My second garage sale was another success and I'll be writing about it on Thursday.
In other news...
Tony Isabella's Bloggy Thing will resume on Wednesday with another Rawhide Wednesday. As of this writing, I will be able to extend this weekly feature three issues past what was collected in the Essential Rawhide Kid. Currently trying to track down an affordable copy of Rawhide Kid #39.
This week, I'll be working on some pitches, writing my monthly Comics Buyer's Guide contributions, and working on my reading room. So I can't accommodate appointment customers to my garage stock until the following week. Next garage sale is August 10 and 11 and, as always, there will be restocking prior to the garage sale.
See you on Wednesday.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
GARAGE SALE A GO-GO
Thanks to everyone who came and shopped at today's garage sale. I'm restocking tonight for tomorrow's sale. 840 Damon Drive, Medina, OH, 10 am to 3 pm.
MARVELOUS MARIE SEVERIN
Comics by Dewey Cassell with Aaron Sultan [$24.95]. I haven’t had
a chance to read it yet, but this tribute to the great artist and
lady looks like big fun. It’s a chronological journey through her
career with a whole lot of art, interviews, and photographs. There
are rare and even unpublished pieces, not to mention a brief chat
with yours truly. I look forward to reading and reviewing it very
soon, but you don’t have to wait for my review to order this book.
Just flipping through will convince you.
In other Marvel matters...
I’m a mere two weeks behind in my reading of all those Avengers and
X-Men titles. I’d be caught up, but the friend who loans me comic
books has been out of town for a few weeks. In any case, here are
my current thoughts on these titles...
Astonishing X-Men #44-47 was yet another alternate reality story.
How many of these do we need in any given year?
Astonishing X-Men #48-51 had a contingent of X-Men battling mind-
controlled Marauders in New York City, but the heart of the story
arc was Northstar proposing and marrying his beloved Kyle. It was
good stuff. Not great stuff, but good stuff, with a fine emotional
payoff that made me proud that comic books can and will do stories,
uplifting stories, that challenge bigotry and ignorance. For all
the complaints that can legitimately be directed against Marvel’s
multiplicity of titles, the confusion they engender, and the huge
events that overshadow the possibility of more meaningful stories,
we can still get this development, a positive message that reaches
more people in an X-Men title than it would in most. My kudos and
thanks to writer Marjorie Liu, artist Mike Perkins, and everybody
who worked on these issues.
Avengers #22-24 reprinted the classic battle between the Avengers
and Norman Osborn’s Dark Avengers. What? That wasn’t a reprint?
Could have fooled me.
Avengers #24.1 has a repaired Vision who is major pissed off at how
things went with his life, marriage and other matters. This take
on the character interests me, so thumbs up to writer Brian Michael
Bendis and artist Brandon Peterson.
Avengers #25-27 are tied in with the Avengers Versus X-Men event.
Good comics by Bendis and artist Walter Simonson.
Avengers Academy by Christos Gage remains my favorite Marvel Comics
series and one of my favorite super-hero comics. I like how these
young characters have their own minds and must make their own very
tough decisions. I like that their adult mentors recognize this,
even if it sometimes takes them a while to get there. I love that
there is always a core of heroism, hope and humanity to this title.
Of all the titles connected to “Avengers Versus X-Men,” this is the
title that most does so on its own terms and, if you can only read
one Marvel title, this is the title you should read.
Avengers Assemble by Bendis and artist Mark Bagley is a perfectly
readable super-team comic book, but it never manages to rise above
that level. Indeed, it strikes me as a combination attempt to cash
in on Marvel movies - such as the blockbuster Avengers and the in-
the-works Guardians of the Galaxy - and advance promotion for those
movies. Readable super-team comics are a rare enough commodity in
the current marketplace that I’m delighted Marvel’s publishing this
one. It’s worth checking out.
Marvel events are hit and more miss with me. Sometimes they start
with great ideas. I’d include “Civil War” and “Secret Invasion” in
that category. Other times, they blow chunks. That would be “Dark
Reign” and “Fear Itself.” Most of the time, these events run too
long and involve too many titles. Some of the time, even the blow
chunks events manage some decent issues and spin-offs. Either way,
any way, my preference for stories that reflect individual writers
over group plotting will never be a concern for Marvel. Clearly,
their readers like these big events because they keep buying them.
The free market has spoken.
Avengers Vs. X-Men is a great idea. The stakes are high for each
of the opposing forces and the positions each side has taken make
logical sense to me. The Avengers have seen the harm that usually
follows the acquisition of too great power. The X-Men have faced
the virtual extinction of their species. I can’t say either side
is overreacting to this crisis. Heck, it’s only been in the most
recent issues, as the Phoenix Five (Cyclops, Magik, Colossus, Emma
Frost and Namor) have drifted away from the humanity they used to
share with the Avengers and even their fellow mutants, that I have
been able to chose a side. True to traditional Marvel event style,
I think the story is going on too long, but I continue to find it
exciting and thought-provoking.
Some related notes:
Something I don’t like is that many of the most noble of Marvel’s
heroes have become raging dicks. Captain America used to stand for
America at its best and now he’s a combination of Nick Fury at his
worst and “Civil War” Tony Stark at his worst. I mourn the loss of
yet another of my favorite heroes, Batman having left the room a
long time ago. Now the Steve Rogers I admired is all but gone from
the pages of Marvel Comics. Tragic.
Cyclops has become a new Magneto. Oddly enough, that development
intrigues me. Scott Summers, the best of the X-Men, has become a
rigid and tyrannical leader. He has created/sanctioned mutant hit
squads in “ends justify the means” fashion. He’s become a monster
and he doesn’t even realize it. Damn, that’s practically a mutant
Shakespearean tragedy. Well played, writers. Well played.
I’ll be back on Monday with more stuff.
© 2012 Tony Isabella
Thursday, July 26, 2012
GARAGE SALE GURU?
My second garage sale of the summer will be held at 840 Damon Drive
in Medina, Ohio, on Friday and Saturday, July 27 and 28, from 10 am
to 3 pm. My first garage sale of this summer, like my one and only
garage sale of last summer, was very successful. As a result, many
of my readers have asked for my advice on how to run a successful
garage sale. It’s easy.
What you do is retroactively become one of the leading reviewers in
comics, going back over two decades, and have publishers send you
hundreds of comic books each and every month. Then, having amassed
a Vast Accumulation of Stuff that fills four large rooms in your house
and a storage unit costing you nearly $100 a month, you will have enough
stock to make big bucks selling comic books fivefor a buck, trade
paperbacks for two bucks, etc. Changing the past is so simple
Mitt Romney and I wonder why everyone doesn’t do it.
