Yes, I said “every step you take” on purpose.

§ October 7th, 2024 § Filed under hulk, video games § 6 Comments

I’ll get back to your questions in short order, but I found myself poking through Blip #7 (August 1983), Marvel’s short-lived video game magazine, as you do.


I was fully immersed in this video game world…I mean, not like Tron-level immersion where I’m stuck in a program fighting the MCP, but playing games and reading the magazines and all that jazz. I loved this stuff. Still do.

Anyway, I reminded myself of Blip after mentioning it here on the site the other day, and poking not too far into this, the last issue, I found the “News Briefs” page, which had this to say:


Okay, first off, that’s a couple of weird picks for games to just throw in there. Defender at least was an extremely popular and well-known game, notorious for its relatively complex controls and difficulty of play.

Pengo, the cute penguin game where you…um, smash your enemies with sliding ice blocks, was a little more obscure but seemingly well received. There was a particularly sketchy arcade in my town that had it and I enjoyed playing it there, situated as it was next to the bootleg Mario Bros. machine in the underlit back area. This was also the place where my locked-up bike was stolen out of the racks out front while I played inside, but that’s neither here nor there.

Anyway, just thought Pengo was a weird game to namedrop. I mean, wither Bosconian?

Back to that excerpt…that Escape game, which is more commonly known as Journey Escape, inspired by their album of the same name.

Now, this game is…not great. Let me quote from the game manual, which I’ve “borrowed” from the above-linked Wikipedia article a description of this Atari 2600-exclusive release:

“You’re on the road with Journey, one of the world’s hottest rock groups. A spectacular performance has just ended. Now it’s up to you to guide each Journey Band Member past hordes of Love-Crazed Groupies, Sneaky Photographers, and Shifty-Eyed Promoters to the safety of the Journey Escape Vehicle in time to make the next concert. Your mighty manager and loyal roadies are there to help, but the escape is up to you!”

Now maybe that all sounds exciting, but keep in mind this vast cast of characters are all depicted mostly symbolically within the 2600’s graphical limits (the Love-Crazed Groupies” are blocky hearts with legs) and, as noted in the Wiki, the Manager is…the Kool-Aid Man? Perplexing.

Here’s a video of the playthrough, if you dare:


As you can see, it’s just a “dodge the obstacles” game as you try to reach the endpoint without contacting the various enemies and losing your points (AKA money). Not the most compelling rock-and-roll tie-in, even by the relatively primitive state of home gaming of the time. (There was also a Journey Escape game produced for arcades, which at least sounds a little more varied in the entertainment it provided.)

The Atari 2600 Game-by-Game Podcast was a detailed review of it here.


Well, he’s not wrong, given the rise of the iPod and Apple’s Music store and the fact that digital music sales are so prominent now. Plus there was that little kerfuffle between the Beatles’ Apple Corps and Apple Computers, so, yes, Apple definitely is mired in the music world.


Now I’m trying to picture video games based on Talking Heads and the Police. For the former, you could play a guy running around…I don’t know, burning down houses, I guess. For the latter, a game based on “Don’t Stand So Close to Me,” similar to the old “Daleks” computer game where you move your little guy around on the screen, trying to avoid contact with the Daleks who always move one step closer to you with each move you make. In The Police’s game, your little guy is a school teacher, and with every step you take, instead of Daleks following you, it’s…well, maybe I’ve gone too far.

So, yeah, that’s a lot of talk about video games that only marginally slips past the normally air-tight ProgRuin filter, simply because it was inspired by a comic-formatted Marvel magazine. Well…maybe I can justify its inclusion by throwing in this bit from the Al Milgrom-drawn Hulk story that’s also in this issue:


There we go…all requirements are satisfied!
 
 
 

Special thanks to Bully the Little Bull Stuffed with 4k ROM Chips for production assistance.

Mike’s lazy Doctor Fate post.

§ October 4th, 2024 § Filed under dc comics § 23 Comments

Okay pals, I had both my flu shot and my COVID booster this morning, and while I felt well most of the day, I’m kinda feeling it now. Soooooo…I’m taking it easy right now as I type this Thursday evening.

In the last post, a couple of folks mentioned that they would have liked DC’s ’80s Doctor Fate comics in a snazzy reprint. And when I was originally pondering the question “what unreprinted DC comics would you like reprinted?” it was Doctor Fate that crossed my mind.

