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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 23, 2019 10:06:17 GMT -5
Among the gifts my parents gave me upon graduation from high school back in June of (gulp!) 1975 was the comic book collection of my classmate Rob Luettgen. For a mere $100, I boosted my own meagre collection by some 800 comics, both Marvel and DC. It was my first exposure to such now-favorite titles as Conan the Barbarian, Man-Thing and Jack Kirby’s Kamandi and The Demon. Even more importantly, it was my introduction to my favorite run of my favorite title, Bob Haney and Jim Aparo’s The Brave and the Bold. Their B&Bs are directly responsible for my love of team-up titles, which remains a central focus of my collection today. Trying to decide which of the scores of great reads I had to choose from for this spot on my list was a tough call, but I finally made it: 2. Batman and The Demon, The Brave and the Bold #109 (DC, 1973)
We often see Haney criticized for ignoring continuity, but he obviously did his research this time: his characterizations of Etrigan/Jason Blood and his supporting cast, Randu Singh, Glenda Marks and Harry Matthews, are spot on and he effectively captures the tone of Kirby’s series. The plot is appropriately eerie and draws in its leads without making the authorial presence obvious, as in some of his less successful team-up efforts. And by golly, Jim Aparo draws one scary-ass Demon! I unreservedly loved this issue, and I eagerly read all the others in Rob’s horde, then began buying the new issues as they came out. Keep in mind that I had a limited budget in my early days in college, most of which went for my beloved Marvel super-heroes. B&B was the one DC title on my “must have” list, and it’s all because of this story. Cei-U! I summon the epiphany! |
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 23, 2019 10:13:23 GMT -5
*ahem* First post! 2. Spider-Man and Gargoyle
"Time, run like a freight train..."
from Marvel Team-Up #119 (Marvel, 1982)by J.M. DeMatteis, Kerry Gammill, and Mike Esposito  The general consensus is that the high point of Marvel Team-Up is the work of Claremont and Byrne. A position I don't disagree with. But it's often overlooked that there is another great run, that of DeMatteis and Gammill. They may not have the slickness of Byrne, but they make up for it with strong character work and stories that break out of the established Marvel Team-Up formula. Most of the series had allowed very little time for Spider-Man to be Peter Parker. As they have like 20 pages for him to meet up with some other hero, get up to speed on a threat and deal with that threat together. Throw in an initial misunderstanding or fight between the heroes and you see why you're out of pages. But DeMatteis wanted time to show Spidey out of uniform and to develop the supporting cast. Now, the "main" books were already developing most of the supporting cast, so DeMatteis took what he allowed to play with: the people at Aunt May's nursing home. He developed the character of Nathan Lubensky, Aunt May's love interest and reflected on aging in our society. The apex of this reflection came in two issues #119-120. Issue 120 teams Spider-Man with an aging Dominic Fortune. I wasn't sure Kurt would buy them together as a two-parter based on tenuous thematic links, so I decided to focus this entry on the best issue of the run. This story spins out of Defenders #109 and focuses on the new friendship between Spider-Man and Gargoyle. Gargoyle is notable for being a rare old-man superhero, and Spider-Man is notable for being a particular young not-sidekick superhero. Now, Spider-Man has aged since his early teenage appearances, but he's still only recently out of college, so probably about 23 or so. An attempted mugging leads Spider-Man and Gargoyle down parallel tracks, which try to tackle the difficult question of when it's time to fight to keep living and when to accept it's time to go. The title of the comic seems to reference and Eric Andersen song. I don't really know Eric Andersen outside of looking up the title to this song. "Time run like a freight train, won't you take me down the line; there's so much I can never say of the ruins left behind."  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2019 10:16:31 GMT -5
2. Darkseid vs Galactus: The Hunger (DC/Marvel, 1995) I'm a big fan of John Byrne, but I don't know if Byrne the writer gets as much credit as Byrne the artist. As much as I like his art, and I like it a lot, I think he's written some damn good stories too! The plot of this has been recounted earlier on during this event, but, simply put, it shows Galactus, at a time when the Silver Surfer is still his herald, attempt to "devour" Apokolips. Talk about the irresistible force meeting the immovable object. The WWF had nothing on these guys! It's beautifully-illustrated, and the plot is very, very good. From discussions I had with JB at his forum, I gather he prefers the shared universe approach of DC/Marvel crossovers to the separate universes one that later stories went with. There's no need of dimension-hopping exposition here, it's just Galactus trying to consume the energies of Apokolips. As you can imagine, Darkseid doesn't take that lying down. Byrne makes good use of the idea, hence this being included on my list. I mean, some of the panels are awe-inspiring, including one where Darkseid blasts Galactus with his Omega beams. As for the resolution, very profound and very logical. This is one crossover that didn't disappoint.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Dec 23, 2019 10:17:12 GMT -5
