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Post by Action Ace on Jun 1, 2016 18:56:17 GMT -5
JLA #131 and #132 came in the mail along with Detective #370. So I read JLA #131 last night. The main thing about reading this comic is that it reminds me why I read so little DC in the 1970s. There's a plague that gets passed around on money. The plague makes you go insane and you attack people. So while the JLA members (all divided up into manageable groups) are fighting the plague victims, STAR Labs comes up with credit cards for everyone so the plague won't be passed on through coins and dollar bills. So that little problem is all tied up on about Page Two. But then, another problem comes up ... Zoo animals are becoming as smart as humans and people are becoming dumb! Plus, bees are attacking New York City! So the JLA splits up into several groups to deal with this. Queen Bee makes an appearance, and claims innocence! She says the bees are controlling her and forcing her to lead them in an attack on the Big Apple! What is going on? We'll have to wait for the next issue to find out! (Fortunately, I have the next issue so we won't have long to wait.) I'm going to withhold judgment until I read the whole story. But this is pretty silly. Silly silly silly. I knew it was a 1970s JLA comic going in, so I guess I knew it would be silly silly silly. I liked it. I just wish it had more of the stuff I like in JLA comics. Like Green Arrow being an insufferable ass. Where's Black Canary? Had Zatanna joined at this point? I also get a kick out of Red Tornado being useless, and there's none of that here. I love that Dick Dillin art though! Green Arrow and Black Canary are in the concluding chapter. Red Tornado was blown up AGAIN in #129. Zatanna (and her catastrophically awful new outfit) doesn't join until issue #161.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 2, 2016 8:53:33 GMT -5
I got Action Comics #443 in the mail yesterday. The lead story is pretty wacky. Perhaps I'll describe it in more detail if I have some time later today. But the highlight of the issue seems to be ... the Sea Devils! Art by Russ Heath! I have never read The Sea Devils before! (Unless you count a guest appearance decades later in Aquaman.) I've certainly never read any 1960s Sea Devils. That's one of the great things about those DC reprint comics of the 1960s and 1970s, being introduced to all kinds of random DC properties, like Rip Hunter, Time Master and the Secret Six and Eclipso. I can hardly believe I've never read The Sea Devils before. I'm very much intrigued. Judy cracks me up! Art by Russ Heath. Written by Robert Kanigher! I'll have to see if I can get hold of The Sea Devils Showcase volume.
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Post by Spike-X on Jun 6, 2016 21:29:36 GMT -5
I've been re-reading Lone Wolf And Cub. Amazing stuff.
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Post by Batflunkie on Jun 6, 2016 23:54:37 GMT -5
Mike Grell's Green Arrow and the first/second volume of JSA (gets kind of confusing what with those two mini-series Roy Thomas did after All-Star Squadron and it's spin-offs ended). I adored JSA growing up as a kid in the late 90's/early 00's and I think it's what inspired my love for older comics/older characters so much, eventually leading to me coming here~
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Post by Farrar on Jun 7, 2016 11:28:50 GMT -5
... But the highlight of the issue seems to be ... the Sea Devils! Art by Russ Heath! I have never read The Sea Devils before! (Unless you count a guest appearance decades later in Aquaman.) I've certainly never read any 1960s Sea Devils. That's one of the great things about those DC reprint comics of the 1960s and 1970s, being introduced to all kinds of random DC properties, like Rip Hunter, Time Master and the Secret Six and Eclipso. I can hardly believe I've never read The Sea Devils before. I'm very much intrigued. Judy cracks me up! Art by Russ Heath. Written by Robert Kanigher! I'll have to see if I can get hold of The Sea Devils Showcase volume. I've been meaning to get that Showcase volume too, I've really liked the few Silver Age Sea Devils stories I've read--not to mention that art! I'd also like to get some of the actual issues, for those exquisite Heath covers. It's a great concept, isn't it--a quartet with a leader-type guy, his blonde girlfriend, her younger and similarly blond brother, a brawny strong guy--adventurers all, clad in utilitarian attire, daring to go where no man or woman has gone before, sort of in the tradition of the Challengers of the Unknown... Oops, sorry--wrong quartet... Ah, here are the little devils! And fwiw, the Sea Devils debuted in mid-1960 , about a year before you-know-who...