As noted, there is a Doctor Fate book coming next year, under the title Doctor Fate by JM DeMatteis and seemingly reprinting the series DeMatteis wrote and was illustrated by Keith Giffen:

Given the title, I am hoping more volumes will come along, reprinting the ongoing series that DeMatteis and artist Shawn McManus did, picking up right from that mini:

However, also given the name, we’re probably not getting reprints of the early ’80s Doctor Fate back-ups in Flash by Marty Pasko, Steve Gerber and Giffen, which started in this issue:


Nor are we getting this wild Dr. F story from First Issue Special #9 (1975) by Pasko and Walt Simonson:


But luckily that story, along with all those Flash back-ups, were reprinted in this deluxe three issue mini-series released in 1985, just as Fate-mania was about to sweep the nation:


…so you can find those relatively easily should the Taste of Fate from this upcoming trade paperback release send you looking for more.

that doctor’s a real hit.

§ October 2nd, 2024 § Filed under question time § 16 Comments

Attacking more of…wait, that’s too aggressive for a friendly site like mine. “Tip-toeing gently” through more of your questions today….

Joe Cabrera hails me with the following

“In general, do you enjoy today’s comics as much as those of yesteryear? If not, why? Is it nostalgia coloring your opinion, stories getting worse, unappealing plot directions, etc.?”

There…may be a difficulty now, particularly now that I own my own comic shop, in separating “comic books as entertainment” and “comic books as commodity that I need to sell to make a living.” Which is not to say I don’t still love comics, but I think too much of my mind is preoccupied with order numbers and rack sales and back issue pricing and all that jazz, and not to mention blog content, that maybe it gets in the way just a little of appreciating the comics from a purely fannish perspective, free of worldly capitalistic concerns.

The other issue here is simply time, in two senses. I don’t have the time to read comics like I used to. And comics I read long ago have had more time to percolate in my brain that comics that I’ve read last week. Take Swamp Thing Annual #2 from 1985, the one where Swamp Thing goes to Hell. I probably read that thing a couple of dozen times at minimum over the decades. I read it again not long ago when I suggested a sequence from it for discussion on a War Rocket Ajax episode. Compare with…what’s the last Swamp Thing series to come out? That Green Hell “Black Label” one? I can’t even say for sure I’ve read the last issue of that. And if I had, am I ever going to make time to reread it? I don’t know.

The way I’m reading them now, with less time to devote to them as purely entertainment (and combined with my various vision things that cause me to read a little more slowly), most comics are now one shot experiences for me, not books to revisit on a repeated basis. Which makes me a little sad, as I’ve read many comics in recent years I’d love to go back to, but I’m never quite sure if I ever can.

Am I answering the question? I still love comics. I think many comics coming out now are great. But I think for many of the reasons I mentioned above, I was just able to enjoy them more as a younger man, when I had more time to devote to them in a non-comics retail fashion.

All that said…this blog is part of the way I can still interact with comics both new and old, helping me to remember why I ended up in this business in the first place.

• • •

will richards queries

“In your opinion, which are the most criminally un-reprinted runs of both Marvel and DC comics?”

From DC Comics…ATARI FORCE ATARI FORCE ATARI FORCE ATARI FORCE


Fun sci-fi adventure expertly illustrated by José Luis García-López at the peak of his form, with the back half drawn by the also excellent Eduardo Barreto. Gerry Conway wrote most issues, and it’s a fast paced and creative comic that unfortunately was saddled with a title that likely kept folks away. Oh, and the lettering by Bob Lappan is a revelation as well.

It seemed like these might have been on a way to a reprint collection eventually, as a few years back Dynamite was doing some Atari-related comics. A collection of the original Atari Force digest-sized comics, the ones that were pack-ins with select Atari games, was announced but cancelled, and I guess that was that. I’d like these reprinted, too, at normal comic size which would be easier on the ol’ peepers.

Now, from Marvel…that’s quite the trick, since Marvel has reprinted tons of material, filling up those giant omnibuses and “Epic Collections” and so on. My initial thought was “The Last Galactus Story,” the unfinished John Byrne tale from the latter issues of Epic Illustrated, but that did get reprinted in an omnibus (still uncompleted).

I think what I’m going to pick, out of my own particular interest, is Blip, Marvel’s comic-sized video game magazine (with some comics, but mostly articles):


And what the heck, why not Marvel’s pop culture/young reader mag Pizzazz?


I would love having either of these, even if no one else would.

