Comic books and Manga Thread

[Ricky Jackson]

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 

[Shrike02]

You stole my thunder, Kelly.

Thanks, try the veal, it's delicious.

But yes, I have much the same thoughts as you do on this run of issues. I'm about to read the Asgard-Trolls War issues and then I'll have caught up.

[Shrike02]

On 5/2/2021 at 2:16 PM, SomethingSavage said:

Have you listened to the Screw It, Let's Just Talk About Comics (formerly actually titled Screw It, Let's Just Talk About Spider-Man) podcast? It's excellent, and the original premise was just two brothers covering the entire Stan & Ditko run. Tremendous stuff and just a fun listen in general.

I don't listen to many comics podcasts at all but I gave this a try. Pretty fun listen; I try to stop myself from noticing a few errors of fact. I will continue to enjoy their banter I'm sure.

[Reel]

11 hours ago, Shrike02 said:

I don't listen to many comics podcasts at all but I gave this a try. Pretty fun listen; I try to stop myself from noticing a few errors of fact. I will continue to enjoy their banter I'm sure.

come for the banter, stay for the Fancy Dan appreciation 

[SomethingSavage]

8 hours ago, Reel said:

come for the banter, stay for the Fancy Dan appreciation 

Absolutely.

Their pitch for the Enforcers' own Netflix show was tremendous.

[Ricky Jackson]

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

[Mad Dog]

Strange Tales #130-146 is probably the best work done in Silver Age Marvel. A 17 part epic Dr. Strange tale that also introduces Eternity. 

[Ricky Jackson]

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 

[Mad Dog]

It's really slow until you get to that story. I think it picks up once Dormammu gets introduced around 127. The really long story arc from 130-146 is where I feel like it finally gets it's footing. And it's kind of interesting to see such a long term story arc in the 60s.

I was kind of just reading an issue here or there and then I hit that and just polished off 20 issues over the weekend. 

[ohtani's jacket]

I finished up Gene Colan's run on Batman. It started off okay. I liked the early Gerry Conway scripts. But there were no classic stories and the monthly continuity wasn't that interesting. No matter how hard Moench tried, I wasn't interested in Batman's romantic relationships or the cast of characters. Colan had a lot of different inkers, and I don't know if it was his pencils or the inkers, but I didn't like the way a lot of the characters' faces were depicted. I especially disliked the way he drew Jason Todd and other kids. His Bruce Wayne was inconsistent as well. It's possible that his work on Batman works better in isolation than reading it within the continuity. The last issues I read were Batman #373 and 383, which he drew after he stopped working on the Batman book regularly, and those books were much more interesting visually than his end run on Detective, but again, that may be because of the inking. The reason I started reading Colan on Batman is because I liked a lot of Colan's work on Daredevil, but I'd have to say that his Daredevil work was better than his Batman run. Not sure if anyone feels differently about that.

[Ricky Jackson]

As a kid I haphazardly collected Batman when Colon was the artist. Of course I had no idea who he was, I just liked Batman. I've been curious how those hold up, since I eventually became a big Colon fan. His work on Tomb is great, and I'm just about to start his Daredevil run with #20. When I was young I could be put off with his idiosyncratic style since it didn't look like what I thought a superhero comic was "supposed" to look like, but going through it now I love all the unusual angles, moody atmosphere, and feeling of constant motion in his art 

[SomethingSavage]

So I've fallen down the rabbit hole of creator & artist interviews lately. Not sure at what point these became my go-to podcasts for commutes, but I'm immersing myself in these things and finding some fascinating details while doing it.

Pretty sure you diehard comic fans already know all the stories behind the abandoned arcs, etc. But I was never keyed into that stuff as a reader. I read, I collected, and I consumed. I mean, I always enjoyed Wizard magazine like anybody else - but I never sought out interviews with the creators or anything back in the day.

Besides Wizard articles/interviews and what we got from letter page columns, I didn't really care to seek out that stuff. By the time I reached an age where that sort of "insider knowledge" would've appealed to me, I had fallen out of comics and moved onto other interests.

Fast forward, and here we are. I'm ravenously devouring these interviews and can't get enough. None of it is mind-blowing, but gah. It's seriously cool to hear things like DeMatteis talk about his plans to have Cap assassinated by Nomad II about two decades before Rogers was actually killed off.

I also wasn't aware that Kraven's Last Hunt wasn't even designed with Kravinov in mind at all. That was a later change (and clearly an upgrade), because DeMatteis was going to introduce and promptly kill off a brand new character for that arc instead. Think about it: Kraven's breakout, most critical character development could've never happened for the poor sap.

