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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 17, 2018 23:57:13 GMT -5
Defenders #68 Creative Team: DAK and Hannigan-story, Herb Trimpe and Pablo Marcos-art, Heinl & Sharen-letters & colors, Al Milgrom-edits, Shooter-paperwork Synopsis: Barbara/Val brings Patsy & Kyle and Hulk to Ollerus and they are conned into aiding the idiot in the shark helmet. They go off to face Hela's forces, led by Harokin. In the midst of battle, the real Val shows up and she and Babs go at it, and Babs cons Hulk into believing Val is the phony. He hits her and Aragorn with a boulder and knocks her down; but, Babs goes all Roseanne-on-Twitter and they see she is nuts, and Hulk decides to smash the other side. Harokin picks up Val and she rejoins the fight and Ollerus starts losing. he brings his magical Shark Mountain into play and Hulk smashes an entire mountain!  Ollerus loses, Hela turns up, whisks him off to Niffelheim and leaves Valhalla to Harokin. Babs goes to Hel, as well and Val gets to go back to Earth as herself, not Babs; so, Jack Norriss is royally screwed, if he returns. The end. Oh, and despite the previous issue's bait-and-switch cover, Doc Strange never gets involved in this. Thoughts: Meh..... This ends up not being all that epic, with a weak villain side and some lackluster art. The whole point seemed to be to get rid of Barbara Norriss and Val's new costume and have her back in the shells. Patsy continues to be written with little depth and rather annoying dialogue. the intent seems to be to recall the earlier version of the character; but, that just doesn't work in a straight superhero book. Howard the Duck, maybe; not the Defenders. The book is in desperate need of some direction, as it has been floundering since the wrap-up of Scorpio, with a few decent to good issues and a lot of disappointing to bad. Also need some consistency on the art. David Anthony Kraft is now off the book, though he would return for issue #89. By his own account he had deadline problems and needed scripting assistance. After a fill in by Jo Duffy, Ed Hannigan will take over as scripter. herb Trimpe will be on art, for a while, before Don Perlin comes in to settle into a long run. Hannigan will script until Steven Grant takes over, to create an ending for Steve Gerber's Omega, then Hannigan returns, eventually turning over to JM DeMatteis. The real glory days of the defenders are behind us; but, there is still plenty of good material to come and some memorable storylines. For one thing, Foolkiller is just down the road. We do have to deal with more Lunatik, though. DAK would work on some Marvel Super Specials and some Marvel Two-in-One, before launching Comics Interview and publishing X-Thieves and Micra, as well as picking up publication of Southern Knights. He was already running Fictioneer Books, and would expand it, over time.
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Post by berkley on Oct 18, 2018 10:57:13 GMT -5
Going by the cover gallery, I think #67 was the last issue I bought while they were coming out on the stands - although I seem to remember something about the Hulk and the mountain-smashing so I might have read or seen #69 at some time later on, even though the cover doesn't look familiar to me at all.
Anyway, yes, like a lot of other Marvel series the Defenders had been slowly losing its attraction for me for some time and at this point I wasn't motivated to carry on with it any further. I do think it was a good idea to get of the whole Barb Norris thing as I much prefer Valkyrie as an Asgardian goddess rather than a mortal woman in an Asgardian body or whatever it was. I'll be curious to see the upcoming reviews. Maybe, after all these years, I'll find myself wanting to read the Defenders beyond the point where I left off way back then. I have picked up a few of those back issues over the years but haven't looked at them much yet.
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Post by brutalis on Oct 18, 2018 11:08:14 GMT -5
For me this was the time when I was really following Defenders. The earlier Gerber runs was just before I was seriously following series or able to find Defenders on a regular basis. It is 1977/78/79/80 while I am in High School and at my optimum buying/collecting teenage mode. At this point it was a more often found comic on the stands as an "established" comic book series rather than a new unknown and untested series. It has good and bad points during this time but overall I was enjoying it. Really liked Trimpe's short run as artist and the upcoming Dematteis and Perlin run is solid and takes the team away from the oddball non-team aspect into seriously quirky, dark and horror territories in making them unique and different from the other teams like Avengers, FF and X-Men.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 18, 2018 13:26:58 GMT -5
I was in and out (access as much as interest) after #50. I had the one issue of this storyline and bits and pieces of upcoming. The only sustained run I had was DeMatteis and Perlin, when they brought in Overmind and the Squadron Supreme.