• • •

Dave Carter votes for

“Who is your favorite comic book Doctor? (either MD or PhD…)”

Well, only one answer to that, natch:

• • •

No better place to leave off than that! Thanks, pals, and I’ll see you on Friday!

I volunteer to write Absolute Swamp Thing.

§ September 30th, 2024 § Filed under question time § 11 Comments

So I asked you for questions, and you delivered! I’m not going to be answering these with every single future post ’til I’m done, but I’ll dip into these as needs must. And those needs must today, so let’s get crackin’!

First off, it’s Customer Sean with this

“I wonder if Stan Lee was a fan of All-Star Comics during the 1940s–as a newspaper article from ‘The Daily Bugle’ appears in All-Star Comics no. 30. Perhaps Earth-2’s iteration of J. Jonah Jameson was a cub reporter at The Daily Bugle at that time–and maybe he had it in for The Tarantula…”

At this point, Sean drops in a link to a page from that All-Star Comics from 1946, which features this panel:


Now, real world answer, “Daily Bugle” is a generic enough newspaper name, like “Daily Globe” or “Daily Express,” so it doesn’t surprise me this name shows up in a Golden Age DC book. And I seem to recall it showing up as a newspaper name elsewhere in non-Marvel, non-Spider-Man comics. And I wonder if “Daily Planet” showed up in Golden Age Atlas Comics.

But if we were to follow Sean’s train of thought, putting ol’ J.J. at the apparently-in-the-DC-Universe Bugle in the ’40s…well, that timing would work out putting Jameson as the head Bugle honcho during the 1970s Spider-Man/Superman crossover, shown here with DC’s Morgan Edge, the Big Man on Top for Galaxy Communications:


Therefore, that All-Star Comics #30 can be said to take place on whatever multidimensional Earth where the Marvel and DC characters coexist. If only we had a regular monthly comic for that very Earth.

• • •

Paul Engelberg sails in with

“How have Ahoy Comics done in your shop?”

They’ve done…okay. I like them, they’re high quality books with top notch talent, but they don’t sell very high numbers for me. Which is okay! Not everything has to be a best-seller.

My favorite of the bunch, and I believe the longest-running series of mini-series from Ahoy, is The Wrong Earth:


…with one of the greatest premises of all time: a cheery superhero from an innocent, goofy milieu (like the 1960s Adam West Batman) switches worlds with his modern, dark, gritty counterpart (like every post-Dark Knight Returns Batman), and hijinks ensue. It builds on this premise and becomes increasingly complex and fascinating and well worth a read.

I also enjoy Second Coming:


…in which Jesus returns to Earth and partners up with a superhero, and…hijinks ensue! Interesting and wild ideas about both religion and superheroes abound. TOO HOT FOR DC COMICS!

• • •

Mike Loughlin moves on in with

“Which current comics have your customers interested and excited?”

Well, the newest Big Thing that everyone’s asking me about is an entry in DC’s newest Marvel’s Ultimate-Comics-killer imprint, Absolute Batman:


I know folks online have had some fun at its expense, and it does look…a little odd. But in the real world, I’ve got lots of people asking for it. How long that interest will last, I of course can’t say, but I expect Absolute Batman to outsell the other launch titles featuring Superman and Wonder Woman by about 2 to 1, at minimum.

The other comic that’s got folks excited is, speaking of MMarvel’s Ultimate line, Ultimate Spider-Man:


…which, surprise surprise, outsells the other current Ultimate comics by about, oh, 2 to 1.

• • •

Okay, that’s enough questions for now…come back next time when I’ll be…answering more questions? Or doing something else? I don’t know…I’ll find out when you do!

“Someone’s gonna get nailed.”

§ September 27th, 2024 § Filed under retailing § 6 Comments

So thanks for the questions/discussion topics you dropped into the comments for Monday’s entry. That’s a whole lotta comic book talk for me to start makin’ with, so I’ll likely get to it next week. Also, sorry for no post on Wednesday, the mind was willing, the body less so, and thus the surprise day off.

But today I have…lazy posting, as I pulled out the Marvel “Sales to Astonish” retailer catalog from August 1993. Amongst the solicitations and sample…”artwork” that we somehow willingly tolerated then, were several full page ads for Marvel’s offerings. A couple of them I recall were used as actual print ads or house ads with the Marvel comics themselves. Others are, well, what they are, so let’s take a look, shall we?


