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First, thanks for the birthday wishes from yesterday, both here and on the Blooskies. Much appreciated, and helped me get through some birthday blahs I was having. 40 didn’t do it to me, 50 didn’t do it to me, but 56 caught me by surprise. Ah well, it is what it is.
Second, don’t forget to get in your submission for the Final ’90s Countdown of indie comics. Represent your 1990s faves, and I’ll talk about ’em when I decide the voting’s over! (I’m already seeing some votes for titles I have literally nothing to say about, so it’s gonna take all my blogging powers for some of those write-ups!)
Third, I’ve added a couple new icon links in the sidebar, this time to more podcasts. That Vintage Video link has been there a while, since I’ve guested on a couple of episodes, and a third is coming soon-ish!
New to the sidebar is Longbox Heroes, a long-running weekly podcast of comics news and reviews hosted by Todd and Joe. I am officially a Friend of the Show, and they shout me out in every episode which is nice.
That link goes to their Patreon, but the weekly show is free. But, for only a dollar a month you get a lot of bonus material, including an additional weekly podcast (“After Dark”), a monthly review of the more offbeat superhero movies (“Comic Book Oddities”), and the monthly “Previewing the Past,” where they look at the Diamond Previews of exactly 30 years ago. It’s like my old “End of Civilization” posts, only much more thorough! And if you pay five bucks a month, you get all the bonus stuff right away, otherwise you wait a couple days for “After Dark” and two weeks for the rest.
Speaking of that “Previewing the Past,” the most recent episode, covering March of 1995, includes some contributions from me! I guess the guys were tired of me messaging them after the fact with some tidbit or two about what they discussed, since I’ve been in this business for so long I was selling the stuff they were talking about in those old catalogs. Anyway, they sent me a scan of the March ’95 book, I wrote up some notes on some of the items therein, and they used them on the show! So, if you sign up now, you’ll get to hear that (unless you join at the dollar level, in which case you’ll have to wait a week or so).
If you need additional incentive…on a recent episode Joe stated that for their “Comic Book Oddities” podcast, where the movies are chosen randomly from a list, if Frank Miller’s The Spirit comes up, they will move Heaven and Earth to have me as a guest commentator. To which I say, “My City Screams…to Be on That Podcast!”
Okay, and that other new icon added to the sidebar is for War Rocket Ajax, a show I have listened to since Episode #1 and plugged on this site even back then. Lots of great interviews to be had there, plus answering reader questions, entertaining lists of ranked comics, and a whole lot more. I am also Friend of the Show to these guys as well, occasionally sending in a contribution now and again. One of my faves is my thematically-appropriate submission for their Rawest Moments in Comics list, here on Episode 666. I even sponsored an episode way back when! Their Patreon will give you bonus audio and writings, too.
And it just occurred to me that I should have added icon links to the Comic Book Yeti podcast (where I was a guest recently) and to my pal Kurt’s Welcome to Geektown, for which I am a Patreon supporter.
Oh, wait, speaking of Comic Book Yeti, they put up a free bonus track from my interview on their Patreon. So please, check that out if you need to hear more of my melodious voice.
Sheesh, okay, this was supposed to be a short post, since it’s still technically my birthday as I write this, and in my aged, decrepit state I barely have the energy to spare. Thanks for reading (and listening!), pals, and I’ll see you Monday.
So pal Nat has published via About Comics the complete Dalgoda Omnibus:
Featuring all the comics by Jan Strnad and Dennis Fujitake and others, starring your favorite space dog. Also includes images of promotional artwork, retailer posters and signs, and mag covers. Of note…I helped a very tiny bit with this publication, providing a scan of a magazine cover for the book’s art gallery. I’m thanked in there and everything.
So anyway, if you want copies, they’re out there for sale…and I’ll have ’em for sale at my shop, too. If I run out, I’ll just give pal Nat a ring-a-ding and get some more!
(I wrote a bit about Dalgoda here as part of my Final ’80s Countdown series on fave indie comics.)
• • •
Okay, I was maybe a little too harsh on my assessment of Marvel Saga, that company’s attempt at retelling the history of their shared universe via panels and sequences from their long history of publications, with additional text filling in the gaps. Like so:
A couple of you in the comments there expressed your appreciation of that project, which made me rethink my opinions on it. I may have come at it from a retailer perspective, looking at unsold copies sitting in a bin and so forth.
