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Post by brianf on Dec 9, 2016 18:06:26 GMT -5
Micronauts #19 Writer - Bill Mantlo Art - Pat Broderick Inks - Armando Gil Colorist - Ben Sean Letterer - John Costanzia Editor - Al Milgrom Cover Artist - Michael Golden Synopsis: Bug, who went off by himself the previous issue, discovers a farm. After minor run ins with some barnyard animals, Bug is captured by the farms owner, the junior mad scientist named Odd John. The other Micronauts go searching for him, and with Biotron using "some kind of signal broadcasting on Bugs brainwave frequency" they find their colleague. Odd John uses mutagen gas on insects, which allows him to talk with and control his mutated critters. See - Odd John attack the Micronauts ship with a pitchfork! See - the male Micronauts do battle while the women stay on board the ship! See - Odd John expositionally take 3 pages to tell his origin story! By the end of the issue Bug has been mutated and Odd Johns insect horde attacks our heroes. We also see Ant-Man coming to investigate after being notified by distressed ants. Comments: Pat Broderick is by no means a great artist, but he's solid and he is obviously trying in his first outing at the new Micro-artist. The detail is wonderful to look at. There's a life to the pages that had been missing. But while an improvement over the last few issues, we haven't gotten 100% back on track yet. The villain is kinda silly, and while I do kinda like seeing Bug fight a chicken, it's not what i would call a super high stakes. But it is a fun read. Question - How can Biotron track Bug when his actual telepathic link is with Commander Rann? Answer - Comics!
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Post by brianf on Dec 1, 2016 1:36:30 GMT -5
Chaykin seems like the kind of artist that if he has passion for the project he's great, but if it's just a paycheck, well, he'll show up. I also kinda like some of Milgroms art (I'm a fan of the original Marvel Presents GotG, warts and all) & inks (Warlock) so even now the obvious disinterest displayed on the pages just makes me think "missed opportunity". I also do remember enjoying the Jackson "Butch" Guice issues too, so I'm looking forward to rereading them. But I also love myself some Gil Kane, but my memory of his run wasn't that spectacular.
FYI - While I bought a lot of these comics off the shelf back in the day, in the late 80's I pretty much sold everything. It wasn't until I started scouring ebay around 5 years ago and found cheap full runs of of a lot of this stuff that I had a chance to reread them. And some of the issues, like these Chaykin ones, I just kinda scanned through. So I'm looking forward to this re-re-etc-reading of the series.
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Post by brianf on Nov 30, 2016 22:07:47 GMT -5
Can I say - when i was buying these comics off the shelf I didn't know a ton about Howard Chaykin, but I had seen his art before and I never understood why his artwork looked so crappy doing Micronauts. Here's some Chaykin art from 1975 - the man can draw. Just not Micoronauts i guess.
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Post by brianf on Nov 30, 2016 21:47:20 GMT -5
Micronauts #18 Writer - Bill Mantlo Breakdowns - Howard Chaykin Finisher - Al Milgrom Colorist - Roger Silfer Letterer - I. Watanabe Editor - Al Milgrom Cover Artist - Michael Golden Synopsis: Breaking through the space wall, The Micronauts return to Earth, though Commander Rann says "We could be anywhere in the known or unknown universe." Bug, in mourning, buries Jasmine. Later, the team exploring finds a house that is to their scale - it's actually a doll house, full of dolls owned by a little girl named Helen. Helen has weird powers - she brings her dolls to life, and shoot force beams out of her eyes. Before she can hurt the Micronauts her mother calls her to dinner, and as the team escapes they wonder what actual planet they are on. The End. Comments: This story could have been good, but the execution is poor and it's not very memorable. And while there are flashes where the art seems more than pedestrian, over all things stay bland. We get another new toy jammed into the series, the "Star Searcher". Nice cover at least.
