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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 21, 2023 7:08:46 GMT -5
My earliest exposure to the genre of heroic fantasy didn't come from Tolkien or Howard but from Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, thanks to a little feature called 9. Tales of Asgard
I say “Lee and Kirby” but let's face it: this was 90% Jack's show, particularly after they moved from retelling/reinterpreting the original Norse myths and started telling original stories. Yeah, Stan's pseudo-Shakesperean dialogue enhanced the experience but it was Kirby's epic imagination, bravura storytelling, and powerful page and panel composition that made this back-up series so bloody memorable. And think of all the characters who became central to Thor's comic book mythos who debuted not in the main series but here in “ToA”: Sif! Frigga! Karnilla! Surtur! Ymir! Hela! Geirrodur! Fandral! Hogun! Volstagg! Fafnir the Dragon! The Valkyries! The Einherjar! I would argue, in fact, that Thor didn't become a truly first-rate “must have” comic until L&K imposed the scope and tone of Tales of Asgard on the Thunder God's contemporary adventures. Cei-U! I summoneth yon lightning, forsooth! |
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Post by Icctrombone on Dec 21, 2023 7:12:12 GMT -5
#4 Silver Surfer
First appearance: Fantastic Four #48
Creators: Stan Lee/ Jack Kirby
Series covered : Silver Surfer( 1987) 1-75
Series Team: Steve Englehart/ Jim Starlin/ Marshall Rogers/ Ron Lim This series was the first ongoing Marvel comic series that focused on space and other planets and took the action off earth. The Surfer was the perfect character to do it with but first they had to take him away from his exile on earth. I understand that the first ongoing is beloved by many fans but it had limitations. He was trapped on earth and he whined about it every issue. Engelhart eliminated that weakness right from his first issue. Reed Richards figured out that the Surf Board was preventing him from piercing the barrier that Galactus placed around the earth. After they transport him off earth, he goes to plead his case to the world devourer and ends up getting a pardon after he saves his current herald from death. What follows is adventures with the Marvel cosmic community. Entities like the Elders , Kree , Skrulls are explored in this great series. He even goes back to Zenn la to settle accounts with Shalla bal. After Engelhart leaves the series, Jim Starlin brings his imagination to the book which includes Thanos , the infinity Gems and the reintroduction of Adam Warlock. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the cosmic side of comics. |
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 21, 2023 7:24:25 GMT -5
4. Inhumans
Inhumans #1-12, 1998-99, by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee  Fantastic Four #36. Lee/Kirby/Stone. Human Torch foes Wizard, Paste Pot Pete, and Sandman decided to team up to defeat the entire Fantastic Four, not just the teenager they could never defeat. But to better mirror the Fantastic Four... and because every 60s Marvel super team (hero or villain) with 4 or more members was required to have precisely one woman... they needed a woman. The found Madam Medusa living in a cave on a Mediterranean island. She liked to revel in evil and flirt with the rest of her team, and was entirely committed to the destruction of the Fantastic Four for no discernable reason. For the next 7 issues. But then came Gorgon. Now Joe Sinnott was the inker, and Medusa just wanted the Fantastic Four to save her from Gorgon. She was desperate not to be captured by him, and Gorgon was ready to level a city to get her. But then Dorrie turns Johnny down for a date, and he goes for a walk. There he sees a girl named Crystal and instantly forgets that Dorrie Evans ever existed. Crystal has a dog named Lockjaw. Since Johnny has flaming powers, he must be welcome in the sanctuary the quiet Black Bolt has built. There he finds Medusa seemingly content and best buddies with Gorgon. She insists Human Torch not be harmed, despite having recently left him to die in a nuclear blast. There's also Karnak, who knows the flaw in all things. And Triton, who says enigmatic things like, "What will be will be!" And of course The Seeker, who wants to bring them all back to the Great Refuge, at the command of Maximus. The Inhumans are the other dominant species on this planet, evolving in parallel to humanity. They had built advanced civilizations during the time of dinosaurs and cavemen. They have mastered genetics, and are genetically altered to have super powers. As the story gets quickly convoluted, let's fast forward 30 years. I was 17 and pretty much only reading Marvel superhero comics, but ready to read more more varied comics. Soon after I'd start reading things like Gaiman's Sandman or Moore's Swamp Thing. My stepping stone from Marvel superhero comics to broader things was this rather unique superhero comic. Stylish art by Jae Lee, who'd been a few years absent from the art scene and returned much improved. A complex tale of a society with strange rituals, political turmoil, schemes and counter schemes. One issue might tell us about teenagers undergoing their Terrigenesis. Another may focus on the lower caste of their society. Another may be entirely from the point of view of a dog. Compelling throughout, and all came together in a finale, that asked a silent man what we would say if he could just say one thing.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Dec 21, 2023 7:24:40 GMT -5
