Joshua Quagmire (1952-2023).

filed under Categories obituary 14 Comments


Was very surprised to learn via Mark Evanier’s website that Joshua Quagmire, creator of Cutey Bunny, had passed away.

Cutey Bunny was a favorite of mine, after picking up that initial run of comics in the mid-1980s. Every page was just crammed wall-to-wall with fun art and funny (and even better, corny) jokes. Quagmire’s personality just shone through wherever his pen touched paper and his work was a constant delight.

A silly running gag in a few of the Amazing Heroes Preview Specials was the entries for upcoming issues of Cutey Bunny (or rather Army Surplus Comikz Presents Cutey Bunny) that, well, weren’t actually going to happen far as I can tell. Here’s one from Preview Special #3 (Summer 1986):


He had a website with cartoons and writings ‘n’ such that I would check into once in a while, though he stopped updating it a couple of years back. Still lots of nice work on there (I think maybe a little bit of it NSFW), so check it out while you can.

I can’t remember the circumstances…it may have been me linking to his site before here, but I did have a brief, friendly exchange of emails with Mr. Quagmire several years ago. Struck me as a very nice guy, which fits with everything else I’ve heard about him. A unique talent that I’m going to miss…so long, Joshua.

• • •

Speaking of Mr. Evanier, I also just now saw on his site that the legendary artist John Romita Sr. has also passed away. Another huge loss to the comics industry. Yes, he drew lots of other stuff, but he was the man who redefined Spider-Man’s look after he took over art chores on Amazing when Steve Ditko left. His legacy is not only that wonderful work he’s left behind, but also that it carries on through his son, John Jr., still doing great art today on…Spider-Man, what else?

So long, John.

The Final ’80s Countdown, Part Twelve.

filed under Categories final countdown 22 Comments

What’s this? Three more in the “one vote” pile from this post? Let’s see what we’ve got this time:

Starstruck (Marvel/Epic 1985-1986)

A reminder to folks new to these lists, that I was counting creator-owned books released under Marvel’s “Epic” imprint as part of the “indies” movement since they were mostly distinct from Marvel’s standard output. I mean, despite the fact Marvel’s editorial hand sometimes came down on them.

As to Starstruck itself, it began life at a stage play written by Elaine Lee, with costume and set design by William Kaluta and Charles Vess. It was a sci-fi comedy/adventure with a largely-female cast, set during a power struggle in a divided galaxy. Translating the project to comics, Lee and Kaluta serialized a prequel story in Heavy Metal, which were retooled into a graphic novel from Marvel. After that Lee and Kaluta produced a six issue comic book series through Epic.

After this it gets a little confusing, at least to me, the Guy Who Never Read This But Should Have. It appears the graphic novel was reprinted in altered/expanded form in a Dark Horse comic book mini-series in 1990-1. According to the Wikipedia entry, it also includes part of the first comic book issue from Epic.

In 2009-10 it appears the material was remastered and reprinted again, in a 13-issue series from IDW. This series was reprinted in its entirety in both hardcover and softcover, and this is like the Definite Edition of this story, if you ever decide to seek it out.

I remember the IDW reprints selling quite well for us at the previous place of employment. According to the Wiki more story is planned, so hopefully that’s something that will actually happen.
 
 
 
 
Steelgrip Starkey (Marvel/Epic 1986-1987)

Another one of those darned Epic titles, this one with the subtitle on the cover “…And The All-Purpose Power Tool.” Which I don’t know was officially part of the title or not, since I don’t have a copy here to check the indicia.

But this was a comic I had at least some mild interest in, as the main writer/artist of the book was Alan Weiss (inks by James Sherman), whose art in other comics I’ve read stuck out to be as being, well, different from your standard superhero fare. A little more detailed, more expressive, less “generic muscled body in spandex,” that sort of thing. For whatever reason, I never got around to picking it up, and look, I’m sorry this ’80s overview is turning into a parade of “Mike’s Missed Opportunities,” but what can I tell you, I can’t read everything.