But I forgot what it’s like to be a fan, new to all this nonsense, not having immediate access to Everything That’s Come Before in the comics you were just starting to read. It reminds me a bit of a certain Mr. Roynaldo Thomas and his work at DC Comics in the early 1980s, particularly this series:
…where I, a kid who didn’t have a full run of every Golden Age superhero comic ever printed, could learn about DC’s past characters in stories set in a time from which they originally came into existence. And then there was the America Vs. The Justice Society mini, with its copious footnotes detailing the decades-past stories referenced during the main plot.
I devoured this stuff. I loved learning about DC’s Golden Age via these new comics. As it turns out, I find them somewhat hard to read now…just kinda overly dense and clunky in a way I don’t have patience for. Which isn’t to say I don’t still have positive feelings towards those comics and how they helped fill in some comic knowledge gaps when I was a young and eager fan.
And so, there’s Marvel Saga, presenting the breadth of the Marvel Universe, a relatively stable and consistent setting compared to DC’s own superhero setting which had at that time (and several times since) been recently reset. Plus, this particular format (previously used for the Super-Villain Classics retelling the story of Galactus) made a recent appearance in the similarly-purposed History of the Marvel Universe from just a few years ago:
I take back my initial dismissal of Marvel Saga and acknowledge its use as a guide through the company’s continuity, especially for those folks who could use the introduction or the refresher. There can be a steep learning curve for folks trying to get a handle on a superhero universe’s fictional setting, and books like this help. Sure they could use Wikipedia, but it’s more fun through the comics themselves.
So it finally happened, for the first time since 2009…I was actually on a podcast to specifically talk about comics! The show “Let’s Talk Shop,” part of the Comic Book Yeti empire, had me on to chat with host Byron about my many, many years in comics retail. We talk about how I got started, Diamond Comics’ current travails, how to get kids reading comics, and, yes, POGs. It only takes an hour of your life, which surely you can spare, so tune in why don’t you.
If you want to hear me blather away on even more podcasts, hie thee hither to mikesterling.com and look for “PODCASTS!”
• • •
A big congrats to Jenny Blake Isabella (formerly Tony) for taking the big step in
making the transition to her true self. It’s a hard thing to do, especially in the current environment, but I’m glad to hear she received an enormous amount of support from her fans and friends.
(And before anything thinks I just did something rude there…she makes it clear in that linked post that “Tony” isn’t a dead name far as she’s concerned, so I included it here for clarity.)
Jenny has been a longtime online pal, supportive of this silly blog I’ve been doing for probably too many years, and very supportive (as a former retailer herself) when I opened my own shop, finally. I consider her a friend in the weird online semi-parasocial way we all make friends over the internet nowadays, and I swear, someday I’m going to meet her in person and have her sign my favorite thing she ever wrote.
Best of luck to you, Jenny, and I hope everything continues to go well.
• • •
So my discussion of the comics in that 1985 Bud Plant catalog from the last couple of weeks isn’t quite done yet. I still have a few words to say about that
Marvel Saga series, so come back next week when I hopefully will remember to grab an issue or two from the store for scanning purposes. Somebody remind me.
Hey, my pal Mark can use some financial help for himself, his mother, and their cats. Mark is one of the creators of FakeAPStylebook (as immortalized in the book Write More Good) and a good guy, so if you can help, even just a little, please do.
EDIT: the widget started doing odd things to my site, so here’s the direct link instead.
EDIT: Here’s a direct link in case the widget isn’t showing up for you.
So here’s another podcast on which you can hear the dulcet tones of my melodious voice:
The “Shame” in the title “Cinema Shame” refers to the show’s conceit, in which one of the folks on the show watches and talks about a film they really should’ve seen by now.
In this case, I am the one who is shamed, and the film in question?
Yes, that’s right, after years of me half-bragging “what is this ‘blade runner’ you speak of,” I finally sat down and watched a version of Blade Runner specifically for this episode. In fact, when one of the hosts, Allan, first approached me about this, the film I immediately suggested was this one, and Allan replied “yeah, that was the one I was going to ask you to do!”
So here it is, in all its one-hour and so glory, for you to enjoy! After doing this and of course the two shows for Vintage Video, I of course am now a Podcast Show Guest Expert, and look forward to doing even more of these, maybe even one specifically about comic books, someday.
• • •
Let’s do at least one
question from a reader today, and this time it’s Andrew who
asks
“Where is Groot currently?”
Andrew is of course referring to my giant Groot cardboard standee, which used to live in the front window of my store where the occasional group of tourists would stand before it and take pictures of themselves.
Well, I retired Cardboard Groot from that position a while back, replacing him with a Mandalorian standee. But Groot is not gone, instead having been moved to a position behind the main counter at my store, standing guard over the old sign from my previous place of employment:
And what does Cardboard Groot say about all this? “I am Groot” is his only comment, which I presume translates as “eh, it’s a living.”
