New Gods, Forever People, Mister Miracle, Nick Fury, Sub-Mariner & Conan

[pinkfloydsound17]

Okay so the list above represents some titles that I have never read but am just wanting to get into. The artwork on New Gods, Steranko's art on Nick Fury...I am just looking for some recommendations about these titles and if there are any specific issues or runs (especially the earlier stuff) that you would most recommend to someone looking to start reading from these titles. Thanks a ton guys!

[dan bailey]

Darn. I was sooooooooooooooooooooo hoping this was the set-up for a joke.

"New Gods, Forever People, Mister Miracle, Nick Fury, Sub-Mariner & Conan walk into a bar ..."

[Roquefort Raider]

Darn. I was sooooooooooooooooooooo hoping this was the set-up for a joke.

"New Gods, Forever People, Mister Miracle, Nick Fury, Sub-Mariner & Conan walk into a bar ..."

Then Conan says "Kirby who?"

[emb021]

With Kirby's Fourth World series (New Gods, Forever People, Mister Miracle), you best bet now is the get the 4 volume set that DC just brought out in paperback. These will give you the COMPLETE Jack Kirby run on these titles. I wouldn't bother with any followup, really.

Nick Fury. There are collection of STERANKO's run on this title. Get those.

Sub-mariner. No idea.

Conan. Well, there is a LOT of stuff here. The early stuff from Marvel is really good, and DH has been reprinting them. Others can probably jump in here.

[Cei-U!]

The first 38 issues of the '68 Sub-Mariner title is the pick of that particular crop, as Roy Thomas introduces sword-and-sorcery elements--notably the Serpent Crown--to Marvel super-heroics, revives Golden Age heroes Namora, Red Raven and Toro, debuts such classic characters as Stingray, Tiger Shark, Orca and Llyra and just generally rocks the Atlantean scene. Artwise, you get John Buscema (#1-8, 20, 24), Marie Severin (#9-10, 13-19, 21-23), Gene Colan (#11-12), Sal Buscema (#25-37) and the sublime combo of Ross Andru and John Severin (#38). I also recommend the Dr. Doom three-parter in #47-49. Others like the Bill Everett run that begins in #50 but, aside from the introduction of the adorable Namorita and the gorgeous art, I find Everett's retro approach a huge letdown. The last couple of years of the series (it ends with #72) are kinda mediocre despite the presence of talents like Steve Gerber, Don Heck and George Tuska. The subplots left hanging by its cancellation are resolved in Super-Villain Team-Up, not a bad little book itself.

Cei-U!
Imperius Rex!

[FanboyStranger]

Okay so the list above represents some titles that I have never read but am just wanting to get into. The artwork on New Gods, Steranko's art on Nick Fury...I am just looking for some recommendations about these titles and if there are any specific issues or runs (especially the earlier stuff) that you would most recommend to someone looking to start reading from these titles. Thanks a ton guys!

For classic Conan, I would actually recommend picking up Savage Sword of Conan, vol. 1 from Dark Horse. It's a massive amount of excellent Conan material at a reasonable price. It is in black and white, though, so if that puts you off-- which it shouldn't, as most of Roy's excellent Conan stories were in the b&w magazine format Savage Sword-- there are color collections of the regular Conan series as well as a two volume archive set of Barry Windsor-Smith's work on the title. (The BWS archives are very nice, but a bit pricy for someone trying to just dip their toes, I think.) The newer Dark Horse Conan series is quite excellent, too-- start with Kurt Busiek and Cary Nord's work, then continue with Tim Truman and Tomas Giorello's.

The recent DC reprints of the Fourth World stuff are the way to go. I'd recommend Walt Simonson's Orion series as the only worthy follow-up to Kirby's work.

There's been several reprint editions of Steranko's Nick Fury work over the years. I have the two tpbs that Marvel put out around a decade ago. I have heard rumors that IDW may be working on an artist's edition, so you may want to wait for that

[FanboyStranger]

Darn. I was sooooooooooooooooooooo hoping this was the set-up for a joke.

"New Gods, Forever People, Mister Miracle, Nick Fury, Sub-Mariner & Conan walk into a bar ..."

That would be the most brutal crossover ever. A simple spilled drink would lead to the brawl to end all brawls.

