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Post by codystarbuck on Jan 31, 2023 22:46:13 GMT -5
I pretty much bypassed this stuff, as it all looked like more X-Men knockoffs and similar fare. occasionally I'd see ad copy or reviews with J Scott Campbell art and could see he had a more individual flair than a lot of the 90s Image crowd; but, the look of the characters and the scenes in ad copy or reviews did nothing for me. I had left X-Men behind in the mid-80s and never really looked back, apart from sampling a few of the Jim Lee issues, before the launch of the adjectiveless X-Men and it's first 3 or 4 issues. Looking at them, I just saw X-Men or Teen titans or DNAgents, all of which I had read long before. Even Harbinger was never that strong a book for me, apart from David Lapham's art, as it felt derivative.
In the late 80s and 90s, I contented myself with Classic X-Men, reading all of those stories I missed and couldn't afford to collect the back issues, until I caught up to the point where I grew bored with the series (#175, when Paul Smith was done).
I had to come back around to Stormwatch, which I sampled when it started, but missed out on Ellis, until after the fact. I picked up those trades and the Authority trades, after they came into my store and I flipped through them. Same for Planetary.
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Post by arfetto on Feb 2, 2023 15:16:50 GMT -5
Today the '90s comics I read were Gen13 issue 1/2 and Gen13 issue 0.
I do not have much to say about these issues. The 1/2 issue must have been a Wizard Magazine mail-away, so going in I knew it would not be too essential (I wonder what the best Wizard 1/2 comics are? I am sure the Astro City one tops the list, but I am curious if there are some other good ones).
No Campbell on the 1/2 issue (Ryan Benjamin pencils instead), but the interiors still have '90s energy and colors to spare:
Fairchild, Grunge, Freefall and Burnout come across a "crazy time traveling supervillain" at a gas station and explosive action ensues (in the literal sense, since as we have learned in the mini-series, Freefall is a smoker and that past-time does not mix well with gas station settings). The Gen kids think their opponent is a villain anyway, but it is heavily implied she is in fact a "crazy time traveling super hero" trying to save the fabric of reality and all that typical super comic jazz haha. Fairchild beats her up and leaves her for the cops. Good job, you've doomed existence itself. I guess the time traveler character appears in some other Wildstorm book to finish the storyline...or at least I hope so haha.
The 0 issue is also not very important overall...but it does have Jim Lee and Campbell art (and somehow Lee's work comes out unfavorably against Campbell's for the style Gen13 is going for). It basically shows the Gen kids saying goodbye to family members before joining up with Lynch at their new home (where I guess Lynch will hone their powers Xavier style), setting up the ongoing series, though in Grunge and Freefall's story they go gambling instead and more action ensues. The highlight of the issue is the Lynch POV story because it is drawn by Travis Charest, which is always welcome.
The downside is Charest only draws a few pages. He seems to be channeling Jim Lee channeling Miller here (Deathblow style).
The most interesting thing to me reading these issues is the dates. The 1/2 issue is dated (on mycomicshop) as March 1994 and the 0 issue is dated (mycomicshop) as September 1994. The mini-series ended in Summer of '94 if I recall (so I guess the 1/2 came out before the mini ended and kind of spoils the outcome haha). Then I checked the date for the ongoing, and the first issue is not released until March of 1995 (well, it may have been released earlier or later, I still don't understand the dates listed on comics haha, but that can also apply to the '94 comics as well, so it is all relative). Seems like there was not too much Gen13 content after the Summer of '94, so I guess fans tired of waiting for the ongoing were probably happy to receive the 0 issue even if it is kind of "just there" haha.
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Feb 2, 2023 15:30:24 GMT -5
If you are liking Travis Charest art he does a good 2/3 of the first Wildcats ongoing, which is just a good series in general. To me one of the best titles that Image put out honestly. Unfortunately he only did, I think, the first five issues of the second series. And then there is this gem, that I think is his absolute best work, that I've seen anyway. I remember it being fairly good with Wolverine and Zealot set in either WW1 or WW2.
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 2, 2023 23:54:56 GMT -5
Today the '90s comics I read were Gen13 issue 1/2 and Gen13 issue 0.
...................
The downside is Charest only draws a few pages. He seems to be channeling Jim Lee channeling Miller here (Deathblow style).
The most interesting thing to me reading these issues is the dates. The 1/2 issue is dated (on mycomicshop) as March 1994 and the 0 issue is dated (mycomicshop) as September 1994. The mini-series ended in Summer of '94 if I recall (so I guess the 1/2 came out before the mini ended and kind of spoils the outcome haha). Then I checked the date for the ongoing, and the first issue is not released until March of 1995 (well, it may have been released earlier or later, I still don't understand the dates listed on comics haha, but that can also apply to the '94 comics as well, so it is all relative). Seems like there was not too much Gen13 content after the Summer of '94, so I guess fans tired of waiting for the ongoing were probably happy to receive the 0 issue even if it is kind of "just there" haha.
