Mike Sterling's Progressive Ruin
Sparing you the worst since 1969
So in perusing this site, I came across a link to “The Rules of Moopsball”, an HTML-version of an entry from the 1970s science fiction anthology Orbit 18. I first came across it in my local library when I was probably about 10 or 11 (so, let’s say, about 1980), and thought it was absolutely fantastic. It’s not a story, but rather a convoluted set of rules for a fantasy-oriented sporting event (think Calvinball with wizards).
Now, in the 1980s, several references to a sport called “Moopsball” were made in the Legion of Super-Heroes comics. I remember thinking at the time that this was either a coincidence, or perhaps an homage to the original 1970s “Moopsball.” I thought “homage” was less likely, because why would some superhero comic book use a random reference to (what I believed to be) a fairly obscure story from an old sci-fi anthology?
Well, more fool me, since the Moopsball website reminded me that the writer of the original “Rules of Moopsball” is Gary Cohn, who wrote a bunch of comics in the 1980s, including cocreating Amethyst and Blue Devil.
So there’s the comics connection…it likely was a homage.
Moopsball…of all the things I never expected to talk about on this site….
One of the entries I didn’t use on my Doctor Doom’s Top Ten Euphemisms for Sex list: “Governing the trembling toadies.” Yeah, that’s a direct quote from a Fantastic Four comic…I think Marv Wolfman was responsible for that one.
Anyway, thanks again to pal Dorian for helping out with the list…”besting Richards” and “allying with the Sub-Mariner” were his.
Speaking of pal Dorian, his recent list of unproduced action figures came from a discussion we were having at the shop last week, and I thought I’d comment further.
One, I know that DEVO figures were announced at some point, but I don’t know if they were ever released. This article mentions the possibility of figures, and it’s brought up in this interview, but otherwise the Googling is inconclusive. It seemed like it was a done deal a couple years ago…where’d they go?
Two, I don’t know if I really insisted on Deep Throat figures…but I think the action features would be amusing.
Three, I agree 100% on a David Bowie “Thin White Duke”-era action figure. Can’t you just picture it?
Four, I’m not kidding about Reanimator action figures. Why a Jeffrey Combs as Dr. Herbert West figure hasn’t been produced yet is beyond me.
Five, one of the unproduced action figure lines I mentioned that Dor didn’t was a line based on the proposed then aborted ’70s TV show revival of Star Trek. Trek is second only to Star Wars in molding little plastic figurines about of every…single…character…to walk across a screen or have a syllable of dialogue. I mean, c’mon, a Lieutenant Xon figure? What’s taking them so long?
Since The Killing Joke is going to be reprinted in this new edition of the DC Universe Alan Moore collection, I guess that means the original prestige format Killing Joke is no more. Which is a shame, because I can still sell the prestige format book, but it may be a harder sell as part of a larger, more expensive trade paperback. Better check with Diamond and stock up…if they’re not gone already. I also still have demand for Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?…again, I hope people looking for it are willing to dish out for a fat book filled with stories they aren’t looking for. And yes, I know all the stories are by Alan Moore, and therefore good readin’, but people who want just one particular story aren’t usually thrilled about buying a bunch of extra material just to get it. I saw it happen with the Dini/Timm Batman: Mad Love one-shot, and I think I’m going to see it again.
In happier news: Showcase Presents The House of Mystery. 552 pages of classic DC suspense comics. Fantastic.
Yesterday, at work, discussing the impending Infinite Crisis series with New Coworker Nathan:
M: “You know who I think is behind it all? Bat-Mite, that’s who.”
N: “Who?”
M: “Bat-Mite.”
N: “I have no idea who that is.”
M: “Wha–?“
N: “Really, I don’t.”
M: “Wha–?“
N: “Please stop making that noise.”
I can’t believe we hired a guy who doesn’t know who Bat-Mite is. We’re gonna have to work on the screening process a little more.
(Please note, in regards to the Infinite Crisis thing, that I’ve blamed Bat-Mite for a major DC event before. I have it in for Bat-Mite, apparently.)
Speaking of the forthcoming Infinite Crisis (due in funnybook stores this coming Wednesday), Nathan came up with an alternative to the “Golden Age Supes is behind it all” theory that pal Corey throwing around at the shop a while back (and, coincidentally, expounded upon by Devon at Seven Hells).
Basically, what if it is a character from one of the parallel universes discarded during the original Crisis on Infinite Earths, but not the Golden Age Superman?
