dsaint

December 6, 2010 7:51 pm Gerber owns two characters for me, Howard and Dr. Fate. I was crushed when he died in the middle of his Dr. Fate mini. He had a great handle on how magic should work, and a dark sense of humor with the way he wove in symbolism from psychologists like Jung and Freud. Other writers on Dr. Fate feel flat compared to Gerber's characterization.

November 5, 2010 8:55 pm I've been reading ASM for a couple years and really liked the Rhino story but the Lizard story is the one that has really stuck with me. The art does such a great job conveying lizard's character and motivation. The darkness and intensity of the character might fit better in Batman though.

September 3, 2010 3:43 pm OttoBott speaks the truth about Blazing Combat. The artwork is fantastic. It also spans combat from different eras, the Revolutionary war to Vietnam.

March 31, 2010 2:34 pm Unknown Soldier goes to the top of my pile every time it comes out. Each issue has a page or a panel that just knocks me on my butt and drives home some new understanding of the characters or their situation.

November 24, 2009 2:52 pm This has been one of my favorites month after month. I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned on the podcast.

September 28, 2009 12:03 pm It appears the comic book doomsday virus has spread from Alan Moore to Josh. Hopefully it won't metastasize into full blown anti-life.

August 3, 2009 4:29 pm

Steve Gerber's last work on Countdown to Mystery is what rekindled my love for comic books. His work on Dr. Fate had me riveted with each issue. I have Howard the Duck and Omega the Unknown as well but his last Dr. Fate issues are what really stick with me.

When the ship dates slipped a little I went online and found his blog. That's when I learned he was really sick and in and out of the hospital between issues. The book took on a whole new meaning for me after that. Dr. Fate lived in Las Vegas (just like Steve Gerber) and I have to wonder if Dr. Fate's own examination of his life and the mistakes he made were coming from Steve Gerber's personal life. He died before finishing it and Gail Simone, Mark Waid, Mark Evanier, and Adam Beechen all chipped in their own ideas to finish the series but none quite captured the magic that Steve had put into it.

April 7, 2009 4:48 pm

Not only is there no dialog from Hal he apparently has the same stock yell everytime he sees the ring.

Gets the ring - YELLS

(After "In the Journey From Hero" text) he looks at the ring - YELLS

That plus the over the top music makes me laugh a little every time. Still excited to see this when it comes out. I can compare the first time he gets the ring in First Flight with the same thing in New Frontier.

March 19, 2009 1:02 am

Air continues to be one of the few books I look forward to every time it comes out. It's nice to have a comic with new ideas like hyperprax, new maps, new cultures and not just rehashes of old ones. 

I think the first arc is probably required since parts of this issue will be pretty confusing without backstory about Zayn, the feathered serpent, the hyperprax drive, and the fact that the penultimate page mirrors a page from the first issue but from a different viewpoint.

March 18, 2009 12:32 pm Do Vertigo titles count? The Phantom Stranger is an important character in the Madame Xanadu series. I believe he's been in every issue so far. He's a sort of teacher to her.