If you'd like to help the Tipster pay for an upcoming root canal and other dental work, why not buy stuff from his Vast Accumulation of Stuff.
There's this week's current sale...
and signed copies of 1000 Comic Books You Must Read...
and the ever-popular mystery boxes!
Thanks and have a great afternoon!
Thursday, January 31, 2013
DANGEROUS ADVENTURES
private case-book of Rocky Jorden. The Thrilling Detective website
describes him thus:
Supposedly modeled after television's Rocky King, Inside Detective,
redheaded Rocky was your typical tough-talking, two-fisted gumshoe
of the time. He came complete with an extremely loyal secretary,
Lisa Brown, whom he rescued from her "coked-up drummer" boyfriend
in #2's "Drums of Death." What made him Rocky such an interesting
guy was some of the talent used to bring him into the world,
including acclaimed artists such as Pete Morisi and George Tuska.
What little I know about this particular issue of Private Eye comes
from the Atlas Tales website, which attributes the cover (pencils)
to Vernon Henkel. Inside the issue, there are three Rocky Jorden
stories, all of them signed by Henkel, a non-series story possibly
drawn by Fred Kida, and a text story. At this time, the writers of
these stories have not been identified.
Here’s a fun fact...there was a radio detective named Rocky Jordan
whose adventures took place in Istanbul and Cairo. In the first of
his two series, Jordan owned the Café Tambourine. That was his
actual occupation, but, as was a common and popular thing in radio
detective shows, he was an amateur detective who usually got into
his cases by accident. Thanks again to Thrilling Detective without
whom I would know nothing about either Rocky.
Keep reading this bloggy thing for more vintage comic-book covers
from my birth month of December 1951.
******************************
The new girl in school tries to sidestep the usual settling in and
getting to know people part of going to a new school...by inventing
a deadly allergy to peanuts. That’s the premise of Ayun Halliday
and Paul Hoppe’s peanut [Schwartz & Wade Books; $15.99]. Watching
Sadie try to maintain this fragile lie once she’s made new friends
in her new school is painful for her and the reader alike, but it
makes this graphic novel a genuine page-turner.
Having raised and been raised by my own children and their friends,
I found Halliday’s characters believable. The school nurse was a
little larger than life, but I think Sadie’s single mother and her
teachers were dead-on. This book feels real. If you want to tell
me Sadie’s plan is a stupid one, well, being a parent for a decade
or two will make it very clear that kids sometimes do the dumbest
things. It’s how they and we learn.
I know 2013 has just begun, but I’m calling peanut for next year’s
award nominations. It’s that good.
ISBN 978-0-375-86590-9
******************************
Going through older comics, I’ve been reading Batman Confidential.
Most of the issues are so-so at best and some are downright awful.
However, two storylines tickled me.
Batman Confidential #17-21 [July-November 2008] features “The Cat
and the Bat” by Fabian Nicieza and Kevin Maguire. Barbara Gordon
“borrows” her father’s secret notebook to see what he knows about
Batgirl, who has just recently made her debut in Gotham. Catwoman
steals the notebook from Barbara. Barbara/Batgirl goes after her.
For a story involving Russian mobsters and human trafficking, it’s
a little more fun than it should be. But, darn it, it is fun and
filled with Maguire-drawn eye candy that, as a evolved male, should
bother me and doesn’t. Not even when Batgirl chases Catwoman into
a nudist club. Batman shows up for the second half of the story,
but he’s actually not a dick here. I enjoyed this serial, which DC
doesn’t seem to have collected at this time. That’s an oversight
the company should correct.
In Batman Confidential #26-28 [April-June 2009], “The Curse of King
Tut” by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir with art by Jose Luis
Garcia-Lopez and Kevin Nowlan is another well-written, well-drawn
serial. King Tut, who is completely different from the villain of
the old Batman TV series, is murdering people while making with the
obscure riddles. The Riddler is suspected of having something to
do with this, even though he’s currently incarcerated. It doesn’t
take long for Batman and the Riddler to form one of those “uneasy
partnerships” that can be quite entertaining when done by terrific
writers and artists...like the folks who did this one.
The story is tight for three issues without either being crowded or
padded. The Riddler is in top form. Batman is working comfortably
with the police. The new villain is cool and the serial ends on a
satisfying note that made me want to see more. Another little gem
that hasn’t been reprinted.
If I may digress and, really, how are you going to stop me, I think
the Riddler makes a much better hero than villain. He’s probably
already a mass murderer or something in the New 52 universe, but,
if he hasn’t gone that route yet, DC should really consider using
him as a slightly shady good guy. Not that it’s likely to happen,
but I could see myself writing a Riddler series. Mostly because I
have friends smart enough to help me with the mysteries such a book
would require.
I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
© 2013 Tony Isabella
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
RAWHIDE WEDNESDAY 31
The Rawhide Kid - the one created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, then
continued by Larry Lieber - is my favorite western character. So,
inspired by Essential Rawhide Kid Volume 1, which reprinted all the
Lee/Kirby issues and then some, I’ve been writing about the Rawhide
Kid most every Wednesday. When I ran out of the issues reprinted
in the book, I tracked down some owlhoots, brought them in and used
the reward money to buy more issues of the title. Because that’s
what the Kid would have done.
The cover of The Rawhide Kid #46 [June 1965] proclaims loudly that
“No gunfighter could match the speed of deadly Doc Holliday!” And
the dramatic Jack Kirby/Chic Stone drawing shows Doc outdrawing the
Kid. A second cover caption shouts that this is “One of the Rawhide
Kid’s greatest adventures!”
“The Deadly Doc Holliday” (17 pages) is written and drawn by Larry
Lieber and edited by Stan Lee. Although the Grand Comics Database
entry on this story lists Lee as a co-writer, that’s not what’s in
the credits of the actual comic book.
The story opens with the Rawhide Kid riding through the “sprawling
Southwest” when he spots a “lone jasper” being pursued by Apaches.
There’s too many for the Kid to shoot it out with, but he quickly
rides ahead to a nearby canyon. He starts an avalanche at exactly
the right moment so that falling rocks miss that “lone jasper” and
block the Apaches from further pursuit.
Thus Rawhide makes the acquaintance of the legendary Doc Holiday.
The former dentist has come to the West in the hope the dry air can
slow down the consumption that will kill him in just a few years.
Doc is a rude cuss, but he invites the Kid to ride to the nearest
town with him. The young gunfighter takes a liking to Holliday and
accepts the invitation.
Doc heads to the town saloon while Rawhide goes to the barber for
a haircut. Not wanted in this unnamed state, the Kid figures he’ll
rest up for a spell. That the town doesn’t have a sheriff is just
an added incentive.
Doc has barely gotten his drink on when Ox Carson and his gang ride
into town and order everyone from the saloon. Holliday, for whom
death elicits no fear, defies the owlhoots and insults them. Oh,
it’s on, baby, it’s on.
Holliday easily deals with the six members of the Carson gang who
are already in the saloon. But he has no time to reload when the
gang leader and the rest of his men arrive. Fortunately, Rawhide,
having been warned of the situation, arrives in time to take care
of the rest of the bad guys. The acerbic Holliday thanks the Kid
for the rescue, but, in wondering out loud who would win in a duel
between them, makes what sounds like a threat.
Lost in thought, Rawhide bumps into Frank, a local store clerk, and
quickly apologizes. The hot-headed Frank tries to pick a fight, but
his friends cool him off.
Frank has romantic problems. The woman he loves won’t give him a
chance. She wants “an exciting hombre, a real man of action” and
Frank doesn’t even carry a gun.
Julie Welles, the object of Frank’s desire, rushes into the saloon
at the moment. The beautiful young woman rushed over on hearing of
the gunfight. Doc Holliday takes a liking to her and vice versa,
much to Frank’s dismay.
Doc starts bullying the townspeople. He makes a man put his coat
over a mud puddle so Julie won’t get her fancy boots dirty. He may
or may not be cheating at cards, but his quick draw scares off any
player who calls him on it. Julie is fascinated by Doc, but also
a little repulsed by his manner. But not enough to turn down his
proposal of marriage.
The Rawhide Kid has taken a back seat to Doc in this story. While
the Kid relaxes, Lieber concentrates on the complicated Holliday.
This is as much a character study as it is an action-packed yarn.
A shipment of money en route to California is making a stop in the
town until it can be picked up by a westbound coach. Doc figures
on stealing it and spending his last years in luxury with Julie by
his side. However, hearing of the proposal, Frank becomes the man
of action he thinks Julie wants.
Frank gets his late father’s gun and goes looking for Doc Holliday.
The trail leads him to the express office where he bursts in on Doc
stealing the money.
In the meantime, a tearful Julie recruits the Rawhide Kid to save
Frank. He now realizes she loves the store clerk. Says the Kid:
Gals, bah! I’ll never understand ‘em!
Rawhide reaches the express office as Frank is preparing to draw on
Holliday. The Kid has to slug Frank to keep him from fighting Doc,
but Holliday figures this is as good a time as any to find out if
he’s faster than the Rawhide Kid.
Surprisingly, Holliday is faster. But a coughing attack messes up
Doc’s aim and he only wings Rawhide. The Kid shoots the gun out of
Holliday’s hand. That’s the difference between them. The Rawhide
Kid doesn’t believe in hurting an hombre any more than he has to.
“Foolish girl realizes she loves ordinary but stand-up guy” would
be a decent enough ending to this story, but Lieber doesn’t leave
it at that. He swings for the fences and delivers a truly poignant
conclusion to this tale.
He sets it up with Rawhide preaching to the converted about how a
gun isn't a toy, but a grim weapon of destruction that made him the
fugitive he is, keeps him running and separates him from other men.
He tells them men like him and Holliday aren’t glamorous, but are
lonely and unhappy. It’s folks like Frank and Julie that give the
West its true glamor:
The ones who settle down...marry...raise families! It’s you who are
building up this territory...you who are making this a land to be
proud of.
Lieber kicks it up another notch. Since the town doesn’t have a
sheriff or even a jail, the citizens ask the Rawhide Kid to escort
Holliday out of town. And, while he’s at it, could the Kid move on
as well? Even well-meaning gunmen “always seem to breed trouble.”
The Kid agrees to move on.
Julie sheds some tears as Doc Holliday and the Kid ride out of the
town. Frank asks her about it. She responds:
I was thinking of Doc...doomed to die soon! And of the Kid, whose
life is so tragic! You and I have each other...and the future! But
they really have nothing...
...nothing but a few tears from an onlooker...a girl who’s watching
them ride out of town and out of her life...forever!
That’s how to bring a story home!
