The Final ’90s Countdown, Part Twenty-Two.

filed under Categories final '90s countdown 3 Comments

Nearing the end of the titles that received single votes in the fave ’90s indies poll! (Again, that doesn’t say anything about the comic, just about how many different good comics that came out in the 1990s!)

Stranger Attractors (RetroGrafix, 1993-1997)

I’ve noted before the main difference between this series of posts and the series I did focusing on 1980s books is that I’m largely more familiar with the ’80s titles. Even if I didn’t read the title itself, I usually had enough working familiarity with it so that I can discuss it at least somewhat non-foolishly.

Once the ’90s rolled along, I just didn’t have the time to keep up with every new title, sometimes only knowing things by their titles and not being aware of the actual contents. Just the sheer number of books available made that difficult, and my ability to keep up with every ‘zine and trade paper that possibly would have filled in the blanks fell to the wayside as well.

Which is a long way of me saying, yeah, I don’t know a whole lot about this comic. We absolutely carried the comic at my previous place of employment, and I recognize many of the covers. Couldn’t tell you how it sold for us, other than having a vague recollection that I had a couple of pull list customers for it.

I apologize for this oversight of mine, and certainly not a reflection on the quality of this comic. I did a little bit of research, thanks to my copy of the Slings and Arrows Comics Guide and judicious usage of the ‘zine search engine, so I can at least tell you that the book, by Michael Cohen and Mark Sherman centers around Sophie, a curator of an extensive museum of unusual artifacts. Normally an introverted and reserved person, she finds herself drawn further and further into an adventurous and exciting life. In space, I should probably mention.

The series also features flashbacks to Sophie’s childhood, and her fascination with sci-fi comic books. In a 1997 Comic Buyer’s Guide interview, Sherman says

“Sophie is a kind of mirror for all of us who are involved in this comics world. I think a lot of us see ourselves in Sophie and herencyclopedic knowledge of comic books. […] We get an almost transcendental thrill out of reading this fantastic literature called comic book. That is kind of where much of Strange Attractors comes from.”

From the sounds of it, it’s a sci-fi comic book adventure informed by sci-fi comic book adventure. Not in the sense of “the writers have only ever read comics, and that’s their only influence,” but in the sense of trying to impart that old energy and appeal into modern storytelling.

That original series ran 15 issues, with a mini published by Caliber Press in 1997. There was at least one reprint collection, Chaos Jitterbug, released by RetroGrafix in 1996, reprinting the first seven issues. In 2021 It’s Alive Press began reprinting the series, releasing at least six issues. (There is an unrelated series with the same name written by Charles Soule and illustrated by Greg Scott.)

All that is out of print, of course, but I imagine it wouldn’t cost too much to assemble a collection of these. The trick would be finding them, I would think. I can’t even say for sure I have any copies in my shop currently.

I hope this was a sufficient if brief overview of the title. I can only beg your pardon for having a hole like this in my knowledge, where I know the title, I know the covers, but could only relate what others have said about it. It’s like asking an A.I. bot, but getting your repsonse from a genuine if flawed human brain. If any of you have anything to add, my comment section is, as always, wide open.

Supergirl (2026).

filed under Categories movie reviews, supergirl 24 Comments


So ahead of seeing the new Supergirl movie, I believed I was in bit of a quandary. As you may have noticed, the film had already attracted some negative chatter, primarily from The Usual Suspects. You know, the folks that regularly dogpile upon any superhero-or-related-genre mass media that focuses on a character or characters that aren’t straight, while males. Or, to borrow phrasing from my review of the 2025 Superman movie, “the usual parade of grifters out for your attention and your wallet” griping about things being “WOKE,” whatever they think that means.

As the movie appears to have, shall we say, faltered at the box office, it’s those very folks out in force right now crowing about some imagined “victory” in the culture war they’re fighting in their heads. And, going back to that quandary I mentioned, it puts someone like me, Just Some Dude on the Internet, in the position of fearing to critique the movie and being lumped in with Those Folks. (AKA “The Last Jedi Syndrome.”)

