All right folks, I’m taking a break from all my excessive TV watching to bring you my latest round of read-ups. Here it comes folks… let’s do this!
Doctor Strange #172 from 1968
It’s Eternity vs Dormammu in a pretty ridiculously sweet issue of Dr. Strange. And holy crap is this thing pretty! What’s most important about Dr. Strange comics is how the astral word is presented, and it’s clear that Gene Colan always had a solid ability to show fight scenes, design characters, and make things interesting. It’s without a doubt one of the prettiest comics I’ve read while working on these reviews, and it was actually kinda nice to just look at the pictures. The early half of the issue focuses on Dormammu’s backstory, while the second half concentrates on how Dr. Strange actually puts a stop to whatever plan Dormammu planned (I don’t like that sentence). More info can be found HERE
I’m surprised I haven’t seen a new Dr. Strange series in a while. I don’t think he’s the Sorcerer Supreme anymore, so there’s that. You can still read his adventures in the New Avengers series, on the stands now!
Flash #116 from 1960
“The Man Who Stole Central City,” is not a very nice comic to look at. If anything, the easiest way I can describe this is “plain.” For a book about stealing cities and running fast it sure is nothing special to look at.
What’s still fun about these old-school DC stories is that a lot of them choose to cover a full story in 12 pages, and then have a back-up. And what’s best? Nobody ever complained about it back then. Those times were way more fun! The back-up here is a Kid Flash story that’s just about as ridiculous as you expect any Flash story to be. Also, Kid Flash dresses exactly like the regular Flash, making things super confusing as you try to read this comic. Good stuff? Kinda, but I’m sure there’s better Flash comics from this era out there. And the drawings of Kid Flash look like a 40-year-old midget Conan O’Brian! (Oh Dan…the current politically correct term is “little person!” Your editor…Alan). More info can be found HERE
This Flash, meaning Barry Allen, is still around, coming back a couple years ago after being dead for almost 30 years. He’s the main character of the ongoing Flash reboot, coming soon. As for Kid Flash, that’s either Wally West or Bart Allen; one of them is going to be in the new Teen Titans series.
Fantastic Four 71 from 1968
Whoa! The first page of this is literally a terrifying drawing of Sue Storm. There’s something about the Fantastic Four that it always seems like they are having problems in their building more than dealing with things outside of the city. This issue has the Mad Thinker sending a creature in to beat them up, and that’s most certainly what he does. It looks like the Super-Adaptoid, but I can’t make any guarantees either way. It’s like when the Justice League fights Amazo, in that nothing is going to stop him aside from something kinda stupid and weird (happens EVERY time…) This time, they just gotta throw him into the Negative Zone, never to be seen again! Or ya know, for another six months. Whatever comes first.
The Fantastic Four is now the FF, or Future Foundation. But the actual numbering of the Fantastic Four may becoming back soon (right around the time that 600 would be coming out). We’ll have to see where that goes. Check back with me in a couple months.
And that’s it! I’m going back to Battlestar Galactica (NERD)
“The” Dan Jacka
