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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 12, 2020 0:12:06 GMT -5
I was thinking about getting one of those when I saw them advertised, but I was thinking they'd be mostly 90s stuff, which I have a good bit of and would end up with alot of stuff I already have if they stuck with the big 2... I see that was a good choice.
OTOH, what a great idea for a kid stuck home in quarantine! I wish I thought of it... I've got a nephew that would have been great for.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2020 7:25:17 GMT -5
IRT the bolded part, Amora the Enchantress is Lorelei's older sister. Lorelei is usually portrayed as a red-head in the comics, whereas this woman is blonde, but having never read the story myself, I can't say for certain why the name "Amora Lorelei' was used here. I don't know where this Wonder Man story was going, but it seems to be drawing from a story that Walt Simonson spun out over the years 1983-1985 in Thor. Lorelei used first a love potion and then magic perfume to make Thor her lover. But then her sister Amora cast a spell so that Lorelei also seduced Loki, leading to a confrontation between the ever-feuding brothers.  Saltares likes drawing Wonder Man with an authentic bodybuilder physique including thick neck and sloping trapezius muscles. As much as I like Simonson's Thor, I wish he was more restrained in drawing that cuff or flare or whatever you call it at the top of Thor's boots. It's an odd and unappealing facet of the costume to emphasize. |
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Post by rberman on Jun 13, 2020 8:12:15 GMT -5
I was thinking about getting one of those when I saw them advertised, but I was thinking they'd be mostly 90s stuff, which I have a good bit of and would end up with alot of stuff I already have if they stuck with the big 2... I see that was a good choice. OTOH, what a great idea for a kid stuck home in quarantine! I wish I thought of it... I've got a nephew that would have been great for. Yes, it shows once again how many early 90s comics there are still out there in their original bags, never opened. Here's the breakdown of what the box contained: 1980-1989: 5 1990-1994: 18 1995-1999: 7 2000+: 5 Will anybody here confess to having bought 10+ copies of a single early 90s comic book new off the rack as an investment? 100+? |
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Post by chaykinstevens on Jun 13, 2020 8:41:01 GMT -5
Apparently this series consisted of four eight page features each month MCP was published fortnightly. Wonder Man “Stardust Miseries part two: Tonight’s the Night”The story’s title and subtitle come from pop songs. Stardust Miseries probably derives from Woody Allen's film, Stardust Memories. |
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Post by chaykinstevens on Jun 13, 2020 8:51:22 GMT -5
Colon did nice work on the original Amethyst series in 1983-1984, but this is a follow up with the same title which began in 1985, so be careful which one you grab. Colon worked on some issues of the ongoing series, inking #1, pencilling #9-11 & 13-16, and dialoguing #11. |
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Post by rberman on Jun 13, 2020 16:38:45 GMT -5
What if… the X-Men had Stayed in Asgard? (April 1990) #12 Story/Pencils: Jim Valentino Inks: Sam Delarosa Quality: A- Kid-appropriate: Sure The Story: The Watcher shows us an alternate reality in which half the X-Men and New Mutants don’t want to return to Earth after their Asgardian adventure, so Loki grants the desire of each of them. Sam returns to his dwarf princess, apparently having forgotten totally about his rock star girlfriend Lila Cheney. Rahne likewise raises wolf pups with her lupine prince. Roberto and Kurt become storied warriors. Doug gets his dream job of librarian. Illyana continues her enchantress studies. Dani plays Valkyrie. Rogue somehow is able to romance Fandrall safely.   In the absence of Odin and Thor, Ororo takes charge of Asgard, which upsets Karnilla’s plans for her boyfriend Baldur to have that job. Also, Hela wants payback for the mutants embarassing her in front of all Asgard. Hela and Karnilla engineer a massive battle that starts with frog-Thor vs Ororo but soon expands to include all the Asgardians and all the mutants there. Ororo shouldn’t be under Loki’s control any more, but for some reason she’s still taking her cues from him.  