Redartz: Some time back, we ran a post asking for suggested topics. Many of you gave us some great ideas, some of which have appeared, some are still upcoming. Today's post is a result of the great suggestion from frequent commenter William, who put forth "Two Part Stories". An excellent topic; thank you William! Two part stories are much less common in comics today, but once were pretty common. They were appealing because they gave you a cliffhanger to get you back next month, but didn't require a six-month investment of time and fortune. And you can fit both parts of the story in one comic bag!
Now let's consider some of those two issue epics. For my part in today's discussion, I'll stick with Bronze age books, but don't feel you have to do so. Additionally, I'll leave aside some obvious choices ("Death of Gwen Stacy", "Joker's Laughing Fish"). Instead, here are a few personal favorites that might be less commonly mentioned. My choices:
Avengers 127 - Fantastic Four 150, the wedding of Crystal and Quicksilver. Steve Englehart, Sal Buscema and Joe Staton started it; Gerry Conway, Rich Buckler and Joe Sinnott finished it. Featuring Ultron , the Inhumans and loads of heroes, it's a showcase for crossover cooperation. Great art in both books, and the story moves beautifully from one team to the other.
Conan the Barbarian 43 - 44, "Tower of Blood". Roy Thomas, John Buscema, Ernie Chan and the Crusty Bunkers give us a great Conan/Red Sonja team up. A creepy story which actually features Conan put to stud service. Don't ask; just read it.
Detective Comics 478 - 479, " The Coming of Clayface III". Immediately following the classic Joker story , Steve Englehart, Marshall Rogers and Dick Giordano produce another fine tale. We meet the new Clayface, in a story both horrific and tragic.
Avengers 170 - 171, The Bride of Ultron. An easy pick, with Jim Shooter, George Perez and Pablo Marcos at the top of their game. A dynamite story, fantastic art, excellent covers, it doesn't get much better than this.
Amazing Spider-Man 145 - 146, featuring the Scorpion and the Jackal. Served up by Gerry Conway, Ross Andru, Frank Giacoia, Dave Hunt and John Romita Sr. It takes place right in the middle of the first Spidey clone saga, and has all the elements that make the web-slinger so great: cool villains, supporting cast drama, and some humor- we get to see Aunt May lecture the Scorpion! Plus issue 146 had some guest inks by Romita, always a special treat.
Action Comics 545 -546, with the new Braniac. Marv Wolfman and Gil Kane were nicely handling the Man of Steel, with a solid, character-driven approach and good Kane artwork. This story had Superman faced with the threat of the recently updated Braniac, and calling in some help from the Justice League and the Teen Titans.
Fantastic Four 280-281, inroducing Malice. John Byrne and Jerry Ordway give us a whole new look at Susan Storm Richards. Some may not be fond of this story, but I found it fascinating; and helped bring a welcome new strength (and new name) to the Invisible Woman. Loved She-Hulk's dawning realization of Malice's actual identity, and Sue's use of new applications of her force field.
There you have it, a few choice tales from my stack of faves. Now you get to pick your fondly remembered twin tellings. Come on, don't leave us hanging...
