• Reader Patrick pointed out something I didn’t know about…well, I knew about the John Stanley Melvin Monster collection, but I didn’t know about the forthcoming collection of his Nancy comics. That’s really cool…thanks, Patrick!

  Now if we can get The Complete Ernie Bushmiller Nancy, we would indeed be living in a perfect world. Hey, we got Herbie Archives…surely anything is possible in this future world of the year 2009 (well, just about 2009, anyway).

• From the eBay: “MARVEL LEGENDS CUSTOM THE WATCHMEN” – to wit:
  
  That’s one ripped Dr. Manhattan. He’s Too Much Man for his trunks, apparently, since they don’t connect in the back, there. Or maybe that’s supposed to represent how the buttfloss just sort of disappears into OKAY I’M NOT WRITING ANY MORE ABOUT AN ACTION FIGURE’S BUTT.

  The Comedian has a killer mustache, too. Seriously, check this set out…the fella has nice big pics of all the figures, and it’s a pretty amusing traditional-superhero interpretation of the characters.

• Say, remember that Swamp Thing/Sluggo pic Employee Aaron drew for me for Christmas? Pretend you do anyway.

  Well, he drew a curious character pairing for pal Dorian as well.

  What Aaron did this year was ask his friends what two characters they wanted him to draw for their Christmas presents…and when Dor told him which two characters he wanted, Aaron made the mistake of asking “what position do you want them to be in?”

  Oh, the evil, naughty laughter that emanated from deep within Dor’s darkened soul. And I laughed, too, since I’m also a bad person.

• I just found out via the Twitter that the new Wild Cards novel is out, which somehow escaped the Mikester Nerd Radar. I’ve been a big fan of the Wild Cards-iverse since that first paperback came out in the mid-1980s, and I know some of you out there enjoy the series, too…so, here you go:
  
  Yeah, excuse the blatant commercialism, but I get a buck apiece for each one of these sold through my site, and I just need to sell about 300 of them so I can finally buy that Xbox 360 and fulfill my lifelong dream of blowing up the online gaming avatars of Chris Sims and Kevin Church. Because, really, they got it comin’. And how it can be “lifelong” when I’m older than both of them…eh, don’t ask.

• Oh, okay, maybe they don’t have it comin’. To make up for my not-really-actionable-threat-I-was-just-joking-honest, here are links to Action Age Comics, with Free Funnybookin’ from Sims and some of his known accomplices, as well as Church’s new project Waimea, beautifully illustrated by Michael Dake.

  And of course, don’t forget Church and Birdie‘s The Rack, the comic that provides absolutely no escapism for me whatsoever since it takes place at a comic shop and mocks me with its accuracy.

• And that’s probably about it for now. I hope everyone has a good New Year, and don’t try to drink too much (though if your name’s “Kevin,” “Ian” or “Tom” it’s probably already too late) and try to stay safe. I want to see all of you back here tomorrow in one piece.

  Okay? Okay! Happy New Year, everyone.

Sorry, I’m returning to the well of my 1990s BBS posts again…please enjoy, won’t you?

MsgNum: 1566
From: Mikester
To: all
Subj: Movies?
Date: 08/14/95

Now that the X-Men cartoon has been so popular on television, chances are even better now for an X-Men movie. (Actually, since the poor showing of the Power Rangers movie, maybe studios will shy away from another TV to movies translation.) But, I still think an X-Men movie is inevitable, and I was wondering…what do you guys think about this possibility?

Personally, given Marvel’s track record with movies, the X-Men will probably be a disaster. I don’t WANT it to be a disaster…but given that 90% of movies are crap, and that percentage goes up if it’s a movie based on a comic, it’s a pretty good call that the movie will be bad.

Besides…NO ONE could dress as Wolverine and look anything but laughable.

I do a little better in this next post, responding to someone asking me about the cosmetic changes the Dungeons & Dragons line had gone through. I predict not only 3rd Edition D&D, but I even sort of foretell the “3.5” style of system revision it eventually had. Okay, it wasn’t that big of a stretch, but after my X-Men flub, I need something I can count as a win:

From: Mikester
To: Rand Al’thor
Subj: It’s all one big…company.
Date: 05/26/95
Reply-To: 1210

Yeah, I don’t know why they did that either. Though, TSR has done it before – basically changing the cover art without changing anything inside. I guess TSR felt it needed to liven up the AD&D line a bit, without going to a 3rd Edition version of the game. Think of it as version 2.1.

