Silver Age books that don't turn you on

[Hepcat]

A title that has never appealed to me in any way is BLACKHAWK. Another is WONDER WOMAN. Another is AQUAMAN. I've never owned or read one of these books.

 

DC: RIP Hunter, Sea Devils, Doom Patrol, Inferior 5, Plastic Man, Blackhawk, Showcase, early Brave & the Bold, The Atom, Aquaman, Hawkman

 

Aquaman

 

Aquaman is sadly a much underrated title by comic book fans/collectors these days but it was perhaps my very favourite DC title when I was a kid. It was the only superhero title which prompted me to actually subscribe. Quite simply, I was drawn to the plots. Unlike most of DC's superhero comics, the Aquaman title usually featured a single full-length story. This enabled several plot twists, i.e. a menace appears, Aquaman gains the upper hand, then a reversal, Aquaman perseveres though and seems to be on the verge of victory but ends up falling instead into truly dire peril which he ultimately overcomes and emerges triumphant in the end. Contrast this with most two part Julius Schwartz tales where the villain de jouer has a trick up his sleeve to neutralize the powers of the hero, but the hero comes up with a trick of his own to outwit the villain and emerge triumphant.

 

On top of that, Nick Cardy's undersea art appealed to me, and I find many/most of the covers to be a treat for the eyes. Here in chronological order are my top twelve Aquaman covers:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[vaillant]

As a DC "outsider" I always quite liked Aquaman, more than other DC characters, but again, not having read them as a kid never prompted me to pick some.

Also, one has to make choices, and although I recently picked a pair of Gil Kane’s Flash issues, I was a bit disappointed by the stories, while as I discover or re-discover certain Marvel stories (as early Iron Man or Sub-Mariner in their own titles) I am just delighted.

 

So I guess it remains about good stories, in the end, and one should speak about what he actually knows. (thumbs u

[Paul © ® ⚽️💙™]

Those books of yours are in lovely condition but it reinforces why Aquaman does not appeal to me. I don't like the artwork on any of them. I'm slightly drawn to the SHOWCASE # 33. Even the great condition would not prompt me to get into Aquaman. Definitely not a title which excites me in any way.

[vaillant]

Actually I have never read Aquaman, so I can’t tell how good the stories are, but I understand why you aren’t attracted by the art on some.

 

What attracted me to the Golden Age original stories of Blackhawk has been precisely the art: it is just breathtaking for the period, and of course in the 1960s becomes similar to Superman, Batman and the Aquaman covers posted by HepCat: they have a feeling of homogeneity which do not attract me, as I am more fascinated by less predictable and dynamic cover compositions, although some are beautiful.

I admit there is a good number of Marvel covers that do not excite me, too.

[Paul © ® ⚽️💙™]

I admit there is a good number of Marvel covers that do not excite me, too.

 

I agree. I find a lot of early Marvel Super hero stuff to be a bit lacklustre. I do really like FANTASTIC FOUR # 13, and the early TOS Golden Armor Iron Man covers, as well as early Spideys particularly # 4. These immediately spring to mind, there are probably more.

I think the early HULK 1-6 was great as well. I preferred the Hulk when he was grey in color.

[vaillant]

I think it‘s not a coincidence that when I had to choose among the early FFs to pick (had and still have little money) I opted for this issue instead, say, #5 or #17, as this is one of the few early covers which really stand out:

 

 

#3 is also a good cover, not so much #7 and I DO love the issue:

I like the cover but has less impact than #3. Not that every cover has to be "dynamic", but at least you expect a bit more impact than the average DC titles of the same period had. The stories are another matter, as I’d really need to read some…

 

[vaillant]

What I mean by great cover: not much dynamism, but impact. Kane was a master:

 

 

Plenty of dinamism here, instead:

 

[Paul © ® ⚽️💙™]

FF # 16 is certainly a top notch cover

[Rip]

Most of Carmine Infantino, and Don Heck's artwork is unreadable. Both have had some all time classic covers, but boy did they put out some terrible interior work.

 

Even Carmine Infantino's early sixties Flash and Adam Strange interiors?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She looks quite fetching to me.

 

 

Although those aren't as bad as a lot of his work, I hate the football sized heads.

