Review- AVENGERS VS. THANOS

AVENGERS VS. THANOS (Marvel, First Printing, 2013; Softcover)

Collects Iron Man #55, Captain Marvel #25-33, Marvel Feature #12, Daredevil #105-107, Avengers #125, Warlock #9-11, 15, Avengers Annual #7, Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2, and the Thanos back-up story from Logan's Run #6 (cover dates February, 1973- Annual 1977)

Writers: Jim Starlin, Steve Gerber, Mike Friedrich, Steve Englehart, and Scott Edelman

Artists: Pencilers- Jim Starlin, Bob Brown, John Buscema, Don Heck, and Mike Zeck

Inkers- Jim Starlin, Sal Buscema, Dave Cockrum, Mike Esposito, Dan Green, Klaus Janson, Steve Leialoha, Pablo Marcos, Al Milgrom, Don Perlin, Joe Rubinstein, Joe Sinnott, Chic Stone, Sal Trapani, and Mike Zeck

If space aliens landed and asked me Hey Earthling, could you point out some good superhero comics for us to read?, I would hand them this book. While it would appear on the surface to be a scattershot collection of stories featuring Thanos and a mix of then-present and future Avengers in reality it is surprisingly cohesive and reads like one huge event.

I love the Bronze Age of comics. Modern fans accustomed to made for the trade six issue arcs bemoan the amount of dialogue and third party narrative caption boxes in these old comics but they allow so much more ground to be covered in much less space and time. I am of the mindset that modern comics are padded and bloated, with all of them breath and life sucked out of them in order to fit a calculated page count. Page after page of talking heads are not character development. Superheroes being snarky and self deprecating are not heroic.

Newcomers arriving to comics after seeing the movies would have their minds blown by the scope of this book. It starts out in Iron Man #55, a landmark issue which not only introduces Drax The Destroyer and the Blood Brothers but Thanos as well. Well...flashback Thanos and robot Thanos, but close enough for Rock and Roll. Things get kinda sorta convoluted but fun, as Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell) gets caught up in a scheme between the Skrulls, the Controller, and Thanos. Captain Marvel fights the Hulk and the Thing before he encounters Eon, who helps him destroy and then find himself as part of some grand cosmic scheme that eluded me. At least the end justified the means.

Drax The Destroyer and Iron Man reappear, as does the Thing. I enjoyed the Thing and Iron Man's battle with the Blood Brothers. The scene then shifts to San Francisco, where Daredevil and the Black Widow encounter Moondragon and Captain Marvel, leading us back to Captain Marvel's magazine with #31. The Avengers and Drax The Destroyer become involved as Thanos finally absorbs the power of the Cosmic Cube, essentially becoming one with the universe. This could well be the end of the book, as Thanos is defeated (I won't tell you how) and the day is saved.

Fortunately there is more, this time over in Warlock's series. Adam Warlock enters into an uncomfortable alliance with Thanos in order to defeat the Magus after Thanos' creation, Gamora, fails to assassinate him. There is all kinds of Bronze Age philosophy and timeslip psychobabble that works in the context of the era and the material but wouldn't make one iota of sense if you read it here.

The climax is a crossover with Avengers Annual #7 and Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2, where Thanos harnesses the power of the Soul Gem and intends to use it to destroy our sun, thus destroying all life in our solar system as an offering to the love of his life, the lady Death. This is Thanos at his most grim and gruesome, a completely evil creature that takes the combined might of The Avengers, Adam Warlock, Spider-Man, and the Thing to defeat. The battle scenes, especially those between Thor and Thanos, are incredible. This is how comics are supposed to be done, kids. Things end with a bang, and by the time that you are done this feels like a major league event, even though it took place across four years' worth of comics.

