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Marvel Universe Series IV Revisited, Part 20

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Walt

This page of cards is a bit more interesting looking back, as being a bit more relevant to comics I was reading at the time, or within a couple years of this set.

Ghost Rider vs. Blaze, Hulk vs. Hulk, Spider-Man and Cardiac, Punisher and Ghost Rider, Wolverine and Omega Red, Cable and Deadpool all grab my attention just by concept. Hulk vs. X-Factor grabs my attention now due to knowing both were being written by Peter David at the time…though that was something I had not yet come to notice in 1993. At the time, other than perhaps the Superman books’ writers and Alex Ross on Marvels, I really didn’t have much concept of specific writers and artists.

In 2013 with the internet and such, it seems rather silly to have a checklist card, when one could likely very easily look up a “checklist” online for what cards exist. Back in ’93, though, this was an extremely valuable resource for knowing how many cards there were and what they were, in the holes in my collection. The checklist card was–outside of seeing cards for sale at the comic shop–the only real means of seeing the set as a whole.

Nowadays I would certainly feel a certain bit of disconcertment over having a “wasted slot” in a card pack taken up by a checklist.

Continue reading →

Filed under: Marvel Series IV Revisited, The '90s Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

A Haul Worthy of Comic Con (part 2)

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Walt

The other day I shared a bunch of bargain bin comics I’ve picked up the last few weeks. Cool as those were (especially the Robin stack), the “heart” of it all–and where I’ve felt the MOST “progress”–has been with the X-books.

Here is the bulk of my Marvel haul the last few weeks…again, this would put what I could find at any major convention to shame….three local comic shops can outdo a room of 50+ dealers.

xmenwolverinehulk

I believe with this issue of Uncanny X-Men, I’m only missing Gambit’s first appearance (#266) from having a run on the title from Inferno to 400-something, and even the 400s are getting filled in nicely (see further below).

ironmanhulketc

These were issues I actually grabbed to round out a batch of “$.50/ea or 15/$5” issues. I’m going to have to pull together my Iron Man run soon to figure out exactly what I am missing–I’m pretty sure I’ve got at least half of the 1998-2004 series, and a good chunk of the Extremis series.

mephistovsmarveluniverse

Saw all 4 issues, which I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen all 4 at once or not…I know I’ve seen this in chunks of 1-3 issues, though. And for a mere $1? Heck, yeah!

2099worldoftomorrow

Kinda bummed, assuming someone cherry-picked #1 here. Still…easier to remember I need #1 than one issue in 2-5.

2099doomissues1to26minus2

As I’ve said repeatedly in this blog: I’m a sucker for “runs.” Doom 2099 #1-26 (missing only #2) was too good to pass up…though I’ve been more interested in getting a run of Spider-Man 2099 like this…and leaning toward adding the 2099 line to my “want list.”

captainamericafightingchance

I’ve long been interested in the Fighting Chance story, in tracking down a copy for myself. I once borrowed this run from a friend, and read it–years ago, over a decade back–but I’ve wanted to have a copy for myself. I’m pretty sure I’ve got most of the run from 438-454 or whatever the final issue was around Onslaught, the entire Heroes Reborn series, the entire Heroes Return series, and a part of the 2002 series…so had my eye on this as a point to go “back to.” Finding all 12 issues of the main arc plus the epilogue in one go for basically $3.25? Beats the heck outta “just” a single $3.99 book today!

1016728_654404861255975_924327134_n

And just because it’s a huge issue and was only 25 cents, snagged another copy of #400. Also grabbed Astro City vol.1 #1, first print…for the sheer novelty of it only being a quarter. Had there been more issues of the series, I would’ve snagged those as well–even though I have the collected volumes through Local Heroes.

shinyxbooksissues

I grabbed Prime and Uncanny #300 because of being big issues…and shiny. Can’t beat comics like this from 20 years ago that would easily be $8+ today…and getting both for about 50 cents.

xmanissues

Gradually starting to fill in the X-Man issues. I originally followed ALL the X-titles during Age of Apocalypse, and then a few months immediately after, before dwindling off on the various titles. I kept up with X-Man off and on through the years, which makes it a bit harder to remember what I remember because I read or have just seen the cover image for.

amazingxmenageofapocalypse

And I think I’m somewhat building another Age of Apocalypse set…at least if I can find all 4 issues of a given series together. I keep seeing Astonishing X-Men, but finally saw a full run of Amazing X-Men.

