Happy New Years Eve!

Party like it's 1979!!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone.

Hope Santa visited and left some amazing gifts from Marvel Comics.

Dear Santa - Stocking stuffers

I want this!

Don't forget to pick up a few things for the stocking, hanging by the chimney with care.

I had the Shazam pajamas and Wonder Woman towel. Wish I still had them.

Dear Santa - UForce Game Controller for Nintendo

I want this!

Well not really, just find it odd and way before its time.

Forget the Kinect, here is the original hands free game controller.

The U-Force from Nintendo!

U-Force "creates a power field" to make you the controller. I read that to mean force field - how kick ass is that!

I never saw one these other than in this ad.

My biggest question - Did it work?

Dear Santa - Metal Gear for Nintendo

I want this!

And 1988 Santa brought it! 

I remember getting Metal Gear and playing it all the time. Collecting all the gear, completing all the missions.

Now that I think about it, this would have made a great GI Joe game.

Dear Santa - X-Men action figures from Toy Biz

I want this!

If this was 1991, these X-Men action figures would be at the top of my Christmas wishlist.

Action feature - sort of similar to what DC's Super Powers Collection had in the 80's.

I got my first one from Kay-Bee Toy at Antioch North Mall in Kansas City, MO. When I called to ask what figures they had, the clerk pronounced it Mag-NET-o. I always thought of it as Mag-NEET-o.

Poor Magneto. His "action feature" was little magnets in his hands. Not much action-y about that.

I loved that the lightening bolt on Storms chest, and Cyclops' visor lit up.
- Colossus came with a barbell weight thing that he tossed
- Archangel had wing with removed tips
- Wolverine had retractable claws
- Apocalypse had little leg extenders that made him taller
- Nightcrawler had the posable-ish tail
I don't remember what Juggernaut's lame action feature was

Dear Santa - the Amazing Energized Spider-Man

I want this!

I remember seeing this Spider-Man ad all the time. 

I never really understood what the toy actually did.

How he was "energized"?
Was he stuck in that pose?
Was the spider-copter included with figure?

Dear Santa - Uncanny X-Men video game for Nintendo

I want this!

On second thought, you can keep it.

Uncanny Action.

More like Uncannily Unplayable! 

From the moment I saw this ad, I wanted this game. I'm not sure if it was the Marc Silvestri-ish like art work, the mohawk on Storm or that I was so into the X-Men at this time. I just knew that this game was going to be awesome.

Boy, was I extremely disappointed.

I couldn't play this game at all. The top down view was horrible. You weren't able to see the characters clearly. The levels were difficult and made no sense.

Read for the Art - Detective Comics Walt Simonson

Going through boxes of comics is proving to be a blast! Here's an issue of Detective Comics from 1975 that I came across. Mid '70's comics can be hit or miss, this one is a definite hit.

The cover looked familiar but I couldn't remember reading the comic.

Elliot S. Maggin tells a good story but it's Walt Simonson on art that blew me away.

Walt Simonson has had an extremely impressive comic career. I enjoyed his work on books like Thor, Fantastic Four, X-Factor, and Orion as writer and artist. This particular comic showcases some of his early art style. He had started out drawing a Manhunter back-up story in previous issues of Detective Comics. What he's done in this issue looks really dynamic and completely different from his later work.

I picked a few examples I thought really stood out and that tell the story pretty well too.

Batman crouched, cape blowing, and menacing. Just the way I like him.

Poor Mr. Harcourt, he unfortunately happens to know the wrong person - Jeremy Wormwood, the shooter in an assassination attempt on a senator.

Living the life of a rich playboy must be hard, but Bruce Wayne lives it well. Surrounding himself with beautiful women, entertaining with a carefree attitude - until the Batman is needed.

Loved this panel of Bruce transforming into Batman! There is a movement and motion to it. Also hearing the young lady getting upset and storming out - too funny.

Batman arrives at Father Knickbocker's Wax Museum. This plays out slightly different than the cover shows. The wax figures in the story are pretty nondescript and featureless. Batman is of course prepared and escapes the waxy death-trap.

Wormwood meets with Harcourt to give him the cape and cowl and collect his fee. Thinking he's in the company of a friend, Jeremy Wormwood admits that mob boss Mike Carley had ordered the hit on the senator. That's all Batman needs to hear before leaping into action.

This would make an amazing poster.

