“Suddenly, Twenty-Two Years Later….”

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It’s that most magical time of the year once again, pals, when your favorite website celebrates its 22nd anniversary! No, not Myspace or Linkedin, but this site right here, Mike Sterling’s Progressively Ruinated Industries, marking over two decades of typing about comics at a rapidly declining audience as everyone would rather watch a TikTok video with someone yapping (incorrectly) about how Howard the Duck is dumb.

Ah well, What Can You Do™? Well, what I can do is keep educating and entertaining the masses, for certain definitions of the word “mass,” here on my site, as I dump my knowledge and experiences out on the printed webpage for all to see. And I plan on continuing it here on ye olde-fashioned blogge for the foreseeable future. Well, until I finally make the switch to video and you can watch me doing my hair and makeup while explaining what a “splash page” is.

Anyway, thanks to all my family and friends for not holding an intervention to get me to stop this, and thanks to my online pals for continuing to tolerate me after all these years. And big thanks to Neilalien, Bizarro Comics Blogger #1, for blazing the trail I continue to follow.

The past year has been a pretty good one all around, managing a reasonable work/home/blog balance. My store, Sterling Silver Comics, continues to do well, despite taking a bit of a hit with some of the economic shenanigans that have been going on. I did end up having my most financially successful Free Comic Book Day event yet at this shop, but it remains to be see what will become of FCBD in 2026.

Healthwise things are looking up. My eyes have improved, and just a couple of days ago, as I write this, I had some laser surgery correcting a problem in my right eye, which seems to have done the trick.

I only made it onto one podcast this year, “Let’s Talk Comics” over at Comic Book Yeti, where I chat about my many, many long centuries of comic book retailing. And to nobody’s surprise, I couldn’t shut up, so here’s a small extra bit!

And now to the part that takes up lots of webpage real estate…my social media posts from Bluesky, where you can follow me and see if I’m talking about you behind your back. I’m nearing 6,000 followers there, presumably not all Russian bot accounts, which isn’t bad for a dumb guy who says silly stuff when he isn’t complaining about something.

Anyhoo, here’s what I was up to over there on the Blooskees:

It’s been a real year of this:


Why yes, I am the 21st Century John Henry:


This is sort of the same type of folks who say they’ve been looking for a certain comic forever, but they turn down my copy because it’s only in Fine to Very Fine:


You Canadians know what you do to your comics:


There is a very good chance this Bluesky post is based on real events from a certain person’s comic book store:


I don’t get no respect:


There are days when I don’t just feel my age, I wallow in it:


Yes, this something that happened in my store. I think I derailed things enough to where the actual question was never asked:


There are so many things I can do at my job that would probably count as “goofing off” else but are actually necessary for me to do my work:


Sometimes I feel online was a mistake:


People called me out on the fact Earth-Two Superman was actually Kal-L and how dare you use facts against my gag:


One of the people in my response to the quoted post is a friend, the other person referenced I haven’t heard about in a long time and hope it stays that way:


How to Get Children to Read Comics, Part 38:


I worry about stupid stuff sometimes:


I am not happy with these kids because they forced me to have knowledge I wish I didn’t:


Astounding that it’s come to this, that some people only expect grading from “professional” graders:


That previous entry is somewhat related to this one:


Frankly, at this point I’m surprised people even remember the band:


Eat it, Fredric Wertham:


The makers of this Monopoly variation didn’t realize how hard they were going:


Look, I told you up front ’90s comics were gettin’ it in the shorts here:


The lonely task of the Closed Store Checker:


I mean, really, if I’m sending you back to an entry from 2005, practice safe clicking:


This is the funniest Lovecraft joke of the year, I’ve given myself an award for it:


See, it’s not all snarky stuff from me:


Just in under the wire, this exchange between Jeff Parker and yours truly that resulted in lots of New Gods ska humor. You read that right…click that link, check the responses and the quotes:


And to wrap it up…the secret to my success:

And, yes, I wrote some blog posts here, too. I’m trying a little hard to cover a few new books most weeks during their actual weeks of release. In addition, I’m still going through the Final ’90s Countdown, where I look at the favorite comics of that decade as voted on by you. I thought I’d actually finish that before the end of the year, but it looks like it’ll be continuing on through 2026. Hey, something to look forward to!