Volstagg, wandering the wilderness in search of a cure for his child’s illness, literally stumbles across Sutur’s gigantic sword, which was keeping Thor in frog form. Thor reverts to humanoid form just in time a giant army, a Karnilla army, and a Hela army to attack the assembled Asgardian host. Sam leads a dwarf army to augment the good guys. As Illyana battles Karnilla directly in her fortress, Baldur convinces Karnilla to withdraw her forces. The combined might of Thor, Ororo, and Dani’s Valkyrie squad is enough to destroy Hela permanently.  In the aftermath, Baldur is king of Norns, Storm is queen of Asgard, Sam is king of dwarves, Rahne rules the forest wolves, Dani rules Hel, and Kurt replaces now-married Fandrall in the Warriors Three. The Elder Gods (“We Who Sit Above in Shadow”) send Loki to the end of time, never to return. The end! My Two Cents: Silver Age DC used “imaginary stories” to tell tales in which the status quo permanently changed. Marvel used “What If” for the same purpose, revisiting favorite stories with alternate conclusions which don’t hit the dreaded reset button. Writer/artist Jim Valentino dared to take on not one but two of 80s Marvel’s most well-received stories: Walter Simonson’s “frog Thor” arc, and Chris Claremont’s “X-Men in Asgard.” Both Simonson and Claremont struck a rich balance between action plot and characterization. Valentino is all plot, squeezing what today would have been a six issue arc into 27 pages of near-constant fighting. Valentino wisely cuts the unwieldy cast by half as soon as possible, and surprisingly Wolverine is one of those who exits. The original stories also featured above-average art from Simonson and newcomer Art Adams respectively. Valentino turns in a very credible Adams impersonation, no mean feat considering how slowly Adams worked to get his highly detailed results the first time around.  Imaginary stories often rack up a high body count. This one kills Sunspot, Eitri the Dwarf King, Hela, and the Wolf Prince. Not too bad really for a massive war. All told, it’s a fun slugfest that goes where a regular X-Men or Thor comic can’t. 
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Post by rberman on Jun 13, 2020 21:30:34 GMT -5
X-Man #5 “The Man Who Fell to Earth” (July 1995)
 Writer: Jeph Loeb Pencils: Steve Skroce Inks: Bud LaRosa Quality: C- Kid-Appropriate: Yes The Story: Nate Summers has been transported from his Apocalpyse-ravaged world to the snowy slopes of the Alps in the regular Marvel Universe. A trucker stops to give him a ride, but memories of Apocalypse cause Nate to go nuts, releasing energy that explodes the truck. (15 pages)  Nate has fragmented memories about people named Forge and Jean Grey. He stumbles in to the Swiss town of Montreaux where a kindly stranger provides food and lodging. But a mysterious stranger named Madelyn Pryor appears in the house to chat. (9 pages)  My Two Cents: I know very little about 90s X-Men, or even late 80s X-Men. I dropped out not far into the #200s and didn’t come back until thirty years later, when I enjoyed trade collections by Grant Morrison and Joss Whedon and then checked out the not-as-enjoyable Age of Apocalypse and the very unenjoyable Onslaught. Age of Apocalypse was basically an extended “imaginary story” which threw the detailed soap opera known as X-Men into a dystopia with everybody’s relationships rejiggered: Magneto and Rogue as a couple, etc. Apparently the character of Nate “X-Man” Summers came out of this event, an alternate young version of Cable, and was deemed strong enough to continue even after the AoA event ended.  This issue is basically a replay of the first few pages of Longshot #1. An amnesiac mutant comes to Earth from a fascist alternate dimension, stumbles around, and causes a bit of a mess before a stranger helps him. His gradually returning memories propel him to the next scene whenever things slow down.  "First few pages." That’s 90s comics all over, isn’t it? The stereotypical comics from Marvel and DC then (and since then) dribble out a little plot over large images and extended dialogue scenes. There’s a one page “We sense…. something…somewhere….” cameo by Xavier and Bishop to ensure readers that this story will tie into the X-universe eventually, but not too soon. And then a teaser appearance by Maddie Pryor, who had become the villainous Goblin Queen in the Inferno event, so we can be sure her intentions for Nate are no good. But I have no faith that continued reading in this series will make sense unless I’m also reading all the other connected X-titles of the era. No thanks.  
