Retro Comics are Awesome

[Shockwave]

And as of this last weekend I am officially out of all non TF comics. A friend of mine posted on facebook that it was her new year's resolution to get more into comics so I gave her two short boxes full of all of my non TF/MOTU comics. Between the constant overwrites and renumberings I'm out. I'll stick with TF and MOTU (and I might even be dropping that if it doesn't go somewhere soon) and that's it.

[andersonh1]

Thanks for posting that, Sparky. You've filled in some GL history for me. I like that there was an in-story reason for having Guardians of both genders when it had been all-male before, and I like the idea of a parallel between Hal and Kyle having the power to rewrite history. Sounds like a good issue.

Yeah, it was a good read. I was hoping that they'd have a few more issues but their selection was pretty hit or miss.

I wonder how much of Kyle's time as GL has been collected as trades? I wasn't a fan of him at the time obviously, but I like him fine now. Might be fun to go back and read some more of his series. I generally only bought the issues that had Hal in them (Parallax View, issues 100-106 time travel storyline, etc.).

And as of this last weekend I am officially out of all non TF comics. A friend of mine posted on facebook that it was her new year's resolution to get more into comics so I gave her two short boxes full of all of my non TF/MOTU comics. Between the constant overwrites and renumberings I'm out. I'll stick with TF and MOTU (and I might even be dropping that if it doesn't go somewhere soon) and that's it.

It's hard to fault you. There's so little stability or consistently good storytelling in comics these days. There are a few good series, so I'm not out entirely.

[Sparky Prime]

I wonder how much of Kyle's time as GL has been collected as trades? I wasn't a fan of him at the time obviously, but I like him fine now. Might be fun to go back and read some more of his series. I generally only bought the issues that had Hal in them (Parallax View, issues 100-106 time travel storyline, etc.)

There's actually quite a few collected trades featuring Kyle. Having read this issue, I have to say I'm curious to go back and read stories from Kyle's run as the lone Green Lantern as well. Especially being my favorite of the Earth GL's.

[andersonh1]

Collected Editions is a nice site. I had it bookmarked at one point, but had forgotten about it. Thanks for the link.

[Sparky Prime]

Spider-Man 2099 #1-4
Cover Date: 1992

I've had issues 1, 2 and 4 for years, and just found a copy of issue 3 this weekend. Finally having all of the origin story together, as well as Spider-Man 2099's recent arrival in the present Marvel, I wanted to go back and read them together, figured I might as well post about it here.

#1
Miguel O'Hara finally returns to his apartment after several days running around the city. His holographic home computer suggests that he make a journal entry to which he agrees recounting the past few days. He works for a company called Alchemax as a scientist working on mixing animal DNA with human DNA, having drawn some inspiration from the original Spider-Man. When his boss forces him to test the equipment on a human before its ready, Miguel says he's quitting but his boss slips him a drug called Rapture, which bonds to the users DNA creating an instant addiction to it, in order to force him to keep working for them. Later, Miguel decides he can try to use his own experiment using a sample of his own DNA from before being given the drug to cure himself, but a jealous co-worker sabotages the equipment in attempt to kill him. The machine explodes but Miguel survives, albeit resulting in Miguel's DNA being mixed with a spider.

#2
Miguel's co-worker freaks out at his transformation, shooting wildly and causes a second explosion that nearly throws them from the building. Miguel tries to save him but the new talons on his fingers cut into his arm, and he falls to his death. Escaping from authorities, Miguel quickly learns about his new found powers. Meanwhile, Miguel's boss hires a cyborg to find out what happened in the lab and capture whoever it was that escaped. Back at his apartment, Miguel is having a hard time adjusting to his power, particularly the talons on his figures and toes which keep ripping his clothes. He finds a Day of the Dead costume is the only thing he owns made from an unstable molecule fabric that he can't rip. His brother stops by but spotting the cyborg from his window, Miguel pushes him out and puts on the costume and leaps into action.

#3
While fighting the cyborg, Miguel decides to retrace his steps he made the night before in order to throw him off the trail he'd made right to his apartment. Eventually the cyborg catches him, but using his talons he's able to break the bonds restarting the fight. Grabbing Spider-Man's arm causes a webbing to shoot out, much to both of their surprise and allows Miguel to get the upper hand in the fight. He concludes the journal entry by explaining he spent the last few days running all over the city, in and out of costume, in order to prevent anyone else from tracking him down at his apartment. But just then, his boss shows up at his door wanting to talk about the new Spider-Man.

#4
Miguel's brother and girlfriend are attacked by a samurai and she's kidnapped. Meanwhile, Miguel's boss actually wants him to come back to work, and offer him some of the Rapture drug, figuring he has been getting it off the black market not realizing he has cured himself of it. He believes the co-worker that caused the lab explosion is this new Spider-Man. Miguel agrees as long as there are no more human experiments and decides he likes the idea of going back to his lab, as he will be able to research what's happening to himself, like the surprise of the webspinners in his arms. His twin gives him a ride to work, telling him about his girlfriend being kidnapped and gives him the "with great power comes great responsibly" speech because of his connections to Alchemax (although he probably knows he is Spider-Man after the events of the last issue but doesn't reveal it). At Alchemax, we find out they are still running human experiments by essentially buying criminal records, which is what happened to Gabriel's girlfriend. She grabs a security guard's gun and with Miguel's inadvertent help gets away, but she is once again perused by the samurai, forcing Miguel to step in as Spider-Man.

