|
|
Post by brutalis on Dec 18, 2020 21:02:34 GMT -5
For me, Shang Chi’s story culminated in the superb saga running from #s 45-50 (and which, truth be told, leaked a bit beyond those arbitrary borders) in which each chapter was narrated by a different character, which made for a nice twist on things. Moench weaves an epic tale full of epic themes (the conflict between father and son; the sacrifices required of a hero; the saving of a world, for starters), vivid supporting characters, and a protagonist who could and did actually grow and change over the course of the series. If only other “world-builders” brought the same craft and commitment that Moench brought to Master of Kung Fu. Amen! Moench and Gulacy on Shang-Chi were every bit as great as Thomas and Smith on Conan, or Claremont and Byrne on X-Men. For a while, there, they were The Beatles. Don't you mean Fleetwood Mac instead? They were a fave of Shang's in the series. Just can't imagine old daddy Fu allowing his son to grow up listening to the Beatle's. Much too disruptive an influence upon a young mind that dad is training to be his living weapon. |
|
|
|
Post by Rob Allen on Dec 21, 2020 12:17:47 GMT -5
OK, I'm finally ready. I'm participating this year because of the coronavirus. If it weren't for the pandemic, I'd be busy preparing for the all-night Solstice party. I suggest that everyone light a fire tonight to encourage the sun to come back and start making the days longer. We've been doing it for many years and it always seems to work.
Anyway, here we go:
#12: Gerry Conway
Everyone remembers the death of Gwen Stacy and the rest of Gerry's Spider-Man run, but he wrote just about every character at Marvel and DC at some point in the 70s.
|
|
|
|
Post by Prince Hal on Dec 21, 2020 14:21:57 GMT -5
OK, I'm finally ready. I'm participating this year because of the coronavirus. If it weren't for the pandemic, I'd be busy preparing for the all-night Solstice party. I suggest that everyone light a fire tonight to encourage the sun to come back and start making the days longer. We've been doing it for many years and it always seems to work. Anyway, here we go: #12: Gerry ConwayEveryone remembers the death of Gwen Stacy and the rest of Gerry's Spider-Man run, but he wrote just about every character at Marvel and DC at some point in the 70s. We have to do a similar thing in June so that the sun doesn't keep getting too close and we don't burn up. |
|
|
|
Post by foxley on Dec 21, 2020 16:25:56 GMT -5
OK, I'm finally ready. I'm participating this year because of the coronavirus. If it weren't for the pandemic, I'd be busy preparing for the all-night Solstice party. I suggest that everyone light a fire tonight to encourage the sun to come back and start making the days longer. We've been doing it for many years and it always seems to work. Anyway, here we go: #12: Gerry ConwayEveryone remembers the death of Gwen Stacy and the rest of Gerry's Spider-Man run, but he wrote just about every character at Marvel and DC at some point in the 70s. We have to do a similar thing in June so that the sun doesn't keep getting too close and we don't burn up. Here in Australia we discourage people from lighting fires in the middle of summer.  |
|
|
|
Post by Cei-U! on Dec 23, 2020 17:11:26 GMT -5
Finally, a chance to catch up! Let's get right to it, shall we? 12. Stan Lee It's fashionable these days to denigrate Stan's writing and to a certain extent I understand why. But his was the "voice" of my childhood and it was reading "How Stan and Steve Create Spider-Man" in Amazing Annual 1 that made me realize real people could make a living doing comic books. His place here on my list is for the enormous influence he had on me in my formative years, a matter of pure gratitude. Nuff said. Cei-U! I summon The Man! |
|
|
|
Post by Calamas on Dec 24, 2020 22:52:56 GMT -5
William Messner-Loebs
or
“Right for the Time”
I would not feel the same way about his work today. Of course that may well apply to any Silver or Bronze age writer, though technically his time at DC falls into the Modern Age. But had he produced comics in any other era than in his heyday, I would have enjoyed them but he would never make a list like this. Messner-Loebs does because he was a ray of sunshine in an increasingly darkening comic landscape.
