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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 15, 2021 11:09:36 GMT -5
I read Justice League of America #29-30 - the second JLA/JSA team-up. This introduces earth-3 and the Crime Syndicate of America. I love earth-3 and the CSA, but this story was very flawed. For one thing, more dues ex machina powers courtesy of Power Ring and Green Lantern. Power Ring transported the JLA to their headquarters and stuck them to their table?! Why the heck didn't he do that earlier? I don't think I like Green Lantern in the Gardner Fox JLA stories, because he just have Green Lantern do whatever the story required. Also, the way the JLA beat the CSA in the end was pretty silly. They gave the CSA too much power! For instance, Superman tricked Ultraman (who is like Superman except that he gains a new superpower each time he's exposed to green kryptonite - in fact he exposed himself to green kryptonite twice in the previous issue, gaining a new power each time) into flying into green kryptonite but for some reason, this now gave him too much power. All of his super powers were competing with each other, and he couldn't move. Pretty silly. Oh well. Plus the JSA didn't do much in this one, and there wasn't much of a team-up. Better luck with the next JLA/JSA team-up.
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 14, 2021 18:39:25 GMT -5
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 14, 2021 12:52:10 GMT -5
I was just reading The Making of Star Wars, and the bonus content in the enhanced edition has a series of profiles that Lucas apparently told in 1975 to an interviewer (Carole Titelman), and some of it is rather interesting. It is background information on several characters and situations, which never made it into the movies. One particularly interesting thing is that Lucas mentions midi-chlorians in the body's cells as being the source of one's knowledge to the Force. That is interesting food for thought for those that hated the introduction of midi-chlorians in The Phantom Menace. Also mentioned is that C3-Po is actually 112 years old, and while serving on one particularly hostile planet, his body basically broke down. He was "totally reassembled by a young boy who worked for a junk dealer". I always hated that Annakin "made" Threepio, and had always suspected that he'd actually simply rebuilt him from existing parts rather than making him from scratch, and it looks like Lucas's old description matches that idea perfectly. I still don't like the idea that Annakin/Vader "built" Threepio, as it ties everybody in the Saga together too closely and makes the Star Wars Universe smaller for no good reason, but at least this is an improvement on the idea that a 9 year old boy, however smart, built something as sophisticated as Threepio from scratch.
Edit: Oh, and it also confirmed what I had read in Bantha Tracks - that the reason Chewie didn't get a medal in Star Wars is because wookiees don't care about medals. It goes on to say that, afterwards, his friends went with him back to his home planet for a celebration. Oh, and he also mentions that there are female stormtroopers, though not many.
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 14, 2021 12:34:20 GMT -5
I read Justice League of America #21-22: the first JLA/JSA team-up! I love those JLA/JSA team-ups. I think they're the highlight of Justice League of America, vol. 1. This was a good one. Not great, but good and certainly historic. For all the flaws in the Gardner Fox stories (and there are plenty, including dues ex machinas aplenty and plot holes) I really have to give him credit for doing an excellent job of getting the heroes to work together. He finds clever ways for their powers to compliment each other. I think that a common failing of the team books is the characters not acting as a team, but just taking on bad guys one on one, but Gardner gets past that better than most.
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 14, 2021 5:46:22 GMT -5
Yeah, I adore those Kirby, then Heck issues of which I can go back and read any time. I can honestly say I enjoy the 1st 198 issues of Avengers. Even with those few minor clunker's in the run, overall there is quite a lot to enjoy. TONS of thrills and action of heroes/villains for your collecting pleasure. Talk about an explosion of colorful costumed characters to choose from. Avengers has you covered. I actually enjoy the first 299 issues of the Avengers, excepting #200 and a couple of clunkers (usually fill-in issues) in there.
