Episode 1610 Talkback - Off the Racks: Black Panther #1, Bloodlines #1, and Micronauts #1

Adam_Murdough

Get set for '70s-style space-opera (IDW's Micronauts #1), '90s-style sci-fi/horror (DC's Bloodlines #1), and an ultra-contemporary take on 'jungle action' (Marvel's Black Panther #1) in this edition of Off the Racks! Plus bonus reviews, including Chris Eberle's thoughts on DCU: Rebirth #1! (1:16:41)

Listen here.

nweathington

I, for one, did read the original Bloodlines annuals (most of them anyway) back in the ’90s. A couple of them were actually pretty good, but most were pretty awful. Which is why I had no interest in the new series. Plus, I'm not a fan of the Michael Turner style (except for a few things by Kenneth Rocafort), so the artwork did nothing for me.

Also, while I enjoyed the old Micronauts series, and my brother had a couple of the figures, my favorite characters were the ones created by Marvel, so I had very little interest in this new series. It sounds like I made the right call.

I did, however, buy and read Black Panther #1. As I've said on other threads, it's a buy for me. Everything I liked about it was pretty well covered on the show, so I won’t reiterate. That being said, I can certainly see Murd’s point of view as well. This wasn’t typical superhero fare. But I wasn’t looking for typical superhero fare. Given the writer’s background, I was looking for something that addressed societal and cultural issues, and that’s what I got. As a first issue, perhaps the excitement level wasn’t quite where it needed to be—something, despite Chris’ disdain for Hudlin’s run, that Hudlin and Romita Jr.’s first issue delivered in full.

I stand by my earlier statements that Hudlin’s first issue of Black Panther was a fantastic first issue. It completely hooked me, and made me excited for what was to come. That series never quite lived up to those expectations I had after reading that first issue, but it was a good series for the first year, year-and-a-half.

Coates and Stelfreeze’s first issue of Black Panther has me excited in a different way. Whereas Hudlin/Romita Jr. excited me on a more visceral level, Coates/Stelfreeze have me excited on a more thoughtful/intellectual level. Yes, they’re juggling a lot of plot points that take some of the spotlight off of T’Challa, but I think it will be very satisfying once those plot points start colliding.

And Dani’s raving over the design of the issue had the designer side of me cracking up.

I also dig Mark Waid’s Archie! Really good stuff.

bralinator

"The comics that I read as a kid that inspired me were full of ideas. They didn’t need some upstart from England to come over there and tell them how to do comics. They’d got plenty of ideas of their own. But these days, I increasingly get a sense of the comics industry going through my trashcan like raccoons in the dead of the night."

Alan Moore, around the time of Geoff Johns' Blackest Night run.

Prescient and prophetic, as he often is.

BionicDave

Am SO excited to hear that Murd and Dani liked Micronauts #1!! :smiley: Granted, I never read the original comic series, but I confess - I have this strange emotional tie to the Micronauts toys I had in the early 80s (late 70s?). I didn't even have a lot of them; I just had these guys (except for the red one):



...and this horrifying Hornetroid vehicle:



...but man, did I get *hours and hours of joy* playing with them, and creating my own names and backstories for them. Such fond memories.

As soon as CGS mentioned this new Micronauts series in a Previews episode, I was curious to hear if it would make for a good comic... so yeah, I am pleased as punch to hear Murd and Dani (and even Chris) say that it is not junk. Now I very much look forward to reading it myself.

alienal

Well, interesting varied comments on the 3 issues from the CGS crew. Heheh, WHEN is Pants going to read any of the Off-The-Rack selections...

Bloodlines - PANTS - Read it and don't even remember any of it. That's how memorable it was...

Micronauts - LOW BUY - I guess I was intrigued by it. I remember having a issue of Micronauts #1 (original series) but not following up on it. The same will probably happen here.

Black Panther -another LOW BUY - Actually, I wasn't too crazy about either the art or the story. Art-wise - well, I didn't notice any Stelfreeze covers before, but his style kinda reminded me of a George Tuska, which I didn't like when he subbed for John Buscema on the Avengers in the 60's. I guess I just thought the Panther should be sleeker and more powerful-looking. Story-wise, I just liked it better when T'challa had his kingdom under control (pre-Priest). And I agree with nweathington: I remember liking Hudlin's early issues of Black Panther.

Thanks!

TheOriginalGMan

I was chuckling at Chris talking about Murd sitting in his summer residence. I propose from this point forward it be referred to simply as "Stately Murd Manor."

Pants - Congrats on snagging some Rebirth artwork!

Black Panther was the only 1 of the 3 that I read. Guess I give it borrow. It was "okay." Nothing special. Artwork was nice but the story/writing didn't really grab me.

I too was completely unfamiliar with Micronauts. I had heard of them, and seem to recall them as a toy line, but that's about it. When Murd mentioned "Bug" though, I was surprised to find from using my Google machine that it's the same "Bug" from the Guardians of the Galaxy team from Annihilation: Conquest.

aquatroy

I don't know what it would cost, but if you could get your hands of the first 12 issues of the original Micronauts run you would be in for some really good comics! It is a wordy tome, indicative of the era. However, Bill Mantlo does a great job creating the Microverse. Micheal Golden is fantastic on illstration, and Al Milgrom is solid on inks.

TheOriginalGMan

TheOriginalGMan said:

I was chuckling at Chris talking about Murd sitting in his summer residence. I propose from this point forward it be referred to simply as "Stately Murd Manor."

PS - I envision Ted Knight in the role of narrator saying, "Meanwhile, back at stately Murd manor ... "

bralinator

@Pants - during the Micronauts solicit, you (like many other people) pronounced Acroyear as "ACRO-year." The correct pronunciation (and Robot Chicken backs me up) is "Uh-KROY-er." Plus, it sounds cooler pronounced that way, imo.

Really enjoyed this episode. I always like OTR episodes, especially when I've read most of the issues. My reviews follow:

Micronauts - buy-row. I've been a tangential fan of the Micronauts since I was a wee lad flipping through the Michael Golden rendered books from the late 70's. A real master artist, Golden had the 'midas touch'. I also loved his work on The 'Nam & Batman Family. Another great title he left way too soon. While this iteration of the Micronauts doesn't quite reach those lofty heights, I think this was an enjoyable read and may be a lot of fun in collected trade, as @Dani suggested. There were six variants of the Microanuts #1 cover with the main one being done by David Baldéon. But the variants by Butch Guice and one by Michael Golden are sublime.

Bloodlines - wasn't interested, so I didn't pick it up, but from the reviews, I doubt I would even borrow it.

Black Panther - borrow. As I've said elsewhere here, the first issue kicked off with lots and lots of exposition. I suspect since this is Choates first foray into comics, his writing will be more refined by the second arc, but for a first issue, well, nothing happened for me. It did not do much for me and I feel like a five-dollar comic should "grab" me. As @Adam_Murdough said, this book is "technically" proficient, and I agree. But I also think it was rather mediocre. After picking up issue #2, I began to wonder if this book could use an audience surrogate since T’Challa is somewhat of a distancing persona(?), because it's still not doing much for me. I'm disappointed.

Star Wars C-3PO Special - strong buy. Art and writing was excellent on every level. The book surprised me in several ways. It was never predictable or boring at all. Once you can accept a cast of droids having personal conversations, you've slipped into this world and it's wonderful, in spite of the cover price.

Congrats to Lee Markowitz on Muddling-the-Murd! Nice baseball theme.