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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 8, 2021 10:28:10 GMT -5
April 1981.
Avengers #209. I had already subscribed, and it was too late to back out... I think that one had artwork by Alan Kupperberg, an artist whose work I really disliked on super-heroes. I wanted George Perez when I subscribed, dammit! :-(
Conan #124. The art is O.K., the script is O.K., the book is... O.K. At least it still had something of a supporting cast.
Man-Thing #11, with art by Val Mayerik (who had a long history with the character). This final issue is interesting in that we get to see Chris Claremont, Jim Shooter and Louise Jones (now Simonson) in it, but the entire second volume of Manny was something of a disappointment when compared to the Steve Gerber run.
Micronauts #31. I was continuing to fall out of love with the mag. (And for a Frank Miller cover, that one was somewhat lackluster).
Savage Sword of Conan #65. Art by Gil Kane, which should have pleased me to no end, but some pages were barely sketched as the dreaded deadline doom approached.
X-Men #147, in which Storm goes Dark Phoenix (or the equivalent). I was still upset by the loss of the Byrne/Austin art team, although Dave Cockrum did a honest job. But darn it, how I hate the concept and the character of Arcade.
What if..? #27. "What if Phoenix had not died"? Jean Grey would have had a few more adventures with the X-Men and destroyed the Earth. That made me a little less sad at losing her; this comic confirmed that the status quo ante wouldn't have been sustainable. (I believed in the seriousness of What if..? in those days; if it said "that's what would have happened", then it was true).
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Post by berkley on Apr 8, 2021 17:20:16 GMT -5
When I look back at the Avengers, it seems that after Englehart left the only thing that kept me reading was George Perez - though even with that, only for a while: I dropped the book after the Korvac Saga when it seemed clear that he had left the book (it was kind of hard to tell because there were so many fill-in issues drawn by another artist during that multi-part story). I've since gone back and tried to find the Perez issues I missed when he came back to the series for a while after I'd stopped following it, but haven't read them yet.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 1, 2021 19:09:28 GMT -5
Yep, it's lawn mowing season and I have cash. MTU and Rom I picked up because of the guest stars; I always liked Paladin (despite the costume) and the heroic Torpedo, introduced in Daredevil. DCP kind of wrapped up the Starman series, from Adventure Comics, and brought Mongul into conflict with him and Superman, after his previous debut. Flash 300 was an anniversary issue, which reflected back on the key stories, as it is presented as all a delusion of the burnt and scarred Barry Allen, a long term patient in a hospital, since the accident that he believes gave him super powers. Interesting idea for a story that is marred by some really bad reproduction as there is a lot of "ghosting" of panels, creating blurred images and bleed through. Also, the plot is a little contrived, though it worked well enough for me. Iron Man runs into Dr Doom and they end up in Camelot! This would spawn a pretty decent What If? issue, with an alternative take on the resolution of the story, that sees Tony stuck in Camelot, dealing with things. Marvel Premiere brought Star Lord, in color, after seeing a bunch of house ads for his magazine appearances. Story was pretty damn weird. X-Men has Cockrum back and introduces Caliban, which leads to the Morlocks, later. Worlds Finest I probably picked up because it had Red Tronado and Captain Marvel. It certainly wasn't or the lead story, with Supes and Bats against Metallo, by Conway and Buckler. That was pretty mediocre to average stuff. The Tornado story wasn't anything special, but I always liked Reddy, in JLA. Captain Marvel featured Don newton, who I loved on the Marvel Family, as he adored those characters. The real gem was JLA #183, as it features George Perez artwork, the true origin of Red Tornado and the preview for Roy Thomas' new All-Star Squadron and what a preview it was! That launched a great little series (for the first 3 years) that I wax nostalgic about elsewhere on this site.
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Post by EdoBosnar on May 2, 2021 8:50:04 GMT -5
I had about 15 titles this month. Some of the highlights/memorable ones for me included DC Comics Presents #36, Iron Man #149 and JLA #193 pictured above by codystarbuck. All really well done stories with very nice art. Other highlights included Fantastic Four #233, the second issue of Byrne's fabled run that featured a low-key Human Torch solo story: What If? #28: I always liked this one far more than the later, fan-favorite 'What if Elektra had lived?' story. This one was just really fun, and made me wish for an ongoing alternate history series in which Matt Murdock is a SHIELD agent (kind of like the de-powered FF story made me want Byrne to do an alt-history Fantastic Challengers of the Unknown series). Two others I had were memorable more due to their similar covers, ASM #219 and Captain America #260: I remember there was even an editor's note in one of the letter's pages in that or the following month in which said editor pointed out that the matching covers were entirely coincidental.
