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Post by MWGallaher on Dec 23, 2014 16:21:29 GMT -5
#10: Watchmen #5 by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons I didn't know it at the time, but this is the kind of literature that appeals most to me: literature crafted around a novel conceit, crafted with such unique care that its conceit is only detectable on repeated scrutiny...and crafted with such skill and creativity to merit that repeated scrutiny. I love pretty much all of Watchmen, but this one, "Fearful Symmetry", is genuinely awe-inspiring. The panels are arranged symmetrically throughout the issue, there are mirror motifs, the flashing lights from the Rum Runner bar introducing an on-off rhythm, just too much craft on display to tick it all off. And oh, the writing: the villain Moloch turns out to be one of the most pathetically sympathetic characters in the entire story, Rorshach's attempted escape from being set up for an arrest packs more thrills and excitement than almost any overly-bombastic action scene I've ever found in comics.
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Post by berkley on Dec 23, 2014 17:48:49 GMT -5
The artwork was really erratic for a long time after Gulacy left, and it wasn't until Mike Zeck came on board that the artwork started to be a match for Moench's writing again in quality, especially once Gene Day took over as regular inker (and later on as artist). I read the cover off that book, you're right about the art, one of the big disappointments with back issues on this title was the wildly varying quality of artist, but who can blame them..."we want you to follow Paul Gulacy"... As for Gene Day, the first artist to blow me away with page design, obviously I would go on to discover Steranko, Kirby, and much later JH Williams III. He was a massive loss to us. It was terrible that he died so young. I can't remember where I read them now - maybe the MoKF letters page? - but I think there were some pretty moving comments shortly after his death from both Doug Moench and Archie Goodwin. It was nice to learn that he was not only respected for his abilities as an artist but well-liked by his peers for his attitude towards work and just his general personality. You could see that they felt his passing as a personal as well as a professional loss. BTW, you should keep looking for those Gulacy issues you're missing. There aren't all that many of them in total, and shouldn't be too expensive. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2014 21:11:30 GMT -5
10. Captain America #111 "Tomorrow You Live, Tonight I Die" March 1969 cover date Story & pencils: Jim Steranko Inks: Joe Sinnott I couldn't swear to it, but this might well have been the first issue of Captain America I ever bought, though I knew the character from the "Marvel Super-Heroes" cartoons from a couple of years earlier. (It also marked my introduction to Hydra, I'm almost positive.) At the very least, I know very well that I never owned Steranko's first issue, #110, till I bought it & his other two, & a few others from the general period, via eBay circa 2000. At any rate, this marked my introduction, as far as I know, to a truly cinematic approach to the comics pages ... not, of course, that I would've been able to tell you that at the tender age of 9. Still, though, many -- probably most -- of the pages & panels from this issue burned themselves into my brain the second I encountered them. Some 46 years later, they're still there.  |
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Post by paulie on Dec 23, 2014 21:36:10 GMT -5
