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With the five issues you see before you, we're now halfway through (not counting a few Specials and Annuals) the Secret Origins Cover & Image Gallery begun over five years ago. So if I continue at the same speed, we should get to the end of this occasional series by 2026. Still want me to go ahead? To be honest, I haven't read more than a handful of issues since I first bought them back in the day, and I don't think I'll bother in the main. However, there's definitely one exception in the group below and it's the Jonah Hex tale with great art by Gray Morrow, which I'll be reading with a refreshing glass of cold milk and a fortifying wedge of Red Leicester cheese a few minutes after publishing this post.
Any of these comic strip stories take your fancy, Crivvies, or are you like me and slightly underwhelmed by the majority of them? Either way, let your feelings known in our ever-lovin' comments section.
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12 comments:
I had stopped reading comics a few years before these were published.....maybe a couple of years before Crisis.....the new Robin was actually about the signing off point for me (it wasn't the reason I stopped....I enrolled at the one university that had no comic book distribution at all). If I'd been reading, I certainly would have snatched all of these up along the way.
Only 50 issues, G - back issue shop (or ebay) maybe? It's never too late to indulge the thrill of having a full set of something. Or have you given up comics now? (Assuming you started again after giving them up the first time.)
Got the Black Condor one for the wonderful Anderson art. Then I found out it also had Morrow . Two of my faves. Alas today most artists don’t have the proper anatomy not to mention the terrible inking. I know we shouldn’t complain because there’s no such thing as bad art- but you know what - to me there is. The horrible anti anatomy of modern comics. The terrible inking . Instead of gong ooo aaah look at the wonderful smooth pen and brushwork I go- why is that arm so blocky? It looks like the artist doesn’t know how to make the brush flow, it’s all angular. Why is his arm so big, that not human. There I vented now I feel better.
Funny you should mention inking, PS, because I can't help but feel that Morrow, great as he is, could have used bolder outlines in some cases - the woman on the splash page being a good example. Her outline is a bit wispy and makes her less prominent than she should be. Read the story in the early hours and much enjoyed it.
I cant believe you started the "Secret Origin" thread 5 years ago!. I wasn't a fan of this series (o loved the original series of reprints though) although I picked up a few issues depending on the artist. I never saw the Jonah Hex Gray Morrow issue but I would have picked that up. Like yourself I though Morrows art at times could have been "bolder" then again what a great artist. Good to hear Phil's feeling better now he has vented, but I know what he means.
I know - 5 years, eh? Where did it go, McS? Morrow's art sometimes looked like it had been inked in places by Vince Colletta, which is odd considering that Vince gets slated and Gray is held in high esteem. We're a funny old lot, we comics fans, eh?
I had the Legion issue and remember quite enjoying it. Must admit though that I don't see much Giordano in that splash page. I believe he had a habit of getting assistants to do a lot of his inking in his later years, and wonder if that happened here... (He is credited as the inker on John Byrne's Man of Steel series, but I seem to remember reading that Frank McLaughlin had actually inked at least the last issue...
Perhaps he did a few corrections and amendments, DS, or drew a few later pages in the strip, hence the credit? I'll have to check my Man Of Steel issues and see if I can spot any difference in the inking from issue-to-issue. How many reboots has Superman had since DC's first Crisis, eh? The first one should've been the last in my view.
Totally agree. The Post-Crisis Superman, for about ten years from 1986, was fantastic. Some of the best Superman stories ever told, in my opinion, AND they brought Curt Swan back into the fold as a kind of "regular occasional" artist.
There's an Action Comics annual from around 1987/88 which has Swan inked by John Byrne, and it's a lovely sight to behold.
I should have that Annual, DS, 'cos I'm sure I bought at least the first few around that time. Didn't Swan also draw a Byrne-written Special called (I think) 'The Earth Stealers'? (It had a cardboard cover. I've got it stashed somewhere.)
I will pick up an occasional collection, Kid. Usually something I previously read or something I've heard about that came later. I will try to track some of these down.
Best of luck, G - hope you get the issues you want. The covers of the first 20 are on the blog in various posts, so you can refer to them to see which ones might interest you.
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