What I Bought - Apr 15, 2012

I went to the Capicon Show at the Dunn Loring Volunteer Fire Department today. I didn't find any of the things at the top of my list but I did buy a number of other things.

- Hercules, Prince of Power #1 - 4 (1982 mini-series)

- Machine Man #1 - 4 (1984 mini-series)

- New Teen Titans (1980) #21 - 25 :: first appearance of Brother Blood (21-22) followed by the first 3 parts (of 4) of the Titans encounter with Starfire's sister, Blackfire; this story concludes in Annual #1, which I already have

- Captain America #262 :: to replace the coverless copy that I have had for years; I still need to buy #261 and #264 to complete my run of the early DeMatteis/Zeck run on Cap

- The Untold Legend of the Batman #1 - 2 :: I was unable to find #3 at a "reasonable" price

- DC Comics Presents Annual #2

- Comic Book Comics #4

Total cost: $11.50 which includes the $2 admission fee

I grabbed a bite to eat and then went to Barbarian Comics in Wheaton, MD where I bought some new, much more expensive books.

- 20th Century Boys v19
- Scalped v3: Dead Mothers
- Punisher Max v1: Kingpin

What I Read: The Uncanny X-Men and the New Teen Titans

The Uncanny X-Men and the New Teen Titans by Chris Claremont (writer), Walt Simonson (penciler), Terry Austin (inker), and Tom Orzechowski

This DC/Marvel single-issue crossover event is not classic, more of a rarity: the one and only time that these two teams crossed paths. The story is pretty standard fare for the era it was created in.

Visually it is still very appealing. One striking thing about the art is how Terry Austin's inks wax and wane. At times it is very apparent he is inking and the panels look much more like something out of the pages of his run with John Byrne on Uncanny X-Men; in other places Walt Simonson's distinctive style comes through much more clearly.

Walt Simonson spoke about this book on Comic Geek Speak Episode 814: Meet the Simonsons. An audience member asked him about the crossover event around the 40:45 mark and Walt's response lasted about 8 minutes.

For a plot summary and more information visit the Wikipedia page devoted to The Uncanny X-Men and New Teen Titans.