I'm thinking he should of done more issues with the Hulk vs the Leader.

[vaillant]

Infantino is a great artist, but I see where Rip’s discomfort comes from.

I myself did not like the artwork on the Flashes so much, as I have been seeing it recently for the first time, and read the origin story (in italian).

 

But I loved his late art, on Nova and Spider-Woman, which is despised by many in a superficial way. To me it’s a great synthesis of his work, and much more balanced, even in its excesses, than the Flash artwork of the 1960s.

Spider-Woman is gorgeous, of course!

 

Here’s a picture of the italian Flash for Hepcat (now in the collection of Bio-Rupp: I sold it to him) – the cover is great, anyway. (thumbs u

[Rip]

Very cool. Love that cover! But Im not saying everything he did was bad, he certainly put out some good work from time to time.

But its hard to shake all of those bad issues of Flash, Batman and Star Wars that he did.

 

Kirby put out a ton of garbage also. But I think C.I. has him beat.

[rjrjr]

Very cool. Love that cover! But Im not saying everything he did was bad, he certainly put out some good work from time to time.

But its hard to shake all of those bad issues of Flash, Batman and Star Wars that he did.

 

Kirby put out a ton of garbage also. But I think C.I. has him beat.

 

Which issues of Star Wars by Infantino are you referring to?

 

Those Infantino Star Wars issues are my introduction to comics and I think the art is marvellous. Dynamic, stylized and provided the correct atmosphere for Star Wars stories.

[Rip]

I loved Star Wars but issue 30 (The one with Leia on the front) I remember was so bad I returned it as a kid and skipped a huge part of that run because of him. Compare those with the artwork from the issues in the 60's-early 80's.

For me those were my favorite.

[rjrjr]

I loved Star Wars but I would say issue 30 (The one with Leia on the front) I remember was so bad I returned it as a kid and skipped a huge part of that run because of him. Compare those with the artwork from the issues in the 60's-early 80's.

For me those were my favorite.

 

Funny you should mention that issue:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281206039918?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

 

I just won it earlier today on E-Bay. I love this comic because it is one of the few times we see the Empire subjugating a population. I also love the art, but I'm a big fan of Infantino's art in this time period. It is issues like this one that give the Star Wars heroes a reason to be part of a rebellion against the Empire. It is also how I imagine most of the populations on Empire controlled mining planets are treated. It's a visual representation of the conditions of the mining camp depicted in Splinter of the Mind's Eye.

 

Carmine Infantino's art in the 70s and 80s is similar to Jack Kirby's art. Very stylized, very dynamic, and very distinct. If you pick up an Infantino comic in this period, you know who did the art. I can understand why some don't like it, similar to how some don't like Kirby's art. But to say it is "bad" is wrong. Not to your taste is a better way of putting it.

[Rip]

While some may enjoy the art, I think the problem is he rushed things far too much, the faces/heads were even more oblong making them silly looking. Sure in art everyone is going to have different tastes but I think it's clear (both artists) weren't taking the time or effort that they used to. I think few would agree their later work was even close to being on par with the earlier stuff.

 

Compare something like Flash 92 with the artwork he did in the 70's or 80's.

[frozentundraguy]

I'd hate to dismiss entire titles, but for some reason X-Men covers have little or no appeal to me. They might have great stories though. Speaking about titles that I'm more familiar with, the latter issues of Tales of the Unexpected and the Challengers have a few clunkers in there.

 

 

 

[MusterMark]

Those covers and the art work on those Aquaman comics is STUNNING.

What a treat. Thanks, Hepcat.

[tth2]

Spiderman

Silver Surfer

 

Just could never get into these whine-fests.

 

Also, the Iron Man half of Tales of Suspense. I was a big Captain America fan and therefore had the entire TOS run from 58-up, but most of the time I would just skim through the Iron Man half.

[Paul © ® ⚽️💙™]

Spiderman

Silver Surfer

 

Just could never get into these whine-fests.

 

 

 

Never read SS, but you're right about Spidey. He is a whiner.

[vaillant]

Spiderman

Silver Surfer

 

Just could never get into these whine-fests.

 

 

 

Never read SS, but you're right about Spidey. He is a whiner.

 

This was meant as a trolling thread, right?