The Comics Thread

[MacNimon]

The first installment of my thoughts on the Marvel releases from early 1974. Prepared to be bored...

January 1974

Amazing Adventures # 22 War Of The Worlds (Killraven) by Don McGregor & Herb Trimpe

Initial inpression: I Love the logo, not so much the cover or interior art though - I’m not a huge Herb Trimpe fan. Don McGregor is a decent enough writer, but I struggled to get into this to begin with because it’s an ongoing series and I’m not yet familiar with either the lead or the supporting characters. Set in 2018 on an Earth where HG Wells invading Martians were never defeated and became known as the Overlords, Killraven is a rebel fighting to save Earth from them…here, Killraven tries to save his friends from slavers only to be thrown to the Martians in the issue’s cliffhanger. Disappointing, I expected better from this but maybe once I get into it…more enjoyable was the short back-up tale, a 1950s reprint about a scientist who was about to go too far with his experiment. I haven’t a clue who drew this, but it reads like a typical Stan Lee ‘twist in the tale’ type story. Rather pointless, but fun. 4/10 overall, and that’s being generous. I’m in no particular hurry to read the next issue…


Amazing Spider-Man # 128 by Gerry Conway & Ross Andru

Initial impression: Looks promising, Conway’s stuff is generally enjoyable and Andru’s artwork is decent enough if nothing spectacular. Features the Vulture, not something to get particularly excited about… I liked the character in the early issues but tired of him over time.
Set shortly after the death of Gwen Stacey, this opens mid-story, with Spidey falling from the sky after a battle with the vulture…Even though we’re midway through a story, it’s easy to pick up because a flashback sequence tells us that the Vulture is trying to kill Mary Jane, and this issue explores the mystery why he’s trying to do so. I was surprised just how much I enjoyed this one, despite not reading the start of the storyline. The characters, even the minor ones, come to life in such an enjoyable manner that I’m looking forward to the next issue already. 7/10.

The Avengers # 119 by Steve Englehart and Bob Brown/Don Heck

Initial impression: looks promising, with it’s nicely-drawn boldly coloured cover although I don’t actually recall reading any Avengers stuff with this creative team.
Unfortunately the artwork inside is a disappointment. Not close to the quality I remember on this title from the likes of John & Sal Buscema, among others. As for the story itself, it felt like nothing more than filler material between other, bigger, storylines. Readable enough, though I’m hoping for improvement next time. A disappointing 4/10.

Beware # 6 Anthology reprint title.

This is a new one for me, a title I’ve never read before. I love the cover which features two large red arms reaching out of a mirror, with a young couple recoiling in horror in the background. The cover blurb reads “What was…The Thing In The Mirror?” but unfortunately this scene doesn’t really reflect what occurs in the story itself, it’s about a burglar who accidentally kills a pawnbroker while robbing his shop but is fascinated by a mirror which the pawnbroker told him could bring the dead back to life…

As is normal with these short story anthology titles the stories are a mixed bag in terms of enjoyment. Enjoyable enough , I found this a fun read but the artwork was very dated, reprinted from the 1950s by the looks of it. As I said, fun, but certainly not on a par with the EC Comics of the same period (1950s). 5/10

Captain America and The Falcon # 169 by Steve Englehart/Mike Friedrich & Sal Buscema

Initial Impression: Steve Englehart again?! I hope this effort is better than his Avengers issue was…

I’m glad I didn’t let the sub-par Avengers issue put me off this. A much better effort from Englehart, in which the Falcon departs for Wakanda to train with the Black Panther; the second half of the issue scripted by Friedrich, deals with an ad campaign designed to smear Cap’s reputation, and the issue ends with him framed for murder…all in all, a really enjoyable issue topped with great Sal Buscema art. 7/10.

