Mikester

What you don’t what to hear your dentist say as he’s looking in your mouth: “What the hell is that?”

filed under Categories pal plugging, retailing 13 Comments

The pain is (mostly) gone, but I’m still pretty wiped out from a night of not really sleeping, and a day of a mouth sore from multiple novocaine injections and metal tools digging into my teeth. Hey, who has abnormally long tooth roots? THIS GUY. Anyway, I’m keeping it short today, and let’s hope for a fresh start next week, without any unexpected medical shenaniganery.

BEHOLD:

  • On one hand, DC Comics is dropping prices on many $3.99 titles down to $2.99. On the other hand, stories are dropping down to 20 pages from 22. Not sure how I feel about that, especially since, unless sales increase significantly across the board, this is only delaying the inevitable line-wide price increase. At the very least, this creates some breathing room to decide what to do next, which hopefully won’t be 20 pages for $3.99.

    Judging from the reaction I’ve seen online, 20 story pages is less of a disincentive than the higher cover price, which only makes sense…no one wants to pay more money for funnybooks, especially in this economy. But I do worry a bit about the lack of perceived value. Is the loss of two pages really that big of a deal? Depends on the book, I guess…I’m not going to want to see three or four splash pages in one story any more, unless there’s darn good reason for it. Related: will there be a trend away from decompressed storytelling in the periodical market because of the page count decrease?

    …Just some of the random thoughts that came to mind…when I’m fully functioning again, I’ll try to ponder it further. Plus, I’ll probably run the news past some of my customers, and get some feedback from them.

    Also…was it Jenette Kahn who said that when she took over as publisher of DC, one of the first things she wanted to do is increase the page count from 17 to 23 pages, and give the kids more bang for their half-buck? That’s my memory, anyway…this current situation brought that to mind, for some reason.

    One other thing: that new Jimmy Olsen back-up in Action Comics better spin off into its own series, if it’s losing its slot due to the price/page drop. I think we’re all down with a new Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen comic book series by that creative team.

    And another other thing: Marvel announced that they’ll stick to $2.99 for new series starting in 2011. No word on page count, but I’m guessing they’ll keep at 22 pages, for now, just to stick it a little to DC.

  • Give my pal Euge twelve bucks for his new album:


    Limited edition CD of awesome nerdrap, with bonus disc and button, plus immediate digital downloads. GIVE THE MAN YOUR MONEY. (You can also listen to all the tracks from the main disc, in full, on that page.)

    BONUS: Unexpected Swamp Thing reference in one of the songs! I ain’t tellin’ you where.

Today’s post is called…

filed under Categories sick day 13 Comments

…on account of an emergency root canal.

Believe you me, I’d rather being comics blogging.

Sorry, gang…hopefully I’ll see you tomorrow.

Grim tidings.

filed under Categories atlas 15 Comments

So this was squirreled away in the corner of a page in the latest Diamond Previews:


…is the first solicitation for the revival of the ’70s Atlas publishing company…and…um, well. That’s certainly something.

Now, I realize you can’t go home again, and it’s not like Ernie Colon was going to come back and draw the book, picking up where he left off:


…Well, actually, that’s NOT where Colon left off, since that’s the second of three issues, but man, that’s a great cover.

Anyway, this new Grim Ghost seems…well, I guess the problem I’m having is that it is new, and I’m having a bit of dissonance reconciling this modern-styled, muscled and vein-y Grim Ghost with the Grim Ghost stories of my youth. Now I know how all you people who got the vapors over the new [UPDATED VERSION OF OLD DC AND/OR MARVEL CHARACTER] feel. Though I do have to admit that, following the slight shock I had after first seeing it, this new version of the Grim Ghost has grown on me a wee bit. You know, from the one whole image I’ve seen so far.

So I’ll give it a chance, I think…no idea how good it is on the scripting level, which means I’ll need to read it instead of just judging it by its cover. But I did really love that old Grim Ghost series, which at least earns this new series a chance from me (“he said self-importantly”).

I do like that the solicitation explicitly calls out Spawn, given that Spawn’s origin shares some…similarities with the Grim Ghost’s. You know, bad guy dies, goes to Hell, swings deal with Devil to come back to Earth to serve as Devil’s agent, Devil sends him back to Earth, but years past the time which the “hero” was originally from. Okay, like only five years in Spawn’s case, a couple of centuries in Mr. G. Ghost’s case.

