Comic Book Coffee Break: Giant Sized Annual #3

 Well now it's officially a tradition.  For the third year in a row, Eric and I reunited to talk favorite comics of 2023. Listen to Giant Sized Annual #3 on youtube or in the feed for Previously on X-Men. Here are some of my picks: 

• Movies/TV/Games

• The Marvels

• The Flash

• Shazam Fury of the Gods

• Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur

• Marvel 

• Storm by Greg Pak

• Dark Web by Zeb Wells and Adam Kubert

• Amazing Spider-Man Beyond by Zeb Wells and Kelly Thompson

• Amazing X-Men: World War Wendigo by Craig Kyle and  Carlo Babiery

• DC

• Nightwing: Leaping Into the Night by Tom Taylor

• Superman: Son of Kal-El by Tom Taylor, Nicole Maines and Cian Tormey

• Infinite Frontier by Josh Williamson and Alitha Martinez

• Wonder Woman: The Four Horsewomen by Steve Orlando, Jesus Marino and Keiran McKowan

• Others

• TMNT: The Last Ronin by Kevin Eastman

• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Pink by Brendan Fletcher

• Star Trek Discovery: Adventures in the 32nd Century by Mike Johnson and Angel Hernandez

• Quarter Bin: Action Comics #444 from 1975: “The Black Canary is Dead” art and story by Mike Grell, written by Elliot S! Maggin

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You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.
The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 
You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast and This Endorian Life, both for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 
I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library. 

Comic Book Coffee Break #54

  Thanks for joining me on my Comic Book Coffee Break!  Today I'm having Jockey Streets Three Falls blend coffee with cream and Vanilla.

It's been a minute, but I eventually finished my New 52 Superman reread.

DC Comics

I don't even remember why now, but I decided to do a reread of the New 52 Superman.  My memories were that It started clunky, but by the time I reached Final Days of Superman I was completely invested. I went back to see if I could capture that magic again, and found I really couldn't. 

Wait though. 

I was going to have my wife read along, but was only going to give her the necessary and/or top tier volumes to read.  That proved harder than I'd expected.  I did enjoy the second half of the reread, but I kept waiting for the one that knocked it out of the park and it just never really came. Still, when I got to Final Days, I found it just as moving. That Truth to Final Days stretch is some of my favorite Superman of all time.  The issue is that it's not any one volume or story. And taken piecemeal, it doesn't really hold up. It's a package deal, and you've got to be in the right place for it or it doesn't land. So it didn't really work to isolate the best stories from the era. I think what I like is deeper than that. It gets the essence of Superman and his core goodness better than most. 

Starting with Truth his powers are in decline, but he can't stop being Superman.  Not because of outside pressure or expectations, he just can't stop.  It's who he is.  Powers are irrelevant.  So he just keeps going, even when it stops being practical or realistic. 

Then you move into a false sense of security when powers are restored, only to be undercut with the events leading in to Final Days.  Again, I don't think this should really work, but for me it did. The final issues are incredibly moving and I found myself mourning the New 52 version of the character.  Even with the reveal that the original is back on the job, you still have to accept that the fact that the character you've been following since the Grant Morrison relaunch is just dead. And that's forever. 

What's stark about that is typically, when a character dies in comics, it's rare that real feelings are attached because you know it isn't going to stick. This is different though, because, yes there will always be a Superman.  Just not this one.  

And I liked this one. 

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You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.
The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 
You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast and This Endorian Life, both for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 
I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library. 

Comic Book Coffee Break #52

 Thanks for joining me no my Comic Book Coffee Break!  Today I grabbed coffee at Dunkin' on my way in for an early meeting. Pretty solid coffee.

Let's talk comic books!

This week I was guest-hosting Previously on X-Men and the focus was on The First X-Men, a 2012 limited series from Neal Adams and Christos Gage.  Because of that you get an all Neal Adams issue.  Let's do it.

Marvel 

I'd already read The First X-Men a while back so I jumped back to Adams' early X-Men stuff as collected in X-Men Visionaries: Neal Adams.  This collects several issues from '69-'70 illustrated and plotted by Adams.  I always like the original team so it was fun to dive into this mess of a story and revisit the characters. The story dealt with Havok and then with the Sentinels, but I was primarily focusing on the art, which did live up to the hype.  It's bright, clever and delightfully chaotic. I can see why it got the "Visionaries" treatment. 

On to The First X-Men.  I guess I'd categorize this as... harmless?  It's fine.  It's a relatively entertaining story about Wolverine and Sabertooth setting up a proto X-Men team. It doesn't provide much in the way of new insights into the characters, but it does tell a very serviceable story.  We really picked it apart in the episode. 

DC Comics

I've read a lot of books with Neal Adams art, Green Lantern/Green Arrow and classic Batman comes to mind.  But I've only recently read some of the stuff we wrote as well. Let's talk The Coming of the Supermen. This feels to me like something that was written in the 80s, forgotten for a few decades, then dusted off and printed with no changes.  And I mean that as a compliment. It's kooky, it's weird, and I had a great time. 

Batman: Odyssey on the other hand, is every bit as bad as you've heard.  Despite the negative reviews, I went in to this slightly optimistic. After all, I'd enjoyed the Superman story, so I thought maybe. 

No. Everything about this is bad.

