Mikester

“Oh, look, he’s going on about Swamp Thing again.”

filed under Categories swamp thing 15 Comments

(SPOILERS AHOY for Brightest Day #24 in today’s post, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.)

So in reading about Swamp Thing’s return in Brightest Day #24, you know what bugged me the most? Yeah, that’s right, Swampy’s word balloons:


This is definitely me wearing my fanboy hat, but I much prefer the ol’ jagged-edge orange balloons:


I suppose the green ‘n’ brown colors are more earthy in tone, and at least they’ve kept the ellipses-laden pauses, but it’s gonna a bit before I’m used to it. And on the other hand, they’ve brought Swamp Thing back, so maybe I shouldn’t complain.

It is fun seeing Swamp Thing fully back in the regular superheroic DC Universe again, and I have to admit I had bit of a stupid grin on my face reading the panel where Firestorm, Aquaman et al are (re-)introducing themselves to him. And hey, I just realized, in this issue we finally got our Swamp Thing/Hawkman confrontation promised at the end of Swamp Thing #24 (1976). (As opposed to Swamp Thing just fighting some random Thanagarians, of course.)

Another nice fanboy element for me was seeing the resurrection of Alec Holland in that full-page image, but it does lead into the question of just what is going on with Swamp Thing, here. Okay, I originally had written out a blow-by-blow description of what happened in Brightest Day #24, but let’s keep it simple. It looks like we’ve gone from Swamp Thing being based on a template provided by the deceased Holland’s memories (as retconned by Alan Moore in Saga of the Swamp Thing #21) and have since switched to the revived Alec Holland being absorbed by The Green and actually becoming Swamp Thing (which is basically how it is described in the text itself). Or The Green just up and killed Holland and “reinfected” itself with his memories like last time, which, frankly, seems a bit harsh.

And did I say “simple?” Er, sorry about that.

Regardless, it’s emphasized several times that the White Lantern-revived Alec Holland only has memories up ’til his original murder way back in Swamp Thing #1, so is this revived Swamp Thing basically starting from scratch, with no recollection of all the hoohar that followed his original transformation? Or is there some kind of “back-up” memory in The Green that was fed into Swamp Thing following his revival, which seems likely since he’s whipping out a lot of his Plant Elemental superpowers schtick in this issue. And are we back to the original premise of Alec Holland being a man trapped in a monster’s body, and not just a plant thinking it’s Alec Holland? Are these the kind of things a grown man like me should be obsessing over?

I suspect these are the questions to be answered in the forthcoming Search for Swamp Thing series, which reminds me…there was apparently some consternation regarding what Swamp Thing was getting up to at the end of the issue. In particular, considering what he says here regarding folks who are harming the environment:



…which he seems to do in some executive boardroom, where Swamp Thing appears to be straight-up killing people:


…which alarmed some readers, I noticed, but given the context of its presentation, it’s pretty clear this is just a set-up for future events (i.e. the previously-mentioned Search for Swamp Thing), like the issue’s multiple epilogues preceding this one for other characters in the series. Clearly something is wrong, and even Special Other Guest Star Who We Thought Would Only Appear in The Vertigo Imprint but Here He Is in The DC Universe John Constantine seems to think this wasn’t actually the handiwork of our pal Swamp Thing:



Have I mentioned there were SPOILERS in this post?

There were also some noting that this Constantine looks a lot younger and and lot more…um, thumbed than his Vertigo counterpart, not reflecting his more recent adventures. And you know, that’s okay. If Marvel Comics can have their MAX imprint Punisher and their Marvel Universe Punisher, and never the twain shall meet, then I think we can have Vertigo Constantine (and Swampy) and DCU Constantine (and also Swampy) with their own distinct continuities. Or distinct when convenient, of course.

But all in all, I finally got what I was asking for…a return of Swamp Thing to the regular DC Universe. Hopefully this won’t end up being a case of “being careful what you wish for,” but we’ll see how it goes.