Seriously...
The first garage sale I ran, over two decades ago, was a complete
bust. I had several tables of comic books priced at the going rate
or less. I teamed up with a friend of mine who sold baseball and
other trading cards at flea markets and small comics/cards shows.
I took out an ad in the local newspaper. I didn’t make ten bucks,
and that included my 10% cut of my friend’s sales. I didn’t even
think about doing another garage sale until last year.
I was inspired by my pal Chris Yambar’s Lawn Con. Chris invited a
bunch of fellow comics creators to set up tables on his lawn. He
got newspaper coverage of the event. Much fun was had by all and
some creators made some decent money at the show.
My original plan was to rip off Chris’ concept. But Chris is much
better at organizing than I. My lofty plans for “Garage Con” fell
apart almost immediately on my crafting them and I had to run with
a comics-centric garage sale whose only “guest” was myself. That
worked out better than I’d hoped.
Over the past two decades, I had gotten more and more involved in
the online comics community. I had a message board and a Facebook
page and a blog and a Twitter account. Baby, I rode every one of
those promotional ponies like I was a Kentucky Derby jockey. Yes,
I also advertised my garage sale on Craig’s List and in the local
newspaper, but it was the online comics community that brought my
garage sale across the finish line and into the prize money. And
this is where I stop with the equestrian sports analogies before I
hurt my brain going for dressage references.
Last summer, I don’t think I had more than three dozen customers in
the two days of my garage sale. However, most of them were comics
fans who had seen my “ads” for the sale online, who knew in advance
how low my prices would be, and whose patronage allowed me to make
a nice chunk of cash over those two days. For this summer’s garage
sales, I’ve tried to build on what I learned.
The big question mark this summer is whether or not I can continue
to do well at garage sales spaced but two weeks apart. Will there
be enough customers to sustain the profitability of these frequent
garage sales? I hope so, but, either way, I’ll let you know what
happens this weekend and throughout the summer.
As per the many requests I received in my ridiculous new position
as a garage sale guru, here are some thoughts and tips on how you
might be able to hold your own successful sales.
Be highly motivated. While my main goal is to make enough money to
pay some bills and make some renovations/repairs to our Tardis-like
house, I have other goals as well.
By the end of this summer, I want to turn a room currently filled
with boxes into a combination library, mailing station and reading
room. The comfy chair and a suitable worktable are already there,
but I envision bookcases and a corner of easy-to-use Drawer Boxes
to hold and organize the comics and books I’m keeping for the time
being. It’ll be my fan-cave.
Within the next couple years, I want to reduce my basement storage
space to one wall and stop renting the secret storage fortress. In
doing this, I’ll be able to move my family’s non-comics items from
the storage unit to the basement. Not renting storage space will
save me close to a hundred dollars a month.
Price to sell. This works best when you have the kind of volume I
have, but it can work for anybody. You can make money by selling
a lot of items and, realistically, much of what I have would never
go for anywhere near guide of even cover prices.
So my prices run like this:
Comic books and magazines...25 cents each, 5 for $1.
Trade paperbacks...$2 each.
All-ages trade paperbacks...$1 each, because I want to encourage
young comics readers to love comics as much as I do.
Hardcovers....$5 each.
VHS tapes...25 cents each, 5 for $1.
Manga paperbacks...$1 each.
Though I sell my 1000 Comic Books You Must Read at $20 per copy to
match the Amazon price, issues of Grim Ghost and other things I’ve
written are at their original cover prices. That pricing reflects
the finite supply I have of those items.
Don’t give up on any section of your garage sales prematurely. I
barely sold any manga or VHS tapes last summer, but, this summer,
I’ve sold multiple stacks of each. If they stop selling, they may
be donated or go into the trash, but, for now, they remain part of
my garage sales.
Signage, signage, signage. Price everything clearly. I print out
signs for each section of the sale. I post a general price list on
the refrigerator in my garage. I even print out a sign informing
customers that not all items are suitable for all ages and that I
will be happy to help them find items that are age-appropriate for
their kids. Mothers have actually thanked me for that sign...and
for addressing their concerns.
No haggling. I’m adding a sign to that effect to my garage sales.
There are people - usually not comics fans - whose greatest joy in
attending garage sales is to whittle down already low prices as if
they were conquering barbarians. It’s a game to them, but it’s a
game that can and will drain energy better used to serve your more
civilized customers.
Your garage sale is a business. It can be fun - mine are - but it
is a business. The innate negativity of these hagglers should not
be tolerated. It’s bad for business.
That said. I have no problem with taking a few bucks off for large
purchases or for returning customers. If someone buys 118 comics,
I’ll charge them for 100. If someone buys 160 trade paperbacks, I
might charge them for 150. The happier I keep customers, the more
they buy and, hopefully, the more they encourage their friends to
come to my garage sales.
Word of mouth. Be cheerful and make the experience a fun one for
customers. They will tell others about your sale. That’s one of
the reasons my anime and manga sales picked up this year.
Be prepared. Make sure you have sufficient change for your garage
sales. If you’ve priced your items in increments of quarters and
dollars you’ve already reduced the kind of change you need. I try
to start each sale with a couple rolls of quarters and fifty bucks
each in one and five-dollar bills.
Have a calculator and a writing pad at your sales station. Yeah,
you could do the math in your head, but, after several hours in a
garage in the summer, your head might not be functioning at 100%.
Accuracy is a good thing in business.
Other necessities: fans of the whirling variety and water bottles.
It can get hot inside my garage in these summers of global warming.
Stay cool and hydrated.
Make the Internet your best friend. I mentioned this earlier, but
it bears repeating. When doing a comics-centric garage sale, you
have to reach as far outside your neighborhood as possible. Even
in these days of wider acceptance of our comics passion, the vast
majority of your neighbors are not comics fans.
Reach out to comics fans and retailers within driving distance of
your garage. Let them know, as much as you can, what you have for
sale and how low your prices are. I’m not so good at the “letting
them know” because I don’t really know what I have in any given box
until I go through it, but I talk about my low prices frequently.
I’m confident my customers will find a lot of stuff of interest to
them and love those low prices.
See that? I mentioned low prices three times in one paragraph and
I didn’t even break a sweat.
I have an advantage over most of you when it comes to these garage
sales. I enjoy a certain minor celebrity from my four decades as
a comics professional...and I’m not at all shy about exploiting it
to attract customers.
If you, too, work or have worked in comics, use it to benefit your
sale. If you don’t and haven’t worked in comics, come up with fun
ideas to attract some local publicity. Maybe give a comic book to
anyone who shows up in a comic-book costume. Maybe give a comic to
any kid who gives you a drawing of their favorite comics character.
