I alluded to this on another thread, how I like to keep a huge stack of trades and hardcovers by my recliner to read at my leisure when the mood hits. I think this really became a thing for me after I gathered up all the collections I needed to complete my huge read of 1970s Avengers comics. But it's always been a vice of mine, stockpiling trades and reading them when I read them. As I spend less and less money on new comics (because I have a smaller pull list and because I keep store credit at my CBS earned from consignment sales I've made there), I find myself stalking eBay for collections of older material that strike my fancy...especially '70s Marvel & DC and indie books from the '80s.

Here's what's on the coffee table, right now:

Batman: Tales of the Demon
Tales of the Batman: Don Newton
Tales of the Batman: Gene Colan
Huntress: Darknight Daughter
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vols. 1 thru 4
Marvel Masterworks: Dr. Strange Vol. 5 (featuring Englehart scripts)
Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 5 (collects FF 41-50 & Ann. 3)
Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men Vols. 6-8
Grendel Omnibus Vol. 2: The Legacy
Mage Vol. 1: The Hero Discovered
Mage Vol. 2: The Hero Defined
Bandette Vol. 1
Legion Archives Vol. 7 (for the Re-reading project)

Most recently read:
Grimjack Omnibus Vol. 1
Grendel Omnibus Vol. 1: Hunter Rose

On the way from eBay
From Hell
Brian Michael Bendis' Jinx, Torso & Goldfish TPBs


What'll I likely read from the pile next? Most likely Mage Vol. 1, after I re-read some old Astro City floppies.

What seems most far off to read? Uncanny X-Men Masterworks. I think I'll save them for after Vol. 9 comes out in January and read them all straight though.

What am I currently most stalking the internet for? Probably Jon Sable, Scout, Stray Bullets and Captain America: War and Remembrance, but sometimes I surprise myself (like with the trades currently on the way)!

I feel I'll update this list periodically and even share some reviews that may not fit as well into other existing threads. If you have anything similar going on at your domicile, please feel free to share here as well!

Great idea for a thread, Lardy.

Here's my pile, some of which are trades I own and some of which are trades I borrowed from the library.

Showcase Presents Legion of Super-Heroes Vols. 3-4 (for the Archives Re-Read)
Essential Avengers Vols. 1-5 (for research purposes for my Black Widow Avengers memoir fanfic project)
Black Widow Deadly Origin (see above)
Black Widow Sting of the Widow (see above)
Essential Iron Man Vol. 1 (see above; Natasha's earliest appearances)
Squadron Supreme
Squadron Supreme Death of a Universe
Supreme Power Vols. 1-2

On their way from the library:

Astro City Shining Stars
Marvels
Marvels Eye of the Camera
Black Widow...um...I can't remember the subtitle of this one off the top of my head, but it includes the George Perez Widow story from Marvel Fanfare

Great idea for a thread! And one that fits my own home recently too!

I'm very interested in your review of the 3 Bendis trades since I've never read them, know he hasn't been your favorite and know they've been almost universally praised over the years.

Oh, and Bandette is one I also really want but totally forgot about. It looks right up my alley.

Really interested to see what you read next!

Hopefully the one at the top. It sounds heavy. I'd hate to read "trapped under this ***** pile" on the "Today I..." thread until you're rescued.


I have Avengers, Astro City, Legion Index and a pile of unread new comics to go through. Including Multiversity as I caved in pathetically there.

They were on my radar when I was into Ultimate Spider-Man and the early Powers run (when it was still good). When I bid on the Mage trades for a very reasonable deal, I looked at the seller's other stuff and saw Jinx. I did a minimum bid on that, hoping to add an extra steal in the same shipment. I was outbid at the last second on that. But I did a random search for Jinx last night and saw all three bundled together with no bids at $6.00 + $3.65 shipping. One other guy bid the minimum, and I swooped in at the last minute and paid only $6.50 + the shipping! I figure for that minimal investment, it won't matter if I don't love it! I have a feeling I'll like it, though. Bendis has/had talent but overreaches for pretty much the last decade. I still love every bit of the first volume of USM before Ultimatum.



This got tons of great reviews and was clearly on my radar. I flip through it, and it looks fantastic! I'm just waiting for the right moment to read it.



Me, too!

To have it all in one place, here is a snapshot of the trades I currently have to review. My trade buying habits are a little different: usually around August / September I buy a whole bunch all at once and then read them throughout the course of the year, interspersed between novels and non-fiction books. I almost always read them while I'm commuting or traveling, so what I read sometimes is determined whether I'm flying somewhere for work and have a prolonged amount of time to read something in 1-2 sittings.

Promethea Books 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
Hellboy: Conqueror Worm – Dark Horse
Hellboy: Strange Places – Dark Horse
Hellboy: Troll Witch and Others – Dark Horse - these are basically Hellboy TPB's 5-7
Battling Boy – First Second
Red-Handed: Fine Art of Strange Crimes - First Second - Matt Kindt OGN
Secret History Omnibus Volume #2 – Archaea
Pax Romana – Image
Lil’ Depressed Boy Vol #1: She is Staggering – Image
Super Spy - Top Shelf - Matt Kindt's hit
The Bojeffries Saga- Top Shelf - Alan Moore & Steve Parkhouse
The Underwater Welder- Top Shelf - Jeff Lemire's hit
The Lovely Horrible Stuff- Top Shelf
The Homeland Directive- Top Shelf
Bughouse (Vol 1) - Top Shelf
The From Hell Companion - Top Shelf; I read From Hell earlier this year.
The Playwright - Top Shelf

This morning on the train ride in, I started Promethea vol. 1 and read the intro and the first issue. So far: fantastic.

I ended up ignoring all of my pile to reread the start of Akira instead

The Black Widow trade arrived today. It's subtitle is Web of Intrigue.

In addition to the George Perez Widow story, it also includes the Paul Gulacy Widow story from the black-and-white magazine Bizarre Adventures.

The Astro City trade came in.

Unfortunately, the Marvels trade still hasn't arrived. Sorry to keep you waiting, Lardy.

Review of the Astro City trade to come in this forum's Astro City thread, either late tonight or when I get home tomorrow from work.

Added to the pile: Adventures of Superman Jose Luis Garcia Lopez.

Oh, I almost forgot, in addition to the Garcia Lopez Superman trade, I got Volume 7 of the reprints of the Marvel Star Wars series from the 70s and 80s. It might seem a little strange to start at the end, it's that these stories are written by Jo Duffy, a very talented and underrated writer IMO (her run on Power Man & Iron Fist is the only time I've liked either character.) Also, the art is by Cynthia Martin, another underrated talent. Sadly, both ladies appear to have left comics.

Oh, MAN! My Big-Ass Pile is growing TOO BIG!!!

I took in some comics for trade to my CBS today and used part of the credit from it to bring home:

Man-Thing Omnibus
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vol. 1
New Teen Titans TPB Vol. 1



IT'S OUTTA CONTROL!!!!



Now, I've gotta move those X-Men Masterworks that I won't read until January at the earliest to another location, so my coffee table won't collapse!

Did I REALLY post that?!?!

LOL

Yeah, right above "Man-Thing Omnibus"

Is it a pile of comics or porn?

I don't have a Big Pile o'trades. In fact, I only have two books that I haven't already read, and I bought them both today.

Batman: The Black Mirror -- because it's the chosen book for the local Graphic Novel discussion group next month.

March: Book One -- Georgia Congressman John Lewis's illustrated memories of the Civil Rights Movement.

I found myself near a branch library, so I added four more trades, all of them Astro City:

- Life in the Big City

- Confession

- Dark Age Vol. 1

- Dark Age Vol. 2

And Astro City Local Heroes is already on its way to my local branch.

(Don't worry, Lardy, I rememeber your warning, so I'll save Dark Age for last.)

It's not that Dark Age is bad--it's not. But 16 issues is just TOO long for pretty much any storyline, even considering that each 4-issue chunk kind of told a somewhat complete story. Compounding matters was it seemed even longer than it was because of long publication delays between Books and occasionally even individual chapters therein. At least you won't have that added frustration!

I'm not going to comment a lot on "Local Heroes" yet, since you haven't received it. But I WILL say that I just completed the floppies it comprises and was amazed to see appearances by characters who would later get their own spotlights in the current ongoing!

Added to the pile, freshly arrived from the library:

Marvels (FINALLY! HURRAH!)

Marvels: Eye of the Camera

Astro City: Local Heroes

Classic Champions: Vols. 1-2 (more research for the Black Widow fanfic project, and a fun if disparate Bronze Age team)

Essential Avengers Vol. 8 (more research for the Black Widow fanfic project -- Natasha's appearances during the Shooter/Michelinie era, real bite-the-bullet stuff, but for a project like this, I have a lot of bad comics to re-read.)

So after taking a week or so to re-read some Marvels and Astro City and then read a dozen from my "new" pile, I've started reading Mage: The Hero Discovered from the titular Big-Ass Pile o' Trades today! So far, so good!

That, my friends, is a true Lardy phrase!

Titular Big Ass may be the name of Lardy's favorite "club"!

I'm building my own Po'T on my bedside dresser... I just got two Image trades, and two from Marvel, with my DCBS order today--Manhattan Projects v.4, Peter Panzerfaust: The Hunt(also v.4), Deathlok: The Complete Collection, and the All-New X-men v.1 HC.

I need to set these aside while I finish up Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (and other American Stories), then race through The Hunger Games trilogy. The first is an inter-library loan due as soon as I can finish it, and the THG trilogy is "on loan" from my cousin.

Pov, Manhattan Projects and Peter Panzerfaust v. 4 were both fantastic! PP gets better and better, while MP just gets crazier and batshit crazier!

Yeah, definitely looking forward to reading those especially. I got the A-NX trade because of the buzz here on LW about the series, and I got the Deathlok trade out of Bronze Age sentimentality.

I think you'll be delighted by how awesome ANX is. I've said it before: who new that the characters Bendis was born to write were the 5 original X-Men as teens? He and Immonen deliver ever issue, and recall a better era of X-Men comics where fun was included in the angst and tragedy.

I just shortened my TPPoT (Tiny Patootie Pile O'Trades) by half by finishing Batman: The Black Mirror. I've never been much of a Batman fan, but man, this book was excellent!

Added She-Hulk: Law and Disorder to the pile, on Cobie's recommendation.

I have a lot of catching up to do, having spent the past few days too sick to do much reading.

UPDATE.....

Currently Reading
Torso by Bendis and Andreyko

Recently Read
Batman: Tales of the Demon
Mage Vol. 1: The Hero Discovered

To-Read Pile
Tales of the Batman: Don Newton
Tales of the Batman: Gene Colan
Huntress: Darknight Daughter
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vols. 1 thru 4
Marvel Masterworks: Dr. Strange Vol. 5 (featuring Englehart scripts)
Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 5 (collects FF 41-50 & Ann. 3)
Grendel Omnibus Vol. 2: The Legacy
Mage Vol. 2: The Hero Defined
Bandette Vol. 1
Legion Archives Vol. 8 (for the Re-reading project)
Man-Thing Omnibus
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vol. 1
Jinx
Goldfish
From Hell
Captain America: War & Remembrance
New Teen Titans Vol. 1

On the Way from eBay
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 1

Current Heavy eBay Stalks
Scout
Amazing Spider-Man Masterworks Vols 3 & 6 (recently acquired Vols. 4 & 5--already own 1 & 2--but aren't in the pile just yet)


So I'll try to have reviews of Tales of the Demon, Mage and Torso soon. I'll say that all are really good reads, and Torso, especially, is fucking GREAT so far!

I think Defender Vol. 1 is likely next for me. I'm known to change my mind, though...

Ooh, I love Batman: Tales of the Demon! Can't wait to read your review!

I'll update my list in a little while.

Showcase Presents Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 4 (for the Archives Re-Read)
Essential Avengers Vols. 4-5 (for research purposes for my Black Widow Avengers memoir fanfic project)
Black Widow Deadly Origin (see above)
Supreme Power Vols. 1-2
She-Hulk: Law and Disorder
Green Arrow: Quiver
Showcase Presents: Batman and the Outsiders Vol. 1
JLA: The Deluxe Edition Vol. 1 (strictly for JLA fanfic research purposes; as everyone knows, I think Morrison's is the most overrated era of the JLA.)
DC's Greatest Imaginary Stories
Star Wars: A Long Time Ago Vols. 4-7
Astro City: The Dark Age Vols. 1-2
Marvels: Eye of the Camera
Captain Britain (the late 80s trade reprinting the Alan Davis/Jamie Delano stories)

On their way from the library:

Essential Daredevil Vols. 4-5 (more Black Widow research)
Green Arrow: Year One (never read this before, despite my love for both Ollie Queen and Andy Diggle)
Hellblazer: Lady Constantine (Ah, for the days before Diggle got into a crime drama rut)

...That sounds like it would be an awesome story... All of those poor eaten or flushed guppies, rising to exact their revenge...

UPDATE (10/27/14).....

Currently Reading
Man-Thing Omnibus

Recently Read
Batman: Tales of the Demon
torso by Bendis & Andreyko
Marvel Masterworks: Defenders Vol. 1

To-Read Pile
Tales of the Batman: Don Newton
Tales of the Batman: Gene Colan
Huntress: Darknight Daughter
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vols. 2 thru 4
Marvel Masterworks: Dr. Strange Vol. 5
Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 5 (collects FF 41-50 & Ann. 3)
Grendel Omnibus Vol. 2: The Legacy
Mage Vol. 2: The Hero Defined
Bandette Vol. 1
Legion Archives Vol. 8 (for the Re-reading project)
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vol. 1
Jinx
Goldfish
From Hell
Captain America: War & Remembrance
New Teen Titans Vol. 1
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 1
Scout Vols. 1 & 2

On the Way from eBay
Marvel Masterworks Vol. 6

Current Heavy eBay Stalks
Amazing Spider-Man Masterworks Vols 3, 7 & 8 and possibly beyond (the three mentioned are available cheap--Vol. 6 was harder to get--just looking for the best deal for what will eventually be a huge ASM reading project)


Still owe you guys reviews of Tales of the Demon, torso and now Defenders Vol. 1. (I reviewed Mage Vol. 1 today in the '80s indies thread, at least.) Viva la Pile!!!

My pile hasn't changed much beyond returning a few of the library books and adding my own copies of the Six from Sirius trade and the first two Meridian trades.

I reviewed the first three issues of the ten collected in Green Arrow Quiver and am hoping to review the next two issues later tonight.

I reviewed Astro City The Dark Age in the Astro City thread, and added to that review my thoughts on Marvels Eye of the Camera.

I also Lady Constantine in the Random Review Corner thread, but there were no comments on that one, which surprised me.

Still planning to review Captain Britain, Supreme Power, Green Arrow Year One, and, of course, the Adventure era Legion.

Looking forward to them, Fickles!

Re: Lady Constantine...It was certainly an interesting review. But I couldn't think of anything to say other than "interesting review", so I refrained. The only time I've really enjoyed Hellblazer was when Garth Ennis wrote it, so the character and his universe are usually off my radar. Admittedly, I haven't had the biggest sampling of all the different writers. I thought I'd collect Peter Milligan's run in TPBs, but I only ever read the first one, even though it was pretty decent. If I run across a cheap copy of Lady C, I'll give it a try.

That would be great. Thanks, Lardy.

Andy Diggle's all-too-brief run on Hellblazer proper is definitely worth reading, as are the early arcs of Mike Carey's Hellblazer run, with 200 as my personal cut-off point.

torso by Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko

As I alluded to in an earlier comment, I absolutely LOVED this story! It's been so long since I read a good, much less GREAT story involving Bendis that it took me by surprise. But I'd always heard how he made his bones writing AND drawing (!) crime thrillers before he landed on Ultimate Spidey and clearly began to eventually let all the praise inflate his ego and mostly produce dreck. I'd always meant to go read the earlier stuff, but I understandably wasn't in a hurry after I began to sour on him.

Back in the day, Bendis actually illustrated his own stories, and he was actually pretty good at it! I would stop waaaay short of saying his stuff was comparable to any of the greats because it isn't. But the art is definitely competent though a bit stiff and photo-referenced. I'd say it has some similarities to the rough style of his collaborator on Alias, Michael Gaydos. His layouts are actually fairly inventive. In many cases his occasional integration of actual case photography alongside his art works really well. Occasionally, he takes maybe too many liberties, like when the panels drift into a right angle for a while at particular story turns. But it's competent and works for the story very well, overall.

The story itself, credited as a Bendis and Andreyko collaboration, is the biggest draw. Billed as a "true crime" novel, torso dramatizes the true story of the Cleveland "torso" murderer case from the 1930s. Aside from being one of the earliest modern serial killer cases, it's also significant for the involvement of Eliot Ness, the legendary figure behind the Untouchables and their taking down Al Capone in Chicago. This case takes place a few years after Capone's fall as Ness takes on the position of "safety officer" in Cleveland. As Ness tries to clean up Cleveland's corrupt police force, his efforts are derailed as the city's attention turns to the grisly murders in which severed body parts allow for few clues and very few victims identified.

It's a really riveting and engrossing in its account and execution. In addition to Ness, we get to know the pair of investigating officers and see the birth of modern forensics as the science is practically invented right before our eyes. The paranoia and fear of the public at large is palpable. And it turns out that much of the facts of the story are well researched and accurate.

But as the last quarter of the story unfolds, it becomes pretty clear that this account has been fictionalized. It has kind of a horror movie confrontation at the end that you just know didn't really happen or else it would have been the most famous serial killer case there's ever been--and it's clearly not. But that's okay--it fits in with the tradition of how Ness and his Untouchables adventures have been bloated and warped beyond barely any semblance of truth over the decades since they happened. My guess is the real story would make for much more boring movies, TV shows and the like.

But my internet research into the case (no, not just Wikipedia) shows that the events of the first three-quarters of the book are fairly spot-on accurate with some of the timelines fudged and the characters dramatized or fictional. And the killer as revealed is clearly based on one of the major suspects with a different name but with some similar compelling salient details kept intact. The true case and fictionalized case both declare the murders officially "unsolved", but this book decides to give more of a payoff for the purpose of a satisfying read.

So I highly recommend this ones for fans of the true crime genre and hold it up as a terrific, exciting read in that vein. It's gory and unpleasant subject matter are definitely not for everyone, of course. Just don't expect this one to be the one Eliot Ness story not fictionalized for your entertainment--though it's closer than most!

Great review of Torso! This one has been on my radar since it came out, long before I recognized Bendis' name. I love true crime stories, and I especially love the idea of Elliot Ness investigating an early 20th century serial killer. I'm glad to hear it lived up to the hype!

As for me, I'm currently reading the From Hell Companion, an enormous 300 page book about the creation of the OGN. Only a story like From Hell would have me remotely interested in such an inside look at the making of a comic book. But when you've got Alan Moore + Jack the Ripper, even this is fascinating.

I vaguely recall not being a huge fan of it. But, I'd tabled a response until I've read some other Constantine bits and bobs.[/quote]



Having learned from my enthusiasm over Astro City, only to find out those issues weren;t being reviewed I'll ask which Captain Britain run had you in mind?

I agree about the Torso* review Lardy. Thanks for that. I've seen it advertised down the years, but it just never popped up on my radar when I was actually buying things.



Didn't the From Hell floppies come with bags of notes too?


*I actually typed "Toros" which is the gritty crime story about the charred fragments of victims linked to the Human Torch's sidekick.

Thoth, I'm planning to review Captain Britain from the first Alan Moore/Alan Davis installment through the Jamie Delano/Alan Davis installments and ending with the two Alan Davis writer/artist installments.

And I can assure you that I'll eventually read and review all the Astro City stories.

Awwww thanks Fickles.

I'll add Captain Britain to the review list/pile/teetering paper tower of doom

Yes, the "From Hell" auxiliary material is almost as fascinating as the work itself. I haven't read the companion, just the reams and reams of footnotes in the original as well as "Dance of the Gull-Catchers". I even had a copy of Steven Knight's "JTR: the Final Solution" (the main inspiration for "From Hell", discredited midway through Moore writing it), but really, it's not as great a read as reading Moore writing about it, if you follow.

Yeah, some say that the case dramatized in "torso" pretty much derailed Ness's career in law enforcement. Ness actually wasn't the investigator on the case at the outset but a detective who is another lead character in the book. Political pressure forced Ness to get more involved. As the case was never solved, that failure fell on Ness. It was certainly a monumental task for what was a novelty back then with forensic science and profiling virtually non-existent.

This certainly makes me eager to eventually read Goldfish and Jinx. If Bendis (with Andreyko) can do this well with a non-fictional adaptation, I can only imagine how good his work might be on crime stories without any boundaries. Since I have them, I'll read them soonish--when the moment feels right. I like having the option of switching material every read with the benefit of such a large variety at hand!

BTW, I"m loving the hell out of the Man-Thing Omnibus, so far! I've read the first couple of hundred pages (through the feature's run on Fear), and it is just awesome! Steve Gerber was such a gifted writer, and his stories are entertaining, imaginative and topical! This may hasten my getting to his volumes on Defenders Masterworks, and I might just HAVE to pick up the Howard the Duck Omnibus some time!

A couple of weeks ago, I put down the Man-Thing Omnibus after getting about 3/4 through it. The stopping point was the end of Steve Gerber's long run on the character which encompassed all but the first two issues of the Adventure Into Fear run, all 22 issues of the first volume of the Man-Thing ongoing and five Giant Size editions. (Preceding Gerber's entrance was the character's first appearance, a 2-issue guest appearance in Ka-Zar and the prior fear issues, all also read.) I decided to stop there because it was such a mammoth, time-consuming read already in those 850-odd pages, and I knew Gerber would be a difficult act to follow.

Gerber truly did a magnificent job during his long run on the book. For a title featuring essentially a mindless creature as its star, Gerber made it a truly compelling read. The book was graced with Gerber's rich evocative narration and a number of gifted illustrators, including Val Mayerik, Mike Ploog, John Buscema and even Jim Mooney among others. Gerber wove in a lot of political commentary, social issues and allegory as well as some sword and sorcery, satire and of course a heaping amount of horror. We got lots of interesting supporting characters weaving their way in and out of the book, including Jennifer Kale and hard-luck radio DJ Richard Rory.

In its own way Gerber's run on Man-Thing offered as much entertainment and food for thought as Alan Moore's better-known Swamp Thing run. It'll never get the renown of the latter, but I'll always hold both in high regard. I'm not saying Gerber's run was just as good, but he certainly made what was initially a knock-off character into something significant on its own.

I was very pleased to discover Stever Gerber's work here. I believe that just about the only thing I'd read of his before was his quirky Vertigo book Nevada, which I had enjoyed a lot. This makes me eager to get to as much of Gerber's other work as I can get my hands on. I've already got the early part of his Defenders run awaiting me in those Masterworks editions in the Pile. I'm also severely tempted to pick up that Howard the Duck Omnibus in the near future. Over the past year, it certainly seems that as I obsess and discover the '70s at Marvel that 2 of the best writers of the era shared the same first name...Steve, as in Gerber and Englehart. As I rediscover my love of the late, lamented art of narrated comics, the Steves were masters of the form. Honestly, as great as the storytelling of their artists was, when I try to imagine their stories with just dialogue, I can't imagine them being nearly as satisfying without those rich, artfully-worded captions that made the stories so much deeper.

I will eventually read the rest of the Omnibus (which includes one more Gerber-scripted story that appeared in Rampaging Hulk, incidentally) as I've heard good things about the second series, particularly Chris Claremont's work. I can definitely highly recommend what I've read so far. I love the Omnibus, the color and the production values, but Gerber's run on Man-Thing also exists in the much cheaper B&W Marvel Essentials line in its entirety.

Been a good while since the last one, so:

Pile UPDATE (1/8/15).....

Recently Read
Tales of the Batman: Don Newton
Marvel Masterworks: Dr. Strange Vol. 5
Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 5 (collects FF 41-50 & Ann. 3)
Bandette Vol. 1: Presto!

To-Read Pile (new stuff since last time in bold)
Tales of the Batman: Gene Colan
Huntress: Darknight Daughter
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vols. 2 thru 4
Grendel Omnibus Vol. 2: The Legacy
Mage Vol. 2: The Hero Defined
Legion Archives Vol. 8 (for the Re-reading project--I'm behind everyone, sadly)
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vol. 1
Jinx
Goldfish
From Hell
Captain America: War & Remembrance
New Teen Titans Vol. 1
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 1
Scout Vols. 1 & 2
Frank Miller's Ronin Deluxe Edition
Marvel Masterworks: Iron Fist Vol. 1
Spider-Man by Roger Stern Omnibus
Marvel Masterworks: Silver Surfer Vol. 1
Silver Surfer (current Slott/Allred series) Vol. 1: New Dawn
Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton & Romita, Jr. Omnibus

On the Way from eBay
Tales of the Batman: Len Wein
Murder Me Dead (David Lapham)

Current Heavy eBay Stalks
Howard the Duck Omnibus
Marvel Masterworks: Iron Fist Vol. 2
Marvel Masterworks: Dr. Strange Vol. 6

Rather than full, lengthy reviews, I thought I'd share some impressions of these.....

Tales of the Batman: Don Newton was beautifully illustrated by the titular artist, but the stories by the likes of Denny O'Neil and Cary Burkett were largely forgettable. However, it was nice reading several stories I remembered fondly from my childhood, especially the conclusion of a story featuring the aftermath of Batgirl being shot (no, not the Killing Joke--years earlier), another featuring a villain called the Crime Doctor and a caper with the Riddler. There were some good O'Neil Ra's al Ghul stories as well (including the death of Kathy Kane), but those were also present in my recent Tales of the Demon trade.

I'd say the book isn't worth the $40 cover price but an absolute steal at the $10 I paid for it. Newton's art is very clean but also dynamic. I truly hope DC does a Volume 2 with more Newton stories because I think, looking ahead, that the best stories he worked on came after these. I'm really glad DC published this, though, because I'd had little exposure to Newton's artwork prior to this. His was a great talent that should live on and be appreciated.

Marvel Masterworks: Dr. Strange Vol. 5 WOW! This volume collects the first half of Steve Englehart's run on Doc, reprinting the end of the character's feature on Marvel Premiere and the first 9 issues of Doc's first solo series. I'm finding increasingly that Englehart of the '70s could do NO wrong, and his work with artists Frank Brunner and Gene Colan ranks way up with his best!

This volume contains 4 sweeping, multi-part epics: Shuma Gorath! Sise-Neg! Doc Vs. Death! The secret of Clea! All are just mind-blowingly awesome and almost like what Doc might've been like if Alan Moore took the character on. And these issues feature pretty much everyone and everything you'd ever want to read in Doc Strange stories. i can't belive this run isn't talked about more!!! Gotta get the rest of Englehart's run SOON!!!

Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 5 was, sadly, disappointing. It seems like I've been waiting all my life to finally read these stories, especially the original Galactus trilogy, but they didn't really live up to the hype. It's hard to explain, I suppose, but I can point to a few things:

1) the Galactus "trilogy" is really more like about 2 issues. Part one starts off half its pages concluding the Inhumans saga, and part 3 wraps up well before the issue is over, using the balance of the pages to set up a Johnny Storm in college storyline.

2) I don't know if the coloring faithfully reproduces the originals, but Galactus is colored differently in every issue. In part 2, he has bare arms and legs! It looks ridiculous!

3) The Kirby art. Not horrible by any stretch, but it was underwhelming most of the time. It's the most consecutive work I've ever read of his, and I see very little to make me a fan. Thing, for example, is rendered very inconsistently and fuzzily.

4) Lack of compelling sub-plots. Part of the downfall of the characters having public identities is that the adventures are the whole thing. Marvel did soap opera like nobody's business in the '60s to the point where it was why you read the books more than anything, and there's almost none of that here. Yeah, they try to inject some angst here and there, but it falls flat without the tension present, say, in Amzing Spider-Man.

Overall, I was disappointed in what should have been an ideal classic FF primer for me--what with the other stories featuring the Frightful Four, the wedding of Reed and Sue*** and the original Inhumans epic--having never read any Lee/Kirby FF before. Not bad, but not GREAT, as I expected. I guess I'm just spoiled by what Byrne did with the characters as my gateway to the concept. I could honestly read his FF ANY time!

***This annual was the best part of the volume, BY FAR! It was quite a hoot seeing a kitchen sink's worth of baddies thrown at the FF to foil the wedding!

Bandette Vol. 1: Presto! by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover was a refreshingly upbeat read. This light but imaginative tale of a young lady who is both thief and hero is the cure for the grim-and-gritty blues. I don't want to give away the whole plot, but I love that the story takes place in France with characters who are themselves French. It lends a certain sense of romance and cultural diversity in a reading business where every story seems to be set in Manhattan or some other American urban equivalent. A very rich, fun story to read with lots of memorable characters.

If there's a drawback it's that this printing of a digital-first series offers an incomplete story. The main story ends on somewhat of a cliffhanger with the main threat imminent and unresolved. So it can be frustrating either waiting a year between printed volumes, or you may feel compelled to seek out the digital version if you can't wait that long. I'm not ready for digital comics, so that's disappointing.

