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Jun. 25th, 2021
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alicemacher
When MLJ Magazines, as Archie Comics was originally known, began publishing in 1939, its focus, like that of nearly every early Golden Age publisher, was superheroes: the Shield, Black Hood and Comet (the latter succeeded by his brother, Hangman). By 1946, however, the combination of Archie's popularity and readers' loss of interest in superheroes after WWII led not only to a company name change but also to the gradual phasing out of its caped characters.
Two decades later, of course, the Silver Age was in full swing and superheroes were back, big time. So in 1965, Archie Comics revived their old hero characters in their Mighty Comics Group line. However, recognizing that their teenage humour characters were the real stars, they also hit upon the idea -- months before the debut of the Batman TV series -- of having said teens moonlight as parodies of the superhero genre. Thus, in the fall of 1965 Archie became Pureheart the Powerful (aka Captain Pureheart), while Betty became Superteen. The coming months saw the debuts of Jughead as Captain Hero and Reggie as the supervillain Evilheart. (Veronica would have to wait until 2001 to become Powerteen.) Neither the serious Mighty Comics titles nor the goofier teen superheroes lasted much longer than a couple of years, but the latter at least are still remembered today, thanks to the Power of Digests! :-)
( 'Why can't you use doors like everyone else?' )
Fantastic Four Life story #2 - The 1970s
Jun. 25th, 2021 11:02 pmstubbleupdateFor a quick catch up on this series, check out my post on #1.
Mark Russell writing Fantastic Four...that's something that will make me sit up and take notice. His Red Sonja was decent, and his Flintstones was just brilliant, better than it had any right to be.
Last time out, the Fantastic Four got their powers and Reed met, if only fleetingly, the cosmic horror that is Galactus. Now, in ten years later, he is consumed with getting earth ready to fight an impossible monster that might not even exist. He crosses paths with billionaire playboy philanthropist Tony Stark and Latverian scientist and supporter Victor Von Doom PhD.
But this post isn't about Reed and Galactus
There are a few kisses with history as Namor the submariner visits his local library to check out Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, which discussed environmental issues like too much pesticide. You can buy the the book and many books inspired by it from all good bookstores
After his appearance in the Flintstones, Carl Sagan cameos in a conversation with Johnny, Ben and a furious Reed (the classic scientific conflict about contacting aliens and hiding from them.
But this post isn't about them either
It's about Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman in a very real sense
( made visible )
The thing I love about Russell's writing, in this book and his other work, is how he takes great big ideas in fiction, including speculative fiction and makes them not only relatable but also puts emotion into them.
Mark Russell writing Fantastic Four...that's something that will make me sit up and take notice. His Red Sonja was decent, and his Flintstones was just brilliant, better than it had any right to be.
Last time out, the Fantastic Four got their powers and Reed met, if only fleetingly, the cosmic horror that is Galactus. Now, in ten years later, he is consumed with getting earth ready to fight an impossible monster that might not even exist. He crosses paths with billionaire playboy philanthropist Tony Stark and Latverian scientist and supporter Victor Von Doom PhD.
But this post isn't about Reed and Galactus
There are a few kisses with history as Namor the submariner visits his local library to check out Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, which discussed environmental issues like too much pesticide. You can buy the the book and many books inspired by it from all good bookstores
After his appearance in the Flintstones, Carl Sagan cameos in a conversation with Johnny, Ben and a furious Reed (the classic scientific conflict about contacting aliens and hiding from them.
But this post isn't about them either
It's about Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman in a very real sense
( made visible )
The thing I love about Russell's writing, in this book and his other work, is how he takes great big ideas in fiction, including speculative fiction and makes them not only relatable but also puts emotion into them.