xmenunlimitedissues

Also filling in the X-Men Unlimited run. I’m also trying to track down the NON-shiny covers for the various issues that had ’em…while they’re cool and grab my attention, ultimately I actually want to have all “standard” covers in my main run of the series. In this case, the Phalanx Covenant crossover is the main such series of issues.

newxmenacademyx

Academy X is probably gonna be one of the harder series for me to fill in, given how “recent” it is. While $1/issue isn’t bad, I suspect that ultimately I’ll wind up having to suck it up and raid $1 bins for this series…barring more significant “finds” than the handful of issues here.

newxmen

I wound up buying the first two oversized hardcovers collecting this run…and jumped to the singles from there. So I’m backtracking on the singles. My main “goal” is the ’90s X-books through this NEW X MEN run; beyond that will just be bonus.

uncannyxmenissues

Despite focus on the ’90s, I think ultimately I’m aiming for Inferno to the end of the first Uncanny X-Men series…with hauls like this, it’s not too far outta the question.

xfactororiginalseries

I’ve had far better luck with X-Factor than I have with New Mutants…almost to the point that I’m debating whether I even want to track down the New Mutants series piecemeal. I may content myself with the later printings of Cable’s first appearance to the end, or just stick with X-Force.

xfactor2005

Though this “2nd” X-Factor series technically falls outside my “core” range…the renumbering to 200+ (and finding this 43-issue run) leads me to count it as one entire run on the whole…particularly given PAD’s lengthy run here.

generationxissues

I’d forgotten that Generation X only ran 75 issues…but should have recalled, as it and X-Man were both part of this Counter X sub-imprint/branding at the end, and both ended at that #75. This run is nearly 1/5 of the entire series…which isn’t bad at all!

excaliburissues

Excalibur’s in a similar vein as New Mutants for me, except I’ve had much more luck finding a number of issues for it. It’s one of the lower “priorities” for me, but since a lot of my fondness of the ’90s is centered largely around titles that existed during Fatal Attractions and around Age of Apocalypse…this certainly counts!

xtremexmenissues

Finally, a bunch of X-Treme X-Men issues. I’m actually particularly interested in learning more about what went down with Rogue and Gambit, and kinda see them as having disappeared into this series for a few years. How accurate that is remains for me to discover, but nothing wrong with adding another complete X-series to my collection…

Filed under: NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Fatal Attractions Revisited: Uncanny X-Men #304

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Walt

…For What I Have Done

Writer: Scott Lobdell
Pencilers: John Romita Jr., Jae Lee, Chris Sprouse, Brandon Peterson, Paul Smith
Inkers: Dan Green, Dan Panosian, Terry Austin, Tom Palmer, Keith Williams
Colorist: Mike Thomas
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Cover: John Romita Jr., Dan Panosian
Assistant Editor: Lisa Patrick
Editor: Bob Harras
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Dated: September, 1993

After a couple of the X-Books that were not the actual X-Men themselves, this issue finally pulls the X-Men I was familiar with into this story. Granted, I wasn’t extremely familiar with them–but I knew who most of them were thanks to the cartoon series. Wolverine, Bishop, Cyclops, Storm, Jean Grey, Beast, Professor Xavier, even Colossus…and of course, Magneto.

I recall reading the death of Illyana–Colossus’ sister–in the previous issue (sucked in by the image of Jean Grey and Jubilee with the blurb “If you read only ONE X-title this month–this issue MUST be it!”). This issue has the funeral as we see the various characters reacting to the death of the young girl. We also get some backstory on Magneto and the losses he’s suffered, which have been driving factors in his methods of trying to “save” the “mutant race.” There are some quieter moments between various characters; I especially like the Kitty Pryde/Storm and Banshee/Bishop scenes. I’m still amazed in retrospect at how very new some of these characters were in the summer of 1993 (particularly Bishop), and how much more all the characters have grown, changed, or otherwise [been] developed in the decades since this story.

As Illyana’s funeral draws to a close, Magneto crashes the party, which is almost immediately further crashed by Exodus and the rest of the Acolytes, who have come to grips with the revelation of Cortez’ part in Magneto’s near-death. The X-Men and Magneto and his Acolytes clash, as the ship Avalon is brought into Earth’s atmosphere above them, causing world-wide issues and fear. The battle quickly becomes one with catastrophic consequences should the X-Men fail, but ultimately it falls to Xavier to pull a new trick out of his figurative hat to save the day, using his power in a way I don’t recall seeing him do prior to this (though it wouldn’t seem all that out of place nowadays).