Claremont, in the thick of batting a thousand with his smash hit X-Men run, wanted to slowly start to ship Kitty and Logan. Apparently, the Kitty and Wolverine mini was intended to be the first step toward their relationship becoming a romantic entanglement over the long course of Claremont's time on the series. Thankfully, better judgment prevailed & the only significant change to come from that story was... I don't know. The Shadowcat codename, I guess?

Again, I'm sure all this stuff is old news to you guys. But it's sweet, sweet tea for this lapsed fan who is just coming across a great fountain of fresh information straight from the sources themselves. Good stuff. I'm sure I'll eventually hit a wall with hearing these stories at some point, but right now it's really rekindled my interest in things.

[ohtani's jacket]

Kentaro Miura died. I am going to lie down. When I wake up, I hope this was a bad dream. 

[SomethingSavage]

I'm still knee-deep in these creator shoot interviews, and I instantly recall how exciting it was when the internet first popped off with a pedophile interviewing all our favorite wrestlers in front of faded hotel room curtains. I'm way late to the game on this stuff, but I don't care. That just means I've got a ton to look forward to hearing about.

So many discarded pitches! DeMatteis wanted Nomad II to turn heel and assassinate Steve Rogers?! And then supplant Rogers with a Native American Captain America for awhile?! It's shades of Bucky Cap and more accurately Sam Cap, long before that sort of stuff was getting regularly greenlit.

Michelinie proposed a story arc wherein Spider-Man's identity would be revealed on TV during the course of a battle with Venom?! Way before Civil War, there was this desire to explore the importance of secret identities and how key Peter Parker's loved ones are to the character. It even involved secret government ops, etc. and would've ultimately been resolved with a clean slate, provided by the Purple Man's pheromones rather than a deal with the devil. And, as far as resolutions and retcons go, I think I honestly prefer the Purple Man scenario to anything we actually got involving Mephisto.

Tom DeFalco wanted to reveal Richard Risk to be the Hobgoblin?! Okay, I feel like I've read that rumor somewhere before (ages ago), but the guy confirmed it himself. Ron Frenz, too. Kingsley would've then been the Rose as a consolation prize to Stern's original intentions, maybe? I don't know. I *do* think that would've been the better path, to be honest. The Rose identity and moniker lines up well with Kingsley's more extravagant, affluent nature than anything Goblin related - although I must admit I dig the franchising of the supervillain marketplace he's done in recent years. It's a super fun spin on things & a great way to salvage the character.

But one of my absolute favorite straight shooters so far has to be Gerry Conway. The man is just a BLAST to listen to in any setting. He's got a great sense of a humor, and he's such an engaging storyteller on top of that.

I love his line of thinking about comic book characters and what makes them iconic. I don't want to paraphrase too much or take away from how he explains it, but I found myself nodding along in agreement throughout the whole thing.

Basically, every mainstay character hits iconic status and should be reserved/reverted to that iconic state. It's something we see time & time again in comics. Characters can be changed and played with, but they need to be returned to the box in nearly the same condition they were found. Because if you deviate too much away from that, you risk detracting from their iconic status and what makes them so iconic to the fan base.

The example he used was about Peter marrying Mary Jane, and why that was always the wrong move. He states that there's a reason the movies always make Peter a young high schooler or college-aged kid. That's his iconic status. Peter being a teacher or a lab assistant or a married man just isn't his iconic state of being. And when they aged him up too much, the character really took a hit.

I agree with that. For the most part, there are key elements to most of the heavy hitter characters that should simply always remain intact. And it's selfish for creators or even readers to demand the permanent aging up of these characters just to stay in line with their/our own aging.

The characters were iconic to us at a very specific time and age, just as they should be for new readers who come along after us. Demanding that they grow old or mature too much is selfish. If our tastes change, then perhaps our reading material should to. Otherwise, find other characters who are NOW more relatable to you than the high school kid.

To be clear, I don't think this is ALWAYS the answer. But with the increased emphasis on legacy characters and derivative characters we are seeing EVERYWHERE these days, I do think it's a topic worth talking about.

I think things like Secret Empire, Superior Spider Man, and even Knightfall are all stories worth telling and exploring. But, and rightfully so, the consequences of those arcs should come with the understanding that these creators are accountable for preserving the iconic status of these characters at the end of the day. There has to be a balance in that accountability.

I think they've done a solid job of that, for the most part. Some characters can bend more than others. Hell, some can be broken and changed up entirely - often for the benefit of everyone. But there are a select few iconic characters that should be preserved, protected, and treated as almost timeless throughout history.

