It's another blank from me when it comes to what happens in the main strip but I do know that, elsewhere in the book, the Micronauts are having trouble with Baron Karza's death tank.
In fairness, you'd expect to have trouble from something if it bore the name, "Baron Karza's Death Tank."
The only other thing I know about the rest of this issue's contents is there's an ad for the previous month's Starburst magazine, which is a full page photo of Davros in Genesis of the Daleks.
I don't have a clue what the secret of Skull River is but I do know the tale's drawn by Jim Starlin, so it's bound to be great. It also features a character who has that old Starlin standby of tiny skulls where his pupils should be.
Solomon Kane's fighting the forces of Voodoo in Africa in a tale that seems to be officially credited to Neal Adams and Pablo Marcos but, to my eyes, looks like it's mostly drawn by Howard Chaykin, with Adams concentrating on the faces.
Elsewhere, we get the origin of Red Sonja, as she catches up with the man who killed her parents. This tale's definitely drawn by Chaykin - because it says so in the credits.
It's the big one, as Rampage suddenly becomes my favourite Marvel UK mag by launching the New X-Men upon the British public.
My only previous exposure to the new team had been in the pages of X-Men #100 which had both baffled and excited me. Who were all these new people and why were they so much better than the people who'd been in The X-Men whenever I'd previously read it?
Now I was about to find out - and love every minute of it.
Apart from the leprechauns.
I could have done without the leprechauns.
But The New X-Men, tales from Rampaging Hulk, and Gene Colan's Doctor Strange? How could anyone not love this mag? Dez Skinn gets a fair bit of stick for how he handled the weekly books but there's no denying that, when it came to the monthlies, he knew what he was doing.
Starburst tootles along with what seems to be the seventh consecutive issue that covers the first Superman movie. I'm kind of getting the idea there might not have been enough sci-fi films hitting the cinemas to fulfill the needs of a magazine dedicated to the form.
Still, it's good to see the Cylons get a cover. Admiring their shininess is almost enough to make me think I actually liked the show.
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At the risk of causing controversy, I'm gonna say Battlestar's Cylons were a cooler design than Star Wars' Stormtroopers.
Even the mirror finish makes slightly more sense from a camouflage perspective than 'come shoot me' white.
We can all do without leprechauns Steve.
(So much for the government's plan to fix the Brexit deal by having them run the Irish border).
And you're right that SezDez knew what he was doing with the monthlies (except for the cover boxes of course).
Loved the first few pages of that Solomon Kane story. To me it looked like Neal Adams drew them, and then the rest of it was maybe his layouts finished by others. Can't really see Howard Chaykin in it - maybe that was Alan Weiss in a rush?
The Red Sonja origin story was terrible - what was Roy Thomas thinking?
-sean
On Tuesday we had a really large Hulk chasing down Rick "Bucky" Jones.
Today we have a really large Hulk clutching a damsel.
Which Hulk do you think is taller?
The obvious winner could be the one chasing Bucky, but if you figure the damsel is 5'5" that puts her Hulk at a solid 10' tall? (Sorry - I don't know how many stones that would be for you UK gents.)
UK Gents - a quick question...
I'm listening to Talk Sport and it's 2 AM your time, as I am cooking dinner. The hosts are having folks call in and share their favorite experience at Brighton Beach (spelling?)
Given this is a nation wide broadcast, I have to assume Brighton Beach is a national past destination for the UK? Can you guys elaborate? Does "everyone" go there?
P.S. there are a lot of folks who seem to liquored up at 2 AM who call in, to this show, lol.
Charlie, Brighton is a very popular destination for the south of the country, the equivalent of Blackpool for the Midlands/North. But as our country is the size of a postage stamp and can be covered by a brisk lunchtime walk, the experience is fairly universal for the English.
There’s also a nudist beach at Brighton. Just to the East of the pier that wasn’t burnt down.
And lots of gay people live in Brighton and the UK's only Green M.P. (Caroline Lucas) represents Brighton Pavilion.
In a previous comment I gave the unions a hard time for destroying the Labour government but their shenanigans also spared us from this week's Marvel Comic and Spider-Man Comic so all is forgiven.
