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Post by Farrar on Dec 28, 2022 16:26:37 GMT -5
^^^ Yes, Shooter seemed to favor the 21 page story (minus a half page here and there for ads) as opposed to the 16-17 page Legion stories by Siegel and Hamilton. Whatever the page count, the frequent use of continued stories of the Legion in Adventure always provided an epic read and helped make it the best series of Silver Age DC IMO. I'll stop here, this is veering too far off-topic  Back to the 12 Days...I still have a few more to go! |
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Post by Farrar on Dec 30, 2022 18:15:39 GMT -5
1. Brotherhood of Evil Mutants as seen in X-Men #4, 5, 6, 7, 11 and Journey Into Mystery #109 (bonus: Wanda and Pietro in Strange Tales #128) As I've mentioned here many times, my favorite comic book character is the Scarlet Witch. So of course my #1 choice here is Magneto's team, popularly known as the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. I was such a great fan of Wanda on the Avengers but I knew nothing of her pre-Avengers days; and then one day I came across Marvel Super-Heroes #23, which reprinted X-Men #4, the Brotherhood's debut. Wow! Subsequent issues of MSH became a must buy. A bit later on I managed to find a back copy of X-Men #11, the issue in which Wanda and Pietro leave the Brotherhood (and promptly show up in that same month's Avengers comic, #16, which I also had as a back issue). Besides the fact that Wanda was a prominent member of the BoEM, this group is a no-brainer as my #1 here because I'd never before seen a villain team that was soooo much more exciting than the heroes of a series. Ignore Marvel's "creative" coloring on these early issues and just look at how the BoEM dominate the first few covers. The BoEM are striking, colorful and individualistic. They make the drab X-Men look like hapless, impotent also-rans. I love how Wanda faces the camera on the cover of #7 --she's ready for her close-up   Now of course it's apparent that from pretty early on that Wanda and Pietro were being earmarked for bigger and better things; during this BoEM stint they were consistently depicted as attractive, conflicted, and very sympathetic. Plus from the start they had first names (unlike Magneto, Mastermind and the Toad back then), so it was clear big things were planned for then. The readers responded; look at the early X-Men letter columns, which were filled with letters about the siblings. For "villains" Wanda and Pietro got an awful lot of exposure than was typical back then. Wanda in particular got a lot of screen time, as in X-Men #6 when she and guest-star Namor were attracted to one another; and as here in X-Men #7:  The Marvel Super-Heroes issue that started it all for me! {Spoiler}{Spoiler: Click to show} Note the coloring was updated for the MSH cover. 
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Post by Myke Gee on Jan 5, 2023 10:41:22 GMT -5
Sorry, guys, for the delay in getting this one posted. Since my surgery, I've been doing more sleeping than anything when I'm not doing the rehab exercises. So, without any further delay, here is my final entry.1. THE MASTERS OF EVIL The Masters of Evil were a team of supervillains. There have been eight incarnations of the Masters of Evil, accumulating dozens of members in total. The Masters of Evil were primarily opposed to the Avengers, although they also battled the Thunderbolts (ironically consisting of former Masters of Evil) and the Guardians of the Galaxy.Members: Absorbing Man, Aqueduct, Baron Zemo (Heinrich Zemo), Baron Zemo (Helmut Zemo), Black Knight (Nathan Garrett), Black Knight (Dane Whitman), Black Mamba, Blackout (Marcus Daniels), Blackwing, Bison, Boomerang, Bulldozer (Henry Camp), Constrictor, Crimson Cowl (Justine Hammer), Ultron, Cyclone (Pierre Fresson), Doctor Octopus (Otto Octavius), Dragonfly (Veronica Dultry), Eel (Edward Lavell), Egghead (Elihas Starr), Enchantress (Amora), Executioner (Skurge), Fixer (Paul Norbert Ebersol), Flying Tiger, Gargantua/Atlas (Erik Josten), Grey Gargoyle, Skein, Hydro-Man, Icemaster, Jackhammer, Joystick, Klaw, Lodestone (Andrea), Machinesmith, M'Baku, Man-Killer, Melter (Bruno Horgan), Mister Hyde, Moonstone (Karla Sofen), Oddball (Elton Healey), Piledriver (Brian Calusky), Powderkeg, Puff Adder, Quicksand, Radioactive Man (Chen Lu), Scorcher, Venom (MacDonald "Mac" Gargan), Songbird, Shatterfist, Shocker (Herman Schultz), Shockwave, Slyde, Sunstroke, Supercharger, Thunderball, Tiger Shark, Titania (Mary MacPherran), Whirlwind (David Cannon), Wrecker (Dirk Garthwaite), Yellowjacket (Rita DeMara).
Creators: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. First Appearance: THE AVENGERS #6, published May 1964 (Cover Dated: July 1964) My first time seeing this team was the Egghead incarnation from THE AVENGERS #222 which featured Moonstone, the Scorpion, Tiger Shark and the Whirlwind. A few issues later (#227), the Scorpion and Whirlwind were replaced with the original Beetle, the Shocker, and a veteran member the Radioactive Man. I knew nothing of the previous two incarnations. My first thought: what a dopey name!! Especially with this random, ragtag team of villains. Each powerful in their own right, I couldn't imagine anything outside of money that would make them work together. The team got a little more interesting when the Scorpion and the Whirlwind were replaced. Of course, it was the Avengers Under Siege that converted me into a huge fan of the super-villain team that still has a dopey name. They were a particularly brutal team of villains which included other teams. One of those teams was a near-miss for the 12 Days of Christmas feature. It was really hard to leave the Wrecking Crew off, but I figure that they still made it as members of the Masters. Of course, everyone knows what they eventually went on to do, but they became my favorite long before they became Thunderbolts.
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Post by Cei-U! on Jan 5, 2023 11:28:43 GMT -5
Sorry, guys, for the delay in getting this one posted. Since my surgery, I've been doing more sleeping than anything when I'm not doing the rehab exercises. So, without any further delay, here is my final entry.1. THE MASTERS OF EVIL Just to clarify, Myke, are you citing all incarnations of the Masters or the Under Siege version, because the tally will come out differently depending on the answer. Thanks!
Cei-U! I summon my pathetic math skills!
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Post by Myke Gee on Jan 5, 2023 18:15:31 GMT -5
Sorry, guys, for the delay in getting this one posted. Since my surgery, I've been doing more sleeping than anything when I'm not doing the rehab exercises. So, without any further delay, here is my final entry.1. THE MASTERS OF EVIL Just to clarify, Myke, are you citing all incarnations of the Masters or the Under Siege version, because the tally will come out differently depending on the answer. Thanks!
Cei-U! I summon my pathetic math skills!
I hadn’t really thought about splitting the different incarnations, but if that’s the case, then of them, the Under Siege version is my favorite. |
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Back to the 12 Days...I still have a few more to go!
