Yes, I know they’re still doing new Beavis and Butthead.

filed under Categories mad magazine 11 Comments

So I’ve been a MAD Magazine fan for a long time…since my uncle gave me a bag of his old, mostly coverless copies, dating from the early ’70s, and when I started getting them new off the stands with the January ’76 issue.

I was All In (® DC Comics) on MAD for quite a while, buying the mag, the specials, the paperbacks (actually mail-ordering directly from MAD itself books I couldn’t find locally). Eventually I stopped in the early ’80s, first dropping the specials once they started reprinting material I already read, then sorta falling out of the habit of getting the main series. I still had fond feelings for it, and I’d poke through an issue on occasion after that…but my MAD collection went to the wayside.

I would still dip in and out over the years, especially appreciating that series of specials where they reprint, complete and in order, all of the original comic book sized MADs (as opposed to the comic book inserts in the specials from the ’70s).

I mean, if I really wanted to get back into the MAD game, I do buy and sell old (and new!) copies at my shop, but I try hard to not get high off my own supply and leave ’em for the customers. But, of late, my grocery store occasional racks on their increasingly shrinking magazine displays themed MAD reprint volumes (not available through my comic distributors) filled with classic material. And just this week, I picked up the newest one, MAD: The Best of the Worst.


And flipping through it, I saw some familiar strips I no longer had in my possession, like “Star Blecch” and the infamous “43-Man Squamish.” But I also saw the All in the Family parody, “Gall in the Family Fare,” which really surprised me, given on how it leans pretty hard on the use of various slurs for particular groups. In particular, it used a specific term aimed at gay folks:


…that, if you may recall, I discussed the usage of the shortened version of this term in a previous MAD reprint book, and the editing thereof.

In the case of the Star Wars parody there, the term was (possibly) used as a comment on the perception of C3P0’s effeminacy. And given that one of the writers of that parody is, in fact, gay himself, there may have been a little joshing of his own community as well. Not so much punching down as punching sideways. Regardless, as I noted in that past post, just dropping said term as a punchline is not something that would likely be seen as acceptable now, necessitating the change.

But in this latest reprint of “Gall in the Family Fare,” that term, and many others, are just laid out there. In context, it’s understandable, as MAD is commenting on the show’s, and by extension television in general, use of shock value for attention. Personally, I don’t think that’s what All in the Family did, but MAD‘s not here for reasoned debate, it’s here to make jokes and satirize culture. And, like the show itself, the parody makes it clear that Archie Bunker’s (or rather, Starchie Bunkerhill’s) behavior is reprehensible. Especially once you get to the punchline.

Thus, editing the jokes in this parody (like I did in that scan I made above) would undermine the eventual point. But I can certainly see someone pulling this off the shelf, flipping to this parody, and just seeing The Words and being shocked, context be damned. By and large we associate casual racism and bigotry like this with Bad People, regardless of purpose, and just throwing them out there in jokes may be too much for some nowadays. If anyone notices at all.

Which leads me to the next question here, which was brought up to me when I broached this subject on Bluesky: who is this for?

Well, the simple answer is “me,” I want a periodic dose of selected pieces from MAD offered to me in a semi-sturdy format from which I may enjoy some nostalgic pleasure. For its occasional faults, MAD was a gathering of several fine cartoonists at the peak of their game. The writing did a good job teaching kids the important lessons that advertisers lie to you, movies and TV shows think you’re dumb, and the world as a whole is filled with stupid things humans just gotta deal with. I like being reminded that there once was someone out there looking out for us.

So, it’s there for nostalgic adults, sure. But are kids buying this? It would be easy to say “no,” but remember when I said my shop carried old MADs? I sell a lot of them to kids. Kids I’m not sure were old enough to buy and read the magazines when last the all-new issues were still coming out. I’m not sure what they’d get out of an All in the Family parody, unless they’re heavy watchers of the reruns. I’m not even sure if they’d appreciate the Beavis and Butthead joke in here, or if that’s too archaic a reference. (But there is an article about “Unconscious Racists” to balance the “Gall in the Family Fare” story.)

