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Post by tonebone on Jul 29, 2021 7:47:34 GMT -5
Gerry Conway and most of the young writers really weren't the brightest lights in the field, all too often. I know a lot of readers who grew up with them will disagree, but they just didn't have the sense of professionalism that many of the older, more experienced writer had. Plus, too often they wouldn't stick around long enough on a series to actually figure out what they were doing-- I suspect Conway stuck around because he knew his limitations, and as a result appreciated steady paychecks more than most... heh. I think Conway wrote some of the best and some of the worst stories in comics. I think the bad ones were the rule, and the good ones were the exception.
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Post by profh0011 on Jul 29, 2021 16:45:14 GMT -5
A couple years ago I was working at a client's house and we wound up watching an episode of LAW AND ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT. Conway's name was listed in the credits 3 times, and by the time it was over, I swore, it was the BEST writing job I had EVER seen from him! I've said for many years, his mostly dropping out of comics to focus on TV was a win-win situation.
I wound up talking about it over on Martin Pasko's FB page... and a few minutes later, was surprised when Conway clicked "LIKE" on my comment. I had no idea he was on Pasko's list. I had found something NICE to say about a writer whose work I generally hated... and he got to read it. IT MADE MY DAY!
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Post by dbutler69 on Jul 29, 2021 18:23:58 GMT -5
A couple years ago I was working at a client's house and we wound up watching an episode of LAW AND ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT. Conway's name was listed in the credits 3 times, and by the time it was over, I swore, it was the BEST writing job I had EVER seen from him! I've said for many years, his mostly dropping out of comics to focus on TV was a win-win situation.
I wound up talking about it over on Martin Pasko's FB page... and a few minutes later, was surprised when Conway clicked "LIKE" on my comment. I had no idea he was on Pasko's list. I had found something NICE to say about a writer whose work I generally hated... and he got to read it. IT MADE MY DAY!
Yeah, I had read a while back that Gerry Conway wrote a bunch of Law & Order episodes, and also plenty of TV mysteries like Diagnosis Murder and Father Dowling Mysteries.
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Post by arfetto on Jul 29, 2021 23:00:16 GMT -5
I am new to this forum and this is my first post in the classic comics section, so I read some of the currently active threads and saw a lot of Legion of Super-Heroes mentions. This is a comic series I have always wished to get into, but just have never taken the leap towards (except for Legion Lost which I originally bought for the artwork and ended up enjoying very much for the writing as well, but I have not read it in years). One problem I have is that I tend to buy a lot of collected editions with the intent of eventually reading them, but I never get around to it or get sidetracked...so, I would like to rectify that by starting a reading of some collected editions I have had for many years and have barely opened:
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Volumes 1-13
i.imgur.com/EI9ykzc.jpgIf it is okay, I hope to post my thoughts on these as I read. I have started volume one tonight and though I am not familiar with this era of superhero comics much, already these early stories seem endearing and enthusiastic.
Here is one more image, from volume one (I will try to post only one panel or none for my later posts, I just wanted to post the covers in this first post as well as a panel from the volume I am reading now):
Hairs From Lex Luthor's Head Before He Became Bald.
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Post by tartanphantom on Jul 30, 2021 0:36:39 GMT -5
I re-posted the images for you. In the future, you can post from Imgur one of two ways... You can copy the "direct link" from the image options on your Imgur account and then use the "insert image" button in the reply box here, OR you can simply copy the "BB Code" (not the "Linked BB Code"-- this posts a link instead of the actual image) from your Imgur options and simply paste it directly into your post. The "BB code" option is pre-formatted to work with most forums (look for the "img" prefix in the code text).
Hope this helps, there's always a bit of learning curve with different forum platforms. Of course, if you are posting from a phone or tablet, the process may be a bit different if you are using the Imgur app instead of the actual website.
