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Post by Nowhere Man on Aug 24, 2017 11:46:44 GMT -5
Tales of Suspense #52 - "The Crimson Dynamo Strikes Again!" Strange Tales #119 - "The Torch Goes Wild!" and "Beyond the Purple Veil" (Dr. Strange) Conan the Barbarian #3 - "The Twilight of the Grim Grey God!"
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Post by Hoosier X on Aug 24, 2017 18:43:32 GMT -5
Here's a few comics I've read lately but haven't commented on yet: Bronze Age team-up comics are AWESOME! And I read another JLA/JSA cross-over: I think that's the last of the Silver Age JLA/JSA team-ups. I like the early ones quite a bit - especially the Crime Syndicate and the evil Johnny Thunder. But they get ... well, I don't want to be TOO critical but they get to be on the verge of being pretty bad at times. I do like the one where Black Canary decides to migrate to Earth-1, especially the art, but the menace in that one is not so hot. I've read the JLA/JSA team-ups for 1971 to 1974, but there's a bunch in the late 1970s I've never read. I'm really looking forward to them. These Silver Age World's Finest issues are SO AWESOME!
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,949
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Post by Crimebuster on Aug 25, 2017 11:41:45 GMT -5
I read Blue Devil Annual #1 last night.
Totally weird and random. Blue Devil is just a bit player in it, as it's essentially an excuse for the writers to play with a bunch of random characters they like, tied together with a plot that barely makes sense. Essentially, Felix Faust is trying to acquire to mystical eggs, and he mystically brainwashes Man-Bat and The Creeper into stealing them. But the pair are foiled by the Demon Etrigan, Madame Xanadu, and the Phantom Stranger. Eventually, Blue Devil gets involved, as does Black orchid for no apparent reason.
The 7 of them finally team up to defeat Faust and a demon he summons.
At the end, The Creeper suggests they form a team, almost literally suggesting they become Justice League Dark more two decades before that concept was introduced. The others all say no and go their separate ways.
Weird issue. I liked Blue Devil a lot as a kid, but I have the idea I'm not going to like it nearly as much now. The tone is very jokey, but I don't find the sense of humor to be all that funny, so... we'll see. I have several more issues to read, including the ones I bought off the racks as a kid.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 25, 2017 13:17:17 GMT -5
I read Blue Devil Annual #1 last night. Totally weird and random. Blue Devil is just a bit player in it, as it's essentially an excuse for the writers to play with a bunch of random characters they like, tied together with a plot that barely makes sense. Essentially, Felix Faust is trying to acquire to mystical eggs, and he mystically brainwashes Man-Bat and The Creeper into stealing them. But the pair are foiled by the Demon Etrigan, Madame Xanadu, and the Phantom Stranger. Eventually, Blue Devil gets involved, as does Black orchid for no apparent reason. The 7 of them finally team up to defeat Faust and a demon he summons. At the end, The Creeper suggests they form a team, almost literally suggesting they become Justice League Dark more two decades before that concept was introduced. The others all say no and go their separate ways. Weird issue. I liked Blue Devil a lot as a kid, but I have the idea I'm not going to like it nearly as much now. The tone is very jokey, but I don't find the sense of humor to be all that funny, so... we'll see. I have several more issues to read, including the ones I bought off the racks as a kid. I liked the early issues a lot. But it seemed like it went off the rails fairly quickly. But I haven't read them since they came out oh so many moons ago.
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Post by Jesse on Aug 26, 2017 14:01:43 GMT -5
Justice League of America #107"Crisis on Earth-X!" written by Len Wein This was an incredibly fun read. Basically a trans-dimensional transporter accident strands a team of the Justice League and the Justice Society on an unknown Earth. They are almost immediately attacked by Nazis and rescued by the Freedom Fighters. After introductions are made the group splits into three teams. In the later half of this issue a team made up of Batman, Human Bomb, The Ray and Doctor Fate attack a Nazi base at the Eiffel Tower where they confront a giant robot. I can't wait to read the follow up!
