#Avengers #Spider-Man #Comics

Did the hashtags get your #attention? Of course, it's just another desperate attempt by me to get people to read this blog. Sorry... #blog. Do hashtags even work here on Blogger? Are they migrating over here, now that the House of Hashtags ( the site formerly known as Twitter ) is being run into the ground by a power-mad tech bro' ? Who knows, certainly not me. But I digress... let's talk #comics. ( There I go again. )

I picked up these beauties a couple of weeks ago in Worcester's wonderful Out Of This World. It was only my second visit to this Aladdin's Cave of Comics but it's fast becoming a favourite. The owner, Gary, is a top bloke - friendly, knowledgeable and very fair in his pricing of #comics etc. We had a lovely chat about all kinds of Bronze and Silver Age comics, and I even remembered to buy a few.

 Amazing Spider-Man no. 54 ( Nov 1967 )

This issue is from the imperial phase of the Lee / Romita partnership: all the requisite elements are here from the soapy goings on of the supporting cast, to the vile villain ( Doc Ock of course ), to Peter Parker in full on neurotic mode. The story revolves around Aunt May's questionable decision to take on a certain Dr. Otto Octavius as a lodger. What could go wrong? As you can see below, quite a lot...

This is the second issue of a four-part Spidey / Ock slug-fest which leads into the classic story where Spidey loses his memory and unwittingly teams up with the tentacled terrorist. Romita's artwork is lush as always, although the inking of Mickey Demeo ( aka Mike Esposito ) is sometimes dull. The girls ( Gwen, Mary Jane and Aunt May ) all look amazing, though.

Also in this issue we see the first meeting between Peter and Joe "Robbie" Robertson, soon to become a familiar character in the Spidey strip and one of the first prominent Black characters in Marvel comics. And then Aunt May has one of her turns. ( Don't worry - she'll be alright. )

The Avengers no. 100 ( June 1972 )

Moving on from our friendly neighbourhood web-spinner, it's time to meet those #Mighty #Avengers in their equally Mighty 100th Issue - in fact, the mightiest of all as the cover proclaims. This is an issue I've long wanted but always found too expensive before. This copy is slightly worse for wear, being only a G+, but the Out Of This World price was right, so I had to pick it up.

The story finds those avengerers heeding a summons from the Black Knight to travel to the legendary city of Olympus for an epic battle with Ares, God of War, his ally The Enchantress, and various and sundry mythical creatures. The script, by Rascally Roy Thomas, is the purplest of prose, but the artwork is ( mostly ) wonderful, coming from the pulsatin' pencil of Barry Windsor-Smith. ( Don't forget the "Windsor", or Barry gets upset. Just ask Pete Doree. ) I say "mostly" because Bazza's work suffers from a round robin of inkers here. The early pages inked by BWS himself ( see above ) are lovely, and there's plenty of good stuff here from Joe Sinnott and Syd Shores, but Barry's style is often blanded out by the other two inkers. But, never mind, it's all fun stuff and I'm glad to finally own a copy.

Avengers no. 131 ( January 1974 )

Another issue of T'Avengers, seemingly cashing in on the then-current Kung Fu craze, if this splash page is anything to go by. That mysterious maid Mantis kicks some back street mugger in the jaw ( "Klok!" ), while the ad on the facing page is trying to flog the discerning reader a "revolutionary new audiovisual home study course in dynamic Kung Fu & Karate" - well, who could refuse? ( Interestingly, the small illustration accompanying this ad looks like it was produced by "Judo" Jim Starlin, but I could be completely wrong on that score. )

This issue is part of the ongoing Celestial Madonna epic, a multi-part story including Immortus, the Kree, the 1940s Human Torch and his relationship to the Vision, the recently deceased Swordsman, the terrorist group called the Zodiac, Uncle Tom Cobbley and all. And, this being a time-travel yarn, the Avengers' greatest foe #Elon Musk Kang the Conqueror turns up. Mission statement below:

( Talk about yer power-mad tech bro's  - I'll leave it up to you, Dear Reader, to decide if Muskrat is cosplaying Immortus or Kang here. )

Anyway, this is a fine, dialogue-heavy issue ( if probably mind-boggling to any new readers ) with the great Steve Engelhart delving into the Vision / Wanda / Mantis love triangle, while also delivering some requisite action scenes and setting up the convoluted plot to come. There's some un-showy but lovely artwork from the team of ol' reliable Sal Buscema and new-to-Marvel Joe Staton, fresh from his run on Charlton's E-Man. One of the main draws for me was the cover for this issue: I first glimpsed it in one of  the earliest issues of Marvel's in-house fan magazine FOOM I acquired as a kid ( no.7, fact fans! ), and all the covers featured in those issues were indelibly burned into my brain, and now have an almost-totemic status. I've always meant to find those specific comics but haven't really pursued it - maybe I should start now.

All in all, a nice little haul from Out Of This World, and I'm sure to go back there for more delights.

( If not more #hashtags. )

Moments Of Pleasure: The Ultimate Tribute to Kate Bush

Last Friday I was forced ( not really ) to break my "no tribute bands" rule ( more of a guideline than a rule, I suppose ) and make my first gig of the year ( what have I been doing? ) a tribute band gig. And that's enough ( parentheses ) for now. ( Or is it? )

Some friends of ours had tickets for Moments Of Pleasure ( "The Ultimate Tribute to Kate Bush", it says here ) at the Cheltenham Playhouse, but had gone down with the flu and didn't want to waste them, so asked if we'd like to go instead. I was instantly dubious ( "Tribute bands? Grrr!" ) but Sarah wanted to go and, hey, free tickets! ( Thanks Mick & Deb! ) This was all a last-minute.com rush as I was still at work when Sarah rang and we had to be at the gig two hours later. After a race home, a quick change, another race to Cheltenham, and a very brisk walk through the town, we got to the Playhouse with literally seconds to spare before the band came on.

