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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 17, 2019 10:56:05 GMT -5
Hank and Peter are investigating "American Indian drugs" for Curt Connors when they trigger an explosive destruction of Connors' lab. These drugs have come to the attention of mobsters who have kidnapped Connors' son as ransom for the drugs. Knowing that Connors is likely to turn into his villainous alter-ego, the Lizard, if he learns his son is in danger, Parker accompanies Hank on the mission to save little Timmy (when Hank and his dog, Orkie, later rescue the boy, who has fallen down a shaft at a construction site, "Timmy" becomes "Bobby", de-Lassie-fying things a bit!). ...which is even funnier once you remember Connors' son's name is Billy.
Cei-U! I summon the identity crisis!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2019 11:20:05 GMT -5
On the fifth day of Christmas, Santa brought to me one of those there "trendy" gifts this year... Guns of the Dragon #1-4 (DC; 1998) by Tim Truman  As I mentioned before, I discovered this mini because someone included it in a past CCF 12 Days event, so in a sense I am re-gifting this one. I was not a fan of Bat Lash or Enemy Ace when it was posted, but Truman, dinosaurs and Vandal Savage was an irresistible combo and I sought it out and read it (it's the same kind of recipe that made Half Past Danger from IDW so irresistible and anyone who likes this mini should check that one out too). Because of it, I became fans of both Bat and the Ace, and have picked up a bunch of comics featuring both since. It was just about everything I wanted in a comic adventure story, and was just an incredibly fun romp I can revisit and enjoy every time I do. -M |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Dec 17, 2019 11:29:44 GMT -5
Looks like I'm going to contribute to the Hulk and Burroughs theme that seems to have developed today (if only there was a Tarzan Versus the Hulk book!) with a double crossover: Tarzan, Pellucidar and Predators, Oh My! Tarzan Versus Predator At The Earth's Core #1-4 Dark Horse, 1996 I very nearly went with a different Burroughs crossover that just missed my Favorite Comics Adaptation list from last year's Christmas event( I won't name as it might be on someone else's list!) but decided to go with this sequel to that story as not only do I really love Lee Weeks art in this book but also because it's a double crossover, featuring not only Tarzan and David Innes of Pellucidar but also the Predator. While many people are familiar with Tarzan and John Carter of Mars, and I myself love them both, growing up my favorite was David Innes, Emperor of Pellucidar who is much less well known...and the reason I loved him? Simple: he had dinosaurs! And although they don't get a lot of panel time in this particular comic the few scenes where they are featured they look absolutely amazing under Weeks' pen:  Beyond the great art, and the novelty of giving us a mash up of not just two properties but three is the fact that the story plays well with all three participants giving great moments for Tarzan, the Predators themselves and the world of Pellucidar and it's the attention to detail on that last part that really makes the book sing. As I said earlier the Pellucidar stories are much less well known than Tarzan which would have made this crossover potentially more difficult as crossovers tend to bank on the audience already being aware of the properties involved so they can focus on the action but here Simonson didn't have that crutch and while a lesser writer wouldn't have let that from stopping him just barrel through Simonson is never lesser so he takes time to really explore the world of Pellucidar making it easily readable for anyone who had never encountered those works by Burroughs.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 17, 2019 11:32:02 GMT -5
Blaze of Glory 1-4 (Marvel 2000) Ostrander & Manco.  On the fourth day of Christmas Ostrander & Manco gave to me...a blaze of glooooory. I grew up on westerns. I grew up in Idaho where people still round up range cattle on horses. One of my earliest pictures is of me in diapers on top of my Dad's horse Corky. John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies on TV were events. My Dad read any western novel he could get his hands on. I even read Jonah Hex on a fairly regular basis. But I never cottoned to Marvel's western comics. Too superheroey. If I wanted superhero funnybooks I'd read superhero funnybooks. While Jonah Hex, for example, wasn't anything like the real west (nor for that matter were most movies, tv shows or books) it was more like what I was used to seeing in a western. Let me also say that I think John Ostrander is one of the underrated comic book writers of the last 35 years. Pretty much everything he's done has been at least really good and he's written some of my favorite books of all time (Spectre, Grimjack). I also knew that Ostrander could do a darn good western because he'd done one before in The Kents. Add in Leonardo Manco, whose work I really enjoy, and this book was a no-brainer. And we finally get a Marvel western that does justice to the word western. They're all here. Kid Colt. Two-Gun Kid. Rawhide Kid. Caleb Hammer. I really love the use of Reno Jones as an exoduster. And the existence of their traditional Marvel countenances as dime-novel personas. For me this was the perfect updating of old properties to a modern look and sensibility. 
