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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 14, 2019 9:26:28 GMT -5
I recently read Amazing Spider-Man #141 and #142, featuring Spidey facing off against Mysterio -- although it's Daniel Berkhart under the goldfish bowl, rather than Quentin Beck (since the original Mysterio had "seemingly" died in prison). These are some really enjoyable Gerry Conway issues, and it's during this story that Spidey loses the Spider-Mobile in the Hudson river, and first spots the Gwen Stacy clone in a crowded street -- serving as a lead-in to the original Clone Saga in issues #144-150. Ross Andru's artwork is great throughout. I'm a big fan of his, and there's plenty of his meticulously detailed street scenes in these issues, along with his vertigo-inducing renditions of Spidey's web-slinging exploits; nobody drew Spidey swinging over the city of New York better than Andru, IMO. I also read the Tintin adventure Land of Black Gold, which I'll be reviewing in the next day or two over in my Tintin review thread. I love this era of Amazing Spider-Man. I started buying comics shortly after this issue and ASM was a book I picked up a lot. And issues from this time period were yard-sale staples when I was young.
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Post by dbutler69 on Mar 15, 2019 10:04:38 GMT -5
I just read Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #227. Gerry Conway and Joe Staton had to pinch hit for Paul Levitz and James Sherman, respectively, as those two were still working on what will be #228. So Conway picks up the Pulsar Strgrave story. I really liked Conway's characterization. I especially love the last panel of page 7, where Shadow Lass decides she and Shrinking Violet should tell Wildfire what they're doing "Uh uh. I voted for Superboy to be leader, not that egotist" plus I love her facial expression. Unfortunately, I can't post that panel, since I don't know how to post an image from my computer here. Oh well.
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Post by dbutler69 on Mar 16, 2019 9:52:57 GMT -5
I'm up to Superboy & the Legion of Super-Heroes #227. The death of Chemical King in this one, because of course the future shown in those Adult Legion stories must be upheld. Some good characterization by Levitz here, as he starts to give the Legionnaires distinct personalities. Timber Wolf is acting suspiciously like Wolverine. Good stuff overall, though.
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Post by dbutler69 on Mar 17, 2019 9:54:44 GMT -5
I read Superboy & the Legion of Super-Heroes #229, the conclusion of the two parter where the Dark Circle try to start World War VII. They do track him down, and a separate team confronts the ark Circle. It's a very good story overall, but the ending seemed like a bit of a cop-out. I also read Freedom Fighters #1. I had picked up #2 in a dollar bin years ago and enjoyed it, so now I plan to read the whole run. I don't remember #2 at all right now. Anyway, this was a decent read, but the FF really sniped at each other too much. Often without provocation. It's like they're trying to emulate Marvel's "heroes who don't get along" shtick.
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Post by urrutiap on Mar 18, 2019 17:55:02 GMT -5
Earlier today I read issues 55 to 57 of old Marvel Comics Star Wars. Pretty good Lando returning to Bespin story arc
Now im on issue 58 since issue 56 or 57 introduced the debut of Shira
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Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2019 2:41:34 GMT -5
Reading through a few things lately- I am now 3 issues into Moonshadow by JM DeMatteis and John J Muth. It's one of those books I have always wanted to read, and one I probably should have long before this, but I finally got around to picking up the original issues from Epic (rather than a trade or the reprinted edition done by Vertigo) late last year and am finally diving in. So far, it is pretty typical of DeMatteis more personal stuff that I have read (Brooklyn Dreams, Seekers into the Mystery) rather than his more mainstream stuff, but Muth's art is a treat. -M I've lost track of the number of times I've tried to read Moonshadow. I've never made it through. Or even close. It just does not work for me in any way. Well I finally finished Moonshadow this evening. I think it will be one of those books I will get more satisfaction from having read it than I got from actually reading it. It predates the other very personal sagas DeMatteis wrote that I had previously read (Brooklyn Dreams and Seekers Into the Mystery, both of which I enjoyed much more than Moonshadow), and I think DeMatteis learned from doing this one because both avoid some of the pitfalls that Moonshadow falls into at times, and probably benefit from being closer to straight biography rather than an allegory channeling a biogrpahical theme that Moonshadow is. Moonshadow certainly got a lot of praise at the time of its release from Marvel/Epic, and from some very well luminaries (such as of Ray Bradbury) who sent in letters of comment that were included among the letters page of the book, and it was positioned as one of those books fans of the comic medium SHOULD read, but was one I had never gotten around to. It seems to have lost some of the critical darling luster it had over the years, and no longer appears on those must read lists on a regular basis (though it still gets mentioned from time to time). The art by John J. Muth (primarily), Kent Williams, and George Pratt is certainly gorgeous, and a 12 issue painted maxi-series was certainly ambitious. The series itself is (was?) experimental in format and approach (which is what garnered a lot of the attention/praise at the time), but I found it to be overly-verbose and tedious at times, mostly when it was becoming very ham-fisted in trying the hammer home it's thematic viewpoints. It comes across as overly self-indulgent at times as well. It's pace meanders and it dwells on some literary allusions too long, almost feeling like a name-drop rather than an integral part of the story, contributing the feeling of tediousness that I experienced with it. Some of it may be my own cynicism after four decades of reading comics and semi-autobiographical allegories in other mediums as well, and I think I would have liked this a lot more if I had read it when I was at university first exploring comics beyond the tights and capes scene than I did now (also a time when the thematic journey to awakening was more relevant to me on a personal level than it is now as I enter my fifties), but I can't say that I really enjoyed it now. Glad I finally read it, but not something I am likely to revisit any time soon (though I do still want to revisit DeMAtteis's Seekers into the Mystery at some point). -M
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Post by dbutler69 on Mar 21, 2019 7:31:22 GMT -5
I've been reading the Giffen/DeMatties Justice League TPB's, and am up to volume 4 now. I read Fantastic Four #78. The Thing changes back into Ben Grimm...again! I wonder if it will last? This issue was so-so. Maybe the best part was that Johnny used his brains to save the day for a change. I also read Godzilla #9, as everybody's favorite monster lizard visits Sin City. A pretty good story, though trying to gamble enough money to pay for your mother's operation is pretty stupid, but I guess that was the point. I also read Freedom Fighters #2. I liked this better than #1. Good story, less unwarranted carping between the members, and better art. Finally, I read Captain America #267. The beginning of the JM DeMatties run. I thought this was a very good story, personally, though Cap got spit on three times in this story. I thought that was a bit much.
