[Drusilla lives!]

It's OK Boox909, you've taken the first and hardest step... now tell us, when did your addiction to comics all start?   

[JVJ]

Okay, I admit it -- Hi, I'm Boox909 and I am a comic book addict. Sometimes I hit the store twice a week to sample new stuff! There, I admit it! ::lol::   

I did the same thing (albeit just once a week) for 40 years, Boox909, and I WAS able to quit. I take it one week at a time now,  I will drop in at Lee's Comics in Mt. View every other month or so just to see if a new issue of Glamourpuss has come out. I'll admit to this occasional relapse, but, to be perfectly frank, I never expected the title to go beyond issue three and now it's up to at least twelve.

Life is full of small surprises and contradictions. But just be aware that comics are a disease, not necessarily a way of life. You CAN overcome this.

(|:{>

[narfstar]

Some of us do not want to quit. I have quit before for three of four years. I get only a very few new books so I am very selective. Except JSA/JLA I only get books I really like and look forward to. I used to get books just to get the character/team. Now I get a book while I like it and stop when I stop liking it. Jonah Hex and Echo being examples. Usually I prefer trades but with Jonah I found that yeas I really liked some issues but also disliked others so the trade became hard to read. JLA and JSA I much prefer the trades even though they are not all winners. I enjoy my "four color" diversions

[OtherEric]

It's hard for me to tell what's new with Harlan Ellison; I only started finding his books around 1990 or so.  And I still come across something that's new to me now and then.

But even if his newer stuff isn't as good- and I'm not commenting there; although the fact nothing from the past decade comes quickly to mind is telling- there is so much incredible stuff he's done on my bookshelf that I will never remove him from my mental list of great writers.

I'm still trying in general to get a grip on the First Wave books, for that matter.  At least I haven't thrown an issue across the room in disgust yet; and that's a real danger when somebody tries a revival of a classic series I'm familiar with the source material on like I am with both the Spirit and Doc Savage.  (I have all the Doc Savage paperbacks, all but one of the Avenger paperbacks, and the entire Kitchen Sink Spirit reprints.  Just the sort of fan people doing something like this dread.  )

[narfstar]

Which Avenger do you need I might have it

[paw broon]

The comics habit -I know we're all joking about it, well, half joking - half serious - but it's a very interesting phenomenon.  Having been addicted (and I don't think that's too strong a term) for most of my life, and having given up on a number of occasions, I still come crawling back.  Nowadays I buy hardly any new American titles and my interest lies in back issues and foreign comics.  By that I mean non-American.  My Italian teacher is keeping me supplied intermittently with new issues of Dylan Dog and I'm going with my wife to Italy next week so I'll be trying to track down recent back issues of Diabolik, DD, Martin Mystere and anything else that catches my eye.  I wonder if there is a certain type of personality that is more attracted to the collecting thingy or is it simply that we all enjoy and appreciate comics for many different reasons? And I know I called it an addiction but I am genuinely enthused by comics in all their shapes and forms but as I said, I prefer old and obscure stuff. 
I have to admit never having enoyed Harlan Ellison's work.
On the subject of pamphlets failing and value for money, can I just point out another comparison?  Just read last month's Dylan Dog.  It cost 2.7 Euros for 96 b&w pages, well told and drawn. A good read and much better value.

[JVJ]

It's hard for me to tell what's new with Harlan Ellison; I only started finding his books around 1990 or so.  And I still come across something that's new to me now and then.

But even if his newer stuff isn't as good- and I'm not commenting there; although the fact nothing from the past decade comes quickly to mind is telling- there is so much incredible stuff he's done on my bookshelf that I will never remove him from my mental list of great writers.

Please don't misunderstand me, Eric,
I have a very extensive shelf of Ellison material (more than three feet of it) and I bought it all to READ. He most certainly was a great writer - and probably still is, I suppose. It's just as some point the fiction began to lose its edge and its power for me. The reviews and critiques held up longer, but while I anxiously awaited announced new material, it never quite resonated with me. Much of it seemed forced and trite. Perhaps it's just ME getting older... and more experienced.

