And now, a special message from Disturbingly Off-Model Superman, Robin, and Batman.
No, seriously, you need at LEAST three copies.
So, yeah, sorry about that post yesterday. I really meant to keep it short, honest, but, you know, get me talking about Swamp Thing, and look what happens. But at least I do it here, where you all have avenues of escape, and not at the store, where I could possibly corner some poor bastard and discuss Patchwork Man continuity for half an hour.
I answered a couple of questions in yesterday’s comments already, but let me address a couple more here today:
Dwayne the Canoe Guy asks:
“I saw today that Tamga.com is selling a discount subscription to Swamp Thing and recently featured Justice League. Tanga normally discounts boardgames & novelty electronics. Does this discounting indicate that DC is desperate?”
I’d say the fact that DC restarted all their books with new #1s was already a pretty good sign of desperation. But no, offering cheap subscriptions to comics on a discount deal site sounds more like loss-leading promotion than “oh dear God someone please buy our comics.” It’s just another venue to hawk their wares, rather than just pushing their offerings through the usual places.
eee-gah wants to know, in response to my slightly snarky comment about blood ‘n’ guts in DC’s superhero books:
“Has anyone ever complained to you at the shop about the level of gore in a random DC book?”
No, not really “complained” as such. The few people who have noted it usually do so with a sense of…bemusement. Like, “oh, look what DC did THIS time.” But I haven’t had any angry parents stomp into the store and gripe that their precious Little Billy picked up a copy of Teen Titans: Risk – A Call to Arms #1 and was offended by all the violence therein. But I have had a parent complain about Lesbian Batwoman, so I guess I know where the lines are drawn in our neighborhood.
Also…it’s been a while since this happened, but I always like to mention that one mother who complained that the Spider-Man comics her son was reading were “too sexy.” Specifically, the Steve Ditko Spider-Man comics her son was reading in reprints. That’s probably the one and only time that particular complaint was leveled at Ditko’s Spidey.
Okay, so you’ve read Fake AP Stylebook, you’ve bought your mandatory three copies per household of the Fake AP Stylebook book Write More Good, and maybe some of you are following our lonely, lonely Twitter feed The Content Farm. Now, The Bureau Chiefs bring you…Fake Pew Research, featuring improbable statistics for an intractable society.
Anyway, as pal Dave L. so accurately puts it, it’s just another goofy thing we’re doing to make each other laugh, and hopefully it’ll make some of you laugh too.
I really didn’t mean for this Swamp Thing post to go on for this long.
Note: post contains spoilers for the ending of Brightest Day, in case you haven’t read it yet.
So to the surprise of absolutely no one, I have a Google alert set up for any occurrences of the phrase “Swamp Thing” that should come along. And, in my feed reader one day, I happened to spot a tantalizing excerpt from an article entitled “Should I pick up the Relaunch Issue 1 of Swamp Thing?” but when I clicked to read the whole thing, it had already been deleted.
However, thanks to the wonders of the Google Cache, I managed to recover it (pardon the highlighted words…those are the search terms I used to track down this article):
I realize the new Swamp Thing #1 has already come and gone, but a second print is on the way, so if this person passed the first time, maybe he has a second chance. I also realize this person is an…Enthusiastic Capitalizer of Words, but, you know, me too, so Who Am I to Judge?
Let’s try to answer this person’s query:
First off, my friend, Swamp Thing’s status as a White Lantern is likely limited to just the Brightest Day series itself, along with tie-ins books such as the Green Arrow issues you mentioned. If you are looking for “The Further Adventures of White Lantern Swamp Thing,” that’s likely not to happen. The Brightest Day/White Lantern stuff was the method by which Swamp Thing was reintroduced to the current DC Universe, and not intended as an ongoing part of the character.
…I mean, as far as I can determine. You can never tell if, one day, someone at DC decides we need to see “The Return of White Lantern Swamp Thing!” and lo, there he is, fighting Dex-Starr or whatever. But it doesn’t seem likely.
Next you say that you hate “horror films and comics.” Unfortunately, if that’s the case then Swamp Thing may not be your cup of tea, as it’s definitely headed in a horror direction. However, as the series is being published as part of DC’s standard superhero universe, the blood and gore and eviscerations will probably be kept to a minimum, if that’s the concern. (They tend to save that for the more traditional superhero series.) It will still be a horror book, however, with weird monsters and creepiness and suspense and all that jazz, so if that’s not your thing, well…it’s not your thing, I guess.