Captain Marvel # 30 by Jim Starlin

Initial impression: I remember really enjoying Starlins work on Mar-Vell and Adam Warlock, so I’m looking forward to this. Not particularly impressed by the cover though, strictly run-of-the-mill, with a blockier version of my favourite ‘Marvel’ logo of all time (ie the Capt. Marvel one that was used on the early 70s UK MWOM logo). I hope this isn’t a bad omen for the remainder of the issue…

Sadly, this turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. Maybe I was just expecting a bit much, or I was just unlucky with this issue. Great artwork from the team of Starlin and Milgrom, and the great sci-fi storyline that I remember is there, though sadly it’s pushed to the background for most of this issue. Basically. From his base on Titan, Thanos is embarking on an invasion of Earth, the first stage of his plan for domination of the entire galaxy (these villains don‘t plan things by half, do they?!). To aid in his conquest of Earth, he has amassed an army of unwitting slaves who are under his control, or to be more precise, under the control of his underling, the imaginatively named ‘Controller’ Among these slaves is Rick Jones’ girlfriend, and the majority of this issue is about the attemts to rescue her, giving us an old-fashioned superhero punch-up in the process. That was always the problem with this title though, imo…it was always a mish-mash of superhero and sci-fi, never knowing exactly what it wanted to be. A sci-fi series with lead character who they tried to pass off as a superhero for maximum sales potential, or a superhero series with sci-fi trappings? This issue was the perfect example of how this mish-mash didn’t work…the overall sci-fi story arc looks great but the superhero punch-up just dragged it down into mediocrity, for this issue at least. Even though I came into this issue mid-story, a few flashback panels quickly and clearly told me everything I needed to know about the ongoing storylines. There’s a quality of writing here that can’t be denied, despite my disappointment with the issue in general…6/10 for this (7/10 for the art and overall story arc, but a point off for how much of this issue was spent giving us a fight).
I’m really looking forward to the next instalment, though…

Chamber Of Chills # 8 Horror Anthology title

Another series of short stories, 1950s reprints judging by the interior artwork. As with the aforementioned Beware!, this boasts a great cover although the contents are pretty dated. Still, the stories are more enjoyable than those in Beware so this gets a 6/10.

Next up, Conan...

[Alex]

I've only just seen those now Kenny, but they're great reviews, I've so much to read right now but really must dig through some older stuff soon as I used to loving doing so.

Due to having a very quiet month, I've read quite a lot, including:

Hellblazer - I'm really enjoying the direction Milligan's taking this series in. I've always preferred it when Constantine's not a complete bastard, and Milligan makes great use of characters from Constantine's past - including a 17 year old version of John himself. The marriage issue was a tad far fetched (John dies at one point, only to be able to re-enter his body at a later time), but I like Epiphany a lot and so am glad we're going to see a lot more of her.

Hack / Slash - This is a surprisingly smart and quite touching series, largely due to the friendship between the two leads, Vlad and Cassie. I say surprisingly as it's a horror comic, where our protagonists do battle against 'slashers' - killers who repeatedly come back from the dead. Whilst it has a lot of it's own original villains, it's featured Chucky from the Child Play movies, and Herbert West from Re-animator and it's sequels, to great effect. It's got a sharp sense of humour, is fairly gory, but never goes too far over the top, and I'm quite addicted to it right now.

Captain Britain - Cruelly cancelled after only 15 issues, I really liked this series despite generally not being a huge Marvel fan. Paul Cornell created some fascinating plotlines, it showed much potential, and so it's such a shame that it wasn't allowed to develop.

Sweet Tooth - This sort of "Post-apocalyptic world" thing has been done countless times before, but the plotting is strong and the the central characters damn likable. In amongst all the violence there are quite a few oddly touching scenes, and I really hope sales pick up so it's not cancelled before the tale is finished.

Booster Gold - In which Keith Giffen pisses away 30 issues of great work by Johns and Jurgens and makes Booster annoying again, with sub JLI plotlines (at one point the Blue Beetle is turned in to a friggin' chipmunk!) and way too much wackyness. It's a shame as I loved this new version of Booster Gold, but it's got so bad now that I'm close to stopping reading it.

