Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
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Post by Confessor on Jan 14, 2021 11:17:10 GMT -5
On the plus side, I also re-read some Silver Age Spider-Man last night to cleanse my pallet after The Avengers. I motored through issues #78-82 of Amazing Spider-Man...  Although these issues are from what I generally regard as being the Stan Lee/John Romita era, they actually come from a short period where John Buscema was doing layouts and Jim Mooney was on full pencils and inks respectively, though the artwork is deliberately very much in the style of Romita. Issues #78 and 79 feature the first appearance of the Prowler. I always liked the Prowler best in his initial appearance. The down on his luck kid, Hobie Brown, who just wants to prove himself to the world and make some cash to treat his girlfriend is a sympathetic character and not unlike Peter Parker in his earlier days (without the radioactive spider bite, of course). Also, the concept of a lowly window cleaner designing a special "window cleaning suit" and repurposing it to become a super-villian is such a Silver Age-y idea that I love it! At the close of issue #79, Peter apprehends the Prowler before he can commit any real crimes and after giving him a talking to, he lets him go. The Chameleon story from issue #80 is a good one. It's crazy to think that this was only the Chameleon's second appearance since way back in ASM #1. That seems like a long gap, considering what a mainstay of Peter's rogues gallery he has become since. I always liked the Chameleon and this is a really fun, done-in-one issue. Spidey manages to apprehend the villain when he makes the mistake of assuming Peter Parker's identity in a busy crowd, thus tipping Spidey off to who the Chameleon is. Issue #81 features the first appearance of the Z-list villain the Kangaroo. I usually have a soft spot for Z-listers from Spider-Man, such as the Mindworm or the Schemer, but the Kangaroo is just really lame. Still, this is a fun, if rather slight issue, with the best moment being Aunt May discovering a web dummy in Peter's bed, which causes her to shriek and faint. When Peter arrives back home, he disposes of the dummy and revives Aunt May in order to tell her that she imaginged the whole thing, which is a pretty shitty thing to do to your dear old Aunt. Although, I should point out that Peter is concious of what a crummy thing this is to do and does feel really bad about it afterwards. ASM #82 sees Peter trying to raise some cash by going on a TV talk show as Spider-Man. Unfortunately, the TV station he chooses is where Max Dillon (a.k.a. Electro) works. Prior to the show, Electro strikes a deal with J. Jonah Jameson to humiliate and unmask Spidey on national TV. As the talk show begins, Electro attacks and a spectacular battle in the television studio ensues. Eventually Electro is bested when Spider-Man tricks him into short-circuiting himself. Stan's writing is pretty good throughout these issues and he gives us plenty of romance and soap opera too, with Peter seeing Gwen Stacy out at the Coffee Bean cafe with Flash Thompson and assuming the worst. This leads to a heartbroken and angry Peter being really off with Gwen and picking a fight with Flash. Ooh, the teenage angst!!  All in all, these were a great read (or re-read). I sure love me some classic Spider-Man comics.  |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2021 14:34:55 GMT -5
SUB-MARINER & the ORIGINAL HUMAN TORCH. Collects Saga of the Sub-Mariner (1988) #1-12 and Saga of the Original Human Torch (1990) #1-4. Written by Roy Thomas and Dann Thomas. Art and cover by Rich Buckler.
The mini series that are collected in this trade are the 50th anniversary celebration of Namor & Torch's first appearance in Marvel Comics #1 (1939).
Namor's series was 12 issues long since he had more history. It covers his history from 1939 through the mid 1950's. Both solo stories and his time with the Invaders & later the All-Winners Squad. It then jumps ahead to his discovery by Johnny Storm in FF #4. It continues with his stories throughout the 60's, 70's, 80's. It includes his solo series and time with the Avengers & Defenders. It ends right before Byrne's 1990 series revival. Thomas does a great job showing the highlights from Namor's history. Buckler on art was a good choice.
The Torch was only 4 issues mainly because he had long periods where he did not appear. It starts with his creation in 1939 & continues with him meeting Toro, killing Hitler, the late 40's and his first disappearance until reawakened by atomic bomb testing in the 50's. It then jumps ahead and tells of his brief appearances in the Silver Age ending with his time in the West Coast Avengers. Thomas did a decent job here also but I think he would have benefited with an additional issue and gave more detail to his time with WCA.
