[josemas]

I also noticed an ad in the back of The Rocketeer comic mentioned above for Archie's Joke Book Collection - a celebration of Bob Montana.  Any relation to the Archie book you mention, josemas?  This is released by IDW and I'm starting to get a wee notion to read more old Archie.
All due to a pal who is an Archie collector and has titles going away back - lovely stuff.

The Best of Archie Comics book that I mentioned is a smallish (but thick) TPB which is actually published by Archie themselves.  All of the IDW Archie reprints that I've seen (I have two Dan DeCarlo volumes and have also seen a Stan Goldberg collection) are much larger in size (although considerably thinner in page count).  Also the IDW books have a slicker paper stock while the collection from Archie is more of a newsprint stock.
I haven't seen the IDW Bob Montana collection but am guessing it will be similar in format to their other Archie collection.

Best

Joe

[paw broon]

Ta, I'll investigate further.

[josemas]

Picked up the final issues of Zatanna (#16) and Powergirl (#27) at the LCS today.  Also from Dark Horse another John Stanley Little Lulu collection (Vol 28-The Prize Winner and Other Stories).  They must be nearly through all of Stanley's material on Little Lulu and Tubby by this point. 

And form the bargain bin (3 for 99 cents)-very beat up copies of a Fawcett Dennis the Menace Giant (#44 from 1967), Little Lulu (#100-Dell-1956) and Tubby (#43-Dell-1960).

Best

Joe

[josemas]

The Great Recession continues to claim victims as a chain of four comics stores (Atomic Comics) suddenly closed up here earlier this week in the Phoenix metropolitan area. 
That made things much busier than usual at my LCS yesterday when I stopped in to pick up this weeks goodies.  They had quite a number of new faces showing up as word got around that Atomic had closed shop and former Atomic customers scrambled to find another shop to get their four color fixes.   

Picked up the final issues of both JLA and JSA this week.  Sigh....   Not even sure if the JSA will be part of this new upcoming reboot from DC.  Will just have to wait and see.   Also snagged from Marvel the latest issue of Mystery Men and the second part of this 5 part WWII storyline running in Captain America.

Another neat new collection I picked up that just came out is Blackjacked and Pistol-Whipped: A Crime Does Not Pay Primer (tpb-full color-224 pages-$19.95)-packaged by Dennis Kitchen and co. for release by Dark Horse.  Intro by Brian Azzarello, well illustrated 14 page history/background on Lev Gleason-Crime Does Not Pay-Charlie Biro-Bob Wood etc.. by Dennis Kitchen and two dozen vintage (1942-1948) CDP stories (only about a half dozen of which have so far shown up on GAC or DCM) with art by Dick Briefer, George Tuska, Dan Barry, Bob Montana, Carmine Infantino, Rudy Palais, Fred Guardineer and others).

Best

Joe

[josemas]

Picked up the final issue of Marvel's Mystery Men mini-series.  Started reading it and am finding it one of the most enjoyable Marvel series I've read in some time.  It's set in the early 1930s and has a nice pulpish feel to it.  I hope it does well enough to warrant a followup series.

Also picked up Boom's Disney's Four Color Adventures Volume 1 (tpb-full color-160 pages-$14.95) which reprints (c2c) a couple of rarities we can't share here at GAC- Four Color Comics #4 (Donald Duck) & #13 (The Reluctant Dragon).  Classic early 1940s Disney comics with art and story by Al Taliaferro, Irving Tripp, Jack Hannah, Bob Karp and some guy named Carl Barks.
Also has text pieces giving background on the series and on Taliaferro.

Best

Joe

[paw broon]

Finally got last issue of Mystery Men and I too thought it was a good mini-series.  Also Ultimate Hawkeye #s 1 & 2, which, despite lots of violence and a sort of superficial style, is pretty entertaining for a fast, disengage brain read.  Near Death #1 (Image)and this has promise so I'll keep up with it for a while.
Sherlock Year 1 #6 and I'm struggling to stay with this series.  It's typical of a lot that Dynamite puts out in that it can be difficult to follow at times.  Misdirected word balloons, having to look back to figure out what's going on - all a bit lax and untidy. I'm sure there is a word balloon error and a character out of place.
Green Hornet Yr 1 #12> This has been a good series and Matt Wagner has again proved he can do good comics. Actually, it's the only G.H. title worth reading imo.
Note, no D.C. titles.  I decided after checking out a lot of them that I wouldn't get back on board.  With the possible exception of All Star Western, out next week.  Let's see if they can do Jonah Hex justice.

