Report what comic books you have read today--and tell us a little something about it while you're here!
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PEANUTS EVERY SUNDAY v5 (1971-1975):
The WWI flying ace fades into the background as Peppermint Patty and Woodstock move to the fore. Marcie enters in 1974, and Rerun makes a single Sunday appearance in this volume. I am now exactly halfway through this reading project.
I seem to recall it's around 1974 when Peppermint Patty realizes that Snoopy is a beagle, and not a "funny looking kid with a big nose."
Thrillsville '74.
I think you're right. Some of that is reflected in the Sundays, but much of it played out in the dailies.
A while back, I read The Question Omnibus volume 1; I just wrapped up volume 2 the other night. Let me just say, Volume 1 is far superior. Volume 2 wraps up the regular series, which is great throughout. We also get a second Question/Green Arrow crossover in their annuals, as well as Green Arrow Annual #3, which also guest-stars the Question. They're OK, but don't hold a candle to the first crossover, which included Detective Comics, in volume 1. Then we get to The Question Quarterly; the first two installments are pretty strong (and ultimately sad), but it loses steam for issues 3-5, with less involvement from O'Neill and Cowan. Then there's a 6-part Brave & Bold miniseries starring Green Arrow, The Question, and a short-lived Native American ex-FBI Agent character called The Butcher, by Mike Grell, Mike Baron, and Shae Anton Pensa. It's pretty bad, and takes up about 150 pages.
Finally we get O'Neil's last three stories with the character -- a great short with art by Rich Burchett about Vic returning to the orphanage he grew up in. Then a team-up with Azrael, that's just OK. Then The Question Returns, an OK story with some pretty good art by Eduardo Barretto -- where at least we get to check in on Hub City's mayor (and Vic's sometimes girlfriend) Myra Connelly, as well as Cathy Fregosi, one of his recurring adversaries.
And that's it.
I think O'Neil left Vic Sage in a pretty good place; his time in Hub City had been wrapped up, and aside from Tot, he didn't really have any ties to anyone by the end of the run. Time for Greg Rucka (and I guess Rick Veitch?) to pick up the torch.
ETA: I'm happy to report that we do see Myra one more time, apparently -- in the Crime Bible miniseries starring Renee Montoya as the Question (written by Greg Rucka), Renee meet Myra and informs her of Vic/Charlie's death. I haven't reread that series since it was first published, but it's jumping higher up on my list now.
CAME THE DAWN by Wally Wood (full title: Came the Dawn and Other Stories Illustrated by Wallace Wood):
Just as Atom Bomb was a collection of Wood's war stories, Came the Dawn is a collection of his horror and "SuspenStories." There are some powerful stories in this collection, especially toward the end, such as "In Gratitude..." and "The Whipping" and "The Confidant" (and I had a difficult time limiting myself to just three). After war, horror and suspense, I guess you know what's up next.
Your post spurred ne to buy Came the Dawn. It's an interesting collection.
SUPERMAN ARCHIVES v7 - "Superman from the Beginning" (Part 11):
The stories in this volume (from Superman #25-29) appeared between late 1943 and the summer of 1944, but Jerry Siegel wrote only two of them and Joe Shuster drew only one. Siegel had been drafted in 1943. Shuster's poor eyesight kept him out of the service, but he still supervised the art staff. Most of the stories in this volume were writen by either Don Cameron or Bill Finger, and drawn by either Ed Dobrotka or Ira Yarbrough. I find (and have found) the early Superman to be better-written than the average Golden Age far. For one thing, it's far less plot-driven than most GA stories, with the central idea or "hook" clearly delineated in the narration of the splash page's opening text box.
In "I Sustain the Wings," Clack Kent is allowed to undergo aviation cadet training at Yale University. A footnote refers to the story in which Clark Kent was rejected from serving in the Army for faulty vision. (He had inadvertently used his x-ray vision to read the eye-chart in the next room.) I am familiar with that story, but I don't think I have ever read it. I certainly have not read it during the course of this current read-through of DC archives. I suspect that the stroy in question appears in Action Comics Archives v5, which runs more-or-less concurrently with this one, and which I have not read yet. Here's a good bit of trivia: Clark Kent earns an (unofficial) lieutenant's commission in the Army Air Corps in this story.
"Hi-Jack -- Jackal of Crime" is another one of those lame, one-off villains. Oftentimes, a character with a name which pulls "double duty" (such as "Robin," which evokes both Robin Hood as well as the red-breasted bird) are memorable, but not so with Hi-Jack, whose name evokes four things (the crime, the animal, money and the playing card). The symbol he wears on his chest if the Jack of Spades, and headgear is spade-shaped. I must admit this story did trick me into assuming that Hi-Jack new the new Daily Planet reporter, Jack Height. (it actually turns out to be [SPOILER] a banker named "Jack Jackson" [END SPOILER].
A villain named "Wolfingham" makes his second appearance; either he is not very memorable or I am, again, reading these stories out of order. Similarly, the "Professor" makes his second (?) appearance. Lois Lane's solo back-up feature begins in #28. One story concentrates on finding a pre-Kryptonite weakness for Superman. There is a bit of continuity in this one, and it also clarifies how Hi-Jack was able to stun Superman with electricity ("He knocked me out temporarily because his lightniong bolt was lucky enough to strike the base of my brain!"). Police officer Casey has not been mentioned in a whiole (in the order I'm reading the stories), and seems to have been replaced by two cops named Moonan and Carmody.
In "The Super Stunt Man" Superman once again uses his power to manipulate his face to assume a disguise. I wish I had kept better track of how many times he used this particular power. At first I thought it would turn out to be something he used once, maybe twice, before it was dropped.
Villains: Hi-Jack, the "Jackal of Crime"; the Quicksilver Kid (actually the god Mercury); the Toyman; the Prankster; Mr. Blob (a.k.a. the Tycoon of Crime), a sort of (businessman) Luthor/Kingpin hybrid, but more "jolly" looking; the god Hercules also appears, but the story ends up being a tall tale told in the Liars' Club.
Finally catching up with Ed the Happy Clown.
It's.... interesting. A little like stumbling across a Die Antwoord video in the 20-teens and not being sure what the *&$%^ you're looking at. In short: confusing, offensive, occasionally clever, frequently infantile, and strangely compelling.
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