STUFF! MOSTLY COMICS!

 

Today is Memorial Day. A somber event created to honor American soldiers who gave their lives in defense of our country. It’s not a day created to sell mattresses and outdoor grills, but, you know, greed rules the day.

Our vile Felon-in-Chief wants to change the name of Memorial Day to the Gulf of America. No, hold up, that was a different dumb change he made. He wants to change the names of Memorial Day and Veterans Day to Victory Day Here and Victory Day There. Because, as he’s expressed, he thinks people who fight and die for their country, are suckers and losers. Especially the dead ones.

President Bone Spurs loves victory and will do anything, illegal or not, to achieve it. Victory is something he understands and longs for with a psychotic passion.

The soldiers who won our military victories? He doesn’t care for them except for using them to further his egotistical agenda. Like having them march in his birthday parade as do soldiers in countries run by the dictators he so admires.

I believe in observing the designated meaning of Memorial Day. Honoring our fallen heroes. So, remember, speaking out against garish military parades honors our nation’s fallen heroes. They and all our living soldiers should not be used to fuel the ego of the cowardly, treasonous dog who demands acclaim he has never and will never deserve.

                                                                                    

Going through my Vast Accumulation of Stuff, I found a copy of Blue Beetle #52 [Charlton; October 1965]. I wondered why I still had a copy of this comic and then it hit me. I checked out the letters page and found a missive from a young Tony Isabella, who would have been 13 or so. The letter:

Dear Editor:

I’m very glad Charlton has entered the super-hero field. There are so many heroes running around that sometimes they get lost in the shuffle.

The first issue of BB I bought was No. 3 and it was love at first sight. I managed to get BB No. 1 and No. 2 in trades.

You now have the name of the writer, artist, and inker on the first page. But, what about the letterer?

I will conclude this letter with a list of my favorites.

Favorite story: The Challenge of the Red Knight

Favorite cover: No. 1 and No. 5

Favorite villain: The Red Knight

Tony Isabella

11203 Peony Avenue

Cleveland, Ohio 44111

The editorial response:

Dear Tony,

Whenever the letterer’s name doesn’t appear, it’s because the lettering is done on a special machine we have invented. Most letterers live in New York City and we about seventy miles away. Therefore lettering became so great a problem that we had to come up with our machine.

In later years, the credits would whimsically name the letterer as “A. Machine.” I find myself wanting to have a character named “A. Machine” in one of my stories. Let’s see if I can make that happen someday.

                                                                                   

My name also appeared in “Let’s Talk with Tomahawk” letters page of Tomahawk #115 [March/April, 1968]. Editor Murray Boltinoff ran both full letters and excerpts in his letter pages. In this one, there are was a disagreement about when Tomahawk first appeared. There was no Grand Comics Database back then.

Reader Dave Puckett of Cave City, Kentucky claimed Tomahawk’s debut was in Star-Spangled Comics #70 [July, 1947]. I correctly identified the first appearance as being in Star-Spangled Comics #69 [June, 1947). Thanks to the GCD, I can now add the debut was written by Joe Samachson and drawn by Edmond Good.

Boltinoff was probably my favorite DC editor in the latter part of the 1960s. He and his titles weren’t like any other in the DC line-up. They were quirky, fun and, much to the dismay of fans, not slaves to a strict continuity. There were so many attempts to align Boltinoff's comics to the rest of the DC Universe it was comical. However, like Murray, with whom I became friends, I was fine with the measure of a tale being in its entertainment value and not its connections to other DC Comics titles.

                                                                                  

On my Facebook page and elsewhere, I’ve talked about how much I am enjoying IDW’s Godzilla Vs. America series. I have also said IDW should do a Godzilla Vs. Cleveland anthology and invite me to contribute to it. I already have a story for it: "The Monster that Devoured Cleveland!” Recognize the reference? You might be as old as I am.

One of my online friends suggested another Godzilla anthology I might love to write for: Godzilla Vs. Mar-a-Lago. Oh, the damage I could do.

                                                                                 

I believe diversity is one of the leading things that built the United States of America, made my country great, and holds the most prospects for making it even greater. I feel the same about comic books and graphic novels. Which is why I’m a huge fan of the Marvel Voices anthology.

These anthologies have featured super-heroes who are Asian, Latinx, Black, Indigenous, LGBTQ+ and more. The Marvel Universe is much richer for such characters and they make all Marvel readers feel welcome to Marvel Comics in general.

As an older comics creator, like other older comics creators, I have been affected by ageism. Too many editors and publishers do not think older creators still have it. I’ve had editors tell me how much they loved my writing in the 1970 and 1980s. However, when I tell them I’m still writing, they practically fall into a coma before my eyes. That’s true for other older creators, too.

