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Post by masterofquackfu on Aug 29, 2017 11:06:33 GMT -5
Ah...this group. I never got into them back in the day during their limited series and intermittent appearances in various Marvel mags. But, now, as I look at trying titles that I never really gave a chance, I am considering Squadron. I believe I've read exactly one Squadron Supreme comic and that was sometime in the late 1980's. I guess that I felt that they were a bit "DCish." They always reminded me of the Justice League and seemed like the kind of team that DC would produce. Since the back issues of the group are dirt cheap and fairly abundant, I figure I might give it a chance. Plus, I do like a lot of Mark Gruenwald's work on Quasar and Captain America, and Squadron seemed to be his baby, so perhaps I am missing something with this group? Any Squadron fans out there care to respond? Positives and negatives to their limited series? Thanks.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2017 11:48:33 GMT -5
I never, ever liked this group because it's another cheap way for Marvel Comics to create a group similar to Justice League of America. I don't even bother with it, Honest. Comparison |
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Post by mikelmidnight on Aug 29, 2017 11:59:18 GMT -5
I loved them when they appeared in Avengers and Defenders and got to be occasional satire. I have no interest with them as stars of their own comic.
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Post by Hoosier X on Aug 29, 2017 12:13:02 GMT -5
They were the villains in the first Avengers storyline I ever read back in the mid-1970s. Written by Steve Englehart, art by George Perez! I started reading it with #144 but it had started earlier. I'm gonna say #137. #145 and #146 were a fill-in, then it concluded in #149, I think. And not just the Squadron Supreme! Kang! The Serpent Crown! Patsy Walker! The Beat! Thor and Moondragon travel back to the Old West and meet Two-Gun Kid, Kid Colt and Rawhide Kid for some reason! That's what I suggest. Avengers #137 to #149. I was an Avengers fan FOR LIFE after that. |
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Post by String on Aug 29, 2017 13:23:39 GMT -5
Speaking of Perez...  I've never had a problem with the Squadron but I've liked them best when they appear in contrast with the Avengers. |
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Post by brutalis on Aug 29, 2017 13:33:57 GMT -5
Squadron Supreme by Gruenwald is good. That works fine as a one and done concept of an alternate reality version of the Squadron Sinister that Grue came up with. Ever since though Marvel has pushed the Squadron as "heroes" and for myself they are best served as villains so the Squadron Sinister being true adversaries against the Avengers and Defenders is how I prefer to have the team. I have passed on any version as Supreme good guys and want them being villains again. I liked the idea of Nighthawk from the Sinister turning good while the rest remained evil but the entire team gone heroic is for the most part will always be blah-humbug for me.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Aug 29, 2017 14:11:24 GMT -5
I loved them when they appeared in Avengers and Defenders and got to be occasional satire. I have no interest with them as stars of their own comic. Same here. I thought the tongue-in-cheek take on the JLA was fun for a one-time gag, or maybe for a limited number of return appearances, but not for any ongoing series. The same holds true for the Imperial Guard, who are basically the Legion of Super-heroes. To make these characters work in the long run and not be obvious rip-offs of the original ones, they have to be changed into something else... but then they must stand or fall on the strength of their new incarnation. Gruenwald's maxi-series was an interesting take (particularly since it was not meant as the start of an ongoing series, and didn't shy away from bringing the plot to a logical and final conclusion), but later interpretations have "rip-off" written all over them. (However, it's no longer very clear what is being ripped off... recent Squadron Supreme appearances make them look like Watchmen or the Authority as much as they do the JLA. In any case, I have no interest in them). |
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 29, 2017 15:18:22 GMT -5
I liked the gag, for what it was, in Avengers (and defenders, to a lesser extent). The Gruenwald maxi was fine; but, was kind of "mid-card" level of writing and art. It was entertaining enough but didn't really push the envelope, like Watchmen or other similar fare. Gruenwald just wasn't that edgy of a writer and when you compare the book to other things going on at that time, it seems like a weak attempt by Marvel to latch onto stuff that was going on at DC and some of the indies. Taken on it's own merit, it strives for something bigger than most Marvel comics of the era; I just think it doesn't succeed as much as it strives. The follow ups were really rather bland.
I will say that the Marvel guys did the pastiches better than their DC contemporaries, especially in the 70s. The Heroes of Angar on the Crusaders (in the Freedom Fighters book) don't quite have the same punch.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2017 15:58:28 GMT -5
I guess I was one of the few that liked JMS' take on them in Supreme Power.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 29, 2017 17:56:18 GMT -5
I guess I was one of the few that liked JMS' take on them in Supreme Power. I liked the early issues of that; but, it lost steam quickly. A bit of it felt like a retread of Rising Stars, which wasn't that original to start with. That one seemed to end up a victim of JMS' Hollywood commitments, which derailed more than a few comic book projects from him (including Rising Stars and The Twelve). |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2017 18:01:15 GMT -5
I guess I was one of the few that liked JMS' take on them in Supreme Power. I liked the early issues of that; but, it lost steam quickly. A bit of it felt like a retread of Rising Stars, which wasn't that original to start with. That one seemed to end up a victim of JMS' Hollywood commitments, which derailed more than a few comic book projects from him (including Rising Stars and The Twelve). I never read Rising Stars so I don't know if it was similar. I liked the first 18 issues. When it switched to the Squadron I lost interest. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 29, 2017 18:25:43 GMT -5
I liked the early issues of that; but, it lost steam quickly. A bit of it felt like a retread of Rising Stars, which wasn't that original to start with. That one seemed to end up a victim of JMS' Hollywood commitments, which derailed more than a few comic book projects from him (including Rising Stars and The Twelve). I never read Rising Stars so I don't know if it was similar. I liked the first 18 issues. When it switched to the Squadron I lost interest. Rising Stars isn't exactly the same; but, it features a space-born phenomena, which creates superpowers in in-utero humans, who are then rounded up and studied by the government. Supreme Power didn't exactly copy th plot; but, it shared similar moments and ideas, here and there. The Twelve also has a couple of similar moments, though more in the mystery element of characters being killed off, rather than premise of main plot. Then again, all have mystery elements, authority issues, power issues and the like, which have factored into much of JMS' writing. |
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Post by badwolf on Aug 29, 2017 18:33:09 GMT -5
I enjoyed the limited series when I was a kid. It's a well-regarded book, I believe.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2017 18:37:45 GMT -5
Like String said, and the Squadron Supreme and the Avengers done by Perez. That's was done just right and that's the only time that I enjoyed it to the extent. |
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on Aug 29, 2017 20:16:53 GMT -5
The Gruenwald maxi was fine; but, was kind of "mid-card" level of writing and art. It was entertaining enough but didn't really push the envelope, like Watchmen or other similar fare. Gruenwald just wasn't that edgy of a writer and when you compare the book to other things going on at that time, it seems like a weak attempt by Marvel to latch onto stuff that was going on at DC and some of the indies. I'm going to have to take a little issue here, not to pick on you, but I do hear comparisons between Squadron Supreme and Watchmen regularly. Of course Watchmen is the superior book, especially when it comes to the artwork. But the first issue of Squadron Supreme came out with a cover date of September, 1985, a full year before Watchmen #1, which had a cover date of September, 1986. While Squadron Supreme has certainly been overshadowed by some of the stuff DC did, it also anticipated where DC would later go. I think Squadron Supreme helped push the envelope in mainstream Big 2 comics and paved the way in a sense for other books that followed. |
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