#triangle era

[wwprice1]

Interior art from the 90’s Superman Forever one-shot.

[superman86to99]

SECOND TRIANGLE ERA OMNIBUS ANNOUNCED! DOUBLE HOT DANG!

Looks like the first of these volumes sold well enough to warrant another one, which I'm attributing entirely to our 28-note Tumblr post about it. You're welcome, everyone! Let's look at what's in this big boy (and what isn't):

What it includes:

"Metropolis Mailbag" and the other '92 Christmas stories, which are all great, especially the Bibbo-related one (originally announced for the first omnibus, but I guess they ran out of space)

The full "Panic in the Sky!" epic! Again!

The beginning of the Supergirl/Lex Luthor Jr. romance (Action #677), followed by the reveal that she's now dating an old guy in a young body (Action #678, "They Saved Luthor's Brain!").

The TOTALLY RAD Robin crossover, "Night of the Bat!"

The end of the "Cerberus" storyline and that whole "Sons of Liberty" deal no one ever referenced again!

The long-overdue for collecting "Blaze/Satanus War" and its incredible epilogue!

The even more overdue "Crisis at Hand" two-parter! Seriously can't believe it took so long to reprint this one. A classic in any era.

The full "Doomsday!" storyline! Again again!

"Funeral for a Friend" and its tie-in issues (Legacy of Superman, Supergirl/Team Luthor, Newstime), except for one...

What it doesn't include:

Dan Jurgens' Justice League America run, other than the "Doomsday!" issue (#69). Personally, I would have rather had the rest of the run in this volume instead of "Death of" and "Funeral" yet again. I'm hoping the omission of #70 (the "Funeral" tie-in) is a mistake, because that issue is fantastic.

The "Eclipso: The Darkness Within" annuals. The completionist in me is appalled. The me who remembers having to suffer through these issues is like "eh, no big loss."

Superman Special #1 by Walt Simonson. This one IS a big loss, because this issue rules and deserves more attention. It would have also been fitting to include it right before "Doomsday!," a storyline Simonson's Mighty Thor run directly influenced.

Speaking of Simonson, The Superman Gallery (which he drew the cover for) is also omitted, but I don't think anyone excepted that one, especially since it's made out of old covers and stuff. That Simonson cover is pretty nice, though.

If it has the same number of pages, the next volume should cover from "Reign of the Supermen" to "Bizarro's World," but who knows. I'm still hoping for a volume 0 with all the uncollected stuff between the first one and the "Exile" omnibus, so, you know, keep buying these! Let's get this post to 29 notes!

[vertigoartgore]

1993's Action Comics Vol.1 #692 cover by artists Ed Hannigan (breakdowns), Kerry Gammill (pencils) and Jackson Guice (inks).

[episodicnostalgia]

Reading Break: “Retiring” from comic book collecting

The Reading Break continues, mainly because work is still hindering my ability to write structured reviews with any regularity.  It’s a bit of a bummer, because I genuinely enjoy writing them, and it’s made blogging fun for me, but doing so requires more mental energy than I can currently afford to spend.  Sometimes you just gotta prioritize payin’ them bills, and staying alive. In the meantime, I don’t want to sacrifice writing altogether, because I value this platform as an outlet, and since it is MY flippin’ blog, I figure I’ll just relax the structure a bit and write about other shit; less episodic, and more nostalgic, I suppose.

So anyways.  Comic Books.

More of my leisure time has been spent reading comics these days, and if you’ve been tuning into any of my most recent posts, then you already know that I’ve been on something of a Spider-man kick for a while, and that’s unlikely to change in the immediate future.  Obviously, the fact that I’ve been reviewing the 90’s cartoon has fanned the flames of my current fixation, but it’s been a long time coming.  Over the past few years I’ve been casually focused on completing my ideal Spidey-Comics-collection, and I’m very nearly finished.

Incidentally, that also means that I will also be, by-and-large, finished actively collecting comic books altogether.

Technically I kind of “stopped collecting” (heavy on the quotations there) shortly after DC’s ‘New 52’ reboot kicked off.  It wasn’t that I particularly disliked the changes, but I found myself lacking the energy to maintain my interest.  Since Marvel wasn't exactly doing anything more appealing (and the MCU was still scratching that itch), I just stopped altogether. To this day, I haven’t really felt that I’ve been missing out. 

I’m still prone to casually glancing at subreddits, Wikipedia blogs, and the occasional review/pop-culture think piece, just to check in on all my old fictional friends, and see how they’re doing.  Superman and Lois have a kid who grew up, and also became another Superman. Batman and Catwoman got married, and then unmarried, I think?  I know it resulted a in a bunch of fans getting angry. I understand Miles Morales has been transported to the 616 universe (after his was destroyed), and I seem to recall that Wolverine was dead for a while. Maybe he still is?

