|
Post by dbutler69 on Oct 13, 2022 9:45:21 GMT -5
I can't believe I forgot this one! I loved the action figures and completed the collection just a few years ago. The there's this. Would they have been better off sticking with a more kaiju style comic instead of bringing him into the Marvel superhero universe? Still, I did enjoy this series.
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 13, 2022 9:51:37 GMT -5
I voted "Other," meaning DC's The Shadow. DC put out lots of interesting "experiments" from the late 60s (Bat Lash, Secret Six) into the early 70s, but the shadow was generally well-done, and sometimes excellent. When I was tossing around ideas for a comics podcast to do with a friend, one idea was called "18 and Under," talking about short-lived series. (I recently picked up a cheap copy of the Secret Society of Super Villains TPB Vol 1 and found it virtually unreadable.) This is almost certainly my choice. Just a great adaptation of pulp to comics. And I also agree that SSoSV is completely unreadable. Though I loved it as a kid.
|
|
|
Post by Cei-U! on Oct 13, 2022 9:52:32 GMT -5
I actively collect these short run series from the '70s. Of those mentioned, I have complete runs of Black Goliath, Freedom Fighters, Human Fly, Ragman, Secret Society of Super-Villains, The Shadow, Shogun Warriors, Skull the Slayer, and Star Huners and trades collecting The Champions, Godzilla, Omega, and Super-Villain Team-Up.
Cei-U! I summon the ecletic goodies!
|
|
|
Post by tonebone on Oct 13, 2022 10:41:25 GMT -5
(I recently picked up a cheap copy of the Secret Society of Super Villains TPB Vol 1 and found it virtually unreadable.) Same here... I mean Captain Comet... hero or villain? The comic made me not care... It's one of the TPBs that showed me: A. The "golden age" of reprints has run its course, if we're essentially dumpster diving for series that were just long enough to fill a TPB. B. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug, but sometimes it's just not enough.
|
|
|
Post by MWGallaher on Oct 13, 2022 10:42:50 GMT -5
This is one of my most-loved areas of comics, so I simply can't pick a favorite from among them. But I will list a few that haven't been mentioned yet:
Marvel's trio of adventure comics aimed at females--THE CAT, NIGHT NURSE, and SHANNA THE SHE-DEVIL--were all better than I guessed when 12-13 year old me (unsurprisingly) passed them by. NIGHT NURSE was actually the best of the bunch, in my opinion!
RIMA THE JUNGLE GIRL: along with SHANNA, I'll be sampling this in my Jungle Gems thread. Beautiful Nestor Redondo art over Kubert layouts with Alex Nino drawing the backup guaranteed that this was a good-looking comic, at least!
DOORWAY INTO NIGHTMARE: I recently discovered the joys of this one--it was not what I expected it to be! What I expected was the usual DC spooky short stories with Madame Xanadu as the host, but these are all full-length stories of supernatural romance, with Madame X used sparingly as an in-story character. Interestingly, the claimed editorial mandate was that every issue would be produced by a different writer/artist team, with only Kaluta persisting as the cover artist.
KONG THE UNTAMED was part of DC's attempt at a "fantasy" line; this caveman adventure was the best of them, especially if we don't count JUSTICE, INC., inexplicably promoted as a part of this line (along with CLAW, BEOWULF, and STALKER).
And then there are the most underachieving of them all, MAN-BAT, SHERLOCK HOLMES, and WESTERN TEAM-UP, each of which I have terrific fondness for!
|
|
|
Post by tonebone on Oct 13, 2022 10:48:55 GMT -5
I can't believe I forgot this one! I loved the action figures and completed the collection just a few years ago. The there's this. Would they have been better off sticking with a more kaiju style comic instead of bringing him into the Marvel superhero universe? Still, I did enjoy this series. I loved both of these... they introduced me to the concept of S.H.I.E.L.D. as a kid.
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Oct 13, 2022 11:54:46 GMT -5
If we,re talking about series that were cancelled before they had time to fulfill their entire potential then I'll have a long list of candidates - all the '70s solo Kirby series, for example, plus many fascinatiing experiments at Marvel such as Killraven, Omega the Unknown and other Gerber series, and the list goes on.
But I thought it was more a question of good concepts that were never quite handled properly right from the start or perhaps just for an issue or two and then took a wrong turn before being cancelled.
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on Oct 13, 2022 12:44:59 GMT -5
Skull the slayer would be my choice as well. So much potential, but too many wrong turns by the changing creative teams.
Another feature with a lot of potential that went nowhere was Marvel's The Scarecrow. It's not that the writers went wrong, but it just... stopped!
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 13, 2022 12:55:13 GMT -5
Skull the slayer would be my choice as well. So much potential, but too many wrong turns by the changing creative teams. The problem with Skull, and I love the general concept, is that it's only the concept that's good. The execution, at least on the writing, was universally terrible. And it wasn't even the revolving door of creative teams. Even Wolfman, the creator, couldn't keep anything straight from issue to issue that he himself produced. And the characters only existed to be a cliche. The book existed as a concept in search of absolutely everything else.
