|
|
Post by Icctrombone on Dec 19, 2018 21:08:11 GMT -5
6. The ShadowPublisher - DCYear - 1973Writer- Denny O’neilArtists- Mike Kulata (my signed copy) DC published the Shadow, famous from Pulp magazine and radio fame in 1973. This character I actually was familar with because in NY, they used to broadcast old radio shows in AM Radio and I would listen every week to them. I believe that they were broadcast in the 50’s originally. It was great and, he and his cast Margot and Shrevee, were regulars in those Broadcasts and I was pleasently surprised that they were also included in the comic. The Mike Kulata artwork was new to me and the first 2 issues were pretty amazing. Expecially # 2 which takes place in a circus setting. I had no idea that he was so popular and legendary until he crossed over with an issue of Batman later on and Batman told him he was his inspiration. I remember the house ads promoting the comic with a Black and white drawing by Bernie Wrightson.( Click on spoiler tag) I jumped off when Kulata left the book but still own a signed copy by him of #1 to this day.  {Wrightson} 
|
|
|
|
Post by Paste Pot Paul on Dec 19, 2018 22:03:26 GMT -5
Elric Roy Thomas and P Craig Russell Marvel  Its easy, when I think of Elric the first thing that comes to mind is this image, then anything by P Craig Russell, then daylight. I guess some credit goes to that Moorcock dude but while there have been some beautiful interpretations IMHO none approach Russells. Hate, pain, and anguish, all so easily staring back at us through these beautifully illustrated books. |
|
|
|
Post by foxley on Dec 20, 2018 2:07:37 GMT -5
6. Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor #1 - 5 + Special #1 + Quarterly #1 (Dark Horse, 19995-6) This was an oddball little series, and I sometimes wonder how it got green lit. The only answer I've got is that a lot of comic creators are fans of Harlan Ellison and would have jumped at an opportunity to work with him. This series contained adaptations of short stories by Harlan Ellison. This included well-known stories such as "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream", but also many of his lesser known, seldom anthologized tales like the horror/social critique "Enter the Fanatic, Stage Center". While many of the stories were science fiction (of course), but they spanned the full range of Ellison's output: fantasy, horror, humour, crime, western (no really). The 'hook' of the book was that every issue Harlan would supply a new short story based on the cover. One of these, "Chatting with Anubis," won both the Deathrealm Award and the Horror Writers Association's Bram Stoker Award as best short story of 1995, but as new works are not adaptations they do not affect my judgment for this entry. Dark Horse got some serious talent to work on these adaptations, including John Byrne, Max Allan Collins, John K. Snyder, Nancy A. Collins, Martin Nodell, Rags Morales, Neal Adams, Doug Wildey, Michael T. Gilbert, Phil Foglio ( !), and Len Wein. I can see why this never caught on. I doubt hardcore Harlan Ellison fans were trawling comic book shops looking for new Harlan Ellison stories, and most comic book fans probably weren't enthused about an anthology book where you couldn't be sure what genre the stories were going to be in. To me, the real joy of this book was discovering these obscure Ellison tales, most of which I had ever even heard of. This multiplied by the sheer variety of styles used to render them. Dark Horse collected these as a two volume set, but I don't know what its current availability is.
|
|
|
|
Post by Farrar on Dec 20, 2018 18:02:22 GMT -5
#6 Woody Woodpecker Summer Fun Gold Key (Western), 1966 For nostalgic reasons my favorites list has to include Woody Woodpecker. Woody debuted as a theatrical cartoon in 1940 and the character quickly became extremely popular. The TV cartoon show debuted in 1957. As a kid I watched those cartoons in syndication and according to my mother, I spent a lot of time imitating that famous Woody laugh. Personally I don't recall ever engaging in anything so undignified  , but be that as it may, I really did love that TV show. So when I started reading comics and saw Woody comics at my neighborhood candy stores, I was ecstatic. There was an ongoing Woody comic, published by Western (first under the Dell contract and after the 1962 split, under Western's Gold Key label), but for the purposes of this thread I'm picking this one particular Summer Fun issue as my representative Woody comic. This Giant issue was one of my most cherished childhood comics. I carried it around with me, read it over and over again, copied pictures from it, etc., until it was in tatters. 
