tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post2470397824648875409..comments2024-03-19T10:41:35.976-05:00Comments on Bronze Age Babies: Guest Writer - In Appreciation Of Weird HeroesDoughttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04248324005584963229noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-68969042480005600332015-09-10T14:15:39.056-05:002015-09-10T14:15:39.056-05:00Wow, I hadn't thought about this series in yea...Wow, I hadn't thought about this series in years. I had volume 6, which began a years-long Ron Goulart craze for me. And although I didn't appreciate it then, P. Craig Russell would become nearly my favorite artist when I started reading the Killraven series.<br /><br />Wonder if Thriftbooks has 'em . . .jeirichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12069479253983062540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-68765831475763150012015-09-10T11:01:11.705-05:002015-09-10T11:01:11.705-05:00Great post, Edo!
I still remember seeing that fir...Great post, Edo!<br /><br />I still remember seeing that first Weird Heroes volume in the bookstore. It was so unique for the 70's, and really stood out. As of now, I still have volumes 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and the Greatheart Silver collection. Ron Goulart and Harlan Ellison were two of my favorite authors in junior high, so I gravitated to their stories the most. I also discovered Ted White and Phillip Jose Farmer, thanks to WH. Inspiring comic kids to move on to novels was probably part of WH's mission statement, and it worked in spades for me.<br /><br />As far as other Priess projects go, I've also got Empire and the first three Fiction Illustrated paperbacks. I know I had some of his other books back in the 70's-80's. Priess, along with Mediascene and Heavy Metal, represented a bridge to me for going from DC/Marvel into more sophisticated forms of graphic storytelling. Priess was the most exciting out of all of them, because you never knew what direction he was going to pursue next. Not everything Priess did worked, but that was part of the fun of it. Like any true innovator, he took risks. <br /><br />James ChattertonUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15576083934906136102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-71163325409402103522015-09-09T21:29:40.243-05:002015-09-09T21:29:40.243-05:00Man, seems to me we need more guys like this Byron...Man, seems to me we need more guys like this Byron Preiss cat! He obviously loved the pulps and wanted to reintroduce the genre to a whole new generation.<br /><br />It just sucks to hear about Bob Wiacek's troubles. When you hear about a creator who brought so much joy to you as a kid experiencing difficulties, it makes you wonder about life's ironies. It's a sad world where baseball players and rappers are millionaires but comic book artists, especially older legends have to live on very modest incomes. Not that I have anything against baseball players or rappers, but comics creators should be paid the big bucks too.<br /><br />- Mike from Trinidad & Tobago.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-86806356267923430392015-09-09T18:52:43.810-05:002015-09-09T18:52:43.810-05:00I must declare my love for Weird Heroes as well. G...I must declare my love for Weird Heroes as well. Got in on the ground floor with the first volume, kept getting them because they were the perfect "midway" for me between comics and "real books" (I was in the 7th-9th grades when these came out, just to make that make more sense...) My favorites were the Gypsy novels, hands down, but I dug Kamus, Orion, Greatheart Silver, and Doc Phoenix. I still re-read the Gypsy novels ever so often. I wish Ron Goulart would finish the series...The Groovy Agenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17466541479854942040noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-73087753346317906632015-09-09T16:57:02.053-05:002015-09-09T16:57:02.053-05:00Don't want to let this one slip by without dec...Don't want to let this one slip by without declaring my affection for these wonderful tomes. It is really by way of these books which blended the worlds of comics and pulp that I found my way into pulps way back then. The blend of art and story is always outstanding and these are keepers for sure. I'm startled that they've never been reprinted completely, because as much as I cherish my copies, I'd love to have comfortable reading copies to revisit. I need to dig these out and give them a go. <br /><br />Rip Off Rip Jaggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09936426877024852134noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-54717658924430947282015-09-09T16:39:05.791-05:002015-09-09T16:39:05.791-05:00Oh, and Russ, that contribution you mentioned, by ...Oh, and Russ, that contribution you mentioned, by Joann Kobin, was indeed an odd choice, but it's a good story nonetheless.Edo Bosnarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-49475199703105064272015-09-09T16:36:32.097-05:002015-09-09T16:36:32.097-05:00Thanks for the comments, guys. Garett, man, that n...Thanks for the comments, guys. Garett, man, that news about Wiacek sucks - seems like we've been reading about a lot of these kinds of cases in recent years (i.e., comic creators now getting on in years and needing help to pay medical bills and so forth).<br /><br />Anyway, as to completism, as noted in the post, it worked both ways: the more standard version of having to get everything, i.e., every issue of a title, every book in a series, etc., or avoiding certain titles and foregoing later issues, volumes, etc., because you don't have the ones in between...