Sluggo Saturday: The Postmortem.

filed under Categories blogging about blogging is a sin, sluggo saturday 5 Comments

So it was several years ago, back in the glittering Golden Age of the late ’80s/early ’90s, when pal Rob was perusing one of the then-new Kitchen Sink Press Ernie Bushmiller’s Nancy strip collections and he showed me a particular panel that tickled his funnybone:


And though I was not a Nancy fan at the time, I shared in Rob’s amusement at that particular panel, one of a sequence of Sluggo blatantly goofing off at work while his boss glared at him. But that one panel, with him playing the harmonica, seemed especially transgressive and hilarious. The pure joy on Sluggo’s face was particularly endearing.

As I said, I wasn’t a Nancy fan. By that I don’t mean I hated the strip, or was actively opposed to it. I simply hadn’t been exposed to enough of it. I was aware of it, certainly, but mostly through second-hand sources, such as Bill Griffith’s occasional forays into Bushmillerian topics in his Zippy the Pinhead strips, or via the occasional parody (such as in Mad, or Mark Newgarden’s “Love’s Savage Fury” from Raw Magazine). And I’d read enough articles in comic ‘zines and historical overviews to know that Bushmiller’s Nancy strips were, to some extent, not held in the highest regard.

But given that my early exposures to the strip were via people and sources who enjoyed and outright celebrated (while acknowledging the peculiarity) of Bushmiller’s Nancy, that is probably what inclined me toward learning to appreciate it in all its oddball simplicity, with its surreal charm and its cornball gags. I acquired my own copies of the Kitchen Sink reprint volumes, and would pick up copies of the various Nancy comic books (containing both Bushmiller reprints and new stories by other creators) when the opportunity arose.

I’m not sure what really prompted me to start doing Sluggo Saturdays, other than 1) I tended to use Saturday as a “down” time on my site, simply posting an image or two, and 2) I’d been going to the Sluggo well an awful lot on my site at the time, and figured I could confine his appearances to just one specific day a week. And 3) this was a fantastic picture.

Also, I originally planned to only run with this feature for a year, but #52 ended up being on Free Comic Book Day, and that didn’t seem right to me. So I decided to shoot for 100, since you know how we comic book dudes like our round numbers, but realized that’d put me four short of a two year run. And we comic book dudes like our anniversaries, too, so the two-year run won out.

I was trying to pin down which Sluggo Saturday was my favorite, and it’s rough. There were a few missteps along the way, to be sure: I was never happy with the caption on this one (a bit too on the nose), this one doesn’t even really have a gag, sometimes I tried too hard, and…um, I meant well, honest. Plus, I notice that I hadn’t quite figured out what exactly my take was going to be on Sluggo Saturday by the second installment.

But the most popular Sluggo Saturday on the site, I think, and one of my own personal favorites, was this one, where it was hard to believe that that particular bit of dialogue actually appeared in a comic. Though I do like this one for being appalling, and this one for being a great example of how off-model the comic book versions of Nancy and Sluggo would occasionally be. And for this I can only apologize.

I always enjoyed when someone would be inspired by a Sluggo Saturday post to generate their own variations of the image, such as what Kevin did to this panel using my own face, and Nat and Bully both had some fun with the same pic.

And this pic has been the wallpaper on my cellphone almost since the day I first posted it on the site.

The other odd side effect from my parade of Sluggo appreciation comes from its pairing with my other funnybook obsession, Swamp Thing. Now, this image predates Sluggo Saturday, and I’d actually requested the pairing, but I feel I should re-present this Christmas gift hand-drawn by Employee Aaron:


However, a year or two later, Awesome Hospital‘s Matt Digges was good enough to gift me with this fantastic House of Secrets #92 tribute featuring You-Know-Who:


And I am still regularly emailed, Twittered, and Facebooked with links and images regarding our favorite unkempt ruffian. In fact, just a couple of days ago, reader Dan sent along this Bill Sienkiewicz convention sketch obtained a while back by his friend Jaan. WARNING: cannot be unseen:


This is currently the wallpaper on the store computer. None who gaze upon it can look away.

Special thanks to readers Alan and Paul and to pal Nat for sending along material for use in this project of mine. And special thanks to pal Andres, who loaned me all kinds of great Nancy and Sluggo material that I used here, and was even good enough to gift me with my own copy of Brian Walker’s The Best of Ernie Bushmiller’s Nancy.

