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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 13, 2014 8:35:14 GMT -5
And so it begins… I was tempted for a while there to fill my entire list up with nothing but issues of a certain comic book title, a title most CCF oldtimers will remember me touting as my all-time favorite, but it wouldn't have truly been representative of either the breadth of my taste or the influence other comics have had on my life. Still, two issues did make my list, beginning with #12. The Brave and the Bold #55 This is the earliest issue of B&B to ever cross my path. I had a nodding acquaintance with the Atom (we had a couple issues of his solo title kicking around the house) but this was my introduction to the Metal Men, and I would be hard pressed to imagine a more impressive one. Indeed, I'm not sure they'd have had the same impact if I'd seen an issue of their own book first. I've always felt that B&B scripter Bob Haney had a better grasp at what made these personable robots work than their co-creator, Robert Kanigher, and he does a terrific job here of displaying and contrasting their individual personalities, as well as the somewhat unsettling relationship between Platinum, the only female Metal Man, and her inventor, Doc Magnus. The plot itself centers around Magnus' first—and previously unmentioned—robot creation, the radioactive powerhouse Uranium, returning to wreak vengeance on Doc by destroying his despised younger "siblings." He succeeds for a time, courtesy of a generous helping of silly Silver Age science, but is undone by the Atom's intervention. Uranium is eventually, and literally, consumed by his own hatred, Haney adding just enough poignancy to his death scene to make us understand and pity him just a little. That small touch, unneccessary to the plot yet giving it a whole new meaning, is the kind of detail that makes Bob, despite his many undeniable faults, my favorite comics scripter. This was also my first introduction to the art of the fabulous Ramona Fradon (though I didn't know that then in those creditless days). The clarity of her storytelling, her judicious use of details, and her clean, polished draftsmanship wowed me on sight. Her interpretation of the Metal Men surpasses even that of original artist Ross Andru and is equalled only by those of Jim Aparo and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez. It gave me great pleasure a decade or so back to tell Miss Fradon in person just what her art meant to me then and now. But what makes this book stand apart from so many others, and the primary reason it made my list, is a memory associated with it. The copy of B&B #55 that crossed my aforementioned path wasn't mine. It was my cousin's and she was as crazy for it as I was. I had to agree to do her homework for a month to pry it from her grasp. I thought it was worth it then, and I still think so nearly fifty years later Cei-U! I summon the source of my team-up title addiction! |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 13, 2014 9:24:12 GMT -5
 I'm 2nd!! Woo hoo! #12: Iron Man #313 Feb. 1995 Cover Date writer: Len Kaminski Artist: Tom Morgan 'Hands of the Mandarin, Part 6: Resolutions' Plot: After defeating the Mandarin, but perhaps at the cost of his friendship with Jim Rhodes, Tony Stark is home for the holidays, his only company the bottle he keeps in his bedroom drawer to remind him to stay sober. He's feeling depressed, burn out, and angry, and almost opens it, when he instead decides to go to an AA Meeting, where he tells some of his story to a bunch of strangers. Feeling a bit better, he returns home to find sometime paramour, sometime guard Bethany Cabe over for a visit, and the two reflect on their relationship for the holiday. Why I picked it: This was the 'beginning of the end' for Iron Man. Tony was my first love as a comic... I read demon in a bottle (borrowed, sadly, so it doesn't qualify for the list) when I was 15 or so , and it lead me to occasional trips to my LCS as a teen, when I had a paycheck of my own, much to my dad's chagrin (he's a baseball card guy, and we'd previous done much father-son bonding at card shows). I collected Iron Man through back issue bins from Armor war up to the present at the time (around 300), mostly because the 'armor wars' on the cover indicated to 15 year old me a decent starting point, and the LCS had a good run of the issues after it in their bins for $1- $1.50 each. I was allow to spend $15 a week of my paycheck, so I'd get a couple new things (no pull list at the time), and spent as much as I had left of Iron Man back issues. At the time, there was an 'Iron Man Group' of comics.... Iron Man, War Machine, and Force Works, with occasional other stuff (I remember a Wonder Man mini, and a Century one-shot). Sadly, it was also planting the seeds for the 1st evil Tony story.. the horror of the Crossing. At this point, he'd already alienated Rhodey and turned Force Works over to Scarlet Witch.. shortly after, Hawkeye and Rhodey try to work things out, and he snubs them for the last time before the Crossing