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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 25, 2019 21:30:48 GMT -5
And then there's Starfire #1! I read it today at the laundromat. It's a sort of mixture of sci-fi and sword and sorcery as DC is expanding its product and publishing all kinds of material, setting the stage for the Big Implosion that's just around the corner. Written by David Michelenie and art by Mike Vosburg and Robert Smith. It's not bad. It's kind of fun! I'm actually kind of intrigued. I will probably keep my eyes open for cheap copies of the later issues.
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 25, 2019 21:35:03 GMT -5
I was going to stop getting these 1980s Wonder Woman comics and take a little break, but the covers with the skeleton Wonder Woman turned out to be irresistible! I got #298 a few weeks ago and I picked up these two issues over the weekend. Such great Gene Colan art!
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 25, 2019 21:41:17 GMT -5
I have been planning to get back to Iron Man pretty soon. Last week, I noticed that Comixology was having a sale and I could get the digital version of Marvel Masterworks: Iron Man, Volume Eight, for only $5.99! That's a saving of $11 over the regular price! This volume reprints Iron Man #39 to #53, and I haven't read very many of those. It will be a few weeks before I really dig into these early 1970s Iron Man issues, but I read #39 a few days ago and ... it's not very good! I'm rather under the impression that Iron Man hit a rough patch in the early 1970s, and this issue didn't do anything to dispel that!
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 25, 2019 21:55:24 GMT -5
And I just happened to come across at the Pomona Library, a trade paperback from when Rucka was writing Wonder Woman in 2005 or so. It reprints Wonder Woman (second series) #214 to #217. Not bad. I've finally gotten accustomed to Barbara Minerva as the Cheetah, so I liked the first arc where Cheetah and Professor Zoom team up against Diana and Wally. The second arc is "The Bronze Doors" and it's pretty good too! I'm kind of a sucker for Cassie as Wonder Girl, even though I prefer Donna Troy, of course. But "The Bronze Doors" is a pretty good adventure as Diana, Cassie and Ferdinand the Minotaur go to Hades to carry out a mission for Athena. And Wonder Woman is blind. I never knew this happened. This is not an era of Wonder Woman I know much about.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2019 23:42:53 GMT -5
And then there's Starfire #1! I read it today at the laundromat. It's a sort of mixture of sci-fi and sword and sorcery as DC is expanding its product and publishing all kinds of material, setting the stage for the Big Implosion that's just around the corner. Written by David Michelenie and art by Mike Vosburg and Robert Smith. It's not bad. It's kind of fun! I'm actually kind of intrigued. I will probably keep my eyes open for cheap copies of the later issues. It's pretty good series ... I read about half of the books and she got a little bit of Xena, Red Sonja, and a touch of Valkyrie and Wonder (The Mod Kind) Woman too. This is the best description that I can come up with after not reading these books for 25 plus years. I wished she had a longer life in Comics and I do like David's work as a writer and the art team of Vosberg and Smith was done very nicely indeed. This book is one should not be forgotten.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Feb 26, 2019 3:54:38 GMT -5
And then there's Starfire #1! I read it today at the laundromat. It's a sort of mixture of sci-fi and sword and sorcery (...) A genre otherwise known as sword & planet (itself sometimes considered a sub-genre of planetary romance). I was just commenting about this series on another thread about a week ago. Yeah, it's actually not bad, even though four different writers passed through its eight-issue run. I think the art, though, by Mike Vosburg all the way through, is some of his best work.
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 27, 2019 0:12:41 GMT -5
Spider-Man #23 is another one that I saw for the first time when it was reprinted in Marvel Tales in the 1980s. I did not read this one over and over. I remember the very basic plot - the Green Goblin wants to take over the gangs in New York City - but I didn't remember any details. It's not like the other Spidey stories I've read lately, where I remember dialogue, specific panels, complications, etc. I was thinking the gangster's nickname was "Lucky," but then I remembered the Crime-Master (from #26 and #27) is named Lucky Lewis, so I figured I was thinking of that. Well, the gangster in #23 is named Lucky Lobo, so they're both named Lucky. So there must have been a glut of New York gangsters named Lucky in the 1960s. Maybe Stan was thinking of Lucky Luciano. Despite my poor memory of this one, it's pretty good! I especially love the bit where Spidey locks himself in a room during a fight with the gangsters so he can take a break to call Aunt May to tell her he'll be late. He doesn't want to upset her like he did in the last issue. Thoughtful Spidey! And I also like the way Green Goblin is trying to take control of the gangs by threatening them and playing the gangs off against the police as he tries to weaken Lucky Lobo's control. And the end, where Gobby realizes he's done such a good job that the cops have nabbed ALL the gang, so there's nothing for him to take over. Ha ha! Stupid Green Goblin! And for some reason, this is the first time I've ever noticed that the cover to ASM #23 is very likely the best Green Goblin cover EVER!
