Thursday, December 30, 2010

Reed Richards: male chauvinist pig?

Fantastic Four #14 (Lee/Kirby/Ayers) - May 1963


Condescending-Reed sometimes being such a jerk, one can understand Sue for looking to other options:


Plenty more on this topic at CBR's dedicated forum.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Mise en abyme

Fantastic Four #11 (Lee/Kirby/Ayers) - February 1963
Feeling unsecure

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Silly characters: The Impossible Man

When I started reading Marvel titles, I was convinced Whiplash was the most ridiculous villain in the whole Marvel Universe.

Then I discovered some older, Silver Age period stuff, came across the Impossible Man and reconsidered.

Fantastic Four #11 (Lee/Kirby/Ayers) - February 1963





The Impossible Man has total control of his own molecules, allowing him to transform into anything he can imagine.













A vacationing Poppupian.









Unable to win against their childish foe, the Fantastic Four decide to ignore him.


Out of boredom, the Impossible Man decides to leave:

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Amazing Adult Fantasy #8 (Lee/Ditko) - January 1962

A comic book that only catered to the literary needs of intelligent people (and gave us The Amazing Spider-Man in September 1962).








Monday, December 20, 2010

Peter Parker: Spider-Man Vol. 2, #44-47 (Jenkins/Ramos/Faucher) - August 2002

Paul Jenkins, the creator of The Sentry character and the "Wolverine: Origin" series, may be one of the most talented writers ever in the Spider-Man saga.

His artful take on the "Peter-Parker: Spider-Man" comic book always concentrated on the characters' psychology.

The best story-arc of this impressive run is without a doubt the 4-part "A death in the Family" where the Green Goblin keeps pushing Peter's button, waiting for a battle to the death.



After yet another violent encounter between the two enemies, Peter tells Osborne he is tired of fighting and that giving in to hatred would be like killing Gwen Stacy a second time.

The powerful and stunning conversation that followed between Parker/Spider-Man and Osborne/Green Goblin was beautifully captured by Ramos' pencils.



It all ends with a beautiful final line from Peter...


Fantastic Four Vol. 3, #30 (Claremont/Larroca/Thibert) - June 2000

One of my favorite Marvel covers and a good story as well.

Reed Richards willingly puts on Doom's mask and is then being controlled by the Doctor's armor.

Larroca's art and Thibert's inking at their best!

"Get me out of here!"

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Tales of Suspense #39 (Lieber/Ditko/Colan/Heck) - March 1963

The first appearance of Tony Stark and Iron Man. Cover art by Jack Kirby who designed the first costume:

Lovely boots...
Stark is injured in Vietnam and captured by the Vietcong who want him to build a powerful weapon.


Tony begs to differ and builds the Iron Man armor to save his life. His first steps after donning the suit are clumsy to say the least:


Writers have updated the time and circumstances in which Tony Stark was injured. In the 1990s, it was during the Gulf War and later again the war in Afghanistan.

The Invincible Iron Man Vol. 4, #5 (Ellis/Granov) - 2005

"Eat this..."

Fantastic Four #13 (Lee/Kirby/Ditko) - April 1963

The race to the Moon is raging between the free world and the commies but Reed Richards found a way to beat the Reds:

The Reds use monkeys. Damn!...

FF #13 also marks the first appearance of the Watcher in the Marvel Universe:

Finally, the Fantastic Four save the day (in part thanks to the monkeys). The Moon will not be collectivized: