Ironically Iconic Images from Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol. 5 - the 1973 to 1975 era

Happy 7/11 Day, aka Slurpee Day!

1977 Hulk cup

Most of my early comic book purchases were made at the 7-11 in Colonial Heights, VA, near my hometown of Matoaca. Two of them were quite significant and memorable:

#1) I was flipping through a comic in the backseat of our Chevy Impala (it's a wonder I didn't get sick!) on the way to said store where I first saw the House Ad for Godzilla #1.  And lo and behold, when I arrived, it was there right on the spinner rack! Truly, one the most thrilling comic book purchases in all my 48 years of collecting (only a few months at that time).  A couple of years ago (2023) at the Baltimore Comic-Con I discovered an artist (Doctor Chopper) who creates 3D art from comic book clippings. He had one of that very same House Ad, which now is proudly displayed in my study along with some other Godzilla collectibles.  Whenever my granddaughter, Athena, comes over I sing her the theme song from the 1978 cartoon and we count all the Godzilla's (figures and comic images) in the room:

Up from the depths

Thirty stories high

Breathes Fire

His Head in the Sky 

Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla ...

And Godzoooooooky!

If you want to know, I currently have ten. (And eight year old me liked the cartoon much better than 55-year old me.)

 

Only 8 are shown in this photo.

Blogger get your stinkin' Times New Roman paws out of my post! I want to use Arial, not to be confused with Ariel.

#2) Now, I have an underdeveloped jaw, which is probably why I'm quickly developing a turkey-neck in my advanced years (I hate it!).  So when I was young, the dentist said I had to get six adult teeth removed to make room for my remaining teeth to drop.  They had to put me under to perform the oral surgery.  I was promised by my mother that I would be able to buy one comic for each tooth!  She knew what motivated me. (It would've been $2.10 before tax [6 @ 35 cents] or $10.67 in 2025 dollars.)  So, after counting backwards as I began to breath the gas, the next thing I remember is my mother and sister walking me out the back door of the dentist office.  I think I was around 8 years old.  Not only could I barely walk, but I was still in a post anesthetic fog where my vision (and brain) wasn't fully cleared yet.  However, I was bound and determined that I would pick out my comics that day before we went home.  And we did.  Probably the closest time I've ever been to being in a semi-drunken stupor (I'm a teetotaller).  I was going through those spinner racks (there were usually two) trying to find something I wanted/needed. (The image in my head is similar to the vaseline covered lens of a Dark Shadows dream sequence - my peripheral vision was nonexistent.)   And wouldn't you know, I have no rememberance of what I got that day!

But that's not what I had decided to write about this morning.  More after the jump break...

This Space Reserved - A Mega-Sized Marvel Masterworks Read-Thru

 

First off, Happy Fourth of July! It's America's 249th Birthday, and last night kicked off the "America 250" celebration that will continue throughout the year.  The Red, White, and Blue is back, baby!  I can still remember the excitement for the Bicentennial back in 1976.  It really promises to be a fun time.  So many things are turning around for the good these days (Praise God!).  And if today's music isn't as good as those bygone times, we can just catch an old American Top 40 with Casey Kasem broadcast on iHeart Radio!  I'm listening to one I recorded years ago right now from June 26, 1976!

Is it possible to digress before you even start?  If so, I think I just did ...

I really should have weighed these!

In less than two months, I finished reading all that you see shown above.  I started on May 8th, and finished last night (July 3rd).  And that was after reading the Marvel Masterworks (MMW): Doctor Strange #11 right before that, which was preceded by my first reading of John Wyndham's classic Midwich Cuckoos. My inspiration was the forthcoming (no pun intended) Fantastic Four: First Steps movie coming out in three weeks. Now, I have reservations about this movie.  I don't like Mister Fantastic with a moustache and the female Silver Surfer is S-t-(bad word).  However, I love that it takes place in the 60s, something I always thought should be done.  Anyway, in case the movie flops and fails to generate renewed FF reading interest, I figured I better take advantage of the anticipation, just in case.

The State of Comics And...

Our beloved founder and zen "pool" master, Jim, has let it be known that he's bowing out of our Comics And...Other Imaginary Tales reunion tour.  He's certainly been the guiding force behind this endeavor, encouraging us with his comments and schedule reminders.  Not to mention he's the one person we can always count on to actually read our posts.  According to said schedule, Shawn and Lee are up for the next two Sundays, but I honestly don't know if they or Thomas will want to continue on a regular basis or not (Gwen was already taking a hiatus).  I for one have two posts "in the can" to share that I keep pushing back for newer material.

Anyway, I, personally don't plan to stop (the "...of course, we can still be friends" stage), but in terms of a standard rotation or organizational format, I think it will be whenever the mood strikes us, i.e. "No Deadlines!"  It'll be interesting to see if not having the deadlines will promote more posting or less.  We're all quite busy (as I'll discuss more below) and this is just for fun.  I appreciate the opportunity to express myself and this is an awesome way to accomplish that on a semi-regular basis.  Without it, I'm just reading/thinking about stuff by myself and that's not nearly as enjoyable as being part of the larger Comics community.  We may not be comics creators (yet), but somebody's got to be the "Siskel and Ebert" too.  To quote Roy Neary from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, "This means something; this is important." Or not, maybe we just like to play with our mashed potatoes...

