Sluggo Saturday #84.
OF SLUGGO
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Meanwhile, in Metropolis, people are getting mugged, having car accidents, falling from buildings….
So when Superman isn’t drawing pictures for his to-do list, he’s molding frighteningly lifelike busts of his nemeses:
…while reciting their backstories to himself, apparently. Though I prefer to think he’s directly addressing the busts themselves. “…And that’s how Luthor went bad. DO YOU HEAR ME, HEAD OF JAX-UR?”
I think I can kinda sorta see why Superman would have this particular display, as a reminder of the type of tragic fall some people can experience, and perhaps of his own complicity in Luthor’s particular descent into criminality, but still:
…that’s kind of a weird thing to have on display, even in your “Hall of Enemies.” But then, there are probably people out there who have this on display in their homes, so, you know, why single Superman out?
Also, please enjoy this stern yet strangely attractive Saturn Queen bust, as sculpted by Kal-El’s skillful hands:
She disapproves of your bust-collecting, and shall discipline you for it, you naughty, naughty boy.
images from Action Comics #294 (Nov 1962) by Edmond Hamilton & Al Plastino
Before…
what they wanted to see***:
images from 100-Page Super Spectacular #DC-18 (July 1973)
* “Cake shows some light crumbling at the edges. Kept in smoke-free home. Certificate of Cake-thenticity included. Numbered #1221/8500.”
** Turns out “focussed” is an accepted, but little-used (at least in the U.S.) spelling of the word. Maybe I can get a Fake AP entry out of this.
*** Yes, yes, they actually haven’t learned this yet. Case in point.
**** So Superman actually drew a little picture of himself succumbing to Kryptonite. That’s…a bit peculiar.
Sometimes I just want to post a scan of a mid-1980s Jemm, Son of Saturn house ad.
Just happened to come across this ad I was rereading some ’80s Superman comics, and I don’t think I’ve reread this series (by Greg Potter, Gene Colan and Klaus Janson) since it originally came out over 25 years ago. However, I do recall really looking forward to it and enjoying it when it finally did. I should bust them out and read ’em again.
I apparently have enough residual goodwill towards this character that I’m — well, “excited” is too strong a term — how ’bout “bemused” whenever Jemm pops up in one series or another. I think his first post-series appearance was a brief cameo in the round-robin title DC Challenge, and since then he’s appeared in such places as Grant Morrison’s JLA run, in Ostrander and Mandrake’s Martian Manhunter series, and most recently (I believe) in the Superman: World of New Krypton mini-series.
So anyway, Jemm: pretty much the definition of an eighth-stringer, but I like him anyway.
There’s a new action figure of Jemm coming out this year from Mattel’s DC Universe Classics line, and here’s an extensive look at it. Doesn’t quite match the look of Colan’s twisty and amorphous version from the mini-series, but I suspect an action figure strictly matching Colan’s particular art style would only frighten and confuse.
Some people didn’t want to wait for the official figure, and thus whipped up a custom-made Jemm figure done in the style of the hyper-muscular Total Justice action figure line.
If that’s all too plastic-y for you, here’s a custom-made Mego-style version complete with cloth clothing (about halfway down the page).
And in conclusion: Jemm, Son of Saturn. Not to be confused with….
“YRUBB ORUTOO DA YREEMB UYON – – KRYPTONIU EWYRR!”
I’ve been so used to seeing the Kryptonian language represented by a special symbol typeface in Superman comics over the last few years that seeing a phonetic version of spoken Kryptonian is…well:
from Action Comics #489 (Nov 1978) by Cary Bates, Curt Swan & Frank Chiaramonte
…yeah. I suppose, once I have a spare decade and a complete collection of Superman comics, I can catalog the different ways Kryptonian has been represented over the years. Then I can finally fulfill my dream of opening a Kryptonian language camp for underprivileged children, and we can compete with the Klingon language camp across the lake…but perhaps I’ve said too much.
In other news:
- Kevin Church wrap ups one webcomic, immediately starts up another: The Line, with art by Paul Salvi.
- Forgot to mention that Awesome Hospital artist Matt Digges is also writing the current storyline: starts here, with awesome installments to follow!
- Pals Dorian and Ken unleash their latest movie trailer reviews over at the Bureau Chiefs site. The trailer reviews really are among my favorite things.
- So The Variants, the critically-acclaimed comedy web show what takes place in a funnybook store, is gearing up for a second season, and here’s the shocking teaser.
- Rick Veitch draws the Gelatinous Cube from Dungeons & Dragons.
Let me repeat that:
RICK VEITCH DRAWS THE GELATINOUS CUBE FROM DUNGEONS & DRAGONS.
So awesome.
