Comic books and Manga Thread

[Ricky Jackson]

1 hour ago, Mad Dog said:

Speaking of Gerber and the Defenders. Has anyone ever resolved the Elf with a gun? 

It was "resolved" about 5 issues after Gerber's run ended. Then years later it was brought back when DeMatteis was the writer but I've haven't read those issues 

[ohtani's jacket]

The first few issues of John Buscema's run on Conan the Barbarian were a bit rough, but I liked issue 27 enough that I decided to keep reading the book. I was still hankering for some Barry Smith Conan, though, so I read the first issue of Savage Tales. I'm pretty sure the Frost Giant's Daughter story was printed in Conan the Barbarian, Savage Sword of Conan and Savage Tales, but it's a nice short story. What really impressed me was how good the rest of Savage Tales was. An anthology with Barry Smith, John Romita, Gray Marrow, Gene Colan, and John Buscema doing non-Comic Code art? It's a travesty that it was cancelled after the first issue. It could have been an amazing outlet for Marvel's finest to do mature comic book work. Sure, the stories are full of scantily clad women, and Stan Lee has some weird sexual politics going on in his stories, but I don't think Man-Thing was ever better than the origin story in Savage Tales #1. Maybe I'm a sucker for the black and white art, but it felt closer to Bernie Wrightson's Swamp Thing than the Man-Thing stories that followed. 

I also started reading Michael Golden's run on Micronauts which has been supremely fun. It doesn't feel like a Marvel comic at all. I feel like I'm reading an 80s independent publisher like First or Comico. 

[Graham Crackers]

42 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

The first few issues of John Buscema's run on Conan the Barbarian were a bit rough, but I liked issue 27 enough that I decided to keep reading the book. I was still hankering for some Barry Smith Conan, though, so I read the first issue of Savage Tales. I'm pretty sure the Frost Giant's Daughter story was printed in Conan the Barbarian, Savage Sword of Conan and Savage Tales, but it's a nice short story. What really impressed me was how good the rest of Savage Tales was. An anthology with Barry Smith, John Romita, Gray Marrow, Gene Colan, and John Buscema doing non-Comic Code art? It's a travesty that it was cancelled after the first issue. It could have been an amazing outlet for Marvel's finest to do mature comic book work. Sure, the stories are full of scantily clad women, and Stan Lee has some weird sexual politics going on in his stories, but I don't think Man-Thing was ever better than the origin story in Savage Tales #1. Maybe I'm a sucker for the black and white art, but it felt closer to Bernie Wrightson's Swamp Thing than the Man-Thing stories that followed.

Well you're in luck because it ran for eleven issues including Smith's adaptation of Red Nails in numbers 2 & 3! Though I prefer the way Red Nails looked in color in the Marvel Treasury Edition. BWS always looked better when he had a hand in the coloring process.

In general I'm quite fond of the various 70s black & white comics magazines. I think a lot of the Buscema stuff from Savage Sword of Conan gets a bit samey but reading a random issue when I come across one it is still clearly at a higher level than most Marvel and DC comics from that time. There's a great Alex Niño story in an issue of  Savage Sword of Conan that's also worth checking out.

I like some work from a few other Marvel black & white mags, specifically Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, Bizarre Adventures, and Vampire Tales. Sutton, Gulacy, and Rogers were great at using texture in monochrome. The Rogers/Claremont Daughters of the Dragon stories were amusing exploitation comics, clearly influenced by stuff like Ms. 45 and I Spit on Your Grave but with a little Russ Meyer.

The Warren magazines have some lows, especially later in the 70s, but the best work (anything by Richard Corben, Night of the Jackass, the occasional Ditko, Toth, or Grandenetti story) are the best comics in that North American horror tradition.

[Ricky Jackson]

I've seen a lot of praise for the magazine version of Planet of the Apes. I had a few issues when I was a kid because I was a big fan of the movies. Plan on reading the run eventually.

The confusion with Savage Tales is probably because it was canceled after one issue but Stan brought it back after he became publisher over a year later. Red Nails is really good. I finally got a copy of the 80s color reprint last year 

[TheDuke]

3 hours ago, Ricky Jackson said:

I've seen a lot of praise for the magazine version of Planet of the Apes. I had a few issues when I was a kid because I was a big fan of the movies. Plan on reading the run eventually.

