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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 2, 2017 13:05:59 GMT -5
Been enjoying the hell out of the Best of Little Nemo in Slumberland book that I picked up recently. Visually it's utterly stunning, being one part children's picture book and one part Salvador Dali painting. There's also something very Art Nouveau about Winsor McKay's work, which, of course, is to do with the pre-First World War era it was produced in. The dialogue is clunky as all hell, poorly rendered and looks for all the world as if McKay really couldn't be bothered with it...but that hardly matters, since the meat of the strip is undoubtedly its phantasmagorical imagery. Nemo himself (and I always thought it was a little girl, to be honest) is a totally blank canvas, with almost no character at all to speak of. But that "blank canvas" works well in amongst the bizarre and surreal dreamscapes that the boy explores. All in all, I'm glad I bought this book. The only comic strips I like more than Little Nemo are Krazy Kat and Pogo.
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Post by String on Dec 2, 2017 15:37:54 GMT -5
Shi: Heaven and Earth #1-4
Billy Tucci returns to his biggest creation with this sequel mini-series to Way of the Warrior. Having dealt with her need for vengeance against Yakuza crime lord Arashi, Ana Ishikawa soon learns the vast consequences of her actions. Besides creating a power vacuum within the Yakuza, Ana's efforts have also upset the delicate peace between the long-warring factions of sohei from Kyoto and Nara. Ana's actions and displays of Christian faith have also become a source of new inspiration to the young generation of Kyoto sohei and fearing further religious contamination, the elders of the clan decide to remove the source, striking out at Ana by kidnapping her last living relative, Catherine, her Christian mother. With a bounty on her head and beset on all sides by enemies, can Ana save her mother and herself or will she become a martyr to her faith?
Again, it would be so easy to relegate Shi into the category of Bad Girls of the 90s but that would sorely overlook the quality and strong characterization that Tucci infuses into his stories. Here, Tucci compares Ana's current troubles with an account of an ancestor of Ana's, Yuri Ishikawa, who feels called through her faith to participate in the Shimabara Rebellion, one of the last major rebellions of the 15th century against the Tokugawa Shogunate whose outcome was instrumental in the continuing persecution of Christians in Japan afterwards. Tucci strives to show the drama and emotional toil of both women as they struggle with traditional needs of honor & duty as they clash with their religious principles and ideals.
Tucci also experiments with a new art style throughout the mini, foregoing the use of traditional panel borders, instead he uses a montage format as the images and action flow seamlessly over the whole page. It's an interesting effect that he uses to some great effect (especially in the action sequences) but he's still mastering it here. As for the story, the ending seems somewhat rushed and tidy (still being released through his own company, Crusade, I'm not sure how much the attention and demands of that business may have affected this) but he explores the contrasting themes established here very well I thought.
All in all, a very worthy sequel which leaves Ana in a lonely place for what may happen next.
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 3, 2017 3:05:57 GMT -5
In addition to those Silver Age DC comics from late 1965 and early 1966, I decided to read a few comics from Marvel from roughly the same time period. I decided to go with Daredevil #15, Spider-Man #34 and a couple that I've never read before - Kid Colt #127 and Patsy Walker #124. I've read quite a bit of Kid Colt, but I don't think I've ever read an issue of Patsy Walker. This is dated December 1965, so it's actually a few months before those DC comics I chose. And I didn't really have any choice because this is the last issue of Patsy Walker! For some reason, I was surprised to find out that it didn't last farther into the 1960s. It was kind of fun. There's an editor's note asking readers to write in and say which of the three stories they liked best. It sounds like they were desperately seeking input, as Poor Patsy must have been on her last legs. One interesting thing about these stories is how Vietnam is mentioned a few times. Patsy's boyfriend Buzz is in the military and is now in Vietnam! It's a major plot point in the second story because lonely Patsy goes to a dance ... and kisses a boy! She feels guilty for cheating on Buzz, but Hedy rolls her eyes at Patsy for being such a drip.
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 3, 2017 13:27:04 GMT -5
I've read enough Silver Age DC to know that the potential for disappointment is always there. So I was prepared for the letdown after The Brave and the Bold #64 with Batman and Eclipso. Justice League of America #42 wasn't quite as lifeless, but the menace, a strange alien called The Unimaginable who wants to join the JLA when Metamorpho declines, was another in an unfortunate rotation of lame JLA villains. (And yet the next issue features the Royal Flush Gang! It's one of my favorite issues of JLA! Silver Age JLA is always a crap shoot.) But Wonder Woman #160 was the winner here! Profoundly silly but undeniably wonderful! The Cheetah is one of my favorites, and this tale - as dopey as a ... Golden Age Wonder Woman story! - works within the framework of 1940s Wonder Woman stories and really shows why the Cheetah (even without any powers) is such a threat to Wonder Woman. I liked the Dr. Psycho story as well. I think it's kind of funny that a villain who looks so much like Glenn Quagmire (from The Family Guy) has so much trouble getting the girls.
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 4, 2017 2:02:23 GMT -5
Kid Colt #127 is not available at the online site I use! So I read Two-Gun Kid #79 instead! I haven't read nearly as much Two-Gun Kid as I've read of Kid Colt and Rawhide Kid, but I've read a few over the years. All the Marvel westerns are kind of fun, goofy and formulaic like TV westerns. So this issue was OK, with a script by Larry Leiber and art by Dick Ayers.
