Scapled Vol.7-10

Continuing on with the Vertigo series SCALPED. I originally just picked up  Vol. 1 to see if it was going to interest me, then ventured further with books 2-6. When all of that was intriguing, I made the move to acquire the rest of the series. reading 'em now....
PS: When I told Gerg (who had recommended the series to me) that I'd picked up the books, he groaned, saying "I was gonna give you MY books!" Oh well....

Marvel Team-Up #78

My friend and his brother always had an abundance of comics laying around to read- their grandmother had a candy store in Maui which sold used comics in the back and they always came home from a visit with boxes FULL of titles!

On one occasion, this Marvel Team-Up issue starring Spider Man and Wonder Man was among the haul, and I immediately sat down and started reading it. The villain of the piece, the Griffin, was your basic one-shot villain type (as they usually were in the Team-Up and Two-In-One titles) as a guy in a suit, but as Spidey and Wondey duked it out with him, I was gripped with tension as the guy in the suit began slowly changing…from man into a REAL griffin!

WHOA! The idea of this slow-morphing of a man into monster during the heat of battle just FLOORED me! I remember finishing it, putting it down and telling the guys, “Th-this issue was freaking AWESOME!”

And I ain’t gonna lie, when me and my friends began drawing our own comics, I would regularly have villains who slowly changed into creatures during fighting, I was THAT impressed by it!

Uncanny X-Men #125

My very FIRST X-Men comic, the one that introduced me to those Uncanny heroes, and WOW, what a issue to start off with! Not only was I introduced to all the X-men, but also Moira MacTaggert, Phoenix, Beast, Havok and Polaris AND the Danger Room! EVERYTHING was in this issue!

And if that weren’t enough, this was the first part of the incredible PROTEUS storyline, the beginnings of the HELLFIRE CLUB storyline and, of course, the seeds of what would eventually become the “DEATH OF PHOENIX” saga!

To this day this run remains the title that all others must compare to, and John Byrne and Terry Austin are STILL my favorite Artist/inker combo of all time!

Cross-Over Comics

The year was 1978 when my friend BLEW MY MIND by introducing me to what was called a “CROSS-OVER”!!  He showed me Captain America #230, where Cap went up against the Hulk (and what a COVER!), and I was astounded when the story continued into Hulk’s OWN title with Incredible Hulk #232!!!

MAN, I remember thinking comics couldn’t get COOLER!!!

The Complete Phonogram

As a HUGE fan of Keiron Gillen/Jamie McKelvie masterpiece THE WICKED+THE DIVINE, I decided to check out their previous work "Phonogram", a much-lauded work consisting of three story ars. Hmmm, can't say I was a real fan of this series. While I can clearly see the roots of WicDiv here, I just couldn't get into it...very snarky, IMO.

Infinity Gauntlet

Saw a used copy of Jim Starlin's "Inifinity Gauntlet"  and decided to check it out. Was surprised to find that this was the FOURTH in a SERIES of books, Infinity War, etc. Just as well I didn't know because I don't know if I could have sat through FOUR of these.
 I grew up with the original "Power Of Warlock" series and REALLY loved the original Jim Starlin run from STRANGE TALES to its killer conclusion in Avengers Annual 7, but somehow, this new series just didn't grab me...

Super-Villain Team-Up #15

My Favorite Marvel Villain of all time is Victor Von Doom, and as a kid, I tried to grab every issue I could with him on the cover. Living in Hawaii, there weren’t a whole lot of places to buy back-issue comics, but there was a shoppe in Waikiki that sold Hawaiian stuff (koa bowls, carved statues, etc) and in the back of the store, the little old lady that ran the place sold used comics!

Me and my friend would bicycle down there every weekend to see what new comics she had, and when I saw this Super-Villain Team-Up in one of the comic boxes, I couldn’t WAIT to check it out!

 Getting home,  I was treated to one of the finest Doctor Doom stories ever! I was used to seeing Doc Doom as drawn by artists like Jack Kirby, John Buscema and Keith Pollard, but George Tuska’s take on him was SO different…very robotic and archaic looking that made me feel like I was reading a ancient tale of Doom.

Even as a kid I could tell that this story of Doc Doom VS Red Skull was made up of two parts- there was a very distinctive split in the middle of the story, and sure enough, the first page said “Originally presented in Tales to Astonish 4-5” and when I was a teenager and seriously collecting, these were issues I just HAD to have! 

Still one of my all time favorite Doctor Dooms stories, with one my FAVORITE Doom quotes ever (when a thief tries to rob him in his sleep): “ What’s THIS?A common thief who dares disturb my royal repose? Such audacity borders on madness, and towards the mad, I am nothing if not merciful! Hence the merest TASTE of my weaponry! (electrocutes the robber to hell)!

Lazarus Vol.1-5

With the arrival of Book Five, i decided to read LAZARUS right from the beginning, and now, having finished book 5, can honestly say this is one of the best freaking books out there!!!!
Sad to hear that the creative team is taking a break and handing it off to others...hope they retain the book's greatness!

Harrow County Vol.5: Abandoned

Scalped Vol.2-6

Gerg told me that he would give me his entire run of his SCALPED trade paperbacks when he came home to visit but I liked the first one enough that I couldn't wait. Someone on ebay was selling  Trades 3-4 and 6 for 22 bucks (with free shipping) so I went ahead and ordered it. Then I ordered books 2 and 5 separately.
So far so good...and I'm loving what a luscious slut Carol is in each chapter! Waiting to see how this character develops. She can't be here purely for gratuitous sex scenes, can she?

The Wicked + Divine Vol.5: Imperial Phase I

Oh MAN this series is blowing me away right now!!! Can't believe I initially bailed on this series during the third arc, Wicked and Divine is getting so damn AWESOME that it's rivalling SAGA and THEY'RE NOT LIKE US for FAVORITE series right now!!!

Monstress Vol.1: Awakening

The Wicked + The Divine Vol.1-4

Loved Books  One and Two, but when Arc Three came around and they got new artists to do each episode, Ii REALLY lost interest in the series. Plus I had no idea where the storyline was going at that point.
But when i saw an open copy of the latest issue at Other Realms and realized Wilson Cowles was back as the regular artist, I decided to pick up the fourth arc to see if it got any better.
HOLY SHIT, IT DID! This series picked right up and started getting better and BETTER til I was BACK into the book, and now can barely WAIT for Book 5 (which should be coming out very soon)!!!

Scalped Vol One: Indian Country

Another title Gerg recommended, but after Welcome Back and We Can Never Go Home, I was pretty reserved about trying another series he liked! LOLOL.  But one weekend I was bored as shit and Ted at Gecko's was talking about the series and so I decided, hell, couldn't hurt to try the first trade. So far so good!

We Stand On Guard

Image had finally gotten around to issuing a trade paperback version of Brian K Vaughan and Steve Skroce's awesome WE STAND ON GUARD, when I saw the book on the "New Releases" shelf at Gecko Comics, I thought for one fleeting moment that they had made a sequel to the first book! But opening up the book, I calmed back down when I saw it was the same story i already had.
Having said that, when I got home, I realized it had been awhile since I'd read my copy, and so I broke it out to re-read again, and Goddamn if it isn't even better the second time around.
Funny that Gerg thought this book was mediocre, it was far more interesting than 99% of the superhero stuff he usually brings me, LOL