…but it’s a good link. So it seems Andrew may have found a possible inspiration for Jack Kirby’s character Flippa Dippa from the 1970s incarnation of the Newsboy Legion.
Yes, “Flippa Dippa.” The kid who wore the scuba gear all the time. Of all the weird-ass things Jack put into his comics, Flippa Dippa…well, may not crack the Top Ten of Weird-Assedness in Kirby’s work, but he’s on the list somewhere. Like, maybe at number 39. But that something very specific may have inspired Kirby to introduce this character…that’s even weirder. Anyway, go check out Andrew’s article and decide for yourself if he’s onto something, there.
So I was not having a good time of it at the shop at one point last week, and Employee Aaron left me a Post-It Note sketch to cheer me up:
Yes indeedy.
And I’ve posted pics of these before, but the originals just showed up in the mail and they’re absolutely fantastic and I wanted to scan ‘em again and show them off:
These are from internet chum Dan, and you can see more samples of his art over at his Tumblr (like Omac vs. Omac or totally awesome Metamorpho), and I’m guessing you can probably contact him through there for commissions of your own.
And before you ask…yes, I’ve been bugging both Employee Aaron and his lovely wife, who is also a talented artist, to start taking commissions. I’ll let you know as soon as they do…and it’d better be soon.
Rather, his wonderful and fun and absolutely essential weblog has turned six, which means Bully’s site is now the exact same age as Bully, the Little Stuffed Bull Who Is Also Six Years Old. Bully has been writing his site since birth, which makes all the rest of us look like the slackers we are.
Congratulations to Bully for six incredibly entertaining years! Here’s to six more, at the end of which, Bully will be…six years old still, somehow. Weird.
In other news:
In response to yesterday’s post someone took issue with my assertion that Green Arrow #12 didn’t really count as a post-Brightest Day appearance, as it was mostly rehashing events from #24 of the Brightest Day series. Well, there are appearances of Swamp Thing in this issue outside of the Brightest Day recap, but he doesn’t really do anything other than stand there and look at Green Arrow wander around and think about, you know, stuff. In fact, my first impression was that Swampy’s appearances were more symbolic than literal, though rereading the issue, it’s…well, hard to tell, really. Regardless, it doesn’t push Swamp Thing’s particular story any further, and doesn’t reflect the character’s apparent status at the end of Brightest Day #24.
In conclusion, nobody cares except me, Rich, and that commentator who asked the question and also wants me to post the forthcoming Swamp Thing variants, etc. (NOTE: I’ll post those covers eventually…what, you thought there was a danger that I wouldn’t?)
Well, my plan was to talk a little more about the whole Swamp Thing hoohar on Monday, after folks have had more of a chance to read and process the character’s reemergence in this week’s Brightest Day #24. But, as many of you have emailed, commented, and Tweeted at me about in the last 12 or so hours, there’s some other big Swamp Thing news this week: MATTEL SWAMP THING ACTION FIGURE WITH EXCLUSIVE PACKAGING AND ACCESSORIES available only at this year’s San Diego Comic Con!
OH MAN. And he comes with a case shaped like his head that apparently doubles as a mask:
It seems as if the figure may be available beyond SDCC, but the accessory Un-Men figures are exclusive to this release, such as (what appears to be) Ophidian:
…and of course, the incredible Cranius:
I mean, c’mon, who deserves a Cranius figure more than me? …Well, okay, Wein and Wrightson, but I’m a close third, dammit!
So, since it’s about as likely I’ll be able to travel to Mars as to the San Diego Comic Con, I’m gonna have to plan a way to get my mitts on this thing. Plans probably won’t involve murder and mayhem, but I guarantee nothing.
You can see the whole video presenting this beautiful thing right below:
…or if that doesn’t work, you can look at the video right here.
In other news:
So apparently there’s going to be an ongoing subplot in the Superman comics about Supes renouncing his U.S. citizenship, causing people who’ve never read Superman comics to threaten to never read Superman comics. Or something. I guess this is really, really important, somehow.
Hey, remember that time Superman died and he totally was never going to come back? …Yeah.
Andrew has a new Nobody’s Favorites entry featuring one of those characters that everyone’s heard of, but doesn’t make it any less peculiar that the character even existed in the first place.
So Kevin Church and Max Riffner contributed a swell four-page story to the Panels for Primates online anthology.
When making your Deadpool fan film, be careful with your live ammunition. REMINDER: Deadpool is a professional comic book character and his firearm frivolity should not be attempted at home. (via pal Dorian)
Bully, the little bull whom, it seems, is quite stuffed, presents: TALES OF THE SPOILER. Good spoilin’ fun for everyone!
Hey, pals Randy and Denise have a new book out: Sketch Card Mania, all about the process in producing those collectible insert cards you find in trading card sets, from two veterans of that industry! Randy and Denise are good people and fun, talented artists, and having seen the book at our shop, I can verify that it looks great. SPECIAL DEAL: if you order from Randy’s site, you will get your copies with original sketches from Randy and Denise.
