clyde@ut-ngp.UUCP (Clyde W. Hoover) (01/26/84)
Oh eater of lines, accept this as my humble sacrifice...
Ok guys, I've been thinking about contributing to this group for
some time, and finally am taking the plunge. Opinions and tastes
(or lack thereof) are strictly my own and don't reflect on any
other self-respecting person (living, dead, undead or astral).
Excuse the length - flames either to the list or to /dev/null.
What I read and (maybe) why.
I was first affected by the comics bug at an early age - I once
had subscriptions to several DC titles in the early-to-mid-60s.
I 'outgrew' comics and starting subscribing to Playboy (while
living at home, no less).
My faves were Green Lantern (drawn by Gil Kane),
Worlds Finest (which had, in retrospect, some of the SILLIEST
Batman writing I have ever seen), Batman comics and a smattering
of Legion of Super Heroes, Flash, Detective Comics and other
miscellaenous DC books.
In between my freshman and sophomore years in college (1974), I lived
with a comics collector - his entire closet was FILLED with 100's
of comics. Needless to say I was bitten again (by the comics bug)
and have been (usually) happily afflicted ever since. In this
wave, I discovered Marvel (Exclesior!) and left DC in its own
decay and dust. My tastes have considerably broaded since then.
On to the festivities... in approximate order of affection.
Oh-boy-I-can-hardly-wait-for-the-next-one department:
Cerebus - Without a doubt one of the BEST comics EVER. Dave Sim
is a genius of storytelling - he steals from and/or
parodies EVERYBODY.
Where else but in Cerebus #51 can you get your basic short grey
semi-controlled psychopathic earth-pig, Groucho, Harpo and Chico
Marx, Rodney Dangerfield, Foghorn Leghorn (er Elrod of Melvinbone),
with a touch of Yosemite Sam thrown in. Simply hilarious.
American Flagg! - (Yes, let me jump on that bandwagon too). I have always
liked the idiosyncratic look of Chaykin's work, and A.F. is
VERY GOOD STUFF, both artisitically and, more importantly,
in story. I marvel at the sheer amount of DETAIL present
in the artwork, plus the tightness of the story.
Reuben Flagg is the kind of 'person' that I think all
of us would like to think WE would be in such circumstances.
The New Teen Titans - One of the (admit it folks) most lackluster superhero
groups in comics has been made over to rival (and sometimes
exceed) the X-Men in their 'humaness'. This group of
characters (I still rankle at Dick Grayson being
a 'teenager' after ~30 years) could almost exist.
George Perez has never done better artwork than here (though
his late(?)-70s Avengers was one of the best drawn Marvel
books in that era).
X-Men - (Bandwagon time again, guys). Chris Claremont is in a rut -
a somewhat attractive rut, but a rut nonetheless. In spite
of this, the X-Men somehow survives as one of the better
comics around. CC is not afraid to drastically change
characters (Storm going punk, out, Scott Summers
getting married and putting that old brooding bit behind
him, and Xavier finally getting out of that damn wheelchair).
The Claremont/Byrne X-Men were simply some of the
BEST comics ever done.
The Mighty Thor - I just came back to old Goldilocks since
Simonson took over. What a book! (Sorry I only caught
the tail end of the Beta Ray Thor story). I have never
cared much for Asgardian battles (which lay waste to
most of the nearby landscape), and all the Ragnarok (sp?)
crap disgusted me. Needless to say things are different now.
Favorite scene: Nick Fury disguising Thor by having
him wear glasses: "Here! Put on these cheaters!
They always worked for that other guy" - then having
him run into Clark (Kent?) in the hallway.
Love Simonson's sound effects (BAWHAM, DOOM, KRATHHAMMM!).
Coming next (as if you care) - Hey-this-is-good-stuff department.
--
Clyde W. Hoover @ Univ. of Texas Computation Center; Austin, Texas
(Shouter-To-Dead-Parrots)
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