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Post by wildfire2099 on May 28, 2018 22:53:06 GMT -5
Wow, great info, Prince Hal!
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Post by Prince Hal on May 29, 2018 14:08:11 GMT -5
Wow, great info, Prince Hal! Does that remark have the ring of sarcasm?  (Because so many people want to know about Blackhawk's Detached Service Diary...  ) |
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Post by wildfire2099 on May 29, 2018 14:27:55 GMT -5
Not at all! At some point someone might want to know, and now it's here |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 6, 2018 17:50:31 GMT -5
Action Comics #333 (feb. 1966) Dorfman/Plastino First Action with Go Go checks! ![]() This is from the actual comic, not a collection... I was buying some early 80s lots a while back, and this was included randomly. 'Superman's Super Boo-Boos' This was easily my favorite Silver Age Superman story I've read... so Lex Luthor, from prison, does some experiments, and figures out that if he convinces Superman that he's made mistakes enough times, he'll crack up. This is a much more logical premise than most with Silver Age DC science.. and it shows in the story. Luthor proceeds to arrange for Superman to mess up a bunch of times... he has a killer robot RETURNING loot, he saves him from other bad guys, then just when he has him convinced he's reformed, he tricks him into dropping a train full of passengers going to an international police convention on Venus. The public demands the Superman-screw up to leave, but the Man of Steel vows he'll save Metropolis from the next big disaster or he'll retire! Luthor sets up a machine to send glaciers into Metropolis, and Supes is so full of self doubt (he's not sure he should stop him, or if it's a trick, or what) he just flies off without doing anything... to be continued!  The 2nd story isn't nearly as good... but its an elseworlds at least... 'The duel between Superwoman and Superboy' Plot: The set up is Supergirl got her first, and as Superwoman stashes young Kal-El in an orphanage to be her secret weapon. Kal doesn't take it lying down, and ends up evil. Lots of Kryptonite stuff in this one, which isn't my favorite, but it a passable alternate story. The lead is the real keeper though.. so entertaining! I'll definitely be hunting for the conclusion! |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 8, 2018 9:04:06 GMT -5
Atom #10 Fox/Kane/Anderson  'Ride a Deadly Grenade' Plot: The CIA needs the Atom to go to Vienna to pick up an anti-gravity prototype before the communists do! Nice continuity having the same CIA guys contact Jean to get a hold of the Atom, and the same German spies trying to stop him. Some great visuals with the Atom, like the grenade, and him flying the toy flying saucer. Kinda a weird twist ending though. 'The Mysterious Swan Maiden'  Plot: We come in on a trial, where Jean Loring is defending a Swan (yes, an actual Swan) in court. There was a robbery and witnesses report that the swan can change into a woman, as from Norse Myth! Jean's only chance to keep the swan out of jail is for the Atom to find the woman who is the actual thief. It was neat seeing a female mastermind of an evil plot from a comic in 1964, and with no tight suit or cheesecake at all.. I didn't think that was a thing that happened! Notes: -If you like Silver Age DC, this is a great typical example... no costumed bad guys... low on fantasy elements (just Ray, really) and with lots of real life notes to 'educate' the young reader... they reference HG Wells with the anti-gravity toy, they talk about metamorphasis in nature, and reference the Swan Maiden Norse Legend. -OTOH, the bad guy gets caught because she used the library, so that was sad. Nothing memorable or having long term effect this issue, but a nice enjoyable comic with excellent Gil Kane art. Plot: B Art: A History: C
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Post by Hoosier X on Nov 8, 2018 16:44:15 GMT -5
Glad to have you back! I have missed this thread!
