What Titles Are You Currently Reading?

[Rushmoras]

So far, read through the end of 1997.

Regarding Superman, still not a fan of his weekly comic books, because the plot keeps on dragging on and on and on, and the fact that the plot is weaved through four - sometimes five - Superman titles does not help it, because they have various degree of quality ranging through awful to I guess it's good enough. I guess, "Identity Crisis" storyline (Superman versus Brainiac) in 1996 was kinda good (since I marked it, but can't really remember that much of what has happened there). I'm not really a fan of how Superman later in 1997 became electrical, though the closing arc for the year 1997 with the Dragon's Tooth and some monster-serial killer on the loose was good (throughout all titles).

What really surprised me was... Supergirl's comic. Yeah, actually, the stories there... they are kinda what would I have expected from Hellblazer before even knowing what that was all about. It's so different from Superman that... wow... and actually, majority of it is interesting.

Batman. Again, not really much there is to say. It has some interesting stories, but mostly not interesting. I liked "Legacy" Arc (continuation from Contagion), some one-shot comics from 1997 (Batman/Wildcat, Batgirl, Poison Ivy, Mister Freeze and Batman/Phantom Stranger), but mostly there's nothing to say. Doug Moench in the main Batman title is still having Batman for two years now I guess (since pre-Knightfall) tracking down The False Face Society and Dixon in Detective Comics is doing his own separate thing, which is mostly unrelated to anything.

In Robin comics... they are good, I guess, but I usually skip everything related to the 'Kid General'. I just find him... bleh.

Wonder Woman. I thought that I would like John Byrne, but aside from his initial Second Genesis and Bloodlines arc, most of what he writes is boring. I guess it's better than Loebs, because I did not skip (mostly) any of the issues. The most interesting probably thing was that Diana got made in to a Goddess of Truth, and her mother became Wonder Woman as a penance to Themyscara (I guess somehow he had to rectify whatever shit Loebs wrote-in, but...).

Justice League. I liked Midsummer Nightmare (1996) and the first arc. The rest was kinda 50/50. But I like the fact that it can be read separately from any other comic books. I mean, they acknowledge the current status quo (like Superman being made from energy now or Diana being 'dead'), but mostly, to what is going on, its its own separate thing.

Hellblazer. Ever since he got to hang-out with his hippy friends, because a new writer came-in, in a bar for the most of the time, I don't like it. It has some good stories, but most of the good ones are unrelated to the broader arc.

Oh, yeah, and Genesis Event... what a fucking waste of time even with skipping most of the reading material.

[Rushmoras]

Read through the year 1999. Had to ditch Supergirl somewhere after issue 30 perhaps, because for a long while I just found the writing boring and non-engaging.

Regarding Superman... I don't really think that baring the fact that Lex Luthor made sure that DailyPlanet is no more, there were any issues that actually stood out, and what's got my attention was the issues that were released in December 1999, because it felt like Superman titles will be more mature from now on in terms of quality in writing and drawings. Even the Man of Steel comic books somewhere in 1998 became tolerable (after Louise Simonson departed from writing them).

Regarding Justice League... I think that I don't like team-up stories. Out of 35 issues that I read maybe I liked about six or seven of them. Everyone is like "Oh, my God, Grant Morrisson is the best", and all I am thinking that the respective solo titles of characters are much better than the team ups. Of course, the mini series of JLA are quite good and had no qualms with them.

Batman. So, I completed the No Man's Land arc today, and overall I've gonna say that it was good. Did I like everything therein? Nope. There were countless of issues that were boring and/or I just skipped, but the whole ending sequences and/or everything surrounding Cassandra Cain, were very interesting. Dark Victory was also very good mini-series, and whole lot better than the Long Halloween in my opinion.

Wonder Woman. So far, I like Eric Luke's run, especially his war against the titans arcs. And I think he's better than John Byrne at least.

Hellblazer. Warren Ellis saved the series, because I was really pondering of whether I should ditch it, because it was so damn boring for many issues. But then he came with his writing style and bam, Constantine was good again.

Sandman Present's Lucifer. Was also an interesting mini-series.

Day of Judgment Event. I kinda liked it, but it was on a boring side.

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by Rushmoras

[Rushmoras]

Read through the year of 2003. Nothing substantial I've got to add, save for these things:

a) the most memorable arcs in Justice League were World War 3 (Issues 36-41), Tower of Babel (43-46); The Queen of Fables (47-49); The Obsidian Age (68-75) and Trial by Fire (83-89);

b) for sometime now, Batman has been for the lack of better word an unlikeable c***, especially in Robin comics;

c) the best "discoveries" for me was randomly stumbling upon Lucifer and Gotham Central. They are both equally interesting and probably the best reads out of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, JLA and Hellblazer comics;

d) for the most part, I don't care about Superman's futuristic Metropolis and all the troubles it causes. It's been stale for some time now. Though, I guess with the issue of Superman No. 200 (2004 February), they are going to reconcile something with Superman: Birthright, which reading it prior to this, in my opinion was something out of Elseworlds without being labelled such.