I believe Spider-Man is one of those cases. It's why there was this obsession to separate him from MJ almost immediately. It's why Miles is so popular, because he's essentially iconic Peter. It's why Ultimate Spidey was a smash success right away - because it was placing Spidey back in his iconic trappings. The fact that he has now spent more of his publication history as a grown adult is fascinating, because creators and fans alike are perpetually chasing ways to return him closer to his iconic form anyway.

[ohtani's jacket]

The irony is that Pete Parker was only in high school for the first 28 issues of Amazing Spider-Man. 

[ohtani's jacket]

On 5/20/2021 at 3:17 PM, ohtani's jacket said:

Kentaro Miura died. I am going to lie down. When I wake up, I hope this was a bad dream. 

I've had some time to reflect on this in the past few days instead of bursting into uncontrollable tears. Miura was one of the greatest mangakas ever, and one of the finest artists in the history of comics. Please google search his work if you've never seen it. If you think manga is thrashed out work with little attention to detail or no background work then Berserk was the complete antithesis of that. It was the best manga I've read. It was dark fantasy that was uncompromisingly dark, but the main character's struggle was better than anything I've read in comics. It's uncertain at the moment whether Miura's assistants and publisher will continue with the series, but I'm not worried about whether we'll learn how the manga ends. We lost someone who had a profound influence on so many lives. Berserk is Darkhorse's top selling book. I hope it's reputation continues to spread in the West. 

[Ricky Jackson]

Thor, 140-153

After expanding the scope of the book and hitting major epic heights in the 130s, it was necessary to scale things back a bit. After all, if everything is epic, then nothing is epic. So issues 140-142 are a return to New York and one and done stories. You get the Growing Man and Kang, Replicus (in a very typical Kirby criminal redemption story) and the Super Skrull from FF, and it's fine. The next multi-part story, featuring Asgardian villains the Enchanters, starts with 143. This story didnt really hook me and the resolution in 145 is a low point in the run so far imo. Basically, Odin defeats the last Enchanter (weirdly off panel) and returns after battle to throw a major, and pretty random, temper tantrum that sees him strip Thor of his godhood, although he remains super powerful, so it's not really as significant a development as is portrayed. Anyway, now trapped on earth, Thor literally joins the Circus (of Crime) in a nonsensical development. I mean, I love me some Circus O' Crime, but this was pretty goofy, as Thor is portrayed as being completely unaware that this is a supervillian group and not a legitimate circus. The less said about issues 145-147 the better. Next, Loki finally returns, and is also stripped of godhood by Odin, or something. This is the beginning of a long storyline that sees the debut of another fave, the Wrecker (mistakenly given godlike powers intended for Loki in an unintentionally comical turn of events), Thor having a near death experience, the Destroyer and Ulik returning, and a ridiculously high number of Manhattan buildings reduced to rubble as collateral damage. A cease fire with Loki comes at the end of 153, and Thor is finally back to his full power as things pivot towards the first major Ragnarok storyline.

These issues were definitely a mixed bag. Most were good, and the art is top notch as always, but the 143-147 Enchanters/Thor banished to Earth/dumb Thor joins the circus story was the very definition of lackluster, with Odin's behavior in particular being illogical, even for a character established as being prone to unpredictable mood swings. Thankfully, the Ragnarok story starting in 154 is a return to form 

[ohtani's jacket]

I just finished the Jonah Hex Spectacular, which tells the story of how Jonah Hex died while serving as a eulogy to the passing of the Old West as a whole. The twist ending, if you can call it that, is one of the most ballsy things I've read in any comic, mainstream or underground. An incredible ending to a brilliant one shot.

I've been going through some of the Giant Size comics from the 70s. It's amazing to me that you had Conan the Barbarian, Savage Sword of Conan, Savage Tales, and Giant Size Conan, and yet I' m not sick of the character. A large part of that is due to the art as Thomas always seemed to get great artists working on his scripts, but it's also because Conan is such a reliable character. You know no matter what happens that Conan is going to be Conan. I think it's his nobility that appeals to me the most. That age-old trope that the uncouth barbarian is the most noble soul of all.

I've also been impressed with the effort Gerber put into his Giant Size comics compared to other writers of the day. Gerber's Giant Size comics feel like proper issues of the regular title. I actually kind of enjoy his Giant Size Man-Thing issues more than the ongoing title. I wrapped up Gerber's run on Howard the Duck the other day. On the whole, I'd probably rate it higher than his Man-Thing, but I didn't find it as funny as folks did in the 70s. Colan's art was decent, but with Colan, I'm starting to believe that nothing outside of Tomb of Dracula compares.

I started reading Werewolf By Night the other day, which I really want to like, but Mike Ploog's cartoony art was as off-putting to me as Michael Golden on 'The Nam. I guess I had a certain expectation of Werewolf as a horror title. I'll see how far I get on the book.