What if it’s the pre-Crisis Superboy? Either that “Earth-Prime” Superboy that went off to a “better place” with G.A. Supes ‘n’ Lois at the end of Crisis, or the Pocket Universe Superboy that was created to explain the discrepancies between the Legion of Super-Heroes and the post-Crisis Superman (and is also dead, but when’s that stopped anybody in comics). Either one would probably be more…well, I guess the word is “expendable”…than the G.A. Superman, since making Golden Age Supes a villain may be too much for even DC (“he said unironically”). (Though Devon has a way around that, too.)
Ah, who knows. This sort of thing makes my brain go explody if I think about it too long. We’ll all find out in a few days, anyway. Presumably.
Someone disagreed with my Blue Beetle prediction (in which current Beetle-mania would drive initial big sales on a theoretical new series’ first issue, which would dissipate as soon as everyone remembered they really didn’t like Blue Beetle all that much in the first place) by stating that this didn’t happen for Firestorm (another old character that had been replaced by a new version).
Well, that comparison doesn’t really scan.
First, Blue Beetle was killed off in a high-visibility big whoop-de-whoop one-shot special kicking off the big DC crossover event. Firestorm wasn’t killed off, and his book reached the end of its lifespan, getting cancelled because it didn’t have enough readers to justify sales.
Second, the death of Blue Beetle set off a huge wave of “grief,” “disgust,” “annoyance,” what have you, with a lot of “but he was such a great character with so much potential”-type talk, mostly from people whose only exposure to BB was in decade-old Justice League comics, if that.
The cancellation of Firestorm, on the other hand, was met with a big…well, a big nothing, really. I’m sure somebody somewhere was really ticked off about it, but it was hardly a fandom cause célèbre like the current BB brouhaha is. (And yes, I realize the internet is a big factor in making the current outcry more visible than any potential outcry at the time over Firestorm…but trust me, there was no big outcry over Firestorm).
Third, my theoretical new Blue Beetle title would start up while the fan-guish over the previous BB’s death was still on everyone’s minds…i.e. “free advertising for DC.”
The new Firestorm series launched about fourteen years after the previous series was cancelled, and Firestorm had only the occasional appearance in random comics (like Extreme Justice or Power Company) from then until now.
And, lastly, the new Firestorm series is selling well, considering 1) it’s a different character as Firestorm and 2) it didn’t have the benefit of a huge event book leading into it (aside from the extremely-tangential Identity Crisis tie-in). It’s no record breaker, but it’s a solid mid-ranger, and given the lifespan of most new books from Marvel or DC, that’s success enough, I think.
So for the last few weeks, I’ve been trying to reorder the new Overstreet Price Guide with the Little Lulu cover, but the only one that seems to be available from Diamond Comics is the Iron Man cover. Maybe I’m just checking at the wrong times, but I guess I should be glad I got the Lulu-covered one for myself when I did. So, was the Lulu cover an incredibly hot seller, and thus always in short supply for reorders, or was it drastically underordered and underprinted, thus leaving little or no copies for later reorders? (Just a rhetorical question, actually.)
So, this cover:
It’s this:
“Hi! I’d like to return a comic I may or may not have bought from you two years ago for a full refund, I don’t have a receipt, and I accidentally tore the cover off.”
DOOM BUTTON!
“What do you mean, you won’t take my out-of-state non-prepreprinted starter check even though I don’t have any I.D. whatsoever?”
DOOM BUTTON!
“I’d like to describe to you, in excruciating detail, every single hand of my last Magic: The Gathering match, even though you don’t sell Magic: The Gathering cards and shouldn’t be expected to have any interest in anything I’m saying.”
DOOM BUTTON!
See, it’s a natural for store use. I can use one for my car, too.
(Of course, the tables could be turned: “I’m a weblogger that treats comic books and the comic book industry with about all the seriousness it deserves!” “DOOM BUTTON!”)
CLICK TO MAKE BIGGER
(by request of Jay in Tennessee)
The Ha-Hacienda, your online guide to all things Joker-y.
An absolutely terrifying Joker painting.
An index to the Golden Age appearances of the Joker.
“The Joker from TV’s Batman Giclee Print!”
Here’s a bio and interesting pic for the Joker from the fan-written alternate Batman history, “Ghetto Batman.” (Don’t blame me.)
The Joker is somewhere in this collection of Batman: The Animated Series POGs.
