Hello! I've been a fan of Hank since I was a kid, primarily owing to his portrayal in the 90s cartoon. With the airing of X-Men '97, I've been reminded of how much I love the character and have been looking into his comic appearances; unfortunately, I'm not quite happy with the direction he's been written in recent years (read: X-Force). So, I was wondering if you had any suggestions for older comic runs I could read to get my fill of my favorite bouncing blue Beast?
Hello there, friend! I hope you're well, and perhaps still perusing this blog from time to time? Hard to tell, given the lack of a moniker, but I'll throw this into the Hank McCoy tag, just so you have a better chance of seeing this.
I am currently in the process of writing up a full Beast reading order, but I've only gotten up to 1981 thus far - really do need to get back on that - so I'm going to give you a somewhat less specific, but far more immediate answer to your question! To wit!
X-Men: First Class, by Jeff Parker.
X-Men: Season One, by Dennis Hopeless.
X-Men: Children of the Atom, by Joe Casey.
Amazing Adventures #11-17, by Gerry Conway.
X-Men Unlimited vol. 2 #10, by Homs.
Avengers vol. 1 #138-211, by, well, a lot of people.
X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga, by Chris Claremont.
Marvel Team-Up #124, by J.M. DeMatteis.
The Defenders/The New Defenders #96-152, by J.M. DeMatteis.
Marvel Heartbreakers, by Jim McCann.
X-Factor vol. 1 #1-70, by Bob Layton (bleuch) and Louise Simonson (yay!).
X-Men Unlimited vol. 1#10 and #14, by Mark Waid and Terry Kavangh.
Marvel Presents #85-92, by Scott Lobdell.
Wonder Man vol. 2 #5 and 6, by Gerard Jones.
Avengers Two: Wonder Man and Beast, by Roger Stern.
New X-Men vol. 1 #114-154, by Grant Morrison.
Astonishing X-Men vol. 3 #1-35, by Joss Whedon and Warren Ellis.
Secret Avengers vol. 1 #13, #16, #20, and #21 by Nick Spencer and Warren Ellis.
Exiles #1-6 vol. 2, by Jeff Parker.
S.W.O.R.D #1-5 vol. 1, by Kieron Gillen.
X-Men: Endangered Species, by Mike Carey.
Wolverine and the X-Men #8 vol. 1, by Jason Aaron.
Amazing X-Men vol. 2 #1-5, by Jason Aaron.
A+X #4, #7, #12 and #15 by Kaare Andrews, Zeb Wells, Christos Gage and Jai Nitz.
Uncanny Avengers vol. 3 #28, by Jim Zub.
Astonishing X-Men vol. 4 #13-17, by Matthew Rosenberg.
Marvel Age #1000, by Rainbow Rowell.
These are, of course, scratching the surface, because Hank is a goddamn cameo king, and you can usually count on him to have some good lines or good characterisation because people actually really enjoy writing him, but these are the ones that come immediately to mind! I hope this helps.
One of the things I like to do on Twitter is periodically post all of the stuff I've gotten from various crowdfunding and other Indie RPG sources. I am (apparently) a Kickstarter Superbacker, not in the sense of "Person who's constantly in the comments asking where something is", but in the sense of "Now that I've got some disposable income, I put a lot of it into the Indie and Small Press TTRPG scene."
This represents about 2-3 months of Crowdfunders coming to fruition and a couple of purchases from a couple of stores. Here's what's in the list (and a bit about why I'm hype for it!):
Top row
Arcon: The City of Neon Daylight - This year, I've getting into system agnostic setting guides. I recall hearing a lot about this one, because it set out to make a Cyberpunk setting that avoided some of the problematic tropes that tend to fall in with that aesthetic.
Public Guest 5 - It's an RPG on a poster! I was intrigued to see how it would play out, and really like the aesthetic. I have it framed and sitting behind my desk. Been thinking of working it into a (stalled) Ironsworn campaign to create an in-world artifact.
Die RPG - I'm admittedly a big Rowan, Rook and Deckard fanboy. I also read and enjoyed some of Kireon Gillen's work, and was intrigued by the team-up. Having since read the first 5 issues of the comic, I'm super into this whole thing. It seems like a really powerful skewering of some tropes in fantasy gaming, combined with an emotional intelligence that I'm really curious to dig into.
Upper-middle row
Anyone can Wear the Mask - I'm admittedly a big Jeff Stormer fanboy... (I was doing a bit, but honestly, he makes rad stuff. Check out Party of One asap). I loved Dee Pennyway's work on the system this is based on, and having heard a couple of playthroughs of this game, it's a must-have. Jumped on it as soon as it was available.
Scraps - Cesar Capacle's work in the scene is one-of-a-kind. I have yet to read it, but it bills itself as a crafting RPG with a hopeful streak, which I'm super intrigued by. I think I can learn a lot of design stuff from it, and I think it's going to just be a great game.
