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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!
So in the animated DC Comics logo attached to their films, you see…
A close-up of a woman’s eye:
A grimacing face:
And someone totally getting clocked:
Comics!
The
animated logo attached to Superman Returns is slightly different, and it seems to me that the flashing images changed according to the movie the logo is attached to, but the few DC DVDs I have either use the first logo above, don’t have
any flashing images, or (like in the
Watchmen film) display the logo in a fashion more fitting to the film’s design. If there are other variations on the images used, feel free to let me know.
Anyway, this just came to mind as I was watching the Superman/Shazam! – The Return of Captain Marvel DVD
(or Blu-ray
), which wasn’t too bad considering the main feature was mostly just flying dudes punching each other, but it was flying dudes punching each other and presented reasonably well, and sometimes that’s all you’re in the mood for. It is a shame that the only animated versions of Captain Marvel we’ll likely ever see in the future will be “like Superman, only with the brain of a kid,” and very little of the whimsy and humor of the original C.C. Beck stories. I did appreciate the emphasis on Billy Batson’s own unwavering good spirits in the face of continuing adversity…and the reveal of one of Captain Marvel’s most beloved supporting characters near the end of the story.
The other short DC Showcase features from previous DC animated releases are included on the disc, which allowed me to finally see that Green Arrow short that wasn’t included on the Netflix version of Superman/Batman: Apocalypse. That was a fun little adventure, too, though it reminds you that Green Arrow has two whole arch-nemeses, and they’re both here. Also, at one point Green Arrow introduces himself as “Green Arrow, Justice League of America,” which amused me for some reason (but fitting, considering the political situation he finds himself in).
Special features are episodes from DC’s various TV series, focusing on characters from the other straight-to-DVD shorts on the disc (like the Captain Marvel episode of Justice League Unlimited). Of particular note is the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode “Chill of the Night,” which should totally put lie to the criticisms that this version of Batman is “just for kiddies.” It’s a damned brutal episode, focusing on Batman’s origin which, there’s no getting around it, involves the shooting murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents:
You see the gun fire, twice, and you see Thomas Wayne collapse, in silhouette:
I don’t think the ’90s
Batman: The Animated Series was even this explicit…if I recall correctly, the most you got there was a distant aerial view of the alley and the flash of gunshots. (And then there was also a dream sequence image of the alley rising up and turning into a giant gun, with a river of blood pouring out of the barrel, which was…something else, admittedly. Might have been the same episode, come to think of it. …You know
where to correct me.)
Anyway, the Brave and the Bold episode involves the Phantom Stranger and the Spectre:
…and their respective beliefs that Batman is either going to seek justice or vengeance in his quest to uncover the killer of his parents. And even though you
know how it’s going to turn out, the journey Batman undergoes through the episode is a fairly intense one.
Nice touches: Adam “Batman” West and Julie “Catwoman” Newmar doing voice work as Bruce Wayne’s parents. And this genuinely touching and fantastic sequence of a mystically time-transported Batman fighting crime side-by-side with his dad:
How awesome is that? “
Very” is the correct answer.
Also, a quick Googling shows that this is old news, but I didn’t notice this in the DC Showcase intro sequence until this particular viewing:
Hello there, Bruce Timm, DC animation producer/writer/animator/etc.!
from Adventure #413 (Dec 1971) by John Albano, Art Saaf & Bob Oksner
In other news:
SLUGGO SMITH
INTERNET SECURITY CONSULTANT
from Nancy and Sluggo #123 (June 1955)
“Dude, didn’t see you standing there. Oh, you
did hear that. Wow, that’s some good hearing you got there. But, no, really, the swamp’s
great. Looks really…nice. Like what you’ve done with the place. Honest. …So, um, how y’doin’?
…C’mon, Jade, help me out here.”
“No way…you’re on your own.”
“Gee, thanks.”
from Infinity Inc. #46 (Jan 1988) by Roy Thomas, Vince Argondezzi & Tony DeZuniga
There may be a few SPOILERS ahead…check with a doctor before proceeding:
- Dungeons & Dragons #2 – I haven’t checked…any beholders in this issue? Anyone? …Anyone?
- Oh, hello there, three Green Lantern comics in one week. The main title, Green Lantern, reintroduces one of my favorite GL villains…one that I initially encountered when I first got into the character, decades ago, so it’s good to see him back. Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #5 has that wonderful blood-spewing cover I End-of-Civilizationed a few months back, and you can’t say the interior doesn’t deliver on the promise of that image. I haven’t read the Green Lantern/Plastic Man team-up comic yet, but it’s by Marv Wolfman and Brent Anderson, and it teams up Green Lantern and Plastic Man…unless it actually explodes into flames in my hands, I expect I’ll probably enjoy this.