This issue felt a bit more like being dropped into the middle of a story, the way it opened–the Acolytes already trying to tear Cortez apart for his deception. I honestly don’t recall if this continues directly from Uncanny X-Men #303 or from some other issue of the X-books. While I vaguely remembered that it was shortly after Illyana’s funeral that Colossus left the X-Men, I’d forgotten that the funeral itself was in this issue, and the way Magneto and Co. crashed the funeral. I’d also completely forgotten the way Xavier ended this particular battle, which seemed both absurd and epic at the same time, to me.

The issue’s art is a bit fractured–there are five pencilers on the issue, and I noticed it while reading–particularly with Magneto’s flashback. Fortunately, other than Jae Lee‘s art, the rest fits relatively well together and isn’t glaring. Of course, that’s something I notice now but if I noticed back in ’93, I don’t recall it being a conscious thing of recognizing different artists’ work, or knowing about “fill in artists” or any such stuff. All that said…this is another issue that I don’t mind the art on the whole, and which seems to fit the story.

Including a few ads, this issue has 62 pages for only a $3.95 cover price. I like the cover–most of the characters shown on the front are the ones I would have been most familiar with, though in this sense are rather generic. But once opened up, we see that there are a lot more characters involved in the image, all angrily looking toward a huge foreground closeup of Magneto. And yet again, I like the hologram on this cover. While the hologram itself is pretty cool, its image strikes me as rather iconic for the time–I’m sure I’ve seen that several image of Magneto with the swirl of debris outside the context of this story. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’ve snagged a copy of this from a bargain bin since buying my original copy at full cover price in 1993, but the copy I have onhand right now for this rereading and such was part of a 3/$10 deal, which while not as satisfying on principle as getting the issue for under or around $1, is still quite worthwhile for being less than cover price.

This issue seems to set the stage for the next couple chapters, which to me are the heart of this story, and what I MOST think of with the title Fatal Attractions.

Filed under: The '90s Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Fatal Attractions Revisited: X-Force #25

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Walt

Back to Front

Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Art: Greg Capullo
Inkers: Wiacek, Green, Ryan, Palmiotti, Hanna, Conrad, Milgrom
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Colorist: George Roussos
Editors: Bob Harras, Tom DeFalco
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Dated: August, 1993

Twenty-five issues…big number, huh? Well…maybe not. I’ve seen this title repurposed for awhile, then renamed X-Statix and that ran for a couple years. Then post-Messiah-CompleX another X-Force ran for a couple years, and the current Uncanny X-Force has run about 30 issues. But y’know, back in the day, this was a common anniversary–a whopping 25 issues.

As with X-Factor #92, I re-read this and much of it was like I was reading it for the first time…certainly the first time with much comprehension of who these characters were. This was even before Cable first got his own series, which ran for over 100 issues (followed by Cable & Deadpool that ran about 50 and the more recent Cable series with Hope than ran about 25).

This issue seems to be the introduction of Exodus. A sticker on the bag this copy of the issue was in when I bought it stated “Exodus 1st App.” Back in the day, I didn’t pick up on that, and just thought he was another one of these “Acolytes” and didn’t dig or think any deeper. It’s also the “return” of Cable, apparently the first he’d shown up since the X-Cutioner’s Song crossover few months earlier.

The new mutants–the X-Force–return home from a mission. However, someone else is there–and the battle is quickly joined…though it turns out their mentor–Cable–has returned. Some are glad to see the man, others not so happy–but all listen as Cable explains a bit of where he’s been and what he’s learned since the events that seperated him from his pupils. Exodus arrives, inviting Cannonball and Sunspot to Heaven, but pre-emptively attacks the group for thinking of attacking him. Cannonball eventually agrees, but the team follows, and all find themselves aboard what apparently used to be Cable’s base, known as Graymalkin, with a sentient computer program called “The Professor.” After more fighting, Cable gets his young charges off the ship, and seeks to “rescue” the computer program that’s apparently been a father figure to him–and finds himself confronting an enemy all thought dead. This fight is much shorter, all but disassembling Cable before he escapes (nearly as a corpse) to rejoin X-Force.

As said above, I didn’t really “get” this issue when I first read it, when it came out. I recall (with a bit of deja vu) the ending with Cable, but not much else. I certainly lacked the context of Cannonball and Sunspot being part of the New Mutants prior to Cable’s 1st appearance and that title ending to be replaced with this one. I had not yet read X-Cutioner’s Song–or at least, not more than maybe a couple chapters (it was only about 6 or 7 years ago that I finally tracked the story down and read it all the way through) so I didn’t even have that context of what had happened to Cable, though from what trading card or another or Marvel Handbook/profile special (Stryfe’s Strike Files?) or Wizard or some such, I knew of Stryfe as being Cable’s clone from the future.