Plus I did the ol’ comic industry predictions thing again, looking your most recent foretellings this past January. Which reminds me…I’m probably going to ask for more starting later this month, so get ’em ready (but don’t post them here yet!).

Now, for the month-by-month overview…a couple of these months may look a little sparse, but that’s because their entries may be covered by one of the categories I just mentioned. Or I didn’t write a lot, one of the two.

DECEMBER 2024

A special Swampy gift from pal Batfatty, a nice MAD Magazine callback, WOLVERINE BACK ISSUE TALK (parts 1 2 3 4 5)…

JANUARY 2025

…and WOLVERINE BACK ISSUE TALK continues here (6 7 8, bub), some schmuck on Bluesky got me thinking about online trolls, oh nothing just Diamond Comics declaring bankruptcy.

FEBRUARY 2025

Retailer ordering tips from the October 1985 Bud Plant catalgo (1 2 3), “I’ve eased up on buying toys” I tell myself as I take THIS thing home, I talk about how superhero movies have it harder now (and disabuse some online chowderhead of his misconceptions).

MARCH 2025

In which I pick up the “Most ’90s Comics” thread one year later (and a brief follow-up), those sales numbers on the first part of “Hush II” are slightly less impressive at second glance, my 56th birthday and another birthday comic, I go all in on the Swamp Thing #37 facsimiles, Zody the Mod Rob – the character find of 1970.

APRIL 2025

I finally catch up to a DC Comic I missed as a kid, Turok – mostly less racist than other comics with Native Americans, a cool Scott McCloud mini-comic I can’t believe I hadn’t written about here before, I probably shouldn’t make fun of an anti-drunk-driving comic, I finally got some Guts.

MAY 2025

The Free Comic Book Day aftermath, so long Peter (and more).

JUNE 2025

News footage from an early San Diego Comic Con, the only Koosh Kins comics post of 2025, yet another recovered original drawing from my ‘zine days, 1990s news footage of the Dark Horse Comics offices, concluding the trilogy with MTV’s comics coverage (with a special Mark Gruenwald appearance!), Steve Lieber Swamp Thing drawings and Fantastic Four pins, I still think this Robin panel is the Most Shocking Event in Comics this year, a Nancy ‘n’ Sluggo art mini designed to terrorize.

JULY 2025

So long Jim, Brinke Stevens comics (and the time we had her for a signing at the shop), the MAD Disco special and its pricing relative to other MADs, a look at the new Superman movie (needed more Krypto the Superdog), oh wait here’s more Krypto, an obscure newspaper-delivery promo comic starring Mr. Grumpy, the forgotten MAD knockoff, pal Jed comes through with a sketch cover I did not expect, that Fantastic Four movie was pretty good even if it didn’t blow up the box office.

AUGUST 2025

The Metatextual Adventures of Superman (in a story already pretty thoroughly dissected by Marvel’s Tom Breevort), where to start someone with comics, the ends, that Super Mural in Superman, where to start with Herbie, some of my favorite newspaper strip collections.

SEPTEMBER 2025

Our first clue that somethin’ is going on with Rick Veitch’s Swamp Thing run, a Rogue Trooper movie and Swamp Things of other lands, that hot comic Red Hood #1, writer-brands and following characters/titles vs. creators, always room for The Tick, DC and Marvel — together again, the crowdfunded Stardust book and a couple of its problems, turn me on Deadman, when a man decides he’s had enough Green Lantern in his life.

