Report what comic books you have read today--and tell us a little something about it while you're here!
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Report what comic books you have read today--and tell us a little something about it while you're here!
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The insides are by Curt Swan (Superman) and Ross Andru & Mike Esposito (The Flash). Storywise, I can appreciate them, but they didn't really do a lot for me. I should have read them for the first when I was younger.
SUPERMAN ARCHIVES v4 - "Superman from the Beginning" (Part 6):
A couple of things struck me while reading this volume. First, as with Batman, colorful villains begins to emerge. Unlike Batman, few of Superman's are as successful as the Joker, the Penguin and Catwoman. Also like Batman, I have noticed a shift in story tone a year or so in. With Batman, the shift occurs with the introduction of Robin, but there's no such clear delineation with Superman; just a general change as the artwork becomes more "sophisticated." Finally, Superman has no aversion to killing criminals, or allowing them to be killed. The introduction to this volume is written by Leonard Maltin and, unsurprisingly, his commentary centers largely on the theatrical cartoons of Max & Dave Fleischer. This archive edition reprints Superman #13-16, and her are a few of the notes I jotted dowm as I read.
#13 introduces another costumed villain with a gimmick, The Light, but it ends up being Luthor in a hooded robe. Another story in the thirteenth issues introduces another costumed villain, The Archer, a character I first encountered this story reprinted in The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told (1987). The Daily Planet copyboy is named "Jimmy" in this issue, but his hair is blond (although it's red in TGSSET). Is this considered the first comic book appearance of Jimmy Olsen? (It is certainly the first story in which the office boy plays a large role.) I'm not sure because I'm reading the issues of Superman and Action Comics reprinted in the archives somewhat out of order. Years ago, I dumped them all in a speadsheet, so I could read them in release-date order if I wanted to; I just thought it would be too much trouble. I envy those who have these stories in omnibus format.
Superman killed two or three (it's unclear) spies in #13, and allowed a criminal to fall to his death in #14 when he could have easily saved him. He also meets a mermaid in #14, not Lori Lemaris, but Princess Kuellsa of the Undersea People. She and her entire race are wiped out in this story, never to be seen or mentioned again. Another villain in this story is The Lightning Master, who looks exactly like Lex Luthor but is not. superman executes this criminal, fittingly, by electrocution.
The office boy is identified as Jummy Olsen, first and last name, in #15. the villain is Evolution King, and Superman kills him as well. In #16 the motif of Clark Kent's smoking typewriter is used for the first time (although it's attributed to the "hot" story he's writing here). He later tosses a handgrenade at a getaway car killing at least one (possibly two) fleeing criminals. Another colorful villain: Mister Sinister.
NEW COMICS I HAVE READ TODAY THIS MONTH: Absolute Batman #4, Absolute Wonder Woman #4, Absolute Superman #3, Batman & Robin: Year One #4, Batman #156, Wonder Woman #17, Black Canary #3, Jenny Sparks #6, Babs #5, Toxic Avenger #4, Archaic #2, Howl #1, Epitaphs from the Abyss #7, Cruel Kingdom #1, Mr. Justice #2, Badger #1, Dick Tracy #7, Space Ghost #9, Nexus: Scourge #2 and Godzilla Monsterpiece Theatre #3.
Broken down by company that's...
Archie - 1
1First - 1
Mad Cave - 1
Dynamite - 1
Alien Books -1
IDW - 1
Oni Press - 2
AHOY! - 4
DC - 8
As with December's number's, DC is temporarily artificially inflated due to their "All In" initiative. The real surprise here is...
Marvel - 0
I'm reading The Complete Eightball 1-18 by Daniel Clowes. I already own Ghost World and Pussey, but there is a tremendous deal here that I've not encountered before.
Curiously, I'm simultaneously reading a collection of literary short stories, Eightball, by Elizabeth Geoghegan, published about a decade ago.
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