Comics are Awesome II

[138 Scourge]

I liked the modern Earth parts. The setting of running around on modern Earth contrasted with Aric being a primtive man and with him having the super-sophisticated weapon.

[Shockwave]

I totally support Don Glover for Spider-Man. Course, I also fully support his idea that Michael Cera should play Shaft. Ok, it apparently wasn't his idea, but he was responding to someone on the internet who said that in reaction to the idea of him playing Spider-Man. He said he would go broke seeing that movie. I'd be the guy next to him.

[Gomess]

I liked the modern Earth parts. The setting of running around on modern Earth contrasted with Aric being a primtive man and with him having the super-sophisticated weapon.

See, my reaction was that Conan already did that (if you aren't familiar with pimp!Conan, then... shame on you!), and I just wanted a story focused entirely on crazy alien technology messing up a (relatively?) well-researched chapter of Earth's distant past.

(I'm sure there's stories like that, but there's no need to suggest 'em, since that's what I wanted out of *Manowar*. I don't really care for the idea in general.)

[138 Scourge]

Well, Manowar did do that for at least an issue. At the end of that "Unity" thing, X-O got kicked back into his proper era with the suit. The Romans were pretty much boned that day.

[Gomess]

Hah, it never even occurred to me that Manowar could've done a proper revisionist history angle, claiming that an alien spacesuit was how the Goths brought down history's most famous empire. Did they really go for that??

Manowar was Valiant Comics, right? I always figured they were just another 90s Marvel ripoff (and I find 90s Marvel just as lolsome as most people), but it seems they had some balls in some areas.

[138 Scourge]

Hah, it never even occurred to me that Manowar could've done a proper revisionist history angle, claiming that an alien spacesuit was how the Goths brought down history's most famous empire. Did they really go for that??

Manowar was Valiant Comics, right? I always figured they were just another 90s Marvel ripoff (and I find 90s Marvel just as lolsome as most people), but it seems they had some balls in some areas.

They...didn't quite run with it. The Romans were pretty much screwed when Aric showed back up, but...I don't recall exactly what happened, but he decided that he should go back to the twentieth century and buried himself in suspended animation for a few centuries. I know part of his problem was that he couldn't get out of the suit because a damn dinosaur had pretty nearly bitten him in two a couple issues previous.

They did imply that kind of thing later, though, when Valiant pretty much was rebooted, it was suggested that history was altered when X-O took his space suit and went back to his era of origin to barbarian it up full-time.

Valiant, really, they had some shit that was just ridiculous, especially after they'd been at it a couple years, they just lost their damn minds. But at first, they had some really cool things happening. Enough so that I'm really sort of excited to see that they're back.

[Gomess]

after they'd been at it a couple years, they just lost their damn minds

I have a hell of a lot more respect for a studio that loses their minds than one that does a Suicide Girls comic, so Valiant seem cool to me. I'd definitely like to see another studio's take on TF, but I don't think the general comics thread is the place for that. And besides, I still haven't read Infiltration after Prowl sent it to me! MY THOUGHTS COMING SOON 8]

[Onslaught Six]

after they'd been at it a couple years, they just lost their damn minds

I have a hell of a lot more respect for a studio that loses their minds than one that does a Suicide Girls comic, so Valiant seem cool to me. I'd definitely like to see another studio's take on TF, but I don't think the general comics thread is the place for that. And besides, I still haven't read Infiltration after Prowl sent it to me! MY THOUGHTS COMING SOON 8]

Valiant was started by Jim Shooter, who was Marvel's editor-in-chief for pretty much the entire 80s, so a lot of the earliest stuff could definitely have that feel. Then the guys who were paying for the studio basically bought it out from under Shooter and he left, and that's where things started to get...crazy. But even then there were lots of good things going on, like Shadowman, which continued to be consistent to Valiant's "rules" to its end. (Shooter set up a basic set of rules for the books when they began, most of them centering on realism: time would pass in these books, relatively close to real-time to how the books were coming out. If a month passed between books, chances were good a month would pass in-story; most of the comics even had explicit boxes establishing the date to show this. Rules concerning science and magic were established. Etc. Very cool.)

Then Acclaim took over the comics in 1996/1997 (not sure) and revamped everything, supposedly to make the properties more marketable for video games and movies. Shadowman got a MAJOR revamp, becoming a different guy and having an entirely new backstory and powers, but it all turned out super-cool and even better than the original. And then it got that cool-ass game made about it.

