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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 6, 2024 13:34:20 GMT -5
In this latest batch of DC comics, I got two issues of Jimmy Olsen and one of them is an 80-Page Giant. And I also got four or five issues of Superman Family, and each of those has one and sometimes two Jimmy Olsen stories. I like Jimmy Olsen. Some of these stories are hilarious classics of the Silver Age. But sometimes, a little Jimmy Olsen goes a long way. I’m making my through #113 (the 80-Page Giant) and I feel like I’ve been reading it forever but I’m only halfway through. Those Silver Age Jimmy Olsen stories are awesome. He's my favorite goofball! ”The Helmet of Hate” was cracking me up! The last story in #113 is “Jimmy Olsen, King of the Giant Ants!” I have to admit, I’m really looking forward to that one!
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 6, 2024 13:35:32 GMT -5
But, honestly, why isn’t there a storyline where one of the Metropolis gangsters is trying to kill Jimmy just because he’s annoying as hell?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2024 8:57:19 GMT -5
I've been enjoying this collection of the earliest Superman Sundays covering 1939 (the year after his comic book debut) to 1943. There's something I genuinely like about reading in this weekly serialized format, perhaps even a little more than the monthly comic books from this same era for some reason. This volume covers 19 story arcs over the years represented and they range from more pedestrian crime, racketeering, etc. to sometimes more fantastical elements like a lost city of giant creatures. It reminded me also that the original premise (which I kind of vaguely remembered) was Krypton was a race of super beings (versus the later red sun explanation regarding powers). The first strip depicts the relative strength of an ant and leaping power of a grasshopper as a comparison of existing similar natural phenomena. While no stranger to Shuster's art from this era (and they identify in the credits the several art assistants he also leveraged, of which included Wayne Boring), it did leave an impression on me that I enjoyed his art more than I remembered. There were certainly a number of other cartoonists from this age who were on another level in terms of overall draftsmanship, but overall the "aesthetic" is pleasing for what it is. Lois is a great spunky character at this point as well. A very easy volume to just glide through and enjoy, glad I finally made it to this one (I've enjoyed subsequent era Superman Sundays, just hadn't gotten to this earliest era).
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Post by Batflunkie on Mar 7, 2024 10:07:41 GMT -5
Thor #342-#359
Picking back up where I left on Simonson's Thor. It's been pretty enjoyable. If I had one comic that I could easily read for the rest of my life, it would be #355 (The Icy Hearts (or My Dinners With Thor!). It's just such a good issue
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 7, 2024 11:54:27 GMT -5
I finished DC 100-Page Super-Spectacular #15 yesterday. One of the last stories was Dial “H” for Hero from House of Mystery from the late 1960s.
I feel like I must’ve read a Dial “H” for Hero story at some point. Wasn’t it in the back of Action Comics around 1980?
It’s pretty dire, despite the Jim Mooney art.
I keep asking myself, this was really a thing in DC in the late 1960s?
And then I remember that a lot of stuff was really a thing in DC in the late 1960s.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 7, 2024 12:07:21 GMT -5
I feel like I must’ve read a Dial “H” for Hero story at some point. Wasn’t it in the back of Action Comics around 1980? Dial H took over Adventure Comics with issue #471 in 1981. It was written by Marv Wolfman (at least at the start) with art by Infantino. It was pretty dire.
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Post by tartanphantom on Mar 7, 2024 12:27:00 GMT -5
I feel like I must’ve read a Dial “H” for Hero story at some point. Wasn’t it in the back of Action Comics around 1980? Dial H took over Adventure Comics with issue #471 in 1981. It was written by Marv Wolfman (at least at the start) with art by Infantino. It was pretty dire.
After the Adventure run was cancelled, it was moved to the New Adventures of Superboy, where it ran as a backup for 23 issues scripted primarily by Bridwell... at least he knew how to make the nostalgia angle work-- so they were more in the elementary school mentality of the originals. Not saying good or bad, just think early '60s DC. I've got a soft spot for Dial H, so I'm biased.
