HIS TERRIBLE SECRET
Sluggo Saturday #80.
HIS TERRIBLE SECRET
HIS TERRIBLE SECRET
“Jin-Jay blow water out of her sea bicycle and show you how works”
Oh, hey, comics…they still publish those?
So apparently what the people want is creepy hobo Charlie Brown, judging by the linkage and traffic I’ve been receiving lately. Thanks for encouraging my behavior, Other Internet Sites, though sadly I don’t have much else in the vagrant Peanuts character vein. However, it does remind me that I haven’t mentioned pal Nat‘s new book The Peanuts Collection, a neat compilation of photos and replica tchotchkes (like trading cards, rare booklets, cels, and such. He brought a copy by for me to poke through, and it’s certainly a neat and beautifully-done package. No Hobo Charlie Brown that I noticed, but you should probably buy a copy anyway, courtesy this little box here:
In other non-Peanuts news, people have been sending me the link to Our Valued Customers, a collection of one-panel cartoons presenting things said by customers and Overheard at The Comic Shop. Reminded me a bit of that mini-comic I did back in ’96, and posted here on my site, though my examples are more general “everyone’s heard ’em” quotes, and Our Valued Customers’ examples are more of the frothing-at-the-mouth type. As has been noted by a pal of mine, I’m not sure I’d draw actual caricatures of my customers and post them online, but hell, I can enjoy ’em and not have to worry about taking the heat if any of them find out. (Though, as I admit in that old post, one person in my mini, aside from the self-portrait, was an intended caricature…she hasn’t come back and killed me in the 14 years since, so I think I’m safe. …So far.)
In other news, some new comics came out this week:
- The new Smurfs volume The Smurf King is out…still the same complaint about the lettering I had last time, but that still remains really my only complaint. Some fine, funny, witty cartooning that holds up all these decades later. Don’t dismiss it just because of the ’80s cartoon show…this is genuinely classic stuff.
- Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #6 – I think maybe if the only superhero comics I’d read from now on were ones written by Grant Morrison, I’d probably be okay with that. I get all the wonderfully strange and inventive and near-celebratory superheroic storytelling that I want from his comics, compared to some other titles where it just feels like pages are getting filled. In this particular case, it’s a shame about the series’ timing, but still remains a satisfyingly odd exploration of the history of Batman and a solid chapter in Morrison’s ongoing Bat-saga.
- Glamourpuss #16 – I’m the only person still reading this at our shop. I’m still enjoying it. Not even quite sure how or why I’m enjoying it, but Sim’s goofy combo of fashion industry parody and in-depth examinations of classic comic artists still keeps my attention.
- Green Lantern Emerald Warriors #4 – I’m a sucker for still getting this. I just really like the Green Lantern concept, so I’m an easy mark.
- Comic Book Guy The Comic Book #5 – End of the series, kind of wish there was more actual Comic Book Guy action throughout the story, but still a funny parade of knocks on the comics industry and the folks who enable it. In-jokey, but not overly so.
- Muppet Sherlock Holmes #3 – The parody Muppet minis aren’t as strong as the ongoing Muppet Show series, which means they’re only excellent instead of perfect. Plus, I’m a big fan of Sherlock Holmes pastiches and parodies, so this is right up my alley.
- Hellblazer: City of Demons #3 – Really have no idea why this didn’t just run in the regular series. It’s not a bad comic by any means, but the market doesn’t really need two Hellblazer comics on the stands at the same time. Nor does it need three Wolverine titles, but I think I’ve mentioned that enough.
- The Incredible Hulks #616 – I was kinda hard on this title last time, since the proliferation of Hulk characters (hence the title change) was wearing on me a bit, but I find myself enjoying Bruce Banner/the Hulk’s responses to the situations they’re finding themselves in. But I’m pretty much ready to be done with the whole Sons of the Hulk thing.
- T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1 – Okay, first, it’s a pain in the butt to type all those periods in that name. Second, I may have mocked this comic a little in the past, but the fact that Nick Spencer, the man currently writing the fantastic Jimmy Olsen back-up in Action Comics, is also writing this is very positive sign. It’s still an uphill battle, trying to get people invested in yet another new revival superhero series, but maybe it’ll actually have a chance if the writing is strong.
