I’m also pretty sure there are some Kurosawa films I haven’t seen yet.

§ November 8th, 2013 § Filed under television § 17 Comments

So a long time ago, I missed one episode of the Flash TV series when it was preempted, at least in our area, for some news coverage, if I recall correctly. I never did catch a repeat of it during its original 1990-1 run, nor did I ever see it rerun during any of its sporadic syndicated showings. If it had any, that is…I’m sure it must have turned up on the Sci-Fi Channel or something, he said, not even bothering to type it into the Google search bar in his browser.

Anyway, 23 years later, I’m browsing Netflix looking for something to watch, and instead of finally getting around to Blade Runner, just on a whim I decided “hey, no time like the present to finally complete my watching of the Flash TV series.” Thus was disc 5, with said episode (#16, “Deadly Nightshade”) rented and, a day later, in my home.

I didn’t think this through very well. First, it’s been 23 years. Every episode of The Flash at this point is going to feel like an episode I haven’t seen. All I can recall from my original viewings is a hazy remembrance of Mark Hamill hamming it up as the Trickster, and some vague disappointment that Barry Allen’s science lab partner, played by Alex Desert, never put on a Kid Flash costume. (He might have in the one-shot tie-in comic, like in a dream sequence or something. ALSO A HAZY MEMORY.)

And thus, my second point: I’m not even sure if this was the episode I missed way back when. I’m fairly sure it is, but man, who knows. But here I am, a rented Netflix Flash disc in hand, and by God if it’s here, I’m going to spend some of the precious few moments I have left on Earth to watch it.

Of course, I was immediately reminded of the crazy muscle suit that star John Wesley Shipp had to wear, in that glorious Tim Burton Batman movie era where superheroes needed the super-padded treatment:


The “Deadly Nightshade” episode featured a (sorta) post Star Trek The Next Generation Denise Crosby:


…and a pre-Star Trek Voyager Jeri Ryan:


…as well as series semi-regular THE BELZ:


Good ol’ Richard Belzer, in a rare TV appearance that isn’t Detective Munch. And that’s the Deadly Nightshade (or someone claiming to be him, wink wink) on the right, there, a sort of pseudo-Shadow vigilante. In fact, listening to the D.N.’s dialogue in the pre-credits opener, I wondered to myself if this was one of the episodes noted Shadow storyteller Howard Chaykin cowrote, and when the credits rolled, well, sure enough.

Ultimately, it’s still a lot of goofy fun, even if the whole production screams “1990s” so much I half-expected Parker Lewis to synchronize his Swatch with the Scarlet Speedster.

Also on this disc: the episode where David Cassidy plays the Mirror Master. I know it’s a drastically different version of the character, but c’mon, it’s David Cassidy. Not a bad disc to get based on a completely irrational Netflix rental decision.

Just reminding you that original Nightcrawler mini-series is nearly thirty years old. You’re welcome.

§ November 6th, 2013 § Filed under pal plugging, x-men § 7 Comments


So it’s been a while since I last bought an X-Men book, and I had absolutely no intention of picking up Amazing X-Men until I actually held it in my hand. I’ve liked writer Jason Aaron’s work in the past, I enjoy Ed McGuinness’s art, and I have enough fond memories of the classic Dave Cockrum Nightcrawler mini, which the cover and parts of the story somewhat invoke, to decide to take it home. It’s a light enough adventure, with minimal wallowing in current X-continuity that even a dabbler like me can dive into the setting with only the slightest exposition. And then there’s the bonus oddball theological aspects that always crop up when you have superheroes bouncing in and out of the afterlife, which can be embarrassingly campy when handled poorly, but goofy and fun when handled right, like here. Well, they’ve got me for five issues, anyway, which is how long this initial arc is apparently going to last. We’ll see what happens when the inevitable crossover tie-ins begin to invade, but I am going to continue hoping this remains a fun Nightcrawler book, the other X-Men just supporting characters, becoming a solo title in all but name only. I’m not going to bet on it, but it’s nice to think about.

In other news:

  • How Did This Get Made is an entertaining podcast where the comedian hosts of the show spend an hour shouting at each other about a different terrible movie every couple of weeks, and it’s always hilarious. This week the film of choice is Daredevil, and some of you may be interested to note that comics writer Ed Brubaker (whom you may recall wrote the Daredevil series for a while) joins in on the fun, bringing his funnybook knowledge to the proceedings.

  • Hey. Hey, you. Awesome Hospital is back with an all-new two-part adventure. Go check it out.