Wow I never even heard of this magazine before. That sounds awesome.

[ohtani's jacket]

When they brought Savage Tales back it was as a Conan mag, and then a Ka-Zar mag. They didn't continue the stories that they'd started in the first issue. 

[Graham Crackers]

On 2/4/2021 at 9:26 AM, Ricky Jackson said:

I've seen a lot of praise for the magazine version of Planet of the Apes. I had a few issues when I was a kid because I was a big fan of the movies. Plan on reading the run eventually.

The confusion with Savage Tales is probably because it was canceled after one issue but Stan brought it back after he became publisher over a year later. Red Nails is really good. I finally got a copy of the 80s color reprint last year 

Ha, I never noticed the Savage Tales publishing gap before.

There used to be a video on youtube of Moench claiming that events he wrote for Planet of the Apes stories began to leak into the real world including a prediction of someone breaking into his home. He's a wacky guy. 

[ohtani's jacket]

I finished up the Squadron Supreme mini-series today. Lots of interesting ideas about superhero comics in keeping with what a lot of the British writers were doing in the 80s. I can see the parallels with Watchmen except that the writing and artwork is obviously superior in Watchmen. The thing that kept bugging me is that even though I enjoyed the way Thomas used the Squadron Supreme in the Avengers, what's the point in introducing these DC copies into the Marvel Universe? If the DC characters are so iconic, and you want to work with them so desperately, then why not jump ship and work for the opposition? I get that Gruenwald used the characters, and their alternate universe, to tell the kind of story he couldn't with the Avengers or the Fantastic Four, but the entire concept of the Squadron Supreme is strange to me. And I say that as someone who loves Astro City and all of the homages/tributes in that series. 

[Beast]

6 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said:

I finished up the Squadron Supreme mini-series today. Lots of interesting ideas about superhero comics in keeping with what a lot of the British writers were doing in the 80s. I can see the parallels with Watchmen except that the writing and artwork is obviously superior in Watchmen. The thing that kept bugging me is that even though I enjoyed the way Thomas used the Squadron Supreme in the Avengers, what's the point in introducing these DC copies into the Marvel Universe? If the DC characters are so iconic, and you want to work with them so desperately, then why not jump ship and work for the opposition? I get that Gruenwald used the characters, and their alternate universe, to tell the kind of story he couldn't with the Avengers or the Fantastic Four, but the entire concept of the Squadron Supreme is strange to me. And I say that as someone who loves Astro City and all of the homages/tributes in that series. 

Thomas and Justice League Of America writer Mike Friedrich each included versions of the other companies' characters at the same time as kind of secret crossover (not to necessarily create lasting characters). So Thomas' Avengers met the Squadron Sinister/Supreme while Friedrich's JLA met the Champions Of Angor which included Thor, Scarlet Witch, Yellowjacket and Quicksilver analogues. The Angor characters didn't have the staying power of the Squadron, but did reappear during the great Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire JLI run with some frequency. 

Thomas was certainly indulging in fanservice, but that sort of pseudo crossover happened from time to time in the '70s with so many fans/friends becoming writers at Marvel & DC. Another example is the surprisingly large amount of comics set at the Rutland, Vermont Halloween Parade during this period. Englehart, Wein, Conway, Thomas, Friedrich, etc... all loved to find ways to connect to the opposite companies characters.

[ohtani's jacket]

Thanks for that info, Beast.

I finished Red Nails. It's a classic no doubt, but what I really want to draw attention to was Roy Thomas saying it might be the last issue of Savage Tales. It really does seem like they had trouble publishing these magazine format comics,  which is a shame because they are a clear precursor to the rise of independent comics, graphic novels, and comics for mature readers. If that trend had begun earlier we would have seen some amazing creator driven stuff in the 70s.

[Ricky Jackson]

Ok, so I've been reading old comics like crazy for about 9 months now. Recently finished/paused some longer runs so I thought I'd give my thoughts on favorites, underrated/overrated, creators, etc over this time. 