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Post by brianf on Nov 30, 2016 21:42:26 GMT -5
IIRC, I had at least one of the Micronauts figures as well - I remember it had a glow-in-the-dark partial head. There's a few good sites with pictures of the figures, like InnerSpace Online
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Post by brianf on Nov 29, 2016 3:49:45 GMT -5
Micronauts #17 Writer - Bill Mantlo Breakdowns - Howard Chaykin Finisher - Al Milgrom Colorist - Roger Silfer Letterer - Jim Novak Editor - Al Milgrom Cover Artist - Michael Golden Synopsis: The giant Human Torch consumes a good chunk of the oxygen in Psycho-Mans ship, knocking out our heroes & giving Psycho-Man the upper hand. And even poor roboid Biotron is apparently destroyed in their defeat. Our heroes are then hooked up to a hokey "Psycho-manipulator" keyboard contraption, which after escaping from easily they have to confront more product placement micro toys & an unemotionally engaging death with the murder of Bugs lady Jasmine. By the end of the comic the FF take off, the roboid buddies Biotron and Microtron are repaired & back to normal. Comments: This issue always bugged me - Pyscho-Man seemed dumb, the introduction (then death) of Jasmine lacked any punch, and while there were a few ideas that seemed like they could go somewhere, over all it's a badly written & drawn comic. I thought I read somewhere that Mantlo originally thought of this a more of a mini-series & once the comic got popular (and Golden wouldn't commit past 12 issues) he had to readjust his plans. It's just a guess, but it seems to me that these initial post Michael Golden issues were Mantlo flailing about, trying to refocus. Later on things dramatically improve, but yeah, if the Chaykin Micronauts were the only issues I had ever been exposed to I doubt I would be a fan of either the Micornauts or Howard Chaykin. More toys added that are just toys - There was a moment of pathos, Bugs helplessness at Jasmines death -
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Post by brianf on Nov 29, 2016 2:24:44 GMT -5
Micronauts #16 "Rendezvous In Sub-Atomica" Writer - Bill Mantlo Breakdowns - Howard Chaykin Finisher - Al Milgrom Colorist - ? (not listed, maybe Bob Sharen?) Letterer - John Costanza Editor - Al Milgrom Cover Artist - Michael Golden Synopsis Big fight issue. Micronauts confront Psycho-Man, he uses his emotion effecting Psycho-Ray on them spreading doubt, fear & hate. Princess Mari is the only one who seems unaffected, and as she goes in for the attack the Fantastic Four arrive. Yeah, mostly fighting this issue - some of the more interesting sound effects include SSKRAAA, FZAP & TROOM A giant Human Torch shows up on the last page Comments: Since I've agreed to finish this review thread I've been disappointed with myself in how slow I've been following through, so I've decided to just blaze through these Chaykin issue to get to the comics I like better, aka Micronauts #19 on. But this was overall a fun comic. Maybe I'm enjoying this a little more than the last issue because I had a few vodka drinks while i was reading this issue? I also like to see Princess Mari being the most effective member of the team this issue - I am not of fan of the damsel in distress trope. A REPTO showed up this issue - this is what the toy looks like - And lets get a look at a big Torch -
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Post by brianf on Nov 29, 2016 1:32:17 GMT -5
Micronauts #15 Writer - Bill Mantlo Breakdowns - Howard Chaykin Finisher - Al Milgrom Colorist - Bob Sharen Letterer - John Costanza Editor - Al Milgrom Cover Artist - Michael Golden Synopsis After being briefed by S.H.I.E.L.D., the Fantastic Four head to the Microverse. Meanwhile the reunited Micronauts come across a giant sized spaceship. Sucked in by a tractor beam, our heroes are attacked by Antrons Microtron gets seemly destroyed by them - spoiler, it's on the cover. The main villain behind the scenes is Psycho-Man, and he is fulla threats. Three of the FF travel to the Microverse via their Reducta-Craft, while the Human Torch approaches via the Prometheus Pit located at H.E.L.L. labs at Cape Canaveral. Comments: The art seems to be getting a little better, or maybe i'm just getting use to it. But I can understand why the reviews stalled out around these issues - it's a slog. It's appropriate that Psycho-Man & the Fantastic Four show up - the concept of the Microverse (originally called Sub-Atomica) was first introduced during Psycho-Mans debut in Fantastic Four Annual #5 (1967) and the first time we really got a look at the Mircoverse was in FF #75 - #77. Questions - 1) How fast can the Torch fly? He made it from NYC to Florida is no time at all. 2) The guards at H.E.L.L. labs shoot at Torch but the bullets are turned molten before they could hit him. So how actually hot is the Torch to melt bullets, but not people close to him, or fists that punch him? Answer - Yay comics! Observation - At the end of FF #77 the Fantastic Four were sent home w/o their Reducta-Craft. So there's a never told story of either rebuilding or reclaiming it. Links for that - Reducta-CraftReducta-Craft 2Here's what the Antron toys look like -