- Dungeons & Dragons #1 – By all accounts, a good comic, I’m hearing. Yes, everyone is completely surprised by this fact. The retailer incentive variant had a cover that resembled the old D&D adventure modules from TSR, and even included an actual playable adventure that wasn’t in the regular version. IDW has this habit of making the incentive editions the cool thing that might actually sell well, instead of making the regularly-available issue awesome. Don’t put that photo cover of handsome bastard 1960s William Shatner on your variant, put him on your regular Star Trek cover…and don’t make just the variant D&D book look like a module, make ’em all look like that. That variant grabbed the eye of everyone who looked at it, far more than the generic fantasy covers of the regular editions that simply blend in on the rack.
- Avengers: Children’s Crusade #3, Avengers Prime #4, New Avengers #6, I Am An Avenger #4, Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes #1 – sigh.
- Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali hardcovers – one version is at the original “treasury edition” size, the other at the standard comic book size (but containing additional unpublished art), and I’m unclear, since they arrived shrinkwrapped…are they both recolored by Neal Adams’ studio? If so, that’s a shame, but the fact remains that this really is one of the greatest Superman stories of all time, and if you can’t get your mitts on the original, I’d recommend the treasury-sized hardcover over the smaller one, regardless of the extra material. This comic needs to be read BIG.
“Train animals, pets, probably a sibling or two!”
1955 comic book ad
When I was but a young Mikester in the ’70s (the nineteen-seventies, wiseguy) (A.D.), there were a couple of neighborhood kids who had leather bullwhips as toys. Not sure why they had whips as toys, but we all had fun trying to get the end of the whip to crack “like the bang of a shot gun!” as it says in the ad, there. And here we were, in a quiet Southern California city, with really nothing else to do with a bullwhip except try to crack it or, of course, chase each other around trying to hit each other with it. How no one lost an eye is anyone’s guess.
Do kids still get whips as toys now? I mean, aside from kids who’d have regular access to whips anyway, like maybe those who live on farms or whose parents either train lions or provide specialty direct-to-DVD entertainments. I’d suspect bullwhip toys are the kind of thing that’s going the way of the candy cigarettes and the gray plastic spring-loaded cannon I used to have that shot freakin’ wooden bullets.
Anyway, that’s some seductive descriptive text in that ad. “Grip lightly (pressure is on the loop) then crack or coil, ladies.” Okay, silliness aside, whoever wrote this ad sure made it sound like owning a whip would be the greatest thing ever, with just a few choice evocative words, even if ultimately the only thing you did with it was scare the dog or annoy your friends.
“Hi! I’m a Rogue button!”
“Hi, Rogue button!”
Sorry, this is all I have for today’s post. Actual content will resume tomorrow. …Boy, Rogue sure looked different back then. Found this button when we were doing a little cleaning up/emptying of storage areas around the shop…sold tons of these white-background X-Men buttons back in the early-to-mid 1980s.
Also found during the clean-up: an envelope containing $3 we owed to pal Cully for selling copies of his Skulldog Comics mini, $6 we owe to a guy for selling his mini-comic even though I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen the guy in over a decade, a stack of Thieves World novels I was supposed to take home a long time ago, an ersatz Oscar statue prop left behind by a friend when he used our shop for a student film he was making, a love letter written to a former employee (sorry, Timmy, not you), some foil Pokemon stickers (none of them of the greatest Pokemon of all time), and the Peanuts comic that I scanned from for yesterday’s post.
I suspect if we continue cleaning out our cabinets, we’ll eventually find out what happened to former employee Nathan.
“I’ll be a hungry hobo.”
And then there was that time Charlie Brown put on a hat, a heavy coat, and a fake mustache and frightened his friends:
That was his revenge for being rejected by the other kids from “playing house” (not to mention getting him to his ultimate goal…a helping of now-unguarded ice cream and cake). Here is the elaborate role-playing scenario which he hoped would allow him to join the festivities:
Frankly, that’s a bit creepy. You’re your own worst enemy, Charlie Brown.
images from Peanuts #8 (Feb-Apr 1961)
The self-affirmation of the Doll Man.
from Feature Comics #121 (April 1948)
Sluggo Saturday #79.
