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Post by Reptisaurus! on Dec 9, 2019 23:46:48 GMT -5
Michael Fleisher was one of those writers who had ONE plot he kept cycling thru every 30 days. After 40 issues in a row, you'd never want to read a comic-book again. Issue after issue of the Seal Men declaring war on Santa Claus for giving them gloves that don't fit over their flippers. Just years at a time.
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Post by electricmastro on Dec 11, 2019 22:11:14 GMT -5
Munson Paddock's run on Mars Mason from Speed Comics.
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Post by spoon on Dec 15, 2019 19:18:56 GMT -5
I finished reading Essential Captain Marvel vol. 2, reprinting Captain Marvel 22-35, 37-46, Iron Man 55 and Marvel Feature 12. That's a few issues before the Thanos saga, then all of the Thanos saga, and a bunch of issue after that (a run that is mostly Englehart & Milgrom). Also Captain Marvel #36 is a reprint, but the TPB does reprint the new framing story pages. I also decided to re-read the Avengers issue that crosses over with the Thanos storyline, but not the Daredevil issues where Moondragon appears. Oftentimes, I don't have a clear picture of what was going on simultaneously in different titles, especially from before I was born. So it was surprising to me to realize, for instance, that the Thanos story was published before the All-New, All-Different X-Men even started.
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 15, 2019 21:43:01 GMT -5
I finished The Seven Soldiers of Victory Archives, Volume One, a few days ago. This reprints Leading Comics #1 to #4. The Seven Soldiers ran up to Leading #14 and, as Leading was quarterly, that means the Soldiers lasted up to 1945, which is quite respectable for the Golden Age! I like these more than the JSA stories from the same period. It's pretty close to the same formula, but I find the SSOV stories to be a lot less contrived. I can see why Harlan Ellison liked the Soldiers better than the Society! I especially liked Leading Comics #3 where Dr. Doome brings Nero, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan to the modern era to steal valuable metals. It's pretty trippy seeing Green Arrow, the Shining Knight, etc. fighting Nero, Napoleon, Alexander and whoever. I also got a kick out of Dr. Doome's lighthouse laboratory. He even says where it's located when he tells the time-traveling conquerors "You are in the Twentieth Century in my lighthouse on Long Island!" That's great! He's masterminding his time-travel crimes from Long Island! What a character!
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Post by beccabear67 on Dec 16, 2019 12:49:06 GMT -5
I've been enjoying the 'Spider Hunt' followed by 'Identity Crisis' issues of the four Spider-Man titles circa 1998. Lots of different art styles (none I would say I don't like), and four new identities (which later somehow get spun-off into the Slingers book which I'm also going to check out). There's some humor in most issues, but there are a couple issues that are almost all humor with Grizzly and Gibbon, and The White Rabbit, being played entirely for laughs. I suppose that's better than main characters being killed type drama, but it's a fine line where it can puncture the entire thing and let some of the air out. I remember the original '70s E-Man being pretty much perfect walking that line, but then the '80s revival being overly jokey and my abandoning it after three issues. Comedy is pretty difficult. The original '40s Plastic Man and Captain Marvel were very good at it, but later attempts also fell into the too jokey trap. The mild humor was what made Spider-Man different in the early '60s, but it never got in the way of the drama, it made Peter Parker more human so you cared about what happened, and for the most part they are getting it just right in these 1998 issues (four different writers as well as the various artists).
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Post by dbutler69 on Dec 16, 2019 14:59:22 GMT -5
I especially liked Leading Comics #3 where Dr. Doome brings Nero, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan to the modern era to steal valuable metals. It's pretty trippy seeing Green Arrow, the Shining Knight, etc. fighting Nero, Napoleon, Alexander and whoever. Sounds cool, but Nero seems like an odd choice. The others bring tactical and/or battle skills, but other than some fiddling skills, I'm not sure what Nero's bringing to the table.
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Post by profh0011 on Dec 17, 2019 7:38:32 GMT -5
Another doctor visit (with my home care clients), more FLASH GORDON. After sparing the life of the cavemen chief and his witch doctor (who tried to cheat him during the life-and-death challenge), Flash declares that all members of the tribe should live in peace together. Naturally, the first thing the pair do is ambush Flash and take him and Dale away in the middle of the night to sell as slaves! En route, the chief double-crosses his own witch doctor and kills him, so he won't have to split the money. What SCUM! Ironically, after all that, the creep runs across Prince Barin's men! They're releived to know Flash & Dale are still alive, the pair are happy to finally be back among friends, and the caveman chief is sent packing back to his wretched tribe. Completely unlike the 1940 movie serial, in the newspaper strip, we see that the jungle kingdom, Arboria, is SO over-run with deadly, dangerous life-threatening animals and plants, that the tree-men have had to build their homes high up in the gigantic trees themselves. Flash & Dale witness the mind-boggling sight of a highway thousands of feet above the ground, and a sleek, art deco castle built among the branches of impossibly-huge trees. Barin & Aura are overjoyed that their friends are alive and back with them, although Dale just has to remind Flash, " She was in LOVE with you earlier..." And then Aura gets a little too "friendly", driving home the point. Things never go smoothly in this series, so before you know it, Flash stops someone from trying to steal jewels from Aura. When the man insists he was desperate to help his sick wife and has never done anything like this before, Flash lets him go. This proves YET AGAIN to be a collossal mistake in judgement on Flash's part, as the next day, not believing anyone could be that decent, the man tries to POISON Flash at a banquet so he won't betray him. When he's caught, he then has the nerve to threaten he'll "GET BACK" at Flash for this. WTF??? Flash again insists the man be imprisoned rather than killed... and next thing, somehow the guy escapes, causing half of Barin's men to go chasing after him so he can't reach Ming and tell him his greatest enemy is STILL ALIVE. This creep is caught by the horned monkey-men, ancient rivals of the tree-men, and convinces them he can lure their enemies to their deaths. It winds up going the other way, as the whole lot of them wind up falling to their deaths. But the guy they're after somehow manages to escape. He makes his way to the desert, where, almost dead from lack of water, he's found by Ming's patrols. He insists he has a message for the Emperor, and next thing, he's made a Captain of the guards. Ming contacts his son-in-law and orders him to turn over Flash. Flash runs off in the night, to avoid putting Barin in a tight spot. Ming insists he must at least hand over Dale to him, at which point, Barin openly refuses, and Ming sends his rocket armada to attack Arboria (the closest thing in this entire mess to anything seen in " FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE"). Flash runs across a tank squadron on the edge of the desert, and single-handedly takes it over, and uses it to attack Ming's desert troops! Meanwhile, as his people flee for their lives, Barin's tree-top palace is destroyed by Ming's air forces. The tank is eventually disabled, and Flash is captured, at which point Ming orders the attack on Arboria stopped. Barin angrily declares "There will NEVER be peace between us!" Not telling her husband, Aura suggests to Dale that she still has influence with her father, and the two prepare to go in secret to try and rescue Flash. (And that's where the 2nd Nostalgia Press volume ends.)
