Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes What I found today at my LCS!

I knocked off the Worlds Finest stuff. Very much a product of the times. Started on the Gerry Conway New Gods stuff. Bit dated by now standards, but still good. About a quarter way through Legion. I'm finding myself amazed at just how much of that early legion stuff was Supergirl and not Superboy. Very cool.

Rick, I went to Ollie's yesterday, and they had the Vol. 3 Legion Omnibus--a few copies. I didn't buy it because I have the stories in Archives form.

What I DID buy were the same World's Finest book you got and the Silver Age Teen Titans Omnibus, the latter being $30.

My younger son, who is starting to get interested in comics picked out the JLA Year One HC by Waid/Kitson and a Crusaders TPB featuring the Red Circle characters.

Lardy!

Nice buys, Rick and Lardy!!!

Thanks guys. Lardy, Man, I'll be in Moncks Corner tomorrow and friday, but no way I can get over there. No place to park a big rig unfortunately. I'd really dig that volume 3. I also dig the Titan's omnibus. But, what issues does volume 3 cover, if you remember? Might can make it in a couple of weeks from now, but I'm slammed cleaning out DAK over on cypress gardens rd. before they close.

That is the one over on River Rd., right?

They must have gotten a new batch in, I didn't see that JLA or the Crusaders when I was there.

Very cool pickups by your son, though.

Yep, it's on Rivers Ave., Rick. Omnibus 3 covers Adventure 361-380, Action (backups) 378-392, Superboy 147 and Jimmy Olsen 106. I think it was $30--dunno if it will ring up less like your Vol 1 did. I'd actually pick it up for you if you want, and we could figure out the details later.




Back atcha, Fick! I'm never that far away!

I'm not sure how much time you spent there, but there's a LOT to dig through!

Well, Carol and Sam give me a little time when I'm there, but I bribe them with Guitar Center, Big Lots, and Sam's choice of Vietnamese, Korean BBQ, or something new. I also bribed him with the Army/Navy Surplus last time. I know my kid.

I appreciate the offer, but honestly, I have no idea when I might be able to get down there. Only an hour and 15 mins away, but that's a trip I save for when Sam's home from school. I usually find out the week of, lol. Still, thank you very much. Very kind of you.

Well Hello, all. Today, no Legiony goodness, unfortunately. Instead,

Superboy, Man of Tomorrow #1. Seems like Conner has been reset to his Young Justice days. Welp, this is the only new book of the week, so, lets get to the old.

First, two of the New Teen Titans Wolfman and Perez run. #5, featuring Goronn and run, dammit on the cover. Never, ever had this one. Never even seen it in person or had a reprint. So, iz' all new to me.

#34, Trouble is Spelled Terminator, or 'I shoot paper from behind, I deadly. Wheeeeeee! Don't ever remember having had it, but hey, I'm old now.

Next, Justice Leageary of Americany. Long sets here, so bare (bear?) wif' me.

#199, Goatee bad guy gloaty big picture tv yummy Zee butt rare bad Perez costume. He's gonna be master ah' tha' wirld, ya'll.
#205, Hector Hector, next yer gonna kack, ya'll. Ronnie's down along with the others, but Martin, he's gonna do it Stein'sway.
#220, where Dinah gets all twisty. Things never really seemed right with the character after this to me.
#223, Endgame. Battle with the Beast-Men! I mean...really...AquaHog battle?
#224, Who is Paragon? Is it pairagone girls? Dunna, but looks like a Spidey Quiting "Homage" cover. Also known as a bit of a rip.
#240, Dr. Anomaly....Is it the unknown bastard child of Sargon and Zatarra? Only reading will tell, dear follower.
#245, If you think Steel looks bad, blame his tailor.
#246, "Kicked ouuuuutttt inna blaze of ignominy....shut dowwwwwwn, against a guy...."
#247, or "Vixen dun +*#ked around and fou'n out!"
#248, or, "Here flasher, there flasher, ain't he gotta trenchcoat...."
#249, or..."Daaaaaaamn, you got ole'!
and finally, #250, or..."We got...fifty ways to eat ya liver".

Okay, folks, Legends, my LCS, has come through for me yet agin'. Wish I had more old legion to talk about, but wasn't in the cards today.