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Post by chaykinstevens on May 2, 2021 9:31:14 GMT -5
Bought new: Conan the Barbarian #125 Daredevil #174 DC Colins Presents #36 Doctor Strange #48 Fantastic Four #233 Green Lantern #143 House of Mystery #295 Justice League of America #193 Legion of Super-Heroes #278 Marvel Premiere #61 Master of Kung Fu #103 Micronauts #32 Moon Knight #10 New Teen Titans #10 Weird War Tales #102
Bought later: Amazing spider-Man #219 Defenders #98 Iron Man #149 Ka-Zar the Savage #6 Marvel Team-Up #108 Rom #21 Warlord #48
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Post by codystarbuck on May 2, 2021 11:49:52 GMT -5
I had about 15 titles this month. Some of the highlights/memorable ones for me included DC Comics Presents #36, Iron Man #149 and JLA #193 pictured above by codystarbuck. All really well done stories with very nice art. Other highlights included Fantastic Four #233, the second issue of Byrne's fabled run that featured a low-key Human Torch solo story: What If? #28: I always liked this one far more than the later, fan-favorite 'What if Elektra had lived?' story. This one was just really fun, and made me wish for an ongoing alternate history series in which Matt Murdock is a SHIELD agent (kind of like the de-powered FF story made me want Byrne to do an alt-history Fantastic Challengers of the Unknown series). Two others I had were memorable more due to their similar covers, ASM #219 and Captain America #260: I remember there was even an editor's note in one of the letter's pages in that or the following month in which said editor pointed out that the matching covers were entirely coincidental. I got the What If? later and agree it was the better of the two Miller Daredevil ones, especially since Miller undid his original ending and a What If? became a moot point.. Another favorite from this era was the Dazzler issue, which explored the idea of Dazzler being the permanent herald for Galactus, after she worked temporarily for him, to capture Terrax, in her own series.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on May 3, 2021 10:36:05 GMT -5
Purchased in May 1981, lo so many moons ago...
Avengers #210, in which we meet weather-themed bad guys called THE WEATHERMEN. Such excitement... Be still my beating heart, as in "you can stop beating, now".
Conan #125, with a rare instance of a Terry Austin-inked Conan cover. The story has too many elements of the "magic that can solve plot problems" persuasion for my taste.
Hulk Annual #10. It features Captain Universe (and, I believe, early Rick Leonardi art), but it was nothing like the early appearances of Cap in The Micronauts. I barely remember the issue, which I probably haven't read since the early '80s. I think it's Banner who gets Captain Universed, but I don't remember exactly.
Iron Man #149. It is sort of surprising in this day and age, but there was a time when Dr. Doom had never met Iron Man one to one! I liked how Doom referred to Iron Man as a lackey, not knowing that Shellhead was Tony Stark himself and not a lowly bodyguard.
Ka-Zar #6. It was the first Jones/Anderson Ka-Zar I read, and I was pleasantly surprised by how un-Tarzanish the book was. Ka-Zar talked like a regular fellow, and didn't down-talk civilization's perks.
King Conan #7, in which Conan very anticlimactically disposes of King Yezdigerd of Turan, who had been groomed by Roy Thomas to be his lifelong and greatest non-sorcerous enemy. I think that Conan also has sex with Queen Yasmina (from People of the Black Circle) in this issue, because how could things like marital vows stand in the way of fanboy fantasies?
Marvel Premiere #61, featuring Star-Lord. An O.K. issue with Tom Sutton art; kind of like an episode of The Twilight Zone in space. Or The Outer Limits.
Master of Kung Fu #103, and cover me in honey and serve me to the ants if Gene Day wasn't just a brilliant successor to Mike Zeck.
Micronauts #32. More running after magical McGuffins in exotic locales. Only, cold ones. There is a particular image of a faraway cavern that Broderick drew especially well in there; I still remember it with admiration.
Spectacular Spider-Man #57, for which Jim Shooter himself provided the breakdowns!!! (I think that's why this issue's villain, Killer Shrike, was also pencilled by Shooter in the Marvel Universe Official Handbook).
Savage Sword of Conan #66. If memory serves, this was an inventory issue left by Roy Thomas when he moved to DC. Art wise, I regret to say that Ernie Chan is not a good match for Ernie Colón's pencils. Colón requires a crisper, more cartoony inker; Chan's lush brushwork sort of works at cross-purpose with the pencils here.
X-Men #148. That's the issue Dave Cockrum took forever to draw, from what I read in an interview, because it had a disco in it and Cockrum hates discos, and it had Dazzler in it and he hates Dazzler! The issue also introduces Caliban. Perhaps my issue is now worth a ton of money due to an upcoming TV series or somet... aaah no, never mind: Caliban was already in a movie, and past movies don't count for speculators. Bummer!