Plus "The Last Dangerous Visions" debacle rankles deeply.

Peace, Jim (|:{>

[Drusilla lives!]

The comics habit -I know we're all joking about it, well, half joking - half serious - but it's a very interesting phenomenon.  Having been addicted (and I don't think that's too strong a term) for most of my life, and having given up on a number of occasions, I still come crawling back.  Nowadays I buy hardly any new American titles and my interest lies in back issues and foreign comics. ...

As far as addictions go, I suppose comic books are the lesser of all evils, as long as we don't take what we read in them too seriously.

Personally, I just happened to get back into comics a few years ago after looking through some of my old stuff... two old long boxes of Silver and Bronze Marvels, a small box of magazines that included some Warren and MAD magazines and a couple of Russ Cochran EC Library sets that I hadn't looked through in perhaps twenty years.  Not much really.  At one point I was actually considering selling it all.

Then I got curious to see what had become of the Marvel line (and comics in general) and decided to buy some of the newer stuff from the various publishers.  I mean, in the 90s I had bought an odd "Groo" issue here and there, and I was aware of some of the major events (like Marvel going public, and the big Batman movies), but that was it for me really.  I can't say I was really impressed by any of the modern stuff I've read... but then, I was never that impressed with the comics of my youth either (late 70s).

*Sigh* 

I think I realize now that I really was never into comics. 

[boox909]

Today was quite a busy one at the comics shop!

Did you know that Moonstone is publishing Airboy/Valkyrie in a new book called AIRFIGHTERS? Moonstone is planning a "Black Bat" book also which is part of their effort to bring back pulp characters "RETURN OF THE ORIGINALS" is the concept, and the books coming will feature The Spider & Domino Lady, Secret Agent X, The Phantom Detective, and Rocket Man -- they are even going to feature new prose stories of The Green Hornet.

Marvel is releasing a new Captain America book along the lines of the Invaders (which I think is separate from the INVADERS book they already announced).

Comic Shop News has Dynamite's upcoming "The Last Phantom" as its cover/new feature this week.

I only have a couple of books to talk about this week, and I will do that later this evening.

B.

[narfstar]

I got Green Hornet Year One #3 today and am still enjoying the series. Love to find out more about the characters before they turned "super" I put in a pull on Widow Warriors from Dynamite advertised in GH. I usually like to read a digital before committing to a series but this one really sounded like it will be good.

[boox909]

I got Green Hornet Year One #3 today and am still enjoying the series. Love to find out more about the characters before they turned "super" I put in a pull on Widow Warriors from Dynamite advertised in GH. I usually like to read a digital before committing to a series but this one really sounded like it will be good.

I forgot to mention that the latest Superpowers also hit the stands.

I'm almost down with my books, but will wait until tomorrow to post on them.

B.

[narfstar]

Guy in front of my at the LCS was getting a big stack of books mostly Marvel and DC but also Green Hornet. I remember back in the day when I kept up with that many of the new books coming out. I think I am too old to keep up with that many story lines. I had a hard enough time with JLA and JSA until going to trades. Learned something a few years ago that it is not age or forgetfullness it is clutter. Older does not make it harder to learn. The problem is the older you get the more you have already stored that you have to dig through. Many people worry about diminished memory with age because they do not realize it is just the  opposite. Too many memories to dig through. Just thought I would throw that in since many of us are middle aged to senior and you need to know and not worry

[JVJ]

There's that great Calvin and Hobbes strip of Calvin raising his hand in first grade class and saying, "Can I be excused, my brain is full."

That's how I feel all of the time.

(|:{>

[boox909]

I promise to get caught up in this thread this week -- it has been a wild two weeks on the personal front and my mind has been in other realms.