I can’t be held entirely responsible for this next post, as I was just repeating what I heard/read elsewhere. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. Also, I apparently wasn’t a Shadowhawk fan then, either:

MsgNum: 2068
From: Mikester
To: all
Subj: Movie and/or TV Comic News
Date: 01/07/96

I guess there’s a rumor going around that Alicia Silverstone (whom I’ve never seen in anything, though I’ve heard the name somewhere) is playing Batgirl in the upcoming fourth Batman film. This is in addition to the other rumors that Patrick Stewart would be playing Mr. Freeze and Julia Roberts would be playing Poison Ivy. Oh, and Val and Chris will be back (no rumor!) as Batman and Robin. With any luck, there’ll be room for a story or something, too.

There’s a live action Generation X movie (based on the Marvel comic of the same name) coming soon to Fox-TV…the shots I’ve seen of it look…really bad. Marvel also has TV-movies in the works for She-Hulk (ack!), the Punisher, and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (who, in the comics, is dead).

Next year there is supposed to be a live action Shadowhawk series. Give me a break.

Oh God, the “no rumor!” parenthetical aside. And hey, remember when Nick Fury was dead? Good times, good times.

from Tip Top Comics #186 (May/June 1954)

1. TUMBLING

2. JUMPING IN PLACE

3. JUMPING IN PLACE WITH A JUMPROPE

4. SPORTS

5. PUBLIC DRUNKENNESS

from Green Lantern/Green Arrow #94 (Apr/May 1977)
by Denny O’Neil, Mike Grell, Terry Austin & Dick Giordano

And I threw in that first panel there partially for context, but mostly for further examples of Mr. Queen’s talent for phrase-turning. And his heroic stance, of course. When Green Arrow akimbos at you, you know you’ve been akimboed at.

Those of you who follow my Twitter account saw me post something about this yesterday, but in case you didn’t see it…one of my longtime customers was shot and killed at the convenience store he worked at, just as he was nearing the end of his overnight shift.

Sean was a nice guy, who’d been coming into our shop on a regular basis since he was a kid. Always cheery, always wanted to talk about the latest comic book-based TV show or movie, always had a habit of accidentally leaving behind one of his gargantuan plastic bottles of water that he’d leave on a counter or next to a shelf while he shopped, which amused us. And sometimes, when he worked for the painting company, he’d come in, splattered with paint, to pick up his books, and he’d flash his hands at me and reassure me that the paint on his fingers was indeed dry.

I know he really loved watching and talking to us about the Smallville TV show, and one of the first things that flashed through my mind when I saw the newspaper article about his death was “now he’s never going to see the Legion of Super-Heroes episode he was so looking forward to,” which I realize is a really dumb and insignificant thing to think, but sometimes you can’t help what your brain churns up when confronted with a tragedy like this.

Like I said, Sean was a good guy, and certainly didn’t deserve to come to the violent end he did. Hopefully the police will catch the miserable, worthless bastards that took his life.

So long, Sean.

Still perusing some recently-recovered archives of postings from my BBS days…don’t know if they’re of much interest to anybody, but they’re certainly amusing me.

I like this one for reminding me what I was reading thirteen-something years ago:

MsgNum: 1141
From: Mikester
To: All
Subj: My favorite comics, right now
Date: 05/14/95

For no apparent reason, I’m going to list the titles of some of my absolute favorite comics — the ones that, when I crack open one of the many cardboard boxes we get from our distributor and I see that comic inside, I am overcome with joy. (Well, not “overcome,” exactly, but you get what I mean.)