Derelict Delvers - Another Capacle banger idea. Again, got it in part because of the creator, but the concept is one I'm also intrigued by. Scrapping in space is something I've been more and more intrigued by. So, I'll have to make some time to get into this one.
The Vaults of Vaarn - I'm admittedly susceptible to peer pressure... I mean. Wait. No. I've heard really good, intriguing things about this, and Games Omnivorous has made a ton of really amazing, high-quality volumes that I guess I'm starting to collect? Lately, I've been getting a lot of Weird Sci-fi stuff, and I understand this is part of that world.
Lower-middle row
Broken Cities - I picked up another of Come Martin's works, Meanwhile, in the Subway, a little bit ago. It's an RPG printed on a subway map, that takes place in a weird public transit. This game takes place in the city that the transit serves. It's standalone, but I can't wait to see how they connect.
The Fall of Home - Zinequest is a rough month for me, because so many people make such rad stuff that I struggle to control my purchases (see, Superbacker, above). Fall of Home hit a lot of intriguing touchstones, and... well, I'm fascinated by a lot of things, but exploring ruins with a very personal touch just grabs me.
Rad-Hack - I've got a couple of other Skullfungus titles, and I keep hearing about the Black Hack. This was an impulse purchase on Lulu, where Cesar Capacle's books are printed, but I'm curious to see how close this skews to the Fallout series, and whether it's a better fit for my tastes than the Fallout RPG...
Bottom row
Spindlewheel - Honestly, when I backed this, I expected to get a beautiful, tarot-like set of cards to use as an oracle or for games of its own. I underestimated how beautiful this set was going to be. Gold-edged, they're shiny and printed on fantastic card stock. I've mostly stared at these things, I almost worry that if I play them too much I'll damage them.
Down we Go + Beneath the Necropolis - Backed this initially because I've been getting more embedded into the Plus One EXP community of late, and I think this is their flagship title. Having heard a couple of APs, and played around with the system a little, I'm super hyped to really dig into the system.
No Way to Make a Living - Early on in my time in the indie RPG scene, I recall hearing Sandy Pug Games talk about this book. A series of interviews with creators in the space, from huge names down to the more esoteric folks. When I heard this was being printed by Metal Weave Games, it became a Must-have. (Arcon was an impulse purchase to go along with it).
The Million Islands of Doom - I really love Snow's work in general, and again, setting guides are my go-to. It feels a lot like Zelda (a series that means so much to me, my therapist has told me to play more of it as therapy homework...), specifically Wind Waker, but with a more RPG-flavored world. I've skimmed it, but really want to dig in. I'm constantly trying to figure out how I'll pair this up with either Games Omnivorous' Bottled Sea, or Skullfungus' Isle of Ixx.
Dinocar - Dinoberry Press makes the raddest stuff. I nearly passed on this, but I do spend some time with some family friends whose kids are into dinosaurs, the parents are into RPGs, and I figure if we should start them early. Plus, the thought of building a city and sending dinos in cars through it? Yet another of my many jams.
On Twitter, because I kinda hate typing stuff on my phone, I don't really get this deep into why I'm hype for the stuff I get. This was kinda fun, though! Maybe I'll do it again in a couple of months.
Bonus, some other gaming and game-design stuff I've gotten
Thunder Road Vendetta - When I was a kid, a friend's family owned the original version of this game. I never played it, but always wanted to. I very loosely understood some of the components, and wanted to see how they fit together (why it took me to my mid-30s to get into game design, I'll never know). So, when Restoration Games announced a revamp, I was in. I've picked up a couple of their other titles, and they make good games.
Self Made Man - Several years ago, I went to visit a friend in Portland, ME. They had gotten really into the community for a local comic shop up there. Periodically, the owner (and some other folks in that community) make comics, like this one. I like to support them both because they're friends, and because their stuff is always fun.
The Affinity Designer Workbook - I didn't pick up the Affinity Publisher workbook when I first got Publisher, and kinda kicked myself when it fell out of print. When Affinity put out their 2.0 suite, I grabbed it, and Designer is the next on I want to learn, so when I saw it on Thriftbooks, I snagged a copy.
My hope is that these posts don't come off as anything other than me being hyped about all the really rad stuff that the Indie RPG and small press gaming scenes are coming up with. I try to give each of them a similar amount of hype, because there are some really cool designers toiling away in near obscurity, and they very much deserve to be mentioned in the same breaths as some of the bigger names.
So, if any of my hype rubs off on you, go check 'em out!
THE MAN IN THE WHITE VAN Reviews of true-crime Halloween thriller - plus clip
‘If the engine’s running… you should be too.”
The Man in the White Van is a 2023 thriller about a young girl being stalked while her parents’ disbelief leads to a nightmare.