So, as I’ve done with DC Comics to seemingly no interest, I want Marvel to published a Marvel Voices anthology focusing on older characters and creators. Give the old dogs a chance to showcase our old tricks and new tricks. I think every one of you reading this bloggy thing could name a dozen writers and artists who you would love to see back in action.

We’re ready to entertain and serve again.

I’ll be writing more multi-topic bloggy things like this. Let me know if you liked this one and what you’d like me to write about in future bloggy things.

I’ll be back soon with more stuff.

© 2025 Tony Isabella

DANGLING PRECARIOUSLY ON THE EDGE

 

God loves trans people and our journeys to be who we really are. I know this because I didn’t die on Sunday. I didn’t suffer any injuries and my SUV didn’t suffer any damage beyond the $1,600 towing fee. I’ll get into the story behind our opening photo in just a bit.

While I may be having something of a spiritual awakening here, I can’t describe who God is to me. They aren’t the god of the Roman Catholic church in which I was raised. The Roman Catholics lost me with their covering for pedophiles, their dismissive treatment of women and their anti-LGBTQ crap. I was hoping to give the new pope a chance, but he’s as anti-gay and mindlessly misinformed about gender as any of his ilk.

The other Christian churches range from the “Hate the sin, love the sinner” bromide to outright loathing of queer folks. I admit I’m a fan of Jesus, but I don’t see Jesus in these churches. Too many hypocrites and not enough temple-smashing.

Non-Christian churches? I don’t know much about them. They don’t get much coverage and, often, what they little they get is about their horrifying practices.

My present working theory is that God isn’t a person, but energy comprised of all the good people who have lived in the past and live in the present. It’s this positive energy that inspires our better angels. It’s why the dark forces attack people who are “woke.” They see cruelty as strength and compassion as weakness. The fight for simple human decency goes on.

Anyway, now that you’ve suffered through the sermon on the blog, let me tell you the story behind the photo. Mind you, I kind of hate this story because it makes me feel old and stupid whenever I tell it. But it is what it is.

I was driving to a going away party for a woman who has been the greatest LGBTQ+ ally one could hope for. She founded an amazing group to support LGBTQ+ people in the Medina area. The group and her many other kindnesses have meant a lot to me as I pursue my transition journey.

The party was in the open air pavilion of an area park I’d never visited before. I made a wrong turn and ended up on a one-lane trail. Which should have been obvious to me. Two miles in, I finally realized I was not where I was supposed to be. I managed to turn around okay, only to end up precariously balanced over a ditch within a few yards.

I called 911, explaining my predicament. I did manage to get the driver’s side door open, but, when I undid my seat belt, I slip helplessly across the passenger seat and became wedged against the passenger side door. Miraculously, I was able to hold on to my phone. I was terrified.

I was afraid my SUV would roll over. Or that the passenger door would open behind me and throw me into the ditch. Or that the door opening would shift the precarious balance and either cause the SUV to fall into the ditch or go the other way and roll over on me. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t pull myself up. All I could see from my position was the tops of the trees around me. I was as scared as I’ve ever been in my life.

While I spent 30-40 minutes stuck that way, the dispatcher sent local police and sheriff’s deputies in search of me. They send a drone to locate my SUV, but the trees made it difficult for it to see me. Had my van gone into the ditch, the drone wouldn’t have been able to find me at all.

When help arrived, the local officer did his best to assure me I would be okay. When the deputies arrived, they braced the SUV, opened the passenger door, and pulled/slid me out. My pants and underwear had come off in the process, but I was able to stand and get dressed. I was so relieved I fell back on my go-to device for overcoming anxiety. I cracked jokes about usually getting paid to strip.

I was uninjured. An ambulance was nearby, but I felt confident I was okay. I figured I’d be sore the next few days (and I was), but was able to walk with some assistance from my cane. Which I also managed to pull from the van.

Believe it or not, the local officer took my statement and then drove me to the going-away party. I was there for the second half of the festivities and amazed my friends with the photo of my SUV hanging on the edge of the ditch.

In the second miracle of the day, my SUV was undamaged, save for a $1,600 towing bill. Which I know seems pretty high, but this was very much a dangerous undertaking. It took a crew of three under constant threat of the SUV rolling into the ditch or onto them to extract my van from the situation. Because my spare key was in the van, they were even able to drive it to the party for me. Was this just dumb luck or divine intervention? I’m leaning toward the latter. Especially when I think of all the ways this could have gone horribly wrong.

Saintly Wife Barb was vacationing in Ireland with friends. So maybe I got some long distance luck of the Irish. When I texted her, I told I believed God (however you perceive that power) wanted me to continue my journey towards becoming myself no matter how hard that might become. That I was being told there was still work for me to do, including helping other people facing similar challenges. Compassion and kindness are strengths. To the best of my human imperfections, I’ll embrace and grow those strengths within myself.

