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Post by Prince Hal on Nov 16, 2016 11:31:43 GMT -5
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #4
The tragic death of Jonathan Juniper. Fury breaks the news to Pamela. Sorry to be late to this part of the party, but wanted to say thanks for the fine reviews. This Fury story, which I first read reprinted in the first Fury Annual, was always a favorite. That panel showing Junior's death is an impressive one. Junior's pose is almost harshly realistic for a comic of the time. My OCD teacher side is compelled to mention something I didn't know when I first read the Ha-Ha story... that Hawley was based on "Lord Haw-Haw," a name given to several Nazi propagandists, but most often associated with William Joyce, American-born, of Irish heritage, was an informer on the IRA to the Brits, fell in with the British Fascists and was the most prominent of the pro-Nazi non-German broadcasters the Nazis employed. Hanged after the war for treason, btw. PS: Pam Hawley is one of the best characters of the Silver Age, AFAIC.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Nov 16, 2016 12:45:51 GMT -5
I'm glad people are enjoying the reviews. I'm going to be posting some more ASAP. I'm almost done with 1963. I'm also hoping to get back to my Marvel vs DC thread this weekend.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jan 7, 2017 23:59:39 GMT -5
Once again, sorry for the long hiatus. Relationship and holiday stuff has been consuming my focus lately but I'm ready to get back into reading and reviewing comics. So, I'm not dead, and I'm still committed. I'm going to be reading and posting another review sometime tonight, Sunday morning.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jan 8, 2017 2:26:07 GMT -5
Tales of Suspense #47 Story Title: “Iron Man Battles the Melter!” Cover Date: November, 1963 CreditsScript: Stan Lee Pencils: Steve Ditko Inks: Don Heck Colors: Stan Goldberg Letters: Sam Rosen Cover Art: Jack Kirby (pencils); George Roussos (inks) Synopsis: A former competitor of Tony Stark, shoddy weapons manufacturer Bruno Horgan, becomes the Melter and sabotages one of his plants, which has the government threaten to take away Stark’s defense contracts because of the slowed production. Iron Man tries to defend it but must flee before the Melter’s ray, which proves capable of melting his armor. Stark tricks and defeats him in the end by constructing an aluminum suit that he cannot melt. Character Appearances: Iron Man [Tony Stark]; the Melter [Bruno Horgan] (introduction, origin); Pepper Potts; Happy Hogan Comments: I suppose the Melter’s tech powers are an interesting gimmick for an Iron Man villain, but I’m afraid that I saw the ending of this story coming a mile away. The only surprise I had was that Stark didn’t make his new suit of armor out of gold painted balsa wood. The art in this issue was mediocre I must admit. Steve Ditko and Don Heck were never a good match in my eyes, particularly when they were clearly churning out stories at a rapid pace. Suffice to say, there wasn't a stand out artistic moment in this issue, but this little scene amused me. I always thought that Iron Man’s roller skates were goofy, but this scene comes off particularly sad and unintentionally funny to me: Character Development: Pepper and Happy have some nice banter in this issue and from a characterization standpoint they are easily the most interesting characters. Personal Rating: 5. This is a textbook standard “industrial espionage by a super-villain” Iron Man story for this period. I wasn’t enthused by it, but it was by no means terrible. Historical Rating: 7. The Melter does go on to be a significant Iron Man villain, so the story has to get points for that. I’m no fan of that original costume, though. Ugh.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jan 19, 2017 23:02:32 GMT -5
I'm off for five days starting tonight, so I'm going to do my best to read and review as many comics as I can to get back in the groove, so to speak. I also haven't forgotten about my Marvel vs DC review thread...
