mike sterling's progressive ruin

Saturday, June 14, 2008

From the Island of Misfit Super-Villains... 

...introduced by the Joker's Daughter, no less:


"Her inky darkness?" Oh, Mal, honestly. And Aqualad...yeah, sure you like beating up big guys. We totally believe you.

Mostly I wanted to post a panel or two from this comic because I just can't get over Flamesplasher. I mean, really, look at the guy, little flame-crown an' all:


Well, as usual, I do the Google search after I scan the images and prep 'em for the site, and this trio of terror has been discussed here and there on the comics interwebs. Scipio at Absorbascon recommended them during his continuing suggestions for characters DC could donate to Marvel. Also, the writer of this story, Bob Rozakis himself, discusses this issue, along with other appearances of some of these villains. And have some Flamesplasher fan fiction...well, it's a couple of folks using the same name, anyway.

So...odds on the characters reappearing in a future Grant Morrison project? 1 in 5? 1 in 20?

Another panel I wanted to note was this, a rare in-story instance where DC more or less up and admits "yeah, Gotham's totally based on New York" --


I believe the old phrase is "Metropolis is New York during the day, Gotham is New York at night." I remember as a kid just assuming Gotham was New York under a different name, so had I seen this panel as a young Mikester, it would have totally blown my mind, man.


images from Teen Titans #47 (April 1977) by Bob Rozakis, Bob Brown & Tex Blaisdell

Friday, June 13, 2008

"COMING OUT FROM MIKE'S CLOSET!" 

There's your joke, Lankyguy!

I thought I'd wrap up my discussion on novelizations today, but first I wanted to thank you all for all the great comments you've left over the last couple of days. It's made for some great reading, and I really appreciate your participation. Part of the fun of doing this is interaction with the readers, and I'm glad you took to this topic as well as you did. And to think it started simply because I wasn't really in the mood to write about comics this week!

Anyway, let me respond to a few more of your comments, if I may:
  • Alan notes that he liked the novelization of the first Tim Burton Batman movie more than the film itself, which, yeah, I get that. I read the book, though I remember nothing about it, but it wouldn't surprise me if some of the elements Burton...glossed over got better coverage in prose.

  • Nimbus brings up the prose adaptations of various comic book events over the years, such as the "Death of Superman" story adapted into novel form by Roger Stern. I've talked about these in the past, to some minor extent (I think most recently about the Crisis on Infinite Earths novel which...well, uh....). Whenever I read one of these, I always think about them in terms of "how would someone who's never read a comic book react to this?" Granted, that's hard to do, since I've been reading comics about as long as I've been able to read, but I can't help but think how someone coming into this cold would react. I realize the vast majority of readers would be the previously converted, but there had to be some newbies in the audience.

    Louise Simonson wrote a prose version for kids of the Doomsday saga as well:


    I own this, but never got around to reading it. Maybe someday....

  • Just as an aside, and in concurrence with Kevin's comment and Alan's agreement...those Burton Bat-films haven't really aged well, have they? They sure were the bee's-freakin'-knees at the time.

  • Doctor Polite Scott speaks of the Star Trek Photonovels, which I saw frequently as a young Mikester, though, despite my wholehearted, full-on Trekiness, I never owned.

    I did have, as Alan and others mentioned, one the books adapting some of the Star Trek episodes. Well, not the Blish ones, which were the live-action shows, but the Alan Dean Foster ones, adapting the cartoons. I owned Log One, which contained an adaptation of "Yesteryear" -- totally the best animated episode, and don't you even argue with me about it.

  • Aaron notes his ownership of the Max Allan Collins Dick Tracy novelization, which, if I recall correctly, originally did not include the villain's "big reveal" in an effort to avoid spoiling the surprise of the film. I don't remember if it was added into later printings or not. If there were later printings.

  • Michael gives his appreciation of those early Han Solo/Lando solo novels, and notes that they sorta got overlooked in the "Expanded Universe" hoohar that has since overrun the Star Wars license. I do want to note that those earlier books weren't necessarily invalidated: in one of the Expanded Universe novels that focused on Han Solo's early life, events from the Daley novels are specifically referenced.

