GLORIOUS PURPOSE 2

 

I’m reading and writing about the glorious history and purpose of Loki, the legendary Norse god of mischief, as put forward in Loki Omnibus Vol. 1 [Marvel; $125]. In our premiere installment of this series, we covered the first three Loki appearances in Journey Into Mystery #85, #88 and #91. Which brings us to...

Journey Into Mystery #92 [May, 1963] and “The Day Loki Stole Thor’s Magic Hammer” by Stan Lee (plot), Robert Bernstein (script) and Joe Sinnott (art). Bernstein, who was a prolific writer at DC Comics, Archie Comics and other comics outfits, was credited as “R. Berns.” Such aliases were common in the 1960s as DC Comics, in particular, was not fond of “its” writers and artists working for that upstart Marvel Comics.

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This clever story opens with Loki chained to a mountain by Asgard’s Rainbow Bridge. His chains were forged by Odin himself out of the same magic metal as Thor’s hammer. Odin has decreed Loki be chained there until the end of time. Norse gods must have magic bladders as well.

We then switch to Thor on Earth. A criminal was shot in a robbery and his men take him to the office of Doctor Don Blake, the Thunder God’s human identity of the Thunder God. They want Blake to operate on their boss, planning to kill him afterwards. Being a principled man of medicine, Blake saves the robber’s life and then psyches out the bad guys so he can switch to Thor. He ties Blake’s patient and the other criminals to the operating table and uses his hammer to send them flying through the air and to the nearest police station.It’s a great visual, but was that really the best way to transport a person who just had surgery?

Thor travels to a Norwegian sea port to create special effects for a Viking movie. The proceeds from Thor’s participation will go to charity. Thor dispatches a mechanical sea monster by drowning it, which seems improbable to me. Shouldn’t a sea monster be able to breathe underwater? He creates a thunder storm to destroy some evil Viking warrior dummies and then uses his hammer to bring down an actual mountain on a Viking village set. That’s when Loki makes his move.

Loki uses magic to attract the hammer to his chains via magnetism  and shatter said chains. With the sixty seconds before he changes back to Don Blake ticking away, Thor calls on Odin for assistance.Odin appears, which freezes time on Earth, and transports Thor to Asgard. Influenced by Loki’s sorcery, Odin and the Asgardians tell Thor they are too busy to help him find his hammer. I have a lot of questions about Loki’s magic and Asgard’s security measures, but I will get to those in a bit.

This is where this fun little story gets clever. Thor must fend off Loki’s subsequent attacks on him without his hammer. So he starts making substitute hammers. Loki turns giant trees into weapons of destruction, so Thor creates a giant wooden hammer out of stronger wood. Loki turns clouds into dragons, so Thor uses his fingers to carve hammers out of a cliff. Coincidentally, that cliff is made of  the same Uru metal as Loki’s chains and Thor’s hammer.

The makeshift stone hammers are attracted to Thor’s actual hammer. Thor follows them to regain his signature weapon while dropping a dime on Loki. Odin and the other Asgardians take Loki into custody. Odin vows to find a better way to imprison Loki.

My comments and questions...

The Uru metal appears to be more common on Asgard than I realized. The Asgardians don’t do a good job keeping it out of wrong hands.Wakanda must have been laughing its collective ass off looking at Asgard’s lack of security.

How powerful is Loki? He can be chained to a mountain until the end of time without having to go potty. He can cloud the minds of other Norse gods. He can turn clouds into dragons. This is not a guy who should be getting his ass kicked three or four times a year.

The setting for Thor’s hammer search is Loki’s forest. Which Loki controls. So why hasn’t Odin burned this forest out of existence? Use the land for classy Asgardian condos while preventing Loki from turning it into a weapon.

Thor acquits himself well in this story, but Loki should have won on points. Maybe next time...

                                                                             

Next time is just two months later. Journey Into Mystery #94 [July  1963] presents “Thor and Loki Attack the Human Race!” by Stan Lee (plot), R. Berns (script) and Joe Sinnott (art). I think Loki should’ve been paid time-and-a-half for these frequent appearances.

A chained Loki uses his magic to cause a nuclear missile to go out of control. Unable to blow up the bomb where it won’t cause death and destruction, the authorities call Thor to save the day. Which he does by hurling his hammer at it. However, Loki uses the last of his magic to distract Thor and the returning hammer strikes the god of thunder in the noggin. Or, more precisely, Thor’s chromosomatic gland. For anyone who didn’t graduate from a comic-book medical school, I’ll let Loki himself explain:

That means I timed the incident so perfectly that the hammer hit his chromosomatic gland, which determines and changes personality.

Thor becomes a villain and frees Loki. They want to conquer Asgard, but they don’t have enough power to beat the combined might of the other Asgardian gods. Knowing how dear Earth is to Odin, the king of the gods, they tell their dad they will wreck all kinds of godly havoc on our world unless Asgard is surrendered to them.

Thor and Loki don’t pull any punches. Thor destroys a dam, causes earthquakes, jeopardizes ships and triggers a volcanic eruption. He  reduces the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, a pyramid, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa to rubble. He even seals up the Panama Canal. While the death count from all this must be in the millions, there’s no mention of the loss of human life.

