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Post by Prince Hal on Dec 18, 2019 16:09:22 GMT -5
Detective Comics 343 (September 1965, DC Comics)
"The Secret War of the Phantom General!"
John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella
You know how some comics you first encountered as a kid simply stay with you forever? Like a few other of the oldies but goodies on this list, Detective 343 is just that kind of comic. Several reasons, I’m guessing… The black cover. I was and still am a sucker for them. They scream at the reader, “This is serious business, kid! Not some funny book full of inconsequential stuff, but an honest-to-goodness serious story!” The title: “Secret?” “War?” “Phantom?” “General?” I don’t care what order those words are in, they would always make a cool title. “General Phantom’s Secret War!” “The Secret Phantom vs. General War!” “General Secret’s Phantom War!” “The Secret General: War Phantom!” The cover: At 11, I didn’t know from art, but I knew what looked cool. And this cover looked really cool. Looking at it now, I guess I did know from art. Infantino really had fun drawing Elongated Man, and seeing him doing a boa constrictor on Batman and Robin with his legs and arms all over the place but managing to look in control is beautiful. And the eerie green Nazi general looming in menacing green ugliness over them all is scary as hell. The villain: He’s a Nazi. It was 1965. My friends and I were refighting World War Two all the time: playing Army all over the neighborhood; reading Sgts. Rock and Fury; waging giant battles on our basement floors with our motley collection of toy soldiers; watching “Combat” and old war movies on TV; and heading to the movies for “The Dirty Dozen; The Great Escape;” Von Ryan’s Express;” and PT 109.” Of course we wanted Nazis in our super-hero comics! (Remember, the war had only been over for 20 years. Now, we’re further away from the end of World War Two as my friends and I were from the Spanish-American War.)  (Only years later would I recognize Von Dort as an Erich von Stroheim homage...) It was a “novel!” The last one in Detective until #500, I think. It was a team-up between the two features in Detective! For as long as Detective Comics had existed, it had always featured more than one story, and none of the other features had crossed over into Batman. But both those taboos were broken with "The Museum of Mixed-Up Men" in September 1964. Batman and the Elongated Man teamed up to defeat Boss Baron in a three-part adventure that consumed the entire issue. Infantino penciled it! Too often a great Infantino cover on Batman or Detective was as good as it got, because the interior art was by Moldoff , and well, Moldoff. Not this time, baby! John Broome breaks the fourth wall and talks to us readers. And he had a goatee, just like real beatniks! The villain, General Von Dort, wants to conquer the world! With a death-ray, no less! This one was a summer vacation treat that I reread a million times. Maybe more. PS: Nerdy insider info: I found out when researching this old favorite that another team-up story ties in with this one. In B and B 78, (the NEW) Wonder Woman and Batman team-up. An evil racecar driver wants to kill Batman. Turns out his full name is Willi Van Dort. His dad was General Von Dort and he’s seeking revenge on Batman for his father's defeat all those years ago. Way to do your continuity-tightening, Mike Sekowsky!
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 18, 2019 16:46:40 GMT -5
7. Spider-Man and Red Sonja
"Sword of the She-Devil"
from Marvel Team-Up #79 (Marvel, 1979)by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Terry Austin.  The team is most famous for their work on Uncanny X-Men, but they delivered a perhaps even more impressive run on Marvel Team-Up. I could have picked a lot of stories from this era, but we only get 12 entries. So let's focus on the best one. Prior to Claremont and Byrne taking over, Marvel Team-Up was a generally good book, but not necessarily of the highest quality storytelling (sorry, Reptisaurus). Claremont and Byrne brought a better sensibility to the series and told some great little tales. Somehow, Spider-Man teams up with Conan's sometimes ally to battle Conan's arch-nemesis. Various mystic stuff brought Kulan Gath to the present, but had Red Sonja take over Mary Jane's body to do battle with him. A whirldwind of a story that moves to fast for you to stop to wonder whether any of this makes sense. You just have to hang on. EDIT: Yes, every entry of mine so far has featured Spider-Man. Yes, tomorrow's will too. 
