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§ October 12th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on
From the NEWSFLASHES column in Amazing Heroes #68 (April 1, 1985):
Marvel Comics will be combating the problem [of the increase of costs in printing a 32-page comic] by converting all of its existing titles into a 100-page format. Retailing for $2.95, these new comics will bear the headline ‘SPECIAL GREAT BIG COMIC – MORE FOR YOUR MONEY!’ across the top of each cover. The story content in each issue will total 85 pages, with 12 pages of ads and a 6-page letters column.*
…CHRIS CLAREMONT will be in charge of The X-Men Super Giant Big Book, which will include a regular 30-page X-Men series drawn by JOHN ROMITA, Jr. and DAN GREEN, a 25-page New Mutants series drawn by FRANK ROBBINS, and rotating series of features starring other mutants.
DC Comics’ reaction?
What DC will be doing instead is cutting down its comic books to 16 pages – ‘like Cerebus, just a step further.’ Ads will be cut down to 4 pages, leaving 14 pages of story per issue.** Letters pages will be confined to the inside front cover, a la First Comics.
…’Let’s face it,’ DICK GIORDANO said, ‘it’s already tough enough fitting, say, the Legion of Super-Heroes into one 25-page story.’ As a result, all teams will be cut down to three members.
…Justice League of America will reduce its membership to Vibe and Vixen, according to readership polls the favorite members of the audience. GERRY CONWAY will continue to write, and MIKE SEKOWSKY will draw.
It was meant as a joke at the time, but nearly 20 years on, do either of these options sound terribly farfetched? I think the estimate on the number of ad pages is a bit low…I think we’d be looking at about a 50/50 ratio of ads to story, just to keep the costs down on a 100-page monthly comic. And pal Dorian mentioned to me that Warren Ellis had suggested some kind of 16 page weekly comic in place of the 32-page monthlies. (I hadn’t read Ellis’ comments on that, so forgive me if I have the details wrong.)
Well, at our store, people are still buying the regular monthlies like they’re going out of st…er, like they’re hotcakes, but with the increase in popularity of the trade paperback sales model (particularly in manga), monthly books may have to evolve in order to continue competing in venues aside from the comic book store niche market.
Just a thought…I don’t think the 32-page format is going away anytime soon, but there will come a point when its price point will become too high for even the most ardent comics fan. What will happen then, I wonder?
* Yes, I know that adds up to 103 pages.
** See? Still funny!
§ October 11th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on
So as I was digging through some boxes in the store’s back room, I was surprised to find this little underground comix motherlode hidden away:
That’s four copies each of Big Ass Comics #1 and #2 by Robert Crumb, and twelve copies of The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers #2. I seem to vaguely remember receiving these in a collection a while back, but I think we were in the process of dealing with yet another much larger collection of undergrounds at the same time (as in several hundred of them), and this lot just sorta got lost in the shuffle. Anyway, they’re rescued now, and thus I must begin preparing them for sale…which means figuring out which printing each comic is.
Now, several underground comix went back to press several times to meet demand, and with the exception of Kitchen Sink Press (which was fairly consistent in indicating what printing number each comic was up to) most publishers didn’t make it easy to determine printings. Of course, it wasn’t the publishers’ concern, really…all they were trying to do is reprint enough copies of, say, Mother’s Oats #1, to fill orders. They certainly didn’t expect that 25 years later, some poor schlub like me was going to be carefully placing these in plastic baggies for back issue sales…they probably thought the comix would end up being tossed out, used as coasters, used as ashtrays for (ahem) “cigarettes,” or whatever.
The only near-complete reference guide to undergrounds is The Official Underground And New Wave Comix Price Guide by Jay Kennedy…which was published 22 years ago, so obviously the pricing information is out of date. However, the publishing information is very detailed, and thoroughly explains the differences between printings.
In a lot of cases, the only way to tell the difference between printings is certain visual clues. A first edition may have a coloring error on the cover that the second printing does not, maybe a mailing address has changed between printings, maybe there’s an art correction inside the comic, and in some cases it even comes down to the thickness of the paper stock used for the covers! However, since the Underground Price Guide only had the one edition, any errors that appeared in that first edition have remained uncorrected. In particular, we’ve come across several variations of Freak Brothers that are unmentioned in the Guide.
A great site that’s been doing a lot of work toward straightening out underground comix’ publishing history, and correcting errors in the Guide, is Ugcomix.info, which is attempting to assemble a visual record of every variation of every printing of every UG…you might even see a scan or two I contributed, if you look around long enough.
There have been other price guides over the last few years that made half-hearted attempts at listing undergrounds…but in most cases not enough information was given in telling the various printings apart, and therefore unusable except in conjunction with the Underground Price Guide. Years ago, word on the street was that Kennedy was preparing a revised edition of his Guide, but unfortunately it has yet to appear.
