Mike Sterling's Progressive Ruin
Sparing you the worst since 1969
For all you Simpsons fans (among whom I include myself), a huge revelation about a cast member is coming. No, not that one. This one:
“The elusive real name of Comic Book Guy will finally be revealed….”
I wonder if it’ll be the same name Matt Groening revealed in a long-ago issue of Wizard Magazine (referenced here).
(via TV Tattle)
1. Remember a while back when we were discussing the recognizability (or lack thereof) of Superman by the general public (here and here)? Well, on a related note, I was listening to an radio talk show trio Monday afternoon…one of them is in his 40s, the other two a little younger than me (early 30s), and the three of them were trying to remember the names of Archie’s girlfriends. They could come up with “Veronica,” but darned if they could remember the blonde one. And these folks are usually pretty good about coming up with pop culture trivia.
2. Regarding the discussion of Overstreet from yesterday’s overlong post, Jim brings up a point that I had actually written out before cutting it from the final posting. Essentially, that Overstreet‘s editors may have considered Yummy Fur more underground than “mainstream,” and thus outside the purview of the guide. That’s probably as likely an explanation as any.
But that did get me thinking…Overstreet currently devotes several pages to a section on “platinum age” comics from around the turn of the century. Now, I’m not saying Overstreet shouldn’t cover these comics, as they are very interesting from a historical perspective. But how likely is it that most comic dealers or fans will ever deal with any of these? It’s far more probable that modern comic fans will find themselves in possession of old undergrounds and in need of information on same. One thought is that perhaps the section of “platinum age” comics could be alternated with an undergrounds section every other year, given that prices aren’t likely to drastically change enough on either to warrant yearly updates.
Then again, titles like Tits ‘N’ Clits and Fuktup Funnies would likely give Overstreet‘s editors heart palpitations, so it’s probably all for the best.
3. I am now, at least for the moment, the top Google result for Spunky the Monkey. God bless the internet.
4. I really hate it when I discover an insanely obvious typo in an entry of mine from several days ago. Sigh.
From Amazing Heroes #25 (June 1983), an excerpt from a Geppi’s Subscription Service advertisement:
From another issue of Amazing Heroes, #22 (April 1983), comes this tidbit from Jim Korkis’ “Potpourri” column:
“In February of 1969, the University of Wisconsin was offering a course entitled, ‘Uncle Scrooge: The Duck and the Legend’ taught by Terry Zwigoff on Thursday evenings. […] The class only met five times. It was cancelled because of low attendance.”
Unless there were two Terry Zwigoffs* who attended the University of Wisconsin, this would be the same fellow who would go on to direct Ghost World and Crumb.
Man, to have gone to a class about Scrooge McDuck taught by Terry Zwigoff…if only I hadn’t been -1 months old at the time….
Swamp Thing in foreign lands: French artist Bruno Gore‘s portfolio image of Swampy, and a history of Swamp Thing in Italian.
Okay, so we’re in the process of buying a big ol’ collection of comics from a fellow, and among the many and varied books is a small incomplete run of Chester Brown’s Yummy Fur. Now, I already knew that the yearly Overstreet price guide hadn’t listed Yummy Fur in the past, but I cracked the book open anyway just to see if Overstreet‘s editors had relented.
Nope. Not yet. However, all three issues of Young Zen Intergalactic Ninja from 1993 were listed.
A comic that no one has ever asked for ever** is listed in Overstreet, while a comic by an acclaimed, award-winning cartoonist is not. A comic that, by the way, was not carried by Diamond Comics for a time, and thus had some spotty distribution…a comic that really could use some kind of semi-reliable pricing information.
During the black-and-white publishing explosion in the ’80s, people were cranking out books by the truckload in order to piggyback on the success of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Overstreet decided, for space reasons, not to list the majority of them, as they were just pumped out to make a quick buck on speculators. But, one would think that after all this time, at the very least Yummy Fur would be included. Perhaps Overstreet isn’t getting any sales reports on it…but I find it hard to believe that Young Zen Intergalactic Ninja is.