Batman movie Joker Kubrick! AAAAAH!
WARNING – SELF-LINK: I discuss the ending of The Killing Joke (under March 4th – may need to scroll to it), and how it can be read as the death of the Joker. (This previous version of a Wikipedia article on The Killing Joke had included a huge chunk of that post of mine in the body of the article. It’s since been removed from the current version. I’m still in the Brian Bolland article, though!)
The Joker loves his Hostess Cakes! (The last panel of this ad is actually laugh-out-loud funny.)
Batman versus the Joker, Hembeck-style.
Seems like every comic book character has been adapted to the Hero System role playing game, and the Joker is no exception.
I don’t know who brought this to our attention first, but here’s a good overview of the “Joker’s Boner” comics that swept the internet a few months ago.
And as long as we’re on the topic….
An image of Conrad Veidt from The Man Who Laughs – said to have inspired the Joker’s appearance.
The Cesar Romero Tribute Page features a photo gallery with images of the actor as the Joker on the ’60s Batman TV show.
A synopsis and review of the Joker: Last Laugh crossover mini-series.
The Silver Age Batgirl and Joker action figure set is reviewed.
You The Man Now Dog.com presents – Lex Luthor and the Joker. This kills me…if you visit no other link in this post, you must see this one.
Well, if you didn’t buy your copy of Absolute Watchmen yesterday, you go right back to your funnybook store today and get your copy. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
…
Got it? Good. Now enjoy the heck out of it, because it’s the best thing that came out this week.
A very close second is this year’s edition of Bart Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror, reuniting Swamp Thing creators Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson on a parody of their creation…
John Severin drawing the Simpsons. Fantastic.
Also new this week is the Trencher trade paperback from BOOM! Studios, which I mention here because 1) it’s Keith Giffen, for pete’s sake, and 2) our store was…intimately involved in the production of this item. No, not like that, we all kept our pants on, but we helped deliver that baby! Um, perhaps I could have phrased that better.
I’m already sick of this Spider-Man: The Other crossover series, and all we’ve seen so far is the sketchbook.
So, earlier this year, as part of DC’s ongoing company-wide retooling, the character of Blue Beetle was killed off, as you may have heard. And, as what usually happens when a second (or third) stringer character is offed, suddenly he became the Most Beloved Character Ever, and everyone bemoaned the senseless waste of a character so full of potential.
And now, Mikester of Progressiveruin.com shall predict…THE FUTURE!
2006: DC Comics announces a new Blue Beetle series, reviving the concept with a new character (or, perhaps, a previously established but otherwise currently unused one) in the title role.
Because of the publicity and apparent outpouring of love for Blue Beetle following the character’s death, interest seems high in this new series. Interest may be especially high if said Blue Beetle relaunch spins out of the best-selling Infinite Crisis series. Retailers order good numbers, and when the issue finally comes out, it sells very well. It may even possibly sell out, requiring a second, or even a third, printing, all with different covers, and so on.
Sales remain relatively strong for a few months, possibly still riding the post-Infinite Crisis buzz.
Then, once the fallout from Infinite Crisis finally settles down, and the new status quo of the DC Universe is established, most of the people buying the new Blue Beetle series will realize, “hey, you know what, it turns out we actually didn’t like the Blue Beetle that much after all.” Sales drop, retailers cut the book down to Breach or Arana or Doom Patrol numbers, and the book is finally put out of its misery in mid/late 2007.
And that’s pretty much it for the new Blue Beetle. Well, aside from a cameo in 2008’s Sue Dibny: Rebirth.
It looks like a couple spam sites made it onto the Comics Weblog Update-A-Tron 3000. DARN YOU SPAM! (“Spam” as in the unsolicited internet content, not the delightful and versatile meat product.)
So it’s finally happened…I’ve been suckered into rebuying a movie on DVD that I already own on DVD, just for the special features. The movie in this case is Star Trek Nemesis, which I had bought the first time because…well, lemme ‘splain.
The initial release of the Star Trek films on DVD were bare-bones editions. Your special features were pretty much “sound” and “color,” and maybe a trailer, and that’s it. Had I been an early DVD adopter, I probably would have picked those up as they came out. However, by the time I got around to getting a DVD player for myself, most of them had already been released, and the general feeling that I picked up from various news sources was that new editions with extra material would eventually be released.