I think that would be Charest channeling Jim Lee channeling Frank Miller channeling Jose Munoz, to be precise.
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Post by arfetto on Feb 3, 2023 1:21:48 GMT -5
If you are liking Travis Charest art he does a good 2/3 of the first Wildcats ongoing, which is just a good series in general. To me one of the best titles that Image put out honestly. Unfortunately he only did, I think, the first five issues of the second series. And then there is this gem, that I think is his absolute best work, that I've seen anyway. I remember it being fairly good with Wolverine and Zealot set in either WW1 or WW2. Yeah, I know him mainly from the Wildcats stuff, which I plan to re-read for this thread (starting with issue 1 though the end of volume one). The first five or so issues of volume 2 could qualify for '90s, I think. My actual first encounter with Charest's art was a Batman cover where a Venom-pumped Riddler is holding Batman off a clock tower, with a lot of cross-hatching. And then a one page ad in a couple DC books where The Flash teaches kids playing basketball about AIDS awareness then dunks the ball haha. Then a few issues of Darkstars I found in back issues. I thought his DC stuff was pretty interesting (but rough), though it wasn't until Wildcats that I really took notice of his work. He really evolved while at Image/Wildstorm. I'd be curious to see his comic art evolution over the '90s chronologically.
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Post by Dizzy D on Feb 3, 2023 6:28:57 GMT -5
I enjoyed Gen13 a lot, I was in the right age when it came out. I think the series is even very good when Adam Warren takes over the series, but I'm a big fan of his work in general. The commendable part about Gen13 (which you already noticed) is that Choi and Lee wanted to do a more back-to-basics type superhero team: costumes that were relatively simple without all the belts and pouches and characters with pretty straightforward characterisation. BurnOut changes a bit in look between the mini-series and the ongoing series and his personality is more fleshed out in there. Rainmaker was introduced in Stormwatch IIRC, so that's why she is introduced later. The five characters work pretty well off each other once the personalities are established and I think that's probably why this series lasted that long, even the reboots (excluding Claremont's attempt) keep the core 5 personalities intact and mostly just have them bouncing off each other.
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Post by arfetto on Feb 7, 2023 12:05:48 GMT -5
Today I finished reading Gen13 (1st ongoing series) issues 1-5 from 1995.
In the mini-series, the Gen-Actives are brought together inside an I/O training facility to awaken their powers, then they break out and form a renegade team under the tutelage of John Lynch (a character that seems to pop up all over the Wildstorm universe, he really gets around haha).
It is a simple story and, extraneous Pitt appearance besides, focused.
The Gen13 ongoing series is more loose in its story approach. It's all over the map: Issue one's set-piece is a dance club, by issue five the Gen kids are battling Wonder Women (okay, Coda ala Zealot) in not-Themyscira with the help of pirates haha.
This pirate seems unsure of himself?!
The series has a good sense of "adventure" so far, though the ending of issue five is a bit flat (like they were running out of pages and just had to wrap it up).
All of these issues are easy to read and follow, and though the characters have goals
(Caitlin Fairchild wants to find her father Alexander Fairchild from Team7, Freefall wants to find her stepmother kinda, Lynch wants to train the kids...perhaps just so they can wield their powers better for their own safety, but likely he has a grander goal, and some very '90s villains want to capture Freefall's new "pet" Lockheed - I mean Qeelocke)
mostly the ongoing seems to be about showing off Campbell's art (he improved in such a short time span to me - if you look at his fan art in a '92 issue of Savage Dragon and then see where he is in '95, it is very impressive) in various interesting settings, which is understandable.
The advice "Play to your strengths" is certainly followed in these comics.
It's really all about the core characters and the art. Certainly there are things about this series people may consider "relics of the '90s", for good or bad, but I don't really care to get too detailed about these particular aspects today haha. I'll just leave a few words: gratuitous, irreverent. You know the drill.
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, fashion icon
I think it is safe to type that Gen13 must have been doing pretty well sales-wise at this point in time. The Deluxe Edition tpb showcases all the variant covers Gen13 ongoing issue 1 had - and a sold listings glance on ebay shows people are still paying over 10 dollars plus shipping for most of these variants (some even in the 50 dollar range or more). There is a "puzzle"/jigsaw cover, a "paper doll" cover, a "Pulp Fiction" cover, a "Brady Bunch" cover haha, well, you get the idea. They are "fun" covers that match the vibe of the interiors. This is not a gloomy book.
My main complaint is there has not been enough Qeelocke yet.
