Your 100th Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast!! Yay!

It's the 100th B'Cast. 100th! I never thought I would get to the 100th B'Cast.  In hindsight, I would have probably hit 100 a few months or a year ago but too many things kept getting in my way or I guess I let it all get in my way.
Well I finally got here. The 100th Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast. Okay for this edition, I wanted to talk about Iron Man. Not the Iron Man we see in the movies but the comic book version.
Also it's a version of the Iron Man armor that divided fans.  They either love it or they love it.  At one time, I read one columnist call this armor "Go-Bot" like.
I think maybe you know which armor I'm talking about. Yep.  The Iron Man armor that's been called the Mark XII or more commonly called the "Silver Centurion" armor.
The armor first appeared in Iron Man issue 200.

The cover to Iron Man # 200 by Mark Bright and Ian Akin & Brian Garvey.
The Silver Centurion armor first appeared in this issue. Tony Stark may have invented this armor for James Rhodes who at the time (Iron Man issue 170) took over as Iron Man.

Iron Man issue 170 by Luke McDonnell and Steve Mitchell showing us an Iron Man we've never seen before.
So back to the Silver Centurion armor, Tony Stark decided to put on the armor after a close friend was killed by a bomb meant for him.  It was obvious that it was all a plan by Obadiah Stane.

The Invincible Iron Man issue 167 by Luke McDonnell and Steve Mitchell. In the clutches of Obadiah Stane. Stane had manged to basically destroy Tony's life, destroy his reputation and took away his company and his fortune.
For a few issues, we saw a Tony Stark had given up the life of a millionaire playboy, philanthropist and genius.
The Iron Man suit and identity was passed on to James Rhodes. There were a few issues detailing how Rhodes became angry at Stark and ultimately hating Stark.
Tony builds an old basic model of the Iron Man armor and deals with a Rhodey who seems to have lost it.
The "new" old Iron Man armor appeared in this issue, Iron Man issue 191 by Luke McDonnell and Ian Akin & Brian Garvey.

And in the next issue, Tony and Rhodey.....well....they... "ironed out" their differences..kinda.

Iron Man issue 192 featured Iron Man versus Iron Man by Luke McDonnell and Ian Akin & Brian Garvey.

All of these situations came to a head in Iron Man issue 200. Having lost a friend, Tony decides to take the fight to Stane.  Rhodey offers to return the Iron Man suit but Tony refuses his offer as he has other plans.

Iron Man Silver Centurion by Mark Bright and Ian Akin & Brian Garvey.
Tony had been working on this new armor which was a huge departure from the armors of old.  The most obvious change was the color scheme, gone was the Red and Gold.  The suit was Red and Silver hence the name Silver Centurion.
The suit looked to be bigger and badder compared to the old models. It was different, a classic.
The armor had aan inverted triangular design on the chest and back plates.  It also had a backpack which had never been seen before in the previous armors.

 I'm guessing the backpack was meant for storage purposes.  In addition there was a new design in the terms of the helmet.  It was now a large oversized hooded helmet.
The new design had incorporated shoulder pads and the new triangular chest beam.
I was so excited when the news came out that Tony Stark would be back in the suit but I never thought they would design a new suit of armor.
The strange thing was, I didn't get a chance to see the silver centurion's first appearance in Iron Man 200, instead I saw the armor for the first time in a different comicbook.  This one.

There he is, Iron Man and his new duds front and well off to the left in West Coast Avengers issue 1. I was surprised to see this issue first before Iron Man 200. I don't know for sure which issue came out first but I saw Iron Man's Silver Centurion armor in this issue and I just excited to see more it.

Throughout Iron Man 200 we get to see the capabilities of the Silver Centurion, all the major improvements Tony had incorporated in the new suit.  I wwas enjoying myself finding out just what the suit was capable of.  I can't list out everything about the armor here but there are plenty of sites out there dedicated to the Silver Centurion armor, like www.ironmanarmory.com
And then we had the final showdown with Obadiah Stane who had designed a suit for himself. He redesigned and rebuilt the New old Iron Man suit Tony was using a few issues ago in Iron Man 191.

This is Iron Monger by Mark Bright and Ian Akin & Brian Garvey.
What happened when Iron Monger met Iron Man?
Well...

All I'm going to say is, find Iron Man 200 and read it,  it's a great issue.
After Iron Man 200, we got to know the Silver Centurion armor and the armor grew on me,  quickly!

Iron Man issue 201 by Mark Bright and Ian Akin & Brian

Iron Man 202 by Bob Layton.
The new Silver Centurion had a few similarities with the previous models. The suit's arms and legs section would zip into the gauntlets and boots for easy storage leaving Tony with a few easy to store parts which are then kept in his custom designed high tech briefcase.

Iron Man 203 by Mark Bright and Ian Akin & Brian Garvey.