Shortly into this book, the source material must have improved tremendously, because it goes from very rough, crude-looking reproductions, to SHARP, STUNNING art that rivals or surpasses ANYTHING seen in comics in the last 75 years. It's only a vague comparison, but it somewhat reminds me of the combination of John Buscema pencils and Tom Palmer inks-- only, if anything, MORE spectacular.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2019 22:41:35 GMT -5
I just read Lois Lane #111 and Justice League of America #57 ... both were fun read and I chuckled the Lois Lane one and I find the JLA one is an excellent book and I really find it different and unique. I'm happy with my recent purchases and thinking of doing a couple selected more.
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Dec 18, 2019 12:27:34 GMT -5
Munson Paddock's run on Mars Mason from Speed Comics. Whoah! That looks cool!
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Post by electricmastro on Dec 19, 2019 1:55:17 GMT -5
Munson Paddock's run on Mars Mason from Speed Comics. Whoah! That looks cool! Yeah, Paddock was pretty energetic with his art.
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Post by dbutler69 on Dec 19, 2019 9:37:57 GMT -5
I read The Brave and the Bold #100. I like the idea behind this story - Batman is incapacitated and gets some of his superhero buddies to do his legwork for him to stop a big drug shipment - but as with many Haney stories, there's some weirdness and "off" dialogue that detracts from an interesting idea. Still, it's an enjoyable tale and the Jim Aparo art didn't hurt. The backup story is a reprinted Deadman story with Neal Adams art, which was pretty good. I then read The Brave and the Bold #101. Another interesting idea by Haney, with the attendant weirdness and a bit of strange dialogue, and more Aparo art. Viking Prince backup story is reprinted - Haney with Joe Kubert art. It was pretty good. Didn't blow me away, but enjoyable enough. Whenever I see Viking Prince, I remember my first experience with him in a 70's JLA story where he, Jonah Hex, Enemy Ace, and a couple of other time-tossed characters defeated the JLA!! Due to magic, of course, but my 9ish year old mind was blown away by that. Finally, I've just finished reading Wonder Woman #199. I am really fascinated by Wonder Woman's "Emma Peel" phase of the early 70's. I really enjoyed this story (Denny O'Neal, Don Heck, Dick Giordano) and it ended in a cliffhanger and I'm really looking forward to the next issue!
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Post by MDG on Dec 19, 2019 15:13:39 GMT -5
I picked up this Archie 'cause the cover intrigued me. But instead of somewhat serious take (which might've been the case had this cover been on "Life with..."), the story's more typical.
Archie and Reggie deck themselves out in leather jackets and are ready to rumble with "The Dragons" if they try anything. Betty panics that they're going to get hurt, so starts a gang among the Riverdale High girls: no more "dates" for the boys until they give up their gang (and jackets). Which, of course, they do. So, basically a mashup of West Side Story and Lysistrata in 5 pages. (Also want to note that Lucey does a great job using positions and postures to emphasize character interactions.)
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Post by dbutler69 on Dec 20, 2019 9:12:25 GMT -5
I read Wonder Woman #200, which concludes the story from #199, and we find out that her enemy Dr. Cyber is behind it all! I thought the story was pretty good, but come on, this is the second cover in a row with Diana in bondage!
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 20, 2019 9:48:42 GMT -5
Finally, I've just finished reading Wonder Woman #199. I am really fascinated by Wonder Woman's "Emma Peel" phase of the early 70's. I really enjoyed this story (Denny O'Neal, Don Heck, Dick Giordano) and it ended in a cliffhanger and I'm really looking forward to the next issue! That's one seriously striking cover!!!
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Post by dbutler69 on Dec 20, 2019 11:44:00 GMT -5
Finally, I've just finished reading Wonder Woman #199. I am really fascinated by Wonder Woman's "Emma Peel" phase of the early 70's. I really enjoyed this story (Denny O'Neal, Don Heck, Dick Giordano) and it ended in a cliffhanger and I'm really looking forward to the next issue! That's one seriously striking cover!!! It is! However, Diana doesn't wear anything like that in this comic, and though she's chained, it's with both hands together, above her head. So there's not anything quite like this in the book. This is a nice cover, though it looks more like the cover to a horror comic than a Wonder Woman (even an "Emma Peel" Wonder Woman) comic.
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