Wonder Woman #239

 

Comic: Wonder Woman #239

Where Purchased: HasBeen Collectible Toys & Comics in Wilbraham, Massachusetts

When Purchased: November 16, 2024

When Read: December 4, 2024

For most of my collecting history, it has always been about getting MORE comics.  It has always been a rare occurrence for me to part with any.  I recently shared with Nan about having to sell Amazing Spider-Man #129 during my first year at college to pay for a phone bill.  I remember an online connection losing their collection and several of us sent them books to help rebuild.  I know I sent some Legion of Superheroes issues.  I also donated some for a tax break a few years back.  And during the early days of the pandemic I would mail some to my friend Tyler but as he never mentioned getting them, I am not sure what happened to them.

Moving a collection of over 13,000 books last year made me realize that it might be time to do some thinking about all of this.  I am part of several online forums devoted to collecting and I often read stories of people selling or trading some books to work towards getting a grail or higher priced item.  Since we've moved, I have been able to trade a few hundred books for store credit at a couple of locations.

My current favorite place to do this is at nearby HasBeen Collectible Toys & Comics in Wilbraham, MA.  Located next to the famous Frame & Picture Shoppe, HasBeen opened about 6 months ago.  We discovered it on our way home from the Big E this past summer.  From the first visit, I knew I would like this store. Rik runs the place like I think many people of my generation would do so, even if he is about a decade younger than me.  He is affable, funny, and fair.  He doesn't do new books but his selection of toys, comics, and the like can't be beat.

I'm currently turning a critical eye on my collection in the hopes of trading for some early Avengers and X-Men he has in the shop.

My last visit was to bring in a small amount of books to test the waters.  I grabbed several smaller items and gap fillers, including this issue of Wonder Woman.  The cover reminded of one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes so I grabbed it and added to the pile.

Wonder Woman just misses the top ten of characters appearing in comics I own, coming in 6 issues behind The Thing to claim the 11th spot (788 appearances to 782 appearances).  She is the highest ranked female and third highest DC character.

This is a tale from Earth-2, set during the early days of World War II.  It is a part of a larger story arc, but it does a really nice job of bringing the reader up to speed through dialogue and editor's notes.  It is a little heavy-handed regarding equality but considering the era it was written, I'm impressed they tried tackling it.

It ends with a cliffhanger which I dig and has me adding the previous few issues to my want list.  I've got the next issue in my collection but I think I want to get and read the entire arc before moving on.

Infinity, Inc. Annual #2

 

Comic: Infinity, Inc. Annual #2

Where Purchased: Online - DMosco via Atomic Avenue

When Purchased: October 8, 2024

When Read: November 7, 2024

One of the first comics I ever bought off the newsstand was a Justice League of America issue.  It was part of what I later learned was an annual team up of the JLA from Earth-One and their counterparts from Earth-Two, the Justice Society of America.  This time, they were also teaming up with the All-Star Squadron, another group from Earth-Two to fight a group of evil beings from Earth-Three.

I am probably not the best person to explain the whole Earth-One/Earth-Two situation but I will try.  The first superhero comics came out in the 1930s.  This was when Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and other heroes hit the scene.  They eventually became embroiled in World War II.  

When The Flash #123 was published in 1961, Earth-Two was created to explain differences between the original Golden Age and then-current Silver Age versions of characters.  It shunted the versions who had fought in World War II off to Earth-Two and the modern versions now occupied Earth-One.  This also allowed both versions of the same characters to appear in stories together.

All-Star Squadron retroactively introduced new stories into DC's Golden Age history, mainly during World War II.

All of this fascinated me.  I gobbled up the All-Star Squadron back issues and started collecting it in earnest.  I loved stories that took place on alternate Earths.

Once the multiverse concept became unwieldly, DC Comics made an effort to clean up their continuity, resulting in the multiple universes combining into one during 1986's Crisis on Infinite Earths mini-series.  With that, the All-Star Squadron series had to end.  It was succeeded by a series called Young All-Stars.

I am not doing any of this justice (no pun intended) but it is background for this issue.  Infinity Inc. first appeared in All-Star Squadron #25.  The group is assembled when a number of JSA protégés were denied admission to the JSA and instead formed their own group.

Infinity, Inc. was a direct sales only title so it wasn't easily available to me when it first came out.  It became another case, recently, of a series that I had enough issues of that picking up gap-fillers were an easy way to make a sympathy buy at a comic shop that didn't have much for me otherwise.  Now I am trying to finish it off.

And that is how I discovered that there was a second annual issue!  I was psyched because the bad guy on the cover, Per Degaton, was one of the villains in that first JLA/JSA crossover I picked up!

