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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 24, 2016 9:37:43 GMT -5
Last night I read the Supergirl story from Action Comics #253. This is the second Supergirl story and it gets the series off to a wacky start. The orphanage is having a talent show so childless couples can come by and see how talented the orphans are because we know how much childless couples prefer orphans who can tap-dance or juggle plates or sing "Wrecking Ball." Linda, of course, has to figure out some way to prevent a childless couple from adopting her. So when a couple are being friendly and saying how nice she is, Linda uses her X-ray vision to read the husband's paperwork and finds out he's a plumber. So she says, "Gosh, you're nice! I'd like to be adopted by somebody important, so I hope you're a scientist or a politician or something." And the people are like "Oh! We're only a plumber and his wife! Linda will be disappointed with us. We'd better look elsewhere." There's an orphan boy, Tommy, who's crying because he has no talent. He only knows how to milk cows. Linda manages to hook him up with a couple of farmers, but the orphanage won't let them adopt because they're POOR! So Linda comes up with a scheme ... you'll think I'm kidding. OK, maybe if you've ever read a Superman comic, you'll know most of the schemes are this bizarre. Linda figures out a way to turn the farm into a tourist trap! She digs a hole through the Earth to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. And the farming couple set up a telescope and so the rubes can go to this farm and look through a telescope and see the Leaning Tower of Pisa! For only a dollar! So the farmers become rich. And they decide to get rid of the farm and move to the city so now they aren't going to adopt Tommy because they think he'd prefer to be adopted by farmers. (And these people are apparently the only childless farming couple in the state.) So Linda helps Tommy with a magic act! She uses her powers to help Tommy do some amazing tricks! So the childless couple who used to be farmers are super-impressed by Tommy's magic tricks and they adopt him! (I hope they weren't disappointed when they got him home and he couldn't do the magic tricks anymore. Like a parrot that talks at the pet shop but won't say a word when you get him home. I hope they didn't take Tommy back to exchange him.) Geez Louise! That is one crazy orphanage.
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Post by DE Sinclair on Feb 24, 2016 10:17:18 GMT -5
Last night I read the Supergirl story from Action Comics #253. This is the second Supergirl story and it gets the series off to a wacky start. The orphanage is having a talent show so childless couples can come by and see how talented the orphans are because we know how much childless couples prefer orphans who can tap-dance or juggle plates or sing "Wrecking Ball." Linda, of course, has to figure out some way to prevent a childless couple from adopting her. So when a couple are being friendly and saying how nice she is, Linda uses her X-ray vision to read the husband's paperwork and finds out he's a plumber. So she says, "Gosh, you're nice! I'd like to be adopted by somebody important, so I hope you're a scientist or a politician or something." And the people are like "Oh! We're only a plumber and his wife! Linda will be disappointed with us. We'd better look elsewhere." There's an orphan boy, Tommy, who's crying because he has no talent. He only knows how to milk cows. Linda manages to hook him up with a couple of farmers, but the orphanage won't let them adopt because they're POOR! So Linda comes up with a scheme ... you'll think I'm kidding. OK, maybe if you've ever read a Superman comic, you'll know most of the schemes are this bizarre. Linda figures out a way to turn the farm into a tourist trap! She digs a hole through the Earth to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. And the farming couple set up a telescope and so the rubes can go to this farm and look through a telescope and see the Leaning Tower of Pisa! For only a dollar! So the farmers become rich. And they decide to get rid of the farm and move to the city so now they aren't going to adopt Tommy because they think he'd prefer to be adopted by farmers. (And these people are apparently the only childless farming couple in the state.) So Linda helps Tommy with a magic act! She uses her powers to help Tommy do some amazing tricks! So the childless couple who used to be farmers are super-impressed by Tommy's magic tricks and they adopt him! (I hope they weren't disappointed when they got him home and he couldn't do the magic tricks anymore. Like a parrot that talks at the pet shop but won't say a word when you get him home. I hope they didn't take Tommy back to exchange him.) Geez Louise! That is one crazy orphanage. So at this point Supergirl is still being kept secret, right? Did the farmers even question how a tunnel going all the way through to the other side of the earth just suddenly appeared on their farm without explanation? Or did they do the obvious thing and use the money they somehow had, despite being too poor to adopt, to buy a telescope to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa?
