Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,220 
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Post by Confessor on Sept 12, 2024 4:54:19 GMT -5
I forgot to respond to one other thing: I love the idea of actress Karen Page getting a part in a Dark Shadows-type tv series. It's been a long while since I read these issues so I can't picture them clearly - do we get any scenes from that show? Because I think Gene Colan and Syd Shores would be a great team for the artwork of a Dark Shadows-type comic series. Yeah, issue #65 opens with a scene from the TV show where a terrified Karen is being stalked through the fog by Brother Brimstone -- the reader is led to believe that it's a real situation and Karen is in danger at first, before it is revealed that they are just shooting a TV show. All the other scenes associated with the show (which is called Strange Secrets BTW) are backstage scenes. |
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Post by spoon on Sept 16, 2024 20:13:18 GMT -5
I read Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #251-258 and Legion of Super-Heroes #259. LOSH is one of those titles where I've got a big pile of unread comics. There are some eras (like the Baxter series and the DnA Legion) that I've read most or all of, and some eras where I assembled long runs without reading much yet. So I decided to pick one of those periods to read.
At first I wanted to read the start of the post-Superboy era, but it seemed it was continuing from a cliffhanger. Well, I kept trying to figure out where a good starting point would be without coming in mid-story. I went with #251, but I realized after a bit that apparently #250 was the jumping on point that led to #251. Most of these stories are by the team of Gerry Conway/Joe Staton/Dave Hunt, although Jim Starlin does #251 under the pen name Steve Apollo.
An ongoing subplot has Braniac 5 going a little crazy, and then Matter-Eater Lad going a little crazy too. For as much as some people portray Matter-Eater Lad as a forgotten Legionnaire, he sure seems to show up a lot. There's a pretty story of Legionnaires trying to snap Brainy out of his mental illness. There's also a two-parter that's a very DC gimmicky fake-out involving a new villain group called The League of Super-Assassins. They sound much better than whatever mediocre assemblage of assassins Rah's al Ghul tried to foist on the 20th century. Anyway, one of their members is Blok, in what I think is his first appearance. These Super-Assassins are misguided and Blok seems the most conflicted about assassinating Legionnaires. I'm interested in reading where he transitions to being a hero, because I've never read that before. One of the issues from that story (#254) has an error on the cover, as Shadow Lass is shown in place of Phantom Girl.
The transition in the title from #258 to #259 involves a villain named the Psycho Warrior. Superboy gets written out of the book in a way that reminds me of the issue that permanently wrote the original roster out of the original Defenders series. There, the original Defenders learned of a future catastrophe that may happen when they team up. Here, the Psycho Warrior informs Superboy of a tragedy in his future. There's some partial amnesia that occurs each time Superboy returns to the past so he doesn't retain too much knowledge. However, both Superboy and the Legion are concerned that they'll have to walk on eggshells to prevent Superboy from rediscovering the sad news. Saturn Girl hypnotizes Superboy so he won't return to the future again. That's how Superboy gets dropped from the Legion's title, and Superboy gets his own separate series again.
I have a couple of the issues from this run as Whitman editions, so it's a little reading a DC comic with a different logo and no issue number on the cover.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Sept 17, 2024 10:08:20 GMT -5
Did a re-read of the Power of Shazam graphic novel (and issue #1 for that matter). Easily the best incarnation of the character since the Golden Age. Ordway is able to capture a bit of that fun magic but still update the character to a fairly modern sensibility. His art in the GN is perfect. It's not without some issues. The super heavy exposition during the fight between Cap and Black Adam is frequently clunky. But I can overlook a lot to get a decent version of Captain Marvel and Billy Batson.  |
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Post by Cei-U! on Sept 18, 2024 11:55:01 GMT -5
Did a re-read of the Power of Shazam graphic novel (and issue #1 for that matter). Easily the best incarnation of the character since the Golden Age. Ordway is able to capture a bit of that fun magic but still update the character to a fairly modern sensibility. His art in the GN is perfect. It's not without some issues. The super heavy exposition during the fight between Cap and Black Adam is frequently clunky. But I can overlook a lot to get a decent version of Captain Marvel and Billy Batson. They should've based the movie on the OGN. Maybe then it wouldn't have stunk.
Cei-U! I summon my apologies to those folks who actually like that turd!
