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Post by brutalis on Nov 4, 2019 8:08:46 GMT -5
Micronic aliens posing as mobsters in a Star Trek rip-off. what's not to love? IF you are gonna steal ideas, might as well go with iconic and instantly recognizable! Star Trek pulled it off, KISS pulled it off, and now Micronauts as well. Bug pulls of the attitude and look so perfectly and It's Guice art that helps make this one so memorable. Fun stuff here, which "Nauts is known for just as much as the big science-fantasy stories.
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Post by badwolf on Nov 4, 2019 9:42:17 GMT -5
Wasn't there a contingent of Skrulls that did this, too?
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Post by profh0011 on Nov 4, 2019 16:40:01 GMT -5
aliens posing as mobsters in a Star Trek rip-off When Jack Kirby did it, he cleverly combined the plots of 2 2nd-season ST epsode, "The Gamesters Of Triskellion" (The Thing is kidnapped and forced to figut to the death in an arena) and "A Piece of the Action" (Skrulls base an entire planet's culture on 1920s Chicago mobs).
Since it's Jack Kirby, whenever he swipes from anything, he finds a way to make it entertaining, sometimes more than the source material was.
One can easily track down multiple sources of earlier inspiration for virtually every single series Kirby created for Marvel in the early 60s. He was really good at "mix-and-match". (Perfect example: THOR. "Superman" meets Norse mythology meets "Captain Marvel Jr." meets "DR. KILDARE". The latter was one of the most popular TV shows that year, and spawned a wave of imitators. It's funny it took me decades to realize "Don Blake" was a dead ringer for Richard Chamberlain.)
"Dr. Don Blake" |
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Post by brianf on Nov 25, 2019 1:33:38 GMT -5
 Micronauts #54 (1983) Writer - Bill Mantlo Pencils - Jackson "Butch" Guice Inks - Kelley Jones Editor - Macchio Cover Art - Guice The issue opens with a battle between the Micronauts "mob" and Karzas G-men, where the 'nauts lose and get captured. Taken to prison, they get into jail fights and are tried by the Tri-Bunal robot judge. Sentenced to death, they fight back and encourage the other prisoners to rebel and over throw Karzas troops, and they win kinda quickly, wrapping the issue up. It was an ok but not so impressive issue, an attempt at a more light hearted tale maybe?  |
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Post by brianf on Nov 25, 2019 2:16:13 GMT -5
 Micronauts #55 (1983) Writer - Bill Mantlo Pencils - Jackson "Butch" Guice Inks - Kelley Jones Editor - Macchio Cover Art - Guice Man, this issue is dark dark dark..... Things start a little weirdly with a postcoital discussion between Marionette and ....Bug? They humping now? Back aboard the bioship they discuss Rann's detachment form direct fighting as he meditates in an attempt to get the enigma force to assist him again. Bugs just hanging out in bed while Mari gets dressed in front of him. It comes out of nowhere with zero lead up, but ok. This comic gets adult sometimes, so we adulting this issue. Speaking of Rann, his astral form runs into Karza at the temple of time as they both attempt to sway the Time Travelers. The guts of this story involve Huntarr, who returns to homeworld in search of his family. He finds his mother, scarred from Karzas scientific experimentation - after telling Huntarr his sister was forced into a breeding program she kills herself by stabbing herself to death. Huntarr goes to the body banks to find his sister and we view scene after scene of horror and degradation. The nursery shown here is so disturbing I'd rather not write about it. The art is wonderful and this is definitely a memorable issue, but jeez is it dark. =WARNING= THE IMAGES BELOW ARE PRETTY HORRIFYING      |
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Post by profh0011 on Nov 25, 2019 13:21:36 GMT -5
As I said before, apparently Bill Mantlo decided that if he was blatently going to tell the same story again, this time, he must have felt he had to go "all the way".
Something I really liked with these issues was the arrival of Kelly Jones. He was, by far, the BEST inker for Guice on this series. In their own way, I could almost compare their combination to that of Kirby & Sinnott.
In the MANY years since, I've always felt that Jones was a FAR-better inker than a penciller. The last time I saw him do inks over someone else, it was over Jim Aparo on a fill-in issue of THE SPECTRE (during John Ostrander's run).
