- Sort of surprised that my post about Electric Superman got the response it did. Most of you had fond memories of this storyline, a few of you really didn’t care for it, and quite a few folks commented on this version of Superman being used by Grant Morrison during his run on JLA. I remember at the time thinking that it was a shame Morrison couldn’t use Superman Classic (well, Superman in His Regular Costume, I mean…Superman Classic is, of course, edited by Mort Weisinger and drawn by Curt Swan). I don’t know why I thought that, really, since I was enjoying the storyline in the Superman books. Maybe it was a personal perception that the Justice League book should be free of the story machinations in the characters’ individual titles…as was also noted, the “Death of Wonder Woman” story was reflected in the series as well. I know that probably wouldn’t happen with the main Justice League series, since it has to be in continuity and fit in with everything else being published or people will gripe. But still…Morrison did a good job with the toys he was allowed to use.
As for the storyline proper, as it appeared in the Superman books…I did quite enjoy it. The Superman line wasn’t quite firing on all cylinders like it was during the whole Death/Return thing, but it was perfectly fine serialized superhero shenaniganery. One of these days I should go through and do an overview of all of the post-Death event storylines. I suspect “Death of Clark Kent” will rank highest on the “Biggest Groaner” chart.
- BEHOLD: Pal Andrew, the giant brain behind Armagideon Time, has unleashed a new website for you fans of funnybooks and its portrayal of youthful counterculture – COMICPUNX.
- Johnny Bacardi has a new batch of reviews up at Popdose, which I wanted to point out since this is, I think, the first review of Darkwing Duck to note writer pal Ian‘s status as a founding member of the Associated Comics And Pop Culture Webloggers Of Ventura County, CA And Outlying Environs (which is, as I’m sure you guessed, ACAPCWOVCCAOE for short). Thanks, Johnny!
- Neilalien continues to post limericks, and posted mine the other day. Gasp in horror at the most strained rhyme ever!
Mikester
From the back room of misfit toys.
I’ll probably have some follow-ups to comments from yesterday’s post in the next day or two, but in the meantime:
Ooh, the Sentry. That’s a shame. But at least he’s paired up with his best pal, Luke Cage! And I know this is no original observation, but something about seeing the Sentry in Minimate form sorta emphasizes it for me…he really doesn’t look like he belongs in the Marvel Universe, does he? That’s totally a DC Comics-type superhero outfit. But at least he’s in a superhero outfit, Mr. Cage.
And seriously, the no-nose look?
Disturbing as all get-out. And the Pac-Man hands, too. AAAUGH.
Too early for nostalgia.
Occasionally I’m reminded of the “Electric Superman” phase of the character
and that it’s been 13 or so years since this particular storyline ran its course
and as more time passes, the more strange it seems
that this was a thing they actually did
in the continuing pursuit of “Death of Superman” levels of sales/media coverage.
As this type of “event” goes, it wasn’t too bad
and it gave us the Silver Age-y Red/Blue Superman thing, and that was fun.
It still seems a bit weird they did this, though. But that’s okay.
I like it when comics are weird.
images from Superman Secret Files and Origins #1 (January 1998) by Dan Jurgens, Todd Nauck & Jose Marzan Jr.; Adventures of Superman #551 (October 1997) by Jurgens, Tom Grummett & Denis Rodier; Superman: The Man of Steel #73 (November 1997) by Louise Simonson, Mark Waid, Scot Eaton & Dennis Janke; Superman #129 (November 1997) by Jurgens, Paul Ryan & Joe Rubinstein; Action Comics #740 by Stuart Immonen & Marzan Jr.; Superman #130 (December 1997) by Jurgens, Ron Frenz & Rubinstein; Superman: The Man of Steel #75 (January 1998) by Simonson, Jon Bogdanove & Janke; Superman #131 (January 1998) by Jurgens, Frenz & Rubinstein; Superman Red/Superman Blue #1 by Jurgens, Simonson, Bogdanove & Janke
(post updated 8/2016)
A handful of random observations.
- Going through a few of my bookmarked sites…there sure are a lot of dead comic blogs I still have in my bookmark file. A whole lot of ’em kicked the bucket in the 2006/2007 range, it seems, with a few actually wrapping things up with a “goodbye” post, and a bunch with the “sorry about the lack of updates, we’ll be back soon!” messages that are pretty much the same thing as a “goodbye” post. And of course there’s one or two that just end abruptly…just a post as usual, then pffft, gone.
