Mike Sterling's Progressive Ruin
For you, the living, this blog was meant too since 1969
Mikester I’m taking the day off from blogging, since I’ve had a long Christmas day and can use a bit of a break, but not before telling you that pal Dorian‘s present for me was a Jemm, Son of Saturn action figure (as discussed previously and reviewed here). At long last, I can reenact all of Jemm’s dozen or so appearances in the privacy of my own home! Without having to dress up as Jemm myself, might I add.
I hope everyone had a good holiday, and I’ll see you tomorrow.
So subscribers to Mike Sterling’s Progressive Ruin, Premium Edition may have seen an early release of yesterday’s post with a few embarrassing typos, for which I apologize. All I can say is “don’t write posts for your weblog when you’re really, really tired.” Anyway, thanks to an alert by a helpful reader, the errors were fixed by the time the Progressive Ruin Free Edition was distributed.
If you’d like to sign up for the Progressive Ruin Premium Edition, here’s what you get:
So what are you waiting for? Sign up today!
First, from Kid Chris, this swell Blue Demon matchbox/refrigerator magnet purchased during his last visit to Tijuana:
Kid Chris: “El Santo…es bueno?”
Little girl: “El Santo es fabuloso!
I think we can all agree on this.
Later in the day, pal Casie brought in a big plate of cookies with the following homemade and completely awesome Christmas tree ornament attached:
I wonder if we’ll get any bump in sales on this comic from the general public. I suspect this gimmick’s been pulled often enough that even the non-fans are as jaded as the fans when it comes to the “in this issue [Big Name Superhero] dies!” hoohar.
From the “Daily Planet” news page in January 1980 DC Comics comes this story with a headline that’s hard to beat:
I’m going to have to check the back issue shelves at the shop and see if we have a copy of this, even if the actual comic has a lot to live up to. So sucking Kryptonian blood would make Dracula “invulnerable to wooden stakes?” Aim high, Drac! Though admittedly, that would be a priority for Dracula, I suppose.
“read the killing joke,it will explain why there are so much alike in different aspects.”
But I think we all agree the real best answer is
“What do you mean? Batman defeated the Joker. Jack was splat in the first one…”
Source(s):
=) ‘Wait ’till they get a load of me.’-Joker”
And the Joker was never seen again. The end. (Well, except for that other Batman movie. And the cartoon. And the video games….oh, and the comics, too, but surely those don’t hold the influence over the franchise the way the Tim Burton adaptation does.)
…
It seems I’ve now written a post about Supergirl’s costumes. So it’s come to this.
In other forthcoming funnybook announcement news, more books for the next Free Comic Book Day are now posted on the official FCBD site, with some interesting offerings to be found there. Of course the usual reliable suspects make their appearances (like the consistently entertaining Bongo Comics Simpsons/Futurama comic, and another surely-great John Stanley sampler from Drawn & Quarterly) and some surprises (Viper Comics’ Inspector Gadget seems like one that’ll go over well), and some “oh, not again” ones ( ::cough:: Overstreet ::cough::). And then there’s the Heroclix figurine giveaway:
In even more other news:
On a more personal note, I attribute a lot of this very site’s early (and continuing) success to Deppey’s singling me out, way back when in Journalista 1.0 (prior to the column’s brief hiatus) as “definitely one of the better new comics bloggers to emerge so far this year,” a quote I still desperately hang onto with both hands despite my emergence being seven years in the past. It was that bit of encouragement and his willingness to link approvingly to things I’d written that made me realize maybe, just maybe, this dumb website of mine may actually be of some value and / or amusement to folks outside my immediate circle of friends. (And that it was from an official representative of The Comic Journal, a magazine I’d been enjoying and admiring for years…well, consider my mind blown.) So, whether Mr. Deppey wants to take the blame or not, he’s a big part of the reason why I’m even still here, doing whatever it is I do.
Thanks, Dirk, for all the work you’ve done over the years, and I certainly hope and expect to see more from you in the future!
So in the animated DC Comics logo attached to their films, you see…
A close-up of a woman’s eye:
Anyway, this just came to mind as I was watching the Superman/Shazam! – The Return of Captain Marvel DVD
The other short DC Showcase features from previous DC animated releases are included on the disc, which allowed me to finally see that Green Arrow short that wasn’t included on the Netflix version of Superman/Batman: Apocalypse. That was a fun little adventure, too, though it reminds you that Green Arrow has two whole arch-nemeses, and they’re both here. Also, at one point Green Arrow introduces himself as “Green Arrow, Justice League of America,” which amused me for some reason (but fitting, considering the political situation he finds himself in).
Special features are episodes from DC’s various TV series, focusing on characters from the other straight-to-DVD shorts on the disc (like the Captain Marvel episode of Justice League Unlimited). Of particular note is the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode “Chill of the Night,” which should totally put lie to the criticisms that this version of Batman is “just for kiddies.” It’s a damned brutal episode, focusing on Batman’s origin which, there’s no getting around it, involves the shooting murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents:
Anyway, the Brave and the Bold episode involves the Phantom Stranger and the Spectre:
Nice touches: Adam “Batman” West and Julie “Catwoman” Newmar doing voice work as Bruce Wayne’s parents. And this genuinely touching and fantastic sequence of a mystically time-transported Batman fighting crime side-by-side with his dad:
Also, a quick Googling shows that this is old news, but I didn’t notice this in the DC Showcase intro sequence until this particular viewing:
In other news:
“No way…you’re on your own.”
“Gee, thanks.”