Okay, okay, I’m not completely unreasonable. I know Overstreet has to make decisions as to what to include and what to exclude, as they only have limited space. But what they do include and exclude baffles me, sometimes. I mean, Palookaville isn’t listed either…and that one’s still coming out!
Of course, we can solve this problem by doing away with price guides altogether, and just charge, say, $1 for all back issues regardless of age or demand.
Yeah, right. You first!
Spotted at pal Andy‘s site – a sketch-weblog by Ivan Brunetti! “Doodle-A-Day” – cool!
So pal Dorian tells me yesterday that he’s been hearing reports from some of our customers about some kid telling people that our store is going out of business (not true, by the way!). Clearly we must have offended this kid somehow (probably by telling him to stop doing stupid things in our shop, like running, or throwing things, or picking his nose then reading the comics*** or whatever) and this is his way of getting revenge. Of course, we’re getting these stories second-hand, so who knows what’s really going on, but I’m always really thrilled to hear stuff like this. (I would think that the caveat of “consider the source” would be enough explanation.)
A few years back, someone who owned a card shop in a neighboring town was apparently claiming that we were all arrested for “charging prices that were too high.” Um…what? Again, it’s hearsay, so who knows what, if anything, was actually said. Plus, that shop in question is long gone, so it’s a bit late to find out for sure.
I’m a bad person for giggling at the phrase “major Moorcock input.”
In the “You Don’t Say” department, here’s this caption from The Transformers #1 (September 1984):
“Whereas life elsewhere in the cosmos usually evolved through carbon-bonding, here it was the interaction of naturally occurring gears, levers and pulleys that miraculously brought forth sentient beings.”
Some of your favorite comic and cartoon characters in balloon form.
(Inspired by Will Pfeifer, who posted the companion piece to the above book.)
** Oh, relax, I’m exaggerating to make a point. I really don’t want to hear any griping from the Zen fans. Either of you.
*** We’ve had to tell someone this. Our customers prefer their comics booger-free, thank you.
Suddenly, for no reason, a Warp Graphics promo poster:
So, among the many boxes of back issues we have on our shelves, we have a few that contain miscellaneous titles from the ’80s to the present – titles that only ran an issue or two, or were the only title from its publisher, or (usually) both. Essentially, titles that don’t have homes anywhere else in the other back issue boxes.
Anyway, the boxes for these particular comics were getting a little too tightly packed, and as I was adding another box and moving some of the comics around to loosen things up a bit, a sad thought stuck me.
I stopped what I was doing and paged through a comic that released one whole issue in the late ’80s, and was, in fact, the only release from this publisher. “This comic,” I thought, “represented someone’s dream…someone put a lot of time, effort, and money into this, and probably thought it was the beginning of something big. And, now, all it turned out to be is yet another forgotten comic in a plastic bag in an old comic box.”
Well, okay, my thoughts weren’t that coherent — they were more like “we’re stuck with this stupid comic forever” — but it still saddened me to think someone put all their hard work into something that’s essentially lost. (Unless they have cases of unsold copies in their garage that they’re still pawning off on friends and neighbors.)
I think that way sometimes about older comics, ones from the off-brand companies from the Golden and Silver age that are highly unlikely to ever be reprinted. For example, that Spunky the Monkey story…it was fairly clever, it was appealingly drawn, and it’s totally forgotten except by sad old fanboys like me who happens to enjoy vintage funny animal comics.
None of the above applies to the approximately 7,000 worthless Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rip-offs and Dark Knight parodies that plagued the ’80s. Most of those deserve to be forgotten.*
Your disturbing Batman image for the day. Oh, heck, have another.
Here’s a old store story I was reminded of yesterday:
Several years ago, we had two cases of the oversized Star Wars movie adaptation treasury edition (technically, Marvel Special Edition Featuring… #1). I don’t remember rightly how we got stuck with those turkeys, but we had ’em, and we were trying to get rid of ’em. We put a big stack of them on the counter, put a sign on them that read “25 cents each,” and hoped for the best.
