I vividly remember first seeing Liefeld's Hawk & Dove work on the spinner rack at the grocery store where I got my monthly fix. Though I couldn't explain why (even now) there was something in his early art that really entranced me. I just couldn't recall seeing anything else like it.
Owing to limited means, I never let my self peek inside the book. I was pretty committed Marvel-only guy at the time. I was initially excited when he moved over to New Mutants/X-Force...but the gild fell off that rose pretty quickly as the whole too many pouches, no feet, everyone with giant guns, etc. tropes started to proliferate.
I was always ticked that New Format books were direct to comic stores, though. My local small town drug store couldn’t get them, so after reading Checkmate’s debut in Action, I couldn’t read the main Checkmate series until years later hunting back issues. I eventually got a pull file at a comic store in the city, but that was over a year after this. The good old days!
Messner-Loebs was an acquired taste when I first read his Flash issues, but I now look back with fondness on them. He really made Wally click and made him into a rounded character. I like to think Wally’s characterization today still resonates from Messner-Loeb’s work back then.
Hawk & Dove…. Man, Kesel makes anyone look good. His inks are that good. This mini-series blew me away back in 88. Kestrel was an amazing villain and the mystery about Hawk’s new partner was very well handled, as you said. DC definitely had blinders on with those early Image creators. I always thought there were 2 big conflicts DC was building to that never really happened back then: one was US vs Russia, and the other was an Order/Chaos War. So much was built up around Order and Chaos both in Hawk & Dove and other series (like Suicide Squad) that it was disappointing we never saw a massive payoff with it.
Detective was of course awesome. Grant and Breyfogle were lightning in a bottle.
I think Messner-Loebs isn't perfect, but he saved Wally. Baron's run is a mess and served only to make Wally seem like a real a-hole. Messner-Loebs doesn't drop his sense of self-importance, but does start to shape Wally into the hero that most people agree is the best of the heroes that wore the costume of The Flash.
The dumping of the Order and Chaos War still feels strange to me after so much is built around it for a couple of years by multiple writers. I used to think it was mostly a DeMatteis creation, but the Kesels and Paul Kupperberg have done far more with it than he has.
I think for a lot of people in the UK, it wasn't really a secret. Thatcher was at best a borderline fascist. With two Brits on the writing, I think it was easy for them to make the point, even though I'm still a bit surprised DC let them, even from the mouth of a villain.
I vividly remember first seeing Liefeld's Hawk & Dove work on the spinner rack at the grocery store where I got my monthly fix. Though I couldn't explain why (even now) there was something in his early art that really entranced me. I just couldn't recall seeing anything else like it.
Owing to limited means, I never let my self peek inside the book. I was pretty committed Marvel-only guy at the time. I was initially excited when he moved over to New Mutants/X-Force...but the gild fell off that rose pretty quickly as the whole too many pouches, no feet, everyone with giant guns, etc. tropes started to proliferate.
I was always ticked that New Format books were direct to comic stores, though. My local small town drug store couldn’t get them, so after reading Checkmate’s debut in Action, I couldn’t read the main Checkmate series until years later hunting back issues. I eventually got a pull file at a comic store in the city, but that was over a year after this. The good old days!
I was still a few years from any kind of regular comic shop purchases at this point, so they were all great mysteries to me as a newsstand buyer.
Messner-Loebs was an acquired taste when I first read his Flash issues, but I now look back with fondness on them. He really made Wally click and made him into a rounded character. I like to think Wally’s characterization today still resonates from Messner-Loeb’s work back then.
Hawk & Dove…. Man, Kesel makes anyone look good. His inks are that good. This mini-series blew me away back in 88. Kestrel was an amazing villain and the mystery about Hawk’s new partner was very well handled, as you said. DC definitely had blinders on with those early Image creators. I always thought there were 2 big conflicts DC was building to that never really happened back then: one was US vs Russia, and the other was an Order/Chaos War. So much was built up around Order and Chaos both in Hawk & Dove and other series (like Suicide Squad) that it was disappointing we never saw a massive payoff with it.
Detective was of course awesome. Grant and Breyfogle were lightning in a bottle.
Agreed, this was a great week to be a DC reader!
I think Messner-Loebs isn't perfect, but he saved Wally. Baron's run is a mess and served only to make Wally seem like a real a-hole. Messner-Loebs doesn't drop his sense of self-importance, but does start to shape Wally into the hero that most people agree is the best of the heroes that wore the costume of The Flash.
The dumping of the Order and Chaos War still feels strange to me after so much is built around it for a couple of years by multiple writers. I used to think it was mostly a DeMatteis creation, but the Kesels and Paul Kupperberg have done far more with it than he has.
"see the United States and the United Kingdom as the rest of the world does, as oppressors to their nations’ freedom..."
It's easier to do that now than it was in the 1980s. The aftermath of 9/11 opened many peoples' eyes to that (including mine).
I think for a lot of people in the UK, it wasn't really a secret. Thatcher was at best a borderline fascist. With two Brits on the writing, I think it was easy for them to make the point, even though I'm still a bit surprised DC let them, even from the mouth of a villain.