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Post by Philip Ayres on Mar 26, 2010 22:24:37 GMT
Iron Man: The Iron Monger HC: Collects Iron Man 193-200.
Guess how many issues featuring James Rhodes as Iron Man had been released in trade before this volume ? 12 - The Secret Wars. Correcting this is a long overdue ommision but to my mind they really needed to start c IM 160 at the begining of the story which this is the conclusion too. Well sort of.... the story continues after 200 - 201 especially picks right up where 200 left off. You can tell it's been released to tie in with Iron Man II but seeing as the villain here is Stane wearing the Iron Monger armour maybe this should have been released with the first film.
When this volume kicks off Stark has sobered up, started a new firm with his friends, and just started wearing an older style Iron Man suit. Jim Rhodes meanwhile has joined the West Coast Avengers.... hmm maybe *that* forthcoming volume could have come out here first too !
The story has been simmering for 3 years by this point and reaches an explosive climax in 199 when you don't know who's died. 200 itself was horribly spoiled at the time by West Coast Avengers (main series) 1 having come out the month before !!! But the story itself was sound.... even without reading it you know what's going to happen by the end.
A mixture of artists doesn't give a terribly consistant look to this volume BUT everyone does a fine job here.
So good stuff. But let's have 160-192 (and accompanying annuals) out asap. And go and buy them as back issues anyway cos 160-200 is the greatest Iron Man story ever.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Mar 27, 2010 10:21:28 GMT
Courtesy of ebay I snagged the 96 collection Wrath of Apocalypse - with four of the last five issues of X-Factor that Whilce Portacio did before jumping to Uncanny. Very nice stuff, though the Jeff Matsuda cover doesn't quite fit with the content though.
Andy
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Post by Philip Ayres on Mar 27, 2010 10:30:44 GMT
If this is the square bound comic stock collection I have a copy upstairs. And it's great. Portacio could draw.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Mar 27, 2010 11:37:08 GMT
Yes, yes it is.
I loved Portacio back in the day and wish he'd stayed on Uncanny X-Men a bit longer.
Andy
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Post by Jaymz on Mar 28, 2010 22:07:20 GMT
I loved Portacio back in the day and wish he'd stayed on Uncanny X-Men a bit longer. He drew the most recent issue if that's any consolation... |
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Post by Philip Ayres on Apr 29, 2010 8:46:27 GMT
New Mutants Classic v5 I'm afraid this volume didn't set my world on fire. We kick off with the New Mutants Special Edition & X-Men Annual 9 which while superb have been reprinted loads already - I've got em in colour in Asgardian Wars and in B&W in Essential X-Men whatever.
The rest of the volume (NM#35-40)contains issues related to Magneto becoming Headmaster (cX-Men 200) and the New Mutants being killed by the Beyonder - frustratingly this volume doesn't include SWII#9 where he resurects them.
I'd expect the next Volume to contain New Mutants 41-45, Annual 2 & X-Men Annual 10 - the average contents for these volumes is 9 issues with the annuals being double sized. The two annuals crossover and the New Mutants are very prominantly involved in Annual 10. Then the following volume (if a little extra space can be found) would be 46 - 54 (the NM involvement in the Mutant Massacre, the story that spins off from it including the great double sized issue 50 and Claremont's final issue on the series 54)
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Post by Philip Ayres on May 7, 2010 17:36:13 GMT
The Incredible Hercules: The Mighty Thorcules: Hercules ends up pretending to be Thor and hijinks ensue. Worth it for the summary of Thor's origin with Hercules commentary on the first page. Inevitably we then get Thor dressed up as Hercules and a big fight. Interspersed with the ongoing adventures of Amadeus Cho. More of the same as before basically.
Iron Man: The Many Armours of Iron Man collects Iron Man #47 (origin, silver armour), #142-144 (space armour & James Rhodes origin), #152-153 (stealth armour - well for a couple of pages of the first part), #200 (Red & Silver - see above) and #218 (sea armour) The 140s and 150s feature some great art by John Romita Jr inked by Hub Favourite Bob Layton. Without fail though all the stories are nothing special at all though.
Have ordered a DC Book. Try to buy one every year ....