Agreed 100% on both the Don Newton Batman (Newton's my "comfort-food" Batman artist, and thankfully he was never called up to draw anything genuinely disturbing) and the Englehart Dr. Strange (although, as I said in another thread, Englehart was gearing up for his grandest Dr. Strange epic yet, a time travel arc, when he abruptly quit Marvel; just thought I'd forewarn you, Lardy.)

Your criticisms of the FF story which introduced Galactus are valid. I personally prefer the story which introduced the Inhumans, and would be curious why that one didn't do much for you, either. As for Kirby's art, he's always been an acquired taste, although Joe Sinnott inked most of the stories in that volume and I think he made Kirby's art smoother and more attractive than other inkers. If you didn't care for those issues, I don't think you'd like other Lee & Kirby FF stories. To each their own, as the saying goes.

I guess the key word in my review is "disappointed". It's not that the stories were bad, per se, but they didn't really come close to living up to my expectations. The Inhumans story was decent, but I there was little done to reconcile Medusa's history with the Frightful Four. I mean, she was a pretty vicious and villainous member in the prior arc. But supposedly, she did it all to run away from Maximus?!? That's all we get there.

I suppose some of it is my definite bias toward the Bronze Age in general and Byrne's FF run in particular. And I didn't hate Kirby's art, but I'm beginning to think his true innovations were with the New Gods from a design standpoint.

I just hope my Bronze Age bias isn't so bad that I won't enjoy my upcoming revisit of Lee/Ditko/Romita Amazing Spider-Man as much as I hope to.

It's all right, Lardy. Not every ground-breaking work holds up for every reader, especially when it's nearly 50 years later, and other creators have refined the raw original in the interim.

And for what it's worth, I personally was very disappointed in Kirby's entire Fourth World saga.

As for Silver Age Spidey, that was an entirely different aesthetic, which may be more to your liking.

Popping in--hi, everyone, been so busy, hope next week is start of more relaxed schedule for posting--to say quickly:

Considering your disappointment of the Kirby / Lee FF issues you read, there's a good chance you won't find many other of their FF stories any more enjoyable as Fanfie says. The one exception is their last truly great story, the Thing / Skrulls story in the #90's which runs about 5 issues. It's the most like the Bronze Age in structure and tone, besides just being genuinely awesome.

Englehart in the 70's was the man, and anything he touched was truly gold! I've only ever read these Doc Strange stories once, about 20 years ago, but I loved them.

I also love Don Newton Batman, but honestly never connected him to these stories until Lardy pointed it out a few months ago. I love the Hugo Strange / Ruppert Thorne story, and I am batshit crazy for the very first Killer Croc story -- and I think he did those? (Or contributed?). I always thought of them as Gerry Conway's great Batman stories. He drew a great Catwoman too in that awesome gown costume.

Looking forward to eventually trying out Bandette!

Hi, Cobie! Nice to finally see you back here! I've got my fingers crossed that next week turns out as you hope.

Off the top of my head, I do know that Don Newton did not draw the first Killer Croc story. I think it was drawn by a young Dan Jurgens.

And as for later Lee/Kirby FF, I've always had a sentimental spot for the issues circa 81-85, where Crystal joins the team and she and the FF battle it out against Maximus and the traitorous Inhumans who had been introduced in a Hulk annual.

Yeah, I read Amazing Fantasy 15 and Amazing Spidey #1 today and wasn't disappointed in the least. It's clearly NOT a Bronze Age bias but a case of apples and oranges and me clearly preferring the taste of one over the other. I'm gonna read at least thru this first Masterworks edition (which goes thru ASM 10). I now have the first 8 Masterworks, so I'll eventually read thru ASM 77, though probably not straight all the way through so I can savor them. I'm very much looking forward to it, now that my palate has been primed.



Well LOOK who the cat finally dragged back in! 'Bout effin' TIME!!!



Again, "disappointment" doesn't equal "hate". I may still read more some day. It's weird, though, how Byrne can be so reverential toward Lee and Kirby's run but somehow connect so much better with me. It doesn't hurt at all that Byrne wrote Sue and the Reed/Sue dynamic as a modern woman and couple so much better than Stan and Jack did. There was a lot of cringeworthy interaction between the two with Sue doing a lot of hand-wringing and Reed acting chauvinistically calling her "Woman!" and the like. I know it was a different time, but I didn't appreciate that at all.

Truthfully, it makes me hesitant to check out some of the legendary Silver and Bronze Age Thor runs for fear that Walt Simonson may have similarly spoiled me for them. I'm curious, though, if there's a similar batch of pre-Simonson Thor (maybe a 10-12 issue stretch?) that you'd recommend I give a whirl to test the waters.



Anyone who says otherwise, I might have to rassle!



Unfortunately, none of those stories appear in this volume! I hope DC does a Volume 2, but I'm doubtful. I remember the Hugo Strange/Boss Thorne plotline from my childhood and never got to see its conclusion. I know now it was a sequel to what Englehart and Rogers did with the characters (which I have a TPB of) which makes me ache to read them again and experience the ending!



I think you'll dig it!

That you would feel that way shows how far we've come, in my opinion. For me, it's unpleasant, but it's something I can live with, keeping in mind that it was a different time.



The first pre-Simonson Thor arc that came to my mind was the Eternals Saga, although that one runs about 20 issues and is collected into two trades. Lots of cosmic goodness there, although there's also a lot of continuity porn.

And my favorite Lee/Kirby Thor arc is when Thor rescues Hercules from Pluto. I can't remember the exact issues ATM, but I'll look them up later.

But that was the time and for most, it went right by as normal or those that felt it wasn't as it should, kept it to themselves.

Not really all that much different today I think.

I had a guy in a meeting say he was talking to me "man to man." A meeting of professional men and women and I was the only one who called him out on it and I took and am taking grief from the lot, men AND women. These are teachers! As an Engineer, it would have been corrected immediately if not by a male, then by any females present.

Lardy, I looked it up: the Lee/Kirby Thor issues are 124-130, reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Volume 4.

Kirby's Thor is a lot different than Kirby's FF to me, but then again, I've been looking at both of these two runs with intense, detailed-oriented eyes since I was about 9 years old. You may find them to be too similar in your eyes.

That being said, I also recommend Fanfie's suggested 124-130. I even like the next slew of issues even better, which introduce Evo the Living Planet, the Recorder, the High Evolutionary, etc. Those issues are among my favorite stories ever, Thor or otherwise.

My all-time favorite Thor story is the original Mangog story by Kirby that took place near the end of his run. It ran in Thor #154-157. Again, I'm not sure whether you'd love it, but I find it to be the ultimate epic, Kirby Thor story.

Lastly, in regards to our man Don Newton, it's difficult for me to remember which stories he drew, only that he participated in an era that I really love for Batman. For example, I love those Nocturna / Night-Slayer stories (perhaps my #1 favorite pre-Crisis Batman stories of all!), and I can almost swear Newton did some of the issues while Gene Colan did the others. But I just can't remember anymore.

I think he also did a great Joker story around this time that was IMO the first really good Joker story in years as the character began to get more serious...but before he became "the ultimate evil" version we've had from the mid-late 80's onward.

As I mentioned in my review in the "Hulk" thread the other day, Wasp/Giant Man was pretty awful too over in Tales to Astonish. I'd say even worse than Reed/Sue. It is a sign of the times, but even then there were better female depictions than that, so it's really on Lee.

In the one episode where Wasp actually does something, there's an apologetic editor's note at the end saying they did that only to shut up the complainers.

Lee could have done himself a world of good if he'd gone into therapy, like his rival Mort Weisinger.

Cobie, Lardy, I did some research: Don Newton drew most of the Detective Comics issues from 483 to 520, followed by most of the Batman issues from 352 through 379; and he did, indeed, draw the Hugo Strange/Rupert Thorne story by Gerry Conway, who passed the writing baton to Doug Moench shortly thereafter.

Though I like the "Tales of the Batman" series of trades/hardcovers spotlighting particular creators (such as Len Wein, Don Newton, Gene Colan, Alan Davis and Carmine Infantino off the top of my head) in the '60s, '70s & '80s, there are sometimes missing parts of stories, such as the first part of that story where Batgirl got shot I mentioned in the Newton book. Most egregiously, the Alan Davis book only reprints part one of "Batman: Year Two" because Todd Macfarlane did the other four chapters. It's why I won't buy that book unless I can find it dirt cheap, even though I really want to read his other stories with Mike W. Barr.

I really wish DC would just do massive omnibuses reprinting blocks of 'Tec and Batman consecutively. Even the cheap B&W Showcase editions have barely scratched the era in question.

All that said, the Len Wein Tales of the Batman book just came in today, and flipping through it, I can tell you: IT'S EFFING GORGEOUS!!!

Tragedy!

No, it's fine. I'll wait 'til you've stopped singing...

My big pile o' trades fell over when I put the Luthor Arkwright hardcover on it! So remember kids, don't put little Lone Wolf and Cub TPBs anywhere other than the top 'o yer pile.

3 mountaineers feared missing as they were scaling the pile at the time.

This has been a post sponsored by the Public Protection of Periodical Piles. For issues with any other type of piles, it's suggested you consult a doctor.

Can't wait to read your review of Tales of the Batman: Len Wein, Lardy.

And while my pile of trades is currently no longer a pile, but rather scattered all over the place (though, unlike Thoth's pile, it didn't happen by accident, but rather by design), I would like to mention one notable addition I've made, courtesy of the library:

ALL FOUR VOLUMES OF COLLEEN DORAN'S "A DISTANT SOIL"!

Though I've always liked Colleen as both an artist and a person, I'm ashamed to admit I have never before read her magnum opus.

There's a short but sweet ADS thread here in the Dr. Gym'll's forum, and I'll be posting reviews there sometime within the week.

The Table of Contents of the Len Wein book doesn't credit each artist to each story like previous "Tales" editions, but Don is listed among the blanket list of artists on the title page. At the very least it includes 'Tec #514, "Haven", an offbeat story I recall from my childhood. Again, I really hope they do a Volume 2 on Newton.

I REALLY wanna read that Strange/Thorne story, though!



I haven't read the Colan book yet, but I seem to recall mentions of a Nocturna flipping through it. Is that character at all associated with the big vampire cult story that the Colan book features?

I think he also did a great Joker story around this time that was IMO the first really good Joker story in years as the character began to get more serious...but before he became "the ultimate evil" version we've had from the mid-late 80's onward.[/quote]

Here's the only Newton Joker story I could find:



The Wein book includes a gorgeous Simonson-drawn Joker story, which may also be the one you thought of.

Pretty surprising and disappointing for a company which often gets credit for bringing a modern, sophisticated sensibility to comics when they set the Silver Age on fire.

I will be very eager to read your review. Since Colleen recently completed ADS, it would be high time for me to discover it as well!



thoth, I read LW&C Vol. 1 last year and enjoyed it a lot! I own Vol. 2 and will probably circulate it into the Pile when the mood hits. Have you read any yet? I'm curious about your thoughts on it. I reviewed Vol. 1 here in a manga thread somewhere.

On LW&C: I read little bits of it, when it was being published by an Indy (checks... First Comics). It's one that I didn't want to spoil by reading it out of sequence. I've had this trade sitting around for years, but never got round to reading it. I'll certainly comment on it when I do, probably on the review thread if I can;t find the manga one.

On Davis & Barr: I did a bit of scurrying around when I got my first Davis Batman & the Outsiders book. I had read an issue with Aparo drawing it, and don't think I went back. But with Davis, I was willing to cut it some more slack.

On Bats: I came across a few Gene Colan Batman issues. I got rid of nearly all my Batman comics years ago, so I must have got these in a lot with some others. I'd forgotten how moody and atmospheric it was. Nocturna, Jason Todd and Nightslayer. as the Crisis looms.

While I don't think Marvel is totally underserving of that credit, I've come to believe that Marvel and DC were both progressive and regressive during the Silver Age, each in its own ways.

Marvel certainly gave us progressive male heroes, like the vulnerable Spider-Man, and the anti-heroes like the Hulk and the Sub-Mariner (the latter being superhero comics' original anti-hero). They brought a more down-to-earth, streetwise, irreverent sensibility to counter DC's wild-yet-still-kid-friendly metaphors and abstractions. That said, it was DC who gave us Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and the female Legionnaires. That's why I said in one of my earlier posts that Stan Lee could have done himself a world of good if he'd gone into therapy like Mort Weisinger did.

To each their own. I loved the original Outsiders, both with and without Batman, no matter who drew them. And I think Mike W. Barr generally gets a bad rap just because of his sillier villains.

The one I had was them facing off against the Cryogenic Man. Shockingly, I think it was as much the art that a found a bit meh.

If (when) I give them a reread, I'll look to the writing for some commentary.

For me, the Outsiders were an interesting concept (something that Justice League Elite would try for as a comparison years later). Also the concept of Batman having his own league that later writers (Morrison) would pick up on, stated here too.

Having not read the early issues, I don;t know how much of that "outside the law" approach they took. Or how the JLA reacted to it (outside of Bats nipping into the damaged satellite later on)

Lightning and Metamorpho were ideal candidates. As everyone and their supergran got to join the League later, they still stand out. Halo had an interesting background. Katana was less of a hit partially for the same issues I have with Black Knight and Swordsman.

Batman: Kobra's shuttle has escaped. He's eluded us again.
Katana: The shuttle is empty Batman. I disemboweled the monster two pages ago.
Batman: Um....

Geoforce is a large plank of wood with spandex over it.

I've had a crush on Geo-Force since I first read the back issues of Outsiders and BATO more than 20 years ago.

To me, he's sort of like what Colossus would have been like had he been raised as royalty. Same innocence, same nobility, same basic goodness.

Ah, back in familiar territory of putting my foot in my mouth (yuck!) (foot on my keyboard? yuck!) over something Fickles likes.

He probably likes Morrisey, you know...

Sister in a reboot, I know, I know
It's post crisis now...

LOL

Hey, it's all right. Variety of opinions is the spice of this forum.

He is Colossally dull though.

I's easy to seem noble, innocent and good when you're raised in a palace. Emphasis on seem.

When he was in the JLA, I thought he was a cape stand, he was so wooden. His thing against Deathstroke was really, really forced just to try and give him some edge.

I'm happy to say I skipped the JLA issues that he appeared in. As far as I'm concerned, everything that's happened in the DCU over the past ten years is some kind of sick alternate universe.

Oh, at least that long...

Almost twelve years, come to think of it!

Somewhere in the multiverse is a DCU where Graduation Day and Identity Crisis never happened.

I'll certainly keep those in mind for my eBay stalks.

I thought I'd more likely get recommendations for John Buscema's run. What are some highlights of that and how do they compare to the Lee/Kirby tales you guys mention?

Personally, I never thought that Big John's Thor quite caught fire. I put it down to a story that Roy Thomas told about how Big John brought in the pencils for Silver Surfer #4, the issue with Thor and Asgard, and Stan Lee engaged in some very tactless criticism that basically boiled down to "It doesn't look enough like Jack Kirby's Thor and Asgard." Roy theorized that Big John took that criticism to heart, and trusted his artistic instincts less after that, which was why his superhero art from the 70s was never as great as his supehero art from the late 60s.

Don't get me wrong, I think Big John's Thor art was GOOD, but not GREAT. I think it wasn't until the mid-80s, after Big John had been on hiatus from superheroes, that he got great again, working with Roger Stern on Avengers.

Pile UPDATE (2/5/15).....

Currently Reading
New Teen Titans Vol. 1

Recently Read
Scout Vol. 1
Marvel Masterworks: Amazing Spider-Man Vols. 1-4

To-Read Pile (new stuff since last time in bold)
Tales of the Batman: Gene Colan
Huntress: Darknight Daughter
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vols. 2 thru 4
Grendel Omnibus Vol. 2: The Legacy
Mage Vol. 2: The Hero Defined
Legion Archives Vol. 9 (for the Re-reading project)
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vol. 1
Jinx
Goldfish
From Hell
Captain America: War & Remembrance
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 1
Scout Vol. 2
Frank Miller's Ronin Deluxe Edition
Marvel Masterworks: Iron Fist Vol. 1
Spider-Man by Roger Stern Omnibus
Marvel Masterworks: Silver Surfer Vol. 1
Silver Surfer (current Slott/Allred series) Vol. 1: New Dawn
Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton & Romita, Jr. Omnibus
Tales of the Batman: Len Wein
Murder Me Dead (David Lapham)
Stray Bullets Uber Alles Edition
Star Wars: Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 1
Amazing Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga

On the Way from eBay/In-Stock Trades
Marvel Masterworks: Uncanny X-Men Vol. 9
Grimjack Omnibus Vol. 2
Jon Sable: Freelance Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2

Current Heavy eBay Stalks
Daredevil by Miller and Janson Omnibus
Marvel Masterworks: Thor Vol. 4

Oooo, can't wait to find out what you think of Scout!

And yay for Grimjack Omnibus v. 2 being on its way!

LOVED that Scout Vol. 1 trade! On top of all that Tim Truman arty goodness, Truman proved out of the gate that he had the writing chops to go along with his gritty-but-beautiful rendering.

In the world of Scout Truman posits a very near future (in this case the early 2000's--remember the book began in the late '80s) where America suffers their worst economic depression ever because the USSR has colluded with other countries to enforce a trade embargo against the U.S. So there's much more poverty, and cities like Houston are basically desolate, pre-industrial slums. While those events may not have come to pass, Truman predicts very well things that are very relatable now more than ever, particularly the corrupt 1% having all the power and exploiting the poor.

Enter Scout, a native American with some experience in the armed forces who is motivated by the spirit world to destroy five evil beings who just happen to have taken the forms of some of the most powerful men in the country. Part of my enjoyment of the book is that it isn't made clear whether everything is how Scout perceives it or if maybe he's a little off his rocker and might just be imagining the supernatural aspects. This is because there's seemingly no one else among the human cast who can see what Scout sees or is present during the crucial revelatory moments. But whether he's right or wrong about the spiritual aspects, you know for sure that he's definitely going up against some evil sonsa bitches, so you're rooting for him all along!

Overall, it's a very satisfying trade, and I'm curious to see what direction the second trade goes in when I decide the time is right to read it. And did I mention, I love me some Tim Truman?

Sooooo glad you're enjoying "Scout", Lardy. I'll have to re-read it myself once I have a window of time.

IMO Tim Truman's a genius, and I don't use that term lightly.

And, yeah, substitute the real world's Detroit and Chicago and New Orleans for "Scout"'s Houston, and Truman was eerily prescient.

Oh, I wasn't aware you'd read Scout before! I knew you'd read Grimjack but didn't recall Scout. I thought I had one up on ya there!

This reminds me, when I was still young and full of anger and energy, I created my own little neo-Tim-Truman sub-universe. The main character was a female GrimJack/Scout analog named Hate-Slayer, and one of her allies was visually based on Tim Truman. Another ally, I'm now embarrassed to say, looked like the young Brad Pitt (it was the mid-90s, okay)? Ahhh, memories...

The one major work of Truman's that I haven't read is his non-genre graphic novel Straight Up to See the Sky, which is said to be the culmination of his interest in Native American culture.

The other recent read from The Pile was New Teen Titans Vol. 1, which reprints the preview story from DC Comics presents and NTT 1-8. I've stated before that other than a trade of Judas Contract, I've never had the pleasure of reading most of the original Wolfman/Perez NTT run. Luckily, DC has had the sense to start a new series of trades of it to help me rectify that.

For most of it, I found the trade to be good-but-not-great. In my mind it really didn't start to take off and distinguish itself until the last three stories in the trade. Issue 6 featured the finale of the first Trigon arc. Here, you could see both the Titans and Wolfman/Perez gel as teams. And then Arella's sacrifice lent just the right amount of pathos to make the story very memorable.

I should add that, though I love Curt Swan, his guest turn in NTT #5 just didn't work. It's not just that he wasn't Perez, but his Trigon just didn't seem terribly menacing. I mean, the HAIR?!?! It was, like, Prince Valiant or something!!! To be fair, I don't know if anyone other Perez can pull Trigon off right because the basic design is a little pedestrian without his flair. But Swan Trigon versus Perez Trigon is like night and day.

As good as 6 is, issue 7 really got me with that ending. Yep, the Fearsome Five attacking Titans Tower was a lot of fun, but the ending with Vic and his dad reconciling, just in time, and the touching montage that followed really hit me in the feels. Seeing Vic do what I wish I had done and can never re-do brought some tears to my eyes. I think I'll think of this among my personal great moments in comics history, but that could just be my own personal interaction with those pages as much as anything. But I think it was a great and powerful moment for Marv and George to elevate their book to the next level and set up more greatness to come.

The trade-making trifecta concludes with the legendary "A Day in the Lives" in issue 8. This is one of a handful of stories other than Judas Contract that I HAD read previously, thanks to one of my old "Best of the Year" digests I had owned back when I was a tween. I remembered a lot of it fairly well, despite not having ever re-read it in the interim. I especially remembered Kory's photo shoot and wondering how anyone wouldn't have realized she was an alien with that gold skin, despite the glasses. (And who would wear sunglasses during an entire photo shoot, anyway?!?)

I honestly don't know whether Marv and George or possibly Claremont (or someone else?) did it first, but an issue that is almost completely character development like this one was groundbreaking and very much appreciated.

And once again, Vic stole it, in my mind at least, with his encounter with the group of kids with prostheses. I don't know if this stands up for the long term, but Vic, to me, is emerging as the heart of the group. For him to be tough but vulnerable while also being African American makes him a very important character in comics history. No, he's not the first to be a headliner in (what turned out to be) a major team, but he may very well be, ironically, the most human that had been seen to date. Clearly, Victor Stone is a very important character, and it should be no surprise that he would soon turn up in the Super friends cartoon.

I'm definitely ready for the next trade. I just hope DC will continue the reprints and hopefully not wait a year or more for the next volume cuz I WANNA READ MORE!!!

Ahhhh, the Wolfman/Perez NTT...good times! I, too, hope DC keeps rolling out the trades so that Lardy and other readers can experience that wonderful run.

As great as The Judas Contract is, I think the arc immediately preceding it, which climaxes with LYL/Teeds' beloved "Raven Berserk" issue, is the pinnacle of the run.

Totally agree on Victor, he's a gem of a character.

I would have preferred to get the Omnibus or Archives editions, but both are out of print at least on the earlier volumes. Out of print hardcover editions of popular runs are very pricey on eBay. I wish Marvel and DC would keep these runs in print for those who missed out or weren't into buying them when they originated.

IIRC, the NTT hardcovers stopped at issue 27, just before Terra's arrival and the arguable peak of the run which subsequently followed.

Maybe the hardcovers weren't selling well enough?

I really hope the paperback trades do better so that we can at least have the run through the Garcia-Lopez issues (Eduardo Barreto was a wonderful artist, but he had the misfortune of arriving just as Wolfman came down with writer's block. There were still some good issues, though, mostly character pieces -- I'm thinking the Gar/Slade issue and the Raven/Phobia issue. Maybe we could have an "odds 'n sods" trade collecting the best of the later issues?)

It's possible, even though it's hard to imagine. It's certainly very surprising that the NTT Archives stopped right there. I've a feeling that higher end collections would sell better now with those fans feeling nostalgic for all the great stuff that was wiped out by the awful New 52.

They do say that absence makes the heart grow fonder...

Started the Silver Surfer: New Dawn TPB (which collects the first few issues of the current Slott/ Allred book) last night. So far....so GROOVY! Loving it! I could kick those critics in the balls because their reviews of the first issue were so mediocre and dissuaded me from picking it up!!! :angry:

I'll chime in again later when I finish the TPB. But it's a shame Marvel's apparently cancelling the book.

Marvel seems to have become a place where the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Shame, because I've always favored them over DC.

Wow! I just finished that Silver Surfer: New Dawn TPB and thought it was just terrific!

You know, I've sampled a number of Michael Allred projects (X-Force/X-Statics, Mad Man, FF, iZombie, among them) over the years, and none of them grabbed me the way they've grabbed others. They each lacked that certain something that would make me a fan. I don't know if it was the scripts or if there was something about Allred's art that caused some disconnect. Or maybe it was both. I don't know.

However, when this series launch was announced, I had about 90% made up my mind that I was going to pick it up. Certainly, it helped that the writer this time was Dan Slott, who has been wowing me on Amazing/Superior Spider-Man for several years now and basically resurrected my interest in buying the adventures of my favorite hero again after a long absence. Plus, the preview images just made it look like this would be the Allred project I've been needing all these years.

But then came the reviews. they were mediocre at best. "Too derivative of Dr. Who," they said. I don't honestly know why that was a turn-off for me because I've been enjoying the recent Dr. Who series for several years now. This and other "meh" reviews and that the aggregate score on Comic Book Round-up (based on numerous reviews from all over the place) put it at a solid "yellow" (on the green/yellow/red spectrum) convinced me to pass, especially as this would be another $4 book on my budget.

Well, luckily, praise from pals like Cobie and the miracle of TPBs gave me a second chance to discover this wonderful book. It's honestly hard to describe, but what it is is wonderful in every way that that word can be used. It has a sense of whimsy, is fun and light in tone, features some big universal themes and ideas, has a fresh "not your run-of-the-mill comic" vibe to it and just lets Allred spread his artistic wings in a way that has finally made me understand and appreciate his talent.

But I think what really sells it for me is the character of Dawn and how she grounds both the Surfer and the book itself with her humanity. We are immediately introduced to her and the bullet points of her backstory, and we instantly relate to her. Dawn's not the most complex character ever to grace the pages of comics, but she represents exactly what a character like Norrin Radd needs to be something more than someone who is almost as impenetrable to the reader as his silver shell is to his enemies. To see her and other characters be non-plussed and casual around him is just the take the book needed.

It just goes to show that the critics aren't always right about a book, and often it's better to go with what your gut tells you. I'm pretty pissed that I passed this over but at the same time glad I didn't miss it altogether. If the book has maintained anywhere near this level of quality, it's a crying shame that Marvel is going to end it. It may just be one of the best books on the market, right now. As it is, I hope my CBS has the remaining issues in stock, so that I don't have to wait until the next trade to be released in June!

Currently midway thru finishing the last 400 pages of it. While contemplating what to read next, I thought it would be good to wade back into Man-Thing to make some damn room on the coffee table!

So far, I'd say authors like Claremont and Fleischer were doing a more than respectable job of respecting the foundation that Steve Gerber laid for them. This Omnibus is a really great, beautiful monument of '70s storytelling!

I finished off the Man-Thing Omnibus earlier today. Overall, I think the post-Gerber stories are very good. My only quip is that the writers tended to write the same kinds of stories that Gerber wrote without really putting their own signature on the character. But it was a great framework he built, so I can't blame them.

It's always interesting to see Chris Claremont writing non-mutant books, and he wrote the bulk of the second ongoing Man-Thing series. He added three new supporting cast members, all of whom were pretty interesting, and there was a really good multi-part arc to end the run.

The standard of above average art continued as well. We got some vintage Sal Buscema in a 2-part Hulk guest appearance, one of my personal faves John Byrne in Marvel Team-Up and Two-in-One stories, an unusual turn for Jim Starlin in a story that appeared in Rampaging Hulk, Jim Mooney in the first four issues of Man-Thing Vol. 2, Gene Colan in a Doctor Strange crossover, some above par work from Don Perlin for the bulk of Claremont's run, short stories drawn by Ed Hannigan and Larry Hama and a return for the second series finale by one of Manny's defining artists Val Mayerik. All do a creditable job, even workman but generally unexceptional guys like Perlin and Hama who's better known as a writer and whose art I compare unfavorably to Mark Gruenwald's thankfully sparse drawing output. One has to conclude that the unusual material is inspiring to those who worked on it.

There's a nice treat in that the Rampaging Hulk story features a Gerber script after his run. It's typical of his standalone stories, which is not a bad thing. It makes me think this was a previously unpublished inventory story because I think he would've grasped the chance to do something unusual with the character had he returned for another story. Again, Starlin drew the story, and seeing him do more down to earth/horror fare is a bit of a treat because he's obviously known for his cosmic stuff.

All in all, I strongly recommend all of the material from Man-Thing Omnibus. Though the Gerber stuff (reviewed earlier in this thread) is clearly the best, I feel the whole thing is very much worth reading and well worth the cover price (though you can get a bargain like I did pretty easily). Plus, there's libraries and Marvel Essentials cheap B&Ws. In fact I wish Marvel would revive the book with a passionate creative team. There's a definite void in their line-up that a book like this could fill. Plus, there's SO much unexplored potential with the nexus of realities and Jennifer Kale, etc. that even Gerber never got around to fulfilling.

Just checked my shipping list for my DCBS order-- by Friday, I shall have 5 new trades: CHEW: Chicken Tenders, DARK TOWER: The Drawing of the Three- The Prisoner, RUST: The Death of Rocket Boy, SEX CRIMINALS: Two Worlds One Cop, and The Walking Dead HC Vol 11. Hope Ginny's not bringing me anything for Library Day this week---!!

Are those Man-Thing stories similar in tone to the Swamp Thing stories from the same era?

Hm. Not sure, since I've only really read the Moore stories any time recently (the non-Moore others, like, 30 years ago). I'll try, though:

What is similar, at least, to the ones that I can remember is there's a definite horror bent and more mature themes than your superhero fare.

