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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 22, 2014 18:35:38 GMT -5
And then there's "Brainiac's Super Revenge!" where Superman, Perry White, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen go to the Congo to cover the unrest (this was around the time Patrice Lumumba was assassinated) and Brainiac attacks them in the jungle and he makes Superman powerless and shrinks them all to three inches high.
Fortunately Congorilla is on the scene to help stop Brainiac!
(I have this one reprinted in an issue of Superman Family from the 1970s but it's still cool to see it again.)
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 22, 2014 18:51:02 GMT -5
There's a Mr. Mxyzptlk story coming up very soon. When I was a kid (the 1970s) I really didn't like Mxyzptlk at all! He was one of the reasons I thought Superman in general was stupid.
But now, I think he's great. How is Superman going to trick him into saying "Kltpzyxm!" this time! I love the one where Mxyzptlk has had dental work and his mouth is wired shut!
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Post by Action Ace on Oct 22, 2014 21:58:25 GMT -5
The 2 Showcase volumes cover all of the Martian Manhunter Detective appearances and most of, if not all of the House of Mystery appearances too. -M I just checked, and yeah it's all his HoM appearances too. How prominent is he in the first sixty issues Justice League? I have the fourth through sixth Showcases (#61-132), but haven't bothered tracking down the first three, but if J'onn is around a lot I may make them a priority. He's prominent up through issue #24, then it gets sporadic after that.
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Post by Action Ace on Oct 22, 2014 22:03:08 GMT -5
The only thing better than Showcase Presents Superman Volume 3 is Showcase Presents Superman Volume 4.
And the Superman Family Volumes shouldn't be missed either.
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 22, 2014 22:32:12 GMT -5
And the Superman Family Volumes shouldn't be missed either. That depends on how high your tolerance for Jimmy Olsen is. I got about a third of the way through the first volume and decided to take it back to the library and give it another try in a year or so.
Later volumes are probably better because of the higher Lois-to-Jimmy ratio.
It's not that I don't like Jimmy Olsen stories. It's just that I discovered I have a limit. For example, I love the Transformations of Jimmy Olsen trade paperback, but that wasn't anywhere near as long as a Showcase volume.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2014 22:37:53 GMT -5
No idea what my Olsen tolerance level is, but I do want some Lois Lane in there mixing things up. Guess I'll work backwards.
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Post by Action Ace on Oct 22, 2014 22:44:59 GMT -5
No idea what my Olsen tolerance level is, but I do want some Lois Lane in there mixing things up. Guess I'll work backwards. If you start with Volume 2, you'll only miss out on Showcase #9 for Lois stories. My Olsen tolerance level would rate at 11 on a scale from 1-10.
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Post by Hoosier X on Oct 23, 2014 0:16:42 GMT -5
No idea what my Olsen tolerance level is, but I do want some Lois Lane in there mixing things up. Guess I'll work backwards. If you start with Volume 2, you'll only miss out on Showcase #9 for Lois stories. My Olsen tolerance level would rate at 11 on a scale from 1-10. Have you ever read the one where he goes back in time and joins the Nazi party and becomes best buds with Goering and Hitler? OMG! I swear to Gott that this is a story that really happened!
It is hi-lariously stupid, and I mean that in the good way.
But that Superman Family, Volume One, that was over 500 pages of Jimmy. It got to be a bit much.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Oct 26, 2014 8:38:50 GMT -5
Claws of the cat #3, or the adventures of Greer Nelson before she became Tigra.
I am chagrined that this title didn't have a longer life, because its premise was interesting: like all good superhero origins, the Cat's wasn't too complicated and was different enough from that of other heroes' to make us want to know more. I like the fact that the heroine's secret identity is far less secret than that of other masked characters from the same era.
The script here is by Linda Fite and the art by Paty Greer and Bill Everett; it has the charm and naivety of a 1950 Marvel Boy or Venus script. The art was in particular pretty noticeable; I don't think I had seen Ms. Greer's pencils before and they were quite good; Everett's inks, meanwhile, are as enjoyable as usual.
The plot could have been silly if treated differently, but somehow here It works quite well. Perhaps because it is intenally consistent within the limits of the comic-book genre, where the reader must simply accept that it makes sense for people with special gifts to don a colorful costume and fight crime and for modern-day pirates to dress like Blackbeard.