I’ll be back soon with more stuff.

©2025 Tony Isabella

I AM THE CREATOR OF BLACK LIGHTNING

 

The official creator credit for Black Lightning, a credit agreed to by both DC Comics and myself and used by DC in DC comic books and TV shows, is:

Black Lightning Created by Tony Isabella with Trevor von Eeden.

I hate to be a nag about this, but I should always be referred to as the creator of Black Lightning. Not the co-creator. All that was vital to Black Lightning was created by me before I pitched my character to DC.

Trevor von Eeden should always be referred to as the co-creator of Black Lighting. To paraphrase Salim Akil, the show runner of the Black Lightning series, “Tony told us who Jefferson Pierce is and Trevor showed us what he and his world looked like.” That’s accurate. Working from my scripts and input from our editors, my friend Trevor gave us the outstanding visuals the fans remember to this day.

I have an ongoing problem with comics journalists who blindly and wrongly follow the first writer/first artist notion when it comes to determining the creators of comics characters. It’s an inaccurate one size fits all notion that fails to consider all the facts and any contributions made to creations by those other than the first writer and the first artist. A recent example: the Marvel editors who contributed substantially to the creation of the wonderful Kamala Kahn.

A somewhat less recent example: Wolverine. There were many hands on that one. Roy Thomas, John Romita Sr, Len Wein, Herb Trimpe. I also recognize the later contributions of Dave Cockrum, Chris Claremont and John Byrne in shaping the character. Before you give me crap about including Roy Thomas, let me inform you of what informs my take on this.

I was in the room.

I wasn’t getting it second or third hand. I was in the room when Roy told me of his plans to create an international team of X-Men to interest our global partners. I was the editor of Marvel’s British weeklies at the time, which is why Roy was talking to me about this. I asked Roy if there would be an Italian mutant on the team. He quipped that I was Marvel’s Italian mutant. No one has disproved that.

Back to Wolverine, Roy told me the character would be Canadian and based on the fierce animal of the same name. He would be short and feisty, character traits I could immediately relate to. His costume colors were the same as the college football team of the same name, a joke almost no one got. Including me.

Wolverine was far more than what Roy described to me. But what Roy came up with was vital to the character. I stand by his being considered a co-creator. Not based on second or third hand recollections.

Based on what I learned when I was in the freaking room.

Getting back to Black Lightning, I ask the comics journalists to get the credits and titles right going forward. I recognize some of them will choose to ignore accuracy, either out of laziness or malice or misunderstanding. All I can do is hope they will get it right. I’m such an optimist.

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

© 2025 Tony Isabella

THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY IN APRIL

 

Every day, I wake to reports of anti-trans actions and attacks by the Trump administration and its equally vile followers. That it is an unreasoning hatred that goes against the foundations of basic decency and our democracy is no comfort. Of less comfort is that in all other areas of our lives, it’s clear this awful administration is just as determined to make the world less safe for all but the billionaire class.

Every day, I wake up with the knowledge that, as a trans woman, I will likely die at the hands of Republican violence. As they deny my humanity, they make it clear it is they who are inhuman. If you vote Republican, you are no friend of mine. If you claim to be a fan of my writing, you aren’t. You obviously lack even the most rudimentary understanding of my writing stands for, what it has always stood for.

I refuse to yield my belief that my country and its people will eventually overthrow the dictator and his fascist cult. That the United States will again strive to achieve the vision put forth in the laws and principles of our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution and our better angels. Until then, I cling to that which bring me joy in these dark times.

Here are the things that made me happy in April...

April 1: Silence is not an option. I bought this t-shirt from the Human Rights Campaign. I connected with its powerful message as soon as I saw it. I’ll be wearing it later this week and also at some of my garage sales.

April 2: Judge Susan Crawford won the election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, beating Elon Musk’s candidate by double digits. We can beat Trump’s biggest campaign donor. We must remove him from our government. Prison would be nice.  

                                                                             

April 3: Hurricane Bianca (2016). A New York teacher moves to small town Texas where he's fired for being gay. He returns in disguise to continue teaching. A fun drag revenge comedy with a heart of gold and an impressive cast.

                                                                            

April 4: Innocence and Seduction: The Art of Dan DeCarlo by Bill Morrison. This wonderfully made volume is a biography, study and loving tribute to one of the finest comic-book artists of all. A great gift for any comics fan.

April 5: Godzilla Vs. Chicago. Part of the Godzilla vs. America series from IDW, this is an amazingly fun anthology of the Big G visiting the Windy City. Hey, IDW, I’d be available for Godzilla vs. Cleveland. Just saying.

