Confessor
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Not Bucky O'Hare!
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Post by Confessor on Aug 12, 2021 8:52:29 GMT -5
I finished the collection of early '60s adventure strip Fraser of Africa that I picked up the week before last. Overall these were excellent examples of a boys' adventure strip of the era. George Beardmore's writing is engaging, with the titular hero caught up in all manner of exciting exploits on the plains of colonial Tanganyika. That said, some of the writing and characterisation is a little two-dimensional -- even Fraser himself is, on the surface of it, little more than a White Hunter cliché: a bold English gentlemen, with a healthy dose of good, English mettle and sense of fair play. But then again, something that surprised me was that the strip is rather progressive for its era. Martin Fraser is a hunter, yes, but he respects both the indigenous population and the wildlife of the plains. Fraser comes across as a man very much in tune with his environment, with a strong conservationist streak that must've been a rarity for boys' adventure strips of the early-to-mid 20th century, I would think. Art-wise, Frank Bellamy's work is beautiful -- an absolute joy to savour as you read. His descision to mostly use a limited palette of browns, oranges and yellows to capture the parched East African landscape works brilliantly to conjure the exotic locale. Also, Bellamy's depictions of the native East Africans are very respectful: he draws them as accurately as he does the European cast members -- there are no exaggerated, rubber-lipped and wide-eyed caricatures of the African people that you can find in many other contemporary strips or comics. The Eagle Classics: Fraser of Africa TPB that I got collects the entire run of three stories: "The Lost Safari", in which Fraser tracks a missing expedition led by a famous Hollywood star; "The Ivory Poachers" in which a band of dastardly Elephant hunters get their comeuppance at Fraser's hand; and "The Slavers" in which our hero smashes an illegal slaving ring. Given that this is a collection of one-page strips that appeared in Eagle comic every week, they are somewhat episodic to read altogether in one go, but not enough to spoil my enjoyment of the collection as a whole. Overall, this is grand stuff.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 12, 2021 9:36:57 GMT -5
I totally agree that Wesley Dodds looked, and acted much older than his late 20s. Ages in fiction often make no sense, though. People tended to look and behave much older (I won;t say mature) in the first half of the 20th century than they do now. This is completely true. I happened to look at one of my Dad's high school yearbooks not super long ago (Class of '55) and most of the guys in there look like 30 year old accountants.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 12, 2021 9:42:01 GMT -5
Just finished a long-haul chronological re-read of Jonah Hex, beginning with his first appearance in All-Star Western #10, and continuing through Weird Western Tales #38, then to Jonah's first eponymous series in 1977-- 92 issues plus 1 DC Special (which gives the story of his eventual death). Interestingly, the DC Special Series story was published long before the finish of the first run, and its foreshadowing shows up later in the next series, titled simply " Hex", which puts Jonah forward into a Mad Max-esque future for its entire 18-issue run.
Overall, there is some great art and some great writing throughout, with Michael Fleisher handling a large portion of the writing throughout. I think Fleisher's continuance on the series provided the difference that made this character stand apart from other westerns of the day, as there are several over-arcing plot threads, instead of the stand-alone "good guy vs. bad guy" stories so often found in the genre. By the end of the 92-issue run, Jonah Hex was literally the "last man standing" in the western comics genre. The art is very good early on, with Tony DeZuniga (one of the character's creators) handling the bulk of the artwork throughout most of the ASW/WWT era. In the first self-titled series, the artists vary a bit more-- Jose Garcia Lopez handled the duties early on, with sporadic fill-in artists, until later taken over by Vicente Alcazar, and at times Luis Dominguez. There are also several issues where Dick Ayers and Romeo Tanghal team up for pencil/finishing duties. After that, Ayers and DeZuniga work together for most of the remainder of the run. There are also occasional guest-artist issues, featuring the likes of Gray Morrow, Ernie Chan, Dan Spiegle, and Ross Andru.
