Report what comic books you have read today--and tell us a little something about it while you're here!
You need to be a member of Captain Comics to add comments!
This reply was deleted.
Report what comic books you have read today--and tell us a little something about it while you're here!
You need to be a member of Captain Comics to add comments!
Replies
SUPERMAN in WORLD'S FINEST ARCHIVES v2 - "Superman from the Beginning" (Part 14):
Well, that didn't take very long. (That's what happens when you read only three out of 17 stories.) This volume comprises issues #16-32 (Winrer 1945 through Jan/Feb 1948), but read only #16-18 because this archive overlaps with the Golden Age Superman Omnibus Vol. 5. In these stories, Superman acts more as humanity's helper than its protector, often helping in the less flamboyant guise of Clark Kent. Wilbur Wolfingham makes another appearance in #16. I have nothing to say about #17, and the most interesting thing about #18 is that artist Ed Dobrotka depicted Clark Kent in a checkered sportcoat with a bow tie.
At this point, my "Superman from the Beginning" posts will change, but I haven't decided quite yet how. I have now read the equivalent of (nearly) 15 archives, or four omnisuses. The chronological read shifts to the Golden Age Superman Omnibus Vol. 5 at this point, but I haven't decided whether to follow it there, or go back to the beginning of the comic strips and catch up to this point in that format. Or I might switch to Superboy for a while. Or I might back away from this project entirely for a while. We'll see.
I just realized I forgot to do a NEW COMICS I HAVE READ TODAY THIS MONTH for the month of April.
Screw it. I'm not going back and try to separate the ones I bought in april from the ones I bought in May.
AVENGERS (1998): Some time ago (last year, I think), I began reading the Busiek/Perez series from the beginning but I drifted away with #32. Today I picked it up again with #33.
THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD (2007): this is my third (possibly fourth) time through the first Waid/Perez run.
DC FINEST - SUPERBOY: I also started reading "The Superdog from Krypton" today.
MAXIMUM SECURITY:
It used to be that there were certain comics, or runs of comics, that I would re-read every year or so. But the more comics I came to own, the fewer I had time to re-read. Today I moved on to Avengers Assemble! Vol. 4 which begins with the Maximun Security mini-series. I blush to admit that this is the first time I have re-read it since it's initial release, but man is it good! George Perez is gone, but Jerry Ordway is on hand for the three-issue series as well as the Dangerous Planet lead-in. These are not "Avengers" issues per se, but they might as well be. Although Maximum Security was a crossover series, the mini can be read by itself without missing a beat. Also included in the collection, between issues #2 and #3, is Avengers #35, featuring artwork by John Romita, Jr. and a most eclectic mix of Avengers, indeed.
PEANUTS EVERY SUNDAY Vol. 7 (1981-1985): Seven down, three to go.
FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE - THE COMPLETE LIBRARY, Vol. 7 (2000-2003):
I read FBoFW on a daily basis from the very beginning (1979) through 1982, then again from 1986-2001 (and sporadically in between). I have now entered a phase in which I followed the strip on Sundays only through the end (2008), and I deluded myself into thinking I still followed it. This volume is like a cache of "lost stories" to me! In volume seven alone: Grandpa Jim moves into the Patterson home; Elizabeth moves in with her boyfriend; Michael and Weed move to Toronto; Michael and Deanna get married; Elly buys a bookstore; Elizabeth starts teaching; April forms a garage band; and, last but not least, Michael and Deanna have their first child.
Strip-reading progress report: It has taken me longer than expected to read through these final volumes (two more to go!), but then again I'm reading them in conjuction with three or four other strips. When I got caught up on Prince Valiant and moved on to Flash Gordon, my strip-reading became overbalanced on light-hearted strips (Peanuts, Pogo, FBoFW) with not enough action/adventure. I am now closing in on the end of Alex Raymond's tenure on Flash Gordon and plan to replace that with another, action-oriented, Sunday-only strip. I will finish FBoFW and I will finish Peanuts Every Sunday, but I might alternate an action/adventure strip with volumes of Pogo.
AVENGERS ASSEMBLE - Vol. 4:
After re-reading the Maximum Security crossover last week, I went on to finish the rest of the Avengers Assemble Vol. 4 collection. It is an intersting and worthwhile mix of stories and art, all (or at least mostly) written by Kurt Busiek.