[Rushmoras]

So, I was reading JLA "Pain of the Gods" story from 2004, which is basically, JLA coming to terms with various losses they suffer, and in penultimate issue of the story, Wonder Woman comes to the JLA tower for some consolation, and Martian Manhunter is there, and says: "I sense you are distraught. do you need some moral support?" or something like that, and Diana happy to talk it out begins to open her mouth, but Martian Manhunter says to her then: "Well, then go to Superman", and walks away. This was unintentionally hilarious.

[Rushmoras]

Well, flash forward a couple of months and now I'm in DC's 2007 era, just completed Amazons Attack event, and, oh boy, what a shit fest it was (pardon my French).

If I understood what was happening correctly,

Spoiler

Circe, furious that Ares took their daughter in the beginning of the new Wonder Woman, which was issued in 2006, devises a plan of vengeance against the Greek Gods. She thinks that getting back at them through the Amazons, by pitting the world against them, will somehow return her daughter back or something. So, she, through magic and persuasion, and whatnot witchy craft, replaces Sergeant Steel from the Department of Metahuman Affairs with a shape-changer, who, as a pretext for assassinating Maxwell Lord, apprehends Wonder Woman. But, instead of, you know, interrogating her for this specific instance, has her hauled to some off site black ops facility to be tortured for information about the Themyscarian super weapon.

Meanwhile, while all of this is happening, Circe appears on Themyscara and, sacrificing a portion of her own soul, resurrects Queen Hippolyta, who appears not like herself (and neither are the Amazons, I might add). This is more evident, when Circe through magic shows her Diana bound in chains in the world of man. Enraged and furious, Queen Hippolyta summons under her banner an army of Amazons (who don't even protest at all this decision, I might add) to invade the world of man, and save her daughter...

This was the main premise, and while writing this summary down, it would have seemed that this could be a pretty decent story. But it wasn't. In fact, looking back at it, all I can say that it was a cavalcade of random events about characters that are acting seriously way off. I think, I actually liked only three issues in the entire event, and even that word "liked" is a strong one. I actually liked the ending portion of Amazons Attack (No. 6) due to how absurd it was -

Spoiler

so, it appears that Granny Goodness has been masquerading as Athena for a while now, and now is holding captive some of Amazon generals. What happened? Did Darkseid kick her out from Apokolips or something? This was so random thing to put in this series, when you literally have Ares from the last volume grinding his teeth at Athena for becoming too powerful.

Also, I'm surprised that Jodi Picoult wrote a couple of issues for Wonder Woman. No disrespect or anything for her, I'm sure she's great novelist, but, um, everything she has written in Wonder Woman either seemed off character and/or random events that ultimately bear no substance whatsover. Will Pfeifer, while doing almost the same thing in Amazons Attack mini-series, managed to at least be more entertaining with his dialogues.

That being said, it was probably the worst character assassination event that I have yet to read from DC.

[Lantern7]

@Rushmoras . . . You might want to check out Incredible Hercules: Love & War. We got rampaging Amazons there, but Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente do a great job with it.

[Palimelon]

Currently the X-line (RIP, Krakoa era!) but also a few other titles like the main Avengers title and the Titans. Wonder Woman too, but my God I think I am hate reading it at this point (nice artwork though).

[Palimelon]

The ComicsXF bullpen share their favorite Krakoa memories.

[Rushmoras]

Some thoughts about Marvel's Silver Age stories as per cover dates from 1962 to 1969. So, spoilers aplenty, beware:

More than six months ago decided to try reading some of Marvel's Silver Age comics. At first, it was mostly Fantastic Four, Thor and Spider-Man, but as stories progressed, I found myself including Iron Man, Avengers and X-Men as well. Then, I included Daredevil as well, and in the end I found myself reading ten titles in total: Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Thor, Iron Man, Daredevil, X-Men, Avengers, Silver Surfer, Hulk and Captain America.
 

Spoiler

Regarding the Fantastic Four (1962). Including Annuals, I think I've read so far one hundred issues in total (the last was #93 (cover date of December 1969). This is one of few comics that for 8 years in a row had the same author (Stan Lee) and the same artist (Jack Kirby) making them, while others gradually shifted from Lee and paved way to others like Roy Thomas (Avengers, X-Men, Hulk, Daredevil) or Archie Goodwin (Iron Man). And, from early on, I guess it differentiated itself from other titles with how grandiose it was in terms of threats the team faced. While other titles (such as Spider-Man or Avengers) nine times out of ten faced off more mundane villains, the FF teamed squared themselves off with aliens, and was thee comic for grand space events such as the coming of Silver Surfer and Galactus (Issues 48-50, 74-77). It was also thee comic to introduce such now well known characters as Prince Namor (Issues 4-6, 9 etc.) - or, in his case - reintroduce, the Inhumans (Issues 44-46) or Black Panther (Issues 52-53).

Though, the first couple of years, the team faced off against Namor and his infatuation with Sue Storm, which was kinda conceived as a love triangle between Sue, Reed and Prince Namor, along with him trying to get back at the surface world for destroying Atlantis, but also most stories dealt with the team dynamics - like Reed's guilt for Benjamin's condition, but it also differentiated itself from other titles at that time due to the fact that actually the romance plot between the two main leads did in fact progressed to a point that Sue and Reed did get married (Annual No. 3) and eventually have a child together (Issues 80-81). Whereas, such romance plots in other titles were used either for driving a wedge between possible would be couples (the Amazing Spider-Man) or were dragged out for the longest of times to go nowhere (Thor).

Regarding the Hulk (1962) [and then The Incredible Hulk (1968]. Hoo boy, for the longest time this might have been a comic book, which issues I have skipped the most, because the stories were simply too dated and/or uninteresting for the modern reader. I guess, you could say that I found it interesting that for quite a while Hulk was treated as some sort of proto Doctor Jakyl and Mister Hide type character, wherein the Hulk was the embodiment of everything that Bruce Banner was not, but, I guess it got phased out after a while to a more standard Hulk lore when he shared his comic with Namor (I guess, in Tales to Astonish, which I did not read, because I did not like the original run all that much). And, even when I picked up the Incredible Hulk (1968), for the most part, the stories haven't changed from what Lee was writing all those years back. And it took (at least from what I've read so far) Roy Thomas (Issue 120) to bring more nuance to the character, which isn't solely "Hulk bash and Hulk smash" type of stories and character archetype that Lee was going for.

Regarding Thor (Journey into Mystery (1962) [and then Thor (1966)]. I think that for me this is the second most interesting comic book out there from Marvel's Silver Age. For the most part, it deals with Thor protecting the Earth from Asgardian threats such as Loki (Issue 85 and others), who wants to kill Thor in order to challenge Odin, or the Queen of the Norns (Issues 149-152 and others), who was spurned on by Balder the Brave, and wants revenge, but sometimes is forced to work with the heroes as well (Issue 170). What's interesting is that for the longest time the comic book treated Don Blake (who in the first story found a magic walking stick that allowed him to turn into Thor) and Thor as different characters, and only in Issues 158-159 of Thor it is revealed that Odin wanting to teach his son humility transported him to Earth and stripped him off his powers thus creating a different persona who is capable of compassion and helping others, and that persona is the catalyst that drives Thor on.

Moreover, for the longest time the main love interest of Thor/Don Blake was Jane Foster, who at the time was working as Blake's assistant nurse, however, in Issue 136, when Thor brings Jane to Asgard in order to bless their union, Odin turns her in to Immortal Asgardian and tasks her to face off an enemy, and when she is scared of that enemy, Odin refuses to marry them, and already in the next issue (137) Jane is replaced by Lady Siff as love interest.

Also, just like the Fantastic Four, this is the comic for cosmic events that spun out such characters as Ego the Living Planet (Issues 134-135) or Hercules (Annual No. 1).

Regarding Spider-Man [The Amazing Spider-Man (1963)]. Probably, so far, this is the only comic that I've read from Silver Age that follows the characters social growth - from school to university etc. For the most part, Peter Parker's life in university did not differ all that much from his life in high school. For many issues he was still an outcast, though, in high school, he was an outcast due to constant bullying, and because he was taking care of his ailing aunt, he could not participate in social life of school, even though he was a success with the ladies for some reason. And this did not change much for the longest issues when the high-school period was over, and Parker started university, because - he went to the uni with the same frenemies that he had in school. And only with the introduction of Gwen Stacy's possible interest in him, did his role of an outcast change.

What I find interesting is that even though the authors did try to pair off Peter with Mary Jane at first, but her character was so unlikeable, and so air headed that in the end, after Gwen's death, they will reshape Mary Jane's entire character to fit in line with Gwen's. Also, I was surprised that J.J. was the one behind the creation of Scorpion (Issue 20) solely because he wanted someone to take down Spider-Man so bad that he funded a questionable experiment.

Regarding Iron Man [Journey into Mystery (1963) and The Invincible Iron Man (1968)]. I'm not gonna lie, for the longest time and even for many issues after that, this comic was less than mediocre. Sure, it had its moments (like Iron Man for four or five issues battling some Soviet Union counterpart version of himself, which was supposed to be in actuality a filler issue about Capitalists versus Communists, but it was so damn good written that it was four or five parters). Most times when it shines is when Tony is dealing with his personal dramas and not fighting his villains. For example, even though Iron Man as a character got introduced in No. 39 of Tales of Suspense, but it took the introduction of Happy Hogan (Issue 45) for me to say that - hey, this is the real origins story for this comic.

Regarding Captain America (1968). Honestly, I haven't formed any strong opinions about the issues that I've read, because for the longest time it shared a comic with Iron Man in Journey into Mystery, and only in 1968 it got its own separate comic. Most of the stories are him working for SHIELD and battling the forces of Hydra and AIM while mooning over Sharon Carter. I guess, personally, I would say it is better written then Iron Man, but probably more or less close to the quality.

