That’s just what I needed…another book to read.

§ April 8th, 2013 § Filed under paperbacks § 14 Comments

So the few of you who are left from about four-and-a-half years ago may remember a series of posts discussing movie novelizations (1 2 3 – sorry for all the dead Haloscan links and minor formatting issues you’ll find there). Well, I have a new one to add to the collection, acquired just in the last week:


I had no idea there even was a novelization of Clue, that fine, underrated comedy from lo all those years ago (i.e. the mid 1980s). But here it is, staring us in our faces, daring us to believe in it.

A couple of notes:

1. Yes, like the movie, the book has multiple endings. However, the novelization has four endings, with Chapter Twenty presented four times as Versions A through D, whereas the film has only three endings. A quick skim through the endings shows that Version C is the one that isn’t in the film, and I’ll reveal in the comments later today who the culprit is and his/her eventual fate, if you’re curious.

2. The novel’s dedication reads “This book is dedicated to Those Who Got Away With It.”

3. When I first glanced at the cover, I briefly thought it said that the author was Malcolm McDowell. For that one very glorious moment, I believed I beheld the greatest book ever produced by human civilization. As it is…well, it’s pretty close.

4. Some comic book connections: the book was a Fawcett Gold Medal Book (published by Ballantine Books), Fawcett having been involved in comic book publishing to some minor extent.

And the film was produced by Jon Peters and Peter Guber, who would later produce a superhero film of some note.

And some of the actors were probably in comic-related movies, too, but I’ll let you guys figure that out since I’m sure if I did it, I’ll forget something.

…

So anyway, that’s my neat acquisition for the week. Now to find time to actually read the thing.

• • •

In some site news, I have now disallowed further commenting on posts older than 90 days, and I’m thinking about reducing that amount of time to 60 days or even less. I’ve had a few too many drive-bys leaving rude or nonsensical comments on older posts, and while I like to encourage commenting here, I’m no longer in the mood to put up with folks causing problems. That hopefully will also cut down the amount of attempted spam comments I get, too.

Anyway, that’s that.

Carmine, George, and Roger.

§ April 5th, 2013 § Filed under obituary § 5 Comments

So whenever I think of Star Wars comics, just, you know, as a general concept, and not as something specific I’m staring at on a rack or processing for the back issue bins, this is the cover that I picture:


The Star Wars comics were young Mike’s first regular exposure to the work of Carmine Infantino, and though in the past I’ve poked a little fun here once or twice at the somewhat off-model stylings of the Star Warriors in that series, they still remain some of the most memorable of my youth…almost certainly because of the work of Mr. Infantino.

Of course, I would come to learn and love his work on the Flash, especially in this wonderful issue that I read so often since buying it off the stands that I ended up having to buy a replacement copy a couple of decades later:


…And of course there were his Batman comics, Detective Chimp, Adam Strange, Elongated Man, and much more than I can easily list here.

Carmine Infantino passed away yesterday at the age of 87. So long, Carmine, and thanks for all the swell comics.

• • •

Another notable comics passing is George Gladir, one of the industry’s hardest working writers, having worked for both Archie Comics (cocreating Sabrina with Dan DeCarlo) and Cracked. To be frank, his was not a name I immediately recognized, but boy, did I read a lot of Cracked when I was a kid in the ’70s (the Nineteen-Seventies, you wiseacres) so certainly I must have been exposed to plenty of his work. My condolences to his family, friends, and fans.

And I would be remiss if I did not note the passing of Roger Ebert. The loss of his great wit and intelligence is a sad one, but thankfully he left behind no small amount of writing that will continue to entertain and educate us for a long time to come. It was he and his longtime reviewing partner Gene Siskel that introduced Young Me to the idea that film criticism was even a thing, and perhaps, even more generally, the idea that one’s entertainment can be thoughtfully considered and not just passively absorbed.

He was also a supporter of the silliness my friends and I perpetrated on Twitter, and his agreement to write the introduction to our book is one we are still infinitely grateful for.

Thank you, Roger, for everything.

Do people ever actually tell other people who sent them?