Though not on the scale he would achieve, that was the plan. Mike Baron and Mike Gold had just relaunched The Flash with Wally West, and in doing so they set themselves the challenge of creating a successful comic featuring a lead who was an a**hole at best and a d*ck at worst. A year or so later, their run now complete, Barbara Kesel inherited the book with a hero in desperate need of a character makeover. Messner-Loebs was the perfect writer.
He had already proved to have a light touch in writing Jonny Quest for Comico, a title that came with implied expectations before the cover was even opened. The cartoon had delivered adventure and exploration without any serious overtones, and the comic could not deviate far from those themes. Messner-Loebs succeeded flawlessly, and he brought those same skills to DC just in time. Miller’s Dark Knight was hailed as a brilliant triumph and Watchmen had taken the industry by storm. Suddenly darkness meant critical acclaim. Darkness meant sales. Darkness meant success. Darkness would soon engulf comics.
And I enjoyed a lot of it. But I also needed the counter balance. I needed someone who could put their hero in dire situations without immersing his entire world in misery. But that was not his only attribute. Messner-Loebs’ other talent was the expanding and redefining that world. With Jonny Quest it was the one area barely explored by the cartoon: Race Bannon. So we got more details of his past, particularly with Jezebel Jade. With The Flash, when a different kind of relationship was needed for Wally, he gave us Linda Park. In Wonder Woman he gave us Artemis. Sometimes by following his personal philosophy he went too far (Wonder Woman working in a fast food place), but most of the time his deft touch could handle the most serious and/or agonizing of situations without falling into perpetual torment.
It’s why William Messner-Loebs regularly ended up at the top of my comic stack.
|
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Dec 26, 2020 19:52:12 GMT -5
OK, let's see if I can get this done before the 31st.
12. Pat Mills
One of several names that could have appeared in this spot, I finally opted for Mills perhaps in part due to the 'recency bias' mentioned elsewhere by Slam Bradley. I've been reading a fair bit of 2000 AD stuff the last year or two, and Mills's Nemesis the Warlock and Slaine are two of the most consistently enjoyable comics series I've come across during that time. Highly inventive, full of fun and energy, though often quite dark and violent, the short instalments make for a fast-paced, snappy read - perhaps to a fault, at times, but that's probably mostly down to the format. I look forward to reading more of Mills in the future.
|
|
|
|
Post by Calamas on Dec 26, 2020 21:34:10 GMT -5
OK, let's see if I can get this done before the 31st. 12. Pat MillsOne of several names that could have appeared in this spot, I finally opted for Mills perhaps in part due to the 'recency bias' mentioned elsewhere by Slam Bradley. I've been reading a fair bit of 2000 AD stuff the last year or two, and Mills's Nemesis the Warlock and Slaine are two of the most consistently enjoyable comics series I've come across during that time. Highly inventive, full of fun and energy, though often quite dark and violent, the short instalments make for a fast-paced, snappy read - perhaps to a fault, at times, but that's probably mostly down to the format. I look forward to reading more of Mills in the future. I have faith. I've got three left and I bet you pass me. |
|
|
|
Post by Calamas on Jan 3, 2021 19:54:15 GMT -5
#12-Max Allan Collins.Solely for giving the comic book world the toughest Private Dick around...Ms. Michael Tree. The hard as nails, shoot first, sort it all out later, don't take crap from any bad guy or even her friends, woman doing what was always considered a "man's" job. And she is better and tougher than most and stylish and beautiful and in heels while doing it! Collins is willing to take on ANY subject and explore what it really means to being human. Making mistakes, false assumptions, rape, standing up for yourself, killer cults, politics, emotional loss, unexpected pregnancies, assassins, Vietnam, drugs, physical abuse, gangsters and more. You name it, Collins has likely written about it in Ms. Tree at some point. The necessary mystery tropes are all there yet made new and relevant for today. A cast that is fully PART of the adventures with their own personal stories (actually told, explored and included) as characters which are just as important in Tree's life and