Ya'll, be safe, be good...an' if you cain't be good, don't get caught.

JLA v1 issue 199 has what I consider some of the best Don Heck art of all time. A lot of it has to do with Brett Breeding's inks, but also the Old West setting, as Heck was better at Westerns than superheroes.

ooooh... loads of '80s goodness in there..

Don't recall #5 of the Titans being that special, as they were just finding their feet (Perez piccies though). #34 had lots going on, so if you've not read it before, it could be a real treat (Perez piccies)

Perez cover on JLA #199 too I think, but I think it was a Western, so not my cuppa.
But #205, #223 (part 3 of that story), #224 are memorable (#224 might have been Busiek? as Conway was working away at building up to Justice League Detroit). I'm a fan of Chuck Patton's art. #250 is notable too as a bit of a boost to the series, and you get all the issues in that story in that one haul.

Happy Readin' Rick!

Great finds.

Thanks folks. Funny thing is, yeah, a Perez cover on Teen Titans #5, but Curt Swan interior. They talk about how things were smashed up and he stepped in for 5, without seeing the preceeding issue. So, he had to go in blind, using only descriptions, and he still managed to slay it. Now, I know that over time, even when he was drawing, art style's developed past his more simple style. Honestly, I was one of those people way back when that thought he was outdated and modern artists like Adams and Giordano had passed him by.

Now, with the passage of time, I realize just how wrong I was. He gave us more than a few Iconic moments, could slide into any setting to tell stories, and was always professional in his work. Wish I could say the same of a lot of modern artists. His artwork always told the story he was given in a clear, concise, and easily followable way.

Patton was more modern, but just as clear and fine a storyteller. Always enjoyed his work. I was surprised he and Saviuk didn't get more work for DC.

But, any time you had Heck on Hex, that was a win for me.

Interestingly enough, the "Lord of Time" figured in several of those JLA, and yet I never really knew of him. I just missed his issues. Seems like a character a lot can be done with...if there actually was a JLA being published today.

Oh that's right. I'd forgotten all about that having a Swan interior. And I would have thought just as you did. Even picking up the Legion back issues, I thought I was there more for the stories. But it just felt like that because the art captured it so well. And once I realised just how effortless Swan did it, on such a schedule, I started looking a bit closer, and saw what all his fans were seeing all along. When you could see work he had more time with, the quality just got even better.

I typed the above without reading Rick's second paragraph. And I couldn’t agree more. So professional.

Patton turns up across a number of books around that time. I remember him turning up in Teen Titans for the Cyborg getting a new body story with the new Fatal Five (6 of them!) fighting the team. He did Spotlight issues as well, and it wasn't long ago I saw his work in Vigilante.
I might have got a few more UK Marvel reprints for a while longer as a kid. I was getting Star Wars and Doctor Who bought for me. As they were weekly, you’d get all sorts of other reprints in there. My dad would pick up Alan Class Comics, which were reprints of old Lev Gleason/ ACG eerie tales etc. I don't know how much longer I'd have read those, as I suspect my dad was also kind of buying for himself, as the second reader.
But my first US comic, in that format had Chuck Patton art. And that stayed with me for a number of months, before I saved pennies to get another comic. So, without him I'd not be here. Letters of complaint can be sent to a Mr C. Patton, at ...

On the Lord of Time, Morrison did a decent version in a JLA/ WildCats crossover. Not a fan of the art. It contains all the usual Morrison twitches, and meanlingless technobabble suits the Lord of Time as he merges with a super weapon of the future he's using to attack the League in the past.

I've done fairly well at the local shop in the last week.

Ambassadors
I'd picked up the first issue for the Quitely art. The concept is one that must have rattled around countless RPG groups for decades. It's also runs with all the Captains Millar had in The Ultimates and merges it with some matrix and mobile technology. With the art changing each issue, and the publication frequency, I wasn't sure I'd bother. But it's a solid book, with parallel groups brining out their first superhumans. Somewhere behind them, you'd think governments were also up to things, mirroring his work in The Authority. So, a mesh of previously successful ideas in a new setting.

Animal Castle
The first series of this was excellent. So, I've put this one back to when I'm nice and realxed for a good read of it. Animal Farm in a different setting and cast. Lovely art.

