from the vast Mikester comic archives

Agony (Raw/Pantheon, 1987)

filed under Categories from the vast Mikester comic archives, undergrounds


This little paperback book (with dustjacket) by Mark Beyer only measures about 5 by 5 inches, but packs in plenty of black humor and peculiar art. The premise is that a couple, Amy and Jordan, start their day by getting fired from their jobs, and things only get progressively worse from there. There are beheadings, prison stays, giant swelling heads, hospital horrors, and more, made even more terrifying by the off-kilter, almost childlike, illustrations of the characters and their miserable situations.

“I saved her, but her leg has dissolved!”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. My head’s starting to swell up.”

“Amy, the doctor says I’m basically alright, but he says you’re going to need some internal organ transplants.”

a typical circumstance


Amy and Jordan face their endless string of misfortunes with a mix of optimism, depression, and occasional outright terror, all for our amusement. And it is amusing, as things pile on and the two find themselves inextricably trapped by the workings of fate.

It’s a neat little book that grabbed my eye when I spotted it on a convention table over twenty years ago, and even now, as I was flipping through it to write this post, I ended up just reading the whole thing again. And I was reminded of my cousin, who was only about 11 or 12 at the time I bought the book, picking it up and reading it straight through during one of her family’s visits. “Poor Amy and Jordan!” I remember her saying once or thrice during her perusal.

The book’s out of print, but I put up an Amazon link where you can find some slightly pricey used copies at (right now) $18 a pop. There’s also (at the time I write this) a new copy for $180, which seems a tad much, but hey, if he can get it, more power to him.

There’s this one thing that frustrates me for, really, no good reason.

filed under Categories from the vast Mikester comic archives, sir-links-a-lot, swamp thing 1 Comment

So, many years ago, even before my entry into the high-finance world of comics retailing, I was trying to put together a run of the ’85 indie mini-series MacKenzie Queen by Bernie Mireault. I found the first four easily enough, but the fifth one took some searching. Like, a lot of searching. More searching than I should have expected, given that I began looking for these issues just a couple of years after they were originally released. But then again, this was in the midst of the black and white glut and bust, so it probably shouldn’t surprise me that an obscure b&w title from an even more obscure publisher would have slipped through the cracks.

But, eventually, after about five or six years of scouring quarter bins, and looking through collections (for by this time, I was in the funnybook-sellin’ business), I finally found a copy of MacKenzie Queen #5 in the quarter box at a (now defunct) store in Santa Barbara. And because I was a “fellow professional” (i.e. worked at another shop about 45 minutes south), the guy at the shop gave me a discount, so I got issue 5 for even less than twenty-five cents. Seems almost anticlimactic, now that I think about it. (And I should note, I was buying some other things at the same time, and I didn’t ask for the discount…he knew me from our intershop dealings, and just offered it to me. Honest. As cheap as I may be, even I wouldn’t ask for a break on a quarter comic! Really. Would I lie?)

Now here’s the thing that frustrates me.

I’m sure a lot of you comic buyers out there have had that one comic you’ve been seeking for ages, and once you find it, suddenly…you can’t stop finding more copies of it. It just seems like it’s everywhere. I mean, it’s not just me, is it?

There was an issue of Zot! that was like this for me…I couldn’t find #5 (again, a fifth issue…what’s up with that?), looked for a year or two, and finally found it. And then, of course, every time I turn around I find more copies of the damned thing. But for whatever reason, that wasn’t nearly as frustrating as the whole MacKenzie Queen thing. And yes…once I found MacKenzie Queen #5, I started seeing more of them. And every time I would see one, it would remind me about how long I’ve looked for that issue.

Even just this past Thursday afternoon, I was going through a long box of books we acquired from a closed comic shop a few months back…just one of those low priority jobs that I get around to whenever I’m tired of dealing with restocking or mail order or beating the employees. And, of course, here’s what I find in the box:


And here’s what I thought when I saw these books:

“Well, shit.”

And let me note that no other issues from this series were in the box. Just #5. The comic collecting gods are mocking me.

Told you this is a point of frustration that has no real good reason. Any reasonable human would have been over this by now.

By the way, I’ve been looking for an issue of Yummy Fur (#9) for, like, twenty years now. I know as soon as I find that, I’ll suddenly be hip-deep in issue #9s, because the universe is laughing at me.