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jan 20, 2017 16:55:17 GMT -5
Tales to Astonish #49
Story Title: “The Birth of Giant-Man!” Cover Date: November, 1963 CreditsScript: Stan Lee Pencils: Jack Kirby Inks: Don Heck Colors: Stan Goldberg Letters: Sam Rosen Cover Art: Don Heck (pencils & inks) Synopsis: While Henry Pym develops capsules that permit him to become giant-size as well as ant-size, the Eraser captures him and brings him to Dimension Z along with other scientists to build atomic weapons. Giant-Man and the Wasp defeat their captors and rescues the scientists. Character Appearances: Giant-Man [Henry Pym] (first appearance as Giant-Man); Wasp [Janet Van Dyne]; Living Eraser (introduction) Comments: This issue marks the first appearance of Pym’s Giant-Man persona (the issue has the same cover date as Avengers #2, where Giant-Man also appears, but was on sale a month prior). While I like Giant-Man’s new costume well enough, the loss of the cybernetic helmet is unfortunate. I always thought it was a great visual. The addition of Pym’s shrinking capsules was a nifty idea; he even has capsules for shrinking or enlarging to specific degrees. The goofiness of the Living Eraser is a sight to behold. I kind of like the idea of a villain “erasing” someone with a wave of his hand (which was executed by a printed circuit on the palm), even if the alien was simply sending the scientists to another dimension in the process. This is yet another advanced alien race with dimensional travel, high tech equipment and futuristic cities, that for some unknowable reason can’t figure out how to build atomic weapons. They’ve even been viewing us humans since we were primitive, seemingly being able to view anything they wish, so you’d think it would have been easier to simply spy on Earthly atomic scientists. Gotta love the Silver Age! All that aside, the Kirby art and the Heck inks were solid through most of the issue, though I felt the art got a bit rushed toward the end. This was an 18-page story but it felt like it had the pace of the standard 12-pager. Character Development: Hank and Jan have some nice banter in this issue so I tip my hand to Stan for that. Hank is still a bit stuffy, but he’s far more playful in this issue than he has been up until this point. Jan continues to be the best and most interesting Marvel heroine of the early Silver Age. Personal Rating: 5. A standard extra-dimensional alien-invasion story elevated only slightly by the evolution of Pym’s gadgets and the debut of Giant-Man Historical Rating: 9. The first appearance of Pym’s Giant-Man identity and his shrinking capsules makes this one of the more historically significant Ant-Man/Giant-Man issues.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jan 20, 2017 20:13:45 GMT -5
I'm off for five days starting tonight, so I'm going to do my best to read and review as many comics as I can to get back in the groove, so to speak. I also haven't forgotten about my Marvel vs DC review thread... Nowhere man don't worry. Take your time don't hurry
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Post by berkley on Jan 21, 2017 0:41:42 GMT -5
I'm off for five days starting tonight, so I'm going to do my best to read and review as many comics as I can to get back in the groove, so to speak. I also haven't forgotten about my Marvel vs DC review thread... Nowhere man don't worry. Take your time don't hurry Leave it all ... till somebody else lends you a hand. La la la la la! ... Wait, that makes no sense, forget I said that.
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Post by The Cheat on Jan 21, 2017 15:58:11 GMT -5
Living Eraser? Looks like the Controller to me.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jan 21, 2017 19:52:46 GMT -5
Living Eraser? Looks like the Controller to me. I can assure you that I'm not lying to you.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jan 21, 2017 20:15:50 GMT -5
The Living Eraser was the first Marvel character to cross over in the DC universe. He also got a cool upgrade on his costume
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jan 21, 2017 20:41:13 GMT -5
The Living Eraser was the first Marvel character to cross over in the DC universe. He also got a cool upgrade on his costume Ah, for a simpler time. A time so simple that it simply wasn't cost effective enough to employee copyright/trademark lawyers.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2017 16:17:29 GMT -5
I love this thread.
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Post by badwolf on Nov 11, 2021 10:04:35 GMT -5
Anyone ever wonder why the Torch isn't long dead from lung cancer due to asbestos exposure over the years? And apparently here his whole bedroom was lined with it. I just read an issue in which the hospital put Johnny in asbestos pyjamas!
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Post by badwolf on Nov 11, 2021 10:07:28 GMT -5
The Puppet Master has always been an interesting villain to me as he doesn't really seem like a good fit for the FF. He's always going to be important to the FF, mainly because of Alicia, but he does seem to be a better fit for lower powered heroes like Spider-Man or Daredevil in my mind; once the FF start meeting the Inhumans, the Silver Surfer and taking on Galactus, characters like the Puppet Master just seem out of place. Compared to Doom and the Mole Man, both exotic villains with a great deal of power and resources, he seems a bit underwhelming to say the least (I think he would have made an excellent Batman villain, though). There is a really great Puppet Master story early in The Thing's solo series.
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