I suspect I’m not done with Nancy or Sluggo on this site. After all, we have the complete Nancy collections forthcoming from Fantagraphics to look forward to. I can’t wait to dig into those once they start coming out. And you never know when I may come across another great image I absolutely have to share. In the meantime, there’s this Tumblr site which is presenting Bushmiller panels, allowing us to contemplate the weird world in which Nancy and Sluggo live, without the burden of context or meaning. Strangely smoothing. There’s also this site offering up scans of vintage Nancy and Fritzi Ritz strips clipped from newspapers. Remember newspapers? And here’s this link post of mine from (Good Lord) about five years ago, which probably has suffered a bit of link-rot since then, but the YouTube video link, at least, is still good. Plus, I explain that one panel. You know which one.

Of course, the question still stands: why Sluggo? Why spend two years’ worth of Saturdays scanning assorted panels and attaching occasionally-amusing captions to them? What is it about Sluggo that is so compelling?

Because Sluggo is the kind of dude who’ll sit there at his work desk and happily play his harmonica while his boss watches, that’s why.

• • •

Like I said at the end of the last Sluggo Saturday entry…thanks for reading and enjoying this little project of mine. I heard from more than a few of you telling me that you’ve gained a new appreciation for Nancy and Sluggo, and that makes me very happy.

Thanks again, and I’ll see you tomorrow.

Bring me Swamp Thing figures in tribute…THIS I COMMAND.

filed under Categories cranius, pal plugging, sir-links-a-lot, swamp thing 13 Comments

Well, my plan was to talk a little more about the whole Swamp Thing hoohar on Monday, after folks have had more of a chance to read and process the character’s reemergence in this week’s Brightest Day #24. But, as many of you have emailed, commented, and Tweeted at me about in the last 12 or so hours, there’s some other big Swamp Thing news this week: MATTEL SWAMP THING ACTION FIGURE WITH EXCLUSIVE PACKAGING AND ACCESSORIES available only at this year’s San Diego Comic Con!


OH MAN. And he comes with a case shaped like his head that apparently doubles as a mask:


It seems as if the figure may be available beyond SDCC, but the accessory Un-Men figures are exclusive to this release, such as (what appears to be) Ophidian:


…and of course, the incredible Cranius:


I mean, c’mon, who deserves a Cranius figure more than me? …Well, okay, Wein and Wrightson, but I’m a close third, dammit!

So, since it’s about as likely I’ll be able to travel to Mars as to the San Diego Comic Con, I’m gonna have to plan a way to get my mitts on this thing. Plans probably won’t involve murder and mayhem, but I guarantee nothing.

You can see the whole video presenting this beautiful thing right below:


…or if that doesn’t work, you can look at the video right here.

In other news:

  • So apparently there’s going to be an ongoing subplot in the Superman comics about Supes renouncing his U.S. citizenship, causing people who’ve never read Superman comics to threaten to never read Superman comics. Or something. I guess this is really, really important, somehow.

    Hey, remember that time Superman died and he totally was never going to come back? …Yeah.

  • Andrew has a new Nobody’s Favorites entry featuring one of those characters that everyone’s heard of, but doesn’t make it any less peculiar that the character even existed in the first place.

  • So Kevin Church and Max Riffner contributed a swell four-page story to the Panels for Primates online anthology.

  • When making your Deadpool fan film, be careful with your live ammunition. REMINDER: Deadpool is a professional comic book character and his firearm frivolity should not be attempted at home. (via pal Dorian)

  • Bully, the little bull whom, it seems, is quite stuffed, presents: TALES OF THE SPOILER. Good spoilin’ fun for everyone!

  • Hey, pals Randy and Denise have a new book out: Sketch Card Mania, all about the process in producing those collectible insert cards you find in trading card sets, from two veterans of that industry! Randy and Denise are good people and fun, talented artists, and having seen the book at our shop, I can verify that it looks great. SPECIAL DEAL: if you order from Randy’s site, you will get your copies with original sketches from Randy and Denise.

    Congrats to those two on the release of their book!

  • Oh, I totally forgot to link to this…my latest article for The Content Farm site: How to Sell Your Soul to the Devil. You know, in case you were wondering how to go about that an’ all.

