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Post by Hoosier X on Jan 3, 2024 23:00:22 GMT -5
I finished The Batman Archives, Vol. 7, last night. I read the last two stories. Detective Comics #153 has a story where Batman is knocked unconscious and he dreams that he’s fighting crime with some very advanced artificial wings. And in #154, Batman goes undercover to figure out how escaped convicts are getting through the police dragnet. It turns out that their Underworld Underground Railroad is a literal Underground Railroad in one of those abandoned subway lines that are almost as common in Gotham City as abandoned amusement parks.
A friend at work gave me a copy of Superman #193, and also Batman #321 came in the mail, but I haven’t read them yet.
And I got some new comics, Birds of Prey #5 and DC’s ’Twas the ‘Mite Before Christmas. I haven’t got to them yet either.
So these are the comics I haven’t read yet ...
To Wake the Mangog
Superman #193
Batman #321
‘Twas the ‘Mite Before Christmas
Birds of Prey #5
(My plan was to read some John Keats before going to bed and save the comics for tomorrow. But I just can’t resist that Superman #293!)
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Post by Cei-U! on Jan 4, 2024 5:59:54 GMT -5
Fantastic Four Annual #1. I'm not up on my Sub-Mariner lore, but I think this might be the intro of Dorma and Krang. It's the first appearance of Krang but Dorma was part of the Golden Age cast.
Cei-U! I summon the vintage vixen!
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Post by Icctrombone on Jan 4, 2024 7:18:33 GMT -5
Fantastic Four Annual #1. I'm not up on my Sub-Mariner lore, but I think this might be the intro of Dorma and Krang. It's the first appearance of Krang but Dorma was part of the Golden Age cast.
Cei-U! I summon the vintage vixen!
Yeah, but she's pushing up daisies, um , or seashells... |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 4, 2024 13:28:06 GMT -5
 I picked up an e-version of this fairly cheap. It's a compilation of work that Jack Davis drew for Cracked magazine. There's no indication of what issues those comics appeared in. No indication of who the writers were. So as a historical document it's pretty useless. Davis was a master. One of the great cartoonists of his time. And there's nothing here to fault the artwork. But Cracked was a decidedly inferior product to Mad and that fact is readily apparent here. But it's a bit like painting a masterpiece on an outhouse wall. The writing just isn't up to snuff. I'm certainly not upset I read it. But the price per page was honestly a bit high for anything other than admiring Davis' artwork. |
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Post by Ricky Jackson on Jan 4, 2024 14:08:45 GMT -5
Reading Astonishing Tales from 1970, specifically the Dr. Doom stories with art by Wally Wood. Where has this been all my life?!?! The stories are nutty: Latverian revolutionaries, an out of control duplicate of Doom wrapped in bandages like the Mummy, an alien being called the Faceless One, and, best of all, Doom vacationing on the French Riviera while the Red Skull conquers Latveria as step one in establishing the Fourth Reich!!! And all this in the first 4 issues! Alas, it appears Wood may be done and George Tuska takes over with #5. Still, such fun stuff, and Wood's art is top notch
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Post by MDG on Jan 4, 2024 21:09:42 GMT -5
I picked up an e-version of this fairly cheap. It's a compilation of work that Jack Davis drew for Cracked magazine. There's no indication of what issues those comics appeared in. No indication of who the writers were. So as a historical document it's pretty useless. Davis was a master. One of the great cartoonists of his time. And there's nothing here to fault the artwork. But Cracked was a decidedly inferior product to Mad and that fact is readily apparent here. But it's a bit like painting a masterpiece on an outhouse wall. The writing just isn't up to snuff. I'm certainly not upset I read it. But the price per page was honestly a bit high for anything other than admiring Davis' artwork. I bought into the Kickstarter for this and the companion volume of John Severin Cracked work from around the same time. Yeah, a little pricey, but stuff I like and I got a couple stickers with them (though I didn't spring for the Sylvester P. Smythe painters' hat). |
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Post by Hoosier X on Jan 4, 2024 21:13:26 GMT -5
Reading Astonishing Tales from 1970, specifically the Dr. Doom stories with art by Wally Wood. Where has this been all my life?!?! The stories are nutty: Latverian revolutionaries, an out of control duplicate of Doom wrapped in bandages like the Mummy, an alien being called the Faceless One, and, best of all, Doom vacationing on the French Riviera while the Red Skull conquers Latveria as step one in establishing the Fourth Reich!!! And all this in the first 4 issues! Alas, it appears Wood may be done and George Tuska takes over with #5. Still, such fun stuff, and Wood's art is top notch I got a beat-up copy of Astonishing Tales #6 when it was just a few years old. I must have been 13 or 14. I could hardly believe my eyes. One of those comics I had as a kid that wasn't really that great, but it was awesome just that it even existed. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 4, 2024 22:16:09 GMT -5
