The following comics were not literally found in a quarter bin. This is a back issues feature.
Avengers West Coast #56 (Marvel)
From March 1990.
This one, apparently, is home to a fairly controversial moment in comics history. (Read about it here.) The Scarlet Witch has gone off on one of her periodic turns to evil, and in the process does...something...to Wonder Man. Writer/artist (and comic book legend and frequent love-him-or-hate-him contender) John Byrne leaves what exactly she does up to the imagination. I knew something was odd about the scene from the start. I mean, it's designed to be read into, something that probably wouldn't even happen today, because the increasing absence of any kind of Comics Code rating means literally anything goes. Well, maybe not in a Marvel series.
It's hard to know what to make of it. Fan controversies in comics tend to dwell on what makes women in comics look weak, whether what happens to them or how they're presented physically. Yet sometimes it really comes down to how they're written. Is there is a male superhero at Marvel who has been written this poorly this consistently? (Allan Heinberg's Young Avengers, and its sequel Avengers: The Children's Crusade, is a notable exception.) Poor, poor Scarlet Witch. I know I'm supposed to be focusing on what happens to Wonder Man (such an awkward name), but I just can't. I don't put the blame on John Byrne at all. Including House of M and a host of other events I don't know about (the character and her brother Quicksilver were introduced as villains, and for some reason as the offspring of Magneto, a fact that's as conveniently overlooked as it's featured, whatever works at the time), there's just no other character like Scarlet Witch in comics.
Avengers West Coast #78, 84 (Marvel)
From January, July 1992.
These later issues are written, or co-written, by Marvel stalwart Roy Thomas, and both feature Marvel's obsession at the time with the movies. (Hopefully 2016 Marvel is most pleased.) Wonder Man, having apparently emerged relatively unscathed from his ordeal (whatever it was), is making movies with bad guys. (It totally makes sense.) Well, anyway, also featured is Spider-Woman, the Julia Carpenter version, who in both issues is deep into melodrama concerning her private life, the ex-husband and child she has to balance. These are characteristic elements of the era, including the popular New Titans over at DC, something both the Titans and the X-Men picked up and expanded on in the '80s from the '60s Marvel template. The second issue features her whole origin and adventures recapped, and also Spider-Man, since he was insanely big at the time thanks to Todd McFarlane's then-recent work with the character. It's hard to believe that the rest of this decade would become known as a creative wasteland for Spider-Man because of the hugely-prolonged Clone Saga. But then, the Image exodus of all Marvel's top artists sent everyone scrambling to find new directions. If not clones then what, right?
Or something...It was also Spidey's 30th anniversary. In fact, it was the thirtieth anniversary for most of the Marvel Age. Strange to think, right? When a reader said they were life-long fans, they literally could have read everything, fairly easily, and Marvel at that time was still heavily trading on continuing continuity, no matter how confusing it could get (see Scarlet Witch). So I guess...it only figures.
The Incredible Hulk #395 (Marvel)
From July 1992.
I used to be a big Peter David fan. This was during the '90s. He was my favorite writer of Star Trek novels. But that status didn't last past the '90s. I mean, I started to wise up to just what kind of writer he was. This is a guy who's the quintessential fan's writer. He exists in fan logic. To him, writing the Hulk as he does in this period makes perfect sense. The Hulk as Vegas muscle. It just doesn't make any sense. I don't care to research how he made Hulk capable of stringing intelligent thoughts together. Historically, that just isn't the case. But since this was in the thick of the definitely-part-of-continuing-continuity era, it made sense somehow. Except to someone who doesn't know how, it really doesn't. Fan logic. A story that only makes sense to fans is fan logic. And this is the worst kind. It could literally be about anyone. Artist Dale Keown went on to create another Big Giant Comic Book Character, Pitt. I mean, it only makes sense. Because at this point, Peter David was writing Big Giant Comic Book Character, not the Hulk. It's not cool, maybe, to be ragging on Peter David in 2016, because the dude has been dealing with health issues in recent years. But the fact remains, while I wish the guy well, I also wish...he were a better writer.
The 'Nam #34, 72 (Marvel)
From September 1989, September 1992.
One of the few non-genre books I know of from Marvel is The 'Nam, a comic about the Vietnam War. That's about all I knew about it for years. I used to see it in Marvel's solicitations back in the day, but that's literally all I ever knew about it, that it...was a comic about the Vietnam War. So when I saw the particular bargain collections these comics came from, I knew I had to find out, at last. Turns out...they're not particularly good comics. I mean, they're clearly meant for people with more direct experience with the war, and so I guess it was only appropriate, given that it was launched about a decade after U.S. troops withdrew. Popular culture today pretty much has solidified the counterculture reaction to it as the mainstream opinion of it, but there persists outlets that attempt to give a more human face to the war. That's basically what The 'Nam is, or what it set out to be. I just don't think the talent was there to execute it. Maybe it's a hasty assumption based on two issues, or maybe its general lack of reputation has already made that judgment, and I just confirmed it for myself. The second issue features a letters column detailing appearances by Frank Castle, A.K.A. Punisher, who was huge at that time. I mean, he almost single-handedly led the charge of the more violent action from that era, was the cool character to follow...and who couldn't last long enough to make two later big screen adaptions even semblances of hits. Apparently the final two issues, printed only in a later collection, also feature him. Maybe the writers could have saved themselves the trouble and used him to tell the whole story. Or someone could do that in a series revival...
Nomad #2 (Marvel)
From December 1990.
One of the characters in this issue spends her time researching the history of Jack Monroe, the second Bucky (Captain America's sidekick). It reads, today, like a template for what Ed Brubaker would do later, much more successfully, with the first Bucky, James Barnes. That's the most that can be said about this issue. It's kind of sad that Jack ended up being so easy to dispose of later. Ironically, it's Brubaker, in his Bucky revival, who kills of the character.
Classic X-Men #45 (Marvel)
From March 1990.
A reprint of Uncanny X-Men #139, this issue features the long-awaited follow-up to Wolverine's first appearance from Incredible Hulk #181, which means his return to Canada ("Logan!") and the set-up for a rematch with the Wendigo (who definitely remained an iconic foe). Poor Kitty Pryde is apparently saddled with the superhero name Sprite in the story, although the latter Shadowcat isn't really that much better. For a bit of context, this takes place just a few issues after "The Dark Phoenix Saga," one of the most iconic X-Men stories ever, and a few issues before "Days of the Future Past," perhaps the most iconic X-Men story ever (disappointingly to modern readers, only a few issues long). And to put it in further context, the Chris Claremont era began with Uncanny X-Men #94. Uncanny X-Men #139 was originally published in 1980, five years after Giant-Size X-Men, where it kicked off. I know Claremont better from Sovereign Seven, which fans soured on, much like a lot of his later work, but I liked quite a bit. It's better than this particular X-Men issue.
I guess blowjobs weren't as commonplace as they became after the Clinton impeachment.
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