Clearly, Didio is trying to echo the Geoff Johns approach of posting page after page of "big moments" rather than telling an actual story. These days Johns does this with little substance added, but he does it in a splashy way that can tap into the elusive "iconic moment", particualrly for longtime fans. Here, Didio fails miserably in every attempt. He tries to get the reader to go "oh crap, are these the 7 dudes who make up SHAZAM?" and instead all I'm left thinking is "oh brother, how hard is this guy trying to make this book more important than it is?". He tries to play into Phantom Stranger being a critical anchor of the new 52, yet he can't deliver a single moment in the issue that feels like it has any value. As said above, it doesn't help that there isn't actually anything exciting about these moments.
(Another moment where Didio is clearly trying to appeal to continuity cops and those compelled to guy what matters to continuity is by having the Question show up for a few panels. Instead, it shows the Question so far removed from what he used to be that its another epic fail that only makes the issue even less readable).
BTW, that entire sequence is lifted from Johns' free Comic Book Day story, just redrawn.
From: Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
I'd say for a PS book to ever be successful, it would require a really gifted writer to pull it off. I bet that Morrison, for instance, could pull it off. Didio? Ugh.
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
All this being said, it looks like the PS series from the '60s-'70s had some top-flight talent working on it. I might have to pick up those Showcase reprints in the future.
Anyone here read any of that run? Cobie?
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I HIGHLY recommend the 50's series if you can ever find those issues reprinted.
Actually, aren't some of the 60's - 70's stories reprints of those? Maybe not in the Showcase.
The great rumor of the last 15 years is Neil Gaiman has a whole pitch / first few issues written for a PS series that he never found the time to do (or wouldn't unless DC gave him a little something extra ownership wise on something he did for them). He'd do a phenomenal job, obviously.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
I believe the first few stories in the Showcase are reprints from the 50s series. As I recall, I remember vastly preferring those to the later stories.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
DC from 1950-Ish to 1954 skirted the line with horror comics: never going over the line with true horror tropes like its contemporaries yet firmly telling stories in that genre. The result was actually some very well written stories that did not rely on shock value.
Phantom Stranger is the best of these, though very early House of Mystery and Sensational Mystery (formerly Sensational Comics, the Wonder Woman led anthology) were also good. The early Dr. Thirteen back ups in PS are also fantastic--the very best that character has ever been.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Lardy, as promised, here are my thoughts on the Phantom Stranger Showcase volumes:
I enjoy the early, horror-anthology-type stories, but they're not my favorites. The same goes for the stories which introduce recurring enemies, because they tend to be repetitive (they do have typically gorgeous Jim Aparo art, though.)
Then, with issue #14, Len Wein in his early-70s could-do-no-wrong prime takes over the writing, and combined with Aparo's artistic talent, the quality skyrockets. The first volume ends halfway through the Wein/Aparo era.
The second volume opens with three issues of other titles -- B&B and JLA -- in which the Stranger guest-starred. Wein wrote the JLA one, so it's the best, natch.
The Wein/Aparo era ends after #26, and though none of the stories which follow match those heights, it's still consistently readable. And one of the writers which followed was a young Paul Levitz.
Hope this helps you decide whether or not you want to buy the Showcase volumes.
posted
As I recall, Showcase #80 (the Phantom Stranger issue) was a pair of reprints, one starring the Phantom Stranger and the other starring Dr. Thirteen, with a new framing sequence that led to a final segment featuring both characters.
This formula was in effect for the first year or two of the PS series, as I recall, although at some point the reprints were replaced by new material. The book also picked up a Scooby-Doo type gang of teenagers that drove the framing sequence. One particularly grating feature of these early issues was Dr. 13 sounding like a broken record with his "I'm going to prove you're a fraud, Stranger" bit.
Eventually the Stranger started actually participating in the stories themselves (as opposed to being more of a narrator type like Cain and Abel in their respective houses), and the series took off under the guidance of writer Len Wein and artist/letterer Jim Aparo.
Various backup strips were tried over the 40+ issue run. Some were pretty decent, while others weren't worth the paper they were printed on (which was pretty cheap stock in those days). The main stories, though, were actually pretty consistent in quality overall, and even at their worst were far better than what's coming out of the DCnU these days.
-------------------- First comic books ever bought: A DC four-for-47-cents grab bag that included Adventure #331. Been addicted ever since.
From: Stuck in the Psychedelic Era | Registered: Jan 2010
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posted
Leave it to Morrison to make some partially edible lemonade out of lemons as the "new" Phantom Stranger guest stars in this week's Action, helping Kal and Krypto fend off the Phantom Zone Villains.
From: Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada | Registered: Sep 2004
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