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Post by tonebone on Apr 8, 2024 10:14:02 GMT -5
I just re-read the Brood saga that stretched from Uncanny X-Men #154 to 167. I remember that at the time it had truly renewed my faith in the title, which had been a little shaken by John Byrne's departure. It's not that I disliked Cockrum's art, but well... I was a real Byrne fan back then. Plus, recent issues with fill-in artists and a rushed plot had left me dissatisfied. But boy! Did the arrival of the Aliens-wannabes change things!
Dave Cockrum is far more in his element with thais type of material than he was drawing discotheques. Huge spaceships! Huger space critters! Bizarre aliens! Beautiful designs for costumes, architecture and technology! What's not to like?
The title was still relatively fresh back then, unencumbered by too many years of cannibalized continuity. When characters like counselor Araki or Imperial guard Fang died, they were truly dead! (How many times have they been cloned and brought back since then? Morrison even had Araki add a number to his name the last time I saw him). The Brood, as fearsome as the alien aboard the Nostromo, hadn't yet been diluted into insignificance. They were truly scary with their combined monster/disease nature! Plus, they looked brilliant.
The plot is straightforward: Shi'ar Empress Lilandra is kidnapped by her evil sister Deathbird, who means to usurp her throne. Helping Deathbird are the Brood, insect-like creatures who also abduct the X-Men so they can act as incubators for their queen's eggs (the Brood lay their eggs in the body of other creatures, and when they hatch they transform said body into their own, absorbing their memory and powers at the same time. Brrr). Taken to the Brood's terrifying homeworld in a hypnotized state, the X-Men manage to escape only thanks to Wolverine's healing factor getting rid of the egg he's been implanted with. Doomed to die, the team decides to sacrifice their last hours saving the soul of a race of space whales that the Brood usually enslaves to turn them into living starships. Let's skip the esoteric details; suffice to say the mission succeeds in extremis, and the saved soul destroys the eggs inside the X-Men's bodies. Then the Brood homeworld blows up, and in a better world that would have been the last time we saw them in a comic-book. But I digress.
There's one egg remaining: the one implanted in Charles Xavier, who remained on Earth while the team was abducted. As the team returns home, the egg hatches and Xavier turns into a Brood queen; the X-Men manage to subdue him and thanks to the Starjammers' magical technology, Xavier's mind can be copied into a new cloned body grown from old tissue samples. Yay!
Publications schedule being what they are, we readers must make allowances for some incompatible timelines. While the issues covering these events saw print over many months, in the book itself only a few days elapsed... However, in our real world, the same months had seen the creation of the New Mutants comic, in which a much longer stretch allows Charles to mourn his pupils, then recruit the New Mutants, then train them, enough so that they're feeling quite at home in the mansion when the X-Men return. Oh, well, it doesn't really matter.
A funny bit is one that had completely escaped me back in the day. On several occasions we are treated to the morally honourable but practically ridiculous idea that "the X-Men don't kill". Apparently that proviso also means no killing of evil parasitic space aliens, as Wolverine and Carol Danvers are the only ones ready to send the critters ad patres; the rest of the team, and particularly Storm and Cyclops, insist on sparing even the Brood queen. (The planet blowing up is an unfortunate accident, not planned by the team). All right, I might disagree, but I guess the heroes are welcome to their own code of conduct.
However! When Charles turns into a new Brood queen, we face another dilemma: should we kill him, even though the mind of Xavier is still temporarily dominant and even though it goes against all our principles, or should we let the transformation run its course, resulting in the creation of an incommensurate threat to humanity? It's lucky the Starjammers say they can clone Charles a new body in which his mind can be transferred, as that way we can have our Charles and our principles too. Or can we? As everybody cheers upon seeing Professor X in his new body, no mention is made of the Brood queen's body he just vacated! Was she unceremoniously offed by Logan or Carol while we weren't looking? The story doesn't say.
