Monday, April 12, 2021

QBP #166 - The Comet #1 & The Web #2

 Quarter-Bin Podcast #166

The Comet #1 & The Web #2, !Mpact Comics, cover-dated July 1991 & October 1991, respectively.

"First Flight," by Mark Waid & Tom Lyle.

"Within the Web." by Len Strazewksi, with art by Tom Artis and Bill Wray.

What does Professor Alan make of his first experience with the !mpact Comics Line? Were these hero origin stories up to the standards he has come to expect? Or do they fall short? Or is it a split decision?

Listen to the episode and find out!

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Promo: The Huntress Podcast

Next Episode: The Jaguar Annual #1, Impact Comics, cover-dated July 1992.

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Source: Half Price Books

4 comments:

  1. Excellent Monday Morning commute listening.

    I have never bought an Impact Comic even though I have seen them often in the cheap bins. I wondered if this was also a sort of Triple A baseball line for up and coming talent. Remind me, how early was this in Mark Waid's career?

    As for the Web #2, I find this to be a common problem with second issues of new comics. First issues are often titillation - a lot action, a little mystery, maybe some/all of the origin. That is the bait.

    But second issues are often what I call 'infrastructure issues'. Like the creators are like 'we have shown you the great view and floor layout, now let's go into the basement to show you the heating system and septic tank'. They have to give you the foundation for the world they are presenting. And this is often done through exposition. I think the hope is they highs of first issues leak through the second to make you buy the third. I wonder what The Comet #2 is like, for example.

    Just some early morning thoughts.

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  2. Oops, one more.

    I knew Applejack from My Little Pony was 'rough and tumble'. But I never thought she'd be a century-old serial killer!

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  3. Thanks for a show of shows, ! loved this look back at !mpact Comics. !t was especially interesting to hear the business thinking behind the projects and the other characters who were considered. ! knew DC were after an entry-level bunch of books but didn’t realise they were going for the tween market. Given this, the Comet is surprisingly wordy and aspirational - ! wouldn’t have wanted to think about the adult world at ten, or having a hot girlfriend and a job - just give me punching and zapping and aliens and convoluted Mort Weisingerness.

    ! bought all the books, right through Crucible, and didn’t find them pitched at a lower age range than the regular DC books, particularly - is there really much difference between Waid and Lyle’s Starman and Stern and Lyle’s Comet?

    Oh, hang on...

    ! did like the Comet, bar that horrible helmet that looked like a squashed Black Manta. Mind, how can you fear a serial killer when all you have in your head is Dolly Parton singing the delightful Applejack? !’d forgotten the Little Pony of the same name (thanks Anj), but given how foul Hasbro were to deal with when ! was editing MLP comics, it’s no wonder.

    A few of the books were great fun, such as Jaguar and Black Hood - but not The W.E.B. ! never found that interesting and wasn’t a fan of Tom Artis’ work, though it was fine elsewhere. And don’t worry, you didn’t miss a great first issue, it was just more suits and that ginger beardy fella running around.

    Thanks for your thoughts on Tarzan and Stockholm syndrome – mind, with the fantastic classical music you give us, perhaps it could be Stockhausen syndrome?

    Sorry. !’m here all week. Or maybe, ‘weak’.

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    Replies
    1. Delightful comments, as always, Mart. Glad to hear that we are on the same wavelength regarding The WEB.

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