The Doc Holliday in this story is much closer to the real Holliday
than the one in the non-series “The Sheriff’s Star” by Stan Lee and
Gene Colan [Rawhide Kid #34; June 1963]. If you’d care to read my
comments on that earlier story, I wrote about it in my bloggy thing
for August 15, 2012.
Following the Rawhide Kid story is a full-page ad for Two-Gun Kid
#76 (July 1965). It shows the black-and-white title page for that
issue’s story - "Trapped on the Train of Doom!" - and suggests that
readers color the page themselves and then see how their coloring
compares to the published version. It’s a clever ad, but I’d bet
it was inspired by necessity and that the cover for Two-Gun Kid
wasn’t done at the time this Rawhide Kid issue went to the printer.
This issue’s non-series story is “The Warning!” It’s written and
pencilled by Alex Toth and unfortunately inked by Vince Colletta.
It could have been a special art job if Toth had inked it himself
or if he had been inked by someone more compatible with his style.
Ah, well.
The story itself is pretty good. The sheriff of a New Mexico town
gets a telegram telling him that the feared Sundance Kid is coming
to town to settle their unfinished business. The sheriff plans to
leave town before the Kid gets there and the townspeople brand him
a coward and prevent his leaving.
Sundance shows up. There’s a gunfight. The sheriff wins. Then he
turns in his badge and tells the town to find a new lawman. He’d
planned to meet the Kid along the road in the hopes of finding some
other way to settle things. Instead, the townspeople forced him to
draw against...his own brother!
Next up is the (by now) usual full-page membership ad for the Merry
Marvel Marching Society...and that’s followed by “Ridin’ the Trail
With Rawhide,” the title’s letters page. The page commences with
Marvel patting itself on its own back:
Doc Holliday is a great off-beat character, isn’t he?? We have a
hunch we may be seeing more of him, from time to time, if you say
so! So let us know, hear?
I’m guessing the readers didn’t say so because Doc didn’t appear in
a Marvel western until the second Rawhide Kid mini-series by that
hack writer whose Rawhide Kid scribblings we forever ignore around
these here parts.
Two of the issue’s four short but full of praise letters are from
Texas, one from Oklahoma and the fourth from Jamaica, West Indies.
Almost half the page is occupied by “The Mighty Marvel Checklist.”
There were some pivotal comics that month, including Daredevil and
a powerless Fantastic Four going up against Doctor Doom, a brand-new
Avengers line-up, and, in Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandoes, the
death of a beloved cast member. Make Mine Marvel!
Happy trails to you, my friends, until our next Rawhide Wednesday.
I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
© 2013 Tony Isabella
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
THE CORPSE ON THE SIDEWALK
Firebrand, the Human Bomb and my beloved Candy. That all changed
about a year before issue #112 [February 1952] hit the newsstands.
The costumed heroes were gone, Candy was gone and the title was now
the stomping grounds of somewhat more realistic characters like Ken
Shannon, a rough, tough and rugged private eye. That’s Ken and gal
assistant Dee-Dee Dawson on the Reed Crandall cover.
Shannon had a two-year run in Police Comics and in the ten issues
of his own title. According to the Thrilling Detective site, the
“Mad Irishman” fought white slavers, Oriental criminal masterminds,
shrunken heads and, on one memorable occasion, zombies. The nine-
page “Corpse On the Sidewalk” was penciled by Crandall with inks by
Chuck Cuidera. The writer is uncredited, but we know Joe Millard
was writing for the feature around this time.
The rest of the issue’s contents:
Inspector Denver in “Dead Man's Return” (6 pages). The Grand Comics
Database opines the story was drawn by W. G. Hargis. The GCD has
no writer credit for this or any other story in the issue.
T-Man Pete Trask in “The Doctor of Destruction!” (7 pages). There
are no credits for this story or the issue’s remaining stories.
Picto-Crime, a single-page comics feature.
“Crime In the Carnival,” a single-page text story.
“A Friend In Need,” a six-page comics story.
As always, I would love more information about this issue and will
share whatever comes my way. Keep watching this bloggy thing for
more vintage comic-book covers from my December 1951 birth month.
******************************
Dan DeCarlo is my all-time favorite Archie Comics artist. Because
there are so many great contenders for second place in that race,
I’ve never been able to decide on just one. However, after reading
and loving Archie: The Best of Samm Schwartz Volume 1 [IDW; $24.99]
and Archie: The Best of Samm Schwartz Volume 2 [likewise], I’m now
able to name my second favorite Archie artist.
Schwartz was the premiere Jughead artist for three decades. Which
means he draw a whole bunch of stories starring my favorite Archie
character. I always liked Schwartz’s art, but seeing it in this
gorgeous oversized (around 11" by 9") hardcover book increased my
appreciation of his many talents. Working with scripts by terrific
writers like Frank Doyle and George Gladir, Schwartz was a master
of body language, expression and movement. His storytelling never
falters; each panel flows smoothly into the next, each page flows
smoothly into the next. When he breaks the panel borders, he adds
an almost three-dimensional sense to the art. Even when he breaks
the panel borders incorrectly, that is to say when he leads your
eye away from the next sequential panel.
Each of these volumes collects over a hundred big pages of comics
drawn by Schwartz. In the first volume, a short remembrance from
his daughter gives us an image of her father the artist. But, when
it comes to the art itself, Schwartz’s talents tell us everything
we need to know about his genius. These books are must-haves for
serious students of the comics art form and, of course, for Archie
fans of all ages.
Archie: The Best of Samm Schwartz Volume 1
ISBN 978-1613770412
Archie: The Best of Samm Schwartz Volume 2
ISBN 978-1613773949
******************************
Batman: Earth One by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank [$22.99] was that
rarest of creations, a DC Comics super-hero book I enjoyed. This
“new generation” Batman emphasizes the man more than the scary bat
who is usually such a tedious cliche in the “actual” DC Universe.
He’s not completely prepared for the mantle he has assumed, not in
body, mind, or Bat-equipment. He makes mistakes. He needs help.
But, somehow, this troubled Bruce Wayne still manages to put clues
together, still manages to save innocents, still manages to inspire
people. Johns is at the top of his game in this graphic novel, so
much so that I wish the “New 52" had utilized this Batman instead
of recycling the complicated and overpopulated pre-New 52 Batman
with its painfully obvious course corrections along the way. Add
Johns’ mostly excellent writing to the always excellent Gary Frank
art and this might be the best Batman comic book or graphic novel
in several years. Recommended.
ISBN 978-1-4012-3208
******************************
Reading older comics, I suffered through 2009's Batman: Battle for
the Cowl. The core series and its spin-off were amazingly awful.
With two exceptions.
Batman: Battle for the Cowl: Commissioner Gordon #1 by Royal McGraw
and Tom Mandrake was one of the best Gordon stories ever. The guy
takes on Mr. Freeze without Batman or any of his surrogates. It’s
a gutsy thriller and a satisfying done-in-one comic book. It led
me to an unsatisfying Grand Comics Database search which revealed
McGraw, who also writes for movies and TV, only wrote a few Batman
stories. I’m looking forward to reading them.
Batman: Battle for the Cowl: The Network #1 by Fabian Nicieza, Don
Kramer and John Calafiore wasn’t as good as the Commissioner Gordon
one-shot, but I really liked the concept of Oracle pulling together
a small army of Batman allies to deal with the problems caused by
the Dark Knight’s disappearance. Alas, Oracle is back to fighting
crime as Batgirl - not an unpleasant development, but, again, not
as good as her Oracle days - and other members of this Bat Brigade
have been changed or abandoned in DC’s New 52 Universe. Still, I
wouldn’t mind seeing something like this concept be introduced in
either the DC or Marvel Universe.
Take a lawless city without much of a super-hero presence, maybe in
the USA, maybe in another country. Establish a computer whiz with
the means and smarts to command a small army. Fill the team with
second-stringers who deserve a chance to shine. As a writer, I’d
have fun with such a title. As a reader, well, that depends on how
good the comic book was and how much of the writer’s own voice came
through in the stories. As you’ve doubtless seen, I’m not a huge
fan of editor-driven or clique-driven comics.
I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
© 2013 Tony Isabella
Monday, January 28, 2013
VAST ACCUMULATION OF STUFF SALE 1/28
In the pages of the fondly remembered Comics Buyer’s Guide and in
a variety of online venues, I have been reviewing comic books and
related items for decades. Up until a few years ago, I received at
least 100 and often close to 300 review items monthly from comics
creators, editors and publishers hoping for reviews in my columns.
In addition, I had been buying comic books, books and magazines
since I received my first dime from a generous relative. Or maybe
it was a dinosaur tooth which could be traded for cave drawings in
those prehistoric times. My love for comics has been a vital part
of me almost since I was born.
Having amassed this Vast Accumulation of Stuff, which soon outgrew
even my Tardis-like house and filled what we now call the Fortress
of Storage, I realized I might be leaving a burden on my wife and
kids should I ascend to my doubtless heavenly reward. I launched
biweekly garage sales and sold literally thousands of comic books
and other items at each sale.
This was fine for those who could travel to my Medina Ohio garage.
Some drove from as far away as Columbus. It was less fine for my
Facebook friends and bloggy thing readers who lived further away.
So I started doing these online sales.
Monday usually means new items for my ongoing Vast Accumulation of
Stuff sales and reduced prices on some previously unsold items.
That’s the case this week. Unsold items are eventually taken off
this list and will be part of my garage sales when they resume in
the spring. Weather permitting.
Here’s how my VAOS sales work...
First come, first serve. In other words, the quicker you e-mail me,
the better your chance of getting the item or items. Only e-mail
orders will be accepted and you should not send payment until you
get a confirmation e-mail from me. All listed items are in good or
better condition unless otherwise noted.
Let me stress that “e-mail only” rule. Most of the few mistakes I
have made in assembling/shipping orders have happened with orders
I accepted via phone or Facebook message. So...I’m not gonna break
my own rule anymore.
You should always include your mailing address with your orders.
That speeds up the packaging and the shipping.
Items will be shipped via United States Postal Service. There is
a $5 shipping/handling charge for up to four items via media mail.
Add $1 for every two additional items. The charge helps defray my
expenses.
Payments are by check, money order or PayPal. My PayPal address is
the same as my email address. Purchases will generally be shipped
within a week of checks clearing, money orders received or PayPal
payments received.
Because this is a one-man operation done between family, household
and work responsibilities, these items are only available to buyers
within the United States and to APO buyers.
When you receive your order, please check it and let me know of any
omissions as soon as possible. I’ll be double-checking the orders
on my end, but, if there’s a problem, I want to make it right in a
timely fashion.
This week’s sale ends when the new sale goes up on Monday, February
4. While supplies last, all orders will receive a free signed copy
of an Isabella-written Hawkman comic book.
