Doug: We interrupt this vacation because... well, because! I've actually been reading some comics over the past three weeks or so and thought it might be cool to not only share what I've had my nose in, but ask the same of our readers. We always love it around here when we run these posts for media suggestions. Let's spend the weekend sharing and/or recommending, and then maybe even come back here over the next several days to leave a thought if you've read based on another's recommendation or just have picked up something to peruse on your own.
Doug: We spent three days before the Christmas holiday with family in Missouri. On a morning when my brother-in-law was at work and my wife and her sister were shopping I took the opportunity to fire up the Kindle. I have several hundred comics stored on that device, moved over to it from my DVD-ROMs. While skimming the choices, I settled on Avengers #s 21 and 22. Both issues featured Power-Man and the Enchantress. Man, I just love the Kooky Quartet era! Those were great stories, and Don Heck's art was a perfect match for that version of Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Doug: Next up was the 6-issue arc "Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes", which originally ran in Action Comics #s 858-863. I think I mentioned this hardcover in a comment a little over a week ago. I'd strongly recommend it to Superman fans and to Legion fans. It's a fun ride, with all of the Legionnaires in costumes that approximate their Bronze Age looks. And as I mentioned in that comment, Gary Frank draws Superman quite similarly to one Christopher Reeve (on the interiors, but not so much on the covers). Awesome.
Doug: Next up (sheesh, I've read more than I thought!) was a shelf-grab of Legends of the Dark Knight: Marshall Rogers. Of course that was inspired by the post we ran on December 30 where many of you saw the Batman newspaper strip from 1989 for the first time. Of course Rogers was the artist. I read Rogers's first three issues of Detective Comics, teamed with Steve Englehart. As I knew, it was pretty good fare, and you can plainly see that the first ish has an incredible rubber mask reveal!
Doug: Lastly, and even on both sides of writing this post, I'm revisiting The Dark Knight Returns. I've pre-ordered a copy of The Dark Knight Returns Gallery Edition, which is Graphitti Designs' version of an IDW Artist Edition. It is due to arrive in February, and I promise to share some images from it once it is in my possession. I really enjoyed the first issue of TDKR, and I've mentioned a few times over the years that it is the only comic I've ever read and then immediately read again. Whatever happened with Batman in the succeeding years aside, the 1st issue of TDKR is one of my all-time faves. That being said, I've also gone on record stating I didn't care for the devolving look of Miller's art as the series wore on. That and the fact that it became achingly late in arriving as we headed toward issues 3 and 4.
Doug: And how about you?
11 comments:
Gosh, I have a ton to read, but I haven't been reading all that much lately. However, I have been trying to finish that Marshall Rogers Batman hardcover. I really loved the early stuff in the beginning, but I'm finding it slow going trying to get through the two later mini-series in the back, "Siege" and "Dark Detective". I am in the middle of "Siege" and I keep reading it at night when I go to bed, and I end up falling asleep before I get too far. It's not that it's boring, it's more a matter of my being too tired to stay awake. I'm seriously going to have to do some day reading if I'm ever going to finish it. LOL
Now Doug, I have a question for you. How do you get those DVD ROM comics onto a Kindle? I thought you could only download online books from Amazon onto a Kindle. I don't own one, but if I can put my digital comic collection on it, I may have to pick one up. Also, how many of those PDF comics can it hold? If you don't mind asking all these questions. Thanks.
William, I have the Dark Detective tpb, and I recall being a bit disappointed when I first read it, as I suppose I was expecting a return to the glory of the original Englehart/Rogers/Austin run in Detective. However, I have to say, it's still a really solid, well-done Batman story.
As for my own reading, I actually did read a lot of comics in December (because that was about all I had time for when I could read for pleasure). So I got through the Daredevil Panini digest ('Marked for Murder,' collecting issues 158 through 167), and again re-read the excellent Marvel Team-up #s 82-85 (the amnesiac Black Widow story).
I also picked up a few things that I'd bought over the years quite cheaply at once place or another but never got around to reading before: a Super Friends tpb called Truth, Justice and Peace, which collects a bunch of issues from that series (and which frankly I found a bit disappointing; except for Fradon's art, those really weren't as good as I remembered them); Daughters of the Dragon: Deadly Hands, which reprints three Misty and Colleen stories from the b&w magazines (Deadly Hands of Kung Fu and Bizarre Adventures) - very enjoyable stories and gorgeous art by none other than Marshall Rogers; a digest called Spider-Girl Presents Buzz and Darkdevil, which collects two mini-series connected to the late 1990s Spider-girl - I actually rather enjoyed these stories, and the art by Ron Frenz, inked by Sal Buscema and Al Milgrom, is really quite nice; and currently I'm just getting through the Howard Chaykin installment of Solo, which is quite good.