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Post by badwolf on Nov 25, 2019 14:54:47 GMT -5
I didn't realize Kelley Jones had inked Guice on the first series. I always thought The New Voyages was his first work (maybe his first pencil work though.)
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Post by profh0011 on Nov 25, 2019 22:49:27 GMT -5
If I recall right (without looking it up), the next-to-last issue was Mantlo, Guice & Jones. The LAST issue was Gillis, Jones & Patterson (?).
Then they did the entire 20-issue run of "THE NEW VOYAGES"... which somehow managed to be, instead of uplifting explorations, a 20-part "deathwatch".
What was WRONG with these people???
Make sure you don't miss the MICRONAUTS/X-MEN mini-series. Although it came out concurrent with several issues of MICRONAUTS, the entire 4-parter takes place BETWEEN 2 issues of MICRONAUTS, just before the climax, I think, and I'm sure it must make far, far more sense if read that way. Guice & Jones did all the art, if memory serves.
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Post by rberman on Nov 25, 2019 22:55:06 GMT -5
Make sure you don't miss the MICRONAUTS/X-MEN mini-series. Although it came out concurrent with several issues of MICRONAUTS, the entire 4-parter takes place BETWEEN 2 issues of MICRONAUTS, just before the climax, I think, and I'm sure it must make far, far more sense if read that way. Guice & Jones did all the art, if memory serves. That one is, um, really something. In an infamous kind of way. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 26, 2019 5:44:38 GMT -5
Make sure you don't miss the MICRONAUTS/X-MEN mini-series. Although it came out concurrent with several issues of MICRONAUTS, the entire 4-parter takes place BETWEEN 2 issues of MICRONAUTS, just before the climax, I think, and I'm sure it must make far, far more sense if read that way. Guice & Jones did all the art, if memory serves. That one is, um, really something. In an infamous kind of way. That's the one in which Charles Xavier destroys the microverse and wants to have sex with Kitty, right? Oh, but that’s all right... it was only his “bad side”...
(Imagine if it had been Cyclops... Marvel would have created a new Hell for him to burn into!) |
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Post by rberman on Nov 26, 2019 8:36:31 GMT -5
That one is, um, really something. In an infamous kind of way. That's the one in which Charles Xavier destroys the microverse and wants to have sex with Kitty, right? Among other things, yes. |
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Post by badwolf on Nov 26, 2019 11:10:57 GMT -5
There was some psychic stuff with Moonstar. I don't remember anything with Kitty.
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Post by profh0011 on Nov 26, 2019 11:22:44 GMT -5
I don't remember anything except the art.
Chris Claremont's writing had been getting progressively more downbeat, hopeless and CHARACTER-DESTRUCTIVE by the month as he kept going. He was "grim & gritty" long before that term was ever coined.
There's been so many people who've said that they got fed up with his X-MEN by the mid-90s... or early 90s... or late 80s... or mid-80s... DAMN, I left around the time J.R. Jr. was on the book. The art had long been the ONLY reason I kept buying, and with J.R. Jr. & Dan Green, it had reached rock bottom for me.
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Post by rberman on Nov 26, 2019 12:28:38 GMT -5
There was some psychic stuff with Moonstar. I don't remember anything with Kitty. It's just as well. |
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Post by brianf on Nov 27, 2019 21:14:01 GMT -5
If I recall right (without looking it up), the next-to-last issue was Mantlo, Guice & Jones. The LAST issue was Gillis, Jones & Patterson (?). Then they did the entire 20-issue run of " THE NEW VOYAGES"... which somehow managed to be, instead of uplifting explorations, a 20-part "deathwatch". What was WRONG with these people??? Make sure you don't miss the MICRONAUTS/X-MEN mini-series. Although it came out concurrent with several issues of MICRONAUTS, the entire 4-parter takes place BETWEEN 2 issues of MICRONAUTS, just before the climax, I think, and I'm sure it must make far, far more sense if read that way. Guice & Jones did all the art, if memory serves. Every time I've tried to read the New Voyages I get too bored to finish. I'll try again soon. And yeah, the one time I read the XM/MN mini I was not a fan, so I'm kinda taking my time before doing a re-reading. Quality! |
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