Retro Comics are Awesome

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andersonh1
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome

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World's Finest Comics #47
August-September 1950

Crime Above the Clouds!
Writer: Bill Finger Pencils: Lew Sayre Schwartz and Bob Kane Inker: Sy Barry

Batman and Robin observe a stranger they've been following, one who has been talking to crooks, buying an airline ticket on a "destination unknown" mystery flight. Bruce and Dick take the same flight in disguise. This is one of those stories that offers a cast of colorful characters all trapped together in a confined space to create multiple minor dramas in addition to the main plot. We haven't seen one of these in a while.

A hijacker who takes the disguised Dick as a hostage causes Bruce to break cover and take action as Batman, going outside the plane and catching the crook by surprise by entering through the cargo door. I suppose the plane isn't pressurized, or else Bill Finger ignored that for the sake of having an action scene for Batman. All the other passengers are relieved that Batman isn't after them, and the plot gets busy from here as each of the small dramas play out against the backdrop of a failed engine (thanks to a bomb the hijacker planted) and a forced landing. All are captured by Ace Radko, a deported criminal who plans to hold Batman for ransom and shoot the others at dawn.

Batman and Robin are locked up with Rogers, one of the passengers, and Batman comes up with a plan to get out by disguising himself as Rogers and having Rogers pretend to be him, but that involves unmasking and taking Rogers into his confidence. Rogers is amazed that Batman is actually Bruce Wayne. The disguised Batman is relased because of his offer to pay extra ransom and easily fights off the guards and subdues them, going back to release the others. A few tricks and a surprise attack enable Batman and Robin to overcome the crooks and free the other passengers, but (to no one's surprise, since he's learned Batman's identity), Rogers does not live through the story. He had a weak heart, and the excitement of the escape was too much for him.
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome

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Action Comics #27
August 1940

Brentwood Home for Wayward Youth
Writer: Jerry Siegel Pencils: Paul Cassidy Inks: Dennis Neville

Clark can't believe his good luck. He actually has a date with Lois. She's on the phone making a contribution to the Brentwood Rehabilitation Home for orphans or foster children (the 1940s terminology isn't clear, but I think it's a foster home), which leads to a conversation where Clark repeats what he's heard about the home being run badly by a couple who are only interested in their bank account, and Lois deciding to investigate. The proprietors give them a tour of the very nice facility, but when Clark and Lois leave, they're intercepted by a young boy who has climbed over the wall, lacerating his hands on glass deliberately embedded on top of the walls. The boy is starving, and Clark and Lois take him to get his hands treated and feed him. He of course tells a different story, of long hours, hard work, and poor conditions.

We've already seen a story very much like this from Superman #3, where the state-run orphanage is run by a corrupt man who treats the kids badly, so this plot reuses ideas and story beats that we've already seen, including Lois and the kid getting caught. This is actually the better of the two, with better characterization for Clark and Lois, and some fun action sequences where the husband who runs the foster home with his wife tries various different ways to stop Superman, including attacking him with a red hot poker (Superman eats a bit of it and says he prefers his meals hotter), a collapsing stack of lumber, a knife, a gun (Superman catches the bullet), an anvil on a chain, and a buzzsaw. Superman just grins and laughs his way through all of it of course, rescuing Lois and depositing the crooked couple at the police station, intimidating them into confessing. The home is put under new and far better management, with Clark having helped the man get his job. Once again, Superman goes to bat for those who cannot help themselves, as is typical for this era. I enjoyed it, but would have enjoyed it more if we hadn't already seen pretty much this exact same plot.
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Batman #60
August-September 1950

Crime Through the Ages!
Writer: ?? Pencils: Dick Sprang Inker: Charles Paris

As a member of the board of directors for the city museum, Bruce has an idea for a new museum: a "hall of the ages", a 30 story building where visitors start at the oldest history on floor one and as they work their way up, they advance through history to the modern day. It's good to see Bruce putting some thought into something other than crimefighting. In any case, the vote is taken and the project is approved, much to the disappointment of Lyons, wheelchair-bound board member who is against the project because it will cost too much. When the site where the new museum will be built is cleared of the old buildings, John Pendray, former shop owner, is angry and vows to ruin the new museum. Two pages in, and we've already been given two suspects for the crime we know will happen.

