My last few posts have been pretty heavy, so I thought I would lighten it up a little. You know, pure escapism and entertainment!
As a kid and teen and young adult, I read comic books. I haven't in years, but I remember them quite well. I am still an encyclopedia of Marvel from 1961-1990, and half an encyclopedia of DC from 1938-1998. Marvel took a dive after Jim Shooter left as Editor-in-Chief, and never recovered. DC stayed good in the 90's, but got stupid this century, at least from my outsider point of view. Dark Horse did well with X and Concrete, I thought, and their movie-related stuff. Image, well. . .great art, at least. Then there was Valiant, which was good under Shooter, for what, a year?
In other words, the Big Two's heydays were long ago, before their ideas ran out. However, the movie studios have picked up the slack and put out some fantastic films. Winter Soldier, anyone? But the one we're all waiting for is Avengers: Infinity War. Why? You know why:
Thanos! We all want to see him lay waste to everyone in the Marvel Universe. He's one bad mamma-jamma! How 'bout a little history for you fan-of-the-movies-but-not-of-the-comics? He first appeared in Iron Man #55, 1973. He was a bit of a rip-off of Darkseid, but who cares.
Yes, that's Drax. Thanos was a bit thin here, but that changes. After this appearance, he shows up here and there, always scheming to please his love interest, Death. Yes, Death herself. Thanos doesn't settle for normal women, he goes to the top! See, he was born a mutant on Titan, one of Saturn's moons. His mom tried to kill him because of it. He was a pacifist until he became a teen, when he began to worship Death. As an adult, he started a family, but when Death shows up again, he kills them for her. From there, he blows up millions of people on Titan and goes out into the universe to start trouble. You know, like destroying stars and murdering planets full of people to please Death.
Not a good guy.
Skip ahead a few years. Thanos meets Warlock, who is equally as cool, but not equally as powerful. Thanos kills him, and Warlock's soul goes back into his Soul Gem.
I love old comic book dialogue! See how Thanos is bigger and badder now? Jim Starlin was such a great writer and artist back then. Thanos was his creation. The story goes on though, and the Avengers, the Thing, and Spider-Man team up to stop Thanos from blowing up a star. Watch this:
Pow! Away, fools! One of comic's best villains right here. But wait, there's more:
I love that crackling energy. Thor is outmatched, which is saying a lot. In case you haven't figured it out, I loved this story. However, the fight goes on:
Oops! Now they got the drop on him. More Starlin Crackling Goodness. Nobody draws like that anymore, it's all computer effects now. Oh well, read on. . .
He took 'em out! And while explaining himself, too! Damn, he's good. He goes on to beat them all, and imprisons them. Spidey frees everyone, and Iron Man wrecks Thanos' big star-destroying gun. There is lots of fighting, and then:
Warlock is released from his soul gem for one last battle. The writing is on the wall, Belshazzar. Here's the whole page:
And then:
Thanos pretending to be the Cardiff Giant. Warlock beat him and returned to the gem. Thanos stood there for years. He helped Captain Marvel when he died of cancer in Marvel Graphic Novel #1, but that was in the afterlife. Eventually, Starlin came back to Marvel and resurrected both Warlock and Thanos, which led to Thanos acquiring the Infinity gems and taking over the whole universe. But this early story floated my boat as a kid, and I wanted to share it with you. Cosmic stories in comics were a lot of fun! In just a few more years, we all get to see this stuff played out on screen, and I for one am looking forward to it.
As a kid and teen and young adult, I read comic books. I haven't in years, but I remember them quite well. I am still an encyclopedia of Marvel from 1961-1990, and half an encyclopedia of DC from 1938-1998. Marvel took a dive after Jim Shooter left as Editor-in-Chief, and never recovered. DC stayed good in the 90's, but got stupid this century, at least from my outsider point of view. Dark Horse did well with X and Concrete, I thought, and their movie-related stuff. Image, well. . .great art, at least. Then there was Valiant, which was good under Shooter, for what, a year?
In other words, the Big Two's heydays were long ago, before their ideas ran out. However, the movie studios have picked up the slack and put out some fantastic films. Winter Soldier, anyone? But the one we're all waiting for is Avengers: Infinity War. Why? You know why:
Thanos! We all want to see him lay waste to everyone in the Marvel Universe. He's one bad mamma-jamma! How 'bout a little history for you fan-of-the-movies-but-not-of-the-comics? He first appeared in Iron Man #55, 1973. He was a bit of a rip-off of Darkseid, but who cares.
Yes, that's Drax. Thanos was a bit thin here, but that changes. After this appearance, he shows up here and there, always scheming to please his love interest, Death. Yes, Death herself. Thanos doesn't settle for normal women, he goes to the top! See, he was born a mutant on Titan, one of Saturn's moons. His mom tried to kill him because of it. He was a pacifist until he became a teen, when he began to worship Death. As an adult, he started a family, but when Death shows up again, he kills them for her. From there, he blows up millions of people on Titan and goes out into the universe to start trouble. You know, like destroying stars and murdering planets full of people to please Death.
Not a good guy.
Skip ahead a few years. Thanos meets Warlock, who is equally as cool, but not equally as powerful. Thanos kills him, and Warlock's soul goes back into his Soul Gem.
I love old comic book dialogue! See how Thanos is bigger and badder now? Jim Starlin was such a great writer and artist back then. Thanos was his creation. The story goes on though, and the Avengers, the Thing, and Spider-Man team up to stop Thanos from blowing up a star. Watch this:
Pow! Away, fools! One of comic's best villains right here. But wait, there's more:
I love that crackling energy. Thor is outmatched, which is saying a lot. In case you haven't figured it out, I loved this story. However, the fight goes on:
Oops! Now they got the drop on him. More Starlin Crackling Goodness. Nobody draws like that anymore, it's all computer effects now. Oh well, read on. . .
He took 'em out! And while explaining himself, too! Damn, he's good. He goes on to beat them all, and imprisons them. Spidey frees everyone, and Iron Man wrecks Thanos' big star-destroying gun. There is lots of fighting, and then:
Warlock is released from his soul gem for one last battle. The writing is on the wall, Belshazzar. Here's the whole page:
And then:
Thanos pretending to be the Cardiff Giant. Warlock beat him and returned to the gem. Thanos stood there for years. He helped Captain Marvel when he died of cancer in Marvel Graphic Novel #1, but that was in the afterlife. Eventually, Starlin came back to Marvel and resurrected both Warlock and Thanos, which led to Thanos acquiring the Infinity gems and taking over the whole universe. But this early story floated my boat as a kid, and I wanted to share it with you. Cosmic stories in comics were a lot of fun! In just a few more years, we all get to see this stuff played out on screen, and I for one am looking forward to it.
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