365 Comics...271: The Secret Society of Super-Villains #8 (1977)

Oh man, I love this so much.  In the late 70's and early 80's DC just knew how to pile in the characters in their comics.  The more spandex on the page, the better it was.  The anthology books like World's Finest or Adventure Comics would do this both by filling the books with multiple stories but then filling the stories with so many characters.  Team-ups and crossovers were the norm.  Team-up books like DC Comics Presents and The Brave and the Bold used tentpole guys like Superman and Batman to showcase their lesser known heroes,  but since every other book had a multitude of capes teaming up, and not to forget back-up features,  new characters (and new iterations of old characters) could be introduced and used all over the place.

But I like this the best, just a random assembly of characters fighting over a Maguffin.  Captain Comet and Kid Flash versus the Funky Flashman, Star Sapphire,  Gorilla Grodd, Copperhead and the Trickster.  Thats some deep DC cuts right there.  So awesome.

Art by the great Rich Buckler (later of my favourite Blue Ribbon/Red Circle/Archie Adventure Heroes comics) and story from one of the best of the era, Gerry Conway (Conway is like a Dan Slott or Fred Van Lente of today, not super high profile but a great genre writer and much liked).

I need more of this.

365 Comics...270: Young Avengers #10 (2013)

Mother: You cheated on our deal.

Loki: No,I followed it to the letter. I brought you Wiccan and let you sink your spell's teeth into him.  It's not my fault that someone interfered with it.

Mother: Yes it is, Loki. YOU interfered with the spell.

Loki: Well, yes I did... but me NOT interfering wasn't part of the deal either.

-----

I really need to go and read Gillen's run on Journey Into Mystery.  Loki is the best.  The only problem with all these great young Loki storues is that Tom Huddleston can't play him in the role.

365 Comics...269: Itty Bitty Hellboy #2 (2013)

Roger just can't seem to keep his funky underwear on... but I'm wondering why he needs it in the first place.

365 Comics...268: Wonder Woman #23.2: First Born (2013)

I'm actually rather proud of myself for sticking to my plan of only buying two of these Villains Month books, but then again none of the other books even remotely enticed me (well, actually I was a little curious about the Lobo one, until I saw a preview and then realized I didn't give a shit about the character, the story, or the universe it was taking place in.  I was only interested in the controversy,  which I'm now thinking is just another part of DC's marketing plan.  Do something to upset people, make an even bigger stink out of it by prentending there's nothing to make a stink out of, and pray that the hype will bring new [always temporary] readers to the book).  The only books I bought were connected to my  narrowing list of regular DC monthlies, and futher whittled down to those that had the series creative team involved (see 365 #247 for the other).

First Born is actually a worthy and necessary aside to the ongoing Wonder Woman monthly saga.  Azzarello takes full advantage of this Villains Month opportunity to present First Born's origin and pained history, as well as set up some elements for the future and even tease the book's end game a little.  I'm guessing that it's one of the few - perhaps only - Villains Month books that would actually be presented even if there was no Villains Month to spur it on.

By the by, the cover has nothing to do with the book... just another excuse to show WW all trussed up.

365 Comics...267: Saga #14 (2013)

I'm trying to decide whether I want to fill in the semi-annual reader survey and send it in.  I don't remember the last time I defaced a comic (intentionally at least).  It's not like I'm in collector mindset, since may Saga run isn't likely to be sold ... but then again if a lot of the readership tear it out and send it in then a mint condish ish might be a collector's item.  Man, that was a 90's sentiment.

365 Comics...266: Powerpuff Girls #1 (2013)

I guess I didn't say everything I had to say about Zero #1 (I didn't actually say much) so this week at Thor's Comic Column I get it all out.  Also, I dive into the new Powerpuff Girls comic which is really quite amazing and worthy of a 4.5/5 rating...however yesterday while reading through it with my daughter we realized that the characters aren't introduced at all in the book.  My daughter was asking what each of the PPG's names are, and the only one of the three called by name is Bubbles, and I already knew her name.  Wow, that's a bit of an epic fail I failed to mention in my review, and probably would have knocked a 1/2, if not a full rating point off the review.  It's pretty new-reader unfriendly in that regard (simple captions in the book when the girls appear would have solved it easily and simply).

365 Comics...265: Zero #1 (2013)

Only 100 of these things left to go.  Somehow that doesn't seem like a lot.  Sometimes it feels like I read a hundred comics in a month (it certainly feels like I've been buying that many with all 3-for-a-buck books and discount trades that have amassed).  The pile of unsorted, read books beside the bed is now 3 feet tall, it's at the point where I kind of dread sorting it.  It's like the beginnings of those newspaper skyscrapers you see on Hoarders.   But at the same time as I dread filing through all these books, I'm also strangely proud of it...I mean how many other media can be consumed so quickly...Songs I guess if you're going by that metric.  It's generally faster to listen to a song than read an isdue of a comic,  and an issue of a comic is faster than an episode of television, and an episode of TV is on average faster than a podcast episode which is faster than most movies...I've lost where I'm going with this... something about comics being an incredibly digestible storytelling medium.  I love em.  They're like potato chips, I just want to consume them until they are all gone,  and I don't care how bad they are for me, and how raw my mouth gets from all those jagged edges and the dehydrating effects of the salt...oh those salty, salty comics.

Anyway, Zero#1 from Ales Kot, whose Lovecraft-meets-hip-hop (a crass oversimplification) mini-series "Change" I enjoyed enough to keep a lookout for more work from him but wasn't about to pick up his Suicide Squad, not right away at least, since, you know, you can't trust DC anymore, and good thing I didn't hop aboard too because Kot bailed after,  what, 3? 4 issues?

 

Zero may be a spin on Universal Soldier, but at least Kot feels like he has a story to tell here.  It's an intriguing cover-to-cover read, and I'll be back for more next month.