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What comic books have you read today? Part two.19596

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Reprint of past stories by Alex Toth, Neal Adams, Gil Kane and Bernie Wrightson.

With new art work for games and pin ups l.
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I have a lot of free time for the next few weeks as I wait to start my new job. My last day was 6/14 and I start with my new company on 7/1. Looking forward to it, but wanted a small break to get myself right before starting so I'll be posting with a little more regularity in the thread for two weeks.
 
Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo #1-7. Fast paced writing and superb art/inks by Marc Silvestri. Batman teams with Joker in order to stop some feral Joker-type things from decapitating people throughout Gotham. An interesting take on human experimentation gone wrong mixed with the dish always best-served cold: revenge!









Jon Sable: Freelance #51-56. I finished off the JSF series which ends with the well-done three-part story (#54-56) where Sable teams with his father. I liked this series, even though I felt it took a hit when Mike Grell stepped back from the art duties. Apparently, there is a follow-up series that ran for 20+ issues which was written for a bit by Marv Wolfman. It could be worth a look if I can get it for cheap.








NFL SuperPro #2-7. Jesus Christ, I only have a few issues left in this series. It's cheesy A.F. but it has its moments. I really like the football puns when fighting the bad guys. It appears that #6 was was offensive to the Hopi people and a lawsuit against Marvel was threatened. Even by the standards of the 90s, it was offensive. But, hey, #7 tried to make up for it by focusing on protecting the rainforest.






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@Studley_Dudley Congrats on the new job!!! 🍻
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Collector michaelekrupp private msg quote post Address this user
Covering the last few days:


Sun Devils has been amazing! As the conclusion approaches it just keeps getting better. I am going to miss this book when it is no longer in the rotation.



The Amethyst regular series is off to a great start. Really good issue of a very underrated series.



Kitty and Wolverine has really picked up after a slow start. Back in the ‘80s I dropped this after issue 1. The writing gets better, although Al Milgrom’s art still doesn’t thrill me.



I am really enjoying the Barren Earth mini. This issue had some plot twists that I absolutely did not see coming. Really good stuff!



After being slightly derailed by a Superman appearance that seemed unnecessary (except perhaps from a sales standpoint), Jemm is back on track. Solid issue this month.



Secret Wars is about ready to wrap up. It’s been a fun ride. Hard to go wrong with over two dozen heroes and villains duking it for twelve issues. Stuff like this is what comics were made for!



Jon Sable starts a new story arc this month, bringing back an old foe and featuring some nice character insights.



Mage was a little slow this month. The Grendel back up feature really irritated me. I actually gave up on trying to read it because the text was so ridiculously small! I don’t think a digital copy is available, so I guess I’ll be getting out a magnifying glass if I want to read this.



Things didn’t improve much when the other comic I had selected to read last night happened to be Judge Dredd. The text in JD is always smaller than normal due to the reduction from magazine size. At least it was readable!

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@michaelekrupp definitely giving me some ideas for some minis to pick up!
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The Infinity Gauntlet begins here...





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Please continue to ignore anything I post. southerncross private msg quote post Address this user
@figment that was a great event.
I was reading surfer at the time and it was the only Marvel event where I was sitting on the edge of my seat for the next issue.

I even bought a infinity gauntlet T-shirt at the time as I enjoyed it so much.
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I'm waiting.... (tapping fingers).
Splotches is gettin old!
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Conan from Titan comics is the only title I still read

Jim Zub writing is fantastic and nails the character.
And this artist Roberto De La Torre is a Buscema clone and absolutely unbelievable - check out his work
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NFL SuperPro #8-12. I feel dumber for working my way through this series. I got it all for dirt cheap thinking it would be good for some chuckles. There were definitely some chuckles, but it was so preposterous overall. It probably doesn't help that the creative team was shuffled around so much in 12 issues, that it seemed Jose Delbo (artist) was the only permanent fixture. Although, I feel like being assigned to this book is either punishment or for the guys just breaking into the business.







X-Men vs Brood: Day of Wrath. Entertaining yarn that ties into UXM #232-234. The Brood empress sends some first-born to take out a lady who is fighting her Brood side. The X-Men get involved and help her fight off the baddies. Very 90s art and Iceman makes a quip when he was woken up about dreaming about three redheads. I imagine they were Nicole Kidman, Angie Everhart and Ginger Spice.




