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Post by chadwilliam on Jul 21, 2017 23:35:47 GMT -5
I bought and received this off ebay this week and really enjoyed both tales - especially the second. There's a structure to the storytelling at play here that goes beyond mere formula and it feels as if I'm reading a tale that hasn't been influenced so much by comic books, but by newspaper strips. What I mean is, the stories are told as if the writer has all the time in the world to get his tale going - there's no "OK, by the second page the bad guy commits his crime; fifth page he escapes the hero, eighth page this happens" and so on - but instead you feel as if the writer doesn't really know what's going to happen next himself and is enjoying the experience of adding little side characters and events here and there just to keep himself entertained. For instance, although this is a Daredevil story, the bad guy (who is introduced to us when he casually stops by his girlfriend's place only to describe to her how he's just shot the man he suspects - wrongly - she's been having an affair with in the gut and left him to die) is captured when he's recognized first, by a clerk in a hotel and then by a taxi driver who recognizes the escaped hoodlum and mows him down in his vehicle. Daredevil didn't really need to raise a finger beyond going on television (which is treated as a novelty here since the comic is from 1947) and appealing to the public for help. Of course, since we need a story which runs longer than five pages, the killer has to escape from prison and does so in one of those simple yet clever methods often employed in strips such as Dick Tracy, for example - he places a clock in a box, discretely kicks it into a corner, and then draws attention to the ticking coming from the box by panicking about what must be a bomb someone's smuggled into the prison. Dick Tracy always had those little oddball characters or events just popping up on the periphery at the end of a three panel strip compelling the reader to tune in tomorrow to figure out what direction things will take with this new wrench thrown into the works and you get the sense that that's the effect Lev Gleason is going for here - a sort of "and while our attention is focused over here, what's going on over there?" Anyhoo, Daredevil eventually gets his man by calling him out and knowing - oh yeah, that's something I forgot. OK, in the issue before this one, Daredevil's identity was revealed to the public and so he now has to run a newspaper called The Daredevil Press - what do you mean "that doesn't make any sense"? Sure it does. Anyway, in this issue, Daredevil decides he'd like to go back to having a secret identity even though the world knows he's Bart Hill, but he's still working on how he's going to manage that in this issue. Meanwhile, he still has his newspaper to run. OK that's right - that's another thing I like about this - there is a certain continuity from issue to issue and actions in one story have consequences in the next. Back to point though - Daredevil ends up capturing the bad guy in a very practical and rational manner - he distracts the bad guy by getting down on his hands and knees and begging him not to kill him. He even recites Mary Had a Little Lamb when the killer tells him he'll put off shooting him for a bit if he does it. Of course, the second part of his plan is pretty much "while I'm grovelling for my life and reciting nursery rhymes, you Wise Guys jump him from behind" and it works. You know, in re-reading what I just wrote, Daredevil doesn't sound too heroic, but given how realistically sadistic this bad guy is - he doesn't just shoot a guy in the head or heart and kills him with one bullet, but instead shoots him in the leg first, tells his victim that if he can amuse him he'll wait a minute before shooting him again in the arm, does that, then offers the same deal again, and so on - Daredevil agreeing to face this guy unarmed and on his terms really does make him seem, well, daring, fearless, and tough. Plus, once those Wise Guys strike, Daredevil does face the killer one on one and he sure as Hell isn't reciting nursery rhymes then I can tell you that much. So, a really good purchase on my part - Way to go Chad!
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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 22, 2017 7:41:36 GMT -5
As I'm learning in the process of researching the book, Charles Biro was an amazing storyteller with a superb sense of structure and pacing, on a par with Eisner or Barks.
Cei-U! I summon the good stuff!
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Post by Warmonger on Jul 22, 2017 10:58:36 GMT -5
Finally starting Kirby's 'New Gods' after years of recommendations
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Crimebuster
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Making comics!
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Post by Crimebuster on Jul 22, 2017 11:50:10 GMT -5
As I'm learning in the process of researching the book, Charles Biro was an amazing storyteller with a superb sense of structure and pacing, on a par with Eisner or Barks. It will come as no surprise that I totally agree with you!
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Post by Spike-X on Jul 22, 2017 19:53:43 GMT -5
Finally starting Kirby's 'New Gods' after years of recommendations I've read probably 2/3 of it, but I'll start over from the beginning when the omnibus comes out at the end of the year.
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Post by Outrajs on Jul 23, 2017 9:05:59 GMT -5
I guess I have to ask what exactly makes it a classic? But I just finished Avengers #144 this morning.
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Post by Cheswick on Jul 23, 2017 9:47:29 GMT -5
I guess I have to ask what exactly makes it a classic? But I just finished Avengers #144 this morning. Welcome to the forum. Here, a classic comic is any comic that is at least ten years old.
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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 23, 2017 12:23:01 GMT -5
I guess I have to ask what exactly makes it a classic? But I just finished Avengers #144 this morning. That was my first issue of The Avengers, thought I did get hold of #141 pretty quickly, trading with a friend for I think) Spider-Man #151. Why is it a classic? George Perez art, Patsy Walker as the Hellcat, the Squadron Supreme story thread, the Kang thread (with Thor, Moondragon and Two-Gun Kid!). I still remember Patsy asking the Beast (and Cap, I think) to turn around while she puts on the Hellcat costume and then the big panel where she announced she's the Hellcat! I haven't read that comic for 20 years at least. And after that I didn't miss an issue of The Avengers until about #290.