So, in typical comic-fashion, I've been having a Crisis of sorts...A Crisis of Too Many Unread Comics!  (That was going to be the original title of this post. I probably have well over a hundred by now.)  Every week almost without fail I faithfully stop into my Local Comics Shop (LCS) on New Comics Wednesday, the stupendous Cosmic Comix and Toys, which I've been a patron of for over 20 years.  I truly love it there, not just the atmosphere, but the chance to chat with the gang and the regulars.  It's a bit like my version of Cheers.  I get my books hand delivered for me from my box, or I'm allowed the privileged to go behind the counter and get them myself.  I carefully study the issues (like Juan Valdez) and if necessary go to the rack and select the best copy possible. The service is exceptional. They'll place stuff in my box (beyond my "normal" list based on just an e-mail [sometimes the day of]) to check out with no pressure or obligation to buy.  I can always put something back, because they know there is always something else I'll probably pick up.

Even when I try to cut back, I usually get something new.  For example, this week I picked up Batgirl #25, 26, 27, and 28.  The art by Paul Pelletier was the main draw, but the story was really great too and I highly recommend the series (and may discuss further in another post).  I canceled Vampironica by Archie Comics.  It was like a combination of Buffy and Blade with Archie characters and drawn by the excellent Greg Smallwood, but EVERY issue arrives DAMAGED.  I might be willing to pay a buck for a beat up book, but not four!

I also picked up a slew of Marvel books, including a lot of Infinity Wars/Warps tie-ins. (I really enjoyed Duggan's All-New Guardians of the Galaxy, but they've gone overboard with this Warps concept (trying to create the next Spider-Gwen or Cosmic Ghost Rider.) Really, the best thing about Marvel is their digital codes.  I have a friend in Australia who Paypals me cover price minus $2 for each of them.  It's a huge savings for both of us. Unfortunately, I've gotten so far behind in my Marvel reading that I get the books only to bag and board them for months at at time until I give up on ever hoping to read them and relist on ebay.  I just sold my Venom:First Host lot last Friday.  I actually read that and liked it, but it was one of the few things I thought would actually sell , so up it went (it took less than 24 hours).  It might have helped that I listed it for cover price minus a dollar per issue to account for the lack of digital codes.  I loved the finale of Dan Slott's Amazing Spider-Man, but the new series is a little too tongue in cheek for my tastes. Sure, it's funny and entertaining, but it doesn't feel like Spider-Man to me.  A lot of books are that way.  Then there are the super serious ones like Immortal Hulk and Captain America, both sporting exceptional Alex Ross covers.  I enjoy the Hulk quite a bit, but Cap is unreadable and the middle-aged Sharon Carter desperately hoping for some affection from Steve is painful to watch.

To be honest, I'm digging DC books more than Marvel right now. Hawkman by Bryan Hitch is a stand out for me along with Tom King's Batman, the recent Two-Face arc in Detective Comics and Justice League Dark.  Then there are the mega maxi-series like Doomsday Clock and Heroes in Crisis (are those people really supposed to be dead?!  Wally West?!  We just got him back!)  Although, I've given up on reading the Bendis Superman books for now.  Of course, I'm still buying them all, but I'm three months behind (times two series) and I'd spend all my limited time catching up. (Plus, I really hate Rogol Zaar and can't wait for him to be gone.)  Now, I may eventually binge read a bunch or try to sell them.  I've been getting the new Justice League series, but I'm like 9 issues behind now and the Drowned Earth series is just going to further tax my budget.  You can buy them here (second shameful plug).  Despite my interest, I'm just not invested in these storylines right now.  If only that were true for all the comics related TV shows I partake in...

I love all the Marvel Netflix series (those that are left, sadly).  I watched Iron Fist season 2 twice, the first viewing in 26 hours.  Then I rewatched Defenders with my daughter and started Daredevil season one for the umpteenth time.  I'd probably be well on my way of watching Daredevil season three by now, but my wife wanted me to wait to watch it with her (it's been a week since episode three [SOB]).  The fever has at least left me for now.

The new CW shows are all in full swing with Riverdale being my favorite.  Flash seems promising again this season, Legends is still a lot of fun, and Arrow has been pretty good.  I'm really excited that John Wesley Shipp is returning as the 1990's Flash in an upcoming cross-over.  I've been waiting for that since the beginning of the show.  I like Black Lightning, but I'm going to probably wait to binge it once the season is over.  I don't want catching up on my weekly TV shows to be a part-time job!  Besides, there are still some Petticoat Junctions to watch (excellent series, so funny).  My youngest son and I are about to finish the original Lost in Space series, which we usually view on Friday mornings before he goes to school.  We've finished the 60s Batman series and Six Million Dollar Man.  We need to finish Buck Rogers, Bionic Woman, and The Incredible Hulk.  We took a side trip and enjoyed the first (only?) season of the Justice League Action cartoon, which included great portrayals of Firestorm and Booster Gold.

So obviously, TV watching, which I'm highly invested in, takes up a bunch of my "free time".  Then there is blogging (thinking about what I want to write at least) or ebay listing (thinking about what I want to sell at least), not to mention unscheduled Facebook challenges!  There are also the numerous hardcovers I'm getting.  These are high on my reading list and kick the new comics to the curb.  The Doug Moench Fantastic Four's have been slow going for me (Marvel Masterworks volume 20).  Bill Sienkiewicz draws an unsettling Reed Richards with his neck always stretched out. The latest Iron Man volume (#11) contains some favorites and I'm eagerly awaiting volume 12 next Spring.  So much to read, so little time.  That doesn't even bring into play the fact that when I do sit down to read something, I often fall asleep!  Or when I wake up in the middle of the night from insomnia on the weekends (or just get up early), my eyes aren't focused enough to actually enjoy reading.  Plus, even with my new Oscar Goldman's I still have to vary the distance to get perfect clarity.

