Breaking news!

§ December 21st, 2010 § Filed under sir-links-a-lot § 12 Comments


So the big news from yesterday’s release of DC Comics’ March 2011 solicitations is that, finally…finally we’re getting Sugar and Spike archive editions. Well, one volume at least, anyway, reprinting issues #1 through #10 at an admittedly-dear $59.99, but that still works out to about six bucks an issue, and if you’re buying these issues right now for six bones apiece out of a store’s back issue bin, let me know where you shop because I’m totally going there. Otherwise, that seems like a bargain to me, to get some recolored classic Sheldon Mayer work in a format that won’t feel like it’s about to crumble beneath my fingertips.

In other forthcoming funnybook announcement news, more books for the next Free Comic Book Day are now posted on the official FCBD site, with some interesting offerings to be found there. Of course the usual reliable suspects make their appearances (like the consistently entertaining Bongo Comics Simpsons/Futurama comic, and another surely-great John Stanley sampler from Drawn & Quarterly) and some surprises (Viper Comics’ Inspector Gadget seems like one that’ll go over well), and some “oh, not again” ones ( ::cough:: Overstreet ::cough::). And then there’s the Heroclix figurine giveaway:


“BEWARE MY POWER, BIG CUCUMBER’S MIGHT”

In even more other news:

  • Nothing says “Christmas” like a gorilla luchadore, and by God, the El Gorgo guys have got you covered. Are you quite ready for the El Gorgo Christmas Special, available to read completely for free?
  • Here’s a Christmastime contest giveaway where one lucky winner can win the entire five-volume Batman No Man’s Land trade paperback series. Four runners-up will be punished with receive Ghost Rider/Wolverine/Punisher: Hearts Of Darkness. Anyway, that’s a whole lotta Batman to get for free, so take a chance, why don’cha.
  • Gerry over at CO2 Comics has a list of Christmas comic wishes for Santa. (Gerry also reveals that he regularly performs as Santa for events and at malls and such…I can’t imagine a job that is as simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking as being Santa and listening to kids’ Christmas wishes. Good on him that he does this.)
  • Hey, it’s the War Rocket Ajax Christmas special, guest-starring Matt Fraction! …I haven’t linked to this podcast in a while. I’m sorry. It’s still going, you know. And it’s still pretty good. They got a new guy co-hosting. He’s working out alright.
  • Dirk Deppey, former Comics Journal editor and longtime “Journalista” weblogger has been laid off by Fantagraphics, and will be ending his run on Journalista this Wednesday. I started my mornings with his comic news linkblogging and sardonic commentary for years, and it’s a shame he’ll no longer be writing that column.

    On a more personal note, I attribute a lot of this very site’s early (and continuing) success to Deppey’s singling me out, way back when in Journalista 1.0 (prior to the column’s brief hiatus) as “definitely one of the better new comics bloggers to emerge so far this year,” a quote I still desperately hang onto with both hands despite my emergence being seven years in the past. It was that bit of encouragement and his willingness to link approvingly to things I’d written that made me realize maybe, just maybe, this dumb website of mine may actually be of some value and / or amusement to folks outside my immediate circle of friends. (And that it was from an official representative of The Comic Journal, a magazine I’d been enjoying and admiring for years…well, consider my mind blown.) So, whether Mr. Deppey wants to take the blame or not, he’s a big part of the reason why I’m even still here, doing whatever it is I do.

    Thanks, Dirk, for all the work you’ve done over the years, and I certainly hope and expect to see more from you in the future!

12 Responses to “Breaking news!”

  • Dirk Deppey says:

    You are, of course, entirely welcome.

  • Ian @ TRO says:

    Thanks for the link, Mike!

  • Ian @ TRO says:

    oh, and I am more than reasonably excited for that Sugar and Spike volume. I wonder if this means we’ll see them in our next Crisis crossover.

  • chasdom says:

    “…to get some recolored classic Sheldon Mayer work…”

    We probably won’t know if it’s recolored until it comes out. Both Starman Archives 2 and Robin Archives 2 were scanned and not restored.

    Still, excellent news, these comics are impossible to find at any reasonable price.

  • Andres says:

    RE: Sugar and Spike
    As someone who has heard good things about the series but hasn’t read it before $60 + tax for ten issues (which may or may not be restored) is way too high. It’s pretty tough justifying spending that much on a whim.

  • MarkAndrew says:

    Man, that really sucks. I read Journalista every day. (Although I haven’t signed up at the TCJ site, yet. So I can’t comment over there.)

  • Teresa says:

    Big Cucumber? What’s the rating on that movie going to be?

  • BobH says:

    Hopefully someone at DC is smart enough to realize that people unfamiliar with Sugar & Spike but curious will want a sample before buying a $60 book. Now that they’ve got the digital comics thing going, they should toss some S&S stuff up as free downloads (maybe some of the 4-6 page stories), and maybe one or two full issues up for whatever their standard price is.

  • Tom Mason says:

    @ Bob H: Totally agree. They won’t lose anything and it’s a way to drum up interest in something that really hasn’t been seen in over 30+ years. And when you think of how many bloggers would link to a free S&S 6 pager…

    @ Mike S.: Also totally agree about Dirk. His site is/was a must-read in my a.m. surfing and it was how I found yours (and dozens of others).

  • Michael Grabowski says:

    Sugar & Spike is good fun kids comics that grown-ups can enjoy too, but like the John Stanley Library from D & Q, the high investment price will keep anyone from actually sharing this book with their kids. Also, is anyone so familiar with the work that they know that volume 1 will be great as opposed to a hypothetical later edition when Mayer may have really hit his stride? (A consistent problem with these kinds of archives is that the first volume of work isn’t always the best one to start with.) Maybe if enough buzz is created though, DC will try something like Dark Horse’s Little Lulu format, which is probably far more suitable for the material.

  • Mike Nielsen says:

    As others have said, I would love a cheaper format. I’d really like a big old 500 page Showcase of the stuff that I can give my nephew. Something he can read and re-read until it falls apart in his hands. And color in if the mood hits him.

  • BobH says:

    No worries on the early stuff not being the best place to start, which I agree is a problem with a lot of stuff (did the Captain Marvel Archives ever got to the really good stuff?). Mayer is strong with the first story of the first issue, and several of the best stories of the series are in the first ten issues. If I were putting together a “Best of S&S” volume there would be some later stories (especially to include Bernie the Brain), but most if it would be from the first 30 issues.