This collection was repackaged in 2014 with a new printing for Marvel's 75th anniversary. |
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Post by james on Jan 14, 2021 16:18:18 GMT -5
Finishing up FF Epic collection 308-320. Englehart/Pollard run. Then FF 111-137
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,143
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Post by Confessor on Jan 16, 2021 1:14:06 GMT -5
I re-read Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams' lead story in Batman #234 last night, "Half an Evil"  I believe I'm right in saying that this was Two-Face's first appearance since the Golden Age, which, if I'm right, is pretty surprising, given what a major-league member of Batman's rouges gallery he is. That said, it's kind of weird that, actually, Two-Face doesn't appear all that much in this story; he's mostly a shadowy, hidden figure until the story's climax, and even then he only appears for a page or two before being knocked out with a single punch from Batman. Maybe that was intentional, as a way of preserving an air of mystery around the character, but if you were a young Bat-fan in 1971, I don't think anything you see here would elevate Two-Face into your top 5 villains list. That said, this is still a hugely enjoyable comic. As I recently said over in the Classic Comics Xmas event, I love how under O'Neil's pen the Batman comics became darker and more mature, and not unlike Gothic horror comics in some respects. Batman #234 is a prime example of that, with Adams placing the Dark Knight Detective in murky, sinister-looking, fog-shrouded panels whenever he can. The artwork is really fantastic and O'Neil lets the plot unfold in a very smooth and satisfying way. I also like that the Bat-books of this era presented clues and then challenged the reader to solve the case before the big reveal. Such a gimmick seems unbelievabley quaint by today's standards, but I like the level of involvement it demands of the reader and also how it doesn't insult your intelligence. I really do love this era of Batman comics. I just wish they weren't so damn expensive to buy.  |
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Post by Ricky Jackson on Jan 16, 2021 11:48:49 GMT -5
I re-read Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams' lead story in Batman #234 last night, "Half an Evil" I believe I'm right in saying that this was Two-Face's first appearance since the Golden Age, which, if I'm right, is pretty surprising, given what a major-league member of Batman's rouges gallery he is. That said, it's kind of weird that, actually, Two-Face doesn't appear all that much in this story; he's mostly a shadowy, hidden figure until the story's climax, and even then he only appears for a page or two before being knocked out with a single punch from Batman. Maybe that was intentional, as a way of preserving an air of mystery around the character, but if you were a young Bat-fan in 1971, I don't think anything you see here would elevate Two-Face into your top 5 villains list. That said, this is still a hugely enjoyable comic. As I recently said over in the Classic Comics Xmas event, I love how under O'Neil's pen the Batman comics became darker and more mature, and not unlike Gothic horror comics in some respects. Batman #234 is a prime example of that, with Adams placing the Dark Knight Detective in murky, sinister-looking, fog-shrouded panels whenever he can. The artwork is really fantastic and O'Neil lets the plot unfold in a very smooth and satisfying way. I also like that the Bat-books of this era presented clues and then challenged the reader to solve the case before the big reveal. Such a gimmick seems unbelievabley quaint by today's standards, but I like the level of involvement it demands of the reader and also how it doesn't insult your intelligence. I really do love this era of Batman comics. I just wish they weren't so damn expensive to buy. I think one of the reasons, at least initially, why Two-Face didnt appear for so long was his appearance/character was considered too horrific for post-code Batman comics, and then after a while he was just forgotten until O'Neil and Adams brought him back. Could be totally wrong about this, but I seem to remember reading about it in some history of Batman somewhere |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,143
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Post by Confessor on Jan 16, 2021 13:48:07 GMT -5
