So reader John, the fella what related the horrifying yet strangely satisfying tale of the shredding and recycling of 14 long boxes of Turok Dinosaur Hunter #1, emailed recently to inform me of more bulk stashes of the ’90s funnybooks that came into his hands.
Specifically, he had several long boxes of ’90s comics, abandoned at a local storage facility, fall into his possession, multiple copies of each, all in Mylar sleeves, and all of the Usual Suspects when it comes to collections like this. Singled out by John was this photo he took of all his copies of Man of War #6 from Malibu Comics:
…specifically because he felt, as I am a man of poggery, I would appreciate the included pogs in each sealed factory-polybagged issue:
This was during the time of, of course, the Big Pog Invasion, but also during the time of Everyone Gets A Superhero Universe, including Malibu Comics which was doing this universe, with Man of War and the Ferret, while also doing the Ultraverse, with Prime and Firearm and so on. Did those two Malibu Universes ever cross over with each other? I imagine it would have been relative easy, being published by the same company an’ all, unless there’s some behind-the-scenes ownership stuff I don’t know about. Regardless, if they’d made it into the 2000s maybe that would have happened.
Anyway, there’s come collector excess for you, but at least they seem to have been kept in better shape than the comics in this tragedy. John said that the majority of the comics in this accumulation met a fate similar to the aforementioned Turok…well, not shredded in a spectacular fashion, but certainly disposed of, save for some Deadpools and a few other goodies that may actually be sellable. But here’s hoping that Man of War movie never comes to fruition, or I would weep openly on John’s behalf for such a lost lucrative opportunity.
To follow up on my last post, I appear to have ordered just about the right number of Action #1000s, at least to cover the initial rush of sales. The main cover, the one by Jim Lee, was the first…well, second, after the “blank” variant…to sell out, and I had several more requests for it after it was gone. Luckily, that cover (and the blank one) were still available for reorder, so I have more coming in. The other variants, I did have a request or two for them after they were gone, but by and large people just bought one (or, um, two or three) of whatever variants were left. And, right now, I have one copy left of the 2000s variant as I head into Friday. Ah well, I’ll have more early next week, and I expect this will be a consistent seller for at least a little while. But if I hear “do you have any Action #1000s left?” all weekend, I may have to reassess my “ordered about right” assumption.
Now the question I have is “will any of this translate to sales for when Brian Michael Bendis takes over the Super-books,” assuming people like the little taste o’Bendis they got in #1000. I have to place orders for his weekly Man of Steel mini-series right quick, and I’m not entirely sure what they’re going to be just yet. Not like this slew of new Marvel #1s in the same order form, where I’m about 90% certain that we’ll see a small bump in sales on those first issues, then we’ll be right back where we were before. Except maybe Thor, which has a $5.99 price point on that first issue, so Dedicated Fans Only Please, Sorry New Readers Who Might Have Picked It Up. Sheesh.
Anyway, can you tell I spent a chunk of my Thursday working on the monthly orders? Yessiree, I certainly was.
Oh, right, back to Action #1000. Pal Matt pointed out a strange anomaly in the Bendis story from that issue, where the villain of the piece refers to Supergirl as Superman’s “cousinsister.” I noticed that when I was reading, and my initial two thoughts were “maybe that’s supposed to represent some quirk in whatever translation device the alien is using to speak to Superman” (except I don’t see any other examples of that in the dialogue) and “maybe there’s something going on in the Supergirl comic I’m not reading that justifies this strange combined relationship term.” Or, as Matt suggests, just an editing error, but it seems weird that something this blatant would be missed. I mean, it wouldn’t even get past the spellchecker, you’d think. Or it could very well be foreshadowing for some kind of revelation down the road. Whatever, it’s strange and it stood out and maybe there’s an explanation coming, I don’t know. Maybe somewhere Bendis is laughing at us…”how cute, they think that was a mistake!” he chortles.
While we wait for our answer to that, in the meantime why not read the beginning of a new series of articles by one of the best writers I know, pal Andrew, as he starts his look, in his own inimitable fashion, at the Charlton Super-Heroes. This is gonna be good, pals, so get in on the ground floor, Mike said cliché-ishly.
And in other news, a couple of folks dropped a link in my comments section to this article on people arguing over the new Nancy strips I mentioned. Basically, it’s about people who realize current Nancy is very good, versus people who are wrong. That has been the way of the world for decades, I’m afraid.
