Found via my referral stats:
my favorite page linking to
the Seven Deadly Harveys.
Milo George, who always delights and baffles, presents
The Greatest Flash Gordon Daily Strip Ever.
In case you missed this link at the end of my interminable Superman post from yesterday, you've gotta see the
Superpup page. No, it's not a hoax...I've actually seen the show in question. (EDIT: Just noticed that
pal Andy has linked to the page as well...so you better go see it fast, just in case bandwidth issues knock it out! Just in case, here's
an Angelfire page with more stills.)
For
Scott Saavedra: more Space Canine Patrol Agents info
here,
here,
here (warning: gnarly pop-ups),
here, and, because God is good,
Space Canine Patrol Agents fan fiction (with special guest-star,
Ace the Bat Hound)!
If you like the old comic covers, get yourself over to
the Viper Comics Raw Feed for some of Greg Gatlin's spicy delights. I have no idea why I just typed the phrase "spicy delights." I apologize.
To steal an observation from
pal Dorian, everybody
may be talking about Amazing Fantasy, but has that translated to sales?
The first issue of the British comic
Dandy sells for £20,350 (just over $36,000, to us Colonials).
You can find the cover and 5 pages from the Cure issue of
Rock 'n' Roll Comics on
this Cure fan site.
Just added to my weblogroll: the mighty
Mae Mai, the unique
Utopia Moment, and the crispy
Christopher Butcher.
So a few days ago I was listening to a Los Angeles radio talk-show trio who, between talking about stories they say they got out of the newspaper but really just stole from
Fark, made a brief mention of the forever-forthcoming new
Superman movie. One of the trio said something to the effect of "why are they doing
another Superman movie? Haven't they done enough movies and TV shows about him?"
Honestly, I had trouble disagreeing with him. Will filmmakers have something new to say about Superman this time around, or will it be just another special effects extravaganza, with more budget than sense? We've already seen the straight-foward adventure angle (the movie serials and the George Reeves TV show), the focus on "realistic" effects (the Christopher Reeve movies...at least at first), and the romantic angle (
The Adventures of Lois and Clark...not a bad show, for at least the first season). Supes' younger years have been pretty well covered as well, with the
Superboy show from the late '80s/early '90s, and of course the current incarnation of
Smallville.*
So, if that fella on the radio show is any indication, there may be a percentage of the movie-going audience who's not going to be terribly interested in seeing yet
another Superman film, unless they have some kind of new take we haven't already seen. (Personally, as
I've stated before, I think they should just wait for
Smallville to run its course, then do a
Superman movie with the same cast. It'll never happen, but it would be nice.)
And that got me to thinking about a somewhat-related topic...when's the last time anything interesting has been done with Superman in the comics? Now I'm not talking about the Elseworlds or graphic novels or such. I'm talking about the actual
(Adventures of) Superman and
Action comic series, the ones that have been published continuously since the 1930s, plus the newer
Superman series that began in '86...the series that are published pretty much solely to
perpetuate the trademark shepherd along the legend of the Superman character. By "interesting," I don't mean temporary costume changes (like the electric Superman), or storylines (like Supes' "death" and return). I mean
significant, permanent changes to the character or to the dynamics of relationships within the books.
The most recent change is probably the marraige of Lois Lane and Clark Kent, putting to an end the quintessential comics love triangle. Prior to that was Clark telling Lois that he was indeed Superman, putting an end to one of the primary
Superman plot-movers from the last half-century. Before that were what are turning out to be the only two major surviving changes made by John Byrne during his '80s revamp - the removal of Superboy from the Superman story, and the survival of Ma and Pa Kent into Clark's adulthood. Before that was the decision to make Clark Kent a TV reporter (which he was though most of the 70s into the mid-80s), and before that...the addition of another super-powered Kryptonian (Supergirl), maybe? The
addition of his life as Superboy?
And what will be the next big change? The seemingly-obvious one would be the addition of a super-baby for the happy couple, but that may bend the Superman formula to the point of breaking (and wouldn't bode well for Lois, as anyone who's read
this essay could tell you). More likely we'll get another company-wide revamping of the superhero characters, resulting in a "back to square one" continuity for the Superman cast. Or, less drastically but still tragic, the loss of one or both of Superman's adoptive parents.