Prior to seeing the movie, I had heard some real, actual critique of the movie from people who are presumably Not Insane, ranging from a simple “I liked it!” to actual concerns about the film’s structure/direction/scripting, etc. Nearly all noted that Milly Alcock, the titular Supergirl, was excellent, regardless of their opinion of the project in its entirety. As such, I had those thoughts with me as I entered the theater that evening.

And…I liked it!

Alcock does a wonderful job giving us a troubled Supergirl, submerging her trauma and her (literal) alienation in partying and alcohol, and her struggle to emerge from that emotional burden. I know, I know, that sounds like a bummer, but it really isn’t. Alcock is absolutely a riveting presence onscreen, and you can’t help but feel sympathy for her character.

There is a layer of melancholy laid over the story, regarding Supergirl’s personal history and flashbacks to her life on Argo City (which survied the destruction of Krypton). But there is a sense of fun, too, as we’re given some exciting action set pieces, especially when Supergirl lets loose at full power (which she isn’t always at, due to story demands). Jason Momoa as Lobo is an entertaining addition to the proceedings as well, and is involved far more than I was led to believe, since a number of people said he had no more than a cameo. Oh, no, he’s in there quite a bit.

I thought the storyline was clear and straightforward, and plot points like the color of various suns and their effects on Supergirl as they travel from star system to star system were handled well. The action scenes were clearly directed, which is a typical complaint I have about these sorts of movies, but here I could tell who was doing what and where. And overall, the pacing was good and the story kept my interest from beginning to end.

If I had any quibbles, it would be maybe not having a major established villain at the core…forgive me, but I didn’t read the Tom King/Bilquis Evely Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow mini that apparently provied some inspiration for the film, so I don’t know if the bad guys are a transplant from that story. But on the other hand, a departure from formula probably didn’t hurt (or maybe it did, given the film’s performance, but more on that in a moment). I mean, it’s true enough that the Supergirl Rogues Gallery isn’t exactly overflowing with villains distinct from Superman’s own enemies (I mean, Lesla-Lar, sure, but I don’t think I would have wanted a “me, but evil” adversary. Again.)

The other qualm I have is (and here we enter some SPOILER territory, which I’ve tried to avoid so far, but really can’t for this point) how the main bad guy is ultimately…dealt with by Supergirl. I get this establishes her as a different person with different standards than her cousin Superman, but it seems contrary to the message of “being good” instilled in her by her mother, and brought up several times during the film. But then, her mother also added that “being good” isn’t the same as “being nice,” so that plays into her decision, as well.

I know this could upset the purists, of which I’m usually one, but in this case it makes for a morally complex character, and that could have been further developed in future Supergirl films, of which, it seems, there will be none. Maybe it’ll get touched on in other upcoming DC films, assuming Warner Bros. doesn’t pull the plug on the whole thing.

And why did this film do so poorly right out of the gate? Look, as the internet’s only champion of Frank Miller’s The Spririt, I’m used to having the outlying opinion on a piece of media, but surely other people thought this movie was good, too. But maybe the tone of the film was a downer to most folks, not the Big, Flashy adventure that people want from their superhero films. Maybe not having that big name villain reduced interest. Maybe it’s just the now-typical “Superhero Fatique,” where audiences already had one Super-movie last year, that was enough for the time being.

Or maybe the Usual Suspects, the ones I mentioned at the beginning of this wall of text, succeeded in poisoning the discourse, convincing John and Jane Q. Public that the Supergirl movie was Bad, Actually. Which, may I say again, that would be wrong — it’s Good, Actually.

But maybe being good isn’t enough (ironic, given the advice from Supergirl’s mom). In this new post-COVID superhero film economic ecosystem, one of these types of films has to be an event. And it has to be something that at least appears new. Last year’s Superman was an event, the beginning of the new DC Cinematic Universe. This year’s Supergirl didn’t reach that perceived status, and, like I said, it came out on top of a another movie that had a hero with a big “S” on the chest. Superman turned into a must-see, Supergirl got the “wait for streaming” treatment.

