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So I’m currently in the process of rereading the current Green Lantern series from the beginning, just because, you know, I’m on bit of a GL kick and I’ve been meaning to reread the whole Sinestro Corps War thing and I figured, what the heck, let’s just start with the first issue. And, as I noted to someone who asked if I was going to blog about it when I mentioned I was doing this on the Twitter, I didn’t intend to write about it on the site. I just wanted to reread some comics from my collection without having the thought of “must use this to generate content for Progressive Ruin” hanging over me.

Well, the fact that you’re reading this means I haven’t been entirely successful, but I found that I wanted to note some continuity/backstory changes regarding one of the characters. Thus, it’s away from the reread of the current GL, and back to one of the previous series….

Now, I’ve gone on before about how Kilowog’s upper arms bother me a bit. When he first appeared, he had spindly upper arms and bulky forearms, sorta like Popeye:

In later appearances (perhaps starting with the character’s appearances in one of the Justice League books, I think), his arms started bulking up a bit, with his formerly pipecleaner-thin arms now bulging with muscle. And that’s how he’s been drawn ever since.

I know it’s a dumb thing to focus on, but every time I see Kilowog in a new comic with those bulky arms, I can’t help but think “they’re doing it wrong,” even though that’s how they’ve been doing it for 20+ years now.

Anyway, that’s my problem, not yours, and I’m sure they make some kind of medication for that. But here’s the other thing I wanted to point out: when Kilowog was first introduced (way back in Green Lantern Corps #201, June 1986), he was a figure of mystery and suspicion. None of the other characters knew who he was, and there was some speculation as to his true intentions:

In more recent times, starting with (I believe) the Emerald Dawn mini-series retelling Hal Jordan’s entry into the GL Corps, Kilowog was retconned into being a trainer of Green Lantern recruits, and thus was a Lantern that everyone supposedly knew. I thought that was an interesting repurposing of the character, and don’t get me wrong: I like that current status. But occasionally I miss the seemingly simple, straightforwardly innocent personality of the Green Lantern Corps-era Kilowog, versus the tough-as-nails, no-time-for-your-crap, will-kick-your-ass Kilowog that we have now.

While I was looking that up, I was reminded of this fellow from Green Lantern Corps #202:

Okay, that’s (SPOILER, I guess) another character in disguise, and brother, what a disguise. Poor Man’s Transformer is a great idea for a costume.

images from Green Lantern Corps #201-2 (June-July 1986) by Steve Englehart, Joe Staton & Mark Farmer

Been going through some Green Lantern comics at home…you know, I kinda miss having this old Green Lantern Corps Quarterly series on the stands:

Actually, come to think of it, I miss most of DC’s quarterly anthologies. They had a good variety of short stories, by many creators…sure, a few stories weren’t quite ready for prime time, but the good generally outweighed the not-so-good. So, what were the other quarterly titles? Justice League Quarterly, Ms. Tree Quarterly…keep feel like I’m forgetting one. Liked all of three of those, at any rate.

Here’s something to annoy you: these extra-sized comics cost $2.95.

And hey, remember this redesign of the Golden Age Green Lantern?

Woo boy. That particular image was drawn by Jim “Tarot” Balent, by the way. “Get out of there, Alan…your ring is haunted!”*

Inside this issue is a brief reminder of which decade you were in, in case you forgot:

Oh, why, hello, the 1990s!

Green Lantern Corps Quarterly #4 (Spring 1993) – cover by Kirk Jarvinen & Terry Austin

Green Lantern Corps Quarterly #6 (Autumn 1993) – cover by Jim Balent

interior panel from Green Lantern Corps Quarterly #6 by Ruben Diaz, Travis Charest, Ray McCarthy & Agop Gemdjian

* Your Not Safe for Work context, sir.

Had this item show up in a collection recently: a UK Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back hardcover annual from 1980, reprinting Marvel Comics’ adaptation of the film.

However, turns out that across the top strip of the first page, three of the creators involved signed the book:

Well, I thought that was pretty neat.

And here’s something that just now occurred to me as I was scanning this item: what is that reflected in Darth’s eyes, there:

Are those reflections of the artist himself? Reflections of the Hoth landscape before him, even though he’s only symbolically looming over Luke and his Taun Taun and isn’t supposed to be literally there? Visions of Vader’s life aboard the Death Star or some other Imperial vessel? Accidental naked eBay pictures? Who knows? I bet one of you clever people can clear this up.

