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Post by DE Sinclair on Apr 24, 2015 9:58:45 GMT -5
The sample pages I did for Marvel back in '79 were for a Torch story where he battles the Asbestos Man, who blames Johnny for the cancer killing him. It didn't seem nearly so clever after my dad's mesotheleoma was diagnosed. Cei-U! I summon the 20/20 hindsight! Sorry to hear about your dad's illness. I'll admit to some concern about that for myself, having been around at least two refits that involved tearing out asbestos insulation when I was in the Navy. Though realistically, all the second-hand smoke I sucked in as a kid is probably a bigger problem.
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Post by paulie on Apr 24, 2015 10:16:53 GMT -5
The sample pages I did for Marvel back in '79 were for a Torch story where he battles the Asbestos Man, who blames Johnny for the cancer killing him. It didn't seem nearly so clever after my dad's mesotheleoma was diagnosed. Cei-U! I summon the 20/20 hindsight! Sorry to hear about your dad's illness. I'll admit to some concern about that for myself, having been around at least two refits that involved tearing out asbestos insulation when I was in the Navy. Though realistically, all the second-hand smoke I sucked in as a kid is probably a bigger problem. I believe Steve McQueen attributed his own mesothelioma to refitting piping while in the Marines. He said you could actually see the air the that you were breathing while tearing the stuff out.
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Post by Cei-U! on Apr 24, 2015 10:22:05 GMT -5
My father worked in the shipyards here in Tacoma before he enlisted in the navy. At one point, he was the longest surviving mesotheleoma victim known to American medicine (he lived thirteen years after his diagnosis).
Cei-U! Damned asbestos!
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Post by wildfire2099 on Apr 24, 2015 10:28:29 GMT -5
Not just Johnny, but the entire FF, and all the Baxter Building support staff... maybe Reed cured cancer, and they just don't make a big deal out of it? It's generally pretty clear who named the character.. Stan's are all Alliterated.
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Post by DE Sinclair on Apr 24, 2015 10:32:30 GMT -5
Not just Johnny, but the entire FF, and all the Baxter Building support staff... maybe Reed cured cancer, and they just don't make a big deal out of it? It's generally pretty clear who named the character.. Stan's are all Alliterated. If he did cure cancer, he's a dick for letting Captain Marvel die.
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Post by Cei-U! on Apr 24, 2015 10:41:35 GMT -5
It didn't work on Kree physiology.
Cei-U! I oughtta be a Marvel editor!
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Post by paulie on Apr 24, 2015 11:47:32 GMT -5
It didn't work on Kree physiology. Cei-U! I oughtta be a Marvel editor! No truer words have ever been spoken.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Apr 24, 2015 11:48:17 GMT -5
The Human Torch feature is arguably the weakest of the initial spate of Marvel titles. It didn't really have a high point either even with the Kirby-Ayers team. Nick Fury where are you??? This is my second time reading the Torch stories and I'm already chomping at the bit to get past them and on to Dr. Strange and Nick Fury.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Apr 24, 2015 11:51:04 GMT -5
My father worked in the shipyards here in Tacoma before he enlisted in the navy. At one point, he was the longest surviving mesotheleoma victim known to American medicine (he lived thirteen years after his diagnosis). Cei-U! Damned asbestos! My grandfather also worked in shipyards, bridge building projects, etc, most of his working life. He's never gotten mesothelioma, but he does have asbestosis.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Apr 26, 2015 18:32:15 GMT -5
I'll be returning with some more reviews in the morning. My weekend was busy, so I wasn't able get any comic reading done I'm afraid. I've recently worked out a reading schedule (both books and comics) because I wanted to start greatly increasing how much I read every week, so the pace of my reviews should start picking up soon.
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Post by Rob Allen on Apr 28, 2015 17:00:14 GMT -5
The Human Torch got a solo series in 1962 because the Human Torch was on the cover of Marvel Comics #1 in 1939 and was one of the company's stars all thru the 40s. Either Stan or Martin Goodman had to figure it was worth a try to see if the Torch could be a star again.
Also, interesting factoids that may or may not mean anything - Johnny is portrayed as living in a suburb called Glenville. Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman, grew up in a Cleveland neighborhood called Glenville. Jerry Siegel worked at Marvel as a proofreader in the early 60s and is credited with a couple of Human Torch scripts under the pseudonym "Joe Carter", which was based on the name his wife had used professionally before they were married, "Joanne Carter". Did Jerry have more input into the Torch strip than just the two scripts? We may never know.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Apr 29, 2015 1:02:04 GMT -5
Tales to Astonish #36 CreditsScript: Stan Lee (plot); Larry Lieber (script) Pencils: Jack Kirby Inks: Dick Ayers Colors: Stan Goldberg Letters: Terry Szenics; Artie Simek Synopsis: Our story opens with Ant-Man rescuing a few clueless bank robbers that managed to get themselves locked inside a timed bank vault. We then learn that the communists have been keeping tabs on Ant-Man's various heroic actions; they decide that it's high time that they learned the secrets of his shrinking ability and put it to their uses. Comrade X, their top espionage agent, is tasked with capturing Ant-Man. After Ant-Man learns through his network of ants that a female is at the police department begging for help, he locates her and she tells him that she was once the lover of Comrade X, but after being jilted by him, she now wants revenge and reveals that he's now in the United States seeking to capture Ant-Man. After she tells Ant-Man that he's hiding on a freighter at the pier, Ant-Man sets out to confront him. Ant-Man is initially captured, but with the aid of his ants, he manages to subdue Comrade X's goons and radio to the Coast Guard for help. Finally confronting and defeating Comrade X, Ant-Man learns that Comrade X is actually a female, Madame X; the same female that pretended to be X's jilted lover. First Appearances: Comrade X Comments: Yet another communist plot. Great! I will say that the twist to this one was somewhat clever. It did give us our first female villain (chronologically) in the Marvel universe. We also get our first look at Ant-Man's ridiculously awesome mechanical catapult mode of transportation. Art and Story: Lee and Leiber go to the communist well once again, but I give them an extra point for putting in a twist. Kirby and Ayers turn in another solid art job. I get the feeling that Kirby enjoyed designing the diagrams for the various HQ's and contraptions that were springing forth from his imagination at an ever increasing pace. Character Development: Absolutely none. Personal/Historical Rating: 4/6. I didn't like the story much, to be honest. This is par for the course with all the communist tales. Give me Hydra! I'll pump it up from average in terms of historical importance for the simple fact that we see the catapult for the first time.
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Post by Nowhere Man on May 2, 2015 11:58:26 GMT -5
I'm really enjoying this thread, but the one thing that I'm finding tiresome is recapping the issues in the synopsis section, which I find nigh impossible to keep brief. Would the board think it poor form if I simply used the GCD's brief synopsis' so I can expand a bit on the other sections, particularly the comments section?
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Post by Cei-U! on May 2, 2015 12:02:55 GMT -5
The GCD doesn't consistently include plot synopses (it's at the indexer's discretion) so you're probably going to have to do it as often as not.
Cei-U! I summon the warning!
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Post by Nowhere Man on May 2, 2015 19:09:32 GMT -5
Thanks for the warning. I'll use it as much as possible!
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