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Post by Hoosier X on May 27, 2024 15:39:23 GMT -5
I read The Incredible Hulk #117 earlier. I absolutely love this panel:  Hulk #115 to #117 is my favorite Hulk story arc. The Leader is such a freak! |
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Post by spoon on May 27, 2024 16:35:07 GMT -5
I re-read X-Factor #43-50. This is the Judgment War story arc by Louise Simonson, Paul Smith, and Allen Milgrom, plus one fill-in issue (#47) written and drawn by Kieron Dwyer.
Although I may have read an issue here are there before this, I believe this is where I started collecting X-Factor. To me, it stands up after all this time. I'd recommend it to folks who haven't read X-Factor or didn't like the early issues. Although obviously there are references to where characters are in their arcs, it's pretty much a standalone story arc. X-Factor gets whisked away to another planet, one which to me knowledge has never been depicted before. There's a tie-in with the Celestials, but it's largely a blank canvas.
The planet is divided between warring factions (Chosen, Dualers, Beginagains, Rejects) based largely on appearance and relationships to scientific and technology, with eugenics & test tube babies versus natural birth being a bid theme. The varying appearances of Beast, Archangel, Iceman, Cyclops, and Marvel Girl play into how they are viewed on this world and what they have to combat for the best resolution. It feels like Beast, Archangel, and Iceman (as well as the new characters) get relatively more focus in these issues. This was coming out during Acts of Vengeance, which doesn't really work with X-Factor on another planet. A couple of issues have a subplot that's a token effort at tie-in.
It's cool seeing Paul Smith draw an X-book again after his all too brief run on Uncanny X-Men. His style looks somewhat different, much of which is probably due to Al Milgrom inked him here as opposed to (I think) Bob Wiacek back on Uncanny. At times, it feels a bit like Gil Kane, but the freer, less rigid version of Kane. For the most part, the art chores are pencils & inks, but in couple of issues Smith does breakdowns with Milgrom finishes.
The fill-in story is a flashback centered on Archangel on Earth with a framing sequence just at the beginning (a half-frame?) to remind readers that the Judgment War arc is ongoing. It's a story about runaways that takes some dark turns, but it seems like there's an underlying theme of jealousy and how that can create some misogyny. We get a peak into Archangel's mind with regard to Warren/Jean/Scott love triangle that was a theme in the early Silver Age X-Men stories, then faded away, then was revisited at some points in X-Factor.
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Post by berkley on May 27, 2024 18:14:29 GMT -5
I read The Incredible Hulk #117 earlier. I absolutely love this panel: Also an excellent example of how good Herb Trimpe's art could look when he inked it himself. |
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Post by EdoBosnar on May 28, 2024 15:19:14 GMT -5
The Quest for the Missing GirlJiro Taniguchi (original title Sosakusha, 1999; Croatian edition, 2023)  Shiga, a mountaineer and caretaker of a lodge for mountain-climbers, gets word from Yorkiko, the widow of his best friend, that her 15 year-old daughter, Megumi, has gone missing. Based on a promise he made to his friend before he died, he hurries to Tokyo to see what he can do. The police are alerted, but their investigation quickly hits a dead-end, so Shiga starts asking around himself, and actually starts to make progress, but also discovers that Megumi has been keeping some unsavory secrets from her mother. And her disappearance may involve a very powerful and well-connected (and thus untouchable) businessman…  ( just a sample of Taniguchi’s always lovely art) I’ve read about a half-dozen of Taniguchi’s books at this point, and have to admit that this is the first time I’ve been disappointed. The story here starts off quite well, as the mystery of what happened to Megumi, keeps the reader interested, and there are many nicely done sequences in which Taniguchi reveals what happened to Megumi’s father, as well as the ensuing, rather complicated relationship that Shiga has with Yoriko and Megumi. However, the last part takes a really odd turn, almost like something out of an action film, which really doesn’t suit Taniguchi’s subdued storytelling style.  ( cover to the English-language edition, published in 2009)
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Post by spoon on Jun 4, 2024 19:37:58 GMT -5
I read the Aquaman: The Death of a Prince HC reprinting stories from Adventure Comics #435-437, 441-455, and Aquaman #57-63. Aquaman starts here as a feature in pages of Adventure. Then, when Aquaman's eponymous series is revived, the plot thread goes in three directions. Arthur headlines his own book with a short-lived Mera back-up spinning out of events in the Aquaman feature. Meanwhile, in Adventure, Aqualad has his own short-lived series continuing his own plot thread.