Anyway, your images are posted below:
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Post by Hoosier X on Jul 30, 2021 1:18:40 GMT -5
I am new to this forum and this is my first post in the classic comics section, so I read some of the currently active threads and saw a lot of Legion of Super-Heroes mentions. This is a comic series I have always wished to get into, but just have never taken the leap towards (except for Legion Lost which I originally bought for the artwork and ended up enjoying very much for the writing as well, but I have not read it in years). One problem I have is that I tend to buy a lot of collected editions with the intent of eventually reading them, but I never get around to it or get sidetracked...so, I would like to rectify that by starting a reading of some collected editions I have had for many years and have barely opened:
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Volumes 1-13
i.imgur.com/EI9ykzc.jpgIf it is okay, I hope to post my thoughts on these as I read. I have started volume one tonight and though I am not familiar with this era of superhero comics much, already these early stories seem endearing and enthusiastic.
Here is one more image, from volume one (I will try to post only one panel or none for my later posts, I just wanted to post the covers in this first post as well as a panel from the volume I am reading now):
Hairs From Lex Luthor's Head Before He Became Bald.Early Legion is just about my favorite comics EVER. The best issues are roughly those stories covered by the Archives volumes from number two to number five. Or so.
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 30, 2021 5:49:50 GMT -5
I am surprised that the Legion spans 13 volumes and makes it all the way up to the Cockrum era. I thought there were much more Silver age stories.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 30, 2021 5:54:50 GMT -5
I just re-read Harbinger #22-25, the three part climax to the first two years of the title (which would undergo a major change of direction in the following issue).
Now that's a proper pay-off, with things between Sting and the Harbinger foundation finally coming to a boil!
The art by Howard Simpson reminded me of Paul Gulacy at times; while not revolutionary, it is dynamic and very efficient. Some widescreen scenes of destruction are quite reminiscent of what Brian Hitch would do a few years later.
Story-wise, Maurice Fontenot manages something I have rarely seen in comics: showing the unexpected, sickening suddenness of real-life events as well as moving the plot at a breakneck pace without making things seem rushed. The sense of urgency in these issues is strong, but rather than leaving the reader in the dust, it just prompts them to turn that bloody page and find out what happens next!
Major characters die in most believable ways (when was the last time a superhero died by being thrown from a second floor window? Did it ever happen, even? And mostly off-panel, too? The closest thing I can think of is when a one-time hero seen in an Aquaman issue tripped and fell off a building).
Other major characters have their mind altered for good by that nefarious telepathic villain, Toyo Harada, without any grand speech or anguished close-ups; not even the snap of magic fingers. One page everyone's fine, and the next everyone's different, for good, and without our reference character knowing why. Spooky! (The change, by the way, is permanent; also something that rarely happens in comics).
Issue #25 is double-sized and cataclysmic in its scope. Harbinger's main character up to that point, Sting, unleashes his mental powers on Harada's super-powered goons just the way I would if I were pushed to the breaking point: no more Mr. nice guy. Think Darth Vader in the corridor. His facing Harada proves to be very traumatic, as Sting learns that it was the villain who made his friends (and especially his girlfriend) like him in the first place; unlikable Peter Stanchek was always alone after all.
It's brutal, cathartic, and spectacular; a real rollercoaster, a little like that issue of Micronauts in which Baron Karza returned from the dead and killed half the regular cast. Fontenot, Simpson and inker Gonzalo Mayo did a great job, as did colorist Maria Beccari!
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Post by Batflunkie on Jul 30, 2021 9:32:59 GMT -5
I am surprised that the Legion spans 13 volumes and makes it all the way up to the Cockrum era. I thought there were much more Silver age stories. Really hope they do a Bronze Age Omnibus of Legion because the series is so poorly and disjointedly collected that it's kind of laughable
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Post by tonebone on Jul 30, 2021 12:42:54 GMT -5
I am surprised that the Legion spans 13 volumes and makes it all the way up to the Cockrum era. I thought there were much more Silver age stories. After the 13 volumes, they continued with a series of Deluxe books that are ongoing... Vol 1, Vol 2, Before the Darkness Vol 1, and presumably Vol. 2, then the Great Darkness Saga, I suppose.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2021 12:55:13 GMT -5
I am new to this forum and this is my first post in the classic comics section, so I read some of the currently active threads and saw a lot of Legion of Super-Heroes mentions. This is a comic series I have always wished to get into, but just have never taken the leap towards (except for Legion Lost which I originally bought for the artwork and ended up enjoying very much for the writing as well, but I have not read it in years). One problem I have is that I tend to buy a lot of collected editions with the intent of eventually reading them, but I never get around to it or get sidetracked...so, I would like to rectify that by starting a reading of some collected editions I have had for many years and have barely opened:
Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Volumes 1-13
i.imgur.com/EI9ykzc.jpgIf it is okay, I hope to post my thoughts on these as I read. I have started volume one tonight and though I am not familiar with this era of superhero comics much, already these early stories seem endearing and enthusiastic.
