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Post by Spike-X on Sept 10, 2017 19:14:30 GMT -5
Fantastic Four #26 and Avengers #5 The main thing that's interesting about these two issues is that the events of FF #26 lead directly into the events of Avengers #5, marking the first real effort at "cross continuity" between titles. The FF and Avengers battling the Hulk and getting in each others way gave the story an extra dramatic wrinkle but it's the continuity between these two issues that made this "feel" like the Marvel Universe, really for the first time. It's great going back and reading these old issues, and seeing the Marvel Universe being built from the ground up.
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Post by berkley on Sept 10, 2017 23:48:42 GMT -5
I think this was a pretty good adaptation of The Tower of the Elephant with the exception of the depiction of Yara. Smith draws him has a generic looking wizard, bald with gray hair, in a dull green robe. I always envisioned Yara looking more Asian in appearance, sorta of akin to the Mandarin from Marvel Comics. One of the comics I'd love to own one day! This story was adapted three times, up to now: once in CtB, once in SSoC (with art by Buscema and Alcala) and once in DarkHorse's Conan, script by Busiek and art by Nord. I feel that this, the first adaptation, remains the superior one... even if it counts the fewer pages. It's the one that had the most exotic and weird atmosphere, the one that blended action and mysticism the best. Yara did look a little generic as wizards go... But this was CtB #4. He was setting the trend! I liked the way he looked a bit old, too. This is totally from my distant memories of reading them in the 70s, so I can't place too much reliance on it, but my recollection is that the SSoC adaptation wasn't one of the best efforts from the always amazing Buscema/Alcala team. It was excellent, because they were never less than that, but from the images of the story in my head, they didn't make as much use of shadow and light as usual, everything was a little brighter and lacking in contrast and hence less dramatic than in their best stuff. I'll have to dig it out one of these days and give it another look. The BWS version, again from long-ago memories, made a bigger impression. In particular - and I hope I'm not mixing this up with some completely different story - the rendering of the winged man was really special, with BWS managing to convey a sense of the almost unbearable melancholy and loneliness of this stranded being, the last of his kind (again, if I'm recalling this correctly).
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Post by berkley on Sept 11, 2017 0:01:01 GMT -5
Arizona love and Mr. Blueberry, by Jean-Michel Charlier (script for the first one) and Jean Giraud. Arizona love was... how to put it? It is epilogue to the long and tortuous saga begun in the Confederate gold story arc, an arc that saw Blueberry go to jail, be framed for the attempted jyrder of President Grant, join an Apache tribe for a while and finally, finally clearing his name. Here, a recently freed Blueberry, now rich, tries to gain the love of his old comrade, Chihuahua Pearl, who was just about to marry some clueless rich guy. The story is rather humorous, and the amiable split between the two free spirits is very satisfying. The artwork by Giraud is stupendous. The opening image, that of a town in the west, can be analyzed for a full hour and we still find new details in it. The artist has gained the status of a comic-book god over the years, and never is it more true than here. - There is a monastery next to the church; the monks have a little garden in it. - Several carriages are parked around the church; the people in the church have money. - The little house left of the church has a small terrace with a table and chair for someone to take in the air when the sun goes down. - A small family of Mexicans are walking the street; the father, the mother in an elegant shawl, their donkey in between and their two children following a few steps behind. - There are cactuses in between the few brush trees. - The house in the centre of the image (near the bottom) has a trapdorr on the ceiling and we see the stairs that lead up to it. It also has a palm tree. - Telegraph poles can be seen. - At the very bottom, a cart is shown with its poles standing up; it needs to be attached to a horse or a donkey to sit straight. - On the top right corner, a restaurant advertises its breakfasts. - There are chickens in the street to the left, and in the yard of the house at the bottom. - Someone is tending a cart near the saloon. - A Mexican is enjoying his siesta, sitting with his back to a wall (little orange house near the church). - ... it goes on and on. Mr. Blueberry is the start of the final act in the saga of our hero. In this and the following books, all drawn and written by Giraud (Charlier having passed away), Blueberry plays a second role to all the actors reenacting for our pleasure that well-known event from U.S. history: the duel at O.K. corral. Blueberry never regained his position in the army; paradoxically enough, the man we know as "lieutenant Blueberry" lost his rank back in the early '70s and would never regain it. Here he is a private citizen, a gambler by trade, who whiles away peaceful days in saloons and gambling dens where he fructifies the money he made at he end of the Confedrate gold affair. It may be surprising to see him in such a quiet role, but it doesn't make for a boring book; on the contrary, we see here the evolution of the American west, which is moving away from the old cowboys and Indian stories... Leaving Blueberry behind, perhaps? A lovely addition to what was already a legendary comic-book series. That looks so good, I'm glad I took the plunge and bought one of the Blueberry Intégrales, even though I'm not a huge western guy. I went with volume 5, which has the Chihuahua Pearl story, but now I'm thinking I might want to go back a little earlier, maybe even right to the start.