Here are this week’s new items...
30 DAYS OF NIGHT: RED SNOW by Ben Templesmith [2008]. Softcover. $8
ART OF VAMPIRE KNIGHT: MATSURI HINO ILLUSTRATIONS [Viz Media/Shojo Beat; 2010]. Beautiful full-color oversized 9"x12" hardcover. $12
BLADE: UNDEAD AGAIN by Marc Guggenheim and Howard Chaykin [Marvel; 2007]. Reprints issues #1-6. Softcover. $7
COMIC BOOK REBELS: CONVERSATIONS WITH CREATORS OF THE NEW COMICS by Stanley Wiater and Stephen R. Bissette [1993]. Interviews with such comics legends as Scott McCloud, Howard Cruse, Harvey Pekar, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Dave Sim, Frank Miller and more. Softcover. $7
ELVIRA MISTRESS OF THE DARK #83-85 [Claypool Comics; 2000]. Three-issue back-up serial written by Tony Isabella. Signed on request. $7 for all three issues.
FANTASTIC FOUR VOL. 2: UNTHINKABLE by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo [Marvel; 2003]. Reprints issues #500-502 plus Fantastic Four Vol. 3 #67-70. $8
FANTASTIC FOUR VOL. 4: HEREAFTER by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo [Marvel; 2004]. Reprints issues #509-513. $5
FOUR WOMEN by Sam Kieth [Homage/DC; 2002]. Reprints issues #1-5. Softcover. $8
HARRY, THE RAT WITH WOMEN by Jules Feiffer [Fantagraphics, 2007]. Softcover. $6
JONNY DOUBLE by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso [Vertigo, 1998]. Softcover. $6
MADMAN BOOGALOO STARRING NEXUS & THE JAM by Mike Allred, Mike Baron nd Steve Rude. [Dark Horse; 1999]. Collects Nexus Meets Madman and issues one and two of Madman/the Jam. Softcover. $4
MADMAN: THE ODDITY ODYSSEY BY Mike Allred [Oni; 2002]. Collects the original Madman series published by Tundra. Softcover. $7
MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR: SPACED CRUSADERS [Marvel; 2008]. Digest-sized reprint stories from issues #37-40. Softcover. $4
MARVEL COMICS IN THE 1970s: AN ISSUE BY ISSUE FIELD GUIDE TO A POP CULTURE PHENOMENON by Pierre Comtois [TwoMorrows; 2011]. Softcover. $13
MINIFIGURE CUSTOMIZATION: POPULATE YOUR WORLD by Jared K. Burks [TwoMorrows; 2011]. Shows wide range of techniques you can use to alter Lego Minifigure into any character. Softcover. $5
PRO by Garth Ennis, Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti and Paul Mounts [Image; 2007]. Third printing. $3
RASL: THE DRIFT by Jeff Smith [Cartoon Books; 2008]. First volume of the sci-fi noir series by the creator of Bone. Oversized 9"x12" softcover. $6
SIDEKICKS: THE TRANSFER STUDENT by J. Torres and Takeshi Miyazawa [Oni, 2002]. Softcover. $4
SPEED RACER THE NEXT GENERATION ANIMATED VOLUME 1 by Justin Grey and Jimmy Palmiotti [IDW; 2008]. Digest-sized adaption of cartoon episodes. Softcover. $3
TERRY MOORE’S ECHO: DESERT RUN [Abstract Studios; 2009]. Reprints issues #11-15. Softcover. $7
THIS IS A SOUVENIR: THE SONGS OF SPEARMINT & SHIRLEY LEE [Image; 2009]. “An anthology showcasing re-interpretations of the songs of British indie group Spearmint and singer/songwriter Shirley Lee by some of the most unique voices in comics today.” Includes Kieron Gillian, Jamie McKelvie, Salgood Sam and others. Oversized (just under 12"x12" softcover. $14
Here are this week’s previously offered items...
BACK ISSUE #8 [TwoMorrows; February 2005]. Black Super-Hero issue. Featuring a guest editorial by me. Signed on request. $6
ESSENTIAL AVENGERS VOLUME 7 [Marvel; 2010]. Reprints issues #141- 163, Avengers Annual #6 and Super-Villain Team-Up #9, including two issues written by me. Signed on request. Softcover. $20
ESSENTIAL DAREDEVIL VOLUME 5 [Marvel; 2010]. Reprints issues #102-125 and Marvel Two-In-One #3, including five issues written by me. signed on request. Softcover. $20
ESSENTIAL MOON KNIGHT VOLUME 3 [Marvel; 2010]. Reprints issues #31-38, Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #1-6 plus Moon Knight stories from Marvel Fanfare #39 & 38-39, Solo Avengers #3 and Marvel Super-Heroes #1, including two issues written by me. Signed on request. Softcover. $20
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA: THY KINGDOM COME PART ONE by Geoff Johns, Alex Ross and Dale Eaglesham. [DC; 2008]. Reprints issues #7-12. Softcover. $4
LALO Y LOLA/HI AND LOIS [King; 1974]. This is a flip comic book. On one side are Hi and Lois comics in English and, on the other side, the same comics in Spanish. $1
LINES OF CONTENTION: POLITICAL CARTOONS OF THE CIVIL WAR by J.G. Lewin and P.J. Huff [Collins; 2007]. Softcover. $2
MAGUS #1-5 by Jon Price and Rebekah Isaacs [12-Gauge; 2010-2011]. “Where were you when the magic came back?” $3
MARVEL 70TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION [Marvel, 2009]. Collection of 19 stories from 1939-2007. Softcover. $5
MARVEL ADVENTURES IRON MAN: ARMORED AVENGER by Fred Van Lante and others [Marvel; 2007]. Reprints various all ages Marvel Adventures and Free Comic Book Day stories in digest format. Softcover. $1
OFFICIAL OVERSTREET COMIC BOOK PRICE GUIDE #39 [Gemstone; 2009]. Cover features Captain America, Human Torch and Sub-Mariner] and is by Murphy Anderson after Alex Schomburg. Softcover. $4
OUTLAW TERRITORY VOL 1 [Image; 2009]. Anthology of western comics stories by Christian Beranek, Ivan Brandon, Joshua Hale Fialkov and others. Softcover. $5
RICHIE RICH. Four comic books featuring new and re-mastered tales. Richie Rich: Rich Rescue #5, Richie Rich Gems #44, Richie Rich Gems Valentine Special and Richie Rich Gems Winter Special. $2
SPEED RACER THE NEXT GENERATION ANIMATED VOLUME 2 by various [IDW; 2008]. Digest-size adaptation of cartoon series. $1
SPIDER-MAN J: JAPANESE DAZE by Yamanaka Akira [Marvel; 2009]. All-ages digest-size softcover reprinting stories of Japanese Spider-Man from Spider-Man Family #7-12. $3
SPIDER-MAN NOIR by David Hine and Carmine DiGiandomenico [Marvel; 2009]. Softcover. $3
STAR TREK ARCHIVES VOL 2: BEST OF THE BORG by Michael Jan Friedman, Peter Krause, Paul Jenkins and Steve Erwin [IDW; 2008]. Reprints DC Star Trek The Next Generation #47-50. Softcover. $3
TRANSFORMERS MOVIE SEQUEL: THE RETURN OF STARSCREAM BY Chris Mowry and Alex Milne [IDW; 2008]. Reprints issues #1-5. Softcover. $2
X-CLUB #1-5 BY Simon Spurrier and Paul Davidson [Marvel; 2012]. $3
YOUNGBLOOD VOLUME 1: FOCUS TESTED by Joe Casey and Derec Donovan [Image; 2008]. Reprints issue #1-4 of revived series. Softcover. $2
YOUNG X-MEN: FINAL GENESIS by Marc Guggenheim and Yanick Paquette [Marvel; 2008]. Reprints issues #1-5. $3
Thanks for your patronage.
Tony Isabella
CRUEL PARENTS
should have thought about the kids and changed the name. Instead,
they named their son Peter Porkchops, a cruel reminder of the grim
fate that would await him someday. But I digress.
Peter Porkchops #14 [February-March 1952] hit the newsstands in my
birth month of December 1951. The Otto Feuer cover scene reflects
the issue’s lead story. Besides Peter, the other characters shown
are Wolfie and a wrestler known as the Strangler.
Feuer created Peter Porkchops, who first appeared in Leading Comics
#23 (February/March 1947). He drew the two Peter Porkchops comics
stories in this issue and illustrated the two-page text story that
starred his creation. Courtesy of the Grand Comics Database, here
are brief synopsis for those two comics stories:
Peter is manager for Elegant Edgar, a wrestling bear, so Wolfie
gets a wrestler of his own to manage--an octopus.
And:
Wolfie convinces Peter to guarantee "double your money back if not
satisfied" for his detective agency, then tries to collect on the
guarantee by asking Peter to do impossible things.
The stories run 5.67 pages each.
This issue also contains stories of Biggety Bear and Goofy Goose
drawn by Rube Grossman, several activity pages drawn and probably
written by Martin Naydel, and a public service announcement wherein
Buzzy, who starred in his own teen humor comic, extorts readers to
“Be Yourself -- Your Best Self!” The PSA was written by Jack Schiff
and drawn by Win Mortimer.
DC published 62 issues of Peter Porkchops from November-December
1949 to October-December 1960. In 1982, Peter was reintroduced as
Pig-Iron, a steel worker miraculously transformed into a powerful
being of living metal. He became a member of Captain Carrot’s Zoo
Crew, a charming super-hero parody that has since been transformed
into crap by DC editors and writers who lacked both charm and any
appreciation of the source material they brutalized. But I digress
once again.
Keep reading this bloggy thing of mine for more vintage comic-book
covers from the month of my birth.
******************************
Beset by discomfort from some dental work and the flu, I wasn’t as
productive last week as I would’ve liked. I spent several hours in
front of the TV, watching various programs and DVDs. I’m going to
write about my viewing, going from the worst to the best of what I
watched. The worst were two movies from The Asylum so awful that
they made me determined to get over being sick and get back to work
just so I could write about them.
I watched Shark Week and Super Cyclone back-to-back. They made me
question if I really need to see every movie of these particular
genres...or any of them.
Shark Week has a decent premise. Major drug dealer seeks revenge
on those he blames for the death of his son. He combines this with
his fetishistic fascination with sharks. Perfect predator. Never
sleeps. Blah, blah, blah, you’ve heard it all before, though rarely
as badly performed as by Patrick Bergin. He stinks up the screen
worse than the ever-present cigars his character smokes when he’s
not drinking the blood of sharks.
