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Post by Duragizer on Feb 28, 2019 13:33:24 GMT -5
Highlights: Jameson's gloating face appearing on the robot as he whups Spider-Man. Ditko outdid himself with Jameson in this story. Ditko's Jameson's has never been topped. One can't help but want to pop him one in the kisser then give him a pat on the head; he's that hateful and lovable.
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Post by Farrar on Feb 28, 2019 17:08:51 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. Interesting that you mention #59's wrap up (the Sentinels flying into the sun); that piece of the story, or the idea , has been attributed to Chris Claremont. He was a college student at the time (1969) who'd worked part-time and/or interned summers at Marvel. See the Chris Claremont interview in Comics Creators on X-Men book; also in other interviews as well. I believe Claremont's contribution was mentioned in a subsequent X-Men lettercol back then, but I haven't got the original issues at hand to check. But later on when the Sentinels returned from the sun in 1972's Avengers #102, Claremont got an in-story credit ("From an idea suggested by Chris Claremont.") ...I honestly think Werner Roth is a fine penciller, even if his style is a bit clean. I was reading this X-Men series at the time of its publication and I found the switch from Roth's attractive art to Adams's art very jarring. Some great Adams covers but as for the interior art, I didn't like the strange panel arrangements and even worse to my young eyes was that none of the characters (except Bobby at times) looked like teenagers or even college-age. It took me a quite a few issues to get used to Adams's X-Men work and then wouldn't you know it, the book was canceled
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,065
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Post by Confessor on Mar 1, 2019 2:40:14 GMT -5
I've been reading a few issues of Roger Stern's run on Dr. Strange from the late 70s lately, and man, they are dull. I loved Stern's run on Amazing Spider-Man from a few years later, so was expecting good things, but these Dr. Strange comics are really hard going. Definitely something of a come down after the Steve Englehart run.
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Post by brutalis on Mar 1, 2019 8:15:54 GMT -5
Last night after mowing the yard (thank you rainstorms NOT) I relaxed with DC comics Strange Adventures #79 from April 1957. Cover and 1st story being Invaders from the Ice World by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino with invaders from Pluto landing in Iowa where they make it snow in the middle of summer as they require cold temperatures to survive. Some kids build a pair of snowmen and the Plutonian's proceed to acquire the snow bodies and begin rampaging across the farm belt destroying crops and vegetation. Their sinister evil purpose is without plant life creating oxygen humanities breathing out carbon dioxide will turn Earth into a dead and cold world suitable for the aliens. Just how long would it take for 2 invaders to destroy enough plant life to make this happen? The military is called in and guns, flame throwers, bazooka's ad grenades prove useless and even an atomic bomb does no good. Say goodbye Iowa, and thank you military geniuses for helping to speed along the invaders plan?!? The invaders are defeated when a scientist figures out that heat won't do the job and theorizes absolute zero cold will do the job. The Snow men are flash frozen food entree's and the bodies crushed to pieces of Popsicle and told to never attack Earth again!
The 2nd story is Around the Universe in 1 Billion years by France E. Herron and Sid Greene. Where Earth men from the past have circled the entire universe finding that what they thought would only take 500 years instead took 1 Billion. They find Earth has changed and humanity is now in an early atomic age and nobody remembers or knows of the Earth's past civilization. They astound us with their technology until a returning comet nears Earth and the past Earth men go into space and destroy the comet and themselves. Crazy wild fun.
The 3rd story is A Switch in time by Gardner Fox and Gil Kane. A man from the future connects with a present day man via mental/television communication. He prove he is from the future by telling the man what he will eat for dinner that night and his plan for buying stocks the next day will succeed. Eventually the future man convinces the current man that a time-switcher invention will allow the current man to trade places with a person from the future for a limited time so the future person can experience the past. The trade goes off with no problem except the current man is actually a thief and wants to explore all the history starting with the next day in his regular time so that he can get rich. But the laugh is on him as the man from the future exposes the thief by stating the switch is permanent as the future man i the last person alive and he destroyed the transfer machine stranding the man of the past in the future and the man of the future in the past. A fun twist of a tale.
