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THE BADGER

Started by Nexus,

13 posts in this topic

Nexus

Nexus

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If you're looking for a run, all you really need is the first 20 issues. Go up to 40 if you really like it, but the quality drops off noticeably later in the run.

 

Reinhold's art is great throughout, but you can sense burnout from Mike Baron after 30 or so issues. I think the monthly grind eventually got to him. This happened with most of the great creator-owned series from that era (NEXUS, AMERICAN FLAGG!, JON SABLE, et al). MAGE escaped that curse because it was, in the end, a limited series of 15 issues. Anyway, these guys would have been better off if they went bi-monthly, or structured their stories as a series of limited series (a la HELLBOY), so they could get a breather in between. But those were different days and the hard lessons had to be learned.

 

Many of these series have had a second life in recent years thanks to IDW and other new publishers. I can't recommend the new BADGER material, but the new NEXUS and JON SABLE have been very good, on par with their heyday. Have fun!

 

 

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HighVoltage

HighVoltage

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Absolutely enjoyed the heck out of this series when it was ongoing. I felt like the series actually picked back up a bit when Ron Lim came aboard for art chores around issue #40.

 

Love the original art - is that the cover to #2? Where in the world did you find that piece?

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Nexus

Nexus

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Love the original art - is that the cover to #2? Where in the world did you find that piece?

 

Yes, the cover to #2. Jeff Butler has had it all these years! He never wanted to sell it before (it was the only cover he kept), but I just got lucky with timing recently. Grateful he decided to let it go.

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Garf

Garf

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Great cover.... oh wait already said that in the OA forum :P

 

Just FYI for anyone that is interested in owning a piece of Hexbreaker - Bill Reinhold still has pages 2, 7, 8, 13 & 20 if I recall correctly (doing this from memory not got the email up right now). Really reasonable prices too although I don't want to quote them on his behalf. Bill wad super helpful too when I snagged an #30 page and Hexbreaker p10 & p12.

 

Feel free to sling me a PM if you want his email or any info. He doesn't seem to advertise it on a quick search. edit: or just message him on CAF I guess.... <3 Badger

 

Think this was p13

bBo7i.jpg

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Ogami

Ogami

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Love the Badger.

 

This was my first Badger comic. True Story.

 

 

I disagree somewhat that Baron simply went thru burnout (he may have gone thru burnout but there was at least one more thing going on).

 

I gather, from reading the series recently all the way through and paying special attention to the letters page and editorial within that Baron was a wee bit embarrassed that he took a very real medical condition (schitzophrenia) and turned it into a paper thin comic book trope. Somewhere early on (within 20 issues) he realized he was doing a disservice and devoted himself to a more realistic book. That was the good news, from a noble human perspective. The bad news was that he wrote himself into an untenable corner and the series lost it's verve and bite.

 

The very thing that made the Badger the Badger was the thing the Badger desperately needed a cure for.

 

Great piece of art- congrats.

 

 

I will reread Badger within a few years for sure.

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Nexus

Nexus

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Thanks!

 

I need to re-read the later issues, but what you say does jibe with my memory of how the series progressed. The mental illness angle doesn't play so well these days...in my less enlightened youth, though, I found it hilarious. Garden variety "crazy" is still prominent in comics (particularly with villains)...perhaps Baron shouldn't have been so specific. Still love 'em, in any case!

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