Mike Sterling's Progressive RuinWhere legends live since 1969

§ October 24th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on

Today at work:

Kid Chris: “There should be a Sexy Men of Comics Retailing calendar!”

Me (miming picking up said calendar): “‘Hey, why is this calendar only two months long?'”

Anyway, today at the shop was very busy, with lots of people passing through and buying lots of things (including lots of people I’ve not seen before, not to mention several children), and pal Dorian will be glad to know that his Halloween display did its job. Oh, and I was also playing these CDs on the store stereo, so everyone was in a good, Halloweeny mood.

In other news:

Found via Milo George’s site, it appears that writer (and former Comics Journal editor) Tom Spurgeon now has a website of his very own: The Comics Reporter. Looks exceptionally promising, and it already has a ton of content to check out…so go do so, already! (And how a great domain name like that went unsnagged for so long is beyond me.)

§ October 24th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on

I finally got around to watching last week’s Smallville, guest-starring “The Flash” – nicely done, with plenty of in-jokes for comic fans* which, thankfully, didn’t derail the story for the non-comics fans that presumably comprise the vast majority of the show’s audience. Also, this episode had one of the few logical uses of the Matrix-esque “bullet time” slow motion effect, when Clark encounters Bart Allen at super-speed. I also thought the lightning-effects on Bart when we was using his powers was a nice touch.

An interesting side effect of this episode…pal Dorian pointed out to me yesterday that we seem to be having a few more people asking about Flash comics at the store over the last few days, since the show aired.

Also yesterday, I had a father and his young daughter come in looking for Tinkerbell comics (I’m assuming for a Halloween costume). Well, the two Tinkerbell comics I knew about (two issues of Dell’s Four Color Comics series) were out of stock, so I turned to the extremely valuable Inducks Disney Comics Database, since that would probably be easier than going through our four boxes of Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories and looking through each issue individually. One of the odd things I discovered while running this search…Tinkerbell seemed to appear in stories with Chip ‘n’ Dale an awful lot. I really can’t think of any explanation why, aside from they’re all about the same size.

For some reason, finding any of the assorted Peter Pan characters outside of their original context always seems a little strange to me. Captain Hook turned up as the villain in various non-Pan Disney comics on a regular basis…Dorian mentioned to me a story where Hook appears as an 1800s riverboat captain, which made my brain go afhadjklsfjakldas. And if I’m reading this listing correctly…the Seven Dwarves encounter Captain Hook? Oh, man.

* Somebody somewhere on the comicsweblogosphere had a rundown of the in-jokes in this episode, but I don’t remember where I saw it…please let me know if you remember where it is (or if you are the one who did it), so I can add the link to this entry!

EDIT: That list may be found here.

"Only $3.95 per call"

§ October 23rd, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on "Only $3.95 per call"

Mr. T And The T-Force promotional poster (Now Entertainment, 1993)

“Message changes frequently.”

§ October 22nd, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on

Tim points out the arrival of a Composite Superman weblog, riding that wave of Composite Superman-mania that’s sweeping the internet. File this with the Hulk weblog and the Green Arrow weblog.

The first comment on the Composite Superman weblog is from “Composite Jimmy Olson,” who must actually be the Bizarro Composite Jimmy Olson, since the last name is spelled incorrectly.

On a related subject, there’s still no Archie Andrews weblog. Surely Archie would have something to say? (“Dear Blog – Jughead eats and eats and eats, and I think he has a problem. I hope it’s not a tapeworm.”) On the other hand, given Archie Comics’ sense of humor about this sort of thing, maybe it’s not such a good idea.

On a totally unrelated subject, pal Andy links to what he very accurately calls a “joke roundup” being held by Defective Yeti. I had contributed two jokes to the list yesterday, and they’re about 50 posts down. A note to people who know me personally…no need to go look. You know which two jokes they are.

This is post #500, more or less.

§ October 21st, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on This is post #500, more or less.

Will Pfeifer, inspired by the forthcoming action figure I pointed out here, details the glory that is…the Composite Superman. (He also gives me a nice “shout-out,” as the kids say, in the process. Thanks!)

And Tim points out that the action figure in question is “the Nerdiest Object Ever Discovered.” He makes a good argument…but it could be nerdier. It could an action figure of the imposter Composite Superman from World’s Finest #283 and #284.

However, when you get right down to it, this is truly the Nerdiest Object Ever.

