|
Post by Hoosier X on Jan 25, 2024 19:45:56 GMT -5
I didn’t buy it, but I have “checked out” a digital copy of Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Team-Up, Vol. 1, which reprints MTU #1 to #11. I read the first four issues over the last couple of days. I liked the first two issues a lot. I love the Frightful Four, even when they’re down to three and the Wizard’s plan doesn’t really make any sense.
In the next two issues, it was nice seeing Gil Kane drawing the X-Men, but Morbius is not a character I like very much. It’s just the same thing over and over. (I have read a couple of issues of his series in Fear, with the Frank Robbins art, and I thought that was a lot more interesting than his early 1970s adventures.)
I also read all the new comics that I bought this week. And I also read one more story in Batman #256.
So here’s the stuff I have laying around that I haven’t finished yet:
To Wake the Mangog Epic Collection
Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Team-Up, Vol. One
Batman #256
|
|
|
Post by Batflunkie on Jan 25, 2024 21:02:20 GMT -5
I recently read through the 1st years worth of Adventures in the DC Universe, the pseudo-anthology/showcase book done in the animated style from the late 90s, when the Batman and Superman animated series were airing but not Justice League yet. Each issue featured a different hero, though the Justice League was in issue 1, and that issue set the stage for some ongoing plots that ran in a lot of the lead features. Many issues also had 7 page back ups (with 15 page lead stories), several of which also tied to the plots set up in the initial issue. It was more fun than a rolling barrel of monkeys, and I hope to get to the final 7 issues plus annual sometime soon. They were all well written with strong visual storytelling done in the "Adventures" style that DC used for the animated tie-ins. Adventures In The DC Universe is a fun book. Issue 7 (featuring the "Shazam!" family) was one of the first comics that I ever read. It was also done by Steve Vance who was just coming off the first run of Radioactive Man comics for Bongo
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Jan 25, 2024 21:44:26 GMT -5
I read The Sensational She-Hulk #11 earlier this month, my first She-Hulk comic. I thought I had picked up the entire Gerber run on the title but it turns out I'm missing #10, so I also missed the first part of this two-issue story.
It was OK, I suppose. It was at least recognisably a Gerber comic and that's a very big plus for me. On the down side, I just can't seem to get over my distaste for the title character, and that really interfered with my enjoyment of the comic. However, it's my first issue, and I missed the first part of the story, so I'm hoping as I go through the ten or twelve issues of the run it'll grow on me, or at least that I'll become inured to the presence of you-know-who. I'll try again next month, picking it up with #13, the next Gerber issue. I think I have everything from #13 to #23 with no gaps.
|
|
|
Post by james on Jan 26, 2024 19:30:53 GMT -5
Started rereading Hitman. Man I forgot how good that was.
|
|
|
Post by spoon on Jan 27, 2024 22:36:15 GMT -5
I read Ka-Zar the Savage #10-13. I've really enjoyed these issues of the Bruce Jones/Brent Anderson Ka-Zar, so I may have to pick up more.
The last issue I read was Ka-Zar #2, so #10 rather helpfully informs readers that it turns out Pangea (the new part of Antartica Ka-Zar stumbled upon in #1) is an amusement park founded long ago by the Atlanteans. Ka-Zar, Shann, and Zabu have picked up two companions: Buth who is one of the winged Aerians and Dherk who transferred his consciousness into a robot body. Ka-Zar starts with all of them assembled at the entrance of a cave with an inscription paraphrased the one at the entrance to Hell from Dante's Inferno. Shanna, who studied Dante, is apprehensive. Ka-Zar, with his trademark recklessness, is eager to explore. We get a whole creepy "is it or isn't it" debate over whether this is hell, part of the theme park, or both.
The mystery is partially solved by the appearance of Belasco and a written account discovered by our group. It turns out that a wizard named Belasco kidnapped Dante's love Beatrice. Dante chased them to Antarctica and his adventure inspired his literary work. Belasco "married" Beatrice and she died giving birth to a brood of demons. Belasco who was transformed into a demon, ended up frozen and buried for centuries. Now, Belasco seeks to make the hypnotized Shanna his new bride. With a series or bloodstones inserted in a pentagram engraved in Beatrice's locket, Belasco plans to open a gateway at his new wedding to bring the demonic Elder Gods to Earth. The plan is thwarted and our heroes survive, but not before we get some great horror moments.
The main reason that I bought theses issues is due to the X-Men-adjacent content with Belasco and the pentagram locket. This is the locket that would later come into Illyana Rasputin's possession and become a long-term part of her storyline culminating in Inferno. I feel like I need to re-read Uncanny X-Men #160, which started that story. Although Brent Anderson drew that story, Claremont of course wrote UXM #160. Belasco as lord of Limbo seems a change from his status here, and I'll have to double-check whether an explanation in his change of status was given.
