Great Comic Book Covers

I actually googled something along these lines, and the results were less than impressive. So I thought I'd take a stab at this myself. I have always had a few covers that would come to mind when this topic would come up. The main ones are Amazing Spider-Man 151, Moon Knight 29, Superman 317, Captain America 110 and Marvel Tales 63. What's interesting about Marvel Tales 63 is that it's a new cover for a reprint of Amazing 82. The cover for issue 82 was cool, but I always thought MT 63 was even better.



Amazing Spider-Man 151 by John Romita, Sr. (Copyright Marvel Comics)
Moon Knight 29 by Bill Sienkiewicz (Copyright Marvel Comics)
Superman 317 by Neal Adams (Copyright DC Comics)




Captain America 110 by Jim Steranko (Copyright Marvel Comics)
Marvel Tales 63 by John Romita, Sr. (Copyright Marvel Comics)
Amazing Spider-Man 82 by John Romita, Sr. (Copyright Marvel Comics)

Aren't they cool? Not many DC covers, I notice. That means I must be failing to remember some good ones. There must be some good ones from the Neal Adams days. Oh yeah - here are a few. And a great Hulk cover.


Detectives 402 & 404, both by Neal Adams (Copyright DC Comics)

Hulk 340 by Todd McFarlane (Copyright Marvel Comics)

I'm sure there are many more cool covers, but this is what I have so far.

D3's Review - Mister X

I came across Mister X about 20 years ago at a South Jersey convention. It was a great convention, and sadly, it died a slow, painful death by the time the 90s rolled in. Another casualty of the speculators and the mega-cons.

But that's not what I'm set to be rambling about here. No - that would be a comic book series called Mister X. The first four issues were done by the brilliant Hernandez brothers - Gilbert, Mario and Jaime. Same guys who did Love & Rockets. Another title y'all should be readin' - and so should I.

I don't know why Mister X struck me the way it did. Maybe it was the clean art. Maybe it was the fun and interesting story. Maybe it was the bold, clever and dynamic artistic choices made on the covers and on the insides of the covers. The design of the book was excellent. I normally don't worry too much about the art (more story driven), but the art was sharp and - dare I say it - visionary. The overall visual style was striking from cover to cover.

Maybe not just one thing - no idea really. But it was good. The story was about the architect that designed Radiant City. He returned to "undo the damage he believes he has done...even if it kills him." This brought him into conflict with a former mob boss who was running clubs in the city. Add into it a cast of killer dames, and you've got a fun, interesting, offbeat noir tale. And you're always looking to find out more about this Radiant City.

It's an excellent comic with great characters, and like Gotham City, Radiant City is kind of a character itself. The story is a bit hard to follow, but again, it's so well done it's worth sticking with it. Even when they go about explaining things, it's confusing.

After the fourth issue, Dean Motter took over the scripting, and it was still pretty good. Still confusing, but pretty good. Even if I felt that I was never getting the full story, I was entertained. I kept reading, but the ensuing issues, while very good, never matched the quality and style of the first four issues.

Each time I reread it, I remember how much I liked Mister X the first time around. I can't say anything better than that about a comic.

Likes & Dislikes - Dave Sim

Boy, this one comes with some controversy. During the 80s and early 90s, Dave Sim was one of the best comic book creators out there - one of those creators to be admired. He wrote and drew Cerebus (who was an aardvark), and it was one of the best comics out there up until its 113th issue. The rest of the run is good, but I felt that High Society and Church and State were the highlights.

Anyway, what he did is nothing short of remarkable. He wrote and drew all 300 issues of the series. Compare this to the tremendously overblown Bendis/Bagley effort of 100 issues on Ultimate Spider-Man, and you can get an idea of how I feel about the Bendis/Bagley thing. It's nice, but it's not 300 issues.