For his part, Loki turns a whale into a sea serpent. He brings the Sphinx to life and sends it to attack Cairo. He makes skyscrapers walk away from their foundations. He brings museum dinosaur models to life. It’s a bad day for humanity.

United Nations representatives beg the rogue gods to intercede with Odin and convince him to surrender Asgard. Until a trapdoor opens up beneath Thor, the brothers don’t realize that these UN fellows are actually Asgardians in disguise. Thor’s magic hammer falls as well, striking him on his chromosomatic gland and turning him back into a hero. Loki is boned again.

The gods promise to repair the damage done by Thor and Loki. Then they make mankind forget this whole thing ever happened. With that kind of power, you’d think they would come up with a new plan for imprisoning Loki. Not a chance, they chain him to the same old tree with the same old chains. Because that will absolutely definitely work this time.

That’s all for today, but I will again seek to fulfill my glorious purpose in the near future and bring you more of the adventures of Loki, god of mischief and/or evil. See you then.

© 2021 Tony Isabella

GLORIOUS PURPOSE

 

 

Marvel recently published Loki Omnibus Vol. 1 [$125]. I’m currently reading the 1000-page tome. First impression: Marvel’s omnibus game beats DC’s by a hefty margin.

When first introduced, Loki was a cool but pretty straightforward adversary for Thor. The hero was the god of thunder; Loki was the god of mischief and sometimes the god of evil. They were brothers from other mothers and fathers. Loki could be ruthlessly murderous  and that’s how they were originally and charmingly portrayed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

I wasn’t keeping any kind of Loki timeline - my aged mind can only hold so much information at a time - but it seems to me that, just as the amazing Tom Hiddleston was bringing new dimensions to Loki in the Marvel movies, the Marvel comics were presenting a bunch of new aspects to Loki. We got Loki as a smoking hot woman. We got Kid Loki. We got political candidate Loki. We even got Loki, Agent of Asgard. What had been an interesting but typical super-villain was evolving in exciting ways.

However, the stories I’m reading in the Loki Omnibus do not feature that evolving Loki. They take you from his earliest appearances in the comics from 1962 to 1970. Loki is the straightforward villain in these tales, but still a wonderful character and cunning foe for Thor and other Marvel heroes.

Let’s take a look at however many of those stories I can discuss in the first installment of this bloggy thing series...   

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Journey Into Mystery #85 [October 1962] introduced Loki in a tale titled “Trapped by Loki, the God of Mischief!” by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers. Unless you want to count when Loki hypnotizes
Thor as trapping the God of Thunder, or when he turns three humans into negative versions of themselves, no one is actually trapped by Loki. Even so, “God of Mischief” does seem a little off the mark as Loki does nearly kill some other humans.

The story opens with Loki stuck in a tree which has been his prison  for centuries. By Odin’s decree, and this solidifies my long-head position that Odin is a massive dick, Loki will remain in the tree until his plight makes someone shed a tear. Controlling the tree, Loki makes a leaf falls into Heimdall’s eye and cause the Rainbow Bridge guardian to shed a tear. Loki is free and, with Heimdall off looking for some Visine, Loki skips along the Bridge to Earth and his planned vengeance on Thor.

One might think centuries of captivity would have allowed Loki to devise a terrific plan, but, basically, all he does is vex Thor for the remainder of the tale’s thirteen pages. Thor dumps Loki into a pool of water, apparently Loki’s never-since-seen weakness is that his magic doesn’t work in water. Thor ties his step-brother to his hammer and flings him back to Asgard.

This first comic-book meeting between Thor and Loki doesn’t really speak to Loki’s glorious purpose, but it’s a fun little adventure. This is also the first time Nurse Jane Foster’s gets a glimpse of  Thor and see likes what she sees. The expression on Doc Don Blake’s face makes me think he’s not thrilled with Jane’s attraction to his other identity.

                                                                              

Just three short months later, in Journey Into Mystery #88 [January 1963], Loki is back in “The Vengeance of Loki” by Stan Lee (plot), Larry Lieber (script), Jack Kirby (art) and Dick Ayers (inking). Even if publisher Martin Goodman got some early numbers on Loki’s first appearance, I doubt they would have been come soon enough to influence the creation of this rematch. More likely: Stan and Jack recognized Loki was the perfect arch-enemy for Thor. Both of them “gods.” They were step-brothers with daddy Odin clearly preferring Thor. Even the splash page refers to Loki as the “most dangerous of the Norse gods.”

Odin decrees Loki must forever remain in Asgard, which, of course, the God of Mischief sees as more of a suggestion. Via magic, Loki discovers Thor is also Don Blake and that, if separated from his hammer, transforms back into the frail doctor. Back on Earth, Loki forces Thor to choose between saving Jane Foster or letting the 60-second time limit expire. Before Blake can get back to the hammer,
Loki surrounds it with an impenetrable force field.

Loki is more about mischief than evil in this story. He proceeds to make sport with the humans. He temporarily turns several of them into blank beings, restores them minutes later, and turns buildings and vehicles into candy and ice cream. Rereading this story for the first time in several decades, I laughed out loud when a distraught driver cries out that the sun is melting his convertible.

