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Post by The Night Phantom on Dec 7, 2007 0:17:22 GMT -5
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Post by dlw66 on Jan 5, 2008 15:48:59 GMT -5
I finished reading The Vault last night. I thought the book was very nice, and as has been said, the "extras" are just fabulous!! I agree with Phantom when he remarked that "just anyone" could hold some of those treasures... And I'd second Tana's notion that FOOM seemed underrepresented.
But overall, the artwork and text are wonderful. As I stated earlier, Les Daniels' Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics probably does a better job at telling the anecdotal history of the company and some of it's personnel, but Roy's coverage of the 1990's-2000's is pretty good and for the most part very objective (Daniels' book ends before this period). I felt he was very honest concerning the near-ruin that Ron Perelman brought to Marvel and approached the rise-and-fall of the Image artists in regard to their tenures at Marvel in an even manner. I got a kick out of his description of Liefeld's art!!
However, and it's probably too early to adequately judge, his evaluation of the current state of Marvel seemed a little glossed-over and fleeting. Perhaps I'm just reading it with prejudiced eyes.
Anyway, if any of our readers/posters have not yet purchased this, I'd recommend it! You can get it for around $30, and I'd imagine it won't be too long until it shows up on the sale stacks at Barnes & Noble for cheap!
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Post by dlw66 on Jun 4, 2008 10:17:59 GMT -5
Whoo-hoo!! Look what's coming soon ($49.95 SRP):
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Post by Tana Nile on Jun 4, 2008 12:13:48 GMT -5
Please forgive me (I am primarily a Marvel fan), but did DC have fan clubs and in house merchandising like Marvel did? I know they put out a magazine called the Amazing World of DC Comics - was that part of a fan club?
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Post by Shiryu on Jun 4, 2008 13:14:09 GMT -5
Talking of the Marvel Vault, I found this link on ebay, they sell it for 29.68 $ and free shipping (only in America sadly for me). I don't remember how much the original price was, but I think it was rather more than this, so in case someone still doesn't have it, this could come in handy
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Post by dlw66 on Jun 4, 2008 23:14:05 GMT -5
I have some interesting DC memorabilia, but I'm not sure it was authorized by DC.
I have a white button with red lettering. It has a Bat-signal on it and says "Send Batman to Vietnam" (pretty sure that's unauthorized! ;D).
I also have a yellow button with a full-color Superman image that I believe is from the Superman-Tim Club that was somewhat popular in the 1940's. I'm not sure if the button is that old, though -- could be a reproduction.
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Post by sharkar on Aug 17, 2008 21:42:10 GMT -5
I have some interesting DC memorabilia, but I'm not sure it was authorized by DC. I have a white button with red lettering. It has a Bat-signal on it and says "Send Batman to Vietnam" (pretty sure that's unauthorized! ;D). I also have a yellow button with a full-color Superman image that I believe is from the Superman-Tim Club that was somewhat popular in the 1940's. I'm not sure if the button is that old, though -- could be a reproduction. I've been meaning to ask: where did you get this stuff, dlw?
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Post by sharkar on Aug 17, 2008 21:43:19 GMT -5
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Post by Dr. Hank Pym on Aug 18, 2008 14:41:31 GMT -5
Ahhhh, sometimes his sopaboxes are the only things worth reading in old books! I shall be certainly getting that book, and it's at a great price, too!
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Post by dlw66 on Aug 19, 2008 13:03:15 GMT -5
Looks great -- thanks for the info., sharkar!! I will be eagerly awaiting this.
RE: another Silver Age resource... Has anyone read Tales to Astonish, about the Lee/Kirby years at Marvel? I've seen it on some close-out sales, and was wondering if it's worth picking up.
