What if this was someone’s first comics blog post they’d ever read?
Back to more of your questions!
Davey-Boy has this Goliath of an inquiry
“John Wagner, Alan grant, pat mills, any thoughts on the 2000ad trinity when they dipped their toes in marvel and DC in the 80s/90s?”
Nothing really specific for either Wagner or Grant, aside from admiring their professional and imaginative work. Grant, of course, we all know from his Batman comics and his association with Keith Giffen on Lobo. And the main thing I associate Wagner with was this almost-forgotten series (cowritten with Grant):
Great Mike McMahon art on this series, too!
Now, Pat Mills…good ol’ amazing Pat Mills. The thing I most remember about him…well, when they were more active in the genre, people would say Alan Moore and Grant Morrision “hated” superheroes. And this particular aspersion was cast upon other creators, too, but I feel like Moore and Morrision got it the hardest.
Friends, Uncle Al and Big Grant loved superhero comics. At least at the time…I know Alan’s had some different opinions of late. But at the time, it was funny to me that folks were shouting about how much this guy or that guy hated superheroes, when all actual evidence showed that they liked ’em just fine, and this whole time here was Pat Mills doing Marshal Law with Kevin O’Neill:
You want a comics guy who hates superheroes? Here you go. (And if you haven’t read this, oh man, at least read the initial six-issue mini.)
Mills also wrote Punisher 2099, which is one long pisstake on tough guy super comics, and it’s high-larious.
Anyway, these three guys were great writers and we were lucky to have them in our favorite ridiculous medium.
Daniel T asks a question that took me a minute to figure out how to quote here
“Stan Lee supposedly said something like ‘Every comic is/could be someone’s first comic.’
“How true do you think this ever was and is today?”
I feel like Jim Shooter was a huge proponent of this line of thinking during his tenure at Marvel. And the basic premise was “make sure you identify each character,” and “show ’em using their powers” and “catch ’em up on what’s gone before” and so on. Which, you know, fair enough.
Daniel kind of touches on this in the rest of his question (which you can read at that link) but there was a time when comics had huge print runs and tons of people read them and there was probably a much higher incidence of any comic being someone’s first.
With smaller print runs of today, and a more restricted distribution (and I should clarify, I’m talking about your standard issue periodical comic book), the likelihood of a non-zero percentage of published comics not being someone’s first has increased.
And as such, I think comic book storytelling has arced away from the “every comic is someone’s first” philosophy. If you’re coming in at part four of the six-part-story-written-for-the-eventual-trade, the amount of exposition you’ll get is fairly minimal, if at all. (Especially since that exposition will look out of place once the story hits its intended collected format.) It’s not like the old days, when Jim Shooter would burn off the first three or four pages of each issue of Dreadstar telling the reader what’s happened in [range from “last issue” to “since the beginning of time”].
The goal is for each individual issue of a serialized story to be a satisfying, intriguing, and/or interesting read, so that even if you’re not sure what exactly is going on, you’d still be drawn in to the action and want to continue reading (and hunting through back issues for previous parts). There are plenty of times where I’ve read superhero comics as a kid that explicitly didn’t provide any onboarding for new readers, but liked what I read enough to, at minimum, enjoy that singular experience, or sometimes even keep coming back for follow-up issues.
Too long/didn’t read answer: “every comic is someone’s first” was a popular storytelling strategy, not always followed in the past and less so now.
Allan Hoffman wonders
“If you could give advice to your past self when you were planning your store what would it be?”
Spend a little more time organizing acquired collections, rather than just dumping boxes in the back room and thinking “I’ll deal with it later.” Ugh. I mean, I do have a plan now to deal with a lot of that stuff that isn’t “come to my big bonfire, everyone!” so I’ll probably get rid of a lot of that stuff. But, shoudn’t have done that to myself in the first place.
Andrew delves deep with
“Have you found that the natural impulses of a collector versus those of a successful purveyor of comics have led to an irreversible psychotic break? A comic shop Jekyll and Hyde situation, if you like?”
It’s actually not been too bad, as I’ve restricted myself to just the few new comics I want to continue reading, and while ooh-ing and ah-ing over some of the back issues I’ve taken in, I’ve kept it at that and sold them. Yes, the temptation to keep that Amazing Fantasy #15 was strong, but the giant chunk of money I received for it suited the business better than having another comic just sitting in a box at home.