There isn’t a decent performance in this movie, but none are quite
as awful as Bergin or second-billed Yancy Butler. I have enjoyed
Butler in a few things, but she stumbles around this movie and her
dialogue like she’s stoned. Okay, it’s terrible dialogue, but she
could have made some effort.
Past the premise, the movie is boring. The eight people kidnapped
by Bergin must face challenges involving different sharks, working
their way up to the great white. You pretty much know someone will
die in each challenge and pretty much the order in which they will
die. I suspect some actors accepted less money if their characters
were killed off sooner rather than later. Even the sole survivor,
who you know will dispatch Butler and Bergin, is easy to spot...if
only because the penultimate survivor keeps telling the survivor he
won’t let her be killed.
One review of this movie praised the realistic sharks. I suspect
most of the footage was of real sharks chowing down on human-shaped
sacks of meat. Dark lighting kept viewers from seeing the carnage
clearly. CGI sharks might not have been as realistic, but I think
they would have been more fun to watch.
Then there’s Super Cyclone starring Ming-Na and Nick Turturro, who
are so much better in everything else they’ve ever done. Deep-sea
oil rig strikes volcano. Heated ocean creates conditions for the
first cyclone ever to hit California. Ming-Na says it’s what hot-
shot scientists like her call a super cyclone. Almost all of her
character’s dialogue and that of Turturro’s character and that of
Ming-Na’s three’s-a-crowd associate is pseudo-scientific nonsense
that is so repetitive and tedious that the viewer starts praying to
be swept away by the super cyclone.
The special effects are pretty much the same ones you see in all of
Asylum’s other weather-related movies. The characters are poorly
developed. The movie seems much longer than its listed running time
of 90 minutes. Another stinker.
Dear The Asylum...I think we need some time apart. It’s not you.
It’s me. No, wait, it is you.
******************************
Created by Kevin Williamson and starring Kevin Bacon, The Following
made its debut last Monday on Fox. Bacon plays Ryan Hardy, retired
FBI agent who caught Poe-inspired serial killer Joe Carroll (James
Purefoy) and almost died in the process. Hardy is on disability,
his pacemaker-sustained health hampered by his drinking. Carroll
is on death row, but escapes to kill his only surviving victim and
many other people along the way. From prison, Carroll has trained
an army of followers, all willing to kill in his name.
The Following is brilliantly acted and written, but I won’t watch
it until I know whether the good guys win in the end. Blame it on
the DC and Marvel comic books of today. I am so bone-weary seeing
the villains in those comics commit unspeakable crimes and get away
to commit more unspeakable crimes that the thought of watching some
13 hours of this show with no satisfying resolution terrifies me as
much as anything in the pilot episode.
In this case, it is me.
******************************
I thoroughly enjoyed the opening episode of Ripper Street, which is
airing on BBC America on Saturdays. The show is set in Whitechapel
six months after the last known Ripper slaying, Every violent act
is feared as the Ripper’s work. The district itself is a wretched
mix of factories, brothels, pubs, and shops, filled with desperate
people trying to survive and with everything so close to everything
else that you can almost feel the walls closing in on you.
When a female violinist is apparently murdered in Ripper fashion,
Detective Inspector Edmund Reid is determined to resist declaring
the Ripper is back. His efforts are compromised by a newsman eager
for the paper-selling sensation and Inspector Frederick Abberline,
haunted by his failure to catch the Ripper.
Matthew Macfadyen is terrific as Reid, but there’s not a bad actor
in this cast. The writing is equally good and captures the sense
that a new century’s coming. Indeed, the motive and methods of the
first episode’s killer foreshadow things to come in that century.
Though murder is a grim subject, Ripper Street has gotten off to a
delightful start. I look forward to watching the remaining seven
episodes of this first season.
I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
© 2013 Tony Isabella
Sunday, January 27, 2013
NEW KINDS OF MYSTERY BOXES
I'm close to putting together two new kinds of mystery boxes. One would be trade paperbacks and the other hardcovers. These would be a 60/40 mix of comics stuff and non-comics stuff. I figure I could get between 20-30 books in each kind of box. But the shipping would be more expensive and I'd have to factor that into the price. What would you - yes, you - be willing to pay for such mystery boxes?
IT'S A MYSTERY BOX!
COMIC BOOKS MYSTERY BOXES. Approximately 100 comic books from my garage
sales plus 6-9 other assorted items which can include
fiction/non-fiction (mass market paperbacks, softcover trade paperbacks,
hardcovers), magazines, VHS tapes and other surprises. While supplies
last, each box will include a comic book written and signed by me. The
price (including shipping) is $25 per box.
To order one or more mystery boxes, e-mail me.
Because this is a one-man operation done between family, household and work responsibilities, mystery boxes are only available to buyers within the United States and to APO buyers.
To order one or more mystery boxes, e-mail me.
Because this is a one-man operation done between family, household and work responsibilities, mystery boxes are only available to buyers within the United States and to APO buyers.
BUY TONY'S BOOK!
To order a copy, e-mail me and I'll send you payment information.
Because this is a one-man operation done between family, household and work responsibilities, this offer is only available to buyers within the United States and to APO buyers.
Tony
Thursday, January 24, 2013
COLD AND FLU AND TOOTH SEASON
I'm taking a few days off from blogging and there will also be delays in my shipping Vast Accumulation of Stuff orders. I've been taken aback by some dental work I had done earlier in the week and an annoying cold. I hope to finish all the shipping by the end of the week and resume blogging on Monday.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
RAWHIDE WEDNESDAY 30
The Rawhide Kid - the one created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, then
continued by Larry Lieber - is my favorite western character. So,
inspired by Essential Rawhide Kid Volume 1, which reprinted all the
Lee/Kirby issues and then some, I’ve been writing about the Rawhide
Kid most every Wednesday. When I ran out of the issues reprinted
in the book, I tracked down some owlhoots, brought them in and used
the reward money to buy more issues of the title. Because that’s
what the Kid would have done.
The Rawhide Kid #17 [August 1960] introduced the new Rawhide Kid in
three stories by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers. The first of
the issue’s three stories told of the Kid’s upbringing and how he
avenged the death of his foster father. The third told of how one
youthful mistake made him an outlaw.
One short year later, in issue #23 [August 1961], the origin story
was retold with the same Stan Lee script, but with every panel of
the original story redrawn by Jack Kirby. Comparing the two is a
fascination exercise in storytelling. Sometimes the original story
has the better take on a given panel, sometimes the redone version
is superior. Both stories are terrific.
The Rawhide Kid #45 [April 1965] presents the Rawhide Kid’s origin
once again, this time written and illustrated by Larry Lieber and
revealing new details of the Kid’s past and introducing him to the
older brothers he never knew he had. The cover of the issue is by
Jack Kirby with inks by Chic Stone and shows a decidedly grim Kid
with smoking guns and what appears to be one wounded and three dead
foes behind him.
“Gunman’s Quest” (17 pages) opens with a symbolic splash page and
then cuts to a border town saloon where Rawhide is enjoying a meal
served by a lovely senorita. He is recognized as Johnny Bart - the
“Bart” coming from the Texas Ranger who raised him - by a man who
also lived in Rawhide, Texas. The Kid tells the man he’s mistaken,
but the waitress can tell that’s not the truth. He tells her that
the past is “best left dead and buried,” but she flirts with him:
Oh, such bad words! How can one so young and handsome carry such a
heavy heart! Come, tell Chita all about your deep dark past!
He responds:
You’re teasin’ me! If you were a man, I’d whomp yuh! But I never
can resist a pretty gal! Okay, pull up a chair and I’ll tell you
how gunfighters get born!
Rawhide tells Chita how he was raised by Ben Bart after his parents
were killed in an Indian raid and how he learned to use a gun from
the ex-Texas Ranger. When Ben was murdered by a couple of cowardly
gunmen, the Kid tracked them down and avenged the only father he’d
ever known. He then rode from Rawhide planning to use the skills
he had been taught to take down the worst owlhoots he could find.
Which he did until the fateful day when he ran from a sheriff who
mistook the Kid for one of those bad guys and, in the eyes of the
law, became an outlaw. It takes Lieber around four pages to cover
this back story...and then this story really gets interesting.
When Rawhide swats at a mosquito, Chita gasps when she sees a small
star-shaped birthmark on the Kid’s neck. She saw the same mark on
another stranger who passed through her town. An equally startled
Kid puts it together:
What? Are you sure? I mean, birthmarks never look exactly alike
unless they belong to...brothers! Is it possible there was another
baby in that Indian raid? My brother...who got separated from me
in the fracas and somehow managed to survive?!
Chita never knew the other stranger’s name and she doesn’t recall
his face. All she remembers is the direction in which the man rode
when he left town. It’s not much to go on, but the Kid rides off
to find the man who could be his kin:
Imagine after all this time, finding out I have a brother! Wonder
what kind of hombre he is? Maybe he can help me...advise me on how
to make a better life for myself...or maybe he’ll be too ashamed of
the Rawhide Kid to even talk to him! Well, only one way to find
out! C’mon, Nightwind! Ride, boy! Ride!
The road ahead is long, but, fortunately for the Rawhide Kid, it’s
fraught with coincidence. Months later, when the Kid is about to
call it quits, he witnesses a card game in which a slick gambler is
accused of cheating by the bad-tempered Captain Cragg, who learned
karate and judo while traveling in the Orient.
As Cragg beats on the gambler, Rawhide minds his own business until
he spots...a small star-shaped birthmark on said gambler’s wrist.
He’s found his brother!
The Kid takes down Cragg and meets his brother. The gambler’s name
is Frank Clay. He was one of three brothers in that Indian raid.
Frank was captured and held by their attackers until he managed to
escape. He never saw what happened to his baby brother.
Frank describes Joe, the third brother, as “a sniveling coward who
thought only of his own neck and fled to safety...deserting Ma, Pa,
and all the rest of us!” He never saw Joe again.
Rawhide is somewhat disappointed: One brother a fugitive...another
a gambler...and a third a spineless coward!
On the bright side:
Glad to hear you’re at least an honest gambler! Well, here’s where
we part company! I sought my brother, hoping he’d be a respectable
hombre who could help straighten me out! But you...you’re a drifter
who has to go his own way, just like me! S’long, Frank!
To which Frank responds:
Adios, Johnny! I hope it’s in the cards that we meet again!
Okay, that’s a pretty short reunion, but we’re on page 12 of this
story and there’s one more Clay brother to meet.
An apple-picker recognizes Rawhide as the Kid rides towards another
town. In that town, the sheriff is preparing for a shoot-out with
a gunslinger named Lewt Ramsey. His fiancee Kathy is frightened for
him. The lawman doesn’t stand a chance against Ramsey.