What is very different is that Man-Thing has no sentience to speak of. He is truly a creature and only reacts empathically to what goes on around him. "Negative" emotions, particularly fear, tend to cause him huge psychic pain, and he is driven to stop that pain. His tagline is: "whoever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing's touch!"

So Man-Thing stories are much more about the people and situations he comes in contact with, and Manny is often a catalyst in whatever the drama might be. Swamp Thing can be about that, as well, at times, but he has his intelligence and is very much an active player in his stories for the most part. But, trust me, these are some interesting, exciting and thought-provoking stories that are still relevant and meanigful over three decades later!

Thanks for the recommendation, Lardy. I'll check them out when I can.

Pile UPDATE (3/19/15).....

Just Finished
From Hell

Recently Read
Star Wars (The Marvel Years) Omnibus Vol. 1 (the first 17 issues/300 pages)
Marvel Masterworks: Defenders Vol. 2

To-Read Pile (new stuff since last time in bold)
Tales of the Batman: Gene Colan
Huntress: Darknight Daughter
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vols. 3 & 4
Grendel Omnibus Vol. 2: The Legacy
Mage Vol. 2: The Hero Defined
Legion Archives Vol. 9 (for the Re-reading project)
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vol. 1
Jinx
Goldfish
Captain America: War & Remembrance
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 1
Scout Vol. 2
Frank Miller's Ronin Deluxe Edition
Marvel Masterworks: Iron Fist Vol. 1
Spider-Man by Roger Stern Omnibus
Marvel Masterworks: Silver Surfer Vol. 1
Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton & Romita, Jr. Omnibus
Tales of the Batman: Len Wein
Murder Me Dead (David Lapham)
Stray Bullets Uber Alles Edition
Star Wars: Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 1
Amazing Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga
Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Jansen Omnibus
Grimjack Omnibus Vol. 2
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vol. 2
Avengers Omnibus Vol. 1
Jon Sable: Freelance Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2


On the Way from eBay/In-Stock Trades
Avengers Omnibus Vol. 2
Secret Six Vol. 1: Villains United

Current Heavy eBay Stalk
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 2


Have I mentioned that I'm in LOVE with Omnibuses?!?

Look for reviews very soon on From Hell, classic Marvel Star Wars and Defenders Masterworks Vol. 2!!!!!

Excellent, Lardy. As always, I greatly look forward to your reviews.

BTW, I've yet to read From Hell. I think it's about time I did...but not until after I re-activate the PAD Hulk re-read and finish the third Fables trade.

To me, "From Hell" is Moore's best work. Maybe not my favourite on an emotional level, but in terms of scope, structure and tone, it's a masterpiece.

That's high praise, indeed!

I just checked my library's catalog -- they have it. YAY!

I suppose, with its mention receiving the most attention, I should start with From Hell:

Where to start? Well, Dave's brief analysis of the work is certainly apt. From Hell is quite a masterpiece and is yet another in a series of such from Alan Moore, who is himself one of this medium's undisputed masters. Oddly enough, Moore is seemingly always joined by a different artist with each major project. That's really saying something because so many writers tend to return to certain artists over and over again and use them like a safety net or even a crutch. I find myself really admiring Moore for this. It shows he wants to challenge himself and not get stuck in a rut because you just know he could have his pick of artists on any given project.

So I will start with Moore's artist for this piece: Eddie Campbell. Campbell is an artist with whom I've had very little exposure to before. I thought it was as an artist on Hellblazer, but he was actually the writer for a brief run there with another artist. And like seemingly every artist Moore works with, Campbell's art is absolutely perfect for conveying the mood and feel that Moore's story deserves. To me, every black and white panel looks like a lithograph (if that word is accurate to describe the art I'm thinking of). the overall effect evokes both the general shaded cartooning style of political cartoons and the old style of printing them using etched plates for mass-production. It's all that and yet still has modern sensibilities and high levels of detail. That's what I'm trying to describe. And for a story set near the end of Victorian London, I can't think of a better stylistic choice to use.

From Hell is not a mystery yarn. Almost immediately, we are clued in as to whom the Ripper is/will be in the story. And it's not an unfamiliar scenario. I'm pretty casual in my knowledge of "Ripperology", but I recognized the story's culprit and the larger conspiracy theory behind him that makes this spin, true or not, such a tantalizing story to tell. On its own this story angle makes for an entertaining tale, but From Hell is so much more than that.

[Digression] Honestly, the film that was (very) loosely based on this work does the source a tremendous disservice by basically stripping it down to its bare bones and, even then, altering many of those bones beyond recognition. I know that the Watchmen and V for Vendetta films are criticized similarly, but in comparison both are much more faithful in their own ways than the From Hell movie. [/Digression]

So beyond the excellent plot detailings around and within the conspiracy and the murderers and the fascinating cast of characters, we get such a wealth of subtext. I mean, there's the great allegory and shading about the murders giving birth to the 20th century. But there's a great, affecting look at how the British society at the time basically begat the prostitution that these women were forced to resort to--many of them were, or had been, married for chrissake! Often, they had to turn tricks just to have a safe place to sleep from night to night. And there's the always wide divide between the haves and have-nots that clashes in a particularly literal and explosive manner. I think doing this was particularly appealing for Moore when choosing to dramatize this particular Ripper theory.

I think that's an important thing to remember while reading From Hell: it's A theory and a particularly entertaining one, but we'll probably never know the truth of the matter. It's pretty clear from his lengthy Appendix that Moore has no such delusions about the complete truth of the story and especially about the Ripper's identity. But he fully commits in the story itself and sells every aspect of it. He even gives the Ripper some depth while not making him less of a monster. And we get to know the eventual victims' stories very well. Lots of other fascinating characters as well, such as lead investigator Abberline and many other real-life characters and even many famous cameos.

I think what really sends From Hell over the edge is the metaphysical content. Moore has always had a particularly great talent for making the metaphysical relatable and understandable without ever dumbing it down. There's a lot in there, as when the Ripper has his driver take a specific tour of London to illustrate his personal motives for the horror he is about to undertake. I can't really do it justice trying to describe it. And then there are the supernatural phenomena the Ripper experiences during the murders that venture to the edge of sci-fi. And then, how it all coalesces in the Ripper's final journey.... Believe me, it all works and serves the story in a way that just elevates it into something that is so much more than just a Jack the Ripper story!

And then there's the Appendices.....you'll want to read all 41 pages of Moore's chapter-by-chapter notes and then the excellent illustrated short story that casts the whole Ripper phenomenon in its proper sardonic context.

Hell, just read the damn thing already if you haven't and experience it for yourself! My review of the book does it about as much justice as the lousy film adaptation did when all is said and done. READ IT!

Been sick and am now travelling in Dallas, Shreveport and Oklahoma City, but wanted to chime in on From Hell-- read it just about a year ago and posted a review full of praise in the Any Recs thread.

Absolutely was mesmerized by it, and I think it's a solid contender for Moore's best work and my favorite by him. So many choices by he and Campbell are bold and original, and work towards creating an amazing narrative about humanity, gender, the Victorian era (and by extension, of course, today). One of the most rewarding reads in a long while.

Love those appendix notes too.

Here's what you wrote about it last year:



Like you, I think it's probably between V for Vendetta and From Hell for his best work, though I may lean slightly toward V for my overall reaction to it. I may have to re-read V soon to help me reassess this notion.

Most people would say Watchmen, I suspect, because of its ultra-high profile and impact on the comics landscape. I'll never dispute its excellence, but it's hard to eliminate the cumulative effect of its overexposure and DC's recent exploitation of it from the equation. In fact, I'd elevate his run on Swamp Thing above Watchmen at this point.

I found V hadn't aged as well as other Moore works in my last look at it, but as the political pendulum continues to swing right in the West, it may be worth another look.

Swamp Thing for me is still the favourite and the most emotionally resonant.

As a standalone piece, I think Watchmen is brilliant, though it's subtleties are often misunderstood (and as the movie and "before" books prove, misunderstood by DC/WB as well). I can understand Moore's frustrations that people took exactly the wrong things from it, leaving him in many ways as one of the inadvertent fathers fo the Dark Age.

In From Hell, the chapter in which the Ripper and his driver take a tour of London's architecture is one of those mesmerizing series of pages that I allude to above. I read it in a noisy airport last year and by page 4 I had totally drowned out everything around me as if I was in a library--that was how well Moore masterfully transported me to the Victorian era.

The gradual build up of tension, culminating in the driver's everyday reaction, is palpable. You, as a reader, understand precisely what Moore is doing, yet you still feel the sense that something sinister is taking place. It's riveting! And on the surface, it's something like 45 pages of discussion on architecture.

It IS a really fascinating chapter, so much so that it was the only part of the Appendix that I skipped because I really didn't feel I needed further explanation. Oh, I intend to read it at some point, of course....probably after some future second reading. It's enthralling, though, to see how Moore used this tour of London to paint the broad strokes of (this version, anyway) the Ripper's own personal motivations for committing the murders. It really sets up the extra-normal aspects of the story to come.

I also love how the chapters vary in length, depending on what story Moore wanted to tell. It's the most loosely structured work of Moore's I've seen, and I think it benefits immensely from not being confined to a certain page count.

Meanwhile, I still owe a couple of reviews! Seeing as how I've just read another TPB (Huntress: Darknight Daughter), I'd better step on it!

Star Wars: The Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 1 (collects Star Wars 1-44): Well, anyone who's been paying attention to my rants about the comics of my childhood shouldn't be surprised about my nostalgia for Marvel's original Star Wars series. The most pleasant surprise, though, in reading the first 300 pages of this handsome collection was really how well-crafted and entertaining these stories really were, especially with so much going against them.

What do I mean? Well, the actual film adaptation (comprised of the first six issues) of what would later be called "A New Hope" was completed without any of the creators seeing anything near the final cut of the film! I mean, Howard Chaykin and even writer Roy Thomas had to take some leaps of faith and do the best they had with what they got. What you get is an adaptation that feels much more like a comic book than a movie. A lot of the dialogue is a little off, and some scenes lack special detail. Plus, some of the iconic deleted scenes were still in the adaptation, including the legendary scenes with Luke and Biggs and the notorious Jabba the Hut (one "t") appearance as a bipedal green dude. But I love it! All of the narration and descriptions that deepen the context of the story make it, hands down, my favorite of any comics movie adaptation, especially because it's unapologetically a comic book!

Another thing interesting about the book after the movie adaptation is how little the creators had to go on to continue the story. As Thomas says in his intro, restrictions were put on the book by Lucasfilm, including their not being allowed to use Darth Vader (something they obviously would loosen their stance on eventually), to develop the Luke/Leia romance (and not being told why) or to delve into the Clone Wars as mentioned in some throwaway lines.

In truth, the post-movie stories do feel a bit off in tone. If you think about it, they didn't really have a lot to go on from just the one film. Though it did a great deal of world-building, the universe was still vastly unexplored and the characters mostly just scratching the surface. The next movie would go a long way toward expanding the scope and characters, but meanwhile, Marvel just kinda had to run with it as best they could. For me, that made for a fun and imaginative run from the get-go.

The first arc to follow the film adaptation in issues 7-10 is one that is often referenced, usually in a derisive manner, as an example of Marvel's supposed abuse of the franchise. Most often cited is the appearance of giant humanoid green Bugs Bunny-riff character Jaxon as part of Thomas and Chaykin's Seven Samurai riff with Han and Chewie at the center of the crusade. Well, I personally loved Jaxon as a kid and still love him during this rediscovery. The more egregious character in the group, to me, is the character of Don Won Kihotay, the apparently senile wannabe Jedi Knight. But even he becomes pretty cool as the story progresses and leaves me wanting more of survivors of the "Eight for Aduba" crew.

Beyond that, I like the arc for daring to focus pretty much entirely around Han and Chewie, leaving Luke, Leia and the droids entirely to brief subplot cameos. I thought it was interesting they had the pair immediately get their reward from the Rebellion ripped off by pirates and find themselves down and out on a backwater world--yet immediately finding a heroic purpose while still within their mercenary ways.

All of the Aduba Eight are fun, and when two of them are lost (though one loss is frustrating because his death or even any peril was not depicted clearly) and another almost lost, it's pretty affecting. Several of them are analogs for the missing members of the Star Wars cast, and it's interesting to see what effect Luke and the rest had on Han (who for all he knows, he may never see again) by proxy during their brief adventure.

The ending, in which there is a destructive third party called to intervene between Han's crew and the marauders, robs the story of some of it's gravitas and build-up. But it's nice to see more fantasy elements brought in, which would later become more prominent in the films.

The end of this second arc marks the departure of both Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin. Roy, I think, gives way to a writer more suited to the book, Archie Goodwin. I lament the departure of Chaykin more because toward the end of his run, Tom Palmer joined him as inker, and I feel the book never looked better (at least early on) than it did with those two paired together. I certainly wish I'd seen more of them, at the very least!

The third arc (issues 11-15), imo, is really a superior arc. While searching for a new rebel base, Luke and the droids crash land on a water planet and are caught in a war between scavengers and dragon-riders who are descendants of some never-do-wells. It gets even more complicated when Leia gets captured by the same pirates that ripped off Han and Chewie's reward while looking for Luke. Han and Chewie run into the pirates and by extension Leia, and they trick the pirates into taking them all to Luke's last known location with the promise of rebel treasure. Eventually, all the characters come back together and face the triple-threat of all these factions in a very satisfying story. Honestly, if Lucas had done an Episode IV and a half, this would have made for a very entertaining movie!

The arc just seems so perfectly crafted that I'm surprised it doesn't get mentioned more in fandom. there are some great moments--like when Leia decks Han--that seem so appropriate and prescient of what would later happen. Goodwin, supposedly restricted from exploring Luke and Leia, seems to have run with the chemistry Leia and Han had. Han comes off as a bad-ass, the Princess aggressive and cunning and Luke capable of thinking on his feet with some logical extension of his desert farmboy upbringing--it makes sense that he can't swim! And it also has just the right dash of pathos in a character's passing and just a really deep backstory behind the water planet inhabitants.

The artist in residence on the arc and for some time to come is legendary Flash artist Carmine Infantino. In some ways his style here in a situation utilizing characters whose likenesses are based on real people is a little jarring. Chaykin rarely worried about the likenesses (though in some panels he's absolutely dead-on), but his style seemed to be more of a natural to the story. I think even as a kid, I noticed that Infantino's faces seemed, I dunno, a little angular for the characters. Something else else about how he draws Leia, especially. But as I read through the story, there's no denying Infantino's storytelling ability. And though he is an odder choice and less natural fit than Chaykin, I do overall like his work here. Certainly doesn't hurt that the child inside me recognizes the images and stirs the nostalgia.

I think it's wonderful that the series began with three extended arcs (including the film). It immediately marked the book as different from its superhero brethren at Marvel and really suited the epic nature of the property. I know from memory that there are more extended arcs to come and that Goodwin wouldn't be leaving any time soon. From what I'm reading and re-living here, that's definitely a good thing!

Next up, is the first true one-shot of the series, and it's a special treat as none other than Walt Simonson steps in for a guest pencil. Not only is it the first one-shot but it also is devoid of any of the principle characters, aside from some flashback montages! It features a bounty hunter, Valance, out to get Luke and the droids. Instead, he finds the survivors of the Aduba Eight crew, thinking that the characters who fought with Han were actually them. So we get the return of Jaxon and the others in a fine adventure (one last time unfortunately) and the likelihood that Valance will meet the real deals before long, after revealing a (fairly predictable, admittedly) secret Valance has behind his hatred of droids. It's a cool story reuniting Goodwin and Simonson, who created the iconic Manhunter stories for DC.

After that issue, I decided to suspend my reading of the Omnibus for a while. I enjoyed it thoroughly but wanted to savor the great epics I'd just read, knowing that there are more great epics to come. I'll pick up where I left off soon and look forward to doing so when the time is right.

I can honestly say that I enjoyed these stories a lot. I think that aside from the nostalgia, they are very entertaining on their own merits. They are fun, imaginative and memorable. Star Wars purists may scoff, but I'm as big a fan as there's ever been and don't. Honestly, I'm hard-pressed to think of Star Wars comics much better than these and am especially delighted to see stories of the universe not bound by the struggle with the Empire and/or evil Sith lords. It's damn fun space fantasy, and that's what Star Wars is at its core!

It was and it wasn't. Originally it was running as a part of Steve Bissette's "Taboo" anthology in shorter clips, but when that book sadly went under, It came out infrequently as Prestige Format singles (first by Tundra, then by Kitchen Sink), though the last Chapter was larger than the others.

It's interesting that anything by Alan Moore at that stage of his career would have any publication difficulties. Regardless, I think the irregular length of the chapters and that each has a definite purpose speaks to my overall point.

Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vol. 2: So the bulk of this hardcover I had read less than a year ago as part of a massive Avengers read project that spanned the beginning of the Kree/Skrull War in Avengers 89 and ending with the original Taskmaster story in Avengers 196. The part of that that this volume includes is the multi-issue Avengers/Defenders War. That very crossover prompted me to look into Defenders reprints as well. I decided to buy this volume despite the bulk of it containing story I already had for the sake of completion, including stories leading up to and taking place after said crossover that I hadn't read before. It certainly didn't hurt that this volume sells very cheaply on eBay!

If anyone's interested in my thoughts (and those of such luminaries as Cobie and Fanfic Lady) on the Avengers/Defenders War, which I really loved, you can read them in the All Avengers Thread, starting here. I don't have much to add to those thoughts on a second viewing, except to say that it remains a very good read even after reading it for a second instance in a short period of time. Not as compelling or new, but still damn good!

So preceding the A/D War, we have a 2-parter which both features Attuma leading (another) surface invasion and sets up Hawkeye to be present and on the Defenders' side during the upcoming War. Attuma has never been all that compelling to me, and this story does little to counter that feeling. weirder for me was seeing the Red Ghost as Attuma's ally without his Super-Apes and wearing a chesty '70s costume instead of his parka! It's not our man Steve Englehart's finest hour, but even with it's problems, it has some genuine pathos with it being Namor's first fight with Attuma since Lady Dorma's death. Plus there's some exploration of the Valkyrie's identity crisis.

After the A/D War, Englehart leaves and Len Wein comes aboard as writer for a while. I thought he immediately got off to a fun start with his Xemnu story in issue 12. Xemnu is not an inherently interesting opponent, but Len makes it a great showcase for the dynamic of Hulk, Val and Doc that makes it work for me.

Then, Len brings in a new core Defender in his 2-parter in 13-14. The plot with the Squadron Sinister "selling" the Earth to Nebulon is a bit of a clunker, but it's nice to see Nighthawk featured and joining up with our non-team.

(As a sidebar, I find the Squadron Sinister a little confusing. I understand (I think!) that they are the main Marvel Earth counterparts to the Squadron Supreme, and that the villainous version actually appeared first. But, I dunno, the waters get muddy for me at some point. For example, whatever happened to them?!?)

In there somewhere is Giant Size Defenders 1. Unfortunately, it's not memorable. It reads like a "clip show" episode of your favorite TV show with a thin plot bridging a series of Hulk, Doc and Subby reprints to supposedly give val a better understanding of her new teammates. Pretty much a yawner.

The edition concludes with a 2-part battle with Magneto and his Brotherhood and centering around Maggie's creation of Alpha, the ultimate mutant. It's really odd that Wein chooses to include Professor X but leave out the original X-Men, who are said to be appearing in Marvel Team-Up at the same time in an editorial box. It's certainly not a great story, especially with its portrayal of Maggie as the garden variety megalomaniac that Claremont would later deconstruct. And its denouement with Maggie and the Brotherhood all reduced to babies was kind of odd, but it's not a bad story on its own merits. Hulk, Doc, Val and Nighthawk are featured and all click pretty well. Plus, you know that Len would go on to revive the X-Men with Dave Cockrum before long, so you know writing stories in the X-Men's milieu probably sparked his interest there.

So it wasn't unexpected that the stories in this volume around the A/D War might pale by comparison, but I don't regret reading them for completeness and for some interesting nuggets here and there. But the greatest pleasure was seeing the work of Sal Buscema continue on the title and knowing there is plenty more to come, especially soon with Steve Gerber writing. To me, his work on Defenders and Spectacular Spider-Man are among the best work Sal has ever done. I feel his character work on Namor, Doctor Strange, Hulk and Valkyrie are just iconic and some of the best interpretations of those four. I'm not in love with his Silver Surfer, and I need to see more of his Nighthawk--but I think those four are rendered just perfectly by him. And given that those are four of the core characters, his mastery of them makes any Defenders story he draws a pleasure to look at at the very least!

Glad you enjoyed those stories, Lardy.

I agree about Sal Buscema's Defenders art at this point -- he was really coming into his own around this time, no longer so beholden to his brother John's style. Sharp, angular (but not to the point of being weird) and very energetic.

But I'm afraid I can't be any help where the Squadron Sinister's history is concerned. I'm just as confused by it as you are.

Funny about Len Wein. Over at DC around this time (or, more accurately, shortly before it), he was reinventing the wheel with his work on JLA and Swamp Thing, but he got off to an awkward start at Marvel. He did improve quite a bit over the course of the mid-70s IMO. And I'd never thought about how the Defenders vs Magneto story might have lit the spark that led to the revival of the X-Men. Good point.

Regarding Nebulon, I've always felt he had a cool name and a great look, but ever lived up to his potential.

IIRC, Lardy, you've got Marvel Masterworks Defenders vols. 3 & 4 in the pipeline, but have you read Marvel Masterworks Defenders vol. 1? I'm very fond of Englehart's first five issues of Defenders, especially his portrayal of the Enchantress. I hope you don't miss out on those.

Yep, I read Vol. 1 several months ago. Thought I reviewed it, but didn't. Certainly meant to!

Alas, the memory's a bit too fuzzy now to rectify that now. But I certainly enjoyed that volume a great deal, particularly the Englehart material once the ongoing series started. The Roy Thomas stuff in Marvel Feature and was decent, but Englehart and Sal really made the book its own thing and grabbed my attention. No surprise, I suppose since Englehart has emerged as such a favorite of mine over the past year, especially.

(It's killing me, though, because I can seemingly recall my review of Vol. 1 but can't find it anywhere!!! )

So, to get all caught up, my most recent read from The Pile was the Huntress: Darknight Daughter TPB I'd gotten last summer. This was a no-brainer to get once I learned of its existence because I love me some classic Earth-2 and have been particularly enamored of its alternate Batman mythos since I was a child. This collection reprints the Huntress solo stories from DC Superstars 17, Batman Family 18-20 and her backup stories from Wonder Woman 271-287, 289-90 & 294-95. The writer is her co-creator and giant among the Legion mythos Paul Levitz and the penciller is her co-creator Joe Staton with various inkers including Steve Mitchell, Bob Layton and Jerry Ordway among others.

I love this original version of the Huntress! Even as a pre-teen there was something that attracted me to her enough that I actually bought a couple of the original issues of Wonder Woman (which also happened to feature the debut of Diana's "WW" breastplate) to read Helena's adventures. I only bought one or two of them, but I've always remembered those back-ups and how much I loved the character. Really, her post-Crisis revamp as Helena Bertinelli and even her supposed return to form in the New 52 have paled in comparison, and reading the stories collected within this trade have only reaffirmed that belief.

It's really hard for me to pinpoint what makes these stories really good to me. There have certainly been better-written stories by writers and even Levitz himself, certainly. But I love how Helena's legacy drives her without also overwhelming her. I love that it's Earth-2, but the writing doesn't beat you over the head trying to explain it. I love how her world's Robin and Power Girl guest star but don't overshadow her in her own book. I love that she's tough but no clone of her father. I love the sad origin story centered around her mother's death and the terrible circumstances around it. And I just love that there's a reality where a recognizable version of Bruce and Selina fell in love and had a daughter that carried on their legacies.

Levitz was a fledgling writer crafting these stories, and there are some flaws and holes in many of his plots. But Helena is always capable, likable while also having flaws. Her characterization and the heart he injects into the stories make the flaws easily diminished.

I said in earlier reviews of his run on the Justice Society in the '70s that Joe Staton did some of his best work in the Earth-2 milieu. the same certainly goes for his work on the Huntress. He draws her consistently and beautifully in all of these stories, regardless of who is inking, though some inkers do a better job than others. Here, I could especially see that perhaps Tom Mandrake had some Staton influence in his work.

I honestly don't know if everyone would enjoy this collection as much as I did, but if you like Helena Wayne and the classic earth-2 mythos, I don't think you'll be disappointed. It actually has me hungering for more, as I know there were actually a number of Huntress backups written by Joey Cavalieri for a while after these, which concluded Levitz's run. It seems unlikely that we'll ever get a second collection, sadly.

Actually, it makes me a bit resentful of Crisis and the kind of casual panel-or-so death it gave Helena and Dick. Huntress has never been the same, and she had the potential to be the female superstar that DC has had so relatively few of.

Don't worry about the lack of a Defenders v.1 review, Lardy. That's what we have the Re-Reads thread for. Maybe sometime in the next few years we can do a Defenders re-read together.





My sentiments exactly, Lardy. I would only add that Helena was refreshingly free of the cynicism, angst, and I-have-to-be-tougher-than-the-guys kind of hang-ups that far too many so-called heroines of recent vintage have had.

Lardy, some really great reviews and insights into some very cool comics! As some general feedback, here are my own thoughts and experiences:

Star Wars
I’ve never actually read a single Star Wars comic in my life. It’s fascinating to hear your thoughts on them because I know you are a huge Star Wars fan, and that counts for a lot. I also consider myself a very big Star Wars fan, which I loved throughout my entire childhood and beyond. My experience is quite different from probably most of my LW peers though, because by the time I was old enough to watch the films, Jedi had already been in and out of theaters and the best place I would catch the films is when they were played on TV (which if anyone remembers was like all the time during the late 80’s and 90’s, especially on Christmas day). So I think I ended up watching them totally out of order as a kid: first Jedi, which was great, then Empire, which I loved, and finally I got around to watching “A New Hope” when I was like 13—after watching the other two like 10 times each over the last few years.

But long story short, I loved the films and I feel like just about all of my friends did too. My entire generation of 80’s babies is probably almost entirely more Star Wars than Star Trek. Yet, neither my Dad nor I had much interest in Star Wars comics (or Star Trek comics). And I really still don’t. I even passed on the recent Star Wars #1 which apparently everyone in the world has at least two copies of. I am a huge admirer of Archie Goodwin, Howard Chaykin and even Roy Thomas to a lesser extent, so I’ve always been a little curious. But I have to say its one line in particular of what you wrote that actually has me truly interested in Star Wars comics for the first time ever: “I’m especially delighted to see stories of the universe not bound by the struggle with the Empire and/or evil Sith lords. It's damn fun space fantasy, and that's what Star Wars is at its core!” I think that right there hits on a major reason why I maybe haven’t been all that interested in Star Wars comics but would be interested in these earlier stories. I’ve had more than enough stories featuring the Empire and the Sith. But stories exploring the larger universe beyond? Now that sounds awesome!

Huntress
I’m also a big fan of the original Huntress, though I’m almost certain I only ever really knew her as a kid from the JLA team-ups and her role in Crisis on Infinite Earths. A little later I did read the 70’s All-Star Comics run, and found her awesome there, but I think the real reason I like her is I just love the idea of her. Helena Wayne, by all accounts and purposes, was exactly what it looked like when DC delivered on the promise and concept of Earth-2. DC should have spent the last 30 years coming up with similar Earth-2 concepts instead of trying to bludgeon them into the shared post-Crisis universe, but I digress.

Long story short, I’ve never read any of the Huntress back-ups, but I easily could since we have every Wonder Woman comic from 1960 forward. So at some point, I’d be happy to check them out, because she is a character I would very much like to get to know better.

Defenders
As you allude to, it’s kind of hard to remember a lot of the other Defenders stories right at this time besides the Avengers / Defenders War, which is such a potent force of the era. But I’m with you on Englehart and only have the most positive memories / feelings towards his Marvel work. Meanwhile, the Len Wein stories, like so much of his work, always left me with the memory of them falling very flat. Wein, like Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway, could be brilliant at times but also have extensive runs on comics where his work was average at best. These are the latter. The Magneto story, which I only read once 20+ years ago (so who knows what I’d think now) always felt pretty terrible to me. Nothing offensive about it, just a good example of bad 70’s superhero comics.

However, Sal Buscema is a longtime favorite of mine—naturally because of the Spectacular Spider-Man—and his work during this era was truly coming alive as Fanfie says. As you pointed out, Sal true some iconic on a lot of the Defenders, and for me, his Hulk always stands out.

Love that you’re doing these reviews Lardy. As I grow increasingly bored with modern comics—even the independent scene which I’ve been so immersed in for the last five years or so—I’m feeling more and more like I need to get back to reading past runs from the eras of comics I loved as a kid. These reviews are great to feed that hunger.

I honestly think you'd enjoy these stories quite a bit! It's one thing the original series clearly excelled at, telling fun stories not bound by the Sith and the Empire. The second and third arcs read almost like some terrific LMB adventures, actually! Han's almost a Cobie/Lardy amalgam without powers!

I sure hope you read them some day!



Since you own them anyway, I'd certainly encourage you to read them! When you do so, I'd like to hear about the post-Levitz/Staton stories (something like 24 of them :Elasticlad: ), so you can give me some 411 on them!