    As I said yesterday, I didn't even read those Daley books, and yet, when I came across those events in Rebel Dawn, I still realized they were from Daley's stories. That's how much of a sad nerd I am.

  • Edward thinks back fondly upon the photo inserts novelizations used to have. I remember the novelization for Halloween II had pictures in it. That was a fun thing for sixth grade Mikester to have.

  • David Z., Harvey Jerkwater, Fnord, and no less a personage than pal Tom the Dog invoke the dread spectre of Walt Disney's Condorman...a novelization I never owned, but a film I did see during its original theatrical run. Couldn't tell you a thing about it, but I did see it. I can even tell you with whom I went to see it (my friend Stephan and his family), but couldn't describe a single frame of action.

    I do have the comic book version at the store, though. Maybe that'll refresh my memory.

  • Rob talks about the Empire Strikes Back book, which I was going to bring up yesterday just to note that it was written by Donald Glut. I remember when this came out in 1980 or thereabouts, I recognized Don Glut's name from some of the comics I'd read, and thinking, "whoa, a comic book writer...wrote a real book? No way!" My opinions of comic book writers are slightly higher now. Well, for the most part.

  • BRD and Robert remind me that I need to clarify what I meant when I was talking yesterday about a "younger reader" version of the Alien novel. I didn't specifically mean a totally rewritten version for, you know, grade schoolers or anything. I just meant that I remember a version that trimmed or altered the dirty words from the regular novel. I don't know why that stuck in my head, but I swear I saw something along those lines. Maybe I'm crazy. CrrrrrrrAAAAAAAzy...!

    But a kiddie version of Alien...hmmm, what would that be like? I wonder....

    Wonder....

    Wonder....

    "BOO!" shouted the Alien, and Ripley cried out in surprise.

    "That wasn't a very nice thing to do!" Ripley scolded, shaking her finger at the Alien. "You really scared me!"

    "Gosh," said the Alien. "I was just trying to have a little fun. I didn't mean to really frighten you!" The Alien looked sad.

    Suddenly, the rest of the Nostromo gang rushed down the hall. "Hey, I heard you shout! Is everything okay?" Dallas asked.

    "Sure, everything is fine," Ripley answered. "The Alien just tried to put a scare into me, is all."

    "Now, Alien," said Lambert, shaking her head. "What have we told you before about making friends? Friends shouldn't scare each other!"

    "I'm sorry," said the Alien. "I know now what I did wasn't very nice."

    "That's okay," said Ripley. "I accept your apology. Just to show there's no hard feelings...how would you like to come to our party? It's Jones the Cat's birthday today, and we're having cake and ice cream!"

    "Really? I love cake and ice cream!" the Alien said.

    "Then let's go!" shouted the Nostromo gang. "This is the best space-trip ever," added Brett happily.

    Okay, I gotta stop.

  • Matter-Eater Lad mentions the Star Trek: The Motion Picture adaptation, and its excessive use of italics and exclamation points. I also want to note its use of an introduction to the novel allegedly by James Kirk himself, plus extensive footnoting explaining cultural and technological details, and, well, this:

    "...Since Kirk's and Spock's friendship was unusually close, this has led to some speculation over whether they had actually indeed become lovers. At our request, Admiral Kirk supplied the following comment on this subject:

    'I was never aware of this
    lovers rumor, although I have been told that Spock encountered it several times. Apparently he always dismissed it with his characteristic arching of his right eyebrow which usually connoted some combination of surprise, disbelief, and/or annoyance. As for myself, although I have no moral or other objections to physical love in any of its many Earthly, alien, and mixed forms, I have always found my best gratification in that creature woman. Also, I would dislike being thought of as so foolish that I would select a love partner who came into sexual heat only once every seven years.'"

    In-story references to slash fiction. No, really, it's on page 22 of the original Pocket Books edition of the paperback. Is this a great hobby or what?

