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Post by commond on Jun 25, 2024 15:18:54 GMT -5
DC Direct Currents #32 (Books shipping in September, 1990) This month's cover feature is Howard Chaykin and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez' Twilight miniseries. I really like this book, but I know a lot of people don't. Inside, our new editor says that last month's lead feature was an experiment in not putting a preview of the first issue of a new ongoing series or miniseries on the front page and instead a chance to spotlight a "middle-of-the-road" book that is quite good but doesn't get consistent attention. There's a preview for The Question Quarterly. It's been a while since I read those issues, but I seem to recall there was a sharp drop off from the ongoing series. There is also a miniseries called The Nazz by Tom Veitch and Bryan Talbot that I've never head of. I'm a pretty big fan of Bryan Talbot so I'm curious about this. Surprisingly, the Lobo miniseries doesn't make the front page and preview number three instead. I guess this was before Lobo reached Wolverine/Punisher levels of over-saturation. This month's interview is with Bryan Talbot. He discusses being heavily influenced by an Archie Goodwin and Steve Ditko story in Creepy called "Collector's Edition." He also mentions reading the underground stories Tom Veitch wrote, and his earliest work in the British underground scene and the near-ground level book New Myths. He discusses Luther Arkwright and doing Nemesis for 2000 AD. Kind of a creepy picture of him at the drawing board, though. He looks a bit like Gollum. The cover of the month is a familiar looking Superman cover. I either had that issue or saw it in the stores. I really like that red border. The back cover is Showcase #41 featuring Tommy Tomorrow of the Planeteers before Chaykin got his hands on him.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jun 25, 2024 15:53:35 GMT -5
DC Direct Currents #32 (Books shipping in September, 1990)This month's cover feature is Howard Chaykin and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez' Twilight miniseries. I really like this book, but I know a lot of people don't. There's a preview for The Question Quarterly. It's been a while since I read those issues, but I seem to recall there was a sharp drop off from the ongoing series. There is also a miniseries called The Nazz by Tom Veitch and Bryan Talbot that I've never head of. I'm a pretty big fan of Bryan Talbot so I'm curious about this. Surprisingly, the Lobo miniseries doesn't make the front page and preview number three instead. I guess this was before Lobo reached Wolverine/Punisher levels of over-saturation. I liked Twilight also and the art is beyond reproach. But, as I said about the Adam Strange mini, I had absolutely nothing invested in DC's space heroes. I also haven't read it in eons. I think I bought the first issue of The Nazz and didn't like it. I should probably give it another try now that I'm a lot older. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 25, 2024 16:34:22 GMT -5
i was enthused about Twilight and loved the JLGL art (PBHN); but, I really didn't like the dirtying up of the space characters. It felt cliched. I haven't read it since then and have been meaning to re-read it, to just see if that was a knee-jerk response or if there was something more substantial about that reaction.
I had The Nazz, as I was into the desconstructionist superhero material, of the period; but, it was a definite "hippie trip," that Bryan Talbot's art made more palatable. I had already had an idea for a sort of hippie Superman, somewhat inspired by the ace Captain Trips, in The Wild Cards series of mosaic novels (edited by George RR Martin); so, when I saw someone else hit on that idea, I picked this up. A lot of the super-powered stuff was centered around Eastern philosophy and mysticism, particularly Indian, with talk of chakras and such. It was different, but probably a little too weird, for my tastes. I tended to prefer brother Rick's ventures into superhero deconstruction (Brat Pack, Maximortal, The One). It did get me to read Luther Arkwright, which gave me Michael Moorcock flashbacks. Then again, it seemed like every British writer and/or artist seemed to be channeling Moorcock, in some fashion, at that time.
Question Quarterly was fine; but you did have a sense that it was on borrowed time. I get the feeling 9as with Ms Tree) there was enough of a following to justify publishing something; but, not enough to do it monthly. By the same token, I think Denny O'Neil was pretty much out of ideas, for the character. I also think it was a bit too "punk," in that it had nowhere else to go, after tearing everything down, with the corruption of Hub City.
