Welcome back, Donist World Denizens! For those of you new to our site, I’m Donist, and I am joined by Donist World CFO the Reverse Obie* (my friends’ Boston terrier whose fur recently swapped colors) and by our marketing director / administrative assistant / party planner / puppy patriot Tulip (my dog, Reverse Obie’s sister). Awwww yeah, Denizens. We’re talkin’ about a four-day weekend, y’all. I'm all about blueberry muffins, pizza, beer, and possibly some McConnell’s mint chip ice cream. Heck, some mint iced tea might be in order if the temperature happens to creep up too much. Here at the corporate office (Mom’s basement), we’re keeping the meeting about maintaining our Fortune 320,000 status to a tight schedule so we can have a nice puppy-Donist-puppy lunch and cut out a little early before the traffic gets too bad. So, while we prepare to join the masses on the drive home, pour yourself a refreshing beer or ginger ale, put out your flag, DO NOT light fireworks (we’re still in a drought, are you insane?), sit down, strap in, and think about those comics you might have skipped all those years ago. Thank you for reading!
*Obie, through his dabbling in arcane magics mixed with ancient corrupt business practices, has had not just the colors of his fur switched, but a complete overhaul of his work ethic as well…I think I’m kinda okay with the mishap.
***Possible Spoilers Below***
“What the heck kind of doggone title is that, Donist?! Do we need to be worried about you?! Are you okay?!” Never fear, Denizens, all is well with the Donist and Donist World. I just happened to be sitting in our conference room — the area roped off by hanging sheets in Mom’s basement — and thinking about all of the comics I wanted to read throughout the years but had missed for one reason or another. As I thought about them, I realized there were tons of series that snuck by me somehow, and I’m not even counting any comics from the past two decades. So, let’s have a look and see what can be done about this now that we are in the age of the internet where online shopping and digital services can help remedy this dire situation. As I prepare to stumble into the confessional booth, I want to hear about your regrets concerning comics you missed out on over the years, so please let me know about them by posting a comment. I’m happy to lend an ear, to commiserate, to help you work through the emotions and try to find a way to move on. Together, we can set things right. (You can check out “Part 1” and “Part 2.”)
Written by Chris Claremont, illustrated by Dave Cockrum, published by Marvel Comics. Okay, okay, settle down, Denizens. I know you’re fiercely typing, “How can you call yourself a comic book fan and never have read the freakin’ best run of the X-Men ever?!?!” The truth is that I have read most of the Claremont X-Men run, but I missed a bunch of the early issues and then dropped off a bit after the time John Romita, Jr. came on as artist. You see, my brother, Jeff, and I started around issue #149 and it was love at first sight. From that issue forward, in-between his obsession with Daredevil and my fanaticism over The Micronauts, we spent our summers walking down to Andromeda Book Store two to three times a week to plague the poor LCS workers’ existence with demands to haul out their back issues of The Uncanny X-Men so we could drool over all of the older issues we had missed and could not afford. Even back then, those first few issues starring the new roster including Colossus, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Wolverine were well out of our price range, but issue #140 which, although expensive, was part of our reality and would soon become the oldest issue of our collection. Still, we would make the trek to the LCS and we would dream of everything that came before.
In an effort to torment ourselves even further, we bought a black and white magazine that showed every single cover of The Uncanny X-Men ever printed (sorry, I don’t remember the magazine’s title) and we would ponder aloud about why the Proletariat looked like Colossus, or what the deal was with the Phoenix. Thankfully, we wouldn’t have to wait too terribly long. Marvel soon realized the limitations of having a massive hit comic that tons of new fans desperately wanted to read yet they could not find the back issues needed to get the whole story. Thus, Marvel released The Dark Phoenix Saga trade in 1984. Jeff and I reread this book so many times it literally fell apart in our hands after a couple of years. Now, after all these years — and a helluva Marvel digital sale — I have X-Men Epic Collection: Second Genesis just waiting to be read.