  • Monty says a little about "novelizations of movies based on novels," which I was actually talking with Employee Aaron about on Thursday. Specifically, I wondered if there was a novel based on the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie based on the comic book series. And lo, there is. Probably one for From Hell, too. And get ready for the novelization for the Watchmen movie. "'RRAAAARRL' snarled Rorschach as he jumped through the window."

  • And finally, suedenim brings up the Moonraker adaptation, which I'm pretty sure I owned as well. I went through a pretty serious James Bond book phase, so I either owned it or checked it out from the library. I even owned the soundtrack. Had a "movie soundtrack" phase, too, but that's a subject for another post.

By the way, in Googling up some info for this post, I discovered that there is an Adventures in Babysitting novelization. No. Freakin'. Way. How did I not know about this, and how do I not own it? Seriously. (EDIT: I probably should have also noted that the linked article is part one of a three part series on movie novelizations by Allan Mott...if you want to Read More About It, here are parts two and three.)

Again, thanks to all you folks for putting up with my little journey into nostalgia, here, and thank you for all your wonderful comments and contributions.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

"INSERT ANOTHER 'MIKE'S CLOSET' REFERENCE HERE." 

Well, I haven't felt much like talking about comics over the last day or two, hence the paperback book stuff from yesterday. If you don't mind (and even if you do, I'm going to do it anyway), I'll respond to some of the comments left:
  • Martin noted the original Star Wars novelization, famously ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster. I still have my original copy of this, though I can't remember if I got it prior to the film's release or shortly thereafter. It is something like a fourth printing, if memory serves.

    The last time I looked at it, it seemed to me that some of the more expository bits of it seemed to mesh up fairly well with the new info revealed in the prequel movies...or at least some of the elements referred to in the book felt a little more fleshed out. Well, not that Foster introduced Gungans or anything.

  • T. Hodler mentions the original E.T. novelization by William Kotzwinkle, which, as T. says, was quite good. (And, as an amusing footnote, the book prominently features the M&M candies, which were replaced by Reese's Pieces in the film when M&Ms' manufacturer decided against having their product in the film.)

    I seem to remember liking Kotzwinkle's novel sequel, The Book of the Green Planet, well enough, as we get to see more of the world E.T. came from, and the repercussions for his actions on Earth. But then, I liked the Atari game, too, so judge my opinion accordingly.

    Kotzwinkle does has a light, breezy style the makes the story go down easily and entertainingly, and after reading his novelization and sequel, I sought out his other novels and short story collections, all of which were quite good. The Fan Man is likely his most famous non-extraterrestrial book.

    More on Kotzwinkle later.

  • Bill makes me feel old by saying he wasn't sure if his parents would let him see the first Tim Burton Batman movie if it had a R rating, but luckily he had the novelization. I'm pretty sure I had it to...I think I still do, though I didn't notice it during my recent paperback survey of the house. I wasn't immune to the rampant Bat-fever sweeping our great nation at the time.

    Bill also mentions ordering books through the grade school order forms they'd periodically gave out to students. I remember doing this myself...there were two different companies we'd order from, and I remember preferring one over the other because one of them would take a lot longer to deliver. Hey, when you're 8 years old, 4 to 6 weeks is a proportionately bigger chunk of your total lifespan thus far. A month is like an eternity, man.

    I know I ordered a boatload of books through these services. The only two specific movie adaptations I remember ordering were Unidentified Flying Oddball (Disney's sci-fi knock-off of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court) and The Cat from Outer Space. I've seen neither of these films, though after seeing the cast for The Cat from Outer Space (Sandy Duncan? Harry Morgan? Roddy McDowall? Alan Young? Hans freakin' Conried? McLean Stevenson? Two M*A*S*H colonels? Well, one lieutenant colonel, anyway), I may have to reconsier.

  • Monty informs me that there exists a Grease novelization that incorporates the songs' lyrics in character dialogue, and now I must own this. That's just pure nuttiness.

