Today I am simply featuring comics that I have never read. And in most cases, these are from series that I have never read (or just barely sampled). For example, I've really only read a couple Conan comics; the same goes for Master of Kung Fu but retain almost nothing. Or I have read a few anthology horror tales but not in more than two decades, and definitely not the ones shown here. I've read an issue or two of Infinity Inc years ago but barely remember it. Others like Hot Wheels, Demon, and Unknown Soldier are truly untried. These are real unknowns to me, but as I get older I get more curious about the contents. I've started to realize I swim in the same pool constantly (usually Marvel heroes) but even within those tight parameters there is much I've missed or avoided. I find myself drifting toward DC war stories or Charlton horror or Harvey mischief.
Are they good stories? Are they best left forgotten and untouched? I tried to spread the selection across genres - Heroes, Westerns, Romance, Sword & Sorcery, War, Horror, and Comedy and also across publishing companies; but I am really wondering what direction you will push me.
Some of you may say, "I cannot believe he never read <fill in the blank>!' Or you may say, "Thank goodness he was spared from reading <fill in the blank>!"
In any case, let's have a little fun. Pick your top four selections (based on your own reasons or just love of the cover) and give me some feedback. If there is consensus on any of the books, I will seek it out, read it, and report back with an unbiased review. In essence, create my read pile, give me some time, and let me report back. What perception will I have of Bronze Age comics never sampled, never tried?
So today's $1 challenge is "Make Martinex Read Something New!" Steer me in the right direction. Tell me what to pick up immediately and let me know what to avoid.
Cheers all!
14 comments:
It's 6:15 AM and I'm running out the door to work, lol...
I would go with the oldest, one-and-dones you have on the list, generally avoiding the Big Two.
I've never read any of these either.
Ghostly Tales
Hot Wheels
Vicki
Solar
Hot Stuff
Man from Uncle
Unknown Soldier (OK - I break the rule, but Unknown Soldiers were good reads, lol)
I'll say Conan, Master of Kung Fu, The Demon, and... Binky's Buddies! I really like the cover art to Binky's Buddies, looked it up-- Bob Oskner. I've seen just a bit of his art. He has a nice style, halfway between Archie and superheroes, and draws women well. Thanks for putting this up!
I've read Sword of Sorcery, but I think the better version of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser is by Chaykin/Mignola: https://www.darkhorse.com/Books/10-686/Fafhrd-and-the-Gray-Mouser#prettyPhoto
G.I. Combat
Unknown Soldier
Witching Hour
either Eternals or Forever People
DC war comics were well-written and well-drawn, although formulaic.
DC got fan mail from people who said, "I usually don't like war comics, but Unknown Soldier is more like a spy thriller."
Given that DC had to work within the Comics Code, it's impressive that they were able to produce good horror/mystery comics at all.
I liked Dennis the Menace, but it's probably too tame for comic book fans used to the slam-bang action of superheroes.
Doctor Solar was a good series, but a Marvel fan would probably say, "I've seen this kind of stuff before." The same with Archie/Red Circle's revivals of their superheroes in Blue Ribbon.
The Eternals and the DC Fourth World series (New Gods, Forever People, Mister Miracle) were not Kirby's best, but his worst would probably be better than a lot of things I could think of.
Intriguing variation on the topic, Marti!
I've read some of those: the Conan Annual is pretty good, it takes place after he takes the crown of Aquilonia. Also read that issue of Hot Wheels, those all were actually pretty good: art by Toth and Adams.
I just recently picked up an issue of Sword of Sorcery, it looked good and was cheap (sort of like today's post). Other than those, I'd recommend the Dennis the Menace (simple, fun comics) and the Harvey books (after reading a few of those after a lapse of over 40 years, I find they hold up better than I thought- actually some pretty effective story and art; albeit a bit saccharine at times)...
I must say that that issue of Blue Ribbon 1 withThe Fly on the cover keeps tugging at me! Probably because it reminds me so so much of an early 1941? Issue of Adventure from D.C. With the Manhunter on the cover. Not sure which issue that is.,.
