Mikester

And somehow Mike gets another post out of the Death of Superman.

filed under Categories death of superman, retailing 3 Comments

So the other day I ran a little thread on the Twitteringabob about how, in the last few days, I have had an excessive number of people popping in to ask about the direct market edition of Superman #75, the infamous (and much discussed on this site) “Death of Superman” issue. In fact, in one instance there were a couple of guys hanging just outside my shop’s door, with one encouraging the other to “just go in and ask him, he’ll know!” As that happened, I even thought to myself “ooh, he’s going to ask me about the Death of Superman issue,” which was probably 15% Mike’s Psychic Powers manifesting themselves again, 90% Mike Has Been Dealing with As He Said Many Questions about This Comic for Days Now, and 3% Mike’s Not Very Good at Math.

Anyway, all these folks come in, inquiring about how much that particular issue is going for (and occasionally simultaneously wondering where their own copies may have been stashed away). As it happens, I’m currently out of stock on that issue, having recently sold through all my copies, but I inform them that my most recent price on that comic, in the sealed bag, in new condition, was $30. If you looked at that Twitter thingie I linked above, you’d have seen that I noted the general reaction was a slightly disappointed surprise, apparently at the fact that the price wasn’t much higher. Frankly, I’m surprised I can still sell them at that price…for years, back at the previous place of employment, we had ’em at $15 a pop, and even that started to creep up a small bit as we neared the end of my reign of terror there.

I opined in my Twitter posts that the “Death of Superman” issue, despite being sold in great numbers to people purchasing them as investments, likely suffered a sizeable attrition in sellable copies over the intervening decades due to poor storage, the kids getting at them, being peed upon by pets, whathaveyou. I know I’ve had several copies pass through the store in collections offered to me, only to pass on them because they were obviously wrecked. I knew I wrote about this on the site before, and it wasn’t even a year ago if you want to go back and read about this very thing in even greater detail.

In my view, then, at least locally, those bagged Superman funnybooks are getting harder to find in mint condition, so I feel at least a little justified in going $30 on them. I mean, I’m not getting much resistance at the price, and I’m out, so I guess that’s what the market will bear. I’m probably going to wait a while before that price scoots up any higher, though.

Oh, and at this late date, let me respond to Joe S. Walker’s comment there:

“How did you get on with all those copies of Teen Titans, The Falcon and the rest? Still got any?”

He’s referring to this, and I’m pretty sure my old boss Ralph got rid of all those in a massive back issue sale he made to another dealer. They’re Somebody Else’s Problem now!

Another topic brought up on Twitter that was discussed here on this site not too long ago was the 1980s black and white boom, mostly inspired by this tweet about my having a full run of Mark Bode’s Miami Mice in the shop. My primary reason for pointing it out was that I very rarely see later issues of the more obscure b&w boom indies of the period (assuming they had later issues…most were one Highly Investable Issue and done). For example, issue #1 and #2 of Miami Mice were familiar sights, but I can’t recall the last time I saw either #3 or #4. Of course, that’s because most people ordered heaviest on the first issues then slashed orders on the follow-ups so they could spend more money on other new first issues.

Like I say here, I wish I had more of a retailer’s eye view of the boom as it happened, though 30 years of comics-slinging later (tied together with having kept up with the comics press at the time) I have a general idea of what was going on. I just don’t have the memories of the stress of having to plow through the order forms of the time, trying to discern between people actually making an effort (like Bode’s Miami Mice), and people just cranking out shit to play the collectible market for some of that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-style mad money (like titles I could mention here, but won’t). But then again, I’d probably trade ordering comics then with having to deal with variant covers now. It’s always something.

Anti-Hitler Comics #1 (Summer 1992).

filed under Categories from the vast Mikester comic archives 1 Comment

For a while there, New England Comics (the publishers of The Tick) were releasing several reprint series of Golden Age-era stories…mostly forgotten, probably public domain, and almost entirely strange. The longest running, and, for my money, the best of the bunch was Tales Too Terrible to Tell, a fat ol’ comic stuffed with terrible stories that, despite the title, they were telling anyway. Most issues of this and the other reprint books included copious historical notes about the publishers and the stories themselves. The reprints are all black and white, and reproduction is usually pretty good, depending on the source material they’re using…there’s the occasional muddy page, but if you don’t like it, go buy your own copy of the color original, effendi!