All in all a truly thrilling ride, which also saw a lot of development: Carol Danvers turning into the new super-hero Binary (thanks to some genetic tampering by the Brood), the introduction of Lockheed the dragon (he hunts Brood for breakfast on their home planet), a good view of the Starjammer, which in this story is half the size of Manhattan, space whales, the Brood... those were the days of anti-decompression!
I've always been inspired by Cockrum's bug-like organic spaceships... so one day I was drawing one for a freelance project, and my 4 year old son took a look at it and nonchalantly said, "That looks like the ship the strangers arrive in." He would not elaborate. I didn't sleep for 2 weeks.
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Post by spoon on Apr 9, 2024 21:36:19 GMT -5
I started the Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle vol. 2 hardcover. So far I've read Detective Comics #608-612.
When I was a kid, my older brother was the one who bought some of the Breyfogle issues of Detective. I think those were mostly from earlier on. As I kid, I remember feeling ambivalent about Breyfogle. He had a very distinctive style, but it seemed like lots of characters were on the verge of exploding and I wasn't digging the impossibly long cape. But reading these issues now, I'm really enjoying the art. So far, I've read an Anarky two-parter, a Penguin two-parter, and a standalone issue with Catman and Catwoman. I like that there's some grit but also some humor. There are interesting plotlines instead of just grim ambience. I like the twist that starts off the Penguin story.
I was aware that Anarky was a new villain in this era, but I've never read an Anarky story. It was one of those stories that I thought at first had elements that didn't fit, but that's because I didn't see Alan Grant's plot twist coming. The denouement made the pieces fall into place. I like Grant's writing so far. My one pet peeve is that he uses British spellings for something that's in print (a letter to the editor in a Gotham newspaper). If he's ever going to use British spellings rather than American, that's where it makes the least sense. I'm getting annoyed nerd flashbacks of people ignoring the Wikipedia Varieties of English policy to replace spellings that fit the policy with their own preferred spellings.
All in all, this hardcover is off to a good start, but I might intersperse reading other comics as I make my way through this book.
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Post by Hoosier X on Apr 9, 2024 22:31:46 GMT -5
I started the Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle vol. 2 hardcover. So far I've read Detective Comics #608-612. When I was a kid, my older brother was the one who bought some of the Breyfogle issues of Detective. I think those were mostly from earlier on. As I kid, I remember feeling ambivalent about Breyfogle. He had a very distinctive style, but it seemed like lots of characters were on the verge of exploding and I wasn't digging the impossibly long cape. But reading these issues now, I'm really enjoying the art. So far, I've read an Anarky two-parter, a Penguin two-parter, and a standalone issue with Catman and Catwoman. I like that there's some grit but also some humor. There are interesting plotlines instead of just grim ambience. I like the twist that starts off the Penguin story. I was aware that Anarky was a new villain in this era, but I've never read an Anarky story. It was one of those stories that I thought at first had elements that didn't fit, but that's because I didn't see Alan Grant's plot twist coming. The denouement made the pieces fall into place. I like Grant's writing so far. My one pet peeve is that he uses British spellings for something that's in print (a letter to the editor in a Gotham newspaper). If he's ever going to use British spellings rather than American, that's where it makes the least sense. I'm getting annoyed nerd flashbacks of people ignoring the Wikipedia Varieties of English policy to replace spellings that fit the policy with their own preferred spellings. All in all, this hardcover is off to a good start, but I might intersperse reading other comics as I make my way through this book. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to find out that the Gotham Gazette preferred British spellings. Especially if it goes back to the 1770s. Maybe it started out as the Gotham Gazette and New York Colonial Free Trader in 1771.
