Gaurdians of the Galaxy (1990 - 1995)

 I just finished reading Guardians of the Galaxy (1990 - 1995), Issues 1 through 62. I got started on it when I was gifted some issues, and decided to read the whole thing on Marvel Universe. The series was written and drawn by Jim Valentino for nearly half of its run. After that, with the exception of issue 29, it was done by a team that retained several of the original creative team. Valentino left to Join Image Comics after 28, so 29 was done by a few different people. 30 picked up with a new writer and artist and continued with that nearly to the end. 61 had a different inker, 62 had Steve Montano once more.

Credits

This is not a complete accounting of who did what for every issue. I know Dale Eaglesham and some others did pencils for some of the issues, but it's pretty close.

1-28                                                                          29          
Artist /Writer - Jim Valentino                                     Plot - Jim Valentino
Inker - Steve Montano                                              Script - Michael Gallagher
Colorist - Evelyn Stein                                              Pencils - J.J. Birch
Letters - Ken Lopez                                                  Inks, Colors, and Letters stayed the same

30-60, 62                                                                  61

Artist - Kevin West                                                   Letterer - Jay Rosen

Writer - Michael Gallagher                                       All others the same as 30-60

Inks, Letters, and colors the original team

Guardians of the Galaxy were first introduced in Marvel Super-Heroes Present #18 in 1968 with the creative team of  Writer: Arnold Drake, Penciler: Gene Colan, Inker: Mike Esposito. The core characters are: Vance Astro, from 20th century earth, now in the 31st century with Charlie 27, the last Jovian, Martinex a Pluvian from Pluto, and Yondu an Arcturan. This first appearance establishes the alien race Badoon as the bad guys responsible for multiple genocides. they are a reptilian people bent on conquering worlds and ending whole civilizations. They become a constant threat, mostly in the background (with several exceptions) in the 90's series. After this issue, they appeared from time to time, but did not have their own book until 1990, which is the series I just finished.

In it, the Guardians include the original 4, as well as Nikki the fire-haired last child of Mercury, and StarHawk and Aleta, a husband/wife gestalt entity of great power and mystery. The series seems text heavy to me, but it doesn't suffer from it. the story telling really does a good job including each character and giving them their own identity and motives and beliefs. My only issue is that the dialog is overly quip heavy, to the point it weighs things down, Once the character Talon is introduced, the quip fatigue really sets in. Ultimately, It doesn't hurt it much.The book does interpersonal relationships well. When Aleta takes over the form and presents as a woman, she is in a relationship with Vance Astro. The Team is shown as a fairly realistic group of individuals, with tension and disagreements woven in amidst the comradery. They have many missions with a wildly diverse level of impact. They save the 20th century, the 31'st century, individual planets, and ultimately the cosmos. There antagonists include Mephisto's Daughter, and her dad, groups called the Starks and the punishers, and a relative of Wolverine, I believe 5 generations removed.. They hang with heroes like Wonder Man and Silver Surfer, who are both still around in the 31st century, and encounter cosmic beings of no less magnitude than Galactus, Eternity and the Living Tribunal. It is a fun read, and one that really benefits from reading everything rather than skimming. Compared to the MCU Guardians it hangs pretty well, and you get to see where some of the references in the films come from. I'm thinking Yondu's arrow, and Taserface specifically. It is written well, the art varies a little, but Valentinos art is amazingly 90's with an eye toward dynamic panels with very interesting panel layouts that really contribute to the pacing. I recommend giving it a try if you have Marvel Universe, or see issues for a good price. It look fairly 90's but Valentino is a great story teller, and the quality carries over in West and Gallagher's run.

Gender Queer

 I recently finished my second read-through of the "super controversial" (meaning in this case "demonized by whole populations that haven't read it, and most have not even been within 10 feet of") memoir, Gender Queer. My take as a human being that was an adolescent at one point in time, and a father of two daughters who were also adolescents at one point, is that the book is not only not something that should be banned or vilified, but something that should be made available for anyone that needs it, to find it in their Middle School, High School, or local libraries.

GENDER QUEER

A Memoir by Maia Kobabe with colors by Phoebe Kobabe.

Gender Queer (to me) is in a place somewhere between Raina Telgemeier's Smile, and Alison Bechdel's Fun Home. It is a straight forward memoir of Kobabe's journey, and struggle to understand eir place in the world, and how to relate to eir own body. It starts with Maia going off to Grad School, and then goes back to the beginning, and shows eir childhood with an awesomely unconventional family. This story is special in it really shining a light on the fact that there are people who are less sexual than we usually see in our society, and acknowledging the fact that not everyone feels comfortable in their own skin. This is a point of view that I think young teens could benefit from seeing. It may help kids in similar situations a lot.

Paper Girls, two ways

 As I was starting to watch the Paper Girls series on Amazon, I realized I did not remember it very well.

In between the second or third episode and the next, I decided to fix that.

Paper Girls

Written by: Brian K. Vaughan 

Illustrated by Cliff Chiang,

Colorist:Matt Wilson, 

Letterer and designer: Jared K. Fletcher, 

Color flatter: Dee Cunniffe

Image Comics. 

