Blog Archives
“D” Is For …
… The Defenders! (1972)
I have a hard time setting Daredevil aside, but The Defenders are such a wonderful abberation that I can’t help but annoit them my favorite “D” comic.
My affection for this title is primarily for Steve Gerber’s whacko run, with the Headmen and the Elf with a gun and Hulk in Bozo makeup, but I also greatly enjoy David Anthony Kraft’s run, which was every bit as iconoclastic. The very earliest issues — with Doctor Strange trying to keep the Hulk and the Sub-Mariner on the same page — are fun too. And how can you not love a team that includes guys like the Silver Surfer, Son of Satan, Hellcat, and Moondragon on the roster?
(You can keep that TV show, though. What a snore).
All right, come tell me that I should have picked Daredevil … or any other “D” title of your choice. Sound off in comments, below!
Honorable Mentions:
- Daredevil (1964)
- The Death of Captain Marvel (1994)
- Devil Dinosaur (1978)
- Doctor Strange (1974)
- Dreadstar (1982)
- Detective Comics (1937)
- The Dark Knight Returns (1986)
- Dungeons and Dragons (2010)
Read more about The Defenders at Longbox Graveyard:
Check out the complete Longbox Graveyard Comics A-To-Z HERE!
Old Comics Never Die …
Like soldiers, old comics never die … they just fade away.
Unless you have amazing comic book friends, that is!
Once again, the mysterious and unfailingly-generous Mars Will Send No More has bequeathed me a care package of comics!
Mars has done this in the past, but opening a package from one of my oldest blogging pals is always a delight. I had a sense that some Defenders books were in the offing, thanks to a comment Mars had left here at the blog, but this thick package promised four-color treasures unknown!
Within … a note!
Sgt. Rock! Yes! I’ve written of Rock with affection, but had only a few Sgt. Rock books in my Accumulation. No longer!
In addition to Sgt. Rock, Mars’ marvelous missive contained a couple Charlton books, an early Shade the Changing Man by Steve Ditko, and a well-loved copy of Marvel Feature #1 — the debut of the dynamic Defenders!
By the weekend I had everything bagged, boarded, entered into my computer database, and filed away in my new longboxes. Yes, my Accumulation is very nearly a Collection, and rather than going atop a stack for later consideration (as has always before been the case), new arrivals of old comics here at Longbox Graveyard Secret HQ are now processed in the blink of an eye! Quite a departure from the jumbled mess of comics I found so burdensome when I started this blog, nearly three years ago!
And so these old comics, about old soldiers, will not fade away, but instead reside in eternal glory at Longbox Graveyard! My sincerest thanks to Mars for his ongoing support and generosity, and to all the many readers who have accompanied me on this comics blogging odyssey! More to come!
Mars Probe Lands At Longbox Graveyard
Happy holidays to all my readers!
With the holiday season now safely in our rear-view mirrors, we can more firmly appraise the year ahead and also reflect on the gifts and good times that I hope we all experienced these several weeks past.
Here at Longbox Graveyard, I took care to reward myself with Star Trek books and Haunted Tank collections, in addition to seeing to the holiday bliss of friends and family. It was a pleasant holiday, but largely bereft of surprises, which befits the season of a fifty-something father of two. At this age, you do the surprising on Christmas morning, not the other way around.
So it made me feel a bit less than a half-century in age when a Martian probe touched down at Longbox Graveyard on New Years Eve! A genuine surprise!
Another gift from Mars Will Send No More! I’ve written before of the mysterious largesse of the enigmatic Mars — it is always a delight when a Martian care package alights at my secret headquarters!
Carefully cutting open the package, I found …
… a package of delights! And credos! Delightful credos! Let’s hear it for Jack Kirby, and Mountain Lions, too!
Mars had included a letter:
Ah-ha! Mars received the refugee box of dinosaur cards I sent him several days ago! Excellent.
And the gift itself is a very groovy and oversized Defenders Marvel Treasury Edition!
Very thoughtful of Mars, knowing, as he does, that I am a Defenders fan, having written about both the Steve Gerber and David Anthony Kraft eras of that non-team here at Longbox Graveyard!
Flipping through the pages quickly revealed Mars’ own personal highlights, such as that diagram of Defenders HQ, which I left off my list of Top Ten Superhero Hangouts …
… and also the aforementioned alien, which had a face only a mother (or Mars) could love!
Yuck!
A perfect start to the new year!
(For more shots of this Treasury Edition, be sure to check out Mars’ page).
Thanks for the gift, Mars … I hope you (and all my Longbox Graveyard friends) have a fun and four-color 2014!
dangvozden
Paul O'Connor
Kris (not Chris)
markginocchio
miloapama
Dean Compton
Moya
ryanmcswain
Longbox Graveyard 