Tags Matching: 90s

Chris Bachalo nailed it

By admin | Published October 6, 2010

Three quick notes on this original art piece, from Generation X #1.

1. Something seems extra cool about this being from an “important” issue of the series. Although you often see great original art, for some reason the pieces from big issues fetch a larger price tag because, well, they were more relevant. More people saw this page than some random shot from Generation X #13. Issue #1 is catching a lot of casual fans, give-it-a-try’s and also had a large chance of becoming the “I love this ______ (artist/book/writer/character)” issue.

2. Page gives you a great sampling of the book’s main characters. Monet, Jubilee, Husk, Banshee. Outside of Emma Frost and/or Chamber, you’ve covered most of your bases.

3. It’s amazing to see how much time and effort it appears that Bachalo sank it to some of these early issues of Generation X. Look at how crisp, smooth, and detailed this page is – ask yourself if you’ve ever seen Bachalo’s work look so crafted. And this isn’t in anyway bashing any of his other work – the looseness of his style explodes on the page and has become his signature. Here he feels like a focused and sharp weapon – all of the energy in his pencils just oozing out of these tightly drawn, precise pages. Within 12 issues his style loosened, and his illustration transformed into Busta Rhymes – extravagant, unique, explosive.Whether enjoyed or not, Bachalo’s art demanded attention like few others, and continues to do just that today.

So in summary, a $645 Buy It Now seems reasonable for this. A little lower and I think I’d have to start thinking about it.

Checking out SPAWN?

By admin | Published October 5, 2010

This seems like as good a spot to start as any. As I mentioned in my earlier Greg Capullo post, he may have done Spawn better than McFarlane himself, and even a circa 1992 Grant Morrison is one worth looking into. How did I not know these existed until doing some research today? I guess writing a three issue run on Spawn isn’t something that Grant Morrison is necessarily screaming from the clocktower about these days.

One thing should be said about Spawn, and specifically the first say 50 issues – they knew how to throw down a cool looking cover. That might be the only thing to be said, but major kudos to Capullo, McFarlane and Co…

And if collected editions are your thing, here it is in all it’s glory.

The Ramones do Spider-Man

By admin | Published October 4, 2010

This would be SO much cooler if it was a 7″ vinyl record instead of a cassette tape. But you know, when it comes to The Ramones doing the Spider-Man theme song, take what you can get it and say “thank you very much good sir.”

One thing… $199? Ouch. How rare is this thing???

Strong Guy

By admin | Published October 4, 2010

Maybe some of Peter David’s finest writing is the segment where Guido, bodyguard to Lila Cheney, joins X-Factor and has to pick a code name. Strong Guy is his choice, and the irreverence and annoyance with which the other characters react is perfect. Havok has never seemed so surly, and Mr. David did it perfectly.

So for the Strong Guy diehards out there, this one’s for you. Joe Madureira original art – nothing special here, but like I said, if you are just looking for a manageably priced piece of a loved character, this would do very nicely.

Bad, Better, Best.

By admin | Published October 3, 2010

Worst to first, an assortment of comic posters.

BAD – Time displaced mutant hero/cop from the ’90s. Next.

BETTER – Jim Lee’s Wolverine in a traditional X-Team Uni. Cool, but not the best Jim Lee / X-Men poster.

BEST -John Romita Sr. puts together a Spider-Man poster on a bright sunny day in New York. Somewhere, the world is alive with happiness.

This is just weird.

By admin | Published October 2, 2010

Quick, you have to pick one artist to associate with Kitty Pryde.

John Byrne? Good choice.

Alan Davis? Good choice.

But how about…

JOE MADUREIRA!

Hmmmn… I’ve seen J.Mad draw Shadowcat once or twice. It was fine. Pretty good actually. But this combo makes no sense to me. Also, how awkward is that action figure? Is it even an action figure? Isn’t a Shadowcat figure more of a doll? Let’s be real.

This is an autographed Kitty Pryde doll. Be bold. Make the purchase. I thought you were a real fan.

