Doug: On, then, to the 3rd round of voting in our quest to choose the best costume of the Bronze Age. Remember, it's the threads, not the character in them or storylines in which they were featured. We're all about sartorial splendor around here. My apologies for the seeming error in numbering on the 14th and 15th bracket spots; apparently an over-zealous reader/voter began casting before I could get everything proofread and in place. Once someone votes, the polls cannot be edited. Rest assured that in spite of my typographical boo-boo, the polls are listed in order.
Doug: So we may as well have something to talk about today (in addition to the brackets themselves -- some interesting match-ups in this round!), because that's what we do around here. How about this one? Can you name a favorite Bronze Age story or cover that featured one of the characters on the list? Not just any story or cover, but one that is especially memorable or significant to you as a link to your younger years. As an example, I'd offer up the cover to Champions #11, featuring a very cool Gil Kane offering of a quite large Bill Foster about to go splat after a pummeling from the Champs' flying car! That should get us going. And as always, thanks in advance for playing!
EDIT: Hey, all --
It just occurred to me that I set the end date wrong for this round. To stay on schedule, I'm going to cut this off early Tuesday evening -- the polls have been ending at 5:00 pm CT in the States. So I'll be filling out the brackets for the purpose of advancement around that time, and then posting the next round late Tuesday evening. Sorry for the confusion (which was all mine!).
Doug
17 comments:
Once again, some intriguing pairings this time; For instance, Black Widow vs. Spider-man. Two arachnoid themes, all the more ironic as Natasha's black suit debuted in the pages of Spider-man's own title. I have to give the nod to the web-slinger in this set; the red/blue suit with all that great webbing is unforgettable the moment you first see it. Now, Spidey's black costume vs. the Widow? A tougher call...
Then there is Dr. Strange vs. Dr. Fate. Both very cool, mysterious outfits. Again, I go with Dr. Strange; which leads me to Doug's poser for today. Dr. Strange #1 (1974) was one of the first books I bought. At the time the character was pretty unfamiliar to me, but my attention was drawn to the ornate cover, serpentine skull in the Orb of Agamotto, and to Doc's costume itself. This cover just oozed mysticism; serving as an effective introduction to a new reader. It still ranks as one of my favorite comics ever...
A significant cover that links to my younger years? X-Men 101 with Phoenix. Crazy shipping in Scotland added to bimonthly publication meant I didn't see a single issue of X-Men for a year and a half.
I read about Phoenix in lettercols and then finally saw postage stamp b/w reproductions of the covers of 100-105 in Foom magazine 18 in the summer of '77.
A year later, we were on holiday in the faded Lancashire coastal resort of Morecambe where I bought 2 "Marvel Grab Bags" in a local newsagent. They contained Defenders 40, MOKF, MTIO (Thing/Doc Savage) Monark Starstalker, Cap 200 and X-Men 101.
Ironically of course, Jean Grey was hospitalised in the story and most of the issue is given over to the journey to Cassidy Keep. However, in the last year before I began to buy back issues by mail order, it was an incredible chance find and livened up a summer Sunday.
For me, it would probably be Avengers #161, the first Avengers comic I ever bought. It's got Ant-Man attacking the Avengers on the cover. The image of ants crawling all over a writhing Scarlet Witch on the cover is forever etched in my memory. It's the beginning of the Bride of Ultron story, and it contains George Perez art therein. Not a bad way to start one's Avengers reading career!
By the way, I've noticed that there are nine Marvel vs. DC matchups in the costume bracketology, and Marvel is winning 8 of 9, probably at least half of them wrongly, in my humble opinion, and most of them rather one sided. We do love our Marvel around here, don't we?
One cover I remember from early in my comics-reading career that quite dramatically features two of the costumes in the brackets is Spectacular Spider-man #10: White Tiger kicking my childhood favorite hero off of a building ledge. Heady stuff for little me, and quite a memorable cover.
I'll go for Jim Aparo's cover for Detective Comics #440, the one where a giant purple bear's looming up over Batman.
I remember my dad buying it me one morning during a summer holiday in Blackpool - which is right next door to Dougie's faded coastal resort of Morecambe.
It was the last time our entire family was ever on holiday together and I was on a serious Jim Aparo trip at the time.
I'm starting to imagine stories with these pairings--Dr Fate and Dr Strange, Jay Garrick Flash and Phoenix, Iron Fist and Saturn Girl. Especially the 2 doctors!
What is the appeal of Black Panther's outfit? I like the character, but it's a dark outfit with little ears!
And by the way, Dougie, re: Monark Starstalker - great cover, great story, great art. That's my favorite single issue of Marvel Premiere, and one of my favorite comic books ever.
Edo and Garett raise an interesting point for me --
1st, Edo -- love that cover, and the one that preceded it! I thought the White Tiger had a great costume, and was disappointed he was a one-and-done on the brackets. Which brings me to --
2nd, Garett -- I've voted for the Black Panther each time, as I did for the White Tiger's one appearance. I've also voted for the Black Widow each time, too. I just like a nice, clean costume. Which is not to say that I dislike Mr. Miracle or the Wonder Man entry that was nominated. But there's just something about that simplicity. Plus, the BP's suit is perfect for his name, isn't it?
