Marvel Comics October 2010 Solicitations - 1980s goodness

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE UNCANNY X-MEN VOL. 7 HC

Written by CHRIS CLAREMONT

Penciled by DAVE COCKRUM, MICHAEL GOLDEN, BRENT ANDERSON, BILL SIENKIEWICZ, JIM SHERMAN & BOB MCLEOD

It's a lucky seventh volume chock full of memorable X-Men moments by the classic creator combo of Claremont and Cockrum! First up, Kitty's leaving the School For Gifted Youngsters. Her new academic destination? The Massachusetts Academy, run by none other than Emma Frost, the Hellfire Club's White Queen—setting up the inevitable showdown between the X-Men and Sebastian Shaw's minions, with a classic, no-holds-barred, Storm/Emma catfight in the clouds!

Next, it's the immortal "Kitty's Fairy Tale," a storybook fantasy that introduced Kitty's loyal pet dragon, the lovable Lockheed! Then, the first half of the all-time great "Brood Saga," with four-issues of space operatics starring the Starjammers, the Shi'Ar, and those disgusting parasites from beyond the outer limits, the Brood!

Topping off this marvelous mutant Masterworks is the return of Rogue and Mystique's Evil Mutants and the coming of Dracula in a tale only Bill Sienkiewicz could draw! Throw in a double-sized annual team-up with the X-Men and Fantastic Four combining forces against the Badoon, and, just because we love ya, Avengers Annual #10, featuring the first appearance of Rogue and her pivotal meeting with Ms. Marvel, and this is indeed the most masterful way to start off a blockbuster new year of MARVEL MASTERWORKS! 

Collecting UNCANNY X-MEN #151-159, X-MEN ANNUAL #5 & AVENGERS ANNUAL #10. 304 Pages.

ATLANTIS ATTACKS OMNIBUS

Evil undersea monarchs Ghaur and Llyra are determined to bring the elder god Set to Earth, and no one on the surface world will stop them! Seven mortal women—including the Invisible Women, She-Hulk and Marvel Girl—have been selected to act as the brides of Set’s snake heads, and the ensuing conflict will spread to nearly every hero on Earth, from the Avengers to Quasar to the Punisher to the X-Men to the Fantastic Four! Can the heroes stop this terrible plot in time? Plus: the complex history of the Serpent Crown.

Collecting SILVER SURFER ANNUAL #2, IRON MAN ANNUAL #10, MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS #26, UNCANNY X-MEN ANNUAL #13, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #23, PUNISHER ANNUAL #2, SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #9, DAREDEVIL ANNUAL #5, AVENGERS ANNUAL #18, NEW MUTANTS #76, NEW MUTANTS ANNUAL #5, X-FACTOR ANNUAL #4, WEB OF SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #5, AVENGERS WEST COAST #56, AVENGERS WEST COAST ANNUAL #4, THOR ANNUAL #14 and FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #22. 544 Pages

Top 10 Marvel deaths in the 1980s

In my humble opinion of course:

1. Jean Grey (Phoenix) – Uncanny X-Men #137
2. Captain Marvel – The Death of Captain Marvel Graphic Novel
3. Elektra – Daredevil #181
4. Guardian – Alpha Flight (1983) #12
5. Vision – West Coast Avengers #42-44
6. Jean DeWolffe - Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #107
7. Dracula – Doctor Strange #62
8. General Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross – Incredible Hulk #330
9. Walter Langowski (Sasquatch) – Alpha Flight (1983) #23
10. Douglas Ramsey (Cypher) - New Mutants #60

Some Mike Zeck love...

Enjoy...

Some beautiful black and white portfolio pages from the 1980s:

And some original pencilled art from the Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt

1985 - The Vision and Scarlet Witch

The Vision and Scarlet Witch

Writer: Steve Englehart

Artist: Richard Howell

12 issue miniseries

Written by veteran Avengers scribe, Steve Englehart and drawn by Richard Howell, this miniseries draws from the rich history both characters have.