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Post by spoon on Apr 9, 2024 23:13:56 GMT -5
I started the Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle vol. 2 hardcover. So far I've read Detective Comics #608-612. When I was a kid, my older brother was the one who bought some of the Breyfogle issues of Detective. I think those were mostly from earlier on. As I kid, I remember feeling ambivalent about Breyfogle. He had a very distinctive style, but it seemed like lots of characters were on the verge of exploding and I wasn't digging the impossibly long cape. But reading these issues now, I'm really enjoying the art. So far, I've read an Anarky two-parter, a Penguin two-parter, and a standalone issue with Catman and Catwoman. I like that there's some grit but also some humor. There are interesting plotlines instead of just grim ambience. I like the twist that starts off the Penguin story. I was aware that Anarky was a new villain in this era, but I've never read an Anarky story. It was one of those stories that I thought at first had elements that didn't fit, but that's because I didn't see Alan Grant's plot twist coming. The denouement made the pieces fall into place. I like Grant's writing so far. My one pet peeve is that he uses British spellings for something that's in print (a letter to the editor in a Gotham newspaper). If he's ever going to use British spellings rather than American, that's where it makes the least sense. I'm getting annoyed nerd flashbacks of people ignoring the Wikipedia Varieties of English policy to replace spellings that fit the policy with their own preferred spellings. All in all, this hardcover is off to a good start, but I might intersperse reading other comics as I make my way through this book. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to find out that the Gotham Gazette preferred British spellings. Especially if it goes back to the 1770s. Maybe it started out as the Gotham Gazette and New York Colonial Free Trader in 1771. It was a letter to the editor from a little old lady. Anyway, I wish Alan Grant hadn't tossed a few Britishisms at the willing suspension of disbelief, but it's a nitpick about an otherwise good story.
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Post by Batflunkie on Apr 10, 2024 10:37:31 GMT -5
1st Issue Special #8 and The Warlord #1-#10 and #12-#14
Decided to re-read/continue Grell's The Warlord, a series which I've always deeply loved. Really good mix of sword and sorcery fantasy and science fiction that's pretty well written
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Post by spoon on Apr 13, 2024 23:10:58 GMT -5
I finished the rest of the Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle vol. 2 hardcover, which was Detective Comics #613-621 and Batman #455-459. Detective #615 is actually stuck at the end of the book as it's the middle chapter of a story that otherwise took place in the pages of Batman. Sticking strictly to theme of the hardcover, we only get the Breyfogle drawn chapter.
We get a couple of social message stories involving how much trash society produces and juvenile delinquents. Writer Alan Grant seems to think that trash collectors are competing to pick up the trash from certain streets rather than operating under contracts, and I don't know how he gets that conclusion. If you can somehow gloss over that, it's a decent story. Detective #616 is a very weird supernatural story that grows out of the Penguin three-parter at the end of the book. It's also a good story, although it's an odd fit. Even though it's sort of explained, it's still a bit of a mystery, but it works. Detective #617 is hallucinatory Joker story that leads to an apparently real Joker story in Batman #450-451 (not reprinted here). I'm realizing from my spreadsheet that I actually own Batman #450-451, so maybe I should read them now. But the hallucination story works very well on its own.
Detective #618-621 is a four-parter that involves voodoo and takes place partly in Haiti. The main purpose of the story seems to be having really bad stuff happen to Tim Drake's parents. My sporadic Batman reading as kid mostly ended right around A Lonely Place of Dying, so I wasn't really familiar with his family. The story strikes an odd tone, because it makes them comedically unlikeable before visiting tragedy upon them. Was Tim living with Bruce through some agreement with Tim's parents while they were traveling the world? Anyway, while there are some good parts to this arc, in general it really drags. It feels like it could be done in two issues. Maybe folks who are better versed in Batman can trace how significant the portrayal of Bruce/Batman as a dysfunctional, anger-issues guy has been through the evolution of the character. Here it seems to more from subtext to text, as there indications that Tim following on Bruce's path might be a bad idea. We also get Tim tracking down a hacker, who turns out to be Anarky in juvy hall. It's funny, because I though the revelation of Anarky's identity in his initial two-issue arc was a commentary on dumb, self-righteous kids who are all over the place ideologically and overestimate their intelligence. Think of the 1989 equivalent of very-online people. But then I read that Alan Grant later announced himself to be an anarchist and the character as a vehicle for some of his thoughts. Oy vey!