Deadpool x Joe Mad x Original Art

By admin | Published October 1, 2010

I don’t think anyone here is a big Deadpool fan, but I see his value. Maybe not even that – I see his potential. But right now, he’s the equivalent of food options on a cross country drive. You know there’s amazing food somewhere, and you want it, but all you are seeing are McDonald’s and Subway. No one’s doing the work to make this character more than a literal idiot babble stream of thought. But – the sales are there, so who am I?

Anyways, this is one of the best original art piece auctions I’ve ever seen. With two days left, it’s still at a very reasonable price, and it has a potentially awesome feature for presentation. You get the original Joe Madureira pencils, Joe Rubinstein inking, and Laura colors – so you get the entire work as it moves through the traditional comic art process. I could see this being put into a three panel frame, pencils to the left, inked work in the middle, and the final colored piece to the right.

If you are a fan of original art, you must see the auction. So cool.

Space X-Men in Spacesuits

By admin | Published October 1, 2010

During the later period of Scott Lobdell’s epic run on the ’90s Uncanny X-Men, things got a little weird. An amnesiac Magneto joined the team, dubbing himself Joseph. The X-Men for some reason or another were in space, and instead of like every other time they’ve been there, they decided to get some fancy-dancy spacesuits. This screams of either Joe Madureira boredom or “we need some space variant action figures!” I’ve never seen this promo poster for this storyline.

This all led up to, of course, Uncanny X-Men #350, where it’s revealed that Gambit was involved with the Marauders and had basically aided and abetted the Mutant Massacre. This, as I believe I’ve alluded to before, was effectively the last relevant Gambit story. The issue came out in December, 1999 – what if he had just been left in the ’90s? His character has only gone through painful and terrible development since this time, and it would have been poetic for his last story to be at the very end of the decade he helped define.

Instead, we’ve been saddled with a character who’s been so embarrassing for the past ten years that there’s almost no imaginable way to revitalize him as a valuable property. To think, he was once seen as a potential contender for Wolverine / Punisher / Daredevil levels of popularity. Ooof.

If only I had the word…

By admin | Published September 27, 2010

My love for Rob Liefeld and his misshapen, haphazard, footless art knows no bounds. I have 35 copies of X-Force #1, all of the trading cards, and have only opened one copy. I’ve even favorited hisLevis commercial on youtube. But I need to proclaim this.

Publicly, preferably in t-shirt format. And if possible, some sort of declarative that doesn’t necessarily count as a word, but will be instantly recognizable as my absolute approval of all things Rob.

“YEEEEEEHAAAAAAA”

Perfect. Someone, please pass that copy of Heroes Reborn: Captain America graphic novel sitting on my coffee table to me?

Top 100 Summer Comics #1

By admin | Published September 21, 2010

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…

but those were our times.

#1 – Spider-Man 1

I was 9 years old when this came out. Do you know what that means? It’s the perfect age for a child into comic books. Young enough to embrace the suspended disbelief, old enough to hunger for something new, something aggressive and fresh. Between ages 9 and 12 children are trying to establish themselves from their parents and peers alike, but especially from themselves as a “child.” Growing from childhood to adolescence. So the graphic medium of comic books where the audience has always maintained a hum of appeal to children and adults is a gateway and transition through those days. It’s no coincidence so many people my age I know who collected or read comics read them during this time period. It’s the comic book window – they either grab you here or they don’t.

I was already locked in – I fall outside of that norm on the early side. I was eagerly anticipating this book, feigning and reading whatever comics I could find, so when Todd McFarlane’s SPIDER-MAN dropped, I was tuned in. And it was good. All the elements of McFarlane’s run on Amazing were there, just amplified. This felt new – even the paper felt different. There was a legitimate low level news buzz about this, and we had just hit the crest of the “comic books as collectible investments” wave.

Why does this issue come in at numero uno on this list? Because this was the breaking point. There are blurred lines on the golden and silver age of comics, and the period that followed that as well. But for the modern age, there’s no question. It started here. For all that means and represents, an entire generation of comic books, comic companies, comic movies, and most importantly, comic fans began with Todd McFarlane and the gnarly, high detail webs of the wall crawler himself. Whether you flip through this one on the first or last day of summer, know that you’re partaking in one of the key elements of a classic summer activity.