The 4th and final story is from Edmond Hamilton and Jerry Grandenetti tiled The Living Automobile. An auto repair man receives a mental compulsion to retrieve what he thinks is a broken down car outside of town. Once he steps into the car it begins to drive itself and crashes through a military compound gate and returns to the auto repair shop. Te repair man thinks he must be dreaming since a car cannot drive itself and he tries to tear it apart only to find it is indestructible. He must test drive it one more time in order to convince himself he isn't crazy about the car driving itself and the car instantly does so again and crashes through into an atomic complex and mentally tells the repair man that the car is actually a Venusian. As the car drives into a tunnel it is stopped on exiting as it is a toll booth. The repair man tells the security at the booth that the car is a Venusian sent to spy on Earth and is laughed at until in fear the Venusian goes all Transformer and sheds his car body to expose his metal/robotic self as he explodes off to space exclaiming his job is finished as he now has photographic proof Earth is incapable of going to war against Venus.
I just love these 1950's Silver Age science fiction/fantasy stories from DC. Where Marvel went with monsters and alien invasions C was much more science fiction minded. They do kind of fall apart if you apply logic to them but the DC stories are inventive, creative and quite fun in a Twilight Zone or Outer Limits kind of way. I truly love my 2 Showcase Presents of Strange Adventures and will be reading more stories an issue at a time and enjoying my travels into the past/future.
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Post by String on Mar 1, 2019 12:29:43 GMT -5
I recently acquired a batch of Superman Family issues, starting with #193 This issue was all kinds of crazy fun. We get to see the giant whisk seen on the front cover as part of his nefarious plan, the Mechanical Master uses it to generate a monstrous twister in heart of Smallville. I had also forgotten about the always absolutely necessary one-panel explanation for how Pete Ross knows Clark is Superboy. Jimmy Olsen lives up his nickname as Mr Action! as he searches for the missing Golden Guardian and the kidnapped Newsboy Legion with the help of Speedy. Their search leads them to the DNA Project and the nifty use of a new boxing glove speargun variant used by Flip. Meanwhile, Lois seeks to protect young Tina whose is transforming into a powerful source of bio-energy. This draws the attention of the DNA project who sends clones to kidnap her. Lois manages to ward them off with the help of a hero who've I never heard of before this: the Human Cannonball WoW. (Does he even qualify for the C-list?) Supergirl helps quash a family feud involving gravitons and gravity powers with assistance from the Doom Patrol. Nightwing has to fend off a brainwashed Flamebird as part of a Kandorian crime lord's plan to find and seize the Sun-stone, an ancient Kryptonian relic. The story that struck me the most was Superman, who at his Fortress, engages a computer simulation to see if he still would have existed had Krypton been destroyed earlier. His parents escaped to Earth as babies where the Clarks of Smallville find them. The Clarks adopted Lara (as Laura Clark) while the Kents ended up adopting Jor-El (as Jack Kent, brother to Jonathan). Lara eventually becomes Supergirl. The pair are still drawn toward each other (as noted by Jack dating Laura some) but the Clarks are under the wrong impression that the children they found in the spaceship are brother and sister. This hampers the situation somewhat but true love wins out in the end, causing mirth in Superman when he realizes that he still would have been born. The really odd part? Jack Kent does have super-powers but he's become so enamored with his science projects, he just doesn't have time to use them as Laura does as Supergirl! As I said, fun fun issue. I was surprised to see that Tom DeFalco wrote the first three stories. I had no idea that he ever did any work for DC. His Jimmy Olsen story, with art by Kurt Schaffenberger was the highlight, just full of great quips and fun action. Schaffenberger also did the Superman short story. Gerry Conway wrote the Superman and Supergirl stories while Paul Kupperberg handled Nightwing and Flamebird. Joe Staton provided art on Superboy. But Ken Landgraf, Arvell Jones, and Win Mortimer provided the rest of the art seen here, artists that I've not really that familiar with (although enjoyed Landgraf's art in the Nightwing story the most of those three).