Jim Starlin pushed the limits of the cosmic epic, all before the world had ever heard of Star Wars. I am sure that Star Trek and 2001: A Space Odyssey were an influence on him but it is cool seeing a science fiction and superhero hybrid done before Star Wars, as the impact of that movie was so severe that nothing that came afterward was the same. His artwork and writing helped elevate the sophistication of comic books during this era. A few embarrassingly adolescent double entendres aside, this is adult stuff without being graphic or lewd.

So if you happen to encounter any space aliens or inter-dimensional travelers and they ask you to point out some good superhero comics, fork over a copy of this book.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4.75 out of 5.

The OCD zone- I love these think chunky trade paperbacks. I cannot resist the lure of 400-500 page books with this paper stock.

Linework and Color restoration: Many of these issues use the files from the Marvel Masterworks (Captain Marvel, Warlock, etc.) and are excellent. The rest are very good overall.

Paper stock: Off white matte coated stock. This is the same stock found in softcover Masterworks, Classic line trades, and Epic line trades. It is my favorite paper stock for comics with flat coloring.

Binding: Perfect bound trade paperback.

Cardstock cover notes: Laminated cardstock cover.

Reviews- LOGAN'S RUN: AFTERMATH, Mystery Men #1, and Barack The Barbarian #2

LOGAN'S RUN: AFTERMATH (Bluewater, 2013; Softcover)

Collects Logan's Run: Aftermath Nos. 1-4 (cover dates May-August, 2011) plus the digital only 5 and 6

Writer: Paul J. Salamoff

Artists: Phillip Simpson, Mike Dorman, Carsten Biernat, and Angel Bernuy

Colorists: Aurelio Alfonso, Juan Martin, and Jesse Heagy

This is set in the continuity of the original novel but fans who only know of the movie will be able to piece things together easily enough. This book has been in limbo for years, ever since Diamond revised their policies of what size comic companies they will and won't deal with. Many small press publishers were kicked to the curb with no viable distribution to comic shops. Haven tried but comics is a tough business for the big guys, let alone for a start-up distribution company.

Boring business talk aside, this is a good read with subpar artwork and coloring. While the 2010 mini-series Logan's Run: Last Day was outstanding, the artwork here detracts from the reading experience. I enjoyed this but would have liked it more with better artwork. Many of these artists are greenhorns whose best work is likely still ahead of them, so I'll cut them some slack.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 2.25 out of 5.

The OCD zone- This is a print on demand book, making the idea of ascertaining what “printing” a book is irrelevant. It's maddening in it's own way, though.

This book is smaller than a standard trade paperback release and is what the industry calls the Graphic Novel-Trade Paperback size, whatever that means. The dimensions are 5.8 x 8.8 inches (14.732 x 22.352 centimeters for my friends in the Metric system measuring world outside of the United States, Liberia, and Burma).

Issues 5 and 6 of the Last Day mini-series remain uncollected. Hashtag sadface.

DVD-style Extras included in this book: Issue 1's Cover B.

Paper rating: 4.25 out of 5. This has a surprisingly decent weight coated stock paper, which shocked me given the independent, small press print on demand thing.

Binding rating: 2 out of 5. While the glued binding is solid and doesn't creak, man is it tight. It takes a lot of effort to hold open and read. If the book were heavier it could be used as a pectoral workout machine.

Cardstock cover coating rating: 4.5 out of 5. While the cover doesn't have a super thick lamination, it is decent and scuff resistant. I'm happy.

This is available as a print on demand book at Comic Flea Market.

Here is my review of the other Bluewater book, Logan's Run: Last Day.

The outstanding LOGAN'S RUN: LAST DAY TP is available at InStockTrades!

 

You can also buy NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD VOL. 1 TP and HC as well as EX MACHINA VOL. 10 TP at InStockTrades. (They were featured in the same posting for my review of Last Day).

