Hello February, My Old Friend
February is a funny little month. It’s short, cold, and yet somehow, it’s longer than January every single time. With the holidays behind us and the spring but a rumor, all we can do to pass the time is cozy up with some good books!
And while the ones I’ll yap about today won’t really arrive until February is long gone, the promise of the gentle thud of these tomes landing on your desk (or your lap) can keep you going through this month.
I don’t know what it is about this period (or maybe part of my life?), but I have been very into the oldies recently. Somehow, the modern comics started losing attraction to me, and I’ve been delving into some 70s and 80s material and enjoying it thoroughly.
And would you look at that – that’s exactly the type of books on FOC this week! So, let’s open this time capsule (sorry if that made you feel ancient) and dive in!
Captain America Omnibus Vol. 5
There are many different eras of Captain America, and this one was quite a turbulent time. Volume 4 closed the door on Jack Kirby’s time with the character, and let a carousel of different artists and writers sharpen their quills on the Captain.
There are stories by creators like Donald F. Glut, Roger McKenzie, Roy Thomas and the recently departed Sal Buscema, who returned to the title after his seminal run on the character with Steve Englehart.
This book also collects the short stint by Roger Stern and John Byrne from 1980 and 1981 – a run that is often placed alongside the legendary runs like Mark Waid’s and Mark Gruenwald’s. In their story, Steve is offered the position of the president of the United States – a story that is still relevant today.
The book is a treasury of stories about what it means to fight adversity and still remain earnest and principled, and even question what it means to wear the red, white and blue. And of course, smacking some Red Skull. It’s bold, imaginative, sometimes unhinged and endlessly entertaining.
Suicide Squad by John Ostrander Omnibus Vol. 2
There are only a couple of things that always keep piling up in my life – my age (even though I keep being 29 years old somehow), the number of books I can fit on the shelf, and the number of bodies dropping dead in Ostrander’s Suicide Squad.
It was John Ostrander who redefined the team when he started writing the book. But that’s not all – he created a new way for “superhero” teams to function – if this one can be called that. In this middle volume of his run, he pushed Task Force X even deeper into the gray area.
In these stories, Amanda Waller keeps pushing her team of misfits and creating a barrel of dynamite ready to explode. Bodies are not the only things piling up – tensions and betrayals galore await as well. You don’t question if something will go wrong – you question how badly it will affect the characters you’ve grown to love.
And below all of this, the thing that makes the run so compelling and enduring is just how human it all feels. These once-criminals and supervillains are still (mostly) human characters, deeply flawed yet on the path to redemption (again – for the most part). The book is political and brutal, but also surprisingly plays with your heartstrings.
Conan the Barbarian: The Original Comics Omnibus Vol. 7
By Crom, this one is a beast!
Before he would reshape Black Panther in the late 90s, Christopher J. Priest was an editor and writer for Conan the Barbarian in the 80s – and similarly to the prior hero, he brought stuff into the Marvel Conan mythos that remain to this day.
The seventh (SEVENTH!) omnibus collecting Conan stories contains the first half of Priest’s run on the characters. One of the most memorable things he did was to surround the Cimmerian with a memorable cast of supporting characters, like the haunted Tetra and Captain Delmuro.
The true start of the run, though? It cannot be anyone else other than The Devourer of Souls, one of the greatest villains Conan has ever faced – and who remains an integral part of the stories to this day. The stories you will find in this book are bloody, brutal, moody and borderline mythic in scale.
If you are a fan of sword-and-sorcery stories, this is the book for you.
Vintage Hits
There are two more books I wanted to quickly yell at you about. While they might not be the “traditional” thing I showcase here, I think they’re still fun and worth checking out.
The Demon by Jack Kirby: Absolute Edition
I love me some good Etrigan stories. And while some might hate on this book due to the fact that Fourth World got cancelled so Jack Kirby could work on it, it’s still a true treasure. It’s Kirby’s art at a huge scale, and one of Kirby’s most fascinating creations – a rhyming demon, horror superhero with an Arthurian curse. What’s not to love?!
ThunderCats: Classic Years Collection Omnibus
Thunder… Thunder… Thunder… THUNDERCATS, HOOOOOO! Are you even surprised that Marvel had a comic series to run alongside the cartoon back in ’85? Of course not! But when you hear the names that worked on the book, you will consider getting this and checking it out: David Michelinie, Gerry Conway, Tom DeFalco (did Spider-Man ever cross over with Thundercats?). This book collects the whole 24-issue run, hardcover and remastered!
All Books on FOC…
...can be found here! Wednesday is the official deadline for low pre-order prices (but we never change prices before Friday... shhhh it's a secret!)
See you,
Petar