- Time Masters: Vanishing Point #5 – And hello there, surprise end-of-story villain reveal right there on the cover! I don’t know if it’s more annoying that his appearance is spoiled on the cover, or that despite being on the cover, he doesn’t do much more than show up in time for a “to be CONCLUDED” at the comic’s end.
Okay, it’s not really a spoiler for anyone who read the original solicitation, announcing his presence in the comic, but that solicit kinda implies more than a meet ‘n’ greet, y’know?
(Still not as bad a spoiler cover as this.)
- Green Hornet #11 – Don’t really have anything to say about the comic, but have I mentioned that I seem to be the only person on the planet who thinks this forthcoming Green Hornet movie looks like it might be kind of fun? I mean, that’s okay if I think that, right?
- Strange Tales 2 #3 – The story written by the late Harvey Pekar made me sad. Sorta caught me by surprise…I’d forgotten he was going to have anything in this issue. Totally picked the perfect character to write about, too. And it was nice that they dedicated the issue to him. Also, Ivan Brunetti’s cover, featuring all your favorite Marvel characters, is pretty great.
- So I’m gonna pull Black Panther: Man Without Fear #513 for all our comic saver customers who get Daredevil, and hope they don’t decide to drop the book now that Daredevil isn’t in it. …Or is he in it? He’s on the cover, sorta. But his name’s not in the title, so I’m expecting numbers on this book to dip down to where Black Panther usually sells. Not that Daredevil was doing all that great in the first place…#512 kinda gathered dust, for some reason.
- John Byrne’s Next Men #1 – Man, that was a lotta recap. Well, it has been, what, fifteen years at least since it’s been on the stands? Anyway, wasn’t bad, but will likely just sell to the few remaining people in the comics marketplace who remember reading the series the first time around.
Is there anyone out there reading this post for whom this new issue was their first exposure to John Byrne’s Next Men? Let me know…I’m curious what you thought of it.
- Tales of the Green Lantern Corps Vol. 3 TPB – Oh, man, they’re reprinting those post-Crisis issues of GL by Englehart and Staton, with the introduction of Kilowog and the arrival of Ch’p and Arisia and the rest of the GL Get-Along Gang on Earth. I hope they end up reprinting the entire run, because it’s awesomely bonkers (and the post at that link doesn’t even start to get into the crazy stuff).
- Superman #706 – It’s Perry White Vs. That Newfangled Internet News Blogging All The Kids Are Into, in a comic that probably works better than it really should. The art’s a bit awkward, the resolution a bit pat, but it does touch upon something a little ethically untenable regarding the Superman milieu. The plot revolves around a popular blogger questioning the Planet’s relationship with Superman, and where it’s a bit inappropriate and…unprofessionally intimate, especially where Lois Lane’s concerned. And we watch Perry try to resolve this mess, while we, the reader, realize…uh, that blogger’s kinda onto something, with, um, that whole “Clark Kent works for the Planet, is married to Lois, writes stories about Superman, and, oh, right, is also Superman” kind of thing.
Of course, this will go the way of the whole Clark Kent’s unused passport boondoggle and that’ll be that. Phew, close one, Clark!
1. “Completion certificate may be awarded.” “
May.” “Whether you complete the training or not” feels very implied, here.
2. “This is the AMERICAN WAY not oriental.” I…um, oh dear.
3. I’m assuming the name “Americo” is a play on “judo.” Take that, Juds!
EDIT: 4. It seems pal Andrew covered the same ad in his own inimitable way a few years back. Recommended reading!
classified ad from DC Comics (November 1984)
So I was doing my usual retail tour in my not-yet-panicking-but-soon rounds of Christmas shopping, and I made one of my two-or-three times yearly visits to the local giant toy store franchise. And of course, I found myself by that one shelf in the action figure aisle set aside for those toys forgotten by both God and man…prices usually slashed, sometimes not (though the price cut is inevitable, as the dust piles upon them, the packages worn from handling). Here are a few that caught my eye:
Hellboy II: Princess Nuala:
That was the first one to grab my attention. There sure were a lot of these on the shelves (along with one figure of that goblin in the cart). Nicely done action figure, but overlooked in favor of Hellboy, Abe Sapien, and the other monster figures, I’m guessing. Or just overproduced for assortments.
Heroes: Exploding Man Peter:
Handful of these warming the pegs…good luck moving this hideous thing now that the series has been over for a year, and not liked for nearly four years.
The Jonah Hex movie action figures:
Surprisingly, there were a
bunch of the Megan Fox figures on the shelves, and only a couple of the Jonah Hex and Turnbull. These figures didn’t look too bad, actually…unlike the movie, which was too long even at 72 minutes.