2. Batman marries Catwoman (on Earth 2) Brave and the Bold #197 (DC, 1983); “The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne” by Alan Brennert, Joe Staton and George Freeman The only reason this isn’t my no. 1 pick is because I knew what that was going to be as soon as I saw this year’s subject. And I’ll admit that this one didn’t even occur to me initially until I saw others choose it, because my view of Catwoman is that she’s just as much a part of Batman’s milieu as Robin, Alfred, Batgirl and the good Commissioner. But then I thought it over and decided to bend my own rules a bit, because I couldn’t leave this one out - it’s basically my favorite Batman story ever. Also, it’s really a good demonstration of the title of this year’s theme, i.e., “two heads are better than one,” since Batman, left all alone by his Scarecrow-induced greatest fear, reaches out to Selina because he still knows that two heads are better than one.  I've consistently liked this story from the first time I read it at about the age of 14 up to the present. Brennert really gets Batman, as I think few other comics writers do. Another point worth stressing is that Brennert basically shows how to write a very mature story that’s still all ages. Otherwise, even though this is one of the few B&B issues that doesn't feature art by the great Jim Aparo (probably my favorite Bat artist), Staton and Freeman did a wonderful job with this story, as their artwork really recalls, and is a fine tribute/homage to, the style of some of the 1950s Bat artists like Sprang or Moldoff.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Dec 23, 2019 10:24:16 GMT -5
2. Batman and The Demon, The Brave and the Bold #109 (DC, 1973) Yes! Another issue I love and that has a bit of personal significance to me as well. This one came out a few years before I became aware of comic books (some time in early 1975), but I acquired it when I got back into comics in a big way after an extended hiatus almost 15 (gulp!) years ago. For a while, until I bought Not Brand Ecch #9 and Nick Fury #3, it was the oldest comic in my current, modest collection. And yes, it's a thoroughly enjoyable, solidly written and - obviously - beautifully drawn issue. Great pick. |
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,865
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Post by shaxper on Dec 23, 2019 10:27:18 GMT -5
2. Batman and Catwoman from Batman #323-324 (1980), by Len Wein and Irv Novick A reformed Selina Kyle needs Batman's help to pull off one more heist or she will die from a terminal illness. That's the basis of one of the most unforgettable Batman adventures I've ever read. The plot only grows more wonderfully complex from there, but really it's the interplay between Batman and Catwoman that is the most memorable part -- it's clever, authentic, and surprisingly sexy to boot. This is the first and only time I ever truly bought into a love interest for Batman, and man did it work. 
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2019 10:30:51 GMT -5
2. Batman and Catwoman from Batman #323-324 (1980), by Len Wein and Irv Novick A reformed Selina Kyle needs Batman's help to pull off one more heist or she will die from a terminal illness. That's the basis of one of the most unforgettable Batman adventures I've ever read. The plot only grows more wonderfully complex from there, but really it's the interplay between Batman and Catwoman that is the most memorable part -- it's clever, authentic, and surprisingly sexy to boot. This is the first and only time I ever truly bought into a love interest for Batman, and man did it work. Man, I love this story! It was reprinted in the late 80s (probably 1989) in the UK Batman comic. At the time, the title, Batman Monthly, was published by London Editions Magazines. They'd started off their reprints with The Untold Legend of the Batman before moving to a mix of 70s and 80s title. This was one that got reprinted. And it is so credible, particularly the love interest! It's also the first time I saw a particular villain, the one that appeared at the end! ;-) |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 23, 2019 10:34:52 GMT -5
2. Warlock and the Avengers (with Captain Marvel). Avengers annual #7 (Marvel, 1977)The long struggle between Mar-Vell, Warlock and Thanos had been depicted in the pages of Captain Marvel, Strange Tales, Warlock, Marvel Team-up, the Avengers and more. It was a real saga, and required a grand ending some time. We readers had also witnessed, thanks to a bit of mystical time-travel, a strange and depressing scene from the near future, in which Adam Warlock died... And our Warlock, having travelled forward in time to that fatal moment, had exchanged a few words with his future self before committing cosmic suicide by stealing his future soul. Usually, according to the accepted way these things go, our present-time hero would have found a way to thwart fate and to escape his upcoming passing. But not this time! Nope, years later, having reached that chronological point, we got to see the same death scene from the other point of view, with the then-current Warlock receiving the visit of his past self. With Adam’s death (and even more so with Marvel Two-in-one annual #2, this issue's sequel), we had the conclusion of a massive cosmic saga the likes of which hadn’t yet been seen in comics.  Jim Starlin, the architect of this saga, treats us to several moving and dramatic scenes. My favourite is not actually Adam’s death (although that is a strong scene too), but Adam’s reaction to the death of Gamora, which occurs early in the tale. Asked whether she had meant a lot to him, his replies goes a bit like “She might have, given time… but such thoughts now would be narcissism”. Damn! That’s powerfully mature stuff!  I remember having seen MtiO annual #2 at the newsstand and having left it there, much to my chagrin, because I feared my parents wouldn’t approve of my reading an English-language comic. Needless to say, years later, getting my hands on that issue and Avengers Annual #7 was like finding the Holy Grail… twice!
