Tags Matching: 80s

Men-Thangs

By pkindlon | Published November 15, 2010

Man-Thing is going to get a lot of play from me this week. I’ll be posting Man-Thing comic appearances, original art, clothing (?) and toys.

To start, let’s explore the many shapes of the Man-Thing. They say Batman is the book where artists express themselves, because the character has no defined look. Sometimes his ears are big, other times small. Sometimes his suit looks black and gray, sometimes it looks black and black. Bruce Wayne is James Bond; sometimes he’s Timothy Dalton and other times Daniel Craig. The flexibility this amorphous non-character allows is an artist’s wet dream. Color outside the lines, homie! Have fun. But Man-Thing takes that same idea and ramps it up a few notches to include all sorts of icky swamp shit. Is Man-Thing a mushy pile of turd? Or is he a hulking behemoth? Is he a hulking turd? Your call, dog! Make that muck monster sing!

Here we’ve got Man-Thing looking like an overweight drag-queen. I’m somewhat supportive of it.

And here looking like he plays defensive tackle for the Bears.

And here looking fit as hell. Dude looks like an Abercrombie model.

And probably my favorite, Man-Thing as a college football mascot.

Dream Reaver, I Believe You Can Get Me Through The Night

By pkindlon | Published November 8, 2010

So the Reavers are one of the greatest team of minions ever to grace the pages of a Marvel comic, right? No debate there. But what makes them so great exactly? The perfect amount of personality. They are distinct, but not really. They have personalities, but not overwhelming ones. The closest they have to a “face” on the team is a dude who was shot in the head and never talked about again. Because getting shot in the head is what a real minion does! He plays third-string and may be cut during training camp, but he still reports to work. This post is devoted to the Reavers. They played their positions. Best worthless characters ever.

First appearance. Silvestri looking good. Cyborgs and mutants.

This is where a shared universe pays off: “Neat” character appearances that don’t change much for either party. What? That’s not character driven storytelling? Go read Harry Potter, nerd. This is the Punisher, a man whose aims and ambitions are set in stone, and the Reavers, a team whose purpose is to shoot things they are told to shoot. Don’t get heavy on me.

And what’s this? The obligatory piece of crap licensing that everyone would be better off forgetting happened? Yes. It is.

And my favorite single issue of any comic ever? Yes! I goddamn love this book and have no idea why. Maybe it’s Forge, who I have a weird crush on. I’m 1/14th American Indian so maybe I’m distantly vibing with this dude on some ancient ley lines sort of trip. Or maybe that last statement was semi-racist and really I just love Freedom Force who also appear in this book.

Continue reading »

Excellent and underrated

By admin | Published November 3, 2010

Perhaps one of my strangest comic book obsessions is the oddball era of the Avengers circa issue 300. The team was in a very weird place and honestly, the Avengers (West Coast) were almost pulling the trump card on them. They had Iron Man, Hank Pym, and the Wasp, three of the original members. and long time favorites Hawkeye and Vision. But somehow a rag tag team of Captain America, Thor, Quasar and… whoever was around (really, look at the cover. She-Hulk and Black Panther. Before that? Gilgamesh, Mr. Fantastic, and the Invisible Woman.) worked JUST enough with some off kilter stories that the true version of Avengers found it’s way.

Throw in the Lava-Men, mindless lava creatures who took down a pretty bad idea (Avengers Island? Ew.) and this is a must have. You can find it in all sorts of used bins, but I’d scoop this copy up quickly. Comics at their finest.
Continue reading »

Jungle Fever

By pkindlon | Published October 25, 2010

Paul Chadwick, my superhero.

This is a piece of his personal catalog I almost missed. A 3-D “adult” (?!) fantasy epic about an amnesiac jungle woman told in two-issues. It’s Paul’s first paying gig and was written by Steve Perry (not, THAT Steve Perry… I think) but even without the benefit of Paul’s writing, this is worth coveting. Paul could illustrate a treatment manual for thrush and it would still be gorgeous.

And for any established Chadwick superfan, here’s a bonus. The cover proof for Samimba issue one! Now you can be obscure, weird, but also incredibly tasteful. I like to give you people first crack at these auctions, but if no one jumps soon I might snatch this up for myself.

SPIDER-MAN, MANSLAUGHTERER!

By pkindlon | Published October 19, 2010

Have we covered this gem here at Comic Noize? It’s on my mind because a coworker recently asked me if Spider-Man had ever killed anyone. This book sprung to mind instantly. It must have made a big impression on me in my youth.

We’ve got everything you could need in an 80′s comic book. Spider-Man, Wolverine, and the cold war. Put it in a tumbler, shake it up and you’ve got magic in a bottle. Written by Jim Owsley (the man now known as Christopher Priest) this book was concise and fun. How often are those two things paired these days? Also, Spider-Man killed someone.

Sometime soon I’m going to do a Owsley/Priest super-post because this dude is a real firebrand. The comic book profession is so full of wingnuts and nutjobs that I have to wonder where Priest falls in the spectrum. A quick bio would lead one to believe Priest is a benign weirdo, but perhaps he’s a raging psycho. Further exploration of his work/personal history will be needed before a definitive classification can be leveled against him.

