Post by ruben on Mar 9, 2024 21:05:57 GMT -8
Today comic books are big business, we have the internet and modern stories are really, really good and sometimes appeal to an adult mind rather than for children.
Having said that ...
There's truth to the notion that simplicity and clarity are virtues and less is more.
When I was 8 years old visiting my grandparents house in Saint Paul, Minnesota, I walked to the corner drugstore. There were 2 comic books on the shelf and the covers alone captivated me so much I parted with the few coins in my pocket, probably all the money I had in the world, and the comics were mine.
It speaks to how good the stories were that I remember them in vivid detail some 52 years later!
One was a giant size Spider-Man with several stories bound into one. Obviously, a giant size issue like that would collect the best and most representative stories which require no prior knowledge of Spider-Man. The sinister six, the lizard and the molten man.
The other was a Fantastic Four. Reed and Sue's baby was stricken by a cosmic malady and the heroes had to fight annihilus in the negative zone to get their hands on the cure.
Each story had a beginning, middle and end and stood on its own merit within the two covers. There was no cliffhanger which everyone hates with the exception of comic book publishers.
At that age I knew little to nothing of the world, how could I, and I could suspend disbelief like I never did again since. But even then, webshooters designed and built by a teenager to mention nothing of webslinging through Manhattan were a bit tough to swallow. But who knows, a radioactive spider was just mysterious enough to keep me doubting.
Rereading those stories, as I have many times up to the present, brings back memories of when I was a child and drank it up enthusiastically. I'm hardly a child but it doesn't take much to make me feel like one.
There's no room here to go into all the many varieties of comics I've enjoyed over half a century. Yet for me, nothing can compare to a Roy Thomas, John Buscema story. In some ways Roy Thomas was a better writer than even Stan Lee. Lee was a conqueror who broke virgin ground while Thomas would settle in for a lengthy occupation.
This is my first post to the Comic Book Forum and I hope you'll mark the occasion with some thoughtful replies.
I'm listening.
Having said that ...
There's truth to the notion that simplicity and clarity are virtues and less is more.
When I was 8 years old visiting my grandparents house in Saint Paul, Minnesota, I walked to the corner drugstore. There were 2 comic books on the shelf and the covers alone captivated me so much I parted with the few coins in my pocket, probably all the money I had in the world, and the comics were mine.
It speaks to how good the stories were that I remember them in vivid detail some 52 years later!
One was a giant size Spider-Man with several stories bound into one. Obviously, a giant size issue like that would collect the best and most representative stories which require no prior knowledge of Spider-Man. The sinister six, the lizard and the molten man.
The other was a Fantastic Four. Reed and Sue's baby was stricken by a cosmic malady and the heroes had to fight annihilus in the negative zone to get their hands on the cure.
Each story had a beginning, middle and end and stood on its own merit within the two covers. There was no cliffhanger which everyone hates with the exception of comic book publishers.
At that age I knew little to nothing of the world, how could I, and I could suspend disbelief like I never did again since. But even then, webshooters designed and built by a teenager to mention nothing of webslinging through Manhattan were a bit tough to swallow. But who knows, a radioactive spider was just mysterious enough to keep me doubting.
Rereading those stories, as I have many times up to the present, brings back memories of when I was a child and drank it up enthusiastically. I'm hardly a child but it doesn't take much to make me feel like one.
There's no room here to go into all the many varieties of comics I've enjoyed over half a century. Yet for me, nothing can compare to a Roy Thomas, John Buscema story. In some ways Roy Thomas was a better writer than even Stan Lee. Lee was a conqueror who broke virgin ground while Thomas would settle in for a lengthy occupation.
This is my first post to the Comic Book Forum and I hope you'll mark the occasion with some thoughtful replies.
I'm listening.