And, sure enough, they were. Two-disc sets were released for each film, a few months apart, in the same order they were released in theatres, with tons of bonus features for each flick. (My favorite bonus is probably the text commentaries that “pop up” as you’re watching the film.)
Well, Nemesis came and went in the theatres, as a week after its debut Lord of the Rings came along and demolished pretty much every other film in release. The DVD for Nemesis came out shortly thereafter, and unlike the other initial DVDs of the previous films, this one did have extra material: deleted scenes, director’s commentary, even an extra bonus mini CD-ROM with computer goodies. I figured, “hey, they won’t need to do a special two-disc edition…they got everything on it the first time!”
Yeah, I know, that was a stupid thing to think. I should have realized that having all the films except one in the two-disc “special collector’s edition” format was going to irk some fan somewhere, and that Paramount was eventually going to have to put one out anyway.
Well, they certainly did. I have it sitting on my desk, right here next to the computer as I write this. Comparing it to the old DVD, it looks like all of the special features from the first disc are on the new set, assuming the director’s commentary is the same (which it certainly must be). There’s also an extra commentary track from Rick Berman, and the aforementioned text commentary, plus more behind-the-scenes documentaries and such. I don’t know if there’s going to be any focus in the extra features about this film being a franchise-killer or not (the film itself wasn’t bad, really, and I think at this point more people think Enterprise killed the franchise anyway)…I don’t imagine so. (Unless the director mentioned it in his commentary…I never did get around to listening to it.)
Yeah, I know, this isn’t really about comics, unless I want to make some tortured comparison between this habit of some studios to release enhanced versions of DVDs released only a short time ago, and, say, “director’s cut” versions of comic books that come out only a couple weeks ago.
But I think I’d rather go watch the DVD instead. I’ll let you know how it is!
Hey. Hey, you. Matt Maxwell has moved his weblog from the Blogspot address to Highway-62.com/blog. Update your links accordingly, or punishment will ensue.
Speaking of Mr. Maxwell, the man doesn’t just talk about the funnybooks, but he writes ’em as well. He was good enough to send me a preview ashcan of his forthcoming series Strangeways, the cover of which is off to the right, there, though you can see a nice color version at the official site.
The one-line description for the comic is “werewolves in the old west,” and it’s the latest in the western/horror cross-genre wave. The story here is essentially setting up the situation for the series — light on plot, heavy on mood and action — but it works fine as an introduction to the characters, as well as to what may be the werewolf’s motivation for his attacks. Maxwell’s dialogue is sharp and to the point, pushing the narrative along with an economy of words and a good dollop of suspense. The art, provided by Luis Guragna, reminds me in a way of a more rough-hewn Steve Bissette and John Totleben from their Swamp Thing days: dark, moody, scratchy and heavily textured.
The first issue will be out in November at your better comic shops…look for that Steve Lieber cover.
In other news:
Kevin Smith gets an account on Ain’t It Cool News — entire nerd-web gets sucked into resulting black hole.
I’m still answering questions, though I think I’ll keep it to that original comments section for the time being. So ask away, darn your eyes.
More questions, more answers:
Knitter asks “Are my brother and I the only people who remember (and still own) The Amazing Slapstick?”
No, no, I remember Slapstick…in fact, I believe he was the first (only?) Marvel Comics character to make his first appearance in a trading card set, rather than a comic book. And judging by the number of people who reference Slapstick to me at the store, I’m sure plenty of others remember him as well.
Chris wants to know “what superhero has a weakness to pure metals?”
Mon-El has a weakness to lead, which is pretty much all I can think of off the top of my head. Though, I’m pretty sure, there’s a character out there for whom Gold is his (or her) Kryptonite.
Pal Dan asks “what are you going to do after popular culture finally implodes?”
Go to Disneyla…oh, wait, that’ll be gone, too.
Shane hits me with more questions: “Who’s the man?” (Stan Lee.) “Where’s the beef?” (Right here.) “Why are we here?” (To read my site. Oh, you mean in general. You’re on your own, there.) “What’s the answer?” (42.) “Why me?” (You had it comin’.)
Pal Evilbeard takes me to task for not directly answering his Hawkgirl question: “Oh sure you’ll answer their high falutin’ questions directly but perfectly innocent question about Hawkgirl only gets a passing mention.”
