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Post by dlw66 on Nov 9, 2006 22:40:04 GMT -5
I did not dislike at all that it was a handbook -- while I missed out on the original OHOTMU, I was on board for the second edition circa 1987.
My point in making the "obscure stuff" comment was an opinion based upon my reading habits of those days gone by. There were no entries for Cap, X-Men, X-Factor, Hulk, or Daredevil (Frank Miller reworks the character throughout the decade, and all we get is an entry for Nuke??). While I read the frontispiece that stated other characters were profiled in the currently-in-release Handbook, it was my assumption (wrongly, as it turns out) that this particular Marvel Legacy would be an accurate reflection of the 1980's. I certainly cannot deny that what was between the covers occurred back in the Reagan era; however, it certainly did not reflect my buying habits, which I certainly would have considered mainstream for the day. That is all.
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Post by The Night Phantom on Nov 11, 2006 9:03:37 GMT -5
Thanks for the explanation, Doug. If I’m reading you right, it sounds like your objection re obscurity is not so much that there is obscure information in the book but that it is unduly emphasized to the exclusion of more deserving, less obscure information. I can sympathize with that position. The previous two Marvel Legacy issues were similar in that they were an arguably uneven mix of top-tier characters and lessers, some of whom were literally one-shot wonders. Why does the Generic Super-Hero get an entry when Doctor Doom has yet to be featured in any issue? With only 64 pages for each decade, obviously some tough decisions need to be made, but why this unusual mix of decisions? My guess is that too many competing interests were behind the books. Maybe, if the one-shot format had to be adhered to, it might have made more sense to make two one-shots per decade: one for “spotlight” characters, one for these also-rans. While I think there is definitely an audience for the obscure, maybe it was felt that that the economic risk of offering “all-obscure” one-shots was too great, leading to the creation of these “hybid” guides instead.
Whatever the behind-the-scenes story, as a reader I view the Marvel Legacy as a sampler instead of a smorgasbord. I found the ’60s and ’70s volumes to be entertaining, but I was highly skeptical of a volume purporting to be a 1980s handbook—since we already have three expansive series of handbooks from the 1980s, which Marvel is even offering in reprints. When I saw that the Marvel Legacy: The 1980s Handbook cover closely aped the style of the first 15 issues of the OHOTMU “deluxe edition”, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry! For my money, I’m pleased with the product. If I’m hungry for profiles on major characters as you are, I can turn to the current or vintage handbooks already in my library—though I do appreciate some of the additional material on those characters appearing in Marvel Legacy (such as the emphasis on the membership of Luke Cage in the 1970s FF entry). For me, the strength of The 1980s Handbook is that it does give prominent treatment to characters generally overlooked elsewhere, though I would actually prefer that they be folded into the “main” OHOTMU anyway.
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Post by bobc on Nov 11, 2006 11:09:55 GMT -5
repeat after me--it's just comics, it's just comics...
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Post by The Night Phantom on Nov 13, 2006 21:03:21 GMT -5
repeat after me--it's just comics, it's just comics... Yup, that’s what we’re here to discuss—good job!
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Post by dlw66 on Nov 22, 2006 10:58:52 GMT -5
FF 166-167, the Thing/Hulk team-up by Thomas/Perez, continues to be one of my favorite stories. Just thought I'd throw that out there...
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Post by Engage on Nov 25, 2006 3:05:58 GMT -5
Is that the one where they end up in St. Louis? Because yes, it certainly rules. Thats one strong arch.
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Post by dlw66 on Nov 25, 2006 13:05:45 GMT -5
Yep -- battle atop the Gateway Arch. Too bad Perez didn't know it's made of metal and not concrete, as he depicted it!!
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Post by dlw66 on Nov 29, 2006 21:19:58 GMT -5
This month's Back Issue is on Unsung Heroes. From the table of contents, there are stories on The Defenders, The Champions, Howard the Duck, Marvel's "Assistant Editors' Month" (who remembers that??), Mark Gruenwald, Don Newton, Bob Wiacek, and a She-Hulk movie that never got made.
I'm telling you, you should be reading this magazine...
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Post by dlw66 on Dec 18, 2006 10:49:51 GMT -5
Big sale at one of my local comics shops this past Friday. Escalating discounts as a way to get us to part with more of our hard-earned money! I scored $120 worth of merchandise for $85, so I think I made out OK!! And it wasn't even all for me!
BUT, for myself I did pick up some remnants from my misspent youth, including the Justice Society of America tpb (reprints the first All-Star Squadron stories from the mid-70's), Terra Incognito tpb (reprinting some Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans), Captain America and the Falcon: Secret Empire tpb, and the Legion Companion from TwoMorrows publishing. I was going to buy the Classic Champions tpb, but forgot!
Good stuff!!
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Post by Engage on Jan 4, 2007 18:30:11 GMT -5
This extends into the eighties, but wasn't the friendship between Iron Man and Thor simply the best? Long before Thor respected Captain America over all other men, he saw an equal in Iron Man. They knew each other's identities, covered for one another when their secrets were in danger (Iron Man's first Thor robot) and met for lunch as Tony Stark and Don Blake to discuss issues of importance.