§ April 3rd, 2013 § Filed under this week's comics § 7 Comments


So after my recent Great B.P.R.D. Reread Project (status: complete; next Great Reread Project yet to be decided) and the issue numbering concerns thereof, I thought I should mention that this new Abe Sapien #1, “An All New Ongoing Series” as it says there, is in fact, according to the inside front cover, #11 in the overall history of Abe Sapien solo series and / or one-shots. So:


Anyway, the series takes off from recent events in the B.P.R.D. comics, following the even-further mutated Abe as he eludes his former pals at the Bureau. I don’t know if this is really a good jumping-on point for new readers…dialogue-driven exposition for recent Hellboy-Universe-Events-That-Don’t-Really-Involve-Hellboy, in particular Abe’s recent changes, catches folks up, but it seems more like preaching to the converted rather than its own thing. This may just be symptomatic of the series’ origins in B.P.R.D. and the ongoing circumstances there, and it feels more like another B.P.R.D. mini rather than an Abe Sapien solo title. We’ll see what happens once the series begins to form its own identity a few issues down the road.


As I said on Twitter yesterday, I was bracing myself to read a Thanos story that didn’t involve Jim Starlin somehow, but so far Jason Aaron and Simone Bianchi aren’t doing too bad a job telling the adventures of Li’l Thanos. It lacks the inherent weirdness of Starlin’s storytelling, and thus is a more conventional “here are the bad things that formed this bad guy” tale. Still, it’s a solid enough introduction to the character, and will likely make a nice trade paperback (or, more likely, hardcover) to sell to the curious once Marvel’s Phase Two films (presumably involving Thanos) start making more of an impact.


It’s Hulk versus Thor as drawn by Walt Simonson. If reading that sentence doesn’t make you immediately pull out your wallet and start throwing money at the computer screen, well, I don’t know that I can help you. But pick up that money and go throw it at Ye Olde Local Comic Booke Seller instead, because publishers getting Simonson to draw comics is a behavior I’d like to encourage. And things look like they really begin to pick up in Part the Second, so jump on now, he said like the funnybook salesman he is.


This is probably the first of the New 52 Swamp Thing comics to feel like an old Swamp Thing comic. In particular, like the Alan Moore or Rick Veitch issues where Swamp Thing would encounter some established bit of the DC Universe and we’re suddenly given a new and almost certainly creepy take on it. Well, that was then, this is now, and it’s hard to do a creepy take on a character like the Scarecrow when the trend lately in the Bat-books has been to make things especially weird and creepy in the first place. Instead, the fun here is in Swamp Thing’s reaction and interaction with the Scarecrow, rather than any kind of dramatic reinterpretation.

Also, new writer Charles Soule takes a few panels to explain the deal with Swamp Thing’s New 52 status quo, his relation to the previous Alec Holland-less Swamp Thing, recent events in the comic, and so on. Probably a good issue to sample if you’ve been tempted, but didn’t want to jump into the middle of the 300-part “Rotworld” crossover.


It’s Popeye and Barney Google! CRISIS OF GRANDPA’S INFINITE COMIC STRIPS! I actually didn’t get into this issue as much as past installments of this series…Barney Google isn’t a strip character for whom I have any particular affinity, and the horseracing gags weren’t really my thing. But, even an issue of Popeye that doesn’t quite butter my bread is still a whole lot better than just about anything else, so I ain’t complainin’. Plus, series writer Roger Langridge takes on the art chores yet again and everything looks flawless and beautiful…and Langridge even gives us a boxing back-up story starring Swee’pea, and it’s plenty cute.


And for the digital comic inclined, there’s Task Force Rad Squad. Click the link, pay what you want (or even nothing at all, but c’mon, give ‘em a buck at least) and download in your choice of format. It reminds me of late ’80s/early ’90s crazy indie comics…I sort of get a Tank Girl vibe off it, but maybe that’s just me. Anyway, it’s lots of fun packed into 36 pages, and you get a sizable preview prior to throwing your money down. Go check it out, and tell ‘em Mike sent you. If they ask “who’s Mike?” just say “you know, Mike” and that should do it.

The Adventure of the Lazy Links-Post Because Mike Has a Dentist’s Appointment Early Monday Morning.

§ April 1st, 2013 § Filed under sir-links-a-lot § 2 Comments

So apparently that jam pic of Linus, Snoopy, Broom-Hilda, and the Demon that I posted way back when is making the rounds again, only this time it’s a pic of the original art from this auction site, and not a scan from the San Diego Comic Con ’74 program like my image was. The auction was back in 2008…I wonder what it sold for? Also, I’m amused by the link on the auction page that reads “I Have One of These to Sell,” like there’s two jam drawings by Charles Schulz, Jack Kirby, and Russell Myers. (Yes, yes, I know it’s just part of the page’s standard template, let me have my fun.)