|
|
|
|
Post by MWGallaher on Dec 23, 2018 18:45:02 GMT -5
6. "The Light of Other Days" in Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction #1, 1975, Marvel Comics Adapted by Tony Isabella, Gene Colan, and Mike Esposito from the short story by Bob Shaw  Time for something a little different. My choices so far have been long runs. This is a single short tale that hit me hard when it was presented in the debut issue of Marvel's B&W sci-fi magazine. It's a very low-key story, one that, like my favorite SF, relies on a single innovation--in this case, glass that transmits light so slowly that a viewer on one side sees what had been happening on the other side several years ago--and presents a glimpse at how that might affect someone. It's a sad and disturbing story, with no concessions to action or thrills. It's just an emotional and haunting little glimpse at a likely use of a strange development in physics. Nowadays, I'd probably have seen the ending well in advance, but as a 15 year-old, it was a shock to me. Shocking enough that I remember the experience well, these many years later.
|
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on Dec 26, 2018 14:22:20 GMT -5
Batman/Houdini: The Devil’s Workshop
A Scientific Romance of Harry Houdini, the Ectoplasmic Man and that Shadowy Avenger, the Bat Man (1993)  This is another good Elseworlds entry. Harry Houdini is on tour and stops in Gotham, where he will encounter yet another early-20th century counterpart of the Batman. The beautiful painted art by Mark Chiarello, including an excellent design for the Batman costume, and the appropriately creepy story by Howard Chaykin and John Howard Moore make it easy to imagine this as a film adapted from a Caleb Carr novel. Yes, it hits all the marks of a one of these kinds of stories, including the obvious villain of the piece, but it is different in one key aspect: it is Harry Houdini, not Batman who is the brains of the outfit. Indeed, it is he who serves as the inexperienced crime fighter’s tutor in the rudiments of escaping. Another reason I like it is Chaykin’s penchant for being out-front about celebrating Jewish characters: Reuben Flagg, Dominic Fortune, and here Houdini (born Erich Weiss), all of whom pre-dated Michael Chabon’s Kavalier and Klay and the Escapist by quite a few years. I just love the fact that Chaykin makes no bones about the fact that these characters are boldly, proudly Jewish in worlds dominated and controlled by a WASPy upper-class. His Houdini, is brash, bright and street-smart, and the contrast between him and the no-rough-edges Wayne is a key to the story’s success. Their team-up goes perhaps a little too smoothly considering the time period, but I’ll give Wayne the benefit of the doubt as being a bit more of a rational thinker than most of his high-society contemporaries. Well worth reading.
|
|
|
|
Post by DubipR on Dec 26, 2018 14:30:16 GMT -5
Batman/Houdini: The Devil’s Workshop
A Scientific Romance of Harry Houdini, the Ectoplasmic Man and that Shadowy Avenger, the Bat Man (1993) This is another good Elseworlds entry. Harry Houdini is on tour and stops in Gotham, where he will encounter yet another early-20th century counterpart of the Batman. The beautiful painted art by Mark Chiarello, including an excellent design for the Batman costume, and the appropriately creepy story by Howard Chaykin and John Howard Moore make it easy to imagine this as a film adapted from a Caleb Carr novel. Yes, it hits all the marks of a one of these kinds of stories, including the obvious villain of the piece, but it is different in one key aspect: it is Harry Houdini, not Batman who is the brains of the outfit. Indeed, it is he who serves as the inexperienced crime fighter’s tutor in the rudiments of escaping. Another reason I like it is Chaykin’s penchant for being out-front about celebrating Jewish characters: Reuben Flagg, Dominic Fortune, and here Houdini (born Erich Weiss), all of whom pre-dated Michael Chabon’s Kavalier and Klay and the Escapist by quite a few years. I just love the fact that Chaykin makes no bones about the fact that these characters are boldly, proudly Jewish in worlds dominated and controlled by a WASPy upper-class. His Houdini, is brash, bright and street-smart, and the contrast between him and the no-rough-edges Wayne is a key to the story’s success. Their team-up goes perhaps a little too smoothly considering the time period, but I’ll give Wayne the benefit of the doubt as being a bit more of a rational thinker than most of his high-society contemporaries. Well worth reading. Brilliant choice! One of my favorite Elseworlds... plain forgot about it. One of Chaykin's favorites as well. |
|
|
|
Post by Jeddak on Dec 26, 2018 16:48:47 GMT -5
Day 7 Conan the Barbarian #4 Marvel, 1971  When I heard this year's theme, my first thoughts were of characters like Tarzan, John Carter, and Conan. But I've never been really satisfied with their comic book adventures. I've enjoyed them, sure. But none were quite good enough at capturing the real characters, for me. (Though I almost included the Dell run of Tarzan, just because of those gorgeous covers. Hey, if Farrar can do it for Lassie. . .) But Conan's run at Marvel helped get me back into comics, so I felt I had to include it. I've chosen the Thomas/Smith adaptation of 'The Tower of the Elephant' cause it's just a wonderful issue. Conan isn't yet the musclebound lunk he'd later become. The lions are lithe and dangerous. The revelation of the other-worldly Yaga, and his bizarre revenge, were weird and wonderful. The scene of the tower shattering, with an awe-struck Conan watching, was just beautiful. Not your stereotypical Conan story, to be sure. But a good story, beautifully realized by people who respected the source material. |
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 27, 2018 12:09:15 GMT -5
Brief thoughts on those we haven't seen before...or that I've forgotten.
