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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2020 22:58:29 GMT -5
Guess I have some time to dig into this 9-lb monster
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Post by berkley on Mar 28, 2020 23:17:44 GMT -5
Can't get much work done while my office is still in disarray from moving, so I'm re-reading the 1970s run of Strange Tales. The Brother Voodoo series was one of my favorites back in the day and I'm happy to report it still holds up today, thanks to writer Len Wein (love his dialogue) and spooky, atmospheric art by Gene Colan. Voodoo is a blatantly derivative character, combining elements from Dr. Strange and the Golden Age hero Captain Triumph, but Wein and Colan make it work. The strip's biggest drawback was the Comics Code restriction on the use of zombies (hence the A.I.M.-created pseudo-zuvembies seen in #171), which went away when it relocated to the b&w magazine Tales of the Zombie. Up next: The Golem! Cei-U! I summon the spirit of Daniel Drumm!
How weird - seems like there were no such restrictions on vampires, werewolves, or even Satanic demons and so on, what was so special about zombies?
I have never read those Wein/Colan Brother Voodoo Strange Tales issues, something else I should hunt down.
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Post by Duragizer on Mar 30, 2020 17:08:44 GMT -5
Guess I have some time to dig into this 9-lb monster That's considered a prohibited weapon in some jurisdictions.
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Post by brutalis on Mar 30, 2020 17:18:11 GMT -5
Guess I have some time to dig into this 9-lb monster Truly worth it's weight in gold. Looks like about a months worth of toilet paper in an emergency should you wish to sell on Ebay!
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Post by Duragizer on Mar 30, 2020 17:18:54 GMT -5
Can't get much work done while my office is still in disarray from moving, so I'm re-reading the 1970s run of Strange Tales. The Brother Voodoo series was one of my favorites back in the day and I'm happy to report it still holds up today, thanks to writer Len Wein (love his dialogue) and spooky, atmospheric art by Gene Colan. Voodoo is a blatantly derivative character, combining elements from Dr. Strange and the Golden Age hero Captain Triumph, but Wein and Colan make it work. The strip's biggest drawback was the Comics Code restriction on the use of zombies (hence the A.I.M.-created pseudo-zuvembies seen in #171), which went away when it relocated to the b&w magazine Tales of the Zombie. Up next: The Golem! Cei-U! I summon the spirit of Daniel Drumm!
How weird - seems like there were no such restrictions on vampires, werewolves, or even Satanic demons and so on, what was so special about zombies? Putrescent cadavers brought to an abhorrent parody of life are more horrifying than pale folks with pointed teeth and bipedal doggies, especially if you're Helen Lovejoy.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 31, 2020 12:49:18 GMT -5
Finished up a re-read of Death: The High Cost of Living. The first spin-off from Gaiman's Sandman and one of first true Vertigo books (it came out in Jan. 1993, the first month Vertigo existed). One day in every century Death takes on mortal flesh and walks among the humans. Gaiman and artist Chris Bachalo take us through this day as Death of the Endless becomes Didi, a cheery orphaned goth girl who meanders through the day enjoying life with normal teen Sexton as her sidekick. Along the way they drop in a few friends from Sandman, including Mad Hettie and Hazel and Foxglove. And an antagonist who may or may not be an alternate version of Mister E. There's a reason that Death is arguably the most popular character to come out of Sandman. And this book illustrates it perfectly. The story is charming and whimsical with just a hint of the type of danger that keeps fables interesting. Nobody is quite as full of life as Death. But we can try to be.
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Post by beccabear67 on Mar 31, 2020 13:58:19 GMT -5
Finished the Atlantis Chronicles series circa 1990s which I can recommend as being enjoyable. Then I dug out The Champions #7-10 and read all plus letter's pages. It's claim to notability among super groups would seem to be the west coast location which had they played that up more might've helped the title survive... imagine a writer, but especially an artist, familiar with the Los Angeles area and seeing various landmarks on the covers... the Hollywood sign, Queen Mary, Graumann's Theater! Instead it's mostly the same kind of odds and ends characters thrown together looking for a reason to work together... The Defenders with a few palm tress in the background, and oddly, then new governor Jerry Brown. Contrast a few later with Dave Stevens, who knew how to really use settings (and cameos genre fans would care about) in The Rocketeer. The Bill Mantlo scripted story involving characters from Russia (plus one hired mercenary The Griffin) allows us to learn more about The Black Widow, Ivan Petrovich, and new character Darkstar, trained by the same Commissar. We also see a new Crimson Dynamo, Yuri son of Ivan who has been fooled into his patriotism for to ye olde CCCP. I really like the mix with Hercules in it, and The Ghost Rider has worked out well enough with some tension with Herc seeing him as possibly in league with underworld demons/Pluto. If the title had kept going I would've liked to have seen a San Francisco based Spider-Woman involved, and Black Goliath is present for #11-12 (and a Hawkeye and Two-Gun Kid appearance), plus John Byrne. It isn't quite a West Coast Avengers unfortunately, but with Hawkeye in the area at the time it easily could have been. I had read all these in the '80s as back issues so this is a re-read. I will keep going to last issue #17 and Super-Villain Team-Up #14 which I believe is tied-in somehow.
