peter john rios

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

#94 part 2:

New Titans: One of the earliest covers that put Phil Jimenez into my brain. This triptych cover with issues 95 and 96 stood out to me - Who is this George Perez acolyte? I had to know and he would eventually become one of my favs to the point I would pick up a comic just for his cover. (1993)

Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man (1984)

Showcase Presents…: First appearance of the new Doom Patrol! Even though it’s two years later, I have to wonder if this is in reaction to Giant-Sized Uncanny X-Men since its been widely surmised that the original X-Men were an answer to DC’s Doom Patrol. (1977)

Superman (1994)

Teen Titans (2011)

Wolverine (1995)

X-Factor (1993)

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

#95 part 2:

Man of Steel: The Superman line of books relaunch featuring Phil Jimenez covers. The brown background characters are too muddy for me and make the overall color scheme seem dull. But the line got an overhaul that for the most part worked. (1999)

New Titans (1993)

Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man: The final consecutive issue I picked up off the shelf at the time of its release. Thinking back, I’m fairly certain I enjoyed the run on this title that I read more than Amazing at the time. (1984)

Superman (1994)

Teen Titans (2011)

Wolverine (1995)

Wonder Woman (1995)

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

#119

Cerebus (1989)

JLA: The cover is a recurring image throughout Identity Crisis and has meaning if you’ve read that story. The issue wraps up the attack of the Secret Society of Super-Villains against the JLAers secret lives and loved ones and is a lead in to Infinite Crisis 1. Such a great story. (2005)

Legion of Super-Heroes: Another Phil Jimenez cover featuring a L.E.G.I.O.N tale! And Captain Comet! What more do I need? (1999)

New Titans (1995)

New X-Men (2001)

Nightwing (2006)

Wonder Woman (1997)

X-Factor (1996)

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

#120

Cerebus (1989)

Defenders (1983)

JLA: The title probably could’ve ended with 119, but they went with this one last six part story ending the series with a ‘meh’. (2005)

Legends of the Dark Knight: I never read No Man’s Land - something I’d like to change eventually - but I did pick up this anniversary issue (120 issues usually amounts to ten years of publishing). This is also the issue where Cassandra Cain dons the mouth-covered Batgirl costume for the first time. (1999)

Legion of Super-Heroes: For the Phil Jimenez cover. (1999)

New Titans (1995)

New X-Men (2002)

Nightwing (2006)

Wonder Woman: George Perez returns to cover the series he began post-Crisis. It’s a standard Perez Wonder Woman cover that feels a bit too safe as I look at it now. (1997)

X-Factor (1998)

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From the ‘Tumblr only allows ten images above so I’ll dump this one here so I don’t have to create a part 2’ file:

Hellblazer: I finally get why I have all those issues from the past posts. It’s because I picked up this anniverary issue - I do love them so! - and decided to stay with the book until I no longer felt the need to pick it up. This issue is a definite standout though - especially for the Alan Moore cameo. (1997)

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From the never read/never owned file:

Uncanny X-Men: Although their leader appears in an earlier UX issue, the members of Alpha Flight makes their first appearance in this issue: Shaman, Sasquatch, Snowbird, Northstar and Aurora! (1979)

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

#121

Green Lantern (1979)

Hellblazer (1998)

JLA (2005)

Legion of Super-Heroes: For the Phil Jimenez cover. (1999)

New Titans (1995)

New X-Men: One of the better ‘Nuff Said silent issues. (2002)

Nightwing (2006)

Power Man and Iron Fist: Secret Wars II rears its head! (1986)

Wonder Woman (1997)

X-Factor (1996)

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From the never read/never owned file:

Batman: First appearance of Mr. Zero - who will be known as Mr. Freeze! (1959)

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Amazing Spider-Man: The death of Gwen Stacy! (1973)

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

#137

Defenders: The final issue of the series picked off the rack at the time of its release. I always felt like this title was on the margins of the Marvel U, similar to Batman and the Outsiders but even more so. I enjoyed this series at the time for its strangeness and combination of characters and I look forward to one day reading the entire series from start to finish. I read the current ongoing Defenders title by Matt Fraction but I’m too far behind on that title to talk about it. Gotta love that Kevin Nowlan cover though. (1984)

Flash (1998)

