Reviews, ruminations, and (occasional) ramblings.
Amazing Spider-Man #5 (October 1963) – “Marked for Destruction by Dr. Doom” – Stan Lee/Steve Ditko
This one starts with J. Jonah Jameson ranting about Spider-Man on TV (so, nothing new). Peter Parker pretends to see some sense in Jonah’s diatribe, just to throw off suspicion about his secret identity. That earns him the scorn of his classmates (like I said, nothing new). Continue reading “Spider-Man Reviews: Amazing Spider-Man 5, Amazing Spider-Man 6”
The Librarians and the Fangs of Death – Director: Marc Roskin/Writer: Rob Wright
This one starts with Flynn having a nightmare (or “apocalyptic vision”) of Charlene trying to warn him about some impending threat that could cause worldwide destruction. Continue reading “Librarians Reviews: Season 3, Episode 2”
Conan the Barbarian #191 – “Deliverance” – James Owsley/Val Semeiks/Geof Isherwood
This one starts with an ex-soldier (Jahib-Re) reflecting on his past glories. Jahib was once unbeatable and commanded respect and fear in equal measure from all who knew him. Now he’s older and has been retired (somewhat unwillingly), but when his liege (Prince Irham) requests his presence, Jahib responds immediately. Continue reading “Conan Reviews: Conan the Barbarian 191, Conan the Barbarian 192”
Amazing Spider-Man #3 (July 1963) – “Spider-Man vs Doctor Octopus” – Stan Lee/Steve Ditko
Ah, another classic villain origin story. This one starts with Spider-Man catching some thieves and lamenting that stopping ordinary punks is too easy and that he’d like an opponent who really challenges his power. Careful what you wish for, Spidey! Continue reading “Spider-Man Reviews: Amazing Spider-Man 3, Amazing Spider-Man 4”
The Librarians and the Rise of Chaos – Director: Dean Devlin/Writers: Marco Schnabel, Dean Devlin
This one starts at a museum in Egypt where some tourists are enjoying a look at the relics. But one guy (Barry) is bored out of his mind, so when a voice tells him to go into a restricted chamber, he obeys and finds a cool sarcophagus with a mummy in it. As he’s taking a selfie with it, some dark energy flies out of the mummy’s mouth and into Barry. Continue reading “Librarians Reviews: Season 3, Episode 1”
Conan the Barbarian #189 – “Rites of Inquisition” – James Owsley/John Buscema/Ernie Chan
This one starts with the funeral rites for Jahli, the boy-king of El Shah Maddoc who was killed last issue by assassins. Conan feels somewhat responsible and vows to punish whoever instigated the plot, threatening some of the attendees at the ceremony. He’s closer than he knows to the truth, as six of them are actually working for the Council of Seven, who did orchestrate the killing. Continue reading “Conan Reviews: Conan the Barbarian 189, Conan the Barbarian 190”
Amazing Spider-Man #1 (March 1963) – “Spider-Man” – Stan Lee/Steve Ditko
Welcome to my first Amazing Spider-Man review. I’ve been a Spider-Man fan as far back as I can remember; one of the earliest comics I remember reading is a reprint of the Drug Trilogy in Marvel Tales 77-79 (1977). So I have read all the Amazing issues up to 700, but it’s been a while and I’m in the mood for a bit of nostalgia, so I’m going to do a re-read. I won’t go into detail on the plots, just a basic overview and then I’ll talk about some of my impressions about the stories. I’ll probably be discussing future stories to help put things in context, so expect tons of spoilers (but what else would you expect from a review site?) Anyway, let’s quit talking and get into the first story. Continue reading “Spider-Man Reviews: Amazing Spider-Man 1, Amazing Spider-Man 2”
Well, that’s it for Season 2 of The Librarians. The structure was a bit different from the first season, with Prospero turning out to be more of a motivator than a recurring villain. The team was forced to search for artifacts and shut down possible sources of power, but only really confronted Prospero at the beginning and end of the season. Continue reading “The Librarians Season 2 Overview”
Conan the Barbarian #187 – “Resurrection” – James Owsley/John Buscema/Ernie Chan
This one starts with a messenger delivering a package to an eerie castle in the middle of nowhere. He’s quite nervous and with good reason, as his delivery is to a group of wizards called the Council of Seven. The package turns out to be an ornate sword, which the Council tells the messenger to raise to the sky. A lightning bolt strikes, killing the messenger and making the Council quite happy. But they’re not quite satisfied …they want Jahli, the boy-king of El Shah Maddoc, dead, along with his protector, Conan. Continue reading “Conan Reviews: Conan the Barbarian 187, Conan the Barbarian 188”
Last week I said I’d be revealing my next review subject today and here it is. As you can tell from the image, I’ve decided to go with Spider-Man as my next subject. I have read pretty much all the Spider-Man comics at least up 
until a few years ago, so they won’t be new to me (especially the older, classic issues), but it’s been a long time since I read some of them so I’m looking forward to re-reading them and bringing back some great memories. I’ll start with Amazing Spider-Man #1 and go from there, since I think everyone is probably familiar with the origin story by now. I won’t get too deep into analysis or too in-depth with the plot descriptions, since there are so many websites devoted to Spider-Man lore already. I’ll just be re-reading these and commenting on whatever strikes my fancy: the art, the characters, the plotlines, whatever. I think it’ll be fun to read these after so many years, so I hope you’ll join me starting next week when I take a look at the first couple of issues of Amazing Spider-Man.