I read the cover off that book, you're right about the art, one of the big disappointments with back issues on this title was the wildly varying quality of artist, but who can blame them..."we want you to follow Paul Gulacy"... As for Gene Day, the first artist to blow me away with page design, obviously I would go on to discover Steranko, Kirby, and much later JH Williams III. He was a massive loss to us. It was terrible that he died so young. I can't remember where I read them now - maybe the MoKF letters page? - but I think there were some pretty moving comments shortly after his death from both Doug Moench and Archie Goodwin. It was nice to learn that he was not only respected for his abilities as an artist but well-liked by his peers for his attitude towards work and just his general personality. You could see that they felt his passing as a personal as well as a professional loss. BTW, you should keep looking for those Gulacy issues you're missing. There aren't all that many of them in total, and shouldn't be too expensive. [br I used to post about the merits of Gene Day often over at the old place. A terrific penciller, inker, storyteller and designer. He was a genius and should be considered one of the all-time greats. |
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Post by paulie on Dec 23, 2014 21:37:45 GMT -5
  Saga of Swamp Thing #21 Feb 1984 “The Anatomy Lesson” Alan Moore Steve Bissette John Totleben This was different. At first I thought my reaction was related to what preceded it. I know Martin Pasko’s work on Swamp Thing is often considered his best. I was not a fan, essentially because I’ve never liked conspiracy stories and run-on stories; this was both. I kept reading because I liked the characters and, in those days, I still felt obligated to buy and read everything. Moore took over with #20 and even with having to clean up the remnants of Pasko’s story, I felt what Swamp Thing felt as he stomped through the marsh in search of Arcane’s body. And then came The Anatomy Lesson. Moore now free to do his own thing, I think it’s safe to say that everything changed. Not just a character, not just a title, but the face of American comics. I knew it as it happened, and to this day I remember that feeling. I never noticed the Premminger reference until now. Awesome. |
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Post by paulie on Dec 23, 2014 21:39:31 GMT -5
10. Captain America #111 "Tomorrow You Live, Tonight I Die" March 1969 cover date Story & pencils: Jim Steranko Inks: Joe Sinnott I couldn't swear to it, but this might well have been the first issue of Captain America I ever bought, though I knew the character from the "Marvel Super-Heroes" cartoons from a couple of years earlier. (It also marked my introduction to Hydra, I'm almost positive.) At the very least, I know very well that I never owned Steranko's first issue, #110, till I bought it & his other two, & a few others from the general period, via eBay circa 2000. At any rate, this marked my introduction, as far as I know, to a truly cinematic approach to the comics pages ... not, of course, that I would've been able to tell you that at the tender age of 9. Still, though, many -- probably most -- of the pages & panels from this issue burned themselves into my brain the second I encountered them. Some 46 years later, they're still there. On my list! A good choice! |
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Dec 23, 2014 21:58:21 GMT -5
Yeah, Steranko Cap coulda easily made my list, too.
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Post by Paste Pot Paul on Dec 23, 2014 23:45:06 GMT -5
10. Captain America #111 "Tomorrow You Live, Tonight I Die" March 1969 cover date Story & pencils: Jim Steranko Inks: Joe Sinnott I couldn't swear to it, but this might well have been the first issue of Captain America I ever bought, though I knew the character from the "Marvel Super-Heroes" cartoons from a couple of years earlier. (It also marked my introduction to Hydra, I'm almost positive.) At the very least, I know very well that I never owned Steranko's first issue, #110, till I bought it & his other two, & a few others from the general period, via eBay circa 2000. At any rate, this marked my introduction, as far as I know, to a truly cinematic approach to the comics pages ... not, of course, that I would've been able to tell you that at the tender age of 9. Still, though, many -- probably most -- of the pages & panels from this issue burned themselves into my brain the second I encountered them. Some 46 years later, they're still there. Spiffing good choice there danny- boy. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 24, 2014 10:32:12 GMT -5
Just wanted to point out that Stan Lee scripted Cap #111, though it was almost certainly Steranko's plot.
Cei-U!