Also, I see on my original post my addendum link to my comments section (for more info about the pic) is dead dead dead, thanks to my original third-party commenting system giving up the ghost a while back. Oh, the reliability of sorta-free technologies. Thank goodness I still have Google Reader to follow all my favorite websites!

In other news:

  • So have you seen what pal Andrew has wrought? ULTIMATE POWERS JAM, in which Andrew uses an old Marvel Comics role playing book to randomly generate a super character, and hands it off to his accomplices who then whip up an illustration and description for said character. Some pretty amazing and entertaining results so far…go check ‘em out!

  • NOT COMICS: pal Dave’s Electronic Games Sunday, where Dave pokes through this archive of the Electronic Games magazine (which I myself read starting with issue #1 way back in ye olden days) and picks out items of note for our amusement and, usually, horror. If you’re old like me ‘n’ Dave, you’ll find this nostalgic. If you’re one of those punk kids that’s never known anything other than an X-Station or a DS-Boy, you’ll just pity us.

  • BEHOLD: GO-GO CHECKS

Sub-Mariner Saturday #3.

§ March 30th, 2013 § Filed under saturday § 4 Comments

THE SUB-MARINER:

MURDEROUS COQUETTE OF THE SEVEN SEAS

from All-Winners Comics #2 (Fall 1941)
- reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: All-Winners Comics Nos. 1-4 (2005)

Progressive Ruin presents…the End of Civilization.

§ March 28th, 2013 § Filed under End of Civilization § 16 Comments

It seems like I just fell off the last Diamond Previews and here I am, being encouraged to jump back on and ride the new Previews lest I be scared of it in the future. So let’s take a peek and see what the April 2013 edition has in store for us…grab your copy and follow along:

p. 99 – Superman #21:


So Hector Hammond is still paralyzed, right? Does he use his vast mental powers to control others in order to maintain his sweet mustache? “SLICK THE MUSTACHE TENDRILS, MY HELPLESS PUPPET.”

…I’m going to guess this won’t be covered in this issue of Superman.

p. 105 – Batman The Dark Knight #21:


“The grand finale to the origin of the Mad Hatter is here….” What, already? I guess we had to wrap that up quickly to make room for the forthcoming 24-part RETURN OF THE MANIKIN.

p. 122 – Justice League Dark #21:


“Guest-starring the Flash and Swamp Thing!” …Surely there is no more magical phrase than this.

p. 232 – The Walking Dead Action Figures Series 2:

“The Governor’s Daughter Zombie (Penny) features 12 points of articulation and includes a bucket of fresh body parts (severed leg, severed foot, severed hand, intestines, heart & Rick’s severed hand) and a fish tank with trophy heads.”

There must have been a time when a product like this would have made me pause for a moment and wonder just what the world had come to. But now I just think “I bet we can sell a few of these” and plan orders accordingly.

p. 261 – Archie #645:


Hmmm…which cover should I order more of for the shop? Which one? This sure is a headscratcher.

p. 393 – Man of Steel The Official Novelization MMPB:

“What was I supposed to do?” Clark asked plaintively. “Let ‘em die?”

Pa Kent stared off into the distance. “Maybe,” he replied curtly.

IF PA KENT JUST STOPS IT THERE AND WALKS OFF, LEAVING CLARK TO THINK THAT PERHAPS HE SHOULD JUST LET PEOPLE DIE TO PROTECT HIS SECRET IDENTITY IN DIRECT CONTRADICTION TO EVERY PORTRAYAL OF PA KENT EVER, TURN TO PAGE 221

IF PA KENT ACTUALLY HAS MORE TO SAY TO PROVIDE SUPPORT TO CLARK IN HIS TIME OF SELF-DOUBT, AND ACTUALLY DOESN’T THINK CLARK SHOULD JUST LET PEOPLE DIE, DESPITE THE MOVIE TRAILER BEING EDITED TO IMPLY THAT’S HIS ENTIRE RESPONSE, TURN TO PAGE 278

p. 414 – The Walking Dead Comic “The Governor” Black T-shirt:


“Who’s that?”

“The Governor.”

“Which governor?”

“You know, the bad guy from The Walking Dead.”

“That doesn’t look like him.”

“It’s the comic book version.”