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Sept 18, 2024 11:58:58 GMT -5
Did a re-read of the Power of Shazam graphic novel (and issue #1 for that matter). Easily the best incarnation of the character since the Golden Age. Ordway is able to capture a bit of that fun magic but still update the character to a fairly modern sensibility. His art in the GN is perfect. It's not without some issues. The super heavy exposition during the fight between Cap and Black Adam is frequently clunky. But I can overlook a lot to get a decent version of Captain Marvel and Billy Batson. They should've based the movie on the OGN. Maybe then it wouldn't have stunk.
Cei-U! I summon my apologies to those folks who actually like that turd!
It's such a fun book, both the graphic novel and the continuing series. Just solid super-hero funnybooks. |
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Post by Batflunkie on Sept 18, 2024 18:14:14 GMT -5
Did a re-read of the Power of Shazam graphic novel (and issue #1 for that matter). Easily the best incarnation of the character since the Golden Age. Ordway is able to capture a bit of that fun magic but still update the character to a fairly modern sensibility. His art in the GN is perfect. It's not without some issues. The super heavy exposition during the fight between Cap and Black Adam is frequently clunky. But I can overlook a lot to get a decent version of Captain Marvel and Billy Batson. They should've based the movie on the OGN. Maybe then it wouldn't have stunk.
Cei-U! I summon my apologies to those folks who actually like that turd!
Johns' interpretation of Captain Marvel got under my craw for a long time, then I came to the conclusion that if the story was taking place in modern times, Billy probably would be a little bit of a jerk from getting bumped around in foster care. The sequel was a dud though and the Black Adam movie didn't help things either Still though, I'd love to have a series of films about the individual Marvel Family members leading up to a team-up where they clobber the crap out of Black Adam, Mr. Mind, and Doctor Sivana |
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Post by tartanphantom on Sept 18, 2024 22:52:02 GMT -5
They should've based the movie on the OGN. Maybe then it wouldn't have stunk.
Cei-U! I summon my apologies to those folks who actually like that turd!
It's such a fun book, both the graphic novel and the continuing series. Just solid super-hero funnybooks.
Best interpretation of Captain Marvel ever-- Firesign Theater's "Caped Madman." (clip is cued for his origin sequence)
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Post by Hoosier X on Sept 23, 2024 20:32:12 GMT -5
I’ve been reading the Amazing Fantasy Omnibus lately, and I finished it last night. It reprints Amazing Adventures #1 to #6, Amazing Adult Fantasy #7 to #14 and Amazing Fantasy #15.
I love these stories! It turns out to be a concentrated collection of what was best about the pre-hero thriller Marvel comics. So much Ditko! Great Kirby monsters like Manoo and Sserpo. Dr. Droom!
Also … the first Spider-Man! And also a pre-X-Men story about mutants!
I saw quite a few stories reprinted from these series when I first started reading comics when I was 11. For some reason, a few of the stories were in the back of the X-Men reprints. And I also got a hold of Amazing Adult Fantasy #9 with The Terror of Tim Boo Ba! (I don’t remember how much I spent on it, but I’m pretty sure it was less than $10.)
I bought the Omnibus when it was fairly new, around 2010 to 2012, I think, and I was very happy to have the whole series. I had read a lot of the stories in one form or another, but there were still quite a few I had never read. So it was really fun to flip through it and to finally read all the stories I had never read.
But even though I’ve had it for a while, I had never really looked through it again. So I decided some time ago that I would pull it out of the bookcase and read through it, one or two issues every night, and read all of them in order for the very first time.
I finally got around to it! These stories are so great, and it’s such a short run, that I feel like I might make this a yearly thing!
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Post by tonebone on Sept 25, 2024 13:16:41 GMT -5
Did a re-read of the Power of Shazam graphic novel (and issue #1 for that matter). Easily the best incarnation of the character since the Golden Age. Ordway is able to capture a bit of that fun magic but still update the character to a fairly modern sensibility. His art in the GN is perfect. It's not without some issues. The super heavy exposition during the fight between Cap and Black Adam is frequently clunky. But I can overlook a lot to get a decent version of Captain Marvel and Billy Batson. They should've based the movie on the OGN. Maybe then it wouldn't have stunk.
Cei-U! I summon my apologies to those folks who actually like that turd!