Anyway, Val Mayerik pops in to share penciling duties for a couple of issues, and interestingly, in the section on the title in the Amazing Heroes 1985 Preview Special, Mike Kaluta (remember him?) was also namedropped as an artist on the series, though far as I can tell via the Comics Database, he doesn’t appear. (Also, Elaine Lee (remember her?) does some coloring here.)

Also “borrowing” from this preview entry is a description of the book, in that it’s a “modern American folk tale” in which Starkey, and his amazing tool only he can operate, find themselves in a series of adventures. Which, you know, okay, I’ll read that. I mean, I should have read it back in the ’80s when it was coming out, but look, I was still in high school, I wasn’t rolling in cash at the time. Though I suppose once I started working for a comic shop I could have snagged those, but I was trying to fill back numbers of Cerebus so that took priority. …Amazing all these things I could have had if only I’d taken more advantage of that store’s deep stock. Ah well.

Far as I can tell, the series has never been reprinted, making it another of those lost series awaiting rediscovery in a back issue bin or dollar box somewhere.
 
 
 
 
Strange Days (Eclipse 1984-1985)

I’ll tell you what, though, when I saw that cover of Strange Days as a 15-year-old kid wandering around ye olde comic shoppe, that was a book I had to have. That weird face in the background, those obnoxious colors…it was a comic that dared you to buy it, and friends, I took that dare.

And the stories inside…”Paradax” by Peter Milligan and Brendan McCarthy, looked almost nominally like it should have been a superhero story, but it was just so peculiar, with splashy colorful art that made it look so unlike its flat-colored mainstream cousins. Maybe I wasn’t 100% sure what was going on, but oh goodness that art caught my eye. More so with “Freakwave” by the same fellas, where I feel like maybe I still need to give it another read and make sure I have it down.

And of course there was Johnny Nemo, the stylish sci-fi private detective by Milligan and Brett Ewins, plus other short features primarily with some combination of Milligan, McCarthy, and Ewins.

Much (all?) of the Millgan/McCarthy material gets reprinted in a 2013 hardcover Best of Milligan and McCarthy from Dark Horse. There is a two-issue Paradax series from Vortex that appears to be new material. There is a three issue series, also from Eclipse, of Johnny Nemo Magazine with new stories by Millgain and Erwin, and I feel like the character also appears somewhere else. If he does, then he’s reprinted in the 2014 Complete Johnny Nemo hardcover from Titan.

Okay, good series, worth taking a look, with visually stunning art and certainly peculiar stories.

• • •

Next installment…the last of the single vote entries? Maybe so! Things will only speed up after this (for you, it still takes me forever to type up this stuff) so we’ll get to the mysterious #1 vote-getter soon! And for whom did I vote? We’ll find out soon enough!

Void Indiupdate.

filed under Categories publishing 3 Comments

Okay, a brief follow-up on the morning’s Void Indigo post. As suggested in the comments, Steve Gerber did have on the old version of his site with a document outlining the stories for issues #3-6. You can also find an uncompleted bit of business for the Ultraverse title Sludge, as well as his unpublished Howard the Duck script. (Just go to his site via the Wayback Machine…you’ll find Howard and Sludge under “Scripts,” and for the Void Indigo outline (and a script for #2) you’ll find a link in the “Bibliography” section.)

The site was retooled after Gerber’s passing. It retains Gerber’s own postings, but I don’t know if the scripts and such are still available there.

Void Indigone.

filed under Categories marvel, publishing 17 Comments

Okay, you characters in the comments from Wednesday’s post got all Void Indigo on me, so I thought I’d look into that situation a bit further.

Void Indigo was a graphic novel and short-lived comic series by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerick, released in the mid-1980s under Marvel’s Epic imprint of mostly creator-owned material. Here’s what the cover to the initial installment, released in sequence in Marvel’s graphic novel line between Rick Veitch’s Heartburst and…Dazzler: The Movie?