From SteveEnglehart.com:

“Richard Howell was the artist here. He had the same deep affection for Vizh and Wanda that I did, and we loved doing this book. Since Vizh and Wanda had gotten married in Giant-Size Avengers #4, the next logical step for them was to have a child. Of course, he's only an android, but she has magick... Once Wanda gets pregnant in issue 3, the following nine issues take place in real time - the first time that had ever been done. And I went one step farther by tying each story to a prominent holiday of the month.”

I found the run of 12 issues to be a bit much and felt like it dragged on. It’s interesting now looking at it a bit differently now with the information in the above quote about these single-issue, theme-based plots. Most of the overall story’s tension comes from family issues, be it the Quicksilver, or Magneto and their relationship with the family of Avengers.

Englehart succeeds at weaving the back story of these characters in with flow of the story. It’s also fun to watch as we walk along with the Vision and the Scarlet Witch during their pregnancy and child birth.

I do have to point out though that the Toad, no matter how powerful he's made, can't be anything but an underling. Englehart tries to make him more than he can ever be. Having Toad as the principle villain in one issue was bad enough, but in three issues was just over the top.

Howell’s art excel at conveying beautiful emotional scenes, but his overall sense of action and dynamic storytelling falls short. So in short, his art works as this series depends on those key emotional scenes and you can look past the weaknesses of the action scenes.

The series was groundbreaking and daring not only in its portrayal of the evolution of the relationship between the Vision and the Scarlet Witch, but in the collapse of Crystal and Quicksilver’s marriage as well as Crystal’s affair (issues that were rarely dealt with in comic books in the 1980s).

This miniseries was recently reprinted in trade paperback format, Avengers Vision and Scarlet Witch - A Year in the Life. Here’s the promo blurb:

“In a world full of heroes, villains, and monsters, there are few stranger phenomenons than the marriage of a mutant witch to a heroic synthozoid! As this unlikely couple settles into their home in Leonia, New Jersey, they find themselves at odds with the members of their complex families, including Ultron, the Grim Reaper, Quicksilver, and Magneto! And when Wanda uses the power of a village of witches to make herself pregnant, the happy twosome becomes a happy foursome when twin sons William and Thomas are born, the future Wiccan and Speed of the Young Avengers! Plus, the dissolution of Crystal and Quicksilver's marriage! This title features the threats of the Lethal Legion, Salem's Seven, Samhain, the Toad, the demons of Zor, the Enchantress, and the Grim Reaper! And guest-starring Dr. Strange, Power Man, Spider-Man, and the Avengers! It collects Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1985) #1-12, and West Coast Avengers (1985) #2.”

Vince Colletta

Let me preface this post by saying that I haven’t read much about Vince Colletta the man (and from the brief mentions of him that I have, he was a rather nice guy) and that this is a criticism of his work and not him personally.

While Vince Colletta made his mark in the Silver Age as Marvel Comics most prolific and reliable inker, his work stands as a contentious issue for discussion. In my humble opinion, his Silver Age work on Thor diminished the explosive and dynamic pencils of Jack Kirby. I always felt that Kirby’s art looked best under the more faithful inkings of Joe Sinnott and Chic Stone. Colletta’s inks always seemed to impose its own style rather than embellish the style of the penciller.

In Erik Larsen’s opinion (http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=16355):

“But Colletta was a hack.

 Vinnie erased background figures and simplified backgrounds and turned fully realized drawings into silhouettes. I have quite a few pages of original art from Kirby’s run on “Thor” and Vinnie erased or whited out incidental figures or details frequently -- in one case, Vinnie whited out an entire train.

 Like all artists, Vinnie was paid by the page, and Vinnie was paid poorly. There were no royalties or reprint money -- the original art was not returned, so there was no incentive to do good work. As long as editors gave him work, he'd take the money and spit back the work as quickly as possible. Doing that meant taking shortcuts and Vinnie took shortcuts aplenty.”

