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Post by Nowhere Man on Jul 23, 2015 19:07:04 GMT -5
That's interesting. I've never read Ultimate Spider-Man (I'm a big fan of classic Spider-Man, and I've read the first 70 issues, so why would I?) but it makes me wonder what other "mistakes" Bendis and other creators picked up on and ran with. Has anyone turned "Peter Palmer" into a clone, for instance?
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Post by the4thpip on Jul 25, 2015 4:59:39 GMT -5
That's interesting. I've never read Ultimate Spider-Man (I'm a big fan of classic Spider-Man, and I've read the first 70 issues, so why would I?) but it makes me wonder what other "mistakes" Bendis and other creators picked up on and ran with. Has anyone turned "Peter Palmer" into a clone, for instance? Writers like Roy Thomas and John Byrne have been trying all their careers to make every single spelling and coloring mistake canon somehow.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jul 25, 2015 7:36:28 GMT -5
That's interesting. I've never read Ultimate Spider-Man (I'm a big fan of classic Spider-Man, and I've read the first 70 issues, so why would I?) but it makes me wonder what other "mistakes" Bendis and other creators picked up on and ran with. Has anyone turned "Peter Palmer" into a clone, for instance? Writers like Roy Thomas and John Byrne have been trying all their careers to make every single spelling and coloring mistake canon somehow. I knew Byrne had gone off the deep end when he decided to make Norman Osborn and Sandman relatives just because they were originally designed with similar hairstyles.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 25, 2015 18:40:23 GMT -5
That's interesting. I've never read Ultimate Spider-Man (I'm a big fan of classic Spider-Man, and I've read the first 70 issues, so why would I?) but it makes me wonder what other "mistakes" Bendis and other creators picked up on and ran with. Has anyone turned "Peter Palmer" into a clone, for instance? Writers like Roy Thomas and John Byrne have been trying all their careers to make every single spelling and coloring mistake canon somehow. Hey! I LIKE when Roy Thomas does that.. mostly he does it only for big stuff, and in a thoroughly amusing way
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Post by the4thpip on Jul 26, 2015 2:45:08 GMT -5
Writers like Roy Thomas and John Byrne have been trying all their careers to make every single spelling and coloring mistake canon somehow. Hey! I LIKE when Roy Thomas does that.. mostly he does it only for big stuff, and in a thoroughly amusing way Big things like having Namor sexually molested just to explain why he wore different trunks in his time-displaced appearance in Avengers #71?
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jul 26, 2015 7:48:36 GMT -5
Yeah, see, that's a SMALL thing. That was a pretty good story overall, though .
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Post by Farrar on Jul 26, 2015 11:58:33 GMT -5
Hey! I LIKE when Roy Thomas does that.. mostly he does it only for big stuff, and in a thoroughly amusing way Big things like having Namor sexually molested just to explain why he wore different trunks in his time-displaced appearance in Avengers #71? Talk about jumping the shark...
