See - I don't only complain about turn around times...

While I continue to be frustrated with how long CGC has held my books at 'graded' without shipping them, I was reminded last night by facebook conversation with Tnerb - that there are some books by Marvel that I do cherish and I do think that the writers at Marvel did/do better than anyone ever did at DC.

The three big things that I have always felt made Marvel readable to me are: Martial Arts, Norse Gods, and Dr. Strange.

I could care less about continuity - and I can easily grasp that a story in issue 150 happened before a story in issue 100; plus, when I was young - I didn't always have a quarter for my favorite book, so I missed many issues.

But one thing I could count on was excellent martial arts story telling in Master of Kung Fu, and fun mystic martial arts in Iron Fist/Power Man. It didn't really matter how many issues I'd missed either - because they were isolated from mainstream Marvel titles. These guys didn't hang with the Avengers or FF and I didn't need to know what was going on in the Marvelverse to understand the story.

The second thing I could always find enjoyment in was Thor. Particularly stories of Asgard and the Asgardian gods - how cool are the Warriors Three? Sif? and Thor's villains? Good storytelling unlike what I was reading at DC.

Finally - and least often as a youth - Dr. Strange. I came to appreciate Dr. Strange latter in my youth, well into my teens in fact, and I was surprised by the depth of storytelling and the beauty of the artwork. I suppose if there was on Marvel title that I would collect in CGC Dr. Strange might very well be it.

Some other time I will write about the joys of DC. The war books, the horror books and most important in my youth - the Justice League of America during the satellite years.

For now - perhaps my books will be sent from CGC today as I prepare my current batch for signature and grading at ECCC and some time hanging out with and getting to know Ronnylama & Tnerb.

Happy Hunting!

Lee K

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