Loki turns a Russian nuclear bomb into a dud. When confronted by a group of American soldiers, he gives wings to the weapons and sends them flying away. As Blake, Thor realizes Loki is only toying with mankind, but justifiably fears his step-brother’s pranks will grow more serious and more dangerous.

Blake turns the tables on Loki by tricking him, by way of a plastic statue, into thinking Thor has regained his hammer. When Loki drops the force field to see what’s up, it’s hammer time for the doctor.
Despite Loki’s uncanny ability to turn into a pigeon, Thor captures him and brings him back to Asgard. Odin is concerned:

“As for Loki, I know not what to do with him! He grows more wily, more dangerous, more uncontrollable each hour! We must pray that the world will never see the day when his power exceeds that of the mighty Thor!”

Who do Norse gods pray to? Asking for a friend.

                                                                              

    

What with Thor kicking his ass twice, at least to the extent that the Comics Code allowed ass-kicking back then, Loki changed up his quest for vengeance against the Thunder God. Imprisoned on Asgard, Loki increases the meager mental powers of a carnival performer to a godlike level, knowing the performer will use his greater powers for evil and attract the attention of Thor. This is the first time, but far from the last time, that Loki will enlist surrogates in his  ongoing war with his step-brother.

“Sandu, Master of the Supernatural” [Journey Into Mystery #91; April, 1963] was plotted by Stan Lee, scripted by Larry Lieber and drawn by Joe Sinnott. The most notable difference between Sinnott’s and co-creator Jack Kirby’s depiction of Thor was that Sinnott drew Thor’s hammer with a much longer handle.

The story’s deus ex machina ending is telegraphed in its first two panels. Odin contemplates Thor’s belt of strength that can increase his son’s already awesome might. When Sandu chains Thor and buries him under a building, beautiful valkyries float down through said building to reunite the Odinson with his belt. I’ve gotten ahead of myself, so let’s backtrack.

Loki proves himself an astute judge of character as Sandu’s great power does lead him to great acts of thievery and terror. Perhaps because Thor is unconsciously holding back against this mortal foe, Sandu cleans Thor’s clock...to the extent the Comics Code allowed clock-cleaning. Enter the gorgeous gals of Valhalla, looking much different from their warrior sisters of more recent comics.

Back in the fray, Thor hurls his hammer at Sandu. But the villain separates Thor from his weapon by transporting himself and hammer  to a different dimension. In these early days of the series, Thor reverts back to Doctor Don Blake if he is apart from his hammer for more than sixty seconds. From distant Asgard, Loki starts gloating. He will be disappointed.

Sandu may have separated Thor from his hammer, but he still isn’t worthy enough to lift it. Straining his powers trying to lift the hammer, Sandu short circuits them. His powers are gone. Hammer and villain return to our world just before the fateful sixty seconds have passed.

Sandu goes to prison. Thor goes to Asgard to give the belt back to Odin for safekeeping. In a remote part of Asgard, Loki curses the brainless mortal who failed him. Not that this defeat will prevent Loki from empowering other surrogates in the future.

We’re not even fifty pages into Loki Omnibus Vol. 1 at this point, so I’ll return to further explore the god of evil and/or mischief’s glorious purpose in the near future. Watch for it.

I’ll be back soon with more stuff.

© 2021 Tony Isabella

THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY IN OCTOBER

 

 

October sucked as bad as did September. Our country and democracy continued to be in dire jeopardy from the criminal organization known as the Republican Party and its crazed followers with known traitors campaigning for and even winning public office on policies that are anti-equality, anti-history, anti-science, anti-teacher. Crimes are committed daily with little or no consciences for the perpetrators. And, as we’ve come to expect, DC Comics continues to show no respect for or understanding of Black Lightning, its first  and most iconic headline black super-hero.

Decent-paying writing assignments continue to elude me, even as so many of you, online and at conventions, tell me how much you have enjoyed my work and how much it means to you. I would ask you tell that to those in a position to hire me, but they don’t respect you any more than they respect me.

Conventions? I had hoped to do a lot of them in 2022, but that may turn out to be wishful thinking. I can’t afford to attend them for a free pass or a free booth. At least one and maybe more of these events have stopped inviting me because of my political and social postings. I accept free speech has consequences, but I must remain true to the progressive values I learned from my decades of reading
super-hero comic books. I admired those heroes. It’s why I wanted to write those heroes and heroes of my own creation.  

I am determined to keeping fighting the good fights. Which is why I post daily affirmations of the things that make me happy. These are the things that give me courage and hope and strength to keep fighting.

Here are those things that made me happy in October...

October 1: Every day is another chance to get it right. That’s what I hold on to as leaders fail us, as fellow citizens go start raving mad and as I struggle with hardship and loss. Not the cheeriest one of these I’ve posted, but hope endures.

October 2: My Alcoholic Escape from Reality by Nagata Kabi. Every time I read one of her books, I want to give her a virtual hug for her fearlessness in writing about her pain. She’s become one of my favorite manga creators.