I picked up an e-version of this fairly cheap. It's a compilation of work that Jack Davis drew for Cracked magazine. There's no indication of what issues those comics appeared in. No indication of who the writers were. So as a historical document it's pretty useless. Davis was a master. One of the great cartoonists of his time. And there's nothing here to fault the artwork. But Cracked was a decidedly inferior product to Mad and that fact is readily apparent here. But it's a bit like painting a masterpiece on an outhouse wall. The writing just isn't up to snuff. I'm certainly not upset I read it. But the price per page was honestly a bit high for anything other than admiring Davis' artwork. I bought into the Kickstarter for this and the companion volume of John Severin Cracked work from around the same time. Yeah, a little pricey, but stuff I like and I got a couple stickers with them (though I didn't spring for the Sylvester P. Smythe painters' hat). I’ve got the Severin one also. I’ll get to it some time soon. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Jan 5, 2024 4:58:53 GMT -5
Reading Astonishing Tales from 1970, specifically the Dr. Doom stories with art by Wally Wood. Where has this been all my life?!?! The stories are nutty: Latverian revolutionaries, an out of control duplicate of Doom wrapped in bandages like the Mummy, an alien being called the Faceless One, and, best of all, Doom vacationing on the French Riviera while the Red Skull conquers Latveria as step one in establishing the Fourth Reich!!! And all this in the first 4 issues! Alas, it appears Wood may be done and George Tuska takes over with #5. Still, such fun stuff, and Wood's art is top notch I got a beat-up copy of Astonishing Tales #6 when it was just a few years old. I must have been 13 or 14. I could hardly believe my eyes. One of those comics I had as a kid that wasn't really that great, but it was awesome just that it even existed. That's the only issue I'm missing and it's now impossible to get at a decent price because the Ka-Zar story features the first appearance of Bobbi "Mockingbird" Morse.
Cei-U! I summon my personal white whale!
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Post by Hoosier X on Jan 5, 2024 6:46:49 GMT -5
I got a beat-up copy of Astonishing Tales #6 when it was just a few years old. I must have been 13 or 14. I could hardly believe my eyes. One of those comics I had as a kid that wasn't really that great, but it was awesome just that it even existed. That's the only issue I'm missing and it's now impossible to get at a decent price because the Ka-Zar story features the first appearance of Bobbi "Mockingbird" Morse.
Cei-U! I summon my personal white whale!
If I still had it, I would send it to you. It was pretty tattered. The cover was barely attached. It was all there, no pages missing and no coupons cut out. I don’t remember Bobbi Morse being in it at all. |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,194 
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Post by Confessor on Jan 5, 2024 14:43:33 GMT -5
Carrying right on with my re-read of J. Michael Straczynski's run on Amazing Spider-Man, with issues #509 through to #518 + Spectacular Spider-Man #23–26…  Fair warning, this post principally concerns my re-reading of the controversial "Sins Past" storyline, in which it's revealed that Norman Osborn slept with Gwen Stacy and fathered two super-powered children named Gabriel and Sarah. Now, I know that this particular story-arc comes in for a lot of flack here and elsewhere on the internet, but let me just say right up front that I really like it. I liked it back in 2004, I've liked it every time I've revisited it, and I still like it now. To me, these are some really well written and properly gripping comics. That said, I do understand why some felt that it was a story that didn't need to be told or that it soiled Gwen's legacy, but as a huge Gwen Stacy fan myself, I found it anything but insulting to her memory. Quite the opposite; I thought "Sins Past" humanised Gwen and made her seem more like a three-dimensional teenage girl. She made a terrible error of judgement at a time when she was emotionally vulnerable – just like a lot of people do. That's life. I honestly felt that Gwen's actions (and Osborn's too) were very believable within the context of the story. To this day, given how well written it was by JMS and how beautifully drawn by Mike Deodato, I find it hard to understand why so many fans hate these comics. But there you go…one man's meat and all that! Anyway, I don't want to dwell too much on these issues because I know I'm not going to change anyone's mind. There are a couple of points I do want to make though. The first point concerns the often-shown panels of Norman's grinning mug, juxtaposed with Gwen's "o-face". It's important to note that these are not meant to be depictions of what actually happened when they were having sex, which is how they are often presented online. When you look at the whole page, you can see that these images are conjured up by Peter's angry and jealous imagination, as he reacts to the devastating news that Osborn had slept with Gwen (likewise, the "no…I can't…" dialogue is Peter's, not Gwen's).  