“…There’s a comic book?”

p. 419 – Walking Dead One-Eyed Zombie Metal Bottle Opener:


So the trend here is to incorporate a more and more elaborate hole in the bottle opener design, like the eye in the zombie above, or Ghost Rider’s mouth here in the bottle opener from page 422:


Okay, so here’s your money maker, Internet: Goatse bottle opener. You’re welcome. Also, if you don’t know, don’t Google it.

p. 426 – DC Classic TV 1966 Batman Moment Action Figure 2-Packs:


Oh my goodness, action figures recreating the famous wall-climbing sequences from the 1960s Batman TV show! Now all I need are action figures for Sammy Davis Jr, Colonel Klink, Dick Clark, Sam Stone, the Carpet King, Art Linkletter, the Green Hornet and Kato, Don Ho, Suzy Knickerbocker, Edward G. Robinson, Jerry Lewis, Jose Jimenez, Santa Claus, and Lurch, and I can recreate all the window cameo scenes!

p. 428 – Skeptical Rice Buddy 11″ Plush:


This grain of rice isn’t putting up with any of your homeopathy or “psychic” powers nonsense. And you should see the beard on the James Randi Rice Buddy.

p. 447 – Star Wars Business Card Holders Han Solo & R2-D2:


“Please…take my card.”

“Sure…whoa! That’s a sweet business card holder, Your Holiness!”

p. 455 – Doctor Who Mugs:


This kind of reminds me of when you see an old, dry snail shell…hollow, depressingly empty. Clearly this mug is just Davros’ chair with old, dried up Davros scraped out it.

p. 461 – Star Wars Tie-Fighter Webcam:


NEW FOR YOUR TIE FIGHTERS: TIE-NUTZ! SHOW THE REBELS YOU’VE GOT BALLS WITH THIS HILARIOUS SPACE SHIP ACCESSORY!

p. 492 – Monopoly The Walking Dead Survival Edition PX Board Game:


“Go to Jail. Spend the Entirety of Season Three in Jail.”

Marvel Previews p. 10 – Age of Ultron #10:


Maybe they should have polybagged every news story, Twitter feed and website that’s already revealed the shocking surprise ending a week ago.

From the back room of misfit toys.

§ March 26th, 2013 § Filed under misfit toys, star wars § 10 Comments

Well, okay, technically this isn’t from the back room, but rather from a recently acquired collection of stuff, things, items and doodads, but man, I had no idea this even existed:


The Chewbacca Bandolier Strap from 1983, where you can, I don’t know, strap it to your body and act out some weird Star Wars-ian twist on Dr. Shrinker with Peter Mayhew in the place of Jay Robinson?

Here’s a closer look at the picture on the box, with the victims your Star Wars pals in place:


Chewie looks a little freaked out there, understandably so since he’s trapped in a giant version of his own sole piece of clothing.

I dared to open the box, seeing as it was barely being held shut by dried-out masking tape and not exactly “mint,” and here’s what I found inside:


In case you’re wondering, yes, I did briefly contemplate donning this item and posing for pictures for the site, but 1) this bandolier is darned small, and I’m not even sure it would have fit around my neck, much less my torso, and 2) surely there are enough terrible pictures of me on the Internet already. Oh, and 3)


…those little foam packing pieces wedged into the belt are thirty years old and have become surprisingly flaky and sticky and not something I want coming in contact with my fancy dress shirts. Or my bare chest, not that I thought about taking Chewbacca bandolier photos like that. At all.

Anyway, here’s a better look at the bandolier in action:


Chewbacca’s the one on the right.

Here’s everything else in the box…a catalog, the two pouches, and a decal sheet with stickers for said pouches:


There’s probably a bra joke there, but I’m not going to make it.


“…and definitely not weed. Do not put your weed in the pouches!”


“IT’S A SNAP!”

In case you need an adult-sized Chewbacca bandolier, well, a quick Googling reveals lots of people making and selling replicas, but of course you can always just make your own.

So Burt Ward got top credit at least once.

§ March 25th, 2013 § Filed under adam west, batman § 19 Comments

So of course it’s during my brief blogging sabbatical that the biggest, most amazing comic news of all time is unleashed upon us. No, not that Marvel apparently had to outsource for a new cosmic character since, you know, they didn’t have enough of them. And no, not that DC’s “Event Formerly Known As WTF Certified Month” seems to be about 75% “Special Surprise Guest Star Month” so far.

No, it’s all about a new Batman comic based on the 1960s TV show starring Best Batman, Adam West. And, naturally, mustachioed Joker:

It’s a digital-first comic, with a print edition to follow, and features the work of writer Jeff Parker, artist Jonathan Case, and cover artist Mike Allred.

