Julius “Orange” McNulty can barely contain his excitement.

filed under Categories Uncategorized 13 Comments


Meanwhile, across town, the Eddie Izzard gang strikes:


By the way, when inspecting your ill-gotten ermines, letting your pistol hang halfway out of your jacket pocket is a one way ticket to injury on the job. When pulling your heist, please make sure to safely secure all weaponry not currently being used. Just another gun safety tip from your pal Mike!

images from Superman #186 (May 1966) by Otto Binder & Al Plastino

From the back room of misfit toys.

filed under Categories misfit toys 18 Comments


We have had this toy in stock since the Virus film, based on the Dark Horse comic book, was released in 1999. Though, come to think of it, I don’t remember if the toy was explicitly a tie-in to the movie or to the comic. I suppose it doesn’t really matter now.

There was a short series of store stickers on the packaging (removed for that photo) with progressively lower prices that attracted no one.

I tire of looking at it sometimes, and I’ll store it away in the back room for months, or years, at a time. However, I also occasionally put it on eBay, and pray that someone takes pity upon us.

Oh, Squeaky from Virus action figure, I fear that you will accompany me to the grave.

I AM

SQUEAKY OF BORG

And now…the Nineties.

filed under Categories Uncategorized 24 Comments


Transferring that pic to the foil surface of the packaging didn’t do it any favors. It’s hard to tell looking at the scan, since it sort of flattens everything out and mutes the effect, but having every line on Shaft’s face be a little silver streak is both distracting and disturbing.

Here’s a group shot from card #2:


The quote from Liefeld on the back of the card sums it (and by “it” I mean “the superhero comics industry for the majority of the decade”) all up:

A decade of Neilalien.

filed under Categories customer gary 8 Comments

Neilalien is the longest running continuous comics blogger still active, and as of yesterday he has been doing it for ten years.

I’ve spoken before about how much I appreciate Neilalien. I’ve thanked him in my anniversary posts, I’ve thanked him for helping me hash out my website issues, and I don’t remember if I ever thanked him here for, very early on, helping me with prepping images for site use, but if not, I’m thanking him now.

Neilalien is an absolute treasure, and a unique voice in the comics weblog community. I’ve never met him, no idea what his real name is (though I suspect part of it may be “Neil”), never spoken to him on the phone…but he continues to be an ongoing inspiration to my own comics blogging endeavors. Thank you Neilalien…may your own Eye of Agamotto never blink.

(Read other appreciations of Neilalien at Comic Book Galaxy and The Comics Reporter.)

• • •

In other news:

  • Pal Andres has started up a postcard campaign to get DC Comics to manufacture a giveaway Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, like the Lantern and Flash rings. Hey, sure, I’d like one. A ring, that is, not a postcard.

    Read more about it from Andres’ cohort Svengali Lad and dis here Robot 6 article.

    I think I’m going to start up a letter-writing campaign to get a similar Swamp Thing giveaway. (“Thanks for buying Swamp Thing Adventures #1…here’s your plastic tuber.”)

  • Speaking of rings, DC finally announced the White Lantern ring giveaway which everyone kinda expected, including me.

    I’m not ashamed…I love these goofy ring giveaways. I totally want them all.

  • Speaking of greedily wanting everything…

    [SPOILER WARNING]

    …I’m glad to see in the new DC solicitations that Larfleeze, the Orange Lantern of Avarice, survives Blackest Night and will be sticking around for a while. Why? Because Everyone Loves Larfleeze, that’s why. I almost broke my own self-imposed ban on buying new action figures to get that Larfleeze figure that just came out.

    This whole Blackest Night thing is all worth it just for Larfleeze. I love that guy.

  • Chris Sims and pals have done it again…twice! First, you can read the first chapter of The Chronicles of Solomon Stone #2 (with the next three chapters posted weekly). Then, prepare for your emergency awesomeness transfusion at Awesome Hospital, updated Tuesdays and Thursdays!

  • Speaking of comics, customer Gary put together a couple of sample panels for the Atomelephant and Elastiquito comic based on Employee Aaron’s sketch.


    Oh man, such a tantalizing beginning.

Progressive Ruin presents…the End of Civilization.

filed under Categories End of Civilization 25 Comments

Oh, man, it’s been a couple of days, that’s for sure. But, here we go, a new installment of End of Civilization to delight and probably annoy. Download a copy of the March 2010 Diamond Previews from copyright_liberators_daily and follow along. (Also, I finally added an “End of Civilization” category, which only links to this post so far. I’ll add the rest later when I have a little free time!)

p. 132 – Ame-Comi Heroine Series: Star Sapphire PVC Figure:


Oh, good, this should end the debate about Star Sapphire’s costume once and for all.

p. 209 – Fame #1 Lady Gaga:


You know, for most of my End of Civilization entries, I’m only joking that the item in question indicates the imminent fall of the world.