For starters, the plot is impossible to follow.  Not difficult, IMPOSSIBLE. The character designs are clunky and the overall look of the book is unappealing. I've read a lot of bad graphic novels, but this might actually be the worst mainstream graphic novel ever assembled.  I can't believe it went to print. 

There was one section with Robin and a dinosaur that I enjoyed, but it was brief. That's as close to a compliment as I can get. 

Here's the thing though, I do think you should read it, as least part of it anyway. It's worse than you think.

Next Time

I'm finishing up Superman Savage Dawn, then that's only leaves Final Days.  See you then.

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You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.
The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 
You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast and This Endorian Life, both for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 
I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library. 

Comic Book Coffee Break #51

 Thanks for joining me on my Comic Book Coffee Break!  This morning I had Yuban Coffee with cream and Irish Creme syrup.  Good stuff.

DC Comics

My copy of the DC Pride anthology came in just in time.  I'm loving these DC anthologies. Standouts for me were the Green Lantern/Alan Scott story and Flash vs. Reflek. It was also cool to see Dreamer make her way to comics. I'd love to see more from that character.

Continuing with New 52 Superman, I read Batman/Superman: Truth Hurts. Look, I am loving this whole arc. I don't care much about Jim Gordon Batman, but it worked well in this collection.  Plus Superman teams up with Batgirl, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd as if it were a gift just for me.

Marvel

I got back on track with Cap and Falcon, reading Marvel Masterworks: Captain America V. 10.  This set of issues from 1976 sees Jack Kirby return, this time as both artist and author.  I love and will continue to love Kirby, but his complete disregard for the story that came before is pretty bold. He did the same thing with Black Panther. I loved seeing the Kirby style return, but I was digging the contemporary 70s stories that came before and this felt like an unnecessary disruption. (More on Kirby in a minute)

Other Stuff

We were working on a "Tales & Tails" Summer Reading Program over at the library so I picked up some of Erin Hunter's Warriors series.  I read the first novel Into the Void, then picked up a three-volume manga series called Graystripe's Adventures. The book was a little too serious for my taste, but I had a pretty good time with the manga. Basically a wild cat and a house cat (or "kittypet" as they are called) opt to hit the streets and returns to the Warriors home in the forest.  The story is pretty straightforward they have highs and lows, they save a group of barn cats and then continue on in their quest. It's written by regular comic book writer Dan Jolley, and he does a nice job of adapting the series. I probably wouldn't read more, but this was a fun little excursion nonetheless. 

Finally, back to Kirby. I read The Simon & Kirby Library: Crime.  This is made up of mostly true-crime stories from the 1940s.  They were a little do similar to read back to back like this, so I'm sure that colored the experience.  My main complaint is similar to one I had with the Science Fiction volume. There just isn't enough editorial content.  You're given an into and then you're off.  I would have liked it if the issues had more commentary or were broken up into sections.  As is it just felt like a content dump and it wasn't a particularly enjoyable read.  Still, as a fan of early comics history, I'm glad to have read it. (My copy has a bookplate signed by Joe Simon, so that made it extra cool.)

Next Time...

I'm in the home stretch with New 52 Superman so I will check back in when I finish that. 

Oh, also, I guest hosted an episode of 90s Music Got Me Like.  You can find it here or wherever you get your podcasts. 

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You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.
The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 
You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast and This Endorian Life, both for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 
I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library. 

Comic Book Coffee Break #49

Thanks for joining me on my Comic Book Coffee Break. Home again and back to the Folgers Noir.  It doesn't solve gritty mysteries, but it is a dark roast. 

Let's talk Comic Books!

This was the last week of Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month so I read The
Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen.  Ultimately this is about a son trying to come out to his mother.  It interweaves their lives with the folktales they share to come to a point of openness.  It looks great and serves it's purpose well. I would read more by this author.

Marvel Comics

While on vacation last week I stopped at Chautauqua Comics and picked up a random Cap comic called Captain America & the Korvac Saga by Ben McCool and Craig Rousseau.  I wasn't really familiar with the original story that this is inspired by and I found this 2011 version to be a little dull. Basically Cap and Guardians of the Galaxy go into the future to fight (?) Korvac.  I grabbed this because it looked self-contained and I loved the smaller size.  It worked fine to sit in an Airbnb and read, but left next to no impact.

DC Comics

Back to my Superman New 52 reread. I picked up Superman V.6: Men of Tomorrow by Geoff Johns and John Romita, Jr. This was a lot of fun to revisit. I think Johns' sensibilities and Romita Jr.'s style came together well to make the first truly good Superman story of the New 52 era. I've enjoyed a few stories here and there, but this might be the fist of this run that I'd recommend to someone. It looks cool and the story actually manages to feel unique. We'll done fellas.

Other

I picked up One Trick Pony by Nathan Hale.  It's a YA graphic that's an homage to the Pied Piper.  We are doing a Fairytale Adaptations theme over on Howe's Things, so I grabbed a few to read.  This was quick and distinct.  I really liked the limited use of the colors and the overall design. Check it out!

Finally, I read Kirby: King of Comics by Mark Evanier. This is a biography of Jack Kirby, interlaced with art, comic excerpts and even full stories. I really loved it.  I knew the broad strokes of the story, but I found this to be immensely readable and very informative. This was a gift from my old co-host Eric Mikols.  Thanks Buddy!

Next Time...

