shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Dec 15, 2024 7:38:09 GMT -5
10. Psychoanalysis #1-4 (EC) Sold! I need this in my life. |
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Post by MWGallaher on Dec 15, 2024 7:58:52 GMT -5
10. The TRS-80/Tandy Computer Whiz Kids (1981-1990, DC/Archie Comics)On the other, this is a great historical artifact for geeks like me that it find it fascinating to see these now ancient machines I grew up with, advertised in great detail: It's very much an artifact of historical and of social interest. It occurs to me that this might have been the first exposure--for those not already experienced in technical subjects--of the convention of writing a 0 with a slash through it, to differentiate it visually from a capital letter 'O'. It's one of those things that we just don't think about, since most of us are so familiar with it now, thanks to computer text displays. (Another such convention that remains mostly confined to engineering and math is putting a horizontal strike through the letter 'z'. It's such a habit for me that I do it in my ordinary handwriting still...in those very rare cases that I do any hand-writing that uses a 'z' any more.) As I understand it, these promotional jobs were more lucrative to the artists than (most of) the main comics output, so that while a comics fan might have felt some pity for older comics vets like Swan and Infantino being assigned jobs like this or Hostess cupcake ads instead of the books that "matter", those assignments were in effect monetary awards granted to the senior artists. It can't have been a very fun assignment to have to carefully copy technical diagrams of the hardware for artists accustomed to inventing their own representations of high-tech gear, though! |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Dec 15, 2024 8:02:32 GMT -5
10. The TRS-80/Tandy Computer Whiz Kids (1981-1990, DC/Archie Comics)On the other, this is a great historical artifact for geeks like me that it find it fascinating to see these now ancient machines I grew up with, advertised in great detail: It's very much an artifact of historical and of social interest. It occurs to me that this might have been the first exposure--for those not already experienced in technical subjects--of the convention of writing a 0 with a slash through it, to differentiate it visually from a capital letter 'O'. It's one of those things that we just don't think about, since most of us are so familiar with it now, thanks to computer text displays. See, I love thinking about these kinds of things! Oh yes. The money was great. But the job sucked, and you can feel that delightfully radiating off of every page. I would have loved such a challenge, but...yeah. |
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Post by Icctrombone on Dec 15, 2024 8:22:57 GMT -5
10. Fantastic Four # 73
Daredevil, Spider-man and Thor take on the FF.
Lee and Kirby are revered for the first 100 or so FF issues. They deserve those accolades, but not for this issue. This issue is a semi second part to Daredevil # 37-38 where the hero takes on Dr. Doom. Reason it’s a guilty pleasure:This entire issue is a big fight. It takes the Marvel trope of the misunderstanding confrontation and dials it up to 11. This issue almost has the feel of a book where they had a weekend to complete a book and filled it with nonsensical premises to achieve a slugfest. The plot: Daredevil has his body taken over by Doctor Doom via a Body Transferal machine. It’s never quite explained why Doom wants to switch bodies but Daredevil finally reverses the process but Doom radios the FF ( using a gadget that imitates Horn Heads voice ) that Doom is going to attack them in the guise of Daredevil. Whew! Well, On Daredevil's way to talk to the FF, he’s attacked by the Torch and Spider-man witnesses the battle. He believes DD’s story about what happened and he helps him confront the rest of the FF. But before they go to the Baxter building, Spider-man recruits Thor who he saw while he was swinging around earlier. He recruits a depowered Thor by calling him a coward.  The three go to the FF’s headquarters and the next 14 pages contain nothing but senseless punches thrown over the most hackneyed reason Marvel has ever concocted for a fight. But you know what? I loved it ! To see Thor square off with the Thing on this splash page was worth sitting through the dumbest premise you ever heard of.  Yeah, I’m ashamed that I love it.
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Post by DubipR on Dec 15, 2024 8:30:50 GMT -5
Sunday morning; feels like I should watch an 80s action film, instead I bring you this NUMBER 10: SLASH MARAUD (1987)(Written by: Doug Moench/ Art by: Paul Gulacy)  When comics talks about legendary writer/artist duos, I think the team of Moench and Gulacy gets overlooked. They're truly fantastic together and created some dynamic comics. Their work on Master of Kung-Fu is probably one of the best comics from Marvel in the 1970s. Yet a lot of their other collaborations do not get talked about. They're either fair to midland to dollar bin fodder, but they make for fun reads.
Slash Maraud was one of those dollar bin fodder books that was one of those books that Moench pitched to DC in the 80s, back when DC would do other non-hero tied-in books to see what sticks, to work again with his partner Gulacy. The outcome was this 6 issue mini-series. Basic premise reads as thus:
"The Earth's no longer our own! Will it belong to Slash Maraud? We'd better hope so, because Slash Maraud and his clan of weird henchmen are a far better alternative than the alien hordes which have condemned it to die! The streets of New York and Paris lie under a blanket of dense alien foliage...the deserts of the world sparkle with huge alien crystals...and the native lifeforms (humans included!) have begun to mutate into new and dangerous species. All of which leave the aliens themselves plenty of time to...party! And guess who gets to serve as playthings to their insatiable alien appetites? And that's where Slash Maraud and his crew (consisting of your basic bikers, cowboys, survivalists, prostitutes and even a renegade alien or two) come in...and you're invited to tag along while they take on the entire invading force to regain their world!"