Here is one more image, from volume one (I will try to post only one panel or none for my later posts, I just wanted to post the covers in this first post as well as a panel from the volume I am reading now):
Hairs From Lex Luthor's Head Before He Became Bald.Early Legion is just about my favorite comics EVER. The best issues are roughly those stories covered by the Archives volumes from number two to number five. Or so. I could not agree more, those are the EXACT volumes I would rate as the highest for me personally. Welcome arfetto, I was ecstatic to find fellow Legion fans here as well! The "INTERLAC spoken here" is a great Legion oriented thread to jump into as well, would love to hear all of your thoughts. And that set of Archives is fantastic, some of those have gotten rare and pricey so a full set is both a delight to read as well as a bit of a treasure!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2021 13:04:07 GMT -5
I am surprised that the Legion spans 13 volumes and makes it all the way up to the Cockrum era. I thought there were much more Silver age stories. Really hope they do a Bronze Age Omnibus of Legion because the series is so poorly and disjointedly collected that it's kind of laughable I think it depends if you have been picking up the hardcovers along the way or not. The more recent Super-Boy and the Legion hardcovers continue directly right after the last Legion Archive and could be considered volumes 14 and 15. The most recent Legion "Before the Darkness" is effectively volume 16, and when part 2 comes out will effectively be volume 17. At that point, if you've already got the deluxe "Great Darkness Saga" and "The Curse" editions, that's a pretty nice consecutive run of both the Silver Age and a good portion of the Bronze Age (plus there were 2 trades for the early part of the Baxter series). (edit: tonebone, saw your post after I posted this, think I was drafting while you posted!)
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Post by profh0011 on Jul 30, 2021 13:44:56 GMT -5
My impression, as a longtime member of KLORDNY, was that the volumes most longtime LEGION fans were waiting for, were when Jim Shooter, Curt Swan & George Klein got on the series. The writing improved drastically, and so did the art!
The 2nd-most looked for era, was the Dave Cockrum book, because his art was just so spectacular. Unfortunately, the writing wasn't as good as the Shooter-Swan era. But, you take what you can.
The most memorable event, for me, was when DC somehow SCREWED UP the printing on the Cockrum book... then, announced, in advance, that they were doing a 2nd printing, and anyone who bought the 1st printing (and remember, these books were EXPENSIVE when they were new!) could advance-order the new one and TRADE IT IN for the old one. I did, taking 10 minutes in the store to compare the printings side-by-side. BOY, am I glad they did the 2nd printing. It would have been unforgivable to totally screw up the look of a book that stood out almost entirely for how good the art was supposed to look.
As it happens, I started buying the book new just before Joe Staton replaced Jim Sherman (a change in styles, right in the middle of a story, that just NEVER made the slightest bit of sense to me) but had been able, over the years, to get back-issues going back to just after Cockrum's run. So I never needed any of the later reprints.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2021 14:29:37 GMT -5
The most memorable event, for me, was when DC somehow SCREWED UP the printing on the Cockrum book... then, announced, in advance, that they were doing a 2nd printing, and anyone who bought the 1st printing (and remember, these books were EXPENSIVE when they were new!) could advance-order the new one and TRADE IT IN for the old one. I did, taking 10 minutes in the store to compare the printings side-by-side. BOY, am I glad they did the 2nd printing. It would have been unforgivable to totally screw up the look of a book that stood out almost entirely for how good the art was supposed to look. I never realized they did a second printing. I took a look at mine and it's the first printing, I can definitely see some pages where I notice the text a little fuzzy more than anything else, but not too terrible. I'm sure if I held side-to-side I'd see the bigger difference like you mentioned. I put a second printing in my wish list, normally would not be too big a deal to me but I agree, this is Cockrum art so it matters a little more.
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Post by dbutler69 on Jul 30, 2021 14:40:08 GMT -5
What a shame that Dave Cockrum and Paul Levitz never got to do the Legion together!
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