October 3: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert for 10-1-21 aired the host’s apology to Milwaukee. Filmed at a Brewers game, this piece of non-political comedy gold included Colbert participating in the traditional “Sausage Race.” Thank you, Stephen.

October 4: One Shot: A Story of Bullying by Alex Bruorton. This is a gripping tale of a young man with a rare disease and how he took a proud stand against those who would demean him and how he became a champion to others.

October 5: An Empty Grave by Andrew Walsh-Huggins is the author’s latest Andy Hayes mystery. Disgraced football star and struggling private eye Hayes is a relatable characters and, hey, his favorite artist is Milton Caniff.

                                                                                 

October 6: Marvel’s Loki Omnibus. I’m having a blast reading these classic (and some not-so-classic) exploits of the God of Mischief.My glorious purpose (one of several) will be to write about these tales in my blog.

                                                                                

October 7: My Godzilla Advent Calendar. From across the seas comes the king of all advent calendars, filled with cool little stuff. I cheated and opened the first of the 24 boxes, but I’ll be saving the rest for December.

                                                                           

October 8: Fantaco’s Gorgo Attacks by Joe Gill, Joe Sinnott and Vince Colletta collects their seven issues of the Charlton title from 1961-62. Funded by a Kickstarter campaign, this enormously fun book came with cool extras. I’ll write more about it soon.

October 9: Like no other TV show, The United States of Al’s second season premiere brought home the fall of Afghanistan as Al and his American family tried to get his sister out of that country. It was
award-deserving writing and acting.

October 10: Kim Kardashian was surprisingly entertaining as host of Saturday Night Live. No comedy genius, but save for a shockingly  inappropriate O.J. Simpson joke, she did well, cracking jokes about herself and her family and appearing in several sketches.

October 11: Glee star Amber Riley was nothing short of magnificent on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, winning nearly $250,000 for A Place Called Home. The actress, singer, author and activist is one of the best America has.

                                                                             

October 12: I have great friends. One of them sent me this Godzilla Super Diorama Theater book and two issues of the classic Japanese Giants fanzine. I’ll be reading them soon.

October 13: William Shatner aka Captain James Tiberius Kirk of USS Enterprise traveled into actual space. I don’t care how long or how short the trip was. It’s still one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Live long and prosper, sir.

October 14: I Think Our Son Is Gay by Okura. Mom is sure her son is gay, likely because he’s bad at hiding it. Told in short chapters, this manga delivers smiles at the son’s expense and warm fuzzies at his mom’s unwavering love and support.

October 15: I received a comp copy of The Other History of the DC Universe by John Ripley. The hardcover includes mine and Trevor von Eeden’s Black Lightning creator credit and a Katana creator credit for Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo.

October 16: My final Vast Accumulation of Stuff garage sale of 2021 was successful, achieving 87% of my ambitious two-day goal. I have started planning for my 2022 sales and for online sales prior to that. Keep watching..

                                                                                     

October 17: On Sunday’s Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, actress Melissa Joan Hart won $1,039,800 for the charity Youth Villages, “serving families and children across 23 different states in every kind of level, going through foster care and aging out of foster care especially.”

October 18: Pops! With Purpose. Celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness Awareness Month, this DC Comics Bombshells version of Wonder Woman joins my Bombshells Batwoman among the Funko figures facing me and inspiring me as I work.

October 19: The new Capital One commercial featuring a collector of action figures, Samuel L. Jackson and a Samuel L. Jackson dressed as Black Lightning action figure. So cool.

October 20: Add Supergirl (DC Comics Bombshells) to my collection of Pops! With Purpose Breast Cancer Awareness Month figures. She’s my third figure of this year’s series, following Wonder Woman and Batwoman.

October 21: Jimmy Palmiotti does the best Kickstarter updates and delivers outstanding material. I’m not backing many campaigns these days, but Jimmy’s always get my consideration.

October 22: The extremely cool Square Round Table Podcast recorded a long interview with me on Friday night. I honestly think it’s one of the best I’ve done. Sure to amaze and inform and piss off some folks. It’s now available here.

October 23: Michael Che from Saturday Night Live. Discussing Donald Trump’s planned social media venture Truth Social, Che said, “But most people know it by its former name: the National Sex Offender Registry.” Now that’s truth.

October 24: I’ll be on set Monday and protocols call for a Covid-19 test before then. A company called Drip Hydration sent a friendly, efficient young lady named Penelope to my home to stick a swab up my nose. I feel special.

October 25: My one-day secret mission to New York went very well. I am pleased I could be of service to mankind. Also, on my flights there and back, I had an entire row of seats to myself. That hasn’t happened to me in decades.

                                                                             

October 26: Nodoka’s Tokyo Fashion: A Comic Book is a fascinating and fun guide to Japanese fashion. I’m using it as a wardrobe tool for a supporting character I’ve been working on. This book brought me clarity on who this character will be.

October 27: I love my new Tigra action figure, part of the Marvel Legends collection. It comes with a variant head and fists, which would definitely be a serious choking hazard if I intended to open its packaging. I don’t. It will have a honored place on my office wall.