This was off the heels of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome in 85, probably written in 86, put out in 87 by DC. It reads like a Cannon film. Only thing missing was the heading of "A Golan-Globus Production". Slash was this gunman from the future; a Mel Gibson pastiche with a mullet and biker clothing. Guns blazing and with his lady by his side. This was one of Moench's misses with his fellow collaborator. Its every 80s action film trope mixed with every Omega Man/Alien invasion film you've never seen or read. I love this book because I love those terrible Cannon films. Those horrible Charles Bronson films; Chuck Norris films. American Ninja. Van Damme. Money spent in those films to make tripe.
And this was drawn to be one. Gulacy's artwork, as always is beautiful. This take on the aliens are interesting. His ladies are always beautiful and Slash is rugged like all of his heroes. One setback is Adrienne Roy's colors on this series; hides a lot of the pencils to flatten out the action.
If you like Moench and Gulacy, give it a shot as as well their other minis. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Dec 15, 2024 8:38:50 GMT -5
Sunday morning; feels like I should watch an 80s action film, instead I bring you this NUMBER 10: SLASH MARAUD (1987)
(Written by: Doug Moench/ Art by: Paul Gulacy)
Didn't expect to see my man Moench make the list this year! I've not yet gotten around to this one, myself, though I seriously considered throwing Six from Sirius on this year's list. |
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Post by DubipR on Dec 15, 2024 8:49:09 GMT -5
Sunday morning; feels like I should watch an 80s action film, instead I bring you this NUMBER 10: SLASH MARAUD (1987)
(Written by: Doug Moench/ Art by: Paul Gulacy)
Didn't expect to see my man Moench make the list this year! I've not yet gotten around to this one, myself, though I seriously considered throwing Six from Sirius on this year's list. Six from Sirius and Sci-Spy were on my compliation list. I felt bad that I had 3 from them when writing down books from my collection. But I had to give a spot to them on here. I didn't want to give the impression that their books weren't all that great and use up spots on my list. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Dec 15, 2024 9:05:32 GMT -5
Didn't expect to see my man Moench make the list this year! I've not yet gotten around to this one, myself, though I seriously considered throwing Six from Sirius on this year's list. Six from Sirius and Sci-Spy were on my compliation list. I felt bad that I had 3 from them when writing down books from my collection. But I had to give a spot to them on here. I didn't want to give the impression that their books weren't all that great and use up spots on my list. Yeah. I ultimately didn't include SfS because I decided I didn't actually feel any guilt over enjoying it, but I can certainly see why it's dollar bin fodder to others. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 15, 2024 9:06:52 GMT -5
Sunday morning; feels like I should watch an 80s action film, instead I bring you this NUMBER 10: SLASH MARAUD (1987)
(Written by: Doug Moench/ Art by: Paul Gulacy)
Glad to see the title mentioned, as it was on my shortlist! So... much... TESTOSTERONE!!! And why not? That was a really fun ride!  |
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Post by Pól Rua on Dec 15, 2024 9:14:23 GMT -5
10: The Man-Eating Cow (New England Comics, 1992)(written by Ben Edlund and Clay Griffith, Art by Alan Hopkins)  This comic combines three things that I absolutely love in this world. A behind-the-scenes view of a superhero universe, utterly absurd comedy played with a 100% straight face, and the work of Steve Gerber. In 'The Tick' #7, arch-villain Chairface Chippendale has planned a deadly deathtrap for The Tick and Secret Agent Angus McGuire where their bodies will be slowly lowered into a pit of deadly man-eating crocodiles and cows. Unfortunately, what Chippendale did not realize was that cows and crocodiles are natural enemies and in the end, they end up devouring one another until only one remains. Slipping away undetected in the aftermath, our heroine vanishes into the night... and into her own ten-issue spin-off series. Like Gerber's 'Man-Thing', the series is largely about a character who wanders aimlessly and silently throughout the narrative, while we follow the effects of her actions and those who are impacted by them. These characters include, Krinkles, a hard-boiled, vengeance-driven rodeo clown and the retired superhero, Crime Cannibal, who's desperate to redeem himself, 'Lord' Byron, the theatrical and overly-dramatic king of crime and Lieutenant Valentine, the poor cop who happens to catch the case of the masticated mobster and has to navigate his way around this nest of weirdos to solve a series of mysterious homicides across the city. This is pure absurdity presented with the sort of absolute, straight-faced earnestness that's funnier than any kind of comedic schtick could ever be. The art's crisp and beautiful, the writing and characterisation's sincere and as a result, it's an absolute delight. You can really see the embryonic form of stuff like 'The Venture Brothers' in here. But the fact that it's a comic about a Man-Eating Cow kinda makes it a hard sell.