Produced and directed by Warren Skeels from a screenplay co-written with Sharon Y. Cobb. Produced by Terri Lubaroff and Anne Marie Gillen. Executive Produced by Gary Kompothecras, Michael Nole, Paul Scanlan, Jeff Annison,…
When was it stated that the kaplans are Billy’s bio parents? I believe it, given how often it comes up in these family discussions, but I thought he was implied to be adopted earlier on. I kind of thought the retro-reincarnation idea meant he had other bio parents elsewhere since I thought he was canonically adopted
They are definitely his birth parents. Heinberg makes it pretty clear that he was reincarnated as Jeff and Rebecca's biological child.
Captain America: Billy, I just met your parents. Your biological parents--
Wiccan: I'm not saying Tommy and I are the biological sons of the Scarlet Witch. [...] I'm talking about the transmigration of souls.
[Children's Crusade #1]
As I've stated previously, this same text also indicates that the twins are still genetically, physically related to Wanda and that we, as readers, should just accept that both things can be true at the same time because this is a fantasy story and it's magic.
Kieron Gillen contradicts Heinberg in Volume 2 of Young Avengers-- here Teddy refers to Wanda as Billy's "actual mom" and the Kaplans as his foster parents. Later in this series, Wanda's relationship with Billy and the Kaplans is characterized as that of an adoptee's birth mother who is now in the family's lives as a friend and relative.
Young Avengers (2013) #1
I have always read Billy and Tommy's unique situation as an adoption metaphor, and here, Gillen is making that metaphor literal. Many readers were critical of this decision because reframing Rebecca as Billy's adoptive mother would have different implications for Billy's Jewish identity, based on traditional conventions. I never objected to it, personally, because Wanda was considered at the time to be an ethnically Jewish character as well, but it's not my place to decide. Followers of this blog have given a variety of opinions over the years, and I respect all of those opinions. We should be allies here, and we do not need to fight over representation in a narrative that should be including all of us equally. :-)
At the end of the day, canon states that yes, when Billy and Tommy were reincarnated, they were reincarnated as the Kaplan and Shepherd families' biological children.
We got to go a variant cover for an issue of Ludocrats (written by Kieron Gillen and Jim Rossignol, illustrated by Jeff Stokely with color by Tamra Bonvillain, go check it out). It was ridiculous, good fun!
Due to nearly daily power outages and dropping out of college, I've had a lot more free time this year, so I decided I'd read more this year, and here's a list of the things I read either partly or to completion (I'm including ttrpg sourcebooks, comics, and fanfics cause I feel like it)
Jerusalem by Alan Moore
The Fifth Science by Exurb1a
Horus Rising by Dan Abnett
False Gods by Graham McNeill
Galaxy in Flames by Ben Counter
Flight of the Eisenstein by James Swallow
Descent of Angels by Mitchel Scanlon
The Men Who Stare at Goats by Jon Ronson
The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson
Lost at Sea by Jon Ronson
The Rise of Kyoshi by F.C Yee
The Shadow of Kyoshi by F.C Yee
The Dawn of Yangchen by F.C Yee
The Legacy of Yangchn by F.C Yee
A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
Dreadnought by April Daniels
Sovereign by April Daniels
The Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean
The Corpus Hermeticum
RWBY: Scars by Doneesses
The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien
The Prague Cemetery by Eco Umber
Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh
The Bible Repairman by Tim Powers
Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve and/or Ruin Everything by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith
The Gods of Pegana by Lord Dunsany
Time and the Gods by Lord Dunsany
Welcome to the NHK by Tasuhiko Takimoto
What If? by Randall Munroe
TTRPGs I read books for:
Eclipse Phase
Exalted (2e and 3e)
Lancer
Nobilis (2e and 3e)
Numenera
Ponyfinder
Unknown Armies (1e, 2e, and 3e)
World of Darkness (Old and Chronicles)
Continuum, Roleplaying in the Yet
Broken Worlds
Comics and Manga I read this year:
A Study Emerald by Rafael Scavone, Rafael Albuquerque, and Dave Stewart
Alters by Paul Jenkins and Leila Leiz
All the Last Airbender and Legend of Korra comics
Black Hole by Charles Burns
Giant Days by John Allison, Lissa Treiman, Max Sarin, and Julia Madrigal
The Unbelievable Gwenpool by Christopher Hastings, Gurihiru, Danilo Beyruth, Iren Strychalski, Myisha Haynes, and Alti Firmansyah
Gwenpool Strikes Back by Leah Williams and David Baldeon
I Hate Fairyland by Skottie Young
Irredeemable by Mark Waid, Peter Krause, Diego Barreto, and Eduardo Barreto
Jem and the Holograms by Kelly Thompson, Sophie Campbell, Emma Vieceli, and Corin Howell
Judas by Jeff Loveness and Jakub Rebelka
Kill 6 Billion Demons by Tom Bloom
Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
The Woods by James Tynion V and Michael Dialynas
The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen and Jaime McKelvie
Batman: Whatever Happened to the Craped Crusader by Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert
Cheer Up! Love and Pompoms by Crystal Fraiser and Val Wise