Cerebus covered lots of ground, and was always thought-provoking. The main topics were religion and politics in a fictional world set in the early 14th century. If there was a comic book trend going on at the time, you could bet that Sim would somehow humorously incorporate a parody into the storyline. Super Secret Sacred Wars is an example, as are Moon Roach and Wolverroach. There were also appearances by characters loosely based on Mick & Keith, George Harrison.

The issues gave you credit for having intelligence. His letters pages were more entertaining than some comics that were being published. His Notes From the Publisher were sometimes better than the issue that they appeared in. And during High Society and Church & State, that's saying something. You got the straight poop about the industry from someone who was actually doing the work - and was the publisher to boot. The letters pages were his opinion, and sometimes were angry and/or sarcastic - which was a refreshing change from the company line nice-nice way Marvel and DC pages. That's all pretty common now, but this is where it started.

The main knock that I can recall was that there was so much backstory, that you'd be lost if you joined Cerebus in progress. I started at around issue 78, and I managed to figure things out. Of course, this was also around the time that Sim released the High Society "telephone book" that collected issues 26-50.

I don't think enough credit can be given to Sim for the development of this form of collected volume. Now they are as common as the single issue, but back in 1986, there wasn't the plethora of trade paperbacks like there are now. After all, the mini-series had just been developed a few years earlier, as had the graphic novel. This was new ground for comic books.

The success of the High Society collected book, due largely, I feel, to the quality of the work within, led to more of these books from Sim. Church & State volumes one and two, and so on. After a while, it became obvious that a book would be released upon the completion of an arc, so rumor has it that a lot of collectors eschewed the single issue and just waited for the Cerebus books.

I have mostly the single issues, with the exception of the Cerebus book (issues 1-25) and the aforementioned High Society. I consider this series a watershed occurance in comics. A non-Marvel/non-DC effort that was every bit as good as either company's output. It was so good that luminaries such as Frank Miller and Alan Moore extolled the virtues of this comic.

More proof? Marvel threatened legal action against Sim when he featured his Wolverine parody Wolverroach on three consecutive covers, thinking that people might buy Cerebus thinking it was a Marvel product. Maybe Sim did push it a bit, but Marvel really needed to lighten up.

Then times changed, and Sim and Cerebus were no longer the relevant, highly regarded creator and comic book they once were. Bendis once disrespected Sim in one of his Powers letter columns - which is kinda ridiculous, because anyone paying attention knows that every independent publisher (and every overrated, overexposed talent publishing independent work) today pretty much owes a debt to Sim they can never repay for proving, time and again, the viability of the independent market.

To sum up, what makes Sim so special in my mind?

He published, wrote and drew 300 issues (for 25 years) of the same title for an independent publisher. And it was one of the best titles out there for at least a good chunk of its run.

He helped to pioneer the trade paperback/collected edition books that are currently all the rage.

Nothing more needs to be said. If you have the chance, get some Cerebus issues. They're more than worth your time.

Marvel doin' something right?

Who'd a thunk it? If you've read the relatively few posts I have on this site (Speaking of which - is anyone actually reading them? A discussion for another time...), you have probably figured out that I don't necessarily consider Marvel to be a warm, fuzzy comic publisher. But by putting their archive of comics on their web site, they have me singing a new tune.

Here's some of what I've heard is on the site (I must admit that I have not taken the plunge):

The first 100 issues of Amazing Spider-Man by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko and John Romita, Sr.

The first 100 issues of The Fantastic Four by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

The first 66 issues of Uncanny X-Men by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (and others)

The first 50 issues of The Avengers by Stan and Jack and Don Heck

If they had stopped here, that would have been a great offering for $9.99 a month, or $4.99 monthly with a year-long commitment. The only changes I could see would be adding things like the first 50 issues of Daredevil, the first 100 issues of Journey Into Mystery/Thor, the first 50 issues of Captain America, the first 50 issues of Iron Man....basically, anything that Stan Lee wrote.

But they do have other offerings. Things like the first appearance of Spider-Man's black costume (Spider-Man 252 or Secret Wars 8?), Astonishing X-Men, selected titles from the Ultimate line (Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four and The Ultimates), The House of M, current issues of Amazing Spider-Man, New Avengers, Young Avengers and Runaways among others.

