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December 31, 2010

Retro-Read #39 Brat Pack

Filed under: Retro-Read — Doorman @ 11:36 am

With years spent reading single issues here and there, juggling storylines of dozens of titles, I decided it was time to find a better way to read comics. So, it was off to the back issue bins armed with the longest want list you’ve ever seen! Putting together series after series and reading them in their complete goodness, I was reborn as the Retro-Reader!

Publisher: King Hell
Number of Issues: 5
First Issue: September 1990 ($2.95)
Last Issue: May 1991 ($2.95)
Writer: Rick Veitch
Artist: Rick Veitch

*Warning! Plot Spoilers Below*

When True-Man, the almighty super-hero maximortal, disappeared, a few vigilantes stepped in to keep the streets of Slumburg safe. But, even though they were inspired by the righteous True-Man, it turns out that these heroes have their own dark sides. The main four vigilantes consist of the racist Judge Jury, Midnight Mink the sodomite, the feminist Moon Mistress and the junkie King Rad. Each of these vigilantes has their own kid sidekick: Kid Vicious, Chippy, Luna and Wild Boy, respectively. And, it seems the sidekicks, collectively known as the Brat Pack, are even less-liked by the public than the heroes they serve under. In fact, the series opens up with the public calling for their heads. But, when Doctor Blasphemy kills them all with a car-bomb, the Brat Pack ironically earns the public’s favor.

Now, devoid of their sidekicks, the heroes have to find and train all-new sidekicks. Months of training lead up to an explosive battle between the new sidekicks and Doctor Blasphemy. Meanwhile, the heroes all get thrown into a meltdown as they fear that True-Man has returned and will be unhappy about the way they’ve warped his memory and inspiration. And, by the way, who is Doctor Blasphemy, anyway?

The Bad:

The Good: Brat Pack is considered one of the most important comics works dissecting the super-hero genre. Often listed right behind Frank Miller’s Dark Knight and Alan Moore’s Watchmen.

The Verdict: Continuing the deconstructionist look at super-heroes that began in Dark Knight and Watchmen, Rick Veitch clues us in that not all super heroes are goody-goodies. Some of them have some dark pasts … and even worse, dark presents. Foregoing the Watchmen approach, Veitch emulates the Dark Knight style of storytelling by bringing us into this world of superheroics through the eyes of the newbie-sidekicks. It helps us wrap our minds around the twisted people that the heroes have become. So, when they get their come-uppance in the end, you can’t help but root against them. I’m always impressed when a writer can make you root for the villain (in this case Doctor Blasphemy – more famously, Alan Moore made you root for the terrorist in V For Vendetta) – and this is certainly one of those rare instances.

On Ebay: Brat Pack | Rick Veitch

December 30, 2010

Famous Fanmail #39 Michael Dooney

Filed under: Famous Fanmail — Doorman @ 9:52 am

You may not be surprised to learn that most people in the comic business grew up reading comic books. However, you might be interested in knowing what they were reading. Here’s a look at “Famous Fanmail”!

Michael Dooney has always been closely associated with Mirage Studios and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Over the years, his creator-owned character, Gizmo has starred in three different series and Dooney’s recently provided some wonderful paintings for the TMNT series of the early 2000s. Dooney got a letter printed in Kyra #5 (cover date – Summer 1987) and included a sketch of Kyra and Gizmo.

Kyra letters page with Michael Dooney

On Ebay: Kyra | Michael Dooney | Gizmo

December 29, 2010

Before They Were Comic Book Stars #9 Kelley Jones

Filed under: Before They Were (Comic Book) Stars — Doorman @ 11:03 am

Not every comic writer or artist starts at the top, working on books like Batman or X-Men. In fact, most don’t even start at Marvel or DC. Here’s a look at some work by comic book creators … before they were stars.

Chrome #1 by Kelley JonesWhether or not you’re a fan of his enormous, flowing cape design you’ve got to admit that Kelley Jones has created one of the most memorable Batman looks the character has seen in sixty years. His work on the news-making Knightfall storyline propelled him to comic stardom but, a decade earlier he was cutting his teeth on lower-tier Marvel titles like Micronauts: the New Voyages (1984) and even indy titles like Hot Comics’ Chrome (1986).

Chrome was released during the black and white indy glut of comics hoping to replicate the success of Eastman & Laird’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The unfinished series focused on a mystery trying to discover the true identity of an astronaut sealed within an experimental space-suit.

On Ebay: Kelley Jones

December 28, 2010

Comic Book Cover Swipes Exposed #39 New Avengers

Filed under: Swiped: Comic Book Cover Swipes Exposed! — Doorman @ 3:20 pm

After looking at hundreds of comic book covers, it becomes quickly apparent that not every cover is 100% original. Whether done intentionally or even underhandedly, there’s something about uncovering these “swipes” that adds a new element of fun to reading and collecting comics.