There were other reprint titles along other themes, such as Extinct! (featuring the oddball not-horror comics of the period) and My Terrible Romance (you can probably guess), and then there was this:


That awful feller Hitler gets what’s coming to him in the stories within, generally involving him being in Hell, and, y’know, good riddance. My main memory of actually having this book on the new comics rack at the time was the fact that the blue “Anti-” in the logo didn’t immediately register with people on first glance. The first thing a customer would see upon browsing the shelves were the big bold ‘n’ black words “HITLER COMICS” which, as I recall, elicited a comment or two. I would respond “Anti-Hitler Comics, ANTI!” and they’d look again and go “ooooooh, okay.” The little yellow slash symbols over the swastikas didn’t really come across at first glance, either…maybe it’s the fault of the cover design, or maybe it’s just that things like swastikas and the name “Hitler” cut through whatever attempts you can make to, um, soften the blow, I guess.

There are only really two stories inside…”Futuro Kidnaps Hitler and Takes Him to Hades,” which is, well, what it says on the tin:


That’s a great splash page which was probably something to behold in color…and the rest of the story suffers a bit by not being in color. The small-ish panels are filled with highly detailed but somewhat confusing activity that could have used a little color to make the action a tad more clear. (I, an effendi, should apparently go buy my own color copy of the original!) Anyway, Hitler is shown being shuttled from one punishment to the next, while Futuro tries to stop Hitler and Satan from teaming up to defeat him…and, well, as the text pieces note, this was published right after America entered the war, and the creators apparently felt they couldn’t just outright kill off Hitler since in the real world he was going to continue being an ongoing problem. It was enough that the story promised its readers that Hitler would get the punishment he deserved someday, either in this world or the next.

The second untitled story (save for the name of the story’s hero, the Unknown Soldier…not the DC Comics guy) is a little more peculiar, in that Hitler is presented as being Satan himself, who pops up to offer a solider, George Smith, safety and heroism in battle now, in exchange for his soul later.

The Unknown Solider uses his supernatural powers to attempt to intervene, while Hitler/Satan allows George his moments of heroism, only to instill cowardice in him later after removing his soul to undermine the troops’ morale. Hitler/Satan of course gets his comeuppance, as George regains his bravery after speaking to spirits of fallen heroes, and sacrifices himself in battle…stopping a German advance and freeing his soul from Hitler’s grasp.

These are a couple of nice, little-seen examples of wartime propaganda comics, and it would have been interesting to see what more the editors of this series had available. Alas, though a second issue was promised on the back cover, it never appeared. But if you need more anti-Hitler (or just anti-Nazi in general) funnybookin’, let me direct you to this Twitter hashtag.

Apparently Twitter was celebrating some Cat Day or ‘nother recently…

filed under Categories pal plugging, retailing, scans, self-promotion, the thing 2 Comments

…being one of the at least three Cat Days recognized by God and man. Alas, I missed the August event, but I’m ready for the ones in October and February with this little ol’ panel right here:


Yeah, that’s right, cats are doin’ it for themselves, standin’ on their little cat feet, and not taking any guff from the fella with the syringe. He totally had it coming. Anyway: Cat Day, everyone, Cat Day!

In other news:

  • I mentioned the new Mister Miracle #1 on Wednesday, and it was quite the hit apparently. My initial order on this was a little on the low side, since New Gods material that’s not by Kirby can be bit of a hard sell…but after having several customers ask about it and getting some additions to the pull lists, well, I was convinced to go a little higher. Not high enough, it seems, as they’re gone now, but I would have been out a lot more quickly otherwise. Oh, and Diamond seems to be out of stock on ’em as well, so look forward to that second printing announcement Any Day Now…if it hasn’t happened already. I don’t know, I was busy today.

    Now it remains to be seen if the right lessons are learned, two of which are of course 1) more Tom King/Mitch Gerads comics, and 2) more good Fourth World comics. The wrong lesson is 3) “better crank out more Fourth World comics as fast as possible by anyone we can get, it’s hot hot hot right now!” but let’s see what happens.

