Ricky Jackson

Glad you enjoyed Titans and got into the era. Never say never but...Well, I guess a better cliche would be "you can't go home again"

Man, I need to get around to that eventually. I started the Dr. Strange Essential volume that collects all the Strange Tales but only got to around 127-28. That was nearly 20 years ago. I'm a huge Ditko fan, I dont know why I never finished it

Funny, I was looking over threads from 10 years ago just the other day because I was curious what people were posting about when I first started lurking here. I noticed this thread and the other Strangler Corleone threads and totally remember when they were first posted. I even thought about bumping some random 10 year old thread just for the hell of it. A lot of posters here that still post plus a bunch that used to post a lot. Anyone know if FLIK is still wrestling? Here's the legend himself if anyone is curious https://www.wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=bios&wrestler=1159&bild=0&details=7 Hasn't worked since 2014

I have no idea, but I'm guessing Japan is, like most of the world outside of the US and UK, and countries with small populations, struggling with having enough vaccine supply? Here in Canada for example, we have been doing well with first doses, but only 3% of the pop has been given second doses because we are limited supply wise, unable to produce domestically and mostly relying on European delivery. But again, I have no idea what the situation is like in Japan other than the rollout has been very minimal so far

Hulk, 1971-72 Just a few thoughts on issues 148-158 to put a bow on Ol' Greenskin for now... Archie Goodwin is the writer for most of these issues and he does a good job. Some of my favorite stories of the 102-158 run come here. 149 is maybe the best of the alien foes issues, with some fun use of Marvel continuity and a neat little twist ending straight out of an EC science fiction mag. 151 is also strong, with the story of a man with cancer being given gamma radiation and the horrific consequences that come from it. 152-53, written by Gary Friedrich, feature the Hulk on trial, with every Marvel superhero involved, in a story that stretches suspension of disbelief to its limits. Goodwin returns to continue the ongoing storyline of the Hulk/Banner attempting to reunite with Jarella in the microverse. I like this romantic development, and 156, taking place in Jarella's world, is also a highlight. Goodwin's run comes to a strange end, with the Leader and the Rhino returning in 157 for his last issue, and then Steve Gerber does a fill-in for the second part in 158, with the questionable decision to shoehorn in Counter Earth and the New Men from the then ongoing Warlock comic. Oh well. Next up is Steve Englehart's run, which seems to be more fondly remembered, but I'll take a bit of a break from Jade Jaws before getting to that. All in all, this nostalgic trip was mostly fun. Definitely not prime Marvel from the era, although there were a fair amount of highlights during the Thomas/Goodwin issues (121-158). Check them out if you have an affinity for the character

I couldn't imagine being live for a 7 hour Mania. And then having to deal with transit issues or traffic after

Mania's 2016-2019 sapped my very will to live, but I dont know if boring is the right word

At some point in the early 80s, Boesch went with Watts for talent. Prior to that I believe he was with Joe Blanchard from San Antonio, and Fritz Von Erich in the 70s. But with Watts, Houston basically became part of Mid South/UWF, whereas with the previous arrangements, it was independent and ran its own programs and main events

Wow, that is an amazing channel!

Lee-Kirby Thor, up to #140 Having slogged through Journey Into Mystery 83-100 and mostly enjoyed 101-110 many years ago, I picked up Thor with JiM111, the second half of a two-parter featuring a guilty pleasure of mine, the pro wrestling-like supervillain tag team of the Cobra and Mister Hyde. This is the cusp of the book really taking off and breaking the shackles of repeat villains (Loki of course, but also, as much as I love them, Cobra and Hyde had 7 total appearances between 98-111, including 2 two-parters in less than a year) and New York-bound stories. Beginning with 114, the stories are mostly continued from issue to issue, with seeds continuously being planted that dont pay off until much later. Asgard begins to be featured more and more heavily in the main story, to go along with the Tales of Asgard backup. Another (major) positive development is the almost complete abandonment of the Don Blake alter ego and, with 136, the writing out of the book of the uninteresting Jane Foster character. She is replaced as Thor's love interest by the amazing Sif. Sif is awesome, basically Marvel's Wonder Woman, and years before Wonder Woman became a major ass kicker in her own comic. All of this is because Kirby is now unleashed, partially due to Lee increasingly stepping back from being in the weeds, just as was happening on FF at the same time. One of Lee's major faults was his insistence on his heroes being tied to one dimensional, helpless females (Foster), while Kirby had no problems creating strong female characters (Sif, later Big Barda at DC). Highlights include the Trial of the Gods (116), Loki and his flunky the Absorbing Man attempting to overthrow Asgard (122-23), and the coming of Hercules in the mid-late 120s. Then as soon as you hit the 130s the book shifts into another, more awesome, gear. You get Ego the Living Planet (what a reveal!) and the High Evolutionary back to back (131-35), then the crazy Foster swan song issue where she is given the powers of a goddess but cant handle it, AND THEN, what I just finished reading, the peak-Kirby "Asgard-Trolls War" storyline (137-39). The book is really cooking right now, arguably as good as peak Lee-Kirby FF. So yeah, I love this book. Thor kicking ass and boasting about it is awesome. Odin boasting and sometimes kicking ass is awesome. As already stated, Sif is freaking awesome. Kirby is of course awesome, and Stan's dialogue is mostly, well awesome is too strong a word, definitely really, really fun to read. Like with the other Marvel books in the 60s, Lee gives the characters a soul that makes them loveable. Well, except for Foster, but she's gone now

Hell, I want to read it. Start it. I dont think it would break any pro wrestling only rules

