Raven's Haven: Chris Claremont

Tuesday, 11 October 2016

Captain America (1968) # 256-260

(I originally read these comics in mid November 2015)

Just read a short run of fill-in Captain America stories sandwiched between the much-heralded Roger Stern/John Byrne run from # 247-255 and the DeMatteis/Zeck run from 261-300. It's been well over a year since I last read the Stern/Byrne stuff and I've been wanting to pick up where I left off. However, issues 285 and 290 are missing from my collection (omissions that have been rectified as of this blog entry!), so I contented myself just reading these five for now. They're okay, but nothing special. Standard '80s Marvel fare, presumably by whomever happened to be in the Marvel offices at the time judging by the shifting credits. The first Cap/Doc Ock clash in particular prompts nothing so much as a shrug of the shoulders but the Mike Zeck art on # 258 and 259 at least promise better things to come.

Back to DeFalco/Frenz Thor, now!

Captain America (1968) # 256-260 are collected in:

Softcover:

Captain America Epic Collection: Dawn's Early Light (US)

Captain America Epic Collection: Dawn's Early Light (UK)

Captain America (1968) # 256/257 are collected in:

Softcover:

Essential Captain America Vol. 7 (US)

Essential Captain America Vol. 7 (UK)

'Acts of Vengeance' (1989) - 2

(I originally read these comics between mid October/early November 2015)

After having read Marvel's 1989 crossover event 'Acts of Vengeance' recently, this time I read all the other stories from across the line that tied into it, most quite loosely. Again, the ongoing theme is the heroes facing off against villains with whom they have no familiarity, though the original legislative attempt at a Superhuman Registration Act is a sub-plot (and one that would be returned to years later in 'Civil War'). The Wolverine issues dragged, but all the others were pretty enjoyable. Even the New Mutants and Alpha Flight issues, teams for whom I have limited interest, hooked me by using classic Spidey villains (the Scorpion and the Vulture, respectively). I'd only read the Hulk ish about six months back, but was happy to revisit it. The Uncanny X-Men issues feature Jim Lee's first extended work on the characters from when he was a hot, new up-and-comer and they sure are pretty. However, the story, where Betsy Braddock is merged with a ninja assassin, is hard to follow in parts, at least for somebody not mired in the convoluted X-Men continuity of the time.

As an extra, here's Alan Davis' combined art for the two Acts of Vengeance Omnibus covers:

Fantastic Four (1961) # 334-336, Wolverine (1988) # 19/20, Doctor Strange (1988) # 11-13, Incredible Hulk (1968) # 363, Punisher (1987) # 28/29, Punisher War Journal (1988) # 12/13, Marc Spector: Moon Knight (1989) # 8-10, Daredevil (1964) # 275/276, Power Pack (1984) # 53, Alpha Flight (1983) # 79/80, New Mutants (1983) # 86 and Uncanny X-Men (1963) # 256-258 are collected in:

Hardcover:

Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus (US)

Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus (UK)

Fantastic Four (1961) # 334-336 are collected in:

Softcover:

Fantastic Four Epic Collection: Into the Time Stream (US)

Fantastic Four Epic Collection: Into the Time Stream (UK)

Fantastic Four Visionaries: Walter Simonson Vol. 1 (US)

Fantastic Four Visionaries: Walter Simonson Vol. 1 (UK)

Wolverine (1988) # 19/20 are collected in:

Hardcover:

Marvel Universe by John Byrne Omnibus (US)