    I did have one person come in to grab the comics because, as this customer declared, “Mister Miracle is my favorite character!” I’m really curious about what her reaction was to the actual comic, since it’s quite a different take than what we’ve seen before. Depends how she liked Grant Morrison’s Seven Soldiers version, I guess.

    Fellow blogging machine Ryan has a few words to say about this here new Scott Free funnybook, so go see what he’s got to say.

  • NOT COMICS: pal Andrew talks about his brief obsession with slot car racing, one that I also shared for a short time in my long-ago youth. As I recall, the gimmick with the set I had was that the cars could change lanes, which I thought was pretty slick. The neighbor kid across the street and I whiled away some precious days goofin’ around with these things. …I’ve got no big reveal or life lesson here, just thought you should know I wasted my life doing stuff other than reading comics.

  • Don’t tell Bully, the Little Stuffed Bull Too Young to Know about Such Things, but that Amalgam-ated character’s name could have been truncated into much, much worse form. I mean, that had to be on purpose, right? …Anyway, I apologize in advance. (Oh, and I just looked at the comments there, and I guess Twitter pal Evan beat me to the same shameful conclusion.)

  • Hey, have I reminded you lately about my store‘s Instagram page? I set it up quite a while ago, but I’m trying to use it more frequently now…usually posting pics of goodies around the store and new acquisitions, with the occasional pic of Aunt Petunia’s favorite nephew. Please, follow me there if you are so inclined!

 
 

image from Unexpected #197 (April 1980) by George Kashdan & Ruben Yandoc

Y’all probably need something good to read right about now…

filed under Categories jack kirby, this week's comics 4 Comments

…so may I recommend the first issue of Mister Miracle, on the shelves of funnybook stores today?

I’m finally catching on to Tom King’s work…I’ve been reading Batman of late, I’ve been picking up those Vision “director’s cut” comics (collecting his 12-issue run two at a time), I finally got around to reading Omega Men, and they’ve all impressed me with their originality, their cleverness, their maturity and their entertainment value. King and artist Mitch Gerads continue these books’ commitment to the nine-panel grid in Mister Miracle, where it is almost like the ticking of a clock, each panel the same size and representing the same amount of story time, pushing the reader inexorably forward. This is a weird, almost nightmarish, but compelling take on the characters, where the inherent weirdness of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World is approached from an askew angle. Some familiarity with the concepts are required, but 1) most superhero comic readers have at least a slight knowledge of the New Gods; 2) the stuff you need to know is brought up in dialogue, and 3) c’mon, anyone picking this up is going to know Mister Miracle’s deal anyway.

There are some storytelling techniques that underscore the disquiet present throughout the narrative, but I don’t want to say more and spoil the surprises. Suffice to say this is a new take on Kirby’s creations here, replacing the standard (and usually great, don’t get me wrong) bombast with an unsettling tension.

Oh, and the cover stock is nice, too. Good ‘n’ sturdy. Would make a good coaster!

All in all, a nice way to honor Mr. Kirby’s memory, just in time for his 100th birthday.

Was putting together something else for this site…

filed under Categories firestorm, superman

…and it didn’t work out, unfortunately, so instead let’s admire this page from DC Comics Presents #17 (January 1980) by Gerry Conway, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Steve Mitchell:


That Garcia-Lopez fella…he knew what he was doin’.

This is the title for this post.

filed under Categories advertising, self-promotion 3 Comments

They said it couldn’t be done…they said it shouldn’t be done, but I dood it! Part the Sixth of the Swamp Thing-a-Thon over on my Patreon is up, covering issue #5 of the original Swamp Thing series. For the entry fee of only one measly, paltry, barely-noticeable dollar per month, you can see a whole lot more typing by me, America’s Only Comics Blogger. Be the envy of your friends and the bane of your enemies…put yourself on the path to righteousness…grow tall and strong and healthy…by joining today!

In the meantime, whatever you do, don’t think about this:

Blogging about that particular comic in the year 2017.

filed under Categories pal plugging, publishing, self-promotion 1 Comment

First, my pals Matt and Chris took listener questions for the latest episode of the War Rocket Ajax podcast, and you can literally hear joy die in their voices when they get to mine (at about the 53:50 mark). Don’t worry, fellas, some day you’ll come around to my way of thinking!