<br />Sean, the Farmer stories in these volumes, while entertaining, really didn't grab me as much as the others mentioned in the post. The Moorcock story, a bit of a grim dystopian tale, was pretty strong, though. And alas, I haven't had any ducks to feed since sometime just after the Bronze Age in the 1980s; duck husbandry would appear to be HB's gig now...Edo Bosnarnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-51976541367294568042015-09-09T16:11:51.564-05:002015-09-09T16:11:51.564-05:00As with a lot of the Preiss books, the concept see...As with a lot of the Preiss books, the concept seemed more compelling than the execution. And there were some peculiar choices, such as reprinting a story from a feminist literary magazine to demonstrate the "heroism" in the daily life of a senior citizen.<br /><br />I always appreciated Preiss' interest in playing with the physical package, producing digest comics and pulp-themed paperbacks. Aside from Kurtzman's Jungle Book and Kane's Blackmark, original comics done for the pocket-sized (as opposed to the trade-sized) format haven't really been explored to their full potential, though the digest size has certainly thrived in Italy and Europe in general.<br /><br />The first two volumes of Weird Heroes have the added attraction of Steranko's dynamic production work.Every character got a title page with a beautiful custom logo,adding to the feeling that a new form was being discovered. Russhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04809592629762693427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-49009842550152664332015-09-09T15:42:37.157-05:002015-09-09T15:42:37.157-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Russhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04809592629762693427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-90032696685572713002015-09-09T15:07:33.329-05:002015-09-09T15:07:33.329-05:00Inker Bob Wiacek has suffered an injury and is ask...Inker Bob Wiacek has suffered an injury and is asking for help at GoFundMe:<br /> http://www.gofundme.com/zr3ap9xj<br />A donation of $40 or more gets a drawing of any comic character. I always liked Wiacek's inks.Garettnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-68447768434785880412015-09-09T13:43:50.350-05:002015-09-09T13:43:50.350-05:00Hmmm, these sound cool...I love that pulpy stuff; ...Hmmm, these sound cool...I love that pulpy stuff; I'll have to see if I can find them someplace.<br /><br />Mike WilsonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-28282623496665010802015-09-09T12:59:41.079-05:002015-09-09T12:59:41.079-05:00Following Garett and Redartz, the completist in me...Following Garett and Redartz, the completist in me demands I leave a second comment....<br /><br />-seanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-33191594913539355022015-09-09T12:55:12.610-05:002015-09-09T12:55:12.610-05:00While I really liked some of the old pulp revival ...While I really liked some of the old pulp revival comics for the artwork - all that art deco stuff in, say, Kaluta's Shadow made it really stand out - I could never get into the stories.<br />So I passed on Weird Heroes back then, because it seemed primarily a collection of text pieces. Don't get me wrong, I read stuff with just words - sometimes even whole books! - as well as comics, but.... the thought of something like Chandler with only a few illustrations,even by Steranko, just didn't grab me.<br /><br />But I must have only seen one or two of them on sale, as I had no idea the mix included Philip Jose Farmer, who I really like, and Michael Moorcock who... is a bit more of a mixed bag, but he's usually good in retro mode.<br />So I might well investigate further. Thanks Edo. Keep feeding the ducks.<br /><br />-seanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-3724350559420603352015-09-09T12:22:54.842-05:002015-09-09T12:22:54.842-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Redartzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08221459636234713619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-77634909422882630052015-09-09T12:22:21.829-05:002015-09-09T12:22:21.829-05:00A fine review, Edo, on a series of which I was not...A fine review, Edo, on a series of which I was not familiar. I did have several Byron Preiss publications back in the day, but not these. I , like Garrett, will have to look for them. Especially the anthologies: a form dear to this aging reader's heart...Redartzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08221459636234713619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-16556476629837143972015-09-09T12:03:54.922-05:002015-09-09T12:03:54.922-05:00My completism is usually with artists rather than ...My completism is usually with artists rather than titles. It's easier now that there are so many reprints out. I picked up most of John Buscema's work, including the rare 1950s comics like Hercules and Sinbad. I have a desire to get everything they do, including the lesser stuff--then a few years later, I'll pare it down and just keep the best examples of their art. The last couple years I've been into Kirby, and discovered his wonderful 1940s stuff. The completism bug does have an advantage, in that you discover the hidden gems that others may overlook.Garettnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5293155946761960913.post-48760453384065720982015-09-09T10:25:28.288-05:002015-09-09T10:25:28.288-05:00Thanks for the great review Edo! I'd never hea...Thanks for the great review Edo! I'd never heard of these books, but I'll keep my eyes open for them. I'm a fan of pulp heroes, and I like some illustrated stories like the Conan novels illustrated by Maroto. <br /><br />I can relate to the "completist bug" when it come to comics, but I'm getting better. That could be a day's topic for BAB. <br /><br />The Gypsy stories intrigue me. Garettnoreply@blogger.com