Don’t let this ridiculous post get in the way of the fact that Klarion the Witch Boy is awesome.

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So on a whim, I thought I’d reread the early appearances of Klarion the Witch Boy from Jack Kirby’s The Demon:


…just because Klarion the Witch Boy is awesome:


…when I came across this little bit of comics trivia that I assumed nobody cared about, but, as you know, a little Googling will always dissuade the “nobody else cares about this” assumption. Anyway, in Klarion’s first appearance, his feline companion Teekl is described as a male cat, as seen in this panel:


However, a few issues later when Klarion makes his return appearance, Teekl is suddenly a girl cat:


And…okay, that was a bit strange. Not that the cat’s suddenly being female is strange, I mean that panel is damned peculiar. But things get a little stranger, and a little bit more lady-ish, as Teekl eventually transforms into a full-blown woman-with-fursuit:


As I said, this is apparently an issue with some folks, as the Young Justice wiki notes that “Teekl’s sex has often been a subject of variation and debate amongst writers and fans alike in comics and cartoons,” and the Wikipedia entry for Klarion has a separate section devoted to the Teekl gender issue. Both entries state that Kirby’s version of Teekl was female (as opposed to the current version of Teekl, in the Young Justice cartoon and in the Seven Soldiers comics by Grant Morrison, where he’s a boy cat), without mentioning the cat’s apparent maleness when first introduced by Kirby.

Of course, we’re talking about a magic cat, so one could assume its gender could be changed on the fly as necessary. I mean, clearly that’s the only logical conclusion.
 

images from The Demon #7 (March 1973) and #15 (December 1973) by Jack Kirby & Mike Royer

 
 
(updated 8/2017)

This is a fetish for someone.

filed under Categories challs, doom patrol, this is a fetish for someone 9 Comments

So while the rest of the Doom Patrol and the Challengers of the Unknown battle against their other foes, Elasti-Girl faces off against Multi-Man (that little bald guy, there) and his robotic Multi-Woman:


Predating Batman’s Human Siamese Knot by a couple of years!

Meanwhile, Multi-Man makes his tactical-yet-hilarious withdrawal from the conflict:


 

images from Challengers of the Unknown #48 (February/March 1966) by Arnold Drake & Bob Brown

Sometimes you just need to appreciate a nice West Coast Avengers cover.

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Like this one:


Whenever I come across it, it certainly stands out from the other covers in the series around it, most of which (at least early in the run) are very much in the “let’s cram in everybody however we can” style.

While the crowd-scene covers from West Coast Avengers seemed to be more…utilitarian than artistic, some covers could have benefited from a little more artsiness:


…especially if you’ve got gorillas in the midst of your funnybook image. Wonder Man fighting an ape army totally should have been the full cover image, particularly as the fallen West Coasters just look like they’re floating in the aether, there. The bright-yellow aether, as, you know, aether tends to be. But regardless, the “bodies” are a big distraction and take space away from apes, and when you got apes on your cover, you want to take full advantage of them.

And then there’s this cover:


GAH.
 

Once again, covers from the Grand Comics Database. All covers by Al Milgrom and Mike Machlan, except for the Hawkeye one, inked by Joe Sinnot. Also, “gorillias in the midst?” Yeah, I meant to do that.

All times are approximate.

filed under Categories collecting, death of superman 13 Comments

So the amount of time that had passed between the release of this comic:


…and this comic:


…is kinda/sorta about the same, give or take a handful of months, as will have passed between the release of this comic:


…and the new Action Comics #1 coming this September:


First, to save me some “um, actually”-ing in the comments, please note I said “about,” not “exactly.” It’s close enough for my point, or what passes as my point.

Second, it’s a bit “one of these things is not like the other,” I realize, since one is a debut issue and the other two are reboots of one kind or another, though you could read the “Death of Superman” event as an equally-influential revitalization of the franchise.

But when looking at the spans of time involved here…the debut of Superman (and, if not the launch of the Golden Age of Comics, at least its most significant event) in 1938, followed eighteen years later by the launching of the Silver Age* with the debut of the new Flash (itself only seven years after the cancellation of the Golden Age Flash series, and five years after the G.A. Flash’s last appearance in All-Star Comics).

My only point to this really is that, when I was younger, and was first learning about all these events in comics history, it certainly felt like we were talking about longer periods of time. Given all the talk and bandying about of the terms “Golden Age” and “Silver Age,” it came as bit of a shock to realize that only about half a decade separated the two eras. I mean, that’s barely longer than it took Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk to finish.