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 11, 2017 0:11:42 GMT -5
One of the comics I'd love to own one day! This story was adapted three times, up to now: once in CtB, once in SSoC (with art by Buscema and Alcala) and once in DarkHorse's Conan, script by Busiek and art by Nord. I feel that this, the first adaptation, remains the superior one... even if it counts the fewer pages. It's the one that had the most exotic and weird atmosphere, the one that blended action and mysticism the best. Yara did look a little generic as wizards go... But this was CtB #4. He was setting the trend! I liked the way he looked a bit old, too. This is totally from my distant memories of reading them in the 70s, so I can't place too much reliance on it, but my recollection is that the SSoC adaptation wasn't one of the best efforts from the always amazing Buscema/Alcala team. It was excellent, because they were never less than that, but from the images of the story in my head, they didn't make as much use of shadow and light as usual, everything was a little brighter and lacking in contrast and hence less dramatic than in their best stuff. I'll have to dig it out one of these days and give it another look. The BWS version, again from long-ago memories, made a bigger impression. In particular - and I hope I'm not mixing this up with some completely different story - the rendering of the winged man was really special, with BWS managing to convey a sense of the almost unbearable melancholy and loneliness of this stranded being, the last of his kind (again, if I'm recalling this correctly). One of the things I liked about this version by BWS was how he made Yara's shrinking into the Heart of the Elephant less comical than the original Howard version. Maybe it's just a fault of my imagination in this instance, but the idea of Yara running around on the table at action-figure size was always kinda silly for an otherwise classic pulp tale.
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Post by berkley on Sept 11, 2017 0:18:11 GMT -5
This is totally from my distant memories of reading them in the 70s, so I can't place too much reliance on it, but my recollection is that the SSoC adaptation wasn't one of the best efforts from the always amazing Buscema/Alcala team. It was excellent, because they were never less than that, but from the images of the story in my head, they didn't make as much use of shadow and light as usual, everything was a little brighter and lacking in contrast and hence less dramatic than in their best stuff. I'll have to dig it out one of these days and give it another look. The BWS version, again from long-ago memories, made a bigger impression. In particular - and I hope I'm not mixing this up with some completely different story - the rendering of the winged man was really special, with BWS managing to convey a sense of the almost unbearable melancholy and loneliness of this stranded being, the last of his kind (again, if I'm recalling this correctly). One of the things I liked about this version by BWS was how he made Yara's shrinking into the Heart of the Elephant less comical than the original Howard version. Maybe it's just a fault of my imagination in this instance, but the idea of Yara running around on the table at action-figure size was always kinda silly for an otherwise classic pulp tale. It's been so long, I must admit that I don't recall that bit. But certainly I don't remember anything comical about the story, unless it was a bit between Conan and the girl he was rescuing (again, I could be mixing it up with another story altogether).
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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 11, 2017 1:02:54 GMT -5
One of the things I liked about this version by BWS was how he made Yara's shrinking into the Heart of the Elephant less comical than the original Howard version. Maybe it's just a fault of my imagination in this instance, but the idea of Yara running around on the table at action-figure size was always kinda silly for an otherwise classic pulp tale. It's been so long, I must admit that I don't recall that bit. But certainly I don't remember anything comical about the story, unless it was a bit between Conan and the girl he was rescuing (again, I could be mixing it up with another story altogether). Sorry, I was talking about the original Robert E. Howard story and how he described Yara shrinking down and scurrying around the table at miniature size.