I think I've voted against the Vision each time -- love the character, etc. but have just felt the costume was never better than its competition on the bracket.
Which brings me to my final point: are you (we) afraid to vote against Cap, Spidey, Superman, and the Batman? They are the four most (argue with me) iconic costumes for their respective companies, but are they the best costumes in our head-to-heads?
Doug
Hey, all --
It just occurred to me that I set the end date wrong for this round. To stay on schedule, I'm going to cut this off early Tuesday evening -- the polls have been ending at 5:00 pm CT in the States. So I'll be filling out the brackets for the purpose of advancement around that time, and then posting the next round late Tuesday evening. Sorry for the confusion (which was all mine!).
Doug
Doug, it's hard to separate those top 4 from their characters, but I take a new look at the costume each time to see it with fresh eyes. I voted for Mr Miracle over Superman, but Superman over Moon Knight.
As for Black Panther, what he needs to complete his costume is whiskers! And a tail. ; ) Just kidding! Yes it's not bad, but I prefer Black Widow as you mentioned. She's simple but with a few touches--the belt, her bracelets, the hair color. I've had to include hair in my assessment of some outfits, as the colors work together.
Nighthawk's costume is so impressive! Much better than his actual character. For flying guys, he outdoes Angel and Falcon for sure.
Moon Knight covers by Bill Sienkiewicz were always exciting for me, like #23, 25, 29.
By the way, I don't know exactly how many supersuits were created by Neal Adams, but his Havok design is truly his gift to chic. Continuing the all-one-color discussion from above, Alex Summers' clothes are a very smart-looking design. One of my all-time faves, bar none.
Doug
Doug, of the four Iconic Titans you mentioned, it's my opinion that Superman's (KING of the icons) is definitely the weakest outfit of the bunch. I did in fact vote against him this time. To my tastes, Batman's is the strongest, followed very closely by Cap, then Spidey, then Supes. I can see myself voting against any of them down the road, though. In fact, there are some that are losing right now that I would have placed above them.
HB
Comment regarding dbutler's mention of Avengers 161..:
I typically preferred Perez on NTT and DC titles than his Marvel work during the Bronze Age ONLY because, while he carried over his distinctive style, and most of his layouts and depictions were nice and clean, he still couldn't fill the uber-large Buscema shoes (again, just talking 70s work here..).
However, this was a BIG issue for me because it marked my first exposure to Hank Pym, having come too late for his Silver Age membership, and having stopped collecting the Triple Action reprints before Goliath stories started. What could have been a silly outfit, next to the then-current lineup of Thor, Vision, Cap and Ironman (etc..), Perez really drew it with a precise, snazzy style.
And, as what's been echoed several times here, WHAAAT a cool cover. I still love how Perez draws Wanda.
Avengers #161 was the cover I was going mention as well. I believe it was the first Avengers comics I ever bought. I loved it. I loved Ant-Man. I loved Wonder Man. I loved Ultron. The whole thing (along with #162) was just so awe-inspiring for me then.
That is a big part of why Marvel Premiere #47 (and 48) caught my eye. It had Ant-Man in a solo adventure (with John Byrne interior art). Little did I know that this was to be the first appearance and origin of Scott Lang, the all new Ant-Man. What a great story that was. Scott Lang became one of my favorite characters after that. And his origin story is still one of my all-time very favorite comic 2-parters. I loved it so much that I created an Ant-Man lithograph as an art project back in middle-school. Don't remember what kind of grade I got.
As I've documented both here and on the Avengers Assemble boards, Avengers #161 will always be remembered as the book I couldn't find anywhere in town... except at Mickey's Books and Novelties, which was a porn shop. I can guarantee without reservation that my Marvel Zombie, 11-year old eyes saw nothing in the store save that spinner rack with all the four-color goodness. Another thanks to my mom for her resourcefulness! (I'm pretty sure she didn't know the full extent of just what Mickey was selling...).
Doug
Interesting article that includes a few of the characters in the vote. Character ripoffs??
http://www.cracked.com/article_20026_5-iconic-characters-you-didnt-know-were-ripoffs.html
A cover that comes to mind for me is a 'Werewolf by Night' cover which has the Werewolf battling Moon Knight; had this when I was very young. Just remember it being very exciting.
I'm picturing Moon Knight in his costume standing next to Superman, and thinking how cool Moon Knight looks and how sleek and stylish his suit is; then there is Superman, and imagining someone going "Wow, that really does show up, but where did you manage to put that together- from a kindergarten class, or grab it off a washed up wrestler?"
For me- NOT paying attention to Superman's persona, OR his legendary status- Moon Knight easily wins for having a well designed costume; since we are SUPPOSED to be voting on the COSTUME LOOK- Moon Knight SHOULD win that match-up.
Anonymous AKA ADAM
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