Progressive Ruin presents…the End of Civilization.

filed under Categories End of Civilization 16 Comments

Another month, another Diamond Previews catalog (May 2011 edition), another handful of nerdworld-centric gags I’ll have to explain to my dad when I visit the folks this weekend. Also, I do the same thing every time I have to crack wise about Monopoly games, so I apologize.

Pop open your Previews and follow along!

p. 154 – Transformers #21 & #22:


It felt like the Transformers comics were already bi-weekly. Hell, they almost felt daily.

p. 184 – Bomb Queen Gang Bang TP:


You know, just the other day I was wondering what the exact opposite of “subtle” was.

p. 227 – The Original Shakespeare Shirt:


It’s a throwaway gag from a 20-year-old Star Trek movie and it’s a mash-up of two different things! ALL HAIL THE GREATEST PIECE OF GEEK MERCHANDISE EVER.

p. 228 – Strawberry Shortcake Berry Fun #1:


This has a scratch and sniff cover, which is one of those cover enhancements that, luckily or unluckily, never quite caught on in the comics marketplace. “Don’t smell the Lobo comic, NOOOOOOO!”

p. 323 – Totsugami Foreign Gods Volume 1:


No, I’m pretty sure that’s the final art.

p. 352 – Conan Mass Market Paperback:


I mean, it’s not just me that thinks it’s weird to see a live-action Conan that isn’t Arnold Schwarzenegger, right? (In other news, Firefox’s spell checker recognizes “Schwarzenegger.” But not “Chewbacca.” What a world.)

p. 352 – The Brain Eater’s Bible: Sound Advice for the Newly Reanimated Zombie:


Hopefully this won’t curtail plans for our new book Write More Zombie, the senses-shattering sequel to Write More Good – Write More Good currently available in stores and online! Ask for it by name!

p. 354 – Dilbert: Your Accomplishments Are Suspiciously Hard to Verify TP:


I hear PlannedChaos is available to write an exceptionally laudatory introduction for this book.

p. 354 – Geek Wisdom: The Sacred Teachings of Nerd Culture:


Rule #1: Never ever ever criticize any aspect of it, or God help you.

p. 383 – Mr. Potato Head – Spudbob Squarepants:


You know, just in case you never wanted to sleep again.

p. 384 – Barbie Farrah Fawcett Doll:


I hope the Farrah Fawcett line lasts long enough for us to get Saturn 3 Farrah Fawcett (with Ken as “Hector”).

p. 388 – Make Your Own Zombie Action Figure Customizing Kit:


For use in making up your own zombie stories, in the very unlikely case there’s ever a shortage of new zombie media to entertain you.

p. 397 – Smurfs Movie Jumbo Plush Wave 1 Asst:


Smurf/Keane Painting Amalgamation Technology is nearly perfected! The cuteness singularity approaches! Let all men fear the future that awaits!

p. 397 – Star Wars Kenner Death Squad Commander 12-Inch Action Figure:


I never really got the appeal of the original version of this figure when I was a kid. Making that figure larger only makes me wonder more.

p. 424 – Tiger Blood Energy Drink:


A great conversation starter, as your friends will ask in a couple months’ time “Tiger blood? ‘Winning?’ What’s that about?”

p. 425 – Bacon t-shirts:


Oh, thank goodness, I thought we as a nerd-nation had forgotten how much we all love bacon. Bacon bacon bacon.

p. 433 – Lynyrd Skynyrd Tailwind Folding Knifes:


For all the fun I make of things in these End of Civilization posts, I can understand pretty much why each item makes it into the catalog, no matter how ridiculous it may seem.

I really don’t get why these are in the catalog.

p. 434 – World of Warcraft Tankard o’Terror Stein:


Ah, this will go well with my Dish o’Dread filled with the Cheetos o’Consternation.

p. 443 – Monopoly Three Stooges Special Edition Board Game:


Do not pass GO, do not slap Curly repeatedly in the forehead.

p. 443 – Monopoly AC/DC Collector’s Edition Board Game:


Do not perform dirty deeds, do not do them dirt cheap.

p. 444 – Doctor Who The 11th Doctor Edition Board Game:


Do not pass GO, do not use your Sonic Screwdriver to Get out of Jail Free.

