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Post by commond on Aug 10, 2024 20:07:30 GMT -5
Ricky JacksonI began reading Amazing Adult Fantasy. The stories are "ok", but there's a lot of rehashing of plots that had been used a million times before in the Sci-fi/Monster/Fantasy books to the extend that the twist endings aren't twists because they've done the same ending countless times. The most disappointing aspect, however, is how rushed Ditko's art is. It's because figure work with brightly colored backgrounds. I read some early Ditko stories from Journey into Mystery to check if I was mistaken, but no, his early five pagers are filled with interesting panel layout outs, detailed composition work and unique camera angles. They're closer in quality to EC work than the Amazing Adult Fantasy stuff. I assume it was because he was producing so many pages. Not only was he doing the half a dozen stories in Amazing Adult Fantasy but he was still producing short stories for their other fantasy books too.
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Post by commond on Aug 11, 2024 16:54:14 GMT -5
I enjoyed all of the stories in Amazing Adult Fantasy #9 even if none of them were original ideas. Ditko got to cut loose a bit on the art. I loved the way he built to the climax of the Tim Boo Ba story. He did some cool work on the Genie story too. His decision to have no backgrounds had to have been a deliberate choice. Was he taking short cuts or was it an aesthetic that appealed to him? The contents page and the sneak preview of next issue's stories were unique formats that Stan never tried again.
Ironically, I really enjoyed Strange Tales #100, which is followed by a pretty crappy Human Torch story in 101. Kirby's stories were much more interesting when he stopped doing monsters even if he was gung-ho with the anti-commie rhetoric. I like it much better when his lead feature is divided into two separate stories instead of a two-parter.
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Post by Icctrombone on Aug 12, 2024 6:31:42 GMT -5
Over the last 2 months I've been reading the Defenders 2000 series by Busiek and Erik Larsen, followed by the 6 issue The Order series. It's one long story that follows Dr. Strange, Namor the Hulk and the Silver Surfer in a story that has them drawn together magically, every time there is a world threatening event. It's not voluntary, it's a result of a dying spell by one of their earliest opponents called Yandroth. The 12 issue series is followed by The Order. In this series the 4 take over the world to circumvent the spell. and we find out what is really behind their aggressive behavior.
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Post by supercat on Aug 12, 2024 7:19:10 GMT -5
Over the last 2 months I've been reading the Defenders 2000 series by Busiek and Erik Larsen, followed by the 6 issue The Order series. It's one long story that follows Dr. Strange, Namor the Hulk and the Silver Surfer in a story that has them drawn together magically, every time there is a world threatening event. It's not voluntary, it's a result of a dying spell by one of their earliest opponents called Yandroth. The 12 issue series is followed by The Order. In this series the 4 take over the world to circumvent the spell. and we find out what is really behind their aggressive behavior. I read that Defender series when it came out, I remember enjoying it. I think I was picking up anything Busiek was doing at that point, plus seeing a classic Defenders lineup of course looked so cool. I never knew The Order followed it though, definitely curious to read that now!
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Post by kirby101 on Aug 12, 2024 8:00:31 GMT -5
Over the last 2 months I've been reading the Defenders 2000 series by Busiek and Erik Larsen, followed by the 6 issue The Order series. It's one long story that follows Dr. Strange, Namor the Hulk and the Silver Surfer in a story that has them drawn together magically, every time there is a world threatening event. It's not voluntary, it's a result of a dying spell by one of their earliest opponents called Yandroth. The 12 issue series is followed by The Order. In this series the 4 take over the world to circumvent the spell. and we find out what is really behind their aggressive behavior. I didn't read either of these. But it is cool to see Strange in his Superhero costume. And it looks like he is juicing and hitting the gym.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Aug 12, 2024 8:47:07 GMT -5
Over the last 2 months I've been reading the Defenders 2000 series by Busiek and Erik Larsen, followed by the 6 issue The Order series. (...) I read these two series a few years back (o.k., about 6 years ago) and liked it a fair bit more than I thought I would. It's a pretty fun story.
