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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2016 13:43:46 GMT -5
I just finished re-reading the Kraven's Last Hunt issues again. It's a pretty big departure. It's fascinating how rushed the marriage of Peter and MJ is when your just reading Web. Suddenly in Kraven's Last Hunt, they're married. In the prior issue of Web, there are moments suggesting they are getting closer again, but they're not even dating, let alone engaged. I've heard supposedly the marriage was rushed to coincide with the comic strip, so maybe the creative teams didn't anticipate it until shortly beforehand. It's been a while since I read Essential Web vol. 1, so I don't remember the stuff in #10 or #18. I see the hand in #24. I didn't realize it was Eddie Brock. One on-and-off plot point in some of these issues that Peter's spider-sense is acting unreliably. I didn't realize that this was (at least in part) Venom-related. I think I may go a few years back next to read Essential Amazing Spider-Man vol. #11 (#231-248, Ann. #16). Your welcome. Yes you are correct about the marriage being rushed to coincide with the comic strip. As Stan Lee who was writing the strip says: "I suggested [that Spider-Man and Mary Jane be married] to whoever was in charge, and they thought it was a good idea, too. Now, I wanted to find a way to have them get married in the comics books and the newspaper strip at the same time. There is no way I can explain to you how difficult that was, because the comics books are written two or three months ahead, [and] the newspaper strip is written a certain period of time ahead. To synchronize the two was almost impossible. Also, the Spider-Man strip had one storyline going on, and in the newspaper strip we had a totally different storyline going on, and in order to make them sort of come together so there'd be a marriage... well, it was the toughest thing creatively that I think I have ever done or the people at Marvel had done." I always was a fan of the marriage. I started to read Spidey shortly after they were married so I could be biased. Those issues in the Essential #11 you mentioned are some of my favorites. Great Roger Stern run.
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Post by chadwilliam on Feb 14, 2016 14:30:02 GMT -5
"Whatever Happened to Superman?" by Cary Bates and Curt Swan
An alright story that should have been a lot better given the ideas at work here. Superman stops a disaster (involving the Metropolis Twin Towers actually) only to be at loss to explain both how he doesn't show up in any of the images or reports of the story and why everyone he speaks to is insistent that Superman disappeared 10 years ago.
There's a bit of formula to the writing but it works. Steve Lombard shows up to insult/pull a prank on Clark as he always does in the first part of any Superman story from this period and Kent does something stupid so that he can, well, look stupid. In this case, he falls down an elevator shaft. It's a nice moment in that while Superman frequently goes out of his way to have his other identity get into trouble to evade Lois, Jimmy, Perry, Morgan Edge at inopportune times, the means by which he does so are usually more horrific when dealing with Lombard.
Lois: Gee Clark, I'm sorry you're not feeling well. Hopefully I'll see you later!
Clark: I'm sure you will Lois!
vs.
Clark: I've accidentally spilled gasoline all over myself and set myself on fire! The agony!
Steve: Clark! Ohhh nooooo!
So anyway...
No one's seen Superman in ten years; every time he tries to prove his existence the public "sees" something else happen; Superman suspects Luthor but his suspicion seems unfounded when Luthor himself seems oblivious to his presence and just as you're getting into the story and wanting to see where things go from here... it abruptly ends.
By way of an agent working for him outside of prison, Luthor arranged to have a satellite screw around with the world's memories of Superman. Superman decides to check in on Luthor a second time this time posing as an inmate moved into his cell only to pretend that he can't see or hear the criminal mastermind. Usually, when someone pulls the old "no one can see or hear you" trick, you have to ask yourself, why doesn't the victim of that scenario just start shaking people to make it clear they're around? That's cleverly addressed here as Luthor kicks, throttles, and grabs the inmate (not realizing he's Superman) and is shocked to find that the guy doesn't budge an inch. Disappointingly however, Luthor decides to just start talking to himself and explains the whole scheme aloud so that Superman can wrap things up with as little effort as he may have ever put into anything.
So while it's a fairly decent story, it's pretty baffling that such an inspired idea couldn't really seem to motivate Cary Bates into giving it his all. It's mostly all set-up and abrupt ending.
One other point: When Jimmy tells Clark that no one's seen Superman in a decade, Clark places his hand on Jimmy's wrist as if attempting to look at the photo Jimmy's holding. In actual fact, Bates is having Clark measure his pulse as a sort of lie detector - a trick taken from the George Reeve's series (which may have taken it from the comics before that).
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 16, 2016 10:38:11 GMT -5
Here's what I've read before going to bed the last two nights: I read the reprint in Super-Heroes Battle Super-Gorillas #1. Grodd thinks he's destroyed the Flash but he's actually just squeezed Barry Allen out of his costume. So there's a fairly hilarious panel where Barry Allen (still wearing a jacket and tie; apparently he dresses that way under the Flash costume) is galloping in to knock Grodd unconscious. Silly Grodd! "The Origin of Batman" from Batman #47 I read it in a 1960s 80-Page Giant issue of Batman. My favorite Batman story of them all! You gotta love the demise of Joe Chill! Adventure Comics #323. "The Eight Impossible Missions!" I read it in The Legion Archives. "Batgirl's Costume Cut-Ups!" from Detective Comics #371. I read this in Showcase Presents: Batgirl, Volume One. Groovy!