It made…quite the stir when it was released, for its violent content, upon which I cannot report as Void Indigo remains a blind spot in my Gerber reading. And due to its truncated nature, I never sought it out, since I figured “it never finished, why bother?” But one shouldn’t be so cavalier about dismissing a Steve Gerber script, especially since we’re not getting any more, so someday I’ll get my hands on these and check them out myself.

My expectation is that, by modern standards, the “shocking” content will be less shocking to current eyes (as noted in one of the responses to Wednesday’s post), but I would like to see it myself.

Since I had my 1980s Comics Journals out, I flipped through to see if I could find their article on the whole situation, and lo, there it was, in #95 (February 1995). Here I have a scan of the just the first part of the article, as it goes on for another half-page:


Apparently lateness was being pushed as much of a reason for cancellation as whatever horrible, soul-searing content within the comics themselves. Low sales at would-be-a-huge-hit-today numbers were also a problem. The article mentions later that the customs seizure basically amounted to nothing, as with the book’s cancellation the problem had solved itself.

There’s also a note in the article about Marvel not taking returns on the two issues of this aborted series, saying everyone was sufficiently warned about the book and thus shared the risk is carrying the thing. Which is absolutely bonkers, and I don’t know if they eventually relented or not. I’ll have to search further up in The Comics Journal‘s numbers to see if there’s a follow-up report.

On top of all that, there’s a retailer…actually, the owner of a comic store…actually actually, the “President” of the company, so I’m changing my title at my shop straight away…who expressed a “moral objection” to carrying Void Indigo. So, damn, I have to read this comic now. Just what is going on in this thing?

One additional note: I remember, at the previous place of employment, in a box of papers and other promo materials, there was a Void Indigo thing, apparently released by Gerber his own self, that was either a script for the unreleased #3, maybe outlines for future issues, something. But it was definitely a stack of stapled paper with otherwise unavailable Void Indigo content. What the provenance of this item was, and where it may be now, following the shut-down of that shop and the scattering to the winds (or to my former boss’s storage, or even to my own backroom) of much of that stuff. Wish I could tell you more about it, or that I even looked inside, which I didn’t since I hadn’t read the other entries in the series, so reading later installments wouldn’t have done me any good.

What makes me wonder, though, is that the article says Gerber was behind, so I don’t know that there was even a script for #3 ready. Unless, of course, he finished it later to try to sell the book elsewhere, but…I don’t know, seems very unlikely. I guess that mysterious stack of paper will remain mysterious ’til I track it down.

So, Void Indigo…I’m betting folks would hardly bat an eye at the content today, or at least it wouldn’t be any worse that Crossed or Faust or Eo…you ever see Eo? No, not the Michael Jackson thing, the Tim Vigil comic? Boy, if that retailer above had a moral objection to Void Indigo, he’d probably renounce all worldly possessions and join a monastery if Eo was shoved into his hands. Assuming he didn’t catch on fire.

I guess I’m now on a quest to find Void Indigo. This is terrible. My site is making me buy more comics. That’s not how it’s supposed to work, I’m supposed to be making you all buy more comics from me. This isn’t fair.

The things I find by absolute chance.

filed under Categories publishing 12 Comments

So I’d been poking through some of my run of The Comics Journal, just kinda lookin’ at stuff, when by complete chance I came across the following bit in regard to Sisterhood of Steel (discussed just this past Monday).

Despite my disclaimers last time that I didn’t know very much this title, I did know this about it, about the time the series was happening. In issue #101 of TCJ, Christy Marx, writer of Sisterhood of Steel, wrote in to talk about changes she was compelled to make to issue #4, pictured here:


…while wondering in the letter why it had to be done, if the Epic imprint was intended for mature audiences? (She also listed a number of euphemisms for breasts and testicles that she was not permitted to use, but “shit” apparently was okay.) Thought this was an interesting artifact of the period, in that early era of the Big Two testing the waters as to what they felt they could or could not do under the “for mature readers” label.

