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Post by dbutler69 on Oct 14, 2022 10:05:28 GMT -5
Another "other" selection: Starstream (1976) A beautiful comic from Whitman (Western Publishing), which was a criminally underrated (and short-lived) series. The title adapted several sci-fi & fantasy stories from some of the most celebrated and/or bestselling sci-fi/fantasy authors of the 20th century, including Theodore Sturgeon, A. E. Van Vogt, Robert Silverberg, Jack Williamson, Larry Niven, John W. Campbell, Jr., Dean Koontz, Anne McCaffrey, Robert Bloch and others. Among the comic talents behind the adaptations were Jack Sparling, Nevio Zaccara, Arnold Drake, Alberto Giolitti, Steve Skeates, Alden McWilliams, George Kashdan, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, et al. Covers:  Although other titles adapted sci-fi authors' work (e.g. Heavy Metal, Warren's various magazines, etc.), Starstream had its own, rich vibe and care was taken with most of the stories adapted. It certainly deserved to achieve more than it did.That looks beautiful! |
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Post by dbutler69 on Oct 14, 2022 10:07:18 GMT -5
I thought Steel: The Indestructible Man and OMAC were pretty interesting spins on the concept of Captain America. I've read and re-read OMAC more times than I can count honestly. It really does feel like a possible outcome for mankind Those are both good titles I've overlooked! I got Steel #1 in a dollar bin years ago. I thought it quite good, but it seemed like the series kind of petered out. |
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Post by dbutler69 on Oct 14, 2022 10:11:24 GMT -5
Would The Invaders qualify? Hmm, good question. From a commercial standpoint, it lasted 41 issues plus a couple of annuals, so it must have some somewhat successful. However, from a creative standpoint, in my own opinion, the Frank Robbins art was less then stellar, so I guess you could say that the promise of this interesting (to me, anyway) concept wasn't fully realized due to the artistic limitations. |
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Post by mikelmidnight on Oct 14, 2022 10:54:01 GMT -5
Marvel's trio of adventure comics aimed at females--THE CAT, NIGHT NURSE, and SHANNA THE SHE-DEVIL--were all better than I guessed when 12-13 year old me (unsurprisingly) passed them by. NIGHT NURSE was actually the best of the bunch, in my opinion! I always thought this quartet of series ought to be collected and reprinted, for the tween market … except objectively, I think they're not actually all that good (that's aside from the fact that younger fans would probably consider the art old-fashioned). I was going to suggest PLOP! but didn't for exactly the same reason... I just read that PLOP! was one of DC's best sellers for a while. So, definitely not underappreciated, at least back in the day.... Would love to see a nice collection of that, too. PLOP! was an amazing series and I don't understand at all why it's not been collected. A favourite of mine was DC's Weird Worlds.The short-lived series started as "Edgar Rice Burroughs' Weird Worlds", since it featured John Carter of Mars (which had been up to then a back-up feature in DC's Tarzan) and Pellucidar. It then switched to Howard Chaykin's Ironwolf for its last few issues. The John Carter feature, which had begun as a well-paced adaptation of the first Burroughs Martian novel, decided all of a sudden to zoom through elements from the second and third books to bring the whole thing to a rushed ending. It made for a decidedly less engaging story than the novels. The art, as well, went from a classic approach (Murphy Anderson) to a much looser look by Sal Amendola. The Pellucidar half of the book fared a little better, with art by Alan Weiss, Mike Kaluta and Dan Green. It still felt a little rushed... and I never managed to care as much for David Innes and Dian the beautiful as for John Carter and Dejah Thoris. The final three issues, with a young Howard Chaykin doing what he does best, were a treat. But the feature didn't get the chance to go far, as the book was cancelled!
I think this is a perfect example of a series which didn't live up to its promise. The storytelling was weak (and the take on John Carter showed how better Marvel was at those sorts of stories, even with all the criticisms the series has received here). But an anthology adapting different classic adventure tales, drawn by good artists, ought to have been a best-seller.
