Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities My Big-Ass Pile o'Trades Waiting To Be Read At My Whim

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!