Thursday 24 July 2014

Random comics I have owned. Part Six.

All students of history will know there've been many great endings over the centuries; and today, Steve Does Comics brings you an ending worthy of Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes itself - as its latest feature grinds to its final resting place.

Shazam #5

The only issue of Shazam I ever owned.

Like the Metal Men comic I mentioned the other day, I got it from a newsagents in Heeley Green. I still don't have a clue why that makes it seem exciting but, somehow, it does.

Sadly, I remember little of the main story but remember that I found CC Beck's simple art style appealing.



Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #208

The Legion of Super-Heroes find themselves entangled in a plan devised by their evil counterparts.
E-Man #7

The only issue of E-Man I ever owned.

I believe this issue may have introduced me to the word, "Entropy."

I also suspect this issue featured John Byrne's Rog 2000 in the tale of a haunted hotel. This may have been the first time I ever encountered the work of John Byrne. At the time, I found the tale most droll.
Black Magic #6

Apart from the cover, I don't remember anything about this at all.

It does however remind me that I once had a comic that featured a reprint of a Lee/Kirby tale about a girl who can walk on air until it's pointed out to her that people can't walk on air, at which point she loses the ability to do so. If you know in which comic that reprint appeared, I'd be very glad to read your thoughts in the comments box below.
Prez #3

It's another issue of Prez - and another whose contents somehow elude my memory.
Justice Inc #3

An evil bad guy has a formula that turns people into monsters. Needless to say, the Avenger soon sorts out his perfidious plans.

The Champions #7, the Griffin

The only issue of the Champions I ever had.

You do wonder just who at Marvel thought it made sense to launch a comic that tried to team up the Black Widow, Hercules, Iceman, the Angel and Ghost Rider. Maybe it's just me but that doesn't seem the most natural combination of characters.

Sadly, I can recall nothing of what happened within this issue.

I think a shopping mall may have been involved.

I could be wrong.
Atlas Comics, Thrilling Adventure Stories #2

My eyeballs detect a Neal Adams cover.

Arguably one of Atlas/Seaboard's stronger offerings. I particularly recall a tale of two samurai and a load of giant spiders - not to mention an article on the making of Towering Inferno.
Wulf the Barbarian #3

Wulf the Barbarian has his third outing. I'm not sure if he had a fourth one, the Curse of Atlas being what it was.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, the Champions felt like a team thrown together with no rhyme or reason - we need a new superhero team so who's hanging around that we can use ? Ghost Rider was supposed to be a hell-spawned spirit of vengeance and the most unlikely team member you could think of - throw in two redundant X-Men, a second-rate Thor substitute and the Black Widow as the female one.

Unknown said...

Thrilling Adventure Stories ( issue 2) was a brilliant black and white mag the story with the "spiders" story ("Temple of the Spider") was by Walt Simsonson and Archie Goodwin that issue also has art by John Severin, Russ Health and Alex Toth (pus the Neal Adams cover)

Wulf did indeed get a 4th and final issue ( as did Destructor, Vicki and Iron Jaw - Iron Jaw also appeared in the only issue of Atlas' "Barbarians" title)

Wulf Grim Ghost and Pheonix were also revamped in 2011 /2012 by Ardden comics and made it to at least issue 6)

Anonymous said...

A comic with the Ghost Rider AND the Black Widow in it makes perfect sense to me!

The other three though...not so much. The two issues of the Champions I had also added Black Goliath for good measure. Fighting Stiltman.

Marvel mid-70s editors, eh?

-sean





Anonymous said...

The Champions was yet another Marvel comic with (coincidentally) the same title as a TV series, so when you talked about it, you had to explain which one you meant. "No, it doesn't have Alexandra Bastedo, Stuart Damon, and William Gaunt. It's about Hercules, Black Widow, and two ex-X-Men."

E-Man had a small following, but evidently not enough to sustain it. First Comics and Comico later tried revivals, but they never lasted very long. (Although First did manage to put out about two dozen new issues, plus a seven-issue mini-series reprinting the Charlton run.)

That Shazam issue had him fighting a troublesome leprechaun, IIRC. I liked DC's tongue-in-cheek approach to Captain Marvel (and Plastic Man), but most comics fans wanted their super heroes played straight. And fans of tongue-in-cheek action-adventure in other media (e.g., James Bond movies) did not read comics.

Unknown said...

I acctually own Prez #1 and it may be the single worst comic ever created by man!

Steve W. said...

Poor old Prez.