- Here’s an interesting look back at Comico’s licensing of properties for comics, including Macross and Jonny Quest. Of particular note is the mention of one cult-favorite ’80s character that Comico licensed but ended up not publishing. I hadn’t known about that!
- Dr. K discusses the possible influences on Will Eisner’s adoption of the term “graphic novel.” Bonus: comment section includes some respectful and informative additions from cartoonist Eddie Campbell.
- Nerds Ruin Presidents. Warning: CANNOT BE UNSEEN.
The Iron Eater looks like he escaped from a Rankin/Bass holiday special.
From the New Adventures of Superman DVD, featuring those cartoons from the mid-1960s, here is the first animated appearance of Brainiac:
On one hand, he’s kinda mopey looking, and doesn’t appear to be much of a threat at all. On the other…he doesn’t say a single word throughout the entire episode, which is…kinda creepy, actually. And at one point he turns himself invisible, and he just kinda winks out with no sound effects whatsoever, which is 1) pretty unusual for a cartoon of this period to show such restraint, and 2) is even more creepy.
Another thing about the cartoon is that we get a backstory for Brainiac that has nothing to do with the Brainiac backstory established at that point in the comics (a trend continued with the Krypton-based Brainiac origin from the ’90s Superman: The Animated Series show, and in Smallville). Explained in this episode, The Return of Brainiac (more on that in a second), Brainiac is a robot built by Dr. Hekla from the planet Mega. And when Brainiac is eventually destroyed (and again, more on that in a moment) it is commented that Dr. Hekla will just build another one and send it back to Earth.
Now the episode is called “The Return of Brainiac,” even though this is the first appearance of Brainiac on this DVD…can’t say for sure if this is the proper chronological order of episodes on the disc, but I was a bit amused to have my first encounter with the animated version of this character be in a show titled “The Return of….” And the backstory thrown out in dialogue appears to refer to a previous appearance, so if there is another Brainiac episode in this set (and I haven’t yet watched the second disc), the episodes were either put on these discs out of order, or the episodes were originally produced and aired out of order. Or the producers just assumed viewers already knew the character from the comics, and never bothered with an “introduction,” as such. Or they just plain threw him out there. It doesn’t matter, really…the writing on these were very much at the “well, this’ll do” quality, so explicit episode-to-episode continuity was certainly not a priority (nor should it really have been, of course).
EDIT: Sure enough, I checked the Wikipedia article and episode #33 is called “Superman Meets Brainiac.” The episode list there seems to match the episode order on the DVD, at least for the first disc, so the Brainiac intro episode is way after the “Return of” one. Still no idea if these are in the original broadcast order on the discs.
Anyway, given the very inhuman portrayal of Brainiac in the cartoon, and the continuing emphasis on his…robot-ness, I guess, this frees up Superman to just full on shoot Brainiac in the face with heat vision beams:
Oh, just let Brainiac’s smoking robot corpse sit there for a while…it’ll be fine:
One more about this cartoon…this was the first one on the disc that actually triggered a memory of my watching this show as a child. And it wasn’t Brainiac, but rather, his shrinking gun:
The gun rang a bell, as did that sparkly energy-cloud thingie. Strange things to remember, but those images stuck with me all this time.
A later episode on the disc also sparked an old childhood memory of watching the cartoon…specifically, “The Iron Eater,” featuring a critter that looked a little something…like this:
I’m not kidding. Superman totally fought this dude:
Man, how could anyone forget a mug like that?
“Suddenly, seven years later….”
Yes, it’s the seventh anniversary of this little site of mine, and clearly, that’s eight years too long. Plus, I’ve been reminded on the Twitter that I’ve been doing online comic book type things since my BBS days over twenty-something years ago. I obviously need some sort of intervention.
I say this every time (hey, dig that, a category for my anniversary posts!) but I also mean it every time: thank you all so much for reading my site and, hopefully, enjoying it. For something that just started as a way to amuse a few friends to have acquired the audience that it has stills surprises me, and I’m very grateful for your attention.
Thanks of course to my family and my girlfriend, who seem to tolerate my obsessions or at least don’t complain about them in front of me; to my best pal Dorian who does complain about me in front of me, but I know he’s doing it out of friendship; to Employee Aaron and the rest of the cast of characters around the comic shop where I allegedly work, who have yet to file any restraining orders against me; to all the other members of the Bureau Chiefs, who allow me to hang with them even though I’m not nearly as funny or clever as they are; to my fellow bloggers, comics and otherwise, who mostly don’t hate me, I think; and, as always, a big thanks to Neilalien, Comics Blogger Alpha, because he is awesome.
The other thing I do pretty much every time an anniversary comes around is say “well, I don’t know that I’m going to update daily for another year” but then I end up doing so anyway (aside from the occasional technical glitch I have no control over). So, I’m just going to assume that I’ll do so for the next year, too. Barring accident, traumatic life change, or bribery, naturally.
