Ladies and gentlemen…the Calculator:
So I had Kid Chris processing several old comics we purchased recently, and, flipping through a copy of Detective Comics #468 (Mar/Apr ’77), he wondered just what was up with this Calculator fella. “Yes,” I told Kid Chris, “the Calculator really did materialize objects out of his helmet that he could use to fight superheroes.”
I’m no Calculator scholar, but I figured objects just popped out of the front of his helmet, and I think this is the only time where I saw a hatch open on top. It reminds me a little of the scene in Time Bandits where the knife/drill thingie pops out of the top of David Warner’s head.
Besides, wouldn’t that crane make the Calculator awfully top-heavy? Or did that helmet generate unseen braces and supports to keep Calc upright? And really, what good is that going to do fighting Batman anyway?
Anyway, this story ends with this panel:
…where Batman is laughing because he (as Bruce Wayne) just screwed Morgan Edge on some business deal. Add that to your list of Things Batman Doesn’t Do Anymore. (Laugh, that is, not screw people on business deals.)
We also recently acquired a full run of Ultimate Marvel titles, from Ultimate Spider-Man #1 on up, including a complete set of that Ultimate Marvel magazine. You know, the one Marvel saw fit not to distribute to comic shops at first. Which is just as well, since later issues didn’t sell worth poop anyway. I was poking through the last issue, and saw this line in an interview with Jack Black about comics he enjoys:
“I got into the Black Knight, and the Minute Men by Alan Moore. Now, I like 8 Ball and Chris Weir who does those Acme novels.”
Okay, I’m not faulting Black for not remembering the name of Watchmen…he’s probably (and wisely) not obsessive about this stuff like we are. But surely an editor would have caught the misspellings…unless, of course, nobody gave a rat’s butt because it’s the last issue. “Hey, isn’t that supposed to be spelled W-A-R-E?” “Ah, who cares, nobody’s gonna read this anyway.”
Remember that Spider-Man entry in the smart-alecky Comics FAQ I posted a few days ago, where I said Spidey lives on in movies, TV, and toys? Peter David has a real-life example of this.
Ladies and gentlemen…pal Dorian and me:
