Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
Well, I might as well face it, I'm addicted to DC's Showcase Presents Volumes!
They've released some groovalicious collections so far! Here's my rundown of what I've read thus far:
GREEN LANTERN: I started reviewing these in another thread, but overall I thought they were really good. It's nice to see the introduction of many concepts that would later become fundamental to the DCU, such as the Anti-Matter Universe/Qward/the Guardians/etc. There's a definite sense of a legend being built here.
JUSTICE LEAGUE: This was interesting. I liked seeing these early stories, but they left me kind of flat in a way. Again, it's nice to see the origins of various long-term DCU concepts, but the stories themselves seemed kind of boring. And the various heroes really don't seem better together than they do individually. Maybe they'd be better a second time through?
GREEN ARROW: This one was a struggle to get through. Almost all the stories are short back-up tales, and very gimmicky. I don't know. Somehow I just couldn't muster enough suspension of disbelief to get these to work for me.
HOUSE OF MYSTERY: Incredible! Easily the best volume I've read thus far! I absolutely love these stories! Some are certainly better than others, but there are some real gems.
SUPERMAN: When I first read these stories in the Man of Tomorrow Archives, I was a little let down. They're much better the second time through, though, and the second half are even better, as Superman fights clasic villains such as Luthor and Bizarro. The first Brainiac story still stands out as one of the best Superman stories I've ever read. I'm still not quite finished, but my overall impression is extremely positive.
METAMORPHO: Haven't read anything but the first story yet, but it looks promising.
JONAH HEX: Still haven't picked this one up yet, though I'm looking forward to it.
SUPERMAN FAMILY: Coming out this week, and I'm definitely looking forward to it! There better be lots of Jimmy Olsen in drag!
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Eryk, which issues are in the House of Mystery one? I've never read much of HoM, or House of Secrets for that matter (with Mark Merlin).
I demand this review thread be continuall updated!
The GL ones are some of the best DC had to offer in the Silver Age, and I really want to one day get around to reading all the Superman Silver Age stories.
I think the later JLA stories are much better, especially once the Atom & Hawkman join and the stories are more fluid. Their also more action packed which helps them move.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
The House of Mystery is #174 through #196, which (I discover after a little research) is apparently when they returned to horror/suspense/mystery tales after briefly becoming a super-hero magazine in the mid-sixties.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
Definitely go for the HoM! I think you'll like it!
I'm currently reading the Metamorpho volume. For some reason, I keep thinking it would make a really good cartoon. Fairly simplisitic characters, everything dramatically overplayed, but lots of fun.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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I feel the same way about the JLA stories. I have the first 3 volumes of archives. They're a bit blah.
I think it's the rigid format of the stories with heroes breaking off into pairs to face the threat. Sometimes teams chosen for no better reason than "Hey Wonder Woman, I haven't worked with you in a while."
I know they were trying to recapture the format of the JSA in All-Star but the golden age books had two or three times as many pages to tell the individual tales.
From: Canada | Registered: Apr 2005
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
Part of it is that they all tend come off as very generic super-heroes, and you don't really get the feel of what makes them unique. Contrast that to the first GL/Flash teamup in the GL Showcase, where you really get much more feel for Hal and Barry as individuals. After reading that story, I feel like I've got a feel for how Barry was portrayed in that era, even though I've never read the early Flash stories. I don't get that feeling for who Barry is after reading an entire volume of JLA stories.
I think you actually get far more characterization in the early Legion stories, even though the Legionnaires hadn't been well-defined as characters at all.
[ March 10, 2006, 02:19 PM: Message edited by: Eryk Davis Ester ]
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Very true, Adventure was silver agey, but I don't think Saturn Girl has been quite right since then.
I can't believe how much I love those Adventure Comics over 40 years old by the time I read them for the first time. I'm smacking myself at this moment b/c those were three archives volumes I should have bought at that going outta business sale back in 2000.
From: Canada | Registered: Apr 2005
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
Metamorpho is chock-full a goofy late 60s camp! He actually fights a villain called "Achille le Heele" in "Gay Paree"!
[ March 11, 2006, 03:22 PM: Message edited by: Eryk Davis Ester ]
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
I'm really starting to feel sorry for poor Java. I mean, there's plenty of caveman digging girls in the sixties that would go for him, and yet he's got his heart set on someone he can't have!
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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You gotta read Hex Eryk. It is the best one of the series. Of course, I still haven't gotten to HoM yet. Its sitting on my desk at work.
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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