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Danno
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Re: The Comic Book thread

#21 Post by Danno »

I collected Spiderman, Batman, Ironman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle comics when I was a teenager in the 1990s.
I really liked the Todd McFarlane Spiderman- his drawings are so dynamic.

I have a complete, authentic Indiana Jones costume all made by the same sources as the original costume and collect Star Wars prop replicas every now and then but it's a hobby I don't have much time for and I'd never go to a convention or the like. Most fans of these things scare me.
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Re: The Comic Book thread

#22 Post by Styles Bitchley »

Danno wrote:I collected Spiderman, Batman, Ironman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle comics when I was a teenager in the 1990s.
I really liked the Todd McFarlane Spiderman- his drawings are so dynamic.

I have a complete, authentic Indiana Jones costume all made by the same sources as the original costume and collect Star Wars prop replicas every now and then but it's a hobby I don't have much time for and I'd never go to a convention or the like. Most fans of these things scare me.
Sounds familiar, Danno. I think you and I would get along well!
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Re: The Comic Book thread

#23 Post by Little Garwood »

You never know who you'll run into in the comic pages:

Image

From X-Men Annual #7 (1983)

It's The Impossible Man-as-Tom-Selleck-as-Thomas-Magnum. The entire issue is a bit of madness. I'm reading it and a bunch of other great comics, in the aforementioned Uncanny X-Men Marvel Masterworks Vol. 9
"Popularity is the pocket change of history."

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Re: The Comic Book thread

#24 Post by Styles Bitchley »

Little Garwood wrote:You never know who you'll run into in the comic pages:

Image

From X-Men Annual #7 (1983)

It's The Impossible Man-as-Tom-Selleck-as-Thomas-Magnum. The entire issue is a bit of madness. I'm reading it and a bunch of other great comics, in the aforementioned Uncanny X-Men Marvel Masterworks Vol. 9
Funny stuff!
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Re: The Comic Book thread

#25 Post by ConchRepublican »

Little Garwood wrote:You never know who you'll run into in the comic pages:

Image

From X-Men Annual #7 (1983)

It's The Impossible Man-as-Tom-Selleck-as-Thomas-Magnum. The entire issue is a bit of madness. I'm reading it and a bunch of other great comics, in the aforementioned Uncanny X-Men Marvel Masterworks Vol. 9
I remember that issue!

There was an early New Mutants issue where they were watching MPI as well.

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Re: The Comic Book thread

#26 Post by Little Garwood »

I guess X-Men scribe Chris Claremont was a big Magnum, P.I. fan!
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Re: The Comic Book thread

#27 Post by ConchRepublican »

Another Magnum comics reference, this time with the Distinguished Competiton.

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Re: The Comic Book thread

#28 Post by Styles Bitchley »

ConchRepublican wrote:Another Magnum comics reference, this time with the Distinguished Competiton.
Nice catch, Peter. Never heard of that comic before.
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Re: The Comic Book thread

#29 Post by ConchRepublican »

Styles Bitchley wrote:
ConchRepublican wrote:Another Magnum comics reference, this time with the Distinguished Competiton.
Nice catch, Peter. Never heard of that comic before.
Yeah, this was one of those re-imaginings of a previous character, Johnny Thunder who was bonded to the mystical Thunderbolt, a genie type creature. This took place on Earth-2 a little prior to the Crisis but didn't really take.

The Crisis really ruined DC for me, I liked their Earth-2 characters and they were significantly altered by the event.
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Re: The Comic Book thread

#30 Post by Little Garwood »

I'm attending my first(!) comic convention this Sunday, Florida SuperCon. Some of my old comic book creator heroes will be there and I hope to hold back my fanboy enthusiasm lest I lose my last remaining shreds of dignity ("Conduct yourself like Selleck, Conduct yourself like Selleck").

Here's some recent reading:

Captain America- War & Remembrance

Reprints the brief-but-brilliant Stern-Byrne run of 1980 (issues #247-255)

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The Avengers- Absolute Vision, Book I

Image

After some decidedly rough going since the troubled issue #200, Earth's Mightiest Heroes were in a moribund state, creatively speaking. Yes, there were some decent moments but overall the book from #200-226 was not usually good readin'...

Roger Stern

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..until "Uncle" Roger Stern took the writing helm and moved the Assembled out of the ditch and onto the highway again. While the art by Al Milgrom and Joe Sinnott was merely serviceable (though some later quality art from John Buscema and Tom Palmer was superb), it does have its Silver Age charm. However, it's the stories that make this run worth checking out.

Image
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Re: The Comic Book thread

#31 Post by ConchRepublican »

Roger Stern was an excellent writer. He had some great Avengers runs.