non-sense. That being said, I kept buying... it was the point in my comic book collecting when I realized that, good or bad, some characters are worth sticking with through it all. Except for the few years I didn't get any comics at all (due to real-life money and accessibility issues), I've stayed with buying Tony's adventurers ever since, through Teen Tony, Heroes Reborn, evil Tony 2 and 3... and will likely keep it up through Superior Evil Tony. The HISTORY of these characters is what really pulls me in, makes it seem the small story is a part of something greater. (Which, incidentally, is why I HATE Marvel's current disdain of continuity.) Historical Signifcance: Not much. It's the end of the big 'Hands of the Mandarin' crossover, but it's really more an epilogue then an ending. It does start a tradition of Tony going to AA meetings every so often (generally once every creative team) as a useful means to tell whatever parts of the back story the writer is dealing with... it's since been mentioned that he goes every year on New Year's eve. In my mind, it's the end of Bronze Age Tony. While Len Kaminski stays on a few more issues, it's really barely above fill-in quality. Then the 90s fill in team (Ben Raab and Terry Kavanaugh) take us into the Crossing.. a few issues might even be penned by Bob Harras or some other E-i-C type. When Tony returns from Heroes Reborn, it's with Busiek and Quesada at the help and is very clearly a new era, barely connected with what had gone before.  |
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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 13, 2014 9:39:20 GMT -5
wildfire, you could've cited "Demon in a Bottle." Remember, you don't have to ever have owned a copy of your choice.
Cei-U!
I summon the reminder!
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Post by berkley on Dec 13, 2014 12:33:43 GMT -5
What's the theme this year?
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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 13, 2014 12:39:28 GMT -5
Your Twelve Favorite Comic Books. Check the Advance Warning thread for specifics. Cei-U! I summon the pointer! |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Dec 13, 2014 12:40:14 GMT -5
wildfire, you could've cited "Demon in a Bottle." Remember, you don't have to ever have owned a copy of your choice. Cei-U! I summon the reminder! I've never read the actual comic... only in a trade. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 13, 2014 13:44:15 GMT -5
Ah, well, you followed the rules then. Well done, sir!
Cei-U!
I summon my stamp of approval!
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Post by DubipR on Dec 13, 2014 14:02:58 GMT -5
As a reminder, most of these entries will most likely be for sentimental value, but that's why they make them classics in our eyes. It's time to set our Way Back Machines to the year of 1981 for our first entry in CCF Christmas 2014. Number 12RICHIE RICH #206 Year of Release: Sept 1981 Cover Artist: most likely attributed to Warren Kremer Synopsis: Like most Harvey books, this is your standard Harvey comic. A couple of stories about Richie Rich, a couple one page gags from Sad Sack, and so forth. The Rich stories of "A Gift For Giving", "Racing Robot", "Dangerous To Be Near Him" and "Notes To You" have Richie, Gloria Glad, Cabury, Mr & Mrs Rich, Professor Keenbean and everyone pretty much associated with this Harvey title. A simple comic for kids. No real monetary value... something you can pick up in a $1 Bin. Why This Is a Classic: This book is a vital classic comic (in my eye) to who I am and it's a tribute to someone special. My non-collecting friends and my collecting friends ask me this question...what's the first comic that got you into comics and eventually collecting. And this is it. This is the one that started it all. And given to me by a special person... my grandfather. My grandfather was a pediatrician. His office in Bakersfield, CA wasn't always a fun place to visit when we'd go up and visit my grandparents. Like most waiting rooms, they're cold and sterile. But his waiting room had something no others had...comic books for the kids to read. Mostly Archies and Harveys he'd buy from the local Safeway. When the grandchildren came and visited, he'd take some of the comics to the house (most of the time, he gave them to his patients), but we'd read them and give them back. This one...this Richie Rich #206, my grandfather said take to me, take it home. I took it home it and studied it like a scholar studies an ancient text. I knew every inch of that cover, because it had baseball on it. I remember my mom throwing it out because I probably did something bad (probably true), but that cover was emblazoned my brain. I found it years later in the 90s, when I was rummaging through dollar bins and the memories came back to me. My grandfather passed away in 1982, when I was seven. By him giving me that comic, it started me on my love of the medium and who I am today. I told this recently to my mom and she cried as I said to her how important he is in my life, only knowing him for such a short time. |