And more from the Asgardian pantheon, as I give you: 4. Balder the Brave(4-issue mini-series, 1985-86, spinning off from Thor)  The Asgardian mythical god Balder first appeared as a Marvel comic book character in the ongoing Thor feature in Journey into Mystery #85, in 1962, and then made many subsequent appearances. This mini-series is very much tied a larger story arc involving Balder and the fate of Asgard unfolding in the pages of Walt Simonson’s fabled run on Thor. However, it seems like Simonson took a real shine to the character and had more that he wanted to do with him, so he spun those ideas off into a mini-series. Although it is closely tied to events going on in the main series at the time, with the first issue sort of a prologue to the storming of Hela’s realm that took place in issues Thor #s 260-62, the Balder mini can still be read and enjoyed as a separate story (which I did just a few days ago for the first time – i.e., without re-reading any of the accompanying Thor issues). It works quite well as its own thing. The final three isses are almost like an updated Norse myth, as it deals with Balder and a young Asgardian named Agnar trying to rescue Balder’s love, the alluring Norn queen Karnilla, who had been captured by the vile frost giant Uthgard-Loki. More than just a swashbuckling mythical adventure, this story deals with themes of love, sacrifice and duty –on the part of both Balder and Karnilla.  (It also occurred to me as I was re-reading this recently that Balder and Karnilla are another comic book couple that I really like and probably should have included in the 12 days when that was the theme.) And I have to give a shout-out to Sal Buscema’s art. Like his work in the main Thor series when Simonson switched to a writer-only role there, he really rose to the occasion and produced some of the finest work of his career. (And, as seen from that image above, we still get treated to one of Sal’s famous black-flip punches). |
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 21, 2023 7:25:17 GMT -5
And think of all the characters who became central to Thor's comic book mythos who debuted not in the main series but here in “ToA”: Sif! Frigga! Karnilla! Surtur! Ymir! Hela! Geirrodur! Fandral! Hogun! Volstagg! Fafnir the Dragon! The Valkyries! The Einherjar! At the risk of falling for a nerd trap, of course we first saw the Valkyries in Journey Into Mystery #91, when they brought Thor his magic belt. (I'll give you Frigga, though we got a glimpse of Fricka from the back in #92) |
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Post by foxley on Dec 21, 2023 7:42:23 GMT -5
4. Red Sonja (Marvel Feature #1-7, Red Sonja #1-15) (1977-79)  Others have already sung the praises of this character, so I'm not sure what to add. Roy Thomas took another Robert E. Howard creation, Red Sonya of Rogatino from "The Shadow of the Vulture"--a historical adventure story set during the the Siege of Vienna--and adapted her to fit in the Hyperborean world, in the process incorporating some ideas from another of Howard's heroines, Dark Agnes de Chastillon. In doing so, he created the quintessential sword and sorcery heroine. It was obvious that Red Sonja could not be contained within the Conan books, and she spun out into Marvel Feature and then into her own title.However, like every book with a female lead Marvel launched in the 1970s, the book soon foundered. But this short run featured excellent sword & sorcery tales, and established most of the core of the character: so much so that elements from it were used in Dynamite's Red Sonja book (which I also thoroughly enjoyed) 30 years later.
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Post by shaxper on Dec 21, 2023 8:08:51 GMT -5
4. The Legion of Super-Heroes First appeared in: Adventure Comics #247 (1958) First spin-off: Adventure Comics #300 (1962) Originally a one-shot complication for Superboy, the Legion concept was so vast and impressive that I still don't feel it's been explored adequately seven decades later. While Jim Shooter, Paul Levitz, Keith Giffen and others have all done impressive jobs contributing to the mythos of a limitless organization of super-powered teens spanning the galaxy, the idea is large enough to support multiple monthly titles, have its own imprint, and possibly even its own film universe. 'nuff said.
