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Post by brutalis on Sept 5, 2019 8:54:53 GMT -5
But when your iconic villain is Vader or Karza, most anyone else comes off 2nd, 3rd or 4th rate wannabe villainous like Kylo Ren. It is a challenge. The FF have their Doctor Doom. But also Galactus, Annihilus, Blastaar, Sub-Mariner, etc. X-Men fight plenty of folks besides Magneto. Let us all say a great big THANK YOU King Kirby for your glorious creations both heroic and villainous! |
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Post by badwolf on Sept 5, 2019 9:03:28 GMT -5
The toy-based characters tend to have one foe of their own and the rest are borrowed from other heroes as one-offs. The Micronauts fought Psycho-Man, Arcade, Doctor Nemesis, Plantman...Professor Prometheus (who did appear twice at least).......
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Post by brianf on Sept 5, 2019 15:53:39 GMT -5
The toy-based characters tend to have one foe of their own and the rest are borrowed from other heroes as one-offs. The Micronauts fought Psycho-Man, Arcade, Doctor Nemesis, Plantman... Professor Prometheus (who did appear twice at least)....... 3 times - ya can't forget that forgettable Micronauts Annual #2 Hey, Prometheus also fought War Machine - who knew? |
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Post by badwolf on Sept 6, 2019 11:14:42 GMT -5
The toy-based characters tend to have one foe of their own and the rest are borrowed from other heroes as one-offs. The Micronauts fought Psycho-Man, Arcade, Doctor Nemesis, Plantman... Professor Prometheus (who did appear twice at least)....... 3 times - ya can't forget that forgettable Micronauts Annual #2 Hey, Prometheus also fought War Machine - who knew? I forgot to get that issue. |
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Post by brianf on Sept 10, 2019 18:51:26 GMT -5
 Micronauts #50 (1982) Writer - Bill Mantlo Pencils - Jackson "Butch" Guice Inks - Bulanadi Editor - Al Milgrom Cover Art - Guice While I enjoy Guice's art, I have to say this 50th anniversary issues cover is pretty underwhelming. Sure, maybe having Karza return a 3rd time isn't as exciting as his frist return, but the layout of the cover has zero pop. It's almost like a "where's Waldo" for Karza on this cover. Otherwise this issue is pretty good - fight fight fight! Devil dies and is reborn as a fireflyte, It looks like Slug (still trapped in the body of Belladonna) dies. Some of the Deathsquad dies - die die die! Overall it's a pretty brutal (and well done) issue - Karza is triumphant and the Micronauts have to escape.     |
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Post by badwolf on Sept 10, 2019 20:27:55 GMT -5
Bill Mantlo was never shy about killing characters off.
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Post by profh0011 on Sept 11, 2019 14:55:09 GMT -5
I remember how SHOCKING this issue was. MICRONAUTS was rather brutal when it first started, but once the initial big story started picking up steam, it shied away from that for awhile, and when Karza was killed at the end of that story, the series seemed to level off to more family-friendly adventure. Brining back Karza in a sequel was probably the most expected thing imaginable, and killing him off a 2nd time made it seem more like a retread. After that, the book seemed to take on a new direciton for awhile, though it didn't seem to really have much focus, and the art by then was not to my liking. When Butch Guice debuted, he kind of snuck into the book, as for 2 issues he was buried under Danny Bulanadi (or, as I like to call him, "Rudy Nebres lite"). And then THIS came along. For the only time (I think), Guice inked himself on the book. It was crisp, but it was DARK, and the entire issue was BRUTAL beyond belief. It was like Bill Mantlo realized, he'd already brought Kazra back from the dead once before... and if he simply did it again, it would just be more of the same. NOT-- THIS-- TIME. He definitely upped the stakes here, in a way that I don't think could have been done in any regular Marvel Universe series. Mantlo, to me, has never been a top-notch writer... but once in awhile, he'd get on a series, and STICK with it, and really do his all to make his mark. In this case, I inderstand the entire series was HIS idea to begin with, based on toys his kids got. I suppose it's sort of like doing a movie based on MARS ATTACKS bubble gum cards. WHO could have expected that to be more than just a dumb gimmick? Apart from the initial year (with Mike Golden), I feel what came NEXT was arguably the FINEST part of the run. Who could have seen THAT coming? Lookng forward to the rest of the reviews!  |
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Post by brianf on Sept 20, 2019 18:23:51 GMT -5
