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Post by Batflunkie on Jun 13, 2024 19:49:04 GMT -5
Nightwing & Huntress #1-#4, Nightwing #19-#22, and Nightwing 1/2 (Nightwing Volume 3: False Starts)
Really enjoyed coming back to this after plucking along on other things. I think what Nightwing under Dixon's tenure is best at is good, hard-boiled crime stories mixed with intense action and drama. None more so than 19 and 20 that take place during the Cataclysm event where a huge earth quake hits Gotham and the city is ransomed for money. Thought the Nightwing & Huntress mini was good, so good in fact that I wouldn't have minded seeing it become a sister book but at least Devin got to take over the book once Dixon left, so there's that
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Post by Batflunkie on Jun 16, 2024 17:48:18 GMT -5
The Flash #110 Thought it was a pretty good issue and featured the introduction of both Weather Wizard and Wally. While I shouldn't expect more from a book published in the 50's/60's, the trope of the Rogues either creating or stumbling across something with inherent destructive value (cold gun, mirrors, electro-vibrator wand *sounds a bit dirty*) is getting rather tiresome. But the characters and their powers are inventive and have more thought put into them than most from that era. And maybe I've read Waid's "Born To Run" arc too many times, but I was kind of expecting Wally's pre-Crisis origin to be a little bit different. It's almost exactly the same
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Post by spoon on Jun 17, 2024 22:16:28 GMT -5
I read Avengers Epic Collection: The Crossing Line, reprinting Avengers #319-333, Avengers Annual #19, and the other parts of the Terminus Factor crossover from Captain America Annual #9, Iron Man Annual #11, Thor Annual #15, and Avengers West Coast Annual #5. I had read the previous Epic Collection a few weeks back.
The TPB is basically three distinction sections. Ihe first bit has the Crossing Line six-parter written by Fabian Nicieza, mostly drawn by Rik Levins & various inkers (although Paul Ryan comes in at the end). It's an overstuffed storyline featuring the Avengers, Alpha Flight (whom Nicieza had been writing), the People's Protectorate (formerly the Soviet Super-Soldiers), some Atlanteans, and a bunch of Soviet terrorists. It's a mess that juggles too many characters, indistinct depictions of other dimensions, and 90s style political intrigue that feels a bit phony. It does get trippy towards the latter portion of the story with a very interesting plot twist. Much more interesting is the multi-part backup story by Mark Gruenwald and various artists that deals with the Avengers support crew (Jarvis, Peggy Carter, John Jameson, etc.) dealing with spectres of their past. The backup story then takes over the whole book with #325 when the Avengers return to town. It's not a spectacular finale, but I feel that story arc was more about the journey. John Byrne provides the cover, so I guess he didn't hold a grudge.
The second section is the annuals that feature the Terminus Factor crossover written by Roy and Dann Thomas. The art is most shaky. I think the best drawn chapter is from Jim Fry, while Herb Trimpe draws a couple of lackluster chapters. Although there are some creepy and suspenseful part of the story, a good bit of it is mediocre. Machine Man guest stars for part of the arc. Initially, he's called X-51, but then everyone starts calling him X-15. I haven't read many Machine Man stories, but even I know that's wrong. The backup stories in the Avengers Annual include one that's essentially a big synopsis of the Acts of Vengeance crossover. It actually makes more sense than when I just read the Avengers & AWC parts of the story in the previous Epic Collection, so many a lot of key details weren't in those core books. The other backups are fairly lackluster.
Finally, Avengers #326-333 features new writer Larry Hama teaming with artists Paul Ryan and Tom Palmer. This is the best part of the TPB. Hama starts with story of a Soviet hero irradiated at Chernobyl (which I think is better than Nicieza's Soviet intrigue earlier in the TPB) which then leads into some interdimensional hijinx (again done better than Nicieza did it), before resulting in a demon invasion. These subparts flow very well into each other, but also feel distinct. Then, he caps it off with a two-part Doctor Doom story. I'm not a big Dr. Doom fan, but I really like it.