However, if they revive Morlock 2001, I sincerely hope the title stays as Morlock 2001.

This post contains minor spoilers for the first two episodes of Smallville Season 10.

filed under Categories jack kirby, smallville 7 Comments

So I’ve finally caught up on the new season of Smallville…yeah, I was a whole week behind, boo hoo…and the first episode ends with Darkseid showing up. And we’ve had an obnoxious radio talk show host referenced on the program by the name of “Godfrey,” who is clearly supposed to be Glorious Godfrey, another of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World characters.

Now, I love all this Fourth World stuff. It’s Kirby completely unfettered, with pretty much every crazy idea getting slapped down on a page, and all of it, somehow, working. The very idea of live-action renditions of these characters showing up in the prime time TV series is fantastic, though I’m sure we’re not getting full-on in-your-face 100% accurate translations of Kirby’s designs. But, um…that CGI Darkseid from the end of the first episode looked pretty darn close.

But, you know, what the hell? Why not Kirby it up? It’s the last season…it’s not like they have to be afraid of getting canceled or anything. What’s the worst that can happen…viewers might accidentally be exposed to something awesome?

And there’s incentive! As I promised on my Twitter thingie, I would give the producers of Smallville three whole dollars, in genuine American currency, via PayPal, personal check, or money order, if they give us a live action version of the Fourth World’s embodiment of Death, the Black Racer:


And I don’t mean “This week on Smallville, Clark and Lois visit a ski resort and encounter a young man with strange powers” and it’s a dude in a red and blue ski outfit, with yellow gloves and a stylized wool ski mask that kind of looks like a knight’s helmet. I mean, I want a guy, in that armor, wearing that helmet, and freakin’ flying.

I will accept no less.

Plus, if we’re opening up Smallville to Kirby’s Fourth World stuff, that means the way is finally cleared for this show’s long-awaited special guest star…Mr. Warmth himself, Don Rickles:


(If you want a little background on why and how this even happened, here you go.)

A couple of other notes about Smallville:

  • I think I would have been on board with Old Clone Lex being the new replacement Lex Luthor for the show, which even kinda sorta follows what happened with Lex in the comics that one time, if you squint a little:


    Frankly, giving us a Lex that ain’t afraid to leave some toothmarks on the scenery is what this series really needs. Of course, given what happens in the story, this option is kind of out of the question.

    More likely, Young Kid Lex Clone, rescued from the labs, will probably age-accelerate into the show’s previous Lex, actor Michael Rosenbaum, assuming they can throw enough money at him to get him back on the show, shave his head, and reprise his role for an episode or three. (I understand why maybe he’d not want to, but it seems like it’d be bit of a disappointment not to finally get our Superman Versus the Lex Luthor Who’d Been Around for Most of the Show’s Run confrontation.)

  • You know how some folks were wondering…well, how I was wondering, anyway, about how they were going to resolve the secret identity situation, given the fact that Clark’s been toolin’ around for ten seasons with no glasses, and that when he finally puts on the Superman costume, everyone he knows is going to look at him and say “hey, Clark, what’s with the get-up?”

    I think I finally figured out the producers’ solution. They’re just going to make sure all of Clark’s friends already know about his super powers, and that any folks outside his circle of friends don’t really care about Clark enough to notice that the guy in the blue suit and red cape is him.

    That’s gotta be better than my previous assumption, that since Smallville and now Metropolis are apparently the Head Trauma Capitals of the World, the subsequent brain damage everyone has by being knocked out by the Bad Guys of the Week will block their memories of Clark’s dual identities.

    Sure, why not.

  • For more Smallville commentary, Chris Sims and David Uzumeri will be reviewing every episode this season, starting here. God speed, my friends.

Suddenly…DEATH FROM THE BRUSH!

filed under Categories golden age, sir-links-a-lot 8 Comments

image from from Keen Detective Funnies #23(?) (1940)


In other news:

  • So they did that “largest gathering of superheroes” Megamind advertisement / world record attempt — which reminds me, is that really a Guinness Book of World Records category? — and sure, we can all make fun of it, but someone totally showed up as Popeye and I’m okay with that.

  • SPOILER ALERT: So the very last word of dialogue spoken in the last Cathy comic strip is “iPhone.” Seems…weird to me.

    And as I was writing that I saw that Adam Koford pointed out that the actual last words of the strip were “PAT PAT.” That mollifies me…somewhat. Not that I’ve ever really thought about Cathy or mentioned the strip on the site. (Well, mentioned it twice on the site, anyway.)

  • Speaking of Adam Koford, BEHOLD ORIGINAL MADE-TO-ORDER DRAWINGS FOR SALE. And at low, low prices! Tell him Mike sent you, so he can say “…Who?”

  • Speaking of comic strips, have I mentioned that pal Andres has a site devoted to Nancy’s aunt Fritzi Ritz? Complete with Fritzi Fridays? All documented, all true.

  • And on the topic of Nancy, Fantagraphics is trying to locate some dailies from 1942. I don’t have any, and I sure wish I did…but if YOU have any, please help them out! (And I’m not putting that out there just because I’m a nice guy…I want my Nancy reprint book!)

  • One final funnypages bit of business…yesterday was Peanuts‘ 60th anniversary. How did you celebrate? (Me…I went and talked to my old school building, played some tennis against “Crybaby” Boobie, and developed this odd rash on my head that looks strangely like baseball stitching….)

  • RevolutionSF has been doing a series of articles about comics that haven’t yet been collected into trade paperback, or have been collected but are long out of print. A couple that I’d add to the lists: a Hammerlocke collection would be welcome, which featured some nice Chris Sprouse art. And while I’d like to see a Spanner’s Galaxy trade, with Tom Mandrake’s art recolored and safely away from the Flexographic printing process which afflicted it during its original publication, I’m not holding my breath.

  • REMINDER: I’m still doing Estate 4.1, that wonderful, uplifting site where I point out delightful comments left by thoughtful users on news stories…though I may have to stop because I think I’ve found the greatest news story comment of all time.

    Honestly, this busts me up every time I read it, and I’m not sure I can even explain why. Your Mileage May Vary, as they say.

  • And now, sent to me courtesy of reader C. Elam, here is William Shatner for K-TEL:

Progressive Ruin presents…the End of Civilization.

filed under Categories End of Civilization 22 Comments

It’s this thing again! I poke through the newest issue of Diamond Previews (October 2010, this time), point out some Items of Note, and maybe, just maybe, we’ll all learn a little something. …Have I done the “we’ll all learn a little something” gag too often on this site? Probably. Send your letters of complaint to my editor. Also, I overuse variations on the word “would” in one entry, and don’t even bother to check my French in that other entry, because it’s totally wrong. Which is fitting, considering. Anyway…awaaaaaay we go:

p. 25 – Buffy the Vampire Slayer #39:


Revealed in this issue…the shocking secret of Buffy’s pants!

p. 42-45 – Star Wars Legacy: War #1, Star Wars: Knight Errant – Aflame #3, Star Wars The Old Republic: Blood of the Empire #3:


If you would have told me 30 years ago that there would someday be multiple Star Wars comic book series on the stands, but I wouldn’t be familiar with any of the main characters in them, I wouldn’t have believed you.

p. 59 – Classic Archie Character #3 – Betty Statue:


“Ooh, gross, creepy ol’ Mr. Eerie is substituting today.”

p. 60 – Cousin Eerie Statue:


“Why, hello, Ms. Cooper…you’re certainly looking…nice this morning…see you in class!”

p. 83 – Green Lantern Emerald Warriors #5:


Oh, hey, this series totally abbreviates as “GL: EW.” That works out nicely, considering.

p. 131 – Wonder Woman #600 Statue:


Commemorate the stunning and dramatic costume change of our favorite Amazon Warrior, with this dynamic statue that will remain a treasured collector’s item for years to come….


Um, wait, what was that?


Er….