Conventional wisdom is that the customer base for comics turned over fairly quickly in those days. The kid who bought the last issue of the Golden Age Flash Comics, #104, had probably outgrown comics before Showcase #4 rolled along, and the kids who bought Showcase #4 probably had never seen the previous Flash. I mean, I wasn’t there, and I’m making some assumptions, and I know some people probably carried over from one “Age” to the next. But that was the general belief.

Compare to today, when most people who buy comics have been buying for years at a time. In my case, using the Superman example…I was buying the comic in the early 1980s, I bought the Man of Steel mini in 1986 which restarted Superman’s history from scratch, I bought (and am still buying) all the main Superman series from then ’til now, and I plan on picking up the new relaunched Superman titles in a couple of months. That’s bit of an extreme case, but comic fans following characters or series for years at a time is more the rule than the exception, nowadays. At least, those folks are the primary target of the superhero publishers. The “crossover event leading into the next crossover event” publishing strategy is obviously not one they could have pulled off in, say, 1948, when the audience turnover would have meant people reading the end result of this strategy without having been there at the beginning.

I picked the Death of Superman issue as an example because that’s a relatively recent event that a number of us recall happening during our comics-reading (and for some of us, our comics-retailing) history. It’s a pretty solid timestamp in our memories, a “where were you when…?” kind of thing. (Where was I? Explaining to an enormous and increasingly-irritable crowd of people “uh, only one customer, please.”) It doesn’t seem like that long ago to me, and yet the time that has passed is longer that the original run of The Spirit and the original run of Fawcett’s Captain Marvel.

Boy, this kind of got away from me. Another point I was intended to make was “it was a lot easier to get away with reboots back in the day” because, well, anyone complaining was probably going to stop reading comics soon anyway, and there were always more readers coming to replace them. Yet another point was simply realizing that less tempus had fugited than I thought when it came to certain historical events in the comics industry. That last point is simply the result of age, I’m sure…when I was 15, a five year span sure seemed like an eternity. Today: well, I’m pretty sure I’ve got socks that are older than five years. (Shut up…they’re in good shape!)

But if there were a primary point to all this babbling, it is simply that I was somewhat amused by comparing the two timespans above. And yes, I know not everyone who’s reading this has been reading comics for decades. Let me wallow in my dotage in peace.
 

* Some people mark the beginning of the Silver Age with the first appearance of the Martian Manhunter. And, y’know, that’s cool with me.

Oh, by the way, all images are from the Grand Comics Database. I was too lazy to dig out my copy of the original Action #1 to scan.

Spiro Agnew Saturday #1.

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ONLY ONE MAN IN THIS ROOM

IS TRULY THRILLED BY THE FEMME FORCE PROJECT

from Captain America #144 (December 1971) by Gary Friedrich and John Romita

Miscellaneous things, in brief.

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  • Bully, The Little Stuffed Bull That Walks Like A Little Stuffed Bull, has been presenting some fine examples of Chris Claremont’s most Claremonty angsting, and you can dig ’em right here at Bully’s “Claremont” blog tag.

  • Oh, hey, check out this new Star Trek webcomic by Kevin Church and Ming Doyle. It’s satirical-licious!

  • Well, that Green Lantern: Hal Jordan movie prequel comic certainly was a retelling of a few brief scenes from the film. Nice Jerry Ordway art, though. And that makes two Hal Jordan-logoed comics on the stands at the same time!

    • RELATED: “What were Hal Jordan, Sinestro, Kilowog, Abin Sur and The Guardians all doing before the curtains rise on June 17?” Not reading a complete set of the prequel comics! Christopher Butcher notes the shipping issues the GL prequels have been having, and how it might bode ill for the coming DC September o’Number Ones.

  • BEHOLD – a third GL-related bulletpoint: even though the “War of the Lanterns” crossover has been botched a bit by the scheduling problems, this week’s Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #11, which takes place after the conclusion of that storyline, doesn’t really spoil much for that storyline. Oh, except that Guy is still alive. And still a Green Lantern.

  • Speaking of logos, which I was a couple of bulletpoints ago: so The Iron Age tie-in mini-series came out from Marvel, and the first issue has two different covers. Having two different cover images is one thing, but one has a big ol’ AVENGERS logo, and the other has a big ol’ CAPTAIN BRITAIN logo, both overwhelming the tiny little “IRON AGE” logo stripped across the top edge of the cover. They look for all the world like they’re two different comic book series. It is not immediately apparent that they’re simply two variations on the same comic. It can be a tad bit misleading, if you’re not paying attention.

  • Seriously, I don’t know why comics folk don’t just consult Dr. Polite Scott first before putting together any medically-involved scene, because they’re totally going to get it wrong otherwise.