The title page of this issue indicates that it is the sequel to Young All-Stars Annual #1, which is in my collection but I am not sure if I read it.  See, Young All-Stars was one of those series I bought out of habit.  Even after I stopped enjoying the writing or the art, I kept buying it because of the "completist" mentality.  I did stop shortly before the series was cancelled but it never made it onto my "must complete" list.

This issue...is not very good.  The writing is a bit stilted and the art is stiff.  I tried a few times to get into it...setting it down, walking away, and starting over.  But it's just so disappointing.

There is a back up story called "The Private Life of Wildcat" which isn't any better.  There are quite a few embarrassing cheesecake shots and a story that is so "80's" it is painful.

Alas, this whole thing gets a 2 out of 10.

I do not buy many comics online anymore.  I really like the thrill of finding issues out in the wild.  However, if the FOMO creeps in on something, I will snag them if I find them online.  That was the case with a bunch of issues of a different series recently.  I had stopped at a few stores on the way home from a work trip and hadn't found everything I had been looking for so I logged into Atomic Avenue and found a few books at a decent price.  I threw this in to lower the overall shipping cost because I hadn't had any luck finding it in the wild.

Oh...and I am only missing issue #16 of Infinity, Inc. to complete the whole run.

Cinema Sunday: Man of Steel and The Wolverine

I entered this weekend with a very short "To Do" list and nothing heavy on my portion of the family calendar.  It seems I've been non-stop since Thanksgiving.  I'm not complaining, just stating how it feels.

While school is going well, we've had 12 school days since the holiday break and we've had 10 days with inside recess.  And due to illnesses and vacation, my entire teaching team was intact only twice.

So given all of that, Logan and I pledged to chill this weekend and get in a couple of movies we've been wanting to see.

#129 on my flickchart

While I love the work DC has done with animated television shows and direct to DVD movies, I've not been a huge fan of the DC Movie Universe.  Haley and I went to see "Superman Returns" when it came out in 2006.  While there was parts of it that I liked, I just didn't understand some of the choices they made.  I've seen the first two Nolan Batman movies on DVD but that's it for mainstream DC flicks.  I did go see "Watchmen" its opening weekend but that is its own beast.

"Man of Steel" was a good flick.  I understand some of the criticism level at it.  Part of me is bothered by the things that were done to change the story enough to keep the Siegel and Shuster families at bay.  But all in all it was enjoyable.  As for the whole "Superman doesn't kill" brouhaha, now that I've seen it, I think it fits in with the story.  I'm eager for the sequel and to see where the expansion of the movie universe goes next.

#96 on my flickchart

While I enjoy the Marvel Movie Universe, I seem to be selective about what I go see in the theater.  I skipped the Iron Man movies and watch them on DVD.  I missed the first "Thor" but have seen "Thor: The Dark World" twice already.  I've already got "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" lined up.  As for the Fox side of things, I think I've seen them all in the theater or at the drive-in, with the exception of "X-Men: First Class" and both solo Wolverine movies.

I'm not sure why I sat this one out.  Probably financial reasons last summer.  I love the source material for this story and really like Hugh Jackman's interpretation of the character.  This one is a little heavier than most of the X-Men franchise.  Even if I wasn't already all in on "X-Men: Days of Future Past", this movie would have cinched the deal.

We also watched "Despicable Me 2"...but I dozed off for some of it.

Happy January!

January starts with me still having 8,781 total comic books tracked in my software.  While I have made a few purchases, I haven't had time to sit down and enter them into the computer.

Here are a selection of comic books I own with January cover dates.  Two I purchased when they were published, one was a back issue find and one holds special distinction in my collection.

1961

This is currently the oldest comic book in my collection.  We recently cleaned out Nan's grandparent's house.  There were some comic books involved.  After the cousins took what they wanted (I believe only one of her cousins took any comics), I thumbed through the remainders and ended up with 26 books that are tagged in my software as "The Riley Collection."

1976

My most recent "Holy Grail" comic.  It took me nearly 30 years to track down an affordable copy.  This one features the first appearance of Superman's alternate Earth cousin Power Girl and usually commands a hefty price.  I try to avoid paying more than $5.00 for any individual comic book.  In my whole collection, there are only 66 individual comics that cost more than this book. (I've only paid more than $10 for a comic 26 times).  I snagged this in March at my favorite comic shop, That's Entertainment in Worcester, MA.  I had won a $10 gift certificate for answering a trivia question, so snatching this up at $6.95 was a no-brainer!

1983

I was raised Catholic and have a strong Polish heritage.  Picking this up back-in-the-day was another no-brainer.  I mean, what 12 year old boy wouldn't be excited to find this on the stands!