Take photos so you can use them to promote your next garage sale.
Two successful garage sales don’t really make a garage sale guru.
We can make that call at the end of September when the last of my
2012 garage sales are concluded. In the meantime, I hope the above
conversation has been of some help to you.
If you’d like to check out my garage sales, here’s the schedule for
the rest of the summer...
Friday, July 27 (10 am to 3 pm)
Saturday, July 28 (10 am to 3 pm)
Friday, August 10 (10 am to 3 pm)
Saturday, August 11 (10 am to 3 pm)
Friday, August 24 (10 am to 3 pm)
Saturday, August 25 (10 am to 3 pm)
Friday, September 7 (10 am to 3 pm)
Saturday, September 8 (10 am to 3 pm)
Friday, September 21 (10 am to 3 pm)
Saturday, September 22 (10 am to 3 pm)
Thanks and I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
© 2012 Tony Isabella
in Medina, Ohio, on Friday and Saturday, July 27 and 28, from 10 am
to 3 pm. My first garage sale of this summer, like my one and only
garage sale of last summer, was very successful. As a result, many
of my readers have asked for my advice on how to run a successful
garage sale. It’s easy.
What you do is retroactively become one of the leading reviewers in
comics, going back over two decades, and have publishers send you
hundreds of comic books each and every month. Then, having amassed
a Vast Accumulation of Stuff that fills four large rooms in your house
and a storage unit costing you nearly $100 a month, you will have enough
stock to make big bucks selling comic books fivefor a buck, trade
paperbacks for two bucks, etc. Changing the past is so simple
Mitt Romney and I wonder why everyone doesn’t do it.
Seriously...
The first garage sale I ran, over two decades ago, was a complete
bust. I had several tables of comic books priced at the going rate
or less. I teamed up with a friend of mine who sold baseball and
other trading cards at flea markets and small comics/cards shows.
I took out an ad in the local newspaper. I didn’t make ten bucks,
and that included my 10% cut of my friend’s sales. I didn’t even
think about doing another garage sale until last year.
I was inspired by my pal Chris Yambar’s Lawn Con. Chris invited a
bunch of fellow comics creators to set up tables on his lawn. He
got newspaper coverage of the event. Much fun was had by all and
some creators made some decent money at the show.
My original plan was to rip off Chris’ concept. But Chris is much
better at organizing than I. My lofty plans for “Garage Con” fell
apart almost immediately on my crafting them and I had to run with
a comics-centric garage sale whose only “guest” was myself. That
worked out better than I’d hoped.
Over the past two decades, I had gotten more and more involved in
the online comics community. I had a message board and a Facebook
page and a blog and a Twitter account. Baby, I rode every one of
those promotional ponies like I was a Kentucky Derby jockey. Yes,
I also advertised my garage sale on Craig’s List and in the local
newspaper, but it was the online comics community that brought my
garage sale across the finish line and into the prize money. And
this is where I stop with the equestrian sports analogies before I
hurt my brain going for dressage references.
Last summer, I don’t think I had more than three dozen customers in
the two days of my garage sale. However, most of them were comics
fans who had seen my “ads” for the sale online, who knew in advance
how low my prices would be, and whose patronage allowed me to make
a nice chunk of cash over those two days. For this summer’s garage
sales, I’ve tried to build on what I learned.
The big question mark this summer is whether or not I can continue
to do well at garage sales spaced but two weeks apart. Will there
be enough customers to sustain the profitability of these frequent
garage sales? I hope so, but, either way, I’ll let you know what
happens this weekend and throughout the summer.
As per the many requests I received in my ridiculous new position
as a garage sale guru, here are some thoughts and tips on how you
might be able to hold your own successful sales.
Be highly motivated. While my main goal is to make enough money to
pay some bills and make some renovations/repairs to our Tardis-like
house, I have other goals as well.
By the end of this summer, I want to turn a room currently filled
with boxes into a combination library, mailing station and reading
room. The comfy chair and a suitable worktable are already there,
but I envision bookcases and a corner of easy-to-use Drawer Boxes
to hold and organize the comics and books I’m keeping for the time
being. It’ll be my fan-cave.
Within the next couple years, I want to reduce my basement storage
space to one wall and stop renting the secret storage fortress. In
doing this, I’ll be able to move my family’s non-comics items from
the storage unit to the basement. Not renting storage space will
save me close to a hundred dollars a month.
Price to sell. This works best when you have the kind of volume I
have, but it can work for anybody. You can make money by selling
a lot of items and, realistically, much of what I have would never
go for anywhere near guide of even cover prices.
So my prices run like this:
Comic books and magazines...25 cents each, 5 for $1.
Trade paperbacks...$2 each.
All-ages trade paperbacks...$1 each, because I want to encourage
young comics readers to love comics as much as I do.
Hardcovers....$5 each.
VHS tapes...25 cents each, 5 for $1.
Manga paperbacks...$1 each.
Though I sell my 1000 Comic Books You Must Read at $20 per copy to
match the Amazon price, issues of Grim Ghost and other things I’ve
written are at their original cover prices. That pricing reflects
the finite supply I have of those items.
Don’t give up on any section of your garage sales prematurely. I
barely sold any manga or VHS tapes last summer, but, this summer,
I’ve sold multiple stacks of each. If they stop selling, they may
be donated or go into the trash, but, for now, they remain part of
my garage sales.
Signage, signage, signage. Price everything clearly. I print out
signs for each section of the sale. I post a general price list on
the refrigerator in my garage. I even print out a sign informing
customers that not all items are suitable for all ages and that I
will be happy to help them find items that are age-appropriate for
their kids. Mothers have actually thanked me for that sign...and
for addressing their concerns.
No haggling. I’m adding a sign to that effect to my garage sales.
There are people - usually not comics fans - whose greatest joy in
attending garage sales is to whittle down already low prices as if
they were conquering barbarians. It’s a game to them, but it’s a
game that can and will drain energy better used to serve your more
civilized customers.
Your garage sale is a business. It can be fun - mine are - but it
is a business. The innate negativity of these hagglers should not
be tolerated. It’s bad for business.
That said. I have no problem with taking a few bucks off for large
purchases or for returning customers. If someone buys 118 comics,
I’ll charge them for 100. If someone buys 160 trade paperbacks, I
might charge them for 150. The happier I keep customers, the more
they buy and, hopefully, the more they encourage their friends to
come to my garage sales.
Word of mouth. Be cheerful and make the experience a fun one for
customers. They will tell others about your sale. That’s one of
the reasons my anime and manga sales picked up this year.