Sure enough, "accidents" begin to plague the construction site, with Batman and Robin investigating. They prevent any more problems and the museum is completed, but after a few robberies around town and problems with the exhibits, it becomes clear that some crooks are using the museum as a hideout, according to Construction boss Smithers, due to some old tunnels which had been underneath the old shops, probably used for smuggling then and now. Batman lays a trap for the crooks, and after nearly dying from a fall and rescuing Robin from a falling statue, the boss is captured... and it's neither of the two all-too-obvious suspects who is behind the crime. It's the construction boss who built the new museum, who actually built the tunnels he "found" in the first place. With the problems ironed out, the museum is a success, and Lyons at least learns to live with it.

The Counterfeit Batman!
Writer: Bill Finger Pencils: Dick Sprang Inker: Charles Paris

What a creampuff we picked to play Batman!

The high concept of this story is that Bruce Wayne is forced to impersonate Batman. He ended up dressed as Batman at a costume party and for a bet, slid down a rope. Some crooks noticed (because of course they're always hanging around nearby in these old stories) and were disappointed that it wasn't the real Batman (even though it was). "Society man impersonates Batman" the headline booms, complete with a picture of bruce with the Batman mask halfway off his face.

Shark Marlin and his gang decide that Bruce looks enough like the real Batman that they will force him to dress the part and help keep a rival gang away from some robberies he has planned. They hold Dick hostage to ensure Bruce's cooperation. So Bruce has to play along until he can turn the tables, and he has to play a poor imitation of Batman. But after he sabotages a couple of crimes, Shark is starting to not buy his act. He sets up the next crime so he'll know if the "real" Batman is Bruce or not, but Dick is able to finally escape and help Batman as he fights the crooks in a bunch of giant props for a charity display that looks like a desk, chair and bookshelves. There's even a giant working toaster and a giant working vacuum. (How many thousands would these things cost, anyway?) Bill Finger loved his giant props.

They catch the crooks, but Shark declares to the police that Bruce Wayne is Batman and he can prove it. He marked a tiny ink stain on Bruce's cheek when he adjusted his mask earlier. But we get one of those "lifelike rubber mask saves the day" endings where Bruce had a mask of his own face in his utility belt. And of course, it fits over his Batman mask, even the pointed ears.

The Auto Circus Mystery!
Writer: ?? Pencils: Lew Sayre Schwartz and Bob Kane Inker: Charles Paris

Lucky Hooton's Auto Circus is being used as cover for a car theft ring. When Hooton starts to ask too many questions, the crooks fix it so he has an accident while driving, leaving him in the hospital. It's up to Batman and Robin to investigate, and since without Hooton's driving skill the Auto Circus may be in trouble, Batman takes his place (of course) while he recovers. So Batman gets to play stunt driver while investigating the crime. In the end it's skillful driving and infrared goggles in a dark tunnel that finishes the crooks.
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome

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Reading through that first Lee/Ditko Spider Man omnibus, it's strange to me how they set up Mary Jane Watson as this sort of unseen person and leave her appearance to the imagination of the reader. I'm familiar with the character from the Tobey Maguire movies, so it's been interesting to go back to these original stories where she is not in fact Peter Parker's first love interest. That would be Betty Brant, who works at the Daily Bugle. That relationship is going pretty well at first, but then Flash Thompson's sort of girlfriend Liz Allen starts flirting with Peter, much to Peter's disinterest and Betty's chagrin. And in the midst of all this, Aunt May mentions trying to set Peter up with "Anna Watson's daughter", who Peter is not interested in at all, figuring she's probably homely.

The strange thing is that she finally makes her first appearance in issue 25, but we can't see her face. Both times she appears on panel, her face is blocked by something. We can't even see her red hair, because she's wearing a headscarf. But both Betty and Liz are dismayed at (as they put it) how much prettier she is than they are, so they can't possibly compete with her. But the reader gets no chance to decide that, because we have no idea what she looks like.