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 18, 2019 17:01:44 GMT -5
I liked that story, but did Chris Claremont have to use Kulan Gath? I know that it's common for villains in the X-titles never to die and to have their spirt transferred elsewhere or their soul be trapped in some thingamagig, but that wasn't the case for the Conan title. Kulan Gath died in Conan #16, and that should have been that! (And after that, there just was no killing him anymore... he made numerous returns after MtU 79, with an ever increased loss in relevance).
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 18, 2019 17:10:57 GMT -5
I liked that story, but did Chris Claremont have to use Kulan Gath? I know that it's common for villains in the X-titles never to die and to have their spirt transferred elsewhere or their soul be trapped in some thingamagig, but that wasn't the case for the Conan title. Kulan Gath died in Conan #16, and that should have been that! (And after that, there just was no killing him anymore... he made numerous returns after MtU 79, with an ever increased loss in relevance). Wasn't even the last time Claremont used him... |
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Post by Farrar on Dec 18, 2019 17:51:33 GMT -5
Hmmm, I thought for sure this would have shown up on someone's list by now, but since it hasn't, guess I'll do the honors  . May I present: 7. Lois Lane and the Legion of Super-Heroes
Lois Lane #50 (DC, 1964)Back in the Silver Age the Legion would pop up in here and there in various Superman/Superboy/Supergirl stories, and even in Jimmy Olsen stories (Jimbo was Elastic Lad, a Legion reservist, remember?). But bet you didn't know they also appeared in the pages of Lois Lane, as in this opus from LL #50 "Lois Lane's Luckiest Day." We learn that Lois's ever-present earrings contain an image of a group of costumed teenagers who look somewhat dazed and confused.  Lois has her own fan club. Only fair; Jimmy had one too. Here, some new recruits want to join her club. I won't give away their carefully-concealed secret identities, but the big question is: will they achieve their dream of becoming full-fledged members of the Lois Lane Fan Club?  The story is chockful of twists and turns and--awww, I won't spoil the fun for you. Do as Kirby said, don't ask, just read it! {Spoiler}{ ****Spoiler: Earring Alert!} The image in her earrings is based on this one, from Adventure #318, when the starving and lost Legionnaires were stranded on a barren planet.  |
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Post by rberman on Dec 18, 2019 19:06:35 GMT -5
#7: Captain America and Union Jack (Captain America #253-254, 1981, Roger Stern, John Byrne, and Joseph Rubinstein) To say Roy Thomas loves World War II would put it mildly. He never passes up an opportunity to revisit that age of heroism and clear-cut struggle. In The Invaders #7 (July 1976, a slightly patriotic month), Thomas introduced the villainous vampire Baron Blood and the heroic Union Jack to his WW2 series . Just to complicate matters, the two men are revealed as brothers.  Five years later, Stern and Byrne (hey, that rhymes!) paid homage to that story with a poignant Captain America two-parter in which Cap visited his former ally, now aged and feeble, but still eager to do his part to bring down a returned Baron Blood. The Greatest Generation, still alive and kicking. 
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 18, 2019 21:11:18 GMT -5
The Brave & the Bold #197. (DC 1983) Batman & Catwoman.  On the sixth day of Christmas Brennert, Staton and Freeman gave to me...a Bat and a Cat in a story lovely. Have I mentioned I was once upon a time a fiend for all things Earth-2. I know I've mentioned I love Alan Brennert's writing. One of the things I loved about Earth-2 is that the heroes aged and changed. Slowly. But it happened. And I came in on the ground floor of Huntress. So while I felt that the death of the Earth-2 Batman was a let-down this book was everything I could have asked for in showing how the Bat and the Cat became a couple. Beyond a great story Staton and Freeman give us art that evokes the Golden Age while being thoroughly modern. Add in The Scarecrow and you have a great book that probably should have been the conclusion of the Earth-2 Batman's career. 