I lament the fact that Giffen left so abruptly, as his work gave the series character and consistency. Trimpe is not my favorite; not bad, just doesn't do a whole lot for me, stylistically. Perlin wasn't a great stylist, either, but was a good storyteller (Trimpe was too). If Giffen had been more disciplined, Defenders could have been a real superstar run, before Legion. However, he was young, immature and undisciplined and he had to grow to reach those heights, which took a few years. I miss Sal on it, as I think he could have given the Asgard stuff some greater scope. This is a very transitional phase for Marvel, between departures and new management, changes in the industry (emergence of the Direct Market, the Star Wars influence, media properties) and other elements.
I'm getting into more unknown territory, for me (other than Foolkiller and Omega); so this will be pretty fresh.
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Post by berkley on Oct 21, 2018 2:10:38 GMT -5
Totally agree in regards to Giffen: the Kirby-inspired style of his early Marvel work has always looked great to me, derivative thought it was, and I wish he'd been able to handle the workload of a monthly series and so produced a good, long run on the Defenders with DAK.
I'm one of the few (as far as I can tell) people who really loved Don Perlin's artwork, at least when he did his own inks on books like Werewolf by Night and those first few Moon Knight solo stories in Marvel Spotlight. I don't mind what I've seen of his Defenders work but the superhero-team didn't seem to play to his strengths, I must admit. I think it was never less than competent, though - again, from the little I've seen. And of course he wasn't inking himself on the Defenders either.
I like Trimpe a lot, too, so his presence will be another incentive for me to read these "later" Defenders issues.
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Post by brutalis on Oct 22, 2018 8:28:44 GMT -5
Totally agree in regards to Giffen: the Kirby-inspired style of his early Marvel work has always looked great to me, derivative thought it was, and I wish he'd been able to handle the workload of a monthly series and so produced a good, long run on the Defenders with DAK. I'm one of the few (as far as I can tell) people who really loved Don Perlin's artwork, at least when he did his own inks on books like Werewolf by Night and those first few Moon Knight solo stories in Marvel Spotlight. I don't mind what I've seen of his Defenders work but the superhero-team didn't seem to play to his strengths, I must admit. I think it was never less than competent, though - again, from the little I've seen. And of course he wasn't inking himself on the Defenders either. I like Trimpe a lot, too, so his presence will be another incentive for me to read these "later" Defenders issues. You aren't alone in the Perlin love. Inking himself I always "saw" the Ditko influence in his art and i also agree teams were not his strongest work but Sinnott's inking did provide a smooth gloss that was very appealing over Perlin on Defenders. |
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Post by beccabear67 on Oct 22, 2018 14:48:36 GMT -5
Got caught up on reading Defenders from #45-60. It's too bad there was such a revolving door of artists, inkers and writers. I really liked Keith Giffen inked by Mike Royer. Klaus Janson seemed a poor combination to me (great for Miller or Colan but on Perez or Byrne or Giffen it's overpowering their styles). Also weird about those short back up stories in some issues. I knew they had inventory stories but this is the first time I have seen Marvel had short second features like that outside of the annuals.
Another thought... the number of Defenders covers that show the heads of other members reacting! The Avengers did it sometimes too but seemed to happen a lot on this title.
Well, now I'm going to want #61-on, hoping nothing becomes a key or movie tie-in before then. I did have #75 I think (and thought it must've been the last issue for a little while), might be a good place to aim toward whenever I do get to seek after them. Don Perlin could be really good with the right inker. I didn't care as much for his Werewolf By Night stuff only because it followed the incredible Mike Ploog, but there were some great moments here and there!
