In which Lanny Lummox uses his kung fu in service of greed.

§ October 24th, 2011 § Filed under scans § 3 Comments


Ooh, Lanny Lummox, no good can come of using your kung fu skills in the service of evil. Karma will catch up to you…

…except the Raccoon Kids, Rollo and Rudy, get involved, and somehow trick you into using the bags of flour that were actually inside the box to bake pies, which the kids take and eat, except for the few they convince you into putting under the “money tree” outside and having you wait for cash to flutter down upon them:


Thus is your avarice and misuse of martial arts rewarded. Though I suppose you will finally get what’s coming to you when the authorities figure out who took the money lost from the armored truck. …Enjoy spending your eventual nickel up the river at the graybar hotel, Lanny Lummox.

images from Raccoon Kids #62 (October-November 1956)

I could have called this post “The Wisdom of Mike” and left it blank.

§ October 23rd, 2011 § Filed under retailing § 9 Comments

So in the comments to yesterday’s post, Jim mentions

“My favorite Lobo item was the ‘wit and wisdom of Lobo’ book (or whatever the name was) that came only in a slipcase with previously released books, and then was blank.”

The Wisdom of Lobo was exactly as Jim describes, and in the linked Grand Comics Database entry there, it notes that “DC received flack for this stunt as many retailers didn’t find the joke funny and called it a rip-off.” It’s been a while, and I don’t remember exactly, but I don’t think we here at our shop were terribly offended by its existence…we may have rolled our eyes at it, but that’s about it. I have a vague memory of breaking down the per-item cost of the entire package and figuring out that, after taking into consideration the cost of the two other books included in the set, and the estimated value of the slipcase itself, The Wisdom of Lobo was more or less a freebie, give or take a buck or two.

Anyway, it’s been years since I’ve seen The Wisdom of Lobo comic around. It’s probably one of the scarcer Lobo publications now. I know I sold a lot of the slipcased sets when they were new, so I know they’re out there. Somewhere. Waiting for their moment to strike.

It’s also my recollection that the fans who bought the sets were quite amused by the Wisdom of Lobo book. …I wonder if anyone used it to draw their own Lobo story, or just used it as a sketchpad? That would be kind of a neat use for it. Well, then, not now, since it’s obviously a highly valued and sought-after collectible, worth hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.

P from Sanctum Sanctorum mentions

“I really used to LIKE the Omega Men.
Ahhh… so long ago.

Although, I don’t think I made it past issue 17 before I gave it up.”

Ah, you gave up on it right before it got really good! I didn’t pick it up ’til #26, admittedly only for the Alan Moore scripted back-up, but the lead story was a jumping-on point for a new direction for the series (written by Todd Klein and drawn by Shawn McManus) and it sucked me right in. To this day it remains one of my favorite sci-fi superhero comic book series. …I eventually bought the issues prior to #26, but, while entertaining, they couldn’t compete with the high weirdness and menace of the Klein/McManus run.

(Another series that lured me in with an enticing back-up story but got me hooked on the lead story and kept me coming back…Dreadstar, which had a Bernie Wrightson back-up in issue #6 that caught my eye…and I ended up following Dreadstar all the way to its apparent end.)

MRPRSN reveals

“I like finding copies of Youngblood #1 in the quarter bins with $8 price tags on them from back in the day.”

I’m finding a few more things like this in the collection that Omega Men came from yesterday. Like a Rai #4 with the Valiant-heyday pricetag of forty bucks, or an X-Men marked with “1st Dazzler!” (understandable) or an Amazing Spider-Man marked with “1st Appearance of the Rose!” (was that really that much of a selling point?), or the solid commitment to the 25-cent back-issue mark-up with the Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special (cover price $2.39, back issue price $2.64).

Where we once were, and may never be again.

§ October 22nd, 2011 § Filed under retailing § 6 Comments

Oh, collection of miscellaneous comic books that was dumped on us recently, what prizes you offer up to me:

I believe I have found the perfect tattoo idea for Chris Sims…

§ October 21st, 2011 § Filed under advertising, batman § 3 Comments

…and it’s the image from this 1995 DC ad template:


Just picture that emblazoned across the manly chest of the nerdinet’s premiere Batmanologist…Forever.