The second thing that struck me on this latest re-read is that "Sins Past" explains why Harry Osborn was bed-ridden by the LSD he took in those early '70s issues of Amazing Spider-Man: it was cut with strychnine. This explains a lot because I'd always found it odd that Harry would end up passed out in bed from taking LSD – whenever I've indulged, sleep is totally out of the question! People do not become bed-ridden and unconscious from ingesting LSD, but poisoning by strychnine would certainly put a person through agonising spasms, sweats and unconsciousness (and quite possibly death). Anyway, I thought this was worth mentioning because Harry taking to his bed after the LSD has always bugged me. Anyway, moving on, I re-read the follow-up "Sins Remembered" storyline in Spectacular Spider-Man #23–26, which was not written by Straczynski, but by Samm Barnes. The story sees Peter travel to Paris, France in order to keep an eye on Sarah, who we learn has gotten herself tangled up with drug pushers. This is certainly a less essential story than "Sins Past", but it manages to flesh out the details of Sarah and Gabriel's accelerated aging and their prisoner-like upbringing in Paris, under Osborn's watchful eye. The art is serviceable without being amazing – Scot Eaton really can't draw Peter Parker properly. The "Skin Deep" storyline that runs through issues #515–518 of Amazing Spider-Man feels very much like filler – especially coming on the heels of the jaw-dropping events and revelations of "Sins Past". It concerns an old High School friend of Peter's named Charlie Weiderman, who asks Peter for help with a dangerous Vibranium experiment, but Peter refuses. Charlie is a gifted scientist, but lacks Peter's moral code and while experimenting with the Vibranium an explosion coats him in an indestructible layer of the stuff – giving him the appearance of a knock-off Molten Man. Peter manages to stop Charlie's ensuing vengeance-filled rampage, but not before the troubled scientist has set fire to Peter and MJ's apartment and burned down Aunt May's house too. Having Peter, MJ and Aunt May lose their homes is probably the most important thing about this story-arc because it sets the stage for their having to move into Avengers' Tower with Tony Stark, which begins the build up towards the Civil War mega-event. Anyway, I really enjoyed re-reading "Sins Past", like I always do, but the "Sins Remembered" and "Skin Deep" storylines are much more mediocre. |
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Post by james on Jan 6, 2024 5:18:20 GMT -5
Slowly done FF 11-20 next up is Usagi Ujimbo vol 1. Been curious about this series since is first came
Out) whole run of Hitman. And Then of course FF 21-32
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Post by Hoosier X on Jan 6, 2024 5:23:08 GMT -5
I got a beat-up copy of Astonishing Tales #6 when it was just a few years old. I must have been 13 or 14. I could hardly believe my eyes. One of those comics I had as a kid that wasn't really that great, but it was awesome just that it even existed. That's the only issue I'm missing and it's now impossible to get at a decent price because the Ka-Zar story features the first appearance of Bobbi "Mockingbird" Morse.
Cei-U! I summon my personal white whale!
EBay had a 4.0 copy for $18.50. |
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Post by Icctrombone on Jan 6, 2024 7:22:08 GMT -5
Fair warning, this post principally concerns my re-reading of the controversial "Sins Past" storyline, in which it's revealed that Norman Osborn slept with Gwen Stacy and fathered two super-powered children named Gabriel and Sarah. I guess Gwen came from an age where women were chaste and she was everyone's first love. And I don't remember her ever being depicted as a loose teenager like MJ was. I'm not sure if they highlighted that Norman was a charismatic person. That's a factor in these affairs. People sleep with each other for many reasons. |
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,194
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Post by Confessor on Jan 6, 2024 9:46:06 GMT -5
Fair warning, this post principally concerns my re-reading of the controversial "Sins Past" storyline, in which it's revealed that Norman Osborn slept with Gwen Stacy and fathered two super-powered children named Gabriel and Sarah. I guess Gwen came from an age where women were chaste and she was everyone's first love. And I don't remember her ever being depicted as a loose teenager like MJ was. I'm not sure if they highlighted that Norman was a charismatic person. That's a factor in these affairs. People sleep with each other for many reasons. Actually they did, yeah. I forget the exact words, so I'm paraphrasing here, but Gwen's inner thought process was that she found Norman handsome, but also troubled and surprisingly vulnerable. She was initially angry when she went to confront him about his treatment of Harry, but her heart went out to him and one thing led to another. Emotions were running high, I guess. In my own personal headcanon, I rationalise it as Gwen having been raised by a much older father and having been surrounded by his older male friends as she was growing up, which made her more comfortable with the idea of being attracted to someone many years older than her (though clearly she liked boys her own age too). But that is just my own fan theory, it's not alluded to anywhere in the story. |
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