In spite of the notes of caution in the prior arc, we get a three-parter in Batman #455-457 where Tim gets in on the action and debuts the new Robin costume at the end. It's the 90s, so he gets full leggings instead of the tighty greenies previous Robins had to put up with. Anyway, it's a very grim but very good story involving the Scarecrow. Grant really likes to have villains rack up the body counts.
Then, #458 is another message story about a mute hunchbacked electronics expert that was introduced in the three-part Penguin story that we only get one-part of later in the book. It's funny to see the repercussions of this editorial choice. In a story that was a quarter century too early for Q-Anon people to pay attention to, we learn that just because someone is a little different doesn't mean angry mobs should be falsely accusing them of being pedophiles. Batman #459 is a story which yet again have Batman reflecting on the deaths of his parents, but mostly deals with Jim Gordon rekindling romance with an old flame (I think from an extramarital affair in Batman: Year One). Gordon has been ineffectual in this hardcover and I'm not a fan of how Breyfogle draws him. I'm much more of Jim Aparo's rendition of Gordon and his competent presence, but the Commissioner does get some focus in this issue. In several recent issues, Batman has been needling Commissioner Gordon's smoking sucks. I thinking smoking sucks, but Batman's approach is more judgy & pushy than supportive & information. So wouldn't you know, Jim Gordon's happy issue ends with a health scare cliffhanger.
The out of order part 2 in Detective #615 makes it harder to get a grasp on the whole story, although I think I read part 1 when my older brother bought it off the shelves. The main takeaways are that Grant seems to really like writing Penguin and make his a sociopath. Also, birds are scary. There's also an actress that the Penguin is obsessed with as a supporting character who is very compelling in just a few pages.
A few other things worth noting. At least in the early issues of this book, the Batmobile matches the Kenner Batmobile toy we had. Every time it was on the page, I thought to myself, "That looks like a toy." Also, the HC reprints some pinups by Norm Breyfogle from Who's Who (I think probably the looseleaf version).
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Post by spoon on Apr 14, 2024 21:58:18 GMT -5
I read DC Comics Presents #28 and #43. Then I read Batman #450-451.
The two issues of DCCP both have Mongul as villain. I don't own his first appearance in #27, but the second page of #28 has a recap. It does a decent job of presenting the threat of Mongul against the team of Superman and Supergirl, even though a face-to-face conflict is avoided. We don't get to see the full extent of what a populated Warworld would be like, but the famed Superman Annual gave a hint. Jim Starlin draws Mongul like a body builder who regularly skips leg day. The inks by Romeo Tanghal result in a final product that's a little different from what I think of from Starlin. Len Wein handles the scripting. There's also a "Whatever Happened to Johnny Thunder?" (the western hero) backup. This might be the first appearance by the character I've ever read. Coloring one's hair doesn't seem like a great disguise. I'm glad that those crazy kids, Johnny Thunder and Madame .44 got together even though I didn't really know them before then. Johnny's secret identity is John Tane, and he ends up with a "bouncing baby boy, Chuck." Namesake for a 30th century hero?!
Then, DCCP #43 has a Legion of Super-Heroes team-up written by Legion scribe Paul Levitz and drawn by Curt Swan. Swan draws a very different Mongul, and we actually get a big of slugfest. We also get a few Justice League members casually slipped in the story to get beat up. I have yet to read the original Sun-Eater story, but this is one of numerous references to that tragic story I've read. I like the casual story-ending laughter about how it's not bad that Wildfire seems dead because he won't really die.
I read Batman #450-451 because it jumps off from a story in the Detective Comics from the Norm Breyfogle HC. I think there might've been some miscommunication between Marv Wolfman and Alan Grant. In Detective, the evidence that the Joker is back is some hallucinations/visions by Batman, but suddenly it's taken as a sure thing. It's an interesting story involving a real estate mogul running get rick quick seminars, plus two rivals Jokers. The real Joker is a little bit out of it, and actually less brutal in the story than he has been. So the big dramatic death of the Joker at the end of A Death in the Family lasted about a year and a half. Commissioner Gordon seems somewhat competent than what Grant & Breyfogle did, but he still seems to be losing a step. Events in A Death in the Family and The Killing Joke both loom over this story. Jim Aparo is more up my alley than Breyfogle.
