I’ve been talking about ’80s comics for so long a Member’s Only jacket magically appeared on me.
Okay, still taking your “Fave ’80s Title” picks, at least through the weekend. I’ll tally things up and start discussing stuff on Monday.
And I think I’ve caught up on responding to the comments for the last few posts. I’m down to this most recent one and re: the requests for favorite ’70s/2000s titles…oy, let me get through the ’80s stuff first. I am but a mortal man.
Also, the question was asked “why were Continuity Comics great-looking but not so greatly-written” and I think I wasn’t much of a fan of the coloring, either. Though I may be overlaying my memories of some of the, well, appalling recoloring of some of Neal Adams’ work at DC onto the Continuity output, so maybe I’m confusing the two. But as to “why the writing,” I don’t know. It’s like a whole company’s output was Batman: Odyssey. And, you know, some people really liked those comics…certainly sold plenty of them when they were coming out.
LouReedRichards asked if there was a good jumping-on point for Love and Rockets or just start at the beginning. Well, starting at the beginning is the ideal, but even just picking up the newest issue will give you plenty to enjoy. Maybe you won’t know all the characters and situations but it’s so well done you can enjoy it for what it is.
Alternatively, you can pick up any of the collections/graphic novels and just dive in. It’s Good Stuff all around. Probably not the most helpful response, but honestly sampling an issue will make you want to search back and find more, and that joy of discovery can be part of the fun of enjoying these comics.
Okay, I think that’s all I have to say today…except along the way Paul asked if I’m going to revive new content for my Patreon. And the answer is “I plan to” when I can find more time, which is the trick right now. I do appreciate the support folks give me there, so don’t think I’m taking that for granted. It all helps, believe me.
Thanks for reading, pals, and I’ll be back Monday for the Big 1980s Countdown, Part One of Apparently One Thousand.
Mike:
Re: that tweet from a few days ago of “Warduck,” which I guess was a parody from an old Comics Journal, I can honestly say I’d rather see Marvel Comics pimp “Warduck,” “Wolverduck, “Spider-Duck,” “Duck of Satan,” “Duckwolf by Night,” “Moonduck,” “Duckpool” or any number of Alt. Earth Howard the Ducks as opposed to all of the Gwen Stacy variations running around these days.
R.I.P.
Rachel Pollack and Mike Machlan…and also Joe Giella, who passed away on March 21st.
I really enjoyed Machlan’s inking over Jerry Ordway’s pencils on All-Star Squadron and early issues of Infinity Inc.
Joe Giella will always be associated with The Flash (Barry Allen) as inker over Carmine Infantino’s pencils, And Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) as inker over Gil Kane’s pencils in the Silver Age.
I haven’t read Rachel Pollack’s Doom Patrol run yet, but hope to some day, and she was also a teacher, and an accomplished writer or novels, poetry, nonfiction, and books on Tarot.
Thanks Mike, I appreciate the suggestions. Looking forward to “the joy of discovery”, honestly, that’s the best part of diving into the work of creators with a large body of work.
Yes, R.I.P Pollack, Machlan and Giella.
I agree with you Sean. When I think of Giella, I think of his Flash inking. Their Flash work just exudes that “Kennedy Space Age” vibe.
For anyone interested, The Comics Journal ran a well-written obituary for Joe Giella at http://www.tcj.com.
“When I think of Giella, I think of his Flash inking”
Yup, that’s probably where I saw his name the most.
Snark Shark:
How about a Silver Age Flash song?
“Barry Allen was your Flash pal ‘n’ mine
He ran the Silver Age to the finish line…”
Mike Loughlin:
Thanks for the TCJ link on Joe Giella!
“Silver Age Flash”
Queen already did one! It was about Flash Gordon, but I think it would apply!
Snark Shark:
Oh yeah–that is a great song!
“FLASH! OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! HE’LL SAVE EVRY ONE OF US!”