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Post by sharkar on Aug 19, 2008 16:37:32 GMT -5
RE: another Silver Age resource... Has anyone read Tales to Astonish, about the Lee/Kirby years at Marvel? I've seen it on some close-out sales, and was wondering if it's worth picking up. Run--do not walk--and pick this up now. This is one of the most useful resources I have ever come across about comics; it covers the early days of Jack and Stan's careers, the various comic book companies in the 40s-50s, Silver Age Marvel, and beyond (Marvel and DC), basically until Kirby's death. I refer to this book all the time. It's not a definitive work or scholarly tome...its tone is breezy and a bit gossipy. It is written in a very engaging manner. The author, Ronin Ro, is not in the comics biz and there are some mistakes in it (issue numbers, dates, etc. While there are some assertions I take with a grain of salt, for the most part what is reported here is corroborated by other, more "serious" books. And while it may at first seem like a book about Kirby, but it's pretty balanced in terms of praising/damning Lee, Kirby, Ditko, etc. I highly recommend picking this book up. At the very least, it provides a nice, basic timeline of Marvel and its key players. Looks great -- thanks for the info., sharkar!! I will be eagerly awaiting this. Re the Stan's Soapboxes collection: I know, me too. This sounds fantastic but I was hoping it would also include the Bullpen Bulletins...but based on the description I don't think so. Oh well...
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Post by Dr. Hank Pym on Aug 21, 2008 13:05:50 GMT -5
sharkar:
I was in Barnes & Noble recently, and I saw a few copies of a book titled "Kirby", detailing Jack Kirby's run as a comic book artist for various companies. It was $40, so I stayed away from it. Is it a good book, good enough to justify the price? I saw the same thing for a Steve Ditko book, titled "Ditko".
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Post by sharkar on Aug 21, 2008 19:28:14 GMT -5
Dr. Hank, I don't have either book yet (shocking, I know )... but I'm sure I will buy both of them at some point. I've leafed through the "Kirby:King of Comics" book (written by his long-time assistant, Mark Evanier) a few times and I'll be honest, it didn't overwhelm me--seemed a bit light on the Silver Age material, which is what I'm most interested in. So I'm in no hurry to buy it and I'm waiting for the price to drop. In stores, I'd guess that Barnes and Noble will discount it soon, because they seem to do that with oversized specialty books like this. (I've seen it discounted online.) For a Kirby fix, pick up some copies of the Jack Kirby Collector (available at comic shops or online at TwoMorrows). Even a single issue will keep you occupied for weeks, there's so much in there! (Be prepared, the JKC is--understandably--usually heavily pro-Kirby and anti-Stan.) www.twomorrows.com/Another Kirby resource I really like is the book "The Comic Book Makers." It's written by Joe Simon and Simon's son, and it examines the Simon-Kirby partnership, spanning the same time period that Ro's "Tales to Astonish" does. Unlike Ro's book, the Simon book contains lots of illustrations. I'm not sure if this is still available in stores, but it should be online (B & N, Amazon, etc.). I also plan on buying "The World of Steve Ditko" by Ditko-expert Blake Bell, eventually...again, I'll probably wait until it's on sale.
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Post by scottharris on Aug 22, 2008 11:47:32 GMT -5
I have the Kirby book. It's cool. This is going to sound weird, but for me, there's a bit too much art in it. It's a coffee table book, so it's meant to be looked at, and it has a ton of fantastic Kirby art. But I would have liked more writing to be honest. I like Evanier and I would kind of been a little more interested in a straight biography rather than a coffee table book like this.
I guess that's the writer in me preferring writing. If you're a Kirby art fan, there's a ton of sweet Kirby stuff in here, though.
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Post by Tana Nile on Aug 23, 2008 12:29:15 GMT -5
This morning I finally had the pleasure of seeing the BBC documentary "In Search of Steve Ditko". You can find it here, in 7 parts: www.dograt.com/category/cartooning/comic-books/in-search-of-steve-ditko/Fantastic! I've enjoyed Jonathon Ross' work since he hosted an off-beat program called "The Incredibly Strange Film Show". This documentary is heart-felt and fun, and features interviews with many of our silver age faves, like Stan Lee, Romita, and even Flo Steinberg! I found Stan's interview to be quite illuminating.