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Jun 7, 2016 16:01:03 GMT -5
Just a few random issues I had in the truck and decided to read at lunch that I got from a lot some months back. Deathlok (Vol. 2) #22-24 Three parts leading up to #25 about Black Panther calling Deathlok to Wakanda, initially to help him with a security failure in their security and communications system. Inadvertently Deathlok gets thrown into a personal vendetta between an old rival of BP. The art was different in every issue, which seems to be part and parcel with this series. However McDuffie still writes a good story. I don't have #25, so I don't know how it ends. Fantastic Four (Vol. 1) #267 & 270 It's been a while since I've read a Byrne FF issue. I got really into FF from his run mostly when I started exploring back issues. (Saying FF in the 90's was terrible isn't far from the truth.) They aren't bad. I didn't remember the "cliff hanger" at the end of 267, but enjoyed the toss up with Reed and Doc Ock. Sometimes Byrne, can pull of some good art. Overall I am not a fan, but I most of the time I think he does well with battles. 270 was Reed, Wyatt, and She-Hulk battling Terminus. (Which I have no recollection of either.) This issue for some reason, especially in narrative boxes, Byrne can ruin good panels, with being too wordy. Holy lord when he's describing what Terminus is doing in a few panels, it's like "holy lord Byrne, maybe I could learn to appreciate your art, if I could see it". Edit: Forgot JLA (2007) #14 Luthor and all the other baddies (I'm trying to recall my Superfriends terminology...and all I can remember is...."meanwhile back at the hall of justice") team up and have all but Superman and Black Lightning (?) imprisoned in Luthor's attempt to make Superman super pissed off and not thinking clearly. But with McDuffie's name on it, after reading most of Deathlok, I'm think I might want to read more. Benes art is a toss up for me. Not a distraction, but not a motivating factor to buy.
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Post by Batflunkie on Jun 7, 2016 21:38:36 GMT -5
Howard The Duck #1, really nice to see Marvel getting their shit together as far as digital coloring of older comics goes
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Post by Batflunkie on Jun 9, 2016 12:43:48 GMT -5
Aquaman Rebirth got me interested enough to try and give classic Aquaman a shot, so I decided to start with him proper with his run as a back up feature in Adventure Comics. For an first appearance story from the late 50's with a rather outlandish premise regarding aliens kidnapping all sorts of odd fish for their intergalactic aquarium, it's not half bad. Still kind of prefer Namor more though
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Jun 9, 2016 12:49:08 GMT -5
Neil Gaiman's Mr Hero: The Newmatic Man #1-4
Another bit from a lot buy. When Tekno was making comics, I read most of Teknophage and all of Primortals. But never Mr Hero. It was good for four issues. It's sets up a good back story as to who and what Mr Hero is, but at the point that I don't have the next issue, I don't know the exact connect he has to the Teknophage. Like most other Tekno titles (though I remember Primortals being the best of the bunch) they had good ideas and story and good writers to flesh them out, but most of the titles didn't have as on par of artists. At least of the ones I read. I know Perez did I, Bots if I remember right, but I didn't read that either.
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Post by MDG on Jun 9, 2016 13:58:55 GMT -5
Aquaman Rebirth got me interested enough to try and give classic Aquaman a shot, so I decided to start with him proper with his run as a back up feature in Adventure Comics. For an first appearance story from the late 50's with a rather outlandish premise regarding aliens kidnapping all sorts of odd fish for their intergalactic aquarium, it's not half bad. Still kind of prefer Namor more though Aquaman was a pretty dull character until '67 or so when both Haney and Cardy started to step up their game, and then, with Skeates writing. The revived Namor was a pretty ineteresting character right out of the box. (Can't say much about his GA--> 50s incarnation.)
