The Destructor Strikes and Daredevil vs. Warlord: Who Wins?!

Welcome to Cool Comics in My Collection Episode 253, where we look at various comic books I own (and in some cases ones that I let get away), both new and old, often with a nostalgic leaning for those feelings of yesteryear. I hope you have as much fun reading about them as I had writing about these cool comics!

For each of the comic books I include here, I list the current secondary market pricing (except for of digital issues, which don’t have collectible value). This is according to the websites ComicBookRealm.com (CBR) and Zap-Kapow Comics (ZKC), using the comic book grading scale of 9.4 (if both sites have the same price, you’ll find just one price for that issue). Not all my comics meet that grade. Some are probably better, and some are certainly worse. But to simplify it, that’s the scale I use here. And remember, a comic book is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. And for those who enjoy the additional fun of knowing some of the more important issues in your collection, I recognize each Cool Comic that is listed in Key Collector Comics

If you have any comments, please scroll to the bottom of the page to where it says, “Leave a Reply.” And now, Episode 253…

Cool Comics News!

Recently I read through a lot of comments in a Facebook comic book group post in which members were complaining about the state of comics today. Some members were defending specific titles, while others said they were terrible and were glad they quit collecting in 1993. So how do you know if a comic book title is bad if you haven’t read any issues in 27 years? Every collector has a choice. You can buy nothing but comics from the Eighties, or just look for issues written or drawn by your favorite creators or pick and choose some of the current stuff. Each week, Cool Comics In My Collection tries to give you, our loyal readers, a variety of titles from a variety of dates, published by a variety of companies. You may not like our choices for Contemporary Cool Comics, but maybe you really dig our Cool Comics Classics. My years on this earth have taught me that you can’t please everyone, but each episode we try awfully hard to mix it up enough that…just maybe…we’ll bring a smile to your face and a memory to your heart. Thanks for reading.

Cool Comics Battle of the Week!

Your Cool Comics Battle of the Week is Daredevil versus Warlord! What do you think would happen if they faced each other in a titanic tussle, and how do you see the winner achieving victory? Let us know in the comments section below.

Cool Comics Creations!

This week’s creation is Deathstroke, by artist Ed Griffie. Ed is a lifelong comic book fan who started drawing Kawaii and Chibi style versions of pop culture icons and superheroes about five years ago. Through Facebook his work came to the attention of Daniel Hare, the owner of vintage toy and comic bookstore The Toys Time Forgot, who offered him a guest spot at Free Comic Book Day. Since then, Ed has been a regular at local conventions and comic bookstores, where he offers bookmarks, coloring pages, trading cards, and color prints featuring his unique artwork. You can check out his full catalog of work at toonist27.deviantart.com or contact him at edgriffiejr@gmail.com to commission an original piece of your very own.

You can have a piece of your art featured right here in Cool Comics Creations! Just send an electronic file in an email featuring one of your drawings, whether you’re a professional or amateur, (it can be just pencils, or inks too…or full color if you prefer) or a picture of a craft or sculpture that you’ve done, and as long as it’s family friendly (and not controversial…let’s try to keep this fun), you’ll be a part of an upcoming Cool Comics episode. We also want your name and any other background information you want to provide, such as a website or a way you can be contacted about your art (who knows, maybe someone will make you an offer for the original!). And then email it to edgosney62@gmail.com.

Cool Comics In My Collection

Contemporary Cool Comics

#1286 — Daredevil #21, Marvel, September 2020.

For this episode I was a bit torn over which comic to include here, because Amazing Spider-Man: Sins Rising Prelude #1 is a nice introduction to the upcoming Sin-Eater storyline that Peter Parker/Spider-Man is going to be dealing with. But after I’d finished reading Daredevil, I knew it deserved this spot in Contemporary Cool Comics. Nothing seems to come easy for Matt Murdock, and just when things seem like they couldn’t get worse, they do. Regardless of fighting alongside the Kingpin (who happens to be the mayor of New York, if you haven’t visited in a while) to save Hell’s Kitchen, Daredevil is still wanted for murder, so he turns himself in. Of course, we can’t have that, so things are set in motion, and at one point, Spider-Man nearly gets into a tussle with our titular hero. That part of the story I didn’t care for much, but I understand the tension writer Chip Zdarsky is building here, all of which makes this such an interesting story. The cover price of Daredevil #21 is $3.99, while the current value is $4.

Cool Comics from the Quarter Bin

#1287 — Warlord #6, DC, May 1977.