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on Oct 13, 2022 13:12:08 GMT -5
Skull the slayer would be my choice as well. So much potential, but too many wrong turns by the changing creative teams. The problem with Skull, and I love the general concept, is that it's only the concept that's good. The execution, at least on the writing, was universally terrible. And it wasn't even the revolving door of creative teams. Even Wolfman, the creator, couldn't keep anything straight from issue to issue that he himself produced. And the characters only existed to be a cliche. The book existed as a concept in search of absolutely everything else. Quite true, but as a kid I didn't notice Wolfman's clichés. What hooked me was the Burroughs-esque ambiance!
|
|
|
Post by EdoBosnar on Oct 13, 2022 14:09:45 GMT -5
Like Kurt/ Cei-U! , I knew my answer before I even opened the post and like him, my choice is also Ragman. I used to have the whole '70s run and I just love the (original) concept.
Of the 'Others' mentioned here, I'll wholeheartedly second Starfire - it gets an 'A' for effort from me, because it's another good concept, and Vosburg's art is quite nice throughout, although that's the only thing that's consistent about it given that four different writers filed through the 8-issue run.
Edited to add: The 'golden age of reprints' has hardly run its course if the original run of Ragman (plus his other 1970s/early '80s appearances) and Starfire still haven't been collected and published...
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Oct 13, 2022 14:19:18 GMT -5
I'll give you one that I imagine many people will disagree with: Marvel's John Carter Warlord of Mars series.
I don't recall much about the writing but I can say that for me the artwork was never quite right. Gil Kane might have been a good choice if he had inked himself (apologies to Cei-U), but Rudy Nebres's style was all wrong, to my eyes, both for the character and his world and for Kane as penciller. Even the Cockrum-inked issues, while they had their moments, didn't catch the spirit of ERB'S Barsoom consistently for me.
|
|
|
Post by Cei-U! on Oct 13, 2022 14:25:31 GMT -5
This is one of my most-loved areas of comics, so I simply can't pick a favorite from among them. But I will list a few that haven't been mentioned yet: Marvel's trio of adventure comics aimed at females--THE CAT, NIGHT NURSE, and SHANNA THE SHE-DEVIL--were all better than I guessed when 12-13 year old me (unsurprisingly) passed them by. NIGHT NURSE was actually the best of the bunch, in my opinion! RIMA THE JUNGLE GIRL: along with SHANNA, I'll be sampling this in my Jungle Gems thread. Beautiful Nestor Redondo art over Kubert layouts with Alex Nino drawing the backup guaranteed that this was a good-looking comic, at least! DOORWAY INTO NIGHTMARE: I recently discovered the joys of this one--it was not what I expected it to be! What I expected was the usual DC spooky short stories with Madame Xanadu as the host, but these are all full-length stories of supernatural romance, with Madame X used sparingly as an in-story character. Interestingly, the claimed editorial mandate was that every issue would be produced by a different writer/artist team, with only Kaluta persisting as the cover artist. KONG THE UNTAMED was part of DC's attempt at a "fantasy" line; this caveman adventure was the best of them, especially if we don't count JUSTICE, INC., inexplicably promoted as a part of this line (along with CLAW, BEOWULF, and STALKER). And then there are the most underachieving of them all, MAN-BAT, SHERLOCK HOLMES, and WESTERN TEAM-UP, each of which I have terrific fondness for! Ah, more series I have complete runs of: Rima, Kong, Justice Inc., Stalker, Man-Bat, and Western Team-Up. I'm still working on Shanna and Claw.
Cei-U! See? I love this stuff!
|
|
|
Post by dbutler69 on Oct 13, 2022 14:48:08 GMT -5
I actively collect these short run series from the '70s. Of those mentioned, I have complete runs of Black Goliath, Freedom Fighters, Human Fly, Ragman, Secret Society of Super-Villains, The Shadow, Shogun Warriors, Skull the Slayer, and Star Huners and trades collecting The Champions, Godzilla, Omega, and Super-Villain Team-Up. Cei-U! I summon the ecletic goodies! Awesome! Black Goliath is another short lived 70's title that I really enjoyed. Come to think of it, I liked Ms. Marvel once Chris Claremont took over. Wow, there sure were a lot of great short-lived 70's titles!
|
|
|
Post by tarkintino on Oct 13, 2022 14:57:31 GMT -5
Another "other" selection: Starstream (1976) A beautiful comic from Whitman (Western Publishing), which was a criminally underrated (and short-lived) series. The title adapted several sci-fi & fantasy stories from some of the most celebrated and/or bestselling sci-fi/fantasy authors of the 20th century, including Theodore Sturgeon, A. E. Van Vogt, Robert Silverberg, Jack Williamson, Larry Niven, John W. Campbell, Jr., Dean Koontz, Anne McCaffrey, Robert Bloch and others. Among the comic talents behind the adaptations were Jack Sparling, Nevio Zaccara, Arnold Drake, Alberto Giolitti, Steve Skeates, Alden McWilliams, George Kashdan, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, et al. Covers: Although other titles adapted sci-fi authors' work (e.g. Heavy Metal, Warren's various magazines, etc.), Starstream had its own, rich vibe and care was taken with most of the stories adapted. It certainly deserved to achieve more than it did.
|
|