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Post by Hoosier X on Aug 26, 2017 15:28:32 GMT -5
Justice League of America #107"Crisis on Earth-X!" written by Len Wein This was an incredibly fun read. Basically a trans-dimensional transporter accident strands a team of the Justice League and the Justice Society on an unknown Earth. They are almost immediately attacked by Nazis and rescued by the Freedom Fighters. After introductions are made the group splits into three teams. In the later half of this issue a team made up of Batman, Human Bomb, The Ray and Doctor Fate attack a Nazi base at the Eiffel Tower where they confront a giant robot. I can't wait to read the follow up! Yay! The Freedom Fighters! The conclusion of this story in #108 was laying around in a short stack of comics at my friend's house. His older brother had gone to college and left a few comics behind, and I remember being quite fascinated by the Freedom Fighters, despite not being much of a DC fan. I remember thinking it was an old comic book, and I was surprised when, years later, I noticed in the "Crisis on Multiple Earths" trade paperback that it was only four or five years old when I read it
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Post by Hoosier X on Aug 29, 2017 12:48:26 GMT -5
I took a little break from my scheduled reading to get reacquainted with some Silver Age Marvel storylines that I love but haven't read for a very long time. Like The Amazing Spider-Man #41 to #43. I had #41 and #43 when I was a kid. (They were $1 each back then, and in VG+ condition! Sheesh! The 1970s!) And #42 was reprinted in the first Marvel Treasury Edition. Even though I've read the Ditko issues over and over again, and even though I've read the Romita issues from #44 on digitally over the last few years, I haven't read #41 to #43 for a long time, more than 20 years probably. They're great, of course! As a kid, the Rhino was one of my favorites. I'd seen his first battle with the Hulk (reprinted in Marvel Super-Heroes) and I thought it was SUPER-COOL to have his Spidey appearances. And of course, Peter finally meets Mary Jane! Reading these issues again, yes, I do feel like I've hit the jackpot! And I don't think I'd ever noticed that these three issues are actually a fairly well-constructed story arc. The Rhino is trying to kidnap John Jameson in the first part. Colonel Jameson turns into a powerhouse (because of some space spores) and gets a crazy green and yellow suit and fights Spidey in #42. The middle issue also has scenes of the authorities trying to cope with the very very powerful Rhino. And then the Rhino returns in #43. (Which I haven't read yet. I don't remember if he's still after Jameson or if he's just out for revenge this time.) So much fun! And then ... Fantastic Four #84 to #87! I read these in Marvel's Greatest Super-Heroes reprints back in the 1970s. And even with a lot of great full-page Kirby panels edited out for space, this is one of my favorite Dr. Doom storylines. (I had the originals for a while, and when you flip through the originals, yeah, you notice there's a few extra pages you never saw before! They really jump out at you!) Incredible Hulk #102 to #104 isn't a story arc, just a couple of issues that I only read once a long time ago (#102 and #103) and I threw in #104 because I like it so much. Because ... the Rhino! Dang! That's some great Marie Severin art! I especially like her depictions of these wild areas of Asgard, and those great scenes of the Enchantress wringing her hands and being all dramatic! I don't think Marie Severin gets nearly enough acclaim for being such a great Hulk artist. I really love Tales of Suspense in this era! Gene Colan on Iron Man! Jack Kirby on Captain America! For issues and issues! One great story after another! I picked #92 to #94. Iron Man is in Vietnam for a rematch with the Titanium Man, and Cap is fighting A.I.M again, but this time they have a new evil creation ... MODOK! And TOS #92 has that bit where Cap is fighting A.I.M.'s assassin robot and Cap says "Only one of us is walking out of this room under his own power ..." and in the next panel he's finishing it " ... and it ain't gonna be me!" Well, he was kinda tired and not thinking straight after another exhausting battle with the forces of EVIL!
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Post by Jesse on Aug 29, 2017 13:05:43 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #111"Mindgames!" written by Chris Claremont and penciled by John Byrne Pretty entertaining issue that ends with an exciting cliffhanger. Beast who has been serving as an Avenger returns to the X-Mansion in search of his missing friends but finds it mysteriously empty. He uses Cerebro to find them and discovers they are living as circus performers with no memories of who they are. Hank confront Jean Grey in her trailer but she doesn't recognize him. He ends up fighting carnies until he's knocked out by Colossus and it's revealed that Mesmero is behind everything. Beast's struggle is witnessed by Wolverine who begins to remember who he is. Wolverine changes into costume and frees the other X-Men who assemble to confront Mesmero. However Mesmero has been knocked out by Magneto who has returned to get his revenge on the X-Men!