Warlord #48. I don't know if I can list it here since I bought it in a second-hand bookshop... but it was, like, just a few weeks after it saw print. It has the first appearance of Arak, son of Thunder, a character who would eventually go up to position #1 on my list of favourite heroes. (Colón was again matched with a less than ideal inker, Tony DeZuniga. Apparently Roy Thomas really enjoyed their pairing, but to me it was a mismatch. Colón should have inked his own work, dammit!)
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,269
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Post by shaxper on May 4, 2021 3:57:47 GMT -5
May 1981: Amazing Heroes #2 (Love that Perez cover) Avengers #210 Batman #338 (much as I love parts of the Conway run, he had some nasty rough spots too, and this was one of them) Detective Comics #505 Iron Man #149 (The idea of Doom vs. Iron Man impresses me more than I actually remember this story) Marvel Premiere #61 (I got really into Star-Lord about a decade ago. Probably need to sell these early appearances when the next film drops) Master of Kung Fu #103 New Teen Titans #10 (Reviewed this one here) Uncanny X-Men #148
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Post by EdoBosnar on May 4, 2021 4:01:26 GMT -5
(...) Hulk Annual #10. It features Captain Universe (and, I believe, early Rick Leonardi art), but it was nothing like the early appearances of Cap in The Micronauts. I barely remember the issue, which I probably haven't read since the early '80s. I think it's Banner who gets Captain Universed, but I don't remember exactly. (...) Yep, Banner gets Cap't Universed and saves the world from nuclear Armageddon or something like that. Not a bad story, but I think the best part is when he gets the powers he briefly thinks it's because he's finally meant to get rid of the Hulk that way. But yeah, nothing really matched the first appearance of the good Captain in Micronauts. I also found the stories in the revived Marvel Spotlight, with Steve Ditko doing the art, rather lackluster as well.
My first issue was #3, and I had the same impression: I loved that Ka-Zar was a smart aleck who talked normal. And having him and Shanna be a couple was a really good idea. The series became a must-read for me (even bought a subscription when it went direct market).
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Post by Ozymandias on May 18, 2021 14:11:20 GMT -5
I still remember the paper on this one being better than what this publisher had been using so far. It appears they kept employing it for some issues, but I just recall this one instance, imagine the impression such a trivial change made on me. BTW, this was the first apearence of Hydro-Man, the reason why I haven't purchased it again yet. Maybe when the rumors die down it'll come to its senses, price-like.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jun 1, 2021 8:18:32 GMT -5
Hard to believe it was 40 years ago; it really feels like the day before yesterday. Sic transit gloria mundi. Bought in June 1981 : Micronauts #33 : Oh, look, another new character I will loathe! Remember that cool lady, Jasmine? Remember the faitfhul Biotron? Never mind those losers! Now we have Nanotron and Devil! Moon Kinght #11, which was I believe my first issue. Utterly blown away by Sienkiewicz's art. Savage Sword of Conan #67, which is another inventory story left by Roy Thomas after his departure. Glad as I was to have a story that actually acknowledges continuity (it is set after " The Pool of the Black One", issues 22-23), I was annoyed by the continuity error that it makes in causing Conan to give up his ship too early (and in very uncharacteristic fashion). Which makes me wonder... Do I prefer an actual continuity with errors in it, or no continuity whatsoever? Oh, the dilemma! Arak #1, a new series that would become my favourite one just a few months down the line. The pre-Crisis "New DC" was really knocking it out of the ballpark. Batman #339, a chance find at the newsstand... I didn't read Batman regularly, and had little idea who Poison Ivy was. Still, a comic was a comic! Here's my money! Flash #301. I don't remember anything about that comic except its cover. Another chance encounter at the newsstand. Secrets of Haunted House #40. I used to cherish the digests by French pubisher Artima, translating DC's mystery books... So whan I saw that issue, I couldn't resist. Only three stories for 50 cents, though...The digests had 180 pages for a dollar! Avengers #211, with a new recruitment drive. We end up with something like the original team, plus Cap and Tigra. Conan #126, in which we get rid of our supporting cast. Again. X-Men #149. Oh, How I enjoyed this one! Revisiting X-Men #115, this issue gave me the impression that there might be life after Byrne after all. Epic Illustrated #7, with lots and lots of Barry Windsor-Smith art. I loved Epic. Fantastic Four #234, my first exposure to Byrne's FF. I was really taken aback by Byrne's very busy backgrounds, and his drawing characters like regular people (Reed even looks skinny, with a large head) rather than like "proper" superheroes. I wasn't sure I liked it. But if turth be told, I would be won over quickly enough and even subscribed a few months later. Marvel Super Special #19, adapting the film For Your Eyes Only. A ghastly adaptation, if truth be told; it reads like