Flashing back to that time when everyone’s favorite ersatz Thor (after Beta Ray Bill) was about to hit the scene in his snazzy new first issue, what with the foil cover gimmick an’ all. And it actually sold really well, and people were into the character. And, to some extent, the character is still remembered fondly today, even if the back issues don’t move like they used to. It was a time when you could put out a comic like this and have it get traction, at least for a while.


What really surprised me is that during the weird (and somewhat brief) comic cards book during the initial years of the pandemic, when even the 1991 Impel Marvel set was selling for stupid money after decades of literally nobody caring, that Marvel and DC didn’t try card inserts in their comics again. I seem to recall some promo cards being given away with some comics event or ‘nother around this time, and those were popular, but there wasn’t enough of that sort of thing. Granted, the marketplace now isn’t generating the same kind of money that it was back then, so things like “trading card inserts” and “foil cover gimmicks” are an expense only dipped into on a relatively rare basis.

I will note that younger folks, those who weren’t around in the ’90s for the first wave of all this stuff, love finding comics packed with cards or special cover enhancements. They weren’t jaded by the ’90s comics market experience like your boy Old Man Mike here.


I like this ad, even with the “It’s Miller Time!” blurb across the top (referencing of course Mr. Frank “THE SPIRIT movie” Miller, the auteur behind this series). I haven’t read the mini in forever, but I remember it being pretty good. A real standout in quality given the enormous amount of…possibly not top tier product being shoveled out at the time.


You see, there’s a frame around the main body of the ad, and that extremely blown up detail of Punisher’s head is indeed Not A Pretty Picture. Anyway, terrible.


Our second Gambit appearance in these ads, from the days people pretended that they liked Gambit. (Save your emails and your TikToks, I’m only kidding, maybe.) Scan’s a little crooked, which is okay because it fits with that jumble of blurbs at the bottom. And speaking of which, that’s a nice mix of ballyhooing the physical properties of the book (“Wraparound cover!” “Gambit hologram!”) with the signicance of the comics’s contents (“Wolverine’s last stand!” “Magneto returns!”), a reminder that there were still stories happening even underneath all the gimmicks and the “kewl” artwork.

Also, the toning on that ad is weird. The white hands, head, and cards with the rest of the image dimmed is a little offputting. Plus, that top card he’s supposedly throwing almost looks like it’s behind his head. Just the way it’s drawn, I’m sure, but it still looks odd.

Popeye-ing the question.

§ September 23rd, 2024 § Filed under question time § 40 Comments


Unfortunately, your pal Mike is a little under the weather, so I’m going to do something I haven’t done in a couple of years: I’m asking YOU for your questions!

That’s right, plug in your questions (or even topic suggestions) into the comments section on this here post and I will get to them within a hopefully reasonable amount of time. Just a couple o’rules:

1. ONE QUESTION PER PERSON, PLEASE. I only have so much life left to live, and need to attend to as many of you as possible.

2. KEEP ‘EM COMICS INDUSTRY RELATED. I mean, if you ask me a rules question about beholders in your D&D campaign, or my best stock tips, I can give it a shot, but keep in mind a) my D&D knowledge peters out sometime around the late 1980s, and b) I don’t have money for things like “stocks” or “bonds” or even “medicine” so take my answers with a grain of salt.

So there you go…throw them my way and I’ll get to them as I’m able. Thanks pals, and hopefully I’ll be up and running again as normal by Wednesday.

Directly dazzling.

§ September 20th, 2024 § Filed under marvel, zines § 21 Comments

In making some slight attempt to arrange the “to be read” piles at home, I put aside a bunch of recently acquired fanzines ‘n’ prozines, inside one of which I found this article:


This comics from Comics Feature #6 in 1980, and I figured this would be a good article to pick out given that there’s a brand new Dazzler series out on the shelves this week.

What really caught my eye was the phrasing of the headline, referring to comic book specialty stores as “fan shops.” Comic stores were still relatively new, mostly beginning to crop up in the ’70s (though there were certain some examples prior to that). I know most of us just call ’em “comic shops” or “comic book stores” now, even if the actual comic book sections are a minor afterthought to the shelves and shelves of Pokemon and Magic the Gathering product.

“Direct sales outlet” is another term used in the article that feels a bit dated, describing the nature of the different distribution between comic shops and newsstands that was on folks’ minds then, but not so much now. We’re primarily reminded of it on today’s new comics with the “direct sales” slug present on UPC codes.