    Monty, and others, also mentioned Alan Dean Foster's Alien novelization, including info and scenes not found in the film (at least, not the original version of it). This was particularly fascinating for a young Mikester who loved this movie (and still does!), as there was a whole lot left vague or unexplained, and any additional droplet of information was greatly welcomed.

    This just popped into my head, and when I have more time I'll Google around for more info, but I seem to remember that there were two different versions of Foster's novelization being marketed...one for the general adult audience, and one for the junior high/high school market (presumably with the dirty words cut out). Is this just a crazed fever dream of mine, or can anyone confirm?

  • Bobh brings up the Elliot S! Maggin Superman novels, which featured Christopher Reeve Superman covers, contained photos from the films inside...but weren't adaptations of the films. Not that I minded...the books are great.

    Bobh (along with Mike McG) also had Superman III, which is an adaptation of the film, and was written by the previously mentioned William Kotzwinkle. It wasn't a bad adaptation, as I recall...slapsticky, but then, so was the film. I do still own my copy, which I had scanned and posted when Richard Pryor passed on.

  • Customer Rob brings up the novels based on the Infocom games (as does "Just Some Guy") and notes that they weren't especially good. (Though Previously-Mentioned Monty defends the George Alec Effinger Zork novel). I did buy one of these...they were packaged under covers that resembled the Infocom packaging of the time, and as a big ol' Infocom fan, that was enough for me to try one.

    Well, that didn't go so well, as I couldn't get more than a chapter or two into it. I can't remember which one it was, unfortunately. Finding out that Effinger wrote one makes me want to look into these books again.

  • Bill Reed shamefully admits ownership of the Superman IV novelization, which I'm jealous of, though I know full well I shouldn't be. How many Atomic Men show up in the book, Bill? Did this novelization contain the deleted scenes?

  • Angin owns the Total Recall novel, by Piers Anthony. Yeah, I got it, too...another hand-me-down from the folks. It's...okay, for what it is, providing some additional background for the events in the film. But read Philip K. Dick's "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" instead.

  • Both K26dp and Sarah talk about the novels based on V, the show with the rat-eating reptillian aliens and Robert Englund as the friendly alien named Willy. I read some of these novels myself...a couple of them were notable for focusing on characters and teams not on the show who were also fighting aliens.

  • "The Thing" brings up "sequel novels," which provide more adventures with characters from the films, like, to use his example, the multiple Indiana Jones books. I didn't read those, but I did try to read the Star Wars equivalent, which started with Han Solo at Star's End by Brian Daley. I just couldn't get into it at the time (1979...I was 10), and I think I made another attempt or two later and still found it a chore. Ah, well. I know some people really like these. Maybe I'll try again at some point. (There was also a Lando Calrissian series that I never saw at the time, because otherwise I'd totally own 'em now.)

    He also blasts my mind with the knowledge that there exists a Carnosaur novel.

    What a world, what a world.

For reading all that, have a link to the weirdest film I had a novelization of.



In other news:
  • Sorry for the late update yesterday...there was another Blogger FTP outage preventing my updating of the site. Ah well.

    And while I'm blogging about blogging, I should note that if you use the online RSS feed readers Bloglines and Google Reader, you should finally be able to see the images in the feeds. I'm working on adding more readers to the "allowed" list, so please be patient. (And if you do use feeds, even after I get the images working, please still click over here once in a while and click on the ads and buy things through my Amazon links, and look at the weekly new sidebar icon/title banner, too.)

  • Happy birthday to the cocreator of Swamp Thing and Wolverine, Len Wein!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

"THE REVENGE OF MIKE STERLING'S CLOSET!" 

I do have a library in the house, with overflowing bookshelves. Primarily, though, the books tend to be hardcovers or comic strip collections or graphic novels. I have yet to put out my collection of plain ol' standard issue paperback novels, as I need to build some special shelving for them and I just haven't done it yet. In the meantime, they languish, alone and afraid in the dark, packed away in boxes and stored in the upstairs closet of horror and lament.