Meanwhile, Hama is also making some roster moves. Avengers #329 is one of those classic "the old order changeth" stories. Hama dumps Byrne's concept of all past and current members now being equally part of both East & West rosters interchangeably and as needed, which I don't think worked very well. Instead, we get a fixed primary roster of 7 Avengers, plus a regular reserve of 7 Avengers. The primary roster is basically characters who have appeared on a solid number of issues under Byrne and/or Nicieza, with the one main addition being Black Widow. It's funny because although the Widow's history with team goes way back (supporting cast in the Heck era), she had barely any appearances as an official member at this point. I know she gets to rack lots of roster time in the 90s. The other big roster development is that the reserves include two new probationary members: Rage and the Sandman. I've read a couple Rage appearances that come after the last issue in this TPB. However, I've read so little of the character that I had forgotten whether he was an Avenger or a New Warrior first. I was ready for some corny attempts at edginess and clumsy portrayals of black culture. And although there are some bits of cringe there, as the issue go by, I find Rage and his subplot . . . growing on me. I'm shocked, but it seems like there's some thought there. Hama gives out Rage's origin in bits and pieces. Just when you think you've got it, there's more. There's also portions of his backstory that for fans reading this in 1990 or 1991 would've probably evoked fairly recent incidents in the time from the Howard Beach and Bensonhurst neighborhoods.
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Post by Icctrombone on Jun 18, 2024 5:06:16 GMT -5
At first glance , I thought you typed Avengers: the Crossing. You might end up gouging your eyes and ears out when reading that one.
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Post by spoon on Jun 18, 2024 19:45:22 GMT -5
At first glance , I thought you typed Avengers: the Crossing. You might end up gouging your eyes and ears out when reading that one. Is that the whole evil Tony Stark gets replaced by teen Tony thing? I haven't read it, but I've heard only bad things. No, this is a few years earlier. I've never heard the phrase "crossing line," but it seems like what you pass to get into the danger zone.
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Post by Icctrombone on Jun 18, 2024 20:33:54 GMT -5
At first glance , I thought you typed Avengers: the Crossing. You might end up gouging your eyes and ears out when reading that one. Is that the whole evil Tony Stark gets replaced by teen Tony thing? I haven't read it, but I've heard only bad things. No, this is a few years earlier. I've never heard the phrase "crossing line," but it seems like what you pass to get into the danger zone. Yes, read it at your own risk.
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Post by spoon on Jun 18, 2024 20:52:37 GMT -5
Is that the whole evil Tony Stark gets replaced by teen Tony thing? I haven't read it, but I've heard only bad things. No, this is a few years earlier. I've never heard the phrase "crossing line," but it seems like what you pass to get into the danger zone. Yes, read it at your own risk. When does Avengers become trash? Is The Gathering bad too? I bought the Operation Galactic Storm Epic Collection; I read a lot of that crossover when it came out.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 18, 2024 23:09:49 GMT -5
Galactic Storm is ok... but it only gets worse from there.
It basically becomes and X-book for a while, (its about as good as the other early 90s X-books).... its not as bad as the Crossing, but really I don't think anything is as bad as the Crossing.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,144
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Post by Confessor on Jun 19, 2024 6:35:59 GMT -5
I've been re-reading the Star Wars: Dark Empire series for the umpteenth time in order to join in with wildfire2099's "Star Wars by Dark Horse" review thread. It's a fun series, with lots of action and is a pretty breezy read. Back in 1991, this series marked the welcome return of SW comics, coming four years after the original Marvel series ended.
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Post by berkley on Jun 20, 2024 23:03:22 GMT -5
I'm reading Stewart the Rat for the first time and a little more than half-way through I can say that it feels much more like the kind of Steve Gerber story I look for when I see his name on something than the She-Hulk comics I read not long ago. My only disappointment is that it wasn't in colour: the artwork by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer is great, but I don't think Palmer's style of inking works well in black and white.
This may sound like sacrilege, but I'd love to see a reprint done with colours added - always assuming they did it with care and intelligence, which in this case would mean looking at how the Colan/Palmer artwork looked in the many colour comics they worked on together in the 60s and 70s - some of them coloured by Palmer himself, if I remember. There was a Star-Lord story that would be a good example as it was printed in a magazine on high quality paper with brighter colours than in the monthly comics on newsprint paper. I really feel this would improve the reading experience of this piece immensely if done properly.
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Post by Cei-U! on Jun 21, 2024 3:22:47 GMT -5
I'm reading Stewart the Rat for the first time and a little more than half-way through I can say that it feels much more like the kind of Steve Gerber story I look for when I see his name on something than the She-Hulk comics I read not long ago. My only disappointment is that it wasn't in colour: the artwork by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer is great, but I don't think Palmer's style of inking works well in black and white. Wow, really? I have their run of Tomb of Dracula in both color (the original floppies) and black & white (the 4-volume Essential set) and I much prefer looking at the latter. The pages absolutely drip atmosphere. Ah well, to each their own.