Seriously, Helena had a tremendously long run as a backup in WW! I've seen few backups last nearly that long without getting their own book. I'll bet she was on the precipice before the decision was made to do away with Earth-2!




I don't think Len did all that badly in these stories. Like I said, something about that crazy Xemnu story really clicked for me in a way that's hard to explain. But I guess it's hard not to pale in comparison between writers like Englehart and Gerber, who both really made their mark on the book.



It's nice to know my obsession with doing these reviews is paying off! Seriously, it's always gratifying when discussion spins out of them.

I'd never thought of that, and I wouldn't be surprised if she was indeed on the precipice.

I think the two biggest mistakes of DC's Jenette Kahn era were killing Helena Wayne and nixing Supergirl-as-Sensor-Girl.

I really like the Huntress stories in Wonder Woman. I remember the Huntress backups were far better than the Wonder Woman stories. It happens occasionally - the backup feature outshines the main story. This also happened in Green Lantern, when the Tales of the Green Lantern Corps stories were much better than the main feature.

Pile UPDATE (4/15/15).....

Recently Read
Star Wars (The Marvel Years) Omnibus Vol. 1 (the rest of it)
Captain America: War & Remembrance
Grendel Omnibus Vol. 2: Legacy


To-Read Pile (new stuff since last time in bold)
Tales of the Batman: Gene Colan
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vols. 3 & 4
Mage Vol. 2: The Hero Defined
Legion Archives Vol. 9 (for the Re-reading project)
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Jinx
Goldfish
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 1
Scout Vol. 2
Frank Miller's Ronin Deluxe Edition
Marvel Masterworks: Iron Fist Vol. 1
Spider-Man by Roger Stern Omnibus
Marvel Masterworks: Silver Surfer Vol. 1
Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton & Romita, Jr. Omnibus
Tales of the Batman: Len Wein
Murder Me Dead (David Lapham)
Stray Bullets Uber Alles Edition
Star Wars: Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 1
Amazing Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga
Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Jansen Omnibus
Grimjack Omnibus Vol. 2
Avengers Omnibus Vol. 1
Jon Sable: Freelance Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Avengers Omnibus Vol. 2
Secret Six Vol. 1: Villains United
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 2
Underwater Welder
Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange Vol. 6


Thinking about possibly getting soon....
Orion by Walt Simonson Omnibus
Flex Mentallo
New teen Titans Vol. 2

Yes!! I'm overjoyed. Whenever Simonson builds on Kirby, it's always good.



YES!!! I'm beyond overjoyed! I really do think anyone who loves superhero comics should read it!



Yay! We can always use more traffic in the Titans forum.

Fourth World Omnibus 2 and 3
Flashpoint stuff.
Prequel Watchmen stuff.

<tapping foot impatiently...>

Well, I've finished reading the bulk of From Hell. I still have to read the two Appendices, but I wanted to get down my initial thoughts right away.

Firstly, I think the best way to sum it up would be that the place From Hell should occup in the Moore canon is as the Animus to Promethea's Anima. Taken together, they form Moore's double-sided masterpiece. From Hell, which was written earlier, is far bleaker and more pessimistic and looks toward the beginning of a dark age, while Promethea is at the very least mild hopeful about the future, even if it does take an apocalypse to move us even a little bit forward.

(A digression: regarding Swamp Thing's and Watchmen's places in the Moore canon, I think the former may have the most emotional purity to it which makes it transcend the majority of its flaws, while the latter is behind only the muddled Judgement Day and the dreadful Killing Joke in the Bottom Three of Moore's canon.)

Lardy did a good job of summing up the class-warfare and metaphysical aspects of the story. I would only add three things:

1. I think Inspector Fred Abberline is one of Moore's most memorable male protagonists; despite his fundamental decency, he is, in the end, still very much a product of his times, but no less sympathetic for that (I haven't seen the movie, but the thought of Johnny Depp playing Abberline is nauseating. Jim Broadbent would have made the perfect Abberline, IMO.)

2. Critics who find Moore's entire canon of work overly clinical really need to re-read both From Hell and Promethea. Moore is one of popular arts true visionaries, and one of the few who can see every side of an issue.

3. Eddie Campbell's envisioning of most of the metaphysical scenes is jaw-dropping, especially the full-page splash of the killer's vision before he starts killing. The only one that fell flat for me was his vision of the future as he commits the final murder -- then again, perhaps the flatness was delibrate, and indicative of the way Moore sees (saw?) modern life.

A final thought: as I was reading From Hell, I myself experienced weird connections in my head between a friend's health problems and the fanfic I was working on, and while I didn't have visions, I did at times feel like I was being pulled away from mundane reality. Such is the power of Alan Moore's best writing, I suppose. In the personal fallout after reading Promethea, I felt cleansed of any lingering anxieties regarding organized religion and the apocalypse. Time will tell what the positive lasting effects of From Hell are.

I liked Abberline, as well, and found his relationship with the prostitute fascinating, especially how she obviously felt about his desire to change the nature of their relationship. The bookends detailing his friendship with the psychic were real highlights, too.

In the movie, btw, Abberline and Mary Kelley are in love. Just one of many points showing what a poor adaptation it was. Depp's Abberline is nothing like Moore's. (I think Depp's Abberline was himself the psychic and randomly addicted to absinthe, iirc....ugh.) Nothing like Moore's Abberline, among many other numerous faults. Fans of the book should never assuage their curiosity--trust!

I need to re-read Promethea at some point. I've only ever read it once, and that was during its original, very erratic publication. Cobie's recent first reading of it and your mention here make me start thinking of a first re-read.

As I've written elsewhere, V For Vendetta is currently my favorite Moore work and From Hell is the biggest contender. Third place is probably up in the air between Swamp Thing and Watchmen. While Watchmen has lost some of its luster, largely due to its over-exposure and DC's recent cash grab "event" with Before Watchmen, it remains a great work of his in my mind.

I'm really curious about his upcoming Providence from Avatar Press. Seems like I haven't read anything "new" from Moore in a long time. I'm fallen behind on his more recent LXG stuff (though I own all three "Century" prestiges) and don't own any of the Nemo spin-offs. I followed Fashion Beast last year, but that was actually an adaptation of an old screenplay of his by another writer and loses something in translation, I think, especially as it wasn't intended as a comic script. My comic book guy said his Crossed +100 stuff has been pretty underwhleming. So I'll be watching reviews on Providence.

The movie combined Abberline and the psychic into one character?

That's so ridiculous it's almost funny.

Now I'm happier than ever that I never watched the movie.

Glad to learn that Cobie and I have partly inspired a Promethea re-read, Lardy. It occurs to me as I'm typing this that it's not only the feminine counterpart to From Hell, it's also a more satisfying re-working of a lot of the plot and themes of the year-long American Gothic arc from Swamp Thing.

I haven't re-read V for Vendetta in years, and while I remember liking it, very little of it has stuck in my mind the way my favorite Moore works have.

Regarding LoXG, I remember being underwhelmed by the final installment of Century, and I haven't read any of the Nemo spin-offs yet.

I have no interested in Crossed or any of its satellite series, and I'm on the fence about trying Fashion Beast.

And I confess I hadn't even heard of Providence. What's it about? Who is the artist? Why is it coming out through Avatar instead of Top Shelf?

Moore's had a number of things published thru Avatar, including Fashion Beast (not sure that I can recommend that one). Top Shelf seems mostly his home for LXG and some others.

Here's a link to some of Avatar's info on Providence. It works with some Lovecraftian concepts and is related to Moore's Neonomicon (which I also haven't read).

Yeah, I'm glad I didn't see it after I read From Hell. I certainly won't ever watch it again. I don't know why they bothered to call it an adaptation at all, really. Basically, they threw out everything but the barest bones of the plot and even shook that up like a Magic 8-Ball to make it just another Depp vehicle.



Lots of authors revisit and reexamine certain themes and ideas. The best, like Moore, do it so well that you don't mind at all.



I don't know why. It's something about its symbolism, themes, messages, characters and subplots that just DO it for me upon multiple reads.



I don't know what I've been waiting for as far as reading those Century books. Maybe its because, though I really dug the first LXG series, the first sequel didn't do it as much for me. I haven't read/don't own Black Dossier. Maybe I'm subconsciously influenced by my disappointment in the second series?

Seems the reviews on the Nemo books have been very positive, though.



Me neither, after suffering thru the initial Ennis series. Moore's name always raises an eyebrow, though.

Thanks for the Providence link, Lardy. And I haven't read Neonomicon, either.

Re: LoXG, that's something interesting to learn, because I myself was very disappointed by the second arc. Great minds and all that. But please do read Black Dossier, I think it's the best the series will probably ever get. And of the three Century prestiges, I enjoyed the middle one, 1969, the most by far.

Re: V for Vendetta, it's certainly timely, possibly even timeless (which is a sad comment on politics, but I digress), and I guess I should give it a considered re-read sometime.

Some great back and forth going on here! I'll chime in on a few things.

I love all the insight on From Hell, which I still think about all the time a year after I read it. I wholeheartedly agree on Fanfie's comment that Aberline is among the greatest of Moore's protagonists. Moore never once strays from the era or letting Fred be true to himself--flaws and all--but in the process creates a very nuanced and complex character that on the surface always appears very straight forward. It's really well done.

Also agree about Campbell, especially that one page spread depicting Gull's "deity" that he believes he is serving. I went ahead and bought two other Campbell works right after I read FH and I enjoyed them immensely. I also picked up the From Hell companion book, which is like another tomb of additional info on FH from Campbell's perspective.

One thing that isn't obvious at first, and this is a spoiler if anyone hasn't read it, is that the prostitute who grows close with Fred and ultimately bilks him is Marie Kelly. This is never confirmed in story but Campbell reveals in the aforementioned book that this is how Moore and he referred to her internally the whole time. Of course, the ending also shows the metaphysical death throes Gull seeing Marie's happy ending, also never spelled out, as well as the happy ending of the heir to the throne. Typical Moore--none of this is spoon fed to the reader.

Regarding the movie, it would be ok for what it is but it certainly isn't From Hell. Depp as Aberline immediately makes totally different and inferior, but even worse is the movie is basically a mystery story that reveals the Ripper's identity in the third act. In other words, it loses half of what makes the OGN so good, and puts it among a few dozen other mediocre Ripper stories.

A few fast thoughts on other things:

- I def recommend a reread for V for Vendetta (my other favorite along with From Hell) and Promethea (another one I still think about constantly) to you both respectively. It's hard to give added praise to works so superb other than it'll be worth the reread regardless of when you last read them.

- like you both, I didn't love the 2nd LXG either. I liked Century 1 & 2 well enough but really didn't like the final part all that much. That said, I've adored the Nemo stories and read with a smile from ear to ear when they came out. Moore and O'Neil are loving what they do when they make them.

- I am actually enjoying Crossed 100+ quite a bit! I've found the whole Crossed phenom to be hugely unappealing, though I did find myself bored one day, and checked out the free webcomic Crossed: Wish You Here, and then found himself quite impressed. But this is something quite different, and it's pure Moore. I'd say don't read it until you really are in the mood to work for it; it takes some adjusting to get used to Moore's language, and he doesn't let up an inch in befuddling you every line of dialogue along the way as to what the hell they're talking about. But that's kinda the point of the whole thing I think, as I suspect we'll see.

- lastly, I never read Necrominon but I'd caution anyone before trying it because I've heard it's Moore's worst work, and it's also the meanest and most awful in terms of violence and rape. From what I've read, I have no desire to check it out. In fact, if you've avoided Crossed because you know how innately disgusting and awful it is, this is right on par.

It's always a pleasure when you chime in, Cobie.

I'll get to V for Vendetta sometime later in the year. I still have to continue the PAD Hulk re-read, which I left off on the cusp of its peak, the issues leading up to and including 400, mostly drawn by Dale Keown.

Speaking of re-reads, are you and Lardy still planning to continue the X-Men re-read?

And thanks for the warning about Neonomicon.

I got the latter clues about Marie's happy ending, but I don't think ever thought of Abberline's prostitute being her. I think the similar happy ending for Marie in the film made me kinda look for it, though.



That's exactly it: not the worst movie ever in and of itself, but it is in no way, shape or form worthy of being an adaptation of From Hell. I didn't mention the mystery aspect of the film, but it's one of infinite criticisms I have of it as an adaptation.



Make no mistake, I LOVED Promethea! And I'm sure I'll love it as much or probably more the second time around! I'm very curious how it will be reading it without the long wait between issues. I'll most definitely do this sooner rather than later.



That's what I needed to hear about the Nemo books. They're now firmly on my radar.



Is +100 still going on now with Moore as writer? I thought I'd heard it had already been passed on to someone else.



If this is accurate (and Avatar is known largely for its mega-violent and hyper-sexual fare), then that bodes ill for Providence. It's why I'll be watching the reviews closely.

I assume we are, but we haven't talked about it recently. For my part, I'm not in a super-huge hurry but do want to do it eventually.

Thoughts, Cobie?



BTW, Le Ficque...have you read Moore's run on Supreme? I certainly highly recommend it if you haven't. I also recommend Top 10, which I don't think Cobie's ever read.

About Black Dossier: Is it an actual story....or basically a dossier?

Black Dossier is part story, part dossier. It's a mix of different mediums to tell a story, such as old newspaper articles and the like. It's really dense and comprehensive. I remember enjoying it immensely bur when I was done I was like "whew, that was a lot of work!"

As to X-Men, I'm ready when you guys are, but I'm also not in a rush and can wait if you have a backlog to get through. Having just finished my TPB backlog, I now have a pile of novels in front of me I plan to read, including Hemingway, Vonnegut and Dostoyevsky that I've never read before. (My sister is a manager at a book store / cafe, so my siblings and I have our own little book club now).

On Crossed 100+, I believe Moore is letting Si Spurrier do issues #7-12, and then is set to return after. Or at least that's what they say. If he doesn't, I'll be hugely dissapointed. I'm willing to give Spurrier a chance because he impressed me with Crossed: Wish You Here, but I'm not really in the mood to give the Crossed series too much wiggle room to impress me. The hyper violence and sexuality, especially sexual violence, that Lardy alluded to is just way too over the line for me.

Lardy, I'm happy to say I have read the second of the two Alan Moore Supreme trades, and I love it. Ahh, if only he'd been able to do this kind of stuff with Superman instead of "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" Yeah, I know, he was "in a bad mood" during the 80s, but still...

Regarding the X-Men re-read, it's actually more likely I'll be able to participate if it doesn't happen yet for a while, since I've still got over 100 issues of PAD's Hulk to re-read. But if you guys want to start before me, I'll definitely be enjoying your reviews and chiming in on occassion.

Not to give the "From Hell" movie any more time than it's worth (it's really bad), I found it was like some "Bizarro" version of the story. Everything laid out in the book is mystery in the movie (turning it into a bad "whodunnit") while everything that was subtle in the book is laid out in the movie (Abberline and Kelly). It's not even hilariously bad, it's just a complete mis-reading of what the whole book is about.

No wonder Moore hates movies, he's not only 0-4 on adaptations, but those adaptations miss the mark so completely it's astounding.

At least "For the Man Who Has Everything" made a decent TV show.

Just to add my nodding head to the views about From Hell comics and movie. While I enjoyed the comic (although I've not reread it) the film reminded me of Poe movies. They take the title of a Poe story and tape a different plot to it. I was too busy wondering what the heck I'd just watched to really be have any reaction to it. I was too gob smacked to be disappointed. It was so poor. I liked Watchmen though, picking up on the Moore related films.

I think that both Watchmen and V For Vendetta were decent adaptations.

Watchmen was about as faithful to the plot as any movie could be to its source. The main question up for debate, imo, is whether the experience of the book could ever truly translate into film. I tend to think so, though it's not as re-watchable as the book is re-readable. Otherwise, aside from certain caveats about performances and presentation and the ending (which I think improved on giant calamari), I don't know how anyone could ask for a better adaptation, really.

I think the V film succeeded to a lesser degree than Watchmen but still made for a very affecting movie experience. Yes, it wasn't nearly as deep in storytelling and character arcs, but the basic story was still there and delivered with at least some power. I think part of that was a filmmaker decision to not exactly dumb it down but make it more relevant to modern social concerns and sensibilities.

LXG and From Hell? Those movies were travesties that spit in the face of the source material, with no question.

I expect serious disagreement here over the two that I support, but it's how I feel.

I'd pretty much agree with that Paladin. V wasn't a shade on the comic, but some of the basics were there.

I think that the Watchmen movie ending was an improvement over the comic too.

I thought I had detailed my problems with the Watchmen movie over on the thread devoted to it, but I see that I basically said "Hated it, will expand on why later", and never got back to it. Looks like I'm overdue.

First off, the movie looks fantastic. Sequences lifted from the books are about the best you can ask for. The problem for me is Snyder didn't understand the book. At all.

The book is about six different points of view, often contradictory, presented equally and without judgement (you can argue how successful Moore was with this, but that's what was presented). In my view, the movie's primary failure is that Snyder/Hayter took sides. Not only is Adrien's POV chapter excised completely, Dan's inserted speech at the end clearly shows that's his is the "right" point of view and that Adrien is the villain (As opposed to the book where Dan can't process it and Adrien is left in doubt after the book's pivotal scene with Jon that is also cut). To me these aren't just adaptation decisions, these are fundamental changes to the structure of the narrative, which is paramount to the book.

And then there's the violence. Snyder loves violence (based on his body of work), which made him horribly unsuited for this film. One of the Central tenants of the book is "what if these people actually did these things". When violence happens in the book it is brutal, often nauseating and horrifying as well. It's meant to show how crazy and strange it would be if people in costumes attacked others like this. Snyder undermines ALL of that with his slick, slo-mo, over the top action scenes that were physically impossible and strongly fetishized. In the book when violence breaks out you are disturbed and meant to reflect on what's really happening. In the movie Snyder is clearly trying to make you think "Man, that was cool!"

I remember leaving the theatre completely let down and angry. Re-watchings haven't softened my disdain any.

V wasn't as bad for me as Watchmen, but it was once again a complete mis-reading of the source. Here's my litmus test: The word "Anarchy" isn't used once in the film that I can recall.

While I didn't "hate it" like Dave, my general feelings towards the Watchman movie are closer to Dave's than Lardy's. Since just about forever, I've felt that Watchman shouldn't be made into a film and has no business being translated as such; the movie only made me confirm that feeling.

Dave's first point, about Snyder simply not getting it, and--whether intentionally or not--infusing the narrative with his own misinterruption of the story is present throughout the whole thing. The second point on the violence, was one I didn't quite register when I saw it, but now that it's been pointed out to me, I have to say that its dead-on.

I have reread Watchman about 20 times over the years, and when I was a teenager, I probably read it half of those times. I've always loved it. And I can't wait to reread it again. But I have no desire to watch the movie again.

...

On the flip side, I actually enjoy the V for Vendetta movie a great deal. It's definitely not the same as the original source material because so much of it has been removed or changed. Dave mentions the major glaring part element, the commentary on anarchy (and any reader of Bleeding Cool knows Rich Johnston goes at great lengths to remind us again and again how an ending with everyone wearing the same mask isn't reflective of anarchy).

But taken as it is, especially the updates of the political POV's of the 00's, it is actually a very powerful and well crafted movie. It contains amazing performances by Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman, John Hurt, Stephen Rea and others.

It's not exactly Moore's V for Vendetta, but its IMO a very good film, bordering on being a great film because of those things.

Btw, prompted by our recent conversation, I finally read the latest Captain Nemo story today. And I think it might just be the best of the bunch. Phenomenal from start to finish, it was full of adventure, fun, great characters and in typical Alan Moore fashion, odd humor and deeply poignant moments. Absolutely loved it.

I feel that V is lacking for pretty much the reasons that you and Dave mention for Watchmen That lack of voice from the other characters that give you an inkling to the wider misery and desperate despair of the nation.

While Watchmen is geared for another medium, I thought it did keep the main twist that the heroes could no longer be true to their supposed ideals if they told the world what Adrian had done. But I do see why you'd feel the same way about that as I do about V. Perhaps I was just impressed at how much they had kept that it overshadowed what had been dropped for me.

Are they standalone, Cobie, or is the experience better reading them in order?



And hey--has anyone read his Lost Girls with Melinda Gebbie? It seems unique among everything he's done with it being "erotic fiction". I'm curious for more than just the obvious reasons.....

I have not read Lost Girls. Something else else about the premise just does not sit right with me. I don't believe in censoring artists, especially those as talented as Moore and Gebbie, but sometimes I choose to simply ignore works that might offend even my jaded sensibilities.

The only Lost Girls I read were a few of the serialized bits in Taboo (what a great anthology that was). It's.... interesting. In many ways a proto-LoEG in taking public domain characters into an adult shared universe, except of course this is a different kind of "Adult". What I read had some standard Moore narrative layering and double meanings galore. I hear the completed work is much more controversial as there are some scenes with the women at much younger ages.

Lardy, the Nemo stories are all stand alone but I recommend you read them in order, as that gives it a little extra "oomph". There are always callbacks to earlier events and characters, many of them very subtle and easily missable if you haven't read the earlier stories.

They're all really great too.

I thought so. I might be getting a bargain on the third one (put in a "best offer"), which is why I asked. If I get it, well, I'm a patient man, so I can wait until I get the other two to read.

BTW, I noticed LXG: Black Dossier is actually set after the first Century book. I wonder if reading Century 1910 before Black Dossier and then reading the other two Century books might be an alternative way to read the series? (I've got Black Dossier on the way, so reading these soon is a real possibility, especially with all this Moore talk fueling me! )

Moore's had a number of other things from Avatar as well. One I can recall seeing advertised was something called Courtyard, which a search shows also has Lovecraftian elements like Neonomicon and the upcoming Providence. I know there have been others, as well...all fairly short pieces, iirc.

You probably could it in that order, without any problems. To be honest, I'm having a hard time remembering the Black Dossier other than the structure of it. I read it when I came out years ago when I was on vacation, and it was at a time when I so preoccupied with other things, like getting married, that I might not have really absorbed it all. I know I liked it at the time.

Definitely you need to read 1910 before the other Centuries but also the Nemo books, as the Nemo story really starts there.

Reading Century before Black Dossier will spoil a significant ending reveal of Dossier (especially the text background piece).

Pile UPDATE (5/17/15).....

Currently Reading
Avengers Omnibus Vol. 1

Recently Read
Tales of the Batman: Gene Colan Vol. 1

To-Read Pile (new stuff since last time in bold)
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vols. 3 & 4
Mage Vol. 2: The Hero Defined
Legion Archives Vol. 9 (for the Re-reading project...yeah, I know. )
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Jinx
Goldfish
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Scout Vol. 2
Frank Miller's Ronin Deluxe Edition
Marvel Masterworks: Iron Fist Vol. 1
Spider-Man by Roger Stern Omnibus
Marvel Masterworks: Silver Surfer Vol. 1
Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton & Romita, Jr. Omnibus
Tales of the Batman: Len Wein
Murder Me Dead (David Lapham)
Stray Bullets Uber Alles Edition
Amazing Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga
Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Jansen Omnibus
Grimjack Omnibus Vol. 2
Jon Sable: Freelance Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Avengers Omnibus Vol. 2
Secret Six Vol. 1: Villains United
Underwater Welder
Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange Vol. 6
LXG: Black Dossier
Lost Girls Vols 1-3
Flex Mentallo
Nemo: Heart of Ice

On the Way
Orion by Walt Simonson Omnibus

So I should read it in publication order: Dossier, Century, Nemo?

YAY!



DOUBLE YAY!

Yes, that should be the order.

Makes sense, being that that was the release order! Like I said, what made me consider an alternate reading order was the fact that, in the timeline at least, Part One of Century takes place before Dossier.

I'm curious about Nemo (btw, flipping thru "Heart of Ice", it's FUCKING GORGEOUS!!! ) as to where it relates on the timeline. My uninformed guess is that it takes place around, between or even after the events of Century? (Keep in mind that I've yet to read a lick of any of these three LXG projects.) Again, this won't affect my reading order, but I'm curious.

Speaking of all the Moore projects we've discussed, you guys will notice that I have indeed purchased the controversial Lost Girls books by Moore and Melinda Gebbie. Curiosity got the better of me, and I couldn't pass up the terrific deal I got for the set on eBay. I think, in the end, I'll give anything written fully by Moore (as opposed to some work of Moore's in another medium adapted by another writer, as is the case with a lot of the Avatar books, I've discovered) a chance unless it's just universally panned. Lost Girls being controversial because of its subject matter and graphic sexual imagery is not something that would dissuade me. In the end, if a writer as gifted as Moore wants to explore sexuality, then I want to see what he has to say.

All that being said, I've flipped through the books, and they are every bit as overtly sexual (some would say "pornographic") as its reputation. In fact, it's not technically in the physical "Pile" because I can't risk my kids stumbling across it. But the art is lush and quite beautiful and the colors just stunning.

We'll see how it goes when I eventually read the thing, but the sex is not an automatic disqualifier for me. I mean, it's well known that pretty much all violence in cinema is pretty much okay for an "R" rating while a degree of sex, even tastefully done, risks the dreaded "NC-17" rating that will kill a film's box office if it isn't cut out or curbed to a certain line.

Knowing my/Lardy's reputation, I'm afraid some will think I'm reading it for my own sexual gratification. I want to see what Moore has to say and if it's as worth saying as the more violent subject matter he's known for and praised for to some extent. Again, the double standard as with the movies. A book like Sex Criminals has challenged my perception of what a comic book can do with its frankness and humorous take on sex as subject matter. It's freaking GREAT, and if Lost Girls can approach any of the truth inherent in that book's fearlessness in whatever way it decides to do so, then it will be a worthy read.

Or it may be the worst drivel ever put on paper. Who knows? When I finally do read it, I'll do what I always do--tell you what I think. If it's utter crap, I'll tell ya! If it's mediocre or transcendent, I'll tell ya as well!

Which reminds me....I'm waaaaaaaay behind on my reviews of stuff I've read recently! Mea culpa! But trust yer ol' pal Lardy--I'll get to 'em!

Looking forward to the reviews.

It'll be interesting to read a review of Lost Girls Lardy. It passed me by at the time. I only heard about it from a couple of comments. They didn't take kindly to it. I think this was mainly due to the source material for the characters being perceived as for younger readers. And the graphic content no doubt.

I've got Moore's work on things like Yuggoth Culture, The Courtyard etc somewhere unread. I'm not at all sure why I never got round to reading them. Perhaps I had read the first couple of issues of Crossed from Avatar by then. Perhaps it's the Lovecraft connections that aren't generally done that well.

Pile UPDATE (6/13/15).....

Currently Reading
Marvel Masterworks: Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 8

Recently Read
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century (all three vols.)
Marvel Masterworks: Amazing Spider-Man Vols. 5, 6 & 7

To-Read Pile (new stuff since last time in bold)
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vols. 3 & 4
Mage Vol. 2: The Hero Defined
Legion Archives Vol. 9
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Jinx
Goldfish
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Scout Vol. 2
Frank Miller's Ronin Deluxe Edition
Marvel Masterworks: Iron Fist Vol. 1
Spider-Man by Roger Stern Omnibus
Marvel Masterworks: Silver Surfer Vol. 1
Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton & Romita, Jr. Omnibus
Tales of the Batman: Len Wein
Murder Me Dead (David Lapham)
Stray Bullets Uber Alles Edition
Amazing Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga
Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Jansen Omnibus
Grimjack Omnibus Vol. 2
Jon Sable: Freelance Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Avengers Omnibus Vol. 2
Secret Six Vol. 1: Villains United
Underwater Welder
Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange Vol. 6
Lost Girls Vols 1-3
Flex Mentallo
Nemo: Heart of Ice
Orion by Walt Simonson Omnibus
Nemo: Roses of Berlin
Shaman's Tears (Mike Grell)
Howard the Duck Omnibus
Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 2

On the Way
Silver Surfer (current series) Vol. 2: Worlds Apart
Essential Amazing Spider-man Vol. 5

Ooh, latter-day LoEG and Romita-era Spider-Man! There's a lot of goodness there. Looking forward to the reviews, Lardy.

Certainly is a lot of goodness! I just wish I could find the TIME to do those reviews and for the rest of the backlog I've been building up!

I can say one thing about the conclusion of Century: I enjoyed it more than you did and was surprised that that particular high-profile modern property made it in!

And about the Romita era of ASM: I was a bit stunned by how little of Romita's run featured his full pencils. More surprising was how consistent the art looked despite this!

Re: Lardy reviews, as the saying goes, a taste of honey is better than none at all.

Re: LoEG Century, that property turning out to be the Big Bad made perfect thematic sense, to the point where even though I'm a fan of it, I can see exactly where Moore is coming from. That's real writing talent.

Re: Romita-era ASM, he was, by his own admission, not a happy camper during his ASM run and kept hoping Stan would put him back on Daredevil. That the quality of his work was so consistently good shows what a trouper and what a professional Romita was.

Aw, thanks...



I'm certainly a fan of the property in question, but I never mind different takes on things I like if there's some skill involved. I like how Moore uses that property and another one in particular, so it's clear who and what it is to the reader. But it's vague enough to avoid legal entanglements,



Hm. Romita intros several of the Masterworks editions and has nothing but nice things to say about his time on ASM. In fact he laments not having had more time to draw a lot more on the book because he had so many other responsibilities within the Bullpen.