So why did they take this approach? Why so mysterious about her face? They take a similar approach with the Green Goblin, hiding who he is under the mask as well, even though we haven't met him outside of his costumed identity yet as of issue 25. Maybe they already had plans to introduce Peter to Harry Osborn in college, and then surprise, his dad's a supervillain? I don't know how far ahead they planned the storylines.

These are very dense reads as well, something I don't mind. They remind me of Golden Age books as far as having lots of little panels that are very text heavy, meaning there's plenty of story and dialogue. It's quite a contrast with Jack Kirby's big four panel pages with lots of imagery and not so much text.
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome

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andersonh1 wrote:I'm familiar with the character from the Tobey Maguire movies, so it's been interesting to go back to these original stories where she is not in fact Peter Parker's first love interest.
That was something that always bothered me about the Raimi films. I get simplifying the films by only focusing on one love interest, but the way those films did it felt so forced to me. They've lived next door to each other (even having their bedroom windows face each other) and Peter's had a crush on her since he was like 5 years old? And yet, you'd think MJ just moved in. She barely even knows Peter's name when he's first bitten by the spider.
So why did they take this approach? Why so mysterious about her face?
It was a running gag. Peter expects MJ to be someone he'd have no interest in because it's Aunt May that is trying to set them up, so he constantly gets out of May's attempts to have them meet. And we are supposed to be in the same mindset as Peter since we never really see her either. Then, when they finally do meet, he realizes he'd been completely wrong.
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome

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That makes sense then. I guess they want the reader to be as surprised and wowed as Peter when MJ finally makes her first full appearance.

Back to GA Superman vol. 1:

Action Comics #28
September 1940

The Strongarm Assaults
Writer: Jerry Siegel Art: Jack Burnley

A huge, muscled man in a circus strongman's outfit and a mask is committing robberies around Metropolis. He breaks into houses and robs people on the street, and the police cannot find him. Editor Taylor sends Clark to investigate the story, with Lois tagging along. Lois makes the obvious connection between the circus being in town and their strongman, Herculo, who is performing there. He does indeed look exactly like the masked robber, minus the mask, but the story surely can't be tipping its hand this soon, can it?

As it turns out, no, but we'll get there in a minute. The thief shows up on the circus grounds, and robs Clark, who has implemented a plan to catch him, which he shares with the circus owner. And of course, once he puts on his Superman costume, there's the inevitable confrontation between Herculo and Superman, and of course Herculo is no match for him. The plot stops for a few pages as the two face off and Superman shows off for the crowd, but the mystery is then solved as the circus owner catches one of the clowns literally red-handed, proving that he's the one who robbed Clark earlier. Clark had used the old "dye on the money" trick. After being trounced by Superman, Herculo gets to redeem himself by being the one to deliver the knockout punch to the clown.

So it's not the world's most challenging day for Superman, but it is nice to see him solve the mystery both as Clark and as Superman, and the extended contest with Herculo is fun to read. But it seems pretty obvious that Siegel is not going to give away the game on page 4, making it pretty clear that Herculo is probably innocent. Having the real strongarm bandit in disguise as a clown (who is even talking with Herculo early in the story) is a nice touch though. He's not at all out of place, and it didn't occur to me that the baggy costume could easily hide a strongman's muscular frame, though once you know who he is you can spot the clues, such as one panel where the clown is beside Herculo and he's just as tall as the very large strongman. This is small potatoes for Superman, but fun.
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome

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And for something completely different, I got a couple of more recent Justice League books from Ollie's discount for $5 each. The larger of the two, the Bryan Hitch written and drawn DC You "JLA: Power and Glory" I'm still reading, and it was worth the purchase, even if the premise isn't all that original. The Darkseid War tie-in collection on the other hand... there's very little to recommend here.

Justice League - Darkseid War: Power of the Gods
I remember seeing some of the one-shots collected in this volume on the store shelves when they were published. They didn't tempt me then, and having read them, they really weren't worth it. The premise is that multiple Justice League members have inherited the powers of the gods after Darkseid was killed, and become equivalent to one of the New Gods. Batman has New God Metron's chair and is the god of knowledge. Barry Allen/the Flash has to deal with trying to outrun death. Superman is the god of strength. Hal Jordan briefly becomes the god of light (so he takes Lightray's place). Shazam (Captain Marvel) loses his connection with the six heroes/gods that give him his powers and gets six new deities to power him instead. And finally Lex Luthor is essentially becoming Darkseid.

