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Post by paulie on Jun 10, 2015 13:49:22 GMT -5
Have you seen the subplot where Odin has given himself amnesia and he's walking around Earth in a suit, carrying a cane and wearing a fedora like he's a king-size Monty Woolley?
I only saw one or two issues with that subplot and I don't think I ever did figure out what that was about. But those images have stayed with me for decades.
Nope, I haven't seen that one yet, but it sounds pretty bad. Conway's run has some good stuff, but it's also... I mean, the story where Odin is kidnapped by aliens and sold into slavery after they drug his soup is an all-time head-scratcher. I just finished that story with Odin being kidnapped by aliens last week and thought it was pretty bad, but then Conway redeems himself with the next couple of stories, so it was quickly forgiven. You never see anyone write about Thor from say... 180 to 280 when the Celestials Saga begins. It is like a 10 year dark age for the title. But I will agree... Gerry's stories had a nice high adventure feel to them blending myth and Sci-Fi and leaving earth-based superhero vs. supervillain stuff alone for the most part. The Buscema art was usually pretty decent, especially when Jim Mooney did the finishes. I think Odin was an organizer of union labor for a time around 215 - 220 (?). It is indeed as crazy as it sounds.
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Post by fanboystranger on Jun 10, 2015 15:51:58 GMT -5
Nope, I haven't seen that one yet, but it sounds pretty bad. I just finished that story with Odin being kidnapped by aliens last week and thought it was pretty bad, but then Conway redeems himself with the next couple of stories, so it was quickly forgiven. You never see anyone write about Thor from say... 180 to 280 when the Celestials Saga begins. It is like a 10 year dark age for the title. But I will agree... Gerry's stories had a nice high adventure feel to them blending myth and Sci-Fi and leaving earth-based superhero vs. supervillain stuff alone for the most part. The Buscema art was usually pretty decent, especially when Jim Mooney did the finishes. I think Odin was an organizer of union labor for a time around 215 - 220 (?). It is indeed as crazy as it sounds. Len Wein had some good Thor stories in that period. Most of them were in a cosmic vein, and some of them featured Walt Simonson on art.
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Post by berkley on Jun 10, 2015 17:01:46 GMT -5
You never see anyone write about Thor from say... 180 to 280 when the Celestials Saga begins. It is like a 10 year dark age for the title. But I will agree... Gerry's stories had a nice high adventure feel to them blending myth and Sci-Fi and leaving earth-based superhero vs. supervillain stuff alone for the most part. The Buscema art was usually pretty decent, especially when Jim Mooney did the finishes. I think Odin was an organizer of union labor for a time around 215 - 220 (?). It is indeed as crazy as it sounds. Len Wein had some good Thor stories in that period. Most of them were in a cosmic vein, and some of them featured Walt Simonson on art. There were a few decent moments, like the introduction of the Egyptian pantheon, but they never seemed to go anywhere.< However, I remember thinking at the time that the Ragnorak storyline, which was pretty epic itself and came right before the even bigger Celestials Saga, was quite good. I wonder how many other times that's been done in any series - one big, multi-part story followed immediately by another, just as big or bigger? I can't think of any other examples at the moment.
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Post by Spike-X on Jun 10, 2015 17:14:01 GMT -5
But as before I wished there was someone else besides Byrne doing the art. I don't dislike it, but it wears on me half way though the series. His art begins to become bland somehow. Not that there is a change in the art quality or anything, but for me it's like staring at those three dimensional posters. I know I am suppose to see something, but I am just one of those people that can't. It's the only minus to Sensational She-Hulk. There really could have been a better artists on that series for sure. Wow, I'm surprised you didn't like Byrne's art in Legends. I think this is Byrne at his zenith, particularly with Kesel as his inker. I can't think of many mainstream superhero artists that would have been "better" in my eyes during this period. I lost my freakin' mind when Legends came out. John Byrne drawing all the major DC heroes? Hell YEAH!
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 10, 2015 17:19:08 GMT -5
I don't remember where I got it (some throw in for an e-bay auction, most likely) but I ready 'Doomsday +1' yesterday... early Byrne art from Charlton.
The plot is 3 astronauts and a 3rd century goth are the last humans on earth after nuclear holocaust, and a crazy russian cyborg is trying to kill them. yeah. and all in 5 pages, too.