The Batman: First Knight #1-3. Dan Jurgens scripts a tale of Batman early in his crime-fighting days. The story is set in 1939 and involves public figures being targeted for assassination. I liked this due to attention to detail on Jurgens using the slang from the time period. Perkins' art and Spicer's colors help to enhance the feel of the setting for the story.



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Since my last post:


Gerry Conway’s JSA reboot is widely considered a flop for good reason. He took some of the least interesting Leaguers (Aquaman as team leader?) and paired them up with some new characters who are largely uninspired (a Puerto Rican breakdancer? Seriously?). Then he headquarters the new team in Detroit (after reading this I seriously question if Conway had ever been to Detroit!). I could go on, but I will just say that this reboot has me eagerly awaiting the 1987 Giffen/ DeMatteis reboot!



Unlike JLA, The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones is a title that I am really going to miss when it ends a few issues down the road. This series has really been a pleasure and one that I missed the first time around.



Series that are winding down seems to be something of a theme here. In the case of Arak, they actually announced back around issue 40 that the series would be ending with issue 50. I’m not sure what impact that had on sales, but the quality of this book never wavered. Arak is another overlooked ‘80s gem, and a must read for anyone fond of D&D type sword and sorcery comics with a historical bent.



The Kulan Gath storyline of X-Men 190 and 191 is perhaps the last great storyline in X-Men before my interest started to wane. I would remain an X-Men reader for another 2+ years, but going forward X-Men began to lose its long held position as my favorite comic.



Tales of the Teen Titans was mainly intended to be a filler magazine to sell you two Titans books a month until the reprints took over in one year. The thing is, the material does not reflect this and the stories are as good as the main Titans title.



I was crazy about American Flagg! at this point. This is another great issue, although rockier times were on the horizon as Chaykin began to burn out on this book and started devoting his energy to other projects.



There was a lot going on in the Spider books at this point. In this issue Spidey battles the Spot, the Alien Costume saga comes to a boil and Spider-Man and the Black Cat break up.



I saved the best for last! This was a phenomenal issue of Zot!. I love this comic! it is different from anything else out there. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
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West Coast Avengers #1-4. Issues #1-2 set up the formation of the WCA and introduce the Blank, who uses tech from a former Stark employee to turn himself slippery and gray in order to burgle money from banks. #3-4 deal with Graviton escaping an interdimensional prison and coming back for the WCA's first test. Pretty much, this book feels like a test platform for the launch of the ongoing title that came about later. The writing felt a little stilted at times but there are some good inner monologues from Tigra and Iron Man (James Rhodes) on whether they are going to live up to standards of being Avengers.






Avengers: The Terminatrix Objective #1-4. Thunderstrike, US Agent and War Machine are pulled into the time stream by Revelation while Captain America, Thor and Iron Man are pulled in by Terminatrix. This is a sequel to Citizen Kang (ran in some annuals). The multiple time streams thing gets convoluted for me, but the gist is that Alioth is threatening Kang's empire while he is incapacitated. The good guys fight each other then get used by Kang to win the day. Not a bad read for someone who isn't as familiar with the Kang lineage and how that all works.






The Comet Man #1-6. This series was definitely a surprise. Written by Bill Mumy (Lost in Space) and Miguel Ferrer (Robocop), this tells the story of a scientist (Stephen Beckley) who is studying Halley's Comet (turns out to be a spacecraft) and is killed in the process. The alien aboard the "comet" puts him back together but has to use some of his alien material to bring him back. Shady government group kidnaps his family when he gets back to Earth and he sets out to rescue them. Sounds pretty generic, right? This is a strong story about what it is like when the "With great power, comes great responsibility" thing happens but without the responsibility. The alien, Max, offers to help the guy learn how to use his newfound abilities but Beckley says "Nah, I gotta get home". It is a bleak story, and I'm not sure I would say anyone really wins in the end. Kelley Jones' interior art is solid to go with the writing. I believe Miguel Ferrer's acting career took off after this story came out. However, he returns with Mumy and Jones to work on a follow up story in Marvel Comics Presents #50-53.






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I'm cutting ties with this volume now. The first issue was intriguing but everything is venomized now and I'm sick of it.




I'd be better off cutting ties to Gun Honey as well. TnA is keeping me lingering for the moment.




These are all independent stories that fit in zero time lines. I really could call this title quits but the art work is too beautiful.




Awesome, friggin awesome. It seems that not only are the new turtles a mutation, they each appear to have a mutant ability.




What can I say about Spawn, Hulk, or Hellblazer? They're all my boys!