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
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Post by Crimebuster on Dec 13, 2014 14:39:37 GMT -5
I've been reading comics a long time, though not as long as some of our more elderly esteemed members. But it's been over 30 years now. And when you've read comics that long, eventually you start branching out to try new titles, new creators and new genres. Superheroes are a great gateway into the medium - though in fact I started mostly with sci-fi and war genre books - but after a couple decades of watching people wearing pajamas punch each other repeatedly, you want to see what else comics has to offer. Through what no doubt is complete coincidence, I've been in this mode since, oh, just about the time I read the last issue of Marvel's Civil War. Of course, there are always back issues as well, but after collecting so long, I had pretty much hit a wall in terms of reading and buying old superhero comics as well. So several years ago, I started using some of my collecting income to just buy whatever weird and unusual back issues I came across cheaply enough. I wanted to experiment, dip my feet into new areas. Thanks to ebay and dollar bins at comic shows, this is easier than ever. And a few years ago, I ended up landing a cheap ebay lot that would broaden my reading and collecting habits, while opening up a whole new world of artists and stories that I had never even considered before. In this lot were two key books that cemented this sudden and unexpected new love, but the one that most perfectly represents it is... 12. Young Love #126 It's kind of fitting that my introduction to the joys of romance comics came with this issue, as Young Love #126 was the last mainstream romance comic published in the U.S. (I'm not counting Charlton, because... Charlton). After nearly three decades as a staple of the medium, romance comics went the way of the dodo with this comic, published with a cover date of July, 1978. But you got to hand it to them: They really went out with a bang. Romance comics have a lot to recommend them, first and foremost being unintentional hilarity thanks to older men using a strict formula to write stories designed to appeal to young girls desiring romance. Yes, it's possible for romance comics to be genuinely good, with moving and dramatic stories. But what makes romance comics so entertaining for me, is that when they are bad, they are just as or even more fun to read than when they are good. At their best they are great comics, but at their worst they are pure, high camp at its finest. Plus, romance comics are a secret haven for great creators. People like Gene Colan, John Romita, Jay Scott Pike and Neal Adams all spent a good deal of time working in romance comics. The previous issue of this title, Young Love #125, features a cover by Walt Simonson of all people. Getting to read stories by top writers and artists moving out of their comfort zone is a real treat, plus romance comics are often used a place for younger creators to learn the ropes of the medium. And all of that is on display in this issue, where the romance camp knobs have been turned up to 11 in four fantastic shorts, each one crazier than the last. Reading this issue for the first time, I kept thinking, "wow, nothing can top that!" only to have the next story top it. Story number one is by Randy Cohen, Win Mortimer and Vince Colletta. It's called C.B. Romance, and is an epic slice of late 70's "you had to be there" nostalgia for those of us who were actually there. My grandfather was a truck driver, so I love comics about truck drivers. And I remember the c.b. craze vividly, even though I was a little kid. This story tells the tale of a waitress at a truck stop who falls in love with a voice on the c.b. But will the "Silver Shadow" be the man of her dreams - or her nightmares? I couldn't help but be struck by the eerie similarity between the romance in this story and modern online dating. Great stuff:  Story number two comes to us courtesy of a young Tom DeFalco of all people! With art by Jeff Aclin and Vince Colletta, this tells the story of a naive girl who tells her prospective suitors that "I Won't Kiss That Evil Way!" I mean, honestly. What else do you need to know?  Story number three is where this comic goes from good to truly epic on every level. In one of the true travesties in comics history, the writer is uncredited. So whoever you are, mystery scribe, take a bow, because you not only outdid yourself with Love in Peril, you outdid everyone else. In a nutshell: Betsy falls in love with a race car driver. Her mother is vehemently against it, because her husband - Betsy's father - was also a daredevil, a test pilot who was killed in a plance crash. She doesn't want Betsy to meet the same fate. Betsy, of course, ignores this. But it appears mom's advice is going to be correct when tragedy suddenly strikes on the race course. For no apparent reason, Betsy gets confused and accidentally wanders out onto the track during a race! Her boyfriend is coming right at her!! He swerves to miss her and crashes!! Mom rushes out onto the track to see if her baby's okay. Betsy is, but an old man who works at the track has been concussed. Except... well:  Can that possibly be topped? Hey, there's one more story. And boy, it lives up to expectations. Bob Toomey does the writing, with art from Bill Draut, in an instant classic called My Boyfriend's Best Friend Was My Rival! Melanie is in a relationship with a guy named David. But there's someone coming between them - not another woman, but David's best friend Avery. Why? Because Avery is having PTSD flashbacks from 'Nam and only David can calm him down! Obviously!  