The point of this all is that I really need to change my buying habits.*  This year's Baltimore Comic-Con reminded me how much I love original art and classic Bronze Age comics.  If I severely reduced my new comic list, then I could afford some really cool commissions.  But it's so hard to stop, after all part of the act of buying something you may never read is a hopeful endeavor...a promise that you really will get that time by the pool to relax and enjoy something special one day.  What I want is a series or character I really care about like I do my favorites on TV.  Batgirl has some strong potential at least.  But some of the big events...it may be a great story, but in the scheme of things I can live without it or wait for the trade. 

*My motivation for the books I'm getting is out-of-whack:  It should be reading first, then collecting, and finally looking at resale value.  Instead it is more backwards, looking for resale (buying the next issue to help with a sale), mindlessly collecting, and then reading.

I have enjoyed some independent books lately too like Isola, Oblivion Song, and Hey, Kids Comics!  Unfortunately, the Simpsons ended it's 25 year run with Bongo the other week.  We didn't even get a new Halloween Treehouse of Horror this year.  Speaking of Halloween, the kids are back from the Halloween-Disco (thankfully I found that 5-spot on my dog walk earlier which helped pay for them to go), so I better sign off.  Happy Halloween and I'll see you around sometime when you least expect it.  Keep Reading!

Recent Reads

Wow, I barely remembered this mini-review format from yesteryear.  The house is unusually quiet right now and even though a toilet beckons to be scrubbed and comics need to be bagged, I've got some time I didn't think I'd have to say a little bit more this week.  These reviews won't be very sophisticated or long-winded, but hopefully they'll be informative enough (there could be SPOILERS):

The Man of Steel #1 (2018)

Honestly, I counted the pages to see if it was a whole book or not.  It was, it just read really, really fast.  I liked it though, well enough.  I still don't care much about the main villain -- we see him trying to convince some galaxy leaders (a Guardian is there) to let him exterminate Kypton.  Another woman is caught via super-hearing, admiring Superman -- future love-interest, perhaps?  The what-happened-to-Lois mystery continues, but you do see the start of some trouble for the super family at the end in a more recent flashback.  I guess we'll learn more this week.

Black Panther #1 (or #173) (2018)

This book really surprised me.  I really, really enjoyed it.  It was a solid start to a SyFy epic.  Years ago some group of Wakandan's started an empire in space and now their enslaving people.  Somehow, T'Challa is a prisoner with no memory of who he is, but it looks like he is still thinking about Ororo, his former wife.  He partially escapes/is rescued and at the end it looks like he's becoming a space-version of the Black Musketeers.  You don't get a lot (if any) answers to the why of what is going on, but the storytelling is exciting and entertaining. Color me interested in what happens next.  It just better not turn out to be a dream or simulation...

Vampironica #2

Okay, every copy of this book was trashed -- a manufacturing flaw.  Thankfully, my LCS is ordering me a replacement copy.  I fell in love with Greg Smallwood's art when he was working on Moon Knight recently and in this title he's co-writer too.  Needless to say the book looks great.  I suppose the Archie Horror books don't all exist in the same universe -- this is more of a what if Veronica was a Blade/Buffy vampire/slayer.  It's really good and I think it is traveling under the radar a bit, so I hope fans of Archie or horror or Smallwood will check it out.  Oh, and I LOVE the Riverdale CW series.  Season 2 is now on Netflix -- check it out, it's great!

DC meets Hanna-Barbera: Flash & Speed Buggy #1

Four titles came out this week, but I've only read two so far and they've both been super fun and outstanding.  They seem to be firmly set in the current DCU (or could be), but they provide plausible reasons to encounter "realistic" Hanna-Barbera characters.  Think of the old Julie Schwartz cover-driven stories -- come up with a bizarre concept and make it work.  They have.

The Wally West Flash is fighting Kilg%re the techno-creature.  He encounters a scientist who has built a vehicle to travel through the Speed Force.  There are consequences to his experiment and he ends up having his consciousness infused with the dune buggy, becoming the Speed Buggy we (children of the 70s) know and love.  It turns out the girl from that cartoon is the scientist daughter and this basically serves as an origin to the show.  Also a great Mark Waid-era Flash villain shows up with some evil car counterparts.

DC meets Hanna-Barbera: Aquaman & Jabberjaw #1

This one was a lot of fun too.  I'm a big Paul Pelletier fan to begin with and he does his usual outstanding job.  It starts out with an homage to the 1975 Jaws movie, only it turns out the first monster shark encountered is ol'Jabby.  He's from a future alternate dimension of 2076 (The original show started in 1976).  There is some fun where characters from the show (I think) have similar names to Aquaman's foes/relations.  If you love Aquaman, you'll love this.  The back-up story features CAPTAIN CAVVVVEMAN!!!  The Spectre and the Wizard Shazam are talking about heroism.  The Spectre claims it is a recent trait, but Shazam says it has been around much longer.  He plucks Captain out of the timestream to the present day (he was going to die anyway -- they were too strong and not smart enough to avoid danger).  The Wizard also gives him the ability to speak today's language (sorta).  It's great and makes me want to watch both of these old cartoons.  The other titles were Black Lightning &Hong Kong Fuey and the Super Sons & Blue Falcon and Dynomut.  I'd be reading them now, but I wanted to write this for you instead.

Scott Pilgrim Vol 1 thru 6

I found volumes 1 thru 4, and 6 at a local thrift store on my birthday (and volume 5 arrived in the mail yesterday).  I picked them up, remembering Shawn's (I think) rave reviews back in the day when he, Jim and I were on the Cosmic Comix radio show together.  I figured my manga loving kids would dig this and I'd finally get to try it myself.  I LOVED IT!!!  I don't agree with some of the decisions the character's make, but boy is it engrossing to watch Scott mature from a slacker 23-year-old to fully capable of loving someone 24-year-old.  The page layouts are outstanding and the book is really funny.  The scene where he gives back someone's bass was hilarious.  The expressions are priceless.  I was totally blown away when Ramona started to travel thru subspace and then Scott started fighting her evil ex-boyfriends video game style.  To have a property this old (14 to 8 years) be discovered and enjoyed as if it were brand new was quite a surprise.  Now I want to check out the video game, the card game, and dare I say it, the movie.  I don't think it will be nearly as good -- I want to see it as a cartoon instead of live-action.