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Post by chaykinstevens on Jun 14, 2020 7:39:42 GMT -5
Marvel Comics Presents #39 (January 1990)#1: Wolverine “Black Shadow/White Shadow part two: The Shadows StrikeWriter: Marv Wolfman Pencils: John Buscema Inks: Phil Felix Wonder Man “Stardust Miseries part two: Tonight’s the Night”Writer: Michael Higgins Pencils: Javier Saltares Inks: Ken Lopez Felix and Lopez were both letterers. Buscema inked his own pencils, and Jose Marzan inked Wonder Man. |
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Post by rberman on Jun 14, 2020 17:26:04 GMT -5
Justice League International #56 “Ambush” (October 1993)
Writer: Gerard Jones and Will Jacobs Pencil: Ron Randall Ink: Roy Richardson Quality: B+ Kid-friendly: mostly The Story: One by one, the members of the JLI are captured by a group of villains who look like Lord Pandemonium from Marvel Comics.  My Two Cents: You know the humor-based JLA by Giffen and DeMatteis? This is not that. It’s a straightforward action comic. “Capture all the heroes separately” is a tried and true structure for the first issue of a multi-part story. This was a reasonable version of the basic concept, mixed with a few character moments and a mystery involving an animated suit of armor in the JLA base.  The “mostly” kid rating is for a discussion between Green Lantern and Power Girl about the mystery paternity of her unborn child. She takes umbrage when he suggests Aquaman as the father; she claims there is no father. I seem to recall this as a regrettable long-term story in which Arion, Lord of Atlantis, was using her to gestate a living weapon to help him fight a bad guy.  JLA/JLI struggle with a perpetual identity crisis (so to speak) about whether it’s supposed to contain the heavy hitters that fans want to see together, or second and third stringers who can have actual events in their lives, like the mystery pregnancy here. We’re still two years off from Grant Morrison taking the reins to return JLA to its first-string hero status. 
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2020 21:04:28 GMT -5
^ oof. . that cover.
and double oof. . that horrid Power Girl costume
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Post by rberman on Jun 19, 2020 14:58:00 GMT -5
Blue Devil #10 “Hell Hath No Furies” (March 1985) Writers: None listed, but Gary Cohn, Dan Mishkin, and Paris Cullen are credited as “creators.” Art: Michael Chen and Gary Martin (no details given) Quality: B+ Kid-Appropriate: mostly The Story: The goddess Athena is irked by actor/singer Wayne Tarrant putting on a Theseus-themed club show and treating his groupies casually. She sends Furies to harass him, so Blue Devil must defend him, with help from Wonder Woman.  My Two Cents: Mishkin and Cohn were known for the serious fantasy series Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld and this simultaneous series that put a comedy spin on the Thing/Silver Surfer trope of “hero cursed with a super-body.” Robotman and ROM are the closest analogues since the devil suit was originally a stuntman’s exoskeleton.  This in turn calls to mind two earlier stories in which an actor became trapped forever in a monster suit. These respectively were by Archie Goodwin/Joe Orlando in Eerie #3 (1966):  And by Roy Thomas/Barry Windsor-Smith in Tower of Shadows #5 (1970):  This issue is a fun done-in-one jaunt with two fight sequences. Wonder Woman’s appearance in the second half is an unexpected treat since she’s not advertised on the cover. There’s a humorous “blink and you’ll miss it” nod to the convention that whenever two heroes meet, they must have a Misunderstanding Fight against each other before teaming up against the real villain.  The story is only “mostly" kid-appropriate because of a page that totally went over my head as a kid. Three groupies have an implied menage a quatre with Tarrant, which is what spurs Athena into action.  These three women are later possessed by the spirits of the Furies, who must be driven out to restore peace. A later panel calls them “kids” (i.e. underage), though they are not drawn that way; the blonde looks like a business executive. Wayne Tarrant is called a “kid” as well, though he’s clearly in his mid-20s from the evidence in other issues.  Other than that icky moment which I totally missed as a kid, a fun read.
