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[paw broon]

Time problems mean I haven't bought or read many new titles in the last few weeks.  But I nipped into Transreal in Edinburgh while on my way to visit my mother in law and Mike had a couple of things for me.
Warlord of Mars, while intriguing because I've read the ERB books, was a touch disappointing and as a teaser it didn't work for me. I would have preferred to get more of the story (and be willing to pay a bit more).
Dynamite's Phantom #2 is still a letdown.  It could be any "hero" on a revenge rampage and I still don't think the art is very good.   
Phantom Double Shot #6 was a satisfying conclusion to the terrorist story even though the art seemed a bit rushed.  This is much closer to what I feel The Phantom should be.  The Spider illustrated text story backup  was o.k..  But as I've said before I don't believe these stories are given enough room to develop and often seem too pared down.

[boox909]

Hey gang!

I haven't read anything yet, but here's what I picked up today.

Marvel
Captain America #611
Captain America: The Patriot #3 (of 4)

DC
Justice Society of America # 44

Savage Dragon #165 is out also, and cameos DareDevil & Silver Streak.

More later after some reading.

B.

[josemas]

I only picked up a few goodies this week.

Billy Batson and the Magic or Shazam #21-apparently the last issue.  DC finally does a Captain Marvel series I like- so of course it gets canceled!
JSA #44
JLA: Generation Lost #12
Zatanna #6-this is a stand-a-lone issue that seems to have nothing to do with the story arc of the previous two issues (haven't actually read it mind you-just going by my quick browse through).  Can we say missed deadline!

And Titan's second hardcover volume of Dik Browne's Hagar the Horrible collecting dailies from 1974-75.  Forward by Sergio Aragones, intro by Brian Walker and the strips themselves are just gorgeously reproduced.

Best

Joe

[narfstar]

I tried the first couple Generation Lost and did not care for it

[josemas]

I tried the first couple Generation Lost and did not care for it

Well it's not great but has surprisingly kept my interest (maybe because I came at it with low expectations}.

Joe

[boox909]

Howdy gang!  

Only a few items from me this week to chat about.

Marvel
Captain America: Patriot #3 (of 4) -- If you are not following this excellent production, you are quite possibly robbing yourself of sheer Golden Age retcon goodness. Legendary scribe Karl Kesel, along with artists Mitch & Bettie Breitweiser deliver a very much unique view of Patriot-Cap and his time with the All-Winners Squad during 1948. Mysteries deepen in this issue -- Miss Patriot and Golden Girl are two gals that are definitely hiding their motivations from our hero -- will he find out in time? Don't miss this series. At least promise yourself that you will purchase the trade when it comes out! Highly recommended!

Captain America # 611 -- Daniel Acuna provides simply heavenly cinematic quality art that breathes lives in the usual solid work of Ed Brubaker.  Bucky-Cap ends up surrendering himself for trial for acts committed while he was under the control of the Soviet Reds! Cap fans should not miss this series!

DC
Justice Society of America #44 -- I honestly believe that this will be the best story arc featuring the "New DC Earth" Justice Society in about two years. Marc Guggenheim and Scott Kolins have ramped up the story quality and artwork and provides a tale that kicks off with kingdom come implications. Recommended!

That's all I have for this week! Take care and have a safe weekend!  

B.

[josemas]

Zatanna #6-this is a stand-a-lone issue that seems to have nothing to do with the story arc of the previous two issues (haven't actually read it mind you-just going by my quick browse through).  Can we say missed deadline!

Well I opened my big yap about this one before actually reading it and am now feeling the fool. 

This issue actually does wrap up the story arc of the previous two issues.  I guess the artistic stylings of this issue's artist (Jesus Saiz) being so different from the title's previous artists (Chad Hardin & Wayne Faucher) and the jump in continuity between the previous issue's cliffhanger ending and this issue's start-up really threw me when I initially browsed through the title.

Anyway with apologies to all I can give this title a thumbs up.  Writer Paul Dini has kept my interest through the title's first two story arcs with his plotting and a number of light character building moments The above mentioned artists also have done fine work (I slightly prefer Saiz' work but it's just a matter of a few degrees).

Best

Joe

[josemas]

Howdy gang!  

Only a few items from me this week to chat about.

Marvel
Captain America: Patriot #3 (of 4) -- If you are not following this excellent production, you are quite possibly robbing yourself of sheer Golden Age retcon goodness. Legendary scribe Karl Kesel, along with artists Mitch & Bettie Breitweiser deliver a very much unique view of Patriot-Cap and his time with the All-Winners Squad during 1948. Mysteries deepen in this issue -- Miss Patriot and Golden Girl are two gals that are definitely hiding their motivations from our hero -- will he find out in time? Don't miss this series. At least promise yourself that you will purchase the trade when it comes out! Highly recommended!

Captain America # 611 -- Daniel Acuna provides simply heavenly cinematic quality art that breathes lives in the usual solid work of Ed Brubaker.  Bucky-Cap ends up surrendering himself for trial for acts committed while he was under the control of the Soviet Reds! Cap fans should not miss this series!

