peter john rios

Covers of comics that are (or have been) in my collection at one point or another.

#126

Conan: Forgot about this issue. Leftover from my uncle’s collection, but this one had the cover - or at least a half cover. John Buscema cover, but check out those Terry Austin inks. (1981)

Hellblazer (1998)

Hulk: Another coverless issue from my uncle’s collection. Never saw this cover before but I remember the interiors, including a creepy inverted color sequence. (1970)

Marvel Team-Up: Yet another uncle’s collection holdover. The second story in this - Spider-Man and the Hulk - is amazing just for the art by total unknown, Tomoyuki Takenaka. This issue is the only American comic he’s credited for on Comicbookdb. From what I can remember, it’s very lush and against the grain of what American comics were at the time. Worth a back issue hunt. (1983)

New Titans (1995)

New X-Men (2002)

Nightwing (2007)

Wonder Woman (1997)

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And from the never read/never owned file:

Thor: Just because that Kirby cover is classic. It’s also the first Thor issue, taking over from the Journey Into Mystery title. (1966)

Covers of comics that are (or have been) in my collection at one point or another.

#161

Avengers (1977)

Conan: This is the first Conan issue I ever purchased off the rack at the time of its release. I always use this as a response when I’m pigeon-holed as being only a DC reader. In the 80s, I read everything I could get my hands on. (1984)

Flash: A Steve-Lightle-doing-his-best-Mike-Parobeck cover. (2000)

Marvel Tales (1984)

Robin (2007)

Superman (2000)

Wonder Woman (2000)

From the “Never Read/Never Owned” file:

Justice League of America: Zatanna joins the JLA! (1978)

Covers of comics that are (or have been) in my collection at one point or another.

#164

Cerebus: The Roach turns into Swoon - a parody of Vertigo’s Sandman. (1992)

Conan: Sideboob and asscheeks cover by Armando Gil. Heads would asplode today. (1984)

Fantastic Four: George Perez does his first F4 interiors. This issue is the first appearance of Frankie Raye who, years later during the Byrne run, would turn into the Galactus Herald known as Nova. This, and the next issue, also features the return of 50s Atlas hero Marvel Boy and his Quantum Bands. Called Crusader in this two-part story, he seemingly perishes and his Bands would eventually wind up in the hands of the hero known as Quasar. Agents of Atlas would later retcon that Crusader wasn’t the original Marvel Boy and that he was still alive and well. And, to make it all confusing, this has nothing to do with Grant Morrison and JG Jones’ amazing version of Marvel Boy. And to think Marvel says its continuity is not confusing. Sheesssssh. (1975)

Marvel Tales (1984)

Superman: Lex Luthor is about to become the President of the United States! (2001)

Wonder Woman: It’s the start of the Phil Jimenez run. The first four issues cleverly mix and match the cast of WW counterpointed against the cast of Batman. For example: Wonder Woman/Batman, Donna Troy/Nightwing, Tim Drake/Cassie Sandsmark, Artemis/Huntress - even the villains: Phobos the God of Fear/Scarecrow, Deimos the God of Terror/Joker, etc etc etc. It was an interesting play on identities at the start of what would be an interesting run on the title, all with a loving tribute to George Perez in art and story. One of Jimenez’ strongest works. (2001)

Covers of comics that are (or have been) in my collection at one point or another.

#183

Cerebus (1994)

Conan: Proof that I really was reading just about everything back in the mid-80s. This was the final issue that I picked up though at the time. I have no recollection of the interior story though. Interesting to note that Jim Owsley, otherwise known as Christopher Priest, is the writer on this issue. (1986)

Daredevil: Child’s Play. This story was originally scheduled to be released over a year earlier but the Comics Code Authority squashed it. Reworked and finally released, this story is the first meeting between DD and the Punisher. (1982)

Green Lantern: John Stewart takes over the GL cover gig for awhile (he becomes Earth’s official GL an issue earlier). Even before his time on Watchmen, Dave Gibbons did the “light source from below” thing very well (in reference to the way the shadows and light play on John Stewart’s domino mask). (1984)

Iron Man: The first IM issue I ever picked up on my own at the time of its release. It didn’t even phase me at the time that I was reading about Rhodey rather than Tony Stark. (1984)

Justice League of America: It’s another JLA/JSA team-up, this time bringing Jack Kirby’s Fourth World to the DCU in a major way. Kirby had long left the characters by this point, and although Mr. Miracle found some play here and there outside of New Gods-related titles, this is their first major interaction with the heavy hitters of the DCU. I wonder what the reaction was at the time? This also marks the final issue of artist Dick Dillon’s incredible 115 issue run. In all that time, since issue 64 in 1968, he only missed five issues. Incredible. (1980)

Superman: The final issue of the Jeph Loeb/Ed McGuinness run. I’m about to get my hands on these issues once again and I can’t wait. They were big, fun Superman books and would lead the way to the great Superman/Batman series. I’m looking forward to reading these once more. (2002)

Uncanny X-Men: Another fantastic standout issue, from the opening scene between Kitty and Colossus talking about his time on the Secret Wars planet, to the Rachel/Selene subplot to the bar fight between Colossus and Juggernaut over a misunderstanding. Characterization galore, great art, the kind of story that made the X-Men stand apart from other titles. (1984)

Wonder Woman (2002)

Covers of comics that are (or have been) in my collection at one point or another.

#190

Brave and the Bold: Most likely I picked this up for Adam Strange. And then, as a bonus, there’s a Nemesis back-up tale featuring artwork by Dan Spiegle. (1982)

Cerebus: I just got my hands on a bunch of issues around this time (Thanks Chris Beckett!) - so I’ll add them from here on out even though there are few that I could add to previous posts. (1995)

Daredevil: Elektra… Resurrected! And all in white. Interesting to see some of the Klaus Janson art and how it helped to shape the look of the book for Mazzucchelli, Weeks, etc. (1983)

Green Lantern (1985)

Justice League of America: A well designed cover by Brian Bolland which was recreated by artist/animator Big Jim Miller for the CGS homepage, which you can see here. (1981)

Uncanny X-Men: The chilling yet awesome Kulan Gath two parter begins - a character that hadn’t been used since Claremont resurrected him for a Marvel Team-Up story in 1979! I was always a fan of these two issues - and just like every good alternate history tale, it’s dark with many deaths. Eventually it all gets reverted back to the norm and it’ll be another 15 years before the sorcerer is resurrected during the Busiek/Perez Avengers run. (1985)

Wonder Woman (2003)

Covers of comics that are (or have been) in my collection at one point or another.

#266

Conan: Conan the Barbarian makes its first appearance in this series. And I have no idea why this is in my collection. I also thought the cover was by Jim Lee for some reason. I had a two year run of the book in the mid-80s, when I collected damn near everything, but finding this one-off is just weird. (1993)

Fantastic Four (1984)

Legion of Super-Heroes (1980)

(Yes, the 266th issue of Uncanny X-Men is the first appearance of Gambit. No, I never owned it. Never read it either. It happens.)