Doom Patrol - From the above you might have imagined that I wouldn't be a fan of this, but Paul recommended I give it a go, and it's really decent stuff. Giffen writes a pretty straight superhero tale here without the need for too many throwaway jokes and he's effectively reintroduced a lot of Morrison's characters. The only real problem is that the pace and plotting can sometimes be all over the place, but despite this, it's definitely the best version of the team we've seen since Morrison's run.

The Walking Dead - Alas I'm a bit bored of this now, it's okay but a single issue only tends to take about 5 minutes to read and often so little happens. And when it does, it's all a bit predictable, with the wife beater plotline being a new low. I'm struggling to care about Rick any more as well, or any of the other characters, which is a shame as it's a series I used to love.

The Boys - There are parts of this I really like - Hughie's relationship with Starlight, and Mother's Milk and The Female especially - but all too often Ennis just uses the comic to make the same OTT jokes about Superheroes being sick and twisted little b'stards. It does seem to be slowly improving though, and as the end is in sight I plan to stick with it.

Incorruptible / Irredeemable - Mark Waid's take on a world where Superman (in all but name) goes mental and kills millions. And it's, well, you know, okay. Nothing special, but fun from time to time.

Batman Inc - I've enjoyed some of Morrison's Batman stories, but so far this has been fairly average stuff, indeed I'm surprised that it's so bland and predictable a lot of the time.

True Blood - Awful. Even if you're a huge fan of the tv series, it's not worth bothering with.

The Unwritten - I can never make my mind up about Mike Carey. He's capable of interesting work, but never able to create something which would put him up with the best writers out there. This is fairly intriguing stuff, and plays around with literary conventions a lot of the time with glee, but it never quite satisfies.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Season eight's been very uneven, with some parts enjoyable (the relationship between Dawn and Xander, surprisingly enough, and the Big Bad was quite fun) but others being dull or even horribly misjudged. It picked up with the few final issues though, one particularly death was genuinely upsetting, and the direction S.9 is going to take (along with a semi-apology from Whedon in the final issue) suggests it'll hopefully continue to improve upon it's return.

Wormwood Gentleman Corpse - There's some beautiful art here, and the characters are fairly interesting, but I'm not grabbed by it, and I'm not sure why. I'm only about six issues in so far though, so I could be seduced by it more at a later date.

[Paul Monk]

To be fair to Keith Giffen its not entirely his fault that Booster Gold has become rubbish. J.M DeMatteis is responsible too, perhaps more so because as I understand it, the way the pair write is that Giffen comes up with the plots and outlines which he then sends to DeMatteis to rewrite and add the humour. Its a shame though because I've stopped bothering with Booster Gold too. Its not like their humour partnership can't work, the back up Metal Men strip that was in Doom Patrol was actually quite funny. I think its just I liked the more mature responsible Booster.
Glad you liked Doom Patrol. Whilst I'd agree with you that its a relatively straight superhero tale compared with some runs (Morrison's especially) I think Giffen has made a brilliant stab at introducing some weirder ideas and he's also grasped what the team is about.

[Alex]

To be fair to Keith Giffen its not entirely his fault that Booster Gold has become rubbish. J.M DeMatteis is responsible too, perhaps more so because as I understand it, the way the pair write is that Giffen comes up with the plots and outlines which he then sends to DeMatteis to rewrite and add the humour. Its a shame though because I've stopped bothering with Booster Gold too. Its not like their humour partnership can't work, the back up Metal Men strip that was in Doom Patrol was actually quite funny. I think its just I liked the more mature responsible Booster.

True, I should definitely blame DeMatteis for it as well, though to be honest it's more the plotting rather than the dialogue that I struggle with. Anyway, thankfully (hopefully) things will return to normal soon, as I've just learnt (via Digital Spy of all places) that Dan Jurgens is going to be writing the series again from issue 44 onwards.