Seeing “fan shop” reminds me of a common criticism of comic stores, as those of a particularly…unpleasant nature are referred to negatively as “clubhouse.” It wouldn’t surprise me to see someone referring to some unwelcoming shop or ‘nother on social media as “fan shop (derogatory),” as the popular phrasing goes with you young folks nowadays.

That’s mostly all I wanted to mention about this article, but I suppose I should note that theh print run on this Dazzler #1 was “a quarter of a million copies,” and even that was noted as being slightly less than a typical Marvel first issue, due to the “restricted” circulation. There are comic publishers who would strangle their mom’s favorite goat to get a print run that high on anything today.

Also interesting is that, while the first issue was comic shop only, it started getting newsstand distribution with the second issue. Sorry, kids with no “fan shops” in your area, you’ll never get to see Dazzler’s exciting origin!

And then:


Well…thanks, Big Jim, I…guess?

Racking up some memories.

§ September 18th, 2024 § Filed under retailing § 4 Comments

So when I opened my store, I had a specific idea for my new comic shelving, a 36-foot long wooden rack (built in 4-foot-wide segments), with the fronts at a slight angle and flat shelves attached with, like, 12 inch gaps between them. It looks a little something…like this:


This photo was very early on…in fact, taken the night before I officially opened my shop for business…so the line of graphic novels and other products on the very top lip of the shelf isn’t there. But you get the idea of how the shelf looks. And it’s served me well for these just about ten years now.

But what he had at my previous place of employment…boy oh boy, what we had. Initially, what my old boss Ralph had were the wire freestanding comic racks, the twenty-pocket style, plus a few wire spinner racks (two of which I now own, one for home and one for the shop). Usually we had those freestanding ones “flattened” down and hanging off of pegboard mounted on the wall. It usually worked okay, though we occasionally had to ask folks “please don’t bend the comics forward on the rack” because, y’know, we were hding the secret good comics behind the ones in the front of each slot.

But eventually, what we ended up using were these, as seen in the September 1985 Bud Plant catalog:


I forget how many of these we used for the new comics…four or five of them, I guess? And we had others elsewhere in the store that we used for graphic novels as well.

Here’s a pic of dubious resolution showing the rack in action, stuffed full of good comics and also Purgatori:


The pricing is…hoo boy:


And that was in 1985 dollars, so those shelves would cost, what, one million dollars apiece now. (I rounded up slightly.) And I don’t think I knew there were two different styles of the plexiglas shelving…we had the “lipped” kind, which is what’s pictured. Just having the plain flat ones would’ve been weird, and possibly a hazard if there were any sharp corners. I mean, I’m presuming there wasn’t.

And here’s something you don’t see every day (or maybe you do, I don’t know what you get up to in your free time):


“Here, build ’em yourself if you’re too cheap to spring on the shipping.” But actually, that’s a good option, given how most comic ships weren’t…exactly swimming in coin of the realm, then as now.

Actually, looking at the pricing, I’m trying to figure out how what I did, having custom shelves built specifically for me, compares to the cost of equivalent Gabriel racks. I think it might have been less oppressive on the ol’ finances buying the Gabriels. Ah well, at least I don’t have to deal with the plexiglas shelves, which, under every day retail wear and tear, would sometimes crack or bust completely. Ah well.

Those racks served the shop well, and I know they continued using them ’til the end, at which point…I’m not sure what happened to them. I presume they were sold to another shop, or just outright discarded. Wish I had the room for them myself…maybe I’d have found a use for them, or maybe I just wanted them around as reminders of the time I spent in that old store.

Just add this to all the other dumb hills I’m dying on.

§ September 16th, 2024 § Filed under grendel, indies, swamp thing § 12 Comments

As anyone who’s been reading this site for a while knows, due to the various eyeball issues I’ve had over the last few years, I fell behind on my comics reading, and I’m still behind even ’til today. While things have improved healthwise in regards to my eyes, I do read a little slower than I used to, and comics ain’t comin’ out any less quickly, so the backlog continues apace.

As such, sometimes — well, usually — I don’t read comics the very week they come out, which is even more sad considering that with the new distributors in play, I often get the new books a week ahead of their official release and I still don’t read ’em until a week or three later.