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Post by Philip Ayres on May 12, 2010 15:52:10 GMT
Also picked up from FPE were vols 1 and 4 of Thor Simonson meaning I at last have the full run. I plan to read through the whole lot in order soon! -Ralph Volume 1 was superb. I read an issue a night before bed. I had only read some of the issues in it before and overall it was a thrilling read. The build-up to Surter's return is superbly paced. Currently re-reading volume 2. -Ralph |
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Post by Andy Turnbull on May 15, 2010 12:34:13 GMT
Rather splendidly Wildstorm are finally getting round to collecting Joe Casey & Dustin Nguyen's Wildcats 3.0 later this year. Looking forward to that.
Andy
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Post by The Doctor on May 15, 2010 22:00:57 GMT
Happy news from Turnbull is that Harry 20 On The High Rock is FINALLY getting a trade! This makes me very happy.
-Ralph
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Post by Andy Turnbull on May 15, 2010 23:06:22 GMT
US only at the mo it looks like though.
Andy
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Post by The Doctor on May 15, 2010 23:08:47 GMT
The internet can still bring it to me.
-Ralph
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Post by Andy Turnbull on May 15, 2010 23:16:35 GMT
Yes. Yes it can!
Andy
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Post by Philip Ayres on May 24, 2010 8:52:58 GMT
Essential FFv8 on the runway this week ! Huzzah, it's been a quiet period for trades and Essentials in particular. Collects Fantastic Four (1961) #160-179, #181-183, Annual #11, and Marvel Two-in-One #20 & Annual #1.
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Post by Philip Ayres on May 24, 2010 18:20:23 GMT
Currently reading, for the first time, Crisis on Inifinite Earths. Just read part 8. Woulding I be offending anyone by saying that it isn't very good ?
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Post by The Doctor on May 24, 2010 18:44:12 GMT
I was not aware Essential FF 8 was out. I shall wait a bit until I acquire it though, for my unread stuff pile is stupidly high at the moment.
-Ralph
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Post by blueshift on May 24, 2010 19:12:28 GMT
Currently reading, for the first time, Crisis on Inifinite Earths. Just read part 8. Woulding I be offending anyone by saying that it isn't very good ? I liked it  |
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Post by legios on May 24, 2010 20:05:53 GMT
Currently reading, for the first time, Crisis on Inifinite Earths. Just read part 8. Woulding I be offending anyone by saying that it isn't very good ? Not me. I am very ambivalent towards Crisis. I think it works better if you are quite heavily invested in DC continuity (I am to a middling degree) but I am uncertain how well it works if you don't already have a strong vested interest in the Earths and their heroes who are being wiped out. I have read it a few years ago and I thought it was serviceable but didn't really engage me. Karl |
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Post by Philip Ayres on May 24, 2010 21:26:10 GMT
I was not aware Essential FF 8 was out. I shall wait a bit until I acquire it though, for my unread stuff pile is stupidly high at the moment. -Ralph Out this week |
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Post by Philip Ayres on May 25, 2010 14:32:47 GMT
Finished. Got to the end ..... didn't set my world on fire. Chapter 11 I liked with people waking up in the new world and not being sure how they got there..... maybe it might have worked better for me with that as the starting point and the story being working out how they got there which would have given DC's Detective (rather than super powered) characters more to do.
In other news the Panini Secret Invasion trade is here - let's see how that reads as a book.
In further news the Panini Captain America Reborn trade has sneaked out - due Jan but delayed due to the series being delayed which made Amazon cancel my order. So it might have been out for a while..... but I need my Cap fix. This'll get read before the other stuff (SI, 4 exiles Ultimate Collections and the still outstanding Essential Nova & Essential Dazzlers)
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Post by Philip Ayres on May 25, 2010 17:35:15 GMT
Phil needs a favour: next time someone is in their LCS can they see if Essential Doctor Strange v4 contains any of Roger Stern's written stuff ? The issue numbers are right, it's just I know there';s been multiple volumes of Doctor Strange.
TA !
