Monday, September 26, 2011

Random Reads: "The Sky Above...the Pits Below!" by Conway and Buckler

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Today's random read is a perfect example of what a random read can be! Gerry Conway had been working on a Thor/Hercules epic since Thor #221 (December 1973), first with Big John Buscema, then with Rich "Swash" Buckler. The big story wound up with Thor 229 (August 1974), but the loose ends needed tied up in ish 230 (September 1974) in Conway and Buckler's "The Sky Above...the Pits Below!" Not only was this epilogue a satisfying read on its own (the loose ends get tied up early allowing Thor and Herc time to get in a quickie adventure), but it iced the cake for regular readers. Something for everyone, and not once while reading it did we think, "Man, I wish Marvel would put out an encyclopedia so we could figure out what's happening here!" Enjoy!
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2 comments:

  1. Mike MikulovskySeptember 26, 2011 at 10:34 AM

    ZEUS!! Thou has great taste! I loved Thor as a kid/teen. One of my favorites was always Herc. I just wish he had been written more intelligently. I was always disappointed he never got his own book. Drawn by Kirby, Buscema,Buckler,Sinnott or Byrne even later.

    He was great in the Champions. Love to see his story from Marvel Premiere, the Champions, Godzilla/Avengers 163? & Marvel Preview #10 back up. Which I'd love to do myself. Sadly I owned pg 16 of this story about 9 years ago. I wish I still had it sigh.

    I'm hoping in the second Thor movie we get to see Ares, the Wrecker, the Absorbing Man, the Wrecking Crew & of course HERCULES!! Hey I named my 20+lb mainecoon Zeus for a reason!

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  2. Longbox GraveyardSeptember 26, 2011 at 2:12 PM

    My first Thor came during this run -- #227, which blew my 12-year-old mind. Ancient mythological gods, on a spaceship, fighting an insane living planet ... for the first time I saw the Marvel Universe was more than Spider-Man swinging around Manhattan, it was a limitless cosmos of gods and men! Thrilled me then, thrills me now.

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Special thanks to Mike's Amazing World of Comics and Grand Comics Database for being such fantastic resources for covers, dates, creator info, etc. Thou art treasures true!


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