Comics For Breakfast: Avengers the Frontier Years!

West Coast Avengers 8 and The Avengers 27 -Time For The Cremation?

  Well, I have to say that as of issue 10 (t's on a pre-order) I will drop the current incarnation of West Coast Avengers. At the outset it seemed like it might be interesting but it is a bloody mess.

Art style is now not that good and the fact that they can expend so little into one issue is astonishing.  The less I see of this tile the better.

Which,of course, brings us to the current main Avengers series. I am an Avengers man. I started collecting the series in the 1960s and then the low level of the 1990s hit and after the whole Disassemble crap I almost gave up. This current series is basically solo adventures or one or two Avengers teaming up but, again, they filter so little into each issue that even the art cannot distract from how bad it has become.  

"Masters of Evil" part 3....has dragged this 'story' out as far as it can and it is so badly paced and badly written -the hardcore unstoppable new Masters of Evil are beaten so easily almost as if the writer was stumped to how they could be stopped.

As a kid I would walk a couple miles just to find a newsagent with Marvel -specifically the Avengers- issues and even when comic stores started up but were miles away I would walk from one newsagent to another with little brother Mike and seek out the Avengers issues. Would I bother to do that now? Like hell.

I checked back on some Roy Thomas Avengers stories and they still hold good after all these years but they were well paced, well written and if it was a two parter each issue was crammed with action or characterisation. I read the current issue in less than three minutes. It looks like it is that time when a true Avenger fan needs to consider quitting because buying the series is like burning bank notes.

Any others feel similar?

THE OWL -MASTER OF THE NIGHT

 

A4
B&W
80pp
£8.00
https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper/the-owl-master-of-the-night/paperback/product-1vk5e79w.html

A Fan Project. 

The Owl. Created by Frank Thomas in 1940 for Crackajack Funnies:this book contains three Golden Age stories including the rare first appearance of Owl Girl plus the rare 1967 Owl Man and Owl Girl in their own comic. 

Black Tower Tales of Terror! (aka Tower Tales of Terror)

 

A4
B&W
72pp
£8.00
https://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/tower-tales-of-terror/paperback/product-11921861.html

The main feature,"The Curse Of The McQuilligans", starring Xendragon, leads off this collection of horror, ghostly and twist-in-the-tail stories. 

The classic Torch Of Vengeance is a tale of a wife’s rather Gothic vengeance while Graveyard is a cautionary tale for those curious to look into graves! Demons,time travel and much more.

Black Tower Tales Of Terror No. 2

 

A4
B&W
42pp
£6.00
http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/tales-of-terror-2/paperback/product-12674020.htm

Meet Finlands own mystical hero -Kapteeni Kuolio or, if you prefer English: Captain Gangren!

The Thinker..thinks!

David Gordon brings us the first appearance of Callex -and she's on a quest.

Mark Stafford assks "What is the meaning of This?" Find out.

We also dare to ask what happens if you Marry A Monster From Outer Space?

Terror and fun the Black Tower way!

Learn about the terror of The Machine! by Andrew (Fantomex) Hope and Ben R Dilworth

Black Tower Tales of Terror III

 

A4
B&W
62pp
£6.00
https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/tales-of-terror-iii/paperback/product-16qnwmd7.html

Each year Black Tower likes to bring you a little bit of extra horror/ghostly goodness in Tales of Terror. 

In the third volume there are contributions by Ben R. Dilworth -Krakos and Merriwether. While Paul Ashley Brown brings us the tales of The Worlds Best Mom and revisits his fear of trees! 

Darron Northall and Danny Jenkins bring us the horrific tale of Bud and Lou Go To Hell while George McQueens The Bat deals out justice and Art Wetherell's one pager is designed to make men wince! 

And Terry Hooper-Scharf finally includes issue 1 of The Paranormals to make this a true horror/ghost fest book!

Black Tower Colloquium cum diabolo

 

A4

B&W

12pp

£5.00

https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/colloquium-cum-diabolo/paperback/product-1ggdrvgp.html

As a vital point in the battle raging on Neo Olympus (Return of the Gods:Twilight of The Super Hewroes) two entities who could shift the balance both ways meet...

One of them is the Devil. 

While their truce is active the duo pass the time recounting two stories.

features a superb cover by Richard Anthony Pester

THIS IS N O T ESSENTIAL READING FOR RETURN OF THE GODS BUT A STAND ALONE ILLUSTRATED TEXT BOOK.