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Post by urrutiap on Feb 27, 2019 22:07:08 GMT -5
So far the only thing I read a little bit earlier today/tonight is old Marvel Star Wars issue 50
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 27, 2019 22:17:56 GMT -5
I read Spider-Man #24 last night. I first read this one - "Spider-Man Goes Mad!" - in Marvel Treasury Edition #8, a Special Christmas Issue titled "GIANT SUPER-HERO HOLIDAY GRAB-BAG" that also had stories from old issues of Hulk, Doctor Strange, Nick Fury and Luke Cage ... and some of them actually had Christmas themes! Spidey thinks he's going mad! He's hallucinating! And Jameson has started running a series of stories about an eminent psychiatrist who has a theory about Spider-Man's psyche, and how he may well be going mad and might need help. Well, of course Jameson is all over this! Spider-Man goes to see the psychiatrist because he keeps seeing the Sandman and the Vulture and Doctor Octopus, and just as he has decided to tell the psychiatrist everything ... If you haven't read it, I'll just leave it right there. If you have read it, you know this was another exciting Ditko/Lee Spidey story. I didn't like it mush as a kid because one of things I loved about old Spider-Man stories was the villains - Doctor Octopus, Kraven, the Lizard, the Molten Man - and #24 was short on fights between Spider-Man and those crazy colorful villains we love so much. But at some point through the years, Spider-Man #24 really grew on me! It's not quite Spider-Man #20 or #22 or #28 or #31 to #33 or #34, but it's a successful attempt to mix things up a bit. There are a lot of scenes I remember from this one. The bit where the Daily Bugle reporter is asking the "man on the street" what he thinks of Spider-Man and it's all leading questions and biased reporting as he tells them they probably won't get in the paper if they can't come up with any reasons why they don't like Spider-Man. But Flash Thompson knows a media hit job when he sees one! Fight the Power, Flash! And that scene where Spider-Man goes to the psychiatrist's office ... and it's upside-down! Oh no! Is Spidey really going mad?!?! Next issue: The first Spider Slayer!
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Post by Mormel on Feb 28, 2019 8:07:17 GMT -5
Past two months, I've been re-reading Uncanny X-Men from the very beginning, an issue a day. It's the first time I've read the issues in sequence properly, and it's been wonderful to see the original five X-Men grow and develop, even if they weren't the best book of Silver Age Marvel. I just finished issue 59-- concluding the Sentinel three-parter by Thomas and Adams. A lot of fun, even if this issue does feature a very contrived way of defeating the Sentinels who were obviously too overpowered for the handful of mutants that dwelled in the Marvel universe back then to beat with raw strength. Before Thomas/Adams, I think Gary Friedrich and Arnold Drake (and not to forget Jim Steranko) were doing a nice job laying down some groundwork for that much celebrated run.
I did experience a wee bit of tedium at the end of Rascally Roy's first run on the book; as he kept throwing in villains that had nothing to do with mutants. From #20 to #42, he features 21 non-mutant antagonists, and 7 mutants, four of which were pre-established villains who show up as Factor Three henchmen, meaning he introduced a whopping 3 mutant antagonists over a 23 issue stretch, one of whom, the Banshee, quickly turns into an ally. But I get a kick out of the character development and soap opera elements, and I honestly think Werner Roth is a fine penciller, even if his style is a bit clean.
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Post by brutalis on Feb 28, 2019 8:59:17 GMT -5
Read Kamandi # 6 and 7. Flower and Kamandi are captured by the Lion's who are Park Rangers that watch out over the local human population keeping them in a "wild life" zoo of sorts. Puma's are poaching the reserve taking away human's to sell. They attempt to steal Kamandi and Flower and end up killing Flower. Kamandi then goes off with the Lion's after a funeral and becomes the "toy" of Tiny the 100 foot tall Ape that the local gorilla's free from the Lion's captivity. Essentially King Kong played out on the comic page complete with Tiny climbing a building with Kamandi in his clutches. Guess he mistook Kamandi's flowing golden locks for Fay Wray?!? One issue very serious and the next somewhat silly yet still manages to deliver a fun story. Both tug at your heart emotionally by their end.
