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Post by EdoBosnar on Jun 28, 2024 4:46:35 GMT -5
World’s Finestscript: Dave Gibbons, art: Steve Rude (pencils), Karl Kesel (inks), Steve Oliff (colors); 1990  This one was the subject of some brief commentary here recently in another thread, which reminded me that I have the tpb that collects the original 3-issue mini-series and that I should probably read it. And, it’s pretty good, overall. The story is a bit uneven, running from middling at places to solidly entertaining at others. That story is that Luthor is out to acquire some properties in Gotham to expand his business empire, some of which involves making purchases from the Joker – part of the deal involves allowing the Joker to go on a crime spree in Metropolis for a few weeks. Another part of the plot, involves a former physician and now reverend named Monks, who runs an orphanage in Gotham, which Luthor intends to purchase and renovate in an act of goodwill. That orphanage, though, was once a front for criminal activities many years ago, and apparently there is still something shady going on. This aspect plays out in the first two issues/chapters, which is part of the reason why I gave lower marks to the story – it just sort of added a layer to the whole thing that was somewhat hastily resolved. The art by Rude and Kesel, though, is just gorgeous throughout. I liked the way the style was slightly modified to differ in the flashback scenes (in the first two issues)...  ...to the thed depictions of Gotham...  ...and Metropolis:  Colorist Steve Oliff also deserves a shout-out here.
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Post by jtrw2024 on Jun 28, 2024 4:54:23 GMT -5
Captain America is a character I've always liked, though I've never followed his title for any extended period of time. I like him when he's in costume, doing usual Cap stuff, either in the present day or WW2, by himself or with the Avengers or SHIELD, but not when he's getting turned into a teenager, or a girl, or a werewolf or being replaced by someone else. There were enough familiar elements in Kirby's final run, such as the Falcon, SHIELD, then the Red Skull towards the end to keep it from going too far off track from what I like. I'd forgotten that Arnim Zola first appeared during this run. I'd somehow thought of him as being around a while. I've never read any Kirby OMAC, so I didn't really make the connection with the similarities in some of these stories, but a lot of the other weird aspects of these Cap issues are definitely in tune with Kirby's interests at the time.
Surfing, Skiing, hang gliding, roller skating, frisbee! If there's a sport you like, Kirby can probably make a comic character out of it!
It'll be awhile before I get to DeMatteis/Zeck stuff, but there was Zeck fill in in issue 224 which was surprising. I've always liked his art. I had a few Stern/Byrne issues from when I was a kid, so these probably helped form my idea of what a Cap story should be. I've never read the run in its entirety, so hopefully it lives up to expectation. Issue 215 is just a recap of Cap's history, then there's a reprint of the Strange Tales issue where the Human Torch fights a Cap imposter. The few issues by Don Glut were really off the wall. I can't imagine fans of the time liking this stuff too much, even the readers who didn't like what Kirby was doing. The next few issues I've read were by Steve Gerber and were more in line with the stories I like. Hopefully it continues on like this
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Post by Batflunkie on Jun 28, 2024 8:49:41 GMT -5
I love the DeMatteis/Zeck run. I've only read two or three issues from this run, but they are likely my favourite Captain America comics I've ever read. I keep vaguely planning to start actively working towards collecting the complete DeMatteis/Zeck run, but I haven't thus far. Too many other series/runs I'm trying to complete, I guess. It's a really good run, probably one of the first times I actively tried to collect a run through the Epic Collection format. It feels very mature without being overly graphic. It's a shame that Shooter wouldn't let DeMatteis end it how he wanted to |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jun 28, 2024 9:25:48 GMT -5
World’s Finestscript: Dave Gibbons, art: Steve Rude (pencils), Karl Kesel (inks), Steve Oliff (colors); 1990 This one was the subject of some brief commentary here recently in another thread, which reminded me that I have the tpb that collects the original 3-issue mini-series and that I should probably read it. And, it’s pretty good, overall. The story is a bit uneven, running from middling at places to solidly entertaining at others. That story is that Luthor is out to acquire some properties in Gotham to expand his business empire, some of which involves making purchases from the Joker – part of the deal involves allowing the Joker to go on a crime spree in Metropolis for a few weeks. Another part of the plot, involves a former physician and now reverend named Monks, who runs an orphanage in Gotham, which Luthor intends to purchase and renovate in an act of goodwill. That orphanage, though, was once a front for criminal activities many years ago, and apparently there is still something shady going on. This aspect plays out in the first two issues/chapters, which is part of the reason why I gave lower marks to the story – it just sort of added a layer to the whole thing that was somewhat hastily resolved. The art by Rude and Kesel, though, is just gorgeous throughout. I liked the way the style was slightly modified to differ in the flashback scenes (in the first two issues)... ...to the thed depictions of Gotham... ...and Metropolis: Colorist Steve Oliff also deserves a shout-out here. The art in that book is truly glorious. |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Jun 30, 2024 3:23:47 GMT -5
BookhunterJason Shiga, 2007  It’s 1973. A rare and priceless book on loan to the Oakland Public Library (an edition of the Bible printed in 1838) has been stolen and replaced with a very well-made replica. The library system’s chief of security assigns Bay, a tough-as-nails, relentless special agent for the library police, to find the book before it has to be returned to the Library of Congress – in three days. Bay and his officers throw all of their know-how and resources, including the cutting edge computer technology of the early 1970s, into the investigation, but will it be enough?  This is a really well-written and surprisingly gripping police procedural – and despite how humorous the premise of the ‘library police’ (which even has a SWAT unit) is, Shiga plays it completely straight. He also did quite a bit of research to get all of the terminology right, not just for libraries, but also for book-binding, locksmithing and safes, IT and various forensic techniques that would have been available in the 1970s. He only made one mistake: a prospective suspect had been busted back in Chicago in 1969 for tearing out the erotic passages in copies of Judy Blume’s Forever – which had only been published in 1975. Other than that, though, this one gets top marks from me. Can’t wait for the movie.