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Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 10, 2018 22:36:21 GMT -5
Atom #11 Fox/Kane/Anderson 'Trouble at the Ten-Year Club' ![]() ![]() Plot: Ivy University has memorablility on had for the class of '54, but one of the distinguished members has promised to steal the others stuff! Like the lead story last issue, we're given what seems to be a supervillain type caper, which turns out to be a little DC science for Ray to figure out. Unlike last issue, though, there's no cool shrinking tricks or fun visuals.. in fact, the only time the Atom is seen, he gets enlarged to regular size. 'Voyage to Beyond' Plot: Ray and Jean are on a cruise, and when they're about to pass the equator, aliens swap places with everyone aboard, leaving the Atom to trick them into swapping back. It's been some time since I had a one off alien never to be scene again! These ones are body snatchers, apparently. Definitely lots of fun facts in this one (like describing the passing the equator for the first time thing, and some 'lost at sea' stories), but pretty by the numbers otherwise. Notes: Seems kinda scandalous for 1964 to go on a cruise unmarried, no? The set Ray's age pretty solidly in this issue, as a college graduate in 1954. Funny how that's changed, (not just time slide), but heroes generally are teens or very early 20s these days, back in the DC silver age, I think most were in their 30s. Plot: C History D- Art: B- |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 20, 2018 0:25:22 GMT -5
Atom #12Fox/Kane/Greene April/May 1964  'Danger Atom-Gun at Work' Plot: After taking his sexy new lab tech out to dinner with Jean, Ray is feeling good... he's made his girlfriend feel threatened and want to spend more time with him, and he's get his new tech.. he's heading back to the lab when he finds someone breaking in. He changes to the Atom to take care of him, but a freak set of circumstances lead to the bad guy finding out that Ray himself is a great power source for a Bugs Bunny-like disintergrator pistol. The crook builds a gun.. with Ray INSIDE it as the power source, and goes on a crime spree until radiation from some weird crystal counteracts the effect and Ray breaks free and saves the day.. after being trapped as a power source in a gun FOR FOUR DAYS. Luckily, Jean's phone was broken and her dad was sick, so she didn't even realize he was gone! Happy Ending! Notes: Wow, was this one weird! There's quite a few science footnotes, and a whole lot of comic book science, but it just doesn't hold together at all, from the ridiculous co-incidence that keeps Ray out of the dog house to the whole plot where Ray was trapped in a gun for days without food or water and being turned intangible by weird radiation, then different weird radiation saves him.. just too much silver age. I mean, the bad guy even has a plaid jacket ala the golden age Superman comics! Great Cover (and the gun design in general) though! Plot: D- Art: B History: C (I think Encheretta is around for a while as Ray's lab assistant) 'The Gold Hunters of '49' Plot: A time pool story that you would THINK was about the California gold rush, but is really a mystery set in Baltimore with Edgar Allan Poe was the main investigator! There's actually 2 different things going on.. Ray goes back in time to try to find a book he is studying that's missing a couple pages, while a gold shipment to a bank is stolen, and the farrier needed his friend Edgar Allan Poe's help to solve the mystery. Of course, the Atom helps, a bit too. Fun little mystery with a cool setting, definitely far superior to the main story. These time pool stories are a bit goofy for the framing, but they definitely are fun! Plot: B Art: B
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Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 25, 2018 23:21:36 GMT -5
Action Comics #335  'Luthor's First Victory over Superman' (Part II) Dorfman/Plastino (though uncredited in the comic) Plot: Luthor enlists Brainiac to put the finishing touches on his plan to make Superman have a nervous breakdown and retire... as they pose as big wigs from the Pentagon that to test Superman's abilities and see if he should retire or not. The Man of Steel fails, and goes to a vacant lot of beat up cardboard cutouts of his two enemies. Luthor and Braiiac head over to watch and gloat when Superman reveals he was in on it all along and sends them into deep space. Luthor ends up on Lexor, where a grenade goes off and makes his wife forget he's a criminal on Earth.. a token of.. esteem, I guess from Superman. The End.  