Be prepared. Make sure you have sufficient change for your garage
sales. If you’ve priced your items in increments of quarters and
dollars you’ve already reduced the kind of change you need. I try
to start each sale with a couple rolls of quarters and fifty bucks
each in one and five-dollar bills.
Have a calculator and a writing pad at your sales station. Yeah,
you could do the math in your head, but, after several hours in a
garage in the summer, your head might not be functioning at 100%.
Accuracy is a good thing in business.
Other necessities: fans of the whirling variety and water bottles.
It can get hot inside my garage in these summers of global warming.
Stay cool and hydrated.
Make the Internet your best friend. I mentioned this earlier, but
it bears repeating. When doing a comics-centric garage sale, you
have to reach as far outside your neighborhood as possible. Even
in these days of wider acceptance of our comics passion, the vast
majority of your neighbors are not comics fans.
Reach out to comics fans and retailers within driving distance of
your garage. Let them know, as much as you can, what you have for
sale and how low your prices are. I’m not so good at the “letting
them know” because I don’t really know what I have in any given box
until I go through it, but I talk about my low prices frequently.
I’m confident my customers will find a lot of stuff of interest to
them and love those low prices.
See that? I mentioned low prices three times in one paragraph and
I didn’t even break a sweat.
I have an advantage over most of you when it comes to these garage
sales. I enjoy a certain minor celebrity from my four decades as
a comics professional...and I’m not at all shy about exploiting it
to attract customers.
If you, too, work or have worked in comics, use it to benefit your
sale. If you don’t and haven’t worked in comics, come up with fun
ideas to attract some local publicity. Maybe give a comic book to
anyone who shows up in a comic-book costume. Maybe give a comic to
any kid who gives you a drawing of their favorite comics character.
Take photos so you can use them to promote your next garage sale.
Two successful garage sales don’t really make a garage sale guru.
We can make that call at the end of September when the last of my
2012 garage sales are concluded. In the meantime, I hope the above
conversation has been of some help to you.
If you’d like to check out my garage sales, here’s the schedule for
the rest of the summer...
Friday, July 27 (10 am to 3 pm)
Saturday, July 28 (10 am to 3 pm)
Friday, August 10 (10 am to 3 pm)
Saturday, August 11 (10 am to 3 pm)
Friday, August 24 (10 am to 3 pm)
Saturday, August 25 (10 am to 3 pm)
Friday, September 7 (10 am to 3 pm)
Saturday, September 8 (10 am to 3 pm)
Friday, September 21 (10 am to 3 pm)
Saturday, September 22 (10 am to 3 pm)
Thanks and I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
© 2012 Tony Isabella
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
RAWHIDE WEDNESDAYS 16
The Rawhide Kid is one of my favorite comics characters. Inspired
by Essential Rawhide Kid Vol. 1, which reprints Rawhide Kid #17-35,
I write about the Kid every Wednesday. There are spoilers ahead.
You have been warned.
The Rawhide Kid #32 [February 1963] marked the end of Jack Kirby’s
run on the title, though he would still draw covers and return for
one memorable non-series story. This issue’s cover was penciled by
Kirby and inked by Dick Ayers. While I don’t dispute that inking
credit, I can’t help but nod in agreement with comics historian and
Tony-friend Nick Caputo when he comments “there is little of Ayers’
heavier lines evident.” It’s a dramatic cover, but not as strong
as it could have been with those heavier lines.
“Beware of the Barker Brothers” (13 pages) is packed with Rawhide
Kid action and plot. Our young hero arrives broke and hungry in a
rugged frontier town. When he tries to sell his saddle blanket, he
is tossed out of the local saloon and set upon by the town bullies.
By now, we should all know how bullies fare in such confrontations
with the Kid.
Impressed by the Kid, Blade Barker offers him a job on his ranch.
Despite a warning from one of the townspeople, Rawhide accepts the
job. Hair-trigger is an apt description for the Kid’s temper right
now. The first thing he does on arriving at the ranch is to take
down another bully.
Surprisingly, Barker has Rawhide working in the house itself. But
it’s part of Barker’s regular scam. When the Kid knocks over what
is said to be an expensive vase, he’s told he has to keep working
at the ranch until he’s paid it off. This is how Barker keeps men
working for him and his equally slimy brothers.
A digression about Blade Barker. He’s a ringer for a now-disbarred
lawyer I knew. When I reread this story, I made the connection in
an instant. Kirby and Ayers capture the man’s character perfectly.
The Kid leaves the ranch and goes to the town’s sheriff. But the
sheriff is related to the Barkers and won’t believe they are doing
anything illegal without proof. Not wanting to get in trouble with
the law - this story must take place in a territory where Rawhide
isn’t already wanted - the Kid returns to the ranch...and quickly
learns Barker and his brothers are selling rifles and ammunition to
the Apaches. Unfortunately for the Barkers, the Apaches decide to
use their new firepower to attack the ranch.
What follows is one of the most thrilling climaxes in Kirby’s run
on the character. The Kid leads everyone in a daring escape right
through the attacking warriors, who nonetheless manage to blow the
ranch to bits with Barker’s vast supply of gunpowder. The sheriff
comes on the scene, gets a confession from one of Barker’s men and
arrests the pack of them. He tells the Kid his debt to the Barkers
is “washed off -— real clean.”
As he rides off on his horse Nightwind, the Kid thinks: “Well, I’m
as broke as ever —- and a heap more tired now! But I got me a full
belly and a clean conscience –- and I reckon a man can’t ask for
much more’n that!”
The published credits for this story and the issue’s second Rawhide
Kid story are as follows:
Script...Stan Lee
Art...Jack Kirby
Inking/Lettering...Dick Ayers
Stan Lee teamed with Al Hartley for “The Judge,” the issue’s non-
series story. Judge Harper Bates comes to Tornado, a town so wild
the sheriff takes prisoners to the next town to be tried. Bates is
determined to change that. The local owlhoots disrupt the Judge’s
makeshift courtroom, but Bates is packing under his black robe and,
with the sheriff’s help, he quickly restores order to his court and
tames Tornado:
“For that was the breed of man who tamed the west...Judge Harper
Bates and the countless others like him! Dedicated men –- honest
men –- courageous men –- who proved that a steady gun hand and a
fighting heart are also weapons on justice!”
Hartley isn’t known for his work on adventure comics, but he does
a nice job with this one. I especially like the shocked expression
on an owlhoot’s face when the Judge shoots the gun right out of the
man’s hand.
“No Guns for a Gunman!” (5 pages) is the last Rawhide Kid story to
be drawn by Kirby and it’s a wild one. An exhausted Rawhide checks
into a hotel. He’s clearly made a few bucks since the end of the
Barker Brothers adventure.
