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Post by Farrar on Sept 1, 2022 14:55:57 GMT -5
Hmm, it's September first and I see I didn't post anything for August 1972. So, belatedly, here's my August 1972 post. August 1972
Back then I bought exactly one comic off the stands: Avengers #105.  I remember being very disappointed with this issue. The previous Avengers I managed to buy were #99, with art by Barry Smith; then a neo-Buscema/Adams mix by Rich Buckler in #102; and now here in #105, was the master, John Buscema -- but inked/finished by Jim Mooney. Those Mooney eyes and faces just didn't do Buscema's pencils justice, IMO. Plus the coloring was off; Wanda had black hair. But she'd had brown hair (aka auburn) since #75. Wasn't anyone checking this stuff? And then who was this new scripter? The credits listed some dude named Steve Englehart  Where was Roy? Oh, he was now the book's editor. Boy, there had been a lot of changes since I'd last seen the Avengers with #102. The revolving artists, the new scripter, the sloppy coloring...all this made me feel that #105 was put together in a slipshod manner. I was very turned off by this issue. I hated that Wanda and guest-star warrior Sif were portrayed as not much more than damsels-in-distress The only saving grace for me was that the Vision-Wanda romance was still being featured. This would turn out to be the last comic I'd ever buy off the stands. At that point I owned about 500 comics; fully half of these were back issues I'd bought at the collectibles store in my old neighborhood. But as I have mentioned, a few months earlier we'd moved to a new neighborhood and so the candy stores and the collectibles store I'd frequented for the previous 5-6 years were no longer easily accessible to me. And besides, other interests were now crowding out comics. It had been a fun ride, but it was over. Postscript: I didn't think about comics for many years. I happened to see Les Daniels's Marvel book at a Borders in the late 1990s and picked it up; those beautiful color pictures gave me a huge jolt of nostalgia. And then in the early 2000s with the internet I discovered several comics sites. My old interest in comics, the Silver Age anyway--and its history--was awakened. Then in 2008 or so, at B&N I bought Green Lantern and Metamorpho Showcases and the die was cast. Visited my very first comic shop in what, 2008 or so?--Jim Hanley's Universe, when it was a block away from the Empire State Building. I couldn't believe it, JHU was enormous, huge, like a department store! I have all the Essentials, Showcases, Masterworks, Archives, etc. I could want--plus dozens of reference books about comics. I even have a ton of back issues again. In fact, when I started buying back issues online, my credit card company called to check this flurry of "suspicious activity"  |
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Post by berkley on Sept 1, 2022 16:23:06 GMT -5
Catching up myself: August 1972: Tomb of Dracula #5 I remember really liking the artwork in this issue: Colan was still playing around a bit with his Dracula so the art looked a little different from issue to issue in these early days. They all looked good but this was a particular favourite. Unfortunately it would be the last issue of ToD I read for a few years until I got back into the series and comics in general in the spring of 1975. Werewolf by Night #2I loved the whole Werewolf by Night concept, with the mysterious book of magic - the Darkhold - and the Russell family curse, and Ploog's unique style of artwork brought it all to life for me, giving the story its own unique world to take place in, something like Ditko did in a very different way for Doctor Strange.
Kull, the Conqueror #5
I think I read this one at the time - I've read the 10 issues of the Severins' Kull run so many times over the years that I'm no longer 100% sure about some of the issues, whether I read them when they were new out or not until later on as back issues.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Sept 1, 2022 17:37:40 GMT -5
Kull, the Conqueror #5
I think I read this one at the time - I've read the 10 issues of the Severins' Kull run so many times over the years that I'm no longer 100% sure about some of the issues, whether I read them when they were new out or not until later on as back issues.
I know I didn't, but Kull #5 is one of those happy finds of my early non-reprint comics collecting (must have been around 1980 or so). Still a very fond memory, as that's an excellent issue! The Severins were just brilliant on Kull. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Sept 1, 2022 20:37:35 GMT -5
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Post by MWGallaher on Sept 2, 2022 9:02:04 GMT -5
Here's what I bought off the racks in September 1972:
Astonishing Tales #15: I don't know where my interest in Ka-Zar came from. I had read the issues with Man-Thing a few months earlier, so maybe I was hoping for more of that. Looking back I see that there were a couple of flashback panels with Man-Thing, but the rest was all plain-clothes scrapping in the inner city, not typically the kind of thing I'd go for.
Brave & the Bold #104: Batman and Deadman by Aparo and Haney! This issue cemented my conviction that Aparo was my favorite artist, B&B my favorite title, and Deadman the character most likely to deliver a top-notch story. This was a heartbreaker of a tale, one of the best of the entire run.
