Polar Bear
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Post by Polar Bear on May 19, 2017 7:47:55 GMT -5
Just acquired a minor Wonder Woman collection--the Greatest Stories Ever Told trade, the 75 Years HC, & several loose pre-Crisis issues (~5 in the early 200s, 15 in the late 200s, & 25 of issues 300-329, its last issue). I've read very little pre-Crisis Wonder Woman outside of JLA, so this is rather interesting for me. For example, I never realized WW had mental telepathy in the Golden Age, nor that her lasso had mind control powers as well as compelling truth.
I'm up to the late 1960s by now, and what can I say but that Mike Sekowsky is a revelation. I'd expected to find this era boring, based on my opinion of his JLA.
Uh, no.
This stuff is fantastic! I may well have to break down & but the three-volume set of trades that collects the complete Sekowsky era.
What about the "Twelve Labors" storyline? Is that acuially good, or just "representative"?
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Polar Bear
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Post by Polar Bear on Apr 2, 2017 11:02:30 GMT -5
Superman 300, June 1976, "Superman, 2001!"
A surprisingly good collaboration by Bates, Maggin!, Swan, & Oskner. This would've been very easy to mess up, but instead, it keeps what's central to the Superman mythos & adds new & interesting twists, making it every bit as good as the best of the 1990s "Elseworlds" Superman tales. Inspiring. 4/5 stars.
Reprinted in Superman: Past and Future.
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Polar Bear
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Post by Polar Bear on Apr 2, 2017 10:57:32 GMT -5
Action 457, March 1976, "Superman's Command Performance"
Superman obeys the commands of a group of clubhouse kids without ever having met them. The mystery gets solved in a cloyingly sweet way.
Worth avoiding, 1.5/5 stars.
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Polar Bear
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Post by Polar Bear on Apr 2, 2017 10:55:38 GMT -5
OK, so I'm going to start in 1976, approximately a year before Scott (Crimebuster) stopped. That'll give us a bit of crossover, so you can see the difference in our tastes & styles before I take over. I'm not sure how stressful my life'll be, so I'll just do what I can, when I can. Superman 296-299, Feb - May 1976, Who Took the Super out of Superman?This story, reprinted in 1981's The Great Superman Collection, is my single favorite multi-issue pre-Crisis Superman story. It also includes one of my ten favorite covers of all time, #298, by (of all people) Bob Oskner: Does Superman need Clark Kent? Does Clark Kent need Superman? Who is Kal-El, really? The story is extremely thought-provoking, not to mention provocative: #297, IIRC, actually got censored by editorial when it first came out, for fear it wouldn't pass muster with the CCA (I believe Lois gets a new dress on p. 13, panels 1-2 & Steve gets new dialog on panel 1). Oskner's inks over Swan are pleasing, and we get cameos from a whole bevy of Superman villains. Highest possible recommendation, 5/5 stars.
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Polar Bear
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Post by Polar Bear on Mar 26, 2017 8:46:31 GMT -5
Really? An issue with four co-plotters credited and yet Shooter deserves all the blame? He deserves the ultimate blame. It was he who rejected the original resolution of the plot and other alternatives. And he with Michelenie came up with the worst possible choice. Layton and Perez only contributed incidental story elements, not the main ending. So Shooter was the cause of changing the original ending and aided and finally approved the travesty it became. If you're going to be a heavy-handed EIC then you take the criticisms as well as the accolades No disagreement. But if four male co-workers couldn't see it, is it really that unreasonable to suggest that neither Thor (a conservative to begin with) nor Hawkeye (often boorish) could see it, either? Isn't that a reasonable "in-universe" explanation? Tony had doubts, but accepted the mansplanations of his peer group?
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Polar Bear
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Post by Polar Bear on Mar 26, 2017 8:39:41 GMT -5
The quality of Marvel Comics under Tom DeFalco was generally insipid.
Then came the Bob Harras era. Ug.
So, yeah, Marvel's basically had four great EICs: Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Jim Shooter, & Joe Quesada. That's it.
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Polar Bear
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Post by Polar Bear on Mar 23, 2017 16:22:07 GMT -5
I'm adjusting the list above to add Animal Man #23-24, which guest-starred Psycho-Pirate and cameoed The Icicle and Sargon the Sorcerer.