Marvel Previews p. 16 – Fear Itself Deadpool #2:


Finally, a Fear Itself tie-in comic that actually looks scary.

So perhaps you’ve heard that Swamp Thing is in Brightest Day.

filed under Categories swamp thing, this week's comics 12 Comments

So here’s the regular cover for this week’s Brightest Day #24, featuring Swamp Thing as drawn by Gary Frank:


I like the detail of the scarlet snake (I think it’s supposed to be, anyway…I don’t see any red-on-yellow-kill-a-fellow of the coral snake) entwined in Swampy’s shoulder:


And yes, the variant cover, available to retailers in a 1/10 ratio to the regular cover, also featured Swamp Thing (as drawn by Ivan Reis):


Yes, I’m picking up this cover too. I’m buying two copies of the same comic just for the covers, you bastards. Also, is Swamp Thing coughing up the White Lantern rings, or opening his plant-hole wide to receive them? Or maybe they’re just hovering around his face and he’s agape in astonishment. Who knows.

And then there’s the 1/10 variant for the final issue of the Justice League: Generation Lost series, which I swear is mocking me personally:


I mean, just look at this:


Dicks.

…

Yes, I’m getting this cover too. Jerks.

I finally went back to that old post and fixed the contrast on that Adrienne Barbeau pic.

filed under Categories sir-links-a-lot, swamp thing 3 Comments

  • Since I’m probably never going to get that official Swamp Thing/Man-Thing crossover (though we’ve had some unofficial ones), I’ll have to settle for things like this awesome drawing by Paul Wee.

  • Hey, here’s a fantastic William Stout rendition of Swampy.

  • Can’t help but think I’ve linked this before, but it’s Swamp Thing and MODOK, hangin’ out in the swamp together. (Not to be confused with SWAMPDOK, of course.)

  • Speaking of pal Tom Foxmarnick, who drew that SWAMPDOK image for me, here is another drawing of his presenting yet another Man-Thing/Swamp Thing team-up:


    Click on that image for a much better look. And yes, I know Man-Thing has no mouth, but that little tongue is so cute.

    Tom will be selling prints of artwork just like this at this year’s San Diego Comic Con, so drop on by his table and give him a howdy-do. And some money. For art.

  • So apparently at one time there was a vote for which series was most deserving of being presented in a DC Archives hardcover edition, and coming in at a close second was Swamp Thing. So clearly there’s need of a recount. Anyway, there’s a mock-up on that site of what a Swamp Thing Archives might look like.

  • It’s tough not to love a review of the Swamp Thing movie that includes this line:

    “There’s one naked swamp bathing scene, but you just barely catch a glimpse of anything important.”

    However, sir, I must disagree. That’s naked Adrienne Barbeau you’re speaking of…every bit is important.

    Also, the cartoon at the end of the review is something else.

  • Behold: RETIRED SWAMP THING, courtesy Awesome Hospital‘s Matt Digges.

  • “Swamp Thing could fit 20 riders in its single train.” …You don’t say!

  • …And Tony Isabella tells me this comic strip made him think of me when he saw it, so I shall add him to the list of people that I’ve infected with my particular obsession. And soon, I will call upon all these people to rise up as my personal army to…well, perhaps I’ve said too much.

But apparently we needed to bring that Trouble mini-series back into print.

filed under Categories retailing, secret wars, this week's comics 14 Comments

  • So it’s a good thing DC Comics has knocked the majority of their funnybooks down to the $2.99 price point, because you’re gonna need that money you’ve saved to buy their books this week. We have one $5.99 book being released (Action Comics #900), and for $4.99 each, the last issues of DC’s two year-long mini-series (Justice League: Generation Lost #24 and Brightest Day #24) and issue #50 of Justice Society of America. I gave up on JSA a while back, but I read the rest of these, and I may be double-tapped on Brightest Day #24 if the variant cover also features that big green swampy fella. Because, you know, I’m a sad completist.

  • So Secret Avengers #12 and Secret Defenders #12.1 in the same week? Seriously?

  • Here’s something I get asked for at the shop a lot: a trade paperback collection of Secret Wars. Oh, sure, there’s a hundred buck hardcover omnibus edition, but that’s bit of a harder sell than a theoretical $24.99 paperback containing the 12-issue series. But I bet we could sell a bunch if such a trade paperback were to be brought back into print.