OCTOBER 2025

Archie playing Video Pong in 1979, ranking the many series/reboots of the Legion of Super-Heroes, top reordered comics from Diamond in December 1979, the Rick Veitch Swamp Thing secret is out, the public domain-iness of Air Pirates Funnies, my answer to a question about licensed comics where I didn’t quite hit the mark — so I tried again, and again, and one more time (though there’s a little discussion about A.I. first — I should note that the A.I.’s new result for that search more accurately reflects the truth).

NOVEMBER 2025

Not enough Ultra the Multi-Alien talk on my site for my tastes, a bank’s Tarzan button giveaway, a Donald Duck comic exclusive to a foreign land, a post about Desert Island Comics that may be screwing up Alex Désert’s Google results, readin’ them Usagi Yojimbos.

DECEMBER 2025

What th– (sputter) kids in my comic shop?

• • •

Well, that’s a lot of typing telling you how great I am. Don’t worry, I won’t go on again about how great I am until at least next Monday.

But serious, thanks to everyone out there still reading my site, whether it’s on a regular basis, or you followed a link of mine on Bluesky, or you just Googled “nerdiest object ever” in quotes and found yourself here. I truly do appreciate it.

And now, for reading all that, here’s a picture of me following my most recent eyeball surgery:


No need to thank me.

See you on Monday.

The big day.

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Going in for my eye surgery today…when I come out, I will look exactly like the picture above. Well, the bandage will be over the right eye, otherwise, spot on.

Hey kids, comics.

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So Smichal smasks

“How do kids factor in as a demographic at your shop? Is it bigger/smaller than in the past? What are they buying? Do they stay invested in the medium, or is it a passing interest?
For argument’s sake, lets define kids as 16 and under for this question.”

Well, sure, I actually get lots of kids coming through the store, largely due to my location. My store is located in a strip of stores that includes a couple of restaurants, a popular pizza place, a music store/school/venue, and one tiny storefront at the end that seems to be used as a storage area for some other business, but that’s perhaps a tale for another day.

Anyway, with all these schools and restaurants and pizzas, I get a lot of walk-in traffic, particularly from families with children. And thus, I have sort of a captive audience here, with parents unwittingly passing by on their way to eat, when their children spot my store and start shouting “LOOK, COMICS!” and the like.

In that way, I’m very fortunate. I know at the previous place of employment, we were down the road from a high school, and we’d get a lot of foot traffic when classes were out and kids were heading home. However, we weren’t surrounded by other locations that regularly brought in families with children — we had a dry cleaners, an optometrist, a tattoo parlor, a place that sold prosthetic limbs. I mean, yeah, sure, any of those places might cater to young folks (I mean, Junior’s gotta get himself inked sometime), but by and large it was the comics/games shop that was the sole attractor for families.

Now, back to my shop, what are those kids after at my store, anyway? I mean, yes, it’s a pretty good mix of just about everything. People have their ideas about what kids actually want from comic book stores, but I tell them “I had a little girl ask for and buy several Hulk comics” and those preconceived notions can just go right out the window.

But yes, some of it is What You Expect. My Little Pony, manga (especially One Piece right now), Dog Man (slowed down a bit since the movie), the Raina Telgemeier books, that sort of thing. And when it comes to the traditional comic book-type stuff, kids usually ask for Spider-Man or Batman. I get some very light interest from young folks in the Thundercats revival books, but just about every other ’60s-’80s cartoon-based comic book is For Grown-Ups Only. Simpsons comics would do incredibly well based on the demand I have for them from kids, but darned if Disney/Marvel/Whoever is leaving money on the table by not getting another comic for them out on the stands.

Along with comics, kids are also buying lots of the Little Golden Books, the thin illustrated storybook hardcovers for which I have a giant spinner rack by the door. That and the slowly dwindling supply of Funko Pops are what grabs children’s eyes and pulls them into the shop.