The biggest temptation was having an original non-counterfeit copy of Cerebus #1 in the shop, which, as some of you may remember, is a series I’m trying to fill the early issues on after just having them in the Swords of Cerebus reprint volumes. However, I let it go, figuring the signed reprint edition I got through Kickstarter was good enough.
Back issues I do keep for myself if they come through the shop include Nancy, Popeye, the few 1970s Seaboard/Atlas books I still need (mostly a couple issues of Vicki), and any fanzines. In general, not really anything my own clientele is clamoring for.
The big problem for me, where Collector Mike is a pain to Retailer Mike, is the ease of keeping some graphic novel collections for myself, since it takes me forever to getting around to reading them. (Like, for example, the year it took me to finally peruse that new Grendel: Devil by the Deed edition.) It’s just too easy to type in that order number for a book that strikes my fancy, despite the fact I just don’t have the time to read them…but I also know if I don’t get it now, the likelihood of it being available later is slim to none, so AAAAUGH there’s that psychotic break you were wondering about, Andrew.
Michael Grabowski gets a hold of me with this
“‘Yoo-sa-gi’ or ‘oo-sa-gi’? I had heard of Usagi Yojimbo for ever but only started reading it five years ago and completed (and started over) just this summer. If this was in your 80’s or 90’s extensive survey/poll, I’ll go back and look but if not, can you offer some commentary on it as both a series that you perhaps have enjoyed or as a comics property that you have seen customers enjoy? And if you already dealt with most of that elsewhere around here, can you just answer the first question, please?”
Usagi Yojimbo was indeed in the Final ’80s Countdown reader pool, and I talked about it in the middle of last year. I will say that Usagi comics were initially a slow starter at my shop when I first opened, but have been picking up in recent years. Good!
As to the pronunciation…well, let’s go to the source, Stan Sakai his own self, and hear how he says the name in this brief interview:
Um…at about the 37 second mark is sounds like “yoo” and at the 58 second mark is sounds a little like “oo” so, my answer to your opening query is an unqualified “yes.”
But seriously, if anyone out there has better ears out there that haven’t been reduced in function by too much rocking and rolling, please give a listen and tell me what you think.
Thanks for reading, pals, and we’ll answer more questions, and maybe even do some other stuff, in the near future!
Stan Sakai pronounces it oo-sag-i (repeatedly) in this SyFy video https://youtu.be/EbZUv_rSU7M
Re: Stan Lee and “somebody’s first comic” I always find it amazing, incredible, etc. that so many of the early Silver Age Marvel Comics have so many cover blurbs on each individual issue (oftentimes to the detriment of the artwork) hyping why said issue is a must buy. I wonder if that was all Stan’s doing or if Martin Goodman was browbeating Stan to “sell, sell, sell!”…?
And, speaking of Martin Goodman, what is your opinion, Mike–and other folks–about the recent news that Atlas-Seaboard is trying to make a comeback through licensing toys based on its characters and also trying to have an Atlas-Seaboard Cinematic Universe? I believe Devilina, Phoenix, and Grim Ghost have been optioned for films. I would love to see David Cronenbourg direct a Tarantula film.
*Cronenberg
“Usagi” would presumably be pronounced “oo-sa-gi”, as that’s how it would be pronounced in Japanese. (“Usagi” is literally the Japanese word for “rabbit”. It’s probably not difficult to figure out how Sakai came up with the name.)
I have never considered there might be a pronunciation of “Usagi” besides “oo-SAH-gi.” “Uatu,” on the other hand…
@Sean Mageean: I don’t have a strong opinion of the Atlas/Seaboard line being licensed for toys or movies, but I don’t have high hopes for wild success. Even comic book fans don’t know who these characters are. That said, I could see focusing on the horror/horror adjacent concepts working better than the rest. Weird super-heroes and barbarians don’t seem to be hitting right now (unless as R-rated comedy fodder), but who knows how trends might change in the near future.
@Mike Loughlin
Thanks for your response.