A couple of interesting events happened over the past year, relating to my online activities: first, of course, was the book deal stemming from Fake AP Stylebook, the title of which (Write More Good) we were finally able to announce publicly a couple of months ago. We wrote the book earlier this year and we had a lot of fun cooking up the gags and running them past each other for suggestions and improvements, and hopefully you folks will like it too. And despite what I say at that link, the book is now available for preorder
And speaking of Fake AP Stylebook, that’s still going strong, with over 180,000 followers on the Twitter…and we’re still writing plenty of jokes for it, so it’s not going anywhere any time soon. The folks behind that feed, the bloggers and professors and rappers and whatnot who comprise the previously mentioned Bureau Chiefs, also worked on a comedy/commentary site for most of this year, featuring my regular This Is A Fetish for Someone column. I also occasionally contributed to pal Dorian’s News Briefs there.
Plus, because I don’t spend enough time online, I started a second weblog on the Tumblr platform all you kids are into, called Estate 4.1, in which I pull only the most choice user comments from online news stories and gather them together for your amusement. Find out why all my friends tell me “Mike, I can’t read your new site…it’s too depressing.” (I first announced Estate 4.1 in this blog post, where the combined quote and image still makes me laugh.)
And, let us not forget, this was the year of the Great WordPress Transition, where I finally moved from the Blogger software platform and ended up breaking my entire site. (I’ve fixed most of the problems since then. Well, I still write for this site, but I’m afraid we’re stuck with that particular issue.)
So anyway, enough about me…here’s more about me: behold these few…well, okay, too many posts of note from the last year:
Bruce Wayne totally using a gun, these Wolverine trading cards are silly, ROSEANNE BARR SPANKS BOY WONDER – HOT PICS INSIDE, nobody wins when you shoot craps with Darkseid, it’s like Rashomon only with Archie Comics, I’m maybe too proud of the Winnie the Pooh joke, Swamp Thing and Herbie – together again, the best part about this Superman Spectacular review is that writer Paul Kupperberg turned up in the comments (bottom of the page), Maxwell the Magic Cat Volume 4 really exists, this was my favorite strip in my college paper, PARADE HATER HORACE, Samuel Taylor Coleridge versus Batman, this Sluggo Saturday is not only terrifying — it is also the wallpaper on my cell phone, I get to say “Bruce and Dick’s sex dungeon,” then I get to say “squared-off udder teats,” Employee Aaron draws a giant mosquito on top of a tiny elephant and customer Gary continues it then finishes it off, Michael Pollard poisons your mind with a live-action Mr. Mxyzptlk, pal Nat improves a Sluggo Saturday, Valentine’s Day cards from pals Dana and Jorean (1 and 2), behold the 1990s, remember when Brainiac was awesome, Absorbing Man absorbs some cancer and it’s totally weird, I still have no good reason why I have Bloodlines trading cards, the Evil Eye Evader, J. Jonah Jameson and Morgan Edge have a power meeting while their employees screw around, post #3000, pal Dana’s Sluggo and Swamp Thing and sombreros birthday card, pal Dana brings us Batman cake, Darth Vader boxes the Hulk, Australian Swamp Thing, I was mostly trying to see how long a title I could get away with, Spock versus the planet of Phantom cosplayers, Sgt. Shark rescues a gal then apparently starts macking on her hard, the Tantrum Mat, behold JFK mags, this year’s Free Comic Book Day postmortem (with bonus Swamp Thing/Nancy & Sluggo mash-up art by Matt Digges), romance comics are weird, it’s Hellboy versus Jesus and the winner will surprise you, speaking of Hellboy here’s my original Mignola sketch, the Punisher and Wolverine emoting, Employee Aaron and I draw sad superhero logos, my Iron Man 2 review, seriously guys call me when it’s time to script Iron Man 3, some old Comico promo stuff, please enjoy my Kirby character cosplay, I liked Electric Superman, I suspect psychiatrists do gangbuster business in Metropolis, I am stupid for missing these three things, I review the Watchmen Heroclix set, someday there’ll be a DC Challenge trade paperback (or an Absolute Edition, so long as I’m dreaming), Golden Age comic publishers had no compunctions about traumatizing their readers, so Employee Aaron asked his girlfriend to marry him which finally gave me an excuse to run that pic of her dressed as Plastic Man, probably the only decent picture ever taken of me ever, here’s a photographic recreation of Aaron asking Kempo for her hand in marriage, Good Lord this is a long title for a post but there’s an awesome pic of the Joker and Lex Luthor, that ’70s Batman cartoon has some ‘spainin’ to do, I scan the hell out of the cover for Marvel: The End #1, those cones are still behind the store, here’s that oddball 3-D Flintstones