Mystery Men #1 (Marvel, cover date August, 2011)

Writer: David Liss

Artist: Patrick Zircher

Colorist: Andy Troy

Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, MI was having their end of summer sale where they blow out dead inventory like this at 90% off cover price. I was curious about this series when it first came out and had thought about checking out the inevitable collected edition but things get by me. Time and money, wife and kids, folks. Anyways, I snagged it for a cool 30 cents and thought that it was really good stuff. It takes place in Marvel Universe continuity in the pulp hero era of the early 1930s when The Shadow and Doc Savage ruled the newsstands. Great writing, great artwork, and great coloring. I will make it a point to check the trade or hardcover out at some point...if I don't forget about it again.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4.5 out of 5. 

Barack The Barbarian #2 (Devil's Due, cover date July, 2009)

Writer: Larry Hama

Artist: Christopher Schons

Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg

Another 90% off find at Green Brain, this complements my copy of issue 1 which I got for free on Free Comic Book Day 2013. This is filled with groan inducing bad puns but I found it worth a chuckle. Fun political parody from a time when it seemed like Obama was going to fix the country. Now we're knee deep in the Government spying on our electronic communications and cellphone calls and about to enter another war. Meet the new boss, the same as the old boss...

Back to the comic at hand, this is filled with parodies of people in the political spotlight of 2008-2009. Red Sarah, Boosh The Dim, Hilaria, Harry Burden, Limbow (a creature who takes prescription potions which make him impervious to pain), and of course Choler (Ann Coulter), a barbed tongue monstrosity, among others. This comic will only become more dated as time goes on, with comic fans of the future not being able to make much sense of the gags. Oh well, for 35 cents it was a gas.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 3 out of 5.

Review- Logan's Run Nos. 1-7

Logan's Run Nos. 1-7 (Marvel, cover dates January- July, 1977)

Writers: Gerry Conway (No. 1), David Kraft (Nos. 2-5), David Zelag Goodman (motion picture screenwriter issues 1-5 adapted from), George C. Johnson and William F. Nolan (co-writers, original novel), John Warner (Nos. 6, 7), and Scott Edelman (Thanos back-up story from No. 6)

Artists: George Perez (Penciler, Nos. 1-5), Klaus Janson (Inker, Nos. 1-5, 7), Tom Sutton (Penciler Nos. 6, 7), Terry Austin (Inker, No. 6), Mike Zeck (Thanos back-up story from No. 6)

I recently celebrated my 40^th birthday. Most folks throw huge bashes, take a trip or have a midlife crisis. I had a monstrous slab of my Avengers cake, went on a long bike ride, and read all seven issues of Marvel's adaptation of Logan's Run in one sitting. I haven't read these comics since the '80s. I've been holding out for a hardcover or trade paperback collection but realize that it will likely never happen. While Bluewater Comics currently holds the rights to the title, those rights only include the book version and not the movie version. They currently don't have the rights to reprint these comic books, unfortunately.

Gerry Conway nails the script in the first issue. He tells his history with the book on the page that would become the letters page. I was shocked to see him replaced with David Kraft with issue 2. John Warner scripts the issues of new material which took place after the original movie. The movie adaptation lasted five issues. 

The artwork is great. George Perez and Klaus Janson would go on to great acclaim, but here they were both in their “salad days”. Issue 6 was the first one that I bought, a quarter box find circa 1983. I read that issues tons of times and was pleasantly surprised this past week to see the artwork by the team of Tom Sutton and Terry Austin. Those two names meant nothing to me as a 9-10 year old but as an adult I know them well. Tom Sutton did tons of quality work for the Warren Magazines (Creepy, Eerie, etc.) and Terry Austin did a legendary run on Uncanny X-Men.

Old school science fiction purists hated this movie since it was a liberal adaptation of the original novel. I like the Hollywood take as it taps into the zeitgeist of 1976. Shopping malls were the future back then, being a dominant social meeting place for youngsters until the Internet killed the real world by the turn of the 21^st century. So the idea that we would live in a dome shaped mall world because of a nuclear war (this was during the Cold War and such anxieties ran high) was pretty cool. The whole life must end at 30 angle played right into the baby boomer mantra of “Don't trust anybody over 30”. The Availability circuit, where swinging singles could scan channels and pick a mate for the night predicted and predated the Internet and chatrooms and dating sites by decades. I love the movie and these comic books. 