I too thought the monthlies were excellent (but I never bought Starburst) and I too thought the All-New, All-Different X-Men were a huge improvement on the boring original lot. Just two months later I bought my first ever copy of Uncanny X-Men (#120).
Unlike Sean I quite enjoyed Red Sonja's origin.
It was Arlene Foster who vetoed Theresa May's plan for leprechauns on the Irish border. Arlene thought the leprechauns would be too pro-Irish and anti-Unionist.
Charlie, I might be misreading your comment but you seem to be mixing up weight and height. Stones are a measurement of weight. But we use kilograms too (unless the Brexit loonies force us back to exclusively Imperial measurements).
Oh bother... Well my wife and I are neither gay (?) nor nudists nor desiring to being on a pier that might burn. However we are avid conservationists so we support green things to include ACO's "green new deal" LOL.
But I always think of England as a cooler climate compared to France or Spain and while I've seen my share of clothing-optional situations at swimming pools, lakes, and the coast I never figured it to exist in the UK. But what the hell do I know? Roselawn Indiana was about an hour south of where I grew up. It's a nudist colony and right now it's about 10 degrees F with a 30 mph wind!
Colin - I don't know what I was thinking (or not lol). You UK folks just confuse the hell out of me with your various "words."
- Stones, pounds, kilograms
- Pounds, bobs, quids
- I still can't figure out when to use F or C for temp with you gents!
Woe is me!
Hey - are you food supplies holding out?
That issue of Rampage was a huge event for me too. So was the next month's when they finally get into costume. I was obsessed with Thunderbird because he was on the team so briefly.
But that cover- SATAN. Can you imagine that on the supermarket shelves today? I haven't re-read those Englehart-Colan Dr. Strange stories for a
long, long time. They were pretty, uh, heady.
And Charlie, yes, the food is still holding out, if Glasgow portions are any indication. I'm hoping our First Minister gets us out of this madness we didn't vote for before it's too late,
Satan definitely had a higher mainstream public profile in the 70s.
-sean
My first exposure to the X-Men was in a handful of comics I got for Christmas, when I was about 6-7 years old.
It was a double Sized reprint (a 25 cent book, I thought my parents broke the bank!) of the introduction of the
Sentinels, and featured the origin of the Beast.
I instantly became a fan of the team, and the Beast replaced the Hulk as my favorite. Even tho they were reprints, they were always my first grab when I could get a couple comics.
I remember my first "ALL-NEW" X-Men book. It was the death of Thunderbird issue, with Count Nefaria & the Ani-Men. I was at first disappointed there wasn't more of the original team in the book. I knew Banshee and Wolverine, but who are these newbies,I thought.
Nightcrawler? That's not Nightcrawler! The Hulk kicked Nightcrawler's butt (and universe). Nowadays that would be called identify appropriation. Lol!
I became a fan of the new team, but still love the originals. Sorry to hear them disparaged. Maybe if the art was better in most of the books, they would be remembered more fondly. Too bad they didn't get Neal Adams sooner.
That Christmas day was very memorable. Besides the comics, I got the Green Ghost game, Rock-Um-Sockem Robots, Strange-Change machine, Lost In Space Model kit, erecter set, a tin Japanese battery operated machine gun robot & a beginner's chemistry set.
Though the erecter & chemical sets had potential to inspire me to pursue a career as a mad scientist, it was to no avail.
The nitroglycerin was so watered-down that I could barely ignite it, let alone blow anything up.
The erecter set was a good training primer for how to use tools. I recommend anyone with children or grandchildren to get them such a set.
And "no", Charlie.
My machine gun robot didn't have Sten guns.
They actually worked. Lol!
Yeah, it's true Satan was a big star in the '70's. That guy was everywhere. I blame the Exorcist and Stevie Nicks.
I remember the "70's pretty well because I was too young to drink at the time.
Which was a shame, really, because after five minutes of The Captain and Tennille Variety Hour a fella would need a highball like nobody's business. And keep 'em coming.
M.P.
Killdumpster- wow, that Christmas you describe must have been awesome! So much classic toy goodness, plus comic s and chemicals! And that Strange Change machine- I loved mine. I'm still haunting Ebay in hopes of reacquiring it...
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