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Post by Batflunkie on Feb 16, 2016 14:21:33 GMT -5
"The Origin of Batman" from Batman #47 I read it in a 1960s 80-Page Giant issue of Batman. My favorite Batman story of them all! There was some random issue of Detective Comics that I came across that revealed that Bruce was actually Robin before he became Batman. Mostly was just reading it for the Martian Manhunter back-up, but the cover had me intrigued
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,085
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Post by Confessor on Feb 18, 2016 6:33:10 GMT -5
So, I've started on the comics that I recently got from mycomicshop.com and first up was some Bronze Age issues of Amazing Spider-Man. I read through a handful of 1977/1978 issues by Len Wein and Ross Andru, involving the mysterious return of the Green Goblin. I really love Andru's tenure on the book -- after Ditko and Romita Sr. he might very well be my favourite Spider-Man artist. Wein's run on the book is often overlooked, but it really isn't bad at all.
I also read the two-part "Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut" story in ASM #229 and #230 for the first time. Wow! What a great comic story! I love it when you've heard that something is a real classic for years and then, when you finally get round to reading/watching/listening to it, it doesn't disappoint at all. What an awesome couple of issues! Great writing by Roger Stern and John Romita Jr's artwork is absolutely superb. I'm pretty familiar with the latter-half of Stern's run because those were the issues of ASM that I grew up reading, but I definitely need to check out more of the early part, if these two issues are anything to go by.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 18, 2016 10:03:20 GMT -5
Batgirl's Costume Cut-ups was great! It's hilarious when they try to be 'modern' when writing 60s women.
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Post by Batflunkie on Feb 18, 2016 10:10:03 GMT -5
Batgirl's Costume Cut-ups was great! It's hilarious when they try to be 'modern' when writing 60s women. I think that it was worse when they tried to re-invent Wonder Woman Whenever you try and do something to try and appeal to the youth of a specific time period, you risk seriously dating the book itself. Somehow Marvel was able to avoid this, but that's probably to the credit of the various authors
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 18, 2016 10:14:33 GMT -5
I kinda liked fashion shop powerless Wonder Woman.. at least the trade I read. Incidently, both of those are reviewed in my Silver Age DC thread here and here (Though I was feeling grumpy when I did the Batgirl one... I liked it more than I sounded!)
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 18, 2016 11:12:51 GMT -5
I've been reading through this the last couple of nights: This is a great collection of reprints! The highlight may well be the Golden Age Manhunter story from Adventure #79: I've known about the Golden Age Manhunter for years (and I think I've read one or two pre-costumed Paul Kirk stories here and there) but this is the first time I've seen a Manhunter story from the period where he wore a costume. Super-cool Jack Kirby art! There's also a really cool Doll Man story, and I think it's the first time I've read a Golden Age Doll Man story. Doll Man is hilarious! Now I'm wondering if there's a Doll Man reprint collection. I've seen the Hawkman story and the Green Lantern story before. But that's OK! I prefer Hawkman stories with Man-Hawks or winged gorillas or crocodile men, but the Murphy Anderson art makes this rather average Hawkman tale (from Hawkman #3) go down a lot easier. I read it in a Showcase volume, so it's nice to see it in color. The Green Lantern story is a late Golden Age appearance of the original Green Lantern, a sweet little tale by Robert Kanigher with great art by Alex Toth. The next story (I'll probably read it tonight) is "The Inside Story of the Outsider!" from Detective Comics #356: I've read it before, but it was in a black-and-white Showcase volume, so it will be nice to see it in color. I read one of The Outsider stories in a reprint when I was a kid and I knew the basic plotline because of the description in The Batman Encyclopedia. And I always hated the idea! And I used to really hate every Outsider story I read. (One of my candidates for worst issue of Detective Comics is #364, which has an Outsider relapse. So bad!) It's an ongoing storyline. The Outsider frequently worked through hirelings and would be a menace to Batman and Robin. He seemed to know all their secrets. He appeared every so often for two or three years. And when his secret was revealed, it turned out that he was really ... I don't want to ruin it for the new people. If it's bothering you, you can look it up online. Or you can wait a few days because I'm planning on writing a few words about the Outsider on the Batman Fan Thread. The Outsider has grown on me over the years. I still think it's awful. But I'm such a Batman fan that I read as much of it as I can and I love so much 1960s Batman that I read a lot of it, and I end up reading these stories (even the stuff I didn't like at first) more than once. So I've come to appreciate the Outsider series a bit more. It is very silly. I used to think it was too silly even for my tastes (which means it's very very silly). But the awkward Moldoff art is irresistible. And some of the Outsider's henchmen are hilarious. And it's actually kind of amusing to see Batman and Robin running around, completely baffled by the machinations of the Outsider. I'm looking forward to reading "The Inside Story of the Outsider!" again. I've only read it once. There's one story after that in Detective Comics #440. That's the "modern" Manhunter story. (Modern in 1974, that is.) This is the much-heralded Manhunter series by Goodwin and Simonson. I've never been a huge fan of the series, but then I've been reading it way out of order over a forty-year period. I think the first chapter I read was #2 in the late 1970s, and in the 1990s, I got #3. And over the last three or four years, I've finally (as of two days ago) accumulated the whole thing. So in a week or so, I'm going to read this saga start to finish and see if I like it any better.