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Post by Cei-U! on Aug 12, 2024 9:51:21 GMT -5
I haven't read The Order but I own the Busiek/Larson Defenders run (#1 is autographed by the man who refers to me as "Other Kurt"). Great art, great dialogue, and the real Defenders together again. What's not to love?
Cei-U! I summon the world's greatest non-team!
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Post by EdoBosnar on Aug 13, 2024 7:41:40 GMT -5
Castle Waiting Volume IILinda Medley, 2013 (collecting the complete second series originally published by Fantagraphics from 2006 to 2012) I jumped into this one after barely putting down the first volume of this wonderful series (which has been mentioned/reviewed several times in this thread, most recently earlier this summer by commond). I have nothing to add to the universally positive assessments of that book made by everyone here who mentioned it, and I can say that the second volume is just as charming and funny, as we’re treated to more of the daily goings-on at the titular castle and learn more about its various denizens. Besides continuing the ongoing flashbacks that shed more and more light on Jain, who is more or less the main character, and her baby son Pindar, the stories herein also focus on the backstories of the cook, Dinah, and her half-giant son, the kindly Simon, the taciturn blacksmith Henry, and even the odd Dr. Fell. And as usual, there are those humorous little details in the art... The main story element running through this entire volume is the decision by Jain to move into a room in the castele’s previously long-deserted Keep, so she can be closer to the library, after which the castle steward Rackham also decides to settle into a room there as well. The rest of the story, between flashbacks, deals with the efforts to explore the mysterious Keep, clean it up, furnish and decorate Jain’s and Rackham’s quarters, and then finally move them in. ( Jain's house- or rather room-warming party after the aging ladies in waiting completed their interior decorating) The only criticism I can make is that when I got to the end, I wanted to read more – mainly because there is still much about the pasts of the characters, esp. Jain, that are teased but not yet resolved. I recall reading a few years ago that Medley had started and made considerable progress into volume 3, but then got sidelined by a series of health and financial troubles. Hopefully we’ll eventually see the continuation of this absolutely fantastic story.
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Post by Hoosier X on Aug 13, 2024 21:22:15 GMT -5
I got Showcase Presents: Martain Manhunter, Volume Two, a few weeks ago, and I've been working my way through part of it, but I haven't got around to writing anything about it. I read the "Idol-Head of Diabolu" arc and I finished it today, so I decided to write a few paragraphs. This volume reprints the Martian Manhunter stories from Detective Comics #305 to #326 and House of Mystery #143 to #173. That's a lot! More than 50 stories! Almost 600 pages! It's the Martian Manhunter solo series from 1962 to 1968. I didn't read the stories from Detective Comics. I have all the original issues of Detective from this era, and I just read them all late last year as part of my project to read all the consecutive issues in my Detective Comics collection from #244 (1956) to the present. I didn't want to read them again so soon. They're a bit hit and miss. (Plus I just read them in color! The Showcase series reprints everything in black and white. If I want to read these stories again, I'll want to read them in color!) I bought this book so I could read the Manhunter's series in The House of Mystery. The Manhunter's last story in Detective presented the set-up for his move to The House of Mystery. His secret identity (Police Detective John Jones) was killed off and he left Middletown with his alien associate Zook to pursue the Idol-Head of Diabolu. Supporting characters Captain Harding and Lt. Diane Meade mourned the death of Jones and were no longer appearing in the Manhunter's adventures. Which brings us to the Idol-Head of Diabolu. It's a bizarrely shaped stone head. It was created by a wizard named Diabolu several thousand years ago. As he was dying, Diabolu enchanted the idol-head statue with the essence of a bunch of monsters. It was activated in Detective Comics #326. During the full moon, the top opens up and a monster comes out and starts threatening the populace. So for the next two years or so, the Manhunter and Zook chase the elusive Idol-Head around the country and fight the various that pop out of it.