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Post by Hoosier X on Aug 30, 2017 0:36:47 GMT -5
I've been reading Thor #141 to #153, and it's been GREAT! A bunch of Thor comics that, except for a couple, I've never read before. The more I read of Silver Age Thor, the more I think it's one of the great classic Silver Age Marvel comics, along with Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and The Avengers just because it was SO GREAT for such a long time. (I'm still missing a lot of Bronze Age Thor to make a statement on whether or not Thor sustained this level up to 1975 or so, but there's so much Buscema that the prognosis is good! This run from #141 to #153 starts out pretty good, but Replicus and the Super Skrull are not really epic mmaterial. And the saga of the Enchanters starts out like a great Cosmic Saga of the period, but I think it kind of fizzles out at the end. And then ... And then, Odin has one his hissy fits and takes away Thor's powers, and also Sif's, Balder's and Loki's powers as well! And that's where it goes from pretty good to great! Thor joins the Circus of Crime, then he faces the Wrecker with his powers greatly diminished, and then Hel, the Goddess of Death and Ruler of Valhalla comes for Thor as he lays dying! But Thir struggles on! And Sif's spirit takes over the Destroyer, but Thor doesn't know it's her! And then they fight Ulik and Thor throws him down a bottomless chasm! (An act which will come back to bite them on the butt when Ulik releases the Mangog in #154!) And then Loki, after adding the powers of Karnilla the Queen of the Norns to his own repertoire, will run off with Thor's hammer! And without his hammer, he turns to Don Blake ... and goes after Loki even though he's Don Blake! It's so awesome! Luckily Sif goes with him to help so it's not too terribly one-sided. I also love the part where Dr. Blake has to operate on Sif - she was badly wounded by Loki, you see - and Loki attacks the hospital while Blake is performing the delicate procedure to save Sif and he can't change into Thor while operating. (He's got the hammer back by this point, and the way he gets it back is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in a Thor comic. Maybe not quite as amazing as Mangog lifting Ulik like a baby, but close.) Silver Age Thor is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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Post by Cei-U! on Aug 30, 2017 7:40:04 GMT -5
Uncanny X-Men #111"Mindgames!" written by Chris Claremont and penciled by John Byrne Pretty entertaining issue that ends with an exciting cliffhanger. Beast who has been serving as an Avenger returns to the X-Mansion in search of his missing friends but finds it mysteriously empty. He uses Cerebro to find them and discovers they are living as circus performers with no memories of who they are. Hank confront Jean Grey in her trailer but she doesn't recognize him. He ends up fighting carnies until he's knocked out by Colossus and it's revealed that Mesmero is behind everything. Beast's struggle is witnessed by Wolverine who begins to remember who he is. Wolverine changes into costume and frees the other X-Men who assemble to confront Mesmero. However Mesmero has been knocked out by Magneto who has returned to get his revenge on the X-Men! Yeah, boy! This was the issue where the Claremont/Byrne team really hit their stride. From here until Johnny B left, the X-Men were as good as Marvel comics got. They've never come close since. Cei-U! I summon the non-stop excitement!
