Two Questions: "Never Again" vs."Never Enough"

Redartz:  Here's a couple questions for you to ponder over, two questions looking at the opposite ends of your musical spectrum. We have discussed favorite songs and performers, and also those we aren't so fond of. Today we will stretch this to the limits of our personal tolerance: 

1.  Name a song you could easily (and indeed would prefer to) avoid hearing again for the remainder of your natural life. 

2.  Name a song you could  still find enjoyable, regardless of how many times you are exposed to it.

Personally, I could list numerous examples of both. But in the interests of brevity, I'll keep it down to 
 two each (you can name just one, or a dozen; we try to be accommodating).

Songs I would be happy never to hear again: Rod Stewart, "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy". That song made me cringe the first time I heard it, and it hasn't gotten any better over the years. And neither has Roger Whitaker, "The Last Farewell"- that song seemed to be everywhere in the mid 70's, including heavy rotation on cheesy commercials. 

Songs I could hear over and over again: ( I won't subject you to the others.above): George Harrison, "My Sweet Lord"- wonderfully melodic, and inspiring every time I hear it.

 Also, ABBA, "S.O.S."-  Just one heck of a great song, with a magnificent arrangement. Debatable, but it could just be my favorite pop song of all time. 

 I look forward to hearing about your 'never again's and 'never enough's...

 

Follow The Leader: Episode 70: Reading Recommendations!

Martinex1: Let's keep it simple...Follow the Leader!  New topic supplied by one of you...and we all jump in!  Cheers!

Off the Bookshelf: Big Little Books- Big Fun in a Small Package...

Redartz:  One of the 'little' pleasures of my youth was a series of small books, combining text with panel illustrations on a facing page. Featuring a wide array of familiar characters placed into novel-length adventures, and priced at a level my allowance would cover: yes, Big Little Books! 

 



BLB's actually first appeared in 1932, published by Whitman (the same company who provided them for our perusal in the 60's and 70's). In those days the books were filled with tales of Slam Bradley, Mickey Mouse, The Gumps, The Shadow, and many other stars of film, radio and the pulps. 










In our era, of course, they added in many favorites from television: Flipper, Lassie, Daktari, Frankenstein Jr., and many many more. I had quite a few of these thick tomes, stacked alongside my beloved comics. Some of those I recall most fondly: Popeye ("Ghost Ship to Treasure  Island"), Bugs Bunny ("Double Trouble on Diamond Island"), and Donald Duck ("The Fabulous Diamond Fountain") . I know, we see a pattern of sorts here- they all seemed to combine the lure of treasure and some element of menace; a pairing hard to resist for any kid. 

One I recall especially well:  Woody Woodpecker ("The Meteor Menace"). Indeed, this is one I've managed to reacquire in recent years, and got a kick out of reading it again. Here you see the opening page, showing the standard format of text on the right, illustrations on the left. No credits were given for the creators, unfortunately (The Fantastic Four BLB has art that greatly resembles Kirby, but I don't think it actually was). The story itself is full of gimmicks, tricks, gadgets, and mysteries (Woody's nephew Knothead even has a secret spy kit that proves integral to the plot). At 250 pages, it makes for a pretty long tale, albeit a quick one to read (after all, you only get about a paragraph on a page).

Those old BLB's from the 30's to the 50's were all in 'hardback' form (actually a sort of cardboard cover). The late 60's versions also had a stiff cover, although the spines didn't hold up very well. The later books from the 70's were soft paper covers, and basically reprinted  many of the previous decade's offerings. Hard or soft cover, the Big Little Books offered a lot of reading enjoyment for the price of a couple of comics. And they were easier to fit in a backpack or suitcase or camp bag, and less likely than a comic to end up crinkled to unreadability. Now here's a few to jog your memories. Which ones did you have?

Rank and File: The Year's Best Comic Stories, 1980!

Redartz:  Hello once again! Ready to consider some memorable comic stories? If so, proceed: we are looking at the year 1980, when comics started out at 40 cents and skyrocketed up to 50 cents. Oh, those were the days...

And what a year for comics it was. Although I usually try to limit representation on these lists to one per title, the sheer strength of the X-Men forced my hand. As always, some picks are obvious, some less so. You recall the ground rules: books published with cover dates between April 1980 and March 1981; my admittedly subjective choices,  no particular order, and your critiques and nominations welcomed! Here we go...


 


X-Men 137- "The Fate of the Phoenix", by Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin. The mutant team's preeminent team details the death of Jean Grey. 'Nuff Said. 