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Post by Cei-U! on Sept 11, 2017 6:44:46 GMT -5
One of the comics I'd love to own one day! This story was adapted three times, up to now: once in CtB, once in SSoC (with art by Buscema and Alcala) and once in DarkHorse's Conan, script by Busiek and art by Nord. I feel that this, the first adaptation, remains the superior one... even if it counts the fewer pages. It's the one that had the most exotic and weird atmosphere, the one that blended action and mysticism the best. Yara did look a little generic as wizards go... But this was CtB #4. He was setting the trend! I liked the way he looked a bit old, too. This is totally from my distant memories of reading them in the 70s, so I can't place too much reliance on it, but my recollection is that the SSoC adaptation wasn't one of the best efforts from the always amazing Buscema/Alcala team. It was excellent, because they were never less than that, but from the images of the story in my head, they didn't make as much use of shadow and light as usual, everything was a little brighter and lacking in contrast and hence less dramatic than in their best stuff. I'll have to dig it out one of these days and give it another look. The BWS version, again from long-ago memories, made a bigger impression. In particular - and I hope I'm not mixing this up with some completely different story - the rendering of the winged man was really special, with BWS managing to convey a sense of the almost unbearable melancholy and loneliness of this stranded being, the last of his kind (again, if I'm recalling this correctly). You've conflated Conan #3 ("Tower of the Elephant") with #9 ("The Garden of Fear"). Cei-U! I summon my handy dandy Conan index!
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 12, 2017 13:40:28 GMT -5
I have a new favorite Superman villain.... Issac Asimov (or Asa Essak if you prefer) Awesome!
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Post by dbutler69 on Sept 12, 2017 13:48:00 GMT -5
I just read Amazing Adventures (1970 series) #5-9. Part 1 of #5-8 is an Inhumans story with part 2 being Black Widow, then #9 is just the Inhumans. As far as the Inhumans stories, #5-6 are Roy Thomas and Neal Adams, and those are great, especially the art. #7-8 are Gerry Conway and Neal Adams, and those are still good, but not quite as good. Then #9 is Gerry Conway and Mike Sekowskie, and that one is prettty bad., Weird artwork and Magneto acting out of character. No wonder they switched this series to starring the Beast with the very next issue. The Black Widow stories are OK, but not all that great. No wonder she got pushed aside in #9 for an all-Inhumans issue.
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Post by Rob Allen on Sept 12, 2017 15:15:08 GMT -5
I just read Amazing Adventures (1970 series) #5-9. Part 1 of #5-8 is an Inhumans story with part 2 being Black Widow, then #9 is just the Inhumans. As far as the Inhumans stories, #5-6 are Roy Thomas and Neal Adams, and those are great, especially the art. #7-8 are Gerry Conway and Neal Adams, and those are still good, but not quite as good. Then #9 is Gerry Conway and Mike Sekowskie, and that one is prettty bad., Weird artwork and Magneto acting out of character. No wonder they switched this series to starring the Beast with the very next issue. The Black Widow stories are OK, but not all that great. No wonder she got pushed aside in #9 for an all-Inhumans issue. There's one more Inhumans issue, also by Conway & Sekowsky, then the Beast gets his fur in issue #11. The Inhumans story from AA #10 continues in Avengers #95.