Time Before Time
Still an excellent story, that I know I'm going to reread in chunks, just to keep the timelines straight. TIme travel from the distant past to the future, but not for any ideas of glory, but for criminal enterprises.

Miracleman
It's odd reading something that should have come out so long ago. Moore's run on it was so well contained, that it's dificult to expand those concepts without weakening them. There had been single tales in previous issues, showing the impact of the Miracle Family on their world. This ongoing story takes their version of Captain Marvel Jr, newly back from the dead in this world, and finding that things aren;t what they seem now, and from his own origins.

Elvira in Monsterland
Vald the Impaler ( the real one in this fiction) is kidnapping all the movie draculas (the fictional ones in this fiction) and Elvira has to stop him. Quite a few smiles in this one, as they include everything from Dracula's Daughter through to the Count on Sesame Street.

Parker Girls
As I always say for this one, I like the lighter moments best. But the tone of this one has been really grabbing. There's a bit in the latest issue, where the pace just switches up a gear, and there's no way not to see what comes next (not that I wouldn't have anyway)

Jack Kirby: Old Gods and New
I normally pick up the Twomorros stuff I'm interest in online. But one peek at the lovely art inside this, and it was in the pile. I'd read 4 Kirby Graphic Novels recently. As I was going through this book, it became clear that every odd change of direction, or focus or fate of the comics were pretty much all down to the external influence from his publishers. While keepoing him on the books, gave us more of that great art, there were so many more times I was just wishing they'd have left him alone and let him get on with it for as long as he wanted.

Children of the Sun
Wyndham's Midwich Cuckoos influenced a lot of works, and this is a suitably dark take on it.

There looked to have been another reboot across companies...and as I was reading a lot of previous version material, I picked up...

Justice Society
And it's pretty good. Lots of scope. Plenty going on which makes a nice change for a slow build up to a single plot point at the end of a lot of earlier books. And lovely art too. Nice to actually have somehting positive to say about a DC book.

Titans
It's a little more pedestrian. Sure, there's a giant ape attacking a nuclear reactor in there. But that could really have been anything for all the difference it made. This is a getting the team back together issue. There's inter-relationships, there's a couple of threats added in, one shorter term, one longer and we get to see everyone in action. So, pretty much what you'd want from a first issue.

Avengers
Another getting the band back together issue. It's a different approach with less fighting apes as a single segment, and more a battle with an ACME foe, interweaving with flashbacks of bringing the members on board. There's an annoying habit of codifying whole characters into a single word to define their place in the team. I'd rather read about it, than get hit over the head with it. I think a previous version of the Avengers did that sort of thing. But we get to see what everyone has been up to recently and how that motivates them to join uo. A final couple of pages brings in a bigger threat.

And to top it all off…
Jimmy Olsen #87. I’ve not read it yet, but there’s some Legion of Super villains on the cover. So, it’s a sure hit.

On Chuck Patton:

A good artist and a nice person. And knowing that he's responsible for Thoth Lad being here makes me like him even more.

On Jack Kirby:

Brilliant concepts, but the shaggy dog narratives and the nonstop intensity got tiresome quickly. Not to mention the awkward dialogue. Just my opinion.

On Avengers:

I agree with Thoth that the codification is annoying. But I still like this issue a lot. Solid art and above-average banter. Plus a thoroughly likable Carol Danvers for a change. And Terminus is far from an ACME foe. Read Avengers 257 sometime and you'll see what I'm saying.

Yes that Avengers 257 is quite a story, loaded with irony and melancholy along with great action, but what else would you expect from Mr Stern. (I am totally unbiased of course.) Pity it was retconned away later. The later Terminus appearances, although meant to be more grandiose and threatening, somehow come off less - leading to Thoth's ACME foe comment having at least some justification. Intersting that the later tehoretically more powerful Terminus left no lasting consequences whereas the retconned supposed imposter destroyed (part of) the Savage Land.