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Post by Batflunkie on Jun 9, 2016 14:33:44 GMT -5
Aquaman Rebirth got me interested enough to try and give classic Aquaman a shot, so I decided to start with him proper with his run as a back up feature in Adventure Comics. For an first appearance story from the late 50's with a rather outlandish premise regarding aliens kidnapping all sorts of odd fish for their intergalactic aquarium, it's not half bad. Still kind of prefer Namor more though Aquaman was a pretty dull character until '67 or so when both Haney and Cardy started to step up their game, and then, with Skeates writing. The revived Namor was a pretty ineteresting character right out of the box. (Can't say much about his GA--> 50s incarnation.) I feel the same way about Green Lantern. I mean don't get me wrong, I love the character(s), the lore, and the powers they have, but early on it's a fairly dull read. Picture just an entire comic that revolves around every 50's/60's sci-fi trope that you can imagine Aquaman is at least the focal point of interesting plotlines, though most of the time it's through pure happenstance. The one I'm on now in Adventure Comics #218 has Aquaman temporarily turn into a wanted anti-hero because of some "insanity drug" that spilled into the ocean
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Post by MWGallaher on Jun 9, 2016 21:31:29 GMT -5
After feeling tempted for quite a while, I bought a copy of Showcase Presents the Great Disaster featuring the Atomic Knights. I had several of the Atomic Knights reprints from DC's early 70's science fiction comics, and I love Murphy Anderson's art, so getting all of the series was appealing. I already have every issue of Hercules Unbound, but I remember really liking the series, so I didn't mind having a convenient collection of those stories. But what really appealed to me was getting the full collection of "The Day After Doomsday". I was just a bit amazed to discover that there was a "series" running in various DC comics during my prime years that I didn't realize existed. It may be stretching things to call these typically (very) short stories a series, but DC apparently considered it one, crediting Len Wein as creator. A few of them have continuing characters, but most of them are just 2 page post-apocalyptic tales that are not directly related, beyond taking place, presumably, in the same war-devastated future. There are some fun micro-reads there, with some interesting talent like a young Frank Miller, some characteristically confusing Alex Nino, and Steve Ditko, in addition to several rookies and Filipino artists. It's an interesting format they chose for this collection, putting the stories not into publish order, but rather into a fictional chronology: following the Day After Doomsday stories (preceded by a Superman story that ties into a Kamandi classic), we get the Atomic Knights, followed by "The Gods Return" (specifically Hercules and Jack Kirby's Atlas, which didn't originally seem to be a post-apocalyptic tale, but okay, I'll accept that). Then we move to a series of backups set in the Kamandi future, although it aggravated me that they left out two stories, which had been run out of place in Weird War Tales when their berth in Kamandi was lost. I'm just getting to the Atomic Knights, but I've got no regrets over purchasing this--a real oddball in DC's Showcase volumes, but likely to be one of my favorites.
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Post by Batflunkie on Jun 12, 2016 11:27:03 GMT -5
Best Of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #21 Idk, there's just something about a thick tome of comics that you can stick in your back pocket that I really enjoy
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Post by dbutler69 on Jun 12, 2016 15:09:26 GMT -5
Best Of DC Blue Ribbon Digest #21 Idk, there's just something about a thick tome of comics that you can stick in your back pocket that I really enjoy Yes, I have this one, and I love the digest size comics!
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Post by Hoosier X on Jun 12, 2016 19:19:01 GMT -5
Here's the line-up for Best of DC: Blue Ribbon Digest #21: OMG! I can hardly stand it! THE FIRST PER DEGATON! This is pretty awesome as well. Starman! Black Canary! Golden Age Huntress! The Sports-Master! Wildcat! And it's drawn by Murphy Anderson! It ain't exactly chopped liver either!
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