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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 23, 2019 10:57:56 GMT -5
2. Batman marries Catwoman (on Earth 2) Brave and the Bold #197 (DC, 1983); “The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne” by Alan Brennert, Joe Staton and George Freeman The only reason this didn't make my list is because it appeared among my Favorite Comics a few TDCCCs ago and I'm actively avoiding duplication of prior picks. This is also *my* favorite Batman story, so I'm glad to see you cite it, Edo.
Cei-U! I summon the fanboy solidarity!
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Post by thwhtguardian on Dec 23, 2019 11:05:16 GMT -5
There was some talk earlier of why there wasn't more Usagi, well here you go... TMNT and Usagi are the Seven Samurai Usagi Yojimbo vol.2 #1-3 Mirage, 1993 Okay, so there are only six of them and only Gen and Usagi are samurai but the plot is more or less the same and just as fun as you'd imagine. A small village has been besieged by the Nekko Ninja clan and of the many warriors "summoned" by the wizard Kakera(Japanese for Splinter)
only Gen and Usagi make it through and so Kakera takes four ordinary turtles in hand and with a few magic words he uses them to transport the Ninja Turtles to Usagi's Japan and together they defeat the ninja and free the village. While a little light on plot, it's far superior to the three previous encounters Leo had with Usagi in 1987, '88 and '89 and does give a greater sense of why these guys should be friends as well as introducing a great love interest for Usagi in the form of Chizu who goes on to be an important supporting character from here. As a big fan of the Turtles I wish I could say this was my introduction to Usagi, but it's not, though the episodes he crossed over with the Turtles in the original cartoon are fondly remembered and the Usagi action figure was by far my favorite...I only really started reading Usagi after "meeting" shaxper over on CBR but I've made up for lost time since then. And although this cross over is hardly my favorite Usagi tale(though the back up to issue #1 Jizu might make my top 10) or my favorite TMNT story it has great action, a healthy dose of the Turtles dry humor and is just a plain fun way to have these two powerhouses from the 80's funny animal book boom meet up so it's well worth reading and definitely worthy of my #2 spot this year. |
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Post by brutalis on Dec 23, 2019 11:06:58 GMT -5
Day 11. A whole passel of hosses and their famous riders! Two-gun Kid, Kid Colt, Rawhide Kid, Reno Jones, The Outlaw Kid, Caleb Hammer, Gunhawk, Ghost Rider, Red Wolf.
Blaze of Glory: The Last Ride of the Western Heroes. Issues 1, 2, 3, 4. December 1999 through February 2000.
Imagine if you would that the Marvel comics were essentially dime novel paperbacks telling of the Western Heroes legends. Mostly false and immensely entertaining with only sprinklings of the "truth" mixed in. Now imagine the Marvel West as directed by Sergio Leone so that it reflects more truth but adds in movie style excitement with lots of flashing guns and famous cowpokes along with a fair share of mayhem, death and blood. Any wonder that this series excited all us cowboy fans back in the day? It finally provided a more "realistic" rendition of the the Marvel western riders who had always more or less followed the 1940/1950's type of B westerns format. Now our beloved gunslingers were throwing lead around and handing out bloody justice more similar to DC's Jonah Hex. And it was splendidly gloriously exciting from start to finish in true western fashion.
John Ostrander and Leonardo Manco delivered a spectacular send off (along with Apache Skies the follow up) which helped show them as the legendary gunfighters of the early Marvel Universe. This should be in EVERY fan's collection. Put your boots on, saddle up your old grey mare, cinch your gun-belt and ride the range into the Sunset of the wild and woolly Marvel West...