Glad you liked Doom Patrol. Whilst I'd agree with you that its a relatively straight superhero tale compared with some runs (Morrison's especially) I think Giffen has made a brilliant stab at introducing some weirder ideas and he's also grasped what the team is about.

Oh I agree completely, and it's definitely pretty quirky compared to the rest of the DC universe, which I like a lot. It's just that I've been reading some independant titles which are far, far crazier of late, like Chew, which is lots of fun, but utterly mental as well.

[MacNimon]

Time for an update here, I think...has anyone been reading anything good recently? I haven't been reading much recently, the most recent was when I finally read the story of Jean Grey's rebirth from the mid-80s. It was a pretty good storyline, although I can see how it was controversial at the time. I thought it was handled well by Roger Stern in the Avengers issue and John Byrne in the Fantastic Four installment, but I began to lose interest once she met up with Scott and the other original X-Men in X-Factor. I was really disappointed with their reactions, I'd have expected a lot more shock and disbefief, etc when someone came back from the dead several years after they apparently saw her killed. However after a few panels it was just back to business as usual...disappointing.

Onto comics news now...sad news first, with the death of veteran artist Gene Colan, who died a few weeks ago. Best known for his work with both Marvel & DC on characters such as Daredevil, Batman, Doctor Strange, and Batman, Colan was one of the greats and it's sad to hear that we've lost another class act. RIP Gene.

Gene Colan

And onto the big comic news of the year, DC Comics big reboot of their entire line in September. What are your thoughts on this? Details are slowly leaking out, such as Clark Kent & Lois Lane no longer being married; but every single title in their range is being restarted with a new Issue 1 (sadly jettisoning a lot of history in the case of Action and Detective Comics...wouldn't it have been great to see these reaching their 1000th issue?) A few images have been leaked to the newspapers and on the web, such as Superman wearing half a costume along with jeans, etc. Are the company taking the right approach by modernising their entire line in this fashion, basically saying that their entire history never even happened? I haven't read much in the way of comics recently, but how are DC leading up to this big event? Is there a big Crisis On Infinite Earths - type storyline going on which will end in this reboot, or will all existing storylines just naturally draw to a close in August, then come September it will be as if they never happened?

DC Reboot
NY Post - Action Comics 1

DC Official Site - The New 52 titles

[MacNimon]

I see that Jason Goodman, grandson of the late Marvel founder Martin, has revived the ill-fated Atlas line of comics. The initial line consists of new versions of The Grim Ghost, Wulf The Barbarian, and Phoenix.

Atlas News

A couple of issues of each title have already been released, and I hope that they are more successful this time round. Some of those original 1975 Atlas comics were, to be honest, awful. I've still got a soft spot for them though, regardless of how bad/inconsistent they were...they looked great and had some really big names working for them; unfortunately everything was something of a rushed product, and basically a botched job. The Plan 9 From Outer Space of the comics world.

All the same, I wish them luck in their undertaking...it's always nice to see a name from my childhood resurfacing again

[MacNimon]

Former Marvel Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter has posted an interesting blog article regarding the possible sale of DC characters to Marvel in the early 1980s, at a time when DC were struggling. It's a move which obviously didn't materialise, for a number of reasons. There's a list as well of those characters who were lined up as part of Marvel's intended First Wave'...and there's at least one obvious omission.

Superman at Marvel?

I wonder how differently things would have been if this had came to pass. Superman would certainly have seen a few changes if this early John Byrne plotline had came to anything...

Byrne's plot

[MacNimon]

If you've got £32,000 or so to spare, maybe you'd like to pick up this damaged copy of Creepy Worlds, an Alan Class B&W title reprinting Fantastic Four #1.

Or maybe you could go elsewhere and pick one up at it's true value, around £2-3...