In other news:
Mark Evanier’s post about Christopher Reeve affected me the most. Very, very sad. Most of my fellow comics webloggers have some nice words about Mr. Reeve as well.
For some reason, I keep getting credit on various sites (this one’s the latest I’ve found) for finding that Justice League of America panel with Batman thinking “Robin, what have I done to you?” Wasn’t me…I’m not sure who first posted it, but it’s never appeared on site (beyond my linking to it elsewhere).
§ October 11th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on
CHRISTOPHER REEVE
1952 – 2004
§ October 10th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on
I’m a little under the weather today, so I’ll just post a couple quickies here:
Laura‘s been linking to me on a fairly regular basis, and I haven’t said “thank you.” So, thanks, Laura! One of Laura’s ongoing features is to post an Aquaman sketch (or, at least, an aquatically-themed sketch) every Saturday that she’s acquired from pro cartoonists. Here’s the latest, and I suggest going back through the archives to see more…lots of good stuff!
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The contents for the next issue of The Comics Journal are up on the official site. (Read Dirk Deppey’s essay on Marvel.)
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My ballot-box-stuffing sense is tingling, what with the sudden increase in votes for Yoko Ono in the Comic Treadmill‘s latest poll. Surely the people know that a vote for the Associated Comics And Pop Culture Webloggers of Ventura County, CA And Outlying Environs* is a vote for freedom and prosperity?
***
Real content tomorrow, I promise!
* As always, S.H.I.E.L.D. for short.
Amazing Heroes #77 (August 1985) – cover by Steve Bissette, Michael T. Gilbert, William Messner-Loebs, & John Totleben
The Mr. Monster article in this issue does briefly discuss the intentions of all the above-named parties, as well as a Mr. Alan Moore, to create a
Mr. Monster/Swamp Thing team-up comic. Nineteen years on, I think I can probably stop waiting for it.
§ October 8th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on
Pal Andy links to this overview of video game comics. As Andy notes, DC Comics’ Atari Force is overlooked completely. This site fills that void nicely, however.
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I did finally see this week’s episode of Smallville…you know, the “Kryp/Tuck” episode. It turned out not to be as bad as I was expecting from last week’s preview…but really, it wasn’t all that good, either. Ethics seem to be right out the window (Lana’s boyfriend becoming an employee at her high school, and continuing the relationship; Clark trying out for the football team), there’s more rampant nudity, there are plot complications right outta nowhere (Lois didn’t pass her senior year, so she has to make up credits…at Smallville High)…and for some reason, Abby’s mom, the villain of the piece, seemed to remind me of the kind of villain you’d see in Lois and Clark‘s later seasons, if you know what I mean. Anyway, I don’t really have much to say on this episode, but go read Jason’s insightful review. He makes some good points, particularly about Chloe’s new position in the show.
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Speaking of Lois and Clark, I found this charming review of the show on the Internet Movie Database. I hope it’s a joke, but somehow, I don’t think it is. Was Dean Cain’s apparent ethnicity ever an issue (part-Japanese, not Vietnamese, despite what that “reviewer” thinks)? I thought Cain did a pretty good job as Superman/Clark, myself.
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“‘Mature readers’ Youngblood“ is a self-cancelling statement if ever I’ve seen one.
Don’t worry, kids aren’t interested in Youngblood. Adults are barely interested in Youngblood. Remember how I’ve said that despite apparent prevailing opinion, Rob Liefeld work tends to sell? Let me amend that to “Rob Liefeld’s Marvel work tends to sell.”
§ October 7th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on
Shane at Near Mint Heroes has a season-appropriate contest for all you comics fans, in which you could win either a copy of the Walking Dead trade paperback or a copy of the 24 Hour Comics book! See his site for the scary details.
Scott Saavedra has been posting some funny stuff over the last couple of days…I particularly like this panel from a “Bizarro World” story.
§ October 7th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on
A few more comments about yesterday’s new arrivals:
- Tim over at The Hurting has already done a fairly comprehensive review of the DC Comics Encyclopedia, and now that I’ve seen it myself, I have to agree that it’s an impressive volume. I haven’t bought it yet…though I honestly do love this kind of thing, I haven’t put together the scratch, especially since two other books I wanted popped up this week. I did flip through a copy at the shop, however. All the illustrations are reprinted from other sources, near as I can tell. The decided lack of John Constantine is a little puzzling, but it’s good to see that Ambush Bug made the cut. And I had to check…yes, Jonah Hex’s adventure in the future is referenced, thus making this the greatest book ever. Yes, even better than The Grapes of Wrath.*
As Tim notes, the previous versions of the Doom Patrol are featured, but no mention is made of its current incarnation. I wonder if it’s a subtle hint on the part of the editors that they don’t think the “together again for the first time!” gimmick of the new Doom Patrol series is going to stick. Or, more likely, all the DP-related material was assembled prior to having any info on the revamp. Anyway, as pal Dorian and I were discussing the other day, other DC creators don’t seem to be paying attention to the Doom Patrol “reboot.” Gordon noticed a reference to old DP continuity in Identity Crisis, and it looks like Geoff Johns’ recent reworking of Beast Boy’s origin in Teen Titans wasn’t so drastic that the Doom Patrol couldn’t be squeezed back in if necessary.