    Funny, I have a lot of Civil War trades here.

  • Speaking of Secret Wars, I was speaking of Secret Wars the other day on the Twitter, and I had someone ask me if it was any good. My response was that it read like a transcript of a kid playing with his action figures (fitting, considering the Secret Wars toy tie-in line), and that it was, in a way, a form of naïve art. Like, all the basics of superhero comics distilled down to its very essence, without concern for subtlety or style.

    I’m not saying this to be critical…I like the Secret Wars series just for what it is. It’s…well, I was going to say it’s “not pretentious” but of course it is, at least in conception, if not in execution. But it’s a dumb superhero comic and sometimes you just want to read a dumb superhero comic where superheroes fight supervillains and Secret Wars fits that bill and it’s just fine.

    Anyway, Secret Wars: let’s have a trade of that, Marvel. I mean, c’mon.

  • And a trade for Infinity Gauntlet, too, for God’s sake. I get asked for that all the time. EDIT: Forgot there’s a hardcover edition coming out soon. Well, that won’t be as easy to sell as a paperback, but at least it’s something.

  • Also, it would be nice if Batman: The Dark Knight Returns were available for reorder, which it hasn’t been for the last couple of weeks. I know, I know, it happens, but still, this is one book that I hate to be without for the shop. This is, like, one of the very basic foundations for a graphic novel selection at a comic shop. You’d think everyone would have a copy by now, but no, I’m still selling plenty of them.

  • So we opened the store for Easter, which we never do, but I had to be at the shop anyway to get some work done, and, you know, what was I going to do with my Easter, anyway? Yardwork? Clean house? Hang out with family? Pfffft.

    Anyway, it’s a good thing I did, because a couple of regulars dropped by to pick up a lot of books they’d special-ordered, to the tune of several hundred dollars…okay, they were going to buy the books eventually anyway, even if they had to come on a day other than Easter, but still, better to get that money sooner than later. And I had another customer I hadn’t seen in about a decade pop in and drop some mad cash on back issues. And we were just generally busy the entire day, ultimately doing better business than we usually do on Sundays. (Also, Awesome Hospital‘s Matt Digges stopped by, because he took pity on me.)

    So, for future Easters I suspect we may remain open. I’m still closing on Christmas Day, though. And on Lefthanders Day, because I can only take the cruel oppression from you fascist righthanders for so long.

Under normal circumstances, admitting that you’ve held onto, but not looked at, a magazine for thirty years could be considered a problem.

filed under Categories swamp thing 5 Comments

So a Swamp Thing fan did a bit of an info dump regarding the character in my comments section from a couple of days ago, which…you know, you can probably just email those to me, that’d be fine, honest! If I act on any of your suggestions, I’ll give you credit, I promise! But he did remind me of a Swamp Thing appearance I’d totally forgotten about…one I did buy off the stands when it came out, so I have it in my collection, but I probably haven’t cracked open the cover of the thing since originally reading it around 30 years ago.

It’s DC Comics Presents #38 (October 1981), and, like issue #50 of the series, featured a two-page pin-up (by George Perez) of all the characters Superman had teamed up with in the previous issues. Including, of course, our favorite swamp creature:


Yeah, I know it looks like the Flash is hanging on Swampy’s arm like a prom date, or that he’s on the verge of plowing through Swamp Thing’s body at superspeed. Also, I’m reasonably certain this is the only time Swamp Thing and Hoppy the Marvel Bunny ever appeared in the same image together. Unless Hoppy’s in that two-page crowd scene in Crisis on Infinite Earths #5, and I’m too lazy to go check.

Speaking of which, I think Swampy’s appearances in those couple of issues of Crisis are, along with this pin-up, the only times George Perez drew Swamp Thing. Well, that were published, anyway…for all I know, at conventions, when he isn’t being asked to draw topless Starfire, maybe he’s doing dozens of Swamp Thing commissions. Or maybe commissions of Swamp Thing with topless Starfire.

…

I would like to apologize in advance to Mr. Perez for the commission requests he’s about to receive.