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Post by beccabear67 on Dec 18, 2019 21:22:28 GMT -5
 7. The Atom & The FlashBrave & Bold #53 (May 1964, DC) Bob Haney. Alex Toth & Alex Toth There used to be a ride at Disneyland where you were given the illusion you and others before and after you in the seats, were shrunk to sub-atomic size. This story with the effective artwork of Alex Toth does a creditable job of conveying the sense of wonder of the scale of reality. The genius Dr. Stanton under an alien influence wants to use The Atom to penetrate matter from space that has resisted his studying it. It is missing an atom which The Atom could act as a replacement for. With the help of The Flash, following a trail of molecular agitation to Dr. Stanton, The Atom is vibrationally attuned and hurled at the sub-atomic level. In side that world he meets members of the alien civilization existing within it, but they start to expand exponentially, threatening all of existence. The Flash uses his super-speed, causing a reaction so that potential is averted, and the alien matter with the sub-atomic world within flies back to space. The alien civilization met by The Atom, and his shrinking to their size, really set my imagination reeling, a rare enough thing for comic book science-fiction.  |
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Post by MWGallaher on Dec 18, 2019 21:24:08 GMT -5
7. The Spectre and Wildcat in Spectre #3,
March-April 1968, DC Comics by Mike Friedrich and Neal Adams Team-ups don't get more lopsided than this one, with the omnipotent "Astral Avenger" teaming up with a boxer in a catsuit! I find this issue really fascinating--Brave & Bold perennial co-star Ted Grant (Wildcat) had been moribund for decades, except for some appearances with the JSA and a guest-spot in one of the two Starman/Black Canary team-ups. Why him? Who at DC thought he had enough potential to crop up again and again as a team-up co-star? It's a mystery! But they seemed to be setting Wildcat up for a potential series, giving him a unique setting (Knickerbocker City?!) and, eventually, a renewed purpose in life, running Grant's Gym, training underprivileged youth in the "sweet science". I wasn't around for the original publication of this adventure, in which an ordinary thug attains mystical powers that allow him to do pretty much anything he wants, including defeating Wildcat in the ring on TV. The Spectre then swoops in to help out his JSA buddy, with a cosmic confrontation that ends in Spec draining the bad guy's supernatural energies. It's not really much of a "team-up", more than a "mop-up", as the Spectre, in part 2, makes up for Wildcat's defeat in part 1. That's a big part of the charm of this story, really. Rather than try to come up with a foe that somehow requires Wildcat's relatively meager abilities in addition to the Spectre's unfathomable magic, Friedrich just lets Wildcat go down! A bit of a ho-hum plot, maybe, but one that Neal Adams really jazzes up in his overblown way:  So why the love for this? An oddball team-up that breaks the mold, a break-out trial for a superhero that, despite several pushes, never quite made it, energetic visuals featuring two characters with particularly striking designs, another noble attempt to revitalize the Earth-2 heroes as viable stars outside of the JLA/JSA team-ups...I'd say that's plenty to love! Nothing earth-shaking, nothing consequential, just a nice example of the often surprising attempts DC was making at establishing fresh characters in the late 60's.
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Post by Icctrombone on Dec 18, 2019 21:25:50 GMT -5
7
Crossover: Galactus/ Darkseid
Writer: John Byrne
Artist: John Byrne
Publisher: DC/ Marvel
Year 1995
 This book stands the test of time for me. Bryne was still doing Wonder Woman and yet to do X-men Hidden Years and Generations, so he was still at the peak of his powers creatively. The story was inspired by a fan who walked up to him at a con and simply said " Galactus tries to eat Apokolips. Well, this story takes place before Galactus tries to invade the earth and is repelled by the Fantastic Four. ( I chuckled to see that he's still wearing his Galactus bare legged shorts.) He's weak from not absorbing energies from a planet so it makes the battles more competitive. New Genesis also tries to turn back the attack and we are treated to a Silver Surfer/ Orion battle. It's not a good match and he leaves Orion mortally wounded to be gathered by the Black Racer. The Surfer turns back the Black racer and Orion owes him his life , which prevents him from fighting the Surfer further. Darkseid uses the omega effect on Galactus. It doesn't work. Finally the world devourer goes about absorbing Apokolips when he sees that it has no energy for him to feed on. It turns out the planet is dead and has no sustenance to feed upon. Darkseid defends his planet simply because it's his to defend. Beautiful art and Coloring make this book a treat to the eyes , and I dare say that no one writes Galactus like Bryne does. 