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X-Men and the Micronauts #1-4. I'll admit that I'm not too familiar with the Micronauts. I think I have an issue or two lying around here somewhere but I don't know the backstory leading into this series. Anyways, the Micronauts are teamed up with Baron Karza (I believe the big bad from their comics/toyline) to go up against the Entity. Power signatures trace source of the Entity's power to Earth/Macroverse and Prof X in particular. The X-Men team with the Micronauts to battle the Entity in the Microverse and then finish the fighting on Earth. Some seamless integration of two franchises, with the X-Men also acknowledging that the Micronauts are toys in the story. Overall, a well done mini, with one creepy gripe. There was some weird sexual tension going on between the Entity with Kitty Pryde and Moonstar. They're clearly identified as minors in the story. The 1980s were a different time.






Strange Tales vol 2 #1-2. In the Cloak/Dagger portion, they find Dagger's deadbeat father in India siphoning off the life force of people to achieve godhood. He's kind of a narcissistic dick and gets his comeuppance arrives at the end. In the Dr Strange portion, Doc is fighting his feelings for Clea. He feels he can't go to Poundtown and still be the best Sorcerer Supreme he can be.




The 'Nam #1-10. Awesome. I only intended to start with the first few issues and found myself enthralled with this. Good stories, good art, and great pacing. Working within the confines of the Comics Code, it handles the subject matter accurately. It helps that several veterans worked on the title. Every issue time lapses in the real time as of now. So, when issue 1 occurs, then one month passes when issue 2 comes out. It is done to simulate the passage of time in a forward deployed zone where people come and go and not always on the same schedule. Very well done so far.










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Just read Absolute Power 1.
clickable text
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Read the first volume of DC's One Million yesterday, I like the mini-series itself (even if Morrison is ridiculously OTT with some of the hyperbolic writing) and most of the individual issues were great (Shadow Of The Bat, Superman, Detective Comics, JLA and Nightwing) but the issue of Starman was a real stinker, mainly as very little happened in it, and I thought the dialogue was cringeworthy. Ah well, I guess that's always the risk when you get one of these company wide crossovers.
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I read my own comic about ten times yesterday!




This isn't some mad brag, its just that the Kickstarter for it ends on Sunday so I went over and over it for about five hours, checking spelling, seeing it everything worked, if there was anything I wanted to add, or take away for that matter.

The whole process was exhausting, but I think the comic's better for it. And now I intend to do exactly the same thing for the next week, in the hope that by the end it's as good as I can possible get it to be.

If anyone's interested, there's a free 13 page sampler here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oZw4sRrIGwL8JrM181IE4CYnWpUM_JVs/view?usp=drive_link

And if you like the look of it the Kickstarter is here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alexfinch/the-chefs-of-death-issues-1-and-2
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Taking a break from the Silver Surfer for this lovely bit of fun...


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Strange Tales vol 2 #3-4. There is a setup to cross over both storylines as Nightmare is hatching a scheme to use Cloak to get close to Dr. Strange.




Silver Surfer (1988) #1-2. Stan Lee supposedly writes a (not long-winded) solid story of Galactus coming back to Earth and being praised as a god while the Surfer is vilified for standing up to him. This might be my first run in with Moebius' art. It seems fine and fits the vibe of what is going on. Good two issue story.




X-Men: ClanDestine #1-2. I am not familiar with ClanDestine. I never read any of it when I was a kid and anyone who tries to tell you that Marvel Comics Presents #158 is a key is full of shit. That said, this was a very entertaining tale written and drawn by Alan Davis. It deals with an interdimensional rift being opened and both the X-Men and Clan Destine having members dragged into it and the attempts to rescue them. Good pacing on the story, no ads, and everything wraps up well by the end.




The 'Nam #11-20. More solid work on this series. Some of it does hit close to home such as dealing with bad subordinates, having lousy junior officers who think they know a lot, and then dealing with issues back in the world. So far, so good. I believe the series went direct-only with #18 or #19. The paper quality switches to something that feels not quite like Baxter paper but a step down from that. It tends to produce a brighter color saturation. Not sure how I feel about it on this title since it is supposed to be gritty and grounded than characters running around in colored underpants.










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I'd recommend any of the Last Ronin titles.



