Weekly Update 09/30/19

It's 1975, and so of course I'm talking about the most important comic of the year: Tomb of Dracula! Ok, not really, but I'm sure we'll have a lot to say about Claremont and X-Men in the next decade, so don't worry.

I've been thinking about why I'm not responding quite so much to series like Tomb of Dracula or Killraven, which as I'm reading them feel like interesting, well-written comics. They seemingly check all the boxes for me: a large and interesting cast characters, a unique and fleshed out world, solid plotting and prose... but after reading a few for the MMY list, I never quite feel like revisiting the series as a whole.

I think part of it is that we're still somewhat in the era of Marvel Comics reading that feels like homework, like I'm reading these books more as a primer for future enjoyment of modern stuff than I am out of pure pleasure. And because I somewhat view this as "homework", reading 70 issues of a vampire comic that ultimately will have very little to do with modern comics feels like a waste of time.

I only have time for so many comics in a day, but this approach of reading comics like an assignment is an interesting one that I think deserves some reflection (and this feeling extends beyond my need to read them as the host of the show). It feels like a uniquely modern problem, to treat your hobby as a checklist to complete rather than something to enjoy without anxieties about "how important the comics are".

This week's episode is Marvel Year Fourteen: 1975 Pt. 1 w/ special guest Gary Butterfield, out today, 09/30/19. Please get any 1975 feedback for us to discuss on our next Variant Cover episode by 10/08/19. You can send it to mymarvelousyear@gmail.com

If you want to check out Gary Butterfield's work, go to duckfeed.tv. I'd recommend Days of Future Cast or Watch Out for Fireballs to our listeners.

1975 PART 1:
Giant Size X-Men #1
Uncanny X-Men #94, #95
Giant Size Fantastic Four #4
Tomb of Dracula #26 to #28
Avengers / Giant Size Avengers #133 to #135 / #4
The Champions #1

1975 PART 2 :
Amazing Spider-Man #144 to #149
Jungle Action #13 to #18
Strange Tales / Warlock #178 to #181 / #9 to #11
Werewolf by Night #32, #33
Giant-Size Defenders / Defenders #5 / #26 to #29

EXTRA ISSUES 1974 (always changing, check the spreadsheet for current):
Defenders #16, 17  Alpha the Ultimate Mutant & Baby Magneto!, Intro of the Wrecking Crew
Man-Thing #1, 3  Start of a Man-Thing solo series. Intro of the Foolkiller!
Doctor Strange #1 to #2, #4 to #5 The first Strange story from Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner. You can skip issue #3.
Marvel Two-In-One #1 The Thing team-up book w/ Man-Thing and the reutrn of the Molecule Man
Amazing Spider-Man #130 The Spidermobile!
Marvel Team-Up #19 Intro of Stegron the Dinosaur Man!
The Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu #1 Martial Arts Magazine!
Giant-Size Creatures #1 Tigra!
Captain America #169 Captain America framed!
Daredevil #111 Intro of Silver Samurai
Giant-Size Spider-Man #1 Dracula & Spider-Man
Comic Book #1 Marvel's Underground Comics!

UPCOMING PODCAST SCHEDULE:
September 30: Marvel Year Fourteen: 1975 Pt. 1 (w/ special guest)
October 8:   Feedback for 1975's Variant Cover Due
October 7: Marvel Year Fourteen: 1975 Pt. 2
October 14:  Marvel Year Fourteen: 1975 Variant Cover
October 21: Marvel Year Fifteen: 1976 Pt. 1
October 28: Marvel Year Fifteen: 1976 Pt. 2

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You can find all the My Marvelous Year reading lists here and check out the rest of what Comic Book Herald has to offer here.
Thanks for joining us on this journey through Marvel comics!