If you want, you can count #26, too, which cameoed Ace the Bat-Hound for a panel, but that's a little different...
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Polar Bear
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Post by Polar Bear on Mar 18, 2017 20:24:42 GMT -5
Those Thanos Quest books were such a fun read. Yes, I loved seeing Thanos assemble the gems and match up against each of the Elders. Those trippy full page spreads toward the end were very cool, too. They were beyond what I've seen from Ron Lim elsewhere. Part of the credit goes to Paul Mounts' coloring technique, which he could only use to full effect on Marvel's "bookshelf" (prestige) format books like Thanos Quest. The combination was woefully under-utilized (possibly because some artists felt his powerful coloring work overshadowed their art? Guessing, here.)
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Polar Bear
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Post by Polar Bear on Mar 10, 2017 8:05:43 GMT -5
I just finished my enormous, years-long read-through of pre-Crisis Superman (the issues I own, anyway). Wow. Thoughts will follow in the Pre-Crisis Superman review thread in a week or so.
There are certainly peaks and valleys; that's all I'll say for now.
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Polar Bear
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Post by Polar Bear on Mar 7, 2017 18:05:47 GMT -5
Okay, now I can't get it out of my head: who was behind the Batman-JLA/Superman fallout, Batman and the Outsiders' writer Barr or editor Wein? Someone's gotta know... Both.
link to Barr interview
Thanks, Michael! I don't think Mssrs. Barr & Wein get enough credit for this move, as Batman's departure from the satellite JLA is what set up not only the Batman-Superman dynamic that Frank Miller depicted so well in The Dark Knight Returns #4 but also the state of affairs we find in the post-Crisis/pre-New 52 DCU from 1987 until, I'd argue, 2003's Superman/Batman #1 (though if someone else wants to propose an earlier date for their becoming actual friends, I'm open to hearing it).
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Polar Bear
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Post by Polar Bear on Mar 7, 2017 7:00:01 GMT -5
In the early 70s when Wonder Woman became the non super powered Diana Prince in her own title, I think WW left the JLA. I was just wondering how her absence from the JLA book was handled. Heh. I just happened to re-read Batman and the Outsiders #1. IIRC, the JLA handle Batman's disappearance in the following issue of JLA with barely a single mention of his absence. Great friends. Okay, now I can't get it out of my head: who was behind the Batman-JLA/Superman fallout, Batman and the Outsiders' writer Barr or editor Wein? Someone's gotta know...
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Polar Bear
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Post by Polar Bear on Mar 5, 2017 12:02:21 GMT -5
In the early 70s when Wonder Woman became the non super powered Diana Prince in her own title, I think WW left the JLA. I was just wondering how her absence from the JLA book was handled. Heh. I just happened to re-read Batman and the Outsiders #1. IIRC, the JLA handle Batman's disappearance in the following issue of JLA with barely a single mention of his absence. Great friends.
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Polar Bear
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Post by Polar Bear on Mar 5, 2017 11:59:34 GMT -5
For the record, Toth hated Colletta's inking on his work. Cei-U! I summon the fine judgment! Please name three artists who (a) were inked by Colletta at least five times and (b) did not state, either implicitly or explicitly, that they hated Colletta's inking on their work. I double-dog-dare you. 8^o EDIT: My point being, yes, I'm sure Toth did, but I still like the final effect, at least on that story.
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Polar Bear
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Post by Polar Bear on Mar 4, 2017 15:21:52 GMT -5
DC bought the rights to certain Charlton super hero characters. Not to miscellaneous horror/love/western etc. stories. Oh, shoot, you're right. I'd forgotten that. Rats. Ah, well, that Question story still works. Good catch.
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Polar Bear
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Post by Polar Bear on Mar 4, 2017 10:43:38 GMT -5
Thanks, Polar Bear. That's an impressive list. No problem. I'm fascinated by that four-part Secret Hearts/Young Love crossover "20 Miles to Heartbreak," where he was apparently inked by ... Vince Colletta? I can't even imagine that combo, but I'm sure it looks very strange. EDIT: Actually, it's quite beautiful. Here's a sample: I think Colletta was always at his best on Romance titles.
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