This is around the same time there was a big hoohar over comics ratings which, hoo boy, I’m not sure I’m ready to get into that whole thing. Will it help/hurt sales? Will it make it easier for The Usual Suspects to target certain books? This was also a period of fear that The Powers That Be were going to come down hard on comics content, wondering if a new Frederic Wertham was going to turn up. (Someone tried, if I recall correctly, but didn’t have quite the impact as Wertham did.)

Marvel itself was experiencing some distributor pushback against the for-mature-readers Moonshadow (as noted in Marx’s letter, and cited as a probable reason for the Sisterhood changes). And a few years prior there was some obscuring of a being’s naughty bits in the Dreadstar Annual‘s reprinting of Jim Starlin’s The Price graphic novel from Eclipse Comics.

Like I said, just thought this was interesting. Given what appears in even your standard issue Marvels and DCs, a lot of this concern over content may seem a little…quaint. But the journey from those early days of the Direct Market with DC and Marvel pushing at their respective envelopes, to superheroes facing off a naked blue man and his fully on-view wedding tackle in a Major Event Book, was a bumpy one. And still ongoing.

The “Archie” mentioned in the image was editor Archie Goodwin.

The Final ’80s Countdown, Part Eleven.

filed under Categories final countdown 6 Comments

When I’m not busy annoying people way too into this Flash movie on Twitter, I’m writing about comics here…and that includes the next three titles on the “your favorite ’80s indies” list! Nearing the end of the one-voters here, after (good gravy) eleven installments of this, and I thank all of you for your kind indulgence.

A warning this week…two of the titles I know little or nothing about, and the third is one that probably shouldn’t have been included in the first place. How will your pal Mike overcome these, the worst hardships ever suffered by mortal man? Let’s find out together!

Sisterhood of Steel (Marvel/Epic 1984-1986)

This is one of those comics where the title is of course familiar to someone of my particular generation, growing up and discovering and reading and reading about comics in the 1980s. I knew it was part of Marvel’s Epic imprint of creator-owned comics. But aside from seeing ads for it in other Epic publications and in the comics press, I couldn’t have told yhou anything about it.

Well, other than it was about lady warriors, I suppose, as evident from the title. It took me doing research (i.e. looking at the Wikipedia entry) to learn that the central character of the book was a young warrior named Boronwë. The comic ran eight issues at Epic, and according to my “research,” a plan to continue the series in graphic novel format hit snags at that company, so the creators moved on to Eclipse Comics. There a single graphic novel (Baronwë: Daughter of Death) was published, and as far as I know that was that.

The creator of this comic was Christy Marx, with Mike Vosburg on art. The graphic novel was illustrated by the late Peter Ledger, who had been Marx’s first husband. So, strong talent all around, so I’m sure the comics read and looked wonderful. Unfortunately, I just never read them. And as far as I can tell, none of this material has been reprinted.

I think the original eight issue run, at least, is relatively easy to find. In fact, I spotted a few issues of it scattered throughout an enormous collection I just took in. I remember having stock of those at the previous place of employment, but I can only vaguely remember that graphic novel. Pretty sure we had it back then…I know my old boss would’ve ordered it…but I don’t think I’ve seen a copy in decades.

Seems like a shame this has been out of print for so long. Feels like something that might make a hardcover or something.
 
 
 
 
Space Ark (AC/Apple 1985-1987)

You got me, I’ve got nothin’ on this one. I knew the comic existed, but I can’t even say I sold any of these out the back issue bins while I was at the old shop. I certainly didn’t sell it new, as it wrapped up the year before I entered the business.