I'm still chugging away at my Simon/Kirby Crime collection, plus more Superman, more Fairytale adaptations and some retro Captain America. 

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You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.

The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 

You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast and This Endorian Life, both for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 

I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library.

Comic Book Coffee Break #47

 Thanks for joining me on my Comic Book Coffee Break. We left the house in a hurry this morning, but I managed some Folgers Noir with cream and a Vanilla syrup.  It served me well.

Let's talk Comic Books!

I'm reading and writing in the midst of Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month so I thought I'd spotlight Agent Jimmy Woo and Ryan Choi as the Atom. 

Marvel Comics

Let's start with Agent Woo, while I may have bumped up against him sometime in my reading, it was Ant-Man & the Wasp and WandaVision, that really made me take notice. Last week I read Agents of Atlas featuring an elderly Jimmy Woo rebooted as his 50s self but in the modern day.  This week I read the digital exclusive Wolverine & the Agents of Atlas by Jeff Parker & Benton Jew.  This was fun because you get to see Jimmy in his day mixing it up with a very confused Wolverine. I think the period setting worked a lot better on the Agents of Atlas vibe. This is a relatively brief 3 issues and I would have loved more. I'll likely pick up more Agents of Atlas, but I much preferred the retro feel of this.

DC Comics

Over in the world of DC, I picked up the first volume of Gail Simone's All-New Atom: My Life in Miniature. My library has this whole run and I'd been meaning to read it for years and finally picked it up. I'd read Ryan Choi in some of the Rebirth stuff and had seen him in the CW Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, but this was the first time I read something specifically devoted to him.  I'm a Gail Simone fan, primarily from Birds of Prey, so was excited to pick this up. It starts well enough, but then gets real weird, real fast. At one point a giant, naked women traps Ryan in a little ball then swallows him.  All this happened at a drive-in theater. I kept expecting these weird swings to pay off but they just didn't. It seemed weird for weird's sake and I don't think it worked. I don't blame Ryan Choi though. 

I've got a few more randos to finish out the week. Back to...

Marvel Comics

I read Deadpool: The Circle Chase by co-creator Fabian Nicieza.  (I actually started with the first appearance of Deadpool & Domino in New Mutants #98.)  This is Deadpool's first run at being a solo character.  It's worth reading for that, but I don't have much more to say.  He has some funny moments, but the characterization still has a ways to go, and honestly he hardly feels like the main character here. I haven't read a ton of Deadpool up this this point, so I don't know how it compares, but I have to assume it gets better. 

DC Comics

Finally, I got back to my New 52 Superman reread with Superman V5: Under Fire by Scott Lobdell and Ken Lashely.  The collection as assembled by DC is real mess with the tail end of Krypton Returns and a little of Doomed messing with the flow.  However, the Parasite story shoved in the middle is pretty decent.  Nothing ground breaking here, but I did enjoy the standalone sections more than I remembered. 

Next Time...

My copy of DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Super Hero Celebration arrived in the mail so I can't wait to dig in to that. See you then.

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You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.

The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 

You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 

I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library.

Comic Book Coffee Break #44

Thanks for joining me on my Comic Book Coffee Break. Today I'm drinking Folgers' Coffeehouse Blend with Irish Creme syrup and a little creamer.  The best part of waking up...

Anyway, let's talk comic books. 

Archie Comics

Curveball! My hold on Archie V.3: Archie and Katy Keene came in at the library so I popped it to the top of the stack.  The series has been a little on the decline since the glory days of the Mark Waid relaunch, but I enjoyed the last volume (Archie & Sabrina) quite a bit. With this volume they pulled the old bait and switch. I might have been more open to this had it just been marketed as what it is, a Katy Keene mini series. Releasing it as Archie v.3 sets up different expectations that were not well met. (Though realistically I wouldn't have picked up a Katy Keene mini series so I guess touché.) Anyway, boring. I wanted more of Archie & Sabrina.

DC Comics

I made good on my Superman promises.  First, I finished Superman in the Seventies by Elliot S! Maggin, et al. What a nostalgic romp this was. Brought me back to the glory days of my childhood comic shop, a teal, windowless building filled with quarter bins. These were the kinds of issues I would dig for. Just beyond the extreme goofiness of the 60s Superman and before the Byrne "this is effing serious" relaunch in the 80s.  We got some Jack Kirby, the infamous Lois Lane vs. race issue and just a ton of goofy fun.  I'd read Superman in the Fifties forever ago and now I might just have to read all of the decade collections.  Good times.

On to New 52, where I was on Superman: Doomed.  I liked it the first time and I liked it now. A lot goes down in this book. Superman is bit by the Doomsday bug, there's a Braniac angle, Superman/Wonder Woman romance, Red Lantern Supergirl, and on and on.  It's impressive that this collection never loses the thread. It also does something that the DCEU never does.  It makes a case for Superman's goodness and sets him up to be this necessary figure in the world, something the characters seem to realize while stuff is going down.  I really liked it. This is where the New 52 Superman really starts to hit the mark. I'm looking forward to what's next.

Marvel

Quirky X-Men title?  Check. This week it was X-Men Ronin by J. Torres and Makoto Nakatsuka. This was a real win for me. I love when they set out to do a take on characters and actually succeed.  This wasn't a case where they changed the costume designs and called it good.  Conversely it wasn't just X-Men in name only. This was an honest to goodness reimaging of the characters in a very successful way. The redesigns are good and there's a ton of good character work, particularly with Jean (!) and Storm. Yes, the art gets a little fan servicey at times, but the overall story and tone are what really sell it here. I loved it.