Most of the Aquaman stories are drawn by Jim Aparo, with a few at the beginning drawn by Mike Grell and a few at the end drawn by Don Newton. The Aparo art is the best by far. Although I like Newton as a Batman artist, he doesn't work as well here. I don't know if it's just that his comic work was still developing or that I like him better as inked by Alcala and other inkers from the Bat titles. The backups are drawn by artists including future editor Carl Potts and Juan Ortiz. For some reason, the Mera feature follows the misguided practice of having Vince Colletta ink features starring female characters (e.g., Dazzler). There are various writers including Steve Skeates, young Paul Levitz, and Gerry Conway, but David Michelinie probably writes the most stories.
The stories are an odd mix of whimsical and gritty. The prince's death referred to here is Arthur Curry Jr., a.k.a. Aquababy. On the one hand, it takes away something that makes the series distinctive (a superhero as a parent). On the other hand, Aquababy hadn't been as big a part of the stories as he could've been, and the story plays out, particularly with regard to the relationship between Aquaman and Mera, in interesting ways.
We get a good mix of Aquaman villains. Part of the unique mix of whimsical and serious in Aquaman is how Aparo makes villains like the Fisherman who in theory seem ridiculous come across as genuinely menacing presences. This book also includes the story that reveals that Black Manta is actually a black man. I was antsy at Michelinie writing this because things like the Falcon subplot he worked on in Avengers, in which he trashed the character in service of whatever agenda he had, does not give me great confidence in him writing black characters. Indeed, the story which includes Black Manta hiring black separatists as minions starts cringey, but it does end up as bad as I feared it could get. Earlier in the book, there's an issue (not written by Michelinie) with some interesting commentary on people collecting Confederate memorabilia.
At one point, we get Kobra as a special guest villain and Batman as a special guest star. I get the impression that Kobra was a big deal in the 70s (a villain with his own title). I know of him mostly from an Outsiders arc. He's simultaneously seems very dangerous yet under-prepared for his evil schemes. Batman comes across several times as an angry, obsessed jerk, serving as a reminder that a lot of aspects of Batman that people imply are post-Crisis developments actually go back further.
Some of the stories are pretty good (particularly the Aparo art), while others are forgettable, but overall the book is a good read.
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Post by Batflunkie on Jun 4, 2024 19:49:05 GMT -5
I read the Aquaman: The Death of a Prince HC reprinting stories from Adventure Comics #435-437, 441-455, and Aquaman #57-63. Aquaman starts here as a feature in pages of Adventure. Then, when Aquaman's eponymous series is revived, the plot thread goes in three directions. Arthur headlines his own book with a short-lived Mera back-up spinning out of events in the Aquaman feature. Meanwhile, in Adventure, Aqualad has his own short-lived series continuing his own plot thread. Most of the Aquaman stories are drawn by Jim Aparo, with a few at the beginning drawn by Mike Grell and a few at the end drawn by Don Newton. The Aparo art is the best by far. Although I like Newton as a Batman artist, he doesn't work as well here. I don't know if it's just that his comic work was still developing or that I like him better as inked by Alcala and other inkers from the Bat titles. The backups are drawn by artists including future editor Carl Potts and Juan Ortiz. For some reason, the Mera feature follows the misguided practice of having Vince Colletta ink features starring female characters (e.g., Dazzler). There are various writers including Steve Skeates, young Paul Levitz, and Gerry Conway, but David Michelinie probably writes the most stories. The stories are an odd mix of whimsical and gritty. The prince's death referred to here is Arthur Curry Jr., a.k.a. Aquababy. On the one hand, it takes away something that makes the series distinctive (a superhero as a parent). On the other hand, Aquababy hadn't been as big a part of the stories as he could've been, and the story plays out, particularly with regard to the relationship between Aquaman and Mera, in interesting ways. We get a good mix of Aquaman villains. Part of the unique mix of whimsical and serious in Aquaman is how Aparo makes villains like the Fisherman who in theory seem ridiculous come across as genuinely menacing presences. This book also includes the story that reveals that Black Manta is actually a black man. I was antsy at Michelinie writing this because things like the Falcon subplot he worked on in Avengers, in which he trashed the character in service of whatever agenda he had, does not give me great confidence in him writing black characters. Indeed, the story which includes Black Manta hiring black separatists as minions starts cringey, but it does end up as bad as I feared it could get. Earlier in the book, there's an issue (not written by Michelinie) with some interesting commentary on people collecting Confederate memorabilia. At one point, we get Kobra as a special guest villain and Batman as a special guest star. I get the impression that Kobra was a big deal in the 70s (a villain with his own title). I know of him mostly from an Outsiders arc. He's simultaneously seems very dangerous yet under-prepared for his evil schemes. Batman comes across several times as an angry, obsessed jerk, serving as a reminder that a lot of aspects of Batman that people imply are post-Crisis developments actually go back further. Some of the stories are pretty good (particularly the Aparo art), while others are forgettable, but overall the book is a good read. The Bronze Age Aquaman stories are great (with the exception of Levitz who seems intent on shoe-horning in Arthur's mental telepathy with fish into every issue), very happy that they were able to get collected and here's hoping they get a DC Finest collection if they actually don't decide to half-ass it and stop the line a few years down the road |