The Idol-Head of Diabolu story arc starts in Detective Comics #326, moves to House of Mystery as of #143 (where the monster turns people (and Zooks!) into giants!) and concludes in House of Mystery #158. Not all the stories in this range are about the Idol-Head. The Manhunter gets a break from Diabolu's device in House of Mystery #153 when Professor Arnold Hugo breaks jail and comes after him for REVENGE! (He activates some giant, petrified cavemen he finds in a cave.) In #154, a gangster who was put away by the Manhunter breaks jail and manages to lure his enemy to a warehouse where the Manhunter is exposed to a magic mirror that creates an evil, distorted version of the Manhunter. Professor Arnold Hugo returns in #157 with a plot to turn the Martian Manhunter into a laughingstock, thus ruining his reputation among the populace. It ends up backfiring on Professor Hugo. The Diabolu arc is resolved in #158 when the Manhunter enters the Idol-Head and goes back in time to ancient Babylonia and defeats Diabolu in his own time. The whole story arc is very hit and miss. I like the Professor Arnold stories. The one with the giant Zook is hilarious. There's a few other fun Silly Silver Age monsters, but more than a few really corny Idol-Head creatures. Zook is hilarious! I love that little orange space-monkey. But I sure do miss Captain Harding and Diane Meade. This volume still has about 15 stories to go, to the end of the Manhunter's run in House of Mystery. I guess this is the Marco Xavier era, and I've never read any of these. I'm looking forward to them.
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Post by Batflunkie on Aug 15, 2024 8:33:40 GMT -5
Hoosier, I always kind of resented DC taking a great detective character like John and turning him into basically superman
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Post by Hoosier X on Aug 15, 2024 20:43:12 GMT -5
Hoosier, I always kind of resented DC taking a great detective character like John and turning him into basically superman I am really missing Captain Harding and Diane Meade, that’s for sure.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Aug 16, 2024 4:06:35 GMT -5
Rocketo: Journey to the Hidden Sea vols. 1-2story and art: Frank Espinosa, co-writer: Marie Taylor, 2006-2007 I see that this has already been reviewed here recently (a month ago) by tonebone, who apparently didn’t like it too much. My take is pretty much the opposite, in that I liked it quite a bit. First, I should say that yes, it’s not a space opera, in that everything takes place on Earth, although I think calling it a ‘sailing fantasy’ is a bit reductive. It is indeed a fantasy story, albeit one set in the far-flung future after the planet had been almost totally annihilated by a powerful alien entity. The ‘new world’ is now inhabited by a variety of genetically modified humans, who live on the archipelagos that are all that’s left of the destroyed continents. The sailing, by the way, takes place on both low-flying airships and actual seafaring vessels. The main character, Rocketo Garrison, is what is called a ‘mapper,’ who is genetically modified so that he has a small compass embedded in his hand. They are vitally important in this new world because the magnetic poles, as well as the Moon, were destroyed in the aforementioned cataclysm. The story gets rolling when, Rocketo, who’s kind of down and out and not working as a mapper anymore, gets coerced by an old colleague, an greedy, unscrupulous adventurer and smuggler, to travel to the Hidden Sea – from which nobody has ever returned – in search of a fabled treasure. However, another expedition, ostensibly led by a powerful criminal organization (but actually backed by the corrupt ruler of a northern kingdom) is also heading there and they try to stop Rocketo and his companions. The latter nonetheless eventually make it into the Hidden Sea, and find more than they expected, learning not only that mysterious region’s secrets but many unpleasant truths about their world’s history. Meanwhile, the bad guys also make their way in, and an all-out war breaks out... Frank Espinosa came from the world of animation, and this story is very much done in a kind of storyboard style. I really loved his incredibly stylistic art and use of splotchy colors – although I’ll readily acknowledge that there are a few places in which the storytelling isn’t entirely clear. One thing that really struck me is that everything has this really retro-future, old-timey look and feel, even though this is very much a forward-looking, unique vision on Espinosa’s part. I just found it all so visually rich. ( this is from a gallery of sketches and concept art at the end of the first volume) Apparently this was supposed to be the first of four books/journeys – there’s even a ‘coming soon’ announcement for the next journey at the end of the second tpb – but nothing came of it. I wouldn’t mind spending more time in Rocketo’s world.
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Post by spoon on Aug 16, 2024 21:46:52 GMT -5
I read Defenders Epic Collection vol. 9: The End of All Songs, reprinting New Defenders #138-152 and Gargoyle #1-4. I have now read the entire original run of Defenders.