Next time on Comic Book Coffee Break: 

Well, I do want to finish Secret Avengers as I'd planned, plus a little Black Panther to round out the Marvel side. I'll continue New 52 Superman and try to pick up where I left off in the Rebirth era. I think I'm on Nightwing which would be great!  See you then.

______________________

You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.

The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 

You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 

I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library.

Comic Book Coffee Break #43

 Thanks for joining me on my Comic Book Coffee Break.  Today, I'm drinking Charcoal Corral coffee with 2 creams and 4 sugars.  Not a great start.

Let's talk comic books.

This week didn't go exactly as planned comics-wise, but I did check a couple off my list. 

DC Comics

This week in DC I dug in to the Milestone Comics archive to read the first volume of Icon by Dwayne McDuffie and art by M.D. Bright/Mark Gustovich.  The basic premise is cool. What if is Superman-type landed in the south at the height of slavery. The problem is that that is not really explored in these first 8 issues.  The story follows Icon and his teenage sidekick Rocket, but it really feels like Rocket's story. While she is an interesting character with plenty of story to mine, I felt a little cheated of Icon's development. Hopefully this is explored further down the road.

As for Superman, I paused my New 52 reread to check out Superman in the Seventies.  I collected a lot of these from my comic stores quarter bin when I was a kid, but this era is largely uncollected and is only sporadically included on the app.  I'm still reading this one, so I'll save a full review for #44, but it starts with a story by Elliot S! Maggin that spoofs Captain Marvel. In the story Captain Thunder appears from another world and it's up to Superman to figure it out. I hadn't read this one before, but Elliot recounted the writing of this particular issue when Eric and I interviewed him for the All the Books Show. It was fun reading the story with that context in mind. 

Marvel Comics

For Marvel, I got back on track with the readthrough and picked up Uncanny Avengers V.1: The Red Shadow by Rick Remender and John Cassady.  I find that creative team a little hit and miss, but this one really worked for me.  Basically, Havok leads a team of Avengers and X-Men in the wake of the whole rumble between those two teams, and Red Skull gets psychic powers to menace them. It helps that I've been reading classic Cap/Red Skull stories, because this captured that retro, hot-mess energy well.  The plot is a little kooky, but in a 70s vibe, and I dig it. 

Finally for my weird X-Men pick of the week I resumed Exiles with V.2: A World Apart. While I found the first volume to be funny and off-beat. This one was more annoying and a little trashy. There's a whole issue where one of the characters goes lingerie shopping. Pass. Also, this version of Morph is just Deadpool lite.


Finally, and this is more an honorable mention, I read the junior novel Star-Lord: Knowhere to Run by Chris Wyatt. This was just right for a book club with my son. It's action-packed and the format and colors make for a very dynamic read. Plus, the characters felt right. Good times. (We interviewed Steve Engelhart, the creator of Star-Lord over on the All the Books Show.)

Next Time

I'll likely finish Remender's run on Secret Avengers and maybe take a look at X-Men Ronin. For DC, I will polish off Superman in the Seventies and for my New 52 reread, it's Superman: Doomed. 

As always, open to recommendations so let me know.

______________________

You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.

The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 

You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 

I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library.

Comic Book Coffee Break #42

Thanks for joining me on my Comic Book Coffee Break.  Today, I'm drinking an XL tea from Tim Horton's (4 sugars).

Let's talk comic books.

DC Comics

Starting in DC Comics this week, I got back on track with my reading of the post-Rebirth world.  I was on Teen Titans V.3: The Return of Kid Flash by Benjamin Percy and Khoi Pham. For the most part this is a pretty solid Teen Titans story. I like Robin having his weird hairy monster bat. It's a nice bit a continuity with that short-lived Robin series from awhile back. I guess the problem here is Kid Flash. And it's not his fault. Ever since Rebirth kicked off we've been dragging along this storyline with a new Kid Flash bumping up against the OG Kid Flash from the Pre-Rebirth days and it's just tired. If that's truly over and done with then I'm looking forward to the next volume.  I wasn't really down for a Damian fronted Teen Titans, but this book has surprised me. 

In my New 52 Superman reread I came to Action Comics v.5: What Lies Beneath by Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder.  This was the first title in my reread where I changed my star rating. It actually went up.  I think by this point in my initial read I was just so over weird, edgy Superman stories that I had no patience left. This time, however, I was kinda in. It's primarily a Superman/Lana story.  Superman finds a little monster changeling who's probably a prince who lives in an underground city and Lana is a Lara Croft type... I should stop. I'm talking myself out of that star upgrade. The point is. It was kooky, but this time I found it fun.

Marvel

Over in Marvel, I continued my streak of X-Men side quests by reading Robert Kirkman's 5 issue Jubilee series. This came out in 2004 and I remember buying this in single issues for my girlfriend.  (We got married shortly after, so I'd say it worked!) She was (and is) the bigger X-Men fan out of the two of us. I absolutely love Kirkman's Invincible series, and didn't realize it was him until I started reading. Overall, I would mark this as okay.  I like the idea of spinning off Jubilee, but this rarely feels like her throughout the run. Little action, hardly any use of her powers. It's so far removed from the X world, that when Wolverine ultimately (and inevitably) shows up, it's actually a little jarring. If there were more I probably would have read it, but this ends nearly before it starts.  Extra points for the BTTF Easter Egg with "Twin Pines Mall" and the nod to Jack Kirby with the Kirby Puffs cereal.

