|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Mar 3, 2020 14:07:46 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on Mar 3, 2020 15:49:24 GMT -5
I feel very uncomfortable about these comics seeming relatively new to me. Sheesh, life is fleeting.
March 1990...
Adventures of Luther Arkwright #2. Talbot's brilliant and Moorcockesque uchronia is one of my favourite comic-book storylines, ever.
Cerebus #132. Jaka's story felt a little artsy-fartsy at times, what with the long text pages that were not particularly gripping; but issues like this show what a master of the comic-book medium Dave Sim is.
Elsewhere Prince #1: We revisit the world of Moebius's Airtight Garage in what was a graphically splendid (Eric Shanower, eh?) but otherwise standard SF/fantasy story.
Ghost Rider #1. Nice art by Texeira, nice redesign for the character, but I really wanted to read more about Johnny Blaze and not about a new dude.
Hellblazer #29. I know I read it, but have no recollection of that comic.
Iron Man #265. I was curious about where this new arc would go, what with the return of John Romita Jr. on the art. He managed to make the new armor look good, too, which was pleasantly surprising. (That was before Iron Man changed armours like car makers change models; when there was a new one, it tended to stay for a long while). So the book was back on my list! (As I recall, this new "armor wars" involved a new take on the Mandarin, which was intriguing, but it eventually petered out and I dropped the book again).
Legends of the dark knight #6. This was a Grant Morrison story, right? With the Devil in it? (I was not a fan of Morrison even back then, but I tried it. I dropped the book at the end of the arc; a new "Batman: year one" it was not.)
Legion of Super-heroes #7. The first two years of the 5YL era were like candy for me, especially these early issues.
Swamp Thing #95. The mag had lost a lot of its appeal after Rick Veitch's departure, but it was still decent. I held on for a few more issues.
Uncanny X-Men #261. Ooooh, that's the one with Hardcase and the Harriers, the issue where I thought that Chris Claremont had totally jumped the shark!!! Truly the nadir of the mag in that era. As I recall it would pretty soon regain its footing, by returning its focus to supporting characters and situations we actually cared about, but this one was pretty bad.
What if..? #13, with the X-Men. I don't recall much about it, except that overall I never cared much for the second volume of What if..?
X-Factor #54. I must have been badly addicted to the X-characters, as I bought that mag as well... even though I thought none of the X-books were enjoyable at the time.
X-Men/Starjammers #1. No, not even that one. Dave Cockrum on the art was a big draw, of course, and I loved the Starjammers... but the script was... Well... A Phoenix-like power called "Phalkon"? Uuuuurkh...
No Conan book whatsoever. Those were the bad old years for the Cimmerian, and the "Conan year one" arc begun in this month's issue of Conan the barbarian was, as I was to learn when reading it years later, better left unread. It was actually so bad that Roy Thomas retconned it away in his first issue when he came back to the character!!!
|
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 3, 2020 15:56:59 GMT -5
I feel very uncomfortable about these comics seeming relatively new to me. Sheesh, life is fleeting. March 1990... Swamp Thing #95. The mag had lost a lot of its appeal after Rick Veitch's departure, but it was still decent. I held on for a few more issues. The Rick Veitch situation was an absolute disaster for the book. Not only were we deprived of the ending of his storyline but Neil Gaiman and Jamie Delano had been tapped to be the next two writers after Veitch ended up his run. They dropped out over the shabby treatment of Veitch and we got Doug Wheeler whose run was...not very good. Swamp Thing really never recovered. |
|
|
|
Post by adamwarlock2099 on Mar 11, 2020 8:48:37 GMT -5
January 1990
Animal Man #21
Batman #444, 445
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #4
Incredible Hulk #367
New Mutants #87 [Variant]
Sensational She-Hulk #13
Silver Surfer #35
Suicide Squad #38
Wolverine #22
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Apr 1, 2020 14:53:05 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 1, 2020 15:56:25 GMT -5
The adventures of Luther Arkwright #3, or all the joy of reading a Michael Moorcock comic that isn’t written by Michael Moorcock. So much goodness by Bryan Talbot! His cultural, political, historical and pop references made this feel so… intellectual!!! Like I should really read it on a college campus, smoking a pipe (or a hookah), with a pile of books by Castaneda and Proust next to me! Great adventure, too!
Cerebus #133, and Jaka’s story continues… a beautiful, slow-burning tale. I must admit that Gerhard's background probably steal the show.
