Pat T
Full Member
Posts: 102
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Post by Pat T on Oct 23, 2017 17:41:11 GMT -5
Ive been reading some of the original Amazing Sider Man stuff. first appearance of Green Goblin was ok but kind of dull. I also hated reading the first Kraven appearance. Man that was slow to read and go through. Scorpion was pretty good. Hope the other issues get better before I get up to issues 121 and 122 I think you'll notice a big difference when John Romita takes over the art in issue 39. I know some people love Ditko's art in the early Spideys, but it's always been a distraction to me. I started reading ASM in the 130's, and Marvel Tales was reprinting stories in the 60's at that time. Those stories seemed just as modern to me as the brand new books I was buying. But the first Treasury Edition I bought was where I saw the early issues, and I had difficulty getting in to them. I really only like the covers of those first 38 issues, and it is a chore to read some of them. Hang in there. It gets much better, and stays good.
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Post by Cei-U! on Oct 23, 2017 20:44:37 GMT -5
As part of my Suicide Squad binge, I read the 1988 Deadshot mini-series that spun off from it. Whoa! That was some serious grim 'n' gritty DC served up, one of the rare times that treatment was 100% justified. Writers John Ostrander and Kim Yale knocked it out of the park,while Luke McDonnell delivered one of his best jobs (although, like a lot of that era's artists, he overuses close-ups). Floyd Lawton's backstory was fascinatingly twisted and the story's conclusion was a real punch in the gut. If you insist on your comics having a happy ending, this ain't for you, but if you can handle relentless violence and uncompromising characterization, I highly recommend it.
Cei-U! I summon the exercise in comic book noir!
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 23, 2017 22:03:41 GMT -5
As part of my Suicide Squad binge, I read the 1988 Deadshot mini-series that spun off from it. Whoa! That was some serious grim 'n' gritty DC served up, one of the rare times that treatment was 100% justified. Writers John Ostrander and Kim Yale knocked it out of the park,while Luke McDonnell delivered one of his best jobs (although, like a lot of that era's artists, he overuses close-ups). Floyd Lawton's backstory was fascinatingly twisted and the story's conclusion was a real punch in the gut. If you insist on your comics having a happy ending, this ain't for you, but if you can handle relentless violence and uncompromising characterization, I highly recommend it. Cei-U! I summon the exercise in comic book noir! That's a great book. I bought it when it first came out. I wasn't reading Suicide Squad at the time, but it stands alone just fine. I'm a huge Ostrander fan and this book is part of the reason why.
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Post by masterofquackfu on Oct 24, 2017 11:26:54 GMT -5
I commute a long, long way to work (around 1 hour 40 minutes each way). So, I have a lot of time to read comic books. I read 2-3 comics a day. Today I read Iron Man #74 and Fantastic Four #220. Loved seeing Modok and the Mad Thinker in Iron Man. Liked the FF cover as well.
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 24, 2017 12:12:37 GMT -5
I commute a long, long way to work (around 1 hour 40 minutes each way). So, I have a lot of time to read comic books. I read 2-3 comics a day. Today I read Iron Man #74 and Fantastic Four #220. Loved seeing Modok and the Mad Thinker in Iron Man. Liked the FF cover as well. That is such a great period for Iron Man! I started reading Iron Man with #80 and #81, the conclusion of the Super-Villain War for the Black Lama's globe. I remember thinking What the Hell? but I loved it anyway, and I managed to get all the back issues for the War within a year or two.
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 24, 2017 12:42:22 GMT -5
It's been a while since I read this. This is the issue that has the scene where MODOK's agents are reporting on all the major villains - Dr. Doom, the Red Skull, Fu Manchu - who told the Black Lama they weren't interested in his stupid globe. And also a short scene with the Commies Three - Crimson Dynamo, Titanium Man and Radio-Active Man. Great issue!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2017 13:28:04 GMT -5
Iron Man #74 is a fun issue to read and I love the story of which Iron Man had a lot of going on with Super Villains here and it's was an action packed issue and loved the battle of MODOK vs the The Thinker. The Commie Three of Crimson Dynamo, Titanium Man, and Radio-Action Man scene was short and unexpected.
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Post by Rob Allen on Oct 24, 2017 18:30:51 GMT -5
I have quite a few issues of Sub-Mariner from the 50s and 60s, so I know that Bill Everett comes back and the book gets a lot better pretty quick. But I don't know exactly when that happens. I think Namorita is introduced in #50! That's something to look forward to. IIRC, that's the issue where Bill returns. The art goes from Heck to Ayers to Springer to a couple of single-issue "runs" before CM gets his big makeover. The stories go thru changes too. The ones you're reading have Arnold Drake working with the original Lee/Colan setup for the character, but as you've noted, they had trouble keeping that interesting. So Gary Friedrich takes the book in another direction for a few issues, then Archie Goodwin changes everything again, then the book was cancelled for a while until Roy Thomas and Gil Kane change it all even more. By the time that happens, nobody even remembers Una or Yonn-Rogg.