The art is variable and the writing is variable. As much as I dislike Tom King as a writer, his Hal Jordan GL story is probably the best story in the volume, particularly with Doc Shaner's art. Batman tries to re-tell the story where he reveals his identity to Joe Chill, but it's not that good, and does not match the original. It's hard enough to like punk Billy Batson, but divorced from familiar Greek mythological figures (and Solomon) and paired with alien gods really makes the character unrecognizable. Superman is a weird blend of the drunk Superman scene from Superman III and every Superman cliche you can think of (Jimmy as annoying sidekick, "don't call me chief" Perry White, etc). We've seen Flash try to outrace the Black Racer before, so this was nothing new. And do we really care about Luthor's tough childhood? As a collection of stories, it tells us very little about how these characters might deal with added power and just runs through the motions.

It's little wonder that the New 52 became the DC You and then fizzled out if this was the calibre of storytelling across the line. Even at $5 it feels like I overpaid for this book. The stories range from mediocre to poor, though with a few more pages to develop some ideas and without the unexplained "Hal talks to his childhood self" scenes, the Green Lantern issue might have been pretty good. Not recommended.
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome

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It's been longer than I remembered since I last posted an entry from GA Batman.

Detective Comics #161
August 1950

The Law of the Iron Road!
Script: ? Pencils: Lew Sayre Schwartz and Bob Kane Inker: Charles Paris

There was a story way back in Batman #30, Aug-Sept. 1945, "While the City Sleeps" which was based around the premise of Batman giving Robin an education on how the city operated at night, with all the night shift workers, police, etc. so Robin would have a good working knowledge of the subject from firsthand observation. In this story a chance comment about a passing train leads Batman to decide that it's time for Robin to learn how the Railroad Protective Association and railroad detectives protect trains, so once again Robin would get to observe and learn from the subject in action. And so they're off to shadow the blond, pipe-smoking detective Kip Naylor as he goes through his day, spotting con-men, hobos who hitch rides, a runaway kid, and safety enforcement. They act as bodyguards for a movie actress to protect her from her ex-husband. The final problem is recovering a stolen train cab from a criminal gang who wanted to wreck the train for revenge, with both Naylor and Batman's knowledge of how the railroad system works that enables them to capture the gang.

I enjoy this type of "a day in the life" stories, and Naylor makes a good "guest star" who works well with Batman. There are a variety of problems, some solved in a panel or two with some taking a bit more effort, and plenty of opportunity for Batman to be suitably heroic.
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JLA: Power and Glory
This is the second of two Justice League books that I picked up for $5 at Ollie's discount, and unlike the Darkseid War tie-ins, this was a decent story, if fairly predictable. It reminded me a lot of "Thy Kingdom Come" in Justice Society of America where the JSA find a "god", Gog, in Africa, who starts out doing a lot of good, but in the end you know he's going to be revealed as deceptive and in it to benefit himself rather than his followers. It's the same thing here, This book collects the short-lived Bryan Hitch written and drawn JLA series from the DC You era, which I remember had a lot of delays. The last few issues were actually published after New 52 Superman had died and DC Rebirth was well underway, despite the fact that the New 52 version of Superman and the other JLA members are the ones the one featured in this book. I've come to enjoy Bryan Hitch's artwork after his year on Hawkman, so that motivated me to give this book a try. The book contains Justice League of America 1-4, and 6-10, and it has the lineup of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Cyborg, so it's the New 52 JLA starting lineup. No other DC superheroes appear in this story at all, despite the story being one that affects the entire planet and its population.

The story opens with Superman being summoned to Infinity Corporation where he is shown a multitude of dead Supermen piled in a room, as a group of researchers use some telepathic alien stones (just go with it) to search out future timelines, all of which predict disaster for the Earth and the death of Superman. This being New 52 Superman, he's very short tempered and bullies these researchers until they tell him all they know. One of the Supermen finally arrives barely alive from the future and warns the present day Superman "don't trust him" before dying. There's also a fight with the Parasite who can now apparently drain the energy from Hal's ring and the speed force energy from Barry Allen, and somehow the fight with him in combination with the energy of the alien stones sends the JLA to various different places. Hal and Barry end up on ancient Krypton. Diana ends up in a deserted Olympus. Aquaman missed the fight and is in Atlantis (and this story reminds me just how much I miss classic Aquaman with his orange shirt, short hair and no beard, as opposed to the Momoa-like Aquaman currently in the monthly series).