And so the time has come to update the Weblogroll of Doom. Just added:

Talk to My Face – “Comics & Other Media from A Woman’s Perspective” is her own description…anyone who titles a post “Reading Elfquest Makes Me Feel Weird” is jake with me.

The Pickytarian – lots of good comics reviews.

Trusty Plinko Stick – occasional comics posts, other fun stuff mixed in as well.

Chipped Ham – comics and TV news and reviews.

Repent Sinners! – probably my favorite weblog name ever. Nice colorful layout, with discussions of comics and other related things.

Plus, I added the site of swell cat Mr. Dan Kelly, which I was reminded of when pal Dorian added the link to his own site.

Also, since Sean Collin’s weblog is no more, so I’ve moved his All Too Flat site to the “Also of Note” section. Go check it out…lots of neat things going on there.

And though Grotesque Anatomy is no longer a going concern, I can’t quite bring myself to drop it off the list. So John Jakala gets a little “(ret.)” next to his weblog…as does the much-missed Flat Earth.

Your ACAPCWOVCCAOE* update:

Pal Corey has been under the weather the past few days, and his health needs to take precedence over his weblog. I’m sure you all join me in wishing him well…he’ll be back soon.

And this guy…he’s got himself some impending nuptials to prepare for, which also must take precedence over the weblogging. I’m sure he’ll be back shortly as well, so let’s wish the poor bastard the happy guy the best of luck!

* As always, the Associated Comics And Pop Culture Webloggers of Ventura County, CA And Outlying Environs for sho…er, long.

§ October 20th, 2004 § Filed under this week's comics Comments Off on

New funnybook day! Spoilers may be afoot, so watch your step (or, um, something like that):

• Essential Tomb of Dracula Vol. 3 – man, this is a fat, fat book. It’s gonna take me forever to plow through this thing…given I just finished the Essential Monster of Frankenstein, I’m not sure I’m ready to start another marathon Marvel monster session. Yeah, I know, “boo hoo, I’ve got too many comics to read!” But it looks good, like the previous volumes…one of the stories from the Tomb of Dracula magazines reprinted herein is by Steve Ditko, so you Ditko fans take note!
• Ocean #1 – this is the first of the mini-series by Warren Ellis and Chris Sprouse which, while it had my interest, I had pondered waiting for the eventual book release (because that’s just the kind of killing-the-comic-industry guy I am). Pal Dorian had a compelling argument for not waiting, in that it’s a six issue series and bimonthly, so it’s well over a year wait for a trade…thus convinced, I went ahead and grabbed it. And it’s good — all set-up (Inspector Kane is a prototypical Ellis bastard/hero on his way to investigate shenanigans on Europa), and it got a nice cynical chuckle out of me regarding a reaction to a book Kane is carrying.
• Plastic Man #11 – Didn’t spot Plas on the cover right away, which made me feel very silly a little later when I did notice him. Which is okay, since this is a very silly issue…DC continuity freaks stay away, as this issue will give you heart palpatations. Baker gets in some good jokes regarding the whole Luthor-as-President storyline, Smallville, and our own real-life President. Edwina, the vampire’s daughter from last issue, is surprisingly still around. The art style is slightly different as well, it seems to me…a little simpler, with machine-lettering instead of Baker’s hand-lettering. Anyway, another great issue, and I hope Plastic Man sticks around for a while longer. (EDIT: I’m told that Baker does all his lettering by “machine” – or, rather, computer…which makes sense…so let me amend my statement to “machine-like lettering.” I still like its look.)
• Identity Crisis #5 and Firestorm #6 – okay, read Firestorm after IC. Not that there are any major spoilers or anything, but it’s probably better for both stories if you do so. In IC, a lot of theories some of us had about the identity of the killer(s) may be thrown out after this issue, and…well, I want to say more, but I really don’t want to spoil anything. And Firestorm is still quite interesting, as the “hero” of the book continues his apparent moral decline. He goes through some of the superhero motions, but keeps makng increasingly selfish decisions…he gets called on it by a couple of superhero Big Guns, but one gets the feeling the new Firestorm doesn’t really take the hint.
• Madrox #2 – Peter David’s mutant-detective comic continues, with some revelations about the nature of Madrox’s duplicating powers, particularly the slight personalities differences among his duplicates. (I’m not a regular X-comic reader, so I could be wrong that this is new.)
• Other new arrivals: Luba #9 (more goodness from Beto, with a shock ending!), JSA: Strange Adventures #3 (Johnny Thunder proves why he gets to hang out with the Justice Society — it’s a scene we’ve all seen a hundred times before, but still effective), Fantastic Four #519 (I’m a sucker for Galactus stories; the only reason this is an Avengers: Disassembled crossover is apparently to explain why the Avengers aren’t also facing this threat to New York, it appears), 1000 Steps to World Domination (trade collection of Rob Osborne’s mini-comics…I particularly like when Rob reveals to his wife that he’s making a list of things to do in order to dominate the world, and her response is “I don’t want anything like that in the house”), and Bart Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror #10 (the Pat Boone-scripted story is hysterical!).
• That new printing of Identity Crisis #1, the one with the original Turner pencils printed in a “negative”-style reversed black and white, is terribly unappealing. Not that the image was all that great to begin with, in my opinion, but doing this to it didn’t do it any favors.
• Jimmy Olsen Adventures Vol. 2 by Jack Kirby – another fine full-color trade paperback reprinting Kirby’s nuttiest DC work. If only we could get a good color reprinting of the other Fourth World comics (those black and white volumes just didn’t do it for me).
  