Second, if you follow me on the Twittererers, you may have seen this thread a while back where I talk about a fella who used to be in the magazine distribution business who came by to see if I’d be interested in buying comics. He didn’t have any on hand at the time, but from the sounds of things his particular heyday was about the late ’80s/early ’90s period of the comics boom. Of particular note, he mentioned receiving a notice from a publisher to not distribute some bundles of a particular comic that had been delivered to him, and to have them destroyed. Well, he said he kept a couple of bundles intact “just in case,” though he couldn’t recall that actual title in question.

And just yesterday, the gentleman came back in with a sampling of the comics that were in his possession. Plenty of those Jim Lee X-Men #1s, one of the bagged X-Force #1s (though the bag had been slit at one end and the trading card removed), and a copy of the recalled comic of which he still had hundreds of copies. And that comic was:


…the Saved by the Bell Special from 1992.

To start with, this is assuming the gentleman’s account is correct, and that this is the comic the publisher asked to be pulped. I only saw the one (very beat up) copy (the scan above was stolen from the Grand Comics Database). He said he had plenty more of this very comic, and for the sake of argument I will take him at his word.

Next, my initial assumption was that there was a publishing date discrepancy…the comic the gentleman had contained a March 1992 publishing date in its indicia, whereas the GCD listing linked above had it dated at March 1993. Maybe there was a licensing issue, thought I, and Harvey wasn’t actually allowed to send out that comic for whatever reason…a problem cleared up a year later when they reissued it. However, the Comic Book Database gives the comic a 1992 date as well, so maybe there’s a typo at GCD? I don’t know.

Also the Holiday Special is a nearly direct reprint of the first Saved by the Bell comic from 1992, so I thought maybe that was just the previous edition’s indicia…except this indicia very clearly stated it was for the “Saved by the Bell Special.”

Ultimately I can’t find any reason for this to have been pulped, other than the sheer fact it was a Saved by the Bell comic. The gentleman said he definitely got a letter from the responsible party instructing him to shred these things, but unless he tracks that letter down (and he may yet…he says he thinks he still has it) I have no idea why this issue was allegedly held back. I don’t recall anything from the time, since that definitely falls within my early years of working comics retail, and I can’t find anything on the Recalled Comics site, so…who knows? It’s a Mystery for the Ages, one to pass down to your children, your grandchildren, your great-grandchildren, all the way ’til the end of time. Or I find more information, one of the two.

And third, the next installment of the Swamp Thing-a-Thon should be up over at my Patreon page soon…if not by Friday, then on Monday. Thanks for your patience!

Progressive Ruin presents…the End of Civilization.

filed under Categories End of Civilization 11 Comments

So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan which moves
To that mysterious realm, where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy August 2017 edition of Diamond Previews
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams:

p. 63 – Game of Thrones Tyrion Lannister Hand of the Queen Bust:


And here’s Tyrion in his new gig for Dos Dragóns as the Most Interesting Man in Westeros, Essos, and Sothoryos.
 
 
p. 68 – Batman Lost #1:


I don’t know how many issues I can take of Batman entering that sequence of numbers and pushing that button every 108 minutes.
 
 
p. 107 – Harley & Ivy Meet Betty & Veronica #1:


Any dopes make fun of them for drinking that milkshake, Harley’s got a big ol’ mallet with those chowderheads’ names on it.
 
 
p. 129 – The Joker An Adult Coloring Book TP:

CUT TO Jared Leto coloring outside the lines on every page of this book and laughing maniacally, as he preps for Suicide Squad 2.
 
 
p. 131 – Two-Face A Celebration of 75 Years HC:


By all rights this should be a flipbook.
 
 
p. 160 – The X-Files JFK Disclosure #1:


Oddly enough, Scully and Mulder discover it really was just Oswald who was responsible. Huh, go figure.
 
 
p. 236 – Commando Spawn Action Figure:

Finally, Commando Spawn, the perfect figure to go with Party Angela!
 
 
p. 275 – Jawas 2 T-shirt:


So anyway I was just thinking about that time Neil Young incorporated Jawas into his act and how Lucasfilm had a few words about his doing so. No reason, just came to mind.
 
 
p. 284 – Aspen Universe Decimation #1:


AND NOW…THE LAZIEST JOKE POSSIBLE:

Oh no, 1/10th of the Aspen Universe is going to be destroyed!