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 19, 2016 10:49:52 GMT -5
Well, that was an odd coincidence. A few hours after talking about the Outsider in a previous post, I got this in the mail: It's F/VF and I got it for only $6. The dealer had something else I wanted but the bidding went crazy, so I put a few bids on some books that either looked interesting or that I need. And Detective #334 is something I need for my Detective collection. And it was a steal for six dollars! It is really nice! I've read most of the New Look stories, but mostly in the Showcase volumes. I get them from the library, read one to three stories a night for a few weeks and then return them. So I don't always remember them that well. So I vaguely remembered there was a story called "The Man Who Stole From Batman." But I had forgotten it was an Outsider story! I think it's his first appearance. I was flipping through it to make sure there weren't any coupons missing or something like that. And there's Batman and Robin talking about the Outsider! And look! The Outsider's minions, the Grasshopper Gang! (They are hilarious! And they return in Detective Comics #356!) I haven't read it yet. But I'm so happy my random "New Look" issue arrived in such nice shape and features an Outsider story AND the Grasshopper Gang. A lot of the time with the early "New Look," I find the Elongated Man story to be the highlight of the issue. But I haven't even looked at it yet, except to make sure the pages are all there.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2016 16:06:44 GMT -5
Well, that was an odd coincidence. A few hours after talking about the Outsider in a previous post, I got this in the mail: It's F/VF and I got it for only $6. The dealer had something else I wanted but the bidding went crazy, so I put a few bids on some books that either looked interesting or that I need. And Detective #334 is something I need for my Detective collection. And it was a steal for six dollars! It is really nice! I've read most of the New Look stories, but mostly in the Showcase volumes. I get them from the library, read one to three stories a night for a few weeks and then return them. So I don't always remember them that well. So I vaguely remembered there was a story called "The Man Who Stole From Batman." But I had forgotten it was an Outsider story! I think it's his first appearance. I was flipping through it to make sure there weren't any coupons missing or something like that. And there's Batman and Robin talking about the Outsider! And look! The Outsider's minions, the Grasshopper Gang! (They are hilarious! And they return in Detective Comics #356!) I haven't read it yet. But I'm so happy my random "New Look" issue arrived in such nice shape and features an Outsider story AND the Grasshopper Gang. A lot of the time with the early "New Look," I find the Elongated Man story to be the highlight of the issue. But I haven't even looked at it yet, except to make sure the pages are all there. You just put me in the mood to read some Batman tonight. I think I will. ♡♡♡
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Post by JKCarrier on Feb 20, 2016 1:02:46 GMT -5
That whole Outsider storyline is just so crazy, I can only imagine what the readers at the time must have thought of it. Having a plotline run over several issues like that was already an unusual case, and then for it to be so completely off-the-wall...
Come to think of it, it also crosses over (sort of) with another unusual multi-part story that was running at the time: Zatanna's quest for her missing father. Which just makes it that much weirder.
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Post by dbutler69 on Feb 20, 2016 17:22:09 GMT -5
I kinda liked fashion shop powerless Wonder Woman.. at least the trade I read. Incidently, both of those are reviewed in my Silver Age DC thread here and here (Though I was feeling grumpy when I did the Batgirl one... I liked it more than I sounded!) I've never read any of those Wonder Womans, but I'd like to. I'm intrigued by it.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2016 17:44:00 GMT -5
I kinda liked fashion shop powerless Wonder Woman.. at least the trade I read. Incidently, both of those are reviewed in my Silver Age DC thread here and here (Though I was feeling grumpy when I did the Batgirl one... I liked it more than I sounded!) I've never read any of those Wonder Womans, but I'd like to. I'm intrigued by it. I haven't read them either, but I've read Wildfire's review, and I saw scans, and the fashions are fantastic. And I want to read them, too!
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 20, 2016 19:08:11 GMT -5
I kinda liked fashion shop powerless Wonder Woman.. at least the trade I read. Incidently, both of those are reviewed in my Silver Age DC thread here and here (Though I was feeling grumpy when I did the Batgirl one... I liked it more than I sounded!) I've never read any of those Wonder Womans, but I'd like to. I'm intrigued by it. Powerless fashion-shop Wonder Woman has been collected in four TPBs and my library system has all of them! They are non-stop hilarious! Towards the end there's a very weird adventure where Powerless Fashion-Shop Wonder Woman and Weird Costume Catwoman meet Fafhred and the Gray Mouser for some reason.
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