In no particular order, here they are —

1. Swamp Thing (DC)

2. Uncle Scrooge (Gladstone/Disney)

3. Hate (Fantagraphics)

4. Eightball (Fantagraphics)

5. Zippy Quarterly (Fantagraphics)

6. Peep Show (Drawn and Quarterly)

7. Love & Rockets (Fantagraphics) (FUN FACT #1: I’m mentioned in issue #40)

8. Sandman (DC)

9. Preacher (DC)

10. Jim (Fantagraphics)

11. Incredible Hulk (Marvel)

12. Groo (Image)

13. Dr. Radium, Man of Science (Slave Labor)

14. Pirate Corp$/Hectic Planet (Slave Labor)

15. Milk ‘n’ Cheese (Slave Labor)

16. Spectre (DC)

17. Acme Novelty Library (Fantagraphics)

18. Superman (all titles) (DC) (FUN FACT #2: I haven’t missed a Superman comic in about 15 years now)

19. Cerebus (Aardvark-Vanaheim)

20. EC Reprints (all titles) (Russ Cochran)

21. Legion of Super-Heroes (DC)

22. Roarin’ Rick’s Rare Bit Fiends (King Hell)

23. From Hell (Kitchen Sink)

24. Tyrant (Spider-baby) (it’s about the life of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and it has some of the coolest text pages ever seen in a comic book)

25. Bizarre Heroes (Fiasco)

These are just the current titles. This doesn’t include stuff that’s been cancelled (like Grimjack (First), or Eye of Mongombo (Fantagraphics) or Wasteland (DC) or Journey (Aardvark-Vanaheim/Renegade/Fantagraphics) or Dreadstar (First/Epic/Bravura)), but I’m sure you get the idea.

So, what do YOU like?

I’m including this announcement for the then-forthcoming issue of our local mini-comics digest simply because, while this certainly sounds like something we’d do, I have no recollection of planning to include this book with our comic, nor of actually doing it:

MsgNum: 1173
From: Mikester
To: All
Subj: Wood-eye News!
Date: 05/19/95

Issue #5 of Wood-eye should be out in mid-June. It will have a front and back cover by yours truly, and each and every issue will come packed with a free book, “Now That I’m Pregnant, I Have So Many Questions,” while supplies last.

Hey, someone asked what was up with DC’s elemental characters, and I obliged:

MsgNum: 1243
From: Mikester
To: SHADE
Subj: It’s all one big…company.
Date: 05/29/95
Reply-To: 1236

Okay, here’s your DC Comics Elemental Update:

FIRESTORM: Ronnie Raymond’s half of Firestorm currently is hanging out in the comic book “Extreme Justice.” Martin Stein’s half (the Elemental part) is tooling around in space somewhere.

NAIAD: The water elemental popped up in “Spectre” recently.

RED TORNADO: The air elemental is being very weird in “Primal Force” right now.

SWAMP THING: All green and leafy and stuff.

And now…reaction to the Spider-Clone Saga as it was happening:

MsgNum: 1258
From: Mikester
To: Dr. Van Van Mojo IV
Subj: It’s all one big…company.
Date: 06/01/95
Reply-To: 1255

Do you mean the ORIGINAL Spider-man, or the Spider-clone that has actually been the Spider-man in the comics for the last fifteen years? (It was revealed just last week…the Spider-clone is the original Peter Parker. Lemme ‘splain for the uncloned here.

Okay, in the 70s a bad guy created a clone of Spidey and the clone and the original fought it out, with the original (apparently) the victor. However, in recent months, someone claiming to be the clone has returned to the Spider-man comics. However, after a number of issues, it was discovered that the Spider-man that has been featured in the
comics since that original Spider-clone story of the 70s was, in fact, THE clone.

So the Spider-man that married Mary Jane…? Clone. Clone clone clone.

I’m sure it must have seemed like a neat idea…but it reminds me a bit of Alien 3 in a way. You know, Alien 2 was all about Ripley rescuing Newt, and, in a way, turning Newt into a daughter of sorts for her. Then along comes Alien 3, which invalidates every success achieved in Alien 2 by killing Newt. You know what I mean.

Anyway, I hate clones. Yuk. Poopie.

And now, some comic investment news:

MsgNum: 1425
From: Mikester
To: Mikester
Subj: Another comic….
Date: 07/04/95
Reply-To: 1021

“Preacher,” I hear, is the current “hot” Vertigo title. A fellow from an L.A. comic shop dropped in the other day to let us know he’s selling #1 for about five bucks, and at conventions they’re up to about fifteen bucks.

Geez.

And here I am being too earnest for my own good. But, hey, here it is anyway:

MsgNum: 1283
From: Mikester
To: Kassius
Subj: Oh no! Not…COMIC BOOKS!
Date: 06/04/95
Reply-To: 1272

There are comics on darn near everything. You have horror comics, you have historical comics, war comics, autobiographical comics, Robotech comics, western comics, educational comics, humor comics, adventure comics, romance comics, science fiction comics, fantasy comics, comics based on dreams, comics based on television shows, comics with (ahem) naughty parts, comics about slackers, and, of course, comics about flying guys in tights who punch each other.