Time to make dinner for the family.  I'm due back on July 1st where I should have a review of "How Comics Work".

Recent Reads from Wed May 29

What I lack in verbose commentary this week I hope to make up in sheer numbers.  Below you’ll find some (very) brief blurbs on the ten books I got this week.  I was going to put them in the order that I read them, but I’ve already forgot!

ROCK HARD for THREE HOURS and DIGGING INTO THE BOTTOM

I have two brief topics of discussion this week.   I say “brief” because my Thursday afternoon when I generally prepare my blog post was taken up with kid-pickup and a SECOND trip to SEARS to fix my car (new starter after the new battery install on Sunday).  It’s been a long week of work and I’m ready for the weekend and looking forward to seeing The Great Gatsby with my wife.  I saw Iron Man 3 twice last weekend and I liked it the first time and liked it even better the second time.  While it’s a fun flick, it’s no Avengers.

The big highlight of the week for me was taking my son to see RUSH at the 1^st Mariner Arena in Baltimore on Tuesday.  He’s 15 and I was 15 when I saw them back in 1985 for their Power Windows Tour.  They played a lot of songs from that album as well as a good majority from their new one, Clockwork Angels and of course some all-time classic favorites.  

Books I Read Part Two

Welcome back to Part Two of my fill-in of Jim’s “What I Read”/Week In Review.  As you know by now Jim was away for a family funeral and we remember him and his family in our thoughts and prayers.  Part One was in place of my normal Saturday post.  So, if you’re a Jim-only reader just step back a few days and see five more titles.

Superior Spider-Man #009 by Dan Slott and Ryan Stegman was a Grade A book.  I had planned to do a solo spotlight review, but this “fill-in” post for Jim got to be rather large, so I thought I’d “cheat” and split it into two parts.  Potto® manages to (for now) eliminate Peter Parker’s brain patterns (or “ghost”).  The story mainly consisted of mental battles consisting of Peter’s greatest friends and foes (well, only the Ditko-era ones with the exception of the Kingpin) and a great (literal) face-off.  It was pretty sad to see Peter forget people (join the club dude, but I think my mental frailties come from sleep deprivation) and I really liked that Slott thru in the classic “mistake” of Peter Palmer from an early issue.   I can’t wait to see what Potto® does without the controlling influence of Peter and it’ll be even more interesting to see how Peter comes back from this setback.  This is the most entertaining Spider-Man storyline in DECADES!!!

Buy it and buy a copy of Avenging Spider-Man for Jim (He needs it).

Books I Read Part One

The Thompson Twins had a song “King for A Day”.  Well, this week I get to be Jim for a day and am mocking mimicking his latest (ever changing) format for The Week In Review.  Actually, this post got to be too large (and I got too tired) so today, I’m filling-in for Jim filling-in for me (not really a break for me) and Tuesday you can read Part Two, where it’s just me filling-in for Jim.  Make sense? I figured I’d better give you all fair warning at the beginning or otherwise you might actually read this!

Age of Ultron: Book Seven by Brian Michael Bendis and Brandon Peterson and Carlos Pacheco was a little uneven.  The past sequences by Pacheco were interesting, but the present scenes by Peterson not so much.  While I prefer Carlos’ art over Brandon’s, it really was more of the story and the character designs in the “now” that I didn’t like.  Alternate Timelines are supposed to generate really amazing costume changes (like Mirror Mirror), but just look at the cover of marred heroes.  It doesn’t look that exciting to me (although my LCS owner did like it) and you can’t even recognize Janet as being Janet.  I wish Pacheco was doing the whole series – his and Busiek’s Avengers Forever is one of the all-time greatest epics!

Read it on the stands.

Recent Reads from Wed Apr 10

I’m only about half-way through my stack of books this week, but I really liked a lot of the ones I've read so far.   So below the jump break you’ll see some comments on six Marvel NOW titles (plus three bonus titles).  I don’t know why these capsule “reviews” get about 50% less page views than my single-issue ones, but sometimes I just don’t have the energy to think about a book too deeply.  It’s been an extra tiring week catching up on work and handling new children pick-up responsibilities, now that my wife has started to work again (part-time) outside the home.  She returned to her SAME employer as a civil engineer (EIT)…16 YEARS later!  Yeah, I know it’s pretty remarkable and we certainly Praise God for this opportunity.  Still it is an adjustment, but I would like to publicly thank her for sacrificially devoting full-time to caring for our six children for so long!!!

In alphabetical order … There could be “SPOILERS!”

Recent Reads

I had a huge stack of comics to pick up this week, which unfortunately due to Marvel Now and my digital code eBay selling program, is starting to be the norm for me.  So far my codes are not generating the Buy It Now cash that I’ve been getting in recent weeks, usually almost completely recouping my floppy costs.  If that continues I’ll have to rethink my strategy, because I can’t sustain this amount of purchasing without that subsidy.  Remarkably, I read thru eight of my twelve books Wednesday night and I’ll endeavor (Note: It is NOT pronounced “in – dee – a – vor”, which is how I read it in Micronauts as a kid) to say a few brief comments on each one.

In stack order from first to last… “SPOILERS!”