Wanna know what’s in it? Okay, best strap in for the rundown of everything contained in this beastly 528-page beauty. Here’s what you get: Giant-Size X-Men #1, The Uncanny X-Men #94–110, Marvel Team-Up #53, 69–70, Marvel Team-Up Annual #1, Iron Fist #14–15, material from Foom #10. So, yeah, this one’s gonna keep me busy for a good long while. I honestly can’t wait to dive back into the issues I’ve already read and even more so to immerse myself in the many issues I’ve been dying to read for all these years. So exciting!
Written by Chris Claremont, mostly illustrated by Alan Davis, published by Marvel Comics. Alright, Denizens. You have full permission to get on my case about this one. You have to realize, though, that at the time, I was already behind on the whole New Mutants tip, so you gotta forgive me this one. I also have to admit that although I love Nightcrawler, the rest of the gang did little for me. I could not understand why Captain Britain had a new costume, or what the deal was with Kitty Pryde, Rachel Summers, and Meggan. Trust me, if I had a few extra bucks laying around, I would have been happy to give this title a chance, but the truth was funds were limited and there were many books calling my name.
I then started to hear more and more about Alan Davis and his gorgeous art, but it was the Captain Britain graphic novel written by Alan Moore and featuring Davis’s illustrations that showed me I had greatly underestimated ol’ Brian Braddock. At this point, I knew more of the characters and wanted to see how the UK’s heroes mixed with the US’s characters, especially when it became clear that Claremont was the one writing the stories. Unfortunately, there were a lot of books I had missed, so I just had to let it go…until now.
With the Excalibur Epic Collection: The Sword is Drawn, we have yet another behemoth of a book clocking in at 496 pages of what looks to be a heavenly series. In this collection you will find the following: Captain Britain 1–2, Excalibur 1–11, Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn, Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem, The Mighty World of Marvel #7, 14–15, Marvel Comics Presents #31–38. Hot diggity dog, I’m excited to finally check out the world of Excalibur, however, it will be a little while before I can crack into it, but when I do, the Denizens will be the first to know.
Written by Jim Starlin and Marv Wolfman, illustrated by Jim Aparo and George Perez, published by DC Comics. Ummmm...yeahhhhh. Huge Starlin fan here. I definitely love me some Wolfman, too. And that Perez guy, the one who is currently wowing me with his amazing past work on Wonder Woman…love everything he’s done. But…I. Haven’t. Read. This. Series. Daggnabbit! I know. I’ve not just disappointed all of you, Denizens, I’ve disappointed myself. This coming from the guy who worships Starlin and Perez’s (not to forget Ron Lim’s) work on The Infinity Gauntlet and still I have persisted in not reading this series. This is something I need to change.
Part of the reason for not picking up this series back in the ’80s was I remember being turned off by the notion that someone had to die in this comic, and it seemed a bit much that DC was accepting votes by telephone to determine which character would end up buying the farm. It was all kind of heartless. Despite reading some fairly brutal comics from the likes of Frank Miller and Alan Moore, I guess I was fine with Batman being a dark comic, but offing Robin — or rather, one of the Robins — seemed a bit sensationalist. But what did I know? I was just a kid.
Now it looks like I need to finally see what all the fuss was about and crawl up under the hood of this popular storyline. It’s on the “Need to Read” list, and I hope to delve into Batman: A Death in the Family before the end of the year. I’m especially curious as to what the Denizens think about the death in this issue and about the storyline as a whole. Let me know! This volume contains Batman 426–429 and 440–442, and New Teen Titans #60–61.
The Ones that Got Away (Part 3)
“What the heck kind of doggone title is that, Donist?! Do we need to be worried about you?! Are you okay?!” Never fear, Denizens, all is well with the Donist and Donist World. I just happened to be sitting in our conference room — the area roped off by hanging sheets in Mom’s basement — and thinking about all of the comics I wanted to read throughout the years but had missed for one reason or another. As I thought about them, I realized there were tons of series that snuck by me somehow, and I’m not even counting any comics from the past two decades. So, let’s have a look and see what can be done about this now that we are in the age of the internet where online shopping and digital services can help remedy this dire situation. As I prepare to stumble into the confessional booth, I want to hear about your regrets concerning comics you missed out on over the years, so please let me know about them by posting a comment. I’m happy to lend an ear, to commiserate, to help you work through the emotions and try to find a way to move on. Together, we can set things right. (You can check out “Part 1” and “Part 2.”)