This is a solid, flawless adaptation (except for Kraft's misspelling of cacophony) of the 1976 classic. I watched this on reruns on second string channels like 20 or 50 in Detroit, as they seemed to play this often in the late '70s and early '80s. Issues 6 and 7 take place after the movie. Issue 6 is only 12 pages long due to Marvel having to clear what they could and could not do per their licensing agreement with MGM. The issue is bolstered by a 5 page Thanos and Drax the Destroyer story. Of note is the early Mike Zeck artwork and the fact that it is the first Thanos “solo” story. This particular issue is skyrocketing in value as the emphasis on the character Thanos is increasing since he will be the featured villain in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie.

One of the interesting things about the two post-movie stories is that Logan retrieves his gun which functions as the one in the original novel did, with six different types of bullets. Judge Dredd swiped that one from there for sure. MGM never made movies to either sequel of the book, and there was a short-lived television series in the late '70s that I can barely remember watching. The comic series had the plug pulled in the middle of an arc and we were all left hanging. I have found no information online as to why this series was cancelled, so one must assume that it was obviously due to low sales. There have been rumors of artwork for an issue 9 surfacing, but I have spent an unhealthy amount of time online trying to find it for myself. Would love to read even the raw or unfinished numbers 8 and 9. I need closure, man! 

All in all, this was a blast to go back and re-read these classics. They hold up pretty well over 35 years after their original publication. I would still buy a collected edition of this stuff in a heartbeat.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4.5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- Man, the print quality and paper used on old comic books sucks. I have become so accustomed to high quality collected editions that anomalies like line bleed and off register printing become glaringly obvious. I shuddered at printing press errors like random specs of black ink which yanked me out of the reading experience. While it is cool holding something that is an artifact from the era rather than a facsimile, it is like watching a VHS in an era of Blu-Rays: worn out and tired looking. On the plus side, all colors and linework are correct, so there's that.

Reviews: Logan's Run: Last Day; Night of the Living Dead; Ex Machina Vol. 10: Term Limits

LOGAN'S RUN: LAST DAY (Bluewater, 2010; softcover)

Collects Logan's Run: Last Day Nos. 1-4 (cover dates January- April, 2010)

Logan's Run is equal parts passion and nostalgia for me. While I was too young to catch the 1976 theatrical release, I did see it re-run in syndication a number of times in the late '70s and early '80s. For a kid who was enamored with Star Wars and  Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Logan's Run was equally awesome. This series is closer to the book than the movie and is exceptionally well done, with great writing by Jason Brock and Paul J. Salamoff (adapting the William F. Nolan novel) and tremendous artwork by Daniel Gete. Heck, even colorist Joseph Baker deserves a shout out for the tasteful job that he did on the series.

Not ALL is rosy, though: Bluewater originally solicited this as a 6 issue trade, but when it came out, only the first four issues were included. The arc isn't even resolved in this trade, ending on a cliffhanger. I hope that they put those two issues in the next Logan's Run trade. I won't complain too much, though, because 4 issues at a MSRP $14.99 from an independent publisher with licensing fees isn't TOO bad, I suppose. I would've rather had the complete 6 issue series in one book, though. That aside, what could be stopping you from treating yourself to this? 

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD VOL. 1 (Avatar, 2010; Softcover)

Collects George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead No. 1, Night of the Living Dead: Back From The Grave No. 1, Night of the Living Dead: Hunger, Night of the Living Dead: Just A Girl No. 1, Night of the Living Dead: New York No. 1 and Night of the Living Dead: The Beginning Nos. 1-3 (cover dates August, 2006- 2009)

Avatar Press continually produces quality material, and this is another fine offering from them. These issues take place before and after the original movie, and are co-written by original creator and movie script co-writer John Russo. The artwork is serviceable if unremarkable (see cover image above), with the exceptions being the issues done by Fabio Janses and Edison George. All of the variant covers are included as DVD-style extras, and the Jacen Burrows ones are my favorites. On the OCD side of things, the book has sewn binding and is printed on high-quality paper. A nice package and a good read.