[bowers]

Well, it finally happened! Visited my local comics shop and could not find one single title I wanted to buy. Most of the titles on my pull list are either cancelled, only sporadically released, or series completed. What's a geezer to do? Cheers, Bowers.

[paw broon]

Well, Linda and I spent a few days in London, a holiday built around a big comic mart and an ephemera fair both on the same day.  While Linda did the cultural thing and some shopping, I visited some comic shops and didn't buy a single new comic.  Between the shops and the mart, I did buy some lovely old stuff and some not so lovely things which I like and not many others seem to.
Some Gene Autry Dells; Gunmaster, with tasty PAM art; a PAM illustrated Masked Raider; British and Aus. Pocket libraries; The first appearance of The Winged Avenger in Radio Fun; an Early Rover with a Black Sapper story; The Silent Three in Schoolgirl Picture Library and more in that vein.
So, don't despair, Bowers, you are not alone.

Amending this as I forgot to mention  also bought some Frew Phantom comics.

[paw broon]

I'm beginning to think that I'm the only one on here buying new comics.  And from what I'm about to write, there's perhaps a reason. Because my lcs is small and Dave has decided to go with only the mainstream titles, I often can't find the next issues of a series that I have started.  So, when I pitched up at the comic shop the other day, I was pleased to find that Dave had got me Hawkeye 3 & 4. I also picked up All Star Western 2 & 3 and The Sixth Gun vol 2 tpb and Victorian Undead - Sherlock Holmes v. Dracula.  The last 2 being examples of series I started and couldn't find some subsequent issues.  (You'll have noted that I don't get to a comic shop that often)  The problem is that I read Hawkeye right away but with a growing suspicion that the writer couldn't finish the story in the 4 parts. And so it turned out.  I found the finale very unsatisfying and frustrating, especially as the last box informed methat the story would continue in Ultimates.  Know what?  I just can't be bothered.
However, the other titles were and are, excellent entertainment. ASW is good and with El Diablo in the back, it's a bit of a winner, for me at any rate.  How good to see Jordi Bernet, someone who can really can draw with style and emotion, on El Diablo.  His "Torpedo" was very good and it's worth looking for some of his other work most of which is not in English. 
I've gone on a bit previously re. the Sixth Gun (by Colin Bunn and Brian Hurtt, ONI Press) but it deserves repeating - this series is good entertainment, please try it.  What can be said about the Wildstorm Holmes series, apart from, why haven't you read this yet?  Holmes, zombies, Dracula, atmosphere, thrills, deduction, action and those amazing anti-zombie suits that the special army brigade has. Go on, you know it makes sense.

[josemas]

You know Paw I find myself picking up very few new comics these days.   

I read about a dozen or so of the relaunched DC titles. 

Some I just had no interest in and I certainly didn't feel like kicking out $150.00+ a month to try them all out even if I had the inclination. 

So I bought a few and borrowed a few.

Here's my rundown of what I sampled-

Teen Titans-   Yawn.  Bored before even finishing issues #1.

Batgirl-   Middling.  Good art.  We'll see where Simone goes with the story.

Superman/Action Comics   Interesting to see them going back to the early Superman concept with him having an uneasy relationship with the public and authorities.  Have only read the first issue of each title though.

Green Arrow-   Kinda' interesting reboot with the character quite different than before but I lost interest in the story after 3 issues.

Legion of Super-Heroes-  My wife is the Legion fan but I have been following them for the last few years.  While other characters have been majorly revamped this title seems to pick up right where the where the previous one left off with little change in anything. 

Legion Lost-  I'm a little lost as it seems this second Legion title is picking up after events of the Flashpoint storyline which I didn't follow at all.   Seems like material better designed for a mini-series.  I don't expect it will last long.

Justice League/Justice League International/Justice League Dark-  I'm a JLA fan so I had to check these out.  All three are moderately interesting with decent art as they slowly work their way through their initial origin storylines.

Aquaman-  A big surprise.  I haven't followed the character in years and wasn't going to check it out but someone gave it such a glowing plug that I did and now find myself really looking forward to it.

Animal Man-  It's all starting to get a little too Vertigo for me.

Batwoman-  Another title that seems to have picked up right where it left off with nothing changed.  The art is great and the storyline has kept my interest.

All-Star Western-  One of the best of the bunch.  Enjoying both Hex's venture into Gotham and the Jordi Bernet illustrated El Diablo backup.