 
Captain America 250-   "Cap for  President", by Roger Stern, Don Perlin, Roger  McKenzie, Jim Shooter, John Byrne and Joe Rubinstein. A fun tale of speculation, introspection, characterization and politics!














 

 DC Comics Presents 29-  "Where No Superman Has Gone Before", by Len Wein, Jim Starlin and Romeo Tanghal. Superman goes through an emotional wringer courtesy of the Spectre.


 









 


Amazing Spider-man Annual 14-  "The Book of the Vishanti", by Denny O'Neal, Frank Miller and Tom Palmer. One of Spidey's best annuals, with some gorgeous art (and a great cast- Dr. Strange, Dr. Doom and Dormammu). I wasn't a fan of Denny's work on the regular title, but he aced this story. 













 
New Teen Titans 2-  "Today...the Terminator", by Marv Wolfman, George Perez and Romeo Tanghal. The new team start to get to know each other, and we all meet the Terminator (no, not Arnold). The book is really hitting it's stride...


 








 



X-Men 141- "Days of Future Past", by Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin. Truly one of the best stories of the decade. Better than issue 137?  Too close for this fan to call, so both make the list. 













 


Daredevil 169- "Devils", by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson. A great, chilling, cinematic Bullseye story, set against a holiday background. Great story, great cover, great team.












Detective Comics 500- "The Too Many Cooks...Caper!", by Len Wein and Jim Aparo / "Once Upon a Time", by  Len Wein, Charles Shulz and Walt Simonson. A two-fer, representing this collection of solid stories in a giant anniversary edition. The first- a clever yarn incorporating many of the former residents of Detective Comics, the second a salute to Snoopy's writing career presented by two of comicdom's finest.







 

Micronauts 20-  "Enter: Ant-Man", by Bill Mantlo, Pat Broderick and Armando Gil. A wild, wonderful romp in a supermarket with the Micro's and Ant-Man, and loads of insects. And a roll of bathroom tissue.










 


Mystery in Space 111- "The Singling", by Gerald J. Brown and Jim Aparo. A tale of betrayal and regret, told visually (no text); reminiscent of some of the classic EC sci-fi stories. One of several fine tales in this often-overlooked gem of an anthology...













Okay, you've seen my picks. Now's your chance to improve on it: name your choices for the best of '80; the nominating process here is wide open!

Panel Discussion: The Group Shot!

Martinex1: Today will be a feast for the eyes - I assure you!   Since the dawn of hero team comic books, there has been the group shot!  Pin-Ups, covers, posters, and double-page spreads have highlighted the characters as a team and highlighted the particular artist's skills.

I believe the first group team shot that I was exposed to came at the end of Avengers #71.  On the final page, the team assembled for a posed picture that still resonates with me.  Sal Buscema crafted that particular pin-up but team art by John Buscema, Jack Kirby, John Byrne, George Perez, Ron Frenz, and others are just as noteworthy.  Today we will look at all kinds of teams (and non-teams, and general groups, and all-out mobs) as they appeared throughout Bronze Age history.  Be prepared to discuss your favorite examples whether shared here or not. Let's get started with some other Avengers art that caught my fancy.

Marvel seemed to revel in their various superstar teams from the Avengers to the X-Men, but DC also capitalized on their mightiest with beautiful groupings.  They established a cover trope initiated by Keith Giffen that always made me smile.

But let's not stop there,  DC's premiere team was spotlighted by everybody from George Perez to Alex Ross.

But it doesn't stop there for DC, they had some memorable poses from the Teen Titans as well.

Back at Marvel, the Fantastic Four was know for their Jack Kirby pin-ups almost from the beginning.  John Byrne carried on the team "photo" idea in his run on the book.  He also supplied some magnificent poster art for the FF and all of their cast.

The Defenders, X-Men, Champions, Inhumans, and others all have had their days in the sun as well. Whether in commissions starring our Bronze Age favorites, or from long forgotten pin-ups, the team photo has become a favorite of mine to gaze at.

The X-Men, of course due to their popularity, appeared in many groupings...

 
Sometimes it was fun to gather all of the heroines together...

Or all of the villains...

Or the whole Universe (or at least as much as the paper size would allow)...

So what were your favorite group poses?  How did this type of page or cover or poster affect your collecting?  Did you long for this style of art or did it leave you cold?  Which artist did it best? And which did you own?  Bring your group positions to the group discussion today at BitBA!  Cheers!




UPDATE ALERT:  Martinex1: From all of these great comments, I have added some additional images so everybody can see the other suggestions.  How did I leave off the Legion?   No answer... sometimes at BitBA things slip the mind.  Cheers!