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Post by Philip Ayres on May 26, 2010 0:29:43 GMT
Captain America Reborn: Well that sucked me in. Just a chapter before bed I thought.... even knowing how it must end it held my attention right the way through while telling an exciting and fun story that leads out from the recent Cap issues and ties in with the state of the MU. It might not stand up as well as Winter Soldier does to repeated readings but was a fine read. With the exception of some slightly rushed art at times, a good job has been done - Well done all round.
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Post by Philip Ayres on May 27, 2010 12:46:03 GMT
Secret Invasion Well that's a bit of a mess both from the art point of view and the writing. There's a decent story idea or 2 trying to get out but the big battle scenes in New York that dominate the book are confusing with too many characters knocking around. The Savage Land stuff is good - if a little confusing trying to work out which hero is real and which is a Skrull - in the time between LS and trade I had forgotton how many real heroes were on that ship none - the real ones turn up on a second ship at the end. Or are they real  ?? It doesn't read any better in the trade - with some work it could have been told much more coherently in half the space.
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Post by The Doctor on May 27, 2010 18:36:53 GMT
I have yet to read Secret Invasion. The reviews have put me off.
-Ralph
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Post by blueshift on May 27, 2010 18:41:26 GMT
I have yet to read Secret Invasion. The reviews have put me off. -Ralph Its not terrible by any means. It's just that the setup was fantastic, and the actual event was a bit 'meh' |
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Post by Philip Ayres on May 27, 2010 20:18:17 GMT
Those nice boys from Scotland decided to buy me a present for letting them come and stay. Knowing I liked X-Men and Paul Smith Alpha Flight & Art Adams they bought me the X-Men: Asgardian Wars Hardcover. Then they read this..... New Mutants Classic v5 I'm afraid this volume didn't set my world on fire. We kick off with the New Mutants Special Edition & X-Men Annual 9 which while superb have been reprinted loads already - I've got em in colour in Asgardian Wars and in B&W in Essential X-Men whatever. .... and thought "Oh Bugger !" Well they shouldn't have worried. The HC beats my old TPB hands down. Far better colouring than the original for a start really brings both artists work to life. Both are at the tops of their games here with Smith becoming really the only person other then Byrne to draw Alpha Flight properly. The story is good - with the X-Men Alpha Flight series drawn by Smiyth forming the first half while Loki's revenge is drawn by Adams in New Mutants Special Edition 1 (a bloated annual) and X-Men Annual 9 (Adam's first of four - 10, 12 and 14 are the others) If I'm allowed one *little* niggle: The volume is still missing Alpha Flight 50 which is A) where Loki takes his revenge on the other team involved in the first half of the book and B) Mantlo Madness. A great present guys, thanks. The only problem is I now want to replace all my old X-Men trades with HCs ! |
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Post by Philip Ayres on May 27, 2010 20:18:56 GMT
BTW: Does anyone want a slightly battered Asgardian Wars TPB ?
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Post by Philip Ayres on May 29, 2010 15:23:41 GMT
X-Force v3 continues my attempts to kill my "to read" TPB pile. Generally I've been loving the new X-Force and this volume is great, especially the two fingers raised at crossovers when X-Force jump out for Messiah War (which occurs in the middle of the book but reprinted elsewhere) and jump right back in in the same place as they left off in the story. The first half is an attempt by one of Bastion's agents to kill some humans using Mutants laden with a modified legacy virus. It's interesting to see the Leper Queen rebelling against her programming when she knows what she does will kill humans .... the second half involves the Shield team that's tracking X-23 and she ends up captured by those who created her who've infiltfated the team. Great stuff, showing that X-Force works best when Kyle & Yost are left alone to get on with it and not bogged down with crossoveritus.
In other news Power Pack classic v2 showed this morning.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jun 1, 2010 18:28:46 GMT
Secret Warriors Volume 1: Nick Fury Agent of Nothing I reviewed these in the floppy thread ( 1, 2 & 3, 4 & 6) the trade reads well as a cohesive whole and left me wanting more.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jun 2, 2010 18:20:21 GMT
X-Men: Nation X was on the doormat when we got home today. Except it was £7 when I ordered it. And the listing is till wrong as there's more regular issue than that in it. (515-522 + 4 issues of the Nation-X series + The List: X-Men)
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