The Superman books were great, in that era, for my money. The red border was the identifier for the Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite, the Red Kryptonite story. The interconnected stories were working well, leading to the Triangle Era.
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Post by commond on Jun 26, 2024 5:30:01 GMT -5
DC Direct Currents #33 (Books shipping in October, 1990) This is the first Direct Currents issue I can remember getting from my comic book store. I read this thing cover-to-cover so many times and there was a flood of nostalgia when I flicked through it again. I'm not sure if this was from my first trip to the comic store or my second. New Zealand was ridiculously behind the American newsstands at the time since we were at the bottom of the world. My comic book store received the books much sooner than the New Zealand newsstands did, but I could only visit the shop sporadically. I most probably picked this up during my Summer holidays, which in NZ were December to January. There's a chance I got it in the August holidays if they were solicitating that far ahead, but in any event, I was a big John Byrne fan at the time and was drawn to that image. I was also engrossed by the Legion of Super-Heroes cover. Inside is just how I remember it -- kind of. I don't remember the editor's column where Antonio Fernandez from the Philippines asks whether they're overdoing Batman? Of course not, just look at the cover! I also don't remember The Greatest 1950s Stories Ever Told or the TSR book Avatar. But I do remember the Swamp Thing: Love and Death trade paperback preview, largely because of the painted John Totleben cover. I guess at that age, I was heavily drawn towards the images. I remember the Superman #50 preview as well. Looking through this month's comics, Checkmate was supposed to end with issue #33 (a 32-page issue with no advertising, no less), but it must have been late because I could have swore I saw it in he next issue. Tim Drake becomes Robin with no fanfare in this issue of Direct Currents. El Diablo also has its final issue. Mike Grell does his first artwork on Green Arrow since Longbow Hunters. Ice is going on another date with Guy Gardner. Loved those date issues. Sandman has begun the Seasons of Mist storyline, which is when the title truly rose to prominence. Little commond was enjoying Justice League, Flash, and probably Superman and Batman books at the time, but desperate to read stuff like Legion of Super-Heroes, Hawkworld, The Demon, New Titans, and L.E.G.I.O.N '90 that he couldn't afford. This month's interview is with the Superman writers Jerry Ordway, Dan Jurgens and Roger Stern about the milestone Superman #50 issue. The back cover is 50s fan favorite, Sugar & Spike #1.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 26, 2024 11:55:22 GMT -5
I had that 3-D book. My memory is that it came out very late; but, that was a long time ago. I haven't seen it since then; but, my memory is that, like most 3-D comics, the gimmick was bigger than the story and it turned out to be rather disappointing. With my eyesight, 3-D gimmicks gave me a headache, anyway. I visited my brother in Nuclear Power School, in Orlando and we went to Epcot and Disney and sat through the Captain EO show, with Michael Jackson, in 3-D I had a splitting headache by the time we got back outside and it pretty much killed the rest of the day.
I also had the 1950s book, which had some decent stories in it. Probably the most variety of material for any of those.
Superman #50. Yeah, it was special, with Clark and Lois getting engaged, but Lois still unaware that he was Superman (that came next). I recall an editorial statement, at the time, that the plans were for the wedding to occur sometime in 1992. Except, a little thing got in the way....the tv show, Lois & Clark, The Adventures of Superman. The comic had to hold off until the tv series was ready. So, we got a 6-year engagement and a break-up, which had to be quickly resolved because the ratings started tanking, the producers got scared and rushed to the wedding to try to bring them back up. If you ask me it killed the momentum of what had been a great storyline and the book never recovered. I sometimes wonder if they would have done the Death storyline, if they had been able to do the wedding, on their planned schedule.
I also enjoyed the romance between Guy Gardner and Ice, which was well used for one of the revival JLI mini, as they try to reclaim Ice, from Hell.