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Post by Marv-El on Apr 16, 2024 19:02:25 GMT -5
Action Comics #506 The Children's Exodus From Earth! by Cary Bates and Curt Swan This is part two conclusion about a Kryptonian robot named Jorlan arriving on Earth with the intent on stealing the children of Earth away. And yes since Jorlan is Kryptonian he is now a super-robot and causing Superman all sorts of grief. It turns out that Jorlan was the creation of a Kryptonian scientist named Orn-Zu who had reached the same conclusion about the destruction of Krpyton as Jor-El. He was disregarded about his predictions too and suffering under the space travel ban by the Science Council, Orn Zu decided to save the children of Krypton by creating Jorlan who would whisk them away to safety among the stars. But he was discovered, Jorlan was banished and Orn Zu sentenced to the Phantom Zone. Now Jorlan has arrived on Earth, his programming substituting the children of Earth for those of Krypton. How can Superman stop him and save the children? This was a fun story, Bates' Kryptonian take on the Pied Piper folk lore tale. Jorlan does enough simple moves to frustrate Superman forcing Superman to seek out Orn-Zu's help from the Phantom Zone. His solution is unique to say the least as it involves switching Jorlan's mission from saving kids to killing Superman! But the ultimate solution comes when Superman remembers where and when he has seen Jorlan before now. So time travel and Superboy help save the day. Swan's art with Chiaramonte's inks are up to par of course though Jorlan's appearance either makes you think of a furry teddy bear or Bigfoot take your pick. Action Comics #508The Secret World of Jonathan Kent! by Bates and Swan Again, part two conclusion of a story that spun out out from New Adventures of Superboy #5. There, in return for help received from Superboy, aliens decide to grant Jonathan Kent his fondest subconscious desire and bring him forward to the present to see his son as Superman. Time is slightly altered for 30 hours during Pa Kent's visit. But when he arrives via the alien's teleportation mist, a young hippie wanders through the remnants of the mist granting him his deepest wish which is the power to make anyone do anything he wants by merely saying Please. On the one hand, this is a sweet story wherein we see Clark interact with his father as an adult, Jonathan sees his life and his heroics as Superman. However the hippie with the Pretty Please power is kinda of a weak villain here. His motivations are basic at most and his affects on Superman with his Please power is simple and childish as well. (The cover is accurate, Superman has bruises because the hippie told him to punch himself in the face until he bruises...please). Superman's solution is equally simple and effective but when Johnathan's time is up, his vanishing resets that particular day along with everyone's memories thus ending the Pretty Please hippie one and for all. But what I found most intriguing is the other half of the cover. In trying to aid his son, Johnathan does reveal Clark's identity to Lois. Lois reminds Johnathan of his Martha and does think she and Clark would make a great couple. However Lois lets on that maybe she's already figured out Clark was Superman and that she's just been smart enough not to let on about it. So when time reset did Lois still know his secret identity anyway? A nice thought and twist.
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Post by Hoosier X on Apr 16, 2024 20:05:10 GMT -5
Comic-book hippies!
They’re worse than comic-book commies!!
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Post by spoon on Apr 20, 2024 22:08:18 GMT -5
I cracked open Essential Defenders vol. 4 and read Defenders #61-68. It was a little difficult remembering where the story left off. It's been a while since I read the previous Essential. Since Defenders was cancelled right when I started reading comics, I didn't grow up reading the series, even as back issues. These issues are written by David Anthony Craft, with Ed Hannigan later joining the writing team. Hannigan, Sal Buscema, Don Perlin, and Herb Trimpe handle pencils on various issues.