1984

Two of my favorite things in the same comic!  And one of the first issues I got via subscription.

Super Powers!

Super Powers by Phil Postma

Lazy Weekend

Last night I donated some comics to our local Goodwill.  It frees up some much needed space in my file cabinets, nets me some bags & boards for new books and will possibly help us out at tax time.  Here is a sampling of what has left....nothing too phenomenal but it makes me feel good...

All 52 issues...kept my duplicates of  issue #1 and #11.

All of this series except #4...couldn't find it anywhere!

Issues 1-4...it intrigued me when advertised but I don't even remember reading it!

                                     

I found these three while looking for the missing issue of Countdown.  Looking at my software tells me I got them as part of a lot of 118 books I bought on eBay in 2005 for about $8.00!

I also found this....I think it was a mini-series I just never followed up on....

So like I said, I can feel good about the donation, the tax credit, extra space and some bags and boards...But it gave me the itch to dig into the software and file cabinets and find things I WANT to read again!

1982 DC Style Guide

via Supergirl Comic Box Commentary

Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!

The fact that this comes from DC Comics (from Plop # 5 Spring 1974) and is illustrated by Superman mainstay Murphy Anderson makes it all the funnier to me!

(via Bully!)

Blogging from A to Z: W is for

Courtney Whitmore aka Stargirl

There are characters I like who have had a hard time at the hands of some writers (Hawkeye and Vision) and others I like that I haven't really followed them for all that long, even though I went and bought their first appearances at some point (Stephanie Brown and Time Drake).


The character of Stargirl falls into her own category.  I wasn't really aware of her until 2005 or so and besides her main series, Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E., I never "followed" her per se.  She does appear in other comics I own, but she is not a character I seek out.


She eventually made it onto the Justice League cartoon and the show Smallville.


I am including Stargirl for one big reason.  I love how she was "created".




Straight from Wikipedia:


"The character is a creation of Geoff Johns, who based her personality on that of his sister, also named Courtney, who died in the explosion of TWA Flight 800 in 1996. Johns is an avid fan of Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew and Courtney's original outfit is similar to Zoo Crew member Yankee Poodle's; in the comics, this is explained by Courtney being a fan of Yankee Poodle."


You can't really beat that, can you?


[If you are feeling click happy, check out Nan's site....she is doing the Challenge but did not sign up in time!
http://nanmock.blogspot.com/]

Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween!

The more things change...

Carmine Infantino, writing about the expansion that led to the DC Implosion of 1977, in Back Issue #1 (December 2003)


Mostly for The Armchair Squid....a little bit of DC History for you....

Originally found HERE.

Happy Labor Day!

Festival of Sol

Trying to publish one of these covers each month led to a dilemma, as this issue revolves around Carmine "The Roman" Falcone's birthday.

However, according to Wikipedia, August 28 was the Roman Festival of Sol, celebrating the sun goddess!

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Mother's Day?

I was torn about continuing these holiday posts with this series when I saw this one....especially knowing what the Father's Day one will be....

"Your shoe is untied!"

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Dollar Bin Comic Finds!

Today was technically day one of vacation.  Homemade pizza for lunch, a round of indoor golf (my Valentine's Day present) and dinner at Moe's.

In between, we hit the mall and I raided the Dollar Bins.

Once again I grabbed some books for the kids.

Haley got a Batgirl story....

I picked up two Superman milestones for Logan, the John Byrne relaunch and "The Death of Superman"...

I continued my current John Byrne kick with these two...

...and my nostalgia kick with these two....

But tonight's mother lode included these two:

 

Batman #427, part of the infamous Death of Robin storyline, where his fate was decided by fans calling a 1-900 number to determine if he lived or died (SPOILER: He died.).  I know the story fairly well, but have never read it as it originally was printed.  I guess I'll be adding the other three parts to my Want List!

But tonight's jackpot comic....

One of my five favorite comics of ALL time!  I already own a copy, but I could not pass up a reading copy for $1!  And this way Nan can read it.  She has seen the EXCELLENT adaptation DC did in a Justice League Unlimited episode in 2004.

If you do not already know, this issue is entitled "For The Man Who Has Everything".  Essentially, the story has Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman visiting the Fortress of Solitude with gifts on Superman's birthday.  They arrive to find him him in a vegetative state with a large alien plant stuck to his chest. Shortly, the alien warlord Mongul is revealed and tells the heroes that the "Black Mercy" has put Superman into a coma, feeding him an extremely realistic dream based on his "heart's desire".  Interspersed with the scenes in the Fortress are pages of Superman's dream of living a normal life on his long-destroyed home planet of Krypton, happily married with two children.

What happens throughout the rest of the issue is one of the best examples of what comic books CAN be....