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Post by Hoosier X on Mar 7, 2024 13:07:50 GMT -5
I got the most recent issues of Birds of Prey and She-Hulk and I read them already.
And I am slowly making my way through that big pile of 1970s DC comics. I read Justice League #169, four issues of Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes between #197 and #224, and I finally finished Jimmy Olsen #113 and DC 100-Page Super-Spectacular #15. I started Superman Family #190 and Adventure #403 (which reprints five LSH stories from the early years, nice John Forte art!).
Here is my current list of comics that I own and I haven’t read, or haven’t finished.
To Wake the Mangog
Adventure Comics #403
Superman Family #169, 190
World’s Finest #250
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Post by Duragizer on Mar 7, 2024 22:43:31 GMT -5
I recently finished reading Kirby's New Gods run.
Kirby's illustrations are in fine form, obviously (I wanted more collages, though). His dialogue isn't the most naturalistic, but it's not as bad as some others have made it out to be (it's a whole lot better than the technobabbling garbage Lee wrote during their FF run). Mister Miracle was my favourite title, The Forever People my least favourite. All the titles petered out towards the end, none receiving satisfactory conclusions, no doubt due to corporate meddling. The Hunger Dogs did very little for me, though I couldn't help but feel it was somewhat prescient, what with the absurdities associated with AI technology today.
Altogether, I don't regret reading it, but I don't see myself re-reading it.
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Post by spoon on Mar 7, 2024 22:54:45 GMT -5
I read The New Teen Titans: Games graphic novel by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. This is one of those legendary unfinished projects that actually got finished a couple decades later. George Perez really gets the chance to indulge in larger format pages. Also, the page count is so high that it can't reasonably be read in one sitting. The Introduction, Afterword, and feature on the original plot are very helpful in understanding the history of Games and the stops and starts in crafting it. It's noted that Wolfman was going through a period of writer's block, and it was actually Perez who typed up a plot outline based on the discussions the pair had. Wolfman had decided he would do any scripting until all the art was completed. However, since the plot outline wasn't a super-detailed page by page, panel by panel thing, that meant that some of original thoughts underlying the pages that would have been brought out in the script were lost from memory over the years. Unfortunately, I think it shows. The clues that would've led the Titans to the various terrorists aren't clearly shown, and sometimes I'm puzzling by how we're getting from point A to point B.
Since the story was far out-of-date in terms of the roster, etc. by the year of publication, it's an out of continuity time capsule. That allows for some risk-taking, because there's no problem with altering the characters from the status quo of their established histories. Almost of my Titans reading is actually from before the point on the book take place, despite it being a long delayed project, so I got a sense of the Titans from a bit beyond the era I know. Like I've through the grapevine about how polarizing Danny Chase was, but I may have actually read more of Danny in this one graphic novel than I have in all my previous reading combined.