But there are still kids out there who want MAD. Who buy the 1970s issues and wonder about the Watergate and hippie jokes, much like I did when I got my copies when I was about six years old. And you know, I read all those and aside from owning a comic shop and writing a comic book blog, I turned out okay. So those kids new to reading MAD will be too.. Maybe one of them will be responsible for someday returning MAD to its eventual glory.

Well, if you read all that, here’s a video adapted from the “Gall in the Family Fare” flexidisc MAD produced. …Um, don’t listen to this in public. (NOTE: they call Edith “Meathead” in the comic, but change it in the recording.)

The Final ’90s Countdown: Part Seventeen.

filed under Categories final '90s countdown 8 Comments

I apologize, it’s been a while since I’ve done an entry in the Final ’90s Countdown series, in which you voted for your favorite comics that began in the 1990s! I’m still in the titles that received one vote apiece…and again, that’s not a comment on the quality of the book, but rather on the breadth of excellent material that decade was producing.

Skeleton Key (Slave Labor Graphics, 1995-1998)

Andi Watson’s fantasy adventure series about a high schooler named Tamsin, who gains possession of the titular skeleton key, a magical item that can open any door and turn it into a path to other realities. Along the way she encounters Kitsune, a fox spirit, who becomes her partner in Skeleton Key-ness and adventures through all these other worlds with her.

Like Scott McCloud’s Zot!, which became slightly more grounded as it entered the back section of its run, Skeleton Key‘s focus on fantasy adventure diminished to some extent in favor of more emphasis on Tamsin’s adventures as a young woman. You can really see the difference if you were to compare the cover to the first issue I posted above with, say, the cover to issue #20. It really does look like a whole new book, and if you were to look at the full cover gallery you can really see how quickly the book and art style evolved.

I wasn’t much of a reader of Skeleton Key as it was coming out, though I’d flip through the new issues when unboxing them for the shelves and admire the art. Especially on those later issues, where the design work is just immensely appealing.

There were additional comics outside that initial 30 issue run, such as a couple of one-shots and a four issue mini in 1999. Some short color stories ran in the 2000s-era Dark Horse Presents that were collected into the 2012 Skeleton Key Color Special.

There are five trade paperbacks that reprint the first 30 issues series and the second 4 issue series, plus a short from the ’90s era black and white Dark Horse Presents. The volumes all appear to be out of print, but may be available on the secondary market.

Anyway, nice series with some appealing art and really deserves to still be in print. Maybe some enterprising publisher can put together a Skeleton Key Omnibus at some point.

Superman, no!

filed under Categories Christmas 9 Comments


Here’s hoping your holiday is full or joy and happiness, and free of strife and, well, radiation. Thanks for reading, pals, and I’ll see you on Friday.

Yes, I do remember which writer it was, too.

filed under Categories publishing, question time 14 Comments

First order of business: get me your 2026 comic industry predictions! Read the rules, then submit! SUBMIT, I tell you.

Next, back to Isaac P.’s question about ’90s comic publishers. Specifically:

“Is there one of these [oublishers/imprints] that you, as a reader, wish had been a success? Alternatively, are there any particular memories of this era that stick out to you from the sales side of things?”

Well, one I would have liked to see stick around is the Ultraverse line from Malibu, later purchased by Marvel Comics:


Yup, that’s Sludge there, Steve Gerber’s attempt at doing a new variation on the Swamp Thing/Man-Thing formula. Haven’t read it in a while, but I remember enjoying it, because, hey, Gerber writing a man-monster comic, of course I’d like it. (The initial artist of the book, Aaron Lopresti, would occasionally plot an issue and there are a couple he outright wrote himself.)

