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Post by spoon on Nov 29, 2020 15:35:32 GMT -5
I was excited about Hidden Years, but the execution didn't live up to my expectations. I stopped reading after a while. I would say that series started out with a bang, that got me wanting #2, 3, but then it did seem to be stretched out and not as interesting for awhile, they do meet a young Ororo, and Sentinels are usually good, but most had flown into the sun at that time... by the end however I felt things got interesting again tying-in with Fantastic Four #103-104 (Magneto and Sub-Mariner included)! Plus Joe Sinnott did some of the inking (the FF parts). If I'd known more about his Lost Generation title of 1950s-ish characters I might've appreciated that tie-in more initially. I think I read up to around #8, 9, or 10. I didn't like the idea of Ororo showing up. To me, the appeal of the concept was that these issues would fit in smoothly in the gaps. I wasn't interested in whatever mental gymnastics Byrne was going to have readers do to explain why Ororo and the original X-Men had met but didn't remark about it when they met again in Giant-Size X-Men #1.
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Post by berkley on Nov 29, 2020 16:07:19 GMT -5
I just finished the Essential Black Panther TPB, so the rest of the Jungle Action run that I was in the middle of plus Black Panther #1-10 by Jack Kirby. My take on the McGregor vs. Kirby debate is that they're apples and oranges. Each run had it's pluses and minuses, although I can see how someone reading it at the time could be annoyed that Don McGregor's run was cut short. The McGregor run is stronger at the big ideas, but so-so on the execution. The Kirby run is a lot more superficial and doesn't a really good overarching plan to it in my opinion, but skilled in its visual storytelling. McGregor clearly wanted to do world-building with his Wakanda, create a supporting cast, and deal with real world themes. There was a map of Wakanda created, and McGregor actually has a lot of his stories clearly take place in the locales on the map. I like how Black Panther's African-American girlfriend, Monica Lynne, is used to give an American perspective on Wakanda and a conduit for the connection between the U.S. and Africa. There's some parallels with Monica as a visitor to Wakanda in the first story arc, and T'Challa as a guest in Monica's childhood home of Georgia in the second arc. But honestly, some of the execution was shaky. Members of the supporting cast blended together to me. I kept confusing W'Kabi, Zatama, etc. I think McGregor gets a little ahead of skis in his writing. He'll drop in some caption about human alienation, but he doesn't do the set-up to tie that to the story. And then he botches little things, like repeatedly referring to a bow as a crossbow. I also think that the bigger themes and world-building get sidelined for several issues in the first arc for what seems like torture porn, as we're repeatedly shown and told how badly Black Panther is brutalized in a series of battles against Killmonger's minions. I was disappointed a bit by Billy Graham's art, although that varied a bit by inker. Back in the 90s, I got the coffee table book Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics by Les Daniels as a Christmas present. It had a page from this run, but it turns out to be an atypically strong page, so it set my expectations too high. A similar thing happened with Steranko's Nick Fury, where Daniels excerpted the best pages, and many others pale by comparison. Now, Graham does some creative and impressive things with the page design and how panels are laid out. It's the rendering that's so-so. I think Graham is best served when Bob McLeod comes on as inker during the Klan storyline, even though McLeod can be a bit heavy. It's cool that McGregor tried to infuse serious themes, although I think they get sidelined at times, especially in the Wakanda arc. It works a bit better in the Klan arc, especially in an issue where Monica's mother recounts some old family lore. That issue has an interesting concept, with Monica imagining the Black Panther in the 1860s to change the course of events. Unfortunately, McGregor actually sticks a little bit of Lost Cause framing in there is a way I felt was inaccurate and annoying. Kirby's issues are lively reads. I think I actually got through 8 issues today. There's the visual kinetic dynamism that flows through so much Kirby work, and a lot of cliffhangers that make it natural to turn the page. But it's really superficial. It's not really a run that would drive me to re-read it. It also feels like Kirby is going to use the same tools in his toolbox rather than adjust to the character or what's come before. He goes to regular Kirby tropes, including ones that annoy me, like costume designs with a head piece that frames the face on Princess Zanda. He starts in medias res, ignore what went immediately before. And for the first half, it's basically MacGuffins that just seem designed to lead to the next action sequence, monster, or Kirby-esque gadget. The psychology isn't that important. There are all sort of causual sexism like calling Zanda a treacherous female (yes, I known she's bad, but her sex should be irrelevant) to BP repeatedly lifting a little person off the ground. After McGregor did all that work of establishing black supporting cast members, both in Wakanda and Georgia, I don't think there's a black character other than T'Challa until #5 or #6. It's a shame, because the plot (as opposed to the action sequences) get more interesting when Kirby brings Wakanda back. Kirby ignores all McGregor's Wakandan cast members, though, and creates his own Wakanda cast. While the artists who worked with McGregor (Graham and Rich Buckler) did a better job showing Wakanda's physical geography, I like Kirby's take on Wakanda architecture better. For someone interested in social and political themes, McGregor seems too willing to put Wakandans in straw huts. Kirby actually does a better job of creating the advanced nation, or at least one that doesn't seem so disjointed.
I agree that Kirby's Panther was a straight adventure series with not too much subtext or underlying theme apart from the general concept (which is, however, pretty damn cool).