Which is a long way of me telling you “I just read the last couple of issues of John Constantine Hellblazer: Dead in America series.” Specifically, I wanted to talk here about issue #8 by Simon Spurrier and Lisandro Estherren, in which these panels appeared, with John complaining about the Demon saying his name wrong:


…and a little later, here’s the Demon mocking John by deliberately mispronouncing the name:


YESSSSSS. The battle, once conceded by me when the musician Sting, the inspiration for Constantine, pronounced the name with “-teen,” rages once again thanks to this beautiful, beautiful creative team.

The first salvo was fired back in 1988 in Swamp Thing #73 by Rick Veitch and Alfredo Alcala:


So the war is back on! Take that, too many media adaptations getting his name wrong! Yes, this is the hill I’m dying on.

• • •

Speaking of being behind on reading, I finally got around to a couple of graphic novels. First up was Palooka-ville #24, the latest in Seth’s volumes of comics and photography an’ such.


The series started as a standard black and white comic book in 1991, transitioning to a small hardcover with issue #20 in 2010. If you’re looking at the years and issue numbers there, yes, the publication is very sporadic, with the previous issue coming out in 2017.

This issue came out July of last year, and I just got around to reading it now, in case you’re wondering just how far behind I am on things. So, you know, it’s probably good it took several years for this come out. Now I’m ready for the next issue in, say, 2031.

With all this time passing just with the most recent volume, I’d forgotten details about it from when I originally ordered it in February 2023. I was reading the first part of the book, with Seth relating stories of his teenage employment at a small inn, in which he mentions someone recognizing him because of his “funny voice.” That had me thinking “huh, I wonder what Seth’s voice sounds like, I wonder if I can find a video with him talking and hear it for myself.”

Then I get to the next feature of the book, which is a series of photographs showing some behind the scenes stuff for the short film of Seth’s puppetry, included as a DVD in this book.

I’d completely forgotten there was a DVD. It’s been well over a year and a half since I ordered it, and over a year since I obtained it, so yeah, no duh I forgot. But I just thought it was amusing that I started the book with the thought “what does Seth sound like?” and then discovering that right here in the book is a way for me to hear what he sounds like.

This short film is good, by the way. It’s essentially one of Seth’s melancholy strips brought to life. And Seth’s voice sounds perfectly fine, not funny at all.

The next book I finally got to was Grendel: Devil by the Deed Master Edition, which is a new 200 page expanded retelling of the original Grendel by his creator Matt Wagner (and colored in a black, white and red palette by his son, Brennan).


Now this book came out last November, so it hasn’t been quite a year yet. And, being a very longtime Grendel fan, I went for the signed and numbered slipcased edition, with a tipped in autographed plate featuring a new Grendel illustration.

At 200 pages, it is something like five times the length of the original “completed” version of this story, the one that ran as back-ups in the first Mage mini-series. The extra pages, I believe, incorporate events from the various comics about the original Grendel, Hunter Rose, that were published after the Devil by the Deed story, though I’ve not read those in a while so beyond some vague memories I can’t say for certain.

This new version continues the conceit of the previous one, taking the format of a book examining the double life of Hunter Rose after his death and the revelation of all his secrets, via blocks of text accompanying illustrations. It’s not a traditional panel-by-panel, dialogue-and-captions, comic book, putting the reader a step removed from the story’s events. Which, I think, is an effective tactic, adding to the mystery and mythic weight of the proceedings.

Speaking of mystery, there is a point in the book where the “author” notes that some pages were removed from Grendel’s journals regarding a particular event. Enough detail of the event is given that I seem to recall it from one of the other, later stories, but I need to check (and actually have pulled out the comics themselves to look when I have a chance). If I recall correctly, this involved some supernatural elements which do exist in the Grendel milieu, but I’m guessing Wagner wanted to keep those to a minium in this mostly-grounded initial story. Argent, the wolf-like monstrous “hero” of the story, the counterpoint to Grendel’s elegant and attractive villainy, remains as the one outright fanciful aspect of this crime story…outside the guy in the costume leaping around the city, natch.

I still wonder what would have happened if Wagner had been able to finish the very first version of the story, intended as a six-issue mini-series but cancelled after three. It was…crude, but energetic, with what I still think are striking covers. It was told in the traditional comic book style, and it would have been interesting to see what story elements from the later retellings would have had their origins in the unseen chapters of this original comic. It’s hard to imagine the depth of the later twists and turns being conveyed quite as well with the standard comic storytelling, Wagner’s youthful abilities aside.