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Post by Rob Allen on Mar 1, 2019 12:44:21 GMT -5
...I honestly think Werner Roth is a fine penciller, even if his style is a bit clean. I was reading this X-Men series at the time of its publication and I found the switch from Roth's attractive art to Adams's art very jarring. Some great Adams covers but as for the interior art, I didn't like the strange panel arrangements and even worse to my young eyes was that none of the characters (except Bobby at times) looked like teenagers or even college-age. It took me a quite a few issues to get used to Adams's X-Men work and then wouldn't you know it, the book was canceled Wow, our reactions couldn't have been more different. The shift from Heck & Roth (the last year or so, Roth was pencilling over Don Heck layouts) to Adams was like going from black & white to color TV for me. Adams' "strange" panel arrangements were so much more interesting than the traditional grid. The characters, their movement and their environment all looked so much better. I had thought that the Heck/Roth art was fine; Adams gave me something I didn't know I wanted until I saw it, and then I wanted more of it. Apparently I wasn't alone; lots of Adams-like artists appeared in the next decade.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Mar 1, 2019 21:00:07 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. You should definitely check out my X-Men review Thread I read them far less often than one a day, but I always love people to post comments and insights... feel free to post on anything in there! I actually didn't mind the non-mutant bad guys... they seemed to be trying to make being a mutant a rare thing, which was fine. Roy definitely did the more with the characters than anyone else up to that point, but it definitely lacked direction.
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Post by Batflunkie on Mar 1, 2019 21:04:44 GMT -5
Captain America #273 and #274 Yet another David Anthony Kraft (the gentleman who penned the ho-hum "not quite Marvel Team-Up" #265 and #266) two-fer, this one featuring the Howling Commandos Starts off with a little reunion that's quickly interrupted by Hydra kidnapping General Sawyer for reasons that I honestly can't recall, it was that dull of a read. Something to do with nuclear launch codes and a B-52 with enough tech inside it that it can become invisible to radar? Anywho, the lead Hydra turns out to be a revived Baron Strucker or maybe not? He was a robot all along, *gasp* who knew? Like #265 and #266, it was serviceable read, but definitely a let down from the previous DeMatteis issues; sans Team America (#269)
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 2, 2019 11:41:46 GMT -5
One of my friends had Amazing Spider-Man #27 when I was a teenager, and I remember glancing through it and getting the gist of the story. It has a neat little twist in the revelation of who the Crime-Master really is. I though that was cool. I sure had never seen anything like that in a comic book. I was already somewhat familiar with the Crime-Master because a year or so earlier, my first foray into the world of Marvel Team-Up was these two issues: I sometimes think is my favorite MTU storyline ever! Spidey! The Torch! The Big Man! The Crime-Master! Fancy Dan! Montana! The Sandman! Also … the Sons of the Tiger. (And all these decades later, I don't think I've ever read another story in which they appear.) This was the first time I saw quite a few of these characters. And some really nice Sal Buscema/Mike Esposito art! I can't remember when I first read Spider-Man #26 and #27. Oh yeah, I remember the story really well! I had all the Ditko/Lee Spider-Man stories in Marvel Masterworks editions, and for a while in the 1990s, I was reading the whole run once or twice a year. But I can't remember if I read ASM #26 and #27 in Marvel Tales or if I missed those issues. There's so much going on, it's a little surprising they managed to fit into a mere two issues. The Crime-Master and the Green Goblin are fighting each other for control of the New York mobs. Frederick Foswell (who used to be the Big Man!) is out of jail and is working with Jameson on a big story about the battle for supremacy within the gangs. Peter thinks he's actually suspiciously … and that he might be the Crime-Master! Meanwhile, Peter doesn't have a Spider-Man suit because Aunt May confiscated one of his Spidey costumes and Jameson ended up with the other one at the end of the fight with the Spider Slayer. So Peter has to use a Spidey suit from a costume store for a while, and it doesn't fit very well. Betty still mad at him for persuading Jameson to listen to the Spider Slayer's inventor. And then Spidey is beaten by the Goblin and taken unconscious to a big gang meeting at the waterfront. That's just the first of the two issues! There's also a bit where Peter takes Aunt May to the movies! I've been wondering what they went and saw. It's too early for Thunderball or Dr. Zhivago, so I'm guessing they went to The Sound of Music. And I also love the segment where Peter decides to snub the Bugle, so he takes his latest photos to Mr. Bushkin at the Globe. Bushkin is real talkative and inquisitive and just keeps asking questions about how Peter gets his photos, and Peter decides he should stick with Jameson from now on. Yet another mid-sixties masterpiece from the House of Ideas!