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Post by Icctrombone on Dec 18, 2019 21:35:49 GMT -5
The Brave & the Bold #197. (DC 1983) Batman & Catwoman. On the sixth day of Christmas Brennert, Staton and Freeman gave to me...a Bat and a Cat in a story lovely. Have I mentioned I was once upon a time a fiend for all things Earth-2. I know I've mentioned I love Alan Brennert's writing. One of the things I loved about Earth-2 is that the heroes aged and changed. Slowly. But it happened. And I came in on the ground floor of Huntress. So while I felt that the death of the Earth-2 Batman was a let-down this book was everything I could have asked for in showing how the Bat and the Cat became a couple. Beyond a great story Staton and Freeman give us art that evokes the Golden Age while being thoroughly modern. Add in The Scarecrow and you have a great book that probably should have been the conclusion of the Earth-2 Batman's career. I enjoyed that B@b run of issues with the Brennert stories, although I felt that this story was the weakest of the bunch. |
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Post by Icctrombone on Dec 18, 2019 21:41:23 GMT -5
7. DC Comics Presents #41 (DC Comics, 1982): Strange bedfellows is a theme I like when it comes to team-ups/crossovers. The first Superman/Joker encounter I saw was the one written/drawn by John Byrne in 1987. I enjoyed it immensely. A short while later, I vowed to track down any pre-Crisis Superman/Joker encounters (in the pre-Google age, one had to either come across something or find a book that had a bibliography; that wasn't an easy thing). I never liked the Joker teaming up with a super hero . It screamed too much as a gimmick. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 18, 2019 22:06:14 GMT -5
The Brave & the Bold #197. (DC 1983) Batman & Catwoman. On the sixth day of Christmas Brennert, Staton and Freeman gave to me...a Bat and a Cat in a story lovely. Have I mentioned I was once upon a time a fiend for all things Earth-2. I know I've mentioned I love Alan Brennert's writing. One of the things I loved about Earth-2 is that the heroes aged and changed. Slowly. But it happened. And I came in on the ground floor of Huntress. So while I felt that the death of the Earth-2 Batman was a let-down this book was everything I could have asked for in showing how the Bat and the Cat became a couple. Beyond a great story Staton and Freeman give us art that evokes the Golden Age while being thoroughly modern. Add in The Scarecrow and you have a great book that probably should have been the conclusion of the Earth-2 Batman's career. I enjoyed that B@b run of issues with the Brennert stories, although I felt that this story was the weakest of the bunch. Funny, I feel the exact opposite. You may recall that B&B 197 made my Twelve Favorite Comics list a few years back, which is why I chose not to use it this time. Hence today's pick.
Cei-U! I summon the diversity of opinions!
