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Post by MDG on Jan 26, 2020 10:44:12 GMT -5
I finished Buz Sawyer, Vol. 2: Sultry's Tiger this week. Strip dailies from just after the war. Probably some of the best comics I've ever read--the book contains 4 or 5 story arcs, each suspenseful and engaging. Art is excellent.
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Post by Cei-U! on Jan 26, 2020 10:50:41 GMT -5
I loves me some Roy Crane.
Cei-U! I summon the master of Duotone!
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Post by berkley on Jan 27, 2020 1:59:15 GMT -5
Never thought about Buz Sawyer when I started reading two other pilot-based adventure strips from the same era the last year or so - Caniff's Steve Canyon and Frank Robbins's Johnny Hazard, both of which are both a lot of fun. Might have to think about giving Buz Sawyer a try, as well. I'd probably jump right into the 50s, since that's where I'm to in the other strips.
I remember our local paper carried Captain Easy, but by the time I was reading it in the late 60s and early 70s, the strip was no longer done by Roy Crane, according to wiki - though I thought I remembered his signature or name being on it somewhere - unless they were reprinting old stories from Crane's time on the strip, would that be possible?
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Post by Cei-U! on Jan 27, 2020 9:15:57 GMT -5
Crane turned over Caatain Easy to his assistant Leslie Turner when he launched Buz Sawyer in 1943. As far as I know, he neither scripted or drew Easy again.
Cei-U! I summon the traight skinny!
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Post by The Captain on Jan 29, 2020 20:48:52 GMT -5
Although I have primarily been reading early Iron Man issues lately, I took a break tonight to read some of the Showcase Presents: Wonder Woman, volume 2 that I picked up a couple of weeks ago for $5. This collection starts with issue #118 (November 1960), and so far, I have read the first six issues, all of them written by Robert Kanigher and drawn by Ross Andru, with inks by Mike Esposito.
I can honestly say these are some of the worst stories I have ever read, as they are the very epitome of what I cannot stand about Silver Age DC books. Nonsensical sci-fi plots, the same dialogue used and points made issue after issue, Etta Candy (go Wooo! Wooo! yourself) and the Holiday Girls, boring as cold outmeal Steve Trevor (dude, she doesn't want to marry you, so take the hint and move on), Mer-Boy doing stupid stuff issue after issue to impress Wonder Girl (dude, she isn't into fish sticks, so go hook up with a hot mermaid), and the absolute worst of them all - Wonder Tot.
On the positive side, I do like Ross Andru's art, particularly how he draws the faces of the mermaids and Queen Hippolyta, which are quite lovely.
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Post by Cei-U! on Jan 29, 2020 21:14:19 GMT -5
Although I have primarily been reading early Iron Man issues lately, I took a break tonight to read some of the Showcase Presents: Wonder Woman, volume 2 that I picked up a couple of weeks ago for $5. This collection starts with issue #118 (November 1960), and so far, I have read the first six issues, all of them written by Robert Kanigher and drawn by Ross Andru, with inks by Mike Esposito. I can honestly say these are some of the worst stories I have ever read, as they are the very epitome of what I cannot stand about Silver Age DC books. Nonsensical sci-fi plots, the same dialogue used and points made issue after issue, Etta Candy (go Wooo! Wooo! yourself) and the Holiday Girls, boring as cold outmeal Steve Trevor (dude, she doesn't want to marry you, so take the hint and move on), Mer-Boy doing stupid stuff issue after issue to impress Wonder Girl (dude, she isn't into fish sticks, so go hook up with a hot mermaid), and the absolute worst of them all - Wonder Tot. On the positive side, I do like Ross Andru's art, particularly how he draws the faces of the mermaids and Queen Hippolyta, which are quite lovely. Kanigher's contempt for both the character and her readers is manifest on every page. Wonder Woman is easily the worst book DC was producing in the early '60s, or would be if not for the saving grace of Andru's artwork. So, of course I have all four Showcase Presents volumes.
Cei-U! I summon the masochistic streak!
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Post by Icctrombone on Jan 29, 2020 21:20:27 GMT -5
Interesting that someone is allowed to write a book that they hate. Maybe he had an ironclad contract allowing him to hack out work.