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jul 27, 2015 1:43:48 GMT -5
That's hilarious. I love Roy Thomas. Not only did he write the definitive Avengers and Conan comics, but he's still probably the biggest fanboy-turned-pro that we've ever seen.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jul 27, 2015 8:24:52 GMT -5
Fantastic Four #14 Story Title: “The Merciless Puppet Master” Cover Date: May, 1963 CoverScript: Stan Lee Pencils: Jack Kirby Inks: Steve Ditko Colors: Stan Goldberg Letters: Artie Simek CreditsScript: Stan Lee Pencils: Jack Kirby Inks: Dick Ayers Colors: Stan Goldberg Letters: Artie Simek Synopsis: The Fantastic Four return to Earth from their Moon adventure to major news coverage and a host of overzealous fans. After a short time of rest and relaxation, the FF go back to their normal routines. Reed finds Sue searching for the Sub-Mariner using their equipment, but the matter is put on hold so that Reed’s report on his new rocket fuel can be sent to Washington. At the same time, we witness the Puppet Master being released from a shady sanatorium. The Puppet Master hatches a scheme to pit the Sub-Mariner against the FF and begins to set his plans in motion. While Namor is searching for his lost people, the Puppet Master takes control of him (thanks to his radioactive clay) and commands him to kidnap Sue Storm. Using a Mento-Fish that allows for thought projection, Namor contacts Sue and has her meet him at a nearby pier. When she arrives Namor uses a Hypno-Fish to hypnotize her, and places her in a giant bubble, they depart for his undersea lair. With the Puppet Master still controlling him, Namor uses an image projection device to proclaim that he’s kidnapped Sue. The FF prepare to depart and the Thing decides to bring Alicia, not wanting to leave her alone and upset. Borrowing a bathyscaph from the military, the FF depart. Before they can reach their target, Namor causes a giant clam to capture them and render them unconscious with "chlorophorm" vapors. When they awake, Namor shows them that he has Sue imprisoned in a globule guarded by a giant octopus. The FF and Sub-Mariner battle to a standstill, and while Reed takes on Namor, the Thing rescues Sue, hurling the giant octopus to the ceiling in the process. Reed realizes that Namor isn’t acting like himself and Alicia suspects that he might be under the control of the Puppet Master. The Puppet Master (who has been close by in a mini-sub), loses patience and commands Namor to kill them. Namor waivers, but accidently activates a bizarre plant that emits poisonous gas. However Reed had the FF place masks on while Namor struggled, saving them all. At the same time the giant octopus crashes through the ceiling and winds up attacking the Puppet Master sub, pulling him down into the depths. Namor recovers and seems to be unaware of what has just happened. The FF depart, uncertain if the Puppet Master was behind the whole ordeal. Character Appearances: The Fantastic Four [the Thing [Ben Grimm]; the Invisible Girl [Sue Storm]; Mr. Fantastic [Reed Richards]; the Human Torch [Johnny Storm]]; the Puppet Master; Namor the Sub-Mariner; Alicia Masters; Mole Man (cameo); the Skrulls (cameo); Doctor Doom (cameo) Comments: While this is a solid issue, it’s a bit of a holding pattern compared to the ambitious Fantastic Four #13. We get the return of the Puppet Master, from a “seedy sanatorium” no less, and another appearance by the Sub-Mariner. We don’t get any information on the nature of the Puppet Master’s sanatorium, but you have to wonder why Stan and Jack had him in a place where he’d be allowed to walk out the front door, as opposed to busting out of jail as is the most typical scenario. Beyond the fact that he’s a freaky little dude that looks like a puppet, and seems to have a limitless supply of radioactive mind-controlling clay stashed away somewhere, I can’t really see how he rates as being insane over, say, the Wizard. To top it off, the guy who tried to kill the FF and was committed to a sanatorium, apparently had no problem getting his hands on a Navy surplus submarine. The biggest enemy of the FF in this issue isn't the Puppet Master or Sub-Mariner, it’s the System! I like the scene where a rival group of female Mr. Fantastic fans fight over Reed as if he were The Beatles incarnate. At the same time, Sue is propositioned by some guy to endorse a line of deodorant. A part of me wishes Sue would have accepted and this could have been an amusing sub-plot stretched out for a few years. The art by Kirby and Ayers continues to be stellar, with the opening page of the FF in the rocketship’s cockpit being the coolest visual. The book also continues to feature Stan’s best writing. You get the sense that, with the exception of Spider-Man, the FF energize him as a writer and as a plotter. Character Development: The love triangle between Reed, Sue and Namor is explored a bit more and we finally get to see a bit of Reed’s own personal reflection’s on the matter. Personal Rating/Historical Importance: 7/7. This is a very good issue that continues the momentum the FF series is building. I think it’s most significant for the return of the Puppet Master and the clever way he’s used to bring the FF into conflict with the Sub-Mariner.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jul 28, 2015 7:00:57 GMT -5
