We’re going back to Cali … to Cali … to Cali … This is a very special tribute to the book that made me a Marvel fan for life … the West Coast Avengers. I loved the Wackos and still do. This is a shout-out to writer Jim McCann, the keeper of the Wackos flame!
Marvel Smart Ass 
Oh Marvel. I lean DC these days and I get a lot of flack for it, but I grew up with Marvel. Oddly, people think the current preference for DC means I don’t love Marvel anymore. 😦
Whyzzit gotta be mutually exclusive?!!?
It isn’t mutually exclusive. I was reading more DC a few years ago, but once they raped Sue Dibney, burned her and now turned her into a murderous zombie … the happy-go-lucky comics I loved seemed a little too sinister.
But, the Marvel/DC fued does not make sense among fans. Good comics are good comics. And, they deserve to be read. I feel the same way about people who won’t stray outside the Big Two. Ridiculous. It’s like folks who feel to be a Republican, you must be 180 degrees off from a Demorat policy no matter what and vice versa.
You know, I liked Identity Crisis. I liked that DC finally broke from sticking only to the lighter side of comics. I liked that Brad Meltzer wrote a story so shocking that people starting giving a big giant crap about The Dibnys again. Granted, seeing yet ANOTHER female get completely mowed down in a comic book was pretty damned annoying, but it was a good story, with greater implications for the DCU in general. It’s been interesting to watch the lighter half of superhero comics get dark.
Here’s the thing about the Black Lanterns: they’re not zombies. I’m honestly getting a little sick of the term being thrown around. Blackest Night (so far) is a pretty great story about death and resurrection in comics. The BLs aren’t just mindless brain eaters, they’ve got the memories of their lives intact, they can think critically, they target specific victims – granted, Blackest Night is a horror story and it draws a lot on the zombie concept, but there’s a layer of metaphor over the whole thing that makes it interesting to me.
I don’t think DC’s better than Marvel. I read a great comparison somewhere that likened DC’s characters to Greco-Roman myths and Marvel’s characters to Norse mythology and opera. I honestly think the two companies are like apples and oranges. I like Marvel for entirely different reasons than I like DC, I just happen to be on a DC kick this year.
LOVED the WCA Limited Series.., had some SUPER potential, but never got into the regular series with Milgrom art (HATED it..). Nice improvement with Byrne, but still didn’t keep my interest all that well. I always liked ol’ Hank, but like most, hated the whole ‘meltdown’ storyline, and wished he went back to Goliath or better yet, YJ. I did manage to like some of the East/West Coast team ups.
David B.
David,
Nice to hear from you. I, too, loved (and love) all things W.C.A. — including the Milgrom art. In fact, if you read more on the blog, you’ll realize I’m a bit of a Milgrom/Sinnott super fan!
Drop by again, soon!
MSA