Yes, it’s Action Comics #1000 week, marking the 1,006th issue of that series, including issues #0 and #1,000,000 from the pre-New 52 series, the second New 52 #0, those four lenticular issues #23.1-23.4, and am I forgetting something else? Yeah, probably, but here we are, a Superman comic with #1,000 on the cover, which ain’t nothin’ to sneeze at. I’ve taken a copy home (as promised, the version with Mike Allred’s 1960s tribute cover) and I’ve read it…it’s a nice anthology book, with little space wasted. And yes, the red trunks are back, in every tale in this issue, though their return is never really explained. It is commented upon in the Bendis story, using a variation of a joke I made here and I’m sure was made by everyone else on the planet as well. I hope they never explain it, any more than “eh, I just felt like puttin’ ’em back on. LEMME HAVE MY SPACE PANTS.”
Now, beyond the content, I’m just worried about how it’s going to sell. I won’t go into it all again (that first link above has more detail, if you’re interested) but I ordered what I think should be plenty. I filled the large number of preorders I had, and now, assuming the normal level of extra interest this would attract amongst my regular customer base, I should have enough, unless everyone decides that they have to have the same specific variant cover and shun the other nine covers…then I might have a problem. Or if there’s a news story extolling readers/viewers “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GO OUT AND BUY THIS COMIC,” in which case I’m totally not prepared. Well, we’ll see. Hopefully reorders will be available if necessary, because a $7.99 price point is a bit too high a price point to be taking a lot of ordering risks.
• • •
Oh, hey, I guess Steven Spielberg is finally going to be making a Blackhawk movie. Pretty sure he first made some noise about this in…the early 1980s, I think? And while I said on the Twitters that I’m hoping for some War Wheel action, I think you’ll all agree with me that what we really want from a Blackhawk film is WEIRD MUMMY INSECTS:
I mean, do you want Just Another World War II movie, or do you want that? Or this? You’re reading this site, I think I can guess your answer. Or your other answer.
• • •
So a while back I was told a new creator took over the Nancy comic strip, and when I looked then it didn’t do anything for me…but it’s starting to grow on me. I think it’s improving, actually, and this nicely Bushmiller-esque strip from the other day has been making the rounds. Granted, there’s something unnatural about Nancy and Sluggo referencing the internet, but then most of Nancy and Sluggo’s world is nightmarishly unnatural, so, you know, what else is new?
• • •
Oh, almost forgot to mention…Swamp Thing will be appeared in Scooby-Doo Team-Up #40 this July:
My Swamp Thing love is so strong, the actual editor of the comic made sure I heard the news back in January. I am genuinely excited about this.
…as seen in the first episode of the 1977 Logan’s Run TV series, spinning off from the movie of the same name from the previous year (and, of course, based on the original novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson).
Now, I’d seen the original film plenty of times, on cable in the late ’70s/early ’80s and via a $5 copy of the DVD I pulled out a bargain bin. I even bought (or rather, my parents bought for me) a copy of this issue of the comic off the stands at the time. And I recall having watched the TV show at least once when it originally aired, but haven’t seen it since. And at this point, I’d only had vague memories of notMichael York Logan and not Jenny Agutter Jessica in their Future Car roaming the post-nuclear-war-but-lookin’-okay-now Earth.
Well I’m now adding to those memories because I just discovered that 1) that series is on DVD, and 2) it’s availble from Netflix, so now here it is, in my very own home, to watch as I please (or as I somehow make time for it). And having watched the first episode now, the thing that caught me by surprise, though in retrospect it perhaps really shouldn’t have*, is that it didn’t, as I’d always believed, simply pick up right from where the movie left off. It is essentially a reboot, retelling a somewhat different set of circumstances involving Logan turning on his fellow Sandmen, becoming a Runner, escaping to the outside world with Jessica, and so on…oh, and all pretty much within the first ten minutes. This first extra-long episode (which probably aired as a two-hour event originally, which I’m asserting without bothering to go look it up) sets up the supporting cast, gets our heroes into that Future Car I mentioned earlier, and sets up the Guest Star/Guest Setting Where Logan and Friends Have to Deal with the Locals formula for the remaining dozen or so episodes that this series managed to have.
One amusing bit from this first episode is that the final segment of the story involves Logan and Jessica being trapped in a community that (SPOILERS, I guess) is entirely comprised of robot servants, who essentially imprison our heroes just so that they’d have someone to serve. One of our mechanical persons here is this lady, who, like all the other artificial intelligences that exist here, only wants to provide service and assistance:
…is named “Siri.” Well well well, Apple has some ‘splainin’ to do.