Favourite reads (no particular order)

Starlin's Captain Marvel and Warlock: I dunno, I just really like Starlin's art. These two runs aren't perfect but I found them a quick and easy read. Especially liked Captain Marvel. Plus, Death of Captain Marvel graphic novel was great 

Englehart's Avengers: Had been wanting to read this run (105-150, with plot credits for 151-52, plus four Giant Size issues) for many years, and it did not disappoint. It peaks with the end of the Mantis saga and the wedding of Vision and Scarlet Witch in Giant Size #4 imo. It runs out of a bit of steam for the last 12 or so issues, but George Perez does take over the art chores, so that's a major plus considering it was musical chairs before him

Englehart's Dr.Strange 1973-1975: Started this in 2018 and finally finished it last March before my reading explosion. Great stuff, especially with Frank Brunner on art

Defenders 1971-1976: Originally I was just going to read Gerber's run (20-41) but decided to start from the very beginning (Marvel Feature #1), and I'm glad I did. Through Thomas, Englehart, Wein and Gerber you get a bunch of fun characters, wacky stories and solid Sal Buschema art. Always put a smile on my face. Maybe my ultimate covid comic comfort food

Tomb of Dracula 1972-1974: I've been taking it slow with this series but I've enjoyed almost everything so far (though #24). A few missteps, and writer musical chairs early on, but once Wolfman finds his stride (with the great Gene Colon on art from #1) this is really good. Great cast of characters, with Dracula himself an all-time great

New Frontier: Started to dip into comics from approximately 2000-2010 in a bid to catch up on stuff I missed.(will do 2011-? later this year) This is a great series, and a love letter to 50s-60s DC

Unstable Molecules: This came out around 2003 and is basically an indie-style take on the Fantastic Four. Highly recommended 

FF Grand Design/Spider-Man: Life Story: Put these two series together as they are similar throwback/fresh takes on old concepts books. Also among the newest comics I've read (2019). Grand Design, by new fave Tom Scioli, supposes that the story of the FF from 1961 to about 1986 or so was planned out from start to finish from day one, while Life Story attempts to tell the history of Spider Man as if everything progressed in real time, with Peter in his 70s by 2019. Really fun stuff for a longtime fan of both FF and Spidey like myself. X Men: Grand Design by Ed Piskor is also good

Astro City, vol 12: I'm a longtime Astro City fan and plan to get around to everything I've missed, which is basically the last 6-7 volumes. Kindle Unlimited had everything for free as part of a sub and I was going to sign up at a discount and read them that way. Unfortunately, all Astro City stuff has been pulled from Kindle and Comixology for some reason. Volume 12 was the only one I got around to on Comixology. Great stuff in this one, mostly a tale about longtime on again, off again lovers Quarrel and Crackerjack dealing with getting too old for crime fighting

Jack Kirby bio by Tom Scioli: This came out last summer and I highly recommend it for Kirby fans. Really detailed graphic story of the King's life done by an artist who loves his work (see also FF: Grand Design) 

Enjoyable but inconsistent/missing something 

Thomas/Adams' X Men: Mostly just skimmed though this for the art by Neal Adams, which was pretty top notch, done just before he became huge with Green Lantern/Green Arrow and Batman. Considering what came before for the X Men in the 60s, this was definitely the peak of the title before being doomed to 5 years as a reprint mag, even with Thomas' dialogue not exactly aging well

Gerber's Man Thing 1972-1974: One of my main missions of the last year was to finally read Gerber's 70s output, which was relatively difficult to accomplish 20 years ago during my last fandom peak. Man Thing was up and down, as the years have dulled the satire a bit. When it hits (such as with the Superman spoof, Wundarr) it's great, but a lot of the run is pretty average. Mike Ploog's art during the second half is awesome, though 

Kirby's Jimmy Olsen and the Demon: Another mission was to go through the 70s Kirby I haven't read (basically everything besides New Gods, Forever People, and Mister Miracle). Olsen was fun, especially at the start of the run. I thought the Demon was pretty good most of the time, but also kinda petered out at the end. Going to go back to the 50s for my next Kirby fix, with Challengers of the Unknown. Then, I think, either Kamandi or the Eternals