Just sayin’.

p. 244 – The Talisman: The Road of Trials Volume 1 HC:


I’m about to do something entirely unfair.

What my original hardcover copy of The Talisman novel cost when I got it back in 1984: $18.95 (probably about $30 or so today)

What this graphic novel adaptation of the early portions of the novel costs: $25.00

Yes, yes, we’re talking about two different animals here, but still, I think it’s interesting.

p. 275 – Archie: The Best of Dan DeCarlo, Volume 1:


Boy, I sure hope they talk about how he created Josie and the Pussycats in these books. And why he moved on to drawing Simpsons comics and such in his last few years.

p. 328 – Marvel Comics Iron Man 2 Trading Cards:


So I’m assuming Iron 2 Man is about a steam iron magically transformed into a human, and the wacky adventures he has trying to fit into a strange new world. “Hey, man, don’t press me!” “Whoops, sorry, old habits.”

…

I’ve lost my mind.

p. 333 – Krypto Mad Dog II T-Shirt:


“Doggie style.” Hmm, let’s see, what do I think of when I see that phrase?

1. The punk band Doggy Style.

2. A literal reference to the fact that this is a style of shirt with the picture of a dog on it.

3. And nothing else.

p. 335 – Zombieland We Stand United T-Shirt:


I can’t help but think that this is just going to cause problems with people who don’t notice the Zombieland logo in the corner. “What, you got a problem with sick people, jerk?”

p. 373 – Wolverine & The X-Men Colossus Statue:


Oh, thank goodness, my Colossus “Tribute to Armpits” statue is finally on its way.

p. 378 – Sushi Erasers:


Ladies, gentlemen…let the pranks begin.

p. 378 – Mini Designer Chairs:


These are collectible 1/12 scale model chairs, sold in “blind mystery box” packaging.

I don’t have a joke. I’m too busy being stunned.

p. 379 – Marvel Comics Coloud Headphones:


“STUPID HEADPHONES NOT FIT RIGHT ON HULK’S HEAD. HULK CAN’T PROPERLY ENJOY GLORIA ESTAFAN AND THE MIAMI SOUND MACHINE. WANT RHYTHM TO GET ME TONIGHT.”

“War Journal Entry #5511: I had hoped the soothing sounds of Billy Joel’s An Innocent Man would ease away the pain I live with every day…the pain of loss that never ebbs no matter how many drug dealers or mob bosses I take down. But if Hulk doesn’t shut up about his Gloria Estafan record, I swear to God I’m going to shoot the son of a bitch.”

p. 380 – Tru Blood Soda:

“Tart and slightly sweet, Tru Blood pours like a regular soda but appears stormy and mysterious when poured into a glass.”

Well, hell, I’m sold. If it’s one thing I want to put into my body, it’s something “stormy and mysterious.”

p. 392 – Family Guy Clue:


“The loud, obnoxious character…did it in the living room…with the flashback to a pop-culture reference.”

p. 393 – John Wayne Monopoly:


“Ooh, I landed on The Conqueror square. What happens now?”

“You…really don’t want to know.”

Marvel Previews p. 24-31 – Spider-Man family titles:


That’s eleven different titles, including three issues of Amazing, two mini-series, a one-shot, and an annual. …Huh, I wonder how come Spider-Man‘s success doesn’t translate to comic sales? You’d think the transition from one movie every three years or so to nearly a dozen different stories a month would be a natural one.

Marvel Previews p. 99 – Runaways Live Fast Premiere HC:


Hey, it’s that cover again! I think I’d almost be a bit disappointed if they fixed this little problem.

p. 100 – Avengers Red Zone Premiere HC:


Wow, they pumped up Johns’ name on the cover there to almost “Writers Who’ve Licensed Out Their Novels to Marvel” size on the cover there. Must be because of all the advertising DC’s been doing for them.

The world yet to come.

filed under Categories Uncategorized 13 Comments


Well said, my Tholian friend.

