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Post by MDG on Dec 14, 2016 9:21:35 GMT -5
A 1950s Comics Smorgasbord Pt. 2: Reshuffled Wonder WomanOur second dip into our 1950s reading odyssey is a collection of Wonder Woman stories cut up to fit into a standard paperback format... The Wonder Woman paperback published by Tempo Books in 1978... This was one of the book/digests I kept in my glove compartment in case I was stuck somewhere with nothing to read.
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 14, 2016 11:40:52 GMT -5
A 1950s Comics Smorgasbord Pt. 2: Reshuffled Wonder WomanOur second dip into our 1950s reading odyssey is a collection of Wonder Woman stories cut up to fit into a standard paperback format... The Wonder Woman paperback published by Tempo Books in 1978... This was one of the book/digests I kept in my glove compartment in case I was stuck somewhere with nothing to read. I had "Six Crises" by Richard Nixon in my backseat for years just for this purpose. When I finished, I substituted "Naked Lunch," which I've read a bunch of times.
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Post by Gene on Dec 15, 2016 21:02:26 GMT -5
Batman 424- The Diplomat's SonI've wanted to read this one for awhile, but never got around to picking it up. My LCS just restocked their back issues so I figured now would be as good a time as ever. Jason Todd is my favorite Robin. I love the idea of Batman taking in a kid as his partner that otherwise would have ended up as a criminal. This issue is the one that defines that relationship perfectly for me: No matter how hard he tries to do things the right way, Jason Todd will never be able to totally live up to the legacy of the costume he wears. This is a great read if you can find it for a couple of bucks.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 15, 2016 21:14:34 GMT -5
Batman 424- The Diplomat's SonI've wanted to read this one for awhile, but never got around to picking it up. My LCS just restocked their back issues so I figured now would be as good a time as ever. Jason Todd is my favorite Robin. I love the idea of Batman taking in a kid as his partner that otherwise would have ended up as a criminal. This issue is the one that defines that relationship perfectly for me: No matter how hard he tries to do things the right way, Jason Todd will never be able to totally live up to the legacy of the costume he wears. This is a great read if you can find it for a couple of bucks. I honestly feel that is among the worst Batman comics ever. And Starlin is probably my least favorite Batman writers. Luckily his run was fairly short.
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Post by Gene on Dec 15, 2016 21:37:54 GMT -5
I honestly feel that is among the worst Batman comics ever. And Starlin is probably my least favorite Batman writers. Luckily his run was fairly short. I can definitely see where you're coming from. Starlin's too heavy handed to give the themes of this issue the nuance they need. I can't imagine making Robin into a possible murderer was a super popular decision, either.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2016 22:17:28 GMT -5
Batman 424- The Diplomat's SonI've wanted to read this one for awhile, but never got around to picking it up. My LCS just restocked their back issues so I figured now would be as good a time as ever. Jason Todd is my favorite Robin. I love the idea of Batman taking in a kid as his partner that otherwise would have ended up as a criminal. This issue is the one that defines that relationship perfectly for me: No matter how hard he tries to do things the right way, Jason Todd will never be able to totally live up to the legacy of the costume he wears. This is a great read if you can find it for a couple of bucks. You are dead to me. I called in to kill Jason Todd. If any death in comics should have stood, it was that one. I'd rather have Uncle Ben come back than Jason Todd, especially the version of Jason Todd that filled the pages of post-Crisis Batman. -M
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 16, 2016 10:40:37 GMT -5
I'm working my way through The Brave and the Bold #117. I love the off-the-wall reprints in series like The Brave and the Bold and World's Finest. so I'm trying to make them last by only reading one story a day, usually at night, the last thing before I go to sleep. When I've read the whole book, I might write a review of the whole comic. (I still have The Secret Six and Blackhawk to go.) But I had to comment on the Green Arrow story. It's called "1001 Ways to Defeat Green Arrow." Some guy has written a book called "1001 Ways to Defeat Green Arrow" and there's only one copy and he sells it to the underworld in Star City. I don't know about this premise. If the schemes were any good, you wouldn't need 1001 of them! It's all right for a goofy Golden Age Green Arrow story. And it inspired this post by Scipio.It's not a great story. It's perfectly serviceable for an early 1950s super-hero tale. But when I read 1950s Green Arrow, I always remember that Green Arrow - along with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman - was one of the few heroes who survived the Golden Age and was published continuously through the 1950s and into the 1960s. And, I might add, he wasn't just limping along in one of DC's anthology comics. He was in World's Finest and Adventure for most of the 1950s and the early 1960s. So why Green Arrow? When Flash and Green Lantern and Hawkman were languishing in Limbo, Green Arrow was appearing in two anthology comics. I think I know why. And it has nothing to do with the great writing and character's dynamic "bow-and-arrow Batman" shtick. I just wanted to see what anybody else has to say about Green Arrow's longevity.