On a related note, because this post isn’t long enough yet, I was double-checking some dates over on the essential Grand Comics Database, and noticed that the entry for MacKenzie Queen #1 has a note that reads “may be reprinted in trade paperback.”

Well, I can verify, for the one or two fellas from the GCD who are kind enough to read my site, that the MacKenzie Queen trade paperback does exist. I bought back when I expected I’d never find the #5…even though I did have the story already, I still bought that #5 when I found it, because, well, you know how comic fans are.

Here’s a scan of the cover, direct from my bookshelf and onto your computer screen:


Published by Caliber Press in 1990. Still in black and white. Paper smells kind of funny, like most Caliber Press books. If you GCD guys need a larger pic, just let me know where to send it.

In other news…well, it’s not a lot of news, but these items have been brought to my attention, and they must be revealed to the public!

From the comments, commentator Michael points out [EDIT: Haloscan comment link dead] this collection of graffiti photos that has an image of interest to Swamp Thing fans about nine pics down. Of all the things (har) I never expected to see spray-painted on a wall….

And Johnny Bacardi was kind enough to direct me to a Presidential/Vice Presidential pairing that I can get behind. I’d of course would want the VP candidate in the President slot, and vice versa, but I could live with the ticket as it stands.
 
 
(post updated 8/2016)

Who you callin’ a dip?

filed under Categories big red cheese, from the vast Mikester comic archives


So occasionally I dip into the vast Mikester Comic Archives and pull out a run of books to reread and, hopefully, re-enjoy…sometimes spurred on when I come across the same books while working at the shop and I think, “hey, these were pretty good, I should read them again.”

One of the recent titles I poured through recently, as the scan might hint, was Walt Simonson’s run on Orion. Coming on the heels of the previous Jack Kirby’s Fourth World, presumably the powers that be at DC Comics thought a title focusing on one character rather than an all-encompassing New Gods might catch on more than previous attempts with this particular batch of Jack Kirby’s characters. Simonson is one of the few cartoonists to really “get” the Fourth World, and this title was filled with his usual fast-paced action and wackiness, on top of the inherent nuttiness of Kirby’s creations.

Rereading Orion makes me wish Simonson was given full reign on another monthly title again…I know he’s working on the new Elric series, but that’s not quite the same. His work on Thor really was the peak for that the title, and everything that’s followed in that series has suffered by comparison. Simonson turned Thor into a frog for several issues, for God’s sake, and managed to make it work…that’s talent to reckon with! (That frog storyline is even referenced in Orion at one point.)


Next on the reread list is Power of Shazam, which was a gorgeous-looking book, with Peter Krause and Mike Manley on art chores at first, and Jerry Ordway (who painted the wonderful covers for the whole run) finishing up on the interiors at the end of the run. The late Curt Swan popped in for a guest-penciller appearance once or twice as well. Ordway also provided the scripts, which…well, seemed a little rough around the edges sometimes. The dialogue was a little wonky, and stories seemed to end when the book ran out of pages, rather than build to any kind of conclusion.

Despite my minor qualms, my memories of the book are that it was a fun and enjoyable title, walking that fine line between the whimsy of the original Captain Marvel stories of the ’40s and ’50s and the tastes of modern comic fans. Ordway even managed to work in Hoppy the Marvel Bunny and come up with a new origin for Mr. Tawky Tawny! Besides, any comic where you can send away for a decoder card can’t be all bad! One oddity from the series that I was reminded of last night, as I read the first couple of issues, was that the teacher from Calvin & Hobbes, Mrs. Wormwood, is also Billy Batson’s teacher…now there’s an odd in-joke.

In other (old) news:

Here’s an old article I came across about superhero movies (it mentions the possibility of the forthcoming Hellboy movie, for example). Of interest is a list of “best” and “worst” super-movies…Swamp Thing is on the “Worst” list, naturally, and apparently some kind of typo put Batman Returns on the “Best” list. Also of note is a sidebar regarding the troubled attempts at a Fantastic Four movie.