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Post by Spike-X on Feb 25, 2016 4:32:36 GMT -5
I hope they weren't disappointed when they got him home and he couldn't do the magic tricks anymore. Like a parrot that talks at the pet shop but won't say a word when you get him home. I hope they didn't take Tommy back to exchange him. Customer: 'Ello, I wish to register a complaint. (The owner does not respond.) C: 'Ello, Miss? Owner: What do you mean "miss"? C: I'm sorry, I have a cold. I wish to make a complaint! O: We're closin' for lunch. C: Never mind that, my lad. I wish to complain about this orphan what I adopted not half an hour ago from this very orphanage. And so on and so...forth.
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Pat T
Full Member
Posts: 102
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Post by Pat T on Feb 25, 2016 4:59:24 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. The Juggernaut story is one that's every bit as good as it's reputation. I had a huge smile for the entire 2 issues as Spidey tried every way imaginable to stop him, and only proved a minor nuisance. Juggy didn't even get mad until Spidey hit him with a tanker full of fuel, and he still wasn't hurt. Wish Romita Jr would've perfected his original art style instead of the block people he changed to.
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Post by Icctrombone on Feb 25, 2016 5:22:07 GMT -5
I've been reading the Legion Of Superheroes Archive v.1. Those stories are so charming and have a nice , solve the mystery, style of plotting. Very enjoyable.
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Post by Icctrombone on Feb 25, 2016 5:24:51 GMT -5
Here's the first page of Journey into Mystery #112. HILARIOUS! God, I love the Silver Age.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,085
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Post by Confessor on Feb 25, 2016 9:34:12 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. The Juggernaut story is one that's every bit as good as it's reputation. I had a huge smile for the entire 2 issues as Spidey tried every way imaginable to stop him, and only proved a minor nuisance. Juggy didn't even get mad until Spidey hit him with a tanker full of fuel, and he still wasn't hurt. Wish Romita Jr would've perfected his original art style instead of the block people he changed to. Yeah, I like Romita Jr's more blocky style, but I think I prefer the style he was using in that "Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut" story. It's also weird just how much his artwork has changed over the years. His later stuff almost looks like it's by another artist.
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 25, 2016 11:50:48 GMT -5
Last night I read the Supergirl story from Action Comics #356. Geez Louise. That is one CRAZY orphanage. This story is notable for the introduction of Dick Wilson (later known as Dick Malverne). He was Linda's friend at the orphanage. He was always suspicious that Linda was actually Supergirl and was a persistent pest about being a total jerk for no reason so much of the time. Even after Linda was adopted, Dick was adopted by a couple in the same town, so poor Linda couldn't get away from him. So he's Linda's Lana Lang. But without any of her charm. I find Lana to be hilarious. But Dick is just awful! I still like the stories where he appears. So he's the supporting character I love to hate. It's all part of the Supergirl Experience. In his first appearance he is taking photos. He thinks he has taken a photo of a bird way up in the air, but when he develops the film and enlarges the photo, it's a flying girl dressed a lot like Superman! When the wind blows open the door to Linda's room, Dick goes in to pick up the papers that blew off her desk. He notices that she has barely started her paper for zoology class. And the class starts in two minutes! When she shows up in class with a finished paper (she used her super-classwork-doing powers to write it in less than a minute), Dick gets suspicious and spends the rest of the issue trying to prove A) that a Supergirl exists, and B) orphan Linda Lee is that Supergirl! So Dick does things like throw a life-like dummy of himself off a cliff to force Linda to reveal herself. Linda suspects something is up, so she uses her X-ray vision to check out the dummy before saving it. But Dick put chemicals in it so it would burst into flame if Linda used her X-ray vision! Fortunately, fast-thinking Linda somehow manages to make the storm clouds produce lightning that strikes the dummy so Dick isn't sure if the fire was cause by Linda's X-ray vision or the lighting. Then there's also a bit where there's two barbells and one is real and one is a lightweight prop and Dick changes labels to trick Linda into revealing her super-strength by easily picking up the mislabeled barbell and Linda foils his plan by squeezing some coal from a convenient bucket, turning it into a diamond, using the diamond as a drill, hollowing out the insides of the barbell, sucking the steel dust into her lungs and tossing the barbell (that Dick thinks is real) at Dick. She's lucky he didn't die of a heart attack. But Linda is still worried about the photo of Supergirl. However, Superman comes to her rescue by providing a Supergirl-robot that shows up to perform at the Orphanage Ball (or whatever it is) and the Supergirl-robot opens up the top of her head and opens a little door in her tummy to show she's a robot! So now everybody knows that Superman has a Supergirl-robot for some reason. And Dick realizes that he took a photo of the robot and that Linda's not a secret Supergirl! Or is she? That is one crazy orphanage. Here's a full discussion of this story on Jess's (Somewhat) Grown-Up Type Blog.