Of course, severe mental injury caused by the horrors of war is no excuse for screwing up Melanie's love life, so she marches over to Avery's place and punches him in the face! Luckily for her, he doesn't snap, cut her head off and rush into the woods like he's in Apocalypse Now. Actually, it turns out that he's fine; yeah, he was in 'Nam, but no big deal. David is just using that story as a way to cover up the fact that he's cheating on Melanie. Melanie and Avery track down David and his Mistress, whereupon Melanie dumps a bowl of spaghetti on his head, Avery takes pictures of it - presumably to post to snapchat later? - and having bonded over this public shaming, Avery and Melanie decide they love each other. THE END!!!! You just can't come up with a more perfect comic than this. Four amazing stories, each nuttier than the last. There's nothing you can do after reading this comic except what I did: Start collecting romance comics. It's pure magic. |
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Post by coke & comics on Dec 13, 2014 15:28:36 GMT -5
12. Kurt Busiek's Astro City #21 "Where the Action is" by Kurt Busiek, Brent Eric Anderson and Will Blyberg. March, 2000 (Wildstorm/DC)  Astro City, for reasons well understood here, is one of my favorite comic series. Busiek is one of my two favorite comic writers. I got into both a little late. I'd read assorted Busiek things here and there, the odd What If..? comic. Avengers is where I really took notice of him, and I toyed with the idea of Avengers #1 for my list. My favorite comics of his are Marvels and Astro City. When I misunderstood the rules for this little shindig, I was going to have "Nearness of You" right near the top of the list. "In Dreams" would also be quite high unless I implemented a one-per-series rule. Then Cei-U! clarified: single issues, comics you had actually read in issue form. And I had only read both of those in trade. It goes like this. I came to Astro City late in the game, about 5 years late. Summer of 2000, I was just starting to branch out from Marvel. I was 19, just finished my Freshman year in college, and was working in a comic store. Now the comic guy didn't pay me money. He instead let me get all the comics I wanted on tab, and work off that tab. Thus I could afford to experiment. Astro City #22 had just come out and we still had some copies of Astro City #21 on the shelf behind it. There had been a decent gap since #20, I understood. So I grabbed #21. And liked it. This idea of a guy who publishes superhero comics in a world where superheroes are real seemed smart. (Obviously this was based on concepts going back at least as far as Stan and Jack. I know I had seen the idea first in my very first trade paperback, The Trial of Galactus, featuring John Byrne as the FF writer). And well done. And I liked the writer from Avengers and Thunderbolts. Maybe I'd already read Marvels and maybe not. I picked that up in trade sometime around then. The point is I loved it. My store had the entire Steeljack story, #13-19 in back issues. So I grabbed all those. And picked up the first three trades. Astro City is now one of my 3 favorite comic series. I don't read single issues anymore. If I were to buy any, it would probably be Astro City and Usagi Yojimbo. But for now I'm content to wait for the trades. Though Open Doors showed the series is still going strong and I look forward to reading Astro City: Victory in March. I've been to Astro City so often now that I feel like I may as well live there. But this was my first visit, and as I left I knew I'd be coming back. Of course, I drove carefully as I left. And that's what I'm going to go for with my list. The issues I remember buying as issues that helped me fall in love with my favorite characters, series, creators, etc. |
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Post by Paste Pot Paul on Dec 13, 2014 16:32:03 GMT -5