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Post by MWGallaher on Dec 21, 2023 8:49:24 GMT -5
4. The Legion of Super-Heroes DC Comics Spun off from Superboy’s feature in ADVENTURE COMICS #247  Now that we’re in the top tiers of the lists, I expect to see more and more Legion fans chiming in. My initial exposure to the team would have been in the reprint of “The Lone Wolf Legionnaire” in SUPERBOY #178, in my first month of comics collecting (August, 1971). It had lots of stuff to hook me: the origin of a new (to me) character, one with a really cool code name (“Lone Wolf” stood out from a sea of -boys and -girls and -lads and -lasses), and a really cool costume. Evident in that first sampling was a richness of lore and an incomparable cast size, which so appealed to the youthful urge to accumulate a hefty catalog of knowledge on your chosen domain, be it the types of dinosaurs, the listing of Pokemon, or the powers, names, and origins of a favorite superhero team. I’d never heard of any of these guys: they weren’t on Saturday morning cartoons, they weren’t merchandized in the toy department, I couldn’t remember even glimpsing them on the comics racks. But I was quickly enamored, and while SUPERBOY began to lose favor with me, I returned when the Legion regained prominence and asserted dominance in “his” comic. I’m most fond of the Dave Cockrum, and, to a lesser degree, the Mike Grell stories of the 70’s, as those were the comics of my golden age. If I have one objection to the feature, it’s that its initially unique approach of a massive cast interacting primarily with one another led to the excesses that would follow: a mutant universe where everyone’s in the X-Men or a potential X-Man and all they do is hang out with other X-Men, or a Marvel Universe where everyone eventually becomes an Avenger, including Conan the Barbarian (wait, I don’t think Dracula was ever on the team, was he?).
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Post by EdoBosnar on Dec 21, 2023 8:53:46 GMT -5
Hmmm, for some reason it never occurred to me to think of the Legion as a spin-off, but I guess they totally are. Probably would have made my list - and been the only DC entry on it - if I had thought of them earlier.
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Roquefort Raider
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 21, 2023 9:09:59 GMT -5
4. HawkeyeMost specifically, the Matt Fraction and David Aja series.  Hawkeye has always been a favourite of mine, ever since I saw a headshot of him in the Panther's Rage storyline from Jungle Action. I had no idea who that dude was amongst other Avengers I had actually heard of, but I wondered who could have such a cool superhero mask! (At the time, the Avengers comics I had read were translations based on British reprints, in which Hawkeye hadn't joined the roster yet). When he finally showed up as part of Cap's kooky quartet, I immediately loved the fact that he was using a bow (we kids could actually pretend to be Hawkeye when playing superhero in the street. No dad's toolbox had a big hammer like Thor's, so that was a bother, but everyone could find a trashcan lid to play Captain America and everyone had something resembling a bow). I also liked Hawkeye's brash and arrogant attitude; doesn't every kid have a little rebel inside? Look at him give lip to that stuffy Captain America! Take that, older generation! In all honesty Hawkeye's disrespect for his elders would have grated my nerves very quickly, but he grew up and became a more agreeable fellow. He remained brash, but in a good way. That he was not a super-scientist like many of his comrades was welcome; he didn't even have super-powers! All his skills were acquired the hard way, which made him doubly sympathetic. I was happy to see him progress as a character, becoming chief of security for a big corporation, getting married, getting his own team of Avengers. Then there was a whole lot of comic-book annoying drama (Dead! Not dead! Becoming Ronin!), but at the end of all that came the thoroughly enjoyable, no-nonsensical arc of "hawk guy". Seeing Clint in a realistic context, not even wearing a costume and dealing with street-level petty criminals was an absolute joy. The beautiful art by Aja was perfectly suited to Fraction's script, which bordered on magical realism at times. Suffused with humour, this part of his life made me love American superhero comics once again, well after I had thought I had moved on. Having Hawkeye answer the door to find his ex-wife, his ex-girlfriend and his current girlfriend all looking at him angrily was an absolute riot. Characters like Grills, Pizza Dog or the tracksuit Mafia were instant classics. Bro! I was sorry to see the Fraction-Aja run eventually end. I could have kept on reading forever.