The New Defenders issues here are written by Peter B. Gillis, drawn by Don Perlin (with guest pencils by Luke McDonnell and Sal Buscema), and inked by various inkers. Old Defenders scribe J.M. DeMatteis and artist Mark Badger handle the Gargoyle mini. I'll start with the mini-series. It was nice to see DeMatteis return to write a character he co-created. It's a very moody, melancholy story. Badger's art is really beautiful. I think I'd only previously read a story he'd drawn after dealing with MS really transformed his art style. I have one quibble. We get to see how Isaac Christians looked before his transformation into Gargoyle, and he's not how I imagined him. He's tall and stately, whereas I pictured someone shorter and with an unassuming bearing.
Regarding New Defenders itself, I feel like Gillis has hit his stride in the early issues of this TPB. Down the stretch, things start to sputter and lose direction. I'm curious as to when Gillis learned the series would be canceled. The ongoing subplot of whether Moondragon can be trusted gets a lot of earlier attention. We get some elaboration on her origin, an explanation of her abrasive nature, and a semi-redemption that appears to promise some evolution to her character while not completing blunting her edge. Given how the intra-team tension of her clashes with other characters have been, it's an intriguing development. But then it gets reversed, and she gets temporarily written out of the series to be brought back to her villainous ways for the finale.
New Defenders #140 is one-off story that involves racial prejudice and a rape accusation. Perhaps in part due to dancing around the Comics Code, it takes a meandering, aimless turn toward the end of the story. The sense of random aimlessness is unfortunately something that pervades several of these issues. New Defenders #141 is a very good body horror story that leaves behind a victim who looms in the background of later issues. I was curious how the New Defenders fits into X-Men history with three of the original 5 on the roster. New Defenders #142 has a guest appearance by Senator Robert Kelly and is the strongest effort to work the anti-mutant hysteria into an issue of the series.
Toward the end of this run, the Runner and Andromeda make their first appearances. Andromeda actually ends up joining the team. I didn't realize that both characters debuted here until I looked it up. Part of that is because neither the cosmic stuff nor Atlantis were really my thing, so I just assumed both characters showed up before the mid-80s. Another part is how nonchalant Gillis is with the character introductions. I didn't get the weightiness of a first appearance. Also, Andromeda's introduction is so weird and her explanation for showing up doesn't really resonate. Once again, it feels like a part of the home stretch that's aimless. I do wonder whether Gillis had bigger plans for Andromeda that got cut short by the cancellation. On the other hand, her introduction paired with the psychopath Manslaughter joining in the penultimate issue suggests maybe Gillis wanted some extra bodies on the roster to up the body count in the series finale. Another seemingly aimless character moment: Johnny Blaze and his girlfriend Roxanne show up. It's more of a "where are they now" thing, because there doesn't seem to be any other story purpose to it.
Along the way, we get one last chance to see Daimon and Patsy in a fill-in story in #148 that breaks from the ongoing storyline. It's a humorous follow-up to the an earlier story Gillis did about a couple of private investigators. Or it's intended to be humorous, but the humor doesn't really hit. It's good to see Daimon and Patsy again, but they don't get nearly enough focus.
In #150, we gets a revised origin for Cloud, along with a new explanation of why Cloud has appeared both female and male. It's a meandering journey before we get the answer, but it's interesting in its off-the-wall way. Cloud's gender switches are another thing that's better in concept than in execution. The impact on Bobby is a big part of subplot, as the switch is disturbing to him because of his crush on Cloud. The problem is that Gillis didn't lay the groundwork. There's maybe a slight hint at Bobby's crush beforehand; it only gets explored after the switch. You can't really disrupt the status quo effectively if you haven't established it in your story. We also get a quick, offhand explanation of Overmind's Chuck Cunningham Syndrome exit from the series. It's an odd way to tie up a loose end.
There are a few odds and ends to discuss. Although sometimes Gillis's humor misses, I really like the gags involving the Defenders holographic security system. Beast's dog Sassafras has been an underrated presence in the series, so it was nice to see him show up at the end with the former X-Men as a survivor of the bloodbath.