The follow-up Hex series is a bit more uneven, and reads as somewhat dated now. Nevertheless, Fleisher continues scripting duties, With Mark Texeira on pencils for 11 of the 18 issues. Unfortunately (for this particular series), Keith Giffen takes over on the artwork for the final 5 issues (#14-18) and almost instantly, the book is a very difficult read. No offense intended to Giffen, whose work I have enjoyed on other titles, but the hard angular lines and very confusing panel work makes everything a jumbled mess. Giffen utilizes a Jean-Luc Godard style jump-cut layout, often with extreme close-up panels, and virtually no long-shots or vista views. It's a poor attempt at art-film abstract close-up in 9-panel newsprint format, and I'm not sure if it worked out the way Giffen intended.
The original chronology ends there in 1987, and Jonah Hex doesn't appear in his own story again until 1993, when Joe Lansdale, Timothy Truman and Sam Glanzman team up to produce a five-issue mini-series under the Vertigo banner: Jonah Hex: Two Gun Mojo.
Although Riders of the Worm was not quite as successful as the first Vertigo series, it still spawned yet another sequel, again with the same team at the helm.
Although I've owned all three Vertigo series for several years, this was the very first time that I had read the 2nd and 3rd series. All three series take a definite turn toward the bizarre and macabre, which is rather apropos under the Vertigo imprint.
Two Gun Mojo was very enjoyable, and Lansdale seemed to really be focused on the complete story when he wrote this one. Unfortunately, Riders of the Worm is not as good, but still worth a read. By the time Shadows West was published, I felt that both the writing and the artwork had fallen off substantially. The last series is plagued with unnecessarily gratuitous profanity and innuendo, which I don't find personally offensive, but instead it seems rather trendy, forced and trite. However, this is somewhat characteristic of a number of Vertigo titles from around the late 90's, so I suppose in a way it was a product of the times. The plot also seems rather contrived and does not flow nearly as smoothly as Two Gun Mojo or Riders of the Worm. Finally, the artwork is much more cartoonish than the first two series. Truman and Glanzman did not give it nearly as much attention to detail as the first two series, and I suspect that Shadows West, was more of a quick cash grab than anything.
If you've never been a western comics fan, Jonah Hex could be the character that could change your mind... He's not your average Roy Rogers or Durango Kid. Instead, I'd put him in good company with Doug Wildey's "Rio" and Jean "Moebius" Giraud's "Lt. Blueberry"-- more "anti-hero" than cookie-cutter white-hat western hero.
I'm a big fan of Jonah Hex in general and I think his original run was always one of DC's best book. But I really love those three Vertigo minis. I'll cop to the fact that I'm a huge Joe R. Lansdale (and Truman and Glanzman). Lansdale did a series of short stories starring Reverend Jebediah Mercer that are pretty fun little weird western tales. Give them a look if you can find them.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Aug 12, 2021 9:43:46 GMT -5
I finished the fourth arc of Sandman Mystery Theatre. I really like the tight plotting of these four issue arcs. The pacing is excellent and everything ties together beautifully. The stories aren't really mysteries per se. We generally know who the killer is before the hero does. However, the way Wagner and Seagle pull together the plot threads is impressive. I do hope they start introducing some murder mysteries that happen outside of the main characters' social circles, however, as it doesn't seem plausible that they could be so closely related to so many different crimes (unless there is a storyline reason I'm missing related to Sandman's dreams.) I'm really starting to like the Dian Belmont character. I loved how they handled the discovery of Wesley's secret. It's such a strong dynamic with Wesley being guilt-torn over not being honest with Dian, and Dian discovering the secret for herself and being plagued by anxieties over how to broach the subject. They're well on their way to becoming a memorable comic book couple for me. One thing, though -- Dodds is supposed to be in his late 20s, but the way Davis draws him at times, and the way they color his hair, he often looks middle-aged. Am I the only one who feels that way? I've said it before and I'll say it again, Dian Belmont is one of my favorite (possibly my very favorite) characters of all time.