Well, I promise that should I ever stop posting on this site, I’ll give you a final “goodbye” message. I won’t leave you hanging. Unless, of course, I’m hit by a truck or taken out by a meteorite or something, in which case you’ll all just have to
make fun ofmourn me in the comments section of my last post. And hopefully, it won’t be one of my more embarrassing posts, like a picture of me with a shaggy beard and posing with an iPad or anything.I’ve no intention of ending the site any time soon, just so you know. I mean, at some point I’ll wise up and stop posting on a daily basis, but nope, I’m still stupid and doing this every single day…especially since I’m so close to a seven year run of daily posts.
…
Oh, Good Lord.
- A few days back, I noted that Neilalien was looking for comic book limericks…well, actually, he’s specifically looking for Dr. Strange-related limericks, and he’s already posted a few, mostly filthy dirty filthy, ones on his site. Well, that makes me feel a little silly for sending him one that 1) wasn’t even vaguely racy, and 2) about a comic book character that wasn’t Dr. Strange. Whoops.
- Spent a good chunk of Saturday going through our miscellaneous indie titles boxes, containing lots of small press, short run books that only had a few issues, or from a publisher that only published that one title, or what have you. Aside from coming across the occasional comic with a price tag featuring the handwriting of an employee who hasn’t worked here since ’97, I came across a copy of a comic called Blade, that sadly I did not bring home to scan the cover, especially since the Grand Comic Database only has the second issue, and it looks like it’s up to me to complete that GCD entry on the series.
Anyway, Employee Aaron and I were kind of poking through this issue, being amazed and amused at just how violent it is, and at how 90% of the book is dialogue-sparse, but the last page is nearly all word-balloons, a giant exposition dump.
Oh, and it’s all drawn by Tony Harris, who’s definitely come a long way.
- This is neat: Kevin Church wrote up a Guide to The Rack, with links to key installments of the strip. He was also nice enough to specify my involvement in the development of the comic’s most horrifying character.
- Hearing some comments from the customers about there being too many Avengers titles. Not angry or upset or anything…just a sort of…bemusement and a feeling of non-surprise that this is what Marvel is doing with the relaunch. Going to have to keep a close eye on how sales go on them.
- Kind of getting flooded with all the $1 sampler books DC, Marvel and Image are churning out. And some odd things are getting reprinted: sure, we can always use more Chew #1s, but not terribly sure we needed that reprint of the Free Comic Book Day Spider-Man. Ah, well, we can always give ’em away next FCBD. Or build a fort out of them.
- Lots of requests lately for just plain ol’ logo t-shirts, particularly for Superman and Green Lantern, who, I understand, ain’t got nothing on me. Okay, I should probably edit that out, but I’m not going to.
- Had a customer ask about a 3-D Plastic Man comic that he remembered from his childhood in the 1950s. Anyone know of such a thing? I did some quick searches here an’ there in my usual online funnybook resource haunts, and came up with nada. If you have any info, please let me know, internet pals!
Sluggo Saturday #59.
OF SLUGGO
from The Best of Ernie Bushmiller’s Nancy (1988) – thanks to pal Andres
Three links will fill him, three links will thrill him.
- Bryant Paul Johnson shows us all what he thinks that China Miéville Swamp Thing comic might have been like. (Thanks pal Dave for pointing this out to me.)
- Bully the Little Stuffed Bull is the single greatest stuffed animal comics blogger on the entire nerdinet, and he proves it yet again with this…well, I say “tour de force” a lot describing Bully’s posts, but seriously, how else could you describe the genius of…“What Really Happened the Night of June 16, 1973” — God bless that Bully.
- As I’m writing this, the Jonah Hex film is at 10% on the Rotten Tomatoes review amalgamator. The mighty Roger Ebert gave it two stars, which, well, that’s better than one star, anyway.
How I would have improved it: halfway through the film, Jonah Hex is whisked away from the Old West and transported into the future. C’mon, that would have been awesome.
Okay, that’s more than three links. “Three bullet points” isn’t quite as snappy. And yes, that’s a Brak Show reference. I’m not made of stone, people.