Two owlhoots - I love the word “owlhoot” - recognize him and sneak
into his room while the Kid sleeps. They remove the bullets from
his guns. The next day, hoping to make the reputations as the men
who beat the Rawhide Kid, they call him out in the street.
The Kid out draws them easily, but instantly realizes his guns are
empty. As an editorial note explains:
“The one thing Grizzly didn’t figure on is the sensitivity if the
trained gunfighter’s touch!”
Hey, if you can’t believe Stan and Jack...
The Kid dodges and weaves through the gunfire and proceeds to beat
the ever-loving crap out of his cheating opponents. When buddies
of the owlhoots look to intervene, Rawhide deals with them just as
violently. In this issue, the Kid definitely has some major anger
issues and he definitely works through them.
The tale ends on a somber note. The townspeople cheer the Rawhide
Kid for dealing with the local bullies. However, as our young hero
walks away, he realizes:
“The cheers of the crowd – it don’t mean a thing! Sooner or later
I’ll stop hearin’ those cheers - the first time I lose!”
Look for another Rawhide Wednesday next week as the Kid gets a new
and surprising artist. But I’ll also be back tomorrow with other
stuff. I blog, therefore I am.
© 2012 Tony Isabella
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
TONY’S BACK PAGES: STAR COMBAT TALES
Here’s a strange one from 2000: Star Combat Tales #1 [ACG Comics;
$5.95]. Published in Canada by Avalon Communications, the 68-page,
black-and-white comic was one of over 140 titles reprinting stories
from Charlton and ACG. Most of those didn’t see a second issue.
Avalon ceased publishing in 2003 and hasn’t been heard from since.
The cover shot of Lee Marvin is lifted from James Bama’s original
poster for The Dirty Dozen. Inside the issue, the cover-advertised
Lee Marvin index is little more than a list of his films that was
likely cut-and-pasted from the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).
The stories are all Charlton reprints and they show the surprising
variety to be found in that company’s war comics of the late 1960s
and early 1970s. Some spoilers ahead.
“The Fifty Mission Stare” (art by Demetrio Sánchez Gómez) focuses
on a World War II fighter pilot’s fear of being killed before he’s
completed the fifty missions that will get him a ticket back home.
It concludes with him being shot down, captured by the Germans, and
relieved that he’ll spend the rest of the war in a POW camp. It’s
as weird an ending for a war story as I can recall. Gómez also
drew “Who’s a Hero?”, a typical story about brave soldiers doing
their jobs without fanfare.
“Four Volunteers” (art probably by Rocco Mastroserio) is a gung-ho
adventure of four GIs taking on vast numbers of enemy soldiers to
capture a German officer. “Channel Tag” is a more grim tale with
Allied patrol boats trying to travel between Britain and France,
their missions complicated by a traitor in the French Resistance.
The highlight of the issue are two stories by writer Will Franz and
artist Sam Glanzman. Don’t look for gung-ho action in these tales
of The Iron Corporal or The Lonely War of Captain Willy Schultz.”
The former is an Australian soldier fighting in the Pacific while
the latter is a serial about an American officer unjustly accused
of a murder and, in this episode, working with Italian resistence
fighters behind enemy lines. These are brilliant sequences, but
neither one will bring you to a happy place.
You might be able to find ACG comics from this era in bargain bins
at conventions and comic shops. They’re worth the effort.
I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
© 2012 Tony Isabella
Monday, July 23, 2012
THE COMICS OF SUMMER
From Comics Buyer’s Guide #1692:
“We stand today on the edge of a new frontier, the frontier of the
1960s, a frontier of unknown opportunities and perils, a frontier
of unfulfilled hopes and threats. The new frontier of which I speak
is not a set of promises; it is a set of challenges.”
-John Fitzgerald Kennedy
In CBG #1691, I presented an incomplete breakdown of comic books
published in my birth month of December 1951 with a promise to do
the same for comics published in December 2011 in this exciting
issue. Were I a politician, I’d claim I never made that statement
then wince as Jon Stewart ran a clip of me saying exactly what I
claimed I never said. At which point I’d blame the liberal media.
I’m not a politician.
However, I am a columnist who came to a realization I didn’t care
much about the comics published in December 2011 when there were so
many more past months that did interest me greatly. My career and
life in comics has had several milestone months: the month I first
went to work for Marvel Comics, the month the first first issue of
Black Lightning was published, the month I bought a comics store,
Superman’s 50th anniversary, the month I closed my comics store and
the month the second first issue of Black Lightning was published.
Then there’s the month (July 1963) I bought Fantastic Four Annual
#1, realized folks made comic books for a living and decided I also
wanted that job. That’s the month I’m breaking down for you this
time around.
Mike’s Amazing World of Comics lists 137 comics published in July
1963, down from the 153 it lists for December 1951. The gap is
certainly wider than indicated. Several 1951 publishers were missing
from Mike’s list while the relatively small ACG and humor mags MAD,
Cracked, and Sick are the only omissions that come to mind from 1963.
DC was the most prolific publisher:
DC.....28 issues (20.4%)
Gold Key.....26 issues (19%)
Charlton.....25 issues (18.3%)
Harvey.....18 issues (13.1%)
Marvel.....15 issues (11%)
Archie.....14 issues (10.2%)
Dell.....11 issues (8%)
Missing in action: Fawcett, Quality, Fiction House, Eastern Color,
and United Features. These departed publishers accounted for 29.4%
of our incomplete December 1951 totals.
There were 62 comic books based on licensed properties in December
1951, 40.5% of our incomplete total. It was down to 35 comic books
and 25.6% in July 1963. Noting once again that there will be some
overlapping, here’s a breakdown by genre:
Humor.....20 issues (57.1%)
Celebrity, Movie, TV.....11 issues (8%)
Funny Animal.....11 issues (8%)
Adventure.....4 issues (2.9%)
Comic Strip.....3 issues (2.2%)
Mystery.....2 issues (1.5%)
Western.....2 issues (1.5%)
Doctors/Nurses.....1 issue (0.7%)
Science Fiction.....1 issue (0.7%)
Teen Humor.....1 issue (0.7%)
Crime.....no issues (0%)
Humor dominated the comics racks more than in 1951 with 60 issues
to the earlier year’s 41. That’s 43.8% to 26.8%. Once again, I’ve
broken the humor books into categories: funny animal, teen, kids,
domestic, babes (such as Millie the Model) and miscellaneous, while
adding supernatural humor to cover Casper, Hot Stuff and Wendy the
Good Little Witch. The Flintstones and The Jetsons gave me pause,
but, ultimately, I decided that, despite their backgrounds, both of
those were domestic humor titles with, at least in their TV show
counterparts, stories not far removed from TV family and marriage
sitcoms.