April 6: I Was a Fashion School Serial Killer #1 by Doug Wagner and Daniel Hillyard. A stylish and very creepy series about an interesting young woman. It reminds me of Lady Killer, but much much darker. I’m on board for future issues.

                                                                            

April 7: Goth Kid on Vacation. This Saturday Night Live sketch starring Michael Longfellow and Jack Black had me, as they say, laughing out loud. It was pure glee. I want to see it expanded into a full-length movie.

April 8: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. The April 6 episode focused on trans athletes. It was empathetic, informative and insightful. I think it should be must viewing for all families and politicians.

April 9: Doc Savage: The Ring of Fire by David Avallone and Dave Acosta. Lost in my VAOS since 2017, this is a great adventure of the pulp magazine legend. Especially choice is the emphasis on Pat Savage and another legendary heroine.

April 10: You Belong Here by Sara Phoebe Miller and Morgan Beem is yet another coming-of-age story, a common theme. But Essie’s journey resonated with me and gave me feels and it’s why I highly recommend this book.

                                                                         

April 11: Lucky Cat Waving Arm Set. Just about 3 inches high, I bought this nick-knack as a gift for Saintly Wife Barb. It’s so adorable I feel like buying one for every room in the house. I wish you good fortune, my friends.

April 12: DinoGator. This film by Jim Wynorski is by no means a classic, but it’s got some good acting, some okay effects and is the equivalent of a fast food hamburger and fries. Just familiar comfort food for monster lovers.

                                                                           

     

April 13: DC Finest: Science Fiction: The Gorilla World won’t be published until mid-July, but I’m already tickled by the idea of this collection. But when are we going to get that Jimmy Olsen’s Adventures in Crossdressing volume?

April 14: DC’s anti-tariff discounts on young adult and middle graphic novels. What impresses me as much as the discounts is DC calling them anti-tariff discounts. A courageous stand in these times of extreme MAGA madness.

April 15: Betty White. I bought three sheets of stamps honoring this dear lady and did so before the price of postage went up. Her smile always makes me feel good. I hope it does the same for the receipts of the cards and such I use them for.

April 16: From the opening pages, I felt a connection to Paper Doll: Notes from a Late Bloomer by Dylan Mulvaney. Her journey is different from mine, but she answers similar questions with heart and humor. I love her a lot.

April 17: Leverage: Redemption has launched its third season on Amazon Price. I like it better than the brilliant original. The team of con artists and thieves are even more fun without a real “father figure.”

                                                                             

April 18: Chirps by Lawrence Lieber. I’m excited to have a copy of my pal Larry’s first published novel. Reading it will be my reward for finishing my current script. Waiting until then will require tremendous will power.

April 19: Fire on the Water by Scott MacGregor and Gary Dunn. An original graphic novel, it imagines the lives of blue-collar workers involved in the real-life Lake Erie tunnel disaster of 1916. Absolutely riveting reading.

April 20: Plastic by Doug Wagner and Daniel Hillyard. Serial killer Edwyn, his love doll and an evil billionaire. A creepy GN from the creators of I Was a Fashion School Serial Killer. It’s twisted as Hell and I loved it.

April 21: Companion. Streaming on MAX, it’s a horror/sci-fi film set in a near-future time when robots are common and available for purchase rent. It’s unsettling in a good way with excellent performances by Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid. 

                                                                           

 

April 22: The Bondsman. Kevin Bacon’s back as a backwoods bounty hunter released from Hell to kill demons. Bountiful surprises in the first eight-episode season and an outstanding performance by Beth Grant as his shotgun-toting mom.

April 23: Godzilla Mechagodzilla 50^th Anniversary Special by Rich Dovek and Andrew Griffith. A somewhat revisionist history of the two foes, but it’s dramatic with great characters and a terrific big finish. Recommended.

April 24: We Stand on Guard by Brian K. Vaughan and Steve Skroce is brilliant, but does not make me happy. It’s a scary prophecy on how a madman like Trump could make the United States a nation of brutal war criminals.

April 25: Deli Boys (Hulu). Pakistani-American brothers men have their lives blown up when they learn their recently-deceased father was a crime boss. It’s delicious dark humor, especially when their fierce aunt takes center stage.

April 26: Indie Bookstore Day at Black Cat Books and Oddities in Medina. My favorite bookstore was packed with excited customers standing in line to buy hundreds of books. I was one of them and bought a book set in Medina from a local author.

April 27: Godzilla Rivals: Mothra vs. Hedorah by Josh Trujillo and Joshua Cornillon. My second favorite Toho kaiju battles my third favorite Toho kaiju. A new origin for Hedorah. New twins for Mothra. One of the best in this series.