And saying this, it strikes me that this is also how most writers and fans see all of Kirby's work, which is where I think they are completely off-base and end up missing the conceptual richness and subtlety of other Kirby creations like the New Gods and the Eternals - more so the latter, as the New Gods does have some defenders amongst comics writers, even if they never follow through in their New Gods work on the appreciation they express in interviews. But at least someone like Morrison does express some understanding of the concept, something that never happens with the Eternals, that I<ve seen.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2020 19:14:17 GMT -5
Finally read the first 5 issues of this series in a trade collection: And I can see why McFarlane had a hit back in 1992 when it came out. It was horror and superheroes mixed together with Todd's stylistic art. Love his HUGE capes! It was unlike anything DC or Marvel was doing at that time. I also picked up this collection: I realized that I had picked up the first year of Jim Lee's Wildcats back in the 1990's when I read it. I recalled the crossover with Cyberforce issues that were next followed with the Claremont written issues. Lee has gotten better as an artist and his series was the best of the team books (Wildcats. Cyberforce. Youngblood) launched at Image IMO. Got both collections on sale for a grand total of $7!
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Post by Batflunkie on Nov 29, 2020 19:35:18 GMT -5
I liked Spawn in concept, same with Ghost Rider (I've heard that Spawn was pitched as basically Ghost Rider with more lore), but not so much in exectuion.
I tend to go for Wetworks and Valiant's Shadowman when I want some horror mixed with my superheroics
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2020 19:38:24 GMT -5
I liked Spawn in concept, same with Ghost Rider (I've heard that Spawn was pitched as basically Ghost Rider with more lore), but not so much in exectuion. I tend to go for Wetworks and Valiant's Shadowman when I want some horror mixed with my superheroics Wetworks was Whilce Portacio Image series? I didn't realize it had horror mixed in. And Shadowman was another series I had skipped over. I have a lot of stuff I didn't read from the 1990s that I want to read now.
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Post by Batflunkie on Nov 29, 2020 19:58:28 GMT -5
Wetworks was Whilce Portacio Image series? I didn't realize it had horror mixed in. I don't think a lot of people did. Don't want to spoil too much because it's a great reveal, but if you liked Wesley Snipes' Blade, you'll like Wetworks
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Post by james on Nov 30, 2020 15:40:46 GMT -5
Rereading THE NAIL. I don't think it truly can be considered classic but I just thought the art was amazing. Come to think of it I think I'm rereading it to look at Alan Davis' art and not the story so much.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Nov 30, 2020 15:55:54 GMT -5
Rereading THE NAIL. I don't think it truly can be considered classic but I just thought the art was amazing. Come to think of it I think I'm rereading it to look at Alan Davis' art and not the story so much. I thought the story was pretty bad. Let’s build an Elseworlds about a world with no Superman...psych! It’s very pretty to look at though.
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Post by james on Nov 30, 2020 18:20:15 GMT -5
Since I purchased Amazing Spider-man 161 I've decided to read issues 161-164. I haven't read these issues in over 20 years curious to see how they hold up.
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Post by dbutler69 on Dec 1, 2020 9:21:23 GMT -5
I read Special Marvel Edition #15 - the first appearance of Shang-Chi. I picked up my first Master of Kung Fu comics about 5 years ago, and loved them. I'd been able to buy a bunch of random back issues cheaply, but had never read his first few appearances, and I remember being a little lost as to who was who and what was going on when I first started, though I liked them anyway. Anyhow, this was really good! I know it's not Moench & Gulacy, but Steve Englehart and Jim Starling (with involvement by Roy Thomas) do a really good job of setting up this series. I'm looking forward to continuing this run. I also read The Brave and the Bold & the Bold #166. The lead story was a decent one with Black Canary, though she doesn't come across too well, getting captured off-panel by the Penguin and his goons. The backup story features Nemesis.
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Post by beccabear67 on Dec 1, 2020 13:53:30 GMT -5
Impact Winter Special (1991) This starts off with a framing sequence by the unusual combination of Infantino pencils and Marshall Rogers finishes (which is brilliant I think), and then there are individual segments spotlighting each Impact title character(s) some of which are very well done. As far as I know these were the creative teams on each book at the time this came out but i only have The Jaguar, the Fly and The Comet to go by (so The Shield, The Web, and Black Hood I can't speak for other than The Shield segment is particularly well done). The premise gets a bit silly at the very end, but still in-keeping with the Impact line trending toward younger readers, and it does start with robots disguised as the Vienna Boys Choir kidnapping then current President Bush! Fun. As a bonus I found my copy was autographed by Tom Artis, artist on The Web segment!
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Post by Hoosier X on Dec 1, 2020 15:46:48 GMT -5
I also read The Brave and the Bold & the Bold #166. The lead story was a decent one with Black Canary, though she doesn't come across too well, getting captured off-panel by the Penguin and his goons. The backup story features Nemesis. This one is sometimes known as “The Penguin’s Four-Way Revenge.”
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Post by Icctrombone on Dec 1, 2020 16:58:13 GMT -5
Rereading THE NAIL. I don't think it truly can be considered classic but I just thought the art was amazing. Come to think of it I think I'm rereading it to look at Alan Davis' art and not the story so much. I thought the story was pretty bad. Let’s build an Elseworlds about a world with no Superman...psych! It’s very pretty to look at though. There are more than a few comics that were total sh*t that I still have because of really nice art. I'm looking at you Continuity books.
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Post by Batflunkie on Dec 1, 2020 18:42:38 GMT -5
Been reading the copy of Captain Harlock that I got for my birthday It's really good. The plot focuses on the son of scientist who was killed by an invading fleet of humanoid extraterrestrials who joins up with a fleet of devil-may-care space pirates Might need to order the other volumes at some point
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Post by earl on Dec 1, 2020 19:17:07 GMT -5
Back when I was a teenager at the Chicago comic con in 1988, they had a room setup showing some Japanese anime/comics and showed some of the original Captain Harlock and they had the trailer for Akira among other things presented.
It was some pretty hip stuff for the times.
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