Doug: Question of the day -- what sort of purchase gets you genuinely excited these days? I'm talking the sort of excitement you had as a child, as when you unwrapped a new Mego on Christmas morning, or spied a Marvel Treasury Edition on a magazine rack at the dime store. Maybe it was the anticipation of what has become your favorite film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe about to start. Maybe it's a new comic series by your favorite creators that you just got your mitts on. How about the release of a new album, or maybe a collected edition of some long-loved comics?
Doug: I was thinking of this as I pre-ordered a copy of The Dark Knight Returns Gallery Edition (Graphitti Designs). It's certainly been well-discussed that I've really come to enjoy the IDW Artist Editions since I've been able to transfer cash value out of my comics collection and into these large tomes of original art reproductions. Back when "The Dark Knight Returns" was new, and I think I've said this before, I was able to buy the first issue from a college buddy who phoned back to his LCS in Little Rock to see if he could still get a copy. There are not very many comics in my reading history where I've hit the bottom of the last page and immediately started the book anew. This was one of them. Excitement? -- man, I was.
Doug: Karen and I discussed this Gallery Edition briefly last week. She remarked that she's just not all that crazy about Frank Miller's art. While I agree that it certainly morphed throughout the duration of the story and was not as palatable to me in the end as it was in the beginning, the significance of the book and that nostalgia for the feeling when it was first read has me... excited!
How about you?
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They're not as good or historically significant as that Dark Knight book, but the recently published Iron Fist and Power Man & Iron Fist tpbs have brought more enjoyment than I anticipated. The first Moon Knight Epic Collection makes me smile every time I read it. It contains the early Moench/Seinkewicz stories and I never thought we'd see them reprinted in color (Vol. 2 of those stories is on the way).
I get excited every time Marvel Masterworks announces a new Defenders reprint book. The Avengers and X-men were great, but my favorite Bronze Age superteam will always be the non-team Defenders.
Stepping away from comics, The Marx Brothers TV collection, a dvd set released last year, contained footage I never knew existed.
They're not out yet but I'm excited about the latest volume of Bob Dylan's bootleg series and the first official release of Beatles' promos on blu-ray.
I got the Star Trek animated series from the 70's on DVD a couple of years ago, and was pretty excited about tat, especially since I hadn't seen it in a long time.
As far as comics go, re-purchasing the Treasury Sized edition of the Legion of Super-Heroes issue where Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad get married was pretty high on my childish happiness meter. Whenever the Master of Kung Fu Omnis come out, I may get that feeling again, if I can get over the guilt of spending all that money.
Also, I'm with Karen on Frank Miller's art. Frankly, I can't stand it, and it disrupts my enjoyment of his stories.
Something I recall getting really really excited for was the first Spider-Man movie. I couldn't wait for that thing to hit theaters. At one point I wished I could be put in suspended animation until it came out because I couldn't stand the wait. When it finally hit theaters I went to a 10am, Friday morning showing and (at the time) I was not disappointed. I loved everything about it (aside from the look of the Green Goblin), but that was a minor nit at the time. I ended up seeing it no less than 5 times in the theater, and I picked up the 2-disc DVD on the day it was released. I have never been, and probably never will be that excited again for a movie release.
I was also really excited for the original PS1 Spider-Man games. Especially the second game, "Enter Electro" because I ordered it through the mail, and it came early in the morning on a day I had off of work. I was so excited to play it, my hands were actually shaking a little when I was opening the package.
These days I guess I get most pumped up for certain new action figure releases of characters that I really want. Like the new Spider-Man and Daredevil figures that came out in the last year. And also the Mezco 6-inch scale Dark Knight Returns Batman (with a cloth costume). I actually called in sick to work so I could drive 20 miles to an out of town comic book store because they were the only one who got one in. The guy even saved it for me until I got there.
I also got pretty jazzed for the recent Epic Power Man and Iron Fist collection that came out a month or so ago. As well as the Scott Lang Ant-Man collected TPB. Both of those have been on my most wanted list for a long time.
Hey Doug, I'll be interested in seeing a review of that Dark Knight book. It seems to me the color was quite expressively done in that series, so I'm curious what the B+W original is like.
I'm excited to check out Metal Men after getting Edo's recommendation. I'm big on Joe Staton's art now. Also I'm reading through Staton's Green Lantern run now and enjoying it, so excited about filling out the rest of those.
A comic I just picked up the other day gave me tingles when I saw it--
Savage Sword of Criminal!
It's an oversize magazine made to look just like an old 1976 issue of Savage Sword of Conan. Inside is a mashup-- a new Criminal story by Brubaker (writer of Captain America) and Philips, interspersed with a B+W barbarian story in the vein of Conan. Complete with zip-a-tone shading, a letters page (including one from Kurt Busiek), and a full page ad for The Awesome Secrets of Deadly Kung Fu! The 2 stories also relate to each other--but I won't give anything away. Creative idea from Brubaker, and well done. If you haven't read Criminal before, this one-shot may be a good place to start for Bronze Age fans.