I re-read Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams' lead story in Batman #234 last night, "Half an Evil" I believe I'm right in saying that this was Two-Face's first appearance since the Golden Age, which, if I'm right, is pretty surprising, given what a major-league member of Batman's rouges gallery he is. That said, it's kind of weird that, actually, Two-Face doesn't appear all that much in this story; he's mostly a shadowy, hidden figure until the story's climax, and even then he only appears for a page or two before being knocked out with a single punch from Batman. Maybe that was intentional, as a way of preserving an air of mystery around the character, but if you were a young Bat-fan in 1971, I don't think anything you see here would elevate Two-Face into your top 5 villains list. That said, this is still a hugely enjoyable comic. As I recently said over in the Classic Comics Xmas event, I love how under O'Neil's pen the Batman comics became darker and more mature, and not unlike Gothic horror comics in some respects. Batman #234 is a prime example of that, with Adams placing the Dark Knight Detective in murky, sinister-looking, fog-shrouded panels whenever he can. The artwork is really fantastic and O'Neil lets the plot unfold in a very smooth and satisfying way. I also like that the Bat-books of this era presented clues and then challenged the reader to solve the case before the big reveal. Such a gimmick seems unbelievabley quaint by today's standards, but I like the level of involvement it demands of the reader and also how it doesn't insult your intelligence. I really do love this era of Batman comics. I just wish they weren't so damn expensive to buy. I think one of the reasons, at least initially, why Two-Face didnt appear for so long was his appearance/character was considered too horrific for post-code Batman comics, and then after a while he was just forgotten until O'Neil and Adams brought him back. Could be totally wrong about this, but I seem to remember reading about it in some history of Batman somewhere That kinda makes sense actually, given the post-Werthem era. Good info. |
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Post by profh0011 on Jan 16, 2021 16:34:09 GMT -5
I've just read or re-read Larry Ivie's MONSTERS AND HEROES #1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 7. After a 14-year delay (I got issues # 4, 5 & 7 then), I finally got my hands on # 2 & 3, so now I have the entire short run. But I have not yet been able to locate #6, which my MOM bought me way back in 1969! So much re-filing to do...  |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jan 18, 2021 14:02:07 GMT -5
Finished up 'the Search for Mera'... interesting that after just flailing about because he didn't know what else to do, Aquaman does, in fact, find exactly what's going on, and, big shock, it was a castle coup... THAT story's only been done like 20 times (though this was probably one of the first). I'd like to see a writer manage to tell an exciting story about a character that's the leader of a group/city/etc that was NOT a revolution... is that a thing that can happen? I mean, granted, it's probably not ever going to be fun to watch laws signed or policy debated, but there must be SOME way to do it, no?
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Post by spoon on Jan 19, 2021 22:44:51 GMT -5
I finished reading Showcase Presents vol. 2 (reprinting Green Lantern #18-38). I have an Archives volume reprinting #22-29, so for those issues, I switched over to color. Whereas vol. 1 had several stories with Sinestro and the Qwardians as villain, vol. 2 shifts emphasis to building out Green Lantern's rogues gallery. Sinestro only appears early in the TPB. Villains like Star Sapphire, Sonar, and Hector make return appearances. A bunch of GL villains appear for the first time, including the Shark, the Tattoed Man, Myrwhydden, Dr. Polaris, Black Hand, the Headmen, and Evil Star. So it's really a big expansion.
One of my pet peeves is that many of the villains and Green Lantern himself seem to have almost limitless powers. There's a Calvinball quality to a lot of the fights, where any attack can be met with virtual any conceivable counter. It actually makes the fights less interesting when there's no real rules about what escape is possible. But that's does make the character traits of some of the villain more important. Black Hand speaks in cliches and proverbs, and he breaks the fourth wall. Sonar is obsessed with bringing fame to his obscure home country of Modora. Star Sapphire is conflicted by her love/hate toward GL, and her crimes end up being hoaxes or fairless harmless.
Various members of the Green Lantern Corps get more spotlight as featured guest stars (as opposed to sharing cameos with a bunch of others). Tomar Re gets some additional guest appearances. Xax of Xaos, who previous had a cameo or two, becomes the second fellow GL to be a featured guest star for a whole story. Katma Tui is introduced in #30. It's an example of how de-emphasized Sinestro has become that even though Katma hails from his home planet of Korugar, Sinestro doesn't show up in the story. And Hal uses an ethically questionable technique to convince her to stay in the Corps.
It feels like Carol Ferris gets less "screen time" later in the volume, as Tom Kalmaku actually seems to be the most prominent supporting cast member.
I think I generally preferred the later issues to the early ones in his volume. Part of that is plotting that gets less repetitive and more creative. Some of the Carol Ferris subplots are monotonous, so when Dorine Clay shows up as love interest in one issue (only to depart in that same story), it's a breath of fresh air. Also, Sid Greene takes over from Joe Giella as the primary inker. Greene's inks are more detailed and a bit heavier, and I find I like it a bit more.