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 17, 2019 11:58:31 GMT -5
8. Batman/Grendel, Devil's Riddle; Grendel/Batman Devil's MasqueDC & Comico, 1993  Batman, the Dark Knight Detective; Grendel, the Devil Incarnate, master criminal with a hold over an entire city. These two epic figures (finally) clashed, thanks to Matt Wagner (and a few lawyers). The project had been started a few years earlier (I saw completed art in 1991) but the bankruptcy of Comico had put everything on hold, with doubts about it ever appearing. New capitalization got the project out (though the revived Comico would be dead and buried not long after). Matt Wagner handles the whole deal, where a bored Grendel decides he needs a challenge and decides to play with Batman, in Gotham City, using the Riddler as a front for his activities. That is, he makes Batman think he is dealing with the Riddler. Throughout the piece, Wagner mirrors Grendel and Batman. Grendel narrates in handwritten notes, while Batman's appears as computer text; Batman operates from the mansion and cave, Grendel from a penthouse suite, Grendel is smaller and more agile, Batman more of a muscular bruiser. Grendel uses cutouts and unaware agents; Batman has himself and Alfred.  This was a sleeper of a book, as the delay had killed momentum; then, it kind of snuck out onto stands with little fanfare, while Image was making so much noise. Wagner makes great use of both characters, concocting an actual mystery for Batman to solve, as the pair play chess with one another, across Gotham. The book did well enough to spawn a sequel, where Batman met up with the cyborg Grendel Prime (of Grendel: War Child) though the results weren't quite as satisfying. This was the original Hunter Rose, the true Grendel, and it was brilliant.
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Post by DubipR on Dec 17, 2019 12:09:47 GMT -5
I see a couple of entries that'll show up higher on my list.
Some great selections of comics I forgot about or never read!
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Post by beccabear67 on Dec 17, 2019 12:31:40 GMT -5
 8. The Black Knight & Financier Malcolm DrakeHeroes For Hire #14 (August 1998, Marvel) John Ostrander, Mary Mitchell & Keith Aiken Changing things up with a recent read I really enjoyed (looks like a lot of other newer comics chosen by others for this day too). This is a great team-up with a lot of beautifully drawn scenes of NYC for background. A Norse elf of mischief tries to pit Dane Whitman, the Black Knight, against his rival for gold futures who happens to be a fire-breathing dragon. The humor is just right and the plot is clever and logical without being simply show-offish, earning it's place on a list of greatest team-up comics. There's also a complimentary sub-plot scene with Misty Knight and the new White Tiger that is a miniature story of conflict subverted and perhaps another alliance made. This is how intelligence can be applied to an action genre and still be completely entertaining! I'll try to use smaller images where I can find them, and not repeat text. Sorry about that Kurt.  |
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Post by beccabear67 on Dec 17, 2019 12:38:11 GMT -5
I should note that I had burned out on Burroughs before I ever got to the Carson of Venus novels, so this is in fact the first (and so far only) story I’ve read featuring that character and his setting. Nice to know about this comic as someone who enjoyed both the two ERB Ace paperbacks I managed to find of Carson, and also the Mike Kaluta illustrated adaptations in the backs of DC's old Korak comic! We should both see if they've collected up those Kaluta shorts... |
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Post by EdoBosnar on Dec 17, 2019 12:49:50 GMT -5
Nice to know about this comic as someone who enjoyed both the two ERB Ace paperbacks I managed to find of Carson, and also the Mike Kaluta illustrated adaptations in the backs of DC's old Korak comic! We should both see i f they've collected up those Kaluta shorts.... Although why in two 30-page books instead of one, fatter 60 page book - I don't know. |
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Post by MWGallaher on Dec 17, 2019 13:16:40 GMT -5
I'll try to use smaller images where I can find them, and not repeat text. Sorry about that Kurt. You can edit your posts and click on the BBCode tab to reveal some helpful editing options. It's easy to reduce the size of the displayed image:  |
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 17, 2019 14:35:29 GMT -5
8. THE INCREDIBLE HULK VS. SUPERMANWritten by: Roger Stern Drawn by: Steve Rude & Al Milgrom Marvel Comics 1999 Now there's a great comic that just plain slipped my mind. Had I thought harder, I might have taken that over the Superman/Spider-Man crossover. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2019 14:37:09 GMT -5
The 1999 Hulk/Superman comic didn't make my list (had it been a Top 15 list, it might well have done!). I appreciate that it was shared Earth. I am not the biggest fan of the separate universes policy that DC/Marvel had for later crossovers even though it worked for JLA/Avengers. I much prefer the awe-inspiring nature of DC and Marvel heroes living on the same Earth that was used in the early crossovers!