April 28: Plush by Doug Wagner and Daniel Hillyard. What’s wrong with me that I’ve become such a fan of this team’s twisted crime horror comics. This one’s about cannibal furries. Maybe next time they’ll get to the current administration.

                                                                         

April 29: Just announced. The DC Pride 2025 anthology will have an autobiographical story by me. My first credit as Jenny for a major publisher. The story with editor Andrea Shea, artist Sara Soler and letterer Jodie Troutman fills me with joy.

April 30: The Chow Maniac by Vivien Chien. The eleventh book in the Noodle Shop Mystery series finds restaurant manager Lana Lee discovering a secret society in her Asia Village. Why is there no Lana Lee TV series? She’s a great character.

BEST COMIC BOOK OR GRAPHIC NOVEL: I Was a Fashion School Serial Killer #1 by Doug Wagner and Daniel Hillyard.

BEST BOOK: Innocence and Seduction: The Art of Dan DeCarlo by Bill Morrison.

BEST MOVIE OR TV SHOW: Deli Boys

BEST PERSON: Betty White.

BEST OTHER THING: Writing a story for DC’s 2025 Pride Anthology.

May brings the start of my 2025 Vast Accumulation of Stuff comic books and pop culture garage sales. You can find much more information on my various social media, but, for now, here’s the schedule for May:

FRIDAY, MAY 9

SATURDAY, MAY 10

FRIDAY, MAY 16

SATURDAY, MAY 17

FRIDAY, MAY 23

SATURDAY, MAY 24

FRIDAY, MAY 30

SATURDAY, MAY 31

Thanks for stopping by. I’ll be back with more bloggy things in the near future.

© 2025 Tony Isabella

THE RETURN OF THE VAOS GARAGE SALES

 

My first Vast Accumulation of Stuff garage sales of 2025 will be Friday and Saturday, May 2-3, from 9 am to noon or later at 840 Damon Drive in Medina, Ohio. The sales will be held nigh-weekly through the summer. Most days, if there are fans still shopping at noon, I’ll stay open a bit longer.

I’ve been working on these sales since late last year. With the help of my pal Rob Petersen, who runs my eBay store, I’ve gone through dozens and dozens of boxes looking for stuff to put into these garage sales. I’m determined to reduce the VAOS by more than in any previous years. I need to make room for house renovations I want to make and to give back more of our Tardis-like house to Saintly Wife Barb.

The highlight of the sales are going to be the hardcovers, trade paperbacks and oversized hardcovers and trades. At rough count, I have fifteen boxes of these. Plus dozens of Omnibus editions and oversized books outside those boxes. Plus a spinner rack of novels and other books. If you’ve been following my updates on Facebook, you should have some idea of the amazing items that will be on sale.

You’ll also find several boxes of vintage and more recent comic books, including especially choice comics on my magazine stand. I also have around five boxes of comic priced at a dollar and a table and a half of manga volumes also priced at a buck.

A word about dollar comics. They are not particularly profitable for me. They are a loss-leader. They bring bargain-hunting fans and make those fans happy. After each weekend’s sales, I plan to pull 10-15% of the unsold dollar comics for use in my beloved mystery boxes.

Now a word about the mystery boxes. There won’t be any available for sale this first weekend. They are also loss leaders and take a lot of time to put together. For this opening weekend, I would rather use the space to showcase more of those oversized volumes mentioned above. My mystery boxes will return the second weekend and most weekends thereafter.

Getting back to our first weekend, there will be an entire table dedicated to Godzilla and other beloved kaiju. There will be two bookcases filled with bargain-priced Funko figures. I’m making very deep cuts to my Funko collection, though you’ll have to pry my G.I. Robot figure from my cold dead hands after I slaughter a bunch of Nazis.

The sale will have two exclusive items. We have a gorgeous Tigra posted by the amazing Jay Fife. Originally selling for $30, it’s been reduced to $20 for my garage sales.

We’ll also have copies of that exclusive-to-me edition Marvel’s Greatest Creators: Tony Isabella #1, which reprints the first appearance of Misty Knight in the Iron Fist series. This signed, numbered edition is limited to 1500 copies and is priced to sell at just $10 per comic.

Some other important notes. If you bring Isabella-written items to my garage sales, I will sign them for free. Just understand that I might not be able to sign them immediately if I’m waiting on other customers or if you have a lot of comics to sign.

Weapons are strictly prohibited at my garage sales unless you’re an on duty police officer.

