Mike Sterling's Progressive RuinBattling beyond the stars since 1969

§ July 13th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on

1. I don’t really have much to say about the new DC Comics solicitations except, as pal Dorian has noted, that DC Rarities Archives is $75! I may probably still spring for it (actually, it’ll be released pretty close to Christmas, he hinted gently) since it’s reprinting The Big All-American Comic Book which I’ve wanted for years.

Oh, and Kurt Busiek on JLA sounds like fun, too.

2. Spotted via Milo George’s site (and also reported here) is Jeff Mason’s call for help regarding his Alternative Comics publishing concern. His company is in a financial bind for various reasons (including being stiffed on some money from an out-of-business distributor) and he asks that you purchase Alternative Comics items from your local retailer. And, as a seller of funnybooks myself, I’ll be doing some reordering of any Alternative Comics we happen to be missing.

3. Stolen from Boingboing – The Famous Cartoonist Button Series. Individual buttons cost $2 to $8, and you can score the whole set for $195. As a button-horder myself, I’m sorely tempted…but I think I’ll just have to be satisfied with lookin’ at the pictures. Though I think I might pick up the Sergio Aragones pin. Oh, and maybe the Kim Deitch pin. And the Bill Griffith pin, and…oh, dammit.

4. Also, special thanks to all of you for reading my site…yesterday was the highest number of visits to this site ever in a single day (due in part to pal Andy linking me from his mighty weblog). And whoever it was that found my site by Googling for “Spidey slash fiction” — sorry I couldn’t help you. Anyway, as long as I have this excess of visitors, after you’re all done looking at my site, go send some of your internet traffic love to my close, personal friends Dorian, Ian, Corey, Tom, and Reid.

§ July 12th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on

Here’s a brief Metafilter discussion thread on graphic novels, notable mostly for someone mentioning Will Eisner in the context of “he’s alive, but not active.” Really? That’s news to me…and to Eisner as well, I bet.

Found via Fark – a huge freakin’ comic book collection up for auction on eBay, including Superman #1, Batman #1, multiple copies of Giant Size X-Men #1 and Incredible Hulk #181, and more multiple copies of comics you don’t expect to see multiple copies of. That picture of 60-something copies of Wolverine mini-series #1 is a desktop picture waiting to happen, don’t you think?

Found via everywhere: collector acquires every comic book published by DC Comics. (I wonder if this includes foreign editions? “Collector Finds Out about DC’s Foreign Editions – ‘Oh, Crap’ He Says.”) My favorite quote in the article is about how this collector’s comic shop “urged” him to try to collect every DC comic. Of course they did! What did anyone expect them to say? “No, please don’t buy our full runs of Arak Son of Thunder and Sun Devils!”

§ July 12th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on

Oh, okay, I suppose I couldn’t leave you hanging with just the cover:

from Strange Adventures #156 (Sept 1963) by Gardner Fox & Sid Greene

Astronomy professor (and former Korean War soldier) Bill Smathers is having a reunion with fellow veterans from the war when suddenly, a duplicate of the planet Saturn materializes around his head!







The “planet” proceeds to start shooting bolts of energy, like what you saw on the cover there…but instead of destroying, the beams are in fact teleporting Bill’s fellow veterans — and finally, Bill himself. They all find themselves on the planet of Saturn (even though it’s a gas giant) face to face with “a strange and alien being.”

“It was I — Kandare Ohl — who brought you and your fellow-warriors here to fight the longest war in history,” he explains, as he removes the Saturn-globe from Bill’s head. And get this explanation as to why his teleportion-thingie looks the way it does:

Yes, it’s the most ridiculous transportation device in the history of science fiction. Anyway, Kandare was the ruler of Saturn, and his twin brother Alagor Von was the ruler of Jupiter (another gas giant, mind you), and there was a big war, blah blah blah, and eventually only the two of them were left on their respective worlds. Since they are telepathic, they were able to continually read each other’s minds and thus were evenly matched. Kandare then had the bright idea to recruit Earthlings to do the fighting for him, since Alagor would be unable to read their thoughts, presumably. And yes, Kandare did realize that Alagor, reading his brother’s thoughts, would do the same thing…and indeed he does, as we see here:







…except he got himself some of them Russians. Please note the Jupiter head on Ivan.

Kandare informs the humans that, should the battle go his way, he would then teleport himself to Earth, wearing a “life-suit” that would give him immortality the way his domed city on Saturn does, so that he would have a population to rule. Kandare then puts a mental whammy on the humans, compelling them attack Alagor, and puts them on a rocket ship to Jupiter. On the way there, their ship passes the rocket-o’Russians headed the other way, and Bill jumps on the radio to signal his “plan” to them. And what’s that plan? We’ll find out soon enough.

