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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 26, 2017 13:29:07 GMT -5
I love Hero for Hire #9! What a great comic!
I haven't read much early Luke Cage but it's something I'll get to eventually, maybe after I read all the Silver Age Marvels.
Speaking of which, I'm up to Captain America #118, with Cap (in the Red Skull's body) teaming up with the Falcon to fight the Exiles. Meanwhile the Red Skull (in Cap's body) has to cope with a horde of Cap's adoring fans! And a bunch of AIM scientists at the order of their leader MODOK are trying to figure out how to de-activate the power of the Cosmic Cube since it is no longer in their possession and they don't want anyone else to have it! SORE LOSERS!
Will the AIM scientists take away the Cube's power in time to save Cap before the Red Skull gets bored with toying with him and decides just to annihilate him with just a thought? Probably ... but tune in for Cap #119 to be sure!
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Post by MDG on Sept 26, 2017 14:30:41 GMT -5
I read Journey into Mystery #114. The first appearance of the Absorbing Man. It was a good one, though a shame that Thor got teleported away without a victory. I have Marvel Masterworks for JIM #111 to ##130 and it's pretty much non-stop awesome! The first few pages of Crusher Creel in prison and being a bad-ass and then getting his new absorbing power, it's a favorite sequence of mine. I'm reading these in the Essentials from the library. So far, not overwhelmed, figuring there's better stuff to come. |
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Post by dbutler69 on Sept 26, 2017 14:47:45 GMT -5
I read Journey into Mystery #114. The first appearance of the Absorbing Man. It was a good one, though a shame that Thor got teleported away without a victory. I have Marvel Masterworks for JIM #111 to ##130 and it's pretty much non-stop awesome! The first few pages of Crusher Creel in prison and being a bad-ass and then getting his new absorbing power, it's a favorite sequence of mine. I'm also reading mine from Marvel Masterworks, and am looking forward to the rest of it! |
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on Sept 27, 2017 6:21:56 GMT -5
Read Luke Cage, Power Man #24-25 last night. The story finds Luke and the guy who rents him office space traveling across the country to find Claire Temple, who Luke finally realized he loved just after he got her blow-off letter, telling him she needed to leave and he shouldn't try to find her (although she later sends a postcard with her location on it, so she's definitely giving some crazy mixed signals).
The first issue has Luke and friend hunt her down at a carnival where she's with her ex-husband, who turns out to be Bill Foster (although, in issue #25, he's inexplicably referred to as Bill Temple). He's working at the carnival, in his Black Goliath persona, to raise money to continue his medical research. Who knew carny work would be so lucrative? There's a Three's Company-style misunderstanding, so of course Luke and Bill fight until Claire interrupts them, only for them to find the real threat in the form of...The Circus of Crime!
Issue #25 is just an extended fight between the heroes and the CoC, with a couple of plot twists being so telegraphed, they really diminish the effectiveness. In the end, after the bad guys are defeated, Claire decided she loves Luke and heads off into the sunset with him, leaving a broken-hearted and now side-hustle-less ex-husband in her wake, but at least Luke got his girl back, so I guess we should be happy.
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Post by dbutler69 on Sept 28, 2017 8:28:18 GMT -5
I read Journey into Mystery #115 last night. Thor had left (or rather been teleported away from) his battle with the Absorbing Man in order to go after Loki, who was kidnapped Jane Foster. Their vicious battle is stopped by Odin, who for some reason believes Loki's (the Prince of Lies Loki) claim that Thor has broken Odin's Law by bringing a mortal (Jane) to Asgard, and for some reason Thor decides not to contradict Loki. Instead, Odin states that there must be a "Trial of the Gods" to determine Thor's fate. Thor then asks his father for 48 hours, to return Foster to her home and to defeat the Absorbing Man. Thor reveals several powers in this issue I never knew he had., Here, he gives Jane the "gift of forgetfulness" so that she will forget what has happened. He can do that? Then, Thor goes off and finds the Absorbing Man, who seems to be an unbeatable foe, as he can absorb all of Thor's powers, as well as Mjolnir's properties, and whatever else is thrown at him. Finally, after a long struggle, Thor exhibits another power I never knew that he had, to transmute elements. He turns the air around Crusher Creel into helium, which turns Creel into helium, and since helium is lighter than air, he floats off into space until Thor decides to bring him back and throw him in jail. This goes to show Stan's weak grasp of science. I have no idea how helium would float off into space. I'm pretty sure it's not going to escape the earth's gravity. Anyway, the story ends with Thor heading off to face his Trial of the Gods, which I am very much looking forward to next ish!
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Sept 28, 2017 8:55:01 GMT -5
Titan Books reprint volume of Flash Gordon on the planet Mongo, with the first few years of the character's adventures.