These issues include a fight against Lunatik guest-starring Spider-Man (#61), the Defender for a Day arc (#62-64), an issue mainly focused on the Presence and the female Red Guardian against a radioactive giant amoeba (#65), and the Val in Valhalla arc (#66-68). I remember Steve Gerber being very good at hitting the right tone of the with the oddball elements and humor. It feels like Kraft does not do that as well. The fact that Lunatik, a guy with a staff, can hold the Defenders at bay, makes them look ridiculous. My recollection was that in early issues the character involved some commentary on college campus issues. Defender For a Day was interesting for all the cameos, but it also made a lot of the characters involved seem dopey. Watching Nighthawk flip out actually isn't that entertaining. The Val(kyrie) in Valhalla story is more of a straight action story, but it gets a little confusing to follow. The impression is given that Barbara Norriss, whose body Valkyrie occupies, is pretty awful, and I don't really remember who much that jibes with prior stories. There are some interesting aspects of that story, and we get some cool action with the Hulk. The cover for #67 is also used as the cover for the TPB, but it has some false advertising. Dr. Strange is on the cover, but he doesn't appear at all in the issue. The Presence/Red Guardian subplot gets a couple pages in each issue until its the main plot in #65. It doesn't tie in with the team's current members (or non-members); the idea essentially seems to try to bring some closure to the story of Red Guardian as a former member. Frankly, I find it very creepy given my recollection of how disturbingly possessive the Presence was in prior stories. Reuniting with him is not cool. I read a Marvel Comics Presents story from years later than I think is in a Black Widow TPB, that I think tried to grapple with how messed up that was. Also, I got to say that Codename: Sergei is a silly alternate name for the Presence.
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Post by spoon on Apr 21, 2024 15:30:29 GMT -5
I read Batman #460-461, a two-part arc immediately after the Norm Breyfogle hardcover I read recently. Alan Grant writes and Breyfogle pencils. However, Tim Sale inks #460 before regular inker Steve Mitchell returns in #461. I like Sale's work here.
The arc titled "Sisters in Arms" focuses on female characters in these pre-Birds of Prey, pre-Harley Quinn days. The "sisters" here are Catwoman, police sergeant Sarah Essen, and Vicki Vale. There's also a runaway from Arizona who Selina Kyle has taken in who Selina calls . . . Arizona. I'm starting to realize that Vicki Vale has had more appearances in comics across eras than I realized growing up. When she showed up in the Batman movie I'm sure I had ever seen her in a comic. I guess she sneaks under the radar because Bruce never seems to get serious enough with her to have consequential storylines. Grant & Breyfogle do a good job of portraying Catwoman as bad, but not too bad, so I'm okay rooting for her. They also do a good job with the action sequences. Of course, there are aspects of superhero comics that are inherently unrealistic, but Breyfogle has a way of depicting Catwoman fighting male thugs that comes across as somewhat plausible.
On the supporting cast front, the Commissioner Gordon cliffhanger from #459 thankfully is picked up with some mundanely reassuring hospital scenes. Legs, a homeless amputee, continues as a recurring character as he thanks Vicki for her photo feature on homelessness. He has a memorable personality. The Breyfogle HC had a pinup of someone called Joe Potato. I thought, "Who the heck is Joe Potato?" Well, I get to know that P.I. in these issues.
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Post by Batflunkie on Apr 24, 2024 21:09:39 GMT -5
Nightwing v1 #1-#4 and v2 #1-#5
So after getting hooked into Taylor's run on Nightwing, I decided to look back on Dixon's tenure. I've always enjoyed Dixon's time on the various Bat-books and Nightwing, while slow does constantly build itself up
Story is that Dick is tired of living in Bruce's and decides to make it on his own and uses the fact that a bunch of mobsters tied to the city of Bludhaven wash up on Gotham's shores to his advantage. He begins with Black Mask and his various cronies and slowly sees how deep the rabbit hole goes
Might need to look into getting that Compendium DC's putting out next month...