As for whether it’s more or less than in the past, all I can really say is that the percentage of kid clientele at my store is steadily increasing. How many are sticking with the hobby as they age…that’s hard to say. I know a handful of kids who have been coming into my shop since they were barely able to walk on their own, so at least some have maintained their interest.

The state of the weblog.

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Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere, but things were a bit sparse this week, mostly due to holiday/other stuff. And next week I finally have my much-delayed eye surgery on Wednesday, so likely there won’t be a post then, either.

Next Monday, I’ll have a post. Next Friday, I’ll have a certain post up that, if you’ve been reading this site for any length of time, won’t come as any surprise. I have in fact been working on that post well in advance, which has taken up the little blogging time I did have, so it’s a tricky balancing act to be sure.

But, pals, just hang in there. Things should be back to normal in a few days after I get through and recover from surgery. I’ve said plenty of times before that I’m never going to be that blog that says “sorry for the lack of posts, be back soon!” and then is never active ever again. If the time comes to shutter the site, I’ll tell you, but that time isn’t now, or in the near future. You can’t get rid of me that easily.

Besides, I still have to finish the Final ’90s Countdown and the most recent Question Time posts. And it’s probably time for another entry about the Death of Superman.

Still waiting for that Usagi Yojimbo/Groo the Wanderer crossover.

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David wants to know

“I’m really interested and intrigued by Usagi Yojimbo, but I’m overwhelmed by the number and variety of books that collect these stories. Given that money is not an issue, where should I start?”


Well, what you do is you find yourself a copy of Usagi’s first appearance from 1983, in Albedo Anthropomorphics #2 (pictured above), and just work forward from there.

…

…

…

…

…Well, okay, maybe that’s not quite workable. Albedo is notoriously small press, even by small press standards, and this comic being in low supply and enormous demand…well, you did say “money is not an issue.” Currently a copy can be found on eBay for $6,400, or another in one of those “professionally graded” plastic boxes for $46,000 — good news, shipping is free in both cases.

But presumably you don’t want to be messing around with single issues. That said, as someone who personally hasn’t read every Usagi Yojimbo comic that’s ever been published, it’s been my experience that these comics are highly accessible to new readers. Yes, characters have a history and there’s a measure of continuity to the proceedings, but anyone just coming aboard is given all the info they need to follow along, if necessary. So, basically, you can just jump on with the next Usagi mini-series that comes out.

Again, though, if you don’t feel like doing the single issue thing, there are no shortage of reprint collections to get you started. And because of the very nature of Usagi stories, you can probably start pretty much anywhere and you’ll be fine. I realize there are a lot of books, and that not all of them are in print at all times. There are 41 of the smaller trade paperbacks, 33 of which are collected into the Omnibus Editions from Dark Horse, and there are several other books aside from that run. This section of the Wikipedia entry details what’s in each book, if that helps.

The honest answer would be “just pick up the collections as you find them.” The phrase “boy, this issue of Usagi Yojimbo sucked” has never been uttered by a human being, and therefore you’re good wherever you start.

The only advice I’d give is maybe read the classic feudal Japan era of Usagi, before diving into spin-offs like Space Usagi, or maybe even the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossovers. But then again, tons of kids were introduced to Usagi Yojimbo via the TMNT cartoon in the ’80s and that worked out okay, so what do I know.

So anyway, David, that’s a lot of reading, so you better get crackin’. There’s gonna be a quiz next week.

Just pooling it all together.

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[SPOILERS ahead, I’m totally not kidding]

So at the conclusion of their run of Animal Man in 1990 – a comic that deal with, among other things, the nature of the various layers to reality — Grant Morrison their own self appeared in the book to speak directly to the title character:


It was certainly a surprise, if not entirely unprecedented, for a fictional character to suddenly find out that he’s a fictional character in a narrative controlled by another, particularly in a serious narrative. Just in comics we saw it in Silverwolf’s Fat Ninja from the mid-1980s…okay, maybe not a 100% serious comic but I still think it counts.