So, once and for all, here is the question he asked me in e-mail:
“Well in that episode [of Justice League Unlimited], Hawkgirl clearly spent the night with a guy she had just met and seemed awfully happy about it. What I want to know is when she was at the height of sexual pleasure would she moan like a human woman or get her feathers all ruffled and scream out ‘Caw! Caw! Caw!?'”
My answer was that, yes, she went “caw caw caw,” because now I have that vision stuck in my head, and I want it stuck in all of yours, too.
Pal Dorian asks “why do you hate America?”
What, are you trying to get me on a list, somewhere? (I’m probably already on a list because of this.)
The High Priest of the Church of Klugman (long may he wave) queries “do you like gladiator movies?”
Just the ones where the barely-dressed men, sweaty in the studio lights sun, wrestle each other and smack their long, hard swords together in passion.
Oh, I know who Chalk is, but I’ll never tell!
Here are answers to some of the questions asked of me so far…ask your own questions…if you dare.
Shane asks: “What are some of your favorite comics in your personal collection not counting Swamp Thing?”
Hoo boy, lots and lots…Groo the Wanderer is about as perfect a comic book as has ever been created, and my complete Groo run is one of my treasures. Other favorites include my runs of Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Not Brand Echh, Zot!, Grimjack, It’s Science with Dr. Radium, Love & Rockets (including the original self-published #1), Nexus, Ralph Snart (the good ones, by Marc Hansen), Howard the Duck, Man-Thing, Don Rosa’s duck books, the Carl Barks library reprints, anything by Kim Deitch…I could probably go on and on. (You know, like I usually do.)
As for favorite individual issues, here are a few I’ve discussed in the past: Justice League of America #200, Detective Comics #500, and Flash #300. I loves me the anniversary issues.
Gordon asks two questions: “If there is one trend that you would like to see flourish – that is starting now in comics, and that you want to see continue -what would it be?”
That’s a hard question, really…the one trend I would like to see continue is the prevalence of original, inexpensive graphic novels, such as those from AiT/Planetlar and Oni. That’s hardly a new trend, I know, but it’s one I encourage. (Note, to some folks who might take this wrong way…that doesn’t mean I want the monthly books replaced by GNs…I like my monthly funnybooks!)
Gordon’s question #2: “Plus, who would win in a fight – the Incredible Hulk or Rush Limbaugh?”
In a fistfight, Hulk obviously has the edge. In a battle of wits…well, that would probably be a draw.
Mark asks: “Mike Allred’s adaptation of the Book of Mormon sells like hotcakes here in Utah. Indy hotcakes, but hotcakes nonetheless. Is it even a blip on the radar in your store?”
I thought I’d mentioned this on the site before, but all I actually did was link to a story about a Utah store selling loads of the thing. At our store, our regular Mike Allred fans tried out the first issue…and none of them came back for the second installment.
Roger asks three questions: “1. How much do you spend annually on your own (personal, not store) comic (or comic-related) collection? A rough breakdown by the stapled stuff, graphic novels, and other stuff. Breakdown by Marvel, DC and other.”
Oh, goodness, I hate thinking about how much I spend on my funnybooks. As much as I love comics, it just depresses me. Anyway, I don’t spend nearly as much on comics as I used to (being a homeowner can do that to you), but a rough estimate would be about $20-$25 weekly, so, maybe, $1000 – $1300 a year? (I get more than that sounds, since I get a significant discount through the store.) Plus, there’s the very occasional action figure, which can bump up the weekly total a bit.
I’m a longtime DC fan, so I spent a lot more on that company than on Marvel…if I were to break it down, it would probably be about 50% DC, 40% other, 10% Marvel. I mostly buy stapled comics, with the occasional graphic novel…not sure of a breakdown there, unfortunately.
“2. If you weren’t a comic book entrepreneur, what would you be doing?”
I haven’t the foggiest. Starving writer, maybe? Most likely, I’d probably be a librarian…I enjoyed my library-employment days.
3. What was the first comic book series you ever collected?”
I’d been reading comics pretty much as long as I’ve been able to read, so I had my fair share of Donald Duck and Superman comics as a very young child. But, I think the comic book series that actually got me interested in trying to get all the issues and follow the month-to-month narrative was Marvel’s Star Wars spin-off in ’77. I’m sure being gobsmacked by the Star Wars movie had nothing to do with it.
Milo asks: “How often is Endemic Treponematosis discussed in the store?”
Not nearly enough, Milo. Such is our shame.
Feel free to ask me more questions…get more thrilling and insightful answers like the ones above!