Brian Michael Bendis‘ reboot of the Avengers Franchise kicked off with the Avengers Disassembled storyline which ended the Avengers ongoing title at #503. It left room for his New Avengers title to become one of Marvel’s flagship titles. It’s importance has led to many imitators.

New Avengers #1
New Avengers #1
January 2005
David Finch
G.L.A. #1
G.L.A. #1
June 2005
Paul Pelletier
PvP v2 #20
PvP vol. II #20
October 2005
Scott Kurz
Secret Invasion #1
Secret Invasion #1
June 2008
Gabriele Dell’Otto
Dark Avengers #1
Dark Avengers #1
March 2009
Mike Deodato

On Ebay: Avengers | New Avengers

December 27, 2010

One-Shot At Greatness #39 Thor: the Truth of History

Filed under: One-Shot At Greatness — Doorman @ 10:02 am

Because publishers want you to buy their product every month, comics are typically serial in nature. However, occasionally (and more often nowadays than ever before) publishers launch a comic title that is only meant to last for one issue. While ongoing series often have multiple chances to hook in new readers, the comics highlighted in this ongoing investigations only had One-Shot At Greatness!

Thor: the Truth of History #1Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: December 2008
Cover Price: $3.99
Writer: Alan Davis
Artist: Alan Davis

*Warning! Plot Spoilers Below*

Four thousand years ago, Volstagg the Voluminous inadvertently fell through a mystic gateway controlled by Nedra, Queen of Jotunheim. The gateway transported him to Egypt, where he was captured by the natives in order to be sacrificed to a giant griffin. To save their friend, Thor, Fandral and Hogun have to battle against Pharaoh Neb-Maat‘s forces of soldiers, mutates as well as the afore-mentioned griffin. The battle results in a storm that bring life to this drought-ridden country and reveals the mystery of the Sphinx itself.

Alan Davis delivers a double-sized tale in the spirit of classic silver-age and bronze-age Thor stories. His drawings continue to display his excellent and unique style and his inclusion of the Warriors Three alongside Thor in this adventure was much appreciated. There’s plenty of action to be had as well as a fun theory behind the mystery of the Sphinx. To top it all off, he included cameos by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy as modern-day Egyptologists.

On Ebay: Thor | Alan Davis

December 25, 2010

Minimate Spotlight #32 Ghostbusters

Filed under: Minimate Spotlight — Donny B @ 5:15 pm

Action figures have long been a perfect compliment to comic books, since every kid (or kid at heart) has that natural desire to act out adventures with their favorite heroes off the drawn page. Every so often, a unique style of figure comes along that breaks the mold, so to speak. Each Saturday, Donny B will be showcasing various offerings from Art Asylum’s take on the ‘block figure’, with a weekly spotlight on Minimates.

The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man’s appearance was a key moment in the first Ghostbusters film, as was his destruction. Aside from an “exploding Stay Puft” Minimate, Art Asylum took that scene as a jumping off point for ‘mated variations of the main human characters. Since Peter Venkman didn’t really get any marshmallow goo on him after Stay Puft exploded, we didn’t get a Minimate of him all covered in sticky ghost entrails. The other three, however, may as well have gone swimming in a pool of Marshmallow Fluff.

Since it’s Christmas, I felt like doing a seasonal image for Minimate Spotlight… and since we’re in the middle of looking at the Ghostbusters movie line, I thought that the “Gooey” releases would fit in well with a snow fight scene. And I also wanted to find a way to work the Dana Barrett Minimate into an image – and this seemed like a perfect opportunity!

Behind the Image:

Again, I took the straight-up-photography approach with this image. I used some snow covered trees from a train set and a blue board for sky, set up lights, and took the photo. Very simple, very quick.

On Ebay: Ghostbusters
On AtomicAvenue: Ghostbusters

December 24, 2010

Retro-Read #38 U.S. 1

Filed under: Retro-Read — Doorman @ 9:14 am

With years spent reading single issues here and there, juggling storylines of dozens of titles, I decided it was time to find a better way to read comics. So, it was off to the back issue bins armed with the longest want list you’ve ever seen! Putting together series after series and reading them in their complete goodness, I was reborn as the Retro-Reader!