Notes: Ugh! Boy, did they ever ruin a great story! Instead of some sort of growth or character or revelation that allows Superman to overcome Luthor's mind games... he simply gets tipped off when Luthor calls in Brainiac and Superman recognizes his tech. I mean, it's the classic trope of the Supervillain defeating himself, but so common and disappointing for what started out to be a great story. Then there was the weirdness of Senator Perry White (which I had forgotten about).. the whole sequence where Perry calls his Planet crew to have Superman come to Washington was just plain odd. I just hate it when there Super-stories end with 'ha, I knew it all along and used Super powers to trick you'... that happens FAR too often in the Silver Age. Finally, we get Superman's gift. Tossing a grenade to a far off planet to hit next to a specific person is probably the most ridiculous use of Super-ness ever (until the back of story, that is)  Plot: F Art: B- (1/2 grade off for the silly bombs with Luthor and Brainiac's heads on them, but great cover) History: D (no lasting effect, and not actually a Luthor victory. And the Supergirl back up 'The Prize of Peril' Plot: Linda enters a Miss Universe pageant as Supergirl, and starts using her powers to sabotage the other contestants to make sure she wins. Turns out she was worried that the prize of the final pageant 'Miss Cosmos' was bad, so she 'had' to win to find out what it was. She goes to a far off planet and wins, only to find out the prize is getting infected with a virus that makes you ugly, because the guy running the contest got his face deformed by radiation and is bitter. Supergirl THINKS her invulnerability saves her, but in the end it does not... so now she's ugly. To be continued! Notes: Tough to get past the inanity of this one, but it could have a good moral if the conclusion is good.. I'll withhold judgement on the plot for now. Silliest superpower use ever... Supergirl uses her telescopic vision to see particular houses on a distant planet, then 'reflect them off her eyeballs into a mirror for a friend to see. That's just not how it works, DC. Plot/History: incomplete Art: C (seemed rushed) |
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Post by beccabear67 on Nov 26, 2018 14:20:01 GMT -5
Thanks for reviewing Atom #10, I can finally know the issue that had that swan woman story. I really liked Sid Greene inking Gil Kane and that was one I remembered he was the inker on. Greene was kind of the DC Joe Sinnott to me.
I read various Jim Mooney drawn Supergirls and it was always a bonus to have Streaky in there. I started with the later Kurt Schaffenberger issues so that will always feel like the 'real' Supergirl to me.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 27, 2018 0:34:04 GMT -5
Thanks for reviewing Atom #10, I can finally know the issue that had that swan woman story. I really liked Sid Greene inking Gil Kane and that was one I remembered he was the inker on. Greene was kind of the DC Joe Sinnott to me. I read various Jim Mooney drawn Supergirls and it was always a bonus to have Streaky in there. I started with the later Kurt Schaffenberger issues so that will always feel like the 'real' Supergirl to me. Glad it helped you find something! I basically have a bunch of showcases and omnibuses (omnibi? omnibu?) that I flip between, with the occasional good deal on ebay thrown in. Streaky is pretty awesome.. so far I like the orphanage years better that the few after I've read. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Nov 30, 2018 11:13:55 GMT -5
Action Comics #337 Dorfman/Plastino 'From Riches to Rags'  Plot: Superman suddenly starts doing different characters to save the day, instead of just being Superman. He knows something weird is happening, but doesn't know what right away. He figures it out at the end (which is weird, but clever in a way only the Silver Age brings), and has the local cops stop him from doing something bad. Notes: Such a simple concept, but a great excuse to do a bunch on unique fun 2 or 3 page adventures tied together. If you're gonna do a throw away one off story, this is how you do it. Story: A Art: B+ History: F  'Green Sun Supergirl' Binder/Mooney Plot: Supergirl is trying out an 'astronette' suit out for the US government, and ends up on a random planet where she uses plot devices and cleverness to simulate her powers. Fun story for what it was, nothing too exciting, but there's this panel, which I can't believe the actually published:  I mean, really guys? If you ignore that, there's some fun silver age trickery and nice art. Art: B+ Plot: C History: F Notes: I didn't notice last time, but there was lots of fun ads in this one.. we see the 'modeling tips' strip that I thought was long gone by this time. a Rocky and Bullwinkle Cherios ad, and a 'health myths reveal' strip that talks about how shaving more often doesn't make hair grow faster, etc. Also, the letters page actually refers to the go-go checks as 'go-go checks'.. I didn't realize that was a phrase that was used then... I thought it was a modern thing. (hyphens added for go-go checks!)