So the JLA has been weakened by being split up when the real threat of the story arrives. This is the second hook that made me curious enough to want to read the story: the Kryptonian god Rao, long referred to going back to probably the 1960s but never seen (as far as I know), arrives over Earth in his spacecraft cathedral, and Superman instantly knows who he is and is in awe of him and his presence. I had hoped that the story might defy expectations by actually making Rao benevolent, but of course he has his own motives for the health he gives and the various miracles he performs as his prophets convert the population. At least the story doesn't take long to reveal his ulterior motives, but it would have been nice to see something unexpected.

The story shows us the early days of Rao on ancient Krypton as Hal meets him and discovers how he and the priests in his temple are able to give him youth and longer life on a temporary basis. By the time he arrives on Earth in the present day, he's long since gone from willing followers helping him attempt to spread peace and cooperation and genuinely help Kryptonian society, to actively recruiting followers from many planets who prolong his life and give him power in exchange for the loss of a few years of their own lives (which they are unaware of) and the other health benefits and lack of conflict he provides. It's worth pointing out that Rao actually does do some good, even if his motivations are selfish and deceptive, but the story never has any of the main characters side with him, apart from Superman early on. The JLA members on Earth are always either unconcerned (Aquaman) or suspicious from the start (Batman, Cyborg).

The resolution of the story is honestly a bit confusing with the stones (never really explained, other than that they are probably a Kryptonian artifact) facilitating time travel so Earth travels to ancient Krypton's location briefly or vice versa, and past and future Rao meet, with past Rao very unhappy about who he will become and what he will do. It's no surprise when he finally kills his older self and vows to change his life and destiny... which would, of course mean that all the events of the story would have never happened, but the story never addresses this paradox. It just resolves and that's it. I suspect that the story probably ended early due to the book being delayed and out of continuity by the time the final issues were published, so maybe we have a truncated ending here.

Overall: the art is great, and is one of the big draws of the book for me. Not all the JLA members get an equal share of the action. Superman gets the most, with Green Lantern, Batman and Cyborg playing important roles in the overall story. Aquaman gets a few scenes that add scope, but isn't vital to the story. Wonder Woman and Flash are largely sidelined until the end. The alien stones and the time travel are never explained as well as they could have been. This feels like a JLA story where Hitch envisioned a few big key action scenes, all of which are very good, and then couldn't quite work out all the connective tissue to tie them all together. The story works, but there are plot holes and questions that needed to be ironed out, and it often takes the obvious route rather than attempting something different. The idea of Rao and Superman's devotion to this Kryptonian god is great, but I'm not sure all the potential of this idea is exploited. I'd rate this story as pretty good, all things considered, if predictable and flawed in places. It would have been a better new origin for the JLA than the New 52 origin story we got with Darkseid. Considering that I paid less for the hardcover collected edition than issue 1 alone cost when it was first published, I do think I got my money's worth.
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Re: Retro Comics are Awesome

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Thoughts on the Marvel omnibuses I've read:

The Fantastic Four omnibus vol. 1
This is my first time reading any of these stories, and I picked up the omnibus based on a copy of FF Marvel Masterworks vol. 6 which was very good, leading me to want to go back to the beginning. And to be honest, it's a rough beginning. The concept is strong right from the start, but the characters take a while to find their voices. And the stories seriously take a while to start to achieve the level of quality that they clearly hit and were able to maintain in the Masterworks volume, which contained #51-60 and Annual #4. So I know this series is going somewhere good, but it hasn't quite hit its stride in the majority of issues #1-30 and the first Annual, which the omnibus collects. The Annual is good, but the stories range from decent to silly (Namor making a movie to trap and kill the FF, for example), but there is a great uptick in quality around issue 26 and the second fight with the Hulk, which is a great two part story. So maybe that's where things started to get good.