Well, I for one think our movie producer overlords did a fantastic job with Shazam! I mean, forget coherent stories and compelling characters... I want a rehash of BIG with his cape serving as a hoodie. And Poochie the dog rules! |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Sept 30, 2024 10:18:44 GMT -5
 THORN: The Complete Proto-BONE College Strips 1982-1986 by Jeff Smith
I've been working my way through this since my Kickstarter copy arrived. These kind of things can be hard to review. I love Bone and it's been meaningful in my family because both my youngest sone and one of my Grandsons got turned on to it through me. Thorn was Smith's college newspaper strip and you can see a lot of things that happened in Bone evolving here. And it's an evolution. This is obviously not a mature work. And there are definitely things that are incongruent with the overarching story. But that's probably to be expected in such a primordial work. But it's entertaining and shows a ton of promise that was ultimately realized. For a big Bone fan, it's a kick. If you're not...it's probably a pass. But go out and read Bone and become a big fan. |
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Post by spoon on Oct 1, 2024 22:11:10 GMT -5
I read Moon Knight Epic Collection vol. 2: Shadows of the Moon, reprinting Moon Knight #5-23. I'd previously read #5-10 years ago. Those issues were in the first Essential volume, which has a different break between volumes than the Epics. Some of those issues were familiar, but some seemed like I had never read them.
Most of these stories are written by Doug Moench and drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz. The quality of the art varies based on the inker, with the best art when Sienkiewicz inks his own pencils. There are a few stories with guest writers and artists. These are mostly the backup stories which come in two types: stories of Marc Spector before he was Moon Knight and stories of the Khonshu statue before it was acquired by Marc Spector.
Sienkiewicz is great at creating atmosphere. Some of the better stories seem to have a touch of the eerie and supernatural, but there's usually a rational explanation. Some of the one-offs, like Stained Glass Scarlet in #14 are really good. I also love the stories with Morpheus, a creepy villain who recurs a couple times.
The quality of Moench's writing varies. Sometimes it comes across as moody, intense, and psychologically complex. Other times it comes across as more of a superficial action series trying and failing to appear more sophisticated. We're told about the inner (and practical) complexity of Marc Spector living under multiple, but we're usually shown something that doesn't seem so deep. Also, the logistics don't seem to work given that different people know him under different names yet also have heard of his other identities, which all have similar appearances. It's weird that different supporting cast members are comfortable calling him different names rather than insisting they know his real name and just going with that one.
It does a dance between dipping a little bit of political/international intrigue yet trying to be vague on those issues. There's an arc involving the Mossad, which on the one hand attempts to be vague enough to avoid offending anyone (villains are an alliance between left-wing & right-wing groups, like horseshoe theory), but on the other hand have some uncomfortable echoes of the real world. That arc also has Marc's girlfriend/sidekick Marlene (or maybe Steven's girlfriend) going undercover as one of villain Nimrod Strange's bikini-clad bodyguards. It straddles the line between suspenseful/sexy or just prurient. Some attempts at grounding the series in the real world are laughable. Moon Knight is hired to thwart a coup attempt in Haiti, and the script emphasizes that he's done his research that this puts him on the side of the good guys. But that story was published at a time when dictator Baby Doc Duvalier had an ironclad grip on power.
There are a couple of guest appearances. The Brother Voodoo guest appearance in the Haiti story sort of works despite the other flaws in the story. There's also a Daredevil guest appearance in a story featuring the Jester, a villain I like. Of course, the story had DD and MK fight each other before working together. But in my opinion, Moon Knight clearly comes across as the one in the wrong during the fight rather than an excusable misunderstanding.
There are some really beautiful covers. The TPB also reprints some text pieces from this issue recapping Moon Knight's history. Several of these issues had an expanded page count and then dropped the Comics Code stamp.
I also read Legion of Super-Heroes #260-261, continuing from where I left off. It's a two-parter about a circus from another planet on a diplomatic cultural exchange. It's by Gerry Conway and Joe Staton, but the inkers don't do Staton any favors. It's a reasonably solid story. I caught on to the whodunit part of things earlier than most of the Legionnaires seemingly did.