Honey, I’m the sheriff! It’s my job to protect the town against all
gunslingers...even those who are faster ‘n me! I can’t shirk my
duty!
The confident Ramsey wonders if the town pays enough to cover the
lawman’s forthcoming trip to Boot Hill. The sheriff replies that
he gets thirty dollars a month for food, lodging and enough bullets
to keep varmints like Ramsey off the streets. The townspeople know
Ramsey is faster and urge the sheriff to back down.
The gunslinger is faster, but the courageous lawman manages to lift
his wounded arm and shoot Ramsey dead. The townspeople praise the
sheriff’s courage. You know where this is leading, right?
Learning of the Rawhide Kid’s approach, the sheriff realizes that
the reward money for catching the famous outlaw will enable him to
marry Kathy. But, with his wounded arm, he’ll need a plan.
When Rawhide rides into town that evening, he sees the sheriff in
his office and hopes he can get some grub and then leave the town
without incident. That’s when a seemingly distraught Kathy rushes
up to him and tells him a thief has just robbed her of a valuable
brooch. If she goes for the sheriff, the thief will get away.
As we know from earlier in this tale, the Kid can’t resist a pretty
girl. He runs into an alley after the “thief” and is tripped by a
noose that catches his leg. He tumbles to the ground and his drawn
guns fall out of his reach. The wounded sheriff gets the drop on
him. It was a dummy Rawhide had seen in the office.
Rawhide fights back and disarms the sheriff, but the lawman knocks
the Kid cold with his good arm. When our hero comes to in a jail
cell, he sees the town doctor redressing the sheriff’s wound and he
sees a star-shaped birthmark on the lawman’s shoulder. His captor
is his older brother Joe!
The angry Rawhide confronts Joe with the knowledge and calls him a
cowardly deserter. A chagrined Joe responds:
You’re so quick to blame me, but what do you know of it? I was
just a scared kid who panicked in a moment of danger! I’m not proud
of it! My fear was uncontrollable! I didn’t even think! And ever
since that grim day when I abandoned my family and friends, I’ve
lived with a tortured conscience!
Since then, I’ve deliberately faced countless dangers in a futile
attempt to wash away the guilt and shame that can never be erased.
My life has been a nightmare without end.
The Kid is taken aback by this revelation and says he’s sorry for
his harsh words. Joe releases him. He knows the reward would not
bring happiness to him and Kathy. She says she couldn’t love him
if he’d acted any differently in this matter. As he prepares to
ride off, Rawhide says to his brother:
Forget the past! I reckon you’ve paid for your mistake a thousand
times over! You’re a fine hombre and a top-notch lawman! Ma and Pa
would’ve been proud of you...as I am!
Joe is ready to resign as sheriff, but the townspeople won’t stand
for that. The Kid committed no crime in their town and Joe’s still
the best dang lawman they’ve ever had.
The Kid wonders if he’ll ever meet his brothers again:
The trail is long...and it’s sure full of surprises!
Johnny Clay will see his brothers again, but not until Rawhide Kid
#100 [June 1972]. I’ve always wondered why Lieber didn’t use the
Kid’s brothers more often. However, the karate-chopping Captain
Cragg would be back in a couple of issues.
The lead story is followed by a page advertising the next issues of
Kid Colt Outlaw and Two-Gun Kid and containing this title’s annual
“Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation. The average
sales per issue were 187,100 copies. Good times.
“The Gunslinger” (five pages) was the issue’s non-series story. It
was written and drawn by Larry Lieber...and it’s one of the nuttier
western shorts, albeit in a delightful way.
The “top gunhawk in the territory” is hired to Kill rancher Henry
Maddox, reputed to be fastest draw in the area. The gunslinger has
never seen Maddox. The hired killer rides out to Maddox’s ranch to
ambush Maddox. The unnamed gunhawk lies in wait in a barn with his
gun already drawn. He calls out to Maddox and fires, but he misses
his target and is shot down by the rancher. That’s when we get a
look at Maddox and listen to the shock ending exposition:
Some jasper tried to ambush me! He set a pretty clever trap but he
shot too high! He just hit my hat! I guess he didn’t know that the
man he was waitin’ to gun down...is a midget!
Score one for little people.
After the usual full-page ad for The Merry Marvel Marching Society
comes the “Ridin’ the Range with Rawhide” letters column. Reader
Earl Dill of Baltimore asks for more costumed villains and whoever
was answering the letters punts the question to the readers.
A soldier stationed in Germany expresses his enjoyment of Marvel’s
westerns. A reader from New Brunswick, Canada says Rawhide Kid
is his favorite comic book.
Half the letters page is taken up by “The Mighty Marvel Checklist”
of other titles “on sale right now” and the “Special Announcements
Section.” The highlight of this month’s Marvel comics is the first
appearance of “the new Black Widow” in Tales of Suspense. Some of
the other plugs read as if the writer wasn’t 100% certain what was
happening in the titles.
The special announcements section leads with Marvel patting itself
on the back for retelling the Rawhide Kid’s origin with a brand-new
script and art...and “things we might have left out in the earlier
version.” The section also has a plug for the M.M,M.S. and for the
other Marvel westerns.
Happy trails to you, my friends, until our next Rawhide Wednesday.
I’ll be back soon with more stuff.
© 2013 Tony Isabella
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
HOW WAS THE PICTURE?
the Model and Kid Colt, she was one of only three Timely characters
to be continuously published from her debut in the 1940s and well
into the 1960s. Her own title ran 124 issues from 1945 to December
1965. Patsy and Hedy, a spin-off title starring Patsy and her best
friend/rival lasted 110 issues from February 1952 to February 1967.
Created by Ruth Atkinson, Patsy was a typical comics teen appearing
in the typical romantic comedies shorts. Patsy Walker #39, dated
March 1952, hit the newsstands in December 1951, which is the month
of my birth. I have a keen interest in comics from that month and
that’s why you see them featured in this bloggy thing of mine with
obsessive regularity.
Al Jaffee, who would become better known for his contributions to
MAD, drew the cover and interiors to this issue. Since he was also
a writer, he may have written most if not all of the material that
appeared in the issue.
The cover shows Patsy, boyfriend Buzz Baxter and Hedy Wolfe. The
contents of the 52-page issue consisted of five Pasty Walker tales
of, respectively, 6, 7. 4, 5 and 5 pages. According to the Grand
Comics Database, the last story featured “Broadway star Cornell
Strathmore and Hollywood actor Farley Ranger, allusions...to Lionel
Barrymore (1878-1954) and Farley Granger (1925-2011).”
The issue also had stories starring Hedy (4 pages) and Buzz (also
4 pages) and additional features, such as the “Patsy's Club Page”
letters page, the “Patsy's Fashion Cut-Ups” activity page and a 2-
page text story, “Smooth as Silk.” As you might imagine, given my
fascination with old comics, I’d love to see some sort of “best of
Patsy Walker” collection.
In the Marvel Universe proper, Patsy and Hedy were part of the huge
crowd that gathered outside the Baxter Building to celebrate the
wedding of Fantastic Four members Reed Richards and Sue Storm. She
should have gotten back on the train or bus or whatever method of
transportation she used and gone back to her home town. Instead,
she married and was subsequently abused by Buzz, hung around with
Hank McCoy (the Beast), donned a super-hero costume to become the
Hellcat, hung out with Moondragon and eventually became a member of
the Defenders. She started “dating” the Son of Satan, learned her
mom was a devil-worshiper, married the Son of Satan, took her own
life, escaped from Hell and...I give up. Some classic comic-book
characters should just be left in peace.
Moving on to the reviews...
Think Perry Mason...with wings. Hannah Singer, Celestial Advocate
by Peter G [CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; $15] is a
collection of stories about a human woman who defends and sometimes
opposes human beings seeking to get into Heaven or, at least, avoid
being cast down into Hell. She herself was once on trial in this
afterlife court with the Church Advocates demanding she be sent to
Hell. I’m not going to tell you why or how she avoided that fate.
This is a book with delicious surprises.
Here’s what I will tell you: God doesn’t want his creations to go
to Hell. The Celestial Advocates, led by St. Michael, most often
argue on the behalf of humans, sometimes winning them their eternal
reward and sometimes a lighter sentence than being cast down. The
rigid Church Advocates represent an often unforgiving Church whose
individual members often carry with them the prejudice and small-
mindedness of their human lives.
In these stories, Hannah, who has been a Celestial Advocate for 700
years or so, represents a porn star, a supposedly soulless mermaid,
a stunt cyclist and a con man. She also opposes a heavenly reward
for Torquemada and a woman who wants to be restored to a life that
has been continued by an angel. The law isn’t exactly the same in
the afterlife as it is on Earth, but its intricacies are relatively
easy to understand.
Peter G does a brilliant job playing with these concepts through a
host of intriguing and well-conceived characters. His stories are
page-turners, even when you know Hannah will triumph at their end.
Because you don’t know how she’s going to win. Whether you are of
a religious bent or not, you’ll enjoy this collection.
Peter G has also written and published a second volume of stories:
On A Wing And A Prayer: From The Case Files Of Hannah Singer,
Celestial Advocate [$15}. Both of these collections are available
from Amazon.
Hannah Singer, Celestial Advocate:
ISBN 9781456314071
On A Wing And A Prayer: From The Case Files Of Hannah Singer,
Celestial Advocate:
ISBN 9781466279506
******************************
“Superman in the Bronze Age” is the theme of editor Michael Eury’s
Back Issue #62 [TwoMorrows; $8.95]. In over a dozen articles and
sidebars, Eury and his writers cover the post-Weisinger, pre-Byrne
comic-book adventures of the Man of Steel. If you’re a Bronze Age
fan, you’ll find it irresistible.
Digression. I found the reading not as easy as I would have liked,
but that’s more on me than on the magazine. It was only this month
that the soulless corporation that is DC Comics won another legal
victory over the heirs of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel. Yeah,
a case can be made that these were correct legal rulings, but I see
them as allowing DC to continue its predatory and unfair treatment
of comics creators. End of digression.
Putting my personal feelings aside, this issue contains a number of
terrific pieces. Eury writes about editor Julius Schwartz’s years
of Superman comics. Eddy Zeno has a heartwarming personal piece on
artist Curt Swan. There are also entertaining informative articles
on back-up strips, the Superman family, the World of Krypton mini-
series, the Earth-2 Superman, Superman collections and Alan Moore’s
landmark “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?”.
My quibbles are minor. Though the principals are sadly no longer
with us, Back Issue is overdue for a look at the Superboy comics by
writer Frank Robbins and editor Murray Boltinoff. Though different
from previous and future Superboy stories, they were spiffy yarns
that were a cut above most DC comics of the era.