EX MACHINA VOL. 10: TERM LIMITS (Wildstorm/DC, 2010; softcover)

Collects Ex Machina Nos. 45-50 (cover dates November, 2009- September, 2010)

Wow! This series has remained a favorite of mine, and while I am sad to see it end, it ended with a HUGE bang! Like all great endings, there are questions left unanswered. No one could've seen it coming, no way no how, and there is no way in Hell that I'm going to tell you how it ended. If you have not checked this series out, start with the first issue or the first trade paperback and go from there. Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris have made a series for the ages here, and one day I am going to sit down and re-read all 10 trade paperbacks in a row.

The Rise and Fall of Junk Food For Thought

Logan's Run: Last Day #1 (Bluewater, cover date January, 2010)
Wow, this was shockingly good stuff. I am a lifelong Logan's Run fan and this is closer to the original novel than the 1976 feature film which, in my opinion, is one of the greatest movies ever made. I will probably wait for the trade to read the rest of this, and I can't wait for it to be collected. This comic book is printed on some super heavy-duty paper, with each page being roughly as thick as the cover.

SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL VOL. 2 (DC, 2003)
Collects Action Comics Nos. 584-586, Adventures of Superman Nos. 424-426 and Superman Nos. 1-3 (cover dates January- March, 1987).
Another enjoyable batch of issues by John Byrne, Marv Wolfman, and Jerry Ordway.

SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL VOL. 3 (DC, 2004)
Collects Action Comics Nos. 587-589, Adventures of Superman Nos. 427-429 and Superman Nos. 4-6 (cover dates April- June, 1987).
Man, this is some good sh*t! I especially enjoyed the issues featuring the Demon and the Phantom Stranger, as I have a soft spot for '70 quasi/pseudo-Horror 'heroes'. The only problem is that I now want to buy the Phantom Stranger phonebooks. %^$#^&%@&&!!!

SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL VOL. 4 (DC, 2004)
Collects Action Comics Nos. 590, 591, Adventures of Superman Nos. 430, 431, Legion of Superheroes Nos. 37, 38 and Superman Nos. 7, 8 (cover dates July- September, 1987).
Man, this is mostly sh*t! This is why I loathed DC so much growing up. Superboy? Superdog? The cheeseball Legion of Superheroes and the Metal Men? Marvel stomps any and all of these concepts. What had been a clean, cohesive reboot until this point has been derailed by the whole Crisis on Infinite Earths thing, which was an attempt to undo DC's lack of any real continuity(ies?) until that point. Even John Byrne, who at Marvel always did a great job at streamlining continuity, has a tough go at making this believable. Add in the craptastic artwork by a neophyte Erik Larsen in the last issue in the book and the insult to injury was complete. This book has it's moments, but they are few and far between.SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL VOL. 5 (DC, 2006)
Collects Action Comics Nos. 592, 593, Adventures of Superman Nos. 432-435 and Superman Nos. 9-11 (cover dates September- December, 1987).
OK, things go back to being enjoyable here. Whew! I was worried that I sunk money into 2 books that might suck. Superman #11, with Mr. Mxyzptlk was especially good. I am glad that they phonetically spelled his name, as I had no idea how to pronounce it until now.

SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL VOL. 6 (DC, 2008)
Collects Action Comics Nos. 594, 595, Action Comics Annual No. 1, Adventures of Superman Annual No. 1, Booster Gold No. 23, Superman No. 12 and Superman Annual No. 1 (cover dates November- December, 1987).
...and my marathon comes to a halt. It's been quite a journey, and a mostly enjoyable one at that. Superman No. 12 is the star of this book, a heartfelt love story with a twist, but all of the issues contained in this trade were good, solid reads. I hope that DC continues this line, as there are many more issues in Byrne's run to be collected in trade paperback.