The Spirit – The Octopus action figure:
As the
only person on the planet who liked the movie, that essentially makes me the one-man target audience for this action figure, and I
still didn’t buy it. But it’s pretty amazing, I have to admit.
Watchmen Kubrick sets:
Two sets, three figures each, $19.99 a pop. Dr. Manhattan sees a price reduction in these items’ futures.
And this next item wasn’t a leftover toy, I don’t think…it was on the shelf facing the previous toys, and looked like it was still part of an active line. I’d known about it, but this was the first time I’d seen in person the giant f’-off Marvel Universe Galactus figure:
It’s ginormous, stupid, and beautiful, all at the same time. It’s also fifty bones, which, alas, I wasn’t about to drop when I’m shopping for presents for other folks.
Other figures from the land of unloved toys: a bunch of Prince of Persia figures, from a film which is pretty much done and gone now; those 3 1/2 inch figures from the Star Trek reboot movie, which seem so quaint and backwards now that most figures are larger and more detailed; and the Tron: Legacy figures, which…whoops, sorry, those weren’t on the close-out shelves. Getting ahead of myself, there.
The upraised red-colored fist and the red star seem at odds with the overtly-capitalist “MAKE $$$” blurb, but who am I to judge?
And how would you make money with it, anyway? “Hold on, let me untwist that bottlecap for you!” [one bionically untwisted bottlecap later] “That’ll be $1.50, please.” Or extortion, of course: “Give me your money or you’ll get such a bionic tweak!”
I wonder what this actually was. It was only a buck back in 1977, which I realize is the equivalent of, what, $1300 today (well, okay, about three and a half bucks), which wouldn’t cover the cost of much of a toy, even a cheapie plastic one. Maybe it was one of these? I suppose you could make money reaching through sewer grates for coins with one of these.
Which does make me wonder what the “make $$$” come-on was with this item. Maybe a sheet describing how to market your item for sale, whatever it would be, like this dude did.
And I don’t know if the whole thing is “guaranteed,” or just the “life-like” nature of the bionic hand — excuse me, “bi-onic hand” — is guaranteed. “This hand isn’t fleshy to the touch at all…and I find its movements stiff and unnatural. Please return my one dollar purchase price at your earliest convenience.”
On top of all that…what if the bionic hand wasn’t in your control? ‘Hey, my bionic hand finally showed up in the mail…OH GOD IT’S STRANGLING ME”
…
So, the bionic hand…put that on your Christmas lists, kids!
classified ad from DC Comics, October 1977
So former employee Jeff helped me out the other day in going through a bunch of boxes trying to find a comic book that came out during a specific month and year, for a customer seeking the “birth month” comic for a friend’s birthday. (I didn’t bother explaining that the comic actually came out a couple of months prior to the date on the cover, since I didn’t want to be “that guy” at the shop. I reserve my “that guy”-ness for this site.) Anyway, Jeff said that, in return for his help, he’d like me to say something nice about him here, since I never seem to do so. And I agreed. Therefore:
Former employee Jeff probably isn’t an axe murderer.
There you go, Jeff. Hope you enjoyed it!
In other news:
- Just became aware of this webcomic: Mystery Solved – “the webcomic of skepticism and adventure,” it says. Well, that sounds right up my alley…especially this story which takes on ghost “investigators.” Man, those dudes annoy me.
- I suspect you already know that the Thor movie trailer is officially released, as opposed to the “leaked” trailer that was out a few months ago. In fact, at first I thought this new trailer was going to be the same, but no, there are some new shots of swell Thor action in there. Not that I ever saw that original leaked trailer, because that would have been wrong.
Anyway, this is yet another movie that’s going to be presented in “3-D” (i.e. higher ticket prices for a crappier movie-going experience). Does anyone actually like these 3-D effects? I only hear complaints about how it muddies up the picture, and the glasses suck, etc. etc. Oh, and it says “2-D in select theatres” — I have yet to see a movie offered in 3-D at a theatre that didn’t also have it in 2-D. But I’ve hardly been going from venue to venue doing surveys, so maybe I missed something.
Here’s the official site, which is mostly just a portal to the trailer, and also has some neat animation and sound and doesn’t resize itself properly to my browser window, and one of those things probably isn’t an intended feature.
- Speaking of trailers, here’s one for the Batman: Arkham City video game, featuring one of Batman’s oldest villains.
- And then there was this Conan O’Brien segment where Conan calls Bat Lash, Ultra the Multi-Alien, Captain Boomerang, and Space Ranger “lame,” and there was no forgiveness, not ever again. Well, okay, he might have a point about Ultra. And maybe Captain Boomerang. And, oh, fine, Space Ranger, too. But not Bat Lash! Not Bat Lash. Bite your tongue, Mr. Fancy-Pants TV Guy!
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