On Monday, when I was goin' through some of the boxes stored away in that closet, I went through the book boxes as well, and pulled out a few items of some minor interest.

First is this, a first printing of the initial installment of the long-running Wild Cards shared universe superhero saga (published in...well, it's copyrighted "January 1987," but I'm pretty sure it was out in late '86):


Boy, my copy of this is in crappy shape. I read the thing tons of times. And I have a preference for this particular cover style...later volumes (and later printings) would use Tim Truman covers, among others, which is fine. I just liked the...peculiarity of the original images. (You can decide for yourself with this Wild Cards cover gallery.)

By the way, my main purpose for pulling this out of the box is to lend it to Employee Aaron, who's been jonesing to read this series but has been having trouble getting his hands on the first volume, and who will also face dire consequences should anything happen to my book while it's in his possession.

I also had a thing for movie novelizations, which is...weird, admittedly, but for several years I actively sought them out, even for films I hadn't seen and even had no intention of seeing.

Like I said, weird.

I did see this film, on a double-bill with The Goonies, no less (and the novelization for which I also had, 'til I gave it to pal Corey...no relation to any Corey that may have been in the film):


This adaptation was written by George Gipe, who also wrote the adaptations for Gremlins and Back to the Future) (which, ahem, I also own, sadly enough). Just on a whim, I thought I'd look up Mr. Gipe on the interweb, and see what else he may have done...

...and, whoa, turns out he died in '86, from complications from a bee sting. Wow, that came as a surprise. That's too bad. Mr. Gipe also worked on a couple of Steve Martin movies, and wrote the novelization for Melvin and Howard.

Now here's a novelization I've mentioned on the site once or twice before, but I don't think I've whipped out a scan of the cover for you. It is the one, the only, the astounding Howard the Duck movie adaptation:


"FROM GEORGE LUCAS, CREATOR OF STAR WARS AND RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK" proudly reads the cover blurb.

I had a habit of saving bookstore receipts and using them as bookmarks...and it turns out the receipt for this book was still in it, 22 years later. So, here you go, proof someone spent CASH MONEY on this novel:


Exact change, even. Yeah, I was one of those kids.

Other novelizations I have or had: Buckaroo Banzai (liked it much better than the movie...but still sold it for an obscene amount of money on the eBay), Tron (I think I didn't see the movie for years after I'd read the book...I've yet to watch the film straight through from beginning to end, in fact), Raiders of the Lost Ark (mentioned before on the site that this book had "variant foil covers" -- really just different colors of covers you could choose from), The Black Hole (boy, I was fascinated with this film, even though it's crap...well, except for the kick-ass robots), all the Star Trek and Star Wars films (I think it was Return of the Jedi where they actually spelled out all of R2D2's tweets and whistles: "'ArooopTWEETwheeee!' exclaimed Artoo"), the first three Halloween movies (hand-me-downs from the parents...apparently there's a book for the fourth film, too)...

...and, of course, novelizations for the first Swamp Thing movie (written by Len Wein) and the second, Return of the Swamp Thing, written by Peter David (who included several characters named after assorted Swamp Thing artists and writers).

Any particular novelizations you folks out there have a fondness for? (Or can't believe you own...I'd like to hear that, too!)

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

"IT CAME...FROM MIKE STERLING'S CLOSET!" 

So I was rooting through some boxes in one of the closets yesterday afternoon, and came across a few items that I thought might be of interest to some of you out there in internet-land.

I found not only the copy of Legends that I received as free gift for that customer survey I filled out (as mentioned here and here), but I found a letter from DC Comics mailed to me nearly two months prior to the comic's arrival. (Yes, both the comic and the letter were still in their respective postmarked envelopes, which is how I know the dates.)

Here is the letter, mailed July 7th, 1986:


I don't remember that the survey specifically said we'd receive a copy of Crisis II (hey, it was 22 years ago), but I suppose it must have, if DC felt the need to let us know that the title of the freebie had changed.