Journey Into Mystery #92 Story Title: “The Day Loki Stole Thor’s Magic Hammer” Cover Date: May, 1963 CoverScript: Stan Lee Pencils: Jack Kirby Inks: Dick Ayers or Jack Kirby Colors: Stan Goldberg Letters: Artie Simek CreditsScript: Stan Lee (plot); Robert Bernstein [as R. Berns] (script) Pencils: Joe Sinnott Inks: Joe Sinnott Colors: Stan Goldberg Letters: Martin Epp Synopsis: The story opens and we learn that Loki is still imprisoned in Asgard, chained to a rock and bound with magic uru chains. The scene shifts to Earth where Don Blake is forced to operate, by gunpoint, on a jewel robber who had just been shot. Blake tricks the thugs, and changing into Thor, tapes them all to the operating table and uses his hammer to hurl them to the police station (though it could have been the jailhouse itself). The scene shifts to Norway where Thor is helping a movie crew film a movie about Vikings. During a scene where Thor hurls his hammer, Loki, viewing these scene from Asgard, causes his uru chains to attract Thor’s uru hammer, destroying his chains and allowing him to escape. Loki then implants a suggestion for Thor to call Odin so he can travel to Asgard. At the same time, Loki plants a suggestion in the other gods to steer Thor toward a confrontation with Loki. Loki, hoping to destroy Thor now that he’s in Asgard and without his hammer, makes several attempts, but Thor thwarts each attempt--first by fashioning a large wooden mallet, then by fashioning a hammer, with his finger, out of uru itself. Thor soon discovers his hammer still magnetically attracted to Loki’s chains as the other gods arrive and take Loki prisoner. Character Appearances: Thor [Doctor Donald Blake]; Loki; Heimdall; Jane Foster; Odin; Frigga [called "Fricka"] (introduction, cameo); Neri (introduction, cameo) Comments: This is one wacky issue. Once again, a seemingly uninspired Stan Lee rehashes one of his old plots, or at least a part of it, with the thug needing emergency surgery from Don Blake (see JIM #89). This little episode ends with the hilariously goofy image of Thor taping the three crooks to the operating table and hurling them to the cops. The thugs even make a pun that it should be called “Operation Thor.” Inexplicably, we next find Thor involved in filming a movie in Norway. Is Blake’s practice so anemic that Thor can waste time hanging out in Europe making movies, even if the proceeds are going to charity? I get that this is early in Thor’s career, and that he was supposed to be Marvel’s answer to Superman, but I just don’t see something like this happening under Kirby’s watch. At least not early on as he was slowly laying down Thor’s mythological trappings. I could easily be wrong on this point, but it seems like Bernstein (and/or Sinnott) doesn’t get, or hasn’t been told, that Marvel isn’t going for the same beats as DC. It’s also perplexing that Thor needed to fashion a hammer to take on some killer trees, yet he then proved strong enough to carve an uru mallet out of pure uru. This is straight-out, unapologetic, Silver Age Superman. I did enjoy the Sinnott art and I think he does a much better job of staying on Kirby’s original models this issue. I noticed that Heimdall seemed to be wearing a spare Thor costume, but I’m assuming that this was because Kirby simply hadn’t fully realized the characters look yet, so Sinnott went with what made sense to him at the time. Character Development: About the only bit of new development here is that Thor seems to have developed a wacky sense of humor and an interest in film-making. Personal Rating/Historical Importance: 4/7. An altogether uneven and mediocre issue, it’s significant because it’s the first mention of uru in general and more specifically as being the substance that Thor’s hammer is composed of.
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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 28, 2015 7:35:44 GMT -5
Stan Lee's "plot" for Journey #92 likely consisted of "Let's have Thor fight Loki again, but in Asgard this time," leaving it to Lois Lane scripter Robert Bernstein to fill in the blanks. The series desperately needed the undivided attention of Lee and Kirby by this point.
Cei-U! I summon the tired turkey!