  • Finally got my hands on Jim Woodring’s Congress of the Animals hardcover, after some screw-up (i.e. Mike maybe missing that line in the order form during the initial orders) resulted in not receiving the book as soon as it was out. But it’s here, and it’s just as beautifully-dreamlike and nightmarish as much of Woodring’s work. I’m terrible at describing things, so let me send you to this brief preview.

  • In case you can’t make it to a Transformers 3 showing this summer, Andrew has got you covered.

  • Pals Dorian and Ken present their monthly movie trailer reviews, which is always one of my favorite things to read.

  • I have had to remove the Amazon.com affiliate links from my sidebar, as the company will no longer send referral payments to affiliates located in California. (You can read more about it here.) Those few extra dollars a month did help out quite a bit, and I want to thank everyone who used those links to order things and sent me some coin of the realm in the process.

Progressive Ruin presents…the End of Civilization.

filed under Categories End of Civilization 19 Comments

Oh, it’s another one of these, so put on your nice shoes, comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash behind your ears, trim your fingernails, pluck out those stray hairs, put on your worm suit, and follow along in your copy of Previews, July 2011 edition. …Also, I work the room a little blue in this installment, for which I apologize. Clearly violent video games are to blame.

p. 66 – Justice League #1:


Whoa, hey, a new Justice League #1! Well, that’s certainly unexpec…

p. 68 – Aquaman #1:


…Wait, hold on? An Aquaman #1, too? They’re gonna try and make Aquaman stick again, huh? Well, good lu…

p. 73 – Green Arrow #1:


Oh, come on. Didn’t they just restart this series, like, a year ago? Is this like that old Zero Hour event, where they gave every series a #0 issue? Like, this is One Hour or something?

p. 84 – Batman: The Dark Knight #1:


A new #1. For a series that’s had a whole two issues so far. DC’s just screwing with me, isn’t it?

p. 87 – Batwoman #1:

>

Oh, yeah, right.

p. 119 – The Bible HC:


So I hear DC is rebooting Christianity with this issue, and giving everyone new costumes and powers.

p. 144 – True Blood The French Quarter #2:


“Hey, do you have that photo variant cover?”

“Nah…we were only able to get one for the number of regular covers we ordered and we’ve already sold it.”

“Oh, that’s too bad, that’s the only cover I was interested in.”

“Yeah, I hear that a lot.”

p. 226 – Angry Bird of Prey T-Shirt:


You’d be angry, too, if you had that stickin’ in your rear.

p. 274 – Green Hornet #20


Sure are a lot fewer Green Hornet comics in this catalog. I’m sure the number will pick up again once Seth Rogan starts working on the sequel.

p. 291 – Mangaman HC:


I was kinda working on my own Mangaman character for a while. He was a superhero, with the power of asking retailers for manga by their original Japanese titles instead of the English titles they might actually recognize them by, and then would get upset when he found out there aren’t any volumes past the point of the fan-translations he’s already read online for free.

But clearly that’s crazy. Who would ever believe such a preposterous scenario?

p. 298 – Holy Terror HC:


I’m going to call that “New Frank Miller GN!” blurb the least necessary blurb ever. (And not just because it says “Frank Miller’s” at the top there.)

p. 338 – The Boy Who Loved Batman: A Memoir HC:


I had no idea the Chris Sims autobiography was out already.

p. 338 – The Batman Files Deluxe HC:

“The Batman Files includes in-depth computer files, news articles, crime scene photos, blueprints, schematics, and actual maps of Gotham City that were collected, and in many cases even drawn, by the Caped Crusader himself.”

THE CAPED CARTOGRAPHER. Of course, some kid is going to take that “drawn by Batman himself” thing to heart, and then see whoever the maps are actually credited to in the fine print, and then he’ll be all “oh my God…Eugene Miller is Batman?”

p. 352 – Star Trek Vault: 40 Years from The Archives:


“REVEALED WITHIN: Gene Roddenberry originally pitched Star Trek as, not ‘Wagon Train in space,’ but as The Long, Long Trailer in space,’ with Kirk and Spock stuck in an out-of-control rocket ship traveling across the galaxy, and the two men constantly being tossed about the cabin by the rocket’s erratic movements.”