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Jun 10, 2015 19:29:28 GMT -5
But as before I wished there was someone else besides Byrne doing the art. I don't dislike it, but it wears on me half way though the series. His art begins to become bland somehow. Not that there is a change in the art quality or anything, but for me it's like staring at those three dimensional posters. I know I am suppose to see something, but I am just one of those people that can't. It's the only minus to Sensational She-Hulk. There really could have been a better artists on that series for sure. Wow, I'm surprised you didn't like Byrne's art in Legends. I think this is Byrne at his zenith, particularly with Kesel as his inker. I can't think of many mainstream superhero artists that would have been "better" in my eyes during this period. Im not sure what it is about Byrne's art that doesn't jump out at me. Legends is better than say Aliens Earth Angel which he did all the art except the colors. Again Legends, FF, and even She-Hulk aren't bad but in each instance I could see someone better suited. FF is probably the only time the art and the story were good enough together that I didn't nitpick in the back of my mind. And I believe Aliens Earth Angel may have been the first I'd see of his work. And to be fair the great artist those preceding Aliens titles had, a lot of other artist's would have been assessed the same as Byrne in comparison.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2015 22:30:32 GMT -5
Len Wein had some good Thor stories in that period. Most of them were in a cosmic vein, and some of them featured Walt Simonson on art. There were a few decent moments, like the introduction of the Egyptian pantheon, but they never seemed to go anywhere.< However, I remember thinking at the time that the Ragnorak storyline, which was pretty epic itself and came right before the even bigger Celestials Saga, was quite good. I wonder how many other times that's been done in any series - one big, multi-part story followed immediately by another, just as big or bigger? I can't think of any other examples at the moment. For me, Avengers in the 70s felt that way-Englehart doing the Kang/Celestial Madonna Saga then the Serpent Crown saga, then Conway and Shooter doing the Attuma/Doom dust up followed by the Korvac saga which encompassed mini sagas like Bride of Ultron, the Nefaria trilogy, etc. etc. it felt like the Avengers from '73-'79 was just one big multipart saga following another for a good 5-6 year period. -M
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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 11, 2015 23:33:57 GMT -5
I picked up The Epic Collection: Thor, Volume Four, from the library today. It's called "To Wake the Mangog" and it reprints Thor #154 to #174. I'm pretty excited about it!
The Mangog storyline was reprinted in the 1970s in Marvel Treasury Edition #10 and I definitely remember getting that at the newsstand and thinking it was pretty awesome! I haven't had that book for decades and I'm looking forward to reading the Mangog story again.
I'm pretty sure I haven't read anything else in this collection.
I started reading it when I was waiting for the bus. The first few pages don't look familiar but I definitely remember the part where Ulik struggles out of the abyss (where he was apparently deposited after a battle with Thor many months before) and finds the door warning of the presence of MANGOG! "Do not disturb by order of Odin!"
Well, Ulik being a real troll and not the Internet kind, sneers at the warning and thinks it would be a kick to release Mangog just to piss off the Asgardians.
Geez Louise! I love that panel where Mangog is creeping out of the cavern where's he's been imprisoned!
That's as far as I got before the bus arrived and I've been looking forward to getting back to it. It's so much fun to re-visit this story I loved when I was 12 that I haven't read for 25 years or so.
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Post by berkley on Jun 12, 2015 0:53:38 GMT -5
I picked up The Epic Collection: Thor, Volume Four, from the library today. It's called "To Wake the Mangog" and it reprints Thor #154 to #174. I'm pretty excited about it!
The Mangog storyline was reprinted in the 1970s in Marvel Treasury Edition #10 and I definitely remember getting that at the newsstand and thinking it was pretty awesome! I haven't had that book for decades and I'm looking forward to reading the Mangog story again.
I'm pretty sure I haven't read anything else in this collection.
I started reading it when I was waiting for the bus. The first few pages don't look familiar but I definitely remember the part where Ulik struggles out of the abyss (where he was apparently deposited after a battle with Thor many months before) and finds the door warning of the presence of MANGOG! "Do not disturb by order of Odin!"
Well, Ulik being a real troll and not the Internet kind, sneers at the warning and thinks it would be a kick to release Mangog just to piss off the Asgardians.
