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[narfstar]

As usual I am behind on my reading. Black Bat has been a pretty good read. I often prefer mini-series. I like when they have a story to tell an tell it. To often with a continuing series they keep going even if they have run out of story.  The Owl already seems to be getting old to me. Not sure how long I will stick with it. I have to read Codename Action and Captain Midnight but haven't yet. I have read The Critter Annual by Big Dog Ink. It was pretty good and I recommend it as well as the series.

[paw broon]

I should be keeing up more with this section. So, with that in mind, I was at my lcs last week and picked up Brain Boy#1; Cap. Midnight 1 & 2; Codename Action#1; Collider#1; East of West#5; Suicide Risk 4&5.
Reading the "new" Brain boy was a strange experience as I had bought the Dell BB #3&4 at last weekends mart and read them straight away. So, reading the current incarnation so soon after, I was struck by the adult nature and higher level of violence.  Didn't stop me thoroughly enjoying it though.  The other Dark Horse title, Cap. Midnight was good fun and I think it will become a favourite.
Codename Action was slightly disappointing, in that Dynamite way.  In as much as there seemed a lot of "fill" to get anywhere. All very James Bond. But I am a bit biased against the company.  I'll check out the next issue.
Suicide Risk wont be everyone's best buy but it intrigues me and I thought #5 was excellent.
Collider is the one that has had to change it's title, so I couldn't pick up #2 and Dave at the lcs is keeping #3 for me till the re-order of #2 comes in.  The story seems quite novel.

[narfstar]

Zenoscopes Hitlist was nothing special I will not be getting it.
Kings Watch nah
While I also have a distaste for Dynamite I did like Codename: Action and will pick it up, at least for awhile.
Captain Midnight was just OK I am going to give it some time.

[narfstar]

Thunder Agents is jumping to near the top of my read list. IDW is doing it right so far. A good old fashioned fun to read comic. If you are not getting it you should be.

[mr_goldenage]

This Weeks pull List +

Captain Midnight # 3 - The hits jut keep on coming! Fury not so Furious?
Thunder Agents # 2 - Not as good as 1, JMO. Some flashbacks and what is with the art?
The Shadow Annual 2013 loved the ending.....getting there well...not so much. But the Art was well done.
Miss Fury # 6 _ I love this character so much but this issue artwise is terrible. Perhaps the story does move it along into the next direction, but I think the wrong one.
Tom Strong # 3 Already halfway through this Mini series and nothing....sure millions dead. Red plague brought back by Captain Future (Man that guy has no respect).Still looling for Doc Strong/Strange. Sigh.....
Catalyst Comix # 3 Yes I support this one, don't know quite why but I'll hang for awhile on this one.
Jupiter's Legacy # 3 Er' Yep gets a bit grim the only way Millar and Quietly can do. I'm Ashamed.

Back Issue Bin: Bought most of the DC First Wave With the Batman Doc Savage and the Spirit. Loved it! Too bad it was with the wrong company. Batman could've been written out/substituted by someone else <leave it a fan choice I won't go into it> I am sure.

RB @ home <never made it to work>

[narfstar]

I finally read the Executive Extinction story arc. Aspen did not put out Executive Assistant Iris 4 and 5 on time to sync with the Assassins so I had to wait for Iris. It was OK. Not great but worth the read.

Clone is pretty intense but has me sticking with it.

I liked Thunder Agents 2 and think it has kept some of the flavor of the original.

I do not evaluate the art as I do not pay that much attention to it, only horrible or fantastic.

[mr_goldenage]

Well this subject sure went dead.

I'm still for it though. Got the usual Dynamite/Dark Horse/IDW stuff and odd-ball books, a quickie rundown:

Dynamite - Now I know a lot of people here hate this company and the way they do business, but you don't become the # 3 universe / comic book company without some rough spots and some marketing ploys, that said.....

Doc Savage, Turok, Magnus, Solar Man of the Atom and on and on, the titles and properties roll in and on. What can you say or do? These guys have some of the greatest properties on the planet. Do they know what to do with them? Perhaps not. Maybe one day. But hey give them credit for what they've done so far. Can you say the same for the "Big 2"? Maybe you can't see a difference but I'm intrigued by this company, for now.

Dark Horse - Use to buy a bunch of their titles. Ghost, X, and a bunch of their other books, then one day the were all cancelled. Hmmm. Now some years later X came back, A book called Catalyst came out (limited series though) comprising the rest or most of the rest of their super hero stuff, and now Ghost is back. Didn't buy X, won't buy Ghost, but did buy Catalyst (for the reason it IS a limited series) because I don't trust these guys!. Case in point. Captain Midnight, I had a fear that this would go badly in so many ways. Surprisingly for the most part it has been a great book, but (and you knew there was one), then DH introduced their version of Skyman as a villain (ok maybe he isn't in some eyes a villain) then or rather nw they are turning him into a racial stereotype with a "new and improved" costume and labeling him as a Super Patriot the Skyman # 1 in 1/14 release. If that wasn't bad enough we're told in issue # 6 of Captain Midnight that the good Captain is due for a costume "upgrade" in issue # 9. Really? See? Can't trust them to respect tradition. If you are going to change something change it for the better not just to Modernize or to "update" or to racially please the pubic. Why is this so important to do? It was the original concept that drew me and I suspect others to the book to begin with. Right? no? You tell me.