Englehart's Captain America: This run (153-186) started off great with the return of the 50s Cap and Bucky, now deranged due to taking the Super Soldier serum without being exposed to the supplemental "Vita rays", which prevent eventual insanity. After that the book kinda meanders until the big Secret Empire saga, which was hit and miss imo. A disillusioned Cap subsequently quitting, hitting the road, and becoming Nomad, with the Falcon picking up the slack in NYC, and a succession of ill-prepared replacement Cap's running around, is a better story. The less said about end of the run, featuring an extremely ill-conceived retcon of the Falcon's origin, the better

Panther's Rage by McGregor: Great art throughout (Jungle Action 6-18), but McGregor's purple prose almost killed me by the end

Ditko's Shade the Changing Man: Maybe Ditko's last hurrah? Definitely a fun, offbeat science fiction story, with a Dr. Strange vibe to the art (the covers are particularly great). Just as things were kicking into another gear, the book was canceled as part of the infamous DC Implosion of 1978

Grell's Longbow Hunters: This was pretty good. Great art. I probably would've been more into it if I was more of a Green Arrow fan

Hickman's Fantastic Four: I've really liked a lot of this long run (2009-2012), especially the whole Council of Reeds concept and the "death" of Johnny Storm arc. The fact you get actual character development, not to mention evolution of the FF concept itself, is refreshing for a mag in its 50th year. However, the resolution (and a lot of the journey) of two years of storyline was more than a bit bloated, especially when it splits into two titles with #600. Loved the touching look into the future story in #605. Still not done this, so I may bump it into my favorites by the end

Swamp Thing 2011: Huge old time Swamp Thing fan, so I gave this a go after hearing praise for it on the Comics Canon podcast. Just read the first 7 issues. Good but not great. Need to read the next arc eventually 

Daredevil: Yellow: Plan on finishing all the Loeb and Sale "colour" mini series'. I had only read, and loved, Spider Man: Blue before. This was ok. Frank Miller had covered a lot of this ground already, so it didn't feel as "new" to me. I guess if I had read this when it first came out, when Karen Page's death was still a recent development, I would've enjoyed this more. I also haven't read much of 1960s DD outside of the original 11 issues, so I dont have an attachment to her as a character. Going to try Hulk: Gray next 

Nothing special/skimmed 

Kirby's New Gods coda: I really liked "Even Gods Must Die", the 1984 sequel to New Gods that was included in the baxter reprints of the original series. Very much an Empire Strikes Back feel, with Orion being left for dead at the end after finally confronting Darkseid. Hunger Dogs, the graphic novel finale, left me kinda cold. It felt like a totally different story than what had come before in many ways. The way Kirby illustrated Darkseid being left alone and pathetic was great, though

Prez: This was another one I had wanted to read back in the day just because the premise sounded so wacky. This was...definitely wacky, much like most of Joe Simon's 70s output. This was like the comic book equivalent of watching Alice's Restuarant or something, an artifact of an era where you really needed to be there to fully appreciate it, maybe  

Gerber's Guardians of the Galaxy (Marvel Presents 3-9): I think I need a break from Gerber. This was not without its charms. The characters are mostly likable. I especially liked Martinex, who always strives to be good and do the right thing, and Vance Astro, who is having a really, really hard time coping with being a thousand year old man who will turn to dust if he takes off his costume. Plus you get the crazy metaphorical cosmic sex scene between Vance and Nikki in issue 7!

