- So someone took this terrifying Sluggo Saturday post of mine and, somehow, someway, made it even more terrifying.
- More Sluggo comes our way via Paul, who sent me a link to Kaz’s site for this perhaps Not Work Safe rendition of a cerrtain Mr. S. Smith.
- Close, personal internet pals Comfort and Adam (who will always hold a special place in what remains of my withered, bitter heart for their Swamp Thing vs. Wildcat drawings) are still producing their comic The Uniques. Issue #9 was just released, and you can purchase downloadable digital copies of every installment for cheap, and the Luddites can get their Print-on-Demand copies for just slightly less cheap. Solid homegrown superhero stuff, and worth checking out.
- Speaking of comics, which, as it turns out, I sometimes do here, I’d like to remind you all that Awesome Hospital started this past week, and (having, perhaps, being privy to some future pages) this comic truly does live up to its name. Brought to you by Chad Bowers, Chris Sims, Matt Digges, and Josh Krach. comics’ awesome-est power team.
- Hiatus week at The Rack means guest-artist pin-ups! Ming Doyle, David Lentz, TJ Kirsch, and Rusty Shackles are taking care of the place while Birdie and Church are away.
- So that list of 100 Best Comic Book Covers being put together over at Minor Henchman has wrapped up, and you can see the fourth and final part right here. (And here are parts 1, 2, and 3.)
- “So,” asked pal Dorian when he dropped by the store, “where’s your pick of the week?”
“Whoops!” said I. “I’d been busy, and I forgot to put the ‘Mike’s Pick of the Week’ tag on the new comics shelf. I shall correct this problem immediately!”
And there was much rejoicing across the land.
Mikester
Sluggo Saturday #44.
THAN TOBEY MAGUIRE
from The Best of Ernie Bushmiller’s Nancy (1988) – thanks to pal Andres
Something good that came from Cry for Justice.
So Justice League: Cry for Justice #7 came out, and it was your typical over-the-top melodramatic dopey superhero comic, with the usual “this changes everything FOREVER” developments that will be undone sooner or later. Online reaction has been pretty heated, with even some folks suggesting writer James Robinson was going to lose his job because of online response. I mean, c’mon, really? Surely worse comics than this fluttered by this week. Anyway, the other day I was on the Twitter being a jerk about how people were reacting to this comic, because, while I am sympathetic to the objections, part of me still thinks fanguish can be really funny. During my little bout of dickishness, my pal Kevin and I and a special third party to be named later had the following exchange:
beaucoupkevin: “@mikesterling Man if that were Swamp Thing shooting people in the head you’d have a post called MIKE STERLING GOES BROKEN ARROW ON DC”
mikesterling: “@BeaucoupKevin: If Swamp Thing shot someone in the head, it’s because that person needed killin’.”
Dee2theBee: “@BeaucoupKevin @mikesterling @theisb ‘FOR JUSTICE!’ http://twitpic.com/16eunj”
For those of you frightened, confused, or just plain annoyed by Twitter syntax, ProgRuin reader “Dee2theBee” gifted me with this fine illustration:
That’s quite possibly the last to-the-death battle I ever expected to see. Yet another reason why the regular DC Universe publishing line must reclaim Swamp Thing from the Vertigo division. If Dan DiDio is claiming that Solomon Grundy is filling the “Swamp Thing” role in the DCU, then Swamp Thing can fill the Punisher role there. Maybe James Robinson can write it.
Julius “Orange” McNulty can barely contain his excitement.
Meanwhile, across town, the Eddie Izzard gang strikes:
By the way, when inspecting your ill-gotten ermines, letting your pistol hang halfway out of your jacket pocket is a one way ticket to injury on the job. When pulling your heist, please make sure to safely secure all weaponry not currently being used. Just another gun safety tip from your pal Mike!
images from Superman #186 (May 1966) by Otto Binder & Al Plastino
From the back room of misfit toys.
We have had this toy in stock since the Virus film, based on the Dark Horse comic book, was released in 1999. Though, come to think of it, I don’t remember if the toy was explicitly a tie-in to the movie or to the comic. I suppose it doesn’t really matter now.
There was a short series of store stickers on the packaging (removed for that photo) with progressively lower prices that attracted no one.
I tire of looking at it sometimes, and I’ll store it away in the back room for months, or years, at a time. However, I also occasionally put it on eBay, and pray that someone takes pity upon us.
Oh, Squeaky from Virus action figure, I fear that you will accompany me to the grave.
SQUEAKY OF BORG
Brainiac has no time for love.
from World’s Finest #164 (February 1967) by Leo Dorfman, Curt Swan & George Klein
And now…the Nineties.
Transferring that pic to the foil surface of the packaging didn’t do it any favors. It’s hard to tell looking at the scan, since it sort of flattens everything out and mutes the effect, but having every line on Shaft’s face be a little silver streak is both distracting and disturbing.
Here’s a group shot from card #2:
The quote from Liefeld on the back of the card sums it (and by “it” I mean “the superhero comics industry for the majority of the decade”) all up:
A thing that is awesome.
This full page splash from Defenders #16 (October 1974) by Len Wein, Sal Buscema and Mike Esposito:
Sluggo Saturday #43.
MASTER OF THE COMEBACK
from Nancy #158 (September 1958)
A decade of Neilalien.
Neilalien is the longest running continuous comics blogger still active, and as of yesterday he has been doing it for ten years.
I’ve spoken before about how much I appreciate Neilalien. I’ve thanked him in my anniversary posts, I’ve thanked him for helping me hash out my website issues, and I don’t remember if I ever thanked him here for, very early on, helping me with prepping images for site use, but if not, I’m thanking him now.
Neilalien is an absolute treasure, and a unique voice in the comics weblog community. I’ve never met him, no idea what his real name is (though I suspect part of it may be “Neil”), never spoken to him on the phone…but he continues to be an ongoing inspiration to my own comics blogging endeavors. Thank you Neilalien…may your own Eye of Agamotto never blink.
(Read other appreciations of Neilalien at Comic Book Galaxy and The Comics Reporter.)
In other news:
- Pal Andres has started up a postcard campaign to get DC Comics to manufacture a giveaway Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, like the Lantern and Flash rings. Hey, sure, I’d like one. A ring, that is, not a postcard.
Read more about it from Andres’ cohort Svengali Lad and dis here Robot 6 article.
I think I’m going to start up a letter-writing campaign to get a similar Swamp Thing giveaway. (“Thanks for buying Swamp Thing Adventures #1…here’s your plastic tuber.”)
- Speaking of rings, DC finally announced the White Lantern ring giveaway which everyone kinda expected, including me.
I’m not ashamed…I love these goofy ring giveaways. I totally want them all.
- Speaking of greedily wanting everything…
[SPOILER WARNING]
…I’m glad to see in the new DC solicitations that Larfleeze, the Orange Lantern of Avarice, survives Blackest Night and will be sticking around for a while. Why? Because Everyone Loves Larfleeze, that’s why. I almost broke my own self-imposed ban on buying new action figures to get that Larfleeze figure that just came out.
This whole Blackest Night thing is all worth it just for Larfleeze. I love that guy.
- Chris Sims and pals have done it again…twice! First, you can read the first chapter of The Chronicles of Solomon Stone #2 (with the next three chapters posted weekly). Then, prepare for your emergency awesomeness transfusion at Awesome Hospital, updated Tuesdays and Thursdays!
- Speaking of comics, customer Gary put together a couple of sample panels for the Atomelephant and Elastiquito comic based on Employee Aaron’s sketch.
Oh man, such a tantalizing beginning.