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Post by Dr. Hank Pym on Aug 24, 2008 19:40:45 GMT -5
THANK you so much Tana! I will have to set aside a few hours of my day to watch, now! Looks interesting! sharkar and scottharris: Thank you for the reviews/recommendations on the books. I'll certainly keep my eye out for the price to drop for both books (No way am I paying $40 for a book of pictures and barely any text!) I just wish that one day someone will write a book about Marvel that isn't in favor of one person or the other, just simply neutral!
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Post by dlw66 on Aug 25, 2008 12:00:02 GMT -5
How about this, coming in November?? And by the way, the DC Vault ships October 6!
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Post by Dr. Hank Pym on Aug 25, 2008 23:31:55 GMT -5
Ooooh, that one looks good! I must reserve it whenever I can!
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Post by scottharris on Aug 29, 2008 15:35:59 GMT -5
I looked through the Ditko book the other day and it looked relatively fair and balanced. And not in the Fox News sense of the phrase. There were stories and interviews in it that cast Ditko in a fairly negative light. To be honest, everything I have seen and read about the man tells me that he was a somewhat unbalanced genius. Yeah, he did some really great comic books and was very innovative and influential, but he also seems like kind of an uptight jerk.
Considering I was never into his art anyway, I'm just going to pass on this whole cult of Ditko thing. The book did have some insight into his late work on ROM, though, so I appreciated that, as I am a big ROM fan.
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Post by scottharris on Aug 29, 2008 15:40:09 GMT -5
Yesterday I picked up the summer issue of "Write Now", which is a magazine by Danny FIngeroth that discusses comic book writing. The summer issue is entirely about Stan Lee, in honor of his 85th birthday, and it's really cool. It's filled with interviews from artists from the golden age to the present, with questions focusing on Stan's creative process. There are also script samples show with the art so you can see Stan's process and how it was interpreted. Very interesting stuff. Everyone has nothing but glowing things to say about Stan as a person. It is interesting, though, that the only interviews that show Stan's harder side are the interviews with his writing proteges and not the artists. Roy Thomas, Gary Freidrich and Denny O'Neil have some really interesting comments about how Stan taught them to write and he seems to have been much more critical of their writing than he was of any of the artist's artwork.
Very much worth the $6.95 for anyone interested in Stan Lee.
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Post by sharkar on Aug 29, 2008 18:37:16 GMT -5
Thanks for the info, Scott- -this sounds like a really fantastic issue! Roy Thomas, Gary Freidrich and Denny O'Neil have some really interesting comments about how Stan taught them to write and he seems to have been much more critical of their writing than he was of any of the artist's artwork. Roy, in particular, has never hesitated to give Stan credit for helping him (RT) become a Marvel writer. I've read interviews over the years in which Roy tells of Stan writing over his (RT's) captions (when RT was just starting at Marvel) and explaining why this dialogue would work better than that dialogue, etc., and how to move the story along. Very much worth the $6.95 for anyone interested in Stan Lee. The TwoMorrows site is having sale (though September 30th); certain magazines are a mere $2...including the very issue we're discussing, Write Now #18! Needless to say, I'm going to order a copy right now. www.twomorrows.com/
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Post by Dr. Hank Pym on Aug 30, 2008 13:40:57 GMT -5
sharkar: You're just looking for tomatoes with that pun you gave us, hmm? Thanks for the wonderful link! scottharris: Thanks for the sorta review of the book, I may just pick it up!
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Post by sharkar on Sept 2, 2008 18:34:37 GMT -5
sharkar: You're just looking for tomatoes with that pun you gave us, hmm? Thanks for the wonderful link! Glad you like the site, doc! You can't go wrong with TwoMorrows' publications, especially Alter Ego for Golden and Silver Age stuff, and Back Issue for the Bronze Age through the 90s. And do my eyes deceive me? You are actually sporting an avatar that is not Henry Pym-centric?? ;D
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Post by Dr. Hank Pym on Sept 3, 2008 22:40:15 GMT -5
Why yes! I am, for once! Just don't expect it to be permanent. I like T'Challa, so I thought that I'd give him his time to shine in my avatar spot. And, hey! Hank's in the book, and the cover! I'll return to Hank-centric material soon...