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Post by dbutler69 on Aug 12, 2021 10:08:29 GMT -5
I pulled out another Marvel Masterworks to read The Fantastic Four #25-26. I should have read them yesterday, before reading Avengers #5. Oh well.
I love FF#25! This is a great Hulk-Thing fight, showing Ben’s courage, and stubbornness! Their previous encounter (FF#12) was inconclusive, but it’s clear here that Hulk is stronger, and all the Thing can do is hope to slow him down…and does he! Plus we get some wonderful Thin wisecracks throughout the fight – I love that!
#26 is good, but not as good as #26. It starts out well, as Ben gets up off the mat and goes after the Hulk again, before conclusively losing. Then the Avengers show up and both the Avengers and Fantastic Four act like moronic macho meathead superheroes in typical Marvel style, each telling the other to get away because they want a shot at the Hulk themselves. They finally get a modicum of sense, but not before getting in each other’s way while trying to attack the Hulk. Kind of annoying and dumb. Then we do get some more good pretty good fighting before Rick Jones somehow pops a capsule in the Hulk’s which turns him into Banner, and he falls into the water, and nobody sees him. Yet another early Marvel comic with a really good battle and an unsatisfying conclusion, as if Stan & Jack couldn’t think of a way to end it.
I should also have mentioned that in Avengers #3, Namor blows some emory dust at Iron Man, and Iron Man’s armor completely locks up, leaving him completely frozen!! Also, in #2, the Space Phantom, in Iron Man’s form (and apparently also duplicating all his powers) rusts up and is unable to move when Thor makes it rain! I think Tony Stark needs to go back to the drawing board!
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 9,626
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Post by Confessor on Aug 12, 2021 10:46:38 GMT -5
Just finished a long-haul chronological re-read of Jonah Hex, beginning with his first appearance in All-Star Western #10, and continuing through Weird Western Tales #38, then to Jonah's first eponymous series in 1977-- 92 issues plus 1 DC Special (which gives the story of his eventual death). Interestingly, the DC Special Series story was published long before the finish of the first run, and its foreshadowing shows up later in the next series, titled simply " Hex", which puts Jonah forward into a Mad Max-esque future for its entire 18-issue run. Overall, there is some great art and some great writing throughout, with Michael Fleisher handling a large portion of the writing throughout. I think Fleisher's continuance on the series provided the difference that made this character stand apart from other westerns of the day, as there are several over-arcing plot threads, instead of the stand-alone "good guy vs. bad guy" stories so often found in the genre. By the end of the 92-issue run, Jonah Hex was literally the "last man standing" in the western comics genre. The art is very good early on, with Tony DeZuniga (one of the character's creators) handling the bulk of the artwork throughout most of the ASW/WWT era. In the first self-titled series, the artists vary a bit more-- Jose Garcia Lopez handled the duties early on, with sporadic fill-in artists, until later taken over by Vicente Alcazar, and at times Luis Dominguez. There are also several issues where Dick Ayers and Romeo Tanghal team up for pencil/finishing duties. After that, Ayers and DeZuniga work together for most of the remainder of the run. There are also occasional guest-artist issues, featuring the likes of Gray Morrow, Ernie Chan, Dan Spiegle, and Ross Andru.
The follow-up Hex series is a bit more uneven, and reads as somewhat dated now. Nevertheless, Fleisher continues scripting duties, With Mark Texeira on pencils for 11 of the 18 issues. Unfortunately (for this particular series), Keith Giffen takes over on the artwork for the final 5 issues (#14-18) and almost instantly, the book is a very difficult read. No offense intended to Giffen, whose work I have enjoyed on other titles, but the hard angular lines and very confusing panel work makes everything a jumbled mess. Giffen utilizes a Jean-Luc Godard style jump-cut layout, often with extreme close-up panels, and virtually no long-shots or vista views. It's a poor attempt at art-film abstract close-up in 9-panel newsprint format, and I'm not sure if it worked out the way Giffen intended. The original chronology ends there in 1987, and Jonah Hex doesn't appear in his own story again until 1993, when Joe Lansdale, Timothy Truman and Sam Glanzman team up to produce a five-issue mini-series under the Vertigo banner: Jonah Hex: Two Gun Mojo. Although Riders of the Worm was not quite as successful as the first Vertigo series, it still spawned yet another sequel, again with the same team at the helm. Although I've owned all three Vertigo series for several years, this was the very first time that I had read the 2nd and 3rd series. All three series take a definite turn toward the bizarre and macabre, which is rather apropos under the Vertigo imprint.