And I hope the people who avoided it in theaters do discover it on streaming. By that point, it’ll be too late…Supergirl will be dubbed, by every metric important to the studio beancounters, a “failure,” even if everyone who catches it on MAX or whatever other service Warner Bros. sells the film to decides “hey, I like this!”

I say, give it a shot on the big screen. I was glad I did.

Also, Krypto the Superdog is in the film. Surely you want to see more Krypto.

Okay, fine, my hands are actually tender and pink-skinned, like a baby’s.

filed under Categories collecting, from the vast Mikester comic archives 6 Comments

So I was happy to discover the other day that I, in fact, did not give up all my copies of Dark Horse Presents to the store when I opened back in 2014, but kept them in what remains of the Vast Mikester Comic Archives. In particular, I was happy because I had a sudden urge to reread the short Concrete stories that appeared therein, inspired by the release of the new series.

Amongst my DHP collection was issue #24 from 1988, notable for containing an early Aliens story:


Now, I had rid myself of all my Dark Horse Aliens comics via the shop, so I figured “might as well get rid of this one, too.” I seemed to remember it usually selling for a good price, especially if it were in nice shape (as my copy was, natch), and thus put it aside for the “destined for the shop” pile.

However, a quick perusal of the price guide startled me with this notation:


Okay, wait, hold on, I’m still a fan of Michael T. Gilbert’s Mr. Monster, and as such I now can’t sell this comic, because Sluggo forbid that I have a hole in my collection.

I decided to take a quick peek inside, handling this precious artifact with my weathered and weary hands, and…no Mr. Monster. Not a bit of him. Not even an ad. Not even hiding behind a Xenomorph. This comic was entirely befeft of Mr. Monster.

Searching online, I saw several references to this comic in sales listings far and wide, all proclaiming that, along with this Aliens story, Mr. Monster also appeared within.

I looked again inside the comic; Mr. Monster had not sneakily made his way into the pages in the interim, and the comic remained free of his presence. I even double-checked the Grand Comics Database listing, which confirms said lack of character. Er, that character.

However, in my investigations, I did notice something interesting. In #24 of the third series of Dark Horse Presents, published in 2016, Mr. Monster does appear. The source of the confusion, perhaps? If so, it’s lightly reassuring if somewhat dismaying to know even Overstreet has trouble keeping all these straight.

Therefore, let it be shouted to the hilltops: despite what Overstreet says, despite what various online sellers say, Dark Horse Presents #24 (1988) does not have any any Mr. Monster. So let it be written, so let it be done.

And that’s how my copy of Dark Horse Presents #24, in NM condition, has ended up in my shop, ready for sale:


Before you ask…yes, I will feel a slight twinge when it eventually sells. I bought that comic new off the stand and I’ve had it in my possession for nearly the same length of time I’ve been in the comics retail biz. Hopefully it goes to someone who will appreciate it.

Twenty-year-old me is happy to finally read this.

filed under Categories swamp thing, this week's comics 4 Comments


Just a quick note to remind you that Swamp Thing 1989 #3 (aka #90) is out this week, and the mini-series speeds along to its long-delayed conclusion.

Things are very clearly building to a head, and given the number of plotlines all converging, it does leave one wondering how they’ll be able to squeeze the conclusion into the final issue of this series. I mean, I know (well, sorta remember) how it ends, given, as I’ve mentioned before, writer Rick Veitch published his synopses for his final four then-unpublished issues in the Comic Buyer’s Guide shortly after he left the book back in ’89. I’m looking forward to seeing a particular scene in illustrated form that had been related back then.