Anyway, I would have liked to have seen more of that book. And most of the Ultraverse in general. (Prime, a Shazam!-esque comic about a young man who can turn into a grotesquely-overmuscled adult hero, was one I enjoyed, until it turned out one of its original writers was a sex offender, tainting that particular property for all time.) But other books had their followings, like Mantra (an immortal male warrior reincarnated into the body of a woman), Rune (an evil demonic entity that got up to plenty of trouble, early issues written and drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith), Firearm (a non-superpowered private detective)…all quite popular at the time. And I know I’m leaving out your favorite, sorry.

Now, of the ’90s imprints that came and went, it would seem like Ultraverse would be the one that had at least one foot in the door for a full revival. The publisher was purchased by Marvel Comics, and for a time, there were several crossovers between the Marvel Universe and the Ultraverse. But, eventually, the Ultraverse characters just stopped appearing, even though Marvel still owns them.

There’s no official reason given, and there’s a whole section on the Wikipedia page about the current status of those properties. Revivals were planned and discarded, and it’s been suggested that the line’s former publisher maintains business interests in the Ultraverse titles, which I guess put the kibosh on any relaunches.

It’s a shame those titles can’t be revived or reprinted, at least at this time, as there was a lot of good work in there. I already mentioned Windsor-Smith, but there was a whole of of George Pérez in there, too. Ah, well, it’s just (maybe) a bunch of legal red tape, maybe it’ll get unknotted someday and we can see these books again.

One particular memory I have from the ’90s was when one of the Ultraverse writers happened to come to our store to do a little shopping. Now, back then, we did a lot of business in recent back issues, and we had several boxes of Ultraverse backstock marked and shelves in the back room, just visible through one of the doorways into that back area. The writer happened to spot those boxes and mentioned to his friend (but within my earshot, which I don’t think he realized) “oh, they’re never going to sell those.”

Well, ha HA mister, we did sell all of those! Eventually. In the 2000s. In a bulk sale for about a dime apiece. BUT WE SOLD THEM.

Anyway, Ultraverse…I think it would have been okay if it kept going. Maybe not even as its own standalone thing, but just fully integrated into the Marvel Universe like they were trying to do. I mean, 30+ years of Firearm comics? C’mon, that would’ve been pretty cool. And Rune, maybe not as his own standalone title, but as one of the many wildly-powered adversaries who menaces our heroes on a regular basis. He could have been the Big Bad in a series of Marvel movies by now. Brings a tear to one’s eye.

Next ’90s company/imprint to discuss: oh, what the heck, let’s talk about Comics’ Greatest World, even though I’ve read, like, almost none of it. But I’ll give it a shot in a few days.

Merry Low Content Mode-mas!

filed under Categories lunchtime update 3 Comments

So anyway, I was out Christmas shopping Thursday night, and boy are my arms tired. …No, really, they are, I was carting a lot of stuff around.

But the upshot is, I got home late and lack the time to fully write about the things I wanted to write about today. Sigh, the holidays, what can I tell you. But I currently plan to continue my response to Isaac’s question about ’90s publishers and what I’d have kept around, with Ultraverse planned for Monday.

I do also want to remind you folks to get in your 2026 comic industry predictions! I’ll be getting to the 2025 predictions in January, so get in those new predictions so I have something to post about in January 2027!

Okay, pals, I’ll be back on Monday. Thank you for your patience.

“Destiny has two ways of crushing us – by refusing our wishes and by fulfilling them.” – Henri-Frédéric Amiel.

filed under Categories predictions 31 Comments

Okay gang, I’m at it again…I’m looking for your predictions for the 2026 comic book industry! I’ve been doing this every year for (cough cough) years and it’s all in good fun and maybe, just maybe, we can learn a little something.

Just leave ’em in the comments to this very post, but please adhere to these simple yet necessary rules:

1. Don’t read the other predictions before entering your own.

2. Don’t criticize other people’s predictions.

3. Don’t predict any real person’s death.

4. Limit of three predictions per person! VERY VERY IMPORTANT! You can only do one or two if you’d like, but NO MORE THAN THREE PLEASE!

And I’m going to add here, since this has been a problem lately…NO SIDE DISCUSSIONS in these comments! Leave the comments section to this post just for 2026 predictions! I will delete non-prediction comments from this post. Please. Thank you.