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 12, 2017 15:53:41 GMT -5
Right now I'm reading Captain America, Iron Man and The Sub-Mariner, starting from that point in 1968 where they all got their own comics after years of co-featuring in Tales of Suspense and Tales to Astonish (and one issue of Iron Man and Sub-Mariner). After reading four issues of each series, I'm finding Captain America to be the best so far. #100 has the villainy of Zemo's pilot! Also the Black Panther and Agent 13 (very smartly dressed in her Irma Kruhl disguise), and a re-telling of that famous scene in Avengers #4 where Namor finds the Eskimos worshipping a man encased in ice and throws it far out into the sea! And it turns out it was Steve Rogers with his Captain America suit under his Army clothes. Then the next three issues are an awesome Red Skull adventure! A new Sleeper! The Exiles! (I love the Exiles. They are so awesome. Especially Cadavus and his Murder Chair! He should have his own mini-series where he fights MODOK!) Also, Agent 13's real name is revealed as Sharon Carter! (I think this is the first time her name is revealed. They call her Agent 13 all the time, then in #103, she's Sharon Carter.) Up to now, my favorite Captain America story was the Red Skull adventure in (roughly) Tales of Suspense #79 to #81. But now ... well, I've got one more issue to go, but the story in Captain America #101 to #104 is definitely in the running! I should mention that Syd Shores's inking on Cap #100 to #103 is sort of weird-looking. I used to have #100 and I remember not really liking it back then. But it's grown on me, I'm really enjoying the whole package, and I've come to appreciate Shores's inking on Kirby.
The Sub-Mariner loses Gene Colan (who I assume gave up Iron Man and Sub-Mariner to take up Captain Marvel) but he gets John Buscema, inked by Frank Giacoia! And I love the ongoing storyline about Namor's decades-long conflict with Paul Destine, known as Destiny. He's the guy who gave Namor amnesia in the 1950s. So that scene in The Fantastic Four #4 where the Human Torch finds Namor with a full beard and an overcoat and no idea who he is? That was Destiny's doing!
(It should come as no surprise that Roy Thomas is the writer. I won't go out on a limb and say that this is Thomas's first foray into tying up the threads from old comic books, but it must be among his first such efforts.)
The Destiny storyline is pretty cool, starting in Tales to Astonish #101, then flowing into Iron Man and Sub-Mariner #1 and then the first issue of Namor's Silver Age series. But it doesn't end there! Destiny leaves Namor for dead at the end of #1 and disappears for a few issues. I'm only up to #4 and Namor hasn't caught up to him yet. The story in #2 and #3 involves Triton of the Inhumans (yay!) and the Plant Man (Boo!) and unfortunately, it doesn't do a whole lot for me, despite the Buscema/Giacoia art.
But #4 if pretty awesome! Attuma is the villain. And after a lot of appearances running from so-so (FF #33) to fairly awful (The Avengers #26 and #27 come to mind ... but there are others!), Attuma finally has a pretty good appearance! This issue also features Attuma's court fool Saru-San, who I recall from early issues of Super-Villain Team-Up. He was killed off in SVTU, which is a shame because I think he had a lot of potential.
Coming up in #5 is the first appearance of Tiger Shark! I'm really looking forward to this. I don't know that he's such a great villain, but I've always loved the character design. I've never read any of his appearances in the old Sub-Mariner series. I've seen him here and there.
I like these early issues of Iron Man, but after Gene Colan bails after the first issue, it's not quite the classic adventure series it was during much of the Tales of Suspense era.
But it's still a fun read! Big M, the leader of the Maggia, is revealed to be beautiful socialite Whitney Frost, and she immediately sinks her claws into Jasper Sitwell. (And I know what happens to Miss Frost because I was reading Iron Man in the late 1970s when she came back, but I've never read more than a handful of her late 1960s appearances.)
In #2, one of Stark's competitors sends a robot after Iron Man to kill him. His daughter is Janice Cord and she tries to warn Stark. She'll be a supporting character for a while.
The in #3, Happy and Pepper returns ... but so does the Freak! (I love the Freak! Sometimes he looks kind of like Peter Boyle as the monster in Young Frankenstein.) And in #4 ... the Unicorn!
I like the Johnny Craig art a lot! I had a few of these issues (#2, #4, #6, #7, #8) when I was a kid, long before I ever read any of Johnny Craig's horror stories with EC Comics, and I always liked the art, even if I thought it looked a bit weird for super-hero comics. I remember seeing some EC horror comics when I was in my 20s and thinking "Hey! This guy drew Iron Man!"