Finally, one of the underrated subplots is Beast's struggling relationship with his girlfriend Vera. It gets a few pages in a couple of different issues. In contrast to the randomness of some of Gillis's storytelling, the sparse attention to this subplot makes sense. The theme is that Hank has this big personality, but he doesn't realize how his neglect is painful to Vera. It's a contrast to how integrated Warren's girlfriend Candy Southern in the series as the team leader. It's also interesting to see how a fan favorite character is portrayed as personally flawed in this aspect of his life.
I have a couple follow-up reading ideas. I think I'm going to read the transition stories (Beast's appearance in Dazzler #42, the return of Jean Grey) into the start of X-Factor and the first few issues, to see how the transition from New Defenders to X-Factor feels. I've read those stories before, but this may be a new perspective. I also read an arc from the Dr. Strange feature from Strange Tales vol. 2 that picked up threads from the New Defenders finale. I may re-read that because it may make more sense now.
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Post by spoon on Aug 17, 2024 21:08:31 GMT -5
Since I decided to follow my Defenders/New Defenders binge read with a transition to X-Factor, I read Avengers #263 and Fantastic Four #286. These are the two issues of the retcon that establish Jean Grey was in a cocoon while the Phoenix was an entity that took on her form and psyche.
I've read these issues a bunch of times over the years. They're sort of like a comfortable old shoe, so they don't make quite the impression as something I'm reading for the first time. Also, they're mostly a vehicle for the retcon, so they don't have quite the emotional impact that maybe they should. Avengers #263 has a lot of bits of current Avengers events like tension over Sub-Mariner joining. With John Buscema doing breakdowns and Tom Palmer on finishes, there are certain panels that feel more Palmerian (heavy lines) and other are more Buscema-esque (very pretty headshots of Jan).
Fantastic Four #286 does more of the heavy lifting of the retcon. The most poignant, emotionally resonant parts are the depictions of Jean Grey in distress because she doesn't know what's going on. She a woman out of time, although much more modest that Captain America was. Unfortunately, the emotional impact is blunted somewhat by Byrne's writing. First, he focuses on making Jean very pedantic about how this must be a villainous trick - like focusing on Sue being called Invisible Woman rather than Invisible Girl. Frankly, I think it would have worked better just focusing on her general confusion rather than have her focus on details she might not have even noticed given the circumstances. Second, he give Jean some stilted, thesaurus-straining, Silver Age/early Bronze Age sounding dialogue. I wonder if it's a metafictional effort to make her sound like she's been plucked out of an old comic or if it's just bad scripting by Byrne. I can picture all the replies saying the latter, but others in the issue don't talk quite like that.
Another way that it could've been made more emotionally resonant is by focusing on Jean's loss of telepathy. That's mentioned in a very offhand way, but I imagined it would make the situation even more terrifying. I keep forgetting the extent of Jean's telepathy that developed in the later Silver Age years, which is a reason I want to re-read the individual costume era of the Silver Age X-Men. We also get an explanation of how Jean's will end up being the thing that stopped Phoenix. It should very a triumphant, poignant moment, but I do feel like the expositional dialogue could made it feel more emotional than procedural. It's hurt a bit by the stiffness of Reed's dialogue.
One last note: this is the era of Sue's mullet, which is very unfortunate.
I thought Beast's appearance in Dazzler might be next in my reading, but two separate online chronologies place X-Factor #1. Thinking back, I guess that makes sense. Doesn't Beast ask Dazzler to join an unspecified something? And I guess the decision to form X-Factor wasn't made until while into X-Factor #1. My memory is a bit fuzzy on this. But I guess when I re-read those issues next, I'll find out. Per the chronologies, I'm going to start with X-Factor #1, then go to Dazzler #41-42, then back to X-Factor.
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Post by Hoosier X on Aug 18, 2024 9:28:38 GMT -5
I went ahead and read the next few stories in Showcase Presents: The Martian Manhunter, Volume Two. That includes the earliest Marco Xavier stories.
Marco Xavier is hilarious! I think I’m going to LOVE the second half of the Manhunter’s run in House of Mystery.
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