I also finished Kirby's The Eternals, which I thought was a book that had a lot of great concepts and great art, but was deeply flawed. I enjoyed the first year or so of issues, but the book fell off the rails pretty quickly and was cancelled shortly thereafter.

[Mad Dog]

The entire Mike Grell run on Green Arrow is super cheap on ComiXology right now. It's $1.99 a trade this week. 

[Ricky Jackson]

Thor 154-166

These issues are pretty good, with Kirby developing a more epic style, characterized by multiple full page spreads per issue and more complex costume and tech designs. Issues 154-157 are notable for being the first real Ragnarok storyline (the concept was previously touched upon in the Tales of Asgard backup strip). The menace is Mangog, a being comprised of "billions of billions" of people condemned to imprisonment by Odin at some point in the past and accidentally freed by Ulik of the trolls. Basically, he has infinite strength and all of Asgard must unite to stop him. All except Odin who is conveniently indisposed by the Odin Sleep. Also conveniently, Odin awakes just in time to put an end to Mangog by ending the curse of the billions of billions and setting them free. Reading so many 60s and 70s comics over the last year, the use of deus ex machina resolutions in the final pages of a story is ridiculously high. One drawback of binging old comics is all the cliches and repetition that was easier to take in monthly installments.

Next was a two parter that finally explained the whole Don Blake mystery, probably done mostly to shut up the letterhacks who had been complaining that the original premise of Blake as an independent person who existed prior to discovering Mjolnir had been long ignored by Lee and Kirby and no longer made sense. This was followed by a true high point of the run, a three part story featuring Galactus vs Ego the Living Planet, with Thor and the Recorder (observation: one of my favorite obscure Marvel characters) only able to witness this epic cosmic struggle from the sidelines. Until the next deus ex machina climax that is, which leaves the conflict between Galactus and Ego unresolved, basically the comic book equivalent of a 60 minute Broadway between the NWA champ and a top challenger you didn't want to beat. However, an interesting development of this story is Odin's discovery of a being such as Galactus and a growing obsession with finding out how to destroy him before he decides to consume Asgard. 162 features the first telling of Galactus' origin, brought on by Odin's request, in order for him to understand this grave threat better. 

Next is a two-parter featuring the return of Olympian villain Pluto, last seen in the Hercules issues in the 120s, and his overly complicated revenge plan on Thor that requires going to earth's atomic ravaged future and bringing back "mutates" as his minions. Not a high point of the run. A subplot from this two-parter leads to another two-parter, this one featuring the return of Him, the future Adam Warlock, from the FF. It's interesting to see, beginning with issue 160, the book basically turn into a vehicle for fleshing out Kirby concepts created for FF, first Galactus and then Him, and as I pause, the ongoing Galactus storyline is about to reach a climax. Kirby clearly wanted to develop these characters, and they do fit in the Thor world, especially such a grand cosmic being like Galactus. Very interested how it all plays out

[SomethingSavage]

I listened to an interview with a panel of creators covering the 90s Clone Saga, and I've got to say - Howard Mackie helped to drive me away from reading Spider-Man comics when he took over the books, but the guy sounds like a really great guy in person. I can see why interviewers have said such good things about him now. He's fun and absolutely self-aware of his reputation among some fans.

DeMatteis, like Gerry Conway, is someone I now seek out to listen to in interviews. If a new interview with DeMatteis pops up in a feed, then I'm all over it.

The original inception of Kraven's Last Hunt is pretty fascinating, to be honest. DeMatteis initially pitched the idea as a Wonder Man story, with the Grim Reaper burying his own brother. He later tried selling it as a concept involving Batman and The Joker. Eventually it came up during his Spider-Man run, and he wanted to introduce a whole new villain to carry the story (and ultimately die).

It's just crazy to think Kraven's biggest, most notable act almost didn't occur with him involved at all. I'd venture to say the guy would be more of a meme and a running gag among fans than anything if it weren't for Last Hunt. He's obviously been brought back in a more prominent position recently, but I don't think that happens without Last Hunt feeling like such a high note for the character.

Without DeMatteis' contributions to the psychology and the core motivations of the character, I don't know if there's any reason for future creators to feel drawn to using him. I certainly don't think there'd be talks of a movie or anything. But hey. We're getting Morbius in a movie too, so who the hell knows?!

Oh. I've recently read the original Secret Wars for the very first time. I saw the good brothers covered it in a full season over on the Screw It podcast, so I wanted to give it a shot before diving into their reviews. And I've gotta say, I was pleasantly surprised. For years and years, I'd always heard A TON of bashing on Shooter's writing and handling of specific characters at the time.