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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 15, 2024 9:25:40 GMT -5
10. Fantastic Four # 73
Yeah, I’m ashamed that I love it. Don't be! This was the third FF issue I ever owned (#39 and 56 preceded it) and I loved it then and now.
Cei-U! I summon all the redrawing Sinnott had to do to make Kirby's Spidey look right!
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Post by thwhtguardian on Dec 15, 2024 9:31:11 GMT -5
And on the third day I give you... DC Comics Presents #47 "Superman VS The Masters of the Universe" Written by Paul Kupperberg Art by Curt Swan 1982, DC After reading Confessor's entry yesterday on Secret Wars I remarked that sometimes you just want a story that reminds you of all that time you spent as a kid smashing your action figures together to make them fight...and this is the book that ticks that box for me. It's plot pretty much boils down to this: He-man and Superman are both on their respective worlds just doing their normal things when suddenly Skeletor strikes Castle Grayskull with his power sword...which for reasons unknown causes Superman to be transported to Eternia, where because of his weakness to magic he becomes ensnared by Skeletor and is forced to fight He-Man. The two heroes then predictably manage to turn the tables after tussling for a bit and then Superman flies off and magically gets home with no more of an explanation as to why a tunnel back to Earth appeared than his journey to Eternia was.
So yeah, it's predictable, it's very simple and it's sole purpose was to be an extended advertisement for the Masters of the Universe toyline...but even to this day I love it anyway. Part of that is no doubt due to the rose colored glasses of nostalgia as next to the Ninja Turtles my next great love was He-Man and he remains large in my mind to this day. But I think the greater part of it really does come down to the fact that I was definitely one of those kids who would sit and make up stories about my various action figure lines and I never cared that they weren't from the same show or were the same scale they were going to fight just the same and although I've grown up since then and I no longer have any action figures deep down inside there still exists that simple yearning to see my favorite heroes meet up and fight just for the fun of it. That kind of simplistic plot might often be looked down upon, and I admit many times those books can be a chore...but He-Man and Superman never will be for me.
As an aside, reading this one for the first time in probably a decade it amused me to see this issue kind of bridging the gap between the tone of the early comics that came with the figures and the cartoon that would come out early the following year. The cartoon must have been in production when this was being hashed out so I wonder if DC was given a sneak peak at that or if the somewhat softer tone was down to just to Kupperberg's style? The world may never know. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 15, 2024 9:43:07 GMT -5
For Day 3, I present my most obscure title (well, maybe....): Deliah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant  I found this when I was looking for something I could give my daughters to try to get them to read comics (without much success I'm afraid). I thought, hey, the art is pretty, and maybe it's historical! It is not really historical at all... just in a vague sense, so no sneaky learning here. The art is nice, and Deliah is fun, even if she is a general spunky female hero. I don't think the writer/artist Tony Cliff has done much of anything else.. there are 3 volumes and a 4th that was started but never finished. They get less good as they go, but I liked it enough to buy them and get my daughters to read them and have the local library get them. |
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 15, 2024 9:46:38 GMT -5
As mentioned last post, all my remaining entries will be from 1990s Marvel. 10. Daredevil by Kevin Smith, Joe Quesada, and Jimmy Palmiotti [Daredevil #1-8, Marvel, 1998-99] The case against: It's entirely derivative off Frank Miller's work. And it "fridges" Karen page [killed by Bullseye, of course, to keep being derivative]. And Matt spends the whole series whining about religion. Plus you had to wait 3 months for the next issue to come out. The case for: It's an homage to Frank Miller's work. Karen was well-written in an arc that brought closure to her story. It's a fascinating meditation on Daredevil's relationship with religion. Well, it's all out now. Quoth the mysterious villain who has learned Daredevil's identity and is using that to tear his life apart through an attack on his hope faith... "A man without fear is a man without faith, and a man without faith is easily unmade." The best issue is of course the one where Spider-Man guest stars. In one of my favorite comic scenes, Matt is at the end of the rope, dealing with the loss of Karen, and seeing nothing but madness in what he just went through. He asks, "Can you tell me one thing-- just one thing-- that makes any sense in that mess whatsoever?!?" And Spider-Man says, "You saved that baby girl's life, Matt." And swings away. -- I got into Marvel and basically only Marvel comics at age 8, and fell in love with most of the Marvel comics being published in the '90s... except Daredevil. The few Daredevil comics I picked up didn't appeal to me, so I didn't collect the title regularly. Until I gave it a chance with a new Daredevil #1 along with the rest of the excellent Marvel Knights line... Black Panther, Inhumans, and Punisher [yeah, the one where he's a literal angel]. I devoured the next decade of Daredevil comics and soon after reading this found Frank Miller's stuff and got into the older stuff. And then eventually found Wally Wood and got into the really old stuff. This was also my introduction to Kevin Smith. I would later watch Mallrats and make the connection. Chasing Amy became one of my favorite movies in college, and he remains one of my favorite film-makers.
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 15, 2024 9:48:14 GMT -5
For Day 3, I present my most obscure title (well, maybe....): Deliah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant Sorry to be contrarian but I don't think of Delilah Dirk as obscure as all. I've definitely read it. |
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