I unfortunately never read his Captain American stints, there's a lot I need to catch up on. Thank God the industry has been in the crapper the last decade or so, I can catch up with collections of things I missed earlier on. :-P
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Re: The Comic Book thread

#32 Post by Little Garwood »

You could probably finish reading the Stern Cap in one sitting, since it was such a brief run. Great stuff.

Okay, long-winded post coming up...

I've never(!) been to a comic convention but when I saw that I had the chance to meet artist Mike Zeck yesterday at Florida SuperCon, I bought tickets immediately for me and the Mrs.

Zeck comes across as a quiet, soft-spoken guy, and, I kid you not when I say that he flashed a smile and his eyes lit up when I asked him to sign my copy of Master of Kung Fu #82. He said "It's nice to see one of these again." He talked about artist Gene Day and recalled his MoKF inker fondly, talking about how both he and Day loved martial arts stuff and so they had that in common when they began working together. Zeck even wryly commented that Gene would do any and all work asked of him just so long as he had plenty of cigarettes, coffee, and doughnuts to fuel him, all of which Zeck pointed out, contributed to Day's early death.

I also said, without a hint of hyperbole, that he, Zeck, was the "savior" of Master of Kung Fu, as it had been on perilous artistic ground since Gulacy's departure. Zeck laughed and said, "Yeah, because the guys they had on it couldn't turn the work in on time."

Image

Also met former Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter--really nice and charming(!) guy, quite different from all the negative things I've read about the man concerning his years at Marvel and how he "chased off" the talent. I also met Jim Shooter on Sunday, who signed anything and everything anyone put in front of him! One pot-bellied, long-haired-but balding type had no less than fifty books that Shooter signed without question, even if the majority of said books only involved Shooter by virtue of his being E-in-C at the time. Shooter was telling stories the whole time and having a good time with the small crowd that had gathered around his table.

When it got to my turn and the one Avengers comic (#214) I brought for signing, I told Shooter that he, by virtue of being Marvel's EiC, was an architect of my childhood. He smiled and you could tell he was touched by the compliment. Shooter replies to remarks by telling anecdotes about his time in Marvel and how Stan Lee's work made him feel and how inspirational it was. I then told Shooter that the very comic he was signing made an impression on me, which is when Ghost Rider "smoked" Iron Man and Iron man was stunned and panicked by what had happened to him. Shooter laughed, said "Ha! I'm glad I made an impression!" Obviously pleased to know that something he wrote made an impression on a reader.

What a thrill. :)

On a negative note, I was turned off by the CGC vultures and guys like the fifty-books-to-be-signed guy and another greed merchant who was a neurotic mess; worrying about where and what he wanted signed. Those types aren't true fans but rather speculative creeps who are the major reason the comic industry is in the shape its in and why artists have to charge for their autographs (though small fees they are; except "Man of the People" Neal Adams who charged $30.00 a signature, whereas "Evil Ruiner of All Comics" Jim Shooter didn't charge anything for autographs or photos.
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Re: The Comic Book thread

#33 Post by ConchRepublican »

Very cool!

Zeck sounds like a cool guy. He's an under-rated workhorse from that time. Not a Byrne or Perez type (IMHO) but solid. I was a big fan of Master of Kung Fu as well. If only a licensing agreement could be reached with the Rohmer estate so they could be collected. It was a really good run.

I went to my first and only comic book convention around 1982, before it had the cool "Comic-Con" name. It was in the lobby of the Hilton I think in Grand Central Station in New York. I was about 15 (a young 15 at that), and had a chance to talk to Bob Layton for a minute. I was disappointed he left his run on Iron Man, one of my fave titles at the time. The art really dropped off when he left, and I wanted to get an idea why decided to go. I didn't get the whole business side of things at the time, but he came across as an arrogant jerk with a laughed off response. Something like "What, I was supposed to do it forever?" or something like that.

I agree about what has happened to the industry. I have very few collector quality issues because . . . I READ THEM! People would freak out, buy two, one to read, one to save, get all the foil stamped hologram variation covers . . . it got crazy.

Avengers, Invaders, the Satellite JLA, All-Star Squadron, Iron Man, X-Men, Teen Titans . . . some great runs.
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Re: The Comic Book thread

#34 Post by Little Garwood »

ConchRepublican wrote:Very cool!