job. Collins knows the detective world inside and out (go read his Nate Heller or ANY of his other mystery books/series for crying out loud, you won't be disappointed) and he uses every tool at his disposal (both good and bad at times) in delivering hard hitting, intelligent comic book stories without any capes or tights to be found. Apologies. Because I was late posting my picks, I’m even later in reacting to the picks of others. Anyway: You sum up my feeling on MAC perfectly. Ms. Tree Quarterly alone is an amazing feat. An oversized comic that lasted 3 years and not a cape in sight. And while Wild Dog is generally considered some kind of travesty, I actually enjoyed the original mini-series well enough. In its own way it was a mystery. Wild Dog’s identity was kept secret from us until the finale. Nothing great in the end, but good enough. |
|
|
|
Post by Calamas on Jan 3, 2021 20:06:57 GMT -5
12. Tony Isabella Hawkman wouldn't have made my list of favorite characters way, way back in the earliest days of this annual tradition were it not for Tony Isabella working his writer's magic to turn one of my least favorite DC characters into a favorite, back in May 1985. I was, at the time, familiar with Tony's name, as he had begun writing for the pros shortly after I began collecting comics, but in those days, I didn't pay as much attention to ranking favorite writers as much as following characters. If pressed, I'd have remembered Tony as the guy who turned Greer Nelson from The Cat into Tigra, the guy who'd created Black Lightning, a character I tried at his debut but didn't follow, but mainly for... It, the Living Colossus!"It" came along when I was the perfect age to enjoy it. This first installment is special to me, because I remember staging my own rendition of Tony's script recorded on my family's new reel-to-reel tape recorder...man, I wish I still had that tape! No, this is not the greatest example of Tony's work, but I don't think any prominent American comic book writer can beat Tony for kaiju appreciation. . . .
My Apologies. Because I was late posting my picks, I’m even later reacting to the picks of others. But this struck a chord with me. I can’t say Isabella is one of favorite writers though I would pick up his work when I came across it. And yet he wrote one piece that is important to me because I was at an age where I needed it, and could recognize it. If interested: Isabella |
|
|
|
Post by EdoBosnar on Jan 4, 2021 5:56:04 GMT -5
(...) My Apologies. Because I was late posting my picks, I’m even later reacting to the picks of others. But this struck a chord with me. I can’t say Isabella is one of favorite writers though I would pick up his work when I came across it. And yet he wrote one piece that is important to me because I was at an age where I needed it, and could recognize it. If interested: IsabellaI enjoyed your assessment of that early Black Lightning issue. However, I'm not sure your conclusion, i.e., that "What Tony Isabella intended is not what I experienced" is entirely correct. Based on a recent re-read of the original series (and a first read-through of Isabella's later turns with Black Lightning in the 1990s and then the recent Cold Dead Hands), as well as what he's said about writing the character in various interviews, etc., I think his intent jibed pretty well with what you experienced
|
|
|
|
Post by Calamas on Jan 4, 2021 11:36:10 GMT -5
(...) My Apologies. Because I was late posting my picks, I’m even later reacting to the picks of others. But this struck a chord with me. I can’t say Isabella is one of favorite writers though I would pick up his work when I came across it. And yet he wrote one piece that is important to me because I was at an age where I needed it, and could recognize it. If interested: IsabellaI enjoyed your assessment of that early Black Lightning issue. However, I'm not sure your conclusion, i.e., that "What Tony Isabella intended is not what I experienced" is entirely correct. Based on a recent re-read of the original series (and a first read-through of Isabella's later turns with Black Lightning in the 1990s and then the recent Cold Dead Hands), as well as what he's said about writing the character in various interviews, etc., I think his intent jibed pretty well with what you experienced
Either way, it was important in my development. And of more significance, I got to thank Mr. Isabella on the since-wiped CBR boards, at that time referring back to another Cei-U thread, something about your five favorite heroes and why. I wish I had saved his response. If only. . . . |
|