I hadn’t realized either, at the time, that Magneto had “died,” though from in-story context I picked up on the characters having thought him dead…but his death/etc was more of a “meta” thing than I was aware of as a 12-year old at the time.

This issue’s story is another that stands alone well enough, though it continues to build foundation for what I consider the “heart” of Fatal Attractions in X-Men #25 and Wolverine #75. The art is good, and somehow extremely familiar to me. This visual rendition of X-Force just is what it is, and I like it.

I’m a bit less impressed with the overall cover of this issue than I was with the X-Factor issue; but in a way the fairly close-up image of Cable with one of those HUUUUGE guns he carried is rather iconic, which makes this a more full cover from the front for me than the X-Factor issue. Of course, this cover (and the hologram) also totally gives away from the get-go that Cable is back, but especially near 20 years later, I’m not bothered by that at all.

I’ve snagged this issue from bargain bins–turns out I actually wound up with 2 copies of this issue for roughly $.75 total in the past month. Well worth getting, if only for the hologram, particularly if you can snag it from a bargain bin. Cover price was $3.50, which again is 50 cents cheaper than cover price of a standard Marvel comic nowadays, and this has a cardstock cover, hologram, and 48-ish pages (some of them ads).

Filed under: The '90s Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Fatal Attractions Revisited: X-Factor #92

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Walt

xfactor092The Man Who Wasn’t There

Co-Plotter: Scott Lobdell
Penciler/Co-Plotter: Joe Quesada
Script: J.M. DeMatteis
Inker: Al Milgrom
Letterer: Starkings
Background Assist: Cliff Van Meter
Colorist: Oliver
Assistant Editor: Jaye Gardner
Editor: Kelly Corvese
Group Editor: Bob Harras
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Dated: July, 1993

This issue kicks off the Fatal Attractions story/crossover/event, and carries the cover title “Out of the Light and into thy father’s shadow,” which is an apt declaration of the interior.

After an attack on a bunch of humans in hospice, X-Factor is investigating the slaughter. Though they lose the last survivor from the attack, the team has a prisoner–one of the Acolytes–who doesn’t seem inclined to give them any information until Quicksilver shows up. As the Acolytes worship Magneto, they place great importance on The Son, which allows some answers to be coaxed from the captured Spoor. Despite orders to remain behind, the rest of the team follows Quicksilver and government liaison Valerie Cooper, and what they find at an apparently quiet military base shocks the team and creating a rift between them and Cooper. Lead Acolyte Fabian Cortez does the usual villain thing of spouting off about his plan to Quicksilver, and is angered when his offer to install the Son of Magneto as leader of the Acoyltes is rejected. After X-Factor’s battle with the Acolytes ends, the team is left to deal with Cooper, who has had a revelation of her own explaining her recent actions and attitude.

I know I read this issue when it first came out 19-some years ago, but this time through much of the issue read as “new” to me. I remembered the Acolytes’ attack on the hospital, and the woman crying at the end, but the in-between stuff hadn’t stuck, nor did I have any great grasp on who all these characters were or their context.

It’s quite interesting looking back from 20 years later, knowing where certain characters wind up, and knowing in general what I do today about them that I did not know then. For one thing, I feel like I truly appreciate the enormity of this story now, where back then it was just an extra-length issue with a sturdy cover, fancy “hologram,” and a nearly triple-sized price tag ($3.50, but I think an issue like this published today would–knowing Marvel–be at least $7.99 if not $9.99).

Story-wise, I’m not entirely impressed–though this issue seems to set stuff in motion for the rest of the Fatal Attractions series, there’s something to it that just doesn’t feel like it “matters” as much–perhaps because this is just kicking stuff off, and so the nature of the crossover isn’t yet apparent by this issue’s conclusion, so it winds up feeling like more of a prologue or tangential piece of things. While the Acolytes are present here and their slaughter of the humans will have other consequences later in the arc, this issue is very much an X-Factor issue, and seems very much like the “random” issue plucked from continuity and read out of context. Knowing what I do now about Quicksilver’s relationship with Magneto, this issue holds more meaning for me–all the familial relationships of Marvel characters were still mostly abstract to me in 1993.

I definitely like the art for the issue, and in the first few pages I found myself thinking there was something familiar about it–and had a momentary “ah-ha!” when I saw the credits box and realized this was Quesada‘s work–I’d totally forgotten that he was the penciler on this series back then. I don’t recall being at all put off by the art back in ’93, and at present, find that it holds up well, as the characters are distinct, the action’s easy to follow, and I even actually like the very-90s character designs.