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 16, 2016 11:21:43 GMT -5
And I like Jason Todd as well. Not the mean and awful murderer post-Crisis Jason Todd. I like redhead son of the circus Jason Todd. I was reading Batman and Detective Comics in the early 1980s, when the continuity went directly from Batman and then two weeks later into Detective and back again. Doug Moench, Gene Colan, Don Newton, Pat Broderick, Harvey Bullock, Maria Remarque Pennyworth, Nocturna, Black Mask, Chimera, Killer Croc, the Squid, Catwoman trying to kill Vicki Vale. (And in the back of Detective, really bad Green Arrow stories!) And also Jason Todd! It was a great time for Batman! I'm not sure any single storyline from that period would make it into my Top Ten Batman storylines, or even my Top Twenty. But for month-to-month continuity, long-term plotlines, a coherent story going on for five or six years, I don't think Batman has ever been better. And part of that experience was the introduction and character development of Jason Todd. This is my favorite Robin cover:
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Post by MDG on Dec 16, 2016 12:10:23 GMT -5
But when I read 1950s Green Arrow, I always remember that Green Arrow - along with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman - was one of the few heroes who survived the Golden Age and was published continuously through the 1950s and into the 1960s. And, I might add, he wasn't just limping along in one of DC's anthology comics. He was in World's Finest and Adventure for most of the 1950s and the early 1960s. So why Green Arrow? When Flash and Green Lantern and Hawkman were languishing in Limbo, Green Arrow was appearing in two anthology comics. I think I know why. And it has nothing to do with the great writing and character's dynamic "bow-and-arrow Batman" shtick. I just wanted to see what anybody else has to say about Green Arrow's longevity. Well, isn't appearing in World's Finest and Adventure "just limping along in one of DC's anthology comics"? I'm not sure when he moved into those books, but he just happened to be a couple of the few hero books that weren't cancelled due to Supes and Bats on the covers. Also, like Aquaman, he was created by Mort Weisinger who edited those books.
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 16, 2016 13:25:32 GMT -5
Green Arrow was in both Adventure and World's Finest at the same time. Adventure was monthly and World's Finest was bi-monthly. (It might have been eight times a year for part of that time.)
Plus, Jack Kirby worked on Green Arrow for a time in the late 1950s.
Maybe he was limping along, but for a super-hero in the early and mid-1950s, two regular anthology slots was doing really well.
And, yes, it's pretty clear that Weisinger used his editorial pull to protect his creations - Aquaman and Green Arrow - by keeping them around in titles with Batman and Superman (and Superboy) on the cover.
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
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Post by Crimebuster on Dec 16, 2016 13:54:06 GMT -5
It's all Mort Weisinger. I love Green Arrow - that is to say, the Denny O'Neil - Neal Adams revamped version. But he was dull as dishwater before that, and there are a hundred more interesting characters DC could have used instead if Weisinger hadn't been in charge.
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Post by Batflunkie on Dec 22, 2016 13:37:47 GMT -5
Geoff Johns' run on Green Lantern. As somebody who grew up with hand me downs of silver/bronze age GL, it's still taking some getting used to the idea of the Corps not having that yellow impurity problem
Still though, fun read
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2016 22:23:12 GMT -5
I've continued my way through some of the 1950s material I have.
I have finished the 1951, 1952 and 1953 volumes of Steve Canyon I have from Checkers, leaving only the 1954 volume to go of those I have.
I finished all the 1950s issues of Four Color featuring Toth's Zorro from the hardcover collection I have (there's one more story in it but it's form the 1960s).
I've read a bunch of DC 1950s material including the Aquaman stories from Adventure form the 1950s in the first Showcase Aquaman volume, the Adam Strange stories form Showcase and Mystery in space from the 1950s in the Adam Strange Showcase, and the 1050s Superman stories included in the Superman from the 1930s-1970s volume I have.
Next up on the docket is the 1954 volume of Canyon, the first volume of the Joe Kubert library featuring the first 3 Tor stories published by St. John's in the 1950s and the Superman stuff from the first Shwocase volume.
I am now more than halfway through the 50s material I own.
-M
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Post by Lolatadatodo on Dec 24, 2016 16:44:46 GMT -5
I have this new tradition, started as of last year, that every year, as I am between tasks while cooking Christmas dinner, I will read Spider-Man comics. This year, I pulled these out, but I was only able to get through 2 of them because I was busier than I thought I would be.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 24, 2016 17:07:27 GMT -5
I have this new tradition, started as of last year, that every year, as I am between tasks while cooking Christmas dinner, I will read Spider-Man comics. This year, I pulled these out, but I was only able to get through 2 of them because I was busier than I thought I would be. I bought that issue of PPtSS 22 off the newsstand.
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