And then later on we’d see it in Cerebus and his interactions with “Dave” (AKA Dave Sim, his creator), and we’d get the Fantastic Four meeting God, or Someone in a similar position, who looks an awful lot like Jack Kirby.

You know, that’s just comics. Don’t get me started on Six Characters in Search of an Author.

Anyhoo, about a year later, in Suicide Squad #58, writers John Ostrander and Kim Yale, along with artists Geoff Isherwood and Robert Campanella, introduced The Writer:


…basically taking Morrison’s self-insert character and giving them the power to affect reality with what they write in the script on their computer. It was an amusing one-shot reuse of Morrison’s storytelling device, who ends up dying on the battlefield because they couldn’t type fast enough to fix things to their benefit, as I recall.

One thing I’ve kinda wondered about all these years was whether or not Morrison was aware that this particular bit of storytelling he used in Animal Man was appropriated for this Suicide Squad tale. I mean, beyond the general awareness that anything you create under a work-for-hire contract for a publisher like DC Comics is going to be owned by DC Comics, and can be freely reused by anyone, editorial permitting. But I’m going to guess Grant Morrison had no expectation of comics’ sensational character find of 1990, Grant Morrison, was ever going to have any kind of life outside of its initial purpose.

But here we are, a mere 35 years later:


…as Morrison brings together various bits and pieces of Marvel and DC lore that they created or (in the case of the Writer’s appearance in Suicide Squad) inspired by them. It’s a wild traipsing through a surreal landscape, and Morrisoin acquits themselves well in applying the Deadpool-style humor necessary to truly make this a fourth-wall breaking, self-referential Deadpool story. It’s that Animal Man twist of discovering he’s a comic book character, but played for laughs and not expense of the story. Obviously, if anyone knows how to do this sort of thing, it’s Morrison.

Can’t really fall into the trap of “is this better or worse than Marvel’s Deadpool/Batman crossover from a few months ago,” as these are two very different approaches. Marvel’s is more straightforward adventure, this one from DC is more…about itself, the layers of reality at play, both succeeding at what they were attempting.

My main issue with these new crosovers is that the lead stories seem a little short, making room as they do for multiple back-ups with other team-ups. In general, I think the additional stories in the Marvel release were maybe a little stronger, but the DC issue has a John Constantine/Dr. Strange back-up (with a Swamp Thing cameo!) that was fun. Again, I’d have liked a longer story to take more advantage of the opportunity, but I’m guessing a 48-page Constantine/Strange comic would have a little more trouble getting greenlit. The other shorts in this issue are fine…the Laura Kinney Wolverine/Nightwing team-up has a surprisingly emotional core to it.

This first batch (if two can be “a batch”) of DC/Marvel crossovers have been successful creatively and financially (at least so far…as I write this the Batman/Deadpool one-shot hasn’t been released to the public yet). I’m hoping the promised Spider-Man/Superman crossovers planned for next year will give us longer lead stories and fewer, if any, back-ups.

But what if I were stuck on an Alex Désert island?

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So Bob dares to asks

“What are your Top 5 ‘desert island’ books/storylines? (or alternatively ‘dessert island’)”

Well, that’s certainly a doozy, especially since my opinions can change from moment to moment. And I’ll leave out the obvious ones…you know, your Dark Knight Returns, or your Watchmens, or your All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonders, and try to stick to more unusual, personal ones. And I’ll try to stick to particular storylines or very specific “eras” of books, instead of just saying, like, “every issue of Firestorm the Nuclear Man.” Which I totally could say.

Okay, first up, to the surprise of no one:

…the “American Gothic” Swamp Thing storyline that began in the 1980s and ran through issue #50. Written by Alan Moore, art by Steve Bissette, John Totleben, and several others, Swamp Thing traveled from location to location being pushed along by John Constantine to confront various pockets of supernatural horror, all to count the machinations of a secret society trying to bring about the End of the World, as they do.