All of which I could do without. Most of these are pretty average issues, and they are also collected in trade paperbacks, aren't they? Enough exposure for Bendis, Whedon and Millar.

Please Marvel - save the bandwidth for the real classics. Instead of posting that stuff, why not post some of the 1970's and early 1980's comics that I remember so fondly from my younger years? Stuff like Marvel Team-Up, The Defenders, Moon Knight, Rom, Iron Fist, Doctor Strange, Super-Villain Team-Up (so cool and so short!) and Master Of Kung-Fu, just to name a few.

It would be fun to see these issues again - or even better, for the first time. It's a great thing for Marvel to enable readers to have such easy and direct access to comics. Marvel - if you want to know what you should post next, send me an email. I have lots of ideas.

Iron Man preview

Just saw the Iron Man movie preview. Looks pretty good. I was not sure about Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, but now I've changed my mind. A rich, substance-abusing, me-first guy? Sounds like RDJ - and Tony Stark.

I am a bit surprised at Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts. I don't think the character has any British background. And Jim Rhodes and Obidiah Stane, but no Happy Hogan? But the really good news is that based on the IMDB plot synopsis, it looks like they are sticking to the real history.

And the CGI looks great too - the flying scenes were awesome. I hope they keep using the Black Sabbath song. What could be more appropriate? Let's hope the movie is as good as the trailer. Often, the trailer captures the best of the film. It's a good start though.

An article worth reading

I've groused about newspaper writers and the way that they write about comics.

I am very pleased to give credit where credit is due. Everyone who reads this should look up an article by a writer named Gavin Ford, who writes for the Star-Gazette of Elmira, New York.

This is actually a two-fer. A very well-written article by someone who either knows what he is talking about, or someone who did his research properly - and it's about an old-school writer who doesn't get nearly enough credit.

One of my friends and I have long been fans of Bill Mantlo, and I found out from a Peter David "But I Digress" column that Mantlo had suffered the accident that Ford mentions in his article.

It's a shame that Mantlo appears to be in less than great shape. But kudos to Ford for writing such a glowing article for a guy that was the linchpin of Marvel in the 70s.

Anyone who was a Spider-Man fan should be grateful Mantlo was around. He certainly contributed some of the more interesting Spidey tales. This includes the first artwork by comic legend Frank Miller (Spectactular Spider-Man 27 and 28) and the great Carrion story arc that followed these issues.

And I will certainly echo Ford in telling you that you should seek out Mantlo comics - especially his Hulk, Rom, Micronauts, Cloak and Dagger (among my favorites by Mantlo), Jack of Hearts, Rocket Raccoon and White Tiger (I think this started in Marvel Team-Up).

I will also be on the lookout for the "Mantlo: A Life in Comics" book mentioned in the article. If I hadn't been fortunate enough to see this article, I would not have known of this.

Thanks Gavin Ford. And happy birthday, Bill Mantlo!

The Return of Captain America

Well, that didn't take long.

Cap is back. Even if it is just for an issue intended for the military and even if it's only by videotape. It's a good move for Marvel to do this.

It would be even better for Marvel to admit this wasn't the best of ideas to start with.

Considering that Marvel has already rebooted the Captain America comic four times, what's the harm in doing it again?

I am thinking that Marvel bringing Cap back is inevitable. The character is one of the oldest in comics, one of the most popular - and one of the most interesting, even if a lot of his writers didn't seem to know what to do with him.

I'd like to see Marvel just get it over with. You know they must be planning something big. Some silly "event" that will cross over into every Marvel title, go on for 144 parts and be written by Brian Michael Bendis, because Joe Quesada doesn't seem to know that Marvel has other writers.

Here's how I'd do it - cancel the current Cap title as soon as possible. Wait about three months, then relaunch the title.