The period ads and the (mostly) period editorial material still successfully adds context to the time in which these stories were intended to be released. The “Bill & Ted” ad on the back cover is certainly a welcome call-back. More importably is the “comics this week” item on the inside front cover, reminding you just where in the DC Universe this series sit. In particular, a plot point hinges on events in Sandman, and if you were to look at that comics release list, you’d see just exactly where Sandman was at this point.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the “Meanwhile” column by pal Rich Handley, which, despite some folks believing otherwise, is all brand new! And if you’re new to Swamp Thing funnybooks, it’s essential reading giving you background on just what’s goin’ on. And the back matter features letterer Todd Klein and what he had to do to duplicate original letter John Costanza’s work, which is something I really wondered about so it was a welcome expainer.

All in all, this third issue of Swamp Thing 1989 succeeds in making one feel like he’s thirty-something years younger. Alas, the cover price is very much of today, but we can’t have everything!

My Fantastic Four-ay: Part Ten.

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[NOTE: examination of John Byrne’s past work is meant solely in a critical and historical context, and is not meant as a condoning of any specific statements he has made or creative choices he has taken.]

So we’re still going to be talking about Fantastic Four #296, the triple-or-so-sized anniversary issue of the title. Last time I didn’t get much farther than the cover, and this time…well, the aheader I am, the behinder I get, because I was Googling around and discovered some heretofore unknown to me information. And it’s information I should have realized was out there.

As previously discussed, John Byrne’s departure from the series was very sudden and apparently unexpected, as it appears a combination of office politics and burnout (so to speak) on creating the stories themselves is what caused him to self-remove from those chores. However, it didn’t dawn on me that maybe he let slip some of his intended plans for future stories here and there, like in the Amazing Heroes Preview Special an’ such.

And in fact, he did briefly chat ahout said comics there, but he talked about the same things in greater length in Marvel Age #37.


As I said, I happened to be Googling around and caught someone referencing this very issue of Marvel Age, noting that Byrne revealed his own plans for the upcoming anniversary issue. Thus, did I seek out this sacred tome (i.e. asked a pal for a copy) and dug into the long-hidden secrets of this lost comic.

Or maybe not so lost. We’ll see.

A production note: my source on these pages was relatively low resolution, so I doubled the size, just in case you were wondering why everything’s so fuzzy and pixelated. By which I mean these scans, not me.

This is all from an article entitled “Marvel 25th Anniversary,” written by Kurt Busiek, which surprised me just a tad. Within, creators are asked what they’ve got planned for their books for The Big Occasion, and that includes a certain Mr. Byrne, who has plans for #296, big plans indeed, oh yes.


Now it doesn’t specify in the article whether the “guest list” means surprise character cameos in the story, or guest artists helping to fill out this monster of a book. Regardless, let’s see what the story will entail.


No, Byrne didn’t just invent Ultimate Comics. Basically what he’s saying (as he explains more in the bit I trimmed off) is that the 20th anniversary book was more a standalone adventure, concerned primarily with itself, while this 25th anniversary book would contain more “fannish” callbacks and references. Like, for example, an autographed photo of the Infant Terrible on an endtable, you know, like that.


Now here’s where it gets interesting. Byrne’s story is called “Return to Monster Island,” in which we go back to the Mole Man’s hangout from that very first Fantastic Four adventure in 1961. And what’s interesting about that is what does in fact happen in the published, Byrne-free #296, plotted by the then editor-in-chief of Marvel, Big Jim Shooter, with the scripting credited to the FF’s co-creator Stan Lee.

The noted retelling of the origin also happens in the published #296, but it appears as a reminiscence of the Thing’s. Also, the visit to Central City does not appear.


Now this sounds interesting, and probably would have made for a fascinating visual, with seawater just pouring into a giant open wound in the Earth. But again, not in the published comic, as when the FF reaches Monster Island, it is still intact.


That would have been a wild twist on that ancient detail, which…you know, why not? It’s not like all those giant diamonds played too heavily in any future plot points, beyond maybe emphasizing their literally-blinding brilliance. This gives them some measure of purpose, and their transformative powers sets up what is the likely resolution to a certain in-story problem:


First, yes, in the printed #296 the Thing had also come to Monster Island to hang out with other monsters, but at this point he just looked like the normal orange rocky monster he always was. (Only decked out in a jumpsuit and googles just like his new best pal, the Mole Man.)