[Alex]

Bloody hell, that's ridiculous, I truly hope no one falls for that.

I'm really enjoying Morning Glories at the moment, it starts off with six very different students being invited to attend a prestigious boarding school, but upon arriving they find it's not the life they expected at all - especially as there's attempts on their lives from the faculty themselves. Throw in a healthy dose of bizarre supernatural events, time travel, and constant twists and turns and it's turned in to a really exciting and very enjoyable series.

[Alex]

The first issue of the Who / Star Trek TNG crossover comic is out, and it's better than I thought it would be. Certainly the art is quite lovely in places, and they've largely captured the Doctor and Amy's characters well. It's difficult to know how the crossover side of things will work given that they don't meet the TNG crew until the very end of the first issue, but as a fluffy throwaway piece of fun, this could be quite entertaining.

Rather than ignoring the similarities, they've paired up the obvious big bad's from the respective series too, which could be interesting.

[MacNimon]

I'm quite looking forward to this, now. I didn't have any great expectations but it could actually be fun.

I've just read that Dynamite reimagining of Galactica 1980 that Paul was reading a few years ago and really enjoyed it. A much darker version of what could have happened, but still featuring all the recognisable characters from the series. Great fun. Did the promised sequel, Galactica 1981, ever get published, I wonder?

Next up for me are the recent new versions of The Bionic Man and Buck Rogers. Has anyone read any of these? I'm currently also reading Dark Horse's King Conan series and am on the early issues of the Red Sonja revival which is promising. Also working my way through Straczynski's Spider-Man run. Great stuff!

[Alex]

Here's the cover of the third issue of the Who / Next Gen crossover:



God knows how they're going to do this without it seeming all rather insane, but I'm enjoying the series so far and hope it continues to impress.

[MacNimon]

What if Marvel characters had been published by DC in the 1960s? A few spoof covers were found here...

[Stuart Wallis]

The death of Joe Kubert has been announced.

Joe Kubert was comic book royalty.

Kubert, the creator of a Morris County school dedicated to inspiring generations of comic book artists from around the world, died yesterday, his son David confirmed. He was 85.

Kubert spoke to The Star-Ledger in June about his history as an artist and his role as father to noted comic book artists Andy and Adam Kubert.

"I was, and still am, the luckiest person in the world," Kubert said at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art -- known internationally as the Kubert School -- in Dover. His images of the sinewy Tarzan and feathery Hawkman stood nearby as reminders of his legacy.

At the time, Joe and Andy (a consultant for DC Comics) were on the verge of releasing a project together, "Nite Owl" an installment in DC's "Before Watchmen" series. (See Drew Sheneman's Comics column, Page 19.)

Speaking enthusiastically in his school office in what used to be Dover High School, Kubert still possessed a strong passion for his work, both as a teacher and artist.

As a comic book artist, Joe Kubert had a hand in creating Sgt. Rock, a World War II soldier that debuted in 1959, as well as the prehistoric Tor, one of the first comics presented in 3-D. He also drew Hawkman, starting in the 1940s. The son of a kosher butcher, Joe Kubert made his comic book debut when he was just 12, growing up in the East New York section of Brooklyn.

"It's become dramatically more accessible to make a livelihood with this business than it ever has been," said Kubert. Back when he started, for many artists, comics were seen as a shameful way to work. He said successful movies starring comic book heroes -- the predecessors of today's wildly popular "Avengers," "Spider-Man" and "Batman" film franchises -- upped the cache of comics.

"We've gained a respectability that nobody who started in my business ever dreamed," said Kubert. "It's amazing how money changes things."

[MacNimon]

Another legendary artist gone. It's particularly sad after the passing of Tony DeZuniga and Ernie Chan earlier in the year. As well as superhero fare like Batman and Hawkman, Kubert was also well-known for his (then) fresh take on Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan for DC in the early 70s, as well as war tales such as Sgt Rock, The Haunted Tank and The Unknown Soldier. I loved his work and style, which like all the great artists you could spot easily even if it didn't have his name signed to it.