I do not have much too say about these issues because they are easygoing books (but with enough action to keep a spark going) for a fun diversion, as intended. I probably will not be revisiting these issues often, but I am glad I read them once. They get the job done and look stylish ('90s style) doing it.
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Post by badwolf on Feb 7, 2023 14:19:06 GMT -5
The only Gen13 I ever bought were the ones Adam Warren did.
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Post by arfetto on Feb 7, 2023 14:41:51 GMT -5
I have all the Adam Warren involved issues (I think) plus Magical Drama Queen Roxy (1998) as you see here:
I just haven't read them properly yet (glanced through of course). They look pretty entertaining.
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Post by arfetto on Feb 7, 2023 16:29:54 GMT -5
Today I also read Strangehaven issues 4-6 (1996-1997).
I enjoy the way the panels are laid out in this series.
I can stare at this kind of stuff for awhile:
It makes me wish I was better at sequential art haha. I am not yet invested in the relationship between Alex the protagonist and Janey the receptionist or the affair between Peter the grocer and Suzie. Romantic conflict is not something that appeals to me very much unless done in a certain way (there are times I have found it very compelling, but only rarely), but these issues were quite fulfilling otherwise.
By this point in the book, I don't actually care too much about getting answers to the numerous mysteries floating around, it is just pleasant enough to learn about archery from Megaron the shaman. The sweet to sinister ratio in this series is balanced nicely. There will be a scene where an older lady helps a younger one salvage a disastrous meal at one moment, then a reveal that a seemingly respectable character collects another's fingernail clippings in the next haha (okay, it does not happen in that order, that is just an example).
The cult group, known as The Knights of the Golden Light, appear again in issue 6, and are getting creepier by the panel.
I also read a Strangehaven short story in The Staros Report 1997, a sort of "year in review" of what this Staros fellow considered the best comics he read that year. Strangehaven did not make his list, but that is because Staros was Millidge's agent at the time (which I learned from the non-story pages in some Strangehaven issues).
The short story involves the two troublemaker kids of Strangehaven getting into even more trouble, this time involving frogs and magic haha.
Their antics are a bit more mundane in the actual Strangehaven comic (so far), where they have been drawing faces on oranges in issue 5:
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 7, 2023 18:38:45 GMT -5
Back in my wheelhouse and that image at the lower portion, of the comic rack, reflects where my tastes were headed, as the decade progressed. Love Bacchus, though it took, really, Hermes vs The Eyeball Kid to really pull me into it. I had read a couple of stories in DHP, then bought the book collection of the early stories. Hermes vs The Eyeball Kid really sold me and I stuck around for the new comic series, that followed.
Desert Peach I had heard about, by only got ahold of it in recent years, digitally. Same with Kane, though I latched onto Jack Staff a little earlier.
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Post by commond on Feb 7, 2023 19:00:42 GMT -5
Man, I love Strangehaven. Just looking at the images you shared makes me happy. Millidge changes his art style later on, and switches to color. It's still good, but those early issues are indicative of an artist coming into his own.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 7, 2023 20:56:36 GMT -5
I mostly remember Travis Charest from Darkstars, were I felt like was why to Image for my tastes.. but those panels here have a totally different vibe.
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Post by arfetto on Feb 7, 2023 21:18:04 GMT -5
Yeah, Charest levels up exponentially while at Image/Wildstorm. (from the comic adamwarlock posted the cover of above on this page) I guess it is funny that his actual Image work looks "less Image" than his DC stuff haha. Desert Peach I had heard about, by only got ahold of it in recent years, digitally. Same with Kane, though I latched onto Jack Staff a little earlier. That reminds me, Donna Barr has a letter published in issue five of Strangehaven and she wrote almost my own thoughts about a particular scene (she thought it was a dream/fantasy sequence, and so did I at first haha, but turns out it was not according to Millidge).
Man, I love Strangehaven. Just looking at the images you shared makes me happy. Millidge changes his art style later on, and switches to color. It's still good, but those early issues are indicative of an artist coming into his own. Just reading how you worded this makes me think of Tim Vigil's art on Faust. His art and shading process changes as the series has more and more delays and fewer issues came out per year (and I assume he is most happy with his later work on the series where he spends longer on it...maybe, just my guess), but there is a specific set of issues that are my own preferred style where I think he was at the top of his art game for me personally (and not his final three issues). I have not glanced ahead in Strangehaven, so I am curious to see the art evolution. I really like what was done in this set of issues I read today though.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Feb 8, 2023 9:37:09 GMT -5
yeah, for sure! I can tell that's the same artist, but it's actually good. Maybe the Darkstars work was rushed? (He definitely had some fill ins and then only did covers for a while, perhaps he couldn't keep a monthly schedule)
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