- Speaking of the Titans, the reference to “the 21st century’s Teen Titans” in one of the Teen Titans/Legion Special‘s caption boxes had me briefly thinking of some kind of super-futuristic Teen Titans team. Then I suddenly realized, “oh, yeah, we are in the 21st century.” I’m still not used to that idea. I mean, 2001: A Space Odyssey now takes place in the past…how weird is that?
- Something else both Dorian and I have noticed…our customers asking for the new issue of World’s Finest — by which they mean the new Superman/Batman. I don’t really have a problem with that…in my head World’s Finest is synonymous with “Superman-Batman team-up book,” but given the actual title of the book is squeezed into one corner of the cover in favor of the combined Supes shield/Bat logo, I suppose it’s not completely unexpected that some people may not realize what the book is called.
In other news (mostly about me, me, me):
* DISCLAIMER: Book may not actually be better than The Grapes of Wrath. Book probably is better than The Old Man And The Sea, however.
§ October 6th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on
New funny books, ahoy! (Possible spoilers, ahoy, as well.)
- Superman/Batman #12 finally made it out to our neck of the woods this week. If I weren’t an incorrigible Superman fan, I probably would have skipped out on this series entirely…the artwork’s hard on my aging eyes, and this new iteration of Supergirl just ain’t doin’ it for me. I did like the confrontation between Darkseid and Bats, though.
- The Teen Titans/Legion Special does indeed set up the new status quo for the new ongoing Legion of Super-Heroes series, while sort of leaving the door open for a return to the previous status quo(s), if necessary. (Though, as Dorian noted to me earlier today, some fans won’t be happy until the Legion is exactly as it was 40 years ago.)
- Demo #10 – it’s a return to the series gimmick of a character with an apparent superpower…but with a nice, creepy twist on that theme. I don’t want to say more that’ll give it away, spoiler warning or not.
- Hulk/Thing #2 – still continues to intrigue, and I’m really wondering what the upshot of all this is going to be. Some nice bits of self-aware dialogue, too: “Need someone new to write yer stuff, pal!”
- Swamp Thing #8, which I actually got last week, when I took home the preview copy we received so I could read it early, and, well, forgot to bring it back. No, I really did forget, stop looking at me like that. Anyway, nice wrap-up to the story, with artist Richard Corben giving everything an extra layer of creepiness (particularly his rendition of Arcane).
- Hellboy: Odder Jobs is a new collection of short prose stories about everyone’s favorite demonic paranormal investigator…I’ve liked the previous Hellboy prose books, so I expect this one to be fun as well. And it has a Sharyn McCrumb story!
- I had completely forgotten about the Essential Monster of Frankenstein collection from Marvel, so this was a nice surprise today. The black and white Essentials format seems tailor-made for Marvel’s horror line (more so than for the superhero books, which look pretty awful in these reprints), so I can’t wait to plow through this volume. I expect we’ll probably see an Essential Man-Thing soon enough. Or maybe an Essential Tales of the Zombie! That I’d really like to see.
Other new arrivals (more SPOILERS):
- I didn’t buy the Loki series, which from all accounts actually turned out to be not half bad. I did look at the last few pages of the final issue, though…and if I’m reading things correctly, you could probably do some kind of deconstructive analysis of the story, with Thor representing Marvel Comics’ desire to maintain the status quo, and Loki as DC, wishing to struggle against the status quo but ultimately falling before it. Or maybe not. At any rate, I’ll give this series a second look when the trade comes out any second now.
- The Complete Peanuts 1950-4 Boxed Set arrived today, which is completely frustrating since we didn’t get the second volume separately yet. And that is a nice slipcase on the set…no, no, already have first volume, musn’t buy set. As a certain round-headed blockhead would say — “Rats.”
- The Simple Life Cinemanga has arrived. Dwell on that, if you will.
- Another issue of Youngblood, now with dirty words! Gasp! Or did the previous issue have dirty words, too? Ah, who cares.
- The new Aliens Vs. Predator graphic novel, Thrill of the Hunt, is now out in convenient digest format, just in time for the movie to have finished its run in theatres and for no one to care anymore.
§ October 6th, 2004 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on
So, due to various circumstances, Yogi finds himself having to fill in for his lady friend Cindy in her stage play. After the show, a showbiz bigwig (who, you’ll note, happens to be human) hits on the “female” lead:
from Yogi Bear #26 (June 1975) – art by Ray Dirgo
Okay, if you’re already hitting on a bear, you’re in no position to start getting squeamish when it turns out the bear is a guy. I mean, c’mon.
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