IN CASE THIS IMPULSE STRIKES
from The Best of Ernie Bushmiller’s Nancy (1988)
I don’t often wear my Tom Servo “I’M HUGE!” t-shirt for the same reason.
Another recently arrived purchase from the eBay: a companion Sluggo magnet for the one I received a few days ago:
This Sluggo is kinda sorta posed the same way as the Sluggo in the last Sluggo Saturday, only sans moustache.
Arrived at the store this week is an assortment of buttons called “DC Superheroes Have Issues,” and some of the buttons feature pics of superheroes and villains with captions identifying their particular problem and, perhaps, intended to comment on the wearer of said button. Like, Batman’s says “Needs Anger Management,” Flash’s is “Speed Freak” (er…), Dr. Fate’s is “Painfully Shy” (because of the full facemask, you see), and Joker’s is “Just Crazy,” which is pretty funny, actually.
The best one is probably this one:
And while this may be a problem of the Penguin’s (though perhaps overstating it a bit):
…that’s…um, well, what can you say, really. Apparently, expected demand for this button was low, as this was the only one in the box. Or maybe it’s a Rare Chase Retailer Incentive Embossed Foil Die Cut Cover – Death and Return of Captain America and Superman Autographed by Alex Ross and Buck Rogers and Silver Spoons Star Erin Gray Button! Starting Bid $129.99! L@@K! H@T! We Take PayPal!
…Er, sorry about that.
For some reason, I Googled “morbidly obese Penguin” and up came this page, and apparently the phrase is some kind of internet thing. Maybe. I guess. Who can tell?
Finally got around to reading some of this week’s comics, and regarding Grant Morrison’s Batman and Robin #16…without getting into spoilers, let’s just say that they weren’t kidding about it being a “game-changer.” I mean, we knew where it was going, given the premise of Batman, Inc., but how it got from here to there is something else. Of course, my first reaction to reading it is “I wonder what they’re going to have to do when they eventually change everything back to the way it was” since, like any comic book character with this long an existence and with this much tie-in merchandise and other media translations, the inertia of its own history and reader/general public expectations always tends toward reverting these kinds of temporary fiddlings with the formulas. But, given the kind of change made, and the relative significance of the character, I suspect the transition back to the old status quo may be as traumatic as the change over to the new one…and I also suspect Morrison has said transition already built into place for when the time comes.
Oh, the comic was good, too.
Not the first mention of Crying Superman on my website.
So there was this question from a late ’70s installment of Bob Rozakis’ Answer Man column:
I was a bit amused by someone’s need to have this question answered. Then again, there was no easily-accessible public Internet at the time…how else were you gonna find out?
‘Course, we all know the answer now:
Why Superman even put up with Jimmy, I have no idea.
Oh, and don’t forget this:
Hey, hey…less crying, more flying, pal.
Anyway, the Answer Man column, for at least part of its run, was part of DC’s “Daily Planet” news/advertising page…this was the headline story of this particular installment:
Well, that’s nice. I’m sure those two crazy kids will make it work. See, Superman, there’s no reason to cry on this, the happiest of days!
In other news:
- Chris Sims, Benjamin Birdie, Jen Vaughn, and the World’s Most Handsome Man, David Wolkin, team up to play live action Dungeons & Dragons and simultaneously create pure hilarity.
- Don’t remember if I linked this before, but it turned up in my Swamp Thing Google alerts feed (…what? What?) and if I posted it before, here it is again: a very nice 2006 drawing of Swamp Thing and Abby by Michael Zulli. Maybe kinda Not Safe for Work, since Abby’s naked, though not showing any naughty bits. Come to think of it, Swamp Thing’s naked in the picture, too. Just look at him, letting his tubers just dangle out there like that.
- Here’s a short bit about Comico’s Black Book anniversary comic. (Hey, I have one of those!) There’s also a short blurb about the first volume of the Comics Interview compilation project, which I talked about a few days ago…I actually have a copy in my possession now, courtesy of the publishers, and it’s quite the impressive tome. I may have more to say about it later, but it’s hard to review, aside from pointing out that if you’re looking for a large collection of interviews with a wide variety of interesting people, here it is! I’ve been enjoying reading through it, and if you have an interest in comics history, you probably will, too.
- Pals Dorian and Ken have their latest movie trailers review over at The Bureau Chiefs. I love it when they do this column.