Recent Reads

Yesterday was my first day off for the long Christmas break and while I would’ve loved to have prepared this post on Thursday night, I was busy attending the 32^nd annual Stevens Forest Elementary School play directed by the super-awesome Mr. Palmer.  Mr. Palmer has been the gym teacher since the school opened in 1972 and will retire at the end of this school year.  He’s a one-of-a-kind individual who generously gives of his time to the children in our community and I’ve had the privilege of helping him set up Field Day for the last several years even though I no longer have kids attending that school.  This year’s play was A Christmas Carol and it was a miracle that the school system allowed a work that acknowledged God to be performed (There was a reason why he waited for this to be his swan song production -- leverage).  It was spectacular, especially the Ghost of Christmas Future costume and the kid who did an outstanding job playing Scrooge, and I ended up seeing it twice.  So, I’m writing this hours before my deadline and I’m going to (try to) be brief (maybe too brief).  Six titles (I was going to do eight but I got too tired) are mentioned after the jump (there could be spoilers):

Recent Reads Returns… … …RETURNS!!!

[Clears throat]  Sorry, I must have been channeling my inner Moopet when I selected this week’s title. [Shuffles imaginary papers] Well, here we are again with another installment of Recent Reads.  This normally highly sporadic “short post” (yeah, right) was last seen only two weeks ago.  I think that’s a record folks.  Perhaps this is the beginning of a regular feature or it may be just an indication that I’ve been reading a lot of comics, but no single book has been compelling me to spotlight it with a longer review.  That doesn’t mean the books have been duds.  Actually, most of them have been pretty good.

Here’s an abridged list of the last two weeks in no particular order:

Really Recent Reads (2012 Spring Break Edition)

It’s Spring Break and it’s time to head to the sunny Florida beaches with my brood of six children and stay at Jim’s house!  Just kidding…  We are traveling this weekend, going down to Richmond to celebrate Easter with my mother and do some fun stuff around my hometown.  So, I don’t have much time to cobble together a post; therefore, I’ll try to keep it short and sour…I mean “sweet”, which leads us to another installment of Recent Reads.

One of the difficulties of catching up on your reading (as Jim has been doing) is generating a huge backlog of stuff to blog about.  I’ve just finished the Captain Britain Omnibus (very good) and while I hope to spotlight it someday in the future, I don’t have the time right now to do it justice.  The real problem develops the more time that passes between when you finish a book and get around to discussing it.  Enthusiasm wanes, details get fuzzy, etc.  If you read something, but don’t blog about it, was is really worth it?  We’ll leave that question for the philosophers.

Anyway, Wednesday was my first day off for the break and I was at the store right at 1100, having just downed a White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino, with a generous helping of books I really enjoy in my box.  I even had time to read all of them that afternoon.  Unfortunately, I had problems with most of them.  (Maybe it was my strange melancholy mood and innate fatigue.)

Recent Reads

I’m really looking forward to some time off between Christmas and New Years because work has been extra busy lately (Praise God the big report deadline was met yesterday). Home life has been equally so with Christmas (excuse me – Holiday – no wait – WINTER) concerts three nights this past week and relatives visiting. Consequently, I’m trying to get a jump-start on my blog posts ahead of time – something I’ve been unable to do since October. I was out of state (GA and VA) for two weekends in November and taking day trips two other weekends (DC and Hershey). So, forgive me if I go a little lite the next few Saturdays. I’ve still got plenty to say, but it’s been difficult finding time to compose anything (which is why I’m skipping a chance to sleep in right now) and I want to relax and just catch up on my reading over vacation. Therefore, this week you get an abbreviated list of Recent Reads.

Recent Reads

Some books really deserve the full spotlight review treatment, but that also means many, other books worth commenting on never get mentioned. So, in attempt to cut through the backlog (and hopefully, pull something together faster than last week) I present the latest installment of my irregular Recent Reads feature. This will be a good representative sample, but probably won’t cover everything I’ve read comics-wise.


I was like a dieter in a candy store this week and overindulged in FIVE comics NOT on my pull sheet. The good thing is that they all were enjoyable, but now I’ve got to make some hard decisions again.

Batman #1 (DC)

I really liked this book. The art was fantastic, the story straightforward and interesting. I thought it was much better than Swamp Thing #1 and I’m tempted to trade Swampie for Bats before issue 2 even comes out. The only thing that bothered me a little was the ending. Having Dick Grayson be the possible killer is just ludicrous, so the concern over that mystery seems a little hollow to me. I’m really going to enjoy reading Batman again. A new addition to my list.

Recent Reads

Did you hear the most exciting news of the week? Stan"The Man" Lee is going to be the guest of honor at this year's Baltimore Comic-Con! I'm super-stoked about this as I thought I'd never see him in person...EVER! I have the perfect item for him to sign too, my first-edition Marvel Masterworks No. 1, which contains signatures of various creators (including John Romita, Dan Slott, Mike Weiringo, Kurt Busiek, etc.) and some nice head-shot sketches by Erik Larsen. The problem is that I bet the line to see Stan will be tremendously long and they'll probably have to hide him in his own room somewhere, so you wouldn't even get to see him from a distance on the main floor. This year's Con will break ALL attendance records. Mark the date -- 2011 August 20-21 -- less than three months away (too soon if you ask me, but not to be missed).

Okay, that had nothing to do with today's post. Although, technically, I did recently read about it an e-mail yesterday. No, today's post is my highly sporadic version of Jim's Week-In-Review, Thomm's monthly The List, and Mrs. Gwen's Fistful. Basically, I try to talk about a lot of books -- briefly. I was going to try a countdown to the best issue, but to be honest some of the stuff is a little mixed bag and I would deliberate on it too much (and this is supposed to be the "quickie" post -- yeah, right). So, I'm going to go with that old standby -- alphabetical order.