I summon the teensy-weensy correction!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2014 10:43:27 GMT -5
Wondered about that ... was sprinting through #s 2-11 too fast to double-check my sources.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2014 22:55:37 GMT -5
On the third day of Christmas, the Electric Company and Children's Workshop gave to me...  Spidey-Super-Stories #31 featuring Star Jaws. For the 11 year old me, combining Star Wars and Spider-Man was about as good as it can get. I saw this on the spinner rack in a Dairy Mart down the street, and had to have it, but my folks said no. It came out in November and I remember volunteering to rake leaves in the house we had at the time (in a cul de sac where the entire neighborhood's leaves collected in or yard, and my dad had given up raking in October after 2 straight weekends of bagging up over 75 bags of leaves and vowing to buy a mulching mower before the next autumn). I cleaned up all the leftover leaves (another 68 bags of leaves) over the weekend to get the 35 cents to buy this comic...I think I got to pick but a second as well, but a lot of sweat and effort went into getting this book...which I haven't seen in at least 25 years now. But oh the memories... -M |
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Post by Icctrombone on Dec 25, 2014 8:35:41 GMT -5
Superman 162
Dorfman, Swan, and Klein
 This is an issue that encapsulates my entire childhood. The vast majority of superhero books I read as a kid (as opposed to after I started collecting as a teenager) were B&W aussie reprints. As such I got to experience a huge range of genres and eras, with golden age stories as readily available as modern. I loved Superman as a kid, as I suspect most of us here did, and the era I have always treasured most is that drawn by the maestro Curt Swan with his greatest collaborator, George Klein. Their depiction of the Man of Steel is definitive in my minds eye, despite Swans work with Murphy Anderson. So, this art team is what I see when I think of Superman, and the first story that always comes to mind is "The Amazing Story of Superman-Red and Superman-Blue". In what DC would eventually term an Elseworlds tale, this perfectly sums up the beauty and charm of the wonderful books these people blessed us with. This is probably the first Imaginary story I ever read but I read it in the 100 Page reprint. Nice pick. |
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Post by Icctrombone on Dec 25, 2014 9:17:26 GMT -5
We backslide from 1985 to 1984 for today's selection... Number 10MANHUNTER SPECIALYear of Release: May 1984 Written by: Archie Goodwin Drawn by: Walt Simsonson  Synopsis: Golden Age hero Paul Kirk was killed by a stampeding elephant, cryogentically frozen and resurrected by the mysterious Council. The Council is a secret society that wants to rule the world. Bred by the Council to kill all that oppose their views, the Council underestimated Kirk's morals and Kirk was deemed an enemy of the Council. Kirk enlist the help of Interpol agent Christine St Clair to help take down the Council. Originally backup stories in Detective Comics, this is a collection of the 8 page stories. Why This Is A Classic: I remember seeing this in a comic store in Los Angeles when I was 8 and I knew I had to get this. While having a steady diet of GI Joe, we all became fans of Snake Eyes and his ninja training. So I also read as much about Eastern combat, samurai swords and other cool stuff. So seeing Simsonson's cover and noticing the shurikens, this was a must buy. I mowed a ton of lawns, cleaned the hill above the house from sagebrush, anything to get money to own this collection. When I got it, it didn't fail. At that time, I wasn't fully paying attention to writers and artists, but the name Archie Goodwin caught my eye. What he did in 8 pages amazed me of such dense storytelling of action, drama, and sense of awe compared to what people were drawing in 22. I knew that I could write that...HA! Me at 8 years old, comparing myself to Archie. And Walt Simonson... I knew I had to follow this gentleman. Luckily he was drawing Thor and I devoured his run. Its a special book to me not because it's considered one of the greatest examples of comic storytelling, it was the first time I actually cared about who I was reading. I had found writers and artists to follow and also began learning the history of comics. From this comic, I began to learn Walt's history; what books he was doing, and who his contemporaries were, and their admirers. From there I learned the Marvel Bullpen, followed those artists I liked. As for Archie, I was a bit too young to read his Warren magazine back issue, but I looked for his works and who he hired. In essence, Manhunter began my Comic History 101. C'mon...how can you not love this art! Excellent choice and a true classic right there. I couldn't believe that the entire story fit in that one book. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2014 11:08:49 GMT -5
For Day 3, another slightly arbitrary choice of an issue out of a trememdous series, and again I've gone for the capstone issue. This was another wonderfully quirky, poetic and not at all overwritten gem from Don McGregor and Craig Russell - the last issue of their fabulous Killraven run in Amazing Adventures: Amazing Adventures 39 |
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Post by pinkfloydsound17 on Dec 27, 2014 17:20:49 GMT -5
On the third day of Christmas, my collection gave to me... 3 of Logan's claws!
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This is a recent keeper for me. My brother got it for me for my birthday this year and it means a lot to me because it is the first time anyone has given me a comic on my birthday. Plus, it is a key issue that I really enjoy and, having since collected the remaining issues, I can honestly say it is up there in terms of my Frank Miller works (behind his DD stuff, which is fantastic and trumps all in my books....yes even Dark Knight). |
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