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 24, 2017 22:00:00 GMT -5
Gene Colan left the art chores of Captain Marvel after #4, and it was taken over by Don Heck, inked by John Tartaglione and then Vince Colletta. The art isn't the problem; I actually like it just fine (but, yes, Colan is a hard act to follow). It's these stories! Its getting very repetitive to have Mar-Vell face the Menace of the Month as Yon-Rogg tries to manipulate events so that Mar-Vell is killed or looks bad or is forced to disobey orders. It wouldn't be so bad if the menaces were better. The Metazoid (in #5) wasn't so bad, but since then we've had Solam, Quasimodo, the Aakon (an alien race, enemy of the Kree (but who isn't!?) and ... it turns out that Mar-Vell's human identity Dr. Lawson is a bad person who makes killer androids! It looks like the Aakon are going to be around for a few issues. I suspect I'll find out why they've never appeared enough that I've ever heard of them. I'm already getting more than an inkling. I'm starting to wonder if Medic Una killed herself to get out of this series! The art goes from Heck to Ayers to Springer to a couple of single-issue "runs" before CM gets his big makeover. The stories go thru changes too. The ones you're reading have Arnold Drake working with the original Lee/Colan setup for the character, but as you've noted, they had trouble keeping that interesting. So Gary Friedrich takes the book in another direction for a few issues, then Archie Goodwin changes everything again, then the book was cancelled for a while until Roy Thomas and Gil Kane change it all even more. By the time that happens, nobody even remembers Una or Yonn-Rogg. I took a few days off before I went back to reading Captain Marvel and I liked #9 quite a bit better than some of the issues that preceded it. I don't know if it's because of an improvement in quality or if I was just in a better mood. Thanks for the info on what to expect in the next few issues. I'm planning to read up to #21 (after which there's a two-year hiatus) before putting Captain Marvel aside for a while. (Later in the 1970s I had most of the issues from #38 to #61.)
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2017 21:50:56 GMT -5
Via Hoopla, I've been reading the Creepy Presents Bernie Wrightson collection and finished it this evening... I never got to read Creepy (or Eerie) as a kid, my folks would never buy it or allow me to buy it (anything horror related beyond the classic Universal Monsters movies was pretty much verboten in the household), so it's a real treat to get to experience some of these stories. Hoopla has most of the Creepy and Eerie Archives (I've read the first Creepy Archive volume years ago from a nearby university library) so I am going to indulge in exploring more of the Warren output as I can. -M
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Post by Cei-U! on Oct 26, 2017 9:50:14 GMT -5
As long as I'm reading Suicide Squad, I decided to try Checkmate too. I'm seven issues in and really impressed. I've always liked Paul Kupperberg's work but his writing here is at a whole 'nother level of good. The art by Steve Erwin and Al Vey is fantastic, especially the detailed backgrounds and spectacular action sequences. I appreciate that the series occupies its own, more realistic corner of the DCU, with the only fantasy elements (so far, anyway) being the costumed Knights. Plus it has Harvey Bullock in the cast, my favorite character from the Doug Moench pre-Crisis Batman titles. I'm getting a bit tired of everything being about terrorists but I suspect there is more diversity in plotting ahead. All in all, a welcome change of pace from the usual super-hero shenanigans.
Cei-U! I love discovering new, quality comics!
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Post by masterofquackfu on Oct 26, 2017 9:58:51 GMT -5
I read Avengers #184 and Marvel Two-in-One #57. Both were good solid reads. Anything that has the Absorbing Man in it is always cool in my book. And, as always, the Vision's control of density saves the day. MTIO has Quasar, Giant-Man and Wundarr as the major players. Wundarr is just a strange character...kind of a one hit wonder type. Giant-Man...other than a few other appearances, hasn't done much in many years. Gruenwald was writer and Perez the artist on this issue, so that alone made it quite compelling. I also liked the appearance of both Solarr and Klaw. I think Solarr is the kind of character that Marvel dropped the ball on. Dude had tons of potential, but never was allowed to live up to it. Klaw ,as always, the bridesmaid, never the bride. First level potential, but second tier all the way. All said, both quality books and definitely would read them again in the future.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 26, 2017 16:54:04 GMT -5
I've just finished reading two volumes of Silver Surfer #1 and #2 of Marvel Masterworks in the past 2 weeks.
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Post by String on Oct 27, 2017 13:01:39 GMT -5
Someone, can't recall who at the moment, suggested this mini in the one of the 'Series that you really loved' threads and so, just finished reading Legend of the Hawkman mini by Ben Rabb and Michael Lark.
A really fun read, Rabb explores some underlying issues of the Hawks' marriage, from staying on or leaving Earth to future family hopes to faith vs cynicism. A very good foe based on Thanagarian legends and Lark's art was just fantastic, a real Silver Age feel and look to the overall series. Thanks for the suggestion, a great mini.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2017 9:20:41 GMT -5
I was re-reading Metal Men Archives #2 that contains the following stories ... Metal Men #6–20 and when I log off in a few minutes ... I will start with Metal Men #8.
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