I would also like to take issue with the premise of this ad, from the same Batman Forever campaign:


As I recall, the Bat-frenzy that hit during the initial Tim Burton Bat-films release didn’t repeat itself for the following films in the franchise. I think we may have seen a slight bump in interest when Batman Returns came out, but the Batfilm-bump was pretty much no longer a sales influence by the time Forever was released. (And is it just me, or does that picture of Batman anticipate the post-Flashpoint redesign nearly 16 years ahead of time?)

And, from 1997…yeah:


“There might be Batman and Robin memorabilia in this store? We better not go in!”

MR. TOMPKINS, NO!

§ October 20th, 2011 § Filed under archie § 6 Comments


from Betty and Veronica Annual #7 (1959)

Hope y’all like thumbprints.

§ October 19th, 2011 § Filed under advertising § 11 Comments


1995 Malibu Comics promotional flyer


Thought briefly about using “All teen, all girl, no experience since 1969” as one of my weekly site taglines, but…um, maybe not.

Also, I’d completely forgotten there was an Ultraforce cartoon:


That theme music is certainly…something. (It’s not a patch on this amazing theme song, of course.)

Hey, where’s DC’s hat?

§ October 18th, 2011 § Filed under advertising § 18 Comments

1995 promotional flyers for Marvel Vs. DC/DC Vs. Marvel tie-in clothing


1. Both shirts “available in XL only!!” — so enjoy, kids!

2. Hey, at least Wonder Woman’s breast and arm made it into the ad…thank goodness they’re not blocking our view of Remarkably-1990s Superboy. (In fairness, she does appear to be more properly represented on the shirt.)

3. I wonder if DC did have a cap to match off against Marvel’s Wolverine hat…if so, it probably featured Lobo, keeping the shirts’ theme of matched-up characters being in the same sequence on each. (NOTE: cap is “fresh.”)

4. You know, looking at the shirt designs now (and admiring Marvel’s “this is what the winners will be showing off!” blurb)…I can’t recall the outcomes of all the battles between these characters. I remember who won between Superman and Hulk, and the Wolverine/Lobo battle (which should have been just crazy violent, but ended up being pretty lame, as I recall), but no idea on the Wonder Woman/Storm or Superboy/Spider-Man battles. Time has taken those precious memories away from me…but not from Google, I guess, if I ever feel like looking it up.

I do seem to remember the Batman/Captain America fight was bit of a cheat, too…like it was called in favor of one of them without really doing a proper fight. I need to get a look at that again and see if it makes any more sense to me now. …Because as a fully-grown adult, I demand satisfying resolutions to my superhero battles.

5. Of course, the real disappointment was no Swamp Thing/Man-Thing fight. I guess Marvel and DC just plain didn’t want to sell any comics.

I think I may weep openly at the beauty I’ve just witnessed.

§ October 17th, 2011 § Filed under advertising, wolverine § 13 Comments

1996 advertising flyer

Actually that comic sold okay…I just couldn’t resist the joke.

§ October 16th, 2011 § Filed under advertising, retailing § 3 Comments

Turned up a few more promo things during our post Augean stable-cleaning in the backroom:

From 1998, a “Batman: Cataclysm” event flyer:


…Probably could have reused that slogan to plug that one scene in the new Catwoman #1! Hey-oh!

From 1994 comes one of those signs that you’d slip behind a comic when it was on the rack:


It was never time for this.

(Okay, okay, actually for a non-founder Image title, it did better than expected. Save the hate mail.)

And from 1993, a little announcement card for Marc Hempel’s Gregory…the front:


…and inside:


This is both amusing and depressing, which sums up the Gregory comics quite well, actually.

Technically, we are still in a post-Onslaught world.

§ October 15th, 2011 § Filed under advertising, retailing § 6 Comments

Promotional flyer for retailers to copy and distribute, circa late 1996/early 1997:


Had Thunderbolts originated within the last five years, it probably would have been the original Avengers, since, you know, apparently we need as many Avengers titles as possible.

The “original X-Men” idea is pretty much “X-Factor, Part II,” which I’m sure was the intended gag. And having the big reveal be “it’s a dude from the New Warriors, plus a bunch of new guys!” would have been a tad disappointing, I think. But Team America…now we’re talking! Not enough motorcycle-riding superhero teams in comics nowadays, for my tastes. (I was going to say something about using a fairly insular gag about an obscure comic in a flyer intended to attract new readers, but…well, “insular” is pretty much implied whenever you talk about most modern superhero funnybooks, isn’t it?)

By the way:


I bet it does.

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