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Post by dbutler69 on Dec 4, 2017 12:30:23 GMT -5
I read Thor #127. Wow, very ballsy of Seidring! Smacking down Odin with his own power! Yet, thus far, he got less punishment than Thor did for his much more minor transgression, but hopefully Odin will think of a good punishment for him. Also, I wonder if Thor wouldn't gone through with his threat to destroy the cosmos by dropping the Odinsword rather than let Asgar be ruled by Seidring. Hey Thor, don't the rest of us get a vote on that decision? Finally, Hercules is getting set up for some trouble!
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 4, 2017 12:38:16 GMT -5
I read Thor #127. Wow, very ballsy of Seidring! Smacking down Odin with his own power! Yet, thus far, he got less punishment than Thor did for his much more minor transgression, but hopefully Odin will think of a good punishment for him. Also, I wonder if Thor wouldn't gone through with his threat to destroy the cosmos by dropping the Odinsword rather than let Asgard be ruled by Seidring. Hey Thor, don't the rest of us get a vote on that decision? Finally, Hercules is getting set up for some trouble! We're getting into my favorite Thor storyline ever! It's not one I read as a kid. Even thought I had a bunch of Marvel Treasury Editions in the 1970s, I didn't get #3 (which reprints Journey Into Mystery #125 and Thor #126 to #130) until the 1990s. I used to read it pretty frequently. After not reading it for a few years, I took it with me (not the Marvel Treasury Edition; I now read it in Marvel Masterworks format) when I went on vacation near Richmond, Indiana, last year and read an issue every night before going to bed.
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 4, 2017 13:40:23 GMT -5
I read Daredevil #15 online last night. I haven't read it for a long time. It's a good one! The Ox gets another shot at living a good life after he's used as a pawn by an evil scientist. One of the things I like about the original Ox is that he had a lovely character arc from a few issues of Spider-Man as one of the Enforcers (#10, #14, #18, #19) to the Fellowship of Fear (Daredevil #6) to DD #15, and then a few years later, it ended in DD #86. And they never brought him back. I had read all these stories (some in reprint form) by the time I was 14 or 15, and I always thought it was kind of cool to have read all the stories of at least one Marvel villain.
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Post by dbutler69 on Dec 4, 2017 13:55:55 GMT -5
Personally, I think the Ox, and the Enforcers, work better as Daredevil villains than Spider-Man villains.
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Post by dbutler69 on Dec 4, 2017 14:00:18 GMT -5
I read Thor #127. Wow, very ballsy of Seidring! Smacking down Odin with his own power! Yet, thus far, he got less punishment than Thor did for his much more minor transgression, but hopefully Odin will think of a good punishment for him. Also, I wonder if Thor wouldn't gone through with his threat to destroy the cosmos by dropping the Odinsword rather than let Asgard be ruled by Seidring. Hey Thor, don't the rest of us get a vote on that decision? Finally, Hercules is getting set up for some trouble! We're getting into my favorite Thor storyline ever! It's not one I read as a kid. Even thought I had a bunch of Marvel Treasury Editions in the 1970s, I didn't get #3 (which reprints Journey Into Mystery #125 and Thor #126 to #130) until the 1990s. I used to read it pretty frequently. After not reading it for a few years, I took it with me (not the Marvel Treasury Edition; I now read it in Marvel Masterworks format) when I went on vacation near Richmond, Indiana, last year and read an issue every night before going to bed. I actually have Marvel Treasury Edition #3 and #10 (reprinting Thor #154-157). #10 is really awesome. I love Treasury sized comics! They are the best! However, the ones I've been reading recently are through Marvel Unlimited.
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Post by dbutler69 on Dec 4, 2017 14:01:41 GMT -5
I read the classic Avengers Annual #7 last night, part of the Avengers-Thanos War. Great stuff! I'll read Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 tonight.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2017 14:08:38 GMT -5
Gorgeous Cover ... Hoosier XColors are bold and thanks for posting it.
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 4, 2017 14:33:43 GMT -5
Personally, I think the Ox, and the Enforcers, work better as Daredevil villains than Spider-Man villains. The Spider-Man appearances are great though. #10, the sheer insanity of #14, and that two-parter in #18 and #19 is one of my favorite Spider-Man storylines. I don't think the Enforcers as a group ever fought Daredevil.
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Post by Rob Allen on Dec 4, 2017 19:14:08 GMT -5
This is dated December 1965, so it's actually a few months before those DC comics I chose. And I didn't really have any choice because this is the last issue of Patsy Walker! For some reason, I was surprised to find out that it didn't last farther into the 1960s. The companion title, Patsy and Hedy, lasted to February 1967.
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Post by dbutler69 on Dec 5, 2017 9:50:07 GMT -5
Personally, I think the Ox, and the Enforcers, work better as Daredevil villains than Spider-Man villains. The Spider-Man appearances are great though. #10, the sheer insanity of #14, and that two-parter in #18 and #19 is one of my favorite Spider-Man storylines. I don't think the Enforcers as a group ever fought Daredevil. They should have.
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