AL -- The All-New! Batman: The Brave and the Bold #7

This was a fantastic flashback within a flashback story that explains Batman's attitude and costume change from the grim-and-gritty black and gray black bat only to the blue and gray yellow-oval bat. The catalyst for the change is the Golden Age Green Lantern (who also used to operate out of Gotham City). Just like in the FCBD story, there are some great page layouts. Yeah, it's a "kiddie" book, but it's still a GREAT comic series.

AM -- The Amazing Spider-Man #661 & 662

Here's a mixed bag offering. These things came out almost right on top of each other, weekly or bi-weekly. I guess they're just treading water to get to issue #666. Not exactly a fill-in, but close. Spidey spends a day substitute teaching at the Avengers Academy.

Now, #661 was really funny, especially when Striker explains how Spider-Man could have still gotten paid without disclosing his secret identity back when he was a celebrity performer. It's a total burn and Peter really reacts to it, because he's being plagued with self-doubt (more than normal) by the Psycho-Man. The first part ends with all the kids chanting "Hate, Hate" with their sites set on Spidey. There's also a great eight-page backup with stellar art by Javier Pulido showing Peter going through a typical day and a To-Do list. In a bit of discontinuity, there's a panel with Psycho-Man that has NOTHING to do with the main feature.


The second part of "The Substitute" in #662 was resolved fairly predictably. Reilly Brown did the penciling for both, but this installment seemed a little rushed. The two-page Infested piece is really not giving me any enthusiasm for Spider-Island. The saving grace of the book was the Magnetic Man back-up feature. Peter helps a former small time villain recently released from prison, and tempted to return to crime, by giving him a job at Horizon Labs. It did a nice job illustrating the difficulties that come with being six-years out of society. Peter's actions reminded me of things Batman has done over the years trying to rehabilitate people.

FF -- FF #4

Barry Kitson draws a great Thing (he seems a little too tall though, must have been the latest mutation)! I did like the round-table dialogue concerning the other Reeds and how they treat Doctor Doom. The rest of the book...Well, let's just say I want to like this title more than I do, so no change since last time.


GO -- Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #3

Best issue so far! We're finally starting to get some more plot and I liked all the little characterizations of the people encountering the Monsters, from red-necks to this "reality's" version of the President and Lady Ga-Ga. Especially the jubilant South Korean border patrol soldier, who says "Suck It" to his enemies, when Godzilla chooses to stomp on North Korea instead. There was a nice bait-and-switch with the full-size twin girls, making you suspect a certain friendly caterpillar-ish creature was going to emerge from the egg, when instead you got the hideous Battra. My favorite part -- a quick glimpse of the real twin miniature girls who sing "Mo-th-ra"!

IN -- Incredible Hulks #628, 627 #629

Yes, I listed those out of order on purpose. I totally missed issue 627 and ended up reading 628 first. It was a fun ride continuing from the great 626 featuring "Mann"-favorite artist, Tom Grummett. The story actually read fine skipping an issue, but I'm glad I got the whole arc (too bad Grummett's off with the next issue). Tyrannus was trying to unleash Pandora's Box, which was said to contain Hope, with the intention of making the world a better place under his rule of course. Turns out Hope alone and abandoned for ages turns sour and angry. When it's unleashed the Hulk sucks it in and swallows the force, absorbing it into his system. It was cool. What wasn't cool was Betty's reaction, which I'll paraphrase for you --" Oh, boo hoo. I can't take it anymore. Your life as the Hulk (and a hero) is too stressful for me (after nearly 50 years), I guess I'll have to become the She-Rulk forever." And She does. And she off with Tyrannus again. Just...like...at...the...beginning...of..the...ARC!!! C'mon people! I guess you could have skipped the whole thing as nothing really changed, except there's no chance for her to be Betty anymore. I still liked it though and plan on following Pak's run to it's conclusion.

KI -- Kirby: Genesis #0

WOW! What a great looking book and a promising series. Busiek and Ross together again, bringing to life some of Kirby's most...ummm, interesting creations. Seriously, this is the stuff Jack never really got much use out of, but these guys are going to mine it for all it's worth. Galactic Bounty Hunters this ain't. Kurt uses Kirby's drawing in honor of the Pioneer 10 space probe and his feelings about a select few, giving away way too much detail about mankind as the premise. The probe ends up accelerating at a phenomenal speed (Sorry Einstein) and travels to a remote part of the universe where something receives the message and then answers...explosively and creatively -- sending back a whole slew of Kirby characters to Earth. It's a kooky concept, but it's certainly Kirby-esque. We've got a few regular characters, including a star gazing boy named Kirby to help ground the series. It's only a half issue with tons of interesting back matter in the rear. Ross does the thumbnail layouts and paints some of the images, while Jack Herbert does the pencils with Neal Adams like quality. The colors by Vinicius Andrade are incredible too. Best of all the price was only $1 for this introduction. Don't Ask, Just Buy It!


EXCELLENT -- This may well be the next buzz book!

PL -- Planet of the Apes #2

If you read my review of issue 1, you already know how much of I love this series. The second issue is just as good. Tensions continue to mount between Ape and Human over the Lawgiver's assassination. More great characters are added and Skintown is going to be invaded by the White Troop in search of the killer...a day early! It's not going to be pretty, but it will be pretty exciting.


