109 replies to this topic

[Steve Sensible]

I thought I owned all the John Byrne FF stuff, but I recently discovered he'd done a What If..?

 

 

It's a nice little story, paying homage to the origin, with a couple of little nods to things like Challengers of the Unknown. And it was nice to discover something new from my favourite era of comics.

[Andrew]

I'm also a fan of the Fatal Attrations arc, mainly for the art and the X-teams as they were then, than for the actual "story", which was a bit all over the place, what with establishing the Acolytes as heavy hitters, the return of Cable and then the return of Magneto, along with Colossus' defection, followed by Wolvie losing the adamantium, and the revelation of his bone claws ( I never did get the Excalibur issue - did anything important happen there?).

[mark1]

why is reed in ropes on that cover

[Richard Powell]

why is reed in ropes on that cover

It's a call back to the cover off FF number one


It never made sense in the original either!

[Russell H]

So, did the monster tie him up, or...?

[Stephen G]

Started volume 1 of POWERS by Bendis, the other day. Read up through issue 12 last night. Surprisingly great stuff, considering the writer and genre. How did I miss this as it came out. 

[Bobby S]

Silver Surfer Requiem 1-4 (Marvel 2007) - I remember liking this when it first came out but now on re-read it's going into my ever growing ebay-sale pile. Yeah the art is nice (although I'm not Ribic's biggest fan) but the story and script by Straczynski is pretty poor. The Surfer's in trouble and goes on a meandering, melancholy stroll around the universe moping all the while. I found myself not caring which is massively counter productive to the stories intention. 

 

Marvels 1-4 (Marvel 1994) - In contrast to the above, I didn't like this when I read it all those years ago but now have a better appreciation for it. I think part of my dislike is still present today though. I'm just not a fan of the hyper realistic art style in super hero books. Yes, Ross' art is lush and spectacular but I much prefer a slightly cartoony look for the spandex crowd. Having said that, I did enjoy it. Busiek is really hit and miss for me but I think pretty much nailed this look at the emerging super hero community through the eyes of a press photographer really well. The 1st issue that deals with the Human Torch and Namor is a bit weak but the remaining issues all have some sort of impact and are well developed.

 

Cybernary 2.0 1-6 (Image 2001) - I bought this when it came out but never read it. I was kind of a snob back then and balked at the non-conforming Eric Canete art. I was going through the longboxes recently and pulled it out. Wow, what a stooge I was back then. This is a truly lovely looking book. Canete in conjunction with inker Vlasco and colourist Strachan produce brilliant visuals that have an abundance of punch, style and crispness. Alongside Canete, writer Joe Harris weaves a great tale that focuses on the island of Gamora that longs for a new leader now that Kaizen is dead (due to the Authority's actions). Cyborgs and mechs feature heavily and the characters personalities are  well rounded and individual. Overall it's a great story with everyone involved firing on all cylinders. 

[Dave Wallace]

I agree with you on both SS: Requiem and Marvels. With Requiem, I think JMS just pushed the sentimental stuff too far and it all felt a bit cliché and trite. A shame, as the art is lovely as you say.

And with Marvels, Ross' art has always made it feel like an attempt to treat the Marvel universe in a serious and po-faced way that removes everything that was fun, dynamic and vibrant about those early years of the MU. It just all feels so static and dull, despite being well-written.

The sequel series, Eye of the Camera, is actually a lot better, and plays up the parallels between the increasing 'dark'-ness of the MU in the '70s-90s with the progress of Phil's cancer. But I never felt there was anything quite as smart going on in the original series - it all felt a bit too "Look! Comics can be sophisticated!" to me.

[David Meadows]

I've promised to write an article on Dream Girl's death and resurrection in Mark Waid's 2005 Legion reboot. So I'm re-reading the entire run (as the sub-plot spanned almost the entire 50 issues).

 

I'd forgotten how many great ideas were in there. A lot of Legion fans hated it simply because Legion fans hate change, but taken on its own merits Waid produced one of the best long runs of the decade. It went off the rails after a while (probably due to editorial interference) but at its peak it was as good as the Legion ever was.

[Russell H]

One of my favourite ideas from Waid's run was that Colossal Boy considered himself a shrinking hero and wanted to be called Micro Lad.