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Post by tonebone on Oct 14, 2022 10:56:45 GMT -5
Another "other" selection: Starstream (1976) A beautiful comic from Whitman (Western Publishing), which was a criminally underrated (and short-lived) series. The title adapted several sci-fi & fantasy stories from some of the most celebrated and/or bestselling sci-fi/fantasy authors of the 20th century, including Theodore Sturgeon, A. E. Van Vogt, Robert Silverberg, Jack Williamson, Larry Niven, John W. Campbell, Jr., Dean Koontz, Anne McCaffrey, Robert Bloch and others. Among the comic talents behind the adaptations were Jack Sparling, Nevio Zaccara, Arnold Drake, Alberto Giolitti, Steve Skeates, Alden McWilliams, George Kashdan, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, et al. Covers: Although other titles adapted sci-fi authors' work (e.g. Heavy Metal, Warren's various magazines, etc.), Starstream had its own, rich vibe and care was taken with most of the stories adapted. It certainly deserved to achieve more than it did.It was collected as a VERY early "TPB" collection... for some reason named "Questar", not Starstream. I am not sure if all 4 issues are included... I think probably not. I'll have to dig mine out and see if they match up.  |
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Post by MDG on Oct 14, 2022 11:11:20 GMT -5
I was going to suggest PLOP! but didn't for exactly the same reason... I just read that PLOP! was one of DC's best sellers for a while. So, definitely not underappreciated, at least back in the day.... Would love to see a nice collection of that, too. PLOP! was an amazing series and I don't understand at all why it's not been collected. C'mon, we all know the reason it hasn't been collected! It ain't part of the "multiverse"! It's just good. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Oct 14, 2022 12:41:40 GMT -5
The Starstream book reminds me a short-lived series I really enjoyed : Unknown Worlds of Science-Fiction. There was a lot of good material in there, as in a lot of Marvel's B&W magazines. I wouldn't say it didn't live up to its promise because it simply ended too soon... As did another B&W mag with high quality material: Kull & the Barbarians (with its three covers being painted by Michael Whelan)!  |
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Post by berkley on Oct 14, 2022 13:22:57 GMT -5
The Starstream book reminds me a short-lived series I really enjoyed : Unknown Worlds of Science-Fiction. There was a lot of good material in there, as in a lot of Marvel's B&W magazines. I wouldn't say it didn't live up to its promise because it simply ended too soon... As did another B&W mag with high quality material: Kull & the Barbarians (with its three covers being painted by Michael Whelan)!
I only read #3 at the time and I still consider one of the best Kull stories Marvel ever did, partly because of Vicente Alcazar's artwork, which made him the defining Kull artist in black and white to my mind, as the Severins were in the colour series. I've read the first two issues, but not until years later and can't recall the contents of them off the top of my head. But yes, a real shame the mag didn't have a much longer run with Alcazar are regular artist and perhaps Mike Ploog providing a few more Kull stories to go along wth his outstanding Mirrors of Tuzun Thune adaptation.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Oct 14, 2022 14:10:18 GMT -5
The Starstream book reminds me a short-lived series I really enjoyed : Unknown Worlds of Science-Fiction. There was a lot of good material in there, as in a lot of Marvel's B&W magazines. I wouldn't say it didn't live up to its promise because it simply ended too soon... As did another B&W mag with high quality material: Kull & the Barbarians (with its three covers being painted by Michael Whelan)!
I only read #3 at the time and I still consider one of the best Kull stories Marvel ever did, partly because of Vicente Alcazar's artwork, which made him the defining Kull artist in black and white to my mind, as the Severins were in the colour series. I've read the first two issues, but not until years later and can't recall the contents of them off the top of my head. But yes, a real shame the mag didn't have a much longer run with Alcazar are regular artist and perhaps Mike Ploog providing a few more Kull stories to go along wth his outstanding Mirrors of Tuzun Thune adaptation.
That was a thing of beauty, wasn't it? I also really liked his full art on Kull the destroyer #11. Later issues pencilled by Ploog but inked by others were rather sub-par, or drowned by the partner's style. |
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Post by tarkintino on Oct 14, 2022 14:50:35 GMT -5
Another "other" selection: Starstream (1976) A beautiful comic from Whitman (Western Publishing), which was a criminally underrated (and short-lived) series. The title adapted several sci-fi & fantasy stories from some of the most celebrated and/or bestselling sci-fi/fantasy authors of the 20th century, including Theodore Sturgeon, A. E. Van Vogt, Robert Silverberg, Jack Williamson, Larry Niven, John W. Campbell, Jr., Dean Koontz, Anne McCaffrey, Robert Bloch and others. Among the comic talents behind the adaptations were Jack Sparling, Nevio Zaccara, Arnold Drake, Alberto Giolitti, Steve Skeates, Alden McWilliams, George Kashdan, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, et al. Covers: Although other titles adapted sci-fi authors' work (e.g. Heavy Metal, Warren's various magazines, etc.), Starstream had its own, rich vibe and care was taken with most of the stories adapted. It certainly deserved to achieve more than it did.It was collected as a VERY early "TPB" collection... for some reason named "Questar", not Starstream. I am not sure if all 4 issues are included... I think probably not. I'll have to dig mine out and see if they match up. At least it had a second life of a kind, but did not continue as a regular title, which was--and is--a shame. |
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Post by berkley on Oct 14, 2022 18:25:11 GMT -5
I only read #3 at the time and I still consider one of the best Kull stories Marvel ever did, partly because of Vicente Alcazar's artwork, which made him the defining Kull artist in black and white to my mind, as the Severins were in the colour series. I've read the first two issues, but not until years later and can't recall the contents of them off the top of my head. But yes, a real shame the mag didn't have a much longer run with Alcazar are regular artist and perhaps Mike Ploog providing a few more Kull stories to go along wth his outstanding Mirrors of Tuzun Thune adaptation.