[Dominic]

Valiant did some legit good stuff. Jim "touch of death" Shooter arguably killed them simply for being on their payroll.

time would pass in these books, relatively close to real-time to how the books were coming out. If a month passed between books, chances were good a month would pass in-story; most of the comics even had explicit boxes establishing the date to show this. Rules concerning science and magic were established.

I have been meaning to read old Valiant for a few years. The problem is that finding substantial runs of those books is difficult.

I have a hell of a lot more respect for a studio that loses their minds than one that does a Suicide Girls comic,

Wait, IDW published what now?

Yeah, their output is pretty uneven at times. And, they are not at all shy about aiming low.

From the G1 forums:

Yeah, but you’ll have a hell of an easier time finding toys on shelves for a while after they’re supposed to be out. Ditto books, actually.

I generally agree about toys. Not so much books. (And, finding books in good condition is another challenge...)

Comics don’t cater to impulse buying at all, and *that’s* one reason why they can’t get any new readers.

Agreed.

I dunno, digital model, onto a platform that is seeing rapidly increasing use amongst mainstream culture. Sadly, as far as I can think of, no such distribution model exists.

Ohohohohoho Prowl!

Joking aside, I dislike digital comics. Frankly, they look like crap on a screen. And, those much ballyhooed readers do not much help.

I would be willing, in some cases, to buy PDFs (to be printed later) of titles that I could not get any other way. But, even then, that book would have to impress me consistently. And, I would be even less likely to pick up new books.


And, actual comic reviews:

Cobra volume II:
Volume I focused on Chuckles' efforts to get in to Cobra. This volume contrasts these continued efforts with the efforts of a Cobra operative to get out. The art is murky in places, but it fits the style and genre that Costa is writing for here. Costa also papers over some of Dixon's "look how hard core this is" from much earlier in the reboot. Contrary to what Dixon implies, it is apparently possible to leave GI Joe without being killed. Aside from some awkwardly placed (and un-declared) flashbacks along with the above mentioned art, this volume is excellent. Either way, it is well worth picking up.
Grade: B


Legacy of Captain America:
Rather than reprinting a note worthy arc or run, this volume reprints single issues from various parts of the property's 50+year run. The unfortunate side effect of this is that the "Steve Rogers as Captain America" story is the first appearance of the character from the 1940s, and is damned near unreadable. (I got maybe 2 pages in and gave up.) One of the interesting things about reading this more or less straight throug is seeing how the standard for writing, illustrating and editing comics have changed and improved over the years. (Roy Thomas' writing is not as impressive as it seemed when I was 12. Having not substantially read any Thomas since then, this was kind of a nasty suprise for me.)

I am not sure, but the numbering of the various "Captains" looks to have been revised to include a "hi and die" Captain America from the 70s and the 1950s retcon Captain America. (1950s Captain America was a retcon on a retcon on a retcon. And, Englehart's writing never manages to rise beyond that. Only part one of a two part story is reprinted here, and I am not terribly interested in finding part two.)

Gruenwald steals the show, even 15+ years after his death, with the first appearance of "John Walker as Captain America".

Grade: C This is definitely one for hard core fans more than anyone else. It is presented well, and the volume is held together nicely by the question on the back cover, ("Who is Captain America?"). But, casual readers will likely not appreciate the delivery.


Dom
-keeping pace and slowly catching up.

[138 Scourge]

Valiant did some legit good stuff. Jim "touch of death" Shooter arguably killed them simply for being on their payroll.

No sir. The Shooter-era Valiant stuff was the good stuff. After Shooter got the boot, that's when things went south. See, when I said "Lost their minds", I didn't mean in an entertaining way. I mean "Lost their minds" in the sense that they went full-blown Imagey. I don't even remember every bad book that happened in that era, but there were indeed a bunch. The "Deathmate" thing, f'rinstance. That was post-Shooter. Bloodshot, man. They had a damn book called "Bloodshot", and it was named after the main character.

I actually liked everything I read from the Akklaim era of Valiant. Quantum and Woody, PunX, and Shadowman were all pretty cool books. And the Solar, Man of the Atom preview I'd read was really pretty cool.

Man, I just hope that the new Valiant turns out well.