Regarding Daredevil (1964). Right of the bat I'm going to say that this comic has the best origin story out there from the one's I've mentioned above. Its actually so good that it could have been created this year and what not. For the most part, it's probably about Matt Murdock having to reconcile him being a vigilante with his love life, and because of this, trying to conceal his secret identity, he creates such idiotic plots that always more or less come biting him in the ass, such as, pretending that he is his own twin brother (Issue 25) or faking his own death (Issue 54-55), when for the most part, most of his troubles would be solved, if he would just talk to someone. But, I guess, this is an issue for most of these comics were people act first (fight it out) and (almost) never ask questions.

Daredevil's rogue gallery though? Yeah, much to be desired so far. It is really a long way from him battling Kingpin's goons or ninjas, or even meeting Elektra...

Regarding X-Men (1963). For the most part - Marvel Girl, Cyclops, Beast, Ice Man and Angel lead by Professor Xavier (until his death in Issues 41-42) battle against evil mutants that try to take over the world. Not much nuisance there. Their main enemy is Magneto and his Brother Hood of Evil Mutants. Most of the stories are pretty skippable I'm going to say, because they did not age well or simply were never good to begin with, but when it shine, oh, boy, this comic really does shine, like Roy Thomas' Sentinels Arc in Issues 54-59, but I guess I can see why this comic was cancelled initiality (I think, five issues left to read until the part where they cancelled it from Issue 66), though, if the last remaining issues are anything that Roy Thomas wrote, I'm going to say that they cancelled it prematurely.

On the other hand, this clearly is not the same team of X-Men that were reintroduced during Clermont era.

Regarding Avengers (1963). Mostly so far it is a team-up book for lesser known characters or characters that would probably not sell well on their own, at least I think this was the idea. At first it consisted of Hulk, Iron Man, Wasp and Giant Man, but as time went on the roster changed, and the core team never stays the same, because some characters just come and go. Most parts, like the X-Men, I guess are pretty skippable. I couldn't even say which of the issues so far actually stand out or are better. Maybe those that introduce Vision (Issues 57-58) or Kang the Conqueror (Issue 7), who initially was just a one-off villain from the Fantastic Four, wherein they used Doctor Doom's time machine to go in to the past and encountered some space faring Pharoah usurping Egypt's throne or something, but after a while this bloke's personality got expanded. But, yeah, until Roy Thomas, I did not like most of the stories that Lee wrote here.

Regarding Silver Surfer (1968). From the pages of Fantastic Four this character got spun out in to his own comic book, and the stories deal with him trying to unsuccessfully understand humanity while being trapped on Earth (as per Galactus orders in FF Issues 74-77). And, you know what? This is the most quality series I've encountered so far. I would even say that it could force some modern comics to take a run for their money.

Well, that's probably it for now. Gonna write something else if and/or when I reach the year 1979 for Marvel lol.

[Rushmoras]

Frank Miller's The Ronin No. 1-2-3-4-5-6 (1983-1984). In feudal Japan, when the demon Agat disguised as a geisha assassinates a samurai’s master Ozaki, the samurai takes his master’s magic sword that once belonged to the demon Agat, and swears revenge against him. After ten years of wandering as a ronin, he meets Agat in battle, and the samurai sacrifices himself with the sword so that the demon would die, however, Agat in the end curses both of them to eternal limbo within the magic sword. Thousands of years later, the sword is found in neo-dystopian New York…
 

Spoiler

While reading this graphic novel half-way through, I remembered this quote: "Long ago in a distant land, I, Aku, the shape shifting master of darkness, unleashed an unspeakable evil. But a foolish samurai warrior wielding a magic sword stepped forth to oppose me. Before the final blow was struck, I tore open a portal in time, and flung him into the future where my evil is law..." from Samurai Jack cartoon, and while reading the comments, yep, Gendy Tarkovski took inspiration from Miller's Ronin.

Now, I had no idea it will be a cyberpunk dystopian kinda thing, I though it will be like Zatoichi (blind samurai master-swordsman posing as a masseuse), but, no, it was Samurai Jack, well, at least up until the middle portion of the novel, and then it just got overly weird. In the end, the readers learn that there in fact was no masterless samurai who sought vengeance against the demon that killed his own master, all of this was just a figment of imagination brought to life by a powerful telepath, whose mind was being locked up by a corporation's AI. In the end, it could be interpreted that Ronin, after the telepath dies, in fact comes to life for real, but that's up for interpretation.

I liked half of the issues, so I guess, it's an average graphic novel that didn't aged well for my tastes. The art is also overly abstract and sometimes bordering on ugly, but I guess this was a deliberate choice.