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 24, 2018 14:55:34 GMT -5
Defenders #69 Bill and Ted's favorite issue.... Creative Team: Mary Jo Duffy-writer, Herb Trimpe-penciller, Al Milgrom-inker & editor, John Costanza-letterer, Bean Sean-color-er, Jim-Shooter (Shooter co-plots, suggesting either fill-in or mentoring newbie Jo Duffy; possibly both) Synopsis: Dr Strange is suddenly here, with Nighthawk, as they examine the remains of the Omegatron, the sentient computer/doomsday weapon that was at the heart of the unification of the original Defenders. Doc gives Kyle and new readers a recap of events of the first battle and the second, when Valkyrie was a member and they see that there is power present and Doc's concealment spell isn't working anymore. Bummer! Meanwhile, some rich types )Jeff and Hillary) play tennis and the dude goes to the animal shelter that helped out the wounded Aragorn, way back and finds some hods trying to rob the place, because animal shelters are loaded with cash, you know? They shoot Jeff and no blood comes out and they flee in panic. He races after, gets past the car and it hits him and gets knocked on its side. We see the dial on the Omegatron equipment creep upwards. Back at the Sanctum, Doc briefs the Defenders....  However, he doesn't know where to find the source of the energy feeding the Omegatron equipment or interfering with his spell. Meanwhile, jeff & Hillary read the newspapers, about the attempted robbery and hope that the publicity will help in their fundraising efforts, for the shelter. Jeff sees a piece about a yacht race and thinks that there will be a lot of cash at the marina and that it might be targeted. He goes down there, in his tennis togs and runs into some hoods, who pull out an array of weapons that shows Herb Trimpe had been reading Guns & Ammo (seriously; he draws a Colt M1911A1 .45 auto, a Walther P-38, a Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 magnum, and what looks like a standard .38 revolver). They shoot, he survives, and the needle on Omegatron goes up more. Jeff swims after the boat and catches it and Doc gets the alert on the Orb of Agamotto and dispatches the Defenders (hopefully using the same voice as the dispatcher on Adam-12... The gang meets up with Jeff, who is standing on a beach, with the boat on its side and the goons laid out. He thinks they are there to recruit him; but, they want to stop him. they can't fight or they will set off doomsday. Patsy engages in lots of cat puns and gets whooped, Val can't beat him with Dragonfang (he turns a branch into a weapon by feeding energy into it. Hulk is about to engage when Doc forces him to transform into Banner (convenient spell, that). The needle is nearing 50 when Nighthawk gets an idea and forces Jeff to chase him and expend energy, without fighting back. Jeff expends the energy and the needle drops back down. Doc is going to exile him when he starts snivelling like a baby and Doc magicks away the doomsday power...  Everything returns to square one. Thoughts: meh...... I can see Shooter's fingers all over the plot, with random guy given immense power (Starbrand) and then runs around in tennis gear (Korvac). This seems so random and forgettable that it had to be a fill in. Apart from the goofiness of Jeff fighting in his tennis clothes (which he never changes out of, even a day later) it is one I could do without, despite the character having the most awesome name on the planet. The only thing of real note in this issue is a letter from one Kurt Busiek, Boxx 88, Room 912-Lawinson, 303 Stadium Place, Syracuse, NY 13210, who takes David Anthony Kraft to task for dull plots, since Scorpio and Power Principle. Oh, yeah? Well, let's see you do any better, bub!
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 24, 2018 15:21:06 GMT -5
Defenders #70 Aw, come on Doc, let Hulk smash and put Lunatik out of our misery! Creative Team:Ed Hanigan-story, Herb Trimpe & Mike Esposito-art, Rick Parker-letters, Bob Sharen-clors, Al Milgrom-edits, Jim Shooter-paychecks Synopsis: The team has returned from their lackluster previous issue and drop off Doc and Banner, while they head up to the riding academy. There, they find a limousine, with Feds from the Justice Department, there to question Kyle Richmond about income tax evasion, securities fraud, and his alleged death. Wait, Feds travelling in a limo? Not under the Carter Administration! Kyle tells them to get bent, that he was cleared in issue #25 and unless they have a subpoena, they can get off his property! Val gets some mail, with her new class schedule and an invite for the campus mixer. Patsy thinks it will be fun and Val exhibits a new personality and agrees. The scene is broken up by a brief glimpse of Doc convincing Banner to change into the Hulk, so he can recruit him for some mission to save humanity. They bug off, leaving Clea confused. Back to Patsy and Val's night out. They are dressed in fashion nightmares (even for the 70s) and turn up at the dance, where Dollar Bill and Prof. Turk greet them. Ledge shows up ranting that Prof Turk is Lunatik and he can prove it. The professor leaves and Val and Patsy decide to tail him. They lose sight of him outside and then see Lunatik prowling around. Val draws Dragonfang and changes into her white costume (guess the return to the shells wasn't permanent) and chases, while Patsy calls Kyle. Val battles Lunatik, whose staff is able to shatter park benches and streetlamps. Patsy runs into Lunatik, who seems to have beaten Val off-panel. He and Patsy tumble around and then Nighthawk shows up and spots Lunatik and takes him out, then wee see all three defenders have apprehended a Lunatik and a crowd gathers. from it, Prof. Turk shouts out that he is Lunatik; then Tony Curtis says it, and Kirk Douglas, etc, etc... Thoughts: I seriously hate the whole Lunatik storyline. Once Giffen was out of the picture he became an annoying character and the storyline just kept spinning its wheels. Huge arrows have been pointd at Prof Turk for a ew issues, now, especially with remarks that he is an odd person, his political stances and defense of Lunatik's actions. Now, they are making the reveal. Whoop-de-s@#$! If only the 1980s Kieth Giffen were handling this (or Gerber) we could have had something. The art is rather murky in the edition I am reading, including the coloring. Not certain if it is the scan or the original. T'ain't perty, I'll tell ya what! Let's hurry this up and get to Foolkiller!