Now, if I saw Batman coming at me I would stop, drop and ball. Wormwood chooses to stand and fight at first, using only a switch blade. You're toast dude, this is the Batman.

What a great page design, with the bat in the middle - "Beware this avenging creature of the night!"

I think it also shows Batman at his most badass-edness - Awesome!

With his confession to Mr. Harcourt, secretly Batman in disguise, caught on tape the comic concludes with Woodworm being arrested by Commissioner Gordon and the GCPD.

Batman's cape and cowl hanging on the chair was a great visual ending to the book too. Even without being in the room Batman's presence is felt. 

As I said at the beginning, the art on this issue was fantastic. I have always enjoyed Walt Simonson's work, but this really took it to another level. Something else that I thought was really cool about the 4 panel fight scene, it has Walt's signature and date of 2-14-75. It kind of provides a time-line into the making of the comic. The comic is cover dated August, but it was probably published 3 months earlier in May. I love things like that.

Detective Comics #450

Writer: Elliot S. Maggin

Artist: Walt Simonson

August 1975

Table for Two, Dinner for Three: starring the Fantastic Four

Sometimes all you want is a nice romantic evening with your flaming hot man. Instead you end up spending it with him and his Inhuman ex-girlfriend.

Oh Alicia Masters, what will you do?

Add some orange juice to the champagne and lets get this started.

"To friendship" indeed.

You mean Johnny never told you, his current blind girlfriend, how he met his exotic, alien ex-girlfriend? Well here's what happened...

The action! The adventure! So in love! Oh what a time that was.

Hahaha! I am so enjoying Crystal more and more. She never really did much for me, but so far since joining this new Fantastic Four she seems a different character.

Alicia on the other hand has always been so blah. Even after it was revealed she was (spoiler).

Awe, running on the beach. Him trying to experience the world the way she does.You can almost hear the standard rom-com montage music.

After Johnny, Crystal ended up marrying Pietro aka Quicksilver. The son of Magneto, and brother to Scarlett Witch of the Avengers.

Now as shown in a previous posting, Crys and Pietro didn't have the best of marriages. They divorced shortly after the birth of their daughter Luna.

Hmm, the plot thickens.

Poor Johnny. You almost feel bad for him.

Luckily the super villain of this story, Fasaud, picks that exact moment to call Johnny and Crystal out into battle.

Don't worry Alicia, I'll just be right outside. I'll be out there with Crystal, we'll protect each other.

The Human Torch and Crystal of course defeat Fasaud, some no-list villain who I'd be surprised ever showed up again. He does make the cover though. See end of post for that.

Crystal uses her elemental powers to call down rain and lighting, creating an explosive thunderstorm. The lightning strikes Fasaud and he is seemingly reduced to smoldering ash.

It's a good thing your enhanced sense of hearing helped you over hear Johnny and Crystal's conversation.

What a soap opera! Unfortunately I don't have any further installments right now. Looks like we're left with some unanswered questions. 

Does Johnny stay with Alicia or get back with Crystal? Is there a cat-fight between Crys and Alicia? Where are the Thing and Ms. Marvel, the other two members of the new Fantastic Four? 

Everyone is present on the cover, along with Fasaud. 

 

Ben and Sharon's story, trying to stop some space shuttle from taking off, wasn't as interesting as the dinner party, so I skipped it. 

The issue's cliffhanger has them captured by Fasaud, amazingly recovered from his battle with the Human Torch and Crystal. 

I'm not really sure how long this FF team was together. Reed and Sue were still around in Four Freedoms Plaza, with Franklin undertow. 

Steve Englehart - Writer 

John Buscema/Joe Sinnott - Art 

Dec. 1987

Hump Day Heroics with Hostess Cakes

"The Mummy" 
  Starring Batman and Robin 

Twinkies, still fresh and tasty after 2,000 years.

Hump Day Heroics with Hostess Cakes

Captain America and the Red Skull

Not quite as seen in Captain America: The First Avenger, now available on DVD and BluRay. 

Who knew the Cosmic Cube was sentient and enjoyed Twinkies? 
 

Capes, Wookies, and Ponchos? Oh my!

Halloween is just around the corner. If you haven't found that perfect costume here are a few ideas.

I think my favorite item has to be the Wookie playset - a hairy mask, wig and fanged teeth. Also great to wear for "bear" night at the club.

Everything makes sense but the ponchos. Don't get me wrong, I still want them and I know Halloween can sometimes be a rainy evening, but they aren't really costumes are they?

