DC never ventured into this field, but even Charlton and Atlas/Seaboard put out black & white comics magazines.

I still remember the order in which the first four Marvel magazines came out. The first one, Dracula Lives, is ineligible for this list because it lasted 13 issues. It was really good though. The second, Monsters Unleashed, has also appeared in this year's CCC, but I thought its lack of a clear central character and/or continuing creative team made it too uneven. Ditto for the fourth magazine, Vampire Tales. The third magazine was Tales of the Zombie, and as others have said, it was a tour de force by Steve Gerber and Pablo Marcos. If you like either of those gentlemen's work, and/or horror stories in general, do yourself a favor and read this.

[METAROG]

I've made it this far in CCC '12 without anyone beating me to a choice, and then, you, Metarog, sneak in with this...and here I thought I was the only real "fake" Captain Marvel fan here.
Maybe I can get you disqualified for trying to include "Captain Marvel Presents the Terrible Five" in your choice. I think it's against the rules to include a post-title change section of a run, or at least, I infer that from the eligibility rulings on Kull the Conquerer!
On second thought, never mind...I forgot that I had sworn not to do entries that were repeats of my own past CCC choices, and since I picked this version of CM as one of my favorite characters, and since he only appeared in this run of comics, good ol' Roger Winkle isn't eligible for my list, anyway, so I'm glad he made it here thanks to you, Metarog!

Sorry about that... ROK and Bailey have one-upped over half my initial list so I know how it feels. I didn't think anybody else would have read these much less put them on their CCC list. I apologize but this is one I had to put in just to distance myself from those two I mentioned-although they do have impeccable taste!

[Red Oak Kid]

#5. Team America 1-12 Marvel

I've found these in the quarter bins. And the free bins. And they fascinate me for some reason. I like the fact that they have a lot of different characters who are interesting to learn about. That's one of the problems with established books like The Hulk. By ish 178 there is really nothing new to learn about the characters. So it's interesting to get a new series with people you have never heard of and learn their back story even if it is an extremely stupid back story. I don't know what this series was about because I mainly look at the art, but it has America in the title and the girl at the top of this cover looks like Deja Thoris and most of these were inked by Vince Colletta and nothing says 80s Marvel 3rd string book like VC. In yo face, Communism!

[AZBarbarian]

5. Hellboy: Seed of Destruction (1994) #1-4

I really like this series for a number of reasons, not the least of which is John Byrne's scripting. I know a lot of people like Hellboy after Byrne was out of the picture, but I am a really big fan of John Byrne's writing. I am also very glad to have representation in my list of the Dark Horse: Legend imprint. I think this imprint was a nice refreshing change from what was going on in the comic book industry at this time. This is actually my second favorite title in that imprint, but my favorite (JBNM) went on for 30 issues.

[thwhtGuardian]

Seed of Destruction is a fun story, I know it occasionally gets ragged on from time to time for it's clunkier dialog(which is often attributed to Bryne) but I really love the action in the story. About the only negative thing I can say about it is that I don't think it lets the art tell the story as much as it should, it relies a lot on narration boxes and exposition laden dialog where the later Hellboy stories rely on the power of the art to carry the narrative.

But then again I don't think that's a real fault for the story as Mike was a much younger artist then so you really can't look at something from that period of his career and fault it for not being like Hellboy in Hell which is pretty much the pinnacle of his career.

[Red Oak Kid]

Here's yet another paean to:

Tales of the Zombie

DC never ventured into this field, but even Charlton and Atlas/Seaboard put out black & white comics magazines.

.

Holy crap, you just reminded me of a b&w title I need to add to my list. THANKS!

Well DC had In the Days of the Mob and Spirit World but I don't know if they were ever on the newstand. I bought mine thru the mail from DC.

[MWGallaher]

I didn't think anybody else would have read these much less put them on their CCC list.

Not only have I read 'em, but the first comic I remember having was an issue of this version of Captain Marvel.