from The Avengers (Steed & Peel) #1 (1968)

Please note the chicken’s drool in panel 3, and just how damned pleased with itself the chicken is in panel 7…unaware of its impending terrible fate.

And now…a creepy moment from The Flintstones:

from The Flintstones #24 (January 1965)

That was next-door neighbor Weirdly Gruesome popping in for a nocturnal visit at his pal Fred’s house. Don’t worry…Weirdly was only measuring Fred for a new suit he was going to give him as a gift. Or so he claims.

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In a follow-up to yesterday’s post about Flintstone Kids #2 (Oct. 1987), here is what our Stone Age Native — American? — had planned for our young Flintstonian friends:

Yeah, he was totally going to eat them. Man, our Native American friends never catch a break in the funnybooks.

Reader Matthew had an alternative follow-up panel to yesterday’s presentation:

I find this strangely upsetting. Even though I’m sure Barney probably had it coming.

…but even in a world where cavemen have TVs and live side-by-side with dinosaurs, this strikes me as being a little weird:

from Flintstone Kids #2 (Oct. 1987) by Michael Gallagher & Warren Kremer

And yes, Little Fred looks like he’s got a bad case of Poison Ivy-Rock. Actually, that’s just a bad case of Flexographic printing.

• SWAMP THING SKETCHES:

  Here’s a nice image of best pals Swamp Thing and Man-Thing.

  Robotika creator Alex Sheikman shows off his detailed Swampy pic.

  Swamp Thing does the Twist again in this drawing at Blue Moon Studios.

  Ooh, I like this moody illustration of Swampy by Pernilla.

  Another good illo…first the pencils, and then in glorious Swampy color.

• Siskoid has a Top Ten list of strange Superman team-ups, including Alan Moore and Rick Veitch’s Superman/Swamp Thing team-up from DC Comics Presents #85. Actually, most of the team-ups listed there are worth reading!
• Brian over at Comics Should Be Good takes a look at Swamp Thing #34, the All Swamp Thing/Abby Sex Issue, with plenty of illustrations for your edification. Funny, I was just discussing this issue on the Twitter, which I wondering (jokingly) if Swamp Thing #34 was a secret inspiration for Rule 34 (“If it exists, there’s porn of it”). Because, you see, they’re both numbered 34. …Well, I thought it was funny at the time.

  Anyway, that scene with Swampy and Abby banging the gong slowly is adapted, sort of, in the Return of the Swamp Thing movie. Though, to be fair, any attempt at filming such a sequence is probably doomed to ridiculousness.

  Not that I’m looking for a serious live-action Swamp Thing sex scene. I’m not. Really.

  Shut up.

• “On the first day of Halloween, my Swamp Thing gave to me….”

And now, your Batman: The Animated Series freeze-frame of the day:

Presumably that’s “Win the Original Jokermobile” (in this episode, the Jokermobile was on display in a casino in a Joker-themed resort) but the sign’s on screen for all of two or three frames and there’s no possible way they’ll ever invent a video playback technology that allows for crystal clear images during pausing.

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Just a few words about some new comics this week:

• Deadpool #900 – Or Deadpool Team-Up, I guess…it’s just Deadpool on the invoice. Anyway, the issue numbers are going to count downward on subsequent issues…#899 is next, and so on, and I bet they’re feeling all clever about that, but they’re going to be sorry when they hit #1 in 75 years. Then what are you going to do, smart guy?
• Femforce #150 – Just wanted to point out that, yes, there are 150 issues of Femforce. It’s in a smaller, near digest-sized format, and it’s $9.95 a pop, but it’s still hangin’ in there.
• Galactica 1980 #2 – I think I’m the only person at the shop reading this. Also, this is first Battlestar Galactica comic I’ve bought since the original Marvel Treasury Edition adaptation back in the ’70s. It’s just weirdly goofy enough to keep my attention.
• Jon Sable Freelance: Ashes of Eden #1 – Reprints the recent webcomic in the paper format for us old folks to enjoy. Actually, I did really like Jon Sable back in those First Comics days, until…I don’t know what happened, if Grell just got bored with it or what, but the art really took a nosedive in the later issues of the original series. But I still have fond memories of the series, so I’ll give this a shot.
• Marvel Zombies Return #2 2nd printing variant – Not exactly capturing that lightning in a bottle this time around, I think. Used to be variant covers on Marvel Zombie books were like printing money.
• Punisher Frank Castle #75 – The last issue of the MAX series, before it turns into Punishermax for no real good reason. “Punishermax.” That’s a dumb name, and I hates it forever. (The series itself sounds like it might be pretty good, though…Jason Aaron and Steve Dillon!)
• R.E.B.E.L.S. #9 – OH DEAR GOD PLEASE LET THE STARRO STORY BE FINISHED. (I mean, I like the series, but this reimagining of Starro ain’t doing it for me.)
• Uncle Scrooge #384 – Finally, my favorite of the classic Disney series comes back into circulation. I’ve no idea what’s actually in this issue, since neither Diamond nor its publisher, Boom!, seem to indicate the contents, so I’m quite curious to actually see it.

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Chris Sims and Eugene Ahn bring you another installment of the War Rocket Ajax podcast, starring ME, Mike Sterling, in an important role you won’t soon forget. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and maybe, just maybe, we’ll all learn a little something. Well, okay, I just contribute a question for Sims and Eugene (and their fellow Ajaxians Rusty Shackles and King Oblivion Phd) to answer, but it’s a question for the ages, and it’ll make you think. Anyway, there are interviews from the Small Press Expo, more extended discussion of the Marvel swimsuit specials, and yes, a question from me, Mike Sterling. So go download it already.

So this was the cover that a parent objected to at the shop last week:

Didn’t want her daughter to “get ideas,” you see. Don’t blame her…the daughter might see that cover and then want to get one of those ginormous cell phone/entertainment centers like Archie is holding, and who needs those bills?

Well, to be fair, in the mother’s defense, that is quite the look Betty is giving Archie.

Still not quite as racy as past Archie comics, like this Betty cover I featured quite a while back, or these shenanigans involving Betty and Veronica, or this parade of sin, or…okay, I’m not even sure what the heck is going on here. And then there’s…well, you know which cover this is linking to.

…Actually, I think I’ve talked myself into agreeing with the mother. Man, what’s going on over at that publisher?

…or, rather, swamp thing in the air, amirite gang? — because on the same day Employee Aaron gifted me with this drawing of me as MODOK, pal Tom Foxmarnick popped by the shop and gave me this:

And before you start trying, Chris Sims already came up with “Sentient Weaponized Amorphous Man-Plant Designed Only for Killing.”

Some of you readers out there may remember Tom as the fellow who let me borrow his copies of the Kubert School ‘zines he and his classmates (including Steve Bissette and Rick Veitch) put together. Plus, Tom has his Deviantart page featuring other samples of his fine work, so I recommend you check that out. Tom’s also contributed to a couple of Bissette’s Taboo anthologies and the Joe Lansdale horror anthology Weird Business, had a long stint on CARtoons Magazine, and has had a long career as an animator. And, most importantly, he’s drawn all our store’s business cards over the years.

Thanks, Tom, for the fantastic drawing…that was most kind of you. And thanks for letting me share it here on my site, so everyone else can enjoy it as well.

I mentioned this to Tom at the time, but I think the bit that amuses me the most is how SWAMPDOK’s little pinkie toes stick out:

…though the tree trunk gag is great, too. Weren’t people joking a while back about how the “rocket blast” on this MODOK figure looked like a tree? Wheels within nerd wheels, my friends.