Must-have back to school supplies

Be the envoy of all your classmates when you take the Super Friends to school.

I'm sure the teacher won't mind the Bat-Copter flying all over the room.

New DCU circa Nov. 15, 1985

With the New DCU only a week old I thought this was very timely.  

While reading some of my "classic" DCU books I stumbled across this Meanwhile... column. 

Some of what Mr. Jones advocates for sounds pretty close to what DC is doing now. All new #1 issues, new powers, back stories and continuities.

Mr. Kenneth Jones, if you're out there, you might have seen the future in 1985.

DC Comics - The New Universe

I have been collecting comics for 30+ years and here is my take on the new DC Universe.

I am viewing this as a relaunch along the lines of what happened after Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985. Once that series ended, the universe restarted itself, heroes and story lines changed.

In this way I think the New 52 is similar. Trying to take what is best about the character and give it a different spin. Might not be the spin you'll like but it's basically the same character, to some extent.

Instead of getting the John Byrne rebooted Superman, there will be Grant Morrison's version. Instead of the George Perez rebooted Wonder Woman, there will be the Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang version.

The Wildstorm Universe is now merged into the DCU like Fawcett Comics Shazam family was or like Blue Beetle, Captain Atom or Question from Charlton Comics were. 

When I first heard and read about this new DCU, I didn't know what to think. My excitement for comics has waned throughout the years. Now that I'm looking at it from this direction, I'm kind of interested and even a little excited to see where this is going.

What will remain and what will change about these characters? Will a character that I wasn't overly interested in before become a new favorite? Will old favorites change to much?

Guess I'll just have to keep reading to find out.

Oprah VS Green Lantern

Okay, maybe not really versus, there's no epic battle between Oprah and Green Lantern - or is there?

Things don't seem to be off to a good start, Green Lantern is late and Oprah ain't happy.

Where is GL? Is he in outer space battling aliens? On an emergency mission with the Justice League?

Nope! He's just overslept. Hal Jordan may be Green Lantern but he's still at the mercy of an alarm clock.

Good thing he's got that ring to help him shave, comb his hair, spray on deodorant, and brush his teeth - all at the same time.

He should have no trouble getting to the studio on time now right?

A robbery and police shoot out isn't something he can simply fly by and ignore, even if Oprah is waiting.

That doesn't mean he's going to waste time - One ring construct in the form of a giant green gorilla coming right up.

Whatever works GL, what ever works.

Green Lantern finally makes it to the Oprah Show with just seconds to spare.

Hal, as Green Lantern, is appearing on the show to clear up some of the recent events surrounding himself, former GL John Stewart and Carol Ferris.

In previous issues Carol, in her Star Sapphire persona, attacked John Stewart and his wife Katma. She also attacked Hal, destroying a fighter jet and blowing up part of a building in the process. Carol even faked her death, framing John, who is now in jail. I'm hoping to post all about that at another time. It's got art by the legendary Gil Kane.

I thought with Oprah ending her show recently and the Green Lantern movie opening, I'd post this first. Seemed more interesting and relevant.

Let's get back to Hal's interview with Oprah.

It had been going okay, he explained about the Guardians of OA and the multiple members of the Green Lantern Corps. Things start to change though when Oprah asks why he, above all others, was picked to be a Green Lantern.

Oh dear, not quite the reaction Hal was expecting I'm sure.

Completely without fear? That does sound a bit crazy. What kind of person has a lack of fear?

Hal briefly thinks about Guy Gardner, another Green Lantern from Earth. Guy is a jerk and obnoxious, but that's more to cover up his insecurities, not because he's crazy. 

Hal is also confronted by a psychologist in the audience who wonders how someone without fear made it through life and into adulthood.

Another woman feels that a true hero is someone who overcomes their fear.  

GL, it's never a good idea to compare yourself to a police officer - especially when talking to the wife of one.

Hal does his best to reassure Mrs. Hough that he doesn't think he's any better than her husband, or anyone else.

The story then shifts to introduce us to Detective Joey Hough. He's been enjoying a nice cup of coffee and has caught his wife's conversation with GL.

Tragically that will be the last time he sees her.

Being the exact hero his wife has just described him as, Detective Hough is attacked and killed trying to protect others.

Peter David is an amazing writer, he got me to care about two minor characters I'd just met and would never see again. The detective and his wife were just emotional pawns in this story.