My garage sales are non-political. I won’t be wearing my liberal swag and you will definitely not be wearing your MAGA, Trump or right-wing gear. If you think I’m going to bend on the MAGA hats and such, you’re very wrong. You’ll be asked to leave that stuff in your cars and, if you refuse to do that, you’ll be asked to leave without getting a chance to buy any of the wonderful items at the garage sale.

Finally, a gray area. My preferred name is Jenny Blake Isabella (or Miss Jackson if you’re nasty) and my preferred pronouns are she/he. As I will be presented as Tony, I won’t make a big deal if you misgender me. But it does make me happy when comics fans get it right. I don’t consider this to be political. I consider it to be basic politeness.

I’m looking forward to opening my garage door and seeing all the smiling faces of my customers and friends, old and new. See you soon.

© 2025 Tony Isabella

WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A PROBLEM LIKE KA-ZAR?

                                                                            

I have stumbled into reading the adventures of the modern Ka-Zar from his solo story in Marvel Super-Heroes #19 [March, 1969] through his series in Astonishing Tales, various black-and-white magazines and guest appearances to the end of his truncated Doug Moench-written run in Ka-Zar #20 [February 1977]. Eight years of stories collected in four Marvel Masterworks volumes. With those volumes largely out-of-print, I read them on Kindle, which is far from my preferred medium. I don’t know why I fixated on Ka-Zar, but I did. It could have been the dinosaurs. It could have been Zabu, our hero’s saber-toothed companion. It could even have been the Savage Land setting of most stories.

There was excellent writing on many of these Ka-Zar stories. I liked Arnold Drake’s Marvel Super-Heroes tale, followed by Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, Mike Friedrich, Steve Gerber and Moench. The art was swell, too, with efforts by Barry Windsor-Smith, Don Heck and Val Mayerik, just to name a few. 

The Masterworks books also featured Shanna the She-Devil in solo tales. The best of them were by Gerber, who took an interesting psychological approach to the troubled character.

As I sometimes do while reading a bunch of stories featuring a character. I started wondering how I would write said character. In considering Ka-Zar, I came up with some things I did not want to do. Because as good as many of those stories were, despite occasional forays into science fiction and civilization-based super-villainy, I kept running into a stodgy pulp fiction troupe that, increasingly, dismays me. It’s whole “white savior” thing seen in Tarzan, dozens of other jungle heroes and heroines and even Lee Falk’s The Phantom. For me, reading the stories in 2025, that just doesn’t hold up.

I’ll readily agree that many versions of Tarzan, especially Russ Manning’s comic book and strip takes on Edgar Rich Burroughs’ creation, treated Africans with respect. More than other comic-book jungle heroes. But there still remained an aspect of white superiority to Tarzan.

As much as I love Falk’s Phantom, the treatment of indigenous people was abysmal for decades. To Falk’s credit, he recognized this in his later years and largely, if not completely, stopped doing the more obvious stereotypes. Today’s Phantom exists in an Africa that includes great cities and countries led by the kind of leaders I wish we had more of in my country. When I was being considered to take over the writing of the newspaper strip, I knew I wanted to explore those elements.

So we circle back to Ka-Zar, Zabu, Shanna and the Savage Land as I ponder what I would do with those characters and that setting. Keep in mind that I’ve not reread Ka-Zar comics past 1979. I do intend to continue my reading, having recently picked up a copy of the Ka-Zar the Savage Omnibus, but the following thoughts are based on my reading to date. Maybe other writers have had the same or similar thoughts to me.

Ka-Zar. I’d get rid of the whole Kamandi’s big brother look and, most importantly, the speech that runs from broken English to imperious rex. Ka-Zar was a young man when he was brought to the Savage Land and his speech should reflect that. As for his garb, he’s a rich heir. I’d change his look to modern outfits made of materials that work in the temperature extremes of the Savage Land and civilization. His hair would be short. Not Ace Morgan crew cut short, but short. I’d be sparring with the meat show. Save it for when it works or even just to titillate readers in the occasional fab service.

Zabu? He’s a mutant. That’s why he didn’t gobble up Ka-Zar when they first met. He can communicate with humans on a level beyond speech. I might play around with some manner of “sign language” for him. Maybe even introduce a device that would let him speak until he realized human speech was overrated.

Shanna? I’d definitely explore her trauma more. Not to make her a victim but to show her overcoming the trauma. She should be a complex character that readers will emphasize with and also a sometimes disagreeable ally to Ka-Zar. They wouldn’t always be on the same page with regards to the future of the Savage Land.

The Savage Land should be a character concept that goes beyond “jungle with dinosaurs and many strange people.” In the Earth of the Marvel Universe, corporations and countries would all want a chunk of the area to “develop” to pump up their bottom lines. In our so-called real world, Trump would probably want to make it a state for national and global security reasons.