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Post by Rob Allen on Nov 30, 2018 15:32:36 GMT -5
Also, the letters page actually refers to the gogo checks as 'gogo checks'.. I didn't realize that was a phrase that was used then... I thought it was a modern thing. Don't forget the hyphen - they were "go-go checks". DC even advertised about them:   |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 7, 2018 11:51:57 GMT -5
Green Lantern #4 Broome/Kane/Giella 'The Diabolical Missile from Qward'  Plot: The Qwardians build a super-robot to fight Hal, because he's apparently the key that's preventing them from invading our universe. They send a missile to bathe Tom in radiation, so Hal has to come looking for the antidote. When he arrives, the Qwardians promise him the stuff if he beats their robot in the arena.. only it turns out the robot is so smart, it turned good, so it give Hal the antidote and sacrifices itself so he can escape. The End! Notes: Man, this one is BAD. First off, the premise that Hal (who has a weakness to their yellow themed weapons AND is just one of MANY Green Lanterns, which the Qwardians know) is really silly. Then these supposedly super evil guys make Hal come to them to fight their robot, instead of having the robot go to Earth and destroy stuff? Then there's the missile they sent. First, it's pretty silly that Tom jumps in front of a friggin' GREEN LANTERN to save him. It if was Hal and the ring wasn't out, fine but that's just stupid. Then there's the fact that it's red, but really yellow. I'll give them it's clever to have a transparent yellow missile with red lights under it. BUT, the power ring is light based, so what does that work? (because DC science, of course, but still).. then there's the fact that see through plastic and Christmas lights count as 'Super-science' to Hal. The Robot (Gnaxos) was cool, but didn't make sense either.. he's a super-robot/ultimate weapon, and the Qwardians literally kill him with one laser beam. We do get a nice moral about good and evil, but so ham-handed. Plot: D- Art: C (not the best Giant Robot ever) History: C- (we get a little insight into the Qwardians.. Gnaxos never appears again, it seems) 'The Secret of the Lantern's Mask' Plot: Hal crashes one of Carol's partys by having 'Green Lantern' write a note that he should stand in for him... that works well until some crooks decide to impersonate him to rob all the rich guests. Carol meanwhile has the guests go on a 'scavenger hunt' to get GL's mask, and sees the imposter, who she thinks is ugly. Later, Hal stops them, of course, and reveals that his mask is held on by his power ring and can't come off! The End!  Notes: - Just your basic romance comic with a bit of Superhero thrown in.. just like every other one so far. - Carol proves to be shallow and manipulative (but I've never liked her anyway). Too bad Hal didn't realize what happened with the mask, his problems would have been solved! But I suppose that happens in every story. - The lead bad guy was named 'Woozy'... he didn't look anything like him, but was that a call out to Plastic Man's buddy? Or was that a common nickname in 1961? Plot: C- Art: B (nice job on different faces) History C (I guess the mask thing is important...)
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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 12, 2018 0:16:22 GMT -5
Green Lantern #5 Broome/Kane/Giella 'The Power Ring The Vanished' Plot: Hector Hammond is taking Coast City by story with his amazing inventions and suave demeanor.. even Carol Ferris is more interested in him than Green Lantern. Hal smells a rat, so he has Tom pretend to be Green Lantern while he investigates. Hammond's secret is he's got 4 top scientists working for him as slaves that he evolved into future humans (the big brain look that Hammond himself has later) with a meteorite taht he found. The scientists call to Green Lantern for help... Tom answers, but not only fails, but loses his temporary ring to Hammond. Hal eventually arrives, and has a ring duel with Hammond, until the temporary ring runs out of juice and Hal wins. He turns everything back to normal and erases the memories of everyone so the future tech stays in the future, while Hammond goes to jail to work in the library. The End. Notes: The ring duel was fun, but so many plot holes.. more than usual, really. The biggest one being that since Hal charged his ring FIRST, then created the temporary one for Tom, and specifically said it was exactly like his, there's no way Hammond's should have run out first. Yes, he could have charged up off panel, but it was clearly the same day (and not even night time yet).. why not just let Hal win? - Ok, so not only do we have to call Tom 'pieface' but he literally gets turned into a monkey this issue... I'm far from the PC police, but really. - At first, I was feeling like Hector Hammond was the inspiration for Tony Stark, but really I think they're both just modeled after Howard Hughes. the similarities are striking though.  This house especially reminds me of Tony's post-addiction cliffside HQ (which they also used in the 1st movie)  -I'm not certain, but I think this is the first explicit mention of Coast City... certainly the most prominent mention.. they use the name like 4 times, as if it just occurred to someone. -Hector Hammond makes black storm clouds with his Green Lantern Ring... of course in JLA we see that from Hal sometimes, but it's always weird to me. Plot: C Art: B (decent ring duel, but not Daryl Banks good) History: A- (first Hector Hammond, first full length story)
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