In Byrne’s version, it seems pretty clear that the solution to the Thing’s new drastic, presumably physical, changes, would be exposure to that diamond goo. It would turn him to his “true self,” which wold mean (in the uninteresting resolution) regaining his human form as Ben Grimm, or (in the more compelling, psychological twist) becoming his true form as the real Thing, the blue-eyed idol of millions. That would certainly say a lot about what the Thing thought of himself, and, done right, couild have been a swell reveal.


In the published follow-up issues, the She-Hulk situation isn’t really addressed right away, as we’re more focused on the Thing’s mental state and his depression over The State of Stuff. It does come to a head with She-Hulk and the Thing having bit of a tussle in #299, but clearly circumstances at this point have departed from Byrne’s plans.


…or have we, as the published #300 does in fact have a marriage, between Johnny Storm and the Thing’s former girlfriend, Alicia Masters (or is it? More on that later!). Byrne’s comment on “whether those will come to pass” leaves it perhaps open to some kind of avoiding the marriage in his version of #300, but that’s hard to say. (That comment also refers to his tease of maybe finishing the long-uncompleted “Last Galactus Story,” which…well, it’s not too late!)

It’s kind of a no-brainer that going back to the setting of the very first Fantastic Four adventure could be the basis of a Special Anniversary Issue. As such, it makes sense that Shooter would stick with that basic outline for the story. (Plus, “Return to Monster Island” is blurbed at the end of #295.) It makes a very FF-kind of sense that the Thing, feeling alienated and alone, would go to Monster Island to be with other “monsters” like him. I’m sure Byrne had run all his plans for the issue, and once Byrne left, the idea was “well, let’s just kinda stick with what he was planning.” He probably should have had some kind of notation on the main page, at the very least as “inspiration.”


Maybe Jack Kirby, too, but at least get gets a mention in the afterword Stan supposedly wrote in the back of the comic. Ah well.

It was strange to see this alternate take on what the anniversary issue could have been, even if it wasn’t, at least on the most basic level, all that different from what we actually got. And what we actually got…will be discussed in the next installment! Finally!
 
 

Special thanks for the production assistance from Bully, the Little Fantastic Bull!

The Lighter Side of Concrete.

filed under Categories mad magazine, this week's comics 9 Comments


Look, it’s been a long time since we’ve had a Concrete comic, I don’t need to tell you that. There were some short stories that popped up in the 2011 series of Dark Horse Presents that were collected into the Three Uneasy Pieces one-shot in 2012, which was the last time a comic called Concrete was on the stands.

Prior to that, the last long-form Concrete story was The Human Dilemma, a six-issue run in 2004-5. Which, by the way, ended on a…cliffhanger? Unresolved plot line? Not sure what to call it, but I’ve been waiting over twenty years to see some forward progress on that particular bit of business, which, I’m glad to say, you do see at least a tiny bit of in this story. This isn’t quite on the level as where we were left off with Miracleman #24 back in ’93, keeping us waiting ’til the new stories started up in 2022…especially given that Miracleman as a whole is likely to remain unresolved forever. Well…let’s just consider ourselves lucky Paul Chadwick is around and able to continue his comic.

Despite the 21-year-gap, Chadwick just picks things up right from where they left off, which…actually, works a lot better than you’d think, thanks to the general nature of Concrete stories. There’s not a lot of story-to-story, mini-to-mini continuity that one has to keep track of. Primarily all you need to know is that Concrete was once a dude named Ron whose brain was transplanted into some kind of biomechanical body by aliens, and now uses that body to travel the world and do interesting things, accompanied by an assistant and a doctor who monitors his condition.

This new mini, Stars Over Sand, at least in this first issue, does lean pretty hard on events from previous decades-old stories. Well, “lean pretty hard” in relative terms, because there’s nothing here that isn’t explained or at least can’t be figured out from context. It’s just a little strange to have carry-overs from previous stories like that.

