Random Review: Challengers of the Unknown #87

"Twelve Million Years to Twilight" by Carla & Gerry Conway, Keith Giffen and John Celardo, cover by Alex Saviuk and Dick Giordano.

In this issue the Challengers of the Unknown, along with Deadman and Swamp Thing, have travelled to the distant future to stop the tyrannical Sunset Lords from dumping monstrous mutant creatures in the present.

This was the last issue of the Challengers of the Unknown, so it's perhaps understandable that Carla & Gerry Conway's story feels a little hurried. What's less understandable is why pages are wasted on a mindless fight scene and a cross-section of Challenger Mountain when more important events are shown in a few cramped panels. Keith Giffen and John Celardo's art is similar to Carmine Infantino's, but less quirky and interesting.

Awesome Cover: Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #125

Jimmy Olsen acts like a callous shit on the cover of Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #125, by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.

Random Review: All-Star Squadron #2

"The Tyrant out of Time!" by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway, cover art by Joe Kubert.

The newly-formed All-Star Squadron attempt to rescue the Justice Society of America from the clutches of a time-travelling tyrant called Per Degaton.

Good fun, with nice art by Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway, but the story gets too bogged down with recapping the characters' origin stories.

Second Opinion: Master of Kung Fu #1 (2002)

I've had a soft spot for the Shang Chi, Master of Kung Fu, ever since my dad bought me some issues of the first series back in the early eighties, so when the classic creative team of Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy reunited for a six issue limited series I naturally picked up the first issue. I must have disliked it because I didn't bother getting the rest of the series. Maybe I was just annoyed that Shang Chi wears a black leather jacket instead of his funky red and yellow costume because it's actually a pretty enjoyable read. The plot is a little weak, but the artwork is excellent, and in many ways it feels just like the Shang Chi of old. So why didn't I like it?

Awesome Cover: The Avengers #353

The Black Knight wrestles with the reanimated corpse of his villainous predecessor on the cover of The Avengers #353, by M. C. Wyman and Tom Palmer. Unfortunately, the interior art by Wyman and Ariane Lenshoek (Ren Höek?) isn't of the same standard.

My First Comic: Hulk Comic #5

It seems appropriate that my first post should be about the first comic that I ever owned. It was a copy of Hulk Comic #5 that my cousin bought for me when I was five. In one of the stories the Black Knight and Captain Britain fight a stone giant that has been conjured by a sorcerer called Mordred. That story, and in particular the scene where the stone giant slowly sinks into quicksand, would stay with me long after the other stories had been forgotten. Unfortunately I also remember drawing a penis on the stone giant with a green felt-tip pen. My cousin wasn't very impressed.

So that was the comic that started it all. Thirty years later and I'm still reading comics, but I no longer draw penises on them.