It’s a great series of issues, and a nice reprise of what Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson were doing in the original Swamp Thing series, by having our mossy gentleman encountering traditional horror archetypes and giving them unusual twists. This storyline contains a lot of what I love about Swamp Thing, and thus must join me in my solitude on this theoretic deserted island.

Next up:

…the black and white era of Zot! by Scott McCloud, published in the 1980s. I was going to say just the “Earth Stories” (the storyline where Zot is trapped on his friend Jenny’s “normal” Earth and unable to return to his “futuristic” Earth), but so much of the b&w era contains the same emotional depth. Having the adventures in Zot’s world contrast with his life in Jenny’s world help inform Zot’s behavior in the latter circumstance. Plus, all the black and white work is beautiful.

Number three:

…yes, the Omega Men. Specifically, the wild shit after Todd Klein and Shawn McManus took over in #26 (1985) and continued to the end of the series in #38. Honestly, for what was DC’s then-newest attempt at Superheroes in Space, just absolute piles of imagination was shoveled into this comic, which is probably the least appealing way I could have put that. Odd aliens, strange mysteries, even stranger revelations…it was a real roller coaster of a ride and too beautiful for this world, cancelled so early as it was.

Number four:

…I’ve talked a lot about where things kinda ended up with this series and its creator, and I realize this may be hard to believe for some of you out there…but the “High Society storyline in Cerebus is Peak Comics. It is absolutely a masterclass in How to Tell Your Story in a Comic Book, and it’s a flabbergasting achievement. It’s a story about Cerebus becoming Prime Minister of the city of Iest, and if you know anything about Cerebus the character, you realize that can’t possibly go well. It’s both dramatic and hilarious and a fascinating read.

And for number five:


…the first twelve issues of American Flagg! by Howard Chaykin. Dense, experimental storytelling that remains rewarding with each reread, something that I’d imagine would be quite valuable being stuck on a deserted island as I am in this scenario. In a recent discussion about this comic on the Blueskies, I referred to these first dozen issues as being “as good as it ever got,” and in retrospect that sounds a little diminishing, but these are actually excellent comics.

• • •

Now that’s just off the top of my head right now. I realize I didn’t include any Love and Rockets because by golly how do I narrow that down to just a single storyline? (Or two storylines, one for each brother?) Or Groo the Wanderer, where I’d just as soon take every copy with me. Anyway, I’ll save further answers along those lines for the “which comic book series would you take in their entirety to a deserted island?” question.

Oh, and if I were to go to a dessert island, I would have fudge cake topped with chocolate syrup, served with rocky road ice cream. That would wreak havoc with my blood sugar levels, absolutely, but what a way to go!

Yes, there are plenty of feet, Mr. Tarantino.

filed under Categories this week's comics 17 Comments

Okay, before I get into today’s entry, I want to point back to Monday’s post about the Donald Duck comic from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Because I am an unworldly American who also has eyes that occasionally betray him, I referred to the museum by a different name. I’ve corrected the post (but left my dumb mistake there and crossed out). Thanks to Walter for pointing this out to me.

Now, onto to hopefully less error-ridden looks at some of this week’s comics! SPOILERS AHEAD!


Now, this graphic novel I haven’t had a chance to read page one yet, but it’s Bill Griffith, creator of Zippy the Pinhead and master cartoonist, presenting another of his epic-length biographies, like those of Schlitzie, the famous real life “pinhead” of the 20th century, and Ernie Bushmiller, creator of Nancy.

Griffith is going back to his own family as a subject, having previous written about his mother in 2015’s Invisible Ink. This time he’s examining the life of his great-grandfather William Henry Jackson, the famous photographer. My brief glance through the book reveals another lavishly illustrated, densely-told narrative that promises to be as rewarding as any of Griffith’s works. I can’t wait to dive in.