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Post by spoon on Jun 4, 2024 20:02:48 GMT -5
I read the Aquaman: The Death of a Prince HC reprinting stories from Adventure Comics #435-437, 441-455, and Aquaman #57-63. Aquaman starts here as a feature in pages of Adventure. Then, when Aquaman's eponymous series is revived, the plot thread goes in three directions. Arthur headlines his own book with a short-lived Mera back-up spinning out of events in the Aquaman feature. Meanwhile, in Adventure, Aqualad has his own short-lived series continuing his own plot thread. Most of the Aquaman stories are drawn by Jim Aparo, with a few at the beginning drawn by Mike Grell and a few at the end drawn by Don Newton. The Aparo art is the best by far. Although I like Newton as a Batman artist, he doesn't work as well here. I don't know if it's just that his comic work was still developing or that I like him better as inked by Alcala and other inkers from the Bat titles. The backups are drawn by artists including future editor Carl Potts and Juan Ortiz. For some reason, the Mera feature follows the misguided practice of having Vince Colletta ink features starring female characters (e.g., Dazzler). There are various writers including Steve Skeates, young Paul Levitz, and Gerry Conway, but David Michelinie probably writes the most stories. The stories are an odd mix of whimsical and gritty. The prince's death referred to here is Arthur Curry Jr., a.k.a. Aquababy. On the one hand, it takes away something that makes the series distinctive (a superhero as a parent). On the other hand, Aquababy hadn't been as big a part of the stories as he could've been, and the story plays out, particularly with regard to the relationship between Aquaman and Mera, in interesting ways. We get a good mix of Aquaman villains. Part of the unique mix of whimsical and serious in Aquaman is how Aparo makes villains like the Fisherman who in theory seem ridiculous come across as genuinely menacing presences. This book also includes the story that reveals that Black Manta is actually a black man. I was antsy at Michelinie writing this because things like the Falcon subplot he worked on in Avengers, in which he trashed the character in service of whatever agenda he had, does not give me great confidence in him writing black characters. Indeed, the story which includes Black Manta hiring black separatists as minions starts cringey, but it does end up as bad as I feared it could get. Earlier in the book, there's an issue (not written by Michelinie) with some interesting commentary on people collecting Confederate memorabilia. At one point, we get Kobra as a special guest villain and Batman as a special guest star. I get the impression that Kobra was a big deal in the 70s (a villain with his own title). I know of him mostly from an Outsiders arc. He's simultaneously seems very dangerous yet under-prepared for his evil schemes. Batman comes across several times as an angry, obsessed jerk, serving as a reminder that a lot of aspects of Batman that people imply are post-Crisis developments actually go back further. Some of the stories are pretty good (particularly the Aparo art), while others are forgettable, but overall the book is a good read. The Bronze Age Aquaman stories are great (with the exception of Levitz who seems intent on shoe-horning in Arthur's mental telepathy with fish into every issue), very happy that they were able to get collected and here's hoping they get a DC Finest collection if they actually don't decide to half-ass it and stop the line a few years down the road Aside from this hardcover, I also have (and have read) the Search for Mera and Deadly Waters HCs. I think they're all great. I also have the last Showcase Presents TPB that ends right before Search for Mera starts, but I haven't read that one yet. I'm thinking about tracking down various Aquaman stories from the years after the Death of a Prince HC as the Aquaman back-up bounced around between various titles. I have a couple of Dollar Comics issues of Adventure when Aquaman came back to the series yet again. However, I'm assuming the stories won't be nearly as good without Aparo. |
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Post by franklin on Jun 6, 2024 18:31:14 GMT -5
For some reason, the Mera feature follows the misguided practice of having Vince Colletta ink features starring female characters (e.g., Dazzler). Could it be that no other artist or inker drew more beautiful women than Vinnie did? Vince Colletta female characters |
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Post by spoon on Jun 6, 2024 18:40:41 GMT -5
For some reason, the Mera feature follows the misguided practice of having Vince Colletta ink features starring female characters (e.g., Dazzler). Could it be that no other artist or inker drew more beautiful women than Vinnie did? Vince Colletta female charactersI really don't like the way he inked women's faces. So often they felt like featureless round lumps. |
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Post by majestic on Jun 6, 2024 18:46:40 GMT -5
I never thought Aquaman was lame. His stories have been pretty good and I actually prefer them over Namor. Of course Aparo art elevated any title. Those collections you read were awesome!