• • •
Just a reminder to all my fellow U.S. citizens (not that you need a reminder, you’ve probably been getting a dozen emails/texts a day about it) to go out and vote Tuesday, if you haven’t already via early voting. And on a completely unrelated note, a whole bunch of your favorite comic book artists and writers put these informative comics together which may be of some interest.
• • •
Almost forgot: this Tuesday is not only U.S. Election Day, it’s also the 10th anniversary of the opening of
my store. Almost as if…I
planned it that way. (SPOILER: I didn’t.) Anyway, you can read what I had to say about my
first day of business way back when I had exactly 100% fewer Funko Pops in my shop. Honestly, I can’t believe how barren my shop looks in those old pics. Oh, to have all that open space again….
First, a couple of things:
One, I finally got a Threads account open under my original personal Instagram account name, mikesterjr. For various reasons I had opened one up under a different name, but ignore that one if you know about it…”mikesterjr” is where you’ll find me there. (Alas, “mikester” and “mikesterling” were taken by folks surely unworthy of my good name.) Anyway, not that I need another social media thing (Bluesky is mostly enough for me right now), but in this scary post-Xwitter world, I’m just trying to hedge my bets.
Two, blogging-and-birthday-brother Andrew is doing his Halloween Countdown over on Armagideon Time. One of my all-time favorite writers on these here internets.
Three, let’s try to get to another of your questions:
JohnJ hits me with
“How in the world do you decide how many variant covers to order of some books, especially with DC’s extra dollar for variant cardstock covers?
The multiple covers bit started when I still was ordering comics in the 90s and it drove me nuts. It’s got to be ten times worse today with damn near every book having multiple covers.
How about the blank covers for sketches? Do you have customers that ask for those?”
Yeah, I occasionally think about how good we had it in the ’90s in regards to variants. At the time, it was annoying because, unless it was a ratio variant where we had to reach certain ordering plateaus to get that 1 in 25/50/100 copy, guessing what covers customers were going to want was quite the trick.
And it’s even more of a trick now, given that nearly every Marvel and DC comic has multiple covers, and many Image books have variants, and several Dark Horse comics have variants, and oy Dynamite Comics….
For the most part, the customers mostly want the main (or “A”) covers, although some folks don’t care what cover they get. I order enough “A”s to cover pulls and rack sales, and a smaller number of each variant for impulse buys and for those occasions when people prefer that variant to the main cover.
In the case of DC, where the variants can cost a buck (or more, if it’s a fancier variant with extra embossing or whatever), I’m a little more stingy about ordering some of those, sometimes just getting one or two copies, or maybe skipping a variant entirely if past sales data for a title indicates a big fat “nobody cares” on those. But if it’s a variant by Jim Lee or Artgerm, I’ll get a few extras because those always sell well.
For Marvel and other companies, the variants all have the same cover price (aside from the ratio variants, though I’ll sometimes just put the 1 in 10 covers out at regular price) so I feel a little more comfortable ordering extras on those. Like I said, “A” covers are generally preferred, so I’ll order heavier on those, though I notice on indie titles, some people don’t much care which cover they get. It’s the Marvels where customers are a little more insistent on getting the main cover if possible.
At this point, I’ve been ordering these long enough to get a general feel for what covers sell in what quantities, though sometimes I’ll get surprised by demand (like, it took some reordering to get enough of the recent Doctor Doom variants on some recent Marvels), but my typical strategy of “lots of ‘A’s, a coupe or three of the variants” works out. And I can usually place reorders if necessary.
I do have some customers who get every variant (or close to) of their favorite titles, so I make sure to accommodate them. And sometime a comic will pop up in the order form with more individual variants for me to order than copies I sell in the store, so I order enough “A”s and then pick and choose the likely variants that might sell, and hope for the best.
As for blank covers…I don’t always order those, but it depends on the title. I went ahead and got a copy of the blank Absolute Batman #1, for example (which as of this writing hasn’t sold yet, though I blew through all the other variants for this title in short order). Once in a blue moon I have someone show up asking for every sketch cover I have in the shop, so I like to have a few of those available.
I feel like, even as much of rambling answer I gave there, more discussion may be necessary. I mean, aside from the year or so I was doing these themed variant cover posts. Anyway, if any clarification is needed, just let me know.
• • •
Also, wish my dad a happy birthday today. He reads the site, so he’ll see it!