IDW - well this is a really fun company with a bunch of fun tiitles. Get any one of them I am sure you will enjoy them.

That is it for me for now. A family tragedy and a long overdue computer upgrade is going to take me offline at home (but not at work :-)) probably for the rest of this year at least so to all of you Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Richard Boucher
Mr_Goldenage

[narfstar]

Sorry about the tragedy. Did you read the new Doc Savage? I have not but the cover makes me hopeful. I liked the Ardden version of the GK comics and was sad they did not make it. I hope that Dynamite does not screw them up. I will give them a try even though they are dynamite. I liked their John Carter stuff until they started flooding the market. I quickly loose interest in a title that does that.

[mr_goldenage]

Well it is not what you would expect. It is a very low key story. The cover is not what you will find inside. Instead what you will find is more of a story you would expect in a Doc Savage comic in the early S&S days of the 1940's prior to the good Doc finding the Ruby Helmet. Still it was an entertaining story and a nice quiet intro to the cast. It is after all a limited series so lets hope it doesn't blow the character up.

RB @ Work.

PS. Thanks, it was my wife's father that passed last Friday.

[73042helloworld]

Well, I'm going to be absolutely honest with all of you.  First, it may reflect my age - I'm 72.42 years young.  Comics were always in my house even after my marriage.  In the 1970s, I bought an average of $250.00 US of comic books monthly.  I admired the people who produced them.  After the Marvel Secret War and DC Crisis series, I started dropping titles left and right.  I would have preferred generations of characters like were shown in DCs Infinity Inc starring the second generation of kids from Justice Society families.  After DCs Time Zero series, I gave up new comics all together.  I still check out a few new books when I visit my 40+ son and haven't seen a new comic that got me interested enough to read two in a row.  I still find more joy reading stuff from the 1940s to about 1985, so this site is pretty good for me.  I'm pretty picky and wish I could find scans of all the Classics illustrated JES series and the one Italian issue that came out in the early 1950s as well as related and similar series - In 1949 there was a twelve issue run of a series called A CLASSIC IN PICTURES
that I wish someone could post for us.  Thanks for letting me let of a few odd thoughts.

[paw broon]

Don't know if we have had his conversation previously but CI jes facsimiles are available here,
www.classiccomicstore.com/stock.asp?SeriesID=26
My pal, Wee John, collects these and has almost completed the set.
While not as old as you, I have been having the same sort of thoughts re. new comics over the last few years and, like you, comics were in my house even after my marriage.  Just before New Year I cancelled my standing order at my lcs.  I think the final straw was the Cap. Midnight/Skyman nonsense. The odd newer comic thaf tickles my fancy I will buy electronically.
I could be wrong here but I have read that the vast majority of CI are now p.d. so, while I cannot recommend it, I can say that the run of American issues is available on c.d. on a number of reasonably reputable sites.

[narfstar]

I am pretty sure that none of CI is PD

[paw broon]

I was slightly concerned about posting that and, sure enough, the place where I read the info. turns out to be talking about the original books/texts on which the C.I. series were based.  The JES link, however is legit., as that company has the rights to produce the facsimile books. I read a few of them when I last visited my pal and they are good quality facsimiles, if a bit expensive but now and then there is a sale.  Worthwhile looking out for if you are a collector.

[paw broon]

73042helloworld, yes we have had this discussion previously.  Sorry, senior moment.  I just couldn't remember when or where. 
Paul Gravett's excellent blog has this article from years ago:-
http://www.paulgravett.com/index.php/articles/article/classics_illustrated/
I suppose you already have this link but just in case:-
http://www.ebay.com/clp/classics-international-edition-comics/3956?query=Genre%3AClassics

I notice what looks like a German edition as I scroll down the page.

[73042helloworld]

I Realize we have spoken about CIs before.  A Through search needs to be made.  The first 12 issues of CI were 68 pages long, then nos13-44 were 60 pages followed by 52
page issues.  After the war, reprints of the 60 pages were re-edited to 52 pages by removing pages or by removing panels and moving the others to equalize the size of pages.  In the early 1950s, No. 13 DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE was totally replaced with new adaptations and art.  By the early 1960s about 30 issues were completely redone.  Among these were the first 12 68-pg issues.  Gilberton sold their rights in the 1960s and ceased publication.  Two new issues were were published in 1969, one of which was a reprint of a new British Issue.  Also the new art/adaption of TYPEE was never available in he US.  There were no US editions of 14 British issues or any of the JES series. 

The cost of those facsimile issues of JES and Greek translation are out of my range, especially when you add shipping across 8 time zones from London to Washington state on the west coast. I do have several JES that I have translated using a free translation program on the net, but it's not the same.  I still have eight or ten to do the same to, but my typing is getting worse as arthritis sets into my hands.

So if anyone has any ideas for me and my CIs, let me know.