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Post by Dizzy D on Oct 2, 2024 12:37:25 GMT -5
As mentioned in the Name One thread, I've never read the series Tanguy & Laverdure, a series about two pilots and planned to correct that. The series ran from 1961 to 1988 with a revival in the early 2000s. The classic series started out with the creative team of Jean-Michel Charlier (best known as the writer on Blueberry) and Albert Uderzo (best known as the artist on Asterix). 8 issues in, Uderzo leaves and is replaced by Joseph Gillain, also known as Jijé, one of the great artists of European comics. I was today in the city of Heerlen in the Netherlands, near my father's house, and there is a record shop over there in a large hall that also has a decent amount of old comics (European, American and Japanese). They can be very used, don't expect any near mint, but it is also an opportunity to get some comics for cheap to try out. So for about 20 bucks I got the following (all dutch translations, haven't read most of them yet): Tanguy and Laverdure #1 and 2 (both 1979 reprints/translations of the original 1961 and 1962 issues.) I've only read issue #1 so far, but it is a solid start (I think both Charlier and Uderzo were veterans at this time so they could kick off a new title) Tanguy and Laverdure are both pilots, assigned to a new base. Tanguy is the dependable, heroic type. Laverdure the joker (though not an untalented pilot) who gets them both into trouble with their superiors. And this is a dense comic, in the first issue we are introduced to the two main characters, most of the other people on the base. We get a story of one of the other pilots, the son of a war hero, who is a decent pilot, but is afraid during times of pressure which could lead to him making mistakes, but to proud to admit this. Also an experimental rocket crashes nearby and the group is tasked to recover it, while agents of an unknown country are also looking for the rocket. 48 pages like this:  and you can see how much story they can pack into a single issue. Ric Houchet #2 (1959) and 5 (1962), a detective comic by Maurice Tillieux (resp. 1973 and 1976 reprints/translations). Adèle Blanc-Sec #4 (1978, reprint/translation also 1978) and #6 (1985, reprint translation same year). Heartburst by Rick Veitch (1984, translation 1985). And a Masters of the Universe #3 by SBP comics (1983), no artist or writer credited, but it might have been Michael Mann (no relation to the film director). I got issues 4-6 from this series and it always stuck with me. Unlike the Star Comics adaption, which was basically a toy commercial every month, each issue here contained two stories, with He-Man often encountering new characters and monsters that were made up for this series and his victories against Skeletor were hard fought and sometimes his victories were hollow. |
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Post by berkley on Oct 2, 2024 18:57:54 GMT -5
As mentioned in the Name One thread, I've never read the series Tanguy & Laverdure, a series about two pilots and planned to correct that. The series ran from 1961 to 1988 with a revival in the early 2000s. The classic series started out with the creative team of Jean-Michel Charlier (best known as the writer on Blueberry) and Albert Uderzo (best known as the artist on Asterix). 8 issues in, Uderzo leaves and is replaced by Joseph Gillain, also known as Jijé, one of the great artists of European comics. I was today in the city of Heerlen in the Netherlands, near my father's house, and there is a record shop over there in a large hall that also has a decent amount of old comics (European, American and Japanese). They can be very used, don't expect any near mint, but it is also an opportunity to get some comics for cheap to try out. So for about 20 bucks I got the following (all dutch translations, haven't read most of them yet): Tanguy and Laverdure #1 and 2 (both 1979 reprints/translations of the original 1961 and 1962 issues.) I've only read issue #1 so far, but it is a solid start (I think both Charlier and Uderzo were veterans at this time so they could kick off a new title) Tanguy and Laverdure are both pilots, assigned to a new base. Tanguy is the dependable, heroic type. Laverdure the joker (though not an untalented pilot) who gets them both into trouble with their superiors. And this is a dense comic, in the first issue we are introduced to the two main characters, most of the other people on the base. We get a story of one of the other pilots, the son of a war hero, who is a decent pilot, but is afraid during times of pressure which could lead to him making mistakes, but to proud to admit this. Also an experimental rocket crashes nearby and the group is tasked to recover it, while agents of an unknown country are also looking for the rocket. 48 pages like this: and you can see how much story they can pack into a single issue. Ric Houchet #2 (1959) and 5 (1962), a detective comic by Maurice Tillieux (resp. 1973 and 1976 reprints/translations). Adèle Blanc-Sec #4 (1978, reprint/translation also 1978) and #6 (1985, reprint translation same year). Heartburst by Rick Veitch (1984, translation 1985). And a Masters of the Universe #3 by SBP comics (1983), no artist or writer credited, but it might have been Michael Mann (no relation to the film director). I got issues 4-6 from this series and it always stuck with me. Unlike the Star Comics adaption, which was basically a toy commercial every month, each issue here contained two stories, with He-Man often encountering new characters and monsters that were made up for this series and his victories against Skeletor were hard fought and sometimes his victories were hollow.
I've thought about trying Ric Hochet since I think it started in the 50s, which is one of periods I've been focusing on with comics the last few years. And I might have a look at Tanguy & Laverdure since I'm hoping to movie into the early 60s sometime within the next year or two.
What do you think of the art on Ric Hochet? Some of the online samples look really nice, some look a little bland. Did it change over time or have I just seen a few misleading images, I wonder?