Detective Comics #429: I had heard of "Man-Bat" from another kid, and I thought he was making it all up, but no, he was for real. I was still motivated to buy the monsters, so I snapped this up. The Frank Robbins art wasn't really my idea of what comic book art should be, but it was definitely memorable. The Jason Bard back-up was the opposite of memorable.
Fear #11:I was eager for more Man-Thing, but the art by Rich Buckler and Jim Mooney was a letdown after the premier installment's Gray Morrow. This clearly wasn't going to be competitive with DC's superior Swamp Thing...
Phantom Stranger #22: More Aparo, and this issue sports my absolute favorite cover of his, maybe my all-time favorite comic book cover. He and writer Len Wein were just killing it on this run. The Dr. 13 backup wasn't all that welcome, but the lead feature alone was worth my two dimes.
Supergirl #1: I had mostly waned myself off of the Superman Family titles I had started out with, but I guess a first issue was too hard to resist. Pencilers Art Saaf (Supergirl) and John Rosenberger (Zatanna) weren't bad, but their female characters didn't have the sex appeal I found in Bob Oksner's and Gray Morrow's takes on those two...and that was a big factor at my age, then!
Teen Titans #42: I remained dedicated to the Titans, and this month, another horror-tinged cover provided additional enticement. It wasn't an issue that stuck in my memory, though, unlike...
Wonder Woman #203: I was really digging this Diana Prince incarnation now that I'd discovered it, and I was ready for more! This, though, would prove to be the end of the line, to my disappointment.
Total Cost: $1.80$1.60, a cheap month for me.
Best cover of the month: I've got to give it to Aparo's PHANTOM STRANGER #22.
Comic I'd Most Like to Have But Don't: Well, I've read most of what I want from this month in reprints or back issues (DEMON, MR. MIRACLE, SUB-MARINER), but I guess I'd go for X-MEN #79, with a lovely new Gil Kane cover featuring the Cobalt Man, a character whose design and name I always found fascinating, and published during the X-Men's reprint era, for which I have a strange nostalgic fondness, even though I only had two issues of it.
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Post by chaykinstevens on Sept 2, 2022 15:25:58 GMT -5
Here's what I bought off the racks in September 1972: Astonishing Tales #15: I don't know where my interest in Ka-Zar came from. I had read the issues with Man-Thing a few months earlier, so maybe I was hoping for more of that. Looking back I see that there were a couple of flashback panels with Man-Thing, but the rest was all plain-clothes scrapping in the inner city, not typically the kind of thing I'd go for. Brave & the Bold #104: Batman and Deadman by Aparo and Haney! This issue cemented my conviction that Aparo was my favorite artist, B&B my favorite title, and Deadman the character most likely to deliver a top-notch story. This was a heartbreaker of a tale, one of the best of the entire run. Detective Comics #429: I had heard of "Man-Bat" from another kid, and I thought he was making it all up, but no, he was for real. I was still motivated to buy the monsters, so I snapped this up. The Frank Robbins art wasn't really my idea of what comic book art should be, but it was definitely memorable. The Jason Bard back-up was the opposite of memorable. Fear #11:I was eager for more Man-Thing, but the art by Rich Buckler and Jim Mooney was a letdown after the premier installment's Gray Morrow. This clearly wasn't going to be competitive with DC's superior Swamp Thing... Phantom Stranger #22: More Aparo, and this issue sports my absolute favorite cover of his, maybe my all-time favorite comic book cover. He and writer Len Wein were just killing it on this run. The Dr. 13 backup wasn't all that welcome, but the lead feature alone was worth my two dimes. Supergirl #1: I had mostly waned myself off of the Superman Family titles I had started out with, but I guess a first issue was too hard to resist. Pencilers Art Saaf (Supergirl) and John Rosenberger (Zatanna) weren't bad, but their female characters didn't have the sex appeal I found in Bob Oksner's and Gray Morrow's takes on those two...and that was a big factor at my age, then! Teen Titans #42: I remained dedicated to the Titans, and this month, another horror-tinged cover provided additional enticement. It wasn't an issue that stuck in my memory, though, unlike... Wonder Woman #203: I was really digging this Diana Prince incarnation now that I'd discovered it, and I was ready for more! This, though, would prove to be the end of the line, to my disappointment. Total Cost: $1.80, a cheap month for me. Wouldn't the total have been $1.60? |
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Post by chaykinstevens on Sept 2, 2022 15:32:50 GMT -5
Bought later:
Astonishing Tales #15
Fantastic Four #129
Fear #11
Sub-Mariner #56
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Post by tonebone on Sept 2, 2022 15:37:11 GMT -5
Believe it or not, these things were the bright spot of my Middle School years. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Sept 7, 2022 20:57:14 GMT -5