For the next couple of pages there’s a lot of running around and general mayhem, and finally Bill confronts Alagor.

As the raygun fire-fight continues, Bill notes that Alagor avoids one part of the room — almost as if he’s trying to protect something from getting hit by a random shot there. After Alagor hightails it like a big pansy, Bill finds a hidden cabinet in that particular part of the room…a cabinet containing another teleportation device in the form of the Earth!







I’m not sure that’s a technically accurate definition of “telekinesis.” I’m pretty sure that’s not even the accurate spelling.

Bill quickly hunts down Alagor (no easy trick, given that the globe has no eye-holes) and prepares to send him packing to Earth. Alagor begs for his life — since he isn’t wearing his own “life-suit,” being sent to Earth away from the protection of his Jovian environment would mean his death.

Will the humans realize that death is not the answer, that a show of mercy would correct the paths of these two brothers, perhaps even healing the rift between them and showing them that their fraternal love is greater than any reason for war?

Nope:

And it appears that Bill’s brilliant plan was to tell the Russians to run around Kandare’s pad looking for an Earth-globe, too…and, since they did make it home, it appears that there’s probably a pile of Kandare-ash floating around the streets of St. Petersburg or somewhere.

This grand adventure has taught all humanity an important lesson:

…at least until we all get to these planets and start fighting over who gets what.

Phone follies.

§ July 11th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on Phone follies.

• Please tell me where this phone call went awry:

  Me: “Hello, this is Mike, can I help you?”

  Person on the phone: “Yes, I have some Reagan memorabilia for sale…do you buy this sort of thing?”

  Me: “No, I’m sorry, but we don’t deal in that type of merchandise.”

  P.O.T.P.: “Well, I have some commemorative coins, a copy of a newspaper from when he got shot, some collectors plates…” etc. etc.

  This phone call went awry –

  a) when the caller completely ignored the fact that I said we didn’t deal in those items and told me what he had anyway

  b) when I wasn’t firm enough with my “no” answer

  c) when I picked up the phone

• As a comic shop manager, I must be well-rounded in my knowledge. To wit:

  Me: “Hi, this is Mike, can I help you?”

  P.O.T.P.: “What years did the Brady Bunch TV show originally run?”

  Me: “From ’69 to ’74.”

  P.O.T.P.: “Okay, thanks!”

  (Yes, I knew what years the Brady Bunch ran, just off the top of my head. Wanna make somethin’ of it?)

• The prank phone call I received:

  “Do you have any butt comics?”

  What I said: nothing. I just ended the call.

  What I should have said: “No, but I’m sure Eros Comix will get around to them eventually.”

§ July 11th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on

I don’t normally post this late on a Saturday, but you gotta see this. Pal Ian is a genius.

§ July 10th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on

Strange Adventures #156 (Sept 1963) – cover art by Murphy Anderson

§ July 9th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on

What makes it funnier is that these sorts of displays are referred to as counter dumps. Get it, get it? Anyway, your big ol’ pile of Lobo comics was supposed to slide into that big hole under the toilet. If memory serves, at the time I think we opted not to use this particular promotional item…for one, it’s pretty big and we really didn’t have the counter space to devote to it, and two, I’m fairly certain our customers didn’t want to have a cardboard standup of a guy sitting on a toilet shoved in their faces, even if it was drawn by Simon Bisley.

Actually, now I probably would put in on display, just to irritate people. Maybe I will anyway…I can use it for the new Excalibur series.

New comics day round-up.

§ July 9th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on New comics day round-up.

• Swamp Thing #5 – starts off with a nice John Totleben-style monster (actually Swampy’s daughter Tefe), which gave me a nice nostalgic feeling.
  

• The 3 Geeks Super-Sized Swimsuit Spectacular – while the whole comics/swimsuits thing is very 1990s (and pretty much played out by the Amazing Heroes specials long before Marvel and Image started doing them), don’t let the title scare you off…this is classic 3 Geeks material. Fun stuff, and our regular does of the Geeks are sorely missed.
  

• Liberty Meadows Sourcebook #1 – yes, yes, I know this comic was funnier back when it was called Bloom County, but I like the art, and it does amuse. Besides, a little cheesecake never hurt anyone. (Of course, this isn’t exactly a little cheesecake…this is Frank Cho we’re talking about.) Anyway, this is sorta the Marvel Universe for Liberty Meadows, with very, very brief descriptions of the characters involved, accompanied by a couple of typical strips featuring the character in question. Cho does provide some commentary regarding the origins of some of the featured strips, and has a section of strips that had previously been unreprinted for various reasons. Not essential, unless you’re a sad old completist fanboy like me.
  

