Category Archives: Retro Review

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RETRO REVIEW: Detective Comics #241 (March 1957)

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Or – “The Lacuna Between Golden And Silver Ages…”

In my mind, the beginning of the Silver Age of Comics is marked by Showcase #4, the first appearance of Barry Allen, in late 1956.  (Some people mark it with the first appearance of J’onn J’onzz in 1955 or Captain Comet in 1951.)  But as with any of the nebulous ages of comics, true Silver Age story-telling didn’t kick in all at once, allowing certain characters to keep up their late-Golden Age antics for many years.  This is one of the most fondly-remembered issues of that weird negative zone of comics (by fans AND by Bat-Mite) but the real reason that we’re covering it is that my seven-year-old keeps asking, “When are you going to write about that story where Batman has the cool rainbow suit?”

Guess there’s no time like the present, unless you’re one of the future people…

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RETRO REVIEW: Kill Your Boyfriend (June 1995)

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Or – “Sex & Violence And All That Other Fun Stuff…”

My recent review of Bomb Queen got me thinking about adult themes in comics.  When handled well, they can mean the difference between Captain Atom and Doctor Manhattan.  When utilized poorly, we can be faced with ‘Sultry Teenage Super-Foxes.’  (I wouldn’t necessarily google that one.)  In the early days of Vertigo, Grant Morrison took advantage of the Mature Readers tag, channeled the spirit of the (then-recent) ‘Natural Born Killers,’ and went for broke with a story that I remember fondly to this day…

**This Retro Review is Grant Morrison writing for the adult-oriented Vertigo Line, which is short-hand for Adult Themes, Content and Strong Language.  If you are offended by such things, please DO NOT click the link.**

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RETRO REVIEW: Master Of Kung-Fu #50 (March 1977)

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Or – “Lost Classics Of Days Gone By…”

One of my duties at the comic shop (Gatekeeper Hobbies, Huntoon & Gage, Topeka!  Ask us about our Warhammer Tournament!) is to keep the back issue bins fully stocked with, as bossman Deon puts it, “comics that somebody will actually ever BUY.”  This often proves difficult for me, as I remember the awesomeness about most all the books in our bins (with the possible exception of Team Youngblood) and my natural instinct is to keep awesome cult titles like Howard The Duck readily available to the reading public.  Today, Deon and I culled some deadweight out of the “L” and “M” sections of the back issue bins, and while I allowed him to make drastic cuts in the number of Legion of Super-Heroes titles (only for space reasons), I refused to remove the tab for “Master of Kung-Fu.”  When he asked me why, I told him that my answer would be available this evening at Major Spoilers…

Hi, Deon!  Here’s why:

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RETRO REVIEW: Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane #106 (November 1970)

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Or – “I Suppose Their Hearts Were In The Right Place…”

In one of  our Major Spoilers Podcasts, Stephen, Rodrigo and I talked about when the various ages of comics began.  I believed (still do, actually) that the Bronze Age began when Neal Adams & Denny O’Neil crafted Green Lantern #76 back in 1970, with it’s echoing query for the Emerald Gladiator about working for blue skins and saving orange skins, but having no concern for the plight of skin-colors right here on Earth.  That book came out in the early months of 1970, and ushered in a period of issue-awareness in comic books, and many of the best tales of the Bronze Age took those themes and ran with them.

Also because of Green Lantern #76, this book happened…

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RETRO REVIEW: Saga Of The Swamp Thing #34 (March 1985)

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Or – “…And A New Beginning.”

And Welcome to the New Year!  (Sorry, I’m not going to kiss you.  I’m a happily married man, after all.  But, that doesn’t mean there isn’t some kissing to be had, Faithful Spoilerite.)

Often, when I consider what comics I want to Retro Review, I find myself gravitating towards the years wherein I really discovered comics as an art form, circa my early teens in the mid-Reagan-era.  When I started thinking about what book would make the perfect start for a new year full of promise and high hopes, one thing was certain:  Alan Moore would almost certainly be involved.