It makes for a bizarre feeling, reading these Johnny Craig stories after such a long time. I have bunches and bunches of EC reprints with Johnny Craig art, with all the nervous, sweat-covered protagonists running from the mob that wants to kill them or getting stuck in storm drains or hiding diamonds in somebody's brain during surgery. And you get used to expecting a weird awful EC payoff. So seeing Johnny Craig's Tony Stark, all sweaty and desperate every time his power runs out, I expect an ironic payoff! If nothing else, the Freak should beat him to death for involving Happy and Pepper in his bananashenanigans when they are trying to live like normal people in New Rochelle. (Maybe they're somewhere in New Jersey. Or Brooklyn. For some reason, I think Happy is from Brooklyn.)
I'm really looking forward to that Mandarin appearance in #9, #10 and #11. He's one of my favorite villains and I don't think I've read this one, except for #9, which was reprinted in Iron Man #76.
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,946
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Post by Crimebuster on Sept 12, 2017 16:22:23 GMT -5
Then #9 is Gerry Conway and Mike Sekowskie, and that one is prettty bad., Weird artwork and Magneto acting out of character. No wonder they switched this series to starring the Beast with the very next issue. As Rob mentioned, #10 is also INhumans. But if you thought #9 was bad, boy howdy. #10 is one of the worst Marvel comics of the Bronze Age. It's so bad! And as far as Magneto acting out of character, well, you ain't seen nothing yet. Truly terrible.
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Post by Phil Maurice on Sept 12, 2017 16:42:42 GMT -5
An unexpected day off due to the storms allowed me to dig into the last third of Master of Kung-Fu (starting around #102). The incredible Gene Day handles the art chores solo here, taking over the penciling from Mike Zeck. It is something to behold. The moody atmosphere, composed of long shadows and soft light perfectly complements the tone of Doug Moench's scripting. Day plays around with panel shapes in a way that is interesting without seeming gimmicky. Here the panels spell out the story's title, A City Asea: Day's character work is an extraordinary exercise in photo-realism, and is for me a pleasant contrast to Mike Zeck's more cartoony style. His faces are distinct and remarkably expressive, even when muted by the shoddy printing of the period. The original art must have been devastating to behold. Of course, Moench continues to deliver the thoughtful, dreamlike prose that distinguishes his work on the title. The plotting and pacing are in no way rushed, but rather drift lazily and invitingly around your head like incense.
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Post by Spike-X on Sept 12, 2017 19:52:03 GMT -5
Just as Tony Stark is about to reveal that fact that he is Iron Man, he suffers a possible heart attack! Luckily the doctors were able to plug in his totally not Iron Man-related chest plate, and he was just fine. He realizes this is a sign that the world is not yet ready to know that Tony Stark and Iron Man are one and the same! Just for good measure, he gets Happy to do a few laps of the city in the Iron Man armour, to throw off any suspicion. I'm glad they bypassed all that nonsense in the movie. The old, "How do I keep the world and my loved ones from discovering my secret?" routine gets old pretty quickly, especially in these early Iron Man stories. Then Captain America goes up against the Adaptoid, which has now copied the powers and abilities of all the Avengers to become the Super Adaptoid! Even though he's clearly overpowered, Cap puts up a good fight, because he's the Goddamn Captain America, until the Super-A finally has enough and chucks Cap in the river, then decides he's had enough of being in the Hydra band and wants to leave to work on his solo project. The last panels show us Cap making his way to the surface, showing us that he's down, but he ain't out.
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Post by Spike-X on Sept 12, 2017 20:01:22 GMT -5
The First Steranko S.H.I.E.L.D. story! Although Jaunty Jim is still doing his best Kirby imitation, it's still good stuff. Nick Fury has been captured by Hydra, and he seems determined to cut off all their heads, just to see how many take their place. He manages to steal one of their planes, but little does he know that it's been fitted with the Overkill Horn which, once the plane reaches maximum speed, will 'splode all the world's nukes, thus allowing Hydra to take over what's left of the world, I guess. There's also a Doctor Strange story. Boy, that sure turned into unreadable shite after Ditko left, didn't it?
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