Sinister Forces

Sinister Forces
Originally uploaded by
Gems from the Collection.

Very cool collection of pulp sci-fi covers and art. I'll be using it for reference material for the LEGO micro moonbase that I'm suppose to be building... :)

Captain Marvel

Since I read Jeff Smith's take on Captain Marvel (very good, btw), I've been thinking about how Alan Moore has corrupted the character for me. Here is a list of moments on his Miracleman runs that just completely mind-blowing:

1. Michael Moran relearns his magic word in the middle of a terrorist raid on an atomic research center.
2. Miracleman's power are scientifically explained; the body-swapping technology is also addressed.
3. Child birth in a comic book???
4. Miracleman kills his maker, Dr. Gargunza; his origin is retold in a way that isn't just an orphan gains magical powers, but an orphan is kidnapped for a military research project with alien technology.
5. Miracleman kills Kid Miracleman.

Kimota!

Gaiman's Eternals

Picked up #6 of 7 of Gaiman's run on the Eternals... Now I'm not a Marvel Zombie; I'm a hard-core DC fan. I've been reading Lee and Kirby's run on the Fantastic Four in trade and I'm enjoying it. I know a little about the Marvel-verse, but I'm not familiar with Kirby's Eternals run. You would think before Gaiman did his run on the Eternals, that Marvel would release Kirby's run in a trade-paper back format. And when I started Gaiman's run, it was #1 of 6... #2 of 6, now it's #6 of 7? Did Marvel forget how to count? Just silly... Aside from Marvel being a bunch of idiots, the series is great... typical Gaiman. I just wish I knew a little more of the back story or the history to really appreciate how he puts it into the Marvel-verse.

Shazam Thing

Shazam Thing
Originally uploaded by Lady, That's My Skull.

God, I found this funny!

Eternals

I've picked up Neil Gaiman's run on the Eternals and I'm loving it. The artwork is superb, the story is engaging and poetic. It's typical Gaiman. I also picked up Jeff Smith's Captain Marvel... Now I like Bone a lot. I'm thinking I need to get my copy of Bone back from my brother-in-law so I can read it again. But his Captain Marvel is very Bonesque... seems like a very simple store on the surface, but lots of "Oh, wow" moments. I'm glad I picked it up...

Now I need to pick up the Essential Captain Marvel in trade... saw it on the shelf at the comic shop I went to. In my mind, I'm corrupted by Alan Moore's run on Miracleman and Tom Strong. I know Jeff is sticking to the spirit of the old Capt'n, but some of story elements and ideas in Alan's Miracleman is burned into my skull... And Neil Gaiman did a few Miracleman stories after Alan left... very good stories, considering it was an hard act to follow.

Essential Fantastic Four, Vol. 1

Been reading through Essential Fantastic Four, Vol. 1 the last couple of days. Now, I'm not a Marvel zombie, but I did read some FF back in the 80's -- I've always had a fondness for the team. I've always been a DC reader -- Swamp Thing, Superman, Phantom Stranger, Batman, etc. But I decided to give Stan Lee and Jack Kirby a chance and let me say, I haven't been disappointed. Jack Kirby's creatures are cool... I can really see his influence, especially on Mike Mignola's artwork and for that I'm appreciative.

The funny thing is, with Stan Lee's writing, I get ideas for other stories... for instance, when the FF first encounter the Skrull, 3 of them were left on Earth after the first invasion attempt, hypnotized in to thinking they were cows. Not being a Marvel zombie, did a little research and found out they broke the spell and came back later in another story. But I wondered if they mated with normal cows during that hypnotic stage, why types of creatures would have resulted -- Shape shifting cows? Super-smart mutant cows? :) This in itself wouldn't be the story, but the backdrop for something more interesting... I'm wondering if there's enough loose threads like this for an interesting non-super-hero types of stories.

Rate: B+

DC Showcase Presents: Phantom Stranger, part 3

Finished it today! Great Len Wein stories. Terrific art work by both Jim Aparo and Tony DeZuniga. I'll have to pick up a few more Showcase trades; it's a nice format and a great read, especially when I don't want to spend $7+ dollars per comic to read a continuous arc.

With as the series develops, the stories are no longer formulaic. But with Len and his story-telling style, there seems to be more of a back-story to the Phantom Stranger; just not a supernatural super-hero that show up out of the moment of kismet -- his word, not mine, but I love it.

Rate: A+