Johns Aquaman is superior in all ways. Abnett does not come even close. New52 Aquaman is the best Aquaman ever in history, before and afterwards. Only Jeff Parker came close. Before Johns, Aquaman was considered finished by DC, he had to fight to be given the book and was told it was a waste of time. His run served as the basis of a billion plus Box office, no other run in DC achieved that. If Aquaman is still around is owed to Johns run. Abnett started out well but soon the fun fizzled out with a boring, contradictory and full of rehash storylines. At the end Abnett leaves a book in a dead end and never even coming close to deliver the promise with which Rebirth Aquaman starts out. Abnett had very low sales. When his run ended the remaining readership saw it as a liberation. Only to find out that the new writer was even worse.
Lord, I absolutely despised Morrison's work when it was getting released... but I even dislike them more now. Detective Comics at the time was light years ahead of what Morrison was released as Dini was largely involved with those years. I can acknowledge what Morrison did... but it wasn't good.
Mark Bagley is amazing! But too many ppl keep skipping other great artists for him. And it's always because of his Ultimate run. It's good, but his 90s run is better. With Romita Jr, it's a really cool style, but it just doesn't say Spiderman to me. Ryan Motley Humberto Ramos Scott Campbell Paolo Rivera Arthur Adams. These either get looked over or even hated. But I think they each bring something unique to the wall crawler !
Personally, I dislike Jones' art, especially his Batman. The anatomy is way too distorted for my tastes. You can make Batman weird and creepy without stretching out his limbs to an inhuman degree. I do wish you had included Marshall Rogers, though. Not only is his version of the character sharp and distinctive, it was also a major influence on an artist who would break into the industry a few years later: Todd McFarlane.
Editorial wanted to market 50 as real wedding, Tom never wanted to. That was his biggest regret. Tom never wanted to kill Alfred for real, that was also editorial.
As far as the recall goes, Mattel offered mire rubberized wings for the car, you just had to request them from Mattel. Judging by the warping on yours, I'm guessing your parents did that.
Scott Snyder’s run was the first Batman run I ever truly read and understood as a younger adult. When Tom King came and took over it didn’t have the same flare that the previous run did. King had a lot to live up to so I don’t blame him. I’m excited to pick up Vol 1 of CZs new run
Two very different styles and deliveries. I'll say that I'm super pissed that while Green Arrow was getting not only some of the best comics he's ever had, and one of the best books DC was publishing at the time with Lemire and Sorrentino's run, everyone was far too invested in the other company's archer which had a stolen art style. Lemire basically Blackest Nighted Green Arrow in his run, doing a lot of backstory, filling in history, and massively expanding the world building with the various clans and totem weapons, not all of which were brand new (like Katana's Soultaker being the totem weapon of the sword clan). LOVED Sorrentino's work with partial black and white panels. We all know that encounter with Vertigo yielded some of the best art of the year! The one thing that really lacked in Lemire's run was that GA and Canary weren't a couple, but that's more so DC's fault, not Lemire's. Like Abnett on Aquaman, Percy was another peculiar case of a writer writing the character weak toward the end of the New 52 and giving us fantastic work with Rebirth onward. Rebirth not only lived up to the line title by bringing back together one of DC's greatest romantic couples, but it also brought back some of GA's politics (which I don't agree with), but it was also done in the right way and not at all like most of the industry's propaganda books. The storytelling was great, loved this new mega bank villain circle, the clash with Merlyn, and I was immediately won over with Otto Shmidt's art!