AAAAAAAAAAH

p. 132 – Heroes of the DC Universe Blackest Night Black Lantern Batman Bust:


I try not to go to the “this would be damn hard to explain to your friends and loved ones” well too often, but c’mon.

p. 135 – Harley Quinn 1:4 Scale Museum Quality Statue:


Is it just me, or does Harley Quinn get progressively creepier-looking the more “realistically” she’s portrayed?

p. 154 – Star Trek Khan – Ruling in Hell #3:


For the life of me, I have no idea why you would make the Ricardo Montalban photo cover the rare one. SLAP THAT SMOOTH BASTARD ACROSS ALL YOUR COVERS. Especially the Witch & Wizard series…it could use the help.

p. 205 – Marvel Select Gambit Action Figure:


“Sacre bleu! My coat, she has too much of ze starch in it! And my cards, they are en flammes! I am having ze bad day, vraiment!”

p. 226 – Archie #226:


I’m sure this cute and completely innocent gag will have the desired effect of pissing off everyone of every political stripe everywhere.

p. 227 – Betty & Veronica #251:


Thought this might have been a good candidate for my “This Is A Fetish for Someone” entries over at The Bureau Chiefs, but

1. …I’m pretty sure this actually is a common fetish for some folks, and This Is A Fetish… is only funny if it’s something really bizarre, and…

2. …As I recall, Betty and Veronica are supposed to be, what…15? 16? And that’s a fetish I’d just as soon not address.

p. 345 – Quicksilver T-Shirt:


“Hey, man, what’s the ‘L’ stand for?”

“Quicksilver.”

“Oh, okay…wha huh!?”

p. 370 – Labyrinth the Worm Plush:


Seriously, the more I hear about this Human Centipede movie, the weirder it gets.

p. 373 – Star Wars Death Star Planetarium:


If you gotta dress up your educational toys in Star Wars drag…well, you gotta do what you gotta do.

Look how happy this kid is:


“Oh boy, I can’t wait to blow up that planet…and that planet…and that planet….”

p. 378 – Smurf Statues:

So this Smurf:


…is in love with the only lady Smurf in town, Smurfette:


…which will create quite the love hecatontagon when the other Smurfs find out. Or love centagon? Love Zocchihedron™? Man, I don’t know. Let me know when they nail down a term.

p. 381 – Resident Evil T-Virus & Anti-Virus Display:


If you have any airline travel to do in your immediate future, I’d suggest not taking this along in your luggage to show Aunt Rose back east. You’d likely end up with some ‘splainin’ to do.

p. 384 – James Bond Jaws’ Teeth Signature Edition Prop Replica:


Those of you shopping for gifts for dentists: here you go. You’re welcome.

BONUS: comes with a “tram cable” piece to show your teeth replicas “in action.”

p. 391 – DC X Bishoujo Collection Catwoman Statue:


My, that certainly looks both comfortable and practical when jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

p. 394 – Bakemonogatari – Kanbaru Suruga Ani*Statue:


This statue is absolutely all about demonstrating the basketball prowess of this young woman, and nothing else. You’d have to be some kind of weirdo to think otherwise.

p. 398 – Harry Potter RAH Figure:


No thanks, I prefer my Harry Potter figures fully cooked.

…Look, it’s late, and I’m tired.

p. 403 – Stay-Puft Quality Caffeinated Marshmallows:


Oh, sure, let’s take something that’s sugary and add caffeine to it. That’ll make the kids zip around like hummingbirds.

p. 406 – Star Trek Sulu por Homme Cologne for Men:


I’m not even going to make fun; let’s just enjoy the majestic beauty of this solicitation text:

“Sulu Pour Homme, or Sulu For Men for those who are French-impaired, is the perfect cologne for the man who does everything, whether that be cataloging exotic plants, collecting antique firearms, or piloting ancient helicopters and advanced starships. It’s more than just choosing to live your life with style; Sulu dives straight to the soul and allows you to release your own Intergalactic Man of Mystery. That jaunty, fearless swashbuckler of a man who, whether he’s wielding a rapier in a swordfight or commanding an Excelsior-class starship, is always ready for action. Oh, my!”

Oh, my indeed.

p. 426 – Grant Morrison – Talking with Gods DVD:


“I hated this DVD. It was too convoluted and confusing, and it was just weird for the sake of being weird.”

“Did you watch it?”

“No, of course I didn’t watch it.”

Marvel Previews p. 71 – Wolverine The Best There Is #1:


Oh thank God, a new ongoing Wolverine series. For while there I thought we’d have to make do with only a dozen or so comics featuring Wolverine per month. THE DROUGHT IS OVER, THE DROUGHT IS OVER