Geez Louise! I love that panel where Mangog is creeping out of the cavern where's he's been imprisoned! That's as far as I got before the bus arrived and I've been looking forward to getting back to it. It's so much fun to re-visit this story I loved when I was 12 that I haven't read for 25 years or so. The last issue of this 4-part story was one of the first comics I remember buying as a kid and is still one of my all-time favourite comics. I never got to read the rest of the story until that Treasury Edition reprint came out in the 70s, and one thing I found interesting is that Kirby's rendition of the Mangog became a little more refined as the story progressed - I mean, the basic design stays the same, but the proportions look a bit different in the last issue from the panel shown here from that first appearance. BTW, I highly recommend looking for that Treasury Edition. With a little patience you could probably find one at a decent price, eventually.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 12, 2015 17:31:24 GMT -5
Yeah, it was fun reading Thor #154 last night. I remember that great scene with Mangog and Ulik so well. Ulik acts all tough and tells Mangog that together they will bring Asgard to its knees! And Mangog is NOT IMPRESSED!!! He tells Ulik that he is the enemy is all that live! But he will allow Ulik to live a little longer.
Ulik has a sort of sick look on his face. And I love that panel where Mangog is lifting Ulik out of the hole. Ulik looks like a baby in the clutches of Mangog.
And then Loki shows up in Asgard, just to see what's going on and to stir up some trouble. The Asgardians are glad to see him because they have heard that the Mangog cavern has been disturbed and they know that might mean trouble. And Odin is now sleeping the Odinsleep and can't be disturbed! So they're glad to see Loki because they need him to sit on the throne and direct the operations against Mangog (or something).
Loki is loving it.
I'm loving it too.
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Post by Spike-X on Jun 13, 2015 0:27:19 GMT -5
I read Fantastic Four Annual #3 (Reed and Sue's wedding) last night for the first time ever. The whole book is basically one long fight scene, with pretty much every Marvel hero and villain at the time. It was awesome! Plot? who needs a plot?
Oh yeah, and then they got married on the last page.
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Post by fanboystranger on Jun 14, 2015 9:25:18 GMT -5
I picked up The Epic Collection: Thor, Volume Four, from the library today. It's called "To Wake the Mangog" and it reprints Thor #154 to #174. I'm pretty excited about it!
The Mangog storyline was reprinted in the 1970s in Marvel Treasury Edition #10 and I definitely remember getting that at the newsstand and thinking it was pretty awesome! I haven't had that book for decades and I'm looking forward to reading the Mangog story again.
I'm pretty sure I haven't read anything else in this collection.
I started reading it when I was waiting for the bus. The first few pages don't look familiar but I definitely remember the part where Ulik struggles out of the abyss (where he was apparently deposited after a battle with Thor many months before) and finds the door warning of the presence of MANGOG! "Do not disturb by order of Odin!"
Well, Ulik being a real troll and not the Internet kind, sneers at the warning and thinks it would be a kick to release Mangog just to piss off the Asgardians.
Geez Louise! I love that panel where Mangog is creeping out of the cavern where's he's been imprisoned!
That's as far as I got before the bus arrived and I've been looking forward to getting back to it. It's so much fun to re-visit this story I loved when I was 12 that I haven't read for 25 years or so. Lots of great stories in that volume. The Galactus vs Ego story is also excellent.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jun 14, 2015 9:55:56 GMT -5
The Epic line in general is excellent. It takes all the good aspects of the Masterwork and Essential lines (quality reproduction and quantity) and finds the perfect balance. I have all of the Silver Age Epic's so far. The only problem I have is that I wish they'd release them in chronological order while still targeting other releases for movies and TV premieres.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 14, 2015 10:23:50 GMT -5
I agree the Epic line is great... I've been buying quite a few of them as well. I don't mind the skipping around so much, but I don't really understand why they're doing collections for 80s stuff that can be gotten rather easily. I wish they'd focus on stuff that's harder to get.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2015 10:54:06 GMT -5
I agree the Epic line is great... I've been buying quite a few of them as well. I don't mind the skipping around so much, but I don't really understand why they're doing collections for 80s stuff that can be gotten rather easily. I wish they'd focus on stuff that's harder to get. A lot of the "harder to get stuff" has been collected many times and many ways, so is actually easier to get than 80s stuff which has never been collected before. Part of their stated goal with the Epic line was to get stuff that had never been collected before into collected editions to make them available again. Remember, back issue sales are not Marvel's concern, they want to be able to sell you the stuff in their back catalog directly so they can make money on it rather than you buying it via ebay, conventions or lcs back issue bins. With Masterworks having already covered most series through the 60s and into the 70s, the Essentials covering most of the 70s in major titles, the 80s and 90s stuff is the stuff that has yet to be collected for the most part, so they seem to be alternating between volumes of first time collected material and re-collected editions of older stuff that has gone out of print as they move forward with the Epic line. The 75th anniversary of Marvel was a good marketing push for the volume 1s of all the major series, but the focus has been on more recent uncollected stuff on most of the other releases so far. -M
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