Batman and Robin #1 3rd Printing – We probably still have enough 1st and 2nd printings to go around, but there’s always someone who wants each and every variation, or perhaps wasn’t attracted by a previous cover and likes the new image, or just plain didn’t see it the first few times it was offered. Even the most unnecessary reprints (like, say, the recent spate of X-Men and Amazing Spider-Man 2nd prints) are usually good for a couple of sales.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #27 – Sales have been dropping very slightly on this series, and I’ve noticed a minor uptick in requests for the trade paperback collection from the folks who are just coming in specifically for four-color versions of Joss Whedon properties.

Captain America: Reborn #2 – Sales ended up being fairly strong on the first issue, after a slow start, but, as I’ve stated previously, it was mostly to the regular clientele. By and large the general public doesn’t seem to be as interested in Captain America returning as they were by his apparently murder. Why, it’s as if there’s a preference for stories of death and tragedy. That’s totally unlike human nature.

Doom Patrol #1 – Well, you know what they say – fifth time’s the charm. Or is this the sixth? I’ve lost count. Anyway, I’m a sucker for all things Doom Patrollish, so I’ll check it out. Hopefully some of our customers will as well. Mostly, though, I’m looking forward to the Metal Men back-up stories, which promise to be pretty entertaining.

Fallen Angel: Reborn #2 – Nearly sold out of the first issue, specifically because of the Buffy/Angel tie-in. Will those people be back for installment numero dos?

Greek Street #2 – Sold a good number of the first issue, thanks to the promotional $1 price tag. Not sure how #2 will do now that it’s at the normal three bones…given that it’s an ongoing Vertigo title that’s not related to the Fables franchise, I don’t expect too much, but we’ll see. I hope it does do well…the line could use another strong monthly seller. (Hell, most lines of comics could use more strong monthly sellers, but let’s not get into that!)

Green Lantern #43 – Okay, that’s just a restock we’re getting this week, but man, we’re getting deluged with requests for Green Lantern and all things related to the GL-centric Blackest Night event. Had a few people even tell me that they got into these comics after seeing whatever BN-related set-up DC had at the San Diego convention. Customers are way excited about Green Lantern. There’s a sentence I don’t get to say often enough.

Irredeemable trade paperback and issue #5 – Having a low-cost trade and a promotionally priced 99-cent issue come out at the same time is a smart move on Boom Studios’ part, I think.

Justice League: Cry for Justice #2 – Yeah, it’s just this side of being kinda dopey, but I liked the first issue anyway. It entertained me, and really, that’s all I ask from my superhero funnybooks. Also, the first issue sold really well for us, so hopefully those folks will be back for the new ish.

Solomon Grundy #6 – Ah, the series only Tim and I are reading. Hey, we think it’s pretty good, right Tim? Right. Still not getting the “Swamp Thing” vibe that this series was allegedly going to be bringing to the DC Universe, but it’s a good series nonetheless.

Star Trek Alien Spotlight: Q – This is one of those series that I think I like more in concept than in execution. I appreciate that there’s a series of comics each focusing on a different alien race. As a Trek fan since apparently before birth (hey, my mom watched the original 3rd season when she was pregnant with me…what can I say), I can dig the effort, here. But the comics themselves have never really grabbed me. It could just be that I’ve read enough Star Trek comics in my lifetime to last me, is all. “It’s not you, it’s me, baby.” But we’ve had plenty of customers like ’em just fine, so don’t pay attention to ol’ Downer McDownerson at the keyboard here.

Ultimatum: X-Men Requiem #1 and Ultimatum: Fantastic Four Requiem #1 – So every time a new issue of Ultimatum came out, I’d flip through it, and as far as I can tell it was about characters killing and occasionally eating each other. Not saying there’s not an audience for that sort of thing, but…. Anyway, now in terms of resetting things in a franchise for an imminent relaunch, this sort of “scorched earth” approach seems a tad extreme. But then again, given that the Ultimate line exists apart from Marvel’s main merchandise-and-media-tie-in driven “regular” Marvel Universe, there’s more freedom to really shake up the status quo, especially since now the stated purpose of the Ultimate line (to provide a jumping-on point for new readers coming in from the movies) has been moot for years. Just kinda wish that revamping of the status quo was a bit less…nihilistic, maybe? Ah, well.

War Machine #8 – Whoa, totally forgot this was even a thing. Well, hold on there, little funnybook…Iron Man 2, guest-starring War Machine for what I’m sure will be a very exciting 5 or 6 minutes, will be out soon enough.

“Identities of nearby non-Wednesday Comics-reading bystanders obscured to save them embarrassment.” Also, you can barely see it, but Employee Aaron is wearing one snappy sweater.