[shaxper]

My own particular take:

NEW GODS, FOREVER PEOPLE, MISTER MIRACLE: I would just pick up the Fourth World trades and experience them all together. They do work together to weave a carefully woven tapestry of sci-fi mythos. However, if you were choosing just one, New Gods by a long shot if for no other reason than DARKSEID.


NICK FURY: The Howling Commandos are fun, but the Lee/Kirby/Ayers stories don't really reward your reading issue after issue. Pick up any given five of these and have fun with them, but they do get monotonous. I hear the later stuff is much better. I actually have a review thread covering these, but I find it really hard to motivate myself to keep reading and reviewing that run. In contrast, the Agent of SHIELD stuff is fantastic. Everyone talks up the gorgeous Steranko art that came in later on, but the earlier Lee/Kirby stuff is more fun, in my opinion.



SUB-MARINER: I agree with Kurt that the '60s series was a lot of fun, particularly the battle with The Thing and The Serpent Crown saga that followed. However, the series really starts with Iron Man & Sub-Mariner #1, which precedes Sub-Mariner #1.


CONAN: Definitely fun stuff. The Marvel comic, the Savage Sword of Conan magazines, and the Robert E Howard novels all have very different feels to them, so you may want to sample all three and decide which you like best. I think the original Marvel volume is the most fun and consistent in quality, but it's also a bit too "Marvel" in it's portrayal of the character himself.


Everything on your list is worth a read. If you're going to read just one of these though, I'd say nuke 'em all and read Kamandi, a Kirby work that I enjoy far more than his Fourth World stuff,=. But of the choices you've listed, I'd go New Gods or Conan.

[dan bailey]

NICK FURY: Eeryone talks up the gorgeous Ditko art that came in later on, but the earlier Lee/Kirby stuff is more fun, in my opinion.

Either you mean Steranko, or I know a lot less about this strip than I thought I did.

[shaxper]

Either you mean Steranko, or I know a lot less about this strip than I thought I did.

Nope. I'm just damn tired. Somehow, my brain jumped associations to Ditko doing killer work on Dr. Strange while Agent of SHIELD was sharing Strange Tales with that feature. Thanks for catching that.

[Ish Kabbible]

Submariner-I would recommend Subby starting with his Tales to Astonish 10 page feature (gorgeous Gene Colan art) thru Bill Everett's work ending around Submariner #60. I quite enjoyed Bill's work, fantastic art from a true master.
Thats pretty much all the Subby you'll ever need
Nick Fury SHIELD-All the Strange Tales issues thru his short lived first series (which includes Steranko)
New Gods-all the Kirby issues including Jimmy Olsen
Conan-I would guess the first 100 issues would be enough

[berk]

Submariner-I would recommend Subby starting with his Tales to Astonish 10 page feature (gorgeous Gene Colan art) thru Bill Everett's work ending around Submariner #60. I quite enjoyed Bill's work, fantastic art from a true master.
Thats pretty much all the Subby you'll ever need
Nick Fury SHIELD-All the Strange Tales issues thru his short lived first series (which includes Steranko)
New Gods-all the Kirby issues including Jimmy Olsen
Conan-I would guess the first 100 issues would be enough

This is pretty close to what I would say, except that I don't know enough about the various Sub-Mariner series to have any real opinion about them and I would definitely recommend the black and white Savage Sword of Conan and the Savage Tales that preceded it (see Roquefort Raider's fascinating ST thread) and would probably go just a little past Conan the Barbarian #100, or at least skip ahead to #115, the 10th anniversary issue.

[Paradox]

Ish Kabbible should stretch:

Conan-I would guess the first 100 issues would be enough

On the regular original book go to 115, which is the end of Roy Thomas' long run and you get a few more book adaptations thrown in.

EDIT: GAH! Coke to berk. I didn't even see that.

[icctrombone]

I like the Mr. Miracle run from the fourth world series the best. The book keeps a lot of the action on earth but also introduces many relevant Characters into the mythology. Big Barda, the Furies , many of the villains of Apocalypse and the story that concludes the Pact.

[pinkfloydsound17]

Thanks all! I just purchased a couple and look forward to venturing into these titles!