Update: Hulk, 1970-71 Since my last post I've read/skimmed issues 132-147, basically the second half of Thomas' run. It was a mixed bag. The main negative is the repetitiveness of certain tropes and conventions continued from the Lee issues. Multiple alien/space stories. Multiple stories set in Europe. Multiple stories featuring the Leader. Multiple far out, hip references scattered throughout, with Marvel late-60s cool peaking with a story by Harlen Ellison (introducing the Hulk's doomed lover, Jarella in 140) and one inspired by Tom Wolfe (142). And of course, tons more Thunderbolt Ross + Major Talbot + Betty Ross cut and paste Hulk/Banner obsessed melodrama. Highlights include a cool story featuring Kang and the WW I character the Phantom Eagle (135), the Moby Dick inspired two-parter in 136-37, the introduction of Doc Samson in 141, and the Dr. Doom two-parter in 143-44. Thomas arguably saves his best for last with the touching "Heaven is a Very Small Place" back-up story in 147, giving the tortured Hulk one of his most emotionally impactful moments. Like I wrote before, this is not all-time great stuff, but as always the art is strong (John Severin does a lot of the inking here, and that's very welcome since I'm a big fan of his work) and there is enough charm and fun characters/stories to make it an easy read. Archie Goodwin takes over as writer with 148 and then Englehart with 159, which is considered by some to be the start of the Hulk's 70s peak

Why Does Ric Flair Capitalize Every Single Goddamned Word In His Tweets? It Drives Me Crazy

I'm doing Lee-Kirby Thor as well and I'm mostly enjoying it. Yeah, the Jane Foster "romance" is the pits, but Thor kicking ass and all the Asgardian stuff is a blast. Loving the whole Black Galaxy storyline and the crazy Ego reveal. AFIK it only gets better, at least until Kirby decides to stop providing new characters and concepts. Not sure exactly when that happens, but maybe it's not as stark a drop off as his FF run

Thoughts on the Hulk, 1960s/70s... Next to Spider Man, the Hulk was most responsible for me getting into comics as a kid. I'm not sure which exactly came first, my dad bringing home comics after work or me discovering superheroes through TV, but watching reruns of the 60s Spidey cartoon and new broadcasts of the late 70s/early 80s Hulk TV show definitely helped make me a huge fan of comics and those characters specifically. As a 3-4 year old I had t-shirts, pajamas, stuffed dolls, and action figures of both characters, in addition to the monthly comics. The classic "dumb" Hulk in tattered purple pants was very appealing to me as a child. As I got older I started to get into the history of the character, first through Marvel Saga (huge influence on my lifelong love of Silver Age Marvel) and then buying cheap reprints of the late 60s/early 70s Hulk ("Marvel Super Heroes"). I was into the Peter David version of the Hulk until the beginning of the Pantheon era and then I checked out, to only briefly dabble with the character since. (looking forward to eventually getting to Immortal Hulk!) Anyway, with MU I've recently gone back to the late 60s/early 70s era. Combined with reading the original stories years ago, here are some random thoughts on the early years of Hulk comics. --Marvel Saga was my intro to the original 6 issue Lee-Kirby Hulk in the mid 80s. A few years later I got the first volume of the Hulk Marvel Masterworks as a gift, which reprinted the original 6 issues. Not much to say about these issues other than it's not surprising the book was axed after issue 6. The idea for the character is fascinating, but the execution was weak. Feels very much like the early Thor issues in Journey Into Mystery that were very uninspired. Kirby definitely wasn't super into the character like he was with others, which usually meant one was in for a dull read. The best issue of the bunch is actually the final one done by Ditko --Despite the lackluster original run, the character proved popular with enough letterhacks to be revived as a guest star time and again. He was of course a founding member of the Avengers, which led eventually to a great two part story in FF (#s 25-26) which featured the first real Hulk vs Thing battle (brief confrontation in FF #12) and a team up with the Fantastic Four and the Avengers (with a freshly thawed Captain America) in a desperate attempt to contain the rampaging brute --Eventually Ol' Greenskin joins Tales to Astonish, split at first with Giant Man, then Sub Mariner. The early issues are by Lee-Ditko and they are a ton of fun. Eventually Kirby comes back, but not for long, and things slowly become extremely formulaic after he leaves, despite good art from Bill Everett (although far from his best due to major issues with alcoholism) and Gil Kane. The great, and hugely underrated, Marie Severin takes over, but the stories are mostly one dimensional. Granted I've never read the entire Tales to Astonish run. I own the first Essential volume, which ends with #81. I've read a few random issues between 82-101, and it's a lot of Thunderbolt Ross' neverending obsession with the Hulk type stuff, which dominated the book for the worse for years. With issue 102 the book becomes the Incredible Hulk --My current Hulk-read started with #102. The next 20 issues feature great art from Severin and Herb Trimpe (plus occasional inking from Marie's equally talented brother John) coupled with some of the most formulaic and uninspired writing Stan Lee ever affixed his name to. Gary Friedrich wrote the early stories, though, and they aren't bad. When Stan takes over, yikes. But the art is great --Fortunately Roy Thomas takes over with #121 and, while not setting the world on fire, he turns the book around to the point where it becomes a very solid and fun superhero title. Trimpe really gets into a groove as one of the world's greatest Kirby imitators, the villains are a blast (including my fave, the Rhino), and with the introduction of young Jim Wilson, we are firmly into the 70s and the dawn of a new era for the character This is where I am right now (#132) and I'm relived. With the Lee written issues I was beginning to think I should've left the childhood memories alone, but Thomas saved the book and now I'm actually looking forward to reading the issues instead of just skimming them. Long live Jade Jaws!