Alan Moore only wished the transitions in his comics were this awesome.

§ November 4th, 2013 § Filed under obituary § 2 Comments


From Bat Lash #3 (Feb-Mar 1969), written by Sergio Aragones and Denny O’Neil, and drawn by Nick Cardy. I once saw a review of this comic that described the above panels as a terrible scene transition, but that person was wrong. Oh so wrong.

Mr. Cardy passed away last night. He drew some beautiful comics, including a whole lotta Teen Titans, and one of my favorite completely bonkers World’s Finest covers.

So long, Mr. Cardy. You did wonderful work, and hopefully people will continue to discover it for years to come.

Progressive Ruin presents…the End of Civilization.

§ October 31st, 2013 § Filed under End of Civilization § 13 Comments

It’s Halloween, and you can forget all those ghosts and witches, those haunted houses and demonic possessions. You want to see something really scary? Then grab your copy of the November 2013 edition of Diamond Previews and follow along!

p. 63 – Never Ending #3 (of 3):


Wait…Never Ending is ending? I feel as if my trust have been breached. HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME, KNAVE, KIRKBRIDE AND LOVE?

p. 149 – DC Comics Super Villains Deathstorm Action Figure:


This will look nice next to my Tomorrow Woman figure on my “Characters I’ll Never See Again” shelf.

p. 289 – Li’l Ernie one-shot:


So, Dynamite Comics. You’ve found a way to get me to buy an Evil Ernie comic: 1. Make him cute. 2. Throw an Art Baltazar cover on it. 3. Have it written and drawn by Roger Langridge.

Well played, Dynamite Comics. Well played indeed.

p. 298 – Deflower the Boss:


Don’t you get any ideas, employees Aaron or Timmy!

p. 328 – Hello Kitty: Delicious:


Hello Kitty’s stint on Iron Chef was shockingly disruptive.

p. 368 – Batman Science: The Real World Science Behind Batman’s Gear:


Shame about the subtitle, because I was really hoping for “POW! Take that, creationists! BIFF! Down for the count, psychics! SMACK! You’re out cold, antivaxxers!”

p. 385 – Topps 2014 MLP Chipz:

“Get ready to kick off the 2014 Major League Baseball season with MLB Chipz. You can collect these chipz, trade with your friends, or use them to play games. There are a number of different types of chipz, featuring the stars from around the Majors, including Magnetic, Glow-in-the-Dark, and bat chipz. You will be able to find one team sticker and one game board in each pack.”

These are basically pogs, aren’t they. Please tell me they’re not pogs. Please. PLEASE.

[Mike huddles in a fetal position in the corner of his living room. He is crying. The camera slowly pulls back as the room fades to black.]

PLEASE.

p. 389 – Deadpool Bold FX Snap Back Cap:


+1 for the Breaking Bad reference in the caption.

-1 for the creepy Steve Ditko-ish Dr. Strange interdimensional limbo-esque mouths being used in place of the Os.

p. 397 – Nightwing 52 Symbol Hoodie:


“Hey, why do you have a picture of fancy red briefs on your hoodie?”

p. 399 – Dr. Who “The Girl Who Waited” Junior’s Blue T-Shirt:


Totally going to be misinterpreted as some kind of statement of commitment to virginity ’til marriage, just you watch.

p. 402 – Doctor Who “Tardis” All-Over Print Navy Lounge Pants and My Little Pony “Multi-Character” Lounge Pants:


What, I don’t want ponies or sci-fi stuff on my pajama bottoms! That’ll make me look silly when I wear them to the store or the bank!

p. 406-7- Batman Classic TV Series Batman Bust:


Okay, I initially read the blurb as “6′ TALL!” and the idea of having a six-foot bust of Best Batman Adam West in my home was almost too much to bear.

p. 416 – ReAction Figures Alien Action Figures:


The proposed 1979 Alien action figure line finally comes to life. Store shelves that have waited so long, so very long, to be warmed by Dallas figures quiver with excitement.

p. 422 – Futurama Hedonismbot Vinyl Figure:


While I love Hedonismbot, I just don’t have the fifty bucks to frivolously spend on his vinyl representation. Truly I have violated the very spirit of Hedonismbot.

p. 429 – Dumb Ways to Die 4-Inch Rotocast Figurines:


The more merchandise based on Internet videos that’s produced, the greater the chance that I’ll finally get merchandise based on my favorite online cartoon.

p. 430 – Mr. Potato Head Homer Simpson Figure:


Ah, from the new Nightmare Fuel line of children’s toys, apparently. Well done, well done.

p. 438 – Lady Death La Muerta Statue:


“Whoa, what did they do to her face?”