DC
Justice Society of America #44 -- I honestly believe that this will be the best story arc featuring the "New DC Earth" Justice Society in about two years. Marc Guggenheim and Scott Kolins have ramped up the story quality and artwork and provides a tale that kicks off with kingdom come implications. Recommended!

That's all I have for this week! Take care and have a safe weekend!  

B.

Well now I'm really looking forward to reading my copy of JSA #44. 

The Captain America: Patriot mini series sounds promising.  I think I'll add it to my list of trades to watch for. 

I'll also check out the regular Cap title.  With DC and Marvel dropping prices I'll have a few more shekels freed up to add another title or two to my pull list.  Cap may just fit nicely into that slot.

Best

Joe

[narfstar]

Due to recommendations I have put Cap:Patriot trade on my pull list

[paw broon]

Thank goodness you're back, all of you.  I was starting to get a bit worried there.
Zatanna 6 was rather good wasn't it, especially after reading josemas saying it was a fill in (I suppose it was in a way, what with a different artist on it). As mentioned in the story, a wee touch of the Spectre.
Also read Black Cat 4 and again, it was enjoyable.  I just find it a bit annoying that the creators seem so void of new ideas that they have to shoehorn in a villain like Kraven.  I feel this could have been done with other, new personalities but brains and imaginations might have had to be engaged.  I am biased as have I never liked Kraven.
The one-shot Sherlock Holmes v Jekyll and Hyde was good entertainment and I'm looking forward to the new S.H.v Dracula.  Great stuff.
G.H year one #6 was good and, to be brutal, is the only title I think is worth reading in the whole G.H. range.  The guy in the comic shop in Stirling says his sales of all G.H. titles is way down.
Last Phantom #2 - least said the better. I don't want to get uptight again.  Surely this very mediocre and not well done, treatment of one of the all time great heroes can't last.

[boox909]

Hey gang!

The only thing that I purchased that was GA/SA related was Marvelman Family's Finest #5 (of 6).  There is a new Green Hornet Kato book out from Dynamite, and Marvel has a five issue miniseries recounting Captain America's founding by the Avengers (that I skipped on).

As you know, at this writing the download site is down and has been since Halloween. There has been progress made on getting it back up and I expect that Saturday at the latest will be the charm. We have a ton of new files to release, so in order to celebrate, we'll be lifting download restrictions and allowing everyone to download unlimited files for a couple of weeks. It is our way of thanking you for your patience in this wonky period of the site's development.

Regards,
B.

[boox909]

Howdy!

Another lite week ...

INVADERS NOW! #3 (of 5) remains a solid offering from Christos Gage, Alex Ross, Caio Reis, and Vincius Andrade. If you enjoyed the Invaders of old, you cannot help but enjoy this entertaining run.

Captain America: Forever Allies #4 (of 4) completes a fine Roger Stern crafted tail of Bucky-Cap in combat against an old Young Allies femme fatale.  If you are following the series, this is a fine bookend, otherwise be sure to snatch up the trade paperback when it appears.

There is also a The Green Hornet: Blood Ties on the shelf this week, but this week was pretty lite for us GA/SA hounds. 

Have a good weekend, and thank you for your support of GAC-UK.

B.

[narfstar]

The new Thunder Agents book was interesting. Not sure what  think about it yet. I am going to reserve judgement until I see how they go with it.

[builderboy]

The new Thunder Agents book was interesting. Not sure what  think about it yet. I am going to reserve judgement until I see how they go with it.

I'm with you, narf. The set-up of a wise-guy 20-something year-old in charge of a top-secret espionage agency has my credulity stretched. I do like the premise of 'die young, stay pretty' for the selected heroes.  I had just collected the old Tower books, and was entertained by the '60's dialog of the heroes. It felt so 'James Bond'.  That, and the Wood artwork were a pleasure.

This new thing...well...we'll see how they do.

[josemas]

I had just collected the old Tower books, and was entertained by the '60's dialog of the heroes. It felt so 'James Bond'.  That, and the Wood artwork were a pleasure.

Not to mention Ditko, Crandall, Tuska, Sekowsky, Kane and probably several others I'm forgetting right now.

Best

Joe

[JVJ]

Like Manny Stallman...!

Peace, Jim (|:{>

[Geo (R.I.P.)]

I had just collected the old Tower books, and was entertained by the '60's dialog of the heroes. It felt so 'James Bond'.  That, and the Wood artwork were a pleasure.

Not to mention Ditko, Crandall, Tuska, Sekowsky, Kane and probably several others I'm forgetting right now.

Best

Joe

Al Williamson for another.

Geo

[boox909]

This is DC's big push on Bruce Wayne-Batman being "back from the dead" and there was nothing much of things in a golden age sense out on the shelves.

Interestingly enough, Batman #704, features a brief encounter with a villain named Reaper. I'd wager a few dollars that this character is a derivative of Nedor's Grim Reaper hero. Someone check it out and weigh in.