• • •


Sophie Campbell returns to full art chores for this Thanksgiving tale, as Supergirl is delayed for dinner by finding herself attempting to help a previous adversary. …Well, okay, no need to be coy, it’s Princess Shark, she’s right on the cover. It’s a fun read, and it doesn’t shy away from the dichotomy of the holiday being a time for family gatherings and maybe not having the most savory of origins. Supergirl is a solid book built around relationships and learning to understand each other, definitely one of the most worthwhile books on the stands.

• • •


Well, bless him for trying.

• • •


It’s a little strange that two different American companies are publishing their own Uncle Scrooge McDuck series simultaneously. Both are fine, but this one, the Fantagraphics series, is picking up the “legacy” numbering (the pictured issue is #462).

And this series also feels more like an authentic Disney Uncle Scrooge comic, reprinting as it does from Italian publications, one of the primary sources for modern Duck comics. The Marvel produced Scrooge comics feel more like “what if Scrooge was a Marvel character?” (and I don’t mean Marvel’s series of Disney-themed What If comics.) It’s a perfectly acceptable take, but it’s just off-model enough to be distracting.

The Fantagraphics series is enjoyable, though, and surprised me in #461 with a bit of serious emotional depth in the middle of all the wild goings-on. Old enemy Flintheart Glomgold has reformed (or…did he?) and as he’s about to take the nephews out to his place, Donald has this to say:


That’s not goofball, slapstick Donald being put upon by Scrooge or Gladstone, or furious Donald squawking incoherently…that’s “don’t piss me off, I mean business” Donald, who poses an actual threat to anyone who would harm his family. Good to know some of that steel in Scrooge made it to his nephew.

• • •

Oh, okay, fine, I’ll say a little more about Youngblood.

Look, I’m not a big ol’ Liefeld hater or anything. I appreciate that he has fans and that he can still sell books. Waaay back in 2009, I even put out the question “hey, I know I sold a lot of Youngblood when it first came out, did any of you guys buy it?” and at first I got some responses from folks who were all “yeah, I got caught up in the hype” or “I was totally into Rob then” and that sort of thing.

And then the Rob himself noticed, and linked to me on his message board, and behold, Every Youngblood Fan in America was suddenly in my comments, defending Rob and his comics and occasionally getting mad at me for some reason. You can read the three parts here (1 2 3) but be aware there is some linkrot, including links to the original comments, alas. But I quote enough of them to give you an idea.

And I discussed the comments and responded to them, even the ones that called me a jerk, and I tried to be open-minded about it all. The overall impression I received was that Rob’s fans, at least these responders, were hyperdefensive, and I quickly add, not that I can blame them. Especially at the time, when his work seemed to get pulled out and kicked around a bit, particularly in the comicsweblogosphere.

The ultimate conclusion was that 1) Rob’s work is Not for Me, and 2) More power to his fans for liking his stuff. I mean, that’s all.

Yes, my short review above was a cheap gag, one I got in my head and needed to release. However, like I said somewhere in those posts I linked from 2009, I would love nothing more than Liefeld committing, Erik Larsen on Savage Dragon style, to doing a single issue of Youngblood every single month for the rest of his career, just to see the weird and wild places it would go to. Personally, I think that would be amazing.

This first issue I don’t find particularly amazing…lots of full-page drawings and close-ups and backgrounds that are little more than lightly textured color and the occasional shot of a boat. Everyone’s leaping around and shouting at each other and, I mean, nobody’s buying Youngblood to see a comics version of My Dinner with Andre. This is pretty much the Platonic ideal of a Youngblood comic.

I will give the comic this. The first page, acknowledging the title’s return to Image with panels in the shape of the Image logo, is clever. And the last page reveal does make me want to see what happens next, even though it’ll probably be more leaping around and shouting.