Crime comics are gone from the racks in 1963, as are sports comics.
There are two new genres: doctors/nurses and hot rods. Horror has
metamorphosed into “mystery.”
Super-Heroes.....24 issues (17.5%)
Teen Humor.....16 issues (11.7%)
Miscellaneous Humor.....11 issues (8%)
Adventure.....10 issues (7.3%)
Kids Humor.....10 issues (7.3%)
Supernatural Humor.....10 issues (7.3%)
Funny Animal.....9 issues (6.6%)
Romance.....8 issues (5.8%)
War.....8 issues (5.8%)
Science Fiction.....7 issues (5.1%)
Western.....7 issues (5.1%)
Doctors/Nurses.....5 issues (3.7%)
Domestic Humor.....5 issues (3.7%)
Mystery.....4 issues (2.9%)
Hot Rods.....2 issues (1.5%)
Babes Humor.....1 issue (0.5%)
Crime.....no issues (0%)
Super-heroes are beginning their decades-long domination of comics
racks, rising from 7.8% to 17.5%. Romance fell from 13.7% to 5.8%
while westerns comics fell to 5.1% from the December 1951 total of
17.7%. Teen humor comics rose from 5.9% to 11.7%. Miscellaneous
humor rose from 3.3% to 8%.
Genres showing gains: kids humor, war, science fiction, domestic
humor. Genres showing loses: adventure (slightly), funny animals,
horror/mystery, babes humor.
I won’t be doing such breakdowns every issue. How often I do them
depends on reader response. If you fell asleep after I mentioned
Fantastic Four Annual #1, I won’t do them ever again. Of course,
that might force me to go with editor Brent Frankenhoff’s monthly
themes. His October theme is “Halloween Costumes of Comics Pros.”
Trust me when I say you do not want to see me in my Dr. Manhattan
costume. I look like a pervy Papa Smurf.
******************************
If you need a reminder of how dearly Harvey Pekar will be missed,
look no further than Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland [Zip Comics/Top Shelf
Productions; $21.99]. With compelling art by Joseph Reminant, this
108-page graphic novel is both an autobiography of the writer and
a historical/social/political/artistic history of the city in which
he lived. Indeed, it’s the city Pekar made his by revealing it to
his readers across the country and the world. Not even Superman,
Cleveland’s other iconic comics con, was ever so in tune with the
heart and soul of the city and its people.
Critics and reviewers far more literate than me, such as Alan Moore
in his introduction to this book, will wax more eloquently on the
craft and genius of America’s comic-book everyman. I’ll settle for
telling you that Pekar’s voice speaks strongly to me as a reader,
a writer, and a former Cleveland resident. It didn’t speak to me
when I first read his earliest American Splendor comics, but I did
eventually “get” him and his work. My comics experience and yours
would be incomplete without Harvey Pekar.
Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland is the best graphic novel of 2012. Every
other graphic novel is competing for second place.
ISBN 978-1-60309-091-9
******************************
That other Cleveland comics legend features prominently in Superman
Versus the Ku Klux Klan: The True Story of How the Iconic Superhero
Battled the Men of Hate [National Geographic; $16.95]. Author Rick
Bowers, a noted journalist who frequently writes of the struggles
to secure civil rights, explores the histories of Superman and the
real-life villains of the Klan to their seemingly inevitable clash
on the airwaves.
The more I learn about the Klan, the scarier that vile organization
reveals itself to be. These racists exercised great power and not
just in the South. They were a powerful political force in nearby
(to me) Akron Ohio at one time and, if you want to talk chilling,
I can direct you to a old photo of hooded Klansman assisting Santa
Claus in giving out presents to clearly frightened white children.
The Klan were and remain a clear and present danger to my country,
diminished though they may be in today’s America.
Superman was created as the champion of the oppressed. Something
that was lost as he deferred increasingly to authority in the 1950s
and 1960s. When he opposes authority today, it appears to be more
because it interferes with him personally than because it oppresses
the downtrodden.
Yet in the years following World War II, at a time when the comic
book was under fire on many fronts, Superman’s radio program earned
praise for stories preaching tolerance within its exciting stories.
In 1946, Superman’s battle with the “Clan of the Fiery Cross” hit
the airwaves with locomotive force. The Clan was so similar to the
Klan - its members used actual code words from the Klan - that the
program needn’t have bothered with the alias.
The book is a page-turner, a thriller. Its tight 160 pages make it
perfect for an afternoon’s reading. Superman is at his finest as a
hero for social justice, when he fights for and is one of us. I
wish that guy was still around. In the meantime, Superman Versus
the Ku Klux Klan reminds us of the character’s greatness and shows
a path for restoring him to that greatness.
ISBN 978-1-4263-0915-1
******************************
Big Nate Goes for Broke [Harper; $14.89] by Lincoln Peirce is the
fourth “chapter book” based on the author’s comic strip, which has
been running since 1991. Title hero Nate Wright is a sixth-grader
who aspires to greatness. His energy and rebellious nature combine
with his disinterest in his school work to put him at odds with his
teachers and various bullies. He’s no stranger to disappointment,
but Nate is always game for the next challenge.
Peirce combines prose with panels from his comic strip, including
pages drawn by Nate. Though I can’t speak for the book’s intended
audience (ages 8-12), I get a kick out of this storytelling method.
Like the earlier books in the series, Big Nate Goes for Broke is a
fun book with an appealing hero. Check it out.
ISBN 978-0-06-199662-7
******************************
Heroes for My Daughter by Brad Meltzer [Harper; $19.99] showcases
60 heroes, role models for his daughter Lila. It’s a follow-up to
Meltzer’s Heroes for My Son [Harper; $19.99] and is as powerful a
exaltation of real-life heroism, both boisterous and quiet, as the
earlier volume.
Part of the fun of this book is seeing what hero you’ll find next
when you turn the pages. I won’t give away too many of Meltzer’s
choices, but I will tell you that any book of heroes that includes
the Three Stooges speaks to me deeply. I think you’ll be surprised
to learn why Meltzer selected those performers.
There are stories here that will bring tears to your eyes, others
that will remind you how much amazing courage and good is present
in our world. Though Meltzer makes no such claims, these are holy
books for today. No ancient writings translated my men driven by
their agendas and their eras. Just simple tales of humanity at its
best. Lessons brave and true for 2012. I recommend them highly.