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RETRO REVIEW: X-Statix #26 (October 2003)

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Or – “To All Things, An Ending…”

As with any year, 2011 has it’s detractors and it’s proponents, but for me, it was kind of a wash.  Not as venomous as 2006, nor as wonderful as 2004, the year before the Mayan end-times but after we make contact is like a 70′s George Carlin guest-host episode of the ‘Tonight Show.’  Sure, it’s two things you like, but neither is quite at its best.  Still, the end of ’11 has gotten me thinking how most comics don’t actually GET one, and how a really well-crafted ending is an ever rarer beast indeed.  Thus, I give you X-Statix swan song.

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RETRO REVIEW: Dell Four-Color Comics #367 (January 1952)

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Or -”In Which Life Is, Indeed, Somewhat Like A Hurricane…”

Y’know, I’m breaking my carefully planned and meticulously balanced Retro Review schedule to do today’s review, but what the heck?  It’s the holidays!

(And besides, pretty much all the Faithful Spoilerites are all too aware that I am far from meticulous nor all that much of a planner…)
 

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RETRO REVIEW: The Mighty Heroes #1 (March 1967)

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Or – “From Out Of The Hidden Longbox…”

Several years ago, the previous manager at Gatekeeper Hobbies (Huntoon & Gage, Topeka, ask me about our copy of Showcase #8!) bought several longboxes of comics on Saturday buying day.  One longbox contained 90′s overflow books for the 3 for a dollar bin, one contained some Bronze Age Batman, Spider-Man and such, but one box contained a stack of random Archie, Uncle Scrooge and various cartoon titles, what my late grandma would call funny books.  We get a lot of these type of books brought in to the store, but they seldom get bought for anything other than filler.

Nearly four years later, I opened that box, left to gather dust in a corner of my comics cave and found this issue. Upon reading it, I started to wonder, why do the books that put the “comic” in comics always get the short shrift?

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RETRO REVIEW: Plastic Man #7 (November-December 1967)

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Or – “More Evidence That Revamps Are Hardly A New Development…”

I find it interesting that, of all the heroes of the 1940s-era, Plastic Man seems to be the one destined to have children.  Fans of the 1970′s Plastic Man cartoon will recall his adventures with Baby Plas, while Kingdom Come featured his son as the hero called Offspring.  A memorable JLA story featured his illegitimate son from a youthful indiscretion (who later became a Teen Titan, also calling himself Offspring, because Alex Ross apparently needs royalties.)  But, have you ever wondered where all this Plastic Dad business kicked off?

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RETRO REVIEW: Santo, El Enmascarado De Plata #1 (1976)

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Or – “The True Test Of My High-School Spanish!”

Before the Major Spoilers Podcast, I had never met co-host Rodrigo (though, in truth, I have never “met” the man in person) but I often find it remarkable the things that we have in common.  During break in recording sessions, the Major Spoilers team engages in bull sessions on all topics and once in a while, the topic turns our mutual appreciation of the wild and wacky worlds of professional wrestling. (The “our” here doesn’t usually include Stephen, who is perfectly content not knowing the difference between a wrist lock and a wrist watch.)  Thus, when I came upon this battered issue in a stack of true detective mags in my local used bookstore, I knew that it was TIME…

For the thousands of regular Spoilerites…

And the millions who will stumble over this for the first time after searching for “Wonder Woman XXX”…

It’s for the first-ever Major Spoilers TAG TEAM RETROOOO REVIEEWWWWWW!

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RETRO REVIEW: Asterix in Britain (1966)

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or These Britons are crazy!

It’s become a holiday tradition at Major Spoiers – after we awake from the Turkey Sleep, we stagger to the keyboard and tell you of the adventures of Asterix the Gaul. This year the first volume to catch my eye was Asterix in Britain. Does the book stand up to the other great Asterix stories out there?

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