My Ka-Zar would be a nation-builder, uniting the various tribes of the Savage Land into a more perfect union that could protect the interests of the tribes and use the Savage Land resources to benefit them. I could see the Savage Land welcoming such allies as Wakanda, Atlantis and, probably not to our hero’s personal liking, Doctor Doom’s Latveria. As with any such alliances in the real world, there would be proposals by these allies that might not be in the Savage Land’s best interests. I would bring in a Trump parody who would place tariffs on the Savage Land and call its dinosaurs terrorists.

That’s what I have at this time. When I do some more reading, I might have more ideas.

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

© 2025 Tony Isabella

THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY IN MARCH

 

I’m happy. Almost as happy as I have ever been in life. It’s not like getting a job at Marvel Comics. It’s not marrying Barb and having our kids. It’s not the Black Lightning TV series. But it is almost up there. When I revealed this to an online friend of mine, her response was:

“Are you crazy, girl?”

I know I live in a country and a time when my trans community is under vile attack. I know there are people close to me who are not completely on board with my transition. There are more than a few obstacles in my path. On the other hand…

I look in the mirror every day and see I’m becoming the person I am and who I want to be. I’m getting tremendous support from my therapist and my doctors. I’m blessed with local allies like OutSupport Medina and friends. I’m especially thankful for the overwhelming love and respect I received from the comics and other online communities. I am lucky to have all of the above and much more.

I am writing things that inspire me and speak to my life and the world around me. I have the great privilege of being there for my online pals who ask great questions and who tell me about their lives and who just want to cry on my shoulders or get a virtual hug when they need it. That I can still be a positive in so many lives after all the years make my soul glad.

As do these things that made me happy last month.

March 1: Authentic Selves: Celebrating Trans and Non binary People and Their Families. Interviews by Peggy Gillespie. Inspirational personal stories. Powerful messages. A beacon to a better future.

                                                                       

March 2: Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theatre by Tom Scioli. Literary heroes unite to battle the King of the Monsters. The Great Gatsby. Jules Verne. The Time Machinst and more. It’s insane fun with the trade coming out in July.

March 3: Pop Culture Jeopardy was a thoroughly enjoyable show. I thought the competition was exciting and fierce. Colin Jost was amazing at its host. I hope we get a second season.

March 4: Hornsby & Halo by Peter J. Tomasi and Peter Snejbjerg. Unwitting children of Heaven and Hell sent to live on Earth to preserve the peace. Intriguing characters and setting. It’s well worth checking out. The trade is due in October.

                                                                            

March 5: Justice League Unlimited #1 by Mark Waid and Dan Mora. Star Sapphire saving a dying man with the power of love brought a tear to my eye, The issue also has a very nice use of Black Lightning.

March 6: Justice League Unlimited #2 by Mark Waid and Dan Mora. Seeing the original Challengers of the Unknown back in action was a wonderful surprise. They were my favorite DC team of the 1960s and still are.  

                                                                                

March 7: Wife Gets Smart, Makes Husband Happy: Supermarket Comic Strip Ads of World War II. Nat Gertler covers comics history no one else covers in fun and informative collections. My pal Nat is a comics treasure.

March 8: Redcoat #7 by Geoff Johns and Bryan Hitch. An emotional, often heartrending done-in-one tale of the price that immortality takes from Simon Pure. This deserves an Eisner Awards nomination for best single issue.

March 9: Saturday Night Live. Lady Gaga and Bowen Yang. We need a queer rom-com starring these two. They had amazing chemistry in their SNL sketches. Hey, Hallmark, the ball is in your court. Time to expand your viewership.

March 10: Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man wasn’t the show I expected. Its ten-episode first season featured a whole lot of changes to the original canon. Even so, it definitely held my interest and I look forward to a second season.

March 11: Hyde Street by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis. Most of the Ghost Machine titles are among my favorites. This unnerving book with continuing characters reveals the evil found in every city and how it meets its reckoning on this street.

                                                                           

March 12: Merry Little Batman. The most bizarre Batman animated feature ever. Young Daimien wants to be a Batman just like his protective dad. The movie is violent at times and runs a tad too long, but it remains a delightful film.  

                                                                                

March 13: Transphoria Vol. 1. From Lifeline Comics, this is a 90 page graphic anthology about Trans and Non Binary experiences of gender euphoria across a wide range of genres. It’s wonderfully affirming and entertaining. Highly recommended. 3-13-25.

March 14: RetroFan #37. Ed Catto follows the impossible to follow Michael Eury as editor and does a fine job. Great articles on the Jetsons, Saturday Morning Rockers, Glamorous Ladies of Wrestling and more. My favorite magazine.