No, I’m sorry, I’m totally lying. Bet I completely fooled you, though.

p. 352 – Star Wars The Blueprints Deluxe Slipcased Edition:


“Hey, where’d the Death Star plans go?”

p. 372 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Raphael Classic Muscle Adult Costume:


What all the store employees shall be wearing.

p. 372 – G.I. Joe Cobra Commander Deluxe Costume:


…And what I shall be wearing.

p. 376 – Star Wars Jawa Costume:


That is one tall damn Jawa.

p. 376 – Star Wars Tauntaun Inflatable Costume:


NOT A SEX TOY.

p. 377 – Star Wars Boba Fett Candy Bowl Holder:


“NO DISINTEGRATIONS. Or popcorn balls. I mean, gross, who likes those things?”

p. 377 – Star Wars Yoda Candy Bowl Holder:


“Stunt your growth too much candy will.”

p. 377 – Star Wars Darth Vader Candy Dish Holder:


“Can someone please help me shove some Twizzlers through my mouth-grate? I’m so, so hungry.”

p. 387 – My First Bacon Talking Plush:


Never too early to start instilling children with those vague half-memories of strange, unexplained things from their infancy.

p. 388 – Doctor Who Fourth Doctor & Sontaran 8-Inch Action Figures:


So nice to see Sebastian Shaw get some work after being unceremoniously replaced by Hayden Christensen at the end of the Return of the Jedi special edition.

p. 391 – Plush Beating Heart:


And once I get my hands on a plush human brain, my plush Frankenstein’s Monster will be alive…ALIIIIIIVE!

p. 392 – The Lego Ideas Book:


First idea: build a Lego version of this book.

p. 402 – The Dukes of Hazzard The Ghost of General Lee 1/25-Scale Model Kit:

“On October 26, 1979, the famous Dukes of Hazzard episode, ‘Ghost of General Lee,’ aired on CBS. It featured Rosco getting scared out of his wits by a glowing General Lee charger, back from the dead- or so he thought!”

I never watched much of this show as a kid…but had I known there was an episode about a dude being scared by the ghost of a car…! You’re not going to see anything this great on your Sons of Anarchys or your The Wires, smart guys.

p. 407 – Red Skull Mini-Bust:


“Well, before we approve this….”

“Yes?”

“Does he have to be so…you know, red?”

“Uh, his name’s the Red Skull.”

“That’s another thing…the skull’s a bit much. Can you…flesh him up a bit?”

“He’s the Skull.”

“Oh, oh…sure, he’d still have a skull, you know, under his skin. His more pinkish skin.”

p. 410 – Star Wars The Clone Wars – Savage Oppress Statue:


“Okay, before we start printing up the boxes for this thing, we’re going to need the character’s actual name to replace this placeholder name you sent us.”

“Placeholder name?”

“Yeah…this ‘Savage Oppress.’ We need to replace that on the packaging with the real name.”

“Um, that is the real name.”

“…Seriously?”

p. 422 – Halloween Necklace Prosthetics:


AND NOW, THE WORST JOKE I HAVE EVER WRITTEN:

I think there’s a white-colored version in the Adult Previews.

THANK YOU FOR READING PROGRESSIVE RUIN. WE’LL MISS HAVING YOU AROUND.

p. 424 – Zombie Costume Tee White T-Shirt:


At the shop, in the near future:

ME: “Hey, you’re wearing one of those novelty Zombie t-shirts!”

DUDE: “A novelty what?”

ME: “Um…nothing. Didn’t say anything.”

p. 430 – Green Lantern Spinning Ring:


Meanwhile, Myrwhydden constantly has motion sickness.

p. 432 – The Exorcist Regan Lenticular Mirror:


When I was but a wee Mikester, I had as a toy a Charlie McCarthy ventriloquist dummy. No, I’m not 70 years old, wise guy…they’re still marketing these things. Anyway, there were times when I was terrified of it…I’d seen the movies and TV shows, I knew ventriloquist dummies were just sitting there waiting for the right moment to strike and strangle a kid. But there it would sit, in my room, and, late at night, I just knew it was going to get up off that chair or clamber out of the toybox and get me.

I would still rather have that ventriloquist doll than this Regan mirror thing lookin’ at me from a wall.

p. 447 – Operation Star Wars R2-D2 Edition:


So that’s what happened to all of Artoo’s gadgets between the Prequel trilogy and the Original Trilogy…you pulled those out of him! How can you people live with yourselves?

p. 449 – Munchkin Axe Cop:


I do not envy the gamemakers’ task in constraining this comic to a set series of rules.

Marvel Previews p. 92 – Avengers: West Coast Avengers – Sins of the Past Premiere HC:


So that’s the cover you really want to go with. Here, let me recommend a slightly less creepy image:

Unless of course those are alien gorillas…

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…who would interpret a direct look and the baring of teeth as signs of aggression:

from Superboy #109 (December 1963) by Jerry Siegel & George Papp


Hey, it could be alien gorillas. This is 1960s DC Comics, after all, and you know how they loved their gorillas.