Or – “Here’s A Real Tough One To Find…” This summer has been tremendously successful for back issue purchases, and one of our recent hauls at the store (Gatekeeper Hobbies, Huntoon & Gage, Topeka! Ask us about our Evel Knievel #1) included a large collection of promotional and freebie comics, books that are rare even by comic print-run standards. Because of the sheer number of books we’ve picked up, I was ready to toss this book in the 3 For A Dollar bin, but fortunately I consulted my pricing guide first, and was nearly knocked off of my chair. Righting…
Browsing: Retro Review
Or – “What Happens AFTER An Iconic Run…” Legendary creators Jack Kirby and Stan Lee did a notorious one-hundred-four issue run on Fantastic Four in the Silver Age, a feat that was almost as amazing then as it is now. Of course, the creators who picked up the reins with #105 had a pretty tough row to hoe, and few of the events of the immediate-post Kirby run have long-lasting ramifications. Of course, depending on your definition of “ramifications” (and possibly your definition of “long-lasting”) there are some interesting bits and pieces in these less-iconic seventies comics… Your Major Spoilers…
Or – “I Hear There’s This Movie Thing…” As often remarked on the Major Spoilers Podcast, I don’t necessarily rush out to see any movie, even those based on the comic books that I enjoy. As such, I often hear all about the films long before I check them out myself, such as with the recent release of ‘Man Of Steel,’ whose plot-points have caused many fanboys to name-check a certain 25-year-old Superman issue. Quarter-century old comics? This looks like a job for ME! Your Major Spoilers (retro) review awaits!
Or – “The Father Who Makes Us All A Little Jealous…” I haven’t seen this new ‘Man Of Steel’ movie, but from the advertising, I suspect that it might have something to do with Superman. Having read a few comics with Big Blue in them over the years, I had been thinking about one to cover this weekend when I was suddenly reminded that it was also Father’s Day. Given those two parameters, there was one clear winner, but I’ll warn you in advance: I had to bust out my handkerchief, and you might as well, when you hear about…
Or – “A Dramatic Debut Of Another Stripe…” These days, I have been known to joke that IDW and Dynamite are fighting to see who can option the last licensed property first, but once upon a time, Marvel Comics was the king of adaptations. Back then, though, the House of Ideas usually did their adaptations in-universe, which led to moments like Shang-Chi rising and advancing from their adaptation of Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu novels. And then, there was 2001. How weird could it get? You’re about to find out. Your Major Spoilers (retro) review awaits!
Or – “Perhaps The First Time A Comic Made Me Want To Cry… Once upon a time, I was as new to the comics game as young Zach is today, picking up John Byrne’s Fantastic Four and the Thomas/Ordway All-Star Squadron issues without realizing how unusual their quality was. Of course, even those books paled next to the excellence of the Wolfman/Perez Teen Titans series, a book I fell into right as the Judas Contract was kicking off. By the time this issue came out, I was hooked on the Junior Justice League, and you’re about to see why. Your…
Or – “Not Everyone Gets To Be The Red Ranger…” When it comes to your Japanese five-person super-teams, there are a few rules of thumb. You get a leader, usually the upstanding hero and/or rookie. You get a comic-relief character. You get a girl. You get yourself big guy. And, to round out the group, there’s often a mysterious loner, the brooding bad boy outcast, the guy who has an axe to grind, but still quietly respects the other members of his group. This is a story about the first of those loners… Your Major Spoilers (retro) review awaits!
Or – “Yeah, This Is Totally An Annual.” Everyone knows the story of young Peter Parker; a young nerd empowered by an uncanny accident with the proportional speed and strength of a spider, who learned a lesson about power and responsibility through a tragic loss. Indeed, the death of his Uncle Ben and the status of his frail Aunt May is the cornerstone of Pete’s story, even fifty years later, but one question often goes unasked: How did he get orphaned and left in his Aunt & Uncle’s care in the first place? Your Major Spoilers (retro) review awaits!
Or – “There Was Another Side To The Story…” Many comics fans in the 80s were amazed when Marvel published the Squadron Supreme limited series, a story which basically featured the Justice League attempting to rebuild their world after society’s collapse. Of course, back in February of ’71, when Roy Thomas created the original Squadron, his good friend Mike Freidrich was writing the ACTUAL JLA title, which leads us to the reason why they resembled the League and… …the REST of the story. Your Major Spoilers (retro) review awaits!
Or – “Does Whatever An Atom Can!” There are a lot of reasons why a book might make it into my Retro Review pile. Some books are fan-favorites, others are culturally significant. Some are wonderful, while others are awful in the most charming of ways. Some are suggested by Faithful Spoilerites, others commanded by the Powers That Be… And sometimes, just sometimes, a book is only special enough to become a Retro Review because of the fact that, at some point, it utterly fascinated me. This is one of those cases. Your Major Spoilers (retro) review awaits!
Or – “Days Of Future Black-And-White…” After the big alternative comix boom of the 1970s, even Marvel Comics fell into periods of experimental and unusual storytelling. Their black-and-white magazine line featured the likes of Conan, Dracula, and occasionally, more adult tales featuring their regular four-color cast of characters. By the early 80s, only a few of the b&w’s remained, but Marvel still used them to tell stories that might not have worked in the pages of their regular books, but were they worthy of their more expensive format? Your Major Spoilers (retro) review awaits!
Or – “Remember That Time When Jason Todd Was The Most Useful Superhero Of All?” During one of my recent online conversations, the subject of Superman came up, and how he is perceived as boring is never vengeful. Now, when it comes to comic book history, I don’t ever want to be the “Ummm… ACTUALLLEEE…” guy, but I name-checked a few moments where the Man Of Steel wasn’t a big blue boy scout, including this ish. The response was that not everyone has ready cash and easy access to the full scope of comics history, which is perfectly reasonable. Of…
Or – “Oh, The Sixties. I Love You More Every Year…” I’ve talked before, at length and in passing, about the affect that the 1966 Batman TV series had on the comic-book industry as a whole. By the time the Summer Of Love rolled around, comic publishers were experiencing a boom the likes of which they hadn’t seen since WWII, and wouldn’t see again until the debut of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Some of the spawn of this time period was brilliant, some inexplicable, some just awful, but all of it was designed to get the comics done and…
Or – “Buddy Baker Overdrive!” Younger comics readers are always a hoot. Recently, I was privy to a conversation between two 20-ish readers about how stupid it is that they put Animal Man back in a costume in his New 52 incarnation, because “Vertigo guys don’t have costumes.” Laying aside that Animal Man’s original duds are both iconic and goofy, it’s a good example of how you can’t get used to the status quo of comics, because it will change. Ironically, there was also a grain of wisdom in the conversation, as well, because, in his first appearance, Animal Man…