I've always thought it was interesting how Spider-Man 2099 is similar and yet also so different to the original Spider-Man. He's the only Spider-Man that isn't an only child. His brother serving as somewhat of the moral compass for him. His powers are also somewhat similar and yet different from the original, being the first to have organic webspinners in his arms. It's also interesting to see what a future Marvel Universe looks like. For some reason Thor has developed somewhat of a cult following, with people anticipating his return. Reed Richard's inventions apparently started becoming publicly available seeing as Miguel has an unstable molecule costume he got for a Day of the Dead festival, rather than having anything to do with spiders or crime fighting. Nice nod to his character's heritage as well, being of Hispanic decent (and Irish as well). Tony Stark's business is still around as evident by the Stark logos seen about the city. And Dr. Doom 2099 makes an appearance in one of these issues, intrigued by the appearance of a new Spider-Man suggesting himself to be the original Doom. I'd say Spider-Man 2099 feels like a bit of a dark storyline, but the character himself can be fun and lighthearted which I think is why he keeps popping up every so often, even though the 2099 line was cancelled years ago.

[Dominic]

I still have a pile of unread 2099 comics somewhere. Need to get started on those.

I love that Ted Kord got a few appearances on The Brave and the Bold, even if he did die. At least he got a better death than having his head blown off by Max Lord. Thanks, Geoff Johns.

I got over that pretty quickly. As much as I liked Kord as a character, he had not done anything for years before "Infinite Crisis".

And as a fan of the JSA that first discovered them in the early 90s, I have to be grateful for the fact that this story brought them back in the first place. I think that may be one reason I’ve come to appreciate the Silver Age: it expanded DC’s universe rather than contracting it as later ages and events have done.

"Infinite Crisis" re-expanded the multi-verse.

The problem with the Silver Age multiverse is that DC never did anything good with it. The stories came down to "regular characters meet characters from single-gimmick world or from yesterday's comics". I can see DC editorial not wanting to maintain that.

And as of this last weekend I am officially out of all non TF comics. A friend of mine posted on facebook that it was her new year's resolution to get more into comics so I gave her two short boxes full of all of my non TF/MOTU comics. Between the constant overwrites and renumberings I'm out. I'll stick with TF and MOTU (and I might even be dropping that if it doesn't go somewhere soon) and that's it.

Why are you not reading "Uber" or "Earth 2"?

MotU is tempting, due to Abnett. (I have read his work since "Infestation" and he seems to have regained his mojo. Given his health issues, I can forgive his mistakes.)


And....

I recently read compilations of John Byrne's "West Coast Avengers". My lord, they were terrible. Between the retro-Silver Age grade writing style, the self-indulgent back-writes and dropping the ball on basic narrative, these things are everything wrong with comics. I must have been much more forgiving as a kid, because I do not even recall Byrne's run being bad, let alone being a parade of everything wrong with comics.

[Shockwave]

And as of this last weekend I am officially out of all non TF comics. A friend of mine posted on facebook that it was her new year's resolution to get more into comics so I gave her two short boxes full of all of my non TF/MOTU comics. Between the constant overwrites and renumberings I'm out. I'll stick with TF and MOTU (and I might even be dropping that if it doesn't go somewhere soon) and that's it.

Why are you not reading "Uber" or "Earth 2"?

MotU is tempting, due to Abnett. (I have read his work since "Infestation" and he seems to have regained his mojo. Given his health issues, I can forgive his mistakes.)

I never got into DC in general and with giving away what stock I had, there's now even less interest. I would consider it if time and money were more abundant, but since they're not, I'm eliminating anything I don't already have a hardcore fan devotion to. And even on that note, I've already dropped one TF book and as for MOTU...

I noticed Abnett was the one writing it and when I noticed that I couldn't believe it. I was impressed with what I read from him earlier but MOTU just has terrible pacing. This would make a better video game than a comic and it would still be a pretty lackluster one at that. The MOTU universe is so varied and diverse and Abnett is not making use of any of it. There are so many missed opportunities to do new and interesting things with the characters. The really sad part is that, at first, it seemed like we would get those interesting ideas but then they just go nowhere. And not in favor of anything interesting, much less anything MORE interesting than what got dropped. And MOTU vs. DCU is abysmal. I actually had to force myself to read the last issue and I find myself not caring if I get the next one. And I'm someone that's usually a sucker for crossovers.

[Dominic]

Which TF book did you drop? (Are you talking about "Beast Hunters"?)

Why not read comics that are good, regardless of being a fan? "Earth 2" is functionally an all new capes and tights book. "Uber" is just frikkin' amazing. Why not become fans of those things?

[Shockwave]

Yeah it was Beast Hunters. I just lost interest in the story and wasn't even reading it so there was no point in paying for comics I'm not reading.

As for taking on new fandoms, I already have over 30 years of fandom invested in both TF and MOTU so they're going to get my attention first. I have virtually no time invested in most DC characters and even less in the comics themselves. For new stuff, right now the time and money just isn't there. I'd be more inclined if I had more of both. When times have been more prosperous in the past, I have often walked the new release wall looking for new stuff to read, but the budget for that just isn't there right now.

[andersonh1]

I got over that pretty quickly. As much as I liked Kord as a character, he had not done anything for years before "Infinite Crisis".

And with his head blown off, nothing good would ever be done with him. It was a waste of a good character.

"Infinite Crisis" re-expanded the multi-verse.

The problem with the Silver Age multiverse is that DC never did anything good with it. The stories came down to "regular characters meet characters from single-gimmick world or from yesterday's comics". I can see DC editorial not wanting to maintain that.

They told fun stories with it. They salvaged the Golden Age characters that had been around for a decade and had enjoyed some success during that time. What else did they need to do with the multiverse concept? And it gave them a way to integrate the Captain Marvel and Charlton acquisitions into the DC universe quite easily. It was a useful tool, one they should never have dropped. I think Crisis caused far more damage than it fixed, even if we did get a lot of good stories out of it.

Infinite Crisis was such a waste. They brought back so many worlds and characters only to contract again with the New 52.