Starting next month, I will begin to cover everyone’s predictions for 2025, and we’ll see how we all did. And then we’ll all regather in January 2027 to see how we did with this newest batch!

As always, thanks in advance for participating!

Because someone’s gonna mention it, yes, I know the actual first iteration of Valiant was all those Nintendo comics.

filed under Categories publishing, question time, valiant 7 Comments

So when we last met, I was looking at an inquiry from Isaac P. regarding the 1990s New Superhero Universe Explosion. One of his questions was “do you wish any of them had been a success?” vis-à-vis my comics fandom (as opposed to being a comics retailer).

Well, in a way, most of them were successes, at least briefly, in that many comics from that period of the industry managed to pull in some numbers. I remember specifically Valiant Comics having a slow start with us, as Harbinger #1 showed up and I don’t think we sold a single copy.


That quickly changed as Wizard Magazine got on board the Valiant/hot comics train for whatever reason, and suddenly all Valiants were suddenly in demand. (At least until Turok Dinosaur Hunter #1 came out, but you don’t need me to write about that again.)

Now, for Isaac’s use of the term “success,” I’m going to presume “continuing to publish past the ’90s boom/crash and perhaps even ’til today” as the definition of the term, instead of the short-term windfalls these companies acquired. And while there are still Valiant titles being published today, it is not the same company it once was. It’s changed owners, titles have been relaunched and rebooted, so on and so forth.

The Valiant I’m thinking of, the era where I believe it was the best it had ever been, was its initial superhero universe from the early 1990s. X-O Manowar, Shadowman, the aforementioned Harbinger, and titles featuring licensed characters as part of their shared universe, Solar Man of the Atom and Magnus Robot Fighter (and eventually Turok, yes, yes). This was overseen, and some titles written by, former Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, and everything wove together more or less smoothly and it was all a lot of fun.

Once Shooter left Valiant, and more and more titles started to be added, it became a little more difficult for most readers to stay immersed in the entirety of this superhero universe. I didn’t much care for how things went post-Shooter, but Your Mileage May Vary, of course.

But I think of all the new shared universes that popped up in ’90s, I wish that early period of Valiant had been able to continue on ’til today, without all the reboots/relaunches/changes in ownership, and still including the licensed books as part of the whole (as most of those moved on to other publishers after the first iteration of Valiant ended).

And I know people have soft spots for some of the later 1990s Valiant books, like Second Life of Dr. Mirage, Bloodshot and Quantum and Woody, so…what the hell, let’s keep them around, too.

I don’t mean to disparage any work being done on Valiant properties currently (except the anti-trans horseshit in that Bloodshot book, off to the sea with that garbage). I’m mostly just waxing nostalgic for a period of that company’s publishing endeavors that kept me entertained and invested as a fan, not just as a guy slinging comics from behind the counter.

Anyway, remember when I said this was going to be a two-part answer to Isaac’s question? With today being part two? Well, I lied, I guess, because I’ll continue on with Ultraverse Comics in the next installment. I may have other stuff posted in the meantime, like the long-awaited new entry in the Final ’90s Countdown. But I’ll come back to it in short order, Isaac, honest!

I would’ve read a Grim Ghost/Tarantula team-up comic.

filed under Categories market crash, publishing, question time, retailing 19 Comments

Isaac P. wants to know

“I’m fascinated by the ‘every publisher launches a superhero universe’ era of the 90’s that brought us the Ultraverse, Comics Greatest World, & the like. Is there one of these that you, as a reader, wish had been a success? Alternatively, are there any particular memories of this era that stick out to you from the sales side of things?”

I will tell you the one big memory I have of this particular period in the comics industry history. It’s probably one I’ve mentioned before, but it’s well worth repeating.

I very strongly recall getting in the new copy of the Diamond Previews catalog, which features Dark Horse’s “Comics’ Greatest World” on the cover, ballyhooing the arrival of A New Superhero Universe™!