  
  

• Dorian pointed this one out to me: Neferu the Cat, a hardcover album from Safcomics…didn’t get much of a chance to flip through it, but the cartooning is top-notch from what I’ve seen, and the plot (Neferu and his cat-friends stuggle to protect themselves from the encroaching dominion of the dogs) may not sound like much, but it really looks entertaining.
• Archie #552 – am I the only person who saw this particular word balloon (located to the right), and pictured Archie keeping Dilton Doiley in a pit, telling him to rub its lotion on its skin? No cover gag Archie Comics could come up with could compare, surely.
  

§ October 20th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on

Blondie #199 (July 1972) – art by Paul Fung Jr.

§ October 20th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on

We received our autographed Fallen Angel signature plates today, and they are very nice. David even sent me one more than I had asked for, which was very nice of him. And these aren’t cheap, either…they’re good ‘n’ sturdy, black and white with red spot color on the Angel herself. David’s signature is in red on the left hand side, and presumably the right hand side is left open in case you track down artist David Lopez at a convention. So, a big thank you goes out to Peter David for this generous offer!

I’d also like to send out a “thanks” to Augie De Blieck Jr. for the nice mention in his Pipeline column on Comic Book Resources. (I’m not really that obsessive about Swamp Thing, am I? Not about my precious, my preciousssss.)

§ October 19th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on

Contests:

Ed at The Low Road is giving away a copy of Adam Sacks’ Salmon Doubts, and all you have to do to enter is send him something “fishy.” You have until October 31st to enter…details here.

The Peiratikos are offering up copies of Scott Pilgrim, with a Scott Pilgrim T-shirt as an additional grand prize. Just tell them why you think you would enjoy Scott Pilgrim. People who enter illustrated entries are eligible to win an original watercolor by Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O’Malley. Deadline is November 5th…details here. By the way, how many more times can I fit the title Scott Pilgrim into one paragraph?

And let us not forget Shane at Near Mint Heroes, offering up a copy of the Walking Dead trade, as well as the 24 Hour Comics volume. Just send a man a zombie story by October 31st…details here.

I should be offering up a contest of my own, soon…probably after these other contests conclude, so keep watching this space!

§ October 18th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on

1. Because I love you: Comic Book Bondage Cover of The Day. New to me, though one fast Google search later, I see the mysterious as he is ubiquitous Neilalien has it on his links list.

2. The more I think about Big Sir, the more he bothers me. Especially that bit where the other Flash villains use a dead mouse to…well, just go read the entry.

3. The new DC solicitations are up, and while I might have something to say about them later, I do have a couple things I’d like to note. First, while I have no complaints about a Seven Soldiers of Victory Archive, I really have to wonder if DC actually thought there’d be more demand for that, rather than a Sugar & Spike volume. I mean, c’mon DC, you’re killing me here.

And second, there’s going to be a Composite Superman action figure. DC can’t decide if it hates me or if it loves me. It doesn’t give me the Sugar & Spike, and yet it gives me this:

3a. For more DC solicitation fun, visit pal Ian. How one man can be so bitter about comics and never have actually worked in a comic book store is beyond me.*

* I’m not really bitter about comics. It’s a joke, son.