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 21, 2019 10:07:25 GMT -5
I saw Marvel Masterworks: Iron Man, Volume Eight on sale (for $7!) on Comixology and that seemed like a pretty good price for several issues (IM #39 to #53) that I've never read. Well, I vaguely remember having some beat-up copies of several of these issues, but I never liked them very much and I didn't read them very often. So despite a few sequences I remember here and there, these all seem pretty new to me. I'm up to Iron Man #43. These really aren't very good. But I do like the George Tuska art. I was just skimming the covers and I definitely remember #45 and #52 as being pretty decent comics, so maybe it gets better from here.
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Post by brutalis on Mar 21, 2019 10:38:53 GMT -5
I was just skimming the covers and I definitely remember #45 and #52 as being pretty decent comics, so maybe it gets better from here. Yeppers. The big draw during this time is mostly for the Tuska sweetness.
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Post by dbutler69 on Mar 22, 2019 8:00:15 GMT -5
I read Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #230. A couple of decent, but not great, stories. Bouncing Boy gets his power back in the backup story! However, I'm excited because starting next issue, this title goes super-size, and we start with a 34 page story with the Fatal Five! These 12 page lead stories are not making the best use of the Legion, so i'm glad they're going to the greater page count. I'm reading the Giffen/DeMatties JLI TPB and read #24 and 25 last night. An amusing membership in #24, and Maxwell Lord appears to get mental powers in #25. Funny series and some really good art.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Mar 23, 2019 18:33:29 GMT -5
A friend gave me this as a late birthday present: I was excited because I'd never read any of the stories before. When I opened it at home, I realized it was all Kanigher/Andru/Esposito. Four stories in and it ranks with the most lazy, generic stuff I've ever seen.
So I read about 1/2 these... the ones from Brave and the Bold that seem to be the orignal team.. Rick Flag, Karin (his gf) that 'Jess' and 'Doc'.. who do science and don't really have any personality. It's very, very similar to Challengers of the Unknown, only the bad guy in every one is a dinosaur or other monster... they main different is they throw a girl in the mix for romantic tension.. sadly, Karin does almost nothing but pine for Rick and need rescuing. The 2nd half seem to be actual war comics with Dinosaurs in them, and, ,while the art resembles Rick and Doc, it doesn't actually name them any more (which is probably fine, since there was no character development to speak of), and no more hints of romance. Cool dinosaurs, but that's really the the main hook.
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Post by dbutler69 on Mar 23, 2019 19:35:34 GMT -5
I read Fantastic Four #79. I liked the Banter between Johnny and Crystal. Johnny is normally one of my least favorite superheroes, but he's been pretty well written the past couple of issues. And at the end, I actually felt sorry for Ben. Poor Ben! Interesting, though, Ben felt that Alicia wasn't as into him when he became Ben Grimm.
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Post by beccabear67 on Mar 23, 2019 23:13:24 GMT -5
I read those Fantastic Fours recently as '70s Marvel's Greatest Comics reprints and the various couples made for a good mix, Johnny and Crystal, Ben and Alicia, and Reed and Sue. I think as far as firsts and historical importance in Marvel history they ranked fairly low after the intro of Him/Warlock, so maybe these were more Stan input issues than Kirby?
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Post by Cei-U! on Mar 23, 2019 23:42:11 GMT -5
I read those Fantastic Fours recently as '70s Marvel's Greatest Comics reprints and the various couples made for a good mix, Johnny and Crystal, Ben and Alicia, and Reed and Sue. I think as far as firsts and historical importance in Marvel history they ranked fairly low after the intro of Him/Warlock, so maybe these were more Stan input issues than Kirby? You're not wrong. It was around this time (mid-1968) that Kirby decided he was no longer going to hand over his best ideas to a company that gave him nothing in return but his page rate. The last major characters, hero or villain, that he contributed to the Marvel Universe were Annihilus and Mangog. From here on, he was basically treading water,
Cei-U! I summon the impending burnout!
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Post by Icctrombone on Mar 24, 2019 0:20:10 GMT -5
I understand Kirby’s reasons for leaving but it looks like he also only got his page rate from DC , albeit a larger sum.
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