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 24, 2018 15:50:18 GMT -5
Defenders #71 Creative Team: Ed Hanigan-script, Herb Trimpe & Jack Abel-art, John Costanza-letters, Ben Sean-colors, Al Milgrom-edits, Jim Shooter-Ledge model Synopsis: We open with an impromptu court, with Prof Turk defending the Lunatiks to a jury of Defenders and ESU students (Ledge & Dollar Bill). You have to read Marvel Premiere #45 & 46 for backstory, as Turk is Arisen Tyrk, former ruler of his world, who was defeated by Man-Wolf and a band of space warriors (drawn awesomely by George Perez) and seemingly killed. he survived and escaped via a transporter, which bounced him around realities, fragmenting his being. he arrived on Earth and became a drama professor (somehow) and then the other facets of his being showed up and became the three Lunatiks. They have to reunite all for selves to end the Lunatik problem. Whatever; just do it quickly. They go to the Sanctum; but Doc is gone. Clea helps them locate more of Tyrk's selves in another dimension and transports everyone there, where they see some Gandalf-wannabee and then run into ppseudo-hobbits. The little fellas are attacked by Tyrk, from the air (riding giant hawks) and the defenders defend, while the Lunatik's escape, after nabbing Hellcat as a hostage. The Gandalf guy spots Tyrik and let's his weird companion go after him and suddenly the creature becomes te Hulk. They meet up with the defenders and Gandalf turns out to be Dr Strange. Oh, and the Lunatik's quote Devo and the Rolling Stones. Thoughts: Ugh! I should not have to go read a two-part story in another comic to follow along what's happening in this issue, especially if my local newsstand didn't carry Marvel Premiere. Actually, you can skip this and go read that; it's much better, especially the Perez artwork. It's when Man-Wolf was the Stargod, in Other Realm.   The storyline was the conclusion to the events at the end of their run on Creatures On The Loose. Man-Wolf is transported to other realm and joins a group of freedom fighters, battling Arisen Tyrk. He takes on the armor and weapons of the Stargod (whose ruby is the source of Man-Wolf's transformation) and aids in the fight...   Way cooler than this mess! One thing I will say' Trimpe is heavily channelling Ditko, in this one.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 24, 2018 16:09:32 GMT -5
Defenders #72 Creative Team: Hanigan-story, Trimpe and Fred Kida-art, Michael Higgins-letters, Elaine Heinl-colors, Milgrom & Shooter-edits, dogma Synopsis: Val chases the Lunatiks while the rest reunite with Doc and meets the little people, in this tunnel world. doc restores the haks that the Tyrk facets rode and sends them on their way. Val ambushes the Lunatik's and the battle gets heated, when Hulk arrives to even the odds. they round everyone up and Doc warns of greater evil, which prof Turk tries to name; but can't. They head for some mountain, run into a Cthulhu-wannabe, fight, get away and end with a bunch of eyes watching them in the darkness. Oh, and a subplot continues of the Justice Dept. fanatics trying to drum up dirt on Kyle Richmond, with the one guy threatening Kyle's lawyer with disbarment, if he doesn't reveal where he is (you don't have that power, ace!). Thoughts: The "meh" continues. I just don't find this compelling, at all. It's a lot of cliches and rip-offs of better material, all to end a storyline that wasn't that good at the start. Gerber it ain't. It was bad enough when they were just ripping off the Joker and the Creeper (and some other Ditko work) and confined it to ESU; but, now we've added Lord of the Rings and Lovecraft and it still hasn't gotten interesting. The art is better this issue, for what that is worth. The Justice Department subplot is a joke. they already admit that the IRS had cleared Kyle of charges and laid blame on Pennysworth, and present no new evidence, other than gut feeling. Even under J Edgar Hoover, the FBI and Justice Department didn't operate like this. No evidence means no subpoena's or warrants. Threatening a lawyer for protecting his client's interests would get the whole thing thrown out of a court immediately and the Justice Department cannot instantly disbar a lawyer. The state in which he is licensed to practice law would have to do that, after an investigation and hearing. Someone tell Hanigan to consult Bob Ingersoll. I suppose this is supposed to be more Nixonian commentary or something, though we are into the Carter Administration, at this point. The book needs a major shot in the arm. All they are getting right now are air bubbles.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 24, 2018 16:25:31 GMT -5