To enter [SPOILER] territory, the big “cliffhanger” I was sort of talking around earlier in this post was Concrete’s “baby,” a miniature version of himself that more-or-less budded off his body in that Human Dilemma story. That’s probably the biggest change to the Concrete “formula,” in as much the series has one, in that we now have an apparently-inert but still alive child version of Concrete the cast has to concern themselves with, along with whatever new shenanigans Concrete himself is up to.

What’s particularly interesting is the character development of the doctor, Maureen, that we’ve seen along the course of Concrete‘s existence. Inspired by the arrival of this new series, I’ve pulled out my original run of the Dark Horse Presents anthology series to reread the earliest short stories, and very early on Maureen’s interest in Concrete is almost solely scientific. It was a characterization that carried through for years, at least to my memory, before taking a sudden, more…intimate turn in Human Dilemma, seemingly resulting in Baby Concrete’s creation. There is a short sequence in this new issue where Maureen goes from commenting on the child’s current inert status to actually cradling the child, with concern and care in her face. It’s a more motherly turn that would have been hard to imagine earlier in the Concrete timeline, but given she could very well be considered one of the baby’s “parents,” it’s an understandable development.

Okay, despite all that other stuff, it’s still a Concrete story, with Concrete’s own musings on the world, the environment, and his place in it, and it’s all as expertly done as you would expect from Chadwick. The art is beautiful, the writing is sensitive, bereft of melodrama even given the occasional melodramatic moments, and overall it is an engrossing and relaxing experience. There’s really no other comic quite like it. I understand “cozy” is a term now thrown around to describe certain types of entertainment experiences. I’d imagine one could call this comic “cozy” — it gives you want you want and what you need, while still gently surprising you.

It appears Chadwick is lettering the comic himself, as I’m assuming longtime letterer Bill Spicer has retired in the meantime. (I used to see Mr. Spicer on a regular basis at my old job…loved chatting about old comics and ‘zines with him, since he’s an ol’ ‘zine editor himself!) Alas, there is a typo on the very first page of the story, but let’s just say the character speaking just stumbled over his words a bit. I mean, whomst amongst us…? And anyway, who am I to talk about typoos. Um, I mean, typos.

One more thing that kinda/sorta threw me off slightly was dialoge references to the internet and YouTube…I mean, yes, the internet obviously existed when that last mini came out, but the series existed for so many years prior to wide use of cell phones and social media and all that. It was like when Carl Barks wrote one last Duck story and one of the nephews referenced a fax machine. Okay, yes, this tech existed in one form or another since the 1800s, but this was clearly a reference to modern tech that felt very strange to see in the eternally mid-century Duck stories. I don’t get the sense that Concrete stories are in “real” time, so if we have a sliding timeline at work here, then surely Ron had his cell phone out taking pictures of those weird lights he saw on that long-ago hike where he first encountered those aliens. (I haven’t reread the origin or its revised version in a while, so maybe he did take pics, I don’t remember.)

Anyway, I am more than pleased that Concrete is back. It’s a longtime favorite — 40 years longtime, in fact — and I hope it sells a bazillion copies so that Mr. Chadwick will be inspired to cut the gap down between series to something less than 21 years.

• • •

Oh, hey, MAD Magazine #600 is out, and it has a swell new wraparound cover by Serio Aragonés (click to MAD-size):


A few years back, there was a run of media stories about the “end” of MAD and how it would be no more, and to this day I have people coming into the shop commenting on the fact that this American institution had been cancelled. “Nope,” I would say, and whip out the latest copy from the shelf, much to their shock.

In fact, the mag just relaunched with a new #1, only available through comic shops, and went mostly reprint. As time went on, the new content slowly increased, and for the Special #600 (“Big Deal!” as MAD has said about previous milestones) it is almost all new stuff! Classic material from some of the artists most associated with the magazine, like Al Jaffee and Jack Davis, is included, because it wouldn’t feel right to leave them out.