a fill-in produced at breakneck pace. I was a huge Bond fan back then and would have oved something that could compare to, say, the adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back. Alas... Marvel Team-Up #109. I probably thought that having the Dazzler in a book would bring in some of the past magic of X-Men #130. Nope. Master of Kung Fu #104. Insane layouts by Gene Day! The man was astonishing with his elaborate backgrounds! The new fight with The Cat is however disappointing. Raiders of the Lost Ark #1. My favourite film of that era, but definitely not my favourite adaptation. Star Wars #51. I love that Simonson art! Dazler #8. Intriguing cover, forgettable issue. Marvel Team-Up annual #4. If I didn't include that issue in my favourite comic-books ever, it must have been a very close runner-up. It's brilliant! The Purple Man is a villain who can make people obey him, just by asking them. After years engaging in fistfights with costumed heroes, he thought "who needs the grief?" and decided to use his talent to pursue the life of a gentleman of leisure. Not the sadistic maniac from the Alias comic or the TV series, he's just a man with no morals living the good life because he can. Unfortunately, the Kingpin is immune to his power... and therein lies the crux of the plot. Highly enjoyable and original! Script by Frank Miller (who did the cover) and art by Herb Trimpe.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,269
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Post by shaxper on Jun 1, 2021 8:43:55 GMT -5
June 1981: Avengers #211 Batman #339 (reviewed this one a long, long while back) Bizarre Adventures #27 (Man, was I excited to acquire this one back in the 2000s!) Daredevil #175 DC Special Series #26 (just picked this one up last month!) Detective Comics #506 (this is where I've left off in my Batman Family Review Thread) Elfquest #10 Epic Illustrated #7 (Still one of my favorite runs in all of comicdom! Reviewed the lead features here) Iron Man #150 Master of Kung Fu #104 New Teen Titans #11 (reviewed it here) Price (SO GOOD! Reviewed it here) Uncanny X-Men #149
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Post by EdoBosnar on Jun 1, 2021 12:57:46 GMT -5
Another big month for me, with about 20 titles. Some of this months highlights for me: All Star Squadron #1 After missing out on the first issue of New Teen Titans about a year before, even though my appetite was whetted by the free insert preview in DC Comics Presents #26, I was extra-vigilant about finding a copy of this one (after a similar free insert preview in JLA). I was so on board for this and followed the series pretty steadily for the next two or so years. Best of DC #16, DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest #13 I just can't emphasize enough how much I loved DC's digest line. Bizarre Adventures #27 I actually received this sometime later in the summer; I ordered it from Lone Star's back issue catalogue (one of my first-ever orders from them). Back then, this was all just so cool to me: three solo X-men stories in a big, 'adult' black & white magazine. The stories are actually pretty solid, and the art in all three, by Cockrum, Perez and John Buscema, is lovely. Fantastic Four #234 Byrne just kept knocking them out of the park as far I was concerned. But this one indeed contains a really good story. Iron Man #150 A double-sized extravaganza - I absolutely loved this one. Little did I suspect, though, that it was basically the peak of the famed Michelinie/Layton run on that title. They stuck around for a while longer, but it slowly started to go down hill from here... Krypton Chronicles #1 Yet another mini-series giving us explanations and back-stories for stuff we didn't even know we wanted. I was completely on board at the time, but I didn't enjoy this one as much as the World of Krypton and Secrets of the Legion minis that preceded it. Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #58 There were many other titles out this month that I had and liked better (i.e., this month's issues of JLA, New Teen Titans, X-men, Daredevil, Captain America, etc., etc.), but for some reason, this one sticks in my memory so much, mainly because the art is by John Byrne, with inks by Vince Colletta - and unlike most people apparently (including the cantankerous Byrne) I really liked the combination. World's Finest #271 An anniversary issue, with no back-ups this time; instead the whole book contains a single story in which scripters Roy Thomas, E. Nelson Bridwell and Jack Harris string together and explain all of the 'first times' Superman and Batman had met. So much ( so, so much) continuity porn. I ate this up back then. And the art, by Buckler and McLaughlin, is quite nice.
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Post by dbutler69 on Jun 1, 2021 14:07:56 GMT -5
Bought on the newsstand: Avengers #211 Bizarre Adventures #2 Daredevil #175 Fantastic Four #234 Fantastic Four Annual #16 Iron Man #150 Justice League of America #194 Legion of Super-Heroes #279 Micronauts #33 New Teen Titans #11 Raiders of the Lost Ark #1 Rom #22 Uncanny X-Men #149
Bought much more recently: All-Star Squadron #1 Arak/Son of Thunder #1 DC Comics Presents #37 Marvel Two-in-One #80
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 1, 2021 21:37:53 GMT -5
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