fujishig

Fantastic five is in the Spidergirl universe, right?

PhantomStranger

I'm not sure, I wouldn't be the one to ask about Marvel's last decade of continuity.

Marshalls have new 10-packs of random comics for $6.99 found in the children's book section. The latest stock seems to have better quality comics in them, including issues from the past decade.

PhantomStranger

Savage Dragon #11

I always liked the character of Savage Dragon, even if the comic was often hit or miss in quality. A movie would have been awesome. This issue introduces another disposable Image villain with the Fiend, dispatched in a couple of panels. Dragon takes Rapture out on a date but she walks away from sleeping with him. The most notable thing about this issue is the length of the letters column.

The last eight pages of the thin comic book are dedicated to letters from fans in single-space font. I've never seen this many letters published in a comic book. Apparently Larsen wasn't taking advertising during this time, so he had a lot of space to fill with pin-ups and letters. Mike Mignola sends in a letter plugging Hellboy.

Batman 23.3 (Penguin solo issue from the New 52 with awesome 3-D hologram? cover) - A disposable Penguin solo story reminding us he's a nasty guy at heart.

Trevor

Off to check Marshalls.

PhantomStranger

I think they must have come in the past week. Many stores stock anew after Labor Day.

I actually bought a couple of the ten packs. There are a couple of duplicates in the two packages I bought, though I was pretty happy with the random selection. Mostly seemed to be a smattering of Marvel, DC, and older Image books put together. They are in surprisingly great condition, untouched by human hands. I would imagine they were all overstock of some kind that had been sitting in a warehouse. As usual, a mix of more popular characters like Batman and the Hulk with weird stuff (Horseman?) included to round it out.

PhantomStranger

X-Patrol #1

Remember Amalgam comics? That fun crossover where Marvel and DC mashed up their familiar characters into all-new characters? This 1996 issue mashes up various characters from Doom Patrol, X-Factor and the Titans. It's apparent a lot of thought and effort was put into this comic, from the stunning art for a monthly comic to an entirely fake letters page acting like Amalgam Comics had a long history. Karl and Barbara Kesel are the writers.

I don't recognize the artists but Roger Cruz as penciler and Jon Holdredge as inker do a fantastic job having fun with the new costume and character designs. Beastling, a mix of Beast Boy and Hank McCoy. Doctor Doomsday crosses Doomsday with Doctor Doom. My favorite from this issue has to be Shatterstarfire. It is obvious the artist is having fun drawing Starfire in the most provocative poses possible. This is a really fun issue for the Amalgam concept and actually one of the best discoveries I've had in a while from a blind assortment.

Horseman #0

Anyone ever visit Hank's Bulletproof Comics in New York City? I wonder if it is still around. This was published in 1996. I had never heard of this comic before opening the pack and discovered it's an indie black-and-white comic from someone named Hank Kwon. The Horseman is a Korean folk hero set in the 16th Century. For an indie comic, it's a pretty high-quality release. The story involves a lot of Korean and biblical references. You can tell this comic was a labor of love.

PhantomStranger

Supreme #37

This 1996 issue was actually written by Jim Valentino. I may have said this before but I loved Supreme as a series because it took the idea of Superman and applied a fun, over-the-top Silver Age paradigm to the character. Parallel Earths, multiple versions of Supreme, a daughter that goes by Lady Supreme; That is all stuff the regular Superman comics haven't been giving me for decades. DC has run the "human", depowered version of Superman into the ground since Byrne's reboot. Valentino makes this a very fun, classic comic book tale with the two Supremes fighting it out until a villain reveals himself as manipulating both of them.

I had forgotten that Image hired actual models to cosplay as Glory and their other female characters for promotional purposes. Lady Supreme #1 was advertised in here as having a variant photo cover.

Trevor

What's a good reading order/plan for Supreme? Weren't there multiple series and/or minis/appearances?

I always meant to read it, at least after Moore starting writing it, but don't think I ever actually read an issue.

PhantomStranger

There is one main Supreme series and a bunch of spin-offs and specials. Many people read Moore's run which does have more depth than what had gone before in the series. The character had already been handled as a loose riff on the Silver Age Superman before Moore came on board. The first 40 issues are probably worth reading if you like a light, modern version of Silver Age Supes, then Moore's arc begins. The comic art is done in the traditional Image style of the mid-90s.

This blogger recaps the beginning of Alan Moore's run:

http://www.tor.com/2012/07/16/the-gr...upreme-part-1/

Rob Liefeld basically handed him the character and told Moore he could do anything he wanted with the character.

As far as I know, the trades are all out of print and not particularly cheap on the used market. I've seen complete Supreme runs on eBay go under $100. I have no idea about legitimate digital pricing. The complete run is pretty easily available for free via cbr torrents.

Trevor

You'd think that once I stopped believing in God I'd be ok with using torrents, but nope.

Seems like the sort of thing that will eventually turn up in a Humble Bundle or a Comixology $.99 sale. I'm sure I'll jump on it then.

fujishig

The Savage Dragon letter pages were (are?) often the best part of the comic... though I would love either a digital sale or a true omnibus release. I think they solicited one but then that fell through for some reason.