In any case... Here, the Cat discovers a secret, underwater base located in Lake Michigan; a base she assumes belongs to the US navy after discovering navy uniforms in a closet. The people manning the base, while not hostile, do detain her and want to know what she's doing there... but they don't quite act like actual servicemen, and they wear science-fictiony outfits.
The base is then attacked by Commander Kraken (who may or may not be the same guy as Captain Kraken from Iron Man... I haven't checked). Kraken used to be an enemy of the Submariner, but has relocated from the open seas to Lake Michigan after his previous defeat and is now looking for a new base of operations.
Short list of smile-inducing silly details: Kraken refers to the water overhead as the big briny, even if he's under Lake Michigan. His henchmen are dressed as XVIIIth century pirates and talk like accordingly. Arrrrrrh! Then there is the nonsensical aspect of his plot: how much sense does it make for a criminal to take over a covert US military base to use as his own? How long does he think the government will let him enjoy it? Anyway.
Fighting ensues, and the pirates are defeated. The Cat leaves the base, which then turns out not to have been a US navy base at all, but an alien observation post that takes off and returns to space! The Cat reflects that she has acted with arrogance, thinking she understood everything but not understanding at all (a very Shang-Chi moment, I thought).
High marks all around. That was a good 1970s comic.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Oct 26, 2014 15:30:45 GMT -5
For those not aware, around #56 or so, Sabrina converted into a manga style series. I believe the solution is fire.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 1, 2014 17:21:58 GMT -5
read the 1st volume of the new-ish "Don Rosa' library... I had picked it up mostly because I remember really liking the Duck Tales version of 'Son of the Sun'... and while the 'real' version is pretty different, it's was still pretty awesome.
I've read only very limited Ducks, but I can totally see why many people think they're the best comics going. The volume itself is a very nice slightly oversized hardcover (or maybe it's just old silver age comic size?) and is a great volume... there a good 20-25 pages of notes about the stories from Don Rosa (which were really interesting), as well as a pretty extensive bio. I'd highly recommend it.. I'll definitely be picking up volume 2 when it comes out in a week or two.
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Nov 1, 2014 17:34:56 GMT -5
read the 1st volume of the new-ish "Don Rosa' library... I had picked it up mostly because I remember really liking the Duck Tales version of 'Son of the Sun'... and while the 'real' version is pretty different, it's was still pretty awesome. I've read only very limited Ducks, but I can totally see why many people think they're the best comics going. The volume itself is a very nice slightly oversized hardcover (or maybe it's just old silver age comic size?) and is a great volume... there a good 20-25 pages of notes about the stories from Don Rosa (which were really interesting), as well as a pretty extensive bio. I'd highly recommend it.. I'll definitely be picking up volume 2 when it comes out in a week or two. Ditto! I just read this from the library - I don't have much to add. Really, really fun stuff.
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Post by earl on Nov 5, 2014 6:03:48 GMT -5
This is my current reading list. Dreadstar, the Warlord, Sabre and first arc of Doom Patrol I had read before.
Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol Omnibus (25 issues read) Jim Starlin's Dreadstar The Beginning HC The Warlord 1-12 + First Issue Special (in Showcase: Warlord) Sabre Graphic Novel (Don McGregor & Paul Gulacy) Slaine: The King Vampirella #1 (in reprint hardcover)
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Post by Paste Pot Paul on Nov 6, 2014 2:47:54 GMT -5
I'm in the process of working through
Sandman Astonishing Tales (Deathlok) Excalibur Captain America V4 Rawhide kid and trades of Mutant Massacre, Fallen Angels, and The Avengers(Legacy of Thanos and Private War of Dr Doom).
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Post by Hoosier X on Nov 6, 2014 23:48:10 GMT -5
I've been reading Showcase Presents: The Brave and the Bold, Volume Two, reprinting The Brave and the Bold #88 to #108.
Lots of zany Bob Haney stories! I've only read two or three of them before. I'm thinking of starting a Bob Haney thread called The Haneyverse.
I'm still recovering from the story about the Robot Liberation Movement in the Metal Men team-up.
Lots of Jim Aparo art! But the unexpected great art was Bob brown inked by Nick Cardy! I wish there was more of that!
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