The comic is by Mark Cantrell and Ken Mitchroney…Cantrell’s name rings a bell, but a quick look on the Comics Database shows him mostly doing some things for AC Comics, a publisher I really haven’t read much from. Mitchroney’s name I do recognize for sure, most likely from his work on Marvel’s Ren and Stimpy series, though he also was the artist on Myth Conceptions, the follow-up to Myth Adventures (mostly illustrated by Phil Foglio, with Jim Valentino taking over the last couple of issues — am I padding this entry? Maybe).

The series ran five issues through two companies…the first two from AC, and the last three from Apple. (Should also note here the writer on issue #5 was author Steven R. Boyett.) A Space Ark short did appear as a back-up in Usagi Yojimbo #22, where the characters appear to cross over with that title’s lead. I don’t believe any of this material has been reprinted, save the Usagi story that apparently showed up in a German publication.

The comic was a humorous sci-fi adventure comic, featuring the anthropomorphic crew of the Space Ark, headed by Captain Stone (a fox…I mean, he was the animal the fox, not that he’s foxy, though, you know, maybe he is, again I didn’t read the comic). It seems like it’s in a similar mode as Adventures of Captain Jack, and I don’t know if I’m stepping on any toes by even mentioning that, and if so I apologize.

I mean…I know I like Mitchroney’s art, so I’m sure the book looks perfectly fine. I don’t know anything about the tone of the series, how comedic or “dramedic” or wacky or slapstick it might be. I promise, if a copy comes across my desk at my current shop, I’ll take a peek inside.

Special thanks to Wikifur for the additional research source.
 
 
 
 
The Spirit 1983 Series (Kitchen Sink 1983-1992)

Okay, by all rights I should have disqualified this one. This isn’t really in the spirit (cough) of “Favorite ’80s Title” as I’d meant it. The series (running 87 issues over a decade) was, as far as I can tell, mostly reprints in chronological order the post-war Spirit stories by Will Eisner and others. The covers appear to be all new illustrations by Eisner, which are nice.

Now, in no way am I disparaging the material here, and I’m not saying it lacks artistic or historical value by saying it doesn’t really belong in this ’80s comics overview. But it’s not ’80s comics, it’s 1940s and 1950s comics. Yes, there are the new covers, but, well, you know what I’m getting at. I was aiming for books created in the ’80s, specifically.

But on the other hand, this series did run almost 90 issues, the 40-year-old comics competing side-by-side on the comics rack next to, I don’t know, Dazzler and Nth Man and Haywire, and outlasting many of its competitors. I’m not going to say the material is timeless (one specific element remains…controversial), but Eisner’s art and storytelling is otherwise impeccable. Many of the comics that shared the shelves with these reprints owed a great deal to Eisner’s work of the period.

In conclusion, when I eventually do this for ’90s books, don’t nominate series that are all reprints of comics from earlier decades. This one I’ll let slide because, well, it’s Eisner. And who’s gonna stop me? I’M MAD WITH POWER. And yes, I know this may complicate the Miracleman entry a bit when I get to it.

• • •

Okay, enough with that. Only a couple of entries away before we move on to the comics that got two votes! Exciting, no? Thanks, as always, for reading, and I’ll see you on Wednesday probably.

Mike’s Lunchtime Update 3014.

filed under Categories lunchtime update 9 Comments

Just doing a quick early afternoon update since I was too dog-tired to write anything last night by the time I got home:

1. In response to several inquiries about doing something for ’90s comics like I’m currently doing for ’80s comics…well, maybe. Let me get through the ’80s comics first because, as a reminder, I’m on Part Ten and haven’t even finished the books that got single votes yet. This is going to take a while.

I was a little hesitant about doing it again at first, but, eh, why not. But not ’til after I’m done with the ’80s books, so don’t, like, start casting votes now or anything because I’m not going to count them.

2. CalvinPitt noted that when he and a buddy visited my store a while back, I had “talked [his] friend into buying Scooby Apocalypse,” which makes he think a little like maybe his friend thought I pulled one over on him. No, honest, I love Scooby Apocalypse, and I sincerely hold your friend liked it! Please, CalvinPitt, assuage my guilt!