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Post by commond on Jun 27, 2024 5:53:19 GMT -5
DC Direct Currents #34 (Books shipping in November, 1990)  This was a special issue of Direct Currents that featured a flip cover. It spotlighted two new books: Neil Gaiman's Books of Magic miniseries and Chuck Dixon and Tom Lyle's Robin miniseries. Apparently, the covers for both series had yet to be finalized. Inside, there's a preview for Batman: The Dailies Vol. 1. There's also a new horror "limited series" by Jamie Delano and John Higgins called Worlds Without End. Not sure why they called it a limited series when they use maxi or mini series for everything else. The final issue of Checkmate is solicited again. 3.95 for Books of Magic? I ain't paying that. I barely noticed, but Prey has been going on in Legends of the Dark Knight. One of my favorite Moench/Gulacy collaborations.. It's a shame it didn't receive a preview the way the previous LOTDK stories did. This month's interview is with Chuck Dixon and Tom Lyle. They speak briefly about their backgrounds before discussing Robin in more depth than usual for these interviews.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jun 27, 2024 9:38:14 GMT -5
DC Direct Currents #34 (Books shipping in November, 1990)This was a special issue of Direct Currents that featured a flip cover. It spotlighted two new books: Neil Gaiman's Books of Magic miniseries and Chuck Dixon and Tom Lyle's Robin miniseries. Apparently, the covers for both series had yet to be finalized. Inside, there's a preview for Batman: The Dailies Vol. 1. There's also a new horror "limited series" by Jamie Delano and John Higgins called Worlds Without End. Not sure why they called it a limited series when they use maxi or mini series for everything else. The final issue of Checkmate is solicited again. 3.95 for Books of Magic? I ain't paying that. I barely noticed, but Prey has been going on in Legends of the Dark Knight. One of my favorite Moench/Gulacy collaborations.. It's a shame it didn't receive a preview the way the previous LOTDK stories did. This month's interview is with Chuck Dixon and Tom Lyle. They speak briefly about their backgrounds before discussing Robin in more depth than usual for these interviews. $3.95 was a lot of money for Books of Magic ($9.50 in 2024 dollars) but sooo worth it. I really love that mini with the great artwork, in particular issue #3 painted by Charles Vess. Anything that looked in the hidden corners of the DC universe was going to draw me in. Prey was by far the best storyline in LotDK up to that point and one of the best the book ever had, at least to the point I stopped buying it. I didn't buy Batman: The Dailies at the time, but have since gotten all three volumes. A flawed but somewhat interesting adventure strip. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 27, 2024 10:26:02 GMT -5
Books of Magic: Harry Potter before Harry Potter.  Okay, not really; but, when the Potter books became massive, DC put out YA books, with Tim Hunter, emphasizing the similarities. Man, I miss Tom Lyle's art. Met him once, in Augusta, GA, after he first started doing Starman. Got a sketch of Sgt Strike, from the Eclipse series, Strike!. Super nice guy, taken way too soon. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jun 27, 2024 18:19:26 GMT -5
The Books of Magic had one of the best John Constantine scenes ever.
I'd say the same for Zatanna, but I'm not that familiar with her.
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Post by Calidore on Jun 27, 2024 21:23:28 GMT -5
Before both Harry Potter and Tim Hunter was Luke Kirby, who appeared in several 2000 AD serials written by Alan McKenzie and drawn mostly by John Ridgway (and later Steve Parkhouse). Ridgway especially was pretty much the perfect artist for the small foresty village setting, and it's a very nice series that I wish had run much longer. The whole thing has been collected in a TPB called Summer Magic.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jun 28, 2024 15:59:16 GMT -5
Before both Harry Potter and Tim Hunter was Luke Kirby, who appeared in several 2000 AD serials written by Alan McKenzie and drawn mostly by John Ridgway (and later Steve Parkhouse). Ridgway especially was pretty much the perfect artist for the small foresty village setting, and it's a very nice series that I wish had run much longer. The whole thing has been collected in a TPB called Summer Magic.Another comic that Harry Potter reminded me of was Kirby's Sandman (the red and yellow one). There was a kid connected to magical creatures being abused by his foster family in that book, too. I doubt that Rowling ever read Sandman, but it's clear that Harry Potter went to the same creative well as many other fantasy series. "Aye!" says John Carter's invisibility cape. |
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Post by commond on Jun 28, 2024 16:13:07 GMT -5