 (…)

 The real tragedy of Colletta was not that he was a hack, but rather that he turned others into hacks. Pencillers who had been putting in long hours at the drawing board and who were appalled to have their work butchered would start cutting corners themselves. Often it resulted in them slacking off because, as they'd say, "Vinnie will just ruin it anyway."

There’s no doubt over his career that Vince Colletta rescued hundreds of Marvel comics that were on the brink of missing deadlines. However, his work, in my opinion, left a lot to be desired. I recall dreading seeing his name anywhere in the credits of a comic book.

Amazing Spider-Man #290-291, the famous Peter Parker-Mary Jane proposal issues, featured art by John Romita Jr. with inks by Colletta. It’s hard to tell without Romita Jr’s original pencils, but the finished product is not pleasant to the eyes. You can see Romita Jr’s art trying to escape from under Colletta’s heavy, confining inks. These issues seem like a bit of a rush job though as the backgrounds are rather light.

Similarly for Web of Spider-Man #17 featuring art from up and coming penciller Marc Silvestri. Colletta’s inks make Silvestri’s art style almost impossible to recognize.

Colletta was always a loyal company man and a good friend to Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter. When Shooter made his less than graceful exit from Marvel Comics, Colletta left with him and left this scathing note:

TwoMorrows Publishing has released a tell-all book about Vince Colletta by Robert L. Bryant Jr.  You can download a full chapter preview of the book here:

http://twomorrows.com/media/CollettaPreview.pdf

For more information on Robert Bryant Jr.’s book, check it out here:

http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=899&zenid=8ak81eiu45hggsrnl1cn0ccj05

Why Marvel Comics in the 1980s?

I discovered my first comic store across the street from a great used bookstore where I also used to buy back issue comics. I distinctly remember picking up Marvel’s Secret Wars #1 and devouring it on the drive home.

I learned about a closer store about a forty minute drive from my home town. It was there that I set up my first pull list in late ‘83. I remember my dad limiting me to only four titles a month. I sidestepped this limitation by convincing my sister to add the series that I missed to her pull list, since we were treated equitably.

The four titles I had pulled were: Chris Claremont & John Romita Jr.’s X-Men, Marv Wolfman and George Perez’s New Teen Titans, Roger Stern and John Romita Jr’s Amazing Spider-Man, and John Byrne’s Alpha Flight.

New Teen Titans # 38: Who is Donna Troy?

X-Men # 177-178: the New Brotherhood of Evil Mutants

Amazing Spider-Man # 248: “The Kid Who Collected Spider-Man!”

Alpha Flight # 9: Sasquatch versus the Super-Skrull!

The value of my collection is tied closely to my attachment to it. This attachment has been fostered by hunting for back issues at conventions, standing in line for hours at conventions to meet your favorite writer/artist to get them to sign your comics, visiting comic stores across North America, and finding that rare gem of an issue in back issue bargain bin.

If you were anything like me as a kid, you probably started out buying comic books from a rack at your neighborhood convenience store. I used to circulate through the three convenience stores in my small town searching for specific issues or titles. By the early 80s, I discovered a comic store where I could get all the issues I wanted put aside as part of a weekly pull list.

Why do I collect comics? As an adult approaching his forties, I often ask myself that same question. There’s the escape into this shared heroic universe where heroes are still heroes and justice is always done. There’s the pure entertainment value, getting that mental theater going, engage your mind to get the sequential art flowing, brining it to life. There’s the nostalgic return to childhood in rereading a comic that you can associate to a specific time of your youth or the memories of lazy Sunday afternoons spent with a pile of comics and cookies.

Recently though, I've shifted over to hardcovers from single issues. Not really sure, perhaps its how they look on my bookshelf, perhaps hardcovers seem more mature than floppies, or it might be that it's much for easy for me to grab a hardcover than move around 3 or 4 long boxes searching for a handful of issues.

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