Comics can be anything. Anything can be comics.

And, finally, while I didn’t note the exact date I said this (sometime in ’95, I’m sure), it perhaps remains the truest thing I have ever written:

“There’s no such thing as a Billy Barty movie that’s COMPLETELY bad.”

I said it…I stand by it.

• So for Christmas, Employee Aaron asked folks what two characters they’d like him to draw, and for their gifts they received that drawing in a frame.

  Well, of course, there were only two characters I could possibly ask for:

  
  …though I did strongly consider Herbie instead of Sluggo.

  Anyway, how ’bout that? It certainly makes me picture what menace would cause the creation of the World’s Finest Team of Swampy and Sluggo…though most likely Sluggo’s just luring Swamp Thing over to his house so he can make a salad since he’s too broke to go to the store to buy something off the shelf.

• In case you missed it: civilization ended on Christmas Day. I have no idea how I managed to do this.
• I linked this in yesterday’s post, as the new was just coming in as I was writing, but apparently the judge sided with Fox over its rights to the Watchmen film. According to the article, the ruling said that at the very least, Fox has the right to distribute the film, so…well, to be honest, you’ll have to ask someone who’s more on top of what’s going on what this means for the film’s release. I’m assuming, with no research whatsoever, that the film could still come out, but with Fox getting most of the profits. Assuming there are any profits, and the film doesn’t crash on takeoff. “Whoops, the film bombed…sorry about that lawsuit thing, Warner Brothers…you, er, you can have your film back, now.”

  I am fairly certain, however, that an internet petition will be of absolutely no use in this situation.

• 
  So long, Eartha.

  (image from Amazon.com)

…but I’ve got some bits and pieces about the site (and other sites!) I’d like to clear out, so bear with me here.

• Say, you remember that Dave Campbell guy, don’t you? From that Dave’s Long Box site you may have read about in Newsweek?

  Well, it’s a Christmas miracle, for he’s back, and Daver than ever, at his new site:

  Society of Dave

  
  Actually, it’s titled “Society for the Advancement of Dave,” but “Society of Dave” will do if you’re, I don’t know, short on time and/or space or something.

  Anyway, Dave’s back, talking not just about comics, but whatever happens to come into his fevered brain…so enjoy, won’t you?

• Well, it’s Christmas Eve, and at least in the States new comics are out today. Usually on Christmas Eve, we stay open until the store’s empty of customers and stays that way, and then we shut down early…but on a New Comics Day/Christmas Eve convergence, I guess we gotta stay the duration. Not that we’re open terribly late or anything, but still.

  So you all had better come in and spend LOTS OF MONEY today. Yes, all of you. Even the fella in Thailand that reads this site. I’d better see you here.

• This Thursday would normally be an “End of Civilization” day here at Progressive Ruin Industries, but, well, there’s that Christmas thing going on, and while I will be up ’til the wee hours, I’ll be doing family stuff, and not important work like generating blog content. So unless plans change drastically, the “End of Civilization” will be, I don’t know, next Monday.

  It will be nice to be able to spend more time on it, rather than wishing for the quick release of death at 3 in the morning while trying to make up jokes about Japanese schoolgirl statues.

• Hey, you know who’s posting again? That Mark guy over at Chaosmonkey, that’s who. He’s been writing an ongoing series there entitled “Hello to Comics,” discussing some of his favorites. Like that awesome Bible treasury comic DC put out. Go, read, encourage him to continue.
• Batman: Cacophony #2 is now two weeks late. Just sayin’.
• I know I keep saying I’m going to start the random, rotating title banner thing, but I never quite commit myself to doing it. So instead of saying “I’ll do it in a month” (or whenever) let’s just leave it at “I’ll get around to it eventually.”

  And if you want to submit your own, here are the details.

• “Pal” Dorian keeps updating Mike Sterling Is A Big Cheater Pants, so be sure to pop on in over there about once a month and see what new, vicious libel Dor is posting about me.

And I guess that’s it for today. I will have something new up here tomorrow, but let me wish you all in advance a happy, safe holiday…and, as always, thanks for reading.