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Post by DubipR on Dec 21, 2023 9:51:21 GMT -5
Zooming in for today's selection Impulse (1-25, 1995-1997) Mark Waid's run on Flash is one of my all-time favorite takes on the Scarlet Speedster. Using Wally West as the new Flash and incorporating a huge legacy of the history of DC's faster people and making a cohesive telling of the Flash made some of amazing reading. The problem with Flash, at least with me was the cosmic treadmill and time travelling. It always made my head hurt that Barry went into the future, making the Tornado Twins, and from there another character was born. Flash #92 back in 1994 was a great issue. The full introduction to a new Flash family. A brash youth from the 30th Century, time-streamed back into the late 20th where he meets Wally. He was cocky, cool and just fun. Eventually stuck in our times, Bart had to become a 20th Century teenager. The launch of Impulse by Waid and upcoming superstar Humberto Ramos, it was a the counter book to Waid's Flash monthly. Here Waid made a fun and humorous book of a teen moving to the slow rural south to become less Impulsive (pun not intended). Ramos' pseudo-manga style worked perfectly for the time. Drawing youthful kids, big hair that flowed while he's running and tons of baddies to make the book shine. Their 25 issues together are so good.  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2023 9:52:39 GMT -5
Day 9 Black Widow
First appearance: Tales of Suspense 52
Spinoffs: Many from 1999 up.
Although the Black Widow has a vast history spanning some 60 years, my introduction to her began in 1999 with her first Grayson/Jones spinoff series. This was followed in quick succession by several more series with a variety of writers and artists, too many to credit but suffice to say I've enjoyed the majority of them. I'll delve a bit into what makes her such a fantastic and much appreciated character, as I collect all of her recent material as well.
Natasha Romanova's not just another pretty face with T&A but a woman in the male-dominated, ruthless cutthroat world of espionage and costumed superheroes. A problem-solver with extraordinary fighting abilities, coupled with ironclad will. She's earned a reputation as a consummate professional, as coldly efficient and deadly as her namesake.
Her extensive training in the Red Room made Natasha into a warrior with few peers. Her talents make her one of the best spies and assassins in the world. It's fun being grounded in the spy/action/thriller genre than super heroic adventures, with a strong female lead and with some of the clearest and best fight scenes in comics - at least for me.
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Post by MRPs_Missives on Dec 21, 2023 10:02:17 GMT -5
The Ninth Day of Christmas: Absinthe anyone?Spinning directly out of the pages of Starman, but having kicked around the DC Universe for decades previously, Shade was often a one-note villain until he thrived under the pen of James Robinson in the pages of Starman, and he spun off into two minis also by Robinson, one in ‘97, one in 2011. I love them both, but for the sake of this event, I am choosing the 2011 12 issue maxi because of all the wonderful variety of artists involved, including a Times Past issue featuring Darwyn Cooke.   -M
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Dec 21, 2023 10:35:12 GMT -5
On the Ninth Day of X-mas, Bloodlines gave to me, a superhero funnybook by Garth E.  HitmanYeah, I know that the Bloodlines thing was meant to generate characters. But really only like three or four ended up with with their own books and the only one of them that was remotely successful was Hitman by Garth Ennis and John McCrea. Tommy Monaghan was a paid assassin with a fairly strict code. And his super-powers were really incidental to the stories most of the time. Really the book is more about friendship (particularly masculine friendship) and neighborhood. And it also gave us one of my favorite comic book couples in Tommy and Deborah Tiegel, as show a few Christmas' back. A lot of people are convinced that Ennis hates superheroes. If you read the Superman issue of this book, it's pretty clear that he doesn't. What he doesn't do is worship and fetishize them the way so many American creators and readers do. And that's so much to the better.  |
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Post by berkley on Dec 21, 2023 11:00:27 GMT -5
4. Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD
Specifically the uderrated Kirby run as well as the one by Steranko.
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