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Sept 8, 2022 6:05:53 GMT -5
September 1972:Couldn't wait for:
Conan the Barbarian #21; Doc Savage 1; Phantom Stranger #22; Demon #3; Journey into Mystery #2 Habit buys: Brave & the Bold #104; Detective Comics #429; Mister Miracle #11; Strange Adventures #239; Our Army at War #251 Holy Moley! I only had access to a few of these, and in translated form at that... but was 1972 a great time to read comics or what? |
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Post by Rob Allen on Sept 8, 2022 11:01:53 GMT -5
September 1972:Couldn't wait for:
Conan the Barbarian #21; Doc Savage 1; Phantom Stranger #22; Demon #3; Journey into Mystery #2 Habit buys: Brave & the Bold #104; Detective Comics #429; Mister Miracle #11; Strange Adventures #239; Our Army at War #251 Holy Moley! I only had access to a few of these, and in translated form at that... but was 1972 a great time to read comics or what? It was, it definitely was! I'll get back to this thread some day. This was the era when I was all-in on comics. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Nov 3, 2022 12:20:38 GMT -5
November 1972    Brave & the Bold 105 Never missed this title, especially because of the Aparo art. And as MWGallaher pointed out a while back, that WW logo was used only this once. (Not that I realized that back then!) Still, having WW depicted in the usual "woman in distress" mode wasn't particularly appealing given this was during her "new" Wonder Woman phase. The Demon 5 I enjoyed this title a lot back then, even more actually than the Fourth World books. Loved Royer's inks on Kirby's pencils, loved the atmosphere Kirby created of a magical, dark world, no matter the time period in which the stories occurred. Mister Miracle 12 And I also enjoyed this Kirby book, which was sorta kinda part of the Fourth World but was equally grounded in the here and now. Kirby just never seemed to run out of names, ideas, or twists on all the old comic tropes, and his art during the DC years just exploded off the page. Habit buy: Detective
Reprint favorites: Wanted, Strange Adventures. And speaking of Aparo excellence, how about this exquisite cover? (And the glorious Aparo goodness inside!) I loved this title!  Over at Marvel, I was thrilled to finally see the first chapter of the Tarim saga, albeit with a different cover. (The correct cover had been printed last month, disguising a reprint of Conan 1.) Barry Smith's tardiness was becoming a real problem. I overlooked that because you could tell that this was going to be a great story.   Also picked up Supernatural Thrillers #2. The Steranko cover was enough to get me to buy it. Nothing else from Marvel made the cut. 
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Post by MWGallaher on Nov 3, 2022 21:14:56 GMT -5
My comics purchasing was starting to really ramp up about this time. In November 1972, I bought: Action Comics #420: I remember I bought this one to pass the time waiting for some family members to arrive in the Memphis airport. I wasn't as into Superman any more, but I guess the options must have been limited. The four-armed alien with his weird musical instrument were memorable, but what really fired my imagination was The Human Target. I didn't care for the non-costumed heroes, and I was never quite able to swallow the gimmick behind the many comics characters who could precisely imitate people with makeup, but I thought that name--"The Human Target"--was just killer! It's one of the best at conveying a feature's core premise. Brave & the Bold #105: I see that Prince Hal remembers my sneaky use of this Wonder Woman logo in one of my comics alphabet puzzles of the past...I might just have to give that another go, soon! I really dug the new look Wonder Woman, and this would be the last chance for a long time to see the non-powered Diana Prince in action, since she had reverted to the traditional look in her own title as of this month, to my disappointment. Crazy #1: I had seen a few issues of NOT BRAND ECHH at a friend's house, and I snapped up the opportunity to sample some reprints. I wish they had just revived the original title, even in reprint. "Not Brand Echh" was such an unforgettable, memorable title! Defenders #4: This was my first issue, and I would proceed to buy every single issue through to the end of its run. It was my favorite Marvel title, and I was lucky to get in on it as early as I did. I read this one in a hospital, where I was trying to make my way through a barium swallow. I recall being baffled by a reference in a footnote to an issue of "The Incredible Jade-Jaws", and seriously trying to figure out if Marvel published a title by that name. Somehow, it didn't seem that unlikely to me at that age. Marvel Super-Heroes #35: This reprint of TALES TO ASTONISH #80 is not the kind of thing I'd typically buy, but buy it I did; I remember reading it at an outdoor table at the Northgate McDonald's in Frayser. The Kirby/Everett art on the Hulk installment