I'm already on to volume 3! I did expect to be reading at this pace.
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Post by Rob Allen on Jan 20, 2021 11:15:31 GMT -5
GL #25 was my second comic book ever.
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Post by profh0011 on Jan 20, 2021 12:02:46 GMT -5
While slowly continuing to search and organize my B&W magazines, I decided to re-read the short run of "DRACULA LIVES!", especially after putting it together from 3 separate stacks in one room. (That gets annoying.)
I stopped even trying to re-read the articles, all of them are so HORRIDLY badly written. I'm also skipping all the 50s reprints, which I'd have had more appreciation for it they'd all been collected in a single volume. The style of so many of those are so monotonous, but the big thing is, they're just completely out of place next to the modern early-70s material. (I felt the same way with the Golden Age reprints DC shoved into the back of the Fourth World books for awhile. They work much better on their own, not in direct contrast with the new stuff.)
The whole point of "DRACULA LIVES!" seems to be telling stories in a variety of time periods and by a wide variety of artists. There were a few connected storylines, like Dracula's rivalry with the magician Cagliostro, or several stories about the time when he was first turned into a vampire by a gypsy, then had to fight the reigning "king of vampires" for the title.
There's also several connected stories in which Dracula goes to New York, then finds his coffin was deliberately put on the wrong plane when he wakes up in New Orleans, then another story where he goes to Hollywood, and winds up in a suicide-hijacking and crashes in Las Vegas. I'm wondering how these fit into the continuity of the regular color book.
One annoying thing I've noticed is that most of the writers involved all seem to be obsessed with writing dialogue in a certain STYLE, and it's clear they're all imitating each other, to different levels of effect. Roy Thomas, Marv Wolfman, Gerry Conway (he's the WORST of the bunch), Tony Isabella...
The artists are far more interesting... Gene Colan & Tom Palmer, Alan Weiss & Dick Giordano, Rich Buckler & Pablo Marcos, Neal Adams, Jim Starlin & Syd Shores, Gene Colan & Dick Giordano, John Buscema & Syd Shores, Alan Weiss & The Crusty Bunkers, Alfonso Font (who usually did work for Skywald), Mike Ploog & Ernie Chan, Dick Ayers (he was EVERYWHERE!!!), Vicente Alcazar (WHOA!!!), Dick Giordano (WHOA!!!), Frank Springer (hmm...)
The really sad thing is knowing that their adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel, by Thomas & Giordano, was never finished... until about 30 YEARS later. I'm just so thrilled they were finally able to do it, especially as not long after, Giordano passed away. Got that one in right under the wire, I guess. Roy describes it as the "first-ever" comics adaptation of the novel, and it may be, but there's been perhaps a DOZEN others since. I remember being surprised when Roy at one point said he hadn't heard of the one written & illustrated by Fernando Fernandez. That was a stunner!
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Post by impulse on Jan 20, 2021 14:30:00 GMT -5
Can someone remind me what the cutoff for "classic" is around here? Assuming 20+ years is old enough, I am on volume 9 (of 9) of my reread of Garth Ennis Preacher.
Ennis can (and often does) go well over the top, but I forgot how funny he can be, too, and despite the sometimes cartoonish silliness, he gets so much heart into some of his work, too. I forgot how good it was.
And so, so offensive. Not for the squeamish, but very well done.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2021 14:58:08 GMT -5
Can someone remind me what the cutoff for "classic" is around here? Assuming 20+ years is old enough, I am on volume 9 (of 9) of my reread of Garth Ennis Preacher. Ennis can (and often does) go well over the top, but I forgot how funny he can be, too, and despite the sometimes cartoonish silliness, he gets so much heart into some of his work, too. I forgot how good it was. And so, so offensive. Not for the squeamish, but very well done. 10 years is the official demarcation for classic vs. modern on the boards so anything January 2011 and older is classic now. Here's the official statement form the Rules of the Road: -M |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 22, 2021 18:55:50 GMT -5
About a third of the way through a re-read of Sandman Mystery Theatre. Still one of my my favorite books of all time. And possibly the greatest noir comic.
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Post by Batflunkie on Jan 22, 2021 19:04:13 GMT -5
About a third of the way through a re-read of Sandman Mystery Theatre. Still one of my my favorite books of all time. And possibly the greatest noir comic. It's one book that I wish got more attention or praise |
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