THE SANDMAN BY JOE SIMON & JACK KIRBY (DC, 2009; Hardcover)
Collects Sandman No. 1 (Winter 1974) and selections from Adventure Comics Nos. 72-91, 101, 102 and World’s Finest Comics Nos. 6, 7 (cover dates March, 1942- February/ March, 1946).
Shame on you, DC! You have top shelf Golden Age material by two of the all-time greats, and THIS is the respect and the treatment that you feel that this material deserves? Shoddy restoration, shoddy paper, and shoddy binding, this package is a disgrace to the legacy of Simon and Kirby. Before there was Stan and Jack there was Joe and Jack. The pair did a wonderful job creating Captain America, and this was their 'next big thing'. DC insisted on scanning old yellowed pages, which Dark Horse and Fantagraphics also do for these vintage collections, but they clean up and color correct the pages. DC only color corrected the word balloons and captions, leaving the rest a yellowed, discolored mess. Every single color looks off because they took no time whatsoever and put no effort into restoration or using modern color values to replicate the original color palette. The paper is the same crappy pulp paper that DC uses in most of their hardcovers these days, being scarcely thicker than toilet paper. Couple that with glued binding, and you have the most sucktastic presentation imaginable. The real shame of it is that these are such good stories.

THE BATMAN CHRONICLES VOL. 8 (DC, 2009)
Collects Batman Nos. 14, 15 and selections from Detective Comics Nos. 71-74 and World’s Finest Comics Nos. 8, 9 (cover dates December, 1942- April, 1943).
To say that these are good reads would be an understatement. Golden Age Batman rocks, plain and simple. The writing begins to take on a campy tone similar to the '60s television series, i.e. Batman and Robin are in a trap and a caption reads 'can they escape?' or something similar. Batman refers to villains as 'fiends'. The villains! The Penguin. The Joker. Catwoman. The Scarecrow. Tweedledee and Tweedledum. These villains are great! I will let my son read these when he gets a bit older, which is something that I can't say about modern Batman comic books. Why did comic books take such a wrong turn? They are intended for children, and should be accessible to them. I prefer this 'wholesome' Batman to Frank Miller's version.

ESSENTIAL MARVEL TEAM-UP VOL. 3 (Marvel, 2009)
Collects Marvel Team-Up (Vol. 1) Nos. 52-73, 75 and Marvel Team-Up Annual No. 1 (cover dates December, 1976- November, 1978).
The creative team of Chris Claremont and John Byrne are akin to Lennon and McCartney or Simon and Garfunkel, in that together they created wonderful and memorable works but found it difficult to maintain their creative partnership. Their Marvel Team-Up run is fantastic. Iron Fist, Arcade, Captain Britain, the Living Monolith... this is such good stuff! It's almost criminal that Marvel only reprints this title in black and white phonebook format rather than the Masterworks format that it deserves.

SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE VOL. 6: THE HOURMAN AND THE PYTHON (DC, 2008)
Collects Sandman Mystery Theatre Nos. 29-36 (cover dates August, 1995- March, 1996)
I am really enjoying these trades, and was delighted to see Vol. 8 recently solicited. This series ran up to issue 70, and I am hoping that they collect the entire run in trade.

The Wolfman As far as remakes go, this is about as much as one could hope for in this day and age. There were a few digital drag and speed type edits in the beginning, but by and large the editing and pacing were quite tasteful. The camera angle changes were slow by today's ADD standards but were pleasing to those of us who still have an attention span. The sequence where he changes into the Wolfman were almost as good as The Howling. All in all, an enjoyable movie, especially for a buck at the dollar show. 7 out of 10.