DC Direct Currents #35 (Books shipping in December, 1990) This is another edition of Direct Currents that I vividly remember owning. It kind of throws off my timeline of when and how I got #33 but I may have saved up my allowance and visited the comic book store on the weekend, or I may have been in the city with my parents for some reason. I lived across the harbour from the city and needed to take a ferry boat to reach it. I can't remember exactly when I started taking the ferry by myself. The cover feature is The Greatest Flash Stories Ever Told as DC finally do something noteworthy to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Flash. Inside, we have letters to the editor. Richard Feinberg complains that the covers on the back are always badly cropped and almost always curl to the left. He's pretty angry about it, "Why would you (for 30 issues) retardedly produce classic covers in such a stupid way?" Okay. According to the editor, all of DC's older books are bound into big volumes and she is taking the photos directly from the book, which means that sometimes the books are bound close to the edge of the cover. Paul Belliveau is missing issues #25 and #31 and will accept photocopies. No dice. Jim Keely has some suggestions for Direct Currents' content, including putting the spotlight on other critically acclaimed series, highlighting major changes that are taking place in ongoing titles, and making readers aware of changes in creative teams. All good ideas. There's also a preview for the Batman: Bride of the Demon graphic novel. This was the first time I'd heard of Ras al Ghul and I was captivated by what he must be like. The interview this month is with Carmine Infantino, and in particular, his long association with The Flash character. The back cover I remember like it was yesterday -- Flash #137 with the two Flashes duking it out as The Immortal Villain flies away. I remember thinking the Immortal Villain looked like The Master from Dr. Who. The cover of the month was another one that stuck in my mind. I don't think I bought the issue, though.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 28, 2024 20:23:12 GMT -5
The Flash book was a nice collection, though I have to say, Barry Allen was quite an upgrade from Jay Garrick. The stories seemed more inventive and more dynamic, though I can't say I have read THAT many Jay Garrick stories. I do think he was used well in the Silver Age and beyond, as an elder statesman speedster and hero.
I bought Bride of the Demon because I enjoyed Son of the Demon so much. Jerry Bingham was more of his own artist than Tom Grindberg, who was doing his best Neal Adams. I preferred the story in Son of over Bride; but, it was still a pretty entertaining book. Mike Barr did an excellent job with those works.
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Post by jtrw2024 on Jun 29, 2024 5:01:36 GMT -5
I didn't have many DC Currents, but do remember seeing this one. The Flash TV show was on the air, and that article on the first page would have been what caught my eye. I never read this Flash collection, but I've probably read some of the stories since then if they were collected in other formats. Does anyone know if those panels that the three Flashes are running over represent any actual issue? I'll have to remember to look out for it if I'm ever reading any Earth 1-2 crossovers.
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Post by commond on Jun 29, 2024 20:17:03 GMT -5
DC Direct Currents #36 (Books shipping in January, 1991) I definitely did not have this issue of Direct Currents. The cover feature is an Angel and the Ape miniseries by Phil Foglio, who did that Plastic Man book a while back. Inside, William Messner-Lobbs, Vincent Giarrano and Peter Gross take over the reigns on Dr. Fate. I guess the editor followed the suggestions of that letter writer who wanted to be informed of changes in creative teams. Can't say that I loved the art that was provided. There's also an eight issue Challengers of the Unknown limited series by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, which made me smile given recent discussions. I believe this was Loeb's first comic book work, and his first collaboration with Tim Sale. Tom Veitch and Steve Dillon take over on Animal Man. I didn't know that Dillion drew Animal Man. I wonder if it's any good. Captain Atom reaches its 50th issue with a special 44 page issue. Suicide Squad also reaches its 50th issue. Wonder Woman has already passed 50 issues. The Flash and Justice League are close, and Doom Patrol and Green Arrow aren't far behind. It's interesting to me that those 1987 new releases fared better than books that launched in '89. This month's interview is with Phil Foglio, who was a big fan of DC's Silver Age humor books and is intent on reviving them for the 90s. The cover of the month is a fun Suicide Squad cover. The back cover is Norm Breyfogle's interpretation of the Detective Comics #27 cover, which will be used for Detective Comics #627.
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