THE LAZIEST JOKE POSSIBLE IS NOW COMPLETED. YOU MAY RETURN TO YOUR HOMES.
 
 
p. 334 – Atari Classics Atari Force TP:


If someone had only told me back in the early 1980s when I bought those three Atari cartridges with the Atari Force comic book pack-ins, or in the late 1990s when I bought those two other games with the pack-in comics I was still missing, that all I had to do was wait ’til the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Seventeen to get ’em all under one cover, why, I could have used that extra cash to get myself the Model CX-22 Atari Trackball Controller. OH THE WASTED OPPORTUNITIES OF LIFE
 
 
p. 418 – The Villain #1:


Cactus Jack and Charming Jones sure look different. Wonder how Handsome Stranger made out?
 
 
p. 422 – Santa Vs. Dracula GN:


WHOEVER WINS, WE LOSE…well, okay, maybe I’d root slightly more for Santa in this instance.
 
 
p. 489 – Comic Shop The Retail Mavericks Who Gave Us A New Geek Culture:


Hey, I have a book about my life in comics retail, too! Here, let me show y–

[cover flies open, blood starts shooting out of its pages]

Er, hold on a moment….
 
 
p. 489 – The Flash Hocus Pocus Novel:


The Flash travels back in time just to witness this amazing performance in person:

 
 
p. 489 – Iron Man The Gauntlet Novel SC:


“TONY STARK SHOT THE FOOD”
 
 
p. 503 – E.T. The Extra Terrestrial The Classic Illustrated Storybook HC:


“E.T. iPHONE HOME”

“Wait, what?”

“E.T. FACETIME ELLIOT WHEN E.T. GETS BACK”

“Face..time? What are you even…?”

“FOLLOW E.T. ON INSTAGRAM, @ETNOLONGERONEARTH”

“Um, look…isn’t it about time for you to go?”
 
 
p. 506 – Star Wars Coding Projects:


“Hey, maybe someone could code some encryption software for, oh, I don’t know, the Death Star plans, Todd.”
 
 
p. 509 – The Walking Dead Official Cookbook:


And remember…if Daryl diets, we riot!
 
 
p. 516 – Justice League Official Collector’s Magazine:


“Cover not final” is no surprise, since apparently the movie isn’t quite yet final either.
 
 
p. 562 – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Groot Premium Motion Statue:

“The cassette tape itself is actually a real (and working) blank tape featuring the label as seen on screen!”

NO, DON’T DO IT! Home grooting is killing the music industry!
 
 
p. 603 – Preacher Titans Mini Figures:


You know, when I was anxiously awaiting each new issue of Preaacher as it came into the store, I never once imagined any of the characters eventually being transformed into one of these doodads. Well, except Quincannon, who’s pretty much unchanged.
 
 
p. 624 – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Lanyards:


“My keys and ID, where to find th–oh, here they are.”
 
 
p. 636 – Aggravation Retro Game:

Ain’t nuthin’ retro about aggravation…seems like we’re constantly getting fresh new aggravations all the time.
 
 
p. 639 – Clue The Walking Dead AMC Edition:


If one of the possible murder weapons isn’t a little metal and/or plastic representation of Lucille, what are they even doing.
 
 
p. 640 – Monopoly The Golden Girls Edition:

DO NOT PASS. That’s all, just “do not pass.”
 
 
p. 640 – The Thing Infection at Outpost 31 Board Game:

Every game ends in a tie, with two players glaring at each other over the gameboard. It’s very depressing.

This Legion of Super-Heroes post brought to you in part by a little stuffed bull.

filed under Categories legion of super-heroes 9 Comments

So I had a few responses to my most recent Answering-the-Question-Time-Post-from-Several-Months-Ago post, but I’m going to focus on a couple of the Legion of Super-Heroes-related comments for today.