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Post by Batflunkie on Jun 19, 2020 17:04:14 GMT -5
Love me some Blue Devil. Wish he had gotten a new ongoing
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Post by rberman on Jun 19, 2020 18:07:40 GMT -5
Silver Sable and the Wild Pack #3 “The Corrupt Pulpit” (August 1992) Writers: Gregory Wright Pencils: Steven Butler Inks: Jim Sanders III Quality: B+ Kid-Appropriate: sure The Story: In part 2 of “Gattling’s Big Guns,” Silver Sable and her mercenaries have been hired to protect a televangelist named Smithfield from assassins. She engages in a rapier battle with her ex-husband Basil to learn that her client is secretly a drug dealer targeted by Chesterford, one of his televangelist/drug dealer rivals. Got all that?  But Basil has been hired in retaliation by Smithfield, and he successfully assassinates Chesterford, then leads a strike force to attack Silver Sable’s base. They are repelled, and Basil gets away. Sable and her team then capture Gattling the assassin. The surviving televangelist is arrested. My Two Cents: Looking for a series whose covers reliably feature a leggy heroine leaping toward the left side of the page? I’ve got one for you!  Yes, that is foil embossing on the silvery cover of issue #1. It's a collector's item! Buy ten! Buy a hundred! Put your kids through college! “Every issue is someone’s first” was exactly my situation opening this book. I didn’t know any of the characters, except erstwhile Spider-Man foe Sandman, who is apparently a sorta good guy now. But the dialogue and layouts made clear who each of these dozen characters was. So, high marks to Wright and Butler for narrative clarity. Butler’s art could be nice when it wanted to be, as with the suit of armor decorating Sable’s castle:  But Butler isn’t above Liefeldian 90s-isms like huge rectangular guns, Sable’s garter, or the toothy mouths and cross-hatched faces of her henchmen:  Wright wears his politics on his sleeve. As soon as a Christian is mentioned, it’s a foregone conclusion that he’s the villain of the piece. Plus a squad of right wing militia called the Watchdogs. “Right is wrong.” Real subtle there!  Sable’s ex-husband Basil seems to be something of a gentleman thief, her ongoing foil I assume. Will they get back together in future issues? The near-anagram of their names is a nice touch. Sable is the ruler of a Balkan state bordering Latveria. Her team members have clearly defined personalities, including Battlestar, a stammering new black recruit:  And a racist who is of course a Southerner.  For a 1992 series, I rate it “not bad,” which is high praise considering the general state of Marvel Comics at the time.
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,959 
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Post by Crimebuster on Jun 19, 2020 20:39:30 GMT -5
I'm a big fan of Battlestar as a character, though I have never read his appearances outside of Captain America.
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Post by rberman on Jun 19, 2020 20:54:20 GMT -5
Adventures of the X-Men #9 (December 1996) Writer: Ralph Macchio Pencils: Derec Aucoin Inks: Ralph Cabrera Quality: A Kid-Appropriate: Very The Story: Spiral kidnaps Storm to the Mojoverse! They stand around and play second fiddle to several pages of mugging by an annoying writer/director/actor named Vroot who eventually gets the old trapdoor treatment from Mojo. Is he supposed to be a parody of some real person? I’m reminded of the time that Don Rickles made himself a nuisance in Jimmy Olsen.
 Meanwhile, the Hellfire Club hires The Vanisher to steal Sentinel blueprints from the Pentagon. The two villains double-cross each other, and Vanisher flees, leading a Sentinel to the X-mansion, where our heroes finally get some action in the last three pages. Vanisher agrees to teleport the heroes to the Mojoverse to rescue Storm.  My Two Cents: This series capitalized on the popular 90s X-Men cartoon series which Bowdlerized a surprising number of classic X-Men stories, including “Days of Future Past” and “Dark Phoenix.” I think this issue adapted a story from the TV series which follows a familiar arc of “A potentate wants Storm for his own, and her teammates must extricate her.” (See also Doctor Doom, Arkon, Dracula, Loki, etc.) Television Standards and Practices prevented the TV show from doing things allowed here, like using the word “Hellfire Club” instead of just “Inner Circle”:  Or bashing people’s heads together:  That sort of thing. Really, the story works just fine without Claremontian levels of angst and sexual tension. I would not have complained if this were the typical X-Men fare. Good art, good writing. 
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