One day, I get a phone call:
Caller: “Hi! I recently damaged a friend’s copy of a Star Wars comic, and I wanted to buy a replacement.”
Me: “Oh, sure, which one was it?”
Caller: “Star Wars #1…it’s really big, bigger than a normal comic.”
Me: “Yeah, we got those…they’re a quarter each.”
Caller: “Uh, no, this is number one, it’s a Star Wars #1, the large sized one.”
Me: “Yes, I know, it’s the oversized Star Wars #1. We got ’em. We got a lot of them. It’s 25 cents.”
Caller: “This is the Star Wars #1, it says Special Edition across the top. I don’t think it’s the same thing.”
Me: “That’s the exact same thing we have here. I swear to you, it’s only a quarter. We’re trying to get rid of them.”
Caller: “But it’s the collectible first issue.”
Me: “They printed a ton of them…we have lots, and we don’t want them. I promise you, it’s the same thing you’re talking about, and we’re selling it for only a quarter.”
Caller: “Um, okay, thanks anyway.”
And that was that. I probably should have said, “oh, wait, I misread the price tag, it’s actually $25” – that would have been less grief in the long run.
Before you ask…no, they’re all gone now. Yup, only at a quarter each. We were also selling an overload of copies of All-New Collectors’ Edition #C56 (the Superman vs. Muhammad Ali issue*) at fifty cents a pop. Makes you sick now, doesn’t it? It does, me.
Anyway, I told you all that since I don’t have a lot to say about new comics day – the Hellblazer: All His Engines hardcover was actually pretty good, though I don’t see the reason for the hardcover treatment (aside from the forthcoming movie). We don’t really learn anything new about the characters, there’s a slight change in the status quo for Chas (though it could easily be ignored), and basically it’s just a longer Constantine tale. Plus, I believe those are pages from the Hellblazer Secret Files reprinted in the back, detailing Constantine’s history for the newcomer, at whom this book is presumably aimed.
Oh, and Adventure of Superman #636 continues to build upon situations from everyone’s favorite mini-series event Identity Crisis, in way that’s sure to tick off all the people who weren’t ticked off before.
Plastic Man #14, more than any other issue in this series, felt like an animated cartoon. It’s Plastic Man versus a mouse, and it’s page after page of mostly wordless man-against-rodent hijinks. It does read very quickly, but it’s a lot of fun, and Kyle Baker’s art is always a joy to look at.
Invincible #19 came out this week, and this is the one series that I wait for the trade on. I think the industry will survive if I follow just one comic in TPB format only. Well, the books are attractively done, I like the extra material included, and the price is right. I’m really tempted to peek inside…but no…must…be…patient.
Demo Scriptbook – an attractive package, as we’ve come to expect from AiT/Planetlar. I’m not a big “scriptbook” person myself, but I’m sure there are Demo fans out there who would enjoy this peek behind the scenes.
Comics Journal #265 – now, I’ve been reading this magazine for over 20 years now, and it’s so weird to see names of people I know suddenly popping up in there. Pal Dorian last issue, pal Ian** this ish…it’s freaking me out, man.
** Yes, Ian, I’m holding a copy for you.
1. That Hanging Out With The Dream King book of interviews and discussions focusing on Neil Gaiman includes a visit with Shawn McManus, which is prefaced by a note that this is McManus’ first interview since 1978. I just found that a little mind-boggling…not even Comics Interview ever got around to talking to the guy?
2. It occurred to me that the performance of the Elektra movie can be seen as the end result of a film that only comic fans go to see. I mean, even the talking zebra film did better….
3. I received a restock of an issue of the Stargate SG-1 color magazine, which has a banner across the top of the cover that reads something like “INSIDE! An exclusive excerpt from the new Stargate SG-1 novel!”
Of course it’s “exclusive” to this mag…who else is going to run it, Redbook?