Two Gun Mojo was very enjoyable, and Lansdale seemed to really be focused on the complete story when he wrote this one. Unfortunately, Riders of the Worm is not as good, but still worth a read. By the time Shadows West was published, I felt that both the writing and the artwork had fallen off substantially. The last series is plagued with unnecessarily gratuitous profanity and innuendo, which I don't find personally offensive, but instead it seems rather trendy, forced and trite. However, this is somewhat characteristic of a number of Vertigo titles from around the late 90's, so I suppose in a way it was a product of the times. The plot also seems rather contrived and does not flow nearly as smoothly as Two Gun Mojo or Riders of the Worm. Finally, the artwork is much more cartoonish than the first two series. Truman and Glanzman did not give it nearly as much attention to detail as the first two series, and I suspect that Shadows West, was more of a quick cash grab than anything.
If you've never been a western comics fan, Jonah Hex could be the character that could change your mind... He's not your average Roy Rogers or Durango Kid. Instead, I'd put him in good company with Doug Wildey's "Rio" and Jean "Moebius" Giraud's "Lt. Blueberry"-- more "anti-hero" than cookie-cutter white-hat western hero.
I love me some Jonah Hex. I discovered the character with the Tim Truman and Joe R. Lansdale Vertigo mini-series in the 90s, which I absolutely loved -- especially Two-Gun Mojo. From there, I began picking up old issues of Weird Western Tales and Jonah's Bronze Age title, which, like Slam, I think are probably the best comics DC was putting out in the 70s. I've mentioned this before in the forum, but I find it interesting how Jonah's character changed over the years. In his earliest All-Star Western appearances he was a tragic figure: a disfigured gunfighter, with a heart of gold, who was shunned by society for the way he looked. That was followed by a misunderstood, classic anti-hero, but still a good guy at heart, and Jonah's character definitely softened in the early '80s, towards the end of the first Jonah Hex series. He sort of became like a one man A-Team: righting wrongs and settling scores for the defenceless, abused and exploited -- very often for free -- out of the kindness of his own heart. One of the things I loved about the three Vertigo Jonah Hex mini-series was that it returned Hex to his cold, classic anti-hero self. I also dug that they really ramped up the "weird", supernatural quota in those stories, because some of Hex's early appearances in Weird Western Tales also had a slightly "weird west" aspect to them. I also loved the Palmiotti and Gray Jonah Hex series that began in the mid-2000s and I would very much recommend that run, if you haven't read it. Just remember to stop reading when the New52 reboot thing happens and the book becomes All-Star Western, as that's when we get a time-travelling Hex hanging out with the likes of Booster Gold and becoming an ancillary character in the Batman books. Yuck! I've never read the Hex series and, frankly, I'm mighty reluctant to. Turning Jonah Hex into Mad Max and having him battle outlaw biker gangs and mutants in a post-apocalyptic landscape just sounds awful. I still don't know why DC didn't just create a new character for this series. I mean, why did it even need to be Jonah Hex in it? If JH was facing cancellation, then they should've just put the thing out of its misery. Post-apolocyptic Mad Max clones were all the rage in the mid-to-late '80s, so I'm sure that the series would've done just as well or even better without Jonah's name attached to it.