March 15: Secrets of the Unknown...Alan Class by Nick Neocleous has a great interview with the man who brought American comics to the U.K. from 1959 to 1989. There are lots of cool covers and fun facts. A long overdue book.  

                                                                                   

March 16: Created and drawn by Rob Davis, The Spirit of Route 66 #1 is a great start to the series. A man inherits a ‘66 T-bird and journeys on the famous highway. There’s something unusual about the car and therein lies the fun. Recommended.

March 17: Reuben fried rice. This is a St. Patrick’s Day special at Medina’s House of Hunan, my favorite restaurant. I don’t know how long it will be available, but you should 100% rush to enjoy this delicious stuff.

March 18: From Adventures into the Unknown #126 (August 1961), “Heavenly Heavyweight” by Richard Hughes and Ogden Whitney is one of those genuinely heartwarming tales that often appeared in ACG titles. Hughes knew how to tug at my heartstrings.  

                                                                                      

 

March 19: Roxy. A classic British romance comics weekly now has a mostly new anthology featuring modern talents updating classic strips like The Getaway Girls, 80 pages of love and adventure. More please.

March 20: Captain America: Brave New World. It’s a terrific film that fit nicely into its just under two-hour run time. I love new characters Joaquin Torres and Ruth Bat-Seraph and hope to see more of them in the MCU. More to come.

March 21: Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #34 by Mark Waid and Fran Galan. I’ve enjoyed this title since it was launched, but this issue’s team-up of Batgirl, Jimmy Olsen and the Super-Pets just plain tickled me. What a fun story!

March 22: Lucky Loser: Adventures in Tennis & Comedy by Michael Kosta. A fascinating story of Kosta’s journey from tennis pro to comedian. My only quibble is that it ends his first appearance on The Tonight Show. Too soon. I need a second book.  

                                                                               

March 23: The Residence. Darkly humorous series about murder in the White House. Great performances by Uzo Aduba as world’s greatest detective Cordelia Cupp and Randall Park as an FBI agent. Two episodes in, Barb and I are hooked.

March 24: Mark Evanier’s always-wondrous News from Me blog has been providing daily links to compact fact checks on the lies and misinformation vomited out on the public by Trump, Musk and other Nazis. It’s indispensable reading.

                                                                            

March 25: Metamorpho the Element Man #1. Wow! It’s as if writer Al Ewing and artist Steve Leiber were channeling Bob Haney and Ramona Fradon for this thoroughly delightful issue. I’ll request the trade from my library in September.

March 26: Boston mayor Michelle Wu is exactly the kind of leader our country needs more of. Her life and her policies celebrate the diversity, kindness and progressive thinking that actually make America great.

March 27: Baseball! The Cleveland Guardians won their opening day game over the Kansas City Royals 7-4, scoring three runs in the 10^th inning. The Cleveland Cavaliers also won a nail biter of a basketball game over the San Antonio Spurs.  

                                                                               

March 28: Lost in Taiwan by Mark Crilley is a beautiful graphic novel about an aimless young man who finds new experiences, good friends and himself in an amazing country. Published in 2023, it belongs on every comics fan’s reading list.

March 29: The Pitt. Streaming on Max and starring Noah Wyle, this medical drama is 24 in the ER, but with a larger cast and more story opportunities. Barb and I watched the first episode and we’re hooked. Highly recommended.

March 30: Cleveland Sex & Intimacy Counseling. In 2023, when I was seeking answers to the fundamental question of me, a trans friend recommended CS&IC. My therapist guided me on my journey to Jenny. My life wouldn’t be as happy as it is today without that continuing guidance.

March 31: MetroHealth. I am blessed to have this system for my primary and gender-affirming care. Excellent doctors and staff. Great facilities. No other system in the area makes me feel more seen and more respected. It’s the best!

BEST COMIC BOOK/GRAPHIC NOVEL: Lost in Taiwan by Mark Crilley

BEST BOOK: Authentic Selves: Celebrating Trans and Non binary People and Their Families.

BEST MOVIE OR TV SHOW: The Pitt

BEST PERSON: Boston mayor Michelle Wu

BEST OTHER THING: Cleveland Sex & Intimacy Counseling

My Vast Accumulation of Stuff garage sales will launch on Friday and Saturday, May 2 and 3, 9 am to noon at 840 Damon Drive in Medina, Ohio. The summer’s nigh-weekly sales will be bigger and better than ever. Hundreds of hardcovers and trade paperbacks at 30% of cover prices or more. Boxes of comic books with some as low as a buck each. Godzilla stuff. Funko figures. Manga volumes at a dollar each. I’m posting daily previews on my Facebook page and will have more information for you here as we draw closer to the start of the sales.

Thanks for visiting. We’ll be back soon with more stuff.

© 2025 Tony Isabella