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Demon 002

Sun, Nov 13, 2016
“Gone, gone, o form of man! Rise the demon Etrigan!” Etrigan the demon is a great character, even if Jack Kirby wasn’t really into it. Arthurian knight Jason Blood, cursed to inhabit the same body/space as Etrigan, a demon bound into Merlin’s service, has been developed as an incredibly cornerstone of DC’s supernatural/horror sphere of comics. (This was made most obvious in Alan Moore’s run on Saga of the Swap Thing, where Etrigan’s rhyming was excellently elevated to a characteristic of Hell’s lieutenants.) The cover to The Demon issue 002 shows Etrigan crouched on a stone archway, which is dripping water, in a town with a medieval aesthetic or a castle square at nighttime (as the moon is visible on the horizon), ready to pounce on a group of torch-wielding citizens and a uniformed inspector.

Namor, The Sub-Mariner 014

Wed, Nov 9, 2016
Namor, The Sub-Mariner was the first comic for which I ever had a subscription (my subscription was from issue 18-29). I don’t recall all the details about this, but I know that we had some sort of postal issue that prevented me from getting an issue or two initially, so my dad and I called Marvel. It turned out that they were having a Christmas party at the time, and Stan Lee himself picked up the phone.

Justice League Europe 008

Fri, Nov 4, 2016
JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE! Possibly the greatest Europe-based superhero team from one of the big two comics companies. Justice League Europe / Justice League International were incredible series in the late 80s/early 90s that really embraced the goofiness of shining a spotlight on a band of B- and C-list heroes. Keith Giffen and Bart Sears worked so well together to make the comic so believable and staunchly ridiculous at the same time.

Journey Into Mystery 646

Fri, Oct 28, 2016
Journey Into Mystery was the comic in which Thor first appeared, and it’s awesome that Marvel revived this title in order to make space for Asgard tales (the “Tales from Asgard” in the back of older Thor comics were great, but wayyyyy too short to enjoy thoroughly). I remember buying this comic from a dollar bin in 2014 or maybe 2015. The cover alone made it worth the price: Lady Sif looks totally badass, striding directly toward the viewer in a suit of battle armor—mostly practical, too!

Shazam 018 (1973)

Sun, Oct 23, 2016
Just by looking at the title, I can tell that issue 18 from the 1973 run of Shazam! (the first DC title with Captain Marvel/Shazam after acquiring Fawcett’s characters) is going to be amazing: Captain Marvel is lifting up part of a house while asking, “Who called me for help?” In response, a frog—held in someone’s hand—replies, “*Ribit* I did!” Meanwhile, in a note at the bottom right corner, we get a hint of what the issue will involve: “The celebrated talking frog of Blackstone Forest!” I’m sold.