Swamp Thing himself is not an evil creature who goes around killing people and being scary…I mean, not usually. He’s certainly not evil. Sometimes he kills people, but usually only if they have it comin’…you know, like Wolverine.
The comparison between Godzilla and Swamp Thing as “forces of nature” is an interesting one, as Godzilla is sometimes considered an allegory for atomic weaponry and warfare, and Swamp Thing can been seen as…the environment rising up against those who did it wrong, I guess? I mean, that’s not all Swamp Thing was (especially at the beginning), but that was part of it. Also, noted Swamp Thing scribe Alan Moore once drew Godzilla and it was awesome.
But while Swamp Thing is a force of nature “you don’t screw with,” he usually doesn’t go looking for things to avenge…mostly he just wants to live in peace, but (and it’d be a boring comic if he didn’t do this once in a while) is willing to open up a can of whupass when necessary.
A significant amount of the multiple previous series have also involved a great deal of introspection, pondering the nature of existence, the evils that men do, that sort of thing, so it isn’t just monsters punching monsters.
What I guess I’m trying to say is that the Swamp Thing series encompasses a lot of styles and genres, mostly seen through a horror filter. And a lot of the time, that filter isn’t necessarily “look how scary this is…BOO! Gotcha!” but “let’s look at this thing a little differently than what you’re used to” – which, for a lot of superhero fans, was used to disturbing fashion on DC’s established characters, caped and otherwise. And for those fans, this is part of the big deal of getting Swamp Thing back into play in the regular DC Universe…an opportunity for that filter to be turned on superheroes again.
Which brings us to your last point, about the series being a “reboot.” It’s not so much a reboot, as Swamp Thing’s past history still seemed to have happened. But it is a reboot of the character’s status quo. Lemme ‘splain.
When Swamp Thing was first introduced in the 1970s, the premise was that Dr. Alec Holland, a biochemist, was caught in an explosion where his body was doused with his bio-restorative formula (designed to accelerate plant growth)…and when he dove aflame into the swamp, that formula mixed with the plant life there turned Holland into that muck-encrusted mockery of a man we all know and love. Holland was a human trapped in the body of a monster.
In the 1980s, Alan Moore explained that, no, Holland actually died in the explosion, and what arose was plant life, infected by the formula, that somehow absorbed a copy of Holland’s memories, and wasn’t Holland himself. And then there was a bunch of “Swamp Thing is the latest in a long line of Earth Elementals” stuff, where it’s established that the Earth Elementals always took their mental templates from other beings, without actually being them.
And now, in Brightest Day, we had the elemental force of Swamp Thing running amuck, possessed by the Black Lantern power. The solution from the White Lantern was to bring the long-dead Holland back to life, and use him to reestablish his personality in Swamp Thing.
So here’s the reboot part…it seems like, in this new series, we’re going to be back to the “Holland is still alive trapped in a monstrous body” status for Swamp Thing. But, as the series starts, Holland and Swamp Thing are still two separate beings (which is a bit weird, because it sure looked to me like the two were reintegrated at the end of Brightest Day…I’m assuming an explanation is forthcoming).
Those last three paragraphs are pretty much all you need to know about Swamp Thing before getting into this new series. You said you don’t like horror, so I don’t know why you’re even considering picking up a title that is traditionally a horror comic…but this new series is off to a good start. Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette are doing a great job, from the one issue I’ve seen, and if you want an off-kilter look at the DC Universe, it appears that this series may be following in the previous Swamp Thing series’ footsteps in this regard as well.
In conclusion…yes, you should buy this comic. It’s a good’un, and if you don’t like horror now, maybe it’ll change your mind. Plus, the more readers this book has, the more likely it will continue to be published, which will make me happy. You want me to be happy, don’t you?
…So, who was surprised by my ultimate answer to this fella?
…Anyone still reading? Hello?
You may now refer to me as “The Ever-Lovin’ Gray-Haired Mike.”
The fact that there isn’t an ongoing Thing solo series with this exact title and logo:
…is a sad indication of our failure as a culture. How could a comic titled The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing not sell like gangbusters?