So in response to my ponderings about why the I Dream of Jeannie comic only ran two issues and why special attention seemed to be paid to Barbara Eden’s likeness, reader RAR unpacked the following:
“Mark Evanier has addressed this topic a few times. Basically, the publisher would send the comic to the relevant studio for approval, and sometimes the studio would send the comic to the individual actors (or their representatives) for their approval, and sometimes those actors (or, more likely, their representatives) would get very particular about how they were depicted.”
Additionally, RAR mentions a specific example, brought up by Mr. Evanier, that Forrest Tucker was being particular about his likeness in the F-Troop comic, resulting in a photostat of an approved drawing used repeatedly. Which sounds similar to something I’ve heard about the Kyle Baker-illustrated Dick Tracy comics from Disney, tying into the Warren Beatty movie, where Beatty only approved certain drawings of his face to be used in the books. (And by the way, the War Rocket Ajax boys looked at the series recently…it’s a good comic!)
I did some searching on Mr. Evanier’s site, using a variety of search terms (if Mr. Evanier reads this, I apologize for the weird inputs) and couldn’t track down any stories related to this. I even checked through his three paperback collections of columns from the Comic Buyers’ Guide and no dice. I totally admit that I may have missed it, and Mr. Evanier is a very prolific writer and only some of his writing is represented on his website and in his books. It certainly seems like something he would have written about!
EDIT: It’s been pointed out in the comments that Mr. Evanier commented on that F-Troop post with information that backs up RAR above, which I somehow missed. Sigh.
However, in doing an internet search, I did find some discussion of the likeness issues in both F Troop and I Dream of Jeannie, presented on another blog well over a decade ago. This entry here shows how they dealt with the Approved Forrest Tucker likeness in storytelling. And this entry about I Dream of Jeannie focuses on the repeated use of a specific Larry Hagman likeness, which I somehow missed in my brief glances through the copies I had. The writer also mentions some repeated usage of a Barbara Eden likeness, but notes the artist put a little more effort into actually drawing the character.
Sean asks if that was Tony Tallarico on the art chores for I Dream of Jeannie. Apparently the answer is no…the Grand Comics Database entry gives a name with a “?” after it, with an additional note that it’s unlikely this person was the artist (based on information from the previously-linked blogger) so the credit remains unknown.
At any rate, the mystery remains as to why only two issues. Again, I presume sales weren’t great, the usual reason comics don’t continue.
• • •
Hey, you may have heard a little something about Robert Downey Jr. being cast as Doctor Doom for a couple of forthcoming and presumably hastily-rewritten Avengers movies. “What’s up with
that?” you may be asking. I mean, beyond the “look we got RDJ back, please start watching our movies again” flopsweat of it all. Well, my pal Kurt
devoted an episode of his podcast,
Welcome to Geektown, discussing the connection between Iron Man and Doctor Doom, and lays out a reasonable theory as to how they’ll be using Doom in the movies. It’s a short podcast, and worth a listen!
So I picked this up from Bluesky pal Dan Membiela. It’s a short, attractive mini-comic extolling the idea that old, grizzled (yet only my age, 55) Batman goes out of his way to take no lives in the books.
A sample page from within:
It’s more “illustrated essay” than “comic” but it’s a fun companion to tuck away inside the back cover of your Dark Knight trade paperback or hardcover. Pick it up from Dan’s store (and he’s got plenty more available there too!).
And speaking of Bluesky pals, Andy passed along a link to this forthcoming game:
Lots more details here, where you can create a Hot, Extreme, Cover Gimmick-Laden Comic Book and ride the wave of the 1990s boom…but can you cash out before the bust? Friends, this is called “microtargeting your pal Mike with a product.” Looks fun…though it could very well cause some flashbacks for me.
It’s another miscellaneous post, as I’m too scatterbrained right now to focus on a single topic, so bear with me until I can get my head on straight again.
• • •
First off, I wanted to plug my pals over there at
Vintage Video, the podcast what is plowing its way through all of 1980s major film releases with observations, analyses and trivia imparted in an easy-going and humorous manner, with only the occasional F-bomb. I’ve added a link to the sidebar there that will take you to their site and their archive of over 400 episodes, not even counting the bonus ones you’d get via their
Patreon.
Oh, and have I been on this podcast, you may be asking? Why yes, I have, this very episode right here where we discuss the Heavy Metal animated film (and I wrote about the experience here). …And will I be making another appearance on there in the near future? You’ll just have to wait and see!
But, despite my appearing on the show, I hope you check out this podcast. It really is one of my favorites.