Edited December 28, 2024 by Rushmoras

[Rushmoras]

Some thoughts about Marvel's Bronze Age comics with cover dates from 1970 to 1974:

Spoiler

Regarding The Amazing Spider-Man by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas & Gerry Conway. Well, where to even begin. The seventies brought a lot of misery in to the wall-crawler's life in the comics, and I think this was the beginning of Spider-man becoming a punching bag for powers that be in Marvel. First off, he loses a friend (Captain Stacy) during a fight with the Vulture (I think it was the Vulture, but it could may well have been Octavius), which from that point on makes him an enemy of the police, because they mistakenly believe that he's responsible for Captain Stacy's death. This, coupled with the Kingpin's ploy to steal an ancient tablet, of which, surprise, surprise, the wall-crawler is accused of stealing does not keep him in good graces with the New York city's community at all. Due to the death of Captain Stacy, Gwen decides to leave Peter for a while, because she's afraid of Spider-Man, but then after maybe a dozen issues comes back to New York only to in the end to be murdered by Harry Osborne, who at that time period went crazy from doing LSD (because Mary Jane was leading him on with having her eyes set on Peter while Peter was still with Gwen, and also witnessing the death of his father at the hands of Spider-Man). By the end of 1974 cover dates, Peter is trying to start a new life for himself, and MJ is trying to insert herself in to his life, though, if I look back, it's kinda tacky, considering that all her helping Peter to mourn the death of his girlfriend consisted of "Hey, Peter, don't be so gloom, be happy; let's go party!" kinda pep talks. So, makes you wander... Then again, these stories were never meant to be read en masse, and Marvel's Editorial thought that people would not pay attention back then or would simply forget after so long time has passed between issues.

Of course, there were other story-arcs in this comic, like Kingpin trying to take-over NY crime syndicate only to fall prey to his own son, who later briefly I think in Captain America comics became the interim leader of Hydra. The most what the fuck and out of place story perhaps was the one in which Otto Octavius was planing to marry Aunt May, because she inherited an island with a nuclear station (coincidentally, Octavius and Hammerhead died there during the explosion, so, I can't wait to read in the future how the editorial managed to get around that little tibid, but I guess we go back to my original comment of many years passing between issues being released).

Stan Lee ended his tenure with Issue 99, but briefly returned to rewrite an sort of updated story from 1968 Spectacular Spider-Man for some reason. Roy Thomas had a brief stint in writing for TASM, but eventually got replaced by Conway. IMO, so far, I prefer Conway over Lee, and, well, Roy, at least for TASM, I did not much care of his input there.

Most interesting issues to read, IMO: TASM No. 82-85, 87-88, 90, 93, 95-101, 104, 106-107, 109-110, 112-115, 121-123, 129-130, 132, Giant Size Spider-Man (1974) No. 1, TASM No. 134-136, Giant Size Spider-Man No. 2 & TASM No. 140.

Regarding the Fantastic Four by Stan Lee, Archie Goodwin, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway & Tony Isabella. Well, what can I say about the FF, which would not mirror my thoughts in the previous review? Um, this comic also, perhaps much akin to Spider-Man, had its own share of drama, like Sue Storm leaving (the team and marriage) due to how Reed was, I wouldn't say neglecting her and their baby, but kinda close to it; maybe the better term would be taking them for granted? This, of course, since the mag is called Fantastic Four and not Fantastic Free, led to Sue being replaced by Medusa from the Inhumans,

Most stories were still pretty straight-forward FF stories that you were getting in the sixties, like Reed trying to cure Ben's condition (and this leading to Ben slowly losing his marbles and being on the verge, heck, actually, becoming a villain at one point before, of course, his condition being reversed), Ben's inability to reconcile himself and the fact that Alicia actually does love despite his appearance, and whatnot. I guess, the most interesting for me thing was that Agatha Harkness was Franklin's babysitter. Yeah, Agatha freaking Harkness began as a babysitter for the FF. And she got to show off her witchcraft powers early on against the Frightful Four who were pretty much pissing themselves afterwards for trying to invade her home where she was taking care of Franklin (of course, this being the seventies, Marvel could not show the pissing themselves part, but the gist was pretty on the nose haha).

Okey, now, on to the most fucked up thing in this comic, and Sue having all the reasons in the world to leave Reed afterwards - Reed turns their child's brain in to mush (I don't remember the specifics, but I guess Annihlus wanted to use Franklin's latent powers, and Reed stopped him from doing that via his techno mumbo jumbo). That was a fucking dark storyline, which continued all the way to the end of 1974 cover dates (so, maybe, about two years in real world I'd wager), which was rectified in FF No. 150 a celebratory issue, in which, I guess, the slate was wiped off clean between the Richards' family.

Lee wrote issues until 114 (but briefly returned just like in other comics), afterwards, Archie Goodwin took over the process of writing for a bit, followed by Thomas & Conway. So far, Isabella had maybe one issue by the end of 1974 cover dates. Again, IMO, Goodwin and Conway are more interesting than Lee. Don't know about Isabella so far, because, as mentioned, only one issue I think it was.

Most interesting issues to read, IMO: FF No. 94, 101, 105, 109-117, 120-123, 127, 129, 131-132, 134-135, 137-141, 145-146, Giant Size Super-Stars (1974) No. 1, Giant Size Fantastic Four (1974) No. 2, FF No. 149, 151-153.