A couple of great Kubert covers here by way of tribute.

[MacNimon]

What has everyone been reading recently? There has certainly been plenty going on in the worlds of DC and Marvel over the past year or so worth commenting on.

While DC's big reboot has certainly been controversial (and rightly so, I can fully understand how fans feel about all those years they've invested into the DC Universe being jettisoned in what was basically a marketing move), there has still been some cracking stuff coming out of it. I'm not going to go into much detail at the moment, and admittedly I'm looking at things from the perspective of a lapsed reader because I've only dipped in and out of comics over the years since the mid-80s so most of continuity being lost means nothing to me personally. I don't mean that to sound harsh in any way, but it's true...I love comics but there's just so much backstory that it's simply impossible to catch up on it all. Until DC gave us a jumping-on point, that is. I'm exactly the sort of reader that DC is trying to appeal to, and the good stuff has really got me hooked, making me want to check out more of the back catalogue now and investigate stuff I never would have considered previously.

I don't agree with how DC went about things - what I would have done is simply draw a line under the past, say possibly that everything that ever happened in the DC Universe had happened in the last ten years or so whether it would ever work out mathematically or not, just accept any errors this would cause with characters ages, etc and just try not to reference it again unless necessary. Give us new stories from a new Day One keeping the past intact.

But still, there's some great stuff...Batgirl (and its great to see it's the same character I grew up with!), Batwoman, Aquaman, Animal Man, Swamp Thing and Jonah Hex (despite some dodgy art) are my favourites at the moment. I've stayed away from most of the big guns so far, although Batman and Detective Comics are next on my list. Wonder Woman was a major disappointment to me, though. The artwork just didn't appeal and didn't help the series case.

Marvel seem to have learned from DC's mistakes judging by the couple of titles I've read over the last couple of weeks...they are in the process of rebooting their long-running series with new number 1's, but unlike DC this isn't a history-wiping reboot but rather taking existing characters, keeping their history intact and doing something (hopefully) radically different with them. I've only read the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man so far, and will try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible. Looking at these few issues once again from the perspective of a lapsed reader who knows little of recent history, I've found both titles very accessible and enjoyable.

In the first issue of FF, a little bit of real-life creeps into their origin - in real life, if ordinary people like you and me were bather in cosmic rays the way that these guys were, what would be the effect? This discovery sends the characters off in a totally new direction, giving them a different reason for doing what they do while not all knowing that they're also trying top find a cure...

Spider-Man hasn't even been rebooted yet, and I'm already gripped. All that had been previously announced was that his title would end with a landmark 700th issue, and then begin again with a new first issue (of a new series). That, and the little fact that Peter Parker would not be Spider-Man. This statement obviously had everyone wondering, what did it mean? Were they going to kill off Peter? Perhaps bring the Miles Morales character over from Marvel's alternative 'Ultimate' Universe? I've just read #698, the issue which begins the story leading up to the reboot (not the best word to use, but you know what I mean!) and was surprised just how easily I got back into the character's world despite a long absence...all the regulars were there and easily recognisable, and the new characters (for me, at any rate) were all likeable enough. But it was only in the last few pages it dawned on me that things may not be quite as simple as that...I'm not going to give away any plot details, and there will still be twists and turns to come because issue 700 isn't published till late December, but if this storyline goes to it's logical conclusion then there WILL be a new Spider-Man...and it's the last person I ever thought that it would be. If Marvel have the guts to go through with this, at any rate...

But this one's a biggie. Even people who only have a basic knowlegde of the character, those who have only seen the films perhaps, will be surprised at where this series will seem to be heading. Remember though, I'm looking at this from the perspective of a lapsed reader. Regular readers may have seen what's going on signposted for months and think it's 'old hat'. But anyone who only has a vague interest in Spidey, I'd recommend checking out the current series from (issue #698, that is!)