PhantomStranger

The Savage Dragon omnibus was announced on Amazon and has been vaporware for the past year. I am getting the feeling it's not coming now.

PhantomStranger

Namor #50

The cover speaks for itself but the double-sized issue opens with Sue Richards getting out of Namor's bed after a night of passionate sex!? Is this a trick or possibly her doppelganger? Read the issue to find out!

I'll digress for a moment on a very important issue that has been bugging me for several decades. Sue has this breathless dialogue in the opening panels to Namor. "Let's face it, Lover - You and I have been denying our feelings to each other since we first met."

Have adults at any point in the history of the world spoken like that line? Marvel had a strange habit of having their female characters always call their men "lover" well after that term had fallen out of favor. This issue was published in 1994, not 1974. I always found it a weird Marvel anachronism.

"Someone's been Sleeping in My Bed!" Guest-starring the Fantastic Four and Namorita. Story by Glenn Herdling. Art and cover by Geof Isherwood. With Reed Richards dead how long will it be before Namor and Susan Richards can no longer deny their attraction for one another. How will the rest of the Fantastic Four react to Sue's strange behavior, and what enemy from Namor's past returns when he least expects it? NOTE: This story takes place before the events of Fantastic Four (1961-1996 1st Series) #387. Includes 3 pin-ups of the Sub-Mariner by Jeff Isherwood. 48 pages.

mrhan

^^^ Why are her legs almost transparent on that cover.

fujishig

I like how they put the '4' in the logo.

I don't find that line any more stilted than comic book dialogue of either sex back in the day, with the endless exposition and saying things out loud for the sake of the audience. I'm sure if I go through my New Warriors omni or something else of that era a lot of that dialogue would sound weird when spoken.

Of course, this is the era where Sue's costume had a cut out of the '4' logo on her chest (mercifully hidden here), so I get what you're saying.

PhantomStranger

The cover I posted was actually for the standard variant. I actually picked up the silver foil variant with the same cover. It's a weird choice because the silver highlights don't work that well for the picture.

The interior art is fairly suspect as well. There is a splash page with Namor looking like a cross between a naked bodybuilder and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Which reminds me that Stay Puft would make a great Halloween costume...

PhantomStranger

Dr. Fate #8

This issue is from 1989. The cover art is interesting for this era. What struck me was the giant one-page ad on the back cover for Keaton's upcoming Batman movie. I remember the ad well, it was everywhere that summer. While I always liked Dr. Fate showing up in Justice League or as a guest in other books, I wasn't a big follower of his own series.

This issue is from the weird era when Kent Nelson is trapped in some other body and two other people, a man and a woman, would merge to form Dr. Fate. The story is kind of a doozy. Some man 25,000 years ago elevated himself to "Lord of the Fourth Heaven" by some arcane process and runs his own private dimension where women service his every whim. Some guy living today has come across a ritual to displace the current Lord of the 4th Heaven and naturally the current one fights back, resulting in massive destruction in our world. Sadly, the story ends on a cliffhanger and I may never know what happens in issue #9.

Trevor

I'll pull those issues out the next time I'm near those boxes and read them for you.

The Valeyard

Hit a store in Pasadena that I haven't been to in a while and they had a box full of old Archies for a buck each. The issues ranged from the mid-60s to the early 70s. Lotta hippy clothing. I grabbed three books - Life with Archie #40 because it had a story that I use to own in an old Archie paperback; 1969's Archie's Madhouse Annual#6; and the third comic.... only because of the infamous cover.

terrycloth

Grabbed some of the local comicbook shop variants today
Batman
Avengers
Hangman
And the valiant titles

Trevor

My local store's Black Friday sale includes all Convergence and Secret Wars issues at $1 a pop. Tempted to get them all, but, so far, just sticking to the titles/characters I normally collect.

They actually have had the Convergence issues at $1 for awhile, so I had already bought all the Justice League associated ones.

For Secret Wars, the bonus of knowing they come with a digital code make it very tempting to just buy them, redeem the codes, read the floppies, then donate them to Good Will.

The Valeyard

Recent purchases. Some from a trip to Orlando. Some from a local show for a buck.

The Flash (Vol. 1) #275 - The death of Iris Allen.


Amazing Spider-Man (Vol.1) #181 - A re-buy. Use to own one but traded it way back when.


Spider-Woman (Vol. 1) #1 - Got it for $5. One day, she'll show up in a movie and BA-BOOM!$!$!


Marvel Premiere #28 - Another re-buy. I think I still have the tattered cover of my original.


The Brave and the Bold (Vol. 1) #120


The Brave and the Bold (Vol. 1) #124 - Get to work, Aparo!


Astonishing Tales #29


World's Finest (Vol.1) #204 - Love the white suit era of WW.

mrhan

It seemed like everyone hated that version of WW when it came out. I thought it was one of the best runs of WW. It really tried to make her different without messing with who she really was inside. I collected every book that she appeared in. The only one I haven't found is Jerry Lewis 117. I know it's on Ebay but I like to look over back issues before buying them.

The Valeyard

Got these at a local show last week.

mrhan

Is that an old Thunder Agent by Wally Wood? Cool find if it is.