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Post by spoon on Jul 1, 2024 21:09:31 GMT -5
I read Essential Defenders vol. 5 reprinting Defenders #92-106, Marvel Team-Up #101, 111, and 116, and Captain America #268. Except for a back-up in MTU #101, J.M. DeMatteis writes every story. He was guest writer in the lead story of MTU #101, and was the regular on all the other issues of the three titles. Don Perlin draws these issues, with most inked by Joe Sinnott.
Different Defenders writers emphasize different aspects of the concept. DeMatteis really leans into the supernatural and mystical elements. The Six-Fingered Hand story, which has various versions of the devil, is the main arc in this book. I'm curious as to when the Comics Code loosened up. This TPB reprinting material from 1981 and 1982 has so much about the devil, I'm surprised there was a campaign to ban the Defenders like Dungeons & Dragons. After having a spotty attendance record in some periods, Doctor Strange is around for most issues. Clea has more appearances than usual. Devil Slayer is sticking around, and Daimon Hellstrom is back in the fold. Of course, Valkyrie is a mythological character. And during this period, Gargoyle is introduced.
I had read very few appearances of Gargoyle before I read this TPB, and this is the first time I learned the backstory of the character. He's a really intriguing character. How rarely is there a superhero who's old? I don't mean an ancient mythic figure like Thor, but just a senior citizen. I love his redemption arc, and how it interacts with Hellcat's story. Speaking of which, Hellcat gets put through ringer a bit. Some of that is solid character moments, and some of it is more like pushing the plot forward and giving other characters something to react to. I was wondering if I'd see the Hellcat/Hellstrom romance here. Not quite. They don't really have any fun times here. It's basically Hellcat having a rough patch, Daimon feeling bad for her & then realizing he's falling for her, and Satan trying to ruin things by claiming he dad to both of them. Then, he's like "psych, maybe I'm just kidding and I'm not really Patsy dad, or maybe I was telling the truth and you could end up with some incest." Daimon Hellstrom was one of those characters who seemed like a random weirdo when I was a kid, but when I finally read his 70s solo story from an Essential, I found it be surprising good. He continues to be an interesting here.
Nighthawk was the embodiment of the Katy Perry song "Hot & Cold" under the pen of David Anthony Kraft and Ed Hannigan. It got really annoying how self-pitying and indecisive he was. The funny thing is that DeMatteis continues that portrayal in some ways, but transcends it in others. We still get back and forth about whether Nighthawk is on the team, but DeMatteis actually gives him some self-awareness and introspection. He has an arc where he works to make amends for a big mistake from his past. On the other hand, I can't say the same about Devil-Slayer. He's my least favorite team member of this era. He also made a big mistake in his past, but he doesn't own up to it. At least, DeMatteis has some other Defenders point that out. Of note, he and his ex-wife were an interracial couple, which I think was uncommon in superhero comics of this era. I can think of Iron Fist & Misty Knight, Cyclops's short-live relationship with Colleen Wing, and Flash Thompson marrying Sha Shan off the top of my head.
A couple members get short-shrift. Valkyrie doesn't have many big character moments, which is a big change from Kraft and Hannigan putting a lot of focus on her. Hulk gets written out for a while, before coming back for a few appearances. The previous volume had a lot of issues that mention his TV show on the cover.
Beast and Daredevil get involved in the last few issues of this volume. I don't know if this is the start of Beast being continuously a Defender from now into the New Defenders era. He seems to be treated here as still an Avenger and not yet officially a Defender, although I think these issue are from right around the time he leaves the Avengers. It's funny, because these issues apparently continue a story from the pages of the Avengers involving Beast and his Silver Age girlfriend Vera Cantor. I've read almost every issue of Avengers from #1 to around #330. There are about 4 different gaps of about a few issues in my reading. That Beast/Vera story falls into one of those gaps (#203-210) in my reading.
Overall, I really like this TPB. In my opinion, DeMatteis does a better job than Kraft or Hannigan. He writes flawed, interesting characters, whereas his predecessors sometimes made their heroes flawed in annoying ways. I'm not really generally Perlin or Sinnott (which I know is sacrilege between lots of folks consider Sinnott to be Kirby's best inker), but I feel like this combo make Perlin's work look better than it usually looks to me.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 2, 2024 13:38:50 GMT -5
Avengers #105, with Steve Englehart taking over from Roy Thomas.