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 13, 2021 11:01:14 GMT -5
Continuing with my Marvel Masterworks, I read Avengers #7. The Avengers suspended Iron Man for a week because he didn't answer their summons! It gave Stan a chance to reference Iron Man #56 (though I think they really meant Tales of Suspense #56). The Enchantress and Executioner get banished to earth (thanks a lot, Odin!) and they decide to team up with Baron Zemo and cause trouble. Captain America pulls the typical stupid macho stuff and goes off after Baron Zemo by himself because "I must do this alone!" while the Enchantress hypnotizes Thor into trying to kill the rest of the Avengers. After a battle, Iron Man manages to break Thor out of his hypnotic spell...by shining a bright light in his eyes!! Uh, okay. Cap hitches a ride aboard the Zemo-plane when Zemo flies to America. The three bad guys try to take off in Zemo's plane and Thor uses his hammer to create a space portal to send them...well, Thor was no idea where he sent them! Okay, then. Anyway, a pretty good story overall. Lots going on here!
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 13, 2021 10:46:30 GMT -5
Icctrombone, I see you're continuing to stock up on the non-superhero stuff.
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 12, 2021 13:33:49 GMT -5
I'm at work here in Columbus with a bunch of Indians fans, and they are all complaining about the Guardians name (they also preferred the Spiders), it's definitely the talk of the day. I call foul on the supposed research (pun intended!). Guardians is such an awful name. I'm disappointed in that. Spiders would have been better, though it does evoke some less thatn glorious Cleveland history.
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 12, 2021 10:08:29 GMT -5
I pulled out another Marvel Masterworks to read The Fantastic Four #25-26. I should have read them yesterday, before reading Avengers #5. Oh well.
I love FF#25! This is a great Hulk-Thing fight, showing Ben’s courage, and stubbornness! Their previous encounter (FF#12) was inconclusive, but it’s clear here that Hulk is stronger, and all the Thing can do is hope to slow him down…and does he! Plus we get some wonderful Thin wisecracks throughout the fight – I love that!
#26 is good, but not as good as #26. It starts out well, as Ben gets up off the mat and goes after the Hulk again, before conclusively losing. Then the Avengers show up and both the Avengers and Fantastic Four act like moronic macho meathead superheroes in typical Marvel style, each telling the other to get away because they want a shot at the Hulk themselves. They finally get a modicum of sense, but not before getting in each other’s way while trying to attack the Hulk. Kind of annoying and dumb. Then we do get some more good pretty good fighting before Rick Jones somehow pops a capsule in the Hulk’s which turns him into Banner, and he falls into the water, and nobody sees him. Yet another early Marvel comic with a really good battle and an unsatisfying conclusion, as if Stan & Jack couldn’t think of a way to end it.
I should also have mentioned that in Avengers #3, Namor blows some emory dust at Iron Man, and Iron Man’s armor completely locks up, leaving him completely frozen!! Also, in #2, the Space Phantom, in Iron Man’s form (and apparently also duplicating all his powers) rusts up and is unable to move when Thor makes it rain! I think Tony Stark needs to go back to the drawing board!
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 11, 2021 16:01:35 GMT -5
I love the first ten issues of The Avengers. My favorite story arc in ALL OF COMICS is the first four issues of The Avengers and then Fantastic Four 25 and 26. I call it GET THE HULK! Avengers #5 notes that it takes place right after the events of FF #25-26. Gotta love that old school Marvel continuity!
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 11, 2021 15:59:38 GMT -5
Jack Kirby wrote the dialogue for Namor in FF#6?? Didn't Stan Lee write the actual dialogue? And yes, Namor does come across as a hotheaded moron. Then again, he's certainly not alone in the Marvel Universe there. Yes, there was an editor's note that one of the Lava Men in this story is the same one that Thor met in Journey Into Mystery #97. I think that's a nice little bit of Marvel continuity. Jack Kirby wrote every comic book story ever. And still does. Don't let the hype fool you. And he created Spider-Man.
