Comments on: Comics Should Be Good Top 50 Countdown! - #20

By: Philip Ayres

Philip Ayres — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:11:29 +0000

I read the Gerber run for the first time recently in Essential Defenders 2 & 3. You need to own them, the run is superb.

By: Jbird

Jbird — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 08:22:42 +0000

I'd just have gone with Swamp Thing #20. Because this article has convinced me to read Moore's Swamp Thing and not the Defenders save the Thing or whatever.

By: Skemono

Skemono — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 03:17:07 +0000

Am I a bad comics fan for liking the initial Englehart issues more than Gerberâ€™s run?
No, just a bad person.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:11:28 +0000

What is the definition of a â€˜Non Teamâ€™ anyway? i never understood that term.

Yeah, Random Stranger basically nailed it - it's just a group of heroes who hang out with each other and occasionally get caught up in some superhero-type behavior.

By: buttler

buttler — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:03:43 +0000

You can't really blame them -- Wong makes the best buffalo wings.

By: Random Stranger

Random Stranger — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:19:39 +0000

"What is the definition of a â€˜Non Teamâ€™ anyway? i never understood that term."

They showed up, hung around Dr. Strange's place mooching off his food but never actually had a team charter. The team was whoever showed up that day.

By: danjack

danjack — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:27:06 +0000

What is the definition of a 'Non Team' anyway? i never understood that term.

By: buttler

buttler — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:47:53 +0000

Sorry, DanCJ, but if Space Cabbie doesn't pull #21, I call shenanigans.

By: buttler

buttler — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:23:38 +0000

Much as I love the Champions, I'd have to say they weren't a "non-team" so much as a team that didn't make a lick of sense. Even if that weren't the case, I'd have to go with the Defenders.

By: Jeff R.

Jeff R. — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:59:14 +0000

Showcase #20 is the first appearance of Rip Hunter, Time Master.

Puma Blues #20 was the special benefit issue, containing quite a few extremely rare shorts by top creators of the time.

New Teen Titans (v1) #20 was 'Dear Mom and Dad', one of the most notable stories of that run.

By: DanCJ

DanCJ — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:55:10 +0000

Good call not choosing Swamp Thing - but only if Swamp Thing gets the #21 entry!

By: Richard J. Marcej

Richard J. Marcej — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:43:39 +0000

Nice choice!

I read the originals when they first came out but recently just read the first few Defenders Essentials and yeah, I'd agree, those Gerber issues do feel like one long graphic novel story.

By: David M

David M — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:47:40 +0000

Loves me some Valkyrie cone-bra action! How come no one uses her in the 616 universe? Seems like someone Bendis would have fun with...

Also: Which is the better "non-team" -- Champions or Defenders?

By: Matt D

Matt D — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:55:28 +0000

Am I a bad comics fan for liking the initial Englehart issues more than Gerber's run?

By: Matt Beahan

Matt Beahan — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:50:22 +0000

That was the first issue of Defenders that I read; it made me a lifelong fan. I loved how Gerber would slip in the occasional page of just text - it was hard reading as a kid, but it just made me all the more determined to immerse myself in that world.

By: Jeff Ryan

Jeff Ryan — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:45:14 +0000

Quasar #20 featuring Quasar battling it our with Defenders villain the Presence, an evil Soviet scientist who gained radioactive powers but lost his sanity -- ah, gotta love the Cold War villains! Anyway, Quaze defeats Presence (okay, wtih the help of the Fantastic Four), and thinks that Presence was the enemy-from-space he'd been spending the last two years looking for. Which, um, it wasn't.

By: Phil Maurice

Phil Maurice — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:35:51 +0000

The Crypt of Terror was retitled Tales from the Crypt with issue #20 to become what was probably THE signature horror comic of the 50's. Hey, who says it has to be all about the tights?

By: buttler

buttler — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:18:53 +0000

Ooo. When I looked at the cover, I was like "Wuhuh? I don't remember this at all, and I read that series pretty faithfully." But Steve Gerber, even lesser Gerber, is awesome, so I'll take it -- especially seeing as how Howard's debut in Fear was robbed at 19. A few notable (if not terribly high-profile) debuts: Rip Hunter, Time Master in Showcase; Space Cabbie in Mystery in Space; and Ma Hunkel donning the bucket as the original Red Tornado in All-American.