In Ka-Zar #13, in light of Shanna forced near marriage to Belasco, she's contemplating marriage, but Ka-Zar is playing hard to get. Shanna falls into a river and ends up in a land of monkey people. We get more marriage drama as, despite a language barrier, Mele of the monkey people wants to marry her. Meanwhile, Ka-Zar is trying to find her. We get a cliffhanger where Ka-Zar arrives just after Shanna has apparently married Mele under local customs, in part to soothe his grief of the death of his daughter. She's not really dead, as Ka-Zar rescued her and brings her back. I don't have #14, so the denouement will have to wait.
These issues mark a format change for the series as the ads are almost entirely dropped. To fill out the space, Jones and Anderson get one page comic origins. Per the poignant page on Anderson, his comic aspirations seem to have been supported by his mom, but not by his dad. We also get some pin-ups. We also get the intriguing Tales of Zabu series from Jones and Gil Kane. It's the childhood origin of everyone's favorite sabretooth tiger.
I also read Detective Comics #238-240 and Batman #105-106 in my continuing Omnibus reading. The cover to Detective #239 has a very distinctive appearance with its washed tones. A recurring theme of these stories is impersonation. Robin pretends to be not-Robin pretending to be Robin. Batman impersonates people and pretends someone else is Batman. Alfred disguises himself as part of a sting. Also, Batwoman returns to action through a loophole, as she goes to a costume party as Batwoman before stumbling into a case. We also get stories with a robot Batman and a Batman of the future. A recurring theme for me is how confusing it is to figure out Bat-History when the stories don't have issue citations. When a villain is described as having faced Batman in the past or past cases or referenced, I don't know whether these things actually happened in past issues or the backstory has just been invented for the basis of the current story. In most instances here, I'm guessing it's the latter.
|
|
|
Post by Batflunkie on Jan 28, 2024 10:58:38 GMT -5
Aquaman Time & Tide and Aquaman v5 #1-#12 and #0
So this is a series that I've started and got sidetracked on a lot (mostly because I wanted to finish David's Atlantis Chronicles, but never did) and only picked back up on recently because I wanted an Aquaman fix, especially with an Omni of David's run coming out later this year
It's a very well written book that tonally speaking is probably more in line with David's run on The Phantom than his other books filled with his own pop culture quirks
I think what I like about it the most are, believe it or not, the sea creatures. Particularly the dolphins and the dumb as a sack of wet rocks sharks
|
|
|
Post by derpsquared on Jan 28, 2024 12:45:33 GMT -5
Most recent: Death of the family (DC)
|
|
Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,069
|
Post by Confessor on Jan 30, 2024 10:37:36 GMT -5
I finished reading the three-part Blake & Mortimer adventure The Secret of the Swordfish last night... This was an enjoyable extended adventure, which sees a sinister far eastern empire conquering the world and, of course, Professor Philip Mortimer and his dashing companion Captain Francis Blake have a significant hand in overthrowing the "Yellow Peril" menace and saving the world. The story is clearly heavily influenced by the events of the then-still recent Second World War and the Cold War – which isn't really so surprising, as the story was written in the early 1950s. A few weeks ago, over in the "What Classic Comics Have You Purchased Lately?" thread, MDG commented that he disliked the fantastic backdrop of a global war for this story, preferring the Blake & Mortimer adventures that stay closer to "real life". I have to say, I do agree with him. This story (which was the inaugural adventure for the pair) is rather far-fetched and a long way from the gritty crime and espionage realism of, say, the third adventure, The Yellow "M". Nevertheless, Edgar P. Jacobs' plotting and artwork is really good. The story definitely held my attention over the course of three volumes and often had me wondering how our heroes would manage to get out of a particular scrape. Jacobs' art would tighten up and improve over the course of the series, but it's still extremely pleasing to the eye in this first adventure. There's also an inking technique that he experiments with for 50 or so pages in the middle of the story, whereby he leaves some of his pencils un-inked, and I must say that I do rather like the effect that it produces.
|
|
|
Post by MDG on Jan 30, 2024 10:44:25 GMT -5
I finished reading the three-part Blake & Mortimer adventure The Secret of the Swordfish last night... This was an enjoyable extended adventure, which sees a sinister far eastern empire conquering the world and, of course, Professor Philip Mortimer and his dashing companion Captain Francis Blake have a significant hand in overthrowing the "Yellow Peril" menace and saving the world. The story is clearly heavily influenced by the events of the then-still recent Second World War and the Cold War – which isn't really so surprising, as the story was written in the early 1950s. ... I gotta say, going through the whole series the past couple of years was probably the most enjoyable comic-reading experience I've had in a while. Still looking for something as consistently entertaining and well-done.