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Post by james on Mar 8, 2024 7:36:09 GMT -5
I read The New Teen Titans: Games graphic novel by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. This is one of those legendary unfinished projects that actually got finished a couple decades later. George Perez really gets the chance to indulge in larger format pages. Also, the page count is so high that it can't reasonably be read in one sitting. The Introduction, Afterword, and feature on the original plot are very helpful in understanding the history of Games and the stops and starts in crafting it. It's noted that Wolfman was going through a period of writer's block, and it was actually Perez who typed up a plot outline based on the discussions the pair had. Wolfman had decided he would do any scripting until all the art was completed. However, since the plot outline wasn't a super-detailed page by page, panel by panel thing, that meant that some of original thoughts underlying the pages that would have been brought out in the script were lost from memory over the years. Unfortunately, I think it shows. The clues that would've led the Titans to the various terrorists aren't clearly shown, and sometimes I'm puzzling by how we're getting from point A to point B. Since the story was far out-of-date in terms of the roster, etc. by the year of publication, it's an out of continuity time capsule. That allows for some risk-taking, because there's no problem with altering the characters from the status quo of their established histories. Almost of my Titans reading is actually from before the point on the book take place, despite it being a long delayed project, so I got a sense of the Titans from a bit beyond the era I know. Like I've through the grapevine about how polarizing Danny Chase was, but I may have actually read more of Danny in this one graphic novel than I have in all my previous reading combined. Never heard of this. Wolfman and Perez were my introduction to DC WITH Crisis and then the Titans so I’m definitely going to check it out
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2024 8:14:34 GMT -5
I read The New Teen Titans: Games graphic novel by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. This is one of those legendary unfinished projects that actually got finished a couple decades later. George Perez really gets the chance to indulge in larger format pages. Also, the page count is so high that it can't reasonably be read in one sitting. The Introduction, Afterword, and feature on the original plot are very helpful in understanding the history of Games and the stops and starts in crafting it. It's noted that Wolfman was going through a period of writer's block, and it was actually Perez who typed up a plot outline based on the discussions the pair had. Wolfman had decided he would do any scripting until all the art was completed. However, since the plot outline wasn't a super-detailed page by page, panel by panel thing, that meant that some of original thoughts underlying the pages that would have been brought out in the script were lost from memory over the years. Unfortunately, I think it shows. The clues that would've led the Titans to the various terrorists aren't clearly shown, and sometimes I'm puzzling by how we're getting from point A to point B. Since the story was far out-of-date in terms of the roster, etc. by the year of publication, it's an out of continuity time capsule. That allows for some risk-taking, because there's no problem with altering the characters from the status quo of their established histories. Almost of my Titans reading is actually from before the point on the book take place, despite it being a long delayed project, so I got a sense of the Titans from a bit beyond the era I know. Like I've through the grapevine about how polarizing Danny Chase was, but I may have actually read more of Danny in this one graphic novel than I have in all my previous reading combined. I picked this up when it came out, and overall had a similar impression. It was of course a delight just seeing "my Titans" so to speak again and that lovely Perez art, but I did find it a confusing read at times.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2024 8:21:21 GMT -5
I read the first issue of Captain Venture last night (1 of only 2 in the series), and it really is a visual delight. A simple "shipwreck in space" type storyline, but the fantastical underground world the two Earth astronauts find themselves on a strange planet is very much worth the price of admission. Tame, "wholesome" type material as one might expect from this publisher, but no shortage of entertainment value, and of course the gorgeous painted cover. Good reading.
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Post by tonebone on Mar 8, 2024 8:47:55 GMT -5
I feel like I must’ve read a Dial “H” for Hero story at some point. Wasn’t it in the back of Action Comics around 1980? Dial H took over Adventure Comics with issue #471 in 1981. It was written by Marv Wolfman (at least at the start) with art by Infantino. It was pretty dire. Dire it may have been, but to 11 year old me, it was my shot at stardom. I must have submitted 20 ideas for heroes, and was never chosen for publication. I did get a nice rejection letter from Dick Giordano, tho. It was my first window into the world where REAL PEOPLE made the comics I loved.
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Post by tonebone on Mar 8, 2024 8:49:47 GMT -5
I got the most recent issues of Birds of Prey and She-Hulk and I read them already. And I am slowly making my way through that big pile of 1970s DC comics. I read Justice League #169, four issues of Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes between #197 and #224, and I finally finished Jimmy Olsen #113 and DC 100-Page Super-Spectacular #15. I started Superman Family #190 and Adventure #403 (which reprints five LSH stories from the early years, nice John Forte art!). Here is my current list of comics that I own and I haven’t read, or haven’t finished. To Wake the Mangog Adventure Comics #403 Superman Family #169, 190 World’s Finest #250 I don't know what the hell "To Wake the Mangog" is, but I am on pins and needles waiting for you to get around to it.
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