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Post by Icctrombone on Oct 2, 2024 19:35:47 GMT -5
Did a re-read of the Power of Shazam graphic novel (and issue #1 for that matter). Easily the best incarnation of the character since the Golden Age. Ordway is able to capture a bit of that fun magic but still update the character to a fairly modern sensibility. His art in the GN is perfect. It's not without some issues. The super heavy exposition during the fight between Cap and Black Adam is frequently clunky. But I can overlook a lot to get a decent version of Captain Marvel and Billy Batson. A good version of Captain Marvel is like a unicorn. It’s not real. |
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Post by Dizzy D on Oct 3, 2024 2:56:48 GMT -5
As mentioned in the Name One thread, I've never read the series Tanguy & Laverdure, a series about two pilots and planned to correct that. The series ran from 1961 to 1988 with a revival in the early 2000s. The classic series started out with the creative team of Jean-Michel Charlier (best known as the writer on Blueberry) and Albert Uderzo (best known as the artist on Asterix). 8 issues in, Uderzo leaves and is replaced by Joseph Gillain, also known as Jijé, one of the great artists of European comics. I was today in the city of Heerlen in the Netherlands, near my father's house, and there is a record shop over there in a large hall that also has a decent amount of old comics (European, American and Japanese). They can be very used, don't expect any near mint, but it is also an opportunity to get some comics for cheap to try out. So for about 20 bucks I got the following (all dutch translations, haven't read most of them yet): Tanguy and Laverdure #1 and 2 (both 1979 reprints/translations of the original 1961 and 1962 issues.) I've only read issue #1 so far, but it is a solid start (I think both Charlier and Uderzo were veterans at this time so they could kick off a new title) Tanguy and Laverdure are both pilots, assigned to a new base. Tanguy is the dependable, heroic type. Laverdure the joker (though not an untalented pilot) who gets them both into trouble with their superiors. And this is a dense comic, in the first issue we are introduced to the two main characters, most of the other people on the base. We get a story of one of the other pilots, the son of a war hero, who is a decent pilot, but is afraid during times of pressure which could lead to him making mistakes, but to proud to admit this. Also an experimental rocket crashes nearby and the group is tasked to recover it, while agents of an unknown country are also looking for the rocket. 48 pages like this: and you can see how much story they can pack into a single issue. Ric Houchet #2 (1959) and 5 (1962), a detective comic by Maurice Tillieux (resp. 1973 and 1976 reprints/translations). Adèle Blanc-Sec #4 (1978, reprint/translation also 1978) and #6 (1985, reprint translation same year). Heartburst by Rick Veitch (1984, translation 1985). And a Masters of the Universe #3 by SBP comics (1983), no artist or writer credited, but it might have been Michael Mann (no relation to the film director). I got issues 4-6 from this series and it always stuck with me. Unlike the Star Comics adaption, which was basically a toy commercial every month, each issue here contained two stories, with He-Man often encountering new characters and monsters that were made up for this series and his victories against Skeletor were hard fought and sometimes his victories were hollow.
I've thought about trying Ric Hochet since I think it started in the 50s, which is one of periods I've been focusing on with comics the last few years. And I might have a look at Tanguy & Laverdure since I'm hoping to movie into the early 60s sometime within the next year or two.
What do you think of the art on Ric Hochet? Some of the online samples look really nice, some look a little bland. Did it change over time or have I just seen a few misleading images, I wonder?
Oh, mistake above. I said Ric Hochet, but meant Gil Jourdan (both series have different names in dutch). Regarding Ric Hochet: that series ran from 1963 till 2010, 78 issues, all art by Tibet, so the artstyle did change over the years. I'm far more familiar with Tibet's other series, the western Chick Bill (that series ran from 1954 to 2005 with changes in the style around 1960 and 1966) and the artstyle change over the years there was even more pronounced, but I don't know how well that artstyle changes there map to the changes in Ric Hochet, Chick Bill started out as funny animal, went for a slightly more serious western and then to more comedic western. I think the more serious (though still comedic issues between 1960 and 1966 are the best in the series). Ric Hochet has always been more serious (as far as I know, I haven't only read a few issues of that series), so I don't think the art style changes will be as drastic as they were in Chick Bill.
I haven't read a lot of the series of Gil Jourdan yet, these two issues are the second and third issue I've ever read of the series. The most important thing to know is that the series has had 2 different artists. There have been 16 issues (and one special with other artists remembering the series, but that one is no part of the regular series). Maurice Tillieux did writing and art on the first 12, but the last four have art by Roland Goossens (Gos). The first issue I've ever read (and the only issue I've read for ages) was the first issue by Gos.
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