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Jan 30, 2024 12:48:08 GMT -5
I finished reading the three-part Blake & Mortimer adventure The Secret of the Swordfish last night... This was an enjoyable extended adventure, which sees a sinister far eastern empire conquering the world and, of course, Professor Philip Mortimer and his dashing companion Captain Francis Blake have a significant hand in overthrowing the "Yellow Peril" menace and saving the world. The story is clearly heavily influenced by the events of the then-still recent Second World War and the Cold War – which isn't really so surprising, as the story was written in the early 1950s. ... I gotta say, going through the whole series the past couple of years was probably the most enjoyable comic-reading experience I've had in a while. Still looking for something as consistently entertaining and well-done.
Over the last few years I've read from The Secret of the Great Pyramid to S.O.S. Meteors and yes, some of the best comics I've read during that time. I have only one of the three volumes of Swordfish/Espadon, I should look for the other two since it'll be a while before I get to The Time Trap, which didn't come out until 1962.
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 30, 2024 17:29:29 GMT -5
I've actually made some progress reading Hellboy after upteen attempts. I've recently read Hellboy: Wake the Devil, Hellboy: Almost Colossus, and Hellboy Junior Halloween Special. All enjoyable, but that last one was a hoot. I really loved the Harvey Comics satires.
I also read Bloom County: The Complete Library, Vol. 2: 1982-1984. It was interesting to see the evolution of the characters and some that came and went. We saw the last of Bobbi Harlow and we saw Cutter John become a very secondary character. And the advent of Oliver Wendell Jones. One of my all-time favorite strips.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2024 22:39:36 GMT -5
Read the first appearance of Spider-Woman from Marvel Spotlight #32. Then started the run of stories from Marvel Two-In-One that began in #29 with The Thing and Shang-Chi teaming up to rescue a scientist to save Deathlok's life. Spider-Woman was a last page reveal after the character was supposed to be a one-off. Hydra uses Spider-Woman's blood to turn Alicia Masters into a literal spider woman until the Invisible Girl shows up to subdue her.
Also read the first 3 issues of Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars. I've actually never read the entire series before, but I randomly had #8 (I think) and reread it many times despite it being in the middle of things.
And I've been working my way through a lot of the recent DC Multiverse stuff and before I tackle Doomsday Clock and so on, I wanted to revisit Watchmen. So I got through the first two issues but didn't want to rush it.
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Jan 31, 2024 22:43:15 GMT -5
I've actually made some progress reading Hellboy after upteen attempts. I've recently read Hellboy: Wake the Devil, Hellboy: Almost Colossus, and Hellboy Junior Halloween Special. All enjoyable, but that last one was a hoot. I really loved the Harvey Comics satires. I also read Bloom County: The Complete Library, Vol. 2: 1982-1984. It was interesting to see the evolution of the characters and some that came and went. We saw the last of Bobbi Harlow and we saw Cutter John become a very secondary character. And the advent of Oliver Wendell Jones. One of my all-time favorite strips. I liked Bloom County a lot and had a few of the collected editions back in the early 1990s but somehow lost them. I haven't up to now felt the urge to revisit them but I can see it might happen somewhere down the line so I'm debating getting at least the first one or two of this Complete series while they're available.
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Feb 1, 2024 10:48:37 GMT -5
I've actually made some progress reading Hellboy after upteen attempts. I've recently read Hellboy: Wake the Devil, Hellboy: Almost Colossus, and Hellboy Junior Halloween Special. All enjoyable, but that last one was a hoot. I really loved the Harvey Comics satires. I also read Bloom County: The Complete Library, Vol. 2: 1982-1984. It was interesting to see the evolution of the characters and some that came and went. We saw the last of Bobbi Harlow and we saw Cutter John become a very secondary character. And the advent of Oliver Wendell Jones. One of my all-time favorite strips. I liked Bloom County a lot and had a few of the collected editions back in the early 1990s but somehow lost them. I haven't up to now felt the urge to revisit them but I can see it might happen somewhere down the line so I'm debating getting at least the first one or two of this Complete series while they're available. Get them while you can, because they're becoming expensive. There was a period in the mid to late 80s when Bloom County, Calvin and Hobbes, and The Far Side were all running when it was worth picking up a paper for the funnies.
|
|
Roquefort Raider
CCF Mod Squad
Modus omnibus in rebus
Posts: 17,170
Member is Online
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on Feb 1, 2024 13:25:34 GMT -5
I remember reading that for the first time in a one-volume edition, published in 1964; it was at the house of a family who hosted a friend and I during a pee-wee hockey tournament. I never saw the book again, but reading the whole thing in one go was a very pleasant reading experience! Le Secret de l'Espadon was originally published as two books in 50 and 53; I guess they later split that to allow for the standard page number (and perhaps to sell more books!) That series is a true classic of the ligne claire school. And quite the antithesis of floppies you read in ten minutes!
|
|