World's Greatest Comic Magazine: This came out to coincide with the FFs 40th anniversary in 2001. The concept is "what if Stan and Jack ended their run on FF with an epic storyline that put a bow on the first 102 issues?" This was mostly fun, but a little hollow. A bunch of different artists do their best Kirby impression, Dr. Doom becomes godlike, but in the end 12 issues was a bit much for me (and as you can tell, I was on a bit of an FF kick last year) 

The Order: I saw this mentioned as something recommended from Marvel from the last 20 years. It's a Defenders story by Kurt Busiek, and after finishing Gerber's run I thought I'd check it out. It's good but not terribly memorable or anything. Defenders mega fans will probably really like it 

Strange Tales (2009-10): I just skimmed through these issues, which was an anthology series of indie talent doing mostly comical takes on Marvel characters. Some really funny stuff (Banner having to turn into the Hulk in order to open a jar of pickles was my fave), some really esoteric stuff, and some really weird stuff all together by some really talented creators. Six giant sized issues was a bit too much for a limited concept, though

Dick Tracy: Dead or Alive: I've always been a Tracy fan going back to the late 80s and Blackthorne reprints. This had Mike Allred involvement, and he's one of my faves. That said, this didnt do it for me. The art just seemed...wrong. I guess my main complaint is this just didnt feel like the Dick Tracy I know and love, so it was hard for me to get into (and I'm not just a Gould fan, I've also enjoyed Collins/Fletcher and Staton/Curtis over the years) 

Early-70s Ghost Rider: Ploog's art is wonderful, but the story didnt hook me to survive past his time on the book

Not Brand Echh: Another one I just skimmed though (dear God, there is more text than a 19th century novel), pretty much entirely for the artists. Love Marie Severin, and it's great seeing Colon doing humour 

Fun

Spidey/Torch 2005: Saw this recommended and decided to check it out. Fun, easy read. Plan on checking out Slott's She Hulk eventually 

Marvel Two in One 1-7: These are so much fun. I plan on resuming this eventually and also going through Marvel Team Up (only read the first 4 issues so far) 

Not Good

America vs the Justice Society: I'm a HUGE Earth 2 fan. I remember trying to find these issues many years ago, before it was reprinted, with no luck. Turns it it wasn't worth the wait. Talk about your 19th century novels, Jesus Christ, Roy! Also, the convoluted plot really doesn't make sense. Desperately needed Jerry Ordway on art, but not sure if even he could've saved this. Big letdown

[Beast]

Great read, thanks for sharing. Very wide-ranging list. A lot of those '70s runs have always sounded interesting, but Englehart/Gerber/Thomas/McGregor and the like must have been paid by the word. Your reviews are helpful in picking out what has aged best. I was just thinking about how the '80s runs by Byrne/Claremont/Miller/Simonson et al are huge defining runs for their characters, while the '70s are in this weird place of creating a lot of important characters and featuring some important plot lines, but with a totally different (maybe more laissez-faire) feel.

I'm not familiar with Busiek's "The Order", but Matt Fraction's unrelated comic of the same name is supposedly very good. He also has a really fun Fantastic Four/FF two title run, with the latter especially playing great homage to the Lee/Kirby run; art by Allred.

What's in your current pile?

 

[Ricky Jackson]

Thanks!

Yes, Fraction and Allred's FF is on tap as soon as I conclude Hickman's run. It looks super fun!

For the place in my life I'm in right now, the 70s have been the perfect super warm blanket I need. Nothing too serious, let alone deconstructionist or cynical (ok, Gerber could get pretty dark). Just solid superhero stories featuring old pals like Cap, the Hulk, Thor, Spidey, and new faves like Mantis, Demon, Dr. Strange, Valkyrie and Count Dracula. The stories are definitely more verbose than what comes later, but at the same time, the page counts were shorter, so each issue is pretty easy to get though. I've also been pacing myself, trying not to binge too fast, and balancing it out with more modern stuff.

Right now I'm reading Englehart's 1976-77 JLA run as a sequal/contrast to his Avengers. Planning on starting Kirby's Challengers of the Unknown, and Ploog and Gary Friedrich's Monster of Frankenstein, as a bit of a companion piece before resuming Tomb of Dracula. Also going to give Brother Voodoo a go, just to satiate more 70s curiosity

[Graham Crackers]

I had a good mail day yesterday. I got the third issue of Grave Horticulture, one of my favorite ongoing comic concerns of the last few years (along with Golden Kamuy though I'm behind on that series). What Copra is to Suicide Squad, Grave Horticulture is to the old Midnight Sons line, but with an emphasis on the grotesque, and a sense of setting.