Now we're talking! Die hard Aquaman fan for life, and I think we can say that these two are inarguably the two greatest Aquaman runs ever! Never understood New 52 haters being that way when it gave us so much good, and probably no one gained more for it than Aquaman. Judging from pre New 52 to new #1 issue, Aquaman probably had the best. Johns did so much for him! Talking about the elephant in the room right in issue 1, making the first major crossover of the line Aquaman centric, finally giving Black Manta a decent origin story, making the best version of Ocean Master, writing the ultimate Aquaman story that's been adapted now twice! And this was also with god tier artist Ivan Reis, one of the best in the world giving us the definitive design. Pelletier also did great work. Thank God Abnett was allowed to carry over from the end of the New 52 (where Aquaman comics were pretty weak), because EVERYTHING that came after starting with Spindrift was just pure gold. Johns might have written a great Manta origin story, and gave us The Others (which I love to death), but it was Abnett who expanded Manta beyond simply being "that guy that Aquaman fights", and elevating him to an "alpha level threat". Also take into account the incredible expansion of Aquaman's rogues gallery from 2011 onward: the best Ocean Master (by far!), Chimera a.k.a. Creature King (who I'm dying to see again), Rath and the Abyssal Dark, the Aquamarines, Dead Water, the Dead King Atlan. I mean let's be honest, Queequeg and Iceberg Head weren't cutting it! lol The more complex use of Vulko in Throne of Atlantis, and the use of King Shark in Underworld was genius! The New 52 made Arthur a badass, radically elevated Mera to being far more than just Aquaman's wife. I mean, go watch the introductory Aquaman episodes of JL and read Aquaman from New 52 onwards. That's the level of change for Mera! I've gone on too long. Point is, Aquaman from 2011 onward did more for the character than 1941 to 2010! Fact.
Another Aquafan for life here too. We Aquafans owe Geoff Johns so much, he took this character unjustly ridiculed and with his epic New52 Aquaman in 25 issues he gave us the best Aquaman and Mera ever. He changed the general perception towards Aquaman and his run was instrumental for Aquaman being included in the DCEU. It was also the basis of the only DCEU movie that had a billion plus box office, Johns himself wrote the story. After Johns, Jeff Parker deserves credit for the best run. Unfortunately his run too was cut short. I don't agree on Abnett however, he did start very well in Rebirth but after the first 10 issues he started to lose the plot. His run was a never ending Corum Rath arc which after all those months of built up ends so flatly in a no remarkable manner. Abnett's Aquaman never felt like Johns. Abnett's Aquaman never won, he was again a loser. His run was basically the opposite of Johns, keeping Mera and Arthur apart with unneeded drama through the widowhood, crown of thrones and she becoming Queen. The later a total contradiction, he had some 24 issues telling us how much Mera hated Atlanteans and she accepts to be their Queen in half a page. Abnett rehashed the storyline of Arthur losing the throne, which has been done and re-done again. He also wasted also the Mera solo with a pretty forgettable story. Abnett's run had mediocre sales at the end. He left a book in a dead end, which was handed to Deconnick who made a bigger mess to untangle it. Despite this I agree that since 2011 Aquaman has moved forwarded but Abnett And Deconnick afterwards brought that to an end. He is currently back to what he was before Johns, unsellable. But with no Johns on the horizon.
@@chrisgrech7992 I think the only mistake (from a sales perspective) DC made was putting DeConnick on the book. No matter where people find themselves with their personal or political beliefs, the simple fact is is that DeConnick has driven away fans after that interview about "don't like my politics, don't buy my book" with a smug look on her face. If these companies weren't so infested with ideologues, they'd have fired her over lack of sales forever ago! And despite me saying this, I still really loved her run. Believe me, I tried to find in any way how her run was woke garbage, and I can't find one. Perhaps the only thing is Aquaman and Mera having a daughter instead of a son. It's a blatantly common trope in fiction now. Everyone has daughters, not sons anymore, so that when these A list characters become public domain, all these woke companies will have left are strong independent wahmen. But, even Andy being a girl is only mentioned in passing in one panel, and it's not even made a big deal of. I kinda feel bad for Aquaman as a character and the title, because if more people had been willing to give DeConnick's run a chance, they might have found a VERY different story that really carved the marble more specifically and added a lot of lore. For someone who said that she fully intended to use comics as a platform to preach her politics, she failed spectacularly with Aquaman. Due to my personal sensibilities, I do wish modern writers would allow characters to get married BEFORE having a kid. Can't expect anyone to have any respect for the sanctity of marriage in a society that's ditched God and Godly values. A shame for DC's first married couple.