I also thought having Oprah appear was brilliant. If super-heroes were real, they would so be on the Oprah Show. She is the only TV personality powerful enough to actually get guests likes Superman and Wonder Woman. Can you imagine her interviewing Batman? HA!HA! 

Action Comics Weekly #608 and #609
Writer: Peter David 
Art team: Todd Smith and Dan Bulanadi
1988

Hump Day Heroics with Hostess Cakes

"The Bobsled Run" 
    Starring Green Lantern

Green Lantern continues to make the world safe for Twinkie loving bobsledders in the new Green Lantern Movie, opening June 17th! 

Thor's day Thursday

Cross the rainbow bridge Bifrost and enter the nine worlds of Asgard!

 

The city of Asgard is home to the Asgardians and the royal family, lead by Odin. 

Here is a look at three of the more noble and notorious Asgardians.

Odin, All-Father and Lord of Asgard

 

marvel.com/universe/Odin

Thor, mighty champion and defender of Asgard and Earth

marvel.com/universe/Thor

Loki, Trickster and Lord of Mischief

http://marvel.com/universe/Loki


My knowledge of Thor, his family and adventures is limited so I included the Marvel Comics web address for them. I haven't read many Thor comics, other than the great Walt Simonson issues and that hasn't been recently.

I thought the Thor movie starring Chris Hemsworth was fantastic! That's kind of why I did this post. With all the buzz about the movie I wanted to show what the characters, at one time, looked like in the comics.

Dan's Comic Book Collection

I want to start with a big, heartfelt thank you to my friend Dan for letting me borrow his comics. They helped motivate this blog.

Dan is an improv actor/stand-up comedian and fellow comic book fan. He's friends, and one time neighbor, with my boyfriend Matt. Having spied several long boxes of comics while visiting his apartment on occasion, I finally asked if I could look through them.

I found a lot of similarities between Dan's collection and my own, like he was my comic book soul mate. I got excited seeing all the comics that I do have, but aren't easily accessible, and ones that I hadn't read before.

Some of the best have been Capt. America, Batman and Detective Comics from the '80s and '90s. Also found nice consecutive issue runs of Action Comics Weekly, Justice League International and a handful of fun Todd MacFarlane Amazing Spider-Man issues.

I'd like to post about most of these comics, we'll just have to see what I actually do though.

Anyway, the reason for the "Dan's Collection" label is hopefully to help me stay organized. Provide a listing of his comics to keep them separate from my own.

I've been collecting comics for 30+ years but most of those books are currently in Kansas City. I do have plans to move them, but that's a task I'm not ready to take on just yet.   

I want to thank Matt too, for encouragement, proof-reading and just for being there. Sometimes my thoughts and ideas, along with wording and sentence structure sound better in my head.

This blog wouldn't be quite the same without Dan and Matt - thanks guys.

Retro Read - Meet the New Fantastic Four!

The new Fantastic Four team is made up of The Thing (Ben Grimm), Human Torch (Johnny Storm), Crystal and Ms. Marvel (Sharon Ventura). At first I didn't see the connections for this team, but Crys has been in the FF before and Sharon has an odd, strange past with Ben involving super powered wrestling.

It was nice of them to send Dr. Doom a team photo and letter. 

I'm not sure what happens when Ms. Marvel shows up to the join the team, but Crystal's arrival sets off all sorts of fireworks. I was never really a fan of Crystal, or the Inhumans, but after reading her introduction into this new team I changed my opinion a bit.

            "Thing vs Torch. 'Nuff said!"

Teammates battling it out, especially two as close as Johnny and Ben, are always fun covers. Makes you wonder how it plays out in the story.  Is it mind control?  Is it a simple misunderstanding gone to far?
Is it just a bait and switch cover to get you to buy the comic?

We'll get to the reason for them fighting later, but lets start at the beginning and see how things develop.

Ben has set himself up as new team leader and seems quite pleased that Reed and Sue have left.   Especially Reed.

The Invisible Woman and Mr. Fantastic are taking a break from the team to spend more time with their son Franklin. The kid seemed to be forgotten and left behind a lot. Once with an old lady, Agatha Harkness, that ends with the team battling Mephisto. We may get to that story another time.

Back to Ben and his real reason for wanting to lead the FF - Bossing the Human Torch around.

Johnny has married Alicia Masters, Ben's blind ex-girlfriend. They started a relationship while Ben was off world. He stayed on the planet created by the Beyonder after the Secret War, there Ben was able to control changing into the Thing. That was something Reed could never do for him.

