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Posts Tagged ‘ Thunderstrike ’

The World Still Needs Heroes

August 11, 2010 by

I missed this image over the weekend, or last week, or whenever it came out, although I did tweet about the news last week.

In case I haven’t mentioned it, DeFalco and Frenz’s original Thunderstrike run – and their previous Eric Masterson Thor issues rank amongst some of my favorite runs. They’re not high art by any means, but they are damn good comics about a man doing the right thing – if the right thing involves hitting people upside the head with an enchanted hammer or mace.

Yes, Thunderstrike’s look was very 90s – down to the ponytail, lightning-bolt earring and sleeveless leather jacket – but putting that aside, the comic had a very old-school sentiment running through it. Eric eventually sacrificed himself and the run was topped off by one of my favorite Thor stories ever as the Absorbing Man paid his respects to the foe he’d come to…er, respect.

In the MC2/Spider-Girl continuity, Eric’s son Kevin picked up his father’s mace (well, internalized it anyway) and became Thunderstrike himself – and fought alongside Stinger, the MC2 version of Cassie Lang, as a member of A-Next (another series I’d recommend tracking down in the dollar bins).

I’d guess from the silhouette that someone new and young will be picking up the mace – and though I’d guess Kevin Masterson, I’ll be happy to be wrong. No matter what, I’ll be picking this up come November.

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It’s not that I’ve started buying Marvel toys but…

March 19, 2009 by

…I’ve started buying a few Marvel toys. I don’t have any where to put them, but I’m concentrating on specific teams and characters, so it’s not too much of a problem. Honest.

Still, you know what would be a problem? If they made (in any format) certain characters that I know – know – they never will.

Thunderstrike, Mockingbird, US Agent, Justice, Firestar, Quasar, Starfox, Jack of Hearts, Black Goliath…you know, like these guys:

There are some figures I’d love, though – a Masters of Evil set (with Thunderbolts variants), a New Warriors set, a Clint Barton Goliath…

Lucky for me that (a) they’ll never happen, and (b) I don’t have the inclination to start customing!

Via

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In lieu of new comics, old ones!

January 7, 2009 by

I have a confession to make – like I mentioned yesterday, I still haven’t picked up last week’s monster comics haul. Also, I have a crapload of comics to read here at home.

And I mean a crapload. The original series of Captain Marvel, the bulk of the early Spectacular Spider-Man, a load of DC’s Showcase books from the 90s, a lot of Marvel Annuals I picked up cheap, some of a pretty big Iron Man run I’ve been pulling together over the past year, and probably plenty more I’m not thinking of.
And yet last week and the week before, as I wandered round Midtown Comics near Times Square, I felt the lure of the 40% off back issue bins. I let my fingers do the walking, flicking across runs of Avengers, X-Men, Spider-Man – no good, I have pretty good runs of all of that lot, and I didn’t want to spend big dollars and all the vaguely affordable ones I already had.

Oooh, Thor.

Now I’ve never been a huge Thor fan but there are certain things I like. I love Dan Jurgens run on the last volume, at least until it got a little meandering through the Reigning. I like Warren Ellis’ short four issue run. I’ve got some Walt Simonson Thor issues in those big to-read piles, now that I think about it, but I’ve only read a couple and I wasn’t sure which ones I didn’t have anyway.
But the Tom DeFalco/Ron Frenz run…
Now I don’t want you to get the wrong idea: these aren’t highbrow comics by any standards. If you’re into Watchmen, Maus, Blankets and look for complexity, depth and hidden meanings in what you read, then there’s a very good chance that you won’t enjoy the run….but damn are they fun comics.
DeFalco and Frenz really crafted a great long run here that reads well as a complete volume. Threads and ties that show up early in the run really come to the fore later on. It’s a good, rewarding read that you appreciate when you read it in a short time. That a seemingly random introduction of Dargo in a one-shot issue early on pays off later when he’s conned by the Tomorrow Man into battling Eric Masterson’s Thor; that Eric Masterson’s selfless injury in his introductory issue would end up with him being not only a ‘host’ for Thor, but a stand-in for Thor himself and, ultimately, a hero in his own right with his own book (I miss Thunderstrike…).
Anyway, it’s a damn good read. Good, fun, soap opera comics. Tight plotting, light and easy characterization, mysteries, a great, sprawling supporting cast including Asgardians and regular people, the answer to my question about who that guy who was supposed to join the Masters of Evil in an issue of Amazing Spider-Man was, and, of course, the introduction of my favorite super-hero group ever.

Yeah, the DeFalco and Frenz run – 82 issues, including 2 fill-ins, plus another 24 issues of Thunderstrike – it’s a good run. A great run. And it’s probably available at a decent price in your local comic store or convention.
Good stuff.
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