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jul 28, 2015 13:59:43 GMT -5
Yep, I eagerly await JIM #97, first and foremost for the brilliant Tales of Asgard series. Thor's jump in quality from this early period to the classic Lee/Kirby run is probably the most striking of all the early Marvel series; it goes from being almost as weak as the Human Torch and Ant-Man stories to being on par with the best of Spider-Man and FF.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Aug 27, 2015 0:23:57 GMT -5
I'm going to get back into this review thread with full vigor within the next few days. I've already read Sgt. Fury #1, the next issue on the docket, so all I have to do is write up my little review.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 8, 2015 20:47:59 GMT -5
Well, now that I'm FINALLY back on track personally, I'm going to pick up where I left off tonight. Promise. I didn't take a hiatus with this massive undertaking because of a lack of interest, so it's going to be fun to get back into the swing of things. I'll be writing my review of Sgt.Fury tonight.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 9, 2015 2:53:23 GMT -5
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 Story Title: “Seven Against the Nazis!” Cover Date: May, 1963 Cover Credits
Script: Stan Lee Pencils: Jack Kirby Inks: Dick Ayers Colors: Stan Goldberg Letters: Artie Simek Story Credits
Script: Stan Lee Pencils: Jack Kirby Inks: Dick Ayers Colors: Stan Goldberg Letters: Artie Simek Synopsis: After a two-page introduction of Sgt. Fury and his Howlers, the Commandos are ordered to rescue the Underground leader, captured by the Nazis, before he reveals the date of D-Day. After several battles with Nazi forces in occupied France, the Commandos, with the help of the French Underground, succeed in thwarting the Nazi’s plans. Character Appearances: Sergeant Nick Fury (first appearance); the Howling Commandos [Corporal Dum Dum Dugan (first appearance); Robert Ralston [Rebel Ralston](first appearance); Jonathan "Junior" Juniper (first appearance); Gabe Jones (first appearance); Izzy Cohen (first appearance); Dino Manelli (first appearance)]; Captain Happy Sam Sawyer (first appearance) Comments: A strong first issue with a lot of action, this over-the-top take on war comics works, even though the Lee/Kirby dynamic, that works so well with their superhero creations, doesn’t seem like a natural fit. Some might make the argument that comics like this make war look a little too “fun” but I think that would underestimate the reader; a comic where Nick Fury and Dum Dum Dugan take out tanks and jets with hand grenades is as much a product of fantasy as any of the superhero stuff. The humorous banter between Fury and his subordinates makes you care about these guys and I get the sense that Lee enjoyed himself when writing it. It’s very apparent at this point that this aspect of comics writing, far above anything else, is Stan’s major strength. Part of the reason I accept the over-the-top nature of this story (and later Fury stories) is for the simple fact that Kirby actually fought in this war. If anyone gets a pass on the creative license front, it’s Jack Kirby! His art, coupled with Ayers inks, is some of his strongest to date. The best scene in the entire issue is the sequence where Dum Dum Dugan, while parachuting no less, takes out a Nazi jet with that aforementioned hand grenade. I’m also partial to the two page spread that takes its time in introducing the characters. Character Development: Lee and Kirby do a great job, in a short space, of displaying each characters personality. Though most of the characters come off as parodies or stereotypes by today’s standards, it’s interesting that Gabriel “Gabe” Jones, a pioneering African American character, seems to come off the best in that regard. Yeah, the music/entertainer angle might irk some, but it was in no way used as comic relief, which completely changes the dynamic from how black characters had been used up till this point in comics. I think the character that comes off the “worst” in an otherwise great debut issue is Nick Fury himself. I love the character, but his “uber-hardass” routine might have been overdone just a bit. Ah, well. He grows out of that once we get to SHIELD for the most part. Personal Rating/Historical Importance: 7/9. Like I said, solid first issue, but it’s clear that it’s most significant for what would come from it later; Nick Fury leads to SHIELD which will become the most important non-superteam in the Marvel Universe which will eventually lead to their inclusion in the Marvel films and their own TV show. Of course it goes without saying that the most significant thing to ever happen to Nick Fury is when the great David Hasselhoff graced the character by portraying him on the screen. I defy anyone to argue this point.
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