You might be able to just barely make out a shadow near the DC logo at the top of the letter. If you were to hold it up to the light, the image of Aquaman printed on the back would come through, making him look as if he's swimming over the logo. Here's a shot of the back of the page:


In case you were wondering, my free issue of Legends was mailed on August 25th, 1986. Only cost $0.56 to ship from New York to California, first class. Ah, those were the days.

Other items I found in Mike's closet...OF DOOM were a couple of comic book related stickers, like this Marshal Law promo:


The lettering and image are actually silver on the sticker...they come out sorta bluish here.

I also found this dramatic Batman: Year One sticker:


Comic book companies don't use promo stickers enough anymore, in my opinion.

Also in that particular box was my stash of punk rock stickers. And I thought I'd had more examples of local band stickers by the Hernandez Brothers, but all I could find was this one by Jaime:


I imagine that address is no good anymore, so I wouldn't write 'em there. But here's the band's Myspace page (NOTE: autoplaying music).

Not comics, but I found a couple of my Activision patches (along with accompanying letters of congratulations). I'm still a proud member of the Save the Chicken Foundation, thank you. If you're too young to know what that means, here's your explanation.

Activision patches. Punk rock stickers. Letters from DC Comics. Don't I throw anything away?

Monday, June 09, 2008

Don't make fun of the crazy Hulk theory. 

So anyway, I was going to do this whole thing about Iron Man #178, the "Assistant Editors' Month" ish. For those of you who don't remember, "Assistant Editors' Month" was when the assistant editors got to do a little of the crazy-go-nuts things on their titles, while the regular guys or gals in charge were away at a convention. Like, say, pitting the Aunt May/Franklin Richards team against Galactus, for example. Always kinda liked that one.

But the Iron Man one is probably my favorite of the bunch. The lead story follows a group of kids who dress up as the Avengers and protect their neighborhood from crime. However, their close emulation of their idols causes a problem when the real Iron Man leaves the team, and it's decided that the kid-Avengers must also cast out their Iron Man.

Like I said, I was going to do a whole big illustrated review of the thing, but Prettyfakes beat me to it, and made pretty much all the same points I was going to make. (Plus, bonus discussion of the Assistant Editors' Month ish of Captain America!)

So go read that overview. And I really wish we had more of this kid team...I seem to remember them only appearing once or twice. If I'm wrong, set me straight. I love this story.

I will post one pic, because the little girl who's the team's Hulk analogue:


..she could totally beat the tar out of any of the other kids. I know the folks at Prettyfakes say she wasn't really trying with her costume, but, honestly, does she look like she needs to?

The Vision costume makes me laugh, too. That kid is so serious.



In other news, if I may use the term loosely:
  • I haven't Googled this up to see how widespread this theory is, but former employee Corey thinks the Red Hulk is, in fact, Betty Ross, the allegedly-deceased wife of Bruce Banner. I like that idea. Who says this particular transformation into the Hulk wouldn't, er, "do away" with, or disguise, certain gender-specific characteristics?

    In other words...if true, we've had a Marvel comic starring a topless woman for several issues. Eat it, Comics Code*!

    ...

    Yeah, I know it's a crazy idea. But it would explain the motivation behind the Red Hulk's killing of the Abomination (who had "killed" Betty in the first place).

    Don't look at me like that.

  • Speaking of the Hulk, we've got a movie opening at the end of the week. Once again, I've noticed no extra interest in Hulk comics from customers in our lead-up to the film, like with the Iron Man movie. When Iron Man came out, it was so remarkably well received some of the excitement did leak over and drive some comic sales, at least briefly. I don't know that this new Hulk flick will do the same, since general reaction to the trailers from my customers seems to be "well...it might be okay."

    But if there is some spill-over from the film, and there is some increased interest in the comics, we're in a good position. Two Hulk specials, with a third on the way this week, featuring half new Hulk stories and half reprints, plus that recently launched Red Hulk series, which ain't half-bad. Granted, the Red Hulk looks different from the movie Hulk, but the premise is simple enough to briefly explain, and the first three issues are in plentiful supply, with several reprintings. Plus Iron Man has been popping up in this series, which may not hurt.