I think that probably the main thing Romita improves over Ditko is the distinctive redesigns/tweaks he does on Peter and much of the supporting cast. Ditko was much more of an innovator and designer overall, but Romita excelled in bringing out the humanity in the non-costumes, something which, I'm sure, owes a lot to his history doing romance comics.

Well, I haven't read those introductions, but I'm sure Romita gained a great deal of satisfaction from helping turn Spidey into Marvel's most iconic and popular character. He has every right to be proud of what he accomplished, but I still believe the stories of him being unhappy at the time, and he certainly wouldn't be the first creator to do feel proud and positive with 20/20 hindsight.



Agreed 100%. As great as the Ditko issues are, Romita brought some much-needed warmth to the book, evolving the soap-opera aspects like no creator had ever done before in a superhero comic.

I'm in the mood to finally begin to catch up with some reviews of trades I've read in the past couple of months or so. Please forgive if they're not quite as extensive as some that I've done in the past.

First up is the second half (well, more like the latter two-thirds) of Star Wars: The Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 1. To refresh your memory, here's my review of the first 17 issues contained therein:



After issue 17, the storylines start to involve the Empire more, either directly or peripherally, but I was pleased to find that this did not affect the quality negatively at all. In fact, under Archie Goodwin and Carmine Infantino's steady hands, we are treated to three very entertaining storylines that bleed into one another. The first involves a gambling space station called the Wheel that becomes a battle ground for imperial and alliance intrigue. The second involves an imperial blockade of Yavin 4. The third brings a building confrontation between our heroes and the House of Tagge to a head. All are immensely entertaining, and there are a few fun one-offs interspersed as well.

I think having the House of Tagge as bad guys is probably my favorite aspect of the latter part of the run collected in this Omnibus. They are a noble family with extensive ties to the Empire. (In fact, the family is based around General Cassio Tagge, who has a speaking role in A New Hope in the same scene where Vader force-chokes one of the other imperial generals. Cassio, of course, dies with the Death Star.) The main Tagge in the comic, Baron Orman Tagge, has a very distinctive look with his cool sight-restoring glasses. We also meet three or four of his siblings, who all play a role. To my memory, the Tagges are among the best villains created for the classic Marvel era.

While I was somewhat hesitant in my praise above for Carmine Infantino's work on the book above, I must say that I came to really like it a great deal by the time I finished the Omnibus. He never compromises his distinctive style on the book, and I can appreciate it. I might even go so far as to say that his work on Star Wars just might be a solid Exhibit B for carmine after his classic work on the Flash. I really love it and will be sad to see his run end very early into the next Omnibus.

Certainly, the Omnibus is filled with some "curiosities" continuity-wise that would seem to contradict later canonical developments. For example, Jabba the Hut (one "t") returns in a story to vex Han Solo and Chewie. yes, he's still the green-skinned bipedal alien glimpsed in the New Hope adaptation and, get this, he even FORGIVES Han's debt to him after Han saves his life! This leads to an amusing last page about-face in the issue preceding the Empire adaptation showing Jabba getting pissed all over again and putting the price back on Han's head, so it won't contradict a major subplot in Empire which we are all familiar with.

Another thing that struck me oddly is that the Rebels stick with Yavin 4 well after the events of New Hope, even though the early issues show Luke searching for a new base. In fact, I don't think the comic ever clearly depicts them leaving and certainly never sets up Hoth for Empire.

These elements show that the information exchange between Marvel and Lucasfilm wasn't exactly entensive. If anything would have enhanced my enjoyment of these stories, it would have been more satisfaction of my OCD Star Wars continuity. But it was still only the most minor of crutches for me in what was otherwise some fun space fantasy. (In that spirit we won't even talk about the post-Clone Wars-set Obi-Wan flashback one-off story... )

Beginning with the Wheel arc, the embargo on using Vader is lifted, so he slowly starts to figure into the story, primarily in the background. That is until the finale of the Tagge arc in which Vader and Luke briefly come face to face and seemingly have their first lightsabre duel! Again, this tickles the continuity OCD a little terribly, but it's nice for what it is. And the overall Tagge arc comes to a fine conclusion.

The Omnibus ends with the fine adaptation of Empire Strikes Back and features the first legendary Star Wars work of Al Williamson, who remains regarded as one of the better artists on the property to this day. He and Archie do a really good job adapting one of the finest films of all time, even considering that they hadn't had the opportunity to see anything close to a finished product. There are certainly some inconsistencies with the film, including Han saying, "I love you, too," instead of the classic "I know."

Just an excellent, highly entertaining Omnibus altogether that both brought back some great childhood memories and stood up well as great storytelling despite some hindsight continuity gaffs. Even with all the advances and maturation of comic book storytelling, I still think that these are some of the better Star Wars tales ever told in the medium. Looking forward to reading Volume Two soon as it sits waiting patiently in the Pile.

Great reviews, Lardy. They did what I think all reviews in this forum should do -- make me want to either buy the comic or trade in question or request it from the library.

I will certainly do one of the above with this Omnibus. I'll admit I have resisted the early Marvel Star Wars stories for decades, mainly because the low regard in fandom for the Roy Thomas arcs which you already noted, and because I'm generally not a fan of post-1968 Carmine Infantino (the artist even admitted in an interview many years ago that he felt that when he was promoted to DC executive and took a long hiatus from drawing, his artwork from the mid-1970s on never fully recovered its Silver Age mojo.) That said, I am a fan of Infantino's Silver Age work on both Flash and Adam Strange (Lardy, I know you usually prefer color with your reprints, but the Showcase Presents: Adam Strange trade is a very worthwhile investment IMO) so I will give it a fair chance. And Archie Goodwin was one of my favorite writers of all time -- anyone who wonders what was so great about him should read the first bookend issue of Armageddon 2001; Goodwin was so talented, he even raised a crass marketing-driven event to the level of art...shame he didn't script the second bookend...which was further damaged by the last-minute changes after Monarch's identity was leaked...but that's a whole other discussion.

I will admit to some bias in my review of these particular stories because I grew up reading them as the first comic I ever followed regularly as a child. But I do honestly think they were solid stories and highly entertaining. I also don't think Archie will let you down, here. I'll be curious to see if Infantino's work here does anything for you, as well. I've a feeling that many didn't/won't care for it, but I certainly did.

So I recently got to read the brief but legendary run of Roger Stern and John Byrne which has been frequently collected as Captain America: War & Remembrance. In fact it's pretty much stayed in print for about three decades.

And it's well-deserved. I'm a fan of both Stern and Byrne, and they do a great job of pretty much just telling solid Cap stories. There's not a whole lot within that reinvents the wheel (well, maybe with one exception, but I'll get to that....), but everything within is rock-solid and entertaining.

I think Byrne draws a simply iconic Cap. I don't know that I realized this before I read this collection, but I now believe it's 100% true. He's certainly not one of the characters Byrne is most identified with, like the FF, the X-Men and Superman, but I now think his Cap is right up there. I mean, he draws him pitch-perfectly, but there's also something in his stance, his manner and the way he's poised for action that Byrne just nails. I don't know if he's the best Cap artist ever, but for my money, Byrne's version is as iconic in its own way as Kirby's, Epting's or anyone else's.

And of course Roger Stern just has a knack for telling stories that are at least solid and at best often outstanding. Byrne and Stern have long been friends, but this is one of the very few occasions where they actually got to collaborate as writer and artist on the same stories. And it shows that they were enjoying the collaboration.

They are three multi-parters centering around: 1) the Machinesmith and Dragon Man, 2) Batroc, Mister Hyde and Roxxon & 3) an Invaders reunion, the new Union Jack & Baron Blood. The first doubles as a kind of continuity fix (repairing some glitches about cap's upbringing and the fate of Baron Strucker) while working in a pretty tricky foe. The second is kind of an adrenaline rush precursor to movies like Speed and, I think, uses problematic cap foe Batroc rather well. The third features a trip to England and uses all of the characters very well.

But I think the collection is best known for its two standalone stories from issues 250 and 255. The latter is a retelling of Cap's origin in a manner that at the time was the most streamlined version to date. There are elements presented here that have become essential to Cap's story to the point where elements made it to the big screen version a few years ago. It must have been revolutionary at the time, but for me it's just very good and kind of a coda to the run, rather than an epic conclusion.

But for me, the show-stopper is the excellent "Cap for President!" story from issue 250. It follows Cap seriously considering a run for the Oval Office and just hits all the right notes, IMO. I won't spoil it (though I suppose his decision must seem obvious in hindsight), but to me, it still stands out for its unusual premise and its fine execution. I think anyone looking for a list of essential Cap stories should include this one for sure. It's worth mentioning that the basic idea for the story (with a different outcome) was originally pitched by Roger McKenzie and Don Perlin a few years before and that they are given credit for the plot.

Unfortunately, the run ends with the trade. I was wondering what the reason was (Stern is vague about it in his intro) and did a little internet research. Marvel politics appears to be to blame. Apparently, artists would get a bonus for doing a number of consecutive issues, and Marvel wanted to schedule a fill-in before Byrne hit the mark, apparently to avoid paying the bonus. It rubbed both the wrong way, and writer and artist ended their run prematurely.

It's a shame because they were not only telling great stories but also building up Steve Rogers' personal life pretty well with a new love interest and a supporting cast, something the character has often lacked in his history. As I recall J.M. Dematteis would later pick up their baton pretty well, but Gruenwald would eventually throw it out in a long run that admittedly had its moments..

In my opinion, War and Remembrance offers up some really terrific Cap stories. I'm glad that I finally got around to reading them. I just really wish there had been more of this great run to follow!

Having read Volume One a few months ago, I was really looking forward to reading Grendel Omnibus Vol. 2: Legacy, especially as it was pretty much the first batch of Grendel stories without Hunter Rose as the lead character and with a female lead at that. I've gotta say, though, that I was overall disappointed.

The Omnibus is divided into three sections: one featuring Rose's adopted daughter Stacy's troubled life after Rose's passing, the second featuring Stacy's daughter Christine and her career as the second grendel, and the third featuring a character from Christine's story giving two previously untold accounts from Hunter Rose's career.

Of the three, I think Stacy's story is the strongest. It's written by Diane Schutz and with art by Tim Sale. It's very well told but very bleak, violent and disturbing. Stacy has been institutionalized in the wake of her experience with Rose, and she is abused by forces natural and supernatural. It's horrifying and very hard to read. Suffice to say, it's not a happy story.

I was most disappointed in Christine's story. First of all, I didn't care much for the art by Arnold and Jacob Pander here. The main thing is that everything had such a tremendous '80s sensibility to it--the hair, the clothes, everything. Yes, I know the story was produced in the '80s , but it was supposed to be set in the future (I suppose, more or less what we call "now"). It has FLYING CARS in it for Chrissakes! So why, oh why, would everyone have '80s big hair, blouses with shoulder pads and on and on?

But beyond the art, the story just has that air of inevitability in that you just know how it's gonna end. And worse, it seems Wagner goes out of his way to show Christine is a secondhand Hunter Rose. There's no sense that she's all that good at what she does (unlike Rose) nor really for why she takes on the mantle. I mean, she has a big motivation for revenge (one that's not unlike an '80s revenge film itself), but so much of it falls flat. In the end it plays out too much like Hunter Rose's story, and I was hoping for something different...certainly something that felt less like Miami Vice on acid.

The Omnibus concludes with a trio of stories involving the cop who pursued Christine. The first involves a would-be successor to Christine. The other two, unfortunately, feature stories the cop has uncovered about Hunter Rose. Unfortunate, because I was hoping to move past Rose in this Omnibus, but wagner finds a way to bring him back in by using the cop as a framing device to keep things in the chronology. All of these stories are decent, but after all of the Rose short stories in the previous volume, there isn't really anything all that new to offer.

It's basically a bleak, flat Omnibus which just doesn't have much meat to it. Kind of like a worst hits of the grim '80s without anything from the decade that might have livened it up. hell, it shouldn't have felt '80s at all, given the supposedly futuristic setting. Maybe it gets better with the successive Omnibuses and the evolution of Grendel, but I'm not sure I want to go any further at this point.

I pretty much agree with everything about Captain America: War and Remembrance, Lardy. Never less than solid, often outstanding. As great as the stand-alones are, though, it's the Invaders reunion arc that made the greatest impression on me. Byrne was often typecast as a bright and shiny artist, and this has to be the first time chronologically that he showed himself to be a master of moodiness. Of course, Joe Rubinstein's inks have a lot to do with it (how sad that Byrne and Rubinstein didn't build up a body of work as sizable as Byrne and Terry Austin.) And Stern's scripting has so many great character moments, from Jackie's self-consciousness about her age to her father's unwavering stiff-upper-lip pride to Joey's rough edges...wonderful stuff.

I still haven't checked out the first Grendel Omnibus, and on the basis of your review, I sincerely doubt I'll check out the second Omnibus. It sounds dreadful.

I didn't mean to gloss over the Invaders reunion part of W&R. It was actually quite terrific, as was the rest of the trade. I think, perhaps, it had less of an effect on me because there was very little of a surprise element to it. I think this was because the contents were more or less spoiled to me decades ago by entries in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, particularly Baron Blood's entry, among others. Anyhow, I mostly wanted to get across the overall impression of the trade in that case, rather than review each story. Still, I "Cap for President!" is my clear standout.

Very good point about Byrne with Rubenstein showing some moodiness in the Invaders arc. It's not what Byrne is known for, but he's more versatile than he gets credit for.

What do you think about Byrne's overall rendition of Cap?

Ah, okay. Thanks for clarifying about the spoilers, Lardy.

I think Byrne's visualization of Cap is magnificent, the definitive one before Steve Epting's 2005-2008 Cap run -- some people would say Mike Zeck, but I've always felt he did better work on Master of Kung Fu (and those great G.I. Joe covers) than on Cap.

To finish my most "past due" set of reviews, I'll end on another good note with Tales of the Batman: Gene Colan Volume One. My interest in this collection was twofold: One, I've become more and more a fan of the artist in question in recent years. Two, it features a number of stories I bought off the spinner rack as a child, including a thrilling multi-part caper with vampires that I remember fondly. Just look at this Colan cover and tell me it doesn't look cool:



I know, right? When I saw that cover and instantly remembered that story, I HAD TO HAVE IT!!!!

Even better, I don't think I ever got to see how it ended as a child. Unfortunately, due to the artist-first nature of these "Tales" collections, while I DID get to see the vamps defeated this time, I didn't get to read the epilogue that appeared in the next Detective Comics issue because Gene didn't draw it. I doubt it was super-detailed because a fight with Deadshot (something I wouldn't have minded reading either) was that issue's main headline foe, but I would have liked to have seen whatever resolution was provided. (I mean, a semi-vamped-out Batman actually bit a perp's neck in the arc! I wonder if Bats checked up on him?!?)

Still, it was all very cool and moody, and anyone who knows Colan knows he was BORN to draw vampires! And he certainly doesn't disappoint here in what is actually a take on one of Batman's earliest foes, the Mad Monk. Instead of the traditional vampire take inspired by the Dracula myth, we get more of it being the result of an occult curse. It's a subtle difference, but it distinguishes this story from Colan's other vampire work. And really, other than the later Elseworlds trilogy that began with Red Reign, Batman versus vampires was and still is a novelty for the character. (I definitely have to read Colan's Tomb of Dracula at some point, though. )

The bulk of the stories in the book are written by Gerry Conway. Gerry is known for having lots of good runs on various characters as well as for having some that were very disappointing. This is definitely "good" Conway, and he peppers the book with great subplots involving a critical mayoral race, Gordon getting sacked as Commissioner and Vicki vale on the trail of Batman's secrets. Again, the trade's themes gets in the way of some of them, so you don't always get the resolution, but it's still fine reading which only wants me to read more of Conway's Batman.

Colan shines throughout. In addition to the vampires, he gets to draw classic Batman foes as Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy and Man-Bat and even JSA foe Solomon Grundy. And of course, the Dark Knight himself is perfect for Colan's sensibilities, and he doesn't disappoint in this portrayal.

Gene was such a great, great talent, and I'm so glad he got to do a good amount of work on Batman for us to read or re-read in this handsome collection. If there's ever a Volume Two, and I hope there is--DC has a sure sale from this fan!

No argument about Colan's talent, although most of what I've seen of his DC work from the 80s felt a bit "off" to me, because they couldn't seem to find an inker who had the same chemistry with him as Tom Palmer had with him at Marvel in the 70s.

I haven't re-read the Gerry Conway era Batman in years. I always preferred Doug Moench's first run, which IIRC began more or less around the same time that Don Newton moved from Detective Comics to the Batman flagship book. Newton on Batman outdid Colan on 'Tec during that era IMO.

Anyhow, the vampire story does sound cool, as do the subplots, so if my library carries this trade, I'll give it a chance.

In these stories Colan is inked by a few different guys, all talented. Most are inked by Klaus Janson. Tony Dezuniga inks most of the vampire art. Alfredo Alcala, Dick Giordiano and Adrian Gonzales each do an issue apiece.

Thanks for the rundown, Lardy.

Hmmm...Alcala and Giordano might have worked in theory. Gonzales I recall generally inking much less stylized art than Colan's. DeZuniga could go either way. And Janson I do recall inking Colan, and I consider him wholly inappropriate for Colan, his blockiness and rough edges ruining the ethereal quality of Colan's pencils.

Colan's art on Detective was something gritty and different when I read some of the issues years ago. Going back through a lot of '80s stuff recently, I appreciate it even more.

I preferred Newton. He was cleaner, yet still atmospheric and stylized, and he had inkers who complimented him better.

I honestly have little or no concerns with the inking in this volume. It's pretty consistent overall and seems to bring out Colan's style just fine. It all seemed fairly similar to, say, his work on Doctor Strange which Palmer inked.

I first read the Byrne / Stern Cap stories waaaay back when I was like 13 or 14. At the time, I certainly knew who John Byrne was because of his Fantastic Four and Superman stuff, but I don’t think I even realized at the time that Roger Stern was the same guy who wrote my beloved Spider-Man / Hobgoblin stories. It’s been 20 years since I looked at these issues but I remember enjoying them immensely.

I agree wholeheartedly on Byrne drawing a simply iconic Cap. Perhaps even the definitive version. As a lover of Kirby’s work, he took much of what made Cap so immensely popular from the day he arrived on the stands forward, but he also added something extra that even Kirby didn’t have in there. So I definitely get what you’re saying. It’s like he added bits of Superman or George Washington or I don’t quite know what, but it screams iconic and heroic and “leader”.

I remember loving the Batroc / Hyde story the most and it was probably due to that adrenaline rush sensation you mention. I can’t remember “Cap for President” at all and that might because we simply did have it then, only to buy it later. (We now own all of Cap’s stories from his return in Avengers #4 to the present).

I’ve recently been getting nostalgic for Roger Stern, so its cool to see you reviewing this. I was looking at some Spider-Man covers on my ipad on the train and felt this itch to delve back into Spidey history (likely because of your prior reviews of Silver Age Spidey). Roger is best known Spidey-wise for the Hobgoblin, the kid who collected Spider-Man and the Juggernaut story, but he had like 25 other really fantastic stories in PPTSS and ASM.

I’m a huge fan of Gene Colan too, so its great to see you reviewing his Batman stories. The era in the late 70’s / early 80’s that Gene and Gerry Conway were doing Batman was a great IMO. I can never remember which stories were done by who since it’s been so long, but I certainly remember the Gordon subplot referenced above.

Tell me: is the story in which Batman is beaten to a bloody pulp, perhaps with his memory lost, by the blind kid down by the river in a shack (possibly at a garbage dump) in this? Was this even done by Gene. Hell, I can’t even remember if this was a Night-Stalker / Nocturna story or a Hugo Strange story. All I know is a 13 year old Cobie was totally mesmerized by this issue.

I think the story you're thinking of (one that I also fondly remember from my youth) is in the Len Wein collection and drawn by Don Newton, which is also in the Pile. It may be the same or just similar because I think it's more like a hermit in the woods than a kid. Here's the cover of the story I'm thinking about:



Look familiar?

I know! It's something that simply never occurred to me before reading this collection, probably because Cap isn't a character Byrne is identified with typically, despite this being one of the most successful Cap collections ever. And it's for every reason you mention, plus Byrne also puts some definite warmth into his eyes...a kindness, if you will. I don't know that any other artist has worked all of those aspects into Cap's depiction. It looks deceptively simple on the surface, but there's all kinds of nuance. That's what I call iconic!



I hope you get the chance to read it before too long. I'd love to see what you think!



Roger was and is a great writer and is easily one of the best Spidey writers of all time. As you say, it's way beyond the Hobgoblin story. It's not just anyone who can write Peter and tell a great Spider-man story while also putting his own stamp on the book. It's a pretty elite list, imo, and Roger is at or near the top.

Pile UPDATE (7/15/15)

Recently Read
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vol. 3
Marvel Masterworks: Iron Fist Vol. 1
Jinx


To-Read Pile (new stuff since last time in bold)
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vol. 4
Mage Vol. 2: The Hero Defined
Legion Archives Vol. 10
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Goldfish
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Scout Vol. 2
Frank Miller's Ronin Deluxe Edition
Spider-Man by Roger Stern Omnibus
Marvel Masterworks: Silver Surfer Vol. 1
Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton & Romita, Jr. Omnibus
Tales of the Batman: Len Wein
Murder Me Dead (David Lapham)
Stray Bullets Uber Alles Edition
Amazing Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga
Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Jansen Omnibus
Grimjack Omnibus Vol. 2
Jon Sable: Freelance Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Avengers Omnibus Vol. 2
Secret Six Vol. 1: Villains United
Underwater Welder
Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange Vol. 6
Lost Girls Vols 1-3
Flex Mentallo
Nemo: Heart of Ice
Nemo: Roses of Berlin
Orion by Walt Simonson Omnibus
Shaman's Tears (Mike Grell)
Howard the Duck Omnibus
Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 2
Marvel Masterworks: Iron Fist Vol. 2
Silver Surfer (current series) Vol. 2: Worlds Apart
Essential Amazing Spider-man Vol. 5
Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 7 (Englehart)
New Teen Titans Vol. 2

On the Way
Just the Tips (Fraction/Zdarsky)
Essential Spider-Man Vol. 4
Thor Omnibus Vol. 2
Marada the She-Wolf

Glad to see you're going the Essentials route so you can complete the vintage Amazing Spider-Man experience, Lardy. And I think Romita and Kane lend themselves especially well to black & white.

Yeah, after Vol. 8 the ASM Masterworks just get too expensive because they're out of print and haven't been put out in softcover yet. You typically can't get Vol. 9 for under $80, and the ones above that are $100 or more. So....Essentials it is for the foreseeable future!

I'm envious - all that great reading ahead of you!

What is Scout vol.2? Don't know it and when I searched all that came up was Grrl Scouts.

FC, "Scout" was a post-apocalyptic action drama with mystical overtones, originally published in the mid-late 1980s. It was written and drawn by Tim Truman, of Hawkworld, Jonah Hex, and Grimjack fame. The protagonist is a gun-toting, motorcycle-riding Native American of the Apache tribe named Emanuel Santana. It's far deeper and richer than most stories of this sub-genre IMO.

Lardy and I discussed "Scout" Vol. 1 earlier in this thread, in the bottom half of Page 9.

Pile UPDATE (8/9/15)

Currently Reading
Essential Spider-Man Vol. 4 (starting at ASM 78 from where Masterworks left off)

Recently Read
Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Jansen Omnibus

To-Read Pile (new stuff since last time in bold)
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vol. 4
Mage Vol. 2: The Hero Defined
Legion Archives Vol. 10
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Goldfish
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Scout Vol. 2
Frank Miller's Ronin Deluxe Edition
Spider-Man by Roger Stern Omnibus
Marvel Masterworks: Silver Surfer Vol. 1
Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton & Romita, Jr. Omnibus
Tales of the Batman: Len Wein
Murder Me Dead (David Lapham)
Stray Bullets Uber Alles Edition
Amazing Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga
Grimjack Omnibus Vol. 2
Jon Sable: Freelance Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Avengers Omnibus Vol. 2
Secret Six Vol. 1: Villains United
Underwater Welder
Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange Vol. 6
Lost Girls Vols 1-3
Flex Mentallo
Nemo: Heart of Ice
Nemo: Roses of Berlin
Orion by Walt Simonson Omnibus
Shaman's Tears (Mike Grell)
Howard the Duck Omnibus
Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 2
Marvel Masterworks: Iron Fist Vol. 2
Silver Surfer (current series) Vol. 2: Worlds Apart
Essential Spider-man Vol. 5
Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 7 (Englehart)
New Teen Titans Vol. 2
Just the Tips (a Sex Criminals companion by Fraction/Zdarsky)
Essential Spider-Man Vol. 6
Thor Omnibus Vol. 2
Marada the She-Wolf
Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle Vol. 1
Bandette Vol. 2
Thor God of Thunder (Jason Aaron) Vol. 1
Nemo: River of Ghosts

As always, thanks for the update, Lardy. Looking forward to the next review.

I noticed you were posting a lot recently in the So What Are You Watching thread. Were you taking a breather from comics reading?

Reading less, certainly. I've been binge-watching Sons of Anarchy on Netflix and Marvel's Daredevil series before that. (The latter obviously inspired me to choose the DD/Miller/Janson Omnibus from the Pile.) That's been consuming a lot of time I might have otherwise spent doing more reading. I also was focusing solely on floppies on the reading side for a couple of weeks, so that I'm not as hopelessly behind on those. REALLY behind on Pile reviews, though....

As an amusing side-note, btw, the eponymous "Pile" is now mostly located on a small 3-tier shelving (instead of the titular coffee table) that my wife bought for me because of its rather...unruly...appearance!

I may just have to modify the thread title to reflect this new reality... :nod;

LOL

Soon the pile will achieve sentience!

Seriously! I mean, when I went back to edit the title in the first place and looked at the original Pile list and compared it to the latest-- --at the very least, it appears to have gained the ability to reproduce exponentially!

Yesterday, I finished Silver Surfer Vol. 2: Worlds Apart, which is the second collection of the current Slott/Allred collaboration on the character. Having enjoyed the first volume immensely, I knew this was one trade that wouldn't linger in the Pile for very long. Vol. 2 certainly didn't disappoint--far from it!

Worlds Apart collects issues 6-10 of the series. Issues 6 and 7 are two enjoyable standalones which focus on what it's like for Surfer to journey with earthgirl Dawn Greenwood and how she impacts the lives of him and the third regular cast member, Toomie. (Toomie is one of the unexpected delights of this series, so much so that I won't spoil here Toomie's identity here.) Both are delightful stories that showcase how a presence like Dawn's is what has been needed to humanize our historically morose and aloof hero.

The real show-stopper, though, is the excellent 3-parter that concludes the trade and provides us with our inevitable Galactus story. Surfer, Dawn and Toomie happen upon a world populated exclusively by refugees of worlds consumed by Galactus. Surfer is, of course, recognized by much of the populace, and Dawn learns for the first time exactly what Surfer's former occupation was and how he came to get his powers. She doesn't take it well, and things go from bad to worse when Galactus arrives to consume this world populated by people who'd already lost their worlds to him.

I won't spoil it any more, but I was really taken aback by the emotional impact this story had. If there's anything that Galactus stories typically lack, it's an emotional component to really hit home the loss that such huge cosmic devastation would bring. Well, that's certainly not the case any more as Slott and Allred manage to get me to tear up a little bit with the rousing conclusion to this tale that really speaks to the the power of the human (sentient) spirit and to the desire for redemption. It's a really beautiful story and one that the Silver Surfer really needed to have, even if you never realized it before that moment.

Needless to say, Dan Slott and the Allreds really nail the story and make this trade a very memorable read despite its relative brevity. I maintain, as in the quoted Vol. 1 review below, that this is the Michael Allred work that finally causes me to connect with what he does best on every level. In short, I think he was born to draw Silver Surfer using exactly this take on the character that only he and Slott could create.

Looking very much forward to Volume 3, which will be released in late October. It'll be bittersweet, though, as it will apparently be the final one in what has been nothing less than a wonderful collaboration.

Glad to see you catching up with Volume #2. I agree wholeheartedly with all you say, and the usage of Dawn to humanize the Surfer has injected new life into the character after he's been in "character limbo" for decades. The relationship between Dawn and the Surfer (and their sidekick Toomie) is one of the best I've seen in comics in a long, long time.

I have been hearing rumors that perhaps the Silver Surfer series will continue and I really hope that's the case. It's one of the best things going in comics, and a really high point for both Slott and Allred, both of whom I love. I'm glad you've gotten a chance to connect with Allred's work through this series, Lardy!

The Galactus story which you've praised is probably the best Galactus story in 30 years. Hell, there are really only a handful of truly great Galactus stories--the first two in FF, the two Kirby Thor ones and the one by John Byrne. The rest are mostly retreads. Until now, with this incredible character piece chalk full of emotional punch.

I love how Toomie communicates, btw!



I've also heard rumors of some kind of Surfer series coming out with the latest Marvel relaunch but nothing solid. I also could swear that I've seen Allred's next post-Surfer project announced, but I can't recall what it is for the life of me. If that's true, at the very least, the dream team is broken up for any new Surfer series.