Green Arrow: The final issue before Oliver Queen returns in the acclaimed Kevin Smith/Phil Hester run. Hints are dropped about how Oliver may have returned - and Parallax may be responsible. A few issues into the Kevin Smith run, this final issue turned out to be highly sought after - and I can remember flipping it on ebay for a nice price. (1998)

Marvel Team-Up: Galactus. Aunt May as Golden Oldie. Twinkles! It can only be… Assistant Editor’s Month! And a great month it was. (1984)

New X-Men (2003)

Nightwing: Marv Wolfman’s final issue of his run, wrapping up a return of Dick Grayson’s “first” girlfriend, dropping in some Batman/New Teen Titans nuggets, etc. All that, ultimately, went nowhere. I would go on to pick up the next two Resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul chapters, but that was where I ended my reading of my favorite character. (2007)

Wonder Woman (1998)

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From the read it but never owned it file:

Uncanny X-Men: I haven’t read much of the Claremont/Byrne years of UX, but I did devour the Dark Phoenix Saga in trade format. I stopped collecting comics at the end of 1987 for a little more than two years (eventually, years later, I would read comics from that period and realize that I hadn’t missed much. Power of the Atom? Yikes!). I would slowly make my way back into comics in 1990 when I came across a pile of Superman in Space comics after the events of Invasion. From there, I discovered these cool extra thick comics called… trades! And the first one I picked up in October of 1990 was X-Men: the Dark Phoenix Saga, the one that had the awesome Sienkiewicz cover on it (from there I would pick up Batman Arkham Asylum and then Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying - what? A new Robin?? Next came Titans Hunt issues and I was back in the game!). I no longer have that X-Men trade but it was the first time I dipped into that epic X-Men saga. Well, that’s not entirely true. Back in the early 80s, I did pick up that Phoenix: the Untold Story oneshot that reprinted the original ending to the Dark Phoenix Saga that had Jean Grey alive and well by the end. So I knew the original ending before I ever read the way it actually ended. Strange. And thanks to Mr. Phil for yelling at me … I mean reminding me about this issue! (1980)

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

#140

Flash: This image will resonate on a later cover for issue 157. (1998)

Marvel Team-Up (1984)

New X-Men: Probably the best cover to showcase how the words “New” and “Men” are flipped opposites of each other. A Morrison idea for sure. (2003)

Swamp Thing: Grant Morrison and Mark Millar take on Swamp Thing. Morrison is around for the first four issue story and then Millar takes over as Swamp Thing is his first American comic book work. Their collaboration would continue on Aztek, Flash (see above) and issues of JLA before a falling out over stolen ideas broke the team up. I don’t remember much of this Bad Gumbo story. (1994)

Wonder Woman: Amazon Archives believes this is the first time the word Trinity is used on a cover to describe DC’s Big Three. Interestingly enough, I talked about the Trinity concept on the third (and my final) episode of DC Noise. Check it out. (1999)

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

#146

Flash (1999)

Marvel Team-Up: The first part of the Black Abbott storyarc. (1984)

New X-Men: The mystery of Xorn revealed. And it’s all there in various clues leading up to the Planet X storyarc. And Phil Jimenez to boot. Loved this part of his run. (2003)

Robin (2006)

Wolverine: I quite enjoyed the Twelve storyline - especially for its potential to wrap up several ongoing threads - but ultimately, it meandered and was all but forgotten for the upcoming X-Men Revolution revamp. For awhile there though, it was fun to see the larger X Universe wrapped up in the Twelve story. (2000)

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

#151

Flash: A new original Teen Titans story! How much does Aqualad by Steve Lightle look like Michael Keaton? haha. (1999)

New X-Men: Here Comes Tomorrow. Setting the path of the X-Men for future writers whether they want it or not. (2004)

Robin (2006)

Superman: Phil Jimenez does the art for four interlocking covers (connecting with Action 760, Adventures of Superman 573, and Man of Steel 95). While they helped to mark the start of a new Superman era, I wasn’t a fan of the muddy brown background. Anyway, Jeph Loeb begins his run with a bang and with a great Lois Lane/Lex Luthor set-up. A fun run that I recently re-added to my collection (thanks Jen!). Can’t wait to do a reread. (1999)