And reverting it to the original numbering is very welcome. MAD isn’t a thing to be Rebooted with an All-New Beginning! It’s a continuing observer of our times, and having that numerical link back to its history gives it, in a way, a little more weight and validity than it had as what almost felt like a special “Classics” side-series replacing the original.

I know print satire and lampooning like this isn’t “hep” and “groovy” with the kids like it used to be, and that to an extent MAD exists as a nostalgic artifact for adult readers. And I’m sorry that’s the case, given I’ve written before about how, amongst the jokes and silliness there was a real education about seeing through the veneer of advertising, cutting through the babble of politicians, and basically learning to recognize bullshit when you see it. Frankly, that’s needed now more than ever.

There are lots of jokes about MAD itself in this issue, which, sure, they’ve earning it. Sergio contributes “A MAD Look at MAD” which is exactly what you hope it would be. There’s a reference to the infamous “middle finger” issue which I love. There’s a solid Dave Berg gag…not a gag by Dave Berg, but a gag about Dave Berg. Jaffee’s in here with a great “Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions” article. And there’s plenty more fun stuff in here, too. If you haven’t looked at MAD in a while, this would be a good one to check out.

I hope MAD is around for another 600 issues. I hope it’s around for another 6,000 issues. Goodness knows it’s not like the world is going to run out of things it can use for subject matter.

Me in 1992: “You know, I really liked his normalman, I’ll give this a shot.”

filed under Categories variant covers 12 Comments


So, digging through some boxes in the backroom at the shop, I came across one of these. This is a newsstand edition of Jim Valentino’s Shadowhawk #1, which differs from the embossed silver foil stiff-covered one you could get in comic shops by having a floppy-covered version with a UPC code on the front. It still have a slight cover enhancement in that the mask is colored in silver ink.

Image had newsstand distribution on their initial releases, with the primary differences being the covers printed on a different paper stock than their direct-to-comic-shop cousins, plus the UPC code displayed on those ccovers somewhere. If there was some kind of fancy cover enhancement, it was generally removed, most notably on WildC.A.T.s #2. And of course, I talked about this during my variant cover-age posts from a while back.

I have noticed some back issue demand for these particular variations, as they tend to clear out of the shop soon as I get my hands on them. But I gotta be honest…not sure if that’s gonna extend to this Shadowhawk I have here. As I said on Bluesky regarding this comic, “on one hand is a relatively hard-to-find newsstand edition of Shadowhawk #1, but on the other hand it’s a Shadowhawk #1.”

Not to be overly harsh, but Shadowhawk, especially the various ’90s series, has been bargain box fodder for decades. Vastly overprinted during comics’ boom time, lacking any sort of back issue interest that Spawn or even Youngblood (main series only) has, I doubt if anyone’s actually ever paid full price for one since sometime around 1998.

As such, I’m not entirely sure what to do with this newsstand edition. I may very well decide to dump it into the bargain bins at the shop. But…it is a newsstand edition of an Image launch title, and may garner interest solely for that reason. I don’t know, I’ll decide when I get back to pricing more comics. Given the wear on the spine, it may only end up being a buck or so anyway even if I do grade and price it.

• • •

In totally unrelated news…there’s a crowdfunding campaign to make Justice Machine action figures! And since I figure my readership is probably right there in the main demographic of “people who remember and may have actually read Justice Machine,” I thought I’d let you know! Hasn’t launched as I type this, but it’s supposed to start within a day or thereabouts, so watch that space!

G.I. Joe and Mr. Monopoly versus the Transformers and the Pound Puppies.

filed under Categories publishing 21 Comments

So on top of everything else going on this week in comics (like the release of Absolute Catwoman #1 and the second issue of Ben 10 — there’s demand for that second issue, but nowhere near the panic for #1), we got the neweset entry in Robert Kirkman’s “Energon Universe,” M.A.S.K. For those unfamiliar, the “Energon Universe” is Kirkman’s blanket label for the shared world in which the licensed Hasbro properties G.I. Joe and Transformers exist.