This has to be one of the best renditions of the Silver Centurion armor. Iron Man 204 by Mark Bright and Ian Akin & Brian Garvey.

One of the changes made to the armor came in the new special feature in the Silver Centurion armor,  the Chameleon Effect, which enables Iron Man to blend into the background by projecting holograms of the background over the surface of the armor, in essence making the armor invisible.

Iron Man issue 205 by Mark Bright and Ian Akin & Brian Garvey.

Another good look at the Silver Centurion by Mark Bright and Ian Akin & Brian Garvey.
The new armor also came with a few new nifty weapons, apart from the repulsors, the new suit had new pulse bolt gauntlet cannons which get stronger the farther they travel.
There's also the Unibeam which was designed for higher intensity and even has a searchlight mode. Cool!

Iron Man issue 207 by Mark Bright and Ian Akin & Brian Garvey.

Iron Man issue 208 by Mark Bright and Ian Akin & Brian Garvey.
The Silver Centurion armor would stay around for a few issues more until the Armor Wars or Stark Wars but that's a story for another day. 
Hey, it's been fun sharing with you my look at the Silver Centurion armor.  I hope you liked it too, thanks for dropping by and I hope to see you again in the next Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast.
Until then, thank you and take care!

Your 99th Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast

Hi there comic fans,  what's up?
I woke up this morning and read about two things that intrigued me, first, it was something about DC Comics Black Label. DC's Mature comics line or imprint which I guess is similar to Marvel's MAX Comics (is that still around?) or has the Mouse House destroyed that along with everything else?
The second thing is Superman Year One.

Yep, DC will release Superman Year One in June of this year.
Now according to DC, this will be the coming of age story of the future Man Of Steel. The story of how a young boy who also happens to be an alien from Krypton trying to find his place in a new world.
I guess you could say, this is the story of Clark Kent and his journey to becoming a legend, to becoming Superman.
Now the surprising thing for me is the choice of writer for Superman Year One. He's not what you'd call the obvious choice. As a matter of fact, some fans, well most of them would say he hates Superman.
He's none other than Frank Miller. He man who did Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One, Daredevil: Born Again and Daredevil: The Man Without Fear.
You can see why some comic fans are kinda skeptical about Miller.
His partner in crime for Superman Year One is John Romita Jr. who is known for his work on Iron Man, The Uncanny X-Men, Daredevil,  Daredevil: The Man Without Fear and just so many others.
It looks like his inker for this project is Danny Miki. Which is great news, I like how Danny Miki's inks complements Jr. Jr. 's pencils.

The artwork I've got here is all from DC Comics and I'm just sharing them cause I'm excited about Superman Year One. Look at the artwork, it looks really good.

Since the announcement of this project by Miller and Jr. Jr, there's been a few questions thrown out there,  like why Miller?
I read somewhere on line that a few people believe that Miller dislikes Superman and that Brian Brian Michael Bendis would seem like the more obvious choice since he is currently writing Superman.
I for one will wait for issue # 1 of Superman Year One to see how Miller writes and depicts the Man of Steel.
I am however really happy to see John Romita Jr and Danny Miki working on this project.

John Romita Jr has worked with Miller on Daredevil: The Man Without Fear, so I'm intrigued to see this 3 part series.  How about you?
Superman Year One # 1 will be available in June, take a gander at the cover below by Jr. Jr. and Danny Miki.

Superman Year One # 2 will come out in August.

While issue # 3 will be available in October 2019.

And the Superman Year One Collection will be available in November 2019.
So, yeah, Superman Year One. As I mentioned I am interested, I am intrigued and definitely curious about this project. A few questions here and there, not the least of which is why release this under DC 's Black Label which is meant for their more mature comics.
Guess I'll have to wait and find out.  Which won't be easy. As I've mentioned and complained for a long time, there's NO comicbook store where I am and I will have to find a way to get these three issues.
Thanks for dropping by, thanks for reading and I hope to see you again next time. Until the next B'Cast, take care Comic Fans.

Your 98th Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast

Hey Comic Fans.
I'm back. I forgot to mention, the B'Cast about Ten Nights of the Beast is a two parter. You've seen Part One. Here's Part Two.
Let's continue with Ten Nights of the Beast.
One other thing I really enjoyed about all four issues (apart from the story by Starlin, the interior artwork by Jim Aparo and Mike DeCarlo) are the incredible covers for Batman issue 417 to 420.
All four covers for Ten Nights of the Beast were INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL.
All four covers were drawn by Mike Zeck.  The man who drew the covers for various titles over the years,  G.I. Joe, Secret Wars, Deathstroke The Terminator, Captain America and just so many other titles.
Well for Ten Nights of the Beast, the covers were beautifully rendered by Zeck.
Here's the cover to Batman issue 417. Part One of Ten Nights of the Beast.