FLASH GORDON DAILIES: AUSTIN BRIGGS - "RADIUM MINES of ELECTRA" (1940-1942):
Now that I've finished off Flash Gordon color Sundays by Alex Raymond, I've moved on to Flash Gordon b&w dailies by Austin Briggs.
TARZAN, Vol. 1 (1931-1932):
I have replaced Flash Gordon Sundays with Tarzan Sundays. I have written about "Tarzan Comic Books & Comic Strips" a few years ago, in 2022. I don't know how much else I'll be able to say about them now that I didn't say then, but the first five and a half volumes collect the work of Hal Foster. I have all 19 volumes in the set (that's including 15B).
POGO - "BONA FIDE BALDERDASH" - THE COMPLETE SYNDICATED COMIC STRIPS, Vol. 2 (1951-1952):
Interestingly, Walt Kelly' signature began to disappear from the strips in late 1951 to be replaced by a string of made-up names: Kalt Welly, Wart Kerky, Hurty Gurdy, Orville Yonder, Gunf Dismore, Motlet Crewcut, Tuppens Happeny, Dasty Bindle, Smead Fronty, Prudy Loobin and more. Understandably, Kelly felt that he should have ownership of his own creation, and refusing to sign the strip was his way of protesting against the Post Hall Syndicate. Apparently his stunt did draw some mail. What happened to Walt Kelly? Why isn't he doing Pogo anymore? Who is Bipple Gooter? He dropped the stunt in early 1952 claiming it was just a gag all along, but starting in January 1952 the strip began carrying Kelly's own copyright.
1952 being an election year, "I Go Pogo" buttons (in immitation of "I Like Ike") began appearing and Kelly started getting invited to college campuses to speak as Pogo ventured ever further into the world of political satire. The addition of Flash Gordon dailies and Tarzan Sundays to my reading list has corrected the serious:light deficit, so there is no longer any need to pull Pogo out of rotation. In the next volume, with the advent of McCarthyism, the political satire will kick into high gear. For the foreseeabobble* future, then, my strip-reading project will look like this:
*I'se mought been readin' too much Pogo lately.
Political Satire in Pogo: I have only just started reading The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips v3 and already the topical political satire has begun. First, on January 21, the Seminole Sam is dissuaded from his plot to move Niagaga Falls to the Okefenoke Swamp but the high tariffs they would have to pay. In the endnotes, R.C. Harvey points out: "Republican Dwight Eisenhower was inaugurated president of the U.S. on January 20, 1953, and high tariffs were associated with the GOP. It was thought that taxes on imports discouraged them and encouraged domestic industry."
PORKY PINE: Don't FORget half of it b'longs to Canada... you'd have to pay duty! The present ADministration b'longs to a traditional high tariff party... it'd probably break you to get the falls into the U.S. & A.
SEMINOLE SAM: NOT so fast... how long's this crowd gone be IN?
PORKY PINE: Unless they changes the rules, you gone have plenty of time for a cuppa coffee.
Then, on March 2, Walt Kelly introduces a new character in a sequence which will run through April 18. R.C. Harvey again: "Mole MacCarony arrives. He was, s noted earlier, inspired by Nevada's senior senator Patrick McCarran, who championed legislation to restrict immigration and to identify and expel those he considered Communists. Amusingly, the airport in Las Vegas, via which some immigrate, is now named for him."
Mole MacCarony identifies Howland Owl, a native of the swamp, to be a migratory bird and gives him a day to pack. He consults Captain Wimby's Atlas of Birds, but when he lights a match for light to read, he sets it afire. ("There's nothing quite so lovely as a brightly burning book.") Then he sets about writing his own rule book, and quotes it to Howland. "Why, you just writ that you' own self," protests Howland. "Where's Captain Wimby's Bird Atlas?" "DIScredited," Mole MacCarony replies.
The sequence ends with the recitation of "The New Colossus" (from the Statue of Liberty) by Emma Lazarus.
Plus ça change, eh?
And we haven't even gotten to Joseph McCarthy yet.
-
723
-
724
-
725
-
726
-
727
of 727 Next