    And we've got paperbacks for World War Hulk and Planet Hulk, and, er...Skaar, Son of Hulk is coming out this week, but we may be getting a little astray from the familiar Hulk formula at that point, which could be a hard sell to any theoretical movie-driven customers.

    At any rate, we're better off that we were with that last Hulk film, where the big promotional comics push was a 25-cent issue of Incredible Hulk that featured exactly one panel with the title character...and even then, only a glimpse of his arm. Hey, I liked Bruce Jones' run on the Hulk, which mainly kept Hulk "off-screen." I thought that was an interesting take. But boy, that sure wasn't what customers wanted who were looking for Hulk comics around the release of that film. That was bad timing.

  • Who wants free, downloadable PDFs of Rick Veitch comics? Sure, you all do! Well, Mr. Veitch has been linking to some science education comics he's been contributing to over the last few years, and I wanted to share those links with you. The comic at this link features work by Veitch, along with Josh Neufeld, Mark Evanier, and Tom Yeates, and the comic here (in the Teen Guide) has Veitch over an Evanier script.

  • I finally got around to watching the Stephen King film adaptation The Mist, starring Thomas Jane, and it's actually quite good. There is one scene when some members of the character risk the monster-inhabited mist outside their safe haven of the grocery store to get medicine from the pharmacy next door. Once inside, they pass by a comic book rack:


    Pretty happenin' pharmacy to have a rack full of Hellboy, The Goon, and Conan. Dark Horse Comics must have nailed down that pharmacy-distribution deal...good for them. By the way, Thomas Jane's character had promised his kid a comic book, and grabs a Hellboy off the rack, to reveal a copy of Bad Planet beneath. Hey, how'd that Image Comic get in there? Oh, well, Bad Planet is a co-creation of Thomas Jane, that's how.

    My eyes always go straight for the comic rack whenever I see one in a movie or TV show. I'm still bothered** by the anachronisms in Drugstore Cowboy. Zell Sworddancer, on a '70s comic rack? C'mon.


* Yes, I know Marvel doesn't submit books to the Comics Code Authority any more.

** Actually, I'm not really bothered that much.

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Yet another brief Sunday update. 

So over the last month or so, we've had a couple of people trying to sell their unopened packages of Series One Spawn figures, including multiples of this guy:


I remember when we first saw these Spawn figures back in '94, and thinking "WOW! Look at the detail on these things! These look fantastic!"

Bit different now, looking back at them after nearly a decade and a half of action figure design evolution. Those old Spawn figures look pretty primitive to my eyes, relatively speaking.

In other news, as it were:
  • Pal Tom the Cartoonist informs me that my comment regarding the possibly apocryphal nature of the story of the Kubert Art School 'zines being used as toilet paper was incorrect. He assures me that he and his fellow impoverished students did indeed use pages from those magazines for the gentle cleaning of their stinky parts. You think you know what "suffering for one's art" entails, but, really, you don't.

  • Sold out at the shop: Trinity, that Marvel Spotlight with the googly-eyed Skrulls, H.P. Lovecraft's Haunt of Fear. Nearly sold out: the latest Spawn. Not nearly sold out: Invincible Iron Man #2 - I think the bloom may be off that comics retail rose, or just about, now that the customers' excitement over the movie is no longer guiding purchasing decisions at the shop. I'm expecting an equally brief bump in demand for Hulk comics around the next week or so.

  • "Wonder Woman actress finds body on river in D.C." There's a headline I wasn't prepared to read.

This is an archive page for the old Blogger version of Progressive Ruin, kept around to maintain all the old permalinks. Please visit the main page for the current version of this site. Thanks for visiting, and sorry for the inconvenience!

Copyright © 2003-10 Mike Sterling. Some images used are copyright © their respective copyright owners.

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?