Regarding Thor by Stan Lee & Gerry Conway. This might surprise you, but I have nothing more to add, but this - largely, if you have been reading Thor in the 60s, it's almost the same thing in the 70s: Odin is a vengeful old fart that does not tell anyone anything and Thor has to save the day because of it without getting any thanks in return. 99 percent of the time, Thor is off-world fighting threats that were either created by Odin or by Loki. And, now, for me, this was interesting aspect, and the beginning of "continuity does not really matter" phase in comics, because while Thor is usually off-world in his own comics, but in Avengers he's always there. At one point, I think because someone pointed that out in the letters section, the editorial had to point out that this stuff is happening either before or after current Avengers events. I guess, 70s Thor so far is not as good for me as 60s Thor, but mostly due to the fact that it's kinda the same storyline over-and-over again. At least, Steve Rogers in his own mag has a identity crisis/crisis of faith etc., Thor? Beyond that one time where he gave the proverbial middle finger to Odin due to being fed up with his manipulation of others (but then getting back to status quo after a dozen issues of brooding), nothing much changes for this guy.

Most interesting issues to read, IMO: Thor No. 175-177, 180, 182-183, 185-194, 200-204, 206, 209, 211-213, 215-217, 223-225.

Regarding Captain America by Stan Lee, Gary Friedrich, Gerry Conway, Steve Englehart, Roy Thomas & Tony Isabella. Wow, a lot of authors for this mag during 1970-1974 cover dates, though, I guess beyond Lee, the most relevant (surprise or no surprise) are Conway & Englehart. So, as I've mentioned in Thor, Steve Rogers has a lot of crisis’s on his hands in this series to a point that during Secret Empire portion of an arc he decides to quit being Captain America; though, IMO, editorial missed their chance of doing something novel, like making him in to a private-eye, or continuing is policeman route, which he started as a covert-ops in the beginning of the 70s, but instead, they decided that Steve should be instead of Captain America - the Nomad, yet again, another vigilante.

Um, the most interesting stuff, I guess, would be, Steve befriending Sam Wilson (aka the Falcon) while on the run from the Red Skull; Captain America and the Falcon battling Captain America and Bucky Barnes from the 50s; Steve Rogers finding out that he has super-strength (though, IMO it was weird, because from all the feats he portrayed throughout the years I really thought he had super-strength from the get go); him quitting SHIELD; and having a "love triangle" dilema between Sharon and Peggy Carter.

I just want to add something about Sam Wilson's character. There gotten a point in this comic that whenever the Falcon and Captain America interacts, I just know what Sam is going to say - and it will be along the lines of: "YOU ARE A FREAKING SUPER-SOLDIER, HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO COMPETE WITH THAT? NO, SHUT UP, STEVE, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH. I DON'T NEED YOU. <...> HELP, STEVE, I NEED YOU! A SUPER-VILLAIN IS HANDING ME MY OWN ASS!". Sigh... Then again, Sam did ask T'challa to make him some better gear... fat lot that helped him...

Most interesting stories to read, IMO: Captain America No. 121, 124-127, 130-132, 134-137, 139, 141-143, 145-149, 152-156, 160-163, 166, 168-172, 178-179 & 181.

Regarding Iron Man by Archie Goodwin, Allyn Brodsky, Gerry Conway, Gary Friedrich, Mike Friedrich & Roy Thomas. I have nothing much more to add than what I already wrote in my previous review, unfortunately. While, the quality of the stories under Mike Friedrich does get better (circa late 1972 early 1973 cover dates), but they are nothing memorable at all. Honestly, I don't remember much of what I've read from Iron Man at all, and this should be a good indicator of how "interesting" this series was. Honestly, I find it weird that X-Men back then got cancelled for years, but Iron Man stayed on, like what is this? I don't really understand this truth be told. Iron Man as a character for me is more memorable in Avengers book, if I'm being honest. I do remember that Pepper and Hogan had a falling out, because she wanted a career, but that's inter-personal drama. So, I guess, that's an indicator of how interesting IM's enemies were... Nevertheless, I did bold out the more interesting issues even though I do not remember anything about them: 24-25, 28-29, 51, 55-56, 58, 60-62, 69-71.

Regarding The Incredible Hulk by Roy Thomas, Len Wein, Gerry Conway, Archie Goodwin, Gary Friedrich, Steve Englehart, Chris Claremont & Tony Isabella. Um, in comparison to my previous observations surrounding the Hulk comics, they did get good as opposed to Iron Man, which mostly stayed the same and/or stagnated in my eyes. Sure, most of the stuff were being written based on the characterisations of Roy Thomas, which up to this point I consider to be so far the best Hulk writer. Still, my previous observations still stand - Bruce Banner is continuously searching for a cure for his condition, and that is the core premise of the comic. Sure, sometimes, Banner is an idiot, like that one time when Betty dated a scientist who could control his gamma radiation given powers, and decided to yet again become Hulk (the scientist syphoned Hulk's radiation in to himself from Banner at that point). While, his green alter ego, the Hulk, just like let's say Silver Surfer, is searching for his own place in the world, in the world whose inhabitants either fear him or hate him.