(I hope, btw, that you've seen my latest entry on the All-Spider-Man Thread. It's totally Cobie Bait! )

Allred has a new Vertigo series starting soon called "Art Ops", about special ops teams that track down works of art that come to life and go rogue.

^ I knew it was something. I'd prefer he and Slott do more Surfer.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/09...-from-dan-slott-and-the-allreds-in-2016/

The Silver Surfer LIVES!

(Pretty sure all those Vertigo series are going to be miniseries. Vertigo is a walking corpse!)

But not like the Walking Dead

GOOD! I will get gladly get this one as floppies.

Pile UPDATE (9/28/15)

Currently Reading
Avengers Omnibus Vol. 2

Recently Read
Amazing Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga (thru ASM 151)
Essential Spider-man Vol. 5 & 6
Lost Girls Vols 1-3

To-Read Pile (new stuff since last time in bold)
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vol. 4
Mage Vol. 2: The Hero Defined
Legion Archives Vol. 11
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Goldfish
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Scout Vol. 2
Frank Miller's Ronin Deluxe Edition
Spider-Man by Roger Stern Omnibus
Marvel Masterworks: Silver Surfer Vol. 1
Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton & Romita, Jr. Omnibus
Tales of the Batman: Len Wein
Murder Me Dead (David Lapham)
Stray Bullets Uber Alles Edition
Grimjack Omnibus Vol. 2
Jon Sable: Freelance Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Secret Six Vol. 1: Villains United
Underwater Welder
Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange Vol. 6
Flex Mentallo
Nemo: Heart of Ice, Roses of Berlin & River of Ghosts
Orion by Walt Simonson Omnibus
Shaman's Tears (Mike Grell)
Howard the Duck Omnibus
Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 2
Marvel Masterworks: Iron Fist Vol. 2
Silver Surfer (current series) Vol. 2: Worlds Apart
Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 7 (Englehart)
New Teen Titans Vol. 2
Just the Tips (a Sex Criminals companion by Fraction/Zdarsky)
Thor Omnibus Vol. 2
Marada the She-Wolf
Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle Vol. 1
Bandette Vol. 2
Thor God of Thunder (Jason Aaron) Vol. 1
Animal Man (Morrison) Vols. 2 & 3

On the Way
Swamp Thing (Brian K. Vaughn) Vols. 1 & 2
Locke & Key Vols. 1-6

Awesome. I'm so envious (in a good way) that you'll be reading most or all of those stories for the first time. IMO it's the cream of the Roy Thomas era, and #58 is the perfect place to end the volume. Can't wait to find out what you think.

The local graphic novel reading group is discussing Locke & Key Vol. 1 in October. It's in my stack of to-reads.

I've been curious about it for a long time. It's been hard to find a good bargain on the trades, even for individual volumes. I finally got this lot containing all volumes for what amounted to $8 per volume, including shipping!

I've been wondering about this Joe Hill, son of Stephen King, for a while, especially with the buzz Locke & Key has gotten. I guess I'll know more soon!

Yep, I couldn't hold off anymore! I've now read nerarly half of it, having just finished the Red Guardian story!

John Buscema drew a great many-headed monster, didn't he?

Purty good, purty good! I thought it was funny how the caption had to explain what it was and how it inspired the name of SHIELD's nemesis!

WHEW! It's a good thing no one paid too close attention to what I'd read recently and didn't press me for more! Saves me from a rather difficult review....

That best better not mean you ain't doing a full Spidey review!

I pretty much did one, Cobert! Or did you forget...?!?

But not Len Wein's issues, right? It looks like you read his run too? There's lots to discuss!

For example, The Longest Yard!

Nope, haven't read past Conway's run. Still need those Essentials to do so.

Ah. I got confused, for some reason I thought because of the way you listed them that you had read beyond #150.

Def looking forward to your Avengers thoughts!

Last week I read Locke & Key Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. I'd been hearing about this series for years, so I'd been patiently eBay-stalking the entire 6-volume set for a good while. I finally won a lot for a very good price a few weeks ago. Based on this first volume, I'm really glad I did!

Joe Hill has quite the pedigree, him being the son of horror legend Stephen King. To this point he has authored three novels and a number of short stories, including one anthology collection of them. It's hard for any child of a famous person to distinguish him or herself in the same medium that made their parent famous. On top of having the material succeed on its own merits, there's the inevitable comparison to what the parent has done. King has done very little work in comics, so Locke & Key is a fine way for Joe to distinguish himself from his famous dad.

You know, at first blush, there are a lot of elements in this story that seem pretty "been there, done that" especially in the horror genre. Hill uses a lot of familiar horror cliches--a mysterious, supernatural house, a creepy girl in a well, a family stricken by tragedy and unable to run away from it--to name a few that come to mind. Of course, you can argue quite successfully that every basic story has been told before. The difference is the execution, and I feel Hill does so nicely here.

To me, this story is successful for the same reason that I typically find success in stories versus ones I don't care for: Joe makes me care about the characters. A lot. The story features three siblings at its center, and you really get to know a lot about them through the course of the story, especially as you learn how the tragedy that initiates the story has affected each of them. The other characters are well-done as well, even the most monstrous of them.

I'd say that's one strength that Joe shares with his father. As well-hailed as Stephen King is as the master of horror, I've always felt that he would never have attained his success without his gift for crafting memorable, relatable and flawed characters. All of those elements are on full display in Locke & Key. If you can convey all of that with characters, chances are you will win my admiration and devotion as a storyteller.

This is not to say that there is nothing fresh and interesting in Locke & Key. I think the concept of Keyhouse is rife with potential of which the surface is barely scratched here. I can easily see how we will get five more volumes potentially loaded with twists and surprises. And I certainly liked what we saw here.

Even better, though this is part of a longer series, we get a fairly complete and satisfying story that stands alone pretty well, even as it clearly sets up further developments. There's an immediate threat to the volume that echoes some of the more thrilling horror movies, and that threat is more or less resolved by the end. I don't know if subsequent volumes are that satisfying on their own, but I really admired that element in this one.

Locke & Key is blessed in its entirety with the same artist, Gabriel Hernandez, who I felt did a pretty awesome job here. His work reminds me of two other artists I've enjoyed, Steve Dillon and Steve Pugh. And I also perceive a smidge of Kevin Nowlan in there--something about the eyes and the line, I think. But Gabriel is his own artist; those are just the nearest comparisons I can make. He tells the story very effectively and conveys a lot of emotion in those eyes and the body language. Very good job on the design of the house and keys and some very nice special effects when needed. Great job on backgrounds, as well.

So what you can expect from "Welcome to Lovecraft" is a solid, deftly illustrated horror story occupied by believable and sympathetic characters that will draw you in. It is both satisfying on its own and gratifying in that you know there is still much more story to come. Though I have them all, I choose to read each volume intermittently, so that I can savor the experience and look forward to more of the story when the mood strikes for some time. I give this book a very high recommendation!

Lardy, I just finished Locke & Key, Vol 1 about 5 minutes ago. I agree with your notes on Hill's characters. The fact that he develops them so well--makes them so familiar to the reader--heightens the closeness of the horrific action. Bode reminds me so much of a couple of little dudes I know.

I'm not a horror fan and haven't read any Stephen King. So I can't relate this to the genre or make father/son comparisons. I'm still not a horror fan, but this story was engaging and more satisfying than I expected. Maybe I'll have to read the next volumes.

We're discussing it in the local graphic novel group tomorrow night...that's why I read it. I expect it will be a lively conversation.

I'm glad you liked it as well, LT! I was hoping you'd see this as I recalled your mention of this being an upcoming read for your group. I hope you will share some of the feedback from the group afterwards!

Currently waiting to be read:

TWD HC vol 12
All-New X-Men HC vol.2
5th SAGA
2nd OUTCAST
The Drawing of the Three: House of Cards (The latest in Marvel's Dark Tower trades)
The complete NEXTWAVE:Agents of H.A.T.E. collection. ~Forgot how much I loved this series!

Pile UPDATE (11/10/15)

Recently Read
Locke & Key Vol. 2: Head Games
Tales of the Batman: Len Wein


To-Read Pile (new stuff since last time in bold)
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vol. 4
Mage Vol. 2: The Hero Defined
Legion Archives Vol. 11
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Goldfish
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Scout Vol. 2
Frank Miller's Ronin Deluxe Edition
Spider-Man by Roger Stern Omnibus
Marvel Masterworks: Silver Surfer Vol. 1
Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton & Romita, Jr. Omnibus
Murder Me Dead (David Lapham)
Stray Bullets Uber Alles Edition
Grimjack Omnibus Vol. 2
Jon Sable: Freelance Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Secret Six Vol. 1: Villains United
Underwater Welder
Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange Vol. 6
Flex Mentallo
Nemo: Heart of Ice, Roses of Berlin & River of Ghosts
Orion by Walt Simonson Omnibus
Shaman's Tears (Mike Grell)
Howard the Duck Omnibus
Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 2
Marvel Masterworks: Iron Fist Vol. 2
Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 7 (Englehart)
New Teen Titans Vol. 2
Just the Tips (a Sex Criminals companion by Fraction/Zdarsky)
Thor Omnibus Vol. 2
Marada the She-Wolf
Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle Vol. 1
Bandette Vol. 2
Thor God of Thunder (Jason Aaron) Vol. 1
Amazing Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga (still have to read the Carrion stuff)
Animal Man (Morrison) Vols. 2 & 3
Locke & Key Vols. 3-6
Swamp Thing (Brian K. Vaughn) Vols. 1 & 2
All-New X-Men Vols. 2-6
Animal Man (Morrison) Vol. 1
Essential Spider-Man Vol. 7
Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 3
X-Men: Battle of the Atom
Power Man & Iron Fist Epic Collection: Heroes for Hire


On the Way
Camelot 3000 Deluxe edition

Pile UPDATE (12/3/15)

Recently Read

Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 2
Animal Man (Morrison) Vol. 1-3
All-New X-Men Vols 2 & 3

To-Read Pile (new stuff since last time in bold)
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vol. 4
Mage Vol. 2: The Hero Defined
Legion Archives Vol. 11
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Goldfish
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Scout Vol. 2
Frank Miller's Ronin Deluxe Edition
Spider-Man by Roger Stern Omnibus
Marvel Masterworks: Silver Surfer Vol. 1
Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton & Romita, Jr. Omnibus
Murder Me Dead (David Lapham)
Stray Bullets Uber Alles Edition
Grimjack Omnibus Vol. 2
Jon Sable: Freelance Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Secret Six Vol. 1: Villains United
Underwater Welder
Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange Vol. 6
Flex Mentallo
Nemo: Heart of Ice, Roses of Berlin & River of Ghosts
Orion by Walt Simonson Omnibus
Shaman's Tears (Mike Grell)
Howard the Duck Omnibus
Marvel Masterworks: Iron Fist Vol. 2
Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 7 (Englehart)
New Teen Titans Vol. 2
Just the Tips (a Sex Criminals companion by Fraction/Zdarsky)
Thor Omnibus Vol. 2
Marada the She-Wolf
Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle Vol. 1
Bandette Vol. 2
Thor God of Thunder (Jason Aaron) Vol. 1
Amazing Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga (still have to read the Carrion stuff)
Locke & Key Vols. 3-6
Swamp Thing (Brian K. Vaughn) Vols. 1 & 2
All-New X-Men Vols. 4-6
Essential Spider-Man Vol. 7
Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 3
X-Men: Battle of the Atom
Power Man & Iron Fist Epic Collection: Heroes for Hire
Pride of Baghdad
Camelot 3000 Deluxe edition
Guardians of Galaxy Vol. 1 (Bendis)
Moon Knight Epic Collection Vols. 1 & 2
Star Wars: Legacy (Ostrander) Vols. 1-5
Star Wars: Tag & Bink Were Here

On the Way
The Private Eye (Vaughn)
Darth Vader Vol. 1
Descender Vol. 1
Essential Spider-Man Vol. 8

I hope you share your thoughts on Morrison's Animal Man, Lardy. I know we've both been let down by a lot of his work before, especially when the artist is someone other than Frank Quitely.

TBH, even though I'd long considered Animal Man one of his better works despite the merely functional art, the last time I re-read it I thought it didn't hold up very well. It was sort of like a dry run for themes he'd explore more effectively in later works, such as my beloved Flex Mentallo (which I see is still in your to-read pile.)

I actually quite enjoyed it, Ficque! I had read a good chunk of the the last third of his run when it came out but had never read it in its entirety before now. And I'm glad I did at this point in my life because I really don't think it would have had much impact on twenty year-old me. Its themes are much more resonate to me as 45 year-old husband and father of two and as a life-long comic book fan who is nostalgic for the way comics used to be. Obviously, both things are key to the run.

Even better, though, is that it's just awesome to read a Morrison work that remembers to give us both characters we can care about and relate to and a story that is comprehensible. I care about Buddy and his family, so that I feel something when a horrible tragedy happens to them. And even as Morrison slowly unveils one of his trademark Big Ideas, the context and presentation never seem to get out of control. Older Morrison could really learn a lot from younger Morrison, as I've found so little of his work do either of these things, let alone both, over the decades since.

It's not a flawless run. It certainly gets more than a little preachy throughout its course, for example. But I suppose there's no way to portray an activist superhero without it. And for its time, the animal rights themes and graphic portrayals of animal abuse were groundbreaking. There's been a lot more comics exploration of these things since, but I've a strong feeling Morrison was one of the pioneers.

Also, a bit passe now, but groundbreaking then, was the breaking of the fourth wall and the particular approach Morrison took to it, especially in that final issue where Buddy literally meets Morrison. Probably not the first time something like this was done, but as the culmination of a 26-issue run with the groundwork laid for it almost from the beginning, it's pretty damn impressive!

Chas Truog is not the most dynamic artist Morrison's ever worked with, but I did enjoy his work and missed him when there were fill-ins. I liked his expressive faces that helped endear the Bakers to me. I thought he also did a surprisingly good job illustrating some of Morrison's more challenging sequences. I like Quitely, but I don't think his strength is bringing out the warmth and humanity in characters. A book like Morrison's Animal Man needed those qualities in the art, and that's why I like what Truog did.

I'm not calling it a masterpiece, but I think this run will hold a sentimental place in my heart going forward. And at the very least, it will be something I can hold up as an example of what I think is a terrific Morrison story that doesn't sacrifice its humanity or its clarity while still displaying his immense creativity.

Lardy, I think you certainly make a strong case for Animal Man's best qualities, and I can't really argue with any of your points (although I did like Tom Grummett's fill-ins better than Chas Troug.) The flaws I was referring to before were more on a writing technique level, but after reading your review, I think that only underlines how comparatively self-indulgent and incoherent older Morrison can often be, even as his technique has grown smoother than young Morrison's.

Sometimes, a little rough around the edges is a good thing!

BTW, I was woefully remiss in not mentioning Brian Bolland's exquisite covers! Bolland is one of my favorite cover artists ever, and I think it's no stretch to say he's definitely among the best in the business at that particular craft. I think his Animal Man covers rate among his best ever, and that is saying something! I lingered on every single one of them to soak up all of the detail and nuance. If nothing else, I hope someone reading these posts who has never read the run, looks up the covers to issues 1-26. I'd wager that, at the very least, those images would make someone curious about what's inside and more likely to investigate further.

I think Bolland's covers themselves actually represent a bit of thematic deception that plays into the larger part of Morrison's run. Bolland's art is generally very detailed and highly photorealistic. However, the Morrison issues often had very simple and clean artwork on the inside, especially the issues done by Tom Grummet. The reader is deceived into thinking the story inside is your standard comic book fare, unbeknownst that Morrison has much loftier ambitions for the story in mind.

I did think Grummett did a very good job on his fill-ins, and I count myself as a Grummett fan. I was very much in love with Truog's portrayal of the Baker family, though, and it was hard for Grummett to match what Truog was able to do with them month-in and month-out coming off the bench. So this statement...



...was not meant as an indictment of Grummett at all (or of Paris Cullins, for that matter, though his fill-in wasn't as good as Grummett's issues).



Very good points. I remember being disappointed in the interior art because of those great covers when I read those last few issues as a twenty year-old. Now, I feel I can really appreciate it and how it brings Morrison's story down to earth and humanizes everything.

Why did twenty year-old me pick up the last few issues of the book, anyway? Well, I'm ashamed to say I was drawn in by the news of the huge tragedy that struck the storyline in the end run. I think it was referred to in JLE, and I had to see what had happened. It seemed like something on a scale you never saw in a superhero title. Plus, well, death in comics was and still is a bit of a draw for the younger folks. But it was really so much more than a stunt, and that very morbid curiosity played into Morrison's meta themes about comics themselves that would congeal in the last few issues.

I agree with both of you on the subversive use of Bolland's exquisite covers and on how the tragedy was so much more than a stunt like it would be these days. And I have to say, the ending, which today would seem like a cop-out, feels thoroughly sincere and well-earned.

And now I remember what attracted the younger Ficque to the series back in the day -- it was an excellent interview with Morrison circa 1993 (a few years before the commercial success of JLA inflated his ego) where he talked about how the first four-issue arc was very much in the Proto-Vertigo mould of its time, and how he came up with the idea for the coyote issue initially as a way to sustain his own interest, which resulted in the book turning into an exploration of fictional realities.

BTW, I stayed with Animal Man originally well beyond that last third of Morrison's run. Through Peter Milligan, Tom Veitch and Jamie Delano's runs. The book was pretty consistently great throughout until Delano's run lost some steam at the end. I don't think I read much, if any, of Jerry Prosser's run that closed the book's run at issue 89.

Milligan was Milligan at his best, and he had a trippy 6-issue run to follow Morrison. Veitch did a good job of being consistent with Morrison's stories and telling some worthwhile ones of his own. Delano really made the book his own, making it more mystical and gritty. I don't remember many particulars, but the book was consistently a favorite for me for a long time.

I bought the trades collecting the Milligan and Delano stories last year, but still haven't gotten around to reading them. Thanks for the reminder, Lardy.

Hard to go wrong with Peter Milligan in his heyday when he was truly PETER MILLIGAN!

Agreed 100%. I finally read Enigma for the first time last year, and it was awesome.

Milligan in that pre/early Vertigo era could do know wrong! His run on Shade, the Changing Man particularly will always be a personal favorite! Gotta figure out where I've got those issues socked away.....

I also have gotta find my copies of his Animal Man run. I remembering it being one of his more abstract stories of the time--kind of along the lines of Morrison's Doom Patrol--but I remember loving it more than Morrison's final AM storyline that directly preceded it. Of course, it may have appealed more to the me at 20 or 21 who was not completely primed for Morrison's themes at that age. Plus, as a fan already of Milligan's work on Shade at the time, he kind of had me at "hello". I definitely have to dig that story up before too long and see how it rates now!

I also read around the first 10 issues of the New 52 book by Jeff Lemire. I was impressed at first but was soon put off by the glacial pacing, as I also was with Scott Snyder's Swamp Thing. When I dropped the whole line, that problem made it fairly easy to not make it an exception. At the time, I thought I might eventually go back and finish it off in trades. Hearing, though, that Lemire killed off after I dropped the book, has likely dissuaded me from doing so.

Lemire, in hindsight, pretty mercilessly teased death in Buddy's family as a fake-out or cliffhanger during my time reading it. It made me uncomfortable because I'd invested in them personally throughout my lengthy patronage of the prior series and because Morrison had already crossed that bridge and, in a way, made us feel they would be safe from then-on in the undoing. I suppose that was never a promise, but you also don't want to feel that Buddy's family is there just waiting for a writer to 'go there' because it's there for the doing.

I've read some kind reviews of how Lemire handled all of this, but I just don't know if I'll ever see for myself.

Lemire (& Snyder) both ended up doing pastiche's of earlier works on the respective characters, and anything new they brought to the game was derivative and bland. I dropped both runs in disappointment. I'll give Snyder credit for trying to move ST out of Moore's shadow, but his new ideas fell really flat for me.

Yeah, nothing that Lemire or Snyder did was really all that new in hindsight. In fact, in both cases I was a little confused as to whether the pre-New 52 continuities of both characters was still in play somehow. Still not totally sure.

Meanwhile, another thing worth noting about Bolland as cover artist on the previous Animal Man volume is that he actually stayed on for over three years post-Morrison. His last issue as cover artist was issue 63. After Bolland, they pretty much had a different cover artist every issue for the rest of Delano's run before settling on Rick Berry for Prosser's run to close out the book. Bolland's covers were much missed.

What is the general opinion on the Delano run? I've read most of the Morrison, Milligan, and Veitch runs, but haven't dipped into the Delano stuff before. Is it worth checking out?

It's been a long while since I read it, Stalgie, but I have generally favorable feelings about it. As I recall, the first half of the run was pretty excellent. Towards the end, it started to run out of steam but was still overall good. I wish I could remember more specifics, but it's been well over 20 years now. I remember, though, that it explored the darker side of Buddy's powers and more of the Red's nature, It seems in a way that Lemire really picked up on a lot of what Delano did more than Morrison, et al.

Thanks, Lardy. I'll check it out if I can find the issues.

Quick research shows that series was collected all the way thru Delano's run, so TPBs on eBay (or in better libraries) might be an option!

Thanks. I'll see if I can find it.

Yeeesh! WAY past time for an update, right?


Pile UPDATE (3/11/16)

Recently Read

West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vol. 1
New Teen Titans Vol. 2
Thor God of Thunder (Jason Aaron) Vol. 1
Locke & Key Vols. 3-6
Star Wars: Legacy (Ostrander) Vol. 1
Darth Vader Vol. 1
Essential Amazing Spider-Man Vols. 7-9
Infinity Inc. Generations Saga Vol. 1

To-Read Pile (new stuff since last time in bold)
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vol. 4
Mage Vol. 2: The Hero Defined
Legion Archives Vol. 12-13
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vol. 2
Goldfish
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Scout Vol. 2
Frank Miller's Ronin Deluxe Edition
Spider-Man by Roger Stern Omnibus
Marvel Masterworks: Silver Surfer Vol. 1
Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton & Romita, Jr. Omnibus
Murder Me Dead (David Lapham)
Stray Bullets Uber Alles Edition
Grimjack Omnibus Vol. 2
Jon Sable: Freelance Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Secret Six Vol. 1: Villains United
Underwater Welder
Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange Vol. 6
Flex Mentallo
Nemo: Heart of Ice, Roses of Berlin & River of Ghosts
Orion by Walt Simonson Omnibus
Shaman's Tears (Mike Grell)
Howard the Duck Omnibus
Marvel Masterworks: Iron Fist Vol. 2
Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 7 (Englehart)
Just the Tips (a Sex Criminals companion by Fraction/Zdarsky)
Thor Omnibus Vol. 2
Marada the She-Wolf
Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle Vol. 1
Bandette Vol. 2
Amazing Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga (still have to read the Carrion stuff)
Swamp Thing (Brian K. Vaughn) Vols. 1 & 2
All-New X-Men Vols. 4-7
Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 3
X-Men: Battle of the Atom
Power Man & Iron Fist Epic Collection: Heroes for Hire
Pride of Baghdad
Camelot 3000 Deluxe edition
Guardians of Galaxy Vol. 1 (Bendis)
Moon Knight Epic Collection Vols. 1 & 2
Star Wars: Legacy (Ostrander) Vols. 2-5
Star Wars: Tag & Bink Were Here
The Private Eye (Vaughn)
Descender Vol. 1
Deadpool Classics Vols. 1 & 2
Crossover Classics Marvel/DC Vol. 1
New Teen Titans Vol. 3
Paying for It by Chester Brown
Darth Vader Vol. 2
Princess Leia
Secret History Omnibus Vols. 2 & 3
Showcase Presents Trial of the Flash
Showcase Presents Warlord Vol. 1
Planet Hulk
World War Hulk

In addition to the items on the Pile, I've been accumulating trades and individual issues to fill out Peter David's long 2nd run on X-Factor that began with the Madrox mini and ended with (appropriately) the "End of X-Factor" arc. I still have about 9 trades worth of material (all post issue 200) and the Layla Miller Special to go on that project.

Thanks for the updates, Lardy.

Yeah, I would imagine the post-200 X-Factor trades and issues are harder to find. Marvel certainly didn't promote them or print too many copies.

Looking forward to finding out what you thought of your most recent reads. I'm especially excited to see you review New Teen Titans Volume 2.

Yep. I noticed that at a certain point, after the "They Keep Killing Madrox" arc (issues 229-232), Marvel stopped doing hardcover versions of the collections and skipped straight to TPB. The TPB versions after that volume are expensive--if you can find them at all. Luckily, the individual issues are still pretty cheap and easy to find, so I'll likely get those as floppies.



Sneak preview: LOVED it!!!

I remember when Marvel stopped doing the hardcovers. That was when I knew X-Factor's days were numbered. Still, at least we got two dozen more issues and all the most important loose ends were wrapped up. Thank the Gods for cheap floppies.



YAY!!

Pile UPDATE (5/10/16)

Currently Reading
Showcase Presents Trial of the Flash
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 1

Recently Read
Marvel Masterworks: Iron Fist Vol. 2
All-New X-Men Vols. 4-7
X-Men: Battle of the Atom
Power Man & Iron Fist Epic Collection: Heroes for Hire

To-Read Pile (new stuff since last time in bold)
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vol. 4
Mage Vol. 2: The Hero Defined
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vol. 2
Goldfish
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 2
Scout Vol. 2
Frank Miller's Ronin Deluxe Edition
Spider-Man by Roger Stern Omnibus
Marvel Masterworks: Silver Surfer Vol. 1
Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton & Romita, Jr. Omnibus
Murder Me Dead (David Lapham)
Stray Bullets Uber Alles Edition
Grimjack Omnibus Vol. 2
Jon Sable: Freelance Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Secret Six Vol. 1: Villains United
Underwater Welder
Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange Vol. 6
Flex Mentallo
Nemo: Heart of Ice, Roses of Berlin & River of Ghosts
Orion by Walt Simonson Omnibus
Shaman's Tears (Mike Grell)
Howard the Duck Omnibus
Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 7 (Englehart)
Just the Tips (a Sex Criminals companion by Fraction/Zdarsky)
Thor Omnibus Vol. 2
Marada the She-Wolf
Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle Vol. 1
Bandette Vol. 2
Amazing Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga (still have to read the Carrion stuff)
Swamp Thing (Brian K. Vaughn) Vols. 1 & 2
Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 3
Pride of Baghdad
Camelot 3000 Deluxe edition
Guardians of Galaxy Vol. 1 (Bendis)
Moon Knight Epic Collection Vols. 1 & 2
Star Wars: Legacy (Ostrander) Vols. 2-5
Star Wars: Tag & Bink Were Here
The Private Eye (Vaughn)
Descender Vol. 1
Deadpool Classics Vols. 1 & 2
Crossover Classics Marvel/DC Vol. 1
New Teen Titans Vol. 3
Paying for It by Chester Brown
Darth Vader Vol. 2
Princess Leia
Secret History Omnibus Vols. 2 & 3
Showcase Presents Warlord Vol. 1
Planet Hulk
World War Hulk
Star Slammers Complete Collection
Essential Peter Parker Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 1
Crisis on Infinite Earths Deluxe Edition
Thanos: Infinity revelation
The Wizard's Tale
Superman: Secret Identity

Ooh, I see you've read the "Power Man & Iron Fist" trade, Lardy! Is there a possibility a review might be forthcoming? (And if you didn't like it, review it anyway, I won't be upset.)

I know its at the bottom of the pile, but I can't wait for your thoughts on PP:SSM vol 1! Lots of old favorites in that collection.

I also see you have Private Eye by Vaughn and Martin. That's on my list to get too if I ever get around to doing another big order of TPB's.

Oh, it doesn't matter where a book is in the Pile--it's where the mood takes me, don'tcha know!!! So we'll see about PPSM....

Probably real soon, I'll fill in an ASM gap with some Essentials and then read thru the Roger Stern Omnibus. I'm already well past the debut of PPSM in the ASM reading (thru ASM 210, I think?), so I'm not exactly sure if I'll read some PPSM before continuing with ASM?



Yeah, as soon as it was announced to be a TPB, I knew I had to have it! (And read it eventually...) I'm a Luddite, so I never much entertained reading it on Vaughn's pay-what-you-like website, though it was tempting. Didn't you follow that on Vaughn's site, or am I mis-remembering?

It was definitely entertaining, and Jo knew how to tell a good yarn. It especially started clicking when Kerry Gammill came aboard as I've always liked his work. There was nothing earth-shattering in those issues, but they featured some solid storytelling and some decent characterization. Of course, this trade contained roughly half of Jo's run, so one would presume that the second half is even better.

Of course the trade begins with Claremont and Byrne as the creative team as it transitions from Power Man to PM/IF. I'm glad they started the transition because it allowed them to tie up the loose ends from their Iron Fist run. It was a fairly inspired idea to combine the two in one book and was obviously successful as the book lasted all the way thru issue 125.

The problem, at first, was that Iron Fist's supporting cast really dominated the book in the early-going. I know little to nothing about Luke Cage's book pre-Iron Fist, but it certainly seemed that whatever was there was mostly swept under the rug except for the Gem Theater Office and sporadic appearances by D.W and a few others. Luke's girlfriend from before the change was even written out with a hasty break-up. I noticed that when Jo came aboard, more characters from Luke's past started popping up more and figuring into the plots more heavily. This made it feel to me more like a book featuring equal headliners.