And even if they do kill Peter off, this is comics. No-one stays dead forever!

[Stuart Wallis]

I'd agree that the DC reboot could have had a bit more thought put into it, especially since this is the nth one in the last 25 years or so - indeed, isn't the whole 52 business more or less an attempt to reverse the results of Crisis On Infinite Earths?

I've been following JLA and Earth 2, the rejigged JSA; and I've been keeping half an eye on Superman. Only half an eye due to having to sit through Action Comics' attempt at a New 52-era Man of Steel hasn't really appealed. It's been... very 52-tie-in , rather than establishing a new continuity. Phantom Stranger might be something to keep an eye on, though there's potential controversy there: in the new continuity, it's established that he's tied in with the origin of the Spectre in such away that there's bad blood between them; and it's implied that he's the reincarnation of Judas Iscariot.

[MacNimon]

It looks like the events of Spider-Man #700 are going to play out exactly as expected, as the ending has been leaked almost a week before publication (due out on Boxing Day). Apparently writer Dan Slott has been getting death threats after killing off Peter Parker; in a body-swapping plotline, Peter find himself trapped in the dying body of Doctor Octopus, who only has a few hours to live. Apparently Doc Ock dies with Peter's mind trapped in his body, thus making Doctor Octopus the new Spider-Man

Major Spoilers!

[Mike Saville]

I gave up on much of the Marvel line some time ago. The death of superheroes storylines are almost always contrived, and this sounds no different. In fact it's probably moreso than the Captain America plot, and that was a real dooozie.

Jim Starlin's Death of Captain Marvel was a masterpiece, especially as Mar Vell stayed dead for decades until the writers got lazy. Hero deaths are meaningless because you know they will return to the blueprint at somepoint, as soon as they've milked that plot device.

[Stuart Wallis]

Some heroes seem to have more lives than a Time Lord...

[Mike Saville]

And live to be 937 it seems, without aging.

[MacNimon]

What are you guys reading at the moment? My regulars just now on the superhero stuff are DC's Batgirl, Batwoman, Aquaman and All-Star Western, and catching up with Animal Man and Swamp Thing; I've got the new Marvel Now line of FF, Hulk, Thor, Spider-Man etc on the backburner until I get caught up with the DC stuff, so I'll have a good look at that in the near future.

My outright favourites at the moment though are Dark Horse's King Conan line, by Tim Truman and Tomas Giorello...stunning stuff the quality of which we haven't seen for a LONG time. And the classic Robert E Howard tale Hour Of The Dragon is up next... It's hard to believe how much they (Dark Horse)screwed up the regular Conan The Barbarian monthly title though with their long-awaited adaptation of REH fan-favourite story, Queen Of The Black Coast. The one story Conan fans really wanted to see done in real style...but what did we get? Poor art, a wimpish Conan reinvented to appeal to a teenage Twilight-fan audience, a writer who rewrites REH's original Conan character and timeline. Conan takes pirate queen Belit home to meet his mother...?!) I see this has been getting great reviews from general non-Conan fans (who I suppose they wanted this to appeal to) but it leaves me cold.

Up there with King Conan though is one which came out of the blue for me...Boom Studios Planet Of The Apes, by Daryll Gregory and Carlos Magno. I really can't recommend this one enough. It's set in the timeline of the original Apes film series, over a thousand years before Charlton Heston's ship crashlands in the original film. I've only read the first four issues so far, but the story grips you very quickly and is helped by the quality of the artwork. It's set at a time when the Ape civilisation is at a more advanced stage than is see in the film; the humans are living in a slum area of Ape City called Skintown in an uneasy truce with the Apes until a human assassin kills the Lawgiver...from what I've read so far it's looking like it's going to tell the story of the beginning of the downfall of Ape society. Featuring plenty of interesting characters and political intrigue, and by the looks of things all-out war between Apes and Humans is just around the corner...gripping stuff! I really can't recommend this enough for anyone who is even only vaguely an Apes fan...10/10 (so far!)