Dynamite offers Warlord of Mars #2 this week. I have yet to read it, but I hopeful that it will be as entertaining as #1.

Before I forget, Justice League of America #51 cameo's various members of the Justice Society.

And before I go, Dark Horse will be offering Mighty Samson #1 in December. Get your reservations in. This should be most excellent, especially for those who have enjoyed Magnus, Solar, and Turok. 

While I'm on Dark Horse... If you know anyone at Dark Horse, ask them how they can offer "the first Archie story from Pep Comics #1" in the upcoming Archie Firsts Hardcover Vol. 1, as promoted in this week's Comic Shop News ( (#1222). I do not see how that is possible...

And... Rocket Man #1: King of the Rocketmen is expected next month from Moonstone.

That's it for me. I dunno why I'm not in bed at this hour. 

B.

[josemas]

The neatest item acquired this week at my LCS was a new hardcover book by Mike Howlett entitled The Weird World of Eerie Publications.

It's a 300+ pages, profusely illustrated look at those lurid black and white horror mags published by Myron Fass and packaged by Carl Burgos (with titles like Weird, Witches' Tales, Horror Tales, Tales of Voodoo, Terror Tales, Tales from the Tomb, etc...) that many of us will remember from their newstand presence in the 1960s and 70s.  I never really got into them as they were just too gross for my tastes (I still have vivid memories of a Dick Ayers' illustrated story, that had a man's freshly severed head flying through the air as if it was going to fly out of the panel, in one issue I picked up off the stands to look through-it gave me nightmares for some time after that!).  Since then I've become more calloused toward that sort of horror so it doesn't bother me much but back then I wanted nothing more to do with those sorts of mags for some time.

I've been perusing through the book and it looks like it's going to be a fun, informative read.  Howlett seems to have gathered a lot of info tying in these Fass publications with the precode publications which they so shamelessly stole from.  It looks like they ripped off almost every precode horror publisher except DC, EC and Marvel.  There's also a section of artist profiles and several appendices which cover, among other things, Fass color comics such as Captain Marvel and Henry Brewster.

Best

Joe

[narfstar]

Mike announced the book in a Yahoo group. It is one I plan on getting

[narfstar]

Warlord of Mars second issue was also pretty good. Still kind of slow not committed to adding it to my pull yet

[boox909]

I think December 2010 is going to be a flood for my plug list. However, I am thankful that November 2010 was not overburden-some.

New comics for me this week, related to this thread are:

Captain America #612 -- An ongoing gem featuring the work of Ed Brubaker, Butch Guice, and Bettie Breitwiser -- Bucky-Cap is about to go on trial for act committed during his Winter Soldier days. Good stuff! Check it out if you're a Cap fan.

Justice Society of America #45 -- Nice art from Scott Kolins, backing up a somewhat blah storyline from Marc Guggenheim. This current arc had promise, but only the art is holding up. I wouldn't be against DC canceling the current series and launching one featuring the adventures of the Earth-2 JSA.

That's it for me this week.

Have a great Thanksgiving (those of you celebrating it) and don't forget to count those blessings.

B.

[josemas]

I wanted to recommend to everyone the current issue of Zatanna (#7).  It's a done-in-one story, written by Adam Beechen and drawn by Chad Hardin & Wayne Faucher (who had previously drawn issues #4 &5), and is a perfect issue for someone who has been thinking of sampling the series.
The story pays homage to several of the Golden Age mages (Zatarra, Ibis, Dr. Fate, Sargon, etc..) and even (sort of) guest stars some of them.

Check it out.

Best

Joe

[boox909]

I wanted to recommend to everyone the current issue of Zatanna (#7).  It's a done-in-one story, written by Adam Beechen and drawn by Chad Hardin & Wayne Faucher (who had previously drawn issues #4 &5), and is a perfect issue for someone who has been thinking of sampling the series.
The story pays homage to several of the Golden Age mages (Zatarra, Ibis, Dr. Fate, Sargon, etc..) and even (sort of) guest stars some of them.

Check it out.

Best

Joe

Thanks for the heads up!  I'll track this one down.

B.

[boox909]

Another lite week!

Marvelman Family's Finest #6 (of 6) hit the stands this week, wrapping up one of the highly anticipated reprint events in recent memory. I honestly do not see a monthly Marvelman series on the horizon. The sales have been less than stellar on this one. I do see more reprint efforts though. It only takes 6000 or so of us to buy one issue of something like this to make it worthwhile to Marvel, and that has easily happened, so I am hopeful.

Captain America: Patriot #4 (of 4) features the stellar talents of Kesel, Breitweiser & Breitweiser, and caps off one of the best retcon tales Marvel has offered. Jeff Mace aka Patriot aka Captain America III finds his place in the post-WWII era and the fate of Golden Girl is finally revealed ... and yes, I am surprised about it.

Have a great weekend gang. I will be returning to full participation shortly after next Tuesday.

B.