Firstly, Turan, Emissary of the Fly World (and how is Fly World nowadays? Weather still nice?) comments about the Legion’s earliest appearance:

“A fact that is always overlooked is that, in the Superboy story that introduces the Legion of Super-Heroes, the team consists of more than three members. Lightning Boy (not Lad then), Cosmic Boy, and Saturn Girl are the only ones named and clearly shown, but there are a half dozen or so shown from the back, cheering on Superboy’s admission into the team.

“For whatever reason these shadowy members were immediately forgotten, and ever after there was a pretense that Superboy was the fourth member.

“Though, when DC did finally get around to providing an origin for the team, it did show those three and those three alone as the founders, so MrJM’s point remains.”

And Chris G’s follow-up:

“‘For whatever reason these shadowy members were immediately forgotten, and ever after there was a pretense that Superboy was the fourth member.’

“That’s not quite so – identifying those members became a parlor game among Legion fans, and at least one reprinting recolored one of them to look like Brainiac 5. Superboy, officially, was around the eighth or ninth member.”

We may be getting a little astray from MrJM‘s original question of “Why a duck Legion?” but this brings up a point I hadn’t really thought about.

Yes, in the very first appearance of the Legion of Super-Heroes in Adventure Comics #247, in the scenes that take place in the Legion’s future Earth, shots of the clubhouse do show what appear to be additional members. Here’s a meeting at the clubhouse which shows the three founders of the team sitting at the table with Superboy, while anonymous silhouetted members look on:


…or they could be fan club members, allowed to sit in while the Legion conducts business. I mean, you don’t know for sure, right?

However, in the original printing of this first appearance, we do get a better look at some of the other folks hanging around in the clubhouse:


…and they either look a little superhero-y or perhaps that’s just how people dress in the far-flung future. However, as Chris G notes, in at least one later reprinting (in this case, from Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 1, 1991) the panel is recolored to suggest Brainiac 5’s presence:


Now the next Legion story is just Superboy and the original three members (plus a bunch of superheroes from other worlds) and you don’t see new Legion members until the Supergirl story, which is the 3rd Legion appearance. And, to make things confusing, she meets the children of the original Legionnaires Superboy met (who all have the same names and powers), and their teammates Chameleon Boy, Colossal Kid and Invisible Kid, so it’s a slightly more future future than the future Superboy is visiting…but thankfully that particular distinction is dropped and it’s all the same Legion shortly thereafter.

After that it’s another Superboy story just featuring Lightning Lad, and then the Superboy story after that introduces new member Star Boy (again featuring a scene with the original three members and Superboy at a table in front of a room, while we see the backs of heads of other supposed team members). Now, I can’t sit here and read all the Legion stories when I need to go get my beauty sleep, but it looks like at least at the very start of the Legion’s appearances in comics, the team was likely meant to be larger than just the the Main Three we first encounter. If that’s the case, then the term “Legion,” if not technically accurate, is at least a little closer in description to the team in this particular instance.

Going back to the Legion’s origin in Superboy #147, it is just Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl at first…who are then joined by Triplicate Girl and Phantom Girl as the next members, and Superboy isn’t shown joining at all just yet. I suppose we can take this as additional confirmation that, at least at this point is Legion’s editorial history, the Legion was comprised of more than just the initial three members by the time Superboy was made part of the group.

And to add a little support to my assertion that R.J. Brande’s dubbing of the team as a “Legion” was primarily marketing (and the presumption that more guys ‘n’ gals would join), here are a couple of panels from Secret Origins #25 (April 1988):


(That second panel is trimmed a bit for clarity…rest assured there were a whole lotta Legionnaires drawn in there). Anyway, MrJM, I hope that additionally answers your question about why it was called a Legion…or at least muddies up the topic even further. I’m too close to be able to tell, myself.

And besides, I think we’re avoiding the really important topic, and that’s these amazing costumes:


Let’s hope the coming Rebirth revival includes the chest-text. It’s all the rage in the 31st century!

(A special thanks to that Little Stuffed Bull of the Future, Bully, for tracking down several of the featured panels in this post for me…and finding that bit in Secret Origins! I couldn’t have done it without him!)
 
 

images from Adventure Comics #247 (April 1958) and its reprinting in Legion of Super-Heroes Archives Vol. 1 (1991) by Otto Binder and Al Plastino; Secret Origins #25 (April 1988) by Paul Levitz, Rick Stasi and Dick Giordano