I like Jack Kirby's art a lot over in Thor vol. 3, which I'm also currently reading, but it's often just "okay" or "sketchy" here. I guess based on the guy's reputation I was expecting more, and maybe the oversized pages do him no favors, because again the art seems much better in the later issues. And the villains in this volume are very hit and miss. Dr. Doom is a classic of course, and the Puppet Master is decent. The Thinker is not bad. Namor is probably the best of all antagonists in the book, and his pursuit of Sue Storm as a love interest makes for some interesting storylines. The Red Ghost and his three apes are not very impressive, the Impossible Man feels like a Mxylplk rip-off, and the Skrulls are just hilarious. ("We hate being Skrulls. Really!" "Okay, stay here in this field and you can be cows." "Cool.")

It's the characters that shine in this series when the stories don't, and even there it takes some time. The Thing is a jerk for way too long, and he and the Torch's non-stop fighting gets old fast. Sue Storm is somewhat passive and gets to play damsel in distress too often, and I presume that's at least partly due to the era these were written (though Wonder Woman and Black Canary over at DC were strong, assertive female characters in the 40s, so Sue ought to do at least as well as they did). Once a balance is found and the characters start bickering more affectionately than with hostility, it's easier to like them.

Fantastic Four may have been revolutionary in its day, but it clearly took some time to find its voice and find a high level of quality. I liked the book enough to want to read the next omnibus (which probably contains the Masterwork issues I've already read), and I ultimately like the idea behind these characters and the characters themselves. This first volume is not an example of the series at its best, I suspect, but I'm glad to have read it, and will definitely read more.


The Mighty Thor omnibus volume 3
Collects "The Mighty Thor" 153-194, 41 issues of mainly Stan Lee/Jack Kirby collaboration, with some later art by Neal Adams (!) and John Buscema once Kirby leaves the book. This book was my first exposure to this character on the printed page after being introduced to him in the MCU movies, and I have to say that the movies do not capture the sheer dynamic scope of the adventures in this book. This series is far more fantasy/sword and sorcery than super-hero, though there's plenty of super-hero influence present. I imagine that reading this monthly would be a different experience than reading 41 issues over a month, because it feels like there is hardly a pause to catch my breath before one story ends and the next begins. It's almost one long continuous narrative where one story feeds directly into the next, and subplots are resolved while others begin. It feels like Thor is always on the go, with little to no downtime, and while one problem is overcome or one enemy defeated, something else is always going on behind the scenes that will draw Thor back into action. It's non-stop. The poor guy barely has time to get a kiss from Lady Sif before Odin's sending him back out to face some new threat.

So at this point Thor becomes a human doctor, Donald Blake, if he's not holding Mjolnir for more than sixty seconds, which creates problems on several occasions. But Blake is not always a liability, as his medical skill saves lives on several occasions, including that of Thor's fellow Asgardian, Baldur. The Warriors Three are a constant presence in the book as stalwart supporters of Thor. Odin can be helpful, but he's a stern, forbidding figure more often than not, and the cause of several of the problems that Thor has to tackle, such as Mangog. Jane Foster, who is prominent as a love interest in the first two movies, is only in one issue of this book, and makes no real impression. Loki is always scheming, and takes over Asgard on more than one occasion using legal trickery and taking advantage of Odin sleeping. There's a memorable storyline where Galactus tries to devour Ego the living planet (who seems to have a mustache! A planet with facial hair is ... creative) and Thor is sent to find him after Odin spends several issues worrying about Galactus. Hela tries to kill Thor twice, and gets talked out of it on both occasions. Thor faces off against Doctor Doom in a storyline. There are all sorts of enemies in these 41 issues, and it's notable how infrequently Thor spends time on Earth acting as a conventional super-hero as opposed to fighting threats against Asgard, or out in space.