So anyway, movie comics.

filed under Categories from the vast Mikester comic archives 1 Comment



Since Slave Labor released the first volume of Evan Dorkin’s Bill ‘n’ Ted’s Most Excellent Adventures last week, I thought I’d take a brief look back at the very first Bill ‘n’ Ted comic from 1989. Written by Bob Rozakis and illustrated by Mad Magazine‘s Angelo Torres, it’s a straightforward adaptation of the first film. It hits all the beats of the movie, but doesn’t really add anything to the material…of course, it really suffers in comparison to Dorkin’s fabulously-nutty adaptation of Bogus Journey. In addition, the art seems scratchy and rushed…Torres’ caricatures are usually right on, but as a whole the production seems very rough.



I think this comic was only distributed in video stores, but I’m not 100% positive. I never saw it in the wild, having bought my copy from a convention bargain bin. It presumably was meant solely to advertise the video release, which kind of brings up a point that’s been made several times before…that comic book movie adaptations are pretty much useless now. In decades past, once a movie was out of the theatres, your only chance to see it again was if it was rerun on television. A comic book adaptation served as your connection to the film, a reminder of all those great scenes in, say, The Boatniks, that you can relive in the comics’ pages.

Now, with the DVDs and VCRs and 700 cable channels all you kids are into, comic book adaptations have lost that edge. When you can own the actual movie, or be pretty much guaranteed of catching it on cable sooner or later, why bother with actual reading? You can still sell movie adaptations to a limited extent, by getting it out before the movie* or releasing it in that brief** months-long window between the movie’s theatrical run and its DVD release. The other way around this is by publishing comics based on the movie, featuring brand new stories starring the film’s characters rather than just a straight adaptation.

The Bill ‘n’ Ted comic pictured above is just a disposable ad for the video…an interesting artifact of the film’s cult popularity, but that’s about it. It does have a rare George Carlin comic book appearance (if not his only one) so it does have that to recommend it.

Oh, and I have this other item…a postcard produced by the “Bill and Ted’s Outstanding Past and Future Appreciation Society,” a San Dimas-based B&T fan club:



The back reads:

“While future issues are as yet unobtainable by non-time travelling entities, current issues are on sale now at your local comics dealer! Ask for Bill and Ted’s Excellent Comic Book, published monthly by the most triumphant personages at Marvel Comics!”

* I remember when Marvel got in a lot of hot water with Lucasfilm by accidentally releasing the comic adaptation of Return of the Jedi prior to the film’s debut, thus spoiling the surprises. Now, though, the Dark Horse Star Wars adaptations are released ahead of the movies. Apparently it’s not the problem it used to be.

** Very brief, in Elektra‘s case.

The Adventures of Patoruzu.

filed under Categories from the vast Mikester comic archives, golden age 1 Comment

The Adventures of Patoruzu (Winter 1946)

starring…



Satch (?)



Rufus



Drooley



and (best of all) Spunky the Monkey!

However, there is no Patoruzu to be found, aside from the cover.

The Adventures of Patoruzu contained reprints from Animal Crackers, one of your standard-issue low-rent funny animal comics from the Golden Age. While “Spunky the Monkey” stands out as a pretty good feature, and “Rufus” isn’t terrible, “Satch” and especially “Drooley” are not exactly professionally done.

The Patoruzu reprint is pretty badly put together as well…the reason I’m not 100% on Satch’s name is because the first page of the story doesn’t appear in the comic. To make matters worse, the last page of the comic book is blank on both sides…it doesn’t appear to be a misprint, as the last story is complete, so they could have easily fit the whole “Satch” story into the book.

Ah, well, too late to complain about it now!

EDIT: According to the Grand Comics Database entry, it’s likely the covers for this comic may have been printed earlier, then used years later for otherwise unreleased or (in some cases) repackaged comics.

Updated June 2021

"Is it painful to die of chains?"

filed under Categories from the vast Mikester comic archives

When I was a kid, my dad came back from a business trip in Puerto Rico with a book he had bought there to give to me. It was called Hear The Sound of My Feet Walking..Drown The Sound of My Voice Talking. It was a collection of Odd Bodkins cartoons by underground cartoonist Dan O’Neill. Why he found that book in Puerto Rico, and why he decided this was the sort of thing to give me, I have no idea (beyond my interest in all things comical, even then). But, I’m glad he did, and Odd Bodkins is still one of my favorite comic strips. Here is the official site.
 
(post updated 7/2016)