Daredevil #281. I can’t say enough good about Nocenti’s Daredevil. She managed to have ol’ hornhead go against Ultron, the inhumans and now the Devil, and none of it feels forced!!! Talk about daring NOT redoing the Miller run!
Elsewhere Prince #2. Well, I started it… might as well continue. Shanower's art is nice, but the whole thing has a sort of "Before Watchmen" feel... an unnecessary enterprise, done by competent people, but that we could have done without.
Excalibur #23, with a cross-time caper that was less funny and original than many said at the time. But at least Kitty and Kurt acted in character, which wasn’t the norm for the people in the other X-books.
Hellblazer #30, still going strong despite too many recent fill-ins.
Legion of super-heroes #8… The origin of the LSH, again??? guess it was necessary, due to the partial reboot in earlier issues. (I really like Laurel Gand as a replacement for Kara).
Nick Fury #12. Little by little, the Earth-shaking events from the Nick Fury vs SHIELD maxi series are undone and we’re going back to the status quo.
Sandman #16. A magnificent series, no argument there. I doubt it had even one bad issue!
Swamp Thing #96. Should I buy it? No? Yes? Well, a habit is a hard thing to break… but this thing really feel a little warmed over. Hey, let's stick around til issue 100.
Uncanny X-Men #262. Be still my beating heart… an issue about actual characters from the X-Men and not boring losers like Hardcase and the Harriers or the Reavers? What's next, a return to character development and intricate sub-plots? (actually yes, but I wasn't sure at the time).
Starjammers #2: second and last part of an underwhelming series. Nice Cockrum art.
I am surprised by how few issues I got that month, again. I remembered that era as one in which I’d be at the LCS every week, buying tons of stuff! Memory isn't all that reliable, apparently.
|
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Apr 2, 2020 7:59:02 GMT -5
April 1990
Avengers 318
Avengers West Coast 59
Batman 448
Black Knight 1
Captain America 371
Captain Atom 41
Detective 64/65
Doc Savage 20
FF 341
Firestorm 98
Flash 39
GI Joe 101
Guardians of Galaxy 1
Hawkworld 1
Jughead Time Police 1
LOSH 8
Thor 418
Mister Miracle 16
Nth Man 13
Quasar 11
Star Trek 9
Star Trek Annual 1
STNG 9
Starman 23
Suicide Squad 41
|
|
|
|
Post by adamwarlock2099 on May 4, 2020 11:22:36 GMT -5
May 1990
Animal Man #25
Batman #449-451
Incredible Hulk #371
Legends of the Dark Knight #8
Marvel Comics Presents #53-55
Marvel Graphic Novel:Silver Surfer:The Enslavers HC
Silver Surfer #39
Wolverine #26, 27
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on May 4, 2020 13:59:42 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on May 5, 2020 7:58:01 GMT -5
Adventures of Superman 468
Spider-Man 334/335
Avengers 319
Avengers West Coast 60
Batman 450/451
Black Knight 2
Captain Atom 42
Deathlok 1
Demon 1
Doc Savage 21
Doom Patrol 34
FF 342
Firestorm 99
Flash 40
GI jOE 102
Green Arrow 33
Guardians of Galaxy 2
Hawkworld 2
LOSH 9
Thor 419
Mister Miracle 17
New Warriors 1
Quasar 12
Star Trek 10
Star Trek next Gen 10
Starman 24
Suicide Squad 42
Superman 45
|
|
|
|
Post by adamwarlock2099 on Jun 5, 2020 16:15:34 GMT -5
June 1990
Alien Legion #18
Aliens Vs. Predator #1
Aliens:Earth War #1
Animal Man #26
Batman #452
Clive Barker's Hellraiser #3
Deathlok #2
Detective Comics #619
Fantastic Four #343
Ghost Rider #4
Guardians of the Galaxy #3
Incredible Hulk #372
Legends of the Dark Knight #9
Sensational She-Hulk #18
Silver Surfer #40
Spider-Man #1 [Variant A]
Wolverine #28, 29
World's Finest #1
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Jun 5, 2020 21:47:15 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Jun 8, 2020 7:39:37 GMT -5
June 1990:
Avengers 320/321
Avengers West Coast 61
Blackhawk 16
Captain Atom 43
Deathlok 2
Demon 2
Doc Savage22
Doom Patrol 35
Firestorm 100
Flash 41
GI Joe 103
Guardians of the Galaxy 3
Hawkworld 3
Kights of Pendragon 1
Mister Miracle 18
New Warriors 2
Nth Man 15
Quasar 13
Star Trek 11, Next Generation 11, annual 1
Starman 25
|
|
|
|
Post by adamwarlock2099 on Jul 1, 2020 13:27:17 GMT -5
July 1990
Aliens Vs. Predator #0
Animal Man #27
Batman #453, 454
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #10
Dark Horse Presents #43
Detective Comics #621
Ghost Rider #5 [Variant]
Guardians of the Galaxy #4
Incredible Hulk #373
Sensational She-Hulk #19
Silver Surfer #41
Spider-Man #2
Thanos Quest #1
Wolverine #30, 31
World's Finest #2
X-Factor:Prisoner of Love #1
|
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 1, 2020 16:18:40 GMT -5
In July 1990, Ah paid mah money and went home with...