During the late seventies and early eighties the Avengers really split off into pairs. Wonder Man and Beast. Iron Man and Thor. Vision and Scarlet Witch.
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Post by uberwolf on Jan 4, 2007 19:08:34 GMT -5
During the late seventies and early eighties the Avengers really split off into pairs. Wonder Man and Beast. Iron Man and Thor. Vision and Scarlet Witch. Dr. Druid and Nebula...
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Post by Bored Yesterday on Jan 4, 2007 21:25:35 GMT -5
Ohh! That is harsh -- just the mentioning of that nasty pair. Can't top it.
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Post by dlw66 on Jan 5, 2007 13:19:27 GMT -5
Any opinions on the team-up books of the 70's: Marvel Team-Up, Marvel Two-In-One, DC Comics Presents, The Brave and the Bold...?
I liked the two Marvel books, generally didn't read the DC books. I tended to like the stories that were a little longer (arcs nowadays I guess). For example, there were multi-part stories in MTU that involved the Vision and the Scarlet Witch in the Salem Witch Trials, and there was an extended story by Byrne that involved the Hulk and some little guy named Woodgod. Was there a Champions spin-off with the Iceman and Angel? That one might have been in the pages of Peter Parker...
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BigDuke
Reservist Avenger
Posts: 136
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Post by BigDuke on Jan 5, 2007 16:38:43 GMT -5
I think that an ongoing mag under one of those omnibus titles would reduce the need for so many "specials" and "one shots"
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Post by dlw66 on Jan 5, 2007 18:51:48 GMT -5
Not a bad idea. To some extent, the old Marvel Fanfare was like this in that it gave writers and artists the opportunity to try some stories in the new (then) Baxter paper format. The first several issues with Spidey and the X-Men (collected in the Savage Land tpb) would make a nice arc any time.
What's anyone's opinion on Marvel books featuring any team-up -- not just with Spidey? Are there those of you who have an opinion one way or another concerning the issues with the Torch and Iron Man or Hulk? How about some characters being thrown together who we might never imagine being together -- Vision and Nightcrawler for example? Talk about two guys who could sneak up on you!
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Post by The Night Phantom on Jan 5, 2007 19:12:26 GMT -5
Any opinions on the team-up books of the 70's: Marvel Team-Up, Marvel Two-In-One, DC Comics Presents, The Brave and the Bold...? Don’t forget Super-Villain Team-Up! I pretty much missed those series the first time around. However, I have gotten to know MTU, MTIO, and SVTU a bit through back issues and reprints. In general, I find these series interesting. One strike against team-up comics in the MTU and MTIO mold, where a regular feature character teams up with a different guest every issue, is that the situation can feel fairly contrived and predictable. (I’m aware there were some MTU’s in which the main star, Spider-Man, wasn’t in the team-up, but he was in most of them; so far as I know, the Thing headlined in every Two-in-One). That said, I think those two series often managed to avoid that problem. In the Thing’s case, with bashful blue-eyed Benjy being a superstar among superheroes, the notion that he would end up working with a lot of other heroes doesn’t seem entirely unnatural, since the other heroes are more likely to recognize and accept him. I think Spidey’s case was a little more problematic: although he was a star character and had already met a lot of heroes throughout his career, his reputation within the MU was sketchy—and he had loner tendencies—and so frequent and varied team-ups would seem somewhat incongruous. (Especially if he occasionally was having them in his other comics, too…) The team-up plots could also work against the “ensemble cast” storylines of Peter Parker’s private life. Still, both team-up series found ways to work around such problems. One trick was to reduce the apparent frequency of team-ups by creating multi-issue storylines in which a group of guests appeared, with the guests rotating through the featured-guest spot (for example, although Stingray appears in all three issues of Two-in-One’s Serpent Crown story in #64–66, he’s the featured guest only in the first issue, with Triton and the Scarlet Witch taking the next two spots). When the writing manages to make a contrived setup seem natural, I appreciate the story all the more. Indeed, that’s a key to my enjoyment of a wide variety of comics and non-comics stories alike: making the unbelievable believable!
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Post by uberwolf on Jan 5, 2007 20:22:34 GMT -5
Some of those stories were really well done. Stories that wouldn't work too well with characters in their regular books. My first exposure to Wasp and Yellowjacket was in Marvel Team-Up where they helped Spidey fight Equinox. The Byrne artwork was excellent. I still remember the horror on Jan's face when Hank got killed. Priceless.
Another favorite was when Spidey went back in time to help Scarlet Witch who was abducted by witch hunters. Surprise ending with Spiderman beating the bad guys but during the fight the family accused of being witches were hanged. The panel showed six pairs of feet dangling in mid air. Powerful stuff for back then. Also an early depiction of Wanda getting totally pissed and unleashing her full hex power. It was quite the Team Up with Spiderman, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Moondragon and of course Dr. Doom. First time I saw the DOOM use magic.