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Post by spoon on Feb 26, 2016 23:55:25 GMT -5
I've been reading Essential Spider-Man vol. 11, reprinting #231-248 & Ann. 16-17. It's the Stern/JRjr era. I'm through #237. The first two issues in the TPB pit Spidey against Mr. Hyde and Cobra. Actually, it's a bit of Hyde vs. Cobra. I've mentioned before that I love that duo. I find it an interesting twist that Mr. Hyde is both the brains and the brawn of the duo. Cobra is well-served by Romita's art, which very vividly depicts him contorting and scampering. Then, #233-236 is a storyline that brings back Will o' the Wisp and Tarantula. I find Wisp to be an underrated character. A moral face-off between Wisp and Spidey is a big part of the arc. It also has some horrific aspects. These six issues form a larger arc about the machinations of Roxxon. There's a recap in one of the issues about Roxxon's activities in various Marvel titles. Unfortunately, it doesn't have citations. My knowledge of Roxxon is patchy, probably because its activities seem to primarily be in Marvel Two-in-One.
Then, #237 is a one-off story about Stilt-Man. It openly embraces the idea that Stilt-Man is a screw-up, but it's an unwhelming issue.
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Post by Batflunkie on Feb 27, 2016 15:07:53 GMT -5
Silver Age Flash, was kind of blown away at how much depth it has for an otherwise "fun, but goofy" DC book that was so common for the era
And yes I did get into the book because of how good the tv show was, but I mostly just stuck to the Wally West era until now
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Post by bdk91939 on Feb 27, 2016 15:50:05 GMT -5
I revisited the Daredevil #181 where Bullseye mortally wounded Elektra with her own weapon. Vicious.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 27, 2016 16:21:30 GMT -5
Been reading through a lot of classic stuff form different eras this month...
in terms of super-hero stuff-
still reading through the Golden Age Batman Archives and am into the early Robin era, and the stories feel very different than the pre-Robin stories in 'Tec. Not sure if its better or worse, but definitely different.
Also with the Bat, reading through a copy of The Batman by Ed Brubaker Vol. 1 form the library. Not bad, but I am not a fan of Scott McDaniel's art and I don't think he has the visual storytelling chops to make Bru's stories work as well as they could. His figures are devoid of any emotional expression or body language, and that blunts the impact of any story Bru is trying to tell focused on characters. With a better visual storyteller, some of these stories could have really shined, bit with McDaniel they suffer and are solid but not spectacular.
I have also started reading through the first volume of Silver Age JLA stories and have gotten through the first 2 B&B stories. I had read B&B 28 before, but 29 was a first time read for me. These are fun, but not great stories.
On the Marvel side, I finished Priest's run on Black Panther. I had read most of the run as it came out (up to Enemy of the State II), but had missed the last part when I took a hiatus from comics. Good stuff. I didn't like the Vellutto/Almond art as much as I did when I was reading the book as it came out. It's solid storytelling, so it did the story justice, I just didn't like the visual aesthetic as much as I did 15 or so years ago.
Started on the Jurgens/Romita Jr. Thor relaunch for Heroes Return via Marvel Unlimited. Solid entertaining super-hero fare, but nothing spectacular.
Also via Unlimited finished reading the cosmic Marvel storylines that started with Annihilation that took place while I was out of comics. I read the Abnett/Lanning Guardians of the Galaxy series, their Nova series, and the relevant events and tie-ins up through Realm of Kings and War of Kings. I like the cosmic side of Marvel and enjoyed these, even if they suffered form the tentpole storytelling elements that sometime bug me about modern comics.
Going further back to the Silver Age, I am also reading my way through Tales of Suspense via Epic collections and Unlimited, and just read the Sleeper Saga in Cap and started the Happy turns into the Freak story in Shellhead's half of the book (the first Iron Man epic ends just before this storyline). The visual shift between Don Heck and Gene Colan (as Adam Austin) takes place right around this time, and as much as I respect Heck's work, the Colan Iron Man look just feels like Iron Man to me. Just seeing Iron Man on the first splash page by Colan made me feel like I was coming home to the Iron Man I grew up with.