There are a lot of Kirby quotes in the book, and they sound quite a bit like the dialogue he uses in the comics. I find it awkward too, and so do lots of others. But once I'm in The Kirby Zone, and the dialogue is stripped back, coiled and ready to strike with power and purpose, like his figures, then it makes a lot more sense. I've not seen anyone else handle the dialogue or character any better really. The diction may be superior, but it loses purpose away from its creator. I'm trying to treat it as part of the whole work, rather than seperate it out. It's rawness is probably only added to when the amount of work he had to get out each month is considered, and the sheer volume of ideas he was coming up with for those books.

I'm not really used to Darksied appearing on street corners or in randome rented rooms on Earth either though, either from the orginals Spoiled by all the later published but read first epics where he's be standing around a throne room, rahter than getting his mitts dirty. There was an Ambush Bug series, where he would pretend Dakseid would be appearing next issue, only for it to be a hand puppet he was using to boost sales. Then he's busted by Darkseid who's working a hotdog stand. In the Kirby books, he's more likely to be appearing there than in some of the places later writers stuck him.


Oh yeah. Good point about Carol. I don't read lots of Avengers so recall her first spell on the team and that badly telegraphed alcohol problem in the Busiek run. I shall see if I've got #257 in any of the boxes!

Aw shucks. Thanks.

Very small haul today. Been dealing with a lot lately.

Green Arrow #2 (David Nakayama variant cover)
Beware the Creeper #6 (3-4 1969)
Marvel Comics #1000

Seems to be the theme this week, Jf. I didn't get any old stuff, only a few new. So, lets jump in.

Flash, 799. Granny knows best. Okay, I came back to flash after Wally returned. Yes, I like the Silver Age Barry stuff. A LOT. That said, his death in Crisis was a seminal turning point for the company, and bringing him back really cheapened that event to me. I don't like how he was brought back, only to be shunted off into the shitty multiverse stuff just to return Wally. Cheap stunt by writers that didn't understand or respect what had been done before.

Superboy 2. Lotta energy, lotta push. But they basically ejected all the growth of the character to do it. Still, gotta like the Cosmoteers...even if we really like and know who they are supposed to be.

Nightwing 104...man, I don't know. I keep hoping for better, but this is basically wish fulfillment writing, one step away from Mary Sue. The adventure seems to just be the backdrop of "Older hero's already being shown up as lesser to show our generation better." Nice art, B+. Storyline...limp. D+.

Justice Society of America. Okay, 1 of my 2 favorite teams from DC (guess which is the other. ) That said, the delays, storyline is moving slowly it seems. The art...it goes from absolutely gorgeous characters to void backgrounds. Storyline...C+, art...Characters...A+. Backgrounds, solid C. Coloring...oddly...muted. C.

Also, Titans #1. Haven't read yet.

Yeah I was a bit disappointed with them taking Connor back to his Hawaiian days effectively. Still nice to see him back.

Small Haul week, guys.

Power Girl Special 1. Hmmm. Okay, look, I've liked the character since she was first introduced, but honestly, people seem to be missing the basic premise of the character. In the seventies it was about a strong young woman, cloaked in the theme of the times, feminism. Since then, she's seemed more mopey than independent, strong and badass. And yes, I did get her series a few years back. It was okay, but again, she was more of a then current styling. The attitude was more of the then current "adorable goof that doesn't really have confidence in herself". This special....seemed more of the same. And honestly, really getting sick of endless superman and batman family characters. Art was fine, B+. Story...nah, not feeling it.


Fire and Ice backup in the Power Girl Special...Okay. Worked bettern' the lead, actually.

The Flash 800. It was nice. Lots of small stories.

Doom Patrol 1-3 of Six issue mini. Interesting new take, sort of a combo of some of the previous runs and the tv show. Not bad, actually. Each issue seems to mostly be episodic with a small through line. Peacemaker has become a combo of wolverine and lobo. as in...everywhere. Still, the rest seemed to be interesting. Would have loved to see a crossover between this DP and the Terrifics.

I'm intrigued. Please tell me more.

Well, Fire and Ice are responding to a threat near Guy. Fire understandably hates him cause he's Guy. But Ice uses the JL signaler and he shows up, mayhem ensues.

And then Big Blue shows up with his boring ass to settle things down, and then F and I head to Kansas, to Smallville, but there's a mysterious object. Looks like a sword hilt to me,but I'm old.

Just a cool little fun story. Much better than the navel gazing lead with Peeg.