Cerebus #136, continuing the "Jaka's story" arc, with a slow-burn exploration of what a benevolent-sounding totalitarian regime looks like. Scary stuff.
Daredevil #284, at the tail end of Ann Nocenti's run. Lee Weeks hadn't quite yet grown into his own on this title... I missed John Romita Jr. And was DD suffering from depression again? Oy, vey.
Dreadstar #60, a series that was nearing its end. I did enjoy Peter David's more humorous take on the characters, but I'm sure it wasn't to everyone's taste. It was mostly a book about whacky adventures, sort of like Jackie Chan in space, and far removed from the somber tone of, say, The Choice graphic novel.
Elsewhere Prince #5. Hey, it's almost done... I'll stick around.
Excaibur #27 and 28: I don't remember much about those issues... I was buying out of habit, soon to stop.
Hard Boiled #1: Oh, what a ride!!! Geoff Darrow seemed to spend a year on each page!!! Insane tough guy/hard boiled detective/cyberpunk storyline. I came for the extreme and grotesque violence, and stayed for the extreme and grotesque violence.
Hellblazer #33: A nice and quiet issue, very much what I would call an actually "mature" comic: not full of sex, violence and foul language, but reflections on the world we live in and its daily little horrors (like a yuppie friend gushing about Thatcherism).
Legends of the Dark Knight #10: I should re-read the Gothic story line... All I remember is that the devil is in it.
Legion of Super-heroes #11, starring Matter Eater Lad. The 5YL Legion was a lot of fun at this point.
Legion of Super-Heroes Annual #1, focusing on the new timeline's backstory and how Glorith had fared as a retroactive replacement for the the Time Trapper. I'm not sure I really liked Glorith in that role, and her motivations were never all that clear (apart from being, y'know, evil)... but learning that Ultra Boy was just pretending to be a dumb jock all those years so that Glorith wouldn't realize he was on to her game was kind of neat, as was her removing Phantom Girl from that timeline (apparently killing her, but actually sending her into the past) as punishment for poor Jo.
New Mutants #93. with Cable and Wolverine. Goota buy this! Gonna be worth money someday! Gnashing teeth! Posing! Huge guns! Huger shoulder pads! TINY ANKLES! This one has it all.
Sandman #18, with the classic "A Dream of a Thousand Cats". I loved that series.
Sandman #19, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" You don't get classicker than that.
Swamp Thing #99. A title sloooowwwwwlyyyyy dying.
Uncanny X-Men #267 and 268. I may not be a big fan of Jim Lee's artwork or that of his imitators nowadays, but back then I thought he was a god. I admit it. Those two comics heralded a massive change in the X-men comic, which as far as I'm concerned had meandered pointlessly since the mutant massacre in issue #210. I think it also was the first time we confirmed that Logan had been around during WWII. (The Black Widow also being there was a bit of a problem, continuity-wise... was it ever explained how it is that Natasha is so old)?
What if..? #17. No, the answer to "What if Kraven had actually killed Spider-man" is not "who cares, they'll all be back eventually", even though it should be!!!
World's Finest #2, with the amazing artistry of Steve Rude. That is one great mini-series.
X-Factor #58, another title I was buying out of habit. Boring stories and Jon Bogdanove art. It's terrible what that misplaced sense of loyalty to comic-book characters will get you to purchase!
I'm a little surprised by how skewed memory can be. I could have sworn that Sandman was published earlier than this, and Thanos Quest a lot later.
|
|