October 28: Add Catwoman (DC Comics Bombshells) to my collection of Pops! With Purpose Breast Cancer Awareness Month figures. She’s my fourth figure of this year’s series, joining Batwoman, Supergirl and Wonder Woman and Batwoman.                                                                        

October 29: Fanboy Expo Knoxville. My first day of the convention and my first time at the Bard’s Tower booth. Hanging out with old and new friends. Viewing wonderful cosplay. I’ll have more when I blog about it.

October 30: Florence Rose Isabella, my mother, celebrated her 95th birthday on Halloween while I was in Knoxville. But I still got a candy bar with a special wrapper. (I’m not a terrible son. I went to visit her before I left for Knoxville.)

October 31: That American Airlines cancelled my connecting flight to Cleveland didn’t make me happy, but the swiftness with which one (and only one) of their employees set me up with a hotel voucher, a meal voucher and taxi vouchers did. Thanks, James.

With 2021 turning out to be one of my worst financial years ever, I’ll be adding a “Donate via PayPal” button to the bloggy things. But, if you don’t want to wait until I can get one of my friends or kids to do this relatively simple task for me - Trust me, I would break the whole damn Internet if I tried to do it myself - you can send your PayPal donations to me at my PayPal email address, which is the same as my email address: tonyisa at ohio dot net

I’ll be using whatever funds I receive to help support my writing. Upcoming projects include the second volume of July 1963: A Pivotal Mouth in the Comic-Book Life of Tony Isabella, my first children’s book (with a kaiju theme) and my continued development of a brand-new super-hero universe unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Thank you for your donations, large and small alike.

I’m also hoping to get the bloggy thing back to its original nigh-daily schedule. I have two completed bloggy in my files with more to come. You can encourage me by actually commenting on my columns as they are posted.

That’s all for today. I’ll be back tomorrow with the first of what will be an ongoing series on the comic-book life and times of Loki, god of evil and/or mischief. See you then.

© 2021 Tony Isabella

AKRON COMICON 2021

 

 

We’re just two days away from the always amazing Akron Comiccon, which will be held Saturday and Sunday, November 6-7, at Emidio’s Expo Center, 48 E. Bath Street, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio 44223. Event hours are Saturday, 10 am to 6 pm, and Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm. This is my last convention appearance of the year.

Akron Comicon’s outstanding guest list includes actor and wrestler Sgt. Slaughter, Don Simpson, Aaron Archer, Mike W. Barr, the Fraim brothers, Craig Boldman, Jay Fife, Dan Gorman, Matt Horak, Jason Moore, Sean McArdle, Dave Nestler, authors Jan and Mike Olszweski, Ted Sikora and more. If you're a fan of horror hosts, this convention has a bunch of them: Son of Ghoul, Leopold & Lenora, Mummy and the Monkey and Drac and Karita.

There are many other special features of the event. Hartville Chips is the official chip of Akron Comicon. The Hero Initiative will be collected funds for that most worthy charity. NORKA Beverage is the official beverage of the convention. Rubber City Cosplay will be on hand. Also attending: Star Trek fan groups USS Lagrange and USS Renegade, cosplay group 8th Corvus Squadron G.I. Joe, health care provider Western Reserve Hospital, and my dear friends from WBNX-TV.  My booth will be set up next to WBNX.

What will I be selling at the convention? I wish I could tell you, but packing for the event is tomorrow’s task. At the moment, I am leaning heavily towards bringing boxes of bargain-priced hardcovers and trade paperbacks...as well as some more pricey items.

My signing policy is the same as always. I charge a modest $5 per each item. That goes up to $15 per item if you come with a grading company employee to witness my signature. These charges will almost certainly go up in 2022.

Not tired of me? I’ll be doing my TONY’S TIPS LIVE! presentation on Sunday, November 7, at 11 am. It’s my usual mix of news, views and reviews. The rest of the panel schedule:

Saturday

11 am. Working as a creative team with The Franklin Brothers.

12 pm. Writing for Comics with Mike Sangiacomo, Chris Lambert

1 pm. Talking with the Walking Dead. Hosted by W.F. Bell

2 pm. Meet Sgt. Slaughter!

3 pm. From Kickstarter to The Shelf with Ted Sikora and Caleb Thusat

4 pm. Cosplay Contest hosted by Rubber City Cosplay

Sunday

12 pm. Horror Hosts! Oh my!

1 pm. Breaking Into Comics with Brian Dunphy.

2 pm. The Challenges of Self Publishing with Robert Multari and Tom Hitchison

For more information on Akron Comicon, visit their website.

That’s all for today. I’ll be resuming nigh-daily blogging in just a few more days. Hope to see you then.

© 2021 Tony Isabella

MY LAST GARAGE SALES OF 2021

 

 

My final Vast Accumulation of Stuff garage sales of 2021 are coming together nicely. Last night, I filled out the dollar comics boxes with a complete set of one of my favorite series of all time. It’s just one of many examples of how serious I am about downsizing the VAOS. You’ll see more at the garage sales.