[paw broon]

I stumbled upon this article,
Www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/comics/article/55023-trajectory-releases-a-classics-illustrated-comics-app.html#path/pw/by-topic/industry-news/comics/article/55023-trajectory-releases-a-classics-illustrated-comics-app.html
So I suppose it would be much cheaper to have digital editions but there only seem to be the regular American titles available in that format. 
No jes, though.   While I'm not a collector of CI, I was intrigued to read your mention of an Italian edition.  As I had not heard of it before I had a wee look, but to no avail.  I can find no info. on it.
Sorry, not a lot of use to you.

[bowers]

I also am a CI and Jrs.  fan, but know little about their history. Didn't know about the page counts of the earlier editions- thanks for the info. I find it interesting to compare the artwork in early editions to that in the updated versions. Are any of the CIs or Jrs. in pd? And what is a "jes"? Cheers, Bowers

[73042helloworld]

About the Italian CI, I believe it was 52 pages.  I downloaded a copy of the book it is based on but haven't gotten around to reading it.  The CI cover shows medieval knight on horseback in battle using his lance on someone on the ground.  I believe it is based on the career of a real soldier from the 1600s.

The other question asked was about JES.  JEDS is the abbreviation of JOINT EUROPEON SERIES.  Ten European countries continued doing new CI after the parent company, Gilberton Inc., ceased publication in 1962.  The UK dropped out of the group a while latter. JES issues continued into the 1970s before they ceased publication.  There were two new Special Issues published in Europe - "World War I" at 100 pages and "The United Nations" at 68 pages.  In the US, the latter never went on the newstands but were sold at the UN building in New York (I've never met anyone who remembered ever see in it otherwise).  Because of it's smaller size than the normal Special Issues and because of the theme it would have fit the companion comic THE WORLD AROUND US or it's British reprint series WORLD ILLUSTRATED.

[paw broon]

You will be aware of this but, for those who might be following this conversation, in the U.K. there was also a set of New European C.I. titles called Double Duos published by Top Sellers (who also published pocket libraries featuring European reprints of different genres) and these were B&W, digest size comics with two 32 page stories per issue, in the early 1970's.  And despite having a large collection of pocket library comics, I have never seen one of these C.I. comics.

[narfstar]

Is anyone else reading the new Gold Key from Dynamite? I did not like Turok from the first issue and had no desire to give it a chance. After 2 issues of Magnus I am still in. I liked them enough and am interested on seeing where it goes. The same after only one issue of Solar I will try the next. Not sure if they will keep me interested without turning me off but so far I am hopeful.

[narfstar]

This thread is not used enough. We need to share more of our nonMarvel/DC recommendations. I say that after reading the first five issues of Super Zero. I so thoroughly enjoyed it so that I had to recommend it. The first two issues of The Fix have been interesting. It is OK not as close to as good as Super Zero. I have read the first issues of Henchgirl and Ultra Cat both of which have been OK.

[jimmm kelly]

Not trying to give offense, but the idea of a "pull list" is anathema to me. If you called it something else like "what titles do you follow?" that would probably sit better with me. But I never liked the idea that when I used to go in my LCS on a Wednesday there'd be some haggared guy in the shop pulling comics for the regular customers, before they were put out for the great unwashed.

And I was a regular, but I didn't like having someone select out the copies I was going to get. I liked to have that feeling from when I was eight years old, walking into Mrs. Ryan's drugstore with my sister on a Saturday morning and looking at all the comics, like Charlie Brown, surveying the beautiful display and then picking out those issues I would get. Always open to the notion that I might not buy a comic I had been getting or I might buy a comic I never had got before.

The times at my LCS when I did have to request a certain book in advance always made me horribly uncomfortable. It was such a weight to commit to buying those books. And when I did quit my LCS (for financial reasons), I had the awful experience where I was called up months later because they were holding a book for me, because it was something I would've bought and I had to tell them "No." I still feel tremendous guilt over that.

[Kracalactaka]

Hmmm

I guess I'm not hung up on all that stuff Jimmm.

I have a subscription (I think of it as a prescription) at two local shops:

and I frequent fairly often two others, Dayton OH is a good place to live for comic fans.

just about every visit I'll cherry pick things that catch my eye, I'm a big fan of one-shots and short (2-6 issue) series.


Bookery:

I used to have a large list but now it's only 3+ titles

All Wonder Woman titles (to me, one of DC's best Characters and series)



Letter 44 from Oni Press
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/letter-44/4050-68344/
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20906789-letter-44-volume-1



Uber from Avatar
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/uber/4050-59517/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Cber_(comics)



From Superfly Comics:

I get Marvel's Darth Vader series for myself

For my son(18) it's Image Comics' Spread
http://comicvine.gamespot.com/spread/4050-74835/
https://imagecomics.com/comics/releases/spread-1


My daughter (19) likes Spider-Gwen and Walking Dead, but we wait until they come out in Trade Paperback rather than getting monthly issues.

She also likes Afterlife With Archie, which just resumed after a 2 yr hiatus

[narfstar]

Jimmm I have to have a pull list to get any of my books. My shop is small and only gets extra copies of DC/Marvel and a few other more popular titles. Krac would not be able to get his books there without having them pulled.