Anyway, looking forward to enjoying this series, and wondering when I’ll hit that point where something in one of the episodes will trigger that memory of having originally watched it as an eight-year-old. Should be interesting to find out.
* I mean, M*A*S*H and Alice didn’t follow the same continuities as their originating films, right?
So on the Twitters the other day I lamented the fact that there never has been a comic book based on the classic ’70s Saturday morning show Land of the Lost. I did mention that a Land of the Lost comic was at one point solicited in the Diamond Previews catalog in April 2009, featuring this solicitation text:
“Rick Marshall, his son Will, and younger daughter Holly are trapped in an alien world inhabited by dinosaurs, monkey-people called Pakuni, and aggressive, humanoid/lizard creatures called Sleestak. The family’s struggle to survive and find a way back to their own world continues in this comic book series. Land of the Lost is also a $100 million budget film starring Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel coming from Universal Studios on June 5th!”
I had mentioned in my Twitter thread that, based on the solicit, I wasn’t sure if the comic would be based on the TV show or the Ferrell vehicle, until it was correctly pointed out that the familial relationship in the TV show and described in the solicit is not present in the film, so it appears the comic would have been based on the original version. I mean, one could hardly blame me for forgetting the details of that mostly execrable movie. Anyway, this was the image accompanying said solicitation:
..so it seemed like it was a safe bet this would have been the TV show version of the concept.
Now, it never did come out…Diamond has it marked as “CANCELLED” in big red letters, and why exactly it was canned I’m not entirely sure. I’ve always assumed it was because the Big Budget Movie whose coattails the comic’s publishers had hoped to ride, based on that solicitation text, turned out to be a bust. Or maybe it was more complex behind-the-scenes licensing shenanigans, or creative issues, or…I haven’t a clue.
But it’s a shame…I’d still love to see a Land of the Lost comic of some kind. The Ferrell movie seems mostly forgotten by now, so a new comic book series wouldn’t have that particular shadow cast over it, I’d think. And there was enough weird world-building elements and hints in at least the first couple of seasons of the TV show that I would love to see some of the original writers for the program participate in this proposed comic book series and maybe put some of those pieces together. Um, y’know, while they’re…uh, still around.
Now to the other thing I wanted to discuss, which was inspired by Twitter pal J.R. Jenks very wisely pointing out “But how would the banjo music translate to the page? That series had great banjo.” Yes indeed it did (and you can look here for all the Land of the Lost banjo discussion you could ever use), and my immediate and somewhat facetious response was “sound chip, like greeting cards.”
And you know what? Why wadn’t there ever a comic book with a sound ship? You open the cover of, say, Justice League International, and there’s Blue Beetle doing the “BWA-HA-HA!” laugh. Or open a Shazam! comic to a crack of thunder. Or…well, there’s plenty of possibilities. Now, as a retailer, I would eventually be driven to murder after listening to these repeatedly play several hours each day, but “practicality” and “the sanity of comic shop owners” rarely enter the discussion when planning gimmicks like these. However, to the best of my knowledge, even during the 1990s cover gimmick heyday, the comic book sound ship threshold was never breached. If someone knows differently, I’d like to hear about it. There are probably production and cost reasons it didn’t happen, I’m sure, but I’m still a little surprised. Plus, those batteries don’t last forever…I’ve got a Star Wars sound-chipped birthday card which plays a very sadly worn-down and depressing rendition of the theme at this point.
I know relatively recently we’ve had the “talking comics” from the current iteration of Valiant, where you’d hold your smartphone in front of a character’s face on the cover, and software internet magic would happen the character would “talk,” but that’s not exactly what I’m talking about.
So basically what I’m asking for here is a new, ongoing Land of the Lost comic which has an embedded sound chip that gives you either banjo music, Grumpy’s roar, or a Sleestak hiss whenever you open the cover. So long as it’s not this terrible, terrible sound from the show that’s always creeped me out.
Yup, came to work Sunday morning only to discover there was no power coming into my business. Now, for me, that’s not as big of a deal as it could be, since I can still sell comics and make change out of the register and such, so long as things are reasonably visible inside the building and, you know, they could pay cash and not by credit card. Several of my neighbors, what have to prepare food for their clientele, were not so lucky…particularly the Chinese restaurant just next door that was expecting a party of about 50 people. Oof.
Anyway, stuck it out as long as I could, but alas, the shadows encroached too far and it was time to depart. And looking at the parking lot when I left, I was one of the last holdouts. Ah, well, power should be reinstated by 11 PM this evening (as I type this, it’s about 5 PM), so we’ll see what happens.