3. Only had two songs in me today, sorry. See you back here on Monday!

Universal Variant Code.

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It’s the stunning return of Variant Cover-age, only because I found one this oddball thing that threw me off for a bit. Now, from the front this copy of the the first issue for 1996’s Kingdom Come looks like your typical first printing of this item:


But when you flip it over to enjoy Alex Ross’s wraparound cover, you notice a strange ommission…no UPC code!


For comparison, here’s what supposed to be in that little white box at the bottom there:


Kingdom Come #1 had a second printing, which this book in question isn’t, as there’s no indication of being as such in the indicia, plus it doesn’t have one of these Roman numeral doodads on the front:


And the second print does have the UPC code, too.

Soooooo…I didn’t know what the deal with this comic was. But I wasn’t the first to be puzzled by this variant, as seen in this message board thread. The thread starts with some business about UPC stickers being plastered on some copies of Kingdom Come, but eventually gets into the blank UPC box thing. One person there says he has the Kingdom Come Collector’s Set in which there was a #3 with no UPC.

I found an eBay auction for the Collector’s Set, from which I liberated this image:


The auction was very thorough in its scanning, giving backs and fronts of all the covers of the included books. No UPC-codeless copies, but it did have two second prints like the message boarder reported with his set.

Thus, if we take the person on the message board at his word, then the collector set was perhaps at least one source for this particular variant. However, seemingly not a consistent one, based on that one eBay listing. (No other open copies seemed to be on eBay, either current or recently ended.) Were the blank UPC copies whipped up to help fill these collector’s sets, which also dipped into the 2nd printing stock? I don’t recall this variation being made available otherwise.

If you’ve seen this version of the Kingdom Come comics, or if you have one of the Collector’s Sets your own self, please report in and let me know. I’d like more data points to nail down the origin of this book.

The Final ’80s Countdown, Part Ten.

filed under Categories final countdown 12 Comments

Well, still going through the one-voters from that “fave ’80s comics” survey I ran a while back. It’s been fun going through those and finding what, if anything, I have to say about these “golden oldies.” And I apologize to anyone I just aged into dust by calling these comics from the 1980s “golden oldies.”

This time ’round there’s gonna be a series of which I haven’t read one panel, and even as I’m typing this I have no idea what I’m going to say. Let’s find out together, shall we?

The Rocketeer (Pacific/Eclipse/Comico/Dark Horse 1982-1995)

So here’s another exception to the “list just the initial series” in the header. The Rocketeer was serialized over several years, through several publications and publishers, in what was essentially one ongoing narrative, so I just lumped ’em all together here.

The story, written by Dave Stevens and drawn by him with the occasional assistance on layouts ‘n’ such from folks like Jaime Hernandez, began as a back-up story in Starslayer #2 and #3 from Pacific Comics. From there it continued with two more chapters in consecutive issues of the Pacific Presents anthology (1982-3), then on to a longer installment in The Rocketeer Special Edition #1 from Eclipse in 1984. Comico then released two issues of what would be technically the first Rocketeer “ongoing” series, The Rocketeer Adventure Magazine in 1988-9. And then finally, in 1995, the last part of Stevens’ story would be released as Rocketeer Adventure Magazine #3 by Dark Horse. Phew!

The early chapters, pre-Adventure Magazine, are reprinted in a full-color graphic novel from Eclipse in 1985 (which includes a couple of extra new story pages). In the 2000s, IDW would release collected editions of the whole shebang.

It is a fun story, pulpy 1930s adventure featuring a guy and his rocket-pack, and his pals, including his girlfriend Betty, very obviously patterned after real-life model Bettie Page. Stevens’ art was beautiful and meticulous and there was nothing quite like it on the stands. Sometimes the art felt a little stiff to me, without any real sense of action, but that’s a minor quibble. Despite all the delays, including a car accident, a lawsuit (Marvel suing because they said there’d be market confusion between this character some minor villains called “the Rocketeers” from the ’70s, really about as bullshit a suit as they come), a movie (perhaps you’ve heard of it), Stevens persevered and completed his story on his own terms.