Johnny has also had a relationship with Crystal, when she was on the team before.
Now she's come to Four Freedoms Plaza to see her husband, Quicksilver. The FF have him in a holding cell after he attacked them in the previous issue.

Crystal and Pietro have always had a strained marriage. They seemed to be apart more than together. She's pretty upfront about not wanting to see him too. Crystal even refers to him as her "crazy husband". Ben and I are thinking along the same lines, she's not the same innocent, sweet Crystal.

Here is where two characters I've never really liked become very interesting.

Crys and Pietro's marriage seems to be coming to a boil in 3,2,1...

                        "Oh, shut up!"

Those three words made me sit up and notice Crystal, I was finally interested in her.

How was Pietro going to respond to that? He isn't known for his cool temper and had just accused Crystal of ruining his life, of being "The woman who seduced my purity with the errors of the flesh!!!"       Ouch

Quicksilver comes across as an angry asshole most times, but I didn't see him becoming so physical with Crys. I didn't expect him to attack her, grab her by the arm and twist. Crystal does fight back though, but using her elemental powers against him only escalates the battle.

If they weren't super heroes and I didn't enjoy seeing them fight, this might be considered domestic violence. Hey, it's not like its Hank Pym slapping around Janet van Dyne.

Crys has to really think fast to counter Quicksilver's super speed. Using the water from the sink and toilet was smart, funny, and insulting all at the same time. Crys just keeps surprising me.

After Pietro shouts a few more platitudes about his "glorious mutant heritage" Crystal has had enough. She seems to win, if you consider beating your husband in physical combat winning.

Now that that little business is done what's going to happen when Crys runs into Johnny and his new bride? Not much it seems, they have a nice, pleasant enough conversation but that could be changing soon. Before Crystal can leave Ben decides it's the perfect time to ask her to join his FF team.

This couldn't be a way to get back at Johnny, hurt him in some way, could it? Johnny certainly thinks so and decides he and Ben need to have a talk, on the roof, of course.

Johnny can't believe Ben, asking his first love to be part of the team. He's just gotten married! Of course he did marry Ben's first love, but I don't think Johnny's concerned about that. Ben reminds Johnny that he's in charge now and Johnny can leave if he doesn't like it. I do believe Ben was hoping to pick a fight and he got his wish.

      "Flame on!"
Finally we get to the why for Johnny and Ben fighting on the cover - bruised egos. That could lead to a civil war between heroes. At least it's not the over used first-meeting-misunderstanding-battle.

Johnny gets to shout out his catch phrase, but no "clobberin' time" from Ben? Instead he jumps right in and questions Johnny's feelings for Alicia and Crys. Another surprise by a character I don't care for.

Not quite the "nuff said" battle promised on the cover, but we got two hero v hero battles in one book. This new Fantastic Four team is off to a good start so far.

There had been rumors that Crystal slept with another man, and seeing her relationship with Pietro that isn't surprising. I'm not sure who or when this happened, but Sue is certainly interested. She's kind of accusatory and "I'd never do that" towards Crys. Has Sue forgotten her Malice costume - leather and hooker heel boots?

Love Crys' comeback - "I'm not Tigra!" Not sure what she means by it but its bitchy and I like it! Tigra does run around in a bikini but thats her costume.

Now Sue is going to question Crys about Luna, Crystal and Pietro's daughter? Who will take care of her? I like Sue, sometimes more (see above Malice comment) than others, right now is not one of those times. Crys just replys she'll do the same that Sue always did with Franklin, have someone else do it.   Ha! Crystal really is starting to grow on me.

Does Sue think that Crystal will try to break up Johnny and Alicia? Was that the point of her little girl talk with Crys?  If she's so concerned she should be talking to Johnny too. I don't think Crys is setting out to come between them, but there is a great dinner party coming up in another issue.

The book wraps with Johnny and Alicia apartment hunting and Dr. Doom arriving, but thats so blah. The best parts, I think were above.

Steve Englehart did a great job getting me interested in and caring about some characters I typically skip over. Crystal and Pietro certainly jumped to the front of the line. When I read their scene I was really blown away, I think I even let out a gasp. Ben and Johnny fighting was enjoyable, but that happens a lot. I read the Fantastic Four off and on, each time really wanting to enjoy the book, this time I did. I'm already thinking about the next FF post.

Fantastic Four #305

Writer: Steve Englehart

Art Team: John Buscema / Joe Sinnott