Also, said theoretical The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing logo would require that pic of the Thing in a circle just to the left of it at all times.
image from Marvel Two-in-One Annual #1 (1976)
In other news:
- I never got around to reviewing my picks from last week’s New DC #1 haul, but thankfully pal Dorian did. Dor points out something about Mr. Terrific’s name that…I hadn’t really considered. Hmm.
In case you were wondering: I picked up Batwoman, Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E., Green Lantern, Red Lanterns, and Demon Knights. Will be back for second issues on all these. Tried Mr. Terrific, but didn’t do anything for me, sadly.
- Tony Isabella presents six-part behind-the-scenes look at an Ant-Man story he did with Steve Ditko, beginning with the introduction here and the first page of the story (including original Ditko pencils!) here.
Also, at the end of this post, Mr. Isabella expands on a comment he left here, lamenting the lack of a creator credit for Jack Kirby in the new Omac series. I hadn’t noticed that lack of a credit, so shame on me for that. Another person noted that Kirby did get a credit in Demon Knights, so hopefully the same will pop up soon in Omac.
- Bully, the Post-Flashpoint Little Stuffed Bull with an All-New Costume and Origin, details all those other changes made to the DC Universe you might have missed.
I am delicately resting my chin on the edges of several backing boards…no comics were harmed.
Photo taken by Employee Aaron’s wife Kempo late last Tuesday night, after I’d finished breaking down the comic order and pulling for the comic savers. I was one pooped funnybook peddler.
About that sign: this pic was taken from behind the counter, and employees kept stacking stuff that wasn’t tired comic shop managers on top of those back issue boxes. Of course, the sign has been torn a time or two, almost solely by me as I keep moving boxes around from the other side of the counter and forgetting that sign is taped up there. And when I posed for that pic, I forgot the sign had come loose again…but it matched pretty much how I felt, so I let it be.
I shared this image with pal Andrew earlier today, and he sent this back to me:
Yeah, that’s about right.
Also, in the upper left side of the photo, right there next to the doorway?
I know, it’s hard to see…but that’s totally a Scarlet Spider cut-out that I’ve had posted on the store wall since whenever that Scarlet Spider business was originally happening. In fact, there was a store move in the middle of that period of time…it was on the wall in the old store, I took it down when we moved, and I put it up in the new store. …Because it makes me laugh, that’s why.
The post I would have called “Super-Villainesses in Civvies Saturday” if I were still doing that sort of thing.
So you peel Hela out of her usual super-being get-up, put her in some grown-up clothes, and, well, she cuts quite the imposing figure:
Pretty much the exact crossroads of “eye-catchingly attractive” and “somewhat terrifying.”
image from Thor #189 (June 1971) by Stan Lee, John Buscema & Joe Sinnott
I was planning to write more about the new DCs this week, but got a late start on the post. Sorry.
So the weekend before Justice League #1 was due out, I had a last minute feeling of “hmmm…maybe I should have more copies of this, since it is the first New DC title, and will likely sell well.” Thus, along with my regular reorders I sent in that Sunday evening, I put in an order for an extra bushel or two of that first Justice League comic.
Well, the immediate response from our distributor was “only available via back order,” which most of the time is the equivalent of “fat chance, laughing boy.” That, coupled with the reports of sellouts and announcements of reprintings, told me that my reordering was in vain.
…Until this week, when we received a big ol’ stack of Justice League #1, first printing, with our regular weekly shipment. Not sure how our distributor came across these (warehouse find? initial order for a now defunct store?) but there they were. And I threw them back on the new comics shelf, with a little “1st printing!” tag on them, and sold them for cover price. I didn’t do the “one per customer” thing, if only because 1) that results in panic buying, making people feel like they have to buy it rather than just picking it up if they’re interested, and 2) I didn’t feel like dealing with dudes returning to the shop five minutes later wearing a beret and a fake mustache saying “Bonjour! I am Monsieur I-Wasn’t-Just-Here-Buying-A-Copy-of-Justice-League-#1…may I buy a copy of Justice League #1?”
Speaking of panic-buying…remember a while back, when I looked at the sales patterns of the multiple Flashpoint tie-ins, and thought maybe the seeming new-series fatigue that sort of set in there may reflect a similar fatigue with this onslaught of DC debuts? Looks like the opposite may be true…with the constant sellouts and reprint announcements, this seems to be encouraging higher and faster sales than before, with folks not wanting to miss out. We planned ahead as best as we could, trying to anticipate sales among our clientele, but with customers from other comic shops coming to us for their books, along with a cascading demand feeding more sales and even more interest, we went from looking at our initial orders thinking “hope we don’t get stuck with these” to “oh crap, that’s not nearly enough.”