4. I’m only the #6 result on Google for Spunky the Monkey?
5. DON’T WORRY…I’ll stop with the bold headlines. I thought they looked neat…but now that I have a page half-full o’them, it just looks cluttered to me.
6. I would post more tonight, but pal Dorian let me borrow his DVD of Wet Hot American Summer, and I’m gonna go watch it. I can always talk more about comics tomorrow!
Alas, Spunky the Monkey (discussed previously) does not appear inside, nor do any of the other characters on that cover. There’s some Atomic Rabbit, and a couple of other features, but alas, it is Spunky-deficient.
Ah, so that’s what the real trailer for the Fantastic Four movie looks like.
Well…it looks like it might be marginally better than what I was expecting. It looks like a dumb movie with lots of explosions and (I’m guessing) hokey dialogue, but the effects seem to be pretty good. So, in all, your typical summer “blockbuster” film. It should do better than Elektra, anyway. I have home movies that have had bigger audiences than Elektra.
Mostly, I’m just hoping Fantastic Four doesn’t suck completely for Michael Chiklis’ sake. At the very least, I don’t want to have to start referring to Roger Corman’s version as “the good FF movie.”
Also noticed: the site says the film opens July 1st, the trailer says July 4th. Hopefully they’ll get that straightened out before I start standing in line.
(thanks to pal Jason for pointing out that the trailer was up…I completely forgot about it!)
CLARIFICATION: I hope no one looked at my semi-snarky comment from yesterday’s post, regarding people not recognizing certain comic book characters, as being indicative of a “clubhouse mentality” at our shop. Believe me, I’m not down on people just because they don’t know the intricacies of our business…I don’t stand over them, arms crossed, saying in a haughty Comic Book Guy voice “I believe you have called the winged Thanagarian warrior by the incorrect name of ‘Birdman,’ when it is, in fact, ‘Hawkman’ — please leave my store.” I’m just amused by it, and see it as an indicator of public awareness of certain characters.* That person who repeatedly looked at the Archie comic (the one where the “Archie” logo was in big red letters and took up a quarter of the cover) and called him “Richie Rich” still baffles me, however.
WEBBING BLISS: Spider-Man crashes a wedding (bottom of page)…as do some Stormtroopers. Hopefully not the same wedding.
MY COMICS WEBLOGGING OBLIGATIONS: DC Comics solicits are up…comics and merchandise:
Superman Vs. The Flash TP – I already have all the stories reprinted herein, but I appreciate that DC is still doing relatively inexpensive themed reprint books of its older material. In fact, I just recently reread the first two issues of DC Comics Presents, which are included in this volume, and, while nicely illustrated by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, the story doesn’t make a lick of sense.
Identity Crisis #1-#7 final printings – oh, dear. Well, they are still selling fairly well for us right now, but I’m not sure how they’ll being doing two to three months down the road when these reprints finally arrive.
The OMAC Project #1 – it’s another spin-off from this year’s Big DC Event, but the magic word “OMAC” is in the title, and I gotta give it at least a look.**
Solo #4 – I concur with esteemed weblogging collegue pal Ian: big book o’Chaykin? It’s a must have. (And so is Columbia, Chaykin’s Wildstorm offering.)
Bite Club TP – yup, more Chaykin…in a very reasonably priced ($9.99) paperback. That seems a bit odd for a one-off book (as opposed to the under-$10 volume 1s for Fables and Swamp Thing).
The Batman: Joker Maquette – I suppose someone somewhere likes the Joker’s redesign for the Batman Strikes cartoon. Can’t say I’ve met that person.
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies Series One – is there something wrong with their thighs?
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH COMIC BOOKS: One of my favorite bands, Honest Bob And The Factory-to-Dealer Incentives, has a new album out, and you can listen to samples (and possibly even buy a copy) right here. Their highly recommended first album is also still available.
** There used to be a large office building in our area with the acronym “OMAC” in giant letters on the building’s side. Yes, I though of the Kirby character every time I saw it. How could I not?
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