SP -- Spider-Girl #6 & 7

I had dropped the book, leaving issue 5 on the stands. It's going to be canceled after issue 8 anyway. So, I wasn't even looking out for issue 6, which I discovered a few weeks late. All but two pages were drawn by Clayton Henry and it was the closest thing to the quality of issue 1 I had seen. It was great. Spider-Girl takes down the Hobgoblin on the "cheap" versus Spidey's multi-million dollar sonic dampening suit. It's really a shame this series has had such a sporadic artist rotation, because when Henry draws it, I love it. At least 50% of issue 7 was drawn by Henry, co-starring the desperate reader grabbing Spider-Man. I guess you have to use full scripts, when you never know if the artist is going to be able to finish the whole book or not.

VE -- Venom #3

Well, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I was so tempted to drop it. Like Greg, I liked the concept in ASM, but the execution in the monthly has been poor. I was interested, because of Flash Thompson, but the focus hasn't really been on him enough -- just Venom, being Venom. One more issue to go before this arc is over. I think I can hold out a little longer -- maybe.


Apparently Marvel is trying take full advantage of any interest in Thor, because they're charging $3.99 for 22 pages of story. Issue 2 looked really interesting, especially since I've been catching up on the JMS HC's and the Fraction Worldtree arc from the library. But that's price gouging at it's worst!

Have a great Memorial Day weekend everybody!

A Few Recent Reads

Happy Belated Groundhog's Day Everyone!
Let's hope Phil is right this year.

So far this has been a much better winter than last year in terms of snow, but it sure has been cold. Although, it looks like we're getting a respite from that this weekend with temperatures in the 40's. I don't get to celebrate G-Hog day as much as I used to with giving and receiving gifts and such (My best friend from high school mailed me a SPAM t-shirt for my first Groundhog's Day celebration back in 1989). It was a great substitute for Valentine's Day when I was single. Well, this year I at least got some comics that day! Haven't read them all though, but here's a few...

Spider-Girl #3

Much, much better than the last issue. Clayton Henry only handled the art for half the story again, which I knew in advance thanks to Paul's response to my e-mail. It was more satisfying this time around though, because it was split up with the middle part handled by others. Anya finally reveals her secret identity to Sue Richards after her father is buried ("He's [REALLY] Dead, Jim"). This was the conversation I was hoping for last time and I wasn't disappointed. There were a couple of nice unexpected elements in the execution. Anya had Sue remain invisible while she talked, which may have surprised some readers when they found out who she finally confided in, but more importantly it made sense that it would just make her more comfortable to share her secret. The twist was that Gil, Anya's father, had already told Sue sometime ago. Thanks to money from Reed's patents, Anya now has enough funds to live on her own and I gather Sue is her guardian now. Still makes me wonder why her father had to die in the first place. There are too many orphans in the Marvel Universe, but that's a topic for another day.

The middle of the story had a LOT of explanation as to what happened last issue with the Red Hulk. Turns out he was drugged and her dad was too, because he and Ross were both investigating someone who had been murdered. So (and this is a little cheap I think) the Red Hulk didn't actually kill him when he crashed a wall on him, because he was going to be dead anyway from the poison. It looked the like art was divided between at least two people. I didn't mind the latter part, but the first part was too exaggerated, especially with her hair being drawn as long as Spawn's cape. The worst part was the ridiculous scene where she shows her underwear while changing in an alley way. It could have been done much more tastefully. I also didn't like that the guy spying on her is not just some random nutjob, but it's actually her next door neighbor. Didn't Nomad already go through something like this last year in her Captain America back-ups? "Yeah, Anya, I can relate to creepy men who want to harm young girls". Let's try a new plot people.

Doctor Strange: Secrets of the Vault #1

I really enjoyed this comic (and amazingly it was only $2.99), even though it has partially been "in the can" for over 12 years! It was supposed to appear in the late Marvel Universe title written by Roger Stern, but the book was canceled before it saw print. The plot and art were finished, but I think Roger had to write the script more recently. It's basically an "untold tale" of when Doctor Strange bought his brownstone in Greenwich Village. This is back before he got his red cloak of levitation. The art by Neil Vokes is excellent and really evokes Steve Ditko's style with a dash of that Bruce Timm animated look.

It's a flashback tale with a lot of flashbacks right from Doc's origin story (one of my favorites). From John Byrne's Lost Generation maxi-series, Strange was active before the Fantastic Four in terms of continuity, but you could place this tale anytime whether in the late 50's or early 60's or ten years ago on the Marvel sliding time scale. His real estate agent actually smokes cigarettes. When's the last time you saw that happen? Turns out the house is both cursed and haunted, requiring Doctor Strange to deal with the Chaos-Entity responsible. In one scene he is tempted by an illusion that speaks to his former self-centered ego as the arrogant surgeon. Stern's rhyming spells read very well too.

About the only thing I didn't like was the cover. Strange looks too evil and it had nothing to do with the story. It would've been more effective to make it look like an old vintage 60's cover and Doc certainly shouldn't have been wearing his red cloak! It also made me realize how much I miss regular Doctor Strange stories -- it's been far, far too long (I guess the last one was that excellent Marcos Martin mini-series). I would love to see a revival by this creative team.

Time Masters: Vanishing Point #6 (of 6)

"The Search for BATMAN is Over!" our beloved comic store owner mockingly read off the cover when I purchased my copy. Yeah, I get the point. Bruce has been back for such a long time already, it was pretty ridiculous to pretend that the "news" was still relevant. But anyone who has stuck through this series this far already knew that this was just an offshoot of the Booster Gold/Rip Hunter story line. I've been enjoying Booster since Jurgen's departed that title, but this didn't need to be a glossy $3.99 a month mini-series when it could have just as easily been in the regular book. Maybe Dan is going back to the book in issue #44.

Still, overall I liked the series and it was especially nice to see the father and son scenes with future Booster and Rip as a child. I'm astounded that this storyline is still going strong sometimes, but I'm really getting to like Booster and now want to read his 1986 adventures to see how he started out.