Englehart was "my" Avengers writer, the one who was at the helm when I started reading the book regularly. I loved the way he weaved Marvel continuity during the Celestial Madonna storyline. Those were the days when making certain connections made sense and enriched the entire marvel tapestry. (I admit that eventually, fans turned writers massively overdid it... but we weren't there yet).
It's not intrusive in this issue, but many references are made to other contemporary books; we have one panel of Fandral, Hogun, Hildegard and Tana Nile as house guests in Avengers Mansion (for reasons mentionned in Thor); we have Vision appearing and mentioning he's just returned from a Marvel Team-Up adventure; we have Iron Man explaining a modification to his armour made after facing the Cyborg Sinister. As a young fan, I am sure that would have sent me looking for all those issues.
More continuity business: T'Challa explains the Black Panther/Black Leopard kerfuffle. I admit that I don't remember T'Challa being called "Black Leopard" outside of comic-book encyclopedias. Did the change last very long? (He didn't have his own book at the time, so probably not).
The plot is a little silly as is normal in an early '70s superhero comic. Quicksilver went missing recently (we'll find out what happened to him in an issue of Fantastic Four!) and when Wanda learns that a few scientists disappeared somewhere in Chile she and her Avenging colleagues are convinced that there must be a connection! (Because, of course, all disappearances must somehow be related. Even when one occurs in Chile and the other in Australia).
The Avengers travel to Tierra del Fuego, where a cavern leads them to... Ka-Zar's Savage Land!
That's something I vaguely remember seeing a few times in the past... Didn't Sauron fall in a crevasse in Tierra del Fuego and also end up in the Savage Land? Is there a tunnel between the two? If so, it should be more than a thousand miles long, but here it doesn't seem to be more than a hundred meters long. Perhaps there's a space warp thingie down there. Anybody knows?
The Avengers meet the Savage Land mutates, one of my least-favourite group of villains. I always felt that this bunch never earned their stripes; they were always treated like a real threat, but in my opinion the X-Men, the Avengers or even Spider-Man on his own should have been able to wipe the floor with them without breaking a sweat. Oh, well.
The artwork by John Buscema and Jim Mooney is competent, but not as exciting as the Buckler run that preceded it. (Buckler was doing a good Neal Adams impression). And boy! Do I dislike Buscema's depiction of spaceships and/or quinjets!
The Black Panther is a cool character. As a kid, I was entranced by the simplicity of his all-black costume and by his nobility of character. The team needed a few adults like him!
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Post by Ricky Jackson on Jul 2, 2024 14:11:07 GMT -5
I *think* the "Black Leopard" name change only lasted one issue (FF #119)
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Post by kirby101 on Jul 2, 2024 15:50:50 GMT -5
I have to edit this. I know there are leopards in Africa, I was just there last year and saw one.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 2, 2024 16:21:58 GMT -5
Black Leopard, Coal Tiger, Black Panther. And yet no animals indigenous to Africa. Quick, my biologist cap!  The tiger is indeed from Asia, but the leopard ( Panthera pardus) does call Africa home. As for a black panther, it can mean a black leopard or a black jaguar (which would be American); "panther" is not a proper species name and basically just means "really big cat". So both Black Panther and Black Leopard are cool. Were I Cei-U, I'd summon the roar! |
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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 2, 2024 16:33:32 GMT -5
ROAR!!!
Cei-U!
Sorry, I couldn't resist!
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Post by EdoBosnar on Jul 2, 2024 17:07:40 GMT -5
The tiger is indeed from India, (...) Sure, but the term 'coal tiger' was used back in the early '60s to describe developing countries (ex-colonies mainly) which were expected to become economic powerhouses by exporting mineral wealth (like, you know, coal) and other raw materials. Many of these countries were in Africa. Glad they went with Black Panther, though...
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Post by Batflunkie on Jul 2, 2024 17:50:57 GMT -5
Transmetropolitan #1-#30
So I got the itch to re-read this series (seem to happen every four years) and it still shocks me how good it. Not just for "playing the long game" with storytelling but how good the individual issues by themselves are. #8 and #9 are particular stand-outs. Eight focuses on a woman named Mary who's head is thawed out after an indeterminable amount of time and has trouble coping with modern day. Nine focuses on "Reservations" in the City, places where certain time periods are kept alive for people to experience
I'm obviously glossing over the political stuff here, because, to quote Big Fish, "you never know who you're going to offend"
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 2, 2024 18:00:33 GMT -5
The tiger is indeed from India, (...) Sure, but the term 'coal tiger' was used back in the early '60s to describe developing countries (ex-colonies mainly) which were expected to become economic powerhouses by exporting mineral wealth (like, you know, coal) and other raw materials. Many of these countries were in Africa.
Most interesting! Who said comics weren't educational? |
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Post by kirby101 on Jul 2, 2024 18:41:32 GMT -5
Most interesting! Who said comics weren't educational? Fredric Wertham |
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