Not that I can completely fault Claremont and the others for heavily featuring characters like Misty, Colleen and Jeryn Hogarth. Misty and Colleen are indisputably great characters in Marvel's stable, and Misty and Danny's interracial romance had to have been quite a trailblazer for the times.

I explored this as someone who considers himself a pretty big Iron Fist fan. It was a logical progression to go from the Iron Fist Masterworks volumes, and I feel lucky that this Epic Collection existed to help me follow him beyond. There's a second volume coming out later this year, and I look forward to both completing Jo's run and seeing Luke and Danny's story evolve.

P.S. I love the recurring gag where Luke pretty much needs a new shirt after every issue!

If you end up getting the complete trilogy (Revelation/Relativity/Finale), be aware that there's a sub-chapter between the second and last volumes, The Infinity Entity, which focuses on Adam Warlock and has beautiful art by Davis & Farmer. It sticks out like a sore thumb on the shelf, though, as unlike the rest it was released as a softcover trade. And Starlin hands over the art chores to Ron Lim in FINALE, my *other* peeve in an otherwise grand storyline. Lim does admirably, but this was touted as a Starlin project; Would've liked to see him cap off the story in style.

Agreed that Kerry Gammill's arrival was where the book really took off -- I love the way Gammill cross-bred the styles of John Buscema & John Byrne, yet still managed to make it uniquely him.

Re: Characterization, I think this was the first time Luke came off like a human being rather than a caricature, and it was also the first time I found Danny interesting and likable.



Actually, I think it peaks with the "Return to K'un L'un" 2-parter in 74-75. You'd do better getting the floppies of 71-72 and 74-75, in my opinion (I've never read 73, because it guest stars ROM and, since Marvel cannot reprint it, it's almost impossible to find.)




Indeed. One of my favorite panels is in 66, when Danny rescues Misty just before she passes out from lack of air in the safe where she was trapped; the way Gammill captures the expressions of affection on their faces...wow.



If you do decide to read the entirety of Jo's run, be warned that Gammill's art, while still good, deteriorates somewhat after 75, as he struggles to keep up with the monthly schedule which ultimately led to his departure from the book (IIRC, it had been bi-monthly until shortly before the end of the volume we're discussing right now.) He's replaced by Denys Cowan, a much more stylized artist who I think was much better suited to the weirded-out noir of Denny O'Neil's The Question, and who was very young and very raw at this stage in his career. I think Jo left somewhere between 80 and 85, if memory serves me well, and I seem to remember that the book passed through several writers before settling on Kurt Busiek (his first steady mainstream gig, and I can't remember ATM what his first issue was.)

I love how the romance is presented in the comic from the beginning--like there's nothing unusual about it. The couple themselves, their friends and associates and even the narrator never feel the need to point out that this is an interracial relationship. It's simply two people in love, and I think that was an excellent, forward-thinking way to present them. We can thank Chris Claremont for doing it this way in the first place and his successors for following suit (so far at least).



I'm in for volume 2 not only because of a curiosity for Jo's (and Busiek's, who a Wikipedia article says was on the book from 90-105 with 4 of those issues written by others) run but because I'm such a big fan of Iron Fist and want to read as much of the PM/IF era as possible.

BTW, periodically, when it comes up, I just have to recommend the Immortal Iron Fist series by Brubaker, Fraction and Aja and later Swierczynski and Foreman. This series, which lasted 27 issues and featured an annual, some great one-shots and the Immortal Weapons mini-series spin-off, was just excellent from beginning to end and will always have a special place in my collection. So much pulpy goodness with the Iron Fist mythos done more justice than at any other point in its existence!

Thanks for the recommendation, Lardy. I'll see if my library has the trades.

Agreed that the matter-of-factness of the romance was ground-breaking for its time and highly commendable.

I will be looking forward to finding out what you think of the stories in Volume 2 and beyond, if there are third and fourth volumes.

New trades on their way with my DCBS order--

MOON GIRL and DEVIL DINOSAUR- Looking forward to this, as I'm a fan of the writers Montclare & Reeder (ROCKET GIRL); I checked with Amy that my trade-waiting wasn't hurting the series and was assured the book is doing well and has strong support from Misney.

OUTCAST v.3

SAGA v.6

SEX CRIMINALS v.3

DELIRIUM'S PARTY: A LITTLE ENDLESS STORYBOOK HC- I was a big fan of Jill Thompson's first Little Endless story, can't wait to read this!

At Denver Comic-Con, I picked up the following trades at ridiculous low costs (for most of them):

What I've read so far:
The Death-Defying Dr. Mirage Vol. 1 & 2
Harbinger Omegas Vol 6
Imperium: Collecting Monsters Vol 1
Black Magick Vol. 1
Gotham Academy Vol. 1
Brave and the Bold: Lords of Luck
Shadow Hero
Archer & Armstrong Vol. 1
Teen Titans: Child's Play Vol. 12

I really enjoyed Shadow Hero, Gotham Academy, Black Magick, Dr. Mirage and Archer and Armstrong. Good comics

Still sitting at my bedside table:
Fearful Hunter
Harbinger Wars
Hawkman: Rise of the Golden Eagle Vol. 4
Batwing Into the Dark Vol. 5
Supreme: Blue Rose
Daytripper
Countdown to Adventure Vol. 1

DAYTRIPPER is beautiful... I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and still do... <3

^ Agreed.

Really interested in your thoughts on Trial of the Flash! I read those issues only once and I was like 12 years old, when all I really cared about was what actually happened.

I've considered a Barry Flash reread but figure it would have to be slow going as the Silver Age issues are not really meant to be read too quickly together. They work much better when sampled a little at a time. Still, I'm super curious to see how Infantino's art looks when he came back at the end in comparison to his 60's work (which itself sharply evolves).

Cobie, I actually shared some thoughts on Trial of the Flash over on the Flash (Barry Allen) thread. It was really, REALLY wacky in so many ways. Check that thread out!

Yeep! I'll have to update my Pile List in the next coupla days! There have certainly been lots of wild additions since the last update!

Been over 3 months since the last update! I haven't read a great deal from the Pile in the interim, largely due to a pre-Baxter/2nd Levitz era LSH re-read and about a month spent putting a dent in my huge backlog of "new" floppies. (At least I'm now in 2016 with those! )

Meanwhile, my addiction to finding great deals on eBay hasn't faltered at all, so look toward the bottom to see all of the stunning additions I've made.....


Pile UPDATE (8/18/16)

Currently Reading
Marvel Masterworks: Captain America Vol. 7 (Englehart)
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 1

Recently Read
New Teen Titans Vol. 3
Darth Vader Vol. 2
Planet Hulk
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vol. 4

To-Read Pile
Mage Vol. 2: The Hero Defined
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vol. 2
Goldfish
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 2
Scout Vol. 2
Frank Miller's Ronin Deluxe Edition
Spider-Man by Roger Stern Omnibus
Marvel Masterworks: Silver Surfer Vol. 1
Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton & Romita, Jr. Omnibus
Murder Me Dead (David Lapham)
Stray Bullets Uber Alles Edition
Grimjack Omnibus Vol. 2
Jon Sable: Freelance Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Secret Six Vol. 1: Villains United
Underwater Welder
Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange Vol. 6
Flex Mentallo
Nemo: Heart of Ice, Roses of Berlin & River of Ghosts
Orion by Walt Simonson Omnibus
Shaman's Tears (Mike Grell)
Howard the Duck Omnibus
Just the Tips (a Sex Criminals companion by Fraction/Zdarsky)
Thor Omnibus Vol. 2
Marada the She-Wolf
Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle Vol. 1
Bandette Vol. 2
Amazing Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga (still have to read the Carrion stuff)
Swamp Thing (Brian K. Vaughn) Vols. 1 & 2
Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 3
Pride of Baghdad
Camelot 3000 Deluxe edition
Guardians of Galaxy Vol. 1 (Bendis)
Moon Knight Epic Collection Vols. 1 & 2
Star Wars: Legacy (Ostrander) Vols. 2-5
Star Wars: Tag & Bink Were Here
The Private Eye (Vaughn)
Descender Vol. 1
Deadpool Classics Vols. 1 & 2
Crossover Classics Marvel/DC Vol. 1
Paying for It by Chester Brown
Princess Leia
Secret History Omnibus Vols. 2 & 3
Showcase Presents Warlord Vol. 1
World War Hulk
Star Slammers Complete Collection
Essential Peter Parker Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 1
Crisis on Infinite Earths Deluxe Edition
Thanos: Infinity Revelation
The Wizard's Tale
Superman: Secret Identity

Recent Pile Additions Since Last Update
Twilight Children
Marvel Masterworks Captain America Vol. 8
New Teen Titans Vol. 4
Thor: The Mighty Avenger Complete Collection
Deadpool Classics Vol. 3
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vol. 5
Wonder Woman: Earth One
Doom Patrol/Grant Morrison Omnibus
X-Statix Omnibus
Essential Amazing Spider-Man Vol 10
Ultimate Spider-Man: Chameleons
Doctor Strange/Jason Aaron Vol. 1
World War Hulk: Incredible Hercules
Batman by Moench & Jones Vol. 1
John Carter Warlord of Mars Marvel Omnibus
Essential Spectacular Spider-Man Vols. 2 & 3
Death & Return of Superman Omnibus
Southern Bastards Vol. 3

X-Statix Ominbus? Nice! Was it a good deal?

EDIT: And the Doom Patrol Omnibus! That thing's a beast. I can't find it for less than $130 Cdn (BEFORE shipping).

I got the DP Omnibus for $74.01 (+$6 shipping). It's used but in excellent condition. It retails for $150, and I got it for a shade under In-stock Trades' $82.50. (I'm always looking to beat the IST price on eBay. If I fail to, want it enough and lose patience, I just buy it at IST.)

X-Statix cost me $64.88 with free shipping. It was still sealed in shrinkwrap. Its cover price is $125. It's apparently not on IST now, unless there's a search error.

I'm SUPER patient and diligent about keeping up with eBay searches on a daily basis. It almost always pays off eventually. I think the one I've had the hardest time for the longest fining the deal I want is the Wonder Woman by George Perez Omnibus for under IST's $41. I think this is mostly because of her role in BvS and her upcoming solo film.

Lardy,

Why isn't X-Factor on your list??

Oh, I've got those put aside for when the mood hits. That doesn't mean it will be read last; I just consider that a separate thing. Kind of like the Pile is separate from the floppies, which were both separate from the Legion re-read I recently did. Plus, the X-factor thing is a combination of trades and floppies.

Hopefully, that makes some sense?

It does make sense. Thanks for explaining, Lardy, now I'm totally relieved.

I'm currently now reading my Tales of the Dark Knight/Norm Breyfogle hardcover, and I'm loving the HELL out of it! This isn't particularly surprising for me, but it's always a relief when you revisit old stories and feel just as enthused about it or more so than you did back in the day!

Norm's trademark style and touch with the Bat is already evident in his first story and only gets better from there. And after you read a few stories with other writers, it really takes off with his first Grant/Wagner scripts! I mean, FIRST THING with those guys, we get the first appearance of Scarface and the Ventriloquist, which I feel is Norm's most significant villain contribution to the mythos. GAWD, it was so great to re-experience them written and portrayed correctly after having later creative teams completely mess up the characters with new Ventriloquists and other crappy reinventions!

I don't want to make this wonderful hardcover seem all about the Ventriloquist and Scarface, but they were such masterful creations from the get-go. Scarface pronouncing his B's as G's (because of the ventriloquism). Wesker/the Ventriloquist's docile look that Norm makes such a wonderful caricature with. Scarface's insistence on talking to "me, not him!" Batman's refusal to do so. And just the wonderful, schizoid quality of it all!

And that's only 120 pages in, so far! Even before the standout 2-parter, we get a number of great one-offs with writers like Mike Barr and Max Allan Collins. The only stinker is a Millenium tie-in that makes almost no sense outside the context of that legendarily bad crossover. It's a shame because the central conceit involves exploring Gordon's past as a naval intelligence officer and, of course, some terrific Breyfogle art.

It's an awesome, gorgeous hardcover and a wonderful keepsake for fans of one of the best Batman artists ever. I'm looking forward to the last 300 pages and all the wonders that await within--and to the announced second volume in January!

Scarface (to a bartender): "Gottle of geer. GOTTLE OF GEER!"

LOL

Great stuff. Thanks, Lardy, for the reminders of what a treasure the Grant/Breyfogle-era Batman is.

I know, right?

And back to Ventriloquist/Scarface, I feel that they were the most significant Bat-villains to be introduced since, arguably, Ra's al Ghul. You could certainly make arguments in favor of Killer Croc and Black Mask, who are significant additions in the interim, but I personally feel Wesker and Scarface have a bigger hook and uniqueness to them. Like Croc, they were also immortalized in B:TAS, but if you look at how comparatively recently they debuted before the series and still made it in, I feel it speaks volumes!

It's a shame that DC has since messed with such a good thing when so many others in Batman's rogue's gallery remain relatively intact.

I'm jealous that you're rereading such an amazing era of Batman! Like you, I love this era (which helped cement as a major Bat-fan for life) and I'm a huge fan of Breyfogle.

I agree on the Ventriliquist and Scarface too. Huge favorites of mine since their debut, they're an excellent, genius addition to Batman's rogues gallery. I also love Croc and Black Mask equally as much, btw--I feel all three were just terrific; and although all are of the 1980's, it had actually been some time since the former two when the Ventriliquist was introduced.

If any good can come out all these DC reboots, hopefully it will be characters like the original Ventriliquist returning, back as they originally were before sub-par writers thought it a good idea to mess with a good thing.

Another great bit involving Scarface & the Ventriloquist is when Batman allows himself a rare (private) smile and chuckle at his new rouges' expense -- "I'll see to it that they end up GEHIND GARS."

Well, I'm sure you can re-read them, too, assuming they're accessible!



I'm not trying to dis Croc or Black Mask, but to me, the Ventriloquist and Scarface add some thing to Batman's rogues gallery that is not only unique and stylish but also felt like such a perfect addition that I just had to nod and think, "of course!"--if you know what I mean. Croc and Mask are cool but don't feel to me like there was a spot just waiting waiting for them amongst the ranks. The entertainment value they provide made any appearance something to be looked forward to, like the Joker used to be.

Hope that clarifies and distinguishes my feelings vis a vis when comparing them to Croc and Mask. I'd love to see some counterpoint, if you're game!



Hopefully, but only if whomever does so really loves the duo and understands how to do them justice.

I've noticed that Batman in these stories doesn't have a board up his ass all the time!

Yes, some of the then-concurrent writers of the Batman flagship book (*cough* Jim Starlin *cough*) could've taken a page or two from Alan Grant.

That's really gotten me interested in reading more about Helena, Lardy. I think your review nailed it - in the last issues of COIE, Helena shows exactly what you described. She is capable while still not being perfect, and her flaws make her endearing. I remember her crying after she found out she should not exist. Yet, she still somehow showed strength despite having her world torn to pieces.

When she was narrating her rude awakening, she even casually slips in a "I changed into my street clothes while out of sight. Always protect your secret identity." And she even did her detective work to find out about her existence.

I also felt sad for her death. It wasn't the best death. And the fact that she, Kole and Robin died just before the magicians succeeded in defeating the shadow demons was a big blow! I kept thinking, if only the magicians had succeeded a few moments earlier...

Yep, I think she was a great character for all those reasons and more. And no Helena Bertinelli or New 52 Helena Wayne can ever compare in my eyes. In a way, the deaths of such characters as Helena, Dick and Kole are the true legacy of Crisis because unlike Barry, Kara and some of the rest, there's never been a true resurrection (if any) or reboot that restored these characters as they were.

Thanks for reading the post and reacting, btw, Ibby. I hope you check out the trade. It won't blow anyone away as the best trade they've ever read, but you truly get a sense of this character and what made her special in a way that people who've only experienced later versions have never been able to.

So true. It's these "lost" characters that really get me.

As for Kara, I don't know her various selves well enough to say whether the post-Crisis versions are equivalent to the pre-crisis ones. I totally agree with you on Barry though.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Lardy. It was a pleasure to read yours. I'll definitely put this trade on my wish list!

I thought a little about Kara as I wrote that stuff above. While it's true that Kara may never be the same character she was until her death in Crisis, I think she has had moments and sparks (mostly the Gates/Igle run pre-New 52) that resonate to her original version. And it doesn't hurt that she has an outstanding portrayal ongoing in her own TV series. Helena, even with her restoration as Batman's daughter on a new version of Earth-2, still doesn't feel the same.

That's a good point, with all of Kara's portrayals, she's bound to have one that is very close to her original version.

And I agree about Helena, I read a little bit of the New 52 Helena and she just does not seem quite the same as the other versions.

The closest version of Helena to the pre-COIE version, for me, has been the Helena that appeared in the Post-Infinite Crisis Earth-2 stories. Specifically, the one where the Earth-1 Power Girl was drawn to Earth-2, only to find another Power Girl and another JSA existing there. The Helena that appeared there was the only E-2 JSAer with enough sense and compassion to call out the rest of the E-2 JSA for their shoddy treatment (and torture, dare I say!) of E-1 PG.

Yep, that was the closest, but it was so brief! I really thought geoff would do more with this new/old version of earth-2, but, IIRC, it fell by the wayside really quickly! I don't know if it ever reappeared outside of those handful of issues and before all was wiped clean for the New 52.

Pile UPDATE (10/01/16)

Currently Reading
Spider-Man by Roger Stern Omnibus
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 1

Recently Read
Essential Peter Parker Spectacular Spider-Man Vols. 1 & 2
Legends of the Dark Knight: Norm Breyfogle Vol. 1
Amazing Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga (the rest)
Essential Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 10

To-Read Pile
Mage Vol. 2: The Hero Defined
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vol. 2
Goldfish
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 2
Scout Vol. 2
Frank Miller's Ronin Deluxe Edition
Marvel Masterworks: Silver Surfer Vol. 1
Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton & Romita, Jr. Omnibus
Murder Me Dead (David Lapham)
Stray Bullets Uber Alles Edition
Grimjack Omnibus Vol. 2
Jon Sable: Freelance Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Secret Six Vol. 1: Villains United
Underwater Welder
Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange Vol. 6
Flex Mentallo
Nemo: Heart of Ice, Roses of Berlin & River of Ghosts
Orion by Walt Simonson Omnibus
Shaman's Tears (Mike Grell)
Howard the Duck Omnibus
Just the Tips (a Sex Criminals companion by Fraction/Zdarsky)
Thor Omnibus Vol. 2
Marada the She-Wolf
Bandette Vol. 2
Swamp Thing (Brian K. Vaughn) Vols. 1 & 2
Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 3
Pride of Baghdad
Camelot 3000 Deluxe edition
Guardians of Galaxy Vol. 1 (Bendis)
Moon Knight Epic Collection Vols. 1 & 2
Star Wars: Legacy (Ostrander) Vols. 2-5
Star Wars: Tag & Bink Were Here
The Private Eye (Vaughn)
Descender Vol. 1
Deadpool Classics Vols. 1, 2 & 3
Crossover Classics Marvel/DC Vol. 1
Paying for It by Chester Brown
Princess Leia TPB
Secret History Omnibus Vols. 2 & 3
Showcase Presents Warlord Vol. 1
World War Hulk
Star Slammers Complete Collection
Crisis on Infinite Earths Deluxe Edition
Thanos: Infinity Revelation
The Wizard's Tale
Superman: Secret Identity
Twilight Children
Marvel Masterworks Captain America Vol. 8
New Teen Titans Vol. 4
Thor: The Mighty Avenger Complete Collection
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vol. 5
Wonder Woman: Earth One
Doom Patrol/Grant Morrison Omnibus
X-Statix Omnibus
Ultimate Spider-Man: Chameleons
Doctor Strange/Jason Aaron Vol. 1
World War Hulk: Incredible Hercules
Batman by Moench & Jones Vol. 1
John Carter Warlord of Mars Marvel Omnibus
Essential Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 3
Death & Return of Superman Omnibus
Southern Bastards Vol. 3

Recent Pile Additions Since Last Update
All-Star Section Eight
Star Wars: Rebel Jail
Batgirl Vols. 1-3 (Stewart/Fletcher/Tarr)
Rachel Rising Vols. 1 & 2
iZombie Omnibus
Tales of the Batman: Alan Brennert
Wonder Woman by Perez Omnibus (finally!)
Lazarus Vol. 4
Incredible Hulk: Heart of the Atom
Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall
Fables: Werewolves of Heartland

On the Way
Omega Men: End Is Here


So, reading-wise, I've really been invested in reading the Spidey stuff. I've woven in and out of the Essentials and trades and have finally gotten to the Stern Omnibus. Once I read thru that and the post-Stern portion of the Spectacular Essential Vol. 3, I will have officially read all of Amazing and Spectacular up to the point where I started buying both titles off the shelves. (I'll eventually go back and get the MTU Essentials to fill in those blanks, but I think most Spider-fans will agree that they aren't all that necessary.) As a big Spider-Man fan, I'm really happy about having finally accomplished that!

I may write a little more about this in the All-Spider-man thread if the mood strikes. I will say that Bill Mantlo was a surprisingly good Spider-scribe vs. my expectations. Denny O'neil, however, was pretty darn unmemorable during his (mercifully) brief run. But Roger stern---from the get-go, he just brings all the subtle and mature storytelling to the table that just confirms my longheld regard for him as one of the very best Spider-scribes of all time! (To refresh y'all's memory, I think it's Lee, Conway, Stern, PAD, DeMatteis, Slott--in order from earliest to most recent.) I mean right from the beginning--and without the steady artistic influence that won't come until he and JRJr finally get together in Amazing!

Awesome, Lardy!! Congratulations on reaching such a milestone with your Spidey reads!

Yeah, I agree that Denny O'Neil's Spidey stories were mostly a lost opportunity. But in fairness to Denny, he may have just needed a breather from the street-level crime drama stuff; after all, before he moved to Marvel, he'd been doing Batman stories for a full decade. And I, for one, find his Iron Man run has been unfairly vilified; it's not perfect, but it has an ambitious long-form novel scope, beginning with Tony falling off the wagon, and climaxing in IM 200 with him going toe-to-toe with the man who nearly destroyed him mind, body, and soul. Denny's IM was one of the few 80s Marvel runs outside of the mutant books to attempt something like that. Denny also distinguished himself as an editor during his time with Marvel -- all of John Byrne's Alpha Flight and Hulk work, Jo Duffy's Power Man & Iron Fist run, and...uh...Fr*nk M*ll*r's Daredevil (well, they can't all stand the test of time, BUT, to end this digression on a positive note, it's a little-known fact that, early on in his Marvel-editor stint, Denny actually gave none other than *Steve Bissette* his first big break into the comic book mainstream! I'll get into the details in Steve's own thread at some point, but...wow, small world, isn't it?)

And regarding your recent additions, I'm very excited about hearing what you think of Tom King's Omega Men. Also Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall, and especially the Wonder Woman Perez Omnibus, because even though I've come to believe its badly dated, it's also a great discussion topic (in a way, that's Diana's tragedy -- her stories tend to be more fun to talk about analytically than to actually read! IMHO.)

Also, it somehow slipped by me until now that you've been following Lazarus. Much as I usually dislike Rucka, and much as his current return to Diana's book has me underwhelmed from what little I read before I gave up on it (bringing back the Cheetah for the millionth time -- and to make things worse, it's the gross and creepy Perez version -- way to go, Greggy), I have to grudgingly admit I've been intrigued by Lazarus, since it's his own thing rather than some clumsy take on a familiar corporate IP. So whenever you get a chance, could you please give me like the gist of what's it's all about?

Lots to look forward to. I've read a number of them and haven't read just as many.

I have read Perez's Wonder Woman. I thought I quite liked it, but I dropped it moments after he stopped pencilling it, which is probably very telling.

I've been reading Lazarus too. Not from the start, so I've a few gaps, but look forward to thoughts on that too.

I read Perez's Wonder Woman when it came out, so it won't be "news" to me, but I do like purchasing memorable runs in Omnibus format, even if they're ones I have read. Omnibuses are just such a great, quality and relatively inexpensive format if you shop carefully. I have fond memory of George's WW, particularly the part of it he drew, which this collects the entirety of. (Chris Marrinan and company were a poor substitute, imo, and I dropped the book fairly quickly.) I loved George's designs for Olympus and the various gods.

As for Lazarus, after the last arc, I decided to switch to trades. It's a good book with a well-realized world, but the pace is Rucka's trademark glacier impression. This will be my first TPB, so we'll see how it goes. I will say, though, that the arc which made up Vol. 3 was easily the strongest yet and made me regret the switch somewhat. The developments and forward momentum of that arc were just what the book needed. (Recall that I am perpetually way behind in my floppy reading, so I made the decision to switch prior to the arc's completion, as I similarly did with Southern Bastards.)

Lazarus is basically set on Earth in the near future. Rucka extrapolates our present day to predict that corporations literally take over the world and split it up into x number of corporate-controlled territories. Each family that controls these territories keeps a tight circle of themselves and a percentage of skilled laborers that is a fraction of the population. All others are "waste" and completely subjugated.

Most families have a Lazarus who represents whatever technology helped establish its dominance and is also their military leader. The book focuses on the Carlyle family whose territory is basically the western half of what was the U.S. Forever Carlyle is their genetically-enhanced Lazarus. Over time, she questions her very identity and her role in the family.

That's a pellet description, but there's a lot more put into it.

I'd say that overall Denny's stories came off fairly juvenile compared to what Conway, Wein and even Wolfman to some degree had done. His main additions to Spidey's rogues were Hydro-Man and Speed Demon (the latter actually a rebranded Whizzer of Squadron Sinister). Both are C-listers, or low B-listers if one is generous. And the King Kong rip-off with Hydro and Sandman combined was just ridiculous. I feel that PPSSM was clearly the better book (even considering some goofy stories and villains like Lightmaster) almost from its outset until Stern moved over to ASM. Even then, it's still a strong book for a long time.

I'll agree that Denny did some good work on Iron Man, but it's hard not to think that his Marvel writing (if not his editing, as you mention) was a failure compared to his overall body of work at DC. And his longtime stewardship editing the Batman books was memorable as well.

Thanks, Lardy, but you don't have to go any further. It's official now, Lazarus gets a hard pass from me.

I swear -- and I've said this on at least a couple other occasions here in the Gy'mll's forum, but no one has replied yet -- Rucka is the most overrated writer of female characters since Chris Claremont's slide into self-parody from the mid-80s on. News flash, Greggy: Not every strong woman is necessarily a violent, surly, pseudo-badass! We come in all different shapes, sizes, personalities, races, creeds, opinions, outlooks, values, politics, philosophies, ways of coping with life...

I'm sure those of you reading this post get the idea. But in the unlikely event that Rucka should read it, I don't think he would.

I think Forever is a lot less that stereotype than what you think. She's definitely formidable but there's a naivete and vulnerability to her that is a big part of her character. She is told that she is the daughter of the head of the Carlyle family, but she is held at arm's length by both him and her supposed siblings. She also has a generally Latino or mixed race look to her while the other Carlyle's are clearly white. Her self-discovery is a big part of the story as she evolves from loyal soldier to potential rebel.

I think if Denny's Iron Man penciler, Luke McDonnell (later of Ostrander Suicide Squad fame), had had a really exceptional inker, the run would be better regarded today. Unfortunately, the inking was really bad until just before McDonnell left with 199, when the solid, reliable team of Ian Akin & Brian Garvery took over the inks, just in time to make incoming IM artist M.D. Bright look even more awesome than usual. But even though the book was finally looking the way it should have all along, Denny seemed to be waiting for his contract to expire on the handful of IM issues he wrote post-200. By then, though, morale at Marvel in general was at rock bottom, thanks to Shooter's micro-management going completely out of control, and alienating a lot of his former supporters...or so I've read.

Agree for the most part on Denny as Bat-Editor. He did, after all, bring in Alan Grant and Chuck Dixon (people can say what they will about the latter, but if only he'd keep his trap shut, his talent would get the respect it deserves), and coax Doug Moench into coming back. And many of the artists Denny put on the Bat-Books were really good.

I think Denny's numerous detractors like to believe that the Bat-Books didn't get any better after their extremely awkward start. Max Collins, whose Dick Tracy run was really good for quite awhile, didn't jell with Batman or Denny for whatever reason, and was quickly gone. Mike W. Barr & Alan Davis did some really nice work for a few issues, but Davis and Denny did not see eye-to-eye, to put it mildly, which is why Davis left abruptly one-fourth of the way into Batman: Year Two. Then the Bat-Books bifurcated for a while, with Grant & Breyfogle turning out awesome stuff month after month on Detective, while Jim Starlin was dragging the flagship Bat-book through the mud, reaching his nadir with the vote-for-Robin's-death storyline. Once Starlin was gone, that, to me, was when the whole Bat-franchise started a steady climb to the top of the DC heap, and although they kinda lost me for a couple years with the series of Bat-Stunts that started with Knightfall, I remember they'd gotten really good again by the mid-90s, which was where I went on a temporary hiatus from comics (7 years to be exact), because by then, the Bat-franchise was the exception rather than the rule. (Although, in hindisight, DC was quite solid from about 1998 to 2002. Ah, well, it was fun catching up via back issues and trades.)