Publisher: Marvel Comics
Number of Issues: 12
First Issue: May 1983 (60¢)
Last Issue: October 1984 (60¢)
Writer: Al Milgrom
Artist: Herb Trimpe, Frank Springer, Steve Ditko (#12)

*Warning! Plot Spoilers Below*

After graduating from college with degrees in computer program design and electronics engineering, Ulysses Solomon Archer‘s passion for the road landed him in the passenger’s seat of his brother’s rig. One fateful night, they were driven off the road by the mysterious Highwayman. Somehow, U.S. survived the crash but his brother, Jefferson, had gone missing! An experimental metal was formed to replace U.S.’s shattered skull – crafted from an alloy that gave him the ability to focus CB channels and other frequencies into his brain. U.S. geared up his own rig, U.S. 1, with lots of high-tech weapons and even a remote control that he could control with his brain, in order to prepare for the Highwayman’s return.

As the series continued, U.S. spent his quieter time at the Short Stop Truck Stop alongside his friends Poppa Wheelie, Wide Load Annie, Retread, Mary McGrill and Taryn O’Connell. However, the Highwayman was quick to continue his attack and sent his lackies, Midnight and Baron Von Blimp, in attempts to capture U.S. Eventually, Archer defeated all of these villains and even the ‘big boss’, himself. But, it’s at this point that the series took a strange turn as U.S. 1 and the Highwayman engaged in a competition to be Earth’s first space trucker!

The Bad: The main hero is such a stereotypical, boring, plain hero. Even his “super-powers” (a CB Skull and a weaponized tractor trailer) aren’t all that interesting.

The Good: Milgrom built up quite a few mysteries in the book. What’s the secret identity of Midnight? What happened to Jefferson Archer? What’s the secret behind the Highwayman?

The Verdict: In the early 1980s, Tyco approached Marvel to create a comic based on a remote-controlled toy truck they were developing. The toy was never released but Marvel had already begun working on their first maxi-series (this predates Secret Wars). U.S. Archer was also the first trucking super hero to get his own series. Although, it should be mentioned that he’s not the first trucking super hero. Razorback predates him by quite a number of years.

Within these twelve issues, our hero undergoes quite a journey. There are some not-so-startling revelations and if you guessed where this series ends up without any inside information, you might want to check yourself for precog abilities. However, there are still two main concerns with this series. The first is that, as most comics from this time period do, each issue has to spend a significant amount of time reminding us of what’s happened before, who the characters are, and what abilities our hero has. Now, I suppose this is fine if you’re reading just one issue or if you’re reading one issue a month but if you read the series in its entirety in a short amount of time, it just gets kind of annoying. Secondly, and more importantly, the main hero is quite bland. He’s a duddly do-right character with no visible flaws. He always does the right thing and he’s not all that personable. At least, not in this series … although subsequent appearances (most recently in Avengers: the Infinity Gauntlet) have made him more enjoyable. Experience it for the ride – or skip it for a more character-driven read (like say Way’s Deadpool). Either way works.

On Ebay: U.S. 1 | Al Milgrom | Frank Springer

December 23, 2010

Famous Fanmail #38 Stan Lee

Filed under: Famous Fanmail — Doorman @ 10:49 am

You may not be surprised to learn that most people in the comic business grew up reading comic books. However, you might be interested in knowing what they were reading. Here’s a look at “Famous Fanmail”!

If you’re reading this blog, and you don’t know who Stan Lee is – you’re probably lost. Anywho, Stan sent an encouraging letter which was printed in New Avengers #3 (cover date – March 2005).

New Avengers letters page with Stan Lee

On Ebay: New Avengers | Stan Lee

December 22, 2010

Celebrity Cameos #6 Stan Lee

Filed under: Celebrity Cameos — Doorman @ 1:41 pm

Some of the best parts of movies like Old School and Zombieland are their unexpected celebrity cameos. The same thing happens in comics, every once in a while. Here’s a look at another Celebrity Cameo!

If you’re reading this blog and you don’t know who Stan Lee is – then you’re probably lost. In New Avengers Annual #1, Stan was the priest who married Luke Cage and Jessica Jones!

On Ebay: Stan Lee

December 21, 2010

Comic Book Cover Swipes Exposed #38 Avengers

Filed under: Swiped: Comic Book Cover Swipes Exposed! — Doorman @ 10:12 am

After looking at hundreds of comic book covers, it becomes quickly apparent that not every cover is 100% original. Whether done intentionally or even underhandedly, there’s something about uncovering these “swipes” that adds a new element of fun to reading and collecting comics.

Marvel’s MC2 Universe is set around 15-20 years beyond the current Marvel Universe. MC2’s version of the Avengers frequently enjoyed Avengers cover swipes.

Avengers #73
Avengers #73
February 1970

A-Next #9
A-Next #9
June 1999
Ron Frenz

On Ebay: Avengers | A-Next

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