Heroes for My Daughter: ISBN 978-0-06-190526-1
Heroes for My Son: ISBN 978-0-06-190528-5
******************************
Charlton Spotlight #7 [Argo Press; $7.95] features a “conversation”
with cartoonist and former Charlton editor George Wildman and his
friend and fellow cartoonist Hy Eisman. Lots of information about
the odd-but-beloved Charlton Comics.
Also in the issue, writer Paul Kupperberg and publisher Ron Frantz
share memories of Dick Giordano, another former Charlton editor and
one of comicdom’s most accomplished artist, editor, and executive.
All told, Charlton Spotlight is 48 pages of comics art and history
in a handsome magazine.
Charlton Spotlight is only available directly from editor Michael
Ambrose. You can find ordering details at:
www.charltonspotlight.net
******************************
I have never found zombies very interesting. Seen one Night of the
Living Dead and, as far as I can tell, you’ve seen them all, though
I did enjoy Shaun of the Dead. One original, one brilliant spoof.
Zombie-wise, I was good.
Other exceptions to my “not finding zombies interesting” semi-rule
are the Simon Garth stories in Marvel’s Tales of the Zombie (1970s)
and The Walking Dead. Two movies, two comic books. Zombie-wise,
I was still good.
Then comes Rex, Zombie Killer #1 [Big Dog Ink; $3.50] by writer Rob
Anderson and artist Dafu Yu. Fifty-six full-color pages of three
dogs, a cat and a gorilla seeking safe haven in the aftermath of
your basic zombie apocalypse. Terrific characters, crisp writing,
good art and storytelling, thrills a’plenty, and outstanding bang
for your three and a half bucks. Zombie-wise, I’m now quite a bit
better than good.
Rex, Zombie Killer is a smart smart comic book. The only downside
is that reading it will make your brain all the more appetizing for
those darn zombies.
I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
© 2012 Tony Isabella
“We stand today on the edge of a new frontier, the frontier of the
1960s, a frontier of unknown opportunities and perils, a frontier
of unfulfilled hopes and threats. The new frontier of which I speak
is not a set of promises; it is a set of challenges.”
-John Fitzgerald Kennedy
In CBG #1691, I presented an incomplete breakdown of comic books
published in my birth month of December 1951 with a promise to do
the same for comics published in December 2011 in this exciting
issue. Were I a politician, I’d claim I never made that statement
then wince as Jon Stewart ran a clip of me saying exactly what I
claimed I never said. At which point I’d blame the liberal media.
I’m not a politician.
However, I am a columnist who came to a realization I didn’t care
much about the comics published in December 2011 when there were so
many more past months that did interest me greatly. My career and
life in comics has had several milestone months: the month I first
went to work for Marvel Comics, the month the first first issue of
Black Lightning was published, the month I bought a comics store,
Superman’s 50th anniversary, the month I closed my comics store and
the month the second first issue of Black Lightning was published.
Then there’s the month (July 1963) I bought Fantastic Four Annual
#1, realized folks made comic books for a living and decided I also
wanted that job. That’s the month I’m breaking down for you this
time around.
Mike’s Amazing World of Comics lists 137 comics published in July
1963, down from the 153 it lists for December 1951. The gap is
certainly wider than indicated. Several 1951 publishers were missing
from Mike’s list while the relatively small ACG and humor mags MAD,
Cracked, and Sick are the only omissions that come to mind from 1963.
DC was the most prolific publisher:
DC.....28 issues (20.4%)
Gold Key.....26 issues (19%)
Charlton.....25 issues (18.3%)
Harvey.....18 issues (13.1%)
Marvel.....15 issues (11%)
Archie.....14 issues (10.2%)
Dell.....11 issues (8%)
Missing in action: Fawcett, Quality, Fiction House, Eastern Color,
and United Features. These departed publishers accounted for 29.4%
of our incomplete December 1951 totals.
There were 62 comic books based on licensed properties in December
1951, 40.5% of our incomplete total. It was down to 35 comic books
and 25.6% in July 1963. Noting once again that there will be some
overlapping, here’s a breakdown by genre:
Humor.....20 issues (57.1%)
Celebrity, Movie, TV.....11 issues (8%)
Funny Animal.....11 issues (8%)
Adventure.....4 issues (2.9%)
Comic Strip.....3 issues (2.2%)
Mystery.....2 issues (1.5%)
Western.....2 issues (1.5%)
Doctors/Nurses.....1 issue (0.7%)
Science Fiction.....1 issue (0.7%)
Teen Humor.....1 issue (0.7%)
Crime.....no issues (0%)
Humor dominated the comics racks more than in 1951 with 60 issues
to the earlier year’s 41. That’s 43.8% to 26.8%. Once again, I’ve
broken the humor books into categories: funny animal, teen, kids,
domestic, babes (such as Millie the Model) and miscellaneous, while
adding supernatural humor to cover Casper, Hot Stuff and Wendy the
Good Little Witch. The Flintstones and The Jetsons gave me pause,
but, ultimately, I decided that, despite their backgrounds, both of
those were domestic humor titles with, at least in their TV show
counterparts, stories not far removed from TV family and marriage
sitcoms.
Crime comics are gone from the racks in 1963, as are sports comics.
There are two new genres: doctors/nurses and hot rods. Horror has
metamorphosed into “mystery.”
Super-Heroes.....24 issues (17.5%)
Teen Humor.....16 issues (11.7%)
Miscellaneous Humor.....11 issues (8%)
Adventure.....10 issues (7.3%)
Kids Humor.....10 issues (7.3%)
Supernatural Humor.....10 issues (7.3%)
Funny Animal.....9 issues (6.6%)
Romance.....8 issues (5.8%)
War.....8 issues (5.8%)
Science Fiction.....7 issues (5.1%)
Western.....7 issues (5.1%)
Doctors/Nurses.....5 issues (3.7%)
Domestic Humor.....5 issues (3.7%)
Mystery.....4 issues (2.9%)
Hot Rods.....2 issues (1.5%)
Babes Humor.....1 issue (0.5%)
Crime.....no issues (0%)
Super-heroes are beginning their decades-long domination of comics
racks, rising from 7.8% to 17.5%. Romance fell from 13.7% to 5.8%
while westerns comics fell to 5.1% from the December 1951 total of
17.7%. Teen humor comics rose from 5.9% to 11.7%. Miscellaneous
humor rose from 3.3% to 8%.
Genres showing gains: kids humor, war, science fiction, domestic
humor. Genres showing loses: adventure (slightly), funny animals,
horror/mystery, babes humor.
I won’t be doing such breakdowns every issue. How often I do them
depends on reader response. If you fell asleep after I mentioned
Fantastic Four Annual #1, I won’t do them ever again. Of course,
that might force me to go with editor Brent Frankenhoff’s monthly
themes. His October theme is “Halloween Costumes of Comics Pros.”