• • •
So a couple of days ago over on the Blueskies I
talked about how well the
Doom one-shot was selling for me:
I’m posting the Adi Granov cover variant here because that’s the one I specifically got the most requests for, and who could blame folks for wanting it?
I implied that it was more of that dreaded speculation that was firing up demand for the book. I was asked why they wanted it, and my assumption was that it wasn’t for any specific reason, just that it was in short supply and that was enough to attract folks with dollar signs in their eyes. I’ve seen it happen plenty of times before. (Frankly, if there was a reason, I would’ve said it was the shots of Dr. Doom’s unmasked face, which they seemed to be more free about showing than in the past.)
However, Chad, the person who had asked me about the speculation in the first place, found the actual reason…apparently there’s a tribute to the late rapper MF DOOM, utilizing one of his lyrics. Well, his fans found out, and showed up a week late to get the comic because retailers aren’t ordering piles of titles to sit around for eventual sale, they ideally order to sell out or close to the initial week.
You can read all about these latest comics market shenanigans in this Comic Book Resources article. ANd I’m sure we’ll get a second printing in six to eight weeks or so, just in time for the MF DOOM fans to be no longer interested, but I’m sure I can still move copies to the regular comic fans. Ah well, What Can You Do?
• • •
A sad farewell to Tom Luth, the long-running, and recently retired, colorist for Sergio Aragones’
Groo the Wanderer. Mark Evanier
wrote a bit about his colleague, as did
Sergio. The man did amazing work, somehow keeping up with Sergio’s highly detailed artwork, month after month, decade after decade.
So long, Tom.
Okay, first off, before I get into the rest of the post, I want to get this link in here because I was dumb and forgot last time. Old pal Mark, co-creator of Fake AP Stylebook on what used to be Twitter, and co-editor of the spinoff book Write More Good, can use your help.
Mark is currently in an uncomfortable living situation and needs some funds to rehouse himself. He’s reached his stated financial goal, but he can use more scratch just in case, you know? Please contribute if you can:
Thanks for anything you can do.
• • •
Not that I don’t have enough physical comics piled up to read, after being behind for the last several years, I’ve been using the DC Comics digital comics app to look at some old stories I may have missed, and revisit some books that I gave up to the shop/don’t feel like digging out of my boxes at home.
Since I’ve been on an Armored Lex kick lately, I reread this three-parter, probably for the first time since it appeared in print back in 1985:
That’s the middle chapter of a story that ran in Superman #410, #412 and #413 (#411 was a surprise issue celebrating Superman’s editor Julius Schwartz), written by Cary Bates, illustrated by Curt Swan and Al Williamson, covers (which I liked!) by Klaus Janson.
I’ve written before about different inkers’ effects on Swan’s pencils, but I was struck by the expressiveness in the faces here in this particular sequence of panels from #412:
Isn’t that nice? Those are some good looks from Superman that you don’t normally see.
But what I wanted to mention for sure here was…well, let me give you a brief set-up. The story is about Clark reporting on an event Superman was involved in, only it turns out Superman imagined said event and it makes it look like Clark fabricated the whole thing. Clark is fired, and his reputation is shot so he can’t get another reporting job.
Obviously this is a plot by You-Know-Who, but Clark is left adrift in the meantime. As such, he pays a visit to another former Daily Planet/WGBS employee, Steve Lombard, who is currently running a sporting goods store. As you recall, Steve was the one continually pulling pranks on Clark in an attempt to pick on him (pranks that usually backfired due to Clark using some super power or ‘nother).
Now, the digital archive is incompelete for the Super-books, and my own memory of the stories from the time is a little spotty, so I don’t recall the circumstances of Steve losing his job, or on what terms he and Clark were on. But in this particular issue, we see the characters reunite:
…and Steve’s tomfoolery aside, it looks like the two get along just fine. They are genuinely pleased to see each other, and in fact Steve gives Clark a part-time job.
I thought this was a nice bit of character growth for Steve after, what, a decade or so of him being a pain in Clark’s rear? It feels like some of his arrogance has worn away, laughingly admitting his own foolishness in the panels above. It’s a real shame this is butting right up against the Byrne reboot, which would wipe this all away, as I would have liked to have seen more of this mildly less-obnoxious Steve Lombard. Ah well.
• • •
And here, since this seem relevant to the
recent Superhero Violence post from the other day, is a
panel found by Bluesky pal WormDrivePRO. From
Spectacular Spider-Man #118 (1986) by Peter David, Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod, comes this inversion of the “Abandoned Building Battleground” trope:
Huh, just like Thom H. said!
WormDrivePRO is a good follow if you like nice big scans of curated comic panels. It’s a fun feed that I recommend!
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