Morning to Everyone.
I’m now on the countdown to Heroes Comic Convention in North Carolina in a couple of weeks. I’m usually pretty disorganised but for a change have a ‘Wants List’ and some form of plan about who I’m looking forward to seeing and meeting up with. I’ll be walking the lanes with my comics brother Cliff Cumber. You can have a read of Cliff’s newspaper column on comics by signing up his his sub stack ‘The Long Box’ right here. Heroes is the home to the 11 o’clock Comics crew and I’m blessed to be pals with those guys. Can’t wait to catch up with them.
This week on the ACP we had fourth Beatle Tom Curry on to discuss the recent Lawless Convention and also talk through our reading challenges. Once or twice a year we challenge ourselves to read something that we’ve missed or need to reevaluate. This time round I chose to revisit ‘Five Years Later’ from Volume 4 of the Legion of Superheroes. After having bought the 1400 page volume 1 omnibus during lockdown it had sat there watching me and filling me with guilt! I’d read the run as it came out, but honestly, it had pissed me off because of the massive left-turn it had taken compared to the previous runs.
It took me a few issues to click into place. Once I got what Giffen and Co were going after I enjoyed the fuck out of the series. It’s rough and dirty. There’s no happy headquarters and cheerfully annoying Bouncing Boy. But what Giffen does is tell a dense and complicated story of getting the Legion back together. In, mostly, a nine-panel grid format.
A lot of the fans didn’t like it at the time, including me, and it became a political football at DC, especially with the Superman offices. But, looking back now you can see the worth. It’s a series that takes patience. You also may need to look a few names up. I miss both the Legion and Keith Giffen. He was one of the greats in my opinion and super friendly when I finally got to meet him.
Have a listen to the new episode of the ACP here to find out what the others chose for their challenge. There are also interviews with buddies and comics fans and historians Eamonn Clarke of the Mega City Book Club and Richard ‘The Don’ Sheaf from the Boys Adventure Comics Blog. Both well worth a look!
Back to talking about my favourite read of the week and my least favourite. This week I have 178 comics to choose from (long weekend!)
Top.
If you’re going to write a horror book for adults you should really go there. I’m bored of PG rated horror. It’s totally counter intuitive and pandering. This has gore and violence and also brilliantly flawed characters.
Two brothers with whatever weapon they can find hunt for their kidnapped sister in the brutal world of truckers. We had Cullen Bunn and Heath Amodio on the ACP a few months ago to chat about this upcoming release and it lives up to the hype. Add art from Andrea Mutti and Gigi Baldassini and you’re onto a winner. All lettered by the brilliant Janice Chiang and edited by Sandy King. If you’re a fan of horror then Storm King Comics (from John Carpenter and Sandy King) is becoming the place to stop.
Bottoms.
Speaking of editing. And writing. Who the fuck lets badly written shit through like this? Also top marks at making some of comics most interesting characters dead-eyed, soulless and unremarkable.
Who fucking talks like that?!
For those wondering this is the issue it came from. (Who decided that what this cover really needed was a cross-section of floor???)
Oh well, very little is ever perfect. And this series is far from that.
Many thanks for reading and catch you soon!
Never Iron Anything - The Comics Review Website 