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Post by dlw66 on Jan 5, 2007 23:17:50 GMT -5
uberwolf, you either have a copy of the Essentials, Vol. II sitting in front of you or your memory is a heckuva lot better than mine! You just wiped 25 years of cobwebs out of my head with your on-target recollections!!!
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Post by uberwolf on Jan 6, 2007 1:41:45 GMT -5
Back then my memory was superb. I knew every single comic i had by cover and number. Nowdays I can't remember what i did an hour ago.
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Post by iastagehand on Jan 6, 2007 18:53:40 GMT -5
This is borderline 70's 80's. Remember the old live action SHAZAM! where they traveled the "highways and biways" of America looking for adventure? I saw a DVD bootleg of the show at a con in Toronto but it was $60 which was a little steep for me. Erin Grey rocked my world back on Buck Rogers then later in Silver Spoons. hee hee
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Post by dlw66 on Jan 6, 2007 19:50:45 GMT -5
For the group book lovers out there, and you '70's leisure suit wearers --
I mentioned a few weeks ago that I bought the Justice Society of America tpb that reprints the first several issues of All-Star Squadron. I know a vol. II is coming out before the end of the month. In addition, I was in a comics shop today and noticed a very nice trade called The Huntress, that reprints those early Levitz/Staton stories about the daughter of the Batman and Catwoman. Great stuff!!! I loved those stories, as well as the '70's Legion stuff!
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Post by uberwolf on Jan 6, 2007 22:45:07 GMT -5
Mmmmmmmmm... Catwoman. I was watching the old Batman on Utube last night. Just the ones with Catwoman in it. Julie Newmar sure could fill out a cat suit. Meow
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Post by dlw66 on Jan 7, 2007 18:49:34 GMT -5
Yes, and Michelle Pfeiffer cut quite a nice pose in her catsuit as well.
I started reading the aforementioned JSA trade last night, and got through the first 4-5 issues in the book. It brought back a lot of fond memories. Gerry Conway scripts and Keith Giffen art (straight superhero variety, not the avant garde stuff he would do on Legion in the 80's). I was stricken with the impression that the revival of the JSA in the 70's, whilst adding Power Girl, revamping the Star-Spangled Kid, and affirming that Robin was now an adult, gave DC the opportunity to do something similar to what Marvel is currently doing with it's Ultimate Universe. That is, take established characters/continuity and tweak it just enough to freshen it up and make it relevant to a new audience. Maybe one day Marvel will recognize sort of an Earth-2. Hmmm...
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Post by dlw66 on Jan 17, 2007 9:41:58 GMT -5
This is borderline 70's 80's. Remember the old live action SHAZAM! where they traveled the "highways and biways" of America looking for adventure? I saw a DVD bootleg of the show at a con in Toronto but it was $60 which was a little steep for me. Erin Grey rocked my world back on Buck Rogers then later in Silver Spoons. hee hee DC Direct has an Isis action figure coming out soon. See page 6 of this thread!
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Post by dlw66 on Jan 17, 2007 13:53:21 GMT -5
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Post by dlw66 on Feb 17, 2007 22:11:01 GMT -5
Any Logan's Run fans out there? It was on Turner Classic Movies last night, in widescreen no less! Anyone have the six issue run that Marvel did as an adaptation in 1976? If I recall, the last issue had a Thanos solo adventure.
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Post by dlw66 on Mar 26, 2007 12:29:59 GMT -5
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Post by Nutcase65 on Mar 26, 2007 15:58:08 GMT -5
It's just imjpossible for me to look at Mego Iron Man without seeing a beer can in his hand, or Mego Hulk without seeing him in Doom's hot tub. Twissted Toyfare Theater has ruined my mego memories.
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Post by dlw66 on May 17, 2007 11:44:49 GMT -5
Tana mentioned FOOM in another thread. Does anyone have any copies? I'd like a general synopsis of the magazine -- I don't have any and have never even seen one in person!!
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Post by Tana Nile on May 17, 2007 17:53:31 GMT -5
Tana mentioned FOOM in another thread. Does anyone have any copies? I'd like a general synopsis of the magazine -- I don't have any and have never even seen one in person!! Doug, I got the first few issues of FOOM when I was still in grade school. It was a fun magazine, filled with cool art, upcoming comic news, and games and puzzles. I enjoyed it immensely as I recall. The membership kit came with a number of items, including a membership card, some stickers, and best of all, a Steranko poster with around 15 Marvel heroes on it - I know it had Spider-Man, Hulk, Angel, Blackbolt, Iron Man, Cap, Thor, Silver Surfer, the Torch, the Thing. Here's a link to a site that describes the various issues: samruby.com/Series/FOOM/foom01.htmThere was a contest to create a new Marvel character in issue 2 I believe. I recall sending in some entries myself, though not what they were now! The winner was supposedly going to become a new X-Men character - I think this was right before the new X-Men debuted - but it never happened. It turned out that the winning character, called Humus Sapien, eventually appeared in a Thunderbolts story about 28 years later!
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