Another quibble:
The article on the Atomic Skull omitted his appearance in an issue
of Teen Titans Spotlight written by...oh, you figure it out. When
those Isabella issues - U wrote two - emerge from my Vast
Accumulation of Stuff, I plan to write about them and the future
stories that never were.
Final quibble:
How about listing the authors of the articles within the contents
page? Since the features in a magazine like Back Issue don’t need
to be read in any particular order, that would enable readers to go
immediately to pieces by their favorite writers. One of mine would
be the encyclopedia John Wells.
Back Issue remains a must-read for me. Because I was so busy with
my own comics work in the Bronze Age, I’m always learning cool new
stuff about that era. I recommend it highly.
I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
© 2013 Tony Isabella
Monday, January 21, 2013
VAST ACCUMULATION OF STUFF SALE 1/21
Monday usually means new items for my ongoing Vast Accumulation of
Stuff sale, but not this Monday. Sales have been very slow in this
new year and, for that reason, I’m simply going to re-list the sale
items from the past two weeks. I have lowered some of the prices,
but not all of them. Sell or not, many of these items will not be
part of my next online sale.
Here’s how my VAOS sales work...
First come, first serve. In other words, the quicker you e-mail me,
the better your chance of getting the item or items. Only e-mail
orders will be accepted and you should not send payment until you
get a confirmation e-mail from me. All listed items are in good or
better condition unless otherwise noted.
Let me stress that “e-mail only” rule. Most of the few mistakes I
have made in assembling/shipping orders have happened with orders
I accepted via phone or Facebook message. So...I’m not gonna break
my own rule anymore.
You should always include your mailing address with your orders.
That speeds up the packaging and the shipping.
Items will be shipped via United States Postal Service. There is
a $5 shipping/handling charge for up to four items via media mail.
Add $1 for every two additional items. The charge helps defray my
expenses.
Payments are by check, money order or PayPal. My PayPal address is
the same as my email address. Purchases will be shipped within a
week of checks clearing, money orders received or PayPal payments
received.
Because this is a one-man operation done between family, household
and work responsibilities, these items are only available to buyers
within the United States and to APO buyers.
When you receive your order, please check it and let me know of any
omissions as soon as possible. I’ll be double-checking the orders
on my end, but, if there’s a problem, I want to make it right in a
timely fashion.
This week’s sale ends when the new sale goes up on Monday, January
28. While supplies last, all orders will receive a free and signed
copy of an Isabella-written Hawkman comic book.
Here are this week’s sale items...
BACK ISSUE #8 [TwoMorrows; February 2005]. Black Super-Hero issue.Featuring a guest editorial by me. Signed on request. $6
DC COMICS PRESENTS THE FLASH #1 [DC; 2011]. “100-page Spectacular” reprinting Flash stories from Showcase #4, Showcase #14 and Flash #125, 130, 139, all pencilled by Carmine Infantino. $2
ESSENTIAL AVENGERS VOLUME 7 [Marvel; 2010]. Reprints issues #141-163, Avengers Annual #6 and Super-Villain Team-Up #9, including two issues written by me. Signed on request. Softcover. $20
ESSENTIAL DAREDEVIL VOLUME 5 [Marvel; 2010]. Reprints issues #102-125 and Marvel Two-In-One #3, including five issues written by me. Softcover. $20
ESSENTIAL MOON KNIGHT VOLUME 3 [Marvel; 2010]. Reprints issues #31-38, Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #1-6 plus Moon Knight stories from Marvel Fanfare #39 & 38-39, Solo Avengers #3 and Marvel Super-Heroes #1, including two issues written by me. Signed on request. Softcover. $20
FLIGHT VOLUME 4 [Villard; 2007]. Softcover anthology with comics by Scott Campbell, Michael Gagne, Dave Roman, Raina Telgemier and others. Softcover. $5
FLIGHT VOLUME 6 [Villard; 2009]. Softcover anthology with comics by Michael Gagne, Steve Hamaker, Richard Pace and others. Softcover. $5
G.I. JOE VS. COBRA: THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE 1982-2008 by Pablo Hidalgo [Del Rey; 2009]. Softcover. $5
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA: THY KINGDOM COME PART ONE by Geoff Johns, Alex Ross and Dale Eaglesham. [DC; 2008]. Reprints issues #7-12. Softcover. $5
LALO Y LOLA/HI AND LOIS [King; 1974]. This is a flip comic book. On one side are Hi and Lois comics in English and, on the other side, the same comics in Spanish. $2
LINES OF CONTENTION: POLITICAL CARTOONS OF THE CIVIL WAR by J.G. Lewin and P.J. Huff [Collins; 2007]. Softcover. $6
LUCHA LIBRA VOLUME 1 by Bill, Gobi, Fabien M. and Jerry Frissen [Image; 2008]. 2008 Nominee for Best Humor Publication. Reprints issues #1-5. Softcover. $2
MAGUS #1-5 by Jon Price and Rebekah Isaacs [12-Gauge; 2010-2011]. “Where were you when the magic came back?” $4
MARVEL 70TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION [Marvel, 2009]. Collection of 19 stories from 1939-2007. Softcover. $10
MARVEL ADVENTURES IRON MAN: ARMORED AVENGER by Fred Van Lante and others [Marvel; 2007]. Reprints various all ages Marvel Adventures and Free Comic Book Day stories in digest format. Softcover. $2
MODERN MASTERS VOLUME 19: MIKE PLOOG by Roger Ash and Eric Nolen-Weathington [TwoMorrows; 2008]. Softcover. $4
OFFICIAL OVERSTREET COMIC BOOK PRICE GUIDE #39 [Gemstone; 2009]. Cover features Captain America, Human Torch and Sub-Mariner] and is by Murphy Anderson after Alex Schomburg. Softcover. $5
OUTLAW TERRITORY VOL 1 [Image; 2009]. Anthology of western comics stories by Christian Beranek, Ivan Brandon, Joshua Hale Fialkov and others. Softcover. $8
RICHIE RICH. Four comic books featuring new and re-mastered tales Richie Rich: Rich Rescue #5, Richie Rich Gems #44, Richie Rich Gems Valentine Special and Richie Rich Gems Winter Special. $3
SPEED RACER THE NEXT GENERATION ANIMATED VOLUME 2 by various [IDW; 2008]. Digest-size adaptation of cartoon series. $1
SPIDER-MAN J: JAPANESE DAZE by Yamanaka Akira [Marvel; 2009]. All-ages digest-size softcover reprinting stories of Japanese Spider-Man from Spider-Man Family #7-12. $4
SPIDER-MAN NOIR by David Hine and Carmine DiGiandomenico [Marvel; 2009]. Softcover. $5
STAR TREK ARCHIVES VOL 2: BEST OF THE BORG by Michael Jan Friedman, Peter Krause, Paul Jenkins and Steve Erwin [IDW; 2008]. Reprints DC Star Trek The Next Generation #47-50. Softcover. $4
TRANSFORMERS MOVIE SEQUEL: THE RETURN OF STARSCREAM BY Chris Mowry and Alex Milne [IDW; 2008]. Reprints issues #1-5. Softcover. $2
X-CLUB #1-5 BY Simon Spurrier and Paul Davidson [Marvel; 2012]. $4
YOUNGBLOOD VOLUME 1: FOCUS TESTED by Joe Casey and Derec Donovan [Image; 2008]. Reprints issue #1-4 of revived series. Softcover. $2
YOUNG X-MEN: FINAL GENESIS by Marc Guggenheim and Yanick Paquette [Marvel; 2008]. Reprints issues #1-5. $4
Thanks for your patronage.
Tony Isabella
Stuff sale, but not this Monday. Sales have been very slow in this
new year and, for that reason, I’m simply going to re-list the sale
items from the past two weeks. I have lowered some of the prices,
but not all of them. Sell or not, many of these items will not be
part of my next online sale.
Here’s how my VAOS sales work...
First come, first serve. In other words, the quicker you e-mail me,
the better your chance of getting the item or items. Only e-mail
orders will be accepted and you should not send payment until you
get a confirmation e-mail from me. All listed items are in good or
better condition unless otherwise noted.
Let me stress that “e-mail only” rule. Most of the few mistakes I
have made in assembling/shipping orders have happened with orders
I accepted via phone or Facebook message. So...I’m not gonna break
my own rule anymore.
You should always include your mailing address with your orders.
That speeds up the packaging and the shipping.
Items will be shipped via United States Postal Service. There is
a $5 shipping/handling charge for up to four items via media mail.
Add $1 for every two additional items. The charge helps defray my
expenses.
Payments are by check, money order or PayPal. My PayPal address is
the same as my email address. Purchases will be shipped within a
week of checks clearing, money orders received or PayPal payments
received.
Because this is a one-man operation done between family, household
and work responsibilities, these items are only available to buyers
within the United States and to APO buyers.
When you receive your order, please check it and let me know of any
omissions as soon as possible. I’ll be double-checking the orders
on my end, but, if there’s a problem, I want to make it right in a
timely fashion.
This week’s sale ends when the new sale goes up on Monday, January
28. While supplies last, all orders will receive a free and signed
copy of an Isabella-written Hawkman comic book.
Here are this week’s sale items...