I admittedly I did start reading the new Ultimate Spider-man, and intend to continue doing so, but I’ll drop it in a heartbeat if I get bored, meanwhile the other books in the new ‘Ultimate’ line don’t really appeal at all. I’m not trying be pretentious either; All the new stuff being published today looks like it’s probably reasonably entertaining, and there are some fantastic new artists working in the industry, but I’ve just mostly had my fill.

That said, there were a decent number of older issues that I’d always wanted to read when I was a kid, but never got to.  So, shortly after I stopped buying any of the new books coming out (a little over a decade ago), I began removing the issues that I had no intention of re-reading, to make room for the various ‘missing’ issues I needed to complete my "essential" collection once and for all.

After all, is any reading list complete without Super-merman?

During my comic-hunt, there are two characters who I predominantly focused on: Superman (Merman or otherwise) & Spider-man (there are no Spider-mermen. Because that would be stupid.)

Two-or-three years ago, I successfully completed my collection of Superman comics ranging between late 1986 to early 1995.  That’s the era that includes, among other things:

Lex faking his death, swapping his brain into an enhanced clone body, and returning with a full head of hair as his own super hot, Secret, Australian-raised son, aka Lex Luthor II.  I’m not making any of that up, but it’s actually a great Lex Luthor arc, and I mean that unapologetically.

Lois getting engaged to Clark, and being trusted with his super-secret. (And also, hilariously, in that order.)

The artificial protoplasmic lifeform aka ‘Matrix-Supergirl’ from “the pocket dimension,” who easily ranks as my favourite iteration of the Supergirl property.

The evil Kryptonian AI aka “The Eradicator,” and of course…

The world-famous ‘Death of Superman’

As ridiculously 90’s as that all sounds (and was), it was a truly solid 8-year run that has (in my millennial opinion) never been matched for its combined quality, diverse-and-dynamic supporting cast (which no other set of writers have ever come close to utilizing as effectively), and tight continuity. Most importantly, by the beginning of ‘95, the story sort-of comes to a natural close that leaves our characters happy, with most of the major arcs and plotlines resolved. 

That itself is nothing short of a small miracle for an ongoing comic book series to achieve, and so I’ve always privately considered that to be "the end" of MY definitive Superman story. That respective collection begins with ‘Man of Steel’ #1, spans across the four Superman books of-the-time (plus select mini-series, annuals, and crossovers), and ends with ‘Action Comics’ #706, some 350-odd issues later. 

It's an impressive achievement in storytelling that seems to finally be getting more recognition (from what I’ve seen on various forums and subreddits), but I still don’t think it gets enough credit for allowing our beloved Kryptonian’s story to move forward for (arguably) the first time in the character’s then-50+ years of existence. Suffice to say, while it was no small feat tracking down each of the necessary back-issues, it was relatively simple process to figure out WHICH issues I needed to buy, since it was all part of one consecutive run.

Finishing my Spider-man Collection was a little trickier.

Technically, the Spider-man books have never broken their continuity (with some room for debate, but I don’t feel like getting into that), and as such, any truly complete collection of the 616* Spider-man would span several thousand issues, many of which I don't consider essential reading.  So it’s been a longer, more meticulous process of figuring out which artists, writers, and story arcs I actually want to sink money into. 

[*616 = The OG Marvel universe from the comics]

With a few exceptions (and where I’ve had to accept trade paperback collections as a vital alternative to spending at LEAST several tens-of-thousands of dollars), I’ve now collected nearly all of the main eras throughout Spidey’s career that interest me.  I’ve very nearly completed the Roger Stern run,  along with a healthy sampling of Tom Defalco’s work, leaving me roughly 10 issues away from my goal.

If you care to know, it comes to the equivalent of some 420+ issues from the various 616 Spidey books, between Amazing Fantasy #15, to The Amazing Spider-man #508. 

Why stop there? Because much of what has come out beyond that point feels either like a departure from, or a retread of, the character I grew up with. I don’t begrudge anyone who enjoys the current Spidey books, but he seems to have been stuck in a holding pattern that TPTB have decided the writers aren't permitted to move beyond. I imagine that’s also why the new ‘Ultimate Spider-man’ has captured my interest, at least for the time being, by letting him grow up and raise a family. Still, I won’t be surprised if/when even that version of the character ends up getting caught in his own version of an editorially-mandated limbo.

In the end, that’s what it really boils down to, the lack of endings.  I won’t pretend I’m making a new observation in this regard, since most ongoing series are tailor made to reset every few years, and that’s unlikely to change any time soon.  Even so, knowing when to end a story is as important to me as the plot itself, and since the writers aren’t ever granted the power to offer definitive endings to major proprietary characters, I decided to pick one that I can be content with.  I find doing so makes going back and re-reading these stories from the beginning more enjoyable, since I know it will eventually end on my terms.

Speaking of ending things, It’s probably time I wrapped up this post.  It’s possible I might come back with more specific observations about the Spidey books, depending on how long my “reading break" continues.  Or maybe by the time I’m back, I’ll be able to focus on the reviews again.