Defenders #73 The Conclusion of the Lunatik "Saga!" About f@#$%^& time! Creative Team: Ed Hanigan-story, Herb Trimpe & Mike Esposito-art, Ben Sean-colors, Clem Robbins-letters, Al Milgrom and Jim Shooter-better get off their hinders and end this. Synopsis: The eyes that were watching the Defenders turn out to belong to shaggy creatures, who vaguely resemble Xemnu (minus the yamaka), attack, after Doc shows the Defenders a Modern Design house, which is the home of Xhoohx, the master wizard. They are taking the Tyrk facets there, to be reunited (and it feels so good....). Hulk pretty much single-handedly defeats them, Nighthawk breaks inside the house, which is actually a fortress and opens the front door for the team. They go inside and find an inner castle that looks like it was carved out of petrified salt or something. They find Xhoohx and he agrees to reunite Tyrk, who promptly unleashes a magic butt-whooping on Dr Strange and the defenders. He ends up on top of a mountain raining down magic thunderbolts, when Val attacks and knocks him flying towards a mystical circle, created by Doc, Clea and Xhoohx, which sends Tyrk into some otherworldly prison. The gang goes home. Kyle finds out about his legal problems and goes to sort them out. Hulk goes off to be alone and we end with Ledge and Dollar Bill looking through prof Turk's apartment and their running into Foolkiller. Thoughts: FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nothing of real note here; mediocre end to a mediocre story. let's hope that business picks up, with Foolkiller as Marvel raids more of Steve Gerber's unfinished work.
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Post by rberman on Oct 24, 2018 16:50:01 GMT -5
Defenders #71Thoughts: Ugh! I should not have to go read a two-part story in another comic to follow along what's happening in this issue, especially if my local newsstand didn't carry Marvel Premiere. Actually, you can skip this and go read that; it's much better, especially the Perez artwork. It's when Man-Wolf was the Stargod, in Other Realm. How was the mix of comics on a newsstand or spinner rack determined? |
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 24, 2018 16:51:42 GMT -5
Defenders #74 Not sure why we have the color effect on FK; but, it looks better than his actual interior costume, with blue on blue. Creative Team: Ed Hanigan-story, Herb Trimpe and Steve Mitchell-art, Irv Watanabe-letters, George Roussos-letters, Al Milgrom inks, Jim Shooter-hiding from Foolkiller (probably Milgrom, too, after the last few issues) Synopsis: Foolkiller says hello and wants to know where Turk is. Ledge and Dollar Bill rant/cower (respectively) and Foolkiller acts imbalanced, the recounts how he took over from the original Foolkiller, from Man-Thing and Omega and how he witnessed a mugging. he was going to "purify" the mugger and, instead, decided to follow him. he found out he was an addict, who led him to a dope dealer, whol led him to a loan shark, who Foolkiller confronted with his Purifier Ray. The man broke down and demanded to be killed and Foolkiller found poetry in his heart and let him live. He then heard about Lunatik and went to hunt him down, only to be beaten to the punch. Dollar Bill takes him to meet the Defenders. At the Riding Academy, Clea, Patsy and Val are having a hen party (boy has Val changed) and they then see Kyle return with his lawyer. Kyle proceeds to resign, to focus on his legal issues and tells the gang they can stay at the academy. Dr Strange is in Atlantis, recruiting Namor to fight the "Unnameable One." Hulk stops some kids from stealing a horse, for a prank and chases them into the waiting arms of Patsy. hulk goes off to be alone. Dollar Bill is riding the train with Foolkiller and his friends Richard Rory and Amber Grant, as they head for Long Island. The train is interrupted by the Hulk, who is sitting on the tracks, sulking. Everyone gets tossed around and the engineer yells at the Hulk. Bad move! Hulk smashes the railroad, passengers cheer (obviously a bit of commuter commentary here) and jumps away. Dollar Bill brings in Foolkiller to meet the ladies and he questions Val about Dragonfang. She remarks how she has to use the flat of the blade to keep from killing people and FK attacks her (and the rest) as a fool. Thoughts: This is a bit more like it, as Hanigan tries to follow in Gerber's footsteps. He doesn't really manage it; but, it's better than the previous several issues. Trimpe draws a rather odd looking Valkyrie and, at times, a rather homely looking one. She a valkyrie, man; she should be seven feet tall with a cleavage you could ski down (tm Red Dwarf) and make Farrah Fawcett look mousey! Mostly set-up, putting Kule on the sidelines for a bit. More fun next issue.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 24, 2018 17:14:18 GMT -5