Cei-U! I summon a matter of taste!
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Post by berkley on Jun 21, 2024 18:20:59 GMT -5
I'm reading Stewart the Rat for the first time and a little more than half-way through I can say that it feels much more like the kind of Steve Gerber story I look for when I see his name on something than the She-Hulk comics I read not long ago. My only disappointment is that it wasn't in colour: the artwork by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer is great, but I don't think Palmer's style of inking works well in black and white. Wow, really? I have their run of Tomb of Dracula in both color (the original floppies) and black & white (the 4-volume Essential set) and I much prefer looking at the latter. The pages absolutely drip atmosphere. Ah well, to each their own.
Cei-U! I summon a matter of taste!
Yes, I think RR expressing a similar view to yours on this subject. I wonder if it's because, as artists yourselves, you're looking as much at the process and technique as at the end result. I imagine you can get a better look at how Palmer does various things with his inks when it isn't partly obscured by the colours.
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Post by Batflunkie on Jun 21, 2024 21:50:11 GMT -5
I'm reading Stewart the Rat for the first time and a little more than half-way through I can say that it feels much more like the kind of Steve Gerber story I look for when I see his name on something than the She-Hulk comics I read not long ago. My only disappointment is that it wasn't in colour: the artwork by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer is great, but I don't think Palmer's style of inking works well in black and white. This may sound like sacrilege, but I'd love to see a reprint done with colours added - always assuming they did it with care and intelligence, which in this case would mean looking at how the Colan/Palmer artwork looked in the many colour comics they worked on together in the 60s and 70s - some of them coloured by Palmer himself, if I remember. There was a Star-Lord story that would be a good example as it was printed in a magazine on high quality paper with brighter colours than in the monthly comics on newsprint paper. I really feel this would improve the reading experience of this piece immensely if done properly. Need to read Stewart at some point (and Destroyer Duck for that matter). I always got the impression that Howard's transformation into a rat/mouse in HTD MAX was more inspired by Stewart than an outright loathing of Disney's forced changes in the 70's/80's (because, god forbid the danes/swedes have more than one Duck out there other than the Carl Barks/Don Rosa drawn ones)
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Post by berkley on Jun 21, 2024 22:26:19 GMT -5
I'm reading Stewart the Rat for the first time and a little more than half-way through I can say that it feels much more like the kind of Steve Gerber story I look for when I see his name on something than the She-Hulk comics I read not long ago. My only disappointment is that it wasn't in colour: the artwork by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer is great, but I don't think Palmer's style of inking works well in black and white. This may sound like sacrilege, but I'd love to see a reprint done with colours added - always assuming they did it with care and intelligence, which in this case would mean looking at how the Colan/Palmer artwork looked in the many colour comics they worked on together in the 60s and 70s - some of them coloured by Palmer himself, if I remember. There was a Star-Lord story that would be a good example as it was printed in a magazine on high quality paper with brighter colours than in the monthly comics on newsprint paper. I really feel this would improve the reading experience of this piece immensely if done properly. Need to read Stewart at some point (and Destroyer Duck for that matter). I always got the impression that Howard's transformation into a rat/mouse in HTD MAX was more inspired by Stewart than an outright loathing of Disney's forced changes in the 70's/80's (because, god forbid the danes/swedes have more than one Duck out there other than the Carl Barks/Don Rosa drawn ones) Destroyer Duck I did read when it came out - I really liked it at the time, including the issue or two near the end that were written by Buzz Dixon.
The HTD Max I don't recall too well, though I'll re-read it when I get to that point now that I'm reading some 90s stuff again. I didn't like the art by Phil Winslade, I'm sorry to say - I actually do feel a little bad because reportedly it was his idea to do a Howard miniseries and he convinced Gerber, so I think he deserves a lot of credit for that. But it's just a style that doesn't appeal to me. I was never too clear about the details of the Disney dispute so probably some of that subtext went over my head, if that isn't too mixed a metaphor.
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Post by commond on Jun 22, 2024 18:27:41 GMT -5
This week I've been reading Castle Waiting by Linda Medley. It truly is the most delightful book I've read in a long time. In fact, it's the most excited I've been about comics since I discovered Strangehaven and Age of Bronze. It reminds me of when I first discovered the early issues of Bone and bought the first trade paperback with the Great Cow Race. Beautiful black and white cartooning and a pure joy to read. I was so absorbed in the story that I put everything else aside this week and only read Castle Waiting. Loved every single panel. Check this out if you enjoy enchanting storytelling.
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