Not that I’ve been keeping close tabs on reactions thus far, but from what little I’ve seen people seem to very positive about this development…quite the change from a couple of decades back, when folks were getting the vapors over the fact that a guy who made comedies was going to direct a Batman movie starring a comedic actor and oh my God it was going to be the campy ’60s Batman TV show all over again, will comic fans never get respect? (Of course, the resulting film was sufficiently “dark” and “gritty” to keep those fans happy, though really it’s just as amusingly peculiar and goofy and, um, well, campy as the rest of the Burton oeuvre.)

Anyway, I’m thrilled about this new Batman ’66 comic, and can’t wait for it. When it comes out, if it’s not the best-selling comic of the 21st century thus far, then we will have failed as a civilization. Not that you should feel any pressure or anything, Jeff ‘n’ Jon.

Of course, I realize not everyone has achieved sufficient enlightenment to realize the beauty of Adam West Batman, and thus come with me back to the mid-1960s, via this January 8-14, 1967 copy of the TV Weekly insert from the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, coincidentally enough discovered in a comic collection we were processing just last week:


That’s a swell Dragnet cover, yes, but let us look to the letters page therein, where someone wrote in to complain that his favorite TV show was getting the hook because it could not compete with a certain Caped Crusader:


Wow. Just imagine how this guy would react to the idea of “Bronies.”

Well, let’s see here, what was going on Thursday night at 7:30:


Just look at that. How is anything going to compete with the triple-blast of the Joker and the Penguin and Venus? Sorry, Jericho and, apparently, Daniel Boone.

And sorry, D., but this moronic adult thinks the 1960s Batman TV show is a thing of beauty, and I’m glad to see it still being appreciated, all these years later.

BONUS BAT-HATER CONTENT, courtesy that atomic bomb in a human body, pal Andrew, who passed along this Letter of Comment from the April 1st, 1966 issue of Life Magazine, reacting to a recent cover feature on the Adam West Half-Hour Costumed Adventure Theatre television program:


Holy Dramatic Overreaction, Batman!

Sorry for the extended outage.

§ March 23rd, 2013 § Filed under sick day § 5 Comments

I’ve been ill, and spending my evenings either resting or Netflix-binging on season one of Once Upon A Time.

I’ll be back on Monday…unless of course I decide to get Once Upon A Time season two from iTunes.

IN THIS POST: minor spoilers for forthcoming Swamp Thing events. Also, nudity.

§ March 20th, 2013 § Filed under swamp thing § 2 Comments

 

  • So some of the “WTF Certified” covers are getting put out there in advance of release, revealing the full fold-out “shocking” image (though the “WTF” logo itself won’t appear on the comics, cooler heads having prevailed). Well, at least one cover has made it out, anyway, since it’s the only one that’s popped up in my Google search alerts, for what should be obvious reasons.

    It looks like the big shocking surprise is a big-name guest star making his second appearance in this series, revealing that his terrible costume hasn’t become less terrible in the year and a half since the last time he visited. Despite that, the issue looks like it could be fun…at the very least, it’s not yet another chapter in the Rotworld storyline, so there’s that.

  • If you can bear going to Facebook for this, there’s an announcement that the first Swamp Thing movie is going to be released on Blu-Ray by Scream Factory (a division of Shout! Factory), so you can finally see the zippers on the costumes with all the clarity they deserve. You’ll see a lot of complaining in the comments about the fact this will be the 91-minute theatrical release, and not the 93-minute “international” version with the extra nekkidness from Adrienne Barbeau and others.

    Some folks in the comments seem to believe that there is NO Topless Barbeau in the 91-minute version, which as far as I know (based on previous careful examination of the original VHS release) is not the case. It is possible that the second DVD release (replacing the initial DVD release, which did have all the “extras,” as it were) had all the salacious material removed, including the slightly briefer scenes of Ms. Barbeau’s bathing that had existed in previous home video and theatrical releases. I only own the first version of the DVD, not the replacement version, so perhaps some kind reader could verify if such surgery was in fact performed in the second release. Or I’ll just have to rent the stupid thing from Netflix myself. You know, for the public good.

    I suspect I have spent a lot of time on this site discussing nudity in Swamp Thing movies. …I’m not proud.

    Anyway, it’ll be nice to have any version of the movie on Blu-ray, since my original DVD is not anamorphic. But it is very, very naughty.

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