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 28, 2019 11:12:50 GMT -5
Read Kamandi # 6 and 7. Flower and Kamandi are captured by the Lion's who are Park Rangers that watch out over the local human population keeping them in a "wild life" zoo of sorts. Puma's are poaching the reserve taking away human's to sell. They attempt to steal Kamandi and Flower and end up killing Flower. Kamandi then goes off with the Lion's after a funeral and becomes the "toy" of Tiny the 100 foot tall Ape that the local gorilla's free from the Lion's captivity. Essentially King Kong played out on the comic page complete with Tiny climbing a building with Kamandi in his clutches. Guess he mistook Kamandi's flowing golden locks for Fay Wray?!? One issue very serious and the next somewhat silly yet still manages to deliver a fun story. Both tug at your heart emotionally by their end. Kamandi #7 is not just my favorite issue of Kamandi, it's one of my favorite comics EVER! #6 is also pretty awesome. Poor Flower!
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Post by brutalis on Feb 28, 2019 11:23:45 GMT -5
Read Kamandi # 6 and 7. Flower and Kamandi are captured by the Lion's who are Park Rangers that watch out over the local human population keeping them in a "wild life" zoo of sorts. Puma's are poaching the reserve taking away human's to sell. They attempt to steal Kamandi and Flower and end up killing Flower. Kamandi then goes off with the Lion's after a funeral and becomes the "toy" of Tiny the 100 foot tall Ape that the local gorilla's free from the Lion's captivity. Essentially King Kong played out on the comic page complete with Tiny climbing a building with Kamandi in his clutches. Guess he mistook Kamandi's flowing golden locks for Fay Wray?!? One issue very serious and the next somewhat silly yet still manages to deliver a fun story. Both tug at your heart emotionally by their end. Kamandi #7 is not just my favorite issue of Kamandi, it's one of my favorite comics EVER! #6 is also pretty awesome. Poor Flower! I never could find any Kamandi in my neighborhood so my memories are of reading them whenever I could visit my cousin in north Phoenix where he must have had better luck finding them. I remember the death of Flower but think I missed out on Tiny the Konga King. Now that I have the Omnibus I certainly am enjoying and taking my time with reading Kamandi. Lots of wild concepts and idea's to savor. I am looking forward to more stories I missed out on from Kirby as he explores Kamandi's world.
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 28, 2019 11:32:55 GMT -5
I read Amazing Spider-Man #25 last night, and it's another rousing corker! Yet again, I read this for the first time in the 1980s as a Marvel Tales reprint, and I remember loving the action and the humor and Spider-Man being the architect of his own destruction because (as Peter Parker) he goads Jameson into listening to the latest "mad scientist with a scheme to get Spider-Man." See, Petey thinks Jameson will be humiliated for listening to this crank, and he also thinks he might get some photos to sell to Jameson from the fight. Betty can't believe her ears! She reminds Peter that Spider-Man saved his aunt form Doctor Octopus! The Spider Slayer turns out to be a real threat. So Peter is now worried about the Slayer tracking him down. He's also just had another run-in with Flash, so he when Peter leaves school through a side door so he can evade the Slayer, Flash and a bunch of the kids start running after Peter because Flash wants to clobber him and the kids want to watch the beating. Meanwhile, the Spider Slayer is also roaming the streets. It's a very exciting day in Forest Hills, and frequently very funny! Highlights: Jameson's gloating face appearing on the robot as he whups Spider-Man. Ditko outdid himself with Jameson in this story. The Midtown high mob flocking into the streets and getting in the Slayer's way, just because they want to see Peter get beaten up. Betty fumbling around close to the controls of the Slayer, trying to mess up a dial or unplug the console because she wants to help Spider-Man. Liz Allan (I love Liz!) tagging along with Flash, hoping to help Peter is Flash gets him. That scene at the end where Liz and Betty run into each other at Peter's house. They are not nice to each other. Aunt May invites them in and introduces them to … Mary Jane Watson! The shocked look on Betty and Liz's faces … Mary Jane is stunning! And then when Mary Jane leaves (without meeting Peter), Flash sees her and wonders who that "chick" is. And the cliffhanger conclusion … May scolds Peter for having a Spider-Man costume! Bad Peter!
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Post by MDG on Feb 28, 2019 11:38:13 GMT -5
Highlights: Jameson's gloating face appearing on the robot as he whups Spider-Man. Ditko outdid himself with Jameson in this story. Yea, the concept and design (and execution) of that robot was amazing, especially for the time.
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