So with working on the book, trying to help with the launch of The Bureau Chiefs site in my own limited way, dealing with a migraine, and other personal life issues, I just plain ran out of time for good ol’ Progressive Ruin today. I know, I suck. Not that I didn’t work on PR a little bit…mostly more tinkering with some of the pages here as a result of all that stuff I blathered on about yesterday. But I’ve got things in the hopper, like an End of Civilization post, and other goodies, so don’t worry, I still love you, baby. I mean it.

Also, some of you suggested I elaborate a little on my aside in yesterday’s post about the creepiness factor of Alpha Flight, and that’s a darn good idea, so look for that in the future, too.

AND…I had someone ask on the Twitter if I was going to acknowledge the fourth annual Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk Day, which, by the way, was two days ago. I hadn’t thought about it, since the planets aligned, pigs flew, Hell froze over, and Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk finished its run, but I suppose there are some series out there still not officially canceled, but Good Lord A’mighty they’re running late. All Star Batman and Robin is well over a year late at this point, and, well, I’m sure there are other late books out there. Not just a month or two, but like six months or more. Is All Star Batman the current record holder? Shall I begin celebrating a day in that comic’s honor? I mean, I already celebrate the book, because it’s absolutely fantastic, but I’m no fan of its scheduling.

Anyway, thanks for your patience, internet pals, and hopefully soon I’ll get my act together here on the deadline front.

image from Star Trek The Next Generation #72 (June 1995) by Michael Jan Friedman, Gordon Purcell and Terry Pallot

Permalinks, Alpha Flight, Rudy, insurance, and ONE MILLION DOLLARS.

filed under Categories blogging about blogging is a sin 12 Comments

So Neilalien had a short essay regarding Blogger’s dropping of FTP publishing, which, as you may recall, instigated my own switchover to the WordPress blogging platform. After reading what he had to say, I emailed Mr. Alien and talked over this situation, particularly in regards to “linkrot” (i.e. the breaking of links to my old Blogger permalinks, lost when I moved to WordPress). I was especially concerned since, not only did I break any incoming links from other sites, I had a habit of linking to past posts, so plenty of internal links were broken.

However, Neil suggested a solution which I’ve since implemented…republishing stripped down versions of my old archive pages through Blogger, containing all the old permalinks, which themselves include links back to the current version of my site. (I’ve also – hopefully – set those pages to not be indexed by search engines, so I shouldn’t have duplicate results on everything.) It’s not the most elegant solution in the world, but it’s better than people getting 404 errors all over the place. And I’m no longer breaking links in other people’s sites, which really did bother me.

From what I gather, if I’d been using Blogger’s “post-per-page” format instead of the “archive.html#4358435080490”-style permalinks, I wouldn’t be having this problem, as those appear to translate over a little easier. Or, at least, I’d be having different, more easily solvable problems. Unless there’s a solution I missed, which I’m sure I’ll hear about in the comments if I did.

Anyway, short version…old permalinks should go to something other than a 404 page now. Sorry for the inconvenience, and sorry for not being very considerate of you folks who suddenly found old links to my site suddenly not working. And now, I can put off trying to manually fix all my internal links, which would have probably driven me crazy when I hit this post.

A CAVEAT: at some point, I had an issue with some new update of Blogger or ‘nother, and my archive page URLs changed format. If you see links in earlier pages of mine to even older posts in this format:

“https://progressiveruin.com/archives/2004_04_25_archive.html#108291646897164207”

…you can remove the “archives/” directory, making the link this:

“https://progressiveruin.com/2004_04_25_archive.html#108291646897164207”

…which will work. I keep meaning to fix those, but, geez, who has the time?

Anyway, that’s a whole lot of “blogging about blogging,” for which I apologize. Thanks for your indulgence while I work out the kinks that still exist in my redesign.

• • •

Just so I have some comic book content today:

  • Action Comics #1 sells for one million smackers. I wondered when this was going to happen. I think, a long time ago, back in my BBS days, I predicted in a comics forum that we’d see this happen by the year 2000. Hey, I was close.
  • Friend of the site Tom Mason writes a bit about William Overgard, the cartoonist what brought us Rudy, and you know how much I like Rudy.
  • Andrew has another Nobody’s Favorite, and she was borne of Bill Mantlo’s Alpha Flight. (By the way, for a while there, Alpha Flight, under both Byrne and Mantlo, was one of the just straight-up creepiest superhero comics ever. And I really do mean that in a good way.)
  • I’ve unfortunately not been pointing out Dave’s recent series of posts discusssing the “Interplanetary Insurance” series from 1950s DC Comics. Yes, that would be tales of insurance sales and claims. With robots and aliens. In SPAAAAAAACE. This is both completely insane and completely awesome. Go, read.