I wonder if Dutch Swamp Thing comics change Alec Holland’s last name to, like, “Wyoming” or “Sacramento” or something.

filed under Categories disney, pal dorian 9 Comments

So pal Dorian recently took a trip to Holland and Germany and all sorts of fun places, and whilst there he picked up all manner of Donald Duck comics and digests, including this one that he brought back for me:


Apparently this is a Donald Duck comic available exclusively at the Rijksmuseum Ruks Museum (or Rijksmuseum, if I’m understanding my Googling properly) [EDIT: see this correction to my bad eyesight] in Amsterdam. You can get your own copy directly from the museum here, though I shudder to think of the shipping charges.

Anyway, that page provides the following description for the comic:

“Donald Duck takes readers on an adventure along the Rijksmuseum’s famous works of art. This children’s book introduces Donald to iconic Dutch masterpieces, including Rembrandt’s Night Watch. This comic not only provides entertainment for children, but is also a playful way to learn about the Rijksmuseum’s art.”

…which I presumed by paging through the publication and looking at the pictures, since the entire thing is in Dutch, a language in which I have absolutely zero proficiency. It looks fun, however, and in a region where Donald Duck comics still retain their popularity, I imagine this museum edition fits right in.

Here are a couple of interior panels from the book, like this shot of Donald with a couple of pieces of art that…I don’t know if they’re based on any specific real pieces of not…I mean, not that there’s a statue with a weird duck face, but maybe one of similar design?


Ah heck, I don’t know, maybe there are duck statues like that in the museum, I don’t know what’s goin’ on over there.

And is Mickey Mouse in this comic? Sure, Mickey is in this comic, and Goofy too!

And here’s a thing that threw me off for just a second…Daisy Duck’s nieces, April, May and June, get some wild localized names:


I imagine this’ll be explained to me in the comments, but using the Dutch names for the months as their names (“April, Mei, Juni”) might have worked okay, unless there were some real objections to using those words as specific names for people. Even duck people. I have no idea. But they all run up against Magica De Spell in their story.

Oh, and in looking this up, I found a page (in Dutch, which my browser or Google or the magical imp that lives in my monitor translated) which lists at the end the variety of names by which the three nieces are called in different countries.

So big thanks to pal Dorian for picking this up for me…I know he saw some stunning pieces of art and beautiful scenery and all that. But I still think most amazing of all was him telling me just how many different types of Donald Duck comics there were, and how widely available they are to the general public. What a different world that feels like.

[Pushes glasses up bridge of nose] “Um, actually, Tarzan can’t fly….”

filed under Categories pal brook, tarzan 3 Comments

So Pal Brook came across one of these at the local swap meet, and brought it by the shop for me to take a look. This pinback button featuring Tarzan was a giveaway at the Valley Federal Savings bank, Tarzana branch, in 1982:


…which, as you can see, still retains the somewhat worse for wear explanatory letter.

Here’s a closer look at the button and its Hal Foster artwork:


Interesting that there’s no mention of the specific connnection between Tarzan and Tarzana (that the area was built upon the site of Tarzan creator Edar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzana ranch), but maybe that’s just common knowledge amongst Tarzana residents of the time. I know I wouldn’t forget that!

Even though this button giveaway was in 1982, the buttons themselves were produced in 1975 “in a limited quantity” it says there in the letter. That has me wondering how many were made versus how many were given away at the bank and under what criteria. Did you get one for opening an account? Making a certain size deposit? Just for walking in the door (which would eat up the button supply right quick, I’d imagine).

Looking on the eBays revealed several similar Tarzan buttons from the time period, nearly all of them being offered for…optimistic pricing. One lot had the button pictured above, include with a button with art by Russ Heath. I don’t know if multiple variations were offered via this bank giveaway, which would have required different letters identifying the different artists and seems like more bother than it was worth to them.

Anyway, no idea if that bank is even still around…Google searches seem to suggest “no,” and I doubt even if it still existed, there’d probably be nobody there to call and ask “hey, can you tell me about those Tarzan buttons?

Regardless of its specific origins, it’s still a neat item that at no time did I say I was going to sneak into Brook’s house and take, you’ve got nothing on me, copper.