In case you couldn't tell, I don't really have much of a point to all this, beyond considering what changes
could be made to Superman without interfering with the character's current raison d'etre: merchandising and other mass media tie-ins.
* This brief list doesn't include the cartoons, or the pilots for the Superboy and Superpup shows (from 1961 and 1958, respectively). And, as bizarre-looking as that Superpup show may be, having seen it I can say that it was perfectly acceptable children's entertainment. A little...weird, perhaps, but kids can use a little more weirdness in their lives.
When we last left the Sentinels, Rick, Cindy, and Crunch were in the diabolical grip of the mindbending...er, Mind-Bender, as the mind-controlled Crunch was about to flip a switch designed to destroy their minds! As opposed to simply bending them, I guess.
Anyway, this story, "Night of Doom," was the back-up in
Peter Cannon Thunderbolt #59 (published by Charlton Comics in 1967), written by "Sergius O'Shaugnessy" (AKA Denny O'Neil) and illustrated by "Sam Grainger," AKA Sam Grainger. And remember:
Before the switch can be thrown, quick-thinking Rick remembers that all villains love to talk about themselves, even if they are about to defeat their arch-nemesis (or nemeses, in this case) once and for all:
Okay, and once again we get a villain that probably could have made a fortune legitimately, had he just, you know, applied for patents and hired a marketing team or something. Which makes this following statement all the more ludicrous:
...a claim he supports by explaining his origin as a scientist caught in an exploding lab, which gave him the power to intermittently control minds. And thus he's a businessman. Sure, that makes perfect sen...wha-
huh?
All this time, as the Mind-Bender blabs on and on, prodded on by questions from his captives ("Why do you need robots?" "To do the
menial work!" Well, sure), Rick is working at freeing himself. Finally, a day or two later, just as the Mind-Bender has decided he's talked enough, Rick breaks his bonds and grabs some of the power cables on the wall, causing some of the generators in the room to explode, you know, as they do.
Angered at the turn of events, the Mind-Bender topples one of his robots in an attempt to crush the still-bound Cindy, who makes an insightful observation:
Luckily, in all this brouhaha Crunch has managed to bust himself free of the Mind-Bender's influence, and thus able to save Cindy's bacon by knocking the falling robot aside with his own body.
In the meantime, the Mind Bender has fled for the hills...well, a catwalk actually, high above the action. Rick flies up in pursuit, thinking "with [the Mind-Bender's] uncanny mental power, he's potentially the
greatest menace on Earth," which may be overstating things a bit. But hey, he's the superhero, I suppose he knows best.
Anyway, once Rick has caught up with the Mind-Bender, MB makes a frank assessment of his failings:
...only to be followed by an admission of personal flaws by Rick during the ensuing fight:
The conflict concludes with Rick delivering a haymaker to MB's jaw, in a panel that contains no end of delights, from Rick's witty
bon mot, to that fine sound effect, and even to that grunt of "ARGF!"
I want everyone reading this right now to say "ARGF!" out loud, just to hear it. "ARGF!" Rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?
So the Mind-Bender is seemingly defeated, and just as Rick is about to wrap up this little adventure, MB leaps to his feet and pushes Rick (you know, the
flying hero) off the catwalk! This gives Rick a chance to again berate himself for his failings:
However, he shortly recovers and flies back up to the catwalk to give the Mind-Bender a little more what-for. He hovers just off to the side of the catwalk, throwing some punches, while MB tries to return a few hits of his own. Unfortunately, MB leans just a little too far off the catwalk and loses his balance. "I can't reach him!" shouts Rick from about two feet away, and the Mind-Bender goes to his dignified end:
Meanwhile, the lab's in flames, and it's up to Crunch to save Cindy and himself from the fire...Crunch grabs one of the Mind-Bender's robots and smashes it through a wall, making an escape route for all three Sentinels. The group has some final words regarding their fallen foe:
Cindy: "That poor man! He was a
genius!"
Rick: "A
twisted genius, Cindy! If he had survived...well, perhaps civilization
wouldn't have!"
Again, Rick perhaps overstates the case a little, probably to justify the fact that he essentially let a man fall to his doom.
We leave the Sentinels with this last panel, as Crunch is paid back for his rescue of Cindy by being totally treated like a third wheel. Admire the man's lantern-jaw and spit-curl while you puzzle over his dialogue:
Plus, I'm not entirely sure what Cindy did to get herself exhausted, but there you go.