Otherwise I've been reading Englehart's West Coast Avengers run. I think I want to like Englehart more than I actually like him but these are still amusing enough. Their juxtaposition of square superheroing and loads of adult neurosis reminds me of the comic David Boring's dad drew in David Boring.

[ohtani's jacket]

I finished up the Dark Ages storyline in Astro City. The Silver Agent special was really moving. Not ashamed to say I got a bit teary-eyed at the end. The next series was really jarring, though. That Broken Man character and the manga chibi character that I can't say I really appreciated (felt like a stereotypical representation of manga/anime to me, though I'm sure it wasn't meant as a swipe at the culture.) For all the talk of Dark Ages being difficult to get through, the new series is the one that has caught me off guard. 

Still going strong with Starman. It drifts from time to time with crossovers and flashbacks, but when it focuses on the core relationships between the characters and doesn't try to be too hip, it's as solid a superhero title as I've read in a mighty long time. It's interesting because I'm still not sure if I like the lead character or not, but I love the world around him. 

Jonah Hex has been enjoyable. When Michael Fleisher came on board, he fleshed out Hex's backstory a bit, but the title is still largely episodic. I can accept that, though it does become repetitious if you binge read it. I try not to read too much of it at a time.

Buscema is starting to get into his stride on Conan, although I sometimes feel like his Conan looks too old. I felt the same way about Buscema's Wolverine, who looked ancient when he drew him in Marvel Comics Present and the solo title. I wasn't aware of the backlash over Buscema taking over from Smith. For a guy who is largely accepted as the definitive Conan penciller, he wasn't well received in the beginning. Roy Thomas even addressed it the letters page, giving a lengthy response to a fan who complained bitterly about the change. 

Micronauts kind of fell off a cliff. Apparently, there was some type of conflict between Shooter, Mantlo and Golden over whether Micronauts should be set in the Marvel Universe. Golden lost interest in the book when Shooter and Mantlo got their wish and had Marvel characters appear. The book lost some of its intrigue after that, though I didn't mind the Man-Thing appearance, and Man-Thing is a title I have been struggling to get through. It's really hard to get into a book where the main character can't think or feel. Gerber's satire does nothing for me at this point, and I honestly wish the book was a creepy gothic horror like the Man Thing story in Savage Tales. I guess I wish it was Swamp Thing.

Speaking of Gerber, am I a philistine or is Howard the Duck not very funny?

I began reading All-Star Squadron again, sort of inspired by the use of Golden Age characters in Starman. I know it's a loving tribute to Golden Age characters, but I can only read a little bit at a time because of the tone. I guess I cut my teeth on grim superheroes and have never really warmed to more wholesome stuff.

I've been slowly making my way through Mark Waid's run on Flash. So far I've really enjoyed the arc where Barry Allen returned and I also liked the storyline where Wally had a meltdown over not being able to save that woman from horrific injuries, but aside from that I don't really see what's so special about Waid's run. I enjoyed the Baron and William Messner-Loebs' runs far more. That is partly due to nostalgia as I used to hunt for those runs in secondhand bookstores when I was a kid (my primary means of tracking down back issues before I discovered that comic book stores existed, which incidentally was a glorious day in my life.) Waid's run feels generic in comparison and the art has become really cartoony. 

Aside from that, I have been re-reading 60s Doom Patrol, which is one of my favorite titles from the Silver Age, and I am making my way through the 5 Year Later run of Legion of Super-Heroes, though I still don't understand what's going on. That book used to intrigue me whenever I'd go to the comic book store and pick up that free Direct Currents newsletter. It was a book I also wanted to get into, but it was one of the expensive titles. I cannot understand what is going on from one issue to the next. The last time I read it, it was after going through the famous Legion runs, and I don't remember being this confused. 
 

[Shrike02]

Silver Agent special is a real gem. I don't tear up easily reading comics but that story got me sniffling too.

[ohtani's jacket]

I took the plunge and began reading Grant Morrison's X-Men. It was a bit jarring at first as I couldn't relate to how the characters looked or spoke. There's no real explanation as to why this group are the current incarnation of the team, and the art is off-putting, especially the way Quitely draws Cyclops. By the third issue there were enough hooks to keep me interested.