( This is the part where I eat humble pie yet again. ) ( In parentheses. ) MOP, as they shall be known, were very entertaining, very professional, and probably the next best thing to actually seeing Ms Bush play live. And there seems to be little chance of that these days. Singer Lisa-Marie ( not *that* one, obviously ) had an amazing voice and certainly managed to evoke the spirit of Kate right there on the stage. At first, I wasn't too sure if she could pull off that unique style but, a couple of songs into the set, I was totally convinced. Her voice leapt up and down the octaves, soaring and descending, playful and earnest. Lisa-Marie, although wearing some very KB-inspired costumes, isn't an impersonator as such but has all the moves and actions of La Bush, and you can tell she's completely passionate about what she does.

The band were playing three nights at the Playhouse, each night focussing on a particular era of KB's career, with an extra helping of hits. Purely by chance, the Hounds Of Love album was in the spotlight on Friday. This was great for me, because it's the KB album I'm most familiar with ( must try harder ).

MOP did stellar versions of all the big hitters from that album: Running Up That Hill, Cloudbusting, The Big Sky and, of course, the title track  -  "It's in the trees! It's coming!" They also tackled some of the "Ninth Wave" material from the album's second, more experimental side and managed to make songs like And Dream Of Sheep fit in perfectly with the Stranger Things-boosted radio hits.

For a couple of songs, Lisa-Marie sang accompanied only by the keyboard player, which really highlighted her beautiful vocals and made the evening feel very intimate. On the other hand, the hard prog/rock of James & The Cold Gun, and the "bonkers" Sat In Your Lap showed what a kick-ass band MOP are when necessary. After more hits ( Hammer Horror, Wow!, Rubberband Girl ) and an encore of Babooshka and Wuthering Heights ( of course ), the band left the stage to rapturous applause - especially from the two ladies next to us, who had driven up from Portsmouth for this gig and were ( more than ) slightly sozzled.

So, yeah, a great gig. To quote Steve Martin or Kate Bush: "Wow!" ( Wow. )

 

Happy Valentine's Day from The Glass Walking-Stick

 

FF Fridays slight return: First Steps trailer

As any long term reader of this 'ere blog would know ( pauses for hysterical laughter at the thought of such impossible creatures ) my all-time favourite comic book is the Lee & Kirby Fantastic Four. I used to do a semi-regular feature here called FF Fridays, and the release of Marvel Studios' latest movie trailer prompted me to dust this off.

The previous cinematic adaptations of Marvel's First Family have been a very mixed bag. The Tim Story-directed films from the early 2000s were fun but deeply flawed, while the 2015 reboot was irredeemably bad. ( We won't mention the unreleased Roger Corman production from the '90s. )

Regardless of the merits or otherwise of the previous FF films, none of them captured the unique feeling of the original source material: the superhero soap combined with cosmic melodrama, and an often goofy humour. The FF were always tied to their era - the heady days of JFK and the Space Race - and I always thought any movie adaptation should be set in the 1960s. This trailer gives us a glimpse into a retro-futurist world which seems to be exactly that and is very promising, from the brief glimpses of the characters, to the Silver Age aesthetic, to the shadow of the Big G looming over Manhattan.

For the first time in a very long while I'm quietly excited for a superhero movie. ( And, to be fair, James Gunn's upcoming Superman film looks promising too. ) Maybe we're heading for a renaissance of the superhero film? Stranger things have happened.

Headful of halos

I took these photos of a fantastic halo around the sun when I was at work this morning. We'd had thick fog since the early hours but the sun briefly shone through and created this beautiful effect. An amazing light shining through the gloom? Please say it's a sign. I think we could all do with some sunnier times ahead.

Not to be outdone, Jasper also had a photo opportunity with his own halo. He doesn't often get called angelic, but he looks very handsome here...

RIP David Lynch

I was sad today to hear that legendary film-maker David Lynch has passed away at the age of 78.

Lynch was a true original, a visionary, a goof, an artist, a dreamer of dark celluloid dreams, and the owner of a bloody fantastic haircut. I'll have to drink a mug of damn fine coffee in his honour. And I don't drink coffee.

Happy New Year from The Glass Walking-Stick

 Wishing all you lovely people in the Blogosphere a happy and healthy 2025! In the words of a certain Mr. J. Ono Lennon, "Let's hope it's a good one, without any fear."

( Okay, he was talking about Christmas, but it still applies. ) Cheers!

Lanzarote landscapes

It may be a gloomy, stormy New Year's Eve here in the Shire but my mind is still in Lanzarote, where we were only two weeks ago. This was our first ever trip abroad in the Winter time, a spur of the moment decision that turned out to be an amazing experience.

Here are a few photos of the incredible Timanfaya National Park, an almost lunar landscape of volcanoes and lava fields which was the most desolate and beautiful environment I've ever seen.

We got to walk down into a volcano - known as Fire Mountain, which was something we'd never done before, or really even thought of doing. It was staggeringly gorgeous.

And, talking of firsts, we also went on a camel ride into the mountains, which again was something we'd never done before.

And here are a few obligatory beach shots of the lovely Playa Flamingo, just five minutes from our hotel, the beautiful Timanfaya Palace...

Above is the stunning view from our hotel balcony: the Red Mountain, another volcanic wonder.

We only had four nights in Lanzarote but we'll definitely have to go back. Cheers!