Aside from comics my main collecting enthusiasm is artefacts related to the history of (what us Brits call) American Football in the UK prior to the start of the International Series (2006).
It is hard to track this stuff down so when I recently picked up a set of 1950's US Air Base programs from games played at Wembley Stadium I was super-excited. These items are beautiful and form the centrepiece of my collection.
And by the way, the observant among you may see the connection between comics and American Football - my enduring love affair with American popular culture.
I'll be one to say I liked Miller's Dark Knight book, as a novel 'done-in-one' concept story. It was a very interesting take on the Bat myth and I enjoyed what he did with it.
What I didn't like was all the rampant industry copying that went on to emulate Miller's style (some subtle, some not so..), nor it's influence on mainstay Batman titles and other Batman deluxe format limited series. Along side the glut of '80s Mutant storylines across the Marvel titles, neither influence proved interesting nor made me want to go out and buy 'em.
I was relly hyped up, several years ago, when my wife gave me the DVD collection of the 1967 Spiderman cartoon, and the Jonny Quest collection too, as an incredible birthday gift. If they ever release the old Fantastic Four show, I'll be stoked ahain!
Nowadays, I still get a wave of anticipation and excitement when we walk into a flea market or antique mall. The thrill of the hunt awaits: one of those tables may harbor a dusty box of four- color treasures! Which direction do we start with?!
Rough spelling there; sorry- never been good at phone typing...
Ahem, a correction.
My wife has quite reasonably reminded me that seeing our 5 year-old daughter breaking through with her reading confidence yesterday trumps any material pleasure. :)
Since spring, I've really cut down on purchases of both comics, with the exception of a few Panini digests, and regular books (just because I have so much stuff to read). However, the savings in my disposable income budget means I've been able to buy a few things new that I would have normally waited to find cheaper used, and which filled me with that same childhood excitement when they arrived in the mail: the Orion Omnibus, collecting the entirety of Simonson's run with that character, and - as per J.A. and William - the Iron Fist and Power Man & Iron Fist Epic volumes.
Garett, I've been trying to get your attention on some other threads, but if you haven't already, check out this post at Diversions of the Groovy Kind if you want a sampling of Staton's work on Metal Men (and check out the links to posts featuring other issues.
I've been interested in Brubaker and Philips' Criminal (and Fatale as well) for a while now, but I've been hesitant about making both financial and time commitment.
Colin, I'm American born and raised, and I can tell you not all of us are all that enamored of our version of football (I've always, always preferred the real thing, i.e., what we Yanks call soccer). And don't get me started on baseball...
Already looking forward to Alan Moore's Jerusalem, due out sometime next year apparently.
And as a regular reader of Savage Sword of Conan as a youngster, Garrett has just got my pulse racing about that Criminal mag. Thanks mate - I'll be rushing out to the nearest comic shop first thing tomorrow!
-sean
Sorry to threadjack, this is my last comment on the subject. Edo - I love 'soccer' too, and used to play cricket at club level (I still don't 'get' baseball either)
But the NFL (and college football) have the same glamour and all-colour fun I associate with Marvel and DC comics. It must be childhood imprinting from the OJ Simpson comic ads!
Colin, I like NFL Football but in following the Chicago Bears I have subjected myself to an entirely different level of pain. But we have the Cubs (for at least one more day). Baseball cards, Football cards, whiffle ball games, pick up two hand touch games, all seemed a mainstay of my neighborhood youth.
For me, once in a great while I collect some original art on Ebay or at a convention. That brings me a lot of excitement. I like seeing the work in process and I really have grown to prefer much of the inked linework to the finished colored product… not always but frequently. In the not too distant past, I collected some more modern work by Patrick Zircher (Thunderbolts) and Kevin West (Guardians of the Galaxy). It is fun to open those packages.
I also recently read a review of DC’s Hourman and I have to say I am looking forward to picking up some issues. I think I will enjoy reading those… I hope so.
Thanks Edo! Green Lantern and Metal Men together-- gonna have to go get these. Looks great! I've read the first 5 volumes of Criminal and liked them. Incognito was ok, and Fatale I couldn't get into as much, but they're the same creators so you may like them.
I just started watching baseball a couple years ago, and it was a good time as the Blue Jays have taken off. I'm an unusual Canadian in that I'm bored of hockey.
Oh, MX1, MX1---
At the risk of falling into a classic Monty Python routine. . ."you Bears fans have it DEAD EASY, mate!" It is simply impossible at this point to root for our own Washington Professional Football Club (as one of our local news announcers has been referring to the team for over a decade, 'cause he simply refuses to use racially derogatory team name at all)-- for about two decades now the team has been gold-standard of entitled, malevolent ownership, jaw-droppingly poor decisions, draft disappointments, free-agent disappointments, and destructive ends of careers for both respectable players and coaches.