It wasn't because of what she said "If you don't like my politics don't buy my comics" - She said long before she was on Aquaman. At the start of her run she had pretty much the same sales of Abnett if not slightly above. But the never ending amnesiac arc started to get readers nervous. She ruined everything with that stupid killing of Arthur by Mera. The book never recovered, The big drop in sales, following that issue, shows what damage it inflicted. KSD also had some weird ideas - she said that Mera was overshadowing Arthur, therefore she would be sidelined, first with amnesiac arc secondly with her being in a coma. Johns remade Aquaman comic into a book about Arthur and Mera, front and centre. It worked. She decided to change that and it flopped. In some interview she said that Tom Curry was abusive on Arthur. Also she brought back that Arthur has some traumatic childhood experience. Parker dealt with his mother leaving him, he knew why and even met Atlanna. She ignored that. Fans gave up and started dropping the book in numbers. Ironically The third part of her run had what Aquafans had been wanting for years the birth of a new Aquababy and the AquaWedding. However the bad decisions she took had made fans leave, it was too late to save the book. The most idiotic of her ideas was abolishing the monarchy because it was not an "American thing". This is fantasy, not real life. To her credit she does leave a book that could take any direction, unlike the one she took over from Abnett. However the manner in which she achieved that, killed any chances of the book's survival. Fans had no issues with Andy being a girl not a boy, many found it refreshing. After all Andy's mother is a superhero in her own right. KSD took hint from a fan's suggestion that Andy's hair should be red. As originally it was to be blonde. Regarding Values etc, comics are read by everyone, to reach a balance that accommodates all is impossible.
Was about to say!...... I don't think that any artist in history ever quite captured the mood or atmosphere of Gotham and Batman in a visual manner better than Kelley Jones. I'm a little biased because my first comic ever was Batman #522 (Swamp Things). Loved the Moench/Jones hardcovers. Was super nostalgic for me. I feel Jones's art quality has either dramatically dropped over the years OR DC just didn't give him appropriate amounts of time to draw in recent years. His recent work just doesn't really compare to his 90s Batman run with Moench. Loved the Batman: Endgame tie in that he drew where one person presented Joker as possibly being a demon from Hell that takes the form of the "Joker" to torment Batman. Explains why he always seems to come back. And while I'm on it, I love the way Moench wrote Batman's inner thoughts.
Ok. 1/3 of this list is lousy. Some folks that should've been on the list is Andy Kubert, Joe Maduriera & the artist on the first run of spiderman 2099. Aside from that, Bagley is the reason I loved USM so much and read it until clone saga finished and his departure from the series is the reason I stopped reading the comic. Immonin is a lousy Spiderman artist and especially at the time of the comic book his style came across as too stiff & rigid. Dude could draw skinny folks to save his life. It was hideous to look at. I couldn't stand it. Only started reading it when Bagley came back. It was briefly for obvious reasons, but a good read none the less.
ben never killed that guy the dude had a gun to his head matt hit him in the leg and he tripped and fell down into the train tracks and just didnt save him, if anything it was self defense, no one complains or say batman killed ras algul in begins
Bendis isn’t in the same league as the Jurgens, Tomasi, and Gleason runs. He made me drop the title for the first time in my life, and I’d been reading since 1992.
Tom Kings Batman is amazing…yes the wedding pissed me off! But the cold days Story arc after issue 50 was great!… Tynion did better on Detective comics! But his fear state was pretty good! But I’m also being biased cuz I love me some scarecrow
Soule Waids run was so overrated. Narratively it made sebse but for the most it just seemed like it was silver age for the sake of it and felt like an average superhero comic.