Defenders #71Thoughts: Ugh! I should not have to go read a two-part story in another comic to follow along what's happening in this issue, especially if my local newsstand didn't carry Marvel Premiere. Actually, you can skip this and go read that; it's much better, especially the Perez artwork. It's when Man-Wolf was the Stargod, in Other Realm. How was the mix of comics on a newsstand or spinner rack determined? No idea, really, as far as individual titles. Most newsstands had a distributor who supplied them with comics and magazines (and paperback books). Size of the newsstand would determine some things, as a bigger one would have greater variety. Returns were handled via the affidavit system, as covers were stripped off to be returned as credit on new orders and the magazines destroyed, after their off sale date (usually the cover date, which was 2-3 months ahead of when it was released.) As the 70s wore on, magazines had increased in price, due to inflation and basic economics of the the progression from the 40s. Comics had held back, reducing page count and increasing advertising, until you got less than 20 pages of story, for about $.35. A lot of newsstands cut back on comics or ordered minimal numbers, because their margin on them was so low. This is part of why Whitman was focusing so hard on their bagged comic program, selling them to toy stores and department stores, in bulk. Most newsstands that carried more than a few comics had an assortment. Usually, they would ask for the big name titles and ones that sold well for them, which is part of why you could always find Superman and Batman on the newsstands; as well as Spider-Man and the bigger Marvel books (especially Hulk, when the tv series was on); but, you might not find Marvel Premiere or Defenders. You would definitely find Star Wars, at this point, as anything with the name on it sold well (still pre-Empire ). In some cases, the distributor might bundle titles together-to get certain popular ones you might have to take some of the leser titles. DC was able to do this quite a bit. One of the reasons Marvel (and then DC) focused so strongly on the Direct Market was that they could better sell their smaller titles, as they could more directly target that audience. They also didn't have to over-print, in hopes of selling enough to at least break even. Since the comics were non-returnable (in most cases), they could have smaller print runs; but, sell a greater percentage of them. After that, it was the comic shop's problem. This is why the editorial departments started focusing more on comic shop owners and the distributors, rather than readers and began aiming more at die-hards and collectors, rather than a general audience. In the short term, it increased their revenue. In the long term, it destroyed their mass market and when the bottom started dropping out of the collector market, they had nowhere to go. Thus, we are at the state we are in now, where t-shirts with Marvel branding sell more than Marvel Comics, combined. Before the Direct Market and the spread of comic specialty shops, you might have to go to two or more newsstands to find all of the comics you wanted, in a month. One might have more DC than Marvel, one might have more horror titles, one might have other companies (Harvey, Archie, Charlton). One might have the same titles consistently and another might not have the next issue of a book that was there last month (or two months ago, for some titles). if you were like me, living in a rural town with no newsstand, you were at the mercy of trips to the city and whatever happened to be on the stand, at the time. I tended to shy away from Marvel, with continued stories, as DC tended to be self contained. In the later 70s and early 80s, I could usually find a consistent mix of titles in a couple of locations (a newsstand at a grocery store about 5 miles away, in the next town and a bookstore, in Decatur, IL), plus the Whitman sets. I didn't encounter Direct Market comics until I was a senior in high school and a comic shop until my freshman year of college (1984). At that point, I could usually find X-Men and Legion of Superheroes at the nearby grocery store (riding my bike for the 10+ mile round trip) and things like Frank Miller Daredevil in Decatur (as well as New Teen Titans, Justice League and a few others). I would also pick up wrestling magazines at that bookstore, and sci-fi and men's adventure paperbacks (Executioner, et al). |
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