Also, many things happen to the ones surrounding Banner, like MODOK changing Betty's DNA in order for her to become - I forgot what she was called - let's say Pterodactyl Woman, or the Leader crashing Banner's and Betty's wedding, or Betty marrying Glenn Talbot; or Talbot ending up a prisoner of the Soviets.

Best issues to read IMO: The Incredible Hulk No. 123-124, 126, 128, 130-132, 134, 136-137, 139-144, 146, 147 (second story), 148-149, 151-153, 156-157, 161-162, 164-165, 168, 171-177, 179-182.

Regarding Daredevil by Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, Steve Gerber & Chris Claremont. Okey, Matt Murdock's life, just like Peter Parker's is also filled with drama's: from Karen Page finding out his identity and deciding that she cannot love him due to constant fretting over his wellbeing and safety, and becoming a movie star, to Matt Murdock leaving New York and going to San Franciso, wherein he hooks up with Black Widow (and then, back again to New York to help out Foggy). Again, I'm repeating myself, not much new I have to add than what I've already written in my previous review. DD for me so far works best with inter-personal dramas. His rogue gallery is kinda meh at this point. There are some interesting'ish villains like the Gladiator or... damn, I already forgot his name even though he was a recent villain... just call him Stalking Death, but, yeah...

Best issues to read IMO: Daredevil No. 61, 63-67, 71-72, 74, 78-80, 83, 87-88, 90-97, 108-110, 112-115.

Regarding the Defenders by Steve Englehart, Len Wein, Tonny Isabella & Chris Claremont. So, since famous superheroes got their own team-up book, Marvel thought in 1972 why can't others get a team-up book as well, and so came to light the Defenders led by none other than Doctor Strange (who, down the line will be getting his own comic book again, which will spun out from Marvel Spotlight), who summons to his aid Namor the Submariner, Black Knight (later replaced by Valkyrie) and the Hulk to fight the forces of mystical evil. With all honest, Steve Englehart started this series strongly and I was looking forward to reading it, but afterwards it gradually lost steam. The Defenders/Avengers War was good (instigated by Dormamu and Loki), but that was kinda it so far.

Best issues to read IMO: The Defenders No. 1-3, 9-10, 15-16, Giant Size Defenders (1974) No. 2, The Defenders No. 17 & 19.

Regarding the Avengers by Roy Thomas & Steve Englehart. I think I mentioned in my previous review, that the characters in this team-up book don't stay the same within the roster. When one character leaves, some other takes his place. For example, Hawkeye leaves, so Swordman took his place for a while. While probably not as interesting as the 60s stories (of those that were interesting at least), but it did for the very first time I guess give the readers events that spanned more than dozen issues, if I may be honest, for example, The Skrull/Kree War (incidentally, I did not like it much, the Thanos War in Captain Marvel comic was so much better done). I might be the odd one out, but I really don't dig Englehar's writing, coming off straight from Roy Thomas, Englehart, at least in Avengers, is a hit and miss for me. Some stuff is good, but mos if very average and/or did not age well.

Of those arcs that stood out, I guess I could name the Avengers/Defenders War story and... probably that's it. I started the what you would call the Celestial Madonna (and I'm up to the point where the Avengers lay Swordsman to rest), but honestly, I don't care for Mantis at all. By the end of 1974 cover dates, Agatha Harkness comes from FF pages (after they dealt with the crisis at the Great Refuge surrounding the wedding between Pietro and Crystal) to be a tutor for Wanda Maximoff. Oh, speaking about Wanda... and Pietro (who is currently butthurt due to his sister's infatuation with mechanical dildo, sorry, Vision), in one Giant Size Avengers comic, it was revealed that the Whizzer is their father (of course, this will be later retconned to be Magneto, but still an interesting tibid of history, IMO).

Best issues to read, IMO: The Avengers No. 73-75, 80-82, 84-87, 89, 93-94, 98-100, 102-104, 106-108, 113-118, 125, 127-128 & 130.

Regarding X-Men by Roy Thomas' and Danny O'neil. Unfortunately, I have nothing good to say about the what was left portion of 1970 cover dates before the magazine was cancelled. X-Men were stopping some sort of alien invasion and Professor Xavier faked his death, and it was associated with this invasion. After, IIRC, the second Sentinel Arc, this was pretty meagre storyline that IMO brooks no further attention.

Some other shorter observations:

I read some parts of Amazing Adventures (1970) featuring the Inhumans, did not like it much; mostly Black Bolt walking around New York while his brother, yet again, usurping the throne (shocker, I know). During that time, I get the feeling that editorial wanted to spin-out Black Widow's comic book from it, but she later got put in to a mag with Daredevil to be his love interest. Other stories from this comic that I've read surrounded Hank McCoy from the original X-Men team - long story short, if you want to read on how he became from ape-man to furry, read Amazing Adventures No. 11-17 (or any other collected edition that has these stories). But, IMO, the AA was not very good comic book, and I only liked 12 & 16.

