Seriously...I take my comics seriously, and you should too. I truly feel sorry for the people who don't know what Adamantium is, how Spider-man really got the black suit, or what Green Lantern's (lame) weakness is. If you can't answer any of these, then we have a problem. You need to be edjumacated...
So then, my job here appears to be be to teach you what good comics to buy (preferrably from me - did I mention I'm a seller at the Comic Con?) and what crappy comics to avoid (ie: ones that are not sold by me). Once again, here are some juicy examples of the sweet, sweet comic crack that I can get for ya.
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Tales to Astonish # 93
I believe this is the first Hulk/Silver Surfer meeting in Marvel history. Certainly an excellent example of why I love comics. You take a monster with unlimited strength (the Hulk - who gets stronger as he gets madder) and make him fight a being (the Silver Surfer) with infinite Cosmic Power, make them butt heads and see what happens. The whole second half of the comic (Tales to Astonish was a double feature) is basically all action - Green on Silver ass-kicking - lots of slam bangin', 'FWOOM!' 'POW!' 'ZING!' 'F-TANG!' kind of stuff - straight out of 1967 (literally). The first half of the comic is a Sub-Mariner tale, and although he's cool, he's no Hulk or Silver Surfer....
Anyway, it's an excellent mid-60's comic from the Mighty Marvel. I'd like to think at least a few dudes back then were sitting in a fox hole in 'Nam reading this stuff....or at least a few freaked out hippies. Definitely a classic comic in my opinion.
Where Monsters Dwell # 6
If you look at my past blogs, you might notice that I have a thing for giant monsters. To me, nothing is cooler than some gargantuan beast dealing death and destruction upon heavily populated metropolitan areas. That probably says a lot about me as a person, be we won't worry about that for now. I think it was the cover of this comic that really grabbed me when I got it. Not only does it feature a gigantic tree-beast destroying the city, but he also has an awesome name - GROOT!! Plus the voice bubbles pretty much spell out the plot of this one. It's a great read if you like ridiculous monster stories like I do. This comic is actually a reprint of a tale originally told in Tales to Astonish # 13. (Weird how it all comes full circle, eh?) Originally published in 1960, Marvel thought it was a good idea to reprint it for the late 60's/early 70's crowd. I for one think it was a great idea, since I probably can't afford a good copy of the original. Groot is probably a rip-off of Treebeard the Ent from Lord of the Rings or the apple-throwing trees from the Wizard of Oz, but I like to think of him as a far more destructive living tree than has ever been seen before. Oh, and he's from Outer Space, so that's gotta count for something...
Fantastic Four # 73
Not the first time I've mentioned FF on this blog, and certainly not the last. I'd have to say that, next to the Siver Surfer appearances in this series, this issue has to be one of my favorites. Why, you ask? Well, DUH! Look at the cover! Daredevil, Spider-Man and The Mighty Thor! All fighting the Fantastic Four! What you see on the cover is exactly what you get, and that's what I love about Silver Age comics (60's comics, for the laymen). What I find most amusing about this issue is that it's all about one big misunderstanding - kind of like an old Three's Company episode - but all the good guys don't really figure it out until near the end; after they've all beat the crap out of each other and fully flexed their super-heroic muscles. There's no alien mind-controlling or doppleganger robots going on here - just a bunch of good guys trying to figure out who the other good guys are. As far as I know, this is probably the first Marvel Comics battle royale (to coin a wrestling phrase), far predating Marvel Superheroes Contest of Champions (1982) or Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars 1 & 2 (1984 & 1985 respectively).
BTW, in this appearance, Thor is supposed to have had his powers and most of his strength taken away. If this weren't the case, he would have totally annihilated the lot of them, IMO.
Alpha Flight # 1
This comic here is not really considered to be a "classic", per se, but it is one of my favorite comics - ever! Alpha Flight started out in the classic John Byrne era of Uncanny X-Men, first appearing in issue # 120. Eventually, they were given their own book and finally, I had a comic book series that I could collect and really get into. AF is Canada's answer to the Avengers - government sponsored super types. In a way, to me they are a lot more 'real' than the Avengers, in that they all have their own quirks and differences, and they're constantly fighting amongst themselves - kind of like all of the Canadian provinces. There's a pair of super-fast Quebecois, a living Innuit Spirit, a Fish-Lady from Newfoundland, a Dwarf from Toronto, a Sarcee Medicine Man from Alberta and a Bigfoot from B.C. I doubt the Avengers (or even the Defenders) were ever that multicultural. John Byrne's stories and artwork stand out to me as being among the best of the 80's. He worked on Alpha Flight from issues 1 to 28, and I love every one of them. After he quit work on it, the comic was pretty much all downhill. John Byrne had a way of making his characters seem very deep and very human - even in the face of the superhuman.
This particular comic is not worth a lot of money, but I got all caught up in the moment talking about comics, and I couldn't end this article without at least mentioning Canada's official Superhero Team. You should pick up a copy - I have several!
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You may notice that this time around I didn't mention the conditions of these comics. Rest assured that they aren't totally shredded and unreadable, but with the exception of Alpha Flight # 1, they aren't really Near Mint either.
I'm sure I'll be featuring a lot more awesome comics on this blog. Some of them will be for sale, and some will not. Some comics are just too awesome to ever think about parting with. I am, however, open to offers......
Until next time:
May the Force be with you...
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