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Post by sharkar on Sept 4, 2008 0:00:01 GMT -5
Hank's in the book, and the cover! Yes, but it's not one of his finest moments...I mean, he's out of commission here, presumed dead (to be fair, so are Jan and Hawkeye... ). Anyway, you have great taste-- it's a fantastic cover. And come to think of it, with a change in characters this J Buscema design would have worked well on the X-Men book!
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Post by sharkar on Sept 17, 2008 22:40:08 GMT -5
Yesterday I picked up the summer issue of "Write Now", which is a magazine by Danny FIngeroth that discusses comic book writing. The summer issue is entirely about Stan Lee, in honor of his 85th birthday, and it's really cool. It's filled with interviews from artists from the golden age to the present, with questions focusing on Stan's creative process. There are also script samples show with the art so you can see Stan's process and how it was interpreted. Very interesting stuff... Very much worth the $6.95 for anyone interested in Stan Lee. My issue of Write Now! #18 finally arrived from Two Morrows and I wholeheartedly second Scott's recommendation--this is a fantastic issue and a must have for anyone interested in Marvel, Stan, writing, the nuts and bolts of creating comics, comics history, popular culture, marketing, etc. I certainly have not read the entire issue yet (there's so much in it!) but I already have a greater appreciation of Stan's contributions, on both the creative and business sides. Also, an article called "Finding Marvel's Voice" was especially interesting; it focuses how Marvel communicated with its fans through the Bullpen Bulletins, Stan's Soapboxes, the letter columns, the nicknames, and so on...all things we've discussed here recently in a couple of threads...so I think people here will really enjoy this article. The article is extremely informative and is very well-written by David Kasakove, a lawyer now, who used to produce a fanzine (according to the bio in the article). (Note: as I posted earlier in this thread, there's a book about Stan's Soapboxes that will be out in November. The WN article focuses on more than just the Soapboxes.) Again--the Write Now! issue is available for a mere two bucks on the TwoMorrows website, until September 30th. Or pick it up at your local comics store for $6.95. You won't be disappointed! www.twomorrows.com/
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Post by Dr. Hank Pym on Sept 18, 2008 12:01:02 GMT -5
My local comics store doesn't carry Twomorrows. I'll have to order it online!
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Post by dlw66 on Oct 28, 2008 16:53:22 GMT -5
The DC Vault is out -- saw it at my LCS, but it was still shrinkwrapped. Very attractive book!!
A few of us on the boards are reading or have read Tales to Astonish by Ronin Ro -- sharkar has recommended this book many times around here. It's somewhat of a biography of Jack Kirby, although it covers many aspects of the Golden and Silver Ages at Marvel and DC. It is a quick read, and a good one. Ro does not cite his sources, which is a major downer. But, the book can generally be found on close-out tables, so for around $5 I'd recommend you pick it up.
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Post by dlw66 on Nov 2, 2008 19:41:00 GMT -5
How about this, coming in November?? And by the way, the DC Vault ships October 6! RUN!!!! DON'T WALK.... Just saw this tome at Barnes & Noble. It is steeply priced at $50 msrp, but WOW! What a handsome presentation! The cover you see pictured is really a box. The top opens like a book, revealing a hardcover book. The cover of the interior is die-cut in the Marvel M; the pages and the back cover are a standard block cut. Inside the front cover are two plates -- a color representation of the gatefold cover, as well as a B&W print. This is a year-by-year history of Marvel, and would be a wonderful companion piece to Les Daniels' outstanding Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics. Each year looked to have 2-4 pages of events, artwork, and interesting facts. Interspersed throughout are several 2-page spreads of key covers, etc. The book is divided into sections by decade, and runs right up to 2008. Trust me: if you are a comics history nut like me, you'll have this as well as the DC Vault on your Christmas list!
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Post by Dr. Hank Pym on Nov 3, 2008 10:56:12 GMT -5
Year by year? Well then count me in! First I gotta shell out the cash though, which in these current harsh economic times, is no easy task...
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