I’m most used to seeing the front half of this cover, so I’m that much more impressed opening the issue and looking at the whole of the image. The trade dress for this series is the darkened overlay on the right-hand side with the Fatal Attractions logo, cover blurb/title, and of course the hologram. This overlay takes up nearly half of the front cover and for me has always been the dominant factor. The hologram image itself is about the size of a trading card, and even now remains quite impressive to me–I recall noticing how “deep” the image was, and in the right light I can still stare at it for a bit, marveling at the detail and depth. (Even with contemporary 3-D films, I’m far more impressed by the depth of purported 3-D than I am stuff popping out at me).

All in all, a strong issue that I definitely like. Though I paid full price for a copy back in the day, I’ve since snagged this issue from 25-cent and 50-cent bins, though considering its cover price is still cheaper than a contemporary 20ish-paged single issue from Marvel today, it’s well worth its full price. Heck, the hologram alone is worth the 25/50 cents to $1 price if you come across it in a bargain bin. Though this is part of a larger story, it stands alone well enough.

xfactor092wraparound_large

Filed under: The '90s Revisited | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

X-Men Regenesis Checklist [Checklist]

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Walt

Following X-Men: Schism every mutant must choose a side: Cyclops’ or Wolverine’s. With the X-Men cut in two, things will never be the same again. Choose Your Team.

OCTOBER 2011

  • Uncanny X-Men #544
  • X-Men: Regenesis #1
  • Wolverine #17
  • Wolverine & the X-Men #1

 

NOVEMBER 2011

  • Uncanny X-Men #1
  • X-Men Legacy #259
  • Generation Hope #13
  • New Mutants #33
  • X-Men #20

 

DECEMBER 2011

  • Uncanny X-Force #19

 

JANUARY 2012

  • X-Factor #230

 

SOURCE: Marvel Retailer Postcard-Checklist

Filed under: Checklists, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

X-Factor #2 [Review]

Posted on January 8, 2011 by Walt

classicreviewlogowhiteQuick Rating: Good
Title: Star Power

Summary: The fate of Rictor, Madrox confronts his dupe, Layla makes herself useful, and things progress on their course…

xfactor002 Writer: Peter David
Pencils: Ryan Sook & Dennis Callero
Inks: Wade Von Grawbadger & Dennis Callero
Colors: Jose Villarrubia
Letters: VC’s Cory Petit
Production: Brad Johansen
Asst. Editors: Molly Lazer & Aubrey Sitterson
Editor: Andy Schmidt
Cover Art: Ryan Sook
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Marvel‘s recap page works particularly well here, as it not only recaps the previous issue, but shows (I think full-sized) the central point of the final page of # 1…and though we cut immediately to a "meanwhile," it brings the reader back in enough to have that bit of tension necessary for when we get to the fate of Rictor, who was unceremoniously shoved off the edge of a building by one of Jamie’s dupes in the previous issue.

Layla Miller integrates herself into the team, proving some immediate usefulness, though her explanation for knowing things seems to get on Guido’s nerves. We get a glimpse at the "bad guys" orchestrating some behind-the-scenes events, and a mysterious figure that I’m not even going to try guessing at the identity.

Overall, this issue picks up the threads of the previous issue, and advances the story a bit–resolving a key point of that issue, as well as introducing new elements to the main story, and setting things up for future issues. If the issue seems a bit choppy, it’s from juggling Rictor’s fate, X-Factor HQ, Jamie and confronting his dupe, and other elements of the story in the confines of a single, regular-sized comic. Despite that, fans of these characters–and present writer Peter David–will likely find little complaint other than the next issue not being out yet.

The art works well with the story, keeping a visual/stylistic difference from "standard fare" X-stuff, as well as the noir tone the story carries.

A brief exchange between a couple characters provides an interesting meta-textual commentary on the tile of the "Decimation" event this title is a part of, both addressing reader concerns of no thought going to it as well as providing a jab at the media.

On the whole, this is another fine issue of a fairly distinctive title. If you don’t care about any of the characters or the writer (or the art team), then don’t expect to like it. However, if you enjoy PAD‘s writing, and/or the characters, or even just the art on these particular characters, you will very likely enjoy the issue.
If you’re just curious about things, this is just the second issue–shouldn’t be too hard to locate a copy of the first issue (in whatever print edition) and jump on the ride. Recommended.

Story: 3.5/5
Art: 3.5/5
Overall: 3.5/5

Filed under: Classic Reviews, MARVEL, Marvel Universe, X-Factor | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

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