I haven't read a lot of these, but for recommendations I'd go with:
Conan (great sword & sorcery, especially the first 115 or so issues written by Roy Thomas; Roy followed De Camp's Conan chronology pretty faithfully and there are some great stories (and John Buscema art) in that run)
Master of Kung Fu (the early issues with Gulacy's art are the best, but the later ones with Mike Zeck or Gene Day are still good; there's plenty of action but also a lot of philosophical stuff ... and a sense of humour)
Infinity Inc. (basically a modern-day continuation of All-Star Squadron, also written by Roy Thomas; the art was great and most of the characters were interesting--Roy used a lot of classic villains too. Crisis screwed things up a bit, but overall the whole series is worth reading)
G.I. Joe (I mentioned this last week, but Larry Hama did a great job incorporating the toy line into a good ongoing story and giving a lot of characters really cool background stories. Things went a little weird eventually, but the first hundred issues or so were good overall. G.I. Joe Special Missions was a spin-off series that was pretty good too. Hama is currently writing the continuation of the original series at IDW, though I haven't read those issues yet ... they're well past issue 200 by now!)
Adventure Comics #79 (cover date October 1942) had a symbolic cover, showing a giant Manhunter with a harpoon stalking a Nazi submarine. It was reprinted in Detective Comics #440 (1974).
Blue Ribbon #1 reprinted some stuff from Adventures of the Fly (late 1950s), which would account for the similarity. Both were by Simon & Kirby.
I'll have to break down these recommendations into several groups:
First, there's the issues pictured which I either had or actually have now, which includes Sword of Sorcery, Red Wolf, Marvel Spotlight with Capt. Universe, Eternals, Demon and Forever People. Of those, I would only recommend Sword of Sorcery as an interesting early adaptation of Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, with early art by Chaykin, Simonson and a few others. The Red Wolf series from the early '70s was nothing to special; it wasn't bad, but pretty unmemorable. The Captain Universe stories weren't too bad, but I don't think Ditko's art was a good fit for those - would have been better if Michael Golden or Pat Broderick had done the art. Of the Kirby material, I think Demon was the best of the lot (Eternals was a fantastic concept, but I thought the series lost steam pretty quick; Forever People was the least interesting of his 4th World stuff). I would say only get those if you're a diehard fan of Kirby.
Second, there's the series that I did follow at some point but never had the issues you pictured: that includes Conan, Kull and Shang Chi, all of which I can recommend. Also, you have several Atlas/Seaboard titles pictured - I have the first two issues of the Scorpion, which is where Howard Chaykin basically did a test version of Dominic Fortune. Those are really worth getting if you like Chaykin's work.
Third, there's a few I've never read but have heard good things about and would like to read myself someday: Crossfire (as well as DNAgents and a few other Evanier-penned series published by Eclipse in the 1980s) and House of Yang, which features art by Korean comic book legend Sanho Kim.
TC - Thanks much for the insight of the cover similarity of Blue Ribbon #1 and Adventure 74 from 1972! The similarity of the cover and the style just jumped out at me (at 6:00 AM today LOL).
I can 2nd Edo Bosnar's thoughts on the first two Scorpion issues Chaykin did for Atlas. Then the weirdest thing happened where Scorpion appeared in a blue superhero outfit for no known reason in issue 3!
Thanks for all of the suggestions and insights. I’ll have to hit the LCS and report back on a few. Cheers!
I really want that Millie the Model issue.
I have that Marvel Spotlight, but haven't read it yet.
Interesting display!
Our reading habits overlap hugely but I would make a pitch for The Eternals. Not having a clue about mystic Kirby tendencies I was thoroughly freaked by that series when I was a young boy. Which quite possibly sparked my ongoing esoteric interests.
Master of Kung Fu was so well written and quite beautiful during the entire run.
Of the others I really want to read some Atlas and Gold Key books one day. If anyone has recommendations I'm all ears...
Edit: thanks Edo for the Atlas/Scorpion tip.
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