 Super Adventure Comics 61My list starts with this Australian reprint book. Now although this is a book with multiple stories its more like a 100 page giant than a trade/hardcover collection. The issue contains Justice League 99,  a story from Hawkman 10, a George Papp Green Arrow story, and one of the greatest stories ever told  The Unknown Soldier of Victory by Len Wein and Dick Dillin. My first introduction to the annual JLA/JSA crossover, which would go on to become one of THE things I love most about comics, and more importantly it was my first introduction to the Seven Soldiers of Victory. What an evocative title, what adventure(or Super Adventure as the case may be) this promised, much derring-do and damsel rescuing to be had. The Seven Soldiers of Victory were Speedy (Earth-2); Green Arrow (Earth-2); Vigilante [Greg Sanders]; Shining Knight; Crimson Avenger; Star-Spangled Kid; and Stripesy, and I spent years looking for them every time I grabbed one of these reprint books. I also adopted the Vigilante style bandana mask for an unhealthy amount of characters I would create over the years, and for this reason hated Adrian Chase when he adopted/stole the name. I think that this is also the point where my love of the JSA over the JLA happened, I had seen them for a while but around this point was where true love struck. All-Star Comics 70 by Levitz and Staton was the 1st ever comic I got mail order from the States. Super Adventure lasted another 8 or 9 issues of B&W heaven, though there were JLA reprints of some sort or other til about 1983/84. It wasnt until I had started collecting reasonably seriously that I even knew that DC comics were in colour. Every issue I recall seeing as a kid was B&W, so my childhood was like a huge SHOWCASE edition  |
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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 13, 2014 16:47:09 GMT -5
Do you have a year of publication for Super Adventure #61, pak? I'm tracking publishers, genres and dates for the stats in addition to title and issue number.
Cei-U!
I summon the dingo datum!
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Post by Mister Spaceman on Dec 13, 2014 16:59:28 GMT -5
12. Detective Comics #443 (1974) This comic book loomed canonically in my childhood. (I got this at the same age (8) that I also purchased All in Color for a Dime from the back pages of Famous Monsters of Filmland and both this 100 page giant and that collection of essays laid the groundwork for my appreciation of Golden Age comics; they are inextricably linked in my mind.) This issue contained fun Golden Age Green Lantern, Batman, and Spectre stories, as well as the first Creeper story. Those reprinted goodies by themselves would almost certainly be enough to make this issue memorable but the linchpin, of course, is the lead (and single new) story, the climax to a long-running story line featuring the Manhunter. Though I was somewhat confused by the Archie Goodwin-penned story, this being my introduction to this saga, I was captivated by the international intrigue and its gonzo apocalyptic tone (in dramatic contrast to the aforementioned charming but silly Golden Age tales) and absolutely dazzled by Walt Simonson's exquisite artwork. I read and re-read this comic for years and still have the original copy, long battered by my enthusiastic hands.  
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Post by foxley on Dec 13, 2014 17:15:16 GMT -5
12. Who's Who: Update '87 #5
Why is is this issue of DC's directory series important to me? It was my first comic book 'white whale'. I loved DC's Who's Who series (and directory series in general) and was buying the update as it came out. But somehow I missed this issue, and I really wanted it. But, in those dark days before the internet, the only way to find back issues was to visit specialist comic book stores, and there weren't any in the country town where I grew up, so my search could only take place during my infrequent visits to the state capital. And none of the comics stores I knew about there had a copy. So my hunt went on for two or three years. Finally, while there on a trip with my best friend, his father agreed to take us to a new comic store. And there it was. My search was over. So this otherwise undistinguished issue represents the sense of triumph I feel whenever I acquire an issue I have been looking for for a long time.
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Post by hondobrode on Dec 13, 2014 19:01:06 GMT -5
 Magnus Robot Fighter # 25 Kind of going to work my way backwards chronologically as someone else had said they were doing, with a little variance for my top picks. Well, obviously this is one of those infamous 90's foil covers. That was part of the appeal to me, but I had passed on Valiant for the first few years because a. I thought it was a cheap rip-off of Marvel, and b. I had very sour feelings about Jim Shooter and his treatment of creators and the Jack Kirby original art debacle of a few years earlier. I was trading some of my collection with another local collector and this was an issue he had. I'd heard about Valiant, and Magnus, and saw flipping through it that John Ostrander had written it, so I figured I'd give it a whirl. Besides the beautiful Bob Layton cover, art was by James Brock and inked by former EC artist Ralph Reese. Nice ! This was my introduction to his robot mentor 1-A, the concept of North Am 4000 A.D., the Malevs, Leeja, and the tiniest glimpse of the Valiant universe. It grabbed me and I fell in love. To this day, Valiant is my number 2 surviving superhero universe, after DC. |
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