I definitely need to share my thoughts on recent DC-MLJ books.

B.

[boox909]

Trying to get caught up here -- so I'll hit the high points.

1 ) Comic Shop News #1199 (now on the stands) highlights Moonstone's plans to publish classic pulp characters such as The Phantom Detective, Secret Agent X, The Spider, and Black Bat (along with The Green Lama, Operator 5, G-8, Captain Future, and Domino Lady)...whew...can you tell that something big is brewing for fans of the pulp genre? Moonstone released The Spider #1 last week, so it should still be available at your retailers. Check it out and consider a brief write up on it for this thread.

2 ) AIRFIGHTERS #1, released today, has Moonstone bringing back beloved Hillman Comics characters! This giant issue is filled with new stories of Airboy, Iron Ace, Black Angel, Sky Wolf, including others! However, this issue also brings us a new tale of Captain Midnight! I am looking forward to reading this one and I hope you will consider hunting down an issue. Get it now!

3 ) Captain America #606 is new this week, featuring "Bucky Barnes Captain America" in intrigue against Baron Zemo. Nothing particularly 'Golden Age' about this issue, but Ed Brubaker can weave a good yarn when he's not being overtly political, so check it out.

4 ) Batman #700 arrived this week. The powers that be pretty much ignored potential Golden Age themes, but hey, a comic reaches #700 in the USA and I'm happy. 

5 ) JSA All-Stars #7 came out last week. However, #6 was so bad that I had forgotten the story that led into #7, so I had to go back and re-suffer through it. This has to be one of the worse comics being published by anyone...only us JSA junkies will even read this schlock. 

6 ) Justice Society of America #39 also came out last week. It makes JSA All-Stars look good.    Just kidding!  Nothing can make JSA All-Stars look good! 

7 ) Captain America/Black Panther: Flags Of Our Fathers #3, featuring a version of Golden Age Cap teamed up with WWII era Black Panther continues to be a solid production. INVADERS fans should find favor with this four issue miniseries.

8 ) The Torch #8 concludes the limited series featuring the Golden Age Human Torch and Toro in contemporary action. The Golden Age Vision makes a cameo in this issue. Overall, this is a nice series you should look for in trade paperback shortly.

9 ) The Mighty Crusaders Special #1 should be a nice surprise for the remaining few who are following any of DC's Red Circle send up. This origin issue features the meeting of The Shield, The Web, Inferno, and what has to be the best modern representation of The Hangman that I have seen. The story is solid, the art (and coloring) are simply nice and fit this entertaining story. I think that we can look for something good to result in the upcoming Mighty Crusaders series. Recommended. 

10 ) In The Shield, I have been following the backup feature of the new Fox character. Starting with #7, the new Fox is based in Japan and pretty much holds to a Japanese motif. I like it. In my opinion, this new character would translate well to the silver screen. The JSA guest stars in #10 (not out yet) so I will comment on the overall Fox story and the JSA segment when it arrives.

Alrighty, I'm caught up!    I invite and welcome comments, concerns, boos and hisses.

For Weekly GA Related Swag, this is Boox909! 

[Drusilla lives!]

Trying to get caught up here -- so I'll hit the high points.

1 ) Comic Shop News #1199 (now on the stands) highlights Moonstone's plans to publish classic pulp characters such as The Phantom Detective, Secret Agent X, The Spider, and Black Bat (along with The Green Lama, Operator 5, G-8, Captain Future, and Domino Lady)...whew...can you tell that something big is brewing for fans of the pulp genre? Moonstone released The Spider #1 last week, so it should still be available at your retailers. Check it out and consider a brief write up on it for this thread.
...

Are these characters going to be featured in new pulp stories, or are they being reworked into comic book form?  If it's a case of the latter I just gotta ask... why?   

