mike sterling's progressive ruin

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Sluggo Saturday #20. 

SLUGGO SNEERS

AT YOUR "POWER NAPS"



from Nancy and Sluggo 189 (January 1963)

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Friday, September 18, 2009

It's a little early for Halloween... 

...but dig this crazy horror record ad from 1973:


It's a little Hieronymus Bosch meets Jack Chick, kinda sorta. Okay, maybe not Bosch, I was just trying to get all fancypants on you, there. And fine, maybe not so much Chick, either. It's more like "aw, crap, we need some filler art for this Halloween record ad...anyone here in the office got a free minute?" But in fairness, they probably spent more time on the art than in editing the copy. "Haloween" indeed.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

And now...Conan the Barbarian puffy stickers from 1984. 


Let us open the Tome of Conan Stickers,

and see what we find:


The exciting puffy Conan logo.


"Oh, wow, man, there's my logo up there above me, and there's another beneath my feet, too. Far out."


Conan takes his lion-creature-thing for a brisk run around Cimmeria State Park.


"Conan finds your Lex Luthor cosplay to be inadequate! EAT MACE."


CROTCH ATTACK IS GO.

Oh, if only there were some kind of "facial injury" sticker I could add to my collec...

...Ah, there we go.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Yes, that's a Brady Bunch reference. 

Coming this week to finer comic shops, and even to ours, too:


It's John Stanley, it's Nancy, it's awesome. Hopefully the reproduction looks a little better than the much-too-dark faux-yellowing of the pages evident in the Free Comic Book Day sampler advertising this release, but even still, it's a must-have. Well, at least for me, I don't know about you.

Some other things due out today:
  • Batgirl #2 - Boy, looking at internet reaction you'd think Batgirl #1 kicked over everyone's trashcans and set fire to their pets. But it sure sold well here, through our initial order and a reorder or two. Let's see if folks come back for the second ish.

  • Batman and Robin #4 - Grant Morrison's still writing, Philip Tan is filling in for Frank Quitely on art chores. Should still be a great read.

  • Blackest Night #3 - September's been a bit moribund for us, but, ironically enough, this comic book about dead people should perk things up a bit. The customers are really into this series and the tie-ins.

  • Brave and the Bold #27 - This is the first issue written by J. Michael Straczynski, and hopefully it'll grab more folks than did his Red Circle relaunch. Well, it does have Batman in it, so already has bit of an advantage. But B&B sales never really recovered from losing the Waid/Perez team, so we'll see if this reverses the trend. Plus, this issue has "Dial H for Hero" in it, and I'm a sucker for that.

  • Captain America Reborn #3 - The second issue was a strong seller, and #1 is moving pretty well out of the back issue bins. Still pretty much just to the regulars, though...just because there's "mainstream coverage," that doesn't mean the mainstream's gonna be diverted through our doors. But hell, our customers are buying it, so I can't complain.

  • Citizen Rex #3 - New issue of Mario and Gilbert Hernandez's fun sci-fi mystery mini-series is due out today. I'm always afraid this is going to get overlooked among all the event comics hoohar and the fact that this is coming from a publisher folks don't normally associate with the Bros. (though Dark Horse has published Gilbert's stuff before).

  • Galactica 1980 #1 - I'm still having trouble wrapping my brain around the fact that there's a comic book version of this. I mean, sure, why not. Doctor Zee deserves his comic book face time, too (so long as he doesn't jinx anything).

  • Johnny Boo: Happy Apples HC - Another James Kochalka kids book...Kochalka's work always sells, so I'm happy to have it.

  • Marvel Zombies Return #3 - Yeah, this is over now. Sales aren't even a patch on the first two series. However, I think once it's in trade form and racked with the other volumes, it'll probably do well. Unless people are completely sick of the zombie thing by then. Next trend? I predict "mariachis." "Say, do you have the Mariachi Variant for Dark Alpha Flight #3?" "Why, sure I do! Look, they're playing a quinceaƱera!"

  • Vengeance of Moon Knight #1 - Giving it another go, I see. Marvel even put out one of those freebie "story thus far" booklets for Moon Knight that retailers could give away. I wonder if that'll help any.

  • Vincent Price Presents #12 - This series has yet to top the line "the android is the opposite of the vampire" from the first issue, but we still have a great fondness for this comic as we all take turns reading from it in our best (i.e. terrible) Vincent Price voices.

  • Watchmen Movie Silk Spectre Deluxe Wig - Yeah, so? What's it to you?