That was a thing of beauty, wasn't it? I also really liked his full art on Kull the destroyer #11. Later issues pencilled by Ploog but inked by others were rather sub-par, or drowned by the partner's style. I'll have to look at that issue again - I remember feeling disappointed with Ploog's run on the colour series in general, not only in comparison to the masterpiece that was his b&w Kull story, but it's been a long time since I read it. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2022 9:03:45 GMT -5
I voted for the Secret Society of Super-Villains. I agree it underachieved, the storytelling was a bit of a mess. But the concept of a villains focused title was fun and enough cool characters appeared that I still find it has charm, even though the execution was lacking.
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Post by berkley on Oct 19, 2022 21:22:57 GMT -5
I liked Son of Satan a lot both in Marvel Spotlight and his own series. With the right creative team, it could have lasted as long as Werewolf by Night or Tomb of Dracula.
I thought Gerber made it really interesting, as he did most books he worked on for Marvel back in the 1970s. The artwork was a bit up and down, if I remember, and he wasn't given enough time to really get going on the title, but I would have looked forward to seeing what else he might have done with it.
My ideal artist would have been Russ Heath, based solely on the one SoS fill-in issue he did (written by someone else, not Gerber), but I suppose that, realistically, he probably wouldn't have been available for a monthly or bi-monthly ongoing series. So who else?
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Oct 20, 2022 6:03:15 GMT -5
I liked Son of Satan a lot both in Marvel Spotlight and his own series. With the right creative team, it could have lasted as long as Werewolf by Night or Tomb of Dracula.
I thought Gerber made it really interesting, as he did most books he worked on for Marvel back in the 1970s. The artwork was a bit up and down, if I remember, and he wasn't given enough time to really get going on the title, but I would have looked forward to seeing what else he might have done with it.
My ideal artist would have been Russ Heath, based solely on the one SoS fill-in issue he did (written by someone else, not Gerber), but I suppose that, realistically, he probably wouldn't have been available for a monthly or bi-monthly ongoing series. So who else?
I love that issue, especially in its original form (which we can read in the Essential Marvel Horror reprint... Apparently Marvel was very nervous when Christian iconography was used in a story). Russ Heath was brilliant in it. Art wise, even though I'm not a Jim Mooney fan and am just neutral on Sal Buscema, I think the mag benefitted from having regular "superhero artists" rather than people like Mike Ploog, Tom Sutton or Gene Colan. The mix of supernatural horror and superheroic-like action really worked for me, even if it's the kind of balance only a few writers can maintain for any length of time (Steve Gerber being one of them), and a less cheerful artist (so to speak) might have pushed the series too far toward horror. I'm still sore about Daimon Hellstrom being demoted to being the unimportant son of an unimportant demon reigning over some unimportant hell-like dimension. What a waste of a great concept. |
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Post by tarkintino on Oct 20, 2022 9:05:11 GMT -5
Would The Invaders qualify? Hmm, good question. From a commercial standpoint, it lasted 41 issues plus a couple of annuals, so it must have some somewhat successful. However, from a creative standpoint, in my own opinion, the Frank Robbins art was less then stellar, so I guess you could say that the promise of this interesting (to me, anyway) concept wasn't fully realized due to the artistic limitations. I would agree that The Invaders was not an underachieving title. Many of its characters were part of a general appreciation of Marvel's Golden Age through a Roy Thomas lens (there's no way it was due to Robbins' art), and popular enough to be featured in What if? (#4), Fantastic Four Annual (#11), and Marvel Premiere (#29 & #30). Underachieving characters and/or comics rarely have so much exposure outside of their home title.
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