Silver Surfer was probably the strongest Lee written book at the time, and despite some hick-ups, I liked it the best. If I have to recommend to read anything from the Silver Age, this would be it.

Roy Thomas's got the authorisation to write his Conan the Barbarian adaptations to comic book format. I was actually surprised due to how mature (without it being mature) and bloody (without it being bloody), and suggestive (with... it being suggestive) it was compared to other Marvel titles at that time. Big plus IMO is that almost every issue (except maybe Giant Size Conan) is standalone and can be read whenever wherever, and the reader will not feel lost at all. Best stories to read IMO: CtB No. 1-3, 5, 8-10, 14-15, 17-18, 23, 25-26, 28-30, 32-34, Savage Tales No. 2-3, 35-36, 38-39, Giant Size Conan No. 1-4 (continued in some Savage Sword issue; haven't got down to it yet), CtB No. 42, Savage Sword of Conan No. 1.1 (first story).

Marvel Feature, Marvel Premiere featuring Doctor Strange and finally Doctor Strange. After years of hiatus (I admit, did not read the original stories surrounding him, but having read reprints, I kinds wish I had) Marvel decided to bring back Stephen Strange to the readers. For the most part, he is battling eldritch horrors, and eventually will become the supreme big-kahuna wizard or something. While Feature or Premiere are not that good, but Englehart's Doctor Strange (at least 1-5 issues) are a must read. Best issues to read IMO: Marvel Premiere No. 1, 3-6, 8-14, Doctor Strange No. 1-5.

Marvel Spotlight and Werewolf by Night comics follow the adventures of Jack Russel, an eighteen year old, who was bitten by a wolf and now every full moon is turning in to savage blood-thirsty werewolf. Kinda meh, but towards 1974 cover dates becomes better with Moench's writing than Tomb of Dracula (which, coincidentally, IMO started stronger). Best issues to read IMO: Marvel Spotlight No. 3, Werewolf by Night No. 3-4, 6-8, 11-12, 14-18, 20-21, Giant Size Werewolf (1974) No. 2, WbN No. 22-23 & 26.

Tomb of Dracula. As mentioned in WbN paragraph, started interesting, but along the way lost steam. Still, introduces Blade (who for the time being is not a dhampir, but is immune to vampire virus due to being born from a vampire mother), however, he's not a titular character, but one of many supporting cast ones. The story revolves around vampire hunters (Frank Drake and Rachel Van Helsing and co.) trying to kill the resurrected Dracula (incidentally, with ToD and Dracula Lives series, the dude already been killed in the past by four or five different people haha, and its not even five years since the title launched). Best issues to read IMO: Tomb of Dracula No. 1-8, 11, 13-14, 18-21, Giant Size Chillers Featuring Curse of Dracula (1974) No. 1, ToD No. 23, 26 & 28 / Dracula Lives No. 1.1, 1.6, 2.3, 4.5, 5.1, 6.1, 6.3-6.4, 7.1 & 8.

Captain Marvel. Did not read the original, began after the hiatus, and it was a couple of issues before the Thanos War, which I consider so far one of the most interesting storylines in the 70s Marvel. Issues after it are also interesting. Best issues to read IMO: 26-35.

Luke Cage: Hero for Hire and Power Man. Power Man continues on from Hero for Hire, because Luke thinking that his alias is stupid and the press don't give him the credit he deserves decides to done a new moniker. So far, the same as it was before: Luke helping out his community. It's alright, nothing special, though at that point in time it probably was considering that he was one of a few Afro-American heroes in Marvel. Best issues to read IMO: Hero for Hire No. 1, 3, 6-9, 11-12, Power Man No. 17-19 & 22.

Marvel Premiere and Warlock. Despite the clearly religious undertones where High Evolutionary is God and Adam Warlock is Jesus, this I'd rate as high as I'd rate the Silver Surfer (too bad that back then it got put on hiatus and the plot got resolved in Hulk comics, because it could have been so much better). Best issues to read IMO: Marvel Premiere No. 1, Warlock No. 1-7.

Regarding couple of comics I'm on the fence and probably will not read until their relaunch:

Marvel Team-Up. Mostly read this comic due to Spider-Man stories, but it did not age well and the stories almost have no impact on the mainline continuity in TASM. So... Best issues: MTU No. 2-4, 6-8, 10, 12 & 28.

Marvel Spotlight and Ghost Rider. Hell, I really though that I will like Johnny Blaze, but his origin story was stupid as hell and probably the worst I have read from Marvel, and while Ghost Rider issues were a bit better than Spotlight's, but not by much. Best issues: Marvel Spotlight No. 3, 6, 8, Ghost Rider No. 1-2 + Spotlight No. 12, GR No. 3.