Phantom at the Window: Frew #1623

What's going on with that kid's hand?

Well it's been a while since we've seen the Phantom stalking people, so let's talk about Frew #1623, and maybe add a few more images to our already legendary collage.

Maybe? Son we found *seven* new images!

Frew #1673 is Frew's 2012 Annual Special. The Annual Specials are a tradition that's been going since 1991, and this is the 21st Annual Special ever. These books are enormous -- 250-300 page comic books. The equivalent of a trade paperback, and a large one, released to news agents as a regular comic book for $11. It's frickin' awesome.

And this is my first one since getting back into Phantom last year, so I'm totally chuffed to get Frew #1623. So why don't we take a little look at it together?

Who Watches the Nightwatch Part 3: Crossoverkill

Hey, remember those new-character 1993 annuals I was talking about in our last installment?  Well, Web of Spider-Man had one, too, introducing not one, not two, but three new characters!  Vortex, Dementia, and Shard are...the Cadre!  Who?  Yeah, pretty much.  Forget about them, they suck.  Marvel annuals of the late '80s and early '90s were jam-packed with backup stories, and this one is no different.  One of those just happens to be another Nightwatch story, written by Terry Kavanagh with art by Mark Powers and Hector Collazo.

And then...OBSCURITY!

Avengers #90 And the Stream of Consciousness.

Spoiler: This cover references
the LAST PAGE of the comic!

Avengers #90 is a Silver Age Super Hero comic. In fact it's probably one of the most Silver Age Super Hero comics I've ever read. A lot of people try and describe what makes a Silver Age comic. They usually use words like "Goofy" or "Silly" or even "Unrealistic", and I think that's missing the point, really.

Silver Age Super Hero comics had a certain style of writing to them which for various reasons is very stream-of-consciousness. Reading a lot of old DC and Marvel comics is like reading an Axe Cop story. Things flow from one idea to the next without even a sign of how the ideas connected in the writer's mind. Things travel from point to point at breakneck speed, and if you don't keep up you'll be completely freaking lost.

This can be the most glorious thing ever, or it can be horrible.

So, before we talk more about the origins of this writing style, and the differences between Marvel and DC let's take a little looksee at Avengers #90.

Project: Every Fantastic Four Appearance Ever.

Best Superhero team ever?
Yes.

So I have a little project going and I need your help. My goal is simple. I want to collect every single appearance of the Fantastic Four (616 version) ever printed, and read them all in order, and hopefully review every single one of them.

Big task, right? Well I love the Fantastic Four! So... I've started this project by assembling a list. You can look at the list document here:

It's a Docx file.

Here's the problem though... The list is probably incomplete! You might notice it only goes up to 2009, that's because that's when I actually started this project.

So I guess I need to tell you the rules for how I'm doing this.

Advertainment: Big Jim's P.A.C.K.

Look out, G.I. Joe! Mattel's BIG JIM is here with his Political Action Committee to legislate you into oblivion!

Big Jim is an incredible killjoy.

Oh. That's P.A.C.K., not P.A.C. Well, shoot, there go our riveting tales of campaign finance reform. I'm sure Dr. Steel would have raised some compelling points. (On the other hand... man, that is totally Jack Kirby artwork, isn't it?)

I have no idea what I scanned this out of anymore, unfortunately. I guess I should have kept better track of that, but I only own so many vintage 1975 comics...