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Post by tartanphantom on Aug 12, 2021 11:46:17 GMT -5
I've mentioned this before in the forum, but I find it interesting how Jonah's character changed over the years. In his earliest All-Star Western appearances he was a tragic figure: a disfigured gunfighter, with a heart of gold, who was shunned by society for the way he looked. That was followed by a misunderstood, classic anti-hero, but still a good guy at heart, and Jonah's character definitely softened in the early '80s, towards the end of the first Jonah Hex series. He sort of became like a one man A-Team: righting wrongs and settling scores for the defenceless, abused and exploited -- very often for free -- out of the kindness of his own heart. I also loved the Palmiotti and Gray Jonah Hex series that began in the mid-2000s and I would very much recommend that run, if you haven't read it. Just remember to stop reading when the New52 reboot thing happens and the book becomes All-Star Western, as that's when we get a time-travelling Hex hanging out with the likes of Booster Gold and becoming an ancillary character in the Batman books. Yuck! I've never read the Hex series and, frankly, I'm mighty reluctant to. Turning Jonah Hex into Mad Max and having him battle outlaw biker gangs and mutants in a post-apocalyptic landscape just sounds awful. I still don't know why DC didn't just create a new character for this series. I mean, why did it even need to be Jonah Hex in it? If JH was facing cancellation, then they should've just put the thing out of its misery. Post-apolocyptic Mad Max clones were all the rage in the mid-to-late '80s, so I'm sure that the series would've done just as well or even better without Jonah's name attached to it.
Regarding the changes in Jonah's character in the early '80's part of the run-- I think the softening of the character was done by Fleisher as a pathway for Jonah's self-realization and self-reconciliation after Jonah's breakup with his wife, Mei Ling. As you say, it is quite noticeable in the scripting late in the the series. Perhaps it was a period of subconscious penance and atonement, as Jonah gradually comes to realize how much he actually cared for his wife, and figures out how to move past that loss.
I do have both the Palmiotti series and the New 52 All-Star series, and I plan to read them some time during Autumn this year. What I have heard elsewhere about these two runs pretty much mimics your sentiment, but my completist mentality tells me that if I own them, I need to at least read them. It will be my first read with both of those series, so I'm keeping an open mind about it. Regarding Hex (the series), you should know that it was Michael Fleisher himself who lobbied to do the dystopian future storyline... and the book actually segues directly from the last issue of the first series. I think at this point, Fleisher was feeling stale with the character (he had written the bulk of the 92 issue run), and I think he wanted to try something new... DC green-lit the project, but about halfway through the Hex series, it's pretty obvious that Fleisher just needed a total break from the character altogether. It's not nearly as bad as you'd think, but it still doesn't hold up as well as the earlier Jonah Hex material. Regarding the Vertigo runs, I knew of Joe Lansdale's fiction work well before he ever touched Jonah Hex, and like most others I was very pleased with Two Gun Mojo, especially with the Truman/Glanzman art team. The second Vertigo series was also enjoyable, just a little more far-fetched and not as well-planned as the first one. However, the final Vertigo series left me flat and just felt rushed.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 9,626
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Post by Confessor on Aug 12, 2021 11:57:32 GMT -5
The second Vertigo series was also enjoyable, just a little more far-fetched and not as well-planned as the first one. Also starring Johnny and Edgar Winter.
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Post by tartanphantom on Aug 12, 2021 12:03:15 GMT -5
The second Vertigo series was also enjoyable, just a little more far-fetched and not as well-planned as the first one. Also starring Johnny and Edgar Winter.
Exactly-- I wonder if they were ever clued in to this homage...
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 9,626
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Post by Confessor on Aug 12, 2021 12:05:21 GMT -5
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Aug 12, 2021 12:56:26 GMT -5
More good stuff from the Valiant box; this time it's the turn of Bloodshot (of which I have a dozen early issues).
I really disliked the name when the comic was first advertised; for a while back in the '90s it felt as if every other character had a name using the words "blood" "strike" or "black". Luckily, there is much more to the book than a title that appeals to amateurs of gnashing teeth, uncounted pouches and bulging biceps.