 Micronauts #51 (1983) Writer - Bill Mantlo Pencils - Jackson "Butch" Guice Inks - Bulanadi Editor - Al Milgrom Cover Art - Guice The Micronauts run with dog soldier ships on their butts and Rann is bummed - he wants to meditate. Mari gets up in his grill - "we're fighting, dog!". Rann limps off while a sad Mari gets her game face on and with Bug, Huntarr & Acroyer they fly out and kick some rumpus. That takes up the first 18 pages of this here issue. Back aboard the Bioship we get more interpersonal drama, a view of Karza doing some horrible things to the resistance back on Homeworld, and then the Micronauts run into the Acroyer refugee fleet, still angry about the destruction of their planet. The Bioship gets harpooned and boarded and then our Acroyer gets confronted by Cilicia on the last page of the issue. Similar to #43 the cover spoils the end of the comic - I dunno why they do that. Over all ok, but we're just moving pieces around here.   |
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Post by brianf on Nov 2, 2019 1:56:36 GMT -5
 Micronauts #52 (1983) Writer - Bill Mantlo Pencils - Jackson "Butch" Guice Inks - Bulanadi Editor - Macchio Cover Art - Guice Sales must have slipped, we're bi-monthly now, and we have a new editor. Karzas genocidal attacks on Homeworld residents that opposed him continue with the destruction of Oceania, boiling the very seas they inhabit. While at the Acroyers fleet the Micronaut Acroyer is to face his former lover Cilicia in trail by combat. As their battle starts we also see Commander Rann communicate with the Time Travelers of the Enigma Force, who refuse to directly help in the battle with Karza. Back aboard the Acroyer ship the combat is called off when it's discovered Cilicia is pregnant with the kings child. The Micronauts are free to go, but Acroyer is not only banished from his people, but his future child as well. Over all a decent issue.    |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 2, 2019 6:32:56 GMT -5
After years and years of meandering, the book seemed back on the right track. The art was better (man, how I hated Bulanadi’s inks on Kane’s pencils) and the stakes were higher. Guice had a somewhat Golden-esque style in those days, which made this Golden fan pretty happy. And Devil was gone! Yay! Along with Nanotron, Devil was one of the most annoying characters ever created.
I didn’t like the soap opera aspect of the comic, though; Mantlo was never very good with convincing human drama. While that brilliant issue where almost everybody dies had a lot of punch, the following heartaches of Acroyear, Rann and Mari sounded fake and silly.
I thought Karza’s reconquest of the Microverse was entirely too fast, too, the same criticism I had with The Last Jedi... Sure, the big baddie is back; but why did all those planets immediately fall in line? Was everyone afraid of Karza like Louis XVIII was afraid of Napoleon? (It could be, and that would have been an interesting plot point; I just wish we had had a few lines to confirm it). Otherwise, it feels a little too much like someone pushed an instant reset button to take us back to the original status quo of the Micronauts being a small band of rebels against a tyrannical empire.
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Post by rberman on Nov 2, 2019 9:09:35 GMT -5
I loved Butch Guice's art in this phase of the series. Who doesn't want an Acroyear sketch from him?
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Post by profh0011 on Nov 2, 2019 11:58:03 GMT -5
Similar to #43 the cover spoils the end of the comic - I dunno why they do that. It looks to me as if the covers for #51 and #52 would have made more sense if swapped. (Maybe, they were, and that's the problem?) |
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Post by brianf on Nov 2, 2019 14:24:21 GMT -5
Similar to #43 the cover spoils the end of the comic - I dunno why they do that. It looks to me as if the covers for #51 and #52 would have made more sense if swapped. (Maybe, they were, and that's the problem?) Well, #52 does highlight Cilicia's pregnant glowy belly, which is revealed in #52. |
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Post by brianf on Nov 3, 2019 23:37:27 GMT -5
 Micronauts #53 (1983) Writer - Bill Mantlo Art - Jackson "Butch" Guice Editor - Macchio Cover Art - Guice Hooboy, I really wish I liked this issue better, but I can't get past the lifting of the "alien society patterns itself after the mob" trope. Did Star Trek do it first? it was part of the plot of one of the last few Kirby era Fantastic Four comics too. I wouldn't be surprised to find out there's a bunch of other stories that used this too. So we start with Acroyer finding some level of peace with his people, then Princess Mari gets all kinda pushy on Rann. After a brief peek at the horrors Karza is engaging in the Micronauts decide to go to "Prison World" to hunt for allies. They find the whole planet has adopted early 20th century Earth mobster culture. Re-reading this it's actually an ok comic, but I just can't really get past the lifting of such an identifiable (and silly) plot. The art is nice, and there's a buncha silly graffiti drawn in the background - so it's a pleasure to look at, at least.   |
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Post by rberman on Nov 3, 2019 23:57:36 GMT -5
OK, it's a rip-off idea, but it was fun. The whole Micronauts series was a Star Wars rip-off already, so they might as well go whole hog! |
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