Been re-reading the first volume of Radioactive Man at work during my breaks at work. What a fun little romp it is!

Along with all the topical wink-nudges, I liked all the various costume and name changes that Miles Mando's character goes through as the in-world timeline progresses. (Would love to commission Steve Vance for a picture of Bleeding Heart)

I read the 25-part Black Panther serial from Marvel Comics Presents #13-38, by Don McGregor, Gene Colan, and Tom Palmer. I thought it'd be good to read it when my recent reading of McGregor's first run was still fresh in my mind.

The story is about T'Challa visiting South Africa to follow up on a lead that his mother, who he hasn't see since childhood and doesn't really remember, is there. This was published in the apartheid era, so lots of trouble ensues. I think McGregor's scripting is better than during his first run, but he's actually significantly wordier, so I bet a lot of people will disagree. I also think that the political content is deeper. He does have a couple of issues where he's critical of violence by black South Africans against each other. I'm not as familiar with South African history, so I don't know if that's a fair criticism or more akin to the bits of Lost Cause demonization of Reconstruction that I think were exaggerated in the Klan story.

I've had widely differing opinions of Gene Colan during my time as a comics reader. As a kid, I sometimes thought his work was odd. I got more into it when I was older, particularly as I read more of his 1960s and 1970s work like Doctor Strange and Tomb of Dracula. This story is a little bit of both. The art starts out really strong, but get messier as it goes along. I wonder if deadlines were catching up to Colan. It's normally two issues a month and 8 pages per issues, so that doesn't seem like a lot. But one of the later chapters is 10 pages (a McGregor written Sub-Mariner story is two pages shorter to compensate). And the last two parts of the story are double-sized, with only 3 separate features in those issues of MCP.

With the episodic nature of the feature, McGregor uses a lot of issues to go off on tangents that don't really advance the story of T'Challa's search for his mother. A lot of the advancement of the original plot threads happens in the last two chapters.

There was a lot of grittier violence. I mentioned before that I was uncomfortable with how much violence McGregor inflicted on the Black Panther in his previous run. I think he's trying to create an unromanticized view of the physical punishment this type of work would inflict on a person, as well as make the threat of non-super-powered enemies more credible by having BP in a weakened state throughout. He's a far cry from the MCU Black Panther who is basically put in Iron Man's class. Later on in the series, Black Panther inflicts some fairly gruesome wounds himself.

Now, I'm started the late 80s Hawk and Dove mini-series. Is 5 issues more Liefeld than is recommended for human consumption?!

I think this is the second time where Cap's super-strength is reduced? I don't remember much from my various comic book binges, but I think Steve lost some of his super-strength when he got his memories of his previous life before he became Captain America when Shield helped him out with some kind of mind ray

Issue 117 of Back Issue magazine featured Stand ins and USAGENT was one that was featured. The article went into depth in regards to his sidekicks. Battlestar was either part if that group, called the Buckies, before becoming Battlestar or after. Im not quite sure. Very well done article.

Re-read John Wagner and Vince Locke's A History of Violence.  It had been a long time since I'd read it.  Probably twenty years, give or take.  It's a good book, but not without issues.  The art was not one of those issues.  Vince Locke was perfect for the book.  The biggest problem for me is that the back-story did not establish Tom McKenna as the kind of guy who could pull off the Ramboesque shenanigans that we see multiple times in the book.  The first time during the confrontation in the diner, maybe.  The second against long-time mob-men...that's becoming a problem.  The third time...nah!  I also had some issues with the ultimate fate of Richie.  

I'm not unhappy I re-read it.  But it wasn't completely satisfying.  

I sat down and read the new Ice Cream Man #22 this evening which was Christmas themed, and after I finished it, I felt sick and dirty. So, after tossing it into the recycling bin, I wanted to cleanse the palate, and remembered that I had this old Amazing Spiderman Christmas issue from back in the day. It pays homage to Scrooge and It's a Wonderful Life as Peter and MJ are evicted during the holidays. Peter learns who his truest friends are, and after thwarting a robbery, it concludes with Christmas Eve at Aunt May's house. Nice issue that made me feel a bit better.

There’s some good stuff and there’s some bad stuff in those essentials, but when it’s good it’s frequently pretty awesome!