Have Mark Waid write it (without the interference that was rumored to exist at the end of his excellent run) and someone other than John Romita Jr. drawing it. Nothing against JR Jr., but I'd rather see someone else given the shot.

Even though I've groused about cancelling and relaunching titles in past posts, I'd welcome this one. Marvel made a questionable decision here, and they need to set it right.

Comic fans deserve to have a Captain America comic book that is handled by a writer who understands what the character should mean. It should be patriotic and corny, as many of the great Cap tales have been. That's what the character is. That's what his strength is.

Bring back Cap! And do it right. His country needs him more than ever.

Likes & Dislikes - Peter David

There are a few writers out there whose work I will buy based solely on the fact that they are the writer. This is true of Alan Moore, James Robinson, Keith Giffen, Christopher Priest - and Peter David.

Peter David doesn't get the respect of the writers cited as the top ten writers by Wizard (this is an interesting thing in and of itself, as Wizard originally did not have a top ten writer list), but, in my opinion, he is miles ahead of most of the names on that list.

Think about this - he wrote some of the best Spider-Man stories (this includes Amazing, Spectacular, Web Of and Spider-Man 2099) in recent years. I am still bummed that he was never made the regular writer of Amazing Spider-Man. That would have been great. He also wrote, bar none, the best Hulk stories in recent memory. Same goes for Aquaman and Supergirl.

Add to this list his great runs on Captain Marvel (both runs), Fallen Angel, SpyBoy, Star Trek, Atlantis Chronicles, X-Factor, Justice, Soulsearchers and the many miniseries he's done, and it's hard to find a bad issue.

I must admit that I wasn't wild about Sachs & Violens or Young Justice, but I'd be willing to give both a second chance now.

The thing is, David gives his readers credit. I've seen some complaints that David is too self-referential, and maybe there's some truth to this, but really - you should have been reading his work all along.

And even if you haven't been reading Peter David's work all along, do yourself a favor and give it a try. His comics read like comics should - they're funny, clever, serious when they should be - and always thought provoking.

He can do the Bendis the-entire-issue-is-conversation thing, and he can do punch-'em ups. He is able to get to the core of the characters and present them to us in a way that they were not presented before.

I've read a lot of comics in my time - and Peter David has rarely, if ever disappointed me. If you give him an open-minded chance, I doubt he'd disappoint you.

He's currently doing She-Hulk. And I think that Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has been cancelled, but I would recommend that even though I only have about 5 or so issues. Peter David is that good that I'd recommend reading something of his that I have not even read yet.

And if its true that FNSM is cancelled, that would be just another example of the amazing shortsightedness that Marvel has shown toward the guy that is (and has been) their best writer of the past 20 years. Come to think of it, he's also one of DC's best writers of the past 20 years.

Even if Marvel, DC and Wizard won't admit it - see (read) for yourself. You might see comics in a new and better way if you do.

Stuck in the past

Hmmm - I thought this would be easier, but I sometimes struggle with what to post next. I thought I had plenty of 'insights' to put on this blog.

It's harder than I thought it would be. I think that, for me, the main problem is that there is so much about the current state of comics that I don't like. So I don't know where to begin. It starts with the convoluted, interrelated, "event" story arcs, moves on to the proliferation of X and Spider-Man books and the fact that current comic book prices are just ridiculous.

I mean, if you collect X-Men books, you could wind up shelling out 45 bucks a month just for that particular genre. And then you have to consider whether or not you want to pick up some of the 5 or so titles dedicated to Batman and Superman.

From what I can gather, it looks like Marvel and DC are always trying to shake things up. In the past, they would go through these one-upsmanship exercises with secondary characters.

Now they are taking on the big guns.

The latest casualty is Spider-Man, and the 'brilliant' idea was having him reveal his identity to the world. This is such a bad idea (in a growing string of bad ideas), that I don't even know how to properly express my disdain for the whole 'concept.'

Normally, I hate it when they renumber a title and start over...but in this case, I'd consider it a favor.