But man. In hindsight, without immersing myself in the surrounding events of other comics from that particular period, Secret Wars was pure FUN. I really enjoyed reading it.

Was it deep or complex or thought-provoking? Nope. Was it fast-paced and action-packed and (did I mention) FUN? Absolutely.

Secret Wars felt like a throwback to simpler times with more basic characters. And maybe it was TOO simple at a time in the 80s when anti-heroes were becoming all the rage. Maybe people were on board for inner monologues, and that wasn't the order of the day with Secret Wars. It was just a straightforward superhero battle book. And I dug it.

The original 1980s Secret Wars took the Fast and the Furious approach to storytelling. There were leaps in logic and loopholes you could drive a suped up Honda Civic through, but hey. FUN stuff nonetheless.

This was the Tango and Cash of comic books, and I had a blast reading it. It doesn't deserve any awards and it's nothing I'm kicking myself for not reading sooner, but it didn't feel as hokey or cheesy as people made it seem.

[Mad Dog]

Finally gotten to the end of the 60s era of Doctor Strange. It's really just a tale of some great art as the series progresses. The Gene Colan issues are just works of beauty to look at. 

[Ricky Jackson]

Thor 167-179

Well, this is it. The last Kirby issues on the title. Like with FF, the end of Lee-Kirby Thor is a mix of uninspired and fun. 167-69 is the last peak of the run, telling the full origin of Galactus after slowly building to it since 160. I had never read these issues before. When I was a kid I had the "Supervillain Classics" one-shot that reprinted the origin parts of these issues. I believe that was when the actual creation aspect of Galactus' origin was finally tweaked, because in Thor it is the cliched "being gets power from radiation (a sun in this case) because reasons" method of granting powers. Other than that, these were good issues, as Thor and Odin basically come to realize that Galactus just "is" and decide to leave him alone.

Then comes the uninspired stuff. Issues 170-174 are pretty much entirely forgettable, and all are one and done stories. A quick recap: evil commies are dusted off and recycled one last time, bringing the threat of the Thermal Man, the Wrecker returns for a rematch, Jane Foster returns for one story where a wealthy dying old man attempts to steal Thor's body and gain immortality, Ulik and the Circus O' Crime return for a rematch, and Thor faces the Crypto Man (yawn).

Issues 175-179 (excluding 178) are Kirby's swan song, and also like the end of his FF run, he exits after the first part of a continued story. 175-177 feature Loki finally gaining control of Asgard, taking advantage of Odin doing the Odinsleep (again?) and Odin's guards being much too easily swayed by Loki's argument to stand down because he is the blood of the All Father (but guys, he's a BAD GUY!) Anyway, by possessing Odin's Ring Imperial all Asgardians must now obey Loki and bow down. Luckily, Odin being indisposed means that Surtur the God of Fire has been released from his prison and now attacks Asgard, leaving Loki to show his true colors and cowardly escape to earth rather than help his fellow gods defend the realm. Also luckily, Balder the Brave retrieves Odin from the Death Demension just in time for the big guy to unleash one of his patented deus ex machina endings and save Asgard. Thor sure needed Odin to bail his ass out a lot! 

I'm assuming Deadline Doom then struck, because the next issue is a fill in by the man who would become synonymous with Thor post-Kirby, John Buscema. Here, Thor faces the Stranger and Hulk baddie the Abomination, and we get one last deus ex machina to save the day. 179 is the issue that was supposed to be 178, and we get an old fashioned body swap between Loki and Thor to kickstart a new storyline. Neal Adams does the next two issues to finish it off. I'll likely read those just to put a bow on things, then I'm putting a pin in Thor for now.

All in all, Lee-Kirby Thor was pretty damn great most of the time. The peaks were 114-139 and 148-169, with some issues being skippable. The lows weren't really that low, although 143-147 was not my cup of tea and, as mentioned, 170-174 was on cruise control. A great run for sure, both Lee and Kirby were at their best here

[Mad Dog]

I moved over to Tomb of Dracula and I'm 26 issues into that. It's a really refreshing take on horror with some heroic elements. I really like the early Blade as he brought some much needed flavor to the protagonist side of the book. I really enjoyed the crossover with the Werewolf. 

Gene Colan is really becoming a favorite artist for me through this book and his Doctor Strange issues. Just such a great attention to detail. 

[Ricky Jackson]

I've been slowly going through Tomb for about a year and am at #36. I really like it and I should pick up the pace, but it's an easy one to pause for a bit and focus on other things. (so many other things) The cast is great and Dracula himself is such a fascinating character