• • •
So it was announced that the Fantastic Four comic book is coming back, and whether absence has made the heart grow Fantastic-er and people will go for it this time. I would certainly hope so…I would like to read a Fantastic Four comic again, and I’ve had a little feedback from customers along these lines as well. The current Marvel Two-in-One series, featuring the FF’s Thing and Human Torch (and also will continue alongside the new Fantastic Four series), has been doing quite well, particularly for a recent Marvel series launch, which tells me there’s at least some demand for half of the FF, at any rate.
A couple of years back, I wrote a bit about a feasibility of a new FF comic, and about the line one must straddle between “doing new things with the FF which make them feel NOT like the FF” and “oh there’s Dr. Doom and Galactus again.” It’s a weird running-in-place that, to some extent, all mainstream superhero comic have to do…”the illusion of change,” as has been said, and when they do BIG changes, like marrying Spider-Man and Mary Jane, or giving Superman a son, it’s an even bigger to-do to get things changed back, a constant stuffing of worms into their cans.
Not that the Fantastic Four really did go through any kind of big change like this…it felt more like they just kinda wore out their welcome, that nothing was really grabbing folks, so it was time to shuffle them off the board for a while. Now why them specifically and not, say, the Avengers, which could also have used a little time off (aside from the whole movie thing), given that many of Marvel’s longstanding properties could use a bit of rebuffing. One clever way of doing so was “retiring” characters without necessarily retiring them, such as having new people take over as the title character (as in the recent Thor comics) to rebuild interest in a property that had sort of felt a little moribund.
They couldn’t do this with the Fantastic Four, really…the FF is specifically Those Four People, and occasional rejiggerings of said Four usually just serve to remind people, oh, hey, why isn’t, oh, Mr. Fantastic around? (The one possible exception to this was, outside the deliberately-gimmicky “New Fantastic Four” with Ghost Ride an’ such, was She-Hulk’s inclusion on the team.) My idea in that old post I linked was what would have basically been a Thing solo series, with the rest of the FF as back-up characters…maintaining the team dynamic, but making one character the focus and giving at least what would feel like a different perspective on the group. This is sort of what we got in the new Marvel Two-in-One series, with the Thing and Human Torch supposedly seeking the other lost half of their family…it’s a new take on the FF that doesn’t have the “Fantastic Four” logo on the cover and thus doesn’t feel burdened with the expectations that title brings.
That’s a long way of saying “the creative team on this new Fantastic Four have their work cut out for them.” I want it to be good, and I have no reason to think it won’t be. Now will it do well, that’s harder to say. The comics market is still a bit unstable, and new titles, even with long-established characters, are struggling to survive. I’d like to think a comic starring the Fantastic Four, as quote-unquote “Marvel’s First Family,” would be above such economic concerns, that they would always have a starring role with the publisher, but sad to say the world doesn’t work like that. I really do hope for the best here…I’d love a good Fantastic Four book on the stands again. We’ll just have to see how everything shakes out.
And yeah, I know, it’ll have a big ol’ “#1!” on the cover. What should the actual issue number be now? It’s #646, I think…unless they want to add all the Future Foundation comics to the total and get it closer to #700 before going to #1. I mean, at this point, why not?
Like it says in the title, I’m going to plug my old pal Kurt’s podcast today…”Welcome to Geektown,” which you can find on the iTunes and other places like Google Play and Stitcher…just search there for it. Anyhoo, Kurt’s taking questions and offering answers on various comics-related topics, and he’d better do a good job at it or he’ll be answering to ME. So if you have your own questions for Kurt to answer, feel free to send ’em in! Keep that boy busy and out of trouble!
THE PAGE ORDER CHANGETH! The April 2018 edition of Diamond Previews has placed all the merchandise on the flip-side of the catalog, with pages numbered with an extra “M” in the corner. Presumably the “M” stands either for “merchandise” or for “Mike, enjoy doing your silly End of Civilization posts now, sucker!” Well, the joke’s on you, friend I’ve made up in my own head, because here I go with yet another installment of that thing what you named in the hypothetical declaration I’ve assigned to you in our imaginary discussion! So let us sally forth through the aforementioned Previews to see what’s coming our way, and be grateful no further changes, such as, say, removing DC’s listings from the main catalog and putting them into their own booklet, will ever be forthcoming:
p. 42 – Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 12 The Reckoning #1:
Apparently the beginning of the end of Dark Horse’s continuation of the TV show after its tenth and final season…until another publisher comes along with “remember how sad you were when that Buffy comic ended at Season 12? Well here comes Season 13, the continuation of the continuation!”