Trust me when I say you do not want to see me in my Dr. Manhattan
costume. I look like a pervy Papa Smurf.
******************************
If you need a reminder of how dearly Harvey Pekar will be missed,
look no further than Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland [Zip Comics/Top Shelf
Productions; $21.99]. With compelling art by Joseph Reminant, this
108-page graphic novel is both an autobiography of the writer and
a historical/social/political/artistic history of the city in which
he lived. Indeed, it’s the city Pekar made his by revealing it to
his readers across the country and the world. Not even Superman,
Cleveland’s other iconic comics con, was ever so in tune with the
heart and soul of the city and its people.
Critics and reviewers far more literate than me, such as Alan Moore
in his introduction to this book, will wax more eloquently on the
craft and genius of America’s comic-book everyman. I’ll settle for
telling you that Pekar’s voice speaks strongly to me as a reader,
a writer, and a former Cleveland resident. It didn’t speak to me
when I first read his earliest American Splendor comics, but I did
eventually “get” him and his work. My comics experience and yours
would be incomplete without Harvey Pekar.
Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland is the best graphic novel of 2012. Every
other graphic novel is competing for second place.
ISBN 978-1-60309-091-9
******************************
That other Cleveland comics legend features prominently in Superman
Versus the Ku Klux Klan: The True Story of How the Iconic Superhero
Battled the Men of Hate [National Geographic; $16.95]. Author Rick
Bowers, a noted journalist who frequently writes of the struggles
to secure civil rights, explores the histories of Superman and the
real-life villains of the Klan to their seemingly inevitable clash
on the airwaves.
The more I learn about the Klan, the scarier that vile organization
reveals itself to be. These racists exercised great power and not
just in the South. They were a powerful political force in nearby
(to me) Akron Ohio at one time and, if you want to talk chilling,
I can direct you to a old photo of hooded Klansman assisting Santa
Claus in giving out presents to clearly frightened white children.
The Klan were and remain a clear and present danger to my country,
diminished though they may be in today’s America.
Superman was created as the champion of the oppressed. Something
that was lost as he deferred increasingly to authority in the 1950s
and 1960s. When he opposes authority today, it appears to be more
because it interferes with him personally than because it oppresses
the downtrodden.
Yet in the years following World War II, at a time when the comic
book was under fire on many fronts, Superman’s radio program earned
praise for stories preaching tolerance within its exciting stories.
In 1946, Superman’s battle with the “Clan of the Fiery Cross” hit
the airwaves with locomotive force. The Clan was so similar to the
Klan - its members used actual code words from the Klan - that the
program needn’t have bothered with the alias.
The book is a page-turner, a thriller. Its tight 160 pages make it
perfect for an afternoon’s reading. Superman is at his finest as a
hero for social justice, when he fights for and is one of us. I
wish that guy was still around. In the meantime, Superman Versus
the Ku Klux Klan reminds us of the character’s greatness and shows
a path for restoring him to that greatness.
ISBN 978-1-4263-0915-1
******************************
Big Nate Goes for Broke [Harper; $14.89] by Lincoln Peirce is the
fourth “chapter book” based on the author’s comic strip, which has
been running since 1991. Title hero Nate Wright is a sixth-grader
who aspires to greatness. His energy and rebellious nature combine
with his disinterest in his school work to put him at odds with his
teachers and various bullies. He’s no stranger to disappointment,
but Nate is always game for the next challenge.
Peirce combines prose with panels from his comic strip, including
pages drawn by Nate. Though I can’t speak for the book’s intended
audience (ages 8-12), I get a kick out of this storytelling method.
Like the earlier books in the series, Big Nate Goes for Broke is a
fun book with an appealing hero. Check it out.
ISBN 978-0-06-199662-7
******************************
Heroes for My Daughter by Brad Meltzer [Harper; $19.99] showcases
60 heroes, role models for his daughter Lila. It’s a follow-up to
Meltzer’s Heroes for My Son [Harper; $19.99] and is as powerful a
exaltation of real-life heroism, both boisterous and quiet, as the
earlier volume.
Part of the fun of this book is seeing what hero you’ll find next
when you turn the pages. I won’t give away too many of Meltzer’s
choices, but I will tell you that any book of heroes that includes
the Three Stooges speaks to me deeply. I think you’ll be surprised
to learn why Meltzer selected those performers.
There are stories here that will bring tears to your eyes, others
that will remind you how much amazing courage and good is present
in our world. Though Meltzer makes no such claims, these are holy
books for today. No ancient writings translated my men driven by
their agendas and their eras. Just simple tales of humanity at its
best. Lessons brave and true for 2012. I recommend them highly.
Heroes for My Daughter: ISBN 978-0-06-190526-1
Heroes for My Son: ISBN 978-0-06-190528-5
******************************
Charlton Spotlight #7 [Argo Press; $7.95] features a “conversation”
with cartoonist and former Charlton editor George Wildman and his
friend and fellow cartoonist Hy Eisman. Lots of information about
the odd-but-beloved Charlton Comics.
Also in the issue, writer Paul Kupperberg and publisher Ron Frantz
share memories of Dick Giordano, another former Charlton editor and
one of comicdom’s most accomplished artist, editor, and executive.
All told, Charlton Spotlight is 48 pages of comics art and history
in a handsome magazine.
Charlton Spotlight is only available directly from editor Michael
Ambrose. You can find ordering details at:
www.charltonspotlight.net
******************************
I have never found zombies very interesting. Seen one Night of the
Living Dead and, as far as I can tell, you’ve seen them all, though
I did enjoy Shaun of the Dead. One original, one brilliant spoof.
Zombie-wise, I was good.
Other exceptions to my “not finding zombies interesting” semi-rule
are the Simon Garth stories in Marvel’s Tales of the Zombie (1970s)
and The Walking Dead. Two movies, two comic books. Zombie-wise,
I was still good.
Then comes Rex, Zombie Killer #1 [Big Dog Ink; $3.50] by writer Rob
Anderson and artist Dafu Yu. Fifty-six full-color pages of three
dogs, a cat and a gorilla seeking safe haven in the aftermath of
your basic zombie apocalypse. Terrific characters, crisp writing,
good art and storytelling, thrills a’plenty, and outstanding bang
for your three and a half bucks. Zombie-wise, I’m now quite a bit
better than good.
Rex, Zombie Killer is a smart smart comic book. The only downside
is that reading it will make your brain all the more appetizing for
those darn zombies.
I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
© 2012 Tony Isabella
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