I like reading some of the pulps basically because they're just that... pulps... not comic books.  They're a different animal IMO, and perhaps part of a different era, which is part of their appeal (to me anyway).  In other words, I don't think I'd find reading the "modern adventures of the Spider" (if that's what they're planning to do with the character) all that appealing. 

[boox909]

Trying to get caught up here -- so I'll hit the high points.

1 ) Comic Shop News #1199 (now on the stands) highlights Moonstone's plans to publish classic pulp characters such as The Phantom Detective, Secret Agent X, The Spider, and Black Bat (along with The Green Lama, Operator 5, G-8, Captain Future, and Domino Lady)...whew...can you tell that something big is brewing for fans of the pulp genre? Moonstone released The Spider #1 last week, so it should still be available at your retailers. Check it out and consider a brief write up on it for this thread.
...

Are these characters going to be featured in new pulp stories, or are they being reworked into comic book form?  If it's a case of the latter I just gotta ask... why?   

I like reading some of the pulps basically because they're just that... pulps... not comic books.  They're a different animal IMO, and perhaps part of a different era, which is part of their appeal (to me anyway).  In other words, I don't think I'd find reading the "modern adventures of the Spider" (if that's what they're planning to do with the character) all that appealing. 

The Spider #1 is a prose story with nice black and white pencil work, it is lush and really looks good. I think this effort is worth a try, and although I cannot say that it will work, it cannot hurt to bring awareness of these classic characters to a potentially new base.

B.

[Drusilla lives!]

If by prose you mean a new 98 page "period" text story with a handful of illustrations then I guess perhaps it's a step in the right direction... assuming they can find a writer today with the chops to pull something like that off in an elegant and uncontrived manner.

Unfortunately, IMO these efforts at bringing back old characters usually turn out to be a form of intellectual strip mining and nothing more.  Invariably they'll probably end up reprinting the old stories in comic form (which one doesn't really need if one reads the original pulps), or alter the character so fundamentally to fit into a modern world as to make the whole process somewhat pointless (at least in trying to reach out to gain an audience on behalf of the original character). 

[bowers]

I have to agree with you - it's not easy to alter a character to fit a different genre. I remember Eclipse trying to update The Spider in the early '90s.  The art was great and the stories fair, but it wasn't really The Spider! I think the appeal of pulp characters was their strong sense of good and evil, without the modern emotional baggage. We no longer live in a world of absolutes and it's refreshing to escape back into a world where heroes chose to stand up to injustice and villians were evil because they enjoyed it! I wish the publishers well in their new enterprises, and fervently hope they get it right. Cheers, Jeff

[paw broon]

Are we talking about the Moonstone Spider illustrated story?  If so, I bought that a while ago and didn't enjoy it. Gave it to my pal who's a collector of Spider and other hero pulps and he was not happy with it at all. The new Kato from Dynamite was poor and at the end I thought, "I didn't really need to know that".  They're making GH, a relatively simple, enjoyable hero, into a complicated, troubled, serious character.  It should be fun.  But this a criticism I have with many modern comics.  Probably an age thing.  My best buy this week (and I don't know how new it really is) was the Warren Ellis Captain Swing and the Electrical Pirates. (or something like that)  It was great.  Well drawn, well told and set in a period I love.  Mystery, violence, running about - all good stuff.  Note I said violence?  Odd for me but in this I could take it.  A bit like the scenes in Extraordinary Gentlemen.

[boox909]

Yup, Moonstone's recent issue of The Spider -- I am still thinking about picking it up.

B.

Are we talking about the Moonstone Spider illustrated story?  If so, I bought that a while ago and didn't enjoy it. Gave it to my pal who's a collector of Spider and other hero pulps and he was not happy with it at all. The new Kato from Dynamite was poor and at the end I thought, "I didn't really need to know that".  They're making GH, a relatively simple, enjoyable hero, into a complicated, troubled, serious character.  It should be fun.  But this a criticism I have with many modern comics.  Probably an age thing.  My best buy this week (and I don't know how new it really is) was the Warren Ellis Captain Swing and the Electrical Pirates. (or something like that)  It was great.  Well drawn, well told and set in a period I love.  Mystery, violence, running about - all good stuff.  Note I said violence?  Odd for me but in this I could take it.  A bit like the scenes in Extraordinary Gentlemen.