Zeck sounds like a cool guy. He's an under-rated workhorse from that time. Not a Byrne or Perez type (IMHO) but solid. I was a big fan of Master of Kung Fu as well. If only a licensing agreement could be reached with the Rohmer estate so they could be collected. It was a really good run.
Zeck had lots of Punisher fans come by, but I was the only one I saw with anything MoKF related; it's quite early in his career. Zeck's lighting up like he did was the highlight of my convention day (the other was talking with Jim Shooter). It was a HUGE thrill getting to chat with him. I myself consider Mike Zeck the definitive Captain America artist--and not just because his run (done with writer J.M. DeMatteis) was during my comics-reading peak. Zeck does the raw, kinetic energy and motion kind of thing so well but the man himself is as soft spoken as they get. His work also conveys total over-the-top insanity brilliantly.
ConchRepublican wrote:I went to my first and only comic book convention around 1982, before it had the cool "Comic-Con" name. It was in the lobby of the Hilton I think in Grand Central Station in New York. I was about 15 (a young 15 at that), and had a chance to talk to Bob Layton for a minute. I was disappointed he left his run on Iron Man, one of my fave titles at the time. The art really dropped off when he left, and I wanted to get an idea why decided to go. I didn't get the whole business side of things at the time, but he came across as an arrogant jerk with a laughed off response. Something like "What, I was supposed to do it forever?" or something like that.
Sorry you had a less-than-stellar experience with Bob Layton. I'm a huge fan of Layton's (first) run on Iron Man and the run in general has imo never been topped. Layton was the glue that kept it all together. Wait, let me just say it again: I friggin' LOVE that run on Iron Man.

Speaking of post-Layton (first run, anyway) Iron Man, I recently picked up the Marvel Epic Collection The Enemy Within, which consists of Shell Head's adventures in Iron Man #158-177. Like you said, the art did drop off, but I'm a long-time fan of Denny O'Neil's, so for that reason alone it was worth picking up.

John Romita Jr. was at the con too but split before I could get him to sign the one book I brought along. He still has "Rock Star" status and looks not much older than he did thirty years ago! He must be living right. :wink: His line had a large amount of greedy (and greasy) fans with crap they wanted him to sign. He's not a huge favorite of mine but on Iron Man when accompanied by Layton's inks, JRJR was superb.
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Re: The Comic Book thread

#35 Post by ConchRepublican »

Little Garwood wrote:Zeck had lots of Punisher fans come by, but I was the only one I saw with anything MoKF related; it's quite early in his career. Zeck's lighting up like he did was the highlight of my convention day (the other was talking with Jim Shooter). It was a HUGE thrill getting to chat with him. I myself consider Mike Zeck the definitive Captain America artist--and not just because his run (done with writer J.M. DeMatteis) was during my comics-reading peak. Zeck does the raw, kinetic energy and motion kind of thing so well but the man himself is as soft spoken as they get. His work also conveys total over-the-top insanity brilliantly.
I think my one knock against Zeck were his faces, something about them never worked right for me. I remember some parts of Secret Wars being less than stellar, but that could have had to do with the scope and pressures of the project itself.

Little Garwood wrote:Sorry you had a less-than-stellar experience with Bob Layton. I'm a huge fan of Layton's (first) run on Iron Man and the run in general has imo never been topped. Layton was the glue that kept it all together. Wait, let me just say it again: I friggin' LOVE that run on Iron Man.
Eh, no biggie. Probably saved me a lot of money in the long run. :-)

I agree, that run they had on Iron Man is up there with my all time faves, including Perez' Avengers & Byrne's X-Men. I think the only A list villian was Doom, in the great Knightmare arc but Roxxon and Justin Hammer, man he was handled so well as the B and C list supplier, they got him all wrong in the movie. they really should have worked Taskmaster into there somehow. I also liked the Arthur Dearborn/Sunturion character, I thought there was more than could be done with him.

Little Garwood wrote:Speaking of post-Layton (first run, anyway) Iron Man, I recently picked up the Marvel Epic Collection The Enemy Within, which consists of Shell Head's adventures in Iron Man #158-177. Like you said, the art did drop off, but I'm a long-time fan of Denny O'Neil's, so for that reason alone it was worth picking up.
I had such a hard time getting past the art I dropped the title. The Stane storyline could have been decent but everything just looked strange . . the Irwin siblings, Indries Moomji . . . these people replaced Rhodey & Beth and Mrs. Arbogast?!?! I know, Rhodey moved on the wearing the armor, but it was all wrong for me . . .

Little Garwood wrote:John Romita Jr. was at the con too but split before I could get him to sign the one book I brought along. He still has "Rock Star" status and looks not much older than he did thirty years ago! He must be living right. :wink: His line had a large amount of greedy (and greasy) fans with crap they wanted him to sign. He's not a huge favorite of mine but on Iron Man when accompanied by Layton's inks, JRJR was superb.
JRJR is another guy, what happened to him? I can't believe that's the same guy from that IM run. Some of that World War Hulk stuff was atrocious. All those flat faces, hard lines, there was no fluidity . . . and don't get me started on the Superman I've seen. It sure seems he needs a great (cough Layton cough) inker to smooth out his pencils.
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