So probably about a half dozen titles there I'll actually continue to buy for myself (as well as the Legion titles for the Lil' Missus),

And with little fanfare over at Marvel Mark Waid recently relaunched Daredevil and I'm finding that title to be the most fun its been since the 1960s.  Waid's even brought back the letters page! 

Best

Joe

[paw broon]

Interesting, indeed.  I was an Aquaman fan way back in the Aparo days and a TT fan when illustrated by Nick Cardy (and inked by Adams on a couple of issues) but I just can't get into this new universe.  LSH was, for many years, one of my must not miss teams - all those other heroes e.g. Lallor? subs, and the no hopers who tried out for the Legion.  This has put me in the mood to dig out my archive editions and indulge in some nostalgia.  Green Arrow - I went off him around the GL/GA time, when, despite seriously good art, the stories tried to be too relevant. It's that old point about wanting escapist entertainment and getting gritty realism. On that note, Catwoman just seems to be in her underwear a lot of the time, so a lot of young lads are probably quite happy every month. Gave up on Superman some time ago.  He seemed to be re-invented too often. He's Superman for goodness sake. It's the same as trying to change Darth Vader - you have one of the best,most menacing of big screen villains.  Extremely difficult to make him much better (or more evil, if you see what I mean).
You are so right about spending that amount of cash every month. I can't afford it. Despite the quality of ASW, I still read the 2 issues in half an hour.  But at least with those, I'll read them again.
Daredevil?  Hmmmm.  I'll give it a go.

[josemas]

The Cisco Kid Vol 1: 1951-1953- by Rod Reed and Jose Luis Salinas- Classic Comics Press-

Finally the start of what will hopefully be a complete run of this strip featuring the truly beautiful art of Salinas.  It ran nearly eighteen years (1951-1968) as a daily only strip so nine volumes should do the trick if they can stick with it.

This volume has intros by Sergio Arogones and Dennis Wilcutt, an afterword by publisher Charles Pelto and a reprinting of O. Henry's original Cisco Kid story-"The Caballero's Way" that started the whole shee-bang.

Recommended!!!

Joe

[paw broon]

Linda and I spent a short week in Cologne, Germany, visiting Christmas markets, wandering round a couple of excellent art galleries, drinking gluhwein, stuffing ourselves with those huge German meals and cakes and visiting 2 really good comic shops with well informed and helpful staff.  We came home heavier but satisfied.  Just as important, I bought old German comics.  Particularly 10 Bastei editions of The Phantom - good additions to my collection. I also found and purchased some piccolos - not the instruments but little strip comics, 3 inches high by 6 3/4 inches wide, also called lilliputs, striscie, piccolinos in various European countries.  These were reprints of El Bravo and Raka.  I have a couple of originals and as they are so hard to find, reprints do me just fine. Some more original and reprint German titles.  Just started working my way through them.

[paw broon]

With my wife away with her Ramblers group yesterday, I jumped on the bus to visit my lcs.  Spent ages there looking, reading Previews, chatting with Dave and a some other punters and buying some comics.  Eventually got around to buying Daredevil (a 2nd. print of #1) and, much to my surprise, I enjoyed it - enough to go back and find the subsequent issues.  Spaceman #1 looked intriguing and the art seemed very good to me but the swearing and adult themes turned me off - not for me.  Captain America#6 was a whole different matter with Alan Davis now on pencils.  This issue was entertaining and as I was a big Cap. fan before allthis death of Steve Rogers stuff, I think I'll be climbing back on board.  Some of the illustrations are simply gorgeous.  I also bought #s 1 & 2 of Thunder Agents because I've always liked the heroes, and while this isn't a patch on some of the Tower stories, there might be enough to keep me interested this time around. 
Halfway through Alter Ego's Dick Giordano article and it's excellent. 
I'll have to come back to the other titles I bought in a few days, after I've read them.

[narfstar]

I have given up on DC doing Thunder Agents. This has been worse than the last

[josemas]

Paw, glad to hear you enjoyed the latest relaunch of Daredevil.  When it was recommended to me I was skeptical at first but, like you, was also pleasantly surprised when I read it.  It's the only regular Marvel title I currently get and I recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Marvel's comics in the 60s and 70s. 
After Boox's repeated plugs for Captain America I also decided to give it a chance and just waited for a good hopping on point.  Mine was the five-part "Masks" storyline that ran in Captain America and Bucky #620-624.  It's really the story of Bucky with the first four parts following him up til the end of WWII and the last covering his life afterwards. Both story and art pleased me and I'll likely sample the next storyline too.