The titular character used to be a gangster, and is the only Italian-American superhero I can think of. The subject of yet another project led by some evil science project meant to create a perfect assassin, he lost his memory but escaped his tormentors thanks to the help of the young Geomancer Geoff McHenry. (I love how the early meetings between Bloodshot and Jeff are depicted the same way in Bloodshot comics and in Rai#0. Talk about well-crafted continuity).
Although the main character sort of has an official "costume", he often operates in regular clothes (like other street-level Valiant characters, actually). I much prefer his being in plain clothes and dealing with regular gangsters, myself.
Now acting as a bodyguard or an enforcer for MI-5, Bloodshot goes from mission to mission, sometimes dealing with his past and interacting with other Valiant characters. The stories are straightforward, and usually brought to a satisfactory conclusion in one or two issues; no endless seeding of future story arcs here.
His deal is that his blood was replaced by nanites (a trendy word in the early '90s!) that enhance his physical and strategic abilities, allow him to "talk" to computers, and provide him with a healing factor. One thing that I enjoy a lot is that unlike the way Wolverine's healing factor, Bloodshot's isn't used like magic; the nanites have to do actual work to repair him, and that can take a lot of time. They're also not all-powerful: Bloodshot would have to reset a broken leg manually before the nanites could repair his tissues, and he could die should a trauma be too important (not being nuked or being thrown in a shredding machine, but simply being shot through the heart or head with a high enough caliber weapon).
An uncommon trait in a comic-book character, except at Valiant, is that we know how Bloodshot eventually dies (and in what year). Rai#0, once again, shows us how Bloodshot, Archer, X-O Manowar all die at different points and how Armstrong vanishes from history. In fact, Bloodshot's death sets the scene for the creation of the future hero Rai.
The artwork by Don Perlin and John Dixon is very well suited to a street-level crime book; I don't think I ever saw Perlin that good. As someone who didn't like his work at Marvel, I was very happy to enjoy his work so much at Valiant.
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Post by berkley on Aug 12, 2021 15:03:22 GMT -5
I totally agree that Wesley Dodds looked, and acted much older than his late 20s. Ages in fiction often make no sense, though. People tended to look and behave much older (I won;t say mature) in the first half of the 20th century than they do now. I think people on average had to grow up faster back then, as in taking on more responsibilty at a younger age. Also, they had less to eat and were more physically active, so they were literally less soft - and often figuratively so as well.
Which is why Timothy Chalomet shouldn't have been cast as Paul Atreides!
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Post by arfetto on Aug 12, 2021 21:38:20 GMT -5
Bloodshot is not my favorite Valiant comic (my favorite overall is probably Bob Hall Shadowman but I also like almost all the pre-Unity stories), but I enjoyed it and still have every issue of the original run. The issues of Bloodshot with the Don Perlin art are consistent, reliable action reads.
Here is a picture I took of some of the later covers of Bloodshot, where the comic starts looking more like what a person hearing there was a '90s comic called Bloodshot would probably imagine haha:
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Post by profh0011 on Aug 12, 2021 22:08:08 GMT -5
People tended to look and behave much older (I won't say mature) in the first half of the 20th century than they do now. This is completely true. I happened to look at one of my Dad's high school yearbooks not super long ago (Class of '55) and most of the guys in there look like 30 year old accountants. On the other hand... I recall the time my best friend, his wife and I went to our 10th anniversary high school reunion. NOBODY else I knew or cared about showed up, the food was awful, and ALL the girls looked like they'd aged 20 YEARS instead of 10. It was sad. (We graduated in 1977.)
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Post by profh0011 on Aug 12, 2021 22:11:59 GMT -5
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Dian Belmont is one of my favorite (possibly my very favorite) characters of all time. I was so glad James Robinson in STARMAN revealed that she HADN'T gotten killed in the early 40s, and was still alive and long happily married to Wesley. It was a real " UP YOURS!" to Roy Thomas, who kept killing too many characters that OTHER PEOPLE created.
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