looked like the perfect Hulk to me. Mister Miracle #12: I had learned to pick up every issue of this, a title whose unusual concept--a super escape artist--fascinated me. I'd checked out my local library's book on Houdini again and again, and I loved Kirby's implementation, even if I didn't fully grasp the New Gods mythology. Phantom Stranger #23: Jim Aparo was the man, and his work on Phantom Stranger was tops, even better than his B&B work. I liked the new Spawn of Frankenstein, with its Mike Kaluta art, and I loved seeing Tanarak return in the lead story. PS was at its most awesome point here, with lots of globe-trotting allowing Aparo to show off his talent for rendering real-world settings. Sub-Mariner #58: I must have been developing an interest in Namor through exposure in THE DEFENDERS and MARVEL SUPER-HEROES. Bill Everett was doing the best art of his career here at the end. Supernatural Thrillers #2: I could never resist a great logo like the one created for this issue adapting The Invisible Man. Nor could I resist that Jim Steranko cover! That cover was quite obviously a major inspiration for the much later model kit that I got last Christmas. Here's my build-up and paint job:  Teen Titans #43: I snapped up this series whenever I found it, although the stories weren't always that easy to follow for a new reader. But I loved the Kid Flash and Wonder Girl costumes, two of the best designs ever. Wonder Woman #204: I was very disappointed to see this, but I bought it, anyway. What a let-down to see this juvenile return to the Kanigher approach to the character after the more adult-feeling Diana Prince era. COVER OF THE MONTH: An easy one: I agree with Prince Hal that PHANTOM STRANGER #23 was incredible COMIC I'D MOST LIKE TO HAVE BUT DON'T: I'd probably opt for WESTERN GUNFIGHTERS #14, just for that sweet Steranko cover, but if I could go back to 1972, there's probably not a one of these I wouldn't pick up if I saw it now, except for the Harvey and Archie books, that have never much interested me. I'd especially like to have some of those romance comics, which I couldn't have known were in their final days. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 2, 2022 7:23:27 GMT -5
 First issue of Mar-Vell that I ever saw. I had a newish neighbor, whose father bought him the occasional comic book and who would lend them to me, to read. |
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Post by MWGallaher on Dec 2, 2022 22:08:54 GMT -5
Here's what I bought in December, 1972:
100-Page Super Spectacular DC-14: Man, did I love the Super-Specs! This had the terrific 2-part "Batman vs. the Vampire" Golden-Ager, a great Atom story, probably my first Blackhawk, Doll Man, and Wildcat.
Amazing Adventures #17: I had read a couple of installments of the Beast's solo, and liked them a lot. I was sad to see it end here, but I appreciated the reprint of his origin story.
Challengers of the Unknown #78: I found DC's new line of reprint comics very appealing. I didn't know the Challengers, but I got this one.
Doom Patrol #122: I had met the DP in a Super-Spec, and I loved the concept. This was, to me, as good as anything on the stands.
Justice League of America #104: Here's where JLA started letting me down. After the remarkable SSV 3-parter, a Shaggy Man story was bound to disappoint.
Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth #3: My first try of Kamandi. It didn't wow me, so I wasn't a regular reader, despite being a Planet of the Apes fanatic.
Legion of Super-Heroes #1: I was loving the Legion in Superboy , and these reprints were very satisfying.
Marvel Team-Up #7: With no B&B on the stands this month, MTU gave me my team-up fix, but I don't remember being all that impressed with Spidey and Thor here.
Metal Men #42: Another DC reprint I was eager to read. I'd also met the Metal Men in a Super-Spec, so I was excited to see more of their early adventures.
Secret Origins #1: How could I resist seeing the origins of Superman, Flash, and Batman?
Shazam #1: I was super-hyped for this, and tried hard to love it. I was fooling myself, and would eventually bail on this juvenilia.
Spoof #4: I'd loved seeing the movie "Blacula", so a parody was up my alley.
Superboy #193: The Legion back-ups had become the big draw here for me.
Sword of Sorcery #1: I'd loved these guys in Wonder Woman, and this was my first and still favorite S&S comic.
World's Finest Comics #216: I wasn't sure what to make of the Super-Sons, but it was irresistible.
COVER OF THE MONTH: Jack Sparling's the dark horse winner, with his unforgettable cover for Secrets of Sinister House #9
COMIC I'D MOST LIKE TO HAVE BUT DON'T: Marvel's Beware! #1 has a neat logo, and I am fond of Marvel's flood of reprint comics from this era.
COMIC I MOST REGRET NOT BUYING: I should have kept buying the brief experimental phase of Adventure Comics, with Jim Aparo on the Adventurers' Club.
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Where was Roy? Oh, he was now the book's editor. Boy, there had been a lot of changes since I'd last seen the Avengers with #102. 