[narfstar]

The AC Comics Newsletter
     
Men of Mystery 82
Fighting Females of the 40's
Available Now!
Femforce fans (as well as our MOM regulars) will LOVE the latest edition of Men of Mystery!
A special "Women of Mystery" issue, focusing on the fighting females of 1940's comicdom!! The first time in history that over 200 pages in one volume have been devoted to classic reprints of vintage heroines!! And this selection includes both the popular and the obscure- 30 full-length stories in all, including a number of first-appearance encores, and more than half a dozen distaff adventurers NEVER reprinted anywhere before!! This spectacular volume includes Fox Feature's PHANTOM LADY in "The Case of the Swindling Eye", drawn by Matt Baker; Standard/Nedor' s MISS MASQUE in "The Gems of Jeopardy", with art by Bob Oksner, Ralph Mayo & Co; a never-before- reprinted MISS VICTORY tale from Holyoke's Captain Aero Comics; "The Mad Monster", with art by Nina Albright; the first appearance of Ace Comics' LIGHTNING GIRL, costumed partner to LASH LIGHTNING, in "The Teacher and the Lesson of Doom"; Fiction House Comics' GALE ALLEN and the Girl Squadron; MYSTA of The Moon, FUTURA and SKY GIRL, all in never-previously- seen adventures, plus the FIRST appearance of SENORITA RIO, from Fight Comics # 19 with art by Nick Cardy; EC's MOON GIRL in "The Rustlers of Ransom Gap", drawn by Johnny Craig; Quality's DOLL GIRL fights side by side with DOLLMAN in "The Voodoo Master", and TORCHY rides a horse in a Bill Ward classic- plus the first appearance of the GGA superheroine WILDFIRE from Smash Comics #25, by Robert Turner and Jim Mooney, and LADY LUCK breaks up a larcenous carnival in a Klaus Nordling-illustrate d episode; the first appearance of Continental Publishing's BLACK VENUS from Contact Comics #1, drawn by Charles Tomsey; Harry "A" Chesler's JET-GIRL teams with ROCKETMAN in an Al Plastino- illustrated adventure, "Murder Hides It's Tracks", from Zip-Jet # 2; Fawcett Comics' BULLETGIRL joins BULLETMAN in tackling "The Homicidal Highjackers" , drawn by Bob Fujitani, from Master Comics #88; and NYOKA The Jungle Girl faces "The Flying Snake" in a Max Elkan-drawn story from Master #109; while IBIS the Invincible is aided by the beauteous TAIA in "The Vampire Cloak", from Whiz #114; Wild West shapshooter KITTY CARSON deals with "Indian Revenge", as illoed by Bob Powell !! As if ALL THAT wasn't enough, there are also these stories featuring female crimefighters making their first-time MOM appearances: BLONDE BOMBER in "Hawaii Has Termites", drawn by Jill Elgin; GALE LEARY-The Will O'The Wisp in an unnamed story from Key Comics #3; Hillman's IRON LADY in her debut story, originally published in Airboy Volume 4, #1; M. E.'s UNDERCOVER GIRL in "The House That Hate Built", by Ogden Whitney; Spark Pubs' GOLDEN GIRL, in her one and only appearance from Golden Lad #5, "The Phoney Policemen"; Centaur Comics The BLUE LADY, in her debut story from Amazing Man Comics #25, and TWO one-shot heroines from Cambridge House's Star Studded Comics, The COMMANDETTE (drawn by Nina Albright) and The GHOST WOMAN!! And that's STILL not all, as this issue includes a bonus story starring The DURANGO KID VS. THE TIGRESS and other surprises!! 220 pages of crystal-clear, state-of-the- art reprints from actual Golden Age comics, in stunning black & white between full-color covers. This perfect-bound, comic-book sized bookshelf volume was released by AC Comics in June, 2010.
 