Back in the Seventies and early Eighties…well, come to think of it, even during my longer run of collecting comic books from 1993 to 2003, I didn’t care much for barbarians, or even lords of the manor who find themselves being raised by wild animals. Yet that didn’t stop me from buying some issues of Marvel’s Tarzan in discount bins, and come to think if it, I also got the first 14 issues of Ka-Zar that ran from 1997 to 1998. Still, I didn’t read Conan, and aside from seeing issues of Warlord in practically every cheap box of comics I came across, I knew next to nothing about him. As I’ve mentioned before, when it came to buying comics in the Seventies, Marvel was my go-to company. As for DC, I’d get some of the 100-Pages for 60¢ issues at the drugstore where my dad worked on occasion, but the only other DC Comics I can remember buying at my regular shop were one issue each of Blitzkrieg and—yes, I’m going to admit it—Welcome Back, Kotter. Ugh, why didn’t I get Warlord from the start? In the Eighties I became a fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Pellucidar novels, and there is a similarity with Warlord, so I’m sure I would have enjoyed these adventures. Oh well, I still find them in quarter bins sometimes, such as this one, and it’s always fun to have collecting goals. The cover price of Warlord #6 is 30¢, while the current values are $10 on CBR and $8 on ZKC. The Key Collector Comics value is $7.

FCBD the Cool Comics Way (Week 3)

#1288 — Power Rangers: The Road to Ranger Slayer #1, BOOM! Studios, May 2020.

This was a really interesting Power Rangers Free Comic Book Day issue, even though I didn’t understand much of the reasoning behind the action. And that’s okay. I’ve read online that this is a good jumping-on point for new fans, as the Pink Ranger (yep, that’s her on the cover) turns evil. Well, not really, because this is a character from an alternate universe. I’m sure many of you are familiar with Star Trek’s Mirror Universe, which helps me to sort this out a bit in my mind. My problem is that I’m not all that familiar with the Power Rangers. I think this is just the third Power Rangers comic I’ve read, two of which were FCBD issues (I really do love the idea of getting exposed to different companies and titles via this annual event). Doctor Omnibus has included some really cool reviews on here featuring the Power Rangers, and I know that they have a huge following. Heck, even singer/songwriter Froggy Fresh is a Power Ranger fan, evidenced by his hit video. The cover price of Power Rangers: The Road to Ranger Slayer #1 is free, while the current value is $1. The Key Collector Comics value is $0.

Cool Comics Kids

#1289 — Pink Panther #9, Harvey Comics, July 1994.

Do kids today even know who the Pink Panther is? I remember watching the cartoon in my younger years, and while it was okay, it was no Jonny Quest (then again, what cartoon was?). The Inspector and an ant and aardvark were also part of the ensemble, but what I remember most is that the Pink Panther didn’t talk, and the theme by Henry Mancini would get stuck in my head. Regardless of whether the little ones enjoy this comic or not, there’s a chance you will, as it will bring back memories. This comic book has three stories focusing on the Pink Panther, and one featuring the Inspector. But probably the best thing of all about this issue from the Nineties is the terrific center spread (click on it for a better look) of all these Harvey characters. Talk about nostalgia! If this took you back to days gone by and you want to tell someone about it, we’d love to read your thoughts in our comments section at the bottom of the blog page. The cover price of Pink Panther #9 is $1.50, while the current value is $3.

Cool Comics Classics

#1290 — The Destructor #1, Atlas/Seaboard, February 1975.

How many of you out there bought Atlas Comics off the rack in the mid-Seventies? As I’ve mentioned before, I didn’t, but I do remember seeing a few comics from a company that wasn’t Marvel or DC (or Charlton or Archie or Gold Key, for that matter), and not really caring. But for some reason, nostalgia took hold of me a while ago and I decided I wanted to collect all of this short-lived series. I’m not there yet, but I’m over halfway done, and every few months I like to read one to include in Cool Comics Classics. And speaking of classics, the creative team for The Destructor contains legends from our favorite hobby! It’s written by Archie Goodwin, drawn by Steve Ditko, inked by Wally Wood, and edited by Larry Lieber. Names I’m sure that most readers are familiar with, and if you aren’t, and you stick with comics long enough, you’ll learn about them eventually. I liked this story more than some of the other Atlas titles I’ve read so far. It has a neat father/son dynamic, sacrifice, secret formulas, and superpowers. That all-star creative team really hit the mark on this origin story! The cover price of The Destructor #1 is 25¢, while the current values are $22 on CBR and $10 on ZKC. The Key Collector Comics value is $10.

Cool Collected Editions with Dr. Omnibus

X-Men: The Fall of the Mutants (Marvel 2011)

Dr. Omnibus score: 6 out of 10

Moving forward in my chronological Marvel Mutants read-through, I come to X-Men: The Fall of the Mutants. This follows up directly on the heels of the Mutant Massacre omnibus.