Snyder all the why... Reading Morrison makes me feel I am back in university for God sake... Snyder gives great stories, funny, sad, but always easy to understand and accessible... Oh! And metal and death metal over anything morrison... It's a comic book not a symposium on existential crisis
Love it! Parts of Grayson still confuse me as I am not as familiar with Midnighter and other characters that pop up throughout the run, but I still enjoyed Dick's turn as a super spy. It was a fun twist that spun out the brutal beating he took in Forever Evil. I have not read Lobdell's and Jurgen's run on Nightwing, but after hearing what you had to say as well as watching another great comic RU-vidr (Infinity Comics) discuss at length his hatred for the that run, I think I will pass. Great content as always! Bring on Higgins v Seeley Nightwing run! The former is one of my favorite runs on the character and I am reading through the latter currently!
I love Batman of all styles and ear lengths but it does seem the longer the ears the more unusual/gothic and nightmarish the art tends to be which I think is great. Whenever the art style is creepy or gothic I always like to think its how people in the story think they see Batman - a slightly distorted augmented by fear version if that makes sense. Just my take
Excellent list. Justice is one of my favorite DC stories. I've got the first omnibus for Dennis O'neil's Question, and i cant wait to read it! One underrated stories I'd throw in the conversation is Identity Crisis, such a fantastic read!
Not a fan of either of them. Hate Damien Wayne. Morrison stuff eas weird. Red Hood stuff was cool. Not a fan of Snyder Court of Owls. They are boring as hell. . Morrison is so weird
Hickman's new status quo was well driven but I didn't like the way it went ethically. Bendis had no clear direction, but he had some good ideas and his characters were way more interesting, which is a major point for me. So for me I had a better time with Bendis's run.
I tried reading soooo many Superman stories and people say “he’s not actually some OP guy and nobody stands a chance.” But then that’s exactly what happens in every story I read unless he lost his powers or the enemy had kyptonite, I read this tomasi run after liking his green lantern stuff better than Geoff Johns and wasn’t expecting much, but wow, after a few issues of the TPB I put it down and bought the omnibus, incredible run. Gleason is one of my favorite artists too, such a unique style, don’t know if I got their names right, but you get the idea hehehe
Both did bad with clone stuff. Peter should have stayed dead. Miles was a better replacement. Doc Octopus was annonying. A guy who needed to stay bad.Big idea Slott did fall flat. Aunt May should die. She is okd and not needed. Bendis did better. Real world issues take over comics now like crazy. A lot of lberal stuff now. Woke. That is life. 😮
Bendis run was eh. Kept the old original from the past too long. Cyclops was a jerk and dark. Hickman run is hot. They are dictators. Moria is a mutant. Apocalypse is good. Destiny should be dead. Why is she so powerful. Tells the future. X-Men cannot die. Villains are boring. Not a fan of either of these runs. Other books are eh. A lot of people have been turned off by X-Men and left. Not a fan of Hickman. Stronger then Bendis. Too many timeline stuff but done better. Beast is evil. Art for Hickman is always good
Not a fan of Lemire stuff in general but he nailed it. Darker and serious. Shorter and got the point. Not many other people in his group appear but iwaa a clan war. Art was very good. Percy stuff was cool but had strong points and weaker arcs. It was longer. More fun and he brought in Canary. And others Got clogged up
I have this in two different colors still sealed in their boxes. If I remember correctly from 20 years ago I sent out for a couple of pieces from Mattel that you put on the pointed fins for protection.
Hey Comikid just found this Channel while searching for videos about Zdarsky’s Spectacular Spider-man. Great Video! I’ll subscribe and watch your other ones 👍
I agree theirs a great variety of face sculpts but that S is kinda a deal breaker because it makes or breaks what was an almost perfect rendition of superman fall flat plus I'd be worried about the S cracking and flaking later on.
What company is the Batman figure from so I can figure out what it scales with? I have mafex and DC films premium. Not sure if Mezco one:12 would work better though ??🤔
@@theharbinger00 I'm not sure if they offer one at a smaller scale. They might though. However, Mattel made one for 6 in. figures as well. I think they only made a justice league version with the big gun on top, but if you like that version, it is an option as well.
@@comikid9794 thanks for the reply. I looked on RU-vid and there were some other batmobile jazzinc reviews for smaller scale with links so I think those at the 1/12 size will fit my mafex or mezco