William --
I have the Kindle Fire HD (32GB) and I've had it for a few years. Moving the comics files onto it was as easy as plugging it into my computer, opening the comics files and then drag-and-drop. I really don't know how many of the .pdf files I've moved over - it's certainly not any of my complete discs. I think I have a really fair representation of Bronze Age books on it, and from the Avengers disc I think I loaded #s 16-200 or so. So yes -- it does hold a lot of books. And of course it's a touch screen, so zooming in and out is really easy.
Doug
Doug- my wife kindly gifted me with a Galaxy Tab for Christmas; am loving it and now you have inspired me to load some comics goodness onto it. Where to start?
As for recent reading: volume 2 of the Walking Dead tpb (another gift...)
Avengers 161 (inspired by the recent review)
First 3 issues of "Jughead"- the new reboot by Chip Zdarsky and Erica Henderson. Was dubious at the start, but am really enjoying this book!
Amazing Spiderman 157 -159 (the Ock / Hammerhead story, picked up all 3 at a flea mkt last week)
Hey Doug, maybe you could refresh my memory, but didn't Miller do more of the inks in the later parts of DKR? Maybe that goes some way to explain the changing look?
"Devolving"...? Personally, I liked the way the art became more stylized - it seemed as if Miller was growing in confidence as he got further into the work, more willing to commit to a singular vision.
Anyway, looking forward to seeing what you post from the Gallery Edition. Curious to see a bit of the linework without Lynn Varley's colours...
Oh, and a belated happy new year (seeing as this is my first comment for 2016)
-sean
Thanks for the info, Doug! I'll definitely have to look into getting one. (Maybe I'll drop a hint to my wife for my birthday in May). I'd love to be able to read my digital comics in bed instead of at my desk.
Wouldja believe. . .
New Teen Titans Preview and #1?
One particular thing I like is that Perez manages to make Robin (who, I'm sorry, has the WORST COSTUME IN COMICDOM) look pretty darned physically formidable-! Although still short-ish in stature, he's a guy with some serious guns sproutin' from under that tunic tank top-! And it reads like a conscious, consistent choice, y'know?
HB (distracted by the playoffs, yes--)
Thanks to my iPad, I've indulged in some treats from Marvel unlimited - the entire Omega the Unknown series (what a shame it was so abruptly cancelled!), as well as Byrne/Stern run on Captain America, the Bill Mantlo run on Iron Man, the Lein Wein run on Hulk, and, last but not least, some Lee-Kirby Thor goodness, starting with #155, up to #174 at the moment. I'm not a fan of digital comics, but you can't beat the convenience, nor can you beat that Marvel Unlimited deal, though I wish they'd fill in the missing Bronze Age gaps.
Oh yeah, I also finished the entire Tomb of Dracula run on Marvel Unlimited (minus the one issue they were inexplicably and annoyingly missing) a few weeks ago.
I recently purchased a Kindle Fire for fifty dollars. It's an amazing little tablet. So first thing I did was get an app for the Comixology site. I purchased the first two entries in the Dark Knight III series. I am glad I did. The story is a lot more coherent and exciting than the last sequel, Dark Knight Strikes Back, which was a disaster. Also I purchased four Batman hardcover editions for $5.99 each on a day when they have deep discounts for DC comics. Had I purchased the physical books they would have amounted to well over $120. Got to enjoy my holiday reading some of the best Batman tales by Len Wein, Gene Colon, Carmine Infantino and last but not least Walt Simonson.
William, thanks for asking what I would have asked and thanks Doug and R.Lloyd for the Kindle info. The wife has one that I just may have to borrow. Hmmm...
As to recent reading - I found my Panther's Rage comics and read the first 3 issues over the weekend and enjoyed them at least as much as I remember enjoying them the first time around. I'm going to try to finish the reading the whole storyline soon.
As I'm re-reading I'm remembering that while I greatly enjoyed the story, it took TOO long. 11-12 issues in a bi-monthly book so it took a full 2 years to produce. I can see where if you were not in on the ground floor you might have a tough time jumping on and, conversely, might have a difficult time with the length, lose interest and fall off.
Tom
I also enjoyed that Superman/Legion arc from Action a few years ago. One of the few modern comics that I enjoyed in recent years. I picked up a couple when they came out because of the great covers, then bought the rest at 2nd and Charles for 25-cents apiece! Great deal!
starfoxxx
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