I still have this week's ASM and Married Life with Archie to read. My comic book list has really started to grow lately, I added three books to my pull list this week: FF, DC's All-New Batman Brave and the Bold, and Boom's Planet of the Apes series. That's in addition to Boom's Elric series and IDW's Godzilla. It may not be a sign of improved economic conditions, but there's certainly some interesting books coming out and I forgot to mention the one premiering next week: Spongebob Comics from Bongo!

Recent Reads

Jim’s got his weekly “Best and the Rest”, Gwen has her “Fistful of Reviews”, and Thomm has his monthly “List”, so I guess I need a semi-regular feature to showcase some mini-reviews of books I’ve recently read too. Hence, the title “Recent Reads”. Hmmm…I wonder if this feature will always correspond with the "dreaded deadline doom”. Oops, I forgot the mike was turned on already…

Archie #606 (Archie)

This was the epilogue issue to the “Will You Marry Me?” storyline, which I loved. Only the first of the three stories actually relate to the “weddings” and it’s just ten pages long. I really liked how it started as Archie is still affected by his trip “up memory lane” and can vaguely remember being happily married to both Betty and Veronica. This really spurs him to try to talk with the two girls. He even shows he’s more sensitive than before (genuinely acknowledging Betty’s value to him and comforting Veronica after she gets cut from the cheerleading team). Unfortunately, when the girls kiss him in gratitude, he can hardly keep his head on straight and inadvertently schedules a date with both of them on the SAME night! It’s not a pretty sight when they catch up to him. Needless to say he’s a long way from marrying either of them now. Basically, back to your typical Archie status quo – bummer.

The third story “Unflappable” was entertaining and clever. Archie wants to show a new girl around on Saturday night, but he’s already got a date with Ronnie. So, he plans to do all the things that bug her to get her to break the date. Only unbeknownst to him, Veronica overhears him telling his plan to Jughead and acts like she isn’t bothered all week. However, Veronica’s plan backfires on her, because her father, Mr. Lodge, refuses to let her go out with him that night, since she’s putting up with Archie’s antics.

I guess I’m not ready to give up on Archie just yet – I’m invested in the character again. Plus, my girls are screaming for the next issue.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? #8 (Boom!)

I’ve got to say that I was seriously thinking about canceling this series. When you get the limited number of books that I do and still manage to delay reading an issue for a month, something is wrong. Well, once issue #9 came out, I finally decided to open up issue #8. Boy, was that the issue I needed to keep me on board for awhile longer. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I’ve always loved the Bladerunner movie and I first read the original Philip K. Dick novel in my Fantasy and Science Fiction class at Tech, so I already knew the story was good. What I like about this experimental series (maintaining the novel’s text in its entirety) is it helps you to better visualize the story. However, some issues come off a little weak – maybe the story doesn’t move along enough (i.e. nothing happens) or the images aren’t very interesting, which is why the book was on the chopping block. Issue 8 is a prime example of the experiment working well.

Rick is tracking down Luba Luft, one of the Nexus 6 androids. She’s a member of an opera troupe that is performing Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”. After watching her practice performance, he goes to her dressing room to administer the Voigt-Kampff empathy personality test on her. He asks situational questions, but she frustrates his results by answering his questions with questions of her own. In addition to accusing him of being a pervert, she also suggests that he may be an android himself, since he has no empathy when it comes to killing “andys”. When he goes to retrieve a piece of the testing devise that she “accidentally” dropped, she pulls a laser tube on him.

For an issue that basically consists of two people talking for the most part, Tony Parker does an outstanding job of keeping it interesting – changing the point of view, panel layouts, “camera” angles, etc. He even gets to depict some good concept scenes – like the skeletons on stage to illustrate that the actors will eventually just turn to dust. He also gets to flesh out the text by showing Mozart when Rick is thinking about him. Something I would never be able to do in my own imagination while reading a novel.

Unfortunately, issue #9 was less meaty and much weaker, but I know there will be other issues like #8 and as a whole this series is still working.

The OZ/Wonderland Chronicles: Prelude to Evil # 1 (Buy Me Toys)

I’ve been following this series from the beginning, which I think was several years ago as I was still doing Cosmic Comix Conversations at the time. It only comes out about two times a year, so I’m a little fuzzy on what is going on at present, but I enjoy it just the same. This is the second (that I recall) supplemental issue (Jack and Cat tales being the first). It’s not really the primary series. This issue is actually listed as a prequel. Right now, we’re getting snippets of what’s going on and eventually we’ll know the big picture. Basically, Alice and Dorothy are now in college, having vaguely remembered their childhood Wonderland and Oz experiences more like dreams. However, the magical realms are now bleeding over into the “real” world with people crossing over between the two regions.

This issue focuses on Sarah Holmes, who is dealing with her mother’s abusive relationships and she really doesn’t want to repeat her Mom’s mistakes. Although, Sarah’s current boyfriend is a real jerk. She e-mails a fantasy author about how she really wishes there was a fairy king to rescue her. (The fantasy author's work may actually be a bleed-over from the magical realms.) Sarah’s Mom has been attacked and Sarah thinks it’s the result of her Mom’s boyfriend, but it turns out he was trying to protect Sarah from some sort of magical monster. Anyway, I can’t go into all the details, but I like the magical elements and I like the personal character elements too. It’s a nice series, taking a familiar concept and really doing something unique with it. Plus, the covers are always outstanding (Although the one I got wasn't as good as this one -- I hate multiple ABC covers! Just give me the best one.)

Incidentally, I get to see the Wicked musical with my daughter today! – It’s a Daddy-daughter date with my new teenager.