Here’s another pic that I’d posted to the Twitter the other day, when it turned out that, at one point during work hours, I was the only person in the shop not wearing an Aquaman hat. Here are the boys, employees Kid Chris and Aaron, mocking my Aquaman-hatlessness:

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In other news:

• Pal Dorian presents a couple more Wildcat sketches he obtained from the San Diego convention: Phil Bond and Art Baltazar.
• As promised last week, the first chapter of Woman of A.C.T.I.O.N. is up for your free reading! Yes, I said free reading! Go read, enjoy.
• Pal Scott’s been posting pages from his uncompleted comic Heartache Saloon. I always did like his art style.

• Andrew brings us the latest installment of Nobody’s Favorites, this time featuring that one character from Teen Titans everyone hated, and if you say you liked him, you’re a damned dirty liar.
• Been meaning to link to this for a while, but it’s worth checking out: the official sites for The Variants, a web-based comedy video series based at a comic book store. Site currently features several short promo videos. Close, Personal Internet Pals are involved, so I may be a bit biased is saying that this looks like it’ll be pretty good.
• Here’s a new comics blogger on the scene, and he has his own commentary on the recent Marvelman publishing news. I’m looking forward to more posts from him.
• Pal Dorian has posted the first of presumably several Wildcat sketches that he got at the San Diego convention. First up: Aaron Williams!
• So Kevin Church (or as some prefer to call him, “Beaucoupkevin”) recently posted on his Twitter thingie about some retailer’s inability to sell DC’s Sunday funnies-esque Wednesday Comics. I responded to his with my in-store strategy as to how to sell Wednesday Comics, which I’ll repeat here in somewhat-expanded, no longer limited to 140 characters form:
  

  Me (opens up Wednesday Comics, shows it to customer): “Hey, have you seen this?”

  Customer: “Wow, that’s pretty neat!” (buys Wednesday Comics)

  And that’s really all it took in a lot of cases. And no, I’m not doing this hardsell on every single person who walks in the store…I am trying to show it to regulars who do like their superhero books, but may have passed Wednesday Comics by on the shelf.

  What I’m trying to say is that it shouldn’t be hard to sell. For the sheer novelty of the format alone, you can probably move a few copies…and it doesn’t hurt that the actual comics are generally pretty good.

• Speaking of selling funnybooks, I did watch the “Blackest Night” interview/trailer extra feature thingie on the Green Lantern: First Flight DVD, and it does an awful job on trying to sell people on the series. Now, I’ve been reading comics for 35+ years, I’m a Green Lantern fan, and I’m one of the few people online who willingly admits that he liked Blackest Night, and I had a hard time following just what they were trying to tell me about this series. And having a bunch of extreme close-ups of comic panels flash by on-screen, leaving little impression beyond vague figures and colors, didn’t help.

  Perhaps I’m exaggerating a bit, but not by much, I don’t think. It’s definitely preaching to the converted, which is shame as it ain’t just the converted who’ll be watching this disc. On the other hand, who else would a series like Blackest Night be intended for?

  The actual Green Lantern cartoon itself wasn’t bad, though. I’ll try to post a slightly more extended review of it later.

from The Original Shield #4 (Oct. 1984) by Martin Greim & Dick Ayers

Now, with a set-up like that, I should be filling this post with animated gifs, but alas, it’s been a long day, I’ve had no time to work on the stuff I was planning, and so all I’ve got is a couple of links. Sorry, pals, but it’s been a rough weekend.

• Kevin gives his brief “hey I made it back alive” con report where he reveals that pal Dorian and a couple of soon-to-be-former employees have been spreading lies about me.
• Speaking of pal Dorian, he’s off on a crosscountry adventure, so content will be low on his site for a couple of weeks. But there’s always his Twitter feed!
• Alan has a cold bucket of water to splash on anyone too excited about Marvel’s Marvelman announcement from the San Diego convention.
• You should be reading Bully anyway, but the Little Stuffed Bull just put together a gallery of Jack Kirby’s “Next Issue” blurbs and it’s a glorious parade of the hard-sell and you need to look at it.

Okay, let’s hope for some actual real content from me tomorrow. See you then, pals.

from Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane #121 by Cary Bates, Werner Roth, Vince Colletta & Murphy Anderson

Yet another panel recently spotted ‘n’ scanned here at Progressive Ruin Industries. I’d like to think this establishes Superman most certainly is not a dick, helping old folks across a chasm like that. Sure, he feels the need to point out his “super spinal column,” but one would hope that’s out of a need to reassure the citizens, and not some odd form of self-aggrandizement.

Yes, that was a late reference to the whole “Superman is a dick” thing. This post brought to you by the year 2005.

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Anyway, I do have a few things to say about announcements/events at the San Diego Comic Con, but hopefully that’ll be on Monday. Because I’m sure you won’t see enough online commentary on the topic between now and then.