Just a few links today…
…because pulling a Kirby pose takes a lot out of a man:
- A couple of Comico’s founders, who work on the CO2 Comics site, noticed that I posted an old Comico promo kit and were, thankfully, amused by it. Also, they promise to post some other items from those early days of indie comics, which I’m looking forward to.
Oh, and dig this: they’re posting pages from old Steve Lafler Dog Boy comics. Man, I do love the Dog Boy. And if you go over there and read some for free, maybe you’ll love Dog Boy, too!
- Customer Kevin posted a pic of a guy in a jetback on his sketchblog. Who doesn’t like guys in jetbacks? Jetpacks are awesome.
- Due to increased interest in Jonah Hex (thanks to the movie, which hopefully won’t kill all interest in the character once it’s released), Dwayne at Matching Dragoons has put together some links to posts on his site giving newcomers plenty of background on just who this fella with the funny-lookin’ face is.
- By the way, did you know that pal Ian, one of the charter members of the Associated Comics and Pop Culture Webloggers of Ventura County, CA And Outlying Environs (which is, as always, ACAPCWOVCCAOE for short) is writing the new Darkwing Duck comic book from Boom! Studios, which debuted this week? Maybe if the boy wasn’t so shy and told us something about it on his Twitter feed….
But seriously, I’m totally picking this up because Ian’s a pal and…well, I said either here or on my own Twitter feed that I’ve not seen frame one of a Darkwing Duck cartoon, and my awareness of the character is primarily from seeing him on the covers of the previous comic book appearances. But I’ll give it a try anyway. And if I end up not liking it, I’ll make Ian pay me back.
QUOTES YOU WON’T SEE ON THE EVENTUAL TRADE PAPERBACK:
“…If I end up not liking it, I’ll make Ian pay me back.”
–Mike Sterling, funnybook salesman, blog dork
It does look good, based on my quick flip-through, so I imagine Ian’s pocketbook is safe. For now.
- Unrepentant Smurfs fan that I am, I’m so totally looking forward to the Smurfs movie:
…Especially since I found out (and I realize this is fairly old news, but it’s new to me) that Jonathan Winters is voicing Papa Smurf.Here, let me repeat that for you:
JONATHAN. WINTERS. AS. PAPA. SMURF.
Oh, that I live in an age of miracles such as this.
Additional Smurf information: Little Known Smurfy traits, the Smurf Life Cycle.
(Not exactly) from the Back Room of Misfit Toys…
…in that this is part of a collection that someone dropped off at the shop:
Even though we’d since given up carrying McFarlane Toys (after too many series of selling the one figure from the set everyone wanted and having to blow out the rest of the shelf-warmers at bargain prices), I remembered that we did carry this particular “Six Faces of Madness” series, featuring such charming folks as Attila the Hun and Elizabeth Bathory. However, I did not recognize the “Accessory Pack,” which, since it says right there “Collector’s Club,” was apparently only available via mail order from the manufacturer. (The webpage for this particular item lists where you can buy (or rather, where you could buy) the toy, but I think that’s just a boilerplate for the series in general, and not this item specifically. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong.)
Here’s a better look at the fine selection of tchotchkes available in this assortment:
That you get an actual chunk of a body on a stake is kind of funny in a gruesomely over-the-top way. And as a pal pointed out when I showed this to him, Attila gets kind of screwed in the accessory department. I mean, everyone else get guns or lab equipment or a custom base or…a lamppost for Jack the Ripper? Well, it’s thematically appropriate, at least, and I suppose it was either that or a piece of a prostitute. Anyway, Attila gets diddly squat. Which, you know, it’s fine. Attila’s a travelin’-light kind of guy, he doesn’t need any special treatment. I-it’s (sniff) it’s okay.
And now, the most appropriately-named dinosaur of all time.
For some reason, the fact that it bounces after you makes it even more grotesquely disturbing.
By the way, Pebbles never does get to complete her sentence, there. “They’re” — what? “They’re incredibly hideous, as is implied by the name.” “They’re quite tasty when served with white wine.” “They’re afflicted with anatomically-improbable giant buck teeth that they must constantly gnaw with to wear them down, or they grow too large to allow for proper eating, and they slowly starve to death.” Alas, we may never know Pebbles’ words of wisdom.