Thursday, March 04, 2021

Comics on the Shelf -- DC-8

On the DC-8 shelf, I have Superman #400, Superman Annual #9, Superman Family #182-184, 186-188, 190-199, 201-203, 205-209, The Teen Titans #44 and 53, The New Teen Titans #1-25, The New Teen Titans Annual #1, and The Warlord #1-32.
In order to create my “dream” comic collection, it wasn’t enough to just write down all the comics that I liked and wanted. That’s how things started, but then I had to make cuts. My dream collection is going to be 2000 books. I am just over half-way toward that goal. If I had kept every comic that I wanted to put in my collection, the wishlist might have been 5000 comics or more. I made the decision to stick with the 2000 book limit because I have the shelving for that many comics. It’s enough really. If I ever get this 2000 comic collection completed, then I might revisit things. But for now, I’m good with this goal. In order to decide what to cut and what not to cut, I established some rules and guidelines. Superman #400 is the one example of a comic that breaks my rules. My comic collection contains comics from a ten year period that begins in 1974 and ends in 1983. (For me that’s age 8 ½ to age 18 ½.) Superman #400 came out in late 1984, but, this comic is just too special to cut. It’s a super-sized anthology issue that tells stories about the “myth” that Superman leaves behind him on various cultures in the far future. It contains guest art by a whole slew of amazing talents, all the best that the comic’s industry had to offer at the time. It’s a masterpiece. Superman Annual #9 is a great issue. The lead story is written by Elliot S! Maggin (who wrote issue 400 that I just gushed about) and drawn by comics legend Alex Toth (beautifully inked by Terry Austin!) The back up story, “I Flew With Superman!” is by Curt Swan, and is a story that I have already featured in its entirety. Superman Annual #9 is a true hidden gem. Superman Family #191 is the first “68 pages with no ads” Dollar Comic and adds Superboy to the title’s host of characters. It’s the start of a solid run for the series and is one of my favorites. Teen Titans #53 is an origin issue, which I love, and also the last issue of the series. The group will come back in a few years as the New Teen Titans. And, speaking of that series, I really liked the reintroduction of the original Doom Patrol that happened in New Teen Titans #13. New Teen Titans Annual #1 draws Starfire’s war with her sister to an epic conclusion. I have already mentioned this issue, but I gotta do it again. Warlord #32 introduces the character of Shakira the cat-girl, who is my favorite character from the series.

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