Here’s the basic information:

The garage sales will take place on Friday and Saturday, October 15 and 16, from 9 am to noon at 840 Damon Drive in Medina, Ohio. You won’t have any trouble figuring out which house it is. Besides the lawn signs, you’ll see a big ass Tony Isabella photo and sign next to the garage door, a souvenir from one of the conventions I have appeared at in recent years.

Moving on...

I currently have nine $10 mystery boxes ready to go and am hoping to add two more a day until the garage sale opens on Friday. I’ve virtually doubled the number of boxes of graphic novels, hardcovers and trade paperbacks. Some of these haven’t even been opened as I now realize I will likely not live long enough to read everything I own that I have not yet read. This doesn’t mean I’m remotely near death’s door. If I did nothing but spend my days reading, I might be able to read everything I own. But that wouldn’t leave me time to do all the other things I enjoy doing.

My boxes of Tony Isabella-written comic books and other older comic books are not as full as I would like. This is just a matter of my running out of time to price additional comics for them. I hope to do much better in these areas for next year’s sales.

My supply of Isabella-written trade paperbacks is also dwindling, thanks to DC Comics deciding they needed to let my Black Lightning work to fall out of print to print a zillion more copies of Batman  books. That manipulative maniac not only has the best toys, but, apparently, also controls the printing presses.

Any Isabella items you buy from me will be signed for free. I will also sign any Isabella items you bring to my garage sales for free. I charge $5 for my signature at conventions, so you can save money by coming to my sales.

I’m phasing out Isabella-related posters for the present. Besides reducing the prices on these, I am also giving a free poster with every purchase. One per customer. Who loves you?
 
The rack which holds comics and pop culture clothing as well as a bunch of Comic-Con tote bags is full. In fact, some of the items I couldn’t fit on the rack went into mystery boxes.

My magazine box is filled, though, as with the dollar comics boxes, I’ll continue to price and add items up until the first day of the garage sales. I might even add items after the first day’s garage sale. Because I’m determined to make these sales the best since I started doing them.

                                                                         

Spread across the remaining bookshelves and tables will be amazing items. The Little Lulu Library. The Complete Tintin. The Complete Little Nemo in Slumberland. The Complete E.C. Segar Popeye in cool hardcover editions. Some still wrapped in plastic omnibus editions.  Plus many more terrific hardcovers and trade paperbacks. I will be pricing and adding more books to the sale right up to the moment I open the garage door on Friday.

The official hours of the garage sales are 9 am to noon each of the two days. However, if I still have customers shopping, I will keep the sale going as long as necessary. When the garage door closes on
Friday, I’ll restock as much as possible.

Previous garage sales have been cash only. However, I will accept PayPal as long as you can verify the money has reached my account before receiving your items.

Can’t make the garage sales on Friday or Saturday? If you email me with a request for a special appointment later in the week, I will do my best to accommodate you. However, I won’t be restocking after Saturday’s sale.

Thanks for visiting the bloggy thing today. I’ll be back soon with information on my remaining convention appearances of 2021 as well as lots more fun stuff. See you then.

© 2021 Tony Isabella

LIBRARY SCORES

 

 

My local and quite wonderful Medina Library is part of a consortium of a hundred libraries in northeastern Ohio. Though ClevNet, I can request any book that resides in any of those libraries. I make the request online. They send the book to my library and also send my an e-mail altering me to the book’s arrival. I can also check such things on my online Medina Library account.

Being able to read so many books and graphic novels without buying them is a boon to my finances. In addition, they don’t add to the Vast Accumulation of Stuff that I’m downsizing. The result of that downsizing - the completion of which is a few years down the road - will allow us to make Casa Isabella more comfortable and open. It will also give Saintly Wife Barb and myself the option of moving to a smaller and easier-to-maintain house someplace other than our way too Republican and way too white city of Medina. I’m going to apply for Wakandan citizenship.

In the meantime, here are my comments on some of the recent books I borrowed from the library...

When it comes to She-Hulk, I’m around 30-70. I have truly enjoyed some of what’s been done with the character and truly appalled by the excess with which she’s been treated by various Marvel writers over the years. When it comes to Dan Slott and his impressive runs on a number of major Marvel titles, I’m around 60-40. I generally like his work and, while I’m not current with most Marvel titles, he’s one of the few writers I seek out when his work appears in collected editions. The Marvel Comics Universe became way too complicated and event-driven for me to follow in periodical format.

She-Hulk by Dan Slott: The Complete Collection Volume 1 [Marvel; $34.99] was published in 2014 with a second printing in 2016. I’m not sure why I didn’t read it then or how it got on my radar this time around. Since I like She-Hulk (when presented consistent with her core values) and I like Slott’s work, requesting this 413-page tome was a no-brainer. Here’s the back cover pitch:

Everyone's favorite Jade Giantess, She-Hulk, has returned for tons of fun, both on and off the field of battle! As a superhuman lawyer, She-Hulk has tried some of the strangest cases on Earth...but now, Shulkie is heading into deep space to practice Universal Law! And upon her return, the emerald enchantress matches muscles with Hercules...but it's going to take brains, not brawn, to get the Prince of Power out of some Herculean legal problems. Plus: No one hates She-Hulk more than Titania! What makes her one of the deadliest threats in the universe? And how is Hawkeye's fate tied to She-Hulk's latest case? Join She-Hulk as she deals with the bizarre legal problems of the Marvel Universe!