Archie Comics

A few weeks back I did an interview with Jamie Lee Rotante over on Howe's Things.  We talked mostly about her Betty & Veronica books, but also briefly discussed Archie Comic's super hero line. I've read The Shield from The Golden Age and found it to be pretty on par with its Marvel counterparts. For this week a read a more modern take. New Crusaders: Rise of the Heroes sees the Shield as the last remaining member of the old guard, prepping the way for a new batch of heroes.  While I did enjoy the book, I felt like it spent a little too much time on setup.  Because of that, the action felt forced and rushed.  I also was a little surprised by the violence mixed with Archie-style illustrations (though really Invincible) should have prepared me for that.  Even with the short comings, it did make me interested in the world.  I would read more.

For next week, I'm planning to get back to my Marvel readthrough, picking up Uncanny Avengers.  At this point, I figure I might as well lean in to weird X-Men so I'm going to pick up where I left off with Exiles. For DC, I'll be on to the next New 52 Superman and maybe even some Nightwing. See you then.

______________________

You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.

The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 

You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 

I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library.

Comic Book Coffee Break #41

 Thanks or joining me on my Comic Book Coffee Break. Today I'm having Folger's Coffeehouse Blend with Irish Cream syrup.  Pretty good start.

Let's talk comic books. 

Marvel

This week I interviewed Alex Irvine for an upcoming episode of Howe's Things. I also sat in on the interview he was doing for Previously on X-Men, so I got to talk some Marvel with him as well. I really had a great time chatting with him, but I can't say the same thing for reading Iron Man: Rapture. It's a standalone, What-If kind of story and it just falls flat. However, I highly recommend his Daredevil: Noir.

Next, I picked up Generation X: Classic, V.1.  I'm inadvertently on a Scott Lobdell kick I guess. I read the Generation X novel he wrote with Elliot S! Maggin and was intrigued by the team so I decided to go to the source. The vibe is weird, but I really like the Banshee throws Emma Frost off of her game.  It works well to have this second branch of the Xavier school, and I like the showcase it gives to Jubilee.  I'm not sure that I will read it through to the end, but I do prefer it to Mutant X and New Mutants. I've read a lot of  X-Men offshoots lately, which reminds me that I need to get back to Exiles.

DC Comics

My New 52 Superman continues with Action Comics V.4, Hybrid; Superman V.4, Psi-War; Superboy V. 4, Blood & Steel, and Krypton Returns.  This is not a good bunch of comics. I remember at the time I was really excited about Andy Diggle taking over Action Comics.  I'd heard him speak of Superman in interviews and he seemed to get the thing that made Superman special.  Sadly, his tenure was only a few issues long.  And while it showed promise it was really about transitioning from the Grant Morrison era and didn't really have a chance to be it's own thing.  The rest of Hybrid and Psi-War make up this convoluted and ugly Hector Hammond story that is best forgotten. Weirdly, I kinda liked the Superboy volume.  That story got a little more grounded after the H'El on Earth storyline, only to be disrupted again and the messy retread that was Krypton Returns.  I was really hoping this reread would lead to me finding a new appreciation for this era, but so far my pereceptions haven't shifted even a little. 

Next, I got my hands on the Catwoman 80th Anniversary Special.  Unfortunately that's a bit of a misnomer because there wasn't much of anything special about it.  It was utterly forgettable to the point that I genuinely can't remember enough to even write about it... 

Justice League V. 7: Justice Lost.  Why do I do this to myself?  The Rebirth run of Justice League makes New 52 Superman look like an unrivaled masterpiece. 

Firestorm: The Nuclear Men: The Firestorm Protocols. Yeesh. Poor Jason Rusch can't catch a break (or a decent storyline). Really though, haven't we all thought at one time or another, "Yeah, Firestorm is cool, but what if there were 45 of them."

Mercifully, that was it for DC this week. Hard to pick a winner but I guess I'll go with Catwoman since that was harmless.

For next week, I'm at Action Comics v.5 in the great Superman reread.  Also, I feel like I'm on a hot streak with X-Men offshoots, so I might pick up the Jubilee standalone series. I'm open to suggestions as well. 

______________________

You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.

The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 

You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 

I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library.

Comic Book Coffee Break #40

 For 37 weeks I co-hosted Comic Book Coffee Break with Eric Mikols for the Radio Meanwhile Network.

You can find the early video episodes here and the 37th and final episode here.  While that version of the show came to a restful end, I'm still reading comic books.  So welcome to Comic Book Coffee Break: The Text Adventure. 

Still not a fan of Tim Horton's coffee so whenever I find myself at one,  I go for tea. XL, 4 sugars.

Let's talk comic books. 