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Post by The Captain on Jan 29, 2020 21:31:24 GMT -5
Although I have primarily been reading early Iron Man issues lately, I took a break tonight to read some of the Showcase Presents: Wonder Woman, volume 2 that I picked up a couple of weeks ago for $5. This collection starts with issue #118 (November 1960), and so far, I have read the first six issues, all of them written by Robert Kanigher and drawn by Ross Andru, with inks by Mike Esposito. I can honestly say these are some of the worst stories I have ever read, as they are the very epitome of what I cannot stand about Silver Age DC books. Nonsensical sci-fi plots, the same dialogue used and points made issue after issue, Etta Candy (go Wooo! Wooo! yourself) and the Holiday Girls, boring as cold outmeal Steve Trevor (dude, she doesn't want to marry you, so take the hint and move on), Mer-Boy doing stupid stuff issue after issue to impress Wonder Girl (dude, she isn't into fish sticks, so go hook up with a hot mermaid), and the absolute worst of them all - Wonder Tot. On the positive side, I do like Ross Andru's art, particularly how he draws the faces of the mermaids and Queen Hippolyta, which are quite lovely. Kanigher's contempt for both the character and her readers is manifest on every page. Wonder Woman is easily the worst book DC was producing in the early '60s, or would be if not for the saving grace of Andru's artwork. So, of course I have all four Showcase Presents volumes.
Cei-U! I summon the masochistic streak!
Does it ever get any better? I also picked up Wonder Woman: Diana Prince, volume 3 at the same time as the Showcase Presents, and that book reprints issues #190 - 198. They are mostly written by Mike Sekowsky, except for one issue that is written by Denny O'Neil (#197), so I have higher hopes for it than the schlock that Kanigher was producing.
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Post by Cei-U! on Jan 29, 2020 22:23:25 GMT -5
I like the Sekowsky run quite a bit. It is tangibly better than Kanigher's but bears little resemblance to the classic version. There are a few good issues following Sekowsky but I don't think the book really becomes worth reading until Gerry Conway's soft reboot in #270 (August 1980).
Cei-U! I summon my two cents' worth of opinion!
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Post by MDG on Jan 30, 2020 10:36:23 GMT -5
Kanigher's contempt for both the character and her readers is manifest on every page. Wonder Woman is easily the worst book DC was producing in the early '60s, or would be if not for the saving grace of Andru's artwork. So, of course I have all four Showcase Presents volumes. "the saving grace of Andru's artwork" is certainly a glass half-full way of putting it. My local library has the WW Showcases, so I can take one out and read a few stories if I'm in the mood, but don't have to sully my personal shelves with them.
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Post by beccabear67 on Jan 30, 2020 14:41:16 GMT -5
I've pretty much hated every WW comic I tried to read from the '60s and earlier, which may not have been a whole lot, they just always seemed a mess. About the best I can say is jousting on oversized kangaroos looked cool. I loved The Metal Men by Andru, so it must be the stories or the way the character came across/lack of interesting supporting cast/invisible planes are kind of visually self-defeating to me, or even it was just too kinky for me (and Joey Ramone).
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Post by Icctrombone on Jan 30, 2020 14:42:55 GMT -5
I bought a TPB of the Emma Peel Wonder Woman. I really enjoyed it. The Gene Colan/ Roy Thomas run was cool also.
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
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Post by Crimebuster on Jan 30, 2020 17:03:18 GMT -5
The Sekowsky run is very good. It's far better than anything that follows it. As Kurt says, the book is close to unreadable until the soft reboot in #270. From there, it becomes solidly mediocre instead of straight up bad. For me, the best run between Sekowsky and George Perez's run is Dan Mishkin's right near the end of the pre-Crisis book.
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Post by dbutler69 on Jan 30, 2020 18:05:57 GMT -5
I bought a TPB of the Emma Peel Wonder Woman. I really enjoyed it. The Green Colan/ Roy Thomas run was cool also. I've been reading the Emma Peel Wonder Woman and really enjoyed it too!
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Post by nerdygirl905 on Jan 31, 2020 5:37:57 GMT -5
Although I have primarily been reading early Iron Man issues lately, I took a break tonight to read some of the Showcase Presents: Wonder Woman, volume 2 that I picked up a couple of weeks ago for $5. This collection starts with issue #118 (November 1960), and so far, I have read the first six issues, all of them written by Robert Kanigher and drawn by Ross Andru, with inks by Mike Esposito. I can honestly say these are some of the worst stories I have ever read, as they are the very epitome of what I cannot stand about Silver Age DC books. Nonsensical sci-fi plots, the same dialogue used and points made issue after issue, Etta Candy (go Wooo! Wooo! yourself) and the Holiday Girls, boring as cold outmeal Steve Trevor (dude, she doesn't want to marry you, so take the hint and move on), Mer-Boy doing stupid stuff issue after issue to impress Wonder Girl (dude, she isn't into fish sticks, so go hook up with a hot mermaid), and the absolute worst of them all - Wonder Tot. On the positive side, I do like Ross Andru's art, particularly how he draws the faces of the mermaids and Queen Hippolyta, which are quite lovely. Ah, yes, the old WW comics. So nice. The art was nice in WW, but I think he was the same artist on Metal Men and in MM... it was a bit jarring with all the metal skins. On another side, did you get the Mer-Boy/Bird-Boy/Wonder Girl love triangle parts? They were glorious. They are just so dumb you could have a supervillain suck all the stupidity of it and become easily world’s strongest villain ever.
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