I also read Flash #237, but the thing I'm posting about is this ad.  I know it's 1975, but Fantastic Four worth $100? Wow, that was a long time ago! Did anybody have one of these? It's not clear to me if putting your comics in this thing defaces them in any way. I would assume not, since they're boasting about it retaining the value of your comics, but it's not clear to me how the comics go in there.

I read the relatively short Showcase Presents Green Lantern vol. 4 reprinting Green Lantern #60-75. This volume tries to be bit more sophisticated, although I feel like it loses direction. It's as if the title is growing up with its readers. At times it gets slightly political/philosophical, although not nearly as overtly so as during the famed O'Neil/Adams Green Lantern/Green Arrow that follows these issues. For example, there a team-up with Earth-2's GL in which he tries to eliminate all evil in his world, and has to reckon with the fact that everyone is a little evil. There's also a story about alien youth revolutionaries, and one with an evil hippie member of the Jordan family! Denny O'Neil writes a few stories, so he wasn't new to the book with the GL/GA run.

Several stories in the middle of this volume have artists other than Gil Kane, like Sekowsky and Dillin. There not quite as good, so it's welcome to see Kane return. There are some strong covers during this period. A couple stories have the original Kane/Giella team, who do seem to match the more sophisticated writing tone that's evolved since Giella's original stint. Ironically, the best Kane issue of this volume might be #70, inked by . . . Vince Colletta! It's about a sentient space toy. It's better than it sounds. Another story has Hal falling in love with one of those alien youth revolutionaries, with a twist at the end.

But departure from Coast City to work in insurance in Washington state has failed to put down roots and develop a real supporting cast. He gets a boring love interest, Eve Doremus, and she's so uninteresting I can't even remember if she and Hal formally break up. There are a couple possible love interests, but no one catches. Hal leaves his insurance job to become a traveling toy salesman for some reason, and that doesn't really go anywhere (except another love interest who doesn't really seem to generate chemistry). Because Hal has moved away from Coast City, it seems the creators decide they can't have him fighting all his Coast City based foes. Unfortunately, that leads to unmemorable villains. A visit to Coast City that bring Carol Ferris/Star Sapphire, Tom Kalmaku, and Sinestro back into the picture is really welcome at this point. Tom now owns a chain of gas station, and he and his wife Terga now have 3 kids. That's not totally crazy if events take place in real time, but it's a huge change based how compressed we think of time passing in comics.

My Green Lantern binge read is speeding along much faster than I anticipated. I started a couple days before New Year's, and I'm already up to 1970, with O'Neil/Adams next. I've been reading a lot on weekends, reading at least one issue every weekday, and shifting some TV/movie time over to comic reading.

I have never been a big Conan fan but Buscemas art was jarring. It looked like Conan gained 60 pounds of muscle.

Kazar's face was thinner, and he gave Conan a broken "boxer's" nose.

That Mantlo/Golden Micronauts run is one of my favorites! I read the entire Micronauts run, and while I enjoyed the whole thing, the Golden issues were definitely the high point.

I'm finally starting to pay attention to black & white magazines, and I'll have to check out Savage Tales, as well as Savage Sword of Conan.

I also read this recently. Baker's art is the main draw. The story seemed to me like the first draft of a potentially good novel.

I don't think Buscema's Conan look like that in his early issues of Conan the Barbarian.