[Alex]

I've been reading and quite enjoying Animal Man, it's dragged in places but overall it's been enjoyable. Even if the use of a reset button in a recent storyline, whilst predictable (and inevitable) annoyed a little.

I really loved how Milligan wound up the final issues of Hellblazer, and absolutely despise the piss weak version we've now got with Constantine. And Scott Snyder's run on Batman is really strong, even though I'm irritated by the death of another Robin, and for that matter bar Dick Grayson my favourite one far yet.

The best comic I'm reading right now is Locke and Key by Joe Hill, who's Stephen King's son in disguise. Whilst disturbing in places it's more of a thriller than a horror, but also really well written with a great central idea. It comes to a (longtime planned) end next month, and so I'd recommend waiting until it's finished and then reading it from the start, I think it's only 30 or so issues.

[Stuart Wallis]

Mainly following Earth 2 at the moment - the title does suggest a relaunch of the Justice Society Of America, doesn't it? The team's taking even longer to come together than the new Justice League; after a year or so, Green Lantern, the Flash, Hawkgirl and a completely revamped Atom are still only just on speaking terms; and it's taking three months to dare the new Doctor Fate to take up his powers! Given the size of the JSA traditionally rivals that of the Avengers at their height...

Which reminds me, after reading a certain graphic novel recently, I'm going to have to see if Secret Avengers is still going - the idea was, they were the "black ops" wing, led by Steve Rogers in conjunction with Nick Fury.

[Jonno]

Been meaning to do this for ages - I'd like to do a potted history of me and comics, some of which I've spoken to some of you about, or mentioned in other threads. So here goes - I'll start with the 1970s.

My earliest memory of comics dates to around 1976/1977 when we were living in Scotland - I would have been 7 or 8. I never started (to my recollection) with the humour comics such as The Beano or The Dandy, the first I remember were the landscape formatted Marvel UK reprints - I'm sure that Super Spiderman Weekly was one, possiby The Titans and I definitely remember the iconic Mighty World of Marvel.

Despite my early love of Doctor Who, I don't recall being aware of TV Comic. I did however buy a special issue of a Who magazine in 1977 which had a front cover of the Doctor and Leela from Talons - I no longer have that and can't recall any of the contents!

My love for Marvel really grew though at the end of 1977 when we emigrated to Liberia, Africa. This was a US colony and I recall a wonderful comic shop in the capital, Monrovia, where we lived which had all the latest US titles imported, which would have put us ahead of the UK reprint release schedule.

The ones I bought regularly were The Defenders, Incredible Hulk and a bit later on Uncanny X-Men - just in time for the Hellfire Club saga, introducing Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost and leading up to the death of Phoenix. It was a real treat to visit that shop on a monthly basis - the issues cost around 65 cents each, with 30 cents added to the US cover price. I believe the exchange rate back then was roughly 2 USD to the pound, making these at 30p or so 3 or 4 times as expensive as the weekly comics back home. But then it was a monthly purchase, not weekly, and of course in full colour.

I also purchased other random issues, mainly Fantastic Four, Avengers and Spider-Man. I'm pleased to say that all these issues came back with me and I still have them to this day!

We returned in summer 1979 for a visit and I think I may have bought some Hulk Comic (and was there a Spiderman Comic at this time?). My memories are a bit muddled here as we were back for good a year later - more on that on a subsequent post - but I do recall a wonderful Captain Britain strip in, I believe, Hulk Comic which was a UK original strip - to do with King Arthur and Excalibur (the sword, not the later group!)? Can anyone help me out with this?

Onto the 1980s later, and can I also say Kenny that I'm loving your Cover of the Day thread, which I am currently working my way through and will start commenting on that when I've caught up!