For Asgard, Ron Frenz!

By admin | Published October 6, 2010

Nothing makes me pine for the winter weather like a good Asgard story. All these glorious Vikings, Valkyries, and Frost Giants fighting… So cool. And for about a six year period, Ron Frenz did it better than almost anyone.

He had big shoes to fill. Saying that is about as much of an understatement as it can get. Sal Buscema did a one year run, but before that was the even present shadow of writer/artist Walt Simonson, who’s run still stands as the best on THOR. But Frenz put forth an effort that did not fall short, and though some of the stories felt dense (honestly, most Thor books of the day had this problem. can’t fault the artist) the pace and ability to just jam the pages with action was brilliant.

His style echoed of the greats like Steve Ditko and even moreso, the great Jack Kirby. Outside of George Perez, no one knew how to fill the page quite like Ron Frenz in the 1980′s, and with style like that, you know you’re doing pretty dang good.

That’s all for my original art bender. I think I got it out of my system for today.
Continue reading »

DC Love.

By admin | Published October 5, 2010

As an unapologetic Marvel zombie, it’s hard to say this. But DC is responsible for some pretty cool comics. And here’s two posters that embody that DC cool. Superman done right is awesome – it’s sad that it’s become such a rare reading experience to enjoy a Superman book.

And despite the back and forth Watchmen love/hate surrounding the movie, this poster is almost completely undeniable.

Kraven’s Last Auction

By pkindlon | Published October 1, 2010

“Kraven’s Last Hunt” is one of my favorite storylines in comic history. It’s also a great argument against all the people crying about the mature content in “today’s” comics. Yo, this thing came out 20 years ago and is so dark and adult in content I don’t think I’ve seen its rival, even in the shock-value stuff Ennis pours out. Don’t fear adulthood, comic creators, it can be pretty cool.

I assume you all have this story, either in single issues or trade (maybe both?) so I didn’t bother posting up those auctions. Instead, I’m putting up the associated stuff. The weird stuff.

Here’s an interesting auction. Uncut dust jackets for the 2nd Edition of the hardcover. Featuring mediocre design, but beautiful Mike Zeck art, this is way cooler than a normal poster and would be a conversation piece on anyone’s wall.

Here’s a sculpture for the superfan. I don’t get into these super-specific dioramas depicting exact scenes from comics. But this is one of the most dramatic resurrections in the history of the superhero genre, so that’s worth something. We all knew Spider-Man would be back, but the magic J. M. DeMatteis managed here was making his return memorable. He did it. I’m not sure this piece achieves the same gravitas, but whatever, it would still look cool on your desk.

Wistfully Thinking Back to the Good Times

By pkindlon | Published September 16, 2010

They don’t build comics like this anymore. Romance between robots and mutants! Top-tier logo design! Team-ups so inane they stretch past irrelevancy and into brilliance! These are the good ole days my friends. Look upon them and experience the sadness that comes with lost love.

AND, while you’re in that lovelorn mind-space, be sure to check this out. I’m tapped out this week otherwise I would have purchased this myself and never told you guys about the auction. This is seriously the coolest piece of original art I’ve stumbled across on Ebay. I think about calling old mutant girlfriends every time I look at it.

Seduction of the Willing

By pkindlon | Published September 2, 2010

A good chunk of the people I follow on Twitter are comic book professionals. It’s interesting to see what they opt to reveal and what they choose to keep close to the chest. It’s especially gratifying to see them bicker. They spend a lot of time they could be writing, penciling, inking, or coloring, talking about who is to blame for the shrinking comic book market. They like to blame pirates, but they most like to blame each other. A finger is constantly being pointed at the Big Two for not offering enough all-ages reading options. Some of these people actually believe that kids want to read books aimed at kids.

Here’s my argument against that nonsense. The Punisher was the most badass character I could find on the racks at Fay’s Drugstore when I was prepubescent. So I loved him. By the time his self-titled book debuted he was the vanguard of scandalous shit at Marvel. Not only did he shoot people in the head with BULLETS, he also got laid once every 30 issues. He was a violent, malicious, asshole way before Garth Ennis made him a violent, malicious boardwalk caricature.

Kids don’t want to read things aimed at kids. They want to be adults. Make children’s comics and do an alright business with libraries, but you won’t see kids picking those books up at the comic shop. Kids want blood, sex, and swears.

Here’s one of the three (?) Mike Zeck posters from the Punisher’s halcyon days. This is one that does not feature blood, but if I was 9 years-old I think blood would be a major improvement. Pick this up and frame it.

Spoiler Alert: Want to know why the comics market is decreasing? Because all forms of entertainment are crushed by new forms of entertainment. Comics are now for people who love comics, not for someone who requires yet another entertainment option. Is that really a turn for the worse? I couldn’t say, but unless one of these creators has the power to stop cable television and video games from being produced, I think they should realign their thinking.