And I'm a guy who really loves watching (American) football-! Although I'm not involved at all with the Fantasy Football juggernaut-- that stuff rather worries me. HBWife posits that this past year may have given us the ultimate crest in the NFL's power and popularity, though, and although it may take a long, long time we may start to see the first hints of a slow decline very soon. Horse racing was once king. Boxing was once the biggest spectator sport in the world. Baseball earlier in the 20th century was pretty much a driving force in our culture. I daresay cricket has a similar story, yes? Sure, it's hard to imagine, but even the NFL will surely prove transitory in the long haul.
HB (keepin' the OT vibe alive and. . . punting.)
Ooh, and Colin-- props to your wife for making the correct call, there, eh? Nothing like fatherhood to sensibly tamp down all those acquisitive tingle-responses. . .
HB
Thanks to all for the comments so far. Busy day today, so I was not able to jump in and out directly with each response.
But it's nice to know that we still have some things that give us that childlike sense of anticipation. It's been fun to hear individually what some of those items are.
Doug
Hmm there's not much these days that gets me all excited. Let's see now ... a few years back when my LCS had some Marvel Treasury Sized editions of Spider-Man #1, Hulk #5 and Conan, well, I was like a kid in a candy store. It was also a great feeling to by some issues which filled some holes in my collection. It's so gratifying when one finally hunts down a missing issue after many years to complete a storyline.
As for movies, well, I'm looking forward to most of the Marvel Studios movies. FOX and Sony really need to get their act together when it comes to the FF and Spidey properties.
Regarding Miller's art, well, sad to say I'm with Karen on this. TO be quite honest, Miller's artwork has never been my favourite. Yes, his art has evolved over the years but to me it just looks too jumbled for my taste. While I know there are probably legions of people out there who love his art, well, I'd say I like his art but I don't love it.
- Mike 'the bright day returns' from Trinidad & Tobago.
If you read this, HB, I know what you're saying. When the shoeshine boy says 'buy' it's time to sell. And us Brits are the shoeshine boys...
I tease ;)
I have a theory about baseball - didn't the golden-age of baseball coincide with the golden age of radio? Whenever I listen to baseball on the radio it is much more exciting than watching it on TV - were the two things connected?
Cricket works well on radio too - and cricket has also had many golden ages, it is a very nostalgic sport. It is fair to say that one such period was the 1920s and another the 1950s - both periods of social stability that made nostalgia down the line easier - perhaps a further connection between baseball and cricket?
I figure it's OK to go so wildly off-topic now that the fast flowing BAB river has moved on...
I get excited about Back Issue magazine, I've bought every one for the last couple years (except the independent comics issue) and haven't been disappointed with the coverage of Marvel and DC comics from the "good Old Days". I got REALLY excited about the Avengers/Defenders issue and the giant size Legion issue. There's another Giant-Size special coming up.
The new STAR WARS and DARTH VADER Marvel series have been really good, too. They're all that's left on my pull-list, well, once I find a new LCS. I don't get as excited about them as much as BACK ISSUE, but they're pretty good.
I'm getting REALLY excited about the new STAR WARS movie; I've been trolling my local 'MARTS for the new stormtroopers and alien figures, and I can't wait to see if Abrams can pull this off, after being VERY disappointed by EPs 1-3.
starfoxxx
I'd rather buy the Dark Knight Special Edition than the new Dark Knight III book.
Today I saw a cover he drew for an Atom comic and it's an image of Superman. It's not the Sin City era Miller art. Its coming from a Frank Miller who's art is very painful to see. Perspective is way off, Hands and feet are too extremely exaggerated and to top it all off it does look like a child's drawing. Just by looking at Franks pictures on the net we can all see that he's sick and shouldn't be drawing. At best he should be directing the artists as to what look and direction the new Batman books should take. I'm really saddened by his illness, however I think he should stop and just let the professionals who were hired to help do their jobs.
R. Lloyd, I saw that cover too, and I would agree with all of your remarks. I know I've said the DKR art wasn't my cup of tea, but this is a dramatic step down from DKR -this is just ugly. And really -do we need to have Superman's privates outlined so prominently?
Oh, man. I went and Googled that cover to see what you two are talking about, and now I wish I hadn't. It would be o.k., I guess, if it were drawn for a satirical story, but man is that ever ugly. And poorly composed. And I can't believe Klaus Jansen agreed to ink that monstrosity. (And Karen, yes, I could've lived without seeing Superman's, er, package put on display so prominently.)
This just reinforces my conviction that Miller's best artwork was done during his first run on Daredevil, and it's been going downhill ever since then...
It's ironic that you mentioned Miller's run on Daredevil because I'm currently reading some his old paperbacks with Miller's art. What a fall from the man's usual creative genius. I don't think DC is doing him any favors by releasing his art or giving him a platform for his crazy and over the top view points. If this is Miller's last effort, the least DC could do is let him leave with dignity and put a lid on his very atrocious artistic efforts.
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