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 30, 2017 8:44:53 GMT -5
I took a little break from my scheduled reading to get reacquainted with some Silver Age Marvel storylines that I love but haven't read for a very long time. Like The Amazing Spider-Man #41 to #43. I had #41 and #43 when I was a kid. (They were $1 each back then, and in VG+ condition! Sheesh! The 1970s!) And #42 was reprinted in the first Marvel Treasury Edition. Even though I've read the Ditko issues over and over again, and even though I've read the Romita issues from #44 on digitally over the last few years, I haven't read #41 to #43 for a long time, more than 20 years probably. They're great, of course! As a kid, the Rhino was one of my favorites. I'd seen his first battle with the Hulk (reprinted in Marvel Super-Heroes) and I thought it was SUPER-COOL to have his Spidey appearances. And of course, Peter finally meets Mary Jane! Reading these issues again, yes, I do feel like I've hit the jackpot! And I don't think I'd ever noticed that these three issues are actually a fairly well-constructed story arc. The Rhino is trying to kidnap John Jameson in the first part. Colonel Jameson turns into a powerhouse (because of some space spores) and gets a crazy green and yellow suit and fights Spidey in #42. The middle issue also has scenes of the authorities trying to cope with the very very powerful Rhino. And then the Rhino returns in #43. (Which I haven't read yet. I don't remember if he's still after Jameson or if he's just out for revenge this time.) So much fun! I just read Spidey #41-43 for the first time a few weeks ago! Yeah, they're great, and I'm not even the hugest Spidey fan.
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 30, 2017 8:48:54 GMT -5
And then ... Fantastic Four #84 to #87! I read these in Marvel's Greatest Super-Heroes reprints back in the 1970s. And even with a lot of great full-page Kirby panels edited out for space, this is one of my favorite Dr. Doom storylines. (I had the originals for a while, and when you flip through the originals, yeah, you notice there's a few extra pages you never saw before! They really jump out at you!) Dang! I didn't know that they sometimes cut out pages for a reprint! That's like syndicated TV! I don't know why they'd need to do that, since reprints are obviously cheaper to produce than new stories.
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 30, 2017 8:51:45 GMT -5
The more I read of Silver Age Thor, the more I think it's one of the great classic Silver Age Marvel comics, along with Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and The Avengers just because it was SO GREAT for such a long time. (I'm still missing a lot of Bronze Age Thor to make a statement on whether or not Thor sustained this level up to 1975 or so, but there's so much Buscema that the prognosis is good! Frankly, I'd agree. Thor is right up there as one of the finest Silver Age comics.
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Post by Hoosier X on Aug 30, 2017 11:14:13 GMT -5
I took a little break from my scheduled reading to get reacquainted with some Silver Age Marvel storylines that I love but haven't read for a very long time. Like The Amazing Spider-Man #41 to #43. I had #41 and #43 when I was a kid. (They were $1 each back then, and in VG+ condition! Sheesh! The 1970s!) And #42 was reprinted in the first Marvel Treasury Edition. Even though I've read the Ditko issues over and over again, and even though I've read the Romita issues from #44 on digitally over the last few years, I haven't read #41 to #43 for a long time, more than 20 years probably. They're great, of course! As a kid, the Rhino was one of my favorites. I'd seen his first battle with the Hulk (reprinted in Marvel Super-Heroes) and I thought it was SUPER-COOL to have his Spidey appearances. And of course, Peter finally meets Mary Jane! Reading these issues again, yes, I do feel like I've hit the jackpot! And I don't think I'd ever noticed that these three issues are actually a fairly well-constructed story arc. The Rhino is trying to kidnap John Jameson in the first part. Colonel Jameson turns into a powerhouse (because of some space spores) and gets a crazy green and yellow suit and fights Spidey in #42. The middle issue also has scenes of the authorities trying to cope with the very very powerful Rhino. And then the Rhino returns in #43. (Which I haven't read yet. I don't remember if he's still after Jameson or if he's just out for revenge this time.) So much fun! I just read Spidey #41-43 for the first time a few weeks ago! Yeah, they're great, and I'm not even the hugest Spidey fan. You need to keep going, if only to read many hilarious scenes with Gwen and Mary Jane.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Aug 30, 2017 11:26:39 GMT -5
Brave and the Bold #134 A somewhat goofy false Green Lantern Soviet defection plot by Haney with typically excellent Jim Aparo art. There's an excellent scene in the story where Batman is being tortured by the Soviet chief of intelligence, Colonel Miklos Vakla. Valka has Batman submerged in a tank of water for days, with all of his senses deprived, with Batman only being provided oxygen. Batman keeps sane by muttering "Joe Chill" over and and over again to himself. That definitely comes off as a concept that would show up in a modern Batman comic.
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