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 17, 2019 14:56:18 GMT -5
8. Spider-Man and Human Torch
#1-5 (Marvel, 2005)by Dan Slott, Ty Templeton and friends  Similar to Karl Kesel's World's Finest miniseries (which you bet would have been an entry if Superman/Batman team-ups weren't ruled ineligible because of their ongoing team-up series), this is a through-the-years look at the friendship between Human Torch and Spider-Man. It tells 5 new team-up stories at different stages of their history, from their earliest days to the present, with each issue reflecting on their friendship to that point. It ends in the modern day, when Human Torch finally learns Spider-Man's secret identity, and Johnny has Peter's family over for dinner to meet his family. It's darn touching, and occasionally insightful. Like, why is their regular meeting place the Statue of Liberty? How does Spider-Man get there? 
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
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Post by Confessor on Dec 17, 2019 15:01:59 GMT -5
8. Judge Dredd and Mean Machine Angel - 2000 AD Prog 377-Prog 383 (IPC Magazines, 1984) Today's pick is one that jumped into my mind fairly soon after this year's contest was announced. But then it occurred to me that it probably wouldn't be eligible...until I remembered that Mean Machine Angel had his own short-lived "Mean Machine" solo strip in the pages of 2000 AD for a time. So, sorted!   Anyway, this is a story arc that I bought off of the Newsagents' shelves back in 1984. I didn't usually buy 2000 AD because my best friend at the time bought it religiously every week, and with pocket money being tight, I would usually buy stuff that my pal didn't, and then we'd read each other's comics. So, I was a pretty avid reader of 2000 AD back in the early '80s, despite not owning many issues. I particularly liked the Judge Dredd strip, with its gritty, totalitarian post-apocalyptic setting, its weird cast of characters, and its deliciously dark humour. The Angel Gang were a group of villains from that strip that I liked a lot, particularly Mean Machine. So, this Dredd/Mean Machine team-up was something I definitely wanted to buy myself. The basic story concerns a quest to locate priceless treasures from Liberace's tomb and five judge clones, which were en route from Mega-City One to Texas City when their transport freighter crashed. Dredd recruits Mean Machine to help him locate in the clones, once the Mega-City judges have performed brain surgery on him to make him more docile and to make him see his deceased father, Pa Angel, whenever he looks at Dredd. After some searching, the pair locate the riches and the judge clones, which Dredd and Mean Machine have to battle a gang of vicious mutant scavengers for. Unfortunately, Mean's brain surgery fails and he recognises Dredd and attacks him. Dredd subdues the criminal instead of killing him, feeling some obligation to him for his help in locating the judge clones. All in all, this is a classic Judge Dredd story and one that I was happy to realise I could include on my list. 
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Post by DubipR on Dec 17, 2019 15:43:43 GMT -5
8. Spider-Man and Human Torch
#1-5 (Marvel, 2005)by Dan Slott, Ty Templeton and friends Similar to Karl Kesel's World's Finest miniseries (which you bet would have been an entry if Superman/Batman team-ups weren't ruled ineligible because of their ongoing team-up series), this is a through-the-years look at the friendship between Human Torch and Spider-Man. It tells 5 new team-up stories at different stages of their history, from their earliest days to the present, with each issue reflecting on their friendship to that point. It ends in the modern day, when Human Torch finally learns Spider-Man's secret identity, and Johnny has Peter's family over for dinner to meet his family. It's darn touching, and occasionally insightful. Like, why is their regular meeting place the Statue of Liberty? How does Spider-Man get there? Great pick! I love this mini. Ty nailed it with the art hitting each era perfectly. Also I plum forgot about this one... glad to see it on here! |
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