As I stated in my prologue to this series, Stan Lee’s original task from Marvel Publisher Martin Goodman was to create a team of superheroes that were comparable to DC’s “Justice League of America”. The difference was that DC had established those heroes – Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman dated back to the 1930’s… Continue reading The Comics I Love: The Avengers, Part 1 “There Came a Day…”
Category: The Comics I Love
Assembling: The Avengers Deep Dive Prologue
I'm prepping a deep dive into Marvel's Avengers comics franchise - an in-depth review of each and every issue of the main title, dating back to 1963. Before I begin, I thought I'd try to encapsulate some of the things that I know about the book and how it's evolved since Stan Lee and Jack… Continue reading Assembling: The Avengers Deep Dive Prologue
The Comics I Love: Adam Warlock, Part Two
After the culmination of Warlock's battle with the Magus, in Warlock #11, the title moved to telling other stories, before the return of Thanos and Gamora. Sales suffered, and Warlock was cancelled with issue #15. Starlin was obviously not enamored with Marvel's editorial at this point, and I think his work suffered a little. The… Continue reading The Comics I Love: Adam Warlock, Part Two
The Comics I Love: The Thanos War, Part One
So, this is literally six years late. This review would have probably been more appropriate in 2018 when Avengers: Endgame became the highest-grossing movie of all time (Until James Cameron got all wounded by it and re-released “Avatar” in China to re-claim the spot. Whatever. I can’t stand James Cameron.) The true origins of Thanos… Continue reading The Comics I Love: The Thanos War, Part One
The Comics I Love: LegionQuest
“This is the dawning of the Age of Apocalypse Age of Apocalypse Age of Apocalypse”[1] Sorry. Every time I’ve heard “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” for the last 25 years, I’ve mentally changed the lyrics to “Apocalypse” because of course I do. The original song was a medley of two songs from the musical “Hair” that… Continue reading The Comics I Love: LegionQuest
The Comics I Love: Alpha Flight Part 1
After their earlier appearances in X-Men, Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter started pressing John Byrne to create an Alpha Flight regular monthly book. Byrne resisted, stating they were created to battle the X-Men and he didn’t have much of a backstory in mind for them and wanted to leave them alone. Eventually, Byrne acquiesced and took… Continue reading The Comics I Love: Alpha Flight Part 1
The Comics I Love: John Byrne’s Fantastic Four part 7
This episode is the one I’ve been building to. It’s essential 1980’s Marvel reading. Right up there with Secret Wars, Avengers Under Siege, the Spider-Man Hobgoblin saga, and GI Joe. Byrne built all his storylines in a way that led to this run of issues as the apex of his run. This review will be… Continue reading The Comics I Love: John Byrne’s Fantastic Four part 7
The Comics I Love: John Byrne’s Fantastic Four part 6 “The Negative Zone!”
Of all the discoveries Reed Richards had during his research, the other dimensional “Negative Zone” was the most mysterious. First appearing in Fantastic Four #51, in the legendary “This Man, This Monster” story[1] and appearing through the years, the home of characters like Annihilus, Blastaar, and several other villains. The conceit of the Negative Zone… Continue reading The Comics I Love: John Byrne’s Fantastic Four part 6 “The Negative Zone!”
The Comics I Love: John Byrne’s Fantastic Four, part 5
So, Frankie Raye has become Nova, Terrax is dead, and Galactus is gone. The FF are now owners of their skyscraper headquarters, and at the end of FF #244, something had gone very wrong with Franklin Richards. Byrne had been on the book for a year at this point, and he had really made the… Continue reading The Comics I Love: John Byrne’s Fantastic Four, part 5
The Comics I Love: John Byrne Fantastic Four part 3
After the 20th anniversary of the FF, John Byrne wanted to tell stories about the FF that shook the book up and took readers on a journey through the Marvel Universe and the FF’s rogues gallery. He did a few stand-alone stories, with each character on the team getting their own little solo story. Byrne… Continue reading The Comics I Love: John Byrne Fantastic Four part 3
From some other planet... 