The book collects She-Hulk #1-12 from the 2004 series and issues #1-5 from the 2005 series. I’m not sure what She-Hulk has been up to since then, but, as she was featured in the Immortal Hulk title, it was probably grotesque. I.e., not core values She-Hulk.

Slott focuses on some of the more interesting aspects of Jennifer Walters’ life as an attorney. She’s hired by the firm of Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg and Holliway. The catch is they don’t want She-Hulk. They want Jen, her civilian identity, to move them forward in the area of superhuman litigation and trial. This makes for a some very interesting examination of her life and a nice combination of humor, human drama, science-fiction and fantasy, superhero action  and good sexy fun.

Among my favorite elements in these stories: seeing Marvel heroes and villains portrayed as more than just heroes and villains; Andy the office assistant who was formerly the Mad Thinker’s awesome android; Jen being tapped to be a Universal Law judge in the cosmic Star Chamber; and her running afoul of the Time Variance Authority recently seen in Marvel’s Loki series on Disney-plus. Great ideas presented in an entertaining manner.

The only real negatives for me was Slott’s valiant attempts to make virtually every past She-Hulk story, indeed, every Marvel Universe story, part of the proceedings. The continuity became stifling at times. Too much back story and it usually slowed down the stories. While the vastness of the Marvel Universe can be a wondrous thing, I prefer a core values approach that concentrates on the story at hand and includes back story only as necessary. Of course, I’m also one of those rebels who think oppressive continuity can be avoided by the simple expedient of not mentioning it.

Overall, I do recommend this book, which is available on Kindle and the secondary markets. I’m planning to catch up on other Dan Slott collections in the future. Any suggestions?

ISBN 978-0785154402

                                                                                     

An Empty Grave is the latest Andy Hayes mystery from Andrew Welsh- Huggins [Swallow Press; Ohio University Press; $21.95]. Here’s part of the back cover pitch:

In 1979, a high-profile burglar shot a cop, was apprehended, and then disappeared without ever being prosecuted. Forty years later, after the wounded cop’s suicide, his son, Preston Campbell, is convinced there’s been a cover-up that allowed his father’s attacker to go free. At first, Hayes dismisses Campbell’s outlandish conspiracy theories. But when a mysterious Cold War connection to the burglar emerges, the investigation heats up, and Hayes discovers a series of deaths that seem to be connected, one way or another, to the missing criminal. Nothing seems to add up, though, and Hayes finds himself hurtling headlong down a decades-old path of deadly secrets.

Welsh-Huggins relies heavily on coincidence in this series. By the end of each book, almost every element and plot twist ties neatly, perhaps too neatly, into the conclusion. In the early books, this bothered me. I have since decided that Hayes has the mutant ability to bring connections together when no one else even sees them. Let us face it. We couldn’t write super-hero comics without the use of coincidence. I’m okay with that.

For me, the biggest attraction to the series is Andy “Woody” Hayes. He’s a former star and now disgraced football player. His private detective business is always on the brink of financial doom as he
deals with two ex-wives, two sons (one from each) and a rocky love life. He’s very relatable, especially when he names Milton Caniff as his favorite artist.

The series is set in and around Columbus, Ohio, yet another draw for me. I’m a voracious reader of crime, mystery and police novels set in my home state. It helps that Welsh-Huggins is a reporter for the Associated Press in Columbus. He gets the little things right, which helps me accept the coincidences easier.

An Empty Grave is the seventh book in the Andy Hayes series. When I finish one, I look forward to the next. Are these books classics? No, but they are entertaining. As I’ve taken to reading them in one night, I can attest they’re a pleasant way to pass an evening and recommend you give them a try.

ISBN 978-0-8040-1232-4

                                                                           

Before I get to my review of the latest young adult graphic novel from Zuiker Press founders Michelle and Anthony E. Zuiker, I want to nominate them for the Eisner Awards’ Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award. They produce graphic novels that fearlessly discuss issues vital to young people: divorce, racism, cyberbullying, body image, autism, suicide, transitioning and more. The books deserve a place in every public and school library in the country.

One Shot: A Story of Bullying [$12.99] was released in late June of this year. It’s a graphic novel by Alex Bruorton, who was born with  a disfiguring disease and was bullied by kids and adults, even some of his teachers. In the graphic novel, written by Anthony Zuiker with art, colors and lettering by Fantoons Animation Studios, Alex talks about his life, pain, loneliness and courage in standing up to all those bullies, young and old, and, in doing so, finding joy in his life. He is one very cool kid.

These graphic novels are consistently overlooked by comics awards that should be celebrating them. I request the judges and voters of those awards give these books consideration. I haven’t read one yet that didn't deserve to be nominated.

ISBN 978-1-947378-30-8

That’s all for today’s bloggy thing. I’d appreciate it if readers would leave comments on this and other posts. While all posts have to be approved before they appear, I do try to approve them as soon as possible. I’ll be back soon with more stuff.