Batman issue 418. Part Two.

Batman issue 419. Part three

Batman issue 420. The conclusion to the 4 part storyline.

I've always been a big fan of Mike Zeck's artwork and I was really happy when I found out that Zeck was the artist of all four covers and also the cover for the collected edition of the storyline.
Well, that's part two in this look at Ten Nights of the Beast.  Hope you'll have a chance to read this four part story. 
Thanks for dropping by Comic Fans. See you next time around.

Your 97th Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast

Hey Comic Fans, welcome to Your 97th Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast. For this edition, I'm going to take a look at a 4 part storyline written by Jim Starlin (yes, that Jim Starlin) with art from the legendary Jim Aparo and Mike DeCarlo.
The four part storyline took place in Batman issue 417 to 420.
The year was 1988 and I'm talking about Ten Nights of the Beast. This 4 issue storyline was published one year after Batman: Year One.
I was told about Ten Nights of the Beast by a friend who absolutely raved about it.

In Ten Nights of the Beast, the KGBeast comes to Gotham City to kill nine people crucial to America's Star Wars initiative.

A KGB agent together a team comprised of agents from the CIA, FBI, the GCPD and an unofficial addition to the team, Gotham City's very own Dark Knight to stop the KGBeast.
Despite their very best efforts, the beast manages to kill all nine on his kill list. The beast used numerous methods to kill his 9 targets.  I don't want to spoil it for you, so please try and look for this storyline, you won't regret it.
Okay, with 9 confirmed kills, does that mean the beast is done? Nope. He has an additional target on his kill list. He goes after President Ronald Reagan.
Here's one spoiler for you, Batman managed to save Ronald Reagan.

Throughout the four issue of Ten Nights of the Beast, you're treated to a nail bitting storyline and solid artwork from Jim Aparo and Mike DeCarlo. Really solid work here.

There's also a memorable moment involving Batman and the KGBeast where Batman managed to detain him.
The beast however managed to free himself from Batman's grasp by doing something really drastic. I won't spoil it for you, you've gotta get a copy or grab the collected version to see what happened.

I'm just going to say the KGBeast had the whole situation well in hand. Yeah.
So how did Batman finally deal with the beast?  Well, despite the fact that the beast had killed so many people, it was a foregone conclusion that he will never be brought to justice for his crimes. Even if they sent him back to Russia, the beast would kill more people in Russia, he wasn't a people person, the KGBeast.
So, what happened in the end?

Well, again, I'm going to leave you with the page above. If you have the chance, find Batman issue 417 to 420 or you could just get the tradepaperback. Like this one.

A really beautiful cover by Mike Zeck and Phil Zimelman.
I really enjoyed Ten Nights of the Beast. I thought Batman had come up against a foe that was nearly impossible for him to defeat. Storys like this one really captures your attention and you just can't wait for the next issue to see what happens. In my opinion, it's a great four part story.
Oh one other thing, the other thing that attracted me to Ten Nights of the Beast are the covers to Batman issue 417 to 420.
And that's what I'm going to share in the next B'Cast, so stay around comic fans.
Take care.

Your 96th Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast

Hey there Comic Fans, welcome to another B'Cast, your 96th B'Cast.
So what's up for this edition? Well, more comics.
Just the other day, I was sitting down with a few friends to talk about a project I wanted to do.  It's been on my mind for a while now.  Never got it off the ground and I never thought I would get a chance to actually do it but it looks like it could happen.
I'll keep you updated here if this project of mine gets going. If I don't mention it at all in the months to come, then you'll know that it ain't happening. Oh well.
Now, on to some comics. Three of my favorite issues of the Uncanny X-Men. Here we go.

My, what big teeth you have! Yikes.  Well, the blurb on the cover says it all,  the Brood is back!
This is The Uncanny X-Men issue 232. Cover by Marc Silvestri and Dan Green.
In this issue, the Brood lands on Earth and proceed to create a band of super-powered humans to aid them in infecting the Earth. Thankfully the X-Men sees the situation a little differently.

Another beautiful cover by the team of Silvestri and Green. This is the cover to issue 233. In this issue, the X-Men battle the Brood through the city of Denver.  Rogue, Wolverine and Psylocke are captured by the Brood, which brings us to the next issue.

The cover to The Uncanny X-Men issue 234 by Silvestri and Green.  Wolverine is infected by the Brood.
So, what happens in this issue? Well, it wouldn't be fair for me to spoil it for you, especially if you haven't read these three issues.
I highly recommend you go out of your way and locate these three issues. Great story by Chris Claremont and of course spectacular art by Marc Silvestri, Dan Green and Joe Rubinstein.
As a matter of fact Marvel collected all three issues into a collection called X-Men: Earthfall issue 1.
It reprints all three issues in one collection.
I forgot to mention, throughout the three issues, Chris Claremont was also laying the groundwork for Marvel's major cross over event, Inferno. So a lot to keep you interested.
These three issues are some of my favorites, they're what I like in comics, story and artwork.
Thanks for dropping by, hope you enjoyed this walk down memory lane. Until next time, take care Comic Fans!