Stevens would never do any more Rocketeer stories, and passed away in 2008. However, there are plenty of other Rocketeer comics out there, including the 1991 adaptation of the film published by Disney’s comics division. Probably of note due to artwork by the legendary Russ Heath, over a Peter David script. Also in 1991 was Rocketeer 3D, which was oddly another adaptation of the film drawn by Neal Adams/Continuity Studios and in, as you may have guessed, 3D.

After Stevens passed, IDW acquired the rights to do new comics, starting with the Rocketeer Adventuresanthology in 2011. Now, the IDW comics can be of…varying quality, but by and large they’re entertaining even as everyone involved is surely aware they’re trying very hard to fill some big shoes. Keep an eye out for the Rocketeer/Spirit crossover from 2013, by Mark Waid and Paul Smith. That’s a good’un.
 
 
 
 
Savage Henry (Vortex/Rip Off 1987-1993)

The temptation to go to ChatGPT and ask it to write this particular section for me is overwhelming. But, learning the lesson from these lawyers getting caught out doing the same thing, I will opt to tell you what I can, considering I’ve not read a single panel of any of these comics.

I remember selling Savage Henry on the rack, but mostly I remember the other series by Matt Howarth from about the same time, Those Annoying Post Bros.. Howarth did some other comics here and there, and at the previous place of employment we just had a “Matt Howarth” section in the back issue bins where we kept them all together. On the somewhat infrequent occasion we had someone looking for his books, that customer was generally looking for issues of all of them, and just keeping them in the same place seemed to make sense.

This comic is in fact a spin-off of Those Annoying Post Bros., a sci-fi/fantasy adventure featuring the band The Bulldaggers and its lead guitarist, the titular Savage Henry. Yes, I had to go to the Wikipedia entry amongst my research (“Siri, tell me about Savage Henry”) and apparently there was a whole pile of real-life musicians who popped up in here. I mean, I knew the Residents popped up in Howarth’s books…I definitely remember that…but, like, Steve Roach? Hawkwind? Andrew Weiss? (No, not that Andrew Weiss.)

I always thought the covers stood out, and Howarth’s art is, I think, pretty neat. I’m sorry I never got around to reading these, I’m sure they’re enjoyable.

Oh, and Savage Henry ran 13 issues from Vortex, before switching over to Rip Off Press for another 17. From that point it had a few new minis from MU Press and Caliber. No collected editions as far as I can tell, but if I’m wrong, let me know.
 
 
 
 
Scout (Eclipse 1985-1987)

Scout was one of those titles I decided at one point, early in my career of funnybook retailin’, to collect and complete. I only ended up getting the first few issues, and can’t remember why I didn’t get more. It certainly wasn’t the quality, as the series was All Tim Truman, All the Time (except for some back-ups and a couple of guest-artist stints, by fellow Joe Kubert School alumni Rick Veitch, Steve Bissette, and Tom Yeates).

The comics feature the adventures of Native American Emanuel Santana in the near-future of a fallen America, seeking out the Great Monsters of the Apache. Inexplicably I do not own #17, which a tie-in to Tales of the Beanworld.

The initial run of Scout was 24 issues, and a couple of related mini-series not by Truman (New America and Swords of Texas. Truman would return with Scout: War Shaman, which would end after 16 issues in 1989. There’s also a Scout Handbook in there somewhere. More comics were planned, but as of yet had not been released. A hardcover for the third part of the planned saga, Scout: Warauders, was recently just funded on Kickstarter, so it looks like there’s more to come.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t brag mention my copy of the “Marauders” vinyl record by Timothy Truman and the Dixie Pistols. Becauyse, you know, it contains an 8-page Scout mini-comic. No collection is complete without it!