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@Studley_Dudley I considered X-Men/ Micronauts something of a disappointment. The story didn’t particularly thrill me and I thought the flow of the dialogue was kind of weird. It seemed to me that the X-Men dialogue was written by Claremont while the Micronauts dialogue was written by Mantlo. There was definitely something off about the flow of the whole thing. The Nam, on the other hand, is a comic I very much enjoyed. Its success was great and immediate upon its release. It even spawned a few imitations. As someone who enjoys the genre I was glad to see the surge of interest in war comics, which were in danger of vanishing completely from the stands at the time. Coincidentally, I recently filled most of the holes in my collection of Nam (and Strange Tales) when I went to a local comic book show last weekend.

As for today’s reads, they were all winners:


This is the best issue of Power Pack so far. The writing is really solid. There is some great dialogue between the kids and Dagger, who warns them about the dangers of acting out of resentment and not appreciating the value of family. Her story of running away from home, being abducted and losing any hope of a normal life makes an impact on the kids. At the same time, the Power kids seeing Cloak and Dagger as good people instead of the monsters they feel they have become touches something inside the pair that they may not have realized was still there. The whole thing is really well done.



Atari Force is yet another overlooked ‘80s gem. The strength of this book is in its eclectic cast of characters. In addition to being a great issue, this comic features a fan letter from my fourteen year old self. It was kind of a trip showing it to my grandson. That’s certainly something I never considered back in the days when I was writing fan letters!



When they removed all traces of Bruce Banner from the Hulk persona and banished him from Earth my expectations for the book were low. Five issues in I have to admit that I have been pleasantly surprised! Things got a little comic booky when the Hulk’s old enemies, the U-Foes somehow showed up at the dimensional crossroads to do battle with him. I won’t complain too loud, though, because it was a good fight and I am continuing to enjoy the storyline.
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I’ve been eagerly awaiting this. Likewise for Blood Brothers Mother #2 and Conan #3. It looks like three of the titles I seek a month are in magazine format. Oh wait, there is Pent House comics as well. 3.5 a month that is.


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Strange Tales v2 #5-7. Doc is on his way to his old stopping grounds in the Himalayas. He is slowly becoming corrupted by his use of black magic which keeps happening. He is joined by the Defenders for a spell. Also, Cloak and Dagger teleport to Doc which allows Nightmare to pull Doc into Cloak's... well, cloak. There is a battle there involving Nightmare and the heroes. Good guys win as evidenced by the series running for several more issues.





Sabretooth: Death Hunt #1-4. Sabretooth is sold out by Birdy (his assistant) and taken by the Tribune. There he has a bomb surgically implanted near his heart with orders to take out Mystique within 48 hours or kaboom. Sabretooth must have some supersonic travel capabilities because he manages to travel back and forth to Paris, confront both Wolverine and Mystique and get back in time to kick Tribune's ass who just so happens to be his kid. Yes, Graydon Creed is his child with Marvel's resident toxic whore: Mystique. Larry Hama's script is fast paced while Mark Texeira's art is highly stylized but fits in the 90s. Entertaining and gives some glimpses into Sabretooth's childhood and his past relationship with Mystique (who was disguised as a different person).






Sabretooth & Mystique #1-4. Set during the time frame where both characters are in the service of X-Factor, they both get away for a little bit. They team up when a previously believed to be dead Hydra scientist reappears and wants to cause havoc the world over. But AIM is also wanting what the scientist has worked on. More glimpses into Sabretooth's past with Mystique (again disguised as someone else) and Mystique's relationship with Destiny.






The 'Nam #21-30. The series is still following the monthly time-lapse format which is nice. It's doing a little more to flesh out some characters and touch on some real-life historical figures and events that occurred during the time frame. #23 has an appearance by Chris Noel during a USO show. I had never heard of her but apparently, she was a popular girl with the boys due to her spending a lot of time in Vietnam as a morale booster. The Ho Chi Minh trail, the assassination of RFK, the Paris Peace Talks and the Tet Offensive are also depicted. #26 was an especially good issue. It caught up with some of the characters who rotated out like Ed Marks and Rob Little and catches up on their lives and thoughts of how the war is going.










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I’ve read far too many comics to cover here since the last time I checked in, so I’m just going to hit the highlights.



Who’s Who was DC’s answer to the popular Marvel Universe handbooks. While this is certainly a worthwhile project, the timing of it seems a little weird, since DC is about to restructure their entire universe at that point with the Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series. Waiting a year might have made more sense. Still, this is an interesting series. The entries are not as detailed as the Marvel Universe books. They are more like Cliff Notes, covering just the basic info; don’t expect to be able to state definitively who is stronger or faster than whom after reading these. The diversity of artwork is nice, though, and there were some tidbits that I never knew or had forgotten about characters such as the Atomic Knight.