Best

Joe

[paw broon]

The next wee batch of comics I read included The Activity #1 (Image)  and this was very good.  In fact I'll go as far as recommending it - I know I'm putting it on standing order.  I enjoyed the layouts, story, art was appealing and I got to read a few words of Spanish.  If these guys can keep up this standard, I might have a few months of good reads. Also read Trailblazer (Image) by Gray/Palmiotti and Daly/Mounts. A bit of time travel, cowboys, gangsters and a lot of gun mayhem.  While not a grand enough story for its packaging, it was an easy read, although, thinking back on it, perhaps a bit flimsy.
Next was Memorial #1 ( IDW) by Roberson and Ellis.  In a way, it seemed like a cash in on Locke and Key and although I wasn't bowled over by the art, I am intrigued enough to try a couple more issues.
All Star Western has a back up - The Barbary Ghost, coloured by all round nice bloke, Dom Regan. This guy is quite talented, noticeable even way back when he published a small press series in Glasgow titled Paper Empire, which became Captain Empire by #3?  I have 3 issues and when looking through them, was reminded of the times some of us in local fandom tried to push him on. 

[josemas]

Finally after approximately three and a half years since the last issue came out issue #9 of Marvel's maxi-series The Twelve is out!

I'm told by my LCS that the series is back on track and should finish up in the next few months.

We'll see.

Joe

[bowers]

Just returned from my lcs with a couple of pleasant surprises. Went to find a copy of "The Lone Ranger" and found the $1 debut issue of "Lord of the Jungle" and the first issue of "Warriors of Mars". "Lord of the Jungle" is really only another retelling of the Tarzan story. Nothing new, but the artwork is quite nicely done. As a lifelong Tarzan fan I'm still a sucker for any Tarzan material I can find. I was much more impressed with "Warriors of Mars". At last, an illustrated adaptation of  Edwin Arnold's "Gullivar on Mars"! First read this story as a teen and it remains one of my favorites. If this book sells well, I'm wondering if maybe Otis Kline's "Swordsman of Mars" might be a likely next candidate for this possible series? Has anyone read the new "Flash Gordon" yet? If so, is it awful?  Cheers, Bowers

[narfstar]

I have not read the new Flash. I did read the Klien novel Planet of Peril. I could not think of it as anything but an ERB ripoff. I did not enjoy it.

[bowers]

Absolutely correct, Narf! Kline, Farley,and so many other pulp writers were, indeed, poor imitations of ERB. I'm just glad to see some of this material being brought back to life. As for my last post, a friend just emailed me and showed me that Marvel had already done an adaptation of Gullivar long ago, in "Creatures on the Loose". Omigod! How could Roy Thomas and Gil Kane have got the character so wrong? I 'm not a big fan of Dynamite, but it looks like they're getting this one right. Cheers, Bowers

[narfstar]

The only version I know is the one from Creatures OTL. Maybe that is why I never jumped at reading the originals although I have read many other ERB's. Seemed to be mostly a copy of J Carter but apparently is not. What did Farley write?

[paw broon]

Blast from the past - Creatures on the Loose.  I remember that, I bought it, did I enjoy it?  Probably, but I wasn't familiar with the source material.
Yesterday I jumped on the bus to visit my LCS and a few goodies were in my file.  Captain America #7; Fatale #2; But no Activity #2.  brian said that although it was out, nobody here seemed to have received copies.  Disappointing. I also took a punt on Thief of Thieves as it looked interesting and Brian suggested I try Winter Soldier, so I bought it and will try both tonight with a glass of wine.

[narfstar]

me + glass of wine = sleep not read. Comic Shop News had an upcoming image series called America's Got Powers that sounds interesting.

[bowers]

Narf, Ralph Milne Farley wrote the "Radio Planet" stories, which I believe took place on Venus. As I recall, the stories weren't too bad, but the dialogue was awful! Edwin Arnold's "Gullivar on Mars" (originally "Lt. Gullivar Jones: His Vacation) was written in 1905, long before the John Carter stories. Some believe Gullivar was an inspiration to ERB, but I find the characters to be very different. Did ERB "borrow" the concept? Who knows? Pulp writers were paid very little and had to turn out a lot of pages to feed their families, so it goes without saying there was an awful lot of "borrowing" and imitation going on. Almost the same situation as today's television programming- find something the public likes and do a knock-off! Cheers, Bowers