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Post by Icctrombone on Mar 31, 2020 18:25:09 GMT -5
Finished the Atlantis Chronicles series circa 1990s which I can recommend as being enjoyable. Then I dug out The Champions #7-10 and read all plus letter's pages. It's claim to notability among super groups would seem to be the west coast location which had they played that up more might've helped the title survive... imagine a writer, but especially an artist, familiar with the Los Angeles area and seeing various landmarks on the covers... the Hollywood sign, Queen Mary, Graumann's Theater! Instead it's mostly the same kind of odds and ends characters thrown together looking for a reason to work together... The Defenders with a few palm tress in the background, and oddly, then new governor Jerry Brown. Contrast a few later with Dave Stevens, who knew how to really use settings (and cameos genre fans would care about) in The Rocketeer. The Bill Mantlo scripted story involving characters from Russia (plus one hired mercenary The Griffin) allows us to learn more about The Black Widow, Ivan Petrovich, and new character Darkstar, trained by the same Commissar. We also see a new Crimson Dynamo, Yuri son of Ivan who has been fooled into his patriotism for to ye olde CCCP. I really like the mix with Hercules in it, and The Ghost Rider has worked out well enough with some tension with Herc seeing him as possibly in league with underworld demons/Pluto. If the title had kept going I would've liked to have seen a San Francisco based Spider-Woman involved, and Black Goliath is present for #11-12 (and a Hawkeye and Two-Gun Kid appearance), plus John Byrne. It isn't quite a West Coast Avengers unfortunately, but with Hawkeye in the area at the time it easily could have been. I had read all these in the '80s as back issues so this is a re-read. I will keep going to last issue #17 and Super-Villain Team-Up #14 which I believe is tied-in somehow. I read the Champions run on Marvel Unlimited a few years back, I was disappointed on how bland and boring it was.
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Post by beccabear67 on Apr 1, 2020 12:14:39 GMT -5
Re-read #11 & 12, nice to see the Hollywood sign on one John Byrne splash page. It seems like there'd be loads of potential in a west cost team, but the location didn't seem to come into the thinking of the writers/editors I guess. They were starting to get some interesting and unique adversaries though. Much later on there is a cross-over with the Tunderbolts (led by Hawkeye) and the '70s Champions, so someone remembered the series still in the late '90s-early '00s. They even inherit the Champs' flying car from #11. Another notable happening in this '70s Champions: The Angel goes back to his Neal Adams era costume, only with red instead of blue. The thing they tried before that with an open chest and headband was not good... kind of in the same unremarkable category as some of Hawkeye's/Goliath's later outfits, or the early '70s Ant-Man. I used to have X-Men #39 where the X-Men get individual outfits and The Angel's was the worst there too.
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Post by beccabear67 on Apr 2, 2020 15:16:40 GMT -5
So, having pulled out Iron Man Annual #4 and Incredible Hulk Annual #7, plus Super-Villain Team-Up #14... at the end of Champions #17, the final issue, it says to look for a finale to the team in a future issue of The Avengers. When did this happen? I think I missed it. I see Black Widow and Hercules in Avengers #173 but The Champions seem barely mentioned if at all from pulling that issue out. I used to have Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #17 & 18, and I think maybe the answer is in those two comics? I almost got those two again, I guess I should have. I really love the George Tuska inked by John Byrne combination of Champions #17. Byrne was a great inker for Steve Ditko I thought too. Unlike most people I've never been a huge fan for Terry Austin's inking which most seem to want nothing but with JB pencils... I disliked Austin on Paul Smith the most, and later on Colleen Doran didn't work well either. I guess I would say Joe Rubinstein was my favorite on Bynre, but Byrne inking himself is usually up there too. It's great the few times he inks another professional's pencil work. Tuska rarely looked so good, really brought out his strong points! Shanna #1 was a slightly earlier height, and that was with Coletta! "Someone" remembered The Champions; there was a letter from Kurt Busiek in one of the issues, later he would write Thunderbolts.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2020 3:17:09 GMT -5
Love Neal Adams X-Men. I have the original comics but this HC collection makes them easier to reach for....
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Post by dbutler69 on Apr 5, 2020 15:33:56 GMT -5
I read Fantastic Four #100. It's not a classic, but definitely a fun read as the Puppet Master and the "Don't call me Mad" Thinker throw duplicates of most of the FF's major foes at them, and of course the FF prevail. I really like Crystal as an FF member. Not a great issue, but pretty good, and certainly better than the last few issues.
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Post by Hoosier X on Apr 5, 2020 20:35:26 GMT -5
I read Fantastic Four #100. It's not a classic, but definitely a fun read as the Puppet Master and the "Don't call me Mad" Thinker throw duplicates of most of the FF's major foes at them, and of course the FF prevail. I really like Crystal as an FF member. Not great, but pretty good, and certainly better than the last few issues. I love Crystal in the FF too! I don’t know if she should have married Johnny but hooking her up with Quicksilver was a huge mistake that ruined both characters pretty much forever.
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Post by dbutler69 on Apr 6, 2020 11:44:55 GMT -5
I read Fantastic Four #100. It's not a classic, but definitely a fun read as the Puppet Master and the "Don't call me Mad" Thinker throw duplicates of most of the FF's major foes at them, and of course the FF prevail. I really like Crystal as an FF member. Not great, but pretty good, and certainly better than the last few issues. I love Crystal in the FF too! I don’t know if she should have married Johnny but hooking her up with Quicksilver was a huge mistake that ruined both characters pretty much forever. Frankly, I don't know who is a good match for Quicksilver. His sister, maybe?
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Post by brutalis on Apr 6, 2020 13:41:48 GMT -5
There really is no good match for Quicksilver IMO. Portrayed over the years an arrogant, selfish, abusive, intolerant, bigot, loudmouth and believes he is better than anyone else. If he was a real person, would either have a submissive partner unwilling to stand up for their self or perpetually being in Divorce Court as nobody would ever tolerate his jerkwad crapola attitude and personality for very long at all. Or he might possibly wind up dead from an accidentally lethal incident if you know what I mean...
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