• The Comics Journal #261 – haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but a quick flip-through looks promising. Already Tom Spurgeon’s review of a Joe Casey issue of Superman has got pal Ian going. And the mag has a great cover to boot…look for the piercing gaze of Phoebe Gloeckner.
  

• Tom Strong #27 – written by Steve Aylett and illustrated by the always-welcome Shawn McManus, we get another mind-bender of a story that reassures me that Alan Moore’s “retirement” hasn’t much hurt the ABC line.
  

• DC Comics Presents Batman #1 – the first in the Julius Schwartz tribute issues, and a lot of fun. A nice touch is the reprinting of the original inspirational cover on the inside front cover. Both of the stories are fairly clever as well, with Len Wein’s story being the standout as he has fun with the editorial edict of “Batman as urban legend.”
  

• Mad Magazine #444 – yup, I’m still reading it, and still enjoying it…and still being surprised by ads in the magazine. Yeah, I need to get over it. (Is that Land of the Lost DVD set advertisement everywhere? Before you ask…yes, I bought it already.) Not all the humor in the magazine works for me, but heck, the Marginals alone are worth the price.
  

• The Goon #7 and B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs #5 – I know that issue of The Goon, which guest-stars Hellboy, came out a couple weeks ago, but we ran out right quick and I gave up my copy to a customer because I am good and pure of heart, and I knew we had a restock coming, too. It’s a fun read…we’ve carried Goon comics since the beginning, but I’ve not read one ’til this issue. I really don’t need to get hooked on another comic. Argh! B.P.R.D. answers a few questions about Abe Sapien’s origins, and, as is typical, raises a few new ones as well.
  

Also out this week: Seth’s Clyde Fans Book 1 hardcover is another handsome publication from Drawn and Quarterly…Kid Firechief is a small paperback by Yikes creator Steven Weissman – attractive, a bit steep at $12.95 but worth it…Trucker Fags in Denial by Jims Goad and Blanchard is just as family-friendly and heartwarming as it sounds, and very funny as well – here’s a sample that is not work-safe, so don’t blame me if you get fired….

Also, John Byrne’s Doom Patrol #1 has picked up a bit…we’ve actually sold through about 3/4 of our copies since I last wrote about it, but there are still an awful lot of people who give it a look and a pass. Hopefully the people who are picking it up will stick with it.

§ July 8th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on

(this post dedicated to Dan)

I remember picking up this series and liking it at the time…a female private detective who can turn into a lightning-bolt being? And it’s drawn by Dick Giordano? How can it be anything but good?

Well, in all fairness it was well drawn, though if memory serves it was printed with that Flexographic printing process that didn’t do the art any favors. I haven’t read it in years, so I can’t comment on the story. In fact, I went to the vast Mikester Comic Archives where I thought I had my copies of this series, and apparently they were victims of the Great Comics Purge I put my collection through in ’94. Alas, if only someone would have told me that 10 years later I would have been writing about that series for my weblog…to which I probably would have said, “what’s a weblog?”

Jonni Thunder herself did pop up again a few times in Infinity Inc. (that cover to the right drawn by Todd McFarlane, believe it or not), and I think she was in one or two panels of Crisis on Infinite Earths, and that was pretty much it.

As Dan also mentioned in the comment I linked above, I’m surprised she hasn’t come back in some form or another (Geoff Johns is a likely suspect, Dan notes, but a Vertigo series wouldn’t over surprise me either).

One more thing: a few months ago pal Dorian and I decided to put up that promo poster in the store, just to see if anyone noticed. I think only one person ever did.

§ July 7th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on

Yes, kids, the Punisher wants to make sure you have healthy lungs…before he shoots you.

Anyway, I was looking at the preview for the upcoming Hulk Vs. Thing mini-series by Bruce Jones and Jae Lee, and I was wondering about Lee’s somewhat…alternative take on Aunt Petunia’s favorite nephew:

Certainly quite a bit different from Jolly Jack’s version:







Now, I admit I was a little taken aback at first by Lee’s interpretation, but it’s since grown on me. (But if I can be Anal-Retentive Comic Book Fan for just a moment…THE THING’S NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE A VISIBLE NECK! …okay, I feel better now.) And given that Jones is writing it, we only have about a 10% chance of the Hulk actually showing up during the course of this story….

I did have an odd idea pop into my head, though…given the usual tail-wagging-dog nature of the relationship between comic books and the tv shows and movies based on them, I wonder if we’re not seeing in Lee’s artwork a preliminary version of the Thing make-up from the forthcoming Fantastic Four movie. I remember reading some rumors/reports that indicated the Thing’s film appearance will be designed as so to not completely obscure the actor’s face…and that design Lee is using for this mini-series would definitely be along those lines.

Or maybe Lee just felt like drawing him that way…which is the more likely explanation.