Anyhoo, not satisfied with just two Hasbro toy lines under one funnybook tent, Kirkman’s newest addition is the M.A.S.K. series based on the action figure/vehicle toyline of the mid-1980s (and the associated cartoon). Noe, I knew nothing about it specifically, other than it was indeed a toy line and cartoon that I never interacted with, and that there was a DC comic book that I never sold out of the back issue bins. But I figured, hey, this new series is tying into this other “Energon” stuff that’s selling reasonably well, maybe folks will pick it up.

Now as it turned out, this past New Comics Wednesday was a particularly busy one, with a large line waiting out the door prior to opening. And lo, did we sell a whole lot of comics that day, including a lot of demand for that M.A.S.K. book. As it turned out, I ordered kinda/sorta spot on, since as of Thursday evening I still had a couple of copies on the shelf. And I say “kinda/sorta” because I did have some demand for specific variants that I was unable to fill, and can’t get any reorders at this point. I even just got an email Thursday evening from someone asking me to put aside a couple of the blind bags for him, which, um, about 36 hours too late for that, my friend.

And speaking of those blind bags, where you pays your money and takes your chances on a comic wrapped up inside an opaque bag, in which you may find variants of varying rarity, or sketch covers, or something else entirely. And in the case of the M.A.S.K. blind bags, one of those somethings-else entirely was, well, a new ROM #1:


Yes, that’s right, “ROM” as in “ROM Space Knight,” the failed 1978 weirdo action figure that was too tall to play with your Star Wars figures:


…and yet lived on as a pretty successful comic book series from Marvel Comics:


…and was picked up years later by IDW for a series that faced bit of an uphill battle specifically because it wasn’t in the Marvel Universe:


and now, here we are, finding out basically NOW that ROM is the newest member of the Energon Universe, where he can finally team up with Snakes Eyes and Optimum Prime and presumably shake off the long shadow of the Marvel series. I mean, that’s the way to get readers excited about ROM again, tying him into a couple of other already popular comic books. I’m not joking about it needed to escape the Marvel influence if it’s gonna succeed…I really think that hurt the IDW run.

One of the things that surprised me when looking into this is the fact that ROM’s enemies from the Marvel Comics, the shape-changing Dire Wraiths, weren’t just a Marvel property. Apparently the name came from Parker Brothers (the original owners of ROM) as the bad guys, but presumably due to the failure of the initial toy, no Dire Wraith toys were ever made. So ’twas Marvel that made up what the backstory was for these enemies, and as such…the current owners, Hasbro, and the current licensee, Robert Kirkman, can use the name “Dire Wraiths” but they will have to be different from their Marvel progenitors. Huh, learn something new every day. Not something terribly important, mind you, but new nonetheless.

Anyway, if you want a copy of this new ROM #1, then it’s off to the eBays with ya, because the blind bags are probably all sold out from the shops, and you only had bit of a chance to get one that way anyway. I presume it’ll get reprinted eventually in an easier-to-acquire formet.

I believe it was the late Peter David who said he was once, during his days in Marvel Sales in the 1980s, taking questions from a convention crowd regarding the company, when the following exchange happened:

Person in crowd: “Hey, you guys publish G.I. Joe.”

Peter David: “Yes.”

PiC: “You also publish Transformers.”

PD: “Also correct.”

PiC: “They’re both owned by Hasbro.”

PD: “Indeed they are.”

PiC: “Why don’t you guys do a comic where G.I. Joe meets the Transformers?”

PD: [a picture of a giant mountain of money falling onto the Marvel offices forms in his head]

Okay, I’m using a little artistic license for that last line, but not much. But I only bring all that up to say…whoever that guy was in that convention crowd so long ago, you have a lot to answer for.
 
 

The ROM #1 (Image) picture and the ROM action figure pic are both “borrowed” from eBay. The two comic pics are equally borrowed from the Grand Comics Database.