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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2022 9:44:26 GMT -5
The Amazing Spider-Man #2 via Marvel Unlimited. The Terrible Tinkerer just doesn’t work for me, not as a Spidey opponent. I think Spidey works best in street-level stories, not opposing aliens (one might ask why the aliens weren’t concerned about the Fantastic Four, who would have been a part of the MU at the time). It just all felt very random and out of place in a Spidey story. I know the MU consists of sci-fi and fantasy elements. That’s fine. And some superhero characters work well in any setting, I feel Batman can work whether he’s investigating haunted houses, battling muggers or taking on Darkseid. But I prefer Spidey far away from aliens. If it makes you feel any better, Roger Stern agreed with you. In Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #50-51 (January-February 1981), he revealed that neither the Tinkerer nor his allies were true aliens, but freelance spies disguised as aliens for, um, reasons and their "spaceship" merely a helicopyer tricked out by SFX genius (and future Mysterio) Quentin Beck.
Cei-U!
I summon the second thought! Well, that does make me feel better, so thanks for letting me know about that.  |
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Post by spoon on Dec 28, 2022 18:09:36 GMT -5
The Fanfare issues all feature art and plots by Ken Steacy. Their placement here is a little haphazard especially since the first two were published a couple years before the earliest issues in this TPB. The two-parter in #22-23 is pretty good, especially art-wise. It has an interesting cliffhanger. It does feature a weird legal plot with an evil “consumer activist” who doesn’t seem to fit that description, but it’s this weird vibe where in an Iron Man story you get to treat any critique of business as evil. The story in #44 is not nearly as good in either plot or art, despite coming from the same creator. Does the TPB credit Steacy with plotting Fanfare #22 & 23? The original comics credited Roger McKenzie with script and Steacy with everything else bar editing. In the absence of an explicit plotting credit for someone else, I would tend to assume the scripter was also the plotter. The appearance by Judge Coffin, an obscure character from McKenzie's run on Daredevil, would seem to support this. I don't think McKenzie had any input into to story in Fanfare #44. No, the TPB doesn't have a separate credit than the "everything else" specifically for Fanfare #22-23. There's an overall credits page for the whole book that lists Steacy among the writers of the TPB, but that's not clarifying because Steacy is credited for writing #44. My assumption runs in the opposite direction. Since plot and script are subparts of writing, I read script and "everything else" as sticking plot in everything else. Part of that is because of seen several examples of artists/plotters who have someone else do the scripting. It seems some artists are more comfortable with plotting that scripting. I think of a writer/writing credit as more indicative of both tasks, although I know I've seen scripter credits on stories, with no explicit plotter credit (which would fit your assumption). Similarly, if someone was credited a penciler and an Andy Lanning or Bob Layton was credited as "everything else", I'd think Lanning or Layton probably inked. Of course, art and writing divisions of labor aren't exact analogies. But if I were an editor, I found "everything else" an acceptable credit for a "non-plotter" because I would feel like it suggested Steacy did work that McKenzie actually did in that interpretation. |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,194 
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Post by Confessor on Dec 29, 2022 0:49:58 GMT -5
The Amazing Spider-Man #2 via Marvel Unlimited. The Terrible Tinkerer just doesn’t work for me, not as a Spidey opponent. I think Spidey works best in street-level stories, not opposing aliens (one might ask why the aliens weren’t concerned about the Fantastic Four, who would have been a part of the MU at the time). It just all felt very random and out of place in a Spidey story. I know the MU consists of sci-fi and fantasy elements. That’s fine. And some superhero characters work well in any setting, I feel Batman can work whether he’s investigating haunted houses, battling muggers or taking on Darkseid. But I prefer Spidey far away from aliens. I agree that the aliens aren't really a good fit for Spider-Man, but it's worth remembering that the stories in ASM #2 are still very much in the sci-fi and weird tales mold that you would have found in Amazing Fantasy, which as I'm sure you know is where Spidey got his start. Stories about aliens hiding among the civilian population of the United States were ubiquitous in sci-fi/weird fantasy type comics at that time and a symptom of cold war era "red menace" fears. The truth is that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko were still very much still finding their feet with Spider-Man at this early point in the series and still establishing what sort of superhero he was going to be. If it makes you feel any better, Roger Stern agreed with you. In Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #50-51 (January-February 1981), he revealed that neither the Tinkerer nor his allies were true aliens, but freelance spies disguised as aliens for, um, reasons and their "spaceship" merely a helicopyer tricked out by SFX genius (and future Mysterio) Quentin Beck. Cei-U!
I summon the second thought! It was also revealed in those issues of PP:TSSM that the Tinkerer had created Mysterio's costume. |
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Post by Ozymandias on Dec 29, 2022 6:31:18 GMT -5
If it makes you feel any better, Roger Stern agreed with you. In Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #50-51 (January-February 1981), he revealed that neither the Tinkerer nor his allies were true aliens, but freelance spies disguised as aliens for, um, reasons and their "spaceship" merely a helicopyer tricked out by SFX genius (and future Mysterio) Quentin Beck.
Cei-U!