The first G.I. Joe Yearbook brought back some fond memories for me. The highlight here is a reprint of G.I. Joe #1. This was where I first read that particular story. My first G.I. Joe off the stands was #5 and, although I was able to score copies of issues 3 and 4 by trading with a friend, I was unable to acquire the first two issues back then. These were very expensive and sought after back issues back in the ‘80s, so getting to read the story here was a pretty big deal for me. The rest of the Yearbook is filled out with a general recap of the issues that had been published to that point (there was obviously a ton of new readers coming aboard then) and an article about the forthcoming animated G.I. Joe TV series.



This issue marked the beginning of the end for Mighty Crusaders and the Archie Adventure line. This came as no surprise since the entire line had been in disarray from virtually the beginning. At this point, Archie overhauled their staff on the adventure books and tried to use the series as a vehicle to promote a line of Mighty Crusaders action figures. Characters were brought in who were part of the toy line while characters who did not have action figure potential were either killed off or permanently written out of the series. The toy line soon flopped and the Archie Adventure line disappeared from the stands shortly thereafter.



This was another great issue of Star Trek! Trek is a series that has bounced around between publishers. IMO, DC did the best job on the series by far. Both this series and the later second DC series are consistently excellent.
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Pull list and some other stuff from the past week.

No surprises in these, but I do like the storyline brewing in House of Slaughter when it isn't just about how much the boys like kissing one another. Ghostlore should be ending with issue #12. Cool concept that probably could have been pared down to a 6-8 issue series.



SW and DV are just going towards their conclusions, and I'll be done with the Marvel SW books after these and the Inquisitors miniseries end. Fun reads but nothing groundbreaking.



Get Fury #2. The art is like Jacen Burrows is trying to channel his inner Steve Dillon to go with the Garth Ennis script. The art isn't really working or there needs to be a different inker/colorist to match the feel of the writing. I like the story but it could benefit from a different artist.



Wolverine: Madripoor Knights #5. The conclusion of the series and it was a decent series. I would have preferred a more grounded element than some of the supernatural stuff that goes on given the characters and setting but it was a fun read. Claremont and Salazar are teaming up for a new Wolverine miniseries to come out soon. I'll pick up the first issue and see what it's about. Pretty sure it's also set in the past.



Transformers #9. Shockwave arrives on Earth and starts f**king people up. Awesome issue.


Sabretooth: Mary Shelley Overdrive. Sabretooth in the rare role of a "good guy". Maybe antihero is more like it. He saves a chick from being killed by mercenaries who smell dead but are alive. He smashes her when they get away then takes on the bad guys. In the end, Sabretooth is still a bad guy even if he occasionally does nice things.






Strange Tales v2 #8-11. Cloak & Dagger split for a bit due to Mr. Jip manipulating Cloak's thoughts. Cloak tries to get help from Dazzler to "feed" him light but to no avail, while Dagger hangs out with Black Cat who attempts to teach Dagger how to be kinda skanky and a thief. C&D get back together and take down Mr. Jip. Meanwhile, Dr. Strange has been teaming with Kaluu to prove he isn't black magician, yet he still uses black magic.




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I passed on the Hunger Dogs graphic novel when it came out, mainly because of the (then) hefty $5.95 price tag. Now, nearly 40 years later I finally read it. All I can say is “Wow!”. Jack Kirby, of course, had one of the lengthiest and most celebrated careers in the history of comics. Hunger Dogs is his magnum opus. It is the completion of the circle for one of the greatest talents ever to grace the printed page. The artwork, naturally, is incredible. Kirby holds nothing back, taking full advantage of the lavish format and the results are everything one would expect. What impresses me the most here, though, is Kirby’s writing. Kirby has never been known as a great writer, particularly of dialogue. While it’s true that Kirby’s words do not suddenly drip with the velvety smoothness of Stan Lee, he tells a very effective story, bringing his saga of the New Gods to a conclusion full of deep spiritual impact and nigh prophetic social commentary. I imagine the King felt a powerful sense of personal satisfaction after completing this project. All creative people know that there is no more satisfying feeling than knowing that you nailed it and said exactly what you wanted to say. I believe that with this graphic novel, Kirby finally accomplished what he set out to do when he left Marvel all those years before, and in doing so put an exclamation point on one of the greatest careers the art form has ever known. Everyone should read this.
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