Nightmare Alley - I really need to track this down. Great novel and great film.
Revolution on the Planet of the Apes - I've read a handful of PotA comics. This is not one of them.
Sonic the Comic - What I know about Sonic can be put into a thimble and have room left over.
Doctor Strange #58-62: The Montesi Formula - I think I've read this. But Dracula doesn't work for me with super-heroes, even a magic based one.
FROM HELL - Sigh. I didn't think of this one. I really need to re-read it. I think it may actually be Moore's masterpiece. But I find it a harder read than a lot of his other work.
The Phantom Min-series #1-4 - I bought this one. I don't remember much about it.
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser #1-4 - I need to re-read this. It's been a LONG time.
The Twilight Zone - I picked up a few of these at garage sales when I was young
Star Wars - I feel like I've talked about Star Wars. But I will again. I was fine with the original Star Wars movies. But I was never moved to go beyond them into any reading material.
Ribar Palunko i njegova žena - I got nothing. The art is kind of cool though. I bet this is not available in English
The Hobbit - I remember this coming out. I've not read it.
The Lost World - I know the book, but not this comic.
Elric (Marvel) - I haven't read any of the Elric comics in eons.
Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor - I was not aware of this series. I should try to find it.
Woody Woodpecker Summer Fun - Cool. I remember watching Woody Woodpecker at my Grandma's house. I think there may have been a couple issues of his comic kicking around the house when I was very small
Batman/Houdini: The Devil’s Workshop - I haven't read this one since it came out. Probably should remedy that.
|
|
|
|
Post by EdoBosnar on Dec 27, 2018 14:25:20 GMT -5
(...) Ribar Palunko i njegova žena - I got nothing. The art is kind of cool though. I bet this is not available in English (...) Unfortunately, no, there is no English edition - if there had been, that's what I would have posted. In fact, these Croatian versions were only collected and published in a nice hardcover book in 2014 - before that, there was only occasional reprints in magazines dedicated to comics or comics culture. However, if you're interested in reading just the stories in English in prose form, follow the link in my original post.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mister Spaceman on Dec 29, 2018 14:42:08 GMT -5
Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome insert comic with LP (Casablanca Records, 1977) This 6-page/6-panel comic by Overton Loyd visualizes the lyrics of this Parliament album, detailing the battle between Starchild (George Clinton's persona) and the "oh-so-unfunky" Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk. The story is simple: Sir Nose's snooze gun is no match for Starchild's bop gun and after the briefest of contests Sir Nose yields to the power of the funk. But this threadbare plot is simply a vehicle for the deeper symbolic value of George Clinton's P-Funk mythology. Following the Mothership Connection (1975) and The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein (1976) albums, Funkentelechy elaborates on Clinton's Afro-futurist vision defined by funk music as a means of illumination and racial uplift ("Free your mind and your ass will follow"). The artwork is quintessentially Seventies in all the best ways, defined by a rather loose, exaggerated (but not quite cartoonish) style that visually mirrors the music on the album, which is fluid and inventive but never sloppy or out of control. And the third page/panel is an inspired conceit: Starchild reads Sir Nose's mind and his thoughts are represented as a 6-panel comic book page. Given the elaborate, sci-fi themed costumes of Clinton and his bandmates, it seems that not only funk but superhero comics too are offered up here as vehicles for social consciousness and transcendence. Ain't nothin' but a party! 
|
|
, but be that as it may, I really did love that TV show. So when I started reading comics and saw Woody comics at my neighborhood candy stores, I was ecstatic.
