Category Archives: Jason Shayer
Tales from the Longbox – Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man #64 (1982)
Every other week, Jason Shayer will highlight an issue or a run of issues pulled from the horde of comic book long boxes that occupy more room in his house than his wife can tolerate. Each of these reviews will delve into what made that issue or run significant as well as discuss the creative personalities behind the work. “Long Box” refers to the lengthy, white cardboard boxes most comics find themselves stored within – bagged, alphabetized and numerically ordered.
Peter Parker The Spectacular Spider-Man #64
“Cloak & Dagger!”
March 1982
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Penciler: Ed Hannigan
Inker: Al Milgrom
The origin of vigilantes Cloak and Dagger didn’t involve cosmic rays, radioactive spiders or cosmic rays or gamma bombs. Their origin reflected the brutal reality of the drug trade. Their first appearance and origin was in the pages of Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man #64.
Like this:
Tales from the Longbox – The Amazing Spider-Man #238 (1983)
Every other week, Jason Shayer will highlight an issue or a run of issues pulled from the horde of comic book long boxes that occupy more room in his house than his wife can tolerate. Each of these reviews will delve into what made that issue or run significant as well as discuss the creative personalities behind the work. “Long Box” refers to the lengthy, white cardboard boxes most comics find themselves stored within – bagged, alphabetized and numerically ordered.
Amazing Spider-Man #238 (March 1983)
Writer: Roger Stern
Artists: John Romita Jr./John Romita Sr.
In retrospect, Amazing Spider-Man #238 was the most important issue of Spider-Man of the 1980s. At the time though, no one was expecting the birth of a new supervillain who would plague Spider-Man for years to come.
Tales from the Longbox – Fantastic Four #232 (1981)
Every other week, Jason Shayer will highlight an issue or a run of issues pulled from the horde of comic book long boxes that occupy more room in his house than his wife can tolerate. Each of these reviews will delve into what made that issue or run significant as well as discuss the creative personalities behind the work. “Long Box” refers to the lengthy, white cardboard boxes most comics find themselves stored within – bagged, alphabetized and numerically ordered.
Fantastic Four #232
July 1981
Writer/Artist: John Byrne
Fantastic Four #232 was John Byrne’s first issue as both writer and artist and his run would last over five years on the title. Byrne had pencilled the book a few years earlier working with writers Marv Wolfman and Bill Mantlo. The Fantastic Four is more of a family than a super-hero team and no one understood that better than Byrne.
What made Byrne’s take on this title so memorable was how he handled the characters and their relationships. All team books tend to be formulaic, but what Byrne couldn’t succeed at doing with Alpha Flight, he was able to do with the Fantastic Four. He grew them from the archetypes created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and changed them subtly, but meaningfully.
Tales from the Longbox/Titanic Teams – The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans #1 (1982)
Every other week, Jason Shayer will highlight an issue or a run of issues pulled from the horde of comic book long boxes that occupy more room in his house than his wife can tolerate. Each of these reviews will delve into what made that issue or run significant as well as discuss the creative personalities behind the work. “Long Box” refers to the lengthy, white cardboard boxes most comics find themselves stored within – bagged, alphabetized and numerically ordered.
Marvel and DC Present = The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans #1
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Walter Simonson
Inker: Terry Austin
As a comic book fan in 1982, you just couldn’t ask for anything more. While The Justice League of America and The Avengers were caught in a spiral downwards in terms of quality and talent, The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans were making their mark in comic book history. Both titles shared a lot of similarities: a young core of rookie heroes each struggling with their own degrees of teenage angst, great writing, fabulous artwork, solid character development, and fine storytelling.
Tales from the Longbox – The Shadow: Blood and Judgement (1986)
Every other week, Jason Shayer will highlight an issue or a run of issues pulled from the horde of comic book long boxes that occupy more room in his house than his wife can tolerate. Each of these reviews will delve into what made that issue or run significant as well as discuss the creative personalities behind the work. “Long Box” refers to the lengthy, white cardboard boxes most comics find themselves stored within – bagged, alphabetized and numerically ordered.
The Shadow #1-4 miniseries
“Blood and Judgement”
DC Comics
May – August 1986
Writer/Artist: Howard Chaykin
I have fond memories of listening to old recordings of The Shadow radio program. “Who Knows What Evil Lurks In The Hearts Of Men… The Shadow Knows!” I picked up issue #1 of the series when I was 15 years old and I was hooked. It was like nothing else on the comic book shelves at the time. I was a little too young to “get” Chaykin’s critically acclaimed American Flagg, but I really enjoyed this series. It was a labelled a Mature Title, so being a fifteen year old, there was a bit of a forbidden and taboo feeling about the book.