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 2, 2019 12:00:19 GMT -5
I don't think I've ever read any of the Dollar Comics issues of Superman Family, but I sure do love those Ross Andru covers!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2019 10:29:38 GMT -5
Wow! I'm loving this. Everything feels organic. We discussed the Champions recently. I mentioned how it felt like some editor had just thrown together random characters. That certainly isn't the case with the Defenders. They've done the "non-team" thing very, very well. None of it comes across as contrived. I'm never thinking, 'Oh, they'll have to contrive a reason to bring the Hulk back for a story so he can assist Strange and Namor.' No, it's done in a convincing way. There'll always be a level of contrivance in comics, e.g. Bruce Wayne depositing a check at the bank where a criminal gang attack or Superman flying past a construction site and spotting a bricklayer falling. That's fine. We accept such things. But I commend this book - so far - for not doing that. When the "non-team" come together, it feels organic. I like how loose the alliance is (the Hulk seemed displeased, via a thought bubble, that Strange hadn't thanked him at one point). Hulk is forever wandering off. Namor is doing it more out of duty. Strange sees the bigger picture. Surfer and Valkyrie have something to add. It's all wonderful. And then there's this awesome exchange between Dormammu and Loki: Loki: Dormammu? The Lord of the Dark Dimension? Oft-times hath the All-Father spoken of thee! Dormammu: With dread no doubt! Loki: Nay! In comparison with me! In the wrong hands, the Defenders could have been a) contrived, and b) Avengers-lite. Instead, it had its own flavour. I just hope later volumes keep it up.
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 3, 2019 12:29:14 GMT -5
Wow! I'm loving this. Everything feels organic. We discussed the Champions recently. I mentioned how it felt like some editor had just thrown together random characters. That certainly isn't the case with the Defenders. They've done the "non-team" thing very, very well. None of it comes across as contrived. I'm never thinking, 'Oh, they'll have to contrive a reason to bring the Hulk back for a story so he can assist Strange and Namor.' No, it's done in a convincing way. There'll always be a level of contrivance in comics, e.g. Bruce Wayne depositing a check at the bank where a criminal gang attack or Superman flying past a construction site and spotting a bricklayer falling. That's fine. We accept such things. But I commend this book - so far - for not doing that. When the "non-team" come together, it feels organic. I like how loose the alliance is (the Hulk seemed displeased, via a thought bubble, that Strange hadn't thanked him at one point). Hulk is forever wandering off. Namor is doing it more out of duty. Strange sees the bigger picture. Surfer and Valkyrie have something to add. It's all wonderful. And then there's this awesome exchange between Dormammu and Loki: Loki: Dormammu? The Lord of the Dark Dimension? Oft-times hath the All-Father spoken of thee! Dormammu: With dread no doubt! Loki: Nay! In comparison with me! In the wrong hands, the Defenders could have been a) contrived, and b) Avengers-lite. Instead, it had its own flavour. I just hope later volumes keep it up. My library system has the second volume (which is great!) and I've read a few of the earlier issues here and there over the years, but there's still a lot of early Defenders I've never read. I think my first issue was #29 when I was 11 or 12, buying comics off a spinner rack at the drug store, and I bought the title - sometimes faithfully, sometimes sporadically, until the first volume of the title was canceled. I would love to have a chance to read Volume One! I'll check the library again and see if they got it somehow.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2019 12:39:06 GMT -5
You are welcome to my copy when I've finished with it. I rarely keep anything other than a few books due to living in a studio apartment. The books I do like I usually buy a digital version for space reasons. And I don't re-read *every* book I own. So when I've finished, I'd be happy to post it to an address of your choice, e.g. work, home, anywhere.