BACK ISSUE #8 [TwoMorrows; February 2005]. Black Super-Hero issue.Featuring a guest editorial by me. Signed on request. $6
DC COMICS PRESENTS THE FLASH #1 [DC; 2011]. “100-page Spectacular” reprinting Flash stories from Showcase #4, Showcase #14 and Flash #125, 130, 139, all pencilled by Carmine Infantino. $2
ESSENTIAL AVENGERS VOLUME 7 [Marvel; 2010]. Reprints issues #141-163, Avengers Annual #6 and Super-Villain Team-Up #9, including two issues written by me. Signed on request. Softcover. $20
ESSENTIAL DAREDEVIL VOLUME 5 [Marvel; 2010]. Reprints issues #102-125 and Marvel Two-In-One #3, including five issues written by me. Softcover. $20
ESSENTIAL MOON KNIGHT VOLUME 3 [Marvel; 2010]. Reprints issues #31-38, Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #1-6 plus Moon Knight stories from Marvel Fanfare #39 & 38-39, Solo Avengers #3 and Marvel Super-Heroes #1, including two issues written by me. Signed on request. Softcover. $20
FLIGHT VOLUME 4 [Villard; 2007]. Softcover anthology with comics by Scott Campbell, Michael Gagne, Dave Roman, Raina Telgemier and others. Softcover. $5
FLIGHT VOLUME 6 [Villard; 2009]. Softcover anthology with comics by Michael Gagne, Steve Hamaker, Richard Pace and others. Softcover. $5
G.I. JOE VS. COBRA: THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE 1982-2008 by Pablo Hidalgo [Del Rey; 2009]. Softcover. $5
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA: THY KINGDOM COME PART ONE by Geoff Johns, Alex Ross and Dale Eaglesham. [DC; 2008]. Reprints issues #7-12. Softcover. $5
LALO Y LOLA/HI AND LOIS [King; 1974]. This is a flip comic book. On one side are Hi and Lois comics in English and, on the other side, the same comics in Spanish. $2
LINES OF CONTENTION: POLITICAL CARTOONS OF THE CIVIL WAR by J.G. Lewin and P.J. Huff [Collins; 2007]. Softcover. $6
LUCHA LIBRA VOLUME 1 by Bill, Gobi, Fabien M. and Jerry Frissen [Image; 2008]. 2008 Nominee for Best Humor Publication. Reprints issues #1-5. Softcover. $2
MAGUS #1-5 by Jon Price and Rebekah Isaacs [12-Gauge; 2010-2011]. “Where were you when the magic came back?” $4
MARVEL 70TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION [Marvel, 2009]. Collection of 19 stories from 1939-2007. Softcover. $10
MARVEL ADVENTURES IRON MAN: ARMORED AVENGER by Fred Van Lante and others [Marvel; 2007]. Reprints various all ages Marvel Adventures and Free Comic Book Day stories in digest format. Softcover. $2
MODERN MASTERS VOLUME 19: MIKE PLOOG by Roger Ash and Eric Nolen-Weathington [TwoMorrows; 2008]. Softcover. $4
OFFICIAL OVERSTREET COMIC BOOK PRICE GUIDE #39 [Gemstone; 2009]. Cover features Captain America, Human Torch and Sub-Mariner] and is by Murphy Anderson after Alex Schomburg. Softcover. $5
OUTLAW TERRITORY VOL 1 [Image; 2009]. Anthology of western comics stories by Christian Beranek, Ivan Brandon, Joshua Hale Fialkov and others. Softcover. $8
RICHIE RICH. Four comic books featuring new and re-mastered tales Richie Rich: Rich Rescue #5, Richie Rich Gems #44, Richie Rich Gems Valentine Special and Richie Rich Gems Winter Special. $3
SPEED RACER THE NEXT GENERATION ANIMATED VOLUME 2 by various [IDW; 2008]. Digest-size adaptation of cartoon series. $1
SPIDER-MAN J: JAPANESE DAZE by Yamanaka Akira [Marvel; 2009]. All-ages digest-size softcover reprinting stories of Japanese Spider-Man from Spider-Man Family #7-12. $4
SPIDER-MAN NOIR by David Hine and Carmine DiGiandomenico [Marvel; 2009]. Softcover. $5
STAR TREK ARCHIVES VOL 2: BEST OF THE BORG by Michael Jan Friedman, Peter Krause, Paul Jenkins and Steve Erwin [IDW; 2008]. Reprints DC Star Trek The Next Generation #47-50. Softcover. $4
TRANSFORMERS MOVIE SEQUEL: THE RETURN OF STARSCREAM BY Chris Mowry and Alex Milne [IDW; 2008]. Reprints issues #1-5. Softcover. $2
X-CLUB #1-5 BY Simon Spurrier and Paul Davidson [Marvel; 2012]. $4
YOUNGBLOOD VOLUME 1: FOCUS TESTED by Joe Casey and Derec Donovan [Image; 2008]. Reprints issue #1-4 of revived series. Softcover. $2
YOUNG X-MEN: FINAL GENESIS by Marc Guggenheim and Yanick Paquette [Marvel; 2008]. Reprints issues #1-5. $4
Thanks for your patronage.
Tony Isabella
CONTACT WITH THE ENEMY
of Stuff and with several resolutions. It has not gone exactly as
planned. What a surprise.
On the VAOS front, my plan was to make getting my reading room in
order a priority. That plan got upended by Christmas. Before the
holiday, I needed to move stuff out of our downstairs living room
because, traditionally, that’s where Eddie and Kelly, our wonderful
kids, have always opened their stockings. The stuff that was there
went into the reading room.
My Sainted Wife Barb and the kids gave me two really swell Sauder
bookcases for my office. That shifted my priorities to my office.
Putting up the bookcases will mean clearing 15 feet of wall space in
the office. Which is what I’ve started doing in between my other
activities. I’d like to have the bookcases up and ready by the end
of February and the reading room by the end of March.
Since I was already working on my office, I figured I might as well
replace my crappy file cabinet with an older and better made one
that was sitting in my wife’s downstairs crafts room. This means
emptying out both cabinets, boxing up the files and then putting my
current files into the “new” file cabinet.
The old file cabinet has yielded wondrous things. In a file with
Barb’s and my marriage license, I discovered the photograph of our
wedding party that leads today’s bloggy thing. I also found early
scripts of mine, several of which have never been published...some
correspondence with comics professionals...contracts, including the
one-page contract wherein DC had to pay me a kill fee for an idea
of mine which was subsequently duplicated by another writer...some
sketches...my file on a snotty comics fan who actually assaulted me
at my comics shop...and more. Some of this will find its way into
the bloggy thing in the future, though I could fill a second daily
blog with these rediscovered treasures.
You know how Tom Brevoort’s way cool The Marvel Age of Comics blog
takes requests? Based on the above paragraph, if you have requests
for stuff for me to write about, e-mail those requests to me and I
will see what I can do.
******************************
My New Year plans and projects aren’t going quite as well as I had
hoped. Family and household matters have gotten in my way, but I’m
not displeased with what I’ve accomplished in these first weeks of
2013 and I am excited about the work before me.
I started writing a comic-book script which I originally conceived
as a one-shot. The more I worked on it, the more possibilities I
saw. It’s become four or five issues of 28 pages each and I tossed
everything I’d written to pursue my new vision.
My new plan on this project is to fully script the first 28 pages
and write fairly detailed plots for the other issues. Then I will
find an artist to partner with me on the project. Then we’ll find
a publisher or, failing that, look into Kickstarter for the funding
to complete and publish the project. In other words, there won’t
be any real announcements on this project for a while and the first
such announcement will be a call for an artist.
I’m working on several pitches to submit to publishers. The first
of these was for a license property of a different nature than we
have seen in modern comics. The editor liked everything about the
pitch except for the licensed property. He’s probably not wrong,
but the pitch represented a kind of comic book I wanted to write.
I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to retool the pitch to feature
a different licensed property. In the meantime, other publishers
should feel free to contact me about this pitch.
Some of my resolutions involved matters of health and fitness and
I am making progress on those. I’m making less progress on being
able to spend more time with family and friends, but I’m working on
those as well.
Preparing for this year’s garage sales is on the back burner while
I work on my office and reading room. However, as I work on those
rooms, I am finding stuff for the garage sales and my online sales.
You can expect new items in my online sales almost every Monday for
the immediate future.
Because I thought I might try my hand at a webcomic, I planned to
read a different webcomic every week. I’m currently reading Ménage à 3
by Giz and Dave Zero. It’s a funny, well-written and well-drawn
strip about young people having and/or wanting sex with plenty of
comics and other “geek” elements playing a role in the continuity.
I think it would be great fun to write a strip like this. I also
think it would be creepy for a 61-year-old man to write about young
people having sex. Am I wrong about that?
Wanting to return the hundreds and maybe thousands of comics loaned
to me by a friend, I’m reading about a dozen comics each and every
day. Given how old some of these comics are, I won’t be reviewing
them. But, if something strikes me as particularly odd or spiffy,
I may mention them.
The battle continues.
******************************
I want to thank everyone who sent messages of condolences to me on
the demise of Comics Buyer’s Guide. They were appreciated and, in
some small way, I hope this bloggy thing helps fill the void left
by the world’s longest running magazine about comics.
In recent years, Maggie Thompson and others have said I was CBG’s
first columnist. However, as Russ Maheras pointed out on Facebook,
that’s not the case. He wrote:
For the record, the first installment "The Odd Collectors" appeared
in TBG #20. "Beautiful Balloons" first appeared in TBG #19, and
"MESS" (Mark Evanier and Steve Sherman) first appeared in TBG #4.
So while you may not have been the very first columnist, you were
certainly a founding father! The CBG folks never had a full set of
TBG issues -- especially early issues -- so it was hard for them to
be certain about such things. Those early issues are pretty scarce,
so not too many folks probably have a run. I do, and I'm pretty
sure Alan Light has a bound set of the issues he published, but
other than that, who knows?
I responded:
I was aware that Don and Maggie's first column ran before mine did,
but we both remember the sequence of events as I wrote about them
in today's blog. What I believe happened was this...Don and Maggie
would send in their column already pasted up. I didn't, so mine had
to wait for Alan to put them together. But, with the info about
Mark and Steve, I was clearly not the first CBG columnist
chronologically. Maybe it's a ceremonial title. Like "First Lady"
or something.
Unless someone can show me refuting evidence, Mark and Steve were
TBG’s first columnists. Kudos to them.
Moving on...
Unless it’s buried somewhere in my Vast Accumulation of Stuff, I’m
missing Comics Buyer’s Guide #1619. Does anyone have a copy they
are willing to sell or trade?
In writing about CBG, I mentioned the first thing I wrote for Don
and Maggie Thompson:
The first thing I wrote for editors Don and Maggie Thompson was a
spoof called “The Scarlotti Comics Group,” wherein I invented a
Cleveland-based short-lived publisher of the 1950s and included a
price guide to his handful of titles. It made Don laugh and that
was all it took to make the sale. I always wanted to do a series
of one-shot “reprints” of those Scarlotti comics, but I’m pretty
sure they would be a hard sell in the current marketplace. If/when
I come across the original manuscript for this parody, I’ll run it
in the bloggy thing and maybe, just maybe, I can sweet-talk some
artists into drawing some covers for it.
Xandude28 commented:
Now I am so curious as to see The Scarlotti Comics Group. Maybe,
with artwork additions, it could run in Alter Ego, like The Faux
History of All American Comics did.
I’m delighted to report my original manuscript for “The Scarlotti
Comics Group” was in the file cabinet mentioned above. I’m going
to look it over and reprint it in an upcoming bloggy thing in the
hopes of finding a crazy publisher and enough crazy artists to work
with me on a project that almost certainly won’t make any of us any
money. Look for this piece soon.
I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
© 2013 Tony Isabella
Friday, January 18, 2013
THE BLOOM OF DOOM
in my birth month of December 1951. The character was created for
the 1941 serial Jungle Girl, said to have been based on the Edgar
Rice Burroughs novel of the same name. Except the novel doesn’t
have a character named Nyoka or any character like Nyoka. Besides
ERB, the serial credits six other writers. Republic Studios may
have liked the name Jungle Girl and the distant connection to ERB’s
Tarzan more than the novel itself.