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Post by brianf on Nov 21, 2016 22:51:16 GMT -5
Micronauts Annual #1 (1979) Writer - Bill Mantlo Art - Steve Ditko Colorist - Andy Yanchus Letterer - John Costanza Editor - Al Milgrom Cover Artist - Steve Ditko Synopsis In a trio of flashback tales we see what the Micronauts were up to right before the first issue. Commander Rann & Biotron visit the world of the Galactic Defender, a twisted individual whose whole society chose to enter suspended animation rather than encounter any impurities. In the end entire civilization self destructs. Story #2 deals with the death of Princess Mari & Prince Argon parents by Baron Karza, and them joining the rebellion. The 3rd story is pretty much just a long fight, with Bug & Acroyear battling in Baron Karzas great games, similar to the Roman arena. Comments: One of the things that originally struck me reading the Micronauts was how dark the comic could be. It was my first exposure to the idea of something like the Body Banks - where the poor actually sell their body parts to the rich, and the corrupt rulers create criminals to harvest their bodies. Also, as someone use to reading Marvel comics where there wasn't much death and the heroes don't kill, in the Micronauts there's plenty death & since they are at war, we see the heroes kill their foes. In the 1st story about the Galactic Defenders society - the hatred of other races, liquidating the imperfect - it's pretty dark stuff. Science Fiction in the 1970's had it fair share of dystopias (Logans Run) and depressing tales (Silent Running), and Mantlo is obviously using that a jumping off point (along with Marvel Comics history) as he builds the Miconauts universe. While not a perfect comic by any means, there's a few enjoyable bits to be found. And Ditko does Ditko just fine.
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Post by brianf on Nov 21, 2016 6:05:38 GMT -5
Micronauts #14 (1979) Writer - Bill Mantlo Layouts - Howard Chaykin Finisher - Al Milgrom Colorist - Bob Sharen Letterer - Annette kawecki Editor - Al Milgrom Cover Artist - Michael Golden Synopsis On his home planet of Kaliklak Bug leads an attack on the colonial authorities, where they commandeer the enemy's airforce. Searching for adventure the other Micronauts leave Homeworld cheered on as heroes, leaving Prince Argon and Slug to rule. Plots continue to boil as S.H.I.E.L.D. contacts the Fantastic Four about the Microverse. Bug wins his battle, and finding out Karza has been defeated by his teammates he contacts them aboard the Endeavor & by the end of the issue the team has been reunited. The team grows in numbers with the addition of Bugs ladybug friend Jasmine and Acroyears partner Cilicia. Comments: After the first 12 Golden issues, these Chaykin drawn comics are such a let down. Especially since Chaykin is such a good artist, him just doing basic layouts leaves things looking raw & unfinished. An while Al Milgrom art can be raw too, I have seen Milgrom do solid work in the past, so why this run of comics looks so unappealing is a head scratcher to me. Story wise, this is a transition issue, it seems like Mantlo is still figuring out what to do next. Thankfully Golden continues his work on the covers. As someone who bought this comic off the stands when it was published almost 40 years ago, I'm happy to say future issues get much better.
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Post by brianf on Nov 14, 2016 14:21:25 GMT -5
Thanks guys! I really love the Broderick run, and I'd like to spend more time with the Kane issues too. So while it will take me a few days to get going I will be jumping in this week.
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Post by brianf on Nov 14, 2016 1:25:53 GMT -5
Hello Folks - I've spent the last few days reading through some of these wonderful threads and so I've signed up to say how much I've enjoyed reading whats been posted on these boards. As someone who's first Micronauts comic was issue #3 (and I own both full Marvel series) I feel like volunteering to finish up this review thread, if folks are ok with that. I have done (and continue to update) a Master Of Kung Fu and Deadman blogs, and I was actually thinking of doing a Micronauts as well anyway. deadmanissuebyissue.tumblr.com/essentialmasterofkungfu.tumblr.com/One thing I do know is I'm very happy to have found this site.
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