The Book Itself

This is an 824-page oversized hardcover. In everything but name, it is an omnibus. It is bound a little tight, which caused some gutter loss in the first and last issues. It is skimpy on the backmatter, but there are a few pages of art in the back. What I loved most about this book was its mapping. Rather than jumping around from series to series, it had all the X-Factor issues lumped together with the direct tie-ins, then the Uncanny X-Men issues, and finally the New Mutants issues. Before each title change, they also provided a recap of what had been happening in that title in the issues leading up to this, which is helpful for me as I tend to forget some details fairly quickly after finishing a book. That’s actually why I started writing on this blog, to help me with my retention.

This book is starting to really get up there in price on the secondary market, frequently fetching over $200, but the story can be easily read through a much more affordable trade paperback.

Due to the way this was mapped, I am going to deviate a bit from my normal format and talk about each chapter separately.

The Story
By various writers

X-Factor: This was by far the hardest chapter to trudge through. These X-Factor issues were nothing short of a slog. The issues were not poorly written, and the story itself was interesting, but I just haven’t cared for this whole X-Factor/X-Terminators nonsense; fortunately, for the most part, I think this bit of the story is just about put to bed now. I am also not a big fan of the supporting cast in X-Factor. Rusty, Skids, Rictor…just not that interesting. I do love Artie and Leech, though. As much as I love Apocalypse, his early appearances just aren’t that great, but each issue he is in is better than the last, so it makes sense that sometime in the 90’s he becomes palatable. There were a couple tie-in issues that pertain more to the X-Factor issues than the rest of the book. The Hulk issues were great, including the famous Hulk 340; the Power Pack issue was good, although I do not care for the characters in general; and the Captain America issue was not great, but that is what happens when Steve Rodgers isn’t Cap. The Daredevil tie-in was very emotional and made me look at Daredevil in a whole new light. The Fantastic four stuff was alright, but as usual, Doom’s arrogance is just over the top and quite off-putting.

Uncanny X-Men: Over the past 40 or so issues of Uncanny X-Men, Storm has been by far my favorite character, and this is all after—and mainly because—she lost her powers. Her story takes center stage in these issues for sure, and as an added bonus, the return of one of our fallen comrades from the Mutant Massacre takes place in these issues. These things made the X-Men issues much easier to read than the X-Factor issues, which they follow.

New Mutants: There are 23 issues of New Mutants leading into this collection that are not collected in any collected editions that have recently been in print. This left me a bit lost as to how these youngsters have grown since I last saw them at the end of the Demon Bear Saga. It turns out they haven’t changed all too much, but I gather I missed some significant character development in Amara and Magik. There is nothing all too special about the story told in these issues, but it does tell a good tale about inclusion and not judging a book by its cover. One highlight was a major character death. I am fond of the character and love the highly emotional responses from the rest of the cast, especially that of Magneto.

The Art

This is getting a bit long, so I am going to do a lightning round here…

• X-Factor art was the same as it has been, ok but not great.
• The Hulk issues, drawn by Todd McFarlane, looked amazing.
• The other tie ins were fine, nothing amazing that stood out.
• The art in X-Men was more of the same as it has been for 15-20 issues, solid art, but not amazing.
• The New Mutants though…wow, the art in this BLEW ME AWAY. Sometime during the 23-issue gap leading up to this, Bret Blevins was brought in to draw the title. I love it. He marries traditional comic art of the time with a Bill Sienkiewicz style that is just perfect.

The Gist

If you aren’t dedicated to reading X-Factor, I would definitely skip the first half of this book. I try to read two issues or more each day, but this was such a slog it took more than 14 days to get through it all, well short of my per-day goal.

Damian Starr is a long-time collector of comics who, in recent years, has converted his focus to reading—almost exclusively—trade paperbacks, hardcovers, and Omnibus editions. Additionally, he is a frequent contributor to the MCBCFA Play Network YouTube channel (check out his Dr. Omnibus playlists). To add one more layer to his geekery, he is an amateur comic author and co-founder of Illuminatus Comics.

Cool Comics Reader Reviews!

Would you like to write a review of a comic book or graphic novel for all the Internet to see? Our Cool Comics Reader Reviews section is looking for fans just like you to submit reviews of 500 words or less (introductions about yourself don’t go against the word count), along with a cover image of the comic, to edgosney62@gmail.com. Please keep in mind that we reserve the right to decide what will and won’t go in the blog, so keep the language clean, pick out a comic that won’t cause controversy (we try to have fun here!), and start tapping away on your keyboard!

ComicBooks For Kids!

ComicBooks For Kids! (CB4K) is a charity that Cool Comics In My Collection is honored to be working with. CB4K provides comic books to kids in hospitals and cancer centers all across the United States. You can check their website and see if your local hospital is included and if not, you can work with them to get them included! If you like what you see, please help them out and follow/like their Facebook page. Their link is https://www.facebook.com/comicbooksforkids/

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