I’ll tell you one thing, though…the book ends with an “author’s credit” for the fictional writer of this tell-all of Grendel, who is the star of the first story of the 1986 series. Which of course made me want to pull those out and reread them. Sigh. And that’s how your pal Mike got even more behind on current comics, because he keeps wanting to look at his old ones again.

This post is a direct attack on the world’s biggest Silver Sable fan.

§ September 13th, 2024 § Filed under retailing § 13 Comments

Time to finish up that 1984 “Battips” distributor flyer from Bud Plant, with ordering suggestions for retailers. (Here are parts one and two.)


HARSH. This issue of Daredevil probably sold okay at the time. That’s kind of an eye-grabbing cover.


Well, that was almost two years’ worth of “Rocky Grimm, Space Ranger,” the post-Secret Wars stories of the Thing toolin’ around the Beyonder’s battleworld. Now, I recently reread those stories in ye olde Thing Omnibus, and I think they hold up. BUT using this one data point provided here I suppose in “real time,” as these issues were coming out, folks were getting a little tired of this change-of-pace storyline and wanted Bashful Ben back in his usual stomping grounds. (See also “The Trial of the Flash,” another paitence-testing storyline.)


I do still get occasional requests for both this one and the Life of Pope John Paul II, but “Pope Comics,” and this person put it, must have sold a whole lot more since I see those in collections and Mother T. — well, not at all.


Don’t know if that was a typo or a change in plans, as #265 is the actual first appearance of Silver Sable (and even got a 2nd print to ballyhoo the fact). It’s possible the story was pushed back, as #264 has “fill-in issue” written all over it. Anyway, nobody cares about Silver Sable anymore, sorry.


“Steady on” nuthin’. RAISE THEM ORDERS, TRUST ME


Interesting to see the note here that sales were “softening” on what was essential Marvel’s flagship title. And the implied “long, continued storyline (derogatory).” As far as stories being “too grim” — friend, hold onto your beanie, 1980s X-Men comics will look like the Care Bears compared to what’s to come.


This story is great, by the way. Track these down if you can.


Oh, I think this is the issue where we get Byrne’s retelling of Doom’s origin that kinda/sorta incorporated the “single scar” theory of Jack Kirby’s. Anyway (SPOILER) this is the Kristoff version of Doom (sigh…long story) and not the real Doom but it’s fairly surprising that even then, an appearance by Victor Von would be enough to get those orders bumped up way high.


Oh, come on. I won’t stand for this slander of our pal Sal. The man did fine work on Simonson’s Thor, and his style was a nice match to Simonson’s own art. The book looked great for that entire run.

Here’s a panel from this very issue:


Sal Buscema is fine.


“There’s no way this character would ever become popular with the general public via a series of movies that will literally make billions. ORDER LOW”


I admire the honesty. Anyway, big clue as to how unique a comic this was. I suggest seeking out pal Tegan on Tik Tok and seeing her short videos about this very series.


It honestly surprises me that people thought this way about Coyote. I know it didn’t last long, but thought it was held in higher regard than that. Ah, well. It seemed like an okay comic.


Whoooops, hate to tell you this about that Galactus story, but….


Pretty safe to say that Alan Davis went on to become a funnybook artist of Some Note.

• • •

And that’s it for that distributor flyer. Tune in next time, when…I’ll probably find another one to discuss!

In the meantime, I do want to note the passing of a couple of important individuals.

James Earl Jones passed away at the age of 93, which, if one must pass away, that’s a good old age to do. I know he’s done so much in so many varied roles, but c’mon, I’m the exact proper age to remember him most fondly as the voice of that most evil of heavy breathers, Darth Vader. That deep, rumbling voice epitomized Space Evil in a way very few could have.

Mark Evanier has a nice story about when he and the Garfield cartoon crew encountered Mr. Jones. And I’ve been recommending that folks check out that one episode of Big Bang Theory on which Jones guest-stars. I know comic fans aren’t…big on BBT, but Jones is clearly having a great time in this very silly and hilarious episode, and you should at least watch it for his performance. (And the other Star Wars guest star who shows up.)

The other passing is that of John Cassaday, a superior comics artist whose sense of design classed up any comic he worked on. He supplied countless covers, he drew Astonishing X-Men, he drew Planetary, he did so much, and I’m sorry he’s gone so soon. My conlences to his friends and family.

This may be my favorite cover of is…granted, it’s not the most dynamic of his illustrations, but that great Wolverine face tells a story all its own:


So long, James and John.

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