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Post by Outrajs on Jul 23, 2017 14:27:01 GMT -5
I guess I have to ask what exactly makes it a classic? But I just finished Avengers #144 this morning. That was my first issue of The Avengers, thought I did get hold of #141 pretty quickly, trading with a friend for I think) Spider-Man #151. Why is it a classic? George Perez art, Patsy Walker as the Hellcat, the Squadron Supreme story thread, the Kang thread (with Thor, Moondragon and Two-Gun Kid!). I still remember Patsy asking the Beast (and Cap, I think) to turn around while she puts on the Hellcat costume and then the big panel where she announced she's the Hellcat! I haven't read that comic for 20 years at least. And after that I didn't miss an issue of The Avengers until about #290. It's Capt and Iron Man. But I was told she was like a character I was role playing and they had thought I based my character off her. So they gave me a copy (Thanks Jeff!) And I LOVE her!
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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 23, 2017 15:20:22 GMT -5
That was my first issue of The Avengers, thought I did get hold of #141 pretty quickly, trading with a friend for I think) Spider-Man #151. Why is it a classic? George Perez art, Patsy Walker as the Hellcat, the Squadron Supreme story thread, the Kang thread (with Thor, Moondragon and Two-Gun Kid!). I still remember Patsy asking the Beast (and Cap, I think) to turn around while she puts on the Hellcat costume and then the big panel where she announced she's the Hellcat! I haven't read that comic for 20 years at least. And after that I didn't miss an issue of The Avengers until about #290. It's Capt and Iron Man. But I was told she was like a character I was role playing and they had thought I based my character off her. So they gave me a copy (Thanks Jeff!) And I LOVE her! She wasn't in the Avengers very long at all! But she was a regular in The Defenders for a while. (In my opinion, it was a HUGE missed opportunity for the Avengers creative team.)
I think Hellcat has her own comic right now. And I think she's supposed to appear in the next issue of The Hulk (it's really She-Hulk, but for some reason, she's just Hulk.).
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Post by Warmonger on Jul 23, 2017 20:31:18 GMT -5
Finally starting Kirby's 'New Gods' after years of recommendations I've read probably 2/3 of it, but I'll start over from the beginning when the omnibus comes out at the end of the year. I probably should've just waited for the omnibus in hindsight, but I got a great deal on the first 8 issues all easily VG+.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jul 24, 2017 6:55:37 GMT -5
Yesterday I read Jonah Hex #1 by Michael Fleicher and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. Right now my plan is to only read the Garcia-Lopez issues, but I was impressed with the story, particularly seeing that it was approved by the Comics Code Authority in 1977. Obviously the CCA gave westerns more leeway back in the day. I'm assuming it was the perception that fewer kids would be picking up Jonah Hex as opposed to Superman or Batman.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
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Post by Confessor on Jul 24, 2017 7:51:57 GMT -5
Yesterday I read Jonah Hex #1 by Michael Fleicher and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. Right now my plan is to only read the Garcia-Lopez issues, but I was impressed with the story, particularly seeing that it was approved by the Comics Code Authority in 1977. Obviously the CCA gave westerns more leeway back in the day. I'm assuming it was the perception that fewer kids would be picking up Jonah Hex as opposed to Superman or Batman. Why do you think the CCA gave westerns more leeway? I'm a big fan of Bronze Age Jonah Hex, but I can't say that I've ever noticed anything in those books that seemed to be sailing close to the wind of what the CCA would allow. I'm genuinely curious about what it is in Jonah Hex #1 that you think might not have been allowed, had it been depicted in a Superman or Batman comic? It has been a while since I read Jonah Hex #1, admittedly.
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Post by dbutler69 on Jul 24, 2017 9:02:28 GMT -5
It's Capt and Iron Man. But I was told she was like a character I was role playing and they had thought I based my character off her. So they gave me a copy (Thanks Jeff!) And I LOVE her! She wasn't in the Avengers very long at all! But she was a regular in The Defenders for a while. (In my opinion, it was a HUGE missed opportunity for the Avengers creative team.)
I think Hellcat has her own comic right now. And I think she's supposed to appear in the next issue of The Hulk (it's really She-Hulk, but for some reason, she's just Hulk.).
I loved Patsy, too, but maybe the Avengers creative team felt like she'd be redundant with the Beast in there. Similar powers and similar personalities with the happy-go-lucky thing, and we know Marvel can't have too many happy superheroes in one place!
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jul 24, 2017 11:24:43 GMT -5
Yesterday I read Jonah Hex #1 by Michael Fleicher and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. Right now my plan is to only read the Garcia-Lopez issues, but I was impressed with the story, particularly seeing that it was approved by the Comics Code Authority in 1977. Obviously the CCA gave westerns more leeway back in the day. I'm assuming it was the perception that fewer kids would be picking up Jonah Hex as opposed to Superman or Batman. Why do you think the CCA gave westerns more leeway? I'm a big fan of Bronze Age Jonah Hex, but I can't say that I've ever noticed anything in those books that seemed to be sailing close to the wind of what the CCA would allow. I'm genuinely curious about what it is in Jonah Hex #1 that you think might not have been allowed, had it been depicted in a Superman or Batman comic? It has been a while since I read Jonah Hex #1, admittedly. The story involved a kids fighting ring and showed the death of two kids in the story, plus Hex allowed the two guys responsible for the ring to fight to the death and was directly responsible for killing the winner of the fight.
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