So as of 12:01 AM Friday morning, the winner of the “which is nerdier” poll is…Doctor Who, which beat out Star Trek by four votes! Not sure why it would have had such a strong showing, particularly against cradle-of-nerd-civilization Star Trek…but as the poll continued over the last couple of days, the two franchises were pretty much neck and neck, with each taking the lead briefly. If I’d continued the poll for another day or so, Star Trek may have taken the lead. I’d actually consider this more or less a tie, to be honest, but Who‘s on first in the lead as of my arbitrary deadline, so that’s the victor, I guess.

I suppose its high percentage of the vote may have come from Who‘s relative obscurity in the U.S., where the majority of my voters presumably live, and the assumption that any ol’ nerd could be a Wars or Trek fan, but it takes a special kind of nerd to be choosy enough to be a Who fan. Ultimately I’m more surprised at the low vote total for Star Wars, which only received about 25% as many votes as the other two franchises. There were some suggestions in the comments that the reason for this is perhaps that Star Wars is slightly more mainstreamed than the Trek, that there’s more of an awareness of Star Wars as purely movies and TV shows, and not so much as a fan movement. Compare to Trek, where Trekkies and Trekkers and their attendant activities are as much a part of the public’s perception of the franchise as, say, Shatner or Nimoy. Maybe if the poll were run during the lead-up to the release of Phantom Menace, when news stories about people waiting in line for weeks to see the film were commonplace, results may have been slightly different.

By the way, the folks who voted “none are nerdy” are entirely wrong. Sorry about that.

Anyway, thanks for participating in my silly poll, and for the fun discussion, which made it all worthwhile. I got bit of a late start on this post, otherwise I would have directly addressed some points made in the comments, but perhaps I can catch up over the weekend.

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In other news:

• Pal Dorian is continuing his photographic documentation of the San Diego Comic Con, with the occasional shot of Employee Aaron in a silly hat or Dor himself posing with a Dalek. Or Employee Timmy about to be eaten by Pikachu.

  Also, Dor’s been Twittering his descent into madness, so be sure to follow along with that as well.

• Pal Andy wrote to inform me that iGoogle is offering not just comic book/strip skins for its service…it’s offering a Nancy theme. I didn’t use iGoogle much before…but I may start now.

Employee Timmy has been whisked away to San Diego for some big funnybook to-do that I guess they’re having down there, and all I have left to remember him is this All-American photo taken by pal Dorian during the trip.

Yes, as mentioned before, pal Dorian has taken employees Timmy and Aaron away to the convention, and he’s started to photographically document the horror. Okay, so far it’s mostly just pics of Aaron and Timmy goofing around and…um, snuggling? Er, okay. But I expect we’ll see more pics from the convention proper soon. Stay tuned!

But will there be a photo that’ll top this one of Aaron?

I think not. (Aaron has this thing for goggles, I should note.)

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In other news:

• The polls are still open! Tell me which long-running sci-fi franchise is the nerdiest. I suppose I’ll have some kind of commentary on this tomorrow, so vote while the voting’s good! (Two of the franchises are neck and neck, but it’s not too late for third to pull ahead! And only some of you have voted so far! Go on, participate! It’s free and relatively painless! And join the discussion!)
• I know why you come to this site. You come here for all the latest Chris Sims news, don’t you? Sure you do. Well, here’s a biggie…the newest addition to Sims’ Action Age Comics roster has been announced:
  
  Starting Wednesday, July 28th, the first issue of Woman of A.C.T.I.O.N. will begin to be serialized at the Action Age Comics website — entirely for free! — and having read a preview of the comic, I can promise that it’ll be lots of fun. So save the date, comics fans!

• No one drew a punch quite like Gil Kane, and Dr. K has been presenting and discussing samples of Kane-style fisticuffs for a while now. I’m proud to say that I helped a little with the most recent installment, as I contributed a double-punch from one of my all-time favorite Kane-illustrated comics. Go take a look, and say “hi” to Dr. K — he’s one of the good’uns.
• I was pretty well gobsmacked by Wednesday Comics, DC Comics’ Sunday funnies-esque tabloid. Though I didn’t really do much of a review of it during the two days I discussed it (I tended to focus more on retail concerns), I did say I thought it was a solid package, through and through. However, internet pal Dave has a very thorough and thoughtful critique of the project that’s well worth reading. Even though I’ve been unabashedly upbeat about Wednesday Comics, I can’t really disagree with most the criticisms Dave offers (though we both agree, as most folks do, I think, that it’s certainly a good effort and a positive experiment).