© 2021 Tony Isabella

THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY IN SEPTEMBER

 

 

September sucked. That’s the most succinct way I can describe one of the worst months I’ve had since I started writing these monthly affirmations that, even in the worst of times, there is a whole lot of happy to be had.

September had me on the ropes from day one. I’m not going to give you a blow-by-blow game summary, save to say I experienced world-class depressions and disappointments. I even lacked the positive energy to post something that made me happy every day, which is the whole point of that exercise. I threw in the towel and that is why, this time around, I will not be listing a full complement of things that made me happy in September.

I’m pleased to report that, while I have certainly faced emotional and physical challenges in October, I’m in a much better place than I was. That said, here is my truncated list of the stuff that brought me joy in September...

September 1: Nice to start a month off with the great fun that is Elvira Meets Vincent Price #1 by writer David Avallone and artist Juan Samu. It’s exciting and hilarious.

                                                                     

September 2: The Tenacious Unicorn Ranch. As seen on the September 1, 2021 episode of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, it’s a queer and transgender community and working ranch in Custer County, Colorado. I want to visit.

September 3: The Complete Chi’s Sweet Home Part 1 by Konami Kanata. I’m in love with this cat-centric manga. It’s adorable and funny. I wish I could read it to my cat Simba during the two hours a day when she’s not napping.

September 4: Super-Hero Day at my mother’s senior assisted living facility. The residents were asked to salute their favorite heroes. My mom had a copy of Black Lightning attached to her walker. She knows how to represent.

September 5: My Facebook friends come through for me. When I asked for Black Lightning music videos, they sent me links to same...and Renee Grant Patrick created three new videos. Now all I need is a Black Lightning “Shut Up and Dance” video.

September 6: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Great story and performances. Incredible action sequences and so much powerful human emotion. Can’t wait to see more of these characters. No one does super-hero movies better than Marvel.

                                                                  

September 7: More Chinese monster movies with English subtitles are showing up on YouTube. I have recently enjoyed Big Octopus, King of Snake and Crazy Tsunami. I think dubbed versions would be a hit on the Syfy channel or various streaming services.

September 8: Cash Jordan. This real estate guy’s YouTube videos on New York City apartments have been fun. The only downside is that, sometimes, they make me think about moving back there. Which would be a truly horrible mistake.

September 9: Only Murders in the Building. One episode in and I’m hooked. Kudos to Steve Martin, Martin Short and the amazing Selena Gomez. Saintly Wife Barb will be binge-watching this.

September 10: The Complete Kirby War & Romance Omnibus. I’m a few hundred pages into this terrific collection. Marvel does books like this right and I look forward to what the company will be bringing us in the months and years to come.

September 11: Trots and Bonnie by Shary Flenniken. I was and remain a big fan of this cartoonist and am enjoying the collection of the title strip. Some of the cartoons make me uncomfortable now - age will do that - but it’s still an amazing volume.

                                                                               

September 12: Q Force on Netflix. Gay superspy. His scrappy LGBTQ squad. Fighting for all of us. I’ve watched one episode and will be watching more. Is this part of the gay agenda?

September 13: Stormwatch Comics of West Berlin, New Jersey, sent me a huge stack of Free Comic Book Day issues. I’ll start reading and writing about them next month.

September 14: Miskatonic by Mark Sable and Giorgio Pontrelli. It’s a honestly chilling graphic novel of an FBI agent and a detective investigating bombings in a world of Lovecraftian horror. With an ending that downright haunts me.

September 15: Captain Carter is the newest addition to my expanding Funko Pop! collection. As I’ve said, I love the character and the look. Give her an ongoing comic-book series with Chris Claremont as its writer.

                                                                                

September 16: Cheer Up! Love and Pompoms by Crystal Frasier, Val Wise and Oscar O. Jupiter is my feel-good book of the month. It’s a heartwarming story of friendship, love and struggle with a final scene that brought a happy year to my eye.

September 17: Whistle: A New Gotham City Hero by E. Lockhart with Manuel Preitano is a deliciously meaty introduction to a terrific  character and her world. DC’s graphic novels for young adults are more entertaining and thoughtful than its monthly fare.

September 18: My comics industry career is full of ups and too many downs. But, when I order a couple of pizzas and the person taking the call tells me he’s a big fan of mine, I have to admit there are times when it’s cool to be me.

This is where I ran out of energy, though I wrote two more entries that I never posted on Facebook or Twitter.

September 22: With guests Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert for 9-21-21 was a brilliant, insightful, darkly hilarious examination of the criminal actions of the former president at the end of his administration.

September 23: Singer/songwriter Jason Isbell was terrific on the 9-23-21 episode of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. He was funny and thoughtful. Great entertainer. Great man.

October is shaping up to be a better and more productive month for me. I’ve been approached to do an on-camera interview for a comics-related documentary. My last Vast Accumulation of Stuff garage sale
of 2021 will be held on October 15-16, and is already promising to be a great way to close out the season. I’ll be part of the Bard’s Tower author contingent for Fanboy Expo Knoxville on October 28-30. All that and more!

Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be back soon with more stuff.

© 2021 Tony Isabella