I'd like to see Amazing Spider-Man cancelled and then relaunched. They could call it Amazing Spider-Man 350, and they could cast aside all of the continuity that went after issue 350, and have the first issue of this new book pick up from where the book was as of that issue.

That would mean no Ben Reilly, no Maximum Clonage, no return of the Green Goblin, no Spider-Man in the Avengers (if Stan Lee didn't think it was a good idea, why not stick with that?), no Morlun, no Gwen Stacy's kids and no Spider-Man's identity known to the world.

Of course, that might deprive us of some good Amazing Spider-Man tales, but I'll be hard pressed to figure out what happened after issue 350 that any true Spider-Man fan would want to retain.

No - it's best for Marvel to pull a 'DC' - allow the stories to deteriorate over time, cancel the book and relaunch with a new number 1 issue.

Oh wait - Marvel does this too. It's just that they realized it was a horrible idea and restored most of the books to their original numbering. Remember when they had two numbers on the covers?

But that only goes so far - in a lot of cases, they forgot to give us stories worth reading.

The stories don't need to be 'grim and gritty' or 'realistic' - I'd just like to see them be...good.

Dark Knight Returns

Well, I see that there is a trailer out there for the forthcoming Dark Knight Returns movie. This is probably old news to most fans, but I don't keep up as well as I used to.

I was expecting a bit more, but I guess it's still early. I wonder how much of Frank Miller's original story will actually make it into the movie?

Heath Ledger as the Joker is an interesting choice. I like that better than Jack Nicholson - upon repeated viewings, that bit got tiresome pretty fast.

I also wonder if I'll see an influx of Batman articles in the papers concerning the transformation of the character from 60s camp to 70s grim and gritty? I also wonder if these articles will all also fail to mention that Frank Robbins did as much as Denny O'Neil to create that transformation? In fact, since Neal Adams did the art for both, maybe he is really the one we should thank.

And of course, about 75 percent of the articles will have something like "Bam! Pow! Wham!" in the headlines and article text, because - well, that never gets old, does it?

Then there's the chatter about the greatest Batman comics (see earlier post on this topic) ever, something which seems to happen around the time of any movie release, but moreso when it concerns Batman.

Oh well - bring it on. I look forward to what will be written by folks who only pay attention when there is a movie coming out.

I guess I should also actually get the DVD and watch Batman Begins, shouldn't I?

D3 & eBay: Selling comics

Ah, eBay...As a collector, it pained me to think of selling my comics. But now that I am doing it, I have found that it is not as bad as I thought it would be.

There are some benefits to it - I get a little bit of money from it, I gain some space (although my patient and tolerant wife might not even notice) and someone else gets to enjoy some great comics.

And an added bonus is that I get to look at the issues again as they are prepped to be listed. In some cases, they haven't been touched by me in years, so it's nice to see them again. I often find myself rereading them one last time before they are shipped to a lucky buyer.

At first, I was just selling doubles and/or issues I didn't want. But now I am selling some of the good Silver Age stuff. I've already sold off the bulk of my Spider-Man issues (Amazing 51-125 are gone now) and my Fantastic Four issues (51-100 are gone).

I have also sold off some rare issues that seemed like a good idea to sell at the time. I sold my Sin City issues, my 300 issues and Venom-related Spider-Man issues, all coinciding with whatever movie was in the theaters at the time.

If you are on the lookout for new comics - not necessarily chronologically new comics, but new comics to check out - I hope you'll visit my eBay page. I am always listing stuff (more Silver Age issues coming to my eBay page), and you never know what might appear there.

I'd also appreciate any feedback you might have. I'd like to sell more stuff, and I think an outside view and outside opinions would be welcome. And if you do visit, and you wind up buying something, please let me know. I might be in the mood to discount the shipping cost.... Even if you visit and decide to pass on purchasing, any comments you feel compelled to pass along would be appreciated.

I will try to avoid shilling the eBay page here and stick to commenting on comics in general.