Courtesy the folks over at the Longbox Heroes podcast, here is a scan of that Previews cover from April 1993:


And as you may be able to see, there’s a split down the center, where you could swing open those parts of the cover and reveal the Comics’ Greatest World gang lurking within:


Which is all well and good, but 30+ years later, I can still remember the thoughts I had upon seeing this cover. I thought about all the other Superhero Universes and such that were coming into existence around this time, and I thought of Dark Horse’s entry into that already-burgeoning playing field, and I wondered “how do they expect comic readers to pay for all these New Universes?”

And that was the real problem. Here’s Valiant, here’s Ultraverse, here’s Comics’ Greatest World, here’s…I don’t know, Triumphant, here’s that other shared superhero universe Malibu was doing aside from Ultraverse, and then there’s DC and Marvel of course, and probably more I’m not thinking of at the moment.

It was just too much…new comic readers weren’t suddenly going to appear from nowhere to read all these comics, especially during a market downturn. The fans that already comprised comic book readership were either going to have to cough up more money to buy additional books, or they’d have to drop other books to make room for some of these new titles. It wasn’t a huge growth move for the industry, it was more a lateral move.

You know how there was a huge push to make shared universe movies after Marvel’s success with that strategy, only for several studios to find out that it wasn’t quite as easy as all that? (And that even Marvel isn’t finding it so easy lately?) What’s going on in the comic book industry about this time is sort of similar to that, except 1) publishers had a slightly better hit rate, and 2) there was a whole lot less money at stake.

The rise and fall of the Superhero Universe in comics was enough of a thing for the Overstreet Price Guide to release a side-guide a few years back, the Overstreet Price Guide to Lost Universes. And as you can see at the link, it doesn’t just concern itself with ’90s efforts, as it includes the ’70s Seaboard/Atlas books…though, were they in a shared universe? I can’t recall any crossovers there. Anyway, I think I actually grabbed a copy of this for myself, so I’m going to try to dig that out and give it a once-through before I continue here.

Yes indeedy, this is going to be a two-parter, at least. I kinda want to spend some time with some of these departed Universes and not rush through ’em at the end of this post, so I hope you forgive the cliffhanger.

I forgot to mention how I like the look of Superboy wearing those red hightops.

filed under Categories this week's comics 5 Comments


I don’t think it dawned on me that Bruce Zick was the artist on this Hellboy-universe series. That’s a name I haven’t thought about in quite a while, since he drew Thor for Marvel back in the ’90s. (And that’s on me if I’ve forgotten any work he’s done since then.) Anyway, he does a good job drawing a creepy ethereal realm filled with ruins and monsters in this comic, which is just what I want from a Hellboy-related comic book.


This series has done a very good job duplicating the tone of the TV series, with plenty of humor mixed with what works out to be a genuine Star Trek-style adventure. The earlier issues felt a little more dense, thanks to Ryan North’s inclusion of extra text along the bottom of most pages, and they had the advantage of North’s grasp of working in complex sciences into the plotlines.

But the newer ones are fine, and plenty of fun. The story involves a planet with a missing populace, a Lower Decker feels jealousy over a crewmate’s achievements, and of course plenty of hijinks and goings on. Just by being printed on paper, everything’s less manic, but most everything that made the TV show special is still here in the comic.


Absolute Batman remains The Comic Book That Prints Money, and none more so that this issue, introducing this wild new interpretation of the Joker. Did I order enough for my shop? Probably not. But I expect the forthcoming eight or nine reprints will sell just fine too.


A nice story that shows the moral lessons Superboy has to learn to effectively be a superhero. And it’s not a predicament with which he can punch his way to a solution. I enjoy getting a story like this when too many other superhero comics are involved in High Stakes Super-Fighting Saving the World/Universe/Local Dimension battles. Having a storty where the villain is A Banker Who Sucks is a welcome change.


Writer/usual artist Sophie Campbell (Haining drew this issue) gave a sneak peek of what she had planned for this issue on social media a while back, referencing the Silver Age story where Supergirl parked one of her secret identity Linda Lee robots in a hollowed out tree. The story is about, as Campbell’s cover may imply, What If Supergirl Just Totally Forgot about That Robot?