I agree that these characters are totally obscure, but there is something charming in having Mego release some action figures based on some of the characters, since, obviously, back in the ’70s there were never action figures released for any of them. Having said that, I would rather see McFarlane having the license to do the toys. We will see if any of the proposed films get off the ground, but I think it could be fun to do some of them in a Hammer horror style or a Grindhouse retro ’70s aesthetic style a la Roger Corman
produced films. I bet Cronenberg, John Carpenter, and other horror and body horror directors could realize interesting takes on Planet of the Vampires, Tarantula, Moorlock 2000, etc. As for new Atlas/Seaboard comics, if any get made, I think it would be cool to go retro on them as well–print them on newsprint at a $2 price point to make them stand out–and us old school talent whenever possible. I have read that Jeff Rovin, the original editor, is going to be a consultant for the films, but what if Martin Goodman’s grandson got Howard Chaykin, Larry Hama, Pat Broderick,etc, back on board to do art and scripts for new stories featuring the Atlas/Seaboard I.P. And then what if he also hired old school Marvel talent including Sal Buscema, John Byrne, Ron Wilson, Walt Simonson, Louise Simonson, Terry Austin’s n, Chris Claremont, Jim Starlin, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, Marv Wolfman, Tony Isabella, etc. to create new stories with a retro flavor with the old characters?
I’d love to see an older (and wiser?) Chaykin revisit his Scorpion, IMHO the best Atlas/Seaboard title.
Never really thought about it much but the whole “every comic is somebody’s first” never made much sense to me. Much of the joy of my early comic reading experience came from picking up a random issue of a title and just diving right into the glorious weirdness between the covers. This is how I was introduced to Englehart’s Avengers run in the 70’s (which was pretty bonkers). With DC, I had one-off issues of Superman, G.I. War, The Demon, LSH, and Witching Hour. The early part of that decade was pretty great in terms of both continuity and genre diversity.
I was captivated by the idea that there was a grander scope of story out there with background details on some of these new characters to which I was being introduced. In fact, it was that curiosity that transitioned me into an avid collector years later.
Sixty-year-old me in 2024, however, appreciates the recap summary in the front of today’s Marvel books because I can’t remember plotlines from one issue to the next I read so many monthly titles.
I agree. A lot of the fun of comics is piecing together larger stories over time. I’ve picked up multiple densely written series in the middle and had a great time buying back issues and rereading everything until it made sense:
— 5YL Legion of Super-Heroes (started with #10)
— Nowhere Men (remember them? started with #4)
— Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol (started with #50)
Even my very first comic — Uncanny X-Men #150 — was a total mystery to me. And that issue included copious text introducing the characters and situation. Of course, I was 8 years old at the time, but I think the best reading material for children is usually aiming just above their comprehension level.
Every Atlas Collector I’ve ever met, or personally know is “only missing a couple Vicki”. Every time someone came in the shop and asked if we had any old Atlas/Seaboard stuff, my response was always “Yes, but no Vicki”. I got really, really lucky in the late 80’s and found a full set of Vicki, and both issues of Devilina at a garage sale of all places. All in VF or so, and only 50 cents apiece. Right place, Right Time.
@ John
Hold on to those Devilinas–if the movie actually gets made they will appreciate in value. I have a Devilina no. 2.
@Sean
Once a comic is in my clutches and put into the archive, it is a rare day that it ever escapes.
“Pat Mills doing Marshal Law with Kevin O’Neill”
Yup, and get the one-shot that parodies the Punisher also, lots of Marvel hero parody characters get slaughtered!
” (Especially since that exposition will look out of place once the story hits its intended collected format.) ”
I just re-read SWORD OF THE ATOM, and there was a little more expo. than needed. At least for reading them in 2 days! month-to-month, it might have been useful.
“It’s not like the old days, when Jim Shooter would burn off the first three or four pages of each issue of Dreadstar”
Uhhh u mean Jim Starlin?
“the few 1970s Seaboard/Atlas books I still need”
Nice! I’m not a completist, but I kept the ones I liked best!
“to keep that Amazing Fantasy #15 was strong”
I woulda kept it! FIRST SPIDER-MAN! MINE!!!
“Uatu,””
U2!
“John Carpenter, and other horror and body horror directors could realize interesting takes on Planet of the Vampires”
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
“Gerry Conway”
Too busy Script-Supervising all the Law & Order shows!
” Scorpion”
I like his later incarnation, Dominic Fortune, a bit better!
” Devilina at a garage sale of all places”
HOW THE HELL!
I think I got Destructor #2 or 3 at a garage sale, a long time ago. it was missing the back cover. I’ve since replaced it.
I think I have Devilina #2, also, got it on ebay. Haven’t read that one yet!