Fresh Eyes on Old Books #13 by Dan!

It’s a new year! Do you know what that means?  All these comics are older, and you are too! Let’s do this.

Tales to Astonish #60 from 1964

So, I really don’t like the Hulk that much.  I find him a big, boring, punching machine, and it just doesn’t usually work for me.  This issue was no real exception.  Ditko art was very pretty to look at, and what really surprised me was just how much dialogue this Hulk story had.  You’d think it would be more of a grunt-and-punch type of story, but instead it was plot heavy, which also didn’t work.  The real gem of this issue was the Giant-Man story.  It was a relatively normal “break an old friend out of Berlin” type story until page seven.  Because on page 7 is when the Monkey Communists show up.  You heard me; just let that sink in for a second.  Several pages later, a ray turns the regular Communists into monkeys because that’s just how symmetry works.  Seriously ridiculous.  And awesome.  More info can be found HERE

Ant-Man, after beating his wife, is now the Wasp, because she died.  He runs Avengers Academy.  There are also like 47 different Hulks in 47 different colors and kids and relatives and it’s all over the place.  It’s hard to explain, so just come to the store and ask!

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #10 from 1966

This one was… interesting.  It seemed like it could be more of an annual, because it had five different stories involving each member of the cast.  I can honestly say I know nothing about the T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents, and this kind of helped clarify some of their mythos.  It starts with a full team story for about 20 pages, then did 10-pagers about each member of the team.  The highlight of the group was the story about “Kitten” (is that really the name of the only girl on the team… REALLY?).  Even though this comic was made in the 1960’s, it still had the stereotypes of minorities you would see in 40’s type comics.  It also had Castro in some short shorts that completely threw me off.  This is the tenth issue apparently, so it must have been doing something right.  More info can be found HERE

There’s not much of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents over the last few years.  However, DC did pick up the property, and two issues of a new series have come out.  But overall, that’s about it.

World’s Finest #83 from 1956

Extremely misleading covers are cruel.  Yes, I know I shouldn’t expect Batman, Superman, and Robin to actually fight Mother Goose, The Cat and the Fiddle, and Humpty Dumpty to the death, but dammit, that’s what I wanted!  The first half is a story that’s just a huge misunderstanding straight out of an 80’s sitcom.  Replace the three main characters with Michael J. Fox or Jason Bateman, and then hilarity ensues.  It was all right, but let’s be real here; I wanted Superman to punch Mother Goose in the face, and I didn’t get it.  If 9-year-old Dan had seen this in 1956 he probably would have bought it immediately, and the disappointment would have known no end.  There’s also a Green Arrow and a Tomahawk story as back-ups that aren’t bad, but not nearly as heartbreaking as that misleading cover… More info can be found HERE

Do you really need to know where to find Batman or Superman comics?  Really?  Really??  Either come to the store, or use the search engine right above you, I’m sure you can find something…

And that’s it!  With no more football to watch after this week, how will I ever be able to write these reviews?  You’ll just have to check back in two weeks to see!

“The” Dan Jacka