  • Yotsuba Vol. 6 - Like Achewood last week, here's another book the west coast is getting after everyone else. Well, folks have waited this long for it...what's another week?



Also released this week is a shocking 11-page preview for issue #3 of America's Gorilla-est Comic, El Gorgo! If you read only one comic about a luchador gorilla scientist, make sure it's this one!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

FISTBUSTER. 

So in response to my post from the other day talking about "anti-sign" superhero logos, Adam noted that '80s Superman supporting character Gangbuster had such a logo:


Yes, that's right, Gangbuster just hated fists:


So look out, Kit Fisto! Look out, Iron Fist! Look out, Fist of the North Star! Look out, Fisto! Look out, F.I.S.T.! Gangbuster will find you, and defeat you with...er, well, fisticuffs. OH THE IRONY.



  • Men weep, women swoon, and children cry out in terrified delight, for the new War Rocket Ajax podcast has been unleashed. Join Chris Sims and Eugene Whose-Last-Name-Is-Ahn as they toe that restraining order line with classy cartoonist Colleen Coover! Delete all those other lousy podcasts from your iZune, and put this on instead. You won't regret it.

  • Related: take a look at these Man-Thing sketches by Coover and studio-mate Jeff Parker. WARNING: cutest Man-Thing drawing ever at link.

  • So that guy Kevin Church just started a new year-long webcomic project with artist T.J. Kirsch: She Died In Terrebone: A Sam Kimimura Mystery. Promises to be good 'n' moody...kicks off with daily strips introducing the cast, then moves to a once-a-week schedule.

  • There's a new group comics blog in town, this one masterminded by Alan David Doane: it's Trouble with Comics, featuring a heapload of established funnybook bloggers. It's just starting out, so we're just barely past the introductions, but let's see where it goes. Good luck, guys!

  • Andrew has a new installment in his Nobody's Favorites series, and it's a good'un. It's a character that even made it onto Smallville, somehow...though to be honest, the character feels more like it belonged on Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, which is a weird distinction I'm not sure I'm up to explaining. Probably something about the character's particular motivation fitting more with the goofy romantic soap opera elements of the older TV show than the running-in-place "will Clark ever learn to be a hero?" elements of the newer show.

    That's a lot of evading any clues as to whom Andrew is discussing, I realize. Though I imagine some of you guessed already, if you haven't clicked the link.

  • I sold pal Dorian a bunch of cheap black-and-white-boom era funnybooks, and Dor just started to have some fun with them.

  • Which reminds me: I've been joking about how Boom! Studios should start a special black and white imprint and call it "The Black and White BOOM!" I've been bothering the employees with this, and now it's on the site and out of my system. Also, I'm the only one who's amused by this, so I apologize.

  • Via Neilalien: half-n-half Peter Parker/Spider-Man "Spider-sense...tingling!" costume. It's damn near perfect.

  • So I always link to Dave's Space Cabby Sunday posts, which you should be reading because, well, look at you -- you're clearly not getting your required allotment of Space Cabby intake. But dig this: Ken Lowery was doing $1 Terrible Sketches at a convention in support of his project The Variants, and Dave picked up a Terrible Space Cabby Sketch, which is awesome.

  • I too mail-ordered a Terrible Sketch from Mr. Lowery, and friends, I got my money's worth:


    He's saying "Just as I suspected. POGs."

    This drawing is Terrible, and I love it.

  • A special thanks to Reader Sharon, who was nice enough to gift Progressive Ruin Headquarters with Volume 2 of the Swamp Thing TV show DVDs. That was very nice, and much appreciated!

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Monday, September 14, 2009

She totally is! 

And now...some excerpts from DC Comics' New Releases flyer from July 1986:




the Truk in question














Sunday, September 13, 2009

"NO APPEAL NO PAROLE" 


promotional advertisement sent to retailers (October 1986)

While this is all-around bad-ass, the most bad-ass thing about it must be the fact that the drawing attached to the logo - the "anti" sign over the vial of crack - appears to be what the 'Busters are actually wearing on their chests. No questioning of purpose with these guys.

I'm trying to picture similar logos for other superheroes, except that most super-types tend to be a little more open regarding the scope of their activities. Though I keep picturing Superman with a chest logo of an "anti" sign over a bald scientist's face. He had to deal with a couple of different bald scientists early on, you know.

I was thinking a "no guns" emblem for Batman, but that doesn't seem quite right. Maybe an anti-sign over a picture of a young Bruce kneeling between his dead parents, right smack dab center on Batman's chest. ...Yeah, okay, that's a bit morbid. But you get the idea.

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