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Post by brianf on Dec 18, 2019 22:47:25 GMT -5
 Deadman Teamups day 6 Dr. Fate (Vol 2) #8-#9 (1989) W - J. M. DeMatteis A - Shawn McManus C - Shawn McManus This funky funny 2 parter gets thumbs up from me, well done Mr DeMatteis, bully I say. Joachim Hesse - dressed only in his underwear and inside a protective mystic circle - is trying to take the powers of Indra, the turban sporting king of the Fourth Heaven. Joachim just needs to stay with in the circle for 40 days & nights without food or sleep (yet he has a major pizza fixation, poor thing) and he will gain super super magic powers currently in Indras possession, and this is flipping Indra’s turban in a bad way. So the current king sends out earth elementals to disrupt Joachim’s process, hoping to stop the power exchange. This causes all sorts of wacky weather and spiritual attacks, which attracts Deadmans and Dr Fates attention. The devils in the details and DeMatteis has Deadman take control of a wiener dog to run recon (??), and original Dr Fate Kent Nelson is dead and his body is under control of an exiled Lord Of Order - who’s also a douche. The Dr Fate helmet is in his niece neophyte Lindas hands, which means a shaky Lady Fate is on the job, and she can’t even figure out how to fly. By the end of the issue #8 Deadman and Dr Lady Fate find the building Joachim Hesse is performing his ritual in and Indra shows up and tells our heroes to stop the duders or the whole world will be destroyed - oh boy! There’s tons of nice bits in the comic, so you should read it if ya can. There’s a buncha stuff going on in Dr Fate’s larger story arc than just these 2 issues, and what I like is that you can still understand and follow the immediate tale w/ Deadman without being bogged down in other stuff, yet I’m sure for long time readers the longer story is there to follow too. Re-reading these 2 issues make me curious about the rest of the series, so I’m trying to say DeMatteis is in one of his good phases! Joachim Hesse is completely oblivious to all the mayhem going on outside his protective circle, he’s just dreaming of hamburgers. Deadman & Dr Fate get into a fight with Indra - Dr Fate gets caught in a tree and Deadman tries to take over Indra, but not only does he get kicked out but he also gets made visible too. Petey The Demon is hanging out too - have I mentioned that? Everyone decides to work together and when they confront Joachim Hesse everyone is powerless to break through his protective circle until Deadman buys some Chinese take-out and uses an egg roll to trick hungry Joachim out of his circle, and there by saving the day - yay Deadman! Once Indra hits the bricks DM vanishes from sight, and all is well again, except for death and Darkseid and other things that don’t involve Deadman. Really, these are a couple of fun comics.  |
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Post by foxley on Dec 19, 2019 1:58:55 GMT -5
#7. Enemy Ace/Bat Lash, Guns of the Dragon #1-4, (DC, 1998-99) When I was compiling my list, I had a strong suspicion I would be the only person to include this miniseries. I am quite happy to have been proved wrong. I'll try not to retread ground ground others have covered in their summaries. This is one of those ideas that would never have occurred to me in a million years, but as soon as it was out there, I was like "Why hasn't someone done this before?" I'll be the first admit that Hans von Hammer and Bat Lash are not an obvious combo, but there is a nice contrast there between the honour-bound warrior and the shifty gambler. And their lives could certainly have overlapped. And while we know that Jonah Hex was killed in the earlier years of the 20th century, with his preserved corpse winding up an exhibit in a wild west show, and Scalphunter ended his life as the Sheriff of Opal City, the final fates of most of DC's western characters is unknown. We now know that in the 1920s, bat owned a saloon in Shanghai. But it is not just Bat and Hans Truman uses. He had some fun rummaging around in the grab bag of DC's obscure characters. The main villain is Vandal Savage, who can show anywhere and any time. The supporting cast includes Miss Fear, who would later be an enemy/ally of Blackhawk, and shape-shifting ninja Kung, later a foe of Wonder Woman. And new character Biff Bradley, older brother of Slam Bradley, and a tip of the hat to Speed Saunders, Cliff Cornwall and all of the other alliterative, two-fisted adventurers of DC's pre-superhero days. And the miniseries touches on other things not often utilized in comics. It is set in the 1920s, an era not often seen, with comics seeming to jump from the end of WWI to the mid-1930s. And the Warlords period of Chinese history, while note often seen in western works, is a setting ripe for adventure, as demonstrated by the Terry and the Pirates comic strip. (In fact, the miniseries has more than a whiff of Terry and the Pirates about it. Miss Fear was originally created by Quality Comics as Dragon Lady clone, and in this story she is assisted by a hulking, mostly silent, Mongol, who bears more than a passing resemblance to the Dragon Lady's henchman Big Stoop.) So full marks to Tim Truman for trying something different and creating a rollicking adventure tale in the process. And, quite frankly, if you can't appreciate the awesomeness of Bat Lash riding a triceratops or Enemy Ace dog-fighting pteranadons in triplane, then you have no business calling yourself a comics fan.  So the greatest Saturday morning adventure serial never made earns my #7 spot.
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. May I present: 