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 11, 2021 10:52:26 GMT -5
I read Detective Comics #346. I think this is the third issue of Detective Comics from this era where I can tell they used the plot for an episode of the Batman television series.
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 11, 2021 10:51:17 GMT -5
Jack Kirby wrote such better dialogue for Namor in FF #6, I can't help but wonder just what got lost by the editor's insistence on doing the dialogue himself. For most of the 60s, Namor comes across as a real MORON, and a hot-headed one at that. What I didn't know for some time was that The Lava Men story was a sequel to one in the THOR series. But I don't know if they ever turned up again, after those 2 appearances. Jack Kirby wrote the dialogue for Namor in FF#6?? Didn't Stan Lee write the actual dialogue? And yes, Namor does come across as a hotheaded moron. Then again, he's certainly not alone in the Marvel Universe there. Yes, there was an editor's note that one of the Lava Men in this story is the same one that Thor met in Journey Into Mystery #97. I think that's a nice little bit of Marvel continuity.
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 11, 2021 10:07:34 GMT -5
Continuing with Marvel Masterworks The Avengers, I read Avengers #4-6.
Avengers #4, of course, features the return of everybody’s favorite patriotic-themed superhero, Captain America! For the most part, this is a pretty cool issue. We do get a crazy looking alien here. We also see Thor somehow pulling out a sunken spaceship stuck in the seabed by using his hammer’s “cosmic magnetic waves” What the heck? I guess this was when Thor’s hammer acted as a dues ex machina. Namor also finds his people and attacks the Avengers (they seem to be setting him up to be an Avengers villain at this point) then he stupidly takes off after the island they are fighting on collapses, tossing everyone into the sea. Namor says "we have won, the sea itself shall destroy our enemies!" WTF? With the battleground switching to the water, now is the perfect time to continue the battle, you moron!! Sigh. Anyway, the first half of this issue was good, the second half falls apart a bit.
Avengers #5 features the Lava Men! The Avengers fly from New York City to New Mexico in…a helicopter?! I don’t know why they didn’t use a jet, but they have a nifty helicopter with a stylized “A” on it, so that’s something. They fight the Hulk for the 4th time in 5 issues. The business with this “living rock” which can destroy the earth is all pretty ridiculous. Oh well, as least we get Rick Jones and the Teen Brigade again. The best part of this issue is the character building and team building stuff at the beginning.
Avengers #6 features the debut of Baron Zemo and the Masters of Evil. Pretty cool stuff overall. I think that Rick Jones and the Teen Brigade have appeared in every issue so far. Stan & Jack must be trying to connect with teenagers or something. The Avengers transportation was called (and clearly was) a helicopter in the last issue, but is called a “jetcopter” in this issue. Cap is mooning over Bucky again, after having apparently gotten over it an issue or two ago. I love how they make is seem like Baron Zemo is Captain America’s archfoe, and has always been around. The Avenges take on the Master of Evil and they basically run away with their tails between their legs. However, the best part of this issue is that the Avengers have to go crawling to PASTE POT PETE for help! Cap & Giant-Man get stuck to the pavement with Zemo’s Adhesive-X, and Paste Pot Pete, as the world’s foremost expert on adhesives, has a universal adhesive dissolver. He lets them have it in exchange for a reduced prison sentence. The Avengers take on the Masters of Evil again, and this time use the old “switch opponents so that we’re not facing our archfoes” trick to confuse the bad guys. It works. Cap takes on Zemo, who somehow, though certainly physically a middle aged man now, is a very formidable fighter, and we get a classic Captain America speech about liberty versus tyranny. I have to say, it’s kind of inhumane of the Avengers not to give Baron Zemo that universal adhesive dissolver so that he can finally take that mask off his face.
And yes, we are treated to some more hilarious dialogue by Janet Van Dyne.
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 11, 2021 4:28:48 GMT -5
Hey, I love the Lone Ranger! You make hackneyed sound like a bad thing.
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