Congrats to those two on the release of their book!
So Wednesday I had a customer ask me where he could find the Black Freighter comic book, as seen in the Watchmen film. “Only in Watchmen, my friend,” I told him, but I’m still really surprised no new comic-format tie-ins to the film were released. A “replica” Black Freighter comic would have been kind of neat, and perhaps not as…off-putting to the purists as, say, a Nite Owl & Silk Spectre mini-series. Well, there was that fan-made attempt at reconstructing the comic from its excerpts in Watchmen. But I suppose the Black Freighter DVD that was released made an actual comic book release redundant.
…Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m about a year out of date with this Watchmen movie tie-in talk. Look, I’ve been out of it for about a week, and this guy really did ask me this yesterday. I gotta work with what I got, man.
Also, pal Brandon passed this link along to me, and I was going to put it up as one of my sick day posts, but a quick Googling showed that it already made the rounds on some of the comic news sites. But, eh, what the hell…a song about Hollis Mason, the original Nite Owl. It ain’t too shabby.
And in all my griping over the last few days about my painful dental issues, I see I never did mention that poor ol’ Employee Aaron managed to get one of his toes broken. No, no, not as a result of a cruel and unfair punishment meted out by me for violating one of our draconian workplace rules. This time. He was doing something at home, like, I think, saving a bunch of nuns and orphans from a buffalo stampede, when he tripped and fell, and, whoops, there goes the pinkie toe. So Sir Aaron Limps-a-lot is staggering around the shop, I can’t talk to anyone because my cheek has swollen up into a hot, painful lump the size of a Ford Festiva, and Ralph has pneumonia, dengue fever and the yaws…we’re a fine bunch.
So former employee pal Sean‘s band, The Kill Junkies, just released their first album Steamroller which is available from Amazon in that convenient MP3 format. It’s more metal than a really metal thing filled with metal, so it may not be for gentler ears, but Sean’s a swell guy and I’m happy to support his creative endeavors.
And now…NAKED SUPERMAN AND BATMAN (safe for work, from a Code-approved comic)! I find the jar containing the brain of the Gorilla Boss (visible in one of the panels) to be simultaneously creepy and sad.
The pain is (mostly) gone, but I’m still pretty wiped out from a night of not really sleeping, and a day of a mouth sore from multiple novocaine injections and metal tools digging into my teeth. Hey, who has abnormally long tooth roots? THIS GUY. Anyway, I’m keeping it short today, and let’s hope for a fresh start next week, without any unexpected medical shenaniganery.
BEHOLD:
On one hand, DC Comics is dropping prices on many $3.99 titles down to $2.99. On the other hand, stories are dropping down to 20 pages from 22. Not sure how I feel about that, especially since, unless sales increase significantly across the board, this is only delaying the inevitable line-wide price increase. At the very least, this creates some breathing room to decide what to do next, which hopefully won’t be 20 pages for $3.99.
Judging from the reaction I’ve seen online, 20 story pages is less of a disincentive than the higher cover price, which only makes sense…no one wants to pay more money for funnybooks, especially in this economy. But I do worry a bit about the lack of perceived value. Is the loss of two pages really that big of a deal? Depends on the book, I guess…I’m not going to want to see three or four splash pages in one story any more, unless there’s darn good reason for it. Related: will there be a trend away from decompressed storytelling in the periodical market because of the page count decrease?
…Just some of the random thoughts that came to mind…when I’m fully functioning again, I’ll try to ponder it further. Plus, I’ll probably run the news past some of my customers, and get some feedback from them.
Also…was it Jenette Kahn who said that when she took over as publisher of DC, one of the first things she wanted to do is increase the page count from 17 to 23 pages, and give the kids more bang for their half-buck? That’s my memory, anyway…this current situation brought that to mind, for some reason.
One other thing: that new Jimmy Olsen back-up in Action Comics better spin off into its own series, if it’s losing its slot due to the price/page drop. I think we’re all down with a new Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen comic book series by that creative team.
And another other thing: Marvel announced that they’ll stick to $2.99 for new series starting in 2011. No word on page count, but I’m guessing they’ll keep at 22 pages, for now, just to stick it a little to DC.
Give my pal Euge twelve bucks for his new album:
Limited edition CD of awesome nerdrap, with bonus disc and button, plus immediate digital downloads. GIVE THE MAN YOUR MONEY. (You can also listen to all the tracks from the main disc, in full, on that page.)
BONUS: Unexpected Swamp Thing reference in one of the songs! I ain’t tellin’ you where.
which is available from Amazon in that convenient MP3 format. It’s more metal than a really metal thing filled with metal, so it may not be for gentler ears, but Sean’s a swell guy and I’m happy to support his creative endeavors.