Reprints: Eclipse published a couple of trades back in the day, running up through issue #14 of the original series. Dynamite published a couple of reprint volumes in the early 2000s, which get up to issue #15, so…a full comprehensive printing has not yet been unleashed.

Anyway, it’s Truman, therefore it’s good. Look for those issues in the bargain boxes. There’s only a few dozen to track down, it’s not like you’ve got anything else to do.

• • •

And there’s your three for the day! Yes, I know this is taking forever but honestly it takes a lot to even do just three comics for these entries. A new entry in the Final ’80s Countdown is coming soon…thanks for reading, pals!

Just in time for me to have bought all those ROM back issues for the store, too.

filed under Categories marvel, publishing 21 Comments

Well, this was as real week for “that’s the last thing I expected to hear”-type news, starting with the stunning return of failed-toy-but-reasonably-successful-comic-character ROM Spaceknight to Marvel Comics!

Now as far as anyone can tell, this “return” seems to be limited to reprinting the original material, in this case in those large Omnibus editions and at least one facsimile edition in the form of a reprint of issue #1. Also included will be those crossover issues that, previously, had been on the reprint-banned list and skipped over in trade collections for other characters. For example, an issue of Power Man and Iron Fist will be in Omnibus #1. (Which has me wondering…Peter David put an unarmored, totally human ROM in an issue of Incredible Hulk…will this Not Approved by the License Holder appearance get into an omnibus?)

At any rate, this is exciting news, with the license holder apparently discovering with the attempted ROM comics revival at another publisher a few years back that the ROM people want is the Marvel version. And my recommendation…if you want these, get your preorders in as soon as possible and buy them right away. No idea how long Marvel has the license, or under what restrictions (like how often can they reprint these books). I don’t know if waiting for cheaper “Epic” paperback collections would be wise.

And I don’t know if Marvel would be allowed to reissue some of their other trade collections that previously omitted any ROM appearances. Most notably, there’s an issue of Incredible Hulk that prominently featured the Spaceknight, #296 from 1984, that when reprinted had all of ROM’s appearances in the story replaced with text pieces explaining what happened without mentioning the character by his at that point unlicensed name. Be nice to have that fixed.

After the ROM announcement, people responded with “wow, now do the Micronauts,” and lo, Marvel done did the Micronauts. Like ROM, these comics will also be issued in the large Omnibus hardcover format, preceded by a facsimile edition of the initial Micronauts comic book. Most of the comments I made about the ROM reprints above can be applied to the Micronauts as well. Order early, order often!

I don’t think the Micronauts popped up in other Marvel comics as much as ROM did, but there’s at least the X-Men/Micronauts mini-series so hopefully that’ll make it in. Also, it’s actually pretty good.

The third, slightly less surprising news, is Image Comics announcing they’re shifting their distribution to Lunar. I mean, “less surprising” in that I figured another biggish publisher would split from Diamond and move elsewhere eventually, and that Image was one of the likely suspects.

Like with Marvel, Image will still be available through Diamond, but likely at a worse wholesale discount. This is a pretty significant hit to Diamond, I would think, and one I thought would be a fatal blow. But, given that apparently a number of retailers have stuck with Diamond for their Marvel business, despite it costing more, I imagine the same will occur with Image. So, you know, Diamond’s not done yet. But I can picture a day, maybe years from now, when the company will be “Your #1 Source for Sexy Anime Bikini Girl PVC Statues, and Only That!”

It will be nice to have a couple different sources for reorders, in case one of the other is out of stock on something. And the distributor competition has been good for Diamond, in that my shipments are relatively error free compared to, well, the last couple of decades. I know that’s not the case for everyone, as when I mentioned this on the Twitters I heard from another retailer that the missing/damaged books in his shipments have been just as bad, if not worse. As such, I’ll just consider myself lucky, and hope they’re not building up to a shipment where all my boxes are delivered on fire or something.
 
 

image from Incredible Hulk #418 (1994) by Peter David, Gary Frank and Cam Smith