DC Comics

I've finally reached the first stage of  my New 52 Superman re-read where I can say I enjoyed it. I read the major crossover event, H'El on Earth.  This includes issues from the mainline Superman title, plus Superboy and Supergirl.  (If you are reading this in grade avoid the collections of the individual titles and go for the bulkly H'El on Earth collection.)  The art here is great and that goes a long way.  Plus, I like Scott Lobdell's take on Superman as well. (By coincidence, last week I was discussion Lobdell's Generation X novel.)  This story isn't particularly groundbreaking (rogue Kryptonian shows up and havoc ensues), but it is a lot of fun. A It's a good showcase for the tenuous relationship among Super Man/Boy/Girl.  It's exciting and splashy and does manage to feel like an event.  There are downsides though. For starters it seems to come out of nowhere and resolve almost as quickly. (It does end on a cliffhanger in the epilogue, and if that's resolved it has been completely wiped from my memory.) Also, Supergirl's role in this is to fall for H'El and go along with his scheme. While, that does make some sense considering the fragile place she's at in the Supergirl title, it does feel dated and sexist. Especially considering Superboy's role as a sort of faux Kryptonian would play right into H'El's whole thing as a faux member of the El clan. I would have much preferred that Superboy be the pawn, giving Clark and Kara an opportunity to team up. That's a missed opportunity. Still, this has been the brightest spot of New 52 Superman so far. Onward to vols 4 of both the mainline title and Action Comics.

Next, I read the Green Lantern 80th Anniversary special. I'm a sucker for these, though I have to admit this was not nearly as good as the one they put out for Robin last year.  For starters, Alan Scott, who is actually the character celebrating 80 years, gets very little to do.  He has the lead story, but we only see him in costume for one panel. The rest of the stories are relatively forgettable, though I did love the Denny O'Neill/Mike Grell Green Lantern/Green Arrow story.  It felt and looked just right. I also really enjoyed the various splash pages and covers from artists across Lantern history.  I have the Catwoman 80th to read for next time.

Marvel Comics

Over in the world of Marvel I picked Marvel Masterworks: Captain America & Falcon vol. 9. Reading this story in rapid succession was not beneficial. In these pages we see Cap drop the mantle to start a new superhero career as Nomad.  I actually kinda liked that, but it felt like it went by in a flash.  Then Sam Wilson is giving a pretty awful retcon thanks in part of the Red Skull.  I don't really understand the point of giving him a criminal past and I wasn't a fan. As the Steve Engelhart run ends there's a bit of a vacuum where other creative teams spin some wheels. Overall, there was a lot I enjoyed, but the collection as a whole feels a little disjointed.  I'm soon running out of track with the Masterworks series and will have to switch to single issues.

In the world of prose fiction I read Alex Irvine's adaptation of X-Men: Days of Future Past. Last week, I'd read the comic for the first time and found it a little lacking.  This extended novel format gave a lot of insight and was particularly good at fleshing out both version of Kitty Pride.  That gave the story a little more bite.  I recommend it.

IDW Comics

This week I read a recent Star Trek comic, Picard: Countdown by Mike Johnson and Kirsten Beyer.  Back when they were announcing these book and comics leading up to the series, we debated on The All the Books Show whether or not I should read them in advance. I opted not to, but in hindsight, wish I had.  This is good setup for the series, focusing on Picard's Romulan staff from the series. You could read it as a standalone, but it does lead right into the series and probably works best that way. 

For Next Week

I didn't get to Alex Irvine's Iron Man: Rapture as I'd hoped so I plan for that as well as his graphic novel adaptation of James Patterson's The Murder of King Tut.  I'm interviewing the author for Howe's Things this coming week.  I also intend to get in to that Catwoman 80th as well as some more New 52 Superman and maybe some Black Lightning.  I'm open to suggest, so let me know if I'm not reading something I should be.

______________________

You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.

The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 

You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 

I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library.

Quarter Bin: Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane #45 "The Superman-Lois Hit Record"

I've been collecting comics for as long as I can remember. I would always focus on the Quarter Bins down below the regular racks. More bang for my buck. When we were doing video episodes of Comic Book Coffee Break, I used to do a segment where I pulled a book from my old long boxes and revisited it with no context. I called it the Quarter Bin.

I was always drawn to the weirder books in my comic book searches, and some that regularly caught my attention were the vintage Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane titles. As a kid I always enjoyed watching Clark have to be creative to do super things with Lois and Jimmy around. It felt like a secret that Superman and I were in on together. Lois and Jimmy didn't realize that Superman was under their noses, but we knew it. And I liked that. So, I've chosen one of those today in honor of Superman & Lois on the CW.

Let's talk comic books.

Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane #45 from November 1963

"The Superman-Lois Hit Record!"

No author or artist credited

• Lois and Clark are at a hillbilly-themed party.  Delightful.
• As the music stops, a new radio show comes on.  It's an I Love Lucy-esque spoof of Superman and Lois.
• Radio-Lois is hapless and desperate to marry Superman.  
• Real Lois is not thrilled though pretends to be because she doesn't want to make a scene.
• She learns that it's produced by "comedian" Don Weeder and heads off to give him a piece of her mind.
• At the radio station, Weeder assumes Lois is there to praise the show.
  