Outside of straight super-hero fare, I finished my read through of the first Micronauts series from Marvel. My take-if you read the first 12 issues of the Karza War with Golden at the helm, you've pretty much read the entire series. Everything afterwards is either floundering directionless stories or another Karza epic that is at best a pale imitation of the first. It's Karza War, flounder around for a while, then Karza returns this time with SHIELD and Hydra involved on earth, flounder around some more until oh wait Argon as Force Commander becomes a Karza wannabe but wait for it, oh big surprise he's really Karza come back and then, oh the series is cancelled to be relaunched back as a newsstand book again. Golden did good work on he book then it was inconsistent until Broderick took over, inconsistent again though with some good issues by Gil Kane, and then good again once a very young Butch Guice took over though it took a few issues for him to find his footing on the book. It really became a slog for me to finish the series after the SHIELD/Karza story, and it wasn't until Force Commander was revealed to be Karza that I was able to sustain any momentum reading the book to finish it. There were interesting bits here and there throughout, but it just felt that without a Karza war the book had nothing to do or say and it just became ho hum repetitive after a while.
Continuing on with my read of Marvel's Conan the Barbarian and finished the second Barry Smith era and into the John Buscema era. I read a lot of the early Smith stuff via the Conan Essential and the Conan Classics reprint series years ago, and I read a lot of the Thomas/Buscema stuff from 75-death of Belit as it come out or via back issues, but I am into an era of the book now I haven't read a lot of, so am enjoying it.
I have also been rereading my way through all the miscellaneous floppies/back issues from 1972 I have, so reading a wide variety of stuff in random issues from Gold Key Lancelot Link and Harlem Globetrotter issues, to issues of Marvel Westerns like Outlaw Kid and Red Wolf, to issues of Kull and Korak, some JLA around issue 100, etc. enjoyable to sample and get a snapshot of comics circa 1972 this way.
-M
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Post by spoon on Feb 27, 2016 18:37:15 GMT -5
The Juggernaut story is one that's every bit as good as it's reputation. I had a huge smile for the entire 2 issues as Spidey tried every way imaginable to stop him, and only proved a minor nuisance. Juggy didn't even get mad until Spidey hit him with a tanker full of fuel, and he still wasn't hurt. Wish Romita Jr would've perfected his original art style instead of the block people he changed to. Yeah, I like Romita Jr's more blocky style, but I think I prefer the style he was using in that "Nothing Can Stop the Juggernaut" story. It's also weird just how much his artwork has changed over the years. His later stuff almost looks like it's by another artist. I didn't see your prior post, Confessor. I'm reading an Essential TPB that starts the issue after the Juggernaut 2-parter.
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 28, 2016 13:56:56 GMT -5
I'm actually very impressed with the early installments of the Supergirl series in Action Comics. It usually takes years to accumulate so much Silver Age craziness. Almost every panel has something totally nutty! Today, I'm looking at "The Three Magic Wishes!" from Action Comics #257. Linda is reading fairy tales to the younger children. So it starts out kind of adorable. But this one goes off the rails very quickly. There's a slightly older boy named Tommy who puts on a monster mask and looks through the window to scare the little children. He's a little obnoxious and he seems to enjoy spoiling the good time that the younger children are having. But I wish Linda would cut him some slack. He's an insecure orphan and he probably hates Linda being so judgmental all the time. After he scoffs at the idea that fairies are real - How dare he! - Linda decides that it's a good use of her powers and her time to dress up as a fairy and use her powers to prove that FAIRIES ARE REAL. So she makes a fairy dress out of thistle pollen, a fairy crown out of a cooking pan in an alley and fairy wings from an old kite wrapped in spider webs. So she appears to the children and Tommy isn't even phased. He's like: "Well, if you're a real fairy, grant some wishes!" Yeah, flying girl! I bet you're not a real fairy! Just a flying girl who can't even grant wishes! So Supergirl makes the weird-looking Olive Oyl girl think she's really pretty by turning a window into a magic mirror when all she really did was use her super-breath to blow a photo of a pretty girl to the other side of the window. Then she changes a rabbit into a horse. Then she rubs some baker's yeast on Tommy's nose and heats it up with her vision so it expands and it makes it look like his nose is growing like Pinocchio. So Tommy learns his lesson. FAIRIES ARE REAL! Good job, Linda! Yup. That is one crazy orphanage. Here's the link to Jess's (Somewhat) Grown-Up Type Blog for more info (and more of the art) for "The Three Magic Wishes."
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 28, 2016 14:00:36 GMT -5
(In case anyone was wondering, yes, I do want to write a "Secrets of Midvale Orphanage" limited series.)
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