Damsels in Distress 2: Cliffhanger Heroines
Available For Immediate Download!
Click Here!
Our popular Damsels in Distress series continues... this time showcasing the fighting females of the 1940's cliffhanger serials! The Saturday matinees of yesteryear gave rise to some of the first and best action heroines to ever grace the silver screen and you'll find some of their greatest exploits gathered here! We've combed through countless serials to compile a nearly FULL HOUR presentation of the best daring deeds, cliffhanger perils, fight scenes, shoot outs and deadly death traps with our battling beauties at the heart of every scene. See wild women dispatch dastardly villains, foil the schemes of maniacal mad men, rescue their leading men from deadly peril and wind up in more than a few tight scrapes of their own. It's pure action from start to finish featuring the courageous and glamorous gals of the chapterplays! Damsels in Distress 2: Cliffhanger Heroines!
 
Damsels in Distress 3: Jungle Girls
Available Now For Immediate download!
Click Here!

The final volume of our Damsels in Distress series is here... featuring the daring exploits of the cliffhanger serial jungle girls! Some of the best action from the serial chapterplays occurs in these classic and influential films and we've crammed as much as we could fit into this nearly hour long extravaganza. Watch in amazement as our jungle heroines survive an endless array of death traps and cliffhanger perils including a swinging pendulum, collapsing bridges, spiked ceilings, gorilla attacks, explosions, native booby traps and much, much more! The jungle girls were also some of the serial era's best female fighters and we showcase plenty of scenes featuring the girls taking down the bad guys with exciting stunts, vine-swinging action, catfights, gun battles and two-fisted combat. It's pure action from start to finish featuring the courageous and glamorous jungle gals of the chapterplays! Damsels in Distress 3: Jungle Girls!

[Ed Love]

With Moonstone's comics, I find The Phantom series is the exception vs the rule as far as being faithful and of high quality. Most of their other stuff is a hodge podge of re-imaginings and going solely for the surface details. Their Domino Lady is a good example as it comes across as being overtly slutty sexy as opposed to a classy femme fatale sensual (even though she is of the rogue hero class). Kolchak is drawn the same as the classic show but it misses a lot of what made that work and the writers are intent on having him attracting more women than Captain Kirk.

So, the Spider doesn't surprise me, but he's also a special case. What they published is almost textbook of what one would expect any publisher to come up with. The original stories are violent and intense as is the character. And, that's what everyone focuses on when writing him today. However, the original writer spent most of the stories in the Spider's head, telling the stories from his point of view, BUT not as a 1st Person Narrative (which would give a lot of room to the possibility that the character was insane) but as limited 3rd Person, which gives more credence to what we are seeing of the character and motivations are true. Thus, we see that in the world that the Spider operates, against the criminals he fights, his actions are not severe but appropriate. He accepts the label of criminal, he knows that cops HAVE to view him as a killer and hunt him relentlessly. He's a "superman" and a "just man" going after mass murderers that the Law is unable to punish not someone borderline insane himself. There's a passion and great empathy in him that propels him to act. To write the Spider correctly, you have to get into the character's head, the stories have to be structured that what the Spider does is right and justified NOT extreme and the reader gets that. A Spider story is like a Dirty Harry movie. Dirty Harry doesn't work if the story highlights all the reasons that a character like Callahan is actually dangerous to his fellow officers and innocent people that are sometimes just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[boox909]

Final issue of the Shield
http://www.firstcomicsnews.com/?p=9025

I will be back later with comics on my swag this week -- gotta see if Nigeria can whip Greece first. 

B.

[narfstar]

I tried their Captain Action and one or two issues was enough to let me know I did not want more