• He's already gotten high compliments from many, including some world leaders.
• "Much appreciated your good-natured spoof" -JFK 
• (This is particularly noteworthy because this issue would have hit the stands just before the tragic assassination of President Kennedy in November of 1963.)
• Lois relents and figures if it's making so many people happy maybe she's overreacting. 
• Hello sexism!
• Lois tries to ignore it and move on, but she's heckled everywhere she goes.
• This is even affecting her professionally.
• She is given 100 copies of the album as her prize for winning "Newsgal of the Year."
• She declines (and that award name is cringy).
• She decides to pop in ear plugs so she can go about her day without heckling but then doesn't hear a motorcycle zooming up on her.
• Luckily Superman spots her and saves the day.
• He repeats a line from the show: "You're more trouble for me than Luthor and Braniac rolled into one."
• Lois is furious and calls him out for it.
• He feels bad and apologizes, but she's not interested.
• 
  Meanwhile, at the Daily Planet, Perry White assigns Lois and Clark to cover the recording of the sequel album.
• It's all about how terrible life would be if Superman married Lois. Great.
  
• Lois is pissed and leaves the recording studio.
• Clark does a quick change and follows as Superman.
• They have a blowup where Lois really lets him have it for going along with this.
• Next, Perry sends Lois to cover a taping of the Steve Allen Show.
• She's delighted to do something other than talk about this dumb record.
• When she arrives, though, she learns that Clark Kent is guest-hosting, because that is definitely a thing that would happen and does in fact make sense.
• 
  During the show, Clark is a buffoon and takes the brunt of all the jokes, then decides to play the new record.
• Lois is furious, but when the record starts, their real-life fight from the street is edited into the episode.
• It plays out with Lois getting the upper hand and Superman sounding sheepish.
• In the wrap-up, we learn that Clark secretly recorded their conversation then maneuvered it so that he could guest-host the show.
• Lois feels vindicated and forgives Superman.
• Also, the actors playing Superman & Lois on the record announce that they are getting married.  
• The End.

This was the lead story and the one featured on the cover. There are two more "adventures" included, "The Girl with the Golden Arm" and "Dear Dr. Cupid." There's also a backup comic strip, a 5-panel entry of "Peg." 

Needles to say, this story does not hold up. I don't think any of the Lois stories from the 50s or early 60s would. She gets a little more agency later in the run, and I remember those stories being much better. 

I do really love the Superman art from this era, so the book still looks good. I also appreciate how Lois eventually stands up for herself and doesn't have to back down in order for the story to resolve. This issues strikes me as very meta because this series is almost exclusively about Lois scheming to marry Superman and ending up just getting in his way. Is the issue making fun of itself? I don't think so. I don't think they were that aware, and that's just weird. 

Then I wondered for a moment if it was a commentary on 1960s sexism. I mean it's all pretty blatant. Lois has to hide her feelings in order to avoid a scene, even though they are justified and she is in fact being horribly mistreated. Then she has to wear ear plugs to drown out the unjust criticisms of literally everyone both personally and professionally. But no. It wasn't a take on sexism; it just was sexism. 

Back to the Quarter Bin for you, old chum.

______________________

You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.

The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 

You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 

I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library.

Comic Book Coffee Break #39

No coffee today. We swung into Tim Horton's and I don't love their coffee so I got tea, which I do like. XL, 4 sugars.

Let's talk comic books. 

DC Comics

So in the last issue I said I was planning to re-read the Superman Truth arc from the New 52. As I was looking for the right place to start I decided to just do a whole reread of New 52 Superman.  This era of Superman has a pretty notorious rep and I hadn't read it since it dropped the first time and I really couldn't remember. I started with Grant Morrison's Action Comics Omnibus. This comprises the first 18 issues plus an annual and a #0.  The art is primarily by Rags Morales. Right away were are off to a weird start.  As I recall the lead up to the New 52 was a streamlined, back to basics kind of take on DC Comics. If that's really the goal, who in the world thought Grant Morrison was the one? I do have to admit the first 5 or so issues where we have t-shirt Superman doing some street level stuff, I was a pretty in. But then that vanishes and we go on the typical trippy, Quaalude-fueled ride that is a Grant Morrison story.  And there's no transition.  It's just suddenly aliens and demons and time travel and Mxyzptlk. I don't get it. 

Then there's the art. I guess that's a place where I would have gone with a classic, shiny, spit-curled kind of vibe.  Instead it feels very loose and inconsistent. Superman is unrecognizable from panel to panel.  It's weird and I found it to be very unpleasant. What's more, nothing from this run made any lasting impact on the character.

Over on the mainline title we have two volumes, Superman: What Price Tomorrow? and Secrets and Lies. While the art feels better and the clear shake up in status quo with Lois, Clark and Jimmy is there, nothing feels fresh about it. Again, if you are going for a shiny, modern take why dust off old guard writers like George Perez and Dan Jurgens. I don't say that to throw shade, it's just an odd choice, one that doesn't pay off.  Neither lasts long and I think that's for the best. My estimation of these volumes hasn't changed with this reread.  They are utterly skippable and ultimately inconsequential, but the art in Secrets and Lies is pretty great.

Next comes the big H'El on Earth storyline which features crossover issues from the Superboy (just awful) and Supergirl (my favorite of the New 52) series.

Marvel Comics

Over in Marvel, I finally sat down and read the two issues that make up X-Men: Days of Future Past.  I feel like this is one of those rare situations where the later adaptations really make the story. I found these two issues to be relatively brief and not particularly exciting. I am, of course, familiar with the animated adaption from the 90s and the later Fox film (Rogue Cut, all the way), but for whatever reason I had never read this. I'm a sucker for time travel and those adaptations were some of my favorites from their respective series. 