“…She has a face?”

p. 438 – Conan the Brutal Statue:


This will provide a nice contrast to my “Conan the Remarkably Genteel” statue.

p. 442 – Juggernaut Mini-Bust:


“I’M THE JUGGERNAUT, BUST!”

…That was funnier in my head.

p. 443 – Battlestar Galactica Medal of Distinction 1/1-Scale Prop Replica:

“ANOVOS is humbled to release the 1:1-scale replica of Admiral William Adama’s Medal of Distinction featured in Battlestar Galactica’s third season episode, ‘Hero.'”

“Humbled.”

p. 483 – PEZ The Hobbit Movie Gift Set:


While people were mostly favorable to the Hobbit PEZ, they didn’t find it nearly as fresh or interesting as the Lord of the Rings PEZ.

p. 491 – G.G. Allin 1989 Throbblehead:


Let us hope that for maximum authenticity, each Throbblehead has been inserted into someone’s [REDACTED] prior to packaging and shipping.

p. 491 – Bouncing Souls The Guy Mascot Throbblehead:


SUPER-DEFORMED FRANK GORSHIN

p. 494 – Star Trek Pet Product Collection: Uniform Shirt and Spock Hoodie:


Surely this is the Trek reboot movie that we deserved.

p. 498 – The Walking Dead Rockmaster Electric Guitars:


SUNDAY 10 PM: THE WALKING DEAD – Rick finally defeats the walkers with the power of rock, exploding zombie heads with his awesome guitar riffs. WOOOOOOO [Series finale]

Marvel Previews – all those “MARVEL.NOW = ALL-NEW MARVEL NOW #! solicitations:


So we just restarted everything from #1s again, and now we’re kinda-sorta trying to do it again? What, did Aspen Comics buy Marvel when I wasn’t looking?

Marvel Previews p. 34-39: Miracleman #1 & #2:


And now, for no particular reason, here is a cover for an issue of the Punisher magazine they published in England.

§ October 30th, 2013 § Filed under marvel § 4 Comments


From 1989, reprinting in color issue #4 of the 1986 Punisher mini-series by Steven Grant, Mike Zeck and John Beatty. Also includes a black and white reprint of one of The ‘Nam comics by Doug Murray, Michael Golden and Armando Gil.

And here is the come-on for the next issue, from inside the front cover:


YES SIR, MR. CASTLE, SIR

Just when I thought I was out of the library, they pull me back in.

§ October 28th, 2013 § Filed under pal plugging, retailing § 5 Comments

So I should probably note that I wasn’t ill, or in dire straits (or even in Dire Straits) over the last week, given some of the concern I’ve received of late over my brief hiatus. I appreciate the comments, the emails, and folks popping by the store seeing how I was doing, but I assure you, everything’s fine. There was some house stuff, some troublesome appliances, and plenty of general “life getting in the way” type things that simply kept me from devoting time to the worrisome endeavor that is my website. It is nice to know that people do care, and I thank you kind people for your attention.

One event that occurred over the weekend was a small comic convention being held at a local library. We sent Employee Timmy over with some kid-friendly books and merchandise for Seth’s dealer table:


…which was right next to the Ralph’s Comic Corner table (not pictured) run by Ralph and his wife. In terms of actual immediate profit, it wasn’t the most…financially successful thing we’ve ever done, but we weren’t really expecting it to be. We made some money, but in terms of advertising it was quite successful, plugging our respective shops (well, basically the same shop…Ralph’s handles the old comics, Seth’s handles everything else) to plenty of new faces, and hopefully we’ll see them pass through our doors.

In addition, Sergio Aragones was the guest-speaker at the con, and alas I wasn’t able to be there in the evening for that event, but both at the shop and during my brief presence at the library I certainly heard from several people who were excited to see him. Pal Casie did report the next day that the talk was quite successful and attracted a good crowd, which is very good to hear.

Anyway, not bad for a first try at a library-con here, and we look forward to doing it again. Plus, when I showed up in the evening to help Timmy break down the table and take everything back to the shop, I got some heavy librarian-nostalgia vibes while transporting boxes through the back rooms. I almost felt like shelving some books. Instead I went back to the store and…um, shelved some books there. Or, rather, Timmy did. I supervised.