Guess we'll see.

Thanks for Reading.

[xtremely-uncanny]

Superman Blue

My first ever comic was a copy of Superman #123, the first appearance of Superman Blue. This character has a special place in my heart. So I decided to take a stab at illustrating the Superman for the new century. While Superman stoped being blue years before the new century came around, I still love this costume. It is by far this best take on a Superman without his iconic cape and trunks,

[secondbeatsongs]

hey, don't cry

tumblr is the new pdf! ok?

[mandomaya]

“And this is how Ezra “crash out” Bridger was born” -My best friend

[thenotoriousscuttlecliff]

The older I get the more I realise there is just nothing to Jean and Logan as a couple, he's just the cool bad boy alternative to her straight laced boyfriend, and no writer has ever bothered to develop them beyond that. Logan really has more of a dynamic with Scott than he ever had with Jean. When written well, Scott and Jean feel like genuine partners with neither character overshadowing the other, but when she's paired with Logan, Jean seems to just become the love interest or worse a prize for Logan to win for being a good person, the relationship always reduces her.

[paintedtaygolden]

@pscentral​ event 26: minimalism

When you are young, they assume you know nothing.

[snoflurriee]

james potter would make the perfect 80s movie jock. like he would rock those jersey crop tops and tiny little shorts over a pair of gray sweatpants with some pristine white sneakers. he has a red sports car that he and his pa spend the weekends working on and it's his pride and joy (no one else can drive it.) he's ridiculously rich, unfairly fit, a class clown but still super smart, and the definition of being a heartthrob. he could have anyone he wants but he's doomed to pine after the one person that doesn't give him the time of day. not to mention the character arc he'd have!!! anyways i love him

[avorthuades]

genderfluid pandora rosier who spells themselves to look slightly different depending on what gender they are that day x bisexual lily evans who thinks pandora is actually multiple people (like siblings) and has the biggest crush on pandora in every gender (and lowkey panics when pandora asks her out bc she knows she likes pandora's "siblings" as well)

[wwprice1]

Magnificent Superman page by Ron Frenz, Jo Rubinstein, and Glenn Whitmore.

[superman86to99]

Via @fortressofbaileytude... NEW TRIANGLE ERA OMNIBUS SERIES ANNOUNCED! HOT DANG! Time to save up those $125, which amounts to roughly nineteen cab rides in Metropolis.

The first omnibus will cover from "Krisis of the Krimson Kryptonite" to "Metropolis Mailbag," including "Time and Time Again!," "The Red Glass Trilogy," "The Return of the Krypton Man," "Blackout," Intergang's fall, Jimmy Olsen's homeless adventures, and most of the Cerberus storyline, stopping right before "Panic in the Sky!" (which was recently reprinted, but hopefully gets re-reprinted in a second omnibus). That's a SOLID chunk of comics there, most of which haven't seen print in over 30 years! I believe a lot of them aren't available digitally either, for whatever reason.

Some personal favorite issues from this period that have never been reprinted before include the teen Clark vs. drunk driving story, the Lois and Clark talk in the mountains story, the sideways Atomic Skull double feature, Mr. Z's debut (and his ensuing evolution into lovable island goof), the incredible "Blackout" finale, the everyone ends up dancing at Bibbo's while Professor Hamilton plays the piano issue, and Waverider's first encounter with the Linear Men (sadly, the "Armageddon 2001" annuals don't seem to be included, though those should probably go in their own omni with the rest of that storyline).

Now, since the previous "Exile and Other Stories" omnibus stopped in November '89 and in this one starts in November '90, this still leaves a years' worth of Post-Crisis Superman comics in the dark, including essential stuff like "The Brainiac Trilogy" and Hank Henshaw's first appearances (while others like "The Day of the Krypton Man", "Dark Knight Over Metropolis," and Luthor's totally real death HAVE been collected but are long out of print). Here's hoping this sells strongly enough to not only guarantee at least one more volume covering the entire period leading up to "The Death of Superman," but also a volume 0 with the '89-'90 stuff. Oh, and the missing annuals. And the "World of..." minis. And Luthor's biography (edit: I've been reminded this is in the President Luthor trade, still in print, but it'd still be nice to have it here). And the Earth Day comic. And...

Anyway, it's probably time to update that Guide to Superman '86 to '99 Collected Editions post we did like 10 years ago, huh.

[fancyfade]

Writers today don't have the language to recreate insane 80s and 90s comics civilian character melodrama plotlines. It's a lost language like linear b

[zoskas]

CRK sketches... it's been almost two years since i last sketched cookies, and nearly FOUR years since i did fullbodies... the PV was for a dear friend who loves him, the cacao was for myself :]

also a SOLO elder faerie WIP under the cut :] for the elderlilies who like him wet sad and pathetic and YEARNING ... like i do