The version I read was borrowed through the very excellent Hoopla app, through it's affiliation with my local public library system. If you don't know it, Paper Girls is the story of 4 newspaper delivery girls that get caught up in a generational time war. They get sucked into it inadvertantly. There is humor and well written characters with good arcs. There is real emotion in it as well. Possibly even better than Vaughn's excellent character writing is Cliff Chiang's art. It is beautiful as usual, and really brings the characters to life. Wilson's colors very much contribute to the story, as well.

Paper Girls, the tv Series, Is basically the same story, told differently in parts. Some new things are added, some old things removed, things happen to different characters, and even so, the feeling and essence and direction of the storey, are so similar it doesn't stick out at you. The Actors playing the Girls when they are young are all great, and look nearly exactly like Chiang's art in the comic. They all convey a full range of emotions and are very believable in their roles. Ali Wong plays the grown-up version of Erin, and deserves an emmy for her performonce. Jason Mantzoukas Embodies the character he plys (GrandFather) so well, it's like he stepped off the page.

This isn't a big review or anything, just a solid endorsement for both versions of this story.I strongly suggest you take in both versions

Talking about comics

 In the late Seventies, or very early eighties (I was around ten) We went to Maine where my dad was stationed and stayed in the UOQ there with him (Unaccompanied officer's quarters... used to be BOQ I think, with the B for Bachelors). While we were there, we went to a flea market, and I got a brown paper grocery bag full of comics all in good reading condition. They included Plastic Man volume 1 #11-20 from 1976 or so, and some Omac (1,2 from 1974), and some Omega the unknown and a few other things. It was awesome, and boy did it make my trip. I was right around 10 years old. The other cool things were a bumper pool table (My sister was really good at it), and an unattended health center. 10-year-old me went a little crazy with the apparatus and bike and pulled a groin muscle. That was awful, but a cool bag of comics made it less so.

Surprise comics troves have always been my favorite. there is something great about unexpected free or inexpensive comics, of a type you didn't choose, and might not have ever chosen on your own. I got a pile of Tomb of Dracula the same way, and I have had a soft spot on my neck for that comic ever since. I can't pin down when I got those, but it could have been in Maine also.

My earliest version of this was when we uncovered a box of comics above my grandparent's garage, in a loft, open to the world, on their farm. They had been my uncle's comics as a kid in the early sixties or so, and included things like wagon train, Honey West, Classics Illustrated, and sugar and spike. Those are more examples of things I would not have gotten for myself; from an era and genre's I may have overlooked.

I bought comics at auction back in the late 80's, and I didn't pay a lot. they aren't in great shape, but included an early daredevil, x-men, and the first appearance of rhino in amazing spider-man. That wasn't exactly the same, but it was still a surprise of sorts as I think I only knew it was comics and didn't know exactly what. That one made me feel like I had something, and it was extra special to get to read a variety of comics that I might not have otherwise been able to at the time.

Most recently, my youngest daughter's boyfriend gave me a pile of comics that had been in his garage. His mom is an antiques dealer and sometimes gets miscellaneous things from auctions or estate sales, in lots, etc. It had been in a box in their garage for a while, and he gifted the whole pile to me. It was completely in the category of things I might not have considered, but really loved getting and having. There were 26 issues of Superman Family from 1979 - 1981, and a full run of Time Warp 1-5, and several Adventure Comics from the same era. All of these were oversized "dollar Comics". There is a joy to comics from this era. The stories they are filled with may not be particularly great, but they sure do delight me for the joy and silliness they provide, and the fact that they feel like the era they are from and link me directly to how comics made me feel at that age.

Setting up to disappoint

I know I have probably done this too often, but I think I may actually have some things going soon. I volunteered at SPX this year, and it was fantastic. SPX does a lot of things on a lot of levels, and is pretty special. It can also be offputting. You just need to convince yourself that you are just as cool as all the people there that are cooler than you. I met some great people and bought some really good comics.

I am definitely working on a Podcast that highlights the comics of the eighties, hopefully covering some of the less celebrated but still awesome creators and stories of that decade that covers a pretty big time in comics for me and my cohost Victor. Look for Big Time Comics Podcast coming soon.

Also, I very much want to make a youtube channel where I talk about comics... A Talkin' 'Bout Comics channel where I talk.... 'bout comics. My plan is to take all those cut up comics and action figures created by baby-men, and tape them back together on camera... Just kidding, I just plan on talking about comics stuff, and not being a horrible person while doing it.

So, you know, look for updates on these projects here, hopefully soon.

Harley and Ivy

I like Harley Quinn, but I think she has been done too much and often not very well. I wasn't super stoked at the prospect of a new Harley based cartoon, But watching the preview and reading what I've read of it, this looks like it may be really good.

I really like Ivy as Daria

HARLEY QUINN New York Comic Con 2018 First Look #WBNYCC https://youtu.be/kBBvIyGqQYI via @YouTube

I turn 50 this year. I have some projects I am working on regarding comics. If they see the light of day, I will post them here. Right now I am hoping to write about the comics I have been getting since very late last year. I am also in the early stages of getting a Podcast together with an old friend of mine. More on that as it develops.