Another event this past weekend was the Halloween ComicFest, which is the industry’s attempt at creating a second Free Comic Book Day later in the year. Now we didn’t have anything really approaching the craziness of our last FCBD event, and I’m not sure the idea of “Halloween ComicFest” has really caught on yet with the general public (due to the lack of that all-important word “FREE” in the name), but we had plenty of people show up throughout the day and get themselves some free Halloween-ish comics, as well as availing themselves of our in-store weekend sales. So, you know, that was fine. I did a little pushing of it this year prior to the event, but I think next year I’ll try to find the time to go all out with costume contests and such to make it more of a thing. We are offering discounts to people who show up at the shop in costume, so at least there’s that! (I mean, real costumes, not just showing up in your regular clothes and saying “I’m dressed as a movie extra!” or anything like that.)

• • •

In other news:

  • Pal Cully (whom you might have seen in my comments here on occasion) has started a Facebook page devoted to some of his favorite comic book covers: The Golden Age of Awesome, featuring images both incredible and impolite, with Cully’s brief commentary. Fun stuff…always a blast to look at some crazy old comics.

  • Speaking of crazy old comics, those of you who remember this post of mine may like to know that the latest issue of IDW’s Haunted Horror, #7, reprints the story from which I took those panels. It is an awful, awful story, and by “awful” I mean “absolutely fantastic.”

Sluggo Saturday #122.

§ October 26th, 2013 § Filed under sluggo saturday § 1 Comment


SLUGGOCARE

from Bums, Beatniks, and Hippies/Artists & Con Artists (1991)

Just so you know…

§ October 23rd, 2013 § Filed under low content mode, swamp thing § 4 Comments

…I’m taking the rest of the week off. I’ll be back Monday, though I may have some kind of thing on Saturday. We’ll see.

In the meantime, that Swamp Thing cartoon I posted here the other day? You can totally get that as a high quality print now. Tell ’em your pal Mike sent you! (And they’ll respond with “…Who?”)

See you Monday (or maybe Saturday).

Don’t try to tell me you don’t love Devil Dinosaur, because we’ll both know you’re lying.

§ October 21st, 2013 § Filed under peanuts § 15 Comments

So it appears that with Fantagraphics’ The Complete Peanuts: 1989 to 1990, we are fully into the “Snoopy likes cookies” jokes phase of the strip:


I remember picking up a couple of the softcover strip collections way back when, while Peanuts was still being produced, and noticing the proliferation of cookie-related punchlines. I wasn’t particularly fond of these strips then, as many of the jokes seemed to me at the time really only technically “punchlines,” where the humor of any particular installment seemed to be, as noted, “Snoopy likes cookies.”

I think my stance on this pressing issue is a bit more forgiving now, since I find myself enjoying the strips not so much as, you know, any kind of deep insight into the human (or beagle) condition, or as a laugh-out-loud gag, but as just a…I don’t know, a soft smile or a quiet sense of gentle bemusement as a familiar character repeatedly expressed his quirk. Also, I think I’ve since come to appreciate Schulz’s commitment to the cookie joke repetition…he decided that Snoopy liked cookies, that he thought it was funny, and by God he was going to use his comic strip to explore every freakin’ facet of that comedy gem. Plus, the dude did work on this strip for fifty years. If anyone deserved being cut a little slack, it’s him.

There may also be a small element of reappreciating someone’s work in the light of “well, there ain’t gonna be no more, so enjoy what you have.” I’ve mentioned this before in relation to Jack Kirby’s 1970s output, which was mocked in some quarters at the time, but now try to find someone who doesn’t love Devil Dinosaur.

Also in this book is this reference to Siskel and Ebert, as Sally and Charlie Brown discuss a movie they’re about to see:


Well, to be fair, that could be a reference to Jeffrey Lyons and Michael Medved, who were also hosting a movie review TV show at the time.

And here’s yet another terrifying example of Snoopy just straight-up speaking:


Or Schulz just merged the thought balloon and the “woof woof woof” speech balloon together, but that possibility is not nearly as fun.

If I were inclined to label any image as “GPOY,” it would be this one.

§ October 19th, 2013 § Filed under swamp thing § 2 Comments

So pal Kevin pointed this out to me on the Twitters, and being immediately enamored with it, I asked the artist’s permission to post it here on my own site:


That artist would be Brandon B., and I highly recommend visiting his Tumblr full o’art (where you can find a higher quality image of the above cartoon).

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