Fawcett licensed the character, publishing a Jungle Girl one-shot
in 1942. It launched Nyoka the Jungle Girl in 1945 and published
76 issues of the title. Charlton took over the license in 1955 and
published nine more issues.
The Grand Comics Database has incomplete information on this issue.
The actress on this photo cover is unidentified by the GCD. She
might be Frances Gifford, who played Nyoka in the 1941 serial, or
she might be Kay Aldridge, who played the role in the 1942 sequel
Perils of Nyoka. Hopefully, one of my readers will ameliorate my
shocking lack of knowledge ere long.
What the GCD does say is that “The Bloom of Doom” was an 18-page,
three-chapter adventure starring Nyoka. I’m guessing it involved
deadly plants of some kind. There are no creative credits for this
story, but artists known to have worked on the title around this
time include Alvin Hollingsworth, Henry Kiefer and Maurice Whitman.
An assortment of humor features, gag pages and a text story round
out the issue.
Keep watching this blog for more vintage comic-book covers from my
birth month. I can pretty much guarantee that those covers will be
more interesting than this one.
On to the reviews...
******************************
Life With Archie is still one of the best comics out there. Each
magazine-sized issue features two stories, one following the life
of an adult Archie married to Veronica and the other following an
adult Archie married to Betty. Writer Paul Kupperberg is doing the
best work of his career on this title. The art is also excellent:
Fernando Ruiz with inker Bob Smith handle the Archie/Veronica story
while Pat and Tim Kennedy with inker Jim Amash do the honors on the
Archie/Betty one. It’s a solid comic on all levels. That said...
In Life With Archie #26 [$3.95], the soap opera elements in both of
the stories are getting out of hand. Several of the cast members
are making very bad choices and all of these little dramas compete
for attention. We’re starting to get short-cut plot developments
instead of the more nuanced and effective human stories which the
title has been featuring.
In Archie/Veronica, Veronica has apparently forgotten much of what
she learned working for her father as she launches her own company
and doesn’t recognizing that she needs a staff. Kevin Keller kicks
off his campaign for Senate so badly that one wonders what happened
to the competent guy we’ve been cheering since he was introduced as
a teen in the standard-size Archie comic books. Reggie and Moose
seem to have lost a few steps as well. People do make mistakes in
their lives and things to do wrong, but all these uh-oh story lines
at the same time are too much.
In Archie/Betty, the couple’s married life is being challenged by
their too-busy schedules. After nearly three decades of marriage,
I can relate to that. What I’m having a problem with is that this
storyline hinges on Betty acting enough out of character that it’s
jarring. In addition, there are three other story lines competing
for attention. All of them are interesting, but they get in each
other’s way. Perhaps some of them need to get resolved or pushed
aside for a time.
I don’t mean to be overly critical here. I love this comic book.
But, based on how terrific it’s been for over two years now, I also
expect more from it than I do from lesser series. If I had a top
ten list, Life With Archie would be on it.
******************************
In the category of things I had no idea existed, Papercutz sent me
Lego Ninjago #5: Kingdom of the Snakes by Greg Farshtey and Jolyon
Yates [$6.99]. Here’s what I subsequently learned from Wikipedia:
Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu is an action comedy family
animated TV series that centers around the adventures of four
ninjas. The series is based on the Lego toy series of the same
name. The show is set in the fictional world of Ninjago, a place
inspired by Chinese and Japanese myths and culture.
Though that information wasn’t spelled out in Farshtey’s script, I
didn’t have any real problem following the story, even though this
particular story was actually set in an alternate universe version
of Ninjago. I feel good about the concept of alternate universes
being something young readers can grasp.
Jay, one of these Lego ninjas - and, yes, they do look like beings
made of rounded-off Legos - is transported to an alternate Ninjago
where his counterpart didn’t join the other ninjas with the result
that evil forces now dominate that world. He finds himself at odds
with heroes who are his friends in his own universe, even as those
heroes must enter into alliances with one of their enemies. It’s
fairly complicated storytelling, but it’s presented in a manner I
think all but the youngest readers will be able to follow.
The story has action, suspense, good characterization and lessons
about responsibility and redemption. It’s not something I’d seek
out for myself, but, if I knew a young person who liked these toys,
I’d definitely give him or her this graphic album. It’s the kind
of comic that might lead a young reader to other comic books...and
that, as always, would be a good thing.
ISBN 978-1-59707-356-1
I’m taking a few days off to take care of some odds and ends that
demand my attention. Look for the return of this bloggy thing as
soon as possible. Stay well, my friends.
© 2013 Tony Isabella
Thursday, January 17, 2013
REVIEW-O-RAMA
of the paper folding 0 Tonys.” - Chris Ryall
Back in the day, when reviewing comics and other things for CBG, I
used to rate them on a scale of zero to five Tonys. Each review was
followed by the appropriate number of drawings of my disembodied
but smiling head. Readers liked them and the only reason I dropped
them was because I got tired of doing the math.
Was that comic worth three or four Tonys? Maybe it was worth three
and a quarter Tonys. Who am I? Rain Man?
I eventually decided my time was better spent writing the reviews
and trusting my readers to decide if, based on what I had written,
the items were worth their hard-earned cash. With some sadness, I
bid adieu to my floating Tony heads.
But, to give props to the Remarkable Ryall, who does many terrific
things in service of IDW, his harkening back to those days brought
a smile to my face in a lousy week. Thanks, Chris.
This seems like a good place to start the reviews...
Alter Ego is my favorite comics magazine. I don’t love it in the
way I loved CBG, but A/E is cherished nonetheless. Edited by Roy
Thomas, whose minor claim to fame is that he hired me to come and
work at Marvel Comics and whose major claims to fame dwarf mine by
the hundreds, the magazine is fascinating, informative and, most of
all, great fun for anyone interested in comics history.
Alter Ego #114 [TwoMorrows; $8.95] spotlights three “Timely/Marvel
titans”: Don Rico, Allen Bellman and Martin Goodman. Rico was an
artist, writer and editor for Marvel and other outfits in the 1940s
through the 1970s. He is represented by two interviews, one which
hails from 1977 and the other an interview with his wife, actress
Michele Hart. Of the two, I liked the latter better.
The Rico interview was conducted by Dr. Ronald Levitt Lanyi for The
Journal of Popular Culture. Uncultured as I am, I am prone to both
quick annoyance and boredom when academia comes a’knocking on the
door of the comics art form. Lanyi’s questions struck me as leading
and stodgy, as if he had preconceived the answers which Rico should
have given to his questions. Rico’s answers are worth reading and
very knowledgeable, but the interview never brings its subject to
life. It was disappointing.
Not so Dewey Casell’s interview with Michele Hart. The lady leaps
from the pages as a real live genuine person and she brings Rico to
life as well. Her colorful career is impressive, but she shines
when she talks about her husband. I love when an interview reveals
the human side of comics greats.
Thankfully, Golden Age artist Allen Bellman is still with us. This
multiple-part interview with him confirms what those who have been
lucky enough to meet him at conventions have told me. He’s a great
guy full of wonderful memories of his time in comics and more than
willing to share them with the fans.
Rounding out the cover-blurbed trio, Ger Apeldoorn writes about a
relatively unknown part of Timely/Marvel publisher Martin Goodman’s
life. Goodman had a brief career in Broadway show business as the
backer and producer of at least one Broadway play and perhaps two.
Neither was a success, but I enjoyed reading about them. Clearly,
there was a lot of money to be made from comic books in the 1940s
and early 1950s...and Goodman apparently spent some of his comics-
gotten gains on the Great White Way.
There’s lots of other cool stuff in this issue as well: an Invaders
story that never was, Michael T. Gilbert on Charles Atlas, amusing
Last Kiss cartoons by John Lustig, the secret inspiration for one
of the great Marvel villains, several pages of a Captain Video tale
drawn by George Evans and tributes to John Celardo, Tony DeZuniga
and Ernie Chan. That adds up to 84 full-color pages and a magazine
every comics history buff should read.
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There are reviewers who go to their friendly neighborhood comics
shop every Wednesday, immediately read whatever they picked up at
the shop and, fighting exhaustion, immediately write and post their
reviews of these comics. I never read those reviewers, unless, of
course they’re reviewing something I wrote.
I read comic-book titles in batches, several issues and sometimes
several years at a pop. This week, I read Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Season 9 #8-16 [Dark Horse; $2.99 per issue].
I didn’t care for what Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 became or,
to be more accurate, I absolutely hated it. I’m certain I uttered
words like “dumb” and “moronic” at the time, though I never accused
series-runner Joss Whedon of destroying my childhood so I get some
points for that.
Season 9 has grown on me as it deals with the consequences of that
previous season. Sometimes it gets more than a little silly, like
when Andrew transplants Buffy’s consciousness into a robot Buffy in
a misguided attempt to protect her from something or another, but,
mostly, there’s some intriguing stuff here. Zombie vampires. The
cops realizing they need to learn how to deal with zombie vampires.
Former slayers being sought after as bodyguards. Some disturbing
Wolfram and Hart stuff. Solid stories with good-to-very good art
and starring recognizable characters from the TV series. I can’t
ask for more than that. Recommended.
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I wrote this for Tuesday’s blog and thought it was clear...
I do plan to write more reviews for this bloggy thing of mine...and
give priority to review items sent to me by creators, editors and
publishers. As always, those creators, editors and publishers are
more than welcome to use my reviews of their comics and other items
to promote them.
Review items can be sent to me at: Tony Isabella, 840 Damon Drive,
Medina OH 44256. If you need to get in touch with me for whatever
reason, you can e-mail me and I’ll respond to your message as soon
as possible.
...until I got an e-mail asking for an explanation. Okay, let me
try this again. “Priority” means that most review items will go to
the top of my reading pile. Depending on my schedule, prose books
and movies might have to put aside for a few days.
Being at the top of my reading pile doesn’t guarantee a review of
the item. I’ll give every item a fair shot, but if it doesn’t grab
me, it doesn’t grab me.
Sometimes, I read something and find I just don’t have anything to
say about it. This blog isn’t the essay question you try to bluff
your way through with bullshit. It’s meant to entertain and inform
my readers...and to please yours truly.
“Send to me” at the address given means just that. I have to have
something I can hold in my hands while reading and put on my desk
for easy access while I write about it.
Neither my CBG column nor this blog has been dependent on getting
review copies for some time now. I always have something to write
about. But, if you’d really like me to see your work and perhaps
review it, you have to send it to me.
I’ll be back tomorrow with more reviews.
© 2013 Tony Isabella