I did place back orders on everything hoping for a repeat of that Justice League situation, but lightning probably won’t strike twice. I did get some confirmations on some of my advance reorders, so we’re not totally out of luck. And I’m getting lots of the second printings as well.
In other non-DC news…the new Optic Nerve (#12) is out, and it’s a good’un. Actually, really good. Sergio Aragones Funnies #3 is also out, and you should be grateful that there’s a regular monthly booklet of cover-to-cover work by one of the world’s greatest cartoonists. You really should buy it. Mark Waid and Paolo Rivera’s Daredevil (also #3) is pulling off what I thought was impossible – me buying a Daredevil comic that doesn’t have the name “Miller” anywhere in the credits. Punishermax #17, that great comic with the worst name, (re-)introduces a character that usually isn’t of any interest when appearing in comics that don’t have the name “Miller” anywhere in the credits, but is sure used effectively here.
And that Sugar and Spike Archives is really good. Yeah, that doesn’t fit under “non-DC news,” since it is DC, but I don’t care. It’s great cartooning by Sheldon Mayer, and in every way deserving of its reputation.
They’re all dead now.
CLICK TO GALAPAGOS TORTOISE-SIZE
…Or maybe some of them are still patiently waiting, no longer baby turtles, in some out-of-the-way warehouse somewhere in New York, where a few times a week a guy in his 80s pops in, refreshes the water and the Turtle Chow in the tank, and checks the mailbox looking for any newly mailed-in coupons, hoping that someday — someday soon — his burden will be lifted.
ad from the back cover of Love Problems #22 (July 1953)
I need some Swamp Thing-themed tights to wear around the store.
Thanks to longtime customer Corey for sending along this picture he took of a couple of guests at the last Dragon*Con:
Certainly better than the costume from the first Swamp Thing movie.
And now, something from the Old DC.
So this is the week the Sugar and Spike Archives finally…finally…comes out, reprinting the first ten issues of this classic series by Sheldon Mayer. I would have preferred maybe something a little more…consumer-friendly, perhaps, but beggars can’t be choosers, really. And I’m sure there are economic concerns re: expected sales versus production costs versus cover prices that makes the hardcover Archives format the best perceived match for this material…not to mention the fact that the people most interested in this will be willing to dole out nearly any price for it.
Anyway, it’s here! it’s here! And since Sugar and Spike ran for under a hundred issues, at ten issues per volume, that’s only ten books! Get cracking, DC…oh, wait, there’s also the other S&S material Mayer produced for overseas markets, some of which was printed in the U.S. in DC’s digest format in the 1980s. So, yeah, we’ll need reprints of that, too, DC. THIS I COMMAND.
After you’re done with that, you can start on Mayer’s Scribbly. Yes, I’ll allow you do to so. No need to thank me.
Anyway, I was poking through my Sugar and Spike comics here in the Vast Mikester Comic Archives for a good image to illustrate this post, when I came across this panel in Sugar and Spike #48 (Aug-Sept 1963). Mayer often dedicated stories to specific readers, usually in the format of “this story is for [name], age [#], [city/state or country].” But sometimes there’d be some additional info, like so:
Now that makes the mind a’wander. Was this just a lonely old man who wrote letters to a comic book, hoping someday he’d see a response? Was he a huge fan of Sugar & Spike, and also of (admittedly stereotyped) Native Americans, that he absolutely had to see them put together in a story? Was he writing on behalf of a grandchild or great-grandchild, sending letters month after month inspired by that child’s brief whim, finally seeing success years after the child had forgotten s/he’d even desired such a thing? Did Mayer sift through the mailsack every few weeks, pulling out yet another letter from Nugget-Pete, rolling his eyes and thinking “boy, this guy again?” (Actually, I think you can probably infer that last bit from the tone of message beneath the panel.)
Regardless, I hope Nugget-Pete did get to see his story in print. I bet it was a thrill for Sugar & Spike fans of any age to see a story that was dedicated just to them.
…Oh, and while I’m thinking of it…DC, we need an Archive edition of Mayer’s “Dizzy Dog” strips, too. Get on that, would you?