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2019 11:29:00 GMT -5
On the eleventh day of Christmas, Santa brought to me Gotterdammerung! Manhunter & Batman, Detective Comics #443 (DC: 1974)  by Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson The Goodwin/Simonson Manhunter story is one of my favorite comic stories period, so the finale, which is a cross-over with Batman was a no-brainer for my list. It was a matter of where it fell, not if it would be on my list, and here it is comfortably at Day 11. It has everything you could want in an adventure story, and it is the gift that keeps on giving, as it gets better with each re-read. -M |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 23, 2019 11:29:55 GMT -5
Mad #4 (EC 1953) Captain Marvel (Marbles) and Superduperman (blech).  On the eleventh day of Christmas Kurtzman and Woody gaveto me...some scathing parody! This was the story that really changed things at Mad. Before this story the satire had been largely aimed at broader genres (horror, westerns, sci-fi). Even those that weren't as broad (Dragged Net, The Lone Stranger) were aimed at different media, in those cases radio shows. But Superduperman was a direct shot at a couple of comic book competitors. And not just any competitors. The Big Two. The top of the heap of comic book characters. There may have been better selling individual titles but Superman and Captain Marvel were still the biggest characters in comics. DC/National threatened a lawsuit, but never followed through. William Gaines never blinked. And Mad was never the same...going on to be a cultural force that it is hard to overestimate. The story itself is brilliant. Kurtzman skewers the conceits of super-hero comics (of the time). Woody is at his best able to convey humor, action, beautiful women, and chicken fat that would make Will Elder envious. If there is a downside to the story it's that Superduperman does defeat Captain Marbles (sort of). But in the end he's still miserable as Clark Bent. So that's nice. 
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Post by DubipR on Dec 23, 2019 12:43:41 GMT -5
2. Tarzan vs. Predator: At Earth's Core 1-4Written by: Walt Simonson Drawn by: Lee Weeks Dark Horse Comics 1996  One of the finest franchise crossover ever produced. The galactic hunters and Earth's greatest hunter become the hunted to each other! In the center of the earth lies Pellucidar, the last bastion of primeval forest in the world. To Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle, this is sacred ground. But to the Predators, it is hunting ground. WhenTrazan' friend David Innes, ruler of Pellucidar, has gone missing,he must travel to the earth's core to investigate. The people of Pellucidar rest a little easier, knowing that their protector is coming. In this land of eternal noonday sun, the Predators rest up for their greatest challenge yet... Walt Simonson. Lee Weeks. I'd read everything they'd produce if they worked forever. Simonson weaves a brilliant tale of action, terror and amazing battles between the hunters. Otherworldly technology versus a hunter's instinct, it's just so damn good! Using the Tarzan mythos, wondefully (lost cities, Pellucidar, Waziri warriors), Simonson and Weeks just works... Just read it... that's all. 
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 23, 2019 14:12:33 GMT -5
2. Marvel Mystery Comics #8-10June-Aug 1940 Human Torch vs Sub-Mariner!  Marvel began their tradition of a shared universe with Marvel Mystery Comics, as Namor battles the Human Torch. It starts in issue 8, as Namor goes on a rampage after offering to aid humanity and being electrocuted. Well, that will tick you off. He puts the Damned on his iPod (metaphorically speaking) and cranks up "Smash it Up". Human Torch goes around fixing things he has wrecked. Issue 9 was where the main battle occurs, as the fire and water heroes go at one another tooth and nail. Namor tries to wreck te George Washington Bridge and is driven off by Torch. Namor retaliates with an air tank and blows out Torch's flame. They even battle under the water, as Torch is trapped in an air bubble.  Both heroes get their shots in, with Namor getting knocked into a reservoir and Torch covers the surface in flame. The chlorine content is suffocating Namor, but, a bomg from the Army Air Force blows Namor to the surface, saving him. It ends up in a stalemate, as Namor traps Torch in a tube; but, when he lifts it to try to kill him, he bursts back into flame. In an anticlimax, Betty Dean comes along and convinces them to stop fighting. They would battle again, in Human Torch #5 (a couple of months after Captain Marvel battled Spy Smasher). What starts out as an epic, gonzo fight ends when those involved painted themselves into a corner and couldn't find an ending, which is the only thing that mars this. Decades later, Alex Ross will add a bit of visual power to the whole thing, in Marvels.
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