Hmmm...

Point well taken. Unfortunately, there's another hurdle which we both seem to agree on -- Rucka's tendency for "decompressed" pacing long after it stopped being fashionable.

We shall see about Lazarus.

Thanks, Lardy.

It's cool. I'm not really trying to sell it to you but give you a rounded view of what it's about. I'll agree that Rucka misses the mark quite a bit in his work and is generally terribly overrated. If Vol. 3 of Lazarus hadn't finally come with some real forward momentum and some genuine sizzle, I may have just stopped altogether instead of proceeding with my plan to continue with trades. I've been genuinely looking forward to Vol. 4, though, since the last arc really impressed. I'll probably read it sooner than later and let you know what I think.

I never thought you were trying to sell me on it, and I'm sorry if I came across that way. I was genuinely curious, but with very strong reservations, many of which we turned out to agree on.

Looking forward to your review of Volume 4.

The whole brown-girl-in-a-white-world thing is especially intriguing to me. My own formative years, oddly enough, were sort of the reverse -- schoolmates and authority figures and even, more passive-aggressively, some of my father's relatives considered me a dead loss because they viewed me as a half-breed.

Nothing to apologize for, Fick. I think even if I was pushing the book, I'd recommend looking for it at the library.

I think the best thing Rucka ever did that I've read was Gotham Central. Even after Brubaker departed as rotating writer with him, it was a really great book. Now, THAT I'd easily recommend!

OK. Much appreciated, I feel better now.

Any thoughts on my subjective overview of Denny O'Neil's Bat-Editor tenure, or are you saving that for another time?

Thanks. If the library has the trades, I might borrow the first volume.

I think your assessment is pretty good. All of my favorite Batman creative teams (Grant/Breyfogle, Moench/Jones, Dixon/Nolan) thrived under his guidance. I did enjoy the Knights Trilogy, Contagion and some of the other events that he presided over. No Man's Land was a bit too much. Generally, his books were best when left alone to thrive and do their own thing. And I'm assuming he shepherded Tim Drake's rise to fame over his miniseries and ongoing. All of those were just super while Chuck Dixon was scripting.

Thanks for the kind words, Lardy.

And, yes, Tim Drake was totally Denny's baby (OK, technically, he had several other "fathers", including Alan Grant, Neal Adams, Chuck Dixon, Marv Wolfman...but Denny's the one who made it happen.)

That's an impressive line-up of creative teams, right there...

Random thoughts!

Spidey:
- love that you’re now into the Stern Era of Spidey, Lardy! My last reread was circa 2006 and even then, which was like my 20th reread of it, I was blown away by how good Stern was.

- Totally agree that Mantlo was one of the great Spidey writers too. He had such a solid hold on how to make a good Spider-Man story: good plots, great handle on the characters, great handle on Peter, great usage of various villains.

- Totally agree that Denny O’Neil is the first writer to real kind of fall flat on Spidey (if you don’t count MTU, which I don’t). After nearly 20 years of consistently great writing, O’Neil’s stories are like having your legs fall out from under you after you’ve been running for miles. I love Denny too—for his DC work in the 60’s onwards and especially for his guiding editorial hand of the Bat titles during what I consider one of the greatest eras ever for Batman. But his Marvel work always kind of felt flat, especially on Spidey. I will say, though, that I always liked the story featuring Fusion (the two little people twins)—but I think O’Neil only really scripted that, since Shooter or Gruenweld or someone else basically plotted it out.

- Would love to hear any random thoughts you have on anything Spidey-related in the Spider-Man Thread. For instance, what did you think of “The Beetle and the Badge” in the PPTSS teens? Did you love the Carrion Saga like I did?

Lazarus
- I also switched to trades after the third arc on Lazarus. That glacier pace was too much for me to bare. I’ll be curious to your thoughts on V.4. The problem for trades with me is that it could end up taking me actual years before I get around to buying something.

- In general feel that Rucka can be really over-rated sometimes and perhaps buys into his own press. That being said, his current Wonder Woman is the first thing he’s done in awhile that I’ve really loved.

- But the best thing Rucka has ever been a part of is definitely Gotham Central. A much missed, beloved series.

Just to be clear, I'd previously read most of his ASM run before as a kid and portions of his PPSSM run. But there have always been gaps in my overall Spider-man reading, that I've only recently filled by obtain reprints of the entire run over the last couple of years. Once I've read/re-read Stern and the post-Stern issues of PPSSM in Essential Vol. 3, I'll be all caught up to where I jumped in as a kid!



Yep! Even though, like Conway, he created and used some cheesy villains like Lightmaster and the Iguana, there was still a lot to enjoy. I'd put him in a second tier of Spidey scribes below my faves, but he was very solid overall.



It was quite a slog for me, and the Fusion story was no exception, sorry to say. Oddly though, the annual he did with Frank Miller featuring the Punisher and Doc Ock was actually quite good. It helped that he wasn't writing for an apparent overly juvenile audience in that one.



The Carrion Saga was not new to me, as I first read it back in the '80s in a special reprint series. As then, it's very good and works about as well as a Clone saga sequel as if Conway wrote it. It's weird to read it and think of how it was retconned that no one was actually a clone and then, I guess, re-retconned that they were! Head...hurts...

The Beetle story you mentioned was rather mature for a Spidey tale of its era in that it was so frank about what being a hero cop might mean to a marriage. Not bad!



Like I said, I'll read that one sooner than later and let you know!

Two Gotham Central recommendations in a row. Hmmm...

Re: Wonder Woman, it appears that neither of you are bothered by the were-cat Cheetah like I am. But isn't she a bit too obvious, too predicatble a villain for the opening arc? Or is that just me, too?

Re: Lazarus, it occurred to me as I was formulating this reply in my head that Rucka may be using this book as a vehicle for his (unconscious?) deconstruction of outdated anti-heroine tropes (some of which Rucka arguably created himself, especially that hot mess he made during his Checkmate run about Beatriz's past as a spy for the Brazilian government. I mean, for chrissakes, that was originally a throwaway bit from a lame Secret Origins story published in, what, 1989?? And to dredge it up years later and use it as an excuse to give us a grim-and-gritty Bea? Effin' DiDio Era stupidity at its worst!!)

Hey! Don't know where you're gettin' "neither of you", but I haven't read a lick of Rucka's rebirth WW run!

Oops! Sorry, Lardy, I'm just addled ATM. I think I've been on the computer for over four consecutive hours! And now I remember why I usually don't do that anymore. Time for a break. But I'll definitely be back in a couple hours.

The Cheetah doesn't bother me. I like the relationship Rucka is showing between her and Diana, and their backstory as former friends / colleagues in Diana's early years.

Honestly, I can't remember the last time I've seen the Cheetah. Has she been over-used in recent years?

Yeah. Heinberg and Simone both used the Cheetah really badly. Simone's use of her jumped the shark at what should have been the key moment for Diana and her:

Diana, so appalled by Cheetah's deviltry that she can no longer contain herself, asks, "Why do you do these horrible things?" And Cheetah replies, "I like to play with my food." Cut to the next, unrelated scene.

Groan.

And people wonder why I'm a Simone detractor?

I think I will be taking an eBay break after I spend my eBay bucks certificate. As Pov pointed out on FB with a meme, I need to read deeper into the Pile itself which has grown at a MUCH larger rate than what I have time to read.

If something new comes out I've got to have, I might do an IST order but otherwise, I'm planning on taking a 3-month TPB break at least.

It's VERY addicting! My finances aren't hurting, but there are still better things I could be doing with my money rather than buying 300% more (conservative estimate) than I'm reading!

So with that in mind, I wonder which of these TPBs I should use my certificate on:

Vision Vol. 1
Superman: Lois & Clark
Doctor Strange: Into the Dark Dimension
Amazing Spider-Man: Worldwide Vol. 2

Decisions, decisions....

Is that the new vision? I'm hearing so many good things about it here, I'm thinking of giving a look the next time I'm in the shop.

OH NO!! I didn't mean to pick on you, PALardy!! I share your illness!! I may not buy trades as prodigiously as you, but I have a fair share I need to keep on top of before my next IST spree--TWD HC#13, the HUGE Grant Morrison New X-Men Omnibus, Four Eyes vol. 2 (which requires a reread of the first volume, as it's been so long since it first came out), the UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL BEATS UP the MARVEL UNIVERSE OGN... AND our library visits at the beginning of every month, from which I inevitably walk away with a new book they've picked out for me to try; Last month was the charming and quirky novel, LILY and the OCTOPUS , and this past Friday I left our Coffee Hour with the history-based FEVER of 1792... So many books and trades, so little time.

Tsundoku is a beautiful word for our predicament... Happy reading!

Nah, it's something I think about every day when I look at the monstrosity (beautiful, though it is) that is the Pile! It's just time to follow thru...

Competing with the backup success of Hillman's 1942 The Heap, National brought out the first of their muck monster mags. It was The Piles and it was immediately banned by the comics code.

LOL

Did an ancestor of Alan Grant write it?

(For the non-AG-minutiae-obsessed: AG teamed up with Simon Bisley to create a comic titled "Shit the Dog.")

You really ought to be seeing a doctor if you're excreting wildlife. Or a shrink, if you were involved in its location in the first place.

LOL

A shrink can't do SQUAT for the animal-poopers.

So I went with Vision Vol. 1 which I got a best offer of $10 and free shipping on! After applying my eBay Bucks certificate, I paid just over $4 for it!

So that's it--the Pile shall not grow anymore between now and January, unless I allow myself one IST order around Christmas!

Pile UPDATE (12/04/16)

Currently Reading

Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 3
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 1 (Re-read project w/Fick)

Recently Read

Essential Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 3
Southern Bastards Vol. 3
Star Wars: Rebel Jail
Lazarus Vol. 4
Vision Vol. 1: Little Worse Than Man

To-Read Pile

Mage Vol. 2: The Hero Defined
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vol. 2
Goldfish
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 2
Scout Vol. 2
Frank Miller's Ronin Deluxe Edition
Marvel Masterworks: Silver Surfer Vol. 1
Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton & Romita, Jr. Omnibus
Murder Me Dead (David Lapham)
Stray Bullets Uber Alles Edition
Grimjack Omnibus Vol. 2
Jon Sable: Freelance Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Secret Six Vol. 1: Villains United
Underwater Welder
Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange Vol. 6
Flex Mentallo
Nemo: Heart of Ice, Roses of Berlin & River of Ghosts
Orion by Walt Simonson Omnibus
Shaman's Tears (Mike Grell)
Howard the Duck Omnibus
Just the Tips (a Sex Criminals companion by Fraction/Zdarsky)
Thor Omnibus Vol. 2
Marada the She-Wolf
Bandette Vol. 2
Swamp Thing (Brian K. Vaughn) Vols. 1 & 2
Pride of Baghdad
Camelot 3000 Deluxe edition
Guardians of Galaxy Vol. 1 (Bendis)
Moon Knight Epic Collection Vols. 1 & 2
Star Wars: Legacy (Ostrander) Vols. 2-5
Star Wars: Tag & Bink Were Here
The Private Eye (Vaughn)
Descender Vol. 1
Deadpool Classics Vols. 1, 2 & 3
Crossover Classics Marvel/DC Vol. 1
Paying for It by Chester Brown
Princess Leia TPB
Secret History Omnibus Vols. 2 & 3
Showcase Presents Warlord Vol. 1
World War Hulk
Star Slammers Complete Collection
Crisis on Infinite Earths Deluxe Edition
Thanos: Infinity Revelation
The Wizard's Tale
Superman: Secret Identity
Twilight Children
Marvel Masterworks Captain America Vol. 8
New Teen Titans Vol. 4
Thor: The Mighty Avenger Complete Collection
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vol. 5
Wonder Woman: Earth One
Doom Patrol/Grant Morrison Omnibus
X-Statix Omnibus
Ultimate Spider-Man: Chameleons
Doctor Strange/Jason Aaron Vol. 1
World War Hulk: Incredible Hercules
Batman by Moench & Jones Vol. 1
John Carter Warlord of Mars Marvel Omnibus
Death & Return of Superman Omnibus
All-Star Section Eight
Batgirl Vols. 1-3 (Stewart/Fletcher/Tarr)
Rachel Rising Vols. 1 & 2
iZombie Omnibus
Tales of the Batman: Alan Brennert
Wonder Woman by Perez Omnibus (finally!)
Incredible Hulk: Heart of the Atom
Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall
Fables: Werewolves of Heartland
Omega Men: End Is Here

I've kept my word--no new trades since last time with the lone exception of that Vision trade bought with my eBay Bucks. The Pile probably would have shrunk more over the last two months, but I read a few months' worth of my backlog of floppies for a couple of weeks or so. Lots of goodness there, confirming that I made some good choices as to what titles to keep and which to either drop or convert to TPBs.

Other than the Essential book to complete my Spidey project, I decided to read 4 contemporary books that my enjoyment or lack thereof would determine whether I would continue with subsequent volumes--Vision, Star Wars, Lazarus & Southern Bastards. When I find some time, I will share some snapshot thoughts of each with you all.

I popped into the library the other day. I've not been in there in a few years and my card gets wiped for data protection reasons if I leave it. But they had a comics section!

So, I trotted back with the tail end of Swamp Thing, Superman, The Geoff Johns Legion, a couple of British things from 200AD, and a Bernie Wrightson collection!

I also got one of those...what do you call them... smaller than a normal comic or GN...like a comic digest, but without pictures...book! that's it. I picked up a book too.

There's not a huge selection. But you can request things in from further afield. Or Things. if it's another Benrie Wrightson presumably. They've had sales in the past, where I've picked up cheap history books. Just think if there had been GNs when they were doing that... >sigh<

Working my way through the Grant Morrison NEW X-MEN Omnibus.

On their way:
DOCTOR STRANGE- Way of the Weird
I HATE FAIRYLAND v.2- Fluff My Life
VISION- Little Worse Than A Man

Really interested on your thoughts on your latest reads! Lazarus and Southern Bastards are two series I switched to trades on as well, which has subsequently meant I've basically forgotten they exist. Your thoughts may sway me in one direction or the other.

(Spoiler: it'll take a lot to get me to reinvest my time in either).

Ask and ye shall receive!


Lazarus Vol. 4: Poison was a really welcome surprise. The last arc, Conclave, saved the series from being totally dropped after I'd already decided to stop getting individual issues. That arc caused me to keep going with the series via trades instead of dropping. But at the same time, I was fearful that the forward momentum the series had suddenly gained would be traded back off for the glacial pacing and wheel-spinning that had characterized the series prior to Conclave.

But, again, I was pleasantly surprised. Poison featured an exciting "A" plot featuring Forever leading a small strike team to take a strategic outpost that could shift the power balance with the rival Hock family. As a result of Conclave, Forever's Carlysle family was now at war with Hock. So it was nice to see things escalating instead of just having things simmer in the background. This was a pretty tense, high-stakes mission and exemplified the forward momentum I wanted to see. If there's a small caveat with the "A" plot, it comes in the form of Forever coming off at times as some unstoppable force. I mean, she's kind of supposed to be one, but with just her small strike force supporting her, it seemed they ahould have faced even more adversity. But it was still an exciting mission, and we get to see a rather startling example of how far Forever's recuperative powers go.

The "B" plots, I feel, are what really make Poison sizzle. The interior politics of the Carlysle family as they deal with the power vacuum caused by their head being in a coma are actually very interesting, especially within the context of war and fragile alliances with other families crumbling. To Rucka's credit, a lot of the slow buildup in those first dozen issues does really start to pay off in a satisfying way. And then, at the very end, there's what I think is a jaw-dropping reveal that makes perfect sense in the context of what we've seen of this world's genetic advances that also puts some scenes from earlier in the series in a different context. It really adds a new layer to the mysteries surrounding Forever.

All in all, this trade did what I needed it to do for me to continue and did so in a way that really increased my enthusiasm for the book. Michael Lark remains on art and is the rock-solid foundation that makes Greg Rucka's story work. Really looking forward to the eventual Volume 5 with raised expectations and enthusiasm.

Southern Bastards Vol. 3: Homecoming started to remind me a little of writer jason Aaron's, imo, best and career-defining work to this point, Scalped, which he did at Vertigo. (I think Scalped is one of the best long-form comics stories I've ever read, btw, so that's a good thing.) What he did here in this Southern Bastards arc is to not necessarily tell all that similar a story to what he did on Scalped, but he used a technique he'd used a couple of times in that book--each issue focused on a different character and told a self-contained story with each that still feeds on the overall plot and are all set generally before, after and during the big homecoming football game.

If you are not at all familiar with Southern Bastards, it centers around a small Alabama town whose main claim to fame is their dominant high school football team. Their coach, Coach Boss, is a ruthless S.O.B. who is also involved with organized crime and rules the town with an iron fist. In this way, I suppose, SB does have some superficial similarities with Scalped and its Chief Red Crow and how both use their settings to deeply explore their respective cultural contexts. But its the settings and nuances and unique character evolution that really differentiate one book from the other.

So this 6 issue arc spotlights six separate characters around the homecoming week. It's a mixture of major, supporting and previously unseen characters. It's unclear whether the new characters will continue to play a role or if they are just there to give flavor. One of the stories even features artist Jason Latour (who is a writer himself, having written comics like Spider-Gwen) writng the most bizarre tale of the bunch over guest-artist Chris Brunner.

Overall, it's a good volume which highlights Aaron's affinity for strong character-centric writing. If there's a weakness, it's that forward momentum is sacrificed a bit. There's a character and potential confrontation that's been teased since the end of the first arc. We finally get to spend some time with that character in the volume's final story, but we still have to wait for him or her to meet Boss and the rest in (likely) the next volume. This is also similar to how Scalped's first arc ended with a murder which was not dealt with head-on for several arcs later. That worked out well for Scalped, so I trust that it will for SB as well.

Unlike some of Greg Rucka's work, Aaron is a pro at not only building up and layering his story in an entertaining way but also delivering some real pay-off down the road that makes you glad he told the story the way he did. That's definitely the feel I'm getting from Southern Bastards that compares favorably to the well-admired Scalped.

But what I really like about Bastards is that it's a parable of the American South that feels both genuine and larger-than-life at the same time. I grew up in and still live in the South and can see a lot of truth in the story being told her by two native southerners. It's not pretty and doesn't pull any punches, but it also doesn't feel overly biased for or against its subject matter. When all is said and done, this could turn out to be an important series for those familiar or unfamiliar with the American South and its culture.

And, btw, Cobie--did you ever read the complete first arc of Southern Bastards? I remember getting the impression that maybe you hadn't read issue 4, which concluded that arc. I wasn't really feeling the book until that issue, which made it clear that the series really wasn't about who and what it seemed to be about. It had a major twist and teased another character who I mentioned vaguely in the above review. Then, the second arc, centering around Coach Boss's history, absolutely grabbed me by the balls and showed me how great this book could actually be!

Anyhow, just curious. It may well turn out to be one of those few books you and I don't see eye to eye about, but I'm curious about how much you read. I'm not sure if the subject matter could make it harder for some to get into than others, even those who might normally be more open to grittier and more polarizing books.

You know, I can't remember if I made it to #4--I ended right around that time, so it was either #3 or #4. I just wasn't enjoying it in the monthly format, but I've always wondered if trade-waiting was the way to go. If you'll recall, the way I read Scalped originally was the first 4 trades, then a long break, then I read the whole thing in one sitting. And that was a hugely rewarding experience. So I wouldn't mind doing the whole thing here.

I think you've convinced me in the long term to get back into Southern Bastards, but I'll wait a bit longer until there's more to read at once.

Cool! Did you read my Lazarus review above? Think you'll check that out, too?

That one I'm less sure on. The big difference between SB and Lazarus is Aaron versus Rucka, and the fact that Laz was just such a slow burn. On the one hand, I'm loving Rucka on Wonder Woman right now, and its probably my single favorite work of his since Gotham Central back in the day. But on the other hand, I keep thinking about how he can be such a joyless complainer, "we're all doomed" ultra liberal type, and I just can't stomach those people right now. His backmatter was sometimes so doom and gloom that it's still etched in my memory.

All that being said, everything is a different story once a series concludes. If you're still feeling very positive about the series 4 trades from now, and I get a chance to really dig in and read a whole slew of trades at once, that might be a really enjoyable way to spend some time and money.

So...er...I don't know? I'll say your comments certainly give me hope that I'll one day come back to it.

Here's another recommendation for Lazarus v.4. It did pick up the pace. I enjoyed the previous volume Conclave, but it was still kinda slow - remember it as dark conspiracies in back rooms, with bursts of action. Volume 4 opens with "Mercy", which is more like one of those Cold War stories with the spy trying to get out of East Berlin: lots of suspense and action. The "Poison" arc is live battle, a small group behind enemy lines, very tense - and in the background, the conspiracies and backstabbing continue at the Carlyle compound. All in all, a more complex and varied volume than the previous ones.

I only read it in trades. I think the publication schedule has been a bit spotty for individual issues and the flow of the story is much clearer when reading in larger chunks.

I'm another one who's going to be catching up with Lazarus in trades. I just fell away from the single issues. Not that they weren't good, just that I think the pacing lent itself much more to a better read when collected.

Lots of trade readers for Lazarus! Will I become one? Only time will tell!

Having lived in the Nexus of All Realities for 25 out of my 26 years of living in the U.S., its proximity to the South has always given me an outsider-looking-in view of Southern culture (I feel, as my hero Tim Truman does about his native West Virginia, that South Florida is both of the American South and not quite of the American South.) And I already like Aaron's writing, particularly his honesty and even-handedness, so "Southern Bastards" sounds right up my alley.

Thanks, Lardy.

(Will get to "Scalped" someday, I promise. Problem is, my usually reliable library system only has two or three of the trades. So I guess that now that I'm gainfully employed once again, I'll make a priority of saving up for the "Scalped" trades.)



I hear ya, Cobie. It's like I said in my Forsaken Fangirls thread (right around the same times as you made that post -- great minds and all that), extremism is one of the worst blights on human societies, whether it comes from the left or the right. Cheers.

Fick & Cobie--I just wanted to report in real quick here to let y'all know that I'm currently reading Thor Omnibus Vol. 2 and enjoying the HELL out of it!!! You will recall that I walked away from FF Masterworks Vol. 5 highly disillusioned with Kirby, but I'm beyond pleased that the contents of these Thor stories you both recommended have really redeemed his greatness in my eyes to this point! THANKS!!!

Awesome to hear that, Lardy!! You're very welcome. Yeah, Thor in its mid-late 60s prime may well be the crown jewel of Silver Age Marvel.

Meanwhile, long as you're in a Kirby state of mind, you (and Cobie) are invited to check out my current Retroboot Legion story-arc, which is almost as much a New Gods story as it is a Legion story:

http://www.legionworld.net/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=920282#Post920282

For the holiday, I picked up a bunch of stuff.

Paying For It: A comic-strip memoir about being a john
Justice League Darkseid War Part 2
Green Arrow: Death and Life of Oliver Queen vol. 1
Dr. Fate: The Blood Price Vol. 1

And these for $5 each:
El Diablo (The Haunted Horseman)
52 Vol. 4
Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape
Checkmate: Chimera
Authority: Prime

That's the one that blends Tom Tresser Nemesis with Kirby OMAC stuff. I remember it being an interesting concept, but being very disjointed.

I've had this in my Pile for some time. I saw an interesting review and eventually got a good deal on eBay. Not sure when I'll get to it. If you read it soon, please share a few words!

Pile UPDATE (1/19/17)

Currently Reading

Thor Omnibus Vol. 2
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 1 (Re-read project w/Fick) technically on hiatus with the re-read project--may finish it off soon anyway

Recently Read

Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 3
Underwater Welder
Marada the She-Wolf
Deadpool Classics Vol. 1
New Teen Titans Vol. 4
Doctor Strange (Jason Aaron/Chris Bachalo) Vol. 1
Batgirl Vol. 1 (Stewart/Fletcher/Tarr)

To-Read Pile

Mage Vol. 2: The Hero Defined
West Coast Avengers Omnibus Vol. 2
Goldfish
Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 2
Scout Vol. 2
Frank Miller's Ronin Deluxe Edition
Marvel Masterworks: Silver Surfer Vol. 1
Iron Man by Michelinie, Layton & Romita, Jr. Omnibus
Murder Me Dead (David Lapham)
Stray Bullets Uber Alles Edition
Grimjack Omnibus Vol. 2
Jon Sable: Freelance Omnibus Vols. 1 & 2
Secret Six Vol. 1: Villains United
Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange Vol. 6
Flex Mentallo
Nemo: Heart of Ice, Roses of Berlin & River of Ghosts
Orion by Walt Simonson Omnibus
Shaman's Tears (Mike Grell)
Howard the Duck Omnibus
Just the Tips (a Sex Criminals companion by Fraction/Zdarsky)
Bandette Vol. 2
Swamp Thing (Brian K. Vaughn) Vols. 1 & 2
Pride of Baghdad
Camelot 3000 Deluxe edition
Guardians of Galaxy Vol. 1 (Bendis)
Moon Knight Epic Collection Vols. 1 & 2
Star Wars: Legacy (Ostrander) Vols. 2-5
Star Wars: Tag & Bink Were Here
The Private Eye (Vaughn)
Descender Vol. 1
Deadpool Classics Vols. 2 & 3
Crossover Classics Marvel/DC Vol. 1
Paying for It by Chester Brown
Princess Leia TPB
Secret History Omnibus Vols. 2 & 3
Showcase Presents Warlord Vol. 1
World War Hulk
Star Slammers Complete Collection
Crisis on Infinite Earths Deluxe Edition
Thanos: Infinity Revelation
The Wizard's Tale
Superman: Secret Identity
Twilight Children
Marvel Masterworks Captain America Vol. 8
Thor: The Mighty Avenger Complete Collection
Marvel Masterworks: The Defenders Vol. 5
Wonder Woman: Earth One
Doom Patrol/Grant Morrison Omnibus
X-Statix Omnibus
Ultimate Spider-Man: Chameleons
World War Hulk: Incredible Hercules
Batman by Moench & Jones Vol. 1
John Carter Warlord of Mars Marvel Omnibus
Death & Return of Superman Omnibus
All-Star Section Eight
Batgirl Vols. 2-3 (Stewart/Fletcher/Tarr)
Rachel Rising Vols. 1 & 2
iZombie Omnibus
Tales of the Batman: Alan Brennert
Wonder Woman by Perez Omnibus
Incredible Hulk: Heart of the Atom
Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall
Fables: Werewolves of Heartland
Omega Men: End Is Here

New Stuff from In-Stock Trades (Christmas Present to self!)

Superman: Lois & Clark TPB (Road to Rebirth)
Vision Vol. 2
The Fix Vol. 1
Power Man & Iron Fist: Boys are Back in Town
Amazing Spider-Man Worldwide Vol. 2
New Teen Titans Vol. 5
Superman Rebirth Vol. 1
Green Arrow Rebirth Vol. 1
Darth Vader Vol. 3
100 Bullets: Hang Up on the Hang Low
100 Bullets Book 2
Point Blank (Prelude to Sleeper)

Lardy, I have no objections to your finishing that volume before we resume the Byrne FF re-read. I do feel really bad that we didn't reach the end of the Trial of Galactus arc like we'd originally planned. If things hadn't gotten so nucking futs in my life towards the end of last year, I think we'd probably have gotten through it by the first week of January. But I do fully intend to resume the re-read sometime in February (if all goes according to my current schedule, I should be finished writing the 2nd Legion Retroboot story-arc for Bits by the 2nd week in February.) Just let me know whatever's best for you.

Correct. Very disjointed
I'm not even sure it ended

Love hearing this! I've always personally preferred Kirby's Thor run myself, which I consider his best Marvel Age stuff. With Thor, the series mostly gets better and better throughout the Silver Age (save for the very end), especially once Kirby starts picking up steam with the Asgard related drama.

Plus, though he gets a bad rep (and maybe in some he cases he deserves it), I've always loved the way Colleta's inks softened Kirby's pencils and made things moodier.

I finished the Omnibus yesterday. I'd say it was really awesome especially thru the Troll War arc. After that, it's still good but not as awesome thru 152 when the book ends. In a way, thru a large part of the book, it is fickle Odin who is Thor's main antagonist. I mean, has there ever been a more controlling dad in all of comics? He de-powers and exiles Thor on Earth, like, twice in this short run because he simply doesn't want Thor to live his own life and make his own choices! Odin effectively ends Thor's relationship with Jane Foster! (For Thor's part, it's not a good look for him that he immediately becomes smitten with Sif!)

The grandeur and scale of the series really suits King Kirby like no other Marvel book I've seen feature his work. A lot of it is simply jaw-dropping, and I can see where Walt Simonson drew much inspiration. I lamented, though, the end of Tales of Asgard, as it featured some of the best moments of the book. I especially enjoyed Harokin's final ride.

I'll definitely be buying the next Omnibus whenever it is published. (I'm thinking maybe around the release of Thor: Ragnarok?) I'm curious about what some of the series highlights are in the Lee/Kirby run after 152. Also, unfortunately, Omnibus 1 is out of print, so I have to hope it gets a new printing. Or I will have to seek another reprint format.

Good stuff that really scratched an itch I didn't realize I had!