Next, I read Daredevil: Noir by Alex Irvine in preparation for my upcoming interview. My first experience with the Noir line came a few years ago when I was prepping to interview author Fred van Lente. He had written X-Men: Noir and while I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with Fred, I can't say the same for X-Men Noir.  More recently I read Luke Cage: Noir and that was a real standout. I think Cage just works in that setting and the same is true for Daredevil. 

It makes sense that this would be a good spotlight for the character. Saying Daredevil: Noir is practically redundant. I haven't read a ton of Daredevil comics, but I recognized the changes from the source and found it worked really well in this standalone story.

This is cheating because it isn't a comic, but I read the prose novel Generation X. What a weird one this was. I loved the old X-Men prose novels and typically enjoy the writing of Elliot S! Maggin and Scott Lobdell.  This was a little wacky though. They did a good job of establishing this team as connected, but separate from the X-Men proper. It didn't have that feel of X-Men without the X-Men as these types of things so often do. It also made me want to read the Generation X comics, so that's a win all around. 

 (Fun fact: I interviewed author Elliot S! Maggin over on the All the Books Show.)

Everything Else

Finally, I read The Comic Book Story of Baseball, also by Alex Irvine. I likely wouldn't have picked this up had it not been for my upcoming interview with the author, but I'm glad I did. It was an incredibly thorough history, but still managed to be fun and engaging. I learned a lot and it made me want to pick up some more Baseball books.  We'll see.

For next time, I'm planning to pick up Alex Irvine's Iron Man run, continue my New 52 Superman re-read and maybe pick up an X-Men book. I'm in the mood.

P.S. Another feature of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break was the Quarter Bin segment.  Each week I would drag a random issue out of my childhood longbox and revisit. Look for that dropping on Wednesday. 

______________________

You can find back issues of the video version of Comic Book Coffee Break here.

The audio version of Comic Book Coffee Break is over there. 

You can find me as the co-host of 9021 Here We G0: A 90210 Rewatch Podcast for the Radio Meanwhile Network. 

I also host Howe's Things, the podcast and radio show of the David A. Howe Public Library.

Book Review: Action Comics V.1: Invisible Mafia

Superman: Action Comics V.1: Invisible Mafia
Brian Michael Bendis
*****

Props to my pals at Netgalley for the early access.

I was excited about the prospect of Bendis taking on Superman but have been on the fence with the previous two volume. (Man of Steel left me underwhelmed but I thought Phantom Earth was a little closer.) I'm happy to report that this one found the sweet spot.

With Lois and Jon still gallivanting around the cosmos with angsty Jor-El, Clark is getting down to business and settling back in to his life.  Things go off the rails when a rash of crimes are blamed on Superman and a mysterious cloud lady gets in to some shenanigans.

As Dean Cain can attest, I love Superman stories though focus on Clark's everyday life and struggling to find a balance with the power he has.  Clark certainly took center stage in this volume and I thought Bendis did a great job of making the Daily Planet and crew feel like an actual newspaper. Superman is there plenty, but he's not moving planets or fighting some crazy powerful monster menace.  To me, this is the right mojo.

I also appreciate sidelining Jon and Lois.  Don't get me wrong, I'm a Lois fan tried and true. And I think Jon was a good addition.  That doesn't mean I want to read about everyone's favorite nuclear family, the Supers all the time. This is a clever way to recapture some of that old school feeling without just erasing those relationships.  Hats off to Bendis for the subtle dig at Spider-man's infamous One More Day nonsense that did just that.

I hate to rate Superman comics low because he's my pal, so I am pleased to report that this gets tops marks.

To hear more about some of my old-school favorite Superman stories tune in to this special episode of the All the Books Show.

Book Review: Superman: The Unity Saga: Phantom Earth

Superman Vol.1: The Unity Saga - Phantom Earth
***
Thanks to my pals at NetGalley for the review copy.

I go off on little tangents where I prefer certain characters for a while.  I might devour a Flash run (hello Rebirth) or sit in a circle of trades reading a Green Lantern run in chronological order (looking at you Blackest Night), but Superman transcends these whims. I'm always in the mood for Superman.
I have to admit that it is exciting to see the OG Superman back in the trunks going on an adventure.  It took me a while to get into the Rebirth era, but by the Truth run I was all in. Now that we are beyond that, I have been looking forward to this Bendis run and was eager to get started.  I was hoping to love it, but only clocked in at liking it.
I have to say upfront, my problems with this book come down to personal preference.  I have never been a fan of Zod or "Krypton is back!" plotlines. It's just not the way I prefer my Superman.  I like simple stories that allow Superman's goodness to shine through. (See Grounded)
But let's put that aside and focus on the story at hand. In a nutshell Superman finds out what really happened to Krypton and when Supergirl attempts to capture the villain using the Phantom Zone projector a little more than she intended gets sucked into it.  With Lois and Jon off with Jor-el, a lonely Superman has to tackle this issue with the aid of the Justice League.  There's some great stuff in here between Superman and the Martian Manhunter.  Everything with Flash cracked me up. We end on an intriguing note which was a pretty successful cliffhanger.
The dialogue is quippy without being cute and the book looks great. The story feels a little 90s throwback, but I assume that's intentional.  While I would have preferred a different kind of Superman story, there's a lot a good here and I'm ready for more.

To hear more about some of my old-school favorite Superman stories tune in to this special episode of the All the Books Show.