p. 61 – Hercules Adventures of the Man-God Archive HC:
Okay, let me sell you on on this book with this single scan:
I’ll be by my phone, awaiting your preorders. (And here’s more evidence, if you aren’t convinced.)
p. 80 – Hawkman #1:
…Okay, I won’t snark about yet another Hawkman series, because 1) I want a good, new Hawkman series, and 2) it’s not like a new #1 is going to stand out as unusual or anything anymore.
p. 81 – Justice League #1:
“Guys, c’mon, spread out a little? We’ve got plenty of space up in the sky here.”
p. 82 – Man of Steel #1:
Beginning the six-issue event series where the rest of the DC Universe tells Superman “okay, good, you’ve got your trunks back, now let’s do something about those cuffs.”
p. 102 – Damage #6:
“DAMMIT! We’re not reaching that prime Mike Sterling demographic! How can we pull them in? HOW!?”
“Uh, sir, I have a crazy plan that just…might…work.”
p. 147 – DC Gallery The Joker 1:1 Bust by Rick Baker:
Finally, just the right piece to finish decorating the nursery.
p. 148 – Doomsday Clock Rorschach and Mime Action Figure 2-Pack:
Okay, look…I’ve been trying to think of a way to get that Seymour action figure into circulation at long last. I thought maybe he could be a bonus figure in the Giant Alien Monster Playset but clearly that would be reserved for the Bernies. A New Frontiersman Playset seems unlikely, so Seymour’s toy debut may yet be a ways away. But I’ll think of something!
p. 157 – League of Extraordinary Gentlemen The Tempest #1:
Can the League defeat the menace of the Flippers and the Spikers without having to resort to the dreaded final measure of the Superzapper? Or will they need the assistance of the Black Widow, the pilot from Gravitar, and the Space Duelers to overcome the menace?
p. 252 – Charlie’s Angels #1:
Okay, start the countdown to either the Army of Darkness or Vampirella team-up. …C’mon, y’all know you want it.
p. 284 – Garfield Homecoming #1:
At long last Garfield is back in the Marvel Universe.
p. 339 – Barack Panther #1:
p. 346 – Fathom Primer:
I thought this time-travel movie was confusing before, but now it’s underwater? Sheesh.
p. 374 – Shit Is Real GN:
Just pointing out this title made it into Previews uncensored. Is this a milestone? I think it’s a milestone.
p. 455 – Comic Book Implosion:
THE SHOCKING REVELATION: if it weren’t for the DC Implosion, Killer Croc may not have been in the Suicide Squad movie. My reason for saying so is right here. EDIT: Literally woke up in the middle of the night and remembered Slipknot (the Firestorm villain, not the band) which, um, invalidates my Croc assumption, I suppose.
“Look, just don’t display me facing that creepy Joker bust from earlier. He creeps me out.”
p. M60 – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Triwizard Tournament Harry Version A Action Figure with Flash Wand:
So you can cheap out and get the figure that doesn’t have a light-up wand, or for just a few dollars more you get that full-on light-up action. As we learned from that one Iron Man statue a while back, nothin’ says “fine art” like “flashing LEDs.” …Okay, nobody was calling these Harry Potter figures fine art, but come on.
p. M77 – Sofubi Toy Box 018A Tyrannosaurus Figure:
After pages of “Cat Girl on Knees” and “Here Are Some Panties” figurines with elaborate titles tied in somehow to various anime releases, it’s nice to just have “here’s a Tyrannosaurus Rex figure, for no reason other than it’s a Tyrannosaurus Rex figure…enjoy.”
p. M94 – Harley Quinn Mad Love Juniors Cosmetic 2-Piece Set:
“Hey kids, want to be like the character in Mad Love who was openly and emotionally manipulated into an unhealthy relationsh–”
“MIKE.”
“Um…enjoy your Harley Quinn goodies, kids!”
p. M98 – Jurassic World Pez Dispensers:
By all rights, when you pop the heads back there should be a little soundchip that makes a roaring dinosaur sound. But sadly there isn’t, so you’re all on your own to pick up that slack. …Remember, do it every time.
Marvel Preview p. 104 – Generations TPB:
Ah, a collection of the series that had everyone asking “…how do these fit into Marvel continuity, exactly?” Maybe throwing the “Secret Wars” logo on there may have helped.
So it was announced that the Fantastic Four comic book is 