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Post by Batflunkie on Jun 6, 2024 18:52:57 GMT -5
I never thought Aquaman was lame. His stories have been pretty good and I actually prefer them over Namor. Of course Aparo art elevated any title. Those collections you read were awesome! I think it's more about having the right writers on the right characters (dang, that's a tongue twister!), Aquaman was kind of a bit bland in the beginning (kind of following a similar formula to the Martian Manhunter where was kind of a happy-go-lucky do-gooder in the same vein as Supes) but got better when Steve Skeates came on board. I never understood why Levitz was so damn insistent on making Arthur adhere to how he was in the Super-Friends cartoon (which, tbh, probably didn't help his public perception much). I think my favorite interpretation of the character is the Dan Abnett run, which I'm in the process of reading for the first time in years. Though I do enjoy David's tenure quite a bit |
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Post by majestic on Jun 6, 2024 18:53:36 GMT -5
And yeah Kobra was supposed to be a big deal back then as he came up against a lot of the heroes in the DCU.
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Post by majestic on Jun 6, 2024 19:00:49 GMT -5
I never thought Aquaman was lame. His stories have been pretty good and I actually prefer them over Namor. Of course Aparo art elevated any title. Those collections you read were awesome! I think it's more about having the right writers on the right characters (dang, that's a tongue twister!), Aquaman was kind of a bit bland in the beginning (kind of following a similar formula to the Martian Manhunter where was kind of a happy-go-lucky do-gooder in the same vein as Supes) but got better when Steve Skeates came on board. I never understood why Levitz was so damn insistent on making Arthur adhere to how he was in the Super-Friends cartoon (which, tbh, probably didn't help his public perception much). I think my favorite interpretation of the character is the Dan Abnett run, which I'm in the process of reading for the first time in years. Though I do enjoy David's tenure quite a bit absolutely! I liked that whole volume of Aquaman that started with PAD and ended with Dan Jurgens. I also loved the next volume with the Sub Diego storyline which took Aquaman in a really neat direction. |
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Post by spoon on Jun 6, 2024 21:25:22 GMT -5
I borrowed A Contract With God by Will Eisner from the library and read it for the first time.
It was an interesting read, especially the local color aspects, but I didn't feel reverence towards it. It was darker than I expected, although I didn't know what to expect. I guess I anticipated there would be more love for the community rather than portraying most significant characters negatively. There's a lot of awful "ordinary people" in these stories. I also didn't realize it would be a quick read. So many pages were one panel, to the extent an image without a frame is a panel. Eisner's lettering also was a big element, which is interesting as I had just finished reading some comics by Jim Aparo who also frequently lettered comics that he drew.
Of the four stories, the title story was probably my least favorite. The central idea of the contract didn't make sense to me, because you need a meeting of the minds. Like at least give me a scene where Frimme Hersh imagines God giving him a sign of acceptance. It's hard to get invested without knowing why he thinks the contract exists. The Street Singer is very bleak, but I find the human stories and the ironic plot twists intriguing. The Super is emotive and tragic, but Eisner used a really conceit to push his story. It reminds me of Gone With The Wind. Lots of people think of it as a brilliant film, but to me a movie that traffics in so much Lost Cause dishonesty is fatally flawed. The Super's portrayal of a young child a seductress is fairly loathsome and reflective of the excuses predators make for their behaviors. Cookalein is interesting for the local color and how different stories are weaved together. But one of the subplots reminded me of the theory that Dinah being tortured in The Longbow Hunters reflecting Grell punishing her for (I think maybe it was for not wanting to have children IIRC). On the one hand, it should be fair game to explore how people can date people who turn out to be jerks for superficial reasons and realize it later. On the hand, I think after just having read The Super, the comeuppance part of a particular subplot in The Cookalein felt misogynistic.
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Post by Duragizer on Jun 9, 2024 23:50:15 GMT -5
Read the original Marvel Zombies. It was everything I expected it would be: ugly and dumb. Oh, well, at least it doesn't take itself seriously. I absolutely hate grimdark superhero deconstructions which think they're profound, and this definitely isn't that. I guess horror comedy and superheroes just don't gel together for me.
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