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 3, 2019 13:02:17 GMT -5
I read Amazing Spider-Man #28 last night. This is another one I've read over and over again. One of the first reprint comics I ever bought was Marvel Special Edition #1, which reprinted the first Spidey Annual and ASM #6 and #35. The last story is the return of the Molten Man! So I knew about Mark Raxton the Molten Man very early on. And when I saw the cover to his first appearance in #28 (probably at a comic book convention), I knew I wanted one! So I bought a copy eventually. And it's so great! Raxton'a reaction to the transformation is great! He's walking around in a daze but he quickly realizes that something amazing has happened to him. "Hey, I can trash the hood of this car that's about to run over me! Ha ha!" And the fight with Spider-Man is great! The stakes are really low, for a change. Raxton is such some strong, golden dude who hasn't really done any super-villain stuff; just some vandalism, really! Spidey's webbing won't stick to Raxton's smooth skin, but ol' Web-Head quickly figures out how to overcome that little obstacle. Spidey leaves Raxton wrapped up for the police as he rushes off for high-school graduation ceremonies. There's some great scenes with Liz Allan. She doesn't want to hang out with Peter or Flash anymore. They are all moving on after graduation and Liz is getting ready to move on with her life. Peter only gets a partial explanation from her before she has to leave with her parents. It's so real! Peter is left wondering what else was going on with her, similar to way all of us feel when we have to part with friends and loved ones. He runs into her a few months late (Spider-Man #30, I think) and still doesn't really get an explanation. (Unless I'm remembering it wrong. It's been a while since I read it.) Liz disappears for a long time, but she turns up in the mid-1970s and becomes part of the supporting cast again. And it turns out that the Molten Man is her step-brother! It's the end of an era for Peter. No more Midtown High, no more Liz Allan. Betty ill be gone very soon. (Though not for long.) In just a few issues, he'll start college and get a few new members of the supporting cast - Harry Osborne, his father Norman … and Gwen Stacy, who is as mean as can be when she starts out!
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 4, 2019 0:05:35 GMT -5
I just got done reading "The Wondrous World of Doctor Strange" from Amazing Spider-Man Annual #2. Spidey and Doctor Strange fight a rather mediocre mage named Xandu and his two invulnerable enchanted goombahs. They look like they could be Flash Thompson's uncles. The only thing that makes Xandu a match for Spidey and Doc is the Wand of Watoomb! I can't say this is one I've read over and over again. It's OK, I guess. Despite all the spells and dimensions and incantations, it's just missing some of that Spidey "magic" that we've gotten used to after reading so much early Spider-Man. It doesn't have any of the supporting cast! No Jameson, no Aunt May, no Betty Brant, no Flash Thompson, no Liz Allan! So for a Spider-Man story, this is a pretty good Doctor Strange story. And also … Xandu? Teaming Spidey and Doc and then putting them up against Xandu is like an issue of World's Finest where Batman and Superman fight Dr. No-Face. I'm being harsh because I miss Spidey's supporting cast. It's not a bad story. It reminds me of a Marvel Team-Up story! Here's Spidey! Here's his guest star this month, Dr. Strange! None of the regular cast is here. And the villain is some obscure dude you never heard of before. Doesn't that sound like the first 40 issues of Marvel Team-Up?
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