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,069
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Post by Confessor on Apr 28, 2024 10:33:21 GMT -5
So, I recently read X-Men issues #96–103 for the first time. These issues find Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum really finding their feet with the new X-Men. Issue #96 opens with the team mourning their fallen comrade Thunderbird, with Cyclops in particular feeling very guilty about his death. This issue also sees the arrival of the bonny lass Moira MacTaggert and almost immediately a burgeoning romance between her and Banshee is evident – though Professor Xavier also seems romantically interested in her. The name "Moira MacTaggert" really rings a bell with me, though I'm not sure why. I strongly suspect that she must eventually become a superhero and I hope someone reading this will be able to let me know. There's an ongoing sub-plot building in the background of issues #96 and #97 concerning Dr. Steven Lang and his anti-mutant programme, Project Armageddon (but more of that later). The main source of action in issue #96 comes from the appearance of the monstrous Kierrock the Damned, although it's a bit of a WTF moment – not least because the creature was unleashed by Cyclops throwing a tantrum and shooting his eyebeams off everywhere earlier in the issue, inadvertently destroying a weird ancient monument. Cool monster design for Kierrock by Cockrum though. Taking of cool designs, Cockrum excels again with some great spaceship designs among the alien armada that Professor X sees in his dream in issue #97. There's an appearance in this issue of a villain named Eric the Red, but he's pretty underwhelming and the less said about him the better. I really liked the Christmastime story in issue #98, which sees the return of the Sentinels. I'm not sure how I feel about Nightcrawler using an Image Inducer to disguise his appearance and make him look like a regular human. I mean, it's a very comic booky type thing to have, but somehow not being "out and proud" about being a mutant kinda goes against what Professor Xavier and the other X-Men stand for. Though I do absolutely accept that Nightcrawler looks so obviously non-human that having the team getting around with him in public without attracting unwanted attention would likely be a problem. By issue #99, Dr. Lang has captured Wolverine, Banshee, Jean Grey and Professor Xavier and imprisoned them all on an abandoned S.H.I.E.L.D. orbital platform. Taking the adventure into outer space is a nice change of pace and it's very cool to see Cyclops, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus commandeering a Starcom space shuttle in order to rescue their teammates. The big reveal of issue #100 is that Dr. Lang has created "X-Sentinels", which are android duplicates of the original X-Men. The appearance of this group of evil doppelgangers is a gripping dramatic touch, but it's a shame that they turn out to be androids. I was thinking when they first appeared that they were gonna be clones (I've been reading too much Spider-Man, I guess). Lang is eventually killed by Jean Grey and, as the X-Men all escape the orbital platform in the space shuttle, Jean is bathed in solar radiation, resulting in her dying and transforming into a new persona, the Phoenix (complete with new, ready-made costume). Comics, eh? We don't really get to see what Pheonix can do in these issues because she immediately passes out and is taken to hospital where she's in a critical condition for a while. Cyclops keeps vigil at her bed side while the other X-Men go on holiday to Banshee's family castle in Ireland. Yeah, because every Irishman has a hereditary castle, of course. Predictably, there turns out to be a lot of funny business going on at Banshee's family castle and the team are soon attacked by Black Tom (who is Banshee's cousin) and the Juggernaut. Speaking of the Juggernaut, I had no idea that he was Charles Xavier's half-brother! Every day's a school day. Anyway, there's a really exciting battle between the X-Men and the villainous pair in issues #102 and #103, at the end of which Black Tom and Juggernaut appear to perish. The appearance of a group of Leprechauns during the fight – yes, that's right, real Leprechauns (this is Ireland, after all) – is a bit of a WTF moment, but hey…you know, comics, right? Overall, these were some really enjoyable issues. Storm's problems with claustrophobia make for an interesting and fairly original Achillies heel for a superhero to have, although I think its perhaps a little bit overplayed. But yeah, for the most part, I really enjoyed reading these comics.
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Post by Marv-El on Apr 28, 2024 14:44:56 GMT -5
In those issues, Claremont starts off strong with building up the characterization of these new X-Men by highlighting their doubts and questions such as Ororo's claustrophobia, Kurt's (valid) concerns over his physical appearance, Peter's longing for home. They're not yet a family like we've been accustomed to thinking of them for so long. Heck Wolverine is just a feisty shadow of his self right now.
