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Any comic book fans in here?


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As a kid I was a huge fan of Carl Barks, particularly the Uncle Scrooge and Gyro Gearloose comics. My father-in-law has the complete Barks set and has said that he's going to pass them along to me at some point. As an adult I've mostly followed Clowes.

Anybody here read Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay? A real love-letter to the 1940s era of comic books.

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I made a jump from Peanuts to the underground: Robert Crumb, Zap, the Fabulous Furry Freak Bros., Ripp Off Press and so on. None of that mainstream stuff for me. Started losing interest when Heavy Metal hit the stands.

So wonder I'm such a mess. :ph34r:

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I made a jump from Peanuts to the underground: Robert Crumb, Zap, the Fabulous Furry Freak Bros., Ripp Off Press and so on.  None of that mainstream stuff for me. Started losing interest when Heavy Metal hit the stands.

So wonder I'm such a mess.  :ph34r:

I hear that...someone gave me a copy of Crumb's Big Ass back in ninth grade ('71) and I was never the same... :blink::wacko::crazy:

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just saw this - so sad.

DC Comics Illustrator James Aparo Dies Wed Jul 20, 4:11 AM ET

SOUTHINGTON, Conn. - James N. Aparo, an illustrator for DC Comics for more than 30 years who drew Batman, the Green Arrow and other action heroes, has died.

Aparo died Tuesday at home after a short illness, said his daughter, Donna Aparo. He was 72.

Aparo, who grew up in New Britain, brought characters to life in his home studio in Southington, corresponding with DC Comics through the mail. He retired about four years ago, his daughter said.

Besides Batman and the Green Arrow, Aparo also did illustrations for Aquaman, the Brave and the Bold, Phantom Stranger and Spectre.

His big break came in the late 1960s when he was working for Charlton Press and his editor got a job at DC. The editor, Dick Giordano, brought Aparo with him to the comic book maker.

In a 2000 interview with Jim Amash for Comic Book Artist, Aparo said he went to Hartford Art School for a semester, but was mostly self-taught.

"I just drew as a kid and went with it," he said. "I studied and copied comic strips and comic books. I grew up with Superman, Batman, and Captain Marvel. I really liked Captain Marvel Jr. by Mac Raboy. That was beautiful stuff. I liked Alex Raymond, Milton Caniff ... all of those guys."

Aparo is survived by his wife, Julieann, and three children.

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Great to see ol' Metamorpho.

I started out a big DC fan- Flash, Green Lantern, Atom, Hawkman, Justice League,

etc.

Eventually I became more of a Marvel fan.

How do you guys compare the two "schools"? Artwork? Stories? Interesting characters? Kind of a Ford vs. Chevy polarization. I enjoyed both.

This thread makes me wish I'd have held on to my collection. Damn!

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As a kid I was a huge fan of Carl Barks, particularly the Uncle Scrooge and Gyro Gearloose comics.  My father-in-law has the complete Barks set and has said that he's going to pass them along to me at some point.  As an adult I've mostly followed Clowes.

Anybody here read Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay?  A real love-letter to the 1940s era of comic books.

I have the complete Barks hardcover set. Barks was a true master. Among other things, he had FLOW. The way he moved from one panel to the next is almost unmatched in comics history. And his overall narrative construction has never been surpassed, either. I didn't catch up to this stuff until I was an adult. I can only imagine how deeply influential it was on the kids who followed him in his day.

I also have the Little Lulu hardcover set. John Stanley was the equal of Barks in story construction, and perhaps even funnier.

Clowes is definitely one of the greatest cartoonists working today, along with Chris Ware. They have few equals, especially in the way they seems to get better and better as they go along. I wouldn't be surprised if these two are remembered for a long time.

That being said, I get a big kick out of almost anything that Alan Moore does, too.

I read the Chabon book and enjoyed it. I dug the references to comic book history, and his notion of Houdini as a sort of ur-superhero is very insightful. Clever, too, his protagonists's costumed adventurer being named The Escapist. Almost too clever, to epitomize an "escapist" medium. Clever, too, that the cartoonist's sidekick turns out to be gay, as a sort of riff, I guess, on the 1950s comics demonizer Frederick Wertham's notion of a homosexual undertone to the relationships between such heroes as Batman and his sidekick Robin. Again, perhaps too clever.

Still, I would recommend the book, even (or especially?) to those who don't give a hoot about comics or their history.

Edited by Kalo
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No, Green Lantern.

I always dug the Lantern, myself.

the only ones that i've checked out are joe matt - who's quite funny; and harvey pekar - whos sense of humor does not come across in his writing.

Joe Matt is a talent, for sure. His last issue of Peepshow had some of the best dialogue in any comic book ever, IMHO. It's too bad that his... er, um... "hobby" gets in the way of his doing more comics, more frequently.

He had a depressing 5-pager in the comics issue of McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Number 13 (2004). Apparently he's still pursuing his "hobby" assiduously.

Harvey Pekar stands or falls on the talents of his collaborators. His work with R. Crumb, for instance, is excellent, bringing out the best talents of both men. When he's got a good artist--Joe Sacco or Frank Stack (well, I like him)--then he's a force to reckon with, the originator of neo-realist comics. Otherwise.. well, let's just say that I understand your reaction.

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