comic, some weird things in Peanuts, HULK BREAK LEG AND NOT IN SHOWBIZ “WISHING LUCK” WAY, John Wayne can do anything, sometimes I’m too “clever” for my own good, surely no Robin costume can be worse than the one he’s already wearing…GAAAAAAH, dig this crazy Dipsy Doodle story, just what is wrong with that kid’s eye, I’m still the #1 Google result for this particular comic, fun with maps (1 an’ a 2, an’ a 3), I overexplain a Smurf gag, an’ a 4, this is the greatest “awareness of impending doom” expression of all time, I’d honestly better see the Black Racer in Smallville, I shouldn’t judge ahead of time but c’mon, just look at it, oh the abuse those poor Swamp Thing comics are experiencing, the more I think about it the more that anonymous comment on this post cheeses me off, my nerd equilibrium is upset by Smallville‘s timeframe, man they tried to sell kids some serious crap, so this trio of Batman panels eventually caused me to discuss the art by Jim Aparo and Bill Sienkiewicz, the first of two Sluggo magnets, so did Spooky scare you, the greatest Wonder Woman letter of comment of all time, oh go cry about it Superman, the second of two Sluggo magnets, this post made one comics site remember that I existed, I suspect Charlie Brown grew up into a disturbed adult, mechanical mermaid tail-submarines are a fetish for someone, these Charlie Brown ‘Cyclopedias are a bit odd, fifty years from now I’ll be dead and it won’t matter how I sorted my Superman comics, God I love old Green Lantern comics, this D&D comics discussion is pretty much verbatim, Medphyll is awesome, this Spider-Man Index only went for $1.49 on the eBay if you can believe that, I probably should have titled this post something other than “Space Butt,” when you take off the nostalgia goggles this Superman cartoon is terrible, and Luthor should spend more time on his schemes and less time setting up the infrastructure to support his personal entertainment.
Plus, I also wrote this review of The Comic Reader #212 for the Trouble with Comics website, in case you missed that the first time around.
And for reading all that, you get this picture Employee Aaron and I drew of Beholders from Dungeons & Dragons:
Mine’s in the lower left.
Thanks for reading, everyone, and I’ll see you tomorrow.
Sluggo Saturday #83.
SLUGGO UNCLOGS HIS
from Comics on Parade #103 (Jan 1955)
Lex Luthor anticipates the specialty podcast…
…or at least satellite radio:
That’s some devoted gang. Do you think they broadcast 24/7, or did they wrap up their broadcast day at midnight, and started up again at 6 or 7 in the morning? Did the gang write up the stories themselves, or just read ’em direct from the newspapers? Did they have a wacky “morning zoo” pair of radio personalities discussing today’s top crime stories along with sound effects and…well, I was going to say “call-ins from listeners,” but if it’s just Luthor, then, well, you know. But then again, maybe Luthor did call in…he’d never get a busy signal, and the call screener would always know who it was.
Anyway, probably still more listenable than most radio programming.
from Action Comics #295 (Dec 1962) by Leo Dorfman & Jim Mooney, as reprinted in Super DC Giant #24 (May-June 1971)
At long last, a blog post with an embedded advertisement that people won’t mind.
- A big congrats to Kevin Church and T.J. Kirsch for reaching the concluding chapter of She Died in Terrebonne. Now would be a good time to start at the beginning and read straight through!
- Johanna tries to get to the bottom of why Uncle Scrooge McDuck is called “Dagobert” in Germany. Along the way, we learn about a famous German translator of Disney comics…read the article at the first link before you click on that second link. (via pal Andy)
- Neilalien found some neat Diabolik artwork on display…Mr. Alien dug up some information about the pieces, which you can read about at that link.
- Pal Carla has been blogging up a storm lately, about the Thanos Imperative and about The Avengers, and it makes for entertaining readin’. Go check it out…tell Carla Mike sent you.
- Dave Wolkin brings us Eight Nights of Wolkin, examining the Jewish identity as represented in comics. It kicks off with this entry, which ends with the greatest Marvel Comics licensing idea of all time.
- Pal Dorian says this gag is aimed at a limited audience. I am in that audience.
-
“Hawkeye’s only real attribute is being a dick, but dammit if that doesn’t get the job done.”
Tim O’Neil lays down the law re: various superheroes.
- Mag at the Comic Treadmill appreciates some fine design work from David Aja on some recent Marvel comics
- Andrew spins his regular Nobody’s Favorites feature into something new…Nobody Else’s Favorites, discussing characters only he likes.
- Some people just write posts for their comics weblogs. Bully, the Little Stuffed Bull, presents full-blown epics. To wit: The Business Cards of Superheroes.
- And now, a brief commercial message starring, apparently, a cousin of Swamp Thing’s:
(thanks to Susan for the heads-up)