Cockrum is not high on my list of favorite X-artists, in fact, I like his second run on the title more so than here but still he delivers the action in terrific style and there's no denying his sense of design when it comes to characters and scenery. However my one major nitpick is with Cyclops. You know the running joke of Power Girl needing super strength in order to stand up straight (for obvious reasons)? Well, the way Cockrum draws Cyclop's visor, I feel like Scott's neck would be aching from holding up that massive thing all the time.
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Post by Marv-El on Apr 28, 2024 15:32:41 GMT -5
Batman #480-481, #484, #487Issues I recently combed from an LCS after digging through their dollar bins. All art by Jim Aparo. #480 by Alan Grant focuses on Tim Drake's situation of having to care for his father and possibly giving up on being Robin, a proposition he is highly resistant on doing. Grant delivers some great characterization here as Tim discusses his thoughts on the matter with Bruce who, for once, offers some straight-forward opinions on the matter. Grant uses the narrative method of Tim writing a letter to his father explaining why he can't be with him and how much being Robin means to him (yes even to the point of exposing Bruce's secret to him). This is all surrounded by Tim's investigation into the Y-Dogs gang whose activities involve medical supplies from Drake Medical. In the end, Alfred offers up a nice solution for Tim's problem as he is reluctant to see Tim leave as well. All in all, a solid issue. #481 by Doug Moench is a fun issue. The premise is straight-forward: Maxie Zeus remains incarcerated at Arkham. He'd planned a heist to steal an ancient relic but feels his crew would fail if he wasn't there to guide them especially with the 'Bat-demon' on the loose. Maxie tells his new disciple Iris to tell the crew not to pull the job. Batman catches onto the plot but doesn't know what relic Zeus intends to steal. Meanwhile, the crew is intent on carrying out the job when Iris, a former acrobatic swing-girl, arrives to deliver Zeus' command. They ain't listening! They rough Iris up who ends with a concussion & disoriented. With Tim's help, Batman determines where the heist will occur and gets there in time to see the Zeus crew carrying it out. But everyone is taken aback when Iris arrives, who due to her injuries, has decided to go from being the Messenger of Zeus to the Avenger of Zeus in her new guise of the Harpy! She intends to teach the crew the error of disobeying Zeus. Can Batman stop her? Great build-up, good dialogue (I kinda felt sorry for Iris after the bums roughed her up), crazy ending, loved it. And yes it's Part One of a two-part story! Argh! #484 by Moench. Someone is torching multiple Wayne Enterprise's properties. As Lucius Fox informs Bruce of the cost of these crimes, both present and future, Batman finds evidence at one of the arson scenes that suggest Roman Sionis is back in Gotham...and he's rebuilding the False Face Society. Tim gets a background lesson on the Black Mask, Sarah doesn't approve of her husband's Gordon dependence on Batman, Batman & Robin manage to avert the latest arson attempt but it may all be for naught as the new right-hand man for Roman delivers a bloodied Lucius Fox to the Black Mask. Great set-up and ending, terrific issue. And yes, ANOTHER Part One of a two-part story! ARGH!!! #487 by Moench. There's a assassination contract out on Commissioner Jim Gordon. An assassin called Headhunter (for he's never missed shooting & killing his target) arrives in Gotham to collect. Gordon, not intimidated in the least, goes out on his own to find and confront this assassin first. His wife Sarah is fearful of Jim's chances of surviving but knows she's can't dissuade him. So she turns oh-so-reluctantly to the vigilante she hates to try to save her husband's life. But Batman isn't up to his normal standards. Can he save Jim Gordon from an assassin's bullet? A Done-In-One story (thank you!) this one had great drama and suspense, you really feel the anger and angst of Sarah having to turn to Batman for help yet the final resolution is satisfying. All together, a fine batch of Batman comics with excellent art by Aparo.
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