I followed Michael Golden from Micronauts to The 'Nam. I'm not sure what I was expecting from this book, but Golden's cartoony style surprised me. Sometimes it looks like a daily strip about 'Nam. I guess in my mind I associate Vietnam with stark realism. I'm not saying it's bad. It's just different from what I expected. 

I also followed Barry Windsor-Smith onto Weapon X. I'm thinking that might have been a mistake. Fantastic art, but there's nothing in the story that rises above the early 90s comics milieu. Not yet, anyway. 

[Matt D]

Gillen’s X-Men > Morrison’s X-Men

[ohtani's jacket]

I don't know who Gillen is, but I am far from trying any other post-94 X-Men. Baby steps. 

[Matt D]

8 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

I don't know who Gillen is, but I am far from trying any other post-94 X-Men. Baby steps. 

I’ll introduce you to his Journey into Mystery later.

[ohtani's jacket]

I am completely up to date with Attack on Titan. I think the last chapter comes out next month. Wow. So many twists and turns. I have no idea who is good or bad, right or wrong. The story became so big that it could have easily spiraled out of control, but it was gripping up until the penultimate chapter. One of the great manga series.

The Jonah Hex stories have greater continuity once he gets his own title. I'm up to the origin story. It was all right. I would have gone in a different direction with the facial scars, but Fleischer's reveal was decent enough. 

Conan the Barbarian continues to be a great book. The Conan books were definitely a highwater mark for 70s Marvel. It's amazing how much b*tching went on in the letter column, however. So many complaints about one of the great Marvel books. 

I have taken it as my self-appointed duty to find good Marvel books from the 90s. So far, I've started reading the Inhumans mini-series by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee, Earth X, and Punisher War Zone. I also read Amazing Spider-Man #400. 

Inhumans was decent, but the art isn't fluid. I guess it doesn't matter since there's so much narration over the top of it. Earth X was a slog. Amazing Spider-Man #400 was okay, but I prefer the work J. M. DeMatteis did on Spectacular Spider-Man and thought SSM #200 was a better anniversary story. Punisher was probably the most fun of the lot. It helps that I like early 90s JRJR artwork, but like a good genre flick, it's not trying to be anything more than what it is.

I also started reading Comico's Jonny Quest. That second issue. Wow. A tearjerker that early? 

[Ricky Jackson]

I loved Earth X in real time. I've never read it again. I could see it being a slog, since it was like 14 total issues, and reading it all in a short period is different than spacing it out monthly one issue at a time. I was really taken by the epic scope of it all, and at the time I totally bought the "origin of everything" conclusion and how they tied the ending to the original Human Torch, the beginning of the MU. 

Busiek and Perez's Avengers from the late 90s may be worth a look OJ, even if just to contrast it with Busiek's Astro City as two different approaches to super hero comics. That was another series I loved at the time. Looks great if nothing else

[Matt D]

I think the real joy of Earth X was in the previews/Wizard and the guidebook/handbook, just seeing the sketches and learning about the world they mapped out. As a teenager, I enjoyed that way more than reading the actual story. Kingdom Come, on the other hand, work as both a story and that. With Kingdom Come, there were so many tiny background characters that actually had fleshed out backstories and personalities that you could only learn about through secondary media.

[Ricky Jackson]

Yeah, I was definitely hooked by the Wizard preview and couldn't wait until the series started. I loved Kingdom Come as well and poured over the Wizard issue that explained the Easter eggs. Late 90s was a fun time, coming after the worst of the violent characters, hot artists, cover gimmicks, and speculation bubble, things were scaled back and story became important again. I have real fond memories of collecting then. I read a lot of cool stuff for the first time, hunting through the back issue bins for 80s runs every week. Between new stuff, old stuff and trades I spent an absolute ridiculous amount of $ on comics back then 

[Beast]

I love Earth X, but also haven't read it in a good decade. I found the followup series to be more a collection of cool ideas with not much in between, but I love the concept, Leon's art, the intricacies of the universe explored and just how crazy it gets.

Appreciate the effort a whole lot and someday soon I should re-read, plus finally read the newer followups.