I won’t spoil anything you can’t already see on the cover, but Supergirl certainly learns a lesson about herself. And that’s what I like about the series…there’s usually some kind of minor (or major!) personal lesson to be had in each issue, whether it’s explicitly laid out there or just something to be inferred. Like the Action this week, it’s good to have a comic that’s more than just “how do I beat up the villain this month?”


I don’t really need to be buying more magazines since I’m way behind on the ones I do have. But, I mean, look at that cover. And I’m always up for a newly-transcribed Len Wein radio from some years back. Added bonus: an article about Jay Scott Pike, the creator of Dolphin.

Now if I were in 1965 buying thirty-year-old comics from 1935, that’d be somethin’.

filed under Categories collecting 7 Comments

So let’s see…do I start off my next year of blogging with a post about our relative sense of “old” comics, or do I start it off looking at the trend of comics about real life murders and serial killers?

Well, let’s do that first one today, because that second one is going to take a little more digging than I’ve left myself blogging time for today. Let us go back to a comment left by longtime reader Chris G. who sez

“…Thank you for making me realize that back when I was a comic collector looking for ‘old comics,’ I was in fact looking for comics from thirty years earlier.

“Why did 1965 seem far away in 1995, but 1995 seems like yesterday?”

There are certainly a lot of reasons for that, particularly in reference to comic book collecting. One main reason is the wild overordering of comics in the ’90s, leaving plenty of stock around for folks to find. Now, generally, it may not be as easy to find now as it once was, given that many of the stores that did said reordering have since shut down and vanished along with their inventories (my former stomping grounds included). But even that is only a minor change in availability. If you want a Turok Dinosaur Hunter #1, you can find one in short order.

Related to that is the very nature of the direct market. Comics ordered by shops were, for the most part, theirs to keep. There were rarely “stripped cover returns” that newsstands, the primary retail arena for comics in the decades prior to the ’80s, were able to do. Thus, to use the years Chris offered up, a comic from 1995 that didn’t sell was just the retailer’s problem to store in the backroom forever or throw in the bargain bin. In 1965, a comic that didn’t sell would have the cover striped off and returned to the distributor for credit, the rest of the comic being disposed of.

Another possibility depends on the age of the collector in question. If you weren’t around, or at least old enough to buy comics, in 1965, those will always seem to be from ye olden tymes to you. But you may have been old enough to start collecting in the ’90s and are still collecting now, so there is a continuity of acquisition that makes you see those ’90s comics as “the earlier part of my collection” versus “hokey smoke those are three decades old.” I get that feeling sometimes when I’m at the shop: “I remember buying this issue of Spanner’s Galaxy off the shelf, it can’t be old!”

One more thing that would make a “30 year old comic from 1965” seem that much older than a “30 year old comic from 1995” is simple aesthetics. If you’re in 1995 looking back at a 1965 comic, it just looks old. I don’t mean wear and tear and other matters of condition, I mean the artwork, the storytelling, the coloring, the paper stock, everything…a 1965 comic would just look dated to the eyes of someone thirty years later.

Someone in 2025, like, y’know, all of us at this moment, looking thirty years back at a comic from 1995: it’s still going to have elements that are dated. Maybe some Liefeld-isms in the art, more dialogue on the page, more cover blurbs, some crazy cover gimmicks…but you can still usually draw a straight line from that 1995 comic to the comics of today. You can see how one may have evolved into the other.

If I had to put my nickel down on any of these, I’d say it would be just the sheer number of 1995 comics left out there in the marketplace to buy now. You can probably go into most comic shops and ask for a Spawn #27 and chances are good they’d have it. But if you were in 1995 asking for a thirty year old copy of Star Spangled War Stories #120, you might be out of luck.

I still wouldn’t quite rule out “being old enough to buy the ’90s comics when they were new,” because that’s the one that hits old farts like me the hardest.