Jack Kirby's art here is quite a contrast with his earlier work on the Fantastic Four, and is much more detailed and polished, in my view, though I'm no expert. I noticed that there are a ton of four panel pages, so he's not drawing tiny, detailed images, but rather lots of big, bold action panels that move quickly through the plot, with the occasional more complicated page and the rare full page splash. It's very strong work, and the coated paper that these omnibuses are printed on really makes it pop. I love the faux-Shakespearean Asgardian dialogue as well. It instantly sets the Asgard characters apart from everyone else, and from Donald Blake for that matter. Thor's catchphrase seems to be "I say thee nay!", or possibly "for Asgard!". I really enjoyed this collection. The inclusion of extra art, introductions from other collected editions and letters pages from the original comics is a nice bonus.


The Captain America Omnibus vol. 1
Collects Tales of Suspense 59-99, Captain America 100-113, and for some reason, Not Brand Echh 3 (I'm not a fan of the Mad Magazine style humor that Not Brand Echh emulates). It seems like Avengers 4 should have been included since that's the character's introduction into modern Marvel continuity, but the story is retold in one of the issues collected in this volume, so maybe it was considered redundant to include the Avengers issue.

I went back and bumped FF omni vol. 1 up to 7, because after reading this volume, I think I'd place it below that one, but it's not a bad collection of comics at alll so I can't rate it too low. It's mostly Jack Kirby art, which is really strong all the way through the book. There are a few Gil Kane issues and the book ends with a few Jim Steranko issues. No, the big flaw with this entire book is that it's clear that Lee had no idea what to do with this World War 2 propaganda character in the present day, and you can clearly see all through this volume that he's looking for a direction that will work.

The stories go through phases. The book opens with a few issues of Captain America versus crooks, or fighting a prison breakout. It's stuff that any street level superhero might take on. The book then shifts to a run of flashback stories set during World War 2, and it's here that the character thrives, in his original setting fighting a larger than life menace. But at the same time, I wanted to see him adjusting to life in the present day, so that was always in the back of my mind. The book then shifts back to the present day and starts to introduce enemies, including Batroc the leaper and the Super Adaptoid (think DC's Amazo, because both are artificial lifeforms that absorb the powers of the superheroes they encounter). We get the first group of substitute Nazis in the form of AIM, faceless fascists in hoods who are trying to take over the world. We also get introduced to Nick Fury and Agent 13 of SHIELD. Agent 13 is Captain America's love interest, but we don't learn her name for a long time, oddly. We never learn the name of his girlfriend from WW2 who disappeared during the liberation of Paris in 1944. The Red Skull makes a number of return appearances and looses "the three Sleepers", Nazi war machines that have lain dormant since the war. Somewhere along the line Steve Rogers gives up the Captain America identity briefly and his secret ID becomes public, causing all sorts of problems before Steranko both restores the secret ID and introduces the next group of substitute Nazis for Captain America to fight, Hydra.

I guess that's my main problem with the issues in this volume and the treatment of Steve Rogers: there is no escape from his past. He's almost always fighting either threats that are still around from WW2, just as he is, or he's fighting Nazi analogues in the form of AIM or Hydra. And every other issue he has to be depressed because Bucky died in a plane explosion, so we can't ever move past that and let it go. The issues with Batroc are refreshing because at least it's a new modern day villain, unconnected to World War 2. It seems to me that it's both a strength and a weakness that the character of Captain America is so strongly tied to World War 2, but in the issues collected in this book, it's more of a weakness because the past overshadows almost every single issue. Rather than informing the character's life and attitude, it dominates him.

I enjoyed the book, but at the same time, it's very obvious that getting this character to work in the present day clearly took a long time, and still had not happened by the end of the issues collected here. That aside, the art is very strong and the omnibus itself is as well constructed as the other two Marvel ominbuses that I've read recently. The flaws are in the original material, not the collected edition of that material. And I can never quite figure out what the super soldier serum actually did to Steve Rogers, other than change him from frail and skinny to tall and muscular. Is he super strong and super agile, or is he just a well trained fighter and athlete? I can't recall his actual abilities being detailed at any point in these issues.

Not a bad book, but it's not the best of the three Marvel collections that I've read recently. I found a copy in a local used bookstore for $62 at the same time I found the Thor volume, and it was worth it at that price. But while I want to read more Fantastic Four and more Thor, I'm not sure this volume made me want to read more Captain America. The character and material just don't appeal as much as the other characters and their books did.
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