The Uncanny X-Men
In an effort to torment ourselves even further, we bought a black and white magazine that showed every single cover of The Uncanny X-Men ever printed (sorry, I don’t remember the magazine’s title) and we would ponder aloud about why the Proletariat looked like Colossus, or what the deal was with the Phoenix. Thankfully, we wouldn’t have to wait too terribly long. Marvel soon realized the limitations of having a massive hit comic that tons of new fans desperately wanted to read yet they could not find the back issues needed to get the whole story. Thus, Marvel released The Dark Phoenix Saga trade in 1984. Jeff and I reread this book so many times it literally fell apart in our hands after a couple of years. Now, after all these years — and a helluva Marvel digital sale — I have X-Men Epic Collection: Second Genesis just waiting to be read.
Wanna know what’s in it? Okay, best strap in for the rundown of everything contained in this beastly 528-page beauty. Here’s what you get: Giant-Size X-Men #1, The Uncanny X-Men #94–110, Marvel Team-Up #53, 69–70, Marvel Team-Up Annual #1, Iron Fist #14–15, material from Foom #10. So, yeah, this one’s gonna keep me busy for a good long while. I honestly can’t wait to dive back into the issues I’ve already read and even more so to immerse myself in the many issues I’ve been dying to read for all these years. So exciting!
Excalibur
I then started to hear more and more about Alan Davis and his gorgeous art, but it was the Captain Britain graphic novel written by Alan Moore and featuring Davis’s illustrations that showed me I had greatly underestimated ol’ Brian Braddock. At this point, I knew more of the characters and wanted to see how the UK’s heroes mixed with the US’s characters, especially when it became clear that Claremont was the one writing the stories. Unfortunately, there were a lot of books I had missed, so I just had to let it go…until now.
With the Excalibur Epic Collection: The Sword is Drawn, we have yet another behemoth of a book clocking in at 496 pages of what looks to be a heavenly series. In this collection you will find the following: Captain Britain 1–2, Excalibur 1–11, Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn, Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem, The Mighty World of Marvel #7, 14–15, Marvel Comics Presents #31–38. Hot diggity dog, I’m excited to finally check out the world of Excalibur, however, it will be a little while before I can crack into it, but when I do, the Denizens will be the first to know.
Batman: A Death in the Family
Part of the reason for not picking up this series back in the ’80s was I remember being turned off by the notion that someone had to die in this comic, and it seemed a bit much that DC was accepting votes by telephone to determine which character would end up buying the farm. It was all kind of heartless. Despite reading some fairly brutal comics from the likes of Frank Miller and Alan Moore, I guess I was fine with Batman being a dark comic, but offing Robin — or rather, one of the Robins — seemed a bit sensationalist. But what did I know? I was just a kid.
Now it looks like I need to finally see what all the fuss was about and crawl up under the hood of this popular storyline. It’s on the “Need to Read” list, and I hope to delve into Batman: A Death in the Family before the end of the year. I’m especially curious as to what the Denizens think about the death in this issue and about the storyline as a whole. Let me know! This volume contains Batman 426–429 and 440–442, and New Teen Titans #60–61.
Slice into the Woods
POTUS #45 Continues to Embarrass the USA - I am totally not surprised that this treasonous buffoon is throwing a lie-riddled Twitter-tantrum about a couple of television news show hosts. I could go on and on about the countless other things this sociopath is doing (you know, like treason, obstruction of justice, cronyism, etc.), but I don’t want to go to bed mad. Counting the days until impeachment with the hope of an arrest being the cherry on top.
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