It makes me reflect that the old adage "comics used to be better" does not always reflect mere nostalgia (as I wasn't around in 1934). That strip was groundbreaking, beautifully drawn, uproariously zany and exciting as an old Saturday matinee. The creativity level, week after week, is on par with the best years of the Lee-Kirby duo on Fantastic Four; great ideas just succeed one another at breakneck pace. At some points, concepts that today would justify a four-issue limited series are dealt with in only one picture. These are really full-throttle comics!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2017 21:39:47 GMT -5
I reread Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics for the first time since the long bus ride I took to come out to Ohio the very first time in 2001 (it's like the 5th or 6th time overall that I read it, I probably read it every year from about 1997-2001). Man I love this book. I get more out of it every time I read it, sometimes making me rethink things, others time confirming ideas that had been percolating in my head. It's like a shot in the arm to get me really thinking about comics again, not just following the same old patterns. Reinventing Comics (last read on that bus trip too-14 hours was a lot of reading time) and Making Comics are in the on deck circle as well.
-M
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Post by dbutler69 on Sept 29, 2017 7:45:04 GMT -5
I read Showcase #4 - the first appearance of the Flash (Barry Allen). I was pleasantly surprised by the art, since I'm not an Infantino fan. The first story, showing the origin of the Flash, was a decent story, though it had the lamest villain imaginable, the Turtle Ma, the world's slowest man. The second story was also decent, though with some very questionable science.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 29, 2017 10:44:00 GMT -5
I read Showcase #4 - the first appearance of the Flash (Barry Allen). I was pleasantly surprised by the art, since I'm not an Infantino fan. The first story, showing the origin of the Flash, was a decent story, though it had the lamest villain imaginable, the Turtle Ma, the world's slowest man. The second story was also decent, though with some very questionable science. Shameless review thread plug ahoy! |
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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 29, 2017 11:24:27 GMT -5
It's been a few months, but Superman #307-309 by Gerry Conway and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez was...strange. Beautifully drawn, obviously, but perhaps a misguided attempt at making Superman socially relevant. Here's the final issues synopsis from the DC wiki to put it all into perspective:
"Superman at first concerns himself only with local crime, and, when Supergirl asks him to undertake a space mission with her, he refuses. She slaps him and goes ahead herself.
Later, when Superman uses his telescopic vision to see her and Krypto in space being beaten by an invading armada on the planet Zonn, he reconsiders and joins her. The orange sun of Zonn reduces the Kryptonians' powers and blinds them and they are captured. While in captivity, Supergirl tells Superman what he has already deduced: that they are Kryptonians indeed and she has been lying to him.
The Kandorians and she were concerned over his mental health, due to his attacks on supertankers. They decided to convince him that Krypton had never existed, and therefore could never have died. Superman says that he guessed their duplicity from several clues, including the presence of his superdog Krypto and her calling him "cousin" even though Fred Danvers and Jonathan Kent were not related. Superman breaks out of prison and defeats the J'ai invaders of Zonn with a sonic pulse. Later, he returns to Earth with Supergirl and Krypto, and tells her he is proud of his obsession with Earth, his true home."
The fact that Superman justified the unlawful (yet morally justifiable) act of attacking oil tankers was never addressed with any nuance. Apparently he was "wrong" since Supergirl and the Kandorians felt the need to trick him...yet a character that was otherwise a moral paragon took it upon himself to do it. An absurd plot that forced Superman to act out of character (IMHO) so Conway could make a trite environmental statement.
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Post by Icctrombone on Sept 29, 2017 12:02:23 GMT -5
I just finished reading All Star Superman # 1-12. This series is one of the modern day classics. Just a masterpiece. Quitely never disappoints with his layouts which provide so much visual yumminess. Just to scan across his pages adds so much to the story.
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Post by Spike-X on Sept 29, 2017 22:51:38 GMT -5
I just finished reading All Star Superman # 1-12. This series is one of the modern day classics. Just a masterpiece. Quitely never disappoints with his layouts which provide so much visual yumminess. Just to scan across his pages adds so much to the story. That's one of my favourite comics of all time. I shelled out for the Absolute Edition, and it's worth every cent to see that gorgeous art in all its glory. |
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Post by Nowhere Man on Oct 1, 2017 6:58:16 GMT -5
 Continuing to read this great Aquaman run by David Michelinie and Jim Aparo. Given that this was published in 1977, I get the feeling that the tragic ending to this comic caused more than a little stir among the ranks of DC fandom.  Also rereading the classic Englehart Detective run as a gear up to follower Shaxper's lead and read all the Batman family of comics from 1979 to Crisis. I'll be 40 in December, so I should finish sometime before my 50th birthday.  |
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Post by Icctrombone on Oct 1, 2017 7:39:30 GMT -5
Continuing to read this great Aquaman run by David Michelinie and Jim Aparo. Given that this was published in 1977, I get the feeling that the tragic ending to this comic caused more than a little stir among the ranks of DC fandom. I get the feeling that if DC hadn't retconned their continuity several times since then, the baby would have been resurrected. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Oct 1, 2017 17:00:59 GMT -5
While the story itself was decently executed (I loves me some Aparo), I thought killing Aquababy was a huge mistake. Being a family man made Aquaman unique in the DC Universe. There were many plotlines they could have spun out of that set-up far more interesting than the undersea variation on the Spidey/Gwen/Green Goblin shocker from three years earlier Micheline gave us.
Cei-U!
All in my opinion, natch!
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