Your 95th Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast

The art of Rick Leonardi and Dan Green on the cover to The Uncanny X-Men issue 231.

I'm a big fan of Rick Leonardi's work and I've always liked his rendition of the Uncanny X-Men. His work is truly amazing.
Here's Rick Leonardi and Dan Green's amazing splash page from issue 231.

Great artwork by Rick Leonardi and Dan Green.

Your 94th Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast.

When I was growing up many many many moons ago, one of the things I always looked forward to was the school breaks, especially the year end school breaks. After the final exams, it would be a couple months of relative freedom and I had a ritual the day after final exams whether I passed or not. More often than not I failed.  Anyway, the ritual.
I would sit down and look over a catalog from a comicbook shop and start writing down what titles and what issues I wanted. Those days, we didn't have the Internet, so all orders were done by hand and sent via snail mail.
This whole process would take almost 6 months.  Those days comics were not delivered via airmail, no air.  Comics were shipped from the United States to overseas destinations via sea mail. Let that sink in for a while.
Sea. Mail.
Yep and it took a long time for comics to be shipped anywhere in the world. It isn't as expensive as the airmail of today but it meant having a lot of patience. A lot of patience and there's always that chance they would lose your package of comics.
Since I did this once a year, I would save up some cash for the comics and of course for the shipping costs. It would take me a while to save up the money but to me, it was worth it.
So I've write to stores in the United States and ask if they sell and ship comics overseas, some said no, a few said yeah, sure.
And I'd buy in BULK. I mmean a number of titles and issues. Comics I couldn't get locally, favorite issues and just titles I really wanted to read.
Up until this point, I had been a fan of the Uncanny X-Men and the artist at the time, John Romita Jr.
I loved his work.  Followed the issues he drew religiously.
I was disappointed when he left The Uncanny X-Men. I followed him as he started drawing Star Brand and other titles.
Now, it was nearing time for me to buy my comics and I wrote everything down in great detail. I had read through news letters than John Romita Jr was now drawing Daredevil. Up to that point, I had only read a few issues of DD but now that Jr. Jr is the regular artist, I decided it is the perfect jumping on point. So I found out which issue he drew and ordered them. Remember I bought comics in bulk so I could read all these issues.
Well, sometimes these stores ran out on the issues I wanted and I'd miss out on getting a complete run of a particular title.  It was disappointing.
Well, I ordered Jr. Jr's issues of Daredevil and unfortunately I only got a few issues of Daredevil. I remember reading each issue voraciously. I loved the artwork.  Jr. Jr collaborated with veteran artist and inker Al Williamson on Daredevil and the result was something I loved.
One issue that always stood out for me was Daredevil # 252. It was a double sized issue and it was also a Fall of the Mutants tie in. I loved the issue.  I read that issue from cover to cover.

Here's the cover. Beautiful artwork by John Romita Jr and Al Williamson.

There was a sense of realism to the artwork that really stood out to me.  Here's the splash page from issue # 252.

This issue also featured an appearance by the Black Widow. Here's a few pages from this issue.

One thing I love about Jr. Jr's art is how good he is at drawing battle scenes. I guess after drawing the X-Men for so long, he can draw pretty much anything.

Daredevil # 252 was and still is a favorite issue of mine. I believe my copy of this issue is still in my collection. Hope it's still okay.
Now because the store didn't have all the DD issues I wanted, I missed out on a few issues of Daredevil and that was very disappointing.
I was lucky that there were other issues which were available. Like this one.

Daredevil # 259 where Typhoid Mary and the Kingpin gathered a bunch of Daredevil's "friends" and attacked him. Which brings us to another favorite of mine.

The final triumph of Typhoid Mary.  This was Daredevil # 260. Another beautifuly drawn issue. The more I read Daredevil, the more I loved the art of John Romita Jr and Al Williamson.
I could get issue # 261 though. The store didn't have that issue in stock. Never knew what happened in issue # 261. Don't tell me.  I don't wanna know. I figure I'll read it. One day I'll buy a copy. Somehow.

Here's another issue I couldn't get.  Issue # 257 guest starred the Punisher. It was rare in those days to have a guest star and whenever that happened, it was special.

So I didn't get to read this issue. One day.
Thanks for spending your time on the Co(s)mic ComicBook B'Cast. Appreciate any feedback you might have or comments.
I haven't been updating my blog on a regular basis But I'm trying my best to update this site as often as possible.
Thanks for dropping by, see you next time comic fan!