I summon the second thought! Well, that does make me feel better, so thanks for letting me know about that. While I agree with the sentiment and recommend Stern's retcon (a "good" one as all the retcons he did), I must point out that at the start of the Silver Age, there was a lot of "unregistered" aliens running around. Count yourself lucky Ditko put a stop to most of that in ASM. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2022 6:42:25 GMT -5
I read The Amazing Spider-Man #3, Doctor Octopus’ debut. This must be one of the most reprinted stories here in the UK, showing up in annuals, comics, pocketbooks, etc.
When the Human Torch is assigned to tackle Octopus, it reminded me of the fact that when this tale was published, only Spidey, Hulk and the FF existed in the Marvel Universe (and, I guess, Namor). So if Spidey is down and out, only the FF are available as the Hulk and Namor aren’t going to be bothered about Ock, right? Ant-Man would have existed too, right.
It made me think about Spidey’s first encounter with the Lizard. The Lizard seemed sure he’d rule the world with his reptiles, and Spidey seemed concerned. Yet at the time of the Lizard’s debut, if I have my publishing schedule right, Iron Man and the X-Men are now part of the MU, as are the aforementioned heroes. So I’m sure one of those would have stopped the Lizard.
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Post by chaykinstevens on Dec 29, 2022 7:42:30 GMT -5
When the Human Torch is assigned to tackle Octopus, it reminded me of the fact that when this tale was published, only Spidey, Hulk and the FF existed in the Marvel Universe (and, I guess, Namor). So if Spidey is down and out, only the FF are available as the Hulk and Namor aren’t going to be bothered about Ock, right? Ant-Man would have existed too, right. Yes, Ant-Man existed. Thor and Iron Man too, and Doctor Strange made his debut in that month. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2022 7:57:21 GMT -5
Thanks. Interesting to think of one of those tackling Doc Ock (I’d like to see Strange VS Octopus, but it could be a mismatch).
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Post by Ozymandias on Dec 29, 2022 8:52:24 GMT -5
The Wasp was also around, and CA (although he was "caught up" right then).
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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 29, 2022 9:07:18 GMT -5
I've been re-reading Lee and Kirby's Fantastic Four run and enjoying it immensely. One of the most interesting issues so far has been FF #22, not so much for the story (though it does feature the debut of Ben's "It's clobberin' time!" war cry and his first mention of "my dear old Aunt Petunia") but for the letters page, which includes letters from Roy Thomas, Jack C. Harris, Dave Cockrum, and Wayne Howard, future comics pros one and all. And #20 featured letters from Mark Gruenwald and a 15-year-old George R.R. Martin!
Cei-U!
I summon the blasts from the past!
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 29, 2022 23:32:56 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2022 4:59:54 GMT -5
Utter cheapskate:  Incidentally, Marvel Unlimited features the letters pages for issues of The Amazing Spider-Man, but not for many other titles. Strange. |
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Post by commond on Dec 30, 2022 19:11:18 GMT -5
I quite liked the early issues of Jemm, Son of Saturn, where Jemm first arrives on Earth, and Colan is being inked by Klaus Janson, but the story lost its way when it became a space epic, and I didn't think there was enough story to justify a 12 issue maxi-series. I mostly read it because I'm interested in Colan's 80s output. There seemed to be a huge difference between street level Colan and outer space Colan. I can't really claim that the Jemm character is all that interesting, either. He seems kind of redundant in a world where there's already a Martian Manhunter.
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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 30, 2022 19:39:00 GMT -5
I quite liked the early issues of Jemm, Son of Saturn, where Jemm first arrives on Earth, and Colan is being inked by Klaus Janson, but the story lost its way when it became a space epic, and I didn't think there was enough story to justify a 12 issue maxi-series. I mostly read it because I'm interested in Colan's 80s output. There seemed to be a huge difference between street level Colan and outer space Colan. I can't really claim that the Jemm character is all that interesting, either. He seems kind of redundant in a world where there's already a Martian Manhunter. If memory serves, Jemm actually began life as a proposed Martian Manhunter mini. I don't remember why it was changed. Incidentally, the only piece of original Gene Colan art I own is a poage from Jemm, a gift from former CBRizen Scott "Lone Ranger" Mahaffey. Needless to say, it's one of my most treasured possessions.
Cei-U! I summon my favorite artist!
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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 30, 2022 20:40:06 GMT -5
Got to read some old stuff today.. a few Elongated Man stories from the SHowcase.. man, poor guy was just an inept sidekick for the Flash at first! I do like how he's a public, self promoting hero.. it's a fun change.
Sue definitely changed alot of the years, I guess.. I didn't recognize her! I wonder why the chose to age her more than, say, Lois Lane?
I also had a couple old one offs I had lying around.. including a really good Jonah Hex story (though he's a bit overly heroic) and a reprint of a Gunmaster story, which I quite liked as well.
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Post by Mormel on Dec 31, 2022 5:00:37 GMT -5
Re-read Uncanny X-Men 390, in which Colossus sacrifices himself to provide the cure for the Legacy Virus, and at the end of it I choked up. Was able to barely hold back my tears. What a send-off for a character that had been through the emotional wringer up until that point. I know he was ressurrected 4 years later, and I enjoyed him in Whedon's Astonishing a lot, but it would have been so powerful if this had been a death that stuck.
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